iraq « white male consumer

CCS was at tax cap with +4.27% (last year voters sunk a 1.8% inc.) #518vote budget cuts 17.1 staff, extracurrics, and 1/2 of sports prog

— May 15th via Twitter
#Cambridge school budget (failed 1st time last year) passes by healthy margin, 780-427; two educators win empty board seats

— May 15th via Twitter
Budgets at Hoosick Falls and Cambridge Central schools both pass, as do bus props, etc. #518vote

— May 15th via Twitter
Plenty of activity at HFCS; concert, art show, voting, and BOE meeting. Local school election results 2nite from #Cambridge & #HoosickFalls

— May 15th via Twitter
Morbid obesity kills famously fat cat - Times Union http://t.co/VuZm463y

— May 7th via Twitter
The Barackness Monster ain't buying it!

— April 25th via Twitter
Spit out that chew and get yo mouth checked foo: free oral cancer screenings thru month of April http://t.co/M5Djk6ru

— April 7th via Twitter
Building stuff was easier in the'40s: furniture store owner wants 2 rebuild 19' ladderback landmark, expects resistance http://t.co/UzJQF077

— April 7th via Twitter
Local NY municipalities largely don't heed open meeting law amendment to post info online http://t.co/2ZeCwKVs Does your's?

— April 7th via Twitter
Bennington Vt Big Bros Big Sis celebrates 25th "silver" anniversary of Bowl fer Kids event by raising $50k http://t.co/dI9PG36n

— April 2nd via Twitter

More From Vietnam

Posted February 3rd, 2005 at 5:48PM

Then.

U.S. Encouraged by Vietnam Vote:
Officials Cite 83% Turnout Despite Vietcong Terror

by Peter Grose, Special to the New York Times (9/4/1967)

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3 — United States officials were surprised and heartened today at the size of turnout in South Vietnam’s presidential election despite a Vietcong terrorist campaign to disrupt the voting.

According to reports from Saigon, 83 per cent of the 5.85 million registered voters cast their ballots yesterday. Many of them risked reprisals threatened by the Vietcong.

The size of the popular vote and the inability of the Vietcong to destroy the election machinery were the two salient facts in a preliminary assessment of the nation election based on the incomplete returns reaching here.
…
The purpose of the voting was to give legitimacy to the Saigon Government.

Now.

The IECI clarified an earlier estimate of a 72 percent turnout, saying that the “figures are only very rough, word-of-mouth estimates gathered informally from the field.”

If truth is the first casualty of war, reliable numbers must be the first casualty of an occupation-controlled election. The second layer of spin has been designed to convince us that an overwhelming majority of Iraqis participated. The initial claim of 72% having voted was quickly downgraded to 57% of those registered to vote. So what percentage of the adult population is registered to vote? The Iraqi ambassador in London was unable to enlighten me. In fact, as UN sources confirm, there has been no registration or published list of electors – all we are told is that about 14 million people were entitled to vote.

As for Iraqis abroad, the up to 4 million strong exiled community (with perhaps a little over 2 million entitled to vote) produced a 280,000 registration figure. Of those, 265,000 actually voted.

“DEBKAfileâ€™s Iraq experts reveal that, while the turnout is officially estimated at 60%, the real figure will probably turn out to be quite a bit lower, no more than 40-45% … In Basra, Iraqâ€™s second largest town, the turnout was 32-35%, although Iraqi election officials claimed 90%.”

Marine General’s Blunt Comments Draw Fire

Posted February 3rd, 2005 at 5:27PM

Marine General’s Blunt Comments Draw Fire

SAN DIEGO — At a panel discussion in San Diego Tuesday, a top Marine general tells an audience that, among other things, it is “fun to shoot some people.”

The comment, made by Lt. Gen. James Mattis, came in reference to fighting insurgents in Iraq. He went on to say, “Actually, its a lot of fun to fight. You know, it’s a hell of a hoot. I like brawling.”

“You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for 5 years because they didn’t wear a veil,” Mattis continued. “You know, guys like that ain’t got no manhood left anyway. So it’s a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them.”

About 200 people gathered for the discussion, held at the San Diego Convention Center. While many military members laughed at the comments, a military expert interviewed by NBC 7/39 called the comments “flippant.”

“I was a little surprised,” said Retired Vice Adm. Edward H. Martin. “I don’t think any of us who have ever fought in wars liked to kill anybody.”

Mattis also discussed operational tactics of the war, calling on military members not to underestimate the capacity of terrorists.

Mattis leads Camp Pendleton’s 1st Marine Division in Iraq. He is in charge of the Marine Corps combat development and is based in Quantico, Va.

via Dahr Jamail’s Iraq Dispatches

Dahr Jamail’s Iraq Dispatches

Posted February 3rd, 2005 at 4:25PM

Dahr Jamail’s Iraq Dispatches

Weary of the overall failure of the US media to accurately report on the realities of the war in Iraq for the Iraqi people and US soldiers, Dahr Jamail went to Iraq to report on the war himself.

His dispatches were quickly recognized as an important media resource and he is now writing for the Inter Press Service, The NewStandard and many other outlets. His reports have also been published with The Nation, The Sunday Herald and Islam Online, to name just a few. Dahr’s dispatches and hard news stories have been translated into Polish, German, Dutch, Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese, Indonesian, French, Chinese and Arabic. On the radio, Dahr is a special correspondent for Flashpoints and reports for the BBC, Democracy Now!, and numerous other stations around the globe.

Dahr has spent a total of 8 months in occupied Iraq as one of only a few independent US journalists in the country. Dahr uses the DahrJamailIraq.com website and his popular mailing list to disseminate his dispatches.

Be sure to check his site, which includes a weblog updated constantly, news and reports, a forum, as well as a fairly large cache of images from Iraq. The charred remains of civilians that you won’t see on CNN.