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Casualties * Victims * "The Marlboro Man" When the war ends, as it will some day, and the soldiers come home how will we remember it? What will stand out---stories about the daily danger faced by many, unusual bravery of some, or the images of the prisoners and their gleefully sadistic guards at Abu Ghraib? Then there was the failed propaganda spun around Jessica Lynch. An attempt was made to make Pat Tillman a hero but he lost his life in friendly fire in Afghanistan, not Iraq. Or are we going to remember what took place in Mahmudiyah on March 12th? The Post: "Ex-Soldier Charged in Killing of Iraqi Family". What have we wrought! I suppose that there will be people on both sides of the spectrum. Some will see nothing but good in Operation Iraqi Freedom while others will decry the lies that led us to the war and the lives lost: (current numbers: 2538 American soldiers, more than 40,000 Iraqi civilians not counting victims of the factional strife raging between the Sunnis and Shias).Monsters Among UsAbeer Hamza was raped and killed one night in March. Life will never be the same for surviving members of her family. She could have been a daughter, grand daughter or sister to one of us. Rapes and murders take place here in America and we react with horror and sadness. Four soldiers of the 502nd Infantry Regiment, part of the 4th Infantry Division, are under investigation for rape and murder of Abeer Qasim Hamza. BAGHDAD, July 2 -- Fifteen-year-old Abeer Qasim Hamza was afraid, her mother confided in a neighbor. As pretty as she was young, the girl had attracted the unwelcome attention of U.S. soldiers manning a checkpoint that the girl had to pass through almost daily in their village in the south-central city of Mahmudiyah, her mother told the neighbor.Fakhriyah feared that the Americans might come for her daughter at night, at their home. She asked her neighbor if Abeer might sleep at his house, with the women there.Janabi said he agreed.Then, "I tried to reassure her, remove some of her fear," Janabi said. "I told her, the Americans would not do such a thing."Abeer did not live to take up the offer of shelter.Instead, attackers came to the girl's house the next day, apparently separating Abeer from her mother, father and young sister.Janabi and others knowledgeable about the incident said they believed that the attackers raped Abeer in another room. Medical officials who handled the bodies also said the girl had been raped, but they did not elaborate.Before leaving, the attackers fatally shot the four family members -- two of Abeer's brothers had been away at school -- and attempted to set Abeer's body on fire, according to Janabi, another neighbor who spoke on condition of anonymity, the mayor of Mahmudiyah and a hospital administrator with knowledge of the case. *"The Marlboro Man"Paul Harris in The Guardian: "Combat can change a life in a second. The snap of a sniper's bullet or the blast of a bomb will instantly end it or turn a healthy body into a maimed wreck. But for US marine James Blake Miller what changed his life was the sudden shutter click of a war photographer's camera. On a rooftop in Falluja, Miller was captured in a picture that has become one of the enduring images of the Iraq war. It showed his wan face, streaked with mud and blood, in a moment of reflection. His eyes stared out, tired yet determined. From his lips drooped a cigarette, curling a wisp of thin pale smoke." The image hit the world on 10 November, 2004, as US marines stormed into Falluja to try to end a war that was supposed to have finished more than a year earlier. It appeared on newspaper front pages and made the cover of Time.Miller's image became a symbol of steely resolve, of weary-yet-determined struggle, of the toughness of the American fighting man having a cigarette break before finishing the job. It captured a moment when most Americans still thought the invasion of Iraq a worthy undertaking.Now Miller is a different symbol in a different time. As the war has dragged on, Miller's life has collapsed in the face of post-traumatic stress disorder. He draws a disability pension for his condition and his personal life is a wreck. He suffers from nightmares, panic attacks and survivor's guilt. Despite the immense goodwill of a grateful nation, Miller has slumped into struggle and despair. Last week came the news that he and his childhood sweetheart, Jessica, were getting divorced.Marlboro Man is no longer an icon for the American warrior ethic. He is a symbol of pain and suffering and the enormous problems endured by veterans returning home. He has become the public face of shell-shock. No longer the victor, Miller has become one of the war's victims.In the Appalachian hills which Miller calls home, the word for grandfather is 'papaw'. Miller's step-papaw, Joe Lee, was a Vietnam veteran. In interviews Miller has described how Papaw Joe Lee would get drunk and tell war stories. Then Papaw would get upset and tearful at the memories of death and killing in Vietnam and eventually his wife, fearful of scaring the grandchildren, would tell him to be quiet.Link to the complete article A Soldier's Story by Paul Harris. * The poem below was part of British author Harold Pinter's Nobel Prize (Literature, 2005) acceptance speech.DeathWhere was the dead body found?Who found the dead body?Was the dead body dead when found?How was the dead body found?Who was the dead body?Who was the father or daughter or brotherOr uncle or sister or mother or sonOf the dead and abandoned body?Was the body dead when abandoned?Was the body abandoned?By whom had it been abandoned?Was the dead body naked or dressed for a journey?What made you declare the dead body dead?Did you declare the dead body dead?How well did you know the dead body?How did you know the dead body was dead?Did you wash the dead bodyDid you close both its eyesDid you bury the bodyDid you leave it abandonedDid you kiss the dead body Comments Anonymous — 2006-07-04 This reminds me of Sergeant Frank Ronghi, a Gulf War vet who murdered and sodomized an 11-year old girl in Kosovo. Ronghi took with him another soldier, a private, who finally turned him in. He told him: "(it was) easy to get away with something like this in a Third World country". Sergeant Christopher Rice, who was on duty the night Ronghi murdered the child, added: "He knew because he'd done it before in the desert (in operation 'Desert Storm' in Iraq)."

The Gift Program "approved by Congress" * Our Friends In Somalia * Election, South of the Border $1.3 billion is a large amount of money by any account. That is what our Dept. of Agriculture paid out to people as subsidy for not using their land to farm. The report in the Post made me gasp. "EL CAMPO, Tex. -- Even though Donald R. Matthews put his sprawling new residence in the heart of rice country, he is no farmer. He is a 67-year-old asphalt contractor who wanted to build a dream house for his wife of 40 years. Yet under a federal agriculture program approved by Congress, his 18-acre suburban lot receives about $1,300 in annual "direct payments," because years ago the land was used to grow rice."Matthews is not alone. Nationwide, the federal government has paid at least $1.3 billion in subsidies for rice and other crops since 2000 to individuals who do no farming at all, according to an analysis of government records by The Washington Post.Some of them collect hundreds of thousands of dollars without planting a seed. Mary Anna Hudson, 87, from the River Oaks neighborhood in Houston, has received $191,000 over the past decade. For Houston surgeon Jimmy Frank Howell, the total was $490,709.The Looking Glass War Somalia is as good a place as any to spread some cash, buy some friends and win popularity. The details of why the U.S. paid money to a group of war lords in Somalia to enable them to arm themselves and, instead of reaping benefits, helped the return of a militant leader who is reported to have ties to al-Qaeda should not come as a surprise. The U.S. usually sides with groups hated by local people. Washington Post: "The Americans were in Somalia because of concerns about terrorism, not land. But when the gunfire rang out, the sources said, the U.S. officials wrongly concluded that they were under attack by Islamic terrorists and abruptly fled. It was a provocation, U.S. officials later told Somalis, that demanded a muscular response.""In the weeks that followed this little-known incident, which U.S. officials have refused to confirm or deny, the United States expanded its role in Somalia to levels not seen since it abandoned the country in 1994. The Americans helped organize a group of secular warlords into an "anti-terror coalition" and provided them with a large, steady diet of cash.The warlords, feared and hated by many Somalis, bragged about the money as they armed themselves as never before.The infusion of cash upset a fragile balance between the two sides -- but not in the direction the Americans had hoped.By March, the warlords were under siege. By June 6, they had fled. And by June 24, Hassan Dahir Aweys, a militant Islamic leader hostile to Western democracy and reputed to have ties to al-Qaeda, had taken control of Mogadishu. Late last week, Osama bin Laden boasted of successes there in an audiotape that singled out Somalia as a front in his war against Americans.Mexico ElectionToo close to call. While officials are still checking numbers, both leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and conservative Felipe Calderon are claiming victory. But Mexico is not likely to go through a repeat of Bush-Gore 2000.

A Summer Song * World Cup Soccer "Hey hey, hey, come right awayCome and join the party every day. Take a vacation, fall out for a while,Summer's comin' in, and it's goin' outa styleWell, lie down smokin', honey; have yourself a ball,Cause your mother's down in Memphis, won't be back 'till the fall. Hey hey, hey, come right awayCome and join the party every day."©The Grateful DeadTwo days before July 4th, here in the San Francisco Peninsula there are still pockets of green in the foothills. A reminder of the late rains and unusually cool temperatures. We have had a few days when the thermometer hovered around 100º F (apprx 38º C) but mostly the temperature remains under 90º F. Around 6 P.M. a breeze begins and the evenings turn cool.Berry Creek Falls©musafirYesterday, on a hike in Big Basin Redwood Park I found the Buckeye trees full of white clusters, some beginning to turn brown. Berry Creek Falls still flowing well but the upper falls---Golden Cascade and Silver---have lost force. The holiday weekend brought large number of visitors to the park; it was difficult to find parking space. The campgrounds were full.Red Hibiscus Hibiscus blooming in my yard. Tomato plants (Early Girl) looking strong, still some weeks away before tomatoes ripen. Thai chilies have began to appear. All the herbs---thyme, oregano, marjoram, sage, and lavender doing well but I haven't had any success with basil. Snail bait has failed to prevent them from destroying the basil as they emerge. The keffir lime (dwarf variety) has done better than in previous years. It is full of fragrant leaves. The World CupMy favorite team, Brazil, is out. Defeated by France 1-0. The ageing Zinedine Zidane again showed his mastery of the game. England lost to Portugal 3-0. Following the game, Beckham gave up his captaincy, and the coach, Sven Goran Eriksen, will retire without the crowing glory of World Cup victory. With Brazil and Argentina out of the tournament, Germany is in a good position to be in the final.

Democrats Have Found God * Mahmudiyah, IraqIt seems that there is a headlong rush by Democratic leaders to embrace God. Not that they were all atheists or agnostics, but they were different than the Republicans who began wearing God on their sleeves years ago. It paid dividends in the elections. Is that the reason for Democrats to prove to the American voters that they,too, are religious? That would make them contemptible. E.J. Dionne's column in the Post "Obama's Eloquent Faith" is about the speech given by Senator Barrack Obama (D-IL) at Call to Renewal Conference on June 28th. "Many Democrats discovered God in the 2004 exit polls. Specifically, they looked at the importance of religious voters to President Bush's majority and decided: We need some of those folks. Off Democrats went to their Bibles, finding every verse they could -- there are many -- describing the imperative to help the poor, battle injustice and set the oppressed free. "Here's what stands out. First, Obama offers the first faith testimony I have heard from any politician that speaks honestly about the uncertainties of belief. "Faith doesn't mean that you don't have doubts," Obama declared. "You need to come to church in the first place precisely because you are first of this world, not apart from it."In an interview yesterday, Obama didn't back away. "By definition, faith admits doubt," he said. "Otherwise, it isn't faith. . . . If we don't sometimes feel hopeless, then we're really insulating ourselves from the world around us."On the matter of church-state separation, Obama doesn't propose some contrived balancing act but embraces religion's need for independence from government. In a direct challenge to "conservative leaders," he argued that "they need to understand the critical role that the separation of church and state has played in preserving not only our democracy, but the robustness of our religious practice."The excesses of religious zealots in recent years have given many of us a bad taste in the mouth. I do not question the sincerity of Barrack Obama's position but one has to accept the fact that zealotry among the faithful is not confined exclusively to Republicans. I am concerned about their influence as the Democratic Party courts them.A recently published book, American Gospel by Jon Meacham casts a fresh look at the subject.At a time when our country seems divided by extremism, American Gospel draws on the past to offer a new perspective. Meacham re-creates the fascinating history of a nation grappling with religion and politics –from John Winthrop'’s "A “city on a hill"” sermon to Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence; from the Revolution to the Civil War; from a proposed nineteenth-century Christian Amendment to the Constitution to Martin Luther King, Jr.'s call for civil rights; from George Washington to Ronald Reagan.Debates about religion and politics are often more divisive than illuminating. Secularists point to a "“wall of separation between church and state",” while many conservatives act as though the Founding Fathers were apostles in knee britches. As Meacham shows in this brisk narrative, neither extreme has it right. At the heart of the American experiment lies the God of what Benjamin Franklin called "“public religion",” a God who invests all human beings with inalienable rights while protecting private religion from government interference. It is a great American balancing act, and it has served us well. *What Happened at MahmoudiyahDisturbing report about American soldiers being investigated for rape and murder at Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad. "BAGHDAD, June 30 -- The U.S. Army is investigating allegations that American soldiers raped and killed a woman and killed three of her family members in a town south of Baghdad, then reported the incident as an insurgent attack, a military official said Friday."The alleged crimes occurred in March in the insurgent hotbed of Mahmudiyah. The four soldiers involved, from the 502nd Infantry Regiment, attempted to burn the family's home to the ground and blamed insurgents for the carnage, according to a military official familiar with the investigation, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was providing details not released publicly.Recently an American soldier was taken prisoner and killed by insurgents in Iraq. His body was found brutally mutilated. It drew universal condemnation. Rightly so. There is no justification for such barbaric acts. Do we have the right to point our fingers at others if our soldiers are found guilty of rape and murder of civilians?

The Hamdan Case * Guantanamo Maybe there is hope. That was my thought when The Supreme Court's 5:3 ruling on the Hamdan case sent shockwaves on June 29th. To say that it was a setback to President Bush's arrogant disregard of the Constitution and Geneva Convention would be an understatement. It brought him to a screeching halt. What a subservient Congress does to give him the authority he is now seeking remains to be seen. Peter Baker and Michel Abramowitz in the Post: "For five years, President Bush waged war as he saw fit. If intelligence officers needed to eavesdrop on overseas telephone calls without warrants, he authorized it. If the military wanted to hold terrorism suspects without trial, he let it." Now the Supreme Court has struck at the core of his presidency and dismissed the notion that the president alone can determine how to defend the country. In rejecting Bush's military tribunals for terrorism suspects, the high court ruled that even a wartime commander in chief must govern within constitutional confines significantly tighter than this president has believed appropriate. For many in Washington, the decision echoed not simply as a matter of law but as a rebuke of a governing philosophy of a leader who at repeated turns has operated on the principle that it is better to act than to ask permission. This ethos is why many supporters find Bush an inspiring leader, and why many critics in this country and abroad react so viscerally against him. This case vividly demonstrates the crucial importance of the swing vote. Chief Justice Roberts recused himself because of his prior involvement in a case about Hamdan. If he sat on this case then the ruling would have gone 5:4.SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States)Guantanamo The Guantanamo Prison is also a part of the story about abuses. The Road to Guantanamo, a film made by Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross, depicts the experience of three British nationals who were held there. David Denby's review of the movie appeared in The New Yorker June 26th issue. Here is his concluding paragraph: "The movie is shot from the victims’ point of view, as a kind of absurdist, theatre-of-cruelty exercise set in the real world. But what do the Americans think they are doing? How do they justify themselves? The actors playing the guards and interrogators are nonentities with beefy faces; they are just as opaque as the men who have fallen into their hands. We seem to have entered a land in which intelligence of any kind has been extinguished. The Red Cross has reported that some of the prisoners at Guantánamo are falling into despair; three have committed suicide, and more than twenty have tried. “The Road to Guantánamo” will tell you why, but it won’t tell you much else. And the movie, harsh as it is, underplays the moral case against Guantánamo. The filmmakers implicitly condemn the practice of holding men without formally charging them, and without giving them access to counsel and family visits. But, in making a melodrama about three innocent men, they ignore the larger point—that all prisoners should be granted these basic rights. This exposé of American sadism is a shocker, but the movie doesn’t bring us any closer to understanding the abuse that is carried out in our names."

Remember 2004 * The Internet - Republicans Go After Consumers, AgainElection fraud by manipulation of Diebold voting machines in Ohio was reported after the 2004 presidential election. There was no conclusive evidence. Now, as the nation gears up for mid-term elections, to be followed by the race for 2008 presidential election, the Post reports" "A Single Person Could Swing An Election"To determine what it would take to hack a U.S. election, a team of cybersecurity experts turned to a fictional battleground state called Pennasota and a fictional gubernatorial race between Tom Jefferson and Johnny Adams. It's the year 2007, and the state uses electronic voting machines. Jefferson was forecast to win the race by about 80,000 votes, or 2.3 percent of the vote. Adams's conspirators thought, "How easily can we manipulate the election results?" The report concluded that the three major electronic voting systems in use have significant security and reliability vulnerabilities. But it added that most of these vulnerabilities can be overcome by auditing printed voting records to spot irregularities. And while 26 states require paper records of votes, fewer than half of those require regular audits. "With electronic voting systems, there are certain attacks that can reach enough voting machines . . . that you could affect the outcome of the statewide election," said Lawrence D. Norden, associate counsel of the Brennan Center. This must be music to some ears and not all of them are hackers. Now, more than ever, there is need to be on guard against the nefarious fraudsters who will go to any length to attain power and retain it. * "Net Neutrality" Following their usual practice the Republicans in Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee voted against consumers' interests. "A proposal to prevent Internet service providers from charging Web firms more for faster service to consumers failed yesterday to clear a Senate committee." The bill would make it easier for telephone companies to expand into the cable television franchise business, a move which lawmakers hope will result in more competition and lower prices for consumers. ".....more competition and lower prices". We have heard that song before. The large telecom companies are straining at the leash for an opportunity to assess charges on use of Internet. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), chairman of the committee, said he was not sure he had the 60 votes necessary to move the legislation forward. He said he would be open to negotiating with Democrats in September, when Congress comes back from its recess.The House passed its telecom bill earlier this month, and both versions include weaker net-neutrality language that would require the Federal Communications Commission to study and monitor the issue.

The Foreign Secretary who said "Fuck" Today The Guardian, tomorrow The Times, The Washington Post ! Well, maybe not tomorrow but it is not too far off. It was amusing to read that Margaret Beckett, the new British Foreign Secretary exclaimed "fuck" when told by Prime Minister Blair that she was being promoted. "Ms Beckett was the secretary for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she was called in by the prime minister following the May 5 local elections. When told she would replace Jack Straw as the foreign secretary - one of the most senior ranking posts in government - Ms Beckett's response was "unprintable in your newspaper", she confided.""Fuck", she told Tony Blair at the time, who was nothing if not amused. "He told me he wanted me to go on working on climate change issues but to do it from the foreign office. I was stunned."A good, old Anglo-Saxon word. There is nothing wrong with its appearance in media. In fact, people use it all the time in conversation. Can "Cunt" be far behind ? Comments * (asterisk) — 2007-02-02 Good old Anglo-Saxon word indeed. Good for her! The cunt. No, to be fair, I think she might be one of the best of our bad bunch. Maybe.

Newsmaker, Not NewscasterYes, this is about Limbaugh, Rush Limbaugh. The rabble-rouser survived his brush with the law about his Oxy-contin addiction. Now he is in the news about possession of unprescribed (for him) Viagra. The latest incident might actually endear him to Dittoheads. One can imagine them leering. Old Rush flies to Dominican Republic in his own jet plane with a stash of Viagra! Wink wink, nod nod.Chicago Tribune:"FT. LAUDERDALE -- Police and prosecutors were investigating Tuesday whether Rush Limbaugh broke the law by obtaining Viagra in someone else's name, possibly violating a deal with prosecutors in his "doctor shopping" case.Limbaugh's attorney, Roy Black, has said the two doctors prescribed the Viagra for Limbaugh under their names to protect his privacy. An expert on medical practice said Florida requires the patient's name and address be on the label." Comments Anonymous — 2006-06-28 Why would a christain un married man need over 30 pills when going on a golfing trip to the dominion republic ( little girls maybe)

Hypocrisy FailedThey tried hard and they succeeded in getting support from 14 Democrats. Yet the proponents couldn't muster the two-thirds majority required for passage. Three Republicans---Senators Robert F. Bennett of Utah, Lincoln Chafee, R.I., and Mitch McConnell, Kentucky---voted against the amendment. They came close. The vote was 66 to 34---a narrow victory, but a victory nevertheless for the those who opposed the measure. It was a cynical move by the Republicans. They expect to make capital out of their loss as described by Charles Babington in the Post: "Behind the constitutional rhetoric were cold political considerations. Republicans are eager to energize conservative voters this fall, and the flag initiative -- even if doomed to fail -- is seen as a sure-fire way to inspire them, especially a week before Independence Day." Overturning a Texas law in 1989, the Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 that burning an American flag in protest is a form of political speech protected under the First Amendment. Congress later passed a federal anti-flag-desecration law, and the high court invalidated it on the same grounds. Ever since, lawmakers have debated whether flag burning is an unsavory cost of political freedom or something more akin to intolerable hate speech or monument defacement. "Hours before the votes were taken, Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) thrust the issue into his reelection campaign. Noting that Democratic challenger James Webb had said he opposed the amendment, Allen's campaign issued a press release linking Webb to Sens. John F. Kerry and Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, who voted against the amendment. The release said Webb is "totally beholden to the liberal Washington senators" who backed him in this month's primary. We are going to hear a lot more along this line before...and after the mid-term elections. They will exploit it, squeeze the last drop out of it.But hypocrisy was not limited to Republicans. An alternative proposed by Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois and seconded by Senator Hillary Clinton was a transparent attempt to appease both sides. "The measure -- a proposed statute, rather than constitutional amendment -- was offered by Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) and was strongly endorsed by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), a possible presidential candidate who has sought a middle ground in the flag-burning debate." The proposal would have outlawed flag desecration if the perpetrators were also damaging federal property, trying to incite violence or trying to intimidate someone. Opponents called Durbin's measure a political fig leaf that the Supreme Court would rule unconstitutional. It fooled no one.

Are we naive ?The WMD cow has been milked dry. The President went on the bully pulpit to speak about the evils of same-sex marriage but The Marriage Protection Amendment went down like a rock in the Senate. Now the champions of freedom and democracy, the guardians of American virtues are getting ready to revive Constitutional amendment to prohibit flag burning. The timing is right. July 4th is around the corner. Some Democrats, including Senator Diane Feinstein of California, are with the Republicans on this one. Hillary Clinton is trying to take a middle ground.Dana Milbank in the Post: "The naive among us may have trouble appreciating how four flag-burning episodes would constitute a constitutional crisis. But the men and women of the Senate, ever alert to emerging threats, are on the case." "I think it's important to focus on the basic fact that the text of the First Amendment, the text of the Constitution, the text of the Bill of Rights is not involved," Specter argued. The Judiciary Committee chairman did not explain how he could add 17 words to the Constitution without altering its text." I am a naturalized citizen. I love America and respect the flag but I remain unconvinced about the need for Constitutional amendment. It is a non-issue, a case of jingoism. By far the best piece of writing on this subject is in The New Yorker by Hendrik Hertzberg. Mr. Hertzberg's For Which It Stands is in the print edition dated July 6, 2006 and it appeared in the on-line edition on June 26, 2006. "The flag is not a piece of cloth, any more than the Constitution is a piece of paper; and the flag’s sacredness is not damaged when a piece of cloth representing it is burned or trampled or used as an autograph book, any more than the Constitution can be damaged by the destruction of a printed copy. But the Constitution can and would be damaged, to the nation’s shame, by the addition of something as inimical to its spirit as the flag-desecration amendment. One may safely assume that most of the sixty-six senators—fifty-two Republicans and fourteen Democrats—who at this writing are listed as supporting the amendment do not seriously regard it as a good, let alone a necessary, idea. Its Republican supporters intend to use it aggressively while its Democratic supporters intend to use it defensively, but for both the support is a by-product of negative campaigning. (Intellectual corruption, like the venal variety, is no stranger to either party, even if, in the present era, both varieties are more common among Republicans.) “Providence,” Lord Bryce, the laboratories-of-democracy chap, once remarked, “has under its special care children, idiots, and the United States of America.” The kids are still all right, but unless thirty-four senators hold firm Providence may no longer be able to indulge the second without harming the third." Comments Anonymous — 2006-06-28 nice, cozy place you got here :)..