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Bill Kristol Makes My Mind Want to Explode and Other Thoughts

  • Posted on July 3, 2014 at 3:03 pm

It seems strange that I haven’t been on here blogging in so many months.  My last post was the end of January.  Really?  So, what have I been doing, you may ask?  It would be that teacher thing, my Kindle obsession, and a serious malaise about politics in general.  I will try to get up to speed on what is recently on my mind.

I still watch a bit of Morning Joe, even though Joe sucks!  I don’t know which has been worse the build up for more war or the whole media frenzy about Bowe Bergdahl.  I am tired of watching people who never have any real skin in the game, (You know, their children will not be dressing up in fatigues any time soon.) telling the American people how we must go to war now and by the way, Bowe Bergdahl is a trader.  I cannot get on either bandwagon.

Everyone knows Bill Kristol.

bill_kristol

It has puzzled me why he is invited to be on so many news programs where he spouts his venom.  Why is he so important?  Every time I see him on Meet the Press, Morning Joe, or some other media program, I get a little crazy.  Years ago, I went to a website he was a part of called the Project or Plan for a New America.  The website seems to be gone now but the plan is still out there.  It takes us back to American dominance in the world and that plan developed by Paul Wolfowitz that has to do with pre-emptive strikes.  It later became the Bush Doctrine, which involves going to war before we have been actually attacked.  This strategy was used for the buildup to the Iraq War.  Bill Kristol seems to enjoy going to war.  Fortunately, Katrina vanden Heuvel seems to feel the same way I do.  I came across this clip today and somehow it made me feel better that others aren’t so impressed with this crazy person’s ideas either.  Yes, I know he is the editor of the Weekly Standard but it just doesn’t make him special to me.  It almost seems there is still hope in fighting these neo-cons and their ideas.

 

Another thing keeping me busy is that teacher thing.  This year has been very stressful for most of the teachers I know.  No matter how hard we work or what we do, it seems more is expected of us.  The pressure is out there from politicians that have no idea how to teach, to create classrooms that turn out kids that pass the latest test.  It just doesn’t seem to be about the individual but the test taker.  If a student is good at figuring out and taking tests, he/she will be prized by teachers that are expected to get him/her to pass a test.  Those kids that freak out on tests, struggle in general with testing, or perhaps have social and economic problems are in for a world of hurt as teachers jump through every hoop to try and get them “test worthy”.  Okay, I know I am sarcastic but this is for real.  I work long days trying to do whatever it takes to get my students attention.  I just still think it is strange that my evaluations are attached to reading and math scores of my students.  This is true for all of us.  Teacher evaluations are attached to test scores of students, all students.  Now, most people can see the problems with this.  How will students be selected or tied to individual teachers?  Why is a math teacher tied to reading and vice versa?  How can I, as an art teacher, affect those reading and math scores?  There is constant reworking of lessons and trying to tie in reading, math, and even technology skills as much of the testing is now on computers.  As crazy as this seems to me, it must be harder for the students, especially those students that are not the top reading and math students.

Considering all of this, it is rather amazing how much I have been reading in 2014.  After Christmas was over, I decided I wanted to buy a new Kindle.  I dropped my old Kindle so the lettering wouldn’t work in the corner.  I just had the little cheap model, but I liked it for reading.  I would read on my iPad but I was never crazy about it because it is heavier.  It seemed like I was not reading as much as I used to, so that is why I decided to get a new Kindle.  I bought the cheap HD model that comes with the ads when you turn it on.  I cannot say enough about my crazy obsession with my Kindle and Amazon Prime!  Since getting this Kindle the second week of January, I have read around 30 books.  I even have it read to me when I am doing things like cooking or cleaning.  I love my Kindle and even the offers.  I got a Mr. Coffee Café Latte machine for my birthday for just $20.  Since I have Amazon Prime, I didn’t have to pay any shipping.  I love Amazon Prime as I buy many things through Amazon and I do watch some videos as well.  However, recently the new music cloud has just blown me away.  There is so much music content that I have access to that it is amazing.  I just hope Amazon doesn’t up the rates on me.  I also really enjoy getting my BookBub emails.  Bookbub allows me to buy books for next to nothing or even free.  I have discovered authors I am not familiar with and I am enjoying reading most of these books.  What I really like about the Kindle is how many choices I have at any one time.  I have many books on my Kindle.  I also can get them through library loan although sometimes I have to wait awhile.  I can purchase a new book in mere seconds.  Amazon has made all of this super easy to use and so I keep buying…and they keep making money off me!

Today there is something new on my mind.  The Supreme Court just handed down their decision on the Hobby Lobby case.  Earlier this morning I made a comment on a video on Facebook that gave some statistics on abortion.  I usually avoid any comments on abortion issues, as that issue seems to bring out all of the crazy people ready to comment.  I received many replies to my comment, which I should have known I would.  I believe abortion is something a woman decides for herself with the help of her doctor.  I don’t think it is a decision taken lightly and I certainly don’t think politicians, judges, and the like who are mostly old, white men should be making these decisions for women.  It is rather patronizing to think the little woman isn’t smart enough to decide for herself what is in her best interest.  I personally have a secret wish that decisions like this one can move our country to single payer.  Why should insurance companies and businesses hold all of the special keys to any one person’s medical coverage?  Let’s just get rid of these middle “men” and go to a system where everyone pays a bit in their taxes and health care is guaranteed, Medicare for all or something like it.  If everyone is paying in, than no one group can say they are paying for someone else’s health care.  Everyone pays and all benefit.  It just seems to make sense to me.

Sometimes I feel like I am in some kind of time warp machine.  For every step forward women make on issues there are plenty of people, including other women, dragging and pulling on them to hold them back, keep them down, control them, and generally keep them as less than men.  Why is it that we aren’t hearing cases about business companies refusing to provide Viagra?  Why is it that men can make all of the decisions about their own bodies but women have to be second-guessed at every turn?  It just doesn’t make sense to me currently.  We live in a time when many women are the main or only breadwinner in their families.  They should be able to make all of the decisions applicable to their own bodies.  From my point of view, enough said.

As the summer moves on, I hope to get on here more often and spew my only little mind chatter.  It is different to be me.  I am constantly thinking about many things and sometimes it’s hard to get on the bandwagon of just one thing.  It is how my mind works, so sometimes you may have to adjust to my wandering brain as I interpret the world around me.

 

September 11th and Liberty

  • Posted on September 11, 2010 at 2:09 pm

It’s hard for me to wrap my mind completely around September 11th memorial celebrations.  I didn’t have anyone that perished in the towers or on the planes.  I don’t even know anyone that knows someone that did lose someone. That being said, I just want to say I think these times have been used this year mostly for political reasons.  The build up to the memorial celebrations have seen a month of anti Islamic sentiment seen all over our country.  This too, I see as political.  This November the Republicans are expected to take control of Congress.

The reason for all of this is not exactly clear.  They certainly aren’t being “rewarded” for their competency as they have done nothing the past two years.  We could say Democrats may lose for their lack of competency as well as they have managed to spend a lot of time on everything but the most important issue, jobs and the economy.  One thing is clear about both of these parties.  They both use September 11th as a time when they can declare their love of country and determination to one again feel the pain of every American and attempt to draw us all back into a time of “unity”.

However, there is no unity for the unemployed or those first responders suffering without complete benefits and recognition for giving their “best” to their country.  Politicians grab the spotlight and shine it on themselves in an attempt to garner votes and goodwill for largely their own purposes.  Behind the scenes are innocent Americans waiting for their unemployment check, a job or hoping their cancer treatments will work and if not, their country will step up and secure their family’s future.

I have to admit September 11th is still a mystery to me.  I remember when it happened.  I was in my classroom with my middle school students.  Our school principal got on the loud speaker and wanted us all to turn on our television sets.  Everything I witnessed at that time seemed very surreal, like it really wasn’t happening.  I think we all were in a state of shock.  I remember they announced that as many as 50,000 people may have died.  Over the course of the years since that time the amount of people that died has been stated to be around 4000, then 3000, and today on CNN as 2752.  The reason I mention the number is that it was used to really prepare us for war.  The higher the number, the angrier we became about being “attacked”.  Imagine my surprise today at the “new” number I heard.  I acknowledge the fact that if you lost someone, the number doesn’t matter.

What’s troubling me about September 11th now is the way that it is being politically put into our psyches as the day of remembrance for all time.  It’s hard to know what to make of all this.  On one side are the conspiracy theory people that think the buildings were imploded and the government played a part in allowing this to happen.  On the other side sits the government and their version that does seem to change as time becomes history.  This is evidenced by the continually changing numbers of victims but also by the continual mind manipulation of the American people.

As a youngster I remember the assassination of President Kennedy.  For me that was a frightening memory that stayed with me for years.  However, we, as a people, were not continually indoctrinated with memorials and tributes that I can recall.  Today with September 11th, I feel that much of the memorial presentations are used through the media to keep us under control.  They serve as a reminder of hatred and who we should continue to hate so we will continue to wage war, even if it is really an “undeclared” war.

Yes, I know the government has labeled it “THE WAR ON TERRORISM”.  However, we have not declared war, so this “war” can go on forever and have no “end”.  We can fight this thing called terrorism and call it a war and keep everyone scared and frightened for as long as the government chooses to do so.  That is kind of scary as we continue to follow rules like sheep that are herded to and fro without questioning any kind of authority.  Ever so often the government has to step in and remind us what we are fighting for because we are a people with a limited attention span.  We aren’t in the middle of the fight, so we tend to forget about Iraq and Afghanistan.  It’s real for the soldiers, their families and the people from both of those countries but for most of us, it does not affect us on a daily basis.  President Bush said we’re fighting them over there, so we don’t have to fight them over here.  Everyone likes that sentiment because no one wants to fight “them” in their backyard.

This past month with all of the crazy anti Islamic sentiment, one thing has been made clear to me.  There are many people in this country that really think the Muslims are going to take over the United States of America and declare “Sharia” law.  When I look up what Sharia law is, I find all kinds of varying information.  I know the people who think the Muslims are taking over the United States have a distinct version of Sharia law that includes anti women and children sentiment.  I know this is why my two brothers think we are in a “Holy War”, a war based on Christians and Muslims.  It seems to me that there is a “right wing” faction that is currently manipulating people through the media to keep their base in a “state of hate” to insure getting that base out to vote.  What they’re voting for is beyond comprehension, returning to power the very Republicans that took us to the brink of disaster with our economy and war.  What is more troubling is the breeding and spreading of this hatred.  We have all heard about the possible book burning that ended up not happening.  This man was nobody, but he was elevated by constant media attention.  On the left people were proclaiming him as being “crazy”.  However, the right wing base now knows what they have to do.  They have to get out and vote.  Vote for the right wingers, the Tea Party people, anyone that fits into the mold that they have carved out as being “right” on the issues.

I’m scared for our country.  September 11th with its self proclaimed “unity” has divided our country completely.  On one side are people like my brothers and on the other side are people that think “they” are crazy.  In between all of this sits the clueless masses that don’t think politics affects them.  They go on with their every day lives doing what they do on a daily basis without any thought given to all of this.  They continue to board planes like sheep.  They will stop and let the police search their cars for no reason.  They do their jobs and pay their taxes and hope that’s enough for serving their country.  They won’t read this.  Most won’t even think beyond what the government has told them to think.  They will live productive lives raising children, working and living life as they see fit.  Maybe they are better off not thinking about all of this, but for me I think about the unemployed.  I think about endless wars.  I think about dishonest, corrupt politicians.  I think about a compromised government.  I think we can be better than we are currently being.  I think about liberty and the cost of doing nothing.  I think about freedom and the price and toll it takes on our country.  Most of all, I think I have as much right as an American to express myself as that crazy Koran burning, nut job, in Florida!

The Holy War of Oil

  • Posted on August 28, 2010 at 1:05 pm

My brother told me we are in a “Holy War”.  He was quite serious and took great offense to my position about the Muslim Mosque/cultural center controversy in New York City.  Personally I never thought any war could really be considered “holy”.  You know, “My God is better than your God!” stuff.  For me it’s always come down to the God of “OIL”, who has it and who wants it.  It really could be any mineral or something of value that everyone wants for that matter but in the Middle East is a vast amount of oil.

During the first gulf war Saddam Hussein went into Kuwait and it was also about oil.  Saddam claimed Kuwait was drilling at an angle into Iraq for oil.  Saddam decided to put a stop to that and we decided to stop Saddam.

I was surprised to discover this piece online:

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/us-military-weapons-inscribed-secret-jesus-bible-codes/story?id=9575794

A supplier for military rifle sights puts biblical coding on the guns sights.  Here is one of the citations:

One of the citations on the gun sights, 2COR4:6, is an apparent reference to Second Corinthians 4:6 of the New Testament, which reads: “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

This is also from the article:

U.S. military rules specifically prohibit the proselytizing of any religion in Iraq or Afghanistan and were drawn up in order to prevent criticism that the U.S. was embarked on a religious “Crusade” in its war against al Qaeda and Iraqi insurgents.

To me it is such an oxymoron to consider war to be part of any religious beliefs as most religions teach us to “love one another”.  However, we know that through out history religion has started many wars!  So I ask myself, “Is my brother right?”  Are we secretly involved in a “Holy War” for the religious right?  As a people we believe in the freedom of religion.  You can even be an “Atheist” if you choose.  You don’t have to be Christian; and you don’t have to be Christian to fight for the military as well.  So why must so many people think we are fighting a “Holy War” and how did this get started?

This weekend there is a Glenn Beck rally in Washington D.C. on the Mall.  It’s called the “Restoring Honor Rally” and I am watching it on C-Span as I finish this piece on “Holy War”.  The rally is huge, filled with a number of people that appear to be pretty white and by the make up of the speakers, “Christians”. Sarah Palin was asked to speak as a mother of a soldier, not a politician.  She introduced three war heroes, two from the recent wars and one from Vietnam.

Glenn Beck spoke and kept referring back to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  I found this rather appalling.  Glenn’s rally seemed to me to be more about a “Holy War” and pushing “Christianity” on the world than anything Dr. King ever spoke about.  However, he appeared to have the backing of all the usage of the “King” words and philosophy as Kings’ Niece, Alveda King, was a part of the rally.  She is an anti- abortion activist that had two abortions in her youth that she now regrets.  She acts as a voice for the “Silent No More Awareness Campaign.” Glenn Beck stealing the words of Martin Luther King Jr. is frightening to me.  Just this last week Glenn made a very anti-Catholic statement about social justice.  I talk on here about being raised Catholic with the ideals of social justice often.  Glenn Beck wants people to leave any church that speaks about social or economic justice, saying they were code words for Communism and Nazism.

For me Glenn Beck follows a narrow form of Christianity that probably does indeed believe we are in a “Holy War”.

Glenn talked about the origination of the “Purple Heart” and decided to take a cue from it and give out three special medals based on faith, hope and charity.  “Faith” went to a black minister who talked about sitting next to Martin Luther King Jr.  Unfortunately, I don’t remember his name.  “Hope” went to Albert Pujos who came from the Dominican Republic, scored a 100% on his citizenship test and has a foundation organized for “Down’s syndrome” and finally “Charity” went to John Huntman, Sr. from Salt Lake City, Utah.  He is a rich philanthropist that wrote “Winners Never Cheat: Everyday Values We Learned as Children (But May Have Forgotten)” in 2005.  He is worth about 2 billion and is dedicated to giving away the majority of it.  He was not there to receive the award as he was at the marriage of his granddaughter.

They began this  rally talking about the Mayflower and Native Americans, Indians and it was all about basically saying that America was founded on religion, Christianity.  I feel the underlying implication of this entire rally is that President Obama and maybe the Democrats have some how taken away our “Honor”.  They don’t mention his name but you know it’s there.  .  The rally is about heroes and God, fighting wars and religion.  I dare say it might be about a “Holy War” after all.

After watching this rally I know my brother isn’t alone with his thinking.  For me it’s such a waste of human life and resources in these never ending wars that we seem to be involved in.  Who would have thought that students that I taught in middle school classes many years ago are now preparing to go off to fight these same stupid wars?  We seem to be embattled in endless war.

While our cities, economy, and way of life are being destroyed at home, we continue to battle on in these two wars overseas.  Bush said, “We fight them overseas so we don’t have to fight them here.”  Yes, I know we have had a draw down of sorts recently in Iraq but many more soldiers have just been shifted over to Afghanistan.  At this time it appears that many oil companies are hopeful for their profits in the years to come in Iraq.  Imagine that!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704125604575449001388136336.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Isn’t it comforting to know that this is the end result of our efforts in Iraq?

I cannot think of a good reason for constant war let alone a “Holy War”.  My favorite song in my youth was the Universal Soldier by Buffy Ste. Marie.  It may have been written in my youth but it is as important of a statement today as it was then.  I used to sing this song all the time.  Here Buffy tells how she wrote the song and then sings it.  Listen to it and you will know that we are the product of war and we continue to be the pawn of war.  It doesn’t matter what religion you are as you know you aren’t supposed to kill, but you will kill.  You will kill for whatever your government tells you is worth killing for!  And if you think this will put an end to war, think again!

Finally here is “Holy War” by Thin Lizzy.

Below are the words to Holy War:

If you will adore me
Bow before me and praise my name
If you place no God before me
Then all I have is yours to claim

And if God is in the heavens
Why did God let children die
If you don’t ask these questions
There is no reasons why

We are chosen
We are one
We are frightened of no one
And no one will win this war
This is the way
This is the law

All the visions shown before you
All the kingdoms and the thrones
All are yours if you bow before me and adore me
All this you can own

There are those that will go to heaven
There are those that will never win
No one knows what will happen
There are those that turn to sin

We are chosen
We are one
We are frightened of no one
And no one will win this war
This is the way
This is the law

(solo)

We are chosen
We are one
We are frightened of no one
And no one will win this war
This is the way
This is the law

We are chosen

The devil is in hell with the demons
This is the holy war

They lead us to our temptation
Lead us, take our souls
There is no evil in salvation
There is evil in us all

Just as Satan tempted Jesus
And Jesus slips and falls
He is a station on the cross now
He is dying to save us all

We are chosen
We are one
We are frightened of no one
And no one will win this war
This is the way
This is the law

We are chosen
We are one
We are frightened of no one
And no one will win this war
This is the way
This is the law

We are chosen
We are one
We are frightened of no one
And no one will win this war
This is the way
This is the law

We are chosen
We are one
We are frightened of no one
And no one will win this war
This is the way
This is the law

If God is in heaven, won’t you save me now
Oh lord forgive them for what they’ve done
Lost children of Babylon
Oh Allah oh no oh no (? )

This is the holy war

The War within the War

  • Posted on July 31, 2010 at 10:37 am

The picture of the young Afghan woman on the cover of Time magazine is very troubling.  I, as a woman and human being, am terribly troubled by policies that continue to confine women into the rolls of pre-civilization.  However, I don’t believe that picture alone, or the others that it links to, should determine our policy in the Afghanistan war.  The two wars, Iraq and Afghanistan, we are currently fighting are a continuation of the “Bush Doctrine”.  Personally, I’ve never been fully persuaded that we needed to fight either war, even if President Obama maintains that the Afghanistan war is the “good” war.  Really, can war ever be good?  President Bush kept reminding us that we are fighting them over there, so we don’t have to fight them over here.  I don’t think he cared about this young woman’s face as he took the war to her backyard.  So, I want to know when is enough, truly enough?  When will this war of nine years be over?  What does winning really look like?  Some think we are already there.  So, what I want to ask Time Magazine is which pictures of American soldiers does it want to put on the cover of its magazine next?

American soldiers have given enough for these wars!

Inspiring Woman Soldier

Life Goes On
How much more do our soldiers need to sacrifice for these wars?
Do they want to include our war torn soldiers or maybe the coffins being transported home.  Yes, I know war is hell and that may very well be what they are trying to show us.  However, if the picture is to continue to manipulate us into staying in a war that has totally busted our economy and looks like the definition of insanity, you know doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, then I question its purpose.  Now if it is just to show us war is hell and to get us talking about the war so we can get the hell out, then I’m all for it.

Many people proclaim their love for our troops.  They exclaim how wonderful it is that these young people fight for “our” freedoms.  They safely wear their little flag pins to show us all how patriotic they are while those of us that don’t think war is the answer for everything do all the hard work of questioning the authority of our government. When our soldiers sacrifice so much and sometimes give the ultimate sacrifice these same people proclaim how proud they are to be Americans and to be represented by such brave, young soldiers.  Many of these same people don’t even put any thought into these two wars and the impact on our troops and whether we should actually be fighting these wars.  I don’t know if it is because they are removed from the death and destruction of war that they don’t seemingly notice or care about the real “war within the war or not.http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/30/us/30suicide.html?src=mv

Now I come to Bradley Manning, Bradass87, and I am wondering what will happen to this young man.  http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2010/07/25/bradley-mannings-gift/

I actually think he did a great service because the war that nobody notices has actually got some people talking about it.  It’s interesting that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton went to Pakistan with our financial aid to them only to find out that Pakistan has been supposedly fueling the fires with the Taliban.  The President and his staff has tried to get us off the subject of this war but it is time that we have a frank discussion about whether we should continue on the path that we have been taking.  President Obama has continued so many of the policies of President Bush that I can hardly tell the two apart.  I had hoped that with a new president we would have a change in our Middle East policies.

Osama Bin Laden wanted to destroy our country and he knew the only way to do it was to take out our money system.  As far as I am concerned, it looks like he has won whether he is dead or alive.  Our economy is a disaster; life as most of us lived it is pretty much over.  No one can tell us what the economy will be like tomorrow except for more gloom and doom.  We are involved in two wars that continue to cost us in broken lives, broken bodies and broken banks yet we continue on this path of insanity.  Our children will be going to crowded schools in the fall because there is no money, homeowners have to watch their own homes and hope no one breaks in as a lot of police officers are also laid off.   Government services are getting less and less with less open hours to get anything done.  Our infrastructure is falling apart and we don’t have the money to repair it.  The only thing we are sure to do is to send more money for war.  “We can’t take care of things over here because we must do it over there.”  I guess that’s the new motto!

The Boogeyman Politics

  • Posted on July 23, 2010 at 2:47 pm

In our country we cling to the idea that one day we might be rich.  We should all just stop dreaming that fantasy and realize that very few will actually become “rich”.  You can buy all the lottery tickets you can stuff in your pants and you will still lose.  One ticket will take it all.  Are you really feeling that lucky today?  It’s time to let those that have unspeakable wealth step up and save this country.  I, for one, have no trouble taxing the wealthy.  It’s time we got the rest of the country to realize that there is no shame in a truly graduated income tax.  It’s also time to take care of those people that are struggling to make ends meet.  This can be accomplished if we set our priorities straight as a nation.

I am tired of the boogey men that we continually chase as a nation.  For years we were afraid of the “communists”.  They were the boogeyman and we had to hide under our desks at school because they were coming to get us.  Since the world trade towers were destroyed and a couple thousand people were murdered on September 11th, 2001 we have feared the terrorists.  They have been, for the last nine years, the new boogeyman.  As President Bush said many times, “We are fighting them over there so we don’t have to fight them here.”  Franklin Delano Roosevelt famously said, “The only thing to fear is fear itself.”  However, politicians have kept us in a constant state of fear for most of my life.  This fear is used to control how we think and essentially how we vote.  It determines how we view the world and whether we trust our neighbor, both those next door or those who border our countries.  In the past couple of years we have been led to believe that we are all closeted “racists”.  This, I believe, is another form of control over our thoughts and especially our actions.  The boogeyman is the fear of racism.  Since President Obama began his run for the Whitehouse, it has been difficult to separate the fact from the fiction in terms of the racial divide in this country.  While I know there are racists that think they are better than another race, I believe there are far more people that don’t really care about the issue of race.  I have said a thousand times, “Poor is poor. It has no color.”  It is time we bonded together as a nation and realized that much of our fear is man made, created by an establishment of politicians that must find a way to control its masses.  Racism is the new boogeyman.  If we don’t think exactly as predetermined, as we are told we should, we will be labeled a racist.  I really think this is all to control us.

This week we heard the ridiculous saga of Shirley Sherrod.  This woman was taken out of context and we spent the week once again defined by racism.  During this time much else was happening.  Congress finally passed the unemployment extension.  However, they did not include the tier 5 people in this extension.  These are people that have been unemployed for more than 99 weeks.  http://all247news.com/unemployment-extension-calls-for-tier-5-addressed-to-obama-congress-growing/1979/

There is no real sympathy for these people other than platitudes of praise for their on going strength in adversity.  We also didn’t hear much about this sad statistic.  http://mentalhealthnews.org/suicide-rates-among-soldiers-increases/841674/

The suicide rates in the military are on the rise.  How can our country be at war continuously for the past nine years and not expect this breakdown in morale?  While we are busy contemplating the ridiculous story about Shirley being a racist this is going on.  http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gLEgHCUafX_i3fRDvfq626CUAyWgD9H4R3LO2

It seems that we must cut funds for education and every other thing in this country so we can continue to spend money on these two wars.  The troop surge in Afghanistan is costing our nation and our children.  Just today I saw the news that Western Michigan University is upping their tuition by 7%.  While this is all happening did you notice this week when Hillary Clinton went to give aid to Pakistan?  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/19/pakistan-aid-hillary-clin_n_650776.html

The point of all of this is if we are kept busy with the current boogeyman, we will be kept out of the loop of what is really happening in our country.  We must stop fearing the boogeyman and force our country to step up and do the right thing by its citizens.  So, yes, if this means more taxes for the rich and wealthy to help pay for these things that must be done, then I am all for it.  If politicians truly can’t find a way to extract our soldiers from these two wars, then let the rich pay for it.  If politicians can’t find a way to fund health care, then let the rich pay for it.  If politicians can’t find ways to fund our schools, then let the rich pay for it.  If the rich pay enough, maybe we will get out of the wars.  If the rich pay enough, maybe they will work harder to open some factories here so they can benefit from some special tax break and hire more workers.  I’m all for taxing the rich because the rich will make sure some things get done when they feel the pinch that the rest of us feel on a daily basis.  I’m tired of hearing about yet another rich person’s wedding before I hear about real news.  Aren’t you? Today we are bombarded with the Clinton wedding garbage.  Who really cares?  Not me.  I want real news and I want the wealthy to step up and save our country.  I think if you start to have some sympathy for the wealthy, just check out what these athletes get paid and think about your own hard earned paycheck.  http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/more/specials/fortunate50/2009/index.html

Do we really need to see the wealthy and yet another of their many weddings?

This comes from the “Who Rules America” website.  http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html

In terms of types of financial wealth, the top one percent of households have 38.3% of all privately held stock, 60.6% of financial securities, and 62.4% of business equity. The top 10% have 80% to 90% of stocks, bonds, trust funds, and business equity, and over 75% of non-home real estate. Since financial wealth is what counts as far as the control of income-producing assets, we can say that just 10% of the people own the United States of America.

If you still have sympathy and feel that you can trust the political system check out this article and think about how these people vote for their own best interests.  http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/06/13/senators.finances/

It is time for the wealthy to step up and help our country climb out of this recession, get out of these wars, fix our infrastructure and take care of our economic problems.  Let’s stop fearing the political created boogeyman and start working together for logical solutions to our many problems.  Let’s stop putting the rich on a pedestal by watching their weddings, lifestyle, games, movies and start living our life elevated by being educated to what is really going on in this country and what we might be able to do to set things right.  FDR said, “The only thing to fear is fear itself.”  The truth is the only thing to fear is an inactive electorate that is uneducated and over stimulated with the lust for wealth and afraid of the current boogeyman.

I just had to add this list of the richest members of Congress….both Dems and Repubs:

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-richest-members-of-congress-2009-11#olympia-j-snowe-r-maine-1

The Video We Aren’t Supposed to See

  • Posted on April 7, 2010 at 12:36 pm

Please don’t watch this video if you can’t take the truth of it all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ_zTrjMhX8&feature=player_embedded

This is the article that accompanied the video that I first watched.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/05/wikileaks-us-army-iraq-attack

War is hell.  We all know this but what we don’t spend a lot of time thinking about is what happens when the men and women that are part of that hell come home.  After seeing this video, that we aren’t supposed to see, I could only think about the inhumanity that I witnessed.  The men talking and shooting acted like they were merely at a shooting range.  The people they sniped off were poor unaware bastards that were in the wrong place at the wrong time.  I first saw the incomplete video on CNN.  CNN explained they wouldn’t show the complete video out of respect for the dead and their families.  I think it was more like to cover up the deeply disturbing video that showed American soldiers, acting like this was nothing more than a video game they were in the middle of playing.  There was no thought for the people below that were kept in the gun’s site.  There was no thought for the guy that was wounded and trying to crawl away except for wanting him to pick up a gun so they could shoot some more.

We have been raising our children for war now for some time.  Since September 2001 we have spent these last nine years filled with hate and creating children that have learned how to hate like us.  We have desensitized them through video games that even the Pentagon loves for training their future soldiers.  What I worry about is what is happening with our society.  We seem divided as a nation but when I look at these two stupid wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, we seem to be united in our hate.  A Republican president started them and a Democratic president continues them.  What is this really going to get us?

I do know that we have many men and women that are coming back hurt by their time engaged in war.  Some have mental hurts and others are physical.  Some have shed their blood in these wars with no clear mission of what has been accomplished.  We, as a society, will have to deal with all of this pain when these soldiers come home.  Some will turn to crime and have already and some will live with their own personal hell hidden in sweat filled, agonizing nights of horror while others will feel daily the looks from strangers at their mangled and burnt bodies.  What will all of this do for our country and what has it done for our country.

We glorify war in movies hoping to propagandize the next generation into thinking that being a soldier is filled with honor and glory.  Being a soldier may be honorable but the government that often sends these soldiers to war often is not honorable.  We have war hawks in government that have never been a soldier themselves.  Government officials that would never send their own children to war but would ask you to send your children in a heart beat.

I feel the wounds deep in our country for our children.  I look in my art classroom and I wonder about the children I am teaching.  How many of them will go off to these crazy wars.  Am I just teaching children so they can be used in a future senseless war?  Will these young children be put to the test of their lives in the hell that is Iraq or Afghanistan?  No one can give me that answer because I taught young people in 2002 that have ended up fighting in these two wars of today.  We are in a senseless, endless war with the boogey man that is terrorism.  We will give up our freedom and even our children to fight this boogey man.  We will allow our hate to change our children into hate filled, killing machines so we can feel “safe” once again.

We will protect ourselves from the hell of it all by watching cleaned up versions of the news and heroic movies.  We will excuse the behavior of these soldiers when they come back as we all know war is hell.  However, if they get too out of control we will slap them in jail and throw away the key.  I remember Timothy McVeigh and the truth is he was created by our government.  He was filled with hate and loathing.  Are we creating more soldiers like him to come home to no job and filled with anger and hate?

I hate war.  I have been told that sometimes it may be necessary.  However, when I look through the history books war seems to be more about turf building than people building.  Powerful countries have warred on to control land, minerals, and people.  I don’t think it is much different today.  We have even had holy wars because God would have wanted this to be so?  One of my brothers even worries about the terrorists taking over the United States and making us all bow to Allah.  I hear paranoia in this kind of thinking but it is brought on by a corporate controlled and owned media in America that makes much money off these wars.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WfA8JWMgiQ&feature=player_embedded

War is man made hell created by a society that cares more about their next computer gadget and social networking than it does about the innocence lost by our children from this hell and the numbing of our souls by this warring mentality.