And Now For Something Incredibly Frightening

c/o The Department of Homeland Conspiracy

Contingencies for nuclear terrorist attack

Government working up plan to prevent chaos in wake of bombing of major city

As concerns grow that terrorists might attack a major American city with a nuclear bomb, (why the concerns? Is there something you're not telling us) a high-level group of government and military officials has been quietly preparing an emergency survival program that would include the building of bomb shelters, steps to prevent panicked evacuations and the possible suspension (ending) of some (all) civil liberties.

Many experts say the likelihood of al Qaeda or some other terrorist group (Bush & his Dick) producing a working nuclear weapon with illicitly obtained weapons-grade fuel is not large, but such a strike would be far more lethal, frightening and disruptive than the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. (The attack "they" didn't stop) Not only could the numbers killed and wounded be far higher, but the explosion could, experts say, ignite widespread fires, shut down most transportation, halt much economic activity and cause a possible disintegration of government order. (Oh no "we"can't have that)

The efforts to prepare a detailed blueprint for survival (who's Survival? the governments?) took a step forward last month when senior government and military officials and other experts, organized by a joint Stanford-Harvard program called the Preventive Defense Project, met behind closed doors (why the the closed doors? what do "they have to hide?) in Washington for a day-long workshop.

The session, called "The Day After," was premised on the idea that efforts focusing on preventing such a strike were no longer enough, and that the prospect of a collapse of government order ("they" seem obsessed with keeping ORDER) was so great if there were an attack that the country needed to begin preparing an emergency program.

Please read the rest of the post here.

Faith-Based Decisions

The Supreme Court seems to be making a lot of decisions based on faith and very few based on justice lately. One of the most recent involves giving millions of tax dollars to faith-based charities with the justification that taxpayers do not have the "standing" to challenge the White House. What the HELL does that mean? We don't have the "standing"? Aren't we the ones who pay their salary? Aren't we the ones who elect them? And we don't have the political standing to sway their decisions or forced them to make moral and ethical ones.

But to show I'm not biased, I agree with the Supreme Court's ruling on the "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" case. Though I think the student has a right to free speech, and the school shouldn't be able to do anything if he's talking, say, in the cafeteria, about doing bong hits for Jesus, to put it in writing at a school-sponsored event is a violation of school policy and he should have been punished. Parents have the right to expect that their children won't be exposed to advertisements seemingly promoting drug or alcohol use (though I believe profanity should be allowed).

3,566 US Soldiers killed in Iraq
26,129 US Soldiers wounded in Iraq

Don't Go Breakin' My Heart...

The City of Brotherly Love is not feeling very lovely lately. Gun violence is at an all-time high, and children are becoming afraid to leave their homes. Last year 406 people were murdered in our fair city, more than in most countries. But it's not just Philadelphia. Violence has been spiking nationwide. Many people believe this is due to the ease with which people are able to aquire guns, but I have a feeling this is actually speaking to the overal emotions of the country.

People are angry and armed. They have few prospects. Poor people already feel like they have been abandoned. Look what happened with Hurricane Katrina. A lot of the youth in the inner cities feel that the only way they can get a job is to go into the military. Of those that do, they don't leave their gang affiliations behind. The military has openly stated that they don't have an issue with gang members joining the military. So when these kids get out, they are now trained soldiers. Former military personelle with gang affiliations have been known to set up ambushes for rival gangs and police officers.

In sort-of unrelated news: Master P has started his own lable with a 100% clean policy. He will not sign artists who say "nigger", degrade women, or talk about sex, drugs, or violence in their music. An artist who is not so pure: when opening for a Gwen Stefani concert in Trinidad, Akon (a Sengalese "artist") called a 15 year-old girl on stage, held her down, spead her legs, and simulated sex.

Disney - Gays Are OK

Though Disney has never actively discriminated against homosexual visitors, they have made their policy even more inclusive by changing the requirement that those participating in their Fairy Tale Wedding program have a legal marriage licence. Of course, this probably has more to do with revenue than common decency, but for a major US company to publicly admit that there is a large enough population of homosexuals for them to make a profit from could be the beginning of some actual social change. Most of this country revolves around money, after all, and once it becomes okay to exploit the gay population, it also becomes okay to BE homosexual. The military HAS actively discriminated and continues to do so.

3,268 US soldiers have died in Iraq
24,476 US soldiers have been wounded in the us

12,000 more National Guard soldiers (if they're in Iraq, who will guard the nation?) are being sent to Iraq in addition to the 21,000 "Troop Surge" that President Bush said would stabilize Iraq. Tell me again how this ISN'T just like Vietnam.

General Hospital Tackles Medical Marijuana

I've been glad to see General Hospital taking on more serious subjects. Since I've been watching (about 15+ years), their main topic has been HIV/AIDS, but recently a main character has been diagnosed wit lung cancer (even though she's NEVER smoked cigars or cigarettes) and she's been having a bit of trouble with all of the chemicals being put into her body. The chemo makes her incredibly sick, and in order to keep up appearances for her young daughters and to be able to function on a semi-normal level, she took to smoking marijuana (suggested to her by a friend). Though her ex-husband is using this as a ploy to take away her youngest daughter, the rest of the cast has been extremely supportive of this decision, telling her that cancer is a horrible disease, the treatment is as bad or worse, and anything she can do to make herself feel better is fine by them.

You can bet that medical marijuana is going to be an issue, however small, in the upcoming Presidential election, and if it isn't, the press and the politicians are just being negligent. Marijuana is not a completely harmless herb, but the adverse effects are well within the requirements specified by the FDA for anything Americans put into their bodies, and it's effects are far less than that of alcohol or smoking cigarettes.

Marijuana is especially helpful for pain in those with certain cancers, especially that of they eyes, and other painful conditions with limited treatment options such as Fibromyalgia (which my sister suffers from after 4 open-heart surgeries, 1 spinal surgery, 1 shunt, and several hearth catherizations, all due to being born with Tetrallogy of Fallot, better known as Blue Baby Syndrome), Multiple Sclerosis (which Montel Williams and my friend and mentor Annie suffers from), chronic back pain, and MANY other conditions.

Eleven states (AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ME, NV, OR, RI, VT and WA) allow medical marijuana for the treatment of various illnesses or side-effects associated with major illnesses, and many others are debating it. Whatever your opinion, please educate yourself on the benefits AND the risks, then form your own opinion. You owe it to those who are suffering daily and deeply.

Other Americans who are suffering daily and deeply include:
3,129 US Soldiers killed in Iraq
23,530 US Soldiers wounded in Iraq

Just Not the Gays

The military has lowered its standards again to try to boost recruitment and I worry about the kinds of people fresh-out-of-high-school recruits might be serving next to, especially when the military is giving guns to people with a past including criminal misconduct such as making terrorist threats (to allow the Army to cash in on the Michigan Militia crowd). The enlistment age has been raised to 40, we're giving out a lot of medical wavers, and a past of drug abuse (to cash in on the stoner crowd) and alcohol addiction is no longer a problem (so our soldiers might not be the most fit). High school drop-outs are being accepted (so much for the smart-soldier argument). We're allowing all of these people to enlist in the military even though they have some serious problems that could put themselves and the soldiers they serve with in danger. But if you're gay, you'd better keep it quiet or you're going to be discharged.

And you guys are telling me that homosexuals are thought of and treated as equals? The message being sent here is that they are worse than criminals, alcohol abusers, and athsmatics. We should be ashamed.

Goodbye Betty, Not-So-Crocker

Today I mourn the loss of a woman who was a source of many discussions at my Women's College. Betty Friedan's book, "The Feminine Mystique", inspired the Women's Movement in the United States and encouraged women to fight for such controversial rights as equal pay, maternity leave, and abortion. Betty Friedan helped women begin to think outside the box and realize that our worth lies in much more than our ability to get married and have children. It is difficult to grasp the immensity of what Friedan and other prominent women have done for me, especially for men who have always had the rights my gender had to fight for. My meditation for today will focus on the struggles of women in our country as well as the extreme difficulties facing women around the world. For more information on how you can help women, visit the bipartisan National Council of Women's Organizations.

STOP ADAPTING! (after this post)

Start calling a spade a spade. If someone lies, call them a liar. If they steal, call them a thief. Either way, don't call them a President. Forget shielding people's feelings from the harsh reality of life. We're all adults here. We need to stop softening terms to make them sound nice. If someone is wrong, don't just say you disagree. Tell them they are wrong. Say, "You have the right to believe what you want, but you are WRONG!" Facts are not merely opinions. That's why they call them FACTS. Leading to my next point...

Don't be afraid to let it get ugly. We're not playing a game here. This is the only life you get. Don't you want to live it in the best conditions possible? Then why do you allow these conditions to be compromised by every politician that comes along? This is your country. This is your life. Don't let someone else control such a large portion of it. You're going to have to argue, debate, and maybe even endure some things you're uncomfortable with, but imagine the pay-off. You can't just hope things will get better. You have to make it happen. If not you, then who?

Be aggressive. Pick one issue and stick to it. Talk about other issues if you want, but decide what is most important and defend it. Talk to everyone about it. For some reason Americans have stopped discussing politics. We don't talk about it with friends or family. We discuss it with strangers because there's no risk. We don't have to deal with the consequences of offending anyone. Politics is not religion. You're not trying change someone's entire belief system, you're only trying to educate them on one issue. You are giving them information they didn't have before to illustrate a point. You are not trying to convince them that an invisible man controls the universe. You are not crazy. You are passionately defending FACTS.

Don't get distracted. Now that you've chosen an issue, don't get sucked into arguments about others. Relate them back to your issue because that's what you're most knowledgeable about. If you can't, opt out of the discussion. You're smart, but you don't know everything. You lose credibility when you aren't 100% sure of what you're saying. Trust me, anyone in opposition will attack you, and they'll try to catch you off-guard. If they get off-track, bring them back around. Control the terms of the debate.

Buy carefully. Do your homework and don't buy from companies who support things you disagree with. If you don't like the bovine growth hormone, only eat Ben & Jerry's. If you think Mormons are stupid, don't shop at Albertson's or Acme. If you have a conscience, stay away from Halliburton and diamonds. Trade-in the SUV for a hybrid. Better yet, get a bio-diesel car and invest in vegetable oil. If you can afford it, buy organic. It's better for you.

Run for office. You don't have to be the President of the United States if you can make a difference by being the President of the School Board. Thee are hundreds of local positions just begging for educated people to run for them. You don't need a law degree, though it always helps to study it a little. Make a difference in your community by running for a position in the area of your pet issue. Don't run for Head Dog Catcher if you would be of better use on the School Board, City Council, or Chamber of Commerce.

Tell people what you care about. Get into the practice of checking facts, especially when it comes to politicians and the media. If you find discrepancies, write them down and record the facts. Write a letter to the person who was at fault. Send the letter to local, state, and federal politicians, local newspapers, friends, family members, and anyone else you think should know. Invest in stamps.

Network with friends. Talk to people who are like-minded. You won' regret it. If you haven't heard, we can learn things from each other. That's why discussion and debate is so important. When you talk to someone who is on the same page, you learn new ways to defend your position. Benefit from the experience of others. Organize into a group and build a bigger network.

Be visible. Make T-shirts and do things together in support of your issue. Don't forget to call the media. Sponsor sports teams. Hold fundraisers. Get involved in local campaigns. Recruit small-business owners and publish a list of your issue-friendly services. Support people who support you. Recruit lawyers and hold protests. Recruit teachers and hold seminars. Get people from all walks of life and make sure they're actively involved. No one gets to throw money at the organization and stand idly by. Adopt a do-something-or-get-out-of-my-way attitude and stick to it. Demand that those around you be active participants in their communities.

Same-Sex America

We watched a heart-wrenching documentary last night about same-sex couples and their fight for civil liberties in Massachusetts. I was impressed with the filmmaker and how well he illustrated the inequalities between same-sex and heterosexual couples. What really got to us was that if a same sex couple wants to adopt a child, both names cannot be on the adoption certificate. This means that if the adopting parent dies, that child will be put in foster care rather than remain in the care of the living parent. Also, same-sex couples are not eligible for any of the benefits afforded to heterosexual couples. This indicates a clear bias against same-sex couples, and a definite violation of their civil liberties. There is no way around it, and nothing is going to convince me otherwise. As for the infidelity argument, one of the couples begging for their right to get married were together for 49 years. The others featured in the documentary had all been together for 10 years or more. It broke my heart to watch my fellow Americans fighting so hard for rights that many of us take for granted, and failing again and again.

Men and Women

Gender roles have been changing steadily over the course of the last 100 years, and I think we may have done a little more harm than good. Women, in their struggle for equal rights, have missed certain essential truths about raising a family, and men, without realizing what harm it would do, decided that with both parents working there would be more money to take care of the family, which in America, is all you need, right? Everything that a family needs can be bought and paid for, house-cleaning services, nannies, day care, schools, and sports coaching. What cannot be replaced is the constant presence of a parent. Part of that comes from our economy. It's barely possible to raise a family when both parents are working, let alone only one. Part of it comes from our refusal to demand he right to spend time with our families. It's done well in nearly every industrialized country but ours. Many of our social problems come from the absence of parents in a child's life. Does this mean women should give back their rights? HELL, NO! They need to demand more equal partnerships, with men actually picking up half of the work, especially now that many women are making at least half of a family's money. And we all need to spend more time with our children, regardless of money or gender.

Standing Alone

There are a thousand things wrong with the Patriot Act. Being patted down by complete strangers at airport security is one of them. Do we really live in a society that is so unsafe that we need to be felt-up in order to get on a plane? Even more importantly, when these kinds of things happen, why do we just "lube up and bend over" as some would say? I know that's a little crass, but this Law is an obscene violation of our Civil Rights and no one is saying a word. Why are we allowing this to happen? The President has been petitioning Congress to renew the Patriot Act. Why, in a country of free Americans, are we not protesting? There is no rally in the streets like there is in other countries when so many people disagree. Do we feel above all that? Are we pretending that we our leaders are more than human and do not need our guidance? Have we forgotten that our country is "for, of, and by the people"? WHERE ARE THE PEOPLE? Our complacency is going to kill us eventually, and most of us are just sitting back and watching it happen.

It is the fault of the average American that we have a corrupt and immobile government because we allow it to exist. We overlook the indiscretion of politicians. We expect our news media to be contextually accurate and non-biased. Many Americans feel they are not represented and they are not wrong, but without more involvement by average Americans we cannot expect a higher standard of government.

The Majority Rule system is not working but those in power see no reason to change it. They're paid well whether the system works or not. More and more people are choosing to ignore their government. This will allow the system to get worse until someone cries "REVOLUTION", and then we'll all be damned. Rules, both spoken and unspoken are being imposed on those who disagree with our government. The definition of freedom has been twisted and redefined by lesser men than our Forefathers had hoped.

We cannot give up control. More importantly, we cannot allow ourselves to become the tyranny we escaped when our Forefathers wrote the Declaration of independence. We must take a stand, any stand, and fight, before our countrymen start fleeing America for a place where they can remember their dreams.

The Slow Death of Dissent

Americans have this strange idea that the only people who are worth listening to are experts. More credence is given to doctors, lawyers, politicians, and news anchors. Year by year, the roots of our country have been covered over slowly. We forget that those involved in the War of independence were not all experts, they were just revolutionary. Normal, everyday Americans have created the Confederacy, the League of Women's voters, the Civil Rights Movement, and hundred of other campaigns to change America and help her grow.

A country's political identity is based on its philosophy, and ours is nearly indefinable. Our entire way of being is based on an ideal. We began as a nation of philosophers and from the Puritans who came seeking religious freedom to the immigrants who give up everything to be an American, one thing still remains - the dream. This has always been a land where those who were too conservative fell by the wayside and those who allowed themselves the freedom to dream prevailed.

While Democrats and Republicans compete over who is more patriotic, what Americans really need to know is who has stayed true to the dream, regardless of political party. Engaging in childish name-calling such as Ultra-Conservative and Left Wing Radical takes our focus away from the actual issue - without staying true to the dream, we cannot all get along. We have become a nation of extremists. Whether the subject is religion, politics, or chocolate, we all have a strong opinion, but we have forgotten about the facts.

It is the fault of the average American that we have a corrupt and immobile government because we allow it to exist. We overlook the indiscretion of politicians. We expect our news media to be contextually accurate and non-biased. Many Americans feel they are not represented and they are not wrong, but without more involvement by average Americans we cannot expect a higher standard of government. The Majority Rule system is not working but those in power see no reason to change it. They're paid well whether the system works or not.

More and more people are choosing to ignore their government. This will allow the system to get worse until someone cries "REVOLUTION", and then we'll all be damned. Rules, both spoken and unspoken are being imposed on those who disagree with our government. The definition of freedom has been twisted and redefined by lesser men than our Forefathers had hoped.

We cannot give up control. More importantly, we cannot allow ourselves to become the tyranny we escaped when our Forefathers wrote the Declaration of independence. We must take a stand, any stand, and fight, before our countrymen start fleeing America for a place where they can remember their dreams.