National Organizations
AP: Number of Disabled Veterans Rising
AP IMPACT: Number of disabled veterans rising
By JENNIFER C. KERR | JS Online
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Increasing numbers of U.S. troops have left the military with damaged bodies and minds, an ever-larger pool of disabled veterans that will cost the nation billions for decades to come - even as the total population of America's vets shrinks.
Despite the decline in total vets - as soldiers from World War II and Korea die - the government expects to be spending $59 billion a year to compensate injured warriors in 25 years, up from today's $29 billion, according to internal documents obtained by The Associated Press. And the Veterans Affairs Department concedes the bill could be much higher.
Why?
HoonieSkoba on the Clinton Caper: Is Impeachment a Cheap Partisan Tactic or A Legit Method to Remove Corrupt Leaders?
Had a thought while I was out running this morning which I decided to pitch 'out there' to see what others think.
If one accepts the premise of NWO, 9-11 conspiracies, etc., then it has to be recognized that these people plan things years in advance. Is it possible that the Clinton impeachment in the late Ninties was planned in order to allow less public pressure against a future Bush/Cheney impeachment? Here's my thinking:
The Clinton impeachment basically divided people into three camps: support, against, don't care. The loudest voices were obviously Support vs Against, and importantly, even voters who consider themselves Independent/Swing had strong views. It was a tiring experience, but watching from the sidelines it was clear from the start that even though they went through the impeachment, Clinton was never going to get more than a slap on the wrist. So, what was the real reason behind it?
Blue Hampshire: "As A Matter of Conscience, Because the World Watches and Waits for Us"
As a matter of conscience, because the world watches and waits for us
Thanks to Deb Gibbons for this submission.
Because we live free.
New Hampshire Democratic Party NHDP, only one year and 6 months ago took charge in the state. The election turned the State from a Republican 2/3 majority to a Democrat 2/3 majority. From Red to Blue. Blue Hampshire.
A miracle did just that. The color changed, but the leadership did not. The fear still exists, and the Democratic Party of New Hampshire, NHDP is still red. Dare I say yellow, afraid to represent the people who voted them into their House seats?
Democrat Party leaders continue to show they can be intimidated by the Republicans of this state and by some Democrats in Washington. Why has the war not stopped? Intimidation by false threats and a reelection bid are not reasons to continue an illegal occupation in Iraq.
Chicago City Council Considers Resolution Opposing War on Iran
Chicago City Council Considers Resolution Opposing War on Iran
Leading Experts to Testify Against Military Action as Tensions Rise
WHAT: Press Conference & Committee Hearings on Iran Resolution
WHEN: Tuesday May 13 — Press Conference 10:30 AM, Hearings 11:30 AM
WHERE: City Hall — Second Floor Council Lobby & Council Chambers
WHO: Scott Ritter, John Mearsheimer, Stephen Kinzer, Doug Cassel
With the prospect of a U.S. military strike on Iran looming, America's third largest city will decide next week whether to take a stand on this volatile international situation.
Santa Rosa Impeachment Resolution Passes After Sonoma County CA Veterans for Peace "Stratergize"
Veterans For Peace - Chapter 71, Sonoma County, California - Impeachment Resolution Passes
On December 4, our chapter's work with the Sonoma County Resolution to Impeach Coalition paid off when the Santa Rosa City Council passed our resolution petitioning Congress to begin impeachment proceedings against George W. Bush and Richard Cheney. The city joined ninety other cities and counties that have passed similar resolutions, including Sebastopol, in our county, Arcata, San Francisco, Berkeley, all in California, and others across the U.S.
One Hundred and Eleven (111) Pro-Impeachment Candidates (!!!)
By David Swanson
I've done no survey. There are probably a heck of a lot more candidates out there who haven't contacted me or I haven't happened to run across. But I have put together a list, thus far, of 111 candidates for Congress, the Senate, or the White House who support impeaching Bush and Cheney. Here's the list, organized by office and by state / district:
http://afterdowningstreet.org/2008candidates
Most of the candidates on the list are Democrats, either incumbents or challengers. Others are Green, Libertarian, Independent, and even Republican.
The list includes three candidates for the White House who are generally considered hopeless but whose campaigns are pushing positions supported by most of the people who obediently deem them hopeless.
Memo Shows Frustration With Special Counsel: Staffers Hinted At Impropriety
By Christopher Lee, Washington Post
Last September, career investigators at the U.S. Office of Special Counsel opened a probe into whether partisan politics were a factor in the Justice Department's prosecution of former Democratic Alabama governor Don Siegelman on corruption charges in 2006.
Siegelman, who narrowly lost his reelection bid in 2002 and intended to run again in 2006, has insistently alleged that Karl Rove, then a White House adviser, targeted him for prosecution to ensure he did not oust a Republican governor.
But on Oct. 11, OSC chief Scott J. Bloch ordered the case file be closed immediately, saying that he had not authorized it, seven career employees wrote in an internal draft memo made public last week.
Mother's Day 2008: Peaceful Idealism v. Political Pragmatism
By Cindy Sheehan
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil
At the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace...
(From Julia Ward Howe's 1870 Mother's Day Proclamation)
Sadly, this is the fifth Mother's Day since Casey was killed in Iraq on April 04, 2004. The people who told me that "time will heal" were wrong, or maybe it just takes more time? I have spoken to many mothers who buried their child years ago, however, that tell me it does not get any easier. I suspect the mothers who have buried children are probably right.
Uniting locally for peace: A Wisconsin rationale
When Russ Feingold was at his Sawyer County listening session in Hayward this last February, Peace North member Dan Krause (in front of one hundred people) informed him that Wisconsin is leading the nation, per capita, in Iraq Moratorium monthly events....READ MORE.
Army to court martial objector Ryan Jackson June 3rd
War objector Army PFC Ryan Jackson was temporarily moved from his brig cell yesterday and arraigned at Fort Gordon, Georgia. Ryan was formally changed with multiple counts of AWOL stemming from his attempt to be released from the Army prior to Iraq deployment. He is scheduled to face a special court martial—with a maximum one year prison sentence—on Tuesday, June 3. Since voluntarily returning to Fort Gordon on April 14 and formally applying for a conscientious objector discharge, Ryan has been held in pre-trial confinement at the Charleston Navel Brig. LEARN MORE AND HELP.
"Live Free or Die" - State's Dem Party Resolutions Committee Knuckles Under on Bush-Cheney Impeachment
Accountability & Reconciliation Commission Recommended by NH Dem Party Resolutions Committee
Thanks to Deb Gibbons for this submission
Concord, NH - In a crowded standing-room-only meeting at the NH Democratic Party Headquarters Tuesday evening, May 6, the Resolutions Committee of the NH State Party Convention recommended a split decision on two similar resolutions.
Among the 19 resolutions put before the committee, two resolutions were submitted which were of a like nature. One from members of the Newbury, NH Democratic Party resolved to bring to the US Congress an assessment of current imbalances in the Bush/Cheney administration; identify recent wrong doings and failures; appoint and administer a Commission of Accountability and Reconciliation; indict and prosecute the guilty; and hear and address the rightful grievances of those wronged. It was voted unanimously 3-0 by the committee. There were no supporters present to speak on behalf of the Newbury Resolution.
Judge: Woman's rape case against Halliburton can go to trial
By AP
A woman who said she was raped by co-workers while employed by a contractor in Iraq can take her claims to trial, a federal judge ruled Friday.
Jamie Leigh Jones filed a federal lawsuit last year, saying she was attacked while working for a Halliburton Co. subsidiary at Camp Hope, Baghdad, in 2005. Her lawsuit claims that after she endured harassment from some of the men where she lived in coed barracks, she was drugged and raped by Halliburton and KBR firefighters.
Jones, a former Conroe resident, said a KBR representative imprisoned her in a shipping container for a day so she wouldn't report the assault.
Attorneys for Halliburton, KBR and other subsidiaries that have been sued have disputed Jones' allegations. KBR split from Halliburton last year.
Washington-based attorney Stephanie Morris said her client is pleased that she will have the opportunity to bring attention to the case.
Judge Drops General From Trial of Detainee
By WILLIAM GLABERSON, New York Times
In a new blow to the Bush administration’s troubled military commission system, a military judge has disqualified a Pentagon general who has been centrally involved in overseeing Guantánamo war crimes tribunals from any role in the first case headed for trial.
The judge said the general was too closely aligned with the prosecution, raising questions about whether he could carry out his role with the required neutrality and objectivity.
Military defense lawyers said that although the ruling was limited to one case, they expected the issue to be raised in other cases, potentially delaying prosecutions, including the death-penalty prosecution of six detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, for the Sept. 11 attacks.
Critics of the military commission system said Friday that the judge’s decision would provide new grounds to attack the system that they say was set up to win convictions.