An intense evening at "The Sandstorm"

Just got back from the premiere of "The Sandstorm: Stories from the Front." It's a play by an Iraq vet, Sean Huze, which tells the story of the war through the voices of soldiers. The Washington Post did a profile on Huze a couple weeks ago, the first paragraph of which conveys his viewpoint pretty clearly:

It's been a very bad week for the Marines in Iraq, and playwright Sean Huze is taking it personally. "Twenty-one Marines killed in the past 48 hours," he says, his voice rising in anger. "I wonder when we've had enough -- when we as a society will hold this administration accountable for getting us into a war unnecessarily."

The play was very powerful. Emotional. Damn, it was intense.

I give Huze a lot of credit for telling and sharing his story. Too many Americans don't even know anyone in Iraq. The play gives just a glimpse in to their lives. It's playing at MetroStage in Alexandria for those in the DC area.

One other thing it did to me. I really didn't think I could detest George Bush anymore than I already did. But after today, with him invoking 9/11 again, biking on the "Tour de Crawford" but ignoring Camp Casey, then seeing a raw play about the war, I despise the guy even more. Read More......

Open Thread

Okay, just keep chatting... Read More......

Mild Job Growth! Bush's Economy Must Be Great, Right?

Bush's tepid job growth -- far lower than almost every quarter during Clinton's presidency -- is being seized on as evidence the economy is picking up steam.

The report, from the Labor Department, says there are new jobs - that hiring at the end of last year was the strongest since June 2002 and that employers at last added to payrolls in earnest. In the fourth quarter of 2004, the nation gained 8.1 million jobs, the most since the first quarter of 2002, according to the report.

What they're not detailing in this summary: what kind of jobs are being created, part-time work with no benefits? How many are freelancers with no benefits or vacation time at all? How many of these are second jobs? A growing trend among the middle class in middle America and the poor on the coasts is people holding down two or three jobs just to make ends meet. So if you work full-time at Wal-Mart and need to get a second job just to stay out of debtors prison, that's somehow good news because another job has been "created."

Another point to remember:

Among the most comprehensive employment figures available, the data confirm what less rigorous surveys have suggested and what the monthly employment figures have only hinted at. (While the monthly job report is based on surveys of employers and households, the figures released yesterday cover roughly 98 percent of the work force.)

When there's a discrepancy between a survey covering 98% of the work force and a survey covering 100% of employers and households, be wary of people who prefer the mildly "positive" news coming from the less complete data.

So how is your financial situation? Anyone working two jobs? Read More......

"Tour de Crawford" misses a stop

Big doings at the ranch today. Bush went riding with Lance Armstrong (and a crew from the Discovery Channel.) After the ride, Bush presented Armstrong with a "Tour de Crawford" t-shirt. As you can imagine, Bush's tour of Crawford doesn't include one prominent stop: Camp Casey.

It's really gross how the press just fawns over Bush's bike riding prowess. Such saps. Except of course MoDo who nicknamed him "Bikey W." in today's column. Read More......

Open Thread

Keep it going. Read More......

Bush is in full spin mode on Iraq -- using 9/11

Cindy Sheehan and the amazing response to her message must really be getting under Bush's skin. Bush is going into full campaign mode to tell us all how great things are going and why it's so important. And of course, for Bush, that means invoking September 11th:

As he has before when he has been challenged, Bush invoked the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in his radio address.

"On that day, we learned that vast oceans and friendly neighbors no longer protect us from those who wish to harm our people," he said. "And since that day, we have taken the fight to the enemy."

The president has been able to rally Americans behind him before by reminding them of the horror of Sept. 11, most pivotally in last year's close election.

Same speech over and over. Scary that the only thing Bush has to can say to Americans about Iraq is: September the 11th. This time, most Americans don't seem to be falling for it. Read More......

Rumsfeld in South America: What Gall

Now this is rich: incompetent Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld traveled through South America warning about "the menace Cuba and Venezuela pose to the region." Now putting aside the stupidity of lecturing leftist governments to avoid other leftist governments (is Rumsfeld tone deaf?), the Bush Administration has a LOT of nerve claiming the democratically elected leader of oil-rich Venezuela is a threat to democracy. Bush of course gave a thumbs up to a military coup in that country just because he didn't like that nation's popular leader. How can Bush even pretend he wants to promote democracy when he's never apologized for saying a military coup was fine by him? How can Bush claim he loves democracy when two of his closest allies in the war on terror are Saudi Arabia (the world's biggest financial supporter of terrorism and religious extremism) and Pakistan (the world's biggest seller of WMD material and know-how to terrorists and rogue states)? What gall. Read More......

India Moving Closer To A Secular Democracy

The Supreme Court of India is ready to hear a case challenging the legality of religious courts in one of the world's largest democracies. Hopefully, it will consider them invalid and create one set of laws for all the people of India, regardless of their caste or religion, one set of laws that treats everyone fairly. The case that sparked this review is a doozy:

Under the Constitution, Islamic courts are permitted to rule on such matters as marriage and divorce. A council in a Muslim village in northern India used that power in June to order [a] woman to move in with her father-in-law although he was accused of raping her. She was also ordered to treat her husband as her son, effectively becoming the father-in-law's wife. She refused, and the father-in-law was arrested after rights groups protested. The case has pitted conservative Muslims against Hindu nationalists and women's groups.

Boy, no wonder the far right wants to impose a Taliban of its own in the US -- you can get away with anything! Read More......

Early morning Louvre blogging

The I.M. Pei pyramid at the Louvre.



Another shot of the I.M. Pei pyramid at the Louvre.



Cute guy looking at a statue of Zeus, or maybe Poseidon, who knows. I love that you can just see the guy's earrings in this photo. Read More......