April 25, 2008 archive

Strike for Peace on May Day!

“No Peace, No Work!”

That’s the message being sent by the ILWU, the West Coast-based International Longshore and Warehouse Union.

I only found out about this from a diary over at Planet Orange by Sarge in Seattle, and if this event has already been featured and discussed here, I apologize.  I also apologize in advance if I am violating site standards by reposting the Kossack’s diary here; but this is so important I felt I should, as I would not plagiarize his and rewrite it as if it were my own.  So here goes…

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War Protest: Westcoast Longshoremen to Close Ports  

by Sarge in Seattle [Subscribe]

Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 04:40:12 PM EDT

I received this letter by email. The letter is a couple of weeks old, so, if this is old news to anyone, my apologies. I hadn’t heard anything about this, so I thought others might want to know.

Jack Heyman

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

SF Chronicle Submissions

Letters to the Editor

Open Forum

Sunday Insight

While millions of people worldwide have marched against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and last week’s New York Times/CBS News poll indicated that 81 percent believe the country is headed in the wrong direction – key concerns being the war and the economy – the war machine inexorably grinds on.  Amid this political atmosphere, dockworkers of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union have decided to stop work for eight hours in all U.S. West Coast ports on May 1, International Workers’ Day, to call for an end to the war.

Sarge in Seattle’s diary :: ::

Boston Photo Essay

“The tourist may complain of other tourists, but he would be lost without them.”

Agnes Repplier

“We are all tourists in history, and irony is what we win in wars.”

Anatole Broyard

“The worst thing about being a tourist is having other tourists recognize you as a tourist.”

Russell Baker

I had great designs on tackling the pictorial delights of Boston. I was hampered by a colleague hobbling on crutches, other colleagues who wanted to shop, and the fact that my employers expected us to actually attend the conference.

The hotel we stayed in was so modern, I did not know how to turn on the taps or find the light switch when we first arrived. Turns out I was not the only one who struggled with this, reference was made to it in the opening speech.

I had to go buy a Bosox cap ( so I did shop ) because the first morning I popped out of bed  needing coffee and there was a Starbucks in the lobby,pulled on my wrinkled clothes from the night before and realized my hair was sticking up and I was scaring the other hotel guests. They shrank away from me in the elevator. Even the Starbucks people seemed uneasy.

Oddly enough, although I have worked nights for years, early morning has never been a problem for me. I hate afternoons. Afternoons should just be eliminated as far as I am concerned.

I got up early to take these…

DSC_0100

DSC_0106

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Breaking: Bragg Barracks Living Conditions

Another rising  case of the Mis-Treatment of the Military Troops returning from the Theaters of Afganistan and Iraq.

The following was printed in the Fayetteville Observer, in Fayetteville North Carolina, home to Ft Bragg Army Base.

YouTube video raises concerns about Bragg barracks

Four at Four

  1. U.S. Preparing Military Options Against Iran
    By Ann Scott Tyson, Washington Post

    The nation’s top military officer said today that the Pentagon is planning for “potential military courses of action” against Iran, criticizing what he called the Tehran government’s “increasingly lethal and malign influence” in Iraq.

    Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said a conflict with Iran would be “extremely stressing” but not impossible for U.S. forces, pointing specifically to reserve capabilities in the Navy and Air Force.

    “It would be a mistake to think that we are out of combat capability,” he said at a Pentagon news conference.

    Still, Mullen made clear that he prefers a diplomatic solution to the tensions with Iran and does not foresee any imminent military action. “I have no expectations that we’re going to get into a conflict with Iran in the immediate future,” he said.

    The Los Angeles Times adds Mullen believes Iran is increasing, not curbing, arms flow to Iraq. “Adm. Michael G. Mullen, the Joint Chiefs chairman, said there was not a massive infusion of weapons but said over time there had been ‘a consistent increase’ in arms shipments. Speaking at a morning news conference, Mullen said weapons had been intercepted in Iraq that showed evidence of relatively recent manufacture in Iran, adding that Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, would lay out a fuller account of the evidence in the weeks to come.”

    Yes, I know the U.S. has a war plan for every nation on the planet, but that’s not the point. The point is the Bush administration has been, once again, beating the drum for war with Iran more loudly. The biggest infuser of weapons to Iraq is the United States. The biggest source of foreign fighters in Iraq, next to the U.S., is Saudi Arabia. The Bush administration’s rhetoric is increasing and they are determined to have a war and almost any encounter in the Gulf could be used as a catalyst. Such as…

    The Guardian reports US military ship shoots at ‘Iranian’ boats. “A ship contracted by the US military fired warning shots towards two ‘Iranian’ boats, American defence officials said today. The Westward Venture, a cargo vessel chartered by the US department of defence, was travelling north in international waters in the central Gulf at around 8am local time yesterday when the incident took place, the US navy said… Tehran played down the incident, saying there was no confrontation. A US defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the boats were believed to be Iranian.”

    Yesterday it was Syria, today it is Iran. Bush is determined to have total war.

Four at Four continues below the fold…

Your Penis Larger, with UPROUNDERS!

Hi, my name is Jeffrey Lieber and before I got started on the UPROUNDERS™ program my “certain part of the male anatomy” was mere inches long, but with the help of UPROUNDERS™ my “junk” now measures a full 22 inches, or almost TWO FULL FEET!

How did I do it… and how can YOU do it too?

Well let me show YOU how UPROUNDERS™ five step program works for EVERYONE…

OK, the Deal from India (and Japan)

 It’s the sort of wee hours in Old Bombay (now known as Mumbai) as I write this.  I’m at the Taj Majal Hotel business center (google it) and can look out the window to my left and see the Gateway of India (google it).  I’m about 30 minutes this side of 3 hours at Leopold’s in Mumbai (google it).

I was in Japan three days ago.  Returning from India Monday late night (mumbai to Newark, Newark to Birmingham).

So, here’s the deal:  

  *  Bush is a fool, or worse, but Americans are good eggs, all in all (but damn shame they put/allowed an idiot in charge of their country.

  *  China will soon rule the world, but the Americans, Japanese, Koreans, Indians, Russians and South Americans will . . . eventually, be able to effectively push back.

  More. . .

On Creating Justice For Bushco….A Pregnant Pause

Our nation and the world is now officially pregnant!

It is just about nine months until Jan. 20, 2009 when we give birth to a new, post Bush, America!!! Ceegars all around, by gum and by golly!

Though the next nine months will be in some ways an insufferable waiting period, it is also an opportunity. As I wrote yesterday, the Dems are stymied by Bushco control of the DOJ. Even if they wanted to impeach him, (which they don’t, for risk averse political reasons) their subpoenas would not be enforced by the DOJ. They would get NO witnesses to testify from the administration. When they chose not to impeach AG Gonzales for blatantly lying to Congress, they ceded their opportunity to purge and take back the politicized and corrupted DOJ…..and thus to impeach or even remotely hold accountable any member of the administration. That, in hindsight, is where we lost the battle for any sort of justice for Bushco’s crimes by the hand of American law.

At this point, all we can effectively do (besides reminding Congress of how they have failed in their duty to the U.S. and their oaths to the Constitution and to the concept of justice) is prepare for when Bush leaves office and is no longer protected from civil and international law. We have nine months. Here are some options, some initial ideas to consider, none of them, of course easy or quick. Note, I am not a lawyer, it would be great to have one weigh in, though!

Iran: Joint Chiefs Chairman-“US Preparing Military Options”

Well, as the pundits talk almost exclusively about the endless Primary Campaign, the Cheney Bush Administration seems determined to start it’s third war:

“…The nation’s top military officer said today that the Pentagon is planning for “potential military courses of action” against Iran, criticizing what he called the Tehran government’s “increasingly lethal and malign influence” in Iraq…”

“…Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said a conflict with Iran would be “extremely stressing” but not impossible for U.S. forces, pointing specifically to reserve capabilities in the Navy and Air Force…”

There’s more…

McCain: Friend–Or Foe–Of NOLA?

Yesterday on a campaign stop replete with photo-ops in New Orleans, Sen. John McCain made an attempt to distance himself from the failings of the Bush Administration during Katrina and the federal flood by saying “Never again…” and spinning himself as someone who would have been more proactive than had Bush regarding this disaster.

But does McCain really represent a change from BushCo incompetence, if not outright genocide, in New Orleans? Would a McCain administration really aid New Orleans’ recovery? Is McCain a friend of New Orleans, or a foe?

Trade Politics and the Battle for the Soul of the Democratic Party w/poll

The original article, subheaded The Broken Promises of Neoliberalism, by Mark Engler via counterpunch.com.

Where are we as far as economic policy and the Democratic party, and where are we likely to end up should the Democrats gain control of the White House (as well as extend their majorities in the Senate and House)? What is the effect upon the rank and file of the Democratic Party?

Updated – China to Meet With the Dalai Lama

The big news from the AP:

BEIJING (AP) – The Chinese government plans to meet with a private representative of the Dalai Lama in the coming days, state-run media reported, after weeks of pressure from world leaders.

The official Xinhua News Agency said it had learned of the development “from official sources.” It quoted an unnamed official as saying there had been requests repeatedly made by “the Dalai side for resuming talks.”

snip

The official said “the relevant department of the central government will have contact and consultation with Dalai’s private representative in the coming days.” No date was given, and it was unclear exactly which representative was expected to take part in the meeting.

link: http://ap.google.com/article/A…

UPDATE  NHK has further analysis from their Beijing correspondent:

Port Insecurity: What keeps you up late?

How about this?

Customs inspectors at a pier in New York City send a sealed cargo container just taken off a ship from Istanbul through a radiation scanner. A dozen new tractors seem to be inside. Although the detector senses no radiation, the inspectors open the container anyway. Their handheld units show no radiation either, so they allow the container to leave. A private hauler drives it to a small Midwestern city. There terrorist cell members remove what was their final shipment of highly enriched uranium, concealed as 10 metal washers in the tractor engines, together weighing two kilograms. Months later an improvised nuclear device with a yield of one kiloton is detonated in Los Angeles. The blast, fire and airborne radioactivity kill more than 100,000 people. Virtually all shipping into the U.S. is halted, precipitating a financial crisis. Military operations commence in the Middle East after forensics and intelligence efforts trace the plot to cells in Pakistan and Iran.

 

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