World War III? Exactly what they said with Russia in the inflated Cold War. It now turns out Russia has more freedoms than we do here in the U.S., even though Republicans still label them as “evil communists.” In the next breathe Republicans are shaking hands with communist China. So which is it? Evil or not? Now radical Republicans are forcing their apocalyptic and biblical world war against anyone who is not white, Christian, and Republican.
The Israel/Lebanon conflict is a shame, but is it our business? Some Americans think so, but the Pentagon says our military is far too stretched due to Iraq. Perhaps those Americans should volunteer to go fight. Israel is once again acting like a middle school child on a playground while also gaining the sympathy/guilt of the American media. Civilians are dying in the streets of Lebanon, yet all we hear about is poor Israel. But don't think for a minute that I'm defending Hezbollah. Both parties are wrong and out of line. Should something be done? Yes, but leave that to the United Nations.
Despite American support for Israel, we have a White House that acts like Nazi’s (Bush’s grandfather was actually a Nazi supporter.) This administration has been spreading hate in America and beyond ever since it stole a part of our democracy in the selection of 2000. It’s no surprise that violent crime and hate-groups have rapidly increased in the last 6 years. Who are the skinheads, KKK, and Neo-Nazis worshipping? The president. Bush might as well get a tattoo and bic his head bald.
All the while as Bush ignored intelligence that would have prevented 9/11, as he launched an invasion of Afghanistan that had more to do with heroin crops and oil than Osama, and then invaded a nation that had no WMD or links to terrorism until we got there, we have a president who has neglected every American’s freedoms, every American’s right to progress, every American’s safety, and robbed every future American’s inheritance of a healthy and flourishing environment, all for financial, political, and religious gain. All this as he holds the hand of Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia- the biggest national sponsor of global terrorism.
The truth is the American government has terrorists too. The U.S. killed far more people than Saddam Hussein, just there in the nation of Iraq. Never mind Vietnam, Korea, African Americans, and Native Americans. Naturally, our government is going to defend Israel, a nation very much guilty of excessive war crimes. Why? Because, one, there’s a lot of money at stake. Two, there’s religious history at stake. Israel has two people kidnapped by a radical group and they decide to launch missiles at innocent civilians killing hundreds. What’s wrong with that picture?
Is there a religious clash occurring in the Middle East? Yes, there has been for the last 3,000 years. Are there terrorists? Yes and there always will be especially as long as we infringe on other’s beliefs as we commonly do. Let’s let the intelligence organizations handle terrorism as they’ve always done. There’s no reason to talk about it, unless they purposefully want to exploit it and use it to control the American people. But let’s make one thing clear, terrorists are not limited to being Muslim. They are white, Christian, and American too. And some even work in the U.S. government. Are there radical Muslims that hate Americans? Yes, many are in Saudi Arabia (the nation Bush holds hands with) and Dubai (the nation he wanted to hand our port security over to). Some Muslims may have good cause for their hate, but we won’t get into an expansive history lesson here though; that’s what college and reading books is for. But just to remind you, Hitler was a white Christian on an ethnic and religious crusade also.
Bush has divided America and divided us from the world. 75% of Europeans now view us a threat to world peace. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness for Americans has become a rough road. Our Declaration of Independence states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” Even though we are currently losing these freedoms to people who live in the shadow of fear of terrorism, the United States was founded on liberties and freedom. Unfortunately, this also excluded and enslaved an entire race and included the extermination of another. It would be ignorant to ignore the evils that our nation has brewed in the past by gloating over how we are the “greatest” nation in the world. This type of condescending bigotry is the kind that hurts world peace; it is also how the terrorists think. We don’t need a pissing contest; we need united intelligence and united diplomacy— something the U.N. has been successful at. As John F. Kennedy once said, “Our strength and our hope is the United Nations, and I see little merit in the impatience of those who would abandon this imperfect world instrument because they dislike our imperfect world.”
The Declaration of Independence also states, “He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people,” in reference to the tyrannical King George (what a coincidence of names!). We should be declaring our independence from this George, who has plundered the seas, ravaged the Coasts, burnt towns, and destroyed the lives of people both here in America and there in the Middle East.
Iraq is a mess because Bush invaded a nation that threatened no more than his ego and his contributor’s pockets. If you still don’t believe that oil was one of the main reasons, then read the executive order to launch the war. Petroleum is emphasized throughout the document and comes up in the first few lines: http://broken-nation.blogspot.com/2006/07/oil-revolution-excerpts-from-chapter-3.html
Bush is the real terrorist. He brought terrorism to America by ignoring intelligence and turning his cheek while his ratings were the lowest of any sitting president. On September 12th his ratings changed. Now Bush has brought radical terrorism to Iraq, something even Saddam Hussein never allowed. Don’t forget about Afghanistan, where the number of Al-Qaeda members is more than ever. Bush’s “war on terrorism” is a failure and anyone who still doesn’t see this is chained to the FOX box.
There is no possible way of having intellectual discussion with people who believe the Republican spin of nonsense. If you still don’t recognize the damage George W. Bush has done to America and the world, then you are one of the following four things: 1. profiting from defense and oil stocks. 2. Psychologically scarred from 9/11 and brainwashed by the propaganda. 3. Completely ignorant of the facts. 4. You just don’t care about people e.g. world peace, clean environment, equality, and progress.
Republicans just don’t get it. They make conclusions from the first line of a headline or something they hear on Drug-Rush Limbaugh III’s radio show. Nothing is original with Republicans. They hear it somewhere and they spin it until others actually believe it. It even ends up in the news. The producer: the Bush administration. It isn’t a secret that they’ve been caught paying off “journalists.” The main stream media is filled with their paid off operatives. And the American public is the one that has suffered. Of course, Republicans use the old “media” blame-game every time something bad does come out, like how innocent civilians were being held captive for no reason and being beaten and sexually assaulted in prison or how the government decided for itself that it could now listen in on all of our private conversations. The truth is the media has been absent from doing their jobs. When they suddenly pop out a story that’s damaging, Republicans use it as an excuse to protect themselves. Their manipulation is classic 1984. (This is a book in case you’ve never heard of it.) http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-0451524934-2
Over 65% of all Americans disapprove of the president’s job performance. Finally, the tide is turning. The cat is out of the bag. The debate is over. It took two rigged elections, two wars, two fallen towers and four hijacked planes, thousands of dead American soldiers, the doubling of gas prices and real estate, rising unemployment, and a hurricane disaster. It took all of this for the other half of America to wake up.
Don’t stand for their hate. There is no reason to go to war, (unless you own stock in Halliburton or Exxon-Mobile or you are trying to fulfill the literal reading of the Bible.) But really, if you think there are good reasons to go to war over religion, then maybe it’s time you re-evaluate your beliefs. Check out this book: http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-0393327655-0
One of my students said to me the other day, "I heard that the Asians were killed by that Tsunami because they didn't believe in God." Who did they hear that from? A Republican of course. I responded, "Well, they believe in their own God and no God would do such a horrible thing to people, even if they weren't believers." Until human beings realize that religious discrimination and labels cause more harm than good, we will be always on the brink of war.
Your children and grandchildren deserve a better future in a peaceful world where it is still safe to drink the water, where they don’t have to pay off the debt of our economical blunders, where education provides them with the tools they need to excel, where jobs and healthcare are available. And what about global warming? This administration refuses to acknowledge scientific evidence and warnings from every prominent scientist in the world (excluding the ones paid off by Exxon-Mobile). Global warming? Ha! Dealing with that would ruin the profit of their biggest contributors (big oil) and make the planet healthier, which in effect would ruin the profit of another one of their big contributors (the pharmaceutical companies.) Republican followers don’t see the big picture though. They don’t see all of the issues that affect us on a global scale. All they see is terrorism. Why? Well, because they’re told so by the ones who messed up in 2001 when they blatantly ignored memos titled “Bin Laden determined to strike U.S.”
For those who will attempt to claim that we who oppose the Bush administration are unpatriotic and on the side of the terrorists, I quote writer and Vietnam War protestor Martin Jeezer,
“This country was not created by men subservient to law and government. It was created and made great by civil disobedients like Quakers who refused to compromise their religion to suit Puritan theocracy; by Puritans who openly defied British authority; by provo-type Sons of Liberty who burned stamps to protest the Stamp Act and who dumped tea in Boston harbor; by abolitionists who ignored the Fugitive Slave Law, by slaves who refused to act like slaves; by working men who insisted, despite the law, on their right to organize; by black Americans who refused to ride in the back of the bus. So when people tell me that I have no respect for law and order and that I don’t love my country, I reply: ‘Jefferson, Tom Paine, Garrison, Thoreau, AJ Muste, the Freedom Riders, these are my country-men whom I love; with them I stand.”
We can add in Rosa Parks, Rachel Carson, Martin Luther King Jr. and a host of other American heroes who spoke out for all Americans and changed the world we live in for the better. Progress, progress, progress! That’s what we want. Let's talk about progress, not the possibility of world war.
For all we have endured, I do believe we have learned our lesson. We have learned that we must monitor voting practices. We have learned that we must be careful about who we choose to run local government, because local government is ultimately in charge of how we elect our federal government. In a 2005 poll taken less than a year after the election, 56% of all Americans said they didn’t vote for Bush. When asked whether they would vote for a Republican if the election were held today, close to 60% said they would not. In a similar poll, 70% of Americans said they were dissatisfied with the U.S. Republican led Congress. As of March 2006, less than 32% of all Americans said they were satisfied with the job Bush was doing. What this equals to is a Democratic Congress in 2006 and a Democratic President in 2008 (considering our voting rights are not ripped away once more by fraudulent state elections and hacked computers). Sorry Republicans, but the nation is slowly putting itself back together. We’ve had enough of being broken down in a broken nation by a broken administration consisting of broken people. So let’s bring the troops home, start the healing, and start rebuilding.
“As the sword was the last resort for the preservation of our liberties, so it ought to be the first to be laid aside when those liberties are firmly established.”
-George Washington
For more on our Broken Nation visit: http://www.broken-nation.blogspot.com/
To take part in the peace movement visit:
http://www.care2.com/c2c/group/Broken_Nation
To learn more and buy the book:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0741429780/sr=8-1/qid=1154202695/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-7960368-8794455?ie=UTF8
For more on the problem of hate groups in America please visit: http://www.tolerance.org/maps/hate/index.html
THE ABOVE ESSAY WAS IN RESPONSE TO THE FOLLOWING ESSAY:
Subject: World War III
Fri, 28 Jul 2006
WORLD WAR III
by Gary Pecorella
We are teetering precipitously on the brink of World War III. Here in America, a slim majority comprehends the real and imminent threat Islamic extremism poses to the USA and the entire free world. But for the remainder of the population, especially the American Left and the main stream media, to which my anger is directed, what is your problem?
Do you not see that the precarious fate of our civilized world lies wholly in our realization that 'WE', collectively the people of all free nations, must come together to confront, engage and win this war (YES, this IS a war) against an enemy whose one purpose is to destroy us and our very way of life forever?
Islamic terrorists are worse than bad. Al queda, Hezbollah, Hamas, whatever name they go by, they are the Nazis of the 21st century. They are murdering fanatics who are misguided by an insane theocracy which preaches and justifies the destruction of all infidels (non-Muslims).
Islamic terrorists deliberately and intentionally kill innocent people by beheading them, slitting their throats, or by burning and mutilating their bodies. They fly airplanes into buildings. They enlist suicide bombers to inflict maximum casualties. They incite hatred against democratic nations; nations whose foundations are built on intrinsic values such as freedom of choice, equal rights for women, and the freedom to practice one's faith without fear of persecution. Our founding forefathers referred to these rights on one very important document as "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness".
This assault, this Jihad, is directed against America AND Israel, and against the defining principles that our democracies hold true. We MUST heed the urgent call to defend our way of life or we will not survive.
This is a new kind of war. The enemy no longer engages in battle on the frontline. They wear no uniform. They attack from holes. They hide within mosques, hospitals, schools, and other infrastructure of their civilian population. This enemy has NO regard for human life, not even for its own non-extremist brother who is a mere pawn to the Jihad 'cause'. With cunning ruthlessness, this cowardly army pillages under the safety net of innocent victims caught in the crossfire. The terrorists, the REAL perpetrators, show no respect for rules of engagement. Their lack of respect for life is the root cause for creating humanitarian crises. There isn't a shard of humanity amongst the lot of them.
This has happened to the general Iraqi populace and it is currently happening to the Lebanese people suffering displacement in the Israeli Offensive to root out Hezbollah terrorists from the very backyards these innocent civilians had called home. The terrorist 'cause' to incite hatred against the Israelis is obviously working, just as the terrorist 'cause' to incite hatred against America and our armed forces in Iraq is working. The twisted propaganda of their Jihad is festering like a tumor on the Arab world, a European Union that can only offer useless policies of appeasement, and those here on the Left who want to hold the terrorists hands, sing Kum-ba-ya around the cease-barnfire, let bygones be bygones, and hope to appeal to the terrorists 'human' nature, making sure we do whatever it takes not to offend them again.
It's fair game under the rules of this war for any of these fanatics to reap fear, suffering, death and destruction upon us. But it's NOT okay for us to draw a cartoon, Allah forbid, say something negative about the Koran, humiliate a detained mass murdering insurgent, deprive him of sleep or other rights guaranteed under the Geneva convention, which, by the way, doesn't apply to terrorists . Those rights are afforded to real soldiers of war, the uniformed kind who back in the old days let you know exactly who you were shooting at.
Jihad is spinning the story, the media is selling and the public is buying. Is the New York Times, which regularly prints government sensitive material under the premise 'the public has a right to know', not aware they are in fact disclosing information and strategies that could aid and abet our enemies in a time of war? Isn't that called treason? Oh, and by the way, Osama, here is how we are spying on you, so make sure you get a new unlisted cell phone number tomorrow.
What about that totally ineffective 'world body' we call the United Nations? Thanks to their consistent policy of doing NOTHING, Iran and Syria are now well on their way to acquiring or developing weapons of mass destruction and the ultimate 'end-everything-everybody-weapon', the dreaded nuclear bomb.
Who, aside from an Islamic kook, could dare to accuse the Bush administration of causing the current world crisis? Should we never have fought back, even after nineteen terrorists killed three thousand of our own citizens, forever changing the skyline of the greatest city in the free world? Should we not have taken out Saddam Hussein, the most dangerous dictator in all the Middle East, saving hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi lives in the process? Should the Israelis not defend themselves against the daily assault they have endured for fifty years upon their tiny little country, part of which they have actually GIVEN BACK to the Arabs? Should we believe Iran when they say there is no such thing as the Holocaust?
We didn't start this war. We can no longer afford to be blindsided. Not now. Not after September 11th; not after al queda's proclamation to the world that western civilization must be destroyed; and certainly not after Iran perfectly made clear its intention to annihilate Israel with a nuke just as soon as they can get their hands on one. It is a dead fool who believes he can negotiate with terrorists. There is no negotiating. There can be no appeasement. The only good terrorist is a DEAD terrorist.
I am proud to stand with those of us who truly love this country and everything the United States of America stands for. I salute Israel and its people. They have shown, and they continue to show endless courage in defending their right to exist. Against all odds, they have NEVER given up, no matter the cost. No people, to my knowledge, have paid more dearly to exist than the Jewish people. I truly believe that Israel could be our greatest asset in the war on terror. They have the guts to stand up for what they believe in. Can this country ever come together with that kind of conviction? I hope and pray so for our children and for our children's children. What has to happen to our United States of America before the other half of us will step up to the plate? We are one nation under God, or we will be none under Allah.
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Thank you for listening. If any of this should offend or shock you, I make no apology. I don't hate anybody other than the terrorists. This is how I feel. I am thankful that I can freely voice my opinion and be allowed to live. That is because I AM an American in America, which in spite of its multitude of problems, is still the GREATEST country in the world. I am also an Aries, and I cannot for the life of me tolerate indecision, inaction, incompetence, or injustice. If you don't agree, simply delete it. But I hope that if you DO agree with anything or everything, that you might just pass this on.
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Friday, July 28, 2006
The LIES and LACK OF INTELLIGENCE that led us into IRAQ
NEVER FORGET IT: BAD = Bush ADministration
“The Iraqi dictator must not be permitted to threaten America and the world with horrible poisons and diseases and gases and atomic weapons.”
- George W. Bush, Oct. 7, 2002
The problem with the above statement: it was a complete and utter lie. There never were any poisons and diseases and gases and atomic weapons in Iraq. Of all the dictators in the world, Bush had to pick Saddam Hussein. “After all, he (Saddam) was the guy who tried to kill my Dad,” he told one reporter in 2003. As if that reason justified sending thousands of our own Americans off to die?
There are a dozen other dictators who need to be put in place, a dozen other places where democracy perhaps needs to be “spread,” but Bush picked Iraq. Omar al-Bashir of Sudan has killed 70,000 and continues to enslave women and children, yet the BAD didn’t go there. Kim Jong II of North Korea holds Freedom House’s worst score for political rights and civil liberties for the 33rd straight year and has even admitted to having weapons of mass destruction, yet the BAD didn’t want to go there. The sexist and radical Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia promotes Wahhabism, which is an extreme form of Islam practiced by terrorists from Saudi Arabia like the ones who attacked us on 9/11, yet the BAD didn’t attack there. Instead, we saw Abdullah and Bush holding hands when the Prince came to vacation at the Crawford ranch.
So why did the United States attack Iraq? Just remember every time you fill up your gas tank, as costly as it now is, that this raping of your wallet is why the BAD attacked Iraq. Oil is the reason and it is more than quite evident.
We have heard too many stories of Saddam’s terror on his own people, yet no one tells us that these same people who Saddam killed were radical terrorists on a mission to kill innocent civilians and start a civil war— the very thing Bush has accomplished. In reality, Saddam did the same exact thing that Bush said he was doing— fighting terrorism. There is also no proof that Saddam gassed as many as the BAD claim, but if he did, it was with weapons we gave him in the 80’s. There is, however, proof that the United States killed over 500,000 Iraqi women and children by repetitive bombing and imposed sanctions from 1991-2001. There is also solid proof that another 40,000 + civilians were killed by the United States in the attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq. But let’s assume Saddam did in fact kill his own people; he wouldn’t be the first. The United States slaughtered thousands of innocent Native Americans, millions of Japanese in the unnecessary demolition of two civilian cities in Japan, and millions in Southeast Asia in Korea and Vietnam. Hey, our government has even killed our own too. Remember when four students were killed in 1970 at Kent State University? Remember ten days later at Jackson State College where two more students were gunned down by police? How about all of the minorities who have been killed due to police brutality? How about all of the racial lynchings down in the south? How about the fact that the United States is one of the only civilized nations in the world that still uses the death penalty? Saddam Hussein was certainly not innocent, but neither are we.
LIES
In January 2003, Bush stood before Congress and delivered his State of the Union Address to the American people. He solemnly broke the news to us how Iraq was in possession of “26,000 liters of Anthrax; 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin; 500 tons of serin, mustard and VX gas; mobile biological weapons labs and stations; and uranium obtained from Niger to build nuclear weapons of mass destruction.” Bush also informed us of the bad news of how the Middle East nation of Iraq had connections to terrorism and Al Qaeda. Over two years later in spring of 2005 with U.S. soldiers still dying in Iraq, the United States government hung up their boots, quit their search for weapons, and went home deserting the troops. The search for weapons of mass destruction and links to terrorism was over. The results: ZERO!
“Hussein has in fact reinstated nuclear weapons.” Cheney
“We know for a fact there are weapons there.” Fleischer
“There clearly are contacts between al Qaeda and Iraq.” Rice
Of course, some members of the BAD even mixed up their stories and tried to defend their stance:
“I don’t know anybody who I could think of who has contended that the Iraqis have nuclear weapons.” Rumsfeld
The BAD had lied again. The world knows it now, many of us knew it then, yet Bush still won’t admit it and say he’s sorry. Most of us know now that he lied, but how many lies did he and his administration tell? And what were the reasons behind them? Let’s first look at some of the most notorious ones:
LIE: “The evidence indicates that Iraq is reconstituting its nuclear weapons program. Iraq has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes and other equipment needed for gas centrifuges, which are used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons.”
-President Bush, Oct. 7, 2002, in Cincinnati
LIE: “The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.”
-President Bush, Jan.28, 2003, State of the Union
LIE: “We believe [Saddam] has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons.”
-VP Cheney on March 16, 2003 on Meet the Press
LIE: “The Iraqi regime possesses biological and chemical weapons...And according to the British government, the Iraqi regime could launch a biological or chemical attack in as little as 45 minutes.”
-President Bush on September 26, 2002
LIE: “[The CIA possesses] solid reporting of senior-level contacts between Iraq and al-Qaeda going back a decade.”
-CIA Director George Tenet in a written statement released Oct. 7, 2002
LIE: “We’ve learned that Iraq has trained al-Qaeda members in bomb-making and poisons and deadly gases ... Alliance with terrorists could allow the Iraqi regime to attack America without leaving any fingerprints.”
-President Bush, Oct. 7, 2002
LIE: “We have also discovered through intelligence that Iraq has a growing fleet of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to disperse chemical or biological weapons across broad areas. We are concerned that Iraq is exploring ways of using these UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] for missions targeting the United States.”
-President Bush, Oct. 7, 2002
LIE: “We have seen intelligence over many months that they have chemical and biological weapons, and that they have dispersed them and that they’re weaponized...”
-President Bush, Feb. 8, 2003, in a radio address
LIE: “Our conservative estimate is that Iraq today has a stockpile of between 100 and 500 tons of chemical weapons agents. That is enough to fill 16,000 battlefield rockets.”
-Secretary of State Colin Powell, Feb. 5 2003, in remarks to the UN Security Council
LIE: “We know where they [Iraq’s WMD] are. They’re in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south, and north somewhat.”
-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, March 30, 2003, in statements to the press
LIE: “Yes, we found a biological laboratory in Iraq, which the UN prohibited.”
-President Bush in Poland, June 1, 2003
These lies could go on for pages but I won’t waste your time. You get the point. You have…
INTELLIGENCE
“It is somewhat puzzling that you have 100% certainty about WMD’s existence and 0 certainty of where they are.”
- Hans Blix
Bush: “That intelligence was good sound intelligence.”
Rumsfeld: “The intelligence we were operating off of was correct.”
The truth— The administration used circumstantial evidence from the late eighties and early nineties.
Old Information = New Conclusions!
So let’s just forget about Dan Rather and the papers someone else handed him. Pushing their bogus African-Uranium theory, this administration used FORGED documents to go to WAR. Dates didn’t match the days of the week, French words were misspelled in a document written in French, and a document that was supposed to be new was signed by a Niger official who left office 10 years ago.
Bush and his administration have not apologized, but they have insinuated that there were some “problems with intelligence.” Ok, let’s assume for just a moment that I am wrong, along with the CIA, FBI, and other government officials as well as many other governments from around the world who believe the BAD lied for political and financial gain. Let’s forget about the proof of their connections to the oil industry and Halliburton and all of their profits. Let’s forget about the facts and pretend for a moment the BAD was right. Let’s pretend Bush went into Iraq because he really thought there were WMD and links to terrorism? Now what does that say? This would mean that there was indeed a major intelligence failure.
Wait! Wasn’t 9/11 a major intelligence failure also? Even after 9/11, more than two years later, the administration was still botching up intelligence? If this is the case then we’re in big trouble. Either way— lies or failed intelligence— the administration is at fault. But I guess blaming the failed intelligence on federal employees and other governments is better than blaming yourself and the oil and defense corporations that pressured you to go to war in the first place.
“The Iraqi dictator must not be permitted to threaten America and the world with horrible poisons and diseases and gases and atomic weapons.”
- George W. Bush, Oct. 7, 2002
The problem with the above statement: it was a complete and utter lie. There never were any poisons and diseases and gases and atomic weapons in Iraq. Of all the dictators in the world, Bush had to pick Saddam Hussein. “After all, he (Saddam) was the guy who tried to kill my Dad,” he told one reporter in 2003. As if that reason justified sending thousands of our own Americans off to die?
There are a dozen other dictators who need to be put in place, a dozen other places where democracy perhaps needs to be “spread,” but Bush picked Iraq. Omar al-Bashir of Sudan has killed 70,000 and continues to enslave women and children, yet the BAD didn’t go there. Kim Jong II of North Korea holds Freedom House’s worst score for political rights and civil liberties for the 33rd straight year and has even admitted to having weapons of mass destruction, yet the BAD didn’t want to go there. The sexist and radical Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia promotes Wahhabism, which is an extreme form of Islam practiced by terrorists from Saudi Arabia like the ones who attacked us on 9/11, yet the BAD didn’t attack there. Instead, we saw Abdullah and Bush holding hands when the Prince came to vacation at the Crawford ranch.
So why did the United States attack Iraq? Just remember every time you fill up your gas tank, as costly as it now is, that this raping of your wallet is why the BAD attacked Iraq. Oil is the reason and it is more than quite evident.
We have heard too many stories of Saddam’s terror on his own people, yet no one tells us that these same people who Saddam killed were radical terrorists on a mission to kill innocent civilians and start a civil war— the very thing Bush has accomplished. In reality, Saddam did the same exact thing that Bush said he was doing— fighting terrorism. There is also no proof that Saddam gassed as many as the BAD claim, but if he did, it was with weapons we gave him in the 80’s. There is, however, proof that the United States killed over 500,000 Iraqi women and children by repetitive bombing and imposed sanctions from 1991-2001. There is also solid proof that another 40,000 + civilians were killed by the United States in the attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq. But let’s assume Saddam did in fact kill his own people; he wouldn’t be the first. The United States slaughtered thousands of innocent Native Americans, millions of Japanese in the unnecessary demolition of two civilian cities in Japan, and millions in Southeast Asia in Korea and Vietnam. Hey, our government has even killed our own too. Remember when four students were killed in 1970 at Kent State University? Remember ten days later at Jackson State College where two more students were gunned down by police? How about all of the minorities who have been killed due to police brutality? How about all of the racial lynchings down in the south? How about the fact that the United States is one of the only civilized nations in the world that still uses the death penalty? Saddam Hussein was certainly not innocent, but neither are we.
LIES
In January 2003, Bush stood before Congress and delivered his State of the Union Address to the American people. He solemnly broke the news to us how Iraq was in possession of “26,000 liters of Anthrax; 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin; 500 tons of serin, mustard and VX gas; mobile biological weapons labs and stations; and uranium obtained from Niger to build nuclear weapons of mass destruction.” Bush also informed us of the bad news of how the Middle East nation of Iraq had connections to terrorism and Al Qaeda. Over two years later in spring of 2005 with U.S. soldiers still dying in Iraq, the United States government hung up their boots, quit their search for weapons, and went home deserting the troops. The search for weapons of mass destruction and links to terrorism was over. The results: ZERO!
“Hussein has in fact reinstated nuclear weapons.” Cheney
“We know for a fact there are weapons there.” Fleischer
“There clearly are contacts between al Qaeda and Iraq.” Rice
Of course, some members of the BAD even mixed up their stories and tried to defend their stance:
“I don’t know anybody who I could think of who has contended that the Iraqis have nuclear weapons.” Rumsfeld
The BAD had lied again. The world knows it now, many of us knew it then, yet Bush still won’t admit it and say he’s sorry. Most of us know now that he lied, but how many lies did he and his administration tell? And what were the reasons behind them? Let’s first look at some of the most notorious ones:
LIE: “The evidence indicates that Iraq is reconstituting its nuclear weapons program. Iraq has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes and other equipment needed for gas centrifuges, which are used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons.”
-President Bush, Oct. 7, 2002, in Cincinnati
LIE: “The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.”
-President Bush, Jan.28, 2003, State of the Union
LIE: “We believe [Saddam] has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons.”
-VP Cheney on March 16, 2003 on Meet the Press
LIE: “The Iraqi regime possesses biological and chemical weapons...And according to the British government, the Iraqi regime could launch a biological or chemical attack in as little as 45 minutes.”
-President Bush on September 26, 2002
LIE: “[The CIA possesses] solid reporting of senior-level contacts between Iraq and al-Qaeda going back a decade.”
-CIA Director George Tenet in a written statement released Oct. 7, 2002
LIE: “We’ve learned that Iraq has trained al-Qaeda members in bomb-making and poisons and deadly gases ... Alliance with terrorists could allow the Iraqi regime to attack America without leaving any fingerprints.”
-President Bush, Oct. 7, 2002
LIE: “We have also discovered through intelligence that Iraq has a growing fleet of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to disperse chemical or biological weapons across broad areas. We are concerned that Iraq is exploring ways of using these UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] for missions targeting the United States.”
-President Bush, Oct. 7, 2002
LIE: “We have seen intelligence over many months that they have chemical and biological weapons, and that they have dispersed them and that they’re weaponized...”
-President Bush, Feb. 8, 2003, in a radio address
LIE: “Our conservative estimate is that Iraq today has a stockpile of between 100 and 500 tons of chemical weapons agents. That is enough to fill 16,000 battlefield rockets.”
-Secretary of State Colin Powell, Feb. 5 2003, in remarks to the UN Security Council
LIE: “We know where they [Iraq’s WMD] are. They’re in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south, and north somewhat.”
-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, March 30, 2003, in statements to the press
LIE: “Yes, we found a biological laboratory in Iraq, which the UN prohibited.”
-President Bush in Poland, June 1, 2003
These lies could go on for pages but I won’t waste your time. You get the point. You have…
INTELLIGENCE
“It is somewhat puzzling that you have 100% certainty about WMD’s existence and 0 certainty of where they are.”
- Hans Blix
Bush: “That intelligence was good sound intelligence.”
Rumsfeld: “The intelligence we were operating off of was correct.”
The truth— The administration used circumstantial evidence from the late eighties and early nineties.
Old Information = New Conclusions!
So let’s just forget about Dan Rather and the papers someone else handed him. Pushing their bogus African-Uranium theory, this administration used FORGED documents to go to WAR. Dates didn’t match the days of the week, French words were misspelled in a document written in French, and a document that was supposed to be new was signed by a Niger official who left office 10 years ago.
Bush and his administration have not apologized, but they have insinuated that there were some “problems with intelligence.” Ok, let’s assume for just a moment that I am wrong, along with the CIA, FBI, and other government officials as well as many other governments from around the world who believe the BAD lied for political and financial gain. Let’s forget about the proof of their connections to the oil industry and Halliburton and all of their profits. Let’s forget about the facts and pretend for a moment the BAD was right. Let’s pretend Bush went into Iraq because he really thought there were WMD and links to terrorism? Now what does that say? This would mean that there was indeed a major intelligence failure.
Wait! Wasn’t 9/11 a major intelligence failure also? Even after 9/11, more than two years later, the administration was still botching up intelligence? If this is the case then we’re in big trouble. Either way— lies or failed intelligence— the administration is at fault. But I guess blaming the failed intelligence on federal employees and other governments is better than blaming yourself and the oil and defense corporations that pressured you to go to war in the first place.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
George W. Bush's accomplishments as President
● Invaded and occupied two countries at a continuing cost of over one billion dollars per week.
● Lied to the entire world about his reasons for attacking Iraq, and then blamed the lies on his British friends.
● Supported development of a nuclear “Tactical Bunker Buster,” a Weapon of Mass Destruction. ● Spent the U.S. surplus and effectively bankrupted the U.S. Treasury.
● Set an economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12-month period.
● Set a record for most home foreclosures in U.S. history.
● Set the record for most days on vacation in any one-year period for a sitting president.
● Set the record for fewest press conferences than any president in the age of television.
● Largest lifetime campaign contributor, and one of his best friends, Kenneth Lay, presided over the largest corporate bankruptcy fraud in U.S. history. Bush’s political party used the Enron private jets and corporate attorneys during the 2000 selection scandal.
● Oversaw the loss of over 10 million jobs and counting.
● Appointed more convicted criminals to an administration than any other president.
● Appointed more unqualified persons to an administration than any other president.
● Became the first president in U.S. history to enter office with a criminal record— drunk driving 9/4/76.
● Presided over the biggest energy crisis in U.S. history and refused to intervene when corruption was revealed.
● Presided over the highest gasoline prices in U.S. history.
● Became the most simultaneously protested person in public venues world wide in the history of civilization.
● The first president in U.S. history to have the United Nations remove the U.S. from the Human Rights Commission.
● Withdrew the U.S. from the World Court of Law.
● Refused to allow inspectors access to U.S. prisoners of war “detainees,” and thereby refused to abide by the Geneva Convention.
● The first president in history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 U.S. election).
● The first U.S. president in history to have a majority of Europeans (71%) view his presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and security.
● Failed to capture Osama Bin Laden when he said he would.
The list goes on and on!
● Lied to the entire world about his reasons for attacking Iraq, and then blamed the lies on his British friends.
● Supported development of a nuclear “Tactical Bunker Buster,” a Weapon of Mass Destruction. ● Spent the U.S. surplus and effectively bankrupted the U.S. Treasury.
● Set an economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12-month period.
● Set a record for most home foreclosures in U.S. history.
● Set the record for most days on vacation in any one-year period for a sitting president.
● Set the record for fewest press conferences than any president in the age of television.
● Largest lifetime campaign contributor, and one of his best friends, Kenneth Lay, presided over the largest corporate bankruptcy fraud in U.S. history. Bush’s political party used the Enron private jets and corporate attorneys during the 2000 selection scandal.
● Oversaw the loss of over 10 million jobs and counting.
● Appointed more convicted criminals to an administration than any other president.
● Appointed more unqualified persons to an administration than any other president.
● Became the first president in U.S. history to enter office with a criminal record— drunk driving 9/4/76.
● Presided over the biggest energy crisis in U.S. history and refused to intervene when corruption was revealed.
● Presided over the highest gasoline prices in U.S. history.
● Became the most simultaneously protested person in public venues world wide in the history of civilization.
● The first president in U.S. history to have the United Nations remove the U.S. from the Human Rights Commission.
● Withdrew the U.S. from the World Court of Law.
● Refused to allow inspectors access to U.S. prisoners of war “detainees,” and thereby refused to abide by the Geneva Convention.
● The first president in history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 U.S. election).
● The first U.S. president in history to have a majority of Europeans (71%) view his presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and security.
● Failed to capture Osama Bin Laden when he said he would.
The list goes on and on!
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Things are heating up this summer
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -
Gripped by a 10th straight day of 100-degree heat, the number of suspected heat-related deaths in California climbed to at least 53 on Tuesday and the rotting carcasses of thousands of dairy cows and other livestock baked in the sun.
Some communities faced their third day without electricity as the record-breaking temperatures strained transmission equipment.
"We're asking people for one more day of conservation," said Gregg Fishman of the California Independent System Operator, which manages the state's power grid. "We're not out of the woods yet."
The stretch of 100-plus-degree scorchers that descended on the state last week marks the first time in 57 years that both Northern and Southern California have experienced extended heat waves simultaneously, California Undersecretary for Energy Affairs Joe Desmond said.
In the Central Valley, where most of the deaths have occurred, temperatures were expected to reach 100 to 105 degrees on Tuesday, down from 110 to 115 in previous days. Truly cooler weather was not expected until Wednesday.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14024095/
Gripped by a 10th straight day of 100-degree heat, the number of suspected heat-related deaths in California climbed to at least 53 on Tuesday and the rotting carcasses of thousands of dairy cows and other livestock baked in the sun.
Some communities faced their third day without electricity as the record-breaking temperatures strained transmission equipment.
"We're asking people for one more day of conservation," said Gregg Fishman of the California Independent System Operator, which manages the state's power grid. "We're not out of the woods yet."
The stretch of 100-plus-degree scorchers that descended on the state last week marks the first time in 57 years that both Northern and Southern California have experienced extended heat waves simultaneously, California Undersecretary for Energy Affairs Joe Desmond said.
In the Central Valley, where most of the deaths have occurred, temperatures were expected to reach 100 to 105 degrees on Tuesday, down from 110 to 115 in previous days. Truly cooler weather was not expected until Wednesday.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14024095/
Sunday, July 16, 2006
ATTACK ON THE ENVIRONMENT
ATTACK ON THE ENVIRONMENT excerpts from Broken Nation
The land was once spiritually sacred to the Natives here in North America. They believed God lived on the mountains and so they protected the mountains. They believed God lived in the lakes and streams so they protected the lakes and streams. They believed God lived in the trees and so they protected the trees. If people still believed this, illegal logging and clear-cutting of forests would never have occurred. In many parts of the world including the United States, God has been removed from nature. And now their little Noah will have to face a much bigger flood, literally.
America is faced with a crisis that is being ignored by too many— the degradation of the environment and nature. This crisis is only getting worse due to the current administration and their anti-environmental policies. But the Bush Administration has a few logical reasons why they are so against conserving the environment. Money is one motivating factor; Another is their disrespect for America’s natural heritage, which happens to be a core American value now in jeopardy.
FORESTS AND WILDLIFE
There are two things that stand in the way of the timber industry, preventing it from making its maximum profit—they are the forest itself and the wildlife in it. Environmentalists and scientists have been fighting a gruesome battle with the Bush Administration from day one in 2001. The George H.W. Bush Administration (1989-1992) listed an average of 58 species per year on the endangered and threatened list. The Clinton Administration (1993-2000) listed an average of 65 species per year. As of 2005, the current Bush Administration had only listed 31 species since 2001—and all have been by court order. More endangered or threatened species means less habitat destruction, which means less profit for the timber industry as well as the oil and mining industries.
The administration has found a way around some of the environmentalists who are fighting to save endangered species and forests. They’ve created their own advisory and review boards to undermine the qualified ones. One example is in the fight to save the Northwestern Spotted Owl, which Al Gore coincidentally fought hard to and succeeded in protecting during his tenure as a U.S. senator. The administration has claimed that there is new evidence that contradicts the previous findings, suggesting there is no need to protect the species. The administration has hired its own private “investigation” team to reevaluate the threat. Whether they will be successful in overturning the previous findings and changing the law is uncertain, but it’s just their attempt that’s frightening enough.
Another example of the administration’s tactics is their creation of a five person “review team” made up of predominantly non-scientists who proceeded to overrule a $12 million science-based plan for managing old-growth forest and reducing the risk of fire. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, “This non-scientific team has undermined 9 years worth of work from over 100 reputable scientists from both the Forest Service and academia.” A scientific review panel put together by the Forest Service recently found that the new reviews fail to consider key scientific information.
During his 2000 presidential bid, Bush was the top recipient of donations from the forestry and forest products industry, receiving nearly $300,000. In return, Bush overturned the Roadless Rule in the southeast Alaskan Tongass National Forest, which happens to be the largest national forest in the U.S. According to the Associated Press, more than 2.5 million comments were submitted on the Roadless Rule during the six month public comment process and 98 percent of the comments submitted supported keeping the rule intact. But the ADMINISTRATION have never been about majorities.
On August 22, 2002, Bush proposed a policy for our national forests which would make it easier for timber companies to log and remove trees and brush from 190 million acres of the most “fire-prone forests” across the country. Bush asked the Departments of Agriculture and the Interior and his Council on Environmental Quality to authorize thinning projects on an emergency basis, as well as to find ways of rushing through environmental assessments. According to the Associated Press, Bush also asked Congress to pass legislation that will ensure that vital forest restoration projects are not tied up in courts.
The administration has designated some land to protected wilderness: 530,000 acres. But when looking at it in perspective, Ronald Reagan designated 10,600,000 acres. Even the “Great Communicator” knew better! On the other hand, the “Administration Communicator” Bush, is just up to his neck in debts to old friends and campaign contributors.
BIG OIL AND GAS
We all know by now that “Big Oil and Gas” is having a major effect on politics and world peace, but its most devastating impact is the degradation of the environment. In 2000, the Energy Department of the Clinton Administration said the U.S. could cut all energy consumption by 45% by 2030 through the use of energy efficiency and more renewable sources. In the process they said we would create 773,000 new jobs and save consumers over $1 trillion by 2010. So what happened to these positive estimates? Were they made up and then forgotten about?
The answer is the Energy Department changed under a new administration and began a very different agenda, one that includes oil. The truth is, Bush is working for big oil and gas, and when the big oil and gas corporations want maximum profit the environment suffers. First, look at the 1.5 million dollars in contributions Bush received in 1999 and 2000 from the oil and gas industry. These are record-breaking contributions. Bush actually set an all time U.S. and world record for receiving the most corporate campaign contributions. It is also important to remember that Bush has presided over the highest gasoline prices in U.S. history.
Defending these industries are huge law firms like Troutman Sanders, which defended Mobile in one of many cases for underground gas leaks. This firm is notoriously known for defending the worst corporate polluters, and members of the firm just happened to contribute to both George W. Bush and Tom DeLay. Furthermore, according to their own website,
The firm has helped energy companies launch numerous new business ventures…Attorneys have close relationships with officials at the White House, Congress, FERC, Department of Energy, SEC, state legislatures, and other agencies…Many Troutman Sanders attorneys have spent part of their careers inside government. The Firm’s attorneys have drafted and lobbied for the enactment of many pieces of energy legislation. By virtue of its experience and relationships with key policymakers, the Firm is well-positioned to influence the development of public policy.
And so the firm even proudly admits it is “well-positioned to influence the development of public policy.” Not a good thing for American democracy! Remember that when corporate defenders are in charge of public policy, we have what Mussolini called Corporatism, a.k.a. fascism.
Let’s look at the president’s top associates. The members of his administration are the wealthiest of any administration in history with direct ties to the oil and gas industry. Vice President Dick Cheney is the former CEO of Halliburton Oil in Dallas, Texas and still collects a healthy pension. Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton defended the lead paint industry and is a protégé of the infamous anti-environmentalist James Watt. Norton has also argued that the Endangered Species Act is unconstitutional! Deputy Secretary of the Interior J. Stephen Griles is a former vice president of a mining company and also worked under James Watt. Griles also lobbied for petroleum, mining, and oil companies. Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Rebecca Watson is a former lawyer for gas, timber, and petroleum companies. Another superb appointee of Bush’s is Sam Bodman, Secretary of Energy. Bodman also has a clear conflict of interest. He ran a Texas-based chemical company, one that “spent years on the top five lists of the country’s worst polluters,” according to Jason Leopald of Earth Island Journal. Bodman also worked for the Cabot Corporation, which spewed over 54,000 tons of toxic emissions into Texas skies just in the year 1997 alone. The company was also accused by the United Nations in 2002 for “helping fuel the wars in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where Cabot also illegally plundered the vast natural resources.” In 2000, after years of breaking environmental regulations, Bodman was appointed as Deputy Commerce Secretary. Being one of the administration's wealthiest, and also a fair contributor to the Bush campaign, Bodman still owns major stock in Cabot, yet he was promoted to Energy Secretary. These major examples are only the tip of the iceberg. There are obvious personal interests on the agenda of the Bush Administration and they all have to do with modern industrialism.
The administration has done more than hire former employees of the energy sector. You can’t get what you want—drilling the Alaskan tundra, mining the Everglades, etc. without battling the ones who oppose it—the leading world scientists. So Bush went ahead and hired their own scientists. Scientists? Well, maybe not.
SCIENCE MISPLACED
In February 2004, The Union of Concerned Scientists released an extensive report titled Scientific Integrity in Policy Making, which investigated the administration’s misuse of science. This well documented report revealed many frightening facts of the administration’s tampering with scientific fact to gain their own advantage for special interests. The report emphasized that “the administration has consistently sought to undermine the public’s understanding of the view held by the vast majority of climate scientists that human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases are making a discernible contribution to global warming.” The administration’s reasons are, of course, to appease the industry that supports them. For example, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, in September 2002, the administration deleted a section on climate control from the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) annual air pollution report. One other White House alteration to the EPA’s draft reports in 2003 was the insertion of a reference to a discredited study of temperature records helped funded by the American Petroleum Institute.
According to Dr. Bierbaum from the Office of Science and Technology, who left after the first year of the Bush administration, “The scientists who knew the most about climate change at OSTP were not allowed to participate in deliberations on the issue within the White House inner circle.” The administration is evidently trying to centralize all review of scientific information, which is essential in policy making. And not only is the White House keeping the government’s key specialists out of their areas, they are also appointing their own. One of two appointed Associate Directors, Richard M. Russell, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and nothing more. No Doctorate, no Master’s degree, and no experience in a technology related field. There is certainly no shortage of qualified scientists or technicians, except a qualified person might not necessarily agree so easily with the administration’s politics and ethics.
Here’s another example of an appointment for the sole purpose and benefit of the administration’s special interests. Tommy Thompson, Secretary of Health and Human Services, rejected five qualified nominees and appointed individuals who were guaranteed to oppose the tightening of federal lead poisoning standards. One appointee, Dr. William Banner, had previously testified in court on behalf of Sherwin Williams in a lead poisoning case. According to scientists, Banner was either ignoring or just not comprehending forty years of data that proves the dangers of lead paint— all to defend a corporation. Note Gale Norton’s past experience with the lead paint industry. So not only is the environment suffering because the Bush Administration is tied into these types of big corporations, but they are also jeopardizing the safety of our children— all to defend a corporation and make a quick buck.
If you don’t believe this, just look at the environmental law changes and subsequent damage Bush achieved as governor of Texas, now the most polluted state. During his governorship, Houston beat out Los Angeles as the smoggiest city in America. Just watch the local cancer rates in the coming years—they are guaranteed to go up. Stronger pollution laws would DEFINITELY lower cancer rates and improve everyone’s overall quality of life, but judging by Bush’s healthcare record he obviously doesn’t care about that either.
CONCLUSION
What this environmental crisis comes down to is Bush supports the aging and worried industries of this country and vice versa. Old ways over progress. These industries are worried because when it comes to energy our technology has far surpassed our need for oil. Alternative energy is challenging the oil and gas industry. Wind, Solar, and Hydro sources of energy are bound to eventually take over. The current energy industry is trying to do everything in its power to stop the funding and initiation process of an alternative energy industry.
One hundred fifty years ago, George W. Bush may have very well been everyone’s hero— a president aggressive in industry and war was favored. However, that was 150 years ago in a very different era. War is much different now and industry is no longer necessary in the same terms as it was then. Bush has been running this country as though it were still the 19th century. Perhaps nature itself will be the one to knock the cowboy off his horse; but unfortunately we'll be the ones who are going to suffer, as already seen with Hurricane Katrina. It's time to change the way we think, vote, and live. Or it'll change us.
The land was once spiritually sacred to the Natives here in North America. They believed God lived on the mountains and so they protected the mountains. They believed God lived in the lakes and streams so they protected the lakes and streams. They believed God lived in the trees and so they protected the trees. If people still believed this, illegal logging and clear-cutting of forests would never have occurred. In many parts of the world including the United States, God has been removed from nature. And now their little Noah will have to face a much bigger flood, literally.
America is faced with a crisis that is being ignored by too many— the degradation of the environment and nature. This crisis is only getting worse due to the current administration and their anti-environmental policies. But the Bush Administration has a few logical reasons why they are so against conserving the environment. Money is one motivating factor; Another is their disrespect for America’s natural heritage, which happens to be a core American value now in jeopardy.
FORESTS AND WILDLIFE
There are two things that stand in the way of the timber industry, preventing it from making its maximum profit—they are the forest itself and the wildlife in it. Environmentalists and scientists have been fighting a gruesome battle with the Bush Administration from day one in 2001. The George H.W. Bush Administration (1989-1992) listed an average of 58 species per year on the endangered and threatened list. The Clinton Administration (1993-2000) listed an average of 65 species per year. As of 2005, the current Bush Administration had only listed 31 species since 2001—and all have been by court order. More endangered or threatened species means less habitat destruction, which means less profit for the timber industry as well as the oil and mining industries.
The administration has found a way around some of the environmentalists who are fighting to save endangered species and forests. They’ve created their own advisory and review boards to undermine the qualified ones. One example is in the fight to save the Northwestern Spotted Owl, which Al Gore coincidentally fought hard to and succeeded in protecting during his tenure as a U.S. senator. The administration has claimed that there is new evidence that contradicts the previous findings, suggesting there is no need to protect the species. The administration has hired its own private “investigation” team to reevaluate the threat. Whether they will be successful in overturning the previous findings and changing the law is uncertain, but it’s just their attempt that’s frightening enough.
Another example of the administration’s tactics is their creation of a five person “review team” made up of predominantly non-scientists who proceeded to overrule a $12 million science-based plan for managing old-growth forest and reducing the risk of fire. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, “This non-scientific team has undermined 9 years worth of work from over 100 reputable scientists from both the Forest Service and academia.” A scientific review panel put together by the Forest Service recently found that the new reviews fail to consider key scientific information.
During his 2000 presidential bid, Bush was the top recipient of donations from the forestry and forest products industry, receiving nearly $300,000. In return, Bush overturned the Roadless Rule in the southeast Alaskan Tongass National Forest, which happens to be the largest national forest in the U.S. According to the Associated Press, more than 2.5 million comments were submitted on the Roadless Rule during the six month public comment process and 98 percent of the comments submitted supported keeping the rule intact. But the ADMINISTRATION have never been about majorities.
On August 22, 2002, Bush proposed a policy for our national forests which would make it easier for timber companies to log and remove trees and brush from 190 million acres of the most “fire-prone forests” across the country. Bush asked the Departments of Agriculture and the Interior and his Council on Environmental Quality to authorize thinning projects on an emergency basis, as well as to find ways of rushing through environmental assessments. According to the Associated Press, Bush also asked Congress to pass legislation that will ensure that vital forest restoration projects are not tied up in courts.
The administration has designated some land to protected wilderness: 530,000 acres. But when looking at it in perspective, Ronald Reagan designated 10,600,000 acres. Even the “Great Communicator” knew better! On the other hand, the “Administration Communicator” Bush, is just up to his neck in debts to old friends and campaign contributors.
BIG OIL AND GAS
We all know by now that “Big Oil and Gas” is having a major effect on politics and world peace, but its most devastating impact is the degradation of the environment. In 2000, the Energy Department of the Clinton Administration said the U.S. could cut all energy consumption by 45% by 2030 through the use of energy efficiency and more renewable sources. In the process they said we would create 773,000 new jobs and save consumers over $1 trillion by 2010. So what happened to these positive estimates? Were they made up and then forgotten about?
The answer is the Energy Department changed under a new administration and began a very different agenda, one that includes oil. The truth is, Bush is working for big oil and gas, and when the big oil and gas corporations want maximum profit the environment suffers. First, look at the 1.5 million dollars in contributions Bush received in 1999 and 2000 from the oil and gas industry. These are record-breaking contributions. Bush actually set an all time U.S. and world record for receiving the most corporate campaign contributions. It is also important to remember that Bush has presided over the highest gasoline prices in U.S. history.
Defending these industries are huge law firms like Troutman Sanders, which defended Mobile in one of many cases for underground gas leaks. This firm is notoriously known for defending the worst corporate polluters, and members of the firm just happened to contribute to both George W. Bush and Tom DeLay. Furthermore, according to their own website,
The firm has helped energy companies launch numerous new business ventures…Attorneys have close relationships with officials at the White House, Congress, FERC, Department of Energy, SEC, state legislatures, and other agencies…Many Troutman Sanders attorneys have spent part of their careers inside government. The Firm’s attorneys have drafted and lobbied for the enactment of many pieces of energy legislation. By virtue of its experience and relationships with key policymakers, the Firm is well-positioned to influence the development of public policy.
And so the firm even proudly admits it is “well-positioned to influence the development of public policy.” Not a good thing for American democracy! Remember that when corporate defenders are in charge of public policy, we have what Mussolini called Corporatism, a.k.a. fascism.
Let’s look at the president’s top associates. The members of his administration are the wealthiest of any administration in history with direct ties to the oil and gas industry. Vice President Dick Cheney is the former CEO of Halliburton Oil in Dallas, Texas and still collects a healthy pension. Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton defended the lead paint industry and is a protégé of the infamous anti-environmentalist James Watt. Norton has also argued that the Endangered Species Act is unconstitutional! Deputy Secretary of the Interior J. Stephen Griles is a former vice president of a mining company and also worked under James Watt. Griles also lobbied for petroleum, mining, and oil companies. Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Rebecca Watson is a former lawyer for gas, timber, and petroleum companies. Another superb appointee of Bush’s is Sam Bodman, Secretary of Energy. Bodman also has a clear conflict of interest. He ran a Texas-based chemical company, one that “spent years on the top five lists of the country’s worst polluters,” according to Jason Leopald of Earth Island Journal. Bodman also worked for the Cabot Corporation, which spewed over 54,000 tons of toxic emissions into Texas skies just in the year 1997 alone. The company was also accused by the United Nations in 2002 for “helping fuel the wars in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where Cabot also illegally plundered the vast natural resources.” In 2000, after years of breaking environmental regulations, Bodman was appointed as Deputy Commerce Secretary. Being one of the administration's wealthiest, and also a fair contributor to the Bush campaign, Bodman still owns major stock in Cabot, yet he was promoted to Energy Secretary. These major examples are only the tip of the iceberg. There are obvious personal interests on the agenda of the Bush Administration and they all have to do with modern industrialism.
The administration has done more than hire former employees of the energy sector. You can’t get what you want—drilling the Alaskan tundra, mining the Everglades, etc. without battling the ones who oppose it—the leading world scientists. So Bush went ahead and hired their own scientists. Scientists? Well, maybe not.
SCIENCE MISPLACED
In February 2004, The Union of Concerned Scientists released an extensive report titled Scientific Integrity in Policy Making, which investigated the administration’s misuse of science. This well documented report revealed many frightening facts of the administration’s tampering with scientific fact to gain their own advantage for special interests. The report emphasized that “the administration has consistently sought to undermine the public’s understanding of the view held by the vast majority of climate scientists that human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases are making a discernible contribution to global warming.” The administration’s reasons are, of course, to appease the industry that supports them. For example, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, in September 2002, the administration deleted a section on climate control from the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) annual air pollution report. One other White House alteration to the EPA’s draft reports in 2003 was the insertion of a reference to a discredited study of temperature records helped funded by the American Petroleum Institute.
According to Dr. Bierbaum from the Office of Science and Technology, who left after the first year of the Bush administration, “The scientists who knew the most about climate change at OSTP were not allowed to participate in deliberations on the issue within the White House inner circle.” The administration is evidently trying to centralize all review of scientific information, which is essential in policy making. And not only is the White House keeping the government’s key specialists out of their areas, they are also appointing their own. One of two appointed Associate Directors, Richard M. Russell, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and nothing more. No Doctorate, no Master’s degree, and no experience in a technology related field. There is certainly no shortage of qualified scientists or technicians, except a qualified person might not necessarily agree so easily with the administration’s politics and ethics.
Here’s another example of an appointment for the sole purpose and benefit of the administration’s special interests. Tommy Thompson, Secretary of Health and Human Services, rejected five qualified nominees and appointed individuals who were guaranteed to oppose the tightening of federal lead poisoning standards. One appointee, Dr. William Banner, had previously testified in court on behalf of Sherwin Williams in a lead poisoning case. According to scientists, Banner was either ignoring or just not comprehending forty years of data that proves the dangers of lead paint— all to defend a corporation. Note Gale Norton’s past experience with the lead paint industry. So not only is the environment suffering because the Bush Administration is tied into these types of big corporations, but they are also jeopardizing the safety of our children— all to defend a corporation and make a quick buck.
If you don’t believe this, just look at the environmental law changes and subsequent damage Bush achieved as governor of Texas, now the most polluted state. During his governorship, Houston beat out Los Angeles as the smoggiest city in America. Just watch the local cancer rates in the coming years—they are guaranteed to go up. Stronger pollution laws would DEFINITELY lower cancer rates and improve everyone’s overall quality of life, but judging by Bush’s healthcare record he obviously doesn’t care about that either.
CONCLUSION
What this environmental crisis comes down to is Bush supports the aging and worried industries of this country and vice versa. Old ways over progress. These industries are worried because when it comes to energy our technology has far surpassed our need for oil. Alternative energy is challenging the oil and gas industry. Wind, Solar, and Hydro sources of energy are bound to eventually take over. The current energy industry is trying to do everything in its power to stop the funding and initiation process of an alternative energy industry.
One hundred fifty years ago, George W. Bush may have very well been everyone’s hero— a president aggressive in industry and war was favored. However, that was 150 years ago in a very different era. War is much different now and industry is no longer necessary in the same terms as it was then. Bush has been running this country as though it were still the 19th century. Perhaps nature itself will be the one to knock the cowboy off his horse; but unfortunately we'll be the ones who are going to suffer, as already seen with Hurricane Katrina. It's time to change the way we think, vote, and live. Or it'll change us.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
TOP 10 things to know about animal testing
We as a society have to soon begin acknowleding the pain and death we cause to animals everyday. Lab practices are cruel and uncessary, but they're cheap so corporations and universities continue to test on animals. That's why we should all be purchasing products from companies that don't test on animals. Check the back of the items you buy. Your deodorant. Your shampoo. Your cleaning products. If it doesn't say that they don't test, they most likely do. It doesn't take much effort to really learn what you're spending your money on. Here are the top 10 things to know about animal testing:
http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/Test_Your_Compassion/explanation
Does Uncle Joe corner you at every family reunion to ask why you don’t like animal testing? Don’t quite know what to say when your friends ask why you only buy cruelty-free? Looking for easy ways to talk with coworkers about companies that test on animals? Check out our Animal Testing Top 10:
1. It’s wrong to subject animals to imprisonment, violence, and death—animals are not ours to use for experimentation.
2. Ninety-two out of every 100 drugs that pass animal tests fail in clinical trials in people. Every year in the United States alone, there are more than 100,000 human deaths caused by drugs that were successfully tested on animals.
3. Animals don’t suffer from diseases in the same way that people do. The former head of the U.S. National Cancer Institute summarized the last 25 years of cancer research by admitting that “the history of cancer research has been the history of curing cancer in the mouse. We have cured mice of cancer for decades, and it simply didn’t work in humans ....”
4. Animal studies mislead researchers and waste precious time and resources. Famed primatologist and Harvard professor Richard Wrangham points out: “Every significant advance in the fight against AIDS has come through in vitro work, epidemiology, and studies of human volunteers. Early work with chimpanzees funneled scarce research funds away from more fruitful approaches.”
5. The list of medical conditions and therapies discovered and developed without animals is extensive and includes anesthesia, antisepsis, germ theory, morphine, radium, X-rays, the link between cholesterol and heart disease, the link between smoking and cancer, CAT scans, PET scans, and MRIs.
6. There are more effective research methods, including microdosing, the Hurel biochip, tissue engineering, sophisticated computer modeling, and more.
7. The Animal Welfare Act, the only federal law covering the use of animals in laboratories, doesn’t prevent poorly designed, redundant, or painful experiments. It only deals with housekeeping issues.
8. Three of the most commonly used types of animals in laboratory tests—mice, rats, and birds—are specifically excluded from even the minimum protections of the Animal Welfare Act.
9. Every time that PETA sends an undercover investigator into a laboratory, physical abuse and neglect are documented. Animals are yelled at, hit, left to suffer after surgery without anesthetics, repeatedly operated on, crammed into small cages, denied veterinary care, and more.
10. Every minute, 219 animals die in laboratories in the U.S., alone and in pain. Imagine living locked in a closet without control over any aspect of your life. You can’t choose when and what you eat, how you spend your time, whether you have a partner and children, and—if you do—who that partner is. You can’t even decide when the lights go on and off. Think about spending your entire life like this even though you haven’t committed any crimes. This is what life in a laboratory is like for animals. It is deprivation, isolation, misery, and death.Medical historians tell us that the majority of true medical breakthroughs have occurred in the clinic, not in the animal lab—the links between the pancreas and diabetes, plaque in the arteries and heart disease, cigarette smoking and lung cancer, etc. Also, sophisticated alternatives to animal tests, such as computer simulations and cell and tissue cultures, are faster, safer, and less expensive.For more information about why we shouldn’t use animals in medical experiments and to learn about alternative methods, companies that do and that don’t test on animals, and more ways to help, please visit StopAnimalTests.com.
http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/Test_Your_Compassion/explanation
Does Uncle Joe corner you at every family reunion to ask why you don’t like animal testing? Don’t quite know what to say when your friends ask why you only buy cruelty-free? Looking for easy ways to talk with coworkers about companies that test on animals? Check out our Animal Testing Top 10:
1. It’s wrong to subject animals to imprisonment, violence, and death—animals are not ours to use for experimentation.
2. Ninety-two out of every 100 drugs that pass animal tests fail in clinical trials in people. Every year in the United States alone, there are more than 100,000 human deaths caused by drugs that were successfully tested on animals.
3. Animals don’t suffer from diseases in the same way that people do. The former head of the U.S. National Cancer Institute summarized the last 25 years of cancer research by admitting that “the history of cancer research has been the history of curing cancer in the mouse. We have cured mice of cancer for decades, and it simply didn’t work in humans ....”
4. Animal studies mislead researchers and waste precious time and resources. Famed primatologist and Harvard professor Richard Wrangham points out: “Every significant advance in the fight against AIDS has come through in vitro work, epidemiology, and studies of human volunteers. Early work with chimpanzees funneled scarce research funds away from more fruitful approaches.”
5. The list of medical conditions and therapies discovered and developed without animals is extensive and includes anesthesia, antisepsis, germ theory, morphine, radium, X-rays, the link between cholesterol and heart disease, the link between smoking and cancer, CAT scans, PET scans, and MRIs.
6. There are more effective research methods, including microdosing, the Hurel biochip, tissue engineering, sophisticated computer modeling, and more.
7. The Animal Welfare Act, the only federal law covering the use of animals in laboratories, doesn’t prevent poorly designed, redundant, or painful experiments. It only deals with housekeeping issues.
8. Three of the most commonly used types of animals in laboratory tests—mice, rats, and birds—are specifically excluded from even the minimum protections of the Animal Welfare Act.
9. Every time that PETA sends an undercover investigator into a laboratory, physical abuse and neglect are documented. Animals are yelled at, hit, left to suffer after surgery without anesthetics, repeatedly operated on, crammed into small cages, denied veterinary care, and more.
10. Every minute, 219 animals die in laboratories in the U.S., alone and in pain. Imagine living locked in a closet without control over any aspect of your life. You can’t choose when and what you eat, how you spend your time, whether you have a partner and children, and—if you do—who that partner is. You can’t even decide when the lights go on and off. Think about spending your entire life like this even though you haven’t committed any crimes. This is what life in a laboratory is like for animals. It is deprivation, isolation, misery, and death.Medical historians tell us that the majority of true medical breakthroughs have occurred in the clinic, not in the animal lab—the links between the pancreas and diabetes, plaque in the arteries and heart disease, cigarette smoking and lung cancer, etc. Also, sophisticated alternatives to animal tests, such as computer simulations and cell and tissue cultures, are faster, safer, and less expensive.For more information about why we shouldn’t use animals in medical experiments and to learn about alternative methods, companies that do and that don’t test on animals, and more ways to help, please visit StopAnimalTests.com.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Hate has increased in America under Bush and Tucker Carson defends the hate groups
Occasionally when I feel like abusing myself I turn the television on and watch cable "news."
Anyone see Carson Tucker's show last night where he verbally assaulted a spokesman from the Southern Poverty Law Center? The topic was their new report on the military problem with neo-Nazis. Tucker questioned the credibility of their research and accused their report of being neglectful of real issues like Islamic terrorists. Maybe Tucker doesn't mind angry home-grown terrorists roaming around but I certainly think it's a problem. Tucker is obviously not really looking at the data nor does he care. Furthermore, his furiousness made it appear as if he was being defensive of something. Guilty of something?
Tucker Carlson can defend hate groups all he wants; it's still a problem in America that we can no longer deny, and yes it's right there in our military too. There they go again excluding the military, like Republicans did when they launched an unnecessary war with no concern for the troops, and just like they did again when they cut troop's benefits. It's amazing how radical Republicans deny that there are bad apples in the military. No slaughtering of innocent people in Iraq, no sexual abuse in Abu Ghraib, no torture elsewhere, no hate groups in our military, no, not our innocent American military. Like I said though they're bad apples, a lot of them, but not all of them. But isn't it funny though how Republicans are so quick to pick out the bad apples when it comes to immigrants, blacks, Muslims and other non-Christians.
The above map is for Tucker and all of the Republicans who don't see hate crimes as a problem in the U.S. It lists the number of hate groups in each state and can be found for interactive use at: http://www.tolerance.org/maps/hate/index.html
There are some notable differences between last year's map of 2004 data and this year's new data on 2005. Some states went down in # of groups: Notably were OR, NY, VT, NJ, and PA.
Most went up though by at least one group. An over-whelming majority of red states increased their # of hate groups. South Carolina was last year's champion of hate, but this year it's CA that gets the award, with FL right behind it, both taking leaps in the hate department.
Overall, hate groups have increased in the U.S. and this isn't even taking into consideration gangs and mobs, which carry out hate crimes against one another. There's a lot of hate in America. And one thing is sure, it's increased dramatically under the sleeping Bush administration.
Monday, July 10, 2006
Tobacco expected to kill 1 billion this century
Smoking accounts for 1 in 5 cancer deaths, new reference guides report
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - If current trends hold, tobacco will kill a billion people this century, 10 times the toll it took in the 20th century, public health officials said Monday.
Tobacco accounts for one in five cancer deaths, or 1.4 million deaths worldwide each year, according to two new reference guides that chart global tobacco use and cancer. Lung cancer remains the major cancer among the 10.9 million new cases of cancer diagnosed each year, according to the Cancer Atlas.
Reducing tobacco use would have the greatest affect on global cancer rates, health officials said. Improving nutrition and reducing infection by cancer-causing viruses and bacteria could also cut rates dramatically, they said.
“We know with cancer, if we take action now, we can save 2 million lives a year by 2020 and 6.5 million by 2040,” said Dr. Judith Mackay, a World Health Organization senior policy adviser.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13803326/wid/11915773?GT1=8307
Thursday, July 06, 2006
THE DEATH OF JOE LIEBERMAN
Last night Senator Joe Lieberman was defeated in a live debate (over 82% believe so) http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13725231/
He spoke hard and serious like Dick Cheney facing John Edwards in 2004. In fact, Lieberman was quite reminiscient of Cheney, in the decietful tactics and lies he tried to use against Ned Lamont, though unsucessful. How could it be then that the man we so respect, Al Gore, chose this hard man who reminds us of Dick Cheney?
In 2005, Joe Lieberman was voted the Republican's favorite Democrat. Why? Because he voted with them on all of their key votes like the war and the wasteful highway bill. Everyone saw how warmly close Lieberman was with Bush at the State of the Union when Bush leaned in, whispered something in his ear, and then kissed him on the cheek. There's no getting around that. And then what about when Gore choose him as his running mate. Lieberman played no part in the recount battle; in fact he hindered it as much as possible and pestered Gore to throw the towel in. Then when members of the House wanted to protest the electoral certification of the fraudelent "selection" and needed the mere signature of one senator, Joe was absent again. And then Lieberman had the nerve to critisize Gore after the selection starting the rumour how Gore campaigned poorly and didn't use enough of Clinton and therfore lost. Remember that Republican rumour? I still hear it. Joe started it.
This is a Republican in disguise who has consistently betrayed his party and its constituents. We simply can not have Democrats who are not going to do their jobs and serve the American people who put them in office and pay their salaries. We need more Ned Lamonts who are willing to for the work they're hired for. That's why Moveon.org, National Education Organization, National Organization for Women, and Democracy for America are all endorsing Ned Lamont.
Lieberman has belittled his vote on the war in Iraq by claiming that Lamont is a one issue candidate. But it's not just one little issue. Everyone who voted for the war should be held accountable. If most of us here on the ground knew that going into Iraq was a bogus war to begin with, in addition to many members of Congress like Barbara Boxer and Ted Kennedy, then why couldn't these other high paid politicians figure it out.
Getting rid of Lieberman will send a strong message to Democrats: start doing your jobs, stand up to Republicans, and get out there and win, or you'll be canned like Joe. Likewise, it will send a message to Republicans: that we aren't loyal for the sake of being loyal to our party. Look what their blind loyalty got them! Instead, we are loyal to principles and morals. It will pay off in the long run. Many Democrats are listening. John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, and others have backed away from Lieberman. Al Gore has not endorsed Lieberman.
Not getting Joe is probably the only good thing that's come out of Gore being robbed of the presidency in 2000.
So here's my big question: Why did Al Gore even choose him?
He spoke hard and serious like Dick Cheney facing John Edwards in 2004. In fact, Lieberman was quite reminiscient of Cheney, in the decietful tactics and lies he tried to use against Ned Lamont, though unsucessful. How could it be then that the man we so respect, Al Gore, chose this hard man who reminds us of Dick Cheney?
In 2005, Joe Lieberman was voted the Republican's favorite Democrat. Why? Because he voted with them on all of their key votes like the war and the wasteful highway bill. Everyone saw how warmly close Lieberman was with Bush at the State of the Union when Bush leaned in, whispered something in his ear, and then kissed him on the cheek. There's no getting around that. And then what about when Gore choose him as his running mate. Lieberman played no part in the recount battle; in fact he hindered it as much as possible and pestered Gore to throw the towel in. Then when members of the House wanted to protest the electoral certification of the fraudelent "selection" and needed the mere signature of one senator, Joe was absent again. And then Lieberman had the nerve to critisize Gore after the selection starting the rumour how Gore campaigned poorly and didn't use enough of Clinton and therfore lost. Remember that Republican rumour? I still hear it. Joe started it.
This is a Republican in disguise who has consistently betrayed his party and its constituents. We simply can not have Democrats who are not going to do their jobs and serve the American people who put them in office and pay their salaries. We need more Ned Lamonts who are willing to for the work they're hired for. That's why Moveon.org, National Education Organization, National Organization for Women, and Democracy for America are all endorsing Ned Lamont.
Lieberman has belittled his vote on the war in Iraq by claiming that Lamont is a one issue candidate. But it's not just one little issue. Everyone who voted for the war should be held accountable. If most of us here on the ground knew that going into Iraq was a bogus war to begin with, in addition to many members of Congress like Barbara Boxer and Ted Kennedy, then why couldn't these other high paid politicians figure it out.
Getting rid of Lieberman will send a strong message to Democrats: start doing your jobs, stand up to Republicans, and get out there and win, or you'll be canned like Joe. Likewise, it will send a message to Republicans: that we aren't loyal for the sake of being loyal to our party. Look what their blind loyalty got them! Instead, we are loyal to principles and morals. It will pay off in the long run. Many Democrats are listening. John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, and others have backed away from Lieberman. Al Gore has not endorsed Lieberman.
Not getting Joe is probably the only good thing that's come out of Gore being robbed of the presidency in 2000.
So here's my big question: Why did Al Gore even choose him?
OIL REVOLUTION excerpts from Chapter 3
While the House just last week voted to lift the ban on off-shore drilling and as gas prices mysteriously rose again just in time for the 4th of July holiday weekend, and with the passing of Ken Lay, I couldn't think of a better time than now to begin the next installment of excerpts from my book.
In May 2002 the construction of an Afghan oil pipeline was finally announced.
In the following year, 2003, the plan was executed:
Executive Order 13303 of May 22, 2003
Protecting the Development Fund for Iraq and Certain Other Property in Which Iraq Has an Interest By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, as amended (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), section 5 of the United Nations Participation Act, as amended (22 U.S.C. 287c) (UNPA), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,
I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, find that the threat of attachment or other judicial process against the Development Fund for Iraq, Iraqi petroleum and petroleum products, and interests therein, and proceeds, obligations, or any financial instruments of any nature whatsoever arising from or related to the sale or marketing thereof, and interests therein, obstructs the orderly reconstruction of Iraq, the restoration and maintenance of peace and security in the country, and the development of political, administrative, and economic institutions in Iraq. This situation constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States and I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat. I hereby order:
Section 1. Unless licensed or otherwise authorized pursuant to this order, any attachment, judgment, decree, lien, execution, garnishment, or other judicial process is prohibited, and shall be deemed null and void, with respect to the following:
(a) the Development Fund for Iraq, and
(b) all Iraqi petroleum and petroleum products, and interests therein, and proceeds, obligations, or any financial instruments of any nature whatsoever arising from or related to the sale or marketing thereof, and interests therein, in which any foreign country or a national thereof has any interest, that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of United States persons.
Sec. 2. (a) As of the effective date of this order, Executive Order 12722 of August 2, 1990, Executive Order 12724 of August 9, 1990, and Executive Order 13290 of March 20, 2003, shall not apply to the property and interests in property described in section 1 of this order.
(b) Nothing in this order is intended to affect the continued effectiveness of any rules, regulations, orders, licenses or other forms of administrative action issued, taken, or continued in effect heretofore or hereafter under Executive Orders 12722, 12724, or 13290, or under the authority of IEEPA or the UNPA, except as hereafter terminated, modified, or suspended by the issuing Federal agency and except as provided in section
2(a) of this order.
Sec. 3. For the purposes of this order:
(d) The term ‘‘Iraqi petroleum and petroleum products’’ means any petroleum, petroleum products, or natural gas originating in Iraq, including any Iraqi-origin oil inventories, wherever located; and
(e) The term ‘‘Development Fund for Iraq’’ means the fund established on or about May 22, 2003, on the books of the Central Bank of Iraq, by the Administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority responsible for the temporary governance of Iraq and all accounts held for the fund or for the Central Bank of Iraq in the name of the fund.
Sec. 4. (a) The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense, is hereby authorized to take such actions, including the promulgation of rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted to the President by IEEPA and the UNPA as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this order. The Secretary of the Treasury may redelegate any of these functions to other officers and agencies of the United States Government. All agencies of the United States Government are hereby directed to take all appropriate measures within their statutory authority to carry out the provisions of this order.
(b) Nothing contained in this order shall relieve a person from any requirement to obtain a license or other authorization in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
Sec. 5. This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right, benefit, or privilege, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by a party against the United States, its departments, agencies, entities, officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
Sec. 6. This order shall be transmitted to the Congress and published in the Federal Register.
THE WHITE HOUSE,
May 22, 2003
PROFITS
Oil revenues from Iraq in the excess of $25 billion, which Bush claimed belongs to the Iraqi people, haven’t in fact made it to any people of Iraq. Instead the profits went right to the U.S. and British corporations. So how come oil is still so expensive? I guess they’re making their maximum profits while they still can.
In the 2000 election cycle, the oil and gas industry contributed over $26.5 million to Republicans, and over $1.8 million to George W. Bush’s election campaign. 2000 Pioneer and longtime Bush associate Don Evans, former chairman of the oil company Tom Brown Inc., was appointed Secretary of the Commerce Department. At least a dozen other industry officials were named to the transition teams at the Energy and Interior departments as well as the Environmental Protection Agency.
It’s not surprising with the Bush Administration in control that the energy industry has grown and prospered. After all, that’s what they paid the administration to do when they contributed to the Bush/Cheney ticket in 2000. Petroleum is now the biggest industry in the United States raking in a total of $723,846 million in 2004.[i] Gas and Electric utilities came in eighth place taking in an excess of $290,000 million a year. (26) Mining and crude oil production has also shot right to the top of all U.S. industries. Petroleum refining and pipelines have also made their way up the list for most profitable and fastest growing industries and are both at the top of the list for growth in revenues. Exxon-Mobile, based in Irving, Texas, is about to become the largest U.S. corporation thanks to the BAD’s pro-oil & gas and anti-environmental policies. The Texas company posted a record profit of $10.71 billion for one quarter and $36.13 billion for 2005, which is the highest profit of any American company in history. Chevron-Texaco and Conoco-Philips are also now rising in the top ten largest U.S. corporations with their profits increasing in the excess of nearly 60%. The American consumer has been paying record amounts for gasoline and home heating, while Bush’s biggest contributors have been making their biggest profits. How any American can not see how we’ve been hi-jacked by big corporations is beyond me. This is what Mussolini called Corporatism and it is now eating away at the fabric of our American civilization.
Costs of crude oil per barrel have steadily risen since 2001, only dropping slightly just before the Iraq War began before resuming its monstrous climb to the top of the list for highest oil and gas prices in American history. Yet, over $8 billion worth of Iraqi oil sales was still unaccounted for by the CPA according to a 2005 audit conducted by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. Let us be reminded of Bush’s 2003 “Operation Iraqi Liberation” or better known as OIL. So far the only ones who have been liberated are the executives in “Big Oil.”
In May 2002 the construction of an Afghan oil pipeline was finally announced.
In the following year, 2003, the plan was executed:
Executive Order 13303 of May 22, 2003
Protecting the Development Fund for Iraq and Certain Other Property in Which Iraq Has an Interest By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, as amended (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), section 5 of the United Nations Participation Act, as amended (22 U.S.C. 287c) (UNPA), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,
I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, find that the threat of attachment or other judicial process against the Development Fund for Iraq, Iraqi petroleum and petroleum products, and interests therein, and proceeds, obligations, or any financial instruments of any nature whatsoever arising from or related to the sale or marketing thereof, and interests therein, obstructs the orderly reconstruction of Iraq, the restoration and maintenance of peace and security in the country, and the development of political, administrative, and economic institutions in Iraq. This situation constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States and I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat. I hereby order:
Section 1. Unless licensed or otherwise authorized pursuant to this order, any attachment, judgment, decree, lien, execution, garnishment, or other judicial process is prohibited, and shall be deemed null and void, with respect to the following:
(a) the Development Fund for Iraq, and
(b) all Iraqi petroleum and petroleum products, and interests therein, and proceeds, obligations, or any financial instruments of any nature whatsoever arising from or related to the sale or marketing thereof, and interests therein, in which any foreign country or a national thereof has any interest, that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of United States persons.
Sec. 2. (a) As of the effective date of this order, Executive Order 12722 of August 2, 1990, Executive Order 12724 of August 9, 1990, and Executive Order 13290 of March 20, 2003, shall not apply to the property and interests in property described in section 1 of this order.
(b) Nothing in this order is intended to affect the continued effectiveness of any rules, regulations, orders, licenses or other forms of administrative action issued, taken, or continued in effect heretofore or hereafter under Executive Orders 12722, 12724, or 13290, or under the authority of IEEPA or the UNPA, except as hereafter terminated, modified, or suspended by the issuing Federal agency and except as provided in section
2(a) of this order.
Sec. 3. For the purposes of this order:
(d) The term ‘‘Iraqi petroleum and petroleum products’’ means any petroleum, petroleum products, or natural gas originating in Iraq, including any Iraqi-origin oil inventories, wherever located; and
(e) The term ‘‘Development Fund for Iraq’’ means the fund established on or about May 22, 2003, on the books of the Central Bank of Iraq, by the Administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority responsible for the temporary governance of Iraq and all accounts held for the fund or for the Central Bank of Iraq in the name of the fund.
Sec. 4. (a) The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense, is hereby authorized to take such actions, including the promulgation of rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted to the President by IEEPA and the UNPA as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this order. The Secretary of the Treasury may redelegate any of these functions to other officers and agencies of the United States Government. All agencies of the United States Government are hereby directed to take all appropriate measures within their statutory authority to carry out the provisions of this order.
(b) Nothing contained in this order shall relieve a person from any requirement to obtain a license or other authorization in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
Sec. 5. This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right, benefit, or privilege, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by a party against the United States, its departments, agencies, entities, officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
Sec. 6. This order shall be transmitted to the Congress and published in the Federal Register.
THE WHITE HOUSE,
May 22, 2003
PROFITS
Oil revenues from Iraq in the excess of $25 billion, which Bush claimed belongs to the Iraqi people, haven’t in fact made it to any people of Iraq. Instead the profits went right to the U.S. and British corporations. So how come oil is still so expensive? I guess they’re making their maximum profits while they still can.
In the 2000 election cycle, the oil and gas industry contributed over $26.5 million to Republicans, and over $1.8 million to George W. Bush’s election campaign. 2000 Pioneer and longtime Bush associate Don Evans, former chairman of the oil company Tom Brown Inc., was appointed Secretary of the Commerce Department. At least a dozen other industry officials were named to the transition teams at the Energy and Interior departments as well as the Environmental Protection Agency.
It’s not surprising with the Bush Administration in control that the energy industry has grown and prospered. After all, that’s what they paid the administration to do when they contributed to the Bush/Cheney ticket in 2000. Petroleum is now the biggest industry in the United States raking in a total of $723,846 million in 2004.[i] Gas and Electric utilities came in eighth place taking in an excess of $290,000 million a year. (26) Mining and crude oil production has also shot right to the top of all U.S. industries. Petroleum refining and pipelines have also made their way up the list for most profitable and fastest growing industries and are both at the top of the list for growth in revenues. Exxon-Mobile, based in Irving, Texas, is about to become the largest U.S. corporation thanks to the BAD’s pro-oil & gas and anti-environmental policies. The Texas company posted a record profit of $10.71 billion for one quarter and $36.13 billion for 2005, which is the highest profit of any American company in history. Chevron-Texaco and Conoco-Philips are also now rising in the top ten largest U.S. corporations with their profits increasing in the excess of nearly 60%. The American consumer has been paying record amounts for gasoline and home heating, while Bush’s biggest contributors have been making their biggest profits. How any American can not see how we’ve been hi-jacked by big corporations is beyond me. This is what Mussolini called Corporatism and it is now eating away at the fabric of our American civilization.
Costs of crude oil per barrel have steadily risen since 2001, only dropping slightly just before the Iraq War began before resuming its monstrous climb to the top of the list for highest oil and gas prices in American history. Yet, over $8 billion worth of Iraqi oil sales was still unaccounted for by the CPA according to a 2005 audit conducted by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. Let us be reminded of Bush’s 2003 “Operation Iraqi Liberation” or better known as OIL. So far the only ones who have been liberated are the executives in “Big Oil.”
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Big Oil & Gas lose one of their best
He worked at Exxon Mobil Corp. predecessor Humble Oil & Refining, became an executive at Florida Gas, then Transco Energy in Houston, and later became CEO of Houston Natural Gas. In 1985, HNG merged with InterNorth in Omaha, Neb. to form Enron, and he became chairman and CEO of the combined company the next year.
One of George W. Bush's biggest supporters and best of friends died today. Kenneth Lay was facing heavy jail time in October for his recent conviction for fraud.
One of George W. Bush's biggest supporters and best of friends died today. Kenneth Lay was facing heavy jail time in October for his recent conviction for fraud.
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Big Oil May Win Again
House votes to end offshore drilling ban
Measure passes by wide margin; bill’s chances in Senate are uncertain
The Associated Press
June 30, 2006
WASHINGTON - Congress on Thursday took a major step toward allowing oil and gas drilling in coastal waters that have been off limits for a quarter-century, but a battle looms in the Senate over the issue.
And the Bush administration’s support for the legislation, which was approved by a 232-187 vote in the House, is lukewarm.
The House bill would end an Outer Continental Shelf drilling moratorium that Congress has renewed every year since 1981. It covers 85 percent of the country’s coastal waters — everywhere except the central and western Gulf of Mexico and some areas off Alaska.
Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., a leading proponent for lifting the ban, said he believes a majority of the Senate wants to open the protected waters to energy companies.
Asked about White House opposition to some parts of the bill, especially a provision that would give tens of billions of dollars to states that have drilling rigs off their coasts, Pombo said, “I dare them to veto this bill.”
“They don’t like us giving money back to the states. I think it’s right,” Pombo told reporters after the vote. Forty Democrats joined most Republicans in favor of ending the drilling moratorium.
Florida filibuster possibleIn the Senate, the measure is likely to face a filibuster from Florida senators and possibly others from coastal states that fear offshore energy development could threaten multibillion-dollar tourist and recreation businesses if there were a spill.
The Senate is considering a limited measure that would open an area in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, known as Lease Area 181, that goes within 100 miles of Florida. It is not under the moratorium. Even that is unlikely to pass unless its sponsors get 60 votes to overcome a filibuster from the Floridians.
Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said he would pursue efforts to open the Lease 181 Area. The committee’s ranking Democrat, Sen. Jeff Bingaman, also of New Mexico, criticized the House-passed bill, saying it would eventually create “a huge hole in our federal budget and undermine environmental protections on our lands and off our coasts.”
Environmentalists, for their part, turned their focus to the Senate.
“Instead of catering to Big Oil and Gas, the Senate will have a chance to focus on the many faster, cheaper and cleaner ways to meet our energy needs -- renewable sources of energy like home-grown biofuels, greater fuel efficiency in our vehicles, smart-growth policies, and wind and solar energy,’’ said Karen Wayland, legislative director of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
The group said the bill would exempt seismic testing and individual oil and gas lease sales from environmental impact statements; reduce the amount of royalties that oil and gas companies must pay for tar sands and oil shale development; and no longer require companies to remove offshore drilling rigs when they are done drilling.
The Interior Department estimates there are about 19 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 86 trillion cubic feet of natural gas beneath waters under drilling bans from New England to southern Alaska.
Supporters of the drilling moratorium argue there’s four times that amount of oil and gas available in offshore waters open to energy companies, mainly in the central and western Gulf of Mexico and off parts of Alaska. And they say energy companies are only developing a fraction of the government leases they have available to them.
The country uses about 21 million barrels of oil a day.
While critics of the offshore drilling restrictions argue the additional oil and gas is needed if the country is to move toward greater energy independence, supporters or the bill fear energy development could despoil coastal beaches and threatens their recreation and tourism based economies.
“Our beaches and our coastline is what is critical to Floridians,” declared Rep. Jim Davis, D-Fla.
“We should not be sacrificing our economy, our environment for a little oil and gas.”
© 2006 The Associated Press.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13573049/
Hopefully, the Senate will send this one to the garbage bin, but we'll have to see. After last week's war vote, it's not likely they'll be looking out for the American public.
In related news, gas prices have begun to mysteriously rise again, just in tiem for the holiday weekend!
Measure passes by wide margin; bill’s chances in Senate are uncertain
The Associated Press
June 30, 2006
WASHINGTON - Congress on Thursday took a major step toward allowing oil and gas drilling in coastal waters that have been off limits for a quarter-century, but a battle looms in the Senate over the issue.
And the Bush administration’s support for the legislation, which was approved by a 232-187 vote in the House, is lukewarm.
The House bill would end an Outer Continental Shelf drilling moratorium that Congress has renewed every year since 1981. It covers 85 percent of the country’s coastal waters — everywhere except the central and western Gulf of Mexico and some areas off Alaska.
Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., a leading proponent for lifting the ban, said he believes a majority of the Senate wants to open the protected waters to energy companies.
Asked about White House opposition to some parts of the bill, especially a provision that would give tens of billions of dollars to states that have drilling rigs off their coasts, Pombo said, “I dare them to veto this bill.”
“They don’t like us giving money back to the states. I think it’s right,” Pombo told reporters after the vote. Forty Democrats joined most Republicans in favor of ending the drilling moratorium.
Florida filibuster possibleIn the Senate, the measure is likely to face a filibuster from Florida senators and possibly others from coastal states that fear offshore energy development could threaten multibillion-dollar tourist and recreation businesses if there were a spill.
The Senate is considering a limited measure that would open an area in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, known as Lease Area 181, that goes within 100 miles of Florida. It is not under the moratorium. Even that is unlikely to pass unless its sponsors get 60 votes to overcome a filibuster from the Floridians.
Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said he would pursue efforts to open the Lease 181 Area. The committee’s ranking Democrat, Sen. Jeff Bingaman, also of New Mexico, criticized the House-passed bill, saying it would eventually create “a huge hole in our federal budget and undermine environmental protections on our lands and off our coasts.”
Environmentalists, for their part, turned their focus to the Senate.
“Instead of catering to Big Oil and Gas, the Senate will have a chance to focus on the many faster, cheaper and cleaner ways to meet our energy needs -- renewable sources of energy like home-grown biofuels, greater fuel efficiency in our vehicles, smart-growth policies, and wind and solar energy,’’ said Karen Wayland, legislative director of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
The group said the bill would exempt seismic testing and individual oil and gas lease sales from environmental impact statements; reduce the amount of royalties that oil and gas companies must pay for tar sands and oil shale development; and no longer require companies to remove offshore drilling rigs when they are done drilling.
The Interior Department estimates there are about 19 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 86 trillion cubic feet of natural gas beneath waters under drilling bans from New England to southern Alaska.
Supporters of the drilling moratorium argue there’s four times that amount of oil and gas available in offshore waters open to energy companies, mainly in the central and western Gulf of Mexico and off parts of Alaska. And they say energy companies are only developing a fraction of the government leases they have available to them.
The country uses about 21 million barrels of oil a day.
While critics of the offshore drilling restrictions argue the additional oil and gas is needed if the country is to move toward greater energy independence, supporters or the bill fear energy development could despoil coastal beaches and threatens their recreation and tourism based economies.
“Our beaches and our coastline is what is critical to Floridians,” declared Rep. Jim Davis, D-Fla.
“We should not be sacrificing our economy, our environment for a little oil and gas.”
© 2006 The Associated Press.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13573049/
Hopefully, the Senate will send this one to the garbage bin, but we'll have to see. After last week's war vote, it's not likely they'll be looking out for the American public.
In related news, gas prices have begun to mysteriously rise again, just in tiem for the holiday weekend!
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Coincidence?
Now they release a new Bin Laden tape where he says "we will not give up until you leave defeated"??? It looks like Bin laden is right in step with the Republicans.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13600778/
Looks like they're getting good at this:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13601242/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13643024/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13600778/
Looks like they're getting good at this:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13601242/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13643024/
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