Political Musings

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Since we started traveling we have become more aware of the effects of political decisions, and particularly the negative effects of many of the decisions made by the United States.  We expressed our disagreement and then sadness when the US invaded Iraq, and are now outraged as the toll on Iraqi civilians, US and 'Coalition' Armed Forces grows, and US credibility and power declines around the world as a result of this disastrous invasion.  This page will let us vent on this and other subjects of the day.
 

Topic of the Week

 Guns - "Since the killing of John Kennedy in 1963, more Americans have died by American gunfire than perished in foreign battlefields in the whole of the 20th century.  In 2005 more than 400 children were murdered with guns." 
(Source:  The Economist Magazine - Issue Apr. 21-27 2007)

Iraq War

 In 2003 we disagreed with the US invasion of Iraq, and our view remains the same:
  • The invasion was wrong then and is still wrong.
  • Iraq was no direct threat to the US.
  • The invasion of a foreign country has weakened the moral authority of the US to prevent other actions like this in the future.
  • Our abuse of prisoners and circumvention of civil rights increases the probability that US troops will be mistreated.

Bush Administration

 Jim Carey's movie "Liar, Liar!" comes to mind:
  • Our reason for invading Iraq was not to depose a bad guy; there are scores of those around the world - either Bush/Chaney lied about the reasons or are incompetent.
  • His appointment of ideologues rather than competent administrators boggles the mind:
    • Bolton who said about the UN "..There is no such thing as the United Nations...the international community...can only be led by the ... remaining superpower... the United States" - and this guy was appointed to be US Ambassador to the UN!
    • Brown, head of FEMA when Katrina struck, whose only bright spot was that he was fired quickly - although over 1800 people had to lose their lives to prove the incompetence of Brown and his chain of command.
    • Gonzales, Attorney General who 'remembers nothing' - perhaps he should start a TV show about being in a POW camp.
    • Wolfowitz - a preacher against corruption who doesn't practice it at home - typical of ideologues.

 

Gun Control

Imagine:

  • The loss of life at Columbine if Dylan and Eric had been armed with baseball bats rather than a 9-mm semi-automatic handgun, a rifle and a couple of sawed-off shotguns.
  • The damage that Seung-Hui Cho could have done with a pair of knives rather than 2 semi-automatic pistols at Virginia Tech.

There is absolutely NO REASON to allow the continued sale of automatic and semi-automatic weapons to the public other than paranoia! Check our GUN CONTROL page to see why we believe so, and perhaps some solutions.

The Environment

  Not yet finished

Globalization

  Not yet finished
The Truth as we See It  

Truths

Untruths                         and

Downright Lies

  • Global warming is happening
  • US is the largest producer of greenhouse gases in the world.
  • Global warming is not caused by greenhouse gases.
  • Iraq and/or Saddam Hussein was involved in the attacks on 9/11
  • Al-Qaeda had terrorist camps in Iraq prior to the invasion,
  • Iraq had weapons of mass destruction
 
Internet Sites we Monitor:

  • Daily Kos: State of the Nation - disseminating news and opinion from a largely liberal, progressive point-of-view. It also acts as a discussion forum and group blog for a variety of activists.  Additionally, the site features a growing political encyclopaedia, glossaries, and other permanent content

  • FactCheck.org - nonpartisan, nonprofit website] that "aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics" It is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, and is funded primarily by the Annenberg Foundation.[2]

  • The Politico - a Washington, D.C.-based, right-leaning political journalism organization that distributes its content via television, the internet, newspaper, and radio. Its coverage includes Congress, Washington lobbying, and the 2008 presidential election. 

  • Slate Online Magazine - Online magazine of news and commentary on culture and politics.

  • El Universal Newspaper - English language Venezuelan newspaper

  • MoveOn.org - a nonprofit organization primarily focusing on education and advocacy on important national issues

*most definitions sourced from Wikipedia.org
News Sources:

There is so little world news available inside the U.S,  and most of the other news is reduced to sound bites, so we usually get our in- depth news from the following sources.

This also provides good insight into how the U.S. is viewed by the rest of the world.

  • BBC - available on SIRIUS satellite radio, or as live stream on the internet at http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/

  • NPR - in depth discussions of current events in the US and the world .  The following are some our our favorites:

    • Diane Reim

    • Talk of the Nation

    • Science Friday

  • The Independent Newspaper - British Newspaper which provides a view of the US from the British and European perspective.

  • The Economist Magazine - a weekly international news and business publication offering clear reporting, commentary and analysis on world politics, business, finance, science and technology.