IRAQI Bloggers at the end of another year of occupation

First, there was an excellent wrap-up of the Iraqi bloggers posts in 2007 written about the journalists at McClatchy Newspapers. The McClatchy blog is called “Inside Iraq” and is updated regularly by several staff members who risk their lives to report on Iraq. This article (written by an American) talks about the blog posts on the many aspects of daily life in Iraq, and how the Iraqi people feel threatened by the Iraqi military, police, militias and US military. It is excellent overall, and I recommend reading the whole thing, but here is the last two paragraphs about Iraqi feelings on the US military in their country, and if the US military should stay or leave:

The question on everyone's mind, of course, is whether the Americans should stay or go. On this, Leila Fadel told me, her Iraqi staff is divided. Some of them think the Americans should leave at once. While withdrawal would probably result in a bloodletting among Iraqis, they believe the country would be better off if this happened sooner rather than later, thus avoiding the effects of a prolonged occupation. Others think the Americans should stay and fix all the destruction they've caused over the last four and a half years. But, she adds, the staff's views on this keep shifting: "They're at war within themselves—on whether they want the Americans to stay or not, and whether they think that staying would make things any better. It's something they go back and forth on."

Whichever side they come down on, however, there is one feeling that predominates: humiliation. "They remind me of this constantly," Fadel says. "Americans believe their soldiers are working for the greater good. The Iraqis don't see that. They see people who are here for their own self-interest—who drive the wrong way on roads, who stop traffic whenever they want to, who they have to be careful not to get too close to so that they won't be shot." When one of her staff members wrote the post about the student who threw a rock at a US soldier, Fadel says, she asked him, "Why did this kid throw a rock at a man with a weapon, a helmet, and a vest? What was he thinking?" "These are foreign soldiers," he replied. "This is an occupation." That, Fadel notes, is a very common feeling among Iraqis. "Everybody I speak to thinks this. They don't have power in their own country."

The above was from an article about the bloggers at McClatchy News in Baghdad who post at Inside Iraq blog, here is part of a direct post, written by Jenan. She talks about the New Years celebrations, and her wishes for the next year.

Last night was the New Year's Eve night and because I used to have special night every year at lest it is special night according to my taste as a Moslem woman. In the last years I used to spend this night with my family at home watch TV, eat cookies and fruit and talk about our wishes for the New Year. This year I tried to start it with extraordinary activity to approve to myself that we will receive a new and different year if God Will so I decided to take my sister and her two children (Haidar 5 years old and Dody 3 years old) on a tour in the city. I drove the car toward the crowded street to share the celebrated people in Baghdad's streets their celebration. It was wonderful hours fill with fun and laugh and that rare in Iraq these days. The people were dancing and singing with joyful togather. There weren't any differences among them. It is impossible if you want to recognize the Sunni, Shiite, Christian or any other sects. Everybody were waving with Iraqi Flags and glorifying their lovely country Iraq. But I cann't say the fears of terrorist's attacks have totally disappeared from our minds because what we saw through the last two years wasn't easy to forget. Really it was a big tragedy "I wish this tragedy will end soon" that my wishes for the New Year.

Finally, a New Year’s wish by Laith at Inside Iraq blog:

Its only few hours left until we say goodbye 2007 and hello 2008. I have big hopes and wishes but my biggest wish is that all the politicians all over the world realize that the we are all the same (the citizens and the politicians who rule the countries in the oppressed countries especially in my wounded Iraq) and we all having the same feelings and needs. Happy New Year Everyone.

Sunshine talked about her trip to Baghdad to visit her grandparents. She comments on how Baghdad weather is cool, but you can shut the windows because there is no explosions there (unlike Mosul), and she details how a 4 hour drive becomes 10 hours when you have to take alternative routes to avoid the US military.

On Saturday 15/12 we went to Baghdad , we heard from people that the road now is better and safer. We left mosul at 8:00 am and arrived Baghdad at 6:05 pm!!!!!!!!!! Can you imagine the delay?!! We usually reach Baghdad in 3 hours and half, or 4 hours if we stop in the restaurant!!! but because of the so many troops we reached Baghdad after 10 house! Thank god we didn’t sleep in the street, when the US vehicles drive we have to stop aside, or drive 100 meters away, slowly with the lights on, if we drive nearby they point with lazer on our car or shoot!

……When we arrived Baghdad, I could barely walk !! because of the small space and long time sitting , we had supper my grandma made her famous chicken and red rice (it is like a tradition in my family, when we go to Baghdad our first lunch should be chicken and red rice with soup and salad, and when we come to mosul my grandma make delicious okra and rice). At 10 am I went to bed, the weather in Baghdad is cool, I didn’t freeze at night, and they also can close the windows because they don’t have explosions.

She then goes on to describe the various relatives she visited and has descriptions and pictures of the wonderful food – along with pictures of some very cute kiddos. She ends with this discussion with a Shi’ite (Sunshine is Sunni):

the Father “A” is an engineer, the conversation interested me a lot, “A” talked about how silly is the differences between the first day of Eid for Sunnis and Shiites (for the Sunnis the first day was on Wednesday, for he Shiites who follow al Sadir the first day was on Thursday, and for the Shiites who follow al Sestani the first day of Eid was on Friday), it’s wrong and ridiculous , because it depends on the moon, everyone knows the first day should be on Wednesday, “A” said “ the religion should gather us, not separate us, if the religion separate it’s people, then I don’t want to belong to any, but I am sure this thing is made by the government , they want to see the Iraqis separated, but anyway it’s not going to happen” I loved what he said and wrote it at once.. well I celebrated Eid for 8 days, with the Sunnis, Shiites , and Christians.

Sunshine’s mother, who goes by Mama, posted a blog earlier this month about the extravagant cost of medicines.

She had a post last month that was very upsetting. She was suffering from some type of illness, probably due to high blood pressure and stress, and the country is lacking in doctors to treat people. This woman is a dentist by trade and is certainly under 40 years of age:

On Friday I suffered from heat flashes, with upsetting nausea I fainted for more than 15 times, I looked very pale like the dead faces, on Friday and Saturday we couldn't find a doctor , on Saturday I was not any better, with the girls around me crying I was conscious but had no ability to open my eyes or even answer them ,I was half dead.

I remained like that till Sunday without doctor consultation ,on Sunday my husband put me in the car and took me to my work ,left me in the car and went straight to my mate asking for her help ,her cousin and two sisters are doctors, she came with him and took me to the hospital where her cousin works, I was very much dizzy and almost fainted ,he examined me and find out my blood pressure very high, he asked for some blood tests and asked for brain CT- scan ,in the next day my tests revealed normal results, but I am still very tired …I did not faint since Monday but I feel very weak ,I can't stand up for even a short time, I didn't go to work till now…
the differential diagnosis is that I had sever psychological stress and probably hormonal dysfunction or probably a viral infection…

Treasure of Baghdad had commentary on a Wall Street Journal and their misleading report on what Baghdad people know about Christmas.

In Baghdad, every December 25^th, the three State Television networks under Saddam covered the Christmas Mass live on TV and celebrated the holidays with the followers of Jesus Christ willingly every year. Greetings of the holidays marked the bottom of the TV screen which showed joyful songs dedicated by Christians to their fellow Christians on the occasion. People would call the songs TV show and dedicate these songs in a live broadcast. With all this publicity, Saramd did not know when Christmas was held. “…when we watched New Year’s Eve celebrations around the world on TV, we thought that was Christmas,” the Wall Street Journal claimed. It is surprising how Sarmad did not notice that not only Christians celebrated Christmas, yet their Muslim friends did too. Christmas trees- the real and fake ones- along with Santa Claus’ posters and outfits were always visible to the eyes of Baghdadis.

He also had a couple of photos – one of Iranian police women and one of the recent Iraqi police women – he labeled it “Coincidence?” - go and take a look. The similarities are striking.

Najma, A Star from Mosul, also talked about her Eid holiday. She’s also learning English cuss words, now that she is in college. Later in the post, she talks about how cold it is in Mosul.

Three break days followed Eid because our Eid and the Shia Eid were 2 days apart (a result of the so-called Iraqi freedom), and Christmas was right after the latter.

On Wednesday we went to college, I met two of my professors on the way to my classroom in the second floor, I greeted them and wished them Eid Mubarak and was accompanied by one of them to the second floor, then I met two of my classmates again greeting and etc. and up I went to the third floor.. I was faced by many boxes and a closed door. I was shocked and seriously thought I was dreaming (Where the hell is my classroom? :(( ).. then I realized I have mistakenly gone up an extra floor leading to the roof.

Faiza, of A Family in Baghdad, is living in Amman and trying to help the Iraqi refugees. She went on a tour with Global Exchange and found out the situation was worse than she knew.

Then we went to Syria, and that was the first time I met with Iraqi families there…
The conditions of the Iraqis in Syria are indescribable…
The international organization's work there is limited and restricted, compared to the wide space they have in Jordan, in spite of some families' complaints because of the slowness and injustice of the given aid, but at least here there are some doors which the poor Iraqi family can knock upon in the hope that one of these doors might open to them…but in Syria, all doors are almost closed….

All my life I have never seen poverty like I saw among the Iraqis in Syria… widows or women who lost their sons because of criminal gangs and militias that entered Iraq after the occupation, and killed all Iraqis alike… whenever I met a woman who told her story while crying, I cried with her, at her situation, at the conditions of the sad Iraq, and at what happened to it; the destruction, the shredding. And when the women all gathered and we heard their stories with a member of the American delegation, I had my friend with me; Selma; a Turkish-American, a Muslim… I asked the women, with sorrow- but I had to ask the silly question: Are you Sunnies? Shia'ats?

It turned out they were a mixture of both sides…
This woman was a Sunnie; they threatened her and killed her son…and this is a Shia'at; threatened, and her husband was killed…
There is no difference; the Sunnies and the Shia'ats were displaced from Iraq to live side by side in exile, waiting for that who would pity them, give them a charity of food rations, a blanket, or a heater because winter is near, await some humanitarian organization to take care of their disabled children, or afflicted with cancer as a result of the depleted Uranium, with which the Iraqi environment is contaminated, since the Kuwait war in 1991, then the occupation war in 2003.

Faiza is running a project called Collateral Repair, in conjunction with some American supporters. If you can help out financial, they certainly will put your money to good use to try and help Iraqi refugees with micro-credit projects to start an income source for them. Please help if you can. This is particularly a good idea if you are wondering “what can I do about this situation?” You can made a big, big difference for a few of the Iraqi refugees.

Raed, with his blog called “Raed in the Middle” has some fine suggestions for contacting the US State Department and asking them some questions about the new Lakota Nation.

please ask them to make sure the press release answers some burning questions, like: *What should the new evil backwards separatist firebrand anti-american nation be called? *are we going to liberate them? preemptively strike them? pick on their human rights records? or make fun of the way they treat their women?

Riverbend has not posted since October, and last indications are that she is still a refugee in Syria. Last of Iraqis is still in Baghdad, and he is a 25 year old dentist who has decided that he will stay with Iraq, no matter what. That’s why he calls himself the ‘Last of Iraqis’. He does have a deep wish for the new year:

Today is the last day in 2007, the last day of a year filled with surprises and sudden changes for Iraq, a year with many explosions and terror, a year with many innocents death and many miseries but yet a year with some good achievements. as a new year begins, I wish peace will get back to the streets of Baghdad and Iraq in general, i wish that Iraqis could live like the rest of the world do, I wish that fanatics, terrorists, insurgents.....etc. call them whatever you want disappear, I just wish they disappear, I wish that anyone who wants to harm any human being disappear from the face of the earth, I wish the violence and the hatred in Iraq will go and be from the past like 2007 did, I wish everything is settled and the violence is over so the US government will have no excuse to stay in Iraq and Iraq can be as it used to be; a free, strong country.

I also posted this on Daily Kos blog.

Happy New Years 2008

Happy New Years and thanks to everyone who reads this blog. I really appreciate that.

This is a photo of Edwin, and he is sitting inside the WPVM broadcast studio. He is the organizer for Asheville Global Report, which is due to become the Global Report this year. I am one of the people who edits and reads news articles for the Asheville Global Report.

We will start this year to attempt to have other radio stations carry the Global Report, which is a half hour show of under-reported news. We generally get these news stories from the (English) foreign press, and our goal is to get more information out to our US listeners so that they are better informed.

I watched the movie "Manufacturing Consent" yesterday. It is about Noam Chomsky and how our US media acts like a filter to keep out information the corporate owners do not want the American people to know and to keep them entertained and distracted. This is a rather long movie, but I do recommend it for anyone who does not understand how messed up the American media is today - and how messed up it has been for a long, long time. Media reform is very much needed in the USA.

We did a live program today, and Edwin asked me some questions about Iraq and Iraqi refugees. The time flew by. If you would like to hear some of the Asheville Global Report, I believe it is stored in the archives of WPVM. A lot of people listen to this station over the internet. It has several good programs.

Then, I went to the Vets for Peace vigil. At first, I was the only one there, but then three other people showed up, and pretty soon there were about 12 of us there. IT WAS VERY COLD! The sky was clear, but we are supposed to get snow tonight, and the wind was wicked!

I am glad to be home in a warm, safe place.

Democracy Hypocrisy, Part 26

Bush had this to say on 12/28/07 about Pakistan:

The United States strongly condemns this cowardly act by murderous extremists who are trying to undermine Pakistan's democracy.

Of course, bush has been undermining Pakistan’s democracy by supporting a dictator there for six years…. To the tune of $11 BILLION!!!! Of our money!!

He also said this:

Those who committed this crime must be brought to justice.

That’s what I keep saying about the war of aggression on Iraq, the torture, the rape rooms, the kidnapping, the imprisonment without charges, the extraordinary rendition….. those people who committed these crimes (bush and cheney are the primary ones) must be brought to justice – that is, IMPEACHED. After all, if we demand that the murderer of one person 'must be brought to justice' then we sure should bring the murderer of a million Iraqis to justice.

Then he said this:

Mrs. Bhutto served her nation twice as Prime Minister and she knew that her return to Pakistan earlier this year put her life at risk. Yet she refused to allow assassins to dictate the course of her country.

Well, the people who assassinated her are not dictating the course of Pakistan. That’s what bush and cheney are attempting to do – get the Pakistani people and army to fight the Taliban so that the US/NATO does not lose in Afghanistan. I predict that this will not happen. Of course, they also want Pakistanis to fight al Qaeda, which is going to be tough, since a lot of the Pakistani people think more of al Qaeda than the USA, when they believe al Qaeda even exists at all, that is. Imagine that – bin Laden has a 27% approval rating among Pakistanis, and the USA has a 15% approval rating. That was a year ago – the ratings for the USA may have dropped since then.

The road goes on forever, and the hypocrisy never ends.

Protest in Israel

Photo: Israeli and Palestinian women from the Woman in Black organization demonstrate against the Israeli occupation in Jerusalem, 2000. Hundreds of Jewish and Arab women staged a protest in Jerusalem against Israeli occupation of Palestinian land. (AFP/File/Sven Nackstrand)

Every Friday, Women in Black around the world stand in silence to remember all the loss and grief that comes from violence, particularly the violence of war and occupation. This group was started in Israel, and has been around for twenty years. This past week, they protested near the home of Israeli Prime Minister Olmert. They were composed of both Jewish and Arab women, and on this occasion they sang songs and carried signs that read: “Down with occupation”.

There are Women in Black groups around the world now. They are women standing together in silence to protest and mourn all the losses that come from all this unnecessary violence. They dress in all black, and here in my town, they stand in silence.

Today, I got two emails from Jewish Voices for Peace. I believe what the Israeli government has been doing for the last, oh, sixty years or so is horrible. But I always remember that the Jewish faith has a strong peace testimony, and there are many, many Jews working for peace today..... here in the USA and in Israel and around the world.

Christmas at War

This video was done last year, but still applicable. It is another video by Ava Lowery, at Peace takes Courage.

Brownies Will Get You Five to Ten at Ft. Bragg

Earlier this month, I baked brownies for the Iraq Vets Against the War. They intended to hand out gift bags to active military in Fort Bragg and veterans in Fort Bragg and Asheville. I got a call one day from a friend who told me my brownies made the local paper. Here’s the story from Jason’s email (he gave permission to reprint it):

Brownies Will Get You Five to Ten: A Boondocks Chapter Christmas at Fort Bragg

By Jason Hurd

On the morning of December 17, 2007, Steve Casey and I awoke bright and early at the Quaker House in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Steve and I had driven nearly three hundred miles from our home-base in Asheville, North Carolina to distribute holiday gift bags to the wonderful servicewomen and men stationed at our nation's busiest military post--Fort Bragg. Our friends and supporters in Asheville stuffed nearly three hundred small lunch bags full of holiday cards, chocolates, cookies and home-made brownies.

The gift bags had a humble feel to them: brown paper lunch sacks with the tops folded
down, green and red ribbons, a copy of our newsletter Sit-Rep stapled to the outside and a small sticker that said, "To: A Warrior, From: IVAW." Our mission was to ensure that these bags--each made with love and kindness--got into the hands of our deserving soldiers.

With gift bags in hand, Steve and I drove to Fort Bragg's Mini Mall and set up a small collapsible table to distribute the bags from. We taped two large poster boards to the front of the table; one said, "Happy Holidays From Your Fellow Veterans," and the other
proclaimed, "We Love Our Service Women and Men." Immediately, Steve and I began handing the packages to soldiers as they exited the Mini Mall. I greeted each soldier by saying, "Hello. My friend and I are veterans and we are giving holiday gift bags to our soldiers to show our appreciation for your service. Thank you and happy holidays."

Nearly every soldier I spoke with replied with a large smile, "Thank you very much. I'm glad there are people like you doing this. Happy holidays to you too!" Within an hour, Steve and I had given out nearly one hundred and fifty bags. In that time, only one soldier reacted negatively toward us; every one else seemed extremely pleased.

Around one o'clock in the afternoon, a female manager who worked for the Army and Air Force Exchange Services (AFFES) came out of the Mini Mall and said, "Hey guys I'm glad your giving out packages to soldiers, but you can't do this on Fort Bragg without a permit." I replied, "Great! Where do we get a permit?" The manager explained where we needed to go, and we began packing up shop to go get our permit. That's when the Military Police showed up. Three MP's—SSG Netwig, PFC Murray and PVT Garren--approached us and began questioning us about our gift bags. SSG Netwig glared at a copy of Sit-Rep and said, "I'm going to keep my personal opinion out of this, but you are
disrupting the order and discipline of my post." I explained that we were on our way to get a permit for our bags and we had no intentions of disrupting the order and discipline of Fort Bragg. SSG Netwig replied that we had offended a lot of people with our bags (which was news to Steve and I) and that he would not allow us to continue distributing them.

At that moment, a Special Forces Captain (apparently one of the people we had offended) approached SSG Netwig and spoke with him privately. Immediately, SSG Netwig said that we were going to the Provost Marshall's office to answer questions.

"Are we being arrested?" I said.
"No. But you are being detained," SSG Netwig replied.

At that moment, the MP's shoved Steve and I against their patrol car, searched us, handcuffed us and placed us in the patrol car like criminals. They drove us away leaving a box of gift bags on the trunk of Steve's car. In the back of the patrol car, I looked at Steve and said, "Don't worry, this is a good thing--trust me." "OK," Steve said. SSG netwig drove us to the Provost Marshall's office where, after being searched a second time, we spent the next four hours as detainees. One investigator told Steve that Fort Bragg is a conservative post and that anti-war views were in the minority. The officers separated Steve and I and began questioning us. I asked four times to make a phone call so that I could consult with an attorney; the officers denied my right each time. A criminal investigator entered my room.

"Are you affiliated with any other groups besides IVAW?" he
asked. "No, I am not, " I replied. "How did you and this Steve guy meet?"

"Look," I said, "I'm not going to continue answering questions without consulting an attorney."

"But you aren't under arrest. You're merely detained and we are trying to have a friendly conversation with you," the investigator said. "I feel like it is in my best interests to consult with an attorney before continuing," I replied.

Then the investigator and officers walked out leaving me alone in the room. Against my captor's wishes, I began text messaging the Quaker House and IVAW members to let them know what was happening (the officers had mistakenly left my phone). Immediately, the investigators began receiving calls from every peace activist from
North Carolina to Philadelphia urging them to release Steve and I. The MP's knew they had a situation on their hands.

Before we knew it, an investigator apologized to Steve and I for the inconvenience and released us. The investigator informed us that we just needed to get a permit for future activities of this nature. Two young MP's escorted Steve and I back to our car and we talked about Iraq on the way. One of the young MP's said, "Yeah, fuck Iraq. I hate that place. I had friends die there. I don't ever want to go back." We pulled up to Steve's car and rubbing the cuts on our wrists from the handcuffs, we saw the perfect ending to our day. The box of gift bags was still sitting atop Steve's trunk and some passerby had
written on it the following: "Hi, I heard what happened. Listen up cops, politicians, and OVER EGOTISTIC DRAMA QUEEN SENIOR NCO'S AND OFFICERS! Many friends in my platoon DIED BRUTALLY for the First Amendment. We have the right to
peaceful protest, damn you! Why did you arrest these guys? To all ya'll who don't believe in: freedom of speech, press, council, religion, assembly, and petition...GO TO HELL!! Sincerely, A concerned passerby and witness to the arrest of protesters." So much for being the minority.

That’s the end of Jason’s story (which I had permission to reprint), and here’s a bit on how it was covered in the local newspaper:

2 Asheville anti-war vets detained

FORT BRAGG – Two members of an anti-war veteran's group were escorted off Fort Bragg after handing out baked goods and anti-war literature, the men and base officials said. Army veterans Jason Hurd, 28, and Steve Casey, 23, were told they needed a permit Monday about an hour after they set up a folding table outside a post shopping center and began handing out gift bags of cookies and brownies.

I am glad I made some brownies to contribute to this effort. The reason I did so is simple – I think supporting our military and our veterans in their efforts to resist this war is probably the most productive thing we can pursue at this time, along with counter-recruitment efforts.

We are getting nowhere with our politicians and while the Iraqis also want the US troops out of their country, they have not been able to dislodge them either. I saw the movie “Sir! No Sir!” and learned how the military resisted against the Vietnam war, and I think they really had an impact. I am hopeful that our Iraq Veterans Against the War, and all the counter-recruitment efforts, and the resistance within the military, will help bring this horrid occupation of Iraq to an end. Then we need to go to work on getting NATO out of Afghanistan and US troops out of Pakistan, before our reverse-Midas-touch president destroys that part of the world completely.

Meanwhile, mark your calendars, and make plans to attend ---

IVAW Updates

From March 13-16, 2008, we will assemble the largest gathering of US veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan in history, as well as Iraqi and Afghan survivors, to offer first-hand, eyewitness accounts to tell the truth about these occupations — their impact on the troops, their families, our nation, and the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. Winter Soldier will require IVAW's full attention and organizing capacity leading up to and during the event. We would like to have as many people as possible attend the event and we are making arrangements to provide live broadcasting of the hearings for those who cannot hear the testimony first hand, as space will be limited. We ask all of you to help us to spread the message of the testimony, raise funds, and get more veterans and GIs involved.

We Support the Troops Who Oppose the War.

Please go to this website to sign the petition to show your support.

And, also important, sign Wexler’s petition to support impeachment hearings for cheney.

And while they have been distracting us with their war-mongering votes and speeches about Iran, I predict that Pakistan is going to become a MAJOR PROBLEM and that idiot bush will respond by sending in troops and executing his normal behavior - the reverse Midas touch - and turn that part of the world into a total disaster also.

I never felt, and still do not believe, that the bush administration will attack or bomb Iran in the next five years. Pakistan and Afghanistan, however, are on the verge of being Iraq’ed. We have to stop them, and our best approach (I think) is to support resistance in the military and to support counter-recruitment. No need to go to DC to work on these things - you can do it from your hometown.

Ave Maria

War is over, if we want it - by John Lennon

"Christmas in Fallujah"

Of course, the only "freedom" we are bringing the Iraqi people is the freedom of the grave. And the "hell" that he speaks of is an American-made HELL ON EARTH for the Iraqi people.

O little town of Bethlehem

Bethlehem, West Bank: Illusive British graffiti artist Banksy's new works

Photograph: JIM HOLLANDER/EPA

I don't know much about Banksy, but I think it is great that someone is using those apartheid walls to protest the occupation. How ironic that Jesus, founder and basis for Christianity, was born in Bethlehem - which is now an occupied piece of land with no peace. Even more ironic, the "Christians" of the world either do nothing about this situation or actively contribute to making it worse.

Here is some more information on him, and some more pictures of his artwork on the apartheid walls in Bethlehem. And a video report from the BBC.

This evening is the eve of the date that Jesus was supposedly born in Bethlehem. I don't think we know for sure when he was born, but we do know it was Bethlehem. Not that either of those 'facts' matter. I think we need to start putting "Christ" back into "Christianity" soon.

Blog birthday

This is the third birthday of the start of this blog. I simply did this blog because I have a lot of words in me, and I wanted to put them down. It may look like there are earlier dated blogs, but what I did was add in those posts at a later day.

This is a photo from a tree near my work place. It was taken in early November, 2007. I love this land of mountains and rivers, and the people of folk music and dance. I am feeling that I must leave this country, however, since I cannot stand paying for all this war and violence and gore.

Maybe next year I will leave.

Christmas Time in Iraq

This video was done by Ava Lowery. Her website is Peace Takes Courage. She is a remarkable young women. Here is what she put on the You Tube site:

Christmas time in Iraq isn't Christmas at all. Violence continues and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis are mourning this Christmas, and thousands of American families will be missing a loved one this holiday season.

"What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace." -- Agnes M. Pharo

Christmas in Iraq

Action items and more

My brownies made the news! Some day they will be world famous. (I am glad I could help out those anti-war veterans, and will do it again in the future. I will have another blog post on this soon.)

Two Action Items:

Rep. Wexler is calling for people to sign on to his impeachment petition.

AND:

I am in a contest with Code Pink, and you can help we win a book or something. Right now, I am in third place, which means I will win a poster from Jane Fonda. Now, the problem is – I don’t like Jane Fonda. She has always struck me as being more “pro-violence from the other side” than “anti-war”. So, please click on the LINK HERE and sign up for a peaceful holiday action…. It is easy!

And, for your viewing pleasure, a song by some young people who sing and look much better than I do - BUT, can they make news-worthy brownies? Watch the video below as this bunch of young Americans sing “You’re so lame”. It’s all about the – worst – president – ever. Let’s hope he really is a lame duck if the impeachment thing does not work out.

Email from the Muslim American Society

Don't Think it Can't Happen to You!

By Aishah Schwartz

WASHINGTON, D.C. (MASNET) Dec. 19, 2007 – MAS Freedom (MASF), as the civic and human rights advocacy entity of the Muslim American Society (MAS), through the MAS Freedom Legal Fund, sent Executive Director, Mahdi Bray to Pittsburg on Wednesday in order to be present for the bail hearing of Islamic Center of Pittsburg Imam, Kadir Gunduz. This is in continued follow-up of unsettling reports indicating a trend in the detainment of Muslim activists and religious leaders.

Imam Gunduz, 48, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (USICE), Dec. 4 in Pittsburg on an alleged immigration violation, nearly two decades after arriving in the United States. He was released on a $5,000 bond at Wednesday afternoon's immigration court hearing.

"This is another example of how 'basically innocuous' immigration violations have become criminalized or 'portrayed in a nefarious way, especially if the individuals are seen to be religious leaders or activists," stated Bray.

MAS Freedom Legal Fund attorneys took on the case of Imam Foad Farahi, 33, detained by USICE officials in Miami, Florida on November 26, 2007. A preliminary victory in the case came as U.S. District Court Judge Marcia G. Cooke granted a Temporary Restraining Order filed by Ira J. Kurzban, Esq.

The Judge's ruling stipulates that Farahi, who has applied for asylum from Iran, not be moved to a detention center outside of the State of Florida; that he be granted relief from detention pending final ruling on his removal proceedings and for his case to be re-examined due to depravation of his constitutional right of due process.

Farahi was subsequently released from Krome Detention Center in North Miami on a $15,000 bond December 4, 2007.

As in the Farahi case, the MAS Freedom Legal Fund, through its highly esteemed and experienced immigration attorneys, intends to offer their support to Imam Gunduz in seeking full protection of his rights.

MAS Freedom will continue to keep you updated on the Imam Gunduz and Imam Farahi cases as additional details arise.

I really don't have anything to add to the above other than the fact that our country is becoming more racist and xenophobic every day. Of course, that is what the elites want - to divide and conquer the masses and keep them under control. Oh, and scare the crap out of a good number of the masses. That too.

Guantanamo: Tear it down

You can help tear down Guantanamo Bay, one pixel at a time. Go to this website and sign the pledge, get a pixel, and build the power to tear down Guantanamo Bay. Some interesting sound and graphics at this website also.

On January 11th, it will be six years since the US first brought prisoners to Guantanamo Bay and defiled any sense of human decency.

My reflections on the NCPD Annual Meeting

North Carolina Progressive Democrats Meeting - December 7 &8, 2007

Well, I just spent an amazing day and evening with fellow progressives around the state. I had intended to take great notes of the annual meeting – well, I didn’t do that. I arrived just as things were starting and was busy setting up Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) information table. I also needed to find people and put faces to the emails that I have sent and received over the years – but I missed one – Christian. He sends out some amazing stuff, and I had hoped to meet him in person, but I never found him.

On Friday, I rode from Asheville to the meeting in Chapel Hill with an old friend, Isaac and an unknown person to me – George. We went straight to Pete MacDowell’s house (Pete is the president of North Carolina Progressive Democrats) hung out for a while, and then went and ate some Mexican food. Then on to the evening’s FUNdraiser – with two musical acts – Fruit of Labor and David Rovics. I recommend both of these musical acts – they are great! I asked David Rovics to do “Santiago” but he said he never really learned that song! Anyway, I worked a table for PDA that evening too, then went home with John. Did some computer work, and then to bed. Slept in a little too late….. and went to the NCPD annual meeting.

Pete MacDowell opened the meeting by speaking of the need to building a diverse and unifying progressive movement, and how this meeting will hopefully further that aim. He then gave information on NCPD officers. He introduced people who are currently holding office in North Carolina and introduced candidates for office. They then started the panel discussion on advancing the people’s common agenda in the face of an unresponsive state legislature (hey, the federal legislature is even MORE unresponsive!) Some of the people on this panel are: Stephen Dear (People of Faith Against the Death Penalty), Chase Foster (NC Voters for Clean Elections), John Parker, Steve Owen, Hope Taylor (Clean Water for NC), Mark Kleinschmidt (GLBT and Justice System Issues), Representative Verla Insko (who spoke on health care in NC), Marisol Jimenez-McGee (more on her later!), Walt Caison (NC Stop Torture Now), and Ryan Eller (spoke on youth issues). I was impressed by a lot of them. They then broke into groups and gave reports on that group discussion.

This was followed by a speech by Reverend Barber. He is the chair of the NC NAACP, and this guy has some great things to say (I have heard him before). I did take down one comment he said: We don’t know what is feasible because we have really not hung together and PUSHED it ---- ‘they’ don’t think we are serious, ‘they’ think we are having a moment. Another great comment he made was that the budget is a moral document. Reverend Barber said that he does not know how to be a person of faith without challenging society’s injustices. He said we have to be a coalition that is anti-poverty, anti-racist and anti-war. He said that no one can govern by war – and when you try, you are not a democracy, you are an empire. And all empires end – because when you release the dogs of war you cannot control where they run.

Someone commented “How are we going to hold the line?” All of our groups present at the meeting really boiled down to HUMAN RIGHTS, but we have to find a way to work together. One action we can take is the historic H (Historic) K (thousands) on J (Jones Street) in February. This march is organized by the NC NAACP, but there are many, many other groups that support this march. We agreed to endorse this march and go to the H K on J March in February 2008. The people at this meeting committed to getting other folks from NC, and other groups, to support (and ATTEND) this march.

After lunch, we heard from Marisol Jimenez-McGee of El Pueblo. She was just awesome, and everyone in our country needs to hear more from her. She spoke about immigration and globalization, and the push-pull factors bringing immigrants to our country. She covered how difficult it is to get legal papers to immigrate to our country, and you can bet your last dollar that the elites keep it this way on purpose. This remarkable young woman spoke of how she felt the federal legislature would “solve” our immigration crisis this year, and how she cried when that did not happen. She spoke of meetings with NC officials, one of whom spoke of how we need to send the immigrants back to their home country, even going so far as to say “we can’t use boxcars” but wishing that he could. It was sickening. Our state and our country’s economies would crash if all the undocumented people were removed or left. She used the word “globalization” but I would have used the word “corporatization”. She did a good job of explaining how our multi-national corporations use and abuse resources and people in an area, and then close up and move on to another location to exploit, leaving devastation behind. The only thing she left out was the connection between these corporate practices and the problems with the environment, energy, foreign policy and a host of other problems. This goes way beyond our undocumented people in this country and the problems they face getting legal papers.

The website that she is associated with is located here.

She was so good, that those of from the western part of the state are going to try to get her speech on local community radio and URTV. I am also going to try to get her to write up some reports and get them into local weekly papers.

This fabulous speaker was followed by a panel by three candidates running for Lt. Governor here in NC. One of those panel members was Pat Smathers, who has served as Mayor of the city of Canton, NC. One thing really impressed me about him – he listened closely to the prior speaker, Marisol Jimenez-McGee. Another candidate did not, and that was Hampton Dellinger. He (and his supporters) kept going in and out the doors while she was speaking. There were people standing just outside the doors talking, including the people with Dellinger. I found this so disruptive, that I started acting like the door police and tried to stop them from running in and out. I thought they were pretty rude. The group decided to vote by secret ballot on who to endorse for Lt. Governor, and Dan Basse won the vote.

From there, they proceeded to holding a PDNC Business meeting, which included the treasurer’s report, discussion and consideration of bylaw changes. There was a discussion and adoption of priorities for 2008. They also voted to start up a Progressive Democrats of NC blog. I was busy doing some other computer work during this part of the meeting and did not follow closely what was decided, but hopefully the full minutes will be published one day. More information on the Progressive Democrats of NC is available at their website. THANKS to all the people who made this event possible. It was a great time.

Free Palestine

Palestine slideshow video.
Song: "Look into my Eyes" by Outlandish
Song lyrics by Gihad Ali

"Do you know the truth of where your money goes?" And as I am posting this You Tube video, I am also watching a movie about what happened to the Jews in Holland in WW II at the hands of the Nazis. The movie is about Anne Frank and how some of the Dutch helped out her family. Some humans never seem to learn, though. They will still oppress their fellow humans for greed and power and control. And there is no racial group, religious group, national group or any group that has not done horrible things - and no group that has not done courageous and honorable things.

The art of mental warfare

ArtofMentalWarfare.com presents The Warning, a politically powerful new music video featuring Grammy Award-winning artist Trent Reznor. The Warning takes on the covert interests behind the war and our media saturated society. From war crimes to the destruction of the environment and a celebrity-obsessed culture, The Warning is a clarion call to action for an apathetic nation.

Progressive Dems of Buncombe/Kucinich Meetup on 12/02/07

Photo was of Dennis Kucinich when he came to Asheville in November 2007- I took the picture.

Progressive Democrats of Buncombe County meeting/Kucinich Meetup on 12/02/07

Attending: 40 people

Minutes taken by Susan

Next meeting of the Progressive Democrats of Buncombe County/Kucinich Meetup is January 8, 2008. This will be held at 7 PM at North Asheville Library.

Susan gave a short intro on Progressive Democrats of Buncombe County and how this group came from the prior Kucinich campaign. She gave her reasons for continuing the group – to support the Progressive Caucus in the US House of Representatives via the Progressive Democrats of America. Susan also told of the necessary steps to become a delegate to the National Democratic Party Convention in 2008. First step is to register as a Democrat. Next, make sure you attend you local Democratic precinct meeting in February 2008. At that precinct meeting, sign up as a delegate to go to the Buncombe County Democratic Party Convention. This is applies to other counties also, and this meeting is generally held at the county courthouse. At the county convention, you must sign up to be a delegate at the District Convention (Congressional District #11) and the NC Democratic Party State Convention. At the District Convention, when you arrive, you sign in as a delegate for one of the Presidential candidates. The Kucinich delegates will vote for the person who will go to the National Democratic Party Convention in the summer of 2008 from congressional district #11 as a Kucinich delegate. At the NC Democratic Party State Convention, we also vote on some delegates “at large”. Susan mentioned how it is important to “hang together” especially during the District Convention so that a non-Kucinich person does not get voted in to be the Kucinich Delegate to the National Convention.

Susan also briefly mentioned being a precinct chair, vice-chair, and secretary/treasurer. This can be a lot of work, or very minimal work. However, if a Kucinich supporter is in an “un-organized” precinct, then he or she will have to get four other registered Democrat voters to come to the precinct meeting and elect officers in other to go the County Democratic Party Convention. This is the way to effect change in the Democratic Party, but we did not discuss if this a useful path to pursue.

We then moved to the Kucinich Meetup part of the meeting, and Gloria ran this part of the meeting. She passed around a sign up sheet, which she will enter on the Kucinich meetup site. She talked about how to answer assertions about Kucinich and about how to get the message out to the public and the Democratic Party. She said Kucinich is rising in the polls and become more and more popular. December 10^th is ‘write to your newspaper’ day for Kucinich supporters (please do not send the same letter to more than one newspaper – if they discover you have done that, they will not publish your letters again). Gloria talked about the “National Money Bomb” day – more information at www.december152007.com. They are trying to get 10,000 people to donate $100 for Kucinich. She talked about the upcoming Health Care now events this week in Asheville, and how that would be a great time to promote Kucinich and his health care bill. Our meetup is www.denniskucinich.meetup.com/324.

At this point we broke into smaller groups. After meeting in small groups, we all got back together to report on our groups and discuss issues raised.

Fundraising –There was some discussion on the need to develop fundraising forms to collect information on people who make donations. Someone will need to investigate how to document donations and what exactly is required. A suggestion of a making tee shirts or having weekly parties was from this group, but nothing specific was planned. Michelle M, Pauline R, Alan B are on this committee.

Flyer – design and print up flyers. Someone in this group is a printer, and that will help with getting flyers made. They discussed the making of the flyers and suggested they be put up everywhere. John K, Paul C, Eve R, Oscar are members of this committee.

Media – make comprehensive list, develop media contacts, make sure all press releases go through the Kucinich campaign – send to Gloria, she will forward to Kucinich national staff and get it back to the media person. This would be done in a day or two. This group will start by doing LTE on 12/10/07 to one or more local papers. There was some information shared in this group on various media outlets in other counties besides Buncombe. Leslie (ACT, Daily Planet), Fred (ACT, Weaverville paper), Anne (ACT), Susan (H’ville, Smokey Mountain), Rachel (Indy Media), and Gary (Yancey & Mitchell country papers) are on this committee. The papers they will write to is listed after their name.

GOTV – find out about early voting, registration. May 6^th is primary day in NC. This group wanted to have calling parties where people bring their cell phones and call voters in NH and Iowa. Gloria will contact state chair for call lists and this group will organize a time to do the calling. They did some brainstorming on early voting – Tom will research requirements. They will research events for promoting GOTV. Kristin H, Naomi M, Cicada B, Tom C are on this committee.

Internet – go to websites and post information on Kucinich

Events & tabling – organize events calendar and establish regular tabling and/or handing out flyers at events. Rotate who will cover the events, and be sure not to block pedestrian or vehicle traffic when you hand out flyers. This group has people from Brevard, Hendersonville and Asheville. They hope to get to the SiCKO event to flyer, and to Hendersonville Christmas events to hand out flyers. They need help with printing costs. They do have a table available to use, just need help with transportation. Ruth C, Lola L, Mollie S, Brian W, Lynne W, Connie N are on this committee.

Networking – compile list of local groups that would be sympathetic to Kucinich campaign. This group will contact SDS at UNCA and peace crew at WWC, and set up times to go talk to them. Someone will contact Episcopal Peace Fellowship and Creative Non-violence group. David said that he will talk to WNC Peace Coalition, Dept of Peace and Vets for Peace. Ron will email organizations to get connected. Barbara G, David I, Ronald H, Lena F, Michelle M, Paul C, John K, Oscar are on this committee.

Someone commented that making a donation to the Kucinich campaign in stead of a holiday present. The slogan was “don’t give them a present, give them a president.”

From Gloria, NC coordinator for Kucinich campaign:

Thanks to all of you for a great Asheville meetup on December 2^nd. Please sign up to keep updated on upcoming Kucinich Meetups at: http://denniskucinich.meetup.com/324. Kucinich materials are available for download at this site also.

The minutes and pictures of our last meetup can be viewed on the Message board and Photo Album menus. This message board is the place to communicate with your local community, so please keep this area organized. To minimize the number of posts for people to scan through, communicate with local members by replying to the most current Asheville Meetup Minutes posting. If you have articles or other announcements not directly related to our action groups, please join our yahoo group, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NCforKucinich/ for North Carolina or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Kucinich4President/ for the national list and share your information there.

All fliers and T-shirt logos can also be found on our Files menu of the meetup site- for a general pamphlet, I recommend "Basic Overview Flyer." For tabling, pick an assortment of flyers that you think will best suit your audience. Please also download our list of Kucinich websites on our Files menu for internet campaigning. If you are collecting any cash for the campaign, even small amounts, please use the "Contribution Forms" on the Files menu. Let's work to strengthen this movement in the Asheville area and increase our volunteer base so we can expand our reach to surrounding areas. Go Kucinich!