Pro-Life????

I have long joked that the anti-abortion movement should adopt the motto "kill a doctor for life", but it seems they are now whining that Harlan Drake, an anti-abortion activist has been shot.

Of course, you can't ask for gun control. Nevermind the Second Amendment was intended to prevent the militia formed under Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution from being disarmed and no private purpose intended. Part of the use of abortion and gun control to keep the US political system as divisive as it is requires perpetuating the lie of an "individual right" (whatever that means) under the Second Amendment. And Heller didn't say shit since the holding said that Heller was able to register the gun provided he passed the registration requirements.

Donald Granberg said it pretty well in his post found at http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=1315.

In a “pro-life” society, certain basic needs would be assured, including a nutritious diet, sanitary water, decent shelter from the elements, a safe environment, and humane medical care. Programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, public housing and food stamps are assertions that satisfying these basic human needs should not be determined by one’s ability to pay. Structural violence in society occurs when people’s basic needs go unfulfilled because they are too poor to purchase goods or services.

On the matter of health, it almost goes without saying that the “pro-life” person would refrain from smoking, oppose government subsidy of domestic tobacco production and sale to overseas markets, encourage physical fitness, and donate blood for transfusions to people whose lives might thereby be saved. Also, insofar as a surplus existed, one might also expect the society to provide relief to needy people in other societies in the form of nonmilitary foreign aid, directly providing goods or teaching developmental skills.

The U.S. is a violent society, as reflected in the statistics showing the very high rate at which we kill each other and the frequency with which we go to war. We are a nation armed to the teeth, in terms of civilians owning guns and in terms of the amount we spend on the military.

At both levels there are sincere and well-intentioned people who believe that having more weapons makes for more safety, peace and security. Statistics, however, do not bear this out. There is no evidence that would indicate that a family is less likely to die from gunshot wounds if it keeps guns in the house. In fact, the contrary is true.

What does that mean in practise?

Well, if you are truly pro-life, then you should be supporting health care and really concerned about gun control.

But the issue isn't really "pro-life" or Scalia wouldn't have put his name to that piece of shit called the Heller decision. It is anti-abortion.

So cut the crap folks: if you don't want an abortion, then don't have one.

BUT KEEP OUT OF OTHER PEOPLE'S PERSONAL DECISIONS: ESPECIALLY PERSONAL DECISIONS REGARDING MEDICAL CARE, WHICH ABORTION IS..

I have a serious problem with the US believing in gun rights, but denying the basic human rights of health care, housing, or education.

What is wrong with the situation where some asshole can show up at a rally where the president will be speaking with an assault rifle, scream tyranny and decry healthcare? Maybe we should send him to Iran or North Korea and learn about Tyranny.

Seriously, any other country and he would have been cuffed face down on the ground. In a tyrannical society they would have shot him without a by your leave.

That would have served him for being enough of an idiot to show up with a weapon. Maybe he will be more intelligent in his NEXT life.

Yanks are such cretins that they don't realise that a couple of people with the same type of rifle carried by the cretin in AZ held the US capitol hostage for a couple of weeks. There are people running around openly carrying guns. These people allow for the carnage at LA Fitness by blocking laws that would prevent access to firearms by psychos because they are Psychos who know they wouldn't be allowed firearms if registration were required.

Unfortunately, the US has this bizarre myth that requires them to attack and harm innocent people. On the other hand, there are people who go bankrupt from serious illnesses because the healthcare system in the states sucks. Yes, the US is #37 in the world as far as actual healthcare services go according to the World Health Organisation. Quote:

In spite of improvements, on various measures of health outcomes the United States appears to rank relatively poorly among OECD countries. Health expenditures, in contrast, are significantly higher than in any other OECD country. While there are factors beyond the health-care system itself that contribute to this gap in performance, there is also likely to be scope to improve the health of Americans while reducing, or at least not increasing spending.

What is wrong with the picture of a person carrying an assault rifle to protest people having health care? Is it just me?

The US has some serious problems if the Second Amendment allows for George Sodini the firearms to kill and maim at LA fitness, yet Heather Sherba, one of Sodini's victims, has to have a car wash to pay for treatment.

Pro-life my arse.

September 11 – An Opportunity to Evolve Our Humanity

OpEdNews

Original Content at http://www.opednews.com/articles/September-11---An-Opport-by-Olga-Bonfiglio-090909-711.html

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September 9, 2009

September 11 – An Opportunity to Evolve Our Humanity

By Olga Bonfiglio

It's been eight years since 9/11 and much has changed in this country since that dark day.

What didn't change, however, was our inability to take time to reflect on the meaning and implications of this tragedy.

Instead, we panicked to the point that we still are unable to view the day clearly or logically, let alone respond to it responsibly. In some instances we have been willing to give up our civil liberties in the name of national security and fold against an aggressive presidency that was adamant about swooping up as much power as it could—ostensibly to protect us from the terrorists. The result? Terrorism has neither been reduced (as if it could be measured) nor have our fears of it subsided despite an investment of nearly $1 trillion on two wars. And now, after a year into the financial crisis, our uncertainties about jobs, health care and middle class life have only multiplied.

But let's look at one notable moment when people attempted to deal with the horror of 9/11: New Yorkers were helping each other and being nice to each other. They cried together and comforted one another in the midst of death and loss. Likewise, citizens from all over the world sympathized with America and genuinely felt badly that terrorism had come to our shores. It looked as if there might be a “great turning” response to violence.

But once the politicians and the media got a hold of 9/11, they resorted to the usual rallying cry for revenge and retaliation. Americans acquiesced by waving their flags and displaying them on their cars, their houses, on their lapels, everywhere. (One older German woman told me it reminded her of Hitler and the Nazis.) Such activity helps to win public support but it ended up a missed opportunity to respond to tragedy in a new and different way.

Truth be told, Americans don't deal well with tragedy. After the initial shock is over and the recovery effort begins, we generally resort to going on with our lives as though nothing happened. The fallout of this approach is that we are overcome by sadness, anger, fear, or denial over what has happened—and it stops there.

Confronting September 11 remains illusive for most Americans partly because we have been unable as a nation to understand or inquire about why the perpetrators of this heinous crime would do such a thing—and partly because we unwittingly entered the realm of the “terror dream.”

The “terror dream,” which Susan Faludi discusses in her book of the same name, is the American frontier-wilderness story where we are attacked by “uncivilized enemies” in our struggle to settle the North American continent. This story line is full of victimized women and children, Wild West six-gun shoot-outs, hyper-masculinity, and epic heroism.

This “captivity narrative” became a popular literary genre from the mid-17th to the late 19th century but it lives on today through what psychologists call a “transgenerational transmission of trauma” where survivors of a tragedy are left feeling humiliated and enraged. They often repress their grief and fail to allow for any collective grieving because to do so would require taking responsibility for the trauma. Instead, the survivors pass on their feelings of helplessness, shame, and rage to subsequent generations who then carry these feelings unconsciously as a potent memory and marker of their identity. It's as though subsequent generations lived through the trauma themselves so that when another tragedy strikes, the feelings of the past are automatically projected on to it.

America's response to September 11 was to go to war against the terrorists first in Afghanistan and later in Iraq because we were essentially replaying an old story where we saw ourselves as victims of an “Indian attack” so we had to fight back to survive. George W. Bush assumed the role of a Dodge City marshal in a Hollywood Western who promised to “smoke out” those responsible for the attacks—and Americans willingly followed the script in an attempt to make sense of the tragedy with something familiar.

The problem with revenge and violence, however, is its detrimental effect on our humanity, as we saw in the horrendous situations of Abu Ghraib, Fallujah, Haditha, and Guantanamo. Meanwhile, most Americans glaze over the fact that war in Iraq has resulted in at least one million Iraqi deaths, mostly civilians (based on the 2006 Lancet Report), and the wasting of 4,342 American soldiers with nearly 31,500 wounded. An unprecedented percentage of our soldiers have committed suicide or deserted their ranks. Many of their marriages and friendships have ended. Veterans are denied benefits they were promised, including health care for non-physical wounds like post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD). The war has also inflamed religious fanaticism and apocalyptic thinking at home as justification for continued war and violence.

Today, we are a nation exhausted by war to the point that we avoid talking about it! In fact, the war has largely disappeared from view. Coverage of war in 2007 occupied 23 percent of news content compared to 3 percent in 2008, according to the American Journalism Review (June 2008). During the presidential primaries and general election, the subject of war barely came up. President Obama's promise to end the Iraq war has led to a step up of the Afghanistan war.

So how might we approach 9/11 in a more meaningful way? Here are a few ideas, but please add more.

1. Join with others to talk about what you TOGETHER can do to substitute fear, hatred or denial in your family, neighborhood or community.

2. Refuse to watch the repetitive “news alerts” or inflammatory pundits by turning off the radio, TV, and the Internet. Recognize that such coverage is intended to agitate emotions, especially anger and fear—and to sell ads. Don't let yourself be manipulated by people making money off you.

3. Lobby your congressional representatives to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

For the present, it's clear that we are going to have to deal with terrorists in our world. However, let us confront them by pulling ourselves together first. Violence, fear, shame and resignation are getting us nowhere.

As peacemakers, we can make a difference everyday by seeing to it that the spirit of cooperation and understanding operates in our local communities, which in turn can spread across the nation and the world. This is a golden opportunity to evolve our humanity.

Author's Bio: Olga Bonfiglio is a professor at Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and author of Heroes of a Different Stripe: How One Town Responded to the War in Iraq. She has written for several national magazines on the subjects of social justice and religion.

The Republican Response to Obama's Speech

OK, I am having some problems with people in the US deciding that Obama's speech about children getting an education was politically motivated. Rather an amazing response given what crap the US system of public education happens to be. There are many reasons that the wealthy put their children in private Schools in the US.

On the other hand, people don't seem to begrudge locking away people in prison at a cost of far more than a good public school.

So, here it is.

Ed Meese's rap song from Da Ali G Show:

"I was attorney general/my name is Meese /I say, go to college/don't carry a piece."

Glenn Beck and the Ghost of the Boston Tea Party

http://open.salon.com/blog/paul_j_orourke/2009/04/14/glenn_beck_and_the_ghost_of_the_boston_tea_party

By Paul J. O'Rourke

He stood on the stage bathing in the adulation of the assembled dignitaries. The Nobel Prize! At last, his body of work had been given the honor it deserved! As the standing ovation went on he thought of his critics. He knew they were watching. Did this great hall look like the rubber room where they said he’d spend the rest of his days bouncing? Ha! His struggle had been so worth the effort…

Glenn Beck was awakened from his dream of adequacy by the sound of a man clearing his throat. He sat up and, as his eyes adjusted, saw a glowing white Colonial ghost standing beside his bed.

“Who are you?”

“My friends call me Ben. We have been watching you for some time, and see how loyal you are to our cause. I have been sent to accord you the honor of attending the real Boston Tea Party, that you may then be able to advance our efforts with more familiarity and fervor at your tea party. We haven’t much time. Touch my sleeve and join the cause.”

Glenn reached out and in an instant found himself standing on a street in colonial Boston. A group of men were jogging by. “This is it!” he thought as he fell in beside a man disguised as an Indian and carrying a tomahawk.

“Hello, neighbor. My name is Glenn Beck, what’s yours?”

“We’re not using names tonight, friend, but since you volunteer yours, mine is Hewes. George Hewes. Now, as this is a task for arms and backbone, not lips, keep to the work and to your business. There is no need for inquiry. If you find yourself confused follow my lead.”

Their group boarded a ship and assembled on the deck. The man in charge told Hewes to get the keys so they could unlock the ship’s hold. The Captain surrendered them with no resistance. As the hatches were being opened Hewes motioned for Glenn to join him at the ship’s rail.

Soon crates of tea were being tossed at their feet. George would chop into them with his tomahawk, then they would lift and throw them into the harbor. Glenn was filled with an intense sense of patriotism. All worked in silence for well over an hour without stopping, but as the men below deck got deeper into the hold there was time to rest between crates.

During one pause George spoke. “I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed such a still night.” There wasn’t any wind, and the only sounds were the murmur of the crowd on the wharf, the tomahawks chopping and splashes made by the tea crates. Glenn took this to mean he could now speak. “Yes, it is a still night.” Pointing at some ships anchored not far away Glenn asked “Whose ships are those?”

“Those are British.”

“British?” Glenn was confused. “They don’t mind us taking tea from their ships?”

“These are American ships.”

“But the tea is British?”

“No, the tea belongs to the East India Company.”

“And the taxes made the tea too expensive”, Glenn declared, feeling himself on more familiar ground.

“The tax is a problem, but the tea is cheaper now than before.”

“I don’t understand”, Glenn said, now on even more familiar ground. “How can that be?”

George sighed impatiently. “It has long been the law that the colonies import tea only from England. Recently, because of the taxes and duties charged by the crown, our boycott and the Dutch tea smugglers, the East India Company’s warehouses became full of tea they couldn’t sell. They were near bankruptcy when Parliament and King George suspended the duties and taxes paid in Britain, and allowed for direct importation of tea to the colonies, eliminating the price addition by the English brokers. They also granted East India a monopoly on our tea imports. Now, even as a small tax remains, the cost is less than what the Dutch are charging.”

It took a moment for Glenn to grasp the meaning of it all. “Let me get this straight. We’re on an American ship destroying a private company’s legally purchased product, even after they have, through tax cuts and market innovation, trimmed their overhead, eliminated the middleman, and brought you quality tea at a low price. George, I’m sure you think yourself a patriot, but you are attacking the very engine of liberty!”

George was not pleased with Glenn’s accusation. “I have no more desire to be taxed without representation by Parliament and King than I do to be ruled by an incorporation! First a monopoly on tea, then who knows what next? Will they control everything we…”

George didn’t finish his thought. “Socialist!” Glenn shouted as he pushed him over the rail into the cold water below.

Somebody cried out “Man overboard, get a rope!” As three men attended to rescuing George, the rest began surrounding Beck. Glenn dropped to his knees and started stuffing the loose tea in his pockets, then his pants. “This is private property. It must be returned. You don’t understand what you’re doing. You’re not following free market principles!”

As the men drew closer, Glenn got to his feet. “This is class warfare! You are socialist fascists bent on destroying the free market system!”

A few men grabbed Beck and lifted him over their heads. As George was being hauled back to the deck, Glenn was sent flying into the drink, becoming the only tea bag thrown into Boston Harbor that night.

He was treading water until he realized he was back in his bedroom, standing in front of the ghost.

“Well, Mister Beck, what have you learned tonight?”

“I hope this doesn’t offend you, Ben, but I don’t think those men truly knew what they were doing. Sure, the tax on tea was wrong, but that was a minor matter compared to their outright theft of private property and vandalism. They were only hurting themselves by protesting in that way. The Tea Party was a collectivist assault on the free market principles that make for a great nation, and those men, as well intentioned as they were, were traitors. I hope you don’t mind me saying that, but that’s how I see it.”

“I don’t mind at all,” Ben replied “I quite agree. Sometimes in their passion about one issue men neglect to consider the larger point.”

“Exactly!” Glenn paused. “Come to think of it,” he said as he began to sob “it’s obvious that this descent…” Overcome with emotion, he bit his knuckles softly and held his hand up to ask for time to recover. “…into socialist fascism began 236 years ago. No wonder the forces of destruction are so strong today!”

The ghost nodded. “You have well learned the lesson of the Boston Tea Party, Glenn Beck, even if you tend towards lacing your corset a bit too tightly. I now must take my leave, confident that you will continue the battle for our cause in your own day. Never forget the lesson you learned this evening, and never surrender the cause!”

With that the ghost began to fade.

Glenn smiled. “I’ll not forget the cause, and will always carry the honor of not only meeting Benjamin Franklin, but having you validate my beliefs.”

“Not Benjamin Franklin.” The ghost said as he dissolved into the darkness.

“Benedict Arnold.”

Thinking about the past.

Even though my house is a little over than a mile from the capital building, 230 years ago (the time of the war for American Independence), this was farmland! Hard to believe since it seems like I have to drive for miles to get to the countryside these days. My house is a little over 160 years old.

What brought this on? I mean it shows up when I walk by the area known as "World's End", which at one time was pretty "far out".

They point this out in the film "Lost in Austen" where the protagonist, Amanda Price, tells the people in Jane Austen World that she is from Hammersmith. Needless to say, late 18th Century Hammersmith was a vastly different place from 21st Century Hammersmith!

I mean, if Chelsea was the sticks, just think about what it was like another couple of miles out the A4, which was then known as the Bath Road!

The thing is that most people don't realise how different the world was in the past. Late 18th Cnetury society was vastly different from 21st century society in a world of ways. It amazes me how people can misunderstand concepts from the 18th Century. But, then again, maybe it shouldn't.

Dogs and blogs

This just seems appropriate.



From the New Yorker's Cartoonbank.com

Scores Killed, Hundreds Injured as Paramilitary Extremists Riot

From: http://footguards.tripod.com/06ARTICLES/ART08_scoreskilled.htm

BOSTON - April 20 - National guard units seeking to confiscate a cache of recently banned assault weapons were ambushed on April 19th by elements of a paramilitary extremist faction. Military and law enforcement sources estimate that 72 were killed and more than 200 injured before government forces were compelled to withdraw.

Speaking after the clash, Massachusetts Governor Thomas Gage declared that the extremist faction, which was made up of local citizens, has links to the radical right-wing tax protest movement. Gage blamed the extremists for recent incidents of vandalism directed against internal revenue offices.

The Governor, who described the group's organizers as "criminals", issued an executive order authorizing the summary arrest of any individual who has interfered with the government's efforts to secure law and order. The military raid on the extremist arsenal followed widespread refusal by the local citizenry to turn over recently outlawed assault weapons. Gage issued a ban on military style assault weapons and ammunition earlier in the week.

This decision followed a meeting in early April between government and military leaders at which the governor authorized the forcible confiscation of illegal arms. One government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, pointed out that "none of these people would have been killed had the extremists obeyed the law and turned over their weapons voluntarily."

Government troops initially succeeded in confiscating a large supply of outlawed weapons and ammunition. However, troops attempting to seize arms and ammunition in Lexington met with resistance from heavily-armed extremists. The insurrectionists were apparemtly well-informed of Government plans by the 'moles' they had placed deep within Government circles.

During a tense standoff in Lexington's town park, National Guard Colonel Francis Smith, commander of the government operation, ordered the armed group to surrender and return to their homes. The impasse was broken by a single shot, which was reportedly fired by one of the right-wing extremists. Eight civilians were killed in the ensuing exchange.

Ironically, the local citizenry blamed government forces rather than the extremists for the civilian deaths. Before order could be restored, armed citizens from surrounding areas had descended upon the guard units. Colonel Smith, finding his forces overmatched by the armed mob, ordered a retreat.

Governor Gage has called upon citizens to support the state/national joint task force in its effort to restore law and order. The governor has also demanded the surrender of those responsible for planning and leading the attack against the government troops. Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, and John Hancock, who have been identified as "ringleaders" of the extremist faction, remain at large.

Of course, I found this an amusing take on the whole thing even if it isn't historically accurate.