micah holmquist's irregular thoughts and links |
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Welcome to the musings and notes of a Cadillac, Michigan based writer named Micah Holmquist, who is bothered by his own sarcasm. Please send him email at micahth@chartermi.net. Holmquist's full archives are listed here.
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Sites Holmquist trys, and often fails, to go no more than a couple of days without visiting (some of which Holmquist regularly swipes links from without attribution) Aljazeera.Net English Blogs that for one reason or another Holmquist would like to read on at least something of a regular basis (always in development) Thivai Abhor |
Wednesday, June 18, 2003
USA! USA! USA! Homer J. Simpson is the "greatest American." This is now a scientifically proven fact. *** "Growing tension between Iraqis and occupying US troops in Baghdad has flared into violence, leaving two protesters and one US soldier dead," the BBC writes today. "The US military says a soldier opened fire after demonstrators started throwing stones at a military convoy outside the former presidential compound which now houses the US-led military coalition running Iraq." *** “With major military operations continuing in al-Falluja, U.S. authorities should investigate the apparent use of excessive force against Iraqi protesters there on April 28 and 30, Human Rights Watch urged in a new report released today," Human Rights Watch writes in a news release from yesterday. "The 18-page report, 'Violent Response: The U.S. Army in al-Falluja,' challenges the U.S. military's assertion that its troops came under direct fire from individuals in the crowd of protesters on April 28. Human Rights Watch found no conclusive evidence of bullet damage on the school where the soldiers were based. In contrast, buildings facing the school had extensive multi-caliber bullet impacts that were inconsistent with U.S. assertions that soldiers had responded with 'precision fire.' The Human Rights Watch report also asserts that U.S. authorities failed to equip or adequately train the troops, primarily paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division, for the complex law enforcement tasks of military occupation. U.S. military and political authorities are also to blame for placing combat-ready soldiers in the highly volatile environment of al-Falluja without adequate law enforcement training and crowd control devices, the report said. Even translators were lacking." *** "When a convoy of Fourth Infantry Division soldiers was caught in an ambush on Sunday, the soldiers opened fire to protect themselves and an Iraqi civilian bus was caught in the crossfire, the military said a day after the incident. The communique said six soldiers were wounded, two of them seriously, as the convoy passed through this agricultural town 22 miles north of Baghdad. It said the number of casualties on the bus was not known," Sabah Jerges of Reuters writes in a story from yesterday. "But the bus driver, Abdul Rahman Mohammed Ali, 25, told The Associated Press on Tuesday he was passing a convoy of six or seven vehicles when he heard an explosion and the Americans fired wildly on the bus and on the roadside. Witnesses agreed with his account." *** "The U.N. nuclear agency is debating a report that shows Iran has failed to comply with nuclear inspection agreements, amid allegations Tehran is seeking to get nuclear weapons," Voice of America News writes today. "The International Atomic Energy Agency, meeting in Vienna, will discuss how to react to the report by its advisers. The agency could condemn Tehran's failure to comply and appeal to permit more intrusive nuclear inspections on short notice." *** "Hundreds of Iranians demanding more freedom demonstrated for the eighth consecutive night early on Wednesday and scores of protesters were arrested and some injured in rallies in seven cities," Jon Hemming of Reuters writes today. *** "Pro-democracy protests which U.S. President George W. Bush called the start of a 'free Iran' lost some of their momentum on Wednesday leaving some wondering if overt U.S. backing had contributed to dwindling support," Paul Hughes of Reuters writes today. *** "British and American intelligence and special forces have been put on alert for a conflict with Iran within the next 12 months, as fears grow that Tehran is building a nuclear weapons programme," writes Robert Fox in an Evening Standard story from yesterday. *** The Taliban is gaining is strength in Afghanistan, reports Luke Harding in a June 18 Guardian story. "Dozens of relief agencies have urged the United Nations to expand peacekeeping operations across Afghanistan amid growing concerns that rampant insecurity is jeopardising the country's recovery," the BBC writes in a story from today. "As the UN Security Council gathered for a meeting on Afghanistan, 80 agencies warned in an open letter that the situation outside the capital Kabul was so bad that many civilians had started to reminisce about the 'better days' under the Islamic fundamentalist Taleban regime." *** Are we about to see a new period of relations between Pakistan and the United States? *** Sometimes the U.N. isn't the enemy of all that is good and pure. *** "Japan threatened today to cut aid to Burma unless the country's ruling junta frees the pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi," The Guardian writes in a story from yesterday. *** I don't really have anything to say about the situation in Benton Harbor, Michigan. *** Thousands of devices containing radioactive materials, some of which could be used in producing weapons such as "dirty bombs," are unaccounted for, the United States General Accounting Office says in a June 16 report. Erazem Lorbek has pulled out of the upcoming NBA draft, Joe Rexrode reports in today's Lansing State Journal. *** Congrads to Steve Smith and Kevin Willis, as well as the rest of this team called the Spurs. |