The Progressive Blog Alliance HQ

The saga of the four Christian peace activists taken hostage by the Iraqi Resistance several months ago, one of whom was killed by the captors, and three of whom were recently “freed” by “coalition” forces under highly suspicious and mysterious circumstances, is a study in the interconnections and the complicity between imperialist propaganda and media distortions.

The media expect the former captives to be grateful to the “coalition” forces. What, exactly, are they to be grateful for? Are they supposed to be grateful to the ultimate causes and creators of their suffering, not to speak of the suffering of millions of Iraqis?

The media have offered a false paradox: Opponents of war have been freed by soldiers. But there is no paradox here. As long as there are wars, there will be active opponents of war, who themselves are more likely than the average non-participant to become a victim of war. Hence providing an opportunity for the warmongers to “rescue” them and try to justify the unjustifiable. Had there been no war on Iraq, would any of this have happened?

Here is the headline of a piece in the WaPo written by Josh White:Detainee in Photo With Dog Was 'High-Value' SuspectOne might get a sense that maybe just a little torture might be okay if he really was a "high-value" suspect, eh? The second paragraph reads like this:

Although officials characterized the other detainees who appeared in the Abu Ghraib photographs as common criminals and rioters, the orange-clad detainee seen cowering before the dog was different. Detainee No. 155148 was considered a high-value intelligence source suspected of having close ties to al-Qaeda. According to interviews, sworn statements from soldiers and military documents obtained by The Washington Post, Ashraf Abdullah Ahsy was at the center of a military intelligence "special project" designed to break him down, and was considered important enough that his interrogation was mentioned in a briefing to high-ranking intelligence officials at the Pentagon.

Gee, I feel my resolve weakening, maybe just the dogs, but nothing more okay? At least he was a "high-value" suspect so he had it coming.

标题：中国重规划衔接协调--云南旅游翻译公司投资创业
中新网3月9日电 《瞭望》周刊刊载中央民族大学法学院教授熊文钊的文章指出，为了规范编制行为，保障规划的科学性翻译公司，国务院责成有关部门研究起草了《规划编制条例》，对规划编制的前期准备工作及其酝酿、起草、衔接、论证、批准、公布和修订等各个环节的程序作出明确规定，目前杭州网站建设，编制条例已列入国务院立法计划。礼品|礼品公司租车|上海租车汽车租赁|上海汽车租赁电动机。

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.

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.)

The disgraceful but predictable Amerisraeli campaign of defamation and lies against President Ahmadinejad of Iran continues unabated. Words and phrases are plucked out of the context of long speeches, without any attention to the overall gist and purpose of each speech, merely to be used as ammunition for propaganda against someone whose only crime is that he does not, nor does he plan to, bow down to the will of the Western politico-financial complex, either in action or in spirit, but rather plans solely to follow the dictates of his conscience regarding the good of his nation as well as that of the region at large.  Mohammad Khatami, the former President of Iran, again and again urged a “dialogue of civilizations.”  Khatami’s own mentality, however, was captive to the Western monologue.  Ahmadinejad’s monumental task is to turn the monologue into a true dialogue.  As the West is completely unaware of the existence of a point of view other than its own, Ahmadinejad faces the task of using harsh language to try to break through the legacy of decades of brainwashing.

In response to the Daily Mirror revelation about a Memo in which Bush discusses bombing the Al Jazeera HQ in Qatar, some Al Jazeera staffers have set up an unofficial blog titled "Don't Bomb Us" (http://dontbomb.blogspot.com). Here is a post:

These are the men and women who bring you the news at Al Jazeera. We have a diverse staff complement. Our people are made up of dozens of nationalities...Come and have a look at who we are (here is our flickr photoset). We are not afraid of your threats - we are journalists. And there thousands like us around the world. You may be able to kill some of us - but you will never kill us all.

I'm wondering why the US blogsphere is so silent on this Memo? Or am I just not looking in the right places?

Now posted at: Karl Rove Says Who Leaked First

I would like to see this type of Press Release ASAP as a temporary solution pending the passage of an effective journalistic shield law:

Judith Miller’s Lament:

"On July 6, I chose to go to jail to defend my right as a journalist to protect a confidential source, the same right that enables lawyers to grant confidentiality to their clients, clergy to their parishioners, and physicians and psychotherapists to their patients."

Inspired by the eloquent words and cogent ideas expressed by Judith Miller in her resignation letter, the New York Times announced today that they have entered into secret negotiations with a yet to be named national counseling service. Through a well-established network of neighborhood treatment centers and other outpatient facilities, the service has established an effective national presence in the behavioral health care marketplace. Volunteers at each facility will receive 8-week courses in journalism. Once trained, this dual duty cadre will be available to see whistle blowers and other unnamed sources who wish to leak important facts to the press. The conversations will be protected by the psychotherapist/patient relationship and will avoid any First Amendment conflicts. Besides saving the paper millions in insurance and legal expenses, this project will provide free counseling to those leaking as they deal with the anxiety of testifying before future grand juries. Individuals close to the talks say NYT will conduct a campaign asking their readers to suggest names for this new entity. Got any ideas?

Crossposted from The Republic of T.

What’s wrong with TV news? Heh. Where do I begin? I’ve mentioned before, I stopped watching television news somewhere between 9/11 and the build-up to the war in Iraq. First it was because I didn’t want to see any more gratuitous footage of the WTC attacks/collapse. Then it morphed into being sickened by utterly unquestioning, uncritical coverage of the build-up to and rationales for Iraq. Well, there’s something out there that might change my viewing habits in the future.

Now for full disclosure. Independent World Television (IWT) is one of our clients at work, but not one that I’ve done a lot of work with. They were the subject of two diaries on Kos this weekend, and I’ve been meaning to post about them myself. Here’s a bit about what they want to do.

Allow me a few minutes with my tin foil hat.Now, as you may have heard Hunter Thompson spent several days watching the 9-11 tapes.Despite his affection for substances, he KNEW HIS EXPLOSIVES. After watching the tapes over and over again... he noticed smoking rising from the base of the twin towers. His theory was that there were explosives in the Towers and that made them fall, not the planes.Unfortunately, we went won't know his real answer because he was having a casual conversation with his wife on the phone. Then put down the phone and shot himself without hanging up.Which makes NO sense whatsoever.NOW, TODAY this story comes out.UPI Hears...By John DalyUPI International Correspondent Washington, DC, Jun. 13 (UPI) -- Insider notes from United Press International for June 8document.write('');

I found the entire Time article on Ann Coulter that I was looking for on the CNN website. John Cloud informs us that we don't know the real Ann.

Although it drives Coulter crazy, even friends sometimes say her public and private personas differ. Kent Brownridge, 63, general manager of Wenner Media and a longtime Democrat who used to work for George McGovern, says, "You couldn't find a nicer friend" than Coulter.

Aha! Isn't Ann precious? She's like Mary Tyler Moore of conservative punditry.

Art Meat Blog is the name of the Free Art for Bloggers service I started.  Basically I am compiling all of my sketches, cartoons and doodles in one place for others to use on their blogs and posts.  Simply copy and paste the coding under any image you'd like to include.

Why?  Why did I do this?  Often times when I get onto sites like PBA or KOS I get overwhelmed by text and don't know where to even start reading.  I thought adding some color form and texture to the web wood be a good thing.

Enjoy them :)

Update, sorry for the wrong link, should be fixed now.

It's time for you to cast your vote.

The nominees.

Pat Buchanan

Ann Coulter

Thomas Friedman

Hugh Hewitt

Charles Krauthammer

Howard KurtzMichelle MalkinRobert Novak

Cal Thomas

Armstrong Williams

VOTE NOW

Thanks to David Scott Anderson.

Crossposted at Last Day of My Life Media Matters takes the St. Petersburg Times and University of South Florida professor Susan MacManus to task. In a March 25 article titled "In a Polarizing Case, Jeb Bush Cements His Political Stature," The New York Times quoted University of South Florida professor Susan MacManus praising Bush without disclosing her ties to his administration. MacManus served on Bush's transition team on health care; was appointed by Bush to the Florida Elections Commission and served as an adviser to Bush as of August 2004. Media Matters most likely got their research from this article by Bob Norman.

Does Michigan Congressman John Conyers Jr., ever sleep? I have no idea how Rep. Conyers finds the time to fight for us every chance he gets, but he does, and how.

Congressman Conyers wrote an incredible article in defense of us bloggers called "Bloggers Have Rights Too" (link) . Here are some of my favorite parts of the article (but don't just read the highlights, follow the link and read the rest of what this great defender of our rights has to say):

"The Internet has proved to be the greatest advancement in our ability to disseminate news and information since the invention of the printing press by Gutenberg in 1450."

"The confluence of these two cases indicates that we are at a turning point in the evolution of Internet-based media. I believe bloggers have shown they warrant First Amendment protection for several reasons."

By Doug Ireland -- March 11, 2005

A new group baptized the Online Coalition is organizing a fight against the proposed Federal Election Commission crackdown on the political liberties of bloggers under the McCain-Feingold Act--a censorious outrage which was the subject of an earlier DIRELAND cry of alarm. The envisioned crackdown would, as we wrote when the story broke, change politics as practiced on the 'net as we know it.

The first step of this fight-back is an open letter to the chairman of the FEC from bloggers -- if you have a blog or are a journalist, sign on by clicking here (where you can also see the roster of bloggers and scribes from all political points of view who've signed on already.) The letter to the FEC says in part:

In an interview with Amy Goodman for DemocracyNOW, the Editor in Chief of The Arab American News, Osama Siblani, discussed a meeting he had with then Governor George W. Bush.

AMY GOODMAN: You met with the President of the United States?
OSAMA SIBLANI: Yes, when he was running for election in May of 2000 when he was a governor. He told me just straight to my face, among 12 or maybe 13 republicans at that time here in Michigan at the hotel. I think it was on May 17, 2000, even before he became the nominee for the Republicans. He told me that he was going to take him out, when we talked about Saddam Hussein in Iraq. And I said, 'Well, you know, I totally disagree with
you. You just can't go around taking leaders out of their countries,
you know. Let the Iraqi people do it. They can't do it on empty
stomachs. Lift sanctions. Keep the pressure on Saddam Hussein, but lift
the sanctions on the Iraqi people. People can't make moves on an empty
stomach. Once they start establishing, you know, a connection with the
United States and helping democracy inside, they will overthrow him.'
And then he said, 'We have to talk about it later.' But at that time he
was not privy to any intelligence, and the democrats had occupied the
White House for the previous eight years. So, he was not privy to any
intelligence whatsoever. He was not the official nominee of the
Republican Party, so he didn't know what kind of situation the weapons
of mass destruction was at that time.

Crossposted from Quintonotes:

This evening, I went to a special screening of the documentary Control Room at which Josh Rushing, the Marine media liaison featured in the film, appeared in person to answer questions for the audience. Rushing is now an ex-Marine, and he travels the country speaking at schools and to community groups. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but his answers were sophisticated and, for the most part, well informed. He and I do not see eye-to-eye on every issue he spoke on, but to be honest, I found him to be much more leftish in his thinking than I had anticipated.

The most interesting subject raised during the evening was the question of why CENTCOM’s press relations people did not discuss strategic information with reporters during Operation Iraqi Freedom as much as they had during the first Gulf War. According to Rushing, the fact that reporters were imbedded with the troops made all the difference. During Desert Storm, journalists had not been on the ground to report on specific tactical information about US troop actions as they were during Iraqi Freedom. It was safer for Schwarzkopf to tell journalists strategic-level data about American forces than it would have been for Franks to do so a decade later. If Franks had done so, the “enemy,” as Rushing called Iraq’s armed forces under Saddam, would have been able to put the tactical data (from imbedded journalists) and the strategic information (from CENTCOM press briefings) together to create a full picture of American military planning and action.

Cross posted from The Disgruntled Chemist;.

Brit Hume and Conservative Hypocrisy

I wasn't going to post on this...really. But I read it on MediaMatters the other day, and since then I've been thinking about it more and more. So here's the deal:Brit Hume was on his Fox News show, trying to make a case for Bush's Social Security reform. As MediaMatters notes, Hume used some quotes from Franklin Roosevelt (the founder of Social Security) to make the point that FDR would have supported Bush's plan.

HUME: In a written statement to Congress in 1935, Roosevelt said that any Social Security plans should include, quote, "Voluntary contributory annuities, by which individual initiative can increase the annual amounts received in old age," adding that government funding, quote, "ought to ultimately be supplanted by self-supporting annuity plans."

Cross-posted at Last Day of My Life

The realities on the war on terrorism and the war in Iraq (two separate issues in my view) are much different than how these serious issues play in Thomas Friedman's mind. I often feel I have stepped into Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory everytime I read the latest opus by the neocon Times columnist. Friedman has a brainstorm on how the reward money for Osama bin Laden and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi should be used instead. Hey kids, let's throw an essay writing contest.