Results tagged “iraq”

As Obama prepared for his big "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" speech last week, government figures released showed that women are more likely to be kicked out of military service under the policy than men. In a story, the Associated Press highlighted Julianne Sohn, who now works for the LAPD.

The city council has once before stepped into world affairs by denouncing the War on Iraq. Tomorrow, Councilman Bill Rosendahl will ask his fellow politicians to support a resolution to "condemn the Iraqi government for failing to stop, and call on the United States government and the mainstream, media to draw attention to, the systematic and brutal torture and murder of gay men in Iraq," according to a news brief sent out today. “This an outrage,” said Rosendahl, who is the only gay councilmember. “The annihilation of our people, ordered by religious decree in a nation where our troops have sacrificed their lives to restore religious freedom, is appalling. The Iraqi government must stop it, and the United States government must exert its leadership and pressure the Iraqi government to do so in a loud and unequivocal voice... The media has a moral obligation to draw attention to this torture and genocide. It is unconscionable to sit by silently.” The resolution is embedded below:

More than 160,500 women have served (and died) in the former president’s the war in Iraq, but many find themselves isolated in the male-dominated culture. “This seclusion, combined with the military's history of gender discrimination and the uniquely challenging conditions in Iraq, has resulted in a mounting epidemic of sexual abuse, physical degeneration, and emotional distress among many female soldiers.” Tonight Columbia University journalism professor Helen Benedict will talk about her latest book, The Lonely Soldier: The Private War of Women Serving in Iraq , and will be joined by two of the five female veterans who are the focus of her book and a therapist who has been working with women soldiers returning from Iraq. The free discussion will take place at the American Friends Service Committee (634 S. Spring St., Downtown LA) tonight from 6:30-8:30 pm.

A copper-coated statue of a giant shoe was unveiled in the Iraqi city of Tikrit Tuesday in honor of Muntazer al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who threw shoes at George Bush last month on international television. The statue's creator, Baghdad-based artist Laith al-Amari, had some fitting helpers when molding its plexiglass body--local orphans, many of whose parents had been killed as a direct or indirect result of U.S. intervention in that region of Iraq. Al-Zaidi's famous words to Bush, "This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq," have made him something of a folk hero in the region, and the community of Tikrit has rallied around the statue, which al-Amari says "is a source of pride for all Iraqis... it's not a political work."

In honor of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr, unprecedented numbers of Americans served their communities today in beautiful ways. And President-Elect Obama’s Renew America Together service forged new means of connecting Americans (and Los Angelenos) with local volunteering opportunities.

2008 was a year where TV saw viewership decline for at least the 8th straight year. We saw even more film stars make their way to basic cable (USA, TNT, TBS, FX, etc.) to star in their own series and we saw the big three networks make even more forays into the realm of cheap reality TV at the expense of scripted programs.

Although today is Veterans Day, the holiday also serves as a reminder of those who served next to our Vets that did not come home.

Since the time of ancient Greece, the Olympics were designed to allow athletes to compete and travel in peace -- even if they hailed from war-torn regions. But this week, the International Olympic Committee said that Iraq is expected to sit out the 2008 games in Beijing.

"He definately knew how to make everyone laugh," wrote a friend of Staff Sgt. Du Hai Tran on an LA Times comment board. Tran, 30, of Reseda was killed Friday by a roadside bomb in Baqubah, Iraq. He is the 501st soldier from California (24th from Los Angeles) to be lost due to the war.

It's Memorial Day. That means Federal, state, county and city offices, courts, libraries, animal shelters and banks are closed. And Metro will run on a Sunday schedule.

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In the name of ending the war, all 29 ports along the West Coast, including Los Angeles and Long Beach, have halted operations for one shift. "We are supporting the troops and telling politicians in Washington that it's time to end the war in Iraq," dockworkers' union president Bob McEllrath said in a press release.

What the hell is up with air travel these days?

Did anyone watch "Top Gear" last night on BBCA? They had a fantastic contest of who could cross London the fastest: a bicycle, a several hundred horsepower boat, public transportation, or a Mercedes SUV. The bike won! Followed closely by the boat and then public transportation with the SUV dead last by more than a quarter hour after public transport. Since LA doesn't have many viable waterways it looks like it's time to sideline cars and invest in bike lanes and public transportation exclusively.

Saturday's Anti-War March in Hollywood, organized by the ANSWER Coalition was amazing (their acronym stands for Act Now to Stop War and End Racism). Thousands walked down Hollywood Blvd, down Schrader, then onto Sunset, eventually ending in front of the CNN building.

40 years ago today, American soldiers in Charlie Company, of 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade, 23rd Infantry Division, murdered upwards of 500 civilians, almost exclusively women, children, and old men, in the hamlets of My Lai and My Khe in Vietnam.

Update, 3/15/08: Here's a video of the LAPD at the Anonymous event and a photo essay of all the craziness. Also, here's a video from the Anti-War March.

In the wake of last week's shooting death of 17-year-old Los Angeles High football star Jamiel Shaw, his community--and the community of LA at large--are mourning the loss and trying to make sense of how a kid who was on the right path in life was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

After reports that 10 members of congress, including California Senator Dianne Feinstein, received letters and photos in the mail that possibly claimed responsibility for yesterday's bombing in Times Square, the FBI did the obvious thing: go to the man's house who was listed on the return address. Nothing turned up when they questioned the man. "We're continuing to investigate, but right now there is no evidence linking the individual being questioned to the incident in New York or the letters themselves," Eimiller said to KNBC.

Bob Saget will perform at 4th & B in San Diego on March 7, The Grove of Anaheim on March 8 and The Joint at The Hard Rock in Vegas on March 21 as part of his national theater tour and we're lucky to have another chance at him.

Jamiel Shaw, a star athlete at Los Angeles High School, was gunned down near his West Adams home on Sunday on the 2100 block of S. 5th Street. While on the phone with his girlfriend, Shaw, 17, was allegedly approached by two Latino men and asked what gang he was affiliated with. When he didn't say anything, they shot him.

Last Friday, Sarah Miller's Open Letter to Barack Obama in the LA Times Opinion section caught my eye. Got me thinking. Had me nodding my head. I'm not the only one, as the comments on her letter are getting heated. As an Obama supporter, she raised some concerns about his seeming inability to be concrete and clear about how he is different from Hillary Clinton. In short, Sarah Miller asked Obama to be specific so that people could know why they were behind him, other than wanting radical change in how our country is run.

Hope is an empty diversion without substantive, original arguments on issues. When will you discuss rebuilding New Orleans? Can you offer creative thinking on the Iraq war as it currently exists, instead of just reminding people you opposed it years ago? Why don't you demonstrate a respectful, nuanced view of the Middle East instead of referring to the "the terrorists," as you did in a recent debate? How do you envision the United States' role in Africa's many dire problems and conflicts? How do you plan to fix our decrepit infrastructure and invigorate the economy in just and environmentally responsible ways? Will you argue for the value of a well-regulated, domestically produced food supply, favoring produce over commodity crops, for our safety and environmental health? What are your positions on international trade agreements? Do you have creative ideas for generating more affordable housing in our cities? And how will you handle the responsibilities of the presidency when you can't unite and persuade, as will inevitably happen sometimes?

As the culminating event of a fifteen week workshop that joined veterans, performing artists, and activists in a series of verbal and physical conversations about their lives and aspirations, "Action Conversations" was presented at Highways Performance Space for only three performances, February 8-9. Through a collaborative process under the direction of UCLA professor and choreographer Victoria Marks, the performers revealed some of the highlights of their explorations of identity, heroics, mortality and civic responsibility in this sixty minute work.

At last week's meeting between Metro and the public about the Westside extension, Metro said that a subway (or subways) could be built and finished in five years.

The Daily News has an interesting and thorough report on an alleged Iraqi spy living in Canoga Park, a neighborhood in the Northwest Valley.

William Shaoul Benjamin, 65, an Iraqi-born naturalized U.S. citizen, goes on trial today on federal charges that he failed to "register, as required by law, as an agent for executed Iraq leader Saddam Hussein's feared intelligence service, whose leaders are believed by U.S. officials to have played central roles in the reported links between Saddam and al-Qaida."

Continue reading "Alleged Iraqi Espionage in the Valley"

President George Bush delivered his final State of the Union address this evening. As we mercifully begin the transition out of the Bush era, let us examine the President's speech in typical Washington fashion: taking out a few lines here and there for the most opportune response.