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The Blogmanac: "On This Day" ... and much more
Think universally. Act terrestrially.
For in a hard-working society, it is rare and even subversive to celebrate too much, to revel and keep on reveling: to stop whatever you're doing and rave, pray, throw things, go into trances, jump over bonfires, drape yourself in flowers, stay up all night, and scoop the froth from the sea.
Anneli Rufus*
I suppose anything's possible when an Italian woman becomes Prime Minister of India and a commoner from Tasmania, Australia can become the Crown Princess of Denmark.
Of course, to become PM of India, all you have to do is change your name to Gandhi, or marry a bloke who changed his name to Gandhi for political reasons, as Indira Gandhi found out.
As for how to become a princess, I have no opinion on the matter; I'd like to say i'm working on it but I'm not.
A friend of mine just told me that in a small country town not far from here, at the Star Hotel, there is a guy who can claim the name of 'piss artist extraordinaire'.
Apparently this gentleman is known for his ability to urinate on the road an image of Jesus, "right down to details like the fingernails", and write underneath it "He died for us".
Before you rush out to Macksville with your digital camera and a contract with global news media, remember you read it at the Blogmanac first.
*Ø* Blogmanac May 14, 1927 | Launching of the ill-fated Cap Arcona
1927 The ill-fated German luxury passenger steamer, Cap Arcona, was launched at the Blohm & Voss shipyard, in Hamburg. Less than 20 years later, many thousands of innocent prisoners aboard her were to become victims of an Allied bombing that seems to have fallen through the cracks of history.
On April 26, 1945, the Cap Arcona was loaded with prisoners from the concentration camp Neuengamme and together with two smaller ships, the Thielbek and the Athen, was brought into the Lübeck Bay with the intention to destroy evidence of what happened at Neuengamme.
On May 3, 1945, the Cap Arcona, the Thielbek, the Athen and the passenger liner Deutschland floated unprotected in the Lubeck bay between Neustadt and Scharbeutz and were sunk by Allied aircraft. Approximately 7,000 to 8,000 prisoners from the concentration camps were drowned; any survivors were shot by the SS.
With similar sinkings of the Wilhelm Gustloff and the Goya in the Baltic Sea these were three of the highest losses of life of any sinking in history.
This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.
Bush Ratings Fall Amid Iraq Woes Poll Finds Growing Dissatisfaction With President's Handling Of Iraq
"NEW YORK (CBS) President Bush's overall approval rating has fallen to the lowest level of his presidency, 44 percent ...
"American's [sic] opinion of Mr. Bush's handling of the economy is also at an all-time low, 34 percent, while 60 percent disapprove, also a high of the Bush presidency. Increasing employment is seemingly not affecting Americans' view of Mr. Bush's economic policy ...
"The highest figure ever recorded, 64 percent, say the result of the war in Iraq has not been worth the cost in lives or money. Only 29 percent, the lowest figure yet, believe the war has been worth it. And just 31 percent of Americans now say the United States is winning the war ..." Source: CBS
*Ø* Blogmanac | Blogmanac high rater at Blogarama and Bloglet
We recently celebrated our first year online, and the prestigious Blogarama site has listed the Blogmanac in its list of 100 most highly rated blogs, out of 11,617 listed.
This is because of the reviews that readers like you have kindly written about this project, so many thanx!
If you would like to write a few words of review, which we would appreciate very much, please go to Blogarama and click the Counter Culture category (we had to put it somewhere!), where we rate number 4 out of 145 blogs, again thanks to Blogmanac readers.
If you, too, like this blog, you can subscribe for free to the daily posts. This service is handled by Bloglet, where Wilson's Blogmanac is ranked 125 out of 9,525 weblogs worldwide.
*Ø* Blogmanac | UK: Ingram to rule on Mirror 'torture' photos
Matthew Tempest, The Guardian May 13
"The armed forces minister, Adam Ingram, is today expected to declare that the Daily Mirror's 'world exclusive' pictures of British soldiers abusing and urinating on Iraqis were faked.
"But he is also expected to use his Commons appearance to apologise for misleading MPs over his own comments on the abuse of Iraqi civilians and detainees, when he declared that no reports had been received from 'external agencies' on the abuse of Iraqis -- a claim immediately contradicted by Red Cross and Amnesty International. [my emphasis! - N]
"The fate of both Mr Ingram and the Mirror's editor, Piers Morgan, could hang on the statement, expected this afternoon during a debate on the armed forces."
*Ø* Blogmanac | Up to 90% of Iraqi detainees arrested by mistake, Red Cross says
[Further to Pip's post below]
Chicago Sun-Times: "GENEVA -- Up to 90 percent of Iraqi detainees were arrested 'by mistake', according to coalition intelligence officers cited in a Red Cross report disclosed Monday.
"Abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers was widespread and routine, the report finds -- contrary to President Bush's contention that the mistreatment 'was the wrongdoing of a few'...
"The report said some military intelligence officers estimated 'between 70 percent and 90 percent' of the detainees in Iraq had been arrested by mistake.
"The agency said arrests allegedly tended to follow a pattern.
"'Sometimes they arrested all adult males present in a house, including elderly, handicapped or sick people,' it said.
"It was unclear what the Red Cross meant by 'mistake.' However, many Iraqis over the past year have claimed they were arrested by American forces because of misunderstandings, bogus claims by personal enemies, mistaken identity or simply for having been at the wrong place at the wrong time."
*Ø* Blogmanac | Limbaugh on sincerity of public outrage
"On May 10 – while President George W. Bush, during his visit to the Pentagon, reacted with 'deep disgust and disbelief' to new photos and video clips of the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. guards – radio host Rush Limbaugh continued to downplay the severity of the prison abuse; suggested it was 'decent punishment'; and questioned the sincerity of the outrage expressed by Democrats, the media, and the public."
Limbaugh: "How many of you went out to social occasions over the weekend and this subject, this story came up? And how many of you wanted to really say, 'I don't see the big deal here. This is war. These are people who tried to kill Americans.'" Source: Media Matters for America
[Note that not all, if any, of those abused were trying "to kill Americans", and at least one of them was released without charge after their torture sessions.]
From: maryannaville To: Pip Wilson Sent: Thursday, May 13, 2004 3:56 PM Subject: For Esmeralda and your readers
Anti-Phishing Tool (Free)
"By now, you should ALL know about phishing - the art of conning someone into giving out their private personal and financial info, usually by way of a spoofed website. It's not always that easy to tell if the e-mail involved actually comes from the supposed sender (like PayPal) or not. The thieves often lift graphics and blocks of text right from the pages of the companies own web sites.
"What has been even tougher is telling whether or not you're at a real website. Here's a tool made to help you avoid disaster- SpoofStick.
"This little plugin will open a toolbar in IE or Firefox and display a text line telling you the root URL or IP of the site you're on."
Thanx, maryannaville. Esmeralda (my computer, for those who haven't met her), thanks you as well. :)
David Hicks abused at Guantanamo: lawyer "Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks's lawyer, Stephen Kenny, says his client has been abused and his human rights violated while in United States detention.
"Mr Kenny says he is unable to detail the abuses because of confidentiality agreements with US authorities, but says they do not involve sexual abuse.
"He says they date back to 2002 and go beyond stress-and-duress techniques used by interrogators.
"Mr Kenny says he is convinced that the abuses were orchestrated and organised at high levels of the US command structure.
"'All I can say is the manner in which these activities were carried out make it fairly clear to me that they simply were not the excesses of individuals,' he said.
"Federal Shadow Attorney-General Nicola Roxon says the Government must take the allegations seriously ..." Source: ABC Oz
Human rights abuses: Russian military comes under fire "The Committee of Soldiers' Mothers was set up in the mid-90s to help women trace their sons who'd been sent to Chechnya. Spokeswoman Ida Kuklina says the committee hears tales of abuse and torture every day." Source: ABC Oz
* Ø * Ø * Ø *
Kitten-torturing soldiers should be sacked: RSPCA "The RSPCA has called for six soldiers who tortured kittens at an Army base in Queensland to be sacked ...
"The men pleaded guilty to acts of cruelty, including dragging one kitten behind a motorcycle and setting three others on fire last month." Source: ABC Oz
* Ø * Ø * Ø *
Lawmakers Shocked by New Images of Iraqi Prisoners "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Members of the U.S. Congress saw new images of violence and sexual humiliation from a U.S.-run Iraqi prison on Wednesday in a closed viewing one lawmaker likened to a descent into 'the wings of hell.'" Source: Reuters
[My viewpoint: Will the citizens of the USA allow this evidence to remain in secret or demand immediate disclosure? After all, Members of Congress are representatives, not rulers.]
* Ø * Ø * Ø *
CBS to air US soldier’s video diary of abuse
"We've already had two prisoners die ... but who cares?"
"WASHINGTON, MAY 12: A US soldier’s video diary showing her disdain for Iraqi detainees who died in her charge is to be broadcast by a US network on Wednesday in a further escalation of the prisoner abuse scandal." Source: Indian Express
*Ø* Blogmanac | US Training African Forces to Uproot Terrorists
"STUTTGART, Germany — The American campaign against terrorism is opening a new front in a region that military officials fear could become the next base for Al Qaeda — the largely ungoverned swath of territory stretching from the Horn of Africa to the Western Sahara's Atlantic coast." Source: NY Times (thank you, Almaniac Kate Garcia)
*Ø* Blogmanac | Govt not asking right questions about Hicks: lawyer
"The official US lawyer for Australian prisoners being held in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba has raised concerns about their treatment and says the Howard government is not asking the right questions.
"Pentagon-appointed Major Michael Mori says David Hicks's Australian lawyer and family are not allowed to say anything about mistreatment.
"Major Mori told ABC's PM program the Australian Government needs to ask the right questions to actually find out how the prisoners are being treated.
"'If they want to truly know what has happened to David Hicks, both in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, they just need to ask and come to the source, to us, and we'll tell them,' he said.
"'It seems that they just want to keep relying on assurances from the same people who've locked up David Hicks for over two years and I think they need to start asking the right questions to the right people.'
"He says it would be great if the Australian Government approached him and asked about Mr Hicks's and Mamdouh Habib's treatment.
"'Well, I think you know that the Australian Government worked it out so that the US Government would allow us to provide them information, the Australian Government would get the good and the bad from me,' he said.
"'I'm going to ensure that the truth be told and David would co-operate and that they'd hear about the good treatment and hear about any bad treatment as well.'
"Maj Mori says he is concerned about what impact the treatment of detainees might have on people who may be witnesses against Mr Hicks.
"He says interrogation techniques might have been used to manipulate peoples' stories." Source: ABC Oz
On Sunday May 9's Blogmanac I wrote: "In 1870, Julia Ward Howe, prominent United States abolitionist, social activist, and women's suffrage campaigner, pacifist and poet, author of Battle Hymn of the Republic, was the first to proclaim Mothers' Day".
Because of the rush involved with my moving house, I didn't post the text of declaration that Howe (pictured) wrote. It was her intention that the day would be a general strike for peace (but the Hallmark Cards mentality twisted it).
Here 'tis:
Arise, then, women of this day! Arise all women who have hearts, Whether your baptism be that of water or of tears Say firmly: "We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies, Our husbands shall not come to us reeking of carnage, For caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We women of one country Will be too tender of those of another country To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs. From the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up with Our own. It says, "Disarm, Disarm!" The sword of murder is not the balance of justice! Blood does not wipe out dishonor Nor violence indicate possession. As men have often forsaken the plow and the anvil at the summons of war. Let women now leave all that may be left of home For a great and earnest day of counsel. Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead. Let them then solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means Whereby the great human family can live in peace, Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar, But of God. In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask That a general congress of women without limit of nationality May be appointed and held at some place deemed most convenient And at the earliest period consistent with its objects To promote the alliance of the different nationalities, The amicable settlement of international questions. The great and general interests of peace.
It's a free place to log coincidences, synchronicities, prophetic dreams and other strange things that happen to you, or that you read about. So far, 142 people have joined the forum. One good use it can have is so you can say "I told you so" if you have a hunch that turns out to be true. Hope to meet you at Aha!
The presence of these 'Strong Lords' bring unseasonably cold and/or wet weather – a reversion to the days of Winter, or an opposite to an 'Indian Summer'. These are the 4th- and 5th-Century saints Mamertius, Pancratius (Pancras), Servatus (Servatius), Boniface of Tarsus (Bonifatius), and ‘Cold Sophie’. These Christian names are versions of the Swabian presiding spirits of these days. Today’s ice saint is St Mamertius (Archbishop of Vienne, France, c. 461-475 CE).
Due to the introduction of the Gregorian calendar, the actual phenomena of Nature associated with these dates are not the same as when the Eisheilige were contrived centuries ago ...
This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.
*Ø* Blogmanac | "Only Following Orders" . . . Where've We Heard That Before?
BATTLE LINES BEIN' DRAWN (AT HOME) -- War and Peace
Top brass 'picked man who ordered torture' By William Lowther in London May 10, 2004
THE torture tactics used to "soften up" Iraqi detainees at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib jail began under orders from the highest level of the US defence administration, it was claimed yesterday.
The creation of torture units was the consequence of orders by the Defence Department –headed by Secretary Donald Rumsfeld – to prise information out of prisoners.
Last August, the Department ordered General Geoffrey Miller – then in charge at Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay – to go to Iraq to find ways to improve the flow of intelligence from detainees, an investigation by Britain's Mail on Sunday newspaper has found.
The general recommended creating a single central interrogation unit at Abu Ghraib. It was in this unit where the degradation of Iraqi prisoners – now graphically exposed by more than 1000 photographs – took place.
Unit members, acting to the orders of Military Intelligence officers, carried out the sexual sadism and other abuses which have shamed the US – and there is still worse to come.
This is pretty mindless as well: 'Boomerangs are British' claims some Brit. Considering the Aborigines were here in oz maybe 80,000 years ago when the Poms were just crawling out of the primordial slime of the English fens, I have serious doubts.
Speaking of primordial slime, I've moved house (again??!!)
I'm sitting at Esmeralda the Computer in my small flat, surrounded by piles of boxes, strategically placed so as to enable some kind of human locomotion. Somewhere behind me, hidden by these piles, is a bed which, once I throw piles of clothes and books off it, I will soon collapse into. Tomorrow, some more cleaning at the old place, then unpack here. I just wanted to drop in and say hi.
Tomorrow or the next day I'll get back to the Almanac ezine and the Book of Days. Thanks for bearing with me during this mad interlude.
Now if I could just find a heater and a toothbrush ...
BTW, the new Blogger edit window isn't as good as the old one. It was much better when you could see the last posts at the bottom of the screen. I can't imagine why they did this. The good side of it is, there's much less of that charity shop orange. You know the colour I mean, don't you? Have you noticed how much stuff in goodwill stores (we call them "op shops" here) is dirty orange? No?
I'N'I -- INVESTIGATING THE 'NEW' IMPERIALISM -- From William Bowles
'The immoral low ground' By William Bowles 09/05/04
"Saddam a 'presentable young man' with 'engaging smile,' Let's 'do business,' said British Embassy in 1969."
"The goal has never been to win the Olympic high jump in democracy." -- Paul Wolfowitz.
"That strategic objective, of a free, democratic, de-Baathified Iraq, is grandiose, and unattainable. It's just a matter of time before we revise downward the strategy and abandon these ridiculous objectives." -- Unnamed US Army General
*Ø* Blogmanac | The Lies Are Compounding Exponentially! (Is that possible?)
BORN YESTERDAY...NOT! — Orwell Himself Couldn't Have Imagined This Bullshit!
In case you missed it . . .
Previously posted by DUG, 4/30/04:
New Searchable Database Charts Bush/Cheney Lies
As the September 11th Commission grills President Bush and Vice President Cheney about their contradictory statements today, we wanted to alert you to a powerful new tool to help journalists, activists and the public compare the Bush administration's claims against well-documented facts.
The Center for American Progress today launched a comprehensive Claim vs. Fact database that documents statements from conservatives like President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Members of Congress and Fox News personalities, and compares those statements to the facts.
Each fact is sourced, and in many cases includes a web link directly to that source. The database has more than 400 entries so far, but they need your help building it.
If you know of a lie, distortion or dishonest statement from a Bush Administration official or another conservative that isn't already in the database, please go to their submission page here or here. There you can submit an entry for addition to the database, so that the tool grows and becomes a real-time tracker of lies.
RIGHTS AND WRONGS -- Government Takeover of American Freedom, Media and Elections
Music for America takes on Bush's WMD humor Posted by Luke Francl, BushOut.tv
This is a little dated only because I've been lax in posting it (and posting in general...we're something like 7 ads behind right now). Music for America has a little video featuring Bush's Radio and Television Correspondent's Dinner jokes about not being able to find WMD in Iraq, as soldiers die there for his mistakes.
I agree with MFA that Bush's joke is in bad taste -- and the sound of the pliant DC press lapping it up is sickening -- but I actually think Bush's presentation is pretty funny. He's known to be a funny guy, if spiteful.
The 527s are a problem, but not the only one in a system overrun and contaminated by big money. As much as members of Congress may hate to hear this, they need to get back to work on campaign finance reform.
What should be done about 527s – those new organizations used primarily by Democrats (so far) to skirt the McCain-Feingold legislation passed in 2002? Republicans and Democrats have been tussling over this for months, with the GOPers ludicrously pretending to be the voice of reform and clean government. But what the fate of 527s should be is no easy question. And the dispute may not be resolved immediately – a good thing for Democrats and perhaps even the right decision. [Emphasis added. -v]
*Ø* Blogmanac | Mutiny Is The Only Way Out of Iraq's Inferno
BATTLE LINES BEIN' DRAWN (AND UNDRAWN) -- War and Peace
Mutiny is the only way out of Iraq's inferno The UN betrayed Iraq by becoming the political arm of US occupation. Now it must redeem itself By Naomi Klein The Guardian
Can we please stop calling it a quagmire? The United States isn't mired in a bog in Iraq, or a marsh; it is free-falling off a cliff. The only question now is: who will follow the Bush clan off this precipice, and who will refuse to jump? More and more are, thankfully, choosing the second option. The last month of US aggression in Iraq has inspired what can only be described as a mutiny: waves of soldiers, workers and politicians under the command of the US occupation authority suddenly refusing to follow orders and abandoning their posts. First Spain announced that it would withdraw its troops, then Honduras, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Kazakhstan. South Korean and Bulgarian troops were pulled back to their bases, while New Zealand is withdrawing its engineers. El Salvador, Norway, the Netherlands and Thailand will likely be next. [Emphasis added. -v]
And then there's the US-controlled Iraqi army. Since the latest wave of fighting, its soldiers have been donating their weapons to resistance fighters in the south and refusing to fight in Falluja. By late April, Major General Martin Dempsey, commander of the 1st Armoured Division, was reporting that "about 40% walked off the job because of intimidation. And about 10% actually worked against us".
And it's not just Iraq's soldiers who have been deserting the occupation. Four ministers of the Iraqi governing council have resigned in protest; and half the Iraqis with jobs in the secured "green zone" -- as translators, drivers, cleaners -- are not showing up for work. Minor mutinous signs are emerging even within the ranks of the US military: privates Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey have applied for refugee status in Canada as conscientious objectors, and Staff Sergeant Camilo Mejia is facing court martial after he refused to return to Iraq on the grounds that he no longer knew what the war was about.
Rebelling against the US authority in Iraq is not treachery, nor is it giving "false comfort to terrorists", as George Bush recently cautioned Spain's new prime minister. It is an entirely rational and principled response to policies that have put everyone living and working under US command in grave and unacceptable danger. This view is shared by the 52 former British diplomats who, in their letter to Tony Blair, stated that although they endorsed his attempts to influence US policy on the Middle East, "there is no case for supporting policies which are doomed to failure". [Emphasis added. -v]
*Ø* Blogmanac | More Prisoner Abuse Charges -- Brit Troops, Too
UK troops face prisoner abuse charges
In Britain new claims of abuse of Iraqi prisoners by British soldiers have emerged.
One newspaper reports three soldiers from the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers face charges of serious sexual assault, inciting rape and breach of the Geneva Convention.
This coincides with the revelation that British military intelligence officers were interrogating prisoners at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison during the time that news of the abuse was becoming known.
This threatens to drag the British Government into the international outrage over the photos of abuse by US soldiers.
Yesterday, the Blair Government admitted it had received the Red Cross report raising concerns of a pattern of abuse of prisoners in Iraq back in February.
The Government is now under pressure to reveal exactly what it knew about the mistreatment of prisoners, when it knew it and what action it has taken.
Where's George is a clever idea (for people with too much time on their hands). Members track US dollar bills by serial number online, often adding their personal URL, which apparently is legal. A very weird idea but it looks like fun. There are lots of sites involved in the game, such as this one that also features an Almanac ticker.
They are now able to see every click they make on the internet. Privacy advocates say this is bad, but the FBI says you will never even notice and it won't affect the innocent user at all.
*Ø* Blogmanac | Bush accused of torpedoing Mideast peace plan
"Leading Palestinians have accused US President George W Bush of torpedoing the peace plan known as the road map after comments he made which throw into doubt the target date for a Palestinian state.
"An Egyptian newspaper quotes Mr Bush as saying that the 2005 deadline could be difficult because it is too soon." Source: ABC Oz
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A friend of mine just told me that in a small country town not far from here, at the Star Hotel, there is a guy who can claim the name of 'piss artist extraordinaire'.
1927 The ill-fated German luxury passenger steamer, Cap Arcona, was launched at the Blohm & Voss shipyard, in Hamburg. Less than 20 years later, many thousands of innocent prisoners aboard her were to become victims of an Allied bombing that seems to have fallen through the cracks of history.
We recently celebrated our first year online, and the prestigious 
Kitten-torturing soldiers should be sacked: RSPCA
CBS to air US soldier’s video diary of abuse
"The official US lawyer for Australian prisoners being held in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba has raised concerns about their treatment and says the Howard government is not asking the right questions. 
On 
Have you seen 
I'm sitting at Esmeralda the Computer in my small flat, surrounded by piles of boxes, strategically placed so as to enable some kind of human locomotion. Somewhere behind me, hidden by these piles, is a bed which, once I throw piles of clothes and books off it, I will soon collapse into. Tomorrow, some more cleaning at the old place, then unpack here. I just wanted to drop in and say hi.
Posted by Luke Francl, 
