Sorry State of Affairs

The Democrats were elected to end the war. They have not and will not. This is part of the problem with a two-party system. I am not ideologically aligned with the Republicans and I'm maybe half-way aligned with the Democrats. I don't respect either party - so who am I to vote for? Many people share this sentiment, including Greens, Libertarians, and Constitutional party members. Back to the war and Democrats: they say they do not have enough votes to stop the war - and I have yet to know about one instance where a reporter has called them on their bullshit. Not one reporter... save Paul Krugman here:

"But the truth is, Democrats have all the votes they need to stop the war — if they are willing to use the power given them by the Constitution to block the supplemental funding bill unless it includes a deadline for bringing the troops home. As Norm Ornstein told me: “Whatever the White House sends to the House is constitutionally merely a suggestion.” The prerogative to bring a funding bill to the floor rests entirely with the majority — which, in case Democrats have forgotten, is theirs. As for the Senate, Democrats there would only have to find 41 votes to block the supplemental funding bill."





I can't say this enough: if you have not read 1984 by George Orwell - GO READ IT!! It will help highlight the ways in which our liberties and freedoms (that we take for granted) are being "legally" taken away from us.

Why do I bring this up? Because the Bush Administration is trying very hard to get the American people supportive (through terrorizing us) of a war with Iran. The same methods used to scare (terrorize) its own citizens into a war with Iraq are being used again. Bush and Co. say that Iran could develop a nuclear bomb in a few short years. However, "the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said Sunday he had no evidence Iran was working actively to build nuclear weapons and expressed concern that escalating rhetoric from the U.S. could bring disaster." You can read the full article concerning Mohamed ElBaradei, who leads the International Atomic Energy Agency here.






This is a very good example of profound slavishness to the Bush Administration's hatred of regulation, fairness, and objectivity. "Ms. Nord, the top official for consumer product safety, opposes provisions that would increase the maximum penalties for safety violations and make it easier for the government to make public reports of faulty products, protect industry whistleblowers and prosecute executives of companies that willfully violate laws."





If we do not take action on this like, yesterday, life as we have come to know it is going to be radically altered - probably forever. And it won't be pretty.

"Humans are changing the Earth's climate so fast and devouring resources so voraciously that the survival of the world's ecosystems and of humanity itself is at stake, a new UN report says. The 570-page Global Environment Outlook, published by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), paints a dire picture of planet-wide death and degradation. With more than six billion people, Earth's population is now so big that "the amount of resources needed to sustain it exceeds what is available," the report warned, adding that the global population is expected to peak at between 8 and 9.7 billion by 2050."

It's laughable to the point of insanity that our country is hyper-focused on immigration, gay marriage, and abortion rather than the fact that we are destroying that which gives us nourishment and life.





The United States has military troops in about 135 countries around the world. If that's not the tentacles of empire, I don't know what is. How many countries have troops in our country? How many foreign militaries have bases in our country? That's why I must applaud Ecuador for being fair and balanced in this regard.

It's All About The Benjamins

According to the National Priorities Project, taxpayers in the state of Hawaii (where I currently reside), " will pay $1.5 billion for the cost of the Iraq War through 2007. For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided:

495,930 People with Health Care OR

2,455,230 Homes with Renewable Electricity OR

36,168 Public Safety Officers OR

28,333 Music and Arts Teachers OR

399,014 Scholarships for University Students OR

112 New Elementary Schools OR

4,617 Affordable Housing Units OR

497,457 Children with Health Care OR

197,000 Head Start Places for Children OR

28,333 Elementary School Teachers OR

21,354 Port Container Inspectors

Some more interesting facts and figures, this time from Adbusters magazine:

The Real Threat to Americans
(est. number of deaths 2001-2005)

-- 3,000 Terrorism

-- 96,000 Homicide

--- 102,000 Drunk Driving

---- 180,000 Suicide

----- 228,000 Second Hand Smoke

-------------- 436, 890 Diabetes

--------------------------2,311,134 Cancer*

---------------------------------2,652,000 Smoking Related

-----------------------------------------------------3,119,142 Heart Disease*


* Excluding smoking related deaths





Pop quiz time: What do $500,000 for a "Virtual Herbarium" in New York, $100,000 to celebrate Lake Champlain's quadricentennial, and $50,000 for an ice center in Utah, all have in common?

I doubt you guessed it (something like this should be on the nightly news, shouldn't it?) - but the answer is: These are Congressional pet projects which were given money over children's health care! That's right ladies and gentlemen, our elected leaders really do represent us. Don't polls show 56% of Americans want an ice center in Utah?





More on lies and money: this story, in which the White House redacted six full pages of research on climate change only goes to show you: the Bush Administration cannot be trusted! It's been long known, through their own words and actions, that Bush and his oil and gas buddies would lose profits if they had to take action on global climate change. That is why the auto industry so heavily lobbies Congress to not make car emission standards higher - they'll lose profits! Who cares if we're killing life and helping make species extinct, who cares if the seas will rise flooding major cities or fires will tear across densely populated areas? What matters most is the bottom line: profits. Profits über alles!

If the Bush Administration will go to blatant lengths to hide this information from you (information that may very soon save our lives - or at least help us prepare for disaster) what else are they hiding from us?

The Lies We Love

One of the biggest things I have learned about my country, and what so many seem to shrug off by saying, "that's just the way it is," is that what matters most - above health and human wellness, above happiness, above morality and care for out neighbors -- is profit.

The fogginess surrounding my thoughts of a country that has not only held up the enlightened ideals forged over two hundred years ago by men of heart and soul, but carried them forward into ever new and promising visions of "certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness," is only growing more dark and dim.

What is the reason NASA has chosen not to release a study to the public about airline and air traffic safety (which shows twice as many bird-strikes and near mid-air collisions)? "A senior NASA official, associate administrator Thomas S. Luedtke, said revealing the findings could damage the public's confidence in airlines and affect airline profits." (Emphasis is mine).

In other words - people may demand something be done! In the meantime, they just might take the train. If something must be fixed, that's going to cost money. And if less people fly, that's less money the airlines (and corporations like Boeing) make. Our safety doesn't matter as much as profits, so NASA won't tell us the truth in order to protect bottom lines. Countries that put their citizens (the true holders of governmental power) first are great countries. At least it's something we used to be.




Remember, President Bush vetoed the S-chip bill that would have given health insurance to poor children. He said that $35 million was too much money to spend on something like this. Thankfully, today he came to his senses and asked Congress for $46 billion - with a B - for war. "To date, Congress has already provided more than $455 billion for the Iraq war, with stepped-up military operations running about $10 billion a month."

In saying why he vetoed S-chip, "Mr. Bush argue[d] that the expansion is too costly..."

Kudos to Rep. David Obey (D-OH), here.





We're all in really big trouble. Everything we use runs on oil: our cars; the machines that make our cars; the trucks and ships that get our cars and good to the stores; the machines that make the machines that make the ships and trucks; the combines and harvest our food, the plants that process our food - everything. Our entire life-support system is based on oil.




As if undermining out life support system wasn't enough; we're REALLY stabbing ourselves in the back with this: "...an alarming new study finds that warming signals are stronger, and happening sooner than expected, due to increased human emissions of carbon dioxide and an Earth less able to absorb them."





P.S. Glenn Beck is an idiot.

Living in an Alternate Universe

That's how I feel lately. Like I'm living in an alternate universe. Everything I was brought up to believe in has been used and exploited, at the expense of people's lives and freedoms, so that a few powerful, rich white men can maintain their exploitative dominance.

For instance, while growing up I was imbued with a sense that pollution was not just wrong, but immoral and that we as a society were actively cleaning up our lakes, rivers, and air to right our wrongs. As a kid and into my young adulthood, it gave me a sense of pride in the U.S. and made me want to give back to society. To paraphrase from my fraternity's guidebook of brotherhood activities, "the situation in which I find myself must make sense to me if I am to be a contributing member to my country and to transmit the country, not only not less, but greater than it was transmitted to me."

What a detriment to us all - especially children and those not yet born - that President Bush doesn't have the same moral compass. And we wonder why our children (and adults) are so apathetic and Bowling Alone. "The Bush administration signaled...that is has no intention of taking enforcement actions against [power plant pollution] for the same kind of Clean Air Act violations in the future." The full story is here.



I've been thinking that Bush and company like where the Iraq war is at. Even though the war is a horrible, disgusting mess, there's really not much more that can go wrong. The fact that mistakes keep being made; simple ones, easily fixable ones - and yet nothing happens aside from blunder after blunder after blunder, I've concluded that this all must be part of the plan. Because, in reality, the guys who started this war have only enjoyed immense amounts of power and profits. (At the start of the war in March 2003, oil was at $35 a barrel - today it is over $88 a barrel).

• Debate on troop withdraws is on hold. (Democratic front-runners say they won't pull out troops)
  
• $592 billion dollar, 104 acre U.S. embassy in Iraq. (Why so big and permanent if we're not staying?)
  
• Gen. John Abizaid (Ret.), the former CENTCOM Commander, said about the Iraq war: "Of course it's about oil, we can't really deny that."
  

Which brings me to this:

"Iraq is 'unwinnable', a 'quagmire', a 'fiasco': so goes the received opinion. But there is good reason to think that, from the Bush-Cheney perspective, it is none of these things. Indeed, the US may be 'stuck' precisely where Bush et al want it to be, which is why there is no 'exit strategy'. Iraq has 115 billion barrels of known oil reserves. That is more than five times the total in the United States. How will the US maintain hegemony over Iraqi oil? By establishing permanent military bases in Iraq. Five self-sufficient 'super-bases' are in various stages of completion."

Must Read Articles---------------------------------------

1. Qwest CEO Not Alone in Alleging NSA Started Domestic Phone Record Program 7 Months Before 9/11


2. More on what happens to people who demonstrate for democracy in Burma. Too bad the U.S. doesn't care.

3. I like my food natural. No chemicals, pesticides, or insecticides and definitely not genetically modified. Looks like I won't be drinking anything Anheuser Busch makes.

"Rice used by Anheuser-Busch Cos. to brew Budweiser beer is tainted with an experimental, genetically engineered rice strain, according to an analysis released yesterday by the environmental organization Greenpeace."

What is Democracy?

According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, democracy is:

"a : government by the people; especially : rule of the majority b : a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections"

So the majority rules. But more importantly it is the people, you and me, who hold the supreme power. Why is it then, that the majority of the people want us out of Iraq and the Democratically-led Congress continues to do nothing about it? According to an ABC/Washington Post poll here, 54% of Americans believe that we should withdraw our forces "even if that means civil order is not restored there." This same poll shows that since January 2007, a majority of Americans want our forces withdrawn.

Democrats were elected to end this war. They have not. They attempted once and have since maintained that they do not have enough votes to override a presidential veto. However, there are three other options. 1. Continue to send the bill to the president over and over, or 2. Filibuster, or 3. follow the Constitution's power-of-the-purse clause and stop funding the war. Just like impeachment, none of these options are on the table.

Not only do they continue to do nothing about it, but since they're now the party in power in Congress, they don't care. Talking about anti-war protesters on Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that it was ""a waste of time" for them to target Democrats. ""

Why? It's what the majority - the supreme rulers - want; so why is it a "waste of time?" You were elected to do what the majority want and you're not doing it! Why not?

Because ending the Iraq war was only a way for these greedy, power hungry people to get elected. Now that they are safely being paid by us (including full dental, vision, and health care as well as retirement benefits), they no longer need us. Until the next election rolls around, that is. Which brings me to my main point: We need to do away with our monopolistic two-party system.

As it is now, if I do not like Republican policies, I have to vote for a Democrat. But what if I don't like their policies either? (For example, this.) Then what am I supposed to do? The Republicans and the Democrats are not stopping this war that the majority (the supreme rulers) wants stopped. Aside from a few key issues such as abortion and the death penalty, Dems and Repubs are two sides of the same greedy and corrupt coin.

You know what true democracy is? A place for all voices and viewpoints in Congress. I'm talking about third-parties. When I vote for president, the ballot has selections for not only Dems and Repubs, but also Green, Libertarian, Constitutional, and Natural-Law parties. Depending on the state, there may be even more choices. So, why aren't these presidential candidates invited to the presidential debates aired on publicly owned airways? Could it be that they would bring up issues the two major parties do not want to deal with or ideas which may benefit the common person at the expense of huge corporate profits? And why are there severe obstacles for third parties to overcome that the Republicans and Democrats don't face?

Third-parties face such obstacles as ballot-access laws which require them to gather thousands of signatures just to appear on the ballot; something the Republicans and Democrats do not have to do. In addition, the presidential debates are run by a commission made up of....that's right, Democrats and Republicans. When is the last time you saw all the people on your presidential ballot at a debate together? And we call ourselves a democracy?



Then again, we continue to celebrate a man who raped, enslaved, and killed thousands and thousands of people. We close our banks and federal offices for Christopher Columbus. If we can't be honest to our children and ourselves about 1492, can we finally admit that we do not really live in a democracy?

Perpetuating Dysfunction

While reading and ruminating on a story about the 20-year old deputy in Wisconsin who shot 6 people here, many thoughts and feelings were coursing through my body and mind.

The big question everyone always asks in these situations is: Why? Why did this happen; why did he choose this as his option for dealing with whatever set him off (being rebuffed by a girlfriend)? Here's what I've got:

Are we given enough options and education and training to make correct decisions about dealing with our tempers and anger? No one can argue that we get plenty of instruction - overkill it could be argued - in math and science and reading courses in school. And that's good as it prepares us for our careers. However, what prepares us for social, relationship, and child-rearing life? Our parents? LOL - c'mon.

While I'm positive there are wonderful parents out there, there are many dysfunctional and bad parents. Because who taught them? Their dysfunctional parents. And who taught those dysfunctional parents? Their parents, etc., etc.... Do you see the pattern here?

How many hours (days, months, years) of TV do we subject our kids to? And there's not much good on TV, so what are they watching? Jack Bauer slap, beat, punch, and torture people when he doesn't get his way. The majority of television shows and video games (24; CSI; Gladiator; Saw 1, 2, and 3; Halo 1, 2, and 3; Battlefield 1942; Battlefield 2; Day of Defeat; Brothers in Arms; Medal of Honor; Doom) are centered around mean, vindictive, barbarous, vengeful and painful behavior, if not outright killing. And I've only named a very few but very lucrative selection here. (Halo 2 made $125 million on its first day of release).

Children copy adults. We buy them shaving kits and easy-bake ovens so they can pretend to be like us. They push baby strollers with baby dolls and play house and play war. (Oh how cute - are kids are pretending to kill each other. . . shouldn't this trouble us?)

Since I have been alive the U.S. has sent troops into and killed people in Grenada, El Salvador, Panama, Nicaragua, Bosnia, Lebanon, Honduras, Bolivia, Afghanistan, and Iraq among others.

That's how adults deal with problems. When talking doesn't "work" anymore, you go kill people. Who's to say, however wrong it was, that the 20-year old deputy, in his mind, didn't exhaust all "diplomatic" options and do what he saw on TV, on video games, and on CNN, FOX News, MSNBC? Shock and Awe, right? The Iraq war live and in color.

Over 600,000 dead civilians in Iraq. General Tommy Franks: "We don't do body counts." Collateral damage. Here, here, and do not go here unless you are ready for the true picture of war.

What we put into our society is exactly what we get out of it. Learn this, and we will grow up. When adults act as they expect their children to act, then peace will come and killing will become more infrequent; greed will not rule but vested interests arguing for the safety, security, and prosperity for ALL the Earth's people will be a priority.





Fox's drama "24" shows that torture works, and works well. We kill people to show that killing people is wrong. We violently attacked a country that did nothing to us, are preparing to bomb another country that has done nothing to us and our government doesn't talk with those it perceives as enemies. Yet we're amazed by a shooting?

When adults stop acting like children, our children will start acting like adults.

Give me your tired, your poor...

Just don't expect that we'll give a shit about them. We here in the United States are all about individuality. If you can't get into college or get a good job or if you can't afford health insurance, even if you're a child, it's your fault and your own damn problem. We cater here in the U.S. to those who make something of themselves and get rich. That's what we value. That's what's important. And quite frankly, that's what makes me sick. Aside from the fact that we have the most powerful and destructive military in the world and can bomb and kill whoever we want; what makes us so great again?

There's ALWAYS money for war, bombers, jets, guns, tanks, bullets, and missiles. "The war is costing $720 million a day or $500,000 a minute" here. And that's ok. But an extra $30 billion to give health insurance to children because it could "be a move toward socialized medicine" is just insane. The potential of giving everyone health care is worse than war. How sick have we become?




As capitalism reaches its dynamic climax, it can be seen that all of those values such as democracy, human and civil rights, and liberty aren't really as important as making money. Of course it's couched in terms of keeping our lifestyles "normal," which means that we have access to all the energy we need; no matter how much we over-consume and pollute.

The Mayanmar/Burma protests highlight this point yet again. Amy Goodman talks about it here. And published in Newsweek, an article by Melinda Liu talks about why the sanctions won't work.

The title says it all: It's the Oil and Gas, Stupid.

"Burma’s economic picture would be depressing enough without the involvement of Big Oil. One of the key reasons why sanctions against the regime are unlikely to work is because the junta's foreign partners hope to maintain business as usual. Foreign firms have been scrambling for a piece of Burma's oil and gas industry since the regime liberalized investment rules in 1988.

"These are not obscure players or small-time plays. Burmese natural gas, worth $2.8 billion, generates one fifth of Thailand’s electricity. China wants to build pipelines and roads through Burma that would allow its oil imports to bypass vulnerable chokepoints in the Malacca Straits, which could be blocked by the U.S. Navy in the event of Sino-U.S. tensions."

And so it goes...

I kept hoping that the world community would do something about Myanmar. Isn't this exactly what we're told, over and over again, that this is what the United States fights for? Isn't this why we have the United Nations and peacekeeping forces? Wasn't the fourth (or fifth or sixth) reason for invading Iraq to bring democracy to a people who really really wanted it?

I don't remember any Iraqi's holding demonstrations in the streets of Baghdad. I don't remember thousands of Imam's peacefully protesting Saddam's government. Yet this past week we've had a military junta killing journalists while having destroyed over 3,000 villages and forcefully relocating people. In addition, today it was reported that "thousands of protesters are dead and the bodies of hundreds of executed monks have been dumped in the jungle."

Why don't we see a Colin Powell up in front of the UN showing samples of satellite photo's like these? Here is a population literally dying for democracy - and the world's "leaders" only action is to say how bad it is. That's like a teacher standing on the playground watching a bully beat up someone while all they do is say how wrong the bully is acting.

In one of my recent blogs, I was wrong in saying that oil was a reason we weren't doing anything about Myanmar. It's because of oil that we aren't doing anything:

"Diplomats and analysts say Myanmar's resources, including natural gas and oil fields that foreign companies are vying to tap, make many nations reluctant to impose economic sanctions or other measures as punishment for the bloody assault on pro-democracy demonstrators."




MUST READ ARTICLES -------------------------------

1. More "progress" from the Iraqi government.

"Iraq's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, is orchestrating a campaign of persecution against political rivals "even worse" than Saddam Hussein's reign of terror, his predecessor has claimed."



2. Money. Profits. Definitely more important than morals, values, or human life.

" For the time being, General Dynamics has the best of both worlds: strong demand for jet aircraft, and healthy sales of combat equipment even with a troop reduction in Iraq."



3. We used to be great once. What the hell happened?

""If we were to strike Iran it should be accompanied by an effort at regime change ... The US once had the capability to engineer the clandestine overthrow of governments. I wish we could get it back," he said."



4. Whoops...sorry. We still are great at selling weapons. And number one at locking people up.

"The United States maintained its role as the leading supplier of weapons to the developing world..."



5. I wish we would do something like this here.

"A landmark case upholding the citizen's right to non-polluted air could lead to local governments in Germany being held responsible for the health of their constituents and the cleanliness of their immediate environment."




6. Leaving out history here.


How come we write this: "Iran and the U.S cut off diplomatic relations in 1979 after Iranian militant students seized the U.S. Embassy and took 52 Americans hostage for 444 days." ...which is true and accurate, but leave out the fact that we overthrew their democratically elected government in 1953 and that that's a big part of the reason leading up to hostage taking?