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No, we have not become inured to the deaths of soldiers in Iraq. More and more Americans are losing faith in the war that President and Bush and his team led us into. They are sick of the wasted lives that Eugene Robinson wrote about in the Post. The message from voters in the midterm elections was unequivocal. The Iraq Study Group's report left no doubt about the mishandling of the war although it failed to suggest a clear guideline for ending it. But the message has not gotten through to the president and the warmongers. They are manoeuvering to justify continuation of the war. The president is not using the phrase "Stay the course" but one gets the impression that he is doing just that.The death toll has reached 2950 out of of which 61 deaths took place in the first 19 days of December.The dead in December. The list is incomplete and reflects deaths confirmed by the DOD.Robert L. Love Jr., 28, Army Staff Sergeant, Dec 01, 2006Keith E. Fiscus, 26, Army Sergeant, Dec 02, 2006Bryan T. McDonough, 22, Army Specialist, Dec 02, 2006Corey J. Rystad, 20, Army Specialist, Dec 02, 2006Jesse D. Tillery, 19, Marine Lance Corporal, Dec 02, 2006Kermit O. Evans, 31, Air Force Captain, Dec 03, 2006Troy D. Cooper, 21, Army Private, Dec 03, 2006Shawn L. English, 35, Army Captain, Dec 03, 2006Billy B. Farris, 20, Army Corporal, Dec 03, 2006Kenneth W. Haines, 25, Army Specialist, Dec 03, 2006Joseph Trane McCloud, 39, Marine Major, Dec 03, 2006Joshua C. Sticklen, 24, Marine Corporal, Dec 03, 2006Dustin M. Adkins, 22, Army Specialist, Dec 04, 2006Jay R. Gauthreaux, 26, Army Sergeant, Dec 04, 2006Ross A. McGinnis, 19, Army Private, Dec 04, 2006Albert M. Nelson, 31, Army Private 1st Class, Dec 04, 2006Roger A. Suarez-Gonzalez, 21, Army Private 1st Class, Dec 04, 2006Nicholas D. Turcotte, 23, Army National Guard Specialist, Dec 04, 2006Thomas P. Echols, 20, Marine Lance Corporal, Dec 04, 2006Christopher A. Anderson, 24, Navy Hospitalman, Dec 04, 2006Jordan W. Hess, 26, Army Specialist, Dec 05, 2006Marco L. Miller, 36, Army Specialist, Dec 05, 2006Jesse J.J. Castro, 22, Army Sergeant, Dec 06, 2006Nicholas R. Gibbs, 25, Army Specialist, Dec 06, 2006Jason Huffman, 32, Army Specialist, Dec 06, 2006Travis C. Krege, 24, Army Private 1st Class, Dec 06, 2006Joshua B. Madden, 21, Army Sergeant, Dec 06, 2006Yari Mokri, 26, Army Specialist, Dec 06, 2006Travis L. Patriquin, 32, Army Captain, Dec 06, 2006Vincent J. Pomante III, 22, Army Specialist, Dec 06, 2006Yevgeniy Ryndych, 24, Army Sergeant, Dec 06, 2006Dustin J. Libby, 22, Marine Corporal, Dec 06, 2006Megan M. McClung, 34, Marine Major, Dec 06, 2006Cody G. Watson, 21, Marine Lance Corporal, Dec 06, 2006Kristofer R. Ciraso, 26, Army Staff Sergeant, Dec 07, 2006Micah S. Gifford, 27, Army Specialist, Dec 07, 2006Henry W. Linck, 23, Army Staff Sergeant, Dec 07, 2006Brent E. Beeler, 22, Marine Reserve Lance Corporal, Dec 07, 2006Nathan M. Krissoff, 25, Marine 1st Lieutenant, Dec 09, 2006Philip C. Ford, 21, Army Specialist, Dec 10, 2006Brennan C. Gibson, 26, Army Sergeant, Dec 10, 2006Shawn M. Murphy, 24, Army Private 1st Class, Dec 10, 2006Nicholas P. Steinbacher, 22, Army Specialist, Dec 10, 2006Thomas W. Clemons, 37, Army National Guard Staff Sergeant, Dec 10, 2006Budd M. Cote, 21, Marine Lance Corporal, Dec 11, 2006Matthew V. Dillon, 25, Marine Corporal, Dec 11, 2006Brian P. McAnulty, 39, Marine Master Sergeant, Dec 11, 2006Clinton J. Miller, 23, Marine Lance Corporal, Dec 11, 2006Gloria D. Davis, 47, Army Major, Dec 12, 2006Brent W. Dunkleberger, 29, Army Sergeant, Dec 12, 2006Theodore A. Spatol, 59, Army Staff Sergeant, Dec 14, 2006Matt Clark, 22, Marine Lance Corporal, Dec 14, 2006Luke Yepsen, 20, Marine Lance Corporal, Dec 14, 2006Paul Balint Jr., 22, Army Private 1st Class, Dec 15, 2006Nick Palmer, 19, Marine Not reported yet, Dec 16, 2006Source: Iraq Coalition Casualties. Follow the link to Glen Kutler's audio report in Newsweek.Eugene Robinson in Washington PostHere's an idea: Let's send more U.S. troops to Iraq. The generals say it's way too late to even think about resurrecting Colin Powell's "overwhelming force" doctrine, so let's send over a modest "surge" in troop strength that has almost no chance of making any difference -- except in the casualty count. Oh, and let's not give these soldiers and Marines any sort of well-defined mission. Let's just send them out into the bloody chaos of Baghdad and the deadly badlands of Anbar province with orders not to come back until they "get the job done."I don't know about you, but that strikes me as a terrible idea, arguably the worst imaginable "way forward" in Iraq. So of course this seems to be where George W. Bush is headed.Don't assign any real significance to the fact that the president has decided to wait until the new year before announcing his next step in Iraq, because if history is any guide, all of this photo-op "consultation" he's doing is just for show -- to convince us, or maybe to convince himself, that he has an open mind. The Decider doesn't have the capacity for indecision."War hath no fury like a noncombatant.--C.E. Montague

Colin Powell * The 4th Circuit Court in VirginiaThe man who stood a good chance of being elected president if he had decided to run in 2000, spoke about the mess in Iraq. After serving four humiliating years, when he was mostly a figurehead used by the neocon clique in the Bush Administration, General Powell left quietly to nurse his wounds. Finally, during his appearance on CBS' Face the Nation (Sunday, December 17), he was strongly critical of the "new strategy" being considered to deal with Iraq. Does his voice still carry weight? After his dog and pony show at the UN to sell the war he does not have much credibility left. True that he was snookered like majority of the Americans were but he was no ordinary American. He remained silent too long after the lies and deceptions used by the Bush Administration came to light.Former secretary of state Colin L. Powell said yesterday that the United States is losing what he described as a "civil war" in Iraq and that he is not persuaded that an increase in U.S. troops there would reverse the situation. Instead, he called for a new strategy that would relinquish responsibility for Iraqi security to the government in Baghdad sooner rather than later, with a U.S. drawdown to begin by the middle of next year.Powell's comments broke his long public silence on the issue and placed him at odds with the administration. President Bush is considering options for a new military strategy -- among them a "surge" of 15,000 to 30,000 troops added to the current 140,000 in Iraq, to secure Baghdad and to accelerate the training of Iraqi forces, as Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and others have proposed; or a redirection of the U.S. military away from the insurgency to focus mainly on hunting al-Qaeda terrorists, as the nation's top military leaders proposed last week in a meeting with the president.Bad News for ConservativesThe ripple effects of midterm elections continue. The conservatives' success in filling up court appointments with agenda driven judges could be coming to an end. The Washington Post's report about the 4th Circuit Court is good news for the rest of us.A growing list of vacancies on the federal appeals court in Richmond is heightening concern among Republicans that one of the nation's most conservative and influential courts could soon come under moderate or even liberal control, Republicans and legal scholars say.A number of prominent Republican appointees have left or announced plans to leave the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, which has played a key role in terrorism cases and has long been known for forceful conservative rulings and judicial personalities.Republican concerns also are fueled by the pending Democratic takeover of Congress, as several of President Bush's 4th Circuit nominees were already bottled up in the Senate when Republicans ran it. From the GOP's perspective, the situation now will worsen.The 4th Circuit's rulings affect everyone who lives, works or owns a business in the area, which encompasses Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and the Carolinas. The court's influence also has been widely felt nationally, and the emerging battle over it is part of a broader struggle for control of the federal judiciary.

See update: A Bouquet for Dr. Mario RiccioA defeat for proponents of euthanasia. "The judge said that the case fell outside of his jurisdiction, saying politicians needed to address a 'gap' in the law." It is unlikely that Italian legislators would succeed in remedying the gap any time soon. Mr. Welby will have to endure living a life hooked up to high-tech gadgetry -- life that, for him, has ceased to be meaningful.Here in America we are far from making the choice of death with dignity available to all who desire such an option. Oregon is the only state in the union where a terminally ill person has the right seek physician assistance in dying. The enlightened voters of Oregon made that possible in the face of opposition from religious organizations and the Federal Government. Oregon's Death With Dignity Act survived a few rounds in the U.S. Supreme Court. The shift in balance of power following the mid-term elections will make it difficult for Congress to meddle with the law.Residents of other states do not have the option of physician assistance in dying but they can take steps to avoid being kept alive against their wish by executing an Advance Directive and Do Not Resuscitate Orders, also known as Living Will. The form is available from Caring Connections. Another source is American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). The web sites contain detailed information about the law in all states of the union.From the BBC: "Mr Welby is confined to bed, is fed through a tube and speaks through a computer that reads his eye movements."Mr Welby's case has been backed by pro-euthanasia campaigners in Italy's parliament.Marco Capatto of Italy's Radical Party, a coalition partner in Prime Minister Romano Prodi's government, said his group would continue to campaign on Mr Welby's behalf."We're determined to support his plea to stop the torture he is suffering," the Reuters news agency reported him as saying.But conservatives backed the decision.Rocco Buttiglione, a devout Catholic and part of the centre-right opposition, told Reuters: "No-one can order to kill."Prime Minister Romano Prodi's centre-left government is divided over the issue. His coalition includes Catholics as well as socialists, who have come out strongly in favour of Mr Welby's right to refuse treatment.Euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide have been legalised in the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, but remain illegal in much of the rest of the world.Recommended reading:How We Die : Reflections on Life's Final Chapter by Sherwin B. Nuland,MD, Vintage PaperbackOn Death and Dying by Elizabeth Kübler-Ross, The MacMillan Co.Final Exit by Derek Humphrey, Dell PublishingEuthanasia and the Right to Die edited by A.B. Dowling, Peter Owen, LondonListening to: Bach CantatasComposer: Johann Sebastian BachConductor: Philippe HerreweghePerformer: Peter Kooy, Barbara Schlick, Howard CrookOrchestra: Collegium Vocale Ghent (Orchestre)EMI Records

Venality Continues But Levin Ready to Investigate War & CounterterrorismThe shameless politicians did their behind the scene wheeling and dealing for their pet projects. As the 109th Congress came to an end, the new Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev) and the former Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert (R-Ill) lived up to their records.Jeffrey Birnbaum in the Post:In the wee hours of the morning Dec. 7, Senate negotiators rejected a Medicare measure pushed by outgoing House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) that would have meant big revenues for an insurance company in Hastert's home state. But a day later, the $100 million proposal was alive and well, paired with a plan for a major Nevada land swap backed by Sen. Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), the incoming Senate majority leader.The leaders' dealmaking went on behind the scenes during the final, frenetic hours of the 109th Congress. Hastert's provision, which would give certain Medicare beneficiaries additional time to change their health-care coverage, and Reid's plan, which involves more than 900 square miles of federal land, were included in a massive tax and trade measure approved by Congress shortly before its final adjournment early last Saturday morning.The good news is that Carl Levin (D-Mich), who will be taking over chairman of the Armed Services Committee has announced that he will issue subpoenas and hold hearings. "The emerging plans to grill administration officials on the conduct of the war are part of a pledge for more aggressive congressional oversight on issues such as prewar intelligence, prisoner treatment at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, and the government's use of warrantless wiretaps."Among the most eager incoming chairmen is Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.), a lawyer with a professor's demeanor and a prosecutor's doggedness. As head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Levin, 72, will be his party's point man on the Iraq war and on the Democrats' call to begin withdrawing troops in the coming months.Levin said he also plans inquiries into "documentation of waste and fraud and abuse in the contracting areas" of the military. Aggressive oversight "is not just a budget issue," he said, but at some point "becomes a significant moral issue." In the House, Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), another leading advocate of a phased withdrawal, has vowed to use his Appropriations subcommittee chairmanship to investigate the Iraq war, holding "two hearings a day for the first three or four months . . . to find out exactly what happened and who's been responsible for these mistakes."

Friday Morning CharivariSouth Dakota Senator Tim Johnson's medical condition threw an unexpected spanner in the works. To the consternation of Democrats and glee -- subdued, but certainly glee -- of Republicans there are uncertainties about his recovery. In the worst case scenario for Democrats, a Republican would be appointed by Mike Rounds, South Dakota's Republican Governor, thus removing their one vote majority and Vice President Cheney would be back to act as tie breaker. The vice president has been keeping a low profile after November 7th. The ISG report did not give him joy either.If Johnson's or any other Democrat's seat switches to the GOP after the new Senate is underway, however, even Cheney's tie-breaking powers could leave Republicans facing a difficult-to-impossible battle to seize control. Barring an agreement to the contrary, Democrats could filibuster efforts to reorganize the chamber and proceed to assume committee chairmanships.It is an uneasy time. If I were a praying man I'd be lighting candles for Senator Johnson. *The much anticipated ISG report landed with a thud but the president and those who are against an early withdrawl from Iraq found wiggle room. They are manoeuvring to continue, albeit with some cosmetic changes. The President is hooked to the war. The war and his macho talk made him popular back in 2003. He is unable to accept the fact that people no longer believe in the war or in him. Tom Toles' cartoon in the March 17th issue of the Washington Post is as true today as it was then. March 17, 2006 Hendrik Hertzberg in The New Yorker :The day after the Report was issued, President Bush held a joint news conference with a visitor, Prime Minister Tony Blair. The President took the opportunity, as the Times put it, to “distance himself” from “the central recommendations” of the Study Group—specifically, its calls for diplomatic engagement with Iran and Syria and for pulling back American combat brigades. That was no great surprise. More alarmingly, Bush also distanced himself from the cold shower of reality the Study Group had aimed at him. “I think the analysis of the situation is not really in dispute,” Blair said. But it was in dispute. “The thing I liked about the Baker-Hamilton approach is it discussed the way forward in Iraq,” Bush said—which was to say the thing he didn’t like about it is it discussed what is actually happening in Iraq. When a correspondent suggested that he was “still in denial about how bad things are in Iraq,” the President replied, “It’s bad in Iraq. Does that help?” When another reporter noted that the Study Group wants leaders to be “candid and forthright with people,” he tried. “We have not succeeded as fast as we wanted to succeed,” he said. “Progress is not as rapid as I had hoped,” he said. His problem is success that is insufficiently fast, progress that is insufficiently rapid. Our problem is that he sees it that way.

Walmart * Euthanasia Back in the NewsInsanity fair. Holocaust deniers gathered in Teheran to take part in a conference. Saw a picture of Ahmadinejad embracing a bearded Jew! The Holocaust happened. There is overwhelming evidence to support that a systematic slaughter of Jews took place during Hitler's Third Reich. Those who question it have blinders on.The animosity between Muslims and Jews in the Middle East is understandable. Israel's role in dealing with Palestinians cannot be condoned, neither can its operation against the Hezbollah in Lebanon that resulted in deaths of a thousand or more civilians. After years of using its vastly superior military force Israel has failed to have any noticeable impact on the will of the Palestinians. True, they live amidst rubbles and their economy is in shambles. Yet the suicide bombers keep coming. All that has nothing to do with the Holocaust. It was a dark chapter in history when many nations aware of what was going on in Germany looked the other way. The Vatican was among those who remained silent. Some of the very people who argue that the Holocaust did not take place also believe in Armageddon and extra-terrestrials landing in flying saucers.Facts - The CampsBelzecBergen-BelsenBuchenwaldChelmnoDachauDoraJanowMaidanekMauthausenNeuengammePonaryPustkowSkarzyskoSobiborStutthofTheresienstadtTreblinkaVilnaWarsaw Did Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's hints about nuclear weapons have anything to do with Teheran's tirade against Israel? Now he is trying to wiggle out of what he said but the fact that Israel has nuclear capability is not a secret. Think of Iran and Israel lobbing nukes at each other and there you have the scenario for end of the world as we know it.While on the subject of Armageddon, Walmart is in the news because of a series of video games based on the Left Behind series. Trust Walmart not to miss an opportunity for making money while the fervor lasts.From Campaign to Defend the ConstitutionWhat's Wal-Mart promoting this holiday season? The religious right's extreme ideology.Just in time for Christmas, the religious right has released a violent video game in which born-again Christians aim to convert or kill those who don't adhere to their extreme ideology. Disturbingly, the game's apparent attempts at religious indoctrination are aimed at children and focus on violent, divisive, and hateful scenarios. While the religious right apparently has no problem pushing the product this holiday season, America's #1 video game seller should know better.The Euthanasia Debate - Two Items from BBCAn Italian court has adjourned to decide whether to allow a terminally ill man to die, in a landmark case.The man, Piergiorgio Welby, has muscular dystrophy and is paralysed. He wants doctors to be allowed to turn off his artificial respirator.The high-profile case has sparked fierce debate in mostly-Roman Catholic Italy, where euthanasia is illegal and the Church forbids it.The judge is expected to deliver her verdict within a week.Church of EnglandA Christian medical body says holding back treatment to allow ill newborn babies to die - when treatment would be "a burden" - is not euthanasia.The Christian Medical Fellowship was responding to a report in the Observer.That said the Church of England believed withholding treatment from some seriously disabled newborns may be right "in some circumstances".The Nuffield Council on Bioethics has been seeking submissions into critical care in foetal and neonatal medicine.It told the BBC it has received over 100 submissions from interested organisations into the controversial issue.Its report will be published on Thursday looking at the ethical, social and legal issues which may arise when making decisions surrounding treating extremely premature babies.

The years when General Pinochet and the junta ruled Chile cannot be wiped out. His death could mean the end of bitterness for some of the survivors. For those who lost their friends and family members -- the ones who "disappeared" -- it is not that easy. We learn now that Augusto Pinochet was not only a despot but also a thief. He stashed away millions of dollars in foreign bank accounts.The United States played a shameful role in aiding and abetting Pinochet because the architects of American foreign policy lead by Henry Kissinger saw Pinochet and others like him as bulwarks against communism in Latin America. Pamela Constable in Washington Post:But when Pinochet spoke of the need to "extirpate" communism from Chilean soil, it sent chills down my spine. As victims emerged from secret prisons, we learned what that verb really meant: fingernails pulled out, electric shocks applied to genitals, mock-rape by dogs. To this day, I remember the faces and the voices of weeping men, ashamed to confide the terrible things that had been done to them.Among those who mourned his passing was Margaret Thatcher, Britain's former prime minister. An editorial in The Guardian commented:"The "sadness" of Margaret Thatcher, grateful for the Chilean's help to Britain during the Falklands war, also reflected her feeling for an authoritarian rightwinger and anti-communist on a continent where military juntas were then commonplace. It would be fascinating too to hear from Henry Kissinger, architect of Washington's realpolitik calculations about policing its "backyard".How grand it sounds: Operation Iraqi Freedom. Those who coined the phrase probably patted themselves on the back. Three and half years later they face a quite different scenario. The situation has become nightmarish both for Iraqis and those who sold us the war in 2003. We who opposed the war have reason to feel vindicated -- vindicated but not elated. The costs in human and financial terms are staggering. Jon Cohen's report in today's Post reads: "Poll: 7 of 10 Americans Disapprove of Handling of Iraq War". Excerpts:Negative assessments of the war in Iraq -- the central issue in last month's midterm election -- continue to hold down President Bush's job approval ratings and could cast a pall on the final two years of his presidency.In a new Post-ABC News poll, seven in 10 Americans disapprove of the way the president is handling the situation in Iraq -- the highest percentage since the March 2003 invasion. Six in 10 say the war was not worth fighting.While both gauges on the war have been negative since late 2004, Bush's approval rating on Iraq has deteriorated further since early October, likely weakened by recent high-profile criticisms of the administration's Iraq policy.The bleak appraisals of the war include the release last week of the much-anticipated report from the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan government advisory panel, which described conditions in Iraq as "grave and deteriorating."With evident public skepticism about the situation in Iraq, the war remains the president's biggest challenge and the heaviest drag on his overall approval rating.In this poll, 36 percent approve of how Bush is handling his job, which is the second lowest percentage in Post-ABC polls since Bush took office in 2001; 62 percent disapprove.And as has been true throughout this year, the intensity of sentiment runs starkly against the president: Those who strongly disapprove of Bush's job performance outnumber those who strongly approve by nearly a 3-to-1 margin. Comments Anonymous — 2006-12-12 Great post, thanks. Don't know if you've seen these two short videos from Iraq yet or not, but both show the US Military engaging in some very dubious actions. I have them up on my site at www.minor-ripper.blogspot.com ..You have to wonder what these soldiers were thinking when videotaping this stuff...

Selling of Wars and Creation of Myths * End of an Evil ManSoldiers in battle risk their lives and perform acts of bravery. That is fact. On the flip side there are the exploiters who take part in exaggerating or creating myths about actions that didn't take place or, if they did, they were not what was made out to be. Recently, we had accounts in the media about Jessica Lynch's capture and rescue hyped up beyond any semblance of reality. Then there was the tragic case of Pat Tillman who was mistakenly shot by American soldiers in a so called friendly fire incident. Until the details trickled out, he was reported to have died bravely fighting enemy attackers in Afghanistan.Flags of our Fathers might not win Clint Eastwood many admirers but he and Steven Spielberg (producer) deserve praise for their courage to expose the sham behind the fabled flag at Iwo Jima. The details are nauseating. The people who staged the show at Iwo Jima might not be around but there are others like them who continue to do what was done at Iwo Jima. Their job is to sanitize and glorify wars. They hide or airbrush the ugly side, create a false, technicolor image for the public. Often, the mainstream media unquestioningly runs with the pap.Neal Ascherson in The Guardian, UKFlags of our Fathers, the new film directed by Clint Eastwood and produced by Steven Spielberg, is about how a human deed can become an artefact, shrinking its actors into irrelevance. Over the next 20 years, the flag raising on Iwo Jima morphed into a stream of representations, each vaster and more alienating than the last.The first repeat happened on the same day. Some officer down below wanted the flag for himself, so a new, bigger one was sent up. Six other Marines wrestled it into position, and as they did so, AP photographer Joe Rosenthal snapped them in a photograph that - marvellously composed by pure luck - went round the world and became, for Americans, the iconic picture of the Second World War.Three of Rosenthal's flag raisers were killed in the next few days. The other three were brought home, to be used as hero figures leading a gigantic, States-wide campaign for war bonds. Soon they were putting on their helmets and carbines to scale papier-mache models of Mount Suribachi, planting Old Glory on the summit for the enjoyment of 50,000 ecstatic patriots.By now the photograph had been on every front page. It hung on the office walls of senators and in the living rooms of millions of Americans. It generated paintings, models, postage stamps. It was no longer about six men but about collective heroism, patriotism, the cult of sacrifice. Details of the original moment began to peel away. It was written that the Marines had climbed the mountain under fire, fighting every inch of the way. One of the dead Marines was confused with another, who had not been at the flag raising, and when the three survivors protested, they were told to shut up. (The photograph shows only their backs, not their faces.) The image began to matter more than the individuals. An epic war movie, Sands of Iwo Jima, was made with John Wayne in 1949. Finally, in 1954, a colossal statuary group - 100 tons of bronze, each figure 30 feet high - was raised in Washington as the memorial of the United States Marine Corps. The three survivors were invited to the unveiling but the names of the flag raisers are not on the plinth. This was a monument to the power and triumph of a nation, not to them.Flags of our Fathers belongs to the tradition of great American war movies. But in striking ways it turns away from that tradition and marks its limits. Clint Eastwood has used all the technical genius of Spielberg, his producer. And yet, as an old man, he looks down on war with a sovereign anger and pity. That feeling has always been lurking. 'I guess we all died a little in that damned war,' he says in The Outlaw Josie Wales. He sees that the genre of Vietnam movies - all concerned with what happens to Americans, but not to their adversaries - has run out of time. And so, astonishingly, his companion film - Letters from Iwo Jima - is about the Japanese experience in that fight, which cost nearly 7,000 American lives but killed almost all the 22,000 Japanese defenders. The film, which opens on 20 December in America, has already been named Best Picture of 2006 by the critics at the National Board of Review. (It will be released in the UK on 23 February.) Another departure is Eastwood's rebellion against the notion of heroes. In a time when any soldier in action is termed a 'hero' this was a sturdy line to take.Yes, there are heroes. Then there are callous, boorish soldiers. A felllow blogger (www.minor-ripper.blogspot.com) referred me to an item on YouTube. The video clip made me think of apes, not soldiers.Anti-war filmsAnti-war fictionAugusto Pinochet (1915-2006)Count me among the gleeful. The headline in The Guardian reads "Glee and Grief as man who brought 'Spanish Inqusition to Chile' dies at 91". Good riddance. He was an evil man, a brutish dictator who came to power with help from the United States under President Nixon and his Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Too bad that he died without answering for his misdeeds -- the torture and murder of thousands of dissidents. In a just world Henry Kissinger should be on the dock answering charges for his role in the coup against late Salvador Allende, legitimately elected president of Chile. Comments Anonymous — 2006-12-11 The war against communism and hunger in Chile left aproximately 3000 dead. US war versus terrorism, how many? Consider facts within context, please.

Power of Lobbyists * Military FamiliesThe tentacles of lobbyists reach deep into our system of government. From FDA to Congress and the NIH, legislations related to products and services that affect all Americans are often guided and shaped by lobbyists and elected representatives on the take. Democrats are not untainted although in recent years it was the Republicans who blatantly served special interest groups. They make a mockery of what President Lincoln said at Gettysburg on November 19, 1863: "........and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."The Post has two items about the power of special interest groups.Dairy Industry Crushed Innovator Who Bested Price-Control SystemIn the summer of 2003, shoppers in Southern California began getting a break on the price of milk.A maverick dairyman named Hein Hettinga started bottling his own milk and selling it for as much as 20 cents a gallon less than the competition, exercising his right to work outside the rigid system that has controlled U.S. milk production for almost 70 years. Soon the effects were rippling through the state, helping to hold down retail prices at supermarkets and warehouse stores.That was when a coalition of giant milk companies and dairies, along with their congressional allies, decided to crush Hettinga's initiative. For three years, the milk lobby spent millions of dollars on lobbying and campaign contributions and made deals with lawmakers, including incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.).NIH Scientist Pleads Guilty in accepting $285,000 from Pfizer A senior government scientist who was a focus of a congressional probe into conflicts of interest in medical research admitted in federal court yesterday that he improperly failed to disclose payments of $285,000 he received as a consultant for the pharmaceutical manufacturer Pfizer Inc.Pearson "Trey" Sunderland III, who was chief of the Geriatric Psychiatry Branch of the National Institute of Mental Health, pleaded guilty in Baltimore to a misdemeanor charge of violating conflict-of-interest rules.There are many of us who hold strong position for or against the war in Iraq. How do the families of soldiers feel? They are the ones whose voices have more power than the rest. While Christian Davenport and Joshua Partlow's report in the Post covers only a few such families, it confirms that a divide exists. Opposition to the war has gained strength among military families but the oppposition is far from the level of sentiments in the waning days of Vietnam war.Nancy Hecker hasn't read the Iraq Study Group's report. She doesn't need to. She knows her son, Army Maj. William F. Hecker III, died at 37 for a just cause, no matter what the antiwar crowd thinks.If she "can stand firm in support of our country and the mission, is it too much to ask the rest of the country to do so as well?" she asked.Beverly Fabri also doesn't need the report to help her make up her mind on Iraq. "We are not going to win this war," she said. "And we shouldn't have gotten involved with it in the first place."Almost three years after her 19-year-old son, Army Pvt. Bryan Nicholas Spry, was killed, she said: "I'm beginning to feel like he just died in vain, I really am."As the country debates what's next for Iraq, many family members who have lost loved ones in the war are torn about what should happen and how the legacy of those who have died there will be affected.When the war began nearly four years ago, there was virtually unanimous support for it among military families. But as the country's belief in it has deteriorated, cracks have also begun to show among those who were its staunchest backers. And now, as the death toll mounts, many are struggling to reconcile bad news that seems to keep getting worse with the mission their loved ones believed in and died fighting for. * Sunday morning musicJohann Sebastian Bach Organ Work SelectionToccata and FuguePerformer: Hans Otto, Helmuth Rilling, Jorgen Ernst Hansen, Knud VadAudio CD (April 16, 1995)Denon Records Comments Anonymous — 2006-12-10 Great post, thanks. Don't know if you've seen these two pretty shocking videos from Iraq yet or not (kid chasing bottle of water, car getting crushed), but both star the US Military and put it in a very negative light. I have them up on my site at www.minor-ripper.blogspot.com ..You have to wonder what these soldiers were thinking when videotaping this stuff... nvittal — 2006-12-12 Another case of US doing it all wrong from start and creating a HUGE mess fo others to clean up! Sometimes, I think our leaders totally lack long-term strategies. They just don;t seem to get it! It happened with Afghan mujahidden fighters, then with Saddam. We are still backing some of the most corrupt goverments for our short-term interests! Everytime we mess with a foreign country, we seem to be creating a future debacle!

Less than two weeks before the Winter Solstice. The much needed rains came yesterday and more expected during the next few days. Looking out of the window I see the Gingko trees have lost most of their bright yellow leaves. There are piles of leaves on the street. They,too, will disappear soon, scattered by winds. Gingko Tree, Nov.14 @ Musafir Same tree - Dec.9 @ Musafir, Canon Powershot S3 ...