Say, "Please".

I mentioned Jeff Key's documentary, Semper Fi, a few days ago. Jeff said that he saw a Marine talking to an Iraqi child, who was very hungry. The Marine had a Starburst in his hand and the child was begging for it. The Marine, rather than handing it over with a smile, since he not only had food, but CANDY, forced the child to say, "please".

Please? Are you kidding me? This is what we're teaching our soldiers in Values Training (not one Marine stepped in to stop it, and many laughed at the story when it was later retold)? We're getting rid of soldiers who have incredible loyalty to our country and amazing compassion for the people they were told attacked us for no other reason than their sexual preference, and yet we choose to allow these barbarians who are capable of unwarranted hatred towards the innocent to serve in our Armed Forces and represent our country.

We are not the cause of Islamofascism, but we are most certainly not the cure, not when Marines are requiring the contrition of hungry children before offering them a small piece of candy. It is stories like this (and there are a thousand of them) that reduce my pride in being an American, and even more, my pride in those who serve my country.

Philadelphia Folk Festival

Last year I wrote about attending my first Philadelphia Folk Festival in years. Last year I was incredibly huge and couldn't volunteer, but we'll be pulling our weight this year. It's 3 days (this year, August 17th to the 19th) of music and harmony (in every sense of the word) and I would say that it can be an almost religious experience. For 3 days a year on a farm in Schwenksville, everyone gets together (some camp, some don't) to enjoy amazing music (this year's theme is Through the Looking Glass!!!) by mostly independent artists. There are plenty of things for families to do together, and there are even children's music performers!

Last year a lot of people wrote me and said, 'Why didn't you tell us a month beforehand so that we could plan to go?" So, here's your warning. If you'd like to go and you don't want to camp, we're about a mile from the site. Bring your bike and you can ride up there (warning: there are hills in PA).

Yeah... I Don't Think So

To look at the conflict in Iraq as anything other than a problem created by our arrogant government for their own profit is more than a little naive. President Bush and his friends created this war from a pack of lies, and and THAT is the basis for the anti-war movement, (well, that and the fact that we're stuck in an endless war that is being incredibly mismanaged) NOT that "we have brought the wrath of Islamofascism upon ourselves", though invading a sovereign nation in the middle of territory controlled by Islamofascists probably didn't help us any.

We did not have to invade a country that had NOTHING to do with us being attacked in order to protect ourselves as much as possible from Islamofascists. Screening Visa applicants a little more vigilantly, making sure our boarders are secure, slowly withdrawing our unconditional support for Israel, reducing our dependence on oil, and staying the hell out of their territory would have been a good start. And a better way to Support the Troops.

And one more reason for the Anti-War Movement:
3,607 US Soldiers have been killed in Iraq
26,588 US Soldiers have been wounded in Iraq

What is the reason we are expending the lives of those who have offered to give them so freely for their nation?

Anger and Politics

People who are merely agitated are more productive than people who are ANGRY (thanks Dr. Deb!), which might be one of the reasons there's an extreme lack of grassroots political movements in this country. The people who are inclined to enact political change are on average much too angry to be productive. I saw Blog Wars on the Sundance channel yesterday and watched what can happen in political campaigns with people power, and it made me wonder why we're not all involved in this. We should all be picking our favorite (or least favorite) candidate and posting as much information (positive AND negative) about them on our sites as possible. Even if it doesn't sway people to vote for our guy and finally, OUR GIRL (not a plug for the candidate, but the gender), it can start some interesting debate and keep us informed about the people we're supposed to be voting for (find out which candidate fits you best by visiting this site).

Here's what I'm proposing:
We start a new blog in which we post as often as possible about our political candidate and discuss what's happening in the campaigns. Information and analysis is what we're focusing on, but if people want to go to an appearance, ask the candidate questions, and post it on the blog, more power to them! I would really like to have Republican candidates represented as well. Maybe we should all choose an issue that's really important to us and analyze each candidate's position on it. What do you think? And what should we name it? Can we really afford NOT to do this?

By The President's Logic

I have a neighbor who had his croonies on the township board change the zoning laws to allow his bankrupt business to operate from his home, causing a HUGE industrial eyesore on the neighborhood. It wouldn't be that bad if he ever cleaned up his yard, got the rusting metal off the ground, or, at the very least, put up a fence, but he won't do any of that. We have a lot of kids in our neighborhood, and because it's adjacent to the property, I'm constantly telling the kids to stay away from there or they'll get hurt.

Our President went to war with an entire nation because he thought they might hurt us. Why can't we sue the neighbor because we think the kids might get hurt on his property? If they do, we can sue him for it being an attractive nuisance anyway, so why do we have to wait until someone gets hurt? Shouldn't we be able to force him to clean up his property (which will severely hurt the environment) and put a fence up (so that the kids can't get over there) just like the President was able to invade Iraq so that Saddam wouldn't be able to destroy his own country with nuclear weapons and hurt his own people?

Pills Instead of Pot

Because pills are easier to get in most American and Canadian communities than pot, our teenage population has turned to them as the drug of choice. Due to the government's misinformation campaign, many kids believe that prescription drugs are safer than marijuana. I wouldn't necessarily call pills "the new marijuana", especially since pills are addictive, they're easier to overdose on, they can cause serious and irreversible liver and kidney damage, and have a litany of side effects depending on the drug.

I think the more important question is this: why are our kids feeling the need to heavily medicate themselves? Why are we so heavily medicated as a society? If kids are abusing these drugs in record numbers, doesn't it stand to reason that adults are doing so as well (which probably contributes quite a bit to our health care crisis)? Is it possible that one of the reasons Americans aren't getting angry about what's happening to them is that they're taking Xanex, Valium, pain killers, and anti-depressants? It's hard to feel anything when you're that doped up.

Is there a pill for this?
3,593 US Soldiers killed in Iraq
26,558 US Soldiers wounded in Iraq

Semper Fi

Since one of the only benefits to being gay is not having to go to war, Jeff Key’s friends were stunned when he announced that he had joined the Marine Corps. But he was raised in a town where love of country came directly after love of God (since loyalty to country is demanded in the Bible), and he knew in his heart that his homosexuality had negated neither. Unfortunately, not everyone was of the same opinion. Jeff’s father and preacher truly believed that God no longer loved him. They prayed to their all-merciful God, not that HE would accept Jeff, but that Jeff would change and learn to love women, the same prayer that Jeff himself had sent up tot the Lord so many times.

But God wouldn't change poor Jeff. Maybe God didn't feel that Jeff was worth changing. Or maybe HE felt that Jeff didn't need to be changed, for Jeff had a higher purpose - to bring the hypocrisy of the church and the United States Armed Forces to the forefront and change things. Maybe God didn't believe that Jeff should have to worry about his rack mates finding out about his sexual preference and bashing his head in during the night.

Maybe God wants us to know that you don’t have to be Republican to love your country and you don’t have to be Baptist to love God. Maybe, just maybe, God Blesses Everyone. No Exceptions. And the people who believe THAT will be the ones who inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.

Bullets and shrapnel don't care if these people are gay:
3,587 US Soldiers have died in Iraq
26,350 US Soldiers have been wounded in Iraq

On the Eve of Our First Revolution

We don't feel much like celebrating. On the eve of our first revolution, we do not feel independent, not when our President can wiretap our phones and check our library records. We are in a country so currupt that a political movement is nothing but an empty gesture. I want so badly to believe in my country and those who have sworn to protect it. I am embarrassed that there are men and women fighting and DYING because they believe in the ideals of this country and we're letting it happen because we don't.

We're having a wake instead. We are mourning the passing of the presence of the American People in politics as well as the deaths of those men and women who died truly defending freedom. The 3,584 US Soldiers who died in Iraq have lost their lives for a lie, and the 26,350 US Soldiers wounded in the Iraq war will have to live with that for the rest of their lives.

To prove that you're worthy of this country, take part of the naturalization test. My husband and I both got a 100%.

You Tube Debates

This would be a great idea if there were no media filter, but at least CNN and YouTube are taking submissions from the "Average American" and putting them to the candidates. One of the things I would like to see as the Presidential race continues is the "Average American" talking about why they would vote for a certain candidate and debating people who want to vote for someone else. It could open up the potential for political discussion all over the country, especially if those engaging in debate have gained as much information about their candidate as possible. The possibilities for this medium of communication are endless, and I don't think we're making proper use of the technology. What CNN is doing is a start, but we could be doing MUCH better.

3,582 US Soldiers killed in Iraq
26,350 US Soldiers wounded in Iraq

No News, Part 2

I was watching the Colombian news this morning and it struck me - our news really isn't as relevant to us as Caracol is to its people. In addition to the sports, weather, and major news stories for the world and the country, they always impart some sort of cultural or societal information and go to the various regions of the country to get their take on whatever the subject happens to be. From watching the Colombian news for a few weeks I can learn about how to eat right, cultural food traditions from all over the country, what various regions feel their contribution to Colombian culture is, how language and dialect varies throughout the country, favorite vacation spots and how (and why) the preference for beach, mountain, or jungle resorts changes depending on their state of origin, and many other things (including history, science, technology, etc...).

In a country of 30 million people with a struggling economy that has been mired in civil war for over 50 years, journalists can bang out a spectacular 60 minute news program (with commercials) filled with relevant news from the country, the region, and the world, and report what's significant, regardless of where it's happening. In contrast, in a country of 300,000 million people with one of the strongest economies in the world, the news from America will be 30 minutes long, have possibly one ACTUAL story that MUST be relevant to Americans, will contain NO cultural or societal analysis, and will avoid (all all costs) any REAL questioning of the government or its politicians.

And CNN.com's new format has made this information MUCH more difficult to find:
3,576 US Soldiers killed in Iraq
26,350 US Soldiers wounded in Iraq

Gr8

I'm really surprised that more people haven't been writing about this, though I guess at this point the G8 Summit is an exercise in futility, at least where the US is concerned. These world leaders get together, and President Bush, with all of the intelligence of an eight year-old says, "I don't have to do what you say. Nanny, nanny, boo-boo." And the other world leaders do... NOTHING. No one, not even Merkle will put him in his place, nor will they explain to him that the US is not the only country in the world, nor is it the one with the largest population. At some point its citizens, or more likely the citizens of the world, are going to call the government on its bullshit, and THAT will NOT be pretty.

Immigration and Something REALLY Disturbing

A deal has been reached on the immigration issue, and it seems to include some of the components other countries are using. Mexican immigrants are not happy with the plan, but I'm not sure they would accept anything other than amnesty and immunity. I completely agree with the point system for immigrants. I know that the tired, the hungry, and the poor need a good place to live, but right now we have to look after ourselves or we won't be able to help anyone. I think that every illegal immigrant in the country should have to pay a $5,000 fine for each member of the household. Those who cannot must leave within 90 days. Those who can pay the fine must do so and apply for citizenship through the new point system. Those who have enough points may stay. Those who do not must leave within 90 days of their application being denied.

UPDATE: I did not see anything in the article referring to the people who hire and house illegal immigrants. I should mention that I 100% support a $5,000 fine for each illegal employee a company hires, as well as fining landlords $5,000 for each illegal immigrant living under their roof.

The Army has ordered soldiers to stop posting to blogs or sending personal emails without clearing them with an officer. There are three missing soldiers in Iraq, but we know where these ones are. When are we going to find out why they died?
3,401 US Soldiers killed in Iraq
25,378 US Soldiers wounded in Iraq

The Long Arm of the Law

An peaceful and legal immigration rally turned into a nightmare for many when police officers used clubs to hit people and fired rubber bullets into a crowd, hitting women, children, and journalists. Due to the controversy, 60 police officers have been taken off the streets. LA is lucky that Latino immigrants were a lot more peaceful than those who rioted after the Rodney King verdict, but it seems not much has changed in the police force since then.

In the area of Kansas torn apart by tornadoes, 4 uniformed soldiers from Fort Riley Army Base and a uniformed reserve police officer who had not been called to duty after the disaster were arrested for looting.

Governor Corzine of New Jersey is back to work today, only weeks after his driver, a State Police Officer, slammed the car into a guardrail at 91 miles an hour. The Governor would have been in better shape if he had been wearing a seat belt (as required by state law).

So, if we cant trust the local police, the state police, the soldiers who are supposed to defend us, state officials, and those running our federal government, who can we trust?

3,377 US troops killed in Iraq
25,090 US troops wounded in Iraq

What is Wrong With Us?

Recruiters admit that they promise things they can't deliver and several have been caught blatantly lying to high school students. Even some of our soldiers can't be trusted anymore, so if you speak to one and they make you a promise, GET IT IN WRITING. Of those who have already signed up, one third are highly stressed. Their soldiers' ethics are suffering. One third of Marines support torture if it would protect others and sixty percent would not turn in a fellow soldier if they killed innocent civilians. (Let's not even try to discuss the moral ethics of the Blackwater crowd, our nation's mercenary army.)

But the lies and lack of morality don't stop when our troops die. A parent of one of our soldiers is conducting a private autopsy to find out what really happened to their child. Was she raped by her fellow soldiers? What really happened the day Jessica Lynch was rescued, and why were we lied to about Pat Tillman's death? And let's not forget about Patrick McCaffrey! Doesn't our government trust us?

We are not a fragile country. This nation has been built by our own hands. Why are we allowing ourselves to be manipulated and deceived? Have we lost so much self-esteem as a nation that we don't believe that we deserve to know what's happening in the White House? Have we convinced ourselves that those in power MUST know better than we, the PEOPLE? Even those who disagree with Impeachment MUST know that there are serious problems with this President, this war, and this nation. The lack of response to those problems indicates something incredibly troubling deep within our collective conscience.

Even MORE troubling is that so few people seem to notice this:
3,361 US soldiers killed in Iraq
25,090 US soldiers wounded Iraq

Why We're Slow Learners

Change comes when a people are uncomfortable. Small changes have come throughout American history when business required it or a group of uncomfortable citizens demanded it. As a whole, Americans are not nearly uncomfortable enough for change to come anytime soon.

Reason Number One: The majority of our country has its physical needs met, though poorly. We have to work for them (some of us harder than others) but the majority of us are sheltered, fed, relatively healthy, and warm. Most people who are comfortable will maintain or increase their comfort by staying within their zone. Conversations about controversial subjects are uncomfortable, especially when pertaining to religion and politics. I don't know why. People whose needs are met to a lesser degree spend too much time working hard to "waste" their free time on politics, and need to believe that there is a better place than this one. Which brings us to:

Reason Number Two: Religion is enfeebling America. When people believe that they will get to heaven eventually, that everything happens for a reason, and that their mistakes (no matter how many times the same ones are made) will always be forgiven if they ask, they are less likely to focus on the problems that exist in the here and now. Or they believe that those problems will not matter so much (as suggested by our resident "logician") if we just accept Jesus. Those people who are religious and interested in politics tend to follow the party line or the Preacher's line. If it's all in god's hands, then it's not in their's, so why bother?

Just a reminder: Religion and Government are Intertwined - Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions. The current President makes mention of religion and religious issues more than others. Faith-Based initiatives are put in motion. The President interferes in legislation on the behalf of religious issues. Non-Christians grow weary of persecution and seek to remove religious symbols from government. Social issues and debate hinge on religious doctrine.

On May 14th, the Mother of a March in DC will be calling attention to the:
3,355 US Soldiers killed in Iraq
25,090 US Soldiers wounded in Iraq

National IMPEACHMENT Day

Today is National Impeachment Day. For those of you who disagree with the job President Bush has done and will continue to do, please call attention to the administrations impeachable offences today on your blog. If you can't do that, put up a sign in your front yard, in your window, on your car, or write it on your forehead. Here are just some of the reasons why President Bush and Vice President Cheney should be impeached:

President Bush pressured the EPA to clear the area around Ground Zero so that construction crews and first responders would get to work earlier.

The Bush Administration has consistently denied the existence of Global Warming until recently, and has taken no steps to improve the condition of the planet.

President Bush and his Administration completely mishandled everything involved with Hurricane Katrina, including the evacuation, the housing of survivors, and the clean-up effort.

President Bush introduced and The Patriot Act, which puts no limits on what the government can do to form a case, arrest, and detain a US Citizen without telling them what they're being accused of or allowing them access to a lawyer.

President Bush ordered the illegal wire-tapping of US Citizens.
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Presdident Bush allowed the torture of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghrab.

President Bush and his Administration initially lied to the American people about why we were going to war with Iraq, and has continued to lie about the purpose of the war, the management of the war, and what is happening to our soldiers.

And let's not forget:
3,334 US Soldiers have died in Iraq
24,912 US Soldiers have been wounded in Iraq

9/11: Toxic Legacy

Though 3,000 people were killed on 9/11, many are still dying from the effects the environment in and around the area of the World Trade Center has had on their lungs. The people who are truly most important to us as a nation, the men and women who sacrifice EVERYTHING to save us, are dying because the Bush Administration and the EPA said that it was safe to go back to work. Our fighter fighters and police officers who responded first and those men and women who were active in the clean-up (about 25,000 people) have lung problems beyond belief, some of them with so much debris in their bodies that they are almost at 0% lung capacity, and their health benefits are going to run out in 2009. Please contact your local, state, and federal representatives and tell them that the REAL heroes of 9/11 need our continued help and support, and that President Bush and Vice President Cheney should be impeached for their role in the cover-up.

And the continued victims of 9/11 could use a little help as well:
3,322 US Soldiers have been killed in Iraq
24,764 US Soldiers have been wounded in Iraq

300 - The Other Side?

The idea for this post is completely stolen from Dave Away From Home. He suggested that the movie could be seen as a triumph of reason and logic (Sparta) against Fundamentalism and the supernatural (Persia). It's an interesting point, especially if we add in that Leonidas was in the position of fighting the entire Persian army with a small force of 300 men because the priests in Sparta had been paid off to tell him that to go to war was against the will of the Gods. God, apparently, wasn't a huge fan of liberty. Both the Persians and the Greeks were slaves to their religion. The Greeks served old, outdated Oracles who were really just drug-induced playthings. The Persians served a man-god who believed he was immortal but was really only a man. Still, all involved believed that their god was the real god, the one who would allow them to triumph.

How is religion today any different? How is this war any different from that war? People blindly follow religious leaders without question, even when they build huge temples with a fast food place in the back and a Starbucks by the altar (didn't Jesus warn about that?). The Muslims follow their clerics into a war they could probably win due to sheer numbers, destroying everything and everyone they love in the process. The Christians follow their leader into a war they cannot win without reinforcements that will not come until the first wave has been slaughtered completely.

3,292 US soldiers killed in Iraq (the living ones have had their tours extended by 3 months)
24,645 US soldiers wounded in Iraq

300 - Entertainment or Propaganda?

My husband received movie tickets for his birthday and decided he wanted to see a movie that didn't come out until recently. We both have an interest in the ancient world, so I thought 300 might be interesting. What I found was a movie so mired in propaganda that the message was loud and clear. Support our troops, fight for freedom, or we all die! Here are just a few of the parallels I found:

Leonidas lead a small group of free troops against the vast minions of slaves serving Xerxes (who thought himself a god), just like the small number of troops we have in Iraq are fighting against untold numbers of insurgents faithful to Allah. The Greek troops have racial features closer to our own and the Persian troops looked, well, like Persians. The weapons of war were tried and true on the Greek side - the sword and spear (guns and knives), the phalanx (tanks), the shield (body armor) - while the Persian weapons were sneaky and strange - unusual animals (IED's), Immortals (suicide bombers), and fear. Finally, Spartan women are free to make their own decisions, as long as those decisions support the men in upholding and pursuing liberty, democracy, and freedom, unlike the Persian women who are slaves to their men and their god.

After leaving the theater I found myself asking a lot of questions. Why would Hollywood choose to tell this story now, especially when there were battles that were so much more spectacular? Is it because support for the Iraq war is beginning to fade? Since it was the Queen who ultimately convinced the Greeks to fight, and it is women who carry on social traditions, is Hollywood trying to convince women to be strong, to support our troops, or even to join the military? Who knows? Every war has propaganda. It seems this movie is part of ours.

3,280 US soldiers killed in Iraq
24,476 US soldiers wounded in Iraq

Burning Bushes in South America

For the past two weeks I have been watching the news from South America, so imagine my surprise when I read the CNN headline, "Bush trip may have started healing Latin American rift". I think they forgot to mention something, like the HUGE protests in EVERY city he visited. Mayan Priests in Guatemala felt the need to purify a sacred site he visited to rid it of bad spirits. In Uruguay there were anti-imperialist rallies. The Brazilians called our President an assassin, claiming that he was simply a representative for the multinational companies that want to control bio fuels. Mexicans protested Bush's visit, his immigration policies, and his war with Iraq. So the question becomes: what does a lame duck President do when his country doesn't need him and other countries don't want him? And why isn't he being impeached?

Let's not forget the damage he's caused in THIS country:
3,199 US soldiers killed in Iraq
24,042 US soldiers wounded in Iraq and returning to substandard housing and medical care

Way to Support Our Troops, Mr. President!
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