friday morning reads

Billmon on Kissing the 4^th Amendment Goodbye.
[House reauthorizes Patriot Act]

Paul Krugman on China unpegging the yuan.

Raw Story on Rove and Libby giving false testimony.

Study cites low morale in Iraq

Army Times

A majority of U.S. soldiers in Iraq say morale is low, according to an Army report that finds psychological stress is weighing particularly heavily on National Guard and Reserve troops.

Still, soldiers’ mental health has improved from the early months of the insurgency, and suicides have declined sharply, the report said. Also, substantially fewer soldiers had to be evacuated from Iraq for mental health problems last year.

[snip]

National Guard and Reserve soldiers who serve in transportation and support units suffered more than others from depression, anxiety and other indications of acute psychological stress, the report said. These soldiers have often been targets of the insurgents’ lethal ambushes and roadside bombs, although the report said they had significantly fewer actual combat experiences than soldiers assigned to combat units.

The report recommended that the Army reconsider whether National Guard and Reserve support troops are getting adequate training in combat skills. Even though they do less fighting than combat troops, they might be better suited to cope with wartime stress if they had more confidence in their combat skills, it said.

Only 55 percent of National Guard support soldiers said they have “real confidence” in their unit’s ability to perform its mission, compared with 63 percent of active-duty Army support soldiers. And only 28 percent of the Guard troops rated their level of training as high, compared with 50 percent of their active-duty counterparts.

Hell Marys, Hell Yeah!

derby semi (5)
Originally uploaded by Celesta Danger.

I love my team.

Alamo City Rollergirls looking for more skaters

Alamo City Rollergirls in the San Antonio Current

Ask any Alamo City Rollergirl and she'll tell you roller derby is no longer about corporate ownership and choreographed cat-fights. "We always get people asking, When does the beer and girl fighting start?" says DeAnne Cuellar, media reform activist by day, Paloma Negra 404 by night. "But rock 'n' roll derby is not just girls in skirts. It's a female-skater owned and operated sport, and it's an aggressive sport - girls get their teeth knocked out - and there's a lot of training, strategy, and gear involved."

Alamo City Rollergirls started up in May and already has 42 skaters. Even so, they still need to recruit at least 20 more skaters before they can break into teams and compete against one another, and many of their members haven't skated in more than 10 years. But with two practices and a roller-derby boot camp behind them - not to mention the sisterly advice of Austin's enormously popular Texas Rollergirls to guide them through the pitfalls of organizing a league - they seem to have their bearings. So it's not hard to imagine that in a mere eight months these girls are going to be kicking ass and taking nicknames on the flat track.

tags: roller derby, rollergirls, Alamo City

2005 Calvello Cup Championship Bout

The banked track Lonestar Rollergirls will skate for the Calvello Cup Championship this Sunday, July 24^th.

The Holy Rollers take on the Rhinestone Cowgirls.

2005 Calvello Cup Championship

Sunday, July 24.

Bout at the new Thunderdome.

Doors open at 6 pm, bout at 7 pm.

Tickets are $10.

Special Guest: Ann Calvello, the original "Demon of the Derby".

Music by Hank III and Brewtality, Inc..

Check out the Lonestar Rollergirls website for more info.

tags: roller derby, rollergirls, Holy Rollers, Rhinestone Cowgirls, Ann Calvello

British soldiers face war crimes charges

Three British soldiers are facing war crimes charges as well as criminal charges in connection with the death of a detainee in Iraq in September 2003.

One soldier faces manslaughter charges and two others abuse charges after an operation in which the Iraqi died. Four more soldiers face other charges.

All seven will be tried by British courts martial, not at The Hague.

In a separate case, four soldiers face criminal charges over claims an Iraqi drowned in a canal after being beaten.

One of the 11 men charged is a colonel, the most senior officer to be charged with an offence during the military action in Iraq.

The charges faced by three of the men - of "inhuman treatment of persons" - were brought under the International Criminal Court Act 2001 and will be tried as war crimes.

Happy Birthday Pixie Tourette

photo by Celesta Danger

Heh Heh

Billmon on zombie journalists and Rove's Last Stand.

Gen. JC Christian writes a letter to the Texas Music Educators Assn.

TBogg takes a peek at Judy Miller's prison diaries.

the Fantastically Arrogant Four

Heartbreakers Remain Undefeated

The Texas Rollergirls skated their last bout of the regular season last night.

The first match had the Hustlers going up against the Hotrod Honeys.

The teams kept it close throughout the match and the final score at the end of regulation stood at 46-46. A five minute overtime period was then skated (a first for the Texas Rollergirls*). The Hustlers edged the Honeys by two points for a final score of 56 -54.

The second match saw the Hell Marys (hell yeah!) go down to the still undefeated (going back to the 2003 season) Honky Tonk Heartbreakers 50 -25.

*This was the first overtime game in the league, however their was a 42-42 tie in the June 27, 2004 bout between the Hell Marys and the Hustlers.

tags: roller derby, rollergirls, Texas Rollergirls

Tucson Roller Derby Results

Tucson Roller Derby skated a bout this past Saturday, July 16^th.

The VICE Squad busted the Iron Curtain by a lopsided score of 125 - 25.

July 16^th bout stats:
VICE Squad
Whiskey Mick: 2 pts, 1 jam, 2 ppj, 6 penalties (pulled 1x)
Kamanda: 3 pts, 1 jam, 3 ppj, 7 penalties (pulled 2x)
Dirty Teri: 60 pts, 8 jams, 7.5 ppj, 7 penalties (pullled 1x)
Polly Graf: 3 penalties (pulled 1x)
Carrie Gunns: 3 penalties
Hard Anya: 4 pts, 1 jam, 4 ppj, 6 penalties (pulled 3x)
Barbicide: 12 penalties (pulled 5x)
Aja Consent: 10 pts, 7 jams, 1.43 ppj, 9 penalties (pulled 1x)
Penny Tencherry: 46 pts, 10 jams, 4.6 ppj, 2 penalties (pulled 1x)

Iron Curtain
Bolshe Vixen: 7 pts, 9 jams, 0.78 ppj, 8 penalties (pulled 3x)
Doris Badenov: 11 pts, 9 jams, 1.22 ppj, 7 penalties (pulled 3x)
Mandi Festo: 7 pts, 7 jams, 1 ppj, 4 penalties (pulled 2x)
Berlin Wall: 0 pts, 1 jam, 0 ppj, 16 penalties (pulled 10x)
Knuckle Sandovitch: 0 pts, 1 jam, 0 ppj, 7 penalties (pulled 3x)
Firebelle: 8 penalties (pulled 2x)

tags: roller derby, rollergirls, VICE Squad, Iron Curtain, Tucson

Queens dominate Bombshells

The flat track Gotham Girls Roller Derby skated a bout this past Friday, July 15^th.

The Queens of Pain beat the Brooklyn Bombshells by a score of 61 - 51.

Photos of the bout by Steve Prue, Michael Gee and Brian Van.

The Gotham Girls next bout is against the traveling team from the Mad Rollin' Dolls on August 19^th.

tags: roller derby, rollergirls, Brooklyn Bombshells, Queens of Pain, Gotham Girls