Revolution

they create
the hate
which feeds,
that plants the first seeds
of destruction
and coruption
in the foundation
and begins the extermination
of the light
which ignights
the disease
and safely garuntees
the elemination
with out hesitation,
do the barriers fall
and all
who are not one
be undone
by the hand of the one in command
and blood be shed on the sand
while they all mock
when another goes uner the chopping block
When in need of peace
and all fighting to be ceased
when in need of hope
of nations beinging to cope
with the numbers lost
and the line that had been crossed
by senseless wars
when all the doors
have been closed
and no body knows
how to end
and start to mend
the ties
and all the lies
that have been broken
and the words that need spoken
who will speak
who will stand out among the meek
towering above the rest
and protest
for the innocent lives at stake
and who will partake
in the breaking of the fighting
and the uniting
of the earth
and give birth
to a new world

We have turned Iraq into the most hellish place on Earth
Armies claiming to bring prosperity have instead brought a misery worse than under the cruellest of modern dictators

Simon Jenkins
Wednesday October 25, 2006
The Guardian


British ministers landing in Aden in the 1960s were told always to make a reassuring speech. In view of the Arab insurrection, they should give a ringing pledge, "Britain will never, ever leave Aden". Britain promptly left Aden, in 1967 and a year earlier than planned. The last governor walked backwards up the steps to his plane, his pistol drawn against any last-minute assassin. Locals who had trusted him and worked with the British were massacred in their hundreds by the fedayeen.

Iraq's deputy prime minister, Barham Salih, was welcomed to London by the BBC on Monday with two documentaries recalling past British humiliations at the hands of Arabs, in Aden and Suez. It was not a message Salih wanted to hear. His government is retreating from its position in May, when it said that foreign forces should withdraw from 16 out of 18 provinces, including the south, by the end of this year. Tony Blair rejected this invitation to go and said he would "stay until the job is done". Salih would do well to remember what western governments do, not what they say.

Despite Suez and Aden, British foreign policy still lurches into imperial mode by default. An inherited belief in Britain's duty to order the world is triggered by some upstart ruler who must be suppressed, based on a vague desire to seek "regional stability" or protect a British interest. As Martin Woollacott remarks in his book After Suez, most people at the time resorted to denial. To them, "the worst aspect of the operation was its foolishness" rather than its wrongness. When asked by Montgomery what was his objective in invading the canal zone Eden replied, "to knock Nasser off his perch". Asked what then, Eden had no answer.

As for Iraq, the swelling chorus of born-again critics are likewise taking refuge not in denouncing the mission but in complaining about the mendacity that underpinned it and its incompetence. As always, turncoats attribute the failure of a once-favoured policy to another's inept handling of it. The truth is that the English-speaking world still cannot kick the habit of imposing its own values on the rest, and must pay the price for its arrogance.

US and UK policy in Iraq is now entering its retreat phrase. Where there is no hope of victory, the necessity for victory must be asserted ever more strongly. This was the theme of yesterday's unreal US press conference in Baghdad, identical in substance to one I attended there three years ago. There is talk of staying the course, of sticking by friends and of not cutting and running. Every day some general or diplomat hints at ultimatums, timelines and even failure - as did the British foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett, on Monday. But officially denial is all. For retreat to be tolerable it must be called victory.

The US and British are covering their retreat. Operation Together Forward II has been an attempt, now failed, to pacify Baghdad during Ramadan. In Basra, Britain is pursuing Operation Sinbad to win hearts and minds that it contrives constantly to lose. This may be an advance on Kissinger's bombing of Laos to cover defeat in Vietnam and Reagan's shelling of the Shouf mountains to cover his 1984 Beirut "redeployment" (two days after he had pledged not to cut and run). But retreat is retreat, even if it is called redeployment. Every exit strategy is unhappy in its own way.

Over Iraq the spin doctors are already at work. They are telling the world that the occupation will have failed only through the ingratitude and uselessness of the Iraqis themselves. The rubbishing of the prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, has begun in Washington, coupled with much talk of lowered ambitions and seeking out that foreign policy paradigm, "a new strongman". In May, Maliki signalled to Iraq's governors, commanders and militia leaders the need to sort out local differences and take control of their provincial destinies. This has failed. Maliki is only as strong as the militias he can control, which is precious few. He does not rule Baghdad, let alone Iraq. As for the militias, they are the natural outcome of the lawlessness caused by foreign occupation. They represent Iraqis desperately defending themselves from anarchy. It is now they who will decide Iraq's fate.

The only sensible post-invasion scenario was, ironically, that once attributed to Donald Rumsfeld, to topple Saddam Hussein, give a decapitated army to the Shias and get out at once. There would have been a brief and bloody settling of accounts and some new regime would have seized power. The outcome would probably have been partial or total Kurdish and Sunni secession, but by now a new Iraq confederacy might have settled down. Instead this same partition seems likely to follow a drawn-out and bloody civil conflict. It is presaged by the fall of Amara to the Mahdist militias this month - and the patent absurdity of the British re-occupying this town.

Washington appears to have given Maliki until next year to do something to bring peace to his country. Or what? America and Britain want to leave. As a settler said in Aden, "from the moment they knew we were leaving their loyalties turned elsewhere". Keeping foreign troops in Iraq will not "prevent civil war", as if they were doing that now. They are largely preoccupied with defending their fortress bases, their presence offering target practice for insurgents and undermining any emergent civil authority in Baghdad or the provinces. American and British troops may be in occupation but they are not in power. They have not cut and run, but rather cut and stayed.

The wretched Iraqis must wait as their cities endure civil chaos until one warlord or another comes out on top. In the Sunni region it is conceivable that a neo-Ba'athist secularism might gain the ascendancy. In the bitterly contested Shia areas, a fierce fundamentalism is the likely outcome. As for Baghdad, it faces the awful prospect of being another Beirut.

This country has been turned by two of the most powerful and civilised nations on Earth into the most hellish place on Earth. Armies claiming to bring democracy and prosperity have brought bloodshed and a misery worse than under the most ruthless modern dictator. This must be the stupidest paradox in modern history. Neither America nor Britain has the guts to rule Iraq properly, yet they lack the guts to leave.

Blair speaks of staying until the job is finished. What job? The only job he can mean is his own.

[email protected]

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/comment/0,,1930686,00.html

Hi Jenny
I'm sorry I haven't been able to get back to you sooner.
I'm not too well right now and may not be able to write again soon.
I love your poem - it's beautifully written and it cheered me up no end to see that someone is still working on the ole revolution!

A couple of important notices - for anyone wishing to attend next weekends London peace rally (no more Fallujahs) - go to
http://www.stopwar.org.uk/new/events/index.htm#WarTerror
for details.

Also see George Galloway - Islamophobia part 1 -
here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnB66wXe1xY
(it's worth it for the radio car gag)

Recipe for a Cooked Election
by Greg Palast for Yes! Magazine
http://www.gregpalast.com/recipe-for-a-cooked-election#more-1515

And don't forget
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/index.html


Thanks again Jenny
Keep up the good work and feel free to post anything you feel is relevant (same goes for anyone).
I'll be back asap.
Until then

(Child flashes peace-sign from the back of a car driving past a peace rally in Michigan where a demonstration against the war in Iraq was taking place 2006)


(British Soldier flashes peace-sign at checkpoint in Basra Iraq 2006)

Peace,
Endy

Everything alright?

Verse 1:

The United States,
Most subtle terrorism,
Menacing as it waits,
Propaganda it creates,
All run with complete absolutism,

Corporate lies in the news,
Continue to persist,
Blocking out other views,
As we try to resist,
Any that refuse,
Will cease to exist,

Chorus:

No justice, no peace,
As Hell continues on,
The false preaching of priests,
Preaching Zionistic laws,

It's the Anti-Muslim Holocaust,
Hidden well with our fears,
And now subtly criss-crossed,
With that and our tears,

Of the soldiers that died,
Giving patriotic hope,
Thinking America wouldn't do us wrong,
What a fuc king joke,

Verse 2:

My brain is dead! I'll have to think up more later.

Good to be back

Sorry about the unexpected 'intermission' - and sorry Jenny for not answering you sooner - everything's cool - how about you?

Give us another verse, Bawb?
Thanks for contributing

So what's been happening since I've been away?

Oh yeah, the world's gone mad… right.
So what can we do about it?

I think it was one of our chaps who said, "The pen is mightier than the sword."

Gandhi said, "Action isn't the answer - non co-operation is."

Martin Luther King said (something like)… if you're going along and you see some really mean fu ckers laying into some vulnerable types…maybe just a few slaps and some name calling, but maybe full on kicking them when their down, and you don't do anything, you just walk on by, pretending those fading screams you can hear are a part of the traffic up ahead, and you carry on with your life as if you never saw it happening……then you are also doing the kicking….

I think about **** like that a lot.

I've been laid up for a few days, and in-between sleeping I've read John Pilger's book - 'The New Rulers of the World'
(Verso, 2002) John Pilger

It's not a happy book, but somehow I feel braver for it.

Anyway, I'll be back soon

Peace
Endy

Indymedia journalist shot dead by paramilitary during protest in Oaxaca, Mexico

28-10-2006 12:26
Bradley, 25 October 2006

'William Bradley Roland, also known as Brad Will, 36, a documentary filmmaker and reporter for Indymedia died of a gunshot wound to the chest when pro-government attackers opened fire on a barricade in the
neighborhood of Santa Lucia El Camino, on the outskirts of Oaxaca, Mexico.
Like too many before him, Will died with his video camera in his hands.



Message to the People (In memory of Brad Will)


If they want to stop me

They'll have to kill me

Put a bullet in my chest

It will never be over

As I go down

So two will stand up in my place

We are the people of the world

United in our anguish

For us

To stand by and do nothing

Is to sell our very soul

Time for the winds of change

Time to join together in the fight

Time to make a stand

And stand up to the Right

Complacency is your enemy

Ignorance is defeat

Now's not the time to bow your head

People get on your feet



Endymion 2006

Crazy Revolution
*********************

It's crazy in the house
Don't come around here
I cut tears from my eyes
Watching for signs

The writing on the wall
Tells me fu ck all
I've anguished far too long
For the love of what? Humanity
Watched the power abusers
Spread their seeds of greed
In spiritless insanity
Evil magnified
In billions of impoverished eyes

I've been searching for a guide
But faces in the crowd
Keep me locked up inside
I see nothing I wish to learn
From my country's leaders
In fact I despise them
All they can teach me
Is how to break men

I'm alone here again
Having abandoned every soul
That ever reached out to me
My home's an empty den
Of contemplation
Questing destiny

I sit and soak
In the yellow glow
Of a buttercup
Pressed into a book
Long ago
I scribble notes
Like tragic jokes
On scraps of paper

Strange patterns
Rhyming beats
Reading symbols
Like map locations
In everything I see

And in my dreams
I paint with blood
Spilt by the artist-killer
My heart pours ice
As I join the dots
In this fascist thriller

It's crazy in the house
Don't come near me
I'm a part of
The privileged minority
Born in a land
That says Fu ck the majority
I have water on tap
Kicks for free
And a decent life
Expectancy
Sucking up the earth's resources
A few rich bastards
Leaving little countries
Little choices

Its crazy in the house
Don't show up here
I'll infect you with my dreams
I'll haunt your naked ear
I am full to the brim
Watch the river overflow
Got to pour away some ire
But it has nowhere to go



Endymion 2006

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15469.htm

The Spoils of Corruption

By Charles Sullivan

11/01/06 "Information Clearing House" -- -- Like many Americans, since early childhood I was taught that good always triumphs over evil. But as I grew older and acquainted myself with the history of my country, my perspective became less naïve and better informed. My perceptions of reality were altered forever, and I am forced to live, like so many of my readers, with the burden of knowledge that often makes reality painful to bear.

America could have been very different, but it has become a land of unfathomable corruption. It is a place where money rules and lords power over everyone and every process. Corruption has lodged itself in every tissue and every organ of our societal institutions, and riddled them with crippling disease. Perhaps more than any organ it has blinded our ability to see what is before us.

The root of corruption stems from America's love affair with private wealth and conquest. We are a culturally shallow and spiritually deprived people who seem incapable of discerning truth from fairy tales. This may be a matter of convenience for some and a survival mechanism to others.

There are three primary cultural pillars that are the underpinning of our society: government, media, and religion. It is widely assumed that these institutions exist to serve the people. Whatever their intent when they were birthed in the minds and hearts of their creators, these institutions were subverted and used to subdue and control the masses; to make them subservient to power. Virtually everything we believe about America is contradicted by the evidence, but too many of us are unwilling to come to grips with reality, which thus assures the continuation of a brutal and tortuous history of murder and conquest.

In a wonderful essay titled The Problem is Civil Obedience, historian Howard Zinn wrote, "I start from the supposition that the world is topsy-turvey, that the wrong people are in jail and the wrong people are out of jail, that the wrong people are in power and the wrong people are out of power..." Zinn, as usual, sums up the situation perfectly. But the great majority refuses to see things as they really are. They prefer fairy tales to truth that is too painful for them to acknowledge and to bear; and so the charade continues.

Those on the far right of the political spectrum are fond of saying that America is a Christian nation, when, in fact, nothing could be farther from the truth. The framers of the Constitution, especially Thomas Jefferson, took great pains to keep America from evolving into a Theocracy. Even so, religion should provide a moral compass that steers its participants away from corruption and moral morass. Yet with only a comparatively few exceptions, religion is used against its followers. It serves wealth and power, and keeps the masses ignorant, and subservient to the hierarchy of the church, which is in collusion with the money changers in government.

Organized religion, like the mainstream media and the government, is controlled by the wealthy and powerful. It serves the high priests of capitalism and is little more than an enabler of corruption and conquest. Let us not forget that Manifest Destiny was driven by a puritanical zealotry that resulted in the ethnic cleansing of a continent. The collusion of religion with material wealth lends a false aura of moral authority to disingenuous and misguided human behaviors that follow immoral government into war after war. Thus the rich continue to exploit the working people for the benefit of the ruling class.

At some point in our history Jesus of Nazareth was supplanted by Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell. The Jesus who despised the wealthy and believed in service to the poor, who in anger overturned the tables of the money changers, no longer exists within the American psyche. Unlike Jesus, Robertson and Falwell believe in accruing wealth to themselves and in assassinating their enemies. They work hand in hand with the morally bankrupt leadership that has invaded and occupies 135 of the world's 192 nations. The genuine article has somehow given way to the counterfeit, and too many of us are unable to tell the difference.

In a purer form organized religion-in this case Christianity, would be revolutionary and radical; and it would serve as a bulwark against the accumulation of private affluence in favor of public service, and a massive redistribution of wealth and power. It would find itself, like any conscientious individual, in formal opposition to the conventions of government and society, rather than an enabler of them. But that clearly is not the case these days.

The church, like all things American, more closely resembles a for profit corporation than a place where human souls are instructed in righteous behavior and healed.

Similarly, the naïve among us broadly assume that the mainstream media exists to inform the people, and thus serves as a countervailing force against corruption and malfeasance. In truth the corporate media serves those in power rather than holding them accountable to the people. While it was not always so, the mainstream media, like organized religion, is used to program public perceptions-to steer us away from truth and to perpetuate fairy tales that extol the virtues of bribery, violence, and greed. It makes useful idiots of those who cannot think for themselves and persuades them to act like fools in the eyes of the world.

From the days of Tom Paine we have regressed to an era in which news anchors are rewarded for their loyalty to political regimes by being awarded positions in government. Tom Paine and the spirit of public service have given way to Tony Snow and Katie Couric, and the creation of media celebrities. The boundary between government and media, between church and state and corporate power, no longer exists. They are all interchangeable parts in a machine that makes a mockery of social justice and human freedoms.

Gone are the days of radical, revolutionary religion in America. Gone are the days of Thomas Jefferson and Samuel Adams, when a just and Democratic Republic seemed possible. Gone are the days of Tom Paine and the militant press that challenged corrupt power. The hands of time are no longer moving forward; we have reversed them. Once again the dark ages loom large on the horizon before us like an unseen iceberg in the chill dark of an Atlantic night.

****************************************************

Wecome to the real world Mr Sullivan
And before you ask.... No, you can never go back...
The question is - Would You Want To?

Letter from Mike Stark

Richmond Times-Dispatch

Oct 31, 2006


The following is a letter to NBC29 from Mike Stark, the man who was tackled for a comment he made at Senator Allen's campaign stop in Charlottesville on Tuesday.

My name is Mike Stark. I am a law student at the University of Virginia, a marine, and a citizen journalist. Earlier today at a public event, I was attempting to ask Senator Allen a question about his sealed divorce record and his arrest in the 1970s, both of which are in the public domain. His people assaulted me, put me in a headlock, and wrestled me to the ground. Video footage is available here, from an NBC affiliate.

I demand that Senator Allen fire the staffers who beat up a constituent attempting to use his constitutional right to petition his government. I also want to know why Senator Allen would want his staffers to assault someone asking questions about matters of public record in the heat of a political campaign. Why are his divorce records sealed? Why was he arrested in the 1970s? And why did his campaign batter me when I asked him about these questions.

George Allen defends his support of the Iraq war by saying that our troops are defending the ideals America stands for. Indeed, he says our troops are defending our very freedom. What kind of country is it when a Senator's constituent is assaulted for asking difficult and uncomfortable questions? What freedoms do we have left? Maybe we need to bring the troops home so that they can fight for freedom at George Allen's campaign events. Demanding accountability should not be an offense worthy of assault.

I will be pressing charges against George Allen and his surrogates later today. George Allen, at any time, could have stopped the fray. All he had to do was say, "This is not how my campaign is run. Take your hands off that man." He could have ignored my questions. Instead he and his thugs chose violence. I spent four years in the Marine Corps. I'll be damned if I'll let my country be taken from me by thugs that are afraid of taking responsibility for themselves.

It just isn't the America I know and love. Somebody needs to take a stand against those that would bully and intimidate their fellow citizens. That stand begins right here, right now.

W. Michael Stark
******************************************************
Thank you Mr Stark - You've hit my patriotic spot - yeah, even here in Britain, some of us still care passionately about the welfare of our country in the hands of corrupt buisness men. I'm only sorry that following the Labour Goverment's complete show of cowardice on the Monday - voting by a small majority NOT to have a debate on Iraq - that there wasn't a similar letter written here in Britain. Truth is, the Government may not want discussions in the House of Commons (presumably happier to eat cake) but there IS a debate about Iraq going on never-the-less. If Mr Blair chooses not to be there (as he wasn't there on Monday for the vote) that's his loss.

**********************

Red White and Blue


You think you're slick?
Sliding along the red carpet
With the world at your feet
Skipping to a callous beat
Shiny shod and neat
Clean shaven and smelling sweet
You think you're the man?
Magicians gloves cover bloody hands
The joker up your sleeve
A master plan
Top hat deception
White elephant games
A hypnotist's trick
A nation's dumb gaze
So your audience pays
You think you're smart?
Tearing up spades and burning hearts
Pulling veils from your fist
And flinging them away
Sucking on fear
Along the way
Think you can hide the monster
That lies beneath?
The psychopathic killer
Childhood thief
Think you're The One?
Think your God's favourite son?
Listen close
The lesson has begun



Endymion 2006

***********************************
The Independent 1 Nov

Mark Steel: We don't need an inquiry to tell us Blair lied The Government is right to say we don't need an inquiry into whether they misled the nation when they took us to war in Iraq. As they argue, this would be a waste of public money. Because it's obvious without an inquiry they were a bunch of conniving, cheating, deceitful, filthy liars.

http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_m_z/mark_steel/article1945749.ece

Hey sorry Endy i havent been around to post things latley ... i had to handle some things at home....but anyway glad to see you have returned.

Thanks for posting Jenny
It's always difficult when you've been away and come back.
(Makes you realise how thin the thread really is)
Good to see you here - hope things at home are sorted for you.

I'm a bit of a recluse and I don't get out to look at other people's **** as much as I guess I should. (Apart from anything I'm crap at small talk)
But, if you've got any threads going that you think I might be interested in - point me to them. I'll be happy to contribute if I can.

Take it easy
Peace
Endy

Betrayal



We manufacture
Weapons of mass destruction
And because that's pretty much all
We do manufacture
We need to sell
A heck of a lot of these weapons
To make our trillions
But who to sell them too?
The guns
The cluster bombs
The missiles
No one's buying
Everyone's getting into
This dippy hippy ****
It's not good for sales
Gotta keep guns fashionable
- come on!
Gotta Sell Sell Sell
With a capital S for Simple
We have to make the people believe
That without a gun
They're a dead duck
We have to make the country
Ripe for gun selling
Up the violence
Let 'em see death on the box every day
No wait….
Make that every few hours
Until the people believe
That without a gun
They're simply asking for it

But even then…
It's not enough
We need to sell a thousand guns
A million
We need to sell faster and better
And major weapons
The biggies
The f*cking town flatteners
But you can't sell **** like that
On the average street
The Irish have packed it in
The Israelis are full to bursting
(Hhmmm…
Maybe we should involve them
Get them flowing again)
Yeah, the middle east
Good deal
We've seen the third world
Into poverty, but
Now they can't afford to buy
Our f*cking guns!
I'm not talking rebel army here anyhow
What we need is a steady flow
Money coming in
Weapons going out

What we need is a war
A big f*cking war
Who cares who gets it?
Eat me, drink me
What's the difference?
Make it whichever nation
Steps out of line first
Make that our starting point
And this time we'll be supplying
Our very own troops
Who the f*ck can argue with that?
We can make money in all ways imaginable
And in ways you can't even imagine
If we're serious about getting rich
(… and it doesn't get more serious)
All we need is war
War is all we need

So, how can we justify a long term
Full-blown war? Any ideas?







Endymion 2006

Star

If, in the light of things, you fade
real, yet wanly withdrawn
to our determined and appropriate
distance, like the moon left on
all night among the leaves, may
you invisibly delight this house;
O star, doubly compassionate, who came
too soon for twilight, too late
for dawn, may your pale flame
direct the worst in us
through chaos
with the passion of
plain day.



DEREK WALCOTT won the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature. He lives in Brookline, Mass., and teaches at Harvard; his luminous writings evoke the cultural diversity and richness of the Caribbean, where he was born, in St. Lucia.

*Endy, I thought this poem was an appropriate antidote to your tongue in cheek poem about how we seem determined to create chaos and war.
I read it almost as a prayer for peace.

I really liked that last poem of yours- so true in so many ways.

Thanks Aidan
It's a lovely poem - 'the passion of
plain day' rings so true.

Peace
Endy

Monday, November 6th, 2006
The Race Between the Right Wing and the Right Thing ...a message from Michael Moore

Friends,

Tomorrow night, those who sent 2,800 of our soldiers to their deaths -- all because of a lie the president concocted -- will find out if America chooses to reward them -- or remove them.

As good as things look for the Democrats, do not pop the corks and start the partying yet. Do not believe for a second that the Republicans plan on losing. They will fight like dogs for the next 24 hours -- relentless, unforgiving, nonstop action to squeeze every last conservative voter out of the house on election day. While the rest of us go about our day today, tens of thousands of Republican volunteers are knocking on doors, making phone calls, and lining up rides to the polls. They're not sleeping, they're not eating, they're not even watching Fox News. A day without Fox News? That's right, that's how insanely dedicated they are.

But the reason they have to work so hard is that, before they can get the vote out, they first have to completely turn around the massive public opinion against them. Almost 60% disapprove of Bush. Over 60% are opposed to the war. Those are landslide numbers. And the American people are not going to turn pro-war or into Bush-lovers by tomorrow morning. So it should be easy for us, right?

Yup. Just like it was when we won the popular vote in 2000 and when we were ahead in the exit polls all day long in 2004. You know the deal -- the other side takes no prisoners. And just when it seems like things are going our way, the Republicans suddenly, mysteriously win the election.

Well, it's not really that mysterious. They're out there busting their asses this very minute, right down the street from you. What are YOU doing? You're on a computer reading my cranky letter! Stop reading this! We have only a few hours left to wrestle control of the Congress away from these "representatives" who, if returned, will continue shipping our young men and women over there to die.

Here's what I'm imploring you to do right now:

1. Go through your address book on your cell phone and computer and call/e-mail everyone you know. Tell them how much it would mean to you if they vote on Tuesday. If they don't know where to vote, help them find their polling place.

2. Contact MoveOn.org ASAP. They will connect you to the folks who need you to make calls.

3. Contact your local Democratic Party headquarters. There are close races in nearly every state. They'll put you to work -- on the ground or on the phones. Or go to the local HQ for the Dem candidate running for the House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate and say, "Put me to work!"

OK, turn off the computer -- and I will, too. There's serious work to do. The good news? There's more of us than there are of them. Let's prove that, once and for all.

Is there anything more important that you have to do today? Nothing less than the rest of the world is depending on us.

Yours,
Michael Moore
www.michaelmoore.com
[email protected]

*************************************


Good luck America.
Here in Britain, many are praying that you will have the courage to show us the right way, not the easy way.
That by disarming the neo-cons, you will, as the most powerful nation in the world - put us all on a new path.
One that involves leading the rest of the world to true peace.
Of course, no one believes it is going to be a stroll in the park - but you have something great on your side - and that is 'The Good.'

I'm thinking of you today, America - and I'll be watching you tomorrow, in hope.

Peace,
Endy

Well, today's the day.
I suppose there is nothing to do now but wait.
I don't think i've ever followed American mid-term elections with such interest (actually, that's putting it mildly).

Here's another piece of journalism to be getting on with:



When Does Incompetence Become a Crime?
Talking Victory in Iraq, When There is Only Defeat

By PATRICK COCKBURN

"When does the incompetence end and the crime begin?" asked an appalled German Chancellor in the First World War when the German army commander said he intended to resume his bloody and doomed assaults on the French fortress city of Verdun.

The same could be said of the disastrous policies of George Bush and Tony Blair in Iraq. At least 3,000 Iraqis and 100 American soldiers are dying every month. The failure of the US and Britain at every level in Iraq is obvious to all. But the White House and Downing Street have lived in a state of permanent denial. On the Downing Street website are listed 10 "Big Issues" affecting the Prime Minister, but Iraq is not one of them.

The picture of what is happening in Iraq put out by Messrs Bush and Blair no longer touches reality at any point. They claim US and British troops are present because Iraqis want them there. But a detailed poll of Iraqi attitudes by WorldPublicOpinion.org, published six weeks ago, shows that 71 per of Iraqis want the withdrawal of US-led forces within a year. No less than 74 per cent of Shia and 91 per cent of Sunni say they want American and British troops out. Only in Kurdistan, where there are few foreign troops, does a majority support the occupation.

Hostility to the American and British troops has a direct and lethal consequence for the soldiers on the ground. The same poll shows that 92 per cent of Sunni and 62 per cent of Shia approve of attacks on US-led forces. This is the real explanation for the strength of the insurgency: it is widely popular.

For the past three-and-a-half years in Iraq, one needed to close both eyes very hard or live in Baghdad's Green Zone not to see that the occupation was detested by most Iraqis. At places where US Humvees had been blown up or US soldiers killed or wounded there were usually Iraqis dancing for joy.

Supposedly, the centrepiece of American and British policy is to stay "until the job is done" and hand over to Iraqi army and police who will cope with powerful militias like the Mehdi Army. But in police stations in many parts of southern Iraq, photographs pinned to the wall include one of British armoured vehicles erupting in flames, beside a portrait of Muqtada al-Sadr, the leader of the Mehdi Army.

In the first year of the occupation it could be argued that Bush and Blair were simply incompetent: they did not understand Iraq, were misinformed by Iraqi exiles, or were simply ignorant and arrogant. But they must know that for two-and-a-half years they have controlled only islands of territory in Iraq. "The Americans haven't even been able to take over Haifa Street [a Sunni insurgent stronghold] though it's only 400 yards from the Green Zone," a senior Iraqi security official exclaimed to me last week.

But the refusal to admit, as the British army commander Sir Richard Dannatt pointed out, that the occupation generates resistance in Iraq, means that no new and more successful policy can be devised. It is this that is criminal. And it is all the worse because the rational explanation for Mr Bush's persistence in bankrupt policies in Iraq is that he has always given priority to domestic politics. Holding power in Washington was more important than real success in Baghdad.

It is easy enough to say that Mr Bush lives in a world of fantasy in Iraq. His aides are notoriously averse to giving him bad news. Officials who do so lose their jobs. But this probably underestimates the man. After 9/11 he successfully presented himself as the security president. For the first time since the 1920s, the Republicans held the presidency and both houses of Congress. The war in Afghanistan was successful at little cost. He thought the same would be true in Iraq.

There was a spurious series of highly publicised turning points in the war, such as the capture of Saddam Hussein in 2003, the return of sovereignty to Iraq and the recapture of Fallujah in 2004, the elections and referendum on the constitution of 2005.

In each case reality was always different. Nobody in Iraq thought Saddam was the leader of the resistance, and his capture had no effect on the insurgency. The return of sovereignty had little meaning: last week the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, admitted that he could not move a company of Iraqi troops without US permission.

Fallujah was very publicly stormed by the US Marines in November 2004, but a few days later the insurgents, in an operation hardly mentioned by the administration, captured the much larger city of Mosul in northern Iraq, seizing arms worth $40m (£21m). The elections and referendum in 2005 deeply divided Iraq's communities along sectarian and ethnic lines, and led directly to civil war in central Iraq.

The US media was under extreme pressure to report the non-existent good news that the White House accused them of ignoring.

I used to think how absurd it was for me to risk my life by visiting the Green Zone, the entrances to which were among the most bombed targets in Iraq, to see diplomats who claimed that the butchery in Iraq was much exaggerated. But when I asked them if they would like to come and have lunch in my hotel outside the zone, they always threw up their hands in horror and said their security men would never allow it.

The fantasy picture of Iraq purveyed by Mr Bush and Mr Blair is now being exposed. The Potemkin village they constructed to divert attention from what was really happening in Iraq is finally going up in flames.

But it is too late for the Iraqis, Americans and British who died because they were unwitting actors in this fiction, carefully concocted by the White House and Downing Street to show progress where there is frustration, and victory where there is only defeat.

Patrick Cockburn is the author of 'The Occupation: War, resistance and daily life in Iraq', to be published by Verso in October.

Tuesday, November 7th, 2006
5 Good Reasons to Vote Today ... a letter from Michael Moore

1. IT'S A NATIONAL REFERENDUM. Although candidates' names will be on the ballot today, this election is NOT about this candidate or that candidate. Make no mistake about it: This election is nothing less than a National Referendum on George W. Bush and his War. Don't waste your time trying learn about who the schlump is that's running for office. You know they're all pretty much the same, a few are better than others, but... please. They is who they is. THIS election is not about them. It's a simple up or down vote on staying the course.

To vote in favor of the war, vote for the Republican. To vote against the war, vote for the Democrat. As crazy as it sounds, even if the Republican is against the war, or the Democrat is for it, it doesn't matter. All that will matter by midnight tonight is the math on the big tote board. Did America say YES to Bush or NO to Bush? The ONLY way they're going to add it up is by counting the number of votes under the big D and the big R. The only way to take a stand against Bush today is to vote for the Dems on the ballot.

2. IN ORDER TO CATCH THE REPUBLICANS STEALING YOUR VOTE, YOU FIRST HAVE TO VOTE. There are huge and valid concerns about the new electronic voting machines that must be addressed. It is far too easy to use new technology to rig the vote. But if your fear of that leads you to decide that you shouldn't bother voting, well, then, I guess they've succeeded in snuffing out your voice without having to rig the machine. Make them break the law if they want to win. Vote. We'll catch them if they do. I promise.

3. WITH THE DEMOCRATS IN POWER IN THE HOUSE AND/OR SENATE, WE CAN GO AFTER THEM! These spineless Democrats who enabled Bush to start this war and funded it ever since are due for a shellacking from all of us. For nearly 6 years, they've hidden behind the cop-out of, "Hey, we're the minority, we have no power." As of tomorrow, hopefully, they will have no mask to hide behind. And it will be up to us to go after them.

4. I'LL PUT YOU ON MY WEBSITE. That's right. You can appear on my home page and be seen by millions later today. All you need to do is bring a broom when you go to vote. The broom is our mascot today because we're going to sweep the crooks and the warmongers outta office. Take a picture of yourself holding a broom outside your polling place, e-mail it to me, and I'll put as many of you as I can up on the home page of my website. People all around the world will see you! Government files with your name on them will be initiated! What better way to celebrate this historic day?!

And the final reason to vote today...

5. 2,836 + 655,000. Each one of them, American and Iraqi, are no longer with us because of the decision by one man to start a war. Each one of them represented a precious, God-given life that no man had the right to take away. Each one of them had a mother and father, sisters, brothers, husbands, wives, friends and loved ones, little boys and little girls. It's mad, my friends, utterly mad, this senseless loss of human life.

So, do it for them. Call up whoever you know and tell them to meet you at the polls. And tell them to bring a broom, real or imaginary, with a big D on it. It's the only true American thing to do.

See ya at the victory party tonight!

Michael Moore
[email protected]
www.michaelmoore.com

P.S. Forward this to all your friends. Today is the day

HOW THEY STOLE THE MID-TERM ELECTION
Greg Palast
for The Guardian (UK), Comment is Free
Monday November 6, 2006

Here's how the 2006 mid-term election was stolen.

Note the past tense. And I'm not kidding.

http://www.gregpalast.com/how-they-stole-the-mid-term-election#more-1530
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I hope you're wrong this time Greg - i really do

The Most Important Election In History
Tom Dagan

....... there's every reason to be optimistic; the polls show that by a margin of fifty-seven to thirty-seven percent (six percent of us couldn't care less), the people want to give the House and Senate back to the Democrats. The GOP is quite literally imploding as one ugly, shameful scandal after another makes itself known....Then why am I full of pessimism?

http://tomdegan.blogspot.com/
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I hope you're wrong too, Tom