Saturday, March 29, 2008
Why the 11 o'clock hour on Sunday is the most segregated hour of the week - McClatchy
"What is eminently clear is the degree to which the black church is still largely misunderstood and routinely caricatured in U.S. popular culture. ... We now realize why the 11 o'clock hour on Sunday is the most segregated hour of the week,"McClatchy Washington Bureau
Sat, Mar. 29, 2008
Black church leaders back Obama's pastor at Texas event
Terry Lee Goodrich | Fort Worth Star-Telegram
DALLAS — In the wake of the controversy over statements by a former pastor of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, leaders of a black church summit took issue with characterizations of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright as racist."What is eminently clear is the degree to which the black church is still largely misunderstood and routinely caricatured in U.S. popular culture. ... We now realize why the 11 o'clock hour on Sunday is the most segregated hour of the week," said Stacey Floyd-Thomas, director of black church studies at Fort Worth's Brite Divinity School, during a news conference Friday at Dallas' Friendship West Baptist Church.
About 20 scholars from the summit stood with Floyd-Thomas, an associate professor of ethics, among them Wright's cousin, the Rev. Dennis Wiley of Covenant Baptist Church in Washington D.C. Wright was to have appeared at the summit Saturday, but canceled.
The summit was moved to Dallas from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth out of security concerns....
Read the full story at Star-Telegram.com
Source
Iraq - Basra Police Mutiny, Refuse to attack Sadrists, Clashes continue in Basra, Sadrists open New fronts throughout Shiite South - Informed Comment
Also see, Stan Goff, Feral Scholar, for a strategic/tactical perspective:
Good Morning, Vietnam!
"...he (al Sadr) commands the ferocious loyalty of two and a half million people and has an 80,000-strong militia concentrated a stone’s throw from the U.S.-protected Green Zone in Baghdad.-------------------------------------
Baghdad has about 6 million people; New York City has 8 million, just by way of comparison.
The population of Sadr City, the “neighborhood” under the leadership of Sadr, is approximately that of Brooklyn.” In Full
----------------------------
Informed Comment
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Police Mutiny, Refuse to attack Sadrists;
Clashes continue in Basra;
Sadrists open New fronts throughout Shiite South
Mahdi Army Militiamen
Courtesy Al-Zaman of Baghdad.
Another US soldier was killed in Baghdad on Friday.
The Times of Baghdad reports in Arabic that clashes continued on Friday between Iraqi government forces and the Mahdi Army in Baghdad and the provinces of the middle Euphrates and the south, causing hundreds of casualties, including among women, children and the elderly. The fighting also did damage to Iraq's infrastructure, as well as to oil facilities and pipelines, damage that might run into the billions of dollars.
The US got drawn into the fighting on Friday. US planes bombed alleged Mahdi Army positions both in Basra and in Sadr City in Baghdad (as well as in Kadhimiya).
Kadhimiya is a major Shiite shrine neighborhood in northwest Baghdad, and the spectacle of the US bombing it is very unlikely to win Washington any friends among Iraqi Shiites.
Despite the US intervention, government troops were unable to pierce Mahdi Army defenses or over-run their positions.
Al-Zaman says that the police force in Basra suffered numerous mutinies and instances of insubordination, with policemen refusing to fire on the Mahdi Army. The government response was to undertake a widespread purge of disloyal elements.
[Hmm. I wonder where fired policemen with combat training and guns could find another job . . . Maybe with the Mahdi Army?]
The Mahdi Army opened a number of new fronts in the fighting, in Nasiriya, Karbala, Hilla, and Diwaniya, as a means of reducing the pressure on its fighters in the holy city of Karbala. Local medical officials reported 36 dead in the fighting in Nasiriya.
[In Full]
Friday, March 28, 2008
What Can The US Do About Their War In Iraq? Foreign Policy Association Town Hall Video 3/26/2008
The writeup from Informed Comment Global Affairs by Augustus Norton:
On March 26, 2009, the Foreign Policy Association sponsored a town hall discussion in Manhattan on Iraq. The speakers were Frederick Kagan and Augustus R. Norton and the chair was Larry Korb. The Foreign Policy Association website a streaming video of the event as well as speakers' bios, and related materials.It's slightly over an hour long...
A popout player is the only sensible thing.
Click the image.
Patriots, Refugees, and Terrorists: "Was George Washington a terrorist?" - Findlaw Writ
By JOANNE MARINER
Wednesday, Mar. 26, 2008
"Was George Washington a terrorist?" asked Bill Frelick, Human Rights Watch's refugee policy director, only semi-facetiously.
What sparked his question was the exceedingly broad definition of terrorist activity employed in U.S. immigration law. That definition, as expanded in the USA PATRIOT Act and REAL ID Act, applies to "any activity which is unlawful under the laws of the place where it is committed," when that activity involves the use of a weapon or "dangerous device" with the intent "to endanger, directly or indirectly, the safety of one or more individuals or to cause substantial damage to property." The actions of a present-day George Washington would most certainly be covered.
A concrete reason why this broad definition is worrying is that under current U.S. law, people who have engaged in terrorist activities, or who have provided support for terrorist activities--in many cases, even involuntary support--are presumptively barred from resettlement in the United States as refugees. Among the thousands of people negatively affected by this rule in recent years have been Colombians who paid small bribes under duress to paramilitary groups, Burmese who were forcibly conscripted into rebel armies, and Cubans who supported "counter-revolutionary" groups funded by the US government.
The patent unfairness of this broad ban has garnered congressional attention and, as of last year, the problem was supposed to have been remedied. In December, Congress passed legislation that broadened executive authority to grant waivers to deserving refugees who would otherwise be barred under the law's overly broad "terrorism"-related bans.
Yet the reform does not seem to have worked. In recent months it has become clear that, despite the changes in the terms of the law, the Department of Homeland Security is continuing to bar refugees who should benefit from the expanded waiver authority. These people have fled their countries to escape persecution, and they're being told that they're terrorists. What is going on?
Democrats and Mujahideen
Since the December amendments to the immigration laws, a number of refugees have received letters from the Department of Homeland Security informing them that they are being denied permanent residence in the United States because of facts that they stated on their applications for refugee status.
Among those who have received such letters are:
. Iraqi refugees who took part in failed efforts to overthrow Saddam Hussein in the 1990s;
. Afghans who supported the mujahideen groups that fought the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, including groups that the United States funded;
. Sudanese who belonged to the Democratic Unionist Party, a democratic party opposed to the current Sudanese government and a partner in U.S. negotiations in the region.
In rejecting these people's applications for permanent residence, DHS is relying on facts that, in many cases, were fully disclosed in their initial refugee applications. Circumstances that, in other words, were deemed acceptable under what were supposed to be tougher rules are now being relied upon to bar people from staying in the United States. In some instances, moreover, the department appears to be characterizing First-Amendment-protected speech as support of terrorism.
Politicians and Bureaucrats
Although the omnibus appropriations bill that was passed by Congress last December was lauded as an important immigration law reform, the officials at the Department of Homeland Security charged with implementing the new rules don't seem to have gotten the message. Before too many deserving refugees are barred from the United States as terrorists, there needs to be clear and authoritative guidance from on high.
Senior DHS officials need to review the rules being applied in these cases to ensure that the Department of Homeland Security is actually implementing the statutory waiver authority that it has been granted. Congress has spoken and the law has changed: "Terrorism"-related immigration bans should not be applied to refugees who do not pose any threat to the United States.
In the longer term, of course, the law's definition of terrorism should be narrowed to reflect a more meaningful, common-sense understanding of the term. While expanding DHS's waiver authority was a step forward, it is still absurd that a present-day George Washington would require a waiver to settle in the United States.
Joanne Mariner is a human rights attorney. Her previous columns on the detainee cases and the "war on terrorism" are available in FindLaw's archive.
Source
Panties of Redemption - Jesus' General
Friday, March 28, 2008
Panties of Redemption
A(n) (A)rousing testimonial about why
John Smid won't "Spank His Man-Monkey"
John Smid
Love in Action
Homosexual Internment Center
Dear Mr. Smid,
I hear you are stepping down as Love in Action's director.
That's a shame. You will be dearly missed.
I trust you will be staying around long enough to assist in the selection of your successor. It's my hope that you'll pick someone who will continue promoting the values and concepts you championed during your tenure, someone who has adopted your philosophy and put it into practice in his own life. In short, someone like me. I wish to be considered for the position.
I'll never forget the day I first heard you speak about how your "wife's vagina was enough."
I remember silently praying as I heard it, "please God, give me what this man has. I too want to be satisfied by my wife's vagina."
He eventually answered that prayer, but I have to admit it was something with which I had to struggle for many months. It just didn't seem very manly to put my little soldier into such a warm and snuggly place. And it wasn't just a mental thing. Private Johnson would mutiny by refusing to come to attention every time I tried it.
Then one night, after a couple of failed attempts, I turned on the tee vee next to the bed. Ben Hur was on. It was the scene where Chuck Heston is reunited with his old friend, Stephen Boyd. And what do you know, suddenly my little soldier was raring to go. I immediately made another attempt on the vagina, craning my neck so I could see the television screen, and by gosh it worked. Finally, my wife's vagina was enough for me too--that and a copy of Ben Hur (I later learned that John Wayne's Sands of Iwo Jima and anything featuring Abe Vigoda work as well). I think it's because the addition of the movie made the vagina seem just a little less girlie.
Following your advice on masturbation was much easier. Like with you, the choice of underwear played a key role in defeating the temptation. The briefs I had worn up until then were a problem. They squeezed my manparts, and in doing so, aroused me. Boxers were no better.
They allowed my Private Johnson to swing freely, his helmet constantly brushing against the fabric in a seductive dance that fueled the flames of my lust like a burst of gasoline in the number three cylinder of a 427 Hemi.
It was only after I began wearing silky ladies underthings that my libido finally went into sleep mode. The deep red, french cut panties you find at Victoria's Secret seem to work the best, although I enjoy the nice black g-string trimmed with white lace and crimson hearts I picked up at Frederick's of Hollywood too.
So you see, I'm the perfect choice to replace you. I've not only heard your words, I've lived them.
Heterosexually yours,
Gen. JC Christian, patriot
Don’t Mess With The Democratic Party - Arresting Officer In Clinton Advisor DUI Case Shipped Off To Iraq… Light Sentencing Neccesary...
The plea deal was reached after the arresting officer was activated by the military and ordered to Iraq, Segal said, adding that without the officer’s testimony a trial would not have been possible.
No… I don’t know if the officer was already Iraq-bound.
From The Daily Muck @ TPM Muckraker:Sidney Blumenthal, a journalist, former White House adviser to President Clinton, and senior adviser to Hillary Clinton will plead guilty to drunk driving. Blumenthal, who was arrested in N.H. the day before the primary when he was driving 70 mph in a 30 mph zone, might have faced more serious charges but the arresting officer has been shipped off to Iraq and is unavailable to testify at a trial. (AP)
War on Terror in the Caribbean and Central America - Early Warning, WaPo
William M. Arkin
March 28 2008
Fighting the War on Terror in the Caribbean and Central America
Here's an odd news story that puts meat on the bones of the phrase "global war on terror": The United States is fighting that war in the Caribbean and Central America.
My assumption was that "Operation Enduring Freedom -- Caribbean and Central America," a formal military operation I'd never heard of before yesterday, is oriented toward Cuba and Venezuela. But it is not. The U.S. military is indeed engaged in a global war, and the terrorist threat, at least in the eyes of the counter-terror warriors, extends to our backyard.
I don't know whether the actual threat necessitates such an "operation," but its bureaucratic existence says a lot about our overreliance on the military and the belief of many in government that the GWOT is a real war, equivalent to the Cold War, and is one that the United States should and will be fighting for decades.
[Note: The following links are now "This page moved to here" ... ...the bitbucket]
The Rhode Island media this week was filled with the news that a unit of the state's National Guard, an organization called Special Operations Detachment -- Global (SOD-G), is deploying this week in support of something called Operation Enduring Freedom -- Caribbean and Central America.
Working for U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), SOD-G is moving to an airbase in Homestead, Fla., where it will take up contingency counter-terrorism planning responsibilities for the region, seeking to characterize how al Qaeda and other terrorists might exploit drug trafficking routes and patterns or other gaps in American defense to infiltrate into the United States.
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