Exercise Your Mind - 11/08/06

Election 2006

• You have your marching orders…. — Nicole Belle @ Crooks and Liars reminds us of the Republican’s “Contract with America” when they took control of Congress in 1994.
  

  This year’s election offers the chance, after four decades of one-party control, to bring to the House a new majority that will transform the way Congress works. That historic change would be the end of government that is too big, too intrusive, and too easy with the public’s money. It can be the beginning of a Congress that respects the values and shares the faith of the American family.

  Like Lincoln, our first Republican president, we intend to act “with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right.” To restore accountability to Congress. To end its cycle of scandal and disgrace. To make us all proud again of the way free people govern themselves.
  

  Let’s hope that the Democrats learn from the Republicans’ mistakes.

• A Remedy for Negative Political Ads — Paul Silver @ Donklephant has a remedy for all of those negative, deceitful ads since there’s not likely to be any law regulating truth in political advertising anytime soon.
  

  Perhaps the solution lies in changing the geometry of the question. Instead of trying to regulate the content of ads, we use public funds (or funds from the Parties) to run a frequent public service message that corrects the inaccuracies of any recent ads - perhaps produced by the Factcheck.org folks. Since a candidate would not want to have the airwaves filled with objective criticism they would be inclined to stay as reasonable and civil as possible.

• A Remedy for Election Tampering– Paul Silver @ Donklephant also thinks there should be a reward for information leading to a conviction in crimes related to election tampering.

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Tags: 2006 election, Republicans, Contract with America, Contress, ethics, scandal, Democrats, negative political ads, election tampering, politics, factcheck.org, DHS, TSA, passports, Hasan Elahi, FBI, mental illness, anxiety, depression

Talking Politics

I’ll admit that I’ve been avoiding talking politics lately.  I’ve noticed that the closer it gets to an actual election, the less I like actually talking about politics and the issues with anyone, even the people I generally agree with.  Everyone’s so super-charged emotional and a little bit scary.  It’s best just to keep quiet and wait it out, in my not-so-humble opinion — besides, my mother always told me that you learn more when your mouth is shut and your ears are open.

It just so happens that one of my pre-move projects is to sort through my unread magazine pile and pull out all of the articles and recipes I’m interested in and sort them into my nifty neon orange expandable folder either for future reference or reading…and last night I came across this great, timely article called, “Ballot Season Banter: How to win at talking politics” by Elizabeth Terry in the October issue of my Health magazine of all things.  I suppose, it could be good for your health.

Anyway, here’s a summary of some interesting points she makes, which I also have observed over the last few years, about political chit-chatting:

• You’re never actually going to change anyone’s mind.  While you assume that your logical arguments will persuade a person to adopt your view, the other person is just as determined that his or her logic is just as strong.  You both have adopted logic that reinforces your own values.  Whatever the other person presents to you that doesn’t support your view, it won’t be logical to you and vice versa.
• The very subject of politics makes you less rational.  Doctors have used brain imaging studies to prove that the emotional part of the brain takes over when people start talking about politics.
• While you assume that your information, facts, and conclusions are correct, often , political debates are based on opinion or the interpretation of available or even unavailable facts.

Here are some recommended “Do’s” and Don’ts” by Don Gabor, a communications expert and author of Speaking Your Mind in 101 Difficult Situations regarding talking politics, particularly with friends and co-workers:

Don’t discuss politics with rivals, especially at work.  They may use what you say against you later.

Do have other nonvolatile topics that you can bring up instead.

Don’t ridicule politicians with whom you disagree.  Supporters tend to take this seriously — and personally.

Do count to 10 before responding to a crass remark about your favorite pol.  Try not to lose your temper.  And avoid responding in kind.

Don’t pressure people to agree with you.  No one likes a bully, Gabor says.

Do hear people out.  Paraphrase what the other person is saying to show that you’re trying to understand.

Don’t take the bait of someone who’s itching for a fight.

Do stop when anger flares or even if the conversation gets tense.  If you find you can’t agree, then simply agree to disagree.

Good luck.  Don’t forget to vote tomorrow.

Tags: politics

The Klobuchar & Kennedy Show?

Yesterday morning, I watched Sunday’s Meet the Press with this strange sense of déjà vu.  I found myself asking, “Haven’t I seen this already?”  Is this a rerun?

It couldn’t be, of course, because the show had started with a discussion about the fact that North Korea had announced it tested a nuclear bomb, which had happened after last week’s show.  So they couldn’t be re-airing the previous week’s show.

Still, I felt as if I had heard it all word-for-word before.

Then I realized who it was that Tim Russett was talking to.

Minnesota Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar (D) and Representative Mark Kennedy (R).

Why I had just seen them on MSNBC within the last two weeks.  They were being asked the same exact questions and they were responding the same exact way.  Kennedy was answering every question with an attack on Klobuchar and Klobuchar was repeatedly pointing out that he wasn’t answering the questions.  When asked why Kennedy appeared to agree with President Bush 92% of the time, Kennedy thought the study should have been worded that Bush agreed with him 92% of the time.

What I didn’t understand was why they were being asked the same exact questions.  Had this been agreed upon?  It seemed all so rehearsed to me.  A big show on everyone’s part.  The fact that the shows are NBC-related does make me wonder.  Talk about fake…Meet the Press, Klobuchar, Kennedy, Russett…all of them.

Tags: Minnesota, politics, Amy Klobuchar, Mark Kennedy, MSNBC, NBC, Meet the Press, Tim Russett

Work Your Brain — 09/20/06

• Thank a Democrat for Lower Gas Prices — Richard Cranium @ The All Spin Zone reminds us that it was Democratic Party Congressional candidate Larry Kissell who held a campaign rally at a gas station in Biscoe, NC on August 3rd to remind voters that the price of gasoline was $1.22/gallon when the GOP incumbent in his district took office. Ever since then, the price of gas has been dropping nationwide.
  

  With third quarter oil industry profit statements due out just before the upcoming elections, it’s pretty easy to assume that the Gouging Oil Party boys in the backroom figured that something had to be done, even if (for the oil companies) it meant taking a bit of a hit on the bottom line for a few months. Ergo, gasoline prices have dropped by nearly 30% in the space of a couple of weeks, even as BP’s shutdown of their Alaskan pipeline continues, and middle east tensions continue apace, and (strangely) the cost of a barrel of crude has dropped by maybe 10%. The good news is that, based on my own water cooler conversation, even the most hard core neocons in our midst understand the play.

  So, the next time you fill up your tank and you don’t have to sign over a second mortgage on house to do it, remember that Democratic Party congressional candidate Larry Kissell from NC-8, is more responsible for the drop in prices than anyone else on the planet. Here’s an idea on how to thank Larry: take $10 of that gas savings, and drop it in Larry’s campaign bucket.

• Gas Prices a Republican Dirty Trick — Becky @ Preemptive Karma takes a different look at how the Republicans are using their Big Oil friends to lower gas prices before the 2006 election.

More

Tags: gas prices, oil industry, privacy, CIA, CIA Interrogation Program, George W. Bush, Article 3, Geneva Convention, Congress, John Warner, Colin Powell, Jack Vessey, Lindsay Graham, John McCain, POW, torture, detainees, terrorism, White House, politics, anthrax, 9/11, phobic nation, J. Edgar Hoover, FBI, Martin Luther King Jr., Iraq, International Red Cross, Maher Arar, Canada, Syria, JFK Airport

comments See also in Politics & Causes, In the News, Geekery, Blogging & Other Blogs, The World, 9-11 & Terrorism, Iraq & Afghanistan, The Middle East

What’s Good Enough For The President Isn’t Good Enough For Us Common Citizens

The Boston Globe reports that the technology to detect liquid explosives is already available and, in fact, the White House and the Supreme Court are already using such equipment known as SmartCheck, a low-intensity X-ray scanner made by AS&E that “can spot a bottle of organic compounds in a passenger’s pocket.” That’s pretty impressive actually considering all the people who end up on airplanes with all sorts of things they aren’t supposed to. However,

The TSA has not outfitted airports with the devices, in part, because officials have to prioritize where they spend limited dollars, according to Frank Cilluffo, former special assistant to President Bush for homeland security and now director of George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute.

Meanwhile, while Bush and his staff were sure of their safety, this year the Bush administration was secretly seeking permission from Congress to divert $6 million that was supposed to be spent developing new homeland explosives detection technology — technology that would protect the rest of America from those terrorists President Bush is always warning us to be afraid of.

What I really don’t understand is why we aren’t focusing on the technology we do have and distributing it to the airports we have where terrorists might think to try sneaking bombs and weapons and liquid and non-liquid explosives in. I mean SmartCheck has been around since some time in the 1990s. Just think about if something like that had been in place on September 11, 2001.

The Transportation Security Administration, the federal agency in charge of airport security, is testing products from American Science and Engineering Inc. of Billerica; Ahura Corp. of Wilmington; and General Dielectric Inc. of Acton.

AS&E’s SmartCheck system uses low-powered X-rays to scan passengers for hidden items like bottles of liquid, while Ahura and General Dielectric use lasers or microwaves respectively, to identify the contents of a sealed bottle. The TSA is also testing seven other devices made by companies in the United States, the United Kingdom , and Japan. But TSA spokeswoman Amy Kudwa says that none are ready to be deployed because of reliability and feasibility issues.

But after this month’s foiled terrorist plot to smuggle liquid explosives aboard jumbo jets, the government may not have the luxury to wait. Charles Slepian , founder of the Foreseeable Risk Analysis Center, a transportation security firm in New York, said that technology for detecting explosives in carry-on bags is well understood and readily available, but the US Department of Homeland Security is reluctant to spend the large sums needed to deploy it at hundreds of airports.

So, which is it? Is the equipment unreliable? Or does it have to do with how much money they’d have to spend? Let’s think about it.

It’s reliable enough to use at The White House. They wouldn’t risk the President’s life, would they?

So it must be all that money they’d have to spend. That’s money they could use funding the war in Iraq. After all, it’s hard to fund things when you keep insisting on cutting back on taxes. You can’t pay for the important things like protecting the country if you don’t have any money coming in.

Tags: George W. Bush, politics, terrorism, Homeland Security, Boston Globe, airport security, AS&E, SmartCheck, TSA

The Middle East Crisis: The Biggest Loser

So, Monday and Tuesday was filled with news of various world leaders patting each other on the back as to who won in the latest Middle East Crisis, this Israel/Hezbollah Conflict.

“We are today before a strategic, historic victory, without exaggeration,” Hezbollah’s leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, said in a televised speech that was met with celebratory gunfire in the Shia suburbs of Beirut.

“We emerged from the battle with our heads high, and our enemy is the one who is defeated.”

In an impassioned address to the Knesset, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said “the IDF warriors always had the upper hand,” and promised to hunt down Hezbollah’s leaders. [“Israel, Hezbollah claim victory” (globalandmail.com)]
“Hezbollah attacked Israel, Hezbollah started the crisis, and Hezbollah suffered a defeat in this crisis,” Bush said. [“U.S. ‘freedom agenda; big winner in Lebanon War, Bush says” (Canada.com)]

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed Hezbollah had emerged the winner in Lebanon and called the battles with Israel “God’s promise”. [“Iran president hails Hezbollah victory” (Ireland Online)

The President of Syria said today that the map of the Middle East had been redrawn by Hezbollah’s “victory” in its five-week war with Israel.

In a rare public speech, Bashir al-Assad said that the once invincible Israeli army had been humiliated and that the Jewish state would do well to seek peace and hand back occupied Arab land - or risk more defeats if it tried to pursue “terrorist policies” in the future.[“Syria declares victory in Lebanon conflict” (TimesOnline.co.uk)]

Probably the silliest thing to come out of Israel’s mini-war with Hezbollah in Lebanon is the posturing over who “won.”

Nobody won.[“No ‘winner’ in the conflict, but Palestinians are losers” (PensacolaNewsJournal.com)

This morning NPR was interviewing a family of Israelis returning to their homes for the first time since last Friday after it had been hit by a Hezbollah rocket. The father/husband/man of the house said what I think none of the news, military and government analysts get — except maybe The Pensacola News Journal — when asked about who he thought won the war, he basically said, “No one wins wars, there are only losers and losers.”

In the end, I wonder if governments and world leaders and terrorists and ideological fanatic folks and such stopped to ask those of us who are just trying to get through our lives every day if we would be interested in going to war and killing and destroying, I wonder how many of us would really be interested in the whole idea.

The king of Zor, he called for war
And the king of Zam, he answered.
They fashioned their weapons one upon one
Ton upon ton, they called for war at the rise of the sun.
Out went the call to one and to all
That echoed and rolled like the thunder.
Trumpets and drums, roar upon roar
More upon more.
Rolling the call of Come now to war.
Throughout the night they fashioned their might
With right on the side of the mighty.
They puzzled their minds plan upon plan
Man upon man
And at dying of dawn the great war began.
They met on the battlefield banner in hand.
They looked out across the vacant land.
And they counted the missing, one upon one,
None upon none.
The war it was over before it begun.
Two little kings playing a game.
They gave a war and nobody came.
And nobody came.
And nobody came.
And nobody came.
And nobody came.
[repeat and fade]
There is no pause:
The king of Zor, he called for war
And the king of Zam, he answered.
They fashioned their weapons one upon one
Ton upon ton, they called for war at the rise of the sun.
Out went the call to one and to all
That echoed and rolled like the thunder.
Trumpets and drums, roar upon roar
More upon more.
Rolling the call of Come now to war.
Throughout the night they fashioned their might
With right on the side of the mighty.
They puzzled their minds plan upon plan
Man upon man
And at dying of dawn the great war began.
They met on the battlefield banner in hand.
They looked out across the vacant land.
And they counted the missing, one upon one,
None upon none.
The war it was over before it begun.
Two little kings playing a game.
They gave a war and nobody came.
And nobody came.
And nobody came.
And nobody came.
And nobody came.
[”Zor and Zam”, The Monkees, 1968, The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees]

Tags: Israel, Lebanon, NPR, Hezbollah, The Monkees, Ehud Olmert, IDF, Hassan Nasrallah, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran, George W. Bush, Syria, Bashir al-Assad, Middle East, politics

comments See also in Politics & Causes, In the News, Books, Music, Movies, & T.V., Geekery, The World, Featured, The Middle East

Even The Scoobies Could See Through Bush’s Bullying On This Terror Timing Thing

I guess I’m starting to feel like enough time has passed and enough information is starting to come out that I feel I can voice my opinion on this whole “terror in the skies” thing with some confidence.

First of all, I’d like to state that I’m so relieved that my friends and I are all back in the States or back in England where we belong from our wedding-related and Summer International travels. What a nightmare if any of us had been caught up in any of this, particularly those of us with OCD-type issue and those of us who run a little hot-headed.

Second, I’d like to express empathy to anyone who has been caught in the nightmare of having to travel on airlines in Britain and the U.S. or in or out of the two in the last four days. You have my sympathy. I’ve got a very vivid picture of what you’ve been experiencing propped up in my brain and I certainly feel your pain.

That said…O.K. I’m extremely cynical. I felt that the timing seemed really odd and that the new surprise restrictions for airlines on both sides of the pond were way overboard and ludicrous. I mean, c’mon…they were forcing people to pour out their drinks in common open trashcans because they might be explosive and some airports may be donating the confiscated potential explosives to the homeless or airport security employees or might sell them on eBay, which kind of suggests that those things really weren’t all that potentially explosive to begin with — which makes you wonder why big show of national guard and army guys and extra airport security forcing American and British citizens to give up their personal belongs in such a humiliating and bullied manner?

And really those were just minor clues that maybe Thelma and Daphne might have picked up on. Heck Scooby and Shaggy might have even got those.

The fact that the plan itself was a rerun of another terrorist plot that already hadn’t worked once before — Project Bojinka. In fact, part of the reason it hadn’t come off before is because it got too big…too many people involve, which appears to be part of the problem with this one.

And I’m not saying there wasn’t a terrorist plot. I believe there was. I just don’t think it was an imminent as everyone made it out to be last Thursday in the news.

And it’s starting to look like I was right according to NBC news.

LONDON - NBC News has learned that U.S. and British authorities had a significant disagreement over when to move in on the suspects in the alleged plot to bring down trans-Atlantic airliners bound for the United States.

British officials knowledgeable about the case said British police were planning to continue to run surveillance for at least another week to try to obtain more evidence, while American officials pressured them to arrest the suspects sooner. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the case.

Interesting how last Thursday and Friday officials were implying that the reason that they raised the alerts was because the terrorists were going to strike any day. They got everyone riled up on both sides of the pond, did some fear-mongering, etc. And yet…

In contrast to previous reports, one senior British official suggested an attack was not imminent, saying the suspects had not yet purchased any airline tickets. In fact, some did not even have passports.

Gosh, it took me like six weeks just to get my passport. How long does it take in England? I’m thinking it takes at least a little time, more than a few days, probably longer than the definition of “imminent”, you think?

So why the hurry, I wonder.

The sources did say, however, that police believe one U.K.-based suspect was ready to conduct a “dry run.” British authorities had wanted to let him go forward with part of the plan, but the Americans balked.

One? One little terrorist wanted to do a “dry run”. They couldn’t follow one terrorist? With no liquid explosives at that. I mean, I assume that’s what “dry” means.

At the White House, a top aide to President Bush denied the account.

Somehow I’m not surprised.

“There was unprecedented cooperation and coordination between the U.S., the U.K. and Pakistani officials throughout the case,” said Frances Townsend, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, “and we worked together to protect our citizens from harm while ensuring that we gathered as much info as possible to bring the plotters to justice. There was no disagreement between U.S. and U.K. officials.”

Another U.S. official, however, acknowledges there was disagreement over timing. Analysts say that in recent years, American security officials have become edgier than the British in such cases because of missed opportunities leading up to 9/11.

Aside from the timing issue, there was excellent cooperation between the British and the Americans, officials told NBC News.

One senior British official said the Americans also argued over the timing of the arrest of suspected ringleader Rashid Rauf in Pakistan, warning that if he was not taken into custody immediately, the United States would “render” him or pressure the Pakistani government to arrest him.

British security was concerned that Rauf be taken into custody “in circumstances where there was due process,” according to the official, so that he could be tried in British courts. Ultimately, this official says, Rauf was arrested over the objections of the British.

So…the U.S. threatened that if Britain didn’t do things our way, the U.S. would just run amok anyway and ruin the whole investigation by kidnapping the ringleader and making sure he couldn’t be prosecuted at all in a proper court of law. Aren’t we just the bullies? If we can’t have it our way, we’ll just ruin it for everyone.

As an interesting side note, PW sent an email saying, “The airports are a complete mess over here and everyone’s pissed off because Blair is on vacation and isn’t coming back; how are things over there?”

To which I replied, “Well, the airports are pretty much a complete mess over here and everyone’s pretty much pissed off because Bush is on vacation and isn’t coming back; so pretty much the same.”

Source: U.S., U.K. at odds over timing of arrests (emphasis mine)

Recommended Reading:

• Is the Bush Administration Manipulating “Terror!!!” Again?
• Explosive Report: Bush Administration Rushed British Terror Arrests
• “Imminent”

Tags: terrorism, UK, politics, liquid explosives, Scooby Doo, Project Bojinka, NBC, International flights

Recommended Reading — Hurricane Katrina Edition

• Photographer for ‘Times-Pic’ Arrested As He Begs Cops to Kill Him — @ Editor&Publisher
  

  NEW YORK A photographer for the Times-Picayune of New Orleans who has undergone severe personal trauma since Hurricana Katrina hit was arrested Tuesday after trying to get police to shoot him to death. Police said he claimed he was depressed after he found out he didn’t have enough insurance money to rebuild his Katrina-damaged home.
  
  They said he was seeking “suicide-by-cop,” but police who found him tasered him instead.

• Formaldehyde in FEMA travel trailers making people sick — Michael Hampton @ Homeland Stupidity
  

  Some travel trailers issued to victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita last year by the Federal Emergency Management Agency are emitting potentially dangerous levels of formaldehyde, an industrial chemical used in their manufacture which some residents say is making them sick.

  In Mississippi alone, FEMA has received 46 complaints from people who say they have been affected by symptoms of formaldehyde exposure, including eye, nose, and throat irritation, nausea and breathing difficulties. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, formaldehyde has been found to cause cancer in rats and may cause cancer in humans.

• What was that about Republican successes? — Pam Spalding @ Pandagon
  

  R. Neal at Facing South points to matters that we cannot let Republicans try to walk away from as they attempt to talk about this administration and this Congress’s “accomplishments.”

  How feeble and tragic is this — nearly a year after Katrina, the situation with temporary housing is still a flipping mess.

  It has been 11 months since Hurricane Katrina hit and Janice Tambrella still does not have a home. She doesn’t even have a trailer of her own.

  Tambrella is currently jammed in with 10 other relatives in a single trailer delivered to a luckier relative. Sleeping on the floor, living out of cars surrounded by overgrown grass and storm-felled trees, she sighs, “I need a place to stay.”

  Nearly 1,200 St. Bernard Parish families are still waiting to get into trailers that sit locked on their home sites but need utilities or other services; another 400 families waiting for trailers have none at all, FEMA said.

  BTW, 10,000 FEMA trailers are rotting away in the Arkansas mud (your wallet is $1 billion lighter for that travesty), and even worse, Dear Leader’s government has unused, undeployed trailers sitting right there in Louisiana.

Tags: Hurricane Katrina, politics, Times-Picayune, FEMA, Republicans

Recommended Reading - 08/01/06

• An Epidemic of Hatred — Shakespeare’s Sister has written an excellent must-read piece on the lack of media attention on the war against homosexuality in America.
  

  Consider for a moment the stories you see on the nightly news. Try to recall the scare stories that are built up around two children nationwide getting injured by a faulty toy, or three people nationwide having died from side effects of a medication, or ten people in your city having been attacked by pit bulls over the last twenty years. “A rash of incidents.” “An epidemic.” “What can we do?” “What you need to know to protect yourself.”

  Consider that after two women died after taking RU-486 (after it has been dispensed over half a million times), two anti-choice Senators jumped to propose legislation that would suspend the use of the drug.

  Consider that as the Senate passed legislation to federally criminalize the evasion of parental notification laws, the Republican Senator who wrote the legislation justified it by saying, “If it is happening 20 times a year, it is still worth doing to protect those parental rights and to protect those children from being in these kinds of situations.”

  Consider that the flag-burning amendment was deemed a necessity, though only something like five flags have burned in decades.

  Consider that the Pledge Protection Act was deemed a necessity, on the possibility that someone might bring a legal challenge based on the phrase “Under God.”

  Consider that one of the primary rationales among opponents of marriage equality is that it must be prevented lest preposterous hypotheticals about men wanting to marry dogs come to fruition.

  How little it takes to whip up the media into an exploitative frenzy, all in the name of “protecting” us. How little it takes to move our Congress to pay attention to an issue and pass legislation to “protect” us. (Which is, of course, ever an excuse to limit our rights, but they nonetheless claim it’s about “protection.”) One or two incidents, or, sometimes, just an imaginary scenario of what might happen. That’s all it takes.

  But in the course of two months, there have been at least six vicious attacks on the LGBT community, and the media is silent. And Congress, well, they were pushing for an amendment to deny equal rights to same-sex couples. Their focus was “protecting the sanctity of marriage.” They’re more concerned with protecting an institution, an abstract concept, than protecting people.

  When churches throughout the South were being burned, it was national news. When a hate crime at Seattle’s Jewish Federation claimed the life of someone the other day, it was national news. And it should have been, in both cases. But an epidemic of hatred against the LGBT community in this country is not garnering the same attention—even as Congress pursues discriminatory legislation and courts are ruling against challengers to marriage inequality.

  Think there’s a correlation?

  The anti-gay hysteria that’s leading to an epidemic of hate crimes against the LGBT community is constantly being inflamed by the GOP’s use of gay rights as a wedge issue, their use of anti-gay rhetoric, their exploitation of anti-gay sentiment. And even with people being attacked and their homes being burned, the Dems can’t be arsed to take a bloody principled stand. And the media doesn’t care. They’ve finally got a real epidemic on their hands and it’s utter silence.

  Read the whole thing…

  And then do something about it.

  Write your Congress members and your local media and tell them to pay attention to this Epidemic of Hatred against the LGBT community. Donate to LGBT advocacy groups. Straight people, register your support with Atticus Circle and PFLAG. And keep talking about this. Blog this issue. Tell anyone who will listen and get them involved.

  Hatred flourishes in silence. Let’s make some noise.

• Israel, anti-Semitism, and the experience of being a lapsed Secular Jew in America — Jill @ Brilliant at Breakfast brings us her unique viewpoints from a lapsed American Jew on Israel, Lebanon, Mel Gibson and recent remarks by Ron @ Middle Earth Journal.
  

  These are tough times to be on the left side of the fence with even a marginally Jewish identification. Sometimes the left is as knee-jerk in its “Israelis are butchers” generalizations as the right is in its “everything Israel does is justified” attitude. I’m disgusted at the nearly 60-year-long battle on the part of the Arab world to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. Right now I feel like a parent with two squabbling kids in the back seat of the car. I don’t give a shit who started it. I just want it to stop. As Bill Cosby once said about HIS kids, I don’t want justice, I want quiet. Deal with it and find a way to live with it. It’s not that the Arab world is so fond of the Palestinians

  I’m equally appalled at the Israelis thinking they can prevent another Holocaust by behaving like Nazis. I’m doubly appalled because these are supposed to be arguably “my people.” These are the people who are really the public face of worldwide Jewry.

  There is plenty of blame to go around here. I don’t think we need to choose up sides.

  I understand that opposition to Israel doesn’t necessarily mean hatred of all Jews.
  So why does it FEEL as though it does? Why, even when I agree with the anti-Israel blog rant, does my stomach knot up?

• Wise Old Toddlers. — Michael Reynolds @ Donklephant wrote this excellent piece which perfectly describes the state of the government as I’ve come to understand it. It’s made my head hurt. I’ve felt as if my brain was seeping out of my ears over the last few years but this piece is exactly the way I’ve pictured it.
  

  Toddler: We always said it would be bloody.

  Adult: No, you said it would be a cakewalk.

  Toddler: Everyone knew there would be difficult patches.

  Adult: The Iraqi police are militia death squads, refugees are fleeing the killing that takes place right under our noses, the Iraqi army keeps ’standing up’ and yet we’re sending more guys, our army is overstretched, our own intel admit that Iraq is the new jihadist training ground and that it’s been a boon to terrorist recruiting, the Syrians are less afraid of us and the Iranians are laughing as they process fissile materials right next door.

  Toddler: Yes, of course, exactly what we always said would happen. And a good thing, too.

  Adult: Oh, and it’s cost us hundreds of billions.

  Toddler: Yes, just as we said: it’s paying for itself. Why, it’s working out marvelously. Just you don’t lose heart. You’ll see.

• We’re Afraid! Please Spy On Us More! — Becky @ Preemptive Karma writes about Fox News “scaremongering” efforts to assist the Bush Administration to easily scare American citizens into giving up their freedom not to be spied upon by thier government. Fox News went so far as to suggest that an American city would be nuked by Hezbollah (remember al-Qaeda?).
  

Tags: Israel, Lebanon, Mel Gibson, Bill Cosby, Palestinians, Jew, Arab, Nazis, Iraq, George W. Bush, politics, Fox News, Hezbollah, al-Qaeda

Bush Administration Submits Police State Legislation

Well, holy crap. This is exactly what I’ve been talking about. This is what I’ve said was coming. And don’t give me that crap about “if you’re innocent, you have nothing to fear”. This is the kind of legislation meant to be abused. This legislation is not what America is supposed to be about. This is the kind of thing that leads to people disappearing from their homes in the middle of the night and no one hearing from them again because of something they accidently said on their cell phone or typed in their email.

Holy crap.

WASHINGTON –U.S. citizens suspected of terror ties might be detained indefinitely and barred from access to civilian courts under legislation proposed by the Bush administration, say legal experts reviewing an early version of the bill.

A 32-page draft measure is intended to authorize the Pentagon’s tribunal system, established shortly after the 2001 terrorist attacks to detain and prosecute detainees captured in the war on terror. The tribunal system was thrown out last month by the Supreme Court.

Administration officials, who declined to comment on the draft, said the proposal was still under discussion and no final decisions had been made.

Senior officials are expected to discuss a final proposal before the Senate Armed Services Committee next Wednesday.

According to the draft, the military would be allowed to detain all “enemy combatants” until hostilities cease. The bill defines enemy combatants as anyone “engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners who has committed an act that violates the law of war and this statute.”

Legal experts said Friday that such language is dangerously broad and could authorize the military to detain indefinitely U.S. citizens who had only tenuous ties to terror networks like al Qaeda.

“That’s the big question … the definition of who can be detained,” said Martin Lederman, a law professor at Georgetown University who posted a copy of the bill to a Web blog.

Scott L. Silliman, a retired Air Force Judge Advocate, said the broad definition of enemy combatants is alarming because a U.S. citizen loosely suspected of terror ties would lose access to a civilian court — and all the rights that come with it. Administration officials have said they want to establish a secret court to try enemy combatants that factor in realities of the battlefield and would protect classified information.

The administration’s proposal, as considered at one point during discussions, would toss out several legal rights common in civilian and military courts, including barring hearsay evidence, guaranteeing “speedy trials” and granting a defendant access to evidence. The proposal also would allow defendants to be barred from their own trial and likely allow the submission of coerced testimony.

Senior Republican lawmakers have said they were briefed on the general discussions and have some concerns but are awaiting a final proposal before commenting on specifics.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England are expected to discuss the proposal in an open hearing next Wednesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Military lawyers also are scheduled to testify Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The legislation is the administration’s response to a June 29 Supreme Court decision, which concluded the Pentagon could not prosecute military detainees using secret tribunals established soon after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The court ruled the tribunals were not authorized by law and violated treaty obligations under the Geneva Conventions, which established many international laws for warfare.

The landmark court decision countered long-held assertions by the Bush administration that the president did not need permission from Congress to prosecute “enemy combatants” captured in the war on terror and that al Qaeda members were not subject to Geneva Convention protections because of their unconventional status.

“In a time of ongoing armed conflict, it is neither practicable nor appropriate for enemy combatants like al Qaeda terrorists to be tried like American citizens in federal courts or courts-martial,” the proposal states.

The draft proposal contends that an existing law — passed by the Senate last year after exhaustive negotiations between the White House and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. — that bans cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment should “fully satisfy” the nation’s obligations under the Geneva Conventions.

Sen. John W. Warner, R-Va., chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said Friday he expects to take up the detainee legislation in September. [“Bush submits new terror detainee bill”(boston.com)]

So…didn’t like how the Supreme Court ruled so, Bush and his Administration is trying to find a way around it. If they can’t hold non-citizens hostage, they’ll hold American’s hostage. What do you think they’ve been building those detention centers for? This is what you call a move to a Police State.

I mean, they already claim that “if you aren’t for them, you’re against them.” The next step would be to put those who speak out in prison. All you have to do is disagree. Protest the war. You’re gone. Attend a rally an anti-oil rally; you’re gone. Say something about how little testing the government does for Mad Cow or Bird Flu and you’ve disappeared. Vote Democratic and your house is empty. Have an abortion…Come out of the closet…Know the wrong secret…Have the wrong opinion…

Recommended Reading: The Bush Administration Draft Hamdan Response Bill

Tags: detention centers, Police State, politics, George W. Bush, Alberto Gonzales

Thoughts Of A Soldier’s Mother

Georgia Stillwell is a member of Military Families Speak Out and the mother of a soldier serving in Iraq. She’s active in organizations working for peace and to bring her son and our military home from Iraq.

Below is are her amazing thoughts as presented on Stories in America: (emphasis mine)

Distracted, damn right I am!

When I returned home from my trip to Washington DC. Where I met with various Senators, Representatives and the Speaker of the House as part of Military Families Speak Out Operation House Call, I received a notice of pending termination of my employment on Aug. 31st. It seems I have been distracted.

My priorities in life have changed since the war began. It has become my passion, my mission to be part of the frontline of peace.

How can I not be? On a personal level my son is still suffering from his participation in this war. He has killed men, women and children. Yes let us not pretend that our soldiers are not killing innocents. My son lives with it everyday. “We thought the little boy had a bomb.” My son weeps as he sits in the bottom of the shower and I recently found out he is experiencing combat flashbacks. No wonder my son drove his car over an embankment. No wonder he feels there is nothing left of his spirit at 22. Alive but dead inside.

On a global level…I deeply feel the pain of others. I listen to Gold Star Mothers cry and beg God to bring back their child just one more time. I relate to the Mother’s whose soldiers cam back and killed themselves. I still wonder when I am going to get that phone call. I hear the similarities of stories like my son’s. I think about the wives whose husbands return and vent their frustrations on them. I work in human services and have started to see the Iraq vet’s here. They are in so much pain, bleeding all over the place with invisible blood. And then there are the Iraqi people. Forgive us! My heart breaks again.

Most nights I don’t sleep well. I keep thinking is there more I can do? We do not have another second, not another child to spare! My job has become so unimportant. And I can’t stop being distracted.

I have been to DC twice this year already. Telling my story, telling other’s stories. “Bring them home now, Take care of them when they get here and never put our loved ones in harms way again for a lie.”

I remember looking in Dennis Hastert’s blue eyes and thinking about PFC. Steven Sirko’s blue eyes that will never open again. The Congressman comparing Iraq to a football game and me touching his arm and saying “Congressman our children don’t die in football games.” “We don’t have another child to give you.”

Begging Senator Obama help us. “We are looking to you for great things.” Save our children.

I can not express in words the urgency I feel. So I may lose my job. I may lose my home. I may not eat on a regular basis. Since I started on this mission of peace I have been evicted (some landlords don’t like when you post the number of dead) I have had an IRS audit. I have had people look at me with so much hate at times it was unnerving. So What? There our people dying as I write this and another Mother cries.

I am driven; my spirit will not let me rest. I will still stay in the frontlines. I will engage in acts of civil disobedience if necessary, I will not let a politician say they can not see me. And I will always be of peace. I have hugged the recruiter in my town and we have shed tears together. I have hugged the Speaker of the house. I must always show that I am of true peace. I shake the hand or hug every soldier I see. And the soldiers that have made it home, if I come into contact with them I tell them if they ever need help I am here. If there is a soldier who wants out , I will find you refuge.

Martin Luther King Jr. said “There comes a time when silence is betrayal.” I have embraced that thought 100%. I do not pretend to have political savvy or be well versed on foreign affairs. I am just the mother of a soldier.

I beseech the people of America step out of your comfort zones; get out of those easy chairs. Pour out into the streets and demand an end to this war. Many of us are out here in the frontlines are waiting, wondering “Where is America?” Our children are dying, again.

Georgia Stillwell

Member of Military Families Speak Out

Tags: American soldiers, Iraq, Military Families Speak Out, Georgia Stillwell, Gold Star Mothers, politics

Recommended Reading — 07/26/06

• The Godless West — The (liberal)Girl Next Door has a post about the religious breakdown of the U.S. based on a map that appeared in USA Today. It’s kind of a surprise actually.
  

  It’s interesting to see the geographical differences, Lutherans in the North, Baptists in the South, Catholics in the Northeast and a bunch of non-religious folks out West. What I found most interesting though is that no-religion places in the top three in just about every state while Evangelicals, if they rank at all, top out at 2%. How is it that such a small minority has so much influence on our government?

• It’s Official, We’re All Living in A Kafka Novel — The All Spin Zone points to an article that originally appeared on The Denver Channel about how Air Marshalls have quotas to make and they’ve been adding people to watch lists for doing things like taking photos on airplanes. You can also read about it at Pam’s House Blend. More

  Tags: politics, Air Marshals, religion, American Bar Association, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon

  comments See also in Politics & Causes, In the News, Geekery, Blogging & Other Blogs, The World, The Middle East

Congressional Raises & Minimum Wage

If you make the Federal minimum wage, you earn $5.15 an hour — officially raised last in 1998. Working 40 hours (if your employer allows that) a week 52 weeks a year with no vacation, no holidays, and no sick days, you would earn $10, 712. (If you work those max number of days, that’s 260 days a year.)

Congress works less than 250 days over every two year period called “a session”. They are in Washington D.C. less than 3 days a week and are facing record lows in approval ratings. Yet, this week, for the seventh year in a row, lawmakers embraced a %2 “cost of living” raise that bringing their salaries to $168,500.

More

Tags: Congress, minimum wage, politics

My Politics

So, I took one of those survey things that pigeonholes you and gives you something to paste on your website…

Tags: politics

Vote None Of The Above

Over the weekend my mom and I got on the subject of politics. That doesn’t really happen often. Usually if I’m going to chat politics with anyone it’s my dad. It’s not that I don’t think my mom knows anything about politics, it’s just that I think she tends to be more of a follower and less of a thinker. She’s definitely a liberal but she’s more of a follow-the-leader liberal though she doesn’t know it. She scoffed at my grandmother’s follow-the-leader Republicanism but she does tend to say “Well your father thinks…” more than she should where politics are concerned, which is why I prefer to go straight to the source.

Anyway, it’s really not her politics I want to talk about anyway (thought that sort of “follow-the-leader” mentality is a big pet peeve of mine). I want to talk about my politics or at least my point-of-view this year.

At first, at the beginning of the year, I was thinking that this would be a good year to back a third party. In fact, it may still be; I just don’t know if enough dissatisfied Dems and Reps could be convinced to jump their parties ships to do the same. It’s easier to get Independents like myself to vote for third party candidates because we don’t feel party loyalty or guilt and we don’t feel our hands drawn to check off the party candidate on the Diebold machine or the paper ballot. We haven’t been to any of the secret brainwashing meetings where we sold our souls and signed in blood or promised our first borns or anything. So, if we choose to vote Green Party this year, we can do so and walk away relatively unscathed.

I still think that now is the time to think about a third party. I think the days of the Republicans and the Democrats controlling the government have got to end. Obviously they’ve become complacent and they are feeding each other the power rather than doing their jobs — you know, their jobs, right? We elected them to take care of us, protect us, govern us, ensure our safety, provide for us, etc. Mostly they seem to bicker and struggle and fight for power and ignore the people who need help.

However, I think that the general public isn’t ready to consider a third party yet. At least not seriously. That’s the impression I’ve gotten the last few months.

So…where does that leave me? How am I going to vote in November? Well, it turns out that Olympia Snowe is up for re-election. She’s a republican and I was thinking of voting for her actually. I have enjoyed our letter exchanges and she and Susan Collins have been big supporters of the environment and the Katrina victims. However, Snowe has voted the party line consistantly even on issues where she claimed she did not want to vote for the issue — she always followed up in an interview stating that she “held her nose while doing it.” This is inappropriate. If you don’t thing you should vote for something, you don’t vote for it. This is exactly what has been wrong with the Bush Republican Congress.

Also, I made a decision the day the Patriot Act was renewed. I truly and honestly believe that anyone in Congress who voted to renew the Patriot Act should not be re-elected to Congress — that includes Democrats, especially John Kerry. I have begun my own personal campaign to remove the Patriot Act renewers from Congress. I could almost forgive them for voting for it in the first place because of how the Bush Administration manipulated the situation originally, but the renewal was completely different and most of them, like John Kerry, had spoken out against it. They can no longer be trusted to look out for the best interests of American citizens.

My mom thought this was very practical of me…of course she thought my father might agree with me.

Anyway, while I was thinking this over, I couldn’t help but remember the movie Brewster’s Millions with Richard Pryor, where he has to spend a fortune in 30 days to inherit so much more. One of the ways he does this is by running for office in New York, when he starts winning, he drops out and instead starts running the campaign encouraging everyone to vote “None of the Above”.

What would happen if this November 2nd we all spoke out and voted “None of the Above”? Would they get the message that we’re tired of all the crap? We want them to stop playing games and start running the government. We want them to stop thinking just about themselves and their bank accounts and start thinking about our growing lower and middle classes and the number of starving children right here in the United States. We want the to actually keep their campaign promises.

Tags: vote, Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, politics, Green Party, Patriot Act

Homeland Stupidity & Republican Evil

Homeland Stupidity has been expanding since, well, the real Homeland stupidity has been growing. The blog has added two new writers to it’s mix; Mark Jaquith’s first post is up today and he admits that he voted for the Republicans “as the lesser of the two evils” much the same way, I suppose, that I tend to vote for the Democrats. What I appreciatied about his article is that he has the actual intelligence to point out that there is in fact a difference between what the Republicans claim to be (on paper) and what they have actually been doing, something I think that most of the country seems to be missing big time.

Here’s an exerpt:

The reason I can no longer vote for Republicans as the lesser of two evils is that I’ve begun to seriously doubt that they are the lesser of two evils.

I’ve come to see that Republicans are two-faced. On paper, Republicans are easily more favorable than Democrats to a libertarian-minded person such as myself. On paper, they support lower taxes, less socialism, limited government, a rigid interpretation of the Constitution, property rights, parental rights and gun rights. In practice, they do little to permanently relieve the tax burden, they support wealth redistribution in a variety of forms, they’ve bloated the government to an unprecedented degree, they’ve made a mockery of Amendments One, Four, Six, Eight and Ten, they’ve been slow and inadequate in their response to the Supreme Court’s eminent domain decision. That leaves parental rights and gun rights. So if all you want to do is to teach your kid that God created the world in seven 24-hour periods or shoot empty beer cans for fun, the Republican Party has your back. Otherwise, it’s time to wake up and realize you’ve been duped.

It’s largely the Republicans [who] have vamped up the Drug War, and who have regretfully expanded it even into doctor’s offices, where drug warriors now decide what courses of treatment are and aren’t acceptable. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez [sic] recently stated that under his watch, eradicating pornography will be a priority on par with fighting terrorism. And several members of Congress are now pushing to expand FCC regulation to include cable TV, satellite radio, and perhaps even the Internet, all in an effort to protect Americans from bad words and dirty pictures. — FOX News

Not only do they abandon their principles and encroach upon American freedoms, Republicans have also shown themselves to be active members of the culture of political corruption.

One of the things I like about Homeland Stupidity, even if I don’t always agree with the slant, is that there’s always a link to support the facts.

Tags: blogs, politics, Republicans

Quote of the Day: On Free Speech

In a nation where free speech is the last line of defense against absolute power, they don’t want you to know, because the more you know, the worse they look.

– Rep. Jim McDermott, “The Big Chill” (Huffington Post)

I highly recommend reading Representative McDermott’s whole blog post too.

Tags: Quote of the Day, Jim McDermott, Freedom of Speech, politics

Quote Of The Day: On Politicians & Money

“Asking politicians to give up a source of money is like asking Dracula to forsake blood.”
– Cal Thomas

Tags: Quote of the Day, politics

Ohio’s Doing It Again

Well, I’m absolutely fascinated by the fact that the Main Stream Media do