The violence continues today in Iraq. National Iraqi News Agency reports that a Baghdad suicide bomber claimed the lives of 5 Iraqi soldiers and left twelve more injured, Sahwa leader Sheikh Saleh al-Dulaimi was shot dead leaving his Ramadi home, a Baquba roadside bombing left three people injured, 1 person was shot dead outside his Baquba home, and police shot dead 2 suspects in Ramadi,
Supposedly, Parliamentary elections will take place April 30th. Yesterday All Iraq News quoted MP Jawad al-Hasnawi stating, "I do not think that Maliki will get the third term as the PM of Iraq due to the current situations and the security deterioration in addition to the floods." Mustafa Habib (Niqash) examined the political situation in Iraq last Thursday:
As political parties prepare for upcoming general
elections, some very important alliances are falling apart. Shiite
Muslim parties allied in the current governing coalition led by PM
Nouri-al-Maliki say they will campaign alone - and they won’t promise
al-Maliki another term. Amid a surge in sectarian violence, could the
country finally be entering a post-sectarian political era?
Prominent Shiite Muslim politicians in Baghdad have
confessed that there is one major reason why the previously strong
alliance of Shiite Muslim parties is breaking up. This alliance was what
allowed current Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to form his ruling
coalition, the State of Law bloc. But now, as political parties start
negotiating partnerships and jockeying for position ahead of the
upcoming general elections, scheduled for April 2014, the formerly
strong Shiite Muslim alliances have fallen apart.
A special meeting was held in Baghdad on Nov. 18 at which
all member parties of al-Maliki’s alliance were present. A statement was
issued afterwards declaring, “Shiite Muslim parties are enthusiastic
about competing in the coming elections together”. But this seems to
have been spin: The reality on the ground is very different.
“The State of Law bloc has asked that all other parties
that want to enter into an alliance with it agree ahead of elections
that if they win, the future Prime Minister will come from the Dawa
party and that that party will not nominate anyone other than Nouri
al-Maliki,” a senior politician, who did not want to be named, told
NIQASH. “This is why the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq and the Sadrist
bloc are avoiding any such alliance.”
The strongest Shiite Muslim parties in Iraq are
al-Maliki’s Dawa party, the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, or ISCI,
headed by cleric Ammar al-Hakim and the Sadrist bloc, headed by another cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
There are also other minor Shiite Muslim parties such as the National
Reform Trend headed by former Prime Minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, and
the Islamic Virtue Party, or Fadhila, headed by controversial
Najaf-based cleric, Mohammed Musa al-Yaqoubi.
Both the Sadrist bloc and the ISCI seem firm about their
intentions not to enter into an alliance with al-Maliki’s party again.
Both al-Hakim and al-Sadr have been critical of al-Maliki’s government,
with al-Sadr being very harsh, very publicly and al-Hakim tending to be
quietly critical.
Since yesterday's snapshot, the following community sites -- plus Susan's On the Edge, Antiwar.com and Pacifica Evening News -- updated:
Disgraceful Barack
1 hour ago
Mandela and Truth
7 hours ago
Harry Reid plays Scrooge
7 hours ago
Baracka-blah-blah
7 hours ago
Shut up, Jim Hightower
7 hours ago
Ditzy Jase gets it wrong again
7 hours ago
Rosemary's Baby and China
7 hours ago
The "Turd Way" is More Like It
17 hours ago
Lastly, the Green Party of Michigan issued the following:
Ecological Wisdom * Social Justice
Grassroots Democracy * Non-Violence
Green Party of Michigan
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
www.MIGreenParty.org
** News Release **
** ------------ **
December 12, 2013
For More Information, Contact:
-----------------------------
John Anthony La Pietra, GPMI Elections Co-ordinator
jalp5dai@att.net
(269) 781-9478
Michigan Greens Call for Repeal of Wolf-Hunt Bill
=================================================
Legislature's Decision to Allow Hunt Not Justified by Science;
Also Shows Contempt for the People's Power of Referendum
The Green Party of Michigan (GPMI) has adopted a resolution
opposing the wolf hunt authorized this year by the state Legislature in
Public Act 21 of 2013 as cruel, unnecessary, unscientific, and
undemocratic.
GPMI made the decision after hearing from the sponsors of two
citizen petition drives to keep Michigan wolves protected -- one
deliberately nullified by the Legislature's action -- and from Native
American tribes who claim their treaty rights to be consulted about the
wolves' fate were ignored.
Linda Cree, a member of the GPMI's State Central Committee who
lives in a rural/wilderness area of the Upper Peninsula, proposed the
resolution.
"Most of my extended family are hunters, and good ones," Cree says.
"They put a lot of food on the table through hunting. Greens support
such regional self-sufficiency. But obviously, the wolf is not being
hunted for food."
Two-time GPMI gubernatorial candidate Doug Campbell adds, "The
current Legislature is violating the voice of the people, clearly
expressed in a legitimate referendum petition.
"If people want representatives who respect their voting and
petition rights, they should elect Green legislators instead."
John Anthony La Pietra, GPMI's elections co-ordinator, agrees.
"Those in power in Lansing, Republicans and Democrats, keep stealing
power from the people. End runs around referendum efforts on this issue
and the Emergency Manager law are just two examples -- not to mention
making it harder for voters to recall unresponsive representatives."
La Pietra, an election law and civil-rights attorney from Marshall
and GPMI's 2010 nominee for Secretary of State, has drafted a petition
for a potential state Constitutional amendment to clarify that the
people's referendum power covers all laws except those whose single
subject is appropriating state money or meeting deficiencies in state
funds.
For more information about the Green Party of Michigan, its values,
and its candidates, visit:
http://www.MIGreenParty.org/
For GPMI's latest news, “like” the Green Party of Michigan USA
Facebook page and follow the party Twitter feed @MIGreenParty.
# # #
created/distributed using donated labor
Green Party of Michigan
PO Box 504
Warren, MI 48090-0504
313-815-2025
www.MIGreenParty.org
GPMI was formed in 1987 to address environmental
issues in Michigan politics. Greens are organized
in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Each
state Green Party sets its own goals and creates its
own structure, but US Greens agree on Ten Key Values:
Ecological Wisdom
Grassroots Democracy
Social Justice
Non-Violence
Community Economics
Decentralization
Feminism
Respect for Diversity
Personal/Global Responsibility
Future Focus/Sustainability
For the latest news,
“like” the Green Party of Michigan USA Facebook page --
and follow us at Twitter: @MIGreenParty.
[=================================]
GPMI Statement Opposing
Michigan Wolf-Hunting Law
(adopted by the State Central
Committee December 10, 2013)
----------------------------
The Green Party of Michigan denounces Michigan’s new law permitting
wolf hunting as cruel and unnecessary, and is committed to its repeal.
The hunt has been promoted as being necessary to deal with wolf
predation on livestock and pets, and to keep people safe. There are
already effective measures in place, however, as current laws allow for
the killing of problem wolves to protect livestock, pets, or humans.
The state also compensates ranchers for any livestock losses to wolves.
(It should also be noted that there has never been a recorded attack
of a human by a wolf in Michigan.)
We also oppose the process in which citizen petitions were
circumvented by a hastily passed Senate Bill which took control over the
listing of endangered species out of the legislature and handed it over
to political appointees. This means that even if voters get a measure
against the wolf hunt on the ballot in 2014, their votes will have no
meaning. This is the same kind of cynical political maneuvering that
has made it impossible for citizens to repeal the Emergency Manager law,
and represents another blatant undermining of the democratic process
through denial of citizen initiatives.
We also understand that the Anishinaabe view the wolf (ma'iingan)
as a brother and as humanity's first companion; their creation story
teaches that what happens to one will happen to the other.
In view of the above, the Green Party of Michigan considers the Act
legalizing the killing of wolves for no better reason than bloodsport a
violation of basic respect for life; an affront to the democratic
process in our state; and a slap in the face to Michigan’s First Nations
people, who view the wolf as a close relative.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
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