Open Thread

18 Comments

1. 

   keepinon on January 27, 2007 at 11:27 am

   The guy that did the S.F. Impeach on the Beach thing is organizing one at the Washington Monument today at 11:50 am. It’s up on the Orange site, in case you all are interested.

   • 

     librarylil on January 27, 2007 at 11:39 am

     I guess I could have picked a better title but my diary about it is over on the right… posted last night about it as dsb on kos too…

     For those in the Bay Area who want to work on impeachment activism, keep an eye on Brad Newsham’s Gone By April 1 blog and get on his mailing list. He’s a writer, cab driver, activist and nice guy and the Beach Impeach and Mall Impeach organizer. He’s rented a storefront in Oakland down the block from the Grand Lake theater and he’s busy with a master plan.

   • 

     librarylil on January 27, 2007 at 11:55 am

     I hope they pull it off.

     • 

       ejmw on January 27, 2007 at 6:45 pm

       Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out great.  The place where they were setting it up was way too far away from where everyone was gathering on the mall.

2. 

   Steven D on January 27, 2007 at 11:30 am

   Front Page of the NYTimes online has this picture with the caption: War opponents preparing for today’s protest on the National Mall. The shoes and names written on the box represent civilians killed in Iraq

   

   Here is the AP story that goes with the picture:

   War Protesters Seek to Spur a Movement

   WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of anti-war protesters, energized by fresh congressional skepticism about the war in Iraq, were demanding a withdrawal of U.S. troops in a demonstration Saturday featuring a handful of celebrities such as Susan Sarandon and Jane Fonda.

   ”We see many things that we feel helpless about. But this is like a united force. This is something I can do,” said 59-year-old Barbara Struna of Brewster, Mass.

   Struna, a mother of five who runs an art gallery, said she made a two-day bus trip with her 17-year-old daughter, Anna, to the nation’s capital to represent what she said was middle America’s opposition to President Bush’s war policy.

   ”My generation is the one that is going to have to pay for this,” added the high school senior who said she knows as many as 20 friends who have been to Iraq.

   • 

     idredit on January 27, 2007 at 1:33 pm

     There’s a Movement given little press and little chance but

     Edging Impeachment Back Onto the Table
     

     “The New Mexico impeachment initiative, one of several currently moving forward in state legislatures around the country, is designed to force members of Congress to take seriously the increasingly-popular demand that the president and vice president be held to account for misleading Congress over the Iraq war, supporting torture, engaging in illegal spying on U.S. citizens and using their offices to punish critics.

     “I am an American citizen that believes that the Constitution is a sacred document and that the Bush administration clearly does not share this sentiment,” explains Grubesic, while Ortiz y Pino says, “We’re simply doing what all elected officials should be doing. That is, listening to the voice of the people and trying to carry it out as best we can.”

     (emphasis added)

     • 

       Kahli on January 27, 2007 at 5:08 pm

       Just got back from the rally in Albuquerque where Oriz y Pino and one of his co-sponsors spoke.  He says they need support or the measure will die in committee without ever reaching a vote.  If you have friends or family in New Mexico ask them to call their State Senator and State Representaive and express their support for SJR-5.

       You’ll be glad you did.

3. 

   Steven D on January 27, 2007 at 11:36 am

   Thirty die in Iraq bombings.

4. 

   Steven D on January 27, 2007 at 11:46 am

   Russia’s Putin denounces with US space weapons programs:

   NEW DELHI — President Vladimir Putin on Thursday criticized U.S. plans for space-based weapons, saying it was the reason behind a recent Chinese anti-satellite weapons test.

   Asked about the Chinese test at a news conference in New Delhi after a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Putin avoided directly criticizing China, saying only that Russia was against putting any weapons in space.

   Instead, Putin chose to issue a warning to the United States on the dangers of the militarization of space.

   “At the same time, I would like to note that China was not the first country to conduct such a test,” Putin said.

   The Jan. 11 test, first reported last week by the magazine Aviation Week, destroyed a defunct Chinese weather satellite by hitting it with a warhead deployed from a ballistic missile.

   “The first such test was conducted back in the late 1980s and we also hear today about U.S. military circles considering plans of militarization of space. We must not let the genie out of the bottle,” Putin said.

   • 

     Omir the Storyteller on January 27, 2007 at 1:14 pm

     I heard this morning via Auntie Beeb that the Russian Foreign Minister is coming over here next week to get an explanation as to why more troops are going into the Middle East. Apparently some of our friends aren’t happy with the idea of performing escallatio on the Iraqis.

5. 

   Steven D on January 27, 2007 at 12:11 pm

   They run the same story from AP’s Larry Margasak about the anti-war protest in DC today except for one interesting difference.  Here’s one version I found:

   Tens of thousands of anti-war protesters …

   And here’s the other version at CNN:

   WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of anti-war protesters …

   Some online news sites go with one version, some with the other.  My question?  Which version came first?

   • 

     idredit on January 27, 2007 at 1:40 pm

     The Forgotten American Dead
     Rural America Pays the President’s Price in Iraq
     – by Tom Engelhardt

     George, Iraq is not just a cracked egg.

6. 

   blksista on January 27, 2007 at 1:07 pm

   http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/music/16551088.htm

   He’s 81.  He may be released today, depending on his condition.

   • 

     Omir the Storyteller on January 27, 2007 at 1:26 pm

     Remember — use the links. 🙂

     Actually it’s easier to do it like this:

     Here’s how to [post a link to your story. http://www.example.com/story%5D

     I read about this on the BBC web site when I was looking for something else. He apparently just finished a “farewell tour” of Europe. The guy is a national treasure, but at 81 and battling diabetes, he’s living on borrowed time (and doing a mighty good job of it).

7. 

   Omir the Storyteller on January 27, 2007 at 1:17 pm

   The cancer has returned “with a vengeance” right after her radiation treatments.

   Houston Chronicle article

   Editor and Publisher article

   Dallas Morning News article

   (reposted on behalf of Blksista. Nobody, not even Booman, can edit comments. We can only delete, which is why the original comment and the replies to it have disappeared. Credit for this should go to Blksista, not me. I’m just trying to help.)

   • 

     Indianadem on January 27, 2007 at 5:34 pm

     I’m very sorry to hear that Molly is back in the hospital. She’s one of the best. Our Sunday paper was missing her column last week and I wondered if she had become worse.  

8. 

   maynard on January 27, 2007 at 3:28 pm

   Beware repeated viewing of this most unhip of hop past minute seven…

   You have been warned…

9. 

   Kahli on January 27, 2007 at 5:16 pm

   Brisk and sunny in Albuquerque for the march.  About a thousand people in the street. (Media will probably report “dozens.”)

   Police were not confrontational nor in riot gear. (Quite a change from Chicago.)

   Code Pink unfurled a 30 foot long banner from the balcony of the Hotel across the street from the rally site. The Albuquerque “Raging Grannies” performed.

   A sorry little contingent of pro-war activists dogged our steps.  One young man held a sign which read “Peace is Impossible.” It was a truly sad sight to see.

   We stopped at the offices of Heather Wilson, Pete Domenice, and Jeff Bingaman as well as the military induction center where an Iraq Vet gave a moving speech.

   I’m glad I got off my butt and drove down there.