September 8, 2008.  Chaos and violence continue, cholera's back, the Iraqi Parliament is going to back into session, and more.   Cholera is back in the Iraq news.  Sunday Reuters reported that cholera has claimed 1 life and that six more Iraqis have been diagnosed with it ("More than 4,000 cases of cholera . . . were diagnosed in Iraq last year.")  Babylon & Beyond (Los Angeles Times) notes of cholera: "The problem raises the question: How can a country with two major rivers -- the Tigris and the Euphrates -- not have sufficient clean water for its people?  The problem stems from Iraq's aging water treatment facilities, which were damaged or destroyed during the war and have yet to be replaced or repaired."  Mike Sergeant (BBC) reports that the cholera outbreak had claimed 6 lives earlier today (the total continued to rise) and that "Cholera is mainly transmitted through contaminated water and untreated sewage.  It can spread quickly in hot weather."  And it spread quickly last year.  There's no reason for the puppet government in Baghdad to pretend what's happened is shocking or surprising.  After last year, it was to be expected.  The World Health Organization noted October 3, 2007: "Since the cholera outbreak was first detected in Kirkuk, Northern Iraq, on 14 August 2007, it has spread to 9 out of 18 provinces across Iraq. It is estimated that more than 30 000 people have fallen ill with acute watery diarrhoea, among which 3 315 were identified as positive for Vibrio cholerae, the bacterium causing the disease. A total of 14 people are known to have died of the disease. The case-fatality rate has remained low throughout the outbreak indicating that those who have become sick have been able to access adequate treatment on time."  Reuters reports that Babil province is now under a state of emergy due to the outbreak and that 8 people have died "in the past three days in Babil" with at least twenty diagnosed as infected. Gulf News adds that 500 more people are suspected of already being infected.  IRIN spoke with Ihssan Jaafar (speaking on behalf of the puppet government) yesterday and he stated, "The health ministry is trying to stop the disease from spreading by early diagnosis of infection and distribution of water sterilisation tablets and also through a pbulic awareness campaign, but with the dearth of safe drinking water the disease will stay around."  Again it was completely predictable.   Staying with the medical and dropping back to the August 4th snapshot for background:   Sunday in Baghdad a press conference took place on the state of health care in Iraq. Iraqis participating were Dr. Essan Namiq (Deputy Minister of Health for Grants and Loans) and Dr. Kahmees al-Sa'ad (Administrative Deputy Minister of Health). For some reason, a medical press conference required the participation of two American generals. We learned that, unlike the United States, Iraq has some form of universal health care (Dr. Essame: "Frankly, Ministry of Health has a heavy weight on the budget of the state for offering free treatment inside Iraq, for sending the patients outside Iraq. Very heavy budget that's affecting the budget of the state. There is no neighboring countries, or all over the world any country . . . there is not country like us that offers free treatment." ). Diyala Province has a shortage of medications (Dr. Essam: ". . . yeah, maybe we are facing a shortage") and there is a serious issue with the limited medications in Baghdad being smuggled out of the medical environments onto the black market (Dr. Essam stated that "we expect to see such problems" and "hope" that a plan to address the problem will emerge at some point by "the end of 2008 to 2009"). In addition there have been problems with "spoiled blood" -- which Maj Gen Mohammed al-Askari (press spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense) intentionally avoided in his response. This was pinned on the people coming into Iraq. Though Iraq's borders are porous, Dr. Essam put forward the laughable claim that anyone crossing the border into Iraq is "going to be tested. This is especially in HIV. The . . . once the passport has been stamped, the person is being tested." Not only did al-Askari avoid that specific issue, he grabbed that question that was tossed to Dr. Essam. July ended and the press gave rah-rah coverage in their end of the month reports when the reality is that the medical conditions in Iraq are a nightmare. For example, Dr. Essam admitted that they did not have the necessary prosthetics for patients who have limbs amputated. Shortages of medication, shortages of prosthetics, shortage of beds and, yes, shortage of medical staff. Dr. Essam floated the laughable claim that "many" Iraqi doctors were about to return to the country -- any day now! -- and when pressed on it, put foward the dubious claim that "more than 80% of the Iraqi doctors, and even in the deterioration of the security situation, they were here in Iraq and working. It is a fact." No, it is not. They were among the first to flee, long before there was a refugee crisis. It was part of the 'brain drain' that first hit Iraq. The number fleeing only increased when they became kidnapping targets and were also targeted with violence. Any doctors that do return will neither be housed in the Green Zone, according to Dr. Essam, nor provided with government protection because, he explained, 2008 is not like 2007. It was revealed that nurses were selling medications and Dr. Essam wanted to remind everyone that "it is not within their job description." Asked about the huge increase in cancer rates in Basra and Najaf since the start of the illegal war, Dr. Essam claimed that was true "all over the world, the number of people afflicted with cancer is increasing." The issue of improving the hosptials (beyond exterior work) was raised (and it was noted that Shahad Adnan Hospital has over 13 floors and only two elevators as well as a bed shortage). Dr. Essam responded that, "It is good for their psychological health . . . it is good to take care of the appearance, to see the building a new, clean." Though that's of no comfort to someone climbing over 13 floors of stairs or doing without a hospital bed, Dr. Essan wanted the reporters to know, "We ourselves face problems with elevators."  CBS and AP offer an embarrassing (mis)report but they may be the only outlet that covered the press conference.  To read their (mis)report is to grasp that the talking point about "doctors returning!" can be teased into several paragraphs with nothing to back it up and that all the very real and serious problems (brought up by reporters at the press conference) can easily be ignored.   80%?  Today Karin Laub (AP)  notes that an estimated 8,000 Iraqi doctors have fled their country since the start of the illegal war and that 800 have returned. Both figures are flawed. It is over 8,000 and the exit of doctors (male and female) was not just part of the 'brain drain' it was also the result of doctors (especially females) being targeted. 800 is the puppet government's latest figure and is not independently verified. They say whatever they want and no one bothers to verify it. It's also not true that "Doctors are just a tiny group among Iraq's more than 4 million refugees and displaced" because the doctors (and others) who left during the 'brain drain' are not considered refugees, they had the money to start over and left earlier in the illegal war before the sect divisions became as fixed.  Though the figures Laub uses are incorrect, they are supplied by the puppet government and, no, 700 is not 80% of 8,000.   The largely ignored August press conference also saw a reporter raise the issue of counterfeit medicine and today Qatar's Peninsula reports that 90% of medicines in Iraq are imported and there are no tests of it leading the Ministry of Health's Inspector General Adel Muhsin to state, "It's not medicine.  It's just boxes, and God knows what's in them."   On the legislative front, Qassim Abdul-Zahra (AP) reports that the Iraqi Parliament resumes sessions this week and that they hope to address both the issue of provincial elections and the treaties with the US but that provincial elections have been discussed while the the Parliament was on break and trial ballons floated were not embraced ("But weeks of private meetings and contacts among Sunni Arab, Shiite and Kurdish lawmakers have failed to produce any breakthrough on the issue, and it was unclear whether the bill would win speedy approval.").  Sunday Erica Goode (New York Times) reported that the UN's special envoy to Iraq, Staffan de Mistura, had met with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani  and that he "said later that in the meeting the two men discussed the problems that have blocked passage of a provincial election law by Iraq's Parliament."  When the Parliament's regular session proved unable to pass a law for provinical elections, the United Nations announced they would study the issue, speak with various Iraqis and try to offer a proposal by the end of September of early October.  Yet, as noted in the  September 4th snapshot, Iraqi's Shi'ite vice president Adel Abdul-Mahdi has declared that provincial elections will take place regardless of whether a law is passed or not.    Tomorrow the Bully Boy is expected to announce the latest US troops 'plan' for Iraq.  Ann Scott Tyson and Karen DeYoung (Washington Post) reported Saturday, "Senior military officials said the 'consensus' proposal incorporated the final recommendation of Petraeus. He called for withdrawing 7,500 to 8,000 troops from Iraq by the end of January, including an 1,100-man Marine Corps battalion and a Marine aviation squadron of several hundred strong to depart this fall, an Army combat brigade of up to 4,000 soldiers to depart in mid-January, and more than 1,000 support troops, such as logisticians and forces, assigned to handle detainees."   Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .   Bombings?   Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad roadside bombing that left eleven people wounded, a Baghdad bombing that claimed 1 life and left two wounded, another Baghdad bombing that wounded two people, a Baghdad grenade attack that wounded two people, a Nineveh car bombing claimed the life of 1 police officer and left four people wounded, a Salahuddin Province car bombing that claimed the lives of 2 civilians with four more wounded and a Basra roadside bombing left one person wounded and a home invasion of "Awakening" Council leader Raad Rasheed in Diyala Province in which Rasheed was kidnapped and, in the chase that followed, three Iraqi military members were wounded by a roadside bombing.   Shootings?   Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad attack on "a vehicle for the ministry of displace people" which left four employees wounded while (elswhere in Baghdad), the same ministry's guards "opened fire randomly" shooting 1 woman dead and leaving six more people wounded, 1 police officer was shot dead in Mosul and the US military shot dead 1 person whose 'crime' was driving his car in Baquba.   Corpses?   Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 1 corpse was discovered in Baghdad.     Turning to the US presidential race and starting with the pig holler Barack Obama.  Shailah Murray (Washington Post) noted his comment last week on GOP vice presidential nominee Gov Sarah Palin "I assume she wants to be treated the same way that guys want to be treated" -- do you assume that?  How very 'forward' of you, pig face. What an insulting thing for him to even say.  Palin's run a real campaign.  She didn't sniff her opponents panties to put them out of the race -- a claim Barack can't make for himself (see Jack Ryan especially). Barack went on to declare that he'd been vetted for 19 months unlike Sarah. Brack Obama vetted?  Oh, that's hilarious.  The only thing funnier than his claim to have been vetted is watching him nosedive in poll after poll. CNN offers the most optimistic findings from their poll with Opinion Research Corp: 3% undecided, 48% for Barack - [Joe] Biden, 48% for [John] McCain.- Palin.  CBS News reports, "Sarah Palin's addition to the ticket probably exceeded her running mate's wildest expectations: McCain has turned an eight-point deficit in the Gallup daily tracking poll into a three-point lead."   Dan Balz and Jon Cohen (Washington Post) report the results of the Washington Post-ABC News poll which find the two in a dead heat. Todd Spangler (Detroit Free Press) zooms in on Michigan and studies Public Policy Polling to determine, "From the data, it appears that the Palin pick is clearly helping McCain in the race against Obama in Michigan -- a state the Republican hopes to pick up in order to beat the Democrat." Michigan is, of course, the state Barack refused to have his name listed on the primary ballot and somehow managed -- via the 'rules' committee -- to come out with more delegates than Hillary from the primary she won -- the one he refused to compete in.  Scott Conroy (CBS News) repeats the usual dumb ass garbage that concludes with, "Sarah Palin, by contrast, has repeatedly pointed to her son Track's service in the National Guard when making the case that John McCain should be the next president. Track Palin is scheduled to deploy to the Middle East later this week to begin his training for a tour of duty in Iraq." Let's speak slowly for the dumb asses.  1) Joe Biden's children's military service is stated and stretched.  2) Military service is not a private issue.  For one thing, you're required to take a public oath.  Scott Conroy sounds as idiotic as Jeannie Cummings and that's his own damn fault.   And it's that dumb ass 'reasoning' that's going to have a sizeable number of people dismissing any 'scoops' (real or false) the media may come up with on Palin because it still sounds like they're gunning for her.  Military service is public service.  It is not about anyone's private life and -- unless you get a parental waiver -- only adults can enlist in the US.  There's a big difference and Conroy looks like a real ass pretending there's not.     PBS' Independent Lens wrote of the now independent presidential candidate, "Ralph Nader was born on February 27, 1934 in Winsted, Connecticut.  His parents, Nathra and Rose, were Lebanese immigrants.  He received a B.A. from Princeton University in 1955 and graduated from Harvard Law School three years later.  In 1963, he abandoned his Hartford, Connecticut law practice and hitchhiked to Washington, D.C. to embark on a lifelong career as a public citizen.  He worked as a consultant to the U.S. Department of Labor and founded the Public Citizen research group."  That was to promote their airing of the documentary An Unreasonable Man.  And they also offered "Where's Nader?" as part of the promotion -- a photograph you could scroll across "to spot 18 things that can be attributed to his work."   At the Super Rally last week, he noted "three polls that will tell you that the Nader - Gonzalez agenda is a majority agenda.  Inferentially and item by item.  81% of the American people think the country's going in the wrong direction.  That's the highest level ever registered.  75% of the people in this country think corporations have too much control over their lives.  And 61% of the people in this country in a Gallup poll say that the two major parties are failing."  In response to a question regarding impeaching Dick Cheney and the Bully Boy after they leave office, Ralph explained (here for video):   Ralph Nader: Well you can't impeach them once they leave office but they're subject on January 21, 2009 for criminal prosecution under federal law and it's possible.  One of the most experienced prosecutors in the country, whose now retired, Vincent Bugliosi wrote that bestseller recently on the prosecution of George W. Bush [The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder].  Any district attorney, he claims, where a US soldier resideded and lost his or her life in Iraq due to a criminal war based on false pretenses by Bush and Cheney could bring a criminal homicide action and impanel a grand jury to indict both Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld.  And it's often misunderstood that presidents and vice presidents do not  escape the criminal laws after they leave office.  When Nixon was accused of obstructing justice in the Watergate burglary back in the 70s, there was a Watergate task force of government attorneys that was just about to ask for his indictment and prosecute Nixon before [Gerald] Ford pardoned him.    So for a one-time obstruction alleged in the Watergate burgalry, the arm of the criminal law was going to move forward.  That is like tiny compared to the criminal behavior engendered day after day -- systemic torture, imprisoning thousands of people without charges and without lawyers, the signing statements, hundred of them, where George Bush would sign a bill and say "I will decide whether or not to obey it."  Our Founding Fathers fought and got rid of King George III not to allow King George IV to take control of our country.  And then of course there's spying in violation of the FISA Act without judicial warant on hundreds of thousands maybe millions of Americans.  That's a first-class felony with a maximum penalty of a five-year jail term.  And of course, there is the criminal war of aggression in Iraq -- probably the worst violation of international law other than genocide -- is a criminal war of aggression.  So the question is: "Are there going to be any district attorneys in the country who are going to begin the process of holding presidents and vice presidents after they leave office accountable for their crimes or are Bush and Cheney going to set a precedent for their successors who then think that they can be above the law, beyond the law, violate the law with impunity?" That's the question that we all have to ask.   On Friday, Ralph spoke in Wisconsin and Kevin Bargnes (The Badger Herald) reports, "Nader and his running mate Matt Gonzalez support the establishment of a date for troop withdrawal from Iraq and an end to the imprisonment of nonviolent drug offenders.  A large portion of the attendees were University of Wisconsin students, and Nader painted a bleak future for a generation he believes will be worse off economically than its parents. 'You've got to wonder about whether you can get affordable housing, affordable health insurance, whether your white-collar skilled job dealing with software is going to be outsourced to China or India,' Nader said. 'And then in the moments of anxiety you're smoking a joint and you can be arrested and thrown in jail'."  Michelle L. Quinn (Post-Tribune) reports on a sit-down interview with Nader and running mate Matt Gonzalez when they were in Indiana over the weekend, "Their platform includes items he says Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain have taken 'off the table,' such as a 6-month, comprehensive negotiated military and corporate withdrawal from Iraq; single-payer, Canadian style free-choice health insurance; a living-wage and repeal of the anti-union Taft-Hartley Act; and a no-nuke, solar-based energy policy supported by renewable and sustainable energy sources. Solar energy is a change he's touted for years, and many utility executives to whom he's spoken prefer wind power as the next energy source, he said."  Ralph was also campaigning in Wisconsin over the weekend and among the speakers at Fighting Bob Fest.  Matthew Ryno (Baraboo News Republic) reports he "gave a biting speech to kick off the morning's events.  He targeted what he called, 'least, worst' voters, or voters who he says cannot tolerate another four years of a Republican as president.  'The question is whether or not we get a Republican in disguise,' Nader said, referring to Democrat Barack Obama.  'We're seeing similar parties.' Nader said. 'Measure the Democratic control of Congress and ask how much of Bush's legislature have they rolled back? Have they even tried to impeach?'"   Have they done anything?  And what of Barack?  Chris Floyd (Baltimore Chronicle) tackled the issue of 'anti-war' Barack over the weekend, "In short, he continued his relentless campaign to purge himself of any of that weak-sister 'anti-war' taint that got attached to him in the early days of his campaign -- which was, of course, responsible for his phenomenal rise in the first place. He rode that wave to national prominence -- trading on the desperate hopes of millions of Americans that the ungodly criminal nightmare in Iraq might finally end -- but it was obvious long ago that he was never going to dance with the ones that brung him. Once it was clear that he might really make it all the way to the top of the greasy pole, he began a dogged campaign to prove to our ruling elite that he would be a 'safe pair of hands' for the imperial enterprise."   iraq karin laub the los angeles times qassim abdul-zahra matthew ryno michelle l. quinn kevin bargnes the new york times erica goode mcclatchy newspapers the washington post ann scott tyson karen deyoung dan balz laith hammoudi chris floyd

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee, has agreed to her first interview since last month, with ABC News anchor Charles Gibson later this week, the network and Sen. John McCain's campaign said yesterday.


The above is from Anne E. Kornblut's "Palin to Give Interview to ABC This Week" (Washington Post) and Lloyd e-mailed to note that and wants it paired with this from Ava and my "TV: More sexism, more self-promotion:"

Let's go to what else Pravda on the Hudson did with regards to Palin speech, an attempted 'fact check'. (Goody provided no fact check for Barack and wisely chose not to air his comments on "universal health care" because even her devoted audience isn't so stupid to swallow that garbage.) First up, Goody repeatedly mispronounced Palin's last name throughout the Thursday broadcast (the day after Palin spoke -- when any journalist should have known how to pronounce her not so difficult last name). Goody brought on Pacifica wanna be/reject Shannyn Moore for the alleged fact check which only reminded us that when Goody goes north, facts fly out the window.
Moore got in this unsubstantiated smear, "Certainly, I can tell you that in small-town Alaska, rumors abound. And this isn't any other case from that. And I know people in the media in Alaska who have known of Bristol Palin's pregnancy for, you know, over a month and didn't bring it into the press, because they didn't think it was any of their business. And certainly there have been rumors abounding regarding Trig and his--whether it was a decision or avoidance of some sort of 'how to get out of trouble' card. You know, I don't have anything to verify that, but that's certainly the small-town rumor that's gone about." 'Trig' Palin, the governor's son, who has signed up for military service, certainly doesn't deserve to be smeared by Moore or anyone else. If Moore thinks she has information, she might try producing it. Smearing someone who's joined the military with rumors? Not classy and not journalism. And it may remind some of how, when Barack was exposed by AP as having had his campaign tell Canada not to take his words on NAFTA seriously, The Nation's John Nichols showed up (from Canada!) to tell Goody that he was on the hot trail of a big scoop about how it was Hillary who was really talking to Canada. The big scoop went poop because there was never anything there. But when Goody goes north, she loves to air false rumors and try to pass it off as 'reporting' and 'fact.'
For the record, Trig Palin? A newborn infant (born this year). For the record, Track Palin is the son who is in the military. A huge mistake and one an 'expert' on the topic shouldn't make; however, for the record, Moore isn't a journalist, she's Alaska's version of Randi Rhodes -- and don't we all know how that story ends?

Lloyd offers that not only should the uninformed Moore be embarrassed but so should "Amy Goodman who brought her on as a guest and didn't even realize which child was Trig and which was Track but can you keep the facts straight when you're so busy promoting yourself? Amy proves you can't. " That's Pravda on the Hudson for you, no fact need interfere with Goody's efforts to provide propaganda. Today she offers "Highlights of the Democratic convention" and it's cute how that garbage is edited to make Barack a hero especially with regards to Iraq Veterans Against the War. You see IVAW members ecstatic. But that's not reality. Here's IVAW summarizing at their own site:

When they arrived at the DNC, representatives of IVAW asked to meet with Barack Obama to present their message. After negotiations, the Former Texas Lt Governor Ben Barnes came out of the convention to accept a letter from the IVAW members. Jeff Key, a former Marine said the IVAW members intended to stay in place until a representative from Obama's campaign came out to talk with them.
"I'm a patient man. I'm not going anywhere,'' Key said.
Key, a former Marine from Salt Lake City, and Liam Madden, a former marine from Boston, were then escorted into the convention where they met with Phil Carter, head of veterans affairs for the Obama campaign. IVAW is now waiting for a formal response to their request address the delegates from the podium.

That request -- something Goody leaves out in her 'highlights' -- never came to fruition. It was never going to. The press was taking interest in IVAW's protest and asking the Obama campaign about it. They sent out a rep to stop the protest with some empty promises (lies) and IVAW stopped their protest. They never made it to the podium, they never got anything from Team Obama. But you'll never know that to catch the propaganda Goody offers this morning and, really, isn't that the point?

Qassim Abdul-Zahra (AP) reports that the Iraqi Parliament resumes sessions this week and that they hope to address both the issue of provincial elections and the treaties with the US but that provincial elections have been discussed while the the Parliament was on break and trial ballons floated were not embraced ("But weeks of private meetings and contacts among Sunni Arab, Shiite and Kurdish lawmakers have failed to produce any breakthrough on the issue, and it was unclear whether the bill would win speedy approval.").

Over the weekend two presidential candidates spoke at the Fighting Bob Fest gathering in Wisconsin. From Matthew Ryno's "Nader, Donahue bring star power to Fighting Bob Fest" (Baraboo News Republic):

Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader gave a biting speech to kick off the morning's events. He targeted what he called, "least, worst" voters, or voters who he says cannot tolerate another four years of a Republican as president.
"The question is whether or not we get a Republican in disguise," Nader said, referring to Democrat Barack Obama.
"We're seeing similar parties." Nader said. "Measure the Democratic control of Congress and ask how much of Bush's legislature have they rolled back? Have they even tried to impeach?"
To the cheers of the audience, he praised Wisconsin U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold for introducing legislature to censure President Bush, and called Bush the "most impeachable president in American history."
Nader said President Harry Truman first laid down an example for affordable health care, and European nations achieved health care, labor and trade reforms shortly after World War II because of strong political lobbying.
"The two parties, for 63 years, have yet to get that done. How many more votes are we going to give them?" Nader said.
Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney spoke next. She called herself a "black woman who dares to dissent in a world that does not allow it."

Michelle L. Quinn offers "Nader knocks outsourcing during campaign stop" (Gary Post Tribune):

Nader, who with his vice presidential candidate, Matt Gonzalez, stopped at the Cracker Barrel to talk exclusively with the Post-Tribune, pointed to the article before he even sat down.
The two stopped in Indiana, then backpedaled to Lansing, Ill., as part of their weekend tour of the Midwest.
The article, which discussed leasing public assets, chills him to the core every time.
"This 75-to-99-year leasing turns colonialism on its head and is very bad for consumers; in this article, it says the tolls will rise to $25 by 2050," he said. "It's the corporate takeover of America. We've outsourced the military with Blackwater and Haliburton, and now the contract specialists who wrote those contracts are outsourcing their work to different countries."

And Kevin Bargnes offers "Running for his 5th time, Nader hopes for ‘3-way’ election" (The Badger Herald):

"By getting to the debates you can get to tens of millions of people," he said. "In no other way can you do that -- the way our system is now rigged with a two-party elected dictatorship and ballot access obstructions."
Nader was highly critical of both political parties, characterizing them as agents of corporate America. He called for the impeachment of "King George IV" and said the Democrats were also complacent in national policies.
"I've never seen a bigger gap between knowledge and action," Nader said. "It's an even bigger gap than the inequalities of wealth and income, which have gotten pretty big."
In his fifth run for president, Nader maintains many of the same platforms he had when he ran as a member of the Green Party. These include a Canadian-style public health insurance system, a minimum wage of at least $10, a carbon tax to help slow global warming and more direct democracy.
Nader and his running mate Matt Gonzalez support the establishment of a date for troop withdrawal from Iraq and an end to the imprisonment of nonviolent drug offenders.


Today the Nader - Gonzalez ticket makes campaign stops in Ohio. Eddie notes this from Team Nader:

Nader/Gonzalez on 3-stop Tour in Ohio

News Advisory
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Marc Abizeid, 831-818-7736, marcabizeid@votenader.org (national); Justin Jeffre, 917-881-9882, justinjeffre@votenader.org (local).

RALPH NADER AND MATT GONZALEZ TO VISIT COLUMBUS, WILMINGTON AND CINCINNATI MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8

Columbus Information:

On Monday, September 8 at 12:30 p.m., Independent Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader and running mate Matt Gonzalez will hold a press conference followed by a 1 p.m. campaign rally at the Drexel Theatre, 2254 E. Main St., Columbus, OH 43209. For more information call Dan Whorton at 614-573-6986.

Wilmington Information:

On Monday, September 8 at 4:30 p.m., Independent Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader and running mate Matt Gonzalez will speak at a rally sponsored by the "Save Ohio Jobs" coalition which is demonstrating against the proposed closure of a DHL freight hub in Wilmington. Shutting down the hub, which is Wilmington's largest employer, would cost between 8,000 and 10,000 workers their jobs. The rally will be held at the Kelly Center of Wilmington College, 113 College St. Wilmington, OH 45177. For more information call Tony Olsen of the Save Ohio Jobs coalition at 913-707-2471.

Cincinnati Information:

On Monday, September 8 at 7 p.m., Independent Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader and running mate Matt Gonzalez will hold a press conference followed by a 7:30 p.m. campaign rally at the Cincinnati Memorial Hall, 1229 Elm St., Cincinnati, OH 45210. For more information call Justin Jeffre at 917-881-9882.

Topics at the Rallies:

At their campaign rallies in Columbus and Cincinnati, Nader/Gonzalez will address critical issues the major party candidates have taken "off the table" that the Nader/Gonzalez campaign has put on the table, including:

- a comprehensive, negotiated military and corporate withdrawal date from Iraq;
- a single-payer, Canadian-style, private delivery, free-choice public health insurance system for all;
- a living wage and repeal of the anti-union Taft-Hartley Act;
- a no-nuke, solar-based energy policy supported by renewable, sustainable, energy-efficient sources;
- a carbon tax to deter global warming;
- an end to the corporate welfare and corporate crime that has resulted in millions losing pensions, savings and jobs and squandered tax dollars; and,
- more direct democracy reflecting the preamble to our constitution which starts with "we the people," and not "we the corporations."

About Ralph Nader
Attorney, author, and consumer advocate Ralph Nader has been named by Time Magazine one of the "100 Most Influential Americans in the 20th Century." For more than four decades he has exposed problems and organized millions of citizens into more than 100 public interest groups advocating solutions. He led the movement to establish the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and was instrumental in enacting the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Motor Vehicle Safety Act, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and countless other pieces of important consumer legislation. Because of Ralph Nader we drive safer cars, eat healthier food, breathe better air, drink cleaner water, and work in safer environments. Nader graduated from Princeton University and received an LL.B from Harvard Law School.

About Matt Gonzalez
Matt Gonzalez was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 2000 representing San Francisco's fifth council district. From 2003 to 2005, he served as Board of Supervisors President. A former public defender, Gonzalez is managing partner of Gonzalez & Leigh, a 7-attorney practice in San Francisco that represents individuals and organizations in mediation, arbitration, and administrative proceedings before state and federal regulatory bodies. Gonzalez graduated from Columbia University and received a JD from Stanford Law School.

About the Nader/Gonzalez Campaign
According to a CNN-Opinion Research Corp. poll conducted from July 27-29, Ralph Nader is at 6 percent nationally (equivalent to about 10 million eligible voters), higher than his highest major poll numbers during the same time period in 2000 and approaching the 10 percent threshold required for eligibility to participate in "America's Presidential Debate in New Orleans," a Google-sponsored event scheduled for September 18. In the key swing state of Michigan -- whose Democratic voters were partially disenfranchised by the Democratic National Committee -- an EPIC-MRA poll found Nader at 8-10 percent.

For more information on the Nader/Gonzalez campaign, visit: votenader.org.

-End-

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Cynthia McKinney is the Green Party presidential nominee, Rosa Clemente is her running mate. Team McKinney notes:

Update on Ballot Access for McKinney/Clemente

Friday, 05 September 2008 04:31

Update on Ballot Access for McKinney/Clemente - Four New States Craig Seemans Rosa Clemente wrote: EVERYONE FANTASTIC!!!!!!! UTAH MINNESOTA OHIO WISCONSOIN, AMAZING!!! in the last few days! Craig wrote: Richard Winger of Ballot Access News is keeping score at this site. For a full list of the 30 states where you can vote for us directly, see this chart. He updated his list today (and does so frequently): http://www.ballot-access.org/ballot-chart.html Also see: www.gp.org It's seems the states that still show as available but not official or filed yet are: Alabama (doesn't look likely to me) North Carolina (in court) North Dakota (doesn't look likely to me) Rhode Island (Greg Gerritt posted it's official today) Tennessee (listed as "finished") Vermont (listed as 0 with only 1000 needed so I can't figure out what's going on there) Virginia ("finished") So add Rhode Island to the list which makes 30 so far. Ballot Access News is a GREAT resource for keeping track of all ballot access law suits and legislation around the country. http://www.ballot-access.org/ If you have any trouble registering to vote Green or voting on election day, please contact the campaign at www.talkback@runcynthiarun.org

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


iraq
anne e. kornblut
the washington post
qassim abdul-zahra
matthew ryno
michelle l. quinn
kevin bargnes

Isaiah's latest The World Today Just Nuts "Barack Running Scared." Barack crawls away nervously from Sarah Palin as he insists, "Lipstick or not, she scares me."

the world today just nuts
comic
barack obama
sarah palin
the common ills

The excruciating literalness of the Human Terrain Team's name is a product of the excruciating rigidity of the system it is designed to change. The program began as an offshoot of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, a task force assembled in 2003 to analyze the growing threat of IEDs in Iraq. Part of that effort was a computer database of cultural knowledge--culture in a can, as it were--that was supposed to help commanders identify the social networks behind IEDs, from the bomb makers and financiers down to the men who planted the devices. But commanders didn't need yet another piece of hardware, and they felt they were already drowning in information. What they needed, Fondacaro told me, were "expert culturally focused people who understand the operational relevance of cultural knowledge."
In 2006 the IED task force shelved the computer and started over with the Human Terrain System, the core of which is composed of five-person HTTs specializing in particular locations. Team members are drawn from a volunteer cadre of anthropologists, social scientists, and cultural analysts from both civilian and military backgrounds.
The principal goal of each team is to provide combat-brigade commanders with a nuanced view of the people who live in their areas of operation. Armed with such knowledge, commanders might be less inclined to accomplish missions using only brute firepower. Dropping a 2,000-pound bomb on a mud hut is a "kinetic" way to eliminate insurgents, along with most living things in a 400-meter radius. The "non-kinetic" approach favored by the Army's new counterinsurgency manual is to convince villagers not to harbor insurgents in the first place, and the hope is that this goal can be accomplished without firing a shot.

The above is from Steve Featherstone's "Human quicksand for the U.S. Army, a crash course in cultural studies" (Harper's magazine) and that's a pretty stamp way of looking at HTT. The reality is that these social scientists (and medically trained in some cases) are working counter-insurgency wherein they abuse their training and the ethical codes of their profession to learn how to subvert a local population. There is no difference between what they are abusing their training for and what happens during colonolization. From time to time you hear someone ask (in the US), "How could we have done this to the Native Americans all those years ago?" Self-interest, selfishness and a refusal to honor the humanity in all. And it goes on today in Iraq with the HTT teams. And centuries from now it will be, "How could we have done this to the Iraqi people?" and at the same time "this" will be being done to another group of people unless, by that point, we've found a way to be honest.

It's real easy to take that attitude of "it's all the way over there." It's very rare that these things take place nearby. You have to put up a little physical distance to get a ton of emotional distance. And it allows the notion of people are being helped -- both the US and the 'liberated.' And as the occupied people continue to resist, the same attitude allows them to be blamed and scorned as unappreciative and then beyond help -- so whatever happens to them, the feeling becomes, is what they deserved. And when that period arrives, anything can be done to a people and few raise an objection. Don't kid yourself that civilization is that much more advanced today than it was when what is now the US was being colonolized.


They're just there to try and make the people free,
But the way that they're doing it, it don't seem like that to me.
Just more blood-letting and misery and tears
That this poor country's known for the last twenty years,
And the war drags on.
-- words and lyrics by Mick Softly (available on Donovan's Fairytale)

August 24th, ICCC's number of US troops killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war hit the 4,143 was the number. And tonight? 4155. Just Foreign Policy's counter estimates the number of Iraqis killed since the start of the illegal war to be 1,255,026 up from 1,252,595.

In some of today's reported violence . . .

Bombings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad roadside bombing that wounded two police officers, another Baghad roadside bombing that wounded three police officers, another Baghdad roadside bombing that wounded three police officers (that's eight wounded today), a Baghdad roadside bombing that wounded five people and a Mosul bombing that claimed 1 life ("police officer who was working for the Mosul governorate council").

Shootings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 1 police officer shot dead in Bashiqa.

Corpses?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 3 corpses discovered in Baghdad and 3 corpses of four "Awakening" Council members kidnapped in Anbar Province yesterday were discovered ("one is still missing"). Reuters notes a corpse discovered in the Euphrates river.

Reuters also notes that cholera has claimed 1 life today and that six more Iraqis have been diagnosed with it ("More than 4,000 cases of cholera . . . were diagnosed in Iraq last year.")

Erica Goode's "Car Bombing Kills at Least 6 in City in Northwestern Iraq," in today's New York Times, covers the Tal Afar car bombing that claimed 6 lives and left fifty wounded on Saturday including this:

Also on Saturday, Staffan de Mistura, the United Nations special representative to Iraq, traveled to the holy city of Najaf to meet with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's most influential Shiite religious leader.
Mr. de Mistura said later that in the meeting the two men discussed the problems that have blocked passage of a provincial election law by Iraq's Parliament.

The UN working on the issue of provincial elections? But weren't we told this month that no law was needed? From the September 4th snapshot:

In other elections news, Iraq's Shi'ite vice president, Adel Abdul-Mahdi has declared that even if the Iraqi Parliament does not pass a law for provincial elections this year, they will take place. Reuters quotes him stating, "The elections will take place at the end of this year. If the parliament doesn't approve the (new) elections law, there is an old law. The government cannot delay the elections." That would mean ignoring the issue of oil-rich Kirkuk, as well as the United Nations which has stated they were working on a proposal that would be released shortly.

Adel Abdul-Mahdi's statements should have been loudy decried in real time but, as usual, there were other things the press had to focus on. Having ignored it real time, you'd think the news Goode reports would lead them to explore what it means when one of Iraq's vice president is an attempting to circumvent a law and call an ongoing United Nations' study meaningless?

Nicholas Spangler (McClatchy Newspapers) reports that Iraq sent their finance minister to Kuwait today re: Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1991 in order to discuss "payment of debts and compensation" for that action.

New content at Third:

Truest statement of the week
Truest statement of the Week II
Truest statement of the week III
A note to our readers
Editorial: The Sour Grape Girls
TV: More sexism, more self-promotion
The Palin effect
Ty's Corner
Whose Media Center?
Kwame
The vain woodman
Highlights

Isaiah's comic goes up after this. Pru notes "Reality behind the US rhetoric on Iraq" (Great Britain's Socialist Worker):

The US has made a great fanfare over the handing of control of Iraq’s Anbar province to its Iraqi allies this week.
It announced that US troops will no longer stage patrols in the Sunni Muslim province that has been at the heart of resistance to the occupation since 2003.
However the 25,000 US Marines stationed in the province will not be going home.
The majority will withdraw to the huge bases the US has built on the edges of Iraqi cities. The rest will be transferred to the killing fields of Afghanistan.
The US claims that the withdrawal is a sign of its success in drawing in the so-called "Awakening Councils". These militias are led by former resistance fighters who swapped sides following faction fighting between insurgents in 2006.
However the Awakening Councils, who are overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim, are hostile to the Shia dominated Iraqi government.
Now the Iraqi government has issued arrest warrants for the militias. This is threatening to unravel the US strategy.
The US is desperate to disentangle its forces from the Iraqi quagmire and is under pressure to withdraw all combat troops by 2011.
Meanwhile ethnic tensions between Arabs and Kurds in the north are threatening to spiral out of control as the Iraqi army moves into areas under the control of militias loyal to the Kurdish regional authority.
In the latest incident, the Iraqi army moved into the town of Khanaqin in the eastern province of Diyala. At stake is control over the oil rich city of Kirkuk.
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iraq
and the war drags on
donovan
steve featherstone
mcclatchy newspapers
hussein kadhim
nicholas spangler
the new york times
erica goode
the socialist worker
the third estate sunday review
the world today just nuts

Today the US military announced: "A Multi-National Division – Center Soldier died of non-combat related injuries in Baghdad Sept. 5." The announcement brings the number of US service members killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war to 4155.

In today's New York Times, Stephen Farrell offers "U.S. Spied On Maliki, Book Says, Upsetting Iraq" (A8) which is about the advance publicity for Bob Woodward's new book (released this coming Monday) and the puppet of the occupation, Nouri al-Maliki, pretending to be surprised and outraged. Though not the US asset Chalabi was, al-Maliki is hardly clean and it's hilarious to watch his surrogates feign shock over this. Farrell quotes a number of them. The audience they are aiming for is not the US, they're trying to create an outrage in Iraq that will transfer into support for the puppet. Their weak ass statements thus far indicate the puppet doesn't even know how to handle that correctly. Farrell ignores Robert Wood's statement at the US State Dept yesterday and instead goes with Dana Perino's comments at the White House press briefing. That's an interesting choice.

We went with Wood's comments in yesterday's snapshot. Both press briefings are online now click here for text of Wood at the State Dept, here for video of the briefing, and here for Perino at the White House. And note that if you're going to quote Perino, you need to include the only real news in her comments (pay attention to her second sentence in the quote): "Okay. I haven't -- I don't have a copy of the book yet. We did receive one or two at the White House late yesterday evening, and they are working through it. So all I know is the coverage of the book that I've seen, and that I've read in news reports of it. " Did you catch it? The book comes out on Monday. Someone's decided to give the White House advance copies.

Really interesting when consider the attacks on The Price of Loyalty and how Woodward's book is allegedly critical of the White House. That's the only news in Perino's press briefing and Farrell, quoting from that briefing, can't even find it.

The paper also can't find the space to even note the assassination attempt on Chalabi yesterday. It's a curious form of 'reporting.' Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports on some of today's violence 2 corpses discovered in Baghdad, a Baghdad mortar attack that left two people wounded, a Nineveh Province car bombing that claimed the lives of 6 bystanders and left thirty-two more wounded and a Baghdad assassination attempt on Lt Col Fasieh Ziboun (Ministry of Justice "commander") via car bombing that left Ziboun wounded.

No reduction in US forces in Iraq expected for the remainder of the year. Ann Scott Tyson and Karen DeYoung report in "Compromise Led to Iraq Troop Plan" (Washington Post) that Bully Boy is expected to announce the news on Tuesday and they report:

Senior military officials said the "consensus" proposal incorporated the final recommendation of Petraeus. He called for withdrawing 7,500 to 8,000 troops from Iraq by the end of January, including an 1,100-man Marine Corps battalion and a Marine aviation squadron of several hundred strong to depart this fall, an Army combat brigade of up to 4,000 soldiers to depart in mid-January, and more than 1,000 support troops, such as logisticians and forces, assigned to handle detainees.

The Pentagon plan also calls for bolstering the U.S. force in Afghanistan to counter a growing insurgency, deploying a Marine battalion there in November to replace one that is departing, and sending an Army brigade of 3,500 to 4,000 troops there early next year.



The following community sites have updated since Friday morning:

Rebecca's Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude;
Betty's Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man;
Cedric's Cedric's Big Mix;
Kat's Kat's Korner;
Mike's Mikey Likes It!;
Elaine's Like Maria Said Paz;
Wally's The Daily Jot;
Trina's Trina's Kitchen;
Ruth's Ruth's Report;
and Marcia's SICKOFITRADLZ

An e-mail to the public account asks . . . I don't know what. The heading is about Steve Featherstone's article in Harper's this month. The e-mail text didn't go through. If I can figure out where that issue is (we quoted it from it about three weeks ago for another article), I'll try to note something from the article. I will not be going online and reading the article online. Harper's really isn't online. They have blogs and that's it unless you're a subscriber. If you're a subscriber you can log in and read anything in the current issue or in past issues going back to the start of the magazine. There is no cost for their archives -- you subscribe, you can go through them and read. The way it goes here is the either Jess grabs it when it arrives in the mail or Ava and I do in which case we take it on the road and read it with Kat. When we get back, if Jess hasn't seen it already, we pass it over to him. If he has seen it, it may be passed on while we're on the road. I don't remember what happened with that issue (whether we got it first or second). Jess isn't remembering the article and I know I didn't read it. I did fax a copy to Elaine because it's the sort of topic she would cover at her site. If the person wants to e-mail an excerpt, we'll note it here. Otherwise, you're dependent upon my finding the issue and I've already looked everywhere I could think of. (And did find Kat's stash she hid in one of my backpacks last month. I'm not joking but, to clarify, Kat's stash is Hostess Ding Dongs. She was having sugar cravings as she was about to get her period and bought enough Ding Dongs for a first grade class. That's noted with Kat's permission and at her request because when she got here tonight I handed her the boxes and boxes of Ding Dongs. I carry two backpacks on the road and rotate out between ten backpacks and I'm not seeing the issue. It's not in the library and Jess doesn't have it so I have no idea where it was but it could have hit the recycle pile by accident. If that happened, it's gone. Jim does read online and he may read the article and find a section to note but I never read articles online at Harper's because I'm not big on staring at a screen when I've got paper. The articles are scanned in, by the way, so they are on PDF form. That's my plug for Harper's.) [I don't have it. Elaine was faxed a copy. That's because of the article on Jewish writers. We had mentioned it in one group we were speaking to and a student wanted to read the article. I went to the photo copier and copied Featherstone's article, handed the magazine to the student and had the hotel fax the copy to Elaine later that night. The issue was passed on. So the person e-mailing either needs to provide an excerpt to note or you're hoping Jim will go on at some point and read the article online.)

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

iraq
the washington post
ann scott tyson
karen deyoung
mcclatchy newspapers
mohammed al dulaimy
the new york times
stephen farrell
like maria said paz
kats korner
sex and politics and screeds and attitude
thomas friedman is a great man
trinas kitchen
the daily jot
cedrics big mix
mikey likes it
ruths report
sickofitradlz

Barack Obama has now declared -- on Fox News, no less -- that George W. Bush's escalation of the flagrant war crime in Iraq has "succeeded beyond our wildest dreams." He also proclaimed his "absolute" belief in the "War on Terror," and pledged, once again, "never to take a military option off the table" (not even the nuclear option) against the "major threat" of Iran.
In short, he continued his relentless campaign to purge himself of any of that weak-sister "anti-war" taint that got attached to him in the early days of his campaign -- which was, of course, responsible for his phenomenal rise in the first place. He rode that wave to national prominence -- trading on the desperate hopes of millions of Americans that the ungodly criminal nightmare in Iraq might finally end -- but it was obvious long ago that he was never going to dance with the ones that brung him. Once it was clear that he might really make it all the way to the top of the greasy pole, he began a dogged campaign to prove to our ruling elite that he would be a "safe pair of hands" for the imperial enterprise.
We've seen this in, among other things, the shameful FISA vote, the bellicose threats to launch incursions into Pakistan (a policy which the Bush Administration is already implementing, with the usual deadly results for civilians), the ritual and repeated assertions of his willingness to attack Iran, and the foolhardy promise to shepherd Georgia's entry into NATO -- a mirror-image of Dick Cheney's stance, and a policy guaranteed to ratchet up tensions with Russia and quite possibly spark not only a new Cold War but a hot war of horrendous proportions if Georgia pulls its future NATO treaty partners into another conflict with Moscow.
But it is Obama's surrender on the Iraq War front -- or rather, the anti-Iraq War front -- that is most striking, and most disheartening. On the very night that John McCain was putting the "success" of the surge at the center of his campaign, Obama was openly, cravenly laying down one of his chief weapons at the feet of Bill O'Reilly. Obama's cheerleading for the surge -- "beyond our wildest dreams!" -- surpassed anything that McCain himself has claimed for the escalation.

That's the opening of Chris Floyd's "Surge Protectors: Obama Embraces Bush-McCain Spin on Iraq" (Baltimore Chronicle) and it's a strong column but a few points.

Barack didn't just declare the "surge" a success. He did that while on his attention-seeking world tour. He did that with Katie Couric. That's what the questions by Couric were getting at and what Barack refused to say flat out. His Cult is so deluded that if the words don't fall out of his mouth in simple, declarative statements, no one notices.

It's why he said, when running from the illegal war on July 4th, that people aren't listening to him. He was very clear in the interview with Couric where he stood on the "surge." Couric's questions were an attempt to get him to state directly what he was implying. He refused to do so. It's why Charlie Gibson and George Steph were attempting to pin down his answers in the debate they were called out for. Barack uses legal-ese and avoids direct answers. It's how many in this country have been able to write whatever they wanted onto him. (A point he was making publicly as early as late 2005.) He wanted that Fox interview, he met privately to get it (and to lay down concerns about it and parameters).

With Couric he refused to say directly what his comments added up to (support for the "surge"). She was attacked by the Cult for that interview. O'Reilly has no concerns about the Cult and Barack couldn't weasel out.

When Barack said people hadn't been listening to him (July 4th) he was correct. He is not left. He is not anti-war or even anti-Iraq War. He refuses to call the illegal war "illegal." A lot of people have 'listened' to him adding what they wanted to what he said and never grasping that reality.

You cannot be against the illegal war and shore up, as he did several times in 2004, the Iraq War. You cannot claim credit for a 2002 speech and say (as he has repeatedly until he started running for the Democratic nomination) that, had he been in the Senate in 2002, he doesn't know how he would have voted.

Barack told O'Reilly specifically that he believed the "surge" worked. He'd already said that on CBS but wouldn't do so specifically.

For all the complaints about Bill Clinton using legaleze during the _____ (let's not even put her name in) while he was president, the 'left' has been very happy to swallow legalese and even to add to it to justify Barack.

Allegedly, lessons were learned from 2004. Allegedly, the 'left' was never going to again set the illegal war aside to try to elect a candidate on the hopes of what he might do. Tongues were held when John Kerry was running. Sure he was making war noises, but didn't we all know John as the man who spoke out against Vietnam?

Whether he would have ended the illegal war or not will never be known. People can have their own opinions. (I believe Kerry would have and that may be my own delusion.) But two dangers were known from that process.

One was that you can't bury the peace movement and then, following an election, immediately dig it back up. You put ending the illegal war on hold, you're starting from scratch when you pick the issue back up again.

Another was that elections aren't decided by polling, aren't decided by wishes. Elections are decided by votes (and sometimes by the Supreme Court). And no one knows how people will vote (or if they will -- including if they will be allowed to). The lesson there is that anyone can win and that you don't put all your eggs in one candidate's basket.

John Kerry lost. He didn't make it into the White House. You can point to very real voter disenfranschisement to argue Kerry should have won (and you even invent very non-real suppression). But the reality is Kerry didn't end up in the White House and made no effort to question the results. So he lost.

Despite lies to the contrary, no one knows who will be elected in November. Anyone running -- including Ralph and Cynthia -- could have a push in their direction in the final days and end up the president. It's a crowded field and only one person will be declared president.

To make like Tom Hayden and insist that if Barack loses it is the end of the anti-war movement is to utter not just a lie but a lie that courts disaster.

Whatever does or does not happen to Barack, the movement to end the illegal war (like the illegal war itself) goes on. Barack has never been a part of the movement to end the illegal war. He was invited to the January 2007 DC rally. As with all other rallies to end the illegal war, he declined. It wasn't a fear of rallies, as we all know from watching his myth-making campaign.

He is not a part of the movement to end the illegal war. He did not show up -- even for a second -- at the House hearing where they took the testimonies of Iraq Veterans Against the War. He has done nothing.

He is neither a participant in the movement to end the illegal war nor its leader.

Tom Hayden's pathetic life is so small that he has nothing else to do but be a groupie for Barack. You get the feeling that, if invited, he would pack up everything to go on the road with Barack. (If invited? Barack has famously said that he has no fondness for "Tom Hayden Democrats.")
Tom-Tom is not about ending the illegal war, he is not about empowering anyone. He is about electing Democratic men. That's really all he's ever been about.

He got some credit (and dserved some) for getting honest about how he tailored his own votes (in his monor legislative career) to the Israel lobby. He did that in the summer of 2006. How long after he left office? How long did it take him to get honest?

Honesty doesn't come naturally to Tom-Tom.

So when he scribbles (he may have already) his latest defense of Barack, people need to remember that it takes Tom-Tom at least six years to get even a little honest.

You can be frustrated every hour of the day by all the liars for Barack. Or you can look at it as a gift in that you now know who is incapable of honesty and who has so little respect for themselves and for you that they will lie over and over.

Along with being liars, they're very dumb. Barack needs the left right now. When he gets into office, like most past presidents, he's going to be courting Big Business exclusively until its time to run again. The only limited influence the left has on a candidate is when he or she needs them. With Barack in a dead heat right now with McCain, withdrawing support for Barack could panic him, could force some action on his part.

I wouldn't believe it because he revealed himself as a liar when running for the US Senate. (I'm referring to when Elaine and I spoke with him.) But if pleasing words is enough for the 'left,' they should be forcing him to make some right now. The only way to do that is to let him know that they know the race is close. It's an abdication of their power. They've already abdicated their role, now they're scared of their own power.

Pull support for him. Not tentatively. Pull it. Make it clear why.

Maybe he'll respond with some pleasing words as a result and the little kids can go back to fooling himself that he represents some sort of change. Instead they continue to support him no matter what -- a clear indication that, if elected, he would not be held accountable.

This isn't the only entry for today. But Floyd's written an important piece and I'll use that as my excuse to make this the only entry for today for many hours. I'm honestly going back to bed as soon as this posts. I'm really tired and it's been a long week. I'd planned to do both of today's entries but then saw Floyd's column in the e-mails (Mia, Brad and Kayla have noted it -- others may have as well, but those were the first ones I saw noting it -- I started at the most recent e-mails and have only read a little over fifty).

So focus on Floyd's article and think about it. Try to give it the attention it deserves. I'll post later today and that may be this evening.

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

iraq
chris floyd

Friday, September 5, 2008.  Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces another death, no cutbacks (let alone withdrawals) is the word, al-Maliki pretends his feelings are hurt, Adam Kokesh shares his thoughts at a rally in Minn., and more.   Starting with the news of no 'cutback' (forget withdrawal).  Tony Capaccio (Bloomberg News) explains, "Top U.S. military advisers have recommended that President George W. Bush delay futher combat-troop withdrawals from Iraq until early next year, according to two administration officials."  Julian E. Barnes (Los Angeles Times) reveals, "Under the recommendation, the current level of about 140,000 troops would remain in Iraq through the end of Bush's presidency in January.  Then a combat brigade of about 3,500 troops would be removed by February a senior Pentagon official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the recommendation has not been made public."  Al Jazeera adds: "The recommendation that George Bush withdraw one combat brigade, or up to 5,000 soldiers, from Iraq only early next year was contrary to expectations that improved security in Iraq would allow for quicker cuts."  At the White House today, Dana Perino declared, "I don't recall in the last few times when President Bush has worked with, or has gotten recommendations from General Petraeus, that we have gone too far outside. Of course we -- the President gets an update, as he did on Wednesday evening from Admiral Mullen and Secretary Gates.  They took Secretary -- I'm sorry -- General Petraeus' recommendation and ran that through the chain of command. And then they presented it to the President. He's obviously talking to his national security team, and we'll be consulting with members of Congress before we move forward."  US forces aren't leaving.  Two presidential candidates (Barack Obama and John McCain) have no intention of withdrawing US troops.  At what point does the Iraqi puppet face the wrath of the Iraqi people (many of whom have already figured out that Obama and McCain are the same on Iraq)?    UPI reports on yesterday's press conference held by Iraq's Sunni vice president Tariq al-Hashimi. The press conference focused on the proposed treaties between the puppet government and the White House and al-Hashimi declared, "I think that we are not in need of an agreement that does not guarantee sovereignty and brings Iraq out from under Chapter VII, and also guarantees Iraqi law as a whole."  Which would seem to put al-Hashimi in a better position with the Iraqi people than the puppet Nouri al-Maliki.  However, al-Maliki was handed a gift today with advance publicity for Bob Woodward's latest book due out Monday.  The book asserts that the White House spied on the puppet.  Not a shocking or surprising claim.  (A) He is there puppet and they don't trust him (as well as see him as inept).  (B) This is the same White House that spied on the United Nations in the lead up to the illegal war.  But al-Maliki's trying to turn it into a national pride issue.  BBC reports that the puppet government is making noises about being shocked and how, gosh darn it, they think they maybe plan to ask the White House if this is true!  Maybe.   At the US State Dept today, Robert Wood (Deputy Spokesperson) handled the press briefing and was asked about the charges made in Woodward's forthcoming book.  He stated originally, "I don't have anything to say other than, you know, I read books, but I don't do book reviews, basically."  Pressed later, he would state he hadn't read the book and "I'm not going to give you a review of it."  The most Wood would offer was, "Well, again, I'm not going to get into the substance of this book and, you know, our characterization of it, except to say that, look, we have a good working relationship, a strong working relationship, with the Government of Iraq. We've worked very closely with Prime Minister Maliki. We'll continue to do so and -- in our efforts to strengthen Iraq's democracy."    Wood was more expansive on the issue of the "Awakening" Council members, stating,    ". . .  we believe transitioning some members of the Sons of Iraq into the Iraqi security forces, while providing the others with vocational training and other employment opportunities, will be key to sustaining the security gains that have been realized in Anbar and elsewhere in 2007. But I don't have anything beyond that."  In other words, "Thank goodness the puppet government might soon start paying the thugs so we don't have to.  Liability concerns, you understand."  They certainly have the money to pay it since al-Maliki sits on millions and millions while Iraqis suffer. At Inside Iraq, one of McClatchy's Iraqi correspondents contributes "Why Does Iraq Need This Loan" which notes the central government in Baghdad issued a press release Wednesday proclaiming the Italian ambassador and Iraq's Minister of Finance addressed the topic of the "400 million euro" loan:   Until now, everything seems normal and logical. A third world country takes loan money from an industrial country. That would be completely acceptable if this third world country is a poor country but is it acceptable for a country that gained 32 billions dollars only as supplementary budget from the increasing of oil prices? Why does Iraq need this loan? Our government wastes millions of dollar everyday in putting more blast walls, renewing pavements and of course in buying new armored vehicles for the enormous and increasing number of Iraqi officials. We can buy thousands of agricultural machines with the millions that have been wasted for the faked projects. Of course I'm not talking about the millions that had been stolen by the former ministers or even by the contractors.   Puppet al-Maliki better hope he can get some traction with his mock outrage of "The White House Spied On Me!  Who Could Have Guessed!"  James Denselow (Guardian of London) contemplates al-Maliki, "So how has this situation come to pass and how are things likely to develop? Is Maliki going to detach from his perceived political masters in Washington and be allowed to show independence? Or will such posturing result in Maliki suffering a similar fate to his predecessor, who was replaced when he became too independent?"   Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .   Bombings?   Reuters notes Ahmed Chalabi was the target of an assassination in Baghdad today via a car bombing that claimed the lives of 2 and left seventeen injured (Chalabi was not among the dead or injured).   Shootings?   Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports Dbdulameer Hasen Abbas ("Advisor to the Ministry of Defence") was assassinated in Baghdad.   Corpses?   Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 1 corpse was discovered in Nineveh Province today (a police officer who was kidnapped yesterday).   Today the US military announced: "A Multi-National Division – Center Soldier died of non-combat related injuries in Baghdad Sept. 5."  The announcement brought to 4154 the number of US service members killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war.   This as Ann Scott Tyson (Washington Post) reports, "Suicides among active-duty soldiers this year are on pace to exceed both last year's all-time record and, for the first time since the Vietnam War, the rate among the general U.S. population, Army officials said yesterday. Ninety-three active-duty soldiers had killed themselves through the end of August, the latest data show. A third of those cases are under investigation by the Armed Forces Medical Examiner's Office. In 2007, 115 soldiers committed suicide."  Pauline Jelinek (AP) adds, "As officials have said before, [Brig. Gen. Rhonda L.] Cornum said the main factors in soldier suicides continues to be problems with their personal relationships, legal and financial issues, work problems and the repeated deployments and longer tour lengths prompted by an Afghan war entering its eighth year and Iraq campaign in its sixth." While the military does keep saying the same thing over and over, it really doesn't hold up.  Take the case of Dustin Mark Tucker whom Mary Callahan (The Press Democrat) reported on Thursday.  The doctors can't explain the death (kidney failure is suspected -- the cause, no one knows) and his family can't either:    "He has no family history or personal history of any kind of medical issues," said his mother, Cindy Tucker. "He didn't complain of not feeling well . . . He was happy. He was busy. He was excited for his vacation. He was on top of the world." Tucker, 22, was home for an 18-day leave, his first since his March deployment as a gunner with the Army's 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division out of Fort Hood, Texas.  He was thrilled to be home, where his family had planned plenty of free time for golf, fishing and other activities.  He was fatigued and jet-lagged after days of traveling from Baghdad to Kuwait, then Ireland, Atlanta and Los Angeles before finally flying into San Francisco and the embrace of his family. Despite the lengthy trip, he seemed ready for some fun, they said.   Since arriving home Aug. 25, he had visited family and friends, played golf, bought a motorcycle and was looking forward to a family fishing trip at Clear Lake this week.  He complained of no pain, discomfort or illness, but did mention being tired Aug. 27 when he decided to hang out with his two brothers rather than go out with friends, Cindy Tucker said.     Dustin Mark Tucker, apparently healthy, got on the couch and died there.  And there are no answers.  And there doesn't appear to be a great deal of interest in finding out what happened -- the same way they're not all that interested in the suicides.  It's a pattern of pass-the-buck that hasn't been deal with despite the scandals of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.     Turning to the US presidential race.  Yesterday's financial goal for the Ralph Nader campaign was to reach $100,000 in the donations for the Nader Media Fund which led to some mocking in the press.  Not only did they reach $100,000, the campaign surpassed it, hitting $104,500 via donaors from around the country -- Texas, Wisconsin, Arizona, California, Oregon, Illinois, Colorado, Hawaii and elsewhere.  Meanwhile Richard Winger's Ballot Access News reports Ralph Nader is currently on the ballot in 38 states (the Green Party in 31, the Constitution Party in 33 and the Libertarian Party in 42 -- see chart at the top of the page). Hamza Shaban (The Cavalier Daily) observes, "What Democrats have failed to realize is this: Nader is most dangerous when he is ignored. As a politician on the fringe, he does not seek the broadest coalition but makes new ones. If his platform is not integrated into the Democratic party's, then he will relentlessly go after the disaffected and carve out his own demographic. What loyal Democrats call "spoiling," Nader calls a systemic and deliberate boycott."  Team Nader notes:   The Invisible Man, song by 98 Degrees - Justin Jeffre and Jeff Timmons. WATCH THE VIDEO The revolution will not be televised - but thanks to your help, it will be on youtube. We passed our media fund goal of $100,000 and brought in over $20,000 yesterday alone!  This video is our highlight reel from the "Open the Debates" super rally in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The rally took place on September 4, at the same time as the Republican National Convention in neighboring St. Paul. I flew to Minnesota to shoot video of this exciting event, then stayed up all night editing - I hope you enjoy the  result. Also, because of your generous support, you will see much more coverage of future events.  Please forward this video to your friends & family. Also please help us - subscribe to our youtube channel and rate our videos and comments!  Haven't had a chance to help our media fund grow? There's still time...contribute to our campaign today.   Onward    The RNC wrapped up their convention last night.  John McCain is the Republican nominee.  Governor Sarah Palin will be his running mate.  CBS Evening News' Cynthia Bowers reported on Palin (link has video and text) today.  CBS Evening News with Katie Couric found the anchor interviewing Cindy McCain on Wednesday (link has text and video).  Barack supporter Hillary Rosen (CNN) shows a stronger grasp of feminism than a number of leaders when she compiles her reasons for not supporting the John McCain-Sarah Palin ticket but first calls out rank sexism, "I am a woman who someone took a chance on several years ago when they gave me a job that had only previously been done by old white guys. Experience? How do you get any if no one takes a chance on you? And the decision to take a chance can be instinctive, as John McCain said. And what about the argument that she is a negligent mother who will be distracted from her important role? I am a mother who constantly feels the pressure from others about whether I am fit to be a parent, whether I put my kids first often enough and whether my children get enough of my attention. Who has the right to judge my family? My grandmother always said, 'You can't tell time on someone else's clock.' Judgments about people's personal lives are better left unsaid and unrealized."   Tuesday night in Minneapolis, IVAW's Adam Kokesh participated in the Rally For The Republic.  Kokesh has posted a video of his speech at his website and below is transcription of the remarks he delivered:   Adam Kokesh: Thanks to a few neocon, chicken-hawk draft dodgers I was sent to Falluja in 2004 with the Marine Corps Civil Affairs Team and I found out the hard way that the greatest enemies of the Constitution of the United States of America are not to be found in the sands of some far off land but rather right here at home.  It's not enough to understand that the war in Iraq is simply unjust, illegal, unconstitutional, costing us a horrendous amount of money and destroying our military.  The issues before us today are a matter of life and death.  I continue to serve my country today as a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, Veterans for Peace and the Campaign for Liberty.  It is through the Campaign for Liberty that we will take Ron Paul's message, we will take the torch of freedom that he has borne so well for us, we will take it back to our communities and set brushfires of freedom in the mind of every liberty loving man, woman and child in this great country.  I'd like to take a second to recognize the veterans in the room -- if you would please stand -- and any active duty service members please stand.  These are the brave men and women who swore an oath with their lives to support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America.  And while it is our responsibility now to resist tyranny civily while we still can, there may come a time when we will say to the powers that be "With your blood or ours, we have come to water the tree of liberty."  And it is those veterans and myself, we will be on the frontlines.  Who will stand with us?  Thank you for taking that stand.  To all of you loyal soldiers in this new revolutionary army, it is an honor to count myself among your ranks and I salute you.  You want a revolution?  You better be ready to fight for it. Now I want you all to get back on your feet, take that stance for liberty with me, with all the veterans in this room, make for yourself the same committment with your lives, your fortunes and your sacred honor to our cause and make that pledge from your hearts where the fire of liberty burns that we will not rest 'till we achieve our goals and we get this new revolution in America.  Now I want you to stay on your feet for just for just another minute -- you're going to want to stay on your feet for this -- because now I have the great pleaure of introducing on behalf of the Campaign for Liberty, someone you have all been waiting to see, Aimee Allen.   Note, Adam is co-chair of IVAW.  He was speaking for himself at the Ron Paul rally as do all IVAW members participating in political campaigns for candidates.  IVAW does not endorse any single candidate, they do not belong to or serve one party.  IVAW is a diverse group in all ways including politically.  Their shared beliefs include an end to the illegal war, reperations for the Iraqi people and that US veterans' service is honored (and promises kept) by the US government.   Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney has held multiple events in Wisconsin today and has more planned for tomorrow: Today she held a lunch (10:30 a.m.), a town hall (Walden III School, Racine) at one p.m., and a Park Six meet and greet starting at 4:30.  Saturday she will be speaking at the Fighting Bob Festival (Baraboo, Wisconsin at 10:20 in the morning and will be hosting another meet and greet this time at High Noon Salloon in Madison beginning at 5:30 p.m.).      NOW on PBS begins airing tonight in most markets. (Check local listings.) On the program this weekend (the above is a web exclusive and not a part of the show), Brancaccio interviews Christine Todd Whitman (billed as a moderate Republican) about the state of the GOP. Bill Moyers Journal brings back Dr. Kathy -- no doubt because America doesn't have enough worthless gas bagging on TV. The program moves into reality with a look at the National Guard members serving in Iraq. Gwen and the gas bags reteam to scare America on the latest installment of Washington Week. The Washington Post's David Broder and Vanity Fair's Todd S. Purdum are the two names that can be mentioned with minimal shudders. The others would produce screaming. In terms of radio, The Next Hour airs on WBAI Sunday (eleven to noon EST) and this week Janet Coleman and David Dozer "appear with yarrow sticks and The Book of Changes."  Bill Moyers Journal tackles protests (and, some would say attention getting) so we'll include this section:   Perhaps the most prominent arrest was that of journalist Amy Goodman, anchor of the daily television and radio news program, "Democracy Now!" Police had taken two of her producers into custody as they were trying to cover the news. Goodman went out looking for them, but didn't get very far.  She was stopped, slapped into handcuffs, and hauled into a detention center, along with almost 200 hundred other people. They had come to demonstrate, she had come to report on them. Goodman was released a few hours later and back on the job anchoring her daily radio and TV show, a favorite of listeners and viewers who go to her for news they won't find in the mainstream or rightwing press.   Winship is very kind to attention seeking Goody and what she actually offers. The essay is available in full online at Bill Moyers Journal.   iraq adam kokesh iraq veterans against the war mcclatchy newspapers the los angeles times julian e. barnes the washington post ann scott tyson mary callahan the next hour janet coleman david dozer wbai washington week bill moyers journal pbs now on pbs michael winship

Suicides among active-duty soldiers this year are on pace to exceed both last year's all-time record and, for the first time since the Vietnam War, the rate among the general U.S. population, Army officials said yesterday.
Ninety-three active-duty soldiers had killed themselves through the end of August, the latest data show. A third of those cases are under investigation by the Armed Forces Medical Examiner's Office. In 2007, 115 soldiers committed suicide.
Failed relationships, legal and financial troubles, and the high stress of wartime operations in Iraq and Afghanistan are the leading factors linked to the suicides, Army officials said.

The above is from Ann Scott Tyson's "Soldiers' Suicide Rate On Pace to Set Record" (Washington Post) and Pauline Jelinek covers the topic for the AP here. From that article:

As officials have said before, [Brig. Gen. Rhonda L.] Cornum said the main factors in soldier suicides continues to be problems with their personal relationships, legal and financial issues, work problems and the repeated deployments and longer tour lengths prompted by an Afghan war entering its eighth year and Iraq campaign in its sixth.

Yeah, the military does keep saying the same thing over and over. Whether it makes any sense or not. Their claims make little sense when it comes to Dustin Mark Tucker. From Mary Callahan's "Family, doctors mystified by Kenwood soldier's death" (The Press Democrat):

"He has no family history or personal history of any kind of medical issues," said his mother, Cindy Tucker. "He didn't complain of not feeling well . . . He was happy. He was busy. He was excited for his vacation. He was on top of the world."
Tucker, 22, was home for an 18-day leave, his first since his March deployment as a gunner with the Army's 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division out of Fort Hood, Texas.
He was thrilled to be home, where his family had planned plenty of free time for golf, fishing and other activities.
He was fatigued and jet-lagged after days of traveling from Baghdad to Kuwait, then Ireland, Atlanta and Los Angeles before finally flying into San Francisco and the embrace of his family. Despite the lengthy trip, he seemed ready for some fun, they said.
Since arriving home Aug. 25, he had visited family and friends, played golf, bought a motorcycle and was looking forward to a family fishing trip at Clear Lake this week.
He complained of no pain, discomfort or illness, but did mention being tired Aug. 27 when he decided to hang out with his two brothers rather than go out with friends, Cindy Tucker said.

The US military is not the only one attempting to spin another wave of Operation Happy Talk. AP wants the world to know, got to let it show, 520 Iraqis are coming, are coming, are coming BACK! From Jordan. And that number might mean something if it were even 10% of the number of Iraqi refugees in Jordan. 700,000 was the number the International Red Cross utilized in 2007. The Jordanian government sometimes uses the number one million. Meanwhile China's Xinhau reports that the US goal of 12,000 Iraqi refugees accepted in the US will only be met if 1,002 refugees are accepted between now and September 30th (end of the fiscal year). The US has never met its goal. 12,000 is an embarrassing number to begin with and, obviously, the US State Dept isn't interested in exceeding the goal.


Ralph Nader is the independent presidential candidate and he and his running mate Matt Gonzalez have two scheduled news conferences today. The first we noted in the previous entry (Eau Claire) and the second is in Madison:

Nader and Gonzalez to Hold News Conference and Rally in Madison, Wisconsin, Friday September 5

News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Chris Driscoll, 202-360-3273, chris@votenader.org (national);
Justin Richardson, 608-215-1342, justin@votenader.org (local)


NADER AND GONZALEZ TO HOLD NEWS CONFERENCE AND RALLY IN MADISON, WISCONSIN, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5

On Friday, September 5, at 7 p.m., Ralph Nader and his VP running mate, Matt Gonzalez, will host a news conference at the Orpheum Theatre in Madison, Wis. Following the news conference, at 7:30 p.m., Mr. Nader and Mr. Gonzalez will hold a rally at the same location. In addition to speeches by Mr. Nader and Mr. Gonzalez, special guest David Rovics, "the musical voice of the progressive movement," will perform at the rally. The theatre is located at: 216 State St., Madison, Wis., 53703. For more information, call Justin Richardson at 608-215-1342, or email: events@votenader.org.

Wisconsin residents confront a growing list of crisis-level difficulties that include a tanking economy, increasing environmental pollution and a health care system broken beyond repair. The latest Census Bureau figures reveal a falling median household income and a rise in the poverty rate from 8.8 to 12 percent between 2000 and 2007--and that does not reflect the impact of the current economic downturn.

According to the Economic Policy Institute, as of 2004, Wisconsin was among the 10 states whose total employment was hardest hit by NAFTA-related job losses, with a net loss of 25,403 jobs. Nader/Gonzalez would withdraw and renegotiate NAFTA and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

On August 19 the Environmental Protection Agency designated six counties -- Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, Dane, Columbia and Brown -- as violating federal standards for fine-particle pollution. Coal-fired power plants (along with automobiles) are a primary source of fine-particle pollution. As of 2005, 54 percent of Wisconsin electric utility power came from coal, according to Wisconsin State Energy Statistics.

"Wisconsin faces a triple crisis in health care: the skyrocketing cost of health insurance, increasing numbers of uninsured, and a severe deficit in the state's Medicaid program," warns the Wisconsin Council of Churches on its health care web page. The council adds that "employers now spend an average of 15 percent of payroll for employees' health care premiums, and health care costs are rising 9 percent per year, which hurts wages, profits, job creation and new investment in Wisconsin. Over a half million Wisconsinites - fully 10 percent of our population have no health insurance coverage at some point during the year. Lack of insurance is a significant factor in premature death and bankruptcy."

While Obama and McCain offer health care plans that would enrich private insurance companies at the expense of tax payers, the Nader/Gonzalez Campaign favors a Canadian-style public health insurance system with private delivery and free choice of hospital and doctor.

The Nader/Gonzalez team would fix Wisconsin's drastic air pollution problem and create many new jobs with its crash program to switch the nation to a non-nuclear, non-fossil-fuel, solar-based economy—which is "off the table" for Obama/McCain. Enormous improvements in proven energy efficiencies from consumer, home and building technologies can become the norm if Washington overcomes the energy companies' lobbies that do not want to see their sales diminish.

Also "off the table" for Obama/McCain but on the table for Nader/Gonzalez is a "Marshall Plan" to rebuild and repair the nation's crumbling schools, clinics, roads, bridges and other vital public infrastructure, with funds coming from cutting the bloated, wasteful military budget that devours 50 percent of the federal government's operating expenditures.

Mr. Nader and Mr. Gonzalez will address these and many other critical issues the major party candidates have taken "off the table" that the Nader/Gonzalez Campaign has put on the table, including:

- a comprehensive, negotiated military and corporate withdrawal date from Iraq;
- a living wage and repeal of the anti-union Taft-Hartley Act;
- a carbon tax to deter global warming;
- an end to the corporate welfare and corporate crime that has resulted in millions losing pensions, savings and jobs and squandered tax dollars; and,
- more direct democracy reflecting the preamble to our constitution which starts with "we the people," and not "we the corporations."

About Ralph Nader
Attorney, author, and consumer advocate Ralph Nader has been named by Time Magazine one of the "100 Most Influential Americans in the 20th Century." For more than four decades he has exposed problems and organized millions of citizens into more than 100 public interest groups advocating solutions. He led the movement to establish the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and was instrumental in enacting the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Motor Vehicle Safety Act, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and countless other pieces of important consumer legislation. Because of Ralph Nader we drive safer cars, eat healthier food, breathe better air, drink cleaner water, and work in safer environments. Nader graduated from Princeton University and received an LL.B from Harvard Law School.

About Matt Gonzalez
Matt Gonzalez was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 2000 representing San Francisco's fifth council district. From 2003 to 2005, he served as Board of Supervisors President. A former public defender, Gonzalez is managing partner of Gonzalez & Leigh, a 7-attorney practice in San Francisco that represents individuals and organizations in mediation, arbitration, and administrative proceedings before state and federal regulatory bodies. Gonzalez graduated from Columbia University and received a JD from Stanford Law School.

About the Nader/Gonzalez Campaign
The Nader/Gonzalez independent presidential candidacy will be on the ballot in 45 states, is polling at 5-6 percent nationally, and a new Time/CNN poll shows Ralph Nader polling 8 percent in New Mexico, 7 percent in Colorado, 7 percent in Pennsylvania, and 6 percent in Nevada -- all key battleground states.

For more information on the Nader/Gonzalez campaign, visit: votenader.org.



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Cynthia McKinney is the Green Party presidential nominee. She has numerous events today and tomorrow.

September 05, 2008 - October 05, 2008	»
09 / 5 (event) Cynthia Stumps Wisconsin, Lunch with Cynthia, hosted by George Martin Start: 10:30 End: 12:00 Cynthia Stumps Wisconsin, including Speaking to Fighting Bob Fest! Cynthia McKinney brings campaign to Wisconsin Sept. 5-6 Green Party Presidential Candidate Cynthia McKinney will bring her Power to the People Campaign to Wisconsin Friday September 5 and Saturday September 6, including speaking on the Main Stage at Fighting Bob Fest. more info (event) Cynthia Stumps Wisconsin: Racine, WI - 1pm Town Hall Forum at Walden III school Start: 13:00 End: 15:00 Cynthia McKinney brings campaign to Wisconsin Sept. 5-6 Green Party Presidential Candidate Cynthia McKinney will bring her Power to the People Campaign to Wisconsin Friday September 5 and Saturday September 6, including speaking on the Main Stage at Fighting Bob Fest. She will be in Milwaukee, Racine, Madison, & Baraboo over the two days. Friday 9/5 - 1 p.m. - Racine, WI - Town Hall Forum at Walden III school more info (event) Cynthia Stumps Wisconsin: Racine, WI - Meet & Greet Fund raiser at Park Six Start: 16:30 End: 18:00 Cynthia McKinney brings campaign to Wisconsin Sept. 5-6 Thu, 08/28/2008 - 9:52am — Anonymous Green Party Presidential Candidate Cynthia McKinney will bring her Power to the People Campaign to Wisconsin Friday September 5 and Saturday September 6, including speaking on the Main Stage at Fighting Bob Fest. She will be in Milwaukee, Racine, Madison, & Baraboo over the two days. Friday 9/5 - 4:30-6:00 p.m. - Racine, WI - Meet & Greet Fund raiser at Park Six (corner of Park & 6th St.) PUBLIC WELCOME! more info
09 / 6 (event) Cynthia Stumps Wisconsin: Baraboo, WI - Fighting Bob Fest - Cynthia McKinney scheduled for 10:20 AM Start: 00:00 End: 17:00 Cynthia McKinney brings campaign to Wisconsin Sept. 5-6 Green Party Presidential Candidate Cynthia McKinney will bring her Power to the People Campaign to Wisconsin Friday September 5 and Saturday September 6, including speaking on the Main Stage at Fighting Bob Fest. Baraboo, WI - Fighting Bob Fest - Cynthia McKinney is scheduled to take the stage at 10:20 a.m more info (event) Cynthia Stumps Wisconsin: Madison, WI - Meet & Greet fund raiser, High Noon Saloon, w/ special guest David Rovics Start: 17:30 End: 20:00 Cynthia McKinney brings campaign to Wisconsin Sept. 5-6 Green Party Presidential Candidate Cynthia McKinney will bring her Power to the People Campaign to Wisconsin Friday September 5 and Saturday September 6, including speaking on the Main Stage at Fighting Bob Fest. She will be in Milwaukee, Racine, Madison, & Baraboo over the two days. Saturday 9/6 - 5:30-8:00 p.m. - Madison, WI - Meet & Greet fund raiser at High Noon Saloon, with special guest David Rovics. PUBLIC WELCOME! more info

NOW on PBS has a web exclusive on the presidential race:


NOW on PBS Host David Brancaccio sits down with RedState's ErickErickson in a web-exclusive interview shown only at NOW Online. The two talk about Obama's bounce, Palin rumors, and whether or not political blogging really counts as journalism. I think you and your audiences will find it very intriguing.

NOW on PBS begins airing tonight in most markets. (Check local listings.) On the program this weekend (the above is a web exclusive and not a part of the show), Brancaccio interviews Christine Todd Whitman (billed as a moderate Republican) about the state of the GOP. Bill Moyers Journal brings back Dr. Kathy -- no doubt because America doesn't have enough worthless gas bagging on TV. The program moves into reality with a look at the National Guard members serving in Iraq. Gwen and the gas bags reteam to scare America on the latest installment of Washington Week. The Washington Post's David Broder and Vanity Fair's Todd S. Purdum are the two names that can be mentioned with minimal shudders. The others would produce screaming. In terms of radio, The Next Hour airs on WBAI Sunday (eleven to noon EST) and this week Janet Coleman and David Dozer "appear with yarrow sticks and The Book of Changes." (To be clear, Coleman and Dozer are not gas bags. The program is listed after Washington Weak because we've move to radio. Coleman and Dozer are public radio's longest running comedy team.)

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

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