Open Thread

19 Comments

1. 

   BooMan on February 24, 2006 at 10:19 am

   At this point I think he should be declared clinically insane.

   He just said we are going to wage war until there is no tyranny anywhere on the globe, and it was in our national interests to do so.

   • 

     supersoling on February 24, 2006 at 10:26 am

     Following his logic then means he’ll turn the gun on himself?
     Generational commitment.
     Lovely

     • 

       Salunga on February 24, 2006 at 10:29 am

       He thinks he’s in a movie. The stupid spoiled little bastard.

2. 

   BooMan on February 24, 2006 at 10:21 am

   “Free elections are exhilarating events.”

   Yeah, it is just exhilarating to be in Baghdad today.

3. 

   Salunga on February 24, 2006 at 10:25 am

   This idiot has destroyed my country. I hope he chokes on another pretzel maybe we’ll luck out this time.

4. 

   Dean Pajevic on February 24, 2006 at 10:25 am

   No can do.  You brave man, Boo.

   I immediately checked out C-Span2, which is airing a Feb. 13 Katrina Senate hearing.

   One thing Susan Collins said really didn’t make sense to me — she said that people were given money for housing without their current housing being checked for livability (and to see if the people were just there to take the money / didn’t need it for basics).

   However, as I seem recall during the aftermath of Katrina, there was no practical way to investigate every applicant for any number of reasons — difficulty in traveling, the time it would take, the manpower it would require, the delays it would cause, and on and on.  Collins did NOT mention these key obstacles.

   What is the point of these Senate hearings?

   And I find it irritating that the “message” everyone’s getting is that the Katrina victims “blew” the debit cards on tattoos, gambling, a diamond ring, etc.

   Now that’s what I hear people around town talk about.  They sent contributions and that’s how they were wasted?

   I’d be more interested in knowing what percentage of debit card purchases were for non-necessities.  (And there’ll always be a few who blow the money, and that should NOT be an emphasis, imho.)

5. 

   rumi on February 24, 2006 at 10:31 am

     Does he not hear his own words? Tyranny appears orderly but it’s due to one man making all of the decisions, without debate or compromise…

   • 

     supersoling on February 24, 2006 at 10:33 am

     Shhhhh
     War is Peace

     • 

       rumi on February 24, 2006 at 10:36 am

         Oh, that explains it.

         I dropped my rosetta stone and the dang thing hasn’t worked right since.

       😀

6. 

   supersoling on February 24, 2006 at 10:37 am

   I’m posting an email I just got from my local action group. Apparently Code Pink has several Iraqi women who will be in the U.S. and are willing to speak at different engagements and protests, vigils, about their experiences in Iraq.

   Print E-mail  

   I am passing this info along in case anyone would be willing to arrange for one of these women to travel here and speak about the war and their experiences. We just found out about this and unfortunately, have already made our plans for the 3rd anniversary of the war.  We would not be doing justice to these women and their cause if we only gave them 5 minutes to speak.

   Pat H

   Dear Friends,

   We would like to let you know about an exciting opportunity for you to increase the impact and media attention for your anti-war events around the 3rd Anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq. CODEPINK – a member group of UFPJ – will be bringing a delegation of Iraqi women to the U.S. for March 8, International Women’s Day, as part of their campaign Women Say No to War (see http://www.womensaynotowar.org). Some of these women are available to stay on for the anti-war protests marking the anniversary of the war.

   These are all wonderful and courageous women (bios are provided below). They can speak at events to build momentum for your 3rd anniversary events, or at activities you might have planned during the week of March 15 to 22nd, as well as other events you might set up for them. It is a rare occasion that we get to hear directly from Iraqis themselves, especially women. They can talk firsthand about the effects of the war on their lives and the lives of ordinary Iraqis. Some have lost loved ones in this war, some are doctors or humanitarian workers who have witnessed the ravages of war. All ardently oppose the presence of U.S. troops.

   These women have had to risk their lives getting to Jordan to request visas, and they take great risks just by coming to the U.S. to speak out against the occupation. So we are very grateful and honored that they will be with us. As they told us when they decided to come, “It is worth the risks because the only people who can stop this war are the American people.”

   The women will either travel alone, or if they are not English-speaking, they will be paired with an English-speaking Iraqi woman. We are asking local hosts to pay for their domestic roundtrip travel from Washington DC, and provide for their housing, food and local transportation. We also encourage local groups to try to fundraise $1,000 to help cover the costs of bringing these women to the US and to support their work in Iraq. <june@globalexchange.org>

   If you are interested in coordinating an event, please contact tour organizer June Brashares at june@globalexchange.org or call 415-255-7296 x 253.

   Peace,
   Gael
   CODEPINK
   (202) 412 6700

   Bios of Iraqi Women’s Delegation:

   1. Nadje Al-Ali is a writer/researcher specializing in women in the Middle East. She is a founding member of Act Together: Women’s Action on Iraq and mother of a 3-year-old daughter.
   2. Faiza Al-Araji is a civil engineer, a blogger (afamilyinbaghdad.blogspot.com), a religious Shia with a Sunni husband, and a mother of three. After one son was recently held as a political prisoner by the Ministry of the Interior, the family fled to Jordan.
   3. Souad Al-Jazairy Writer, journalist and TV producer, Souad is a very active member in the Iraqi Women’s League.
   4. Eman Ahmad Khamas is a human rights advocate who has documented abuses by the occupation forces. She is a member of Women’s Will, and is married with two daughters.
   5. Dr Entisar Mohammad Ariabi, a pharmacist at the Yarmook Teaching Hospital in Baghdad, has documented the deteriorating health system. She is married with 5 children
   6. Vivian Salim Mati is a widow who lost her husband and three children when they were fired on by U.S. tank fire as they attempted to flee the bombing of their neighborhood in Baghdad in April 2003
   7. Kadhim Jawad (Anwar) is a widow whose husband and three children were killed by US soldiers at an unmarked checkpoint.
   8. Dr. Rashad Zidan, a pharmacist, works in Baghdad and Fallujah with Women and Knowledge Society to aid victims of war, especially orphans.
   9. Sureya Sayadi, a Kurdish woman born in Kirkuk in 1960, is an activist for human rights in the Middle East, particularly for the Kurdish people. Her family participated in the uprising against Saddam in 1974, then became refugees in Iran. Sueya later came to the United States as political refugee, but her family is dispersed in Iraq, Iran and Turkey,

7. 

   rumi on February 24, 2006 at 10:37 am

     Does GWB understand that the UAE doesn’t recognize Israel and has continued to support Hamas?

8. 

   cotterperson on February 24, 2006 at 10:42 am

   against Iran — in the midst of what’s going on in Iraq. Who will rescue our troops?

9. 

   BooMan on February 24, 2006 at 10:42 am

   Is it me or is this speech stale?  This rhetoric has now clearly passed into the ‘that dog won’t hunt’ category.

   • 

     rumi on February 24, 2006 at 10:44 am

     Yup. It reinforces the disconnect from reality too when the screen crawl has one tragedy after another rolling by.

10. 

    Ed J on February 24, 2006 at 12:11 pm

    The cablenets are all saying that there’s good news from Iraq – a quiet day.

    Shouldn’t somebody tell them that the country is on fucking lockdown?

11. 

    BooMan on February 24, 2006 at 12:15 pm

    This is hilarious.

12. 

    Steven D on February 24, 2006 at 1:30 pm

    Bush has an animatronic robot double who makes these speeches for him, one that can’t be re-programmed.

13. 

    alohaleezy on February 24, 2006 at 3:07 pm

    But your counter yellow ribbon car magnets here:
    http://www.peacepositive.net/dove.html
    They could use the support and it is a positive message to support our troops by bringing them home. I lvoe mine and received it in three days.

14. 

    growthrate on February 24, 2006 at 3:32 pm

    The stock of H&R Block took a hit today when the company announced that it would have to restate earnings for 2004 and 2005 because, among other things, they had screwed up their own tax return.  The company said it had understated its tax liability by something like $32 million.  Oh, and earnings were crummy because their mortgage business didn’t take off like they’d hoped.  And then there were the settlements of those class action lawsuits over inadequate disclosures of the high costs associated with those tax-refund anticipation loans they advertise.  

    Now, when most companies can ‘fess up that their tax returns were wrong, sales don’t necessarily suffer.  At H&R Block, it might be a little different.