I wrote this at my usual time, but it would not post. Mike thinks Blogger went down because the same thing happened to him. He just called to say he was able to get his post up, so I'll try again. But if you came here at my usual time and thought I was slacking off, I wasn't. The problem was with the Blogger program.
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This evening seems rather warm, or is just me? I've got the ceiling fan on and am wondering, "This is winter?" With global warming, I guess it is.
Capitol Police Apologize, Drop Charges Over Sheehan Arrest (Democracy Now!):
One day after Cindy Sheehan was arrested for wearing an anti-war T-shirt to President Bush's State of The Union address, Capitol police have dropped her charges and apologized. Sheehan, whose son Casey died in combat in Iraq in April 2004, was removed from the House gallery Tuesday night after unveiling a T-shirt that read: "2,245 dead and how many more?" -- a reference to the number of US service members killed in Iraq. In a statement, Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer said Sheehan should not have been arrested. President Bush began his speech shortly after she was removed.
Does the apology help? After the embarrassment, the time wasted and the way she was rougly jerked around, the Capitol Police think "I'm sorry" cuts it? It doesn't.
Report: US Far Behind In Reconstructing Iraq Health Clinics (Democracy Now!):
In Iraq, USA Today is reporting the US has failed to open any health clinics in the country -- despite initially promising to open 180 clinics by last December. Iraq’s deputy health minister said the US has completed construction on only four clinics.
Look, we're back to things that don't cut it. In this country, a number of people continue to delude themselves. "They've got water thanks to us!" No, we've destroyed the water. "They've got electricity thanks to us!" No, we took out the power plants and they're still not up and running unless you think two or so hours of electricity a day is sufficient. Now we learn, if we pay attention, that we promised 180 clinics and chose the deadline of December which would be almost three years after we invaded. Despite nearly three years, we didn't even bother to meet our own deadline. Four clinics isn't 180 clinics. In Falluja, we destroyed the health care facilities. There's no excuse for us not to rebuild what we destroyed. But see if the Bully Boy looks like he loses any sleep over it.
If you missed it, England's reached their own milestone (one hundred dead). Whether it's one, two or whatever, it's too many to die in an illegal war that we were lied into. If you missed it, in this country, Bully Boy's going to fund war, war, war forever but he's cutting back on programs that help people (C.I. has a blistering commentary on that).
Not tonight, but starting next week, I'll be back to Thursday nights off. I'll be doing a group on Thursdays. It was going to have to be Tuesday or Thursday because Cedric can't blog on Wednesdays and we sort of have a deal that I grab Wednesdays and he'll grab a day for me. So, announcement, starting next week, no Thursday posts. I'm brief tonight because I want to get my taxes done. I do them myself because if you pay someone and they make a mistake, you're still the one in trouble with the IRS so I always figure may as well do it yourself. (Thanks to my brother who started me down that road years ago and is still available for any and all tax advice.) Be sure to check out Mikey Likes It! to get Mike's thoughts. Also, Democracy Now! is broadcasting from Qatar. I hope you're keeping up with that because Amy Goodman and company have done a wonderful job (and on an indymedia budget!).
democracy now
the common ills
cindy sheehan
mikey likes it
like maria said paz
cedrics big mix
