Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Look who's talking (look who's silent)

Dear Heloise: When my granddaughter was stationed in Iraq, she asked us for candy the troops could give out to kids. This is what I did. I got a box that was specifically for sending things to the troops. Then I bought an aluminum pan with a lid that would fit snugly in the box. I used a regular cookie recipe and poured the dough in the pan, like brownies. After it was baked, I cut the cookies into bars, put the pan in the box and filled the rest of the space with sacks of hard candies. According to my granddaughter, everything came through just fine. I thought this would be a good suggestion for others. I enjoy all of the different articles that you write. - Ellen in Florida

Dear Ellen: Bravo! Candy always is a welcome surprise. The post office offers special boxes for free to ship to APO/FPO addresses with a flat rate. It even will pick up the box from your home or office to make shipping really convenient for you. - Heloise


That's from "Hints From Heloise" (King Features Syndicate) and we're including Heloise again to (again) note how for so many readers of newspapers, Heloise may be the only copy they read in an entire month that acknowledges the Iraq War. That's what happens when you're responsive to the readers. Heloise's readers know there is a war going on.

By contrast, do Diane Rehms's listeners? Ten Fridays in a row with no discussion of Iraq during the "international hour" on Friday's news round up. Does the Iraq War exist when it gets no coverage?

Robert Parry remembers it today -- long enough to hop his high horse and attack the Washington Post editorial board -- isn't it getting tired and aren't his petty beefs with the paper over Newsweek last century's news?

Parry's got his conspiracy drawers in a twist due to the fact that the editorial board wants the Iraq War to continue.

I must have missed Parry's calling out Barack Obama.

That is who continues the Iraq War, not the Washington Post editorial board. Barack Obama lied and Parry whored. Parry threw away whatever bits his own name was worth to whore for Obama. In the 2008 election, voters did not think a vote for Barack was a vote to continue the Iraq War. But it's three years later and still the Iraq War goes on. Bill Richardson, who Parry couldn't give the time of day, had a fast exit strategy. Barack has no exit strategy.

What he's hoping for is that the SOFA will be extended -- Nouri dangled that possibility before AP in his weekend interview -- but will settle for militarizing the State Dept by sliding forces over to it. Either way, the Iraq War doesn't end.

Robert Parry doesn't have time for those truths.

He had a bad expereince at Newsweek -- then owned by the Washington Post -- so we have to suffer through decade after decade of Parry whining about the Washington Post. He pretends it's about Iraq today.

But if it were about Iraq? He'd be calling out Barack.

It's not about Iraq. It's another way for him to scream and cry about his Newsweek days.

He remembers Iraq today. After how many days of ignoring it? He calls out an editorial board today. After refusing to call out the President of the United States for continuing the Iraq War. It's not like Barack just got into office. Yesterday, he announced his campaign for re-election. (In this morning's New York Times, Jeff Zeleny and Jackie Calmes note, "With the Iraq and Afghanistan wars still under way, in addition to military action in Libya and uncertainty across the Middle East, the president heads toward re-election in a far different position from when he started his first race four years ago as an antiwar candidate favored by many liberal Democrats.") But pathetic Robert Parry can't call him out. He's that immature, he's that stunted, he's that cowardly, he's that pathetic.

He thinks he has some soapbox on which to stand when it comes to the issue of Iraq. But having spent Barack's entire time in the White House ignoring the ongoing and still illegal war, he's got nothing. He's a joke. And worse, he's a tired joke.

The 26 who have died since Barack declared an end to "combat operations" (August 31st) must be "lucky," right? Because they died under a Democratic commander-in-chief? Robert Parry's become as ridiculous as any war monger under Bush. (2 US soldiers were announced dead on Sunday, 1 on Monday. The figure should be 26 when updated later today.)

Bill Carter (New York Times) reports Katie Couric is headed back to Iraq for a series of reports. Let's see, a bunch of self-righteous pricks on the left who hate women will 'rediscover' Iraq long enough to trash whatever she does. We've seen that movie before. All that's changed is the lead actors have gotten older and even less appealing.

The Iraq War continues. It has not ended. I'm not in the mood for posers like Robert Parry who want to show up to offer a brief lecture to others (without calling out the person responsible for the ongoing war) before yet again dashing off to another topic. I've never been fond of dilettantes.



The following community sites -- plus IVAW, War News Radio, Military Families Speak Out, Tavis Smiley and Jane Fonda -- updated last night and this morning:





Reminder: If you served in the US military and you were stop-lossed, you are owed additional money. That money needs to be claimed. DoD announces the date to file for that additional payment has been extended:

The deadline for eligible service members, veterans and their beneficiaries to apply for Retroactive Stop Loss Special Pay (RSLSP) has been extended to April 8, 2011, allowing personnel more time to apply for the benefits they've earned under the program guidelines.
The deadline extension is included in the continuing resolution signed by President Obama Friday, providing funding for federal government operations through April 8, 2011.
Retroactive Stop Loss Special Pay was established to compensate for the hardships military members encountered when their service was involuntarily extended under Stop Loss Authority between Sept. 11, 2001, and Sept. 30, 2009. Eligible members or their beneficiaries may submit a claim to their respective military service in order to receive the benefit of $500 for each full or partial month served in a Stop Loss status.
When RSLSP began on Oct. 21, 2009, the services estimated 145,000 service members, veterans and beneficiaries were eligible for this benefit. Because the majority of those eligible had separated from the military, the services have engaged in extensive and persistent outreach efforts to reach them and remind them to apply. Outreach efforts including direct mail, engaging military and veteran service organizations, social networks and media outlets, will continue through April 8, 2011.
To apply for more information, or to gather more information on RSLSP, including submission requirements and service-specific links, go to http://www.defense.gov/stoploss.



The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.













thomas friedman is a great man






oh boy it never ends

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