Trivial Pursuits...

The latest thing on electoral politics is the judgement from the New Jersey Supreme Court which in essence repeats the Massachusetts gay marriage constitutionality arguments!

It couldn't have happened at a worse time! Perhaps the Jersey court consists of a panel of ultra-conservative fundamentalist Christian judges who wish to ‘pump-up' the lagging ‘values' voters! I can think of no other reason for presenting this two weeks before the election!

It has long been argued that people can't govern themselves but that benevolent dictators are few and far between. Perhaps this election will settle that argument.

Our representative republic has been turned into a real life version of ‘trivial pursuit'! Our foreign policy is centered on the Jewish side of Judeo-Christian politics in the Middle East rather than being centrist or mediatory. This is despite the fact that Jews amount to only 1.7% of the American population. In the same sense only 0.9 to 2.0 percent of American men are gay (depending upon the survey - not the 10% usually quoted) and women (lesbians) who are more difficult to gage are reportedly fewer than that - although, I wonder.

Yet the marriage of gays were the driving force for the 2004 elections and mysteriously have been resurrected again for the 2006 election!? If you couple that with the hot buttons of futuristic "stem cell research" and the old saw of "abortion", you end up with compounded trivia which has very very very little affect on the lives of virtually any of the American people! The numbers simply don't justify the effort. In defense of the Democrats, I don't believe many are arguing those points - that most of the noise is coming from the right.

This trivia is especially true when one considers the daily mass murder of Iraqi civilians and our own American boys in a war perpetrated by our government and big oil. The slaughter will be allowed to continue if we Americans continue to pursue such trivia!

It is also true when one considers the economic recession we are going to experience next year after the elections and regardless of who wins. It will be due in large part from the cost of the war, outsourcing jobs and the gradual destruction of the middle class - all condoned by the political right. It is too late to change from this 'correction', but it can be made worse.

The thing that makes it so sad is that those trivial hot button subjects are generally not part of anyone's legislative agenda - but the war and the economy are!

Even the active duty troops in our military are queuing up to call for withdrawal from Iraq. The effort has just started and will become very strident in the next few months. It is the same phenomenon which occurred during the Viet Nam war and helped end it. This is not trivial!

Other peoples.....

I only post this because of the present primarily Republican furor over ‘illegal' immigration from Mexico! It seems that the argument is that potential immigrants should get in line behind those who have already applied, they all should be able to speak English, that they should not be a burden to local facilities and taxpayers and they should not take jobs away from Americans!

So now our Republican government plans to introduce 10,000 black, presumably impoverished refugees who probably don't speak English, are unskilled and know nothing of our society. I assume that what has happened in the past will happen again and that our government will not provide financial support to the communities where these people will be dumped. The same thing happened at the end of the Vietnam war - especially in California.

I'm not making a moral judgement on this but rather pointing out the incongruities between our government and popular attitudes toward immigration both in Congress and on the street. At least Mexicans are Americans and know something of our culture.

Speaking of ‘other' Americans and culture, the sovereign Navajo nation is having their own election for President during the general election on November 7. As a show of their sovereignty, they are planning to have extensive trade relations with Cuba for their products. They are also negotiating a closer and more friendly relationship with their Hopi neighbors.

"WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. - Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr. came in first in the Navajo primary, according to unofficial results; but the person in second place, Lynda Lovejoy, claims a victory and title all her own - the first woman to win the Navajo presidential primary and face off in the final race for president."


U.S. offers to take in Burundi refugees
By BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic Writer Tue Oct 17

WASHINGTON - The U.S. is offering to permanently resettle up to 10,000 refugees from a 12-year civil war in the African country of Burundi, the State Department said Tuesday.

The refugees would be brought to the United States over the next two years with refugee status, and will be given the option of applying for U.S. citizenship, said State Department spokesman Tom Casey.

The resettlement of the refugees, who have been in camps in Tanzania after fleeing from Burundi, is in response to a request in the past year from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Casey said. He said other countries may take in refugees, as well.

More than 250,000 Burundians were killed in the civil war before a cease-fire was arranged last month.

Burundi long has been divided by tension between the majority Tutus and minority Tutsis, who dominated the government after independence from Belgium in 1962. The assassination of the country's first democratically elected president in 1993 ignited the civil war.

The Serpent Still Twitches...

One smart hombre! I suspect that the ‘hated' former ruler, Saddam, is going to end up reuniting the Iraqi people and put us in a position where we can't leave - but we can't stay, either! He's putting us between the proverbial rock and a hard place.

We've been acting like a bunch of arrogant cowboys right out of the fables of the old West - the hated cattlemen vs the poor oppressed sheep-herding homesteaders! – and Saddam is the wolf in sheep's clothing while Bush is a second rate sheriff on the cattlemen's payroll! I guess the American people represent the very confused town's folk who muck along OK as long as they mind their own business. Now, where did Shane ride off to? Little Joey: "Shane--come back, Shane!...

BTW: LONDON: In the highly professional British Army, the articulate and educated generals usually say what they think - in private - but they rarely publicly interfere in politics. Now Britain's top soldier, the Chief of the General Staff Sir Richard Dannatt, has broken the code of conduct that links the political and military establishments, by openly calling for British forces to be withdrawn from Iraq "sometime soon."

And also, Blair has announced that he will not run again. According to the ‘Guardian' "Blair's luck has run out - and he has no one to blame but himself. Three years of conflict in Iraq has corroded public trust in every aspect of his premiership, both domestic and foreign."

Saddam says victory at hand against U.S. occupation
By Suleiman al Khalidi

AMMAN (Reuters) - In an open letter, Saddam Hussein told Iraqis "victory was at hand" and urged insurgents to show magnanimity to opponents, saying he himself forgave Iraqis who aided the killers of his two sons

In the letter dictated to his chief lawyer Khalil Dulaimi during a four-hour meeting on Saturday in his prison, the former Iraqi leader also said Iraqis should put aside differences and set only one goal - to drive U.S. troops out of Iraq.

"Victory is at hand but don't forget that your near-term goal is confined to liberating your country from the forces of occupation," Saddam said in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters on Sunday.

Dulaimi said the letter was written days before the court trying Saddam over the killing of 148 Shi'ite men from the town of Dujail in the 1980s is due to meet on Monday to review witness testimony.

Saddam urged his Sunni minority community, the backbone of the insurgency, to even forgive Iraqi informants who helped U.S. troops track down and kill his two sons, Uday and Qusay, in a gunbattle at a house in Mosul in 2003.

"When you achieve victory and it is close.. remember you are God's soldiers which means you should show genuine forgiveness and put aside revenge over the spilled blood of the sons of Saddam Hussein," Saddam wrote.

"I call on you to apply justice in your Jihad (holy war) and not be drawn to recklessness and urge you to be forgiving rather than tough with those who have lost the path," he added.

The former leader said he resorted to an open letter for the first time since his trial began in October 2005 on charges of crimes against humanity to give his message without censorship.

But Saddam warned his supporters excessive force against opponents who failed to support the insurgency would only lose the anti-U.S. resistance widespread popular support.

"There should be no settling of scores...and you should not attack for the sake of attacking when an opportunity arises while you are carrying a gun."

Saddam's former officers took up arms after the army was disbanded and built up the insurgency into a devastating force, which has not been broken by military offensives.

Saddam used emotive language to express his pain over the surge in sectarian violence between Shi'ites and Sunnis that has gripped Iraq since the bombing of a Shi'ite shrine in February.

"I cannot bring myself to use the terminology used by the foreigner to sow divisions among us...this was never a real reason for division in the past," he said.

Thousands have been killed in tit-for-tat revenge killings and more than 300,00 have fled their homes.

Saddam, echoing fears of many Sunni Iraqis over the breakup of the country, called on Iraqis to preserve their unity.

"You are sacrificing your lives for these great principles and at the forefront is the great Iraq united," he said.

Evangelicals and Politics....

Oh my goodness! The shock of it all! – and somebody had to write a book about it?
First paragraph of post below: Obviously 'they' were and obviously 'they' are.

So what don't 'they' understand? You can't take a bunch of big business Capitalists and turn them into Jesus freaks! If you try, you end up with a bunch of sneering hypocrites!

Did 'they' really believe that the administration was actually fundamentalist Christian?

It has been a known fact for a long time that George W. helped his dad in his campaign which as we know lost. He noted at that time that the campaign had neglected to go after the religious right for votes which could have beaten Clinton. That is the reason "W" became a Christian as opposed to a Sundays only Methodist!

Sometimes one has to pay a high character price to become President.

White House denies book's allegations
By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer Fri Oct 13

WASHINGTON - A former Bush aide claims that EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS WERE EMBRACED FOR POLITICAL GAIN AT THE WHITE HOUSE BUT DERIDED PRIVATELY AS "NUTS," "RIDICULOUS" AND "GOOFY."

The allegations — denied by the White House on Friday — are in a new book by David Kuo, a conservative Christian who was deputy director of President Bush's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives until 2003.

The book describes Kuo's frustration at what he felt was lackluster enthusiasm in the White House for the program, which seeks to steer more federal social service contracts to religious organizations. Details from the book, "Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction," were reported by MSNBC ahead of Monday's publication date.

Kuo singled out staffers in the office of Karl Rove, Bush's top political adviser and deputy chief of staff, as particularly condescending toward evangelical Christians, viewing them as necessary to help win elections but ridiculing them behind the scenes.

Kuo also described how officials from the faith-based office were systematically dispatched to hold large events in areas where there were key House and Senate races before the 2002 elections.

White House press secretary Tony Snow said he had not yet seen the book. But he said Rove was asked if he made the comments and replied he had not. Kuo, however, doesn't single out anyone by name as making the condescending comments.

"These are people who are friends. You don't talk about friends that way," Snow said. [Even though you may think that way.]

Bush's spokesman also said there was no attempt to exploit the office to score political points, and that the president had specifically directed it not be politicized. [Of course not!]

Snow denied Kuo's charge that the White House's religious charities program wasn't given the status it deserved, saying Bush's personal commitment to the policy was solid. Kuo has complained publicly in the past that the White House did not push hard enough for promised federal funding for religious groups to help the poor. [Bush doesn't even push for helping the middle class - and certainly not the loosers in our society!]

Snow read from what he called a "very warm letter" Kuo wrote to Bush when he left the White House. Kuo told the president he was proud of what the initiative had accomplished and said "it's your staff's keen awareness of your unwavering support for this initiative that's made the difference."

Snow concluded that the reports on the book "seem at odds with what he was saying inside the building at the time he departed."

Kuo's account of how the faith-based office has been regarded inside the White House recalls that of another high-level alumnus of the program. John J. DiIulio Jr., the faith-based office's first director, who quit in 2002, told Esquire magazine that "Mayberry Machiavellis" led by Rove based policy only on re-election concerns. After his comments caused an uproar, DiIulio apologized for making what he said were rude remarks.

Gorbachev's remarks....

Gorbachev's remarks below underline what I've believed for a long time! We Americans - not just our elected politicians and government, have been on a self-destruct course in our attitudes and dealings with the rest of the world. I'm afraid that we're going to have to pay the piper if we don't develop a more conciliatory and respectful attitude and behavior toward our international neighbors.

However, it seems to me that Clinton did attempt to get along with other countries, tried to broker peace between Israel and Palestine, and peace in Ireland. He also reluctantly and with the help of NATO ended the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia. Even today he along with others is working hard to end misery, especially in Africa and show the world that not all Americans are villains.

Even daddy Bush's limited war in Iraq had the aid and blessings of the U.N. and the rest of the world.

But I can't say the same for Reagan who allowed his CIA to run wild about the world and provided Saddam H. with the WMD's to use against Iran and his own Kurds. But Ronnie was another president with a very limited worldview or even knowledge of what his own government was doing. I recall that we used to call him "dumb-dumb" before our current president made him look quite bright!

U.S. wasted chance to improve the world: Gorbachev

BERLIN (Reuters) - Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, who played a key role in ending the Cold War, said the United States had squandered an opportunity to improve global politics after the Cold War, a paper said on Friday.

In comments that were among the harshest he has made about the United States, Gorbachev compared U.S. foreign policy to one of the deadliest diseases on the planet – AIDS.

"Today our American friends are suffering from an illness worse than AIDS. And I would say this is the victor's complex," Gorbachev was quoted as saying in an interview with the Netzzeitung. Unable to extricate itself from its Cold War mentality, the United States was playing a dwindling role in world politics, while Russia, China, Brazil, Europe, India and Japan were becoming stronger, Gorbachev said.

North Korea, which said on Monday it had successfully completed a nuclear test, was an example. Only China and Russia were in a position to handle Pyongyang, he said.

Washington will in future have to act less on its own and get used to a position of diminished importance. "The Americans will have to understand that in future they will have to cooperate and make decisions jointly, instead of just always wanting to give orders," Gorbachev said.

The United States and other Western countries had missed an opportunity to make the world a better place after the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 ushered in the end of communism. "At that point, the West focused more on its geopolitical interests," Gorbachev said, adding that Western countries had been more interested in cashing in on the "unbridled burst of globalization" that followed the end of the Cold War than in improving the international political climate.

Sermon on the Amount....

George and Laura economics. See George run and the country came tumbling after!

As we all know, a "deficit" is a measure of how much more broke we are now than we were before. I can't imagine bragging about how wonderful our economy is because "we aren't much more in debt than we already are"!

Our recent economy has been "good" because of the housing balloon - just as it was during the Clinton administration with the Internet balloon. When it burst we had a mild recession just about the time Bush became president. Nothing to do with him, of course.

Well, now the housing balloon is losing air and hopefully headed for a soft landing with only a mild recession next year or so.

However, I worry that our massive debt being carried by such nations as China along with the fact that we've been hemorrhaging wealth from our inability to make a buck in our international business dealings over the years.

It seems to me that if we continue to give our nation away to foreign interests, we're going to have to pay the piper sometime - and probably when we can least afford it - like during a recession.

After all, if someone owes you money and it looks like he may lose his job, you certainly want him to pay off his debt to you before he goes on welfare! And I don't think that China, et al, would take it kindly for us to get out the printing presses to make more paper money! It doesn't work that way.

If you listen to independent economists like Lou Dobbs, who are concerned about the gradual demise of the middle class in this country (you and I) rather than the prosperity of international business interests, you'll learn that you can't just follow party line - simply because neither party is interested in our class, but rather their own election and the special interests they represent.

Thus, the only voice the middle class has is by picking and choosing among those few politicians from any party who are actually running for the good of the nation and the great washed masses. For example:

Pick the guy, regardless of party who advocates a sizeable increase in the minimum wage.

Pick the guy who is opposed to "Free Trade" with other nations, but advocates negotiated trade (not isolationism) where the so called ‘playing field' is level, profitable and ecological - what you might call, "Win-win trade".

Pick the guy who advocates functional education of the masses rather than, for example, the education George Bush got which left him incompetent to run a company or a nation. We don't need any more MBA's, we need engineers, technicians and competent paramedics, nurses, etc.

Pick the guy who advocates something like the GI Bill for everyone. If you're old enough you remember that the GI Bill was how many, if not most of us were taught how to actually do something. And everyone knows we old geezers were the most successful generation in American history!

Pick the guy who wants us to make stuff again - rather than just sell cars, insurance or spend his life performing useless ‘administrative' tasks.

Federal deficit now lowest in 4 years
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON - The federal budget deficit, helped by a gusher of tax revenues, fell to $247.7 billion in 2006, the smallest amount of red ink in four years.

The deficit for the budget year that ended Sept. 30 was 22.3 percent lower than the $318.7 billion imbalance for 2005, handing President Bush an economic bragging point as Republicans go into the final four weeks of a battle for control of Congress.

Bush called the 2006 outcome a "dramatic reduction" in the deficit which allowed him to fulfill his 2004 campaign pledge of cutting the deficit in half earlier than his original 2009 target date.

"These numbers show that we have now achieved our goal of cutting the federal deficit in half and we've done it three years ahead of schedule," Bush told reporters at a Rose Garden news conference. "The budget numbers are proof that pro-growth economic policies work."

The pledge to cut the deficit in half was based on the administration's forecast that the 2004 deficit would hit $521 billion, a figure that proved to be too pessimistic by more than $100 billion. However, the administration has continued to use the forecast number as its benchmark for deficit reduction.

Bush said he would continue to urge Congress to make permanent his first-term tax cuts, all of which are due to expire by the end of 2010.

Republicans are hoping to appeal to voters in the upcoming election as the party that champions tax cuts while casting Democrats, who contend that those tax cuts primarily benefited the wealthy, as the party which would increase taxes.

Both spending and tax revenues climbed to all-time highs in 2006. The sharp narrowing of the deficit reflected the fact that revenues climbed by 11.7 percent, outpacing the 7.3 percent increase in spending.

The 2006 deficit was far lower than the $423 billion figure the administration had projected last February and also represented an improvement from a July revised estimate of $295.8 billion.

Republicans said the big improvement showed that Bush's economic policies were working to stimulate growth and boost tax revenues. But Democrats said the narrowing of the deficit would be temporary as the pending retirement of 78 million baby boomers will send costs of the government's big benefit programs soaring.

"The fact that some are trumpeting this year's deficit number as good news shows just how far we've fallen. Our budget picture is extremely serious by any measure," said Sen. Kent Conrad (news, bio, voting record), the senior Democrat on the Budget Committee.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects that the deficit for the current budget year will rise to $286 billion. Over the next decade, the CBO forecasts that the deficit will total $1.76 trillion.

Extending the Bush tax cuts, which are currently scheduled to expire at the end of 2010, would add another $2.2 trillion to the deficit through 2016, the CBO estimates.

The 2006 deficit was the smallest deficit since a $159 billion imbalance in 2002, a shortfall that came after four straight years of budget surpluses, the longest stretch that the government had finished with surpluses in seven decades.

Since that time, the government has recorded three of the biggest deficits in history including including an all-time record in dollar terms of $413 billion in 2004.

The reason for the improvement this year was a second consecutive big jump in revenues, propelled by strong economic strongth. The 11.7 percent increase in revenues was the second biggest percentage gain in history.

The administration credits its tax cuts for the improving economy, contending they helped the nation withstand the 2001 recession, the terrorist attacks and a wave corporate accounting scandals.

Democratic critics, however, contend that this year's improvement in the deficit will be only temporary. They contend the deficit is set to explode over the next decade as the baby boomers begin to retire and demands on Social Security and Medicare increase.

It isn't about Foley....

Well, I think that if there is a big shift in voting preferences due to the Foley scandal it is not because of the Democrats but rather Republicans who profess some "higher" morality.

Now, Sen. Hastert has never been a favorite of mine, but to bring him down over something like this just shows the mentality of his former supporters.

I think that when you have a party which is controlled by people who are mentally handicapped, emotionally disturbed, and judgementally deficient, you have a party which is in deep do-do! That you have a party which has no basic concept of the struggles of humanity for economic, political and social survival beyond their indoctrination and proselytizing by, should I say it? - the Anti-Christ?

The item which transcends the traditional warfare between the Democrats and the Republicans is, after all, the war in Iraq and the Republican delinquency in handling the war on terror - pure and simple!

I'm sure there are also "Foley's" in the Democratic party and such scandals shouldn't have much to do with overall party politics - any more than Clinton's scandal should have had anything to do with how well he ran the nation. Worrying about such nonsense is childish, and, actually, stupid!

Frankly, I don't understand why our nation and the voting public is so grossly preoccupied with sex politically. We have criminal laws which can handle sexual deviancy and in our system, any violations can be prosecuted - even including the President.

It is certainly proper if an elected person mis-represents himself and or violates protocol - and when caught resigns. But shouldn't that be pretty much the end of it? I certainly don't believe that his entire political party should be painted by the same brush!

I know that there is the tendency to chuckle gleefully that "We finally got ‘em!" And, I'm certainly not mournful over Foley's ‘demise', but I worry that the point of the evils of the Republican party are not because of Foley but rather their whole hearted support of Bush's war and his failure to handle terrorism for the protection of US.

To me, the President is guilty of the evil, not little hypocritical Foley and his sex games.

Democrats have big lead after sex scandal-polls

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic candidates have a big edge on Republicans one month before elections to decide control of Congress, a flurry of new polls said on Monday, with ratings for President George W. Bush and Congress dropping after the Capitol Hill sex scandal.

USA Today/Gallup poll gave Democrats a 23-point edge on Republicans in the battle for Congress, while a CNN poll gave Democrats a 21-point lead.

A ABC News/Washington Post poll found Democrats held a 54-41 percent lead in the congressional horse race among registered and likely voters, which ABC said was the biggest Democratic lead this close to election day in more than 20 years.

And a new CBS News/New York Times poll showed 79 percent of respondents thought Republican leaders were more concerned with politics than the well-being of the teenage congressional assistants who received lewd messages from former Republican Rep. Mark Foley of Florida.

Republicans, already battered by public doubts about the Iraq war and Bush's leadership, have been scrambling to contain the fallout from the unfolding sex scandal and keep it from sinking their chances on November 7.

Democrats must pick up 15 House seats and six Senate seats to reclaim control of Congress.

Several recent polls have shown declining approval ratings for Republicans in the last week amid a torrent of questions about how the party's congressional leaders handled the Foley issue.

The CNN poll found 52 percent believed Republican House of Representatives Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois should resign, while the CBS poll found 46 percent favored his resignation.

FOLEY SCANDAL
The CBS poll found two-thirds of voters said the Foley scandal would make little difference in how they cast their ballots, but 21 percent said it would make them more likely to vote Democratic.

The ABC poll said the Foley scandal was a more distant concern than Iraq for voters, who doubted whether Democrats would have handled the scandal any better.

The ABC poll found 63 percent said the Iraq war was not worth fighting, a record for that poll. A new high for the poll of 53 percent of respondents disapproved of Bush's handling of the broader U.S. campaign against terrorism -- a supposed White House strength.

The new USA Today/Gallup poll showed Bush's public approval rating at 37 percent, down from 44 percent in mid-September. The approval rating for Congress was 24 percent, down 5 percentage points from last month.

The ABC News poll had Bush's approval rating at 39 percent, down from 42 percent in early September.

Asked which party's candidate they would support if the election were held today, the USA Today/Gallup poll found Democrats favored by 23 percentage points among all voters questioned, including likely voters, registered voters and adults.

That was the largest lead Democrats have held among registered voters since 1978, and up dramatically from last month's 48 percent-48 percent tie among likely voters, USA Today said.

The CNN poll found 58 percent of likely voters say they plan to vote for Democrats in November, compared with 37 percent who say they will vote for Republicans. The 21-point gap is 5 points wider that it was in a CNN poll last week.

USA Today said its poll found two-thirds of respondents were following the Foley scandal very or somewhat closely. More than half, 54 percent, said Republican leaders who knew about Foley's actions did not act against him earlier "for political reasons."

Government corruption, Iraq and terrorism were the three most important issues listed in the USA Today poll, with respondents saying Democrats would do a better job on all three. Democrats had a 21-point edge on handling corruption and a 17-point advantage on Iraq.

The traditional Republican advantage on handling terrorism

vanished, USA Today said, with Democrats holding a 5-point edge.

The wages of sin....

It is nice to learn that being a Christian doesn't mean one has to be selfish, mean spirited and regressive! There is a new progressive side of American religion beginning to be heard - maybe.

The $5.15 national minimum wage presently applies here in Arizona - except for waitresses who are paid $2.25 regardless of whether they get tips or not. I think that tips should be the gratuity or reward for especially good service as originally intended, not a wage for basic labor.

As the article below points out, raising the minimum wage will not affect small businesses for the simple reason that all business floats on the sea of costs which are always passed on to the consumer. As long as all employers are faced with the same labor costs, they are neither advantaged nor disadvantaged. The success of any business depends mostly upon the quality and ability of its management and certainly not the enslavement of its employees.

So, there are seven states who have raised their minimum wages at least 40% above the national wage. There are five other states, including Arizona which has a minimum wage boost on their ballots this November.

We in Arizona also have smoking ban legislation up for a vote in the form of two propositions, one similar to the very successful existing ban in California and the other sponsored by the tobacco companies. That should be interesting - can the voters be bamboozled!? Effectively, the tobacco lobby makes smoking optional for businesses and sneakily nullifies any and all local bans and ordinances! If voters vote for both measures, the one with the most votes prevails and the tobacco company version has the most posted signs and media coverage.

Pastors Push Living Wage as Election Issue
Abid Aslam, OneWorld US Tue Oct 3

WASHINGTON, DC, Oct 3 (OneWorld) - Call them the Religious Left: Church leaders are seeking to rally ''values voters'' ahead of next month's elections in a nationwide crusade to raise the minimum wage.

The LET JUSTICE ROLL CAMPAIGN, a congregation of some 80 religious and community organizations including the National Council of Churches USA, said in a statement it plans to hold hundreds of rallies, workshops, religious services, and prayer breakfasts across the country to urge state and federal officials and candidates to boost working families' fortunes.

So-called Living Wage Days events this month will seek to pass minimum wage ballot measures in Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Montana, and Ohio.

"A job should keep you out of poverty, not keep you in it," said Rev. Paul Sherry, anti-poverty program coordinator at the National Council of Churches and former president of the United Church of Christ.

The issue appears to be gaining political traction. October's events come on the heels of state minimum wage increases in Arkansas, California, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

Campaign members cited a recent poll that they said showed 9 out of 10 Americans support a higher minimum wage. They added that they would lead efforts next year to pass state wage hikes in New Hampshire and Tennessee.

Congressional Democrats also are seeking to capitalize on the minimum wage among a raft of bread-and-butter issues they say the Republican-controlled legislature has neglected.

''We haven't had time to increase the minimum wage, to cut the cost of student loans for America's college students, to lower prescription drug prices, to roll back tax breaks for big oil," Nancy Pelosi, the House minority leader, was quoted as saying Friday before legislators broke for an intense period of campaigning ahead of the Nov. 7 midterm election.

To be sure, members of Let Justice Roll have voiced outrage at the meager earnings of millions of Americans at the bottom end of the labor market. But their campaign also seeks to present faith-based voters with an alternative to the Religious Right agenda.

''We've long seen scorecards from the Christian Coalition and others show how members of Congress vote on so-called social issues but not on help for the poor, which the Bible mandates hundreds of times,'' said Rev. Bob Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches.

''Millions of values voters care about fair wages for the people who do some of the hardest, most important jobs in our society--from childcare teachers we entrust with our children to healthcare aides we entrust with our parents,'' Edgar said.

The federal minimum wage rose to $5.15 per hour in 1997 but has lost more than one fifth of its value since then, campaigners said. Today's minimum pay buys less than it did in 1950, they added.

At the federal level, the campaign wants Congress to raise the minimum wage to at least $7.25 per hour and to oppose measures that would weaken existing eligibility, tipped worker coverage, overtime and other labor protections, or link the minimum wage to tax cuts for the wealthy.

''Congressional leaders are holding the minimum wage hostage to a tax cut for wealthy heirs,'' said Johanna Chao Rittenburg, economic justice program manager at the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee.

An estimated 14.9 million workers--11 percent of the work force--would benefit were the minimum hourly wage raised from $5.15 to $7.25 by 2008, according to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a Washington, DC-based think tank funded by business and labor philanthropies.

Of those workers, 6.6 million now earn less than $7.25 and would be directly affected by an increase. The additional 8.3 million workers earning slightly above the minimum also would benefit. That is because even though a raise is not legally mandated for workers earning a few more dollars than the proposed new minimum wage, many employers raise their pay anyway to preserve internal wage structures. This makes raising the minimum wage an important part of a broader strategy to end poverty, EPI researchers said.

Employers' groups and economists critical of proposed wage hikes have countered that such measures can condemn small businesses to insolvency but EPI researchers said there was no evidence that the 1997 wage gain had led to job losses.

State and municipal officials have commissioned their own studies even as they have enacted living wage measures.

In September, University of New Mexico researchers told members of the Santa Fe City Council that the municipality's two-year-old experiment with pay hikes had neither hit businesses with higher costs nor hurt low-skilled workers, contrary to employers' fears that higher wages would force businesses to cut jobs or relocate away from the city.

Council members commissioned the study after adopting a measure two years ago that required employers with more than 25 workers to pay $8.50 per hour, above the state and federal minimum of $5.15. Santa Fe raised its floor to $9.50 per hour in January and expects to raise it further, to $10.50, in 2008.

Whether the moves have provided significant succor to workers or the city's economy remained to be seen, the daily Santa Fe New Mexican quoted the researchers as saying.

Yiddish with George

I get these promos from Amazon.

However, I probably won't buy the book because; 1. I don't live in New York or even read the Times, 2. I'm not Jewish, 3. I can't speak Yiddish (because of 1.)

Yet, it probably is very funny with us WASP's being the butt. I've always had a problem with the term WASP because all Anglo-Saxons are white and most are protestant - seems there is a certain redundancy there. Fortunately, the term only applies to people who live on the East Coast - I heard it all of the time when I used to live there... Out west, we're ‘Gringos' because our critics are a different people.

I did find one statement in the description of the book below which I found to express very nicely one of my pet peeves about people - especially the young and inexperienced:

"... both exhibit a natural resistance to moral complexity (i.e., reality)"

I believe that just the other day I mentioned to Dennis that very few things, especially moral and political issues are ‘black and white' - that most of life is a mottled grey. We do tend as a people to get ourselves in serious trouble because we create simplistic views of life (like God).

I wonder if part of that mental laziness is our early training and hyperfocus on team sports. Such participation encourages such concepts as "us and them", "good guys vs bad guys", "you're either for us or against us" because sports creates well-defined adversaries.

The reality is that not all Jews, Arabs, Muslims, Mexicans, Italians, Germans, French, Chinese, Indians, Christians, or even children are bad!

It makes me wonder too whether the social ‘smushing' effect of estrogen provides girls with more mental balance (despite their typical ‘giddyness') than the alienation and aggression imparted by testosterone on boys who, perhaps for that reason, should not be leaders in our relatively new and complex society....? Any other opinions out there?

Yiddish with George and Laura (Hardcover)
by Ellis Weiner (Author), Barbara Davilman (Author)

"Book Description (Amazon)
In this inspired follow-up to the bestselling Yiddish with Dick and Jane, Yiddish--the mother tongue of irony--invades the ultimate bastion of American WASP culture: Kennebunkport, home of the Bush clan. What do George and Laura Bush have in common with Dick and Jane? Well, both hail from prototypical WASP families. And, perhaps more to the point,. That's the premise of this hilarious new primer-style book in which George, Laura, and the entire Bush family communicate with uncharacteristic expressiveness, conveying shades of feeling and nuances of meaning that plain old English can't deliver--by peppering their conversation with Yiddishisms. See George's mother. Her name is Bar. She wears alot of pearls and is a farbisseneh. "You are late, George," Bar says. "Of course I am late," George says. "I am the President of the United States. I am a big macher." Like all good primers, YIDDISH WITH GEORGE AND LAURA tells a simple story--and, in the end, important life lessons are imparted."

State of Denial

[First, a triviality: the following AP posting misspelled the word "advises" in the title of the piece of all places! - usually the news services are very good about that...

Sounds like a good book; Woodward is a dependable writer/reporter. However, I can't imagine anything really new beyond dotting the "i's" and crossing the "t's" of what we already know about the administration; its dogmas and aspirations.

Although -- I didn't know that Henry Kissinger was still around after all of these years. The gravelly old man kinda disappeared from the limelight after he married his second wife in 1974 and the Vietnam War ended the following year - guess he was distracted by his new young wife and let the war he had been enjoying die a natural death.

But guess he is back to his old practice of giving bad-advice to Presidents who are willing to listen. Probably his Teutonic roots relish war and he parades about the house with his cow-horned helmet and broadsword.

Hmmm... wonder if the state of Denial could be our 51st state? ...AG]

Woodward: Kissinger advices Bush
Fri Sep 29

NEW YORK - Henry Kissinger has been advising President Bush and Vice President Cheney about Iraq, telling them that "victory is the only meaningful exit strategy," author and journalist Bob Woodward said.

The Washington Post editor's third book on the Bush administration, "State of Denial," comes out next week.

In an interview airing Sunday night on CBS-TV's "60 Minutes," Woodward said that U.S. troops and their allies are being attacked, on average, every 15 minutes. "The truth is that the assessment by intelligence experts is that next year, 2007, is going to get worse and, in public, you have the president and you have the Pentagon saying, 'Oh, no, things are going to get better.'"

He said Kissinger, who served in the Nixon and Ford administrations, has been telling Bush and Cheney that "in Iraq, he declared very simply, 'Victory is the only meaningful exit strategy.'"

"This is so fascinating. Kissinger's fighting the Vietnam War again because, in his view, the problem in Vietnam was we lost our will."

Woodward's 537-page book describes the administration as beset by infighting, according to The New York Times, which obtained an advance copy and reported on its contents Friday. It is based on interviews with administration leaders, including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. However, sources are not always named, and neither the president nor Vice President Dick Cheney agreed to interviews, the book says, according to the Times.

Asked about the book, the White House on Thursday night dismissed it, telling The Associated Press it didn't contain anything new. During a briefing Friday at a NATO meeting in Slovenia, Rumsfeld [another Teuton] declined comment on the book, saying he hadn't read it.

[Yeah, sure - but he certainly knows what it says.]

The future or end of a nation...

Our nation over the past two hundred years has faced much more serious threats than we face now with terrorists. We've had the British burn Washington during the War of 1812, we've had several Presidents assassinated and even more failed attempts.

My own fear is that we have an American militaristic government who in time wants to overthrow our present government, our Constitution and life as we know it. I fear our own government much more than I do a few Muslims who would go away if we went away!

Our nation is in deep trouble. We are faced in the near future with an economic recession (which used to be called a depression). We have amassed a huge debt we can't repay which is held primarily by China. We are dependant upon oil which is owned primarily by Muslims and our South American 'friends' who we try to dominate.

We go around threatening the sovereignty of other nations who don't agree with our policies. Such as Syria, Iran and North Korea. If the rest of the world, our jury, would agree with us - we'd have no problem, but we have actually alienated most of them - and those who are still with us are in a sense, shaking their heads in dis-belief over our policies.

We also have become a nation of ‘Jesus freaks'! Outside of the jungles of Africa, Christianity is going down the drain. Most of Europe has rejected Christianity. Most of Asia never was Christian and is thankful that it wasn't - and that includes our economic benefactor, China.

In a way that is sad. Personally, I don't believe in mystical religions but I think the teachings of Jesus - whether he actually existed as a man - has a message of tolerance, forgiveness and love which would be good and could survive in any of man's communities if not subverted.

However, the organizations who now claim to represent Jesus have become hateful, malevolent, and oppressive. They actually harken to the evil God of the Old Testament who was vindictive, malicious and most certainly not the God of Jesus!

And it is this Old Testament God who is prevailing in our country today - He must be stopped if we are to survive as a nation. We find Him in the majority of our Congress, in the top levels of our military at the Pentagon and most importantly, in some of our media.

Our nation really is in peril.

So now our representatives are going to allow "President George W. Bush's warrantless domestic spying program". If passed, this has to be the end of our nation as we know it, unless something surprising happens in November - I'm not holding my breath!

Text of released NIE report

Rather than read the proliferation of neocon and neolib talking heads who persist in trying to spin the NIE report, I found the text printed in the San Luis Obispo Tribune (Ya gotta join the club to read the New York Times - and I'm not a ‘joiner'.) http://tinyurl.com/gejak - anyway, here it is for you cousins to read for yourselves. I think it is worth reading and what was declassified is not all that long nor hard to understand.

The report mentions al-Zarqawi, who as you know was killed in Iraq last June. The report was published in April when al-Z was still alive. Otherwise, it seems that since the report, a number of events predicted by the report have taken place making it quite credible.

It gives us a good idea of what we're up against and indicates, at least to me, what we should and should not be doing - although specifics are not addressed - nor need to be.

Excerpts from the National Intelligence Estimate report
New York Times News Service
WASHINGTON--Following are the portions of the National Intelligence Estimate dealing with the key judgments, dated April 2006, that were released Tuesday by the Bush administration.

United States-led counterterrorism efforts have seriously damaged the leadership of al-Qaida and disrupted its operations; however, we judge that al-Qaida will continue to pose the greatest threat to the Homeland and United States interests abroad by a single terrorist organization. We also assess that the global jihadist movement -- which includes al-Qaida, affiliated and independent terrorist groups, and emerging networks and cells -- is spreading and adapting to counterterrorism efforts.

- Although we cannot measure the extent of the spread with precision, a large body of all-source reporting indicates that activists identifying themselves as jihadists, although a small percentage of Muslims, are increasing in both number and geographic dispersion.

- If this trend continues, threats to United States interests at home and abroad will become more diverse, leading to increasing attacks worldwide.

- Greater pluralism and more responsive political systems in Muslim majority nations would alleviate some of the grievances jihadists exploit. Over time, such progress, together with sustained, multifaceted programs targeting the vulnerabilities of the jihadist movement and continued pressure on al-Qaida, could erode support for the jihadists.

We assess that the global jihadist movement is decentralized, lacks a coherent global strategy and is becoming more diffuse. New jihadist networks and cells, with anti-American agendas, are increasingly likely to emerge. The confluence of shared purpose and dispersed actors will make it harder to find and undermine jihadist groups.

- We assess that the operational threat from self-radicalized cells will grow in importance to United States counterterrorism efforts, particularly abroad but also in the Homeland.

- The jihadists regard Europe as an important venue for attacking Western interests. Extremist networks inside the extensive Muslim diasporas in Europe facilitate recruitment and staging for urban attacks, as illustrated by the 2004 Madrid and 2005 London bombings. We assess that the Iraq jihad is shaping a new generation of terrorist leaders and operatives; perceived jihadist success there would inspire more fighters to continue the struggle elsewhere.

- The Iraq conflict has become the cause celebre for jihadists, breeding a deep resentment of United States involvement in the Muslim world and cultivating supporters for the global jihadist movement. Should jihadists leaving Iraq perceive themselves, and be perceived, to have failed, we judge fewer fighters will be inspired to carry on the fight.

We assess that the underlying factors fueling the spread of the movement outweigh its vulnerabilities and are likely to do so for the duration of the time frame of this Estimate.

- Four underlying factors are fueling the spread of the jihadist movement: (1) Entrenched grievances, such as corruption, injustice, and fear of Western domination, leading to anger, humiliation, and a sense of powerlessness; (2) the Iraq jihad; (3) the slow pace of real and sustained economic, social, and political reforms in many Muslim majority nations; and (4) pervasive anti-United States sentiment among most Muslims - all of which jihadists exploit.

Concomitant vulnerabilities in the jihadist movement have emerged that, if fully exposed and exploited, could begin to slow the spread of the movement. They include dependence on the continuation of Muslim-related conflicts, the limited appeal of the jihadists radical ideology, the emergence of respected voices of moderation and criticism of the violent tactics employed against mostly Muslim citizens.

- The jihadists' greatest vulnerability is that their ultimate political solution - an ultraconservative interpretation of Shariah-based governance spanning the Muslim world - is unpopular with the vast majority of Muslims. Exposing the religious and political straitjacket that is implied by the jihadists' propaganda would help to divide them from the audiences they seek to persuade.

- Recent condemnations of violence and extremist religious interpretations by a few notable Muslim clerics signal a trend that could facilitate the growth of a constructive alternative to jihadist ideology: peaceful political activism. This also could lead to the consistent and dynamic participation of broader Muslim communities in rejecting violence, reducing the ability of radicals to capitalize on passive community support. In this way, the Muslim mainstream emerges as the most powerful weapon in the war on terror.

- Countering the spread of the jihadist movement will require coordinated multilateral efforts that go well beyond operations to capture or kill terrorist leaders.

If democratic reform efforts in Muslim majority nations progress over the next five years, political participation probably would drive a wedge between intransigent extremists and groups willing to use the political process to achieve their local objectives.

Nonetheless, attendant reforms and potentially destabilizing transitions will create new opportunities for jihadists to exploit. Al-Qaida, now merged with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's network, is exploiting the situation in Iraq to attract new recruits and donors and to maintain its leadership role.

- The loss of key leaders, particularly Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahri, and al-Zarqawi, in rapid succession, probably would cause the group to fracture into smaller groups. Although like-minded individuals would endeavor to carry on the mission, the loss of these key leaders would exacerbate strains and disagreements. We assess that the resulting splinter groups would, at least for a time, pose a less serious threat to United States interests than does al-Qaida.

- Should al-Zarqawi continue to evade capture and scale back attacks against Muslims, we assess he could broaden his popular appeal and present a global threat.

- The increased role of Iraqis in managing the operations of al-Qaida in Iraq might lead veteran foreign jihadists to focus their efforts on external operations. Other affiliated Sunni extremist organizations, such as Jemaah Islamiya, Ansar al Sunnah, and several North African groups, unless countered, are likely to expand their reach and become more capable of multiple and/or mass-casualty attacks outside their traditional areas of operation.

- We assess that such groups pose less of a danger to the Homeland than does al-Qaida but will pose varying degrees of threat to our allies and to United States interests abroad. The focus of their attacks is likely to ebb and flow between local regime targets and regional or global ones.

We judge that most jihadist groups - both well-known and newly formed - will use improvised explosive devices and suicide attacks focused primarily on soft targets to implement their asymmetric warfare strategy, and that they will attempt to conduct sustained terrorist attacks in urban environments. Fighters with experience in Iraq are a potential source of leadership for jihadists pursuing these tactics.

- CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons) capabilities will continue to be sought by jihadist groups. While Iran, and to a lesser extent Syria, remain the most active state sponsors of terrorism, many other states will be unable to prevent territory or resources from being exploited by terrorists.

Anti-United States and anti-globalization sentiment is on the rise and fueling other radical ideologies. This could prompt some leftist, nationalist, or separatist groups to adopt terrorist methods to attack United States interests. The radicalization process is occurring more quickly, more widely, and more anonymously in the Internet age, raising the likelihood of surprise attacks by unknown groups whose members and supporters may be difficult to pinpoint.

- We judge that groups of all stripes will increasingly use the Internet to communicate, propagandize, recruit, train and obtain logistical and financial support.

It is about time!

[It is about time!

55 years ago as a twenty-year old airman 3rd class, just after basic training in the Air Force, I was ushered into a small conference room and introduced to a retired AF general who was then in the business of selling life insurance to 'captive' G.I.'s! He gave me a spiel about the benefits of a twenty-year endowment policy and signed me up for one (I can't remember the amount) under a payroll deduction plan. I didn't have to buy the policy but wasn't sure how my superiors would treat me later on if I didn't! I do know that I already had a government term life policy for $10K which had been provided free upon enlistment!

I don't think I kept the endowment policy for even a year because $97 per month base pay didn't leave room for much other than necessities! Of course the general still got his commission!...AG]

Congress OKs insurance bill shielding troops

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Legislation to protect U.S. military personnel from abusive sales of overpriced life insurance and investments was given final approval by Congress on Thursday and sent to President Bush for signing into law.

The House of Representatives voted 418-3 to approve a measure that had already been passed by the Senate. Work on the legislation began two years ago after media reports that aggressive sales agents were marketing high-fee financial products to unsophisticated young recruits about to ship out to Iraq.

Louisiana Republican Rep. Richard Baker, noting the risks that military men and women take every day, said that "risking their financial future should not be among them."

But the measure does not take action against payday loans, which are high-interest cash advances made against future paychecks. The Pentagon has urged Congress to cap interest rates lenders charge on these loans to American troops, as part of a still-pending defense spending bill.

The measure sent to President Bush on Thursday would ban sales to the military of contractual plans, a mutual fund investment product that has virtually disappeared from the civilian marketplace because of exorbitant fees baked into the payments.

The measure also would require military personnel be told about life insurance that is available to them through the federal government. In the past, some troops have been sold life insurance policies offering the same coverage as the government plan but costing far more.

The legislation would also establish a list of barred brokers and sales agents to be made available to military installation commanders.

Prelude to more war....

I'm really not an isolationist, I do believe that we have to be very involved with the rest of the world diplomatically and with mutual respect.

However, I think it is time for us to close our military bases around the world which are in other nations. We were justified in establishing those bases during the cold war with the USSR as a policy of containment and to discourage aggression on their part.

The cold war is over and the existence of our troops in those bases not only cost us an arm and a leg, but the citizens of those countries are beginning to resent the presence of foreign troops on their sovereign soil - just as we certainly would if France or even England decided to establish a base just outside of Columbus, Ohio.

Military capabilities have changed over the past fifty years such that we have the ability of rapid deployment and access which didn't exist then. I think we no longer need to have standing armies stationed all over the world in order to protect ourselves. As to protecting others, I think that nations should have the capability of protecting themselves.

It really disturbs me and I believe it, that this administration of hawks haves plans to attack Iraq, Syria, North Korea, Venezuela and/or Cuba. I think they want to either destroy the world or be destroyed - perhaps for religious purposes - just like the car bombers who do it in order to go to Heaven! .

'NO USA': Korean Farmers Protest U.S. Base Expansion
Aaron Glantz, OneWorld US Fri Sep 15

SAN FRANCISCO, Sep 15 (OneWorld) - Dozens of South Koreans took to the streets of Washington, DC Thursday in support of small farmers forced to relocate to make way for a massive new U.S. military base in their country. President George W. Bush was meeting with his South Korean counterpart just steps away in the White House at the time.

On Tuesday, it took 10,000 South Korean police to dislodge the protesting farmers. "They are elderly farmers," Kyo So of the group Korean Americans Against War and Neoliberalism pleaded from the protest outside the White House. "They have been living there for many years. They turned the old wetlands into arable farmland. They raised their children there. They don't want to move."

The U.S. military is increasingly unpopular in South Korea. Outside the U.S. base about 40 miles south of Seoul, protesters painted "NO USA" on buildings and stood on rooftops in a brief attempt to stop construction crews from tearing down about 90 homes.

Police had blockaded roads leading into the township, preventing more protesters from entering the area. Helicopters kept an eye on the protesters. "The government says they'll move the rest by October, but the sentiment in Korea is that the government is going too far and is using too much force. They are very angry with the government," So added.

The U.S. military plans to build new facilities on the farmers' land in order to improve quality of life for American soldiers stationed in Korea. According to the military newspaper Stars and Stripes, those amenities include a new fitness center "complete with a gym, indoor pool, running track, and four-story parking garage."

In addition to an eight-lane, 25-meter indoor swimming pool, the center will feature a 626-foot indoor running track; separate rooms for cardio fitness, circuit training, free weights, and group exercise; basketball and racquetball courts; a martial arts training room; and climbing walls, the newspaper added.

The confrontation and construction is part of a larger redeployment of the 35,000-strong U.S. troop presence in Korea. Under the terms of an agreement between Washington and Seoul, American troops are being moved away from major population centers and the North Korean border.

Paradoxically, observers say, that could increase the likelihood of war on the Korean Peninsula.

"It's an offensive move," argued George Katsiaficas, a researcher at Harvard University's Korea Institute and president of the Peace Island Foundation. "It takes American forces out of the range of North Korean artillery and creates a situation where the United States could attack North Korea without Americans necessarily being directly threatened in the immediate counter attack."

Katsiaficas doesn't believe war with North Korea is imminent, but he sees the redeployment of U.S. troops in South Korea as part of a larger strategy by the Bush administration.

"Right now the governments of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba, and North Korea are all preparing for a U.S. attack," Katsiaficas added. "They all believe a U.S. attack is coming because the neoconservatives in Washington are pursuing a very aggressive military policy. The Iranians are preparing for an attack modeled on Israel's attack on Lebanon. So the North Koreans would be remiss not to consider this realignment as a way for the U.S. to position itself in a way so that it could make such an attack."

A treatise on death....

The 19-yr old boy who drove into the power pole on the roadway behind my home was apparently well known by many young people in Kingman.

Indeed, an 8X10 photo of the boy who didn't survive the shearing of the pole has been stapled to the new power pole at the site. There is a card or something stapled above it and there has been a fairly regular flow of visitors with some of them writing on the card. They stop, look around, some go down the embankment, return, get in their cars and leave. Someone put a post in the ground and attached balloons to it which won't last long in the strong winds we get around here.

I'm a bit surprised that my witnessing the accident seems to bother me as much as it does - I mean, people are being killed around here - they're listed in the paper - every day!

Many years ago I witnessed the crash of a B29 into a housing area where 30 men, women and children were killed - mostly burned beyond recognition. I heard the plane, heard the crash and saw the smoke! Later that morning as a dental tech I helped identify the remains with dental records and then helped haul them down to the morgue at the Naval base. -- Now that was and is a horrible memory which I relive every once in a while - but then we can become hardened to such things - used to death. I know our brains are designed to get used to things - mine did as I got used to assisting in oral surgery, for example.

I recall taking my father to the airport so he could seek yet another wife he had in mind back in Ohio. He had made the arrangements himself with a local travel agent so who was I to tell my 97-year old father that it would kill him? So at the San Francisco airport, I stood there at the ramp to the plane as the stewards wheeled him down the tunnel knowing that I'd never see nor talk to my father again - I felt sadness and loss - a reluctant letting go of part of my life, but I didn't have the feeling of violence and horror which I had experienced with the plane crash.

Again, when the assisted living home (not far from my home) where my 94-yr old mother was living called and said my mother had what they called the "death rattle" and asked whether I wanted to drive her to the hospital or have an ambulance, I, of course, opted to drive her.

They placed her in the seat beside me and I went ‘down the hill' to the hospital. If you've never heard the "death rattle" it is an unnerving sound. Every breath gurgled as she semi-reclined half-asleep beside me, I felt so helpless - this was my mother! I drove directly into the ‘ambulance only' entrance to ER and they took her up immediately as I re-parked the car.

In ER, the doctor gave her a shot of morphine and the gurgle stopped and she seemed peacefully asleep. Then the doctor asked if she had a medical will (which she had) - but I lied, said no, and asked for a prognosis. He told me that she was dying, that they could put her on life support, but even that wouldn't work for long - she's a very old woman.

You can't imagine the rush of thoughts through my mind in those few seconds until I finally asked that they make her as comfortable as possible and let her go - knowing full well that I was ending my mother's life. I knew by her will that she would have agreed. Again, I felt sadness and loss even more so than the death of my father which I passively had allowed to happen.

The reason I tell this is that I think there is a great difference between death when it is normal, calm and expected, sooner or later, and when it is sudden, unexpected and violent.

Most certainly I was most affected personally by the deaths of my parents - those deaths involved a sense of great sadness and loss to me. I could add to the list my grandfather and mentor and others I have lost over the years. I might add that Terry's death this Spring was not unexpected and was also of sadness and loss.

On the other hand, the deaths I had to deal with directly in the plane crash were horrifying and sickening due to the violence and destruction of people who had only moments before been living normal happy lives. It is, I think the same when the boy drove his truck into the power pole. At one moment he was a young kid with a future, friends and family and the next he virtually ceased to exist!

Thus it seems to me that it is not whether you die (we all will, of course), but how you die which makes a great difference - not to you necessarily - but to those who witness or are involved with you and your death.

On the one hand your death can be of sadness and loss but on the other - shock and horror!

Ann Richards.... r.i.p.

My favorite Texan is gone! I would have loved to have known her, her honesty and wit - especially her wit. "Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, only backwards and in high heels."

I bemoaned the loss of Lloyd Benson - the only other Texan I've really admired, but today is a sad day to know that I'll never hear a scintillating interview of this girl (I'm older than she) and her quiet funny verbal daggers pushed right into the hearts of ‘the bad guys' - and in Texas there are a hell of a lot of bad guys!

Smokin' and drinkin' will do you in, girl... What can I say... So long, girl.

Former Texas Governor Ann Richards Dies
By KELLEY SHANNON, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Former Gov. Ann Richards, the witty and flamboyant Democrat who went from homemaker to national political celebrity, died Wednesday night after a battle with cancer, a family spokeswoman said. She was 73.

She died at home surrounded by her family, the spokeswoman said. Richards was found to have esophageal cancer in March and underwent chemotherapy treatments.

The silver-haired, silver-tongued Richards said she entered politics to help others — especially women and minorities who were often ignored by Texas' male-dominated establishment.

"I did not want my tombstone to read, 'She kept a really clean house.' I think I'd like them to remember me by saying, 'She opened government to everyone,'" Richards said shortly before leaving office in January 1995.

She was governor for one term, losing her re-election bid to Republican George W. Bush.

Her four adult children spent Wednesday with her, said family spokeswoman Cathy Bonner, a longtime family friend. "They're a strong group of people but they're broken-hearted, of course," Bonner said.

Her family said as governor she was most proud of two actions that probably cost her re-election. She vetoed legislation that would allow people to carry concealed handguns, automatic weapons and "cop-killer bullets." She also vetoed a bill that would have allowed the destruction of the environment over the Edwards Aquifer.

She grabbed the national spotlight with her keynote address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention when she was the Texas state treasurer. Richards won cheers from delegates when she reminded them that Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, "only backwards and in high heels."

Richards sealed her partisan reputation with a blast at George H. Bush, a fellow Texan who was vice president at the time: "Poor George, he can't help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth." [Actually Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, on June 12, 1924 and definitely not a Texan - and is not, today.]

Four years later, she was chairwoman of the Democratic convention that nominated Bill Clinton for president.

Richards rose to the governorship with a come-from-behind victory over millionaire cowboy Clayton Williams in 1990. She cracked a half-century male grip on the governor's mansion and celebrated by holding up a T-shirt that showed the state Capitol and read: "A woman's place is in the dome."

In four years as governor, Richards championed what she called the "New Texas," appointing more women and more minorities to state posts than any of her predecessors.

She appointed the first black University of Texas regent; the first crime victim to join the state Criminal Justice Board; the first disabled person to serve on the human services board; and the first teacher to lead the State Board of Education. Under Richards, the fabled Texas Rangers pinned stars on their first black and female officers.

She polished Texas' image, courted movie producers, championed the North American Free Trade Agreement, oversaw an expansion of the state prison system, and presided over rising student achievement scores and plunging dropout rates.

She took time out to celebrate her 60th birthday by earning her motorcycle driver's license.

Throughout her years in office, her personal popularity remained high. One poll put it at more than 60 percent the year she lost to Bush.

"I may have lost the race," Richards said after the defeat. "But I don't think I lost the good feelings that people have about me in this state. That's tremendously reassuring to me."

Richards went on to give speeches, work as a commentator for CNN and serve as a senior adviser in the New York office of Public Strategies Inc., an Austin-based consulting firm.

In her last 10 years, Richards worked for many social causes and helped develop the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, scheduled to open in Austin in 2007.

Born in Lakeview, Texas, in 1933, Richards grew up near Waco, married civil rights lawyer David Richards and spent her early adulthood volunteering in campaigns and raising four children. She often said the hardest job she ever had was as a public school teacher at Fulmore Junior High School in Austin.

Richards served on the Travis County Commissioners Court in Austin for six years before jumping to a bigger arena in 1982. Her election as state treasurer made her the first woman elected statewide in nearly 50 years.

But politics took a toll. It helped break up her marriage. And public life forced her to be remarkably candid about her 1980 treatment for alcoholism.

"I had seen the very bottom of life," she once recalled. "I was so afraid I wouldn't be funny anymore. I just knew that I would lose my zaniness and my sense of humor. But I didn't. Recovery turned out to be a wonderful thing."

The 1990 election was rough. Her Democratic primary opponent, then-Attorney General Jim Mattox, accused her of using illegal drugs. Williams, an oilman, banker and rancher, spent millions of his own money on the race she narrowly won.

After her unsuccessful re-election campaign against Bush, Richards said she never missed being in public office.

Asked once what she might have done differently had she known she was going to be a one-term governor, Richards grinned.

"Oh, I would probably have raised more hell."

Survivors include her children, Cecile Richards, Daniel Richards, Clark Richards and Ellen Richards; their spouses; and eight grandchildren.

Our International Troubles...

That is an old one, dear sister. "Turn the other cheek" from (Matthew 5:38:45). Or sometimes, when in doubt, change the subject - that is an old female ‘trick' (not the oldest, of course)!

However, I doubt that such passivism has saved lives today or ever. And I'm not certain that since it is of the "I will overcome." syndrome that it is not those more overt actions of others who made the changes - not the passivists who cried out.

Sure, everyone likes to think that the stubbornness of Martin Luther KIng changed anything. All he did was to bring attention to the problem and it was the activists who made the changes. That was also true of Gandhi. All he got was the attention of people who rose up and said, "Hmmmm. This just isn't right!"

So what I'm saying is that people like Gandhi and King and other whistle blowers are to be admired for their efforts - but they were only successful because many thousands of others decided that changes should be made.

Our problems today, I think, are quite different and won't be changed by hunger strikes, marches of the Gandhi or King ilk or even popular opinion. The American people could create a wailing wall of their choice, but to no avail. We have made our bed and we must sleep in it.

No one is going to dissuade the Al-Qaeda and its myriad of splinter groups to stop terrorizing westerners by anyone in the west going on a hunger strike - as Gandhy did, nor someone claiming that we're just innocent lambs being led to slaughter by oil people like Dick Cheney.

We are imperialists, have always been since at least the Civil War, and are paying the price for our aggressions. We didn't get where we are as the lead nation of the world simply by hard work and innovation - that is BS! We got where we are through aggressive business dealings and power mongering.

We have created a world of hatred by those who feel they should have been better served and also those who envy us because with good reason they feel they certainly should live as well as we.

So here we are, the fifth year after 9/11 and a few of us huddle together in fear of yet another attack by the evil "fascist Islamics." Yet what do we hear from our elected leader?

From the AP, we find that: " WASHINGTON -- President George W. Bush has in recent days recast the global war on terror into a "war against Islamic fascism." Fascism, in fact, seems to be the new buzzword for Republicans in an election season dominated by an unpopular war in Iraq.

Yet from Wikipedia we learn that, "Fascism is a radical totalitarian political philosophy that combines elements of corporatism, authoritarianism, extreme nationalism, militarism, anti-anarchism, anti-communism and anti-liberalism." Hmmmmmmm! Doesn't that sound a bit Republican?

Perhaps if we apply a little logic to this ‘hatred of us thing' (as George Bush, Sr. would say) we could take the heat off us by not occupying and controlling most of the world! Just a thought.

Mitt Romney, the next Bush

Will stupidity never end? So now Mitt Romney, governor of MA, has joined the brain dead to gain political power via the ‘brain dead' of the religious right wing. I'm surprised that he is even aware of Orwell! Of course the prediction of 1985 never took place simply because most of the unwashed masses may be poor but aren't that stupid!

Fortunately in this case, the rest of the people of Massachusetts have overridden his wishes and stem cell research continues unabated in that state. It remains for them to fund the research as has been done in California - the most advanced state in this union!

Joe Lieberman - again

I've never seen such blatant hypocrisy by the Republicans to provide political support for Joe Lieberman who is ideologically different than they - except for his Jewish bias for the war against the Arabs!

Poor Joe, who is a nice guy but is divided between his being a Jew and America's current problems in the Middle East and thus impacting America's international relations. I think he should recuse himself from politics because he is very divided between allegiance with Israel and his own country! I'm sure that there are many American Muslims who are also so divided. And they too, are nice people but should not be in a position to make political decisions for all Americans.

Yet, the Republicans have actually dumped their Republican candidate in favor of Joe and enlisted the Republican propaganda machine including Jack Kemp to help get him re-elected! I guess that all is fair in politics, but should such behavior be rewarded? - I guess it remains to be seen.

What is most depressing is that the Republicans are in Iraq for her oil! They have no ideological nor religious nor even democratic interests in Israel or the Middle East at all! But they are certainly in the game to win!...

Kemp to campaign for Lieberman
Tue Aug 29, 7:43 PM ET

NEW LONDON, Connecticut (Reuters) - Jack Kemp, the Republican vice presidential nominee in 1976, will campaign in Connecticut on behalf of U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman (news, bio, voting record)'s independent bid for re-election.

Lieberman said on Tuesday he had accepted an offer of help from Kemp after the former congressman contacted him this month following Lieberman's loss of the Democratic Senate primary to anti-war challenger Ned Lamont.

"We've been good friends for a long time," said Lieberman, the 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee, during a campaign stop in New London. "He called me after the primary, he's a good friend, and I'm grateful."

Many Democrats have turned their backs on Lieberman since his defeat by Lamont, a businessman who claimed the senator was too supportive of the Iraq war and too close to
President George W. Bush and Republicans.

Lieberman, who is banking on Republican and independent support to carry him to victory over Lamont in November, said he was not worried that a campaign visit by a Republican like Kemp would anger Democrats.

"I think if anyone complains about Jack Kemp coming in on my behalf, it just shows that they're still blinded by the old partisan politics," he said. "Jack's a devoted Republican, I'm a devoted Democrat, but we agree on a lot of stuff."

Lieberman is running for a fourth Senate term as an independent but has promised to remain a Democrat if he wins.

Kemp, a former star pro football quarterback, served in Congress from New York and was Housing and Urban Development secretary under the current president's father.

Kemp also was Republican Bob Dole's running mate in the 1996 election, which they lost to President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore.

Israeli Paranoia, yet again?

Here is some more "good investigative reporting" for you to consider. This time it is going to be a mix of facts and memory - mine (plus a bit of opinion/conclusion).

Today I read the following AP release which is posted below. Shades of Lebanese ambulances!, has it happened again? Coincidence? Hmmmm....

One of the few advantages of being an old man who has not yet lost his memory - I'm sure it is coming, but not yet - and this incident triggered a memory years ago of an incident wherein it was reported front page by our mass media that Israel attacked an American ‘spy ship' which was cruising the coast of Israel gathering data during Israel's 1967 "six day" war with various Arab nations.

We were, as now, their ally, both militarily and economically, so they had no motive to attack one of our ships, spying or not. I suspect that they didn't want a documented record of possible atrocities they were committing - or perhaps they simply were and still are paranoid.

However, here is a news gathering agency, Reuters, being deliberately fired upon by Israel! I guess they don't believe in freedom of the press - seems pretty right-wing to me!

Anyway, knowing of the episode, it was easy for me to find the poop on Google, regarding the attack on the ship where thirty four American Navy personnel were killed in action and one hundred seventy three were wounded in action.

The ship itself, a Forty Million Dollar state of the art signals intelligence (SIGINT) platform, was so badly damaged that it never sailed on an operational mission again and was sold in 1970 for $101,666.66 as scrap.

But perhaps after you read the current events post below, maybe you should wade through some of:

War Crimes Committed Against U.S. Military Personnel, June 8, 1967. Submitted to the Secretary of the Army in his capacity as Executive Agent for the Secretary of Defense, June 8, 2005 at: http://www.ussliberty.org/report/report.htm

Bottom line: I've never considered the Zionist's as being "poor defenseless victims" who requires our total support against the evil Arabs (think, indigenous like American Indians). Rather, I think they are a people who think of themselves as a superior race - because of the superiority of their religion and their slight edge in IQ - so they are vicious when they don't get their way. Well, perhaps all people are like that - sometimes it seems so.

Therefore, if we are ever to gain any peace in the Middle East, we are going to have to be absolutely neutral in our policies with both the Jews and Muslims. AND we are going to have to get out of the middle eastern oil business! Certainly the Arabs won't hate us if they don't think our only interest in them is oil.

Of course in the short term we still need oil, but if we kiss the butts of the Venezuelans, buy North Atlantic and even Russian oil, we can get by until we become independent like Brazil. We're working on it - no thanks to our vice-President.

Israeli airstrike hits Reuters vehicle
By IBRAHIM BARZAK, Associated Press Writer

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israeli aircraft fired two missiles early Sunday at an armored car belonging to the Reuters news agency, wounding five people, including two cameramen, Palestinian witnesses and hospital officials said.

The Israeli army said it did not realize the car's passengers were journalists and only attacked because the vehicle was driving in a suspicious manner near Israeli troops in the middle of a combat zone.

The airstrike on the journalists' car came as Israeli soldiers backed by two dozen tanks, two bulldozers, helicopters and drone planes moved into an area just inside the Gaza Strip near the Karni crossing, witnesses and Palestinian security officials said.

The army said the troops were searching for explosives planted by Palestinian militants alongside the border fence and for tunnels under the border. After the operation began, groups of militants repeatedly gathered to try to attack the soldiers, the army and witnesses said.

The Reuters cameraman, Fadel Shama'a, 23, and Sabah Hamida, 25, who worked for a local television company, had the doors open and were about to get out of the armored vehicle in the nearby Shajaiyeh neighborhood to film the raid when it was struck by the missiles, according to Shamas Odeh, chief of Reuters TV in Gaza.

The cameramen, along with three bystanders, were injured with shrapnel wounds and all five were to undergo surgery, hospital officials said.

The front seats of the car were covered in blood and shrapnel had ripped up much of the inside of the vehicle. One of the bulletproof windows was completely destroyed.

The white sport utility vehicle was emblazoned with the Reuters logo and had "TV" and "Press" written on it in English, Arabic and Hebrew.

"This is a cold-blooded crime," said Mohammed Dawdi, head of the local journalists union.

Capt. Noa Meir, an army spokeswoman, said the vehicle was the only one in the combat area, was driving suspiciously and came near Israeli forces during the nighttime raid.

"That's why it was targeted. It was seen as a threat," she said. "There were no clear TV marks (on the car). At least we didn't see one."

"It's unfortunate when journalists get hurt, but that is not the intention," Meir added.

However, the area was an active battlefield and the reporters should not have been there, she said, adding that three Hamas militants attacked soldiers from the same spot 10 minutes after the airstrike.

During the raid early Sunday, aircraft repeatedly fired missiles into fields where Palestinian militants were gathering on the edge of Shajaiyeh, killing a Hamas militant, rescue officials said.

Ambulance drivers reported coming under fire from Israeli helicopters as they tried to retrieve the body. The army said it was checking the report.

During the raid early Sunday, aircraft fired missiles into fields where Palestinian militants were gathering on the edge of Shajaiyeh, seriously wounding one person, according to emergency officials. Helicopters also fired machine guns at gathering militants, witnesses said.

The army also told residents in three nearby buildings to evacuate their houses as bulldozers cleared land near the border, witnesses said. Soldiers also took over some rooftops and searched several houses, they said.

Israel has stepped up raids and airstrikes in Gaza over the past two months as part of a wide-scale offensive that began after Hamas-linked militants captured an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid.

In the West Bank, Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen traded heavy fire during a standoff at a fugitives' hideout Saturday, and doctors said a 16-year-old Palestinian was killed.

Twenty Palestinians were wounded in the clashes in the West Bank city of Nablus, the doctors said.

The Nablus standoff began early Saturday when troops surrounded a four-story apartment building where the army said two Palestinian fugitives were hiding. Troops called on the fugitives to surrender, but by mid-afternoon, they were still inside the building.

The army brought in bulldozers which started chipping away at the walls of the building and destroyed a water tank. At one point, the building came under heavy automatic fire by the army.

The troops also fired at a neighboring house, where gunmen were seen shooting at the force.

Bulldozers and army vehicles driving through the neighborhood were showered with stones.

The residents of the building were ordered to leave and some were questioned, the witnesses said. Troops also searched neighboring buildings, witnesses said, and soldiers carrying guns were seen moving between houses.The neighborhood appeared deserted and heavy gunshots were exchanged.

The army said Palestinians fired at the troops and in two cases also hurled explosive devices.

The wanted militants belong to the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an offshoot of Fatah. They are believed to be explosive experts.

Late Saturday, the army pulled out of Nablus without arresting anyone.