Inane Ramblings

31 October 2004

Where do you find *REAL* family values?

PRESIDENT Bush and Vice President Cheney make reference to "Massachusetts liberals" as if they were referring to people with some kind of disease. I decided it was time to do some research on these people, and here is what I found.


The state with the lowest divorce rate in the nation is Massachusetts. At latest count it had a divorce rate of 2.4 per 1,000 population, while the rate for Texas was 4.1.

But don't take the US government's word for it. Take a look at the findings from the George Barna Research Group. George Barna, a born-again Christian whose company is in Ventura, Calif., found that Massachusetts does indeed have the lowest divorce rate among all 50 states. More disturbing was the finding that born-again Christians have among the highest divorce rates.

The Associated Press, using data supplied by the US Census Bureau, found that the highest divorce rates are to be found in the Bible Belt. The AP report stated that "the divorce rates in these conservative states are roughly 50 percent above the national average of 4.2 per thousand people." The 10 Southern states with some of the highest divorce rates were Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas. By comparison nine states in the Northeast were among those with the lowest divorce rates: Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

How to explain these differences? The following factors provide a partial answer:


More couples in the South enter their first marriage at a younger age.


Average household incomes are lower in the South.


Southern states have a lower percentage of Roman Catholics, "a denomination that does not recognize divorce." Barna's study showed that 21 percent of Catholics had been divorced, compared with 29 percent of Baptists.


Education. Massachusetts has about the highest rate of education in the country, with 85 percent completing high school. For Texas the rate is 76 percent. One third of Massachusetts residents have completed college, compared with 23 percent of Texans, and the other Northeast states are right behind Massachusetts.


The liberals from Massachusetts have long prided themselves on their emphasis on education, and it has paid off: People who stay in school longer get married at a later age, when they are more mature, are more likely to secure a better job, and job income increases with each level of formal education. As a result, Massachusetts also leads in per capita and family income while births by teenagers, as a percent of total births, was 7.4 for Massachusetts and 16.1 for Texas.

The Northeast corridor, with Massachusetts as the hub, does have one of the highest levels of Catholics per state total. And it is also the case that these are among the states most strongly supportive of the Catholic Church's teaching on social justice issues such as minimum and living wages and universal healthcare.

For all the Bible Belt talk about family values, it is the people from Kerry's home state, along with their neighbors in the Northeast corridor, who live these values. Indeed, it is the "blue" states, led led by Massachusetts and Connecticut, that have been willing to invest more money over time to foster the reality of what it means to leave no children behind. And they have been among the nation's leaders in promoting a living wage as their goal in public employment. The money they have invested in their future is known more popularly as taxes; these so-called liberal people see that money is their investment to help insure a compassionate, humane society. Family values are much more likely to be found in the states mistakenly called out-of-the-mainstream liberal. By their behavior you can know them as the true conservatives. They are showing how to conserve family life through the way they live their family values

29 October 2004

100 Facts and 1 Opinion

Well folks, it's the last Friday before the election. If you need more ammunition for your Republican friends, try out this article from The Nation:

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20041108&s=facts


It's long, but here it is.

100 Facts and 1 Opinion
The Non-Arguable Case Against the Bush Administration
by Judd Legum

Click here to download, circulate and distribute a PDF version of this article.

IRAQ
1. The Bush Administration has spent more than $140 billion on a war of choice in Iraq.
Source: American Progress
2. The Bush Administration sent troops into battle without adequate body armor or armored Humvees.
Sources: Fox News, The Boston Globe
3. The Bush Administration ignored estimates from Gen. Eric Shinseki that several hundred thousand troops would be required to secure Iraq.
Source: PBS
4. Vice President Cheney said Americans "will, in fact, be greeted as liberators" in Iraq.
Source: The Washington Post
5. During the Bush Administration's war in Iraq, more than 1,000 US troops have lost their lives and more than 7,000 have been injured.
Source: globalsecurity.org
6. In May 2003, President Bush landed on an aircraft carrier in a flight suit, stood under a banner proclaiming "Mission Accomplished," and triumphantly announced that major combat operations were over in Iraq. Asked if he had any regrets about the stunt, Bush said he would do it all over again.
Source: Yahoo News
7. Vice President Cheney said that Iraq was "the geographic base of the terrorists who have had us under assault for many years, but most especially on 9/11." The bipartisan 9/11 Commission found that Iraq had no involvement in the 9/11 attacks and no collaborative operational relationship with Al Qaeda.
Source: MSNBC , 9-11 Commission
8. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said that high-strength aluminum tubes acquired by Iraq were "only really suited for nuclear weapons programs," warning "we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud." The government's top nuclear scientists had told the Administration the tubes were "too narrow, too heavy, too long" to be of use in developing nuclear weapons and could be used for other purposes.
Source: New York Times
9. The Bush Administration has spent just $1.1 billion of the $18.4 billion Congress approved for Iraqi reconstruction.
Source: USA Today
10. According to the Administration's handpicked weapon's inspector, Charles Duelfer, there is "no evidence that Hussein had passed illicit weapons material to al Qaeda or other terrorist organizations, or had any intent to do so." After the release of the report, Bush continued to insist, "There was a risk--a real risk--that Saddam Hussein would pass weapons, or materials, or information to terrorist networks."
Sources: New York Times, White House news release
11. According to Duelfer, the UN inspections regime put an "economic strangle hold" on Hussein that prevented him from developing a WMD program for more than twelve years.
Source: Los Angeles Times

TERRORISM
12. After receiving a memo from the CIA in August 2001 titled "Bin Laden Determined to Attack America," President Bush continued his monthlong vacation.
Source: CNN.com
13. The Bush Administration failed to commit enough troops to capture Osama bin Laden when US forces had him cornered in the Tora Bora region of Afghanistan in November 2001. Instead, they relied on local warlords.
Source: csmonitor.com
14. The Bush Administration secured less nuclear material from sites around the world vulnerable to terrorists in the two years after 9/11 than were secured in the two years before 9/11.
Source: nti.org
15. The Bush Administration underfunded Nunn-Lugar--the program intended to keep the former Soviet Union's nuclear legacy out of the hands of terrorists and rogue states--by $45.5 million.
Source: armscontrol.org
16. The Bush Administration has assigned five times as many agents to investigate Cuban embargo violations as it has to track Osama bin Laden's and Saddam Hussein's money.
Source: Associated Press
17. According to Congressional Research Service data, the Bush Administration has underfunded security at the nation's ports by more than $1 billion for fiscal year 2005.
Source: American Progress
18. The Bush Administration did not devote the resources necessary to prevent a resurgence in the production of poppies, the raw material used to create heroin, in Afghanistan--creating a potent new source of financing for terrorists.
Source: Pakistan Tribune
19. Vice President Cheney told voters that unless they elect George Bush in November, "we'll get hit again" by terrorists.
Source: Washington Post
20. Even though an Al Qaeda training manual suggests terrorists come to the United States and buy assault weapons, the Bush Administration did nothing to prevent the expiration of the ban.
Source: sfgate.com
21. Despite repeated calls for reinforcements, there are fewer experienced CIA agents assigned to the unit dealing with Osama bin Laden now than there were before 9/11.
Source: New York Times
22. Before 9/11, John Ashcroft proposed slashing counterterrorism funding by 23 percent.
Source: americanprogress.org
23. Between January 20, 2001, and September 10, 2001, the Bush Administration publicly mentioned Al Qaeda one time.
Source: commondreams.org
24. The Bush Administration granted the 9/11 Commission $3 million to investigate the September 11 attacks and $50 million to the commission that investigated the Columbia space shuttle crash.
Source: commondreams.org
25. More than three years after 9/11, just 5 percent of all cargo--including cargo transported on passenger planes--is screened.
Source: commondreams.org

NATIONAL SECURITY
26. During the Bush Administration, North Korea quadrupled its suspected nuclear arsenal from two to eight weapons.
Source: New York Times
27. The Bush Administration has openly opposed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, undermining nuclear nonproliferation efforts.
Source: commondreams.org
28. The Bush Administration has spent $7 billion this year--and plans to spend $10 billion next year--for a missile defense system that has never worked in a test that wasn't rigged.
Sources: www.gao.gov/new.items/d04409.pdf, Los Angeles Times
29. The Bush Administration underfunded the needs of the nation's first responders by $98 billion, according to a Council on Foreign Relations study.
Source: nationaldefensemagazine.org

CRONYISM AND CORRUPTION
30. The Bush Administration awarded a multibillion-dollar no-bid contract to Halliburton--a company that still pays Vice President Cheney hundreds of thousands of dollars in deferred compensation each year (Cheney also has Halliburton stock options). The company then repeatedly overcharged the military for services, accepted kickbacks from subcontractors and served troops dirty food.
Sources: The Washington Post, The Tapei Times, BBC News
31. The Bush Administration told Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan about plans to go to war with Iraq before telling Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Source: detnews.com
32. The Bush Administration relentlessly pushed an energy bill containing $23.5 billion in corporate tax breaks, much of which would have benefited major campaign contributors.
taxpayer.net, Washington Post
33. The Bush Administration paid Iraqi-exile and neocon darling Ahmad Chalabi $400,000 a month for intelligence, including fabricated claims about Iraqi WMD. It continued to pay him for months after discovering that he was providing inaccurate information.
Source: MSNBC
34. The Bush Administration installed as top officials more than 100 former lobbyists, attorneys or spokespeople for the industries they oversee.
Source: Source: commondreams.org
35. The Bush Administration let disgraced Enron CEO Ken Lay--a close friend of President Bush--help write its energy policy.
Source: MSNBC
36. Top Bush Administration officials accepted $127,600 in jewelry and other presents from the Saudi royal family in 2003, including diamond-and-sapphire jewelry valued at $95,500 for First Lady Laura Bush.
Source: Seattle Times
37. Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge awarded lucrative contracts to several companies in which he is an investor, including Microsoft, GE, Sprint, Pfizer and Oracle.
Source: cq.com
38. President Bush used images of firefighters carrying flag-draped coffins through the rubble of the World Trade Center to score political points in a campaign advertisement.
Source: The Washington Post

THE ECONOMY
39. President Bush's top economic adviser, Greg Mankiw, said the outsourcing of American jobs abroad was "a plus for the economy in the long run."
Source: CBS News
40. The Bush Administration turned a $236 billion surplus into a $422 billion deficit.
Sources: Fortune, dfw.com
41. The Bush Administration implemented regulations that made millions of workers ineligible for overtime pay.
Source: epinet.org
42. The Bush Administration has crippled state budgets by underfunding federal mandates by $175 billion.
Source: cbpp.org
43. President Bush is the first President since Herbert Hoover to have a net loss of jobs--around 800,000--over a four-year term.
Source: The Guardian
44. The Bush Administration gave Accenture a multibillion-dollar border control contract even though the company moved its operations to Bermuda to avoid paying taxes.
Sources: The New York Times, cantonrep.com
45. In 2000, candidate George W. Bush said "the vast majority of my tax cuts go to the bottom end of the spectrum." He passed the tax cuts, but the top 20 percent of earners received 68 percent of the benefits.
Sources: cbpp.org, vote-smart.org
46. In 2000, candidate George W. Bush promised to pay down the national debt to a historically low level. As of September 30, the national debt stood at $7,379,052,696,330.32, a record high.
Sources: www.georgewbush.com , Bureau of the Public Debt
47. As major corporate scandals rocked the nation's economy, the Bush Administration reduced the enforcement of corporate tax law--conducting fewer audits, imposing fewer penalties, pursuing fewer prosecutions and making virtually no effort to prosecute corporate tax crimes.
Source: iht.com
48. The Bush Administration increased tax audits for the working poor.
Source: theolympian.com
49. In 2000, candidate George W. Bush promised to protect the Social Security surplus. As President, he spent all of it.
Sources: georgewbush.com, Congressional Budget Office
50. The Bush Administration proposed slashing funding for the largest federal public housing program, putting 2 million families in danger of losing their housing.
Source: San Francisco Examiner
51. The Bush Administration did nothing to prevent the minimum wage from falling to an inflation-adjusted fifty-year low.
Source: Los Angeles Times

EDUCATION
52. The Bush Administration underfunded the No Child Left Behind Act by $9.4 billion.
Source: nwitimes.com
53. In 2000, candidate George W. Bush promised to increase the maximum federal scholarship, or Pell Grant, by 50 percent. Instead, each year he has been in office he has frozen or cut the maximum scholarship amount.
Source: Source: edworkforce.house.gov x
54. The Bush Administration's Secretary of Education, Rod Paige, called the National Education Association--a union of teachers--a "terrorist organization."
Sources: CNN.com

HEALTHCARE
55. The Bush Administration, in violation of the law, refused to allow Medicare actuary Richard Foster to tell members of Congress the actual cost of their Medicare bill. Instead, they repeated a figure they knew was $100 billion too low.
Source: Washington Post, realcities.com
56. The nonpartisan GAO concluded the Bush Administration created illegal, covert propaganda--in the form of fake news reports--to promote its industry-backed Medicare bill.
Source: General Accounting Office
57. The Bush Administration stunted research that could lead to new treatments for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, diabetes, spinal injuries, heart disease and muscular dystrophy by placing severe restrictions on the use of federal dollars for embryonic stem-cell research.
Source: CBS News
58. The Bush Administration reinstated the "global gag rule," which requires foreign NGOs to withhold information about legal abortion services or lose US funds for family planning.
Source: healthsciences.columbia.edu
59. The Bush Administration authorized twenty companies that have been charged with fraud at the federal or state level to offer Medicare prescription drug cards to seniors.
Source: American Progress
60. The Bush Administration created a prescription drug card for Medicare that locks seniors into one card for up to a year but allows the corporations offering the cards to change their prices once a week.
Source: Washington Post
61. The Bush Administration blocked efforts to allow Medicare to negotiate cheaper prescription drug prices for seniors.
Source: American Progress
62. At the behest of the french fry industry, the Bush Administration USDA changed their definition of fresh vegetables to include frozen french fries.
Source: commondreams.org
63. In a case before the Supreme Court, the Bush Administrations sided with HMOs--arguing that patients shouldn't be allowed to sue HMOs when they are improperly denied treatment. With the Administration's help, the HMOs won.
Source: ABC News
64. The Bush Administration went to court to block lawsuits by patients who were injured by defective prescription drugs and medical devices.
Source: Washington Post
65. President Bush signed a Medicare law that allows companies that reduce healthcare benefits for retirees to receive substantial subsidies from the government.
Source: Bloomberg News
66. Since President Bush took office, more than 5 million people have lost their health insurance.
Source: CNN.com
67. The Bush Administration blocked a proposal to ban the use of arsenic-treated lumber in playground equipment, even though it conceded it posed a danger to children.
Source: Miami Herald
68. One day after President Bush bragged about his efforts to help seniors afford healthcare, the Administration announced the largest dollar increase of Medicare premiums in history.
Source: iht.com
69. The Bush Administration--at the behest of the tobacco industry--tried to water down a global treaty that aimed to help curb smoking.
Source: tobaccofreekids.org
70. The Bush Administration has spent $270 million on abstinence-only education programs even though there is no scientific evidence demonstrating that they are effective in dissuading teenagers from having sex or reducing the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases.
Source: salon.com
71. The Bush Administration slashed funding for programs that suggested ways, other than abstinence, to avoid sexually transmitted diseases.
Source: LA Weekly

ENVIRONMENT
72. The Bush Administration gutted clean-air standards for aging power plants, resulting in at least 20,000 premature deaths each year.
Source: cta.policy.net
73. The Bush Administration eliminated protections on more than 200 million acres of public lands.
Source: calwild.org
74. President Bush broke his promise to place limits on carbon dioxide emissions, an essential step in combating global warming.
Source: Washington Post
75. Days after 9/11, the Bush Administration told people living near Ground Zero that the air was safe--even though they knew it wasn't--subjecting hundreds of people to unnecessary, debilitating ailments.
Sierra Club , EPA
76. The Bush Administration created a massive tax loophole for SUVs--allowing, for example, the write-off of the entire cost of a new Hummer.
Source: Washington Post
77. The Bush Administration put former coal-industry big shots in the government and let them roll back safety regulations, putting miners at greater risk of black lung disease.
Source: New York Times
78. The Bush Administration said that even though the weed killer atrazine was seeping into water supplies--creating, among other bizarre creatures, hermaphroditic frogs--there was no reason to regulate it.
Source: Washington Post
79. The Bush Administration has proposed cutting the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency by $600 million next year.
Source: ems.org
80. President Bush broke his campaign promise to end the maintenance backlog at national parks. He has provided just 7 percent of the funds needed, according to National Park Service estimates.
Source: bushgreenwatch.org

RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES
81. Since 9/11, Attorney General John Ashcroft has detained 5,000 foreign nationals in antiterrorism sweeps; none have been convicted of a terrorist crime.
Source: hrwatch.org
82. The Bush Administration ignored pleas from the International Committee of the Red Cross to stop the abuse of prisoners in US custody.
Source: Wall Street Journal
83. In violation of international law, the Bush Administration hid prisoners from the Red Cross so the organization couldn't monitor their treatment.
Source: hrwatch.org
84. The Bush Administration, without ever charging him with a crime, arrested US citizen José Padilla at an airport in Chicago, held him on a naval brig in South Carolina for two years, denied him access to a lawyer and prohibited any contact with his friends and family.
Source: news.findlaw.com
85. President Bush's top legal adviser wrote a memo to the President advising him that he can legally authorize torture.
Source: news.findlaw.com
86. At the direction of Bush Administration officials, the FBI went door to door questioning people planning on protesting at the 2004 political conventions.
Source: New York Times
87. The Bush Administration refuses to support the creation of an independent commission to investigate the abuse of foreign prisoners in American custody. Instead, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld selected the members of a commission to review the conduct of his own department.
Source: humanrightsfirst.org

FLIP FLOPS
88. President Bush opposed the creation of the 9/11 Commission before he supported it, delaying an essential inquiry into one of the greatest intelligence failure in American history.
Source: americanprogressaction.org
89. President Bush said gay marriage was a state issue before he supported a constitutional amendment banning it.
Sources: CNN.com, White House
90. President Bush said he was committed to capturing Osama bin Laden "dead or alive" before he said, "I truly am not that concerned about him."
Source: americanprogressaction.org
91. President Bush said we had found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, before he admitted we hadn't found them.
Sources: White House, americanprogress.org
92. President Bush said, "You can't distinguish between Al Qaeda and Saddam when you talk about the war on terror," before he admitted Saddam had no role in 9/11.
Sources: White House, Washington Post

BIOGRAPHY
93. George Bush didn't come close to meeting his commitments to the National Guard. Records show he performed no service in a six-month period in 1972 and a three-month period in 1973.
Source: boston.com
94. In June 1990 George Bush violated federal securities law when he failed to inform the SEC that he had sold 200,000 shares of his company, Harken Energy. Two months later the company reported significant losses and by the end of that year the stock had dropped from $3 to $1.
Source: The Guardian
95. When asked at an April 2004 press conference to name a mistake he made during his presidency, Bush couldn't think of one.
Source: White House

SECRECY
96. The Bush Administration refuses to release twenty-seven pages of a Congressional report that reportedly detail the Saudi Arabian government's connections to the 9/11 hijackers.
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
97. Last year the Bush Administration spent $6.5 billion creating 14 million new classified documents and securing old secrets--the highest level of spending in ten years.
Source: openthegovernment.org
98. The Bush Administration spent $120 classifying documents for every $1 it spent declassifying documents.
Source: openthegovernment.org
99. The Bush Administration has spent millions of dollars and defied numerous court orders to conceal from the public who participated in Vice President Cheney's 2001 energy task force.
Source: Washington Post
100. The Bush Administration--reversing years of bipartisan tradition--refuses to answer requests from Democratic members of Congress about how the White House is spending taxpayer money.
Source: Washington Post

OPINION
If the past informs the future, four more years of the Bush Administration will be a tragic period in the history of the United States and the world.

28 October 2004

SOX WIN!

HELL - In what is shaping up to be the largest blizzard in Hell's history, people were getting around the Underworld Thursday on snowshoes and cross country skis. As the snowplows struggle to clear the main streets and highways through the metro area, people are still being asked to stay home and out of the way. The heavy snow is not only taking down power lines but has also caused a number of roofs to collapse.

In Hell, most schools and many businesses were closed for the day including the state Capitol.

Senate Leader McVeigh, R-Hell, said that the Capitol would close because of the weather for the first time in history. All government offices with the City and County of Hell will also be closed.The Hell State Patrol is requesting that travel on Hell highways be limited to essential or emergency trips. HSP has called out the Hell National Guard to help reach stranded drivers, many of whom have been stranded for an extended period of time along I-70 east of Hell.

The governor has been monitoring the situation through the night said spokesman Ted Bundy. “He's been assured that all available Hell resources have been deployed including about 1,500 snowplows Hellwide,” said Bundy. “Other resources such as the National Guard are on standby.”

There will be no mail service in Hell Thursday and limited service in other parts of the metro area.

A once familiar landscape was almost unrecognizable Thursday morning in Hell with normally busy streets little more than tracks and two feet of snow making it hard to distinguish buried terrorists from mass-murderers.

Hell was deserted early Thursday morning. Getting out was simply not an option for most people.

27 October 2004

Bush Campaign Group Jumps Ship

http://www.yesbushcan.com/ , an independent group dedicated to communicating Bush policies directly to the public, has abandoned its campaign and is officially endorsing John Kerry for President.

Before changing sides, the Yes, Bush Can team drove around the country supporting the President in a campaign bus equipped with sound and light systems, confetti cannons, and various props and costumes. They gave dozens of stump speeches, distributed campaign videos and "USA Patriot Pledges," and performed patriotic songs to audiences across the country. (See http://www.yesbushcan.com/media.shtml and http://www.yesbushcan.com/pledge.shtml.)

Last week, the group officially split with Bush. "In the course of our travels, we ended up learning more about Bush's policies than he wanted us to know," said Harmon Spellmeyer, one of the Yes, Bush Can team. "We came to see that this administration is a catastrophe for most people."


October 27, 2004FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ContactWebsite: http://www.yesbushcan.com/Act: http://www.yesbushcan.com/act.shtml
BUSH CAMPAIGN GROUP ENDORSES KERRY
"Yes, Bush Can" now says "no, Bush can't!"
Yes, Bush Can, an independent group dedicated to communicating Bush policies directly to the public, has abandoned its campaign and is officially endorsing John Kerry for President.
Before changing sides, the Yes, Bush Can team drove around the country supporting the President in a campaign bus equipped with sound and light systems, confetti cannons, and various props and costumes. They gave dozens of stump speeches, distributed campaign videos and "USA Patriot Pledges," and performed patriotic songs to audiences across the country. (See http://www.yesbushcan.com/media.shtml and http://www.yesbushcan.com/pledge.shtml.)
Last week, the group officially split with Bush. "In the course of our travels, we ended up learning more about Bush's policies than he wanted us to know," said Harmon Spellmeyer, one of the Yes, Bush Can team. "We came to see that this administration is a catastrophe for most people."

Before breaking with Bush, the Yes, Bush Can team worked earnestly to support him:

  • They went to the Pacific Northwest to promote Bush's Healthy Forests Initiative--and discovered it was enabling the logging industry to cut down our last old-growth forests.

  • They visited a nuclear power plant in Ohio to promote Bush's domestic security policies--and found no one in the guard booth to meet them.

  • In western Pennsylvania, while promoting the President's energy policy, they learned that it allows coal emissions which kill 23,000 people a year.

  • Finally, while defending Bush's war on terrorism, they found out that most analysts--including Donald Rumsfeld and many generals--feel that the Iraq War has actually generated many thousands of new terrorists.

After many similar discoveries and much internal turmoil, the Yes, Bush Can group arrived at the difficult conclusion that they could not continue their work. At a press conference Tuesday, the team defaced and abandoned their campaign bus in order to demonstrate how profoundly they are rejecting their former boss's ideas and policies.

26 October 2004

Explosives Theft Puts Millions at Risk

Yesterday, it came to light that more than 380 tons of HMX and RDX explosives had been looted from the Iraqi base called ‘Al-QaQaa’ outside Baghdad back in September of 2003. While it may not sound like much, HMX and RDX are two hugely powerful explosives. In fact, HMX and RDX can be used to demolish buildings, down jetliners, produce warheads for missiles and detonate nuclear weapons.

This happened because there was a total lack of security at the base, as reported by the Associated Press yesterday: “The Iraqis told the nuclear agency the materials were stolen and looted because of a lack of security at governmental installations, Fleming said. ''We do not know what happened to the explosives or when they were looted,'' she told AP. A European diplomat familiar with the disappearance of the explosives said their presence was widely known. The Associated Press drove past the compound Monday and saw no visible security at the gates of the site, a jumble of low-slung, yellow storage buildings that appeared deserted.”

It’s difficult to imagine how this can increase the security of the United States. Ever since the invasion of Iraq, US control has been eroding, and Baghdad, Fallujah, and other areas are now havens for the likes of Al-Sadr’s militia, Hamas, Al-Qaeda, the Palestinian Liberation Organization, and countless others who would gladly use the stolen explosives against us. Indeed, there’s already talk that some of the improvised explosive devices that are killing US troops on a daily basis are made up from some of the stolen munitions.

What’s even more chilling, though, is the potential for international terrorism that the stolen munitions represent. 380 tons is a difficult number to comprehend, so let’s do a little math. Remember Pan Am flight 103, that was destroyed by Libyan terrorists over Lockerbie, Scotland back on December 21, 1988? It was brought down by about one pound of Semtex, a Czechoslovakian made explosive containing both HMX and RDX.

As AirDisaster.com describes it: "The aircraft broke up in-flight shortly after an explosive device, contained in a portable plastic radio in the cargo hold, detonated. The aircraft's nose separated at approximately the L2 door, and fell to the ground. Thirteen miles away, portions of the fuselage and wing structure impacted the town of Lockerbie, Scotland.”

There are 2,000 pounds in one ton. So, with 380 tons of explosive looted, that gives us the potential for 760,000 Lockerbie-style aircraft bombings in the years to come. That’s a huge number, but what does that mean in terms of human lives?

259 people died when Pan Am 103 went down, plus 11 more on the ground. The aircraft was a first-generation Boeing 747-100. Using today’s equivalent, the Boeing 747-400, reveals some stunning numbers. This aircraft currently seats between 416-524 people. So, if we pick a random, yet generous 425 persons per flight, that gives us an astonishing 323,000,000 people that could be killed using the stolen explosives. That’s more than the entire population of the United States!!!

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The Airbus A-380, scheduled to enter service in 2006, can seat 555 people. Don’t you think that any terrorist would love the chance to blow up one of those on its maiden voyage?

25 October 2004

The Unfeeling President

This remarkable piece of eloquence comes to us from the Easthampton (NY) Star. Thanks to pops for sending me the story. Well worth the read.





GUESTWORDS: By E.L. Doctorow
The Unfeeling President

I fault this president for not knowing what death is. He does not suffer the death of our 21-year-olds who wanted to be what they could be. On the eve of D-Day in 1944 General Eisenhower prayed to God for the lives of the young soldiers he knew were going to die. He knew what death was. Even in a justifiable war, a war not of choice but of necessity, a war of survival, the cost was almost more than Eisenhower could bear.

But this president does not know what death is. He hasn't the mind for it. You see him joking with the press, peering under the table for the weapons of mass destruction he can't seem to find, you see him at rallies strutting up to the stage in shirt sleeves to the roar of the carefully screened crowd, smiling and waving, triumphal, a he-man.

He does not mourn. He doesn't understand why he should mourn. He is satisfied during the course of a speech written for him to look solemn for a moment and speak of the brave young Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

But you study him, you look into his eyes and know he dissembles an emotion which he does not feel in the depths of his being because he has no capacity for it. He does not feel a personal responsibility for the 1,000 dead young men and women who wanted to be what they could be.
They come to his desk not as youngsters with mothers and fathers or wives and children who will suffer to the end of their days a terribly torn fabric of familial relationships and the inconsolable remembrance of aborted life . . . they come to his desk as a political liability, which is why the press is not permitted to photograph the arrival of their coffins from Iraq.

How then can he mourn? To mourn is to express regret and he regrets nothing. He does not regret that his reason for going to war was, as he knew, unsubstantiated by the facts. He does not regret that his bungled plan for the war's aftermath has made of his mission-accomplished a disaster. He does not regret that, rather than controlling terrorism, his war in Iraq has licensed it. So he never mourns for the dead and crippled youngsters who have fought this war of his choice.

He wanted to go to war and he did. He had not the mind to perceive the costs of war, or to listen to those who knew those costs. He did not understand that you do not go to war when it is one of the options but when it is the only option; you go not because you want to but because you have to.

Yet this president knew it would be difficult for Americans not to cheer the overthrow of a foreign dictator. He knew that much. This president and his supporters would seem to have a mind for only one thing -- to take power, to remain in power, and to use that power for the sake of themselves and their friends.

A war will do that as well as anything. You become a wartime leader. The country gets behind you. Dissent becomes inappropriate. And so he does not drop to his knees, he is not contrite, he does not sit in the church with the grieving parents and wives and children. He is the president who does not feel. He does not feel for the families of the dead, he does not feel for the 35 million of us who live in poverty, he does not feel for the 40 percent who cannot afford health insurance, he does not feel for the miners whose lungs are turning black or for the working people he has deprived of the chance to work overtime at time-and-a-half to pay their bills - it is amazing for how many people in this country this president does not feel.

But he will dissemble feeling. He will say in all sincerity he is relieving the wealthiest 1 percent of the population of their tax burden for the sake of the rest of us, and that he is polluting the air we breathe for the sake of our economy, and that he is decreasing the quality of air in coal mines to save the coal miners' jobs, and that he is depriving workers of their time-and-a-half benefits for overtime because this is actually a way to honor them by raising them into the professional class.

And this litany of lies he will versify with reverences for God and the flag and democracy, when just what he and his party are doing to our democracy is choking the life out of it.
But there is one more terribly sad thing about all of this. I remember the millions of people here and around the world who marched against the war. It was extraordinary, that spontaneous aroused oversoul of alarm and protest that transcended national borders. Why did it happen? After all, this was not the only war anyone had ever seen coming. There are little wars all over he world most of the time.

But the cry of protest was the appalled understanding of millions of people that America was ceding its role as the last best hope of mankind. It was their perception that the classic archetype of democracy was morphing into a rogue nation. The greatest democratic republic in history was turning its back on the future, using its extraordinary power and standing not to advance the ideal of a concordance of civilizations but to endorse the kind of tribal combat that originated with the Neanderthals, a people, now extinct, who could imagine ensuring their survival by no other means than pre-emptive war.

The president we get is the country we get. With each president the nation is conformed spiritually. He is the artificer of our malleable national soul. He proposes not only the laws but the kinds of lawlessness that govern our lives and invoke our responses. The people he appoints are cast in his image. The trouble they get into and get us into, is his characteristic trouble.
Finally, the media amplify his character into our moral weather report. He becomes the face of our sky, the conditions that prevail. How can we sustain ourselves as the United States of America given the stupid and ineffective warmaking, the constitutionally insensitive lawgiving, and the monarchal economics of this president? He cannot mourn but is a figure of such moral vacancy as to make us mourn for ourselves.

23 October 2004

Bush on Homeland Security

IN RECENT DAYS, both President Bush and Vice President Cheney have accused the Democrats of using 'scare tactics' against the American People, on issues of homeland security and the economy, among other things. That's pretty incredible, considering that the Republican's only rhetoric this year has been hammering us all about 9/11 and how they're the only ones that can save us from 'another attack'. Of course, their "terrorist alert system" is completely useless, and does nothing except scare people with heightened alerts and "No Specific Threats". It's worth reviewing the Bush/Cheney record on Homeland Security....Whose side are they on, anyway?





The Bush Record: Homeland Insecurity

Despite a lot of rhetoric, Bush has failed to provide adequate homeland security. After initially opposing the creation of a Homeland Security department, Bush has inadequately funded the department as well as starving state and local security efforts, including police, fire and health first-responders. Federal funding of local anti-terror efforts has been restricted. And security surrounding chemical plants, airports, airlines, ports, borders and other terror-sensitive points still is lacking.

Bush Opposed the Creation of a Homeland Security Department
In Spite of 9-11, Bush was Slow to See the Need for a Department of Homeland Security. Bush opposed the creation of a cabinet agency for homeland security until Congress passed legislation creating it in November 2002, thus delaying its launch until February 2003. Former press secretary Ari Fleischer said Bush told Congress "there does not need to be a Cabinet-level Office of Homeland Security," and Tom Ridge, then director of the non-agency White House Office of Homeland Security, said "I'd probably recommend that he veto" any bill creating a new agency. [White House Press Briefing, 10/24/01; National Journal, 6/5/02; George W. Bush, 11/19/02]

Security Focus Wanes, Government Inspires Complacency
GOP-Led Terrorism Panel Warned of Extensive Problems in Bush's Homeland Security Focus. The Advisory Panel to Assess Domestic Response Capabilities for Terrorism Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction, which assessed America's domestic terrorism preparedness, reported "serious concern about the current state of homeland security efforts" in its report issued in December 2003. The commission, chaired by former Republican Party head and VA Governor James Gilmore, found that momentum for security had "waned," and blamed the government for causing complacency. It also found "fragmentation" of efforts and "that scarce resources may not be prioritized and applied most effectively." [Advisory Panel to Assess Domestic Response Capabilities for Terrorism Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction, Forging America's New Normalcy, 12/15/03]

Bush Cuts State and Local Funding to Deal With Terror Threats
Bush Cuts Funding for State and Local Homeland Security Grants by $800 Million. Bush cut funding to the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Domestic Preparedness, which supplies a variety of first-responder grants to state and local governments, by $800 million, to $3.6 billion in 2005 from $4.4 billion in 2004. [Department of Homeland Security, 2005 Budget in Brief, www.dhs.gov; Congressional Quarterly, www.CQ.com]

Bush Gives Short Shrift to First-Responders
Bush Cuts Resources for Firefighters. Bush cut FIRE Act grants for equipment and personnel to local fire departments by $246 million in his 2005 budget. According to the International Association of Firefighters, "The FIRE Act grant program has received $5 billion worth of requests," and "has awarded grants totaling just 10% of that need." Kevin O'Connor of the International Association of Firefighters said, "This [2005] budget is profoundly disappointing to first responders ... It's a continuation of the president's lack of commitment to first responders in general and firefighters in particular." [Department of Homeland Security, 2005 Budget in Brief, www.dhs.gov; Intl. Assoc. of Firefighters, www.iaff.org; United Press International, 2/2/04; www.cfr.org]

Bush Cut State and Local First Responder Training by Nearly Half.Bush cut state and local grant funding for first responder training, exercise, and technical assistance by nearly half, from $320 million in 2004 to $178 million in 2005. According to the House Democrats on the Homeland Security Committee, analysts estimate that funding for "critical needs" of emergency responders will fall $98.4 billion short over the next five years. [Budget of the United States, www.omb.gov; Democratic Members of the House Select Committee on Homeland Security, America at Risk, 1/04]

Police Chiefs: Police Funding "Unacceptable." The International Association of Chiefs of Police said in February 2004: "Targeting law enforcement assistance programs for reductions of this magnitude [in the Bush 2005 budget] has the potential to significantly weaken the ability of state and local law enforcement agencies to protect our communities from both traditional acts of crime and the new specter of terrorism. This is unacceptable." [IACP, www.theiacp.org]

Local Governments Complain About Homeland Security Shortfalls
Mayors Gripe That Cities "Lost Ground" in Many Homeland Security Funding Categories. The US Conference of Mayors survey on homeland security funding reported that "for some programs, we have actually lost ground" since the first survey in August 2003. The mayors reported an increase in cities that are not expecting Urban Area Security funding, are dissatisfied with the state planning process, have not been reimbursed for increase homeland security enforcement costs, are not receiving Port Security Grant money and are not getting Mass Transit Security Grant Program funds. [US Conference of Mayors convention, Homeland Security Panel, 1/22/04]

Mayors Complain That First-Responder and Domestic Preparedness Funding to Cities Falls "Far Short." The U.S. Conference of Mayors survey on homeland security funding reported that while federal funding to cities for federal first responder/critical infrastructure and state domestic preparedness programs had improved somewhat, they "continue to fall far short of meeting this nation's goal of homeland security for our cities," and are "still far short of an acceptable level." Seventy six percent of cities reported that they had not yet received first-responder/critical infrastructure funding. [US Conference of Mayors convention, Homeland Security Panel, 1/22/04]

Bush Leaves Chemical Plants, Air Traffic, Ports, Other Sensitive Targets Under-Protected
Federal Auditors: Security Oversight of Chemical Facilities Lacking. A Government Accounting Office report released in March 2003 noted that even though U.S. chemical facilities were "attractive targets for terrorists," the ability of any facility to respond to an attack was "unknown." GAO found that the chemical industry was not required by law to assess vulnerabilities or take action to secure its facilities, and that "the federal government has not comprehensively assessed the chemical industry's vulnerabilities to terrorist attacks." A chemical plant attack, according to the GAO, could endanger more than 1 million Americans; the Justice Department has called the terrorist threat to chemical plants "real and credible." The GAO also found that the administration backed down from new regulations due to "concernsÂ…[of a] significant litigation risk" from the chemical industry. [GAO, Voluntary Initiatives Are Under Way at Chemical Facilities, but the Extent of Security Preparedness Is Unknown, March 2003; Democratic Members of the House Select Committee on Homeland Security, America at Risk, 1/04]

Federal Airport Screener Force Cut by Thousands and Counting. The initial federal air security screening force of more than 55,000 has been cut by thousands after being attacked by the GOP. Rep. Harold Rogers, chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on the Appropriations Committee, said the Transportation Security Administration "threw money at the employee and screening deadlines in a shotgun fashion and over-hired." TSA reports that its force will number only 48,000 screeners by the end of 2004, and the GOP-controlled House Appropriations Committee has required TSA to cut the force even more, to 45,000 screeners. [HR 2555, 2003; Transportation Security Admin., www.tsa.gov; Associated Press, 4/30/03; Washington Post, 5/1/03]

TSA's Air Cargo Plan Leaves Major Gaps in Security. TSA's air cargo inspection program only provides for limited random inspections performed by shippers and freight forwarders. The next level in TSA's plan, screening 100 percent of "high-risk" cargo, will not be implemented until 2005, and may be of questionable value because TSA "has no experience classifying cargo by risk," and does not even possess a "fully developed database" on authorized cargo shippers. [Democratic Members of the House Select Committee on Homeland Security, America at Risk, 1/04]

TSA Tried to Cut Air Marshals' Flights to Save on Hotel Fees Just One Day Before DHS Issued New Hijacking Alert. Just one day before the Homeland Security Department issued a warning about airline hijackings, air marshals in the Washington, DC, area had been told to cancel long flights with hotel stays due to "monetary considerations." [Washington Post, 7/31/03]

Bush Proposed Massive Cuts in Port Security Grant Funding. Bush's 2005 budget calls for $50 million for port security grants, down from $200 million in his 2004 budget. Seven million cargo containers arrive in US ports each year, but as few as 2 percent of those are screened. The CIA reported, "The United States is more likely to be attacked with a weapon of mass destruction smuggled into the country aboard a ship than one delivered by a ballistic missile." And a 2003 Pentagon simulation found that even a "minor" attack on a US port could shut down all the ports for a month. [Budget of the United States, www.omb.gov; Journal of Commerce, 3/24/03; Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 7/10/03; Portland Press Herald, 7/5/03; Boston Globe, 6/21/03]

Bush's Container Security Program Has Serious Gaps, is "Inherently Dangerous." Bush's Container Security Initiative uses ships' manifest data, which the GAO called "one of the least reliable or useful for targeting purposes," to evaluate risk. Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow Stephen Flynn called the program "inherently dangerous." The president of the American Association of Port Authorities, Kurt Nagle, said: "It's disheartening that port facilities have been neglected as a key player. Port authorities and facility operators are expected to comply with the new security regulations, at a cost of billions of dollars. Federal help is simply imperative in order to make that expectation reality." [Sunday Telegram, 3/30/03; House HS Committee Democrats, America at Risk, 1/04; Congressional Quarterly, 2/9/04]

Bush is Letting Border Security Slide
Less Than 10 Percent of the Nation's Border Agents Secure the Northern Border. Only 1,000 border agents patrol the United State's border with Canada, compared to 9,500 that patrol the nation's southern border. While the US-Mexico border is 2,000 miles long, the US-Canada border is 5,000 miles, meaning that only one agent patrols for every 5 miles of border. The Canadian Security and Intelligence Service, Canada's domestic anti-terrorism agency, has acknowledged that Al Qaeda maintains cells and personnel in Canada, which possess "the capability and conviction to provide support for terrorist activities in North America." [Deseret Morning News, 7/20/03; Washington Post, 12/25/02]

Bush's Bioterror Security Response Fragmented and Neglected
Bush Allowed Smallpox Vaccination Program to Wither Away. Bush's plan for vaccinating first responders for smallpox evaportated after it failed to garner the expected number of volunteers and was criticized for not taking into account possible health problems and workers' concerns. The program was supposed to encompass up to 10 million first responders but was said by a CDC official in October 2003 to have "ceased," with only 38,549 vaccinated. An official of the AFL-CIO, Robert McGarrah Jr., blamed the missed target on, "the administration [refusal] to listen to the concerns of patients, doctors, nurses and other health care workers." During a Senate hearing on January 29, 2003, health care professionals expressed "serious doubts" about Bush's smallpox vaccination plan. In particular, the chief of pediatrics at the largest children's hospital in the nation, said his hospital would not participate because "The virus might spread from the arm of a health care worker to a hospitalized child." [New York Times, 1/30/03, 3/7/03; Washington Post, 2/24/03; Associated Press, 4/2/03; USA Today, 10/16/03]

Bush Proposed Separating Vaccine Stockpile From Homeland Security Department. Bush's 2005 budget proposed transferring the Strategic National Stockpile, the reserves of vaccines for possible bioterror incidents, from DHS to the Department of Health and Human Services, splintering it from the coordinated anti-terror response efforts of Homeland Security. [Department of Homeland Security, 2005 Budget in Brief, www.dhs.gov]

Intelligence Sharing Still Not a Reality
Homeland Security Intelligence Still Not Shared With Federal and State Officials. A Government Accounting Office survey found that only 13 percent of federal officials and 35 percent of state officials believed that the level of intelligence sharing between federal, state, and local officials was adequate and effective. [Select Committee on Homeland Security Democrats, 1/04]

Bush's Actions Have Hindered US Intelligence Integration. DHS reported that focus and funding to integrate intelligence agencies through the DHS has largely been redirected to the FBI and the CIA. The report explained, "Since the establishment of DHS, two even newer entities, the Terrorist Threat Integration Center, run by the CIA, and the Terrorist Screening Center, run by the . . . FBI, have been created that have . . . responsibilities that overlap with, duplicate, or even trump those of" DHS. [Congressional Quarterly, 2/20/04]

Even the Heritage Foundation and Republican Senators Criticize Bush's Intelligence-Sharing Efforts. The conservative Heritage Foundation said: "It is deeply troubling that the [Department of Homeland Security], as the primary consumer of intelligence for providing domestic security, does not have primary control over the mechanisms for fusing and disbursing informationÂ…[DHS has become] little more than just another intelligence end user, competing with other members of the national security community to ensure that its priority requirements are met." And the Republican-controlled Senate Appropriations Committee said: "Post-September 11 reforms were intended to consolidate and unify intelligence-gathering, analysis and enforcement. Instead, we now have more agencies and organizations in the counter-terrorism game than ever before." [Congressional Quarterly, 12/16/03, 3/04/04]

Years After 9/11 Attacks There is Still No Unified Terrorist Watch List. Months of bureaucratic infighting have delayed the integration of various terrorist watch lists to the extent that two years after the 2001 terrorist attacks, no one agency maintains a comprehensive list or database. In addition, the ranking member on the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Turner noted in March 2004, "[Recently,] a senior DHS official suggested that a consolidated watch list would not be necessary." [Congressional Quarterly, 03/02/04]



Well folks, since the Republicans have been working hard to keep you scared and subservient since September 12, 2001, I'll ask you all this question:

DO YOU FEEL SAFER TODAY THAN YOU DID ON SEPTEMBER 10, 2001?

22 October 2004

Little Old Dictator Fall Down Go Boom

Fidel Castro took a tumble down some steps this week while being shown live on state-run telivision...(they couldn't deny that one!) He broke his arm and leg, pity it wasn't his neck!


HAVANA (AFP) - President Fidel Castro (news - web sites), Cuba's leader for more than 45 years, broke his left knee and right arm in a fall, but urged the Caribbean country's 11 million people to stay calm, the government said.

Castro, 78, tripped and fell as he walked down some steps from a stage on Wednesday night after giving an hour-long speech at a graduation ceremony. The incident was shown live on Cuban television.

"The medical exam confirmed what the commander in chief himself anticipated, that after his accidental fall at yesterday's ceremony there is a fracture in his left knee and a fissure in the upper part of the humerus of the right arm, which will be treated appropriately," it added.
It also underscored that Castro "is in a good general state of health and his spirits are excellent."

The Cuban government, still in Cold War mode because of hostile relations with the United States, normally treats the medical condition of its leader as a state secret. Castro joked about seeing pictures of himself on the floor in Thursday's international media and voiced confidence he would again make front-page news all over the world.

In Miami, home to about 800,000 Cuban-Americans, many staunch Castro foes, had had higher hopes for Castro's tumble. "I'm happy he got a good fall," said Guillermo Novo, laughing, at the Versailles restaurant in Miami's Little Havana, a favored meeting spot for Cuban exiles. "I'm only sorry he did not get really badly hurt."

"We've been looking forward to Castro's fall for years but this isn't what we had in mind," quipped one State Department official in Washington.

20 October 2004

Bush's Latest Endorsement

'Axis of Evil' partner Iran endorses Bush for president


The Bush campaign said "No thanks."

"It's not an endorsement we'll be accepting anytime soon," Bush campaign spokesman Scott Stanzel said.

"Iran should stop its pursuit of nuclear weapons and if they continue in the direction they are going, then we will have to look at what additional action may need to be taken including looking to the UN Security Council."

Kerry, who said halting nuclear proliferation will be a priority if he becomes president, believes Bush should have done more diplomatically to curb Iran's alleged nuclear weapons ambitions. He said Iran should be offered nuclear fuel for peaceful purposes but spent fuel should be taken back so it cannot be used to develop nuclear weapons.

"It is telling that this president has received the endorsement of member of the axis of evil," Kerry campaign spokeswoman Allison Dobson said.


19 October 2004

Bush protecting the First Ammendment...

From the administration that brought you the "Clear Skies" program that makes the air dirtier, we bring you the latest in ironic absurdity: kicking people out of campaign events because they were wearing T-shirts reading "Protect Our Civil Liberties."

You've seen stories about people wearing Kerry-Edwards shirts being kicked out of Bush-Cheney events. While that's certainly rude (and doesn't happen at Kerry-Edwards events when people wear Bush paraphernalia), at least you can understand the motives of the people doing it.
But how can the Bush-Cheney campaign possibly justify kicking people out for showing support for civil liberties? Does this mean that President Bush is officially opposed to the Bill of Rights? Will his campaign be issuing a statement on his plan to repeal the First Amendment?

17 October 2004

The Guardian (UK) notes Bush is mentally unstable...

I bet you'll never see this in the American media!

A senior Republican, experienced and wise in the ways of Washington,
told me last Friday that he does not necessarily accept that Bush is unstable,
but what is clear, he added, is that he is now manifestly unfit to be President.


This, too, is a view that is widely felt, but seldom articulated
and then only in private, within the Republican as well as Democratic
establishments in Washington. Either way, the choice voters make on Tuesday
fortnight should be obvious: whether he is unstable or merely unfit to be
President - and I would argue that they amount to much the same - he should
speedily be turfed out of office.


But Bush and his handlers like Cheney are driven, if nothing else,
by a primal and overriding need to win, to destroy enemies who are blocking
their way (shades, again, of Nixon?). Thus the speeches Bush now reads to the
Republican faithful at his campaign meetings reflect their intent to demonise
and annihilate Kerry's character in the eyes of the electorate; policy
statements made by Kerry are wilfully distorted and then endlessly repeated so
that, in the end, the distortions gain a credence among the majority who do not
follow such matters closely.


Whether the American electorate choose to see the mounting,
disturbing evidence about their President or whether they rally to Cheney's
obscenely manipulative appeals for their patriotic support is still up in the
air.


For the rest of the article, go here: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,1329254,00.html

15 October 2004

Bush is the better Christian?

The Christian, Pro-Life, Pro-Kerry, Anti-Bush Argument
by Anthony Wade OpEdNews.com

To all those struggling between their faith and their vote:

I recognize the conflict experienced when considering casting your vote for John Kerry when what you hold dear is your intrinsic faith and pro-life beliefs. George Bush has openly discussed his religious beliefs in forums designed to sway your opinion. Christian words ring hollow though without Christian actions to back them up.

As a born again Christian I can tell you there are two elements to the born-again process. There is the moment you decide you are a sinner and accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. That is the easy part. Unfortunately, too many people willingly accept this portion and then return to the ways of the world. The second part defines who you are. That part is to try and walk with Christ; to strive to become more Christ-like over the course of your life.

George Bush says he is born again. He says that he got to a point in his life where he needed to confront the demons that controlled him, such as alcohol, and turned his life over to the Lord. I applaud him for that decision and do not doubt his sincerity. It is what he has done since that point that clearly indicates he has not chosen to live a Christ-like life. The pro-life lobby has embraced him strictly on his word, while turning a blind eye to his deeds. Here are some points of consideration for those who are conflicted with their vote because of their beliefs.

Point One: Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace, not the Prince of War. George Bush is proud of saying that he is a “War President”. When he criticizes John Kerry, it is for the very possibility of trying to find more peaceful resolutions to the Iraq War. Bush is not only against trying to bring in our international allies but portrays Kerry as weak for even considering a peaceful solution.

The third Beatitude from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount states, “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth". To be meek, is not to be weak. Instead, Jesus is talking about a spirit of gentleness; a spirit of non-retaliation. Non-retaliation is the last thing one thinks about when considering George Bush.

Point Two: George Bush is a boastful man, whose presidency has been devoid of humility. Just the image of him landing on the aircraft carrier with the “mission accomplished” banner or when he so casually looked in the camera and said, “Bring em on!” while our troops were still in harm’s way should be evidence to you of that. There is no humility at all with George W. Bush. He has never admitted one mistake. Even as his advisors are saying that Iraq is a mess and poorly managed, he looks us in the eye and says he would do it all over again the exact same way. John Kerry has been accused of flip-flopping just because he displays the Christian value of being humble and realizing that if policies are failed, you correct them.

The first Beatitude says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven". To be poor in spirit is the opposite of that haughty, self-assertive, and self-sufficient disposition that the world so much embraces. It is the opposite of George Bush.

Point Three: Pro-life, should mean all life, including those who have committed crimes. You cannot claim biblical justification for defending the life of the unborn while you take pleasure in the execution of the accused. As Governor of Texas, Bush presided over the executions of 152 people. In addition, he mocked one of the women he put to death.

Republican journalist Tucker Carlson described it as follows:
“Bush mimicking the woman's final plea for her life. "'Please,' Bush whimpers, his lips pursed in mock desperation, 'don't kill me.'"

One of the most famous pro-lifers Gary Bauer had commented on this disgusting parody by Bush: "I think it is nothing short of unbelievable that the governor of a major state running for president thought it was acceptable to mock a woman he decided to put to death."

It is not for man to judge, but for God. The fifth beatitude states, “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy". Mercy is not mocking a person you are about to execute. Mercy is not George Bush. John Kerry is consistent with the merciful teachings of Christ, although he would support the death penalty for terrorists involved with 9-11.

Point Four: Those of us who respect life need to be consistent with respecting all life. We must realize the designs that Bush has for Iraq and for future wars. John McCain has said that we will be in Iraq for 10-20 years. Additionally, Bush will continue the conflict in Afghanistan and plans to invade Iran and Syria . Don’t be fooled by the “war on terror” fear card from Bush. This is a geopolitical design, founded by the Neocons. The facts are clear. The Iraq invasion was an administration priority from the moment Bush entered office and Afghanistan was planned four months before 9-11. There is nothing related to terrorism in these wars. Thus, we are left with the conclusion that as Bush is fond of saying, he is just a war president. He has said that he goes to sleep with war on his mind, and I believe him. John Kerry’s plan is to reach out to the countries we have alienated and bring our troops home within four years. His is a plan of peace, consistent with the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Jesus said in the seventh beatitude, “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God". George Bush is not a peacemaker, he is a war monger. To claim to be pro-life, while aborting 21-year olds every day on the battle field is the height of hypocrisy. Bush may be born again, but he doesn’t behave as one of the children of God.

Point Five: George W. Bush believes in the redistribution of wealth to the richest, at the expense of the poor. His new “middle class” tax cut actually sees 44% of the benefits going to the top 20% of this country. The middle class only sees 10%. Healthcare is a disaster as close to 50 million Americans don’t have any health insurance. Bush has consistently sided with corporations at the expense of the poor. His offer of up to $3,000 per family to purchase healthcare is insulting as the current costs are more than $8,000. John Kerry has supported real tax breaks for the middle class and working poor. He has vowed to eliminate corporate greed and handouts to the wealthiest Americans.

Jesus said in Luke 18:22, “sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me”. This was his message to the rich man who wanted to know how to gain heaven. George Bush has consistently supported the rich and persecuted the poor through policy. Under Bush, there are four million more people in poverty.
These only scratch the surface. Bush has not walked a Christian life. He has not led as a Christian. It is a vast difference between saying Jesus Christ is your favorite philosopher and actually following his teachings. Bush wraps himself up in the flag to instill false patriotism. He wraps himself up in the bible without following its commands, and thus becomes a false prophet. George Bush has said that God told him to “strike at Saddam”. Do you believe that God instructed him to “shock and awe” the Iraqis?

Do you believe that God told him to kill over 20,000 Iraqi civilians? There is nothing biblical or Christian about this war. There is nothing pro-life about 20,000 deaths. You must not vote this election based on empty words. You must look at deeds and what they stand for. If you are basing your decision on being pro-life for religious beliefs, then it is your duty to look at all of George W. Bush in religious terms and hold him to the standard of the Word of God, which he claims to read every day.

George W. Bush has not followed the doctrines Jesus Christ. I will leave you with the Word of God, from Romans 16:17-18:

“Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.”

Amen.

14 October 2004

Debate Bias

Did you find the moderator last night to be just a little bit too pro-Bush? There were never any hard questions, and he let the president walk all over him more than once; a clear violation of the carefully negotiated 32 pages of rules. In the meantime, he asked Kerry lots of useless puffery that was meant to showcase him as a liberal 'out of touch with mainstream America'. Questions on religion, gay marriage, and the like. (Ooh, my top two issues this year!)


Well, just in case you were wondering, Bob Schieffer is a personal friend of the President and should have NEVER been on the stage last night with the candidates.


Bob Schieffer comes from Texas, and he tends to root for pols from that
part of the country. And, according to what he told Larry King, he isn’t too
high on those “northeastern” swells. More remarkably, he’s a long-time personal
friend of George Bush—and Bush will be one of the evening’s two candidates!
Indeed, Schieffer used to play golf with Bush. He used to go to ball games with
Bush. The two men even went to spring training together, according to Howard
Kurtz’s well-ignored profile! And Schieffer’s brother, Tom Schieffer, is a
long-time, close business associate of Bush. Indeed, after Bush found his way to
to the White House, Tom Schieffer slept in the Lincoln Bedroom! Today he serves
as U.S. ambassador to Australia. Family friend Bush sent him there.



13 October 2004

Nevada Voter Fraud

Here's an outrage from the State of Nevada. It seems that the private company that was overseeing the registration of thousands of new voters was a front for the RNC. Hundreds, if not thousands of Democratic registrations were thrown out or shredded, while the Republican registrations were processed quickly and efficiently. Here's the story from KLAS-TV, Channel 8 (CBS) in Las Vegas:



(Oct. 12) -- Employees of a private voter registration company allege that hundreds, perhaps thousands of voters who may think they are registered will be rudely surprised on election day. The company claims hundreds of registration forms were thrown in the trash.
Anyone who has recently registered or re-registered to vote outside a mall or grocery store or even government building may be affected.

The I-Team has obtained information about an alleged widespread pattern of potential registration fraud aimed at democrats. Thee focus of the story is a private registration company called Voters Outreach of America, AKA America Votes.

The out-of-state firm has been in Las Vegas for the past few months, registering voters. It employed up to 300 part-time workers and collected hundreds of registrations per day, but former employees of the company say that Voters Outreach of America only wanted Republican registrations.

Two former workers say they personally witnessed company supervisors rip up and trash registration forms signed by Democrats.

"We caught her taking Democrats out of my pile, handed them to her assistant and he ripped them up right in front of us. I grabbed some of them out of the garbage and she tells her assisatnt to get those from me," said Eric Russell, former Voters Outreach employee.
Eric Russell managed to retrieve a pile of shredded paperwork including signed voter registration forms, all from Democrats. We took them to the Clark County Election Department and confirmed that they had not, in fact, been filed with the county as required by law.
So the people on those forms who think they will be able to vote on Election Day are sadly mistaken. We attempted to speak to Voters Outreach but found that its office has been rented out to someone else.

The landlord says Voters Outreach was evicted for non-payment of rent. Another source said the company has now moved on to Oregon where it is once again registering voters. It's unknown how many registrations may have been tossed out, but another ex-employee told Eyewitness News she had the same suspicions when she worked there.
It's going to take a while to sort all of this out, but the immediate concern for voters is to make sure you really are registered.

Call the Clark County Election Department at 455-VOTE orclick here to see if you are registered.

The company has been largely, if not entirely funded, by the Republican National Committee. Similar complaints have been received in Reno where the registrar has asked the FBI to investigate.


Are you outraged yet? The Republicans will stop at NOTHING to keep their man in power!

12 October 2004

Videos to watch!

Hey folks, a couple of links you might be interested in. The first one is hilarious. Just make sure you've got headphones on if you stream it in the office. It's actually the clearest articulation I've seen of the Republic National Platform....

http://www.democrats.org/blog/display/00011074.html





This video, on the other hand, is very sobering. Be warned, it's got some nasty footage of 09/11.

"On the morning of 9/11/01, President George W. Bush was scheduledto appear at a Florida elementary school to promote a reading programfor third graders. It was at this event President Bush learned that thenation was under attack by terrorists...His response was to sit there and do nothing for another seven minutes..."

http://www.bi30archive.org/



And here is the level of interest in finding Mr. bin Laden, this from the self-appointed 'war president'...

(From an official White House press release, March 13, 2002: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/03/20020313-8.html)

"Well, as I say, we haven't heard much from him. And I wouldn't necessarily say he's at the center of any command structure. And, again, I don't know where he is. I -- I'll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him."

10 October 2004

Crawford Newspaper Endorses Kerry

That's right, the president's own hometown newspaper has endorsed his opponent. It's touched off quite a controversy, and several hundred folks have cancelled their subscriptions and pulled advertisements. What's worse, though, is the outright violence and vitriol that has been aimed at the newspaper. Several reporters were threatened, and one was even asked to leave a sporting event he was covering before 'something happened'.

Here in America, the constitution gives us a free press under the First Ammendment. Hitler, Stalin, and yes, even Saddam Hussein, controlled the media in their day, and were able to control what was said. Any opposing point of view was quickly crushed. It is a sad day in America when ordinary citizens line up to put a newspaper out of business because they printed an opinion that people didn't agree with. Well, guess what. That's FASCISM!

So, in the interest of democracy and freedom of speech, here is the editorial from the Lone Star Iconoclast (Crawford, TX) in its entirety. Please use the link at the bottom to go to the newspaper's home page and send the editor a letter of support.



Kerry Will Restore American Dignity2004 Iconoclast Presidential Endorsement

Few Americans would have voted for George W. Bush four years ago if he had promised that, as President, he would:
• Empty the Social Security trust fund by $507 billion to help offset fiscal irresponsibility and at the same time slash Social Security benefits.
• Cut Medicare by 17 percent and reduce veterans’ benefits and military pay.
• Eliminate overtime pay for millions of Americans and raise oil prices by 50 percent.
• Give tax cuts to businesses that sent American jobs overseas, and, in fact, by policy encourage their departure.
• Give away billions of tax dollars in government contracts without competitive bids.
• Involve this country in a deadly and highly questionable war, and
• Take a budget surplus and turn it into the worst deficit in the history of the United States, creating a debt in just four years that will take generations to repay.

These were elements of a hidden agenda that surfaced only after he took office.The publishers of The Iconoclast endorsed Bush four years ago, based on the things he promised, not on this smoke-screened agenda.Today, we are endorsing his opponent, John Kerry, based not only on the things that Bush has delivered, but also on the vision of a return to normality that Kerry says our country needs.

Four items trouble us the most about the Bush administration: his initiatives to disable the Social Security system, the deteriorating state of the American economy, a dangerous shift away from the basic freedoms established by our founding fathers, and his continuous mistakes regarding terrorism and Iraq.

President Bush has announced plans to change the Social Security system as we know it by privatizing it, which when considering all the tangents related to such a change, would put the entire economy in a dramatic tailspin.The Social Security Trust Fund actually lends money to the rest of the government in exchange for government bonds, which is how the system must work by law, but how do you later repay Social Security while you are running a huge deficit? It’s impossible, without raising taxes sometime in the future or becoming fiscally responsible now. Social Security money is being used to escalate our deficit and, at the same time, mask a much larger government deficit, instead of paying down the national debt, which would be a proper use, to guarantee a future gain.

Privatization is problematic in that it would subject Social Security to the ups, downs, and outright crashes of the Stock Market. It would take millions in brokerage fees and commissions out of the system, and, unless we have assurance that the Ivan Boeskys and Ken Lays of the world will be caught and punished as a deterrent, subject both the Market and the Social Security Fund to fraud and market manipulation, not to mention devastate and ruin multitudes of American families that would find their lives lost to starvation, shame, and isolation.

Kerry wants to keep Social Security, which each of us already owns. He says that the program is manageable, since it is projected to be solvent through 2042, with use of its trust funds.
This would give ample time to strengthen the economy, reduce the budget deficit the Bush administration has created, and, therefore, bolster the program as needed to fit ever-changing demographics.Our senior citizens depend upon Social Security.

Bush’s answer is radical and uncalled for, and would result in chaos as Americans have never experienced. Do we really want to risk the future of Social Security on Bush by spinning the wheel of uncertainty?

In those dark hours after the World Trade Center attacks, Americans rallied together with a new sense of patriotism. We were ready to follow Bush’s lead through any travail.He let us down.When he finally emerged from his hide-outs on remote military bases well after the first crucial hours following the attack, he gave sound-bytes instead of solutions. He did not trust us to be ready to sacrifice, build up our public and private security infrastructure, or cut down on our energy use to put economic pressure on the enemy in all the nations where he hides.

He merely told us to shop, spend, and pretend nothing was wrong.

Rather than using the billions of dollars expended on the invasion of Iraq to shore up our boundaries and go after Osama bin Laden and the Saudi Arabian terrorists, the funds were used to initiate a war with what Bush called a more immediate menace, Saddam Hussein, in oil-rich Iraq.

After all, Bush said Iraq had weapons of mass destruction trained on America. We believed him, just as we believed it when he reported that Iraq was the heart of terrorism. We trusted him.The Iconoclast, the President’s hometown newspaper, took Bush on his word and editorialized in favor of the invasion. The newspaper’s publisher promoted Bush and the invasion of Iraq to Londoners in a BBC interview during the time that the administration was wooing the support of Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Again, he let us down.

We presumed the President had solid proof of the existence of these weapons, what and where they were, even as the search continued. Otherwise, our troops would be in much greater danger and the premise for a hurried-up invasion would be moot, allowing more time to solicit assistance from our allies.Instead we were duped into following yet another privileged agenda.Now he argues unconvincingly that Iraq was providing safe harbor to terrorists, his new key justification for the invasion. It is like arguing that America provided safe harbor to terrorists leading to 9/11.

Once and for all, George Bush was President of the United States on that day. No one else. He had been President nine months, he had been officially warned of just such an attack a full month before it happened. As President, ultimately he and only he was responsible for our failure to avert those attacks.We should expect that a sitting President would vacation less, if at all, and instead tend to the business of running the country, especially if he is, as he likes to boast, a “wartime president.” America is in service 365 days a year.

We don’t need a part-time President who does not show up for duty as Commander-In-Chief until he is forced to, and who is in a constant state of blameless denial when things don’t get done.What has evolved from the virtual go-it-alone conquest of Iraq is more gruesome than a stain on a White House intern’s dress. America’s reputation and influence in the world has diminished, leaving us with brute force as our most persuasive voice.Iraq is now a quagmire: no WMDs, no substantive link between Saddam and Osama, and no workable plan for the withdrawal of our troops. We are asked to go along on faith. But remember, blind patriotism can be a dangerous thing and “spin” will not bring back to life a dead soldier; certainly not a thousand of them.

Kerry has remained true to his vote granting the President the authority to use the threat of war to intimidate Saddam Hussein into allowing weapons inspections. He believes President Bush rushed into war before the inspectors finished their jobs. Kerry also voted against President Bush’s $87 billion for troop funding because the bill promoted poor policy in Iraq, privileged Halliburton and other corporate friends of the Bush administration to profiteer from the war, and forced debt upon future generations of Americans.

Kerry’s four-point plan for Iraq is realistic, wise, strong, and correct. With the help from our European and Middle Eastern allies, his plan is to train Iraqi security forces, involve Iraqis in their rebuilding and constitution-writing processes, forgive Iraq’s multi-billion dollar debts, and convene a regional conference with Iraq’s neighbors in order to secure a pledge of respect for Iraq’s borders and non-interference in Iraq’s internal affairs.

The publishers of the Iconoclast differ with Bush on other issues, including the denial of stem cell research, shortchanging veterans’ entitlements, cutting school programs and grants, dictating what our children learn through a thought-controlling “test” from Washington rather than allowing local school boards and parents to decide how young people should be taught, ignoring the environment, and creating extraneous language in the Patriot Act that removes some of the very freedoms that our founding fathers and generations of soldiers fought so hard to preserve.

We are concerned about the vast exportation of jobs to other countries, due in large part to policies carried out by Bush appointees. Funds previously geared at retention of small companies are being given to larger concerns, such as Halliburton — companies with strong ties to oil and gas. Job training has been cut every year that Bush has resided at the White House.

Then there is his resolve to inadequately finance Homeland Security and to cut the Community Oriented Policing Program (COPS) by 94 percent, to reduce money for rural development, to slash appropriations for the Small Business Administration, and to under-fund veterans’ programs.

Likewise troubling is that President Bush fought against the creation of the 9/11 Commission and is yet to embrace its recommendations. Vice President Cheney’s Halliburton has been awarded multi-billion-dollar contracts without undergoing any meaningful bid process — an enormous conflict of interest — plus the company has been significantly raiding the funds of Export-Import Bank of America, reducing investment that could have gone toward small business trade.

When examined based on all the facts, Kerry’s voting record is enviable and echoes that of many Bush allies who are aghast at how the Bush administration has destroyed the American economy. Compared to Bush on economic issues, Kerry would be an arch-conservative, providing for Americans first. He has what it takes to right our wronged economy.

The re-election of George W. Bush would be a mandate to continue on our present course of chaos. We cannot afford to double the debt that we already have. We need to be moving in the opposite direction.John Kerry has 30 years of experience looking out for the American people and can navigate our country back to prosperity and re-instill in America the dignity she so craves and deserves. He has served us well as a highly decorated Vietnam veteran and has had a successful career as a district attorney, lieutenant governor, and senator.

Kerry has a positive vision for America, plus the proven intelligence, good sense, and guts to make it happen. That’s why The Iconoclast urges Texans not to rate the candidate by his hometown or even his political party, but instead by where he intends to take the country.

The Iconoclast wholeheartedly endorses John Kerry.

http://www.iconoclast-texas.com/default.htm