Capitol punishment

Not a misspelling--I just wanted to see if you were awake. Actually, in a previous post I declared my opposition to capital punishment in all cases. But if I were to be persuaded to allow and exception, here it is.

A Whistleblower's tale

The soldier who revealed the Abu Ghraib photos tells his story here. Now I know why there are so few revelations about military atrocities from inside. Only one My Lai? C'mon.

Danger Zone

The latest CBS poll has Bush's approval rating at 30%, the lowest ever for any poll. Now I agree that CBS's numbers are usually lower than others', but at some point the concensus may hit 27% or so, and it may become time for a coup.

Hearts and minds re-redux

What a teriffic way to start the new year.

"Baghdad – U.S. forces killed the coach of Iraq's basketball team for the disabled in front of his house in the area of al-Mansour, western Baghdad, according to an official in Iraq's Paralympics Committee."

The coach of the disabled basketball team? Are you kidding me?

Reported here: http://www.aswataliraq.info/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=34306&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

Direct, articulate, smart

Plus a bunch of similar adjectives describe the Army lieutenant who's refused to serve in Iraq because of his belief that our invasion and occupation were illegal and unconstitutional. Quite a soldier, this young man. Read his words and/or listen here.

Hanging Saddam Hussein

Of course I am opposed to--am disgusted by, actually--the execution of this dictator, as I am by the execution of any human being (any animal, for that matter), and I continue to wonder why we humans still do it. I'm also not that crazy about "life in prison without possibility of parole," but at least that has the supporting rationale of being necessary to avoid harm to society by removing established recidivist offenders from our midst (without, however, the demeaning feature of deliberate killing).

It is said that "justice" is served by execution, that there's some curative effect of establishing a societal balance by killing a killer. I say that's hooey. Primitive poppycock. It's windowdressing, merely, for retribution--which is itself something so senseless that no animal except the basest human can conceive of it. Are there any animals other than us who engage in retribution? I thought not.

After almost two months,

Riverbend posts on her blog, Baghdad Burning, once again--and she's bitter.

Did I read this right?

"And I encourage you all to go shopping more."

Apparently so. Check out this transcript of Bush's recent news conference about the war in Iraq.

Meanwhile, in Bush's "successful war"

kidnapped girls are traded for dogs.

Tragic farce

This report in the Guardian about the Brits' attack and demolition of the "Serious Crimes Unit" headquarters in Basra is astounding. And these are the folks we're dying for, these are the people we're placing in power?

This entire ugly war has become a sick joke, a gruesome tragedy. We've got to leave that nation to allow its citizens to determine their own fate. And to allow our citizens to heal.

Laughed 'til I couldn't anymore

Here's a healthy dose of Holiday cheer. Video of Borat's visit to the Pima County (Tucson, Arizona) Republican club. Enjoy.

I wish you a Merry Christmas

but as to the New Year--probably not very merry. The numbers--reported by solid governmental sources--are frightening for the future of our children and grandchildren and, like so many problems Bush and his Republicans have gotten us into in the last six years, present an insoluble problem. What have we wrought?

Hopeless, hapless

Here we are, awaiting word from the Listener-in-Chief about how many additional combat troops he's going to launch into the cauldron that is Iraq. The ostensible reason for this is to stem the violence that is caused mainly, these days, by retributive warring between the Shiites and the Sunnis in and around Baghdad. To effect this, the US had hoped to cause the Iraqi Parliament to re-align, so as to isolate al-Sadr's block of members and hence to give the Iraqi army and US troops free rein to wipe out the militias that support al-Sadr (although their previous attempts haven't borne fruit).

But no. Today, the Shiites' grand ayatollah, al-Sistani, said he wouldn't approve such a realignment, effectively ending any such program of violence-suppression. And so, the meaningless dying goes on. Our soldiers are obeying orders, presumably, but the orders have no purpose, no aim, no end in sight. Just killing and dying.

What's in a name?

Here's an article from MediaMatters that ticks off the series of White House phrases that's been adopted by the MSM, particularly CNN, in describing various developments in Iraq and elsewhere, from "cut and run" to "Terrorist Surveillance Program" to "Democrat." I've given up on the airwaves, including PBS, as a news source (except of course Link TV, Pacifica Radio and Democracy Now! and such programs). Right now, for example, the networks are cluttered with stories of Denver's airport and The Donald's battle with Rosie, while in Iraq the killing goes on and on.

I don't get it

Why can't the anti-war faction of the American populace come up with a decent presidential candidate, one who demands immediate withdrawal from Iraq, cessation of obstinate silence on Middle East questions and discourse with other nations (Iran, Syria), and true engagement with the world on issues of fair trade and wealth-sharing? It looks from here like we're going to face a 2008 just like 2004, with no candidate (except Kucinich) speaking out on these issues. And that's after an election in which I thought we'd spoken by ballot that we wanted just such candidates.

Flag etiquette

Talk about form over substance. Talk about absurdity, idiocy, irrelevance...whatever. (Note, at the end of the article, the lady's comment that the flag's mispositioning was "disgraceful." Who are these people?)

What America needs now

is a military coup.

States rights

Here's a listing and brief description of laws that take effect in various states effective January 1, 2007. Quirky, weird in some cases, sensible in others. It surely demonstrates the concept of federalism, anachronistic as it sometimes seems.

I defy you

to read the first paragraph of this article about hogshit and not read the rest of the five-page piece. It's like watching a train wreck, or film of the allies' first encounter with the prisoners at Dachau. Can't stand the sight, can't turn away.

A testing post

This is a test. I repeat: This is only a test. On the previous two posts of mine, when I've clicked on the "Comment" line, the comment box has shown a statement "Banned by Webmaster. Your comments will not be added" and indeed my comments haven't been added when I typed them into the comment box. This post is being added to my blog to see if that problem persists.

If the same thing happens to you when you click the "Comment" line on my blog for any posts, would you email me to that effect?

Interesting reading, eh?