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Michael Parker's Journal
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Wednesday, June 30, 2004 |
After Spain's terrorist attacks on March 11th, which resulted in the ruling party (friendly to the Bush agenda) being voted out of power just days later. The results of their election sent shockwaves through the Republican party here in America. Sean Hannity, I do recall, along with Condi Rice, suggested that America should consider cancelling elections in case of a terrorist attack.
This topic came up again today by the new federal Voting Commission. I get concerned when I hear talk like this because it makes me wonder if they know something and are trying to get it approved so that when an attack does happen then it will be seen as legal to cancel elections, if you catch my drift. (Isn't this the pattern we have seen with torture methods for detainees?)
Nonetheless, here is the information of the AP article by Erica Werner:
WASHINGTON - The government needs to establish guidelines for canceling or rescheduling elections if terrorists strike the United States again, says the chairman of a new federal voting commission.
Such guidelines do not currently exist, said DeForest B. Soaries, head of the voting panel.
Soaries was appointed to the federal Election Assistance Commission last year by President Bush (news - web sites). Soaries said he wrote to National Security (news - web sites) Adviser Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge in April to raise the concerns....
Events in Spain, where a terrorist attack shortly before the March election possibly influenced its outcome, show the need for a process to deal with terrorists threatening or interrupting the Nov. 2 presidential election in America, he said.
"Look at the possibilities. If the federal government were to cancel an election or suspend an election, it has tremendous political implications. If the federal government chose not to suspend an election it has political implications," said Soaries, a Republican and former secretary of state of New Jersey.
"Who makes the call, under what circumstances is the call made, what are the constitutional implications?" he said. "I think we have to err on the side of transparency to protect the voting rights of the country."
One question: how are you protecting the voting rights of the country by cancelling or postponing an election?
Something to consider: If they do pass a bill that allows such a preposterous cancellation or postponement of the election, what criteria will be expected in order to allow elections? As I wrote in a post a couple of days ago, I received a letter from Orrin Hatch. In his letter, he concluded that "These are difficult times for every American....we must not lose sight of the big picture: we are fighting a shadowy enemy that seeks to destroy our very way of life. The war against terror will last years, possibly decades...."
In these words is the answer. Because of the threat of terrorism that so easily looms over us (thanks to the media), elections could be postponed indefinitely. All hail King George!
10:13:46 PM  | |
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Oh, this is just too good not to post to my journal. I read this at Eschaton, who got it from AmericaBlog:
I just got a live phone-in from the Yankees vs. Boston game in NYC taking place right now. Dick Cheney just got booed by the crowd!
Even as my friend Michael called me from his seats at the game, God Bless America was still playing in the background. During the 7th inning stretch at Yankees Stadium, they play God Bless America and show on the big screen pictures of anyone famous who's in the audience that night. Dick Cheney is apparently in the audience, and as soon as his face went up, the entire crowd started booing! As my friend Michael tells it, this is the blue-collar Bronx we're talking about, and Cheney is still getting booed - not a good sign for the Bush-Cheney ticket. As soon as the camera guys realized Cheney was getting booed, they quickly switched the picture on the screen to someone else.
Michael's read of the situation, as a die-hard Yankees fan: The election is over.
ESPN confirmed the story
Cheney, who visited both clubhouses after batting practice, watched part of the game from the box of Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and part from a first-row seat next to the Yankees dugout, where he sat between New York Gov. George Pataki and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Cheney was booed when he was shown on the right-field videoboard during the seventh-inning.
Well, I don't watch baseball so my impression on this is just based off of what gets reported in the news. And I do not recall a Vice President or President getting booed at a baseball game. And just think, the Republican Convention is coming to town. If they are booing now, what do you think it will be like then?
This news really made my day.
9:40:48 PM | |
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From today's MoveOn newsletter:
For years, Fox News has been distorting the facts, covering for President Bush, and bashing groups like MoveOn. Now Uncovered director Robert Greenwald -- working with a group of Fox-monitoring MoveOn members -- has put together a documentary film that exposes Fox for what it is: partisan spin, not news.
We're using this movie to launch an organizing campaign with Common Cause and other great groups to "out" Fox News -- making sure everyone in the country knows the network is stumping for the Republican agenda.
Be among the first to see this new movie, help others see it, and take on Fox by hosting an Outfoxed house party on Sunday evening, July 18th. Sign up at:
http://action.moveon.org/outfoxed/newmeeting.html
Fox News star Bill O'Reilly will stop at nothing in acting as a partisan flak for Bush. When the 9/11 Commission reported finding no evidence of a link between Iraq and al-Qaeda, O'Reilly lashed out at the nation's major newspapers for reporting it. In June alone, O'Reilly compared Bush critics Michael Moore and Al Franken to Nazi propagandists and journalist Bill Moyers to Mao Zedong.
Unfortunately, parroting the Republican Party message is common in Fox's regular news reporting as well. Outfoxed features interviews with seven ex-Fox News employees who describe how, every day, highly partisan talking points are drawn up to influence newscasts.
When Michael Moore was asked what surprised him most during the making of Fahrenheit 9/11, he described his discovery of archived news footage the networks had edited or not aired at all in order to protect President Bush's image. His comments highlight the media's recent failure to independently evaluate Bush's claims before the war -- and no network failed more completely than Fox.
In addition to Common Cause, our partners on this campaign include the Center for American Progress, Free Press, Media Matters for America, and Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR).
On Sunday, July 18th, we'll get together to see the compelling evidence of Fox's partisanship presented in the Outfoxed film. Then we'll all join an interactive coast-to-coast conference call with Al Franken and director Robert Greenwald, to plan out how we'll take on Fox and take back our media.
7:56:46 PM | |
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Tuesday, June 29, 2004 |
 As the time limit set by his captors draws nigh, investigations into how Hassoun was kidnapped have surfaced. News reports have suggested that Hassoun went missing on June 19th and that he may have walked off the base in an attempt to go to Lebanon, where some of his family live. The San Diego Channel 10's website explained that the US military has "yet to confirm the kidnapping."
An Australian paper suggested that Hassoun deserted his unit.
The family of Hassoun, however, know that the image they saw in the video was Wassef. Here are their comments, as appeared in Channel 10's report:
Hassoun's family -- both in Lebanon and in Utah --- are convinced the videotape they've seen is Hassoun, 10News reported.
"It is him, 100 percent. I wish it was not him. But I've seen him. I know he's my brother," Sami Hassoun said.
Hassoun said his family is shocked to see the images of Islamic militants holding hostage a fellow Muslim and U.S. Marine.
"You don't know what to do and you don't know if you're going to believe it or not. It's like a dream you're seeing. It's very hard. It's just very hard," Hassoun said....
Speaking from Lebanon, Hassoun's brother begged kidnappers to release Wassef -- a member of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force based at Camp Pendleton.
Hassoun lived with his brother and relatives in the Salt Lake City suburb of West Jordan. A family spokesperson said they are still trying to make sense of what has happened.
"We appreciate and thank everyone from the local and national communities for their outpour of support," Hassoun family spokesman Terek Nosseir said.
And more pleas are coming from Hassoun's father, who spoke directly to the men allegedly holding his son.
"I ask them for the sake of God, Prophet Mohammed and their children to release my son and they will have a great reward from God," Mohammed Hassoun said.
Hopefully their pleas to goverments around the world will help get Wassef released. With news today that the three Turkish workers were released from their captors, maybe there is hope.
11:16:39 PM | |
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Scott Matheson is the Democratic candidate for Governor of Utah. His father, Scott Matheson Sr., was a popular two-term governor in the 70's. Scott Matheson is Dean and Professor of Law at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law.
The Matheson for Utah Governor campaign is having a slogan contest. I thought I'd come up with some of my own and run them by you first. Of course, not all of these are legitimate options; but it sure was fun coming up with them.
If they are looking for slogans that tie Scott with the governorship of his father, they could consider these:
Scott Matheson: Return of a King
Scott Matheson: Thank Heaven I'm Not Orrin Hatch's Son
Scott Matheson: The Legacy Lives On
If they are looking for slogans comparing him with his opponent Huntsman, they should consider these:
Scott Matheson: Not a Member of the Rich Boys Club
Scott Matheson: If you want a Ken Doll for Governor, Vote the Other Guy
Scott Matheson: The Candidate with No Corporate Ties
Scott Matheson: You won't find Chemicals in his Closet
Scott Matheson: The Law is on My Side
Scott Matheson: At Least I Have a Running-Mate Utahns Like
Scott Matheson: No Strings Attached
If they are looking for some of those warm, fuzzy type slogans, they might consider these:
Scott Matheson: It's Our Time
Scott Matheson: Good for What Ails Utah
Scott Matheson: The Candidate With Latter-day Vision
Scott Matheson: Moving Utah Into a New Century
If they are looking for something in your face, they should consider these:
Scott Matheson: It's about Better Education, Stupid!
Scott Matheson: Democrat. So what?
Scott Matheson: Yo Republicans! Super-size this!
10:43:29 PM | |
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Monday, June 28, 2004 |
I discovered today that Cpl. Wassef Hassoun, the US marine who was abducted by the Iraqi Response militant group, is from Utah and is Muslim. Because of this, I wonder if the militants are treating him as a traitor of the faith--fighting against the Jihad.
Yesterday, the family spoke (via their friend and spokesperson, Tarek Nosseir) to reporters and offered some beautiful sentiments despite the harsh fate that befalls their son this week.
From the Salt Lake City Tribune today:
"In the name of Allah the merciful, the compassionate, we accept destiny with its good and its bad," [Nossier] told reporters. "We pray and we plead for his safe release and we ask all people of the world to join us in our prayers. May God bless us all."
West Jordan police Capt. Gary Cox said the Hassoun family, whom he said were Lebanese, had been contacted by military officials.
Cox said the mood inside the home "was quite somber. They are obviously concerned for the man."
Judy Hassoun, Wassef's former sister-in-law who now lives in Bacliff, Texas, told the Associated Press that Hassoun joined the Marines after moving to the Salt Lake City area. He is serving his second stint in Iraq, she said.
Wassef is one of six children and is originally from Tripoli, Lebanon, she said, adding that he speaks fluent French and is "very peaceful, but very brave, very loving."
Several of the Hassoun family's West Jordan neighbors expressed shocked.
"You see this on the news but you don't expect to see it in your neighborhood," neighbor Karen Oborn said.
Our hearts go out to Cpl. Wassef Hassoun and his family. They'll be in our thoughts and prayers, as will the three Turkish and Pakistani men who are facing a similar fate of decapitation this week, and as have all the victims.
10:29:51 PM | |
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The Guardian newspaper in Britain pointed out the fact that Fahrenheit broke the boxoffice record for a Palme d'Or winner in its opening weekend. The record was previously held by Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction from 1994. It's opening weekend take was $9.3 million.
In regards to the successful weekend at the boxoffice, a reader by the name of Luke left a noteworthy comment on the post "The Barometer" over at Discourse.Net.
This is big. I just saw Fahrenheit 911.... It was intense. The crowd was all sorts of different people, really tough to stereotype. Waiting to get in, people were snaked all around the place in lines that are typically found only at Disney World or the premiere of a Star Wars movie. The crowd turned out to be very interactive, with clapping, gasping, applauding, and so on. There was a standing ovation at the end. This is a POWERFUL movie. I already knew most of what is in there, but its heartening to know that now everyone else in that theatre does too... If this country re-elects Bush, we cannot claim lack of knowledge as a defense.
We know all about him. We know what he said.. We know what he ordered. We know who said what about torture. We know who signed a presidential order claiming the power to unilaterally set aside/ suspend U.S. law and ratified treaties.
I have a feeling there may be a rush to register to vote from those who see this movie. It really leaves you wanting to do something to stop these people.
I changed my registration from Republican to Democrat back in December, and for the first time this year found myself contributing to political campaigns... first fifty bucks to Dean, then fifty to Kerry after Dean dropped out, even though I am unemployed. I have a feeling I am not the only one who has paid attention a little more than the media thinks, and who realizes what is going on in OUR name. One thing is for certain, this movie will lead to a few others like me drawing the same conclusions. Hopefully.
Peace.
Atrios from Eschaton, in his post "Heads Explode in Freeperville" posted the transcript of the Fox Sports commentary by Chris Myers on Sunday's race at Pomona pre-race program:
"You think you know Dale Earnhardt Jr.? He advised his crew to go see the Michael Moore movie Farenheit 911. He said hey, it'll be a good bonding experience no matter what your political belief. It's a good thing as an American to go see... and it just shows you that Dale Earnhardt Jr. can reach far beyond the steering wheel."
And finally, also from The Guardian, Gary Younge (in his article "Politics Gets Personal") reported from the opening of the film in Akron, Ohio, and documented his experiences and impressions for the people back in England.
Suzanne Aylward came out of the 7.30 screening vowing "to get everybody I know" to see the film. Aylward was greeted by canvassers inviting her to a meeting to discuss the film and handing out John Kerry stickers and badges, which she declined.
Aylward, who voted Nader last time, is going to back Kerry in November with reservations. "People don't love Kerry because they're not sure what he stands for. But I'm going to vote for him because he's not Bush." One of the Kerry campaigners overheard and shouted: "That's not true. Look at his position papers. Listen to what he says."
Aylward shrugs dismissively and her friend, Bobbie Watson, takes over. "I'm going to politely ask the people I know and who I trust and who trust me, who usually vote Republican or who haven't made up their minds, to at least consider voting for Kerry this time," she says. "I think they'll at least listen to me because they know I'm an open-minded person."
Welcome to the tone and tenor of the personal interactions that are going to assert the strongest influence on the forthcoming presidential election. In debates with friends, family and neighbours, at times hectoring, at others beseeching, filled with venom and vigour on both sides, such a close race is going to be won one vote at a time.
8:47:52 PM | |
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Sunday, June 27, 2004 |
On Saturday, video of three Turkish hostages was broadcast. If the militants demands are not met, they will be beheaded by Tuesday evening.
Today, footage of an American marine and a Pakistani driver for an American contract company was broadcast on Arab telvision. The Associated Press report by Chris Tomlinson explained that the militants belong to a group who call themselves Islamic Response. They are demanding that all of the prisoners be released from "occupation jails" in Iraq or the hostages will be beheaded.
The US marine, Wassef Ali Hassoun, had been missing from his unit for nearly one week. The militants explained that they lured him out of the base and then kidnapped him. The Pakistani, known as Amjad, was a driver for the Halliburton subsidiary company Kellog, Brown & Root.
Again, what a hell of a week this is gonna be!
10:19:27 PM | |
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Even though Michael Moore's film, Fahrenheit 911, only appeared in 868 theaters across the country, it was champion at the boxoffice in its debut weekend, bringing in $21.8 million dollars. This feat beats two boxoffice records. 1. It is the first documentary to be a top grossing film for a weekend. 2. It became the top grossing documentary of all time, beating out Moore's Bowling for Columbine ($21.6 million). The fact that it accomplished this in three days is literally amazing. Michael Moore thanked (and I paraphrase) the conservative groups and media for making a big deal about the film because it spurred more interest and curiousity in it.
10:02:44 PM | |
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Bush's campaign website contains a campaign ad that uses images of Hitler interlaced with footage of John Kerry, Al Gore, and Howard Dean. This ad was sent electronically to over 6 million supporters.
Of course, this attack follows on the heels of the MoveOn ad contest "Bush in 30 Seconds" last fall in which two entries out of 1,500 entries comparing Bush to Hitler. Neither one of these ads, however, even made it into the final 15 in January.
I must admit that having read Victor Klemporerer's biography I WIll Bear Witness: A Diary of the Nazi Years, Martin Gilbert's The Holocaust: A History of the Jews of Europe During the Second World War, and Three Against Hitler (the author's name has alluded me), I believe that Bush's rhetoric is a close shadow to Hitler's nationalistic rhetoric, policies and agenda. There's a smell of fascism to it all.
If you want to see the ad, visit the Bush campaign website at: http://www.georgewbush.com
If you want to read Kerry's remarks on this ad, visit his campaign website at: http://www.johnkerry.com
As a footnote, there are many who sense the comparison between Bush and Hitler, from the moment he took office via the decision of the Supreme Court. Robert's Virtual Soapbox has posted pictures created by a variety of such people that depict this fact. These graphics would surely send Republicans into cardiac orbit.
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Note: I updated this post to reflect the fact that MoveOn did not make the controversial ad that compared Bush's rhetoric to Hitler's. There were two submissions that focused on this theme, for MoveOn's contest Bush in 30 Seconds. Thank you Rayne for correcting me on this point. I apologize for being so remiss.
12:16:48 PM | |
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On Saturday, an Iraqi militant group with ties to Abu al-Zarqawi, sent a video to Al Jazeera that demanded that Turkey stop doing buisness with US operations and pull out of Iraq and that they (Turkish people) protest the country's meetings with Bush in Ankara. If these demands were not met, the group warned, they would behead three Turkish workers who they had kidnapped just two days earlier.
Turkey responded today that they would not negotiate with terrorists. So I guess we'll be seeing three more decapitations by Tuesday's deadline.
Here is the text of the Associated Press release today:
The Arab television station Al-Jazeera aired a video issued by al-Zarqawi's "Tawhid and Jihad" organization, showing the three Turks kneeling on the ground in front of two black-clothed gunmen and a black banner emblazoned with the name of al-Zarqawi's organization. The men held up Turkish passports.
In a written statement, the group demanded Turkish companies stop doing business with American forces in Iraq and called for "large demonstrations" in Turkey against the visit of "Bush the criminal."
It said that if Turkey refused their demands the hostages "will receive the just punishment of being beheaded."
Al-Jazeera received the tape Saturday, an employee at the station told The Associated Press. The statement did not say when or where the three were abducted. It appeared the deadline was Tuesday, but the message did not specify what time it runs out.
The three men disappeared two days ago, said a Turkish consular official in Baghdad who asked to be identified only by his surname, Gungor. He said he had no further information.
And on Thursday, fighters loyal to al-Zarqawi launched a wave of coordinated attacks in five cities in Iraq, battling with U.S. troops who eventually regained control but only after some 100 people, including three Americans were killed....
Bush met with Turkish leaders in Ankara on Sunday ahead of a NATO summit starting the next day. Some 40,000 people protested in street demonstrations in Istanbul against Bush, whose policies in Iraq have been extremely unpopular among Turks.....
With the June 30th turnover a mere three days away, I wonder if the violence and death we are seeing will rise to yet a higher crescendo. The Secretary of State, Colin Powell, has stated that the US will do all they can to track down the whereabouts of these Turkish workers before Tuesday. But with the rise of attacks throughout many Iraqi cities, is there even the bandwidth to accomplish this task, especially within 72 hours? The words seem as hollow as Saudi Arabia's comments regarding finding Paul Johnson.
This is going to be one hell of a week.
12:02:03 PM | |
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Thursday, June 24, 2004 |
Blasts in Iraq today killed over 100 people, injuring 230 +. I have not read the article tied to this headline but the headlines all week have pointed to an Iraq in near chaos. A poll today (I do believe posted on CNN) reported that 53 or 55% of those polled feel it was a mistake to send troops to Iraq. With this in mind, I came across a post titled The System by Matt Yglesias. In it, Yglesias explains why Iraq was not a good candidate for democracy, countering with names of states who would have been a better choice. (Of course, he wasn't suggesting invading these countries, but working with the system for change in the Middle East.)
Benjamin Hoffman is one of several people I've seen around lately reviving the notion that the real sense in which the second Gulf War is part of the war on terrorism is that it was a necessary first step to reconstructing the failed Middle Eastern political system that was a breeding ground for terrorism. One hasn't heard much about this lately, because right now Iraq seems exceedingly unlikely to develop a liberal political order, which makes the whole argument a bit moot....
The disagreement is about why and where Iraq fits into this whole picture. I think folks who supported the war on these grounds (Tom Friedman, etc.) are suffering from a serious case of false consciousness. In other words, it's not the case that they have a big idea -- The Need for Reconstruction -- and then the small idea -- Invade Iraq -- follows logically from TNFR. Rather, they had a big idea -- TNFR -- and no real idea of what followed from it. At the same time, there were all these people out there saying "invade Iraq!" "invade Iraq!" "invade Iraq!" so they manaed to convince themselves that invading Iraq would be a good way to implement their big idea. But it isn't, and it wasn't.
Iraq has to be considered one of the worst possible candidates for a democratic transitions. It combined a total absence of civil society with a huge case of resource curse, poor relations with its neighbors, and two awkwardly large minority populations. As an Arab model it suffers from the further flaw that an Iraqi democracy would be a Shi'ite democracy, which is not the best example for all the Sunni Arab countries out there. The right way to try and effect transformation would have been to support the states -- Morocco, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain -- that are already transforming, and to try and use leverage to push Egypt to change. Egypt has a dominant Sunni Arab population, is the center of Arab media and culture, has civil society groups, has some pseudo-democratic institutions in place, is subject to American pressure, and has no resource curse. This was not, I readily admit, obvious to me in December 2001 or whenever, but I don't think anyone who seriously and objectively thought about the question could possibly come to the conclusion that invading Iraq was a high-percentage transformative move.
5:46:22 PM | |
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Wednesday, June 23, 2004 |
Yesterday, I made the comment that I thought it was odd that the South Korean government confirmed the body of Kim Sun-il's as his based off of a digital picture sent over email.
Today, an AP report out of Baghdad reports some more oddities. Let me just entertain you with these. I'm not really saying anything, just thinking aloud to myself.
1. Kim Sun-il was kidnapped around May 31 and not June 17, as initially reported by his employer, Kim Chun-ho of Cana General Trading Co., as reported by a South Korean Foreign Ministry official.
2. "...[B]efore it was widely known that Kim was missing - a videotape was delivered to Associated Press Television News in which Kim says in English that he liked the Iraqi people and criticized the United States for the war in Iraq."
The tape delivered to the APTN office in Baghdad in early June by an unidentified courier shows Kim, an employee of a supplier to the U.S. military, seated before a bare beige wall. He is alone, clean-shaven and his hair is cut short.
In the tape broadcast Sunday, Kim had a scraggly beard and his hair was much longer, indicating several weeks had passed. He was wearing a dark shirt with the words "Body Glove" written on them.
A voice off camera asks him questions, and he replies in halting English. He gives his name, says he was born Sept. 13, 1970, and gives his place of birth as Busan. When asked his occupation, he says he taught mathematics.
He says he came to Iraq about six months ago and that he wanted to study Arabic.
After this, a portion of the tape is erased. When the image returns, Kim - still in the same place, and in the same clothes - says he was at an American camp three days ago, to "deliver merchandise," including pillows and sunglasses.
He mentions his brothers and sisters, and says he is the only one in his family who is single.
Kim also describes President Bush as a "terrorist" and says the United States is "killing the Iraqi people."
"I saw George Bush attack here because of Iraqi oil," he said. "So I don't like George Bush or America."
Kim says he went to Fallujah and that the Americans searched him. He stands up, turns around and puts his hands on the wall as if he were being searched.
"I like Iraqi people. The Iraqi people are very kind," Kim said. "I think they are poor because of war."
I'm trying not to suggest too much because it crosses the conspiracy theory line. However, I find it odd that Kim speaks so freely and openly on this video. My take is that he feels safe because of where he is and who he is with. I think he is answering questions in broken English because the questions are being asked in English. I think the report would have mentioned if the questions were being asked in broken English, which would suggest that he was being interrogated by non-Americans.
3. "APTN did not broadcast the videotape because it was unclear if Kim was being held against his will. But in the first week of June AP asked the Foreign Ministry in Seoul about Kim and was told that the government had no reports of a South Korean in captivity."
4. "Kim's predicament was clear in two videotapes that were released in the past week by his captors: one shows Kim begging for his life and screaming, 'I don't want to die,' and the other shows him seated in front of masked gunmen shortly before his death."
If Kim Sun-il's comments were meant for the South Korean government, why are all of his comments (cries for freedom) in English?
5. "Kim was believed to have been killed about 14 hours earlier, South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Shin Bong-kil said, citing an evaluation by a U.S. military doctor."
Again, I find it odd that the South Korean embassy did not run their own tests on Kim's body; confirm it was his body and determine the time of death, exact cause of death, etc. In the above fact, Kim's time of death was determined by an evaluation by a US military doctor.
Reverse the roles (that a South Korean military found an American soldier's body), and the method of confirming the body and post-mortem examinations would not have occurred by South Korea. Right?
6:06:26 PM | |
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Tuesday, June 22, 2004 |
Kim Sun-il has been beheaded today by an Iraqi militant group, despite negotiations from South Korea. There were no photos or video of Kim Sun-il's beheading released to the public.
Hundreds of South Koreans went to the streets on Monday, according to news reports, to attempt to get their government to save Sun-il's life by rescinding their commitment to send 3,000 troops to Iraq. Their voices were not heard; nor were the Koreans negotions with the Iraqi militant group known as Monotheism and Jihad successful. Sun-il was beheaded anyway.
Just like Nick Berg's photos and video, Sun-il was dressed in orange prison fatigues, he was blindfolded, and he probably knew his fate. One aspect of this beheading is different though, there have been no photos or video of the beheading.
The AP report out of The Guardian explained that Al-Jazeera had received the videotape that showed that Kim Sun-il had been beheaded, but failed to show or release the contents. If they ever will be released to the general public, as they should be, only time can tell.
Kim's body was found hours after his beheading between Baghdad and Fallujah. He was found by American troops.
The South Korean consul in Iraq and Kim Chun-ho, president of Gana General Trading the company that employed the victim, were travelling to the site 35km west of Baghdad to collect the remains, Mr Shin said. Gana is a supplier to the US military.
Listen to this odd detail of how the South Korean embassy in Baghdad confirmed the body was Kim's. And I quote the Guardian --
The US military first identified the remains as an Asian man and notified the South Korean military in Iraq of the finding. Later, the South Korean embassy in Baghdad confirmed that the body was that of Mr Kim by checking a picture of the remains that it received by email, Mr Shin said.
Don't you find it odd that they confirm the identity of a person via "a picture" sent by email? I mean, it didn't say that Kim Chun-ho, president of Gana General Trading, confirmed the body was Kim Sun-il's and then the embassy confirmed that. You'd think the S. Korean embassy would want the body in its hands before it made such an important comment such as this.
10:09:10 PM | |
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Monday, June 21, 2004 |
Directed by : Alfonso Cuarón
Screenplay: Steve Kloves
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Emma Watson (Hermione Granger), Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley), Gary Oldman (Sirius Black), Emma Thompson (Professor Sybil Trelawney), Michael Gambon (Albus Dumbledore), Alan Rickman (Professor Severus Snape), David Thewlis (Professor Lupin), Maggie Smith (Professor Minerva McGonagall), Robbie Coltrane (Rubeus Hagrid), Richard Griffiths (Uncle Vernon), Pam Ferris (Aunt Marge), Fiona Shaw (Aunt Petunia), Harry Melling (Dudley Dursley), Oliver Phelps (George Weasley), James Phelps (Fred Weasley), Chris Rankin (Percy Weasley), Julie Walters (Mrs. Molly Weasley), Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley), Mark Williams (Mr. Arthur Weasley), Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom),
Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy), Julie Christie (Madame Rosmerta), Timothy Spall (Peter Pettigrew)
Based on the novel by J.K. Rowling
As the students are gathering in the grand hall in the opening ceremony of another year at Hogwarts, a student choir sings "Something wicked this way comes." Well, I don't know about you, but the only thing I find wicked about this third film in the world-renowned classic Harry Potter series is that it is so wickedly good! For the first time in this series, this Harry Potter adaptation graduates from being a predominately kids franchise to something that adults can sink their teeth into.
Alfonso Cuaron brought a level of sophistication to the series. Gone were the long shots of smarmy looks, slightly melodramatic scenarios, and unrealistic set design and visual effects. (I'm particularly referring to the last film, specifically the entrance of the chamber of secrets which seemed more fitting for a Star Wars film. And speaking of the chamber of secrets, whoever decided to make the basilisk the size and length of Disney's Monorail made a grave mistake. I mean, really, it was implausable that a creature that size could get around Hogwarts in the pipes unless those pipes were the size of the Chunnel. And come on, who would believe that a snake that size would slither unnoticed around the halls of Hogwarts?)
Kloves script was tight, seemingly focused on two main themes--the Harry Potter/Sirius Black relationship and Harry Potter's longing for his parents. There were no extended matches of Quiditch and no end of the year counting up of points to see which house won the prestigious house cup. All of this is good for the franchise in my point of view because, really, after all of the dangerous adventures and near-death experiences that Harry, Hermione, and Ron have lived through, these events are seemingly trivial.
And this is one thing that concerned me going into this film. Will the script and Cuaron's direction create and present a Harry that shows the scars of his experience? After having battled Voldermort twice and come out alive, Harry should exhibit a bit more courage and wisdom, if not a bit of fearlessness and pride.
I was not disappointed. In the beginning, Harry does exhibit more angst and rebelliousness towards the Dursley's; consider the fact that he didn't cower under the condescending remarks of Aunt Madge. And did you notice in this exchange that the Dursley's didn't command Harry around as much. They too showed the marks of experience from the previous year, in which Uncle Vernon fell two stories out of Harry's window in an attempt to stop Harry from fleeing to school.
Cuaron added more depth to Harry's character through metaphor. It seemed Cuaron used symbolism that highlighted the emptiness that Harry feels not having parents. For example, when Harry runs away from the Dursley's, reeling mad after hearing Aunt Madge insult the character of Harry's dad and mom, he runs out into the damp and dark night.
We hear the sound of his rolling suitcase echo off the houses, concrete, and asphalt. We see him walking off into a distance that is crowded with homes with lighted windows, but we know, as does Harry, that none of those homes are his. There is a moment when this dawns on him and he stops and sits down on a dimly lit curb. The park behind him is as empty as it is dark. The scene added a visually symbolic exclamation point that Harry was not just alone, he was lost and empty. Knowing his circumstance, we knew this emptiness was the void left from not knowing his parents, not having them.
The Dementors added a touch of horror to this film. They were as eerie and frightening as Peter Jackson's representation of the Ringwraiths. Yet, the Dementors were even more so eerie because of how they could kill you, by sucking out your goodness, or your soul (if you received the "kiss"). The visual effects depicting the Dementors sucking the goodness out of you were masterfully realized, cleverly accomplished, bone-chilling, and horrific. I wondered if that alone could be the core of any child's nightmares for nights to come. To me, the visual depiction reminded me of a smeared photograph--while the photograph was being taken, the camera slightly moved, distorting the image of the person so slightly that there also appears to be the ghost of the person stepping outside of the body.
One aspect of Cuaron's directing that I love is how he can get the audience more involved in the film, as if we are participants. Let me try to explain what I mean with this example from his last film Y Tu Mama Tambien. One of the main characters, Ana Morelos, is sitting in the doctors office. We can't see her at first but we can hear her. The camera slowly moves down the hall in the direction of their conversation. We follow along with the camera as it views pictures hanging on the walls. It finally pauses at the entry to the room where the doctor and Ana talk. The camera then walks in and we sense we have just joined them. Somehow, this technique makes the conversation more poignant to us.
There were glimpses of this technique in the opening scenes with the Dursley's. It was used going in and out of the great hall. It was used coming in and out of scenes in the rooms and classrooms of Hogwarts, especially Professor Trelawney's. It was used when Harry snuck into Madame Rosmerta's cavern to listen to the conversation between Professor McGonagall and the Director of the Ministry of Magic.
The script also allowed Cuaron to use this technique when Harry and Hermione transported back in time to clean up events that had occurred on that fateful evening.
The photography is something to be noted highly too. To me, the landscapes of Hogwarts have never been so well-defined and dynamic.
On another note, The Prisoner of Azkaban has one of the greatest time transitions I can recall. There is a scene in which Harry's owl is flying from the forest to Hogwarts. The camera is positioned in a manner so that we see the owl flying toward us. As the owl approaches, snowflakes begin to fall. As the owl passes, snow is falling and it begins to accumulate on the ground. As Hogwarts comes into view, and as the camera begins following the owl (as if it were a flying thing too) snow falls heavily and it is completely winter. Simply breathtaking.
Steve Kloves' script is meaningful and touching. I appreciated Dumbledore's remarks in the beginning of the film that state that even in dark times, one can find the light if they but turn on the light. I appreciated Professor Lupin's remarks to Harry about his mother and father; and the dialogue that transpired between Lupin and Harry when Lupin trained Harry to dispell attacking Dementers.
I've heard many who complain that the book is better than the movie because the movie left out too many important facts. If there is one thing I've learned about films, it is that they can never be replicas of the books they are adapted from. They really are intended to be their own creatures. The Prisoner of Azkaban works well as its own work, separate of the intentions and expectations of the book. Cuaron could have incorporated everything but would have sacrificed a tightly woven work focussed on the themes revolving around Harry / Sirius Black / Lupin / Pettigrew's relationship and Harry's longing to know his parents, (which, by the way, was incredibly stronger in this film and done in a highly moving manner).
Thanks to a masterful cast and crew, particularly Alfonso Cuaron, stunning photography, and meaningful script, Harry Potter: The Prisoner of Azkabon is not only one of my favorite films of the year but possibly one of the best films of the year, too.
11:26:28 PM | |
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From the week June 14 to June 20, Shrek 2 surpassed The Passion of the Christ ($369.34 million) and Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ($376.96 million) to become the 6th biggest boxoffice hit of all time. It now has an impressive and very unexpected tally of $378.3 million.
The fifth biggest grossing film of all time is Spiderman, which brought in $405.85 million.
Does Shrek have the staying power at the boxoffice to knock Spiderman from the top 5? Possibly. But with the coming release of Spiderman 2 in less than two weeks, possibly not.
And speaking of the Spiderman 2 release, I'm very curious to see if it will break the boxoffice record set by its predecessor--$115 million in its opening weekend.
7:06:25 PM | |
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Sunday, June 20, 2004 |
Chris Hedges' critically acclaimed work War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning was published in June of 2003, just over a month after Bush declared the war over on the bow of the USS Abraham. With the recent beheading of Paul Johnson and the ongoing investigation into US tortures over detainees on our collective conscience, my thoughts turned to some fitting quotes from Hedges.
[page 20] We are quick to accept the facile and mendacious ideological veneer that is wrapped like a mantle around the shoulders of those who prosecute the war.
It helps to have a conservative core of media stations that will paint the ideological veneer that the White House wants them to. And in response to the media in times of war, Hedges' writes this fascinating description:
[page 22] ...the lie of war is almost always the lie of omission. The blunders and senseless slaughter by our generals, the execution of prisoners and innocents, and the horror of wounds are rarely disclosed, at least during a mythic war, to the public. Only when the myth is punctuated, as it eventually was in Vietnam, does the press begin to report in a sensory rather than a mythic manner. But even then it is it reacting to a public that has changed its perception of war. The press usually does not lead.
Prior to Reagan's death, I do believe that we saw this very thing occurring, the 9/11 investigations, the investigations into torture, and the pressing on the White House in regards to the Torture Memo. Reagan's death, in many aspects, has taken many back into that mythic mindset, including the media.
What is Hedges' definition of mythic and sensory reality? Consider these paragraphs:
[page 21] Lawrence LeShan in The Psychology of War differentiates between "mythic reality" and "sensory reality" in wartime. In sensory reality we see events for what they are. Most of those who are thrust into combat soon find it impossible to maintain the mythic perception of war. They would not survive if they did. Wars that lose their mythic stature for the public, such as Korea or Vietnam, are doomed to failure, for war is exposed for what it is--organized murder.
But in mythic war we imbue events with meanings they do not have. We see defeats as signposts on the road to ultimate victory. We demonize the enemy so that our opponent is no longer human. We view ourseleves, our people, as the embodiment of absolute goodness.
In the bolded text in the first paragraph, I sense that this is why there is such a push by the Admininstration to stress the ties between Al Qaida and Saddam's Iraq; this is why this Administration is trying to instill in our heads that Abu Ghraib was simply the acts of "a few bad apples;" this is why there is always an image painted that the war is going as planned. The mythic reality of our war with Iraq is on the verge of sloughing away, as it should do.
The second paragraph, the second line is simply masterful because we see this being fed to us frequently. Whenever there has been a major setback or tragedy, such as Fallujah, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfield, or Ashcroft has come out in a speech or press conference and said that this uprising or battle indicates that we are wiining the war on terrorism.
Finally, I'd to leave off with a section about abuse and torture. Hedges' prefaces this paragraph with the portion of Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida, in which Achilles meets Hector on the battlefield. Achilles finds Hector unarmed and rather than be honorable enough to allow Hector to arm himself and battle for his life, Achilles opts to literally slaughter him with the help of his soldiers. Hedges comments on this passage with these poignant thoughts:
[page 30] Moments after Hector's death dozens of heavily armed men thrust spears into Hector's corpse. Achilles commands his Myrmidons to cry out to the Greeks that he "hath the mighty Hector slain." Here is the lie of the heroic ideal, an ideal we nurture, despite centuries of war. Here is the instant creation of heroic myth, out of murder. Here also we see the mutilation of the dead that has been part of military behavior since there were men in arms. If you kill your enemy his body becomes your trophy, your possession, and this has been a fundamental part of warfare since before the Philistines beheaded Saul.
These facts haunt the pictures, video, and stories coming out of Abu Ghraib. Our drive to possess trophies made out of human suffering, torture, and murder may yet destroy our perception of our war; it may yet bring down this presidency.
10:24:24 PM | |
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Saturday, June 19, 2004 |
Robert Crook of Robert's Virtual Soapbox has the pictures I was referring to in my last post, of Paul Johnson after he had been beheaded yesterday somewhere in Riyahd, Saudi Arabia.
Robert's commentary on the matter attempts to answer why Americans will argue about seeing and posting Johnson's graphic photos. He also explains that Johnson would not have died, Nick Berg would not have died, over 840 soldiers would not have died if it was not for the aggressive policies of Bush. Consider these remarks:
We don't want to see them because we don't want to know the unpleasant consequences of the actions that our government is taking in our name.
We want to believe that if we don't see it, then somehow we're not responsible for it.
But we are responsible for it. For starters, we didn't make a collective peep when George W. Bush and his Republican henchpeople stole the presidential election of 2000. Still basking in our Clinton-era prosperity, our immediate little universes weren't shaken -- we could still drive our SUVs, could still get our super-sized meals at the drive-throughs and could still watch our dozens of channels of television -- so we didn't do shit while our democracy was seriously subverted right before our very eyes. A stolen presidential election was, in our estimation, not such a big deal. That's politics for you! And it doesn't matter who's in office -- all politicians are alike anyway! That seemed to be the collective "wisdom" of late 2000 and early 2001.
Now, the chickens are coming home to roost -- with their heads cut off.
Let me make it clear for the Limbaugh-lovers that I oppose beheading. I oppose murder. I oppose the killing of another human being except in clear cases of self-defense and in clear cases of the defense of others, that is, in those rare cases in which others most likely will be killed imminently without intervention. (The death penalty does not meet these criteria, which is why I oppose it.)
I watched the video of 26-year-old American businessman Nicholas Berg's beheading in Iraq last month. It was, to put it mildly, disturbing.
But unless we step outside of the black-and-white, with-us-or-against-us, we're-good-and-they're-evil thinking in which the members of the neo-Nazi Bush regime consistently encourage us to engage, we are going to see more and more images like those above.
See, in March 2003 the United States invaded, and now occupies, the sovereign nation of Iraq, although Iraq did not do anything to the United States or to any of the United States' allies or even to any of its (Iraq's) neighbors to warrant the United States' invasion. And the Bush regime's lies to the world that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction that posed an imminent threat turned out to be -- well, lies.
You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand, then, that millions of Muslims would be pretty fucking pissed off, then, that thousands of Iraqi civilians have been killed since March 2003 and that the United States occupies Iraq based upon the lies that the Bush regime told the world before the invasion. And it would be understandable for Muslims living outside of Iraq to wonder if their nation were next to be "liberated" by the United States.
And you don't have to be a neurosurgeon to see that if any of these pissed-off Muslims want to retaliate against the United States' wholly unprovoked attack on and unjustified occupation of a Muslim nation, they don't have nearly the range of options that the United States military has when it wishes to retaliate (thanks to the U.S. taxpayers, whose billions of tax dollars aren't going to the things that they and their children need, but are going to "defense," which actually is not defense at all, but which is offense, and which, coinky-dinkily, just so happens to make BushCheneyCorp's war-profiteering subsidiaries, like Dick Cheney's Halliburton, billions of dollars richer).
Muslims can't make retaliatory air strikes on the U.S. military when they're pissed off. They have to resort to smaller, more personal-appearing, often (if not usually) uglier tactics -- unlike the larger, more impersonal-appearing, more sanitary-appearing killings that the U.S. military can pull off with its weapons of mass destruction. (Similarly, somehow if a poor black man holds someone up for $25 at gunpoint, this seems much worse to the average American than does an impeccably dressed rich white white-collar criminal who steals millions of dollars without a gun.)
So we don't like the Muslims' retaliatory tactics, such as hostage-taking, suicide bombings and decapitations.
But what other tactics are available to them?
I agree with Robert. There comes a time when you have to see that Bush's cowboy-like mindset and arrogant, aggressive policies toward the rest of the world, but particularly his unilateral and pre-emptive invasion of Iraq has caused ill will in the world toward Americans.
I received a response letter from Orrin Hatch regarding his approval of the job Rumsfield is doing as Secretary of Defense. His closing paragraph about our enemy reveals much:
These are difficult times for every American. However, we must not lose sight of the big picture: we are fighting a shadowy enemy that seeks to destroy our very way of life. The war against terror will last years, possibly decades.
Yes, Mr. Hatch, thanks to this investigation-ridden and corporatistic-minded Bush Adminstration, this war has created more terrorists who will most assuredly cause terror that will last years and possibly decades. More Americans will be losing their heads and more of our soldiers will be coming home in caskets because of their policies.
8:04:04 AM | |
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Friday, June 18, 2004 |
In answer to what we promised ... to kill the hostage Paul Marshall (Johnson) after the period is over ... the infidel got his fair treatment ...Let him taste something of what Muslims have long tasted from Apache helicopter fire and missiles...
Those were the last words spoken before Paul Johnson was executed by beheading by Al Qaida militants somewhere in Riyahd, Saudi Arabia. Johnson, who worked as an Apache helicopter systems engineer for Lockheed Martin, was kidnapped last weekend. His captors threatened to kill him on Friday if Saudi Arabia did not release its Al Qaida prisoners. The news report I read by Salah Nasrawi stated plainly: "The Saudi government rejected the demands."
But really, I am a bit confused on why Al Qaida thought the Saudi government would even care about an American hostage. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure the Saudi governent was concerned about the life of the hostage. But to release militant, anti-kingdom prisoners in exchange for the life of just one American, it seems more than absurd. I'm sure they laughed themselves silly at the request. One would think that in order to be taken seriously by the Saudi government, Al Qaida would have been smart enough to kidnap a government official or member of the royal family.
Nasrawi's report also explained that photos of the beheading are being displayed on a website. But since the website is not named; and since the website was taken down for maintenance purposes soon after the statement of Johnson's beheading occurred, I was unable to get a validate what said occurred occurred, or have a resolution. Nasrawi explained the photos in this manner:
One of the three photographs posted on the Web site showed a man's head, face toward the camera, being held by a hand. The other two showed a beheaded body lying prone on a bed, with the severed head placed in the small of his back, the clothes underneath bloodied. The face looked like Johnson's.
On another note, Nasrawi makes it a point to state that Al Qaida hates the royal family and the Saudi government--
...Saudi and U.S. officials say aims to drive foreign workers from the kingdom and undermine the ruling royal family, hated by al-Qaida.
On the eve of the release of Farenheit 9/11, which takes a serious look at the relationship of the Bush family and Saudi's royal family, Nasrawi's verbiage seems to paint the picture that Saudi Arabia is a victim of terrorism. With the knowledge that 14 of the 19 pilots on 9/11 were Saudi Arabians, that Saudi nationals were flown out of the country the days immediately following 9/11 under the guidance of our government, that the president removed 28 pages of the 9/11 investigation report that discussed relations with Saudi Arabia, and that members of the royal family financed terrorist groups, I'm sorry but I just don't believe it. Saudi Arabia has more ties to terrorism that Iraq ever did.
I'd like to believe otherwise. I really would.......but right now, I can't.
11:19:13 PM | |
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Thursday, June 17, 2004 |
The Nevada Test Site is infamous for the nuclear tests that occurred there during the 1950's and early 1960's. The site is approximately 1,300 square miles, roughly the size of Rhode Island. It's been written that the site today is still littered with the remnants of makeshift towns that were built in order to test the effects of the initial impact of the explosion, twisted and/or molten metal and broken concrete foundations amongst desert landscapes and a dry lake bed.
Back in the 1950's, the small sleepy town of St. George had front row seats to the 14 or so nuclear tests, seeing the western sky light up, seeing the mushroom cloud. Naturalist and author, Terry Tempest Williams, (who lost her mother, grandmothers, and aunts to cancer attributed to the fallout of these tests), described seeing one of the tests in her masterful essay "The Clan of the One Breasted Women."
As background to her comments, Williams was having dinner with her father. It had been one year since her mother, Diane Williams, had died as a result of cancer. As they were talking of their times together as a family, Williams confided with him about a dream she continues to have since a young child, a dream in which the whole family is present.
I told my father that for years, as long as I could remember, I saw this flash of light in the night in the desert--that this image had so permeated my being that I could not venture south without seeing it again, on the horizon, illuminating buttes and mesas.
"You did see it," he said.
"Saw what?"
"The bomb. The cloud. We were driving home from Riverside, California. You were sitting on [your mother's] lap. She was pregnant. In fact, I remember the day, September 7, 1957. We had just gotten out of the Service. We were driving north, past Las Vegas. It was an hour or so before dawn, when this explosion went off. We not only heard it, but felt it. I thought the oil tanker in front of us had blown up. We pulled over and suddenly, rising from the desert floor, we saw it, clearly, this golden-stemmed cloud, the mushroom. The sky seeemed to vibrate with an eerie pink glow. Within a few minutes, a light ash was raining down on the car."
I stared at my father.
"I thought you knew that," he said. "It was common occurrence in the fifties."
Today, St. George and the nieghboring towns that surround it are growing at an amazing rate. In the last three decades, according to the demographics posted at the St. George Chamber of Commerce, the entire county as seen a growth of 86%, the fastest in the state. Population today is approximately 106,000.
St. George is known for its great recreation. It's home of 10 championship golf courses, the Utah Summer Olympics, the Utah Senior Games, and a marathon that is not only the 15th largest in the nation but recognized by Runner's World as one of the 10 Most Scenic and Fastest marathons and Top 20 marathons in the US.
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