Sunday, December 02, 2007

NYT: Cave still on a strong streak

Let's pretend it's Sunday morning. Advertisements. We all crashed as soon as we finally finished The Third Estate Sunday Review (we still have to do the note) and no one bothered with the New York Times this morning. I lifted up the blue bag and wondered why it was so heavy? More news? No. You've got the "style" 'magazine' -- it's noting but an advetorial and it's over 230 pages -- and advertising supplements. I'm surprised they didn't include coupons.

There's one story on Iraq on the front page, Damien Cave's "Nonstop Theft And Bribery Stagger Iraq" which includes this:

Jobless men pay $500 bribes to join the police. Families build houses illegally on government land, car-washes steal water from public pipes, and nearly everything the government buys or sells can now be found on the black market.

That's the opening sentence and one of the better (strictly from a writing and reporting view) the Times has offered all year. Cancer painkillers, third-grade text books and more have soaring prices. Cave notes:

Corruption and theft are not new to Iraq, and government officials have promised to address the problem. But as Iraqis and American officials asses the effects of this year's American troop increase, there is a growing sense that, even as security has improved, Iraq has slipped to new depths of lawlessness.

So good for Cave and his continued strong streak. The article continues on A14 which also has Sabrina Tavernise and Stephen Farrell's "Turkey Says It Attacked Kurdish Fighters in Iraq; Reports of Ground Raid Dispute." As with the previous announced incursion, there are now assertions that yesterday's did not happen. An unnamed member of the Turkish Parliament states that what took place was "a limited operation for the moment." The also quote Haval Zagros -- "a P.K.K. spokesman" -- who asserts nothing has taken place and "none of our bases has been struck by Turkish forces." None of the PKK's bases in Iraq have been struck says the spokesperson. Let it register that a group the US has labeled a terrorist organization is acknowledging the PKK has bases in northern Iraq. For those who have forgotten, the Kurdish elite in the Iraqi 'government' have repeatedly asserted no such bases existed. According to a spokesperson for the PKK, they do exist and they were not attacked by the Turkish military.

On Thursday, car bombs were said to be discovered in the compound of a member of the Iraqi parliament. On Friday, the member was under house arrest and his protection forces and his son were carted away. A spokesperson for him denied Friday that the bomb or bombs were discovered inside the compound and stated Adnan al-Dulaimi was innocent. Got that? Today Tavernise and Farrell report that the "the largest Sunni Arab bloc, the Iraqi Consensus Front, walked out of Parliament to protest what it described as a move by Iraqi security forces to place its leader, Adnan al-Dulaimi, under house arrest."

Here's what's up at The Third Estate Sunday Review:

Truest statement of the week
A Note to Our Readers
Editorial: Cover the December 11th War Resisters hearings
TV: Fumble Line
Bilal
Mailbag
Holiday Shopping Suggestions
Laura Flanders speaks with Dennis Kucinich
Peter Byrne on The Nation
Kimberly Wilder urges you to vote for Donna Warren
Things to watch, things to listen to
Highlights

Two things to note. Kat' s review ("Kat's Korner: Ann Wilson sings and stands tall") was supposed to have a scan of the cover of Ann Wilson's new CD Hope & Glory. It did not. It does now. Isaiah was supposed to go up early this morning with a new comic. He pulled the comic and it will go in Hilda's Mix Tuesday. He did another comic for this site instead. It will go up as soon as it loads on Flickr (it is still loading currently). Make it three things. Ruth's latest report went up last night.

Also, KPFK listeners, Kimberly Wilder is endorsing Donna Warren for the LSB elections which end December 11th. You can out more about Warren in Wilder's "Green heroine, Donna Warren runs for KPFK" (On the Wilder Side).

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