How I feel about the war today, I can sum up in one question; the same question that can be asked for Vietnam: What have we gained as a country? What have we actually accomplished - other than the loss of some damn fine people? People willing to give their life for the country that we have, for this nation, for the freedom that we have.
-Marine Lance Cpl. James Blake Miller,
a.k.a. The Marlboro Marine

I just finished reading two stories from the LA Times about Miller, the famed "Marlboro Marine" whose face has been plastered on magazine covers and front page on newspapers everywhere. He was let go from the Marines and later diagnosed with PTSD. Accompanying the stories are two videos and an epilogue. The story is amazing. The photographs equally compelling. The video added the depth of Miller's twangy, searching voice.

LA Times photographer Luis Sinco was embedded with Charlie Company of the 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment as it entered Falloujah in November of 2004. He was the one who took the now [in]famous photo. He's bound to Miller in this story and feels at least partially responsible for what has happened to/in Miller's life since. Sinco got involved, more involved than journalists normally get. I really can't do this piece of fine journalism justice in attempting to describe it further. Sinco must've gotten a lot of support from the LAT to stick with this story and I applaud them for that. The LAT is one of the few papers around which are taking on such endeavors. Their five-part series Altered Oceans special last year was amazing; check that out too.

The whole 'Marlboro Marine' project by the LAT lives here.

Photo: Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times, April 21, 2006

I went out to the United for Peace & Justice Oct27 action - Human Chain for Peace - in Philly. I heard one cop say 4,200 people showed up. I consider that an incredible number considering that it was pouring rain all morning and drizzling until about 1p.

Activists lined up across the city forming a human chain at Noon and started marching to Independence Mall (in between the National Constitution Center and the Liberty Bell) for a rally. There were 10 other cities where actions were held. Did anybody from the pond make it to one?

Above is a shot of some of the gang from Young Philly Politics with Philly's City Hall in the background. Here's a link to my final edit from the afternoon.

On Saturday night, My girlfriend and I went to see SiCKO, the latest film by Michael Moore. She's already put her up her thoughts on the film here. We loved it. And to make the experience extra cool, we filled out questionnaires from the studios because we were part of the first general screening audience to view the film; and according to Moore's website, every single sneak preview was sold out.

SiCKO is different from Moore's other films. There's less of his jowly face in it. There's a Rutgers hat on his head for lots of the film (in addition to his Michigan State Spartans hat of course). There is less (limited to about 15 minutes of the 2h 3m of the film) sensationalism in this film. This film is not partisan to either major political party.

He did it again. Just being a complete asshole about things. This time, as Pennsylvania's junior senator, he has come out to vote against stem cell research. A friend told me about the news over dinner Monday night and I read about it in this Kimberly Hefling AP story.

Casey, who is Catholic and opposed to abortion, said in a statement released Monday he doesn't support the bill because "I remain opposed to federal funding for research that involves the destruction of living embryos."

...

"I have listened carefully, especially to those whose loved ones are suffering from serious diseases and disabilities and who disagree with my position," Casey said. "I deeply respect their views and hope they can come to understand mine."

Casey's position counters that of his Republican colleague, Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, who has been one of the Senate's most vocal supporters of embryonic stem cell research.

In front of 17,000 people at the old Illinois State Capitol where Abraham Lincoln delivered his House Divided speech 148 years earlier, Senator Barack Obama officially announced his entry to the 2008 Presidential race.  In an expectedly well delivered speech, Obama made the crowd cheer.  The speech is archived on his homepage and [currently] accessible via the homepage.  Some of the promises he made:

*"let's lay down broadband lines through the heart of inner cities and rural towns all across America"

*" Every single person willing to work should be able to get job training that leads to a job, and earn a living wage that can pay the bills"

*Let's be the generation that says right here, right now, that we will have universal health care in America by the end of the next president's first term.

*Let's be the generation that finally frees America from the tyranny of oil.

*But let us also understand that ultimate victory against our enemies will come only by rebuilding our alliances and exporting those ideals that bring hope and opportunity to millions around the globe.

*It's time to admit that no amount of American lives can resolve the political disagreement that lies at the heart of someone else's civil war.

My sincerest congratulations to a person I am proud to call a friend of mine Paul Lang who ran in PA-06 in Bucks County for State Senate against incumbent Tommy Tomlinson.

My take on the whole schpeal BooMan did a front page post on a couple days ago. I'm still fuming over all this bullshit. Doesn't need to be repeated on the front page, but I just wanted to share my rant / theories...

In regards to this Philadelphia Public Record article, here are my thoughts. As I see it, the Democratic City Committee [chaired by Mr. Bossman US House Rep. Bob Brady] are taking a two pronged approach to the Progressive movement here in Philadelphia.

I spent this past Saturday out volunteering with Chuck Pennacchio who is seeking the Democratic nomination for US Senate here in Pennsylvania. We met at about 7.30a in Philly and headed out for a seventeen hour day in Lancaster County, mostly in Lancaster city. I had a shitload of fun going to tons of events and meeting people on the ground out there. And I even got to meet our own jpol along the way.

I mentioned in the One Year Anniversary Thread that I'd put up a photo diary of the photos I took down in Washington, DC during the March for Peace in September of 2005.

I took around 500 photos and made an initial edit down to 180 or so which are up in a flickr set, but I put up a much tighter edit onto my dedicated photoblog of fifteen shots that I thought were the best of the bunch.

There's Cindy Sheehan and Rev. Jesse Jackson joining the march right in front of the Treasury building. I jsut happened to be right there when they joined the parade. More shots below.

Chroist!

I was out for close to six hours Saturday circling my four by three block division getting signatures. I settled in in front of Whole Foods for several hours. I collected about fifty signatures for Chuck Pennacchio and all of one for me in my division. So, very unscientifically, I've deduced that people from my division don't go to Whole Foods during the Saturday afternoon peak time [we go late at night during the week].

Then I went door to door in my division for a few hours collecting enough signatures to get me on the ballot. I have nineteen right now and even met another person who is running for committeeperson in my division. We won't be running against each other per se since there are two seats up for grabs. I did, however, learn something very interesting. She's lived in this division since 1998 and has NEVER met the two committeepeople. That is a complete travesty. The whole purpose of committeepeople is to be the first point of contact between each small precinct and the upper levels of the government which represents them. I can understand they didn't get to her one year or maybe even two, but eight years without seeing them in an official capacity? She told me that she's been to just about every committee meeting for the past two years and had not met them. I guess they've REALLY dropped the ball. And she and I plan on changing things.

Holy shit I love The Nation magazine. I've been reading it for almost two years now; I subscribed right around the 2004 election. And in this week's issue, they printed their second article not only addressing the PA senate race, but the Progressive candidacy of Chuck Pennacchio.

I got word of the story via Liz's post on the Pennacchio blog. The article is supposed to be accessible to subscribers only, but that print page link may do the trick. But to quote just a bit from it:

So what's the deal with so few female guests on The Daily Show? My friend Ms. Biffles noticed the trend and told me it was a topic of conversation of late out in San Francisco lately. I immediately noticed the trend as well as I watched for the last month or so with [I'm 99% sure] zero female guests. Until last night when Torie Clarke, author of Lipstick on a Pig: Winning in the No-Spin Era by Someone Who Knows the Game was on.

It's not like women can't go blow for blow with Jon. It's not like women aren't funny. It's not like there is such a scarcity of notable women that the bookers can't get them on the show. What's the deal?

Maybe with the birth of his second child [Maggie Rose] Jon will push for more female guests.

Hated the Super Bowl in general? Blame the Right Wing, I'm serious.

My dislike of the Super Bowl has a lot to do with the quality of the commercials and the halftime show. Yes, I know that the central point of the Super Bowl is the actual sixty minutes of punishment called the gridiron, but through the years, it has been the commercials and the halftime show which have taken center stage. Everyone knows that the thirty-second spots go into the six figures [right?]. And everyone knows about Janet's tit flopping out in 2004 [right?]. Well, those commercials used to be good and the halftime shows used to be at least halfway decent... until some fuckers got around to rewatching the quarter-second exposure of a tit on their VCRs/DVRs.

Nobody.