Saturday, January 22, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
"Truth is on the side of the oppressed."
Malcolm X
The two Bush presidents, (and you can take that as a double entendre), won't
go away. They're still greedy for more millions of dollars (from books,
speaking tours, media appearances) and they still believe the American people
are dumb enough to chalk them up as "good presidents" when they are dead
and gone.
Yesterday George H.W. Bush, and his other warmakers: Quayle, Cheney,
Powell, Baker, and Scowcroft met at Texas A & M University for a roundtable
discussion with NBC anchor Brian Williams, to "commemorate" the 20th
anniversary of the start of the first Bush war against Iraq.
The irony of the affair is that the U.S. started this first war against Iraq, and
whipped up a "coalition" of supporting countries around the world, because
Sadaam Hussein had "invaded" wealthy neighboring Kuwait by crossing into
their territory. The Senior Bush called the U.S. response, which left hundreds
of thousands of civilians dead, maimed, or homeless, and reeked
environmental destruction, a "moral war."
But here's the "kicker." The reason Bush gave for calling it a "moral war"
was that ...."It was the immorality of a big country -- with the fourth largest
army in the world -- taking over a member state of the U.N.; just brutally
taking it over."
Tell me now, Mr. Bush, couldn't we just delete one word from that
statement ... "fourth" ... and say that is exactly what YOUR SON did to
IRAQ twelve years later......
The two Bush presidents, (and you can take that as a double entendre), won't
go away. They're still greedy for more millions of dollars (from books,
speaking tours, media appearances) and they still believe the American people
are dumb enough to chalk them up as "good presidents" when they are dead
and gone.
Yesterday George H.W. Bush, and his other warmakers: Quayle, Cheney,
Powell, Baker, and Scowcroft met at Texas A & M University for a roundtable
discussion with NBC anchor Brian Williams, to "commemorate" the 20th
anniversary of the start of the first Bush war against Iraq.
The irony of the affair is that the U.S. started this first war against Iraq, and
whipped up a "coalition" of supporting countries around the world, because
Sadaam Hussein had "invaded" wealthy neighboring Kuwait by crossing into
their territory. The Senior Bush called the U.S. response, which left hundreds
of thousands of civilians dead, maimed, or homeless, and reeked
environmental destruction, a "moral war."
But here's the "kicker." The reason Bush gave for calling it a "moral war"
was that ...."It was the immorality of a big country -- with the fourth largest
army in the world -- taking over a member state of the U.N.; just brutally
taking it over."
Tell me now, Mr. Bush, couldn't we just delete one word from that
statement ... "fourth" ... and say that is exactly what YOUR SON did to
IRAQ twelve years later......
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
I must admit that I was perturbed when I read an email from Human Rights First yesterday...
It said that I should urge President Obama to speak out to Chinese President
Hu Jintao about China's "poor human rights record" and "censorship" of the
internet during the U.S. - China Summit that began in Washington D.C.
yesterday.
I was perturbed not because China is an "angel" in the areas of human rights
and censorship (the most notable concern being the imprisonment of Nobel
Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo), but because the United States is what I call,
"the world's greatest hypocrisy," constantly doing the very things that it
whines about countries doing whose governments it would like to have
overthrown or collapse, and constantly portraying itself as "the good guy"
while those others are "bad guys."
It didn't help that I had just read ongoing news and new stories that
confirmed the above.
So, here's what I wrote back to Human Rights First:
"I held off on sending the below reply to this email until after this important
meeting day was over. However, I decided it was still important that you
read my reply of concern, and I would appreciate any response that you
have:
I think you had better first worry about the U.S.'s "poor human rights record"
and its "censorship" of the internet and violation of freedom of speech, print,
assembly, and freedom from warrantless search and seizure, etc. etc..
Didn't you hear how Cheney is boasting about how Obama has come around
to see that his and Bush's tactics had justification (i.e. "indefinite detention,"
that is permanent imprisonment; "harsh imprisonment & interrogation," that
is torture; "pre-emptive strikes," that is invading countries whose
governments we want to overthrow, etc. etc. Haven't you been following the
Wikileaks censorship and the threats of death or imprisonment of anyone
involved with leaks and the censorship of all materials connected with it and
the threats to any who would try to expose U.S. Gov't wrongdoing?
Finally, just before I read your email, I had read two stories that should cause
YOU to speak out:
1- The teenager tortured in Kuwait last week with CIA involvement, and then
further abused by FBI interrogators. He is an American citizen.
2- The 33 y.o. scholar held and tortured in the U.S.'s Guantanamo Bay
hellhole for 6 and half years, NEVER charged or given an explanation, before
being sent back to Pakistan ... now waking up screaming every night as he
re-lives this horror. Obama not only lied about closing this illegal facility,
but has now approved "indefinite" (i.e. permanent) imprisonments there and
elsewhere in the American gulags.
I will hope for your reply."
Wouldn't it be nice to see Presidents Obama and Hu sit down with each other
and say, "Hey, we can only help our people and the world by admitting to
each other and them that we have some destructive policies that need to be
changed. We have been wrong (here) (here) and (here) ... and here's what
we need to do to make our governments work FOR people and not
AGAINST them."
... One can only dream ....
Hu Jintao about China's "poor human rights record" and "censorship" of the
internet during the U.S. - China Summit that began in Washington D.C.
yesterday.
I was perturbed not because China is an "angel" in the areas of human rights
and censorship (the most notable concern being the imprisonment of Nobel
Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo), but because the United States is what I call,
"the world's greatest hypocrisy," constantly doing the very things that it
whines about countries doing whose governments it would like to have
overthrown or collapse, and constantly portraying itself as "the good guy"
while those others are "bad guys."
It didn't help that I had just read ongoing news and new stories that
confirmed the above.
So, here's what I wrote back to Human Rights First:
"I held off on sending the below reply to this email until after this important
meeting day was over. However, I decided it was still important that you
read my reply of concern, and I would appreciate any response that you
have:
I think you had better first worry about the U.S.'s "poor human rights record"
and its "censorship" of the internet and violation of freedom of speech, print,
assembly, and freedom from warrantless search and seizure, etc. etc..
Didn't you hear how Cheney is boasting about how Obama has come around
to see that his and Bush's tactics had justification (i.e. "indefinite detention,"
that is permanent imprisonment; "harsh imprisonment & interrogation," that
is torture; "pre-emptive strikes," that is invading countries whose
governments we want to overthrow, etc. etc. Haven't you been following the
Wikileaks censorship and the threats of death or imprisonment of anyone
involved with leaks and the censorship of all materials connected with it and
the threats to any who would try to expose U.S. Gov't wrongdoing?
Finally, just before I read your email, I had read two stories that should cause
YOU to speak out:
1- The teenager tortured in Kuwait last week with CIA involvement, and then
further abused by FBI interrogators. He is an American citizen.
2- The 33 y.o. scholar held and tortured in the U.S.'s Guantanamo Bay
hellhole for 6 and half years, NEVER charged or given an explanation, before
being sent back to Pakistan ... now waking up screaming every night as he
re-lives this horror. Obama not only lied about closing this illegal facility,
but has now approved "indefinite" (i.e. permanent) imprisonments there and
elsewhere in the American gulags.
I will hope for your reply."
Wouldn't it be nice to see Presidents Obama and Hu sit down with each other
and say, "Hey, we can only help our people and the world by admitting to
each other and them that we have some destructive policies that need to be
changed. We have been wrong (here) (here) and (here) ... and here's what
we need to do to make our governments work FOR people and not
AGAINST them."
... One can only dream ....
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
"Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
How often have we been told that America is the land of "rugged
individualism?" American capitalism through the media bombards
us day by day with the idea that we have to satisfy all our individual
needs and wants with the thousands of products put in our faces to
buy. Life is often trivialized by the American TV shows and movies,
and even "news," leading us to believe that "it's all about us," what
things we have, what things we do, and what things we like and want.
I believe there is a deliberate intention to keep people "in their own
little bubble," so to speak, to keep them self-centered and content
with the accumulation of things. It keeps them from paying close
attention to the injustices committed by the government - corporate
machine and its manipulation of the comfortable and oppression of
the poor.
We celebrate a holiday for Dr. King today, but do we hear his
words that "whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly?"
Are we reminded that there are millions of Americans suffering
today from a lack of basic necessities while our Government
has given billions of dollars to bailout powerful corporations
and subsidize the millions of the millionaries? Are we reminded
that our Government is spending trillions of dollars on wars and
interventions in poor countries, with thousands of resulting
deaths while much of their populations care only about getting
enough food and drinking water for the day? And are we
reminded that our Government is spending billions of dollars to
keep the wealthy and powerful more "secure" in their "homeland"
while spreading fear and harassment to working class people
who just "scrape by" with enough to live on every day, with over
50 million who still don't have health insurance "security?"
How often have we been told that America is the land of "rugged
individualism?" American capitalism through the media bombards
us day by day with the idea that we have to satisfy all our individual
needs and wants with the thousands of products put in our faces to
buy. Life is often trivialized by the American TV shows and movies,
and even "news," leading us to believe that "it's all about us," what
things we have, what things we do, and what things we like and want.
I believe there is a deliberate intention to keep people "in their own
little bubble," so to speak, to keep them self-centered and content
with the accumulation of things. It keeps them from paying close
attention to the injustices committed by the government - corporate
machine and its manipulation of the comfortable and oppression of
the poor.
We celebrate a holiday for Dr. King today, but do we hear his
words that "whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly?"
Are we reminded that there are millions of Americans suffering
today from a lack of basic necessities while our Government
has given billions of dollars to bailout powerful corporations
and subsidize the millions of the millionaries? Are we reminded
that our Government is spending trillions of dollars on wars and
interventions in poor countries, with thousands of resulting
deaths while much of their populations care only about getting
enough food and drinking water for the day? And are we
reminded that our Government is spending billions of dollars to
keep the wealthy and powerful more "secure" in their "homeland"
while spreading fear and harassment to working class people
who just "scrape by" with enough to live on every day, with over
50 million who still don't have health insurance "security?"
Sunday, January 16, 2011
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