Civilianism News for July 1st

News from Civilianism for July 1st

• With a Whimper, not a Bang;–A Milestone on the Way to the End of American Iraq – The end of routine, independent patrolling of major Iraqi cities by US troops today is a major milestone in modern Iraqi history.
• Lookin’ Back, Movin’ Forward: The End of MediaMouse.org – “Similarly, the project is almost painfully dysfunctional–there is no decision making structure, there are all sorts of problems with work distribution, no accountability, emails go unanswered, and almost all of the work is (and has been) done by one person.” Boy does that sound familiar! Totally understandable, since I went through the same thing 3 years ago. RIP, MediaMouse
• How Mark Sanford’s Argentine affair ended a GOP star’s rise – “In eight short hours, the combination of the two anonymous tipsters and three actions — Sanford’s arrival at the Atlanta airport, unveiling the e-mails and finding Maria — took Sanford from would-be president to disgraced adulterer.” The biggest mystery about this is not why male Republican politicans keep torpedoing their careers with these clumsily-hid affairs. It’s why women keep having affairs with ugly male conservative politicians.
• Franken wins, but don’t get all excited about those 60 votes – Franken, one-time star and writer on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” dismissed talk about his status as the 60th Democratic vote.” Well, the truth is Franken is kind of conservative and very pro-Israel gov. He is also sort of pro-war. So don’t get too optimistic. His is not a liberal vote.
• Op-Ed Columnist – Betraying the Planet – NYTimes.com – Things that make me panic: “Thus researchers at M.I.T., who were previously predicting a temperature rise of a little more than 4 degrees by the end of this century, are now predicting a rise of more than 9 degrees.” Do you feel a little short of breath reading that?
• Iraq’s “National Sovereignty Day” is U.S.-Style Hallmark Hype – All is not as it seems in Iraq: As we listen to these proclamations from Iraqi “government” officials praising their fake holiday, let’s remember this fact from veteran journalist Patrick Cockburn, who has covered Iraq more than almost any other Western journalist:

  Iraq is the world’s premier kleptomaniac state. According to Transparency International the only countries deemed more crooked than Iraq are Somalia and Myanmar, while Haiti and Afghanistan rank just behind. In contrast to Iraq, which enjoys significant oil revenues, none of these countries have much money to steal.