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Commemorative Hummer
I was going to write about Labor Day or perhaps police preparations for APEC in Sydney, when I received these photos and story. Even though I suspect we might have some political disagreements, this is a Mom's hummer, and belongs to Carla Comfort, who loved and misses her son.
(story and more photos below the fold)
It depicts her son, 20-year-old Lance Cpl. John M. Holmason, and nine other Marines with whom he was killed by an IED blast in Fallujah, Iraq, in December. It's her way to pay homage and let people know they were doing their jobs honorably. Her son had only been deployed for five months when Marines knocked at her door of her Michigan home to let her know he'd been killed. She came up with the idea of the rolling memorial after she saw a Vietnam War memorial on a car when she attended his funeral with her two other sons. She purchased the vehicle in January and took it to AirbrushGuy & Co. In Benton , Ark. where artist Robert Powell went to work on it. It took 250 hours and the AirbrushGuy did it for free, as long as the paint (which cost $3000) was supplied.
After having it painted in Arkansas, she drove it to Camp Pendleton and took it on to Portland, where she has moved from Michigan. She will continue to drive it, people will forward emails of the photos around the world, and it will make a statement. I like political art, but not Hummers or war, and would have preferred an energy-efficient car and an antiwar message. That said, I appreciate that she is making her statement and that it is a very personal statement from choice of vehicle to the scenes depicted (which include a heaven scene and a design based on a tatoo her son had). People can take their own interpretation and she will meet all sorts of people along the way who may support the troops but not necessarily the war. I am glad to pass it on, but if anything, it galvanizes me even more to work to stop the war. (photos courtesy of Harrcopter, N Everett)
Odd place to look for GOP contributors:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/APWires/headlines/D8RE0PVO0.html
An actual Labor Day article, worth looking at
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-stern/restoring-the-promise-of-_b_62864.html
lots of data re work, prospects, "American Dream"
Article on Bush in Iraq says he omitted Baghdad from his itinerary in a "symbolic snub" to the government there.
Could this be the real reason?
As Sunnis Flee, Shiites Now Dominate Baghdad
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/090307Z.shtml
Shiites now dominate the once mixed capital, and there is little chance of reversing the process.
& it that's true, what good will it do to bomb out every nuke Iran has or could make? Being a Shiite may trump whether one is Persian or Arab, in the face of outside occupation and oil theft.
I used to work with nursing homes for years, when in private practice. I eventually quit and joined a nonprofit and switched from geriatrics to pediatrics because of the fraud that I witnessed by the private companies.
Now this is from the above-posted article from HuffPo about Labor.
The buyout industry and the big banks are cutting the heart out of the American economy. Global buyout corporation the Carlyle Group is taking over one of the nation's largest nursing home chains, ManorCare. As part of the deal, ManorCare's CEO Paul Ormond will personally profit up to $186 million dollars, money that could have gone to hire more nursing home aides to care for our loved ones. Even worse, ManorCare will pay no corporate taxes while it is owned by Carlyle. The lost federal, state and local tax revenues over the next five years? More than $600 million.
--I sent that to a friend who has just been to the Philipines and asked if our government isn't just selling away the assets of our country and robbing the Treasury, like the Marcoses did to the Philipines? He agreed, but said some people there profit (the rich) and two of Marcos' kids still hold high posts in the government. So it's not an easy problem to solve. I'm sure most know that the Bush family and friends are heavily invested in the Carlyle Group.
Labor Day Snippet; I am orginally From Argentina, Where Labor day is celebrated on May 1st, like 99% of the rest of the world.
It is recognized on this day because in 1884 the USA Trade and Labor unions passed a resolution that 8 hours of work would be the legal days work as of May 1st 1886.
By 1886 hundreds of thousands of workers were in the Mayday Movement...
On May 3rd of 1886, police fired into the ranks of strikers at the McCOrmick factory, killin four,and wounding many more. The next day would be a march, at this march a bomb exploded, a policeman was killed. People were arrested and executed.
The Rest of the World Observes May 1st as Labor day, to commerate workers in the USA that gave their lives in the struggle to eliminate 16 hour shifts with no overtime.
the USA does not observe May 1st, this memory does not serve American Corporate Interests, or might actually provide the catalyst to eliminate Rampant Corporate greed next.
There is a war between Corporations and the consumer, which the individual is not even aware of. Corporations do not see each other as competition, as much as the consumer. Regions and populations are devided among giant legal entities, and we are cattle taken to Market.
If this Nation cannot bring itself to remember where Labor day originates, and why the rest of the world stops to remember a handfull of brave americans, how can we recognize truth anywhere else.
Chinatool!
I wanted to research that because I always wondered, but didn't get it done in time. I assumed our hypercapitalist government associated "May Day" with the Red Menace or something. Even when I was a kid I kind of wondered about that.
Posted by: chinatool at September 3, 2007 12:28 PM
I actually had no idea. I have heard people saying that Labor movements should be a broader part of the American educational system, but it's no surprise that it isn't.
Imagine what people would do if they knew!
very interesting section at Wikipedia on Trade Unions and so you can see why CEOs don't want collective bargaining, either in developed or undeveloped countries.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_union
RON PAUL MUST BE SCARING THE REPUB ESTABLISHMENT:
(I post this because Ron Paul while I disagree with him almost all domestic issues, his foreign policy position on Iraq is basically correct. And Paul is the only place for Republicans disgusted with Bush and the war to go.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDnWT4gCJSE
UPDATE SEPT 2 07 ****MUST READ****
I just got an email through the Ron Paul Meetup up group from the well known "Granny Warriors"
They just informed everyone that they have PROOF that an ENTIRE BUS FULL of Ron Paul DELEGATES from San Antonio were prevented from voting. They arrived on time and were denied. After another bus pulled up and they were ushered in through the side entrance.
END UPDATE#1
The vote was supposed to be until 1 or 2 pm, but GOP security prevented registered Delegates from entering the building who were wearing Ron Paul signs at 10am.
I was standing over by the Granny warriors when 2 delegates approached me and asked me to help them get into the convention center.
They had showed up at the door a little before 10am wearing Ron Paul shirts. The security guard told them to change into proper attire. They left and changed then came back and it was now 10:10/10:20 and the security told them the registration was closed.
Apparently everyone who showed up from out of town or with an online registration recpt. was denied access unless they got there before 10am and in proper attire.
Delegates who showed up, got their credentials and then changed were allowed to enter.
In the video the woman in red asks a Ron Paul organizer for her pass. He tells her the woman with the box has it. She runs to the woman with the box of passes, and askes if she has the passes, and the woman tells her no. So what was in that box, and why was she in such a hurry to get the box out of the convention center? It was in my opinon a lie and the passes were in the box.
The security guard is asked by me on camera who he works for, and he evades the question. If he works for the GOP then why not say "yes GOP" he says "the party" Who's party? Another candidate? Who told this security guard to deny access to Ron Paul delegates?
We counted about 12 or so people walking up to the door and being turned away every 10 min or so. This went on from 10am till 1:30 when I left. This does not count the delegates who showed up in Ron Paul shirts and could not or decided not to change and simply went home frustrated and out the $50 or $75 fee the GOP charges.
If they paid for credentials and were denied them, should they file a dispute on their credit card? Would hundreds of disputes on the GOP merchant account make national headlines, and force the merchant account provider to suspend or even file criminal charges against the account holder
STRAW POLL IN ALABAMA - RON PAUL WINS OVERWHELMINGLY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEscUJFcp9Y
August 18, 2007. On the campus of the University of Alabama, Congressman Ron Paul wins the GOP vote with 81% of the total votes. This landslide victory shows that the people are behind Dr. Ron Paul a.k.a. Dr. No.
Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas) is the leading advocate for freedom in our nation's capital. As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Dr. Paul tirelessly works for limited constitutional government, low taxes, free markets, and a return to sound monetary policies. He is known among his congressional colleagues and his constituents for his consistent voting record. Dr. Paul never votes for legislation unless the proposed measure is expressly authorized by the Constitution.
Brief Overview of Congressman Paul's Record:
He has never voted to raise taxes.
He has never voted for an unbalanced budget.
He has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.
He has never voted to raise congressional pay.
He has never taken a government-paid junket.
He has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.
He voted against the Patriot Act.
He voted against regulating the Internet.
He voted against the Iraq war.
He does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program.
He returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.
* The full clip is now av
his foreign policy position on Iraq is basically correct. And Paul is the only place for Republicans disgusted with Bush and the war to go.)
Posted by: Ralpheh at September 3, 2007 01:33 PM
That is where the disenchanted repubs are going to go Ralpheh
Who's got the rocket launchers?
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22357222-2,00.html
THE fact that there are nine rocket launchers believed to be in Sydney as
a meeting of world leaders begins has meant in recent months this operation has become one of ASIO's highest priorities.
Even Australians remember Georgies shamefull little skit, looking for WMDs under the table at the White House Correspondents Dinner, while Amercans and Iraqi citizens were dying in their thousands, in his war of lies.
Who has them you ask? I have had a look under the sink and there is nothing there. Honest (I have APEC accreditation so I must be honest). I am sure that the alleged Lebanese-Australians suspects that are mentioned will come forward and help us out.
Posted by: Tony of APECville (right inthe middle of it)
Commemorative Hummer
Posted by DiAnne Grieser at September 3, 2007 11:10 AM
I love it!!!!
Wow a big Wow, now that is my kind of Protesting,
God Bless her, I would be driving that hummer right across the Country, now if only there where an army of these hummers, crossing America the message would be out there right if Georgies face.
Posted by: Not My President at September 3, 2007 01:27 PM
I'm sick and tired of ethnic radio stations in Los Angeles feeding corporate reactionary lies about unions (and much more) to the foreign-born population here.
And the foreign-born are almost half of the population here, and contrary to popular belief, they vote. And they vote CONSERVATIVE, if not outright REPUBLICAN.
You gotta love the Republican brilliance in bringing in only nationalities that support/fit their twisted, sick agenda.
Posted by: chinatool at September 3, 2007 12:28 PM
AFAIK, the "free market" parroted so much by neoliberals is good as dead.
Posted by: Ralpheh at September 3, 2007 01:38 PM
I watched the first Republican debate, and I liked Paul myself, better than the other Republican candidates. Unfortunately, the people have said they want Paul, but I don't think Paul has Wall Street in his pocket, and that means that he will end up with a lot less money to campaign with.
There are some honest, good Dems running, too.
It seems we have actually crossed the line in to Oz. If you have no heart and no brain, and follow the oily little man behind the curtain, you get to take the yellow brick road to the White House. If you don't want to sell your soul to Wall Street, you go back to Kansas.
Sad but true.
I believe Paul leans Libertarian, and I am more liberal than the Libertarian party would be in some areas, but I said I would never vote Pug again.
It will be a VERY interesting race, that's for sure. Follow the money - it leads to the yellow brick road and the White House. But all we really get out of it is heartless leaders with the IQ of a sand flea.
I just wish the grassroots could organize itself and financially support who THEY want this time.
It is our only last chance.
If we even have that.
Chinese Military Hacked Into Pentagon Computer Network
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9dba9ba2-5a3b-11dc-9bcd-0000779fd2ac.html
The news today about your president and the cheering military in Iraq. The picture tells the other side of the American story. That's on the front page.
Cheers as Bush lands in Iraq
Anne Davies, Washington
September 4, 2007 - 6:17AM
President Bush made a surprise detour on his way to Australia to visit Iraq's Anbar province in what he hopes will be a potent symbol to US Congress and the world that the surge is working - at least in this part of Iraq.
Surrounded by cheering troops at Al Asad Airbase, Mr Bush touched down for six hours in the western province to offer his personal thanks, and to tell them: "If we dont want to hear the terrorists' footsteps back home, we have to keep them on their heels over here", and that's exactly what you are doing."
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/troops-surge-as-bush-appears-in-iraq/2007/09/04/1188783191262.html
It will be a VERY interesting race, that's for sure. Follow the money - it leads to the yellow brick road and the White House. But all we really get out of it is heartless leaders with the IQ of a sand flea.
I just wish the grassroots could organize itself and financially support who THEY want this time.
It is our only last chance.
If we even have that.
Posted by: TSP at September 3, 2007 04:46 PM
@@@@@@@
Did you watch the video of the straw poll vote in Alabama??? Ron Paul got well over 200 votes, the next runner up was Giuliani, I believe, with around 40 votes. Now unless Ron Paul people are packing these straw votes, that result is stunning - that none of the mainstream candidates are even close.
It looks like the Texas straw vote was rigged, at least partially (I had this same problem at a Dem Caucus selecting delegates to the 2004 Dem convention - the "credentialing" process was rigged in both cases).
Ron Paul is all over You Tube and he is well organized at Meet Up.
Regarding financing - the Texas Repubs charged a $50 registration fee for the straw vote and then denied the Paul people entrance. WHAT A RIP-OFF...
And the Paul people have their video cameras at the ready to record everything... and up-load it to You Tube..
The pic referred to above, is a close-up. So, I wonder how many soldiers were actually right there to hug him. Like Karen said, the surge is working, the surge is working, the surge is working. While we are fed these kinds of images, people will soon change their minds about whether to withdraw or stay. So many Iraqi civilians dead. So many young Americans dead. So many Iraqi civilians imprisoned who knows where. It goes on and on.
Dianne,
I really like the paint job on the Hummer. THank you for sharing the pics and the story. I think it's a beautiful tribute but it also makes me so angry for them starting the war on lies.
Bush in new book: 'I do a lot of crying in this job'
(CNN) – A new book about President George W. Bush claims former deputy chief of staff Karl Rove discouraged the president from naming Dick Cheney as his running mate, and suggests Rove objected to nominating former White House counsel Harriet Miers to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In the book, “Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush,” to be released Tuesday, journalist Robert Draper describes dissent among some of the President's closest advisers even before Bush reached the White House. CNN was able to purchase a copy of the book on Monday.
On selecting Cheney as the vice presidential running mate in 2000, Draper, paraphrasing Rove’s thinking, writes, “Selecting Daddy's top foreign-policy guy ran counter to message. It was worse than a safe pick – it was needy.” But, Draper writes, “Bush didn't care. He was comfortable with Cheney.”
Draper claims that when Rove raised objections about Miers, he was "shouted down.” The book also claims that Chief Justice John Roberts suggested Miers as a possible Supreme Court nominee.
Kathy Arberg, a spokeswoman for the Court, categorically denied this passage, telling CNN, "The Chief Justice did not suggest Harriet Miers to the President. The account is not true."
The White House had no comment on the book as well as any specific allegations.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/09/03/book-bush-does-a-lot-of-crying-in-this-job/
Bush makes surprise visit to Iraq
President says some U.S. troops could be sent home if security improves
AL-ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq - President Bush, after hearing from top U.S. and Iraqi leaders, said Monday that some U.S. troops could be sent home if security conditions across Iraq continue to improve as they have in this former hotbed of Sunni insurgency.
But the president, flanked by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, did not say how many troops could be withdrawn or how soon.
Bush spoke after hearing from Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and U.S. ambassador to Baghdad Ryan Crocker, who are testifying to Congress next week assessing the president’s troop buildup.
“Gen. Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker tell me if the kind of success we’re now seeing continues, it will be possible to maintain the same level of security with fewer American forces,” Bush said.
Bush stood in front of two Humvees near a dusty tarmac of this desert outpost in western Iraq, about 120 miles west of Baghdad, to share his latest views about the war. He urged Congress to wait until they hear testimony from Crocker and Petraeus and see a White House progress report due by Sept. 15 before judging the result of his decision to send an extra 30,000 troops to Iraq.
more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20572766/
Success... success... success...
Oh my friggin God, I am sooooo shocked.
Fake Photos Helped Lead US to War in Iraq
The News Drones
09/03/07 "Counterpunch" -- - Add faked photos to the list of lies told by the BushCheney Administration before its invasion of Iraq.
In a town hall meeting in Bloomsburg, Pa. this week, Rep. Paul Kanjorski, a 12-term congressman, said that shortly before Congress was scheduled to vote on authorizing military force against Iraq, top officials of the CIA showed select members of Congress three photographs it alleged were Iraqi Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), better known as drones. Kanjorski said he was told that the drones were capable of carrying nuclear, biological, or chemical agents, and could strike 1,000 miles inland of east coast or west coast cities.
Kanjorski said he and four or five other congressmen in the room were told UAVs could be on freighters headed to the U.S. Both secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and President Bush wandered into and out of the briefing room, Kanjorski said.
Kanjorski said it was the second time he was called to the White House for a briefing. He had opposed giving the President the powers to go to war, and said that he hadn't changed his mind after a first meeting. Until he saw the pictures, Kanjorski said, "I hadn't thought that Iraq was a threat." That second meeting changed everything. After he left that meeting, said Kanjorski, he was willing to give the President the authorization he wanted since the drones "represented an imminent danger."
Kanjorski said he went to see Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), a retired Marine colonel. Murtha, said Kanjorski, "turned white" when told about the drones; Murtha, a former intelligence officer, believed that such information was classified.
Several years later, Kanjorski said he learned that the pictures were "a god-damned lie," apparently taken by CIA photographers in the desert in the southwest of the U.S. The drone story itself had already been disproved, although not many major media carried that story.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18300.htm
But Bush later warned Washington war critics who are pushing for quick troop withdrawals to temper their expectations.
During a rally for troops at the base, Bush said any pullout would be made from a position of "strength and success."
The White House is due to deliver to Congress next week an assessment on Bush's increase of 30,000 troops to Iraq this year.
"People shouldn't jump to conclusions until the general and the ambassador report," Bush said. Watch Bush's remarks about U.S. troop levels in Iraq »
During a rally later for more than 600 American troops at the base, Bush warned members of Congress who might be anticipating quick reductions in U.S. forces.
"Those decisions will be based on a calm assessment by our military commanders on the conditions on the ground, not reaction by Washington politicians to poll results in the media," said Bush. "In other words, when we begin to draw down troops from Iraq, it will be from a position of strength and success, not from the position of fear and failure."
Praising the troops, Bush said, "every day you show bravery under incredibly difficult circumstances. I'm incredibly proud to be the commander in chief of such a great group of men and women."
The excited crowd responded to their commander in chief with hearty cheers and shouts of "ooh-rah!" and "hoo-ah!"
Bush met earlier with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. He also met with Anbar tribal leaders hailing their cooperation with U.S. forces as a success in fighting al Qaeda in Iraq.
"The level of violence is down, local governments are meeting again, police are in control of the city streets and normal life is returning," said Bush.
The president credited Anbar citizens who "rejected the dark vision of al Qaeda" and "organized themselves and they took on the terrorists."
"The result was that many local leaders who had once fought against our forces began to fight alongside our forces and against al Qaeda," Bush said.
"They didn't like idea of murderers deciding their fate," he said.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/09/03/bush.iraq/index.html
One more time...
"The level of violence is down, local governments are meeting again, police are in control of the city streets and normal life is returning," said Bush.
Wow Chinatool.
May 1st. Hmmmm.
I wondered how 'May Day' wound up being celebrated in September.
BTW...OK...who sent John Edwards my list?
HAHA! It is like he suddenly had an epiphany.
John Edwards: “No more secret prisons, no more torture or condoning torture.”
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/09/03/john-edwards-no-more-secret-prisons-no-more-torture-or-condoning-torture/
Re Labour Day and May 1st. Australia celebrates Labour Day on any day chosen by the states, no matter if the date is different.
I've been watching our government take more from workers and give less over the past 10 years. For the whole time Dubya has been Howard's best friend to be emulated in every devious disaster that can be found, the rules of play have become very lopsided. Dubya only knows that Howard exists when he is in America or Dubya is coming to Australia.
And we all know that there is only one world leader that is truly loathed by the entire world, don't we? Even Robert Mugabe's terrible brutality and corruption pales by comparison with Dubya. The Janjaweed in Darfur are perhaps worse in terms of rape and pillage, but Dubya has managed to get them off our screens too.
In the last 6 years, Huff'n'Puff Howard has almost decimated trade unions. Why? Because without them employers (his buddies) can revert to cheaper labour. Base rate wages no longer apply. Health and Safety issues? Complain = Dismissal. Workplace health and safety, penalty rates and conditions have all been on a huge downward slide with this government's 10 years in power. Union membership is very low.
Under this government, all the power has been given to the employers and none to workers. Howard has just spent more than 2 Billion(!) taxpayers dollars to publicise his amazing workplace reforms. We all know people who are in such a bind that they are afraid to speak in case they lose their jobs. We all know people who simply don't have the skills to negotiate a fair contract. But this is the mentality of the Dubyas and Howards. It is as it should be. Master. Servant.
Luckily, some of our workers have made big noises about the criminal behaviour of some employers and the Government has been caught paying off their big business corporate, wealthy buddies by providing them with a universal dismissal statement that is perfectly legal. And like other clear thoughts that one has sailed out of my head and has gone walkabout, so I can't tell you what that universal dismissal statement is.
Celebration of the 8 hour day? Who gets to work an 8 hour day, these days? A 40 hour week? Ok - there are some menial jobs that have a 40 hour week but the pay is barely a living. To earn a decent living, the 8 hour day and the 40 hour week isn't enough any more. Most people are now working at an exhausting pace doing a job that used to be done by 2 or 3 people. The bosses want greater productivity from fewer people on lower wages. And Howard and his Cheshire Cat Treasurer gave it to them.
People died working towards these fundamental workplace rights and we need to get them back. I didn't know that was what May 1st celebrations were. I thought May 1st was when Americans got together at a Maypole and skipped happily around it in circles.
Labour Day here in Tasmania is in March. In NSW it's in October, I think. No wonder I had no idea what May Day was all about. I've always wondered why there wasn't a special day for all the other months though.
Christy, if John Edwards is working through your list, that is brilliant! Perhaps you should contact him to let him know the list came from you, and that if he's short on extensions to that list you can give them to him also. Well done. And best of all - Simply and Clearly put.
Protesters will have their say.
Police bid to ban Bush march
Edmund Tadros
September 4, 2007 - 11:50AM
A NSW Supreme Court judge has deferred a decision on whether to prevent an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) protest rally passing through Sydney's Martin Place.
An affidavit put to the court by NSW Police today says the proposed rally of up to 20,000 people planned for this Saturday poses a serious threat to security.
Justice Michael Adams said police had not given the respondent, Alex Bainbridge, sufficient time to address the affidavit and adjourned the matter until 7am (AEST) tomorrow.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/police-bid-to-ban-bush-march/2007/09/03/1188783200538.html
The Mpls bridge collapse has largely faded from the news, but if you live in Mpls, like Kayakbiker, it's still fresh on your mind. Here's an update from him:
http://silencedmajority.blogs.com/silenced_majority_portal/2007/09/i35w-bridge-sit.html#comments
By the way, I went to Bumbershoot music festival yesterday and forgot my camera but a guy gave me a free ticket for today! I went to see Joss Stone, for starters, and was all set to make a video when I discovered an equipment malfunction - NO SHUTTER BUTTON - so I was completely neutralized. After many phone calls, camera store visits and on-line sleuthing, I discovered that I have to send the camera to Laredo Texas.
My husband heard on Air America (Mike Malloy) that clergy are being trained to convince their congregations to submit to internment camps in the event of martial law. I Googled around and it emanated from what was reported on one radio station. Interesting analysis - quite a can of worms.
http://scholarsandrogues.wordpress.com/2007/08/21/st-paul-to-citizens/
Looks like the "clergy" story came from the Shreveport area so maybe someone from that area can illuminate us. They did mention that after Hurricane Katrina, Blackwater etc. that people may not be as trusting of the government.
Former marine joins APEC anti-war chorus
http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/09/04/2023479.htm?section=justin
A former US marine and veteran of the Iraq war says he has come to Sydney to deliver an anti-war message to US President George W Bush and Prime Minister John Howard during the APEC summit.
Twenty-six-year-old Matt Howard has served two tours of duty in Iraq and says he sees Mr Bush's visit to Sydney as a chance to directly voice his dissent over the war.
He says he will be protesting on Saturday against Australia's ongoing involvement in the US-led invasion of Iraq.
"Four-and-a-half years later we as soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines are done," he said.
"We are done being told under the threat of court martial to run over children that get in the way of our speeding convoys.
"We are done raiding and destroying the homes of innocent Iraqis on a nightly basis.
"We are done abusing and torturing prisoners."
-----
By the way, just thinking about how my dad fought in Darwin, Australia in WW2. He and his friends were welcomed by the Australians and said they were the nicest people in the world, fed them steak and eggs (which he tried to pronounce with an Australian accent). He almost married an Australian girl named Betty. He was supposed to come back and get her, and often wished he had.
Looks like the "clergy" story came from the Shreveport area so maybe someone from that area can illuminate us. They did mention that after Hurricane Katrina, Blackwater etc. that people may not be as trusting of the government.
Posted by: Not My President at September 4, 2007 12:22 AM
Thats Christys area
Sydney Bothels Prepare for APEC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6975789.stm
Wow. Amazing story nmp. We got a cousin from an American soldier. The grandmother of a baby girl saw my mother heavily pregnant with her 4th baby - which turned out to be 4th and 5th - on a train and asked her if she would like another baby. Since she already had 3 children under 4, she said no. But after telling Dad, he said, "Do you want to go and see her?" Mum said, "Yes, but if I do, I'll bring her home."
So, Dad went to see his sister and brother inlaw who wanted another child but hadn't been successful. They had a son. And, the rest - as they say - is history. My parents went to Melbourne and brought her home with them. The mother was only 17 and the father was an American soldier who was definitely coming back for her. We don't know who it was - but it wasn't your Dad - and my mother (now 86) doesn't remember the woman's name or address.
I am sure there are good stories and very sad stories. I just hope that the baby girl's mother was a willing person in giving up her baby.
Thats Christys area
Posted by: rossiann at September 4, 2007 12:56 AM
Shreveport. Yes, rossi - I was thinking that too.
He says he will be protesting on Saturday against Australia's ongoing involvement in the US-led invasion of Iraq.
"Four-and-a-half years later we as soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines are done," he said.
"We are done being told under the threat of court martial to run over children that get in the way of our speeding convoys.
"We are done raiding and destroying the homes of innocent Iraqis on a nightly basis.
"We are done abusing and torturing prisoners."
Posted by: Not My President at September 4, 2007 12:49 AM
This is excellent nmp. This is what we need. And obviously Howard wasn't fast enough to grab this guy and deport him like he did the last one. What kind of nightmares does this poor young man have for the rest of his life?
Bastards - Both. Bush and Howard.
Sydney Bothels Prepare for APEC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6975789.stm
Posted by: Not My President at September 4, 2007 01:02 AM
Priorities?
Priorities?
Posted by: woz at September 4, 2007 01:11 AM
Hell Yeah
This has often been the subject of chat here on the DCP. It's good to read it in the paper. It needs to hit commercial television as well as the non commercial. It's more important now than it ever was.
Don't play word games with terrorism
Stephen Alomes
September 4, 2007
THE million-dollar fencing erected in Sydney — cutting the city in two as security tightens for the world leaders at APEC — is the latest symbol of the way our world has changed in the six years since New York's Twin Towers fell.
But wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have failed to put an end to terrorism and it is time to seriously consider the recent call by Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon to abandon the term "war on terror", coined by US President George Bush after the 2001 attacks on America.
Nixon is not alone in this. In Britain, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has banned government use of the "war on terror" and, it was revealed recently, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs no longer uses the expression.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/dont-play-word-games-with-terrorism/2007/09/03/1188783155979.html
Bastards - Both. Bush and Howard.
Posted by: woz at September 4, 2007 01:10 AM
I could think of a lot worse names to call them.
Darn that Hummer is fantastic, only truely sad that her son had to die.
Don't play word games with terrorism
Posted by: woz at September 4, 2007 01:33 AM
Capiche Georgie?
Darn that Hummer is fantastic, only truely sad that her son had to die.
Posted by: rossiann at September 4, 2007 01:46 AM
Sure is.
And for the name calling - me too - just kept it decent.
And for the name calling - me too - just kept it decent.
Posted by: woz at September 4, 2007 01:56 AM
After all we are Ladies are we not?
Wanna bet?
Voters want a Clinton just not the one on offer
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22356261-26397,00.html
rossi - the australian is so right-wing that I think it must be controlled by Murdoch himself. Rarely does it have an article with any bite. Bill Clinton's attendance with his wife on the campaign trail has been the norm since the beginning, so whatever is the big deal about it, I can't work out. Occasionally it does come up with a particularly good article but I must confess that I find it useful only for its cryptic crossword.
Occasionally it does come up with a particularly good article but I must confess that I find it useful only for its cryptic crossword.
Posted by: woz at September 4, 2007 03:58 AM
He's got his face in everything hasn't he, Darn it all, I told America they could keep him, it just appears they did'nt listen to me.
All the talk of changing our media laws - which serve us very well - scares me. We'll end up with a media like the US - controlled by the one corporate owner. Howard would be for that. Hopefully Rudd won't.
Darn it all, I told America they could keep him, it just appears they did'nt listen to me.
Posted by: rossiann at September 4, 2007 05:03 AM
And I've assured them that we don't want him!!
The Ghosts Inside the Machine
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_anthony__070903_the_ghosts_inside_th.htm
Now if the majority of America would only think for themselves, instead of listening to the ghost inside the machine, we might get a Leader of the Free World with some nous, Wouldn't that be something memorable? after the incompetant that has resided there for the last eight years.
Secret Disservice:
HR 811
By Michael Collins
The current version of Holt's bill up for vote this week backs off of the public right to inspect voting machine software, open source code, in a big way and lets vendors keep secret the software and methods that determine your elections. Let me put it another way, you don't get to see how the voting machines work that elect the officials who govern you – ever!
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_michael__070903_secret_disservice_3a__.htm
Matt Howard, young marine, after two tours in Iraq is here in Australia to attend the demonstration outside APEC to get troops out of Iraq. He's been on the news on all channels tonight. And right now he's a member of the audience contributing to a discussion about protests and the ways to get views heard.
He just made a brilliant response to the Minister for War who said that we in the government have been appointed by the people to make these difficult decisions.
Speaking to himself, Matt responded with - yes, you make the decisions and you never go and fight yourself.
Heads nodded all around the tiered audience/speakers from all backgrounds - except of course our War Minister or whatever he is.
Hooray for Matt. It's great that he's being given such coverage across the media.
The clergy thing is apparently true, and it is no surprise they would pick the clergy here.
I guess we never really talked about how political corruption went hand in hand with religious corruption in the deep south. georgie and his bunch learned how to rig elections here, they also learned to manipulate religious politics here.
Ever since georgie got into office his admin. has been buying off churches and the result is from the pentacostals to the baptists, right up the street from me, preachers are telling their congregations what a good good man georgie is every sunday.
If you dare question it, you are questioning GOD HIMSELF.
I will be honest with you, I won't dare make a move to stop it. I will not even confront it. Confronting racists and religious bigots are completely different. I have seen the religious people at work down here, and I have no qualms in saying they scare me.
I left the church for a reason.
650 support staff with Dubya!!! How many people could have health care for life if that money had been reassigned to something important? 650 staff for a little jaunt. With his own vehicles and toothpaste no doubt.
This is obscene!!
Christy, wasn't the KKK a religious male mob?
Hatred in the name of religion... if that ain't the heights of hypocrisy, I don't know what in Gods name is.
Don't cross 'em.
I will tell you the kind of people you are dealing with.
Right before my break from the baptists at 15, I saw perhaps one of the most disturbing things I ever saw, and to this day, I think about it all the time. It was not the reason I broke away, but it happened immediately before I bolted.
I lived way the hell out in the boonies, and our church was a small country church with a really big and faithful congregation. To get to school we had to go for miles and miles and pick up all us kids from the boonies and a lot of them attended that church. I was baptized in that church.
I knew about the 'youth parties' that were held once a year, but I never attended before. As a teen I was a downright lonewolf. Anyways...
A week before the party, all the kids on the bus start talking about it. Most of them were not poor like my family, so they were all bragging how 'I bought such and such book for the party!'.
But it was mostly music they bought. Every day they would have new tapes. Country, rock, rap. They went out and bought them just for the party. Eventually even I got interested because they were pulling out all these really great books and music, all the newest and most popular stuff. Brand new copies of classics, like Brothers Grimm. It got exciting to think of the kind of party you coud have with those as entertainment.
I admit I was both amazed and kinda jealous, cause my parents could never afford to let me go on such a shopping spree. I remember looking at their new music tapes thinking it must be quite a tony party for a church to throw.
I decided I would accept my standing invitation and check it out. I knew there was this 'ceremony' where you had to 'give your life to Christ' and swear all kinds of religious things to show what a good kid you were. I kinda skipped that part and got there just as it was getting dark. There were kids my age everywhere with very few adults in sight, they were running and circling around this big bon fire.
The preacher was there directing everything.
And I guess all of you know what happened next. To this day, it is hard for me to even believe I stood there and watched as one by one these kids lined up and threw books and music into the fire.
The whole premise was to give your life to Jesus, you had to denouce 'pop culture'. Not just denouce it. Burn it. Cleanse it from existance.
I was asked repeatedly what books or music I had brought to throw in. I just kept shaking my head and watching. As they threw them in there was spontainious dancing and ....a wierd euphoric joy.. that took over all of them, and to this day I can not get their faces out of my mind. They were my neighbors, my schoolmates, and some of them were even my friends.
I could not believe it. I watched one of my friends throw in a brand new Garth Brookes tape, and I knew she had the same tape at home. She listened to it everyday.
I started crying and went home. I didn't tell anyone what had happened that night until now.
Sometimes I see those kids out now, grown with their own families. A lot of them still attend the same church. Every time I see one of them, that night is the first thing I think about.
My mother told me once about the nazis, 'People who will burn books, will burn people, too.'
All I know is that I will never trust the church again, as long as I live. Or my neighbors kids.
I will never trust a preacher, a priest, nor a pope.
I do like nuns though.
Christy
Those are what friends and I call the American Taleban.
I also worked with patients with such famlilies. They thought their cerebral palsied or head-injured kids had demons in them. I lost my job because one of them complained about my yin-yang ring.
I remember when I was in high school and John Lennon made the flip remark that the Beatles were now "bigger than God." People all over burnt their Beatle records.
When I talk to people from other countries, one of the first things they say now is "America is a very religious country, right?" I think it always has been, but with a wide spread of beliefs, but only recently was the government infiltrated.
If anything will save us, it will be that we are born for things like music. We are designed for it, just as for language.
American Taleban.
I do endorse those religious people who are antiwar.
I have worked closely with some. Imagine the schism between them and the cult-like people we've been talking about.
I talked to a French friend in his 20s the other day and told him about the Pew study where an aetheist was ranked below a woman, a black, a gay, a Mormon as someone people would vote for. He said, "I guess in US you have to belong with something. If you are not Christian, you can be Muslim or Jew but if you are not that, you have to at least be Pagan or a "sect" (meaning their word for "cult," such as Scientology).
What does Ann Coulter call her last book? "Godless"
I believe if you fear God, it is probably because you know you ain't living right.
When people quit being trained to worship what they fear, they will quit killing each other. Fear has been the problem all along.
Since the fist man had the first vision of hell, fear is what has caused our evolution to become completely suicidal.
Every weapon every created was invented out of fear. That is precisely why I do not own a gun. Or fear guns.
I am only afraid, of being afraid.
There are so many factions - I imagine if some of them got too close to each other it might be like those battling Shiite militias that fight each other, not just Sunnis.
I want to mention that it's a Methodist minister who is calling public meetings here lately about our loss of civil liberties (habeus corpus etc). It's a "peace church" (Church of the Brethren) down the street who houses the main peace group here. It was churches who guarded the local mosque when a guy tried to torch it after 9/11. Churches are well represented at every peace vigil, war protest rally, civil rights rally, GLBT parade. I even met a Priest who said that he believes Bush is the antiChrist!
We can't win alot in 2008 without such people and they need help against the work of the others. It's a sad reality. & there are plenty of people who are in the middle - neither activists nor fanatics, but attenders. They can be preyed on be others more extreme, as can the young and searching.
I've been looking at rightwing sites for a couple of months and a favorite thing for them to do is to attack anyone who says Islam is a religion of peace. They contend that Christianity is a religion of peace and Islam is a religion of war. Actually, neither religion is a religion of peace OR a religion of war because there are too many writers, revisers and interpreters across too many centuries. But they say that because Islam is a religion of war, the peaceful Christians must attack them. It's very strange logic. Then there is the rapture stuff.
By the way, an a different topic, check out what Backbone Campaign and Code Pink will be doing when Congress comes back into session! It's good to make a visual, personal statement instead of just writing and writing on the internet - up close and personal. & it's action, not just complaining. Hope someone listens, especially those up for election.
Christy
You are right. On those rightwing sites I've seen alot of fear. It seems the more people fear, the more they arm themselves, and those with their own personal arsenals are the most paranoid of all.
Monkey says... Don't cross 'em.
Do not worry your soul, dear Brother Monkey! I won't. Not without an army of angels led by Micheal, himself.
Most eager to confess at the foot of God. Just also more eager to do a lot of other stuff first.
Like hang up my sign in my newly (mostly) cleaned out shop. I painted it last night.
It says 'Cole Studios'. And I am about to go hang it up and THANK GOD for all that He does give. Amen!
Yes, NMP, I know... there are good churches, and most of the faithful are not bad people. But those places are always like atleast 1000 miles from here.
I am not really hostile to the faith, but this is an extreme place. The crap that goes on down here, I just hope baby Jesus isn't looking.
As I said, it is no surprise such a clergy program would be initiated here. I have a feeling it will be the first region locked down.
Lock down the center, and you will control both east, and west.
Christy
Yes I think it's extreme.
Just now a devout Catholic nurse gave me a bumper sticker that has photos of Bush & Cheney on it and it says "International Terrorist"!
Here we have megachurches of Bush and we have peace churches, so it really is different factions. It also fits the urban blue/rural red model, as most of the megachurches are in the "exurbs" that Rove microtargeted, thus adding 11 million new voters.
I left the church for a reason.
Posted by: Christy at September 4, 2007 07:46 AM
The church today sucks Christy, not my church not my beliefs. They molest our children, they allow a mass murderer an Audience in supposedly my House of God here on earth, to be quite honest they can shove their church, you do not need church to believe in God and try to live by Gods laws, the moment they started molesting our children and accepting Georgie into their midst, they lost me.
Don't worry kev will say a few Hail Mary's for me and shug, what can I do with her, but it is still what I believe.
This is obscene!!
Posted by: woz at September 4, 2007 08:29 AM
Georgie is obscene!! woz
new thread
but it's obscene...