Thanks to the Pat Tillman charade, we know we can trust our military to deliver the hard, honest facts about deaths in combat. P&J now wish to alert you to a presentation pointing out that while the body count of US troops has climbed above 3200 (never mind those malingering wounded in action, more than 200,000 of our best and bravest), there is a local chance to get a tally on Iraqi casualties. That’s what they get for not inviting America into their country.
East Bay Citizens for Peace is sponsoring a presentation, “War and Health: The Casualty Total in Iraq.” On Wednesday, April 4 at 7 pm at Salomon Hall, Room 101, on the Main Green at Brown University, Dr. Les Roberts will present his study on mortality following the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Dr. Roberts and his team evaluated deaths in Iraq before and after the invasion, in a Johns Hopkins study published last October in the Lancet, a peer-reviewed British medical journal.
The US government and media have tried to ignore the resulting estimate of 655,000 Iraqi war deaths. A recent survey of Americans found that they generally believe — correctly — that about 3000 US soldiers have died. The survey also found, however, that Americans think a similar number of Iraqis have died. In fact, this study estimates that the real number if probably 200 times higher. Dr. Roberts will explain the study and compare it with other published estimates of Iraqi war deaths.
For more info, contact Joanne DeVoe, of East Bay Citizens for Peace at 401.247.3004, or e-mail sene@afsc.org.
Mission accomplished.
Eagle eyes
Kudos and congrats to our friends at the BeloJo’s “Political Scene,” for one of the more interesting recent disclosures in the Bizarro World that is Little Rhody.
Most people saw the Urinal’s gigantic and quite popular insert last week, listing people who may own “unclaimed property.” (This is why everyone who gets their hands on the publication quickly goes to where their name might be, and then follows up with all their friends’ names. Ya never know.)
“Political Scene” picked up on the image of a check for unclaimed property which had misspelled the name of General Treasurer Frank Caprio, listing him as “Capiro.” On the line above it, “dollars” was incorrectly spelled as “dallars.” (All good Vo Dilun residents know the correct spelling is “dollahs,” but we won’t quibble.)
As was reported, “Xaykham Khamsyvoravong, deputy chief of staff for Caprio, said the misspellings were deliberate. They were meant as a deterrent for would-be check forgers who might try to scan the check image, alter it on a computer, and cash it for payment.” Now that’s what Phillipe & Jorge call creative thinking.
Hats off to Messrs. Caprio and Khamsyvoravong (try putting that on the back of a sports jersey). But while their errors were intentional, P&J were reminded of one of the best Biggest Little typos of all time, about a decade ago, when a new Providence telephone book came out, and along the spine was a prominently displayed “For Providence and Vinicity.” Yo, Vinnie, not for nuthin’, but we got a good chuckle.
Did anna nicole have monty python’s child?
P&J would refer to the media coverage of Anna Nicole Smith’s death and the related custody battle as beating a dead horse, but that would have the bad taste bell ringing like a cell phone. Yet out of this horror show-cum-circus, we were at least able to get one good laugh, however unintentional.
When the press conference was held to announce that Smith’s death was caused by an accidental overdose of drugs, the police chief of Seminole, Florida, was introduced to field questions. His name is Charlie Tiger.
Anyone familiar with Monty Python’s Flying Circus may recall a very droll sketch built around a supposed murder in a drawing room. When John Cleese enters and announces his presence, he says, “I’m Inspector Tiger.” Everyone in the room says, “Tiger?”, whereupon Cleese spins around and shouts, “Where?” The gag goes on, as after Cleese is shot, another constable enters and introduces himself as “Inspector Theres-a-man-behind-you,” and you can take it from there. But thanks for lightening up the moment, Chief.
In another man’s shoes
There was an excellent op-ed piece in the New York Times of March 20 by Saunderstown resident Bob Leuci, a former NYPD narcotics detective who was the Serpico-like inspiration for the novel Prince of the City.
His latest book, All the Centurions: A New York City Cop Remembers His Years on the Street, 1961-1981, should be required reading for anyone who believes the wars that take place on our streets — Providence being a prime example — are more than just good versus evil.
Leuci’s op-ed addressed the issue of the three NYC police officers now being prosecuted for the tragic death of Sean Bell, who was shot amid a fusillade of gunfire outside a club in Queens after his bachelor party. This, predictably, set off Al Sharpton, media junkie and clown politician, like a cherry bomb, especially when the TV cameras were rolling.
Leuci explained how difficult it is to make split-second decisions as a police officer, and he even questioned his own flawed judgment of another cop, the son of a former detective partner of his, after an allegation of abuse of a victim. The old line is “Walk a mile in my shoes,” and Leuci’s commentary hit all the right notes, recalling the time when walking those miles was along some very mean streets.
This is yet another resident of the Biggest Little whose stature is taller outside our borders than within.