SFBG Blogs

The State of the Union is ….

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By Tim Redmond

Pathetic.

It’s as if nothing that has happened over the past four years has made any difference to the president. He started off by saying that the private sector, and tax breaks, were going to solve the health-insurance crisis, which is demonstrably wrong. Then he went on — and on — talking about the war on terror, and trying, yet again, as he has done over and over with no success, to tie the war in Iraq to Osama Bin Laden and the 9/11 attacks.

My favorite line: “This is not the fight we entered, but it’s the fight we are in.” Excuse me: A lot of us pointed out out from the start that this was exactly the fight we were entering. The mess that is Iraq is no surprise — it’s exactly what everyone with any sanity predicted would happen.

The Guardian cost of war report (1/23/07): $360 billion for the U.S., $45 billion for California and $1 billion for San Francisco.

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Compiled by Paula Connelly

Here is a running total of the cost of the Iraq War to the U.S. taxpayer, provided by the National Priorities Project located in Northampton, Massachusetts. The number is based on Congressional appropriations. Niko Matsakis of Boston, MA and Elias Vlanton of Takoma Park, MD originally created the count in 2003 on costofwar.com. After maintaining it on their own for the first year, they gave it to the National Priorities Project to contribute to their ongoing educational efforts.



Cost of the War in Iraq
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To bring the cost of the war home, please note that California has already lost $45 billion and San Francisco has lost $1 billion to the Bush war and his mistakes. In San Francisco alone, the funds used for the war in Iraq could have hired 21,095 additional public school teachers for one year, we could have built 10,960 additional housing units or we could have provided 59,011 students four-year scholarships at public universities. For a further breakdown of the cost of the war to your community, see the NPP website aptly titled “turning data into action.”

The Guardian Iraq War casualty report (1/23/07): 88 Iraqi civilians killed

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Compiled by Paula Connelly

Casualties in Iraq

U.S. military:

29: Killed this weekend (1/19/07- 1/21/07):

2: Killed 1/19/07; 25: Killed 1/20/07; 2: Killed 1/21/07

3,280: Killed since the U.S. invasion of Iraq 3/20/03

Source: http://www.icasualties.org/

The weekend death toll of 27 made Saturday the third-deadliest day for United States forces since the war here began, according to the New York Times.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/22/world/middleeast/22iraq.html?ref=middleeast

The DOD confirmed the deaths of the following American service members this week, according to the New York Times on January 23, 2007:

BOREA, Russell P., 38, Sgt. First Class, Army; El Paso; First Cavalry Division.
CASTILLO, Luis J., 20, Lance Cpl., Marines; Lawton, Mich.; Fourth Marine Division.
CORBETT, Jason J., 23, Specialist, Army; Casper, Wyo.; 25th Infantry Division.
JAYNES, Allen B., 21, Pfc., Army; Henderson, Tex.; Second Infantry Division.
NEAL, Jacob H., 23, Cpl., Marines; San Marcos, Tex.; Fourth Marine Division.
RECHENMACHER, William J., 24, Specialist, Army; Jacksonville, Fla.; First Cavalry Division.
SCHOCKMEL, Collin R., 19, Specialist, Army; Richwood, Tex.; Second Infantry Division.
VALDIVIA, Jennifer A., 27, Petty Officer First Class; Cambridge, Ill.; Naval Security Force, Naval Support Activity.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/us/23list.html

For a more detailed list of U.S. Military killed in the War in Iraq go to: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties/2007.01.html

For the Department of Defense statistics go to: http://www.defenselink.mil/

Iraqi civilians:

98,000: Killed since 3/03

Source: www.thelancet.com

At least 88 Iraqi civilians were killed Monday when two car bombs exploded in a crowded downtown marketplace in Baghdad, according to the New York Times on January 23, 2007.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/world/middleeast/23iraq.html?ref=todayspaper

54,432 – 60,098: Killed since 1/03

For a week by week assessment of significant incidents and trends in Iraqi civilian casualties, go to A Week in Iraq by Lily Hamourtziadou. She is a member of the Iraq Body Count project, which maintains and updates the world’s only independent and comprehensive public database of media-reported civilian deaths in Iraq.

Source: http://www.iraqbodycount.net

A Week in Iraq: Week ending 21 January 2007: http://www.iraqbodycount.org/editorial/weekiniraq/27/

Iraq Military:

30,000: Killed since 2003

Source:http://www.infoshout.com

Journalists:

146: Killed since 3/03

Source: www.rsf.org

Refugees:

1.6 million: Iraqis displaced internally

1.8 million: Iraqis displaced to neighboring states

Many refugees were displaced prior to 2003, but an increasing number are fleeing now, according to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ estimates.

Source: http://www.unhcr.org/iraq.html

U.S. Military Wounded:

47,657: Wounded since 3/19/03 to 1/6/07

Source: http://www.icasualties.org/

NOISE: Bhangra for cause, just ’cause…

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No bucks but eager to get it on, bhangra stylee? BBC Radio 1’s Bobby Friction is bringing the Project Ahimsa British Invasion tour to 111 Minna Gallery, SF, on Feb. 2.

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The face of Bobby Friction

The rarely seen-stateside DJ – known as the “Casey Kasem of the global bhangra scene” – is passing through NYC and LA as well – all in the name of charity. (He hosts Bobby & Nihal Radio Show on BBC Radio 1 as well as BBC Radio 1 Sirius Satellite Channel.) Consider the fact that when Friction appears he’ll likely be bringing music that rarely gets heard around these parts, apart from his own Net stream.

Also all funds go to SF’s Project Ahimsa, one of the first desi-founded US youth-music education charities. The group, known for its “Tablas + Turntables” program, provides instruments and teacher salaries to help disadvantaged youth in the US and the developing world. Behold the current TV video on the T+T project.

The kicker: the event is free to the first 500 who sign up here.

Now you have no excuses. Go bhangra.

State of the union, uncensored

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By Tim Redmond

This is pretty funny.

Pop Matters hates the new Village Voice

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By Tim Redmond

I know all this talk about what New Times has done to the Voice can get a bit tiresome, but I can’t resist any article that calls Mike Lacey “a Philistine who hates New York City.” Enjoy.

Hell to the chief

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By Tim Redmond

The president’s state of the union speech doesn’t start for another few hours, but already anyone who cares already knows what he’s going to say. But it’s not going to be easy to talk about Iraq the same day that his new commander in the region calls the situation “dire.”.

And it’s not going to be easy to talk about reforming health insurance policy when his plan has a already been busted for fraud.

The NY Times — much to my continued annoyance — won’t let you see its best stuff on the web unless you’re a paid subscriber, so let me quote for you from Paul Krugman’s latest column:

On the radio, Mr. Bush suggested that we should “treat health insurance more like home ownership.” He went on to say that “the current tax code encourages home ownership by allowing you to deduct the interest on your mortgage from your taxes. We can reform the tax code, so that it provides a similar incentive for you to buy health insurance.”

Wow. Those are the words of someone with no sense of what it’s like to be uninsured.

Going without health insurance isn’t like deciding to rent an apartment instead of buying a house. It’s a terrifying experience, which most people endure only if they have no alternative. The uninsured don’t need an “incentive” to buy insurance; they need something that makes getting insurance possible.

Most people without health insurance have low incomes, and just can’t afford the premiums. And making premiums tax-deductible is almost worthless to workers whose income puts them in a low tax bracket.

Of those uninsured who aren’t low-income, many can’t get coverage because of pre-existing conditions — everything from diabetes to a long-ago case of jock itch. Again, tax deductions won’t solve their problem.

The only people the Bush plan might move out of the ranks of the uninsured are the people we’re least concerned about — affluent, healthy Americans who choose voluntarily not to be insured. At most, the Bush plan might induce some of those people to buy insurance, while in the process — whaddya know — giving many other high-income individuals yet another tax break.

No wonder the guy’s poll rankings are at about the level Richard Nixon’s were just before he resigned.

How to Make a Pigeon Burrito

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By Sarah Phelan

No, this isn’t my secret recipe for surviving life in the city on a tight budget. Instead, this is my not-so-secret recipe for helping get wild birds out of spaces they’d rather not be in—like trapped in the bay window of Farley’s coffee house on Potrero Hill, which is what happened last week when I was having lunch in the famed establishment and a pigeon flew through the door, then tried to escape, but hit the window, instead.

Understandably, everyone panicked at the sight of a pigeon flying into a window. People screamed, customers ducked and it looked like things could rapidly turn nasty, especially for the pigeon.
At which point I surprised even myself by standing up, picking up my ratty old black jacket which was hanging on the back of my chair, instructing those sitting in the bay window to “Move!” and swiftly throwing ratty jacket over the bird so it was completely engulfed.

Immediately, the bird stopped moving, and I was able to roll it up, in one gentle move, thereby transforming bird and coat into a pigeon burrito, in which the bird was the filler and the coat was the soft shell. With the bird firmly secured, I walked to door, opened my coat and, the bird immediately spread its wings and flew up and away, over the rooftops of Potrero Hill and towards the Bay, like my soul escaping its body.

To my embarrassment, everyone clapped and a man, who was sitting on the bench that wraps around the tree outside Farley’s, shouted, “You’re a hero!”

So, next time you see a bird trapped, surprise yourself by stripping off your coat, sweater, shirt, or whatev, and making a bird burrito. You’ll be glad you did.
ps In case you’re wondering, what’s this doing on the politics blog, I figure bird rescue is a political statement of sorts…
pps I learned this trick from the fine folks at Native Animal Rescue in Santa Cruz

Ignorance is innocence?

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By Steven T. Jones
This morning, one of the countless thoughtless motorists making an illegal right turn from Market Street onto the Octavia Boulevard freeway on ramp rolled over a 28-year-old cyclist — and kept right on going. She’s in the hospital with severe injuries, but fortunately, the cops caught him. Unfortunately, they determined that he wasn’t guilty of hit-and-run because he wasn’t aware that he hit her. Amazing!
Thanks to SFSU professor and bicycle activist Jason Henderson, who brought this to our attention and had this choice assessment: “What investigation? You basically had an officer ask the guy if he knew he hit someone. That to me does not seem like an investigation. This seems like someone told the officer he did not see the cyclist, did not feel a bump, and sped away up the ramp in oblivion. Sounds like a lie to me. This is gross negligence.”

The death of Passions

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Oh no! NBC just announced that everybody’s favorite warlock-drownin’, killer bee-stingin’, zombie-stranglin’, gay-monkin’ soap, Passions — is cancelled!

passionsa.jpg
Passionate no moooooore ….

While of course we were too busy to watch it on a regular basis, and it had grown tired recently, when it was in its prime we were positively glued: It stirred up primal memories of General Hospital during it’s whole “ice island” 1979 phase. Camp with a scooper. The real scary thing is that Passions was cancelled so that the Today Show could expand to four frickin hours!. EEK.

Newsom loves the poor. Huh.

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By Tim Redmond

I’m a little late on this; somehow, I missed it when it came out. But Leftinsf picked it right up: Mayor Newsom is against municipal Wi-Fi because he doesn’t want to hurt the poor:

“I’m not going to take $10 million from poor people to pay for something that a private company has offered to pay for,” [Newsom said], suggesting money for a system owned or part-owned by city government would take money from social programs.

Three things, Mr. Mayor (if you are bothering to read this from Davos, Switzerland, where all those needy poor people hang out):

1. Broadband infrastructure is a public-works project, like streets and sewers. It’s the sort of thing that governments spend tax dollars on.

2. Why do we have to take money from the poor? Are you utterly opposed to taxing the rich?

3. You’ve managed to put money into all sorts of other projects in the city. Sasha at leftinsf nicely notes that the mayor was prepared to put a 50 cent tax on everyone’s monthly phone bill to pay for his 311system. Sasha explains::

Now here’s the thing: Did he send out an RFP for the 311 system asking companies to do it for free? I’m sure that if every 311 call could have a 15 second ad at the beginning he could have gotten some company to pay for it!

If Newsom had proposed to make some private company responsible for the system that is supposed to be the one stop shop for San Franciscans looking for city information, with no standards for service, no guarantee that it would always be available, and allowing people willing to pay extra priority access to the number, San Franciscans would rightly react very badly. Instead, we are paying for it ourselves, because the quality of that information and the idea that everyone should have equal access to our government is a core San Francisco value.

Ayup.

How to Make a Pigeon Burrito

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By Sarah Phelan No, this isn’t my secret recipe for surviving life in the city on a tight budget. Instead, this is my not-so-secret recipe for helping get wild birds out of spaces they’d rather not be in—like trapped in the bay window of Farley’s coffee house on Potrero Hill, which is what happened last week when I was having lunch in the famed establishment and a pigeon flew through the door, then tried to escape, but hit the window, instead. Understandably, everyone panicked at the sight of a pigeon flying into a window. People screamed, customers ducked and it looked like things could rapidly turn nasty, especially for the pigeon. At which point I surprised even myself by standing up, picking up my ratty old black jacket which was hanging on the back of my chair, instructing those sitting in the bay window to “Move!” and swiftly throwing ratty jacket over the bird so it was completely engulfed. Immediately, the bird stopped moving, and I was able to roll it up, in one gentle move, thereby transforming bird and coat into a pigeon burrito, in which the bird was the filler and the coat was the soft shell. With the bird firmly secured, I walked to door, opened my coat and, the bird immediately spread its wings and flew up and away, over the rooftops of Potrero Hill and towards the Bay, like my soul escaping its body. To my embarrassment, everyone clapped and a man who was sitting on the bench that wraps around the tree outside Farley’s shouted, “You’re a hero!” So, next time you see a bird trapped, surprise yourself by stripping off your coat, sweater, shirt, or whatev, and making a bird burrito. You’ll be glad you did.

Has Hearst forgotten about Josh Wolf–soon to be the longest jailed journalist in U.S. history?

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By Bruce B. Brugmann

I was delighted to read in the Saturday (Jan. 20) San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco “added her voice to a growing list of lawmakers urging Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to drop the prosecution of two Chronicle reporters who face l8 months in prison for refusing to name their sources for stories about steroid use in professional sports.”

I was also delighted to see that she sent a three paragraph letter calling on Gonzales to withdraw the subpoenas of Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada asking them to identify their confidential sources.
I was further delighted to see that the letter came after she met in her new Capitol Hill office with Chronicle Editor Phil Bronstein and Fainaru-Wada.

And I was delighted to see that the Chronicle, in a story by Zachary Coile of the Chronicle Washington Bureau,
gave it prominent display and a nice head (“Pelosi urges halt to prosecution of Chronicle writers”) and a nice subhead (“Letter to attorney general also calls for federal shield law”) on the upper right corner on page four.

However, I was startled and quite annoyed to find that, suddenly, the Chronicle/Hearst and Pelosi seemed to forget that there is a third journalist involved in a similar government subpoena case, Josh Wolf, who is the only U.S. journalist presently in jail and will soon be the longest jailed journalist in U.S. history.

Pelosi and her office staff have refused to meet with Wolf’s mother or his supporters, saying to her and to the Guardian that she can’t interfere in a judicial matter.
To its credit, the Chronicle up to now has covered the Wolf case thoroughly and supported him editorially.
What happened?

I sent the following questions off by email to Bronstein and
Coile: What happened to the Wolf case? Why wasn’t it mentioned in your story? Did you ask Pelosi or any other congresspeople to support Wolf and ask that he be released from jail on the same basis you are using to keep your reporters out of jail? If not, why not? If they don’t answer me, I hope they explain their apparent double standard to Josh’s mother (see her appeal below, written before the story appeared.) I hope they refresh their editorial judgment that the journalistic principle of resisting government subpoenas applies equally to Hearst reporters and freelance journalists such as Wolf and Sarah Olson. B3

SF Chronicle: Pelosi urges halt to prosecution of Chronicle writers Letter to attorney general also calls for federal shield law

E-mail from Josh Wolf’s mother:

Subject: Please write to congress NOW to support Josh

There is a move in Congress to rescind the subpoena’s which put the two SF Chronicle reporters under grand jury contempt charges, but no mention or attention is being paid to Josh’s case, a similar first amendment issue, where he has already been in jail for 150 days.

Below is a sample letter to use to send to John Conyers and Tom Davis (representing the House Judiciary Committee), Nancy Pelosi (who represents Josh’s district) and California senators, Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein. Representative Dennis
Kucinich is also aware of and interested in Josh’s case.

January 19, 2006

To Representative John Conyers

From Liz Wolf-Spada
PO Box 2235
Wrightwood, CA 92397
liz_wolf_spada@yahoo.com
760-964-6101

Dear Representative Conyers,

While I find it commendable that Congress is finally getting involved in the questionable legality of grand jury subpoenas of journalists, I am appalled that no mention has been made of my son’s case. Josh Wolf is not facing a subpoena. HE HAD BEEN
INCARCERATED FOR 150 DAYS ALREADY FOR REFUSING TO COMPLY WITH THAT SUBPOENA.
Josh Wolf is an independent journalist who reports on local San Francisco activities, with a special interest in protests and demonstrations. He has been reporting on these events on his web site for over three years and has a large following. One of his
videotapes from a protest of June 8, 2002, is currently being used to prosecute cases of police brutality against jailed protestors.
Unlike the Chronicle reporters, Josh does not have a large corporate media conglomerate backing him or paying his bills. He was not given a stay, but was immediately put in jail on August 1, 2006, when Judge William Alsup ruled him in contempt for refusing to turn over unpublished video footage and for refusing to testify. Since then, Josh’s lawyer, Martin Garbus, has offered to give the unpublished material to the US Attorney in exchange for them dropping the subpoena to testify. The US Attorney refused this offer. The judge refused to view the tape to see if it had any relevance to the supposed investigation into an alleged attempt to burn a police car. The police car in question suffered only a broken taillight.
Josh cannot get permission from his sources to testify. His sources are the large group of dissidents in San Francisco who are exercising their first amendment rights to free speech and assembly. The attempt to intimidate Josh to name names of people
present at that protest not only goes against our rights to a free press, but it goes against our rights to free speech and assembly.
I urge you to petition Attorney General Gonzales to dismiss this contempt charge against Josh Wolf and release him from prison, where he has been held in coercive custody for 150 days.
Sincerely,

Liz Wolf-Spada
(mother of jailed journalist, Josh Wolf)

Attention President Bush on the eve of your State of the Union Address: Your war has cost $360 billion. How many more billions will it take? The Guardian cost of war report.

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Compiled by Paula Connelly

Here is a running total of the cost of the Iraq War to the U.S. taxpayer, provided by the National Priorities Project located in Northampton, Massachusetts. The number is based on Congressional appropriations. Niko Matsakis of Boston, MA and Elias Vlanton of Takoma Park, MD originally created the count in 2003 on costofwar.com. After maintaining it on their own for the first year, they gave it to the National Priorities Project to contribute to their ongoing educational efforts.

To bring the cost of the war home, please note that California has already lost $45 billion and San Francisco has lost $1 billion to the Bush war and his mistakes. In San Francisco alone, the funds used for the war in Iraq could have hired 21,095 additional public school teachers for one year, we could have built 10,960 additional housing units or we could have provided 59,011 students four-year scholarships at public universities. For a further breakdown of the cost of the war to your community, see the NPP website aptly titled “turning data into action.”


Cost of the War in Iraq
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Attention President Bush on the eve of your State of the Union Address: 29 soldiers were killed over the weekend because of your war and your mistakes. How many more will be killed? The Guardian casualty report.

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Compiled by Paula Connelly

Casualties in Iraq

U.S. Military:

29: Killed this weekend (1/19/07- 1/21/07):

2: Killed 1/19/07; 25: Killed 1/20/07; 2: Killed 1/21/07

3,280: Killed since the U.S. invasion of Iraq 3/20/03

Source: http://www.icasualties.org/

The weekend death toll of 27 made Saturday the third-deadliest day for United States forces since the war here began, according to the New York Times.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/22/world/middleeast/22iraq.html?ref=middleeast

The DOD confirmed the deaths of the following American service members this week, according to the New York Times on January 23, 2007:

BOREA, Russell P., 38, Sgt. First Class, Army; El Paso; First Cavalry Division.
CASTILLO, Luis J., 20, Lance Cpl., Marines; Lawton, Mich.; Fourth Marine Division.
CORBETT, Jason J., 23, Specialist, Army; Casper, Wyo.; 25th Infantry Division.
JAYNES, Allen B., 21, Pfc., Army; Henderson, Tex.; Second Infantry Division.
NEAL, Jacob H., 23, Cpl., Marines; San Marcos, Tex.; Fourth Marine Division.
RECHENMACHER, William J., 24, Specialist, Army; Jacksonville, Fla.; First Cavalry Division.
SCHOCKMEL, Collin R., 19, Specialist, Army; Richwood, Tex.; Second Infantry Division.
VALDIVIA, Jennifer A., 27, Petty Officer First Class; Cambridge, Ill.; Naval Security Force, Naval Support Activity.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/us/23list.html

For a more detailed list of U.S. Military killed in the War in Iraq go to: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties/2007.01.html

For the Department of Defense statistics go to: http://www.defenselink.mil/

Iraqi Civilians :

98,000: Killed since 3/03

Source: www.thelancet.com

54,432 – 60,098 : Killed since 1/03

For a week by week assessment of significant incidents and trends in Iraqi civilian casualties, go to A Week in Iraq by Lily Hamourtziadou. She is a member of the Iraq Body Count project, which maintains and updates the world’s only independent and comprehensive public database of media-reported civilian deaths in Iraq.

Source : http://www.iraqbodycount.net

A Week in Iraq: Week ending 21 January 2007: http://www.iraqbodycount.org/editorial/weekiniraq/27/

Iraq Military :

30,000 : Killed since 2003

Source : http://www.infoshout.com

Journalists :

146 : Killed since 3/03

Source : www.rsf.org

Refugees :

1.6 million : Iraqis displaced internally

1.8 million: Iraqis displaced to neighboring states

Many refugees were displaced prior to 2003, but an increasing number are fleeing now, according to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ estimates.

Source: http://www.unhcr.org/iraq.html

U.S. Military Wounded:

47,657: Wounded since 3/19/03 to 1/6/07

Source: http://www.icasualties.org/

NOISE: Symphony for you little devils

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I know there are oodles of deeply closeted classical freeeaaaks out there, who are far too shy to venture toward the mink stole and helmet hair cabal at Davies Hall. Good news is that the San Francisco Symphony’s Friday 6.5 Series now offers an earlier program at 6:30 p.m. than the usual 8 p.m. performance and features an intro by the conductor for the evening, accompanied by music generated by the fine members of the pit.

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SFS music director Michael Tilson Thomas leads the pack.

I think we can all agree that it’ll be nice to eat earlier than later for a change. San Francisco Symphony’s Friday 6.5 Series continues on Friday nights at 6:30 p.m. at Davies Symphony Hall, 201 Van Ness, SF, with Lawrence Foster conductor, and Radu Lupu, piano, on Jan. 26. Coming up: Feb. 9: MTT and Susan Graham, mezzo-soprano; March 16: James Gaffigan, conductor, and Yundi Li, piano; May 4: Hans Graf, conductor, and Alexander Barantschik, violin.

The Migden-Daly axis

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By Tim Redmond

The prospect of Mark Leno running against Carole Migden has set off an intriguing little internal political tiff in the progressive community. Chris Daly has a lovely little hit piece in BeyondChron about Barnes, Mosher, Whitehurst, Lauter and Parnters, the nasty political consulting firm, and in the process, he goes after Leno for his association with the frim and suggests that the Leno challenge could be primarily driven by the consultants’ desire for more cash.

That appears to put Daly in the Migden camp on this one, which isn’t surprising, since he’s been friendly with her in the past. But it makes the potential race all the more interesting.

NOISE: Mmmm…Mammatus — and more, so much more

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Love is meant to be spread around — like STDs, dear mater always used to quip. But this weekend I’m thinking that the place to be is the Hemlock Tavern. I mean, tonight is EAR (Spaceman 3’s Sonic Boom’s latest experimento project) — shroomatronics! Then tomorrow’s late lineup features Santa Cruz/San Francisco heavy combo Mammatus — after Jay Reatard of ye olde Reatards messes wit’ your mind at an early show.

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All that glitter may be Mammatus, playing Hemmy way back when in early 2006. Photo by Kimberly “Snap!” Chun

Then Sunday – fuhhhh-kkkk — it’s SF’s venerable musical mischief makers: Fuck. The band that dare not speak its name. Except that it does. Regularly. With much vim and vinegar.

The Iraq casualty report: How many more will die for Bush’s mistakes?

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By Bruce B. Brugmann

As a former infantryman (hell, advanced infantryman, during the Cold War of l958-60), I can tell you that my heart breaks every time I read the daily statistics of the fallen and the dead in Iraq, military and civilian.

Young men just like the four young men listed as dying yesterday: usually young men, some young women, usually young, privates and sergeants and specialists and second lieutenants, not many older officers, from the little towns and rural communities around the country.

And I know, once Bush’s surge strategy starts putting more young men into the neighborhoods and the crossfire of a bitter sectarian civil war, that the statistics of the dead and wounded is likely to rise dramatically and keep rising dramatically. And so the question remains: how many more will die because of Bush’s mistakes?

We will regularly run a snapshot of the war casualties from the best sources that we can find. This is today’s compilation by Paula Connelly of the Guardian staff. B3

Casualties in Iraq

U.S. Military:
4: Killed 1/17/07

Names:

Anderson, Ian C., 22, Sgt., Army; Prairie Village, Kan.; First Cavalry Division.
Cooper, John E., 29, Sgt., Army; Ewing, Ky.; First Cavalry Division.
Daily, Mark J., 23, Second Lt., Army; Irvine, Calif.; First Cavalry Division.
Grimm, Matthew T., 21, Specialist, Army; Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.; First Cavalry Division.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/18/world/middleeast/18iraq.html

3,037: Killed since the U.S. invasion of Iraq 3/20/03

Source: http://www.sunmt.org/intro.html

For a complete list of U.S. Military killed in the War in Iraq go to: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties/2007.01.html

Iraqi Civilians :
98,000: Killed since 3/03

Source: www.thelancet.com

53,954 – 59,571 : Killed since 1/03

Source : http://www.iraqbodycount.net

Iraq Military :
30,000 : Killed since 2003

Source : http://www.infoshout.com

Journalists :
146 : Killed since 3/03

Source : http://www.ifex.org

Refugees :
1.6 million : Iraqis displaced internally
1.8 million: Iraqis displaced to neighboring states

Many refugees were displaced prior to 2003, but an increasing number are fleeing now, according to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ estimates.

Source: http://www.unhcr.org/iraq.html

Hair o’ the Globes

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Fabulous intern Cara Cutter weighs in with her take on the un-wavy waifs of the Golden Globes — Marke B.

Star style at Hollywood’s big awards ceremonies tends to swing between old-world Hollywood glam and finely tuned ‘au naturale’. At last year’s Golden Globes the look was fresh, lightly tousled locks complemented by barely-there makeup. Screen sirens, such as Charize Theron, as well as television stars like Felicity Huffman, sported loose and breezy curls. This year the pendulum didn’t quite come full swing back to glam’s sculpted tresses, however there was a definite departure from free-flowing curls.

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Charlize: breezy

Jon Carroll Chronicle tales

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By Tim Redmond

Everyone knows how power works and how daily newspapers are part of it, but it’s always nice to have an insider give you the actual goods every now and then.

Jon Carroll, who is often the Chron’s best columnist (although I also like Ray Ratto) weighed in today on the Yalie scandal that he’s calling “Gleegate.” He has little to add to the debate (actually, Ken Garcia, who is normally an idiot, actually had a more interesting hit on this.

But what Carroll said that made me smile was the following:

When I started [at the Chronicle], every editor had a list of names. If any of those names should pop up in police reports, divorce suits or on party guest lists, the publisher was to be notified before any story ran. Photographs of certain important members of society were always airbrushed (or, as you might say today, Photoshopped), sometimes quite heavily — the artists posted a small collection of the most egregious examples on the back wall.

Again: We all knew this was happening. I’m sure it still does, at some level, at some papers. But it’s refreshing to see someone actually spell it out.in print.

Another Team Newsom screw-up

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By Tim Redmond

Does Newsom’s press secretary, Peter Ragone, really think it’s helpful to launch personal insults at members of the Board of Supervisors? Or has this whole Yalie thing gotten so out of hand that he’s lost his mind?

Check this out from the LA Times:

Some supervisors have suggested that Newsom should spend more time trying to lower the city’s high unsolved-murder rate than talking about a high-profile assault case.

“His outrage needs to be re-proportioned toward the most severe crimes and less to those that affect his own political image outside San Francisco,” said Supervisor Ross Mirkirimi, who represents a high-crime district.

Responded Ragone: “Ross Mirkirimi can’t walk and chew gum at the same time. What he doesn’t understand is that the mayor of a major American city has to be able to focus on more than one thing at once.”

Newsom’s political team shits the bed

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By Tim Redmond

Gavin Newsom has always had sharp, well-paid political advisors, starting with consultant Eric Jaye. His public-relations operation has been well-honed, his every move designed to keep those popularity ratings soaring and keep him on the fast track to higher office.

But the wheels are starting to fall off this train.

There was, for example, the drinking issue, and his fight with Dan Noyes. That was just stupid: Newsom should have just laughed off the whole thing. Most San Francisco politicians drink; I would, too, if I were the mayor. (Well, I’m not the mayor, and I still drink.) Willie Brown, Newsom’s predecessor, as known to enjoy an occasional glass of wine, even with lunch, and lord knows — lord knows — what kind of partying he was doing in the evenings. But he didn’t care what people said about it; hey, whatever. This is a guy who impregnated his chief fundraiser and shrugged it off so quickly that it never became a political issue.

You get defensive about this stuff and it looks like you have a problem. That’s where Newsom is right now.

Then there’s the whole “question time” issue, which has become even more of a political embarassment.

I don’t know which political genius on the mayor’s staff told him it would be best ot ignore a vote of the public and refuse to comply with Proposition I. And I don’t know if that same genius told him to hold a “town hall meeting” instead. But it wasn’t a banner day for Team Newsom; in fact, the whole affair was a political disaster.

Steve Jones had fun with it. The SF Party Party had fun with it. Even the Chronicle story made Newsom look like a fool.

Randy Shaw thinks Newsom is acting on his own: “No political consultant would advise a Mayor to get on the wrong side of the popular foot patrol and question time issues, or to start battling with the media when facing re-election.”

But I’m not so sure. Newsom doesn’t do much of anything without political advice. I think he is, indeed, losing it — but so is his hot-shot political team.

Your colon will gleam

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City Editor and all around thin guy Steven T. Jones weighs in with his experience on the new fad diet of the moment — Master Cleanse!

Mmmm, food really tastes good when you haven’t eaten any for more than a week. What? Not eating for a week? That’s crazy! That’s what I thought when I first heard about the Master Cleanse from friends who had done it: initially I was intrigued by the idea of cleansing my body of toxins using a mixture of fresh lemon juice, grade B maple syrup, and African cayenne pepper; then I was blown away to hear it involved eating no food for 7-10 days.

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Alix and Steve with “the bottle.” Pic by Luke Thomas

I’m a huge omnivore, but I have a jealousy-inducing metabolism that keeps me from gaining weight no matter what I eat (It’s true — I’ve seen him in a Utilikilt and not much more — Marke B.). So I wasn’t looking for some crash diet or hippy-dippy nutritional epiphany. Yet the idea percolated in my brain and the more I learned and thought about the concept of fasting, the more I was drawn to try it. My friends who had done it looked great and said they felt even better: happier, more energy, spiritually grounded. So my sweetie, Alix Rosenthal, and I decided to do it starting Jan. 7. And now, as we ease ourselves back onto food, I can attest that they’re right. This is a unique way to test your will, learn about your body, and hit your biological reset button.

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