The Common Ills

Independent resources for coverage of the London bombings (The Independent and UK Indymedia)

The Independent has a number of articles on the bombings in London yesterday. It's the overwhelming choice of our UK members for print publications so let's note some articles from it. (And thankfully all UK members are now accounted for. Twelve will be discussing the topic of the bombings in the gina & krista round-robin that will go out this afternoon.)

We'll start with Terry Kirby and Andrew Malone's "Terror Comes To London: Dozens die in worst attack since Second World War:"

Like millions of other Londoners, Michael Henning began his daily Tube journey to work yesterday with the confetti from the joyous Olympic celebrations of the day before still strewn about the streets of the capital.
Heading from Kensington to his offices in east London, Mr Henning watched as fellow passengers on the packed Circle Line train scanned newspapers full of good news for once, proclaiming victory in the battle for the 2012 Games.
"London's Triumph," proclaimed one headline. "Gold Rush," said another. There may have been a light drizzle as Londoners made their usual trek into work. But that did not matter: London was on a roll, and the hangover felt good.
Then, it began. Tube trains ground to a halt all over London. Drivers announced over on-board tannoys that a "power surge" on the track had closed down the network.
Mobile phones started buzzing with startling rumours: that there were explosions across the city. Aldgate, Kings Cross, Edgware Road - all were said to have been at the centre of "incidents". Then word swept the city by phone and email that a bus had exploded in central London.
Before the rush hour was over, any dreams of Olympic glory had been long forgotten. Terrorists had struck, creating a nightmare as three co-ordinated bomb attacks hit London's claustrophobic and crowded peak hour underground trains; two of which were in tunnels, causing dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries. A fourth bomb - the possibility remained last night it was a suicide bomber - exploded on a crowded bus, leading to more deaths and injuries.

Gareth notes Maxine Frith, Elizabeth Davies and Sarah Cassidy's "Aldgate East: 'Smoke poured into the carriage, but we couldn't break the windows:'"

At 8.50am, Manjit Dhanjal was sitting on a packed Circle Line train between Aldgate East and Liverpool Street station, on her way to work in the City. "There were a few sparks and I thought it was just a power surge," Miss Dhanjal, 26, said. "Then I saw this fireball a few carriages in front of me, and everything went black.
"No one knew what was happening; there was just panic. I could hear people screaming and we thought someone would come and tell us what was happening, but no one did for ages. Just before the explosion I had been thinking about my 26th birthday on Monday. Now I thought I was going to die."
A few seats away from her was 19-year-old Ana Castro, a Portuguese student who, two weeks ago, had arrived in London as an intern with a bank in the City. It was her first trip on the Tube.
All of a sudden, there was an explosion and everyone went down," she said. "Black smoke poured into the carriage and I couldn't breathe. People were trying to force the doors open because they couldn't break the windows.
"It was indescribable. People were shouting for help and saying they were dying."

And we'll also note Louise Jury and Arifa Akbar's "King's Cross: For hours, convoys of ambulances took away the victims:"

Evelyne Wade was in the carriage next to where she believed the bomb went off. Trembling and ashen-faced, she was amazed she had survived.
"We heard a big blast. The lights went out, and I thought I was going to die. Everyone was saying it was a fire and I thought we weren't going to get out alive," she said.
"We didn't move for 15 minutes and in that time, people were screaming, crying and banging on the windows, trying to get out. In the carriage next door, people were very injured and I saw a lot of blood on people."
Mrs Wade, 30, an estate agent from Oak Wood, said that when the train first juddered to a halt, she thought that it was just a continuation of delays that had already dogged her journey to work as an estate agent in Knightsbridge. But she soon realised it was more.
"We walked down the tunnel in the dark and there were a lot of injured people, and someone was dead. There was one big man who had lost all his clothes. There was someone else alive with no legs, we heard.
"There were lots of people in bandages and pads. We couldn't see very well because there was dust everywhere and people were panicking and covered in soot."

The above three articles are not the full coverage offered at The Independent. Use the link to find additional stories.

We'll also note that Indymedia UK's "Update on the situation in London" is a series of articles addressing the bombings. From the first paragraph of that resource page:

It appears that there were 3 explosions on the London Underground along with another bomb that exploded on a London Bus blowing its roof. There was no warning and although an unknown group linking themselves to Al Qaeda has claimed responsibility on a known Jihadist web site [offline - see screenshot instead translation ], this has not yet been confirmed. The BBC are reporting that the death toll now stands at 38, with another 700 or so injured, whilst at least The Sun (not one of the more reliable of the UK papers) is now reporting 53 fatalities. Reports that the Israeli embassy had been tipped off are circulating although a Scotland Yard spokesperson denied this. Transport within the capital is gradually returning to normal with bus routes reopening, although commuters and tourists will still rely on river boats, taxis, private transport and of course feet for many journeys.

Be sure to read community member Pru's comments on the bombings.

The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.

[Note: This entry originally appeared at The Common Ills.]

Posted at 04:11 am by thecommonills
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NYT's London coverage

In this morning's New York Times, we'll focus only on the London coverage (at the request of members).

Brandy notes Alan Cowell's "Subway and Bus Blasts in London Kill at Least 37:"

Bomb explosions tore through three subway trains and a red-painted double-decker bus in a coordinated terror attack during London's morning rush hour on Thursday, killing at least 37 people, wounding about 700 and leaving the city stunned and bloodied but oddly stoic.
[. . .]
The entire subway network was closed as rescue workers went deep below ground to look for the dead and wounded. Police officers in yellow slickers sealed off streets, and bus services were halted.
[. . .]
A group describing itself as being affiliated with Al Qaeda took responsibility for the attacks on a Web site, but the police said they were unable to confirm the authenticity of the claim. The group, the Secret Orgnization of Al Qaeda in Europe, said the attacks had been undertaken to avenge British involvement in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Eli notes Don Van Natta Jr. and Elaine Sciolino's "Timers Used in Blasts, Police Say; Parallels to Madrid Are Found:"

Investigators searching for clues in the attacks here said Thursday that the three bombs used in the subway apparently were detonated by timers, not suicide bombers, and that a fourth device may have been intended for a target other than the city bus that it destroyed.
Senior police officials said they had not received a message claiming responsibility for the attacks from any group, and had made no arrests. But officials immediately drew parallels between the London bombings and the ones that struck commuter trains in Madrid 16 months ago, which were carried out by a Qaeda-inspired cell.
By Thursday night, there were far more questions than answers confronting Scotland Yard. One official said none of the scores of suspected terrorists being watched closely in England appeared to be involved.
Police and intelligence officials acknowledged that they were taken completely by surprise by the coordinated bombings, even though they had been anticipating a terrorist attack for years.

Kara notes Sarah Lyall's "An Umbrella in a Shower of a Million Bits That Had Been a Bus:"

It was the No. 30 bus, a double-decker. Moving slowly in the heavy rush-hour traffic, it stopped at Upper Woburn Place and Tavistock Square, not far from the British Museum. It was packed. Ms. Gardner began to get on.
And then it exploded.
"One minute the bus was there; the next minute it seemed to dissolve into millions of pieces," said Ms. Gardner, who works for a television distribution company. "I was showered with bits of metal and bits of the bus. I was shielding myself with my umbrella, and it all landed on my umbrella."
That explosion was only one of four to strike central London on Thursday morning. The others took place deep inside the subway system within 30 minutes of one another on three trains traveling in or out of some of the busiest stations in the city: Liverpool Street, King's Cross and Edgware Road. All the trains were crammed with commuters.

The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.

[Note: This entry originally appeared at The Common Ills.]

Posted at 04:09 am by thecommonills
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Pru on the bombings

Pru: Maybe were better informed by our media? Maybe our proximity and awareness of other nations prepared us? While yesterday's attacks were nothing like the attacks on the United States on September 11th in terms of scope or damage, they were attacks none the less. We, as a country, have suffered a great loss.

But as I looked around yesterday, I saw grief that was mature and reasoned. There was no need to question, "Why us?" It's perfectly obvious why us. We have engaged with and supported the policies of the United States not limited to the invasion and occupation of Iraq. This has been done despite the large objection coming from the people of our country and despite the fact that the objection has only grown as we have been confronted with the reality that there is no "win" in Iraq, not for us, not for the States.

"Why us" does not trip off our tongues because the answer is obvious and frightening.

Equally obvious has been the answer which is that we must pull out of the illegal occupation. Thursday's events make that quite clear and, all around me, that was the sentiment most often shared.

Prime Minister Tony Blair did not shirk the way the Bully Boy did. He was present and accounted for. However, what he had to offer were empty words that, while more elequent than anything that tumbles out of the Bully Boy's smirking mouth, said very little. Terrorist attacks. Check. Empty words supposed to warm us. Check. The reasons for the attack? Silence.

All around I heard people asking the hard questions and supplying the tough answers that the Prime Minister refused to address. We've grown to expect that from him and there is a sense among some that what is in the best interest of England is not the primary concern of our current Prime Minister.

There was also a sense that for all his posturing and playing poodle to the Bully Boy, Prime Minister Blair has done very little that has truly protected our country. Possibly there is no way to protect one from the events of today; however, Prime Minister Blair has asked for outlandish powers and even those granted him have been ineffective as was demonstrated before our own eyes.

We are a determined people and the determination we share now is not one of vengeance but one of addressing the events that led to the attacks. What Prime Minister Blair clearly wishes to avoid is not being ignored by the people of my country. Our determination to withdraw from the Bully Boy's illegal war of choice has only grown stronger.

Hearing reports that the insect known as Fox News in the United States was bragging that the attacks had taught us something caused me to recoil. Then I realized that they were correct about the teaching, just incorrect about the lesson itself. What it has taught us, the lesson, is what we already knew: an illegal war of choice leaves us all at risk, an illegal occupation that provides the window dressing's of success but no real improvement is as meaningless as any words our Prime Minister could muster. The lesson confirmed what we already knew. The occupation must end and troops must withdraw. Until that happens safety is a myth that will destroy us all.

[Note: This entry originally appeared at The Common Ills.]

Posted at 04:04 am by thecommonills
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NYT: "Army Finds Few Lapses in Health Care of Prisoners" (Eric Schmitt)

An Army assessment has found no evidence of systemic problems in medical care of prisoners at American detention centers in Iraq, Afghanistan and Cuba, Army officials said Thursday.
[. . .]
The review, however, was not intended to delve into accounts from some interrogators that military psychiatrists or psychologists at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, provided advice on how to conduct coercive interrogations of detainees
[. . .]
As such, the assessment, which included interviews with more than 1,000 military medical personnel, shed no new light on the conduct of doctors involved in interrogations, particularly those in units known as Behavioral Science Consultation Teams, or BSCT, and informally referred to as biscuit teams.

The above is from Eric Schmitt's "Army Finds Few Lapses in Health Care of Prisoners" in this morning's New York Times. BSCT is a topic you'll be hearing more on due to Jane Mayer's article in The New Yorker. This article from the Times adds little to the discussion. As Schmitt notes, there was no intent for the review to explore the issues. The military investigated itself in a superficial manner and gave itself a verdict of "not guilty." Is that surprising? Is that news?

It is news in regards to the report coming out just as people are beginning to talk about Mayer's article "The Experiment." Though the article is not available online yet (and may not end up being made available online), "Q. & A.: In Gitmo," a discussion of the article conducted by Amy Davidson, is available online.

We noted this discussion Wednesday and we'll note another portion of it today:

Davidson: You talk about a period in late 2002 and 2003 when there was a great deal of pressure on the interrogators at Guantánamo to get results. How high up does responsibility for what happens in an interrogation room go?
Mayer: When the commanders in Guantánamo wanted permission to use more coercive interrogation methods than those allowed under the U.S. Military Code of Justice, their requests went up to the top of the Pentagon, to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. This is where responsibility resides.

We'll also note that Democracy Now! has aired one of a two part interview with Jane Mayer on this subject. (The other installment may or may not air today due to yesterday's events.)

From Wednesday's "The Gitmo Experiment: How Methods Developed by the U.S. Military For Withstanding Torture are Being Used Against Detainees at Guantanamo Bay" where the issue of the methods developed by behavioral scientists for US soldiers to withstand torture had found a new use:

AMY GOODMAN: Talk about the curriculum.
JANE MAYER: It's bizarre to many of us who are not part of the military, I think. It’s a curriculum that is designed to create maximum stress and anxiety. They talk about acute anxiety. The idea is that if we can put our own people through something almost as bad as what they might have to go through if they were taken captive, they will inoculate themselves. It would be like practicing going off a high dive. So under very, very carefully monitored circumstances, soldiers in danger of being taken captive are put through this classified program in which they -- they're hooded, they’re bound, they're deprived of sleep, they’re exposed to extremes of temperature, they’re held in tiny little cells, they are starved to some extent. They are sometimes water-boarded which is a form of torture in which you're bound to a board and they pour water on your face so that you can’t breathe; you have the sense that you’re going to die of asphyxiation.
And to me, it was interesting, some of the people I had interviewed who knew the insides to this program said that they also, to create anxiety and upset in the soldiers, they take Bibles and they trash them. They throw them on the ground, they rip them in the air. Many of the soldiers are quite religious, and it is very upsetting to see this happen to them. And, you know, for the people that I talked to who knew the program well, when we began reading about Korans being trashed, a number of people said, 'Oh, my god,' you know, they just wondered -- they thought, 'God, there is a, you know, connection between these things.' And, in fact, there is a connection, the people who designed this here program and who implement it are the same people who are overseeing and helping in the interrogations of detainees in places like Guantanamo.

Again, there is a second part to the interview and it may air today on Democracy Now! so watch (read or listen) for that.

The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.

[Note: This entry originally appeared at The Common Ills.]

Posted at 04:02 am by thecommonills
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Karen Meredith's loss of her son Kenn Ballard ("A Soldier's Mother's Story" by Matt Reed)

Meredith has yet to see the Army's official report on how Ballard was killed—she says now that she's not sure if she wants to read it.
"He's dead, and he's not coming back," she says.
But a handout from a memorial service for Ballard says the following: "Ken's company was moving through an urban area of Najaf and came under heavy small-arms fire from the rooftops of all sides. Ken immediately moved his tank platoon in close to provide covering fire for two of Charlie Company's platoons caught in the open.
"The covering fire Ken provided allowed both of the platoons to exfiltrate to safety and resulted in 15 enemy insurgents being incapacitated. Ken's inviolable fidelity for his comrades in arms and the love for his country led to the ultimate sacrifice."
Meredith says Ballard was in battle for much of April and every day in May, and earned two of his three Bronze Stars during this period.
Meredith spent a few months grieving, and then after a visit to Ballard's grave at Arlington National Cemetery in October, she said she had an epiphany. She could turn her anger and loss into something positive.
"You're kind of in shock for a while. It's not about politics," she says. "But I just knew that I had to go out and say something. People need to know that the war is affecting people in Santa Clara County. I just want to keep this in front of the public because people don't understand that this is happening every day. That's when I'll stop talking about the war—when everybody in the country has stopped talking about it."
She's become a mom on a mission. The daughter of a lieutenant colonel, the granddaughter of a colonel, the sister of a colonel and the former wife of a former Air Force serviceman, Meredith says she's not anti-military and she's not used to speaking out.
But she's angry about the war. She's angry at Donald Rumsfeld because the military turned down her request for a photo of her son's flag-draped casket as it arrived at Dover Air Force Base last year. She's angry at Colin Powell, the former secretary of state who made the case at the United Nations that Saddam Hussein's Iraq was producing weapons of mass destruction. ("He has blood on his hands, as far as I'm concerned," Meredith says.) And she's not happy with the way the Army has treated her since the death of her son.
So Meredith is speaking out.
She's spoken at public forums and demonstrations. In September, she spoke at a televised town hall meeting in which family members of deceased Northern California soldiers came together. "He was killed 100 days ago today," she told the San Francisco Chronicle shortly after she began speaking out on the war. "You just miss their voice. You miss every single day. And it isn't 100 days ago, it's one day 100 times over. .... When's it going to stop hurting? And when do you stop missing them?"
She's become friendly with advocacy groups like the Gold Star Families for Peace, Military Families Speak Out and Code Pink. She was asked recently to appear at a counter-military recruitment event, but begged off because it took place on Mother's Day (although she is quick to note that Mother's Day started as an antiwar holiday).
She recently participated at a gathering in Berkeley and also traveled to Arlington West, a project by the Santa Barbara Veterans for Peace to re-create the grave sites of soldiers killed in Iraq. Later this month, on Memorial Day, the anniversary of Ballard's death, Meredith plans to return to Washington to again visit her son's grave at Arlington.
"Our generation learned that it is not the soldiers, but the president who made the decision to send them on their mission," she says. "The president has been misleading. He won't define success. And why are they building 14 permanent bases over there? I know that many of the soldiers there feel that we're not accomplishing anything."

The above is from Matt Reed's "A Soldier's Mother's Story" (Santa Cruz Indymedia) to read more about Karen Meredith and the son she lost (Kenneth Ballard) click the link.

The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.

[Note: This entry originally appeared at The Common Ills.]

Posted at 04:01 am by thecommonills
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Indymedia roundup on the Court and choice

Marcia e-mails to highlight something for the Indymedia roundup

Marcia: Tell Susan and Julia they should hum "Isn't It Disgusting" while reading it.

(I believe to the tune of "Isn't It Romantic" -- words & music by Rogers & Hart.)

From Gwen Shaffer's "Dem's the Breaks: A potential Santorum challenger says a MoveOn poll mocks democracy" (Philadelphia Weekly):

The only thing smaller than Chuck Pennacchio's name recognition is his campaign coffer. But that doesn't mean he avoids big battles. Pennacchio charges that a purportedly objective poll conducted by MoveOn tacitly encouraged members to support Bob Casey Jr., his Democratic rival in the 2006 race for Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate seat.
Rick Santorum, No. 3 in the Senate Republican leadership and key in enforcing the GOP's hard-right message, is up for reelection in what's likely to be the most watched Senate race in the nation.
"It was a push poll, no question about it," Pennacchio says. "I don't believe the results were accurate ... That simply defies explanation."
At issue is a June 17 email the MoveOn political action committee (PAC) sent to its Pennsylvania members, asking whom they favored to challenge Santorum. It offered two alternatives: Casey, Pennsylvania's current state treasurer, or Pennacchio, a history professor at University of the Arts in Center City.
"Most political observers believe Casey has a lock on the Democratic nomination, and we tend to agree," the email read. "But we wanted to check with MoveOn's Pennsylvania members before we endorse anyone." The message included brief bios of both Democratic primary candidates and of Santorum.
The blurb about Casey neglected to mention his pro-life stance and opposition to stricter gun controls. It also quoted Howard Dean complimenting Casey, a statement Pennacchio insists was taken out of context. Worst of all, Pennacchio says, Casey's bio ignores his position that American troops need to "stay the course in Iraq."
The war is a wedge issue for progressive Democrats.
[. . .]
Locally, some political activists say MoveOn's support of Casey is causing a backlash against the group. "MoveOn is a great organization, but it flubbed this one," says David Gibson, who is active in progressive causes.
Frustration with the MoveOn poll has been a "big topic of discussion" at political gatherings during the past couple weeks, says Kathi Ember, Pennsylvania state coordinator for Progressive Democrats of America. "It's ironic, considering that MoveOn is responsible for getting many of my peers involved in politics in the first place."
While Casey clearly has the official party backing, grassroots Dems and bloggers routinely characterize Casey as "Santorum light." The blogosphere is filled with criticisms that the Democratic establishment is fronting a candidate who is antichoice, anti-gun-control and has said U.S. troops must remain in Iraq until stability is established.
These sentiments dominate the posts about the race on MoveOn's own blog, the Action Forum. As of June 29, about 30 messages reamed out the organization for "playing nice" with the Democratic National Committee, for supporting a "carbon copy of Santorum," and for "throwing the poll."

Marcia also asked if The Third Estate Sunday Review's "Robert Casey Junior Doing Pop Proud" (March 6, 2005) could be highlighted (disclosure, I helped with this article):

Robert Casey Junior is a name you'll probably being hearing more of. Saturday it was buried on the back page of the main section of the New York Times. (Page A28.)
And the news of Junior's run has Paul Greenfield of the Jewish World Review tickled pink. A lot of the usual cranks are coming out endorsing Junior.
Everyone's all a titter over a Quinnipiac poll that finds Junior leading in a potential match up against Man-On-Dog theorist Senator Rick Santorum (46% to 41%). As memory serves, we seem to remember Junior doing well in early polls when he ran for governor not so long ago in the distant past. But he didn't pull off the race, now did he?
Those wacky Quinnipiac-ers. As late as October 28th, they were calling Pennsylvania for Bush and I think we all remember who won that state (hint, his initials are J.K.).
But Junior's got a campaign strategy down pat (didn't help with the governor's race but . . .):
The elder Casey died in 2000 and Casey often mentions his father's death during campaign stops, especially when he speaks to senior citizens and other older voters who remember his father. He invokes his father's name and accomplishments when speaking to certain audiences. The memory of the Casey name helps him connect with voters who, he hopes, will vote for him because of the connection.
Junior's apparently not his own man, just a pale copy of Daddy. So what's so wrong with that?Well Robert Casey is infamous for his attacks on Planned Parenthood (anyone remember Planned Parenthood v. Casey -- a Supreme Court case) and of course he was often greeted by the members of Act-Up (not warmly). Junior's singing "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" and we think you might need to be concerned.
A word on polls, about this time in 2002, Junior was doing well in some polls against Ed Rendell.(Keystone placed him with 38% and Rendell with 37%.) So why couldn't he pull out (for those not in the know, Rendell defeated Junior in the Democratic primary in May of 2002)?
Didn't "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" play well? Won't it this time?No. And no.
See, when they report these polls they're saying, "Hey Rube! Believe what we tell you!"And what's not stressed. How about a margin of error? 2.8% is the margin of error for Quinnipiac's poll. 46% to 41%. Wow, five points difference! But if the 2.8% splits Santorum's way, we're looking at 43.8% for Santorum and 43.2% for Junior.
Hey guys, Junior trails Santorum by .6%!!!!And this is supposed to news to cheer over?
Same poll has Santorum sitting pretty with a 52% approval rating. That's a high that Arlen Specter (according to Quinnipiac's polling) only reached twice in 2004 (February -- 53%, and September -- 52%). So Santorum has, according to the polling, a comfortable perch not unlike Specter (and Specter was re-elected in 2004).
Rendell and Specter share one thing in common, they're pro-choice. For those not in the know, Rendell is the governor of Pennsylvania today. After trouncing Junior in the primary, he went on to win the general race.
But soft-minded Dems are just convinced that in order to win Santorum's seat, what they really, really need is an anti-choice candidate.
Let us repeat, Rendell and Specter are pro-choice. Rendell's a Democrat, Specter's a Republican.
What are soft-minded Dems not understanding?
The vicious Republican primary of 2004 demonstrated that Pennslyvania isn't going to turn against an elected senator just because some anti-choice candidate shows up. So why in the world do soft-minded Dems think that there's support for an anti-choice Democrat in what's a largely pro-choice state?
Junior and Santorum both reject public schools for their children. They both are anti-choice.
Does someone have some photos of Santorum engaging in man-on-dog sex? If not, why are they so sure that a carbon copy of Santorum can trump the original?Santorum's the incumbent. That alone means he'll have access to huge funding. Junior?
Well let's just note that Emily's List and others won't be rushing to contribute to his campaign.(Nor will we.)
This is one of the most idiotic decisions soft-minded Dems have made in recent days (a tough call, granted). "We're going to run someone just like Santorum and we'll win!" Say what you want about Santorum, but he has a superficial physical attractiveness. (Janeane Garofalo has compared his looks to those of a gay porn star.) Is Junior with his receding hairline and near uni-brow really going to be able to stand on stage opposite him and look "Senatorial?" We're puzzled that notion as well.
What was Rendell's charge against Junior in their primary race? Something about Junior"doesn't understand education, lacks experience, never created a job, cut a tax or prosecuted a criminal." It's a long list. One doubts Santorum's campaign won't be using those talking points.
The Times story tells you that Rendell's endorsing Junior. It also tells you:
"The governor has asked me to step aside and allow Treasurer Casey [Junior] to run unopposed for U.S. Senate," Ms. [Barbara] Hafter said in a statement. "After some consideration, I have decided to agree to the governor's request."
This has created the situation that MyDD warned about on February 28th:
In other words, the events of the past week demonstrated what was previously demonstrated with Ginny Schrader's campaign: grassroots and netroots Democratic activism is alive and well within Pennsylvania. We did all of this ourselves, without any help from the party leadership or elected officials. Politicians and party leaders should take notice of this, for they fail to take us seriously at their own peril. This is why the ongoing movement to stop the Pennsylvania Democratic Senatorial primary before it starts is utterly unacceptable, and I promise will be met with strong resistance.
[. . .]
This article is not the entire story. Many people with connections on this issue have insisted to me that the state and party leadership are in fact trying to clear the field for Casey and preempt the primary. This must not be allowed. As Democrats who are working hard, and succeeding, in damaging Santorum's re-election hopes, we deserve to be included in the selection of the candidate who will oppose and defeat Santorum. If, after the primary, that candidate ends up being Casey, then he would immediately find me among his biggest supporters. However, if the Democratic Party wants to continue to build its extremely fragile bridge with the Pennsylvania netroots and grassroots, it cannot shut its members out of the selection process, period. Many of us here in Pennsylvania are already suspicious of the machine-like tendencies and backroom-heavy characteristics of the state party, and something like this could very easily become the straw that broke the camel's back in that relationship.
I also fail to see how a contested primary, no matter what combination of Casey, Hafer, Hoeffel, and Pennacchio it contained, would be damaging to our chances to defeat Santorum. Sure, it would cost money, but that money would also be spent on bashing Santorum, raising name ID for all candidates, and giving the party a wider profile across the state. Rendell and Specter both had hotly contested primary battles in their recent statewide campaigns, and both went on to comfortable victories (8-10%) afterward. The same can be said for many Republican Senate candidates this year. I just don't buy that tons of free media exposure for Pennsylvania Democrats will somehow hurt Pennsylvania Democrats. By contrast, I can see very clearly how pre-empting the primary would go a long way toward hurting Pennsylvania Democrats.
MyDD closed with this hope: "Let the primary run its course. It will be to the benefit of us all."
We couldn't have agreed more. Sadly, that's apparently not even an option now.
A select group has come along and declared who is viable and who isn't. Not voters or would be voters, mind you. With the path cleared for Junior, who's invested in this race? Santorum lovers and Santorum foes. Considering how easily most incumbents win re-election, soft minded Dems (who apparently fear the democratic process) better hope they have something along the lines of Man-on-Dog photos of Santorum. Otherwise, Junior's about to get spanked again.
We'd love to see Santorum out of the Senate but on election night, if Junior's standing in the corner, rubbing his heinie and bawling his eyes out, don't expect us to shed any tears. Though it's doubtful Junior will learn his lesson, maybe soft minded Dems will.

Kellie e-mails to note "The Future Is Now" by Brian Morton from Baltimore City Papers:

This one is for all the marbles. If Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist had decided to retire, nothing would change--the court would still retain an unsteady 5-4 balance, with the swing middle retaining the option to go in either direction. But this game is for real, with Sandra Day O'Connor’s surprise holiday weekend announcement.
The chances that George W. Bush nominates another centrist like O'Connor are none and none--and let us remember, when Ronald Reagan appointed O'Connor back in 1981, she was considered a hard-right conservative (even so, she was confirmed 99-0). With all his recent appointments, Bush has signaled that he fully plans on being a divider, not a uniter, and this is his best chance to put his stamp on history--more so than four tax cuts for the rich or the Iraq War.
Look at some of the ideologues that Bush has appointed or attempted to name to appeals court slots: crypto-racist Charles Pickering, anti-abortion zealot William Pryor, and corporate tool Priscilla Owen, for example. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told Jeffrey Toobin of The New Yorker in May 2003:
It became clear right from the start that [Bush] was changing the ways judges are nominated, by picking people who are almost all far to the right. On a scale of one to 10, with 10 the most liberal, Clinton chose a lot of sixes and sevens--lots of partners in law firms and former prosecutors. Bush said during the campaign that he was going to pick judges in the mold of Scalia and Thomas, but I thought it was just campaign talk. Then it became clear that that was exactly what he meant.
Look at the swing votes and hot-button issues on which O'Connor has been the deciding vote. Affirmative action on college campuses. Campaign finance reform. Nativity scenes in courthouses. And, of course, the biggie--O’Connor wrote in a concurring opinion in 1992, "Our obligation is to define the liberty of all. We reaffirm the constitutionally protected liberty of women to obtain an abortion."

The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.

[Note: This entry originally appeared at The Common Ills.]

Posted at 03:59 am by thecommonills
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Indymedia Spotlight: "Hundreds of Feminists Descend on Tennessee State Capital to Demand Women's Rights" by Abigail Thorton (Tennessee Indymedia)

Our Indymedia spotlight story is Abigail Thorton's "Hundreds of Feminists Descend on Tennessee State Capital to Demand Women's Rights" from Tennessee Indymedia:

NOW Says "We Will Not Go Back" at Nashville Rally On the day after the announced resignation of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, hundreds of women attending the National Organization of Women Conference in Nashville congregated on the steps of the State Capital to demand a moderate nominee from the Bush Administration. Chanting, 'Ho Ho, Hey Hey, A Moderate's the Only Way!' Women listened to speakers from the Feminist Majority, United Farmworkers, Tennessee NOW, National NOW and others. Women marched across legislative plaza in parade fashion carrying NOW signs and chanting 'Hey Hey, Ho Ho, Extremist Pigs Have Got to Go!' and 'A Woman for Justice, Justice for Women!' The rally, which lasted for about an hour, was organized after the announcement of the resignation of O'Connor and was the largest pro-choice rally in Tennesse in several years.
Dorothy Abbot, of Memphis, said she is supportive of women's rights, "I am here at the NOW Conference because I have been supporting NOW for twenty years. It is a very important day today because I feel like Justice O'Connor has done so much for women. I want to make sure they replace her with someone who supports the things that we support here at this NOW Conference." Carol Moseley Braun, the first African-American Woman elected to the United States Senate, spoke on the rights and responsibilities of Senators in the nomination process, "Aricle One of the US Constitution calls on the Senate to advice and consent the President. That means the Senators have a responsibility to advise the President and consent him in his choice. I believe we can make a difference in how the Senator discharge their responsibility. Whether they actually participicate and push forward a replacement who is a moderate and who is a centrist who will represent all Americans and not just a far-right wing. No bird can fly with just one wing, you have to have them both. We need someone who will represent the highest values of our democracy and that is what is at stake right now." Braun praised the leadership of Tennessee NOW for organizing a rally so quickly, "Today in less than 24 hours women have come together to have a demonstration in front of the Tennessee legislature. This is a powerful showing of the importance of this decision to replace Sandra Day O'Connor. Over seventy five years ago right here in Tennessee a woman made a difference that we can feel even today. Harry Burn's mother wrote his son and told him to vote for ratification. When Burn got his mother's letter he changed his vote and now we all enjoy the vote because of the power of that woman. The point I want to make is that we don't know and we will never know who talked to Burn's mother or who inspired her to write the letter that changed history." She also said that women can make a difference, "Each and every woman here today, every person here today can be that anonymous voice that changes history. We will not be dictated to by the right. We won our liberties, our freedom, and the future of our country is at stake and we will not go back. We must talk to our neighbors and friends and legislators and we let them know that we are serious and commtted and focused and organized. We will not fall prey to the old divide and conquer. We will come together as they have never seen before. We will not go back. We will become those voices for change. We will speak to our President and remind him that he has an obligation to represent all of us. The Supreme Court is not a place for partisan politics. Ronald Reagan gave us Sandra Day O'Connor and she became a moderate that kept balance in the courts. George Bush can do no less. We demand no less. Never underestimate the power of a woman." Rally Demands a Moderate Nominee Eleanor Smeal, of the Feminist Majority, said that she was going to spread the message that women are not going to go backwards, "We have to raise such a loud voice that Senator Bill Frist hears it. We have to make sure that this majority leader knows he cannot turn back the clock on women's rights. We have to make sure that every woman in this State of Tennessee tells Bill Frist 'No, you won't make us go back!' We need a moderate, centrist Supreme Court. He has to know if he has any Presidential visions that he can't be known as the majority leader that rolled back Roe v Wade. We are going to have a long, hot summer, but we must be at every Sentaor's office. They are going to vote to roll back the clock, not just on aboriton but also on birth control too. Just this month introduced in both houses was a bill that would regulate and restrict access to birth control for minor women, that is just the beginning. They are not just after abortion, they are after family planning. We have everything on the line, we have to tell our allies that this time women will not be marginalized in the debate, we we will take the center of the debate. This is the time that we have to mobilize. I know this decision was handed down so NOW could move immediately. We are going to spread the message forward." Alicia Daley, Associate Publisher of MS Magazine, said she was there supporting women from her generation, "This is our generation's fight. We grew up with Roe V Wade. We are not going to stand back and let these rights be taken away from us. MS is on the forefront of these issues and we have just released a special urgent report telling you what is at stake in this fight for the Supreme Court, how you can talk to your friends and neighbors about this and how to get them involved at the grassroots level. You can fight back and not let your rights be taken away." Allendra Letsome, of the National Young Feminist Task Force, said that it was up to women to preserve their rights, "How many of you have heard the phrase I'm not a feminist but. . . if you were born after 1973 you are a feminist by birth period. The rights that you and I have were bought by the women before us fighting the indignities that they had to face. They don't ask that we know who they were or what they did, all they ask is that we don't lose ground. These are our rights, these are our constitutional rights. These will always be our rights. Even with all of that, the government is still very concerned about our uterus, they are still trying to get into our ovaries. They spend a lot of time and energy on this fight and a lot of them think that we can't win. If we lose, if any of the gains we have made are lost it won't be because of the government, it won't be because of Roe V Wade, it will be because of us. It will be our 'I don't have the time for this' mentality, it will be the 'I am not a feminist but . . .' I am not telling you to take a side, that is your decision. I just want you to recognize that these are your rights and take a stand." Dolores Huerta, a founding member of the United Farmworkers, said she is a great grandmother and she is pro-choice, "I am a feminist and I was born in 1930. I am a seventy five year old great-grandmother. I want to make a call to all great-grandmothers out there that this is our fight. We have to act now. I am the Catholic mother of eleven children and I am for choice. It is every woman's right to decide how many children she wants to have, a human right, a Constitutional right, you have to give us a judge that will uphold our Constitutional rights and the human rights of all women."
This work is in the public domain.

[The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com]

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[Note: This entry originally appeared at The Common Ills.]

Posted at 03:57 am by thecommonills
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Richmond: Mountain Justice Summer/ G8 Solidarity Friday July 8th

Bob e-mails to note this announcement from Richmond Indymedia:

Mountain Justice Summer / G8 Solidarity Actions Coverage -- Friday, July 8
For this Friday's Mountain Justice Summer / G8 Solidarity action protests here in Richmond, RVA IMC will be running a razorwire with breaking news coverage.We encourage you to the be the media and provide us with breaking news from the street. By Friday, we'll post a hotline number for folks to call into.

For more information go to Richmond Indymedia.

The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.

[Note: This entry originally appeared at The Common Ills.]

Posted at 03:55 am by thecommonills
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Indymedia Roundout focus on the quagmire of Operation Enduring Falsehood

How do you define patriotism?
At the root of it all I think of those old lines that Paul Robeson sang, "The House I Live In." This is my America. I love this place. I grew up on a block where we played stickball in the spring and roller-skated in the summer. I want to have that place for my children and grandchildren. I don't want them thinking of having to support the empire or to go off and fight evil wars or even to participate in the evil here at home, which is becoming a bigger and bigger issue. I think it really is about making America live up to its promise. If we don't force the country to live up to that promise then we are not doing our duty as citizens., even when it is very hard. Even when it is much easier to lay back with the remote and the six-pack and not go to that meeting, not go to that demonstration, not write the letter to the editor. It takes a certain amount of energy to be a democracy and I'd like to think that energizing is part of what I do and what I want to see done.
[. . .]
What does it mean to be a revolutionary in 2005?
I think it means at this point looking for basic change, change in the structures -- somehow getting away from this corporatized America which, with its tremendous power and money, is able to control all the rest of us, the media and just about everything we do and say. I think to be a revolutionary is to say let's get back to the grassroots, let's put the people back in charge, whatever that takes to do that, and to use Malcolm's old line -- by any means necessary. The power has gone askew and we really need to make it come back to represent the people rather than the big guys.

The above is Mike Burke's "Making America Live' -- An interview with Lynne Stewart Current" from the Indypendent. (Mike Burke is with Democracy Now! and runs CounterRecruiter.)

Chad, who calls Billy Jack is his favorite film, e-mails to note Jackie Captain and Michael Leon's "Tom Laughlin Maps Out Iraq PeacePlan Coincides with Billy Jack Sequel" (Madison Indymedia):

"I lived through McCarthy; I was at Madison during that time. But this is the worst, this is truly frightening," said Laughlin. "We're out now desperately trying put this together. Raising money for the film, raising money for the campaign. McCarthy was nothing compared to Bush and Rove. We’re out of time. We need patriots to act now to save this country."
Laughlin's sense of urgency is obvious in his voice especially when the self-taught Jungian scholar talks about George Bush personally. He sees the American president as suffering from a personality disorder stemming from inadequacy and believes Bush to be a genuinely delusional person, isolated in the presidential cocoon.
"Bush is really a paranoid personality. He has the most dangerous inferiority complex. He is a guy who is desperate to be king, but there is nothing royal in him. The 'mother complex' in Bush is frightening. Everything he is doing is he is trying to prove he is a man. To him, really and truly, he is so delusional that he thinks war is a video game, and he’s John Wayne. And worse is the evil Karl Rove behind Bush," said Laughlin.
Laughlin brands the Bush administration as anti-American politics incarnate, eroding the right to dissent in America, and the right of Americans to fulfill themselves in an era where smearing gays and peace activists is the predominant mode of communication in the Republican Party.

Trina e-mails to note Jen Lott's "Iraq War Memorial Returns to Philadelphia" (Philly Indymedia):

Over the Fourth of July weekend the American Friends Service Committee sponsored the second "Eyes Wide Open" exhibition at the Visitor’s Center in Historic Philadelphia. This traveling exhibit displays a pair of boots for each American soldier whom has been killed in the Iraq war.
[. . .]
The first display of the "Eyes Wide Open" exhibit was in Chicago during January 2004. At that time there were 504 pairs of boots. New boots representing fallen soldiers are added to the collection as the exhibit travels around the country. According to Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, the current number of American soldiers killed in Iraq is up to 1,744. Last year when "Eyes Wide Open" was in Philadelphia over the Fourth of July weekend, the amount of US casualties was at around 800.
The American Friends Service Committee is an organization based on Quaker values, including that of nonviolence. According to the organization's Statement on Immediate Withdrawal of US Troops, that the US continues to be a presence in Iraq is wrong and has not helped in making the region a safe or stable place.
For more information on the American Friends Service Committee, further resources on the Iraq war and the AFSC’s work in Iraq, visit their Wage Peace Campaign website. To see a list of co-sponsoring organizations, see the official Eyes Wide Open site.

Brenden e-mails to note Bob Fitch's "OPT-OUT A Winner" (Santa Cruz Indymedia):

The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees voted in favor (4 to 3) of a resolution to increase student and family awareness of the OPT-OUT choice parents have to deny military recruiters access to private student information.
Watsonville, CA, Wed. June 29: The uncertainty was palpable in the Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees meeting which determines policy for three public high schools, and four continuing education or charter high schools serving approximately 5,000 students and their families.As a result of the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act, a requirement of federal education funding is that high school administrations release student contact, and other information to military recruiters. Students and parents may “Opt-Out” of the information release list, but notification that this option is careless-to-nonexistent. In the predominantly Latino district, where recruiters “descend on students like vultures on road kill,” (as one counter recruitment worker stated) how is family and student notification of Opt-Out best assured?
[. . .]
More Information: Opt Out Campaign Guide: www.rcnv.org/counterrecruit/optout/

The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.

[Note: This entry originally appeared at The Common Ills.]

Posted at 03:53 am by thecommonills
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Democracy Now: Bob Herbert, London; Matthew Rothschild & Brian Montopoli on Miller, London via Indymedia and The Independent

Series of Bomb Blasts Rip Through London in Rush Hour
A series of bomb blasts ripped through the London subway system during rush hour this morning. As many as 7 separate blasts have been reported. At least one double decker bus was also reportedly blown up, with witnesses describing it like a can of sardines being ripped open. Details remain very vague but officials are saying that many people have died and scores more have been injured. As people emerged from the underground, they described what had happened. Police officials say there was evidence of explosives in at least one of the six sites. Prime Minister Tony Blair has left the G8 summit in Scotland and is headed back to London. Before leaving, Blair addressed the world media:

"Just as it is reasonably clear that this is a terrorist attack, or a series of terrorist attacks, it's also reasonably clear that it is designed and aimed to coincide with the opening of the G-8. There will be time to talk later about this. It's important, however, that those engaged in terrorism realize that our determination to defend our values and our way of life is greater than their determination to cause death and destruction to innocent people in a desire to impose extremism on the world. Whatever they do, it is our determination that they will never succeed in destroying what we hold dear in this country and in other civilized nations throughout the world."

Prime Minister Tony Blair speaking this morning before leaving Scotland.

Israel Says It Was Tipped Off About Attacks
Meanwhile, a senior Israeli official has been widely quoted today as saying that British police told the Israeli Embassy in London minutes before today's explosions they had received warnings of possible terror attacks in the city. Israel was holding an economic conference near the scene of one of the explosions. Israeli Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was supposed to attend, but the attacks occurred before he arrived. The official sais that just before the blasts, Scotland Yard called the security officer at the Israeli Embassy and said warnings of possible attacks had been received.

The above are two headlines from Democracy Now! (picked by Brenda and Zach) (Democracy Now!, "always worth watching," as Marcia says).

Headlines for July 7, 2005

- Series of Bomb Blasts Rip Through London in Rush Hour
- Israel Says It Was Tipped Off About Attacks
- NY Times Reporter Judith Miller Goes to Jail
- NY Times: Karl Rove Was Cooper's Source
- Ambassador Joe Wilson Speaks on Miller's Jailing
- More Than 100 Iraqi MPs Call for US Withdrawal
- Halliburton Gets Another $5 Billion
- US to Use Blimps in Iraq
- Five US Citizens Being Held in Iraq

London Subway and Bus Explosions Kill Forty, Injure more than 100

Tony Blair is calling the subway and bus explosions in London a series of terrorist attacks designed to coincide with the G8 meetings in Scotland. The blasts ripped through three subway trains and a double-decker bus. Forty people are confirmed dead and more than a hundred injured. We go to London for eye-witness reports and comment from former parliamentarian Tony Benn and independent journalist Omar Waraich.

public photos

Explosions Rock London..

Breaking news

Indymedia UK Statement on London bombs