treehugger

Mutant Grass taking over Portland

2006-08-17T14:25:00.000-05:00

Ok, so maybe it's not quite that dire, yet. Environmental activists have been preaching the dangers of genetically engineered crops for years, with little effect on the giant money making agribusiness corporations. Perhaps today's news of a herbicide resistant grass growing in the wild in Portland will lend credence to the cause.

Grass that was genetically engineered for golf courses is growing in the wild, posing one of the first threats of agricultural biotechnology escaping from the farm in the United States, a new study says.

Creeping bentgrass was engineered to resist the popular herbicide Roundup to allow more efficient weed control on golf courses. But the modified grass could spread that resistance to the wild, becoming a nuisance itself, scientists say.

...Such resistance could force land managers and government agencies like the U.S. Forest Service, which relies heavily on Roundup, to switch to "nastier" herbicides to control grasses and weeds, Ellstrand said.

Although, the Mission Tortilla mishap (when genetically modified corn, not fit for human consumption, was used to make tortillas sold all over Texas) did little to dent the pervasive growth of agribusiness. African Killer Bees are also a bi-product of genetically engineered crops, but the public seems to be woefully unaware or unconcerned with the threat agribusiness can pose.

Darfur Peace Deal?

2006-05-04T14:48:00.000-05:00

It appears that the rebel groups have found the new peace deal acceptable. The plan would call for the rebel groups to be integrated into Sudanese security forces.

The negotiator said the draft called for a minimum of 4,000 rebels to be integrated into Sudan's armed forces and another 1,000 in the police force. In addition, 3,000 rebels would be given training and education to prepare them for civilian life.

The peace accord is not yet final, but it's a step towards peace in a volatile conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced and scarred more than 2 million people.

African Union mediators have often expressed frustration at the seeming unwillingness of either side to compromise or adhere to a cease-fire declared in April 2004.

African Union spokesman Nouredine Mezni said African mediators had made "titanic efforts" to produce the draft proposal and any changes would have to be negotiated by other parties.

The U.S. and British officials appeared to step into that breach. They were sent to Abuja, the Nigerian capital where the talks are taking place, after thousands of Americans including several legislators protested over the weekend to demand an end to the slaughter in Darfur.

Another reminder that it takes people who refuse to be silenced to create any real movement in this country. Lets hope that the peace accord will stick and the violence will end.

Darfur Protestors Arrested, Including Congressmen

2006-04-28T14:38:00.000-05:00

Hope you are all planning on attending a rally in the coming week to support an end to the Genocide. From Reuters:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Five members of the U.S. Congress were arrested at the Sudanese Embassy on Friday to protest violence in that country's Darfur region.
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The lawmakers, all Democrats, were Reps. Tom Lantos of California, James McGovern and John Olver of Massachusetts, James Moran of Virginia, and Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas.

A few members of the Save Darfur Coalition also were arrested from the gathering of about 50 demonstrators, a spokeswoman for the coalition said.

Those arrested were taken to a police station and released about two hours later after paying $50 fines.

The lawmakers intended their arrests to draw attention to the Darfur conflict that the United States calls a genocide, McGovern said.

The protest came before a planned Sunday rally on the National Mall sponsored by the coalition, which comprises about 160 faith-based, advocacy and humanitarian organizations. Sunday is the deadline for talks aimed at settling the three-year conflict in Darfur.

U.N. and U.S. officials have accused the Sudanese government of arming marauding Arab militias, who have raped, pillaged, and killed tens of thousands in Darfur, [actually hundreds of thousands!] and driven into squalid camps some 2 million villagers. Sudan has denied the charge.

"I don't think any human being can listen to the testimony of the people who have fled, and see the savagery that is going on there and not feel compelled to do something," McGovern said in a telephone interview after his release.

The lawmakers had been told they could not trespass on the embassy property. They made their statements off the property, then stood on the embassy steps.

The lawmakers did not heed police warnings, and "were arrested one by one," Lantos' spokeswoman Lynne Weil said.

"After the Holocaust, the world declared that never again would we stand by and let genocide take place. And yet the slaughter in Darfur continues," Lantos, a survivor of the Holocaust, said in a statement.

Rally for Darfur

2006-04-27T14:51:00.001-05:00

Save Darfur and the Genocide Prevention Network, along with a lot of other groups, will be marching in DC this Sunday. There will also be rallies all across the US, see if there is one in your state here. Here's a letter from Barack Obama with more details:

I am writing to draw your attention to the deteriorating crisis in Darfur, Sudan, and to urge you to press the Bush Administration, Congress, and key international actors to step up their efforts to stop the killing. Since the fighting began in 2003, the Khartoum government and its proxy militia have killed more than 400,000 Darfurians, and displaced another two million. Every day that the conflict continues, more women are raped, more families are massacred, more children are orphaned. President Bush has said that the slaughter constitutes "genocide," and he is right.

I will fly to Washington, DC this Sunday, April 30, to participate in the "Save Darfur Rally" on the National Mall. I will join Elie Wiesel, George Clooney, Congressman Frank Wolf, and others from 2pm to 4:30 pm, between 3rd and 4th Streets in front of the U.S. Capitol.

On May 1st, a rally will be held in Chicago at 4:30pm at Federal Plaza, at the intersection of Dearborn and Adams. At the website, www.SaveDarfur.org, you can find the location of companion rallies in other American cities, as well as the tangible steps we should ask the Bush administration to take.

An unprecedented anti-genocide movement has begun to gather force in the United States. And together, we can make a difference by making our voices heard.

Americans of all religious, national, and political backgrounds are going to join together to send a powerful signal to the victims of genocide - and to their tormentors - that Americans care. I hope you will join in this historic effort to show that Americans will not be bystanders to genocide.

Sincerely,
Barack Obama

Chad will not force Darfur Refugees to leave

2006-04-17T13:27:00.000-05:00

Chad broke off all relations with the Sudanese government last week and threatened to forcibly remove some 200,000 refugees if the International community didn't step up to do more about the crisis in Darfur and the rebels that are also trying to destabilize his government. While the International community has not stepped up to do anything more about the crisis in Darfur or the violence spilling into Chad, Chad's President Derby has promised the UN that his country will allow the refugees to remain. Although the refugees are being allowed to remain in Chad, Chad has closed it's borders with Sudan.

Closing the borders with Sudan will block the distribution of needed humanitarian aide to an estimated 400,000 at refugee camps in Sudan. Derby has expressed his growing concern over the ability to protect the border region and said they will no longer be able to shelter refugees if the international community can not end the crisis by June.

Urgent Action is needed. The US House bill on Darfur has been sent to the Senate, which has referred it to the Committee on Foreign Relations. For a list of all the Senators on the Foreign Relations committee, click here. We can start calling the committee and urge them to get a move on it! Majority Phone: (202) 224-4651
Minority Phone: (202) 224-3953

Pres. Authorized Leak

2006-04-06T11:24:00.000-05:00

It appears that Bush likes it when things are leaked to the media, at least things he approved. When his secret spying on Americans was leaked to the media he went off about how they were endangering the nation, but when it comes to pre-war intelligence it's leaks away.

Vice President Dick Cheney's former top aide told prosecutors President Bush authorized the leak of sensitive intelligence information about Iraq, according to court papers filed by prosecutors in the CIA leak case.

...But the disclosure in documents filed Wednesday means that the president and the vice president put Libby in play as a secret provider of information to reporters about prewar intelligence on Iraq.

The authorization came as the Bush administration faced mounting criticism about its failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the main reason the president and his aides had given for justifying the invasion of Iraq.- AP

US House taking action on Darfur

2006-03-30T11:28:00.000-06:00

I just got an email from my Rep. detailing her ideas on stopping the genocide in Darfur and wanted to pass the info along. The Darfur Peace and Accountability Act, sponsored by Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), will be voted on as soon as next week. The bill will appoint a U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan, provide $514 million for security and humanitarian assistance and urge NATO and the UN to send forces. Look your congressman or woman up and send them an email, call them, or mail them a letter urging them to support the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act (House Resolution 3127/Senate Resolution 1462).

The Darfur crisis is expanding. Two hundred thousand refugees have crossed the border into Chad, attracting the attention of the Janjaweed militia across the border. A domestic conflict is becoming international.

African Union leaders told our delegation that their 7,000 troops cannot provide security in a territory the size of France and they need double that number, though the Brookings Institution estimates that it will take at least 20,000 AU troops to secure the region. The budget for the African Union's Mission in Sudan will run out by the end of March.

The United States must urge the United Nations Security Council to pass a resolution giving AU troops the backing of the United Nations. Additionally, the United States should encourage NATO to deploy a peacekeeping force to Darfur. The security of the civilian population depends on it. - read the full article at the Chicago Sun Times

Iraq: 3 years down 3 more to go?

2006-03-21T13:16:00.001-06:00

How Long will we be in Iraq? President Bush said today that there may still be troops in Iraq when he leaves office in three years. While Bush continues his pr tour to raise support for the war, the 2,319 American servicemember was killed in Iraq today. Bush continues to skirt the issue of withdrawal, saying "That will be decided by future presidents and future governments of Iraq."

Furthermore, the Bush administration refuses to acknowledge that a civil war is emerging in Iraq, even with more than 1,000 Iraqis killed since the bombing last month of a Shiite shrine (including 39 just yesterday). With grizzly discoveries of tortured, blindfolded corpses occurring almost daily in Iraq, former interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi declared, "If this is not civil war, then God knows what civil war is."

After the much touted elections in Iraq, no government has yet been formed. Despite all of the growing problems with no end in sight, Bush remains "optimistic" saying "We've got a strategy for victory, and we're making progress." Really? What exactly is our strategy in Iraq? Stay the Course?

However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.
--Winston Churchill

It's time for a new strategy.

Darfur - You CAN do something today

2006-03-17T11:42:00.000-06:00

Human Rights First has put together a petition calling for a dedicated UN Diplomat to work for peace in Darfur. Sign the petition and stand up for the estimated 200,000 to 400,000 people who have been murdered and over 2 million who have been subjected to violence, rape and forced to flee their homes. More on this over at the Coalition for Darfur.

Darfur in the News - Rape as a Weapon of War

2006-03-14T10:58:00.000-06:00

I was watching the Today show this morning and was delightfully surprised to see they are addressing the crisis in Darfur. They had an expert on this morning discussing one of the tactics being used in the war, the use of gang rape as a weapon.

Two hundred Senate and House staffers held their breath as Suad Mansour, a native of Darfur now working for the group Darfur Peace and Development, shared the story of eight women who were raped and abducted by members of a government-backed Janjaweed militia while collecting firewood one night. The militiamen told the women, who included a 9-year-old girl, that they were to be their wives. The women were found in the militia’s compound two days later by African Union peacekeepers and taken to a hospital where the young girl later died. When their families tried to speak out, they were threatened into silence by the government.

Stories like this are all too common in Darfur, where rape is the signature crime of the genocide. The UN has said that rape is used as a “systematic weapon of war.” Attacks are not isolated crimes of opportunity but part of a deliberate campaign to destroy the social fabric of the entire community. Women face rape not only during Janjaweed attacks on their homes, but even after they reach the relative safety of the displaced-persons camps. In the camps, where women make up 80% of the inhabitants, they face rape every time they venture out in search of water or firewood.

...Rape is used as a weapon in Darfur to destroy the mental, emotional, and physical well-being of not only women but also their families and friends. Dr. Reeves noted that the UN Genocide Convention “specifies, among other genocidal acts: ‘Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group,’ and, ‘Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.’” He stated that the “systematic” and “racialized” nature of sexual violence by the militias “compel[s] the conclusion that sexual violence against women is genocidal in nature.”

Haroun noted that “[t]he abuse of women in Darfur has continued to reach the highest levels. Rapes are so violent some women are left physically destroyed or even die. Women are attacked on a daily basis. They are attacked when they are alone or in groups. The hospitals are full of rape victims that are in unbelievable shape and many now have sexual transmitted diseases. And they are considered lucky because they didn’t die.”

The assault on women occurs within an atmosphere of complete impunity for their assailants. A report by Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) indicates that 81% of rapes perpetrated by the Janjaweed militias occur with government military personnel present. (Rather than address the systematic violence described in the report, the Sudanese government simply arrested the MSF workers who released it.) Nor can victims expect justice after the fact; women who report that they have been raped often face not only ostracism but also reprisal by the authorities. - Genocide Intervention Network

The Today show sent Ann Curry to Chad to bring coverage of the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan and the violence spilling into neighboring Chad. If you have a moment, take a look at her photo journals.

If you are not aware of what is happening in Darfur, the report offers a basic explination of the atrocities.

The Latest on Darfur

2006-03-03T14:06:00.000-06:00

The US Senate voted unanimously on a resolution urging Pres. Bush to take action on Darfur. They are urging him to push NATO to take action and the UN Security Council to provide peacekeeping forces. The UN has already started planning for sending 7,000 troops.

This all sounds well and good, but it seems to be too little and way overdue. I'm inclined to think it's an election year maneuver instead of a genuine effort by congress to address a bloody genocide that we have sat back and watched as an estimated thousands of people have been murdered and over 2 million displaced and subjected to rape and violence. Why am I so skeptical about this? To begin with, this same "unanimous" congress failed to give the Sec. Of State the money she begged for to fund actions in Darfur. On top of the fact that Pres. Bush has already urged the UN and NATO to send peacekeepers, this is hardly a novel move from the congress. If anything, it's the US congress that has been dragging the US response to Darfur.

Also, consider that the UN has been working on sanctions for over a year and are still deadlocked because of countries with oil interests in Sudan holding out. With China increasing it's economic power in Africa, including sending tanks and bombs to the Sudanese government fueling the genocide in Darfur, it's hard to see anything coming out of the UN security council that will stop the violence.

Sanctions face resistance from Russia and China, which have strong economic ties to Sudan. But they will be essential to ending the chaos in Darfur. Peace talks will never be productive against a backdrop of violence, plunder and suffering.

The promise of peacekeepers could prove to be empty too. The UN still has to persuade nations to contribute troops to such a force. The U.S., which has difficult missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, is likely to provide backup support but not frontline peacekeeping troops for Darfur.

The U.S., which holds the temporary presidency of the Security Council this month, has succeeded in bringing Darfur to the top of the agenda. Millions of displaced civilians, mostly farmers, are living in refugee camps. They are not likely to return to their land in time for the next planting season, almost assuring a famine. Thousands already have died of disease and malnutrition. Foreign money to feed and shelter the refugees is drying up and increased violence in recent weeks has forced more than 100 aid workers to evacuate. As the situation becomes more desperate, even more are likely to take up arms.

Add to all of this the emerging threat coming out of Darfur - Al Qaeda. That's right, the terrorist group that brought you 9/11 has threatened the top UN Envoy in the region and any troops from outside of Africa. "We are strongly opposed to any foreign intervention in Sudan, and Darfur will be a graveyard for any foreign troops venturing to enter," warned the President of Sudan.

We need real action and real funding - not just lip service from a congress who would rather feed their own pork bellies than stop a genocide.

Anti-Family Values

2006-02-09T22:47:00.000-06:00

Among the many disturbing cuts being proposed by the Bush administration for the next budget, I was aghast at their most recent social security cut. They plan on cutting some survivor benefits for surviving partners, widows and widowers, and surviving children of social security beneficiaries. My grandmother's sole income after my grandfather passed was her survivor benefits from his social security, which was abysmally small to begin with.

What surprises me even more, as much as Bush and the Republicans like to count the family values religious right on their side, I think maybe they forgot to consult them on this one. Think about it, this is a group that encourages women to stay at home and raise the children, if they can. This means that the women who are stay-at-home moms, or domestic engineers, earn no income and do not pay into social security and have none to withdrawal. When their spouses die - and a woman's lifespan in on average 5 years longer than a man's- they will get less under Bush's plan. And if we've learned anything from Bush's years in office, they love to cut funding for programs until they no longer work and then use the fact that they no longer work to justify cutting their very existence. Of course this doesn't really affect the upper-class, it will adversely affect the poor who largely depend on social security for survival in retirement.

Also interesting, the stop in payments to surviving children would be linked to school attendance. I wonder, how many 16 and 17 year olds who find themselves without a guardian stay in school and how many get a job and later a GED?

On another note, it's hard to imagine a more fitting example of "say one thing, do another" politics than Bush's recent announcement of a competitiveness initiative. After announcing in his State of the Union address that he would fund education and train our youth so we can be more competitive in the world, his budget proposal calls for cutting student loans.

And to keep America competitive, one commitment is necessary above all: We must continue to lead the world in human talent and creativity. Our greatest advantage in the world has always been our educated, hardworking, ambitious people -- and we're going to keep that edge.

I suppose he plans on better educating the richest portion of Americans who can afford to pay the skyrocketing costs of a college education and leave the rest of the country to serve him and his buddies freedom fries. After all, the service industry will be one of their few alternatives, since he even plans on cutting vo-tech education budgets as well. Oh so competitive.

State of DisUnion

2006-02-01T11:32:00.000-06:00

Haven't had much time to blog lately, I've been side tracked on my latest muscial project but I will get back to blogging regularly soon.

I had to comment on all the hubub about people being arrested last night trying to attend the State of the Union Republican Propaganda Love Fest. Cindy Sheehan, who had a ticket to the event, was arrested for wearing a t-shirt that read "2245 Dead. How many more?" The news originally reported that she refused to cover it up and was arrested, but according to her she was never told she could not wear it or to cover up but simply hauled away after she sat down. Another interesting tid-bit, they also removed the wife of a Republican Representative for wearing a t-shirt with "support our troops" on it - but they didn't arrest her.

I don't see why they arrested Cindy Sheehan and not the other lady, they should have just removed both of them or neither. Although, my honest first thought was who wears a t-shirt to the state of the union address? You'd think they would have a dress code for an event like that anyway that would prevent anyone from wearing a t-shirt? no?

Although I didn't watch the state of the union address, (I see no point in putting myself through that amount of aggrevation anymore) I did find the new clip of all the democrats standing and cheering when Bush said congress didn't pass his social security plan a riot. Love it.

Bush Oblivious to the Economy

2006-01-20T17:24:00.000-06:00

so much news - so little time to post, but here's a bit I couldn't resist:

Today the Bush Administration sent it's officials out to tout how great the US economy is doing. Interesting, considering today also marked the biggest stock market drop in three years. That's a far cry from Treasury Secretary John Snow's claim that "By virtue of every index of economic performance, we're going the right way." In apparent contradiction to reality, "U.S. stocks tumbled to their biggest loss in nearly three years on Friday as oil prices surged to four-month highs, and downbeat earnings from Citigroup Inc. and General Electric Co. signaled a slowing economy."(emphasis added)

Darfur - Send a Letter to Bush

2006-01-12T12:03:00.000-06:00

The National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) has started a campaign to send letters to Bush calling for action on the Darfur genocide. I have no idea how I got on their email list, but it is a great resource. Please take action today, let's have Bush's mailbox overflowing!

Government to cheat consumers out of Hybrid tax credits

2006-01-11T16:40:00.000-06:00

It seems the congress once again out one past the American people by having the EPA push a proposal that is little more than a thinly veiled item from lobbyists' wish lists. Starting with 2008 models the proposal would drop the fuel economy rating 10 to 20 percent for city driving and 5 to 15 percent in highway driving. But here's the real scoop:

Gas-electric hybrids would be more affected, with ratings for city driving decreasing an average of 20 percent to 30 percent. Those models are due to appear in showrooms in the fall of 2007.

The EPA's new fuel-economy estimates, the first revision in 20 years, include vehicle-specific data from tests to reflect more accurately high-speed driving, rapid acceleration, use of air conditioning and cold temperatures, the agency said.

Odd isn't it? Do regular cars get better fuel efficiency than hybrids? Ask anyone with a hybrid, no they don't. But with the EPA's new estimates you would think they were a lot closer to even. Also suspect, the EPA hasn't revised standards in 20 years and suddenly decided that it was time to revise them now? Oh that's right, they reviewed the standards because it was included in Bush's energy bill that was passed last year.

Also interesting, the energy bill of 2005 gave a tax credit to hybrid vehicle buyers based on what? That's right, fuel economy!!

Hybrid sales only represent 2% of the auto industry revenues so it seems hardly likely that it's the auto industry that lobbied congress and the administration for this. No, my bet would be on the oil industry. After all, if you get better gas mileage you'll buy less gas and they won't have another year of record profits. When you look at the figures, companies like Exxon's profits grew by 42% in just the last quarter of 2005! Ridiculously record profits.

Money over Health

2006-01-09T16:57:00.000-06:00

I couldn't help but comment on an article in today's USA Today "Next frontier in heart disease: Undoing it." In the article, USA Today accurately portrays the perspective of the major pharmaceutical companies' spin doctors (aka public relations people). Having been one myself, it's fairly easy to spot. But what makes this article outrageous is that there is already scientific proof on reversing heart disease. It's been done, it's been repeated and there are people out there who can testify to it. Just read Dr. Dean Ornish's book, the McDougall plan, and T. Collin Campbell's latest The China Study. We have found a way to reverse heart disease people, it's not a new frontier.

Of course the USA TODAY article doesn't mention any of these discoveries. And why is that? That's right, they are achieved through diet. After all, how much money are you going to make off of people by telling them to do things like eat whole grains, don't eat fat and don't eat processed foods. And *gasp* go vegan or at least vegetarian. Not nearly as much as Pfizer, Bruin Pharmaceuticals, or any drug company stands to make off a magic pill that would allow you to continue all of your bad health habits without having to worry. Much like the recent proliferation of hang-over cures like Chaser that supposedly will let you drink all you want and not get a hang-over. Of course they don't work. If you drink too much bad stuff you will get sick, if you eat too much bad stuff you will get sick. Simple rules that we're spending millions of dollars to find "cures" for that will allow us to continue our bad habits without suffering the consequences. But why isn't that message being reinforced by our society and our government health organizations? Simple - Money. Yes, that's right, money.

"The next frontier" also is probably the richest potential market in medicine. Seventy million people in the USA alone have heart disease. Heart disease is the nation's leading killer; it accounts for 900,000 heart attacks and strokes each year, the American Heart Association says.

Drugs that lower cholesterol and other blood fats are the world's biggest sellers, with nearly $27 billion in sales in 2004, up 12% from the year before, according to the firm IMS Health, which tracks the drug industry. Lipitor leads the pack; it had sales of more than $10 billion and growth of 14% in 2004.

That would be a lot of money for the pharmaceutical industry to lose if people started getting better, wouldn't it?

Also of interest is that the reporter from the USA TODAY piece, Steven Sternberg, also wrote a scathing piece about Doctors getting kick-backs from pharmaceutical companies for giving out prescriptions. Check out the 1993 story at Mother Jones. For further info on this subject, I highly recommend Toxic Sludge is Good for You and Trust Us, We're Experts.

UN Pulling out of Darfur

2006-01-05T15:41:00.000-06:00

Bad news for the people of Darfur. Although the UN has declared what is occurring in Darfur a Genocide, they are being forced to evacuate most of their staff because of the escalating violence. The United States also called what is occurring in Darfur a genocide and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice requested increased funds for the state department to aid in Darfur. However, the US Congress rejected her plea and did not allocate additional funding for Darfur.

Congress rejected U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's impassioned appeal to provide $50 million for African troops trying to keep peace in Sudan's Darfur region, the State Department said on Monday.

U.S. funding for about 6,000 African Union peacekeepers ends this year and the State Department is concerned that violence in Darfur will only get worse if more money is not found to keep the mission going.

How far we've come from the oft repeated "Never Again."

Even worse, the violence threatens to pour over into Chad as rebels on both sides of the Chad/Sudan border are making raids.

Several rebel groups last week said they were banding together to topple Chadian President Idriss Deby.

Deby accuses the Sudanese government in Khartoum of backing them and has urged the United Nations to take over Darfur's administration. Khartoum denies any involvement.

The decision to restrict staffing "does not mean there will be an overall evacuation," U.N. chief spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

"Essential life-saving humanitarian services delivered by the U.N. will continue, and the mission will monitor the situation and carry out a fresh security assessment of the area in the next two to three weeks," Dujarric said.

The move was "due to the increased instability in the affected areas, including a buildup of forces on ether side of the Sudan-Chad border, with increased potential for armed conflict," he said.

The border tensions have further complicated a debilitating civil war that has raged in Darfur since February 2003, pitting Sudanese rebels against government forces.

Tens of thousands have been killed and 2 million have left their homes for camps in Sudan and Chad to flee the fighting.

The area now hosts one of the world's largest humanitarian operations, with more than 11,000 aid workers struggling to feed, clothe and shelter inhabitants.

The Sudanese rebels began fighting to pressure the Arab-dominated central government to respond to the needs of Darfur's villagers. U.N. officials say Khartoum then armed Arab militias to fight the rebels, and that the militias launched a campaign of rape, killing and looting that continues to this day.

So Please, write your representative or senator today and urge them to fund the peace keeping missions in Darfur.

Not sure what to say? Take a look at Sen. Barack Obama's letter that was printed in the Washington Post:

It is essential that the Bush administration shift its approach to confront the new and mounting challenges. Only the United States, working in concert with key nations, has the leverage and resources to persuade Khartoum to change its ways:

First, the administration must help transform the African Union protection force into a sizable, effective multinational force.

In the near term, Washington must pressure Khartoum to allow more advisers from Western nations to embed within the African Union's mission so they support intelligence, logistics and communications. It must work with other nations to provide military assets to African Union forces, such as attack helicopters and armored personnel carriers, so they can respond immediately to attacks. And it must urge the African Union to be more aggressive in protecting civilians. More important, Washington must immediately spearhead efforts to create a larger multinational force. The African Union has begun discussions with the United Nations about folding itself into a follow-on U.N. mission, but because of the West's reluctance to offend African sensibilities, all parties seem resigned to muddling along. It has become clear that a U.N.- or NATO-led force is required, and the administration must use diplomacy to override Chinese and Sudanese opposition to such a force and persuade outside troops to join it.

Second, the administration must keep up the pressure on the rebels to unite their negotiating positions, and it must enlist Sudan's allies to increase the pressure on Khartoum to share power and resources.

Third, the United States and other nations must place additional pressure on key nations -- Chad, Eritrea and Libya -- to stop playing a destructive role in the conflict.

Fourth, the administration needs to place its weight behind the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act, which would impose targeted sanctions on the leading perpetrators of the genocide.

The Bush administration has helped reduce suffering in Darfur, but the situation is dangerously adrift. And when the history of this tragedy is written, nobody will remember how many times officials visited the region or how much humanitarian aid was delivered. They will only remember the death toll.

Good News for Women

2005-12-20T17:07:00.000-06:00

With so much going on right now, it seems the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act(VAWA) slipped through the cracks. The good news is that it was reauthorized and strengthened. For the first time ever, assistance will be provided not only for rape prevention and education but for actual victims. The bill also allows victims of abuse to break a lease to flee their abusers and expands access to transitional housing. The VAWA was also authorized with a section explaining all programs are gender neutral, so it covers all victims of abuse and sexual violence, men and women.

Spotlight on Darfur

2005-12-17T10:46:00.000-06:00

Catez over on Allthings2all is hosting a Chrismtas Spotlight on Darfur. It's really well worth taking a look at. The collection highlights the writings of a diverse group of bloggers from all over the world, conservatives, liberals and everything inbetween coming together to raise awareness about the atrocities occuring in Darfur and bring the world to action.

Bush Still Confused On Why We Invaded Iraq

2005-12-15T17:31:00.000-06:00

Today and much of Yesterday, papers all over the world printed the story that Bush is taking responsibility for Iraq. While he has finally stepped up to the plate and said that even though there was faulty intelligence the ultimate decision was his. But if you read it more closely, he can't even remember why he made the decision to take us in there to begin with, or at least what he "said" the reason was at the time.

But he [Bush] said, "My decision to remove Saddam Hussein was the right decision" because he was deemed a threat and that regardless, "We are in Iraq today because our goal has always been more than the removal of a brutal dictator."

We supposedly invaded Iraq to strip them of the WMDs they were hiding and keep them from falling in the hands of terrorists. Or at least, that's what Bush was saying at the time:

"The people of the United States and our friends and allies will not live at the mercy of an outlaw regime that threatens the peace with weapons of mass murder. We will meet that threat now, with our Army, Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard and Marines, so that we do not have to meet it later with armies of fire fighters and police and doctors on the streets of our cities." - from Bush's address to the Nation, March 19, 2003.

There are many many more texts where he refers to the WMDs as the reason for entering Iraq :

"America is determined to enforce the demands of the United Nations Security Council by confronting the grave and growing danger of Saddam Hussein and his weapons of mass destruction. This dictator will not be allowed to intimidate and blackmail the civilized world, or to supply his terrible weapons to terrorist groups, who would not hesitate to use them against us. The safety of the American people depends on ending this threat." President's Radio Address, March 1, 2003.

At least he took half of FDR's advice, admit you're wrong and then try something else. We're still waiting for him to try something else...anything else. Instead, stay the course - which is not a plan at all, it's just something you do when you have no other options.

Proof Coming out about CIA's Not so Secret Prisons

2005-12-13T16:21:00.000-06:00

Extraordinary Rendition cover-up finally beginning to unravel:

PARIS (Reuters) - A month-old investigation has reinforced allegations the CIA ran a network of secret prisons in Europe, abducted prisoners and transferred them between countries, a European human rights investigator said on Tuesday.

Swiss senator Dick Marty, who is looking into the scandal for the 46-nation Council of Europe human rights watchdog, criticised the United States for failing to come clean over the allegations.

This really shouldn't come as much of a surprise with Rice refusing to "confirm or deny" the secret prisons and Cheney lobbying congress to exempt the CIA from McCain's anti-torture legislation.

Bush uses more Fuzzy Math - How do we get out of Iraq?

2005-12-12T14:39:00.000-06:00

In a speech today, Bush estimated that only 30,000 Iraqis have died since we invaded Iraq. "I would say 30,000 more or less have died as a result of the initial incursion and the ongoing violence against Iraqis," the president said. "We've lost about 2,140 of our own troops in Iraq."

This must be more of Bush's fuzzy math, because he "misunderestimated" the fatalities by about 70,000. The study, conducted by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, estimated that 100,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed since the US invaded Iraq. "The researchers called their estimate conservative because they excluded deaths in Fallujah."

Also interesting were the results of a poll or Iraqi citizens that found "More than two-thirds of those surveyed oppose the presence of troops from the United States and its coalition partners and less than half, 44 percent, say their country is better off now than it was before the war, according to an ABC News poll conducted with Time magazine and other media partners."

All of this has had me thinking recently on how exactly we can get out of Iraq without making the situation worse there. Everyone seems to offer criticism and want us to pull out right away, but how do we feasibly leave this mess we created?

In considering the current realities in Iraq, I keep hearkening back to the lessons we learned from World War II and the Marshall Plan. Now that was a plan to "win the peace." Not only did it rebuild Germany and Japan, but helped shape them into the economic powerhouses they are today. One of the key elements was that it put the German people to work, rebuilding Germany. Iraq has a mind-boggling unemployment rate estimatedbetween 27 percent and 40 percent. By comparison, the U.S. unemployment rate during the Great Depression peaked at around 25 percent. And what is the only job we seem to be offering them? Police officers or military personnel? One of the most dangerous positions around.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out people who don't have a job and means to support their family are not the happiest people around. You can look at the statistics of any city in the US and the areas with the highest unemployment are the areas with the highest crime rates. So how do we curve the violence and improve the image of the US? Give the Iraq people jobs - not just soldiers or policemen. We need to stop outsourcing the rebuilding of Iraq to Haliburton and other American companies that are making millions off of American taxpayers, and give the Iraq people a chance to rebuild their own country.

Until Iraq has a rebuilt economic base and a lower unemployment rate, the violence will continue and the US will be stuck there with continuing casualties. I think we should take a look back at what FDR once said "Take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly, and try another. But by all means, try something. "
"True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made." -FDR

Please, feel free to leave your own thoughts on improving the situation in Iraq. There certainly haven't been any plans coming out of the government, perhaps it is time for "we the people" to lead.

Clinton Calls out Bush on Kyoto

2005-12-09T14:47:00.000-06:00

President Clinton called out the false assertions by Bush & Co. saying, "the Bush administration is "flat wrong" in claiming that reducing greenhouse-gas emissions to fight global warming would damage the U.S. economy." Speaking at the UN Climate Conference, Clinton urged that creating energy saving technology would in fact strengthen the economy.

"There's no longer any serious doubt that climate change is real, accelerating and caused by human activities," said Clinton, whose address was interrupted repeatedly by enthusiastic applause. "We are uncertain about how deep and the time of arrival of the consequences, but we are quite clear they will not be good."

It's hard to believe that Bush can get away with saying that reducing emissions will harm our economy but creating new treaties like CAFTA, that will only encourage companies to take production (and jobs) outside the US where they can pay people less, will create new jobs and improve the economy? Sure, it'll create new jobs--in Guatemala. What Bush really means is that it'll lower the profits of his oil company friends, record profits. Instead of aiding conservation and reducing emissions, we're subsidizing energy company's drilling, and if Bush gets his way, we'll soon be subsidizing their quest to make more oil refineries. All this to companies who are making record profits while price gouging the American public.

Not unsurprisingly, the Bush administration attempts to throw the environment a bone by pointing out that the government is spending a whopping $3 billion a year on "research and development of energy-saving technologies as a demonstration of U.S. efforts to combat climate change." Woo-who - $3 billion a year. We are spending $6 billion a month in Iraq. The 2006 military spending request is $441.6 Billion, with an additional $49.1 billion for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. And where in the world is all of this funding for our military going anyway when many reservists and active duty soldiers alike still don't have body armor? It certainly is not going to veteran's services to take care of the over 10,000 soldiers that were wounded in Iraq & Afghanistan. As a matter of fact that funding is being cut. Maybe we should stop subsidizing the oil companies and use that money to support our veterans in the way they were promised when they signed up to begin with.

I'm starting to feel more and more that the Onion's humorous piece on the vanishing middle class is perhaps more prophetic than satirical:

National Museum Of The Middle Class Opens In Schaumburg, IL
SCHAUMBURG, ILÂThe Museum of the Middle Class, featuring historical and anthropological exhibits addressing the socioeconomic category that once existed between the upper and lower classes, opened to the public Monday.

...
Others among the 99 percent of U.S. citizens who make less than $28,000 per year shared Chavez's sense of disbelief.

"Frankly, I think they're selling us a load of baloney," said laid-off textile worker Elsie Johnson, who visited the museum Tuesday with her five asthmatic children. "They expect us to believe the government used to help pay for college? Come on. The funniest exhibit I saw was 'Visiting The Family Doctor.' Imagine being able to choose your own doctor and see him without a four-hour wait in the emergency room. Gimme a friggin' break!"

World AIDS Day

2005-12-02T17:14:00.000-06:00

Ok, it was actually yesterday but the whole point is to raise awareness, not just to remember the epidemic for one day. While the epidemic continues to grow, some progress has been made in treating it and finding a cure. Sadly, society (or at least some societies) seem to be ebbing into a more conservative and repressive environment and limiting education on AIDS and condom use. Find out more about HIV and AIDS and what you can do to protect yourself and help those affected here.

On a lighter note, Buenos Aires residents awoke on World AIDS day to see one of their landmarks covered with a giant condom. Rather humorous if you ask me. For some reason it reminds me of this little jingle they had in England when I was younger about AIDS:

AIDS kills
So Don't be Silly
Wear a Condom
On your Willy

Leave it to the English to come up with a kids' song about AIDS right? They had one about Bubonic plague too. Somehow I doubt the jingle will find it's way into the South African version of Sesame Street that features an HIV+ Muppett.

Petition for Darfur

2005-12-02T00:24:00.000-06:00

Professor Samuel Totten (university of Arkansas), editor of "A Century of Genocide: Critical Essays and Eyewitness Accounts," is seeking 2,000 actual signatures.

You can get the formatted petition here, then cut, paste, sign and mail it to

Dr. Samuel Totten, University of Arkansas, COEHP, 205 Peabody Hall, Fayetteville, AR 72701

or send it by email to stotten@uark.edu

Cheney Calls Democrats liars - threatens to leak identities

2005-11-21T15:01:00.000-06:00

Oh, the same old lies about how they didn't inflate or cherry-pick the pre-war intelligence, does the media ever get tired of printing this stuff? Or are they just helping the Bush team to "catapult the propaganda." "See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda."ÂGeorge W. Bush, Greece, N.Y., May 24, 2005

"Any suggestion that prewar information was distorted, hyped, fabricated by the leader of the nation is utterly false," Cheney said, decrying what he called the "self-defeating pessimism" of Democrats.

"What is not legitimate -- and what I will again say is dishonest and reprehensible -- is the suggestion by some U.S. senators that the president of the United States or any member of his administration purposely misled the American people on prewar intelligence," Cheney said.

Interesting, coming from a man who said the US does not torture (despite evidence to the contrary), but wants McCain to add a torture exclusion for the CIA. If we don't torture, then why would we need anexclusionn? Because our administration has never been anything other than honest, right?

THE PRESIDENT: We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories. You remember when Colin Powell stood up in front of the world, and he said, Iraq has got laboratories, mobile labs to build biological weapons. They're illegal. They're against the United Nations resolutions, and we've so far discovered two. And we'll find more weapons as time goes on. But for those who say we haven't found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they're wrong, we found them.

Dick Cheney, August 26, 2002 - "Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies, and against us. And there is no doubt that his aggressive regional ambitions will lead him into future confrontations with his neighbors -- confrontations that will involve both the weapons he has today, and the ones he will continue to develop with his oil wealth."

No WMDS - "In his final word, the CIAÂs top weapons inspector in Iraq said Monday that the hunt for weapons of mass destruction has Âgone as far as feasibleÂ and has found nothing, closing an investigation into the purported programs of Saddam Hussein that were used to justify the 2003 invasion."

Clearly, Mr. Halliburton must not understand the definition of "dishonest and reprehensible":

Main Entry: disÂ·honÂ·est
Pronunciation: (")di-'sÃ¤-n&st also -'zÃ¤-
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French deshoneste, from des- dis- + honeste honest
1 obsolete : SHAMEFUL, UNCHASTE
2 : characterized by lack of truth, honesty, or trustworthiness : UNFAIR, DECEPTIVE

2005-11-21T14:57:00.000-06:00

Good commentary by Larry Beinhart over at Mother Jones on Bushenomics I thought I'd pass along:

The Medicare package has the bizarre requirement that the government has to buy pharmaceuticals from the drug companies at the highest possible price. That means it is requiring us to pay the highest possible price. The $12.3 billion energy bill was a triumph for special interests and was followed, shortly thereafter, by $3 a gallon gas at the pump and record profits for the oil industry. more...

No Food For You - Happy Thanksgiving

2005-11-18T14:19:00.000-06:00

Yesterday the House narrowly voted to defeat a budget bill that would have cut funding for health and education services, but today they sliced plenty of social programs from the budget. Who cares about the poor when you can put tax money to good use like billion dollar contracts to companies that have already been investigated for trying to rip off our government like Halliburton? With the 200,000 people still displaced and living on assistance after hurricane Katrina, does it make sense to start kicking people off of food stamps? But that's exactly what our lovely government is going to do.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Friday to cut $700 million from the food stamp program as part of a broad bill to reduce federal spending by $50 billion, despite objections from antihunger groups.

Some 235,000 people would lose food stamp benefits under the House bill, according to one analysis.
...States would have the option to continue offering free school lunches to families cut off of food stamps. The Center on Budget said it was unlikely all states would do so.

The House proposal also would require 70,000 legal immigrants in most cases to wait seven years to become eligible for food stamps, rather than the current five years.

If you've ever had the opportunity to work or volunteer at a school in a low-income area you'd notice that almost every kid there gets a free meal. What's sad about this, is that for most of the kids that is the only meal they are guaranteed to get in a day. Not only won't we help our own citizens from starving, we won't let other countries help us either. Here's a little seen but disturbing story about how we rejected 400,000 meals sent to Katrina victims immediately after the storm from the British government because of fears of mad cow disease. So instead, we decided to let people continue starving while FEMA scratched their heads trying to figure out how to get food to them. All of that food we eventually shipped to Guatemala, not good enough for us so let's just ship it to South America? Also ludicrous is the concept that America is safe from Mad Cow anyway, considering that it has been found to brake the brain blood barrier and we continued to allow cattle to be fed the blood of other cattle until two years ago. I find the entire thing highly ironic, as a someone who lived in England for 4 years during the height of mad cow disease I am not allowed to give blood (even though I'm a vegetarian and didn't eat the beef). America just wants to give the appearance of safe meat so it won't hurt our beef industry, which is the entire reason we ban other countries' meat anyway - less competition. But I digress.
Also cut by the house, student loans. That's right. Let's cut everyone off of Medicare and Medicaid, off of food stamps, no chance for a higher education, and no increase in minimum wage. The land of opportunity - for who?

So what can you do? Write a lovely letter to your representatives who voted for this bill.....you can find that list here. This bill was passed by TWO VOTES! TWO REPs DIDN't VOTE: DEMOCRATS BOSWELL AND TOWNS - send them an email telling them how much you appreciate them skipping work.

Total Anarchy in Darfur

2005-11-08T16:32:00.000-06:00

USA Today reports on the escalating violence in Darfur:

Black villagers are being forced from their homes as Janjaweed avenge an SLA raid on the town of Almallam. In the past six weeks, more than 5,000 people have arrived at Zam Zam, a camp close to El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. An additional 1,900 have made their way to Abu Shouk on the other side of the town, an international aid worker said. The numbers were confirmed by an African Union monitor in the region. They spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the government's sensitivity about the situation in Darfur.

Jan Pronk, the United Nations special representative to Sudan, said in an interview in Khartoum, Sudan's capital, that the surge in violence appears to be linked to splits within the SLA, the main rebel group. Rival commanders are vying for influence ahead of peace talks with the government scheduled to resume in Nigeria on Nov. 21.

Pronk also said leaders of both the nomad and rebel forces appear to be struggling to keep control over their troops. "There are quite a number of attacks for which we hold them responsible, but they say it is not them," he said. "There are some military commanders that are taking their own decisions."

From September 2004 to August 2005, violence between the rebels and Janjaweed caused about 200 deaths a month. "I don't have the final figures for September," Pronk said, "but we have gone past that. It is a sort of anarchy." more...

More bad news about climate change - asthma and malaria increase

2005-11-02T22:20:00.000-06:00

A new report was released today entitled "Climate change Futures," by Harvard Medical School's Dr. Paul Epstein in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program and reinsurer Swiss Re. The report details how the changing climate will increase the spread of malaria, while worsening allergies and asthma.

Rising temperatures increase the range of the mosquitoes and ticks that carry maladies like malaria, West Nile virus and Lyme disease, the study said.

Cases of asthma, which is worsened by particulates in the air, can increase from greater amounts of CO2, the report said. Plants high in pollen and some soil fungi grow better with higher levels of the gas. -Reuters

The report also looks at the financial implications of these diseases and estimates that American healthcare costs will likely rise by another $18 million in response to the asthma, allergy and malaria increases.

Confessions

2005-11-02T01:17:00.000-06:00

Totally random site I found the other day that I thought both warranted an inclusion for the refreshing honesty as it did for the profound sadness and isolation that is the socitey we now live in http://grouphug.us/

Miers out - Scalia-Lite in

2005-10-31T13:35:00.000-06:00

Wow, you go out of town for a few days and the Bush administration starts imploding, maybe I should go out of town more often.

The good news of the week, obviously the indictment of Scooter Libby and the possibility that there will be more to come. The bad news, it would seem, is actually the withdrawal of Miers nomination. Instead of getting a relative unknown, we are handed an absolute conservative.

The supreme court position, which a judge can hold for life, is to fill the vacancy left by Sandra Day O'Connor, a swing voter, and could shift the bench to the right for decades to come.

Mr Alito was Mr Bush's favorite for the position before he decided to nominate someone outside what he calls the "judicial monastery," White House officials told the Associated Press.

Mr Alito has been called "Scalito" or "Scalia-lite" by some lawyers because his judicial philosophy invites comparisons to supreme court justice Antonin Scalia, the leading conservative on the bench. -The Guardian

We can be sure that the nomination of such a radical conservative will break off any chance of avoiding a filibuster on the nomination. Although the republicans were able to use the threat of the "nuclear option" last time to paint the "liberal" democrats as being partisan and holding up the work of the government, bringing about a compromise, the public is not on their side this time. With the miserable response to Katrina, the indictment of DeLay, the investigation of Frist, the investigation of Rove, the indictment of Cheney's Chief of Staff, and the withdrawal of Miers nomination, the public perception of the Republican party has shifted dramatically. A Supreme Court showdown will only bolster the Democratic party for the 2006 midterm elections. So maybe, it's not such a bad thing after all.

On another, completely random tangent, I have to take a moment to talk about the abortion issue, since it seems to be all that the media is focused on when considering supreme court nominees. The Republican party is supposed to be all about a small central government and giving the states the right to chose. Also, a party that is so adamant about guns being a right that the government should not interfere with, citing privacy concerns, why is the right to chose something the government should be involved in? Or is it simply because it's deemed a woman's issue?

Which is another complete irony, because the last time I checked, women can't impregnate themselves. Yet, as always in our society, the blame and the burden is rested squarely on the shoulders of women. If the goal was really to lessen or end the amount of abortions, then more effort should be focused on prevention. Plan B, emergency contraception, teaching children about more than abstinence and making oral contraceptives more easily available instead of allowing pharmacists the option of not filling the prescription and insurance companies the option of not covering them, would all lessen the number of abortions. Instead, we have Medicare and insurance companies required to cover viagra (but not contraception), abstinence only education that has actually increased the number of kids having unprotected sex (with a huge jump in reported oral an anal sex), and violence against women spiraling out of control with the number of rapes increasing 5% in the last five years alone.

Obviously, what we've been doing has not been working, so why would we go even further in the same direction? Or is it that the abortion issue isn't really about abortion at all, but rather about the role of women in society. And I can hardly accept it as solely a moral issue when most of the groups fighting abortion on moral grounds also advocate the death penalty and fail to recognize war as murder as well. Women have come to far to have our role in society or our right to make decisions about our own bodies decided by a bunch of old white men.

2,000 US Soldiers Killed in Iraq

2005-10-25T14:55:00.000-05:00

We've reached another horrific milestone in Iraq, 2,000 US Soldiers killed in the line of duty. People from all over the country are doing something to honor these sacrifices and bring our troops home, you can join them:

Not One More Death, Not One More Dollar - The American Friends Service Committee and the Gold Star Families for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, and Military Families Speak Out are holding:

There are currently 405 events planned in 49 states and counting...On Wednesday, October 26, people will gather in communities across the U.S. to mark the death of the 2,000th reported U.S. military death in Iraq and to say that the country’s pro-peace majority wants Congress to stop the deaths by stopping the dollars that are funding the war.

TrueMajority members have been active in opposing the war in Iraq, and now it's time to come together again. The Win Without War coalition--including Democracy for America, MoveOn.org, and TrueMajority--is organizing candlelight vigils around the country Wednesday, October 26th, at 6:30 P.M. in commemoration of the 2,000 members of America's armed forces killed in Iraq.

To find an existing vigil in your community or to create a new one, go to:http://political.moveon.org/event/iraqvigils/

Karma finally getting around to Dick Cheney

2005-10-25T00:41:00.000-05:00

That's right, they've finally found something on Mr. Halliburton himself, Vice President Dick Cheney. Rally 'round the impeachment wagons, this could just be the beginning. AP is reporting:

Documents in the CIA leak investigation indicate the chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney first heard of the covert CIA officer from Cheney himself, The New York Times reported in Tuesday editions.

The newspaper said notes of a previously undisclosed June 12, 2003 conversation between I. Lewis Libby and Cheney appear to differ from Libby's grand jury testimony that he first heard of Valerie Plame from journalists. The newspaper identified its sources as lawyers who are involved in the case.

Surely, Fitzgerald will now pursue a perjury charge against Libby, but the administration would have sold her out to save face eventually. The big question now is whether there will be charges on the way for Cheney and just how far this all goes.

Also interesting, why was this released at nearly 1 in the morning? Are they trying to bury it already? I hope this gets plenty of air time.

Darfur - Last Chance --- Only Weeks Left

2005-10-21T12:33:00.000-05:00

A new, must read article from Rueters:

The world has just weeks to help restore peace in Sudan's Darfur region or risk watching it slide back into civil war with repercussions for the whole region, U.N. refugee chief Antonio Guterres said on Friday.

A patchy ceasefire was falling apart as the two main rebel groups began to disintegrate, an African Union (AU) peace force was hopelessly undermanned, under-equipped and under-funded and the world appeared to have lost interest, he said.

"Everything is getting out of control. This is happening on both sides," Guterres, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told Reuters. "The crucial moment is from now to the end of the year."

"We are close to a moment in which a new major tragedy might occur in Darfur," he added at the launch of a DVD of a concert last December to raise money for refugees from the strife-torn region the size of France.

"It would have a major impact on the neighbours ... and on the whole African region."

The United Nations says at least two million Sudanese have been turned into refugees in their own country by 2 1/2 years of fighting between rebels, the Sudanese army and Arab militias known as Janjaweed, believed to be backed by Khartoum.

Another 200,000 have been forced to flee to camps in neighbouring Chad.

Rape, murder and robbery are rampant, and food is scarce despite the efforts of aid agencies.

A sixth round of faltering peace talks in the Nigerian capital Abuja was adjourned until November on Thursday. Since mid-September scant headway has been made.more...

Take Action today. How can you help? Donate to Save the Children, Unicef, Human Rights Watch, or you can even buy somethign to raise awareness here or here. Another thing you can do, visit the Amnesty International Page on Sudan and take action.

"In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up." - Martin Niemoller

Another Abu Ghraib?

2005-10-20T10:58:00.000-05:00

The US military has begun an investigation into military personnel desecrating Taliban bodies in Afghanistan. The Australian Dateline program aired a film of two soldiers burning the bodies of the Taliban soldiers and then the US army psychological operations unit blasted offensive messages over loudspeakers.

According to a transcript of the program, the soldiers faced the bodies towards Mecca in a deliberately provocative move and set them on fire. One said: "Wow, look at the blood coming out of the mouth on that one, fucking straight death metal."

A message was then broadcast over a loudspeaker in the local dialect which, according to the freelance cameraman, Stephen Dupont, embedded with the 173rd Airborne Brigade, said: "Attention, Taliban, you are all cowardly dogs. You allowed your fighters to be laid down facing west and burned. You are too scared to come down and retrieve their bodies. This just proves you are the lady boys we always believed you to be."

The government of Afghanistan has demanded an investigation and punishment for those responsible. And again, we are guilty of breaking Geneva Conventions:

Under the Geneva Conventions, soldiers must ensure that the "dead are honorably interred, if possible according to the rites of the religion to which they belonged."

Furthermore, the rules state that bodies should not be cremated, "except for imperative reasons of hygiene or for motives based on the religion of the deceased."

"I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent."
-- Mohandas K. Gandhi

Spotlight on Darfur

2005-10-19T17:01:00.000-05:00

Read a great collection of articles on the current situation in Darfur. What is the spotlight? A group of folks working with the Coalition for Darfur who've come together to raise awareness on the issue. Why? Because ordinary citizens are able to put aside their differences (this is a very diverse group of blogs) and recognize that human life is more important than anything else. Now, if only we can convince our governments.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead

Earth is getting hot! hot! hot!

2005-10-14T15:52:00.000-05:00

That's right-global warming-it's real, it's ugly, and it isn't going away (no matter how much the Bush Administration protests). The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that September 2005 is the hottest on record, ever-globally. For the US it was the fourth hottest September ever with "the average temperature for the United States for September (based on preliminary data) was 2.6 degrees F (1.4 degrees C) above the mean for 1895-2004." Take into consideration that the last recorded ice age was set off by a temperature difference of 4 degrees globally, and you begin to see the significance of the issue.

The average global temperature anomaly for combined land and ocean surfaces for September (based on preliminary data) was 1.13 degrees F (0.63 degrees C) above the 1880-2004 long-term mean. This was the warmest September since 1880, the beginning of reliable instrumental records. The second warmest September was in 2003 with an anomaly of 1.02 degrees F (0.57 degrees C) above the mean. Land surface temperatures were highest on record for September with temperatures more than 5 degrees F (2.8 degrees C) above normal across large parts of Asia and North America. Ocean temperatures were third highest on record.

Add to this, "the four hottest years globally [were]the last four years" and continued melting of the ice caps, things aren't looking good. Unless of course you're part of the Bush Administration or the Fox News network (which are the same thing aren't they?).

With all of the obvious effects of global warming coming to the fore, why on Earth would we reduce environmental protections? Oh yeah, that's right, we still have an oil tycoon in the White House who made sure that the refineries in Texas were protected for a Hurricane, but could care less about the actual people in New Orleans. I'm sure that it'll be much easier for him to continue to gut the Clean Air Act now that he can exploit the hurricane's affect on consumers at the gas pump. And he's doing just that:

The Bush administration proposed new regulations Thursday that could allow the nation's dirtiest power plants to release more air pollutants each year - and possibly undercut lawsuits aimed at forcing companies to comply with the Clean Air Act.

Add to that the damage Republicans are doing in the congress:

But Barton's Gasoline for America's Security Act includes provisions that could weaken clean-air regulations. Among them: a proposal that would allow the government to push back deadlines to comply with federal ozone standards in areas like Dallas-Fort Worth that are affected by pollution from other cities and states.

These provisions sparked fierce opposition from clean-air advocates and Democrats, who accused Barton and others of taking advantage of the hurricanes to try to gut laws protecting human health and the environment.

There's no sign that the planet will be cooling down anytime soon, at least if the US has anything to say about it. Considering that the US produces "about 25 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions" and we refuse to join in any treaties or programs to reduce our emissions, like say the Kyoto Treaty, we're rushing headlong into our own oblivion.

Bush: 'God told me to end the tyranny in Iraq'

2005-10-07T10:32:00.000-05:00

There's not much I can really say about this piece, you need to read it yourself.

One of the delegates, Nabil Shaath, who was Palestinian foreign minister at the time, said: "President Bush said to all of us: 'I am driven with a mission from God'. God would tell me, 'George go and fight these terrorists in Afghanistan'. And I did. And then God would tell me 'George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq'. And I did."- the Guardian

It's not the first time God has been invoked in the reasoning for war, the crusades, the inquistion, and we see how well those turned out. I think they all might have missed a few passages of the bible, like:

Psalm 34:14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
Romans 10:15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
Romans 15:33 Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.
Mark 9:50 Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.
Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Proverbs 16:7 When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
1 Corinthians 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
1 Peter 3:11 Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.
2 Corinthians 13:11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.
James 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
James 3:18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
Hebrews 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
-King James Bible

Bush Administration Keeping Katrina Victims off of Medicaid

2005-10-06T17:24:00.000-05:00

A bipartisan senate bill proposed by the Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Charles Grassley and Democrat Sen. Max Baucus, that would ease Medicaid eligibility requirements for storm victims, is being blocked by the Bush Administration. The bill would also reimburse states 100% for the Medicaid costs, the states usually have to pick up at part of the bill.

Baucus said the Medicaid bill proposes the same provisions that were enacted after the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York, but action since the August 29 storm has been slow.

"It's been six weeks now. Where is the administration? It is slow-walking, it is opposing, it is obfuscating, it is delaying, it is not acting," he said.

While the politicians wrestle with the Bush administration, people in need of health care are being turned away:

In Louisiana, some 55 percent of hurricane evacuees who sought Medicaid assistance were denied, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported this week. But that figure only counted people in shelters and may be conservative, state health officials told the newspaper.

It's a long way from the promises Bush made "We're also developing a comprehensive plan to immediately help displaced citizens. This will include housing and education and health care and other essential needs."

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits.- Matthew 7:15-16

and on tv...

2005-10-05T14:39:00.000-05:00

I was pleasantly surprised to find something actually worth watching the other day. If you haven't seen the new Commander in Chief, you are missing a good show. The only problem is it might just be too real. Of course, I think we're more than ready for a woman president.

stacking the courts

2005-10-05T14:18:00.000-05:00

They took the house, they took the senate, they stole the presidency and then won re-election - now they are stacking the courts.

First, let me take a moment to ponder the ridiculousness of nominating someone with NO, none, zero, zip, nada, judicial experience. I've worked in an office, so naturally I should be hired as a CEO, right? Ridiculous notion isn't it? So is this nomination. There have been a few other justices who did not have judicial experience, but they at least clerked for the Supreme Court, that's a huge difference.

Not to mention, it seems like we have another Scalia on our hands. Why is that so important? Because O'Connor was a moderate whose swing vote upheld roe v. wade and many other important decisions. Miers appears to be a right-wing evangelical who Bush calls "a pit-bull in size six shoes."

Nathan L. Hecht, a Texas Supreme Court justice, has been a close companion of Miers since they first worked together for a Dallas law firm 30 years ago. His comments are the clearest indication to date of Miers' view on abortion Â which, as with other issues she would be likely to face on the high court, is unknown.

Hecht is known as the most conservative member of the conservative Texas Supreme Court. "He's sort of the [Antonin] Scalia of that court: smart, aggressive and very conservative," said University of Texas law professor Douglas Laycock.

Hecht, a vocal opponent of the abortion right, said in an interview Tuesday that Miers shared his views. The two attend the evangelical Valley View Christian Church near Dallas.

"Harriet goes to a church that is pro-life. She has for 25 years," he said. "She gives them a lot of money. Her personal views lie in that direction." - Chicago Tribune

Another Day, Another Corporate Giveaway

2005-09-30T13:25:00.000-05:00

Sen. Obama joined with Republican Tom Couburn in demanding the government explain their deal with Carnival Cruiselines when Greece had offered cruise ships to house victims for free.

"Even if the Carnival contract were a good one--and it almost certainly is not--it is inexplicable why FEMA would fail to implement the Greek government's offer of free cruise ships," the senators said. "Unfortunately, this is merely the latest example of poor decision-making by FEMA."

Making this waste of $236 million even more appalling: "The ships were largely sitting empty in the Gulf Coast, The Washington Post reported this week, prompting allegations of wasted government money from Republicans and Democrats. " NBC news is reporting that they are sitting "half full." The senators are suggesting that a CFO position be created to oversee the dispersal of Katrina related funds.

Even more disturbing are the signs that everyone is trying to get their greedy little fingers on a piece of the government's Katrina Relief Fund. Lobbyists are already trying to get their pet projects money from the pot, including:
$8 million for alligator farms.
$25 million for a sugar cane research lab.
$35 million to market seafood.
$50 billion in open-ended grants.

There is no calamity greater than lavish desires. There is no greater guilt than discontentment. And there is not greater disaster than greed
-Lao-tzu

Darfur - Further Down the Spiral

2005-09-21T13:52:00.000-05:00

This weeks Coalition Post:

One week ago, experts and observers warned that Darfur risked "sliding into a perpetual state of lawlessness." At a time when Khartoum and the Darfur rebels were preparing to meet in an attempt to move the essentially non-existent peace process forward, IRIN was reporting

Banditry and continuous attacks by armed groups on humanitarian workers, Arab nomads and villages in Darfur have increased significantly over the past weeks and threaten to destabilise the fragile ceasefire in the volatile western Sudanese region.

The "fragile ceasefire" has never really existed and fears of "perpetual" lawlessness are misplaced considering that Darfur has been essentially lawless for more than two years.

Last week, the World Food Program reported that "security levels deteriorated in Darfur during the reporting week." This week, the WFP reported that "despite precautionary security measures, attacks on commercial and humanitarian vehicles continue in Darfur."

And as the UN was expressing its concern "about the recurrent attacks carried out by armed men and gangs in Darfur states, which target civilians and commercial vehicles hired by relief organizations," Norwegian Church Aid was reporting that "relief convoy has been raided at gunpoint by bandits in Darfur for the second time in a short period. The security situation in Darfur shows signs of deterioration"

A growing problem is also that aid convoys are now being ambushed with increasing regularity by bandits on horses and camels. Norwegian Church Aid vehicles have been raided at gunpoint twice in a matter of weeks ... The field teams who travel most often through the western and southern parts of Darfur regularly encounter en route, and are often chased by, heavily armed men riding on horses and camels. Since the aid operation began just over a year ago, security has presented a great challenge for the agencies. Yet whereas assault, exchanges of fire and attacks on villages were previously politically motivated, much of the violence seems now to be criminal in nature.

And the violence continues.

Just yesterday, it was reported that 40 were killed in fighting after an attack on the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement/Army by "armed nomadic tribesmen" [aka "the Janjaweed"]. This was followed by another report that 80 government soldiers had been killed by the SLM when they captured the town of Sheiria in a surprise attack in retaliation for earlier government attacks on rebel-held territory.

The attack on Sheiria put at risk some 33,000 civilians who rely on humanitarian assistance after staff from three NGO's were withdrawn due to the fighting. And for good measure, the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) "reported that the security situation in the Kalma camp housing displaced persons has further deteriorated with a large number of security incidents, including some 60 reported attacks on women over the last week alone."

All of this took place while the sixth round of peace talks were being held in Nigeria.

It has now been more than a year since the United States declared the situation in Darfur a "genocide" - and the security situation on the ground is now even arguably worse. While government-orchestrated attacks on civilians have diminished, mainly because "there are not many villages left to burn down and destroy," the rampant insecurity in all likelihood still qualifies as part of Khartoum's genocidal campaign to "deliberately [inflict] on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part."

The genocide is not ending and the situation is not improving. The people of Darfur have, for all intents and purposes, been abandoned.

And the First Katrina Construction Contract goes to.....

2005-09-16T14:04:00.000-05:00

Haliburton. Was there ever any doubt?

Haliburton has been awarded the first big reconstruction contacts in the wake of the storm.

And of course, don't forget the Haliburton subsidiaries, wouldn't want to leave them out.

An Arlington-based Haliburton Co. subsidiary that has been criticized for its reconstruction work in Iraq has begun tapping a $500 million Navy contract to do emergency repairs at Gulf Coast naval and Marine facilities damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

The subsidiary, Kellogg, Brown & Root Services Inc., won the competitive bid contract last July to provide debris removal and other emergency work associated with natural disasters.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United Subsidiaries of Haliburton and to the republic for which it stands one nation under contract, indivisible, with corruption and duress for all.

Bush to US - rebuilding to be paid for by the poor and middle class

2005-09-16T11:16:00.000-05:00

President Bush gave a nice speech last night where he, as usual, uttered soundbites and failed to offer any details or meaningful proposals. Yes, there will be tax breaks for businesses, but how does that help the 20,000+ people stranded at shelters without homes or financial means? Businesses need customers, after all. Too little, too late - a real leader doesn't wait until their poll numbers go down to take action or accountability. But whoever said he was a real leader.

But more importantly, he promised that the federal government would pay for "most" of the rebuilding. My first thought was "most of it?" aren't we paying for all of it in Iraq? Granted, we didn't blow up New Orleans, so maybe that's the difference? There was an AP article today putting the cost of reconstruction and relief at $200 billion and beyond. The Bush administration acknowledged that it will be coming from the American tax payer. But while they are handing tax breaks out to business owners, they are still pushing to make Bush's tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans permanent. So who will be paying for the FUBAR mess the government made of relief efforts? That's right, the poor and the vanishing middle class.

Even more damning is the fact that the entire disaster may have been lessened or possibly even avoided if they weren't cutting the budget to give tax breaks to millionaires. They passed the current tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans by cutting superfluous things like, oh, hurricane and flood protection programs from the budget. Then Bush got rid of taxes on stock dividends by cutting funding from the army Corp. Of engineers that they said was needed to shore up Louisiana's levee infrastructure. And he did the same thing to the corp. of engineers again this year when he needed to cut the budget to get rid of the estate taxes for the wealthiest Americans, like poor Paris Hilton.

Tax cuts for the wealthy helped cause this massive breakdown in our government response to hurricane Katrina, causing intense suffering for the poor in New Orleans and the surrounding area. And now tax cuts for the wealthy places the burden of
relief and recovery squarely on the shoulders of the poor again. Making us all victims of the Bush Administration.

Why aren't people leaving New Orleans? Here's why:

2005-09-10T11:08:00.000-05:00

They wouldn't let people take their animals, small or large dogs, cats or anything else.

Venessa MaGee weeps as she prepares to hand her kitten over to animal control officers after evacuation from her flooded house in New Orleans September 7, 2005.
(Tribune photo by Kuni Takahashi)
Posted September 8, 2005 Copyright Â© 2005, Chicago Tribune

Yes, they did need to get the people out, but domesticated animals can't fend for themselves and have become family members for so many people. Lets face it, they did such an amazingly shitty job of getting the people out, they could have at least let them keep their pets instead of leaving them to suffer and starve to death. Like this poor dog (all of these images are from the trib or ap)

unfortunatelyy, pets weren't the only animals affected. I happened to have visited New Orleans this May and attended an event at the aquarium, which was wonderful. (Of course, I had to point out how ironic it was that they would serve fish at aquarium.) Apparently, 2/3rds of the 6,000 fish there died because they could not pumpoxygenn into the water in their tanks.

Beyond even this, is the trauma that many people suffered while watching their pets die from starvation or even having to kill them. There are numerous reports of police and military shooting dogs, not just rabid ones, but pets they aren't allowing people to take. The trauma of losing your home, your job, your way of life and all your possessions is more than enough, why are we still torturing the people of New Orleans?

And then there are the dogs that won't leave, without their owners.

There is something you can do: Donate your time or money to the Anti-Cruelty Society or the Humane Society. Help reunite those who've already suffered enough with their pets, like this woman below.

Bush Cares about.....Trent Lott

2005-09-08T23:16:00.000-05:00

I've been taken aback by all the horrific scenes coming from New Orleans, as much of the world, and haven't thought I had anything to add to the growing number of stories written about it. Until, I read one of the most deplorable, but all too common, Bushism. Apparently, George Bush doesn't care about black people (as Kayne West so honestly and humorously reminded us on live national television), but he does care about Trent Lott. Poor old Trent Lott...

"Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house, there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch,' he said. Commentators were quick to note that Lott has at least one other house, unlike the poor who are stranded in New Orleans." - The Observer

Dancing on the Edge of a Recession

2005-08-28T15:06:00.000-05:00

Lately I've been finding it rather odd that nearly 70% of the US economy (gross Domestic Product) is supported solely through our spending habits--mass consumerism. What if we suddenly stopped buying anything other than essentials, would the economy tailspin? Also concerning is the recent flood of industrial and textile jobs out of the country. Buoyed by trade agreements like NAFTA and now CAFTA--which will ultimately increase the number of American companies heading south of the border where they don't have to comply to strict environmental standards, pay for medical care, or even operate under the same human rights standards of the United States--America is quickly becoming a country that doesn't produce anything. We have great ideas, we can do your accounting, manage your stocks, but we rarely make our own clothes, build our own cars, computers or much of anything else. What happens if the foreign governments we rely on change their mind about exporting to us?

Another part of this possible vulnerability in the American Economic structure is the huge debt burden carried by almost all of American Society. There's an excellent article written by the AP Business Reporter out today on this very topic. It basically discusses the widespread affect something like a 2% interest rate change in either credit cards or mortgage financing would have on the American economy. Even more concerning than that, is the part of the article concerning China.

China's growing exports to the United States are a major factor in the explosion of the nation's trade deficit, which could exceed $700 billion this year. At the same time, China is one of the largest foreign investors in U.S. Treasury securities, with its holdings of $244 billion, second only to Japan.

This is also significant in terms of our international diplomacy. Recently, the White House has talked about discouraging China from selling arms to other countries. The US position on Taiwan’s independence also puts us in a delicate position in the middle of China and Taiwan. When the US economy is so surreptitiously influenced by China, our ability to influence either of these issues is severely undermined.

If China stopped buying U.S. securities, or even started dumping them, it would send the dollar into a tailspin. That, in turn, would push interest rates up in America and make imports more expensive, fueling inflation.

Add to all of this the recently passed bankruptcy bill that will make it even harder for Americans to get out of debt; are we dancing on the edge of another recession? Considering that most Americans carry an average credit card debt of $10,000, the ever-increasing medical costs leading to half of all bankruptcies, the volatile oil market taking a bite out of consumers at the pump and the lack of state and governmental aide due to the increasing financial burden from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, we may already be standing on the precipice.

A rapid rise in interest rates could also bring the housing and mortgage booms to a quick end, possibly tipping the U.S. economy into recession.

What Genocide? ignorance is bliss

2005-08-23T13:45:00.000-05:00

This week's Coalition for Darfur post is so eye-opening, I thought I'd post it verbatim

Think Progress, is reporting that the NBC, CBS, ABC affiliates in the DC area are refusing to run its Be a Witness ads and I thought that I would pass it along:

http://thinkprogress.org/2005/08/23/ad-rejected/

Apparently you can't even pay TV networks to cover genocide.

American Progress created a television advertisement for BeAWitness.org, our netroots campaign that calls out the television news media for their deplorable coverage of the genocide in Darfur. Over the last few days, three Washington DC television affiliates, NBC-4, CBS-9, and ABC-7, informed us that they refuse to air the ad.

Since the major networks seem to have their hands full covering stories like Natalee Holloway and the Runaway Bride, the ad does what the media won't — puts the spotlight on Darfur, and suggests that genocide warrants increased coverage.

ABC News broadcast just 18 minutes of Darfur coverage in its nightly newscasts in all of 2004 — "and that turns out to be a credit to Peter Jennings," as Nicholas Kristof pointed out. NBC News featured 5 minutes, and CBS only had three, "about a minute of coverage for every 100,000 deaths." Now they won't allow us to pay for 30 seconds to urge better coverage of the genocide.

Send a message to NBC, CBS and ABC demanding that the stations air the ad.

Here are the official responses from the networks:

NBC: WRC-TV has chosen not to accept the submitted commercial advertisement, "Genocide is News," sponsored by BeAWitness.org.

CBS: Management did not approve the airing of the "Beawitness.org" spot.

ABC: I just got word that WJLA-TV will not be able to accept the creative for Be a Witness.org . Please let me know if there may be any alternative creative that we may run

Bush misunderestimates logic

2005-08-22T23:03:00.000-05:00

hi all, i'm back, shoulder surgery went well.

Here's something I couldn't resist commenting on: "Bush: US must finish job in Iraq to honor the fallen."

Let's go through the list shall we...we went to Iraq because:
1) they contributed to 9/11
2) they have weapons of mass destruction
3) they were working with Al Queda
4) Saddam Hussein was really bad - (ok this one's true, but so are many of the dictators in Africa and we do nothing)
5) Iraqis were oppressed (also true, but they still are, and so are parts of America)
6) We must promote democracy (by conquering other countries and forcing it on them)
and now 7) to honor the people who have already died.

Wait, he really said that? Think about, now we are in Iraq letting more Americans die so that the people that already died will have died for something? That John Kerry quote keeps circling around in my brain - "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"

I don't pretend to have the answers, but you don't continue to send people to die so that people who have already died will be honored.

no posts for a while

2005-07-12T11:34:00.000-05:00

Hello all, I'll be having shoulder surgery, and that,unfortunately, means that treehugger is unlikely to get updated in the near future. New posts should be coming in about a month. ciao

Genocide Continues in Darfur

2005-06-29T10:20:00.000-05:00

As the murderers responsible for the genocide in Rwanda are finally being brought to justice, the situation in the Darfur region of Sudan continues to escalate. Sec. of State Rice met with Kofi Annan yesterday and they reportedly

...agreed on the need to support the African Union's (AU) peacekeeping mission in Sudan's Darfur, including providing military support from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU).

There's a great collection of posts on the Darfur issue over on Allthings2all. Keep up to date on the latest news at the Coalition for Darfur, and now you can even purchase one of those trendy wristbands to raise money and awareness about the genocide from the faith-based Save Darfur Coalition.

Violence Against Women & the Supreme Court on Restraining Orders

2005-06-28T15:43:00.000-05:00

The Supreme Court today ruled that you cannot file a federal suit against the police or your town for failing to enforce a restraining order. Some legal experts are saying this ruling just puts the responsibility of enforcing such orders back into the hands of the states and local police by keeping it out of the federal system. The specific case heard before the court was Castle Rock v. Gonzales. Jessica Gonzales had filed an order of protection against her husband, whom she was in the midst of divorcing. He kidnapped their children and police failed to respond to her calls and enforce the order of protection, during which time Simon Gonzales killed their three daughters and was later killed during a shoot-out with police.
Will this ruling make the states responsible, or does it merely strip women and victims of violence of any feasible recourse in our legal system? The immediate implications of the decision aren't clear, the real test will be it's application as it's played out in courts throughout the country in the coming months. For further information on the ruling, check out the SCOTUS blog. Mother Jones just put out a great compendium of violence and legal issues currently facing women in our country, well worth the read.
There is always more to be done to stop the violence against women, join Amnesty International's fight here, and don't forget to contact you congressmen and women and urge them to renew and strengthen the Violence Against Women Act which will expire this year.

Good News for the Environment? Somebody pinch me...

2005-06-28T10:35:00.000-05:00

The Republican controlled Senate actually made huge steps forward today by passing an environmentally friendly energy bill. Absent from the bill are the house measures including drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge and giveaways to the oil industry like exempting them from lawsuits for polluting local water supplies with the carcinogen MTBE. I think I must be dreaming!

Although not entirely an environmentalists dream bill, it goes a long way to support conservation, including tax breaks for energy efficient appliances and cars, and requiring utilities to produce at least 10 percent of their electricity from renewable resources. But, before we get too excited, it will have to be reconciled with the corporate giveaway disguised as the house resolution. Good news on the environment is so seldom for this administration, this still feels like a major victory.

Dakota Fanning would have been a better choice...

2005-06-28T10:23:00.000-05:00

Apparently, psychiatrists and psychologists are getting fed up with Mr. Cruise's antics - as is the rest of the world! The American Psychiatric Association (APA) released a statement rebutting Cruise's "irresponsible" behavior. Personally, I find it funny that a guy who was a self-proclaimed functional illiterate with a high school education would tell a journalist on live tv that they don't know "the history of psychiatry - I do."

Please Mr. Spielberg, start sending Dakota Fanning out to promote your movie, she's a little more mature.

More bad news for the little guys

2005-06-23T10:55:00.000-05:00

Long time no blog? I know, I've been out with a shoulder injury, but now I'm back and hope to be blogging a bit more regularly.

In a blow for the little guys, (a.k.a. the other 90% of America that holds 10% of the wealth) the US Supreme Court ruled to allow a town in Connecticut to bulldoze people's homes in order to build a hotel and an office building. Interestingly, the Justices dissenting were O'Conner, Scalia, Rehnquist and Thomas. The conservative stallwarts against corporate giveaways and siding with O'Conner? Wonders never cease. Supreme Court Rules Cities May Seize Homes - Yahoo! News

Congress sells out the environment - again

2005-05-04T13:57:00.000-05:00

Among many, many other dubious items included in the energy bill that has passed the house, but not the senate, is a lovely loophole making the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act virtually useless. It’s not surprising that the Bush administration would gut any legislation standing in their way of extracting every last drop of non-renewable resources in the US. Bush's idea of being a "good steward" obviously means whoring out the land to the highest bidder. I've been biting my tongue for a week after his wonderful speech about creating more oil refineries in the US. We had the good sense to stop building them over 20 years ago so that we could look towards new technologies for energy. Of his many proposals last week, not one called for creating energy from a renewable resource. Canada and France have highly developed tidal power, Holland is famously known for it's windmills, and even small towns in Bavaria, Germany are putting solar panels on their roofs, yet America just wants more oil. The only responsible recommendation in his entire proposal is extending the tax credit on hybrid vehicles. But even that is laughable considering hybrids are already selling so well they are on months of back-order, the public would buy them no matter what, he just wants to take political credit for it. If he actually meant business about fuel efficiency he would work on raising the CAFE standards instead of lowering them. I was at the Chicago Auto show this year and was appalled by the number of cars (not suvs, cars) the auto industry was rolling out that got under 20 mpg! Not to even mention behemoths like the Lincoln Navigator that got a whopping 9 mpg.

This irresponsible give-away for the oil industry will only end up hurting it, and all of us, in the end. From an economic standpoint, what will the industry do after they've bled America dry? When there's nothing left to drill or refine?

DeLay's House of Cards Comes Crashing Down

2005-04-25T10:41:00.000-05:00

It appears that his trips paid for by lobbyists, might just be his undoing:

The airfare to London and Scotland in 2000 for then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) was charged to an American Express card issued to Jack Abramoff, a Washington lobbyist at the center of a federal criminal and tax probe, according to two sources who know Abramoff's credit card account number and to a copy of a travel invoice displaying that number.

House ethics rules bar lawmakers from accepting travel and related expenses from registered lobbyists. read the full story...

Taking action on Darfur

2005-04-24T12:02:00.000-05:00

As I finally sat down to write a letter you can send to your elected officials, I noticed that in an email I'd gotten from Amnesty International, they'd already written an excellent one. It's also automated so it will look up your officials for you, take action. Also, there's a new post on the coalition for Darfur chronicling our inaction during the Rwandan genocide and now the Sudan genocide--with what the news was really focused on. Speaking of the Rwandan Genocide, if you haven't seen Hotel Rwanda yet, put it on the top of your list, it's easily the best movie I've seen all year. There's an excellent article in today's Minneapolis Star Tribune with the run down on what Congress is (or isn't) doing about Sudan and what the major political roadblocks have been in getting the UN and world to act -- the usual, money and oil. It is definitely worth reading considering there are currently as many as 10 different bills floating around the congress on Darfur, but none of them have been debated. Which means there needs to be some pressure put on our elected officials from their constituents to get these bills out there, so write ‘em! Maybe we could actually get them to do something more than fighting for power and arguing over "liberal judges" and "nuclear options!"

End Darfur Genocide

2005-04-11T13:29:00.000-05:00

If you don't know what's going on in Darfur, read this first hand account from an ex-marine who was there as a cease-fire monitor.

Keep up to date on the Genocide occurring in Darfur through the Coalition for Darfur as the world sits by and does nothing, or, like the US, actually decreases the amount of money spent on peace keeping missions.

You can do something to help, visit Global Grass Roots to find out how. Write to your Senators, Representatives and President Bush. Not sure what to write? I'll post a sample letter in the next couple days that you can feel free to use.

The Passing of the Pope

2005-04-03T22:14:00.000-05:00

I thought it was only fitting to post information about the Pope, as he was an extraordinary advocate for peace and tolerance. He shall be sorely missed and I only hope the next pope can be as great an example. For more on the amazing life of John Paul II:
http://www.archdiocese-chgo.org/pope_0401/pope_index.shtm

"Social justice cannot be attained by violence. Violence kills what it intends to create." - Pope John Paul II

"Humanity should question itself, once more, about the absurd and always unfair phenomenon of war, on whose stage of death and pain only remain standing the negotiating table that could and should have prevented it."
- Pope John Paul II

Schiavo Case - Irony Anyone?

2005-03-31T14:39:00.000-06:00

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

2005-03-23T17:25:00.000-06:00

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...

Kerry Was Right About Tora Bora

2005-03-22T17:33:00.000-06:00

As if you doubted it anyway, now there's proof.

"The document, provided to The Associated Press in response to a Freedom of Information request, says the unidentified detainee 'assisted in the escape of Osama bin Laden from Tora Bora.' It is the first definitive statement from the Pentagon (news - web sites) that bin Laden was at Tora Bora and evaded U.S. pursuers. "

GAO Says Propaganda Wrong - Bush Defends It

2005-03-16T17:46:00.000-06:00

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

2005-03-14T17:34:00.000-06:00

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

2005-03-11T11:21:00.000-06:00

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.'"

Éireann go Brách!

2005-02-24T11:41:00.000-06:00

the treehugger is off to Ireland, I'll get back to the blog in a few weeks!

In the meantime, check out the new Ghandi t-shirt

Bush Finally becomes Uniter, not Divider

2005-02-17T16:33:00.000-06:00

Unfortunately, his policies are uniting places like Iran and Syria. While Iran is calling on other Arab nations to unite against the US, Israel isn't making matters any better. Israel has warned that it may consider a pre-emptive strike against Iranian nuclear installations along the lines of its 1981 bombing of an unfinished Iraqi nuclear reactor near Baghdad. This should be very troublesome to Americans, especially considering the Israeli military is composed of American planes that would require them to refuel before they eve reach Iran. How would they do this? By either, making a lay-over in Iraq or refueling in Iraqi air space. Which means, of course, that this action would basically have to occur with an American blessing.

Another misleading statement in this article is that "The Bush Administration has so far applied only diplomatic pressure." The US has apparently been sending unmanned spy planes into Iran for over a year. The Iranian government has formally protested the flights. And now a blast near one of the nuclear facilities has set-off alarms all across the middle east that Iran has been attacked by the US. Although the US and Israel have denied involvement and .Tehran gave conflicting explanations for the blast -- including construction work and friendly fire in a military area.

W is for War

How do you Combat terrorism? Throw Money at it!

2005-02-16T17:41:00.000-06:00

The supplemental spending request Bush recently sent to Congress includes plenty of "add-ons" that have nothing to do with supporting the troops. By using the supplemental request, instead of budgeting these items in the 2006 FY budget he already sent to congress, the administration doesn't have to explain how the money would be used, but rather proffers congress an obscure blank check. Especially appalling after the American run Iraq Provisional Authority couldn't account for over $10 billion dollars of money already sent. Among my personal favorite add-ons: $400 million to pay-off nations we bribed into the "coalition of the willing" and $150 million for military aid for Pakistan---a country who's current leader took over by military coup?

How does the administration decide to sell this to the congress? Scare them. That's right, it's worked for everything else, why not continue crying wolf at every chance we get. "Speaking with one voice, President Bush's top intelligence and military officials said Wednesday that terrorists are regrouping for possible new strikes against the United States. They said the best defense was for Congress to approve the president's military and anti-terror budget."

Here are some of the extras in the supplemental request:

War budget request loaded with extras

$5.3 BILLION

Reorganizing Army and Marines to fight terrorism

$950 MILLION

Recovery funds for nations hit by South Asian tsunami

$342 MILLION

Aid to feed refugees and bolster peace accord in Sudan

$200 MILLION

Education and border security for Palestinians

$60 MILLION

Support for Ukraine's new reform government

Among the funds not directly related to U.S. military action:

Bill not entirely for U.S. military action

AMOUNT / REASON FOR FUNDING

$7.4 billion: Training/equipping Iraqi and Afghan military and police.

$5.3 billion: Restructuring Army and Marine units.

$1.85 billion: Countering drugs, paying for security and supporting reconstruction in Afghanistan.

$950 million: Helping areas affected by the recent tsunami in the Indian Ocean.

$1.38 billion: Constructing/operating a new U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

$400 million: Economically assisting nations that have taken political and economic risks to join the U.S.-led coalitions in Iraq and Afghanistan

$342 million: Providing aid to promote peace for people in civil war-stricken Sudan.

$200 million: Funding education and border security for the Palestinians.

$300 million: Providing economic and military aid in Jordan.

$150 million: Providing military aid for Pakistan.

$60 million: Aiding Ukraine

$780 million: Funding international peacekeeping activities

Source: White House

Chicago Tribune

David trumps Goliath

2005-02-15T15:11:00.000-06:00

The little guys can win. If you have ever heard of the infamous McLibel case, where two activists were sued by McDonalds for distributing flyers--they didn't write--that accused McDonalds of paying low wages, abusing animals and exploiting children, the activists won today against the UK Government. The two activists defended themselves against the massive corporation and lost. Although the court did find that the charges issued by the activists pamphlet were true, the libel laws in the UK are unreasonably strict. So unreasonable that the European Court of Human Rights found that they were denied the right to free speech and a fair trial.

Obama lets Bush have it

2005-02-15T13:55:00.000-06:00

Obama is already Ba-rocking the capitol as he rips the Bush administration over their funding for veteran's affairs. Conservatives will likely counter that the 2006 budget for Veteran's affairs is an increase of 2% over the 2005 budget, although true, that hardly takes into consideration the vast increase of veterans since 2005 with over 10,000 Americans injured in Iraq. The most alarming part of Bush's proposal is requiring veterans to pay $250 to become enrolled in the health-care system they were supposed to get for serving in the military. "Our honorable military service should be our enrollment fee in the system," said Steve Robertson, legislative director for the American Legion.

"This budget tells our veterans that if they want increased funding for the VA they'll have to pay for it themselves," Obama said.

More broadly, Obama castigated Bush for "a bad budget" and "enormous spending."

"To the extent that we've got a fiscal crisis right now, part of it is prompted by a bullheaded insistence on the part of the president, for example, that we should extend all of his tax cuts, make all of them permanent," Obama said.

Hillary/Obama 2008!

Bush Administration violated Endangered Species Act

2005-02-01T14:27:00.000-06:00

A Federal Judge in Portland ruled today that "the Bush administration violated the Endangered Species Act when it relaxed protections on many of the nation's gray wolves." The US Fish and Wildlife Service had reclassified Eastern and Western populations of the wolves to threatened status. "The court chastised the Bush Administration's policy as not based on science or the law and as merely an attempt to remove the wolf from the Endangered Species Act list as quickly as possible. " The Fish and Wildlife Service Defines a threatened species as: An animal or plant species likely to become endangered within the
foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range.

While this is good news for the further protection of the endangered Gray Wolves in the lower 48 states, Alaska is a whole 'nother story. That state has begun issuing permits to allow aerial hunting of wolves. Basically, you can get a helicopter or plane and shoot wolves, that are in no way threatening you, from the sky. Alaskans twice voted to ban the practice in statewide referendums, but the Alaska Board of Game resumed the practice anyway. For more on this issue, and what you can do, visit the Defenders of Wildlife website.

Hillary Clinton's laying the groundwork for 2008

2005-01-31T14:02:00.000-06:00

Hillary Clinton gave an excellent speech on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade that effectively reframes the abortion debate. It basically paints her, and other democrats like her, as the moral realists and Bush and co. as moral ideologues out of touch with reality. It's quite ingenious actually, and is clearly the groundwork she's laying for her upcoming fight for reelection in 2006 and possibly 2008. It's well worth reading the full analysis of the speech over on Slate, Safe, Legal, and Never - Hillary Clinton's anti-abortion strategy. By William Saletan

Hillary Obama 2008!

Another Media Member paid off

2005-01-28T10:23:00.000-06:00

And the truth keeps leaking out. Another columnist paid off by the administration to support Bush's Marriage plan. Mike McManus, a columnist syndicated in 30 to 40 newspapers, was paid to train marriage mentors and sub-contracted by the Lewin Group to support the marriage programs. Perhaps even more disturbing, McManus has a non-profit group "marriage savers" that was paid $49,000 from a group that received a grant from HHS (health and Human Services) to promote marriage to unwed couples having children.

Since the consulting deals began in January 2003, McManus has touted Bush's marriage initiative in several of his columns. At least three of them quoted Horn, a former member of the Marriage Savers board of directors. Horn's office manages the grant and contract under which McManus' group is paid.

McManus, who has been quoted as a marriage expert in publications that include USA TODAY, defended his dual role as a journalist and a government consultant. "I don't see that it's relevant," he said. "I was hired because we have an expertise in working with churches."

Never Again

2005-01-27T14:05:00.000-06:00

An expression inscribed on many monuments as a reminder of the atrocities of the Holocaust, "Never Again" are the words being uttered repeatedly from the mouths of World leaders gathered at Auschwitz today to commemorate it's liberation 60 years ago. Auschwitz sits as a grim reminder of the cruelty humankind is capable of, but have we already forgotten?

The term genocide may have been brought to our collective consciousness after the Holocaust, but the act has been around for centuries and is alive and well in the world today. How can we stand up and say never again as millions are attacked, forced to flee their homes and slaughtered in the Darfur region of Sudan? Just yesterday, an entire village was destroyed leaving 7,000 people homeless and countless dead. As the World sits by. The UN still hasn't decided if it's officially "genocide," but not to worry, they're releasing a report next week--just what the people need, a report. The US has officially classified it as genocide, and is lobbying for sanctions. Sanctions are a long way from "never again."

"What experience and history teach is this - that nations and governments have never learned anything from history, or acted upon any lessons they might have drawn from it."-- Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

"If we do not learn from history, we shall be compelled to relive it. True. But if we do not change the future, we shall be compelled to endure it. And that could be worse."-- Alvin Toffler

Liberal Media Filter? Where do I get one

2005-01-26T16:46:00.000-06:00

The RNC is now raising money to help get Bush's agenda through the "liberal media filter" to the public. "Liberal Media Filter" must be a euphemism for Journalistic integrity or actual investigative reporting, what (occasionally) happens when you don't have the press under federal contract.

And here I thought they were already using money to get Bush's agenda through, our tax money. Another syndicated columnist, Maggie Gallagher, was recently revealed to have a $21,500 contract with the Department of Health and Human Services to promote Bush's $300 million initiative to encourage marriage. When confronted about the Federal contract, Gallagher initially responded, "Did I violate journalistic ethics by not disclosing it? I don't know. You tell me."

Hurry, you too can get this swell liberal media filter for only 3 payments of 19.95!

I am the Liberal Media

Environmental Scorecard

2005-01-26T14:32:00.000-06:00

The new National Environmental Scorecard has been released by the League of Conservation Voters. See how your Senators and Representatives are voting on the environment, click here.

Bye Bye Conservation of Federal Lands

2005-01-25T15:08:00.000-06:00

Just another example of Bush's so-called environmental policy. Federally protected lands set aside for conservation are being opened up for the profits of oil companies, the latest casualty is Otero Mesa in New Mexico. These are lands that our tax dollars are used to set aside. Not to mention the pollution and the impact making roads in a protected ecosystem of an endangered species will have.
"I am very disappointed by the Bush administration's failure to respect New Mexico's position on oil and gas leasing in this precious, sensitive and world-renowned area," Richardson said.
Otero Mesa is one of the largest remaining wild desert grasslands and lies within close proximity to Carlsbad caverns. For more information on Otero Mesa and how you can help stop the drilling, visit http://www.nmwild.org/campaigns/otero

Republicans Stepping Up Against Social Security Nonsense

2005-01-24T11:41:00.000-06:00

Two important Republicans are now publicly disputing the President's claim that social security is in crisis. Rep. Bill Thomas, Chairman of the House panel covering Social Security, and Sen. Olympia Snowe, on the Senate Finance Committee, are saying that Social Security is not in crisis, but they are advocating a more comprehensive overhaul of the Social Security system.

Thomas is suggesting varied retirement age based on race, gender and occupation. This is an idea born out of examining statistics showing that women live longer, people in blue collar jobs will have a harder time performing their jobs till 65 than office workers, and minorities have a shorter life expectancy. Of course, if you break down this idea, it's both racists and elitist. If disparities exist in the amount of healthcare that is received by minorities and by people in a lower income level, which they do, the answer isn't giving them retirement early, it's fixing the underlying problems. But we are a band-aid society after all, why fix a problem when you can cover it up?

After all, there's really no need to address Social Security now at all. We have nearly 40 years to figure something out. The people who will face less than 100% benefits paid are not the baby boomers, but the Gen Xers in their mid twenties. "The system is expected to have enough money to cover 100% of benefits until 2042. That timeframe has prompted Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and other Democrats to accuse Bush of manufacturing a crisis."

Social Security Smokescreen - ignoring the emerging Medicaid Crisis...

2005-01-21T17:09:00.000-06:00

The 2006 Budget proposal by Pres. Bush is yet to be announced, but rumors are already circulating on the hill about what will end up on the chopping block. Already, stories speculating a reduction in funds for everything from education to veteran's benefits are being written, but Medicaid benefits are now getting equal play. A very interesting tidbit from an Associated Press story on the Medicaid benefit cuts:

According to Congressional Budget Office estimates last fall, Medicaid spending grew by 9.4 percent while Social Security costs expanded by 4.5 percent.

If Medicaid costs are continuing to rise, why isn't the administration trying to "restructure" it? Is it because Bush just had a bill passed that increased Medicaid benefits to include prescription drug coverage (and extra padding to the wallets of drug companies) in an election year move and now finds himself cutting funding to the very same program? Or perhaps he wants to divert the attention of the public while he takes from the poor to give to the rich. After all, wouldn't it make more sense to roll back some of the tax cuts on the wealthiest Americans than begin denying people entrance into the Medicaid program, limit states funding, or decrease Medicaid payments to doctors--which basically will force more doctors to stop accepting Medicaid, thus forcing more people off of the program since no doctor will take them. This is an especially alarming proposition as it will leave more Americans uninsured, which actually costs tax payers twice as much as just insuring these people in the first place! Social Security, the great political smokescreen.

World fears new Bush era

2005-01-21T14:45:00.000-06:00

Three million more Americans may have thought Bush was a good leader than Kerry, less than 2% - the slimmest margin of victory for a President since the early 1900s, but the rest of the world certainly doesn't share their view. A new poll from BBC World Service showed that .58% expected Pres. Bush to have a negative impact on security and peace. Only three countries surveyed thought Bush would have a positive influence, India, the Philippines and Poland - lest we "forget Poland." Other interesting tidbits from the poll, Germany now hates him more than France - I'm sure our lovely Senate will be renaming German chocolate Cake soon to counter this, in a very appropriate use of Tax money I might add. Liberty Chocolate Cake, yum yum. Also, now they don't just see Bush as bad, but they are incorporating their dislike of Bush to all Americans. "Asked how Mr Bush's re-election had affected their feelings towards Americans, 72% of those polled in Turkey said it made them feel worse about Americans, 65% in France, 59% in Brazil and 56% in Germany."

2005-01-20T17:17:00.001-06:00

1.20.2005

2005-01-20T17:17:00.000-06:00

1.20.2005

2005-01-20T17:16:00.000-06:00

1.20.2005

2005-01-20T17:12:00.000-06:00

Jan 20th

Another Day - Same Old President

2005-01-20T16:49:00.000-06:00

The Inaguration in Pictures, these are from Reuters....If anyone has some good pics to share, please email them to me.

Social Security: There Is No Crisis

2005-01-20T11:57:00.000-06:00

Ok, taken some time off from the blogging, but treehugger is back.

Here's a great new website following the non-crisis that social security is in, despite the claims of the administration. Social Security: There Is No Crisis - By the Social Security Administration's own estimates, Social Security will be solvent for 40 more years!

Marginalized Republican Party? Sounds Good to me.

2004-12-17T16:08:00.000-06:00

Christine Whitman, former EPA administrator (one of many who have resigned under Bush), is apparently putting out a book about retaking the Republican Party for moderates. In the book, she will reportedly discuss how she was constantly at odds with the Bush administration.

Her book, It's My Party Too: The Battle for the Heart of the GOP and the Future of America, warns about the danger of the Republican Party swinging too far to the right. She says, "A clear and present danger Republicans face today is that the party will now move so far to the right that it ends up alienating centrist voters and marginalizing itself."

Sounds like a good plan to me! I say, let the Republican Party continue swinging so wildly to the right that sane Americans will be forced to take a more moderate approach. How does the Democratic Party grow? Just let the Republicans screw up enough.

Mr. President, Your Credit is Bad

2004-12-06T17:56:00.000-06:00

Adding to record deficits, the Bush administration plans to borrow money to privatize social security. The money borrowed could top $1 trillion. All this so that younger workers (have they ever said who counts as a younger worker?) could divert 4 percent of their payroll taxes---up to a measly $1,000. At the same time, the forecasted debt that the taxpayers would get stuck with for this plan equals $4.7 trillion. Does that make sense to you?

There's a really great article on Social Security over at Mother Jones, which I couldn't find in the archives for some reason so I'm posting it here:

2:54 PM
More Social Security gimmickry

From the looks of things, the Bush administration's latest Social Security proposal is: Use some fancy accounting methods, wave your hands, confuse a lot of people, and pretend everything's okay:

Republican budget writers say they may have found a way to cut the federal deficit even if they borrow hundreds of billions more to overhaul the Social Security system: Don't count all that new borrowing.

As they lay the groundwork for what will probably be a controversial fight over Social Security, Republican lawmakers and the Bush administration are examining a number of accounting strategies that would allow the expensive transition to a partially privatized Social Security system without -- at least on paper -- expanding the country's record annual budget deficits. The strategies include, for example, moving the costs of Social Security reform "off-budget" so they are not counted against the government's yearly shortfall.

Since the administration insists on being as obscure as possible—and I don't think the Post explains the issue well—here's a quick primer to what's going on. The Social Security Trust Fund, where all our payroll taxes go, is currently taking in more in taxes than it pays out—so it runs a modest surplus. Over the years, the federal government has been raiding this Trust Fund surplus, so as to mask the size of its own federal deficit.

That means that once the Trust Fund starts paying out more benefits than it takes in in taxes—somewhere around 2017—it will have to start asking the federal government for all that surplus money back. Since the government would never simply stop taking care of seniors, it will give that money back, at which point the federal deficit will suddenly look like it's "jumped". In reality, though, nothing has changed here. (The government will just borrow from someone else to pay what it owes Social Security.) But then at some point even further down the road—say, 2040—the Trust Fund will have spent all its surplus, and then it will have to start borrowing, at which point we really are increasing the deficit.

Now in the Post article, Glenn Hubbard is proposing that the federal government repay all that borrowed Social Security surplus back now rather than in 2017, so that we get that apparent "jump" in the deficit out of the way. Nothing tricky there. The problem is that if you also want to privatize Social Security, and have workers divert their taxes into personal accounts, then the actual Social Security deficit comes much, much sooner. As we've pointed out, people who are around 40-50 right now would probably lose much of what they put into the system during their lifetime.

Social Security can get around this new dilemma simply by borrowing more money to pay those 40 and 50-year-olds, but then, alas, it's increasing the actual deficits even further. And when prominent economists are already predicting "Economic Armageddon" because of current deficits, that makes people a bit jumpy. So here's where the "creative accounting" comes in—the Bush administration will argue that by borrowing now, they're actually reducing our long-term deficits, since it can cut benefits far, far in the future for people who have been saving in private accounts for a long time. Et voila! Short-term deficits don't matter!

The assumptions in all this are that a) bond markets don't freak out and raise interest rates, b) we'll actually find people to lend us all that money, and c) that Americans will get enough of a return in their private accounts to offset their benefit cuts far in the future. Sound familiar? It was exactly these sorts of assumptions that led the Reagan administration in the '80s to claim that their deficits would pay for themselves. It's sort of like saying that spending on education or health care shouldn't be counted since they're investments that pay for themselves in the long term. And funny, I don't think Republicans would've bought that argument if John Kerry had made it.

- Bradford Plumer

Pakistani president denounces war on terror

2004-12-06T15:36:00.000-06:00

The Guardian today reported that the Pakistani President has denounced the war on terror. President, Pervez Musharraff, admits that the Pakistani forces lost track of Osama Bin Laden but says the US should share the blame for not putting enough forces on the ground. He goes further to state that the war on terror has created a more dangerous world and has failed to combat the underlying causes of terrorism.

So much for Bush's coalition of the willing.

Hillary Obama 2008

2004-11-30T16:29:00.000-06:00

I've updated the I heart Kerry store to get ready for 2008! There are a variety of stickers, buttons and shirts with "Don't Blame Me, I voted for Kerry," "2008 I can't Wait! (no W)," "Hillary Obama 2008," "liberal is not a dirty word," and more peace themed gear on the way in a week or so. Check it out at www.cafepress.com/iheartkerry and pass it along!

Trouble ahead, trouble behind

2004-11-30T14:55:00.001-06:00

Environmentalists See Trouble Ahead

We all knew that Bush's re-election would probably be a nightmare for the environment, but now it's a certainty. They are pushing ahead to erase the laws prohibiting companies from logging and making roads on public lands, pushing for drilling in the arctic national wildlife refuge, gutting the clean air act and going forth with their so called "healthy forests" initiative. They're planning on pushing it through because of the "mandate" they got from the election. Since when did the narrowest margin of victory since 1915 result in a mandate? Yes more people voted for Bush than any other President, but more people also voted against him than any other President. What does that prove? There are more people and more of them voted, that's it.

As for Bush's "healthy forests" initiative, which will allow timber companies to log big trees as long as they take the little ones and brush that typically start fires, it's completely out of touch with the natural ecosystem of the region. According to most ecosystem management texts, the problem is fire suppression in those regions. In other words, we need to stop letting people build in the middle of the Forest and let mother nature do her job.

Conversely, many fire-dependent ecosystems have been fire-starved through policies of fire suppression. One serious result has been the unnatural buildup of dense stands of flammable trees and thick carpets of dead wood and leaves that has led to unnaturally intense fires like those in Colorado, New Mexico and Oregon in 2002. - The nature Conservancy

As for making roads and mining natural gas on public lands....well, they're already doing it. There's a great story on this at Mother Jones, an absolute must read - A Managed Disaster.

And the list goes on....

Trouble ahead, Lady in red,
Take my advice you'd be better off dead.
Switchman's sleeping, train hundred and two is
On the wrong track and headed for you.
-Grateful Dead

Congress Rejects New Nuclear Weapons Funds

2004-11-22T16:29:00.000-06:00

Finally! Congress took some of the pork out of the budget and made a step towards the non-proliferation treaties we used to be part of. It's hard to denounce Russia's plans for more nuclear weapons and Iran's nuclear development when the US has pulled out of non-proliferation treaties and began developing new nuclear weapons. Thankfully, the Congress stepped up and took action.

Another Big Business Give-Away?

2004-11-17T15:41:00.000-06:00

From the Bush administration and the GOP, nah! Ya don't say.

Apparently, GOP leaders are going to use the "lame duck" congress session to repeal country of origin labels on food. With a rash of food poisoning occurring this year blamed on onions from Mexico and other foreign grown foods, does this really sound like a good idea? Don't consumers have a right to know where their food comes from?

The industry is, of course, saying that the labels would be cost-prohibitive. Really? For an industry that spends millions of dollars every year on advertising, a sticker saying USA would lead to dire consequences? Doubtful.

"When nutrition labeling was suggested by advocates 25 years ago, the industry kept saying, `Oh, we can't do that,'" said Carol Tucker Foreman, director of food policy for the Consumer Federation of America. "Look, they've done it. They love it. Consumers use it."

US Making Torture Legal?

2004-11-17T14:30:00.000-06:00

Apparently the House has slipped in a little thing called "extraordinary rendition" into their version of a bill that supposedly implements the 9/11 commission reports. Here's what the American Bar Association had to say about it:

The American Bar Association objects strongly to the inclusion of provisions authorizing "extraordinary rendition" in the House leadership's bill that purports to implement the 9/11 Commission recommendations. These provisions would permit secretly transferring terrorist suspects to foreign countries known to use torture in interrogating prisoners. Extraordinary rendition not only violates all basic humanitarian and human rights standards, but violates U.S. treaty obligations which make clear that the U.S. government cannot avoid its obligations under international law by having other nations conduct unlawful interrogations in its stead. This practice not only violates our own cherished principles as a nation but also works to undermine our moral leadership in the eyes of the rest of the world.
read the full release

For more background on this, visit the obsidianwings blog.

The Depressed Democrats' Guide to Recovery

2004-11-16T17:27:00.000-06:00

The Depressed Democrats' Guide to Recovery

A funny little cartoon...

9/11 Commission Report Chpt. 3.3

2004-11-16T15:26:00.000-06:00

The next chapter details the structure of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The FAA is charged by congress to simultaneously promote the civil aviation industry and regulate the security and safety of the industry. One of the main points the commission reiterates several times throughout the chapter, was that suicide hijackings were never considered as a threat to civil aviation. Vice President Al Gore headed a Presidential Commission on aviation safety and security in 1996, which did raise the possibility of a threat from surface-to-air-missiles, but primarily found explosives and sabotage the primary threat.

The FAA apparently had their own intelligence unit that was supposed to receive relevant information from the CIA and FBI. However, it appears that very little information sharing actually occurred, as evidenced by the FAA’s no-fly list containing 12 names as of 9/11 while the government watch list had thousands of terrorists and suspected terrorists listed. Another example was the failure of the FBI to pass along information about radicals attending flight schools.

The most interesting part of this chapter was the awareness the FAA had towards the threat of hijacking through the use of knives. Knives with blades under 4” were still legal in carry-on luggage before 9/11. Although, the Commission reports that there was a proposal to ban all knives and cutting implements in 1993, the proposal was rejected by the FAA because the “number of innocent “alarms” would have increased significantly, exacerbating congestion problems at checkpoints.” (p.84) Perhaps more interesting than the revelation of a proposal that was rejected, was in the footnotes - the FAA’s own report on “The Threat to US Civil Aviation in the United States,” issued in September 1994.

System vulnerabilities also exist with respect to hijacking…aircraft can be hijacked with either fake weapons or hoax explosive devices. Cabin Crew or passengers can also be threatened with objects such as short blade knives, which are allowable on board aircraft. (9/11 Commission Report p. 476)

In short, it seems that we knew the threat existed, but never thought it could happen to us. There was even a call in early 2001 to reinforce all cockpit doors, but it would have done little to prevent 9/11 because the tactics used were still beyond our imagination. Illustrated by the comments of the Air Line Pilots Association’s Security Committee Chairman, “Even if you make a vault out of the door, if they have a noose around my flight attendants neck, I’m going to open the door.” (p. 85) And most people in his position would have done the same thing. As they say, hindsight is 20/20.