Wikileaks: Top Brass warns of putting troops & civilians in "harms way"

Wikileaks recieved excellent coverage on CNN last night, including inteviews with Daniel Elsberg, Pentagon Papers, John Sloboda, the Iraq Body Count's co-founder, and Phil Shiner of the U.K.-based Public Interest Lawyers.

John Sloboda, the Iraq Body Count's co-founder, told reporters that the names of civilian victims are among the details included in the documents. "Almost every log tells a story, and far too often, this is a previously unknown story of human suffering and death," he said. Sloboda said the meticulous records kept by the U.S. military and published by WikiLeaks will be a valuable tool in investigating civilian casualties in the Iraq war.

Phil Shiner of the U.K.-based Public Interest Lawyers, a firm specializing in international and human rights law, told reporters that some information in the documents would be the subject of legal action in the United Kingdom. He alleged the documents revealed details about unlawful killings of civilians, indiscriminate attacks against them and unjustified use of lethal force.
"There must now be a judicial inquiry into all these deaths," he said.

Pentagon Papers whistle-blower Daniel Ellsberg, responsible for leaking the U.S. government's top secret study on the Vietnam War in 1971, attended the press conference and praised Assange.
"I want very much to congratulate all of you who are mining this material to learn what we could have learned if it had come out earlier," Ellsberg said.

Group: Investigate reports of torture in Iraq WikiLeaks documents


By the CNN Wire Staff
October 23, 2010 10:50 p.m. EDT

London, England (CNN) -- Human Rights Watch on Saturday urged the Iraqi and U.S. governments to launch investigations into reports of torture and detainee abuse after the WikiLeaks website published thousands of classified military documents detailing the war in Iraq.

The release includes evidence that Iraqi security forces tortured and killed prisoners, the group said. Human Rights Watch called on the Iraqi government to prosecute those responsible.

It also urged the U.S. government to look into whether its forces broke international law by transferring thousands of detainees to Iraqi custody despite what Human Rights Watch called "the clear risk of torture."

"These new disclosures show torture at the hands of Iraqi security forces is rampant and goes completely unpunished," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "It's clear that U.S. authorities knew of systematic abuse by Iraqi troops, but they handed thousands of detainees over anyway."

Also Saturday, anti-war activists said at a news conference that the WikiLeaks release revealed that 15,000 more Iraqi civilians died during the conflict than previously thought.

source:

CNN
Wikileaks
Democracy Now

Jimmy McMillon takes on the fat cats

Ode to the Tea Baggers, Glen Beck, Dick Army, and Freedom Works

James wrote this song in 2006. He didn't mention any names cuz his subject matter was a little deeper
than that. In 2007 unemployment was already out of hand and Tent Cities were springing up in the suberbs.

Town Hall Meetings at that time we're a carry over from the 2004 George Duhbya Bush campaign. They were promoted  by FreedomWorks which was was founded in July 2004 as a spin off from the Ronny Raygun administration called Citizens for a Sound Economy, although, on their web site, they claim it was founded in 1984.

FreedomWorks, chaired by Dick Army is now allied with, media mogul, Glen Beck. The Tea Baggers. so called Town Hall Meetings. now organized nation wide by this corporate sponsered front, are drinking a halucinogenic brew that George Orwell described many years ago.

Hat tip to dad2059 for his timely post on tent cities,

Jimmy McMillan: One man's Mission for Social Justice

Washington Post

By Melissa Bell  | October 19, 2010

Jimmy McMillian aka The "Rent Is Too Damn High" Guy takes center stage in N.Y. governor's race

Jimmy McMillian, a Republican candidate in the New York governor's race, speaks during a debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. (Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters)In what may be the only debate in the New York gubernatorial race, issues and politics took backseat to a black-gloved, mustached man running on a simple platform: The rent in New York is too damn high.

Jimmy McMillian outshone frontrunners Andrew Cuomo and Carl Paladino with his declarative message and impressive facial hair: "The people I'm here to represent can't afford their rent.... Someone's stomach just growled. Did you hear it?"

There were complaints that allowing fringe candidates such as McMillian and "Manhattan Madam" Kristin Davis might turn the show into an unwieldy circus. At one point, Davis said she was the only one on stage who probably could handle the New York congress, because "Politicians are the biggest whores in this state." However, the Washington Post's Lois Romano said, "the evening's tight format prevented any free-wheeling exchanges."

With what little time he had, McMillian made a mark on the proceedings. He is a karate expert, so he won't speak poorly of his fellow candidates. He doesn't want your campaign donations; he just wants you to sign a petition to lower the rent. And he's okay with gay marriage: "If you want to marry a shoe, I'll marry you."

More

Rent Is 2 Damned High

If this seems to be a lot of hype, you can see a little more depth of character on Jimmy's Youtube channel rentisto.