Schiavo Case - Irony Anyone?
With the political circus still in full thrust, I can't help but point out the irony of the whole situation. A woman, who at 25 had an eating disorder that caused a chemical imbalance in her brain that made her heart stop and she slipped into a persistent vegetative state with massive brain damage, died of starvation. Irony. Instead of this being foisted up by the media as some conservative versus liberal turf war, shouldn't she be an example of the disaster effects of eating disorders?
Either way, it seems our whole country has gone wacky and think the rule of law can just be changed at a whim. If so many people know better than years of legal precedent, constitutional law and separation of powers, then perhaps they should become lawyers and change the system themselves. Even some
conservative Judges are appalled at the lack of respect the judiciary is receiving. Even the
President of the American Bar Association has an opinion on it.
I'm not saying letting someone starve to death isn't cruel, in my opinion, regardless of circumstances, it is. However, I also think capital punishment and slaughtering and eating animals is cruel as well. What would you expect from a treehugger anyway?
Frankenfoods Eaten Unknowingly by US Consumers
If you live in America, you've probably eaten genetically modified food.
Today, roughly 75 percent of U.S. processed foods — boxed cereals, other grain products, frozen dinners, cooking oils and more — contain some genetically modified, or GM, ingredients, said Stephanie Childs of the Grocery Manufacturers of America. Even if you've managed to stay away from the processed genetically modified foods by buying organic - if you eat meat you're still eating genetically modified foods: "More than 80 percent of the soy and 40 percent of the corn raised in this country is a GM variety. Global plantings of biotech crops - mostly corn and soybeans and much of it for animal feed - grew to about 200 million acres last year, about two-thirds of it in the United States. "
What's the problem with genetically modified foods you ask?
Click here for some more info. Or visit the
Organic Consumers Association. How do you avoid genetically modified foods?
Here's one way...
GAO Says Propaganda Wrong - Bush Defends It
The GAO, Congress' General Accounting Office, said that prepackaged news releases were against appropriation laws and
"was a misuse of federal funds." Bush, of course, fell back on yet another memo from our esteemed Justice Department claiming these practices are completely legal.
President Bush said on Wednesday the U.S. government's practice of sending packaged news stories to local television stations was legal and he had no plans to stop it.
The GAO wasn't buying it:
David Walker, the comptroller general who heads the GAO, said he disagreed with Bush's stance and was "disappointed by the administration's actions."
"This is not just a legal issue, it's also an ethical matter," Walker said. "The taxpayers have a right to know when the government is trying to influence them with their own money."
Justice Department Ok’s Propaganda
How convenient. From the Justice Department that brought us the memo outlining how to get around the Geneva Conventions and extraordinary rendition,
propaganda from the White House is a-ok. As long as the video news releases contain factual information about government programs, it doesn't matter how you spin it. Of course, this administration's record on "factual information" is hideous at best.
The New York Times reported this week that more than 20 federal agencies have used taxpayer money to create video news releases touting everything from the administration's position on "regime change" in Iraq to Medicare reform.
"Thank you, Bush. Thank you, U.S.A.," a jubilant Iraqi-American told a camera crew in Kansas City for a segment about reaction to the fall of Baghdad. A second report told of "another success" in the Bush administration's "drive to strengthen aviation security"; the reporter called it "one of the most remarkable campaigns in aviation history." A third segment, broadcast in January, described the administration's determination to open markets for American farmers.
To a viewer, each report looked like any other 90-second segment on the local news. In fact, the federal government produced all three. The report from Kansas City was made by the State Department. The "reporter" covering airport safety was actually a public relations professional working under a false name for the Transportation Security Administration. The farming segment was done by the Agriculture Department's office of communications.
Let's review, shall we:
Propaganda: 2 : the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person
3 : ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one's cause or to damage an opposing cause; also : a public action having such an effect
Obama comes out swinging again
It's about time the democrats are finally responding to the racist logic Bush is using to sell social security to Blacks. For more on the supposed "logic" see the january blog entry
Republicans Stepping up against social security nonsense.
Here's what Obama had to say: : "'It is puzzling to me that we are even having this debate about whether Social Security is good or not for African-Americans,' said Obama, an Illinois Democrat. 'I frankly found the statement that the president made somewhat offensive.'
'There is no doubt a disparity in the lifetime opportunities between white America and black America,' Obama said. 'The notion that we would cynically use those disparities as a rationale for dismantling Social Security as opposed to talking about how are we going to close the health disparities gap that exists, and make sure that African-American life expectancy is as long as the rest of this nation ... is stunning to me.'"
