http://summapolitico.blogspot.com the other day the war street journal as i think of the wall street journal's editorial pages, so firmly walled off from the reportorial stuff, did a fine war dance upon the death of zaqari, asserting that if proof was needed that al queda had been operating in Iraq all along, zaqari and his followers were it. i focus on this, briefly, because such an opinion piece demonstrates, is an instance in real time, of the manufacture of an ex-post facto lie that then serves as a ex-post-facto justification for that typical barn-barging u.s. super-galumphing conquest of iraq and of how stupid crimes of this kind are then grossly justified, though i wonder precisely if anyone who is not already taken in will be taken in by such a falsehood, but perhaps someone is looking forward to quoting the text in the future when some kind of new revisionism will be upon us. this kind of fabrication of false history has already been completed in the instance of the once fair city of fallujah where even the ny times reporters no longer refer to the sequence of event subsequent to its occupation by the first infantry division, their time line now starting with its complete destruction because it had become a hot bed of "the insurgency" - that the actions, i.e. multiple killings by said first infantry was what got the insurgency going has been consigned to the realm of "we lie by not mentioning."
i find the political posturing whether to get out or not jejune in the extreme. i have thought of iraq as iraquistine for some years now and that it reminds me of a dog called pity. within two week in this country my step father gave me ten dollars to buy my mother some flowers for her birthday. we were in a hotel in Newark, preparatory to moving into what i regarded a doll's house, but at least at the edge of a new growth forest, in west orange. wandering around Newark looking for a flower shop i spotted a doggie in a window and bought it and my mother named the little bitch "pity" for the reason that she accepted my gift. [giving your mother a puppy instead of flowers allows of some obvious Freudian analysis]. within nine months "pity" went into heat and it seemed permanently and intractably mounted by a far too big black monster, and it took quite a few buckets of cold water to get blacky to become extricated, for the various muscles to relax, shrink. however, neither cold water, perhaps the storming of the green zone, not even the blowing up of the ziggurut, as tom englehardt called it a while back, of a 5000 person strong embassy, will make for departure. pitystan , then, it is.
a wonderful conscientious analyst, and friend, dr. bernard bail, received the pour le merite the other day. "While serving as the Lead Navigator and Radar Operator on a flight of B-24 Liberator bombers in a raid over occupied France to destroy German V-1 and V-2 launching facilities that were devastating London, then 1st Lieutenant Bail's plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire. Three of the aircraft's engines were destroyed and the remaining engine was seriously damaged after a live 500-pound bomb ready to detonate became stuck in the bomb bay. The first pilot was killed and the ship's Command Pilot had his right lower leg nearly sheared off. Other members of the crew were seriously injured, one member being blinded by the gasoline which spewed everywhere. Lt. Bail ordered the crew to parachute out while the plane quickly headed toward the ground. Lt. Bail was the single individual that remained on board, at the risk of his own life, in order to assist the Command Pilot who was in extreme shock from severe blood loss and could not move or talk. Lt. Bail used his belt as a tourniquet in an effort to stop the bleeding and then attempted in every way he could to save the life of the completely immobilized Command Pilot, including attempting to pick him up and carry him to the bomb bay as well as many attempts to cajole and shake him out of paralyzing shock . to no avail. Lt. Bail parachuted out just before crash landing in the English Channel where the Command Pilot was picked up alive and taken to the nearest hospital for care. Dr. Bail flew a total of 25 missions into Germany during World War II. He was shot down for the second time on his 25th mission with some five to seven shell fragments wounding him in his head and neck, fragments that still remain with him. He was taken prisoner of war until the liberation. He received the following medals during his career in the Army Air Corp..."
Just the sort of man to guide the wounded and set off a lot of metal detector alarms! Actually. Dr. Bail is the kind of analyst you want to take into your womb with you when pregnant - i predicted this some years ago - to assist the baby's successful state in utero and its safe landing... I was so happy to come to know him because my boyhood was made much more interesting and of course dangerous by these visits of b-24s and b-17s many stories there, also by that shrapnel.
http://www.holisticpsychoanalysis.com/
the new york times magazine ran one of its barbara solomon interviews with handke yesterday. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/02/magazine/02wwln_q4.html
Otherwise, you will find a rich set of links at this summa posting.some fine tom angleheart who just keeps it up week after week... Chomsky, Dan
Wakefield, Gore Vidal, Michael Wood on Freud, interesting takes on the Mexican Elections, Sidney Blumenthal, etc etc.
http://summapolitico.blogspot.com
We're also pleased to offer an interview with novelist, journalist, and
screenwriter Dan Wakefield. He speaks about his book "The Hijacking of
Jesus," the distortion of Christianity by the Religious Right, the
mainline media, and signs of hope.
The Social Edge Interview: Author And Novelist Dan Wakefield
http://www.thesocialedge.com/articles2.htm
Byline Beast of N.Y.: Times' Sewell Chan Racks Up 422 in Year
http://www.observer.com/20060626/20060626_Gabriel_Sherman_media_offtherecord.asp
PINR Senior Analyst Dr. Michael A. Weinstein, who has been covering ongoing Somalia developments extensively, recently discussed the situation in Mogadishu for the Voice of America:
"Tensions Rise in Horn of Africa"
http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-06-20-voa38.cfm
------------------------------
Nigeria Avoids a Governance Crisis
Drafted By: Herman J. Cohen
http://www.pinr.com
Noam Chomsky A Negotiated Solution to the Iranian Nuclear Crisis is Within Reach
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0619-28.htm
Mexico Steps Back from the Electoral Brink, but Perilous Days Likely to Lie Ahead
*
Calderón, López Obrador, Madrazo: the presidential race goes to the wire
*
With less than three weeks remaining until Mexico's July 2 presidential ballot, the tone of the campaign remains irredeemably nasty
*
The June 13 signing of a "civility pact" among 6 of the 7 parties contesting the 2006 national elections may limit a potentially explosive post-vote dispute, although this is far from certain
*
What the agreement does not resolve, however, are the acrimonious divisions provoked by the main parties' depressing negative campaign strategies, typified by PAN candidate Felipe Calderón's vicious attack ads
*
New violence in Oaxaca suggests that social tensions have hardly abated in recent weeks, only heightening the possibility of post-election instability, including street violence
*
It appears increasingly likely that lingering bitterness could make governing after July 2 a difficult prospect at best, irrespective of who wins
http://www.coha.org/NEW_PRESS_RELEASES/New_Press_Releases_2006/COHA%20Report/COHA_Report_06.15_Mexico_Back_From_Brink.html
'Wash Post' Obtains Shocking Memo from U.S. Embassy in Baghdad
By Greg Mitchell
Published: June 19, 2006 6:20 PM ET
NEW YORK The Washington Post has obtained a cable, marked "sensitive," that it says shows that just before President Bush left on a surprise trip last Monday to the Green Zone in Baghdad for an upbeat assessment of the situation there, "the U.S. Embassy in Iraq painted a starkly different portrait of increasing danger and hardship faced by its Iraqi employees."
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id
We're also pleased to offer an interview with novelist, journalist, and
screenwriter Dan Wakefield. He speaks about his book "The Hijacking of
Jesus," the distortion of Christianity by the Religious Right, the
mainline media, and signs of hope.
The Social Edge Interview: Author And Novelist Dan Wakefield
http://www.thesocialedge.com/articles2.htm
Byline Beast of N.Y.: Times' Sewell Chan Racks Up 422 in Year
http://www.observer.com/20060626/20060626_Gabriel_Sherman_media_offtherecord.asp
PINR Senior Analyst Dr. Michael A. Weinstein, who has been covering ongoing Somalia developments extensively, recently discussed the situation in Mogadishu for the Voice of America:
"Tensions Rise in Horn of Africa"
http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-06-20-voa38.cfm
------------------------------
Nigeria Avoids a Governance Crisis
Drafted By: Herman J. Cohen
http://www.pinr.com
Noam Chomsky A Negotiated Solution to the Iranian Nuclear Crisis is Within Reach
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0619-28.htm
Mexico Steps Back from the Electoral Brink, but Perilous Days Likely to Lie Ahead
*
Calderón, López Obrador, Madrazo: the presidential race goes to the wire
*
With less than three weeks remaining until Mexico's July 2 presidential ballot, the tone of the campaign remains irredeemably nasty
*
The June 13 signing of a "civility pact" among 6 of the 7 parties contesting the 2006 national elections may limit a potentially explosive post-vote dispute, although this is far from certain
*
What the agreement does not resolve, however, are the acrimonious divisions provoked by the main parties' depressing negative campaign strategies, typified by PAN candidate Felipe Calderón's vicious attack ads
*
New violence in Oaxaca suggests that social tensions have hardly abated in recent weeks, only heightening the possibility of post-election instability, including street violence
*
It appears increasingly likely that lingering bitterness could make governing after July 2 a difficult prospect at best, irrespective of who wins
http://www.coha.org/NEW_PRESS_RELEASES/New_Press_Releases_2006/COHA%20Report/COHA_Report_06.15_Mexico_Back_From_Brink.html
'Wash Post' Obtains Shocking Memo from U.S. Embassy in Baghdad
By Greg Mitchell
Published: June 19, 2006 6:20 PM ET
NEW YORK The Washington Post has obtained a cable, marked "sensitive," that it says shows that just before President Bush left on a surprise trip last Monday to the Green Zone in Baghdad for an upbeat assessment of the situation there, "the U.S. Embassy in Iraq painted a starkly different portrait of increasing danger and hardship faced by its Iraqi employees."
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002690071
How the United States Continues to Manipulate Nicaragua's Economic and Polical Future
http://www.coha.org/NEW_PRESS_RELEASES/New_Press_Releases_2006/COHA%20Report/COHA_Report_06.16_Nicaragua_Manipulation_Kendrick.html
*** Pfizer's Chemical/Biological Weapons Report exclusive: The pharmaceutical giant reports on its efforts to create chemical and biological incapacitating agents, including those that cause amnesia, for the US Army in 1964 http://www.thememoryhole.org/
Economic Brief: Fallout from Energy Trends Drafted By: http://www.pinr.com Recent economic forecasts point to the emergence of new energy players on the global scene.
Hugely energetic" Chan racks up 422 NYT bylines in a year http://www.observer.com/20060626/20060626_Gabriel_Sherman_pageone_offther ec.asp New York Observer "Sewell Chan has made himself a legendary Times reporter by reporting for The Times. And reporting, and reporting some more," writes Gabriel Sherman. (Most of Chan's colleagues have fewer than 200 bylines in a year.) Sherman says Chan's productivity has won him both admirers and detractors. "The displeased ones see his ambitiousness as being a little too naked."
GORE VIDALHe remains the Bush administration's most pugnacious and learned and contemptuous enemy. Nobody has put the case against the neocons with more passion or precision. "Benjamin Franklin was shown the new American constitution, and he said, 'I don't like it, but I will vote for it because we need something right now. But this constitution in time will fail, as all such efforts do. And it will fail because of the corruption of the people, in a general sense.' And that is what it has come to now, exactly as Franklin predicted." http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0623-01.htmRed Alert, Bush and Cheney Lies Kill Our Troops. State of Emergency Declared in Baghdad. The Iraqi government declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew today after insurgent gunmen set up roadblocks in central Baghdad and opened fire on US and Iraqi troops just north of the heavily fortified Green Zone. http://www.irishexaminer.com/breaking/story.asp?j=79936984&p=79937z86&The Search for Justice for Haiti's Yvon Neptune and His Fellow Inmates: All Political Prisoners http://www.coha.org/NEW_PRESS_RELEASES/New_Press_Releases_2006/COHA%20Opinion/COHA_Opinion_06.16_Haiti_and_Neptune_OP_ED.html China and Angola Strengthen Bilateral RelationshipDrafted By: Loro Hortahttp://www.pinr.com Of course Bush will pardon Libby - The Last Chance Democracy Cafe by Steven C. Day http://www.lastchancedemocracycafe.com/?p=377
Washington's Undeclared War Against Venezuela's Hugo Chávez:
The State Department Human Trafficking Report: Raw Ideology Rather Than Bona Fide Research
http://www.coha.org/NEW_PRESS_RELEASES/New_Press_Releases_2006/COHA%20Opinion/COHA_Opinion_06.17_Washington_and_Venezuela_and_Human_Trafficking.html
Macho, Macho Man by Paul Waldman, TomPaine.com Don't get distracted by the erectness of President Bush. It's all for show. http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/06/28/macho_macho_man.php
Legal Experts to Senate Committee: Bush "Signing Statements" Unconstitutional, Impeachable
http://www.buzzflash.com/alerts/06/06/ale06076.html]
The Public __Expression of Religion Act of 2005: A Bill That Is Intended to Eviscerate the Establishment ClauseBy MARCI HAMILTON
Thursday, Jun. 29, 2006
Recently, Rep. John Hostettler (R-IN) introduced the Public __Expression of Religion Act of 2005 (PERA). PERA enjoys the support of forty-five other sponsors (all Republicans save one), and of the American Legion. James Madison, however, must be rolling over in his grave.
PERA is a creative attempt to forestall Establishment Clause attacks on public displays of religion - from statues and plaques of the Ten Commandments placed at courthouses, to government placement of religious symbols such as crosses and menorahs in public areas. Indeed, PERA's language goes so far that it could even protect government-sponsored sectarian prayers from Establishment Clause challenge.
http://writ.lp.findlaw.com/hamilton/20060629.html
Not ready, aim, fire! Um, about that Korean missile defense shield ... "despite the bold claims of the brass hats out front, the military has no operational missile defense system, at least not one proven to work."
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060629/OPINION02/60629026
There is no cure
Michael Wood: Freud's Guesswork
The Penguin Freud Reader
by Sigmund Freud ed. Adam Phillips
In 1936 Freud wrote a letter to Romain Rolland, offering him a speculation about a particular memory as a 70th birthday gift. The memory concerned a trip Freud took to Athens with his brother, and his own 'curious thought' at the sight of the Acropolis: 'So this all really does exist, just as we learned in school!' Freud describes himself as two people, one making the comment and the other perceiving it:
and both were amazed, although not by the same thing. One of these persons behaved as though . . . he was obliged to believe in something the reality of which had until then seemed uncertain to him . . . But the other person was rightly surprised, because he had not known that the real existence of Athens, the Acropolis and this landscape had ever been a matter of doubt. Read more! at: http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n13/wood01_.html
The Hidden--and Obvious--Lessons in the Supreme Court's Divided Ruling Invalidating Military CommissionsBy MICHAEL C. DORF ----
Friday, Jun. 30, 2006
The Supreme Court's decision yesterday in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld is, to state the obvious, a major setback for the Bush Administration's bid for power to deal with foreign captives by whatever means it, and it alone, deems appropriate.
Less obviously, the case may have far-reaching implications for numerous fundamental questions of law. But much depends on how the Administration and Congress react to the decision. Congress' impact will be felt both through the laws it passes and through the Justices the Senate confirms--or refuses to confirm--in the future.
http://writ.lp.findlaw.com/dorf/20060630.html
Bush: Signing Away the Constitution?http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0630-02.htmRosa Brooks Did Bush Commit War Crimes? http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0630-27.htmDivesting From Our Futureby Earl Hadley, TomPaine.comConservative hypocrisy puts college out of the reach of working-class Americans. http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/06/30/divesting_from_our_future.phpBob DeansCOX NEWS SERVICEHot Issue* Has the world become safer or more dangerous for Americans since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks? WASHINGTON - The United States is losing its fight against terrorism and the Iraq war is the biggest reason why, more than eight of ten American terrorism and national security experts concluded in a poll released yesterday. One participant in the survey, a former CIA official who described himself as a conservative Republican, said the war in Iraq has provided global terrorist groups with a recruiting bonanza, a valuable training ground and a strategic beachhead at the crossroads of the oil-rich Persian Gulf and Turkey, the traditional land bridge linking the Middle East to Europe. http://www.columbusdispatch.com/national-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/06/29/20060629-A3-00.htmlMexico's hotly contested presidential election is only two days away.In The Narco News Bulletin today, Al Giordano files some finalpredictions and analysis on what might be in store for the countryafter Sunday. Giordano writes:"Anything can happen on Sunday, including an attempted electoralfraud, as occurred here in 1988. But this time the Mexican peoplewill not swallow it. If Mexico's dubious Federal Electoral Institute (IFE, in its Spanish initials) tries to repeat that dark history, therevolution will begin on Monday. Those in power can't be that stupid.Or can they?"All objective signs - if the vote is to be tabulated fairly and accurately - point to a punishing electoral victory by former MexicoCity Governor Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The big boys - at leastthe domestic ones who seem to believe their own hype that LópezObrador is a 'leftist' (foreign capitalists are much more sanguine about the probability of victory by the candidate with the initialsAMLO) - have tried everything to stop it. In 2005, they tried toremove López Obrador from the ballot with a legal maneuver called thedesafuero. They only ended up making him stronger. Lately, they've attempted an Election of the State to impose a whiney little mannamed Felipe Calderón of the PAN (National Action) party as Fox'ssuccessor, but this week they were caught red-handed trying to rigthe voter lists, among other old-style maneuvers, on Calderón's behalf. They were undone at each step through a medium known as theInternet, which did not exist in Mexico in 1988. They may stillattempt to impose Calderón on Sunday but your correspondent doubts itbecause, if so, it bears repeating, a revolution will break out on Monday."The Mexican business and political elites are left with two otherpossible scenarios to try and stop the unstoppable: The first wouldbe a 'surprise' victory by Roberto Madrazo, candidate of the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party), a man who has trailed the twofrontrunners all year long according to the polls. Obviously, thatscenario would be suspected by many as a fabrication and would notstand for long. "The other possible scenario - now being spoken of openly in somecorners of the Mexican press - would be to 'annul' Sunday's electionresults (there certainly have been enough documented irregularities to justify such a maneuver) and install an 'interim president' namedCuauhtémoc Cárdenas. That last scenario would fascinate those above,since it was Cárdenas who acquiesced to the historic 1988 electionfraud that robbed him of the presidency then, and who, of late, has shown an apparent bitterness that López Obrador, and not he, is hisparty's candidate today. In that scenario, the system would try tosell a Cárdenas bait-and-switch as a kind of latent display of'justice,' the realization of a long-denied advance, eighteen years after the fact. But down below, few would be wowed or impressed byany play so cynical and mocking of an electorate's dignity. And thereis that pesky little force down below and to the left that, seen orunseen, would put a stop to it faster than one can say 'national rebellion': the Zapatista Other Campaign."Read the full story in The Narco News Bulletin, including someremarkable revelations of electoral crimes on the part of the PANthat have gone virtually unreported in the international press: http://www.narconews.comIntelligence Brief: Russia's Moves in SyriaDrafted By:http://www.pinr.com Social Networking for Bookworms By AARON RUTKOFFJune 27, 2006If bookcases are a way to casually display interests dear to the owner, the Internet throws open the doors on reading habits. Social-networking and book retailers' sites are already rife with lists of readers' favorite material, allowing people to compare notes on taste and compatibility. But for Tim Spalding, a computer programmer and bibliophile, listing a few titles in an online profile isn't enough. He sought a way to catalog his entire book collection -- and to check out what was lining other people's shelves. http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB115109622468789252-_D0End_0yQM_jR4NjKrHd4WwEbM_20070627.html?mod=blogs One of the least noticed success stories of George Bush's years in power has been his administration's ability to focus the world's attention so singularly first on Saddam Hussein 's "nuclear program" -- remember that yellowcake brick road? -- which had absolutely no basis in reality; then on a meager (though frightening) North Korean nuclear force (of questionable use), and finally on a questionable Iranian nuclear bomb, which, according to the latest National Intelligence Estimate, is perhaps ten years away and yet somehow has been ever in our midst. The near-civilization destroying Israeli nuclear arsenal is hardly ever even noted. The Pakistani/Indian arsenals, aimed at each other on a hair-trigger and constantly being upgraded, are rarely in the news (though they may be the most obvious flashpoint for a nuclear conflagration on the planet). Above all, the great nuclear arsenals of the two Cold War superpowers, those MAD (or mutually assured destruction) creations, have been allowed to slip into obscurity without faintly slipping into oblivion. The Russians are again upgrading their aging nuclear forces and, with an ever shakier military, have, if anything, become more reliant on nuclear power for great-power status; while the Bush administration has been eager to upgrade the already gargantuan American arsenal with various kinds of mini-nukes, "bunker busters," and other weapons of mass destruction. http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?emx=x&pid=97350There is no cureMichael Wood: Freud's GuessworkThe Penguin Freud Reader by Sigmund Freud ed. Adam Phillips In 1936 Freud wrote a letter to Romain Rolland, offering him a speculation about a particular memory as a 70th birthday gift. The memory concerned a trip Freud took to Athens with his brother, and his own 'curious thought' at the sight of the Acropolis: 'So this all really does exist, just as we learned in school!' Freud describes himself as two people, one making the comment and the other perceiving it: and both were amazed, although not by the same thing. One of these persons behaved as though . . . he was obliged to believe in something the reality of which had until then seemed uncertain to him . . . But the other person was rightly surprised, because he had not known that the real existence of Athens, the Acropolis and this landscape had ever been a matter of doubt. Read more! at: http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n13/wood01_.htmlTomgram: Running with the BarbariansGreen Zoning It All the WayBy Tom EngelhardtAs every political junky in the country now knows, just before finding himself not indicted by Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, Karl Rove went to a fundraiser inhttp://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?emx=x&pid=95863
The war for us Sidney Blumenthal 28 - 6 - 2006
On the night of 12 June 2006, shortly after Karl Rove received an email from his lawyer Robert Luskin informing him he would not be indicted by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, the president's chief political advisor appeared before a New Hampshire
http://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy/percent_doctrine_3688.jsp
L.A. Times: At least 50,000 Iraqis have died violently since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, according to statistics from the Baghdad morgue, the Iraqi Health Ministry and other agencies -- a toll 20,000 higher than previously acknowledged by the Bush administration. A British Report last year placed the likely Iraqi death toll at well over 100,000. Bush is the grim reaper.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-deathtoll25jun25,0,4970736.story?coll=la-home-headlines
-- MICHAEL ROLOFF http://roloff.freeservers.com/about.html HTTP://www.roloff-2.freeservers.com http://www.artscritic.blogspot.com SCRIPTMANIA PROJECT MAIN SITE: http://www.handke.scriptmania.com http://www.handkelectures.freeservers.com ALTERNATE: mikerol69@yahoo.com
http://summapolitico.blogspot.com"MAY THE FOGGY DEW BEDIAMONDIZE YOUR HOOSPRINGS!" {J. Joyce} "Sryde Lyde Myde Vorworde Vorhorde Vorborde" [von Alvensleben]
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