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Robert Moses
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Robert Moses
Robert Moses has crystal clear water Zig zaging water In the dark, the ocean glows Feel the water trickling on your feet Hear the waves singing Feel the love at the beach 1-09-09 - , <-> -, - Thursday, January 8th 2009 - 04:27:09 PM |
We are still mired in Iraq, and people are still being killed as 2008 comes to close. Where are those who predicted a "short war"? One year later, and a little wiser, and the US will finally see the end of the Bush years. However, he leaves a lot of trash behind in the form of "midnight regulations"--jammed through in the last days of his disaster of a Presidency. From the Observer UK:
Bush sneaks through host of laws to undermine Obama
Paul Harris After spending eight years at the helm of one of the most ideologically driven administrations in American history, George W. Bush is ending his presidency in characteristically aggressive fashion, with a swath of controversial measures designed to reward supporters and enrage opponents. By the time he vacates the White House, he will have issued a record number of so-called 'midnight regulations' - so called because of the stealthy way they appear on the rule books - to undermine the administration of Barack Obama, many of which could take years to undo. Dozens of new rules have already been introduced which critics say will diminish worker safety, pollute the environment, promote gun use and curtail abortion rights. Many rules promote the interests of large industries, such as coal mining or energy, which have energetically supported Bush during his two terms as president. More are expected this week. America's attention is focused on the fate of the beleaguered car industry, still seeking backing in Washington for a multi-billion-dollar bail-out. But behind the scenes, the 'midnight' rules are being rushed through with little fanfare and minimal media attention. None of them would be likely to appeal to the incoming Obama team. The regulations cover a vast policy area, ranging from healthcare to car safety to civil liberties. Many are focused on the environment and seek to ease regulations that limit pollution or restrict harmful industrial practices, such as dumping strip-mining waste. The Bush moves have outraged many watchdog groups. 'The regulations we have seen so far have been pretty bad,' said Matt Madia, a regulatory policy analyst at OMB Watch. 'The effects of all this are going to be severe.' Bush can pass the rules because of a loophole in US law allowing him to put last-minute regulations into the Code of Federal Regulations, rules that have the same force as law. He can carry out many of his political aims without needing to force new laws through Congress. Outgoing presidents often use the loophole in their last weeks in office, but Bush has done this far more than Bill Clinton or his father, George Bush sr. He is on track to issue more 'midnight regulations' than any other previous president. Many of these are radical and appear to pay off big business allies of the Republican party. One rule will make it easier for coal companies to dump debris from strip mining into valleys and streams. The process is part of an environmentally damaging technique known as 'mountain-top removal mining'. It involves literally removing the top of a mountain to excavate a coal seam and pouring the debris into a valley, which is then filled up with rock. The new rule will make that dumping easier. Another midnight regulation will allow power companies to build coal-fired power stations nearer to national parks. Yet another regulation will allow coal-fired stations to increase their emissions without installing new anti-pollution equipment. The Environmental Defence Fund has called the moves a 'fire sale of epic size for coal'. Other environmental groups agree. 'The only motivation for some of these rules is to benefit the business interests that the Bush administration has served,' said Ed Hopkins, a director of environmental quality at the Sierra Club. A case in point would seem to be a rule that opens up millions of acres of land to oil shale extraction, which environmental groups say is highly pollutant. There is a long list of other new regulations that have gone onto the books. One lengthens the number of hours that truck drivers can drive without rest. Another surrenders government control of rerouting the rail transport of hazardous materials around densely populated areas and gives it to the rail companies. One more chips away at the protection of endangered species. Gun control is also weakened by allowing loaded and concealed guns to be carried in national parks. Abortion rights are hit by allowing healthcare workers to cite religious or moral grounds for opting out of carrying out certain medical procedures. A common theme is shifting regulation of industry from government to the industries themselves, essentially promoting self-regulation. One rule transfers assessment of the impact of ocean-fishing away from federal inspectors to advisory groups linked to the fishing industry. Another allows factory farms to self-regulate disposal of pollutant run-off. The White House denies it is sabotaging the new administration. It says many of the moves have been openly flagged for months. The spate of rules is going to be hard for Obama to quickly overcome. By issuing them early in the 'lame duck' period of office, the Bush administration has mostly dodged 30- or 60-day time limits that would have made undoing them relatively straightforward. Obama's team will have to go through a more lengthy process of reversing them, as it is forced to open them to a period of public consulting. That means that undoing the damage could take months or even years, especially if corporations go to the courts to prevent changes. At the same time, the Obama team will have a huge agenda on its plate as it inherits the economic crisis. Nevertheless, anti-midnight regulation groups are lobbying Obama's transition team to make sure Bush's new rules are changed as soon as possible. 'They are aware of this. The transition team has a list of things they want to undo,' said Madia. Bush's midnight regulations will: • Make it easier for coal companies to dump waste from strip-mining into valleys and streams. • Ease the building of coal-fired power stations nearer to national parks. • Allow people to carry loaded and concealed weapons in national parks. • Open up millions of acres to mining for oil shale. • Allow healthcare workers to opt out of giving treatment for religious or moral reasons, thus weakening abortion rights. • Hurt road safety by allowing truck drivers to stay at the wheel for 11 consecutive hours.
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Dumpy, no it's not fortune-telling. It's much worse. It's the Bush Presidency, Cheney and Rove, doing everything possible to go to war with Iraq. Lying with specific intentions. And disastrous results. Wake up.
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No Fortune Tellers in our government. We have equal rights for mistakes, sucesses, etc. |
No Fortune Tellers in our government. We have equal rights for mistakes, sucesses, etc. |
From the NYTIMES:
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Another election approaches. Al Gore, the candidate elected by the popular vote, but robbed of the election, wins a Nobel Peace prize. From the Washington Post:
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Today is Election Day in the USA. It's so eerie to read over the posts from two years ago . . . the power players who urged us to war, rushed us into such a mess, who lied and said it was necessary, said it would be quick, said it would be easy . . . it makes me wonder how long voters can delude themselves. *sigh*
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COUNTIN' ON A MIRACLE©
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Change The World
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All Your base??? |
Renie,
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October 27, 2005
The US has been at war, busy looking for WMD’s—oh, no wait, I mean, we are busy answering a call from pleading country, um that’s not it, we are busy . . . busy . . . doing I don’t know what. Do you?
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New York Times Editorial: September 1, 2005
Waiting for a Leader We will, of course, endure, and the city of New Orleans must come back. But looking at the pictures on television yesterday of a place abandoned to the forces of flood, fire and looting, it was hard not to wonder exactly how that is going to come to pass. Right now, hundreds of thousands of American refugees need our national concern and care. Thousands of people still need to be rescued from imminent peril. Public health threats must be controlled in New Orleans and throughout southern Mississippi. Drivers must be given confidence that gasoline will be available, and profiteering must be brought under control at a moment when television has been showing long lines at some pumps and spot prices approaching $4 a gallon have been reported. Sacrifices may be necessary to make sure that all these things happen in an orderly, efficient way. But this administration has never been one to counsel sacrifice. And nothing about the president's demeanor yesterday - which seemed casual to the point of carelessness - suggested that he understood the depth of the current crisis. While our attention must now be on the Gulf Coast's most immediate needs, the nation will soon ask why New Orleans's levees remained so inadequate. Publications from the local newspaper to National Geographic have fulminated about the bad state of flood protection in this beloved city, which is below sea level. Why were developers permitted to destroy wetlands and barrier islands that could have held back the hurricane's surge? Why was Congress, before it wandered off to vacation, engaged in slashing the budget for correcting some of the gaping holes in the area's flood protection?
It would be some comfort to think that, as Mr. Bush cheerily announced, America "will be a stronger place" for enduring this crisis. Complacency will no longer suffice, especially if experts are right in warning that global warming may increase the intensity of future hurricanes. But since this administration won't acknowledge that global warming exists, the chances of leadership seem minimal. |
On PBS over the weekend, they were showing the Patty Hearst kidnapping from the early 70's with actual footage etc. After watching it I have come away with a better understanding of the issues etc. than I had in my early 20's as it was happening. Of course, we all have our own opinions, but after watching this, I think Patty was as guilty as the other terrorists with the exception that she had a very wealthy family and powerful attorneys to free her. She even received a pardon from President Carter. How do others feel about this issue?? If you havent seen it yet, please check out your Public Television Station for the listing. Fascinating footage and at one point, as the Police in L.A. shot and tear gassed the house that 5 members were in, it was said, this was probably the first broadcast of anything in its time that was coming to the people live as it was happening. |
In the UK Tony Blair wins a third term as Prime Minister, but observers say his support of the Iraq war lost his party as many as 33 seats. However, Labour is still expected to have a majority. |
Robin Williams in Iraq. And here's part 2. From the San Francisco Chronicle. |
Pam, here is your answer. And the reservists who are now serving had no idea they'd be pressed into wars like this. Americans, and supporters of real democracy everywhere had better wake up soon. |
I was sort of shocked to learn that boys when they turn 18, must sign up for the Selective Service while Seniors in High School. Ho long has this been going on for? I thought we got rid of this years ago.. |
As an alternative to the "State of the Union" address from the current U.S. President, here is Bill Moyers, whom I respect and revere for his level-headed and introspective analysis, and yes, optimism. Uh-oh. |
precedent--
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The view from the Bush White House.
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Sorry to disagree, but the truth sometimes hurts. Good old King George Bush just wanted revenge on Saddam and needed an excuse. Open your eyes and dont be blinded by him. Now he is attacking the social security system. In four more years, I hope we still have a country. People have become so blind with this man. The iraq war is just like Vietnam, a useless war used for someones political convictions. |
We all already knew?!?!? non-sense! How awful that all those people didn't know that there weren't any weapons of mass destruciton: the president, congress, house of reps, the military: army, navy, marines, air force, every soldier stationed anywhere, all the free countries, all the non-free countries, the relatives of each above, the pope, all the geography-chanllenged, etc. etc. after all...WE all already knew that there weren't any weapons of mass destruction...some people BELIEVE NOTHING BUT conspiracies! better to heed a warning than to do nothing! |
We all knew there were never any WMD's over in Iraq to begin with. It was just a way to get Saddam captured as George's father couldnt when he was President. Please send all the troops home. So many have died because of George's folly. If I had a son, I would advise him to go to Canada before going to Iraq. |
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6814588/
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According to the news report of tonight, they are closing, in Salinas California the steinbeck library and also 3 others because of budget cuts. Imagine closing a library? The voters apparently wanted all the money to go towards the fire and police departments and not any for the library, which now has to shut its doors sometime in April 2005.
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According to the news report of tonight, they are closing, in Salinas California the steinbeck library and also 3 others because of budget cuts. Imagine closing a library? The voters apparently wanted all the money to go towards the fire and police departments and not any for the library, which now has to shut its doors sometime in April 2005.
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Hi everyone. Thanks for making this page so interesting and informative with your opinions. I really love coming here and reading it all. Happy New Year and hopefully the world will be better in 2005. |
Apologies for the spelling errors.. it happens when I'm at the cross-roads of the making an impassioned statement, and rushing breakneck to say what I want to before I chicken out and not bother because I don't want to raise the hackles of those I consider friends who happen to be on the conservative side of things. The following was posted on the AR GB in response to the John Cleese and letter of response:
Re: John Cleese's letter.. let's at least remember some of it was tongue in cheek... I'll concede that there was something of the fustian in it.. but judging from some of the response to it.. we have a bit of a chip on our shoulders as well. But similarly remember that we can't go around touting ourselves (we in the US) as some bastion of freedom, et al... when we're allowing ourselves to be lead down a path that will rob of us everything this nation has prided itself on.. Sincerely people.. and I'm not engaging in partisanship either.. but when we turn a blind eye to violations of our constitutionally protected rights and freedoms.. deluding ourselves into believing that it won't rear up and bite us on our high and mighty behinds... well, that's plain foolishness. I love my country, and do not want to see it reduced to third world status.. that's what Bush's game is. Americans who believe that their immune from the pain from our economic problems.. think twice. When you cut out the underpinnings that support this nation.. the domino effect will be massive. You think the stock market crash in the '30s was bad.. what we have coming will be utterly devastating. Historically it has no precedent.. but there are lessons from history that we could learn from if we want to avoid what Bush is trying to bring on all the same. Addressing Cleese's letter.. he's correct. GW Bush has been a failure at every business venture he's ever involved himself in.. he has managed though to wrest a profit for himself and some of his partners though. Always at the public's expense. Whether in the oil business, his manageing to turn a 2 percent interest in the Rangers to a more than 50 percent interest based on his influence peddling and getting the taxpayer to pay the bill. That said.. while Bush isn't the brightest bulb in the packet.. it's foolishness itself to paint him the boob. His corruption, his complete lack of patriotism in willingly exploiting the office to rack up huge profits for his friends in the Carlyle Group.. he's ransacking the country.. and throwing away the lives of brave young men and women on top of it. More than 17,000 US troops have been maimed.. yet we're not getting that reported to us nightly by our news media outlets.. who by no co-incidence are owned by Bush supporters. I'm only surprised Cleese didn't role out the ultimate chestnut.. the fact that the Shrub.. old wannabe "king" Georgy Bush is a nut off the family tree of the king we celebrate freeing ourselves from every July 4th. Since the Reagan/Bush I days, we've allowed ourselves to be distracted from important issues by right wing divisiveness. There is very little left of our "free press", and as to free speech.. it's being whittled away to nothing-ness before our very eyes. The US isn't perfect, but we've contributed something that others around the world hold in esteem.. we shouldn't go off half cocked when they try to use humor to remind us of what we're in danger of doing. That said, I'm going off for a few days of duck and cover.. |
Best Wishes to you Claire! Zzzzz - Thursday, December 23rd 2004 - 06:28:57 PM |
Hello, everyone. Many years ago, someone said that we were in the Vietnam War to protect our oil interests. Most people I tell this to find it funny. But... What will we do without oil??? many people would die. We have to figure out how to leave a world where future generations have a chance at living a good life. I believe we are at the absolute peak of civilization in terms of what we have in modern conveniences. Compared to how people lived just a couple hundred years ago, we are rich! And so terribly oil-dependent. So, how do we replace oil? Possession of oil is so alarmingly powerful! it's a survival issue if you look at it closely. |
Rice apparently feeds the sort of man Bush believes he is--this story about the note passed by Rice to Bush during a NATO meeting, reveals something about why she's up for Secretary of State, now that Colin Powell is out.
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Why can't the news be about Damien Rice instead of Condi Rice . . . this is widely seen as Bush weeding out all dissenting voices and opinions. |
In *three* . . .
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Okay, it's in *two* pieces . . .
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GML, thanks. I only wish you could be congratulating America for turning out these hate-mongerers. We in the US "will be witnesses" (as Hans says), as well as victims of this folly. And folly it is, folks. It really does make one want to just "tune out", redecorate, overeat, and take a long aimless drive in a military style oversized gas-gazzlin' light truck disguised as a "sport utility vehicle" which rolls over at high velocity speeds of 25-35 mph. Don't it, just?
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Oh, and Renie, no, nobody will find the WMDs in a cupboard in my flat: there wouldn't be room for them *and* me. D'you know what a house /rent costs here in the south of the UK? I don't *have* cupboards, I *live* in one!:) - And about the Trafalgar Square event in London last Tuesday, it was an evening of politicians / actors / artists / Iraqi people / human rights reps etc reading the names of thousands of people killed in this war. Iraqi forces, coalition soldiers, innocent civilians, hostages, etc. It started at 5pm and finished... late - after I had to leave. I was looking forward to seeing Harold Pinter, who is not afraid of making politically-incorrect comments, but I missed him, either he read his list before I got there or after since I have since read that he *was* there. The Mayor of London was there, also George Galloway, the anti-war MP, Human rights representatives, Stephen Hawking, the famous physicist (his assistant read the names, he said his voice synthesizer was not designed for Arab pronunciation) etc... Some just read the names, some gave the circumstances of death and family details, which had the effect of turning names into humans. Juliet read a statement from a group of American relatives of victims of 9/11 against the war who sent a message of support, and then read names. The 'celebs' were in a tent under the statue, and the speakers were shown on a giant screen as well. I saw her later on outside the tent talking to somebody in the crowd (and chewing gum, if you want the details;). It was all dignified and I was pleased I could make it for a while... These people must not be forgotten too quickly. They are the reason this war is wrong, whatever happens next. |
Hi,
Sadly, it appears that the majority (if a small one) of Americans voted as uninformed people do. And I am rather worried that the same thing will happen here in the UK next year. After all, the majority of voters don't give a sh*t for the Iraqi people or anything not likely to affect them immediately and personally - and are too poorly informed or untrained in reasoning skills to realize that what is in the interest of poor people in the Middle-East is in their own interest too (fed and happy people -even evil brown-skinned foreigners- don't go blowing themselves up in a crowd). Of course what is in the interest of the poor guy in the Middle-East is not in the interest of the corporations that rule us... or our puppet leaders. Or theirs:
France opposed the war in Iraq because it had every -oil- interest in doing so (as well as realizing how stupid and doomed to failure a course of action it was) -not for 'good' reasons. In all times, the 'rich' nations have lived first off their own people, then off other peoples. It's not different now. The native Indians and the black slaves made the West rich. Now the Middle-Eastern people do. The poor (India) Indians do etc. There simply is not enough for everybody on this planet, there are too many of us. There is only one way of sustaining the gross over-consumption we (not me: no car, no luxuries, don't want them;) are addicted to, and that's to take the goods from somebody else and sustaining starvation somewhere... *else*... |
MM, let me guess...you predicted 9-11, but no one would listen to you? |
"Soul about to implode. Right? Not so fast . . ." |
"Dear Friends,
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People weren't running joyfully> to vote for a different President...I think they were anxious about issues and so many people decided to be conservative. I don't think worrisome times encourage people to make changes, IMHO. |
just fuck. |
Ever think the tape is a fake to accomplish exactly that end?
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Oh, sh**! Bin Laden has just given the greatest possible assistance to Bush. The guy does not seem to understand that threatening the U.S. helps the guy in the White House with most of the electorate. Now I really fear that Bush can't lose. I happen to think that what MMoore says is right, but Kerry doesn't need Bin Laden as a supporter. The pro-Bush 30-second ads will be out tomorrow. |
A Quick Read - Will They Ever Trust Us Again? Letters from the War Zone by Michael Moore. It's a collection of letters written to Mr. Moore by American G.I.s in Iraq and Afghanistan. Moore said, "I'm proud to give voice to the troops who have written to me."
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Somewhere someone said in effect that some presidents make great peace time presidents and some make great war time presidents; are we at war, are we living in peace? clear-cut choices seem to be getting blurry. Whoever becomes president had better be strong in adaptability. |
Somewhere someone said in effect that some presidents make great peace time presidents and some make great war time presidents; are we at war, are we living in peace? clear-cut choices seem to be getting blurry. Whoever becomes president had better be strong in adaptability. |
Seen on a protester's T-shirt outside of Haliburton during a demonstration:
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THE BELIEVER
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THE BELIEVER
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From the New Yorker Magazine:
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There's one huge piece of information all of us here do not have in order to really know what is going on in Iraq in order to give our own personal opinion about it...we are not inside Iraq, we are not in that situation. I recall someone saying in effect that a fish who has never been hooked has no idea what the hooked fish is going through. |
But another crucial question, informed by the entire modern history of the Middle east, was also insufficiently considered. This is whether by invading, occupying and imposing a new regime in Iraq, the United States may be stepping, intentionally or not, into the boots of the old Western colonial powers, and even worse, may be doing so in a region that within living memory concluded a lengthy struggle to expel those hated occupations. This question suggests other related ones: What are the peoples of the Middle East likely to think of when they see foriegn troops on their soil without their consent? What memories are triggered for them by foreign invasion, and what are their reactions to it likely to be? How have they reacted to foreign occupation and control, direct and indirect, in the recent past? How have outside powers helped or hindered the countries of this region in their evolution toward democracy and constitutionalism? What has been their experience over the past century as far as control of their valuable oil resources is concerned, and what historical sensitivities do they have on this score?"
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But the threats posed by the Iraqi regime to the United States, its allies, and its interests, whether they were in fact as serious as was affirmed or not (Not a threat, as there were NO weapons, we have since learned--R), were apparently not enough to convince Americans to support the war unreservedly and in massive numbers, forcing the president and his supporters to marshall other justifications. Some argued that these were in fact the truest, deepest moral justifications for such a war of choice, and were the ones that made war necessary. The most important of them was the argument that inaction was morally unacceptable in the face of what was described as the absolute, indeed Hitlerian, evil represented by the Iraqi regime and its demonic dictator, whose cruelties were detailed by supporters of war inside and outside the government. The American people were told by the Bush administration, echoed by a chorus of voices in the pliant punditocracy and the many right-wing think tanks, that it was imperative that the United States intervene militarily to overthrow the Iraqi government and impose a new one--to engage in "regime change," to use the sanitized term initially favored by the influential proponets of this apporach. This blunt (but honest) terminology was later discarded, perhaps because it was seen as insufficiently idealistic to galvanize Americans to support an unprovked war of choice, in favor of a call to "liberate" and "democratize" Iraq.
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In their attempts to garner support for this first venture based on this new doctrine, what has been called the "War Party," the group of advisors that closely surrounds President Bush, adduced several main reasons for the unprecedented step of an unprovoked invasion of Iraq. Among them were the dangers supposedly posed to the United States and its allies of Iraq's possible (certain, according to these proponents of war) possession of a range of nonconventional weapons--"weapons of mass destruction," in the lurid and not particularly accurate term employed by the administration and parroted by the media (often then boiled down to the acronym WMD, thereby conflating banned battlefield armaments like gas with nuclear weapons, designed originally for use against civilian populatoin centers, and so used in 1945). these dangers took on added meance in view of Iraq's aggression against two of its neighbors, Iran in 1980 and Kuwait in 1990, and its intensive use of poison gas against Iranian forces during the Iran-Iraq War.
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Far from being able to threaten the greatest superpower in world history, Iraq was apparently considered to be so little of a threat by its immediate neighbors that most of them were reluctant to support an unprovoked war on it, in spite of intense American pressure to do so. (Most of the same countries had willingly participated in the 1991 war, which Iraq when it was much stronger, had clearly provoked.) In consequence, as an acute observer noted, President Bush's much touted "coalition of the willing" was more like "a coalition of the coerced, the cowed and the co-opted." This was thus neither a war to protect the United States not one to defend its regional allies. In fact, as some of the proponents waging war on Iraq have openly stated, the 2003 campaign was meant to be the first in a new category of warrs they advocated the United States hould launch on its own in the 21st century. (My emphasis added-R) There were to be wars waged to assure American values prevailed--as President Bush stated in Spetember 2002, "these values . . . are right and true for every person, in every society"--or as others perceived it, to guarantee the United States' continued hegemony. The president added that "as a matter of common sense, America will act against . . . emerging threats before they are fully formed," since "in the new world we have entered, the only path to peace and security is the path of action." This approach was dubbed "a distinctly American internationalism" by the Bush administration.''
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As far as likening the US war in Iraq to previous US military actions, I'd like to offer some portions from "Resurrecting Empire: Western Footprints and America's Perilous Path in the Middle East", written by Rashid Khalidi, a professor at Columbia University. (He appeared on Charlie Rose a while back.) From Chapter One: |
Rich from Illinois, you said, "When you pose a question, you better be right when you answer it." I could not disagree more with the views you expressed in your post.
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Why would you be surprised that we are discussing the Bush/Kerry thing? If the topic is good enough for the front page of the New York Times, I think that it is current and relevant enough for this board.
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I'm surprised that the discussions are centered on the Bush-Kerry thing: the Iraq war, Weapons of Mass Distruction,
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I'm surprised that the discussions are centered on the Bush-Kerry thing: the Iraq war, Weapons of Mass Distruction,
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Cat, thanks for your post. I admire the work you do as a teacher. Amy, thanks for your thoughts.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - "The U.S. budget gap expanded to $412.55 billion in fiscal 2004, marking the Bush administration's second-straight record deficit, the Treasury Department said on Thursday."
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Who's getting the extra dollars in their greedy little hands? Not me, that's for sure. Americans were financially better off during the Clinton administration, and the unemployment rate was phenomenal. What really gripes me about this administration is that they can intact complicated laws that choke school districts in red tape; yet refuse to properly fund their initiatives.
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If you elect that Cowboy Killer again, with or without the Electoral College, you won't really be able to say "they" did it will ya?
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If you elect that Cowboy Killer again, with or without the Electoral College, you won't really be able to say "they" did it will ya?
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To assume that the majority of Americans voted the Bush administration into office is a misnomer. If you will recall, the popular vote was won by Al Gore. Unfortunatly, American politics still rely on the complicated electoral college system. Few Americans intirely understand this system at all and were dismayed to learn the popular vote did not put their choice in office.
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Not all of us agree with this administration's politics. In fact, our entire household thinks he's the biggest crook since Richard Nixon.
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Not all of us agree with this administration's politics. In fact, our entire household thinks he's the biggest crook since Richard Nixon.
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It's a shame that so many of you Americans will vote for a party (the Republicans) that will include farmers and blue collar workers who will literally vote themselves into extinction by voting for a party (the Republican's) that has as it's base... the HAVES and the HAVE MORES.
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For those Americans who are undecided about whom to vote for, maybe the words of the Vice President (just realized how apt that title really is) himself say it best:
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After 16 months of search and review, the latest findings are that there were no weapons of mass destruction, and no evidence that they were under development. Development had stopped in 1991. The nuclear threat had diminished, and was further diminishing when the United States used it as an excuse to launch a "pre-emptive" war the neo-conservatives have long planned. Learn more about the TheCharles Duelfer report. And watch as Bush & Co. continue, doggedly, to make a case for war instead of peace. |
A
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September 14, 2004
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"And not only that, of course the American Public can't possibly see *coffins*--why, that would show the real cost of war--lives of men and women, lost." posted by Renie The following post contains some graphic comments: That reminds me of 9/11. I saw on TV, only people running away from buildings that were collapsing, something like when an old building is imploded with explosives. It seemed like only an inanimate object - a building - was lost. I could not see the people inside dying. But, 3,000 lives lost! imagine a crowd of 3,000 people being crushed to death. People dying on the ground because someone else's body weighing over 100 pounds hit them after they jumped from hundreds of feet to escape fire. Would it really help to see someone's body hit the ground and turn into a pink mist? Of course it would be a deep wound to see those killed in war, their coffins, families grieving. I don't know what's worse--not going to war over terrorism because more lives would be lost, or going to war over terrorism, as though that would mean fewer lives lost. More frustrating, through history, countries at war eventually become allies -- the solution would be to get to the "we are now allies" stage without going through the "we are at war stage". Yet, to me terrorism is like a cancer, or a field with good crops, choking with weeds. It is as though certain human activities, such as terrorism, are "natural disasters" because they show the inner environment (the mind) can also be overwhelmed into a destructive and destroyed state. Just like floods, droughts, earthquakes, etc. can not be prevented, so it is, I think, with human violence such as war, terrorism, etc. There is hope though, because we can concentrate on recovery, and rebuilding lives and our world, when others choose violence as the solution.
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cliffhouse at noon |
Nobody’s Friend
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"Fahrenheit 9/11, Michael Moore's controversial film that castigates President George Bush for waging US's war against Iraq, took $21.8 million in sales during its opening weekend, positioning it as the best selling film in the United States during the past week and setting a new record for documentaries."
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About Farenheit 9/11, Moore's documentary film. |
Hello, I rarely read much about politics, so sorry if this sounds simplistic: what does one do when one is dealing with an enemy who is *dedicated* to killing the enemy...meaning each and every person! absolute destruction of the enemy, no exceptions? I've read about this more than 20 years ago in news magazines (too complicated a problem for me, so good-bye trying to solve world problems for this person.) |
What was that time frame again--for the U.S. to be "finished" with Iraq? Not anytime soon; "engagements" and "casualties" . . . And not only that, of course the American Public can't possibly see *coffins*--why, that would show the real cost of war--lives of men and women, lost.
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And another interesting article:
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If you didn't read this article already, please go and read it. It's a very interesting article about how the Pentagon made up the Iraq threat, reported by an insider who speaks out:
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I've added an article on "what happened to those weapons, anyway" to the DT political reading room.
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Isn't it true - it is the main interest that Mr. Bush won't be reelected, everything else is secondary...
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Isn't it true - it is the main interest that Mr. Bush won't be reelected, everything else is secondary...
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John Kerry has made it to the first pages of our newspapers. But I have no idea what sort of man he is - information about his aims is rare here.
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Looters stole the WMDs? Sure! :)) As a matter of fact, I saw one myself during these filmed scenes of chaos following the botched invasion: medium height sort of guy, dark curly hair, wore jeans, running away in a southwardly direction with a nuclear missile in his pocket. Or maybe he was just pleased to see the Coalition.
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And nobody worries about the new BBC management than the BBC itself... (from the Independent)
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"The one Judge Lord Hutton "cleared" Tony Blair, from what I read. What do you think of how this was handled? David Kelley's suicide--I guess we won't know (surprise) what was really in play."
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And here I thought Cheney and the hawks only hunted wild geese! Today,Wolfowitz said it wasn't really about those WMD, we just had duty to invade to invade Iraq and kill people to give them democracy ANYWAY. *sigh* I should know better than to read the International news before dinner.
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How could I not look and see what's up in "Talking Shop" when we are in the midst of both the Hutton Report and David Kay's resignation with his comments about no weapons of mass destruction!
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From the Independent UK:
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Editorial: The Sorry State of the Union", (AKA "Lying by the Big Boys"). |
Rest of the excerpt from the New York Times, Sunday January 25, 2004 -- "The Only Superbad Power":
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Read "Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategy, Forces and Resources for a New Century." More background. Here is the actual site: http://www.newamericancentury.org/ and the September 2000White Paper is a PDF download. I wouldn't be surprised if it cookied you to download it, those guys keep tabs. Where does this lead? To The Coalition of the Unbelieving.
George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton managed the immediate consequences of the collapse of Communism, but they did so when the presumption was still that the main threat to the world had been lifted, when there seemed no pressing need to define a new, post-Communist order.
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My budget includes the largest increase in defense spending in two decades -- because while the price of freedom and security is high, it is never too high. Whatever it costs to defend our country, we will pay. " (End excerpt) So, the New American Century is on the march. Krystolized in the White Paper produced in September of 2000 entitled "Rebuilding America's Defenses: |
Our war on terror is well begun, but it is only begun. This campaign may not be finished on our watch -- yet it must be and it will be waged on our watch. We can't stop short. If we stop now -- leaving terror camps intact and terror states unchecked -- our sense of security would be false and temporary. History has called America and our allies to action, and it is both our responsibility and our privilege to fight freedom's fight. Our first priority must always be the security of our nation, and that will be reflected in the budget I send to Congress. My budget supports three great goals for America: We will win this war; we'll protect our homeland; and we will revive our economy. September the 11th brought out the best in America, and the best in this Congress. And I join the American people in applauding your unity and resolve. Now Americans deserve to have this same spirit directed toward addressing problems here at home. I'm a proud member of my party -- yet as we act to win the war, protect our people, and create jobs in America, we must act, first and foremost, not as Republicans, not as Democrats, but as Americans.
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Hopefully last part: NED successfully manipulated elections in Nicaragua in 1990 and Mongolia in 1996, helped to overthrow democratically elected governments in Bulgaria in 1990 and Albania in 1991 and 1992, and was busy working in Haiti in the late 1990s. "Since its founding in 1983, the National Endowment for Democracy has been headed by Carl Gershman" said Ron Paul. Besides being a member on the Council on Foreign Relations, Gershman was a member of the Socialist Party USA when it split into two factions in the early 1970s: a left wing led by Michael Harrington and a right wing led by Gershman, Tom Kahn, and Rachelle Horowitz. The right faction morphed into Social Democrats USA (SD-USA), which in the early 1970s rallied around Sen. Henry “Scoop” Jackson, the hawkish Democrat from Washington, D.C. whose staff was made of several key neoconservative figures, including Richard Perle, Frank Gaffney, Paul Wolfowitz , and Elliot Abrams. Revisit many of the same players, in 1997, in Project for a New Amercian Century.
States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world. By seeking weapons of mass destruction, these regimes pose a grave and growing danger. They could provide these arms to terrorists, giving them the means to match their hatred. They could attack our allies or attempt to blackmail the United States. In any of these cases, the price of indifference would be catastrophic.
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Rest of post: "The objective I propose is quite simple to state: to foster the infrastructure of democracy, the system of a free press, unions, political parties, universities, which allows a people to choose their own way to develop their own culture, to reconcile their own differences through peaceful means. This is not cultural imperialism; it is providing the means for genuine self-determination and protection for diversity. Democracy already flourishes in countries with very different cultures and historical experiences. It would be cultural condescension, or worse, to say that any people prefer dictatorship to democracy. Who would voluntarily choose not to have the right to vote, decide to purchase government propaganda handouts instead of independent newspapers, prefer government to worker-controlled unions, opt for land to be owned by the state instead of those who till it, want government repression of religious liberty, a single political party instead of a free choice, a rigid cultural orthodoxy instead of democratic tolerance and diversity. We in America now intend to take additional steps, as many of our allies have already done, toward realizing this same goal. The chairmen and other leaders of the national Republican and Democratic party organizations are initiating a study with the bipartisan American Political Foundation to determine how the United States can best contribute as a nation to the global campaign for democracy now gathering force. They will have the cooperation of congressional leaders of both parties, along with representatives of business, labor, and other major institutions in our society. I look forward to receiving their recommendations and to working with these institutions and the Congress in the common task of strengthening democracy throughout the world." (NB: This turns out to be covert political activities, slush funds, and Non-governmental (read: unaccountable) support for regime make-overs--Renie) About NED: Allen Weinstein, who helped draft the legislation establishing the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), said in 1991: "A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA." |
The Middle East as the new Soviet Bloc. Why have one "evil empire" when we can have an "axis of evil"?
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According to Condi Rice, it was looters who stole those WMD! Yeahhh--that's why we can't find em! You have to wonder JUST how stupid they think the American public can BE. |
Editorial from the SF Chronicle.
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Editorial from the SF Chronicle.
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Oh, and if you haven't already done so, you must read this:
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Yes, I totally agree that people who think invasion is ever the best political solution are dangerous. Only in self-defence can war be justified, and for all his 'defiant' new-spin claim (today) that "the intelligence on WMDs was correct", (indeed it was, it said that Saddam was no threat to us or even to his neighbours) Blair was lying when he claimed to know more than he did. If there are WMDs in Iraq (there should be, we sold them), he certainly does not have a clue where or in what firing state they are and if any are found, it will be luck.
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Today I found an article about Mark Lombardi, an artist who draws well investigated networks of political and financial conspiracy - most interesting!
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What I wrote is a faint echo of a quotation from something Sir Peter Ustinov said. And there is an answer to it:
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Former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill adds to the evidence that the Bush administration intended to do whatever it had to in order to take Iraq. Here are short articles from the NY Times, the BBC, and the Progressive.
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Please make that . . . they ARE not ennobled . . . |
Ulrike, you are right to point out how many characteristics people can share--no matter where they live.
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A Question:
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The price of freedom will be always paid for by the nations best young people. The people that are willing to make any sacrifice. This forum is proof that those who have served the United States in the past, now and in the furture, will always insure our freedom. There is no political solution to the current war. Military action is the best (and most tragic) solution.
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the 'Have your Say' page on the BBC News site shows some interesting opinions on what should be done with Saddam now... I liked this one: "It seems inadvisable and unwise to have a US appointed [Iraqi]leader - Chalabi - passing judgement on a previous US appointed leader. As the position of Pinochet and the trial of Noriega shows, the US aren't that good at picking responsible representatives for other nations." |
Hans Gruber made the classic mistake of talking instead of shooting, thus, he died. I avoid the news; I foolishly read the "anti-everybody but us and our religion" push-button ranting and just got annoyed enough to vent here. If you don't want people to tell you what to do, then don't ask for help! *throws up hands in bewilderment* Excuse me, now I have to go pray. |
Well, that's one of the two big bad wolves caught. Once they get Bin Laden, who will they blame all the terrorism on? 'Remnants of the regime? Nostalgics? Er.. 'Arab-type people'? Is it so hard to understand that there'll be terrorism as long as the big powers tramp all over cultures infinitely older than their own with their big boots, trying to flog their crap and their materialistic values, pretending to export civilisation, selling weapons under the table all the while to ensure the 'savages' out there keep each other in check...
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Now let's see how America deals with him. All we've heard from US officials was "capture and kill", never hear any talk of trials or justice. It would be interesting to find out what Saddam has to say about his days while still a puppet of our country. But I dare think he'll have time to write a book. I'll venture a guess that he'll die of "natural causes" while in custody. Watch!!! |
Now let's see how America deals with him. All we've heard from US officials was "capture and kill", never hear any talk of trials or justice. It would be interesting to find out what Saddam has to say about his days while still a puppet of our country. But I dare think he'll have time to write a book. I'll venture a guess that he'll die of "natural causes" while in custody. Watch!!! |
Saddam Hussein has been captured! |