W's on Vacation. Don't Bother Him. He' Busy Clearing Brush!!!

Well, George blew another chance to redeem himself and his administration. Three days after what is probably the worst natural disaster in modern times Bush is shamed into acknowledging it. Not only doesn't he interrupt his vacation in the face of this disaster he makes excuses for the minimum of interest and the minor amount of financial aid he offered.
This guy is the leader of the free world from the most powerful country in the world. Wouldn't it be his job to be the first to step up to the plate and take control of the relief effort. I mean, this is not the kind of thing that can wait until he finishes his sabatical in Crawford. Let's put this whole situation in perspective.
When 9/11 happened the world rallied around us. We heard from leaders of other countries immediately. This country grieved. I mean, even the late night shows like Leno and Letterman couldn't bring themselves to joke for about a week. That was a loss of about 3,000 people and two enormous buildings. To put this into context, the tsunami event killed, at this writing, approximately 120,000 people. Thousands are missing, thousands more are injured, tens of thousands more have no food, water or shelter. Most of the heavily devastated areas won't be rebuilt for a generation. So, George stays on his vacation and offers up $15,000,000 in aid -- raised to $35,000,000 after wind of his being stingy blew his way.
When he was accused of being stingy he starts coming up with his lame excuses. We put up the largest amount of money, we spent 2.4 billion in relief last year. There are absolute numbers and there are proportional numbers. Bush, being an MBA, knows you deal with proportional numbers. But he says 2.4 billion dollars like it's some huge amount, when that's what Iraq costs per week.
Consider the cost to be spent on his inaugural festivities -- a little more than 30 million. Consider Wall Street bonuses totalling $15.9 billion. An example of propotionate numbers -- We offer up $35,000,000 and Australia offers up $27,000,000. Absolute numbers show that we gave more. But proportional numbers read as follows: Australia -- $1.35 per person, U.S. -- $.09 per person.
He could have made a diplomatic gesture, that we need to mend our relations with Muslims, by making an emergency exit from Crawford and dealing with this head on. But the way he's dealing with this, it's as if he doesn't care because most affected are Muslims. When he had an election looming he high-tailed it down to Florida during it's hurricane seige to insure the votes he needed in his state. MORAL VALUES -- COMPASSIONATE CONSERVATISM or SELECTIVE VALUES -- SELECTIVE COMPASSION.
There are some people that say Bush could deal with this from Crawford -- with all the high tech services like the internet and other satellite communications. But consider the situation closer to home. You have a parent and a sibling living in a distant state. The sibling is having problems with the parent. Medical, emotional and financial. Which would be the better way of dealing with it. Mail out a couple of hundred bucks and make a few phone calls voicing your sympathy and support or would it be better to rally your family and deal with the situation in person. Seems to me the sacrifice of interrupting a vacation to deal with a disaster at your workplace might work wonders.
That's my opinion.

2004 out HAPPY NEW YEAR ! ! ! 2005 in

Compassionate Conservatism/Moral Values vs Support Our Troops

Donald Rumsfeld's response to the soldier that questioned the lack of proper equipment for our troops was from the heart. The problem, is it was just more proof of how cold that heart is. How can you tell our troops that when you go to war you work with the equipment you have?
This is a war of choice, not necessity. So, there was time to prepare for what you were about to face. But Rummy the Dummy wanted to do it on the cheap against the advice of his advisers in uniform.
Greg Rund was a freshman at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, in 1999, when two students shot and killeda teacher, a dozen of their fellow students and themselves.Rund survived that, but he was killed in Fallujah on December 11. Because of severe military shortages many of our troops are on more than one tour of duty. Greg Rund was one of them. He served his country and had to be sent back only to be killed.
Imagine the feeling of anticipation as you count down the days until you can go home to your family, not to mention the anticipation of your family counting those days down. So, it's two weeks and you are outta here. Then the bad news comes -- your tour has been extended. That'll take the wind out of your sails. How do you psyche yourself up for that situation? And if you are able to do it, what if it happens again?
The Army National Guard revealed last week that it had missed it's recruiting goals for the past two months by 30 percent. This translates into the back door draft being used as the tool to keep up troop strength. But you're sucking the lifeblood out of these guys by doing this. Mental health problems for our troops is going to be one of the biggest medical stories of this war.
With all the "support our troops" talk that this administration hangs onto, you have to ask if they practice what they preach. The answer is no.
Consider the tax cuts to benefit the rich but the lack of funding for armour, pay, safety and compassion. I don't think these guys know the definition of compassion. If they did Halliburton would not be getting no-bid contracts and fleecing taxpayers who are footing the bill. Weren't the Iraqis going to rebuild their country? Instead they have an extremely high unemployment rate which translates into an angry population. They can only directly or indirectly take it out on our troops. Directly by taking up arms against our troops. Indirectly by aiding and abetting the insurgency.
From the beginning the war in Iraq has been a tragic exercise in this administration's incompetence. The original reason for the war was wrong. The intelligence was wrong. The estimates for troop strength were wrong. The Iraqi response to the 'liberation' was wrong. The cost estimates were wrong. I SUPPORT OUR TROOPS. But I support them in stopping their valiant effort for an administration that administers bad faith and shoddy treatment. These guys put up with an Iraqi army that they can't really trust. We can't compound that with an administration that they can't trust. Compassion? Moral Values? Bulls--t!!!!!!!!!

TOP TEN LIST OF CONCERNS

not necessarily in this order -- except for #1

10.) Intelligence -- unless we get this area together we're out there with blinders on.

9.) Homeland Security -- borders are porous, 95% of docks imports not checked. A lot of what

we do in this area seems to be just going through the motions.

8.) Social Security -- casino or financial adviser?

7.) The Draft -- If we keep following the leader it's inevitable. That's why we have to wake up

and see that this is a waste of lives.

6.) Direction of Government - here we have the basic problem of interlocking church and state.

This direction has to change. It's a theocracy not a democracy.

5.) Health Care -- Cut the pork and we have a healthier country. Two meanings for pork.

4.) The Economy - We need to redefine what is a good economy. Corporations are doing great

and that translates to a booming economy. But it's at the expense of the outsource refugees.

3.) Environment -- You can't depend on a great economy to invent miracles to save the planet

from the apparent dangers it faces.

2.) War in Iraq -- We, and I say we because somehow this guy's still president, are war

criminals. I hate to say it but we are. From Abu Grahb to Fallujah we've been brutal, even

discounting the Geneva Convention.

1.) How all this affects me !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

From Chicago Sun Times Quick Takes-some humor

Hey, big spender

• President Bush regarding the Nov. 2 election results: "I earned capital in the campaign, and now I intend to spend it."
• President Bush regarding the establishment of a Palestinian state:

"I intend to use the next four years to spend the capital of the United States on such a state."

Did anyone at Harvard Business School teach young George W. Bush that you should never touch your capital, and spend only the interest income and dividends?

Or did someone cut class?

No dissing Dubya

Rush Limbaugh explaining the seriousness of President Bush's decision-making process:

"He is who he is, and that is why he does what he does, and the process of doing what he does is secondary to his being who he is."

We should always keep this in mind.

Sounds like Limbaugh's getting Bushismitis.

Is Ohio the new Florida?

I still can't give in to the results of this election. Ohio decided the election this year as Florida did 4 years ago. There were many discrepencies in voting in Ohio this year as was in Florida in 2000. This year the maker of many of the voting machines, the head of Diebold Co., promised to deliver Ohio for Bush(seems pretty blatant). In 2000 Katherine Harris played a dual role as does Ken Blackwell this year -- secretary of state with control over voting procedures and co-chair of Bush's campaign in Florida and Ohio respectively.
Consider that Blackwell allowed the use of electronic machines that provided no paper record of votes. Blackwell also presided over a voting system that allowed wealthy Republican precincts more voting machines for quick, easy voting while poorer Democratic precincts fewer machines and fewer polling places causing four-hour and longer waiting lines. This is deja vu all over again.
When a judge has a conflict of interest in a case he's handling isn't it in the best interest of fairness to recuse himself. It seems there should be a bi-partisan federal investigtion into the vote count in Ohio, excluding the Katherine Harris of 2004, Ken Blackwell. I can only hope.

Latest Video Terror Threat

Osama bin Laden's top deputy, Ayman Al-Zawahri, has appeared on a new video apparently made prior to our presidential elections. Something on the tape makes me wonder about a different strategy in dealing with these guys. Here's what he said:

"You have to choose between one of two methods to deal with Muslims: either on mutual respect and exchange of interests, or to deal with them as if they are spoils of war. This is your problem and you have to choose yourself. You have to realize that we are a nation of patience and endurance. We will stand firm to fight you with God's help until doomsday."

I think that between Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, Fallujah (and I feel that there is going to be a scandal coming out of Fallujah concerning the treatment and non-treatment of civilians) the Muslim population around the world is leaning toward his thinking. I think we should be concerned about that but I don't think we are. These guys don't hate us for our freedom. That's just too simple an answer. When Al-Zawahri said to either deal with them with respect and exchange of interests or if they are spoils of war, I almost see an open door for some diplomatic communication to end all this hate. Let's face it this 'war on terror' is going to accomplish about as much as the 'war on drugs'. I think that this may be an opportunity to get up on that table and look at this situation from a different angle. I think we need to abandon the arrogant 'my way or the highway' attitude and work toward peace with peace. Just a thought.

Why? Part II

Why is the separation of Church and State becoming increasingly blurred?

Why don't we inspect 95% of containers entering our ports?

Why is the 9/11 reform bill in limbo?

Why does a 'war president' not take the advice of his generals?

Why does a 'war president' not appoint anyone with military experience to his cabinet?

Why is the following not an atrocity for an administration running on "moral values"?
Saddam Hussein killed 300,000 Iraqi civilians over a 24 year period. This administration
killed 100,000 Iraqi civilians in 1.5 years. That means Saddam killed 12,500 Iraqi
civilians per year and this administration killed -- and this is interesting when you divide
100,000 by 1.5 -- 66,6666.666 per year.

Why is the following based on "moral values"?
Banning abortions of any kind. Basically, forcing a pregnant woman to go full term to birth.
But once the child is born, say to a mother of multiple children on welfare and no education,
there is very little assistance or child rearing abilities to help raise that child. So for some of
these kids born in this situation, all they have to look forward to is a life of poverty and
probably an affiliation with a gang.

Why do we have such a disproportionate focus on Iraq and Afghanistan as opposed to Sudan?

JUST WONDERING

WHY?

Why do we have so many people inside this administration leaving and writing books condemning the actions or inactions of their former bosses?

Why are we sending someone like Warrant Officer Margaret Murray, who describes herself as "over 50," 4-foot-10, 95 pounds to Iraq? And she is one of about 4,400 Army soldiers between the ages of 24 to 62, from the Individual Ready Reserve who completed their active duty service but have been notified they must get back in uniform. Most likely, they are headed to Iraq or Afghanistan.

Why out of 535 members of Congress, eight have sons in the military, three of whom have been deployed to Iraq?

Why is it that Rush Limbaugh, who supports this war with a vengeance with chest thumping cheerleading, not once been to Iraq to "support our troops", while his counterpart, Al Franken, who did not support this administration's call to war, travel there at least once to entertain the troops?

Why, after the abuses at Abu Ghraib, do we appoint Alberto R. Gonzales as attorney general, the guy who basically justified the abuses and all but dismissed the Geneva Convention?

Why do the millions of dedicated supporters of President Bush, in the face of a dwindling military, not join the action and enlist? Put your actions where your mouth is. Talk is cheap. It really does take more than a magnetic ribbon on your car to support our troops.

Why is Halliburton still the major contractor doing business in Iraq after all the charges that have been brought against them? Most recently Halliburton's KBR subsidiary "did not effectively manage government property" and auditors could not locate hundreds of Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) items worth millions of dollars in Iraq and Kuwait this summer and fall, as reported to Congress by Inspector General Stuart W. Bowen.

Why does this administration still deny that global warming and other environmental issues are not a problem even when faced with facts proving that it is?

JUST WONDERING?

WAR IS HELL

You know, we're all wearing the 'support our troops' magnetic banners on our vehicles and I think that is a good thing to do. But it seems to me that we really don't have a grasp on what these guys are really going through. Imagine the post-apocalyptic scenario these guys have to walk into. Going door-to-door, not knowing whether the door you push open is going to be booby-trapped with a bomb, or a suicide bomber on the other side. When you drive your humvee past another vehicle or someone walking past your vehicle imagine not knowing when your time is up. It's knd of like you're playing a game of 'Russian Roulette' every day. So, that soldier that shot the wounded, unarmed insurgent last week was probably in the mindset I just described. I don't know that I would have done the same thing. I also believe that the blame for some of these atrocities, put on the soldier on the field of battle, is misplaced.
Consider that these soldiers are put in this situation by men that have never seen battle. I have not seen battle, but I certainly can imagine what it must be like. These guys are on double tours of duty. Some are not properly trained -- example, there was an interview with the mother of a soldier who said he was being trained as a cook and three weeks before being shipped out he was re-trained as an infantryman -- three weeks seems a bit short for such a dangerous job.
This administration will not honor these troops who give their lives for this administration -- and that is who those lives are lost to -- can't show the coffins coming home. Might help us realize the hell that is war. Then on Veteran's day we couldn't play the uncut version of "Saving Private Ryan", a movie that surely shows you the horrors of war. I don't think you can watch this film and not think of the troops that are in Iraq.
With Colin Powell gone we have no military experience in this administration. We are supposedly getting some intelligence out of Iran that might cause us to militarily act against them. The 'coalition of the willing' is going to be coming from our own back yard. And I think that as soon as the big boys can secure their offspring in deferments we will be looking at a draft. Dying for a noble cause is one thing, being sent to slaughter is totally different. Being sent to slaughter, realizing it , acting on the premise that you shoot first to save your life and having to take the full blame for it is shameful. War is hell.

So long Colin, you'll be missed

Now that Colin Powell is gone we have no one with any military experience in this administration. We have no one to even attempt to pull in the reigns on this administration when dealing with Iran, North Korea and who knows who else. We have an administration that is going to be much more secretive in the next four years than in the last four years. Checks and balances? Pretty much gone. This administration telling the military how to handle this war on terrorism is akin to having your accountant perform heart surgery on you.
How are there going to be elections in Iraq in January? I mean, just by the way things are going on there now, don't you think polling places will be bombed, people will be threatened and intimidated. These people have rejected democracy for a long time. Maybe 7,000 years.
Let's face it we are in Iraq for the oil under the guise that we are liberating the population with democracy. If you compare where they were -- which was not in a great place under Saddam -- to where they are now, democracy does not appear to be all that great. What can possibly happen now to transform that society that hasn't occurred for 7,000 years?
Our best bet is to work our way out of there ASAP and start developing alternative energy sources so we are no longer dependent on these far off lands. Just think if we had spent the billions on the development of those energy sources instead of war. To me that is a much more productive strategy. This is what I think, but it's not what's going to happen.

ADD ANOTHER YEAR

TODAY IS A FAMILY HOLIDAY -- MY TWIN SISTERS SUZANNE AND SUZETTE TURNED 0_ORne YEARS OLD TODAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AND MANY MORE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PREPARE FOR THE WORST!

There's an old saying, hope for the best, prepare for the worst. We have another example of this administration's not anticipating problems they would run into had things not gone the rosy way they expected. First it was lack of troops strength, lackof planning to win the peace, lack of planning for armour for the troops, etc.
Now according to an article in the Los Angeles Times a mental health crisis is emerging, with one in six returning soldiers afflicted, experts say. The Pentagon did not anticipate the problem and are now scrambling to find resources to address it.
A study by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research found that 15.6% of Marines and 17.1% of soldiers surveyed after they returned from Iraq suffered major depression, generalized anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder -- a debilitating, sometimes lifelong change in the brain's chemistry that can include flashbacks, sleep disorders, panic attacks, violent outbursts, acute anxiety and emotional numbness.
The bad news is that the study did not look at reservists, who tend to suffer a higher rate of phsycological injury than career Marines and soldiers. And the soldiers in the study served in the early months of the war, when tours were shorter and before the Iraqi insurgency took shape. Since the study was completed the war has changed into a grueling counterinsurgency.
The Army initially sent far too few psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers, according to an Army study released in the summer of 2003. Congress allocated no new funds to deal with the mental health effects of the war in Iraq.
I guess this will all slowly unfold as preparations -- that should have been taken just in case we weren't greeted with flowers, hug and kisses -- were not even considered. But I suppose if you don't have to be concerned about you or your loved ones being involved, why not take a shot at doing it on the cheap.

THE GOPHER GAME

It seems to me that the take over of Fallujah is the beginning of what would similarly happen in one of those 'whack the gopher' games, where you take a mallot and face a table with say six holes in it and the gopher takes turns popping up in different holes and when you whack him he pops up in a different hole. In my opinion, we need to take over Fallujah and keep it secure. I mean, I think the reason we did this is to take away a safe haven for terrorists. OK, now to get to my point. There has been an increase in attacks in Baghdad and Mosul and we didn't capture any high level guys. That leads me to believe that the insurgents left to fight in Fallujah were new recruits that were willing to 'die for Allah'. We need to be able to secure each town that these insurgents decide to call home. I guess the question is . . . Do we have enough troops to capture each of these towns and leave it secure? Because, if we don't, it'll play out just like that game with the gopher.

General thoughts on Iraq

Gen. Merrill "Tony" McPeak -- Air Force Chief of Staff 1990-94
The people in control in the Pentagon and the White House live in a fantasy world. They actually thought everyone would just line up and vote for a new democracy and you would have a sort of Denmark with oil.I blame Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the people behind him -- Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and Undersecretary Douglas Feith. The vice president himself should probably be included; certainly his wife. These so-called neocons: These peole have no experience in life. They are utopian thinkers, idealists, very smart, and they have the courage of their convictions, so it makes them doubly dangerous.
Adm. Stansfield Turner -- NATO Allied commander for Southern Europe, 1975-77; CIA director, 1977-81
I think we are in a real mess. There are 87 attacks on Americans every day, and our people in Baghdad can't even leave the International Zone without being heavily armored . . . Whatever you call it, this is now an insurgency using the techniques of terrorism. With the borders poorly guarded, the terrorists come in. All in all, Iraq is a failure of monumental proportions.
Lt. Gen. William Odom -- Director of National Security Agency, 1985-88
It's a huge strategic disaster, and it will only get worse . . . The idea of creating a constitutional state in a short amount of time is a joke. It will take 10 - 15 years, and that is if we want to kill ten percent of the population.
Gen. Anthony Zinni -- Commander in chief of the United States Central Command, 1997-2000
Did we have to do this? I saw the intelligence right up to the day of the war, and I did not see any imminent threat there, If anything, Saddam was falling apart. The sanctions were working. The containment was working. He had a hollow military, as we saw. If he had weapons of mass destruction, it was leftover stuff -- artillery shells and rocket rounds. He didn't have the delivery systems. We controlled the skies and seaports. We bombed him at will. All of this happened under U.N. authority. I mean, we had him by the throat.
Lt. Gen. Claudia Kennedy -- Army deputy chief of staff for intelligence, 1997-2000
. . . I mean, Rumsfeld proudly announced that he had told General Franks to fight this war with different tactics in which they would bypass enemy strongholds and enemy resistance and keep on moving. But it was shocking to me that the seretary of defense would tell the army how to fight. He doesn't know how to fight; he has no business telling them. It's completely within civilian authority to tell you where to fight, what our major objective is, but it is absolutely no one's business but uniformed military to tell you how to do the job. To me, it was astonishing that Rumsfeld would presume to tel four-star generals, in the Army 35 years, how to do their jobs . . . As for the recent news about the 380 tons of explosives that disappeared, it's irrelevant when they disappeared. This was known by the I.A.E.A as a sight to be watched. Here is the issue: Bush tried to turn this into a political matter instead of answering questions about why he didn't follow the warnings of the IAEA. It was another example of Bush being a cheerleader instead of a leader. Nothing in Iraq was guarded except for the oil fields, which tells you why we were there . . . Still, Iraq is a bloodbath, and we need to be dealing with this in a much more sophisticated way than the cowboy named Bush.
Gen. Wesley Clark -- NATO supreme Allied commander for Europe, 1997-2000
We got into this mess because the Bush administration decided what the really wanted to do was invade Iraq, and then the only question was, for what reason? They developed two or three different reasons. It wasn't until the last minute that they came up and said, "Hey, by the way, we are going to create a wave of democracy across the Middle East." . . . But let's ask this question: Have you seen an American strategic blunder this large? The answer is: not in fifty years. I can't imagine when the last one was. And it's not just about troop strength. I mean, you will fail if you don't have enough troops, but simply adding more troops won't make you succeed.

I think somebody should have been listening to these guys.

FALLUJAH

Well, it looks like it won't be long before we are marching to Fallujah, or not. At this point I think we have lost the element of surprise in this assault. By this time the entire city is probably loaded with land mines, booby traps, etc. I think we might find out where all those missing explosives have gone. So, I think we end up with only three choices. We go in and wipe out the city with heavy armour and bombardment. By this avenue we would probably accomplish our goal but we would also increase the civilian death toll by multitudes. But that's OK we're on a "MISSION FROM GOD". The second option would be to send our troops in and basically do a door to door sweep. A couple of problems here . 1.) they've had a long time to prepare for us coming in so we are walking into a well prepared booby trap. 2.) how do you tell the good guys from the bad guys. If you were one of the soldiers going in there your survival would probably depend on you shooting first and to hell with the questions. 3.) not do anything yet even if you have to postpone the elections. With this administration option 3 is probably not going to happen. I say probably because I still hold out hope for . . . I don't know what . . . a miracle. But with the other two options it's just a matter of who receives the bulk of the casualties. No wonder the rest of the world thinks we are a nation of idiots. How the hell did we ever elect this guy . . . or did we?

Pre November 2 World

Before November 2, 2004 the world did not feel hostile to the people of the United States. They
knew that the American people were resistant to this administration's policies. They threw all the blame where it belonged -- on this administration. The post 11/2 world doesn't see it that way anymore. We have just validated all that this administration has done. Anyone who thinks we are making the world, let alone, the U.S. a safer place is badly mistaken. I see us in a huge assault on Fallujah, probably within days. Expect big U.S. casualties (I hope I'm wrong). There will probably be a draft. We will probably go into Iran. We will be scared, but we know who will protect us. Our father George W. Bush.
White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card said to the Boston Globe on September 2, 2004 that President Bush views America as a "10-year-old child" in need of protection provided by a parent. What scares me is that when I first read that, what came to mind was Norman Bates talking about his mother in 'Psycho'. All I can say to anyone concerned is PAY ATTENTION!!!

Osama bin forgotten

Now that he has poked his nose into this election, what effect is it going to have? As of now I believe none. Who doesn't think this crackpot should be , at least, neutralized? We all rally around the "Osama be gone" cry. So I don't think this appearance of the prince of darkness will have an effect on the election.
I don't believe anyone Dem or Repub wants him around. It's more a matter of who is focused enough to get rid of him. I believe the Dems can focus on eliminating the threats we face. I believe the neocons (not the Republicans), have an agenda that is getting in the way of their focus.

GET OUT THERE AND VOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

An Election Like No Other

I personally think that if the polls actually are a prediction of the outcome, that will be the big surprise. Under normal circumstances using the last election and the previous election and the previous election would give you a pretty good idea of the outcome of this election.
This one is very different.
I think we could have a landslide one way or the other. I see a landslide that puts Kerry in. But it can go either way. There are 10,000,000 unpollable (hope that's spelled right) voters. I believe those voters are, customarily for the challenger.

KERRY/EDWARDS

Go out and speak your mind. I don't care who you vote for. Get out and vote. Try to be as informed as you can before you do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I sooooo think I'm right, but it's democracy at work. Let the chips fall where they may.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Dead Iraqi civilians -- U.S. vs Saddam

In the 18 months since the fall of Saddam 100,000 Iraqi civilians have died. It is alleged that Saddam killed 300,000 which has been suspect since only 5,000 have been found in mass graves. But let's say that the 300,000 is a correct figure. The U.S. has killed 1/3 (in 18 months) as many as Saddam did in 24 years.
According to an extensive survey by Les Roberts and Gilbert Burnham found that the vast majority of deaths were by aerial bombardment which they found especially hard on women and children.
Juan Cole -- Professor of History at the University of Michigan said this:
"I personally believe that these aerial bombardments of civilian city quarters by a military occupier that has already conquered the country are a gross violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 governing the treatment of populations of occupied territories."

QUOTES AND THOUGHTS

Quote -- Chicago Sun Times (Quick Takes)
News Item: Osama bin Laden remains at large.
News Item: Al-qaida recruitment up worldwide.
New Item: Bush administration to request $70 billion more in Iraq war funding.
Remember the one about the drunk looking for his lost car keys under the street lamp instead of near his car across the street because "the light's better over here"?
President Bush evidently doesn't.

THOUGHTS
Considering this president has such a questionable record and is still running a competitive race is kind of scary. If Bush should win this election you can say goodbye to any political news other than spin politics.

Abortions climbed during the Bush administration. Abortions dramatically fell during the Clinton years. I think we all have the same goal, in theory, but let's think logically not idealogically.

that's what i think

IS IT SAFE?

Well, all seems to be going well in Iraq as it becomes so much safer. Over the weekend nearly fifty Iraqi police trainees were ambushed and killed execution style by a bullet to the back of the head. These guys were unarmed and on their way home after training. al Zarqawi claimed responsibility and it is suspected that it was an inside job, as it was known that they were unarmed and their location was known.
Add to that some 380 tons of explosives have been reported missing. Now, I said just reported, not just discovered. These explosives have been unsecured since the beginning of the occupation. Considering that we were there for fear of weapons of mass destruction, don't you think you might secure these sights, even though they are not considered WMDs. These are the kinds of explosives that have been used against our troops and civilians. This administration has shown no interest in securing materials tied to the old Iraqi Nuclear Program. Prior to the war the International Atomic Energy Commission and European Union officialswarned Bush that these sites needed to be safeguarded.
Consider that to move these explosives it would take ten large trucks. How do we let that get away? It almost seems like you'd have to turn a blind eye to let it happen. One pound of this stuff brought down a jetliner in Lockerbie, Scotland. So I would think that 760,000 pounds could keep you supplied for some time. Plus, it is a stable explosive so it can only go off by being detonated. Dropping it or mishandling it will not detonate it.
The materials from the old nuclear weapons program are likely in Iran (my opinion), and the possibility of some getting into this country is a strong possibility. Remember, our borders are pretty porous -- U.S,/Mexican border, shipping docks, etc.
Is it safe?

POLITICS AND MEMETICS

"An idea is something you have;
An ideology is something that has you."

A meme is a pattern of information embedded in your memory that you are able to replicate onto the memory of someone else. Typical memes include slogans, ideas, catch-phrases, fashions, etc. I may sound a bit sinister, this idea that people are hosts for mind-altering strings of symbols, but in fact this is what human culture is all about.

MEMES AND THE SUICIDE BOMBER ---
In practice, some people are going to be all too ready to commit any new meme that comes along, even if it should turn out to be deadly nonsense, like:
JUMP OFF A CLIFF AND THE GODS WILL MAKE YOU FLY.

Such memes do evolve, generated by crazy people, or through mis-replication. This meme may have a lot of appeal. The idea of magical flight is so tantalizing, maybe if I truly believed . . . 72 virgins in the afterlife.
This is a vital point: people try to infect each other with those memes which they find most appealing, regardless of its value or truth. The carrier of the cliff-jumping meme may never take the plunge, but continue to infect other people, inducing millions of gullible fools to jump.

I suppose if I have a point here it's that the memes that are spread in the Islamic fanatics promise the 72 virgins in the afterlife (some, if not most, buy into it), enough to keep the bombings coming. The memes that are spread by the neocons is that danger lurks around every corner but have no fear, just trust us to protect you even if we need to take away some freedoms to ensure security.
Ben Franklin said something to the effect:
If you give up feedom for security, you deserve neither freedom nor security.
In closing -- DON'T DRINK THE KOOL AID !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Global Polls

According to a recent poll taken by 10 of the world's leading newspapers, including the London Guardian, Japan's Asahi Shimbun, France's LeMonde, Canada's La Presse and Australia's Sydney Morning Herald there is a profound overall disillusionment with the U.S. and a contempt for the Bush administration. The British, closest historically to Americans, would vote 50% for Kerry and 22 percent for Bush. Sixty percent say they don't like Bush. That figure rises to 77% among those under 25 years old.
South Korea showed a 66% support for Kerry due to fears of a pre-emptive strike against North Korea, that would also threaten the south.
British commentators are openly questioning Bush's mental stability. Columnist Andrew Stephen wrote, "George Bush often searches an agonizingly long time, sometimes in vain, for the right words. His mind simply blanks out at crucial times. He is prone, I am told, to foul-mouthed temper tantrums in the White House. His handlers now rarely allow him to speak an unscripted word in public."
So far, by most accounts, these feelings are directed at this administration and not at the American people. But I think that if we elect this administration for four more years that hostility will be directed at the American people. We must wake up even if this administration can't or won't.

Martha Stewart

This is something I wanted to talk about a while back but probably was preoccupied. Martha Stewart -- don't particularly like her -- but I think she got shafted. Let's cut to the chase. She got five months in prison. I personally don't feel that justice has been served. Throw her in jail for five months and what do you get. I'm not sure. But would all this have been more constructive if ..... Martha was to give classes to underprivileged females --- maybe pregnant teenagers -- maybe battered housewives. She would better serve our communities as a role model. I do not equate her to a ken lay, et al. I believe that if she were able to work along side underprivileged females teaching them the entrepreneureal ways she has bloomed under we all would be better served. Do the numbers. She takes ten kids under her wings for 30 days. She does this five times. I believe that out of fifty kids she's going to effect at least 10. If she only effects one it's worth the effort. I think Martha is going to come out of this a better person but I think she could have come out a better person with many better persons behind her. And that's what I think.

ELECTIONS

ELECTIONS

There are to be elections here in the United States on November 2nd and there are to be elections in Iraq some time in January 2005. According to Donald Rumsfeld the elections in Iraq will be held come hell or high water, while here in the United States, though not mentioned a lot, we may have to delay them in the event of a terrorist attack. I'm not sure how they are going to have elections in Iraq under the current circumstances. The "green zone" is supposed to be the safest place in Iraq. It was bombed the other day. I'm not even sure how reliable any reporting out of Iraq can be. Who's going out in the field to do the reporting. You've got soldiers being ordered to deliver contaminated fuel in unsafe vehicles over dangerous supply lines. They refuse to go due to the "suicide mission" dangers.
Then you've got the election here. Republicans, The Voter's Outreach of America, have been caught shredding Democratic voter registration forms in Las Vegas. They will not be corrected before the election. In Philadelphia Republicans have been changing polling places at the last minute, confusing certain voters.
President-appointed Bush seems to think that he is the only one that can protect the American people from the bogey man. Be afraid but understand that I can protect you from all those evil-doers out there. Consider this statement:
White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card said that President Bush views America as a "10-year-old child" in need of protection provided by a parent.
I guess my point is that this guy and this administration will do anything to be elected. President Bush believes that he is on a mission from God. That is the thing that bothers me the most. We talk about Osama bin Laden hijacking Islam to further his agenda. Think about it . . isn't George W. Bush hijacking Christianity for his agenda.
My fear is that our President is playing into the hands of the enemy and making this the apocolyptic good vs evil fight.
This man feels he must be elected. I think they will do whatever it takes for him to get another four years.
VOTE AND HE WILL BE GONE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Presidential Debate #2

Well, this debate was definitely more animated and heated than the first. But it seemed to kind of re-hash some similar issues from the first debate. Anyway some things that I picked up on from this debate. He said that he listened to his generals on the ground before the war and gave them what they needed. General Shinseki asked for approximately double the troops he was given, but Rumsfeld laughed that off saying they did not. Shinseki was gone. I believe Tommy Franks wanted more troops but backed off. He talked about all the terrorism in Iraq like that was a reason to go there. All the terrorism that you have in Iraq now has come there since the war not before. As bad as Saddam was those borders were sealed. Now terrorists come and go as they please. Iraq is becoming a homebase for terrorism similar to the way Afghanistan was with the Taliban. I think Kerry said it best last night when he said that the military wins wars but the president wins the peace. One job was done well the other isn't even close.Lastly, Bush was asked to name 3 mistakes he's made and how he would remedy them. He said he made some bad appointments but would not name them to save them from embarrassment. He still doesn't get it.

Debate #2

Bush and Kerry square off again tonight for debate #2 and I think it is going to be very interesting to say the least. They are going to be taking questions from some 100 undecided voters. With Bush/Cheney's obvious disconnect with reality on Iraq about the only argument they have left is whether we are going to believe them or our lying eyes.

Supporting our troops?

Something has been bothering me about supporting our troops. Consider this. During the Viet Nam war we had the draft. The draft drew its troop strength from single, able bodied, not yet rooted males. Not to slight them, but this group, for the most part, is composed of men with no established responsibilities. They served their two years, usually only one over seas unless you volunteered. The troops we have fighting in Iraq are older, more established individuals. They are married, some with children or careers who signed up for the National Guard or Army Reserves for an education or extra money for their families. When you call on these guys to do 12 to 24 months active duty you are disrupting, if not destroying families. Try to support a family on their pay. The second largest force in Iraq is the private sector or mercenary army who receive substantially more pay than our N.G or A.R. Plus they volunteered and most likely had their affairs much more in order before they left not to mention being better off financially to handle the situation. I think we would better serve our troops if we spent money on taking care of their families and obligations than paying the private sector troops 2-3 times what they get. Support our troops? When you say it realize what it should mean. More than lip service.

JER

JOHN

EDWARDS

RULES

Kerry's health care plan -- Bremer oops disclosure

A Bush ad claims Kerry Health care plan would put big gov't. in charge of medical decisions instead of the insured or their doctors. In fact, the plan would leave 97% with the same insurance that they have now and up to 27 million who aren't insured would gain coverage. Go to factcheck.org for details.

Today Paul Bremer confirmed that we did not have enough troops on the ground after the fall of Saddam. The looting and chaos could not be taken into control. I think that atmosphere of lawlessness has perpetuated itself ever since.

In yesterday's posting I said it would be a KO for Kerry tonight when, in fact, I meant to say Edwards. Same team different guy.

yesmen

I saw a film yesterday called the yesmen concerning a prank to be played on the WTO. The strange and eery thing about the prank is that it was never taken as a prank by the WTO. I recommend this movie. Reviews by Roger Ebert or Michael Wilmington are recommended. I predict John Kerry delivers a KO by the 45 minute mark. We shall see.

debates #1 cont'd.

The president says stay the course, don't waiver, don't change horses mid stream, be resolute. I don't think anyone would disagree if everything was going right in Iraq, if you're getting the result you want why change. But if everything is going wrong and you keep doing the same things expecting a different result, I think by definition that is insanity. Consider the CEO of a large corporation, or the head coach of a football team making the same decisions that constantly lose money and quality employees or lose games and constantly injure players. But the CEO or the coach keep making the same decisions and repeating the same mantra. I think that CEO or that coach would be out of a job. When this president was in the private sector I believe his business ventures did not succeed. I think the same thing is happening with this job. I think it's time to fire the head of this company before so much damage is done that we can't recover. Four more years? I say no way!!!!!!!!!!

going upriver

A new movie came out on friday called -- Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry -- and came away with a new appreciation of John Kerry. The movie chronicles his life from child (a small part of thedocumentary), to his time served on the swiftboats in Vietnam and finally during the Vietnam protests of the early 70s in Washington. If Fahrenheit 9/11 was meant to show why Bush does not deserve to be President, Going Upriver is a testament to why John Kerry is the best choice for President. When I went in to see this film I was of the mindset -- anyone but Bush -- I came out feeling that we have the best candidate for the job. I recommend reading reviews by Roger Ebert (Chicago Sun Times) and Michael Wilmington ( The Chicago Tribune).
These are the final statements made at the end of each review:
Wilmington -- The film is an admittedly sympathetic portrait made by a long time friend of Kerry's, it's still a film record -- full of riveting interviewsand remarkable archival material -- that anyone who intends to vote this November should make every effort to see.

Ebert -- Will this film change any votes? Doubtful, since most members of the audience will be Kerry supporters. It is sad but true that a 30-second commercial, which any literate person should instinctively question, can shift votes but the truth cannot. Not that the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth know much about truth.

debate issues --- #1 flip flops

Flip flop #1 -- Kerry voted for the war then voted against the war (this is a sound byte that has been repeated so many times that it becomes the truth if you don't check it out). President Bush asked for authorization to go to war with Iraq. He said he would use this authorization only after he had exhausted all diplomatic options to build a multilateral coalition. War would be the last resort.
Here's what Kerry said on the Senate floor before voting to give Bush authority:
Kerry (10/9/02) Let there be no doubt or confusionabout where we stand on this. I will support a multilateral effort to disarm him (Saddam) by force, if we ever exhaust those other options, as the President has promised, but I will not support a unilateral U.S. war against Iraq unless that threat is imminent and the multilateral effort has not proven possible under any circumstances.
Flip flop #2 -- Kerry voted for the $87 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan the voted against it.
Kerry voted for an alternative resolution that would have approved $87 billion in emergency funds for troops and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan, but it was conditioned on repealing Bush's tax cuts, and it failed 57-42. On the key, up or down vote on the $87 billion itself Kerry was one of only 12 senators in opposition, along with the man who became his running mate, John Edwards.

Analogy #1 -- A parent gives the keys to their teenage son who is wcaring for his young siblings while the parents go out for the evening. He is only to use the car in case of an emergency. The parents leave the house for the evening and the teenager immediately jumps in the car and wrecks it leaving the younger siblings at home alone.
Analogy #2 -- Your brother-in-law needs $20,000 to help in expanding his business. You agree to give him the $20,000 under the condition that he not be so frivilous in the way he handles the finances of the business. Brother-in-law takes the money, goes to the racetrack and bets it on a horse. Great if he wins, but I think we all know the likely outcome. Now he argues that you agreed to give him the money, and now you want it back.

check the facts

If you watch the debates (2 man news conference) and are confused about each candidates position you may want to go to fact check.org to verify the lies and spin that the bush administration is using to attack kerry. So enjoy the game show . . er . . debates and let's see how informed we get.