Sorry about the odd formatting. TPM seems to reformat my entries in odd ways when I cut and paste from a word document.

Posted at July 2, 2008 1:27 PM in response to My Guantanamo Interview

Yeah, and to reply to Ben- the "pact" theory has been dismissed as hype. Which is what I was alluding to in the headline (I just couldnt come right out and say it at the time cause the dismissal was still speculative). What more likely happened, it was reported, was that the girls all got pregnant and made a pact to support each other through their pregnancies. I think that providing a climate of tolerance for choice and provision of options could have prevented this from happening.

Posted at July 1, 2008 1:52 PM in response to A Little More Science, A Little Less Hype

Hmmm, why aren't I breathing a sigh of relief that the Pentagon has agreed to inspect KBR-built showers? Maybe because they have made it clear that enforcing these crony-run contracting companies is absolutely not on their docket. Remember when the story broke that KBR provided contaminated wastewater to the troops to shower in? Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said,

"Everywhere you go they make it perfectly clear that you don’t want to drink the water, so I’m a little surprised myself that this is an issue. As I understand it, the bottled water, which is what you’re supposed to be drinking in Iraq, had no issues whatsoever in the testing that was done. Evidently, there was some issue with some of the other water that was, I guess, primarily meant for washing. But I think our encouragement is always — for journalists and warfighters alike is read the signs and just drink the bottled water"

Which entirely dismisses the fact that they were given the water to SHOWER IN. And that it was the rejected WASTEWATER from their reverse osmosis purification process (meaning CONCENTRATED with pathogens. Do we really expect the Pentagon to fairly assess the shower situation and enforce consequences on KBR? I have been collecting e-signatures on a petition that I intend to send the Pentagon and the Presidential candidates to express how badly America wants consequences to be upheld to these contractors: http://progressivefuture.org/contractor-accountability/petition?id4=BLTP

Posted at July 1, 2008 1:38 PM in response to The Daily Muck

I think you are sort of mincing words here. He said that PTSD is similar to what one would experience following a high school football injury. He made this comparison to trivalize the plight of returning veterans who are suffering in order to deflect any responsibility. It is reprehensible. The thing that is reprehensible, and I would point out it takes a certain carelessness to omit from your argument, is that he is disregarding the context of wreckage, violence, death and guilt around the initial TBI. PTSD is largely caused by the traumatic context surrounding the injury, so before you come to Peake's defense and start accusing me of purposely misrepresenting his words, why don't you think through the big picture of what he is saying, what he is not talking about, and his motivations for doing so.

Posted at June 18, 2008 7:07 PM in response to VA Chief Likens PTSD to "High School Football Injury"

Thank you Deanie, for shedding some light on the atrocious treatment bestowed to both our troops and our veterans. This is a seriously oft-forgotten atrocity of the war, and how Senator McCain can forget what his sacrifices meant all those years ago to undermine the wellbeing of those who are currently serving, is mind-boggling.

For those who are interested, I did a series of interviews with two Iraq War veterans, chronicled in my blog series on the Progressive Future Website: http://www.progressivefuture.org/blog/the-trauma-of-silence

Also, I will be posting on this site a video interview I did with the two young vets next week. They will talk about the poor treatment the received for their sacrifices (juxtaposed against contractors who worked less often and with less integrity and yet earned six-digit salaries), as well as their difficulty getting VA to treat cases of PTSD and traumatic brain injuries.

Posted at May 20, 2008 5:21 PM in response to JOHN McCAIN SUPPORTS WAR BUT NOT THE TROOPS

You can stay tuned for further installments by subscribing to our RSS feed: http://progressivefuture.org/blog.rss

Posted at May 12, 2008 5:53 PM in response to "Who's Supporting Our Troops?" Diary Series, Part 1: Freedom Isn't Free...And Neither Are Contractors

whoops, I wrote this post yesterday and just didn't get it published until today. To rectify my mistake: General Petraeus testified TODAY.

Posted at April 8, 2008 1:49 PM in response to Is the Political Horserace the Next Distration Issue?

since I either don't know how to edit, or there isn't an option on this site...the correct website for the petition is: http://progressivefuture.org/contractor-accountability/pentagon2?id4=BLTP

Posted at March 20, 2008 1:50 PM in response to KBR's Electrical Negligence Sparks Lawsuit

This hereby marks the climax of the Era of Fact-Rejection. How long are we going to just sit here and tolerate the unending instances where our elected officials completely reject reality and fact, and just state whatever unfounded claim they believe will further their own personal cause?

My question is, okay, we want to do something about it, so who do we target? The media for not working hard enough to hold officials accountable for the numerous times they contradict themselves and equivocate? Congress for rolling over and accepting it? The officials themselves, all the while knowing that this is a potentially useless endeavor because their campaigns are merely a bottomless cesspool of self-servitude?

Or do we start a new dialog altogether? Start a new system using an "all hands on deck" approach?
http://progressivefuture.org

Posted at March 14, 2008 2:10 PM in response to The Iraq-Al Qaeda Report, Squelched No More