this diary is dedicated to all who suffer because of war and other disasters
we honor courage in all its forms
cross-posted at DailyKos, Booman Tribune, European Tribune, and My Left Wing.
image and poem below the fold
Charlie Anderson, left, who served in Iraq, wipes his eyes as Tammara Rosenleaf comforts him during a war protest, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2005, in Crawford, Texas. Rosenleaf has launched real and virtual bake sales to raise money to buy body armor for U.S. troops, including her husband, who is serving in Iraq. The first bake sale is Saturday, Feb. 11, 2006, in Helena, Mont.
(AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Keep Me In Your Heart
written by Warren Zevon & Jorge Calderón
Shadows are falling and I’m running out of breath
Keep me in your heart for awhile
If I leave you it doesn’t mean I love you any less
Keep me in your heart for awhile
When you get up in the morning and you see that crazy sun
Keep me in your heart for awhile
There’s a train leaving nightly called when all is said and done
Keep me in your heart for awhile
Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo
Keep me in your heart for awhile
Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo
Keep me in your heart for awhile
Sometimes when you’re doing simple things around the house
Maybe you’ll think of me and smile
You know I’m tied to you like the buttons on your blouse
Keep me in your heart for awhile
Hold me in your thoughts
Take me to your dreams
Touch me as I fall into view
When the winter comes
Keep the fires lit
And I will be right next to you
Engine driver’s headed north to Pleasant Stream
Keep me in your heart for awhile
These wheels keep turning but they’re running out of steam
Keep me in your heart for awhile
Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo
Keep me in your heart for awhile
Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo
Keep me in your heart for awhile
Keep me in your heart for awhile
– – –
put a meaningful magnet on your car or metal filing cabinet
read Ilona’s important diary at MLW – Returning Vet PTSD – One Soldier’s Story as well her comprehensive series on PTSD and Iraq War vets.
view the pbs newshour silent honor roll (with thanks to jimstaro at booman.)
take a private moment to light one candle among many (with thanks to TXSharon)
support Veterans for Peace
support the Iraqi people
support the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC)
support CARE
support the victims of torture
remember the fallen
support Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors – TAPS
support Gold Star Families for Peace
support the fallen
support the troops
support Iraq Veterans Against the War
support Military families Speak Out
support the troops and the Iraqi people
read This is what John Kerry did today, the diary by lawnorder that prompted this series
read Riverbend’s Bagdhad Burning
read Dahr Jamail’s Iraq Dispatches
read Today in Iraq
witness every day
Click on the candle to copy the image into your own comment (you can leave it on my server), and/or rate this one – not for mojo, but to leave a small mark after taking this moment.
” I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.”
from Dirge Without Music
by Edna St. Vincent Millay
Peace
we will look back on all this as we sit in our rocking chairs and ask What more could we have done?
Peace my friends.
Light A Candle For
Peace, Tolerance, Understanding
and For The Children – Innocence Lost!
“As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances,
there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in
such twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the air — however
slight — lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness.” : William O Douglas
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Billions Stolen From Iraq?:
By CBS Some $8.8 billion dispersed for reconstruction efforts in Iraq is unaccounted for, says the U.S. official in charge of tracing it.
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“Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption of authority. It is
hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard the people
against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to
govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they
mean to be masters.” : Daniel Webster
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In case you missed it:
Petrodollar Warfare:
Dollars, Euros and the Upcoming Iranian Oil Bourse: It is now obvious the invasion of Iraq had less to do with any threat from Saddam's long-gone WMD program and certainly less to do to do with fighting International terrorism than it has to do with gaining strategic control over Iraq's hydrocarbon reserves and in doing so maintain the U.S. dollar as the monopoly currency for the critical international oil market.
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Number Of Iraqi civilians Slaughtered In America’s War 100,000 +
Number of U.S. Military Personnel Slaughtered (Officially acknowledged) In Bush’s War 2267
The War in Iraq Costs $240,024,565,224 See the cost in your community
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Intel pros say Bush is lying about foiling 2002 terror attack:
Outraged intelligence professionals say President George W. Bush is "cheapening" and "politicizing" their work with claims the United States foiled a planned terrorist attack against Los Angeles in 2002.
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“Occupants of public offices love power and are prone to abuse it.”: George
Washington , Farewell Address
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New Nuclear Weapons on the Way?
By Bradford Plumer
How a plan to renovate nuclear stockpiles could go far beyond its original mission.
February 7, 2006
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“Law is often the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the right of an
individual.”: Thomas Jefferson to I. Tiffany, 1819
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Wartime Socialism
By Bradford Plumer
How important is the military to the U.S. economy? Perhaps too important.
February 7, 2006
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“If you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a small chance of survival. There may even be a worse case: you may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.” : Winston Churchill
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RadioNation with Laura Flanders
Saturday, Feb.11
Their reality, our reality. Bush knew New Orleans was drowning. Scooter Libby knew Cheney told him to out Valerie Plame. Corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff knew Bush and W. knew him. The CIA’s top Mideast guy says Iraq wasn’t a threat, but W. didn’t want facts. Does any of this matter if our votes can’t be trusted? An update on how states are changing voting with PENNY VENETIS, who brought the first-in-the-nation suit to successfully challenge the constitutionality of paperless voting machines. Plus JOHN GIDEON, news editor for VoteTrustUSA – the source for citizen activists. And an update on the GOP’s backlash against voting rights activists in Ohio from BOB FITRAKIS, editor-publisher of FreePress.org. Then RODNEY CROWELL, whose “The Outsider” might have been Nashville’s most political CD in 2005.
Stream It, 7pm to 10pm, if not on local: HERE
and Possible ‘Prison Time’, depending on Charges/Sentence……..
A BETTER JOB FOR BUSH
We’re just trying to find a sensible place for the little wanna-be!!
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SANAA (Reuters) Feb. 11 — The Yemeni government is considering offering an award for information that could lead to the arrest of 13 al Qaeda prison escapees, a state-run Web site said on Saturday.
The September 26 site (www.26sep.net) quoted unnamed sources as saying an announcement would be made in the coming hours.
The Web site, affiliated with Yemen’s armed forces, also said Saudi, U.S. and Yemeni authorities were working closely to try to prevent 23 prison escapees, including the 13 al Qaeda men, to escape Yemen.
Washington said U.S. Navy ships are helping patrol the international waters off Yemen to try to recapture the escapees, if they try to flee by sea.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld expressed disappointment ...
The 23 prisoners escaped by digging a tunnel from the prison where they were being held to a nearby mosque, from which they were able to leave with worshippers after Muslim prayers.
Among the 23 prisoners who escaped through a tunnel last week was Jamal Badawi, the mastermind of the bomb attack on the U.S. warship Cole in Yemen in 2000.
Analysts have said that the fugitives may try to flee Yemen to carry out attacks. One likely scenario would be for them to head to Afghanistan.
≈ Cross-posted from my diary — Sectarian Strife in Baghdad and Herat-Afghanistan ¶ Updated ≈
“But I will not let myself be reduced to silence.”
▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY
Bush ignored CIA advice on Iraq, says former spy