Cindy arrested
Over the past few months, Cindy Sheehan and I have been having an email discussion.
From what I could gauge, Cindy has been on top of all issues. Cindy accepted all advice I gave her with great humility.
Cindy was prompt to reply to all my concerns about her movement.
Yesterday evening, I learnt, sadly, but with a great deal of pride, that Cindy Sheehan has followed in the footsteps of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, and many thousands on non-violent freedom fighters around the globe, by being arrested for protesting the invasion and occupation of Iraq.
Cindy Sheehan was arrested a few hours ago on the pavement in front of the White House.
Cindy Sheehan being arrested
in front of the White House (AP Photo / Evan Vucci)Here is a mother who has faced the greatest tragedy of her life when she lost her son, Casey, in Iraq.
If Bush and co. think they can break her will by arresting her, they can guess again.
Cindy is going to come out of this just as Mahatma Gandhi did when he violated the Salt Act and Nelson Mandela did when he strode out proudly from the gates of his prison.
We pray for you Cindy.
And keep smiling as all the world is smiling with you.
Baghdad Moment; Washington Moments
I remember Ragi Omar of BBC screaming with all his stength about the Baghdad Moment which was hailed by Bush and Blair as being historic.
Here is a reminder of that moment.
Bush and Blair's Momentous Baghdad Moment,
the toppling of the Saddam StatuteRemember the huge crowds at this event - as was seen from those close up shots from the Mainstream Media - including BBC.
And how about this shot from yesterday's Washington Momentous Moment
Bush and Blair's Momentous Washington Moment,
on the toppling of Bush and Blair, 24th September 2005My count says it is closer to 10 million
viewed on the same scale as the Momentous Baghdad Moment.
And compared with this Pro-war rally in Washington yesterday, that Anti War rally must be 50 million!!
Pro war Rally in washington on 24th September 2005
I am delusional! Thanks for putting me straight
Entry posted on the Gen. Wes Clark forum on Sun 25 Sep 2005 at 08:55 CET
It was interesting to see the set of replies to my last blog entry!
1. Gen. Wes Clark is so busy that he does not read his own blog!
Does he depend on those around him, as you, like Bush, to tell him the "news" he wants to hear?
From his standpoint that I have seen so far, I think that is so.
Is he, like Bush, so busy doing "hard work" not to read his own blog?
2. In one case I am accused of not handling a question about rhetoric and in another I am told that my answer to a posting showed I am not one of a small minority of people worldwide (5%) which does not follow the Microsoft herd!
What I write may be rhetoric to you. Well, I am not going to change my style for anybody. I said I am not here to please anybody, sell you anything, but to tell it as I see it. You do not want to hear - then as many of you have said, sign off reading this drivel. That is your prerogative.
Do any of you wonder why your American MSM behaves as it does? You are the living proof of what the American MSM has become what it is. I hope all of you stay tuned for the next issue of the white woman missing in Aruba!! Great knowledge to have!
4. I was accused of being many things, such as of being a liar, having a big head, being an egoist, that all of you know everything about your country, and that that I should post about Finland and keep my views about US to myself.
Thanks for these compliments, as I now know I am on absolutely the right track. If Gen. Wes Clark has supporters such as you then my charge that he is a "Bush apologist" is 100% correct. Maybe I should add he is a "Bush clone", thanks to his great bunch of supporters!
You judge a person by his hangers-on, and many of you are a fine example of what I have read Gen. Wes Clark to be.
Remember it was one of you that asked me stick around and post on this blog page. Also Finland is not raping the world!
Maybe you do not know it, but I have had over 10,000 web pages on a variety of subjects having been on the web for over 10 years! Now that I have retired from active working life I do not run my web pages as a business and have withdrawn and given up my own domain name.
But for your information my pages included "Finnish Democracy = Oligarchy", "Discrimination of foreigners in Finland", and hundreds of pages on Ethnic Minorities and their problems in Finland. If you care to read a little further you will find that I am the author of the books "Handbook For Survival in Finland", "Seven Years Hard Labour in a Finnish Holiday Camp - A Finnish University", many hundreds of articles on a variety of subjects including e-Governance prior to the US November elections which foretold what would happen and what will happen in your 2006 elections!
But to all of you that is my ego and my big head, isn't it?
For your kind information, I do still occasionally take up Finnish issues in the English media, as you may seen from my recent entry on my blog about an Indian slum and the related web page with a slide show about a Finnish slum!
It was indeed interesting that besides doing my character assassination without any facts to support it, not ONE of you addressed the issues raised in my entry - so be it.
I know what to expect from this audience. That is because it appears most of you cannot stand the truth.
I do not need to rebut any of the accusations as not one of them had substance.
I am not addressing YOU
Entry posted on my blog on Gen. Wes Clark's forum on Saturday 24th Sep at 21:40 CET
It was interesting to read the replies to my first post on this blog.
First, I tackle the question of "professional army". Here is the quote I am referring to:
"Now, never bet against the U.S. military -- I wouldn't ever do that. They are unmatched in dedication and professionalism."
You can read my reply to this at:
http://www.tpmcafe.com/comments/2005/8/29/94325/1284/194#194
I apologise that I may have misquoted him on this blog. He may not have used the phrase "professional army" but the above quote was summarised by me into meaning that he thought the US had a army unmatched in dedication and professionalism.
I objected to this - the US army may be dedicated (even this I doubt) but they are not professional. No professional army would make the mistakes that have been made in this invasion and occupation.
Do not blame policy. If policy dictates what an army does, then it is not a professional army. The Bush policy is known is "chaos theory" and the army is a tool in implementing that theory. And the army leadership are a set of fools to implement that theory at the cost and lives of US soldiers.
The talk of the war having been won is ridiculous. You live in Bush dreamland if you believe this.
Because your opponent melts away as they know that fighting an army armed with the might of the American army does not mean that the US won the invasion. The American army were trapped into a situation from which they are now unable to escape, purely because the American army is NOT professional. They American Army today does not even know WHO it is fighting!
Great professionalism.
Every action of the army which went into Iraq reeks of unprofessionalism. The looting, the leaving of weapons caches unguarded, the nuclear drums being left unguarded, the prison torture scandals, the hiding of photographs by the Pentagon, using legal means to cover up the handiwork of the army, flattening of Fallujah, shows an army which is totally and completely unprofessional.
Dedicated to cover up? Yes.
I have already given you the quote of Gen. Myers on the dodging of the bullet by New Orleans, showing that this is not a professional army, but a mouthpiece for false Republican Talking Points.
That is the work of an army run by sycophants - whatever the definition of sycophants you want to use.
One person thought the list of Talk Show Hosts that I made was such that not one was of "national repute". Yet he failed to name a single national liberal Talk Show Host!
With 5 MNCs and Clear Channel controlling your American mainstream media, do you think any worthwhile liberal Talk Show Host will be allowed on your national media?
That goof Alan Combes who remains a sidekick? Yes, he is nationally known - but for what?
The person who wrote that revealed that he makes up his what is national because he watches mainstream television. I do not watch television, period. Not even BBC! I have other channels to receive news, factual news. Not spin.
Three years ago I was totally and completely disgusted with ALL Americans. It is these liberal Talk Show Hosts that rejuvenated my faith in Liberal America. At least I know that there are a few who are carrying the light of liberalism in the US, which gives me some hope.
If Gen. Wes Clark is not listening to this blog, I will quit immediately. It is worthless talking to people who have closed minds and have no way other than shouting down anyone who has a opinion different from their own.
As a result of my web page of my correspondence with an "educated" American, I have had thousands of emails from ALL levels of American society about it. Most begged me to believe that Americans were unlike that "educated" American.
But seeing some of the replies here, I do not think I can accept that view. Right and left wing opinion in America seems to want to kill the messenger.
I write to all sorts of media and media personalities, such as Washington Post, New York Times, Helen Thomas, Bob Herbert, Paul Krugman, for the purpose of determining the true liberal agenda.
Many may think Al Franken is a great national liberal Talk Show Host. In my opinion, he sucks. I have heard so much drivel out of him, I am glad Thom Hartmann is on at the same time so I can listen to a true historian who conveys facts to his audience. Al Franken is a national comedian, not a competent Talk Show Host.
Issue of my hostility.
Yes, I am hostile to a nation that has caused the deaths of millions of innocent Iraqis and they do NOTHING about it but "re-elect" the man responsible. Till his re-election, it was possible to pass the blame, but not after, especially after witnessing what happened to the poor and the black in Ohio!
And New Orleans and Katrina confirmed what I thought.
So the hostility is certainly directed at Americans AFTER the 2004 elections. And I do not apologise for that hostility.
Am I trying to persuade any of you about anything?
No.
I am trying to persuade Gen. Wes Clark that what he is claiming in his posts and articles is "rubbish" and he should come out and be an honest leader.
If not, he remains, in my mind, a "Bush apologist".
Yes, he has to be honest on these issues to make him a leader in the eyes of the world. He may earn your respect as your leader - just as Bush has his following of goats, but Gen. Clark will become the laughing stock of the world, like Bush, if he keeps insisting that American troops cannot quit Iraq NOW.
And I am NOT AMERICAN. That is my qualification.
The question of calling my hosts sycophants - why not?
Do you call a spade as a trowel?
I call people what I think they are, whether they like it or not.
You can call me an idiot - and I will accept it, if it were true. Why should I hold back words in a dialogue? To be nice? I am not here to win your approval.
Just as Senator Patrick Leahy wants to be nice when voting for Judge John Roberts?
I am here to show you my point of view. Debate me on that.
Learning and teaching.
I am not trying to teach anyone anything. I am educating myself every minute. Why else would I listen to 10 or more American liberal Talk Shows, take part in DU Underground, and blogs such as DailyKOS, TPM Cafe, John Conyers Jr. and why else would I have direct correspondence with people as Cindy Sheehan, George Galloway, Bob Herbert, Helen Thomas, etc. I learn by the minute and form my conclusions from what I hear and read from people who take time to research subjects.
(Just out of curiosity how many of you wished Helen Thomas on her birthday? I did, on 5th August. :-), Thanks to Mike Malloy. )
That comes to whether I am trying to catch anyone here or anywhere else with honey or vinegar. I am not trying to catch anyone anywhere, with anything. I put the blame where I think it lies. You will find that on my blog. Should I try to catch John Bolton by applying honey to my words about him?
Finally, the Opera Browser works wonderfully on a Mac, but Mac users also have Safari, Camino, Firefox, Omniweb, Mozilla - all of which work equally well. I run all of them simultaneously on my two Mac computers. And I have not used a Microsoft product for 10 or more years, so I sleep well at night. I am not part of the mindless herd.
Global Warming is NOT a US National Security Issue!
Comment posted on Gen. Wes Clark's blog on Thursday 22nd Sept 2005 at 22:00 hours CET
I must strongly disagree with Gen. Wes Clark, who is showing a remarkable lack of depth of knowledge when he says that Global Warming is a national security issue.
The US, with 5% of the world's population consumes 26% of the world's energy (American Almanac). Around the world some 2 billion people are without electricity (US Dept. of Energy) while US residents consumed over 12,000 kilowatts of electricity each (Grist Magazine). The US is the world's largest single emitter of carbon dioxide, accounting for 23% of energy related emissions worldwide. (US Dept. of Energy)
That makes global warming an International Security Issue.
If the US Government does not change its policies in tune with the demands of the rest of the world, then it will become incumbent on the rest of the world to impose the necessary sanctions on the US.
If that does not work, the countries of the world will be required to take steps to ensure that the US leadership, like Saddam Hussain, is replaced.
Considering that the US has a third rate totally unprofessional army which has been whipped in Vietnam and Iraq, to bring the US under control will not be much trouble. The US population is so indolent not even able to get rid of unelected and corrupt leaders, unlike Ukraine and Georgia!!
Since the US army is run by sycophants (remember Gen. Powell's lies in the UN, which he now claims is a blot on his record, or the lies by Jt. Chiefs Chairman Gen Myers who said "New Orleans Dodged a Bullet"), they will turn tail and run or hide in Green Zones, unlike what Gen. Wes Clark has been claiming publicly about professionalism. The army does not even have the basic needs - so whipping them is no big deal as the barefoot freedom fighters in Iraq are proving.
In truth, IMHO, the present US army is the laughing stock of the world and appears to be a collection of a bunch of bullies and cowards. Only such people treat people like animals as in Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan and Abu Ghraib.
In summary, Global Warming is an International Issue and defaulters will be eliminated.
Jacob Matthan
Enemy Combatants?
Comment posted on my Blog Page on the TPM Cafe on Wed. Sep 21 at 09:35 CETWhat is the definition of "Enemy Combatants"? Does it apply in this case?
"CAN THE IRAQI POLICE IN BASRA HOLD COALITION FORCES?
According to UK authorities, coalition forces detained by Iraqi authorities must be handed over to the US-led multinational force. The Defence Minister John Reid insisted that Iraq's interior minister had ordered the release of the two British soldiers - Baghdad authorities have not confirmed this - and that failure to comply with that order had prompted the military action."
Remember that earlier in this piece it said:
Alan Simpson, of the left-wing Campaign Group of Labour MPs, said: "The message is this: it is the time to go. It is a horrible mess, worse than Northern Ireland because no one pretends that this is our country. When you get army personnel dressed as Arabs armed with automatic weapons, everyone will see this as the role of agent provocateurs. It has just ripped our credibility into tatters. Tony Blair should bring an end to this chaos."
And this:
"The questions raised in Basra
WHAT HAPPENED IN BASRA?
Two British SAS soldiers, apparently in Arab clothing and wearing wigs, were arrested while allegedly conducting a surveillance operation on Iraqi police.When challenged, the soldiers are believed to have fired on a police patrol, killing one officer. A British delegation was dispatched to the police station where they were being held to negotiate their release. Tensions rose after no progress was made, and British Army officials claim they had reason to believe the soldiers had been handed over to a local Islamic militia."
Under the Bush-Blair war of terrorism doctrine these are "Enemy Combatants". They were not in British Army uniform and they were found on the battle arena with guns, weapons, etc.
The Iraqis had the right to hold them incommunicado, put them in Guantanamo type holdings, torture them to their heart's content, treat them degradingly, and ship them to places where they could be further tortured!
Could they not?
Or do double standards apply here also?
QED
British people are such fools
On April 4th 2005, just before the British elections, I wrote in my blog entry which was called " Don't you believe it!! Another Blair LIE".
It concerned a statement which appeared as the latest news headline in The Telegraph:
Britain to pull 5,500 troops out of Iraq, By Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent, (Filed: 03/04/2005)
What is the headline today from BBC today"
More UK troops 'ready for Iraq'
Britain is ready to send more troops to Iraq - if they are needed, Defence Secretary John Reid has said.
Nine thousand British soldiers are already involved in operations in the Gulf, and thousands are due to be sent to Afghanistan next year.
Admiral Sir Michael Boyce, a former head of the armed forces, warned the forces were being asked to do too much.
But Mr Reid told ITV1's Dimbleby programme that more troops would go to Iraq "if necessary".
We are there until this job is done
Defence Secretary John Reid
Sir Michael, head of the armed forces from 2001 to 2003, had earlier told the Sunday Telegraph: "The MoD is strapped for cash.
"If we want to remain a global force for good around the world, it seems strange that the armed forces are not being properly funded."
The Sunday Telegraph also reported secret plans to reduce troop numbers in Iraq have been shelved.
'No cutting and running'
Mr Reid said seeing through the commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan were the right thing to do for those countries and the world.
"Our troops will be there until such times as the conditions are met - those conditions being the Iraqis themselves having such democratic control and such security forces that they can take the lead."
The army is overstretched and undermanned
Andrew Robathan, Conservative defence spokesman
He said more troops would be sent to Iraq "if that is necessary".
"We don't need them at the moment. If they are necessary, of course we would do that and when the Iraqis decide that they want to take over the transition and the lead then they will tell us.
"But there is no cutting and running. We are there until this job is done."
He said there was adequate funding available for the armed services, and said, since Labour took power, there had been more cash in real terms every year.
But he added: "Yes, I want to make sure if our armed forces are going to play a greater role in the world than previously that we give them the welfare, the numbers and the equipment that they need.
"So I'm always keen to press the case for more money but, of course, people want the health service, they want education as well."
Andrew Robathan, a defence spokesman for the Conservatives who served in the SAS, said: "The army is overstretched and undermanned.
"Iraq is a mess. And thousands of soldiers will be sent to Afghanistan next year.
"And the MoD is still bent on cutting four infantry battalions."
The British people are such fools with such short memories and they think the rest of us around the world are the same!!
Lights Go On In N.O. for Bush Photo-Op and than Off?
Comment #7 posted on Congressman John Conyers Jr.'s blog: jmatthan said on 9/17/05 @ 12:12am ET...
What truly amazes me is that the sensible citizens of US do not seem to have a trigger point when they are being abused by their Government. Replace the concept of "abused woman" by "abused citizens of the US" in this quote from the site "PLAIN TALK ABOUT... WIFE ABUSE" and I think I understand the problem!!
"A CLOSER LOOK AT HOW THE ABUSED WOMAN FEELS
A woman who has been abused over a long period of time is afraid. Not only is she afraid that she, herself, will be seriously hurt, but if she has children, she fears for their safety also. Her feelings of fear link her to all other women, from all classes of society, in similar situations. Fear might be a woman's first and most immediate feeling during or after a beating, but other negative feelings may surface when she is not in physical danger. The abused woman is apt to develop doubts about herself. She might wonder if she is justified in fearing for her life and calling herself an "abused wife." Most likely, however, a woman who thinks or feels she is being abused, probably is.
Or, she may feel guilty, even though she's done nothing wrong. An abused wife may feel responsible for her husband's violence because in some way she may have provoked him. This has her placing the shame and blame on herself--instead of her abuser. The longer she puts up with the abuse and does nothing to avoid or prevent it, the less she likes herself. Along with the feeling of being a failure, both as a woman and in her marriage, may come a real feeling of being trapped and powerless, with no way out."
I extend my deepest sympathy to all you abused citizens. However, the answer to the problem lies with you NOW as I am sure it is not going to be in your 2006 elections! It will be just another story as the Kerry / Edwards capitulation, and people like Congressman Conyers Jr. will be busy carrying out "useless" investigations filing "useless" lawsuits and investigations, the word "useless" being ONLY in the context of your abused situation.
Michael Brown Clone in Supreme Court?
Comment posted on TPM Cafe on Sep 12 2005If the Democrats had any spine they would take the public view that they did not want a Michael Brown clone as the Supreme Court Chief Justice!!
Without complete investigation at the hearings - that is what they are likey to get!
Spending Capital on Bush's Base
My letter to Marianne Williams and The Detroit News, which published an article by Marianne on Saturday, September 10, 2005, Faith and Policy, "People sense president's soulless sensibility"
Dear Ms. Williams, Editor The Detroit News,
Marianne Williamson has written a short but insightful piece "People sense president's soulless sensibility" but she makes one statement which shows she has failed to realise what the Bush Government is all about!
Marianne wrote: "The president prides himself on running the government like a well-run business. That, of course, makes him the chief executive. And if the government failed, then he failed."
The Bush government has not ever been and is not for the American people.
It is a government for his "base".
The "bottom line" of base is presently doing extremely well with the invasion and occupation of Iraq, Hurricane Katrina, the tax cuts, the appointment of unqualified cronies at all levels of his malAdministration, so, by their perception, the Bush government "has not failed."
Democracy, freedom, the American Constitution, the American people, the minorities, the Afghani people, the Iraqis, the citizens of New Orleans, and the entire world may be crushed under their heel, but so long as Bush's base has not suffered any of the consequences, as was so eloquently put by Barbara Bush in her comment about those in the Houston Astrodome, the Bush government is a huge success.
Mrs. Bush, after touring the Astrodome complex in Houston on Monday, said: "What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them." "Sarcasm OFF"
Yours sincerely
--
Jacob Matthan
http://jmpolitics.blogspot.com
http://MoveTheUN.blogspot.com
Blair's henchwoman tries to rid Civil Liberties
The story about getting rid of Civil Liberties in the UK makes frightening reading.
The statement MI5 head warns on civil liberties is a plant by Blair and his criminal gang in power so as to escape being charged with War Crimes for their illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq.
Civil liberties may have to be "eroded" to protect Britons from terrorism, the head of security service MI5 has said.
In a speech made in the Netherlands on 1 September and put online by MI5, Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller said the world had changed and a debate was needed.
She said the July London bombings were a "shock", which MI5 and police were "disappointed" they could not prevent.
They want to cover their ineffectiveness in relation to the can of worms they have opened by their illegal invasion by pushing things under the carpet and ensuring that citizens can never uncover them by legal means.
Instead of working to make the world a safer, more loving and tolerant place, Bush, and his lapdog, Blair, and their gang of criminals are working to undermine the world order and to gag people so that these criminals can plunder and loot the resources of the world as THEY think fit.
"But the world has changed and there needs to be a debate on whether some erosion of what we all value may be necessary to improve the chances of our citizens not being blown apart as they go about their daily lives," she said.
The questioin to be answered is who changed the world?
It is these criminals who did and who have to be punished - and they are the ones who spread death and destruction. These are the arch terrorists, Bush and Blair, who go around in sheeps clothing!
Brown Out, Full Accountability Remains Elusive
Comment #12 posted on Congressman John Conyers Jr.'s blog: jmatthan said on 9/9/05 @ 11:01pm ET...If the investigation was carried out similar to how Congressman James Senseberger ran that Committee Meeting on the Patriot Act, what more would one expect!
I think you should be the one to point this out!
RE: Oh, so now the Washington Post editorial board thinks Bush screwed up
Comment posted on the Americablog.com by John Aravosis & friends to the Entry " Oh, so now the Washington Post editorial board thinks Bush screwed up" on Sep 9 at 17:13Considering that Bush does not know how to read and, therefore, does not know what is written in the Washington Post Editorial, do you think ANYONE is going to tell him about this Editorial.
That is not how sycophants function.
His response to Nancy Pelosi was exactly that of a person in permanent denial.
It will be Ra-ra-ra Bush till 2008!!
Watch him in his element this Sunday - he will get to say September 11 at least a dozen times!
This picture says it all
One of the Worst Disaster to Hit the US - BUSH
Powell grovels in front of the world
Powell regrets UN speech on Iraq WMDsPowell regrets UN speech on Iraq WMDs
Former US secretary of state Colin Powell says his United Nations speech making the case for the US-led war on Iraq was "a blot" on his record.
Mr Powell has also said that he had "never seen evidence to suggest" a connection between the September 11, 2001 terror attacks in the United States and the Saddam regime.
In the February 2003 presentation to the UN Security Council, Mr Powell forcefully made the case for war on the regime of Saddam Hussein, offering "proof" that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
The presentation included satellite photos of trucks that Mr Powell identified as mobile bioweapons laboratories.
After the invasion, US weapons inspectors reported finding no Iraqi nuclear, biological or chemical weapons.
And about the present sitaution in Iraq, he said:
"It may not have turned out to be such a mess if we had done some things differently."
Powell is a war criminal along with Bush and Blair and has to be tried and punished for the death and destruction he has been responsible for.
Kudos to Ex-Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad
In a speech Ex-Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has accused the UK of "state-initiated terror".
Malaysia ex-PM sparks UK walkoutWho cares whether they walked out or not. they could not stomach the truth!!
He took the words right out of my mouth.
Bush and Blair are the two largest terrorists on this earth, sponsoring terror, creating terrorist and terrorising the entire world!
Dr Mahathir said US and UK pilots in Iraq were "murderers" and compared the war to rocket attacks on Palestinians.
He said the UK and the US invaded Iraq on a lie and compared what they had done to Israeli attacks on Palestinians.
"And these murderers, for that is what they are, would go back to celebrate 'mission accomplished'.
"Who are the terrorists? The people below who were bombed or the bombers? Whose rights have been snatched away?"
Dr Mahathir also turned on Western human rights campaigners, who he said had ignored the plight of the Iraqi people during a decade of sanctions that followed the first Gulf war.
Kudos to Ex-Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad
Re: KATRINA AND THREE WOMEN IN THE KITCHEN
Comment posted on TPM Cafe on Sep 09, 2005 -- 10:40:41 AM CET Come on folk.
Larry is just saying that having Laura, Condi and Barbara in the same kitchen, whether at the White House or at the Crawford ranch, is a bit much!!
And just imagine if they had also let that Cindy Sheehan in!!
Re: 42 Minutes of Shame
Comment posted on TPM cafe on Sep 09, 2005 -- 10:26:00 AM CET
I do not understand all this head-shaking.
To all the world Joe Liebermann has been a Republican in Democrats clothing.
What did you expect from him, and what do you expect from him NOW?
Very very disturbing news!!
Those of us who have been very contented users of the Skype Voice Over Internet Service have reason to be very worried. Many American companies are trying to buy over this successful company. The latest which was reported in The Financial Times and Wall Street Journal today is the offer by Ebay.
Ebay appears to have made a cash offer of between US $2 and 3 billion. New York Times reported a figure of US $5 billion.
I had suggested many months ago to Google that they should be the one to integrate Skype into their Personalised Web Service. But Google chose rather to introduce a very stunted Talk Service losing a golden opportunity to score over Microsoft, Yahoo, and even Apple, who with their iChat have now entered the Mobile Phone market in conjunction with the Motorola Rokr phone and the Cingular Phone Service. Apple have integrated iTunes into this new mobile phone and it will not be long before they also integrate iPhoto into the camera phone version which must be now under intensive development.
Just at this moment there are over 3.25 million people actually using the Skype service. Registered users may be double or even treble this.
I have been talk to granddaughter Asha in England for hours at no cost. I will be talking to grandson Samuel who has now moved to Newcastle. I have been speaking at no cost to friends and relatives in India, UK and USA for many many months. I have introduced Skype to many of my friends. The technology is just perfect, especially on the Macintosh Apple platform, as the sound, input and output, is even better than a normal fixed line or mobile phone.
With the Americans trying to edge in to take over Skype, the free service will probably vanish as whatever the Americans touch means death and destruction in terms of the have-nots.
Migrating to US? Think twice!
Entry posted on TPM Cafe on Sep 08, 2005 at 13:35 CET Being from Kerala, it is from my main blog
Jacob's Blog for todayUN hits back at US in report saying parts of America are as poor as Third World, by Paul Vallely, Published: 08 September 2005 in the British newspaper "The Independent" is certainly given immediate validity by those of us who have watched the New Orleans and surrounding area tragedy caused by Hurricane Katrina unfold.
Here are some comment key points contained in this latest UN Report on World Poverty:
"Parts of the United States are as poor as the Third World, according to a shocking United Nations report on global inequality....
The annual Human Development Report normally concerns itself with the Third World, but the 2005 edition scrutinises inequalities in health provision inside the US as part of a survey of how inequality worldwide is retarding the eradication of poverty.
It reveals that the infant mortality rate has been rising in the US for the past five years - and is now the same as Malaysia. America's black children are twice as likely as whites to die before their first birthday.......
But the 370-page document is critical of American policies towards poverty abroad as well as at home. And, in unusually outspoken language, it accuses the US of having "an overdeveloped military strategy and an under-developed strategy for human security".
"There is an urgent need to develop a collective security framework that goes beyond military responses to terrorism," it continues. " Poverty and social breakdown are core components of the global security threat.".......
India and China, the UN says, have been very successful in wealth creation but have not enabled the poor to share in the process.....
Blacks in Washington DC have a higher infant death rate than people in the Indian state of Kerala."
More important, it is not only in poverty that US is in tandem with the Third World - it also matches it in being a Banana Republic filled with corrupt or compliant politicians who care a damn whhether or not their constituents are drowned in water, blood or debt.
Re: It Takes an International Community
Comment posted on TPM cafe on Sep 08, 2005 -- 06:26:52 AM CET "Year after year we spend 25% or maybe, 24% of our entire federal budget on foreign aid, and this is all they offer us?"
A comment that had me laughing - give with one hand and take back 10 fold with the other!!
Like Bush " Oblivious, In Denial, Dangerous"
What do you think Bolton is trying to remove from the UN reform document?
"In meetings with foreign delegates, Bolton has expressed concern about a provision of the agreement that urges wealthy countries, including the United States, to contribute 0.7 percent of their gross national product in assistance to poor countries. "
The US presently contributes less than most EU countries of their GNP to the UN!!
In addition, the UN is a net contributor to the US economy.
Read from the Move The UN blog:
"May I quote William Luers
"The United Nations has brought enormous prestige to this already prestigious city," said William Luers, of the United Nations Association of the United States , a private group. The UN contributes some $2.5 billion a year in economic activity to the city, he points out, and is responsible for about 18,000 jobs."
The bulk of these 18,000 jobs have gone to US Nationals.
Re: Obama on Katrina
Comment posted on TPM cafe on Sep 08, 2005 -- 05:54:09 AM CET Note the qualifier "or"!
A politician must do what is right - not speak with one voice and act with another.
That is what a MAJORITY Democrat politicians including Obama do.
At least we know what Joe Liebermann does as what he says matches his deeds - he is a Republican masquerading as a Democrat.
Remember, I am not watching as a citizen of the US but as an outside Observer.
Re: 24/7/365
Comment posted on TPM Cafe on Sep 08, 2005 -- 04:48:16 AM CET
Why would Bush be worried about a going for another tax cut at this stage?
Here he has an opportunity to conveniently channel a large portion of the US $51 billion to his base!!
In contrast, the tax cut to them would have been miniscule.
Re: Plame Update: Hearing Postponed
Comment posted on TPM cafe on Sep 08, 2005 -- 04:40:08 AM CET
So they have swung the Democrats by their nose yet again!!
If any of you Democrats have any balls, you will proceed with the investigation and enquiry, ignoring the absence of the Republicans. If anyone does not appear, then just as they publicly castigated George Galloway (with the complicity of some "Democrats"), condemn those in no uncertain terms. Issue your final report with the evidence you can muster and make it public from every rooftop in the US and the world.
It takes two to tango. At the moment, it appears that the Republicans like tango-ing by themselves while the Democrats are waiting for Godot!!
Re: It Takes an International Community
Comment posted on TPM Cafe on Sep 08, 2005 -- 04:25:18 AM CET
This is probably known as throwing mud in the face of an arrogant nation and its arrogant people.
How many times have I heard it said that it is the US that ALWAYS rushes to aid countries that face natural disasters, and how a large group of Americans have pointed out to many of us that we should look after our own?
People would point me to the USAID wheat shipped to India in the 1950's as how much the US had given to that country, failing to think about Union Carbide and Bhopal as another sort of gift that the US so willingly donated to the people of India.
I can remember the tremendous antagonistic attitude to India by this US Administration for rushing to aid Sri Lanka at the time of tsunami. It was labelled by the US as India trying to get poltical dominance in territory within its sphere of influence!!
Is there anything in the world that the US has not politicised for its own ends?
With the arrogance of Bush, Bolton, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Rice and their like strutting across the world stage, this is the absolute response of many countries who want to rub it into the eyes of every American that the US is a third world country in EVERY respect!!
It was really heart-warming was to to see even Cuba offering assistance to this third-grade country known as the US.
That really rubbed salt into a deep wound that Bush has wrought on America as he drowns your country in blood and water, and not to mention debt!
Aftermath of Hurricane Sweeps through Congress
Comment #2 posted on Congressman John Conyers Jr.'s blog: jmatthan said on 9/7/05 @ 9:51pm ET...
Dear Congressman,
What Bush and the Republicans are doing was absolutely predictable. So what strategy has the Democrats put in place to counter this incompetence?
If the Democrats cannot find a winning strategy against this highest level of incompetence, is it not that the Democrats are more incompetent than the Republicans?
How did Gandhi get rid of the British? How did Nelson Mandela get rid of apartheid?
If the US Democrats have not learnt lessons from these great leaders, then they need to be sent into oblivion and the citizens of US get what they deserve.
Yesterday, for the first time, I heard from Nancy Pelosi that she thought that Bush is "'Oblivious, In Denial, Dangerous".
The rest of the sane thinking world has known this all along, and yet you have Democrats who have been and are still unwilling to say what needs to be said. They seem to like playing footsie with the power machine while Bush strums and drowns your country in blood, water and debt.
Such issues, as fighting for bankruptcy relief in the face of natural disaster, really shows how bankrupt the Democratic Party really and how far it is removed from the people.
Maybe the Democratic party is best left to die as the more incompetent party of the two?
Which incompetence would you prefer?
Entry posted on TPM Cafe on Sep 7, 2005, 16:30I have been reading about the sheer incompetence all around in the Bush malAdministration.
Who is Condoleezza Rice, Who is John Bolton, Who is John Negroponte, Who is Paul Bremner, Who is Michael Chertoff, Who is Michael Brown, Who are Michael Brown's number 2 and number three in FEMA?
The situation speaks of total and complete incompetence from the pResident downwards.
But this also speaks volumes about the situation.
If the Bush malAdministration is incompetent to this degree, then the Democrats must be doubly incompetent, as they cannot stand up and control and manage incompetence of this order.
So which incompetent group would you rather have?
Where are you from jmatthan?
Comment 17 posted on the TPM Cafe on Sep 7, 2005 at 16:18 in response to a question as to where I am from!Does it matter where I am from? You can find out from any of my web pages or blogs.
I am one who fears what Bush and his criminal gang and a bunch of compliant or corrupt Senators and Congressmen and women, both Democrats and Republicans, and even more corrupt malAdministrators are doing to this world.
May I list Dick Cheney, James Sensenberger, Norm Coleman, Jow Biden, Bill Nelson, Rick Santaroum, Bill Frist, Tom Delay, John Kerry, John McCain, Hillary Clinton, in my list of compliant or corrupt politicians. And may I list Paul Wolfowitz, John Negroponte, John Bolton, Michaell Chertoff, Michael Brown, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, Paul Bremer, etc., etc. amongst my malAdministrators.
They have to be stopped. If American citizens will not do it, then it will be necessary for those in the world who love freedom and democracy and the rule of law to stop them.
Re: Obama on Katrina (Comment 13)
Comment 13 posted on TPM Cafe on Sep 07, 2005 at 08:30 amSenator Obama wants to speak but not hear.
I used to send Senator Obama mail and I used to get a pleasant automated "Thank you" message.
However, it seems the Senator Obama, now, does not want to hear, as my latest email was bounced with a message of non-delivery from the webmaster.
Senator Obama is nicely fitting into the Senate mould!!
Re: Obama on Katrina (Comment 10)
Comment 10 posted on TPM Cafe on Sep 07, 2005, 8:00 amI am not American, I do not live in the US, I an not white and neither am I black.
I listened and watched Obama during the Democratic Convention and thought here is man likely to be a great Senator.
But then I watched his performance in the various hearings and also watched his votes in the Senate.
I am sadly disillusioned about this individual.
Now, I again hear fine words - and I can say Obama can give you words, but there is no substance as he is part of the wolves in sheep's clothing.
Where was Obama when the vote was taken to accept the results of the November Election? Where was Obama when it came to confirming Condoleezza Rice?
He was even out of step with the Black Caucus - so words are cheap for Obama but he looks first at HIS BASE and that does not match those beautiful words. He can dream all he wants but with his type of leadership the poor black community will continue to remain poor!
Bob Herbert: Great article - but wrong on one point
When email Bob Herbert about his excellent Op-Ed today, I wrote:
Bob Herbert
New York Times
USA
Dear Bob,
Thank you for another great article,
September 5, 2005, A Failure of Leadership
but you are wrong on one point.
You wrote:
"Mr. Bush's performance last week will rank as one of the worst ever by a president during a dire national emergency. What we witnessed, as clearly as the overwhelming agony of the city of New Orleans, was the dangerous incompetence and the staggering indifference to human suffering of the president and his administration."
The performance of Bush in any given week of his entire pResidency has ranked as the worst ever.
However, the Mainstream Media, including this toilet rag The New York Times, which calls itself a newspaper, that you write in, has been giving Bush and his criminal gang the FREE PASS as they are run by a bunch of sycophants of the Judith Miller mould.
We bloggers have been hammering Bush from Day 1 in November 2000!
Thank you for a great piece.
Hurricane Katrina -- How We Got There; Where do We Go from Here
Comment #24 posted on the Congressman John Conyers Jr.'s blog: jmatthan said on 9/5/05 @ 4:55pm ET...Congressman Conyers,
The present situation is disastrous, not only in the US, but all over the world, due to the actions of the present US pResident and his criminal gang of thugs.
They thrive on chaos, as in chaos it is impossible to locate the real source of the thuggery.
The ideal example is what John Bolton is doing in the UN - 750 modifications to a document that has been discussed and finalised over a period of time by all participants before he came on the scene, including the US State Department!! Destroy the concept of reform by creating chaos.
You, Congressman, have done a brilliant job so far on focussing attention on many of the subjects that are important in this chaos.
But you are nowhere near the centre of chaos.
Osama bin Laden, Afghanistan, 9/11 investigation, Saddam, WMD, Valerie Plame outing, Iraq, US mercenaries, no-bid contracts, Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, Florida and Ohio, Jeff Gannon, Social Security, rewarding incompetence by appointments of Condoleezza Rice, John Bolton, John Negroponte, Chertoff, Michael Brown, etc., lack of troops, John Roberts, Hurricane Katrina lack of response, John Roberts for Chief Justice...
The list is unending as the idea is that a chaotic situation means that there is no target to fix on. The Mainstream Media has no teeth. The average readers do not know what is important.
So the Bush criminal gang gets to fix their Talking Points and the target is always moving.
The brilliance of the focus of Cindy Sheehan helped destroy the moving target for a time. SO it was Bush who had to keep moving to try to drawe away the focus of the MAINSTREAM MEDIA.
But, remember that when that happened, the focus on treasonous Rove vanished into thin air.
Now the single issue focus of Hurricane Katrina has removed the disastrous focus of Cindy Sheehan and moved Rove further away from the centre-point so he is back in control.
You asked what could be done.
The entire liberal blogosphere under your leadership should uniformly take up the Talking Points - point by point and destroy the Talking Points promoted by the Bush Criminal Gang. It should be you that controls the Mainstream Media agenda - not the Criminal Gang.
Can you depend on your fellow Democrat Congressman and Senators. Sadly, NO, as they are a bunch of collaborators with the criminal gang and their self interest controls their agenda, unlike you and a handful of others.
What I have suggested is the only way you will get to destroy the state of chaos.
That is chaos theory.
Can you believe this?
Disaster FAQs
Hurricane Katrina: Why is the Red Cross not in New Orleans?
* Acess to New Orleans is controlled by the National Guard and local authorities and while we are in constant contact with them, we simply cannot enter New Orleans against their orders.
* The state Homeland Security Department had requested--and continues to request--that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans following the hurricane. Our presence would keep people from evacuating and encourage others to come into the city.
* The Red Cross has been meeting the needs of thousands of New Orleans residents in some 90 shelters throughout the state of Louisiana and elsewhere since before landfall. All told, the Red Cross is today operating 149 shelters for almost 93,000 residents.
* The Red Cross shares the nation’s anguish over the worsening situation inside the city. We will continue to work under the direction of the military, state and local authorities and to focus all our efforts on our lifesaving mission of feeding and sheltering.
* The Red Cross does not conduct search and rescue operations. We are an organization of civilian volunteers and cannot get relief aid into any location until the local authorities say it is safe and provide us with security and access.
* The original plan was to evacuate all the residents of New Orleans to safe places outside the city. With the hurricane bearing down, the city government decided to open a shelter of last resort in the Superdome downtown. We applaud this decision and believe it saved a significant number of lives.
* As the remaining people are evacuated from New Orleans, the most appropriate role for the Red Cross is to provide a safe place for people to stay and to see that their emergency needs are met. We are fully staffed and equipped to handle these individuals once they are evacuated.
Re: Foreign Assistance in Wake of Katrina
Comment posted on TPM Cafe on Sep 4th 2005 at 22:50Care to remember how much Bush promised first at the time of the tsunami till his arm got twisted?
or Is it maybe the Japanese do not trust the US Government with too much cash?
OR Is it possible that that they think that, seeing Bush grinning on TV in his New Orleans photo-op, this is another Bush typical Fund-Raiser?
Who is fighting this war in Iraq?
Comment posted on TPM Cafe on Sunday 4th Sep. 2005It was shocking to read from the floor statement of Congressman Dennis Kucinich in the US House of Representatives on 2nd September 2005 that
the total number of National Guards in Iraq was 78,000!
The United States currently has 140,900 troops in Iraq.If 78,000 of them are National Guards, then there are only a possible maximum 62,900 US regular combat troops in Iraq.
Remember that many of these would also be no combat troops!
Does it surprise anyone why the US has lost this invasion and occupation of Iraq?
Statement by Congressman Dennis Kucinich
WASHINGTON - September 2 - Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH) gave the following speech today on the floor of the Us House of Representatives during a special session to provide relief money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
“This amount of money is only a fraction of what is needed and everyone here knows it. Let it go forward quickly with heart-felt thanks to those who are helping to save lives with necessary food, water, shelter, medical care and security. Congress must also demand accountability with the appropriations. Because until there are basic changes in the direction of this government, this tragedy will multiply to apocalyptic proportions.
“The Administration yesterday said that no one anticipated the breach of the levees. Did the Administration not see or care about the 2001 FEMA warning about the risk of a devastating hurricane hitting the people of New Orleans? Did it not know or care that civil and army engineers were warning for years about the consequences of failure to strengthen the flood control system? Was it aware or did it care that the very same Administration which decries the plight of the people today, cut from the budget tens of millions needed for Gulf-area flood control projects?
“Countless lives have been lost throughout the South with a cost of hundreds of billions in ruined homes, businesses, and the destruction of an entire physical and social infrastructure.
“The President said an hour ago that the Gulf Coast looks like it has been obliterated by a weapon. It has. Indifference is a weapon of mass destruction.
“Our indifferent government is in a crisis of legitimacy. If it continues to ignore its basic responsibility for the health and welfare of the American people, will there ever be enough money to clean up after their indifference?
“As our government continues to squander human and monetary resources of this country on the war, people are beginning to ask, “Isn’t it time we began to take care of our own people here at home? Isn’t it time we rescued our own citizens? Isn’t it time we fed our own people? Isn’t it time we sheltered our own people? Isn’t it time we provided physical and economic security for our own people?” And isn’t it time we stopped the oil companies from profiting from this tragedy?
“We have plenty of work to do here at home. It is time for America to come home and take care of its own people who are drowning in the streets, suffocating in attics, dying from exposure to the elements, oppressed by poverty and illness, wracked with despair and hunger and thirst.
“The time is NOW to bring back to the United States the 78,000 National Guard troops currently deployed overseas into the Gulf Coast region.
“The time is NOW to bring back to the US the equipment which will be needed for search and rescue, for clean up and reclamation.
“The time is NOW for federal resources, including closed Army bases, to be used for temporary shelter for those who have been displaced by the hurricane.
“The time is NOW to plan massive public works, with jobs going to the people of the Gulf Coast states, to build new levees, new roads, bridges, libraries, schools, colleges and universities and to rebuild all public institutions, including hospitals. Medicare ought to be extended to everyone, so every person can get the physical and mental health care they might need as a result of the disaster.
“The time is NOW for the federal government to take seriously the research of scientists who have warned for years about the dangers of changes in the global climate, and to prepare other regions of the country for other possible weather disasters until we change our disastrous energy policies.
“The time is NOW for changes in our energy policy, to end the domination of oil and fossil fuel and to invest heavily in alternative energy, including wind and solar, geothermal and biofuels.
“As bad as this catastrophe will prove to be, it is in fact only a warning. Our government must change its direction, it must become involved in making America a better place to live, a place where all may survive and thrive. It must get off the path of war and seek the path of peace, peace with the natural environment, peace with other nations, peace with a just economic system.”
(Floor Statement of Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich in The Supplemental for Hurricane Katrina, September 2nd 2005)
Re: Two Americas
Comment posted on TPM Cafe on Sep 04, 2005 "We have been too slow to act in the face in the misery of our brothers and sisters. This is an ugly and horrifying wake-up call to America. Let us pray we answer this call. Now is the time to act."
Is this not a bit of hypocrisy on the part of Mr. Edwards?
Where was Mr. Edwards (a trial lawyer fighting for justice of poor underprivileged people?) when those voters were treated so badly when they wanted to cast their vote in the cold and freezing weather last November?
Where was Mr. Edwards (a trial lawyer fighting for justice of poor underprivileged people?) and his friends when Congressman John Conyers Jr.'s was investigating what happened in Ohio in November 2004?
Where was Mr. Edwards (a trial lawyer fighting for justice of poor underprivileged people?) when Congressman John Conyers Jr. released his damming report of the elections of November 2004?
Where was Mr. Edwards (a trial lawyer fighting for justice of poor underprivileged people?) at the time the Downing Street Minutes were revealed to the world?
He, and almost all his Democrat colleagues, have been zipping to act for the interests of the misery of our brothers and sisters, haven't they?
The problem appears to be that their zips are frozen solid in the heat of the equator!
This is an interview you have to listen to
Click to listen to the interview if you have Quicktime.
Right Click on this link and choose "Save target as ..." or "Save link as ..."
Mayor Nagin of New Orleans Interview
Re: Changing course in Iraq requires leadership
Comment posted on TPM Cafe on Fri. 02, 2005So all the Generals in Iraq, and in the Pentagon, Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, are Civilians?
Wonderful news of how the US military is run? Puppetry?
Pull another!
Condoleezza Rice Spotted At Broadway Show, Rest Of Cabinet Responds To New Orleans Devastation...
Comment posted on The Huffington Post on September 02, 2005 at 06:42AM"Drudge seems to have removed this item. So I posted this to him:
"Are you a coward? Why did you take off the Condoleeza Rice story about being at the Opera, the link which was posted at The Huffington Post? Not much backbone, eh? Somebody step on you?" "
Peter Principle, Hurricane Katrina, Tsunami, Sri Lanka, Indian Military
Those who remember the tsunami which hit South Asia on December 26th 2004 will remember the complaints that the Indian Military was helping Sri Lanka so as to gain strategic prestige in the area!
The work of the Indian Military...
more....
Entry posted on TPM Cafe on Sep 02, 2005
Re: Changing course in Iraq requires leadership
Comment posted on TPM Cafe on Sep 01, 2005
Martial Law in New Orleans. Why?
TPM Cafe entry for Aug 31, 2005
