What if?

In a dramatic speech before Congress, Representative Ron Paul (R-Texas) asked the following rhetorical questions:


What if the policies of foreign intervention, entangling alliances, policing the world, nation building, and spreading our values through force are deeply flawed?

What if it is true that Saddam Hussein never had weapons of mass destruction?

What if it is true that Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden were never allies?

What if it is true that the overthrow of Saddam Hussein did nothing to enhance our national security?

What if our current policy in the Middle East leads to the overthrow of our client oil states in the region?

What if the American people really knew that more than 20,000 American troops have suffered serious casualties or died in the Iraq war, and 9% of our forces already have been made incapable of returning to battle?

What if it turns out there are many more guerrilla fighters in Iraq than our government admits?
What if there really have been 100,000 civilian Iraqi casualties, as some claim, and what is an acceptable price for “doing good?”

What if Rumsfeld is replaced for the wrong reasons, and things become worse under a Defense Secretary who demands more troops and an expansion of the war?

What if we discover that, when they do vote, the overwhelming majority of Iraqis support Islamic (Sharia) law over western secular law, and want our troops removed?

What if those who correctly warned of the disaster awaiting us in Iraq are never asked for their opinion of what should be done now?

What if the only solution for Iraq is to divide the country into three separate regions, recognizing the principle of self-determination while rejecting the artificial boundaries created in 1918 by non-Iraqis?

What if it turns out radical Muslims don’t hate us for our freedoms, but rather for our policies in the Middle East that directly affected Arabs and Muslims?

What if the invasion and occupation of Iraq actually distracted from pursuing and capturing Osama bin Laden?

What if we discover that democracy can’t be spread with force of arms?

What if democracy is deeply flawed, and instead we should be talking about liberty, property rights, free markets, the rule of law, localized government, weak centralized government, and self-determination promoted through persuasion, not force?

What if Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda actually welcomed our invasion and occupation of Arab/Muslim Iraq as proof of their accusations against us, and it served as a magnificent recruiting tool for them?

What if our policy greatly increased and prolonged our vulnerability to terrorists and guerilla attacks both at home and abroad?

What if the Pentagon, as reported by its Defense Science Board, actually recognized the dangers of our policy before the invasion, and their warnings were ignored or denied?

What if the argument that by fighting over there, we won’t have to fight here, is wrong, and the opposite is true?

What if we can never be safer by giving up some of our freedoms?

What if the principle of pre-emptive war is adopted by Russia, China, Israel, India, Pakistan, and others, “justified” by current U.S. policy?

What if pre-emptive war and pre-emptive guilt stem from the same flawed policy of authoritarianism, though we fail to recognize it?

What if Pakistan is not a trustworthy ally, and turns on us when conditions deteriorate?

What if plans are being laid to provoke Syria and/or Iran into actions that would be used to justify a military response and pre-emptive war against them?

What if our policy of democratization of the Middle East fails, and ends up fueling a Russian-Chinese alliance that we regret – an alliance not achieved even at the height of the Cold War?

What if the policy forbidding profiling at our borders and airports is deeply flawed?

What if presuming the guilt of a suspected terrorist without a trial leads to the total undermining of constitutional protections for American citizens when arrested?

What if we discover the army is too small to continue policies of pre-emption and nation-building? What if a military draft is the only way to mobilize enough troops?

What if the “stop-loss” program is actually an egregious violation of trust and a breach of contract between the government and soldiers?

What if it actually is a backdoor draft, leading to unbridled cynicism and rebellion against a voluntary army and generating support for a draft of both men and women?

Will lying to troops lead to rebellion and anger toward the political leadership running the war?

What if the Pentagon’s legal task-force opinion that the President is not bound by international or federal law regarding torture stands unchallenged, and sets a precedent which ultimately harms Americans, while totally disregarding the moral, practical, and legal arguments against such a policy?

What if the intelligence reform legislation – which gives us bigger, more expensive bureaucracy – doesn’t bolster our security, and distracts us from the real problem of revamping our interventionist foreign policy?

What if we suddenly discover we are the aggressors, and we are losing an unwinnable guerrilla war?

What if we discover, too late, that we can’t afford this war – and that our policies have led to a dollar collapse, rampant inflation, high interest rates, and a severe economic downturn?

It's well worth your time to read the entire piece, and there's even a link to the speech as delivered on the floor of the House of Representatives.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul231.html

Starbucks Bad - for oh so many reasons.

Never mind how bad the coffee is. Read this:

Coffee farmers are becoming even more impoverished, going further into debt and losing their land due to extremely low world coffee prices. Meanwhile coffee companies such as Starbucks have not lowered consumer prices but are pocketing the difference, even taking into account the quality premiums in the specialty industry.

According to Fair Trade Labeling Organizations International, Fair Trade farmers sell only about 20% of their coffee at a Fair Trade price. The rest is sold at the world price, due to lack of demand. Demand can be created by large corporations selling Fair Trade.

Since 2000, consumers have been demanding that Starbucks offer BREWED Fair Trade coffee as well as whole bean. Many Starbucks cafes will brew a pot of Fair Trade - but only if specifically asked. Meanwhile Fair Trade Coffee has yet to be promoted as the brewed Coffee of the Day, which is the only way to ensure real volume for Fair Trade Farmers.


Check the link for lots more information, and some constructive things you can do to make a difference: http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/coffee/starbucks.html


And while you're at it, check out the fair trade store. Great if you brew coffee or tea at home, or eat chocolate, or lots of other things... http://store.gxonlinestore.org/

When Words Fail Us

Inaugurations, even more than political conventions, are the kind of predictable, anti-climactic events where in between Gatlin Brothers' performances and fireworks displays, the speeches start to sound like they're coming from that teacher on Peanuts: "Waa-wa-waa, wa, wa-wa-wa-waa." It's possible -- not probable, of course -- that Bush could shock and dazzle us tomorrow, and make inaugural oratory history with some line of the caliber of "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," or "Ask not what your country can do for you." (We realize that this is not likely.)

But so far, things are going according to plan: Other than the somewhat cold and snowy weather, which has despite its relative mildness predictably paralyzed the nation's capital, there ain't much to write home about. Perhaps that's why, in CNN's wall-to-wall coverage leading up to the inaugural events, the desperate anchors talked more about the weather than anything else: Judy Woodruff discussed how bad the traffic was coming in from Maryland -- it just crawled -- and in a separate news bulletin, Wolf Blitzer described the disappointment the Rockettes felt when a gala event at the Ellipse was delayed because people were too cold to show up.

So let's not just depend on words alone to describe what's happening in Washington today and Thursday. Some of the most dramatic, and telling, descriptions of the inaugural are expressed in numbers, anyway. According to an L.A. Times poll, a full three quarters of the American people think the lavish inaugural festivities should have been toned down, what with the Iraq war and tsunami relief efforts ongoing. But that hasn't deterred the Republicans -- or the lobbyists and industry folk here -- from partying it up as they prepare to help shape Bush's second-term agenda.

The Progress Report has compiled a great list of inaugural factoids in a kind of Harper's Index-ripoff format. Here's a sampling of inaugural costs and how some of the money could have been better spent, courtesy of the Center for American Progress:

# $40 million: Cost of Bush inaugural ball festivities, not counting security costs.

# $20,000: Cost of yellow roses purchased for inaugural festivities by D.C.'s Ritz Carlton.

# 200: Number of Humvees outfitted with top-of-the-line armor for troops in Iraq that could have been purchased with the amount of money blown on the inauguration.

# $10,000: Price of an inaugural package at the Fairmont Hotel, which includes a Beluga caviar and Dom Perignon reception, a chauffeured Rolls Royce and two actors posing as "faux" Secret Service agents, complete with black sunglasses and cufflink walkie-talkies.

# 22 million: Number of children in regions devastated by the tsunami who could have received vaccinations and preventive health care with the amount of money spent on the inauguration.

# 1,160,000: Number of girls who could be sent to school for a year in Afghanistan with the amount of money lavished on the inauguration.

# $15,000: The down payment to rent a fur coat paid by one gala attendee who didn't want the hassle of schlepping her own through the airport.

# 2,500: Number of U.S. troops used to stand guard as President Bush takes his oath of office.

# 26,000: Number of Kevlar vests for U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan that could be purchased for $40 million.



By the Numbers: The U.S. After 4 Years of Bush

Poverty Rate
2000: 11.3% or 31.6 million Americans
2003: 12.5% or 35.9 million Americans

Stock market
Dow Jones Industrial Average
1/19/01: 10,587.59
1/19/05: 10,539.97

NASDAQ
1/19/01: 2,770.38
1/19/05: 2,073.59

S&P 500
1/19/01: 1,342.54
1/19/05: 1,184.63

Value of the Dollar
1/19/01: 1 Dollar = 1.06 Euros
1/19/05: 1 Dollar = 0.77 Euros

Budget
2000 budget surplus $236.4 billion
2004 budget deficit $412.6 billion
That's a shift of $649 billion and doesn't include the cost of the Iraq war.

Cost of the war in Iraq$150.8 billion

American Casualties in Iraq
Deaths: 1,369
Wounded: 10,252

The Debt
End of 2000: $5.7 trillion
Today: $7.6 trillion
That's a 4 year increase of 33%.

The 23rd Sigh

Bush is my shepherd; I dwell in want.
He maketh logs to be cut down in national forests.
He leadeth trucks into the still wilderness.
He restoreth my fears.
He leadeth me in the paths of international disgrace for his ego's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of pollution and war, I will find no exit, for thou art in office.
Thy tax cuts for the rich and thy media control, they discomfort me.
Thou preparest an agenda of deception in the presence of thy religion.
Thou anointest my head with foreign oil.
My health insurance runneth out.
Surely megalomania and false patriotism shall follow me all the days ofthy term,
And my jobless child shall dwell in my basement forever.

Don't Buy Timberlands!

Hi folks.

Most of you know that I favor work boots around this time of year. But I bet you don’t know about my longstanding loyalty to the Timberland brand. For more years than I care to count, I would dutifully troop over to Bob’s Stores, or recently to the Timberland Outlet in Kittery.

But about 5 years ago, I noticed a dramatic decline in quality. Timberland, after many years of advertising as ‘Made in the USA’, suddenly and without fanfare, shifted their production to China. Initially, I didn’t think that much of it, but my first pair of Chinese-made boots didn’t quite last me a year, where I used to get 2 or 3 seasons out of the American-Made boots.

My last two pairs have not lasted even one season, and in fact, my last pair has just quit after somewhat less than 6 months of wear. Every time, the sole has split clean through to the footbed, rendering the waterproofing completely useless, and giving me cold and wet feet in the process. So, here it is, January 2005, and I’m reduced to wearing either my big LL Bean storm boots, or my Gore-Tex Rockport dress shoes to slog through the mess to get to work every day.

But I’m not taking this sitting down. The first thing I did was check the internet for ‘boots made in the USA’, and it led me to this website: http://www.usstuff.com/shoes.htm You’ll note that Timberland is nowhere to be found, and in fact, most of the big brand name manufacturers are not on this list, either.

But what I did find was this company: http://www.redwingshoes.com/

This looked like a decent shoe, so I had to ask all my online groupies about it. As it turns out, these are highly recommended by the manufacturing industry for their quality and safety. One online friend gave it the following endorsement: My Red-Wing boots lasted damn near 5 years in a plant! My last pair of Red-Wing shoes are still in great shape after 3 years of plant work. So yeah, they're good!

So, needless to say, I’m in the market for a new pair of Red Wing boots. And if you’re really interested in keeping manufacturing jobs in the USA and supporting union shops, check out this website: http://www.shopunionmade.org/

So, give it some thought the next time you need a new pair of work boots, and if you can, remember to Buy Blue!! http://www.buyblue.org/

Some thoughts on Alberto Gonzales...

AntiWar.Com
by Justin Raimondo

"Excuse me for being culturally insensitive, but America is fast becoming a banana republic. Our arrogant caudillo swaggers across the national stage wearing a variety of outlandish military uniforms, while adoring crowds of red-state fascists roar their approval. And every known principle of American political culture -- the rule of law and the Constitution, the balance of powers, the right of due process, and the inviolability of our homes -- is thrown overboard in the name of fighting a war without end."

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=4286

Conservative Christians respond to Tsunami

It took President Bush three days to ready himself to go before the television cameras and make a public statement about Sunday's devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck southern Asia. Even though he was late, and much more money will be needed, the president pledged at least $35 million in aid to the victims of the disaster. But, as of December 30, some of the president's major family-values constituents have yet to be heard from: It's business as usual at the web sites of the American Family Association, the Family Research Council, the Christian Coalition, Focus on the Family, Concerned Women for America, and the Coral Ridge Ministries.

These powerful and well-funded political Christian fundamentalist organizations appear to be suffering from a compassion deficit. Organizations which are amazingly quick to organize to fight against same-sex marriage, a woman's right to choose, and embryonic stem cell research are missing in action when it comes to responding to the disaster in southern Asia. None of their web sites are actively soliciting aid for the victims of the earthquake/tsunami.

In fact, there is no mention of the giant earthquake and tsunami that devastated southern Asia. There are no headlines about the dead, injured or the tremendous damage; there are no urgent appeals for donations; there are no phone numbers to call; there are no links to organizations collecting money and providing aid for the victims.

For the full story, go here: http://www.workingforchange.com/printitem.cfm?itemid=18309

Bush's latest acrocity - Armed Medics!

Here's a stunning bit of news out of the Pentagram: It seems that they're starting to train medics in the art of combat now. Whatever happened to the Geneva Convention?

http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2005/01/03/medics_training_applies_lessons_of_battle/

I'm aware of several celebrated instances of 'all hands on deck' where the medics, cooks, and even chaplains were given weapons and sent out to fight... (Pearl Harbor, Salerno, Anzio) but these seemed to be extraordinary circumstances and not a part of the regular training.This seems to me to be an extraordinary violation of the rules of war, and really should be a wakeup call to the rest of the world as to just how debased and derelict the United States has become.

Even the Nazis respected a medic, and theirs were unarmed as well. If you're a WWII buff, there literally hundreds of stories out there about both sides respecting each other, and even helping to evacuate wounded troops in combat situations, without firing a shot, and then going back to their lines as if this was completely normal.

That won't be happening under Bush, thanks to this latest outrage, medics have become targets.