Jessica King's footlong hotblog

Photos from Iraq That the Mainstream Media Won't Let You See 4/29

I found some photos from Iraq today on BuzzFlash.com.

http://home.wi.rr.com/davef/iraq.htm

Some are very graphic.

Bush's and Kerry's military records in direct contrast:

In 2000, the Bush camp ran a vicious "whisper campaign" which questioned whether John McCain was mentally stable after his service as a Vietnam POW.¹ In 2002, Bush surrogates ran a TV ad against Max Cleland, a Democratic Senator who lost three limbs in Vietnam, that attacked Cleland's patriotism and faded his face into Osama bin Laden's.²

Now, the Republican National Committee and the Bush/Cheney campaign are pushing a story that John Kerry was not injured badly enough in Vietnam to deserve one of his three Purple Hearts. Given the gaping holes in Bush's own record of service, the attack is absurd. But if the Bush campaign wants to raise this debate, MoveOn.org is happy to oblige.

Today, MoveOn.org is launching a new 60-second ad that compares Kerry's record of courageous service in Vietnam with Bush's early departure from the National Guard. The ad concludes: "This election is about character. It's between John Kerry, who left no man behind… and George W. Bush, who simply left."

Watch the ad and contribute now at:
https://www.moveonpac.org/donate/warrecord.html?id=2729-3510502-O5pRtulFe4NG9p_7gPDi4A

Recently released military documents from both camps highlight the differences between the two men. George Bush, then in the National Guard, checked a box "do not volunteer for overseas."³ Then he failed to show up for a required physical, was grounded from flying, and didn't show up for several months before leaving eight months early for Harvard Business School.⁴

In contrast, in a letter to his Navy personnel officer, Kerry wrote "I request duty in Vietnam."⁵ Over the course of that service, for "brave action, bold initiative and unwavering devotion to duty,"⁶ he was awarded the Bronze Star and Silver Star medals. He also earned not one but three Purple Hearts, for being injured in service to our country.⁷

As the Associated Press reported, "Throughout his four years of active duty, Kerry's superiors gave him glowing evaluations . . . narrative comments from his commanding officers said he was diplomatic, charismatic, decisive and well-liked by his men. . . He was recommended for early promotion, and when he left the Navy in 1970 to run for Congress, his commanding officer said it was the Navy's loss."⁸

But unless we set the record straight, Republicans may actually succeed in misleading the public about Kerry's courageous service and deflecting the huge questions that remain about their own candidate's service.

George Bush, Dick Cheney, and Karl Rove have a long history of attacking their opponents' military service -- even though Bush left early, Cheney said he had "other priorities" than serving, and Rove didn't serve at all.⁹ If we fight back together, we can demonstrate how outrageous and hypocritical these attacks are -- and make them stop.

Footnotes:

1."The Jeffords affair," by Arianna Huffinton (5/31/01)

2. "Ad uses Saddam, bin Laden to question Cleland's record," by Jeffrey McMurray (10/2/02)

3. Bush military service records

4. "Bush's Guard actions required an inquiry," by Walter V. Robinson and Francie Latour (2/13/04)

5. Kerry military service records

6. "Editorial: Galling Smears," Minnesota Star Tribune (4/24/04)

7. Kerry military service records

8. "Records show high praise for officer Kerry," Nedra Pickler (4/22/04)

9. The Chickenhawk Database

Iraq: One Year Later Survey

I got this survey by email today, administered by OpinionSurveys.com asking me all these questions about the war in Iraq. It asked me to say if I agreed or disagreed with some statements that George W. Bush made in his recent press conference, but they took "one-liners" out of his speech without giving any context. How can you agree or disagree with a statement when you don't know what he was referring to? It also asked loaded questions like whether terrorist attacks would have increased, decreased, or remained the same if we hadn't gone to war in Iraq. WTF!!???!! Do people still think that Iraq has anything to do with terrorism? I know that Bush and most of the people that follow him are racist and think that an Arab is an Arab and that they all come from over there somewhere, but the terrorists involved in the 9-11 attacks came from Saudi Arabia. That's where the Bush family friends are, and those are the people that knew about the war before we did. Either the Bush administration thinks we're all a bunch of idiots, or there are a lot more people that still believe the bullshit they've been selling us.

Anyway, the last question wasn't multiple choice and they gave me a place to write in my own answer. Here are the question and my answer.

If you were one of President Bush's advisors, what would you recommend him to do in efforts to search for peace in Iraq: (if nothing please type 'none')

Iraq has nothing to do with Osama Bin Laden or the terrorist attacks of 9-11. True, Saddam Hussein was a maniacal killer who tortured the citizens of Iraq, but there are many more countries who do the same that we continue to support or ignore. The war in Iraq was unfounded and was sold to the American public on lies. Now, we want the U.N. involved to help bail us out. Honestly, upon George Bush's removal from office in November 2004, I believe we should sent George W. Bush and his administration to Iraq to lead their country. He got us into the war, so he should be personally responsible for what happens to that country from here.

the swan & people on diets

i've heard so many freaking people say that they wish they had a personal trainer or a dietician so they could lose weight or change their lifestyle. I think the Swan is showing that it’s hard either way. These women have no job or family to worry about while they’re on the show, so time isn’t an issue. They have professionals at their disposal to help them learn to eat and workout. But it’s STILL hard. It’s about willpower and commitment. I know I’m just as bad as other people about staying on diets and stuff, but I hear people all the time talking about how they’re cheating “just today” or because they “had a bad day.” That gets so annoying. If you’re gonna be non-committal about it, don’t bitch about how you can’t lose weight. You don’t need an expensive diet, you don’t need a personal trainer, you don’t need anything but a commitment from yourself to stick with it. Wanna lose weight? It’s a no brainer.

1. Stop eating so much salt. Salt makes you retain water and is really bad for your heart.


2. Drink water. A lot of it. Like 100 ounces a day. It cleanses your body, makes you less hungry, and is really really good for you.


3. Take small bites and chew them well. It also makes you eat slower and you don't eat less. Don't believe me? Try it.


4. Eat smaller portions. If you’re on a diet where you can only eat baked potatoes and grilled chicken, but you eat a pound of potatoes and a half a chicken at a meal, then you’re not going to lose weight. Duh.


5. Pay attention to your body. If you feel like you gain 10 pounds every time you eat pizza and pasta, then don’t eat it anymore. If you feel really great after you eat breakfast, then eat breakfast every day.

I don't care what your fad diet tells you, this is what it's doing. You can pay $250 for a huge package on an infomercial just to find this information in it. I'm not joking. No fad diet or reality tv show can replace personal power or commitment. I hope people realize that the Swan is showing that to be true.

March for Women's Lives - what the "news" is reporting (or not)

The March for Women's Lives (www.marchforwomen.org) has brought approximately 1 million people of all ages, races, sexualities, and backgrounds to Washington, DC to the National Mall before the Capitol.

In an attempt to find out what was going on there, I channel surfed all the major networks, cable news networks, and major news websites. The only channel showing live coverage was C-SPAN (which hardly anyone ever watches). CNN had a show on all morning about Michael Jackson. Fox News was covering the Kobe Bryant case. MSNBC had a special about Denzel Washington.

The major media outlets serving Americans are not making a fuss over Washington, DC., yet, 1 million people are speaking out on their beliefs and speaking out against the 5-4 margin in the Supreme Court that keeps Roe v. Wade hanging by a thread. It doesn't seem to make sense to me that 1 million people travelled across the country and the world to make their opinions known, yet there's no live coverage.

Why all the Michael Jackson and Kobe Bryant coverage? Those trials have NOTHING to do with us. Family planning, access to health services, freedom to choose in times of serious need, and the right to have safe, affordable, and legal healthcare affect everyone. Don't think that today's March and the seven major organizations that planned it only care about abortion and that this is a pro- or anti-abortion issue. It's not. The million people at the National Mall in Washington, DC. today march to uphold choice, justice, access, health, abortion, global issues, and family planning.

Choice
The Mission
To ensure that all women have the right to choose to have or not to have children, with reproductive health options that are safe, affordable and accessible.
The Reality
Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court case that overruled state laws banning abortion, could be gutted or even lost if even one vote change on the Supreme Court. Several of the Supreme Court Justices are close to retirement, and the President appoints new justices to fill vacancies with the advise and consent of the U.S. Senate.

Justice
Mission
To promote true reproductive justice that recognizes women must have the right to have, or not have, children – To realize these rights, all women must address poverty, racism, xenophobia, trafficking, homophobia, incarceration, sexism, and we must resist all population control strategies that attack our right to bodily self-determination.
The Reality
At the Department of Health and Human Services, Wade Horn was put in charge of family support. A firm believer in using welfare to encourage marriage, Horn has proposed denying benefits to cohabitating couples and withholding money from single mothers until all married couples have been served.

Access
The Mission
To ensure the availability of contraceptive services, family planning, and abortion services to all women regardless of geographic location or income
The Reality
The legal right to abortion remains an empty promise for women who lack the financial resources and geographic proximity to actually realize this right. By law, federal money can not be used to fund abortion services, penalizing low-income women. 87 percent of US counties do not have an abortion provider. Mandatory parental involvement laws prevent young women from accessing reproductive health services.

Health
The Mission
To address disturbing statistics that indicate widespread disparate treatment options offered to women due to race, income, and age, to help women protect their lives from breast cancer, over-use of hormone replacement therapies, medical abuses, and other issues that threaten women’s health.
Reality
About 15 % of the U.S. population (44 million Americans, including 8.5
million children) do not even have health insurance.

Abortion
The Mission
To uphold the fundamental right of women to control their lives through safe and legal abortion.

Reality
While Roe v. Wade hangs by a one-vote thread in the Supreme Court, In 2003, both Houses of Congress passed and President Bush signed the so-called “Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003”. This deceptively named law—there is no such medical terminology— is the first federal legislation to criminalize any medical procedure. This law could outlaw safe abortion procedures often performed in the first and second trimesters.

Global
The Mission
To establish the connection between foreign and domestic policies that harm women worldwide and to assert reproductive freedom as a basic human right.
The Reality
The current administration has reinstated the “Global Gag Rule,” which denies US funding to non-US family planning organizations that perform abortions, provide abortion referrals, or advocate for reproductive justice—even if they use their own money to do so. The United States has also refused to fund the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)—an organization that gives millions of women and families access to reproductive health care and information to plan and space births. Planning and spacing births reduces the incidence of maternal and infant mortality and improves the overall health of families worldwide.

Family Planning
The Mission
To demand access to a range of safe and affordable family planning options, including the right to accurate and effective sex education and safe and effective contraceptive development and testing – We deserve the right to full disclosure of information about new reproductive technologies and the race, class, and gender implications of such technologies, including our opposition to bio-engineering and genome research that particularly place low-income women and women of color at risk.

The Reality
The current administration’s push for abstinence only sexual education would leave many without the education or the resources to make informed decisions about their reproductive health.

from www.marchforwomen.org

Thought For The Day

Thought For The Day

Thought For The Day

52 days 2004!!