Petition: Reopen the LaVena Johnson investigation

I received a letter from a gentleman who asked if there was a letter circulating which demands that the Army reopen its investigation of the death of Pfc. LaVena Johnson, something that people might sign.

I replied that there was no such letter so far as I knew. But it was a good idea. There ought be such an opportunity for people work both individually and communally to help the Johnson family determine the truth of what happened to their daughter. And now there is.

This web-based petition to the Armed Services Committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives asks the members of those bodies to compel the Army to reexamine the clouded circumstances of the death of LaVena Johnson. Please read the petition. Please sign it. Please share it with everyone you know. Thank you.

(Other suggestions for action can be found here.)

Technorati Tags: LaVena Johnson, Iraq

…with Beyonce Knowles as Lt. Uhura

You know it’s gonna happen

I have two ZIP disks (no, I haven’t made the jump to flash drives yet). One of them is named Nomad. The other is named Defiant. It’s fair to say that Star Trek is an abiding cultural touchstone for me, as it is for many others, Trekkies* or no. The idea of a Smallville-style reimagining of the roots of the concept - that is, TOS, the mother lode, the sacred origin, Kirk and Spock and McCoy and an Enterprise with no bloody A, B, C, or D in its designation - is troubling. Additionally, what I’ve seen from wunderkind J.J. Abrams has, in my opinion, sucked. But my opinion doesn’t count, apparently. Reworking old stories to fit new times and audiences is the way of things these days, and there’s not much to be done about it.

I have some small concerns based on the casting speculation for Star Trek Ex-Eye (sounds like we’re talking about the Super Bowl). Matt Damon as Kirk? Adrian Brody as Spock? Gary Sinise as McCoy? Well, okay…if you say so, Captain…

Isn’t it kind of early for all this, though? Couldn’t Paramount wait until, you know, the next generation before digging up old, uh, bones?

* Yeah, that’s Trekkies, thank you very much. “Trekkers” are poseurs who can’t commit.

A retail conversation

M’s new guardian angels at the office

A recent conversation with staffers at a nearby Hallmark Gold Crown store:

Male sales associate: Hello, Hallmark Gold Crown at ___________, can I help you?

Waveflux: Hi! I called to see if you guys stocked any of the Hoops & Yoyo dolls.

Male sales associate: [silent]

Waveflux: [silent]

Male sales associate (warily): …Hoops and who?

Waveflux: Uh, Hoops & Yoyo….they’re characters that Hallmark made into dolls. They’re very popular.

Male sales associate: Um…I don’t know what that is. Hoops?

Waveflux: And Yoyo, yes. They’re featured on the Hallmark website. The dolls are sold through the website. I thought I’d see if I could pick them up from a store.

Male sales associate: I’m gonna put somebody else on. She might know.

Waveflux: Okay.

(murmuring on other end of line)

Female sales associate: Hello, how may I help you?

Waveflux: Hello. I was looking for…are you familiar with the Hallmark characters Hoops & Yoyo?

Female sales associate: Hoops and…Yoyo? (laughs) No, no I’m not, sir.

Waveflux: They’re characters on the Hallmark website, little cartoon characters. There are video clips of them on the site, they sell dolls and t-shirts of them…

Female sales associate: Are you talking about Webkinz?

Waveflux: Webkinz? No, I don’t think - no, I’ve never heard of Webkinz.

Female sales associate: Because we do sell those.

Waveflux: Hoops & Yoyo are two different animals. Hoops is a bunny - no, I’m sorry, Hoops is the cat, a pink cat, and Yoyo is a green bunny…I think they’re fairly popular.

Female sales associate: I’m afraid I’m not familiar with them, sir. Unless they might be Webkinz.

Waveflux: I don’t think they are. It doesn’t sound as if you carry them…I was going to come by and buy them from the store rather than order them from the website, but I’ll just go ahead and order them.

Female sales associate: Okay.

Waveflux: If you get a chance, you might want to look up “Hoops & Yoyo” on the web. Just Google it and you’ll see what I mean.

Female sales associate (laughs): Okay.

Waveflux: Okay, thanks very much.

Female sales associate: Goodbye.

##########

So what I’m thinking is that Hallmark may not have the whole clicks and mortar concept balanced out just yet. Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking.

Steve Gilliard

The blunt, irascible, spelling-impaired, and thoroughly invaluable co-author of The News Blog is facing the prospect of open heart surgery - his second such bout with the knife, apparently. Many wishes from this corner for Steve’s speedy and complete recovery - and also for some rest for his co-author Jen, who seems to be pulling quadruple duty this week.

Michael Moore picks up LaVena Johnson story

Michael Moore’s website has republished the text of the KMOV-TV report on Pfc. Lavena Johnson and the Army’s refusal to reopen the investigation of her death. MichaelMoore.com has also posted a link to the membership page of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

For the convenience of concerned readers, I posted earlier on this site direct contact links for each member of both the Senate and House Armed Services Committees. That info is repeated below.

(Update! A separate web-based petition to the two Armed Services Committees regarding LaVena is now available. Direct contact with individual members of these committees is still most helpful, however.)

This section updated: I urge concerned readers are urged to contact their own Senator or Representative who serve on the Senate Armed Services Committee or the House Armed Services Committee. These bodies are charged with legislative oversight of the armed forces; with enough will, their members can compel the Army to respond to LaVena’s family. Help these legislators find that will by asking them to act in their capacity as members of these committees.

Senate Armed Services Committee
Democrats
Carl Levin, Chairman (Michigan)
Claire McCaskill (Missouri)
Edward M. Kennedy (Massachusetts)
Robert C. Byrd (West Virginia)
Joseph I. Lieberman (Connecticut)
Jack Reed (Rhode Island)
Daniel K. Akaka (Hawaii)
Bill Nelson (Florida)
E. Benjamin Nelson (Nebraska)
Evan Bayh (Indiana)
Hillary Rodham Clinton (New York)
Mark L. Pryor (Arkansas)
Jim Webb (Virginia)

Republicans
John McCain, Ranking Member (Arizona)
John W. Warner (Virginia)
James M. Inhofe (Oklahoma)
Jeff Sessions (Alabama)
Susan M. Collins (Maine)
John Ensign (Nevada)
Saxby Chambliss (Georgia)
Lindsey O. Graham (South Carolina)
Elizabeth Dole (North Carolina)
John Cornyn (Texas)
John Thune (South Dakota)
Mel Martinez (Florida)

House Armed Services Committee
Democrats
Ike Skelton, Chairman (Missouri)
John M. Spratt, Jr. (South Carolina)
Solomon P. Ortiz (Texas)
Gene Taylor (Mississippi)
Neil Abercrombie (Hawai’i)
Marty Meehan (Massachusetts)
Silvestre Reyes (Texas)
Vic Snyder (Arkansas)
Adam Smith (Washington)
Loretta Sanchez (California)
Mike McIntyre (North Carolina)
Ellen O. Tauscher (California)
Robert A. Brady (Pennsylvania)
Robert E. Andrews (New Jersey)
Susan A. Davis (California)
James R. Langevin (Rhode Island)
Rick Larsen (Washington)
Jim Cooper (Tennessee)
Jim Marshall (Georgia)
Madeleine Bordallo (Guam)
Mark Udall (Colorado)
Dan Boren (Oklahoma)
Brad Ellsworth (Indiana)
Nancy Boyda (Kansas)
Patrick Murphy (Pennsylvania)
Hank Johnson (Georgia)
Carol Shea-Porter (New Hampshire)
Joe Courtney (Connecticut)
David Loebsack (Iowa)
Kirsten Gillibrand (New York)
Joe Sestak (Pennsylvania)
Gabrielle Giffords (Arizona)
Elijah Cummings (Maryland)
Kathy Castor (Florida)

Republicans
Duncan Hunter, Ranking Member (California)
Jim Saxton (New Jersey)
John M. McHugh (New York)
Terry Everett (Alabama)
Roscoe G. Bartlett (Maryland)
Buck McKeon (California)
Mac Thornberry (Texas)
Walter B. Jones (North Carolina)
Robin Hayes (North Carolina)
Ken Calvert (California)
Jo Ann Davis (Virginia)
W. Todd Akin (Missouri)
J. Randy Forbes (Virginia)
Jeff Miller (Florida)
Joe Wilson (South Carolina)
Frank A. LoBiondo (New Jersey)
Tom Cole (Oklahoma)
Rob Bishop (Utah)
Michael R. Turner (Ohio)
John Kline (Minnesota)
Candice S. Miller (Michigan)
Phil Gingrey (Georgia)
Mike Rogers (Alabama)
Trent Franks (Arizona)
Thelma D. Drake (Virginia)
Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Washington)
K. Michael Conaway (Texas)
Geoff Davis (Kentucky)

Technorati Tags: LaVena Johnson, Iraq

Action items re: LaVena Johnson

As the blogosphere awakens to the story of Pfc. LaVena Johnson’s death, it’s important to remember that this story is much larger than Blogville. Weblogs obviously have their importance in comminicating this story, but you don’t have to be a blogger to be concerned over the anguish of LaVena’s family and the inflexibility of the Army in refusing to reopen its investigation of her death. And you don’t have to be a blogger to act on that concern.

Update! The first step you can take is to sign this web-based petition to the Armed Services Committees, both Senate and House. The second step is to share the petition with others. (Contact info for individual committee members listed below.)

One very important and helpful act: commend the reporter and television station that brought this new information about LaVena to light: Matt Sczesny (pronounced says-nee) of KMOV-TV in St. Louis. Please contact the KMOV newsroom at news@kmov.com. It would be helpful to mention the name of LaVena Johnson in the subject header. If you’d rather contact KMOV another way, here’s the info:

KMOV-TV
One Memorial Drive
St. Louis, Missouri 63102
Main Switchboard: 314-621-4444 (8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m., Monday - Friday)
News: 314-444-6333

Other steps you can take involve:

The media close at hand. LaVena’s story is no more a local concern than the war in Iraq or the concern that families have for their loved ones overseas. Share that concern in the letters column of your newspaper, or on open line discussion on that radio talk show you listen to.

The media far away. LaVena’s story won’t enter the minds of the professional opinion-makers unless it is brought to their attention. It could be a national-level print columnist (a Nick Kristoff, possibly), a television personality (a Keith Olbermann, perhaps), a talk show host (an Oprah Winfrey, maybe). If you feel that a particular media personality would be sympathetic to the story of Pfc. Johnson and her family, please share that story with him or her.

Those who have written or talked about LaVena before. Our attention span is narrow; we have to work to remember things, even important things. There are news outlets that have mentioned LaVena’s death once and then moved on because that’s the way of the world. Find out who they are (Google, Lexis Nexis, and the like). Help them remember. Remind them of LaVena.

Friends, family, plain old people. I look at the links that are bringing people to the posts on LaVena and see that several originated from emails. People are sharing the story. It takes just a moment to spread the word via your address book. Or over dinner.

Politicians. Frequent reader Bitty gave me the idea of contacting members of the Senate Armed Services (direct contact info at the bottom of that linked post). Both of Bitty’s senators sit on that committee, as does one of mine (which reminds me: I haven’t yet seen a response from Claire McCaskill’s office). There’s a corresponding committee in the House, however, and I would suggest that concerned constituents contact those members. I will post contact info for them on this blog tomorrow, time allowing. House member email addresses are now posted along with Senate member info.

Those who have served. I saved soldiers for last here when they might easily have been first; I did so because I believe it’s important to go away from this thinking primarily about the men and women who have served us in dangerous places. Our thoughts are with them and for them and their families, regardless of personal feelings about the current war. If you have a loved one or a friend who is is serving now or has served, share LaVena’s story with that soldier.

The only thing I’d add right now is that even though feelings on this subject will run hot, it’s important to be decent in your communications with people from whom you are asking help. After all, you’re acting not in your name alone, but in someone else’s.

Any suggestions that can be added here would be welcome.

Thanks very much for your attention, and your help.

Technorati Tags: LaVena Johnson, Iraq

Current doings at Waveflux

I’ve been monitoring the reaction to the LaVena Johnson story - it was picked up as an editorial at Truthout this weekend, for which I’m grateful - and have fielded emails and a couple of comments from readers who have expressed their concern. Many thanks to them.

I’ve been spending a lot of time on the much-touted expansion of the blog (aka hyoogeness). It’s coming along, though it seems like forever. I discarded one set of templates in favor of another and the learning curve has been typically flat. One day this blog will have a dedicated staff of techies for this kind of work. Or an energetic intern, at least.

Otherwise, life goes on as usual.

I could use a bit of a vacation, actually.

Well, it hardly compares with Oscar^TM night

At Booman Tribune, Steven D asks: “When is an important news story not news?”

The answer, apparently, is:

1. when the president is named Bush

2. when the war plans involve Iran, and
3. when the media is American

In case you missed it: US generals ‘will quit’ if Bush orders Iran attack.

Some of America’s most senior military commanders are prepared to resign if the White House orders a military strike against Iran, according to highly placed defence and intelligence sources.

Tension in the Gulf region has raised fears that an attack on Iran is becoming increasingly likely before President George Bush leaves office. The Sunday Times has learnt that up to five generals and admirals are willing to resign rather than approve what they consider would be a reckless attack.

“There are four or five generals and admirals we know of who would resign if Bush ordered an attack on Iran,” a source with close ties to British intelligence said. “There is simply no stomach for it in the Pentagon, and a lot of people question whether such an attack would be effective or even possible.”

But you’re probably busy setting out food for your Oscar^TM party. Don’t let impending war and a virtual military revolt bother you.

Technorati Tags: Iran

HT as well to Shakes at Sis.

Welcome AlterNet and Truthout readers

Click here for the original post on the death of Pfc. LaVena Johnson, related earlier entries, and contact info for members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Click here for information on the petition to both Armed Services Committees. And click here for other things that you can to do help.

What? No phasers?

Since 2001, NASA has had procedures for dealing with a suicidal or psychotic astronaut in space. That should be reassuring, but it’s somehow, er, not.

Funny how this topic is…well, topical.

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