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POPSMark Twain's "The War Prayer" In 1904, disgusted by the aftermath of the Spanish-American War and the subsequent Philippine-American War, Mark Twain wrote a short anti-war prose poem called "The War Prayer." His family begged him not to publish it, his friends advised him to bury it, and his publisher rejected it, thinking it too inflammatory for the times. Twain agreed, but instructed that it be published after his death, saying famously: None but the dead are permitted to tell the truth. "The War Prayer" was eventually published after World War I, when its message was more in tune with the times. Now, Washington Monthly's publisher, Markos Kounalakis, who was affected by Twain's words when he covered the war in Yugoslavia in the early 90s, has made "The War Prayer" into a short video for release this Memorial Day weekend. It features stunning illustrations by Akis Dimitrakopoulos and is narrated by Peter Coyote, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Erik Bauersfeld. *
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POPSCriminalizing the Antiwar Movement IMPEACH!!! "The criminalization of the State is when the sitting President and Vice President use and abuse their authority through executive orders, presidential directives or otherwise to define "who are the criminals" when in fact they they are the criminals." This latest executive order criminalizes the peace movement. It must be viewed in relation to various pieces of "anti-terrorist" legislation, the gamut of presidential and national security directives, etc., which are ultimately geared towards repealing constitutional government and installing martial law in the event of a "national emergency". The war criminals in high office are intent upon repressing all forms of dissent which question the legitimacy of the war in Iraq. The executive order combined with the existing anti-terrorist legislation is eventually intended to be used against the anti-war and civil rights movements."
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POPSOldest Iraq Casualty: Americas SHAME After years of being away from hosting that daily, national discussion, Donahue returned to TV in 2002 as the host of a nightly debate-style program on MSNBC. For many people, the show was a much-needed breath of fresh air on the cable networks, increasingly dominated by right-wing pundits and media personalities. Antiwar voices long kept off these cable news channels were suddenly given a seat in the forbidden studios to take part in a national debate about the so-called war on terror. Donahue was on in the same time slot as Fox’s Bill O"Reilly. But the show didn’t last long. In fact, it didn’t even last a year, even though it was MSNBC"s top-rated program. When Donahue was fired, the network moved to hire a string of right-wing hosts. ...DN! I loved him. Replaced by... crap. How? Who owns the media in America?
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POPSSoldiers Admit: 'Iraq War is Lost' With the constant awareness, that I might be "emboldening the enemy" and am likely to be labeled defeatist or cowardly, I'm gonna post this clip anyway. The pro-warriors can stone me later... ;)
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POPS1st front page anti-war coverage! I had to scan the page and crop and edit. Can't clip in Picasa, so I posted it to Blogger where I can clip. This is The Home News Tribune in NJ Up to now they have been very lamestream.
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POPSSimpsons take on Iraq war Anyone who thinks Hollywood is run by a liberal cabal won't change his mind after watching The Simpsons' annual Halloween special. The episode, which airs Nov. 5, concludes with an Iraq war satire that may rank as the most pointed political statement the show has ever made. In the segment, aliens invade Springfield to prevent mankind from obtaining "weapons of mass disintegration," but their mission, called "Operation Enduring Occupation," turns into a quagmire. "You said we would be greeted as liberators!" accuses one alien. ...but in the past, the show's writers have usually been careful to maintain an ironic distance from the hot-button issues they've tackled, including abortion and evolution. The Halloween segment, in contrast, feels remarkably earnest, right up to its final line: "This sure is a lot like Iraq will be."...Jean makes no apologies for the sobering tone of the segment: "When you read the headlines, it's just so sad for everybody over there."
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POPSStanding Up to Conservative Bullying
Here's a bit more to explain the brinkmanship and absolutism: "Brinkmanship is being used to force the federal government to write a blank cheque for the pipeline, and indemnify Exxon against ecological disasters and further cost increases..." "Absolutism (Bush-style "you're either with us or you're with the terrorists" framing) is being used to bully Canada into committing to keep our troops in the midst of the anarchy and civil war in Afghanistan. The PR from the military is increasingly using the term 'enemy' to describe anyone in Afghanistan who opposes the continued presence of foreign troops in their country. The ideologically rabid Harper Conservative minority government routinely uses the "if you don't support our war, you don't support our troops" line to disparage anti-war groups. And today a military spokesman lambasted the Canadian media for daring to publicize opinion polls showing Canadians' strong opposition to the war, saying it was "demoralizing our troops".
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POPSKrugman: Respect for early war critics Latest column from Paul Krugman. It's an "honor roll" of people who publicly criticized the administration position on going to war in Iraq before it happened. As it turns out, most of their predictions have come true. Remarkably, the Weekly Standard piece that makes fun of "antiwar doomsayers" is still online here: http://snurl.com/14mcf
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POPSRoboBugs: That Dragonfly is a U.S. Government Spy More: Defense Department documents describe nearly 100 different models in use today, some as tiny as birds, and some the size of small planes. All told, the nation's fleet of flying robots logged more than 160,000 flight hours last year -- a more than fourfold increase since 2003. A recent report by the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College warned that if traffic rules are not clarified soon, the glut of unmanned vehicles "could render military airspace chaotic and potentially dangerous." The Hybrid Insect Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems project aims to create literal shutterbugs -- camera-toting insects whose nerves have grown into their internal silicon chip so that wranglers can control their activities. DARPA researchers are also raising cyborg beetles with power for various instruments to be generated by their muscles.
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POPSMerle Haggard has left the Republican Party - Sorry n2
More: The thing that gets under my skin most about George W. is his intention to install fear in people," he said, after walking me down a hallway lined with gold and platinum records "This is America. We're proud. We're not afraid of a bunch of terrorists. W is all about terror alerts and scaring us at airports. We're changing the Constitution out of fear. We spend all our time looking up each other's dresses. Haggard sensed reluctance among the Hillarians to embrace his endorsement—in part, I imagine, because he's not shy about saying that one of the biggest things Hillary has going for her is Bill, who ranks up with Reagan in the Haggard pantheon and not only because the former President used to have a pickup truck with Astroturf in the back. "He cared about this country, about our problems," Haggard said, with a twinkle. "And I figure that whatever she doesn't know, he does." When Al Gore wins the Nobel and Merle Haggard leaves the party, it's a bad day for Republicans.
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POPSArmy Times: "Time for Rumsfeld to go" Rumsfeld has lost credibility with the uniformed leadership, with the troops, with Congress and with the public at large. His strategy has failed, and his ability to lead is compromised. And although the blame for our failures in Iraq rests with the secretary, it will be the troops who bear its brunt.
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