The Slow and Painful Demise of the News Journal

In today's paper comes the announcement we have all been awaiting.

You'll notice some changes in your newspaper today.

Thinner, lighter, and less newsworthy is my assessment. But the editor has a different thought.

The News Journal will continue to cover all of Delaware, and we've tried to package the news to make your reading experience enjoyable.

Even the headline allows for better news than one might see firsthand.

Changes in print edition won't alter our coverage of Delaware

With the demise and reductions coming to newspapers across the nation can we expect the News Journal to survive for long?

Peace.

14 Children Die in Afghan Bombing

It is always women and children who suffer most in war zones. News comes once again to support that fact.

The U.S. military says that a suicide bombing near an Afghan primary school killed 14 children.

Two adults died also. Another 58 were wounded.

Khost deputy police chief Yacoub Khan says the suicide blast went off near the entrance to a police and army post.

How many more must die before we find ways to end the violence around the world? We as a nation continue to supply arms and armament to forces across the globe, but our efforts at social and economic reform fall far short of the needs. It is by fundamental change in our world societies that we may find peace in the end. Until then the women and children of our world will continue to suffer.

For all the dead, may you rest in peace. To the families and friends who survive, my heartfelt sympathy.



Peace.

More Arms for Afghanistan?

What is wrong with this picture? The U.S. military is reported to be planing to furnish arms for many Afghan civilians.

One way to quell a violent and deteriorating situation, according to the U.S. military, is to flood the place with guns.

The last time U.S. money went to a similar venture was during the Reagan adminstration in support of the Mujahadeen insurgency.

Ultimately, the wealth of destructive force and financial heft given to the Afghans concentrated around two groups: Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda, and the Taliban.

If this plan is carried out what will the blowback be? What unintended consequence will we find at the end of the trail?

Peace.

$1 Trillion

In times when the economy is falling apart and many have too little to spread around or even to put food on the table, news of the cost of Bush's mismanaged war on terror will soon cost $1 Trillion. Even the failed Wall Street Bailout was less costly than this failed effort which has destroyed two nations, left thousands dead (including more than 4000 Americans), and forced uncounted hundreds of thousands to flee their native countries.

The war on terror looks set to surpass the cost the Korean and Vietnam wars combined, to be topped only by World War II's price

Sifting through Pentagon data, the CSBA [Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments] study breaks down the total cost for the war on terror as $687 billion for Iraq, $184 billion for Afghanistan, and $33 billion for homeland security.

On the safe assumption that the wars are being waged with borrowed money, interest payments raise the cost by an additional $600 billion through 2018.

On the other hand some reliable estimates put the cost of single-payer universal health care as the far less $350 Billion. Our nation's priorities are far out of perspective these days.

Peace.

Accomplishments or Grievous Errors?

For the past several weeks the Bush administration has been campaigning to improve the public view of their actions. Given the lowest approval rates in history that will take some doing. As part of the public record Vice-President Cheney offered public interviews which have been rare in his time in office until now.

In one interview Cheney discussed his approval of waterboarding as an interrogation method.

I signed off on it; others did, as well, too. I thought that it was absolutely the right thing to do. I thought the legal opinions that were rendered were sound. I think the techniques were reasonable in terms of what they were asking to be able to do. And I think it produced the desired result.

And the end result was answers the U.S. wished to hear. Where is the evidence those interrogations helped on single bit in the fight against terrorists or saved even one single life in any nation?

In spite of many opinions to the contrary, Cheney holds to his opinion waterboarding is not torture.

I don't believe it was torture.

Maybe he should try undergoing the procedure himself. Many people over centuries of human history have characterized waterboarding as inhumane treatment tantamount to torture.

And maybe worst of all, Cheney feels justified in all aspects of his decisions.

I feel very good about what we did. I think it was the right thing to do. If I was faced with those circumstances again, I'd do exactly the same thing.

How many lives have been lost to this single minded course? How many more must die before we as a nation repudiate these actions and seek a course of humanity and peace?

Peace.

Surge in Afghanistan?

What are these people thinking about? Given the relative failure of the "surge" in Iraq, now the plan is a surge in Afghanistan.

[British]Defence chiefs are making contingency plans to send 3,000 extra troops to southern Afghanistan next year as part of a US-led surge.

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said yesterday in Kabul that up to 30,000 American troops could be sent to Afghanistan by next summer.

When will the lesson ever be learned?

The solutions in both Iraq and Afghanistan will not be found in military occupations. We need new initiatives based in social and economic reform if we are ever to see an end to our occupations. At no time in history has democracy been instilled by force. Why is this going to work this time?

Peace.

A Tragic Loss This Week

Dominique is a Delaware blogger who writes at Down With Absolutes. On Tuesday her daughter was killed in a tragic accident. Read the post here. The loss of a child is always a tragedy, but the loss during the holiday season somehow makes the loss even more difficult.

Ashley, may you rest in eternal peace.



Peace.

The Plight of Afghani Women Today

For years women in Afghanistan have been subject to restrictions imposed by a society steeped in fundamentalist Islamic beliefs.

Islamic fundamentalism of any kind in essence looks upon women as sub-humans, fit only for household slavery and as a means of procreation.

Today some progress has been made in women's rights.

Seven years after the Taliban regime was ousted, Afghan women have seen gains in areas from political rights to education.

But with a possible settlement with the Taliban on the horizon, many women fear a return to the old days of suppression.

In the time of the Taliban rule women suffered at every level of society.

During the rule of the Taliban (1996 - 2001), women were treated worse than in any other time or by any other society. They were forbidden to work, leave the house without a male escort, not allowed to seek medical help from a male doctor, and forced to cover themselves from head to toe, even covering their eyes. Women who were doctors and teachers before, suddenly were forced to be beggars and even prostitutes in order to feed their families.

Under the newly adopted Constitution, women are given the same rights as men.

the citizens of Afghanistan - whether man or woman- have equal rights and duties before the law

Yet the situation for women remains dire.

The few women now succeeding in business risk becoming targets for criminals, just as businessmen now are. One Kabul entrepreneur's thriving business was recently surrounded by gunmen, who then kidnapped her son. Her family fled Afghanistan following her son's escape.

The statistics are grim.

* Every 30 minutes, an Afghan woman dies during childbirth [source]
* 87 percent of Afghan women are illiterate
* 30 percent of girls have access to education in Afghanistan
* 1 in every 3 Afghan women experience physical, psychological or sexual violence
* 44 years is the average life expectancy rate for women in Afghanistan
* 70 to 80 percent of women face forced marriages in Afghanistan

After 9/11, the oppression of women in Afghanistan was used as a supporting argument for U.S. military invasion of the nation. For a time the circumstance was indeed better. Now the Taliban is returning to power. The religious fundamentalists continue to push their principles on the population. Fear is everywhere in the lives of women and girls across the nation.

Numerous school for girls have been burned down and little girls have even been poisoned to death for daring to go to school.

One woman,Malalai Kakar, who fought back and became a policewoman was murdered. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the killing naming her as a long term target.

The Taliban killed Kakar because she worked for an Afghan government with the backing of international armed forces.

Kakar and others represent an old tradition among Afghani women. They are

an alternative model of Afghan womanhood that is much older than the Taliban, the mujahideen or the communists.

They are the modern incarnation of an ancient warrior tradition kept alive in Afghan folk tales.

What the future holds for women around the world is not clear today. That military suppression is ineffective is demonstrated in many nations around the world. We need a very new and different approach to social and economic problems if we are to see a real reversal and the gaining of real rights by women in all of society.

Peace.

Lendman on Bush

In a post about Aafia Siddiqui Steve Lendman nails the Bush administration.

Post-9/11, the Bush administration:

-- declared permanent war without cause;

-- ravaged Iraq and Afghanistan;

-- incited and/or engaged in other direct and proxy wars;

-- militarized the country;

-- enacted repressive police state laws;

-- trashed the rule of law;

-- made human and civil rights a nonstarter;

-- defiled every human dignity imaginable;

-- institutionalized illegal spying and electoral theft;

-- made torture official US policy;

-- criminalized dissent;

-- waged war on working Americans;

-- engineered the largest ever wealth transfer to the rich;

-- turned government into a crime syndicate;

-- looted the national treasury;

-- bankrupted the nation;

-- criminally defrauded the public; and

-- waged a global jihad against Islam.

Thanks, Steve.

Peace.

Science Tidbits Wednesday

One more day of new and exciting tantalizing news in the realm of science. New discoveries. New takes on old knowledge. The base of information and knowledge grows at a rate much too fast to keep up with all that is available. The following are some selections from my favorite science news site, e!Science News.

Smart clothes for real are on the horizon.

A carbon nanotube-coated "smart yarn" that conducts electricity could be woven into soft fabrics that detect blood and monitor health

Designed the right way the cloth could detect blood and trigger an alarm signal to an injured person.

It is conceivable that clothes made out of this material could be designed to harvest energy or store it, providing power for small electronic devices

One day we may be able to stop cancer in its tracks. Metastasis (the growth and spread of cancer to other sites) is the ultimate cause of death for most cancer patients. The discovery of an enzyme important in metastasis may one day allow a means of stopping that process.

Therefore PLCγ1 is critical for metastasis formation, and development and inhibition of this enzyme has a therapeutic potential in the treatment of metastasis dissemination.

We age. We lose bad memories in the process. Turns out there is a reason for that change. We "seniors" use our brains in a different way than younger people.

The older participants were using thinking rather than feeling processes to store these emotional memories.

And here I thought the effect was just early dementia in my life. Relief is just one short read away.

Over 1000 new species have been discovered in the Mekong Delta in the past decade. At least one species thought to be long extinct has been discovered in the region.

Laotian rock rat (Laonastes aenigmamus) or Kha-nyou, thought to be extinct 11 million years ago, but recently rediscovered by scientists.

With all the bad news about the environment today, this is welcome indeed.

NASA beauty picture of the day. For more see the NASA website. These are evidence of your tax dollars hard at work.


Trifid Nebula, NASA, Public Domain

Peace.

Bush Deeper in Denial

As time goes on the stories continue to accumulate. In the past few days President Bush traveled to Iraq for a visit. At a news conference the famous shoe throwing incident occurred. Since the soles of shoes or feet are displayed as a major insult we can believe the reporter meant what he said calling Bush a "dog." The President continues to insist the war will be a success.

The war is not over, but with the conclusion of these agreements... it is decisively on its way to being won.

Based on all the evidence he must be dreaming to think anything close. More than 4200 Americans are dead. Uncounted numbers of Iraqis are dead, maimed, displaced, or run out of the country. Sectarian violence continues to run rampant. What is successful here?

Peace.

Rebuilding Iraq a Failure

According to an unpublished Federal report obtained by The New York Times, even our government recognizes the failure of efforts to rebuild Iraq.

An unpublished 513-page federal history of the American-led reconstruction of Iraq depicts an effort crippled before the invasion by Pentagon planners who were hostile to the idea of rebuilding a foreign country, and then molded into a $100 billion failure by bureaucratic turf wars, spiraling violence and ignorance of the basic elements of Iraqi society and infrastructure.

The bitterest message of all for the reconstruction program may be the way the history ends. The hard figures on basic services and industrial production compiled for the report reveal that for all the money spent and promises made, the rebuilding effort never did much more than restore what was destroyed during the invasion and the convulsive looting that followed.

A history of chaos and failure is catalogued in the report.

In an illustration of the hasty and haphazard planning, a civilian official at the United States Agency for International Development was at one point given four hours to determine how many miles of Iraqi roads would need to be reopened and repaired.

Hasty deisions made without adequate information were the name of the game. The tale is one of deception, waste, and poor planning. One official quotes Dickens in summarizing the situation.

We spent as much money as we could, and got as little for it as people could make up their minds to give us.

As we approach Afghanistan these days with ideas very similar to those proposed for the rebuilding of Iraq will we learn any lessons? Will we be able to change direction and make the rebuilding of either Iraq or Afghanistan successful? The future is in the hands of our new administration.

Peace.

Arrested? Give Up Some DNA

Effective January 9, 2009, all persons arrested for a Federal crime and all noncitizens arrested in the U.S. will be required to give a DNA sample to the authorities.

Congress authorized the expansion in 2005, citing the power of DNA as a tool in crime solving and prevention.

The change could add as many as 1.2 million people a year to the national database, U.S. officials said. Supporters equate DNA collection to taking fingerprints or photographs at the time of booking.

Others of us see this an extention of the invasion of privacy and loss of individual rights we have witnessed in recent years. Big Brother is not only watching but is marking your genetic material for future reference.

U.S. officials said that probable cause that a person has committed a crime or indications that he is an illegal immigrant subject to removal from the country are appropriate standards for collecting DNA.

And the Constitutional presumption of innocence is thrown out the window.

Peace.

Science News Thursday

Every day there is new news in the realm of science. New discoveries. New takes on old knowledge. The base of information and knowledge grows at a rate much too fast to keep up with all that is available. The following are just a few selections from my favorite science news site, e!Science News.

It is a tie. The two dimmest stellar objects are a pair of brown dwarf stars shining with 1 millionth of the intensity of our sun.

Brown dwarfs are the misfits of the cosmos. They are compact balls of gas floating freely in space, but they are too cool and lightweight to be stars, and too warm and massive to be planets. The name 'brown dwarf' comes from the fact that these small, star-like bodies change colour over time as they cool, and thus have no definitive colour.

Who would have known if astronomers had not been looking so closely?

Having grown up on Hostess cupcakes and Twinkies I knew this one already. Sugar may be addictive. In a study of rats

Until now, the rats under study have met two of the three elements of addiction. They have demonstrated a behavioral pattern of increased intake and then showed signs of withdrawal. His current experiments captured craving and relapse to complete the picture.

I guess that means I have to give up some of my daily sugar intake. Darn.

For a long time people have known exercise suppresses appetite for a bit of time after the exercise period. Now comes news of an explanation for this phenomenon.

A vigorous 60-minute workout on a treadmill affects the release of two key appetite hormones, ghrelin and peptide YY, while 90 minutes of weight lifting affects the level of only ghrelin, according to a new study. Taken together, the research shows that aerobic exercise is better at suppressing appetite than non-aerobic exercise and provides a possible explanation for how that happens.

Now we need a way to make keyboarding an aerobic exercise form for those of too lazy to get out and be more active.

One that brought mixed emotions tells of the effects of a video game on "older" adults (60's and 70's). OUCH! That hurts to be called older, but on to the news.

A new study found that adults in their 60s and 70s can improve a number of cognitive functions by playing a strategic video game that rewards nation-building and territorial expansion.

Maybe somebody told Bush that and he used the world instead of the video game.

A man who keeps more than 300,000 fruit flies in his basement has made an important discovery in the realm of memory.

Bolduc has shown that genetically disrupting a specific gene called FMR1 in a fruit fly's brain will wipe out its long-term memory. Bolduc has also found a class of drugs that helps fruit flies with this disrupted gene to regain their memories. The news is significant for humans, because FMR1 may malfunction in people with intellectual disabilities like Fragile X syndrome, and there are currently no clinically available treatments.

Fragile X syndrome is the most common genetic abnormality in children. Those children may suffer memory difficulties and seizures. As this research proceeds there is hope for improvement or even one day a cure for the problem. This is a miracle indeed.

And there is lots more to be found on e!Science News and other science sites around the internet. The information extravaganza is wild and woolly and open to each and every one of us these days. Enjoy

NASA beauty pic of the day.

Cone Nebula, NASA, Public Domain

For lots more incredible pictures in the public domain see the NASA website.

Peace.

Bush About Bush

In an address yesterday to the cadets at West Point, NY, President Bush commended himself and his administration in yet another apparent effort to improve his public opinion status in the waning days of his reign.

The president declared that today's military is "stronger, more agile and better prepared" than the one he inherited in 2001.

Must be a different military than the one we hear over and over again is stretched to the breaking point.

...we've laid a solid foundation on which future presidents and future military leaders can build

But the foundation only works if we continue a regimen of warrantless wiretapping, alternative interrogation, and long term detention without charges. The foundation Bush built is formed from the scraps of our shredded Constitution.

Bush lauded his own administration for beefing up and reshaping its intelligence community

Would that be the same people who misled the world with their intelligence on Iraq? "Slam dunk" anyone?

Bush sacked Rumsfeld midway through his second term.

One good decision at least.

Bush again tied Iraq to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

In spite of the evidence to the contrary Bush continues to hold to this fairy tale.

Bush said that terrorists have been "severely weakened" during his tenure

Maybe he is not reading the recent reports of the reconstitution of the Taliban in Afghanistan. While the rest of us try to live in the real world, Bush and company continue to live in some fairy tale land that we do not share.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

On December 10, 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The first articles follow. The full text may be found here.

Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2: Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 3:Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 4: No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 6: Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 7: All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

Article 8: Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

Article 9: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Article 10: Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

Today we celebrate 60 years since the passage of this declaration. What a world was envisioned? Just think what a wonder we'd be living today if the principles were guiding factors for every nation around the globe.

Peace.

The NJ Needs a Proof Reader

On most occasions I let the misspellings and poor usage of the English language roll on by, but today the error is far too terrible to forgive.

A 26-year-old man was shot by the driver of a green car, whom he had mistook for the man he had tangled with in the Camden store a day earlier.(emphasis mine)

Most newspapers publish on a fifth grade level, but this is below even that. Street slang and misappropriation of language grates on my nerves more than most any other error when put into print. The NJ took one more long step down today. How much farther will they fall?

Peace.

9/11 Suspects to "plead guilty"

In news of the day comes this tidbit.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged planner of the September 11 attacks, and four other suspects have asked to plead guilty to the charges they face at a Guantanamo Bay tribunal.

Long confinement and mistreatment have the effect desired by the administration. Now the judge must decide if or not the plea is proper and obtained without coercion.

Peace.

Understatement of the Year Award

This year's understatement of the year award goes to Condoleezza Rice. At the time of the invasion of Iraq

Rice was President George W. Bush's national security adviser.

Ever the mistress of understatement Rice says

the Bush administration put a single department — the Pentagon — in charge of running Iraq. Rice — who's now secretary of state — says that wasn't the right approach.

Not the right approach!!! That may be the single biggest understatement I have heard from this administration.

Peace.

Pentagon Grasping for Straws Again

Yesterday the Pentagon declared a successful test of their star wars (anti-missile) weapon system. This is the first real success for the system if one fails to look closely at the conditions of the test. The attack missile failed to deploy any deceptive systems. The test works only for the most simple of ballistic missiles such as those owned by North Korea.

The Defense Department wants to spend about $50 billion over the next five years on missile defense. The Pentagon this year requested $10.5 billion, although Congress has cut nearly $500 million from the request.

And for our hard earned money we get a system that has failed almost every test and is admitted not to work against sophisticated weaponry systems deployed by China and Russia.

Peace.

Reality TV Sinking to a New Low

According to an ABC announcement yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security will be the star of a new reality series to premier in January. One of the featured departments is to be ICE (Immigrations and Customs Enforcement), the very same people responsible for some of the most egregious roundups and detentions of immigrants in the history of our nation. Just remember the Postville, Iowa, story and the recent detentions here in Delaware.

The very last media event our nation needs today is glorification of the current police state we are growing. We need real immigration reform that reflects the interests of all concerned, both citizens and immigrants wishing to become citizens. The current system is broken. ICE has a long history of deaths in detention along with various abuses of the prisoners. Tales like that one are not fit for media presentation.

To express your thoughts the media contact person for ABC is
Patrick Preblick (212) 456-7819; patrick.k.preblick@abc.com
In addition when the show is broadcast we can post the advertisers' names and push to avoid their products and stores. We must not sit idly by and allow this sort of propaganda to be put out in the guise of entertainment.

The truth and only the truth will set us free.

Peace.

Cluster Bomb Treaty Signing Begins

For several years now the use and manufacture of cluster bombs has been discussed and tossed about like a ship in a wind storm. Cluster bombs deliver large

small explosive-filled or chemical-filled items designed for saturation coverage of a large area

In many reported instances unexploded bombs have injured children or other innocent bystanders. Afghanistan agreed today to join as

Representatives of about 100 nations began signing the ambitious treaty formally renouncing the use of the bombs

Among the nations refusing to sign are the United States, China, and Russia.

the United States has rejected the new treaty and therefore may legally continue to deploy its vast cluster-bomb arsenal. Russia, China, India, Pakistan and most Middle Eastern states have also refused to give up their weapons despite the lethal danger they pose to civilians.

The United States is claiming to be developing a "safer" version to limit civilian casualties.

Peace.

Honor Killing, $100 in Iraq

Every time anyone begins to think the situation in Iraq cannot get any worse, another new news item comes along. Today is the story of honor killings for sale.

Authorities in the southern Iraqi city of Basra have admitted they are powerless to prevent 'honour killings' in the city following a 70 per cent increase in religious murders during the past year.

One lawyer in the city described how police were actively protecting perpetrators and said that a woman in Basra could now be murdered by hired hitmen for as little as $100 (£65).

The story of Rand Abdel-Qader, the 17-year-old murdered by her father after forming a relationship with a British soldier, is all too typical of the state of affairs today. Rand's father said

If I had realised then what she would become, I would have killed her the instant her mother delivered her

Abdel-Qader, 46, a government employee, was initially arrested but released after two hours. Astonishingly, he said, police congratulated him on what he had done. 'They are men and know what honour is,' he said.

Rand's mother divorced her husband and went into hiding after the killing. She was subsequently killed as well. In Rand's case the story was all too typical.

Though her horrified mother, Leila Hussein, called Rand's two brothers, Hassan, 23, and Haydar, 21, to restrain Abdel-Qader as he choked her with his foot on her throat, they joined in. Her shrouded corpse was then tossed into a makeshift grave without ceremony as her uncles spat on it in disgust.

Today fathers are hiring killers to take care of the bloody task. Then the deaths are attributed to sectarian violence. Even organizations aimed at helping women live in safety are targeted.

The Women's Rights Association in Basra was forced to close down after death threats were made following the murder of Rand's mother last May. Two women from a voluntary organisation who had been helping her to hide from her husband were also injured.

Some in the government are trying to reverse the course according to Hameed Walled, senior official in the Ministry of Human Rights.

We try to make a difference by teaching students at schools about gender equality, but it only will be possible when parents don't teach the opposite at home

At least there is a start. How long before we see any real progress? The situation for women today is worse than before the invasion. The deaths of every one these women must be counted with the casualties of war as the toll mounts day by day.

Crossposted from NION.

Peace.

The Blowback of War--Another View

In case you missed the article in Sunday's Washington Post, this is worth a read. The author, Matthew Alexander, is an Air Force veteran writing about his experience in Iraq as an interrogator. He tells the truth as he saw the situation. The tale is a stark and terrible story.

These interrogations were based on fear and control; they often resulted in torture and abuse.

Alexander saw the result of American actions toward detainees.

Torture and abuse cost American lives. I learned in Iraq that the No. 1 reason foreign fighters flocked there to fight were the abuses carried out at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo.

Today Alexander faces the personal questions of his past. What will he tell his grandchildren? In addition he poses issues all Americans must face in our future.

until we renounce the sorts of abuses that have stained our national honor, al-Qaeda will be winning. Zarqawi is dead, but he has still forced us to show the world that we do not adhere to the principles we say we cherish. We're better than that. We're smarter, too.

Peace.

World Aids Day, December 1

Since 1988 World Aids Day has been celebrated on December 1. This year in view of the recent attacks in Mumbai some activities set for the day are being rescheduled. Still there is much to be done.

Each individual can take action.
* get tested for HIV
* practice safe methods to prevent HIV
* decide not to engage in high risk behaviors
* talk about HIV prevention with family, friends, and colleagues
* provide support to people living with HIV/AIDS
* get involved with or host an event for World AIDS Day in your community

Check the World Aids Day website for lots of resources and ideas.

This is a disease of epidemic proportions. In spite of major advances in medicine over the recent years, the disease still kills thousands each year. No one is immune. Black, white, male, female, old, young. All are affected. Continued action is necessary if we are to combat this killer effectively.

Peace.

The Most Disappointing Give

Stan Cox has a lot to say about holiday shopping, the state of the economy, and clothes in particular.

polls show that clothing, the most popular present among givers, is also ranked as the “most disappointing gift” by those on the receiving end.

His advice

Resolve not to buy any new clothes — not even a tight new belt! — for anyone for a whole year, starting now.

Harsh as that may seem, last year (2007) the average American household spent $1760 for clothes and accessories. With the lower price of imports in recent years those dollars stretch to provide 18% more in quantity than in 2002.

Not all the news is good when we consider the clothing displaced to make room for the new items.

...with a constant need to free up closet space for new purchases, the average American discards 68 pounds of clothing and other textiles each year, the Environmental Protection Agency says.

And with the demise of much of American clothing manufacture imports are running at an all time high.

The United States brings in more clothes than the next highest nine importers combined.

Not buying more this year will be one more blow to the already faltering economy, but the benefits to the environment and to the long term of the world may outweigh the damage.

The pollution problem alone looms large.

Dye effluents often carry toxic metals, among them copper, cobalt, chromium, nickel, zinc, lead, antimony, silver, cadmium and mercury. Bleaching the cloth for a single shirt generates as much as 15 gallons of chlorine-polluted wastewater.

Chemicals used in the industry, including anti-wrinkle compounds, can be carcinogenic. In 2002, Italian and American researchers found that risks of nasal, bladder and gastrointestinal cancers among spinners, weavers and dyers were elevated 28 to 126 percent.

In the end the choice is always ours to make. Buy more or less? Or do we stay steady?

Peace.

Where's Joe?

In an article yesterday, Politico asked the question

Where's Joe?

The vice president-elect has not spoken publicly since the election, and was at Barack Obama's side just once this week as the president-elect delivered a series of grim news conferences on the economy.

Is our political son to be relegated to the back burner as so many V-P's of the past have been? Time will tell, but the early weeks seen not to bode well for a major part for Senator Biden.

Peace.

Happy Thanksgiving

Yelnoc, Flickr, Creative Commons

On this day for which we all have much for which to be thankful, and at the same time much about which to worry, let us all relax for a bit to enjoy the day.

Continuing a thread from years past.

beachblogger, Flickr Creative Commons

Hope does continue to spring eternal.

And let us remember that fine dinner

Dennis Sylvester Hurd, Flickr, Creative Commons

once roamed the wilds as a fine looking animal.

stevevoght, Flickr, Creative Commons


Daniel James, Flikr, Creative Commons

and the turkey on the table is not to be mistaken for the nation of the same name, Turkey.

Istanbul at night, flydime, Flickr, Creative Commons

While you are at this business of Thanksgiving dinner how about making the event sustainable? Tips follow.

1. Buy produce from your local farmers market.

2. Buy organic produce whenever possible.

3. Support a farm worker. Help to improve the lives of farm workers and their families through the United Farm Workers.

4.Adopt-a-turkey! Participate in Farm Sanctuary's program to rescue turkeys and you can enjoy a holiday free from animal cruelty.

5. Have a no-waste meal. Think about how much tinfoil, paper goods and leftover food are thrown away, to spend many, many years in a landfill. Instead, use re-usable products and wash them, if possible in a dishwasher with eco-friendly detergent.

6. Get moving! The exhaustion you feel on Thanksgiving is from all of the fat, sugar and calories.

7. Skip turkey. [I know, I know. We have two meals, one vegetarian and one turkey. The vegetarian meal is healthy and does not cost an animal its life.]

8. Drink delicious tap water.

9. Eat endangered foods. I'm not talking about elephants or whales but foods such as the Capitol Reef Apple, Amish Deer Tongue Lettuce and the Gilfeather Turnip. Help save foods on the verge of extinction by eating them. It's a yummy way to help preserve local cuisines and foods and ensure they remain part of culinary traditions.

10. Share your tip for how to have a sustainable Thanksgiving!

Peace.

Science News Wednesday

On the theory we all need a break from the humdrum of politics and in the interest of stimulating more interest in science matters overall I offer the following tidbits. For much, more the website, e! Science News is recommended.

For those among us who are overweight comes confirmation from the British Medical Journal of what many may have guessed already.

Globally every year, obese people waste billions of pounds on food products that 'imply' that they aid weight loss, but are totally ineffective

From the question not often asked department comes this one. What behavior do Puerto Rican anole lizards and teachers share?

animals in noisy environments can use visual displays to grab their neighbors' attention before initiating a more information-rich performance.

Think of the teacher tapping the desk with a ruler to calm a noisy classroom. The lizards perform an eye-catching push-up ritual before offering more information.

This is interesting because it's an example of very different species converging on a similar strategy.

Nature is filled with models of products with uses in other aspects of our world. Today is news of a new superglue made by sandcastle worms living in intertidal surf.

University of Utah bioengineers have made a synthetic version of this seaworthy superglue, and hope it will be used within several years to repair shattered bones in knees, other joints and the face.

This is a major step up in the repair of fractures with many small pieces. The glue offers a way to hold those fragments together while the healing process is underway.

From the WOW department in my line of work comes word adult neurons have some ability to remodel their connections contrary to longstanding belief among scientists.

This work is particularly exciting because it sheds new light on the potential flexibility of cerebral cortex circuitry and architecture in higher-level brain regions that contribute to perception and cognition.

The news is very good for trauma patients and some people with other adult onset neurological conditions. The trick now is to find ways to implement this base knowledge into treatment plans and programs.

Nanoparticles are much in the news these days for both their good and bad sides. This time they are touted as a means of making new and interesting latex polymers.

This process creates a very versatile polymer latex product. It can be used to create scratch resistant paints in which the scratches heal themselves. It can be fine tuned to produce polymer based packaging which will allow water or air to pass through the packaging in tailored ways.

If this works the way it is thought we may see house paint that fixes scratches and other imperfections. That science fiction ideal of a self-painting house may be just over the horizon. Who would have guessed?

And for a bit of beauty today we turn to NASA.


Helix Nebula, NASA, public domain


Peace.

More Bad Economic News Today

Not that we all need reminders as we can look around to see people in need or see in our own households the troubled economy, but a series of four government reports just released paint a dark picture.

jobless claims remain at recessionary levels, Americans cut back on their spending by the largest amount since the 2001 terrorist attacks, orders to U.S. factories plummeted and homes sales fell to the lowest level in nearly 18 years.

One possible bright spot is a decrease in the number of jobless people continuing unemployment compensation. How many of those people have ended their benefit entitlement is not mentioned.

In other bad news

new home sales decreased 5.3 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual sales pace of 433,000 homes, the lowest level since January 1991, another period when the country was undergoing a steep housing downturn.

In October the median price of a new home fell another 7%.

In the face of a collapsing economy the government continues its efforts to reverse the mess.

The latest federal moves raised U.S. commitments to contain the financial crisis to nearly $7 trillion

Will that be enough? The numbers are staggering already without much obvious help. How much more must we suffer?

Peace.

Tasered Police Officers Did Not Like the Experience

A few months ago a little noticed new item told of Newcastle County, Delaware, police officers being armed with Tasers the supposed to be nonlethal restraint weapon. According to the article all Newcastle police officers on street patrol are being armed with the Tasers in addition to the weapons already in their possession. Maybe before they go on patrol with the Tasers those officers should read of the experience of their cohorts in Las Vegas.

The officers were at a training seminar in November 2003 to learn how to use the newest weapon on their belts, a device the manufacturer claimed would incapacitate a person but not do permanent harm. You can't really comprehend the Taser, students were told, until you're Tasered.

Three officers were seriously injured in training incidents in 2003. All three have filed lawsuits against Taser International, Inc.

How long before a Delaware officer is injured? And that does not consider the injuries or even deaths attributed to the nationwide use of the device against civilians.

Peace.

Justice Considered Once More

A blogger friend, Unitary Moonbat, posted a story about Kenya including the following African proverb.

Just because he harmed your goat, do not go out and kill his bull.

Folk wisdom is a natural part of my childhood as my family lived in rural Kentucky, hunted with locals who were many times very poor, and worked on local farms in the summer. In so many instances folk wisdom holds kernels of truth we may miss in our modern society and the ongoing rush to something bigger, better, and newer.

This particular proverb reminds me once again of the meaning of true justice. There is not one iota of just action in the continued air attacks by American military forces against villages in Pakistan, Afghanistan, or Iraq. One sniper firing on American forces may be the reason to call in an air strike. Then who suffers? In many instances the civilians nearby, men, women, and children, are the ones who are wounded or killed. We have killed the bull in response to the killing of our goat.

We need a new way in the world today. We as a nation and as a worldwide society cannot continue our militaristic ways if we are to survive. Several nations today own enough armament to destroy the entire globe. How are we to avoid the use of those weapons if we fail to find a way to bring justice to our entire world?

The future is not in our view yet. There is so much work to be done, but if we all continue one day at a time to do the best we are able to change the bits of the world that touch us we may in the end find a better world. It is only when we fail to take action that we insure our future will not be the one of which we dream.

Peace.

More on Justice

A blogger friend shared this picture.



Might at least be a good start.

Peace.

Justice

Justice according to the dictionary is, among other definitions,

the moral principle determining just conduct.

Justice in all affairs is one principle upon which America was founded. In recent years we have witnessed a significant erosion of basic principles of humanity included in just behavior. The Bush administration pushed forward programs of detention and abuse including torture in the name of fighting a terrorist enemy. Many detainees have been declared innocent. Very few have been tried or are about to be seen in a court of law.

An alternate definition of justice is

the maintenance or administration of what is just by law, as by judicial or other proceedings

Under this definition justice has been lacking for a few years in our nation.

A basic problem facing our nation today is the past torture of detainees. That such abuse occurred is no longer a matter of contention. The issue comes in the public acceptance of this abuse as a normal function of American government. Torture is defined as

the act of inflicting excruciating pain, as punishment or revenge, as a means of getting a confession or information, or for sheer cruelty

Under the Bush/Cheney administration this definition was modified to reach the edges of human endurance. As defined by then Attorney General Alberto Gonzales interrogation up to the point of organ failure was legitimate and not defined as torture. The point of common definition was far surpassed by the memo and the new definition.

Reports in the news quote Obama advisors saying there will be no investigation of the previous administration's involvement in harsh interrogation techniques. Can there be justice if the possible criminal actions of Bush/Cheney are not investigated? At least if an open and fair court of law finds them innocent we can rest as citizens knowing our system worked. What end is left without investigation?

The debate may continue for years to come as we as a nation decide if or not torture is an acceptable practice. I would argue there are no circumstances under which the inhumane treatment of any human is acceptable. Not one situation justifies the torture of another human. That we as a society are even having the debate baffles me. How can any reasonable person accept the idea of torturing another human being?

Our nation has many issues to face in the weeks and years to come. We must examine our moral compass and come to conclusions as to our national direction. Our nation was founded on principles of liberty and justice for ALL. Let us hope we can find our way back to those basic ideals in our future.

Peace.

Give the American Worker a Break

Rick Kepler writes yesterday in a Truthout editorial about the plight of the American worker and the desire by all to share in the wealth of our nation.

I am an American worker, and you are damn right I want the wealth to be shared and spread.

Kepler is one angry man but what he says is correct.

The American worker, whether black, brown, white, red, yellow, or rainbow color, has been fleeced over these past eight years.

Health insurance and other benefits have been reduced over the course of time. Wages have not kept pace with inflation. The spread between the rich and the poor is the greatest we have seen in America since the late 1920's.

Like Kepler I support a government that acts to support workers as part of an entire nation.

The American worker doesn't want a handout. Never did. We do want a hand up from our government.

Policies that protect jobs and allow workers to seek adequate wages and safe working conditions are important. We need a return to laws that allow a level playing field. For the last eight years all has been about enriching the powerful and already rich. We as a nation cannot afford that course if we wish to have a nation for the future.

Peace.

The Health Insurance Industry Again

The two main trade associations of the health insurance industry offered to

support a health care overhaul requiring insurers to accept all customers, regardless of illness or disability. But in return, the industry said, Congress should require all Americans to have coverage.

This approach has already been put forth in our nation. We need a better idea. Our national health care system is broken to the point of being past repair. We need an overhaul and a new system of nationalized health care.

The only system likely to be successful these days is one of single payer health care. That is, a program of privatized medicine with socialized payment. Every individual would choose his/her own physician and the government would insure payment. Private insurance is a system set up to minimize costs and maximize profits resulting in a reduction of overall returns in terms of patient care. Today, Americans spend about twice the amount per person as other developed nations spend on health care. That expense garners us only 37th place in world rankings of health care.

We deserve better than the offerings of the insurance industry. We must demand better care from the new administration. Failure to push our elected officials for real change and adequate health care will leave us farther and farther behind. We cannot afford to lose any more ground in our nation's health.

Peace.

The Human Face of War

Enough said.

Peace.

Too Good to be True

News reports today quote David Satterfield, senior advisor to the US secretary of state and the country's Iraq coordinator

The United States will withdraw its forces from Iraq and refuse to approve an extension of the UN Security Council mandate if the treaty is not signed.

Don't we wish that were true? The statement seems to be a threat rather than a promise, but at least if Iraq fails to sign the Security Agreement there may be some hope for a more rapid American withdrawal than the 2011 deadline in the document.

Peace.

More Bad Economic News Today

In the News Journal is word of a large development going into foreclosure.

On Tuesday, the Vincent Overlook development became what is believed to be Sussex County's largest foreclosure case.

Then more distressing news

The cost of living in the U.S. fell by the most on record and construction began on the fewest homes ever last month, evidence the economy is in the worst recession in at least a quarter century.

Prices dropped last month as fuel costs plummeted and retailers used discounts for cars and clothing to entice consumers hobbled by job losses and sinking home values.

A slump in building permits signaling residential construction is likely to keep falling in the next couple of months. Permits dropped 12 percent to a 708,000 pace, the lowest since at least 1960, the report from Commerce showed.

The Obama administration is set to spend as much as a trillion dollars to help the economy recover. Will that be enough? How long will and how much will the American public suffer before we see an end to the economic collapse?

Peace.

Lieberman Stays

In spite of a vote against the policies of Bush as represented by the loss of McCain and the win of Obama, our Democratic Party Senators did not hear the voice of the public. In a closed door session of the party caucus this morning, Senator Joe Lieberman was allowed to keep all his committee posts including the chair of Homeland Security and to caucus with the Democrats in the Senate.

How very far we have fallen as a party when a man who attends the Republican Party Convention and stands in support of their candidate is kept as a "Democrat." The man lost an election in his home state and ran as an Independent. He has been a steadfast support of the Bush war agenda and has supported other Republican Party nominees for Congress in recent years. Lieberman actively campaigned against Obama. How much more evidence do we need to let him go at last?

What is wrong with our Senators? Apparently the old boy club of the Senate is more important than any real representation of either the Party or of the voters. I am saddened beyond measure today.

Peace.

They Didn't Want Us to Die--Murat Kurnaz

They didn't want us to die.

Murat Kurnaz wrote those words in his book, Five Years of My Life: An Innocent Man in Guantanamo. A Turkish citizen living in Bremen, Germany, Kurnaz traveled to Pakistan in October 2001 to study the Koran. Then his life took a turn for the worst as he was arrested and taken to the U.S. detention camp at Guantanamo Bay. Kurnaz among others details his experience including isolation, repeated physical abuse, and harsh interrogation. One final straw was force feeding as a result of a hunger strike mounted by detainees at Guantanamo. Then he came to realize the guards and others in charge did not intend for the prisoners to die.


abugraib02, Flickr, Creative Commons

Many tales of abuse have come from the prisoners at Guantanamo and other U.S. detention centers. Even deaths have been reported as the result of treatment during detention. Photos from Abu Graib and other facilities confirm much of what has reached the public eye.


fairgofordaividorg, Flickr, Creative Common

Detainees have been housed in cages constructed of chain link, and often find themselves dressed in goggles, gas mask, and gloves for sensory isolation.


indiewirecom, Flickr, Creative Commons

Kurnaz was held at Guantanamo

in a cage-like cell, without the possibility to talk to his lawyer, without charge, outside the rule of law.

At one point in time he reports being subjected to waterboarding.


waterboarding1108, Flickr, Creative Commons

These claims are far from being the isolated ravings of a single man. For the past 8 years the United States at the direction of administration officials has engaged in egregious actions including torture. The justification for these actions lies in memos submitted by the Justice Department including one famous writing by then Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in which the Geneva Conventions were described as “quaint” and not applicable to the detainees classified as “enemy combatants” by President Bush.

To date no one has taken responsibility for the mistreatment of the detainees. No apology and no measure of restitution has been offered to any of the prisoners released to date. Some remain in detention in spite of being declared innocent. The situation drags on day by day. The legal and moral issues are complex and difficult. Some detainees are being refused asylum in neutral nations.

The issues surrounding the detainees and their ongoing circumstance will face the Obama administration on day one. The question remains to be answered as to whether or not the detainees will face real justice one day. Until that time the situation remains one of ongoing confinement with life spared but not made a good one.

Peace.

Pondering the Individual

A book, Operation Homecoming, I am reading contains this thought.

To the world each of us is an individual. In our daily lives we are the world to some individual.

As a father like the one in the book I know the meaning of those words. Every one of us has someone special in our lives to whom we mean the world.

The same is true for every human alive in our world today. Every person in the world means the world to some other person. If we think in that context we may be able to better understand the anger and outright hatred generated by our military actions around the globe. No person accepts with gratitude the death or injury of a person who is the world to them. How much more effect would our nation have in this world if we treated every person in the world as if they meant the world to each of us?

Peace.

The Imperial Presidency

Last Sunday the New York Times had an excellent article, After the Imperial Presidency. The article examines the role of the U.S. Senate in recent years and ponders the future under an Obama Presidency. An early quote from Senator Patrick Leahy sets the stage.

We’re supposed to be the conscience of the nation

If only that were the real case maybe our nation would not be in the situation we find today.

From the same article Virginia Senator John Warner said in reference to the three coequal branches of government:

The tripod has got to stand on these three legs, and if one leg gets weak, the tripod begins to not supply the support this country needs. I see this institution getting weak.

Agreed. The House and the Senate of recent years have in large measure abandoned their responsibility as a coequal branch.

Too many Senators find themselves

torn between his obligations to the Senate and his duties to the Republican [or Democratic] Party

Politicization in too many instances blocks any chance of the very actions necessary for the public benefit.

In recent days under the Democratic Party controlled Congress

A number of administration officials have invoked executive privilege rather than answer questions at hearings; others have simply refused to show up altogether, often ignoring subpoenas in the process. While hardly pleased, the Democrats have yet to issue a single contempt-of-Congress citation.

The Democrats once again abandoned their responsibility. There can be no justice and no equality of governing branches so long as on branch is allowed to act as they choose without restraint of any sort.

Presumably, as more detainee lawsuits make their way through the federal courts, we will learn additional details about the mistreatment of enemy combatants, particularly because the new administration's lawyers won't have the same incentive to suppress such information.

Maybe so but there has been so little demonstration of such integrity I cannot help but worry.

And even among the rumormongers of the day silence on real investigation of Bu$hco.

But there has been no talk of the newly elected Congress undertaking a sweeping investigation of the Bush administration's activities along the lines of the Church Committee.

Bruce Fein, a Justice Department lawyer in the Reagan administration, said of the Senate in relation to big decisions

There’s a psychology of vassalage to the president. They don’t want to be out there on a limb.

And we see the constant pressure for reelection play a part.

By political necessity, senators spend as much time as possible back in their home states building up their treasuries for their next race.

Where are the Church's of our time? Are they all gone? Is money and fundraising for reelection the only chore our Senators have time to arrange these days?

We are in deep trouble in our nation. This sort of behavior must end yesterday or sooner if we are to have any realistic chance for a new direction. It is the sort of evidence the article discusses that makes me very cynical and distraught about our possible future. It is that same cynicism that forces me to continue political activity in the hope of finding others with spine and integrity along the way.

History has shown that where you stand on executive authority is largely a matter of where you sit.

Let us hope President Obama finds his seat a more just and beneficial one than what President Bush occupies.

Peace.

Freedom Isn't Free

Freedom is defined by the dictionary as

exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc.

In the 60's when the Vietnam War was on the minds of every person in our nation, a song was written by Paul Colwell, Freedom Isn't Free. The chorus

Freedom isn't free! Freedom isn't free!
You gotta pay a price...You've gotta sacrifice,
For your liberty.

remains as true today as forty years ago. The meaning may lend itself to different interpretations, but the truth remains within the substance of the verse.

At the time of its original performance the song was meant to support the war. Today while the same arguments continue over the military occupation of Iraq and our military intervention in Afghanistan, we may all do well to heed one verse of the original song.

Freedom is a word often heard today,
But if you wanna keep it there's a price to pay.
Each generation's gotta win it anew,
‘Cause it's not something handed down to you.

We have different ideas and thoughts about freedom and its cost. The current U.S. involvement around the world comes as the result of our being told our freedom is at stake. In continuation of the war effort we have lost many of our Constitutional freedoms. We no longer enjoy the freedom to speak or communicate in any medium without risk of being recorded without our knowledge. We no longer enjoy the protection of habeus corpus. Even the freedom of assembly is often abridged in public places when President Bush is in the area.

What will freedom be in our future? How will we define freedom as time goes by? Are we as a nation willing to let our past freedoms be bygones? Or will we find the national will to fight for our rights as human beings and as citizens of this great nation? Can we even hope to predict with any degree of accuracy what the future holds?

We have a new President-elect in Barack Obama. He will enter the White House with a Senate and House of Representatives both holding Democratic Party majorities. We Democrats have stood for freedom, human rights, and civil rights for many years. Today we are on the cusp of real change to restore many of those values to our nation if we are willing to push our leaders in the right directions.

Freedom requires some measure of sacrifice on the part of every person in the nation. Each of us as individuals must decide which freedoms are most important. Do we allow unrestricted freedoms or do we each give up a small bit for the greater good? What parts do we forego and what do we fight to keep?

Decisions, decisions. There are so may choices to be made. We have real hope today with the potential of a new administration. But there is work to be done. The course will not change if we fail to do our part and push for the right direction. We must sacrifice some of our free time to work for renewed freedom in our nation. If we fail to take action and to make the small sacrifices necessary to move forward we may in the end find all we value is lost forever.

Peace.

At Last the Consumer is Being Considered in the Credit Bailout

Having first heard the "only way" to rescue the financial system was to put money into big institutions, now comes news the

Treasury Department on Wednesday officially abandoned the original strategy behind its $700 billion effort to rescue the financial system

Financial institutions took the money and worked to benefit the institution while remaining unwilling to lend to consumers. The new focus is on the individual consumer.

Treasury officials said they hoped to invest about $50 billion from the bailout fund into the new loan facility, with the aim of helping companies that issue credit cards, make student loans and finance car purchases.

Treasury Secretary Paulson remains steadfast in his opposition to using bailout money for the Big Three car companies.

No surprise on Wall Street at the news.

The news that the government will not buy soured mortgage assets, along with a string of poor corporate earnings, disheartened investors on Wednesday, sending the markets down for a third straight day this week.

The final resolution of this mess remains to be seen.

Peace.

Can Obama Resolve the Guantanamo Legal Tangle?

The pressure is on. We as a nation elected a new President. Many of us voted for Obama in the distinct hope he would make major moves to change the course of the last 8 years. One major concern for many in our nation is the continued existence of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. Will Obama be able to untangle the legal, moral, and societal issues surrounding the detainees? Time will tell, but the issues are very complex.



The issues are large and widespread for the new administration.

From expansive executive privilege to hard-line tactics in the war on terrorism, Obama must decide what he'll undo and what he'll embrace.

Some legal issues include

How does he close the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba? He's pledged to shutter it, but how quickly can he do so when it holds some detainees whom no administration would want to release?

Obama has declared coercive interrogation methods such as waterboarding unconstitutional and illegal, but will his Justice Department investigate or prosecute Bush administration officials who ordered or condoned such techniques?

Will the new administration press to learn the full extent of the Bush administration's electronic eavesdropping and data-mining activities, and will it curtail or halt some of them?

The Bush administration exerted tight control over the Justice Department by hiring more Republican-leaning political appointees and ousting those who were viewed as disloyal. Will Obama give the department more ideological independence?

Quick action is necessary if the American people are to continue to keep faith in the new President and his administration.

Although Guantanamo isn't expected to be as thorny as the issues of interrogation techniques, detention without charges and eavesdropping, it may take longer to close than Obama wants because of the question of what to do with high-value terrorists. The Obama administration could end up moving them to prisons scattered across the United States as it sorts out who should remain jailed and where others should be sent.

At least if the detainees are moved to mainland prisons, there is hope for a justice system that is more open and accountable.

The Bush administration appointed many conservative judges and legal advisers some of whom remain in office today. Obama will have the opportunity to fill a number of current vacancies along with a very likely opportunity to fill some Supreme Court vacancies in the future. The course of American justice may depend in very large measures on the people chosen in the future.

Peace.

Honor the Veterans

On this Veterans' Day, 2008, let us all pause to remember and to honor our nation's veterans. At the end of WWI this day was set aside as Armistice Day as a day dedicated to the cause of world peace.

Today we take time out to remember the fallen who lost their lives for our country. For all the lost, may you find eternal peace.



To those serving today and to all who are alive today who served in the past, may you, too, find peace in your life. It is with deep gratitude and respect I offer my support to each and every one of you today and every day. Thank you every one.

May we all take a few moments today to remember the needs of our veterans. Medical care, education, and job training are not as available as should be in recent years. We must not forget the veterans of every description as they return home to civilian life. They deserve our attention and support in every way possible.

Peace.

Will the Secrecy Never End?

Recent news tells the tale of a classified order signed by Donald Rumsfeld in 2004 giving

the military new authority to attack the Qaeda terrorist network anywhere in the world, and a more sweeping mandate to conduct operations in countries not at war with the United States.

Some of the military missions have been conducted in close coordination with the C.I.A., according to senior American officials, who said that in others, like the Special Operations raid in Syria on Oct. 26 of this year, the military commandos acted in support of C.I.A.-directed operations.

At least a few missions were not carried out for various reasons.

missions were sometimes scrubbed because of bad intelligence or bureaucratic entanglements

The 2004 order

was issued after the Bush administration had already granted America’s intelligence agencies sweeping power to secretly detain and interrogate terrorism suspects in overseas prisons and to conduct warrantless eavesdropping on telephone and electronic communications.

Negotiations to hammer out the 2004 order took place over nearly a year and involved wrangling between the Pentagon and the C.I.A. and the State Department about the military’s proper role around the world

The doctrine of preemptive strike is very evident in this order.

Bush administration officials have shown a determination to operate under an expansive definition of self-defense that provides a legal rationale for strikes on militant targets in sovereign nations without those countries’ consent.

Let us all hope the Obama administration finds more peaceful ways to solve the world's problems. Military force is not an answer. Preemptive strikes against peaceful and in some cases allied nations is not going to make new friends for the United States.

Peace.

Violence is Not the Only Risk of Concern to Troops in Iraq

Combat troops in Iraq face danger on a daily basis. These days many face a war on the computer as they battle to retain their endangered savings.

Army pensions are meant to pay out 50 percent of the salary of soldiers with 20 years of service and 75 percent for 30 years, but many rely on the Thrift programme to further secure their retirement.

Many soldiers rely on the Thrift Savings Plan,

a retirement savings plan for civilians who are employed by the United States Government and members of the uniformed services.

The program encourages troops at all levels to invest a fixed percentage of their income in the funds. One sargeant who asked not to be identified said,

I'm three years from retirement. I lost half of my savings.

Many in our nation are watching their retirement funds as well as college savings disappear in the current economic crisis.

The impact of the financial crisis on the savings and pensions of US troops in Iraq is difficult to estimate. But it has spared neither the young recruits nor the veterans nearing retirement.

The solutions to the current economic crisis will not be found with ease. The issue is likely to grow before the inauguration of Barack Obama as our next President. The big questions today include how far will we fall before the return begins? How will the problems be faced? Can the financial system be restored with our current system of government?

Peace.

More Healthcare Bad News

An article in the NY Times this morning tells the tale of woe facing the nation's hospitals today. The declining economy is taking its toll on hospitals too.

hospitals say they are seeing fewer paying patients — even as greater numbers of people are showing up at emergency rooms unable to pay their bills.

In addition some people with insurance are postponing elective surgeries such as knee or hip replacement fearing the loss of work time and the out-of-pocket expenses. The loss of these profitable procedures hurts the hospital bottom line.

The loss of money-making procedures comes at a difficult time for hospitals because these treatments tend to subsidize the charity care and unpaid medical bills that are increasing as a result of the slow economy.

The situation is exposing a main vulnerability of the nation’s hospital care system, which executives say relies heavily on private insurance to subsidize certain services.

The system cannot be sustained without a major ovehaul. The best way to repair the system may be a national health care program, single-payer universal health care. Under that system hospitals, doctors, and the entire health care system would have financial stability. The nation would benefit from a healthy population. We must begin to work for a new healthcare system very soon lest we see a final collapse of the current system.

Peace.

America is Once Again the Country of Dreams

Around the world people are celebrating the election of Barack Obama as the next President of the United States. Joy reigns around the world as hope beckons just over the horizon.

In Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, Mamdouh al-Sobaihi said

For the first time I feel the phrase 'I hereby declare that all men are created equal,' from the U.S. Declaration of Independence, really came to life for me today.

From Tokyo Terumi Hino said

Americans overcame the racial divide and elected Obama because they wanted the real thing: a candidate who spoke from the bottom of his heart. I think this means the United States can go back to being admired as the country of dreams.

From Russia, Viktor Erofeyev, a prominent Russian novelist said

This means that America did wake up. This means that America is again open for free and democratic values. America has once again become a good model to emulate. It has again become a great country.

And from Britain David Lammy, a black member of Britain's Parliament, said

Now black and white can raise their shoulders high and can turn a page on issues of inequality.

There is much work to be done to live the dream. But at least the dream is alive and well for today.

Peace.

Obama!!!

How nice to awaken this morning knowing there is real light on the horizon as Barack Obama is the newly elected President of the United States. For the first time in 8 years we have a President of whom we may all be proud. Will he be perfect? Of course not, but at least we may have hope he will begin to bring the changes this nation needs to set a new and better direction into the future.

As Obama himself said last night, this election in and of itself marks a real change in our nation. I among many others did not dream of living long enough to see a black man elected President. I am overjoyed this morning.

Now the hard work begins. There are many major issues facing our nation today. We must hold all our officials accountable to insure the changes necessary come along in time. A new day, a new time has dawned in our nation. Now we are each and every one responsible for seeing the course is set in the proper direction.

Peace.

RIP Madelyn Dunham

Just one day short of a historic election,Sen. Barack Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, has died following a bout with cancer. May she rest in peace.



To Barack Obama, her other friends, and family, my heartfelt sympathy. May each of you find solace in knowing she lived at least to see her grandson headed for the Presidency.

Peace.

Bombings Continue in Baghdad

Surge to the contrary, on Monday in Iraq two bomb blasts targeting police officials went off in central Baghdad.

The bombings came on Monday in quick succession near the office of the police crime investigation unit in the central Karrada district

At least 8 people reported and 20 others wounded. At least 10 policeman are among the casualties.

Also on Monday, Iraq's deputy oil minister was wounded in a bomb attack outside his house. (snip)The bomb detonated as Saheb Salman Qutub was about to leave his home in Baghdad's northern Ataifiyah neighbourhood

And so the beat goes on and on and on. How many more must die before the world and America in particular comes to their collective senses and withdraws from Iraq?

Peace.

13 Americans Dead in October in Iraq

With very little notice from our media, the occupation of Iraq continues day by day. In the month of October another 13 Americans died. Compared to recent months this is good news indeed. But what about the families and friends of the 13? Do they suffer any less as a result of the smaller numbers? Do we measure success in Iraq by falling numbers of Americans lost?

Meanwhile the insurgents blew up a main water line to Baghdad on Friday

shutting off drinking water to hundreds of thousands of people

Where is the good news in the occupation? Is there any to report these days?

How much longer must we suffer this news? When ever will Americans come to their collective senses and bring ALL our troops home. Too many have died already.

Peace.

War is Not a Solution

War is Not a Solution

For the past several years I have been a member of the local peace group, Pacem in Terris. One outgrowth of membership and action with the group was my recent political campaign. The driving force for political action was then and remains today my staunch opposition to the ongoing occupation of Iraq. Our nation has many issues to be resolved today. We will not be able to address many of those issues so long as we continue to borrow and spend $10 billion a month in Iraq.

Support for the Iraq occupation has waned over the course of the years since the invasion. The administration keeps much of the activity and the results of war from our eyes. Our media does nothing to portray war as the real hell on earth so many of us know. During my time in Vietnam I saw first hand the effects of war on troops from both sides, the people and the land. War ruins the landscape and kills people without discrimination.

The major insult is not to to the troops but is rather to the civilians, the women, the children, and the aged who have no part in military activity. We must continue to remember every person on either side killed or wounded as a result of our military intervention is a son or daughter, maybe a mother or a father, perhaps a brother or a sister. Every life lost touches the lives of the many who surround that person. The damage spreads ripples throughout the surrounding society.

Walk a moment in the shoes of an Iraqi civilian. Imagine your town is occupied by foreign soldiers. Imagine your cousin (or niece or brother) has been killed by the foreigners. How are you going to feel? Would you resist the occupation? What makes the Iraqi people one small bit different from us here in the U.S. or in any other nation around the globe?

Go one more step in your mind. Think about all the children born since the invasion who have known nothing but war in their short lives. How will this childhood affect them in the future? Will they be able to put this behind them and live peaceful lives or will they forever be scarred and turn into terrorists themselves?

I suggest we look to peaceful means of resolving world conflicts. The end solutions to terrorism will lie in social and economic change. We need to begin our pursuit of those measures as soon as possible. It
is left to each of us to insure our elected officials hear our wishes. First of all we vote. Then we must remain vocal and keep in touch with those we elect to remind them they serve us first of all. Those we elect must lead our nation in the direction we choose. Only our continued action will insure that course is the one taken.

Peace.



Quote of the week:
In war more than anywhere else things do not turn out
as we expect.
--Carl von Clausewitz

One Woman's Action to Curb Domestic Violence

Domestic violence is a major issue in the United States and around the world today.

It is the most common cause of injury to women ages 15 to 44. Victims may suffer physical injuries such as bruises or broken bones. They may suffer emotionally from depression, anxiety or social isolation.

Rates of intimate partner violence are declining in recent years, but the number of reported incidents remains high. According to the Centers for Disease Control

IPV resulted in 1,544 deaths in 2004. Of these deaths, 25% were males and 75% were females.

At least one woman is seeking redress from a new venue.

Jessica Gonzales called the police in Castle Rock, Colorado, seven times on the night in June 1999, when her estranged husband abducted her three daughters, ages 7, 8 and 10.

Her appeals for help were ignored.

Then, at 3:20 a.m., her husband drove up to the police station in his pickup truck and began shooting. The police shot back, killing him. They found the bodies of the three girls in the back of the truck, slain by their father's semi-automatic.

A few days ago the wheels of justice turned to see the United States taken into account when Ms. Gonzales case came before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

the inter-American human rights system was born with the adoption of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man in Bogotá, Colombia in April of 1948.

Article V of the Declaration states

Every person has the right to the protection of the law against abusive attacks upon his honor, his reputation, and his private and family life.

Given the powers of the Commission we may have hope for justice in the end.

If the Inter-American Commission finds for Ms. Gonzales, it can order damages from the U.S. government, or recommend structural recommendations to avoid similar situations arising in the future.

Although the US has always considered itself a human rights leader, it has been reluctant to take part in some of the worldwide mechanisms promoting human rights. It is not a party to a number of important international human rights treaties, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the American Convention on Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

There are many in our nation who claim we need no foreign intervention to settle our own problems.

Opponents of US involvement in the international human rights mechanisms contend that the advanced legal system in the US precludes the need for involvement in international human rights treaties.

Failures of the system exemplified by the Gonzales case show we have much to accomplish before we are no longer in need of guidance or restructuring.

United States also has a responsibility at home to make certain that our citizens have the basic rights and protections they need to enjoy our freedoms.

The time has come for all of America to insist on that protection.

Domestic violence is a crime against all of our society. We need to address not only punishment but prevention. Children of violent households are more likely to be abusive. We as a society must reach into our depths and reverse this situation. We are obligated to our fellow human beings to see they are protected from the abuse of any other person.

Peace.

Congratulations, Phillies!!!

World Champions of Baseball! For the first time in 28 years the Phillies hold the title. We can all feel good and celebrate for a day or three while we await the election next week.

Peace.

The News We All Knew About Delaware and Open Government

The News Journal today has an article entitled Del. ranks low in transparency.

Delaware found itself near the bottom of a state-by-state ranking of open government, transparency and ethics regulations released Monday

Delaware was not alone in failing the test put forth. 38 of 50 states received (PDF) a failing grade of "F" in the survey.

The Freedom of Information Act
(“FOIA”) gives citizens the right to review records kept by public agencies. Despite FOIA’s explicit requirements mandating prompt disclosure, these records can be difficult to obtain—even for people with institutional support and knowledge of their rights under FOIA. The central question this audit attempts to answer is how the average citizen fares.

In a survey in Illinois

An ordinary citizen, John Q. Public (the “requestor”) sought public records from 408 units of government in Illinois. He sent letters using his home address3 and personal telephone number. Neither the statute, nor the suggestion of institutional support from the BGA was mentioned.
• Only thirty-eight percent were fully or
substantially compliant.
• Thirty-nine percent failed to respond at all.
• Of those audited, sixty-two percent
failed to comply with FOIA.

In an associated but less comprehensive study Delaware scored (PDF) only 31 points of a possible 100 earning the grade of "F." Most states in the Union have much work to do before open government becomes a fact. We here in Delaware must continue to push our elected officials toward more openness and responsiveness in our government. Access to government functions is a basic resident right. We must not rest until we gain our rights in full measures.

Peace.