A pickup truck exploded near the central bus station at Balad, a largely Shiite town in the overwhelmingly Sunni province of Salahuddin.
Witnesses speculated that the bomber had exploited a recent relaxation in security. “It is an attempt to blow up the atmosphere of reconciliation between the people of Balad and the other cities of Salahuddin and to make another wave of sectarian anger,” Col. Ali Saleh, a Salahuddin police spokesman, said.
The above is from Stephen Farrell and Suadad al-Salhy's "Truck Bomber Kills 9 as Shiite Pilgrims Travel Through Northern Iraq" in today's New York Times. And except for the wire services, that's pretty much it.
Community Member X (community members will know his name) asked that something be noted here. I'm calling him CMX because he usually sticks to the newsletter. As someone stationed in Korea who has only recently learned he deploys to Iraq next year, CMX wants it made very clear that he believes the press is doing "a s**t poor job and acting like the Iraq War ended." He notes that they are still on high alert (in Korea, over the perceived 'threat' of Iran) and that it's just started to sink in with others he's serving with that Barack's not just gotten a free pass, he's not going to do a damn thing to end the illegal war.
CMX is digsuted with the after-thought nature of the Iraq War and wants it noted "Katrina vanden Heuvel and all the beggars in indymedia and all the liars in corporate media are ensuring that a lot more people are going to die in that illegal war by their silences, their lies and their refusal to make ending this illegal war their top agenda. They have blood on their hands. They need to be called out and confronted. And the lies that Barack is planning to end the war need to be called out every damn day."
And that really says it all. Amanda notes this from Team Nader:
50 Dollars for 50 States
Posted by The Nader Team on Friday, August 15, 2008 at 10:04:00 AM
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Ralph Nader is the only Presidential candidate who has promised to campaign in all 50 states this year.
In the age of the Internet, Ralph is a believer in taking it directly to the people.
State by state.
And whatever Ralph says goes.
So, we’ve put together a grueling fifty state schedule for him.
But the gas bill is starting to bite.
So, please, help us out.
Drop $50 now on Nader/Gonzalez, the only campaign that will take it to all fifty states.
Already, Ralph has campaigned in 27 states -- Washington, Oregon, California, Hawaii, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, Texas, Illinois, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine.
And coming up in the next couple of weeks, Ralph will be traveling to:
Colorado -- for our Open the Debates Super Rally August 27 at the University of Denver Magness Arena.
Minnesota -- for our Open the Debates Super Rally September 4 at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis.
And before and after those rallies to New Mexico, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. (That will put us at 34 states by September 8.)
Check the complete schedule here.
And come out and see and hear Ralph lay out the Nader/Gonzalez platform of shifting the power from the corporations back into the hands of the people.
Remember, if you donate $100 or more now, we will ship to you two DVDs -- a copy of the Patti Smith and Ralph Nader DVD -- Awake from Your Slumber -- autographed by Ralph -- and a copy of the best argument for a single payer health care plan -- Michael Moore’s Sicko. (Deadline for this offer: Wednesday August 20 at 11:59 p.m.)
So, give to your heart’s content -- up to the legal limit of $4,600.
Help power Ralph on his 50 state tour of the United States.
And help us reach our new fundraising goal of $50,000 by Wednesday August 20.
Nothing could be sweeter than investing in Nader/Gonzalez.
For a bright and just future.
Onward to November.
The Nader Team
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The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
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