A message to that letter's author and those who think there's no problem with it:  give it a rest already.

I'm sick and tired of the people who are so blinded by their hatred for Bush or the Republicans or the war that they will take any situation and use to try and call attention to their political views.  Jenna Bush's wedding, from all reports, wasn't anywhere as lavish and extravagant as many Hollywood weddings and a far cry from the ones you see on the pages of bridal magazines.  It looks like it was tasteful, simple and most of all what the bride and groom wanted it to be.

It's the same as thousands of American men, women and families this summer.  Probably hundreds of Americans on that day alone.   It's a time for celebration that many families have and it's something that should not be a subject for scorn or derision or used to slam the father of the bride.   To do so is classless, tacky and disgusting.

If you want to make your anti-war statements with shots at President Bush there are ample things that he has done as President where you can make your cases.   That was certainly done with President Clinton in Bosnia without someone having to write letters saying that Chelsea Clinton going to a junior prom reminded them of a girl in Bosnia who had her legs blown off by a US missile and couldn't dance at her prom.  Most people you're trying to convince to your side of the issue are going to consider using Jenna's wedding the same as they would have done with my hypothetical example about Chelsea...it's classless.

And before the inevitable "you're bashing liberals" comments start, I'm not painting with sweeping strokes here.  I know many liberals who post here and write local Springfield blogs who would readily say Bush has made enough mistakes that you can criticize him without using his daughter's wedding.   When I'm writing I'm referring to the people who think anything with President Bush's family is fair game.

There are times where common sense and decency would say that you leave something that is non-political and within their family (like a wedding) is off-limits for use to promote a political agenda that has nothing to do with that event.  If she was speaking at a rally for the war in her wedding dress, then I could see the criticism.  As is, it looks like you're gasping for airtime.  (Well, print space in this case.)

And, before the anti-war folks start their usual "you just love Bush" or "you love the war" responses that are standard operating procedure, I'm not a supporter of either one.  I just think enough is enough on the attacks on his family when they're doing nothing that has to do with politics or the war.   While I feel for the soldier mentioned they also signed up for service and knew they might have to go into harm's way.  Jenna Bush has no obligation to join a volunteer military; there is no draft she is avoiding; there is nothing wrong with her getting married on her family's ranch...so there is no reason to use her wedding as an anti-war debate point.

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School Military Recruiting Could Violate International Protocol
by Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON - Pressed by the demands of the “global war on terrorism”, the United States is violating an international protocol that forbids the recruitment of children under the age of 18 for military service, according to a new report released Tuesday by a major civil rights group that charged that recruitment practices target children as young as 11 years old.

The 46-page report, “Soldiers of Misfortune“, which was prepared by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) for submission to the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child, also found that the U.S. military disproportionately targets poor and minority public school students.

...
In a survey of nearly 1,000 children, aged 14 to 17, enrolled in New York City high schools, the ACLU New York affiliate found that more than one five respondents — equally distributed among the different grades — reported the use of class time by military recruiters, and 35 percent said military recruiters had access to multiple locations in their schools where they could meet students.

Canada for it's part ratified the same protocol, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict (CRCOPAC), on February 12 2002, meaning our government has also pledged to keep recruiting drives directed at those 16 and older. And while the Canadian Armed Forces have perhaps not been as gung-ho in their recruiting tactics as their American counterparts, scrutiny of how recruitment officers operate on campuses has been increasing.

With the war and occupation in Afghanistan continuing, the Canadain Armed Forces have launched Operation Connection, a massive recruitment effort aiming to swell the Canadian military ranks by some 23,000 by 2010.

In response, a coalition of Canadian anti-war activists launched Operation Objection. Headed up by Act for the Earth, the group has initiated a country wide anti-campus-recruitment campaign. The organisation has highlighted the renewed push for recruitment on campuses, and issued handbooks and other materials on how students (and parents and faculty) can prevent army recruitment on their campuses, or at least ask the tough questions that don't always come up at job fairs or classroom presentations.

I think it's also legitimate to ask whether Canadian recruitment efforts also violate the CRCOPAC. Under the protocol, children under 18 cannot be recruited into the army without parental approval. While minors may not be allowed to sign up without their parents knowing, the fact that military recruiters are on campus, including high schools, without parental knowledge or approval, raises serious questions. And with new recruitment ads that are more like music videos, as well as a flashy website promoting 'cool stuff,' there's a definite sense that the youg folk are a central demographic for recruitment.

No one can fault the military for using the newest technology or advertising methods, really, but when it comes to targeting campuses and young people, I'm glad that there are some folks out there to run a bit of interference.

The 60th annual Armed Forces Festival in Bremerton is this weekend. The theme of this years event, "Saluting Those Who Serve." But only if you agree with our message. The lapel pin patriots of the Bremerton Area Chamber of Commerce, decided that one group of veterans who have served their country, must not march in the parade.

Who are these rebel veterans and how dare they bring a message of peace to Norm Dicks parade of war mongering? They would be Veterans For Peace. The key word being...veterans. The scary word being...peace.

The Bremerton Chamber only wants to salute veterans who think a certain way. The Bremerton Chamber has an agenda to push all this week and peace, sure as hell is not on it.

See you on Saturday!

Thursday 15 May, 4.30-­6pm
24 Grosvenor Square, W1A 2LQ

The US supported assault on Sadr City has led to hundreds of deaths. Food and medicine are scarce, as aid is not longer reaching the city.

The US have now warned the residents to be ready for a huge attack, sports stadiums have been opened for the thousands of expected refugees.
This criminal assault on one of the poorest areas of Baghdad should be opposed. Organised by Iraqi Democrats Against the Occupation and Stop the War Coalition

www.idao.org and www.stopwar.org.uk 

Click on image above to watch the video from RTE

]]> http://wilderside.wordpress.com/?p=3170 Wed, 14 May 2008 14:34:43 +0000 wilderside http://wilderside.wordpress.com/?p=3170 Hi. Separately from my onthewilderside work, and separately from a lot of my other projects, I currently have the privilege of being the Coordinator of PeaceSmiths, Inc. PeaceSmiths is a non-profit with a mission of peace and civil rights, which was founded in 1972. I became the Coordinator, suddenly and on an interim basis, when the previous Coordinator, my friend, Susan June Blake, passed away in October last year.

In sifting through the stored archives of our organization, I have had some profound experiences of learning and bonding with Susan Blake, and the other people who have nurtured PeaceSmiths over the years.

Hope that other people might find some of the discoveries in the PeaceSmiths archives of interest. I also hope that some wilderside readers may be excited to see the work I am doing over at the PeaceSmiths web-site. The PeaceSmiths web-site is newer, and gets less traffic. Yet, it is filling up every week with more art, history (and new events) related to the Long Island peace, justice, and cultural scene. Please, go visit!

The most recent post is in the archives section. I found a biography of PeaceSmiths co-founder Katharine Smith, which ties her and our organization to a proud history of socialist thinkers, socialist schools, and even some socialist politics. Also, it explains Katharine's connections to historical figures such as: Henry George (her father ran for office on George's Single Tax platform), Norman Thomas Morris Milgram and Jerry Wurf.

The PeaceSmiths archives can be found here. Katharine's story is at the "Socialism" link. And, more about her at the "About PeaceSmiths and its staff, volunteers, community" link and on the page dedicated to her.

The web-site home page is at: www.peacesmiths.org

Lemon socialism is the flavor of the corporate welfare system and those syphilitic dogs at the walmart HQ (arkansas) are making out like the corpRATeer bandits they are! This from the new york times:

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State Programs Add Safety Net for the Poorest

By RACHEL L. SWARNS

Published: May 12, 2008

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — For years, state welfare offices like the one alongside Interstate 30 have drawn the unemployed. But these days, the red-brick building here is also attracting poor, working parents with an unexpected offer: $204 a month in cash.

Shelly Thomas, a stockroom clerk and single mother, is using her windfall from the State of Arkansas to tune up the old Chevrolet she drives to work. Talia Greenwood, a day care worker with four children, spends the money on gas, diapers and baby formula.

The women are pioneers in an emerging social experiment as states across the country try to go beyond simply moving people off welfare. Over the last two years, officials in Arkansas and at least a dozen other states have announced plans to extend the safety net — through monthly cash payments — to thousands of low-income workers struggling to gain a foothold in the work world.

Most states focus on people who have left welfare for low-wage jobs. Officials believe that the programs, which typically combine several months of cash assistance with career counseling, health insurance and subsidized child care, will help low-wage workers weather family illnesses and cash shortages and deter them from cycling back onto the welfare rolls.

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Ain't it a shame that the largest employer in Arkansas is walmart. More then half of all walmart workers have been receiving their health care from medicaid. They have also been receiving food stamps. What a waste! THIS IS WHAT I MEAN BY wal-fare! THESE PEOPLE ARE WORKING! THEY SHOULD NOT BE POOR! These new state programs are nothing more then a tax payer financed give away to scumbag low wage employers like walmart!

I BELIEVE EVERYONE WHO IS EMPL0YED SHOULD BE PAID A LIVING WAGE WITH BENEFITS SO AS NOT TO NEED GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS INTENDED FOR THE POOR!

Do not forget:

A) the former "co-president" who would be queen and her mr. senator clinton created the mess that is welfare so called "reform."

B) hillary dillary doo sat on the board of walmart for years.

The three headed monster that is mclintbama has NO INTENTION OF PASSING LEGISLATION THAT WILL GIVE YOU A LIVING WAGE OR NATIONAL HEALTH CARE!

The pig corpoRATeers who fund the mclintbama three headed monster and the rest of the two parties of the apocalypse disaster ARE SCREWING THE REST OF US!

WTF!? The time has come to put aside all the bullshit spewed by the three stooges of the apocalypse. YOU MUST REJECT mclintbama. If you vote for one of the empty heads of that three headed monster, YOU will doom us all to at least four more years of disaster like this:

AND THIS:

AND THIS:

HAVEN'T WE SUFFERED ENOUGH?

It's time to support the only candidate worth voting for:

VOTENADER.ORG

The Telepathic Crickets on the ClapSotronics editorial board and I understand the importance of VOTING FOR NADER! How about YOU?

The scientifically impossible I do right away

The spiritually miraculous takes a bit longer

Gregory’s lecture will examine how these imbalances of power are currently playing out in the “war on terror” with a focus on the imprisonment and interrogation practices used in the global war prison. His talk will explore the strategic geographical sites of the global war prison including Bagram, Guantánamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, and the so-called ‘Black Sites,’ showing how they are produced through constantly shifting folds between law and violence.

Derek Gregory is Distinguished University Scholar and Professor of Geography at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. He is the author of The Colonial Present: Afghanistan, Palestine, Iraq (2004) and Geographical Imaginations (1993).

Click to see the lecture!

Ref: Simpson Center

Lugo had originally been seeking the Democratic nomination in January and was the first to register with the state, but then dropped out of the Democratic nominating process in March, citing strong differences in basic values, "Originally I had considered running as a Democrat. There was no one running because the Governor had scared off all of the front-runners and I felt like this was a good opportunity to promote the peace issue, which I have been advocating for since the spring of 2002. But after actively campaigning as a Democrat for several months I got the sense that the Democrats and myself were not on the same page. I wish the Democrats well and I hope that they come up with a clear anti-war policy this year."

The Green Party has had a long history as an advocate for peace and justice and has issued numerous releases opposing the war in Iraq as well as US intervention in Afghanistan and has condemned the detention of prisoners of war at Guantanamo Bay and has spoken out clearly against torture, "The Green Party is really the conscience of this country. They have been working for peace and against war for a long time now. The Democrats voted for the war in Iraq and have voted for every funding appropriation that has come to the Senate since that day."

The US Senate is currently considering extending funding for the war in Iraq with another appropriation of $178 billion dollars for the ongoing occupation of Iraq, "The democrats are dragging their feet on this one and they have been so disappointing since they came to power in 2006. I am glad that they are calling for a troop withdrawal as part of their proposal, but the fact is they are going to vote for spending for billions more for the war. This is the Democrats bait and switch and it isn't the first time they have called for troop withdrawals sometime down the road while voting to spend billions more for war right now."

The Green Party has also been the strong party on environmental issues for over twenty five years, having brought the issues of global warming, public transportation, alternative energy, the oil crisis, the food crisis, corporate agribusiness and species extinction to the public's attention long before being Green was considered fashionable. "Nowadays we have Green Drinks and Green commerce and Carbon credits and people are taking global warming seriously. It looks like everyone is going Green and we have been doing it for over twenty-five years. We are the Green Party and the public is going to need the collective wisdom that this party has developed from its twenty five year commitment to environmental sustainability. "

Lugo favors weaning the public off of oil and moving toward a sustainable energy infrastructure. "If you look at my platform you will see that I have been talking about alternatives to oil since I began this campaign. It is clear that the current oil crisis is being driven by tensions in the Middle east and investment speculation in energy commodities. I support legislation to require that big oil begin to invest in sustainable energy. The billions of dollars that are currently being driven into the pockets of investors needs to go into research and development to find alternatives to oil and coal."

The Green Party of Tennessee, which held its nominating convention in Nashville on Saturday, also endorsed John Miglietta, an Associate Professor of Political Science at Tennessee State University, as their candidate for the Fifth Congressional District. Miglietta, who is an officer with the Green Party of Middle Tennessee, will be challenging Jim Cooper for the House Seat, which covers most of Davidson County and the surrounding area. "I am happy to have John as a running mate and will be actively campaigning with him when I am in the middle Tennessee area. I also hope to debate the candidates for US Senate who are running this year, including Libertarian candidate Daniel Lewis, Republican incumbent Lamar Alexander and other candidates on the ballot. I believe the voters deserve the opportunity to hear from all the voices in the US Senate race this year and hope the press and civic organizations will allow the opportunity for democracy to be practiced as it was intended."

Chris Lugo will be on the ballot on November 4th, 2008 in the US Senate general election in Tennessee. For more information please visit www.chris4senate. us

Chris Lugo for US Senate
9 Music Sq So #164
Nashville, TN 37203
615-593-0304
chris4senate@ gmail.com
www.voteforpeace.info

In a beautiful ceremony, hidden away on Daddy's farm of fascist fun, Jenna Bush was given away. Daddy Bush also attended an "intelligence" briefing this day and yet, came away further confused.

Best wishes from most of America, Bush family.

• 4075 U.S. deaths in Iraq
• 498 U.S. deaths in Afghanistan
• Veterans treatment, second to none
• Iraqi civilian deaths since Democracy was spread? 83,000 to over a million.
• Daddy's #1 priority Osama bin Laden? Vacationing in Aruba with George Senior.
• Norm Dicks? Contemplating funding another year of occupations.

Party on.

“We, the women of one country,
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.”
–Julia Ward Howe, 1870 Mother’s Peace Day Proclamation

Arise then…women of this day! Arise, all women who have hearts! Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!Say firmly:”We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage,For caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We, the women of one country,Will be too tender of those of another country To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.” From the bosum of a devastated Earth a voice goes up withOur own. It says: “Disarm! Disarm!The sword of murder is not the balance of justice.”Blood does not wipe our dishonor,Nor violence indicate possession.As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war,Let women now leave all that may be left of homeFor a great and earnest day of counsel.Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the meansWhereby the great human family can live in peace…Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,But of God -In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly askThat a general congress of women without limit of nationality, May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenientAnd the earliest period consistent with its objects,To promote the alliance of the different nationalities, The amicable settlement of international questions, The great and general interests of peace. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if on some distant Mother’s Day, the wishes of Julia Ward Howecould be fulfilled and the human race could celebrate a day when, all over the world, nomother would have to mourn the death of her child lost in war or terrorist attacks… To all of the mothers whose children are fighting in wars - and to mothers whosechildren are growing up with wars raging around them or with terrorism threatening theirsafety… Wishes of strength, peace and hope for this Mother’s Day…

By Timothy Horras

Members of the New Brunswick City Council were visibly shocked when supporters of three Rutgers students charged for peacefully protesting the Iraq war packed the May 7th City Council meeting, demanding the Council pass a resolution opposing the US occupation of Iraq and supporting city residents working to end the war.

In attendance were students, community members, labor union organizers and peace activists, united in their desire to bring the troops home. Supporters filled the room to capacity, the crowd spilling out into the hallway. "They wouldn't let us in until somebody else left," says Steve Dolnack, a Rutgers student. "When people left, we had to ask to go in, and they were really reluctant to let us. We ended up going in anyway."

After the routine business of the Council, supporters stood up one by one and argued that the charges against the Rutgers 3 be dropped. Ignoring typical City Council etiquette, all the New Brunswick residents who spoke first introduced themselves and identified which Ward they live in. Residents of all five New Brunswick Wards were in attendance. This act showed solid support on the part of city residents for the creation of a Ward-based system of government, which many attendees spoke in favor of. (For more on the Ward Campaign, check out www.empowernb.com)

Many residents spoke their minds about the occupation of Iraq and lauded the hundreds of protestors who turned out on March 27th to peacefully oppose the war. The atmosphere was charged and emotionally intense; many attendees later described themselves as holding back tears upon hearing their fellow citizens speak out.

Particularly poignant were the words of Chris Straub, the father of one of the three prosecuted students, who drove from Maplewood, NJ to attend the meeting and spoke on record supporting his son Erik and the other students. Chris Staub said that the students who protested are putting themselves on the line to end a war nobody wants. "Most of [our generation] are more concerned about losing our jobs or our reputations than speaking out against this war, so everybody stays quiet,'' Chris Straub said. "But that doesn't mean we don't care. These young people are saying it for us, and I'm proud of them.''

Jordan Bucey, a Rutgers student and member of Tent State University/Students for a Democratic Society (www.tentstate.com), stood up and read a resolution which had been written by the student activists, which she requested the City Council adopt immediately. "Resolved: That the city Council of New Brunswick will do what it can to support any city residents working to end the War," she quoted. Resolved: That Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Assembly will be staunchly upheld in all cases of peaceful protest in opposition to the War." (Full text of the resolution is available below) This impassioned reading drew applause and cheers from the crowd.

While earlier in the evening, one member of the Council suggested that it would be impossible for them to pass the resolution that evening, Councilwoman Blanquita Valenti finally relented, calling for a vote. Councilman Joseph Egan seconded the motion and the resolution was passed unanimously, at which point thunderous applause erupted from the assembled body.

Passage of the resolution adds New Brunswick to the list of almost 300 cities in the US which officially oppose the war in Iraq. Activists said they saw the resolution's passage as a victory, but they understood it was also an effort at appeasement on the part of the politicians; one which will be ignored if pressure is not kept up. "It's important that we continue to hold [the City Council] accountable to their promises," said Tiffany Cheng, a student and member of Rutgers Against the War.

This sentiment was echoed by other students, including Michelle Velasquez, a member of Tent State University/Students for a Democratic Society. "We're not going to let this end here," Velasquez said after the meeting. "The prosecution of our friends showed us all that [the students] need a voice and a vote in city affairs."

Erik Straub, one of the Rutgers 3, agreed that the prosecution of peace activists has awakened students to their lack of a say in major municipal decisions. "Student's are unrepresented in New Brunswick and that's going to change," Erik Straub said in an interview. "We will pass a referendum to create a ward-based system and we will make sure that students are fairly represented on the City Council." He went on to explain that the many students will be living in New Brunswick over the summer, when they plan to continue agitating against the war and organizing their neighborhoods to gain fair representation.

Jerry Mercado, a longtime New Brunswick resident, said after the meeting that he was proud of the Rutgers 3 and he wholeheartedly endorses the students-led push for a Ward system. "Today we saw the ability to come together as a community: students, community members and city officials," Mercado said. "Our combined power can make a difference in our city."

_____________________________________________________________
Resolution to support public opposition to the War in Iraq
Passed unanimously by the New Brunswick City Council on May 7th, 2008
WHEREAS, The City of New Brunswick unequivocally supports the men and women in uniform from New Brunswick and the whole of the United State who are stationed overseas in Iraq. These individuals are making unimaginable sacrifices for their country; and

WHEREAS, The Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 was passed by the US Congress on October 11, 2002, and that Public Law 107-243 cited Iraq's possession of weapons of mass destruction as a primary reason for the use of United States Armed Forces against Iraq; and

WHEREAS, On January 12, 2005, President Bush officially declared an end to the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq; and

WHEREAS, This March marked the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq; and

WHEREAS, The City Council of New Brunswick expresses its deep opposition to the Bush Administration's continuation of the war in Iraq after its mendacious and deceptive methods of garnering initial support ; and

WHEREAS, The City of New Brunswick mourns and honors the approximately 4,000 Americans who have given their lives; and

WHEREAS, The City of New Brunswick recognizes that the physical, psychological, and emotional injuries inflicted on over a million service people who have served in Iraq cannot at this time be adequately quantified; and

WHEREAS, The City of New Brunswick mourns the indescribable suffering inflicted on the people of Iraq, and

WHEREAS, The City of New Brunswick, like cities throughout the nation relies on support from the federal government to adequately provide for the basic needs of its citizens; and

WHEREAS, The United States Congress has appropriated over $400 billion to fund military operations and Iraqi reconstruction, while a steady decline in Federal Housing and Urban Development grants has been experienced since 2002, the year before the war began; and

WHEREAS, The City of New Brunswick recognizes the necessity of maintaining the basic constitutional rights of its citizens, especially in a time of war.
BE IT HERE BY
RESOLVED, That the City Council of New Brunswick will continue to support the troops currently serving in Iraq and their families; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the City Council of New Brunswick will do all it can to help care for those who have been wounded or injured in the line of duty, and support those who are grieving at the loss of a loved one, and be it further

RESOLVED, That the City Council of New Brunswick communicates its desire to the members of Congress to end the war in Iraq and draw down the combat troops stationed in that country, and be it further

RESOLVED, That the City Council of New Brunswick urges the Federal government to pursue solutions to our country's domestic issues with the same zeal it pursued the invasion of Iraq; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the city Council of New Brunswick will do what it can to support any city residents working to end the War, and be it further

RESOLVED, That Freedom of Speech and freedom of assembly will be staunchly upheld in all cases of peaceful protest in opposition to the War; and be it further

RESOLVED, That at each meeting of the Council, after the Pledge of Allegiance, time is taken to suitably honor those Americans and Iraqis who have lost their lives in the conflict and communicate information about the continuing fiscal and humanitarian costs to the City of New Brunswick.of New Brunswick.

A rallying cry to all the men of the world, submit yourself to a higher concept, stop tanking and start wanking, it builds your biceps and what can go wrong other than a nasty eye injury if you don't take enough care.

And for all you ladies out there, don't feel you may be left out, masturbation is not a solely masculine activity, join the anti-war effort today.

Make love (to yourself) not War!

She is a dab hand at playing with Photoshop and I may steal more of her evil doings.

She also writes some very powerful rants. The sort of rant I once thought I could write.

And she finds some of the most powerful stuff on the internet.

If you are ready to be hit by a sledgehammer, take a look at Andrea Gibson at the 2006 poetry slam.

And remember that this was two years ago. How much more human misery has been caused during that two years by the recalcitrant wilfulness of the current American mal-administration?

Unwarranted sexist assumptions about Honjii corrected  and forgiveness requested  :)

CSPANJUNKIEdotORG

May 08, 2008
C-SPAN Congress Morning Speeches

[vodpod id=Groupvideo.1181475&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26] from www.youtube.com posted with vodpod

.

see

Contribute to Kucinich for Congress

Is war with Iran inevitable, even imminent? Or is peace at hand?

From the public diplomacy of the administration, either conclusion may be reached. Consider.

“West Offers Iran ‘Refreshed’ Deal,” ran the headline in the May 3 Washington Times. The story described an offer to Iran, agreed to by all five members of the Security Council — the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China — of a sweetened grand bargain, if Tehran will suspend its enrichment of uranium.

Blessing the offering in London was Condi Rice.

Details will not be made public, but the offer is said to include Western aid to Iran for a civilian nuclear program, a light water reactor and a five-year stock of enriched uranium held for Iran by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

America’s contribution would be support for Iran’s admission to the World Trade Organization, a conference to discuss regional security in the Gulf, a U.S. offer to sell Iran spare parts for its U.S.-built civilian aircraft and a beginning of the lifting of three decades of U.S. sanctions.

News of this offer, plus the relaxed mood in Washington, which is utterly unlike the tense atmosphere prior to March 2003, suggests that war with Iran is far from the mind of this city.

But to take the warnings and threats of the civilian and military leaders of this administration at face value would lead one to conclude the opposite — that war with Iran is indeed inevitable, and probably soon. Consider.

Last month, Gen. David Petraeus was asked by Joe Lieberman, “Is it fair to say that the Iranian-backed special groups in Iraq are responsible for the murder of hundreds of American soldiers and thousands of Iraqi soldiers and civilians?”

“It certainly is. … That is correct,” answered the general.

The next day, Petraeus testified, “Unchecked, the ’special groups’ pose the greatest long-term threat to the viability of a democratic Iraq.”

Petraeus has since been promoted to command of all U.S. forces in the region.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, known as an opponent of war on Iran, followed Petraeus, accusing Tehran of being “hell-bent on acquiring nuclear weapons.” Last week, Gates was out front again. “What the Iranians are doing is killing American servicemen and -women inside Iraq.”

Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, is now also pounding the war drum. Iran’s “irresponsible influence,” its support of terror and its pursuit of atomic weapons, he said last week, is creating a “perfect nightmare” for the region. The Pentagon, said the chairman, is planning for “potential military … action” because of Iran’s “increasingly lethal and malign influence.”

“It would be a mistake to think that we are out of combat capacity,” Mullen declared. A second U.S. carrier just entered the Persian Gulf.

CBS reports that a target list of U.S. military planners includes the headquarters of the Quds Force and plants where Iran produces enhanced IEDs and the rockets used against the Green Zone. The network also reports that the State Department has begun drafting an ultimatum.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Zalmal Khalilzad has chimed in: “Iran and Syria must stop the flow of weapons and foreign fighters into Iraq, and their malign interference in Iraq.”

Iraqi Maj. Gen. Qasim Atta says 700 rockets and mortars have been fired at Coalition forces and the Green Zone, and most of the “Katyusha and Grad rockets and smart roadside bombs” were Iranian-made. The U.S. military is preparing a dossier on Iran’s role in the Iraq war.

In the Landon Lecture at Kansas State, CIA Director Michael Hayden declared, “It … is the policy of the Iranian government, approved to the highest level … to facilitate the killing of Americans in Iraq.” That day, State designated Iran the “most significant” and “most active” state sponsor of terror on earth.

From the White House to State to the Pentagon to CIA, the Bush administration is now singing from the same song sheet: Iran’s Quds Force, with the knowledge of President Ahmadinejad, is arming and directing “special groups” to kill U.S. soldiers and prevent a U.S. victory.

Is the White House rattling sabers to prod Iran into talks?

Perhaps. But the administration has also painted itself, and us, into a corner with the war talk. And there are only three ways out.

The first is that Iran halts the attacks, ends its intervention and negotiates on the six-nation offer. The second is that Iran rejects the deal, refuses to stop the attacks and U.S. air strikes begin.

The third is that Bush is bluffing and goes home railing against an axis-of-evil nation killing American soldiers, having done nothing.

With Israel, the Israeli lobby, the neocons and Dick Cheney insisting on air strikes, and even Hillary Clinton talking about Iran being “obliterated,” the last course would seem the least probable.

We are likely headed either for negotiations with Iran or war, after Bush returns from the 60th anniversary celebration of Israel’s birth.

“To jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war,” said Winston Churchill in 1954, whose career often contradicted his wise counsel.

Stiff Right Jab invites you to visit our friends at Buchanan.org, and ForTheCause.US

"I defy any part of this insolent, dominating America, however powerful; to challenge my Americanism; because by word and deed I challenge this vicious system to the death."

“The artist must elect to fight for Freedom or for Slavery. I have made my choice. I had no alternative.”

Paul Robeson: Words Like Freedom is not only the history of Paul Robeson as a freedom fighter but also the history of the fight for freedom in the U.S. It is Paul Robeson’s voice we hear; it is his spirit that gives voice to the Black struggle. In the voice, we hear a resolve to be alive with the struggle of resistance.

Featuring a collection of Robeson’s interviews and speeches, Words Like Freedom includes a little more than eleven minutes of riveting testimony by Robeson to the HUAC, June 12, 1956.

The CD also includes an excerpt from Here I Stand, Robeson’s autobiography, written in 1958, in which his concept of the “oneness of people” resonates with the force and the dignity of a commitment to freedom for all suffering injustice and inequality through the system of capitalism.

In his autobiography, Robeson talked about his belief in the principles of scientific socialism an his conviction that a “scientific socialism” would represent “an advance to a higher stage of life—that it is a form of society which is economically, socially, culturally, and ethnically superior to a system based upon production for private profit.”

Robeson lectured tirelessly across the country and around the world urging people of color and workers to unite and to organize in order to bring about a radical new world in which people are truly free. We hear him urge the audience to unite, in the “Harlem Speech: Communists.” “We must unite. We must know our strength.” Black people, Robeson declared, “must be the decisive voice” in the struggle for freedom. “We must shout at the top of our voices” about the injustices committed in the U.S.

In his interview with Elsa Knight Thompson, he called on Black people to be “militant” and at the fore front for freedom because Black Americans “we have a tradition of tremendous consistent speaking out.”

Since the days of slavery and the abolition movement, Blacks have followed the footsteps of Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth who did not, along with others enslaved, settle for the lesser brand of slavery. In his speech to the Progressive Party, “Lesser Evil,” Robeson reminds the audience that those enslaved ancestors “refused to settle for less.” Certainly now we will not settle for less in our struggle for freedom. Masses of Americans, Robeson declared, will be inspired by the Blacks and the workers fight and will join the fight, “working on the level of complete equality.”

This was a man who “never separated his work as an artist from my work as a human being.” “To me, my art is always a weapon.” And indeed, from his beginnings in Princeton, New Jersey in 1898, Words Like Freedom offers Robeson’s own voice exuberant and strong even in the telling of his personal tragedies and harassment by the U.S. government.

Words Like Freedom should find its way in the high schools and college classrooms. We hear the voice of a warrior, a radical voice who did not talk of triangulation! Robeson had convictions and was committed to fighting for the human rights of Black Americans and workers—but all Americans and all of humankind. We hear the voice of a warrior for freedom and we should not fear this voice.

Official Website

I've covered this issue repeatedly in this blog: The dems are in cahoots with the repubs! Here comes the mother of all proofs. It's from Military families Speak Out:

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MILITARY FAMILIES CALL ON CONGRESS TO REJECT SPEAKER PELOSI'S BETRAYAL OF OUR TROOPS May 7, 2008;

With the House of Representatives preparing to take up legislation that would fund the continuation of the war in Iraq well into 2009, Military Families Speak Out issued the following statement calling on Members of Congress to reject the House Leadership’s strategy supporting the continuation of the war in Iraq.

As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi prepares to implement a strategy that will fund the Iraq war through 2008 and into the first term of the next president, Military Families Speak Out members across the country and on military bases around the world are outraged at this massive betrayal of our loved ones, all of our troops, our families, this nation and the people of Iraq. This strategy is designed to allow Congress to avoid a potentially embarrassing vote in the weeks and months leading up to the election in November, and to prevent a new president from having to ask for war funding in his/her first months in office.

It is a cruel maneuver being done on the backs, bodies, and spirits of our troops. The pain that continuing the war will cause military families, our loved ones, and the people of Iraq is incalculable. Military and Gold Star families know the real cost of this war. We know that more than 4,000 U.S. troops and over one million Iraqi children, women, and men have already died in a war that should never have happened -- and every day this war continues, more will be killed and more will sustain devastating, lifelong physical and psychological injuries.

We know that many of our troops are on their third, fourth, fifth and now sixth deployments; and that being sent into combat again and again takes a severe toll on their bodies and their minds. As a result, suicide rates among troops returning from Iraq are sky-rocketing -- with the Director of the National Institute for Mental Health recently suggesting that suicide may be claiming the lives of more troops serving in and returning from Iraq than enemy fire.

The lives at stake and the lives that have already been sacrificed are the lives of our sons and daughters, sisters and brothers, husbands and wives. They are our hearts. We are angered at this betrayal by Speaker Pelosi and her colleagues who took control of Congress on a promise to end the war in Iraq. We are sick and tired of Congress members who tell us how much they hate this war and then turn around and continue to fund it.

Speaker Pelosi and other Congressional leaders want to sweeten this deadly pill of the war funding by adding money to help more Veterans go to college and toothless provisions calling for a timetable for troop withdrawals that they know President Bush will veto or use signing statements to ignore. None of that changes the fact that a vote for this bill is a vote to continue funding an illegal, immoral, unjust and unjustifiable war. Military Families Speak Out calls on Members of Congress to reject the House Leadership’s strategy, oppose any bill that provides funding to continue the war in Iraq, and to support full funding for the safe and swift return of U.S. troops to their home duty stations, and for the care they need when they get home.

We remind all in Congress that funding this war is not “funding our troops” – it is killing our troops. Members of Military Families Speak Out are available for interview -- including families with loved ones currently serving in Iraq, families whose loved ones have died as a result of this war, families of troops who have suffered physical and psychological injuries, and families of those awaiting deployment or re-deployment. Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) is a national organization of almost 4,000 families who are opposed to the war in Iraq and have loved ones who serve or have served in the military since the fall of 2002. Gold Star Families Speak Out is a national chapter of MFSO with families whose loved ones died as a result of the war.

For more information about Military Families Speak Out, please visit www.mfso.org ; for more information about the chapter Gold Star Families Speak Out see www.gsfso.org

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I'm one of those family members. My oldest son recently returned from his first tour of duty over there...

There you have it. What I've been saying in this blog for over a year now. What I have been screaming in real life since before the first boot hit the ground:

The dirty dems have

NO INTENTION

of ending the war!

The rotten bastards are gonna keep at it with no end in sight! SONOFABUSH! WTF!? When are YOU gonna wake up? There is ONLY ONE CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT WHO WILL END THE WAR:

VOTENADER.ORG

The Telepathic Crickets™ on the ClapSotronics editorial board and I are SURE YOU WILL SEE THE TRUTH...

The scientifically impossible I do right away

The spiritually miraculous takes a bit longer

By Benjamin Dangl, AlterNet. Posted May 5, 2008.

On May 1st, International Workers' Day, ten peace activists in Burlington, Vermont entered General Dynamics and locked themselves together in the main lobby of the building in protest against the company's weapons manufacturing and war profiteering. University of Vermont student Benjamin Dube, one of the dozens of other activists present at the event, leaned out a window of the lobby, and pointed to the GD building, explaining, "This is the gas tank of the war machine, and we are the sugar."

The demonstrators entered the lobby at around 3 pm, and proceeded to lock their arms together with PVC piping, duct tape and other materials. According to a press release put out by the group, the activists were demanding that "General Dynamics stop giving campaign contributions to the politicians responsible for regulating it, stop making Gatling guns, missiles and other weapons of mass destruction and give back the $3.6 million dollars in Vermont tax breaks General Dynamics received in 2007."

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This old Israeli song was originally sang by one of the military bands in Israel, but four years ago it was taken by local Hip-Hop artists Subliminal and the Shadow and was remixed into a hip-hop song especially for the Israeli Independence Day. I will not translate the words; suffice to say that this song calls for peace in the Middle East and the return of soldiers home. Hence the line: Flowers in the Barrel....

Anarchist, Queer, Anti-Militaristic Event on Independence Day

This Friday, May 9, while military bands from around the world will be playing their music for peace, in honor of Israel's 60 Independence at Rabin's square, an anarchist/queer protest will take place not far from there on Rothschild Ave.

A black tank made of old bicycles with a pink-cock-shaped-barrel spraying water every where, will be placed in front of the house where the original declaration of the state of Israel took place. The pink dick and tank will be there to protest 41 years of Israeli occupation, Palestinian suffering and Israeli worship of militaristic leaders.

The Pink cock will spray water on the "Declaration Building" and the queer organizers state (with a smile) that it will be there to remind us that occupation is a disaster at the service of an (im)potent regime, that the national erection rules our lives and that its time to stop fighting over who has a bigger dick... Every one is welcome to join and protest the oppression of the Palestinian people. (Friday, May 9, from noon time, on Rothschild Ave.). 

Huge Pink Shaped Cock Barrel spraying Water to Protest Palestinian Oppression on Israel's Independence Day

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Featured links and friends’ posts » Guide to Israel: Travel Tips, Photos and Videos, In memory of Albert Hofmann, Israel's City Breaks, Israel's Beach Vacations, Tel Aviv Galleries, GLBT in Tel Aviv
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