Posts with the tag War

What happened?

Patti — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 01:25:38 EST

Where is the change? We have been patient, waiting for the great strategy. Ending the wars? Nope. Health care for all? Nope. Transparency in government? Nope. Find and stop corruption and waste? Nope.

The health care bill as it is now? What a piece of corporate crap. Scrap this bill. It is not what was intended. We are all getting screwed. President Obama, you are a huge disappointment. Where is your backbone? If the health care bill is passed, please do not sign it. We do not want just any collection of words, written by corporate shills, that can be labeled a Health Care Bill. If this bill lands on your desk, just trash can it. Because that is what is is, trash.

Unless there are some big changes and Mr. Obama somehow remembers why we elected him, he will not get a second term. Right now, I sincerely he is eliminated in the primary. We need a strong, democratic candidate who will not pander.

Does the president listen to his constituents or does he just do whatever the right wing nutbags ask of him?

The Way Forward is the Way Out

Ken — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 20:15:12 EST

Homeward bound, how sweet the sound! The only way forward in Afghanistan is to bring our troops home. Out is the only way forward. Everything else serves some other purpose.

Afghanistan

rwordplay — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:23:09 EST

I wish the President was announcing a strategic withdrawal, beginning in the morning, which is to say a withdrawal that made clear the consequences of any attack on our interests here or abroad, would be met with merciless retaliation.

Isn't there anyone in the administration with the wherewithal or honesty to admit that Afghanistan isn't a nation in the way anyone in the US or Europe understands the term. It is merely a designation of a landmass that is only recognized by foolish or craven Americans and Europeans who believe there's money to be made there. God has a cruel sense of humor making it an opium grower's paradise. The administration et al is not simply deluded, it's lost in a pipe dream.

This is George W. Bush's War, the opportunities that arose following the attack of the September 11th are gone. It is a very different world. I hope the President and his advisors will awake to the fact that it is 2010 and we've serious business to attend to at home.

Dick Cheney - Coward?

rboseley — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 08:37:42 EST

The President is still hours away from announcing the “long-awaited” decision on Afghanistan. Dick Cheney is up early already calling the policy weak. Thank God we have a president who actually things through a situation and asks questions. W and Dick simply reached to their hips for a six-shooter - thinking be damned.

Think about it. This is the Dick who led the premature pull-out from Afghanistan to go into Iraq where all those weapons of mass destruction were amassed. We know now that there were no weapons. Dick knew long before sending our sons and daughters into a totally unnecessary war there were no weapons. This is the Dick who was absolutely terrified of the possibility that HE would have to serve in Viet Nam. Using powers and funds unavailable to most of us - he obtained five deferments from military service. In his own words: “I have higher priorities”.

So here we are in 2009 dealing with the mess made by the Dick and his so-called boss.

The situation we now find ourselves in - is a direct result of the complete destruction of American foreign policy - and our military by the Dick. Yet he opens his day with a denouncement of President Obama. Weak. That word coming from the distorted mouth of the Dick would be quite funny, were it not so tragic.

The Obama administration was cast into an impossible situation. Put one hundred options on the table and any one chosen will be attacked. The left will be offended by a continuation and escalation of the war in Afghanistan. The right will be offended that at least 60,000 of OUR sons and daughters are not being sent tomorrow.

I still want to know why the Dick is being allowed to walk away from his war crimes. I want to know exactly what the Dick got out of this. He certainly didn’t offer up any family members to fight.

Here is what Dick can do to at least give some credibility to his horrible tenure as VP. Being an ex VP, he would have no problem embedding - perhaps as a journalist - with a front line unit in Afghanistan. Stay the course. Run into a field of fire to rescue a fallen soldier. Well, one thing is certain. The Dick won’t be going. Weak? Coward? Criminal?

Why does Dick open only one side of his mouth? (Now if he has a medical condition I apologize in advance for talking about it). But it’s true. He never looks anyone in the eye and always uses one side of his mouth to speak.

Finally - I want every adult in America to pay some sort of price for having American in any war. The percentage of folks in the military of the entire eligible population is too low to calculate. Most - certainly not all - of the remainder go about life as normal. The Dick is a billionaire. Much of that was ill-gotten gains from non-competitive construction bids in Iraq. Was that his reason for putting us in there? Those who never served in the military and are gung-ho to “go get em” - should have to do some public service or if they elected - pay a war tax. I think an extra 15% would be fair. Don’t cry WAR, WAR, then refuse to take part in any way.

Dick Cheney - I beg you to keep your mouth shut. You are a bonafide coward as proven when you could have served. You made a horrible (weak) mistake in pulling-out of Afghanistan. You lied to your fellow citizens. Your right to speak is revoked.

Accept the challenge Dick. Go to the war zone and serve for a few years. OK, OK - stop crying. We can’t make you go.

Robert Boseley

rboseley@tampabay.rr.com

rboseley1@me.com

http://www.robertboseley.com

You Are Blessed - A Message To Iran, Israel and Others

Queen E — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:58:12 EST

Dear Mr. President:

Please deliver this message to the people in the country of Iran, Israel, Africa and other countries you deem appropriate. There are victims of war who have lost their family and friends who are in pain. There are no psychiatrist, social workers, or counselors to help them heal from their pain in their country. I just feel that these few words may give a little comfort and help them calm down their anxiety and stress levels.

NOVEMBER 3, 2009

YOU ARE BLESSED – A Message To Iran, Israel, and Others

I am with you for justice, I am with you for freedoms, I am with you for the love of your God, your Allah, and your Jesus and I feel your pain.

I don’t pretend to know how you feel when someone raids your home and injures your family. I can only guess that your loss would cause you to want to strike back. And I don’t blame you. I blame your leaders of yesterday for the pain of today and so should you. The past years of bad leaders have contributed to so many of our family’s heartache, pain and suffering and there is no excuse for that.

I just would caution you to blame those past bad leaders and let your present leaders move you into a new age of health, freedom and justice for you all. I ask you to be patient with your new leaders of today and allow our new leaders to assist you with your new God given life because you are blessed. You were blessed to survive the bad leaders of the past and you should take pride of this blessing to work with your new leaders to promote peace, love, prosperity for living to not let the memory of your love one die but live forever in you.

You have been blessed with your health and strength by your God, by your Allah, by your Jesus. You are Blessed. How do I know? You are alive today and standing right here and now demanding respect. You are blessed by your God, your Allah, and your Jesus and you can testify to your new family of today about the past. You are blessed. Take your blessings seriously and work with your neighbor, work with your new government, work with your new leader in peace. Take your blessings of life and freedom and build up your neighborhood, build up your home and build up your life in peace.

You have withstood the test of time and war and therefore, you are blessed. I too am blessed. I have survived just as you have survived bad leaders of the past. I have survived just as you have survived wars of the past and I have survived just as you have survived discrimination of one’s race, discrimination of one’s beliefs. Yes, we are blessed.

We are blessed because we are alive and have survived. We must take our blessings from God and Allah to the future, to our future. We must take our blessings from God, from Allah, from Jesus and make peace for our future. We must take our blessings from God, from Allah, from Jesus and make our love ones who lost their life proud. Our Blessings from God and from Allah is not given to us without sacrifice or without loss or pain. It was given to us by our Gods for his paradise of peace and love. We are blessed.

We are chosen by Allah and God and Jesus for peace and for his love. I cannot take back what our bad leaders did in the past. I can only try to take my blessings into the future of hope for peace and love. I can only take my blessings to build a home for my family and build a peaceful and loving home for our country. You must take your blessings of life from God and Allah and Jesus to make a happy home and peaceful country for your family and to rebuild your home into the future because you are blessed.

Peace Be Unto You. Sincerely, Esther Mayberry

Ron Paul: Why Are We In Afghanistan?

khelifa barka — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:39:33 EDT

October 18, 2009

Venue: U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs
Date: 10/15/2009

Transcript:

Ron Paul: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In the last months, we have had a pretense of having a debate about Afghanistan, but unfortunately, it’s not much of a debate. We’re deciding whether or not to send 40,000 or 80,000 troops over to Afghanistan and we can’t even decide where the frontlines are. But the worst part of this is this is just déjà vu again, all about going to war needlessly. The same arguments were used in going into war against Iraq and that is “weapons of mass destruction and al-Qaeda, scare the people, it’s in our national security interest to go there” and we continue.

The Taliban never did a thing to us. The Taliban, we were paying them money up until May of 2001. They’re not capable, even if they wanted to, they’re not capable of touching us. So we’re over there, pursuing a war, spreading the war, and going into Pakistan. The American people don’t want it. We’re out of money. We can’t afford medical education here and we’re demanding that we send 80,000 or 40,000 troops to Afghanistan and expand the war. It’s time to end the whole mess.

Chairman Howard L. Berman: The time of the gentleman has expired.

The time has expired and the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Paul, is through.

Ron Paul: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It seems like we’ve had now a war going on for eight years, into the ninth year, and from the discussion, it looks like we’re searching for a justification for it; what is the reason we are there? I think we got that cart before the horse. We’ve been fighting all this time and it means that it isn’t a management problem. It’s a policy problem of how we got there, why we’re there, and what we’re doing, and besides, this type of debate about management, I can’t imagine this type of debate going on in World War II. You know, we knew who the enemy was; we declared war. The President said he’s the commander in chief and told the Congress what he needed. Now, that isn’t an argument for the Congress not paying attention. It’s an argument against the way we go to war and it looks like we have accepted this notion that perpetual war leads to perpetual peace, and we satisfy the military-industrial complex and the special interests and all these motivations just to stay in war endlessly.

But even these eight years, I don’t see where the success is. Men die, thousands of Afghanis are displaced and die. It cost a quarter trillion dollars and we’re still finding out, you know, what are we there for? Oh, well, “if the Taliban takes over” – whom we used to, you know, get along with quite well = “if they take over all of a sudden, al-Qaeda is going to be there and there’s going to another 9/11.”

This is making the assumption that 9/11 couldn’t have occurred without these training camps in Afghanistan. Do you think those nineteen guys went over there and did push-ups in those camps? There is no way. There is no way they were there doing those things. The report, when they studied 9/11, they said, “Well, there is a lot of planning going on in Germany. A lot of planning going on in Spain and there were 15 of them and were Afghans [Saudis]. I mean, if somebody really wanted to, I bet they could have talked the American people into bombing Saudi Arabia. I mean, 15 of them are Saudis. I imagine under those circumstances, the American people and the Congress could have been talked into bombing Saudi Arabia under those conditions.

So I just don’t see how we could continue to do this and come up with any sensible policy because we never challenge, we never question whether preemptive war is a good strategy and this is what this is all about: preemptive wars, starting wars, saying it’s preventative. But this is a completely un-American approach to fighting wars because under the original system, the people got behind the war, declared the war, knew who the enemy was and we didn’t come up with these strategies; “Do we need 40,000 or 80,000 people and who should we give the money to? Should we give it to this group?”

Why don’t we ever ask the question and this will be the question I’ll leave with you. Why don’t we as a Congress and the administrations, former administrations as well as this one, why don’t we ask the question, what is the motivation for somebody to attack us? And I don’t think it’s ever really asked because I think there is a different answer than then if some say, “Oh, they hate us. They hate us for our freedoms and our wealth.”

And I don’t believe that for a minute. I think the people in Afghanistan, the large majority, no matter what the reports are from the administration, our puppet administration, most people want us out of there. They don’t want us in Pakistan. The people in Pakistan don’t want us there. People in Iraq don’t want us there. It’s occupation. So my question is this, why is that never talked about, or why is it dismissed so easily if indeed you study and you find out that people who are willing to sacrifice their life to make a point is because we are seen as foreign occupiers. Just as the Soviets were seen as foreign occupiers, just as we joined those individuals who wanted to throw out the foreign occupiers in the past, and yet now, we are. We learn nothing from history, both ancient history or even recent history. Why don’t we pay more attention to the true motivations behind somebody who wants to commit suicide terrorism against us. Anybody care to answer?

Chairman Howard L. Berman: In 20 seconds.

Unidentified Male Speaker: In twenty seconds. (Laughs).

Robert Kagan: Congressman, I think in 20 seconds, I can only tell you that some of us do pay a great deal of attention to what the ideology is that drives al-Qaeda and affiliated groups to try to attack us. It’s been articulated in tremendous detail on multiple books. It goes beyond not liking us because of our wealth and a variety of other things and it has to do with the struggle within Islam that they see us participating in whether we are present there or not. It is a very, very sophisticated strategy. It is a very, very sophisticated ideology and it is extremely clear on what their intentions are and why.

Chairman Howard L. Berman: The time of the gentleman has expired.

Peace

Unknown user — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:46:16 EDT

How simple is to make people suffer and die in a world that's very dangerous, the opposite: to communicate and get a peacefull world is the most difficult thing to do.

Thank you president Obama to help us from corruption and war so we can life again, Congratulations

Gandhi Jayanti – October 2nd, Mahatma Gandhi’s Birthday

"Voice for Humanity" — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 23:44:36 EDT

By Padmini Arhant

India blessed on the October 2, 1869, with the birth of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, later became ‘The Champion of Peace and the Non-Violence Icon’ for his country and the entire world.

The righteous world leader was a saint rather than a politician. Gandhiji, a reference made in reverence, practiced what he preached to the world - a rare trait and indeed a misnomer in the contemporary politics.

Gandhiji’s presence was timely and poignant in the world that was subject to slavery, holocaust, colonizations and fascism all around. With hopelessness and despair at its peak, the frail yet feisty individual emerged to challenge the odds and beat it on his terms and they were –

War is not in the solution to peace and Violence is not the pathway to justice.

Remaining content @http://www.padminiarhant.com

Thank you.

Padmini Arhant

Sage Advice

Andrew Bairnsfather — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 15:44:14 EDT

Dear President Obama,

Please allow me to pass along this quote to you:

"Beware lest in your anxiety to avoid war you obtain a master."

- Demosthenes

I gotta tell ya, it sure seems our country—even the corps—are out of control stomping the whole planet to pieces. "Crushing and devouring its victims and trampling underfoot whatever is left." Here's one of the ironies I see. The people pushing the hardest for all this are the ones behind the most unflattering characterization of all time; and behind the minion of the deceived.

Respectfully, Drew.

P.S. Have you contacted LEAP yet?

Middle East, big oil and failed promises. What is up, Mr. President?

Marcia Riquelme — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 00:04:36 EDT

This promising new President is so far head and shoulders above the alternative, it is painful to complain bitterly, but bitterly I will. No solution in the Middle East can be solved by occupation, invasion, or military coercion. How my dear President Obama wishes to ignore the wisdom he learned in undergraduate school, I struggle to understand. How well he comprehended the truths shared with him at that time.

What has happened Barack? You were an excellent student. You 'got the picture'. did you lose it somewhere on the walk into the Oval Office? Which UGLY CORPORATION threatened you into falling in line with them? Please be more honorable than to fall to repression by threat of being a 4-year President. What on earth do you think is more honorable--- to follow the wishes of those who elected you, or the be the puppet of the greed and fear-mongers? Please please change course. There is no HOPE AND CHANGE in your middle East policies at present except, thank you for being firmer with Israel, well, a little firmer.

I want to respect you, find you the best President ever. in all history. You are wavering from the track of truly being the people's President. Now you don't have to do much to improve on G.H.W.B., that's true, but you were light-years beyond him at the inauguration----please don't regress. I am worried. How can my Team support you whole-heartedly in 2012? We really care, we are giving our hearts and souls to support you, please don't fail us.

Where is our access to HealthCare REform for all? Public Plan still won't cut it for many. Now we fear the Public Plan will get the ax, too. Are they chewing your heart out? Threatening you? We will rise up in any way you need us to to protect you all we can, just please by the President we hoped we elected!

106 Billion, did you say BILLION??!!

Maria — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 03:51:26 EDT

Has everyone in Washington lost their mind, I wonder? I would not approve 106 Million for war efforts let alone making that billions. Who are they trying to kid? It is time to seriously get these guys under control and give them a serious dose of reality!

We all read of the mismangement of the other war money and they expect us to trust them with more? I do not think so!

Obama, please stand up and say no to this insanity! Until they can account for every penny of where the other money went they should not be allowed to get any more. If I am reading the news right it will take 80 billion to last June-Sept of this year. Where on earth does the money go?

Forget the war profiteers/arms dealers and remember Americans!

Maria

Budgeting

Mysti — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 19:36:17 EDT

I am not sure if anyone will be able to read this,THE FONT IS REALLY SMALL, especially; people in California; but we are in trouble. especially, our children. Education and Health Care is extremely important, no job, no tax no savings for the future. It is a problem that our state has to take from people whom are struggling to survive as it is. I am sorry but, our children are our future, without health care or education they will just be another number. This is 2009, our Country should have already passed this ridiculously fight over who gets what and when and how it is going to help. I have been an advocate for the disabled population for quite sometime now; and, it is truly sad that even the working disabled, still needing assistance to be able to work, are being cut. Our children's education is also important; without them how are we to grow?, how are we to continue with our Globe?, who is going to proceed with our country? All these questions need to be addressed. Someone is still being stingy and putting money in all the wrong hands. Our health care is ridiculous; with all of the air, water and food tainted our children are growing with health problems. This needs to be corrected. CALIFORNIA HAS A PROBLEM..

Must watch Documentary Flow - For Love of Water Directed by Irena Salina

Peter from Carrollton, TX — Sun, 31 May 2009 19:38:18 EDT

Must watch Documentary Flow - For Love of Water Directed by Irena Salina “Thousands have lived without love, not one without water.” –W.H.Auden

Irena Salina’s award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century - The World Water Crisis.

Salina builds a case against the growing privatization of the world’s dwindling fresh water supply with an unflinching focus on politics, pollution, human rights, and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel.

Interviews with scientists and activists intelligently reveal the rapidly building crisis, at both the global and human scale, and the film introduces many of the governmental and corporate culprits behind the water grab, while begging the question “CAN ANYONE REALLY OWN WATER?”

Beyond identifying the problem, FLOW also gives viewers a look at the people and institutions providing practical solutions to the water crisis and those developing new technologies, which are fast becoming blueprints for a successful global and economic turnaround. (Excerpt from main website)

Please visit the official website for more information:
http://www.flowthefilm.com

Click the Fullscreen Button for a larger version.

http://politicalpete.com/forum/index.php

http://politicalpete.com/

MADD Against Everyone

Peter from Carrollton, TX — Sun, 31 May 2009 19:25:00 EDT

MADD Against Everyone

This past Memorial Day, people got in their swimming trunks and bikinis and loaded up the Texas sized big rigs with alcohol. It’s Memorial day weekend and Dallas Police get the warrants to have a no refusal weekend and the right to draw your blood and take you to jail on the spot. Well who cares? Everyone should care because one group of Mad mom’s are infringing on peoples rights. If you are caught drinking on a boat, they can force you to do a breathalyzer, and if you refuse, they draw your blood on the spot and take you to jail. They say this is very effective because out of the 51 people that were tested, all of them plead guilty. Well, what I see is, Police officers are there to enforce the law. They have no right to administer medical procedures on anyone. Even if they take a class on how to do it and are certified. They are not licensed professionals, and they are impeding on Doctor/Patient confidentialities. Maybe this is just me, but this is an outrage. MADD should not get involved in activities at the lake or on the water. Sure, obey boating laws, and don’t litter on the beach but geez. Get a life MADD. Mothers Against Drunk Driving, not Mothers Against All Things Alcohol Related and no longer effect my children(because they are dead from DRUNK DRIVERS). Try to arrest me on a boat and take my blood, I’m going to swim my ass to a lawyer. Notice how the police believe that upon a refusal they have the automatic right to a search warrant. Probable cause to arrest never occurs to them. We don’t spend a lot of time teaching police the value or nuances of the 4th, 5th, or 6th amendments. So it’s not suprising that they have no working knowledge of your rights. By the way 4th = Unreasonable Search and Siezure, 5th = Right to Due Process, 6th = Right to Trial (Mostly the Part about Accusation, and Disclosure of Indictment). So get a lawyer because MADD just might make your city or state a Vampire Nation of Police with Permanent Warrants to draw your blood and take you to jail costing you up to $10,000 in fines and fees; not to mention community service, loss of drivers license, alcoholics anonymous classes, personality assessments, and annual fees totaling thousands.

http://politicalpete.com/
Read more: http://politicalpete.com/madd-wants-to-pass-legistlation-that-would-make-dallas-full-time-needle-poking-place/#ixzz0H85mHbAq&B

The Voices At Arlington Cemetery

Khaidji — Mon, 25 May 2009 19:18:15 EDT

The millions of people who had died for the freedom of America like in Arlington National Cemetery and many lie in unmarked graves. Though the cemetery is often peaceful and quiet, there is one day in particular that there are crowds of people queuing up to get in. Now, on this Memorial Day with the testing of missiles by the North Koreans, there are some Americans eager to go to war again. Thankfully we have a leader like President Barack Obama who believes in diplomacy first.

The Voices At Arlington Cemetery

Today I shed quiet tears

Had a sadness like previous years

Emotions still overwhelm me

Veterans pass by but its like they can’t see

Old friends congregate and one of them says

I lost my friends in enemy bays

Couldn’t find them when we converged

Enemy fire destroyed our vessel as it emerged

Sometimes the stories are dismal and confuse

All the details twisted, the veterans are bemuse

They try to remember but it’s all blank

All they talk about is the approaching enemy tank

Rocket fire was rampant and whistled by

Lieutenant as brave as he was, he wanted to cry

I saw puffs of smoke that swallowed my friends

None survived the blast and now fate sends

Good men to unmarked graves and no one knows

The identity of the men who lay in Arlington’s rows

On Memorial Day many come to honor their lives

No one even knows their children , their wives

Can’t speak with familiarity by the graveside

Eyes are teary though they don’t know who had died

Makes me teary too cause I clearly see

Every friend who returns here religiously

They march slowly and sometimes whistle the Taps

Empathetically they often remove their caps

Remy, gravitates to my strange grave with our kid, not alone

Youth tore me up, he placed items on my unmarked headstone

REMEMBERING HEROES AND HORRORS

Breeze Bryson — Sun, 24 May 2009 16:46:00 EDT

REMEMBERING HEROES AND HORRORS

One way to celebrate Memorial Day is to try to understand what war means to the soldiers on the front line. What keeps them there? What holds them together? How does it effect their families?

The YouTube reference I give below is just part one of a four part series. Each one has a difference subtitle: "We are Family," "He was my Friend" "Who are We Fighting?" "I Move On." The four are entitled "Killer Blue: Baptized by Fire."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPogyjv20Vk&feature=channel

These short videos are useful to those who want to recall the Heroes of war this Memorial Day. I suggest that we need also to remember the Horrors of war in fairness to all those who died for no reason except that they were there and, also, the atrocities committed in the name of war.

Here is an interesting essay stressing that point:

Louis Bickford is the author
Director, Memory, Memorials, and Museums program, ICTJ

MEMORY, WAR, AND THE MEMORY OF WAR

"Memorial Day is meant to remind us of the hardship of war, and on this Memorial Day I find myself asking how we will remember the "war on terror." What will our children's children know about this period?

We choose in the present how future generations will remember the past. One of the great contributions of the human rights movement is showing that how we remember and memorialize trauma in the past -- torture under brutal regimes in Argentina or during the apartheid era of South Africa, the evil committed during the Holocaust -- can help prevent abuses in the future.

What does it mean to choose how to remember? Memories come flooding back, often unwilled, sometimes unwelcomed. The raw material of memory resembles dreams, uncontrolled and full of non-sequiturs.

But consider the terrible affliction of "Funes the Memorious,"a character in a Jorge Luis Borges short story. He remembers everything, every shadow on every leaf on every tree, and he is thus immobilized and must sit in the dark to avoid sensory experience. In real life, societies, like individuals, cannnot remember everything. We organize collective memory, purposefully or not.

Imagining the future, we may choose to remember the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, for example, more in terms of heroism than error, since that is the tendency of all nations. We may remember the irreparable loss of life of those who went to fight, and we will think about their families and the suffering they endured. Our national memory may focus on the deaths of the Americans, in the same way that our memories of Vietnam focus largely on American causalities.

Will we remember that there was a place called Abu Ghraib on the dusty outskirts of Baghdad, and that torture took place there, for which we were responsible? Will we remember that we acquiesced to a terrible policy put forward by our leaders and with the endorsement of many -- Democrats, Republicans, journalists, legal scholars -- that allowed for us to ignore international and American law prohibiting torture?

If we care about the future, we must, first, clarify the truth. Second, we must find ways of clearly condemning torture wherever and whenever it was committed. Third, we must take steps so that we remember our rejection of those acts. Our thinking about future memory is one way of preventing torture in the future.

We need to know the full truth, including who among us was complicit in allowing this to happen, even if it means looking inward to our own communities. Why did not more of us protest more loudly and sooner? Why did so many permit government lawyers to pervert the law for dubious ends, making a mockery out of the idea of reasonable legal interpretation?

We must engage in a serious inquiry and introspection with the goal of accountability. Journalists and scholars should continue their investigative research and analysis of what has transpired. A nonpartisan commission of inquiry should also be a part of this picture, as should the continued declassification of government documents. We should also help others transform Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, and other sites of torture into sites of learning for the future. Seen from the perspective of memory, fair trials of those most responsible for wrong-doing are essential. The documents produced by trials would be vital elements of a true historical record. And trials are the strongest way of representing moral condemnation of wrongful behavior.

Friedrich Nietzsche, the German philosopher, identified three forms of history: antiquarian, monumental, and critical. The first sees history as quaint, curious, distant and irrelevant to our current lives. The second celebrates victory, heroism and tragedy in the past as precursors to current glory. The third suggests an engagement with the memory of the past, seeing the linkages between past, present and future and seeking to understand them.

Former Vice-President Dick Cheney is seeking to convince Americans that torture was justified. It is clear that he is interested in how this period is remembered; he is speaking both to us and to our progeny. He wants the history books and national memory to validate his time in office, and he is making active attempts to guarantee that they do. He wants to create a monumental history of the period.

If former officials succeed in making us forget that there was torture and that it was contrary to our values, they will establish impunity for the present and also for the future. That must not be allowed to happen. Extreme violations of human rights in any context, including a war, are too important to forget. We want future generations to remember that we insisted on accountability for them. Those are good reasons to have Memorial Day."

May we all learn something from these voices, something that makes every Memorial Day more meaningful.

I wish us peace.

Breeze Bryson

May 24, 2009

In Brazil, when crash killed eleven people

Guli from Saint Albans, VT — Sat, 23 May 2009 18:51:33 EDT

In Brazil, when crash killed eleven people
A small twin-plane fell on Friday evening local time in the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia, killed 11 people.

According to the press service of the Brazilian Air Force.

According to authorities, a disaster occurred in the area of the resort town of Porto Segura in the south of the state. Turboprop King Air, on board were 11 people, fell and caught fire a few meters from the runway private airport in the town of Trankozu.

According to the press service, the plane belonged to a private entrepreneur. It followed from Sao Paulo in the resort town of Porto Segura in the south of Bahia State.

According to the Air Traffic Control Center Air Force Brazil Cindacta 3, the plane disappeared from radar at podlete to the airport of destination, not doletev a few hundred meters from the runway.

Arrived at the place of payment firefighters reported that no survivors. However, their data, the plane fell into the dense forest, and it makes a search operation.

Now clarifies the circumstances of the incident. Under investigation.

As reported to the police agency, the plane took off from Sao Paulo and fell during approach in adverse weather conditions.

According to a news Agencia Estado, on board the aircraft was an American businessman, owner of an investment company, Roger Wright, as well as his wife and two children.

Recall, February 7 in a plane crash in the Brazilian state of Amazonas in about 85 km from Manaus were killed and twenty-four people, including seven children.

As reported, March 30, legkomotorny plane fell on homes in the city of Londrina (Parana state) in southern Brazil.

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In the Philippines ferry sinking: 12 dead, including three children

Bot from Yabucoa, PR — Sat, 23 May 2009 18:25:18 EDT

The ferry sank on Saturday, May 23, in the waters south of the capital of the Philippines Manila, drowning 12 people, managed to rescue 52 people.

Among those killed three children and a Japanese tourist. Coast Guard Rescuers continue search for victims. For search and rescue operation involved local fishermen.

Incidents of ferries in the Philippines are not rare, accidents are frequent due to the reloading vehicle, technical problems or adverse weather conditions.

In 1987 the Philippines became the site of the serious accident a passenger ship in time of peace, when the 4 thousand 340 people were killed, along with utonuv natknuvshimsya oil tanker ferry.

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In Turkey, a bus carrying tourists overturned in Kazakhstan

Oikj from Carolina, PR — Fri, 22 May 2009 19:26:05 EDT

Today, May 22, near the Turkish resort city of Antalya overturned bus with tourists from Kazakhstan.

According to preliminary reports, 27 people injured. Accurate information on their status has not yet been reported.

According to Turkish police, the bus driver tried to razminutsya with the car that was driving on the highway to meet, and lost control.

Remember, at the end of March in Turkey overturned bus with German tourists. Then, wounded 26 people.

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Prisoner of War (POW) Guantanamo Bay, The Geneva Convention

Queen E — Fri, 22 May 2009 19:22:14 EDT

Prisoner of War (POW) - Guantanamo Bay; The Geneva Convention for USA

This is just a suggestion; it’s only food for thought that I am imparting to our President.

Dear Mr. President Obama,

I know your plate is full of things to do and this Guantanamo issue seems to be a thorn in our side but I gotta say it; again we have the professional, experts, with degrees and ranks writing rules and regulations for others to follow. These experts fail to foresee that they too will have to apply that same regulation to themselves. And now it’s time to apply the Geneva Convention Law on ourselves to obey but instead the Naysayers want to ignore or re-write it.

Here is my common sense approach to where I think you should move the Guantanamo Bay occupants.

Throughout the USA, we have Army, Marine, Navy, Air Force bases; some bases are sitting idly and abandoned. My thinking is that why not move these prisoners of war to these bases. It is the Department of Defense’s shoulder of responsibility that is charged with the mission to search, rescue, defend and capture and imprison. Well, they are responsible for housing the prisoners too.

We also have the old American Civil War Camps throughout the USA that was used for POWs and some of them can be put to use. This list of cities with the camps are listed on the Internet. It names Union Camps and Confederate Camps and the cities they are located.

These bases and camps are perfect for the following reasons:

a. It is where our soldiers train; why not train them using real enemies in some scenarios, not all, and use them to deactivate, detrain, and heal both soldiers and prisoners who suffers with Post Traumatic Stress Syndromes.

b. It is where our returning and wounded soldiers can be employed to assist with the daily upkeep, maintenance and punishment, treatment and guarding of such prisoners of war,

c. And our Department of Defense budget should have a mandate and budget that includes this POW capture, placement and treatment.

I can’t think of a more appropriate placement for those POWs than in our own military camps and bases. This would mean Jobs for doctors, lawyers, nurses, psychiatrist, chefs, etc. etc. Jobs that will stimulate the economy in those cities.

Sincerely,

This is War on the American People this is War on America you must stand-up now

Thomas S. Kelly — Thu, 21 May 2009 18:27:13 EDT

This is War on the American People this is War on America you must stand-up now

Republicans have figured out that they can't beat us on healthcare reform if they fight inclusion of a public option head on. So, instead they are looking for different ways to kill a public option without actually calling it that.

This week they launched their first real attempt and it is already picking up a bit of steam among so-called Senate moderates.

They call it "the trigger."

They want Americans to keep the same broken system we have now and give the insurance industry one more chance to fix it on their own. Then, if insurance companies fail, the bill would "trigger" the public option -- you know, in like 7 years or so.

We need to act right now. Call your Senators and tell them that a so-called trigger is a no go.

Senate Switchboard
(202) 224-3121

Suggested script:
"I oppose the healthcare trigger. Please ask the Senator to stand up against the insurance industry and the so-called ‘trigger' for a public option. We need the choice of a public healthcare option now, not more of the same broken healthcare system for years to come."

REPORT YOUR CALL NOW

The real fight has begun. We need to act fast, make our position clear and fight for real reform. Please make your calls right now.

Tell Congress we didn't vote to wait -- We voted for change.

Thank you for everything you do.

-Charles

Charles Chamberlain, Political Director
Democracy for America

Democracy for America relies on you and the people-power to fund the grassroots organizing that delivers progressive change on the issues that matter. Please Contribute Today and support our mission.

This is War on the American People this is War on America you must stand-up now

Thomas S. Kelly — Thu, 21 May 2009 18:27:13 EDT

This is War on the American People this is War on America you must stand-up now

Thomas S. Kelly — Thu, 21 May 2009 18:27:13 EDT

This is War on the American People this is War on America you must stand-up now

BLACK YOUTH AND CRIME

scorpi2000 — Tue, 19 May 2009 05:37:58 EDT

PLEASE COPY AND SEND THIS TO EVERYBODY

IF I HAD A BILLION DOLLARS I,D BUY CNN AND FORCE THEM TO READ THIS OVER THE AIR

HAVE WE ALL FORGOTEN THAT GANGSTER RAP WAS EMBRACED BY THE MEDIA, AND IN TURN EMBRACED BY OUR CHILDREN, THEN ACCEPTED AS A TREND .THEN OK'ED BY PARENTS. LOOKED UP TO AND PROMOTED AS STARS, GLORIFIED AS BEING A WAY OF LIFE THAT MANY YOUTH TRY TO BE LIKE. WITH CLOTHING TO MATCH, MARKETED AND SOLD. BOUGHT BY PARENTS WHO WANT THEIR KIDS TO KEEP UP WITH THE LATEST TRENDS IN CLOTHING,, BECAUSE THEY ARE BEING PRESSURED BY THEIR KIDS WHO WANT TO BE LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE...MUSIC PLAYED ON THE RADIO ,TV, MTV, MUSIC AWARDS ETC. NOW ITS MANIFESTING IN MANY BLACK CHILDREN LIVING OUT THIS FAD IN REALITY, AND EVERYBODIES WONDERING WHAT HAPPENED, AND ASKING THE POLICE TO SAVE US FROM OURSELVES... ARE WE THAT SCREWED UP AS A SOCIETY ?

NEED I SAY ANY MORE... WHY ARE ALL THESE SO CALLED EDUCATED PEOPLE SCRATCHING THEIR HEADS AND SAYING DUUH ...I DONT KNOW WHY THIS IS HAPPENING..START FROM THE BEGINNING ..UNDUE THE FAD THAT HAS MANIFESTED THIS REACTION

THE POLICE CANT SOLVE THIS PROBLEM ITS AN ENVIRNMENTAL ISSUE.

YES LARRY KING LIFE IS CAUSE AND EFFECT!

SORRY GANGSTER RAPPERS WE DONT WANT YOUR PRODUCT!

A FEW OF YOU HAVE MADE MILLIONS BUT MANY OF YOUR FOLLOWERS ARE LEFT AT DEAD ENDS.

First of all im a nieghbor, of the mother of Blair Holt.We grew up together in the same nieborhood. I am not a perfect person . No one is. BUTThier are too many of our children being killed by other children. Why does this happen? It happens because many of our children have been infuenced by a fad culture that has glorified and lagitimized a gang culture, which has had a very destructive effect on our niebohoods here in Chicago and many other places in the U.S. Do you know how hard it is for a child to go against a popular trend with most of thier peers. In order to survive most parents are at work.Even if they wanted to, they would have to risk thier jobs to stay at home or devote enough time and energy to offset the influence of popular culture.These trends are established and reinforced by companies who make a lot of money creating and selling the latest trend.The parents of these young kids who are in gangs, have missed the oportunity to stop thier children from growing up accepting a destructive trend that makes money for a few and leaves the victoms lifes in turmoil. with hate in thier hearts, and the lack of respect for anothers life. Parents are Too busy at work, in poverty, fathers not there, gangs took over, I did the best I could, can no longer be an excuse. Me, you, us, them, we,the parents are the only ones that can stop this circle of violence. Check your children when they are young and they wont grow up killing other children. Watch what they are being influenced by. Watch who they are being influenced by. Know who the friends are they hang with. use your influence, to influence thier friends and other children. Know what your child is up to and who they are hanging with when they are not at home Dont let children raise children. Work together as a group when they are young, sacrifice if you have too, because the next child that is killed might be your own,killed by your nieghbors child. Or youll be explaining why your child killed someone else.Stop depending on the police or govt. to do our jobs after the fact.We as parents are always responsible for how our children turn out.

BUT WHAT IF ITS AN ENVIRNMENTAL ISSUE?.

OUR ENVIRNMENT INCLUDES THE MEDIA TV, RADIO, MARKETING, FASHOIN ETC.

THANKSSCORPI2000

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-52245#

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-254315#

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-221708#

http://www.myspace.com/scorpi2000radicalroots

Fields of Graves

Deb — Sun, 17 May 2009 23:50:11 EDT

With the upcoming Memorial Day holiday approaching, my thoughts turned to the many many soldiers who have lost their lives to war. I was inspired to write the following poem "Fields of Graves" which I submitted to Triond, an internet publishing company. One comment I recieved on the poem was that it should be seen by our country's leaders. So I decided to go straight to the top! I pray that someday we can all get along and have peace in this big beautiful world that we share.

http://www.authspot.com/Poetry/Fields-of-Graves.710287

Is War the Right Answer?

Maya — Sun, 17 May 2009 20:36:08 EDT

Is it not the time to stop war?

Do we need to fight in the name of national security?

Are we paying attention to every innocent and precious soul in the land attacked?

Have'nt innocent people died in war?

Do we really care?

War needs to be fought with wisdom and love in the heart

Anything attempted with ego will lead to more seperation between humanity

Any action done in fear will not create peace

The leaders need to acknowledge they are also humans trying to have mastery over their ego

The leaders need to acknowledge they have not always acted in truth

The leaders need to acknowledge they are students of life, mastering virtues through life challenges

When we are students, open to being wrong and willing to be taught by everyone

Humanity will have more peace

There is war in Wall street

There is war in Hospitals

There is war at home

There is war in our schools

Have we paid attention to the real problems instead of the symptoms?

We have lost our way from truth

We have lost compassion for our fears, our unconscious negative shadows

Hence we have no compassion for the same reflected in others

Maybe there needs to be the same force, the same passion and the same devotion to love

That was earlier given to war

Maybe our priorities are not right

If we create our reality, dont we have the power to change it?

www.PowerofIllusion.com

Author The Power of Illusion

Adolf Hitler / Nazis hated Arabs "inferior race," yet used them as disposable tools against Jews

Unknown user — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 02:04:10 EDT

Adolf Hitler / Nazis hated Arabs as an inferior “race”, yet praised Islam in its ‘war like’ TOTALITARIAN ideology He saw them as a great disposable tool to be used against the Jews, the mufti fell for it.

SPLCenter.org: The Swastika and the Crescent, Although he loathed Arabs (he once described them as “lacquered half-apes who ought to be whipped“), Hitler understood that he and the Mufti shared the same rivals, British and the Jews… http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?pid=242

ESSAY - May 2002 By Martin A. Lee …Ahmed Huber: Neo-Nazi, Islamic convert… The roots of the Muslim Brotherhood and, in many ways, the Nazi-Muslim axis go back to the organisation’s formation in Egypt in 1928. Marking the start of modern political “Islamic fundamentalism,” the Brotherhood from the outset envisioned a time when an Islamic state would prevail in Egypt and other Arab countries.

The growth of the Muslim Brotherhood coincided with the rise of fascist movements in Europe - a parallel noted by Muhammad Sa’id al-’Ashmawy, former chief justice of Egypt’s High Criminal Court, who decried “the perversion of Islam” and “the fascistic ideology” that infuses the world view of the Brothers. Youssef Nada, current board chairman of Al Taqwa, had joined the armed branch of the Muslim Brotherhood as a young man in Egypt during World War II. Nada and several of his cohorts in the Sunni Muslim fraternity were recruited by German military intelligence. Hassan al-Banna, the Egyptian schoolteacher who founded the Muslim Brotherhood, also collaborated with spies of the Third Reich. Advocating a pan-Islamic insurgency in British-controlled Palestine, the Brotherhood proclaimed their support for the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin Al-Husseini, in the late 1930s.

The Grand Mufti, the preeminent religious figure among Palestinian Muslims, was the most notable Arab leader to seek an alliance with Nazi Germany. Although he loathed Arabs (he once described them as “lacquered half-apes who ought to be whipped”), Hitler understood that he and the Mufti shared the same rivals - the British, the Jews and the Communists. They met in Berlin, where the Mufti lived in exile during the war. The Mufti agreed to help organise a special Muslim division of the Waffen SS. Powerful radio transmitters were put at the Mufti’s disposal so that his pro-Axis propaganda could be heard throughout the Arab world. http://www.aijac.org.au/review/2002/275/essay275.html

War aims in the second world war: the war aims of the major belligerents …‎ - by Victor Rothwell - History - 2005 - 244 pages (Page 41) However, the Nazis were clear in their minds that the Arabs were racially inferior, and there would, therefore, be no pleasure to be had from helping them in anything except for the extermination of Jews in their region. http://books.google.com/books?id=XfgLbSc94MEC&pg=PA41

Islam, Nazism, and Totalitarianism

During an interview conducted in the late 1930s (published in 1939), Carl Jung, the Swiss psychiatrist and founder of analytical psychiatry, was asked “…had he any views on what was likely to be the next step in religious development?” Jung replied, in reference to the Nazi fervor that had gripped Germany We do not know whether Hitler is going to found a new Islam. He is already on the way; he is like Muhammad. The emotion in Germany is Islamic; warlike and Islamic. They are all drunk with wild god. That can be the historic future. Albert Speer, who was Hitler’s Minister of Armaments and War Production, wrote a contrite memoir of his World War II experiences while serving a 20-year prison sentence imposed by the Nuremberg tribunal.

Speer’s narrative includes this discussion, which captures Hitler’s racist views of Arabs on the one hand, and his effusive praise for Islam on the other:

Hitler had been much impressed by a scrap of history he had learned from a delegation of distinguished Arabs. When the Mohammedans attempted to penetrate beyond France into Central Europe during the eighth century, his visitors had told him, they had been driven back at the Battle of Tours. Had the Arabs won this battle, the world would be Mohammedan today. For theirs was a religion that believed in spreading the faith by the sword and subjugating all nations to that faith. Such a creed was perfectly suited to the Germanic temperament. Hitler said that the conquering Arabs, because of their racial inferiority, would in the long run have been unable to contend with the harsher climate and conditions of the country. They could not have kept down the more vigorous natives, so that ultimately not Arabs but Islamized Germans could have stood at the head of this Mohammedan Empire. Hitler usually concluded this historical speculation by remarking, “You see, it’s been our misfortune to have the wrong religion. Why didn’t we have the religion of the Japanese, who regard sacrifice for the Fatherland as the highest good? The Mohammedan religion too would have been much more compatible to us than Christianity. Why did it have to be Christianity with its meekness and flabbiness?” http://www.andrewbostom.org/content/view/61/55/

The roots of Arab Anti-Semitism - By David Greenberg - Slate Magazine Oct 31, 2001 … As he notes, anti-Semitism in Arab countries (and non-Arab Islamic states such as Iran) …. East—they were eager to make common cause with Hitler, despite Nazi belief that they, like the Jews, were inferior to Aryans. … http://www.slate.com/id/2057949/

The third Reich & the Palestine question - Francis R. Nicosia - 2000 - History - 319 pages (Page 85) Most Arabs never realized that the Nazis would consider them racially inferior as well and that Germany had no intention of undermining British authority in … http://books.google.com/books?id=xh4m-OMrhJUC&pg=PA85

The Nazi Connection to Islamic Terrorism: Adolf Hitler and Haj … Chuck Morse - 2003 - History - 188 pages (page 53) … as Hitler was known to have described the Arabs as “lacquered half-apes who ought to be whipped,” to a lower race … http://books.google.com/books?id=HGkthBwbNg8C&pg=PA53

Despite Hitler’s personal antipathy towards Arabs, who he once described as lacquered half apes who ought to be whipped, he nevertheless was prepared to … http://www.thecst.org.uk/docs/An%20unholy%20alliance%201801%20original.doc

The Beast Reawakens: Fascism’s Resurgence from Hitler’s Spymasters …Martin A. Lee - 1999 - Political Science - 560 pages (page 122) Even though he loathed Arabs (he once described them as “lacquered half-apes who ought to be whipped”), Hitler was nonetheless the idol of the paramilitary … http://books.google.com/books?id=SX4B7pNG3W8C&pg=PA122

A few points about the racist UN - Durban "anti-racism" conference

Natalia from Acampo, CA — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 03:38:40 EDT

A few points about the racist UN - Durban "anti-racism" conference

1) When will Arab racists & Islamic bigots let go of the UN and stop hijacking it with it's lobbies (silencing Arab racist genocide in Darfur, yet daming innocent Israelis who merely try to survive)?

2) Why is Arab terror singling out Jews not racist?

3) Why is the essence of the entire "conflict'" in the M.E. not a form of bigotry by Arab Muslims who can't "accept" the non Arab non Muslim pluralistic democratic Israel?

4) Are Jews living, or even allowed to live in racist "Palestinian" controlled territories (Judenrein - ethnic cleaning)?

5) When will lefty radicals (Meretz/B'Tzelem) talk about preferential treatments to Arabs OVER Jews inside Israel, like in Hebron and in other cases?

6) Why are (Arab Palestinian or Hezbollah) the ones using its own kids as cannon fodders considered "innocent victims"?

7) Is Israel battling just terrorism or an ARAB MUSLIM CAMPAIGN OF GENOCIDE since the 1920's?

8) Since Muslim nations (OIC & Iran) push to criminalize criticism of Islamists' bigotry, doesn't it mean that anything being said in that conference is the opposite of tolerance and of truth?

9) How can the UN avoid the largest practitioner of racism, which is Arabism (against: Kurds, Berbers, Africans, Jews, Assyrians, Asians, etc.), but focuses on the so called "anti-Arab racism"?
[ http://geocities.com/panarabism - Arabism is racism! ]

10) How more racist can the Durban-conference get, If the two oppressive regimes: Libya & Iran are the "stars"?
Libya - whose Muamar Qaddafi (besides his own persecution of non-Arabs, especially blacks in his country) the one of the champions in today's racist Arabization, and Arabist racism against Africa (whose "vision" has been compared to Hitler's "lebensraum"), in: Chad, Nigeria, etc., ultimately his crimes in the Sudan region helped in leading the current Al-Bashir's genocide on Millions of Africans (financed mainly by Libya and S. Arabia).
Iran, the regime of Islamic bigotry's oppression on its own population with an added special persecution on all on-Muslims: Christians, Baha'i, Jews, etc. or on non-"pure-Persians" like: Ahwazi - Arabs, Kurds, Azeris, Baluchis, etc. now under the leadership of: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [EichmannJihad - the Islamic Hitler] who plays as if he "denies" the holocaust only in order to prepare for (his wishful) the second, "wiping off Israel".
Thus, the shame of the UN, kidnapped by the epitome of intolerance today, the infamous twin fascism: Arab racism, as in Gadhafi, and Islamic bigotry as in Amadinejad, are going to be "preaching" (and determine) to the world on tolerance.

My blog is at http://mark.baland.net/blog .

markbaland — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 17:51:31 EDT

My blog is at http://mark.baland.net/blog .

Obama heads to Mexico amid escalating drug violence

Unknown user — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 04:26:54 EDT

Obama recently announced a crackdown on border violence and on the smuggling of cash and weapons into Mexico -- a step that could mark an end to a blame game over where responsibility for the violence lies.

The president recently designated three Mexican organizations, which he says are involved in drug trafficking, to face hefty financial sanctions under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Wednesday.

The law, signed by President Bill Clinton in December 1999, authorizes the president to impose penalties against foreign drug kingpins -- and organizations that do business with them, according to the Treasury Department.

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White House releases Obama, Biden tax returns

Unknown user — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 02:32:56 EDT

The White House released 2008 tax returns Wednesday for the Obamas and the Bidens.

The president and the first lady reported an adjusted gross income of of more than $2.6 million last year, and paid $855,323 in federal income tax. The Obamas also donated $172,050, to 37 different charities, including $25,000 contributions to CARE and the United Negro College Fund.

The Obamas, who donated $26,270 to Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s Trinity United Church of Christ in 2007, did not contribute any money to the church in 2008. They donated $240,370 to 33 charities in 2007, including $35,000 to CARE, and $50,000 to the United Negro College Fund.

NIHILISM, WILL WORDS ALWAYS BRING YOU TO

caring_independent — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 14:17:06 EDT

does fear of flying or death take us there
to know life older than any witness
and now past, may have eyes forseen our dare
to greedily seek for our uniqueness
once tearing free from our primitive root
more fragile than the tree, to think and will
could humanity take us from dispute
or will violence feed us our fatal pill?

concern not for another's attendance
who keeps to assuage intellectual pride
as captains map amoral contrivance
of right, but confess a just course abide
they'll speak with no doubt of true direction
while more, appeasing perceived mutinies
than terms imbibed in common religion
could we know truth from man's hypotheses?

coroners will define life from its death
and vision life's divination by line
like rings of trees never reveal its breath
will Horus' eye remain bounded in trine
fingers and symbols just point back at you
like breath is not caught in your reflection
Nihilism, will words always bring you to
why, do we accept nothing over One?

Written 3/17/2009, Copyright ME Wilson

Nuclear watchdog asked to leave N.Korea

Unknown user — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:57:06 EDT

The U.S. criticized the decision and another North Korean announcement earlier in the day that it was pulling out of talks on the future of its nuclear program.

A statement on the IAEA's Web site said: "The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has today informed IAEA inspectors in the Yongbyon facility that it is immediately ceasing all cooperation with the IAEA. It has requested the removal of all containment and surveillance equipment, following which, IAEA inspectors will no longer be provided access to the facility."

It added: "The inspectors have also been asked to leave the DPRK at the earliest possible time. The DPRK also informed the IAEA that it has decided to reactivate all facilities and go ahead with the reprocessing of spent fuel."

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Nuclear watchdog asked to leave N.Korea

Jikru from Chefornak, AK — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 18:32:40 EDT

The U.S. criticized the decision and another North Korean announcement earlier in the day that it was pulling out of talks on the future of its nuclear program.

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Obama seeks another $83 billion for Iraq, Afghanistan

Unknown user — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 18:02:09 EDT

The request is expected to pay for those conflicts for the rest of the 2009 budget year, two Democratic congressional sources said.

About $75 billion of that would pay for military operations, with the rest going to diplomatic programs and development aid.

The additional money is needed "to fund the new strategy in Afghanistan and fund the process in Iraq that will lead to a drawdown of all of our combat troops," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

Since coming to office in January, President Obama has announced plans to shift troops out of Iraq and beef up U.S. forces in Afghanistan, where American troops have been battling al Qaeda and Taliban fighters since al Qaeda's 2001 attacks.

The money would bring the running tab for both conflicts to nearly $800 billion, according to figures from the House Appropriations Committee. Most of that money has been spent in Iraq, where most of the U.S. troops have been deployed and where the Pentagon estimated its costs at roughly $10 billion a month by October.

Terrorizing the Terrorists

Don — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 13:34:58 EDT

How do you deter an enemy who is willing to kill himself in order to kill you? You strike at something more important to him than his own life. Defining that will be easy for me. The next question is can America be as ruthless as our enemies?

The time has come to end the fruitless and unsustainable effort to search and destroy every cave in Afghanistan and bomb every campground in bordering Pakistan. It’s counterproductive anyway.

What will put the fear of America into terrorist masterminds and those who would follow their orders is simple and radical revenge. Masterminds have families: Cousins, brothers and fathers. Eliminate them. All at once, or one at a time, it works just as well. The ones who survive an initial “hunt” will go into hiding. Having some adult male relatives killed and the rest hiding out in caves will demoralize masterminds and their loved ones. You cannot work and support your women like that. You can’t make more baby masterminds that way. You cannot continue the blood line. The women and children will pressure them to stop their plotting and bombing.

People want to leave a familial legacy, and they can’t do that under those circumstances over the long term.

Should America do that? Yes. Do we have the “intestinal fortitude” and sustainable motivation? I don’t think so. But we should, and it shouldn’t take another terrorist attack to get us there.

For the last seven years the CIA has been kidnapping people from other nations and torturing them. Why not just go in there and quietly shoot them to death?

Frankly, by not killing women or children the way those terrorists routinely do, we can even claim the moral high ground.

Anti-Zionism is hate, racism

Unknown user — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 01:33:40 EDT

Anti-Zionism is hate

By Judea Pearl March 22, 2009

In January, four longtime Israel bashers were invited to the University of California, Los Angeles, to analyze the human rights conditions in Gaza, and used the stage to attack the legitimacy of Zionism and its vision of a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians.

They criminalized Israel’s existence, distorted its motives and maligned its character, its birth, even its conception. At one point, the excited audience reportedly chanted “Zionism is Nazism” and worse.

Jewish leaders condemned this hate-fest as a dangerous invitation to anti-Semitic hysteria. The organizers, some of them Jewish, took refuge in “academic freedom” and the argument that anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism.

I fully support this mantra, not because it exonerates anti-Zionists from charges of anti-Semitism but because the distinction helps us focus attention on the discriminatory, immoral and more dangerous character of anti-Zionism.

Anti-Zionism rejects the very notion that Jews are a nation - a collective bonded by a common history - and, accordingly, denies Jews the right to self-determination in their historical birthplace. It seeks the dismantling of the Jewish nation-state: Israel.

Anti-Zionism earns its discriminatory character by denying the Jewish people what it grants to other historically bonded collectives (e.g., French, Spanish, Palestinians): namely, the right to nationhood, self-determination and legitimate coexistence with other indigenous claimants.

Anti-Semitism rejects Jews as equal members of the human race; anti-Zionism rejects Israel as an equal member in the family of nations.

Are Jews a nation? Some philosophers would argue Jews are a nation first and religion second. Indeed, the narrative of Exodus and the vision of the impending journey to the land of Canaan were etched in the minds of the Jewish people before they received the Torah at Mount Sinai. But philosophy aside, the unshaken conviction in their eventual repatriation to the birthplace of their history has been the engine behind Jewish endurance and hopes throughout their turbulent journey that started with the Roman expulsion in A.D. 70.

More important, shared history, not religion, is today the primary uniting force behind the secular, multiethnic society of Israel. The majority of its members do not practice religious laws and do not believe in divine supervision or the afterlife. The same applies to American Jewry, which is likewise largely secular. Identification with a common historical ethos, culminating in the re-establishment of the state of Israel, is the central bond of Jewish collectivity in America.

There are, of course, Jews who are non-Zionists and even anti-Zionists. There are also Jews who find it difficult to defend their identity against the growing viciousness of anti-Israel propaganda.

But these are marginal minorities at best; the vital tissues of Jewish identity today feed on Jewish history and its natural derivatives - the state of Israel, its struggle for survival, its cultural and scientific achievements and its relentless drive for peace.

Given this understanding of Jewish nationhood, anti-Zionism is in many ways more dangerous than anti-Semitism.

First, anti-Zionism targets the most vulnerable part of the Jewish people, namely, the Jewish population of Israel, whose physical safety and personal dignity depend crucially on maintaining Israel’s sovereignty. Put bluntly, the anti-Zionist plan to do away with Israel condemns 5.5 million human beings, mostly refugees or children of refugees, to eternal defenselessness in a region where genocidal designs are not uncommon.

Second, modern society has developed antibodies against anti-Semitism but not against anti-Zionism. Today, anti-Semitic stereotypes evoke revulsion in most people of conscience, while anti-Zionist rhetoric has become a mark of academic sophistication and social acceptance in certain extreme yet vocal circles of U.S. academia and media elite. Anti-Zionism disguises itself in the cloak of political debate, exempt from sensitivities and rules of civility that govern inter-religious discourse, to attack the most cherished symbol of Jewish identity.

Finally, anti-Zionist rhetoric is a stab in the back to the Israeli peace camp, which overwhelmingly stands for a two-state solution. It also gives credence to enemies of coexistence who claim that the eventual elimination of Israel is the hidden agenda of every Palestinian.

It is anti-Zionism, then, not anti-Semitism, that poses a more dangerous threat to lives, historical justice and the prospects of peace in the Middle East.

Judea Pearl is a professor at UCLA and the president of the Daniel Pearl Foundation. This article originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.israel22mar22,0,72685.story

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OBAMA SONG-17yr old positive lyricist

Fundamental — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 20:39:43 EDT

I'm a 17yr old positive lyricist out of Richmond,VA. i wrote a rap song about OBAMA. you can hear it at myspace.com/3rdeyeup
no cursing, no negativity. real positive, creative lyrics. hope you guys check it out. peace n bless

Congressmen urge Obama to reconsider troop surge in Afghanistan

Jason M. Christos — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 22:05:10 EDT

Congressmen urge Obama to reconsider troop surge in Afghanistan

Tuesday, 17 March 2009

By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

Today a league of congressmen sent a letter to President Obama asking him to reconsider his military policy in Afghanistan before committing 17,000 new troops in a surge. The letter said, “As the goals of our seven year military involvement remain troublingly unclear, we urge you to reconsider such a military escalation”. This letter came from a bipartisan group of 14 members of Congress.

Congressman Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) said that he is “perplexed” by the president’s troop increase, considering that his administration has stated it is presently reviewing its strategy in Afghanistan. Congressman Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said that America is getting deeper into a “war without end” and that we need an exit strategy in Afghanistan.

Both Ron Paul (R-Texas) and Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) expressed concern on waging an endless war in such a time of economic peril. Kucinich said what the country needs is a healthcare surge, a home ownership surge, and an...

READ MORE HERE http://talkradionews.com/2009/03/congressmen-urge-obama-to-reconsider-troop-surge-in-afghanistan/

The Real Abominations Against God and Jesus

Don — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 00:04:47 EDT

The fact that Americans vote in favoring of paying our farmers to produce LESS milk in order to keep the gallon price of milk HIGHER than a gallon of gasoline while millions of American babies' parents can't afford milk is an abomination against God.People who, in the name of Jesus, vote to DENY medicine and treatment for babies in nations where it is otherwise not available suffering from AIDS because adults delivering help condone use of condoms to staunch the spread of AIDS are committing an abomination against God.People who vote against public sponsored healthcare for babies and children who cannot otherwise obtain it are committing an abomination against God.People who allow others to go hungry, homeless and sick, thus disobeying Jesus AND God himself, find the energy to rail against adults who behind closed doors have sex with other consenting adults are committing an abomination against God. They spend money, cast votes and change constitutions to deny those people rights to get divorced like 50% of the self-righteous people do every day.People who blatantly ignore the commands of Jesus and stated in all the gospels to care for the sick, the hungry and the homeless, and “judge not lest you be judged” while trumpeting an obscure sentence fragment from the Old Testament taken out of context while calling themselves Christians are an abomination against God and Jesus. Theirs is the greatest of blasphemy imaginable.When the mere idea that a person would not CHOOSE to be reviled, persecuted, fired from the military, and in some cases savagely beaten to death -- in other words, be gay -- is met by 'conservative Republicans' with such rabid, savage hostility, then one could reasonably believe that their position and their associated rage is intended merely as a distraction from their own actions which are immoral, inhumane and even criminal (refer to first five paragraphs).

IN OUR OWN WORDS

Terry Danielson — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 00:18:34 EST

IN OUR OWN WORDS

A Collection of Stories and Photographs

From Military Families of the

Iraq and Afghanistan Wars

To our President and First Lady

On February 27, 2009, in his speech from Camp Lejeune, President Obama said, "…my strategy for ending the war in Iraq does not end with military plans or diplomatic agendas; it endures through our commitment to uphold our sacred trust with every man and woman who has served in Iraq.... And for you and your families, the war does not end when you come home. It lives on in memories of your fellow Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines who gave their lives…. You and your families have done your duty; now a grateful nation must do ours….”

“We also know that service does not end with the person wearing the uniform. In her visits with Military Families across the country, my wife Michelle has learned first hand about the unique burden that your families endure every day. I want you to know that Military Families are a top priority for Michelle and me, and they will be a top priority for my administration…. Each of you has your own story. And that story is now a part of the history of the United States of America..."

Recently, on a show from Walter Reed, Oprah talked about Military Families, reminding Americans that every day when we listen to the news, we hear another number, and we go on with our lives. Behind the statistics are real families. An injured service member at Walter Reed said, “No soldier comes back the same - it is a family process. Go to the floor upstairs where the injuries are not seen. They are just as injured as those with physical injuries."

As President Obama works to end the war in Iraq, and the war in Afghanistan continues, the faces and every day lives of Military Families who wait at home will remain at the center of the war and our stories will continue. During war, military family experiences are so much more than can ever be communicated in news reports, care packages, legislation, military or political strategies.

Our MYBO/OFA group, “Military Families Need Obama as We Share the Human Faces of War,” led by military parents and siblings, invites military spouses, children, grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles to be a part of "IN OUR OWN WORDS," a special collection of stories and photographs that will be presented to our President and First Lady.

"IN OUR OWN WORDS" will share the human faces of the consequences of war from the hearts and souls of those who live it everyday. It is intended to serve as a tribute to the lives of Military Families of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and will include both our inspirational and heart breaking experiences, with a special section honoring those service members who have been killed while at war. Together, Military Families will create "IN OUR OWN WORDS” with the hope that as we share our stories, it will lift us all up.

Stories and photographs will only be used in this project to be presented to our President and First Lady. They will not be distributed to any other group, organization, or the media. To learn more about how to participate in this project, please contact one of us:

Debbie: DebbieIngraham@gmail.com

Jessica: JessicaIngraham@gmail.com

Terry: Tdaniel333@comcast.net

"Astronomics"

Charles — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 00:53:41 EST

Astronomics$!

"No term exists to describe the current spiraling fiscal situation..."

The phenomenon of a 789 billion dollar stimulus package has quite simply exceeded the necessary vocabulary to be in any way adequately understood and encompassed.

So I hope you'll forgive this writer coining the term "Astronomics$."

No, it hadn't yet existed in modern parlance, but I, like most Americans, am dwarfed by the idea of it all, with its unparalleled price tag.

It's way out there, out in the Milky Way somewhere. And were it not from a great distance mentally, we couldn't possibly conceive of it at all.

I sat, stunned, with my mother watching the news, as CEO Vikram Pandit of Citigroup - which in the form of CitiMortgage owns the lien on my home - testified before testy Senators. They gnawed at him as if they were the old lady in the familiar Wendy's hamburger commercial in search of the patty of beef on the proverbial bun. So, "Where's the beef?"

And there's a beef all right, carnivorous in its intensity, angrily pervasive in this country of ours. Folks are hungry for help, but, politically and psychologically, and where their wallet is concerned, they're looking at accumulating lint. If they are nourished at all, it is with sarcasm, because they're all fed up!

And this sandwich, however, comes in the huge form of a sum hitherto unheard and even not thought of.

A stimulus package. It boggles the mind of any who try to wrap themselves around it.

It actually approaches a zillion dollars! Frankly, I'm surprised the spell-check let that one by me. But, apparently the word does legitimately exist.

If you, like I, am used to rounding cents upward to dollars in your checkbook in the best of times when the budget allows, then you cannot fathom this ridiculously high amount of money.

My research took me to multiple sites, all with the information below a matter of public record.

Just take a look of the summation below to see how the Treasury has thus far disseminated our tax, and as yet unearned, dollars:

TARP AID - Participants in Troubled Assets Relief Program

How Treasury has spend/committed the $350 Billion so far.
1)$168 billion in varying amounts to 116 banks
2)Committed another $82 billion to capitalize more banks
3)Bought $40 billion in preferred shares of American International Group (AIG, Fortune 500) so the troubled insurer could pay off an earlier loan from the Federal Reserve
4)Committed $20 billion to back any losses that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York might incur in a new program to lend money to owners of securities backed by credit card debt, student loans, auto loans and small business loans
5)Committed to invest $20 billion in Citigroup on top of $25 billion the bank had already received
6)Committed $5 billion as a loan loss backstop to Citigroup
7)Agreed to loan $13.4 billion to GM and Chrysler to get them through the next few months.
8)Invested $5 billion in GMAC
9)BofA to Get $20B More From TARP, Plus Backstop on $118B

Below, see a list of participating companies.
Last updated: 1/16/2009 using Treasury announcements.
Click the headers of the columns to sort by company, state and amount.

Date Announced*

Company

Headquarters

Capital, in millions

Status**

10/28/2008

Citigroup Inc***

New York

$25,000

Completed

10/28/2008

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co

New York

$25,000

Completed

10/28/2008

Wells Fargo & Co

California

$25,000

Completed

10/28/2008

Bank of America Corp

North Carolina

$15,000

Completed

1/9/2009

Bank of America Corporation**

North Carolina

$10,000

Completed

10/28/2008

Goldman Sachs Group Inc

New York

$10,000

Completed

10/28/2008

Morgan Stanley

New York

$10,000

Completed

That boils down to just six mega-banks when the vrous names are combined: Citigroup, Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs Group, and Morgan Stanley.

They've already gotten our money once, and are looking for more. Bucks we haven't yet earned, and yet have still invested in them.

In the first round of payouts, executives blatantly thumbed their noses at the American public, taking ridiculously high bonuses - many millions of dollars apiece. But none of this so far has caused them to loosen their grip on loan resources for John and Sally Q. Public.

Now it remains to be seen if the current astronomically high amount of investment infusion will produce the desired results: more jobs, a revived economy, and the salvation of American home owners in danger of foreclosure.

One Corporate bank CEO told Barney Frank's congressional committee that his bank had so far saved 60,000 debtors from foreclosure.

But thousands of homes have already been lost.

My dear old bungalow house is among those remaining, badly in need of repairs and a lower interest rate should I wish to survive.

My credit? I recently sent for a "free" credit report, but it didn't include sufficient detail to completely review my status and rating, so I ended up purchasing the reports in their entirety from Experian, Transunion, and Equifax.

Turns out I haven't incurred any registered reports of late payments, because my bills have always been paid within 90 days.

But as to the status of my credit, I have watched as my open to buy was downgraded by the ever cautious and conservative American Express, and then upgraded by Discover and Chase. It has been a teeter-tottering experience, if not a mad merry-go-round,

Still, from day to day and week to week, the figures of my credit worthiness on charge cards have varied wildly between $10,000 to $30,000.

In a conversation with a Wells Fargo customer service representative, I was told that I should refinance my bill payer mortgage loan with them, and that they were "the most solvent bank in the country."

I responded to this pomposity by saying, "fine, send me the application in the mail, and I'll take a look at it." But the information has yet to appear.

It's the same old story. Major banks have yet to put their money where their mouths are.

I've grown all too weary of just scraping along. The irony of it all was brought home, as I was completing this article, by comedian Bill Maher this evening on the Larry King show. He offered the same analogy as I have in my past writings: "The foxes," in effect the Republicans, "have been in charge of the chicken coop too long!" He went on to observe that the disparity between the very few wealthy two percent of Americans and the increasing debt of the middle and lower classes has worsened the situation. He spoke of stagflation, but also observed that the living wages of American workers have hardly changed at all in the past thirty years. But the continued to charge on their cards, and buy homes with ever more inflated property values.

Now the boom, or balloon seems to have burst.

Today, adding the most historical of ironies to our national and world situation, is the two hundredth anniversary of the births of both Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin. When one considers the politically divided United States and the status of a world torn by war, famine, and disease, it isn't at all a very secure situation. Survival sis not something for which mankind has ever been able to purchase a guarantee.

One wonders in this crisis what such a president as Abraham Lincoln would do. President Obama has been stumping the country for his policies, speaking to the common people, just as Lincoln once was the first to do - drawing crowds numbering in the tens of thousands, city by city traveling by train..

Lincoln has come to be seen in refreshed, detailed, and more balanced terms these days, with the observations of historians on two National Public Broadcasting shows which on February 11, 2009 cast new light on the great emancipator.

It turns out that he was a white supremacist, and that he had, according to latest research, mostly had economic factors in mind in issuing the Emancipation Proclamation.

Lincoln's personality is now in retrospect thought to have been flawed by deep depression and the common white prejudices of his day. But he was a person who struggled against poverty early in life. He remarked that his early years could be summed up in one phrase: "The short and simple annals of the poor."

Could today's CEOs survive on even a hundred times the per diem expense of 75 cents, as did Lincoln and his 300 pound, lawyer partner when making the rounds of Illinois circuit courts?

I doubt it.

Atop his horse, Old Tom, Lincoln rode through prairie grasses that grew as high as his head all about him.

A brilliant litigator, he urged townspeople to, if at all possible, avoid the expenses of the legal system.

Still, he had to earn a living, and took cases both for an escaped slave and later for a Kentucky slave owner in the affirmative.

He never truly new financial prosperity, despite rising to the highest executive office in the land. He felt fortunate enough just to manage, and had difficulty keeping his wife, southern belle Mary Todd, happy.

But he successfully traversed troubled times, determined to keep the American Union intact. That also reminds me of the sea of growing debt we are now attempting to navigate.

Having a temper just like you and I, he even became involved in a sword duel which was narrowly averted by the two people who acted as seconds negotiating a settlement. Well, if he were around now, I firmly feel he'd be angry as hell, and cursing. Yes, Lincoln did curse, and also visited a prostitute, as well as indulging in "blacky" jokes.

Struggling as a young lawyer, when he finally won a big Illinois Supreme Court case, he had to sue merely to recover his fee.

Would he be chasing an economic ambulance these days? Perhaps. Or maybe he would be among the senators or their aids who are peppering Bankers and corporations with questions as to how they are using and misusing public stimulus and TARP funds.

He agonized over the Civil War and its consequent cost in human lives.

We are now at war upon fronts in both Iraq and Afghanistan. And surely the most major cause of our national debt has been the horrendous military expenditures, as well as corporate greed by civil contracts acquired support without benefit of bidding and oversight. That has left former Vice President Cheney and his Halliburton far more wealthy than before.

Nothing is free. Everything innately in this life has its cost, whether in money, in patience, in labor, or in stress.

Which brings us back to the present day stress of bail outs and their price tags.

In our times adults responsible in the economic crisis have come to resemble children in a war of words.

Recall how, as kids we would try to outdo our playmates?

"You have a million of them? Well, I've got a billion!: Then the retort would be "a trillon" and following that a ba-zillion" and a "ga-zillion!" So went all the lofty taunts.

If money were humor, one could do a Jimmy Durante impersonation: "I've got a million of 'em, folks - a million of 'em!"

But it's greenbacks were talking about here.

Not jokes. Not astronomy either.

Yet we've had to put the subject of fiscal peril in terms that can only be viewed at such a great distance as to be cosmic in astrological euphemisms. And financial slavery has taken on the face of debt, rather than color.

Even the traditional national pass-time, baseball has been tainted. The Yankees will soon be playing in a stadium which replaces the "house that Ruth built," and its new name: Citibank! This sponsorship will benefit the team annually with its top heavy all-star payroll, to the tune of twenty billion dollars a year.

So one cannot help but draw the inevitable conclusion that poverty, with its attendant long term debt, is an equal opportunity mortgage banker - a present day Shylock - fixing the books, and embezzling the tax dollar. It's now a racetrack full of economically careless drivers. Just an accident, looking for a place to happen, it may soon resemble a veritable multi-vehicle auto accident resulting from veering around, and finally disastrously crashing. Or perhaps this has already occurred in terms beyond our wildest nightmares - and we are only just starting to realize it!

We've substituted dollar signs for stars in the process. Or are they planets - all of them red as Mars like the ink with which accounts note, penny by penny, our burgeoning budget?!

So, to quote the song from "My Fair Lady," "Are the stars out tonight? I don't care if it's cloudy or bright, 'cause I've only got eyes for you."

Unfortunately, it's not a love affair at all - if it ever was one - and it seems as though in point of fact our bankers only have unashamed lies for you.

They're at the top of the world, or out in the firmament, and they're looking down on us now.

But we've reached an impasse, and can no longer hold them in such high, starry eyed respect.

Maybe educators will one day thank them for introducing a new area of study. After all, they've introduced us to a possible whole area of research to be taught soon in our schools and colleges: "Astronomics$!."

The George W Bush Recession and Depression

Don — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 02:13:08 EST

We need to give credit where credit is deserved: NAME this economic crisis after the man most responsible for it's creation.

$10 trillion deficit is what we had at the end of the Bush administration. In eight years, Bush more than DOUBLED all the indebtedness America had accrued in more than 200 years.

This is more than a talking point, this is a necessary reminder that should be made every day, so that the notoriously SHORT memories of Americans shall be stimulated on a regular basis.

How we can revive the economy, and take gangs off the streets?

John from Milwaukee, WI — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 12:55:00 EST

The epidemic proportions of the drug problem in younger people are in direct correlation of the strict laws against alcohol. Alcohol is sold only by licensed merchants that require strict identification to purchase their products. When is the last time you saw an alcohol "dealer" on the corner? I'll give you a hint, it was just before prohibition was repealed. Young people who no longer have access to alcohol are turning to other more accessible drugs. The so called drug problem in this country is not because of the drugs themselves, but the laws that make them so lucrative to unscrupulous persons who are willing to do anything to sell their product. If drugs were legalized they would be regulated, keeping them out of the hands of children. PS A's could be aired on the dangers of harder drugs. Not to mention they could be taxed! Imagine this, a pack of cigarettes cost under a dollar to produce but often cost over $5 to purchase. Where does the extra $4+ go? TAXES! If drugs were legalized it would take drug dealers off the streets, squash dangerous gangs that thrive on illegal drug money, take them out of the hands of kids, and could pay for this "bail out" with the tax revenue in under 5 years. Not to mention creating jobs to make, distribute, and advertize different products. To me Sir it really seems like a no brainer. The likes of Al Capone in the 30's, Frank Lucas in the 70's, and Pablo Escobar in the 80's, made millions due to illegal drugs. I'm quite positive there are drug dealers still making millions that just haven't been caught yet. Prohibition didn't work then and it obviously doesn't work now. I hope that one day there won't be a drug problem in this country, but unfortunately that wont happen until it is properly distributed by licensed merchants.

"Marijuana" is NOT the proper name for Cannabis. Marijuana is a Mexican slang word for "weed". The use of the term was widely popularized in the 30's during the attempts to oust Mexican laborers who were taking American jobs in the depression. Please take note of this and stop using this derogatory term.

Where is Cindy?

Za'biggy — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 22:21:54 EST

I'm a bit saddened to notice that Cindy Sheehan hasn't been getting around much anymore. Now that we may need her more than ever!

Right America

P Crawley — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 01:11:22 EST

I watched an HBO special last night called "Right America" it was quite an insight on the beliefs and reasons as to why certain people especially from the south didn't vote correctly on Nov. 4th (namley voted republican) here are some of the reasons given.

1) He's not a man of God he believes in murder. And will ellect all new supreme court judges to support him.

(obviosly the "God Squad" that don't believe in "free will" and dosen't know how the judical system works)

2) I don't like the fact that our taxes are going to go up.

(this was a school teacher, she must be REALLY rich or just watches fox news)

3) He's not an American, he's going to be sworn in using the Qur'an and since those were Muslims that attacked us on 9/11 I think he's in bed with terrorists.

(I think everyone in the south should be sent a version of the Constitution, then when they get past 3rd grade be made to read it, especially the part about only a natural born citizen can become president!)

4) America isn't ready for a black president.

(notably these were NAS-CAR enthusiasts that think going in circles really fast is cool and they also wanted to repeel the woman's right to vote, nuff said)

5) He'll turn this country Socialist just like Hitler and Marx did to Europe!

(What the ...... BLEEP!)

At this point my interest then laughter turned into utter shock. First, Hitler was a fascist and Marx was a communist, which by the way wasn't even living at the world war two stage, I think the name they were grasping for was Stalin! That would be about as far left and far right as you could politically get. Second, The "Evil" word of "Socialism", thanks to the republicans most people in the US think it means communism, it dosen't, it just means "ecconomic equality".

We have a socialist police force & fire service because it's considered good for everyone, why not a socialist health care system. Basic human rights should be covered by the government, my favorite quote, "A government FOR the people BY the people" should include taking CARE of the people.

Now i'm not saying that ALL socialist things are good, we don't need ALL electric power handled by the government but an option might lower some electric bills and maybe water and gas as an option. It would sure stop some summer price hikes when your air is running or winter gas hikes when you need to be warm. Just a thought.

Back to healthcare, my sister-in-law is a republican and my wife and I democrat, last year my wife was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, it took the administration more than two hours to get her to her room and most of that time was filling out paperwork and waiting around for return phone calls from our insurance provider. I asked my sister-in-law, "wouldn't you like to see a free health care system?", she said, "Hell no we have much better healthcare than other countries", lets see. My cousin in England is doctor, i asked him how long it takes, he sent me the form needed to enter an NHS (National Heath Service) hospital.

Name: xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Address: xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Date of Birth: xxxxxxxxxxx

NIN: xxxxxxxxxxxxx (stands for National Insurance Number, same as SSN)

Ok, the Dr will be right with you, that's it, done, no phone calls, not more waiting, off to your room.

Everything is on a central database (which no-one has ever hacked by the way, just like a bank, totally secure)

My wife has had her opperation and is now on her chemo and her radiation ($3000 per session, total with insuance $36,000, our insurance paid thank god, total in England $0) She's now taking four perscription drugs everyday one of them costs $105 per pill, thankfully the insuance covers them. I told my cousin what the medication was and he told me, "it doesn't matter what the drug is it's $10.00 per perscription". I asked him what about the $105 pill what if she need 30 of them, he said, "$10.00 per perscription no matter what, 10 pills, 100 pills same price".

"The taxes must be really high to have such a socalist healthcare system?"

5% extra tax and everyone is covered, not even perscription charges for children under 16 and people over 65, they pay nothing at all. I can hear people saying "5%" that's a huge chunk of my money, is it? is it really? think about it, if your employed you pay for a medical plan, A chunk comes out of your pay check each month and your employer pays the difference. Look at your pay stub next time you get paid and calculate how much your paying, it's about on average 2% of your income and your boss foots another 5%, that's 7%, 2% more than what you would pay, 1% on your side plus your employer could pay you more as they save money by not having to insure you!

Just do the math, if you paid a little more your employer could save money and maybe not offshore your job!

Unemployed people pay nothing, small business people get a tax rebate.

I lived and was born in England for more than 30 years, I think the longest i waited was about an hour without an appointment. As for long waiting lists, not true, if you have elective surgery then sure you might need to wait a while but for serious medical needs your seen right away, do Americans really think a heart attack victim has to wait a month before he gets treated?

Don't get me wrong I love this country and England is far from perfect, England is rated 18th best in the world for healthcare but America is listed at 37th?

Most Americans couldn't name 36 countries, Africa isn't a country by the way and neither is Europe:-)

Are we as Americans really sure we wouldn't want to have some free healthcare, sooner or later everyone gets sick, do you want to have to sell your house to pay for it?

Back to the five questions I heard above, one thing sticks out more than anything I heard, dis-information & lies. Any well educated person knows that there are two parties, not people but parties, there was Bush and then McCain, just because McCain is a likable fellow does not mean he thinks different, his "Party", is the same. Most of the people interviewed didn't like Bush alot but thought McCain could be trusted. Now i'm no magical wizz on politics but isn't republican being replaced by republican the same policy? Education, Education, Education. It's not the man/woman it's the policy then the person. If Joe the Plummer was running and won the nomination for the democrates I'd still vote democrat. I must admit though voting for someone that came from nothing make me tingle a little, least he knows how many houses he owns (the words silver & spoon spring to mind for McCain and wife).

A very smart man by the name of "Tony Benn" once said a very profound statment and it's happening right now in America, he said. "There are only two ways to control the people if your in government, fear and lack of education, scare the people and they will let you do anything even if it infringes on there civil liberties. Don't educate the people so they believe what you say"

Think about it, wire taps, getmo, people not knowing the facts, people not asking questions, people looking for WMD, wars started, terror, terror, terror. and the last thing the republicans wanted removed from the stimulus package, less on education. We have become a nation of sheep looking for a leader I hope we have found one, the fat cats in washington have raped this country enough, the private companies have transfered the public funds via a war not needed, American lives have been wasted in the name of corperate greed and the world has become more unstable than ever. Unless we realise that our government is broken we can never fix it. The french did just that several hundred years ago now they are ranked number one in human rights including healthcare. There government is afriad of it's people, Americans seem afriad of it's politicians. I hope we have the right person, I personally think so but like i said the fat cats want to keep there wealth, it's going to be hard to take it from them.

The Power is Yours.

...a world without Islam...

The Ranting Dream — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 12:57:46 EST

…quoting Graham Fuller’s thought provoking article which asserts that the ’terrorism’ that our corrupt goons in politics so desperately want us to believe as being at the ‘root’ of Islam, isn’t about Islam at all - it is about Western imperialism and oppression, and had Islam never existed, the world would look about the same as it does today…

Ossam Bin Ladden and al Qaeda have won

LOL — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 15:31:28 EST

Let us look at these things logically. I like logic. It is as good a place to start as any. When conducting an investigation in theory, one starts with what one knows, and applies facts from the best predictor of the future, “history”. One also applies rational assertions that are open to debate from anybody who comes up with another more rational assertion. This technique can be applied even when dealing with irrational subjects, because even they have to yield to the laws of nature, science, and the trends of sociology.

So with that in mind. Here is the question that I would like to explore. What was it that al Qaeda wanted to accomplish by the actions of 9-11? Of course as a follow up, how successful was it?

Bankers CAN be heroes -- No 'vetting' required

Don — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 03:01:53 EST

Senator Dodd went rogue and inserted some crazy stuff into the new law, so the President will need to be creative. Perhaps we are looking for HEROES to run our troubled banks. A lot of wealthy patriots have made great financial sacrifices to serve in the Obama Administration. Like-minded people who don’t want to go through the vetting process and insane pubic humiliation of being outed on every little tax related or other embarrassment can now serve their country without becoming federal employees but while still consenting to be paid wages not all that far above that.

The "other" India

R.Alamsha — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 23:52:22 EST

We are good at winning the battle and losing the war. We forget that with 1.2 billion people to feed, whatever we are deabating is simply irrelevant for 70% of the population who have no access even to the very basics like toilet and water supply system. We all know deep inside our heart that this is a nightmare and a silent volcano and tsunami is brewing right under our arse. Even there is a silent consensus among all of us that this is the law of nature and if some has to stay, some has to go. But, we forget that the “other India” also is arriving at the same consensus as we are.

Look at our matrimonial ads. Parents from the 30% are every day seeking alliance from well settled brides / grooms in UK, US, Canada, Australia and Europe. Every one of our ruling elites, including the PM, President, nationalist party leaders and policy makers have their sons and daughters settled in these nations.

Let us look around our neighbours. While bollywood movies and Indian people are loved by everyone around the world, we pretend ignorant to the fact that there is a growing aversion towards India in the SAARC region. While the traditional hatred between India and Pakistan is well known, why India could not build a cordial relationship with any of it’s neighbours Bangladesh, Srilanka, Nepal and China?. We can not close our eyes to the fact that the entire subcontinent is gravitating towards China and very soon India may be left all alone.

The “holier than thou” attitude and unreasonable boasting of intellectual prowess by repeatedly quoting certain phrases like Einstein’s “We owe a lot to Indians who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made”, “worlds largest democracy” etc while the genocides, corrupt judiciary, quality of life, deteriorating infrastrature and weeping poverty speaks otherwise, generates a sense of hypocrisy and disillusion about India in the minds of weaker neighbours.

Dr.Manmohan Singh knows these geopolitical dynamics very well and realised that he can't have an Indo-US nuclear deal under his arms and extend the hand of friendship to China as well. Simply put, China did not buy his bluff. In this context, China is emerging as a defacto leader of the subcontinent and all our "weaker neighbours" have started signing "deals and pacts" with China. Obviously, one can not have his cake and eat it too.

Hope, we are not moving towards taking pride in glorified tragedies like “slumdog millionaire”.

Should India teach or learn a "lesson" from Pakistan ?.

R.Alamsha — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 23:26:21 EST

We all know very well that 150 years of Hindu-Muslim hatred has culminated into the birth of Pakistan. After partition, the Hindu and Muslim population in either countries have become easy target for the majority to vent their anger and frustration against the minority.

After 60 years, the 10% Hindu population of Pakistan has dwindled down to less than 2% while 10% of Muslim population of India has almost doubled to 20% , in proportion with the national average. Most of the Pakistani Hindus have migrated to India, while almost all the Indian Muslims who were not cut by the geographical division have remained intact as Indians, despite descrimination and alienation.

The abscence of a moderating force has pushed Pakistan into the grip of Islamists while Hinduism in India has done the remarkable job of severing the umbilical cord between the Muslims and the Mullahs. An Indian Muslim might be economically and politically weaker than his Pakistani counter part but definitely commands more respect in the world arena and knows how to play by the rules of the game.

The Mumbai terror attack is a crucial milestone in the Indo-Pak rivalry. It has proved beyond doubt that it is impossible for India to teach any kind of lesson to Pakistan by any war. Whatever "other options open" is irrelevant for Pakistan because it is seen as a hero in the eyes of "Muslim world", for the very resons that India can NOT bully Pakistan any more.

Today, the people of Pakistan have got fedup of "Allah + Army" combo and they are eagerly looking out for an opportunity to get out of this mess. In fact, most of the Pakistani intellectuals have started enjoying the vulgar assault of Indian media on Pakistani establishments and they welcome it as a necessary anti-dose for their illness. But, it should NOT be misinterpreted as a disillusion against their state of Pakistan. The desire to see their nation strong and prosperous is "deep rooted" in the heart of every Pakistani as much as that of an Indian for India.

India can not continue with it's "outdated" mindset against Pakistan. We don't have an answer for the "roti, kapda, makaan" dream of 1.2 billion population. It is a silent volcano and tsunami brewing right under our arse. Jingoistic slogans of "Bharat mata ki, jay" is pushing all the neighbours towards China and creating an aversion for India in the SAARC region.

India should gracefully accept the bitter reality that Pakistan is a strong and sovereign nation and will NEVER get cowed down by India.

Pakistan is ready for a "real" dialogue. It is anxiously waiting. India should accept to "live and sleep" with the enemy. India should break the barriers. Pakistan is waiting.

Gregg: Is This Petty Partisan Politics

Don — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 22:47:23 EST

I see nothing different Obama has said or done since 2004 and today -- perhaps Gregg's understanding of it morphed overnight between the time he was begging for the job and yesterday, when it came time to vote on the stimulus plan. Gregg seems to claim otherwise.

Obama should have known Gregg either hasn't the courage of his convictions or , far more likely, hasn't got any deeply held beliefs other than politics. We demand omniscience! How DARE the President not realize a man like Gregg would say anything to further his own personal ambitions?

There's something wrong with a vetting process that cannot discern that a politically savvy adult who somehow got himself repeatedly elected to the US Senate would claim to have turned his back on Petty Partisan Politics but actually lack the moral fortitude to stand by his decision.

Letter to the President from Army of Dude, Very Important

Annette Sousley — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 10:35:55 EST

This is for Alex, a young veteran of the Iraq War. I have linked to his blog before, in the B A D list, when the Weblog Awards were going on and I have talked about it at other times.

Well, this morning I noticed there was a new post, so I went to read it. I have been touched deeply by Alex's posts before, but this one really, really touched my heart. So, I am asking you to read this post, I am putting here, I will also link to his blog, he is a very talented writer, and you can follow your heart, but I think you will see where he and I are coming from. I hope you will write to Pres. Obama as I am and ask that he spare Alex's friend and all the others who are caught up in this back door draft that the Bushies got us into. Because that's how it is. So, read this and see what you think. Then if you want, go here to "http://armyofdude.blogspot.com/ and read more.

More after the fold

...is peace out of reach???...

The Ranting Dream — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 16:30:17 EST

From CBS' 60 Minutes:...has peace in the Middle East become nothing more than a pipe dream? As Bob Simon reports, a growing number of Israelis and Palestinians feel that a two-state solution is no longer possible...

Politeness Time Out

Denise — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 14:50:41 EST

Stimulus Bill negotiations reveals want Conservative are really troubled by. They say “to much wasteful spending” is the problem, here’s their idea of wasteful spending; education, infrastructure and not enough tax cuts. Really, education is wasteful?

No the problem with conservatives is the idea of educational reform. Given the fact that, for centuries myths have been maintained which say, African American children can’t learn as quickly as other ethnic groups, based on the idea of poverty. Providing funding to improve the ideological structure and system of education would finally dismantle this belief, which was created solely for the purpose of maintaining the idea of superiority.

Infrastructure would provide jobs for all Americans; there goes poverty levels. With this happening, myths that portray African Americans as “not wanting to work” lacking skills and all other ridicules notions created throughout the centuries would dismantle. Tax cuts as we all know, benefit those in the highest tax bracket, no need to explain further.

The ultimate problem conservatives are having with the Stimulus Package is from Whom the Package comes. This reveals itself by the spins; “suit jackets should be worn in the Oval Office”, “his arrogance”, and so on…

Agreeing with this particular President is too painful for conservatives. Passing the Stimulus packet would be a form of agreement, if agreement is reached, realization would set in, this realization would force Conservatives to face society as it really is; changing.

Israel VS Genocide (updated Feb. 2009)

Natalia from Acampo, CA — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 11:39:38 EST

Israel VS Genocide

Israel VS Islamo Arab campaign of Genocide.

Attempted Genocide From the Start [1] Israel has always faced (radical) Arab genocide, To fully understand current conflicts in the Middle East, history must be recalled. [2] It exist a common phrase: 'If the Jews would just lay down their weapons there would be no more Israel' [3].

Table of Contents

1 1920s
2 1967
3 Current
4 Radical Islam (as a whole)
5 Mainstream [Palestinian & other] Arabs
- 5.1 Genocidal Agenda under 'Pro Palestinian' propaganda

1920s

The first Arab sponsored terrorist attacks upon Jews occurred in 1920 [4] a highlighted tragedy is The Hebron Massacre of 1929 where thousands of Arabs descended from Har Hebron, shouting "Kill the Jews!" in Arabic [5] [6].

This was not the first mass racist attack by Arabs against unarmed civilian Jews in British Mandate ‘Palestine,’ nor would it be the last attempted extermination. [7].

It was the Mufti who sought to annihilate the tiny State of Israel [8], The Palestinian Mufti's Deal with Hitler: 'Kill All the Jews in the Middle East' [9].

1967

Though Haim Weizmann declared he would accept a Jewish state even with the size of a tablecloth — still, even that was rejected by the Arabs who swore to "throw the Jews into the sea" and attacked in force to fulfill that oath. [10].

What the Fight in Israel Is All About... Spring of 1967 the Arab countries, led by Gamal Abdul Nasser of Egypt, prepared to attack Israel and, in their own words, “throw the Jews into the sea. [11] [12], the Arab leaders' slogan : We’ll Throw Them into the Sea" [13]

CurrentRadical Islam (as a whole)

New Radical Islamic Thinking Justifying The Genocide of Infidels [14], Specifically Radical Islam's Threat of Genocide against the Jews is more and more revealed [15][16] [17].

The Palestinians Encourage Genocide [18] and on Palestinian TV openly call: Kill All The Jews [19], Palestinian Muslim cleric urges all Arabs to kill Jews, Christians [20], (Even calling to Kill all Americans [21]), Islamic sermons broadcast on Palestinian Authority have also been openly genocidal [22] An ideology of genocidal radical Islamism - Jihad-Islamism.[23]

At the second Palestinian violent Intifada, they came up with a new (tool in) Genocide: Suicide Bombing, designed to massacre the most masses of civilians possible [24] [25].

An emphasis in radicals' work is indoctrinating Palestinian Children to Genocidal Hate, Imams are extremely influential in successfully emphasizing the goals of jihad and martyrdom [26] Especially the Islamic party: Hamas promotes Islamic supremacy over the world, "The Hamas Ideology of Hatred and Genocide: Islamic supremacy over the world, destroying Israel and Jews [27], vows to 'drink' Jewish blood, group would drink the blood of Jews [28], Hamas Mickey-Mouse-like character to incite for genocide [29], Genocide of Jews remains Hamas goal [30] and declare: "The Final Goal of the Resistance is to Wipe This Entity Off the Face of the Earth" "We are making the preparations for a confrontation. This is not because we need to be prepared for an Israeli act of aggression - after all, aggression is intrinsic to this entity - but because the final goal of the resistance is to wipe this entity off the face of the Earth. This goal necessitates the development of the capabilities of the resistance, until this entity is wiped out." [31]

Hamas, the Muslim-Brotherhood-linked terror group dedicated to the annihilation of Israel through jihad [32], The people who comprise Hamas are dedicated to the annihilation of Israel and the slaughter of every Jew who lives there [33] in its Charter 1988 it states: 'Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it' ... Hamas wants the ‘islamisation’ of all the Middle East (as a first phase) [34].

Al Qaeda

In Al-Qaeda's Intellectual Legacy - Islamic Thinking justifying the genocide of infidels, According to al- Ali, all citizens of Israel are to be considered combatants. [35].

Hezbollah

In her book 'Lebanon's Hezbollah' (2003, Page 49) Ann Byers writes: 'In the 1990s, Hezbollah was training members of the terrorist groups Al Qaeda... (it supported the PLO as) in its early days the PLO was dedicated to the annihilation of Israel'. [36].

The Hezbollah Founding Statement contains a section titled “The Necessity for the Destruction of Israel,” which reads as follows: “We see in Israel the vanguard of the United States in our Islamic world. It is the hated enemy that must be fought until the hated ones get what they deserve . . . Therefore our struggle will end only when this entity is obliterated. [37]

Hezbollah calling on Muslims to kill all Jewish Israelis with firearms, knives and poison [38]

The widening arena of Hezbollah's attacks stemmed from Nasrallah's perception that Jews anywhere are legitimate targets. In fact, Hasan Nasarallah has said: If they (Jews) all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide. (Daily Star, Oct. 23, 2002) [39].

More from Hassan Nasrallah, Leader of Hezbollah on Al Manar: "Let the entire world hear me. Our hostility to the Great Satan, America, is absolute. Regardless of how the world has changed after September 11, death to America will remain our reverberating and powerful slogan: Death to America." (House Record: 'war is ugly but tyranny is uglier'). [40], "Martyrdom operations -- suicide bombings -- should be exported outside Palestine. I encourage Palestinians to take suicide bombings worldwide. Don't be shy about it." [41]

Hezbollah’s renewal of Jihad Genocide on Global “Jewish Targets” (June, 2008) [42].

The Muslim Brotherhood

The 'Muslim Brotherhood's Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi: 'There is No Dialogue between Us and the Jews Except by the Sword and the Rifle' [43]

Ahmadinejad

Islamic Republic of Iran's President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's call for Israel to be "wiped off the map" has triggered a sharp international response and widespread condemnation [44] [45] (It was not mistranslated [46]). has been described as wanting to carry out another genocide aimed at destroying the State of Israel [47], He 'faced genocide case', in 14 Dec 2006 was expected to be the target of a lawsuit which accuses him of inciting genocide against Israel. [48] [49].

In 2007, Ahmadinejad has threatened (again) the State of Israel with annihilation, Iran: 'Israel, US will soon die' [50]

Mainstream [Palestinian & other] Arabs

Even many of 'moderate Arabs' have been accused of this [51], in a poll of February 16, 2007 '75% of Palestinians do not think that Israel has the right to exist' [52].

Jerusalem Post's C. Glick: No Tolerance for Genocide , Genocide: The Spirit of Palestine... in Palestinian society today. It is not just Hamas or Tanzim or Islamic Jihad that we must fight, but Palestinian society itself must be transformed for there to be peaceful coexistence. Poll after poll shows that a solid majority of Palestinians from all socio-economic levels supports suicide bombers and other forms of terrorism against Israel. In fact the polls show that the higher the socio-economic level of the respondents, the stronger their support for terrorism. Virulent, Nazi-style Jew hatred and dehumanization has become for the Palestinians, as for the Germans before them, the central unifying theme of society. The best-seller lists in the PA for years have included such works as Mein Kampf and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. [53] [54] [55] [56].

Genocidal Agenda under 'Pro Palestinian' propaganda

On the so called 'Palestinian documentaries'. T. Menaker: 'College Film Festival: Kill the Jews', It is understandable that the mere existence of Israel in such close proximity is unbearable. What is strikingly serious in all these films is that if one were to count the most often used words, these words would be "humiliation" and "Kill the Jews!" Even in the most peaceful and idealistic documentary... a young boy asked what he wants to do when he grows up is prompted by his father: "Kill the Jews!" When asked to draw a picture of his future he draws himself killing Israelis. [57]

The International Solidarity Movement - a 'Palestinian' propaganda machine, organized many activities, including on US campus, both, the ISM and PSM support in thinly veiled language suicide bombings... in their gatherings the audience chanted "Kill the Jews" - "Ittbach al yahood" in Arabic [58].

The International Solidarity Movement (ISM), its American, student affiliate the Palestinian Solidarity Movement, and other radical left-wing groups label every inch of Israeli territory as “occupied Palestine,” advocate destroying the Jewish State by “any means necessary,” and openly condone terrorism and Muslim suicide bombers as a means for accomplishing this goal. These groups are working to eliminate a population of six million Jews. [59].

At Israel's operation against Hamas terrorists in 'cast lead' [60] December 2008-January 2009, anti Israel Arab Muslim protesters called for Jews to 'Go Back to the Oven', to 'kill all the Jews', or: “Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas” [61], Other demonstrators held signs that said "Nuke Israel," and a number made comparisons to the Holocaust [62] [63] [64] [65] [66] [67].

Phyllis Chesler: Today, we have grown used to seeing Palestinian and Hamas supporters goose-step, Nazi-style, shoot out their arms as they deliver the Hitlerian "Sieg Heil" salute. They also chant and scream: "Jews to the ovens," "Hitler did not kill enough of you," "Jews to the gas chambers." [68].

Republicans Wants the Problem?

Denise — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 13:03:05 EST

I don't get it, President Obama has inherited total chaos created by republicans now they refuse to to lend a helping hand to restore the economy. The demand for tax cuts benefits them only, while demanding removal of items from the stimulus package that benefits everyone. The time has come to move away from ideological nonsense.

Our nation, our world has changed and this change will not slow nor stop for anyone. Why should progress stop because of "some". These very ideals have kept the U.S. divided since its' founding days. The condition of the world demands for all people to come together, get over thier differences, which are not different at all and rebuild for the sake of our World.

Does anyone really understand this?

Sacred Cow Tipping - The Hidden Cost of War

Rheanni — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 21:22:10 EST

There are many good reasons why people have difficulty changing direction and some of them have to do with our Sacred Cows or social contracts.

The majority of these unconscious agreements are held in place by trauma.

By far, the biggest cause of trauma is war and the members of the old guard that perpetuate it. That’s why today’s Sacred Cows are:

"Treat people like commodities; use them up and then throw them away."

And

"Only weak people experience post-traumatic stress."

HELP ME WIN A SCHOLARSHIP just by reading this

Marcella from Point Pleasant Beach, NJ — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 13:26:53 EST

Obama: An American Savior

The next four years won’t be all sugarplums and lollipops for America (or the world, for that matter). A regime change alone – even one as stark as President Obama’s – cannot restructure the direction of a nation. After all, the President is only one man. However, America has begun to weave a sustainable pattern in the fabric of real change. With the beloved, optimistic Barack Obama coming in on the heels of a tarred-and-feathered administration, the communication, unity, and will of the people have aligned in a constellation of transformation that will usher in a new era of American Federal Government.

Barack Obama’s presidency will be the dawn of a new relationship between the federal government and the American people. The beginning of change will come as communication improves between the American public and governmental leadership. Americans can expect President Obama to come out from behind his desk in the Oval Office not just to address them, but invite them in, listen, and interact with them. President Obama will use technology, including the Internet, cell phones, PDAs, and even MP3 players, to keep in touch with the American public and to keep the American public involved with the federal government. The Obama Administration will regularly meet with the press and keep the media abreast of governmental goings-on. The propaganda and rhetoric of late will be replaced with progressive conversation and bipartisan dialogue. Starting with his own administration, President Obama will permeate transparency through Washington like bleach through dirty water.

Never before has America been so prepared for a decontamination of D.C., a Congressional cleansing, and a purification of power. If there’s one thing Americans can agree on, it’s that the federal government is so tainted with sullied politics that the trust of the people it represents is in real jeopardy, if not already lost. The unity and will of the American people are as commanding now as they have been in times of great historical change. It has taken years of political misconduct to generate the atmosphere of mistrust that defines the nation's capitol at present. In this politically aggravated climate, Americans can be sure that President Obama will rise to the occasion and quench their thirst for change with the nectar of ethical and responsible ideology. Political recklessness and irresponsibility will not be tolerated in the Obama Administration. Expect a purge of problematic party politics, patronage, and pandering to special interests and a reach for reasonable, responsive, and accountable representation in Washington.

With D.C. under an Obama-brand broom and mop, the President will work to accomplish all he has promised in preceding months. Within (his first) four years, President Obama will address the most pressing issues facing America. This, of course, includes a resolution to the economic crisis, but many issues, including America’s dependence on foreign oil and weakening job market, must be resolved in order to solve the economic dilemma. He will create an environment conducive to energy independence and the proliferation of renewable energy sources that will create new industries for employment and liberate the country from dependence on foreign oil. He will cultivate infrastructure and the American auto industry to bolster the job market and reduce unemployment. Scientific investigation, including promising stem cell research, will increase under the Obama Administration to keep America up to speed with the international scientific community and expand job opportunities. He will also invest in America’s greatest asset – education – by increasing tax credits for higher education students, improving public education school systems, and either funding or eliminating the No Child Left Behind Act. He will increase the availability and affordability of quality healthcare coverage by offering a federal plan option to all Americans and cracking down on excess pharmaceutical charges. He will create a more balanced tax system that will begin to restore the federal budget and ensure the continuity of essential federal programs. He will close Guantanamo Bay detention camp, repeal the Patriot Act, and turn over power to Iraqi security forces to begin the removal of U.S. troops. President Obama will work to improve our international rapport and diplomatic relations, particularly in the Middle Eastern region, through open conversation with alliesand enemies. Change is what America expects and change is what she will get.

This change will not come immediately (C’mon, its politics!), but it will come in the next four years. Americans have spoken; we want change, we need change, and we’re ready for it. Now we look to President Barack Obama to make it happen.

If you like what you read, please vote for it on Brickfish.com! You'll help me win a scholarship.

URL:

http://www.brickfish.com/Pages/Blogs/BlogView.aspx?bid=35954&=HP_all_PPIMEMAIL&isep=1&pbapi=1898218&pbvi=57390710

Thanks! Be well.

Cella

President Obama---Finally

Alisa — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 20:35:25 EST

I was encouraged and very impressed by your interview with Al-Arabia. Finally, a leader who can suggest and encourage dialog amongst our international advisories. It is imperative there is mutual respect and positive dialog throughout our entire global community. Our world has become very hostile, which I must implore Mr. President that our border along Mexico becomes a priority since violence has escalated. I live approximately 45 minutes from the Mexican border and hear daily of the latest body count, which is truly saddening and frightening--I live in America, these dangerous activities are living right next door to us.

Barrack-lets get out of Afghanistan and Iraq

William from McKinney, TX — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 19:48:15 EST

Barrack,

there is no real proof that 19 islamic terrorists ever attacked us on 9/11. Even the FBI does not want OBL for 9/11. About 30% of Americans now believe it was an inside job. the evidence points to the Bush Administration involvement.

There are many that claim the only reason we are in Afghanistan is the CIA is running drugs from there as well as Columbia.

Lets have some real change. Investigate 9/11 and get out of war.

let's also look at abolishing the Federal Reserve. There is no need for it.

Also, the bailout has turned into the biggest theft in the worlds history. There is no money out here in the real world. Look at unemployment rates. Bring me to Washington, I will assist with real change.

God Bless,

Ashley

How the BBC does it - legitimizing monsters in the M.E. (Hamas palestinian bloody Jihad, etc.)

Natalia from Acampo, CA — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 21:26:28 EST

BBC's way of how to legitimize monsters in the middle east

Forget BBC bias, BBC is totally anti Israel committed, 100% on the side of most radical Islamic group on the middle east, the Genocidal Hamas!

When it interviewed (Jan 18, 2009) the Hamas spokesperson in Syria Osama Hamdan (the monster who said that the purpose of the "resistance" is to wipe off Israel) it handled him in such a manner as if he is a "normal" and average statesman.

Despite the 'big words' by the jihadi group who on top of all has that stupidity of arrogance that is only laughable if it weren't such a serious bunch of bloody murderous thugs, but BBC's audacity of replaying Hamas' phrase of: '"giving" Israel a week to pull out', as if we all don't know that Israel pulls out or back in, when it sees the situation fit to do so.

Later on (on the same day) BBC said: who is responsible for the civilian causalities in Gaza will be disputed between Israel and Hamas, (besides the fact that BBC never to explain that its all Hamas fault, but I want to talk about BCC's worse part than just bias anyway) again this "en par" equation between a democratic free for all unique country in the middle east (where an Arab can get to highest position in Israel's govt.) vs the Islamic group that oppresses any non Muslims and acts towards a totalitarian repressive Caliphate.

JEWISH ANTI-SEMITISM

WEBMASTER — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:32:55 EST

Amid anti-Semitic storm, Europe’s Jews stand for Israel
By Dinah Spritzer · 13 January 2009

see http://jta.org/news/article/2009/01/13/1002216/amid-anti-semitic-storm-europes-jews-stand-for-israel

PRAGUE (JTA) -- Confronting a rising storm of anti-Semitism as the conflict in Gaza intensifies, European Jews are grappling with the best way to express their support for Israel's fight against Hamas.

Recent assaults on Jews in European capitals range from the beating of a Jewish teenager in a Paris suburb by assailants who vowed she would “pay for Israel's acts” to the compilation on an Islamist Web site of a hit list of prominent British Jews. Jewish monuments in France and Sweden have been firebombed. And in Italy, a workers’ political party called for a boycott of Jewish stores.

While Jews have taken to the streets in the hundreds or thousands to demonstrate for peace and Israel’s right to defend itself, they are dwarfed by the tens and hundreds of thousands participating in protests against Israel. In many cases, top European political figures have supported the protests. Sometimes the rallies have turned violent.

The 27-country European Union has approximately 1.8 million Jews and 17 million Muslims, and that difference is keenly visible in the size of events relating to the war in Gaza and southern Israel.

After some 1,000 Jews turned out last week for a rally in Brussels in support of Israel -- held opposite the Embassy of Iran, which funds Hamas -- tens of thousands showed up Sunday for a march against what they called Israel's “massacre in Gaza.” The pro-Palestinian rally was organized by three of the four main political parities in the French-speaking part of Belgium, along with some 100 or so nongovernmental organizations.

Chanting “Death to Jews!” in Arabic, the crowd burned Israeli flags and carried signs calling Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni “Hitler's wife.”

“In a way, Jews feel alone,” said Joel Rubinfeld, the president of the umbrella group of French-speaking Jews in Belgium, known by the acronym CCOJB. “But lots of non-Jews are disgusted, too” with the anti-Semitic messages, he added.

Massive anti-Israel demonstrations last weekend in France, Brussels and Madrid have included anti-Semitic chants such as “Jews to the gas” and swastikas paired with the Star of David.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry, the European Jewish Congress, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Anti-Defamation League have implored European officials to acknowledge and combat the importing of the Middle East conflict to Europe and the scapegoating of Jews.

Countries with large Muslims populations, including France, Belgium and Britain, have seen the largest number of anti-Semitic incidents.

Britain's Community Security Trust, which monitors Jewish security issues, recorded a huge surge in anti-Semitic attacks -- 80 in total -- since Israel began bombing Hamas targets in Gaza on Dec. 27.

Undeterred, British Jews staged the largest European demonstration in support of Israel's right to security in this conflict. Sunday's demonstration, which also expressed sympathy for Palestinian civilians, drew 17,000 people to London's Trafalgar Square.

“I decided to do something after watching too much television and seeing the huge coverage of the anti-Israel demonstrations,” said one Jewish Londoner, Matt Freelander, who participated in a pro-Israel rally last week.

In France, Nicole Yardeni, the president of the CRIF Jewish umbrella group in Toulouse, decided not to hold a pro-Israel rally in the region after a car filled with Molotov cocktails rammed into the front gate of a synagogue Jan. 5.

“It's not that we are afraid,” she said of the community of approximately 20,000. But faced with consistent pro-Palestinian rallies that outnumber Toulouse Jews, Yardeni said the community “could not hold its own on the street” and thus could not have a “successful” protest.

In recent days, the CRIF held pro-Israel rallies in Paris, Marseilles and near Lyon.

The Marseilles rally was unusual in that every major local politician joined the crowd of about 4,000. The Paris rally did not have the same political backing. Many attendees said they left family and friends behind because they were afraid of publicly supporting Israel after seeing the violence and virulent anti-Zionism in a pro-Palestinian protest a day earlier.

"Once again, when in trouble, we've found ourselves alone," Patrick Gaubert, the president of the International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism, wrote in a letter published Jan. 8 in a French Jewish weekly.

In Italy, whose prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has been honored by Jewish groups for being pro-Israel, pro-Israel rallies drew government officials.

In Germany, anti-Israel marches were relatively calm, but some marchers carried signs reading “Out with Jews” or "Israelis are child murderers.”

German Jews have turned out for pro-Israel rallies, too, albeit in small numbers. A rally in Frankfurt drew 2,000, while one in Berlin had 1,500 participants.

“When people see our small group,” said Sharon Adler, who co-organized the Berlin rally on Sunday, "perhaps they will understand that Israel is also a much smaller country than all the Arab countries around it, and that Jews in Germany are also a small minority."

In Stockholm, where the Jewish community numbers 5,000, a peace event in support of Israel held Saturday night at a church drew 800 people -- about half of whom were not Jewish, according to Lena Posner, the president of the Swedish Jewish community.

“There were about 100 people outside the church shouting insults against Israel,” Posner said. “The police had to close off the whole area around the church and we were escorted back to our cars in groups of 15.”

Earlier in the day, 8,000 protesters chanting anti-Israel slogans gathered for a mostly Muslim demonstration in Stockholm that included the head of the Swedish Socialist Party and the country’s former foreign minister. A Liberal Party legislator attended the pro-Israel event.

Elsewhere in the country, a burial chapel in the Jewish cemetery in central Malmo was firebombed for the third time since Israel began its operation in Gaza.

In Spain, violent incidents have been minimal, although an anti-Israel rally there on Saturday was Europe’s biggest such rally thus far, with crowd estimates ranging from 50,000 to 250,000.

Representatives of Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and his ruling Socialist Party were among those who participated. Some participants called for jihad, or holy war, praised Hezbollah and cursed Israel. The Israeli Embassy in Madrid took the rare step of openly chastising the prime minister for fueling anti-Israel anger.

“There was hate speech definitely, and a few marched to the Israeli Embassy and threw stones and the police had to intervene,” said Derek Wise, the general manager of Madrid’s Jewish community. “Our prime minister incited what was going on.''

Wise said Spanish Friends of Israel was planning a public pro-Israel event for Jan. 18.

“I understand there might be people afraid to come," he said, "but we want to show it is not only Jews, it's normal Spaniards who also understand that a democratic state like Israel has a right to defend itself.”

(JTA correspondents Devorah Lauter contributed to this story from Paris, Toby Axelrod from Berlin and Daphna Vardi from London.)

source: http://jewishamericans.barackobama.com/page/community/post/president/gGxbN2

…a letter to the official opposition party of Canada…

The Ranting Dream — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 13:09:52 EST

...I have yet to see a single politician muster the courage to do the right thing and to 'tell the "TRUTH" like it is' - they've chosen to silently side with the 'spin' and let the status-quo be - either they're afraid of consequences to their political careers, or they're simply corrupt, or they're just plain stupid - or all of the above (and beyond) - whatever the reason, while I'm not shocked or surprised at the behavior of the puppet morons in politics, I'm disgusted at their complete lack of integrity and conscience...and to not have a SINGLE one of them telling the 'real' story behind this attack on humanity is just ticking me off...

Democrats Lose Senate Majority (circa 2010)

Don — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 23:38:40 EST

(Can I say 'circa' if it's in the future?)

Democrats won't be controlling the Senate after 2010.

They rushed like lemmings to declare they'd never accept Blago's appointee.

A little time and forethought should have enabled them to reason that in order to create the illusion of innocence Blagojevich would be likely to find someone eminently qualified, of stellar reputation and far removed from the (alleged) illegal activities.

That would only be in his own best interests. And if there is one thing we have learned about Blago, it is that his own best interests are his first and last consideration in decision-making.

Senate Democrats have now pitted themselves against the Chicago Democratic Machine. Despite that Dick Durbin has lost touch with reality and thrown in with them, this is a battle Senate Democrats cannot and will not win. In this, there is no winning, only degrees of losing.

Should he be denied, Burris can run against any Illinois Democrat, including Durbin, and win.

As for that silly mausoleum? All politicians are narcissists. He's just 'concrete' about it.

Remember Republican Senator Ted Stevens who actually looked jurors in the eyes and told them he didn't notice people stuffing hundreds of thousands of dollars into his pockets. I dare say Bill Gates would notice if you stuffed a few hundred thousand dollars into his pockets. Ted Stevens,... now THAT'S a big ego!

It is also necessary to remember that this is the same US Senate that gave a seven-time convicted federal felon -- Ted Stevens -- a two-minute standing ovation, and two hours of praise-filled testimonials. And they are claiming to be observing their PRINCIPLES???

Republican and Democratic Senators must think we are stupid, stupid, stupid.

GOP needs America to fail (Democrats helping them)

Don — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 22:51:49 EST

Imagine what would happen if the immediate and long-term success, and even viability, of the Republican Party depended on Barack Obama failing to pull America back into PROSPERITY. Oh, wait, we don't have to IMAGINE that because it happens to be the current condition.

While refusing to offer any better ideas, Republicans stand in adamant opposition to everything the President-Elect suggests, even without knowing any details. I have to admit, he's been somewhat vague.

History suggests that America's realization of a sense of success by spring of 2012 will mean the GOP will be broadly out of power for one to two generations.

Every month that another 600,000 Americans lose their jobs is the direct result of Republicans acting on what they see is their own best political interests. While one of their many changing SLOGANS last year was "America First", in truth it is plain that they hold the Republican Party's interests above those of America and our people.

Every day that our children continue to suffer from a declining educational system in which mediocrity is celebrated; every day that more taxpayers lose high wage jobs only to go on welfare food stamps and unemployment; every day that more and more Americans are forced to sign up to work at the country's largest employer WalMart whose own accidentally leaked internally study said 43% of their full-time employees are on welfare and food stamps; every day that we lose what little remains of our manufacturing base so that when we next need to really go to war like in WW2 we won't have car factories to swiftly convert to making fighter jets and tanks so we'll have to order them from CHINA which the most likely enemy in a real war; remember that Republicans see that as MERELY another day closer to the time when they regain power over the White House, Senate and House -- which if not for the horrendous disaster they have created over the last eight years might not be so terrifying.

America stopped keeping up with the demands for maintenance of our infrastructure with the Reagan administration. We were told that things like that "the free market" would take care of things like that, but tell that now to New Orleans and their crumbling levees, or Minnesota with their collapsed interstate bridge, or Kentucky with their billion gallons of toxic sludge that spilled out of a mine containment area.

America's best defense against precisely the current financial system collapse, the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, enacted not coincidentally in the wake of the financial collapse of 1929, was REPEALED on the demands of deregulating Republicans -- with help from Bill Clinton in 1999. That law alone prevented financial institutions from becoming "too big to fail". That is, it kept each of the insurance, banking and real estate conglomerates within their own area. They could still become behemoths, but it's when they get into all three of those industries and start making up new ones that are totally unregulated like 'derivatives' that the failure of one company can bring down the American economy, even the world economic system.

The only thing the President-Elect can do to get us out of this disaster is to go back the way we came in, by resurrecting modern-day Glass-Steagall style regulations and stimulating the middle class segment of the system while taking back the giveaway tax cuts from the wealthiest 1% that over the last eight years gave money to people who already had more money than they knew how to spend. They squirreled it away someplace, or bought yachts built in Greece. Republicans love to claim that tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy leads to the creation of small businesses. In reality, it's Steve Jobs and Bill Gates when they had nothing who created small businesses that became leading world companies. Billionaires DON'T start small businesses, they BUY huge corporations then fire 50,000 or 100,000 employees to increase productivity and thus profits for themselves and large bonuses for the three to five top executives of each company. Oh, and they CUT wages of the few employees they do have to keep on.

That doesn't grow anything but unemployment and declining wages. Less taxpayers and more people surviving on public assistance.

If we don't stand up to these self-serving Republicans very few of us will have jobs in 2012, and they will be at WalMart. There won't be any real taxpayers to support the public assistance people need to get back into good paying jobs.

I'll get to the CRAZY DEMOCRATS on another post. I'll give you a hint that after 2012 Democrats will no longer be in control of the Senate.

26,000+ children worldwide dying needlessly per day of preventable diseases/hunger/dirty water?

Joe Hendricks, Owner of SoftwareRunners — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 15:42:38 EST

How I hope Obama tries addressing the root causes, instead of symptoms, of terrorism, genocide and war..

The Somali Pirates Rant

The Ranting Dream — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 14:28:19 EST

I’ve also posted this blog entry on my blog: http://www.theparadigmshiftshere.com

I'm sure you're all familiar with the sensational 'war' declared by the wealthy and the mighty on the pirates (mostly) from 'Somalia'...if you're not, view THIS article for the big 'spin' served to you courtesy of massive sponsorship by some very wealthy 'special-interest' groups...

Now for 'a' truth about the matter...

...the Gaza rant...

The Ranting Dream — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:49:18 EST

I've also posted this rant on my blog: http://www.theparadigmshiftshere.com

...It's truly sad to see so much innocent blood spilt just because corrupt political goons will stop at nothing to fulfill their selfish greedy agendas...why do ordinary, innocent Israelis and Palestinians have to bear the brunt of the suffering on behalf of (and for the profit of) these corrupt political goons???

...This conflict has nothing to with the innocent Palestinians and innocent Israelis who have to live through this nightmare - nothing whatsoever - it is all about politics - 100 percent politics - on both sides - and the selfish greedy agendas of a handful of corrupt goons holding positions of authority on both sides...

HOPE

Young Barack — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 16:44:16 EST

HOPE IS EVERYTHING HOPE IS ALL HOPE CAN PICK YOU UP BEFORE YOU FALL

3 Moves In 3 Weeks -- Way to Relocate

Don — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 16:26:33 EST

“A President must be able to do more than one thing at a time,” said then-candidate and now President-Elect Barack Obama, a few months ago when McCain was trying to weasel out of the big debate.

Evidently, President-Elect Obama CAN do far more than one thing at a time. He and his family are MOVING three times in three weeks! This, the weekend of 4 January 2009, he moves from his Chicago home to DC’s Hay-Adams Hotel. On the 15th, they move to Blair House, then on the 20th, they move into the White House. Yes he can! For most of us, the dreaded process of a single relocation is more stressful than death and taxes. But Superman is tripling-down on it.

At the same time, the President-Elect Obama is interviewing and hiring a government, from cabinet members, agency administrators, secretaries and ambassadors. He’s working feverishly on the economic crisis, the transition and inauguration, as well as homeland security and two wars. Throw in taxes, healthcare, unemployment, social security, Medicare and the crisis of the Big 3 automakers, plus Iran, Cuba, Russia, China, the Palestinians and Israel, plus all those special interest groups here at home, such as the disabled, veterans, senior citizens and gays, and you’ve got an enormous inbox.

After those daily national security briefings in which the President-Elect Obama is beginning to learn just how badly Bush has screwed things up for us around the world, it’s a wonder the President-Elect Obama can sleep at night. He needs all the rest he can get.

Enjoy your vacation, sir, you need all the recharging your batteries can get.

Above and Below...Out of Balance

Jill Oserowsky Stanevich — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 18:06:05 EST

These are legitimate questions. Is the cocky, dominant, top-gun attitude the best for making ethical decisions? In war should we be "removed" from our targets? What numbers are acceptable "collateral" casualties? Where is the leadership? Where is the humanity in war? Where's empathy? When is a response too much?

I taught high school students at the American International School in Israel for one year in the late '80s. [I had previously spent my junior year in Jerusalem at Hebrew University.] We had kids from around the globe. In one senior English class, I had an Israeli (born Canadian) student who had just been chosen to join a pilots program in the Israeli Air Force. He was a blonde, blue-eyed Tom Cruise type. He was also the son of a Jew for Jesus, a Christian convert. His mother objected when I assigned "Native Son" to the class. She didn't want her son to have to read about such a bleak situation. I explained that it was an important work of literature. She didn't want him becoming depressed by it, she countered. I asked how reading a book and discussing issues was more dangerous than choosing to be a pilot and making life and death situations for those people living on the ground. I never got an answer.

You might say it's easy for me to prattle on; after all, I'm not living through bombardment as are the Israelis and, more so, the Palestinians in Gaza. Sitting in a safe place in the states leaves me in a different emotional situation than if I were over there. So, I can only imagine how people's judgments are affected by the stress on all sides.

As Amos Oz and A.B. Yehoshusa wrote in a recent articles, Hamas can be blamed for launching the attacks, but there needs to be a cease fire.

The way forward has to be one of eventually coming together--or at least balancing the seesaw. Like the yin and yang or the two halves of the kabbalistic star...the one on top is not superior, it is merely the one above. The half on the bottom--this is very important--is not inferior. It is the root. The two halves make one. Like in the creation story where the first human was made in the Creator's image with both male AND female parts (Adam/Adamah), they complete each other. (It wasn't until much later that the superiority/inferiority tale emerged.)

People don't have to love or even like one another, but they can respectfully work for a more just future for all the people living in Israel and the Palestinian territories. The way forward is not more bombs and rockets.

I love much about Israel--I have friends who live there; I'm hopeful about a Palestinian state.

Meeting your "enemy" and walking through their world for a day is one way to start. Let's refuse to be enemies and make a better future. Taking risks for what is right is strength, too. Peace.

Massacre! Act Now.

Unknown user — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:11:29 EST

This is Holocaust. Unacceptable by any religion. Against the Jewish Faith. Stop Ehud Barack and his Crew killing the poor, innocent Gazan women, children and elderly.

A personal message to Mr. Barak Obama

Unknown user — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 16:48:25 EST

"I'm asking you to believe. Not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington... I'm asking you to believe in yours." If am not mistaken Sir, these have been your own words. Words used in your recent campaign. You gave flesh and bones to the word "Change" and your presidential election passed the message that "when there is a will there is always a way"! Your election was and still is the talk of the planet. An election with so many expectations from everyone…

I strongly understand that part of your forthcoming four year political agenda as a president of one of the strongest countries within the planet, will be to ensure a stronger U.S-Israel Partnership. My job is not to criticize your agenda Sir, nor guide it, that would be your job to do so. I simply want to tell you to act as a politician who acts from heart. Act as a politician who's guided by his personal values gained from parents and teachers. I'm nobody and most probably will remain nobody until the day I die… YOU Sir is someone who's actions and words DO count! Take good advantage of this gift that God gave you and use it wisely through out your political journey as a president.

Sir, allow me to express my anger and disappointment of the current situation in Gaza. I will not repeat myself like the others. Nor will I support any of the two parties' actions. I'm angry simply because innocent lives are lost and hundred others are a step away from dying. Forgive me Sir, but my mind cannot understand how a 2 years old child can be a terrorist, and his or her death will save in the nearby future the lives of many Israeli citizens from a possible terrorist act… Forgive me Sir, for not believing that hundred of lives have been lost simply because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time. Excuses over and over again… Excuses to excuse what human mind cannot digest! The community in Gaza is bleeding. Please help to stop the bleeding. Please help to stop the unfair killings of the civilians who die due to political ambitions from both sides. These Political Ambitions overlook the human rights, values and beliefs. Past Monday, the White House released a statement saying "in order for the violence to stop Hamas must stop firing rockets into Israel and agree to respect a sustainable and durable cease-fire". Such an ironic political statement released after careful study of the situation. "In order for"…., "Must"….., useless words that actually don't feet in a fight! People are dying. Innocent civilians lost their lives from one day to another. Families have been destroyed! Hopes are vanished and smiles are replaced by tears and sadness.

I personally don't care about the Israeli and Hamas' stubborn political strategy. I do care though about all those who are left behind in a hospital bed, praying to God to save their lives. If the political world of Israel is looking only for Hamas' supporters in Gaza why does the Gaza crossings are shut close? It is much easier to kill an ant and call yourself powerful, than to kill a viper with bear hands. There are children out there that need urgent help... There are children out there who share the same dreams as any other kind of child in this planet. Sir as the president of Change, you have the opportunity to change the situation! Don't shut your eyes in front of this unfair massacre. I fear that soon Hamas' supporters will fight back and the number of innocent casualties will raise again.

Peace is the hardest type of war. It's the hardest battle to fight for and win it. A couple of months ago, in your recent visit to Israel you stated: "If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I'm going to do everything in my power to stop that. And I would expect Israelis to do the same thing". Simply remember Sir, that the coin bears two sides and what you've stated a few months ago is actually what a Palestinian father,living in Gaza is stating right now! There is no black or white Sir... There is always space for gray!

Let the forthcoming 20th of January 2009 be indeed a day of Change Sir!

What Page of The Bible?

Don — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 00:07:57 EST

There are only two reasonable choices.

To evoke the vision of the world economy rising from the ashes of the torched-earth strategy of the Bush-Cheney-Rove administration, BHO should open the Bible to the gospel account of Jesus’ rising from death. Not only will it give us hope, but it will reinforce our knowledge of BHO’s Christianity, helping put aside the invocation guy.

Times are so serious that BHO should keep the Bible closed and put his hand on the whole thing – we’re gonna need ALL of it right now, and it underscores BHO’s whole ‘inclusiveness’ thing.

Welcoming the Ministry of Hatred and Scapegoating

Don — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 13:08:01 EST

There are always those who make their fortunes playing to the fears and insecurities of people frustrated with their own lives who need someone to blame, someone to hate, and it's easy for them to agree on certain groups to focus on.

Obama is moving America toward the point where those people will realize that if they don't have a good job, they have too little money, too much debt, their kids are in and out of jail and/or on drugs, or failing in school, it's not the fault of some group of "OTHERS". Not the gays, the jews, the blacks, or even those pesky illegal aliens, to name just a few.

It's time for a new era of Personal Responsibility in which we all take charge of our own lives while working together for all of us to achieve the American dream while making government do what it can to enable us.

Rick Warren is just an updated version of the same old Ministry Of Hatred represented by Falwell and Robertson (and so many others).

The coming of that new era is a direct threat to Rick Warren, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and all the other leaders of the Ministry of Hate. Just like the Republicans did during the long two year campaign, they will go down kicking and screaming all the way.

War Crimes and Treason

Tim Schram — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:58:39 EST

One of the first acts of the new Attorney General should be to start an investigation of the Bush administration for war crimes, violation of international law, and failure to keep their oaths to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America. These are grave violations and should not be allowed to go unanswered. We, the people, need to show ourselves and the world that we stand behind the principals on which this country was founded. That even after a heinous attack and an emotional reaction, we still value those principals and are willing - no obligated- to correct our mistakes.

The war crimes charges are easy to prove against Cheney. He went on national television and admitted to authorizing and aiding in the implementation of waterboarding. After world war 2, US led tribunals executed Japanese officers for using this technique on allied forces. If that isn't enough justification to indict Cheney, what is?

Bush, Gonzalez, and others blatantly disregarded the Contitution they swore to uphold and defend by illegally wiretapping americans. Bush repeatedly overstep the powers of the president. He fabricated information to declare war on another country for his own, personal reasons and caused the death and injury of tens of thousands people, both Americans and Iraqis. I could see Bush getting an insanity verdict, since he has no grasp of reality and lives alone with Laura in a world of his own making.

This would restore our reputation with the rest of the world and allow us to lead by example again. It would make it harder for terrorist organizations to find new recruits when the people of the world see that we can and will hold ourselves accountable and punish those that initiated and conducted the crimes in our name. We need to show the world that our system works and that we hold our leaders to the same standards we tell them to hold theirs to.

Last week, at a meeting of his country’s ruling party, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak accused Iran of “trying to devour the Arab states.”

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 16:53:21 EST

Iran ate my Caliphate

Posted on December 16, 2008 by Jeff Huber @ scholarsandrogues

Last week, at a meeting of his country’s ruling party, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak accused Iran of “trying to devour the Arab states.” Don’t worry, Hosni. Iran won’t eat you. It can’t. It can’t sit on you either. It’s too far away.

What led Mubarak to say such a mean thing about Iran? Well, it seems that a bunch of Iranian students shouted a bunch of mean things at the Egyptian embassy in Tehran, including their apparently genuine wish that someone would hang Mubarak. The Iranian students shouted mean things about Mubarak because Egypt wouldn’t let the Iranian Red Crescent sneak around Israel’s blockade of the Gaza strip and deliver food and supplies to Palestinians, who have been reduced to eating grass.........

ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://www.scholarsandrogues.com/2008/12/16/iran-ate-my-caliphate/

Crisis Briefings: Lies Like Iraq War Pretenses: Bushiness

Don — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 02:18:41 EST

The President who told at least a dozen lies to get us to go to war in Iraq has conjured up more than a dozen lies to set up President Obama for failure? The most miserable failure of an excuse for a President is leaving directions for the next President?

If it weren’t so serious, it would be funny! If your memory is longer than that of 99% of Americans you know that’s not a line I made up, and you may even know who did. Details.

I’m just saying, George Bush should be planning out where he’s going to hide to keep from being arrested and delivered to the Hague for trial in the World Court for War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity.

We didn’t let Hitler’s assistants off the hook, and neither can we afford to let Bush’s (the New Hitler’s) people go Scot-free.

We all know that all these recent attempts by Bush to rewrite history are mere hopes that America doesn’t do what’s right. If we intend to restore any sense of moral authority or regain any worldwide respect, we must follow our own laws and those international laws we largely wrote and have been demanding everyone else follow for decades until “W” took office.

If we don’t want our soldiers tortured when they in the future are captured, we must deliver to justice George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, their generals and other high officers who ordered torture and passed on those illegal and immoral orders.

America is a chief signatory to the Geneva Conventions. In fact, before 2001, we liked to claim we largely WROTE it. What good is international law if those who claim to have written it are the worst violators?

America has long had laws against torture of prisoners of war. We cannot allow one power-mad egomaniac (or moron, depending on who is providing the facts, and there are plenty on both sides) to cause us to abandon our Constitution, or it won’t be worth anything, ever.

To put it simply, we cannot defeat terrorism by becoming the worst terrorists on earth. Long before we got to that point, any real President would have caught himself and found a better way. Why? Because Bush’s route could be seen even by people as unworldly as me to be a fool’s plot.

It started with Bush’s WAR-PRAYER-MEETING, right after 9/11. That was disturbing to me THEN, because, as a Christian and an American I wondered if Jesus would say that we should “turn the other cheek”.

What? “Turn the other cheek”. I know. I certainly wasn’t in the mood for that. But that’s what Jesus would have us do – according to the Bible. Those so-called religious Republicans have still never mentioned that, and they would castrate me for mentioning it if they could. (They don’t have the balls for it, so they’ll try to get you to do it, just like the Romans, according to the Bible, were forced to murder Jesus. Just reading it objectively and making no assumptions. NO benefit to me which side you take).

Strange, but when you think about the things that really were surprises, you can’t find any that Bush created that much cohesion to in that short a time. Can you? I can’t.

Almost makes you wonder WHEN Rumsfeld, Cheney and Bush KNEW 9/11 was going to happen, doesn’t it? Naaaaaaah. Certainly not. I don’t really know. Do I???

It WAS amazing that five seconds after the first jet crashed into the World Trade Center, Bush’s officials declared they knew it was Osama Bin Laden! Before the first tower collapsed, the Bush administration told us who to blame. I wondered why they didn’t PREVENT it since they obviously knew so much about it in advance.

Worse yet is the fact that for all of 2000, Bush campaigned claiming “America’s military is not ready!” Yet, during all of 2001, he did NOTHING to get our military ready. Why would you TELL our enemies that our military isn’t ready? Then, once in power, why would you fail to GET it ready/ Bush should spend the rest of his days in Guantanamo for that alone.

I always think you can know who caused something to happen by figuring out who BENEFITTED from whatever happened.

But I’ve already gone LONG, so I’ll have to finish the facts later. In the meantime, don’t read into what I’ve typed, anything you imagine I said. You may end up looking foolish by the time I tie it all together.

Think of it...

Joe on Mason Hill — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 01:33:41 EST

George, you'll have a big asterisk next to your name in the history books for having started the Iraq War and not finished it, I might add. Here's a question: Do you want an even bigger asterisk, A HUGH ASTERISK, next to your name in those history books? Here's what you could have done. Now listen closely. You and Dick and your wives, could have left the good ol' U.S. of A. and gone to CANADA! Just left! Abdicated!

(The next important word is : ANOINTED.)

You could have anointed the first woman President of the United States, Nancy Pelosi. Think of it! The first, The very first woman President, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!

A month, a week, or just a day, by George. Too late. An other missed opportunity.

What To Do About It

Don — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:07:18 EST

Previously, I argued the likely consequences of the collapse of the Detroit automakers. And already my predictions are beginning to bear out in facts. Today, the Wall Street Journal reported, “Toyota will delay production at its new $300 million plant in Mississippi, citing a steep decline in the auto market.” What could we do about preventing it?Rather than pumping cash into them over the long term, what we COULD do is just take over something like 60% of the healthcare burden of only the pre-2007 retirees of the Detroit automakers.What? That would fundamentally lower the per-car cost while requiring them to bear their own burden of current and future labor costs. They will still have to make reasonable pay agreements going forward, but they won’t have to fire tens of thousands of workers who actually are cranking out cars that are of competitive quality. We CAN and should require that they immediately begin moving at an accelerated pace to make their entire fleet of cars meet California’s progressive fuel-economy standards.Why? Because that’s a smaller hit to the national economy than letting those people go on welfare, food stamps and unemployment and disability insurance. It helps keep those people paying taxes based on good wages. If those companies collapse, Medicare and Medicaid WILL be forced to take on 100% of all of those retirees from every decade. The few of us who still have jobs or own businesses will pay for that.Remember, according to THEIR OWN study, 43% of full-time WalMart workers are on food stamps and welfare. 43%. They are the largest employer in America. We cannot afford to doom another class of workers to that, because it’s costing us dearly.I don’t know if “60%” is exactly the right percentage, or if “pre-2007” is exactly the right year, but that can be worked out soon and by more knowledgeable people. What I do believe is that we can find a way to take on a much smaller share of the burden than the 100% we will inherit if those companies go down. What I know is that the rest of us will be better off with those people working and paying taxes alongside the rest of us than not.Rather than stirring up jealousy among people about UAW wages and demanding they take pay cuts, Republican conservatives ought to be working to get the pay other OTHER Americans increased so that more of us will be paying taxes at that higher rate, thus decreasing the burden on each taxpayer.Walmart workers, who continue to work full-time while having to also collect food stamps and welfare, are a major burden to all American Taxpayers. We need more high-wage jobs, not less. All that money spent at Walmart goes on a long trip, making a brief stopover in Bentonville Arkansas before flying directly to China to create more factory jobs – in China. If they have their way, conservative Republicans will have all Americans working seven days a week in 12 hour shifts making 90 cents a month like the Chinese.

How We Save America By Saving American Autoworker Jobs

Don — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 15:53:57 EST

Previously, I argued why all Americans, of all political persuasions, will suffer from the collapse the Detroit automakers. What can we do about the problem?I am far from being an apologist for the UAW or Detroit. There have to be consequences for this mess. But right now, we face bigger problems than that.American Taxpayers should consider carefully the consequences of letting another huge block of Taxpayers be forced to become dependent on welfare, food stamps and unemployment. It’s a double-whammy heaped upon the rest of us. Not only will they no longer be bearing their fair share by paying taxes and Social Security alongside those of us who still have jobs, but they also will be draining vast amounts of Taxpayer-funded money and other resources. What other resources? It takes more government employees, thus money, to hand out and track all those handouts. Can you guess who gets to pay for that?I am scared to death at the prospect of both taking on the burden of another half-million or so workers who will lose their jobs every month – like last month – but also paying much less in taxes myself due to the fact that I won’t be making nearly as much money once most of my customers are out of work. Come hell or high water, those people need to keep paying federal taxes just like me, and they can only do that if we keep them working.If you look at recently published studies on Appalachia – basically W. Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and northeastern Mississippi – the only place those unemployed people who will be living primarily on government assistance will be spending money is at WalMart* . All that money goes straight to China to create more jobs – in China. (Although it does pass through Bentonville Arkansas on the way.)As a direct consequence, many more jobs will be lost, though probably in northern states among people who tend to vote for Democrats. At least, that must be what Senator Shelby and the other conservative Republicans and southerners who subsidize those Japanese auto-plants down there must be thinking. But there are a lot of Republicans up here too. I voted straight GOP all my life, until November when I had to take an Independent stand. My non-auto-related small business will be killed, as will many others, and lots of individuals. Plus, many of those “plumbers” and others who work for small and large businesses that are not directly linked to Detroit will be financially killed. During the campaign Republicans swore they cared about them more than anything.People like that don’t go out and replace our Lexus or Toyota or other Japanese car or truck with next year’s model no matter where it’s built – even in the south. Moreover, people like that don’t switch parties and start voting with the GOP. People like that, including myself, don’t return to the Republican Party. People like that might not even REMAIN in the GOP. Republicans always campaign about being for plumbers and other workers and small businesses. Once the votes are all counted, the GOP kicks us right in our ‘bleepin’ behinds.From what I have seen, once out of work, those high-dollar hourly workers don’t take lower-paying jobs flipping burgers. Unemployed autoworkers sit at home and live off the Taxpayers, even by resorting to disability payments by making claims, not all of which are legitimate**. Those payments cost money, as do the investigators required to catch some unknown percentage of those making bogus claims. It costs more money to house them in jail, plus they never seem to get caught holding enough money to reimburse the Taxpayers for what they fleeced us out of.The bottom line is that we have to work hard to keep people working – especially those making good wages, thus paying more in taxes than those working at WalMart and McDonalds. We have to CREATE more high-paying jobs like that rather than focus on cutting their pay until they make the 9 cents a month they pay in China. To underline a point I’ve been arguing for quite a while, the Wall Street Journal reported today that “Toyota will delay production at its new $300 million plant in Mississippi, citing a steep decline in the auto market.” *To be fair, the studies show, the Appalachians also spend a great of money on liquor and guns. Those are available at WalMart too, but mostly not made in China. They also tend to spend a lot of time and money in church. These observations are in no way offered as commentary on lifestyles. This is all about where our money goes.**This is a concern based on studies which were not based on large sample groups, so they in no way can be asserted to reflect a majority of the group. Yet, any substantial percentage of this group engaged in this behavior would have a significant effect on an already severely depressed economy. Moreover, autoworkers were only a subset of the skilled workers discussed in the studies in general. No lifestyle judgments are implied.

Keep UAW workers paying taxes, not on welfare

Don — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 13:17:53 EST

Wall Street Journal: Toyota will delay production at its new $300 million plant in Mississippi, citing a steep decline in the auto market. The company says jobs in the state are "secure."

This is the beginning of proof of what I've been saying all along.

The most important detail not understood by southern voters and conservative Republicans is that they, too, will suffer by causing the collapse of the Detroit auto industry.

It's not only northerners whose non-auto industry jobs will be lost in the fallout. Those millions of former taxpayers on welfare, food stamps and unemployment and those around the country, including even the south, who will be dragged down with them, WILL NOT be buying those Japanese cars and trucks being manufactured in those taxpayer-subsidized southern plants.

People won't have the money, won't be able to obtain credit, and won't have the consumer confidence that enable such major purchases.

So all those high-paid UAW people Republican conservatives want to destroy will be merely the BEGINNING of the calamity.

We cannot afford at this time to have high-wage people lose taxpaying jobs while America’s largest employer, Walmart, according to their own internal report, pays wages so low that 43% of their full-time workers are on welfare and food stamps.

Blagojevich? Emanuel? Is that anything?

Don — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 01:42:47 EST

Blagojevich? Emanuel? Is that anything?

The FBI tapes may end up proving that Emanuel’s talks with Blagojevich only related that the President-Elect would offer the governor nothing more than “appreciation” for nominating one of then-Senator Obama’s “acceptable” candidates. Unless Emanuel “went rogue”. All stay together, and all hang together -- that's how they play it in the big leagues. Over the weekend, Mr. Emanuel apparently sent out his personal operatives – his ‘emissaries' – to put out his own SPIN on his alleged contacts with governor Rod. That would seem to point out that he’s the “weak link” – the person who screws up, then tries to protect himself at the expense of the team. His refusal to go to work last week was suspicious enough.

Innocent people don’t have to BREAK RANKS with their fellow patriots, shun the office so they don’t have to look into the eyes of their colleagues, or hide from the press, rather than just smile at the cameras and say “the Team will have something to say at the appropriate time”.

In addition to that, I do not understand why – if news reports and his statements are true – Mr. Emanuel would be getting threatened, or by whom. Regardless whether he is honest or dishonest, I don’t understand that at all – it seems illogical. Was he lying when he said that? Was the reporter lying about him having said that? I’d like some information on that.

You may not appreciate my questions, especially regarding the alleged claim of alleged threats, but I am someone who has been paying attention. Also, I have a very long memory, especially of politics.

I was just a kid more or less during the 80’s, but right then I was asking why we were crazy enough to be capitulating to the Japanese automakers. I seemed to be the only one in the 80’s who articulated that it was absurd for American automakers to keep making rounds of layoffs of tens of thousands of American autoworkers and then wonder WHY their sales continued to fall. “Who do they think are buying their cars?”, I asked. “The workers who build the cars are their best customers” I argued, “With their wages, they are the ones best able to afford them.”

More than twenty years ago, I could see that you can’t keep putting tens of thousands of your best customers out of work and then wondering why your sales keep declining. If a mere kid could see that over twenty years ago, why can’t beyond-middle-aged voters understand that now? American voters in general have very short memories.

There’s a reason they used to say “what’s good for GM is good for America!” Those workers made good wages. They paid equally large TAXES. They bought only American cars. They spent money only at American businesses that sold only American-made goods and services. One dollar spent on an American-made car meant eight-teen dollars (give or take a dollar) spent in America, to other Americans who paid TAXES in America. It pumped up the economy and created jobs for many AMERICANS.

Right now, we are at best buying cars made at plants in the south owned by Japanese companies that pay LOW wages, sending ALL the money we spend to Japan. Those low-wage workers spend all their meager income at WalMart. That money goes straight to China, where it creates more jobs – in China. Those workers reportedly make 9 cents a month. Do we want to “catch up” with them?

WORSE, when all those high-paid Detroit autoworkers lose their jobs, they will go right onto welfare, unemployment and food stamps. The rest of us will be paying ALL the taxes to support them.

I am terrified at the prospects of MY income decreasing due to the lack of customers directly and indrirectly linked to the Detroit autoworker economy. I am horrified that I will make LESS money but have to PAY MORE to support the government assistance to those people who should have been able to keep their jobs and PAY TAXES alongside the rest of us.

Rather than CUT the wages of union workers, Republican politicians should be RAISING the wages of the rest of American taxpayers, and NOT putting Americans out of work.

Southerners Don't See They Will Go Down With Us, Eventually

Don — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 13:59:26 EST

What's the most important detail not understood by southern voters and conservative Republicans?
That they, too, will suffer by causing the collapse of the Detroit auto industry.
It's not only northerners whose non-auto industry jobs will be lost in the fallout. Those millions of former taxpayers on welfare, food stamps and unemployment and those around the country, including even the south, who will be dragged down with them, WILL NOT be buying those Japanese cars and trucks being manufactured in those taxpayer-subsidized southern plants.
People won't have the money, won't be able to obtain credit, and won't have the consumer confidence that enable such major purchases.
So all those high-paid UAW people Republican conservatives want to destroy will be merely the BEGINNING of the calamity.
Moreover, those newly unemployed UAW members will have to head south, where, with their experience and new-found openness to accept lower wages, they will be the first to get hired at those soon to open Japanese plants if and when they do open. Even those openings in the works will be substantially delayed by the ongoing economic crisis.
But when those UAW people get down there and get the chance to vote, they won't forget which party is to blame for what they will be continuing to go through.
They will continue to vote for Democrats. That will increase the trend toward Red states turning into Blue states that start in 2008.
That, along with Republican tactics, will further ensure that the GOP becomes, for two generations, the party of Appalachia, Utah and Texas -- completely insignificant within the current Electoral College system.
Having just left the GOP last month to become an Obamican, or Independent in 8 years, that's a chance I'm willing to take.
Rather than trying to cut the pay of people who tend to vote for Democrats, those Republican politicians ought to be working to increase the pay of the rest of us. That's the only way we will BE ABLE to buy those Japanese cars over the next five years -- including two federal election cycles.