Memorial Day, 2005
the Guerrilla Campaign
We remember our military men and women who have been killed and wounded in our many wars. We also remember the countless peoples who have been killed and wounded by our actions.
Today, our young again face the same dilemma that many Americans my age faced during Vietnam. The choice is as stark now as it was then. Face jail, or exile, or a life on the run, or fight in an unjust, immoral war. These are all brave men and women, and nothing in their life has prepared them for this choice. Whichever decision they make is a profoundly life-altering experience.
Post-trauma disorders. Vietnam veterans faced a life after exposure to “Agent Orange” with all its attendant health problems. Today’s veterans face a life after exposure to the effects of our DU munitions with all of its consequences; a slow painful death, severe health disorders, birth defects in their children, and their children’s children.
Many of our Vietnam veterans are homeless. Many of our Iraq veterans are homeless. They all face the same veterans’ benefits cuts to pay for the president bush’s tax cuts for the rich.
The bush administration has asked for no sacrifice from his ‘base’. Many of our Iraq veterans are coming home with horrific injuries, and missing limbs, because, again, the president bush failed them by failing to provide for adequate protection, adequate planning, again to please his ‘base’.
To placate the voices in his alcohol and coke addled brain, he flung our military willy-nilly into an illegal and obscene war that he decided on before he even announced his candidacy for the Office of the President of the United States of America. Not the for defense of the country, not for the ‘liberation and freedom’ for the Iraqi people, not to spread ‘democracy’ throughout the Middle East. No, the president bush invaded Iraq because his voices told him to. Just as David Berkowitz listened to his neighbor’s dog, Sam. The bush depended on advice from his advisors who have never been in the military, in fact, couldn’t be bothered, because they had ‘other priorities’, and of course his ‘God’ voices.
The president bush has dishonored his office, his country, and the Constitution he swore to uphold. His Congressional, corporate, and religious allies also carry this blame and shame. Forever, and collectively, they have abandoned our children to a life of war and deprivation. They have lost any claim to any respect from history, the American people, and the world’s people.
For all of our military dead, the military men and women on active duty, and all our still living veterans, we salute you. And we hang our heads in sorrow that we allowed your lives to be thrown away so sensely, to be abandoned when you came home.
To the president bush, Fuck you.
Infantry, U.S Army, 1969-1971.
Monday, May 30, 2005
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
the barbara bush and other things
I’d like to comment a moment on C Wilson’s post Honoring Our Heroes by CJW. Specifically,
[…]
Or, perhaps Bush thinks all mommies are like his -- they don't want to be bothered with wasting their beautiful minds...
Usually, I don’t bother the spouses and families of political figures. But both the presidential bush women have inserted themselves into the political arena. So for me, they are fair game.
That quote got me to thinking about the barbara bush. The woman has no heart, and I wonder about her mental abilities. No matter how good a mother is, sometimes a kid will grow up to be sociopathic. But when at least three of your children, the boys, georgie, jeb, and neil, grow up to be sociopaths, I think one must look to the parents to find out why.
We already know georgie the elder was so out of touch by 1992, that he didn’t know what a supermarket scanner was. And we know that georgie the younger so addled his brain with alcohol and drugs, that he hears voices, and thinks it’s God talking to him. In Florida, little jebbie is still on his privatization binge, even though they’ve all been failures and a waste of the state’s money. Another boy who has trouble with reality. And then, there’s neilsy. You remember him. He ripped off the taxpayer for millions in the Silverado Savings & Loan debacle. I’ll just mention in passing his Thailand sex romps with 14 year old girls. If three of your kids turn out this way, one might say that both parents are just as dysfunctional.
The War for American Constitutional Democracy
A BUZZFLASH EDITORIAL
May 23, 2005
http://www.buzzflash.com/editorial/05/05/edi05049.html
[…]
For many years, the radical right has defined anyone who is secular or doesn't believe that a few self-appointed religious fanatics should control the government as enemies of the state. That is the message of Jerry Falwell, Pat Robinson, Ann Coulter, Michael Savage, Rick Santorum, Bill Frist, Tom DeLay, Karl Rove, Grover Norquist and their "colleagues."
George W. Bush is their front man, a guy who believes that God, instead of Opus Dei fanatic Antonin Scalia, appointed him president in 2000.
Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Condi Rice, John Bolton and their crew of "Dr. Strangelove" Neo-Con "Masters of the Universe" found that the flourishing of a profitable arms industry -- justified by a permanent state of war against anyone possessing a natural resource coveted by the U.S. who is "uncooperative" -- meshed seamlessly with the Armageddon vision of the "Rapture" theology crowd.
[…]
How many people has the US killed lately bringing “democracy” to Iraq? Or the Middle East, as the laura bush said yesterday?
My connection went down last night. Which worked for the best, I guess. It gave me a chance to change this post. I was going to talk about frist pulling the trigger today. Things have changed. 14 Senators, 7 from each party reached a compromise last night that avoids that.
Three of bush’s appointments (Brown, Owen, and Pryor) will be going to the Senate for a vote, and the filibuster option stays.
I’m not sure yet how I feel about this. A part of me wishes that the dems had stood eye to eye with the frist, and called his hand. I’m not that certain that the frist and the president bush would have been successful. I also think that the repugs are going to renege when it comes time for another appointment. The president bush has shown no inclination to compromise, and with the chief justice wheeling around town in a wheelchair, I don’t think it’ll be long before we see another weasel toad put up for appointment to the Supreme Court. It may have been better to go ahead and see where the chips fell. It reminds me of a line from a Leonard Cohen song, “learning to shoot at someone who outdrew you.” After the past 5 years, I don’t know why anyone would trust the republicans.
But, on to other things. Sheila Samples has an excellent article at the Dissident Voice.
John Bolton: The Wrong Man
by Sheila Samples
www.dissidentvoice.org
May 23, 2005
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/May05/Samples0523.htm
[…]
It's no secret that Bolton hates the United Nations, and he would much prefer continuing to run Foggy Bottom from behind the scenes by cuddling up to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as her second-in-command. It's also no secret that Rice wants Bolton out of town and out of her hair. She has spent the months since her own confirmation roaming the universe lecturing world leaders on democracy -- threatening those who have the audacity to think their "internal deliberations" are of sufficient merit to escape her steely gaze and ultimate judgment. In order to rid herself of Bolton, Rice cannot release documents that might derail his appointment. She brushed the document matter aside with a terse statement that amounted to admitting if the public finds out what she, George Bush, and goons like Bolton, his mentor Richard Perle, and his mentor Dick Cheney, have been up to behind the scenes of democracy -- it would have a "chilling effect."
[…]
Even though the Foreign Relations committee, voted the nomination out without recommendation, doesn’t mean it won’t pass. Putting bolton’s name up for nomination, the president bush insults both the American people, and the world’s peoples. And the whackos think Newsweek’s article is why the world hates us. These people have a dangerous agenda, and unfortunately, they don’t have a clue about reality. And their delusions have real life consequences for real people.
Besides the article, Sheila gives us a list of the Senators who are up for election in 2006. Those are the people to start putting the spotlight, and the pressure on. If you see your Senator on the list let him/her know you’ve got your eye on them. I already see a bunch that more than my eye is going to be on, if you know what I mean. Bill Frist (TN), Orrin Hatch (UT), Kay Hutchison (TX), Trent Lott (MS), Richard Lugar (IN), Rick Santorum (PA). All of them republicans by the way. Corrupt, craven, anti-American, the lot of them.
[…]
Or, perhaps Bush thinks all mommies are like his -- they don't want to be bothered with wasting their beautiful minds...
Usually, I don’t bother the spouses and families of political figures. But both the presidential bush women have inserted themselves into the political arena. So for me, they are fair game.
That quote got me to thinking about the barbara bush. The woman has no heart, and I wonder about her mental abilities. No matter how good a mother is, sometimes a kid will grow up to be sociopathic. But when at least three of your children, the boys, georgie, jeb, and neil, grow up to be sociopaths, I think one must look to the parents to find out why.
We already know georgie the elder was so out of touch by 1992, that he didn’t know what a supermarket scanner was. And we know that georgie the younger so addled his brain with alcohol and drugs, that he hears voices, and thinks it’s God talking to him. In Florida, little jebbie is still on his privatization binge, even though they’ve all been failures and a waste of the state’s money. Another boy who has trouble with reality. And then, there’s neilsy. You remember him. He ripped off the taxpayer for millions in the Silverado Savings & Loan debacle. I’ll just mention in passing his Thailand sex romps with 14 year old girls. If three of your kids turn out this way, one might say that both parents are just as dysfunctional.
The War for American Constitutional Democracy
A BUZZFLASH EDITORIAL
May 23, 2005
http://www.buzzflash.com/editorial/05/05/edi05049.html
[…]
For many years, the radical right has defined anyone who is secular or doesn't believe that a few self-appointed religious fanatics should control the government as enemies of the state. That is the message of Jerry Falwell, Pat Robinson, Ann Coulter, Michael Savage, Rick Santorum, Bill Frist, Tom DeLay, Karl Rove, Grover Norquist and their "colleagues."
George W. Bush is their front man, a guy who believes that God, instead of Opus Dei fanatic Antonin Scalia, appointed him president in 2000.
Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Condi Rice, John Bolton and their crew of "Dr. Strangelove" Neo-Con "Masters of the Universe" found that the flourishing of a profitable arms industry -- justified by a permanent state of war against anyone possessing a natural resource coveted by the U.S. who is "uncooperative" -- meshed seamlessly with the Armageddon vision of the "Rapture" theology crowd.
[…]
How many people has the US killed lately bringing “democracy” to Iraq? Or the Middle East, as the laura bush said yesterday?
My connection went down last night. Which worked for the best, I guess. It gave me a chance to change this post. I was going to talk about frist pulling the trigger today. Things have changed. 14 Senators, 7 from each party reached a compromise last night that avoids that.
Three of bush’s appointments (Brown, Owen, and Pryor) will be going to the Senate for a vote, and the filibuster option stays.
I’m not sure yet how I feel about this. A part of me wishes that the dems had stood eye to eye with the frist, and called his hand. I’m not that certain that the frist and the president bush would have been successful. I also think that the repugs are going to renege when it comes time for another appointment. The president bush has shown no inclination to compromise, and with the chief justice wheeling around town in a wheelchair, I don’t think it’ll be long before we see another weasel toad put up for appointment to the Supreme Court. It may have been better to go ahead and see where the chips fell. It reminds me of a line from a Leonard Cohen song, “learning to shoot at someone who outdrew you.” After the past 5 years, I don’t know why anyone would trust the republicans.
But, on to other things. Sheila Samples has an excellent article at the Dissident Voice.
John Bolton: The Wrong Man
by Sheila Samples
www.dissidentvoice.org
May 23, 2005
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/May05/Samples0523.htm
[…]
It's no secret that Bolton hates the United Nations, and he would much prefer continuing to run Foggy Bottom from behind the scenes by cuddling up to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as her second-in-command. It's also no secret that Rice wants Bolton out of town and out of her hair. She has spent the months since her own confirmation roaming the universe lecturing world leaders on democracy -- threatening those who have the audacity to think their "internal deliberations" are of sufficient merit to escape her steely gaze and ultimate judgment. In order to rid herself of Bolton, Rice cannot release documents that might derail his appointment. She brushed the document matter aside with a terse statement that amounted to admitting if the public finds out what she, George Bush, and goons like Bolton, his mentor Richard Perle, and his mentor Dick Cheney, have been up to behind the scenes of democracy -- it would have a "chilling effect."
[…]
Even though the Foreign Relations committee, voted the nomination out without recommendation, doesn’t mean it won’t pass. Putting bolton’s name up for nomination, the president bush insults both the American people, and the world’s peoples. And the whackos think Newsweek’s article is why the world hates us. These people have a dangerous agenda, and unfortunately, they don’t have a clue about reality. And their delusions have real life consequences for real people.
Besides the article, Sheila gives us a list of the Senators who are up for election in 2006. Those are the people to start putting the spotlight, and the pressure on. If you see your Senator on the list let him/her know you’ve got your eye on them. I already see a bunch that more than my eye is going to be on, if you know what I mean. Bill Frist (TN), Orrin Hatch (UT), Kay Hutchison (TX), Trent Lott (MS), Richard Lugar (IN), Rick Santorum (PA). All of them republicans by the way. Corrupt, craven, anti-American, the lot of them.
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Ignoring the Facts
It is recommended that you read The Climate of Man part III by Elizabeth Kolbert; published in The New Yorker May 9, 2005 as the final installment of a three part series. It is not available online yet but the following link will take you to an informative discussion with Kolbert and to parts I & II.
http://www.newyorker.com/online/content/?050425on_onlineonly01
Will our species--the only one capable of changing the global climate--be here in a hundred years? Will we be able to alter the way we have always done things in favor of the way we will have to do them in order to ensure the viability of our biosphere? We would like to think the answer is yes. That answer, however, is not a measure of our intelligence as a species, it is a measure of our fortitude and determination to act altruistically on behalf of our greater, communal self-interest. Scientists have been warning us for some twenty precious years that we are on the brink of disaster. The facts are irrefutable and our outlined in over 900 articles in respected scientific journals between the years 1993 and 2003. Of the 900 articles none refuted have the premise that we are witnessing atmospheric warming. Seventy five percent of the papers attributed the warming to emissions generated by human activity the other twenty-five percent were mute on the point. Scientists are not prone to activism do to their questioning nature and we can not look to the scientific community to ring the alarm bells very loudly but ring them they have--such agreement among scientists is unprecedented. Our leaders have heard the message--they are, after all, intelligent people--but they will not make the hard choices for us because they are motivated, in large measure, by the short-term interest of their own political careers. If a change in business as usual is to occur we will have to take individual action. We will have to drive less, support public transit, research and use alternative energy resources, reduce our waste, limit our population growth, hold corporations accountable for their waste, organize to prod our elected representatives to support us with legislation, and demand that the press cover the issue on a daily basis.
It would seem absurd that we should apply such effort to make our lives miserable in a traditional economic sense but if we consider that we are paying for our delay, providing for the future of our grandchildren and doing something of historic proportions it becomes more palatable.
Now that you know what my agenda is I will explain why I have joined the guerrilla campaign. The president bush is really a spokesperson for the Greening Earth Society, which stands in opposition to the scientific data on global warming and employs any tactic to influence public opinion that continued dependence on fossil fuel is good for the environment. He has encouraged business as usual at every opportunity by gutting the EPA and relaxing the enforcement of The Clean Air Act. He never even attempted to come up with an alternative to the Kyoto agreement unless you consider the clean skies initiative to be something other than a ruse. His second term is promising to be even worse for our environment. His administration has manipulated government-sponsored reports on climate change to come to conclusions he agrees with. Sound familiar?
Two things will measure the Bush administration: Its environmental record and its response to the tragedy of 9/11. If he had limited the response to the ousting of the Taliban, the destruction of Qaida, the democratization and rebuilding of Afghanistan we would have shown both strength and wisdom and propelled good will. The president bush, however, thought it was necessary to embark on a world wide war against something as vague as terror, invade Iraq based on misinformation and manipulated data, spend ten times as much as we should have, accomplish less, with greater loss of life for a continuing source of oil which will be necessary for business as usual, the status quo, and the continued employment of those lofty minded actuarial bureaucrats that are the brains of this inarticulate ass. Grandiose behavior in a president is a very dangerous thing indeed but is even more dangerous when it is combined with a willingness to ignore the facts.
http://www.newyorker.com/online/content/?050425on_onlineonly01
Will our species--the only one capable of changing the global climate--be here in a hundred years? Will we be able to alter the way we have always done things in favor of the way we will have to do them in order to ensure the viability of our biosphere? We would like to think the answer is yes. That answer, however, is not a measure of our intelligence as a species, it is a measure of our fortitude and determination to act altruistically on behalf of our greater, communal self-interest. Scientists have been warning us for some twenty precious years that we are on the brink of disaster. The facts are irrefutable and our outlined in over 900 articles in respected scientific journals between the years 1993 and 2003. Of the 900 articles none refuted have the premise that we are witnessing atmospheric warming. Seventy five percent of the papers attributed the warming to emissions generated by human activity the other twenty-five percent were mute on the point. Scientists are not prone to activism do to their questioning nature and we can not look to the scientific community to ring the alarm bells very loudly but ring them they have--such agreement among scientists is unprecedented. Our leaders have heard the message--they are, after all, intelligent people--but they will not make the hard choices for us because they are motivated, in large measure, by the short-term interest of their own political careers. If a change in business as usual is to occur we will have to take individual action. We will have to drive less, support public transit, research and use alternative energy resources, reduce our waste, limit our population growth, hold corporations accountable for their waste, organize to prod our elected representatives to support us with legislation, and demand that the press cover the issue on a daily basis.
It would seem absurd that we should apply such effort to make our lives miserable in a traditional economic sense but if we consider that we are paying for our delay, providing for the future of our grandchildren and doing something of historic proportions it becomes more palatable.
Now that you know what my agenda is I will explain why I have joined the guerrilla campaign. The president bush is really a spokesperson for the Greening Earth Society, which stands in opposition to the scientific data on global warming and employs any tactic to influence public opinion that continued dependence on fossil fuel is good for the environment. He has encouraged business as usual at every opportunity by gutting the EPA and relaxing the enforcement of The Clean Air Act. He never even attempted to come up with an alternative to the Kyoto agreement unless you consider the clean skies initiative to be something other than a ruse. His second term is promising to be even worse for our environment. His administration has manipulated government-sponsored reports on climate change to come to conclusions he agrees with. Sound familiar?
Two things will measure the Bush administration: Its environmental record and its response to the tragedy of 9/11. If he had limited the response to the ousting of the Taliban, the destruction of Qaida, the democratization and rebuilding of Afghanistan we would have shown both strength and wisdom and propelled good will. The president bush, however, thought it was necessary to embark on a world wide war against something as vague as terror, invade Iraq based on misinformation and manipulated data, spend ten times as much as we should have, accomplish less, with greater loss of life for a continuing source of oil which will be necessary for business as usual, the status quo, and the continued employment of those lofty minded actuarial bureaucrats that are the brains of this inarticulate ass. Grandiose behavior in a president is a very dangerous thing indeed but is even more dangerous when it is combined with a willingness to ignore the facts.
Sunday, May 08, 2005
Let's Cut Food Stamps for Elderly
Well, here's a nice piece of news from the administration of the president bush. And just in time for Mothers' Day too.
The lack of any compassion or empathy for anyone reinforces the fact that the president bush is a true sociopath (The Sociopathic Bush Administration). Why we let these people continue to ruin the lives of countless millions, is beyond me. A part of their agenda seems to be to grind the less fortunate down. These people are neither Christian, or compassionate. They are frauds. Dangerous frauds. They are also war criminals. The world would indeed be "better off" with these people removed from office, and any position of influence.
Under New Medicare Prescription Drug Plan, Food Stamps May Be Reduced
By ROBERT PEAR
May 8, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/08/politics/08drugs.html
WASHINGTON, May 7 - Elderly people with low incomes may lose some of their food stamps if they sign up for the new Medicare prescription drug benefit, the Bush administration said Saturday.
When Medicare begins covering drugs in January, older Americans will spend less of their own money on drugs and will therefore have more to spend on food, reducing their need for food stamps, officials said.
The new reading of the Medicare law, set forth in a document sent to Congressional offices this week, comes just as federal officials begin a nationwide campaign to persuade low-income people to apply for the drug benefit.
The document, addressed to elderly and disabled people who receive food stamps, says, "You may qualify for extra help paying for your Medicare prescription drug costs." But it adds, "If you qualify for extra help, your food stamp benefits may decline."
Dr. Mark B. McClellan, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, defended the policy. "Medicare beneficiaries will get comprehensive help with their drug costs and will have significantly more resources for all their other basic necessities, including food," he said. The savings on prescription drugs will more than offset any loss of food stamps, so "low-income seniors will be better off," he said.
In debate on the prescription drug bill in 2003, members of Congress said the high cost of drugs was forcing many older Americans to choose between food and medicine.
The document, prepared by the Health and Human Services Department, tells Medicare beneficiaries: "With the Medicare prescription drug coverage, you may see your food stamp benefits go down as you spend less on drugs. Using the new Medicare benefit means you will have more cash to spend on food that you used to spend on prescription drugs. If you get the $10 minimum food stamp benefit, your benefits may end. However, the extra cash you will have to spend on food makes up for not getting as much in food stamps."
The drug benefit will be available to individuals with monthly income of $1,197 or less and married couples with income of $1,604 or less.
The guide gives this example of how the new law would affect a hypothetical Medicare beneficiary, Mrs. Smith, who receives $798 a month in Social Security. She does not receive Medicaid. She now pays $147 a month for medical expenses, including $51 for three prescription drugs. Her monthly rent is $421.
Under the Medicare drug plan, Mrs. Smith will not have to pay a monthly premium or a deductible. She will have a $3 co-payment on each drug, for $9 a month. Her medical spending will decline to $105 a month, from $147, for a saving of $42.
But Mrs. Smith's monthly food stamp allotment, $27, will be reduced to $10 a month, because her "out-of-pocket medical costs have gone down." The administration says she will come out ahead because "she still has $25 more cash in her pocket - $42 medical savings, less the $17 decrease in food stamps."
The lack of any compassion or empathy for anyone reinforces the fact that the president bush is a true sociopath (The Sociopathic Bush Administration). Why we let these people continue to ruin the lives of countless millions, is beyond me. A part of their agenda seems to be to grind the less fortunate down. These people are neither Christian, or compassionate. They are frauds. Dangerous frauds. They are also war criminals. The world would indeed be "better off" with these people removed from office, and any position of influence.
Under New Medicare Prescription Drug Plan, Food Stamps May Be Reduced
By ROBERT PEAR
May 8, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/08/politics/08drugs.html
WASHINGTON, May 7 - Elderly people with low incomes may lose some of their food stamps if they sign up for the new Medicare prescription drug benefit, the Bush administration said Saturday.
When Medicare begins covering drugs in January, older Americans will spend less of their own money on drugs and will therefore have more to spend on food, reducing their need for food stamps, officials said.
The new reading of the Medicare law, set forth in a document sent to Congressional offices this week, comes just as federal officials begin a nationwide campaign to persuade low-income people to apply for the drug benefit.
The document, addressed to elderly and disabled people who receive food stamps, says, "You may qualify for extra help paying for your Medicare prescription drug costs." But it adds, "If you qualify for extra help, your food stamp benefits may decline."
Dr. Mark B. McClellan, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, defended the policy. "Medicare beneficiaries will get comprehensive help with their drug costs and will have significantly more resources for all their other basic necessities, including food," he said. The savings on prescription drugs will more than offset any loss of food stamps, so "low-income seniors will be better off," he said.
In debate on the prescription drug bill in 2003, members of Congress said the high cost of drugs was forcing many older Americans to choose between food and medicine.
The document, prepared by the Health and Human Services Department, tells Medicare beneficiaries: "With the Medicare prescription drug coverage, you may see your food stamp benefits go down as you spend less on drugs. Using the new Medicare benefit means you will have more cash to spend on food that you used to spend on prescription drugs. If you get the $10 minimum food stamp benefit, your benefits may end. However, the extra cash you will have to spend on food makes up for not getting as much in food stamps."
The drug benefit will be available to individuals with monthly income of $1,197 or less and married couples with income of $1,604 or less.
The guide gives this example of how the new law would affect a hypothetical Medicare beneficiary, Mrs. Smith, who receives $798 a month in Social Security. She does not receive Medicaid. She now pays $147 a month for medical expenses, including $51 for three prescription drugs. Her monthly rent is $421.
Under the Medicare drug plan, Mrs. Smith will not have to pay a monthly premium or a deductible. She will have a $3 co-payment on each drug, for $9 a month. Her medical spending will decline to $105 a month, from $147, for a saving of $42.
But Mrs. Smith's monthly food stamp allotment, $27, will be reduced to $10 a month, because her "out-of-pocket medical costs have gone down." The administration says she will come out ahead because "she still has $25 more cash in her pocket - $42 medical savings, less the $17 decrease in food stamps."
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