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Saturday, March 22, 2003

Heh. The NY Times reports on alleged signs of bias in reporting...I especially like the part when the conservative group asks Rumsfeld why he isn't "censoring"ABC News.

posted by Jenny at 11:39 AM |

Posted on Alternet yesterday:

According to USA Today, the FBI has been granted the authority from Attorney General John Ashcroft to arrest people on immigration charges if they are believed to pose a wartime threat. (Previously it was only INS and customs agents who could do this.) Typically for the Bush gang, this increase in police powers was not made public but rather was "confirmed Wednesday by two law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity."

posted by Jenny at 10:41 AM |

Two good links on the anti-European sentiment building stateside...one serious, one comic:

Return Lady Liberty? It's official--somebody's petitioned to send back the Statue of Liberty.

The Blusterizer by Mark Fiore--Let's strike a blow against those countries that defied us on our path to victory!

posted by Jenny at 10:32 AM |

Pentagon Strategy Creates Rift Among Hawks

I've already ranted about Richard Perle, and this article poses him as a member of the "neocon" faction, as opposed to so-called nationalists Cheney and Rumsfeld. Interesting to read, at least for me, because I usually imagine the war hawks as a united front. But how pathetic to consider that MORE destruction of Iraq is what the Middle East needs?

posted by Jenny at 10:28 AM |

Greetings all--blogging has been light today, in part because I am getting ready for my conference next week, and also because I was out protesting. There is a great "spontaneous shrine" on the steps of the city hall here, complete with notes about peace and even apologies from Americans, and at today's demonstration there was an intense street performance from a guy who rubbed black paint all over himself and carried a scythe around the central market, with oil companies scrawled in "blood" on the blade. I chatted up some other US citizens and found out that a lot of folks are traveling around Europe demonstrating over spring break. Anyways, I've got a couple of things to post, so I'll get to work on that intermittently between ironing clothes. Ciao!

posted by Jenny at 10:25 AM |

"We're good people"

1) The U.S. meddles too much.

2) It's about oil.

3) It's about Bush wanting revenge for his father.

Are these the claims of left-wing Saddam sympathizers who just plain don't care about human-rights violations, the dangers of weapons of mass destruction, and the vulnerability of the U.S. in a post-Sept. 11 world?

Um, no. These claims are straight from the mouths of U.S. soldiers stationed in Iraq:

A sergeant, Elmer Smith, said the United States was seen as interfering in the affairs of too many countries. "The U.S. meddles," he said.

Bratton asked: "What's the reason we're fighting?"

Garcia answered, "I think Saddam Hussein got them weapons."

Bratton shook his head.

"I think it's oil," he said.

Smith offered his theory. "I think it's revenge for his father."

Apparently they haven't heard the official line: It's about rescuing the Iraqi people from oppression.

Not really their fault, though. That rationale is one of many and it started being emphasized as a primary rationale only recently, likely as the result of a focus group.

More.

posted by Jenny at 3:47 AM |

Doctors Without Borders has a great site up on the Top 10 Most Underreported Humanitarian Stories of 2002. This stuff is good to keep in mind at a time like this as aid will begin flying to Iraq and away from these heavily affected areas, as well as from Afghanistan (I mean, the Bush administration almost forgot to give them funding this year. I guess they expected Afghanistan's shiny new free market economy to cover all costs, heh). That's part of the magic of the "liberal" media--you get war reality TV, and no sense of proportion about crises the world over...

posted by Jenny at 3:38 AM |

Another way to abate feelings of uselessness during an unwanted war: give money to a charity such as Oxfam, ready on Iraq's border with food, water and supplies for refugees. It's pretty obvious that folks like these are going to be handling the majority of humanitarian aid in the wake of the invasion, and at this point, I think sending money now is a heck of a lot better than emailing lawmakers and asking them to remember later. But that's also important, and you can do it at Amnesty International...

posted by Jenny at 3:32 AM |

Friday, March 21, 2003

"Thank God for the death of the UN"...Richard Perle

Saddam Hussein's reign of terror is about to end. He will go quickly, but not alone: in a parting irony, he will take the UN down with him. Well, not the whole UN. The "good works" part will survive, the low-risk peacekeeping bureaucracies will remain, the chatterbox on the Hudson will continue to bleat. What will die is the fantasy of the UN as the foundation of a new world order. As we sift the debris, it will be important to preserve, the better to understand, the intellectual wreckage of the liberal conceit of safety through international law administered by international institutions.

Did you read that last sentence? "Liberal conceit of safety through international law"?! International law, a conceit?! I mean, my god, I'll accept that the UN has made a lot of mistakes, but did this guy just blatantly shirk the concept of the rule of law? And who is he to declare the UN dead? Oh yeah, a fundamentalist war hawk with fistfuls of nukes. Pardon my online spluttering. I have always been a bit afraid of Perle, and lately he is starting to arouse my outrage. I'm sort of shell-shocked that the Guardian included his op-ed, but then again, how wonderful--a wider readership can appreciate just what a jerk he is, and do something about it.

If you're unfamiliar with the megalomania of Richard Perle (can't think of another word to describe it), RuminateThis has a small but effective compendium of links and information on his rejoicing on the "death of the UN", the Sy Hersch debacle, and, perhaps most significantly, Perle's role with the PNAC. Jeanne d'Arc also has a good rant up on him.

Update: I just found this article by John Pilger that includes the following quote, which I believe Pilger has said in other texts that he obtained in an interview with Perle:

If we let our vision of the world go forth and we embrace it entirely, and we don't try to piece together clever diplomacy but just wage a total war ... our children will sing great songs about us years from now.

posted by Jenny at 11:53 PM |

We can protest as much as we want, and indeed we should. But protest alone isn't going to help us communicate in situations like this...I think, particularly given the direction in which dominant American culture is headed, it's important for those of us on the "left" side of things to consider what it really means to have conversations with people who are openly opposed to us and our political truths, or just downright mean. That's the locus of my feelings of helplessness, really--I can vote and campaign to my heart's content, but how do I work with others to feel safe and accepted with feelings like these flying around and even openly endorsed by mainstream society?

Update: Once again I feel compelled to quote Eddie: "Watch out, California, you're supposed to be the groovy [crazy?!] state!" Vandalism against Lebanese-owned "French Cleaners" in Modesto.

posted by Jenny at 4:20 PM |

Supporting our troops?

This just in, via Tom Tomorrow. Apparently this is how we are going to help pay for this "war":

By a vote along party lines, the majority members of the House Budget Committee passed and reported for a vote by the House a budget resolution that would cut $844 million from veterans’ medical care next year and $9.7 billion over the next 10 years. In addition, the budget resolution would cut $15 billion from the disability compensation and other benefit programs over the next 10 years.

More.

posted by Jenny at 11:45 AM |

Sean Paul just emailed and said that he's heard they used 21,000-pound MOABs (Massive Ordinance Air Blast, cute) on Baghdad tonight...which explains why it looked like something out of the Old Testament, or worse. MOABs were what they were playing with in Florida last week, unsurprisingly.

Update: Sean Paul is still checking the media websites, etc. for confirmation of the MOABs...I haven't found anything yet either, but then again, the day is young...

posted by Jenny at 10:59 AM |

They are showing footage from the bombing of Baghdad now. It looks like Dresden in 1945.

posted by Jenny at 10:02 AM |

Laughter, the best medicine: LMB tipped me off to Fanatical Apathy, the blog of "writer/comedian/radio guy" Adam Felber. It's hysterical, a montage of satirical skits in script form, cartoons, and commentary. Two especially good posts I've run across thus far are "Rough Justice IV (The Movie Inside President Bush's Head)" and "The Azores Summit in Pictures". Aw heck, they're all good. Just go.

posted by Jenny at 7:20 AM |

"Do you have a flag?"

...we built up empires - we stole countries! That's what you do, that's how you build an empire. We stole countries with the cunning use of flags! Yeah, just sail around the world and stick a flag in.

"I claim India for Britain!"

They go, "You can't claim us, we live here! 500 million of us!"

"Do you have a flag?" --Eddie Izzard, "History"

And now for the news...

US Flag Moved From Port

A US Stars and Stripes flag has been removed from the new port town of Umm Qasr just over the Iraqi border from Kuwait.

Umm Qasr was taken after British Royal Marine Commandos troops were called in to break the fierce Iraqi resistance which pinned down American troops for two hours.

No reason was given for the decision, but Washington has consistently stressed that invading forces want to liberate Iraq, not occupy it.

More here, including a nice picture of the Stars and Stripes flying above a (presumably Iraqi?) flag. Eddie, you are a prophet!

posted by Jenny at 7:03 AM |

For those who are wondering, "Why the @#$$ are 'Americans' the way they are?"

Excerpts really can't do justice to this excellent article by Edward Said on the conflicting identities of America. Departing from the seeming mutual dislike between "Americans" and the global Muslim community (and with specific, grating episodes from the administration of Rudy Giuliani) Said does a good job of covering many bases--American civil religion, the psychological and spiritual currents of the currently dominant political ideology in the United States, and, perhaps most interestingly, the ways in which Americans are encouraged to regard history. (I referred earlier to this ahistorical treatment of America's global intervention when I discussed the lack of trials and purges in regard to dirty tricks at the hands of the CIA, federal bureaucracy, etc.). Okay, although I said I wasn't going to, here's an excerpt...but please go ahead and read the article itself, it is fascinating.

The difference between America and the classic empires of the past is that, even though each empire asserted its utter originality and its determination not to repeat the overreaching ambitions of imperial predecessors, this one does so with an astonishing affirmation of its nearly sancrosanct altruism and well-meaning innocence. For this alarming delusion there is, even more alarmingly, a new squadron of formerly Left or liberal intellectuals alike who had historically opposed American wars abroad but who are now prepared to make the case for virtuous empire (the figure of the lonely sentry has been used) using a variety of styles, from tub-thumping patriotism to sly cynicism. The events of 11 September play a role in this volte face, but what is surprising is that the Twin Towers-Pentagon bombings, horrible though they were, retreated as if they came from nowhere, rather than in fact from a world across the seas driven crazy by American intervention and ubiquitous American presence. This is of course not to condone Islamic terrorism, which is a hateful thing in every way. But it is to remark that in all the pious analyses of America's responses to Afghanistan and now Iraq, history and proportionality have simply dropped out of the picture .

...

All of those things converge around an idea of American rightness, goodness, freedom, economic promise, social advancement that is so ideologically woven into the fabric of daily life that it doesn't even appear to be ideological, but rather a fact of nature. America=good=total loyalty and love. Similarly there is an unconditional reverence for the Founding Fathers, and for the Constitution, an amazing document, it is true, but a human one nevertheless. Early America is the anchor of American authenticity. In no country that I know does a waving flag play so central an iconographical role. You see it everywhere, on taxicabs, on men's jacket lapels, on the front windows and roofs of houses everywhere. It is the main embodiment of the national image, signifying heroic endurance and a beleaguered sense of fighting of unworthy enemies. Patriotism is still the prime American virtue, tied up as it is with religion, belonging, and doing the right thing not just at home but all over the world. Patriotism is also represented in retail consumer spending, as when Americans were enjoined after the events of 9/11 to do a lot of shopping in defiance of evil terrorists. Bush and employees of his like Rumsfeld, Powell, Rice and Ashcroft have tapped into all of that to mobilise the military for war 7000 miles away in order 'to get' Saddam, as he is referred to universally. Underlying all this is the machinery of capitalism, now undergoing radical and, I think, destabilising change. The economist Julie Schor has shown that Americans now work far more hours than they did three decades ago, and are making relatively less money for their efforts. But still there is no serious, systematic political challenge to the dogmas of what are referred to as the opportunities of a free market. It's as if no one cares whether the corporate structure in alliance with the federal government, which still hasn't been able to provide most Americans with decent universal health coverage and a sound education, has to be changed. News of the stock market is more important than re-examining the system.

...

Because it is a managed and constructed thing the consensus operates in a sort of timeless present. History is anathema to it, and in accepted public discourse even the word 'history' is a synonym for nothingness or non-entity, as in the scornful, typically dismissive American phrase, 'you're history.' Otherwise history is what as Americans we are supposed to believe about America (not about the rest of the world, which is 'old' and generally left behind, hence irrelevant) uncritically, loyally, unhistorically. There is an amazing polarity at work here. In the popular mind America is supposed to stand above or beyond history. On the other hand, there is an all-consuming general interest that one encounters across the country in the history of everything, from small regional topics, to the vaster reaches of world empires. Many cults develop out of both these carefully balanced opposites, which encompass the road from xenophobic patriotism to other-worldly spiritualism and reincarnation.

posted by Jenny at 4:08 AM |

The Guardian has an interactive Flash report on the UK/US-led battle for Basra, the center of Iraq's oil industry (and a region heavily affected by UN embargoes). I linked up to a great Mother Jones article on Basra yesterday; it's interesting to put the two together...

posted by Jenny at 2:06 AM |

Thursday, March 20, 2003

The Washington Post links up to the original concepts behind Shock and Awe. Yikes!

posted by Jenny at 1:11 PM |

archives are working again!

posted by Jenny at 12:41 PM |

Just where you least expected it

The Chronicle of Philanthropy has an interesting article up on charity's glass ceiling, stating that survey after survey shows that female executives and fund raisers make significantly less than their male counterparts, and that women, while heading the majority of all charities, are far less likely to lead the largest ones. Good to spread the word about this one...

posted by Jenny at 12:17 PM |

The great American meat-out

Today, says the Gainsville Times, vegetarian groups are asking consumers to boycott meat...the article also refers to some laughable tactics employed by the meat industry to try to get more teenages back on flesh-eating. This website, launched a few months ago by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, seems to have hired a failed Teen magazine graphics editor to attempt to persuade young girls that it's cool to eat meat. The gender implications are staggering...what would Carol Adams say?!

posted by Jenny at 12:11 PM |

I am just beginning to learn, from what I expect to be a very intense tutelage, about the ability of people to organize against all odds, and to resist against all odds. --Rachel Corrie

Tear gas and an army tank sent by Israel failed to break up Rachel Corrie's memorial service at the site in Rafah where she was crushed to death by a bulldozer. Here is Ampersand's final post on Rachel, and here are two excellent excerpts from her own writing.

Rachel's war from the Guardian

"You just can't imagine it" from CommonDreams

posted by Jenny at 10:23 AM |

Iraq: past, present, future (v.2)

If at first you don't succeed...here are the links I meant to send before--a jumble of history, images, sociology, testimonials, and more.

US Bombing Watch--documenting every US-led bombing of Iraq since the Gulf War...it's an eye-opener.

The Unseen Gulf War by Peter Turnley--what you didn't see on CNN the first time around...

The Betrayal of Basra--this article does a great job of illustrating what 10 years of US sanctions coupled with the repression of Saddam's regime has done to Iraq.

On a Small Bridge in Iraq--with text by Natsuki Ikezawa and pictures by Seiichi Motohashi, this is a free, downloadable account of daily life among Iraqis.

The Kurds: a catastrophe waiting to happen--from the IHt, this article outlines the troubled relations between Turkey and Iraqi Kurds, and how this war could bring things to an ugly head without careful responses from the Bush administration. (Via The Agonist)

Iraq's rising forces of faith--the Washington Post ruminates on rising fundamentalism in Iraq due to the approaching war. (Via LMB)

Sectarian tensions rise in Iraq as US attack looms--CS Monitor mulls over the possibility of a revolt of long-repressed Shiites in the wake of war... (Via LMB)

Allrighty, I'm going to click "post" now...but first, I'm going to copy this sucker.

posted by Jenny at 9:58 AM |

198 Methods of Nonviolent Action

Great one via Jeanne d'Arc.

posted by Jenny at 9:40 AM |

Pissed off about the war and looking to peacefully protest? United for Peace has a continuously-updated list of day-after actions in U.S. states and some international locations, plus ideas for protest action and places to let them know about events in your area.

posted by Jenny at 4:31 AM |

Just a quick quote from the pope's recent last-ditch appeal for peace...and a mention of a near-"diplomatic incident" last month when the pope used heated words and gestures in a meeting with Blair and Berlusconi.

You know, even if he went to Baghdad, it probably wouldn't change a thing at this point...

posted by Jenny at 4:21 AM |

Blogger frustration #102

Folks, I'm having some trouble with my archives--blogger isn't publishing them because of a "javascript error". I'm going to head off to support and figure out if there's anything I can do, but for the time being, please accept my apologies--I doubt you'll be able to link up to any of the posts from today or yesterday until this is straightened out.

posted by Jenny at 4:15 AM |

Okay, so at least one person in the Senate seems to know what he's talking about:

The image of America has changed. Around the globe, our friends mistrust us, our word is disputed, our intentions are questioned.

Instead of reasoning with those with whom we disagree, we demand obedience or threaten recrimination. Instead of isolating Saddam Hussein, we seem to have isolated ourselves. We proclaim a new doctrine of preemption which is understood by few and feared by many. We say that the United States has the right to turn its firepower on any corner of the globe which might be suspect in the war on terrorism. We assert that right without the sanction of any international body. As a result, the world has become a much more dangerous place.

We flaunt our superpower status with arrogance. We treat UN Security Council members like ingrates who offend our princely dignity by lifting their heads from the carpet. Valuable alliances are split.

After war has ended, the United States will have to rebuild much more than the country of Iraq. We will have to rebuild America's image around the globe.

The case this Administration tries to make to justify its fixation with war is tainted by charges of falsified documents and circumstantial evidence. We cannot convince the world of the necessity of this war for one simple reason. This is a war of choice.

There is no credible information to connect Saddam Hussein to 9/11. The twin towers fell because a world-wide terrorist group, Al Qaeda, with cells in over 60 nations, struck at our wealth and our influence by turning our own planes into missiles, one of which would likely have slammed into the dome of this beautiful Capitol except for the brave sacrifice of the passengers on board.

The brutality seen on September 11th and in other terrorist attacks we have witnessed around the globe are the violent and desperate efforts by extremists to stop the daily encroachment of western values upon their cultures. That is what we fight. It is a force not confined to borders. It is a shadowy entity with many faces, many names, and many addresses.

But, this Administration has directed all of the anger, fear, and grief which emerged from the ashes of the twin towers and the twisted metal of the Pentagon towards a tangible villain, one we can see and hate and attack. And villain he is. But, he is the wrong villain. And this is the wrong war. If we attack Saddam Hussein, we will probably drive him from power. But, the zeal of our friends to assist our global war on terrorism may have already taken flight.

The general unease surrounding this war is not just due to "orange alert." There is a pervasive sense of rush and risk and too many questions unanswered. How long will we be in Iraq? What will be the cost? What is the ultimate mission? How great is the danger at home?

A pall has fallen over the Senate Chamber. We avoid our solemn duty to debate the one topic on the minds of all Americans, even while scores of thousands of our sons and daughters faithfully do their duty in Iraq.

What is happening to this country? When did we become a nation which ignores and berates our friends? When did we decide to risk undermining international order by adopting a radical and doctrinaire approach to using our awesome military might? How can we abandon diplomatic efforts when the turmoil in the world cries out for diplomacy?

Why can this President not seem to see that America's true power lies not in its will to intimidate, but in its ability to inspire?

Sadly, I don't think Congress has the guts or the capability to answer these excellent questions. But they may surprise me, you never know...I don't want to totally surrender to cynicism.

posted by Jenny at 4:03 AM |

Anti-Americanism?

**--link in foreign language

I've been relatively lax in reporting the European angle on things, for which I apologize. I'll just confine my comments to Germany for the time being. Of course, like many others across the world, German government figures are already speaking out against the invasion of Iraq as illegal and a violation of human rights**, but the German political culture for one is incredibly divided** on this issue. Many of us are very disappointed in Angela Merkel, leader of the Christian Democrat opposition, for supporting the US-led ultimatum against Saddam Hussein. There's been a lot of yelling back and forth between the Social Democrats and Greens--the leading government coalition--and the Christian Democrats and Liberals.

Meanwhile, some factions of the government are criticizing Chancellor Schroeder (a Social Democrat) for giving ANY concessions to the U.S. military--yep, in case you've forgotten, Germany still supports our bases here (in part, I'll bet, allowing the @#$% DoD to forego stringent German environmental regulations) with security forces and airspace rights, among other things. Since the US is now launching an ostensibly offensive invasion, Germany's assistance to them in any way is actually a violation of the key laws of Germany's constitution, put in place after the Second World War, one of which states that Germany cannot take part in any military offensive. Schroeder, in a good imitation of Bill Clinton, seems to be playing both sides of the scenario--on one hand, he's willing to stand against the American position to win an election; on the other, he's not willing to forego German economic and military "friendship" to the United States and risk making the US wrecking crew irrevocably pissed off. It's just not easy being Gerd these days--first he has to answer to the spiking unemployment rate and lack of economic growth here at home, and then he has to figure out what lines to draw with the conquest-crazed United States, who just might still be holding the purse strings... Not to trivialize that last bit though; Schroeder's conundrum on the USA seems to be a common plight of European leaders these days, torn between loyalty to the growing and potentially-strong European Union and the old, traditional model of unipolar, American economic domination. The declared loyalty of the "New Europe" to Bush's cause, in my opinion, demonstrates another road taken by political leaders. I might even argue in part that the psychological development of the Eastern bloc after the fall of the Iron Curtain is what continues to drive Eastern European politicians toward the US. People want to believe in the goodness and economic benefit of following the United States--and a lot is at risk in these newly privatized, newly "liberated" countries. Unsurprising that American arm-twisting has had much better results in former Soviet Europe.

Not that I've heard any of the "normal people", i.e., masses of Europeans in "East" or "West", speaking out in favor of war on Iraq. But neither have I heard all that virulent anti-Americanism that Bush & Co would like us to believe is inherent in European culture. Most people I've spoken to make the distinction between president and populace, and even the German "liberal media" seems to be clued in about the divisions in American culture. As one news anchor put it the other night, in a personal statement departing from the planned montage of the US buildup for war, "I know the American people, I have spent much time in th United States, and I have many friends there. And I will remain convinced that this is not a war waged by the American people, but by their president." So much for widespread, institutionalized hatred of the United States...

posted by Jenny at 3:17 AM |

Once again, the Senate has rejected drilling for oil in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge...something to be happy about after all. All the more reason to protest the DoD, I suppose!

Meanwhile, the BBC just announced on TV that one of those SCUD missiles launched over Iraq had no signs of chemical or biological weapons. What a shocker.

posted by Jenny at 2:48 AM |

Wednesday, March 19, 2003

My confidence level in Congress is at an all-time low (I started with apathy, moved upward toward hope, and am now swimming in disgust)...however, since all this waiting for those 3,000 missiles to drop is making me antsy, I thought we all might enjoy another activist opportunity to keep us in motion...

A couple of days ago I included a post on the worldwide pollution of the Department of Defense. Well, the National Resources Defense Council reveals that the Bush administration, under the cover of war, has snuck a number of environmental policy exemptions for the DoD into a recently-drafted defense spending bill. As Matt at the Daily Outrage points out, if we don't get this fixed in Congress now, it'll be incredibly hard later as they'll probably be reluctant to bring up this issue when pressed for funds with a wartime budget. That's why we might as well use this handy NDRC activist website to email our senators and representatives and tell them what we think of this "pork barrel legislation" (that's the word for it, right? been awhile since I've heard it...as a matter of fact, the last time might have been in childhood when watching Rush Limbaugh with family. *shudder*). It just takes a couple of minutes, you can use their form letter, or write your own in the blank. Get going!

posted by Jenny at 2:39 PM |

Anybody else hear about Clear Channel funding pro-war rallies?

Yet another reason to be wary of those folks...

posted by Jenny at 1:50 PM |

And now for something completely different (the Iraq links will come, eventually). In tandem with the World Water Forum convening in Kyoto this week, here's an informative series of articles to help getting us up to speed: the Center for Public Integrity's Feburary series on the "Water Barons" does a great job of illuminating the global rise of three water utility companies leading the way in the privatization of water. Analysts predict that within 15 years, these corporations will control 65-75% of what are now public waterworks in Europe and North America.

posted by Jenny at 1:47 PM |

*sigh* I just worked long and hard on a list of links on Iraq, forgot to copy before pressing "Post", and it looks like blogger deleted it. Very frustrating. I am doing anything I can to keep from sitting in my living room and staring dully at the TV, waiting for the first bombs to fall. Maybe I'll get the list back up before then, or maybe I'll try something else.

posted by Jenny at 1:25 PM |

What's next, interment camps?

CBS News Correspondent Jim Stewart reports the FBI plans a massive wave of interrogations of over 10,000 Iraqi nationals who live in the U.S. That covers a lot of ground - individuals classified as students, defectors, permanent residents, visitors, and even a few recently naturalized U.S. citizens.

More.

posted by Jenny at 12:47 PM |

Tom Tomorrow has a knack for finding scary home security news. From New Jersey:

If the nation escalates to "red alert," which is the highest in the color-coded readiness against terror, you will be assumed by authorities to be the enemy if you so much as venture outside your home, the state's anti-terror czar says.

"This state is on top of it," said Sid Caspersen, New Jersey's director of the office of counter-terrorism.

Caspersen, a former FBI agent, was briefing reporters, alongside Gov. James E. McGreevey, on Thursday, when for the first time he disclosed the realities of how a red alert would shut the state down.

A red alert would also tear away virtually all personal freedoms to move about and associate.

"Red means all noncritical functions cease," Caspersen said. "Noncritical would be almost all businesses, except health-related."

A red alert means there is a severe risk of terrorist attack, according to federal guidelines from the Department of Homeland Security.

"The state will restrict transportation and access to critical locations," says the state's new brochure on dealing with terrorism.

More.

posted by Jenny at 12:37 PM |

Great blog up--Arms and the Man--all about who's making a killing on the killing in Iraq. (Who you expected, and then some.) Check it out.

posted by Jenny at 11:28 AM |

File that one away as Understatement #276: White House Warns Citizens to Prepare for Loss of Life
Update: Just a reminder that FAIR has a good article up on whether the media know that war kills, as well as the requisite email addresses of mainstream media outlets...and if you're looking for some "hard facts" to inform them of the human costs of war, you can consult this briefing from the Human Rights Watch.

posted by Jenny at 11:24 AM |

What now, Antiwarrior? Mother Jones speculates on how the onset of war will affect the burgeoning peace movement.

posted by Jenny at 8:08 AM |

*cough*

Star Spangled Ice Cream: Ice Cream with a Conservative Flavor...Flavors include (no joke):

I-hate-the-French Vanilla
Nutty Environmentalist
Cowardly German Chocolate
US Army Tank Crunch
Gun Nut

Via Tom Tomorrow.

posted by Jenny at 8:01 AM |

Don't miss it: former British cabinet member Robin Cook's resignation speech in the House of Commons. You can also view the video here.

Update: Why I Had to Leave the Cabinet by Robin Cook.

posted by Jenny at 7:54 AM |

Ampersand has a good post up on the Israeli Defense Force and bulldozer deaths of Palestinian civilians. Good to read for putting recent events in a broader perspective...

posted by Jenny at 7:48 AM |

This is pretty funny, though partially offensive if, like me, you come from the Texan countryside, listen to the Dixie Chicks, can fire a gun, and never once thought of shooting signs, animals, or getting in a bar fight: a parodied apology from Natalie Maines (via Ted Barlow).

I also realize now that I'm supposed to just sing and look cute so our fans won't have anything to upset them while they're cheating on their wives or getting in drunken bar fights or driving around in their pickup trucks shooting highway signs and small animals.

And most important of all, I realize that it's wrong for a celebrity to voice a political opinion, unless they're Charlie Daniels, Clint Black, Merle Haggard, Barbara Mandrell, Loretta Lynn, Ricky Skaggs, Travis Tritt, Hank Williams Jr, Amy Grant, Larry Gatlin, Crystal Gayle, Reba McEntire, Lee Greenwood, Lorrie Morgan, Anita Bryant, Mike Oldfield, Ted Nugent, Wayne Newton, Dick Clark, Jay Leno, Drew Carey, Dixie Carter, Victoria Jackson, Charleton Heston, Fred Thompson, Ben Stein, Bruce Willis, Kevin Costner, Arnold Schwartzenegger, Bo Derek, Rick Schroeder, George Will, Pat Buchanan, Bill O'Reilly, Joe Rogan, Delta Burke, Robert Conrad or Jesse Ventura.

In case you missed the Charlie Daniels episode, read this. I guess they should write a new song: political repression on music row...

Update: More on the Dixie Chicks backlash at blogcritics...

posted by Jenny at 6:43 AM |

Jeanne D'Arc directs us to an article in the Wall Street Journal which refers to Bush's plan for the reconstruction of Iraq as "audacious." Surprising, considering that the WSJ usually takes a more conformist stance. An excerpt:

The Bush administration's audacious plan to rebuild Iraq envisions a sweeping overhaul of Iraqi society within a year of a war's end, but leaves much of the work to private U.S. companies.

The Bush plan, as detailed in more than 100 pages of confidential contract documents, would sideline United Nations development agencies and other multilateral organizations that have long directed reconstruction efforts in places such as Afghanistan and Kosovo. The plan also would leave big nongovernmental organizations largely in the lurch: With more than $1.5 billion in Iraq work being offered to private U.S. companies under the plan, just $50 million is so far earmarked for a small number of groups such as CARE and Save the Children.

Washington is under international pressure to broaden a postwar rebuilding effort, even as it continues to do battle with traditional allies over the merits of launching a war on Iraq. The administration recently has signaled it may seek down the road to give the U.N. and other countries a larger role. President Bush, after a one-hour summit in the Azores Islands, said Sunday that if it comes to war he plans to "quickly seek new Security Council resolutions to encourage broad participation in the process of helping the Iraqi people to build a free Iraq."

But U.N. officials said they still have no clear indication how the administration might involve the international body, especially if many of the large rebuilding tasks are already farmed out to U.S. companies directly answerable to Washington.

Interestingly, the rebuilding of Iraq is to be directed by a newly-created "Office of Reconstruction and Humanitartian Assistance", located at the Pentagon (more on its goals and structure here). I need to sniff around some more about this, but it's interesting that such an office has been created--on one hand, it represents foresight and a desire to organize surprising coming from the likes of Dubya, but on the other hand, it seems to be there for the long haul. Iraq will likely serve as their blueprint for rebuilding the other nations Bush & Co feel compelled to tear up in the name of national security...

Another great article on this recommended at Body and Soul is this one at Salon. It gives a thorough overview of American corporate war profiteering in Iraq, as well as a quick look into the troubling histories of the companies themselves. Don't miss it.

posted by Jenny at 6:18 AM |

Ugh, laundry day. Which means I'll either be slow in posting, or posting constantly out of procrastination. For starters, today's NY Times has an interesting (if unchallenging) article on a day in the life of Rummy...

posted by Jenny at 5:57 AM |

Tuesday, March 18, 2003

Was making a final spin around the blogosphere in which I found this, a posting about depleted uranium and land mines in Iraq. Am I the only one who missed the Pentagon's disclosure that they are planning on strewing Iraq with land mines?

posted by Jenny at 2:42 PM |

Okay, rereading that last post, I see a bunch of typos. Calling Communist Czechoslovakia the "Communist Czech Republic" (now corrected) being one of them. I've tried to straighten most of them out, but I'm exhausted and going to bed--it's getting late here!

posted by Jenny at 2:25 PM |

Living in truth

I am dancing around what I really want to say about this damned war. Something needs to be said here, something needs to be said in many places, but I have no idea how to start, and what is "correct" in a time like this. The stock market is soaring and war hawks stateside are already looking to the next preemptive action against Iran, Syria, and North Korea, to name a few. The landscape outside my window is the same as it was when I got here--no visible signs that the war will affect us here. But of course, visible things don't really matter right now. Thanks to the overwhelmingly twisted loyalties and opportunism within the global media, the plight of the Iraqi people under US-imposed sanctions and now an approaching war has been invisible for years, and it will continue to be overlooked by a media schooled and controlled by US military and intelligence forces as we march into Baghdad. *sigh* Television is already downplaying the human rights being violated and the civilian deaths that will result from an invasion of Iraq. My best friends are writing me in despair and disgust, bloggers realize that their efforts at explaining alternatives to war will go unacknowledged, we all try to escape into ourselves, our daily lives to keep from facing the hell that will be inflicted upon millions of people who have already suffered under the twin miseries of US-led sanctions and a repressive, militarist dictatorship. It's hard not to feel trampled, ignored, and failed, not only by our individual governments, all of whom seem to resist living in truth. But deep down inside, there's a knowledge that we have something to do with our governments--somehow, even indirectly through our economic activity and our daily lives, we put those people there.

We put those people there, yes. But they have not treated us with the respect and honesty that we deserve. Unlike the atrocities committed by Soviets in Eastern Europe or Nazis and hate groups, there have been no public disclosures, no trials, no purges in regard to the dirty politics the United States has conducted in all corners of the globe since before the Second World War. We have not been allowed to see the monster we helped create; our eyes have been covered to protect "national security"--economic interests and political collusion. We have been rendered powerless. It is this sense of incapacity and neglect that I will address today, because it the only ray of hope I have--to all of you who read this, consider for the moment that there is power in your powerlessness.

They have ignored us, they have shown us to be a "focus group", nothing but numbers with pocketbooks. But when you think about it, isn't there power in our powerlessness because, perhaps on a larger scale than ever before, we have been made aware of it? While egotism and ignorance thrives in many corners of the media and the corporate community, many of us have come to see that humanity matters, and we have been awakened to a healthy outrage at the injustice being committed toward our fellow human beings, at home and abroad. The world will never be healed the way we expect or desire to heal it; as William Morris once said, "Men [sic] fight and lose the battle, and the thing that they fought for comes about in spite of their defeat, and then it turns out not to be what they meant, and other men [sic again] have to fight for what they meant under another name." We cannot predict the effect we will have on the world...but we can change it, and for the better.

Vaclav Havel was the first to write about the power of the powerless. He is a playwright and was a famed dissenter in Communist Czechoslovakia, instrumental in bringing forth the Velvet Revolution in 1989. Until recently, Havel served as president of the Czech Republic--and sadly, before leaving office, he endorsed the plans of Bush and Tony Blair to push the UN to move against Saddam Hussein. Despite this, I argue that Havel's writings are more relevant today than ever. He describes the nature of totalitarianism, including its existence almost as a secular religion, its production and domination of ideology, and the language through which its power is exercized. In The Power of the Powerless, "Ideology, in creating a bridge of excuses between the system and the individual, spans the abyss between the aims of the system and the aims of life. It pretends that the requirements of the system derive from the requirements of life. It is a world of appearances trying to pass for reality":

"...government by bureaucracy is called popular government; the working class is enslaved in the name of the working class; the complete degradation of the individual is presented as his or her ultimate liberation; depriving people of information is called making it available; the use of power to manipulate is called the public control of power; arbitrary abuse of power is called observing the legal code; the repression of culture is called its development; the expansion of imperial influence is presented as support for the oppressed; the lack of free expression becomes the highest form of freedom; farcical elections become the highest form of democracy; banning independent thought becomes the most scientific of world views; military occupation becomes fraternal assistence. Because the regime is captive to its own lies, it must falsify everything. If falsifies the past. It falsifies the present, and it falsifies the future ... It pretends to respect human rights. It pretends to persecute no one. It pretends to fear nothing. It pretends to pretend nothing."

Sound familiar? It seems Western spheres of influence have been infected by totalitarianism. As Havel explains, the totalitarian system (or post-totalitarian system, depending on which phase of development the regime is in) is comprised of all of the individuals within it, even those held down--and when one of those individuals refuses to accept the lies, refuses to comply, then the face of the system is irrevocably altered. In accepting the lies of our government, we perpetuate the system. The minute we live in truth, we alter the rules of the game. Havel reminds us that ideology is the instrument of internal communication within an oppressive regime, a pillar of its stability. But in fact, ideology only works as long as we allow it to work.

The majority of people living in the United States and, indeed, in the "West" are living in a profound state of alienation. We rage about globalization and sweatshops, and then we go shopping at Wal-Mart or H&M. But, in the words of Havel, "[i]ndividuals can be alienated from themselves only because there is something in them to alienate ... Under the orderly surface of the life of lies, therefore, there slumbers the hidden sphere of life in its real aims, of its hidden openness to truth." What would happen if we not only acknowledged that the information handed us was fabricated, but we altered our daily life to act in protest of the system that brings us this information?

Some might throw up their hands hopelessly and say, "I've changed, but the world hasn't." But the world is changing--I don't think that's just my youthful idealism coloring my vision. The idiotic, egotistical demagoguery of the Bush administration, and the complicity of foreign governments until recently, has united the world in ways that haven't been seen in decades, perhaps in over a century. Hardt and Negri's Empire speculates that people around the world have lost the networking demonstrated in the revolutions and worker protests of the mid-19th century, the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, and, to a smaller extent, the peaceful revolutions of Eastern Europe in 1989. This is the first step in which we begin to wake up and reclaim that global sense of networking, of kinship. That will take many more years, much more effort, to achieve, and it too will pass away to something new..but the thing to remember is that we are shaping it; we powerless people, upon whom the system depends for our complicity, will alter the face of our world by saying "no" to the lies fed us by our government.

It is time for us to look our neighbors in the eye, whether they be across the office or across the Atlantic, and have honest conversations. Not force feeding them our beliefs or fears, but talking honestly about ourselves by respecting them where they are. I once took part in a discussion group with bell hooks in which she admonished those of us wishing to advocate feminism to appreciate the point of view of those we talk to. Who among us has not known fear, hate, spite, suffering? Even in dealing with the most spiteful of war enthusiasts, we have to remember it--those people are where they are for a reason, but nonetheless, deep within them, there is something that is being alienated--there is humanity within them; injured, frightened, and abusive, nonetheless, they are human beings. If we can respect that while being honest through their lies, living our truth and nonviolently calling for an end to violence, we will make a difference.

posted by Jenny at 12:36 PM |

Two Flash cartoons from Mark Fiore to pick up your day...

Loser
Dipl-uh-oh-macy

Update: Yes, I'd already posted "Loser" here...but I love it so much, I had to do it again. Click...you know you want to.

posted by Jenny at 9:03 AM |

Interesting--veiled4allah links to an academic paper entitled "An Islamic Perspective on the Wealth of Nations". I've just settled down to read it, thought you might want to as well--never considered how Adam Smith might sound through the lens of Islam and the Koran. I'm just at the beginning, but it's already done a nice job of debunking some common "Western" misconceptions about Islamic law...

posted by Jenny at 6:15 AM |

Highly recommended

Another article I would have posted in February, had I had a blog at the time: Timothy Garton Ash's "Anti-Europeanism in America". I believe I've mentioned Ash here before--he's written a bunch of stuff on transitions to democracy in post-Soviet Europe, as well as the revolutions of 1989 themselves. Some take him to task because he seems to dangerously merge journalistic style with geeky social science writing, others, including myself, like him precisely because of it. Anyways, here is an excerpt from the article--this section focuses on the gendering of transatlantic tensions:

The current stereotype of Europeans is easily summarized. Europeans are wimps. They are weak, petulant, hypocritical, disunited, duplicitous, sometimes anti-Semitic and often anti-American appeasers. In a word: "Euroweenies." Their values and their spines have dissolved in a lukewarm bath of multilateral, transnational, secular, and postmodern fudge. They spend their euros on wine, holidays, and bloated welfare states instead of on defense. Then they jeer from the sidelines while the United States does the hard and dirty business of keeping the world safe for Europeans. Americans, by contrast, are strong, principled defenders of freedom, standing tall in the patriotic service of the world's last truly sovereign nation-state.

A study should be written on the sexual imagery of these stereotypes. If anti-American Europeans see "the Americans" as bullying cowboys, anti-European Americans see "the Europeans" as limp-wristed pansies. The American is a virile, heterosexual male; the European is female, impotent, or castrated. Militarily, Europeans can't get it up. (After all, they have fewer than twenty "heavy lift" transport planes, compared with the United States' more than two hundred.) Following a lecture I gave in Boston an aged American tottered to the microphone to inquire why Europe "lacks animal vigor." The word "eunuchs" is, I discovered, used in the form "EU-nuchs." The sexual imagery even creeps into a more sophisticated account of American–European differences, in an already influential Policy Review article by Robert Kagan of the Carnegie Endowment for Peace entitled "Power and Weakness." "Americans are from Mars," writes Kagan approvingly, "and Europeans are from Venus"—echoing that famous book about relations between men and women, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus.

I'm not sure if Ash would have been so mild on American views of Europe if he'd written that article in the last couple of weeks, but it's still an interesting read.

posted by Jenny at 5:54 AM |

Although I've heard him speak and am still not quite sure where he's headed, I like it when Joe Stiglitz weighs in on the idiot policy of the Bush administration. In last week's NY Review of Books, the Nobel prizewinner analyzes the dangers of the Bush tax plan--check it out.

posted by Jenny at 5:44 AM |

Will it work?

Okay, this is it--our last chance to stop "the war" before it starts...I don't know if it will work, but I don't really care--what matters is standing up for what we believe in, even if we won't "win" this one. Go to United for Peace, find your congressperson, write, call, fax, wear a "peace" T-shirt to the mall, whatever you want--but if you are against this war, act, don't give up!

posted by Jenny at 5:39 AM |

One more on Rachel Corrie: Another Death in Palestine, written by her friend, Kara Spencer.

Update: I'm not happy to be posting this, but someone needs to see it, respond to it, and think about the kind of apathy, ignorance, and insecurity that could drive someone to boast of the death of another. This guy has gotten some enraged responses--add yours and begin a conversation with him; explain to him how you feel, if you feel so inspired.

posted by Jenny at 5:34 AM |

Monday, March 17, 2003

The blogosphere is humming about a new one called "Where is Raed?", authored by an Iraqi, living in Iraq (someone gasps, "they have INTERNET ACCESS in that godforsaken country?")...He's quite good at this blogging business (I'll forgive that he cites Samuel Huntington, partially because the cite itself seems true), and, as Lying Media Bastards points out, understandably pissed about the hail of bombs about to rain down on his home, "sanctions, about Western 'human shields,' Islamic fundamentalists, incompetent British reporters, etc." Go visit.

posted by Jenny at 10:13 AM |

"Scum go back to France"

For Francoise Thomas, the anger against France for its continuing opposition to military action against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein hadn't hit home until she read about it on one of her doors.

When Thomas took out the garbage Saturday morning, she saw red letters spray-painted on the garage door of her townhouse.

"Scum go back to France," it read.

"I nearly had a heart attack," she told the Houston Chronicle in Monday's editions.

I hope whoever did this enjoys their 15 minutes of fame--they have only succeeding in making my beautiful Texas look uglier still, and in doing so revealed the depth of their ignorance and insecurity. Via Tom Tomorrow.

Okay, I was so flabbergasted that I forgot to include the AP link. Sorry about that...

posted by Jenny at 9:43 AM |

Readers in the USA: is the death of Rachel Corrie being covered at all in the mainstream media that you're viewing/reading/hearing? It just occurred to me that I'd been doing most of my reading on "progressive" news websites, so I went to CNN and discovered the story buried in an article on deaths in Gaza. I am now heading to the other biggies--CBS, ABC, etc.--to see how they handling it. How ironic, if they aren't saying much of anything--especially ironic when you think about how much attention the death of Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon received last month...

posted by Jenny at 9:34 AM |

I ran across the Complete 9/11 Timeline awhile back, before I began this blog. It is, in a word, exhaustive, but very informative and well-organized, with themes ranging from anthrax attacks to Central Asian oil and Israeli espionage--yet another text to have lying around. Check it out!

posted by Jenny at 8:59 AM |

The Cursor links up to a good NYT article by Nixon biographer Roger Morris on the installation of the Iraqi Baath party (with the collusion of Saddam Hussein) with the help of the CIA under Kennedy in 1963. One of those articles good to keep on hand for future reference...

posted by Jenny at 4:06 AM |

I had just worked really hard on a post regarding Rachel Corrie, the American activist who was killed by an Israeli bulldozer intent on destroying the home of a Palestinian physician, when blogger screwed up again. Here are some of the links I had included:

electronic intifada
CommonDreams
veiled4allah
Wampum

I won't say much more about this, except to ask for prayer and illumination for those who are suffering because of this, as well as those who committed this crime--and thanksgiving and blessings for Rachel herself. Her death was senseless and cruel, and I sincerely hope through my skepticism that the media does justice not only to her, but to the larger efforts she represented, in reporting about it. In this sense, I think it is very important for us to watch the spin on her portrayal over the next couple of days, and maintain a conversation about its reception.

Update: veiled4allah has added more on Rachel, including links to personal testimonials and coverage. Please visit.

posted by Jenny at 3:45 AM |

The notion that a radical is one who hates his country is naïve and usually idiotic. He is, more likely, one who likes his country more than the rest of us, and is thus more disturbed than the rest of us when he sees it debauched. He is not a bad citizen turning to crime; he is a good citizen driven to despair. -- H. L. Mencken, quoted by The Compassionate Conservatives

It's about time the blogs started talking about activist bands. RuminateThis is raving about The Compassionate Conservatives (uh, no relation to Cheney, Rummy, Condi and Shrub), whose webpage will ensnare you, not only with catchy remakes of great songs, but a plethora of quotes on protest, patriotism and dissent. Go now--support these guys and spread the word!

posted by Jenny at 3:03 AM |

In Torture We Trust

Bloggers have been all over this one--American apathy toward, and in some cases, agreement with the torture methods employed by the US government in extracting "truth" from detainees. The article (from this week's issue of The Nation) is rife with excellent points, too long to post in its entirety--just go visit!

posted by Jenny at 2:56 AM |

I've been browsing through old articles on US intelligence at The Nation. This one from Ken Silverstein is good to keep in mind. It's about the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, founded in the German resort town of Garmisch in 1992, back in the days of George Bush and Helmut Kohl, and run jointly by the US and German governments. Perhaps it will come as little surprise that Dick Cheney has been credited as the "creator" of the school, which works ostensibly to build bridges between Eastern and Western blocs, and help former Soviet nations navigate the transition to democracy and foster national security. Of course, like so many other "government" organizations, this one really seems to be a male-dominated clubhouse for people to be wined and dined, and coaxed into the "Western" way of life. I find it about as insidious as the School of the Americas, but for different reasons...An excerpt:

For its many critics, though, the Marshall Center enjoys a reputation for other things: administrators who squander taxpayer money and punish whistleblowers; professors who live high on the hog thanks to taxpayer subsidies; and third-rate, hard-drinking students who do virtually no academic work. "Euphemisms abound," says Daniel Nelson, a former scholar-in-residence at the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency who until recently taught at the school. "I'm called a professor, but I'm a discussion leader at best. What we call 'students' are actually invitees and what we call 'courses' are really the equivalent of vacations."

Center director Dr. Robert Kennedy says his organization has had a huge impact in Eastern Europe. "For the large majority of those who attend our programs, their entire attitude toward the US, NATO and the West changes," he says. "They want their nations to be a part of the trans-Atlantic community of nations."

...

Junketeering also abounds. A huge travel budget--this year it worked out to more than $10,000 per professor, though a small group of favorites hogs a preponderant share of it--allows faculty and staff to roam widely. One pair of professors, accompanied by their spouses, headed to Italy and the south of France--strange choices, given the school's supposed focus on Central and Eastern Europe.

...the Marshall Center remains a good old boys' bastion (of the twenty-eight faculty members, one is female). A good example of the school's "colonel culture" came in an e-mail McCarthy sent in August 2001 to a small group of male staffers, inviting them to "a manly man dinner" at a local hotel in honor of a visiting general. "The chef is preparing a beef and wine dinner," said the invitation. "We will follow the dinner with single malt scotch and, should you wish, cigars on the terrace."

posted by Jenny at 2:47 AM |

Sunday, March 16, 2003

God reveals himself...as a fish

I think the most perfect element of this story is that it was a carp--man, Letterman's gonna have fun with this one!

posted by Jenny at 2:25 PM |

There a flurry of talk on email and blogs about lawyers pushing to reopen the case challenging Bush's authority to go to war. TalkLeft has a very thorough post on it, which I highly recommend reading. We need to drum up some attention about this!

posted by Jenny at 7:54 AM |

And you thought Alcoa was bad:

The U.S. Department of Defense is, in fact, the world's largest polluter, producing more hazardous waste per year than the five largest U.S.chemical companies combined. Washington's Fairchild Air Force Base, the number one producer of hazardous waste among domestic military bases, generated over 13 million pounds of waste in 1997 (more than the weight of the Eiffel Tower's iron structure). Oklahoma's Tinker Air Force Base, the top toxic waste emitter, released over 600,000 pounds in the same year (the same amount of water would cover an entire football field about two inches deep).

Just about every U.S. military base and nuclear arms facility emits toxics into the environment. At many U.S. military target ranges, petroleum products and heavy metals used in bombs and bullets contaminate the soil and groundwater. And since the Pentagon operates its bases as "federal reservations," they are usually beyond the reach of local and state environmental regulations. Local and state authorities often do not find out the extent of the toxic contamination until after a base is closed down.

Active and abandoned military bases have released toxic pollution from Cape Cod to San Diego, Alaska to Hawaii. In June 2001, the Military Toxics Project and the Environmental Health Coalition released the report "Defend Our Health: A People's Report to Congress," detailing the Pentagon's war on the Earth in the United States and Puerto Rico. (See maps at .) The contaminants emitted from military bases include pesticides, solvents, petroleum, lead, mercury, and uranium. The health effects for the surrounding communities are devastating: miscarriages, low birth weights, birth defects, kidney disease, and cancer.

Even the Defense Department itself now acknowledges some of the environmental destruction wrought by the U.S. military world-wide. The Pentagon's own Inspector General documented, in a 1999 report, pollution at U.S.bases in Canada, Germany, Great Britain, Greenland, Iceland, Italy, Panama, the Philippines, South Korea, Spain, and Turkey. Again, since even U.S. military bases abroad are treated as U.S.territory, the installations typically remain exempt from the environmental authority of the host country.

More.

posted by Jenny at 7:43 AM |

I have decided that this cartoon by Tom Tomorrow is best at describing our tumultuous times...or at least, how I am dealing with our tumultuous times.

posted by Jenny at 7:32 AM |

Anybody else having issues with blogger? I have a bunch of neat things to upload, but the system is being slow, stubborn, and sometimes utterly uncooperative. Is this normal fare in the blogosphere?

posted by Jenny at 7:12 AM |