The Most Important Blog... Ever

Brought to you by extremist Israeli settlers in the West Bank -- real bioterrorism. Haven't heard about settler violence against Palestinians? Here's a little more for you.

It's over, folks.

One year ago today, Dan Rather presented the world with unspeakable photographs taken by American soldiers serving in Iraq. The photographs provided dramatic, disgusting evidence that the US military was physically and sexually abusing people in Iraq. We saw smiling American soldiers forcing people to pile naked on top of one another; we saw hooded and blindfolded people threatened with snarling attack dogs,we saw people led around on leashes; and we all remember the hooded man with electrodes connected to his testicles and fingertips.

The world was shocked.

See, despite all the tough talk before the Iraq war started, the world really had hope for America to do something good in Iraq. Even though the war's justification was based on lies, even though Iraq had never attacked the US, even though the President failed to create a real coalition -- the world held on to a glimmer of hope that that America would step up and do this right. They'd be better than Saddam, at least, right?

The photos brought those hopes crashing to the ground. No. America is no better than Saddam, after all.

And in the battle for hearts and minds, it would have been very helpful to see some shock and awe from the White House at the spectacle of its own failure. Instead, President Bush chose to minimize the significance of this scandal. He chose not to punish those at the top of the chain of command. He chose to put all the blame on the people at the bottom. He chose not to apologize. Really, he chose not to say or do much of anything at all.

After seeing Bush's non-reaction, the world fully accepted what it had hoped wasn't true -- that America really was just like any other warmonger. The lofty idea that America's army was better than invading armies of the past was completely quashed. That's when shock turned to utter outrage. Hearts and minds around the world hardened.

One year on, we still don't have a full accounting of what happened not only at Abu Ghraib but what appears to be a pattern of American torture around the world. Just today, the US military finally announced new guidelines for "interviewing," but the policy of sending prisoners to known torturers continues. If we want to be the greatest nation on the earth -- and we can be -- then we need to get serious about it. Where's the outrage, America? Where are all of you "moral values" conservatives on this one?

So my ZIP code has the 74th most expensive real estate in the United States. There are more than 40,000 ZIP codes, so I have a right to brag and whine about the cost of living out here. Whoa.

Our Commander in Chief truly understands our troops. We should be proud to have a compassionate conservative in the Oval Office during this harrowing time for our country.

MR. BENTLEY: And we’re operating in central Iraq. I’ll be back there next week.

[Snip]

THE PRESIDENT: How many children you got?

MR. BENTLEY: We have two children. We have a four-year-old son named Patrick, and a three-month-old daughter named Elaine that I just got to meet for the first time.

THE PRESIDENT: Really?

MR. BENTLEY: Yes, sir.

THE PRESIDENT: No wonder you’re emotional. (Laughter.) That’s awesome.

MRS. BENTLEY: She was born two days after he deployed.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, great.

What a dick. Via Think Progress.

These reports are getting funnier and funnier. Famed investigative reporter Seymour Hersh says that just about everyone in the intelligence community who knows anything knows that Al-Zarqawi is not a real person. He's an imagined adversary, cooked up to give the media a villian to report on.

More tragic news from Israel and Palestine today, but thankfully this is only the second time this month that we've had news about violent deaths to report.

The BBC is reporting that both an Israeli and a Palestinian were killed in Hebron in the West Bank today. Apparently, as part of the grand opening of a new settlement building in the flashpoint city, a surprise roadblock was erected, and a Palestinian taxi driver, Iyad Dueik, ran over an Israeli soldier, Tsiki Eyal. The driver was told to stop, but accelerated instead. Ha'aretz has a detailed description of the incident here. Other Israeli soldiers on the scene opened fire and killed the driver. The soldier also died, but whether it was from gunshot wounds or the trauma from the collision with the taxicab has yet to be determined.

This is a big moment for our project, because it marks the first time that an Israeli has been violently killed in the conflict and the US mainstream media (MSM) has not reported on it on the front pages of their internet sites.

This marks the ninth time that we have noted the violent death of a Palestinian that has gone unreportd on the front pages of US MSM internet sites.

There are no photos or headlines to report on because there has yet to be a US story about this incident.

For more details about the project, click here.

Regular readers of this, the Most Important Blog... Ever, will remember that we have begun a project that actively watches US mainstream media (MSM) websites for their coverage of violence in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. The project has its problems, but it continues in an attempt to document how effectively the US media reports on events in Israel and Palestine.

Apparently, the editors over at the New York Times have been reading your Most Important Blog... Ever, because they just wrote an amazing, candid editorial (registration req'd) about this very subject -- the difficulties of reporting on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. (Here's a shout out to Burian-sensei for sending me the link.)

OK. The editorial essentially says that no matter what The Times writes on the subject of Israel/Palestine, it gets literally tons of grief from both sides.

Daniel Okrent, The Times' Public Editor, continues, saying that good reporting on this conflict requires one to be completely dispassionate. But, he laments,

How could I be [dispassionate] - how could anyone be - when considering a conflict so deep, so unabating, so riddled with pain? Who can be dispassionate about an endless tragedy? But no one who tries to walk down the middle of a road during a firefight could possibly emerge unscathed. This doesn't exonerate The Times, nor does the fact that criticism comes from each side suggest that the paper's doing something right.

I agree completely. But the true light at the end of this article comes when Okrent admits that objectivity is

...limited by geography. The Times, like virtually every American news organization, maintains its bureau in West Jerusalem. Its reporters and their families shop in the same markets, walk the same streets and sit in the same cafes that have long been at risk of terrorist attack. Some advocates of the Palestinian cause call this "structural geographic bias." If the reporters lived in Gaza or Ramallah, this argument goes, they would feel exposed to the daily struggles and dangers of life behind Palestinian lines and would presumably become more empathetic toward the Palestinians. I don't know about empathy, but I do know that the angle of vision determines what you see. A reporter based in secular, Europeanized Tel Aviv would experience an Israel vastly different from one living in Jerusalem; a reporter with a home in Ramallah would most likely find an entirely different world. The Times ought to give it a try.

He's right. Not only The Times, but just about all American news organizations (you name it -- NPR, ABC, CNN, NBC, Fox, the works) are based in Jerusalem. Only the Europeans have bureaus in Gaza City or Ramallah. Often, reports on events in Gaza are filed from Jerusalem -- which, despite their relatively small geographical distance, are in fact worlds apart in terms of social reality. The American news organizations owe it to their readers to open bureaus outside of WEst Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Perhaps after the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza happens (if it happens), we can expect a rededication of American news organizations to reporting from the Palestinian territories as well as from Israel.

Surprisingly, the US military has found the US military not guilty of murder.

My favorite book just had it's 400th birthday, and they're going crazy in Venezuela and in Spain. All of you Shakespeare fanatics need to get over it. This book rules.

Yesterday. Just another day at the office in Iraq's oil industry.

All of you jerks like Bill Mahar who think that the Iraq war somehow "worked" and is ushering in a new era of peace, freedom, and democracy in the Middle East need a serious reality check.

I don't have much to say except this sucks. This happened not too far from my old stomping grounds, near Osaka in the Kansai region. Those trains are amazing and always seemed extremely safe to me, except for the occasional (and increasingly frequent) "human accidents," which happened when suicidal people would jump in front of the train. This story from last night really bummed me out, and I can only imagine how the kid who was driving the thing feels.

Correction: Kyodo and Mainichi news agencies are reporting that the 23 year old driver is buried in the train wreckage, critically wounded. Sorry for repeating the assertion made by nearly all other news agencies (BBC, CNN, Reuters, AP and others) that the driver survived and was being questioned by police. In fact, the train's conductor has been questioned. What a horrible story. Just when things were looking up for Japan.

There has been a late and massive snowstorm in Michigan and parts of the midwest, with nearly 11 inches of snow in the Detroit area.

Hmm. Currently in Santa Barbara, it's 65 degrees under mostly sunny skies with a gentle breeze out of the west.

Ha.

Good news from Japan.

Now he just needs to apologize for all the BS he's put me through.

Hip-hop started on the streets of New York, Oakland, and L.A. and at its best brought stories about oppression, violence, and resistance from those cities out to the world. Now it looks like that flow might get reversed.

M.I.A. was born Maya Arulpragasm in Sri Lanka to parents active in the Tamil resistance. She fled the civil war to India and then London, and the global political consciousness that resulted has found expression through her idiosyncratic, multilingual, disjointed, subtlely produced debut, Arular. In a blur of bumpin beats, video game bleeps and bloops, a few old disco samples, the occasional bongo, and lyrics from about ten languages, M.I.A. sings and lops the most creative, relevant flow since Tupac. Yes, I said it.

Tupac was great because he effortlessly blended lyrics laced with realness you could feel and addictive beats you could hear in the club and at home, and M.I.A. brings that with every track on Arular. She asserts on “Pull Up The People” that “I got the bombs to make you blow / I got the beats to make it bang bang bang.” She delivers on “Sunshowers,” which is addictive even though it talks about a freedom fighter gunned down in Colombo: “Semi-9 and snipered him / on that wall they posted him / they cornered him / and then just murdered him.” The club-ready “10 dollar” starts off talking about a prostitute like: “Fuck gold, she was platinum digger / Shakin-ass-making moves on a mover.” She’s not all political doom and gloom, though. On “Hombre,” she hits on a guy saying, “Take my number, call me / I can get squeaky so you can come and oil me.” And all this over creative and fun beats reminiscent of Missy Elliott (and M.I.A. gives Missy a shout out on the album).

Even though I didn’t understand much of it, every track on this album has been stuck in my head weeks after hearing it for the first time. That’s a rare feat for any artist, much less a brand new one. Her style is surprisingly well-developed for someone just out the gate. M.I.A. is part electronica, part hip-hop, part British, part Sri Lankan, part girl next door, and part die-hard revolutionary. Now that she’s well on her way to conquering the rest of the world, she’s ready to take it to the people on the streets of New York, Oakland, and L.A. – places where real rappers today seem to be missing in action. So, ironically, M.I.A. just might teach them a thing or two.

So there has been a swift reaction to the election of the new pope by many Jewish leaders around the world, including Tikkun's awesome and progressive Rabbi Lerner. Rabbi Lerner and many other Jews are rightfully concerned that the new pope was once a member of the Nazi army and involved with the Hitler Youth organization. Whoa.

But here's the thing. Even if you believe that the new pope is an anti-Semite, it seems to me that because of his new position, he'll have to work extra hard to counter any appearance of anti-Semitism, so that he just might become the most friendly pope to Jews since... well, since John Paul II. I suspect that Benedict XVI will move swiftly and effectively to counter any impression that he's an anti-Semite, and that this will be good news for the Jewish community.

The bad news is that this guy was the theological source of JPII's ultra-conservative pontificating over the last 20-odd years, so we're not likely to see any changes in the church's position on birth control, women in general, divorce, and all the other out-of-date rules that need to change. Oh, well, maybe next pope.

What are the most important factors in preventing strokes and heart disease? Does drinking a glass of red wine with dinner really help? Turns out probably not.

The war on terror is a huge success. Just look at the reports! And pay no attention to what they say in the slanderous British press; we know the truth. Almost 4 years now. Bush is doing something right.

And that's not the only thing we're succeeding at. As best as we can tell, we're making progress on unemployment, balancing state budgets, protecting women's rights, and preventing breast cancer! All this thanks to our Republican President's great policies. Outstanding. Congratulations to us conservatives!

Just filed my taxes, at the last minute here. I owed for the first time, and it feels weird to write a check out to the United States Treasury. That is all. Feel free to vent or offer sympathy.

The people who provide for our education in a clean, healthy, safe, and beautiful environment have gone on strike today to protest the University of California's failure to negotiate for a fair contract. If you are one of my tens of thousands of readers from the UC, go out and support your colleagues at the rally today at noon. At UCSB, the rally will start at the Arbor.

UPDATE (4/15/05): The strike yesterday was a rousing success, as reported in the Los Angeles Times, the UCSB Daily Nexus, and in other papers across the state. I was quoted (thank you) in the Santa Barbara News-Press (paid subscription req'd), which noted that the strike caused cancellations in classes and discussion groups "across the campus." The rally and march at noon included hundreds of workers and student supporters, and it succeeded in bringing out Chancellor Yang in a show of support for a new contract with better wages. Stay with us for updates as they happen.

So it does happen all the time.

But I thought when they put a number of minutes to this, it would be closer to 25 or 30 hours. I had no idea it could happen so quickly. Wow.

Our great President and our able Vice-President, along with that sexy man who heads up Defense have been uniquely honored by our nation's scientific community.

Last night here in lovely Santa Barbara, Barbara Ehrenreich gave a fantastic talk about the working poor based on her landmark book Nickel and Dimed. For this book, Ehrenreich went to several US cities and tried to make ends meet as a member of the working poor. So, she went off alone, as a single woman, and tried to find a job from the want-ads. She made sure not to use her credentials as a PhD and world-class journalist, although she says that she never saw a job for a political essayist, so her credentials wouldn't have helped very much. She ended up working at Wal-Mart, then as a waitress, and eventually at a hotel as a cleaner of rooms. Her book talks about how difficult if not impossible it is to live in America while working at one of these jobs (even two or three at a time often isn't enough).

She also spent a lot of time talking about the degrading and illegal conditions that workers in America face. At Wal-Mart, for example, her managers would tell her to "go punch out, then come back, I've got some extra work for you." Sometimes, Wal-Mart managers would lock their workers in until 2 or 3 in the morning, forcing them to work extra hours without pay. She made a point of mentioning that her jobs were physically exhausting and, to her surprise, very mentally challenging as well.

Ehrenreich noted that official figures of poverty in America are useless because they don't account for the skyrocketing cost of housing and health care. If housing costs and medical costs are figured in, most surveys agree that about 25% of Americans are living barely at subsistence level. She says that this helps to explain why we have such a large homeless population -- and she noted that many of her coworkers were homeless.

Thankfully, a smart, well-dressed British man in the audience got up to ask a question after Ehrenreich ended her liberal ranting. "Great lecture," he said, adding, "But I have just one question for you. Why do the working poor in America have children, when that doubles their cost of living?" The crowd, full of latte-sipping liberals, began moaning and jeering. "Well," the man courageously continued, "I think there's an element of personal responsibility such that if you cannot afford a child, you shouldn't have one."

Ehrenreich tried to respond to this perfectly reasoned question by saying, "If my parents had gone by that rule, I wouldn't be here." Several members of the audience seconded that thought, including my roommate who stated, "Look, douchebag, I don't know how you do it in London or New Zealand or wherever the hell you're from, but here in America, you're not allowed to tell a woman what to do with her vagina, even if she's poor."

Just in case you're a latte-sipping liberal who wants to get involved, several people at the talk mentioned the many bleeding-heart programs in Santa Barbara focused on the working poor, including the Santa Barbara Living Wage Campaign, a series on the homeless in Santa Barbara at the Marjorie Luke Theater, mentoring, and the Foodbank of Santa Barbara.

What the hell is going on here?

We're a few days late, but we'd like to take a moment to remark on the wonderous triumph that is the American liberation of the Iraqi people. As our great President has stated, we went to war in Iraq, after all, not because of weapons of mass destruction program elements, but for the express reason that we needed to free the Iraqis from their ruthless dictator. Mission accomplished: April 9, 2003.

The photo above shows the huge crowd that gathered on that historic day in 2003 to witness the liberation of Baghdad from the statue of Saddam. Oh, and remember when they put a US flag on the statue for a minute? How great was that! I guess it didn't really fit in with the whole "we're not an empire" deal, but still, it was nice to see. And, by the way, the "huge crowd" back in 2003 actually was quite thin and the celebrations totally staged. Still, I thought it was a moving, stirring display of emotion from the Iraqis, thanking their American saviors.

So, on the anniversary of the historic liberation of the Iraqis from Saddam, as expected, a large crowd of Iraqis came out. Tens of thousands. I guess they just wanted to say "thanks." Although they were chanting "death to America" and pledging that they'd go fight the Americans tooth and nail if called upon, it's probably just a phase. They'll get over it soon. Two years on, I guess maybe we're not doing such a great job with our occupation. You know, getting the electricity back on and stopping the suicide bombings and shootings and stuff. Still, thanks to us, the Iraqi people don't have to live under the thumb of a brutal dictator anymore -- a dictator that killed tens of thousands of civilians during his reign -- although I guess estimates of the number of Iraqi civilians killed by our military range from 17,000 to 100,000 people. And I guess unemployment in Iraq is still somethere in the 70% range, but still, overall, what a great triumph for our President and, indeed, for our proud nation. Let's pat ourselves on the back for this great accomplishment!

And take a look at the crowds that showed up on the 2nd anniversary! They sure do remember how much we've helped them, don't they! Here's a photo of an actual large crowd in downtown Baghdad, taken on April 9, 2005 by the good journalists at the Qatari Peninsula Online.

Holy shit. Via MediaMatters, I just found out that Wolf and CNN are working hard to make the Catholic church and the Pope seem one and the same with conservative Republicans like President Bush.

Blitzer opened a segment with CNN's Crossfire hosts Paul Begala (weak-kneed liberal) and huge douchebag Bob Novak (conservative ass-clown) by saying this:

While they were united today in mourning the death of the pope, U.S. Catholics are a diverse group, as illustrated by two of our Crossfire co-hosts, the conservative Robert Novak, the liberal Paul Begala. Both good Catholics -- I don't know "good" Catholics, but both Catholics. I'm sure Bob is a good Catholic, I'm not so sure about Paul Begala.

Click here to read the rest of the transcript or here for the video. Paul's defense against this patently offensive remark from Blitzer make him a little less weak-kneed.

Wolf and the Republican machine are doing their best to paint the Pope and the Catholic church as conservative. While many Catholic doctrines are conservative, the Pope and the church have spoken out against capitalism's extremes, calling for tighter controls on big business. The Pope and the church strongly oppose the death penalty. None of these major Chuch beliefs align with conservative Republican values.

Sad news from the Middle East today as Israeli troops in the Gaza strip have shot and killed three teenagers. This story is receiving attention from the US MSM.

FOXNews.com reports: "Israeli Troops Kill Two Palestinian Youths"
MSNBC.com reports: "Shooting Threatens Mideast Ceasefire"
ABCNews.com reports: "Israeli Troops Kill Three Palestinian Teens"

Our tally of Palestinians killed by Israelis that go unreported in the US MSM is unaffected.

Our tally of headlines attributing the killing to the Israelis goes up to 5, and headlines attributing Israeli deaths to Palestinians remains at 2.

Images. The ABC story has this image:

with this caption:

Two young Palestinians practice with unloaded weapons during a rally of the Al Aqsa Martyr's Brigades militant group, in Gaza City Friday April 8, 2005 . Palestinian militants are threatening to call off their month-old cease-fire with Israel and resume attacks if a rally planned for Sunday by Jewish extremists at the Dome of the Rock the most hotly disputed holy site in Jerusalem takes place. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)

Note that Palestinians were killed by Israeli soldiers today, but the only image we see is of Palestinians, again, with guns. Our tally of photos of Palestinians with guns changes to 6. We've counted 2 images of Israelis with guns since the start of the project in January, and 1 of Israelis grieving, and none of Palestinians grieving have been seen yet.

More on this later. For more on the project, click here.

From ENN wire services:

World leaders from across the globe attended the funeral of Pope John Paul II today, including President and Mrs. Bush, and Vice President Dick Cheney.

For the first time in the history of higher education in the United States, enrollment at US colleges and universities has declined. That's right, according to information unveiled at a conference at Oxford, the country that invented mass higher education has suffered its first overall decrease in college students ever.

Of course, a multitude of factors must be at work here. For one, there are fewer children in this generation. K-12 programs have been experiencing a decline in enrollment for years now, and it was only a matter of time before that decline hit the higher education system. Another problem must be the fact that higher education is more expensive than ever before -- and many qualified students simply can't afford college. That's a shame. Seems to me like we should be funding education at a level where more scholarships are available. But the Republicans aren't interested in funding education.

And another factor is the huge drop in the number of international students coming to study in the US. With tighter student visa requirements, America's lead in educating the global elite is rapidly disappearing. Many students from overseas are choosing to go to more welcoming countries for their college studies. This is bad news -- we're losing our ability to influence the hearts and minds of leaders around the globe, we're losing out on the unique diversity that has enriched our colleges and universities, and we're losing out on the billions of dollars that international students bring to our system of higher education and our economy in general. Maybe we should roll back some of these draconian visa requirements?

Ha.

Sorry for posting the wrong link before.

Jesus H. Christ. It looks like the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) should drop the P from their name. In fact, might as well take the E out of the name as well.

It looks like my senator, the good Senator Boxer, has uncovered a federal study which would pay parents $1000 bucks to expose their children to pesticides (via Atrios). The EPA, or should I just call it the A, has given a seal of approval to this planned study.

Giving federal tax dollars away to entice parents to let their kids get exposed to pesticides. Hmm. What's next? Free federally subsidized popcorn for putting your kid in a microwave oven? Free car to the first 50 people to move next to high-tension power lines? $100 voucher on United Airlines for standing close to a nuclear weapons test?

Way to go, Bush Administration! You guys are kicking it old school.

Well, it's been a while since we here at The Most Important Blog... Ever have had the distinct displeasure of bestowing the ignoble Wal-Mart Douchebag Award, but the shenanigans displayed by this member of the US Congress force us to recognize this douchebag as one of the select few.

The Wal-Mart Douchebag Award is named after it's first and most evil recipient, the globalizing evil behemoth that is Wal-Mart. The Award is given to truly douchey individuals or groups who deserve to be fired and drummed out of public life because of their remarkably douche-like behavior. After the presentation of the dishonor, the recipient is forever addressed as Sir (or Madam) Douchebag.

Previous losers who have been given the infamous award include Sir Douchebag Armstrong Williams, for taking federal bribes in the writing of his syndicated opinion column without telling anyone; Sir Douchebag Ken Blackwell, the Secretary of State in that rotting state of Ohio, who did everything in his power to suppress the turnout of minority, Democrat voters; and a special Nemesis Edition of the award was given to my longtime best friend Ian for his hypocritical acceptance of a fellowship from none other than the Wal-Mart Corporation.

And it gives me no pleasure whatsoever to give the Wal-Mart Douchebag Award to its first white male recipient, Senator John Cornyn, for his speech in defense of people who shoot and kill judges and their families (via DailyKos). What a complete douche. This guy just insisted on defending murderers of public servants! Why? As part of the GOP's ill-conceived campaign to topple the judicial branch of the government. Apparently, this douchebag thinks it is justified for people frustrated with the court system to just go ahead and start shooting.


And for that, Sir Douchebag Cornyn, you have become the latest to experience the butt-puckering horror of becoming My Personal Antihero, and you are now the current holder of the Wal-Mart Douchebag Award.

So I was just reading some coverage of the Michael Jackson trial, and I found something rather strange. First of all, I really think MJ should stop wearing so much makeup -- people might start to think he's a little peculiar.

Secondly, I really don't understand the weird rules that the US media seem to follow regarding the names of the people alleging that Mr. Jackson sexually abused them. Apparently, the US media are censoring themselves (voluntarily?) and not printing the names of the alleged victims.

I understand the need to protect the minor who is the main alleged victim of this criminal trial. But today a 24-year-old man testified that Jackson fondled him back in 1990. And the press apparently won't print his name, either. CNN refers to him simply as "the young man."

The BBC (and, I presume, other non-US media) has no problem printing the name of both the 24-year-old man who testified today. They also have no qualms about publishing the name of the young boy at the center of the current case.

Can any of my billions of readers around the world explain this to me? As a resident of Santa Barbara County, should I fear for my safety if I print the name of anyone even remotely associated with this case?

At least I can feel secure in the knowledge that CNN will not publish my name if I bring charges against MJ or against anyone else who might want to molest me.

Folks, I just saw My Personal Hero speak here in lovely Santa Barbara, and it was awesome.

For those of you who are interested in following up on his whale tale, check here, here, and here.

And for those of you who don't know what we're talking about -- go ahead and click there, there, and there, too.