Win the Lottery for basic healthcare?
Pres. Bush's new plan to give
"50,000 lucky individuals" prescription drug coverage is a ridiculous political gimmick and it's sad. Under the plan the estimated 500,000 to 600,000 people eligible for the new prescription drug coverage might be chosen by lottery to get prescription coverage 16 months early. America's the "leader of the free world" and the only industrialized nation with no form of government sponsored healthcare. Instead of the basic necessity of healthcare and medicine coverage, America's senior citizens will continue to chose between buying medicine or food---but maybe, just maybe they'll win the lottery.
Lies, lies, lies…. following the trail to the top
Although it seems most of the nation has tuned out on the Abu Ghraib prison abuse, the scandal is growing daily. We learned earlier this week that indeed, there was a
memo from the Justice Department detailing just how the CIA could effectively get around the laws of International Treaties and what “arguments” they can use in their defense. A memo that Ashcroft
refused to release to the Senate Judiciary Committee while blatantly stating, "This administration rejects torture." Obviously.
Today, sworn statements from several military canine handlers report that they were
instructed to use their dogs in interrogations by military intelligence officials. (free registration required)
So far, the only charges to emerge have been against seven MPs and do not include any dog incidents, even though such use of dogs is an apparent violation of the Geneva Conventions and the Army's field manual. The military intelligence officer in charge of Abu Ghraib later told investigators that the use of unmuzzled dogs in interrogation sessions was recommended by a two-star general and that it was "okay."
How high will it go? Watch and wait, watch and wait.
Clinton's Commencement Address
Bill Clinton
Cornell University (May 29)
`Half the world is living on less than $2 a day, a billion people live on less than $1 a day, a billion people go to bed hungry every night, a billion and a half people never get a single clean glass of water in their lives, 10 million children die every year of completely preventable childhood diseases, one in four of all people who will perish on the Earth this year will die of AIDS, TB, malaria and infections related to diarrhea. Most of them are little children who never got a single clean glass of water in their lives.
"If you solve all these problems, does it mean there will be no terrorists? No. But it means there will be fewer people who will have a reason to hate, to resent, to feel left out and left behind. One hundred and thirty million children never go to school at all. We are sitting here at Cornell celebrating the fact that students from all over the world got great educations -- in a world in which 130 million kids never darken a schoolhouse door anywhere. It would cost us a tiny fraction of what we are spending on defense and homeland defense to put every kid in this world in school for six years. We ought to do it."
Iraq War like WWII?
I sure as hell hope not. Bush recently likened our current war to
World War II in a commencement address to Air Force Academy graduates.
Let's recap, shall we:
WWII: went to war to stop genocide, torture, constant bombing of the UK and the invasion and destruction of several countries, not to mention Pearl Harbor
Iraq: WMDs (that don't exist), ousting a cruel dictator that we a) helped
bring to power in the 60s and b) saw no reason to take out of power the last time we had a war with the country more than 10 years ago.
Likening Iraq to World War II, frankly, lessens the gravity and significance of the sacrifices and horrors of World War II. The entire free world and the Soviet Union combined in one effort for a war that could not be lost, with casualties into the millions on all sides.
The war in Iraq couldn't be more different that WWII. Instead of the whole world with us, we hardly have any allies. Our closest ally, the UK, only has 12,000 troops in Iraq, less than 10% of our 130,000+ deployment there. It appears that the rest of the "coalition of the willing," isn't terribly willing, with most countries contributing significantly less than the UK even. Our false pretences for entering into the war don't help, but our default reasoning that Saddam was a brutal dictator who tortured his people, is highly weakened by the torture committed at the hands of the US.
Furthermore, I hope the war in Iraq never approaches the likeness of World War II. With over 812 US servicemen and women already killed in Iraq and over 2,000 wounded, over $200 million US dollars pumped into Iraq while teachers are laid off and seniors kicked off of Medicare, our sacrifice is already too grave.
