Saturday, March 05, 2011

THIS JUST IN! THE CLAMPETTS IN THE WHITE HOUSE!

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE

WELL YEE-HAW, CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O IS BREWING HIS OWN IN THE TUB.

NO WORD ON HOW MANY WORKERS HIS 'SELF-EMPLOYED' BUSINESS VENTURE IS PUTTING OUT OF WORK OR HOW BADLY HE'S HURTING THE ECONOMY BUT IF YOU WANT YOU SOME BATH TUB BEER, YEE-HAW, GET DOWN TO THE WHITE HOUSE PRONTO! YA'LL COME BACK, YA HERE!

FROM THE TCI WIRE:

KUNA reports, "Thousands of Iraqi demonstrators are flowing to Baghdad and other Iraqi cities in what is called 'Friday of Dignity' in protest against poor services and boringly sluggish efforts against alleged corruption and fraud in Iraq." Prashant Rao (AFP) reports that, today, "a crowd of about 2,000 people had descended Baghdad's Tahrir Square by early afternoon, another 1,000 gathered i the southern city of Nasiriyah and about 300 were in the central city of Hilla." AGI notes, "The protesters mostly arrived on foot because of a ban on the movement of vehicles in the square." Bushra Juhi and Qassim Abdul-Zahra (AP) note Bahjat Talib had to stop at eight checkpoints to get from the Sadr City section of Baghdad to Tahrir Square and they quote him stating, "Our country is lost and for the last eight years the government has failed to offer services for people. Thousands of youths are without jobs." In Nineveh Province, the Dar Addustour live screen crawl noted, protesters have again demanded that the release of detainees and the expulsions of US forces from the country. Al Rafidayn adds security forces in Nineveh used water cannons and batons to disperse the crowd. American University Cairo's Firas al-Atraqchi Tweeted this observation about the Iraqi protests:
Thing about today's #Iraq protests is that they happened despite general curfew #Baghdad #karbala #Basra #Mosul #Najaf #Nasiriyah #diwaniya about 2 hours ago via web
The Day of Dignity follows last week's Day of Rage which saw protests across Iraq with demonstrators often attacked by police leaving less than 30 dead and hundreds injured. The attacks were not just on the demonstrators, Iraqi forces also attacked the press. Physically attacked the press. The groundwork for that physical attack was laid by Nouri who ordered forces to bust into news outlets and journalistic organizations in the days prior to last Friday's Day of Rage. In addition, Nouri also outlawed live broadcasts from Baghdad on that Friday. Through his actions, he sent the message that his government did not respect or support a free press and his thugs then acted accordingly -- in one instance, barging into a Baghdad restaurant and physically attacking four journalists who were eating lunch, beating them in the heads with the butts of their rifles and then arresting them. Stephanie McCrummen (Washington Post) reminds, "Witnesses in Baghdad and as far north as Kirkuk described watching last week as security forces in black uniforms, tracksuits and T-shirts roared up in trucks and Humvees, attacked protesters, rounded up others from cafes and homes and hauled them off, blindfolded, to army detention centers. Entire neighborhoods -- primarily Sunni Muslim areas where residnets are generally opposed to Maliki, a Shiite -- were blockaded to prevent residents from joining the demonstrations. Journalists were beaten." In an essay on last Friday's protest, Danial Anas Kaysi (Foreign Policy) observes:
After the March 2010 elections, the Iraqi people waited close to ten months for their political representatives to agree on a framework and form a government (which is yet to be truly completed due to disputes concerning the naming of security ministers). Those were months in which the population continued to live in the shadow of an occupation, in face of high unemployment levels and in deteriorating conditions -- from low levels of electricity and water to mismanaged sewage systems and ration card provisions.
When Maliki was chosen, the Iraqi people continued to patiently await the creation of a national unity government capable of addressing their needs. All along, Maliki led a protracted campaign to retain the premiership, arguing that was Iraq's best choice in guiding it away from its woes at a time of uncertainty. While services were not central to his coalition's campaign, Maliki concentrated on his capability to impose the rule of law and bring back stability and security so that the country might begin to truly rebuild. Security could be quite the convincing argument had terrorist attacks decreased rather than increased, and had the prime minister not been creating police forces outside the regular chain of command, such as the infamous Baghdad Brigades, which is feared by the residents of the city.
The prime minister's image can no longer be built on a mirage of security and stability. Worsening conditions, coupled with clear corruption and an increase in terrorist attacks, have led people to lose trust in their local, provincial, and federal representatives. Two months after government formation, it has become clear to the people that it is one of a starkly political nature, formed through backroom deals and the placating of various factions.
Al Mada notes that yesterday a vehicle ban was placed on Basra in anticipation of the protest (in anticipation of curbing the protest) and those violating the ban will not have their vehicles returned until some time after Friday. Basra is where 23-year-old Salem Garuq al-Dosari died last Friday, killed for the 'crime' of protesting. In reply to a question about violence from McClatchy's Hannah Allam, AFP's Prashant Rao Tweeted:
@HannahAllam We have reports of a cameraman injured in Basra, but its not clear how. No violence reported to us against journos in Baghdad about 1 hour ago via TweetDeck
Aref Mohammed (Reuters) informs of today's Basra protest, "A Reuters reporter at the scene said some journalists were also beaten by security forces. A vehicle ban was in effect." J. David Goodman (New York Times) also notes the attacks on journalists ("beaten by authorities there"). The Dar Addustour live screen crawl noted Diyala, Kirkuk, Tikrit and Samarra were also placed under curfew. Ammar Karim (AFP) adds, "Nasiriyah, in the south, barred anyone from entering. Complete vehicle bans were also placed on every non-Kurdish province north of the capital, with protesters not even allowed near provincial governorate offices in the city of Mosul, after five demonstrators were killed and one building set ablaze in rallies there a week ago."
While bans were put in place, Al Mada reveaks that the Iraqi Jurists Association announced they would be participating in today's protests and called on the "legitimate" reforms protesters have demanded to be implemented. They also saluted the protesters noting that they have shown strength, that all Iraqis are one people and one destiny. Al Rafidayn reports that the protesters in Baghdad today found Tahrir Square cordoned off by security forces and that blockades were utilized to close down roads and prevent access to areas including the Green Zone and the Sinak Republic Bridge. Osama Mahdi (Kitabat) reports that protesters in Baghdad chanted "Liar Liar Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Liar Liar" and "Peaceful, Peaceful" while carrying flags and banners -- one banner read "Where did the people's money go?" Stephanie McCrummen (Washington Post) notes that "security was tight as police in riot gear faced the demonstrators, and it was unclear whether crowds would become larger following Friday prayers. Many protesters in the square said they were nervous about staying there considering violence that followed last week's nationwide demonstrations." The crowds did increase despite many obstacles, going from hundreds before ten this morning to, Aref Mohammed (Reuters) estimates, "around 3,000," Tahrir Square is now being called "Iraqi Liberation Square". But not all who wanted to take part in Baghdad were able to. Alice Fordham and Raheem Salman (Los Angeles Times) quote Hansa Hassan who says, "There were many people who wanted to participate but who were prevented; my husband insisted, and he managed to go in, but there were many barriers." NPR's Jonathan Blakley reported from Baghdad:
Most of the participants today were young people, waving Iraqi flags and plastic flowers. Many were college-age students, dressed in red and black caps and gowns, upset because, they say, they couldn't find work after graduation. Some demonstrators had walked for hours to get to Tahrir Square.
One Iraqi [home maker] said the protestors would "expose the thieves" -- referring to government corruption. She said people would march every Friday until their demands are met.
I've changed the term to "home maker." It's 2011 and I'd love to Alicia explain why NPR is using the term I'm not allowing at this site. Was today "Remember Glen Campbell Day"? I don't know. Reporting for Al Jazeera (link goes to Al Jazeera's YouTube page which provides a live feed) from Baghdad, Jane Arraf stood in front of a large crowd gathered in Tahrir Square explaining the thousands "have walked for hours to come to this square," that the government had put up conrecte blocks at the end of Sinak Republic Bridge and walled off the Green Zone and "despite this, thousands of people came to chant that they believe the government they elected are liars and they can do better." Iraqi Streets 4 Change has a photo essay of the Baghdad protest at the top of their web page.



RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Iraqis again storm the streets for change"
"Kirkuk"
"I Hate The War"
"Spinach Dip in the Kitchen"
"El Spirito Sunday"
"The Casual Lunch"
"Eric Holder, stop setting us back"
"The creep and layoffs"
"intervention?"
"wasted time"
"Got to side with him on this"
"Senator Daniel Akaka"
"Not a surprise about JT"
"NPR"
"Send Me No Flowers"
"Creepy"
"On Damon and Betty"
"Reflecting on 2008"
"Idiot of the week goes to . . ."
"Don't they teach math in Indonesia?"
"THIS JUST IN! WHO DID THE MATH!"

Friday, March 04, 2011

THIS JUST IN! WHO DID THE MATH!

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE

CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O'S BEEN CAUGHT WINNING ANOTHER ROUND OF LIAR-LIAR-PANTS-ON-FIRE. THOUGH THE WHITE HOUSE CLAIMS THEY'VE OFFERED $50 BILLION IN CUTS WHEN THEY'RE OFFERING $40 BILLION OF CUTS TO . . . A BUDGET THAT WAS NEVER PASSED, IT'S BEING CALLED A "PHANTOM $40 BILLION."

FROM THE TCI WIRE:

This week on Raising Hope (episode "Snip, Snip," written by Mike Mariano, Fox, Tuesday nights, streams online), Virginia (Martha Plimpton) and Burt (Garret Dillahunt) have a pregnancy scare. When their adult son Jimmy (Lucas Neff) finds out, he holds a family meeting in the living room. Also present is Maw Maw (Cloris Leachman), Virginia's grandmother, who appears off in her own little world as she examines a remote control.
Jimmy: How could you be so irresponsible?
Virginia: We're responsible. We're also passionate and spontaneous.
Burt: Those would be our gladiator names if we were on American Gladiator. Which we still might do!
Virginia: Because we're spontaneous.
Jimmy: Okay, first of all, Gladiator sounds awesome. But no babies. One of you has to get fixed or spayed.
Burt: No way.
Virginia: You cannot decide that, Jimmy. That is a personal decision.
Burt: She's right. I think we should take a family vote. All those in favor of everyone keeping their original plumbing?
Virginia and Burt raise their hands.
Virginia: Sorry, Jimmy, you're out voted two to one.
Maw Maw: I vote with Jimmy!
Jimmy: Hold on! Two to two!
Burt: Only if she's lucid! She's only allowed to vote if she's lucid!
Virginia: Maw Maw, we are currently at war with what country?
Maw Maw: Iraq and Afghanistan.
Jimmy: Is she right?
Burt: I think so but I'm not sure.
Maw Maw: It's right, you morons. One more reason why you shouldn't have another baby.
Burt and Jimmy aren't the only ones who appear to have forgotten the wars. Yesterday the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan issued a [PDF format warning] press release
Asking if Iraq is "a forgotten mission," the bipartisan Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan has released a special report to Congress warning that the U.S. Department of State faces large funding and contract-management challenges in Iraq once the U.S. military completes its agreed-upon withdrawal by the end of 2011.
To deal with Iraq's long-standing ethnic, religious, and regional rivalries, the State Department is working to set up two permanent and two temporary stations remote from the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. The department is also working with the Department of Defnse to deal with hundreds of functions currently provided by the U.S. military in Iraq.
State's taking on security, facilities management, air transport, and other tasks will require thousands of contractor employees. "Yet State is short of needed funding and program-management staff," the report says. "Very little time remains for State to develop requirements, conduct negotiations, and award competititve contracts for work that must begin at once. Inadequate support risks waste of funds and failure for U.S. policy objectives in Iraq and the region."
The report recommends that:
"1. Congress ensure adequate funding to sustain State Department operations in critical area of Iraq, including its greatly increased needs for operational contract support."
"2. The Department of State expand its organic capability to meet heightened needs for acquistion personnel, contract management, and contractor oversight."
"3. The Secretaries of State and Defense extend and intensify their collaborative planning for the transition, including executing an agreement to establish a single, sneior-level coordinator and decision-maker to guide progress and promptly address major issues whose resolution may exceed the authorities of departmental working groups."
Nathan Hodge's article in today's Wall St. Journal opens, "U.S. officials are beginning to talk about the possibility of keeping some troops in Iraq beyond 2011, complicating the Pentagon's plans to rein in military spending." Hodge also notes the new report from the Commission on Wartime Contracting which Mark Bruce (ABC News) covers as well as the hearing:

The State Department is not ready to assume leadership for the U.S. role in Iraq as the military draws down its mission there, Commissioners Grant Green and Michael Thibault of the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan argued before lawmakers today.
"Is the State Department ready? The short answer is 'no,' and the short reason for that answer is that establishing and sustaining an expanded U.S. diplomatic presence in Iraq will require State to take on thousands of additional contractor employees that it has neither funds to pay nor resources to manage," Green testified before the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Mike Kellerman (Press TV -- link has text and video) adds: "Another couple hundred billion is estimated to pay for diplomats, CIA workers, para military advisors, embassy security, and tens of thousands of contractors. AT this Congressional hearing, several lawmakers balked at the projected price for Obama's long-term scheme to keep the American presence strong in Iraq indicating the government can no longer afford it. The US special inspector general for Iraq testified not only will it cost a lot at a time when budget cutters in Congress are slashing the State Department's budget but also the State Department is far from ready to take over the occupation of the country from the US military." If you want to end something, you work to end it. You don't, a few days after an election -- say, one in 2008 -- post a pathetic message on your supposed peace website that all is well and you're off. The Iraq War continues. Those of us who said "Out of Iraq Now!" need to figure out whether we meant it or not -- specifically "NOW!" -- or whether we were just lying to try to help Democrats do better in elections. I'm not sure what conclusion most will form but I was opposed to the Iraq War and meant it which is why I remain opposed to the Iraq War. Opposed -- not posing. There's a difference. Non-posers will gather across the country this month on the anniversary of the Iraq War with the biggest protest planned for DC. A.N.S.W.E.R. and March Forward! and others will be taking part in this action:

March 19 is the 8th anniversary of the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Iraq today remains occupied by 50,000 U.S. soldiers and tens of thousands of foreign mercenaries.

The war in Afghanistan is raging. The U.S. is invading and bombing Pakistan. The U.S. is financing endless atrocities against the people of Palestine, relentlessly threatening Iran and bringing Korea to the brink of a new war.

While the United States will spend $1 trillion for war, occupation and weapons in 2011, 30 million people in the United States remain unemployed or severely underemployed, and cuts in education, housing and healthcare are imposing a huge toll on the people.

Actions of civil resistance are spreading.

On Dec. 16, 2010, a veterans-led civil resistance at the White House played an important role in bringing the anti-war movement from protest to resistance. Enduring hours of heavy snow, 131 veterans and other anti-war activists lined the White House fence and were arrested. Some of those arrested will be going to trial, which will be scheduled soon in Washington, D.C.

Saturday, March 19, 2011, the anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, will be an international day of action against the war machine.

Protest and resistance actions will take place in cities and towns across the United States. Scores of organizations are coming together. Demonstrations are scheduled for San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and more.




Thursday, March 03, 2011

THIS JUST IN! HE'S SO CLASSY!

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE

GREG CRAIG'S 'NOBLE' CAREER INCLUDES DEFENDING JOHN HINKLEY AND LYING AND LYING ABOUT FISA. CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O'S ONE TIME ATTORNEY AND WHO KNOWS WHAT ELSE HAS ADDED A NEW CREDIT: DEFENDING NATIONAL LIARS WHO BREAK LAWS.

REACHED FOR COMMENT, CRAIG DECLARED JOHN EDWARDS TO BE "AS CLOSE TO SAINTHOOD AS ANYONE I HAVE EVER MET."

FROM THE TCI WIRE
:

Starting in DC with the US Congress. Some background: Caregivers are the people who take care of you when you need assistance. If you are a wounded veteran, your caregivers are often family, a spouse or a significant other. Caring for you may be temporary in that you recover and you have full or close to full use and ability and mobility as you did before your injury; however, that is not always the case. There are many veterans -- especially of the current wars -- who are badly injured and need a caregiver for the rest of their lives and/or around the clock. The person who fills that role -- whatever his or her relationship to the veteran -- isn't visited by the clock fairy who waves a wand and creates more hours each day for that person. The person in the role of the caregiver is doing hard work and a full time -- usually more than full time -- job. And you cannot be a caregiver in that situation and also maintain a full time paid job in the workforce. Which means that while you are providing care, you're not bringing in money. The bills don't go away and many veterans and their caregivers face huge financial hardship as a result. June 4, 2010, the mother of a veteran called in on the first hour of The Diane Rehm Show (NPR).
Marlene: My son was in Iraq for 15 months and directly effected by two IED explosions -- with shrapnel to his head. He continues -- my son continues to say everything is fine. But two weeks ago, the bank repossessed his car. He had been faithfully paying on this car prior to his diagnosis of PTSD. Now, as the Mom and the next of kin, I was not able to assist in any way. The bank would not work with my son other than to demand the total payment of the balance. There was no bailout for this soldier. Now I as the Mom had no right to advocate on his behalf. I called my Congressman, the military and who ever else I thought could help. My question is: Who does advocate for these soldiers?
Bills don't stop for the veterans because they're veterans and that's especially an issue if you're a disabled veteran or the caregiver for one. Hike for our Heroes is a non-profit started by Iraq War veteran Troy Yocum who is hiking across the country to raise awareness and money for veterans issues -- all veterans. Why did he start his 7,000 mile hike? As Katherine Gustafson (Tonic) reported last May:
Directing people's attention to the stress that many military families face is an idea that came to Yocum while he was stationed in Iraq, where he was distressed to receive emails from a friend, an Iraq veteran, who had lost his job and was losing his house. It brought to Yocum's mind memories of his grandfather, a World War II veteran who had faced the same problems and ended up committing suicide as a result.
Yocum contacted nonprofit organizations to find help for his friend, but everywhere got the same answer: There isn't enough funding to go around. Yocum made up his mind that he would find a way to help all those families when he got home and immediately started researching a game plan. He turned up the story of Terry Fox, a one-legged man who had run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. "That story was so amazing, and he raised millions and millions of dollars," said Yocum. "That's something I could do to help spread awareness across America but also raise millions of dollars to help military families."
He was determined to prevent more people from getting "into a situation like my grandfather where they lose their jobs and they have no other way out, or at least that's what they think, and then they kill themselves. Did you realize that 20 percent of all suicides are veterans?"
Money, debts and the stress from bills piling up do not help the health of any veteran -- even more so a disabled one. Doesn't help a caregiver either and you can't be a full time caregiver and also work in the paid work force. It's just not possible and Congress has been recognizing the time and work required of caregivers for many years with hearings in both houses. For example, June 4, 2009, the Wounded Warrior Project Anna Freese testified to the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Health:
Let me begin by asking you to think about what it took for each of you to get prepared for the day today. I'm not talking about the first cup of coffee or your morning paper. I'm asking you to think about more basic activities. Raising your arm to reach for a bedside light switch. Moving a finger to wipe the sleep from your eyes. Getting out of bed, walking to the bathroom. While most of us take this for granted, severely injured service members, like my brother Eric [Edmundson], can no longer carry out these basic activities of daily living without assistance. Eric and other severely wounded warriors get the most intimate, devoted care from family members in the privacy of their homes, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
After many hearings and many meetings with the effected populations, both houses of Congress agreed upon the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010 (May 5, 2010) which was to go into effect January 30, 2011. This was a bill that had support from both political parties -- and support from independent Senator Joe Lieberman, Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders. In the Senate it passed by 98 votes (all present voted for it). In the House, it passed by 419 votes with all present voting in favor of it. President Barack Obama signed it into law May 5, 2010. It shouldn't have caused any problems because of the huge Congressional support it had -- universal support -- and because the Congress took so much care in investigating the issues, in taking testimonies from stakeholders, in evaluating and re-evaluating before they wrote the bill.
So this morning, in the US Senate, it might have been surprising to some to discover that the law that Congress wrote and understood and backed universally was taken by the VA to mean, "Do what you want with this." The US Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee took testimony this morning from VA Secretary Eric Shinseki and from the VFW's Raymond Kelley, Delware VA Medical Center's Maryann D. Hooker, AMVETS' Christina Roof, Paralyzed Veterans of America's Carl Blake, the American Legion's Tim Tetz and Disabled American Veterans' Joseph A. Violante. We're noting this exchange from the first panel. Senator Patty Murray is the Chair of the Committee.
Chair Patty Murray: Mr. Secretary, I have a great deal of respect for the work that you've done on homeless and women's issues and I know you're working diligently in a number of ways. But I wanted to bring up an issue that I'm very concerned about. I've already discussed the caregiver issue with you, I've talked about it with Jack Woo, I've talked with senior staff at the White House and I have spoken directly with the president of the United States. VA's plan on the caregivers issue was overdue and once submitted it hardly resembled the bill that unanimously cleared this Congress. Three weeks ago, my Committee staff requested information on how that plan was developed and to date no information has been provided. Rather than following the law, the administration set forth some overly stringent rules bureaucratic hurdles that would essentially deny help to caregivers. Sarah and Ted Wade who were staunch advocates and worked hard with us to get this passed were invited by the president to attend the bill signing at the White House, they won't be eligible for the program under the plan that the department submitted. We're also hearing a lot from veterans and caregivers from across the country who fall outside of this new line in the sand the VA has drawn, who have been left in limbo and now don't know if this benefit that they advocated and worked so hard for will support them. Mr. Secretary, it appears your that department is not complying with the law as we have written. Can you please tell this Committee why?
Secretary Eric Shinseki: Well, Chairman Murray, let me begin by expressing my regret that the implementation plan was late in getting to you. We did our best and uh, uh, we're looking forward at this point on how to accelerate the process. I will also add to that that the importance of family and caring for our nation's uh injured veterans has been a long standing uh, uh concern and issue for VA. And I think, as you know, we have eight decades of history of, uh, caring for the caregives. And we have demonstrated this dedication to them in a wide range of ways over those years. Benefits that are already offered including education, training, homemaker, home health services, respite care, uh, family support services. But more than programs, we see it in the thousands of acts of compassionate care provided by VA employees on the front lines. Through the caregivers bill enacted last year -- thanks to the leadership -- your leadership specifically -- but the leadership of Congress as well, Congress and the president built on this foundation by establishing landmark new benefits for Post-9/11 veterans that for the first time provide direct financial and broad health care support directly to the caregiver. We've not done this before and, uh, and we're working through the complexity of what this means. Implementation of the more unprecedented features of this law has taken longer than I had anticipated or would have liked and we understand the frustration that's been expressed on the part of some. We have responded by greatly expediting the required regulatory process through the use of what I described as the interim final regulation transmitted to the Office of Management and Budget on Monday. I assure veterans and the Congress that the administration will move quickly and we plan to have direct to caregiver benefits in place this summer -- early this summer. We also understand the concerns that have been expressed in the scope of the benefit as we've proposed in meeting our implementation plan. We have an obligation to get this right -- to get this benefit right -- and that means meeting the requirements of the law and also making sure that those VA employees on the front lines of caring for our veterans have a clear and consistent set of guidelines to apply. It has been a challenging exercise. I will state that. It's my personal obligation to be able to explain to an injured veteran why he or she would not be eligible for this benefit while someone else in his or her company with similar injuries would be. And that's the standard we're trying to establish here. That standard has guided our efforts to this point and I hope remains in whatever standard we finally establish. That said, I want to be clear, we are absolutely open to suggestions for different places to draw that line than what we have put forward, what we have put forward was a start place. But the standard must work in the real world, on the clinical front lines where the differences end standards and combinations of injuries mental and physical are unique as-as veterans themselves. To that end, Madame Chair, VA is willing -- and I am willing -- to work with you and this committee and members of your staff and all the veterans and families who are represented and have a stake in this. I welcome the input both from you and Ranking Member Senator Burr and others in trying to develop clear, clinical guidelines for this program. OMB is now reviewing the regulation. I'll take this opportunity to encourage all with a stake in this important new program.to provide us the benefit of their insights and their comments and, uh, I will provide feedback to you at the appropriate time.
Chair Patty Murray: Well thank you very much, Mr. Secretary. I know that this is a new law. I think that we went through that as we prepared it and wrote it and worked with many, many people to get it done. But I think it is absolutely in this time of war with OIF and OEF soldiers coming home seriously disabled, a generation of soldiers that are facing very long term care with spouses or parents who are caring for them -- that's what we went through in our hearings and processes as we went to it. I am deeply concerned, first of all, in the lack of information we had and the lateness of this getting to us. We're past that now but a very unfortunate circumstance where the rules have gone to OMB and may be out in a few months and implementation takes awhile and you're now offering to us to look into different ways of writing the law but it's at OMB. So we have a real challenge in front of us to write it in a way that Congress intended. If the rule comes out as we saw the draft with the narrow definition, it will not be the intent of what Congress had. We're happy to work with you now to tell you how we feel that should be implemented but we're in a serious, difficult challenge to do that because of where we are today. So I am very concerned about that and we'll have more to talk about that. I think it's important to remember why we wrote this. We know that in every war, soldiers come home and need care. But in this war in particular, where we have saved the lives of many, many soldiers, they've come home with very serious, challenging issues to deal with at home and their spouses or their parents are now required to quit their job, lose their income and care for them. That was the intent of Congress. The narrow draft of what we saw of your rules excludes many people who we believe, in Congress, and we wrote the law to cover. So we're going to have to work on this. But I wanted to ask you today of the 180 million that the budget submission specifies for caregivers and veterans pact, how much is going to be actually allocated for the implementation of the family caregiver program?
Secretary Eric Shinseki: Uh, in the 2012 budget it's 66 million.
Chair Patty Murray: 66 million for the implementation. Okay. The legislation authorized an average of 308.4 million for this program each year. Can you tell us why the VA use about 21% of that?
Secretary Eric Shinseki: Madame Chairman, I'd just say that that again is where we established the start point. We expect this program will go -- grow.
Chair Patty Murray: Pardon me?
Secretary Eric Shinseki: We expect that this program will grow. The 66 million was based on our estimate of uh going through the veterans who are in various categories of serious injuries, severe injuries and, uh, the numbers on which, uh, 66 million are based was that initial eligibility start point.Roughly about a thousand.
Chair Patty Murray: Very narrowly defined, though. Not designed as the law was defined.
Secretary Eric Shinseki: That is correct.
Chair Patty Murray: And it was the intent of Congress that that law not be narrowly defined. So we have an issue between us on that one. Let me ask one other question and I will turn it to my Ranking Member -- and we will have a lot more discussion about this caregiver bill -- I recently saw a newsletter written by the Directoor of the Indianapolis VA Medical Center talking about a variety of cost saving initiatives that the VAMC will undertake and he indicated that he intended to seriously reduce bonuses but he also will be slowing the hiring of additional and replacement staff. Will those types of cost savings actually result in the degredation of quality?
Secretary Eric Shinseki: Madame Chairman, I'm going to call on Dr. [Robert[ Petzel to address the specific issue hear at Indianappolis. But what I would offer up front is that we now have a year long budgeting dialogue -- the beginning of the year, mid-year and end of year. And they're adjustments made. No VISIN Director of the 21 VISINS have come in and said they're unable to execute their programs the year and we hold them responsible for balancing resources and requirements.
Dr. Robert Petzel: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Madame Chairman, the estimate that the letter you read -- and I also read -- was based on -- was an early estimate of what the budget might look like. Those estimates are refined almost weekly as the medical centers begin to spend their money. And if you were to look -- in fact, we have asked what the estimate is now, it is substantially reduced. As the Secretary has said, we review -- here in Washington [. . . Not including it -- Petzel was brought on to testify about things Shineski did not know about it. I would presume Shineski knows what he does each day at work and could have answered that himself.]
Chair Patty Murray: Well the Indianapolis director said that they were facing an $18 million gap this fiscal year.
Dr. Robert Petzel: That's -- that was the difference between what they wanted and what they got. It does not represent the difference between need and what they got. So if you were to look -- If we were to ask what is that gap now that it's not $18 million. It's been substantially reduced and if not actually disappeared. In addition to that, if that were true, if there was an $18 million shortfall between what they got and what they needed, the networks are able to make up those differences. They have reserve funds. The Secretary has a reserve fund. And we have, as I said, reviews at least 3 times a year here in Washington of the financial state of each one of the medical centers.
Chair Patty Murray: How many --
Dr. Robert Petzel: There would be money to take care of it.
And how many VISNS currently are facing a budget shortfall?
Dr. Robert Petzel: None.
Chair Patty Murray: Quickly on the issue of bonuses, I was surprised at the number of bonuses that were awarded last year. Among them actually was the director of the medical center in Dayton, Ohio where there have been serious problems we've been hearing about with respect to a dentist failing to practice basic hygene and overall poor management of resources, the dental clinic and other areas. Apparently he received more than $11,000 this year and $64,000 since 2006, problems going on the entire time with that. And executives at other troubled medical centers received significant bonuses as well. Mr. Secretary, I wanted to ask you, are you going to be seriously reducing the number of bonuses the same way the director of Indianapolis was forced to?
Secretary Eric Shinseki: Uhm, Madam Chairman, let me start and then call on Dr. Petzel for any details. I-I offer that since -- for the past two years we have, uh, paid specific attention to the way bonuses are paid and, uh, without making any statements about how it was run prior, I just didn't find as close a connection between performance and bonuses. And I do believe bonuses have a real role to play in the compensation programs -- designed to encourage best behaviors, superior performance. And when that happens, I think there's justification for them. Since -- for the past few years, we have looked very closely at it and I'd be happy to provide you with the details, the "outstandings" and the number of bonus payments actually adjusted quite significantly. To your direct question about Dayton? I can't justify the performance of what happened at Dayton. I think there is a failure of leadership and therefore I'm not going to try to describe why a bonus was sensible. But suffice to say this issue came up because VA workers thought we had a problem. This went on for an extended period of time where it wasn't brought to the attention of leadership and I again fault that to a failure in leadership that the climate wasn't conducive for the workforce to believe they could raise the issueand get satisfactory response. I own that and my responsibility is to correct that and that's what we're doing.
The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee released the following this afternoon:

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Senate Veterans' Affairs Chairman Patty Murray, pointedly questioned Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Eric Shinseki over the VA's decision to limit a benefit for the caregivers of severely injured Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. The VA's decision, which cuts back stipends for those who have left careers behind to care for their injured loved ones, ignores the will of Congress in passing the caregivers law last year.

"I have already discussed the caregivers issue with you, with Jack Lew, with senior staff at the White House, and I have spoken directly with the President," Senator Murray said at today's hearing. "VA's plan was overdue and once submitted it hardly resembled the bill that unanimously cleared this Congress.
"Rather than following the law, the Administration set forth some overly stringent rules -- bureaucratic hurdles that would deny help to caregivers. We are hearing from veterans and caregivers from all across the country who fall outside of this new line in the sand that the VA has drawn or who have been left in limbo – and now don't know if the benefit they have been advocating for will support them."

After questioning Shinseki about why the VA is not complying with the law, Murray also pointed out that the VA has only set aside a fraction of the funding authorized for the caregiver program. Secretary Shinseki acknowledged that all of the funding is not being used because of the narrowing eligibility requirements. Secretary Shinseki also acknowledged that the benefit has taken too long to implement.

TO WATCH SENATOR MURRAY QUESTION SECRETARY SHINSEKI VISIT: [this Senate Veterans Affairs Committee page]
The caregivers question appears at the 77 minute mark.

Yesterday's snapshot covered Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's appearance before the US House Foreign Affairs Committee. We'll again note this exchange:


US House Rep Dannis Cardoza: Madam Secretary, at least 70 people were killed during an attack last October on Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad making it the worst massacre of Iraqi Christians since 2003. Less than two months later, extremists bombed the homes of more than a dozen Christian families in Baghdad as well. And on New Year's Eve 23 people were killed by a suicide bomber in Alexandria, Egypt while coming out of mass in St. Marks and St. Peter's Coptic Church. Since these tragic incidents in the Middle East have -- Since these tragic incidents, the Middle East has been rocked by wide ranging protests and regime changes as we've seen in the last few weeks. How has this ongoing instability effected the already heightened risk to vulnerable religious minority groups like Assyrians, Jews, Cops and others?

Secretary Hillary Clinton: Congressman, thank you for asking that question. I think this has not gotten the level of attention and concern it should. We immediately went into action when the bombings took place in Baghdad. Our Ambassador [] was deeply involved with the government, making sure that there was protection and security. The ambassador went to Mass in order to show solidarity with Iraqi Christians. But there's no doubt that Christians and other minority groups are feeling under pressure and are leaving countries from North Africa to south Asia because they don't feel protected. I think we need to do much more to stand up for the rights of religious minorities and obviously I'm deeply concerned about what happened to the Christians in Iraq and the Christians in Egypt. I'm also concerned about what happens to minority Muslim groups in Pakistan and elsewhere. So you have raised an issue that I think is one of deep concern and we have to be speaking out more. And we have to hold governments accountable. When I spoke with the prior Egyptian government after the Alexandria bombing, they expressed the same level of outrage that I felt. They said that the Cops are part of, you know, Egyptian history. As you recall from Tahrir Square there were a lot of inter-faith efforts with Cops and Muslims together, worshiping together. Let's hope that continues and let's do whatever we can to make that the future instead of what I am fearful of which is driving out religious minorities. And the final thing I would say on that because it's an issue that I have paid a lot of attention to, we want to protect religion and religous believers but we don't want to use some of the tools that other countries are proposing -- which is to criminalize defamation, criminalize in the broadest possible definition blasphemy -- and then use it to execute, harass and otherwise oppress religious minorities. So we have to come up with an international consensus about what we're going to do to protect those who are exercising their conscience.

Of her non-Iraq comments above, the story from McClatchy Newspapers and the Los Angeles Times on the events in Pakistan add weight to them. In Pakistan, Minorities Affairs Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, who was a Christian and who opposed the blasphemy legislation, has been assassinated; however, BBC News cautions that too many details on the assassination are unknown. On yesterday's Committee hearing, Kat covers it in "Is you're Congressional district in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem?," Wally covers it at Rebecca's site with "Pitching the State Dept. budget (Wally)" and Ava covers it at Trina's site with "Hillary's foreign policy aims (Ava)." Kat will cover Richard Burr -- Ranking Member on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee -- at her site tonight. She long ago carved out Burr's participation on the Committee as her beat. And Monday's snapshot noted an article by Eric Ruder (US Socialist Worker) however the link had a period at the end of it which caused it not to go to the correct page. This is the correct link.


Wednesday, March 02, 2011

THIS JUST IN! LOOK WHO'S BACK!

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE


TWO MONTHS SHY OF A YEAR, MEXICAN PRESIDENT FELIPE CALDERON MAKES A RETURN VISIT TO THE UNITED STATES BUT HE AND THE U.S. ARE VERY UNEASY -- THERE'S THE DEATH OF JAIME ZAPATA, FOR EXAMPLE, A DEATH THAT WAS DECRIED IN YESTERDAY'S HOUSE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE WITH A MEMBER OF CONGRESS NOTING HE WOULD TRUST THE WORD OF U.S. AGENTS OVER SOME COMMENTS FROM MEXICO. THERE'S SO MUCH IN FACT.

CHANCES ARE THAT THE VISIT WILL NOT BE LIKE LAST YEAR'S VISIT. BACK THEN, THE DEMOCRATICALLY CONTROLLED CONGRESS STOOD UP AND HOLLERED AND STOMPED AND CHEERED AS FELIPE INSULTED THE UNITED STATES, CLAIMED THE U.S. WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR MEXICO'S VIOLENCE AND SLAMMED THE STATE OF ARIZONA REPEATEDLY.

MIGHT THAT OUTRAGEOUS DISPLAY BE PART OF THE REASON DEMOCRATS LOST THE HOUSE? CHEERING ON ATTACKS FROM AN OUTSIDER. WELL, AT LEAST GOT NANCY PELOSI'S DO-NOTHING ASS OUT OF THE SPEAKER'S POST. REMEMBER, SHE WAS THE FIRST TO STAND AND, GRINNING MANIACALLY, SHE APPLAUDED LIKE A ROBOT.

AGAIN, IT IS DOUBTFUL THE U.S. CONGRESS WILL RUSH SO QUICKLY TO SPIT ON THE UNITED STATES FOR FELIPE'S VISIT THIS GO-ROUND.


FROM THE TCI WIRE:

Today on Morning Edition (NPR -- link has audio and text), Kelly McEvers reported on the chances of a withdrawal from Iraq by US forces at the end of 2011. McEvers notes US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates telling the US House Armed Services Committee last month (Feb. 16th) that "there is certainly on our part an interest in having an additional presence" in Iraq and she notes "one congressman" said Congress would be okay with 20,000 or so troops remaining in Iraq -- that was Democrat Adam Smith from the state of Washington. Now she's noting comments by US commanders in Iraq including the top US commander in Iraq, Gen Lloyd Austin.
MCEVERS: This kind of spending puts the U.S. military in a difficult spot, especially back in Washington. On one hand, they have to say Iraq is a success story, that all that American blood and treasure wasn't for naught. On the other hand, they have to say there's still work to be done, so lawmakers increasingly averse to spending will continue funding military efforts here. If a large contingent of US troops doesn't remain in Iraq, the plan is to shift much responsibility to the state department. But that means funding a private army of contractors to do things that Austin says the real army does best.
Gen. AUSTIN: If you're talking about combined arms training and joint training, then uniformed people probably do better at conducting that type of training.
MCEVERS: For U.S. troops to stay and do that training, Iraq has to formally ask them. Many analysts believe Iraqi officials will wait until the last minute to do so, mainly because no Iraqi politician wants to be seen as pro-American. But Austin says the Iraqis simply can't wait forever to ask.
Gen. AUSTIN: The answer is we always need as much time as we can possibly get.
The US plan currently to continue the Iraq War past 2011 (US forces remaining in Iraq) are two-fold: One push for a new agreement or an extension of the SOFA to allow DoD to continue to keep forces there while also preparing to switch the forces over to the State Dept (US troops under the State Dept's umbrella) in case no extension or new agreement is reached. Either way, US troops remain past 2011. Today UPI reports on Rasmussen Reports' poll which found "a plurality of U.S. voters think the Arab world's growing unrest makes it unlikely U.S. troops will be out of Iraq by the year's end as planned". We'll go into the poll more tomorrow.
On her Twitter feed, Kelly McEvers tells another interesting story about a conversation with a US contractor today -- payoff comes in fourth Tweet:
Really don't want to talk about Juan Williams and whether Fox is "fair and balanced" with this security contractor. #flightdelay #Iraq about 9 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone
Now I feel bad. The guy just gave me cliff bars and water. #Iraq #flightdelay about 7 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone
Guy actually really interesting. Has all his savings ($37K) in #Iraqi dinars. Thinks he might triple his money someday. #flightdelay about 7 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone
Also sez US mil was VERY worried abt #Iraq day of rage. Sez troops flooded green zone (where he works), some even flew in from US. #feb25 about 7 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone
Is that true? Is the contractor telling the truth? Is anyone going to ask the State Dept or the White House or the Defense Dept if this assertion is true?
Today US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared:
Let me walk you through a few of our key investments. First, this budget funds vital civilian missions in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, al-Qaeda is under perssure as never before. Alongside our military offensive, we are engaged in major civilians effort that is helping to build up the governments, economies and civil societies of both countries and undercut the insurgency. Now these two surges -- the military and civilian surge -- set the stage for a third: a diplomatic push in support of an Afghan process to spilt the Taliban from al-Qaeda, bring the conflict to an end and help stabilize the region. Our military commanders are emphatic they cannot succeed without a strong civilian partner. Retreating from our civilian surge in Afghanistan with our troops still in the field would be a grave mistake. Equally important is our assistance to Pakistan -- a nuclear armed nation with strong ties and interests in Afghanistan. We are working to deepen our partnership and keep it focused on addressing Pakistan's political and economic challenges as well as our shared threats. And as to Iraq? After so much sacrifice, we do have a chance to help the Iraqi people build a stable, democratic country in the heart of the Middle Esat. As troops come home, our civilians are taking the lead, helping Iraqis resolve conflicts peacefully and training their police.
It was from her opening remarks to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Chair Ileana Ros-Lehtinen set a relaxed but serious tone for the meeting. She and Ranking Member Howard Berman both touched on multiple issues in their opening statements (Berman's appeared to go on forever). Our focus is Iraq. They weren't concerned with it in their opening remarks or in the hearing. Chair Ros-Lehtinen asked Hillary to please summarize her written remarks and, though Hillary agreed she would. she read her prepared remarks outloud. US House Rep Gregory Meeks was one of the few obviously listening to every word (or polite enough to make it appear he was). US House Rep Donald Payne appeared as though he were about to fall asleep during the opening remarks (and Payne and Hillary are friends). When Hillary was talking about State needing to put their "war" money into the Overseas Contingency Operations account (8.7 billion) US House Rep Ann Marie Buerkle's facial expression was an editorial of opposition -- to what wasn't made clear.
In her opening questions, Chair Ileana Ros-Lehtinen asked, "And I ask for US protection for the many residents of Camp Ashraf, many of who are here today in the audience and are concerned about their relatives. Thank you, Madam Secretary." It was a series of questions from the Chair and Camp Ashraf was the last of the series. Time ran out before it was dealt with by Hillary.
An excited and red faced US House Rep Dan Burton was concerned about national security due to the fact that so much of our "energy" (oil) is coming from outside the country. If you thought he might have a real discussion on "energy," you were wrong. He wants to open up drilling for oil in the US. Burton announced that "this administration is being derelict in its responsibility." Ron Paul had a long editorial statement that name checked the Iraq War and a hundred other things. A specific question did include Iraq.
US House Rep Dannis Cardoza: Madam Secretary, at least 70 people were killed during an attack last October on Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad making it the worst massacre of Iraqi Christians since 2003. Less than two months later, extremists bombed the homes of more than a dozen Christian families in Baghdad as well. And on New Year's Eve 23 people were killed by a suicide bomber in Alexandria, Egypt while coming out of mass in St. Marks and St. Peter's Coptic Church. Since these tragic incidents in the Middle East have -- Since these tragic incidents, the Middle East has been rocked by wide ranging protests and regime changes as we've seen in the last few weeks. How has this ongoing instability effected the already heightened risk to vulnerable religious minority groups like Assyrians, Jews, Cops and others?
Secretary Hillary Clinton: Congressman, thank you for asking that question. I think this has not gotten the level of attention and concern it should. We immediately went into action when the bombings took place in Baghdad. Our Ambassador [] was deeply involved with the government, making sure that there was protection and security. The ambassador went to Mass in order to show solidarity with Iraqi Christians. But there's no doubt that Christians and other minority groups are feeling under pressure and are leaving countries from North Africa to south Asia because they don't feel protected. I think we need to do much more to stand up for the rights of religious minorities and obviously I'm deeply concerned about what happened to the Christians in Iraq and the Christians in Egypt. I'm also concerned about what happens to minority Muslim groups in Pakistan and elsewhere. So you have raised an issue that I think is one of deep concern and we have to be speaking out more. And we have to hold governments accountable. When I spoke with the prior Egyptian government after the Alexandria bombing, they expressed the same level of outrage that I felt. They said that the Cops are part of, you know, Egyptian history. As you recall from Tahrir Square there were a lot of inter-faith efforts with Cops and Muslims together, worshipping together. Let's hope that continues and let's do whatever we can to make that the future instead of what I am fearful of which is driving out relgious minorities. And the final thing I would say on that because it's an issue that I have paid a lot of attention to, we want to protect religion and religous believers but we don't want to use some of the tools that other countries are proposing -- which is to criminalize defamation, criminalize in the broadest possible definition blasphemy -- and then use it to execute, harass and otherwise oppress religious minorities. So we have to come up with an international consensus about what we're going to do to protect those who are exercising their conscience.
While Hillary was repeatedly saying that the billions to go into Iraq -- a third surge, was how she billed it -- were necessary for national security, a curious thing was happening across the Atlantic Ocean. Alex Stevenson (Politics) reports, "Britain has shaken up its international development budget by placing renewed emphasis on poor countries which directly affect the UK's national security. The move means 16 countries including Angola, Niger, Cameroon and Lesotho will no longer receive any funding from Britain. Neither will Russia, Iraq, Vietnam, Bosnia, Serbia and Burudni." That's very interesting. The Iraq War was started and led by the US and the UK. They spent the most money on the illegal war and sent the most bodies to fight it (and had the most foreign people die in Iraq). To sell the Iraq War in the US, Bully Boy Bush resorted to many lies including that Iraq had sought yellow cake uranium from Africa. Tony Blair, then prime minister of England, had the ability to use chemical and/or biological weapons on England within 45 minutes. That's much quicker than an attack on the US and that's because England is physically closer to Iraq than is the US. So why is it that the UK argues today that they don't need to give Iraq anymore aid because it's not a threat to their own national security but the US -- White House and Hillary Clinton -- is arguing differently?
February 10th, Oxfam released their report "Whose Aid is it Anyway?" which argues that aid is not the military (or lunch money you fork over for protection on the playground). They make a solid argument and one I agree with. I'm not taking the State Dept's position that we give aid only for national security. But I am saying that today England announces they're giving aid for their own national security and that means dropping Iraq for them. But in the US, the claim is being pushed that it is our national security that is at stake so we must fund billions and billions more just for next year (that's not even acknowledging what happens after next year when more billions are budgeted for Iraq). It doesn't make sense. And someone needs to clarify it. One country's government is wrong in their classification of Iraq as a national security threat. (And it looks like it's the United States that's wrong.)
Security is always at risk in Iraq. And Iraq remains a violent country as a result of the illegal and ongoing war. Reuters reports today a Falluja roadside bombing claimed the life of 1 Iraqi soldier. Let's review the month. February 2nd, 5 people were reported dead and ten injured, February 3rd, 17 people were reported dead and forty-eight injured. February 4th, 10 were reported dead and twenty-seven injured. February 5th, eighteen were reported injured, February 6th, 1 person was reported dead and five injured. February 7th, 2 were reported dead and thirteen wounded. February 8th, 3 were reported dead and six injured. February 9th, 10 were reported dead and seventy-eight injured. February 10th, 1 person was reported dead and five wounded. February 12th, 38 were reported dead and seventy-four injured. February 13th, 151 were reported dead (we have always counted a mass grave discovered -- grave from 2003 and later -- in the violence count, it was 150 on this day and 1 protester died). February 14th, six people were reported injured. February 15th, 3 were reported dead and eleven injured. February 16th, 7 were reported dead and fifty-eight injured. February 17th, 9 people were reported dead and forty-seven injured. February 18th, 23 were killed and thirty-one injured. February 20th, 3 were reported dead and six injured. February 21st, 13 were reported dead and fifty-nine injured. February 22nd, five people were injured. February 23rd, 2 people were reported dead and twenty-two injured. February 24th, 18 were reported dead and thirty-eight injured. February 25th, 23 were reported dead and ninety injured. February 26th, 7 were reported dead and eighteen wounded. February 27th, 6 people were reported dead. February 28th, 1 person was reported dead and seven wounded.
For the month of February, 353 people were reported dead and 682 were reported injured. The150 corpses counted were not counted when they died. No one knew about it then. We've always counted them when they were discovered. (Which is the way most crime bases do as well in the US.) For those who insist, "It's not fair! It inflates violence!" Yes, it does. And not including in real time (when it wasn't known) made Iraq appear much less violent than it was. Those are the trade-offs. But for the whiners, if you take the 150 away you have 203. AFP tells us the Iraqi ministries ministries count 197 reported deaths. They then claim 330 people were injured. The wounded is obviously off.
It should further be noted that the numbers we are counting are probably way off because they're an under-report. McClatchy hasn't done a daily violence report since December 7th. Few bother to report violence anymore. Iraq Body Count has a total of 254 killed for this month. That's probably more accurate than either our number or the ministries. AFP notes the toll was 259 in January (according to ministries). IBC says 254, the ministries say 197. Go with IBC. And 254 is only 5 less than the ministries claims for January so you can say violence stayed more or less exactly the same in February as it was in January. Some outlets might need to correct their copy and especially their headlines.
What does all the violence mean? It does impact lives. The daily press rarely conveys that -- or even tries to -- anymore. Journalist Annia Ciezadlo's new book is Day of Honey: A Memoir of Food, Love and War. She was a guest on Think with Krys Boyd (KERA) today (here for audio).
Annia Ciezadlo: There's a story in the book, a short chapter, about a mother in Baghdad. And-and it was just this heartbreaking thing that I actually wrote for the Houston Chronicle. It was the first story I wrote from Baghdad. This mother who had been very, very spooked -- as had many parents in Iraq -- by this terrible bombing that happened right at the beginning of Ramadan. And, as it happened, it was the week before her daughter's birthday. And so she kept her daughter out of school for -- I think it was a week and a half. She-she finally -- Her daughter was going crazy, but it was this terrible choice that she had to make: Let my daughter go to school and take the risk that their might be a bombing on the very road she might be taking to school? Or do I say ''no, education comes first, we can't live like this" and send her to school? It was a horrible choice to have to make. So she decided that she was going to throw this extra special birthday party for her daughter and she was going to get her this fabulous cake. And-and the more she talked about the cake, the more I realized, really, it wasn't about having a fancy cake. The cake had become this symbol to her of normal life, her ablility to go to school and send her daughter to school and all of these things that they had lost. I think -- I think it's natural. I think we all do that with food. I think we all have a food that symoblizes to us something more than just that food.
Krys Boyd: And one thing that, you know, people may not make this direct connection a lot about market places being targeted in times of war, particularly in that part of the world. Even shopping for food can be a dangerous thing. This is this day-to-day thing we always have to do, even when there's a war going on. And it might be the most dangerous thing people go out and do.
Annia Ciezadlo: Absolutely. Absolutely. And that's one of the first places that gets targeted: Marketplaces, restaurants, hotels, cafes. I think there's a couple of reasons for this. I think terrorists like to target these places because nothing sews fear like this attack on something you have to do every day, really an attack on normal life. And I should add that in a place like Baghdad where electricity is very irregular, you have to go shopping every day because you can't just keep stuff in the freezer or refrigerator. So all of these forces combine to make it absolutely essential that you go to the market but also dangerous. I think there's another thing about markets and I have a real -- I'm a real market nut. I love markets. And one of the reasons I love markets is that they're often in a city that might be somewhat segregated or somewhat, you know, Balkanized. But the market is usally the place where everybody goes. It's usually a place that's free of divisions or relatively free of divisions of sect or gender or, you know, religion, ethnicity, these kinds of things. And I think that's one of the things that makes them so wonderful and I think that's why terrorists like to target them.


RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Nouri under pressure, NYT under wraps"
"Funeral for the fallen and veterans issues"
"Blog post"
"The deficit"
"NPR"
"those lousy oscars"
"Jane Russell"
"Radiohead and PJ Harvey"
"Libya"
"Orrin Hatch breaks the sound barrier"
"Tired"
"Fringe, Third"
"Can we get him a job description?"
"THIS JUST IN! DID ANYONE EXPLAIN THE JOB TO HIM?"