So this allegation by senior intelligence officials that the head of the Taliban is being hidden in the Pakistani city of Karachi is pretty outrageous. ISI, the Pakistani intelligence service that created the Taliban in the 90's to excorcise tighter control in rural areas, is being accused of hiding Mullah Omar in a densely populated urban area to keep him safe from U.S. drone attacks. The Times of India reports
about the drone attacks:
" Since President Barack Obama was inaugurated, the United States has expanded drone bombing raids in Pakistan. Obama first ordered a drone strike against targets in North and South Waziristan on January 23, and the strikes have been conducted consistently ever since. The Obama administration has now surpassed the number of Bush-era strikes in Pakistan and has faced fierce criticism from Pakistan and some US lawmakers over civilian deaths. A drone attack in June killed as many as sixty people attending a Taliban funeral.
The military intelligence source says that the drone strike that reportedly killed Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, his wife and his bodyguards in Waziristan in August was a CIA strike, but that many others attributed in media reports to the CIA are actually JSOC strikes. "Some of these strikes are attributed to OGA [Other Government Agency, intelligence parlance for the CIA], but in reality it's JSOC and their parallel program of UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] because they also have access to UAVs. So when you see some of these hits, especially the ones with high civilian casualties, those are almost always JSOC strikes." The Pentagon has stated bluntly, "There are no US military strike operations being conducted in Pakistan."
"It's Blackwater running the program for both CIA and JSOC," said the source. When civilians are killed, "people go, 'Oh, it's the CIA doing crazy shit again unchecked.' Well, at least 50 percent of the time, that's JSOC [hitting] somebody they've identified through HUMINT [human intelligence] or they've culled the intelligence themselves or it's been shared with them and they take that person out and that's how it works."
The military intelligence source says that the CIA operations are subject to Congressional oversight, unlike the parallel JSOC bombings. "Targeted killings are not the most popular thing in town right now and the CIA knows that," he says. "Contractors and especially JSOC personnel working under a classified mandate are not [overseen by Congress], so they just don't care. If there's one person they're going after and there's thirty-four people in the building, thirty-five people are going to die. That's the mentality." He added, "They're not accountable to anybody and they know that. It's an open secret, but what are you going to do, shut down JSOC?" "
Hasn't anyone ever heard of hearts and minds? Fuck!
taken from The Nation
for more on Blackwater ( or Xe pronounced " zi " ) check out independant journalist Jeremy Scahill's site
I saw that Tariq Ali was on Democracy Now today ( or was that yesterday ). Anyway, look that shit up. He's the master of historical perspective.
ok, p.s. here's a Vanity Fair article where Blackwater founder and Churched up rich boy Erik Prince reveals sensitive information about his work as a " spy ". I am so sick of this guy I think it gave me strep throat. He seems to be grey-mailing the Government in a potentially successful attempt to avoid prosecution after being implicated in (among other things) the murder of federal witnesses and the smuggling of weapons abroad.
Oh but none of this would have been possible without some asshole on the lower rungs of his company named FUCKING SHREK getting four of his co-workers killed and mutilated in Fallujah and as a direct result Blackwater skyrockets to lucrative prominance and Fallujah is razed and cursed with plagues of infant cancer for years to come because guess who else loves chemical weapons? The fuckwits that gave them to Sadaam in the first place.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
US Special Forces in Afghanistan have started imbedding with " anti-Taliban " militias and providing support via a military fund said to contain 1.3 billion. The special forces troops are reporting directly to the US general leading NATO forces in Afghanistan, Stanley McChrystal and details of the plan entitled Community Defense Initiative (CDR) are being kept from non-US Alliance members. Although General McChrystal is head of the international NATO mission in Afghanistan, the newly created special forces group is reportedly outside NATO's authority?
Meanwhile in Fallujah, birth defects and cancer are conspicuosly increasing in children.
A group of Iraqi and British officials, including the former Iraqi minister for women's affairs, Dr Nawal Majeed a-Sammarai, have asked the UN general assembly to task an independent committee to fully investigate the defects and help clean up toxic materials left over from decades of war.
The US Government has admitted to using the chemical weapon White Phospherous during a 2004 battle in retaliation for the deaths of four Blackwater employees in Fallujah.
"We are seeing a very significant increase in central nervous system anomalies," said Falluja general hospital's director and senior specialist, Dr Ayman Qais. "Before 2003 [the start of the war] I was seeing sporadic numbers of deformities in babies. Now the frequency of deformities has increased dramatically."
Meanwhile in Fallujah, birth defects and cancer are conspicuosly increasing in children.
A group of Iraqi and British officials, including the former Iraqi minister for women's affairs, Dr Nawal Majeed a-Sammarai, have asked the UN general assembly to task an independent committee to fully investigate the defects and help clean up toxic materials left over from decades of war.
The US Government has admitted to using the chemical weapon White Phospherous during a 2004 battle in retaliation for the deaths of four Blackwater employees in Fallujah.
"We are seeing a very significant increase in central nervous system anomalies," said Falluja general hospital's director and senior specialist, Dr Ayman Qais. "Before 2003 [the start of the war] I was seeing sporadic numbers of deformities in babies. Now the frequency of deformities has increased dramatically."
Thursday, October 8, 2009
wow
" H.B 1595 is a new provision on Oklahoma abortion laws that now requires, among other restrictions and requirements, an official record and reporting system of all abortions occuring within the state. This report will be available for anyone in the world to view, as it will be made public on a website as of March 1st. The Dept of Health, who among others has supported these new provisions, has declared that since the name and “personal information” will not be reported, there is no cause for concern or protest in regards to privacy issues. However, in reviewing the actual text of the law, the first 8 questions that will be asked and reported could easily be used to identify any member of a smaller community.
1. Date of abortion
2. County in which abortion performed
3. Age of mother
4. Marital status of mother
(married, divorced, separated, widowed, or never married)
5. Race of mother
6. Years of education of mother
(specify highest year completed)
7. State or foreign country of residence of mother
8. Total number of previous pregnancies of the mother
Live Births
Miscarriages
Induced Abortions "
1. Date of abortion
2. County in which abortion performed
3. Age of mother
4. Marital status of mother
(married, divorced, separated, widowed, or never married)
5. Race of mother
6. Years of education of mother
(specify highest year completed)
7. State or foreign country of residence of mother
8. Total number of previous pregnancies of the mother
Live Births
Miscarriages
Induced Abortions "
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
let's talk about
brief history of college sex columns
At its core, the sex column phenomenon is a radical progressive movement in the sense of pushing against traditional silence and the status quo, which is a source of concern for many administrators, parents and even students. Challenges to the columns stem from a conservative mindset--whether that be political, religious or cultural. Given that the Republican Party has become increasingly dominated by the religious right and the issues of the conservative culture wars, with sex smack at the forefront, these columns become politicized in a way the columnists themselves don't necessarily intend. With abortion, abstinence programs and same-sex marriage making up three of the right's key issues, the statement that "sex is OK" becomes even more politically charged when the sex in question is generally unmarried and occasionally queer.
Heather Strack asserts in the (Dartmouth)Free Press, "A sex column is a significant statement of female rights. Not only am I a female columnist, but I am writing about a topic considered taboo and improper for a woman." Women are the main target of abstinence/purity movements; thus, even if most columnists do not state this as unambiguously as Strack, the campus sex column is not only about students seizing control but about hearing underrepresented voices. Though men are readers in equal numbers, the sex columnist is a (straight and queer) female-dominated profession, with a small minority of queer men.
(ok so they say queer a lot, but good points are made)
Sex columns vary widely and don't always include feminist motivations; some focus on love and relationships, while others have more casual concerns. They can promote exploration of gender and sexuality, or reinforce a heteronormative mentality. However, by and large, student sex columnists have higher standards for inclusive, woman-positive sex journalism--and better access to a venue willing to publish this material--than their off-campus counterparts. Isabel Murray, feminist columnist for the Free Press, takes Cosmopolitan to task for its heteronormative, male-pleasure-oriented approach, while pointing out that it and similar women's magazines are nonetheless the only noncampus media addressing female sexuality (explaining why until recently it was the most read magazine among college women).
also (deep sigh)
A Senate committee voted Tuesday night to restore $50 million a year in federal funding for abstinence-only education that President Barack Obama has pushed to eliminate.
The 12-11 vote by the Senate Finance Committee came over objections from its chairman, Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana.
Two Democrats – Kent Conrad of North Dakota and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas – joined all 10 committee Republicans in voting "yes" on the measure by Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah.
The measure would still have to pass the full House and Senate.
At its core, the sex column phenomenon is a radical progressive movement in the sense of pushing against traditional silence and the status quo, which is a source of concern for many administrators, parents and even students. Challenges to the columns stem from a conservative mindset--whether that be political, religious or cultural. Given that the Republican Party has become increasingly dominated by the religious right and the issues of the conservative culture wars, with sex smack at the forefront, these columns become politicized in a way the columnists themselves don't necessarily intend. With abortion, abstinence programs and same-sex marriage making up three of the right's key issues, the statement that "sex is OK" becomes even more politically charged when the sex in question is generally unmarried and occasionally queer.
Heather Strack asserts in the (Dartmouth)Free Press, "A sex column is a significant statement of female rights. Not only am I a female columnist, but I am writing about a topic considered taboo and improper for a woman." Women are the main target of abstinence/purity movements; thus, even if most columnists do not state this as unambiguously as Strack, the campus sex column is not only about students seizing control but about hearing underrepresented voices. Though men are readers in equal numbers, the sex columnist is a (straight and queer) female-dominated profession, with a small minority of queer men.
(ok so they say queer a lot, but good points are made)
Sex columns vary widely and don't always include feminist motivations; some focus on love and relationships, while others have more casual concerns. They can promote exploration of gender and sexuality, or reinforce a heteronormative mentality. However, by and large, student sex columnists have higher standards for inclusive, woman-positive sex journalism--and better access to a venue willing to publish this material--than their off-campus counterparts. Isabel Murray, feminist columnist for the Free Press, takes Cosmopolitan to task for its heteronormative, male-pleasure-oriented approach, while pointing out that it and similar women's magazines are nonetheless the only noncampus media addressing female sexuality (explaining why until recently it was the most read magazine among college women).
also (deep sigh)
A Senate committee voted Tuesday night to restore $50 million a year in federal funding for abstinence-only education that President Barack Obama has pushed to eliminate.
The 12-11 vote by the Senate Finance Committee came over objections from its chairman, Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana.
Two Democrats – Kent Conrad of North Dakota and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas – joined all 10 committee Republicans in voting "yes" on the measure by Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah.
The measure would still have to pass the full House and Senate.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Caster Semenya
"If it is the goal of the media and IAAF to destroy the life of a young, talented female athlete by outing her as potentially intersex then they are not simply pitiless; they are socially repugnant."
from the nation
from the nation
Friday, September 11, 2009
Sunday, August 30, 2009
my stop-lossed cuzzin Tyler
Bill McClellan is prolly one of my top-five favorite St. Louisans and Tyler Harris is definitely numero uno. If anyone's ever seen Donnybrook on the stl pbs station, Bill is the decent person with the mustache.
Two weeks before Christmas, after being inactive for two years, buying a house with his wife and getting cozy in an awesome job, Tyler received a packet in the mail for soldiers returning to active duty. About three months later he was back in the cradle of civilization where he currently resides, undoubtedly making everyone around him realize for the first that they are morons, his awesomeness routinely illuminating their banality.
Tyler's story in his own words: www.imbiginiraq.com
and the article Bill wrote
oh yeah, and politely tell people this is bullshit if you're so inclined
Two weeks before Christmas, after being inactive for two years, buying a house with his wife and getting cozy in an awesome job, Tyler received a packet in the mail for soldiers returning to active duty. About three months later he was back in the cradle of civilization where he currently resides, undoubtedly making everyone around him realize for the first that they are morons, his awesomeness routinely illuminating their banality.
Tyler's story in his own words: www.imbiginiraq.com
and the article Bill wrote
oh yeah, and politely tell people this is bullshit if you're so inclined
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