April 1: Robert Parry discussion of Neck Deep: The Disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush

Award-winning investigative journalist Robert Parry will discuss his latest book, Neck Deep: The Disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush , which he co-authored with two of his sons, Sam and Nat.

On April 1, 7 p.m.
(as part of Mark Crispin Miller's
"First Tuesdays Series,")

At McNally Robinson Booksellers,
52 Prince Street,
(between Lafayette and Mulberry).

Parry's presentation will offer an overview of how the weakening of key political institutions in the U. S. (especially the press) over the past three decades contributed to the fix we now finds ourselves in.

Parry will sign copies of Neck Deep,

For more details on the event, contact the book store at 212-274-1180
or go to its Web site

Let the primaries go on

The cries of some Democrats and almost all the pundits that Sen. Clinton is weakening (some say destroying) the Party is nonsense. It keeps the corporate media attention on the Obama-Clinton race. As long as McSame keeps saying dumb things about Iraq and the economy the Democrats will prevail.

What's going to determine the effect on the Party will be what Clinton does when Obama gets the nomination. Assuming they don't run together, and it's clear that its her choice, she will have to strongly support him and campaign for him. If she gives him a luke-warm endorsement and then goes on vacation for a couple of months out of pique the Democrats and the country are in trouble.

If the Clintons treat the party as their private preserve and sit this one out and wait for 2012, then the damage will follow.

March Madness and the Knicks' future

By Andrew:

Even if Texas loses, which at half time looks probable, a silver lining for New York Texans is that they may looking at the player who can help begin the massive turnaround that Knicks fans are ready for. His name is Derrick Rose and is sure to be a top pick in this year's draft. The New York Knicks, because of their "performance" this season will hold one of those picks. Besides Rose, who is the cream of the point guard crop this year, are names like Jerryd Bayless and OJ Mayo. The player who might help the Knicks as much as Rose is playing on the other side of the court in this game. Texas point guard, DJ Augustin. In other words, the Knicks need a point guard and these players all seem like a good start. A starting five of Center Zach Randolph, Power Forward David Lee, Small Forward Wilson Chandler/Ronaldo Balkman, Shooting Guard Jamal Crawford/Nate Robinson, and Point Guard Derrick Rose/DJ Augustin would, without much effort from what looks like Donnie Walsh, bring the Knicks some semblance of respectability and maybe a well deserved sigh of relief.

Update from Dan: Both Texas and Davidson had to play nearly perfect games to make it into the Final Four; Davidson, even though they lost to bigger and stronger Kansas, 59-57, did. Texas, in losing to Memphis, 85-67, didn't.

So the Final Four are set: April 5 will be North Carolina against Kansas and Memphis versus UCLA in San Antonio. With the final April 7. I think it's going to be a boring Final Four.

March Madness: Week two, day three

Tyler Hansborough
UCLA beat Xavier (76-57) to become the first of the Final Four. UCLA is in the Final Four for the 18th time.

Well both #1s are in the Final Four. North Carolina defeated Louisville 83-73. Tyler Hansborough proved how good he really is tonight.

So far I haven't really commented on these games, but I think Louisville played one of the sloppiest games I've seen at this level. I think without all the travelling calls and several bad shot choices they could very well have knocked North Carolina out. But it was not meant to be.

Besides which its tomorrow's games that really matter, particularly Texas.

March Madness - elite eight

So the elite eight is set. After the weekend, we'll have the final four.

The big news tonight is little #10 Davidson upset #3 Wisconsin and is still in the running. Sunday, Davidson will go up against #1 Kansas.

#2 Texas beat #3 Stanford and will play #1 Memphis Sunday.

Tomorrow last night's winners #1 North Carolina will go up against #3 Louisville and #3 Xavier will face #1 UCLA.

Go Texas and Davidson!

Monday begins the season of dissension in our house: Ann (and Andrew) are ardent Mets fans and I have been a Yankee fan forever. (That is except for a brief period when I was pissed of at Steinbrenner.)

March Madness: week two, day one

No surprises

#1 North Carolina beat #4 Washington State; #3 Louisville upset (?) #2 Tennessee in OT, #1 UCLA defeated one of last week's Cinderellas #12 Western Kentucky; and #3 Xavier got by West Virginia in OT.

Four more games tomorrow. Go Texas!

The old Bush bait and switch on Iraq

Plumes of smoke rise from the U.S. embassy compound in Baghdad's Green Zone March 27, 2008. A giant column of black smoke was visible near the U.S. embassy in Baghdad's Green Zone on Thursday after an apparent mortar strike, a Reuters reporter said, but the embassy said there were no serious injuries. (Randy Fabi/Reuters)


The latest news from Iraq (ABC News)

In an attempt to quell the fighting between Shiite militiamen and security forces, authorities in Baghdad have imposed a weekend curfew on the capital.

An official with the command says no unauthorized vehicles, motorcycles or pedestrian traffic will be allowed on the streets from 11 p.m. Thursday to 5 a.m. Sunday, the Associated Press reports.

The curfew was imposed after clashes in the south have become fierce and after 3 days of mortar and rocket attacks targeted the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad. One American government worker was killed in one of those attacks today, according to the U.S. Embassy

The White House and all its allies have been unusually quiet, only White House press Spokesperson Dana Perino was left to defend the surge:

This is an Iraqi led and Iraqi initiated operation. And this is what we’ve been wanting to see the Iraqis do is take on more responsibility. …

The surge created new opportunities and in fact created many more Iraqi Security Forces. …
So I would characterize it as a bold decision — precisely what the critics have asked to see in Iraq, more movement by the Iraqi Security Forces.

But we know she doesn't write these jokes herself. She's basically handed a script. But this is over the top even for the Bush White House.

I'll leave the final words to Pagtrick Cockburn on Thursday's DemocracyNow: Well, the Iraqi government has decided and has surprised everybody by deciding to send its troops into Basra. Ostensibly, they’re saying it’s to clean up criminal elements in Basra; in reality, it seems an attack on the Mahdi Army, and it’s in alliance with militias that are friendly to the Iraqi government. The Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s demand that the fighters of the Mahdi Army give up their weapons in seventy-two hours, I think it’s extremely unlikely that this will happen. Saddam couldn’t disarm Iraq. It’s not likely that Maliki will succeed in doing so.

Emergency Actions to Protest Denial of Mumia Abu-Jamal's Appeal

MUMIA'S CURRENT LEGAL STATUS NOW LEAVES HIM WITH EITHER AN EXECUTION OR LIFE IN PRISON WITHOUT PAROLE!
Federal Court has ruled to uphold Mumia's conviction while granting a re-sentencing hearing.
Though Mumia's attorneys are appealing, Mumia is currently bound to either an execution or permanant life in prison.




MASS PROTEST IN NYC
FRIDAY MARCH 28, 5PM
ADAM CLAYTON POWELL STATE OFFICE BUILDING
(125th STREET AND ADAM CLAYTON POWELL JR BLVD)

A strategic meeting will follow the protest, at 7:15
at St. Mary's Church on 126th Street (Between Amsterdam and Old Broadway)
Press release can be viewed here

MASS PROTEST IN PHILADELPHIA ON APRIL 26
(more info coming)

Press conference in Philly
March 31, 11AM
Federal Building at 6th and Market
contact: ICFFMAJ@aol.com

Press conference in San Francisco
March 28, 5PM
Federal Court House
7th and Mission
contact: 510-268-9429 or 510-387-7714

On a "military solution" in Iraq

In response to my post on today's candlelight vigil to mark the 4,000 U.S. military death in Iraq, chuck said:

There does appear to be a military solution. The Iraqis are finding that tolerating terrorists will not bring them peace.

Thanks for taking the time to post your comment.
But I would continue to argue that there is no military solution in Iraq. As an occupying power we are facing an insurgency that has every right to want us out of their country.
It's not even clear - because no one who talks about it ever it makes clear - what a "military solution" would look like.
Only the Iraqis can solve their own problems. Whatever that solution will look like. By continuing to occupy their country we are only delaying an end to the problems that our invasion exacerbated in the first place.
Just as our "leaders" lied to get us into Iraq, so they continue to lie to justify our staying there for a long time. Now, of course, people like Bush, Cheney and McSame have 4,000 GI deaths to guilt trip us into supporting their failed strategy.
We should not have invaded in the first place and should not be there now.

March 25: Candlelight Vigil to mark 4,000 U.S. military deaths in Iraq

From NYC United for Peace and Justice:

Candlelight Vigil to Mark the 4000th Death of a U.S. Soldier

A candlelight vigil to mark the death of the 4000th US military personnel killed in Iraq, to mourn the lives lost and call attention to the human cost of the Iraq War

Tuesday, March 25, 6:30 p.m.

South Plaza, Union Square

Sponsored by American Friends Service Committee, NYC United for Peace and Justice, Military Families Speak Out

For further information contact: Iris Bieri, American Friends Service Committee, 937-266-1574
Leslie Kielson, Coordinator, UFPJ-NYC, 917-613-4657


On Saturday, thousands lined 14th Street in River to River: Join Hands for Peace and then gathered on Park Avenue to commemorate the 5th anniversary and all the casualties of the Iraq War. We will return again tomorrow, since another tragic milestone has been reached: the death of the 4000th U.S. soldier. Memorials will be held throughout the country to commemorate both the military and civilian dead in Iraq. NYC United for Peace and Justice and the American Friends Service Committee's New York Metropolitan Office will host a vigil in the South Plaza of Union Square at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow evening.

For more information on other national vigils visit

We recognize that there is no military solution to the Iraq War. Therefore, we say "Not One More Death, Not One More Dollar" can be lost in sustaining war and occupation. A clear majority in the U.S. and Iraq want troops to come home.

The Iraq War has lasted longer than the U.S. involvement in World War II, and 4,000 deaths exceeds the number of U.S. military personnel killed in the first four years of Vietnam. By best medical estimates, more than 650,000 Iraqis have died since the U.S. invasion, but other sources put the death toll at over a million. The U.S. spends more than $720 million a day on this war -- more than $501 billion total to date, with no end in sight.

AFSC New York Metropolitan Regional Director Elizabeth Enloe stated,

Continued U.S. military presence in Iraq promises only further U.S. and Iraqi deaths and injuries, more widows and orphans, and more seeds for future hostilities. Congressional funding must be used to support Iraqi-led reconciliation and reconstruction efforts and to care for and honor the veterans who are returning from this war.

March Madness: Day Four

Well, the first long basketball weekend is over. And we're down from the original 64 teams to the "sweet sixteen." The two biggest losers were #2 Duke which lasted into the second round this year (unlike last year when they went out in the first round) before losing to #7 West Virginia and #2 Georgetown which was upset by #10 Davidson

Of the other upsetmakers, only #12 Villanova and #12 Western Kentucky survive. Otherwise all the other top seeds are still alive (#1s: North Carolina, Memphis, Kansas and UCLA and the remaining #2s: Tennessee and Texas). I continue to root for Ann's alma mater, Texas.

Well, that's it for basketball till Thursday when it all starts up again. Meanwhile there's lots of stuff to talk about.

March Madness: Day 3

Everything went as expected except for one major upset.

What little Belmont couldn't do Thursday, #7 West Virginia did today: knocked off #2 Duke, 73-67. All the other favorites are intact. Tomorrow (Sun.) is another day.

N.J. Attorney General attacks juicy college gossip site

The brouhaha over JuicyCampus.com, a college gossip website, raises some interesting questions. The first thing to know about the site is that all posts - discussing the sexual orientation and proclivities and other personal information about people on various campuses - are anonymous. Of course, I'd want to remain anonymous with posts like this one: "OK, lets here [sic] he [sic] votes for worst professor...."

The New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram is attacking this website indirectly rather than head on. According to Milgrim JuicyCampus may be violating the state's Consumer Fraud Act by suggesting it doesn't allow offensive material but providing no enforcement of that rule - and no way for users to report or dispute the material. I suspect that she is using this method of attack to avoid defense claims of "freedom of expression" and "freedom of the press." But it seems to me that cowards who use anonymous posts to demean other people are not covered by these freedoms. We have laws against defamation and libel. But these laws can't be enforced if you don't know who defamed or libeled you. (It's true that legitimate journalists use anonymous sources, but the writer's by-line is there for all to see and sue.) So, it would seem to me that a direct legal attack against the website owner, Lime Blue of Reno, Nev., would be much more effective.

But I think there is a more important aspect to all this fuss. The only reason that Juicy and other seemingly salacious websites work is because of our uptight attitudes toward sex. Anyone living in New York these past few weeks has seen the effects of these views. Governors being attacked not for what they do politically but for who they have sex with. With the immature way the media covered these stories there will be more and more Juicys cropping up. If there is a buck to be made, someone will take advantage of the situation.

Although most of the posts on Juicy are relatively innocuous, a few, it seems to me, could easily be defined as defamatory or libelous. For example: "Skankiest Alums: I vote (Name withheld-Dan)--that slut pulled more trains than the little engine that could! 03-22-2008/Wake Forest U." Or "(name withheld-Dan)
Biggest slut at NYU??? She fucked my friend and then blew me a month later...No class at all. 03-21-2008 New York University."

I'm not sure why anyone would read this garbage, but If you want to hurt someone, at least have the courage to own your action.

March Madness/Day 2: College basketball

Today (Fri.) was much more interesting than yesterday. Four outright upsets, all in Tampa, and one more in Raleigh. In Raleigh, #10 Davidson downed #7 Gonzaga, 87-75. In Tampa, for the first time in the history of the tournament, there were four upsets at one site: #13 Siena (83) over #4 Vanderbilt (62), #13 San Diego (70) eliminated #4 UConn (69) in OT, #12 Western Kentucky (101) snuck by #5 Drake (99) in a buzzer-beater and, in the day's last game, #12 Villanova (75) came back to beat #5 Clemson (69). Everything else went pretty much as expected.

So on to the round of 32. Which starts tomorrow (Sat). Go Texas (Ann's Alma Mater).

MoveOn election coverage petition

MoveOn is delivering the following PETITION TO NBC, CBS, ABC, MSNBC, CNN, AND OTHER MEDIA OUTLETS:

FOX is a Republican mouthpiece, not a legitimate news organization. Real news organizations must reject FOX's smears of Barack Obama, not parrot them and distract Americans from the pressing issues of the day.

This week, Barack Obama gave one of the most honest and inspiring speeches on race in American history after weathering days of the media's relentless, divisive, and racially charged attacks. But have you wondered where these attacks came from and why they dominated the news?


Reporters like NBC's Tim Russert focused on the "Reverend Wright controversy" only after FOX and other right-wing media did. It happens over and over: FOX airs a right-wing smear and the mass media repeat it. Film director Robert Greenwald just released a short video called FOX Attacks Obama: Part 2 which shows how it happens.


We are launching a petition demanding the big networks stop parroting FOX and distracting Americans from real issues. We'll hand-deliver your signatures to major media outlets next week. Watch the video, and sign the petition.

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March 22: 5 Years Too Many! River to River: Join Hands for Peace

5 YEARS TOO MANY!
A week of action culminating with
RIVER TO RIVER:
JOIN HANDS FOR PEACE
Saturday, March 22
14th Street from Avenue A to 11th Avenue

Noon - Hands Across 14th St.
1:15 - Dual Processions from Ave A and 11th Ave.
2:00 - Park Ave. between 15th and 17th Streets. Commemoration:
Tolling of the Bell,
5 minutes of Silence, Taps

(Take any subway to 14th St. and you will be directed from there.)

March Madness - college basketball

Well March Madness is upon us (and I don't mean Cheney and McSame in the Middle East). I'm talking about college basketball.
Today everything went pretty much as expected. The only upset was #11 Kansas State upending #6 USC. But the real moment of the tournament so far was #2 Duke needing a buzzer-beater to escape with its life against tiny #15 Belmont, 71-70. To put this in perspective only four times in NCAA tournament history has #15 defeated #2.

Bush's Iraq fantasy

This morning while thousands of Americans were protesting the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq the president of the United States spoke the following words:

Five years ago tonight, I promised the American people that in the struggle ahead "we will accept no outcome but victory." Today, standing before men and women [at the Pentagon] who helped liberate a nation, I reaffirm the commitment. The battle in Iraq is noble, it is necessary, and it is just. And with your courage, the battle in Iraq will end in victory. God bless.

He was wrong in 2003 on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln (see photo above) and he's still wrong.

But perhaps the most frightening aspect of this is that I think he believes these words despite all the evidence to the contrary. It seems as if the neo-con demons (who are neither neo, nor con, but old-fashioned warmongers) have taken control of his mind and he sees the world only through their eyes.

Unfortunately John McSame, who is the putative Republican candidate for president, clearly believes the same mythology.

It seems hard to imagine that a sane person could actually claim that the invasion of a sovereign nation that had done nothing to us is "noble," "necessary" or "just."

As usual, Pete seeger best sums up the situation in Iraq five years in:

Waist deep! Neck deep!
Soon even a Tall man'll be over his head, we're
Waist deep in the Big Muddy!
[We're actually already over our heads]
And the big fool says to push on!

It seems time for both the "big fool" and his latest disciple the "little fool" John McCain to regain their sanity and realize to "push on" means only more death and destruction in Iraq. Although for them it may be too late. They have simply too much invested in this fiasco.

Obama's speech

Yesterday (Tues.) Obama gave an extra- ordinary speech on race and how it impacts the thinking of both the white and Black community particularly people of a certain generation. And how he would like to get beyond the divisiveness without forgetting the history that brought us here.

It may be the most politically significant speech on race in 45 years. You should hear it and decide for yourself. Perhaps its most significant aspect is that it is an honest statement by a national politician. And that makes it virtually unique.

Obama speech on race

What dimension do Cheney and McCain live in?

Quotes of the Day: (Quotes from today's Democracy Now)

Dick Cheney: “So if you reflect back on those five years [of U.S. occupation of Iraq], I think it’s been a difficult, challenging, but nonetheless successful endeavor and that we’ve come a long way in five years and that it’s been well worth the effort… I’m pleased to be able to return next week to Washington and report to the President that we are making significant progress in Iraq.”

Republican presidential candidate John McCain shared a similar analysis based on his trip to Iraq.

Sen. John McCain: “We find a continued success of the strategy, continued training and equipping of the Iraqi military and them functioning more efficiently.”

And now some truth:

[According to] Amnesty [International]: Human Rights Situation in Iraq is “Disastrous” Amnesty International says the current human rights situation in Iraq is “disastrous.” In a new report, Amnesty said, “Hundreds of people are being killed every month in the pervasive violence, while countless lives are threatened every day by poverty, cuts to power and water supplies, food and medical shortages, and rising violence against women and girls.” The International Committee of the Red Cross warned Monday the humanitarian situation in Iraq remains among the most critical in the world. 27 million Iraqis have no functioning water or sanitation facilities. The Red Cross says Iraq’s healthcare system is now in its worst shape ever.