Monday, July 11, 2011

The fallen and the fake anti-war voice whose daughter works for the Pentagon

3 US soldiers have died in Iraq so far this month. The third death was yesterday, though few noted it (Reuters and Press TV were among the few). The other two died Thursday and they have been identified: "Spc. Nathan R. Beyers, 24, of Littleton, Colo. and Spc. Nicholas W. Newby, 20, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho." Lori Obert (KUSA -- link has text and video) speaks to Jack Beyers, Nathan Beyer's uncle, who explains that his nephew became a father in November when Vanessa Beyers gave birth to their daughter Ella Jo and though Nathan was in Iraq he got to see "his daughter for the first time" this year when he was home on leave. Vanessa Beyers says of her husband, "Nathan was proud of his job and serving our country. He died doing something he loved and was such a brave person." Nick Rotunno (Coeur d'Alene Press) reports Spc Nicholas Newby's parents, Theresa Hart and Wayne Newby released a statement noting, "Nick would do anything for anybody who needed his help. He'd stick by his friends and never gave up on anybody. Nick loved his family, and everybody loved him." The article also has two photos of Spc Nicholas Newby.

The Iraq War claimed the lives of 15 US soldiers in June. Near the end of the month, Capt Matthew Nielson became one of the fallen. Tiffany De Masters (Des Moines Register) reports on his funeral with photos by Justin Hayworth and they note that those attending included Fareway grocery store employees where Matthew Nielsen had once worked. De Masters files a longer article (which also includes a photo essay by Hayworth) and quotes his teenage sister Kristen Nielson stating, "We used to chat on Facebook while he was in Iraq -- we talked about what he was going to do when he got home. He said he wanted to visit our sister in Colorado and get his Jeep that was in Texas."

That's 18 people in less than 2 months. Strangely, a Barack cheerleader/whore, whose trashy daughter works for the administration and has proposed registering journalists, the trashy whore has finally written a little article about war -- her first since Bush left office. The little whore manages to work in George W. Bush, Madeline Albright and Ronald Reagan. But of her beloved Barack? Of the man who make her Socialist panties dampen?

Here's the cheap trash's full critique of the current administration, "In 2009, the Obama administration unthinkingly proposed a troop surge in Afghanistan, followed by a withdrawal within a year and a half that would have required some of the troops to start packing up almost as soon as they arrived." I said it was her critique of the administration because it's "the Obama administration," not Barack.

She writes over 3600 words and that's all she can say to almost call out Barack Obama. She's a disgrace to the left. If you haven't figured it out yet, it's Babsie. Barbar the Elephant Ehrenreich. We called her out in real time when she started doing shots of crazy to promote her man in the Democratic Party primaries. Like a lot of that trash in 2008, she didn't like to publicize the fact that she was a Socialist. If she had, she would have been told to shut up and mind her own damn business because Democrats don't take kindly to outsiders trying to influence their primaries. We called her out most recently when she and others (Aimee Allison included) tried to start up their new faux group to energize the electorate in time for November 2012. We pointed out that these 'brave' members who wanted to lead couldn't call Barack out. How pathetic of Ehrenreich. She's elderly now and she still can't speak the truth. Cheap trash rarely can. But she's made her legacy one of lying for a political candidate who continued illegal wars and started new ones, who announced he would gut the safety net and so much more. That is her legacy now. And would be even if her overweight and ugly daughter wasn't part of the administration. Just remember her daughter is the "Counselor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy." And she thought she could trick Americans into believing that this new faux group was going to oppose Barack.

No link to trash, you can Google the sentence we quoted if you need a good laugh and therefore the 'stylistic musings' (don't call it writing) of Babsie Ehrenreich. If she ever had a soul, she sold it to join the Cult of St. Barack.

Supposedly Nancy Pelosi stood strong to the White House on Social Security and they're backing off. I should say, "I'm told Nancy stood strong." That part I actually believe. That the White House has truly given up on the gutting is something I find harder to believe. They are prone to lull opponents into a false sense of security. So we'll see. But Saturday, Senator Bernie Sanders' office issued the following:

Social Security cuts under consideration by the White House in deficit-reduction talks would drive 245,000 people into poverty and lower widows’ benefits $1,200 a year by 2050, according to Social Security Administration calculations provided to Sen. Bernie Sanders. Changing the way inflation is measured to determine Social Security benefits is one option on the table in high-stakes budget negotiations that resume Sunday at the White House. Sanders called on President Barack Obama to publicly renounce the idea of cutting Social Security as part of any deal to lower deficits.

The so-called Chained Consumer Price Index on average results in a lower inflation levels than the more common formula used to adjust benefits.

“The result would be devastating cuts for millions of American seniors and people with disabilities,” said Sanders. As chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging, Sanders asked the Social Security Administration’s Office of Retirement Policy to calculate the impact on poverty rates and benefits if the revised inflation gauge were to be adopted.

In 2030, according to the report prepared for Sanders, there would be 173,400 more people living in poverty in the United States. The revised formula also would dramatically lower benefits for retirees. Widows would receive almost $70 a month less in benefits, a reduction of $840 a year. People who are 70-79 would receive $49 a month less, a drop of $588 a year. Benefits for those who are 80-89 would drop by $80/month or $960 a year. Benefits for women would fall by 3.5 percent overall while men’s benefits would drop by 2.9 percent.

By 2050, the impact would be much worse. There would be 245,000 more people living in poverty at mid-century. Widows’ benefits would be $1,200 a year less. Those 70-79 would lose $720 a year, and seniors in the 80-89 age bracket would see benefits fall by $1,200 a year. Overall, women would see a 4 percent reduction in benefits while benefits for men would drop 3.4 percent.

As the deficit negotiations were set to resume on Sunday, Sanders emphasized that Social Security has not contributed a dime to the deficit or the national debt. Funded by the payroll tax on workers and employers, Socials Security has a $2.6 trillion surplus and will be able to provide full benefits for every eligible American for the next 25 years.

"I am especially disturbed that the president is considering cuts in Social Security after he campaigned against cuts in 2008," Sanders said. "The American people expect the president to keep his word."



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Sunday, July 10, 2011

And the war drags on . . .

In the big news coming out of Iraq right now, Al Mada reports Moqtada al-Sadr has posted a statement to his website announcing that he will not be reactivating the Mahdi militia even should the US extend its occupation beyond 2011. Why?

Well he calls it "growing evil within the ranks." Apparently, there's a cancer on his thuggery. He claims, in his statement, that "grief, pain and sorrow" over the current make up of the Mahdi and people claiming to be in. Goodness, if you left Iraq in 2007 and the Mehdi continued without you, if you set up house in Iran all that time and the Medhi lived without you, you ever think maybe that they could get along just fine without your 'leadership'?

That may be the lesson Moqtada's learned. A lot of people pinned their hopes on Moqtada. Consider them the kind-of-against-the-Iraq-War Nation magazine writers. (They know who they are.) They didn't need to challenge Barack because Moqtada was going to ensure the SOFA was followed. So they could just stay silent as the cry of "End the war now!" became "End the war in three years." They and so many like them hid behind A Thug Named Moqtada. And they whored for him. They stayed silent as his thugs carried out an assualt on Iraq's LGBT community. They propped him up like he was a saint. Because as long as Moqtada said no-to-continued-war, they didn't have to.

Oh, those little cowards.

And they're not just cowards, they're stupid cowards. Moqtada's announcement isn't a shocker.

While the MSM was pimping his power, we have regularly and repeatedly noted that Moqtada's 'power' has been drastically weakened. We noted that was the conclusion of US, French, British and two neighboring (neighboring Iraq) countries. We noted that he wasn't able to turn out millions or even 10% of the Baghdad population in a protest. He followed that with a 'protest' that was a march through Sadr City by his militia. What were they? 15,000? That's generous. Very generous. The press was even more generous. As the march went through Sadr City, many inhabitans stepped out of the front doors of their homes to take a look and the press was oh-so-very-happy to count those observers as participants.

Though the press was out-to-lunch, Moqtada wasn't. That's why he organized the march to begin with, to prolong the illusion that he still had a firm grip on power. It would appear he needs to regroup.

For some strange reason -- insanity? -- CNN files a report they headline "Radical Iraqi cleric threatens to revive brigade to attack U.S. troops" and spend two paragraphs on a maybe as opposed to what's definite in the statement Moqtada posted. Here are paragraphs three and four from Mohammed Tawfeeq's report:

On Sunday, in a statement posted on his official website, al-Sadr said he would not reactivate his Mehdi Army in full, even if U.S. forces remained in the Middle Eastern nation into 2012. He cited a spike in corruption and crimes perpetrated recently by people claiming to be members of his movement for this decision.
But the Shiite cleric, who is based in Najaf, about 100 kilometers south of Baghdad, did not rule out calling again on members of the so-called Promised Day Brigade, a small group of hand-picked fighters dedicated to attacking U.S. and coalition troops.

A "small group." Small groups being all that Moqtada can count on these days. He didn't rule it out in his statement. Nor did he say he would. He did say, flat out, that the Mahdi militia would not be re-activated but somehow that's not the lede for CNN.

For months and months, Moqtada al-Sadr has threatened that if the US military remains in Iraq beyond 2011, he would reactivate his Mahdi militia. Today he announces that will not be happening and somehow CNN can't find that as the main point of their story. They have to dick around for two paragraphs with things that weren't addressed instead of focusing on what the statement made clear.

Now Moqtada's not known for his word so he could change his mind tomorrow. But having made this announcement, it's now harder for him with his alleged 'followers.'

Moqtada bluffed and bluffed. And then he caved.

This is the story that should dominate Monday. But possibly some in the press are too invested in the all-powerful-Moqtada storyline to grasp or convey reality.

I have no idea. But Moqtada's announcement is news unlike the weekly 'reports' news outlets have provided for months now that Moqtada will reactivate the Mahdi militia.

It would appear that the only serious objection to Nouri and the US government coming to an agreement to extend the Iraq War just dropped out of the equation.

They're just there to try and make the people free,
But the way that they're doing it, it don't seem like that to me.
Just more blood-letting and misery and tears
That this poor country's known for the last twenty years,
And the war drags on.
-- words and lyrics by Mick Softly (available on Donovan's Fairytale)

Last Sunday, the number of US military people killed in the Iraq War since the start of the illegal war was 4469. Tonight? PDF format warning, DoD lists the the number of Americans killed serving in Iraq at 4472. That doesn't include the US service member announced dead today. Press TV notes that today's death brings to 3 the number of US soldiers killed in Iraq so far this month.

Reuters notes a Baghdad roadside bombing injured two people while targeting a Deputy Minister (Salam al-Khafaji) at the Ministr of Displacement and Migration and, dropping back to yesterday, 2 people were shot dead in Kirkuk with another two injured and 1 college student was shot dead in Mussayab.

New content at Third:


Pru notes Ken Olende's "Man-made famine hits Horn of Africa" (Great Britain's Socialist Worker):

The Horn of Africa is facing its worst drought in 60 years, and the United Nations says ten million people could face famine.

The drought is affecting Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Uganda. Ethiopia and especially Somalia are threatened with devastation.

Already tens of thousands of starving people have walked to overcrowded refugee camps in northern Kenya.

The Independent newspaper reports that 1,200 children are arriving at the camps every day.

The largest camp was intended to house 90,000 people, but there are currently 370,000 people living there.

The British government has pledged £38 million in food aid to Ethiopia. But the country is still burdened with an external debt of £2.5 billion.

The truth is that in the modern world, famines are caused by politics, not nature.

People are starving not because there is no food, but because they cannot afford the food that is there.

Countries caught up in recent imperialist intervention are suffering the most.

Somalia was establishing a government under the Union of Islamic Courts in 2007, but it didn’t meet with US approval.

The US military sponsored and supported an Ethiopian invasion that was disastrous for both Ethiopia and Somalia.

Trade

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton visited three African countries in June calling for further opening up of trade.

Last week unmanned US military drones, costing nearly £3 million each, attacked the city of Kismayo in southern Somalia.

The US was trying to assassinate local Islamist leaders.

The Hellfire missiles frequently used in such attacks cost £42,000 each.

The US-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network said the famine’s impacts have been “exacerbated by extremely high food prices”.


Food prices in Kenya have risen by 80 percent, while in Ethiopia they have jumped by 41 percent.

The fluctuations in food prices are pushed by the neoliberal policies of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The IMF forces economies to open up to free trade, rather than concentrating on food security for local populations.

During the current financial crisis, food speculation has made the problem far worse.

Figures from the World Development Movement reveal that hedge funds, investment bankers and pension funds have poured over £125 billion into food markets since the financial crisis, betting on the rising price of food.

The system is responsible for starvation. Getting rid of the system is the way to end it.

The following should be read alongside this article:

Protests spread across Africa and threaten rulers

© Socialist Worker (unless otherwise stated). You may republish if you include an active link to the original.


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Oops, did you hear the one about Moqtada . . .

So many pinned so much on Moqtada. Were I Grace Adler, this might be time for a little song and dance. When the English speaking media picks up on this, a few hearts will be breaking. We'll open with it in the next entry but it deserved its own.

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