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Bradley Manning, Iraq and peace
As noted in today's snapshot, yesterday the community websites were noting Bradley Manning. Manning is being charged by the US military with being the whistle blower who leaked the video of the US attack on civilians in Iraq. Did he do it? We do not know. Today C.I. includes the remarks of whistle blower Daniel Ellsberg who notes that the US military brass is so often wrong. Regardless of who the whistle blower is (Manning has not spoken publicly), Bradley needs to be defended because he is going up against the entire US government which has painted him as the whistle blower and is attempting to punish him.
Events are taking place around the country. But what if you do not have one in your area? That has been addressed.
"I want to support Bradley, but there's no event in my area. What do I do?" (Bradley Manning Support Network):
Supporters who aren't near one of the 19 cities hosting events for our International Days of Action have been contacting us asking: what can we do? Should I book a flight to, say, Quantico?
Don't worry, supporters – you can still be part of the International Days of Action in support of alleged whistleblower and ethical human being Bradley Manning. You can do it from your own hometowns!
* Markers
* Poster board
* Digital camera (or good camera phone)
All you have to do is make an awesome sign supporting Bradley Manning and get your picture taken.
I think everyone did a wonderful job attempting to shine a light yesterday but I don't blog on Thursdays (I have group at night) so I wanted to note Bradley today.
Sunny pulled two e-mails for me to see today.
One is chiefly concerned with "Bradley." Why is it "Bradley" when C.I. writes of Bradley Manning? Anytime someone is in danger of being seen as less than human, anytime someone is being demonized, C.I. always use their first name to drive home the point that they are a person. It is effective, believe it or not. C.I. got the idea years ago when we were speaking out against Vietnam and there was a suspected kidnapping in our circle. (It ended up being one parent wanting custody of the child and was resolved without the justice system.) As we were doing our friend part and checking in to show support, two FBI agents were present and counseling on how to speak if a call came in from the kidnapper (at that point, it was assumed the kidnapper was some outsider). I was only half-listening. But we paid our respects and went on about our day which included two speaking gigs.
As C.I. spoke raising money for someone -- I do not remember who, it could have been a war resister who had been jailed, it could have been Abbie Hoffman, I do not remember -- she repeatedly spoke of the person using his first name. I noted how it changed the way the issue was received and I suddenly remembered the FBI agent telling our friend to use the child's name repeatedly in any call with the kidnapper to personalize the child, to force the kidnapper to see the child as a person.
So that is one e-mail. The other one Sunny highlighted wanted to know what I would do differently if I were doing the Iraq snapshots?
Short answer: Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) notes that 1 corpse was discovered in Kirkuk.
What do I mean? That is the only thing that is missed in today's snapshot and I know it's missed because C.I. got a call from a friend with McClatchy tonight asking why Sahar Issa didn't get included. C.I. said she hadn't seen it when she did links and when she dictated the snapshot, she'd asked the friend she was dictating to to look and he couldn't find anything.
I would never do the snapshots. I don't have that kind of time and I don't have that kind of mind.
C.I. and I went to college together so I long ago ceased being surprised by her but I still marvel over her accomplishments and strengths. She can and does juggle so much. With the snapshots alone, she's got one cell phone to her face as she dictates into that and she's got another cell to her ear with someone passing on whatever they think should be included and then you have Ava with two cells waiting to slide one to C.I. as soon as C.I. has a free ear. It's crazy and she has to dictate this and figure out what is going where and edit as she goes ("Pull the section on ___ so we can instead emphasize ____."). It can be stressful just watching. But she can handle it. There are days when it is upsetting to her (generally when she is under the weather) but she always handles it.
Along with processing all those calls during the time she's dictating (and I mean, she has a friend with some news outlet or peace organization or NGO speaking in her ear as she is dictating something else about Iraq for the snapshot, this happens at the same time), she also has to do tremendous work in terms of research and reading. She does all that. She's amazing. She always has been.
I think she is our country's strongest voice against the Iraq War. I love what she does.
What she does includes reporting on Congressional hearings. She reported on two this week (and attended six). I couldn't do that. I wouldn't do that. I have been at hearings before for various reasons (including offering testimony on some issues) but I loathe the sitting around and waiting. It tires me out, the start and the stop. C.I. can handle it. She can handle it while she's watching Rebecca's child. Remember, when Rebecca had to go to London this year to work on the Labour elections, C.I. had Rebecca's daughter for weeks. That wasn't, "Oh, I'm on break!" That was while maintaining the same schedule. C.I.'s amazing. (Rebecca's daughter had the time of her life and still talks about it.) C.I., who has never wanted to live in DC, now owns a home in the area because it just made more sense as they came to spend more and more time in DC. She has friends and family in the area and would often grab a brownstone of an ex-boyfriend's if a large number of us were converging on DC (for a peace rally, for example) but she finally ended up deciding she needed to buy a place there because they are there far too often so that they can attend hearings.
Repeating, C.I. reports on those hearings in the snapshots. This week, where did you read about Republican House member Steve Buyer's snapping at witnesses and storming out of a hearing saying his personal integrity was at stake? You read about that via C.I.'s report or you didn't read about it.
But she's able to do all of that and she does an amazing job. She puts so much time into it. I don't know if most people realize how this started. In 2003, a friend of C.I.'s was booked for some college campus speaking in February against the impending war (which would start in March). It was some smaller colleges. The friend then got asked to do some larger campuses at the same time. She didn't know what to do. C.I. said to grab the larger ones and she'd honor the commitment to the smaller ones. Which she did. But there were also March engagements scheduled and C.I. grabbed those as well. Then, because she was speaking out, other people wanted to book her. Well the Iraq War had started and a lot of people were scared to speak out because of the shaming and attacking of protests. So C.I. didn't feel she could stop.
She ended up speaking every month, often every other week, sometimes every week. She told herself it was just through the November election. She was hoping that Bush could not be elected. Of course, he sadly was. (He was not re-elected. In 2000, the Supreme Court gave him the election that Al Gore won.) In November of 2004, immediately after the election, she and others speaking out had a strategy session where they talked about what worked and what didn't -- on micro and macro levels. Included in that was a discussion of which columnists reached people. In a jumping off moment, someone said that they should have had a really strong online presence and that included blogging. Now I had already been telling C.I. she needed to do a blog. She's a wonderful letter writer and I was getting these great dispatches from the road as she spoke on this campus and that campus. She's infamous for her wonderful letters. But she rejecte the idea for a variety of reasons whenever I or another friend brought it up.
During that strategy meeting, she heard a man say that was good idea but he didn't know how to blog. That had been C.I.'s excuse (that and not having time). She left that meeting, hearing her own words, and went home and immediately started The Common Ills.
Which is a typical C.I. move. Confronted with fear or something she doesn't know, she will just plunge in.
So that is the story behind The Common Ills and I think she's created the most amazing site online. It is a voice of peace and it is a global voice of peace. There are huge numbers of people reading it from all over the world. This year's biggest increase has been readers in China.
Today, she wrote about Bradley and you can see her genius in that. Her special talent that no one else has.
She's covered Bradley at length this week, in past weeks, etc. How do you keep it fresh and how do you keep people paying attention? Especially when you have a wonderful speech by Daniel Ellsberg that you want to draw attention to?
C.I. always knows. She brings in Barbra Streisand to the discussion. She falls back to the 1973 benefit Streisand did for Ellsberg. It's fresh news -- many of us long ago forgot about that benefit and many of us never even knew about it. But there it is, a new piece of information, a new way of discussing the issue.
How would I do the snapshots differently? I wouldn't be able to do them the way they are now. It is a gift I do not, sadly, have. But I am so glad C.I. does.
Friday, September 17, 2010. Chaos and violence continue, support mounts for Bradley Manning, the US military announces yet another death in Iraq, reports insist the political stalemate is about to be a thing of the past, and more.
Starting with Bradley Manning. Monday April 5th, WikiLeaks released US military video of a July 12, 2007 assault in Iraq. 12 people were killed in the assault including two Reuters journalists Namie Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh. Monday June 7th, the US military announced that they had arrested Bradley Manning and he stood accused of being the leaker of the video. This month, the military charged Manning. Leila Fadel (Washington Post) reported in August that Manning had been charged -- "two charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The first encompasses four counts of violating Army regulations by transferring classified information to his personal computer between November and May and adding unauthorized software to a classified computer system. The second comprises eight counts of violating federal laws governing the handling of classified information." Manning has been convicted in the public square despite the fact that he's been convicted in no state and has made no public statements -- despite any claims otherwise, he has made no public statements. Manning is now in Virginia, under military lock and key and still not allowed to speak to the press. As Daniel Ellsberg reminded from the stage in Oakland last night, "We don't know all the facts." But we know, as Ellsberg pointed out, that the US military is attempting to prosecute Bradley.
Daniel Ellsberg was a RAND Corporation military analyst alarmed by the Pentagon Papers charting the government's continuation of a lost and illegal war. He copied the papers to pass to the press (the press feared receiving the originals would be receiving stolen property and leave them open to prosecution). Lengthy court battles ensued via Richard Nixon and his so-called Justice Dept but the press -- for a change -- didn't buckle. Ellsberg was targeted by Tricky Dick with various efforts to smear him and to harm him. He also faced imprisonment. Back then, fundraisers were held. Barbra Streisand, for example, sang to a group of people -- including Joni Mitchell, John Lennon, Yoko Ono and David Geffen -- present, singing their requests for donations to the defense fund and she also took requests over the phone at the event (Carl Reiner was among those calling in and making a request). Nixon kept an enemies list and Barbra ended up on it for fundraising (over $50,000 was raised from Barbra's event if I remember correctly) on behalf of Daniel Ellsberg's defense. We'll note some of Daniel Ellsberg's remarks from last night:
Thank you very much, Let me echo what you just heard, my wife, when I set out for this, said how many people do you think will be out there? I said "who knows? Half a dozen? A dozen? What will it be?" It's wonderful to see this place filled, standing room only. And I was thinking who would like to see this? And I thought of a way to do it. I was just talking an hour ago to Bradley's aunt, Deborah van Alstyne, who was possibly his relative who was closest to him, mother's sister and who's seen him several times in jail. And she did want to say -- I told her what was happening tonight -- and she said, "Let people know how much he appreciates the support thaty he's getting. It means a tremendous amount to him. He was in prison, you know, in Kuwait for a long time, a couple of months. No communication with anybody. I don't even think he was seeing military lawyers at that point. Who knows what was happening? But no news whatever. And until he got to Quantico, he had no news of what happened, how anything had been received. He didn't know how well, actually, the [New York] Times, der Spiegel, the Guardian had dealt with the early disclosuers -- which I think would probably be very important for him to know. Or the reaction to the video and so forth. So, when she sees him, it's through heavy glass with somebody listening at the side at all times -- which brings back memories of what I expected to happen to me. People have asked me why I had my children help me copy papers for a couple of nights? Seemed very strange to them and I can understand that. But there was a reason. At that point in the fall of '69, when I was copying these 7,00 pages of top secret documents, I reallly expected them to come out shortly to Senator [James Willism] Fullbright, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, within a couple of weeks, and I expected to be in prison almost surely. Oh, I'm sorry, where do you want me? Oh, sorry, okay. Okay. Do I have to be behind this [podium]? Just in the light, right? [Laughter.] Okay. Third degree here, right? I knew that what they'd be hearing then within weeks was that their father had gone crazy. Just what Bradley Manning's friends and relatives are hearing right now. And what I suppose he's getting. He's heard that I'm sure. And that he was a traitor. But that he 'snapped,' that he'd gone crazy. And I wanted my children to see before I started a lifetime, perhaps of talking to them through glass that I'd done this because I thought it was the right thing to do, in a business like way, just something that I thought had to be done. And that I hadn't gone crazy. I wanted them to see me doing it. And so it just occured to me, of course, Bradley had a technology here that I didn't have, that I'm very jealous of, I must say, if he did what he's accused of. It does imply, by the way, that the possibility of telling the truth about a policy that's reckless, criminal, murderous, disasterous, of various kinds. The power to change that by telling the truth is literally at the finger tips of hundreds, perhaps thousands of people. Just a few key strokes can actually -- the policy is vulnerable to that. They have to rely -- "they," the ones who are running this policy -- have to rely on the trustworthiness or what they call the loyalty, the faithfulness, the patriotism -- in their eyes. Of the thousand people, even more who know what's happening, but the thousand who know that its wrong and who could change it if they told the truth but they have to count on those people. And they do. And on the whole, I'm sorry to say, they're right to rely on those people keeping their mouths shut. The three of us here, you saw before, two in the army, one in the Marine corps, were all in the service. We share a number of things in common and one of them is that there were times when there were truths that we could have told but didn't. And could have made a real difference. And we've learned to be real regretful of that and to want to use our lives differently and to urge other people to do the same. And okay, it finally, when I first spoke to Deborah van Alstyne a month ago after she'd just seen him. She said he'd finally learned of his support. The Guardian article a while ago on the support that was quite good. And he'll be learning of this. I asked her whether he knew that Michael Moore was campaigning for him, was supporting. She said that she didn't know directly but that one of the lawyers had mentioned it to her so she was pretty sure he had discussed it with Bradley. And that's very good. But as I say with all this new technology in the world here, I can now get your pictures to Bradley in a matter of days because Debraorah going to see him this weekend. And it just occured to me, I have her e-mail. So those of you who wish to hide your faces because this is going over e-mail -- that means copied to NSA and the FBI and who knows who ever else. But there were 25,000 people who contributed to my trial and so I have learned to appreciate that and I have been doing fundraisers for other people every since -- never more enthusiastically than tonight. So another way to use that technology -- You may not have had much cash here, you may not even have had your checkbook with you, but at home, if you have computers, the Bradley Manning -- what is it? Dot org? BradleyMannning.org will give you a chance with Paypal to send as much as you can possibly send. And the people who are watching on the internet should now turn to your computers and don't bother watching me. It's much more important to send a contribution right now before you forget. while you have the impulse to this because it really is essential. And so here we go, I can actually send Bradley a video. Thank you for standing up for me, how about standing up for Bradley? [Cheers and applause.] Okay. Now. Great. Okay and as I say that's very good. That's virtually as important as I say of going to your computers and doing your own e-mail and getting it all to him. What are we doing? We're honoring an American hero. I'm glad that Ray [McGovern] made the point here, let's no go through locution, we don't know the facts. We don't know the facts and, in particular, as I know, it's up to the government to prove their case beyond a reaonsable doubt, and we can't hand it to them anyway. We don't know anymore than they do or less. But let's just assume that for once the army is telling the truth about what they accuse him of. [Laughter.] They're hardly the last word on any subject but maybe on this one. Whoever was the source, and let's call him Bradley Manning, deserves our thanks and deserves honor. Not everybody, of course, honors him. I actually am very happy to see this room fuli -- If not in Oakland and Berkeley, then where? But I am glad to see it. And he'll be glad to see it. But there are a lot of people who see him differently, obviously and in terms, by the way, that are not very well grounded in American history, in America principals., I was just a few days ago in New York on a show called The Dylan Ratigan Show on MSNBC and he quoted at me in his brief interview, an article by a guy Marc Thiessen who is a former George W. Bush speechwriter -- obviously deserving of indictment himself. And I'll explain why a minute. He's now a Washington Post columnist, of course. And so Ratigan quoted him saying to me, "WikiLeaks is a criminal enterprise." Well interesting that Thiessen would say that since he's just retired from a very large criminal enterprise, I would say, the George W. Bush administration. And I must say that the, let me give you a little piece of current history probably most people here don't know. Barack Obama, who said that he doesn't want to look back at the crimes -- or the alleged crimes -- of the George W. Bush administration, wants to look forward and move forward and, in effect, has decriminalized torture, a war of agression, warantless wiretapping -- obviously criminal under both the Fourth Amendment and American domestic law at that time -- years of criminal activity. Renditions, kidnappings, indefinite detention, the suspension of Habeaus Corpus in effect meaning, which most people really don't have a very clear idea of that, meaning detention without charges indefinitely. We now have a president actually who has declared the right to keep detained people indefinately that he suspects should not be out, even if they've been acquitted, he can keep them. In other words, as well as before without charges, following in the foot steps of George W. Bush in virtually all those respects. He claims that torture has ended but there is lots of evidence that it has not ended in Bagram and probably other secret sites at various places. The rendention, the kidnapping. Still. He's gone actually further than Bush in terms of open claims, the claim of the right -- through his intelligence chief at that time, Dennis Blair, who announced that the president had a hit list of American citizens and others that he felt -- that he'd given orders to kill, to assasinate, to execute, to murder abroad American citizens basically. But I just happened to read the words of the Magna Carta of 1215 today. I'd seen it before, I looked it up, but somebody else was referring to it. And the words are: "No free man shall be deprived -- shall be harmed, shall be destroyed or deprived of freedom except by a jury of his peers." In other words, this is a wiping out of rights that go back to 1215 -- almost 800 years right now. In short, in these Constitutional matters, we have an administration -- and in the foreign affairs matters, we have an administration that is a third term of George W. Bush. I'm not saying that's true in every respect. I'm not saying that the Republicans are not much, much worse. Actually they are in domestic matters. Actually Obama has not been strikingly better or different in matters of foreign affairs or Constitutional policy. In fact, we thought we were getting something here with a Constituational lawyer, a teacher of Constitutional law, Barack Obama, I haven't seen any opinions his Dept of Justice has been putting out [with] any difference in the opinion of Berkeley tenured professor John Yoo.
From across the Atlantic, support is expressed by people who knew Bradley when he lived in Wales. BBC News quotes James Kirkpatrick stating, "He is an absolute hero, anybody who is going to bring up such injustices, you've got to consider them a hero. I found out the first week he was being held and was shocked. I couldn't believe it. I felt proud of him really, whistleblowing against such controversies, it's quite a heroic thing. I was shocked but really impressed by him as well."
A number of events are planned and A.N.S.W.E.R. offers this list:
Top of the Santa Monica Pier (Palisades Park, just north of the pier at the cannon)
Sunday, September 19, 1-3pm
Thursday, September 16, 7-9pm
Humanist Hall, 390 27th Street, Oakland CA (Between Telegraph and Broadway)
Presented by Courage to Resist, with the help of National Lawyers Guild Bay Area Military Law Panel, Veterans for Peace-Bay Area Chapter, CodePink, War Resisters League-West, Iraq Veterans Against the War-Bay Area, and BAY-Peace.
Rally and film showing
Sunday, September 19, 12-2 pm
Horton Plaza, 4th & Broadway
Sponsored by Activist San Diego, San Diego Peace and Justice Coalition
Rally at 2pm, march at 3pm, ending at 4pm at Union Square
in front of the SF War Memorial Building, 401 Van Ness Avenue
Organized by Courage to Resist, Veterans for Peace-SF Bay Area, ANSWER Coalition, Bay Area United for Peace and Justice, and CodePink
Friday September 17, 4 pm
59 Elm Street, New Haven, CT 06510. In front of Rosa DeLauro's office.
Sponsored by the Greater New Haven Peace Council
In front of 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA (MIT building with the dome.)
Sponsored in part by Veterans for Peace, Chapter 9, Smedley Butler Brigade
Rally & Film Showing
Friday, September 17, 4:30-6 pm
Mayday Bookstore – 301 Cedar Avenue – Minneapolis
Peace Happening
Thursday September 16, 5 pm
South Broadway & 2nd Street SW
Sponsored by the Southeastern Minnesota Peace Makers
Keene, New Hampshire
Keene town commons
Saturday September 18, 11:00 am
NH Peace Action, in conjunction with the Free State Project
Film showing and speakers
September 16th, 7pm
St. Mary's Church, 521 West 126th Street
Sponsored by the Oklahoma Center for Conscience
Friday, September 17, 5-6 pm
SE Corner of S. 59th and Western Avenue
Benton Country Courthouse, Corvallis, OR, 97330
Supported by Veterans for Peace
Thursday, September 16th
Friday, September 17, 11:30 am-1 pm
Granby St. & City Hall Ave.
Sponsored by the Norfolk Catholic Worker
Quantico, Virginia
Rally followed by outreach
Sunday, September 19, 11:30 am
Town of Quantico Municipal Park (River Road and 4th Avenue)
Sponsored by IVAW, Code Pink, and other area activists
Seattle/Fort Lewis, Washington
Saturday, September 18, 2-4 pm
"Freedom Bridge" and gate area at I-5 exit 122 (Madigan Hospital exit).
Sponsored by Greater Seattle Veterans For Peace (VFP 92)
Thursday, September 16, 12:00 noon
Corner of Wellesley and Division
Sunday, September 19, 12:00 noon
U.S. Consulate, University Avenue
Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia
Speakers and cultural performances
Friday, September 17, 7-9pm
SCU Room, upstairs in the Byron Community and Cultural Centre
Last night World Can't Wait attempted an NYC web broadcast but due to problems substituted an August 1st webcast on Bradley. Elaine Brower and Debra Sweet anchored the webcast. Marcia notes Elaine: "She observed, 'In 1971 there was a very strong antiwar sentiment in the country and Nixon was frightened by the Pentagon Papers coming out. I believe that the White House is frightened because they don't want to see an anti-war movement like we had in the late sixties and early seventies'." To keep the webcast free of charge, commercials run every 20 minutes or so which can mean a break in streaming. Trina explained Debra asked people what the number one thing that needs to be carried to the general population is: "And what did the people say? My stream went to the commercial. But when the commercial was over, they were discussing Barack Obama's continuation of George W. Bush's crimes and wondering why do we support him and what's a war criminal and what does it mean when civilians get killed in war? (Debra's words.)" Ann had trouble with the stream and specifically when attempting to hear Ethan McCord speak: "I'm sure he was amazing. That's why I picked him. But I just couldn't hear what he was saying, sorry. Now there will be a DVD made of this event (to raise awareness of and money for Bradley Manning) that World Can't Wait will sell and I'm sure Ethan will be easier to understand on that because they'll probably have him plugged into the sound board. Whereas on the livestream, he's echoing and the connection is bad." Stan enjoyed Josh Steiber's remarks but disagreed with an aspect of them, "But I really think that in the movement there's been too much effort to glorify soldiers. I think Josh probably sees a lot of stuff and he speaks from that and that's great. But there's also the reality that either everyone's welcome or no one really is in which case, it's not a movement, it's a clique. I don't think he's trying to start a clique. I think he's trying to address serious problems and I believe him that he's seen these serious problems; however, I also believe there's a lot of group-think and a lot of 'let's hide behind soldiers' and other stuff like that." Kat covered Matthis Chiroux who stated, "Debra, you know me, and the type of messages I put out tend to be very direct. These things are resonating with folks, they are identifying with the truth. Which in our current situation are very radical." Ruth noted Matthis stated that people in the military he was in contact with were looking through their old videos to see if they have anything like the WikiLeaks vidoe and she quotes him stating: "We need you to hear this call to action. Whoever released this video didn't do it because they wanted to be a hero or whatever, they did it because the contents were so shocking and so disturbing." Rebecca did not enjoy Ray McGovern or McGovern's inability to call out Barack Obama while aiming 'jokes'/smears at Hillary Clinton and offered McGovern had issues: "no, cause he's a little, witty boy coward. still angry that mommy pulled him off her tits and going to take that out on every woman in the world. what a pig." Betty was so angered by McGovern's stunt that she stopped streaming and only turned it back on when Rebecca called her to say Dahr Jamail was on. Betty quotes Darh stating "I'm very excited about the WikiLeaks situation I think Julian Assange should get nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. I think it's the most important journalism this year." and "Someone put their butt on the line to get this information out there, taking huge, huge risks." Cedric and Wally offer a humor take on McGovern, focusing on a young McGovern playing football: "AS THE OPPOSING TEAM'S RUNNING BACK BARRELLED PAST HIM, YOUNG RAY-RAY MADE THE 'STRATEGIC' (COWARDLY) CHOICE TO IGNORE THE RUNNING BACK AND INSTEAD LAUNCHED A FLYING TACKLE AT 7-YEAR-OLD BOBBY MASON WHO WAS CHEERING FROM THE SIDELINES AND CONSIDERED 'SMALL FOR HIS AGE'." Isaiah wasn't planning on covering the stream but Cindy Sheehan came on and he quoted her stating, "We do have to realize that the traditional antiwar movement is mostly anti-Republican and they're not so antiwar when a Democrat is in power but Barack Obama owns the drone bombings, they've increased, they've more than tripled since he's been president." Mike also covered Peace Mom Cindy Sheehan who spoke about the weak turnout in opposition to the latest war funding. Mike outlines her points:
* Many people on the left on the so-called left on Tuesday they responded
like it was a victory because so many more Democrats voted against it this time
than last time.
* We have to decide what's the response of the so-called two-party system.
* As an antiwar movement we have to be more organized and we have to
be more outspoken now than we were when George Bush was president.
Today the DoD announced: "The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation New Dawn. Sgt. John F. Burner III, 32, of Baltimore, Md., died Sept. 16, in Iskandariya, Iraq, in a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 63rd Signal Battalion (Expeditionary), 35th Signal Brigade, Fort Gordon, Ga. For more information media may contact the Fort Gordon public affairs office at 706-791-6001 or 706-791-6839." Add today's death to the DoD count and that's [PDF format warning] 4425 Americans who have died serving in Iraq. USF (formerly MNF) did not issue a release on the death -- which is their job, they announce deaths, DoD issues releases identifying the fallen. Yet again, USF is caught still not doing their job but they work for a president who wants to lie that the Iraq War is over (it's not) so don't look for any discipline to take place as USF continues to earn tax payer dollars while failing to do the most basic of their jobs. John Burner III is the fourth US service member to die in Iraq since Barack announced the 'end' of 'combat operations' in Iraq August 31st.
In other news of deaths and injuries, Reuters notes a Hawija bike bombing claimed 2 lives and left nine people injured, a Baghdad sticky bombing claimed the life of 1 Ministry of Interior employee, a Baghdad roadside bombing injured two police officers, 1 Iraqi soldier shot dead in Mosul, 1 suspect killed in an Iraqi military raid in Mosul and 1 corpse discovered in Kirkuk.
Today Alsumaria TV reports that the leaders of Syria and Iran's governments -- Bashar Al Assad and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -- will meet to discuss many issues including Iraq's government: "A well informed source in Damascus said last Saturday that Syria tends to nominate Syrian Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki for a second term stressing that Damascus currently wants to form an Iraqi government that encompasses all the components of the Iraqi society disregarding the candidates to Premiership." What's going on?
March 7th, Iraq concluded Parliamentary elections. The Guardian's editorial board noted last month, "These elections were hailed prematurely by Mr Obama as a success, but everything that has happened since has surely doused that optimism in a cold shower of reality." 163 seats are needed to form the executive government (prime minister and council of ministers). When no single slate wins 163 seats (or possibly higher -- 163 is the number today but the Parliament added seats this election and, in four more years, they may add more which could increase the number of seats needed to form the executive government), power-sharing coalitions must be formed with other slates, parties and/or individual candidates. (Eight Parliament seats were awarded, for example, to minority candidates who represent various religious minorities in Iraq.) Ayad Allawi is the head of Iraqiya which won 91 seats in the Parliament making it the biggest seat holder. Second place went to State Of Law which Nouri al-Maliki, the current prime minister, heads. They won 89 seats. Nouri made a big show of lodging complaints and issuing allegations to distract and delay the certification of the initial results while he formed a power-sharing coalition with third place winner Iraqi National Alliance -- this coalition still does not give them 163 seats. They are claiming they have the right to form the government. In 2005, Iraq took four months and seven days to pick a prime minister. It's six months and ten days with no government formed.
There Will Be War offers a timeline of Iraq which they believe illuminates the current political stalemate while Falah Mustafa Bakir (Washington Times) offers a series of questions:
However, if the situation remains at a standstill, other measures may be necessary. How long can a state hold out without a government, awaiting consensus? The lack of progress may force Iraq to take some difficult decisions to overcome this crisis and preserve the possibility of a democratic and pluralistic nation.
If all four blocs do not agree, should we consider a government formed by only three blocs? Should Iraq convene a caretaker government and hold a new election in a year's time? Should the Kurdistan Alliance itself consider identifying a compromise candidate?
If the three blocs will not budge and cannot move forward, does the bloc system any longer serve its purpose of representing the Iraqi people in a federal government? The principal blocs all contain a number of moderate parties. If the blocs are not capable of forming a government very soon, is it preferable to bring together the factions of each bloc genuinely interested in forming a government?
Last Friday, Marco Werman (The World, PRI -- link has audio and text) spoke with the New York Times' Anthony Shadid about the stalemate. Excerpt:
WERMAN: What is at stake for the US if something doesn't get sorted out with Iraq's civilian government?
SHADID: It's already embarrassing, the American government at this point,
that it's gone on as long as it has. We're talking about six months here and
the Americans they expected to have a government far before this August 31
deadline that they had set up as a turning point in this seven-year
experience there. So there is the issue of embarrassment. There's also the
issue of growing frustration in Iraq. Discontent across the board where you
think you're reaching a point where you may have the entire political system discredited. It's always struck me in [ Iraq that the country's still a lot like it
did in 2003 in some respects. And I don't want to overstate that comparison.
Back in 2003, as you have now, a country that's anxious, a country that has
an unclear political future. There's a question about American intentions
and there's a lot of ambiguity covering almost everything that goes on in
the country today. That's not to mention, of course, more practical issues. Electricity, water, sewage, lack of housing for education. It's an unsettled
place right now and it's probably going to stay that way for a little while.
Alsumaria TV reports today, "A well informed political source said that the Sadrist
bloc tends to work from within the Iraqi National Alliance in order to prevent State of
Law Coalition Leader, Nouri Al Maliki and Head of National Coalition Adel Abdul
Mahdi from winning Premiership position and aim at bringing another candidate for this position. The same source added that Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq might withdraw from the Iraqi National Alliance and form a parliamentary opposition bloc if Maliki wins
for a second term. In an interview with Alsumaria News the source uttered that the
Sadrist Bloc aims at complicating choosing a candidate for Premiership by
nominating Adel Abdul Mahdi which leads to undermining the candidature of both
Maliki and Abdul Mahdi because there is a mutual rejection between the two parties."
UPI adds, "Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi, himself a candidate for prime
minister, said he was close to securing backing from a Shiite political alliance but
was blocked by former Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari." And, if DPA is correct,
that alliance might have been Moqtada al-Sadr's bloc, "Former prime minister Iyad
Allawi's Sunni-backed bloc on Friday backed Adel Abdul-Mahdi, Iraq's Shiite vice-president, to form a government, a blow to efforts by Shiite incumbent Premier Nuri
al-Maliki's to form a ruling coalition." UPI also reports that, "Aliya Nusseif, a key
figure in the secular Iraqiya slate, told the Voices of Iraq news agency that there
was an 'initial agreement' to give Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi the position
of prime minister and Iraqiya leader Iyad Allawi the position of president. A member
of a Kurdish alliance would get the position of the speaker of parliament."
Jason Ditz (Antiwar.com) adds, "Ayad Allawi, who led his secularist Iraqiya bloc
to the largest plurality in the election despite the notable handicap of having a
number of its members banned by the ruling party, is said to be tapped as the
next president replacing Jalal Talabani. The Kurdistan Alliance would get the
parliament chairmanship."
Turning to the US, Senator Daniel Akaka is the Chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and his office notes:
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii) introduced a bill to extend the age limit for coverage of veterans' dependents through the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) to the level set by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
"Thanks to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, families with private health insurance coverage can keep their children on their plans
until age 26. Surely coverage for veterans' family members in need
should meet this new national standard," said Senator Akaka.
CHAMPVA was established in 1973 to provide health care services to dependents and survivors of certain veterans. CHAMPVA enrollment
has grown over the years, and now covers over 336,000 unique
beneficiaries. Under the current law, dependent children lose eligibility
for CHAMPVA at 23-years-old if they are full-time students, or 18-years-
old if they are not.
To read Senator Akaka's introductory remarks and the text of the bill (S. 3801) in the Congressional Record, click here: LINK
Yesterday's snapshot mentions Libbyliberal's post a Corrente but does't include a link. My apologies. And I noted the wisdom of her post here.
TV notes. On PBS' Washington Week, Jeanne Cummings (Politico), John Dickerson (CBS News, Slate) and John Harwood (New York Times, CNBC) join Gwen around the table while Dan Balz (Washington Post) files a report from Des Moines on the speech Sarah Palin makes to Iowa's GOP. Gwen now has a weekly column at Washington Week and the current one is "Who Exactly Are the Bums?" This week, Bonnie Erbe will sit down with Debra Carnahan, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Leslie Sanchez and Tara Setmayer on the latest broadcast of PBS' To The Contrary to discuss the week's events. And this week's To The Contrary online extra is on college tuition -- its cost and its worth is debated. Need To Know is PBS' new program covering current events. This week's hour long broadcast airs Fridays on most PBS stations -- but check local listings -- and it explores US combat in Afghanistan, the US role in institutionalizing Afghan corruption; abuse and mistreatment of US seniors at home-based senior centers, Jon Meacham discussing "superlativism" and more. Turning to broadcast TV, Sunday CBS' 60 Minutes offers:
To understand how Bernard Madoff could have done what he did, listen to so-called "mini-Madoff" Ponzi schemer Marc Dreier tell Steve Kroft in his first television interview how he scammed $400 million. Watch Video
Lesley Stahl speaks to the former president about his new book, "White House Diary," in which he admits mistakes and blames Ted Kennedy for delaying comprehensive health care. Watch Video
Football Island
"60 Minutes" goes to American Samoa to find out how a territory with a population less than the capacity of a pro-football stadium sends more players to the NFL than any similarly populated place in America. Scott Pelley reports. Watch Video
60 Minutes, Sunday, Sept. 19, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
world cant wait
the knoxville news sentinel
nicholas hunt
marco werman
anthony shadid
there will be war
falah mustafa bakir
jason ditz
to the contrary
bonnie erbe
Oh please
"Do not pity the Democrats" (Chris Hedges, Truth Out):
"If you took a day off and did nothing but listen to Hannity, Beck and Limbaugh and realized that this goes on 260 days a year, you would see that it is overwhelming," Nader said. "You have to almost have a genetic resistance in your mind and body not to be affected by it. These guys are very good. They are clever. They are funny. They are emotional. It beats me how Air America didn't make it, except it went after [it criticized] corporations, and corporations advertise. These right-wingers go after government, and government doesn't advertise. And that is the difference. It isn't that their message appeals more. Air America starved because it could not get ads."
No offense to Ralph but he doesn't know what he's talking about.
Air America Radio took on one 'corporation' at the start: the New York Times. Sam Seder specifically attacked Adam Nagourney. He called Nagourney out by name. Ad Nags went whining and the paper threatened to pull the ads so Seder dropped his AdNags parody blog and stopped calling him out regularly on the show.
In it's early days, it had ads. It wasn't on the airwaves much, but it had ads. It also had a streaming audience and that is why it had so many ads. But it didn't value it's streaming audience and began putting limits on that. Then it would move to charging money to stream. (A membership.)
But Air America Radio did not take on the corporations. It was an attempt at doing comedic shows. It's not as if they took on PG&E or anyone like that.
It also promoted politicians like crazy.
But the idea that it was some corporation challenging medium?
Oh please.
It was too scared to even call for an end of the Iraq War.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010. Chaos and violence continue, US combat operations continue, the political stalemate continues, US House Rep Steve Buyer storms out of a Congressional hearing after exploding at witnesses, and more.
The US House Veterans Affairs Committee held two hearings this morning, one -- more or less -- after the other (there was approximately a 12 minute break between the two) and they couldn't have been more different. In the first one, Ranking Member Steve Buyer was (for the most part) beaming and playful, offering statements such as, to Chair Bob Filner, "You pass aquistion form and I will hug you. I will hug you!" In the second hearing, Buyer stormed out asking that Dr. Roe take his place, saying his integrity would be compromised if he stayed and "I'm not going to do it!"
Keep in mind that I am a Democrat and Buyer is a Republican, I've never seen anything like that. And that was only the culmination of Buyer's behavior in the second panel.
My impression, Buyer was not grandstanding, he was genuinely outraged (whether it was by the hearing or something outside of Congress, I have no idea). But he can't back that outrage up. He basically accused a witness of lying -- while dismissing the other on the first panel as useless -- and waived around a file of medical records implying that those documents proved the witness was lying, he lectured the witness and would repeatedly say he wasn't going to say more because he had too much integrity but then he would come back to the same issue. Repeatedly. His storming out had an immediate effect in that he insisted US House Rep David Roe sit in for him, which Roe did, however, Roe was not prepared -- as he more or less admitted. In the room, people seemed on edge as a result of Buyer's outburst. Again, it seemed genuine on Buyer's part. Again, it was harmful to himself. If he does have something -- if -- he can't reveal it so he is left looking like a hothead who lost it in a hearing and then stormed out.
Who was testifying? Iraq War veteran Sgt Chuck Luther and journalist Joshua Kors. Chuck Luther testified about the war and seeing friends he served with wounded and dead and came back to the US on leave where he had trouble coping and was glad to return to Iraq; however, nose bleeds, chest pain and other problems developed in Iraq. He sought counseling from a chaplain to deal with stress. A mortar attack by the tower he was guarding "threw me down and I hit my right shoulder and head. I had severe ringing in my right ear with clear fluid coming from it and had problems seeing out of my right eye." The pain continued and worsened:
After several days on suicide watch for making the comment that "if I had to live like this I would rather be dead," I asked to be sent somewhere where I could get help and to be able to understand what was wrong with me. I was told I could not go and I then demanded that I be taken to the Inspector General of the FOB. I was told by CPT Dewees that I was not going anywhere and he called for all the medics, roughtly 6 to 10. I was assaulted, held down and had my pants ripped off my left thigh and given an injection of something that put me to sleep. When I awoke, I was strapped down to a combta litter and had a black eye and cuts on my wrists from the zip ties. I eventually was untied and from that point forward for 5 weeks I was held in a room that was 6 feet by 8 feet that had bed pans, old blankets and other old supplies. I had to sleep on a combat litter and had a wool blanket. I was under guard 24/7 and on several occassions was told I was not allowed to use the phone or internet and, when I would take my meds and fall asleep, I was not awakened to get food. On one occasion, I had slept through chow and asked to be taken to the chow hall or PX to get some food. I was told no and given a fuel soaked MRE to eat. I was constantly called a piece of crap, a faker and other derogatory things. They kept the lights on and played all sorts of music from rap to heavy metal very loud all night -- the medics worked in shifts, therefore, they didn't sleep, they rotated. These are some of the same tactics that we would use on insurgents that we captured to break them to get information or confessions. I went through this for four weeks and the HHC Commander Cpt Wehri told me to sign this discharge and, that if I didn't, that they would keep me there for 6 more months and then kick me out when we got back to Fort Hood anyway. I said I didn't have a personality disorder and he told me that if I signed the paperwork that I would get back home and get help and I would have all my benefits. After the endless nights of sleep deprivation, harassment and abuse, I finally signed just to get out of there. I was broken.
Joshua Kors (The Nation) explained last April:
For three years The Nation has been reporting on military doctors' fraudulent use of personality disorder to discharge wounded soldiers [see Kors, "How Specialist Town Lost His Benefits," April 9, 2007]. PD is a severe mental illness that emerges during childhood and is listed in military regulations as a pre-existing condition, not a result of combat. Thus those who are discharged with PD are denied a lifetime of disability benefits, which the military is required to provide to soldiers wounded during service. Soldiers discharged with PD are also denied long-term medical care. And they have to give back a slice of their re-enlistment bonus. That amount is often larger than the soldier's final paycheck. As a result, on the day of their discharge, many injured vets learn that they owe the Army several thousand dollars.
According to figures from the Pentagon and a Harvard University study, the military is saving billions by discharging soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan with personality disorder.
Chuck Luther told his story as he's told it publicly many times before. But for US House Rep Steve Buyer it was all new and shocking. Again, he claimed -- repeatedly -- to have documents detailing what really happened. He also savaged journalism, journalists and Josh Kors specifically. Although he referred to Kors repeatedly as "Reporter" and never by his name. After thanking Chuck Luther for being in the military, Buyer began referencing his documents.
Ranking Member Steve Buyer: I also have a lot of documents here that are about you that are non-disclosable. I'm not going to discuss them in public. So when you make statements, now you've made public statements, and I am not going to go into your personal life. I'm not going to discuss your military conditions. You've made certain statements and sitting to your left is a reporter that makes some very exaggerated statements. You've disadvantaged DoD. And guess what, they're going to come up here and they can't talk about your case, they can't come in here and talk about some of the things you have said. You've made some pretty strong statements that are not supported by what I have. And I'm disadvantaged also because, number one, I'm disadvantaged out of respect. I respect you, I respect your privacy. I also will say this. I would never -- when I was chairman of a subcommittee or full committee, put a reporter on a panel to testify. I would never do that. Why? Because your testimony is hearsay. It's hearsay. Everything you say, it's hearsay. What we're supposed to do is get to the bottom of things so we can understand them. You can make whatever allegations you want, you can lead us to our professional staff and then we can find that person so that the testimony is in first person. So I'd say to the gentleman, I'd say you can say whatever say and basically you have and you've surmised your opinion based on what you've seen and heard. But I think it's pretty shocking that you would even come here and provide testimony with regards to someone's medical condition. You're not a doctor. If you were a doctor, they'd knock you right upside your head for that. I'd be pretty upset if you went and testified about my medical condition in a public place. Let alone, where are your sensitivities to talk about a woman and her health. Wow. I-I'm pretty shocked that you would -- you would do that. So I'm going to yield back my time, Mr. Chairman. I-I-I just want you to know, sir [Chuck Luther], I respect you and I could do more than -- Gosh, I could go into this. But sir, uh, uhm, follow -- My advice to you is follow the counsel of some individuals that really have your interests at heart. And those doctors have your interests at heart. You're upset with regard to a diagnosis on your personality disorder. The PTSD, in fact, has been recognized. I have the records with regards to the findings from when you attempted to correct the military records and so I have seen everything they've said and I've seen the documents with regard to that process. I think what we want, we want you to get better. We want you to get better with regard to the PTSD. And-and please, uh, follow the counsel of your doctors and mental health professionals that take you, your interests best at heart. Not somebody else that may want to use you or use your case to write stories or do other things. If they truly had your interest at heart, they wouldn't take your case and what I know about you and put it on public display. That's Steve Buyer's opinion. I would never do that to a fellow soldier. With that I yield back.
Joshua Kors noted he had been investigating and researching this story for years and was offering a summarizing of the research he'd done, that he also had Chuck Luther's medical records, had spoken to people who observed Chuck Luther in confinement, spoken to his doctor, seen pictures, checked every aspect of the story out repeatedly, etc. "Nobody in this story," Kors explained, disputes what happened. The only question is what to do about it."
At which point Buyer went from lecturing to exploding about what can be said.
Ranking Member Steve Buyer: I have records in front of me!
Joshua Kors: All said what?
Ranking Member Steve Buyer: I'm not going to do this! I can't -- My integrity as a gentleman will not allow me to do this. Dr. Roe! Will you take this seat? I will not participate in this! I'm not going to do it! It's wrong!
A confused Rep Roe stands and moved towards the front while Buyer storms out. Kors explained that the soldiers speaking to him on the record wanted their stories told and that, of course, he wasn't divulging confidential information that no one wanted revealed.
Chuck Luther: Just what I'd like to say is this. I'm not here just about Chuck Luther. This is larger than I. I haven't made any statements that were inflamatory or lies. I wish I didn't have this story to tell but what I will tell you is that in the three years that I've been treated for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the medications I've been given and several of my doctors have all said to me at different intervals to make sure I continue to fight to have my discharge changed because it doesn't reflect what my injury is. I saw a licensed clinical social worker and a pediatrician in a combat theater for less than two hours of face time and was given the diagnosis of personality disorder. In doing studying over three years, that is impossible to diagnose at that interval. In fact, in the last three years, I've been treated -- prognosed and diagnosed for my PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury, my cognitive function disability. And if it were a case of a personality disorder, I think that those licensed psychologists and psychiatrists would have in fact have found a personality disorder and seeing that I've never in my life had any issues prior to being blown up in Iraq.
Chair Bob Filner had little patience for the government witnesses from DoD and Veterans Affairs on the fourth panel as they attempted to repeatedly dance around the questions. Even something as basic as how many people had been discharged with personality disorders was a figure they didn't know. He noted, "You're playing with words." After stating they had no numbers, they repeatedly refenced them and Chair Filner observed, "So how can you even tell me that -- I ask you guys for figures and you don't have them. You're making judgments based on your sense of figures." He noted the topic of the hearing was known and they were brought before the House Committee on Veterans Affairs to testify on this subject; however, they were completely unprepared.
Things did not get better when Filner pursued an avenue he'd tackled on the other panels: Whether or not Chuck Luther was tortured? He directed the question on the fourth panel to DoD's General Gina Farrisee. Was it ever investigated?
Gen Gina Farrisee: Mr. Chairman, to my knowledge it was not. It first came out in the media it was referred to Fort Hood and I will have to follow up with them to see if
Chair Bob Filner: Man, if I were jyou, I would've jumped on it. We can't let something like that happen in the army. And if it's true, somebody's got to be punished and, if it's not true, that's got to be known too. People are making these public charges here where they're sworn to tell the truth, they've been in the newspaper and surely you'd be concerned if the army was accused of torturing its own soldiers, wouldn't you?
Gen Gina Farrisee: Yes, Mr. Chairman.
Chair Bob Filner: Would you find out if there was any investigation?
Gen Gina Farrisee: Yes, Mr. Chairman, I'll take that question for the record.
Speaking to the fourth panel at one point, Bob Filner pointed out that clearly there must be a problem or a perceived one with the original assessments if the military is claiming to have so many soldiers requiring personality disorders. (I just said "soldiers." Joshua Kors pointed out that the personality disorder discharge was not just happening in the army, it was happening in all four branches of the military.) If they believe the soldiers are being correctly discharged, then the military, Filner pointed out, should be working on fixing the initial assessment interview because clearly there would be a problem. In addition, Chair Filner noted he sounded frustrated because he was frustrated. He dismissed panel four and called Joshua Kors back from the first panel. Chair Filner: "I see you not as a person of hearsay but as someone who really understands this issue and is trying to do the best for our soldiers. What questions would you -- Or do you have any responses to some of the testimony you've heard since you testified this morning? Or what questions we should ask these panels?"
As to how many are being discharged for personality disorder, Kors maintained that soldiers taking their discharge papers to their initial VA screenings and the VA would be able to record that and keep an accurate number. He noted that Chuck Luther's VA doctors saw PTSD and not a personality disorder but DoD sent a letter to Luther stating that they are sticking with personality disorder.
Joshua Kors: So many soldiers come to me and say this discharge is like a scarlet letter they just can't wash off. In today's job economy, can you imagine going into a potential employer and handing them a paper saying you're mentally ill? You're just not going to get that job. And so that's how you end up with so many of these soldiers not just without benefits but also then broke and then homeless.
Kors also noted that service members discharged that way are also frequently asked to return signing bonuses and they've just lost their job via the discharge and now they've got to pay back money and this is how some service members end up homeless as well.
Meanwhile, despite Barack's claims otherwise, combat operations continue in Iraq. Janine Zacharia and Aziz Alwan (Washington Post) report US and Iraqi troops staged a raid outside Falluja today in what became "the deadliest incident involving U.S. troops in Iraq since President Obama formally announced the end of combat operations August 31." The raid resulted in at least 8 Iraqi deaths. The reporters note that US forces were both on the ground and in the air (via US helicopters). Azhar Shalal (AFP) adds the dead are "seven civilians and two Iraqi soldiers" -- "including two women and two children" according to the Chief of Falluja police Faisal al Essawi who states the US and Iraqi forces conducted raids on five homes. Zhang Xiang (Xinhua) notes that the combat operation took pace "at about 2:00 a.m. local time". Timothy Williams and Duraid Adnan (New York Times) inform, "Qasim Mohammed Abed, the governor of Anbar Province, said he had been angered by how the raid was conducted and blamed both the American and Iraqi militaries for the deaths." Mu Xuequan (Xinhua) adds:
Ahmed al-Dulaimi, a member of Fallujah City Council, told reporters that the council had announced a three-day mourning as of Wednesday in the city in protest of the "massacre perpetrated by special joint U.S.-Iraqi force."
Mohammed Fathi, a member of Anbar's Provincial Council, said the council had held an emergency meeting and called on the outgoing government in Baghdad "to launch a probe into the raid and to apologize to the families of the victims."
Later in the day, Fathi said that after a phone call between Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Qassim al-Fahdawi, governor of Anbar, Maliki positively responded to the call of the provincial council and promised to launch an investigation into the incident.
Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) reports at least one woman was also injured the raids and that the US military has confirmed the raids. In addition, the Telegraph of London reports 9 Iraqi soldiers have died in a roadside bombing just outside Mosul. Reuters notes five Iraqi soldiers were also injured and at least one civilian. Reuters also notes a Baghdad roadside bombing which injured four people, another one which injured two police officers and two by-standers, 2 more Baghdad roadside bombings which injured six people, a suspected Talafar suicide bomber who was shot dead by police and 1 corpse discovered in Mosul
The violence continues and so does the political stalemate. March 7th, Iraq concluded Parliamentary elections. The Guardian's editorial board notes, "These elections were hailed prematurely by Mr Obama as a success, but everything that has happened since has surely doused that optimism in a cold shower of reality." 163 seats are needed to form the executive government (prime minister and council of ministers). When no single slate wins 163 seats (or possibly higher -- 163 is the number today but the Parliament added seats this election and, in four more years, they may add more which could increase the number of seats needed to form the executive government), power-sharing coalitions must be formed with other slates, parties and/or individual candidates. (Eight Parliament seats were awarded, for example, to minority candidates who represent various religious minorities in Iraq.) Ayad Allawi is the head of Iraqiya which won 91 seats in the Parliament making it the biggest seat holder. Second place went to State Of Law which Nouri al-Maliki, the current prime minister, heads. They won 89 seats. Nouri made a big show of lodging complaints and issuing allegations to distract and delay the certification of the initial results while he formed a power-sharing coalition with third place winner Iraqi National Alliance -- this coalition still does not give them 163 seats. They are claiming they have the right to form the government. In 2005, Iraq took four months and seven days to pick a prime minister. It's six months and eight days with no government formed.
Miliary Families Speak Out notes:
As you may know, there has been a call for a One Nation Working Together, a major demonstration in Washington, DC on Saturday October 2nd, calling for Jobs, Justice, and Peace.
One Nation Working Together is pulling together hundreds of national and local organizations, some uniting for the first time. Hundreds of buses are being reserved and filled from all over the country. MFSO has just endorsed the One Nation Peace Table, calling for the end of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the recognition of the exorbitant costs of these wars to our country.
As military families, our voice is critical in this rally!
It is our voice of conscience that will strike a chord among this gathering - that while we can all focus on the financial cost of war, we must not neglect the human costs to our troops, our families, and the people of Iraq and Afghanistan.
With the other organizations participating in the Peace Table, we will create a resounding message that we cannot talk about the economy without talking about the 1 billion being spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Depending on how many members are interested in participating, we may be able to have a member gathering or lobby day on Friday.
Here's what you can do:
1) Let National Organizer Nikki Morse know if you are interested in participating. She can be reached at nikki@mfso.org or 347-703-0570.
2) Find out if there's an organized coalition in your area that is planning buses. Click here to see a list of what's already in place. (If you have trouble viewing it, please let us know and we can send it to you as an attachment.) Join their conversations to ensure that the message of ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is at the forefront.
3) Encourage other military families to attend. Volunteer to make phone calls to others in your area to answer any questions they may have and encourage them to go.
4) Help shape the message. We will be pulling together a small team to craft signs, press releases, and other messages.
To participate, contact Nikki at nikki@mfso.org and let her know how you would like to be involved.
Justin Raimondo (Antiwar.com) takes on the Barack apologists who justify everything that goes wrong and claim it's never Barack's fault (see Elaine's "Shame on Danny Schechter and his sexism" and Trina's "Danny Schechter kisses the fists that strike him" for more on the Cult of St. Barack):
Yet the President is very much a liberal interventionist, as his policies over these many months has made all too clear. He is also very much a creature of Washington, where the bipartisan consensus Walt decries is made and enforced. He's a kinder, gentler neocon, who is widening the "war on terrorism" even as his administration renames it -- and never was anything else. Surely his continuation of the Afghan occupation and the extension of the war into Pakistan should come as no surprise: he said he'd do as much during the election campaign and he meant it.
I talk about the "Obama cult" because it is indeed a cult in the classic sense, i.e. a group of fervent believers who project their own image of the Leader onto what is, after all, a pretty ordinary kind of guy -- in this case, a pretty ordinary variety of semi-hawkish liberal interventionist. Whenever the Leader does something inconsistent with their idealization, they say "Oh, he doesn't really mean it," or "He doesn't really believe that." In advanced cases of cult-induced blindness, one constructs a more complex apologia, i.e. positing"structural" obstacles to the implementation of the Leader's will. Obama is Gulliver tied down by the Lilliputians within his own party and administration.
I don't buy it. One consequence of the triumph of interventionism over the traditional foreign policy of the Founders has been the bloating of presidential power until Americans have come to talk about "the imperial presidency" as if it were no big deal. Well, then, what's to stop the occupant of the White House from using that imperial power to start downsizing the imperium? The present occupant clearly has no intention of doing so, but there's nothing to prevent a future President from pursuing that goal.
There's much to highlight there and we may note it again in another snapshot this week but we'll close with this announcement by Justin Raimondo that he's doing a campus speaking tour:
I'm taking my show on the road this autumn, to campuses around the country, talking about some of the ideas expressed in last Wednesday's column on "Anti-Interventionism: The Left-wing Tradition." My talk is entitled "Why Has the Left Sold Out the Antiwar Movement?" -- which is sure to provoke a controversy, or at least that's the hope.
If you're interested in booking me at your campus, write wendy@antiwar.com, or call the Antiwar.com office, at: 510-217-8665.
janine zacharia
aziz alwan
azhar shalal
zhang xiang
the telegraph of london
The end of Cuba?
No whining, Howie, no whining


Of the 488 Classmates who have been found, it is not surprising that two-thirds (330) still live in California.
Of those in California, 69 are still in the Redwood City, Emerald Hills, San Carlos, Menlo Park, East Palo Alto, or Woodside area, and 261 more are living somewhere else in California.
Here is where those who have moved from California are located.


text:
Media Release: 14th October, 2020
'Measures will enable businesses to keep staff in these challenging times'
Kilkenny Tourism has welcomed the range of measures and supports announced yesterday for the tourism industry by Minister Paschal Donohoe.
A number of measures were announced in Budget 2021 to assist businesses affected by the pandemic and the slow growth in tourism in recent months. Among the measures welcomed by Kilkenny Tourism was the Covid-19 Recovery Support Scheme (CRSS), which allows businesses that have had to close their doors due to Government restrictions, to claim up to €5k per week, which will help viable Tourism & Hospitality businesses survive the next 6 months.
Commenting on the budget supports, Chairman of Kilkenny Tourism, Brian Tyrell said; "The tourism and hospitality industry has faced unprecedented challenges in recent times and drastic measures were required to stimulate and reboot the sector. While we very much welcome the measures announced yesterday, we would call for the reduction of VAT to be a permanent measure to allow hotels to contract clearly and effectively with international tour operators in the long term and keep our prices in line with our competitors, particularly the UK.
He added;" In particular the allocation of €55 million to Failte Ireland in cash grants for the worst affected businesses, and €5 million for tourism capital investment projects, helps to safeguard our businesses and the future of the industry. In addition, the rates waiver gives businesses some much needed' breathing space' and allows them to focus on returning to growth, especially through the forthcoming winter months."
Media Enquiries:
Louise Jordan, TL Marketing.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Second Wave - Michigan
Capital Gains - Lansing
Catalyst Midland
Concentrate - Ann Arbor/Ypsi
Epicenter - Mount Pleasant
Route Bay City
Southwest Michigan
Upper Peninsula
The Keel - Port Huron
Metromode - Metro Detroit
Flintside - Flint
Model D - Detroit
Rapid Growth - Grand Rapids
Kids and Education
Bangor Township
Columbus Avenue
Downtown Bay City
Midland Street
Portsmouth Township
Wenonah Park
West Bay City
Bridging the Talent Gap
Girl Scouts SE Michigan Team Up
Greater Lakes
Inside our Outdoors
Michigan Nightlight
Michigan's Agricultural Future
Michigan's State of Health Podcast
Nonprofit Journal Project
Preserving Michigan
State of Health
Voices of Youth
Photo courtesy of the Friends of the Pinconning Community Center
Historic Pinconning Community Center is getting an upgrade
Denyse Shannon | Thursday, February 4, 2021
In 2019, the Friends of the Pinconning Community Center formed and began raising thousands of dollars to renovate the building, which turns 84 this year. To date, the group has raised about half what it needs. Photo courtesy of the Friends of the Pinconning Community Center
With about half the funds they need in hand, the Friends of the Pinconning Community Center is working on renovations that will breathe new life into what was once a gymnasium.
The Pinconning Community Center, originally known as the Jankowiak Building, was a Works Projects Administration project.While work begins, the Friends group is planning an online auction to add help raise $255,000 to improve the building at 200 N. Mable St. in Pinconning and make it more useable for special events, concerts, and more.
Dennis Curtis is president of the Friends group, a 501c3 organization that formed in 2019 to preserve the building, which was originally named the Jankowiak Building.
"It's built like a fortress," he says about the building, which is a testament to the work done in 1937 when the Jankowiak Building was constructed under the Works Progress Administration (WPA).
Curtis said the Friends group hoped finding information on the WPA project would help get some grant money, but because the building isn't 100 years old, it doesn't yet qualify as a Historic Preservation Site.
"It's well worth saving, though," he says, adding, "You couldn't build it today for a quarter of a million dollars."
The building, which served as a recreational athletic facility for years, was originally named for John W. Jankowiak, a prominent local businessman and an avid athlete. Curtis says over the years the building fell into disrepair and was closed down in the late 1990s. The Pinconning Downtown Development Authority took ownership in the early 2000s, and "they immediately began the process of getting it to a point of usability."
The building has a small kitchen area, an office, a lobby, a stage, a gym, two bathrooms, and a full basement. Curtis says over the years some improvements were made to keep it safe and usable, but a lot more work needs to be done.
While fundraising efforts continue, work has begun to upgrade the acoustics inside the building.Over the last several years a number of community groups have used the building, and there have been some events held there, but a lack of barrier-free access, the small kitchen, and problems with acoustics take away from its functionality.
"Our plans include improved ceiling structure in the gym and stage area to provide better acoustics and insulation," says Curtis, who says the sound issues are among the first being addressed. A special sound dampening board is being installed that should help.
Simoni Systems of Saginaw started installing Tectum, a special wall-board that will dampen the reverberation of sound. Curtis says their consultant measured the sound reverberation and found there are about four seconds where sound bounces around the room, making it difficult for an audience to hear.
"If you have a bunch of people in there and you have someone on a microphone and they're talking that is bouncing around for four seconds, so it's so garbled."
Once the sound issues are addressed, Curtis says the Friends group hopes to hold winter activities there, such as concerts similar to what the Pinconning Arts Council does in the summer with Tuesdays in the Park. "But until the sound is taken care of, that's not going to happen."
Next on the list is making the building barrier-free. Curtis says there are currently two small restrooms in the back of the building. He says the plan is to build a new ramp and restrooms at the front of the building, making it easier for people to access
Fundraising during COVID-19 has been difficult, but Curtis says the Friends group is doing what it can.
An online auction later this month is the next fundraising effort for the center.Last February, the group brought in a theater troupe from Detroit and hosted a successful Murder Mystery Dinner. It offered Big Band dance nights and held a live auction to raise funds. Curtis says they planned other events but "because of COVID it has put our fundraising at a standstill."
The Friends aren't giving up, though. The group is now accepting donations for items to be auctioned off online. The auction runs from Feb. 22 to March 1. So far, people have donated hunting and fishing items, household goods, personal items, and collectibles for the auction.
Curtis says donations are accepted through Jan. 24. To learn what's been donated so far, visit the group's Facebook page. Items also will be made available for viewing before the auction at the Community Center. If you win an item, the group will explain how to pick it up.
Although the work has begun, the timeline isn't firm. Fundraising efforts will be ongoing.
"Will we get it done in the next year? Probably not," he says. "The goal is to have the money raised to get as much done as we can."
Fine art and photographic printing company moves to downtown Dearborn, opens storefront art space
Source: Metromode
Chicago transplants opened a humble bar and restaurant in The 07 that's coming alive with local art
Source: Input Fort Wayne
How do you change a city and a country? Maybe it starts small, by meeting your neighbors' needs
Stories of our time: Here's our best-read pieces of 2021
Source: Northern Kentucky Thrives


text:
Home » Entertainment » Hollywood » Hollywood Buzz » Ashton Kutcher to Propose to Mila Kunis?
Ashton Kutcher to Propose to Mila Kunis?
in Hollywood Buzz Leave a comment
Ashton Kutcher might have planned to propose to Mila Kunis according to our source. Sadly, it isn't going to be a surprise to Mila Kunis now that the whole world knows it.
Recently we reported about Mila Kunis possible being pregnant and Ashton Kutcher trying to keep it away from the media. Now, it just getting serious.
"Ashton and Mila have talked about getting engaged and married for quite a while," a source close to the "Two and a Half Men" actor told People.
There's no telling whether Kutcher will pop the question during this festive season, but the happy couple is supposedly heading towards taking those next steps sometime soon. The roadblock to their continued happiness was supposedly Kutcher's looming divorce from Moore, which lasted nearly two years.
"Ashton's been waiting for his divorce to be over for a long time," the source added. "He was annoyed it took so long. It was hanging over his head."
Now that his six-year marriage to Moore has concluded, he can turn his full attention to his former "That's '70s Show" co-star.
"They held hands and were very affectionate," a witness told the mag after seeing the couple kissing in New York's Central Park that September. "They looked very relaxed and seemed very happy together."
One year later, the love affair rumors turned to engagement speculations as Kunis was reportedly spotted with a gold band on her ring finger. But those reports were quickly dismissed as a source close to them said, "They are not engaged."
Now, if sources are correct, the "Black Swan" actress may be in for the best Christmas gift any girl could ask for.
"He wants to get engaged during the holidays," the source added.
Ashton Kutcher Christmas demi moore Mila Kunis That '70s Show Two And A Half Men 2013-11-29
Emmy Nominations 2009 battle is ON : who wins what?
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Katy Perry & Mick Jagger Duet!
Janet Jackson Is a Billionaire!!
Hermione Granger should have married Harry Potter - JK Rowling
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text:
A Man's Place: Masculinity and the Middle-Class Home in Victorian England / John Tosh
John Tosh's book is a signal event. It celebrates the full coming of age of the history of masculinity as a recognised academic sub-discipline. If Davidoff and Hall laid the foundations in this respect, Tosh finally establishes and opens up the field.
Europe at Home. Family and Material Culture, 1500-1800[Originally published under the title Vita di casa. Abitare, mangiare, vestire nell'Europa moderna (Laterza; Rome/Bari, 1999); translated by Allan Cameron] / Raffaella Sarti
I do not know whether the Italian title of this book (Vita di casa) is an allusion to Mario Praz and his autobiography La casa della vita (Milan, 1958), but it would be fitting. In that book Mario Praz guides the reader through his Roman house and tells his life during the tour.
Household Gods: The British and their Possessions / Deborah Cohen
The homes of the British middle class in the third quarter of the 19th century, as depicted in contemporary photographs, were cluttered with furniture, soft furnishings and objects. Walking across a room required careful negotiation of lightweight tables that might easily topple over and spill the numerous items that decorated their surface.
Germany's Other Modernity: Munich and the Making of Metropolis, 1895–1930 / Leif Jerram
Leif Jerram's Germany's Other Modernity: Munich and the Making of Metropolis, 1895–1930 is a rich and welcome contribution to the urban history of modern Germany, a field which has, for some time now, been dominated by studies on Berlin and Hamburg. Berlin has, as Jerram puts it with little exaggeration, acquired 'totemic status' (p.
Behind Closed Doors. At Home in Georgian England / Amanda Vickery
When historians of the future come to write about the historiographical preoccupations of 21st-century Britons, they surely will observe our growing obsession with consumer behaviour and material culture.
Domestic Secrets: Women and Property in Sweden, 1600-1857 / Maria Ågren
In The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State (1884), Friedrich Engels posited a fundamental relationship between women's property rights, on the one hand, and changes in the social and political spheres, on the other.
The Scottish Town in the Age of the Enlightenment 1740-1820 / Bob Harris, Charles McKean
This formidable and scholarly volume, a major contribution to urban, social and cultural history, is first and foremost a tribute to one of its co-authors, Charles McKean, the distinguished architectural historian, who sadly died when the book was being written.
The Birth of the English Kitchen, 1600-1850 / Sara Pennell
In contemporary understanding, a kitchen is a space which houses a heat source and appropriate utensils for preparing meals. How and why this kind of kitchen emerged in England between the 17th and mid-19th century is the story that Pennell set out to uncover.
(-) Remove Histories of Domesticity filter Histories of Domesticity
Gender and Women (3) Apply Gender and Women filter
Urban History (2) Apply Urban History filter
Art and Architecture (1) Apply Art and Architecture filter
Women, Property, and Law (1) Apply Women, Property, and Law filter


Who says big glamour always comes in big packages? As the one-bedrooms in the galley above demonstrate, in San Francisco it is very possible to find grand design details in units that come in well under 1,000 square feet.
It helps to be situated in a stately older building like Unit 4 in the St. Elizabeth atop Nob Hill. From the massive chandeliers in the lobby to the curved grand staircase up to the unit, it definitely feels like entering another time as soon as you step in off the street. The unit itself is also full of charming 1912 details like a wood burning fireplace and 12-foot ceilings. The 642-square-foot condo came to market at 725,000 about two weeks ago and is already in contract.
Built just about a decade later, 735 Geary is a TIC building that also has an elegant entrance. Just a few steps up from the lobby you'll find Unit 101, which is asking $599,000 for a 613-square-foot one-bedroom with period details like intricate moldings and hardwood floors. Other perks include an updated kitchen, ample closet space and access to a garden oasis complete with koi pond.
While some are happy with a pond in the city center, others would rather have the ocean in their backyard. A block from Great Highway, Unit A at 1584 48th Avenue doesn't have the jaw-dropping entries of the other two units described above, but the 1973 low rise definitely has its charm. The top-floor condo feels more like a single-family with exposed beam ceilings, an en suite bathroom with in-unit washer dryer, one-car parking and sliders out to a deck and landscaped garden. The 739-square-foot home is asking $695,000.


text:
Q: Google+ integration does not show account picker for devices with single google account I am trying to implement Google+ integration in one of my android app.But i am not seeing Account picker if there is only one account on my device.
How can i show the account picker in such case?

A: That's how I show it:
  scopes.add(AnalyticsScopes.ANALYTICS_READONLY);

                credential = GoogleAccountCredential.usingOAuth2(this, scopes);
                if (TextUtils.isEmpty(appPreferences.getUserName()))
                {
                        try
                        {

                                startActivityForResult(credential.newChooseAccountIntent(), REQUEST_ACCOUNT_PICKER);
                        }
                        catch (ActivityNotFoundException e)
                        {

                                Toast.makeText(this, getString(R.string.gps_missing), Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();

                                return;
                        }

                }

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: What is the best way of storing simulation data on the web browser client side until its finished? For example, I need to record variables for every particle in a system for every frame for say 3000 frames.
Data is like:
{
    acc: {
        x: 0,
        y: 0
    },
    vel: {
        x: -0.33632,
        y: -0.13723
    },
    loc: {
        x: 410.88289,
        y: 132.34004
    },
    r: 30,
    maxSpeed: 1.03844,
    maxForce: 0.04844,
    head: Path@4,
    subtilinCount: 0,
    count: 0,
    lastRot: -157.80223,
    producing: false,
    subtilinSize: 5,
    category: 'predator',
    life: 1706.71235,
    replicateRate: 1,
    birth: 372.29947,
    antigen: {
        life: 29,
        loc: {
            x: 411.21921,
            y: 132.47728
        },
        radius: 60,
        subtilin: PlacedSymbol@3563,
        category: 'predator'
    },
    concentrationPrey: 1,
    concentrationPredator: 3,
    lastLoc: {
        x: 411.21921,
        y: 132.47728
    }
}

I have looked at html 5 local storage although this doesnt seem to be the best fit. Since there are about 500 particles and 60 frames per second, sending it to the server whilst the simulation is running does not seem feasible.
Any ideas?


Notice signs of aggression. Learn to identify clues that a teen is potentially violent. Know how to defend yourself and how to restrain a client if necessary.
Offer alternatives. Aggressive teens may not know what to do with their feelings. Expose them to positive ways to expend energy, like exercising, drawing and painting, running, playing sports—even crying.
Practice problem solving. Most adolescents get angry for good reasons, but express their anger inappropriately. Teach them how to resolve conflicts through honest discussion and compromise.
Quiet time. Encourage young people to take time for themselves, away from noise and activity. Explain that this calming, quiet time is a gift to themselves.
Shut off the TV. Studies have linked television with violence and hyperactivity. It's not just the violent content of TV shows, it's the barrage of stimulation that makes it hard for kids to focus.
Touch appropriately. Many adolescents and adults use touch only as a means of control or showing aggression. By touching our adolescent clients appropriately (e.g., pats on the back, handshakes), we help them learn a better way to use their bodies. Do not touch a teen who is angry, however.
Explain the consequences of violence. When they are relaxed, explain to teens that as adults, violent behavior can hurt their chances of finding a job, alienate friends, or lead to jail. Make sure teens understand that you are simply describing reality, not trying to manipulate them with guilt or fear.
Role model. By remaining calm, speaking in a respectful and rational manner, and never condoning violence, even jokingly, you can exemplify the behavior we expect from adolescents.
Set clear standards of behavior. Make certain your clients know that anger is natural and should be expressed, but that violence is unacceptable under any circumstances.
Travel safely. Transporting an angry, agitated teens can lead to accidents. Always warn drivers if a child they are transporting is upset. If he or she starts to act out while you are on the road, stop the vehicle and give them time to cool off.
Lagerspetz, K. & Viemero, V. (1986). Television and aggressive behavior among Finnish children. L. R. Huesman & L. D. Eron (Eds.).Television and the Aggressive Child: A Cross-National Comparison, pp. 81-118. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.


text:
Q: How to resize a flutter table to take the whole available space? I have a Flutter table that is currently being rendered in the Appbar title as follows:

My question is how to make the table take the maximum width and height of the AppBar?
The codes for defining the table in the Appbar is as follows:
Scaffold(
      appBar: AppBar(
        title: Table(
          border: TableBorder.all(),
          children: [
            TableRow(
              children: <Widget>[
                TableCell(
                  verticalAlignment: TableCellVerticalAlignment.middle,
                  child: Center(child: Text("GPS"),),
                ),
                TableCell(
                  verticalAlignment: TableCellVerticalAlignment.middle,
                  child: Center(child: Text("GPS"),),
                ),
                TableCell(
                  verticalAlignment: TableCellVerticalAlignment.middle,
                  child: Center(child: Text("GPS"),),
                ),
                TableCell(
                  verticalAlignment: TableCellVerticalAlignment.middle,
                  child: Center(child: Text("GPS"),),
                )
              ],
            )
          ],
        ),
      ))

Below is what I want to achieve:

A: Firstly, provide height on TableCell,
TableCell(
  verticalAlignment: TableCellVerticalAlignment.middle,
  child: Container(
    height: kToolbarHeight,
    alignment: Alignment.center,
    child: Text("GPS"),
  ),
),

Option 1
You can use leadingWidth: 0,titleSpacing: 0, on AppBar.
AppBar(
  leadingWidth: 0,
  titleSpacing: 0,
  title: myTable(),
),

Option 1 rendering:

Option 2
Also I think you will like using PreferredSize and customize the way you like
appBar: PreferredSize(
  preferredSize: const Size.fromHeight(kToolbarHeight),
  child: Container(
    height: kToolbarHeight,
    color: Colors.blue,
    child: myTable(),
  ),
),

Option 2 rendering:

If you like to have the border, you can wrap your Table with Padding
title: Padding(
  padding: const EdgeInsets.all(1),
  child: myTable(),
),


Roger Penrose, one of the most accomplished scientists of our time, presents the only comprehensive and comprehensible account of the physics of the. A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe. Reviewed by Brian Blank. The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the. Laws of the Universe. Roger Penrose. The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe by Roger Penrose (Vintage, £15). It is not very often that a reviewer.
The Road to Reality. A complete guide to the laws of the bniverse. dezbdiamonds.come Ecclesian theory of the three worlds, lies at the heart of Penrose book. . existence of just one magnetic mono-pole in the universe would explain the fact that all. Roger Penrose, one of the most accomplished scientists of our time, presents the only A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe. The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe Roger Penrose is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at Oxford University. Read The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe ( Vintage) Roger Penrose is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at Oxford.


https://www.torproject.org/docs/verifying-signatures.html.en is ridiculously complicated and stuffed with tons of irrelevant information.
We should break it into 2 pages. The list of keys that signs sub-components and/or email should be on a completely separate page. The only keys on this page should be those that actually sign user-facing packages: TBB and (maybe) the vidalia expert bundles.
The page should walk the user through verifying a signature of a specific package for each platform. The page should focus on only one key and only one package. This package should probably be TBB.
Also, much of the material on this page is out of date. For example, the Mac utilities are completely different now, are hosted at a new URL, and now have a GUI that handles the key import process (but sadly not package signature verification). They do at least put the gpg binary into the system path, so you no longer have to grovel through /Applications in order to find it.
Each of these has a different flow for downloading Tor Browser, and all but download-easy caused users to stop and become confused. I personally think https://www.torproject.org/download/download should simply redirect to download-easy, and the https://www.torproject.org/projects/torbrowser.html.en page should remove the matrix and either behave like download-easy, or its download button should take the user to download-easy.
Right now, anonbib exists under freehaven auspices, and is not maintained by Tor.
"Not maintained" being the operative word.
Should we move it to a torproject url and try to pretty it up a bit?
As discussed during the anonymous services meeting, we should change (or discuss changing) the nomenclature on the website to reflect Syverson's Genuine Onion'' paper.
Please do not make the mistake of grepping for Hidden and replacing it with Onion.
On reading https://www.gnu.org/software/repo-criteria.html (as pointed out on tor-talk), I came across "B0": "All code sent to the user's browser must be free software and labeled for LibreJS or other suitable free automatic license analyzer".
Go to https://www.torproject.org/docs/verifying-signatures.html.en for instructions.
Read the block of text for MacOS and Linux.
Struggle with the information on that page.
Try to go to the SourceForge link there for GPG Mac download.
Divide the MacOS instructions from the Linux instructions.
Download Tor Browser and save the signature.asc to your Desktop.
Opening the DMG and installing the Tor Browser: The application file shows a file modification date of Dec 31, 1999, so it's difficult to know whether the downloaded one is newer than one I have already. No version number is in the file name. Get Info (cmd-I) (which not every Mac user knows about) does show a version number, and it also shows the file has a creation date of Dec 31, 2000, which is before the mod date. The weird dates might cause version control issues but are also likely to worry people who see them.
When I follow a link online to an old version of Tor Browser Bundle, e.g.
I receive a 404 message. Instead of displaying a default 404 page, a Tor Browser specific 404 response should helpfully redirect users to the latest version of Tor Browser, either by providing a helpful message such as "Click here to download Tor Browser" or via a 301 redirect.
Right now we have "alpha" and "stable". But sometimes we want to have an extra stable listed as well.
No hurry on this one.
You can find the other phases of the project and more information on the link above as well.
We will reach out to designers in the community and ask for their help.
That page says: " Oops... that page doesn't exist! If it seems like there should be something here, please let us know. "
To answer your question: "would you be willing to disable CAPTCHAs for Tor users to make donations work out of the box? "
This was my first request to BitPay management. The answer was no. I then asked if we could offer a payment button that worked through Cloudflare and the answer was "not at this time".
I am very sorry to bring you this news. This issue is also very important to me personally. I think people should be able to donate bitcoin to the Tor Project from the Tor Browser without jumping through hoops, but this is the state of things at the moment.
We start with code signing on OS X now and should have instructions on our website for getting rid of the code signing parts to make it easier for comparing the things we ship with the things we built.
I've found some behavioral inconsistencies in torproject.org, which I think can confuse our visitors. It would be great if we could fix some of these things.
About Tor > Projects leads to "Software and Services" (https://www.torproject.org/projects/projects.html.en). I think that this should be consistently named.
About Tor > Projects does does not redirect to a different page and has submenu items visible from the About Tor page. About Tor > Documentation and About Tor > Projects both do. My suggestion is to making Tor People redirect to a separate page with a separate vertical side menu, but also having the About Tor> Projects and About Tor > Documentation menus nested in the vertical menu on About Tor is also acceptable, as long as these side menus behave consistently.
Some pages are blank: https://www.torproject.org/docs/manual.html.en, https://www.torproject.org/docs/installguide.html.en. This is bad because it makes them look broken. I don't have a better idea of what to put here without restructuring the whole website contents, but I think at the very least it should not be blank.
You can browse to some pages that have different styling (go https://www.torproject.org/docs/documentation.html.en, click "Install Tor Browser" to get to https://www.torproject.org/projects/torbrowser.html.en), which really throws me off. It looks like it's a different site, or I've been redirected/scammed. I think there are other instances of this, but I can't recall every instance of where this happened.
This may not be too big of an issue, but the main menu (Tor Home About Tor Documentation Press Blog Contact) keeps the current tab highlighted if the user is in that tab (Press is highlighted on https://www.torproject.org/press/press.html.en), but this doesn't happen for the submenu (Download Volunteer Donate)--the volunteer page https://www.torproject.org/getinvolved/volunteer.html.en does not have volunteer highlighted.


Beautiful 2 or 3 bedroom apartment!
Beautiful guesthouse located in the tranquil suburb of Gunhill, Borrowdale. At only $150 per night we also offer WiFi and Dstv and have a self-catering service available as well as house keeping for longer stays.
Security is guaranteed and water and electricity are always available.