It is being reported that up to 100,000 people have died from the cyclone that hit Burma. Burma's brutal and corrupt military leaders failed to warn their people and they failed to evacuate areas in danger. Even though the rest of the world knew the storm was coming, the Burmese people didn't.
MoveOn.org has issued an urgent appeal to help the Burmese people. Please donate to a drive by Aavaz.org to raise money for the International Burmese Monks Organization and related groups, which will transmit funds directly to monasteries in affected areas.
Last Thursday, docks were shut down in all major west coast ports. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union went on a one day strike to protest the War in Iraq. According to the Pacific Maritime Association, about 6,000 longshoremen did not show up for work.
In Seattle, according to news sources, other unions and progrssive activists participated in the protest. Why didn't the strike get that kind of support in other locations? As far as I can tell, it is because the word never got out. I was off from work on Thursday and I don't live far from the Long Beach and Los Angeles docks. Furthermore, I'm on numerous progressive mailing lists,
including the LA County Federation of Labor and other labor groups. But I didn't hear about this until I read it in The New York Times this morning.
The scant coverage of this event by the mainstream media is no surprise. What I cannot understand is why it was ignored (as far as I can see) by the progressive cyberspace network. If you haven't heard this story, there are links below. Am I the only one who thinks this is a big story?
I know this is last minute, but I feel this is a matter of great urgency and I plan to be there. Furthermore, I hope this starts a trend of protesting corporate media for the way they present the news. If there is anyway you can make it, please do. Feel free to pass along this information to interested friends.
ABC headquarters is conveniently located near where Burbank, Glendale, and Los Angeles converge. A map and additional information is located at the website below.
http://www.couragecampaign.org/page/s/flagpinprotest
What I remember most is this quote
"We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people."
For African-Americans, the face of white America was the face of racists looking at them with scorn and derision. It is hard for me as a white man to truly understand how difficult it was for Martin Luther King to realize the most white Americans were not racists. Our sin was that we were silent and tolerated the racists among us. For a black man in the 1950s and 1960s, to understand this was an incredible leap of faith. Read More »
The Iraq War is financed by borrowing from abroad. Our biggest creditor is Communist China. China becomes richer. The US becomes poorer. The leverage the US has to prevent the oppression of Tibet becomes virtually nil. Read More »
Bush claims that he went to war as a last resort. Facts show otherwise. Reliable news reports show otherwise. Studies by independent investigators show otherwise.
This war is totally financed by borrowing hundreds of billions of dollars from brutal dictatorships ... China and Saudi Arabia. This war doesn't have a damn thing to do with fighting terrorism. This war doesn't have a damn thing to do with promoting democracy. This war is the worst decision ... ever ... by an American President ... by far. Read More »
The Rambo Philosophy is simple. It is the belief that victory in the Vietnam War was prevented by the liberal antiwar activists. That's all there is to it. Read More »
Little has been said about and article in Reuters regarding the cost of the Iraq War. The article itself says much at that cost. You can find the article here.
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN2365065420080124
The crucial point is not the outreageous costs of a war we don't need but it is the way we are paying for it. To quote Reuters, the cost of the war "is effectively being put on a government credit card."
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Sometimes I read articles written by right wing "intellectuals". I'm curious to see how they defend their point of view. More often than not, I'm appalled at how weak their arguments are.
An example is an op-ed in the New York Times. No ... it isn't by William Kristol or even David Brooks. It is written by a Dr. Steven Landsburg who is a professor of Economics at the University of Rochester. It calls for unlimited free trade.
The way he argues his point, you wonder how he ever became a professor! His article is full of generalizations and weak analogies. If you take his argument one step further, he'd probably say we should repeal the 13th amendment and bringing back slavery.
Check it out for yourself.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/16/opinion/16landsburg.html?th&emc=th
The mainstream media never gave Clinton such respect, even as he presided over 8 years of peace and prosperity. They certainly never gave Carter such respect. Don't even get me started on the treatment they continue to give Howard Dean.
I don't voluntarily listen to CNN. Too often, when I do business at a branch of a financial institution, I have no choice. They have it blasting prominently from a big screen.
I'm not talking about Fox News. I'm talking about CNN.
I'm not talking about brain dead ditto heads. I'm talking about the offices of major financial institutions like Wells Fargo and Charles Schwab. By forcing us to listen to CNN, do they think they're doing a service for their customers? To me, it looks more like propaganda straight from Big Brother's Ministry of Justice.
HELLO!! Earth to the corporate media!! This President started a war based on lies and fabrications. This war has cost us half a trillion dollars and counting. This war hurt the effort to fight al Qaeda in Afghanistan. This war caused four million Iraqis to become refugees. This war is simply an unnecessary quagmire.
CNN just doesn't get it. Major financial institutions don't get it. This is a president who has destroyed our great country. He is by far the worst President our country ever had. He deserves no more respect than that.
"The Iraq War has been waging for almost five years and there is no end in sight. The cost of the war has been estimated to be in the 100s of billions. However, tax rates have gone down in the past five years. Exactly how are we paying for this war? As a US citizen and tax payer, I should have the right to know."
I am eagerly awaiting what they have to say. To the best of my knowledge, the financing of the Iraq War is a closely guarded secret. If this is the case, I plan to ask my legislators to ensure that public disclosure of the War's financing is included in all future appropriations bills. Is that too much to ask?
Secondly, Turkey in that position to bully our Representatives as a result of Bush's foreign policy. At the outset of the Iraq War, Bush saw no need for diplomacy. Republicans and dittoheads called diplomacy a sign of weakness. Now, as the result of the Iraq Quagmire, we are now in a position of weakness. A country such as Turkey should never be in a position to bully Congress.
The title of the Associated Press article ... "Officials: Bush to announce troop cut." However, the first sentence (for those who read it) says, "President Bush will tell the nation Thursday evening that he plans to reduce the American troop presence in Iraq by as many as 30,000 by next summer but will condition those and further cuts on continued progress."
The USA Today article is titled "Bush to support troop pullback." The first paragraph includes the caveat "to gradually withdraw up to 30,000 American troops by next summer." The second paragraph includes the caveat "The final number will be based on security conditions at the time."
BBC titles its article "Bush 'to announce Iraq troop cut'." Then it adds in the third paragraph, "The move would bring the number of US troops in Iraq to 'pre-surge' levels."
How many times have we heard that troops will be withdrawn in a year? How many times has it actually happened?
First of all, is that person really Bin Laden? The beard does not look anything like bin Laden's beard. Reports say either it is fake, or it has been died and trimmed. Either action is questionable according to Islamic Law. Furthermore, the BBC reports he looks younger than in his last video from 2004.
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