Magpie

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Making the rubble bounce.

In another stunningly stupid move by Dubya's administration, the US is rushing more satellite- and laser-guided bombs to Israel. Apparently, Israel has lots more targets to hit in Lebanon and is running out of weapons with which to do the job. And the prez is more than happy to help a pal out of a jam.

Bombing damage in Beirut

A nice day for a stroll in south Beirut.
[Photo: Chris Allbritton]

The decision to quickly ship the weapons to Israel was made with relatively little debate within the Bush administration, the officials said. Its disclosure threatens to anger Arab governments and others because of the appearance that the United States is actively aiding the Israeli bombing campaign in a way that could be compared to Iran's efforts to arm and resupply Hezbollah.

The munitions that the United States is sending to Israel are part of a multimillion-dollar arms sale package approved last year that Israel is able to draw on as needed, the officials said. But Israel's request for expedited delivery of the satellite and laser-guided bombs was described as unusual by some military officers, and as an indication that Israel still had a long list of targets in Lebanon to strike.

When you add this to the fact that Dubya's administration just twiddled its thumbs for the first 10 days of Israel's attack on Lebanon before finally deigning to send secretary of state Condoleezza Rice to the Mideast, you can bet that the Arab governments she talks to are going to be oh-so-sure that the US is a totally unbiased mediator.

Via NY Times.

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:06 PM | Get permalink

Friday, July 21, 2006

Hurricane Katrina takes away your house ...

... and the feds take away your freedom of speech.

The Baton Rouge [Louisiana] Advocate reports that FEMA won't let Katrina refugees who live in the agency's trailer parks talk to reporters — unless, of course, the reporters are accompanied by a FEMA 'minder.' Why the minder? Apparently, it's to keep residents from telling the press anything about why at least two trailer parks in Louisiana — which cost millions of dollars to build — have been sitting virtually empty for months.

"We all wonder why no one lives there [in the 198-trailer Lake End park]. FEMA spent $7.5 million to build it: electricity, gas, water, sewer, a lift-station, roads," said Morgan City Mayor Timothy Matte. "There's about 50 more new FEMA trailers in various mobile home parks around town, and no one lives in those, either. It doesn't really make much sense."

FEMA, which says 15 families live in the Lake End facility now, refuses to say how much was spent to build the park or why 183 of the trailers are vacant.

And FEMA rules make it hard for reporters to talk freely to the few park residents about life there. During an interview in one trailer, a security guard knocked on the door, ordered the reporter out and eventually called police, saying residents aren't allowed to talk to the media in the park.

Similar rules were enforced in Plaquemines Parish, where 242 new travel trailers in a FEMA park in Davant recently were empty. Security guards there allowed a reporter and photographer to drive through the two side-by-side parks, but ordered them not to talk to anyone or take pictures.

And as with the Morgan City facility, FEMA refuses to say how much it cost to build the Davant park. FEMA spokeswoman Rachel Rodi gave no reason for not disclosing how much was spent.

"We're not going to talk about cost," she said.

Rodi also said the empty trailers are going to be moved.

Rodi wouldn't say whether the actions of the security guards in Morgan City and Davant complied with FEMA policy, saying the matter was being reviewed. But she confirmed that FEMA does not allow the media to speak alone to residents in their trailers.

"If a resident invites the media to the trailer, they have to be escorted by a FEMA representative who sits in on the interview," Rodi said. "That's just a policy."

Gregg Leslie, legal defense director for The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said FEMA's refusal to allow trailer park residents to invite media into their homes unescorted is unconstitutional.

"That's a standard for a prison, not a relief park and a temporary shelter," Leslie said "They cannot deny media access. It's clearly unconstitutional ... and definitely not legal."

Thanks to the First Amendment Center for the heads-up.

More: If the link to the Advocate's story has expired, most of the details are available in this story that ran on the AP nationally.

| | Posted by Magpie at 9:40 AM | Get permalink

Thursday, July 20, 2006

The lack of posts.

Nope, it's not your imagination — I definitely haven't been posting.

I'm on a deadline at work, and Portland has finally joined the rest of the country in having temperatures in the 90s and 100s. Between the two, I haven't had much time (or much of a brain) for Magpie.

I've turned the air conditioning up, though, and hopefully there'll be new items tomorrow.

| | Posted by Magpie at 11:31 PM | Get permalink

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Solving the 'Hezbollah problem.'

If you're wondering whether Israel's current attack on Lebanon is going to do the trick, you might want to think back to when Israel attacked Lebanon to solve the 'PLO problem':

Time cover about Israel's 1982 attack on Lebanon

Time cover about Israel's 1982 attack on Lebanon

Time magazine cover for 16 August 1982.

Note for the historically challenged: The PLO survived and prospered.

Thanks to Chris Allbritton for finding the cover.

| | Posted by Magpie at 4:25 PM | Get permalink

Sometimes reality goes so far beyond anything I could have imagined.

I mean, I know Dubya's a cretin, but groping Germany's chancellor?

Via AlterNet.

| | Posted by Magpie at 4:07 PM | Get permalink

Monday, July 17, 2006

The situation in Lebanon isn't all that bad.

Compared to Iraq, that is.

From journalist Chris Allbritton's latest post from Beirut:

There is a real sense of panic here among people. The foreigners and young people who have never experienced war are freaked out. And the Lebanese who lived through the civil war and remember it well are freaked out. I seem to be the only one walking around, noting the closed stores and subdued traffic and thinking, "hm, compared to Baghdad, this isn't so bad."

I think I was in Iraq too long.

Via Back to Iraq.

| | Posted by Magpie at 10:12 AM | Get permalink

Sunday, July 16, 2006

I think the US right wing is finally losing all its marbles.

And signalling how the GOP is planning to win the November congressional elections.

Take a look at this:

Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich says America is in World War III and President Bush should say so.

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich drools over the possiblility
of whipping up some good old war fever.
[Photo: Alex Wong/AP/Meet The Press]

Gingrich said in an interview Saturday that Bush should call a joint session of Congress the first week of September and talk about global military conflicts in much starker terms than have been heard from the president.

"We need to have the militancy that says 'We're not going to lose a city, " Gingrich said.

Gingrich said in the coming days he plans to speak out publicly and to the administration from his seat on the Defense Policy Board about the need to recognize that America is in World War III.

He lists wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, last week's bomb attacks in India, North Korean nuclear threats, terrorist arrests and investigations in Florida, Canada and Britain, and violence in Israel and Lebanon as evidence of World War III.

He said Bush needs to deliver a speech to Congress and "connect all the dots" for Americans.

Connect all the dots? World War 3? Is Gingrich f'n nuts? Or is he just ahead of the GOP curve?

A few days ago, Digby put on his tinfoil hat and considered the notion that Israel's attack on Lebanon is just a set-up for a US attack on Iran. The very next day, Israel's ambassador to the UN warned that Hezbollah was getting ready to hide Iran's dirty bombs in the territory it controls in south Lebanon. And since then, there've been statements from Israel and the US that Iran is behind Hezbollah's actions, and that the two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah may already be in Iranian custody. The evidence for all of this, of course, is about on par with the evidence that Saddam Hussein had WMDs.

Given all of this, plus Gingrich's remarks this weekend, this magpie has to wonder whether the Republicans' 'October surprise' is going to be a war with Iraq that the prez can use to rally the country behind him and the flag.

Via Seattle Times.

| | Posted by Magpie at 1:26 PM | Get permalink