Listics

Will this be the one that brings Bush down?  Anyone who is a reasonable judge of character has long been aware that Bush is virtually unemployable, that there is no level of any organization where he will fit in, and there is no individual skill set that would make him valuable to any community in any job more complex than mucking out the stables.  He’s a mean-spirited, ill-tempered son-of-a-bitch who would set the winter fuel in Britain on fire if it would melt the polar cap faster so his business partners can drill in the arctic.

So, having sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America,  he now calls it just a piece of paper…  is anyone worried?  Remember Agnew.  We’ll have to ease the mobster sidekick out of office before we can send Bush packing.

The FBI needs to help Thompson convince his sources to come out and confirm that Bush is guilty.

This is by way of sharing my concern regarding the fate of Tom Fox and his Christian Peace-maker team colleagues.

"Be patterns, be examples in every country,place,or nation
that you visit, so that your bearing and life might communicate with all people.
Then you’ll happily walk across the earth to evoke that of God in everybody. So
that you will be seen as a blessing in their eyes and you will receive a
blessing from that of God within them."

– George Fox

We will hold the second meeting of the West Waubesa Preservation Coalition, (which is fighting a high voltage power line through our neighborhood) this Sunday, Dec. 4, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Dunn Town Hall, 4156 County Rd. B, McFarland.  If you were at the last meeting, please read the minutes and see if you committed to doing something.  If you haven’t started yet, time is running out!  If you weren’t at the last meeting, please come Sunday night and get involved.

Register to comment and contribute posts to the weblog here.

Here is the agenda for Sunday: 
1.  Introductions
2.  Review agenda
3.  Reports by the people who took on tasks as to what they have accomplished.  These need to be very brief reports, like 1 - 5 min. maximum.
4.  Discuss our next steps, including getting a letter to the ATC and the Public Service Commission and the Governor (all one letter) signed by as many neighbors as possible.
5.  Set up a next meeting.
6.  Discuss whether we want to establish bylaws, elect officers and incorporate in the future.

Please talk to your neighbors and invite them to come to the meeting!  And if you or they haven’t completed a response sheet to ATC, please do that and mail it in as soon as possible.  See you on Sunday!   Response sheet can be downloaded here (476K MS Word file).

FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE

November 30, 2024; 1:00 A.M.
(Baghdad)

We were very saddened to see the images of our loved ones on Al Jazeera television recently. We were disturbed by seeing the video and believe that repeated showing of it will endanger the lives of our friends. We are deeply disturbed by their abduction. We pray that those who hold them will be merciful and that they will be released soon. We want so much to see their faces in our home again, and we want them to know how much we love them, how much we miss them, and how anxious and concerned we are by what is happening to them.

We are angry because what has happened to our teammates is the result of the actions of the U.S. and U.K. government due to the illegal attack on Iraq and the continuing occupation and oppression of its people. Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) has worked for the rights of Iraqi prisoners who have been illegally detained and abused by the U.S. government. We were the first people to publicly denounce the torture of Iraqi people at the hands of U.S. forces, long before the western media admitted what was happening at Abu Ghraib. We are some of the few internationals  left in Iraq who are telling the truth about what is happening to the Iraqi people We hope that we can continue to do this work and we pray for the speedy release of our beloved teammates.

We can confirm the identities of those who are being held as follows:

Tom Fox, age 54, is from Clearbrook, Virginia and is a dedicated father of two children. For the past two years, Mr. Fox has worked with CPT in partnership with Iraqi human rights organizations to promote peace. Mr. Fox has been faithful in the observance of Quaker practice for 22 years. While in Iraq, he sought a more complete understanding of Islamic cultural richness. He is committed to telling the truth to U.S. citizens about the horrors of war and its effects on ordinary Iraqi civilians and families as a result of U.S. policies and practices.

Mr. Fox is an accomplished musician. He plays the bass clarinet and the recorder and he loves to cook. He has also worked as a professional grocer. Mr. Fox devotes much of his time to working with children. He has served as an adult leader of youth programs and worked at a Quaker camp for youth. He has facilitated young people’s participation in opposing war and violence. Mr. Fox is a quiet and peaceful man, respectful of everyone, who believes that "there is that of God in every person" which is why work for peace is so important to him.

Norman Kember, age 74, is from London, England. He and his wife of 45 years have two married daughters and a 3-year old grandson. He has been a pacifist all his life
beginning with his work in a hospital instead of National Service at age 18. Before
his retirement he was a professor teaching medical students at St Bartholemew’s
Hospital in London. He is well-known as a peace activist, and has been involved in
several peace groups. For the past 10 years he has volunteered with a local program
providing free food to the homeless. He likes walking, birdwatching, and writing
humorous songs and sketches. In his younger days he enjoyed mountaineering.

James Loney, 41, is a community worker from Toronto, Canada. He has been a member of Christian Peacemaker Teams since August 2024, and is currently the Program Coordinator for CPT Canada. On previous visits to Iraq, his work focused on taking testimonies from families of detainees for CPT’s report on detainee abuse, and making recommendations for securing basicl legal rights. James was leading the November 2024 delegation in Iraq when he went missing.

James is a peace activist, writer, trained mediator, and works actively with two Toronto community conflict resolution services. He has spent many years working to provide housing and support for homeless people.

In a personal statement from James to CPT, he writes: "I believe that our actions as a people of peace must be an expression of hope for everyone. My hope in practising non-violence is that I can be a conduit for the transformative power of God’s love acting upon me as much as I hope it will act upon others around me."

Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32 is a Canadian electrical engineer. He is studying for a masters degree in English literature in Auckland University in New Zealand to prepare for a teaching career. He enjoys art, is active in squash and worked part time as a local squash coach. His family describes him as peaceful and fun-loving and he is known to be passionate about the plight of the underprivileged around the globe. He works tirelessly in his spare time to educate and help others.

Christian Peacemaker Teams has been present in Iraq since October 2024, providing first-hand, independent reports from the region, working with detainees of both United States and Iraqi forces, and training others in non-violent intervention and human rights documentation.

Christian Peacemaker Teams is a program of Brethren, Quaker and Mennonite Churches (USA and Canada). The Baptist Peace Fellowship, Every Church a Peace Church, On Earth Peace and The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship are also sponsors of CPT.  Christians from other bodies in the ecumenical Christian community are participants in the 40 member full time Christian Peacemaker  Corps and the part time 125 member Reserve Corps.

A fool Goodrick-Clarke is not.

A few weeks before he died, Westhusing received an anonymous complaint that a
private security company he oversaw had cheated the U.S. government and
committed human rights violations. Westhusing confronted the contractor and
reported the concerns to superiors, who launched an investigation.

These facts will soon be in dispute, yet anybody who has paid attention should know beyond a doubt that the mercenaries employed by the Bush/Cheney/Halliburton/Bechtel axis of deceit are guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity.  Saying it sounds so strident.  To voice the truth ironically discredits the person telling the tale.  How can such things be true?  Our country is a paragon of virtue, nicht wahr?   Our leaders are at worst occasionally misinformed, and the thugs they’ve hired for private security, the gangsters who owe no allegiance to the US or obedience to the UCMJ are just men in a bad situation trying to do the job they’ve been paid to do.

There is one truth to tell, one justice to administer when it comes to the crimes of the Bush administration, but the untangling is a lengthy process that is as demoralizing as the fact of their criminality.

Today Kos linked to the following from the Sunday Telegraph.  Is anybody surprised by these matters?

A "trophy" video appearing to show security guards in Baghdad
randomly shooting Iraqi civilians has sparked two investigations after it was
posted on the internet, the Sunday Telegraph can reveal.

The video has sparked concern that private security companies,
which are not subject to any form of regulation either in Britain or in Iraq,
could be responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocent Iraqis.

At a time when approximately 57 percent of Americans polled believe
that President Bush deceived them on the reasons for the war in Iraq,
it does seem a bit redundant to deconstruct the President’s recent
speeches on that subject. Yet, to fail to do so would be to passively
accept the Big Lie technique–which is how we as a nation got into
this horrible mess in the first place.

Read Robert Scheer’s 11/16 column in the web edition of The Nation.  You probably know all about it.  Read it anyway.

Image lifted from YblogZa…  thanks, Mike.