Gillian passed on a recipe that's delicious but I feel like I'm doing a product placement here. The recipe was written by the people who make/market Land O Lakes Butter. I actually do use that butter and since it's real butter I'll use that as my excuse for sharing it.
EASY BLACK BEAN CHILI ON RICE
These small black beans are also called turtle beans. Their deep black color looks most striking when contrasted with the bright red of tomatoes and the white of sour cream.
Preparation time: 15 min Cooking time: 10 min
Yield: 4 servings
Chili Ingredients:
2 teaspoons Land O Lakes Butter
1 large (1 cup) onion, chopped
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh garlic
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed, drained
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons canned chopped green chiles
1 teaspoon ground cumin
4 cups hot cooked rice
Topping Ingredients:
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/3 cup light or fat free sour cream
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Melt butter in 2-quart saucepan; add onions and garlic. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft and lightly browned (5 minutes). Add beans, tomato sauce, chili powder, chiles and cumin. Continue cooking until heated through (5 minutes). Serve over hot cooked rice. Top with tomato, sour cream and cilantro. TIP: Chili can be served over baked potatoes, pasta or grains.
The recipe is a very good one in that it's simple to make and the final result tastes wonderful.
While I do use Land O Lakes Butter, I know nothing about their sour cream -- I'm not even sure I've even seen it. So I've changed the plug for that product to just "sour cream."
Gillian loves the recipe and, if you make it, I'm sure you will too.
You can use dried beans you cook yourself or fresh tomatoes instead of canned.
Can you tell I'm uncomfortable? I'm not with the results of the recipe, I just wondered about promoting Land O Lakes which I know nothing about (in terms of who owns them)? I think there's more than enough marketing in the real world and certainly in cooking. When someone shares a recipe, if it includes "Campbells Soup" that usually goes up here and I'll note you can use another soup brand. But this is a recipe put out by Land O Lakes to promote Land O Lakes products.
If you're cooking in your home, you are probably aware that many packages will contain offers for 'free' cookbooks. That's really something you send in for in your early days. You end up burned very quickly. They really aren't recipes, they're actually catalogues for the company's products. I think Kraft, for instance, would have a better image among people who do cook if they're "cookbooks" weren't a bunch of plugs for their own products.
"Kraft" on the cover is more than enough, to go through recipes that list one Kraft product after another is not only overkill, it's annoying. It turns people off. If Kraft really wants to be in our kitchen, they could offer 'free' cookbooks that actually contained useable recipes. These days, with six children already living on their own and two who are still home, I no longer go through that monthly pang of, "I need to find something new!" In the earliest days, that would pop up.
I still add recipes all the time but I'm talking about the panic and guessing some of you know what I mean. Maybe something burned and you're obsessed over that or maybe something else in your life isn't going all that well and you think, "Well I can cook. I'll focus on that right now."
When that happened to me, I would go on The Great Recipe Search and, if you've done that, you realize very quickly that some recipes are nothing but product promotion. Sometimes they end up with a recipe that's edible but the primary goal seems to be to get you rushing to the grocery store to buy up all their products.
That's insulting for a number of reasons including the fact that there are usually less expensive alternatives and there are usually fresh alternatives. If a company is selling canned goods, don't expect their cookbook to contain a lot of recipes for fresh fruits and vegetables.
Now I've been there where a 'free' cookbook wasn't only a nice thing but something that worked into my budget. I'd be excited when it arrived and eager to flip through the pages. The result would be heavily processed ingredients that had no real nutritional value and that also cost quite a bit more than if you'd used fresh. So they want you to pay the costs twice: pay the financial cost to spend more for their own products and pay the health costs for cooking dishes that are based on heavily processed foods where the vitamins, bran, et al has been stripped from them.
I do like the recipe above (and I did substitute fresh tomatoes). But I also think it's a way for us to think about the product placement and about the food industry.
I can actually do a plug here. I recently finished reading Frances Moore Lappe's Democracy's Edge. I've noted her book Diet for a Small Planet here (many times) and I strongly recommend this book. It's a big book, 317 pages. I was trying to get a friend to read it and she wasn't interested. The size and scope intimidated her. (I'm not referring to Elaine who enjoys tackling any book. I believe Rebecca noted that Elaine and I both enjoyed it and I'm not referring to Rebecca here either.) I was a little depressed by that because I thought the book addressed issues that my friend was concerned about and I love the book. I mentioned that in passing to C.I., who also loves the book, and got a wonderful suggestion: Get a friend to read one chapter they're interested in.
Not the first chapter. If the book intimidates them, encourage them to find a chapter on a topic they enjoy and read that. If nothing else, they'll have the one chapter but sometimes, if a book has a large scope, it can be intimidating to some people. I hadn't thought of that and that was my foolish mistake. My son Mike does that all of the time now (because C.I. had passed on the tip to him awhile back when he was having difficulty with one of his college text books).
I tried that with my friend and she went with chapter ten ("Learning") which she enjoyed so much she decided to pick another chapter. She ended up reading the entire book that way. It's a wonderful book that's addressing serious issues of how we are made to fit and telling us how we need to make the world fit us, not the other way around. The sections on the media will probably interest some easily. But I know that people don't always have time for reading and when the topic is a serious one (wonderfully executed by the author) and the pages go over a certain mark, people can feel intimidated or think, "I've got to clean, I've got to do this, I've got to do that, when am I going to have the time for a book?"
This is a book you should make the time for and if the size of Democracy's Edge intimidates you and starting from page one doesn't propell you through, grab a chapter that interests you and work your way around the book. I really think you'll enjoy it.
This week, Molly Ivins passed away and we also saw the month end with 90 US troops being killed in Iraq. (That was the AFP count.) With the illegal war continuing, the loss of Ivins was even greater because it wasn't the case of just losing a wonderful voice with something to say, but also the case of losing someone who grasped how serious the war was and how little media -- big and small -- tended to care. She had made a pledge to cover Iraq in her columns and it's a pledge I haven't heard any of the 'big voices' honoring her these last few days say they'd pick up. Which is why I find most of the honoring to be mere words, lip service, and hollow.
It's also true that a young man, Ehren Watada, faces a court-martial for refusing to fight in the illegal war. His court-martial is Monday and I haven't seen Norman Solomon, Phil Donahue, John Nichols, John Stauber or Marc Cooper rush to weigh in on the need to stand up for him this past week. Have you?
All of them wrote pretty silly pieces about the need to stop Sarah Olson from testifying. Those were silly, little columns that made wonder if they were written by silly, little men? Their silly, little actions didn't accomplish anything. However, Ehren Watada did take action to prevent any journalist from having to testify. In all the "We Did It!" nonsense that followed, I didn't see credit going where it was due, to Ehren Watada.
Do these men have children of their own? (Donahue does but his column on Olson was so shaky that I honestly didn't believe he even knew what he was writing about.) I do have children, eight of them, and I can very easily identify with Carolyn Ho, Ehren Watada's mother. She didn't want her son to take this stand. Not because she didn't believe in the stand, but because she knew it would be a lonely stand and he would be punished for it.
If you have children and they've taken a stand on anything, you know those mixed emotions. You're proud to see that you've raised someone with courage who won't just go along because it's the easy thing to do. But you're also scared for them because you're ticking off all the things that will come their way because of standing up.
It's a real conflict, as you know if you've gone through it, because your child is putting into practice what you've tried to teah them but there will be fallout for that. And you don't want to see them hurt. With my own kids, I've always caught my tongue in time to just praise them. But as soon as my husband and I were alone, the first question I would ask him would be, "Why can't someone else stand up?"
Ehren Watada is a very brave young man and his mother is a very brave woman who must be driving herself ragged as she speaks anywhere and every where she can to be sure we're all aware of what is coming down Monday. That's two days away and it would take a miracle at this point to stop the court-martial.
I don't see any miracle coming and I don't see any "saints" in the majority of the supposedly brave, supposedly independent media. I noted recently that I was done with The Nation. I am done with it. I don't see it ever changing in my lifetime. It refuses to cover the war resisters (I read print and don't call those silly little paragraphs by Marc Cooper -- a sidebar -- "covering" -- especially not after they appear one page after Ehren Watada is called a coward in the main article). It is a worthless magazine written by apparent cowards who cannot stand up. It has failed us on the war and it has failed war resisters. When the editor and publisher's child takes a stand, my hope is that it will be greeted with the same silence and lack of support that the magazine has given to Ehren Watada. She is a coward for allowing the magazine to stay silent.
May she also get seasick on her summer cruise.
I used to think she was a brave voice but it is in the standing when you need to stand that proves bravery. In her case, the silence has demonstrated that she's not a leader, she's not brave and she is useless. Since Katrina vanden Heuvel is a relatively young woman, the magazine will be useless for many years to come.
It is banned from our home because we take the war seriously and we want it to end. We respect Ehren Watada and we think he deserves support that independent media has largely failed to give him. I'm from a large family, I have a large family of my own. The word of mouth on The Nation's cowardly behavior will be difficult to overcome. My father is even more vocal about this than I am. In my church there is shock over the fact that The Nation would not stand up for Ehren Watada (there is also disgust as people are beginning to learn how few women the magazine will print articles by -- the figure is basically four men printed for every one woman). The Nation's taking a hit and that's going to gather and gather due to their own fault. Their image is now poor and that will spread and spread. As they've decided to ape other publications that offer mash notes to Democrats, they will find their circulation dropping to the same low numbers. It was the left (or 'left') magazine with the highest circulation. It has already taken a hit and will continue to do so. That's their own fault because they have refused to cover Ehren Watada and topics that matter. Instead, they offer one useless magazine after another as they gear up for their summer cruise.
"Summer cruise." During war time. My father is fond of pointing out all the things they had to give up during WWII and asking exactly why The Nation feels "cruises" are the answer? Because they're useless and they're run by a useless woman who wants to be in a position of power even though she has no idea how to use power.
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" from Friday:
Friday, February 2, 2007. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq, a US helicopter is shot down in Iraq, Ehren Watada's court-martial is scheduled to take place in three days, 'civil war' to describe Iraq becomes a less loaded term and the myth of Najaf continues to be dispelled.
Starting with Ehren Watada who became the first comissioned officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq in June and now faces a court-martial in Fort Lewis, Washington on Monday.
Daisuke Wakabayashi (Reuters) says the case "could determine the limits of free-speech rights for officers." Dean Paton (Christian Science Monitor) takes a look at the life that led up to the brave stand: "When it came time for Watada to enlist, he was diagnosed with asthma and declared physically unfit. He paid $800 to have an outside test done and was accepted into the Army's college-option program. He completed basic training in June 2003, and went to Officer Candidate School in South Carolina. He emerged 14 weeks later as a 2nd lieutenant." Ben Hamamoto (The Nichi Bei Times) reports on some of the activities Carolyn Ho has been taking part in to raise awareness of her son including suggesting people write letters to Congress, sign petitions (one is at Ehren Watada's site) and "post signs demanding that the military drop the charges and allow Watada to resign" because, Ho stated, "The way this resolves itself will speak to the soldiers and tell them whether or not they are being supported and it will speak to the politicians as to how we feel about the war (and soldiers' rights)."
Diane Kay (The Maine Campus) traces his life from college to speaking out: "Watada was a finance major, and graduated magna cum laude. The war in Iraq had just begun, and Watada, like many Americans, believed that Iraq posed a real threat to the United States, had WMDs and was connected to Sept. 11. He entered the U.S. Army officer candidate program following graduation to pursue a career in the military. Watada served in Korea in 2003 and 2004, earned the rank of lieutenant, and received excellent reviews of his work by his superior officers. In 2005, Lt. Watada and his unit returned to the United States, and were stationed in Ft. Lewis, Wash. Lt. Watada knew that his unit would eventually be deployed to Iraq, and he began to study as much as he could to prepare himself and his unit for deployment." This is where Ehren Watada starts to learn about the Bully Boy's lies of war. He had been assigned to Iraq. It was his duty (and superiors encouraged him in it) to study up so that he would be more effective and also able to answer questions from those serving under him (big one: "Why are we even here?"). It took the American people (many, not all) time to wake up to the lies of war and that didn't happen overnight. (Nor did it happen via the media as Liza Featherstone laughably suggests in The Nation. But then how would she know about the Downing Street Memos -- which The New York Review of Books, not The Nation, published. Jessica Lee, of the Indypendent, covers what Featherstone can't or won't -- click here.) What happened in the United States was activists and some journalists and publications pursued the topic (again, really not The Nation -- they had food issues and environmental issues and so much more to cover -- which is why they've never once written of the gang rape and murder of 14-year-old Abeer). People carved out a space for it and certainly Cindy Sheehan took it up a notch.
All that was needed for the lies to be exposed and the public to turn against the war. Ehren Watada was not in the United States. He was stationed in Korea. And it's really important to remember that. Many who've served in Iraq have seen the lies fall away before their eyes (which reality will do) but in terms of how the war was sold, don't think that troops serving overseas are getting the same media that those in the United States do. In the lead up to his announcing his decision to his mother on January 1, 2006, he was cramming in three-plus years worth of information, reporting, critiques, etc. Which is why Hatsue Katsura of El Cerrito notes to The Contra Costa Times: "It was a gradual awareness and realization of facts about the war that were publicly disclosed over time. It became obvious our administration lacked reliable intelligence and was lying to justify an illegal and immoral war.I respect and support Watada for his decision. By refusing to obey orders, he knew he'd probably face a jail sentence. But he responded to a higher calling to serve his fellow man as an American and a world citizen."
Or, as Ehren Watada asked Daisuke Wakabayashi, "When you have leaders that are unaccountable, who have already deceived people over something as serious as war and are willing to do it again, you have to ask yourself, 'where do you stand?'" Or, as he explained to Judith Scherr (Berkeley Daily Planet), "I'm willing to go to prison for what I believe in. . . .
I've taken an oath to defend the constitution, I must be willing to sacrifice."
That sacrifice shouldn't involve sacrificing the truth of his story so possibly some might need to correct Tom Zeller Jr. (New York Times) who writes: "But Lieutenant Watada is no ordinary deserter, and he did not claim to be a conscientious objector." Ehren Watada is "no oridinary deserter" -- in fact, he's no deserter of any kind. Not since Zeller Jr. dismissed concerns over the Ohio vote immediately after the 2004 election has he seemed so out of touch with what he is supposed to be covering. Watada isn't a deserter. He refused to deploy. That is not desertion. He is not charged with desertion. Since he refused deployment, he has reported to the base for work every day. Zeller's fact-free approach to reporting made him a laughing stock in 2004 (all the more so with the recent Ohio convictions on voter fraud in the 2004 election) and he's obviously more concerned with maintaining that status. So let's speak slowly for Zeller Jr.: Desertion follows AWOL. AWOL is what most are charged with if they are gone for less than thirty days. Watada is not charged with desertion because he never went AWOL. He has been at Fort Lewis for every scheduled hour since he went public. He is not a deserter and the fact-free approach of Zeller's is not reporting. If the Junior Zeller is still confused, someone can refer him to the reporting of Andrew Buncombe (Independent of London): "When Lt Watada refused to go to Iraq last summer the army charged him with missing movement -- for failing to deploy -- as well as several counts of conduct unbecoming an officer."
Amnesty International has issued a press release entitled "USA: War objector's freedom of conscience must be respected" which notes: "'If found guilty, Amnesty International would consider Ehren Watada to be a prisoner of conscience and call for his immediate and unconditional release', said Susan Lee, Amnesty International's Americas Programme Director. 28-year-old Army Lieutenant Ehren Watada faces a possible four year prison sentence on charges of 'missing movement' -- due to his refusal to deploy to Iraq in June 2006 -- and of 'conduct unbecoming an officer' --- because of his public comments regarding his objections to the war in Iraq. Ehren Watada has stated that his refusal is based on his belief that the Iraq war is illegal and immoral. In a pre-court martial hearing held on 16 January, a military judge ruled that he could not base his defence on the legality of the war in Iraq." As Amnesty International steps up to the plate and The Nation plays useless, is it any wonder that so many are starting to believe organizations are more worthy of their dollars than those in independent media who make themselves useless?
As noted, Watada will not be allowed to present a defense. Lt. Col. 'Judge" Head will preside. A military jury will render the verdict on the charges. The hearing itself is expected to go rather quickly since the 'judge' has disallowed Watada's right to present a defense. (The August Article 32 hearing went quickly, since witnesses like Ann Wright, Denis Halliday and Frances Boyle will not be allowed to testify for Watada this time, it's expected to be over in a couple of hours.)
Suzanne Goldenberg (Guardian of London) interviewed Watada who told her, "It was so shocking to me. I guess I had heard about WMD and that we made a terrible, terrible mistake. Mistakes can happen but to think that it was deliberate and that a careful deception was done on the American people -- you just had to question who you are as a serviceman, as an American."
Saturday, Ehren Watada will be speaking:
Your last opportunity to hear from Lt. Watada
in person prior to his military court martial!!
Saturday, February 3, 7 PM
University Temple United Methodist Church
1415 NE 43rd Street,
Seattle WA(next to the University Bookstore).
$10 suggested donation for the event.
No one will be turned away.
In addition, his mother, Carolyn Ho, will be speaking Saturday in Little Tokyo (in Los Angeles) at an event Saturday organized by the Asian Emrican Veterans Organization (event starts with a meet up march at the intersection of San Pedro and Second at 4:00 pm)..
More information on all events can be found by clicking here.
Watada is a part of a movement of resistance with the military that includes others such as Agustin Aguayo (whose court-martial is currently set to begin on March 6th), Kyle Snyder, Darrell Anderson, Ivan Brobeck, Ricky Clousing, Aidan Delgado, Mark Wilkerson, Joshua Key, Camilo Meija, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Jeremy Hinzman, Corey Glass, Patrick Hart, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell and Kevin Benderman. In total, thirty-eight US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.
Again, the court-martial beings Monday. Courage to Resist lists actions taking place at Fort Lewis and elsewhere. They note that the court-martial is open to the public (you need to get a visitors pass), will be held (at Fort Lewis base) in Building 2027 and that the proceedings are scheduled to begin at 9:00 am.
And Iraq Veterans Against the War are staging actions throughout the weekend:
Friday, February 2nd through Monday, February 5th, the day of Lt. Ehren Watada's court-martial, IVAW's Olympia Chapter and IVAW Deployed will be holding a series of events/fundraisers in order to raise awareness on the importance and details of Ehren's action, and subsequently, his court-martial.
We will show up on the day of Ehren'' trial with a presence and message that cannot be ignored nor denied. Our message is simple: George W. Bush and those who choose to partake in war crimes are the people that should be on trial. Lt. Ehren Watada's argument is legitimate and should be adopted by all who might be given unlawful orders.
Yesterday on KFPA's Flashpoints, co-host Nora Barrows Friedman interviewed Dahr Jamail about the Najaf massacre. "What we do know for sure according to Iraqi doctors," Darh explained, that "253 killed and another 210 wounded." Jamail described the people in the region as wanting to self-govern and that "members of the tribes were starting to stand up because they want to be self-governing". The violence started with a tribal leader and his wife being gunned down which is a far cry from "the bogus story about a Shia messianic cult" plotting and conspiring to kill clerics.
Dahr Jamail and Ali al-Fadhily have covered many details of the Najaf story (see "Official Lies Over Najaf Battle Exposed") and Stan Goff (Huffington Post) notes their work and compares the lies of Najaf (from the US government and from the mainstream media) to the 'glory' days of Centcom past: "They were dead at the hands of the US and its sketchy Iraqi armed forces 'allies,' and one of the perennial CENTCOM lies of the day is that every Iraqi who dies during any US operation is an 'insurgent' or a 'gunman.' In fact, most of them were religious pilgrims who were gunned down without any provocation . . . more then 200 of them. This was no 'battle.' It was a massacre. The dead were religious pilgrims, not a 'cult.' All of us should figure it out, especially news people, that urban guerillas do not concentrate in groups of 200-plus, and that any time we learn that more than 200 people have been killed, it is a pretty good bet that they were mostly civilians.
Dahr also spoke of what happened in Baquba which had been a "very mixed town" for Shias and Sunnis prior to the illegal war but "just weeks after the fall of Baghdad in April 2003" the US military "brought together all of the religous leaders into a tent" in Baquba and had Shia and Sunnis go to opposite sides which is the sort of division that the US created and cemented and which some politicians (such as US Senator Joe Biden) favor: splitting Iraq into three regions (Kurds, Sunnis and Shi'ites). What Dahr spoke of echoes what MADRE's Yanar Mohammed witnessed and discussed with Laura Flanders on the December 9th broadcast of RadioNation with Laura Flanders -- after the invasion, all Iraqis faced one question when dealing with the occupation government (Americans): "Are you Shia or Sunni?"
That helped solidify divisions and conflicts. Today, Karen deYoung and Walter Pincuse (Washington Post) broke the news of the latest National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq which found the biggest obstacle in Iraq today to be the sectarian conflict. David Morgan (Reuters) reports: "Escalating violence between Iraqi Sunnis and Shi'ites met the definition for a civil war, but the politically charged term did not describe all the chaos in Iraq, the report said. . . . An unclassified version of the NIE's key judgments said the term civil war 'accurately describes key elements of the Iraqi conflict, including the hardening of ethno-sectarian identities, a sea change in the character of the violence and population displacements'."
In Iraq today, CNN reports: "A U.S. Apache helicopter went down Friday in Iraq, killing two American soldiers, the military said. It was the fourth helicopter to crash in two weeks.
The U.S. military recovered the soldiers' remains and secured the site northwest of Baghdad near Taji. The number of U.S. military fatalities in the Iraq war stands at 3,090, including seven civilian contractors of the Defense Department." For those who've forgotten, New Year's Eve brought the news that the count of US troops killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war had reached 3,000. For those who've missed it, helicopters have been coming down in Iraq for some time. "Crash landings" and "emergency landings" and no press follow up to determine what happened. In January, that finally began to change. The helicopter that went down today was shot down. This morning, Ernesto Londono (Washington Post) reported, "An American helicopter crashed north of Baghdad Friday morning, and an Iraqi police spokesman said it had been downed by a shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile." AP confirms it was shot down: "A U.S. Army helicopter crashed Friday in a hail of gunfire north of Baghdad, police and witnesses said -- the fourth lost in Iraq in the last two weeks. The U.S. command said two crew members were killed, and the top U.S. general conceded that insurgent ground fire has become more effective." Note that it was brought down with gunfire. As has happened before but the flacks for the military have dismissed crashes resulting from gunfire and have maintained that the 'hardware' needed to down helicopters just wasn't to be found in Iraq. Such claims fly in the face of reality, of memories of Vietnam and of your average action adventure film that features helicopters. It's taken some time for the mainstream press to address the realities that, yes, helicopters can be shot down with gunfire.
Bombings?
Sahar Al Shawi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports two bombings in Baghdad that left three people wounded, three people wounded in Kadhimiya "as a result of a Katiosha missile aimed at the area today", and three people wounded in Khalis from a mortar attack.
Kim Gamel (AP) notes a roadside bombing in Mosul that killed one police officer.
And Alexandra Zavis (Los Angeles Times) reports that the death toll for the two bombings in Hilla yesterday has now reached "at least 73 killed and 152 injured".
Shootings?
Sahar Al Shawi (McClatchy Newspapers) notes that yesterday's shooting of the Dean of the College of Physical Education (Walhan Hameed Al-Timimi) and his son was carried out "in full view of the teachers on campus" at Dyala University and that some are pointing the "finger at the President of the univeristy, Dr. Alla' Al-Atbi, saying that he is involved with armed groups and facilitates their tasks by setting up targets and doing nothing in way of calling for assistance if any attacks took place".
Kim Gamel (AP) reports that "Sunni chairman of the Fallujah City Council, Abbas Ali Hussein" was shot dead.
Corpses?
CNN reports that 32 corpses were discovered in Baghdad today.
Lastly, on CounterSpin today, John Nichols discussed Molly Ivins passing and worried that Ivins, whose columns were the most heavily circulated progressive ones in newspapers around the world, death would mean the space would go blank (of course, it could also go to a right-winger or centrist) so he suggested that if your local paper carried Ivins' columns, you contact them and ask that they continue to carry a progressive column. To go one further, Molly Ivins was one of the few women to make the top twenty most widely circulated columnists. So if you want to continue to see columns that address reality and you'd like to see a woman continue to be represented on the op-ed pages, you can ask your local paper to carry Amy Goodman (of Democracy Now!). Goodman's doing a weekly column now. I personally doubt that top 10 lists make for worthy or even "good" reading. Molly Ivins stood for something in each column (and humor was a part of it though Nichols wanted to downgrade it -- don't stand by him at a party). It's not just that any progressive voice is needed (or liberal voice), it's one that will use the space well. Goodman's demonstrated that she intends to tackle real topics. Goodman's columns can be found many places and Common Dreams is one. That said, if you're recommending that it be picked up to a newspaper, you need to note a paper that provides the column. "Resistance to war cannot be jailed" is Goodman's most recent column and the link takes you to The Seattle Post-Intelligencer. If you're pitching Goodman to your local paper, you should also note that she wrote (with her brother David) two bestselling hardcover books (Exception to the Rulers and Static) (say "New York Times bestsellers") and that she is an award winning journalist (George Polk Award, Aflred I. duPont-Columbia University Award, Robert F. Kennedy Prize for International Reporting and is the 2006 RECIPIENT OF THE PUFFIN/NATION PRIZE FOR CREATIVE CITIZENSHIP). You should also note that she hosts (with Juan Gonzalez) Democracy Now! which is broadcast on over 500 radio stations around the world as well as online and as a podcast. Also stress that Ivins wrote a weekly column and Goodman does as well. (Important because, from time to time, a columnist may choose to do a series of columns -- think Bob Herbert -- and newspapers with a weekly slot now open aren't going to want to fill it with a twice weekly column when they only have one day open each week.)
Amy Goodman is my personal choice. Members may have their own choice. If your choice is someone else, e-mail and we'll figure out the best way to present to present your choice to your local paper. But it is not enough to say, as John Nichols did, demand a progressive voice. (He may have been trying to leave it up to listeners or may not have wanted to pick one person over another.) You need to provide a concrete example otherwise you may find that the same editorial boards that boast Thomas Friedman is a liberal (I'm referring to his column in syndication -- the Times is stuck with him) have a very different idea than you do of what "progressive" or "liberal" is. This isn't something you wait on. The op-eds are 'valuable real estate' and they have a fast turn over. Once a spot is occupied, it is very difficult to get a paper to drop a columnist. (Complaints are sometimes seen as 'proof' of how many people read the columnist.) (Sometimes it is proof -- sometimes it's just a sign of how bored and tired readers are with the same-old, same-old.)
iraq
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the washington postkaren deyoungwalter pincus
radionation with laura flanderslaura flandersben hamamotodean patondiane kay
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nora barrows friedman
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Saturday, February 03, 2007
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Tomato and Zucchini Casserole Bake
Mercy e-mailed me on Tuesday and wrote: "Help! After the rally, we're going back to our home with my brother who's a vegetarian, my mother and two friends. I just found out that was happening, us having a get together after. I have no idea what to fix. I figure chicken will be safe for everyone but my brother and his date. What can I serve that's a side dish and can also qualify as a meal for vegetarians? I don't think a salad alone will cut it!"
Mercy, whose parents came from Cuba, I asked her about her name when we were exchanging e-mails, and her husband lobbied hard. They're attending an event in their area to stop the war and she went to work making sure that it wasn't just her and her husband attending this event as it had been the past. (Others had attended but in terms of who she went with, it was just her and her husband.) This will be the first protest her mother's ever been at, the two friends voted for the first time in the 2004 election but her brother's probably the most active of the ones they've invited to the rally. There have been a number of meatless dishes offered here (because some readers are vegetarian and also because I love vegetables) and I wrongly assumed she was familiar with them so set to work thinking what I would serve in a situation like that.
I figured something warm because it is winter. Some vegetarians don't eat dairy so I e-mailed to ask if her brother did eat dairy (he does). It needed to be filling and Mercy wrote that he was a big fan of tomatoes. So I gave her a recipe to test out and she reports back that it was very easy to make and perfect for today. She's cooked it ahead so she just has to warm it up when they get home.
Tomato and Zucchini Casserole Bake
2 medium tomatoes sliced
2 medium zucchinis sliced
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups of grated cheese
salt and pepper
Place zucchini slices in a greased casserole dish. Lightly salt and pepper (skip the salt if you're trying to cook low sodium). Remove the rings from the onion slices and layer them over the zucchini. Add the bell pepper. Follow with the tomatoes. Top with cheese and bake (uncovered) at 350 degrees for one hour.
If you're cooking ahead of time, allow dish to cool, cover with foil or plastic (or a lid) and place in your fridge. (If using a lid, nonplastic, put it on while the dish is cooling. The steam will create a bit of a seal.) The cheese choice is up to you. I always go with mozzarella myself, but you can use chedder or any cheese you enjoy. On the bell pepper, green is fine. Some might want to use red. If you're trying to add a different flavor and color, I'd suggest yellow.
You can eat it hot out of the oven or you can reheat it and eat it later. Casseroles tend to be filling. Mercy fixed it to sample and intended to fix more items for dinner but her husband was eating forkfuls and she ended up just making that dinner. There were no complaints. So this is a wonderful side dish or main dish. If you're trying to get more vegetables into your diet, this gives you tomatoes, onions, peppers and zucchini.
I'm glad Mercy's got a dish she can serve but I'm even more glad that she's gotten her brother, his date, her mother and two friends to attend her local rally. It could have just been her and her husband attending together. Instead, they're going with five more people. That's how the peace movement will grow and how the illegal war will end. I'm in DC with the 'gang.' My husband and I drove in with Jess' parents. (Mike flew in with Elaine because Elaine couldn't cancel her last therapy session. Thursday nights are when she has her group of veterans.) We brought along our daughter and one of my brothers. Jess' mother brought along a friend. Bit by bit, the peace movement grows bigger and louder and we're going to get to the point where even the White House will have to listen to us.
If you're attending something today and you haven't invited anyone to come with you, take a moment or two to see if you can think of someone to invite. It's not 2003, after the illegal war began, when you might have felt you were in the minority. The American people want the war to end.
By the way, Betty's most recent chapter is "Thomas Friedman plays at being Chauncey Gardiner." Her latest will go up later today. If it's not up by the time I'm ready to post, I will note it next weekend. I would also recommend the "Roundtable" that everyone did at The Third Estate Sunday Review. That blew me away. An honest, probing discussion of the peace movement. I have waited in vain for independent media to provide that. If you have as well, read "Roundtable."
Here is C.I.'s "Iraq snasphot" for Friday:
Friday, January 26, 2007. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq, ten days to go until Ehren Watada's February 5th court-martial begins, groups mobolize to end the war in the United States, Bully Boy issues death threats to Iranians in Iraq and a death threat to American democracy, the privatization of Iraq's assets is boldly expressed but we're all supposed to look the other way and the US military gets caught in a lie.
Starting with Ehren Watada, he, his father (Bob Watada) and his mother (Carolyn Ho) will be out in full force tomorrow. Susan Paynter (Seattle Post-Intelligencer) reports will be taking part in Seattle's events to end the war: "1 p.m. at the Center for Social Justice, 2111 E. Union St., moving to the Military Recruitment Center at 2301 S. Jackson St., then to the Langston Hughes Center at 104 17th Ave. S. at 3, where speakers will include Lt. Ehren Watada." Watada, who will be part of a panel discussion, is the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq and he is facing a Februarty 5th court-martial in which he will not be able to present any real defense because 'Judge' Head has a really sick sense of what "justice" is.
Michael E. Ruane (Washington Post) reports that Bob Watada will be speaking at the DC rally tomorrow and Bob Watada tells Ruane: "There is no doubt in my mind that the invasion and occupation of Iraq is wholly unwarranted. The Iraqi people have done absolutely nothing to the United States. They've done nothing to deserve the massacre and the pummeling they're getting . . . the plunder, the torture, the rape, the murder of innocent people. It's got to stop." Meredith May (San Francisco Chronicle) reports that, in San Francisco, things kick off with "a noon rally at Powell and Market streets. Carolyn Ho, the mother of Army 1st Lt. Ehren Watada of Hawaii, who is refusing orders to deploy to Iraq, will speak to the crowd."
Three different cities tomorrow where they will be attempting to get the message that the illegal war needs to end and that what will take place in the February 5th court-martial won't be justice because the 'judge' has refused to allow Ehren Watada to present his reasons for refusing to deploy, the studies he did as part of his command that led him to the conclusion that the war was illegal and immoral. Marilyn Bechtel (People's Weekly World) spoke with Marti Hiken (National Lawyers Guild) who noted that "people do not surrender all their constional rights when they enter the military" and that "Regardless of whether the military wins this court martial, they lose for silencing an individual who has so much integrity that is evident to people across the country."
Saying "no" to an illegal war is hard. It takes courage. (Note the Cowards Silence plauging the left if you doubt that, but I'm actually talking about those in the military who have said "no.") Watada is a part of a movement of resistance with the military that includes others such as Agustin Aguayo (whose court-martial is currently set to begin on March
6th), Kyle Snyder, Darrell Anderson, Ivan Brobeck, Ricky Clousing, Aidan Delgado, Mark Wilkerson, Joshua Key, Camilo Meija, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Jeremy Hinzman, Corey Glass, Patrick Hart, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske and Kevin Benderman. In total, thirty-eight US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.
In the United States, tomorrow sees protests, rallies and marches around the country. As CODEPINK notes: "Join us on January 27 to say No More Funding for War! Bring Our Troops Home Now! We will use our feet and our lungs and our signs and our outrage to let Bush and our new Congress know that we are serious about ending this war.If you can't make it to DC, see if there is a solidarity event being planned in your area. If not, create your own, even if that means standing alone on a street corner with a sign! In lieu of lobbying, you can call your Congressperson to demand they cut the funding for George Bush's War. Our voices are powerful, wherever we may be geographically. We know peace is the only real path to hope and opportunity for this country. Together we will make it happen."
If you can't make it to DC, you can still be heard. If there's not an event in your area, start one. Avaaz.org (formely Ceasefire Campaign Team) is attempting to get the word out on a way you can be heard in DC if you're not able to attend:
Join Saturday's global peace march... without Leaving Your House!This Saturday, hundreds of thousands of Americans will march on Washington DC to demand peace and justice in Iraq and the Middle East. We can be there too, raising a global voice of solidarity -- through our own worldwide virtual march. Time is short, so add your voice and join the march today! http://www.avaaz.org/en/global_peace_march/ This could signal the rebirth of the US peace movement. We need to show them the world is on their side. Let's bring our call for peace to the streets of power in Washington. Join the global peace march and tell your friends today!
Events will be covered by some media. Known coverage will include: KPFA which will broadcast live from the DC demonstrations from 10:00 am to noon PST. (At which point it will begin covering demonstrations in the Bay Area.) and Laura Flanders who will cover the days demonstration Saturday night (7:00 to 10:00 pm EST) on her program RadioNation with Laura Flanders (heard on Air America Radio and other outlets). (Both KPFA and Air America Radio offer online streaming.) (KPFA also offers their achived broadcasts for free, so if you miss the live coverage and would like to hear it later, check out the KPFA Archives). Rachel notes that WBAI will broadcast live coverage of the demonstrations from
11:00 am to 1:00 pm EST. In addition, she notes that tonight (Friday) on WBAI, David Occhiuto will host a special which will feature anti-war films, interviews and will include coverage of Ehren Watada including sections of the speech he gave in Seattle that the the Article 32 hearing in August included and the court-martial next month plans to include in their prosecution of him. Tune in to hear the message that so frightened the military brass that 'Judge' Head has gagged Watada's defense from presenting. That's tonight, WBAI,
7:00 pm to 11:00 pm EST (over the airwaves in NYC and surrounding areas as well as online).
As people mobilize to get the truth out, the US military finds some cover-ups implode faster than others. New details emerge regarding Saturday's reported violence. Saturday, five US troops were killed in Karbala when resistance fighters reportedly wearing US uniforms were waived through checkpoints and made it to a meeting in Karbala. Five US troops were reported as dying during the attack that followed. The AP is reporting (based on US and Iraqi military sources) that four of the five were kidnapped and the four were then killed with bodies being discovered as far away as 25 miles. There was a lot of Happy Talk this week. There was the lie that corpses discovered in Baghdad were tapering off (42 discovered yesterday), there was the lie that what's happening on Haifa Street is normal and not an attack that's killing civilians, there were showy moments in the US Congress and there were the lies of Bully Boy's State of the Union address. When we're neck-deep in lies, it's really easy for the US military to lie (that is what happened) and misinform the public.
Without the lies, the escalation couldn't be sold and a lot of people are vested in selling the escalation. And note that when the AP asked about it, the US military played dumb. As Steven R. Hurst and Qassim Abdul-Zahra (AP) reported later, the US military has now confirmed that four were kidnapped and killed later (1 of the 4 was apparently discovered "mortally wounded").
Bombings?
CBS and AP report a bombing of a pet market utilizing a bomb hidden among pigeons that has resulted in the death of at least 14 people in Baghdad. Stephen Farrell (Times of London) reports: "Police said insurgents concealed the explosives inside a cardboard box punched with holes to make it appear a container for pigeons, parrots or other birds which are prime attractions at the market. The blast, which also wounded 55, hit the Ghazel market on the eastern banks of the Tigris just before the weekly curfew intended to protect crowds attending mosques during noon prayers on the Islamic day of prayer." Farrell notes that the explosion allowed some caged pets to be let loose but many died. Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports: "Two civilians were injured when an IED exploded in Milhaniya, a part of Amil neighborhood at 1 pm." Reuters notes: "On Friday, a suicide bomber blew himself up in a Shi'ite mosque on the outskirts of Mosul, killing seven and wounding 17 more after prayers, a police source said."
Shootings?
Reuters notes: "Gunmen opened fire on a crowd in Baghdad's Bayaa district, killing one person and wounding two, a police source said."
Corpses?
CBS and AP report: "Seven tortured bodies of people who had been blindfolded and had their hands and legs bound before they were shot in the head were found in the capital Friday, according to police." Reuters notes that number of corpses discovered in Baghdad today has risen to 27 while one corpse was discovered in Kirkuk and a headless corpse was discovered in Hawija. Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports: "The body of the Iraqi boxer Hussein Hadi was found in Haifa street. Police said that Hadi was kidnapped three days ago and he found hanged today."
Also today, the US military announced: "One Marine assigned to Regimental Combat Team 6 died today from wounds sustained due to enemy action while operating in Al Anbar Province."
Meanwhile, CNN reports that the Iranian government is calling "terrorism" on Bully Boy's recent order (backed up by US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates) for US troops to kill (on the spot) Iranians they suspect of plotting terrorism. These execution orders by the Bully Boy come with no jury or defense, just an instant passing of judgement.
In financial news, AFP reports that one of Iraq's two vice presidents, Shi'ite Adel Abdul Mahdi, has called the illegal occupation of Iraq "idiotic" but is pushing the 'we will be safe if we have to raid and terrorize school children, residents of homes, etc' that was so popular with the puppet of the occupation yesterday. Those confused by the both-sides-talking Mahdi can refer to a commentary by Antonia Juhasz (Huffington Post) last May: "The re-appointment of Mahdi may yet provide the Bush Administration with its most important victory in the Iraq war since Saddam Hussein was pulled out of a rabbit hole in Tikrit. However, Mahdi's Vice Presidency may also ultimately generate at least as much hostility towards the United States as the invasion itself. Over the course of the war, Mahdi emerged as one of the most aggressive proponents of the Bush administration's economic agenda for Iraq, including the implementation of controversial corporate globalization rules and greater U.S. corporate access to Iraq's oil." Mahdi earlier served in the Bremer 'government' and will probably serve in a great many other puppet governments to follow.
MarketWatch reports: "Over the next several years, the minister [Mahdi] said Iraq would look to privatize all of state-owned industry, which number around 60 companies. He also said Asian companies were keen to enter discussions with the Iraqi government over industrial contracts. Hariri said Iraq was also in discussions with San Francisco-based Bechtel Corp over engineering contracts, without elaborating."
The privatization. Antonia Juhasz (author of The BU$H Agenda: Invading the World, One Economy at a Time) attempted to address the realities of the oil law on KPFA's Living Room
January 11th. But a (male) guest, of course, new better and felt that whatever laws were passed, Iraqis could undue the damage many years on down the line. That's confronting the problem! For those who didn't grasp the importance of what Juhasz was addressing, The San Jose Mercury News reports "Iraq is in negotiations with San Ramon-based Chevron Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp. to build a new $3 billion petrochemical facility, and is in talks with several other Western companies over industrial projects. In an interview Thursday, Iraq's minister for industry and minerals Fowzi Hariri said the discussions with Chevron and Exxon began this week in Washington and are at an early stage." The New York Times fluffed their coverage of the law last Saturday. Apparently, we're all supposed to pretend it doesn't matter or take the attitude of, "Hey, they can fix in 20 years!"
For those who've forgotten, in polling where Iraqis side with the resistance on the topic of attacking foreign fighters (including American troops), they also note the belief that the continued war is nothing but an attempt for foreigners to get their hands on Iraqi assets. Prvatization laws and multi-billion dollar deals by outsiders tend to convey that impression.
In political news, CNN reports that that the Democratic leadership in the US Congress may push for a revamping of the 2002 act that the Bully Boy cited as his authorization for starting a pre-emptive, illegal war of agression on Iraq. Of course, with Democrat leadership, "maybe" means basically what "We'll see" means when said by a parent.
In news of dictators, CNN reports on Bully Boy of the United States latest string of I statements: "I am the decider . . . I've picked the plan . . . I know . . ." Though his love affair with self continues unabated, as the recent poll by CBS News found on Bully Boy's desired escalation: "More than 70 percent of Americans think he should have to get congressional approval before he commits those troops." (68% of poll respondents stated they were "uneasy" with Bully Boy's ability to make decisions regarding Iraq.) Though Bully Boy appears to have forgotten this basic fact, in a democracy, the people are "the deciders."
Reminder: Those in DC Saturday should check out Anthony Arnove, author most recently of IRAQ: The Logic of Withdrawal, who will be speaking at Busboys and Poets at 5:00 pm and those in the NYC area on Sunday should check out Joan Mellen speech at 7:30 p.m. at the 92nd Street Y (92nd Street and Lesington Avenue). Mellan, a professor at Temple University and the author of seventeen books, will be presenting a lecture on the JFK assasination . . . and beyond. Tickets are $25. Mellen's latest book is A Farewell to Justice which probes the assasination of JFK. She was a guest on Law and Disorder November 7, 2005. And the March 15, 2006 broadcast of KPFA's Guns and Butter featured her speech "How the Failure to Identify, Prosecute and Convict President Kennedy's Assassins Has Led to Today's Crisis of Democracy." You can also read a transcript of that speech here.
iraq
ehren watada
antonia juhaszben hamamatoliving roomkris welchkpfa
michael e. ruanethe washington postsusan paynter
united for peace and justice
joan mellen
anthony arnove
law and disorder
bonnie faulkner
guns and butter
mikey likes it
radionation with laura flanderslaura flanders
Mercy, whose parents came from Cuba, I asked her about her name when we were exchanging e-mails, and her husband lobbied hard. They're attending an event in their area to stop the war and she went to work making sure that it wasn't just her and her husband attending this event as it had been the past. (Others had attended but in terms of who she went with, it was just her and her husband.) This will be the first protest her mother's ever been at, the two friends voted for the first time in the 2004 election but her brother's probably the most active of the ones they've invited to the rally. There have been a number of meatless dishes offered here (because some readers are vegetarian and also because I love vegetables) and I wrongly assumed she was familiar with them so set to work thinking what I would serve in a situation like that.
I figured something warm because it is winter. Some vegetarians don't eat dairy so I e-mailed to ask if her brother did eat dairy (he does). It needed to be filling and Mercy wrote that he was a big fan of tomatoes. So I gave her a recipe to test out and she reports back that it was very easy to make and perfect for today. She's cooked it ahead so she just has to warm it up when they get home.
Tomato and Zucchini Casserole Bake
2 medium tomatoes sliced
2 medium zucchinis sliced
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups of grated cheese
salt and pepper
Place zucchini slices in a greased casserole dish. Lightly salt and pepper (skip the salt if you're trying to cook low sodium). Remove the rings from the onion slices and layer them over the zucchini. Add the bell pepper. Follow with the tomatoes. Top with cheese and bake (uncovered) at 350 degrees for one hour.
If you're cooking ahead of time, allow dish to cool, cover with foil or plastic (or a lid) and place in your fridge. (If using a lid, nonplastic, put it on while the dish is cooling. The steam will create a bit of a seal.) The cheese choice is up to you. I always go with mozzarella myself, but you can use chedder or any cheese you enjoy. On the bell pepper, green is fine. Some might want to use red. If you're trying to add a different flavor and color, I'd suggest yellow.
You can eat it hot out of the oven or you can reheat it and eat it later. Casseroles tend to be filling. Mercy fixed it to sample and intended to fix more items for dinner but her husband was eating forkfuls and she ended up just making that dinner. There were no complaints. So this is a wonderful side dish or main dish. If you're trying to get more vegetables into your diet, this gives you tomatoes, onions, peppers and zucchini.
I'm glad Mercy's got a dish she can serve but I'm even more glad that she's gotten her brother, his date, her mother and two friends to attend her local rally. It could have just been her and her husband attending together. Instead, they're going with five more people. That's how the peace movement will grow and how the illegal war will end. I'm in DC with the 'gang.' My husband and I drove in with Jess' parents. (Mike flew in with Elaine because Elaine couldn't cancel her last therapy session. Thursday nights are when she has her group of veterans.) We brought along our daughter and one of my brothers. Jess' mother brought along a friend. Bit by bit, the peace movement grows bigger and louder and we're going to get to the point where even the White House will have to listen to us.
If you're attending something today and you haven't invited anyone to come with you, take a moment or two to see if you can think of someone to invite. It's not 2003, after the illegal war began, when you might have felt you were in the minority. The American people want the war to end.
By the way, Betty's most recent chapter is "Thomas Friedman plays at being Chauncey Gardiner." Her latest will go up later today. If it's not up by the time I'm ready to post, I will note it next weekend. I would also recommend the "Roundtable" that everyone did at The Third Estate Sunday Review. That blew me away. An honest, probing discussion of the peace movement. I have waited in vain for independent media to provide that. If you have as well, read "Roundtable."
Here is C.I.'s "Iraq snasphot" for Friday:
Friday, January 26, 2007. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq, ten days to go until Ehren Watada's February 5th court-martial begins, groups mobolize to end the war in the United States, Bully Boy issues death threats to Iranians in Iraq and a death threat to American democracy, the privatization of Iraq's assets is boldly expressed but we're all supposed to look the other way and the US military gets caught in a lie.
Starting with Ehren Watada, he, his father (Bob Watada) and his mother (Carolyn Ho) will be out in full force tomorrow. Susan Paynter (Seattle Post-Intelligencer) reports will be taking part in Seattle's events to end the war: "1 p.m. at the Center for Social Justice, 2111 E. Union St., moving to the Military Recruitment Center at 2301 S. Jackson St., then to the Langston Hughes Center at 104 17th Ave. S. at 3, where speakers will include Lt. Ehren Watada." Watada, who will be part of a panel discussion, is the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq and he is facing a Februarty 5th court-martial in which he will not be able to present any real defense because 'Judge' Head has a really sick sense of what "justice" is.
Michael E. Ruane (Washington Post) reports that Bob Watada will be speaking at the DC rally tomorrow and Bob Watada tells Ruane: "There is no doubt in my mind that the invasion and occupation of Iraq is wholly unwarranted. The Iraqi people have done absolutely nothing to the United States. They've done nothing to deserve the massacre and the pummeling they're getting . . . the plunder, the torture, the rape, the murder of innocent people. It's got to stop." Meredith May (San Francisco Chronicle) reports that, in San Francisco, things kick off with "a noon rally at Powell and Market streets. Carolyn Ho, the mother of Army 1st Lt. Ehren Watada of Hawaii, who is refusing orders to deploy to Iraq, will speak to the crowd."
Three different cities tomorrow where they will be attempting to get the message that the illegal war needs to end and that what will take place in the February 5th court-martial won't be justice because the 'judge' has refused to allow Ehren Watada to present his reasons for refusing to deploy, the studies he did as part of his command that led him to the conclusion that the war was illegal and immoral. Marilyn Bechtel (People's Weekly World) spoke with Marti Hiken (National Lawyers Guild) who noted that "people do not surrender all their constional rights when they enter the military" and that "Regardless of whether the military wins this court martial, they lose for silencing an individual who has so much integrity that is evident to people across the country."
Saying "no" to an illegal war is hard. It takes courage. (Note the Cowards Silence plauging the left if you doubt that, but I'm actually talking about those in the military who have said "no.") Watada is a part of a movement of resistance with the military that includes others such as Agustin Aguayo (whose court-martial is currently set to begin on March
6th), Kyle Snyder, Darrell Anderson, Ivan Brobeck, Ricky Clousing, Aidan Delgado, Mark Wilkerson, Joshua Key, Camilo Meija, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Jeremy Hinzman, Corey Glass, Patrick Hart, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske and Kevin Benderman. In total, thirty-eight US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.
In the United States, tomorrow sees protests, rallies and marches around the country. As CODEPINK notes: "Join us on January 27 to say No More Funding for War! Bring Our Troops Home Now! We will use our feet and our lungs and our signs and our outrage to let Bush and our new Congress know that we are serious about ending this war.If you can't make it to DC, see if there is a solidarity event being planned in your area. If not, create your own, even if that means standing alone on a street corner with a sign! In lieu of lobbying, you can call your Congressperson to demand they cut the funding for George Bush's War. Our voices are powerful, wherever we may be geographically. We know peace is the only real path to hope and opportunity for this country. Together we will make it happen."
If you can't make it to DC, you can still be heard. If there's not an event in your area, start one. Avaaz.org (formely Ceasefire Campaign Team) is attempting to get the word out on a way you can be heard in DC if you're not able to attend:
Join Saturday's global peace march... without Leaving Your House!This Saturday, hundreds of thousands of Americans will march on Washington DC to demand peace and justice in Iraq and the Middle East. We can be there too, raising a global voice of solidarity -- through our own worldwide virtual march. Time is short, so add your voice and join the march today! http://www.avaaz.org/en/global_peace_march/ This could signal the rebirth of the US peace movement. We need to show them the world is on their side. Let's bring our call for peace to the streets of power in Washington. Join the global peace march and tell your friends today!
Events will be covered by some media. Known coverage will include: KPFA which will broadcast live from the DC demonstrations from 10:00 am to noon PST. (At which point it will begin covering demonstrations in the Bay Area.) and Laura Flanders who will cover the days demonstration Saturday night (7:00 to 10:00 pm EST) on her program RadioNation with Laura Flanders (heard on Air America Radio and other outlets). (Both KPFA and Air America Radio offer online streaming.) (KPFA also offers their achived broadcasts for free, so if you miss the live coverage and would like to hear it later, check out the KPFA Archives). Rachel notes that WBAI will broadcast live coverage of the demonstrations from
11:00 am to 1:00 pm EST. In addition, she notes that tonight (Friday) on WBAI, David Occhiuto will host a special which will feature anti-war films, interviews and will include coverage of Ehren Watada including sections of the speech he gave in Seattle that the the Article 32 hearing in August included and the court-martial next month plans to include in their prosecution of him. Tune in to hear the message that so frightened the military brass that 'Judge' Head has gagged Watada's defense from presenting. That's tonight, WBAI,
7:00 pm to 11:00 pm EST (over the airwaves in NYC and surrounding areas as well as online).
As people mobilize to get the truth out, the US military finds some cover-ups implode faster than others. New details emerge regarding Saturday's reported violence. Saturday, five US troops were killed in Karbala when resistance fighters reportedly wearing US uniforms were waived through checkpoints and made it to a meeting in Karbala. Five US troops were reported as dying during the attack that followed. The AP is reporting (based on US and Iraqi military sources) that four of the five were kidnapped and the four were then killed with bodies being discovered as far away as 25 miles. There was a lot of Happy Talk this week. There was the lie that corpses discovered in Baghdad were tapering off (42 discovered yesterday), there was the lie that what's happening on Haifa Street is normal and not an attack that's killing civilians, there were showy moments in the US Congress and there were the lies of Bully Boy's State of the Union address. When we're neck-deep in lies, it's really easy for the US military to lie (that is what happened) and misinform the public.
Without the lies, the escalation couldn't be sold and a lot of people are vested in selling the escalation. And note that when the AP asked about it, the US military played dumb. As Steven R. Hurst and Qassim Abdul-Zahra (AP) reported later, the US military has now confirmed that four were kidnapped and killed later (1 of the 4 was apparently discovered "mortally wounded").
Bombings?
CBS and AP report a bombing of a pet market utilizing a bomb hidden among pigeons that has resulted in the death of at least 14 people in Baghdad. Stephen Farrell (Times of London) reports: "Police said insurgents concealed the explosives inside a cardboard box punched with holes to make it appear a container for pigeons, parrots or other birds which are prime attractions at the market. The blast, which also wounded 55, hit the Ghazel market on the eastern banks of the Tigris just before the weekly curfew intended to protect crowds attending mosques during noon prayers on the Islamic day of prayer." Farrell notes that the explosion allowed some caged pets to be let loose but many died. Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports: "Two civilians were injured when an IED exploded in Milhaniya, a part of Amil neighborhood at 1 pm." Reuters notes: "On Friday, a suicide bomber blew himself up in a Shi'ite mosque on the outskirts of Mosul, killing seven and wounding 17 more after prayers, a police source said."
Shootings?
Reuters notes: "Gunmen opened fire on a crowd in Baghdad's Bayaa district, killing one person and wounding two, a police source said."
Corpses?
CBS and AP report: "Seven tortured bodies of people who had been blindfolded and had their hands and legs bound before they were shot in the head were found in the capital Friday, according to police." Reuters notes that number of corpses discovered in Baghdad today has risen to 27 while one corpse was discovered in Kirkuk and a headless corpse was discovered in Hawija. Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports: "The body of the Iraqi boxer Hussein Hadi was found in Haifa street. Police said that Hadi was kidnapped three days ago and he found hanged today."
Also today, the US military announced: "One Marine assigned to Regimental Combat Team 6 died today from wounds sustained due to enemy action while operating in Al Anbar Province."
Meanwhile, CNN reports that the Iranian government is calling "terrorism" on Bully Boy's recent order (backed up by US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates) for US troops to kill (on the spot) Iranians they suspect of plotting terrorism. These execution orders by the Bully Boy come with no jury or defense, just an instant passing of judgement.
In financial news, AFP reports that one of Iraq's two vice presidents, Shi'ite Adel Abdul Mahdi, has called the illegal occupation of Iraq "idiotic" but is pushing the 'we will be safe if we have to raid and terrorize school children, residents of homes, etc' that was so popular with the puppet of the occupation yesterday. Those confused by the both-sides-talking Mahdi can refer to a commentary by Antonia Juhasz (Huffington Post) last May: "The re-appointment of Mahdi may yet provide the Bush Administration with its most important victory in the Iraq war since Saddam Hussein was pulled out of a rabbit hole in Tikrit. However, Mahdi's Vice Presidency may also ultimately generate at least as much hostility towards the United States as the invasion itself. Over the course of the war, Mahdi emerged as one of the most aggressive proponents of the Bush administration's economic agenda for Iraq, including the implementation of controversial corporate globalization rules and greater U.S. corporate access to Iraq's oil." Mahdi earlier served in the Bremer 'government' and will probably serve in a great many other puppet governments to follow.
MarketWatch reports: "Over the next several years, the minister [Mahdi] said Iraq would look to privatize all of state-owned industry, which number around 60 companies. He also said Asian companies were keen to enter discussions with the Iraqi government over industrial contracts. Hariri said Iraq was also in discussions with San Francisco-based Bechtel Corp over engineering contracts, without elaborating."
The privatization. Antonia Juhasz (author of The BU$H Agenda: Invading the World, One Economy at a Time) attempted to address the realities of the oil law on KPFA's Living Room
January 11th. But a (male) guest, of course, new better and felt that whatever laws were passed, Iraqis could undue the damage many years on down the line. That's confronting the problem! For those who didn't grasp the importance of what Juhasz was addressing, The San Jose Mercury News reports "Iraq is in negotiations with San Ramon-based Chevron Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp. to build a new $3 billion petrochemical facility, and is in talks with several other Western companies over industrial projects. In an interview Thursday, Iraq's minister for industry and minerals Fowzi Hariri said the discussions with Chevron and Exxon began this week in Washington and are at an early stage." The New York Times fluffed their coverage of the law last Saturday. Apparently, we're all supposed to pretend it doesn't matter or take the attitude of, "Hey, they can fix in 20 years!"
For those who've forgotten, in polling where Iraqis side with the resistance on the topic of attacking foreign fighters (including American troops), they also note the belief that the continued war is nothing but an attempt for foreigners to get their hands on Iraqi assets. Prvatization laws and multi-billion dollar deals by outsiders tend to convey that impression.
In political news, CNN reports that that the Democratic leadership in the US Congress may push for a revamping of the 2002 act that the Bully Boy cited as his authorization for starting a pre-emptive, illegal war of agression on Iraq. Of course, with Democrat leadership, "maybe" means basically what "We'll see" means when said by a parent.
In news of dictators, CNN reports on Bully Boy of the United States latest string of I statements: "I am the decider . . . I've picked the plan . . . I know . . ." Though his love affair with self continues unabated, as the recent poll by CBS News found on Bully Boy's desired escalation: "More than 70 percent of Americans think he should have to get congressional approval before he commits those troops." (68% of poll respondents stated they were "uneasy" with Bully Boy's ability to make decisions regarding Iraq.) Though Bully Boy appears to have forgotten this basic fact, in a democracy, the people are "the deciders."
Reminder: Those in DC Saturday should check out Anthony Arnove, author most recently of IRAQ: The Logic of Withdrawal, who will be speaking at Busboys and Poets at 5:00 pm and those in the NYC area on Sunday should check out Joan Mellen speech at 7:30 p.m. at the 92nd Street Y (92nd Street and Lesington Avenue). Mellan, a professor at Temple University and the author of seventeen books, will be presenting a lecture on the JFK assasination . . . and beyond. Tickets are $25. Mellen's latest book is A Farewell to Justice which probes the assasination of JFK. She was a guest on Law and Disorder November 7, 2005. And the March 15, 2006 broadcast of KPFA's Guns and Butter featured her speech "How the Failure to Identify, Prosecute and Convict President Kennedy's Assassins Has Led to Today's Crisis of Democracy." You can also read a transcript of that speech here.
iraq
ehren watada
antonia juhaszben hamamatoliving roomkris welchkpfa
michael e. ruanethe washington postsusan paynter
united for peace and justice
joan mellen
anthony arnove
law and disorder
bonnie faulkner
guns and butter
mikey likes it
radionation with laura flanderslaura flanders
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Cajun Chicken Wings
I was exchanging e-mails with Patsy this week about a number of topics. Her mother passed away over the summer and she only recently was at a point where she could open up the boxes of her mother's items and go through them. Immediately after the death, her brother and her sisters divided up their mother's items and, among other things, Patsy ended up with the cookbooks.
She was amazed at how many cookbooks, even name ones, as late as the 60s were built around canned ingredients. That's because fresh foods, which we take for granted today, weren't always as easily transported as they are today. In many grocery stores today, you can walk to the produce section and find a wide variety of fresh foods and vegetables. I can remember, as a little girl, when iceberg lettuce could always be found and any other form of lettuce was considered a bonus. Patsy has a similar memory where tomoatoes meant one variety.
It's also true that a number of families canned their own vegetables back then. With the corporatism of farming, family farms have disappeared. I spoke to my mother about this and she instantly thought of peaches and how canning made peaches available year round in stores (with the sugary syrup they're packed in). Canning was an early revolution in cooking and Patsy and I were discussing changes with regards to that and other topics.
She talked about how going through the pages, the ones most used were obvious and she could remember her mother cooking certain dishes. She was also surprised to find recipes to items we might think of as new.
She wanted to share one that she found in her mother's recipe box -- a plastic box with recipes on index cards. This is credited to "newspaper" and Patsy has no idea what newspaper but she knows it ran in or before 1978 because her mother had made a note on it to serve it at Patsy's father's retirement party.
Cajun Chicken Wings
1 pound chicken wings
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
Seasoned bread crumbs
Oil for deep frying.
In a large bowl, comine chicken, milk & Tabasco sauce.
Marinate in refrigerator 1 hour.
Drain wings and roll in bread crumbs then refrigerate 20 minutes.
Heat oil to 375 degrees F, fry chicken wings, a few at a time, about 12 minutes, or until crisp on the outside and cooked on the inside.
If you're someone who eats chicken wings today, you may think they're a new thing. They really aren't. Back then, anything hot and spicy tended to get dubbed "Cajun" so I couldn't even begin to guess if chicken wings started out as a Cajun treat. (There's a similar Chinese dish as well.)
She remembered the retirement party for her father and how quickly the wings went when she saw the index card in her mother's recipe file. Moments like this were repeated when she went through the other cards and the cooking books. All of that almost got tossed in the trash. When they all gathered at her mother's house, they were mainly attempting to go through everything quickly -- both due to the fact that most of them had to travel a distance and also because, with the loss and the funeral, they were still in shock.
Patsy says she's not a big cook and hadn't planned on grabbing the cookbooks or the recipe box until she saw they were going to be trashed. She wanted me to pass on that if you find yourself in a similar situation, grab them. You don't have to cook. But just looking through them will provide you with the same kind of memories you'd have from looking through old photos.
Wally's mother and I were talking about on the phone this week and she agreed with Patsy. She said she hates having her picture taken and each year that happens less and less but if, years from now, Wally's trying to remember moments of his childhood, he could do so going through her cooking books. She noted she goes through phases where she's into this or that for a few years so just going through the books chonologically should bring back many memories. ("Including my first experiments with a dish which always seem to fail. Burned or undercooked, it's happened many times and we've laughed about it every time.")
Turning to Iraq . . . I continue to be shocked by the silence of The Nation on part of war resisters. My husband and I were talking about that and what C.I.'s termed the "Coward's Silence" all week. We believe we're done with it. It is distressing, week after week, to read a magazine that has nothing to say which really is the case, issue after issue, with few exceptions. It is the silence on war resisters, the refusal to cover them, that stands out the most to me.
The magazine wants to assert that they are against the illegal war but as one service member after another has faced court-martial for refusing to deploy, the magazine has played Coward's Silence. When Darrell Anderson returned, nothing. When Ricky Clousing returned, nothing. When Ivan Brobeck returned, nothing. When Kyle Synder returned, nothing. When he self-checked out after grasping that the military was once again lying to him, nothing. Mark Wilkerson and others, nothing. Ehren Watada faces a court-martial on February 5th and he's gotten a sidebar in the magazine, a sidebar to an article where he's called a coward. Agustin Aguayo is facing a court-martial and the magazine has nothing to say.
I don't pay for silence and I don't respect cowards. So, as we've waited for the magazine to weigh in, and waited and waited, my husband and I have finally reached the conclusion that The Nation doesn't have anything to say about the war worth hearing.
It can offer the sort of chat & chew talk one might find on any of the superficial Sunday chat shows. But bravery isn't a trait of the current Nation. We announced it at the Iraq study group meeting last night and others said they'll stop reading it as well. Comments included that the magazine was cowardly, juvenile, sucking up to the powerful, unable to take any stand, and directionless. At some point, you either represent and speak to your readers or you don't and The Nation doesn't. It offers superficial commentary on what Congress should do or could do or any number of things. It's as embarrassing now as American Prospect, Washington Monthly or any other Democratic Party publications that try to pass for left. It is not a magazine for the left anymore.
The left needs one but propping up a magazine that spits on readers isn't going to change things. And it does spit on readers. It robs them of their power and it speaks down to them with scolding posts of how they better not say anything bad about this, or bloggers should write about that, or any number of things. It's not serving a readership, it's attempting to channel the public into the magazine's safe, do nothing approach.
If you agree with that, please stop buying or subscribing the magazine. Stop enabling that behavior. Stop settling. Stop fooling yourself that at some point they will change and that they probably feel as strongly as you do. They've had months to cover war resisters. They've had many topics that could have led to an editorial. Instead, they have stayed silent. Don't support cowards who stay silent. Silence continues the war. Telling people that the only power they have is begging Congress to act robs people of their power. We are more than voters, we are citizens in a democratic society and any magazine that refuses to grasp that isn't worth reading.
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" from Friday:
Friday, January 19. 2006. Chaos and violence continue, but speculation is so much more fun for the mainstream press; war resisters stand up and some stand with them; General Casey uses weasel words;
Starting with news of US war resister Ehren Watada who, in June 2006, became the first commissioned officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq. Watada faces a court-martial February 5th and the 'judge' has stripped him of the right to present a strong defense. Arguments that can't be made in a kangroo court can be made by in the real world at Citizens' Hearing on the Legality of U.S. Actions in Iraq which starts tomorrow and concludes Sunday at the Evergreen State College Tacoma Campus (10:00 am to 4:00 pm each day). As Michael Gilbert (The News Tribune) reports "a lineup of speakers will make the case that the war and the ongoing occupation are illegal under international and U.S. law, and that an officer such as Watada has a duty to disobey orders to take part in it." Zoltan Grossman tells Gilbert that "the event will take the shape of a congressional hearing" and notes that those participating include the following: Denis Halliday, Ann Wright, Francis Boyle, Daniel Ellsberg, Darrell Anderson, Harvey Tharp and Nadia McCaffrey.
While some stay silent (The Nation) Peter Michaelson (BuzzFlash) steps up, "The world is upside down, and one brave first lieutenant tries to set it right. The U.S. war in Iraq is illegal and immoral, says 1st Lt. Ehren Watada. In thus choosing reality over fallacy, and refusing to deploy to Iraq with his Stryker brigade, the 28-year-old Honolulu native faces six years in the brig when his court-martial begins next month at Ft. Lewis near Seattle." Peter Michaelson and BuzzFlash stood up. FYI, BuzzFlash is offering Peace buttons and Howard Zinn's A Power Governments Cannot Suppress.
Also standing up, of course, in support of Watada is Iraq Veterans Against the War have set up Camp Resistance and Portland IMC has audio of Dennis Kyne and Darrell Anderson speaking about Camp Resistance. Anderson spoke of how they were camping outside Fort Lewis, "That bus is parked right there and it's not leaving until the trial is over, not till February." Anderson noted the positive reaction from soldiers at Fort Lewis, "They see the bus, they know who we area. After six days, we had soldiers honking, soldiers rolling by in their civilian clothes and screaming out the window. And I remember like, wow, I was just coming up here for Watada and Suzanne Swift and I didn't think the soldiers were going to . . . I never heard of soldiers power fisting anti-war guys. And that's when it hit me, that they're done. They're not going back for a third time. 'Cause that's where I'd be if I didn't go AWOL, I'd be at my third tour right now. Three years in Iraq, three years. Could you imagine Vietnam vets, could you imagine going back to Vietnam three times? Three years and you don't come back from that. You go to Iraq, but you don't come back."
As Ehren Watada's February 5th court-martial approaches, this week the US military announced their decision to charge Agustin Aguayo with desertion and missing movement which carry a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. Watada, Aguayo, and Anderson are part of a movement of resistance within the military that also includes Kyle Snyder, Agustin Aguayo, Ivan Brobeck, Darrell Anderson, Ricky Clousing, Aidan Delgado, Mark Wilkerson, Joshua Key, Camilo Meija, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Jeremy Hinzman, Corey Glass, Patrick Hart, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske and Kevin Benderman. In total, thirty-eight US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.
From CODEPINK:
Bring the Peace Mandate to D.C. on J27! On Election Day voters delivered an unmistakable mandate for peace. Now it's time for action. Join CODEPINK in a national march to D.C. on January 27-29, to send a strong, clear message to Congress and the Bush Administration: The people of this country want the war and occupation in Iraq to end and we want the troops home now! See our latest actions, and click here for details.
In Iraq today?
Bombings?
Reuters reports a bombing of a butcher's shop that killed the butcher in Hilla. Mohammed al Awsy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad bombing ("at AL ELLWIAH intersection in KARDA") that killed a police officer and left another dead, a mortar attack ("near haifa street") that killed 2 and left 3 more wounded, another martar attack ("bayaa area western Baghdad") that left one person injured and a mortar attack that killed a woman and wounded 3 more people. Kim Gamel (AP) reports that a Shi'ite mosque was bombed "in sourthern Baghdad" (before the bombing, two guards of the mosque were killed).
Shootings?
CBS and AP report that "a man working for the Ministry of Tourism and Archaeology Affairs . . . was shot to death near his home in a predominantly Sunni neighborhood in western Baghdad." Reuters reports three shot dead in Falluja (Iraqi soldier and two ex-police officers), a Sunni preacher was shot dead in Kirkuk, and an attack on a minibus left two wounded in Hilla. Mohammed al Awsy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports that, in Tikrit, a vehichle was stopped an official checkpoint, the car contained 4 family members and began accusing one ("OMAR") of having fake identification but they waived them on only for them to be stopped by "unknown gunmen" immediately after who wanted to know which one was Omar "and killed him immediately and stabbed his other brother" leaving his sister and mother to drive to the hospital in Tikrit.
Corpses?
Mohammed al Awsy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 17 corpses were discovered in Baghdad today ("1 yarmouk, 2 amil, 1 aour, 2 zaafaraniyah, 1 selakh, 1 kamaliyah, 4 rahmaniyah, 1 bayaa, 1 shurta khamsa and 3 in dora. some were tortured and handcuffed").
In addition to the above, today US military announced today: " A Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldier died when an improvised explosive device detonated on a patrol in a northwest section of the Iraqi capital Jan. 18" and the BBC reports that six British oldiers were wounded following an attack utilizing rockets and mortars ("on the Basra Palace camp").
In legal news, on Thursday, three US troops confessed and to review that:
*Hashim Ibrahim Awad who was the grandfather kidnapped and then murdered last year (April). Eight US service members were charged. They are known as the Pendleton Eight. Four had already confessed to their involvement. Yesterday, Trent Thomas became the fifth with his plea agreement.
*Three Iraqis, on May 9th, were detained by US troops, placed in plastic handcuffs, released (handcuffs cut off) with the intent to kill them ("Kill them all" is what some defense lawyers argued their clients were told). Four US troops were charged with this. William B. Hunsaker confessed (and was sentenced) earlier this month, Juston R. Graber also confessed to his involvment this month. Raymond L. Girouard maintains his innocence. Yesterday, Core Clagett entered a plea agreement. (It should be noted his attorney, Paul Bergin, has his own problems these days.) So that's three out of four having admitted guilt.
*Abeer is the one Megan says she can follow but just to recap for anyone who is confused -- three admissions of guilt in three different war crimes took place yesterday -- Abeer Qasim Hamza (14-years-old), Hadeel Qassim Hamza (five-years-old, Abeer's sister), Qassim Hamza Raheem and Fakhriya Taha Muhasen (her parents) were all killed on March 12, 2006. In addition Abeer was gang raped before being killed. Those charged in the incident were Steven D. Green (to be tried in a civilian court because he had left the military before the war crimes were learned of), Jesse Spielman, Bryan Howard, James P. Barker and Paul Cortez. (Anthony W. Yribe was not charged with participating -- he was charged with failure to report the crimes, dereliction of duty.) Green has entered a plea of not guilty in a federal court. James P. Barker confessed in court in November (and named Cortez as a co-gang rapist). Paul Cortez confessed yesterday but his attorney maintains Cortez was an 'oberserver.' Was he an observer in rape?
Barker's testimony was that it appeared Cortez was raping Abeer but, from his statements, he wasn't able to determine penetration. (Wasn't able to determine it from his angle. Whether Cortez penetrated or not, he took part in the gang rape, according to Barker, because Barker confessed to how they took turns holding Abeer down during the gang rape.)
Meanwhile Robert Gates visits Iraq and calls the current climate a "pivotal moment." Meeting up with the outgoing George Casey ("top American commander in Iraq"), CBS and AP report that Casey declares: "I think it's probably going to be the summer, late summer, before you get to the point where people in Baghdad feel safe in their neighborhoods." Is that what you think? Casey's not done with feelings checks or predictions, Robert Burns (AP) reports that escalated troops (the 21,500 Bully Boy wants to send into Iraq) COULD be back "home by late summer". COULD. A weasel word.
"Casey, didn't you say US troops would be back home by late summer?"
"No, I said could."
Meaningless weasel words meant to comfort and lull a public that's enraged by an illegal war with no apparent end. AP reports that Nancy Pelois (US House Speaker) has declared Bully Boy "has dug a hole so deep he can't even see the light on this. It's a tragedy. It's a stark blunder."
CBS, CNN and the whole mainstream press report that Muqtada al-Sadr's top aide was arrested, this following yesterday's reported arrest of Shi'ite fighters, and that al-Sadr is now in hiding fearing for his life and moving his family around while stating that a holy period of Muharram (the new year -- short answer). al-Sadr is quoted stating that no attacks will be initiated by him during the holy period (however, a response would be another issue) but when it is over, "we'll see." How much of this is true, how much of this is the sort of jerk-around we were once supposed to believe during Vietnam (remember Henry Kissinger really, really wanting to have those Paris Peace Talks -- at least publicly?), who knows.
More importantly, what Nouri al-Maliki is willing to go along with (not order, he doesn't have the power to order) at this minute and after more troops are on the ground is also a question mark.
Most importantly, Baghdad is a city.
Al-Anbar Province and Baghdad are where Bully Boy wants to send the bulk of esclation. As Webster Tarpley and Bonnie Faulkiner discussed Wednesday on KPFA's Guns and Butter, house-to-house, blah, blah, blah (the kind of nonsense that makes Michael Gordon light headed) creates a flank, you have less power to move in a city (tanks, et al). Tarpley compared it to the desperation measures of Hitler when commander-in-chief of the Eastern Front against Russia.
As people get exicted over who may have gotten arrested and who may not have, what al-Sadr might have said or not, what al-Maliki might do or not, what COULD happen this summer, it seems (yet again) some basic realities are being ignored. Noting one reality is Warren P. Strobel (McClatchy Newspapers): the illegal war "hasn't turned out the way advocates of the Iraq invasion had hoped or the way Bush and [U.S. Secretary of State] Condi Rice had predicted." Nor the way the New York Times and many others predicted either.
For more reality, Anthony Arnove, author of Iraq: The Logic of Withdrawal, will be speaking tomorrow as well as next Saturday:
*January 20, 7 pm, Chicago, IL (with Jeff Engelhardt)
University of Illinois-Chicago Contact: Adam Turl, 773-567-0936, adamcturl@yahoo.com
*January 27, 5 pm, Washington, DC (with Kelly Dougherty)
Busboys and Poets
http://www.busboysandpoets.com/blog_events.htm
iraq
ehren watada
kpfa
bonnie faulknerguns and butter
anthony arnove
codepink
darrell anderson
agustin aguayo
camp resistance
She was amazed at how many cookbooks, even name ones, as late as the 60s were built around canned ingredients. That's because fresh foods, which we take for granted today, weren't always as easily transported as they are today. In many grocery stores today, you can walk to the produce section and find a wide variety of fresh foods and vegetables. I can remember, as a little girl, when iceberg lettuce could always be found and any other form of lettuce was considered a bonus. Patsy has a similar memory where tomoatoes meant one variety.
It's also true that a number of families canned their own vegetables back then. With the corporatism of farming, family farms have disappeared. I spoke to my mother about this and she instantly thought of peaches and how canning made peaches available year round in stores (with the sugary syrup they're packed in). Canning was an early revolution in cooking and Patsy and I were discussing changes with regards to that and other topics.
She talked about how going through the pages, the ones most used were obvious and she could remember her mother cooking certain dishes. She was also surprised to find recipes to items we might think of as new.
She wanted to share one that she found in her mother's recipe box -- a plastic box with recipes on index cards. This is credited to "newspaper" and Patsy has no idea what newspaper but she knows it ran in or before 1978 because her mother had made a note on it to serve it at Patsy's father's retirement party.
Cajun Chicken Wings
1 pound chicken wings
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
Seasoned bread crumbs
Oil for deep frying.
In a large bowl, comine chicken, milk & Tabasco sauce.
Marinate in refrigerator 1 hour.
Drain wings and roll in bread crumbs then refrigerate 20 minutes.
Heat oil to 375 degrees F, fry chicken wings, a few at a time, about 12 minutes, or until crisp on the outside and cooked on the inside.
If you're someone who eats chicken wings today, you may think they're a new thing. They really aren't. Back then, anything hot and spicy tended to get dubbed "Cajun" so I couldn't even begin to guess if chicken wings started out as a Cajun treat. (There's a similar Chinese dish as well.)
She remembered the retirement party for her father and how quickly the wings went when she saw the index card in her mother's recipe file. Moments like this were repeated when she went through the other cards and the cooking books. All of that almost got tossed in the trash. When they all gathered at her mother's house, they were mainly attempting to go through everything quickly -- both due to the fact that most of them had to travel a distance and also because, with the loss and the funeral, they were still in shock.
Patsy says she's not a big cook and hadn't planned on grabbing the cookbooks or the recipe box until she saw they were going to be trashed. She wanted me to pass on that if you find yourself in a similar situation, grab them. You don't have to cook. But just looking through them will provide you with the same kind of memories you'd have from looking through old photos.
Wally's mother and I were talking about on the phone this week and she agreed with Patsy. She said she hates having her picture taken and each year that happens less and less but if, years from now, Wally's trying to remember moments of his childhood, he could do so going through her cooking books. She noted she goes through phases where she's into this or that for a few years so just going through the books chonologically should bring back many memories. ("Including my first experiments with a dish which always seem to fail. Burned or undercooked, it's happened many times and we've laughed about it every time.")
Turning to Iraq . . . I continue to be shocked by the silence of The Nation on part of war resisters. My husband and I were talking about that and what C.I.'s termed the "Coward's Silence" all week. We believe we're done with it. It is distressing, week after week, to read a magazine that has nothing to say which really is the case, issue after issue, with few exceptions. It is the silence on war resisters, the refusal to cover them, that stands out the most to me.
The magazine wants to assert that they are against the illegal war but as one service member after another has faced court-martial for refusing to deploy, the magazine has played Coward's Silence. When Darrell Anderson returned, nothing. When Ricky Clousing returned, nothing. When Ivan Brobeck returned, nothing. When Kyle Synder returned, nothing. When he self-checked out after grasping that the military was once again lying to him, nothing. Mark Wilkerson and others, nothing. Ehren Watada faces a court-martial on February 5th and he's gotten a sidebar in the magazine, a sidebar to an article where he's called a coward. Agustin Aguayo is facing a court-martial and the magazine has nothing to say.
I don't pay for silence and I don't respect cowards. So, as we've waited for the magazine to weigh in, and waited and waited, my husband and I have finally reached the conclusion that The Nation doesn't have anything to say about the war worth hearing.
It can offer the sort of chat & chew talk one might find on any of the superficial Sunday chat shows. But bravery isn't a trait of the current Nation. We announced it at the Iraq study group meeting last night and others said they'll stop reading it as well. Comments included that the magazine was cowardly, juvenile, sucking up to the powerful, unable to take any stand, and directionless. At some point, you either represent and speak to your readers or you don't and The Nation doesn't. It offers superficial commentary on what Congress should do or could do or any number of things. It's as embarrassing now as American Prospect, Washington Monthly or any other Democratic Party publications that try to pass for left. It is not a magazine for the left anymore.
The left needs one but propping up a magazine that spits on readers isn't going to change things. And it does spit on readers. It robs them of their power and it speaks down to them with scolding posts of how they better not say anything bad about this, or bloggers should write about that, or any number of things. It's not serving a readership, it's attempting to channel the public into the magazine's safe, do nothing approach.
If you agree with that, please stop buying or subscribing the magazine. Stop enabling that behavior. Stop settling. Stop fooling yourself that at some point they will change and that they probably feel as strongly as you do. They've had months to cover war resisters. They've had many topics that could have led to an editorial. Instead, they have stayed silent. Don't support cowards who stay silent. Silence continues the war. Telling people that the only power they have is begging Congress to act robs people of their power. We are more than voters, we are citizens in a democratic society and any magazine that refuses to grasp that isn't worth reading.
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" from Friday:
Friday, January 19. 2006. Chaos and violence continue, but speculation is so much more fun for the mainstream press; war resisters stand up and some stand with them; General Casey uses weasel words;
Starting with news of US war resister Ehren Watada who, in June 2006, became the first commissioned officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq. Watada faces a court-martial February 5th and the 'judge' has stripped him of the right to present a strong defense. Arguments that can't be made in a kangroo court can be made by in the real world at Citizens' Hearing on the Legality of U.S. Actions in Iraq which starts tomorrow and concludes Sunday at the Evergreen State College Tacoma Campus (10:00 am to 4:00 pm each day). As Michael Gilbert (The News Tribune) reports "a lineup of speakers will make the case that the war and the ongoing occupation are illegal under international and U.S. law, and that an officer such as Watada has a duty to disobey orders to take part in it." Zoltan Grossman tells Gilbert that "the event will take the shape of a congressional hearing" and notes that those participating include the following: Denis Halliday, Ann Wright, Francis Boyle, Daniel Ellsberg, Darrell Anderson, Harvey Tharp and Nadia McCaffrey.
While some stay silent (The Nation) Peter Michaelson (BuzzFlash) steps up, "The world is upside down, and one brave first lieutenant tries to set it right. The U.S. war in Iraq is illegal and immoral, says 1st Lt. Ehren Watada. In thus choosing reality over fallacy, and refusing to deploy to Iraq with his Stryker brigade, the 28-year-old Honolulu native faces six years in the brig when his court-martial begins next month at Ft. Lewis near Seattle." Peter Michaelson and BuzzFlash stood up. FYI, BuzzFlash is offering Peace buttons and Howard Zinn's A Power Governments Cannot Suppress.
Also standing up, of course, in support of Watada is Iraq Veterans Against the War have set up Camp Resistance and Portland IMC has audio of Dennis Kyne and Darrell Anderson speaking about Camp Resistance. Anderson spoke of how they were camping outside Fort Lewis, "That bus is parked right there and it's not leaving until the trial is over, not till February." Anderson noted the positive reaction from soldiers at Fort Lewis, "They see the bus, they know who we area. After six days, we had soldiers honking, soldiers rolling by in their civilian clothes and screaming out the window. And I remember like, wow, I was just coming up here for Watada and Suzanne Swift and I didn't think the soldiers were going to . . . I never heard of soldiers power fisting anti-war guys. And that's when it hit me, that they're done. They're not going back for a third time. 'Cause that's where I'd be if I didn't go AWOL, I'd be at my third tour right now. Three years in Iraq, three years. Could you imagine Vietnam vets, could you imagine going back to Vietnam three times? Three years and you don't come back from that. You go to Iraq, but you don't come back."
As Ehren Watada's February 5th court-martial approaches, this week the US military announced their decision to charge Agustin Aguayo with desertion and missing movement which carry a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. Watada, Aguayo, and Anderson are part of a movement of resistance within the military that also includes Kyle Snyder, Agustin Aguayo, Ivan Brobeck, Darrell Anderson, Ricky Clousing, Aidan Delgado, Mark Wilkerson, Joshua Key, Camilo Meija, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Jeremy Hinzman, Corey Glass, Patrick Hart, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske and Kevin Benderman. In total, thirty-eight US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.
From CODEPINK:
Bring the Peace Mandate to D.C. on J27! On Election Day voters delivered an unmistakable mandate for peace. Now it's time for action. Join CODEPINK in a national march to D.C. on January 27-29, to send a strong, clear message to Congress and the Bush Administration: The people of this country want the war and occupation in Iraq to end and we want the troops home now! See our latest actions, and click here for details.
In Iraq today?
Bombings?
Reuters reports a bombing of a butcher's shop that killed the butcher in Hilla. Mohammed al Awsy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad bombing ("at AL ELLWIAH intersection in KARDA") that killed a police officer and left another dead, a mortar attack ("near haifa street") that killed 2 and left 3 more wounded, another martar attack ("bayaa area western Baghdad") that left one person injured and a mortar attack that killed a woman and wounded 3 more people. Kim Gamel (AP) reports that a Shi'ite mosque was bombed "in sourthern Baghdad" (before the bombing, two guards of the mosque were killed).
Shootings?
CBS and AP report that "a man working for the Ministry of Tourism and Archaeology Affairs . . . was shot to death near his home in a predominantly Sunni neighborhood in western Baghdad." Reuters reports three shot dead in Falluja (Iraqi soldier and two ex-police officers), a Sunni preacher was shot dead in Kirkuk, and an attack on a minibus left two wounded in Hilla. Mohammed al Awsy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports that, in Tikrit, a vehichle was stopped an official checkpoint, the car contained 4 family members and began accusing one ("OMAR") of having fake identification but they waived them on only for them to be stopped by "unknown gunmen" immediately after who wanted to know which one was Omar "and killed him immediately and stabbed his other brother" leaving his sister and mother to drive to the hospital in Tikrit.
Corpses?
Mohammed al Awsy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 17 corpses were discovered in Baghdad today ("1 yarmouk, 2 amil, 1 aour, 2 zaafaraniyah, 1 selakh, 1 kamaliyah, 4 rahmaniyah, 1 bayaa, 1 shurta khamsa and 3 in dora. some were tortured and handcuffed").
In addition to the above, today US military announced today: " A Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldier died when an improvised explosive device detonated on a patrol in a northwest section of the Iraqi capital Jan. 18" and the BBC reports that six British oldiers were wounded following an attack utilizing rockets and mortars ("on the Basra Palace camp").
In legal news, on Thursday, three US troops confessed and to review that:
*Hashim Ibrahim Awad who was the grandfather kidnapped and then murdered last year (April). Eight US service members were charged. They are known as the Pendleton Eight. Four had already confessed to their involvement. Yesterday, Trent Thomas became the fifth with his plea agreement.
*Three Iraqis, on May 9th, were detained by US troops, placed in plastic handcuffs, released (handcuffs cut off) with the intent to kill them ("Kill them all" is what some defense lawyers argued their clients were told). Four US troops were charged with this. William B. Hunsaker confessed (and was sentenced) earlier this month, Juston R. Graber also confessed to his involvment this month. Raymond L. Girouard maintains his innocence. Yesterday, Core Clagett entered a plea agreement. (It should be noted his attorney, Paul Bergin, has his own problems these days.) So that's three out of four having admitted guilt.
*Abeer is the one Megan says she can follow but just to recap for anyone who is confused -- three admissions of guilt in three different war crimes took place yesterday -- Abeer Qasim Hamza (14-years-old), Hadeel Qassim Hamza (five-years-old, Abeer's sister), Qassim Hamza Raheem and Fakhriya Taha Muhasen (her parents) were all killed on March 12, 2006. In addition Abeer was gang raped before being killed. Those charged in the incident were Steven D. Green (to be tried in a civilian court because he had left the military before the war crimes were learned of), Jesse Spielman, Bryan Howard, James P. Barker and Paul Cortez. (Anthony W. Yribe was not charged with participating -- he was charged with failure to report the crimes, dereliction of duty.) Green has entered a plea of not guilty in a federal court. James P. Barker confessed in court in November (and named Cortez as a co-gang rapist). Paul Cortez confessed yesterday but his attorney maintains Cortez was an 'oberserver.' Was he an observer in rape?
Barker's testimony was that it appeared Cortez was raping Abeer but, from his statements, he wasn't able to determine penetration. (Wasn't able to determine it from his angle. Whether Cortez penetrated or not, he took part in the gang rape, according to Barker, because Barker confessed to how they took turns holding Abeer down during the gang rape.)
Meanwhile Robert Gates visits Iraq and calls the current climate a "pivotal moment." Meeting up with the outgoing George Casey ("top American commander in Iraq"), CBS and AP report that Casey declares: "I think it's probably going to be the summer, late summer, before you get to the point where people in Baghdad feel safe in their neighborhoods." Is that what you think? Casey's not done with feelings checks or predictions, Robert Burns (AP) reports that escalated troops (the 21,500 Bully Boy wants to send into Iraq) COULD be back "home by late summer". COULD. A weasel word.
"Casey, didn't you say US troops would be back home by late summer?"
"No, I said could."
Meaningless weasel words meant to comfort and lull a public that's enraged by an illegal war with no apparent end. AP reports that Nancy Pelois (US House Speaker) has declared Bully Boy "has dug a hole so deep he can't even see the light on this. It's a tragedy. It's a stark blunder."
CBS, CNN and the whole mainstream press report that Muqtada al-Sadr's top aide was arrested, this following yesterday's reported arrest of Shi'ite fighters, and that al-Sadr is now in hiding fearing for his life and moving his family around while stating that a holy period of Muharram (the new year -- short answer). al-Sadr is quoted stating that no attacks will be initiated by him during the holy period (however, a response would be another issue) but when it is over, "we'll see." How much of this is true, how much of this is the sort of jerk-around we were once supposed to believe during Vietnam (remember Henry Kissinger really, really wanting to have those Paris Peace Talks -- at least publicly?), who knows.
More importantly, what Nouri al-Maliki is willing to go along with (not order, he doesn't have the power to order) at this minute and after more troops are on the ground is also a question mark.
Most importantly, Baghdad is a city.
Al-Anbar Province and Baghdad are where Bully Boy wants to send the bulk of esclation. As Webster Tarpley and Bonnie Faulkiner discussed Wednesday on KPFA's Guns and Butter, house-to-house, blah, blah, blah (the kind of nonsense that makes Michael Gordon light headed) creates a flank, you have less power to move in a city (tanks, et al). Tarpley compared it to the desperation measures of Hitler when commander-in-chief of the Eastern Front against Russia.
As people get exicted over who may have gotten arrested and who may not have, what al-Sadr might have said or not, what al-Maliki might do or not, what COULD happen this summer, it seems (yet again) some basic realities are being ignored. Noting one reality is Warren P. Strobel (McClatchy Newspapers): the illegal war "hasn't turned out the way advocates of the Iraq invasion had hoped or the way Bush and [U.S. Secretary of State] Condi Rice had predicted." Nor the way the New York Times and many others predicted either.
For more reality, Anthony Arnove, author of Iraq: The Logic of Withdrawal, will be speaking tomorrow as well as next Saturday:
*January 20, 7 pm, Chicago, IL (with Jeff Engelhardt)
University of Illinois-Chicago Contact: Adam Turl, 773-567-0936, adamcturl@yahoo.com
*January 27, 5 pm, Washington, DC (with Kelly Dougherty)
Busboys and Poets
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