The Progressive Blog Alliance HQ

Since I only write one article a day, I thought I would do my own version of “Mike’s Blog Roundup” on Fridays. That and I pissed off Mike and John over at Crooks and Liars and won’t be cross-posted anymore (long story). So I guess I will start my own. I like my title better anyways. (snicker) Well it looks like the Israelis are at it again. This time killing 3 Palestinians.

BEIT LAHIYA, Gaza Strip (AP) -- Israel launched an air strike Friday in the northern Gaza Strip, and witnesses said three Palestinians were killed. The Israeli military said the attack on the town of Beit Lahiya targeted a group of militants. Israeli ground troops, backed by tanks and aircraft, entered the town on Thursday.

What I don’t understand is, if this Gaza Strip thing is so important to both sides, then why are they blowing it to hell? Isn’t this more like cutting off your nose to spite your face, rather than, defending your homeland? I understand that both sides feel the need to inhabit this patch of dirt, but come on people. Is anyone from either side paying attention to the devastation happening in this area?

I often wonder what "really" is happening on the ground in Iraq. I have wanted to talk to someone that lives in one of the larger cities. Someone like me that has to get up everyday traverse the traffic, show up at work on time, go to the groceries store, entertain myself and other daily grind events. Well I have found such a person. He is an anonymous blogger from Iraq giving us the "real" everyday life experience of an Iraqi citizen. I'm going to post one of his stories and following that I will have a link to his site. It's a very interesting read and recommended. So here it is folks, unfiltered for your pleasure.

These Days

These days are the most fearful days I have ever seen in Iraq, stories of kidnapping and killing have made me walk in the street and look around in fear some one might be chasing me or another might jump and drag me in a car or shoot me to death. I left the house mumbling with prayers begging God to take care of me and protect me of kidnappers and sectarians. I stood at the main street waiting for a taxi to jump in and runaway to work, waiting at the street for long under the heat of the sun is a great risk. I looked around, the street was full of cars waiting in line for fuel, but the smell was awful, it was a dead dog left at the side of the street, the only shady spot was near the dog so I have to choose between the heat and the bad smell. While I was trying to make a choice, I looked in front of me I saw a tall guy with black suit crossing the two main streets and heading towards me. “It is the end.” I told myself, he must be member of Mahdi army and will either kill me immediately or kidnap me for reasons I do not know, but I stunned in my place and did not know what to do, run home, still the distance is not short and he can capture me, shout, I felt my throat is so dry, contact the police, they will do nothing as usual. He was coming closer and closer, gazing at me, I tried to find one explanation for his focusing on me could not find, who is he? Could not figure. “ It is the end, no way to runaway but the problem I have not written my will and if he kidnapped me, it would be the end of the family.” I was nearly getting mad with different thoughts and ideas roaring in my head. Now, he is in front me so I have to face my fate, he looked at me and said “ Salam Aliakm”, I replied “ Salam.” “You do not know me?” “ No.” “ Iam the driver who took you to Amman last year.” He said. With this sentence, I took a deep breath and nearly to faint and said quickly “ Oh, really, Iam so sorry, Yes, I do remember you, you were great, I always remember that nice tripe and how great you were! What are you doing here? I came to apply for a work at the fire police here near your house and saw you from a distant and wanted to come and say hello to you. Thank you so much, I really appreciate that, it is good you still remember me, are you still working between Baghdad and Amman? No, I have stopped because of so many incidents of kidnapping and decapitating. I work between Baghdad and Basra, it is safer. Where do you live now? In Sader city.

Kenneth Patchen was and is an underrated American poet, a surrealist, an anarchist, a founder of the Beat movement, a painter and illustrator. I came across his works when we ran Erewhon Books, the Anarchist Bookstore in Edmonton in the seventies and eighties.

His stream of conciousness novel The Journal of Albion Moonlight has many memorable mise et scenes. Like Jesus and Hitler arguing about capital punishment, murder and war on a train. Hitler wins the argument.

Or the tale of the little light bulb that hides in the impoverished home of a poor working class family, keeping them in light to live and learn, hiding from the nameless electrical company which wants to kill this lightbulb because unlike its mates, it is eternal. It can provide light forever, but the evil corporation that makes light bulbs has created all the other bulbs to die out, planned obselecence.

It's great to be here, and to announce two great new progressive blogs: The Save The Ribble Blog is a campaigning blog - using blogging as a new technique in community activism to defend the local river from rapacious development plans that include building a barrage in our ecologically significant river, and building over 4000 houses on land that is both greenbelt and floodplain, and is currently used for farming, football, cricket and by allotment holders. My more personal blog is Humantide here I develop my ideas on a variety of subjects, all relating to the problems of being human in the 21st Century, in the context of social division, war, poverty and environmental destruction. Sav

The Super Secret Society, the Bilderberg Group met in Ottawa, Canada this weekend, and they made the news. Not so secret anymore, of course no one got in to find out what they were talking about. I have created a Carnival of blog, alt media and main stream media coverage of their meeting in Ottawa. As well as a listing of research articles on the BG from their past meetings. You can find it here:Secret Society Not So Secret

The Carnival of Socialism #4 is available now at Le Revue Gauche

I love this. This is a classic example of the internet in all its bustling, sprawling, beautiful glory. It seems that Howard Kaloogian, candidate for the 50th Congressional district, took a trip to Iraq recently. The main thrust appears to have been a photo op but I’m sure he also wanted to show his support for the troops during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Anyway, he posted a picture on his web site along with the following caption (the spelling errors are all his):

“We took this photo of dowtown Baghdad while we were in Iraq.  Iraq (including Baghdad) is much more calm and stable than what many people believe it to be.  But, each day the news media finds any violence occurring in the countrand screams and shouts about it - in part because many journalists are opposed to the U.S. effort to fight terrorism.”

Roy Edroso pointed out that Peggy Noonan hurled the worst possible insult she can at Shrub:

"This week's column is a question, a brief one addressed with honest curiosity to Republicans. It is: When George W. Bush first came on the scene in 2000, did you understand him to be a liberal in terms of spending?"

Wash your mouth out with soap Crazy Jesus Lady. This is the classic move Digby describes (sorry don't have the link) where the conservatives lavish praise on their leaders' conservative principles, until those leaders clearly shit the bed, then they call them liberals. So we have had the loons over at the Corner start to jump ship about the Iraq war and now CJL from the WSJ is bailing on the economic policy. I said back in December that it felt like the elite powers were starting to turn on Bush the lesser. Now we are seeing a steady stream of the conservative noise makers stating that this or that aspect of the president is problematic. We will see a continued increase in this noise as they start paint GW as the monkey he is (should be easy as they don't acually have to make anything up, the truth will suffice), and they will start to groom the white knight to replace him (McCain, Clinton?). Whoever it is, one thing you can be certain of, s/he will be no friend of anyone but the corporations.

Cross posted at Really Small Fish

North Korea fires missiles—iron oxide-wow gogld-phiti paper-rubber hose-replica watch WASHINGTON (CNN) -- North Korea launched a pair of short-range missiles Wednesday, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. Japan's Kyodo News Agency, which quoted "sources knowledgeable about the matter," said the surface-to-air missiles were launched near North Korea's border with China. sony vaiosonystyle ソニー　バイオ パソコン ソニースタイル "Indications are that North Korea launched two short-range missiles," McClellan said.

Good morning Boys and Girls.

Well.

Governor Mike Rounds of South Dakota has thrown down the hanky to the shiny new Supreme Court by signing a new law into effect banning virtually all abortions within his State.

(Thanks to rising-hegemon.blogspot.com for the quote from the Governor which I'm copying here.)

------------------------- -------

Statement of Gov. Mike Rounds on the Signing Of House Bill 1215

“I have signed House Bill 1215 into law. It is An Act to establish certain legislative findings, to reinstate the prohibition against certain acts causing the termination of an unborn human life, to prescribe a penalty therefore, and to provide for the implementation of such provisions under certain circumstances.

HB 1215 passed South Dakota’s legislature with bi-partisan sponsorship and strong bi-partisan support in both houses. Its purpose is to eliminate most abortions in South Dakota. It does allow doctors to perform abortions in order to save the life of the mother. It does not prohibit the taking of contraceptive drugs before a pregnancy is determined, such as in the case of rape or incest.

WHY DO WE FIGHT?

AMERIKA's ADDICTION TO WAR

Octavia Butler is gone...

more

The 6th Carnival of the Liberals (a dozen weeks of liberal blogging excellence!) is up for your enjoyment at Slant Truth. Kevin Andre Elliot has gifted us with another amazing roundup of the best of the liberal blogosphere. Some old friends are making reappearances but we’ve got a lot of new faces in the carnival this week which we hope to see a lot more of in carnivals to come. So clear your schedule, take the phone off the hook, pull up a chair and revel in exploring the liberal idea from a variety of interesting, insightful

Prepare to enter The Liberal Zone with Modem Butterfly and Carnival of the Liberals #5. Modem Butterfly deserves a lot of recognition for putting together an outstanding edition of the blogosphere's only liberal blog carnival.

It’s a cold and rainy January day here in upstate NY. The kind where you don’t want to even get out of bed. Well, if you’ve got those frigid January blues, J.R.’s got the cure over at Don’t Floss With Tinsel and Carnival of the Liberals #4! A hot mix of the profound and the profane made absolutely sizzling by J.R.’s sharp, off-center wit. This is definitely the most creative presentation of CotL yet!

Flaming Mouse!

So, some 81 year old American idiot threw a mouse into some burning leaves right... and the mouse ran into his house which caught fire! The place and contents were totally destroyed. How cool is that? It's hilarious as well mind: poetic justice. I'm serious: check it.

The sad truth of the matter though is that far from learning a lesson about cruelty, if the daft old bastard is at all like what our society would seem to suggest the vast bulk of westerners believe in, he'll make it his life's mission to eradicate mice from the face of the earth.

It'll be "The war on Rodentism," New Mexico stylee, "Tough on mice, tough on the causes of mice." By extension of course, that means vegetarians also, the pinko cheese eating liberal scum! In fairness, i'm one and i'm eating a cheese and onion pie right now. So there we have it: a clear link between vegetarians and Al Chaeseda: a militant underground network of state sponsored rodentism!

The very first edition of the new year of the blogosphere's only liberal blog carnival is up at Science and Politics! coturnix has posted CotL early so you can get a jump on some of the best liberal blogging to be found on the web.

So, it seems Ambassador Craig Murray's website has been pulled.

It's a record of his correspondance with the UK Foreign Office detailing concerns about policy toward Uzbekistan and human rights abuses. Also, the UKGovernment's legal advice stating that it is not an offence to use 'evidence' obtained under torture, unless it's used in a court of law. What a load of disgusting shameful shite. It's times like these when i am truly ashamed to be a British Citizen today. Read it now, before they use the Official Secrets Act to gag everybody (download it and repost everywhere):

(and if you are a UK citizen, email your MP: don't let them slime their way out of this one. If you're unsure of your MP's contact details, you can get them here.)