Basil Adas' "US ready to discuss immunity clause, Iraqi lawmaker says" (Gulf News) covers the continued efforts to of the White House and the puppet government in Baghdad to push through a treaty (circumventing the US Senate and the US Consitution, though the Iraqi Parliament will supposedly be able to give a thumbs up or thumbs down)masquerading as a SOFA. Adas reports that the issue of the immunity of US troops is something the US now signals they're willing to discuss according to the Kurdistan Alliance's Feriad Rawanduz who is hopeful that a treaty can be pushed through before the end of the year. Abdul Aziz al Hakim tells Adas that possibly their could be a judicial body comprised of both Iraqis and Americans who would rule on the actions of individual US service members. Ryan Crocker, US Ambassador to Iraq, is optimistic and claims the 'movement' is some sort of rebuke to Iran (from Iraq).

Adas says the path after a treaty is drawn up is the Executive Board, then the National Security Council and the Iraqi Parliament. Finally, Adas notes: "Meanwhile, Defence Minister Abdul Qader Jasem Mohammad confirmed yesterday that Washington had offered a number of Beechcraft spy planes to bolster the Iraqi security forces."

The US began a heavy diplomatic push last week. John Daniszewski interviews Crocker for the AP, "US ambassador appeals for patience in Iraq," in which Crocker attempts to portray Iran as the culprit for the lack of a treaty called a SOFA so far:


"If we decide we are tired of it, if we decide we don't want to do it anymore and that it is time to turn our attention to other things, this could all go the other way," Crocker warned. "And it is certainly my sense as someone who has served in the Middle East for the better part of three decades, that you would pay a major long-term price."
He suggested it could be seen as a repeat of the U.S. withdrawal from Lebanon in the early 1980s, a move that led countries like Iran and Syria to draw assumptions about U.S. lack of resolve and to embrace an attitude of defiance. "These kinds of actions have profound and very far-reaching consequences," he said.
The talks on the military pact have hit an impasse recently over U.S. insistence on retaining sole legal jurisdiction over American troops and differences over a schedule for the departure of the U.S. military. Iraqi officials have said that they want all foreign troops out by the end of 2011.
Crocker, 59, who became ambassador in March 2007 and who is expected to leave his post around the end of the Bush administration, is one of the most experienced diplomats in the Middle East. He has served as ambassador in Lebanon, Syria and Kuwait, and was ambassador to Pakistan before his appointment to Iraq.
He said it is becoming obvious that Iran wants the current negotiations to fail.

Today on Democracy Now! (about to start airing), the second segment of the US House Rep Dennis Kucinich interview will find Kucinich revealing that Barack Obama didn't want bankruptcy provisions in the bill to address the economic meltdown. Kucinich says he was told that by a caucus member. Otherwise Democracy Now! is pure Cult of St. Barack, as usual. There are no reps from the campaigns of Ralph Nader, Cynthia McKinney, Bob Barr, Chuck Baldwin or John McCain, nor any supporters of them. Most surprising is the issue of McCain due to the fact Amy Goodman is yet again going after a Barack opponent day after day and never providing them with a means to speak. She did that with Hillary's campaign during the primaries. That's not 'news' and it's not 'public affairs.' It is one-side propaganda. The New York Times' Adam Cohen shows up to push Barack yet again but what else does anyone expect from that paper? And Goody gets in snark at Governor Sarah Palin (McCain's running mate). Asked if she would be willing to go into Pakistan, Palin issues a qualifier (an "If . . . then" statement) and follows the qualifier with "absolutely." Goody renders it as "absolutely" and listen to the self-amused snark in Goody's voice following the playing of the clip.


Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Boys Do Cry" went up this morning as did Kat's latest CD review, "Kat's Korner: Chris Martin's cold play." Kat's next review goes up after this and I'm grabbing a photo from Wikipedia because I don't have the time to scan the cover this morning. I'll replace it with a scan later in the week.

This is from Team Nader:

Breaking News: Third Party Debate

Trevor Lyman is the man who organized the Ron Paul money bombs.

One Lyman money bomb raised $4 million in one day.

Another raised $6 million in one day.

Now, Lyman is at it again.

Lyman wants to hold a third party debate in New York City.

Lyman was inspired by Ron Paul's press conference a couple of weeks ago.

At that press conference, Paul called on his followers to ditch the two major parties and throw their support to one of the independent or third party candidates.

So, we all need to support Lyman's push for an alternative debate now.

If Lyman gets 10,000 pledges by October 8, he and the other sponsors will organize a debate in New York City.

All major candidates -- Nader, Barr, McKinney, Baldwin, Obama and McCain will be invited.

Already, with no publicity, Lyman has close to 1,000 pledgers.

So go to thirdpartyticket.com now.

And add your name to the pledge list.

You don't have to say how much you are pledging.

Just add your name.

The Commission on Presidential Debates won't let Ralph debate.

So, let's get behind Trevor Lyman's push now.

Let's crank it up.

And get it done.

Onward to November

The Nader Team

PS:

Third partyticket.com is being sponsored by Lyman's group breakthematrix.com, the Chicago-based Free and Equal Elections, and Open Debates.

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On debates, Lauren notes this from Team Nader:

It Isn't Who Won. It's What Won.

It isn't who won. It's what won.

Always ask after you watch a debate, not who won, but what lost and what won.

Militarism won.
Boondoggle star wars won.
Corruption won.
Corporate crime won.
Bailouts for Wall Street won.
Nuclear power won.
Aggressive NATO won.

What Lost?
Peace advocates lost.
Consumers lost.
Workers lost.
Solar energy really lost.

You ought to ask what they don't talk about, what they ignore, what they avoid. Both of these candidates are vying to get into the White House so they can take orders from their corporate paymasters.

That's what it's all about. Corporate government or the people’s government? That's why we're running: to make a people's government.

When you ask what won you get a clear view that these two candidates are really afraid of challenging corporate power. It's our job to make them more afraid of the people than big business.

Watch a video of the statement at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WS5Yhy_ySk

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



iraq
basil adas
john daniszewski
the world today just nuts
kats korner

Last night, we noted Tina Susman's "Iraq bombings kill 31" (Los Angeles Times) and in this morning's New York Times, Sam Dagher and Muhammed al-Obaidi offer "Holiday Bombings Kill 27 in Baghdad" (the first report filed from Iraq to make it into the paper since Thursday morning's edition) and on one Baghdad bombing, they note:

Mizher Abed Hanoush, a Shurta resident, said the attack took place near a Shiite house of worship, or husseiniya, now occupied by the Iraqi Army.
Mr. Hanoush said the husseiniya previously had served as the local base of the Mahdi Army militia of Moktada al-Sadr, the anti-American Shiite cleric. It was taken over by the army in the aftermath of battles this year between Iraqi and American forces and the militia in Baghdad and the south.
Mr. Hanoush echoed concerns voiced by many Iraqis in recent weeks about the fragility of the security situation in Baghdad. "The situation is turning to the worse again, I do not know why," he said.

AP notes that the death toll from yesterday's bombings have climbed to at least 35.

Meanwhile, AFP quotes Nouri al-Maliki on the state of the Iraqi military -- or rather, quotes his office quoting al-Maliki -- declaring, "We see that our forces have a high level of capability and this makes us feel proud and honored, but we want the performance to be complete so that they don't need (external) support." The puppet's also in the news for the lack of protections for Iraq's religious minorities in the provincial elections legislation that Parliament voted on last week. Sunday, Iraqi Christians took to the streets in hundreds to protest. "Iraq PM seeks safeguards for Christians" (Reuters) notes that al-Maliki says things need to be added and that the Parliament points out there was no census so they had no hard numbers to work with. al-Maliki's making a show of saying the Parliament needs to fix it when the reality is that bill barely passed last week and a similar bill in July led to walk outs. The article notes:

Iraq's Christian communities, as well as smaller minority sects such as Yazidis in northern Iraq, have tried to stay out of the fray during years of sectarian fighting. But churches have been attacked and two Yazidi villages were struck by truck bombs a year ago in the deadliest strike of the war.
Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, leader of Iraq's Chaldean Catholics, called for the presidency council to intervene.
"I call on the presidency council not to approve the cancellation of article 50 of the provincial law, which is an oppression against our presence and representation in Iraqi society," he said in a television interview on Saturday.

Shamiram Daniali offers "Iraqi Parliament Betrayed the Persecuted Assyrian Christians" (Assyria Times):

Just when we thought things cannot possibly go any worse for the most persecuted population of Iraq, its indigenous people who are Assyrian Christians, we witnessed the biggest injustice yet by the Iraqi Parliament.
On September 24, 2008, the Iraqi Parliament eliminated article 50 of the Provincial Election Law, which had adopted on July 22, 2008. That article guaranteed the quotas (specific number of seats) in the governorate's regional councils for the minorities, including the Assyrian Christians. The Governorate Council Elections will be held on January 31, 2009.
The bill is now passed to be reviewed and approved by the Iraqi Presidium committee, President Jalal Talabani and his two Vice Presidents. Elimination of the article 50 means that Assyrians, as the indigenous people of Iraq, and other minorities will permanently lose their rights to have representation in the Regional Councils in the 14 regions. For the time being, three regions in northern Iraq (Kirkuk, Arbil and Soleymaniya) will not be holding regional elections.
This gross stump on democracy by the very parliamentarians, who are sworn to bring democracy to Iraq, has caused turmoil among the Assyrians of Iraq. Many of them protested against this bill by holding demonstrations against this post war dictatorship.

Daniali concludes the column with the belief that the bill will be rejected by the presidency council.



Sabina notes something from Team Nader that we'll include in both of this morning's entries:

Breaking News: Third Party Debate

Trevor Lyman is the man who organized the Ron Paul money bombs.

One Lyman money bomb raised $4 million in one day.

Another raised $6 million in one day.

Now, Lyman is at it again.

Lyman wants to hold a third party debate in New York City.

Lyman was inspired by Ron Paul's press conference a couple of weeks ago.

At that press conference, Paul called on his followers to ditch the two major parties and throw their support to one of the independent or third party candidates.

So, we all need to support Lyman's push for an alternative debate now.

If Lyman gets 10,000 pledges by October 8, he and the other sponsors will organize a debate in New York City.

All major candidates -- Nader, Barr, McKinney, Baldwin, Obama and McCain will be invited.

Already, with no publicity, Lyman has close to 1,000 pledgers.

So go to thirdpartyticket.com now.

And add your name to the pledge list.

You don't have to say how much you are pledging.

Just add your name.

The Commission on Presidential Debates won't let Ralph debate.

So, let's get behind Trevor Lyman's push now.

Let's crank it up.

And get it done.

Onward to November

The Nader Team

PS:

Third partyticket.com is being sponsored by Lyman's group breakthematrix.com, the Chicago-based Free and Equal Elections, and Open Debates.

ShareThisShareThis

And Kayla notes this from Team Nader:

Your Soapbox -- Announcing Freedom Writers

Were you disgusted by the sound bite debate you had to endure last night? Did you wish there was someone on stage who was actually addressing substantive issues instead of trading resumes and platitudes? Outraged by the fact that third parties are deliberately and systematically excluded from public discourse and that millions of Americans consequently don't know that they can vote for real reform?

If you are, sign up to join Freedom Writers, the Nader campaign to end media bigotry by demanding that radio, television and newspaper stations cover third party candidates. We need you to help us break through the media blockade and bring real issues and solutions to the people!

Join Freedom Writers today.

Onward.

The Nader Team

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



iraq
the los angeles times
tina susman
the new york times
sam dagher
muhammed al-obaidi
shamiram daniali

Did you hear? The Iraq War is over. It apparently ended Thursday or that's what the New York Times thinks. Thursday was the last day they bothered to print an article filed from Iraq. None Friday, none Saturday and none Sunday. So the illegal war has appparently ended. Or, at least, their attention to it. War is over . . . if like the Times you pretend it is.

Which goes a long way towards explaining how two presidential candidates, both vying for their first term in the White House, can get away with saying that, if elected, they won't end the illegal war by 2013 but, if elected and if American then elects them to a second term, the illegal war MIGHT end.

At least John McCain's not passing himself off as the 'anti-war' choice. But both Barack Obam and John McCain refuse to pledge to end the illegal war, if elected, in their first term. And the peace movement takes it. Used to, the peace movement thought they were being generous with a year to end the illegal war. Now two heavily promoted candidates in the press both argue that if Americans give them their votes, if Americans elect one of them into the White House, for the next four years the illegal war will drag on. But, give them two terms and it might end.

And the most the peace movement can do is hiss at McCain while refusing to call out Barack. Iraqis are frequently quoted stating things in Iraq aren't going to change under McCain or Barack. Iraqis are apparently not only smarter than the US peace movement, they're also more honest.


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)



Last Sunday, ICCC's number of US troops killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war hit the 4,168 was the number. And tonight? 4174. Saturday the US military announced: "A Multi-National Division – Center Soldier died of wounds at approximately 1 p.m. as a result of a vehicle rollover accident southeast of Baghdad at approximately 9:28 this morning. The name of the Soldier is being withheld pending next of kin notification and release by Department of Defense." Just Foreign Policy's counter estimates the number of Iraqis killed since the start of the illegal war to be 1,267,401 up from . . . the same as last week. Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .

Bombings?

Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad roadside bombing today which claimed the life of 1 Iraqi soldier and left two more wounded, a Baghdad car bombing claimed 12 lives (thirty-five more wounded) and two other Baghdad car bombings claimed 20 lives with seventy-three more people left wounded, and a Diyala Province roadside bombing left Al Saidiyah mayor Ahmed Samir Zargush and five other people wounded. Saturday McClatchy's Laith Hammoudi reported a Baghdad car bombing that wounded three people (including one police officer).

Shootings?

Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports Iraqi police say the US "shot randomlly" in Baghdad today wounded two Iraqi civilians and 1 Christian was shot dead in Nineveh Province while another man was shot dead in Mosul and his brother left wounded. Saturday McClatchy's Laith Hammoudi reported an armed clash in Jalawla that claimed the life of 1 police officer and 1 "member of Kurdistan Democratic Party."

Corpses?

Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 2 corpses discovered in Baghdad. Saturday McClatchy's Laith Hammoudi reported 1 corpse discovered in Baghdad.



On today's violence, Tina Susman's "Iraq bombings kill 31" (Los Angeles Times) reports:

The violence and the protests showed the tensions that still exist in Iraq despite progress on security and political reconciliation. The blasts were particularly jarring because they came around sunset, when the markets are filled with people buying food for the evening meal that breaks their daylong fast during the holy month of Ramadan.
"We are innocent and peaceful people. Why are they targeting markets and shoppers?" asked Hidar Abdulhussein, who suffered a broken leg in a bombing at a market in west Baghdad.
"How were they able to get in? There are so many army and police checkpoints," he said, referring to security forces around most major Baghdad marketplaces.

How are they able to get in? One thing in many reports last week was "Awakening" Council members on strike at checkpoints, waiving anyone through, due to the fact that an arrest warrant was said to be out on the member or the member's leader. Susman also notes that Iraqi Christians staged a protest today over the provincial election legislation from last week which "does not guarantee minorities seats on provincial councils." AP notes that "hundreds of Christians staged protests" today in Iraq and those protests were probably most effective on the world stage. al-Maliki's shown no concern for the rights of any of the religious minorities in Iraq; however, the puppet knows that persecution of Christians won't play well with the Americans still supporting the Iraq War so he moved quickly to insist that he supports seats in Parliament being reserved for religious minorities. Sadly, some will play that development out as if it matters. It doesn't matter at all. Parliament voted on the bill, it is sent to the presidency council who will either sign off on it (making it law) or reject it. al-Maliki's way too late to impact anything unless the bill is rejected and the Parliament takes another shot at it.

New content at Third:

Truest statement of the week
Truest statement of the week II
Editorial: What a friend the left has in Barack
A note to our readers
TV: Do Not Disturb The Propaganda
TV: One ticket gets a pass, the other doesn't
The campaign with momentum
Sexism and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
TV: The 'debate'
The New Adventures of Old Christine
MyTV's Fascist House: Princess Tiny Meat Chronicles
Coming Up
Highlights


Also, Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Boys Do Cry" went up this morning as did Kat's latest CD review, "Kat's Korner: Chris Martin's cold play." Pru e-mails to ask if she's greedy to request two highlights? Not at all. First up:

This article should be read after: » Thousands in Manchester to protest against the war
Voices of resistance call for troops to come home
Anti-war demonstrators in Manchester spoke to Sian Ruddick
"If you don't speak up, nothing's going to change," said Falak, a young woman from Liverpool.
"The threats to Iran and the trouble in Pakistan show that this war isn't over. And there's oil and gas pipelines near Georgia. We don't need another war for oil."
Katherine Moffat from Leeds was on her first demonstration. "You hear so much on the news, but I think the people here have a lot to teach people," she said.
Shin Sharma, also from Leeds, added, "We need the unconditional withdrawal of all British and American troops. The main enemy is here at home -- the British state."
Logan McGeary travelled up from north London to join the demo. "I came on the two million strong 15 February 2003 demonstration," she told Socialist Worker. "I didn't believe the lies they told us then – and we've just seen it getting even worse.
"I have nieces and nephews who are in their teens and I don't want them to grow up in a world where war is commonplace or for them to be recruited by the army.
“Regardless of who’s in power, we have to keep up the pressure. The troops are so demoralised. You can't talk about boosting morale in these circumstances. You have to bring them home."
Jesse Oldershaw is a member of the UCU lecturers' union at University College London. "Our success at kicking military recruitment off our campus last year showed me that if you organise you can have a real effect on the world.
"Demonstrations are a show of force -- but they are also a space for organising and discussion. They give people confidence to be together. On the coach here we were all organising the campaign for this academic year."
The following should be read alongside this article: » Thousands in Manchester to protest against the war
» email article » comment on article » printable version
© Copyright Socialist Worker (unless otherwise stated). You may republish if you include an active link to the original and leave this notice in place.
If you found this article useful please help us maintain SW by » making a donation.



Pru's second highlight (also from Great Britain's Socialist Worker), is "John Pilger: This conflict is repeating the historical patterns of imperialism:"

Veteran investigative journalist John Pilger is warning that the extension of the Afghanistan war into Pakistan has grim echoes of the past.
"There are striking parallels between US actions in Afghanistan and Pakistan with spread of Vietnam war into Cambodia and Laos," he told Socialist Worker.
"Indeed, there is an historical pattern -- whenever an imperial power gets stuck in one region, it will try to attack another, often disastrously. Caesar and Napoleon did just that.
"The Americans in Vietnam, deeply frustrated by a resistance they never bargained on, sought an easy conquest in Cambodia on a flimsy pretext. That was in 1970.
"The US invasion and carpet bombing of Cambodia acted as a catalyst for the rise and rise of Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge forces. Without US secretary of state Henry Kissinger and president Richard Nixon, Pol Pot would not have succeeded."
The Khmer Rouge emerged out of the chaos of the US war on Cambodia. Their rule was marked by brutality and mass murder. John Pilger warns that the US and its allies could do the same to Pakistan today.
"What George Bush and Dick Cheney are likely to achieve in Pakistan is the rise and rise of the Taliban and the rapid radicalising of 'mainstream' Islamic forces within the country."
Pilger says the impact of these new wars is "likely to favour tough guy John McCain". But he adds, "The longing for relief from war and insecurity in the US cannot be underestimated -- and Barack Obama is likely to be the beneficiary of that, however undeserved."
John Pilger will be presenting his film about Afghanistan, Breaking the Silence, in London on Friday of this week at a Socialist Worker Appeal event. He will be taking questions from the audience after the showing.
One reason why John made a film about Afghanistan was the difficulty of getting serious documentaries onto TV these days.
"In every survey of what the public wants from TV in Britain, the one constant is the demand for documentaries that make sense of the world," says John.
"But TV bosses inevitably perceive ‘public taste’ in relation to 'the market'. Big Brother may be mortally wounded in the ratings, but successors are being planned that are mutations of that form.
"That said, there are some marvellous documentary makers coming up, bypassing TV and heading straight for the cinema -- which is where documentary began."
» email article » comment on article » printable version
© Copyright Socialist Worker (unless otherwise stated). You may republish if you include an active link to the original and leave this notice in place.
If you found this article useful please help us maintain SW by » making a donation.

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



iraq
and the war drags on
donovan
mcclatchy newspapers
laith hammoudi
the los angeles times
tina susman
the socialist worker
the third estate sunday review
the world today just nuts
kats korner

Isaiah's latest The World Today Just Nuts "Boys Do Cry." Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden declares, tear streaming, "Remember weeping on the campaign trail is okay if you have a penis." [If you're late to the party on the tears, see "TV: Do Not Disturb The Propaganda."]

the world today just nuts
comic
joe biden
boys do cry
the common ills

Kat: I really fear for Gwenth Paltrow. I don't know her, I'm not a fan. Take out The Royal Tennenbaums and you're left with a slew of movies I'd never see. But there's one role she's likely to be cast in that I wouldn't wish on anyone: modern day Yoko.



Listening to Coldplay's hugely disappointing Viva La Vida, it was obvious that someone was going to have to take the fall and that the day of reckoning loomed. The summer release was tightly embraced and heavily praised by music critics and dee jays desperate for actual music -- that would require playing an instrument. Because the band can actually play instruments, Viva La Vida was said to be the thing we all have a stake in.



A stake in? Like the current economic meltdown, it appears a lot of musical experts were in willful denial. The disappointing Viva La Vida follows up the disappointing X & Y. The only improvement is that the latest album seems to grasp that dynamics are really what put Coldplay over. It wasn't the lyrics. It was the landscape of sound, the peaks and valleys, the hush and roar of various songs. X & Y would have been good album for a band like Bon Jovi that long ago lost its currency. But as the follow up to A Rush of Blood to the Head, X & Y served notice that Coldplay had been hugely overpraised and that the band didn't even grasp what had made it famous.



Viva La Vida can be seen as band members thinking, "If Chris Martin wants to embarrass himself, he's on his own." Martin is singer. Sometimes he plays an instrument and, too often, he's responsible for writing the songs. The last strong song Coldplay recorded was the title track to A Rush of Blood to the Head. "I'm going to buy a gun and start a war . . . if you can tell me something worth fighting for . . ." Chris Martin is one of those artists who, after being primped by various stylists for the photo shoot, really tries hard to show some sort of enlightened pose in the accompanying text. But as various interviews have demonstrated (I'm especially thinking of an embarrassment in Mother Jones that ran several years ago), he can name check but does nothing to indicate depth.



That's the reality of his lyric writing as well. The song I quoted was on an album released in August of 2002 -- before the start of the illegal war. Because many in the US didn't discover Coldplay until after the start of the Iraq War, a few wrongly thought Coldplay was making some form of contemporary comment. All this time later, Martin still hasn't. But look for him to name check sweat shop labor and assorted other issues in the never-ending attempts to prove himself deep.



While no advocate of sweat shop labor, I think you can grasp on one listen to the latest product that Coldplay might benefit musically from a little sweat. On the plus, the band does sound like it's trying and that it's grasped the musical landscape they created on "A Rush of Blood to the Head" was as responsible for that song's lasting impact as were Martin's words. So it's a real shame that the producers (including the increasingly snooze-fest Brian Eno) have worked so hard to destroy any excitement. Viva La Vida not only sports no sweat, it's sterile and heartless. I believe Martin's vocals about as much as I believed Petula Clark really wanted to go to downtown. Like Clark, Martin chirps away in a confectionery manner.



Usually when I think of how sorry the bulk of today's 'popular' music is, I think of the Disney Kids and the damage they've done. But it's equally true that a group like Coldplay creates their own musical landfill. They may, in fact, be more damaging because they're held up as examples and the real question there is: An example of what?



The Rolling Stones, a British band that came along years earlier, could rock out. Even when addressing the world around them in a song like "Street Fighting Man," the Stones could rock out. Coldplay always seems on the verge of about to rock but stalling so Martin's lyric can make some deep point but, like the rocking out, no deep point ever comes. As the dismal recordings pile up, it's hard not to wish that Martin tried less for lofty and was more willing to come up with his own 'stupid girl' songs ("Under My Thumb," et al) because at least that might have some life in it. Somewhere around the half-way mark in the hideous "Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love," I realized Coldplay was all about indications. They lack the ability to actually feel or convey feeling so they indicate. It's like listening to the rock equivalent of America's Next Top Model as the boys try so desperately to be winners but have no grasp of what the prize actually is.



If the whole point of Coldplay was to make Chris Martin a cover boy, consider the band a success. If the point was ever to make music that got you rocking on your feet or on the mattress, they're a failure. Thus far in the 21st century, it appears the marketing of the product is as close to art as music's going to get. The thing about hype is that it always comes back to bite you in the ass and, if Chris Martin doubts that, he should talk to the Knack. At some point in the near future, Coldplay's going to have to face the real critical judgment. When that day comes and a fall guy's needed, the easy target will probably be the actress Gwyneth Paltrow. However, assuming Gwyneth corrupted Chris requires that you first buy into the belief that he had originally had something worth offering. For the second album in a row, Viva La Vida argues that was never the case.

coldplay
kats korner
the common ills

AFP reports that Jalawla today was the site of a raid by the Iraqi police on the Kuridsh pesh merga and, citing Salah Koikha ("spokesman for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan"), 1 pesh merga member was killed during the raid. Reuters adds that 1 Iraqi police office officer died.





The raid took place in Diyala Province where the pesh merga has prevented Iraqi forces from enterting certain areas such as Khanaquin (see Monday's snapshot). From India's Economic Times' "Oil wealth fans ethnic flames in Iraqi town:"





In a mirror image of Kirkuk, the Kurdish town of Khanaqin near the border with Iran that holds sizeable oil reserves is being exposed to ethnic tensions and rival territorial claims. The local Kurdish political leadership warns that the area could see an ethnic explosion, as they call for Khanaqin to join the adjoining autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of northern Iraq.


They want to rebuild the town through the international oil boom. "What we are telling the government is simple. Implement the constitutional provision for a referendum for people in Khanaqin to decide their future," said Mala Bakhtyar, a senior member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the Kurdish political party of Iraq's President Jalal Talabani.


"If they don't do that, then there will be political trouble and military trouble. Yes, there will be an explosion of violence," he told a journalist touring the town in Diyala province. Along the 170-kilometre (110-mile) road from Baghdad to Khanaqin are grim reminders of trouble.

The New York Times takes the second day in print off from Iraq. Which is all the more hilarious when you consider the never-writes-about-Iraq Gail Collins shows up with an insufferable column today where she briefly marvels over how Iraq has fallen off the radar.

In some of today's violence, Reuters notes a Mosul car bombing that claimed 1 life, a Baghdad roadside bombing that injured one police officer, Iraqi soldiers shot dead 2 suspects in Mosul and a shooting attack on "a member of Baaj local council and his wife" in which the man wounded.

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

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

iraq

the new york times

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

Today the US military announced: "A Multi-National Division - Center Soldier was killed Sep. 25 when a roadside bomb struck a vehicle that was part of a combat patrol near Iskandariyah. The name of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of next of kin and official release by the Department of Defense. The incident is under investigation." The announcement brings the number of US service members killed in Iraq to 4173 since the start of the illegal war with 22 for the month thus far.

Meanwhile Derek Kravitz offered "Army Probes Possible Toxic Exposure in Iraq" (Washington Post) Wednesday afternoon:

Senior Army officials are investigating claims that National Guardsmen were exposed to a toxin in 2003 while protecting a water pumping plant in Iraq.
Two employees with the firm Kellogg, Brown and Root told Senate Democrats in June that members of the 1st Battalion, 152nd Infantry division of the Indiana National Guard were exposed to sodium dichromate, despite promises from company officials that the Qarmat Ali facility in Basra, Iraq, was safe.
One employee reported seeing the plant covered in a "layer of bright orange dust" that was carried by the wind, Gannett News Service reports.

Staying with safety issues, alarms are being raised re: the security of Baghdad. An Iraqi correspondent for McClatchy contributes "Traffic Jam Again" (Inside Iraq):

People keep asking of the real benefits of having so many check points all over Baghdad with the violence starts again to show up these days after a period of freezing which didn't last long. Is this a kind of pressure message to the government? Or is something bigger than that? Is it related to the military operations in Diyala and Mosul?
The Iraqi people and especially Baghdad is fed up with promises by officials and security commanders of the improving of the security situation. Millions of students in schools and universities started their new studying year this week which will add more traffic in Baghdad and more targets for the car bombs.
If the check points lessen the car bombs, we are happy with them. Instead, we have soldiers and policemen who wave for the cars to move like traffic policemen who are useless.

The concern has been expressed directly to the US military. We'll drop back to Tuesday's snapshot to note a Monday press briefing:

Staying with the Defense Dept, Lt Gen Lloyd Austin III briefed reporters yesterday from Iraq and used "positive" and "progress" repeatedly. For what doesn't matter, check out the write up by Adam Levine (CNN). The press briefing was so much more interesting. Austin did a hard sell on the "Awakening" Council members declaring, "One of our primary focus areas as we move foward is transitioning the Sons of Iraq program to the Iraqi government. The volunteer movement that started in Anbar and spread across the rest of the country significantly contributed to the security successes that we are now taking advantage of. The Sons of Iraq have paid a heavy price fight al Qaeda and other insurgent groups, and it's important that the government of Iraq responsibly transition them into meaningful employment. Prime Minister Maliki has assured me that the government will help those who help the people of Iraq. And so next week in Baghdad the government will accept responsibility for approximately 54,000 Sons of Iraq, and we will be there to assist in the transfer. We spent the last few weeks working hand in hand with our Iraqi partners on this transition, and I'm confident that this will go well. And you should know that we will not abandon the Sons of Iraq." In response to a question from Bill McMichael of Military Times, Austin stated that there were 99,000 "Awakening" Council members and 54,000 are in Baghdad "so we will start with the Baghdad province next month and transition that element first, and then we will begin to move to other parts of the country and transition those elements." The most interesting exchange took place when JJ Sutherland (NPR) attempted to pin down Austin on what happens when the 54,000 transfer over in terms of what they do now and what they will do? Sutherland had to repeatedly bring up the issue of "Awakening" Council members currently staffing checkpoints in Baghdad and ask what happens to those checkpoints? Austin's repeated replies indicated he hadn't understood the question because no one in the US military had thought about that. Best exchange. At which point the Pentagon's spokesperson (DOD press office director) Gary Keck jumped in with the cry of one more question.

While the military ignores what the shift re: checkpoints in Baghdad might mean for the capitol, tensions continue on Iraq's border with Turkey. Hurriyet offers "Turkish warplanes hit 16 PKK positions in northern Iraq, army says" which explains Turkish military planes bombed northern Iraq Thursday night "and hit 16 locations" thought to belong to the PKK:

The military has not revealed any casualty figures. It said all warplanes returned safely to bases in Turkey.
Previous media reports suggest Thursday's air strikes began after 1900 GMT in two separate regions in northern Iraq. "Last night two separate regions were bombed where the PKK was believed to be taking shelter," a high-ranking Turkish security official told Reuters.
The mayor of the town of Jarawa in Iraq, Azad Wassu, said there were Turkish air strikes on the Qandil Mountains from 10 p.m. on Thursday until 12:30 a.m. The PKK confirmed the attack and said one of its members was wounded, Reuters added.

TV notes, PBS and check local listings. In many markets, the programs begin airing tonight. NOW on PBS explores the bailout:

The government's historic proposal to bail out the U.S. banking system is raising as many questions as it is offering solutions. Some in Congress are warning against reacting too quickly; others want conditions that protect homeowners, increase oversight, and limit the compensation of corporate executives.
But the number one question on the minds of Americans: How will this affect me? This week, NOW on PBS goes inside the round-the-clock efforts in Washington to craft a bailout plan of monumental proportions.
NOW's cameras follow Damon Silvers, an associate general counsel at the AFL-CIO, the nation's largest federation of labor unions, as he works to get help for working Americans in addition to bailing out financial firms in distress. Silvers, an architect of the major provisions Congressional Democrats are pushing for in the bill, provides key insight on the stake ordinary working Americans have in the fate of this proposal, and on what comes next.

Washington Week plans for . . . anything because tonight's scheduled debate remains iffy:

The nation’s financial crisis ramped up partisan and presidential politics this week putting both a rescue plan for Wall Street and the first presidential debate up in the air.
Late today [Thursday], Barack Obama and John McCain met with President Bush and Congressional Leaders at the White House to discuss the nation’s economic crisis and possible solutions but reports are that the meeting went very badly. At this hour, it’s still unclear how this will play out and whether or not there will be a presidential debate on Friday.
WASHINGTON WEEK is tracking developments and is planning two LIVE broadcasts Friday night. Gwen Ifill and our panel will have the most up-to-date details on the economic bailout plan as well as a preview of the presidential debate LIVE on WASHINGTON WEEK at 8pm (ET) on most PBS stations in the Eastern and Central time zones.
WASHINGTON WEEK is tracking developments and is planning two LIVE broadcasts Friday night -- one before and the other after PBS coverage of the debate moderated by Jim Lehrer of the NewsHour. Gwen Ifill and our panel will have the most up-to-date details on the economic bailout plan as well as a preview of the presidential debate LIVE on WASHINGTON WEEK at 8pm (ET) on most PBS stations in the Eastern and Central time zones.

Joining Gwen around the WASHINGTON WEEK table:

Michele Norris of NPR
Michael Duffy of TIME Magazine
David Wessel of The Wall Street Journal
Dan Balz of The Washington Post
John Harwood of CNBC and The New York Times

You won’t want to miss a minute of WASHINGTON WEEK on this historic week of news.

NOW on PBS will have video streaming of the latest program beginning Saturday. Washington Week will offer video and audio streaming (with a transcript to follow on Monday).

On the meltdown, Micah notes this from Team Nader:

Nader Responds to McCain/Obama/Bush White House Meeting

Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Toby Heaps, 202-441-6795

Nader Statement on Bailout, Mcain/Obama Meeting With Bush

Bailout is Big Mistake. Crackdown on Corporate Crime. Protect Homeowners.

Ralph Nader and Matt Gonzalez vigorously oppose Bush's $700 billion taxpayer bailout of Wall Street.

"This is not just a bailout of Wall Street" says Nader, "It's a bailing out of the bankrupt Republican and Democratic policies that have led us to where we are today with Senators John "Deregulation" McCain and Joe "MBNA" Biden leading the way.

Full Statement from Ralph Nader:

Today at 4 p.m., Senators John McCain and Barack Obama will meet with other Congressional leaders and President Bush to join the stampede to bail out Wall Street with Main Street and Elm Street's money.

Unfortunately, their rhetorical flourishes to crackdown on Wall Street and protect Main Street will not be met with substance.

The bailout ignores the needs of millions of swindled families facing foreclosure, and it squanders an opportunity to bring about real regulatory change, shareholder power and taxpayer equity that would prevent economic crises like this from happening again. Wall Street's wildly overpaid bosses are addicted to speculative gambling with other people's money. When a drug addict is facing overdose, you don't give them more needles.

We need to protect homeowners and our neighborhoods first. That's why Nader/Gonzalez support introducing a law with a 5-year sunset clause that would provide homeowners facing foreclosure the right to rent to own their homes at fair market value.

Wall Street is out of control. We need to bring some sense of accountability, transparency, and law and order back to Wall Street's crooks and speculators, or they will desperately seek socialism to bail out their criminal corporate capitalism, going to the taxpayer trough in Washington DC each time. That's why Nader/Gonzalez support a Wall Street speculation tax, starting on derivatives, which would make Wall Street less like Las Vegas, and generate enough funds to eliminate the tax burden on the first $50,000 of income for every working American.

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Meanwhile, Amy Goodman continues her long history of lying today which is only a surprise if you haven't been paying attention. Today she cozies up to homophobia (yet again -- see Marcia's "Amy Goodman and other homophobes" from last night). Goody cozies up to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian president, and refuses to challenge him. Now Bill Clinton (her most famous interview) in 2000, she can challenge. But the Red Diaper Baby is happy to let Ahmadinejad not only LIE but to smear the dead? Of course, because Goodman is a homophobe. For the reality Goody won't pursue, you can read Robert Verkaik's "A life or death decision" (Independent of London, March 6, 2008):

A gay teenager who sought sanctuary in Britain when his boyfriend was executed by the Iranian authorities now faces the same fate after losing his legal battle for asylum.
Mehdi Kazemi, 19, came to London to study English in 2004 but later discovered that his boyfriend had been arrested by the Iranian police, charged with sodomy and hanged.
In a telephone conversation with his father in Tehran, Mr Kazemi was told that before the execution in April 2006, his boyfriend had been questioned about sexual relations he had with other men and under interrogation had named Mr Kazemi as his partner.
Fearing for his own life if he returned to Iran, Mr Kazemi claimed asylum in Britain. But late in 2007 his case was refused. Terror-stricken at the prospect of deportation the young Iranian made a desperate attempt to evade deportation and fled Britain for Holland where he is now being detained amid a growing outcry from campaigners.

Back to the US presidential race, Cynthia McKinney is the Green presidential candidate:

A Gift for a Generation: A U.S. Financial System of Our Own
Thursday, 25 September 2008 20:20
A Gift for a Generation: A U.S. Financial System of Our Own

by Cynthia McKinney
September 25, 2008

Last week, I posted ten points (that were by no means exhaustive) for Congressional action immediately in the wake of the financial crisis now gripping our country. At that time, the Democratic leadership of Congress was prepared to adjourn the current legislative Session to campaign, without taking any action at all to put policies in place that protect U.S. taxpayers and the global community that has accepted U.S. financial leadership. Those ten points, to be taken in conjunction with the Power to the People Committee's platform available on the campaign website at (http://votetruth08.com/index.php/resources/campaignplatform), are as follows:

1. Enactment of a foreclosure moratorium now before the next phase of ARM interest rate increases take effect;
2. elimination of all ARM mortgages and their renegotiation into 30- or 40-year loans;
3. establishment of new mortgage lending practices to end predatory and discriminatory practices;
4. establishment of criteria and construction goals for affordable housing;
5. redefinition of credit and regulation of the credit industry so that discriminatory practices are completely eliminated;
6. full funding for initiatives that eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in home ownership;
7. recognition of shelter as a right according to the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights to which the U.S. is a signatory so that no one sleeps on U.S. streets;
8. full funding of a fund designed to cushion the job loss and provide for retraining of those at the bottom of the income scale as the economy transitions;
9. close all tax loopholes and repeal of the Bush tax cuts for the top 1% of income earners; and
10. fairly tax corporations, denying federal subsidies to those who relocate jobs overseas repeal NAFTA.

In addition to these ten points, I now add four more:

11. Appointment of former Comptroller General David Walker to fully audit all recipients of taxpayer cash infusions, including JP Morgan, Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and AIG, and to monitor their trading activities into the future;
12. elimination of all derivatives trading;
13. nationalization of the Federal Reserve and the establishment of a federally-owned, public banking system that makes credit available for small businesses, homeowners, manufacturing operations, renewable energy and infrastructure investments; and
14. criminal prosecution of any activities that violated the law, including conflicts of interest that led to the current crisis.

Ellen Brown, author of "The Web of Debt" writes at http://www.webofdebt.com/articles/, "Such a public bank today could solve not only the housing crisis but a number of other pressing problems, including the infrastructure crisis and the energy crisis. Once bankrupt businesses have been restored to solvency, the usual practice is to return them to private hands; but a better plan for Fannie and Freddie might be to simply keep them as public institutions."

Too many times politicians have told us to support the "free market." The unfolding news informs us in a most costly manner that free markets don't work. This is a financial system of their making. It's now past time for the people to have an economic system of their own. A reading of the full text on the Congressional "Agreement on Principles" for the proposed $700 billion bailout reveals the sham that this so-called agreement truly is. Today our country faces an economic 9/11. The problem that is unfolding is truly systemic and no stop-gap measures that maintain the current bankrupt structure will be sufficient to resolve this crisis of the U.S. economic engine.

Today is my son's birthday. What a gift to the young people of this country if we were to present to them a clean break from the policies that produced this economic disaster, the "financial tsunami" that former Comptroller General David Walker warned us of so many months ago and instead offered them a U.S. economic superstructure that truly was their own.

Power to the People!


Click here to read Cynthia's previous column (link goes to Black Agenda Report). McKinney's running mate Rosa Clemente will be speaking at the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement (InPDUM) Saturday, September 27th. Ralph Nader is the independent presidential candidate and Tori notes this from Team Nader:

Nader Demands to be Included in Debates

Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: (Washington) Toby Heaps, 202-471-5833, toby@votenader.org

NADER TO OBAMA/MCCAIN: LET ME IN!

For the economy's sake, there is no choice but to end war and make peace.

On the eve of the first Presidential debate on foreign policy and in the midst of the biggest economic meltdown since 1929, Ralph Nader presents a simple solution for fixing the biggest hole in the taxpayer's pocket and challenges McCain/Obama to debate him on it.

"My campaign is on the ballot in 45 states and is polling at around 5 percent nationally, higher in several key swing states. I have earned a podium in the debates, and, unlike McCain and Obama, my foreign policy brings our soldiers back from Iraq and Afghanistan. This will save us a few hundred billion dollars in direct and deferred costs each year."

Mr. Nader elaborated: "The fact that a candidate can call for changing the date of the debate only two days before it is scheduled indicates how easy it would be for the candidates to also call for the inclusion of the leading third party and independent candidates, which would bring fresh ideas to the table on how our country can most effectively tackle this heavy economic challenge, starting with curbing our imperialist foreign policy."

Please see Ralph Nader's case to open up the debates in today's edition of USA Today


Nader and Obama Girl join forces to open up debates
(check Youtube for this video after 2pm)

See blog in favor of giving voice to the third of voters not with two parties


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