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March 25 2012 Dick Cheney's Heart

Dear Doctor,

I hereby give legal consent for the recovery of my organs, tissues and eyes for the purposes of transplantation at the time of my death except for the following:

• The appropriately named Dick Cheney,
• Donald Bombsfeld,
• ...

March 3 2012 Do you support Civilian Trials for terrorists? Open your eyes.

For those of you who so passionately support civilian trials of suspected terrorists I suggest two things:  1) a visit to FreeTarek.com, and 2) take a long hard look at our post-9/11 Justice system. You might try a visit to the Center for Consitutional Rights.

Bragging about the conviction rate of terrorists in civilian courts ignores the abolition of defendants' rights in this War on Terror that justifies so much, accomplishes so little, and alienates so many. It also has a high likelihood of putting innocent people in jail, or perhaps worse, in the endless limbo of indefinite detention.

We headed out to see Karen Malpede's Another Life at the Irondale Center last night. It'll be there until 3/24 and it's worth seeing; for the inspired writing, passionate performances, and sadly accurate skewering of America's pathetic, violent, and irrational response to 9/11.

Since October, 2009 Tarek Mehanna has been held in pre-trial 23-hour solitary confinement because he is a suspected terrorist.

Tarek's web site presents his case  quite clearly. His brother spoke after the play last night and we found him credible. Of course we haven't attended the trial, haven't read all the relevant documents, etc., and don't know if he is really guilty or not. But it is not hard to believe that he was set up, knocked down like a bowling pin, and stuck away for what could be the rest of his life. All this on what appears to be flimsy evidence at best, and possible a fabrication.

The sad state of the U. S. Constitution today:

• extraordinary rendition to make sure that torture is not done on American soil,
• the right of the President, without judicial oversight, to declare a person a valid target for assassination,
• the FBI's right to declare someone a terrorism suspect, and thereby negate his/her constitutional rights,
• the Government's, Federal and Local (e.g. New York City's Police Department) illegal surveillance and wiretapping,
• the classification of many First Amendment activities as “material support” to groups the U.S. has labeled as terrorist organizations.

Yes, the list is longer, and yes it is frightening. A whisper of fear rises at the thought of dark consequences for even mentioning his name.

Military trials for terrorists may be an abomination, but civilian trials aren't necessarily better if the interpretation of our Constitution is so distorted as to make the rights of defendants disappear.

March 13 2012 Republican Rep. Grimm blind to H.R. 780?

You can help move those driven more by politics than by compassion and reason.

How is it that Republican Rep. Grimm (Staten Island and part of Brooklyn) hasn't read this yet (so his office said?-) It's been public since last month, but he has no position on H.R.780 - Responsible End to the War in Afghanistan Act.

"To provide that funds for operations of the Armed Forces in Afghanistan shall be obligated and expended only for purposes of providing for the safe and orderly withdrawal from Afghanistan of all members of the Armed Forces and Department of Defense contractor personnel who are in Afghanistan."

CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES NOW! for the sake of our troops who are killed, maimed, and driven insane by this senseless violence.

March 4 2012 New York Times quote on Falling Man poster

Hoorah for Rita Lasar's NYTimes words about the Mad Men's Falling Man poster, “I am so worn out by you guys coming to us in order to create a kerfuffle where none exists,” wrote Rita Lasar, whose brother was Abraham J. Zelmanowitz [killed on 9/11]. “You may think you are being sensitive to our feelings, but in reality you are just using us so you can write a story that refers only to your own feelings.”

The media these days seems focused only on the sensational. When they can't find it they try to drum it up themselves. It reminds me of when a Mosque was proposed in the Ground Zero neighborhood. I got an email from the New York Post. It said that if I was opposed to the mosque, as a family member who lost Mitch Wallace on 9/11, they would be intersted in my comment.

Now they are poking around for anti-advert comments. For what? To stir up a bit of dust...to blind us to the real issues that face us.

Where are the stories about the people who toil in non-violent ways to move this world to more peaceful tomorrows...like Fatma Benli. Have you heard of her? Why not?

 

Feb 28 2012 Mad Men: The Falling Man and 9/11

So this reporter asks me, under the guise of "I do not want to start a controversy where none exists," how I, one who lost someone on 9/11,  feel about the poster.

The first time I saw one of these posters it made me sick to my stomach..a little.

There was a day, that day, a crisp morning, when I stood beneath the towers taking photos on 9/11. I stopped when I realized I had just captured the image of a woman in a white dress, twisting down, down...I own that image in a way I detest. This was all before we knew that my nephew, Supreme Court Officer Mitch Wallace, was at the site; moments before the South Tower collapsed upon him and so many others.

I also, less frequently now, get nauseous when a low flying jet passes overhead. Living under a Brooklyn flyway lets me deal with this quite often.

If an advertising campaign (which I am now, I guess, a part of) evokes images of a horrid day, then so be it. I cannot stop the jets from flying low. I cannot stop images that remind me of 9/11 from being created.

I refuse to spend my entire existance looking through the lens of 9/11. There is more to me than grief and anger. I can only do my little bit to make for more peaceful tomorrows.

 

Feb 24 2012 Two conversations: Syrian Slaughter, Iraqi Bombings, and Iran

We stand in the cold drizzle and talk of Syria. The Lieutenant, a disabled Vietnam vet, is wearing his khakis, smoking his cigarette, and talking loudly of the cruelty of the Syrian government. I listen.

"They are killing women and children. The bastards. They're bastards, you know. These people should be hung. They don't even let the Red Cross in. No food. Nothing," he rants. He goes on for quite a while before I find a place to break in with some quiet assent, a word for the future, and a damp goodbye.

I don't have the heart to bring up Fallujah. Every day the Syrian slaughter reminds me of Fallujah, especially the assault on Homs. Fallujah has become a symbol to me of the utter illogical cruelty of our invasion and occupation of Iraq;  where we crushed the innocent civilians with every bit as much gusto as the Syrian government has mustered now.

---

Later I'm on the phone to Baghdad, and the news is not good.

"The neighborhood is closed since yesterday. We cannot go anywhere. The older children cannot go to college. We are trapped. Again. There is no hope."

"But there is hope in the future...the  young ones who are coming out of college," is my reply. It is also my hope.

He tells me, "This is a dead hope. I have been in Syria for 4 years before I come back now. Baghdad is not Baghdad. It is Iran. Even the cars that blew up yesterday are Iranian taxis. Everything is Iran here. Do you think these children can change that?"

"Do you know," he continues, "the government paid 60 million for their cars? 60 million American. Now they ride in safety in their armoured cars. They don't care for the people. Only themselves and all they can steal. This is Baghdad now."

The conversation shifts to the children and how they are coping with the madness around them. Little K has taken to biting. Each time he is upset, each time he hears a loud noise, each time he is angry he bites. Usually his mom, but anyone around is in danger. They don't know what to do about it, how to handle it, how to punish, reward, prevent...

The line is cut and I am in the rain again, or maybe it's tears.

Feb 22 2012 Condolences and Prayers: Does Homs Remind You of Fallujah?

RIP Marie Colvin and Remi Ochlik. We publicize the names of brave journalists killed in Syria. Let's not forget the many, many innocent civilians being murdered in the midst of the violence.

We remember when we were told that Fallujah had been evacuated before the shelling. We remember the students who arrived in Baghdad to tell the tales of the many who were left behind, unable to leave. Sure, the rich, those with transportation, those who fled on foot did escape the bombs. But what of the families too poor, too traumatized, too paralyzed to leave?

Hundreds for sure, perhaps thousands, died in Fallujah. The death toll in Homs is already over 400 [France News International], and the killing hasn't stopped.

Can you tell which is Homs; which is Fallujah?

 

Innocent civilians, as always, are paying the highest price in this latest violence in Syria. Does it matter who does the killing? The Syrian government? American troops? Violent resistors of tyranny? It's all the same to the daughter who loses her dad or the mother who loses her precious son.

We offer our condolences and prayers to the families of the lost innocents.

Feb 14 2012 Syria: The shame and the blame

It's Valentine's Day. This wonderfully commercialized holiday is RED. Red covers everything: boxes of chocolate and jewelry, Hallmark cards, and bouquets of roses.

The streets of Syria are red, too, but there are no flowers. Over 7,000 have died so far and there is no end in site. Indiscriminate bombing of Homs and other civilian centers intensifies; fighting dances around the edges of Damascus; arms and fighters flow in and the rich and/or lucky flow out.

The blame of it: It depends upon which media you read. It depends upon which pundit you revere. It depends upon which house you were born into.

We already hear the echoes of Iraqi voices in such statements as, "Yes, it was bad before, but I could go to the store and not fear for my life," and "Sure, we hated him, but it is NATO we really hate now."

I don't have any answers. Syria is internally split and the opposition is also internally split. They have no leader and the various anti-government forces are creating their own militias. Rumors of Al Qaeda, Iranian influence are increasing. The old "Syria-to-Iraq" path of arms and fighters has evidently been reversed.

The shame of it all is bigger than Syria. It is the shame of a human race that thinks it cannot resist the tyrannies of power that are so willing to use violence to keep themselves on top. Truth be told, the peace activist (just the activists, mind you, not the vast majority of peace-loving people) outnumber the leaders and operators of The Machine by at least a million to one.

The Machine depends upon our cooperation. Our taxes pay for the bombs. Our bodies are the soldiers. Our munitions manufacturers (and those that work for the military industrial complex; not just the owners) are critical to the oppression of freedom loving peoples.

The peace activists, if working together, could, in the manner of Gandhi and King, refuse to participate in large enough numbers so that we could halt The Machine.

The shame of it: We are as splintered as the militias of Iraq were; as the militias of Syria are; as [insert clever metaphor here]...

Happy Valentine's Day.

Nov 28 2011 Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative-a defense against Western domination.

As a measure of the growing maturity of the Iraqis who are engaged in the non-violentm Iraqi-led transformation of Iraq we note the presence of an Iraqi delegation at the South Asian Social Forum. No longer are progressive Iraqis thinking of themselves as isolated and powerless. Their resistance to the domination of of Iraq by corporations and capital is laudable.

Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative - مبادرة تضامن المجتمع

A message to all members of Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative - مبادرة تضامن المجتمع

28th November 2011 Press Release by the Iraqi delegation at the South Asian Social Forum Dhaka, Bangladesh, 24th November 2011 An Iraqi delegation composed by eight members of the Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative (www.iraqicivilsociety.org) took part in the South Asian Social Forum (Dhaka, 18-22 November 2011, www.wsfsouthasiabd.org) meeting local representatives of social movements, unions, professional organizations and political parties of Bangladesh. South-South coordination proved to be fundamental to break the isolation of Iraqi civil society. On November 23rd in Dhaka a meeting was held between the Iraqi delegation and seven local political parties and union members, aimed at creating direct links with Iraqi social movements, not mediated by Iraqi governmental forces.  Activists from Brazil, Belgium, Germany, Palestine, Tunisia, Morocco, India, Italy, France, Pakistan, Canada, and Turkey’s Kurdistan participated in the meeting as well. Iraqis spoke about the need of creating direct links with the people of South Asia and its social movements. Due to Iraq's isolation for decades form its geographical surroundings and from the world social movements, political life has been controlled by parties and Iraqi communities didn't have opportunities to discuss about regional and global issues. The Iraqi delegation stressed that such an absence from the global civil society must end: Iraqi social movements, unions and NGOs must take initiative to join international struggles for freedom and social justice. Participants in the meeting stressed on the urgency to re-establish an Iraqi cultural and political role in the region and the world, wishing the complete withdrawal of US troops. Turning the page of war and occupation is essential to develop a new scenario where social and civic action re-builds on new bases what was destroyed by war. The Iraqi delegation finally took part in the International Council of the World Social Forum, where the plan to organize in 2012 the Maghreb-Mashreq Social Forum (Tunis) and in 2013 an Iraqi Social Forum (Baghdad) was discussed and approved. The second will be an open space for independent movements and networks operating in Iraq, with a clear position against the project of New-Liberalism that western powers tried to implement through the war, which aims at full transition to the market economy and domination of Iraq by corporations and capital. Iraqi people hold human rights, national sovereignty and social justice higher than economic profit, and will resists foreign grab of their resources. The Iraqi group was composed by representatives of the Engineering Professional Union (Electricity section), Al Masalla Organization for Human Resources Development, Iraqi Women Network, Tamouz Organization for Social Development, Information Centre for Research and Development, Basrah Civil Forum, Iraqi Centre for Research and Studies, in addition to the Italian NGO Un ponte per... (www.unponteper.it) who facilitated coordination through the Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative. Active support of the network Alternatives International (www.alterinter.org) and financial help by Karibu عربي

Visit Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative - مبادرة تضامن المجتمع at: http://icssi08.ning.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network

November 11, 2011 Baghdad, Iraq: The good, the bad, the treacherous.

Baghdad, Iraq: The good, the bad, the treacherous.
November 11, 2011 by Bruce Wallace, 121Contact

In the midst of the good news from Iraq about the emerging civil society organizations and their good non-violent works for peaceful transition to a more democratic society we find ourselves dismayed at the rising violence.

Baghdad is once again a city of fear in which parents, reporting to us, are afraid to let their children go out to play, shopping is becoming scary, and just going to work, if you are lucky enough to have a job, is an event filled with dread. The lack of central electricity is still an issue and generators (one for your house, one for the neighborhood) are still the mainstay.

Journalists are once again under fire, and freedom of the press is no longer guaranteed. Assassinations and attacks  of reporters have increased lately, and press offices are also being attacked by 'them'. The 'them'... Some say these are government backed forces who seek out media critical of the regime, or media trying to publish honest accounts of the situation on the ground. It is a sad, and dangerous, state of affairs.

On the good side of the ledger:

Mercy Corps is expanding its Baghdad offices and continuing its work of building schools and medical clinics, teaching women to read and empowering people with disabilities.

The final declaration of the Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative (ICSSI) third conference is now available, offering a window of hope for all who wish for progress in Iraq. Looking at the list of over 100 Iraqi representatives of emerging and growing NGOs yields insight into the current momentum.

All in all we remain hopeful, but it is obvious that the road ahead is treacherous for the good people who still believe that Iraq can find non-violent paths to more peaceful tomorrows.

Please write your representatives to try and alter the distribution of funds slated for Iraq. As it stands now: the non DoD allocations increase the 2012 moneys destined for Iraq's military (about US$ 2 Billion), and decrease the allocations for civil society measures. Foreign Assistance.gov reports that support for Human Rights, Health, Education and Human services have dropped to $300 million each. Allocations for the environment and Humanitarian Assistance have been cut to zero.

 

Today in Iraq:

Baghdad:
#1: A roadside bomb targeted a bus carrying Iranian pilgrims, killing one Iranian and wounding four others in Baghdad's northwestern Kadhimiya district, a police source said.

#2: Gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire at an Iraqi army checkpoint, killing one soldier and wounding another in Baghdad's northern Adhamiya district, late on Saturday, police and hospital sources said.

#3: "Two policemen have been injured in an attack by a group of unknown gunmen, who used silencer-fixed guns in their attack on a police patrol in west Iraq's Jami'a district on Monday" the Security Source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, adding that the attackers have escaped to an unknown destination.

#4: In another incident, "an explosive charge, planted on the roadside blew off close to western Baghdad's Baya'a Garage, wounding 3 civilians and causing severe damage to a number of vehicles, parked in the garage."

#5: Four Iraqi civilians have been injured in an explosive charge blast east of Baghdad on Monday, a security source reported. "An explosive charge, planted on the roadside in one of a main road, leading to east Baghdad's al-Sadr city, has blown up early on Monday, wounding 4 civilians and causing damage to a number of vehicles, parked close to the venue of the blast," the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#6: Three terrorists, wearing explosive belts, have been killed while driving a booby-trapped car in west Baghdad on Monday, according to the Baghdad Operations Command (BOC). "Three terrorists, wearing explosive belts and driving a booby-trapped car close to a checkpoint in west Baghdad's al-Jami'a district, have been killed close to a checkpoint," the BOC statement was announced on the semi-official al-Iraqiya TV Satellite Channel on Monday.

Taji:
#1: Two roadside bombs went off near the car of an Electricity Ministry employee, killing him and wounding seven others, including four policemen, in Taji, 20 km (12 miles) north of Baghdad, police and hospital sources said. The second bomb went off when police rushed to the scene.

Tikrit:
#1: A roadside bomb targeted an Iraqi army patrol, killing one officer and wounding a soldier north of Tikrit, 150 km (95 miles) north of Baghdad, a source at the police operations centre in Salahuddin province said.

Samarra:
#1: A cop was killed by unknown gunmen in Samarra city, security sources said here today. The source told Aswat al-Iraq that "unknown gunmen with pistols equipped with silencers attacked a group of cops west of Samarra that led to the killing one member of the patrol before fleeing to unknown destination.

Mosul:
#1: A soldier was killed when a mortar shell landed at an Iraqi army checkpoint in northern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, a local police source said.

#2: A bomb attached to a car exploded, wounding a prison guard officer, in eastern Mosul, a local police source said.

#3: Gunmen in a car shot dead a teenager in western Mosul, a local police source said.

Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Gunmen using silenced weapons shot dead a police lieutenant colonel near his house in central Falluja, 50 km (32 miles) west of Baghdad, late on Saturday, a local police source said.