Happy Birthday, Willie Nelson

jayceeloop, Flickr, Creative Commons

Today, April 30, 2009, is the 76th anniversary of country singer Willie Nelson. For all those with Sirius/XM access the partying will be continued through much of the day.

Nelson grew up performing as a child in Abbott, TX. Through the years his career had its ups and downs, but today Willie Nelson still ranks as one of the finest of country music performers. Willie as he is known affectionately by his fans is the single performer I have seen in live performance more than one time. My memories run far back in his music.

Congratulations, Willie, and a very happy birthday to you today.

Peace.

The Race for Democratic Party Chairman

Tonight at the caucus of Democratic Party delegates to the State Convention, John Daniello announced his intention to run for reelection as State Party Chairman. This may make for some interesting developments given the level of animosity generated by his support of John Carney in the recent gubernatorial election. With the convention on May 16 there is little time for another candidate(s) to make themselves known. We shall see...

Peace.

Our Privacy Is Tiny These Days

In the time of internet searches and the ready availability of large databases why should anyone be surprised at the amount of information easily available to the public about any other person? Try lookupanyone.com and put in your own name for an example of the information considered public these days.

Peace.

We Should Cut, Not Increase Military Spending

The recent proposal by Defense Secretary Robert Gates to cut some military spending programs by reducing weaponry programs is being criticized by the hawks of the nation. Some would argue the best course is not just cuts of the current magnitude but cuts of a much larger degree. From Benjamin Friedman of the Cato Institute comes one strong argument for major reduction in American military spending.

To really keep us safe, we should slash defense spending. Americans should prepare for fewer wars, not different ones. Far from providing our defense, our military posture endangers us. It drags us into others' conflicts, provokes animosity, and wastes resources. We need a defense budget worthy of the name. We need military restraint. And that would allow us to cut defense spending roughly in half.

Our defense budget is almost half the world's, even leaving out nuclear weapons, the wars, veterans, and homeland security. It is also more than we spent at any point during the cold war.

Of course, powerful interests benefit from heavy defense spending, and cutting the military budget would be a tough sell. Both political parties believe that American primacy is the route to safety. But they're wrong.
A more restrained approach to defense is what would make us safer.

I could not agree more.

Peace.

The Costs of War in Afghanistan

The American Friends Service Committee has a file (PDF 2.18mb) posted on their website detailing and examining the costs of the war in Afghanistan.

AFGHANISTAN
AT A GLANCE
Full name: Islamic Republic of
Afghanistan
President: Hamid Karzai (elected in October 2004, next election Summer 2009)

Population: 29.8 million

Capital and largest city: Kabul

Area: 251,773 sq miles (nearly the size of Texas)

Major languages: Pashto and Dari

Major religion: Islam

Life expectancy: 44 years

Infant mortality rate: 154.67 deaths/1,000 live births

The Human Costs:
U.S. Casualties: As of March 2009, 675 killed, more than 2606 wounded

Afghan casualties are difficult to estimate. In 2002 one estimate put the number at greater than 20,000 killed.

Afghan refugees: 3.7 million

The war in Afghanistan has cost US tax-payers $171.7 billion to date,
with a pending spring supplemental request for an additional $77.1
billion.

For the state of Delaware, our part amounts to $1,076,162,467. Those dollars were paid for war in lieu of building schools, hospitals and roads along with offering other necessary public services in our state.

We cannot long sustain this drain on our economy and on our nation. The time for a new course has come but we will find that course only by continued active protest. The administration must hear our voices. We are making no friends by our continued militarism as a nation.

Peace.

Frank Rich on Torture, Sunday NYT

In the New York Times today Frank Rich has a column entitled The Banality of Bush White House Evil

In a few days we will reach the five year anniversary of the release of the Abu Graib photos. At the time the photos were made public many in our nation took the stance

If our country committed torture, surely it did so to prevent Armageddon, in a patriotic ticking-time-bomb scenario out of “24.” If anyone deserves blame, it was only those identified by President Bush as “a few American troops who dishonored our country and disregarded our values”: promiscuous, sinister-looking lowlifes like Lynddie England, Charles Graner and the other grunts who were held accountable while the top command got a pass.

Still as the days continue to pass and more revelations are made public

we still shrink from the hardest truths and the bigger picture: that torture was a premeditated policy approved at our government’s highest levels; that it was carried out in scenarios that had no resemblance to “24”; that psychologists and physicians were enlisted as collaborators in inflicting pain; and that, in the assessment of reliable sources like the F.B.I. director Robert Mueller, it did not help disrupt any terrorist attacks.

But there were no links between 9/11 and Iraq, and the White House knew it. Torture may have been the last hope for coercing such bogus “intelligence” from detainees who would be tempted to say anything to stop the waterboarding.

In conclusion Rich makes a firm statement to which I subscribe without reservation.

We don’t need another commission. We don’t need any Capitol Hill witch hunts. What we must have are fair trials that at long last uphold and reclaim our nation’s commitment to the rule of law.

Without a full and open investigation and the holding accountable of those who committed crimes there will at no time in the future be a real sense of justice in our nation.

Peace.

Pay on Wall Street Bounces Back

With signs of recovery (even if those signs are minimal) on Wall Street the people in charge are looking to make as much or more money this year than in the days before the financial collapse.

Even as the industry’s compensation has been put in the spotlight for being so high at a time when many banks have received taxpayer help, six of the biggest banks set aside over $36 billion in the first quarter to pay their employees, according to a review of financial statements.

Historically, investment banks have paid workers about 50 cents for every dollar of revenue

Every dollar spent for compensation is a dollar that will not be used to pay back the taxpayers for our support. Once again we will foot the bill for incompetence and poor management. When do we get accountability and a return to responsibility for one's actions? Or will we ever see those days again?

Peace.

57% Favor Warm Climate for Living

The Pew Research Center today has the analysis. People prefer living in a warmer rather than a colder climate by nearly two to one.

Fully 57% of the public prefer a hotter climate while 29% would rather live in a colder one.

Yep, that 57% includes me, but at the same time I'd rather live in DE than any other place I have found to date. The overall is better here than any place outside the state.

Peace.

Fugitive Safe Surrender Update

Volunteers are still being sought. For any interested please contact Michelle Butler--contact information at the end of the message.

On Monday, April 27th, 2009 from 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. at New Destiny Fellowship, 906 E. 16th Street in Wilmington there will be a Fugitive Safe Surrender Training conducted by SharonBeth Crystal of Washington, DC. Please inform any other people you know who may be interested because they will need to attended this session to be able to volunteer for the event - even if they can not stay the whole time, come and complete the clearance process and sign-up for what you enjoy doing. Thanks and hope to see you there!

Secondly we had 3 pastors commit to giving their time during the week and 4 volunteers from our luncheon. New Destiny Fellowship church has 31 volunteers scheduled for the week and other churches have been diligently working towards securing volunteers as well.

Lastly, there will be a Press Conference on tomorrow at New Destiny Fellowship at 11:30 a.m. with Marshal Thomas and other officials - come by if you can!

The Fugitive Safe Surrender banner will be up on tomorrow morning thanks to Department of Public Safety.

Michelle N. Butler
work email: mbutler@newdestinyfellowship.org
302-472-6624 (work) 302-275-1354 (cell)

Peace.

Earth Day

April 22 is a day set aside for celebrations and activities celebrating the environment. Teachers will have programs to help children understand the value of protecting the Earth for future generations. Anyone may plan an event of their own with a little help from friends.

In my household every day is Earth Day in terms of recycling and the solar panels. We are becoming increasingly conscious of our water usage as well as our carbon footprint.

How about you and yours? Ideas? Thoughts? Contributions?

Peace.

Army More Selective in Poor Economy

Another sign of the times comes with news the U.S. Army is able to be more selective about the recruits accepted these days.

The Army last month stopped accepting felons and recent drug abusers into its ranks as the nation's economic downturn helped its recruiting

For the first time since 2004 the Army is on track to have 90% of its recruits enter with a high school diploma.

Among the other military branches, the Marine Corps saw some increase in the number of recruits with low test scores, but even so, the service remained within Pentagon guidelines.

For the Army part of the success comes from a decrease in necessary numbers of new recruits as more soldiers elect to stay in uniform. Another factor is the lowered number of deaths in Iraq.

Signs of the times are tough to take sometimes. But in these days of no jobs to be had many people are looking to the military as a way of at least finding a paycheck. The choice of a military career may be an honorable path when the choice is made freely and the military is not being misused in foreign occupations. But that is not the state of the nation today. These are sad times indeed.

Peace.

Northington Notes

At intervals of about 2 weeks I send an e-mail letter to a private list of readers. Musings and commentary are included with every issue. The writing of 04/15 is below. Anyone wishing to subscribe may do so by sending an e-mail to Jerry@JerryNorthington.com with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line.

Peace.

Fairness

Fairness is defined as the quality

of being just and unbiased.

Today we hear lots of noise about

"fairness" in the media. In that

world what we see is the presentation

of both sides of any issue in what

may be balanced or even unbiased.

But what we miss by taking this course

is accuracy. What we all should

insist upon is accuracy in our

news media.



To present any issue in an accurate

way demands investigation and factual

reporting. In our media driven

world today there is too often too

little time to allow fact checking or

investigative pursuit. How much more

easy the job when one takes the word

of any two reputed or even

self-proclaimed experts on opposite

sides of any issue.



Even worse is the talking heads of

our news media/entertainment programming.

No one seems to care if or not their

statements are accurate. All is taken

at face value and later presented as

the opposite side of "balanced" reporting.

The world suffers from the spread of

false information through this route.



Real fairness demands facts and truth

be presented in a straightforward manner.

We can no longer allow our media

(or ourselves for that matter) the

continued course of parroting any

statement as though it were fact in

the pursuit of "fairness in the media."

Without truth and honesty in reporting

we face a future of continued decline.

The truth and only the truth will

set us free.



Peace.

*******************************************
Quote of the week:

If man does find the solution for world peace

it will be the most revolutionary reversal

of his record we have ever known.

--George C. Marshall

Torture Remains Widespread in Iraq

In a week when Bush era memos detailing American torture techniques were released by the Obama administration, a new report in the New England Journal of Medicine details some findings on civilian casualties in the nation. The report examined the causes of death for 60,481 Iraqi civilians killed violently during the first five years of the war.

Researchers say 33% of the victims examined in the study died by execution after abduction or capture. And 29% of those victims had signs of torture on their bodies such as bruises, drill holes or burns.

How widespread torture remains in Iraqi jails at present is not publicly known. So far, neither the U.N. nor the Iraqi government has made any verifiable statistics available.

But few doubt the numbers continue to be high.

A very new and different approach is needed in Iraq. The failed course of the Bush administration continues under the Obama administration. Will our leaders never learn?

Peace.

Bernanke Says Damage from Credit Crisis to be Long Lasting

In the financial news today

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the collapse of U.S. lending will probably cause “long-lasting” damage to home prices, household wealth and borrowers’ credit scores.

Any adult with any knowledge of credit managment could have said the same. This is the same Bernanke who presided last July when new rules were passed to govern the credit markets. But those rules were made lax on purpose to allow the markets to continue their activity.

Lenders, including non-bank financial companies, expanded mortgage and other lending this decade to borrowers with blemished or scant credit histories. Subprime mortgage originations rose to $600 billion in 2006, an increase from $160 billion in 2001

With this pack of fools still in charge what can we expect next?

Peace.

No Prosecution for Past Torture Crimes

The promised torture memos from the Bush administration are released at last. The ACLU has full links to the .pdf forms of all four of the latest memos to be released here. The reading is tough going and frightening beyond words to describe.

Late on Thursday Obama

assured government officials today that they will not be prosecuted for their interrogation tactics.

Apparently justice will not be served in this instance. The national disgrace continues.

Peace.

War Kills

War results in the deaths of women, children, and other noncombatants at a rate most of us fail to recognize. A report in the New England Journal of Medicine tells the sad tale of Iraq.

In events with at least one Iraqi civilian victim, the methods that killed the most civilians per event were aerial bombings (17 per event), combined use of aerial and ground weapons (17 per event), and suicide bombers on foot (16 per event). Aerial bombs killed, on average, 9 more civilians per event than aerial missiles (17 vs. 8 per event).

Female Iraqis and Iraqi children constituted the highest proportions of civilian victims when the methods of violence involved indiscriminate weapons fired from a distance: air attacks and mortars.

The entire report is a worthy read. The numbers are terrible to consider. Just imagine how the people losing a relative must feel. There are no warm and fuzzy relations being developed by our indiscriminate killing of civilians.

Peace.

Cybersecurity Act of 2009

A bill, S773, introduced in the Senate by Senators Rockeffeller and Snowe is moving along the legislative trail. One provision of the bill raises the hackles on my neck along with those of groups such as the EFF. Under the proposed national cybersecurity arrangement

(The President) may declare a cybersecurity emergency and order the limitation or shutdown of Internet traffic to and from any compromised Federal Government or United States critical infrastructure information system or network.

At the same time the bill

gives no guidance on when or how the President could responsibly pull the kill switch on privately-owned and operated networks.

One other provision is also frightening in its potential.

The Secretary of Commerce— shall have access to all relevant data concerning (critical infrastructure) networks without regard to any provision of law, regulation, rule, or policy restricting such access

In other words, the bill would give the Commerce Department absolute, non-emergency access to “all relevant data” without any privacy safeguards like standards or judicial review.

For all its good intentions this bill has the potential to produce many unintended consequences. We all recognize the need for cybersecurity, but we must not allow proposed "security" to be bought at the price of freedoms of speech and association.

Peace.

The Administration Fiddles While the Climate Burns

During the Presidential campaign season, Obama promised

swift and comprehensive action to combat global climate change

Yet to this day the administration remains aloof offering only big goals without any real action or details to the plan.

Administration officials consistently say they would much prefer that Congress write new legislation to pre-empt the E.P.A. regulatory power, but they are clearly holding it in reserve as a prod to reluctant lawmakers and recalcitrant industries and as evidence of good faith to other nations.

Still, the agency’s regulations would take months to write and years to become fully effective. Meanwhile, Congress is already starting work on energy and climate legislation, though without significant guidance from the White House, at least in public.

At the recent international climate conference in Germany Obama failed to offer real leadership on the issue. Business lobbyists of course are happy to move slowly as there will be real costs to protecting the environment. But what will be the cost to humankind if we fail to take action soon?

The administration’s caution leaves many environmental advocates frustrated, although most are reluctant to speak on the record for fear of alienating their allies inside government.

This is one more realm in which we, the American public, and the peoples of the world need rapid and decisive action. We must not continue to fiddle while the climate burns. We must insure our future to the benefit of all humankind.

Peace.

The Tragedy of Afghanistan Increases Day by Day

Reports of military activity continue to be corrected as the truth comes out. Once again we have news of civilian deaths first said to be resistance fighters killed.

The US military has admitted that its troops killed five civilians in Afghanistan, including a child, not fighters as was earlier reported.

A 13-year-old boy who survived the night-time raid on his home told Al Jazeera that his mother, brother, uncle and another female family member were killed.

A woman who was nine-months' pregnant was wounded and lost her baby.

Despite American expressions of regret and sympathy for the deaths, these people will not be coming back another day. The families and friends are likely to find reason to resist the American presence.

When will we learn our lessons and start a new course? Military occupation and the use of force influences people but does not begin to win friends.

Peace.

Hedging on Iraq

Will we ever get of Iraq? The answer seems to be "No" as bad news continues to arrive. Today General Ray Odierno talks to the news media. Under the Obama plan combat troops are to be withdrawn from all Iraq cities by the end of June, 2009. Odierno says that may not happen.

The two areas I am concerned with are Mosul and then Baqubah and [other] parts of Diyala province. We will conduct assessments and provide our assessments when the time is right.

In the usual interpretations that means we will not withdraw unless the political winds in our country turn to a new direction.

The voters expressed strong support for Obama and his "end the war" policies. Now we hear disappointing news about a different course. This must not be allowed to stand. Tell the President. Tell your Congress critters. Our voices must be heard. The time for full withdrawal is far behind in our history. We as a nation cannot afford on many levels a continued occupation of Iraq.

Peace.

Update, April 10:

The U.S. military says five American soldiers were among seven people killed in a suicide truck bombing in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

Military Spending a Jobs Program?

Given the current levels of military spending in our nation (about 50% or more of the annual budget goes to the military) who is surprised to find military spending is a jobs program when the economy is failing today? In Georgia today many are arguing for ongoing support for the F-22 fighter jet, the the world's first fifth-generation jet fighter. In this time of massive layoffs across the nation this program supports the families of many workers in Georgia and across the nation.

That these workers need their jobs is obvious. That the nation needs a new fighter jet of this caliber is more difficult to support. We as a nation need to find new and more peaceful ways to support our economy. The continued massive military expenditures cannot be either justified or sustained if we are to survive as a nation. We can be safe without spending as much money on our military as the remainder of the world spends in total.

Peace.

Obama DOJ Preserves and Extends Bush Secrecy

In a filing (.pdf) late last Friday afternoon (missing the press as was usual under Bush) the Obama administration is claiming even more rights to wiretapping than were claimed under the Bush administration. On of my favorite legal analysts, Glen Greenwald, has the story and analysis. In reply to a lawsuit filed last year by the Electronic Freedom Foundation, the administration replied after more than three months of consideration.

But the Obama DOJ demanded dismissal of the entire lawsuit based on (1) its Bush-mimicking claim that the "state secrets" privilege bars any lawsuits against the Bush administration for illegal spying, and (2) a brand new "sovereign immunity" claim of breathtaking scope -- never before advanced even by the Bush administration -- that the Patriot Act bars any lawsuits of any kind for illegal government surveillance unless there is "willful disclosure" of the illegally intercepted communications.

the Obama DOJ has now invented a brand new claim of government immunity, one which literally asserts that the U.S. Government is free to intercept all of your communications (calls, emails and the like) and -- even if what they're doing is blatantly illegal and they know it's illegal -- you are barred from suing them unless they "willfully disclose" to the public what they have learned.

Greenwald's full analysis is a worthy read as is the filing document (.pdf).

There are so many issues on the plate for Obama these days, but were promised openness in our government during the campaign. Now we see that was an empty promise with hollow words in the style of too many politicians. The time has come to hold the administration accountable. We have lost too many of our freedoms in recent years. We cannot afford to lose any more.

Freedom in this nation means the right to communicate without worry that the government is intercepting our correspondence without proper court authorization. The apparent extension of illegal wiretapping represented by this Obama DOJ filing is beyond any measure of acceptable. The fight is on.

Peace.

Uninsured in Delaware

A recent report (.PDF) issued by Families USA offers some terrible statistics about the state of health insurance in our fair state of Delaware. The numbers speak for themselves.

More than one out of four people (28.3 percent) in Delaware under the age of 65 went without health insurance for all or part of the two-year period 2007-2008. Of the 213,000 uninsured Delawareans, nearly three-quarters (70.9 percent) went without health coverage for six months or longer
during this period.

60.8 percent of Hispanics/Latinos, 31.2 percent of African Americans, and 31.9 percent of “other” ethnic minorities were uninsured, compared to 23.1 percent of whites.

Most uninsured Delawareans (79.2 percent) are members of working families.

And there are more statistics of equal import in the full report (.PDF).

We can only assume with the current state of the economy the numbers are even worse today. This state of affairs in a civilized nation is far beyond unacceptable. The time has come to remedy this. The time for a national healthcare program including every person in the nation is here. We need a single-payer system such as HR676 (.PDF) provides and we need that system in place immediately if not sooner.

Peace.

ICRC Torture Report

The 2007 report of the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) was posted a few days ago by the New York Times. The 43-page report is a worthy read as the treatment of 14 "high value" detainees is described in detail. The cooperation of various medical personnel in the mistreatment is also described. The horrors of the various tales are difficult to read and more difficult to accept as the actions of the U.S. government.

Actions taken by U.S. personnel under the Bush administration include

* Suffocation by water poured over a cloth placed over the nose and mouth...
* Prolonged stress standing position, naked, held with the arms extended and chained above the head...
* Beatings by use of a collar held around the detainees' neck and used to forcefully bang the head and body against the wall...
* Beating and kicking, including slapping, punching, kicking to the body and face...
* Confinement in a box to severely restrict movement...
* Prolonged nudity...this enforced nudity lasted for periods ranging from several weeks to several months...
* Sleep deprivation...through use of forced stress positions (standing or sitting), cold water and use of repetitive loud noises or music...
* Exposure to cold temperature...especially via cold cells and interrogation rooms, and...use of cold water poured over the body or...held around the body by means of a plastic sheet to create an immersion bath with just the head out of water.
* Prolonged shackling of hands and/or feet...
* Threats of ill-treatment, to the detainee and/or his family...
* Forced shaving of the head and beard...
* Deprivation/restricted provision of solid food from 3 days to 1 month after arrest...

These procedures were applied in combination or in succession to the detainees described in the ICRC report.

President Obama has taken steps to end the mistreatment of detainees, yet many remain held at Guantanamo Bay, Bagram Air Base, and other as yet unidentified sites around the world. Still the mistreatment has its supporters led by Dick Cheney with his claims of attacks prevented by information obtained by duress. The political winds are tough to turn in the face of such claims. Yet all the information from various researchers and psychologists says torture does not obtain reliable information.

If we as a nation are ever to recover from the stigma of being a torturing nation we must begin to open the files and let the sun shine in. We must open our detention centers to outside observers. We must let the courts decide these cases. The detainees must be charged and convicted or let to return to their homes. We as a nation cannot serve as leaders of the future so long as we hold to our misdeeds of the past.

Peace.

Afghan Women Oppose U.S. Surge

In a posting last week, the Afghan women's group, Madre, offered their list of seven reasons why the U.S. should not increase military presence in their nation.

To achieve a more rational and peaceful outcome, we need to exert a counter-pressure. MADRE calls on the Obama administration to chart a whole new course in US-Afghan relations, based on the understanding that the US needs to engage with the rest of the world, not just occupy it.

1. More troops will mean more civilian casualties.
2. More troops will not resolve the crisis.
3. A troop surge has already been tried—and it failed.
4. Rampant abuses of Afghan women’s rights cannot be eliminated by force.
5. US troops are backing an unpopular, corrupt government
6. US Troops are Undermining Humanitarian Operations
7. Most Afghans Want the US Out

Instead the organization suggests the following measures:

1. Set a timetable for the withdrawal of US and NATO troops.
2. End US missile strikes in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
3. Demilitarize aid operations and fund reconstruction efforts that benefit Afghans, not US corporations.
4. Promote peace talks between all parties involved in the conflict. Negotiations should include women’s organizations and other progressive forces and uphold the principle that human rights, including women’s human rights, are non-negotiable.
5. Compensate families and communities hurt by US military operations and pay war reparations.
6. Support local models of governance, such as the Loya Jirga, not a charade of procedural democracy that empowers war criminals.
7. Support demands of the Afghan women’s movement to end violence against women, ensure women’s access to critical services such as healthcare, education, food and water, and give real meaning to hard-won legal reforms meant to protect women’s rights.
8. Create a fund to meet Afghans’ urgent humanitarian needs. After 30 years of intervention and war, the US owes Afghanistan nothing less.
9. Support Afghan civil society, particularly women’s organizations, which are a crucial counter-force to warlordism, terrorism and government corruption and a key to rebuilding Afghan society.
10. Recognize that ultimately, decisions about what happens in Afghanistan should be made in Afghanistan, not Washington.

Agreed on all counts.

Peace.

Fugitive Safe Surrender Coming to Wilmington

The Fugitive Safe Surrender Program run by the U.S. Marshal's Service is coming to Wilmington, April 29, 30, May 1 and 2.

Fugitive Safe Surrender is a unique, creative, and highly successful, initiative that encourages persons wanted for non-violent felony or misdemeanor crimes to voluntarily surrender to the law in a faith-based or other neutral setting.

In Wilmington the program will operate at the New Destiny Fellowship Church, 906 E. 16th St. This is not an amnesty program but is an effort by law enforcement officials to give fugitives a safe harbor for surrender and processing. Officers and court officials from all four levels of the law (County, City, State, and Federal) will be in place for the four days. In addition there will be representatives of various social services available to aid in restoring people to the community.

Fugitives may find their cases settled in the course of a few hours on any one of the days. Only a small percentage (about 3% overall) have been incarcerated in other cities where the program has been very effective. Most people held for further processing expected their outcome due to the nature of the warrant against them.

The program will need volunteers for a variety of clerical and other chores. In addition there will be a need for people to go along with fugitives to help them find their way through the system. Many people may need simple aid such as filling out forms or getting to the right place for the help they need. Volunteers are an integral part of the success of this program.

Stay tuned for more news and contact information. Tell your friends and neighbors. The more the word is spread around the county and the state the more likely the program is to be successful.

This is an opportunity for many people to find real change in their lives. For us who are not fugitives there is an opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of people on the run. For those hiding from the law there is a chance to move to a new life without constant fear of arrest. The entire community stands to benefit by supporting this program to the fullest extent.

Peace.

European Restraint in Afghanistan

In spite of Obama's request for troops and the administration's confidence in finding worldwide support for expansion of military presence in Afghanistan, the European response was lukewarm at best.

As expected, European allies agreed to provide up to 5,000 new troops for Afghanistan, the White House said Saturday. But 3,000 of them are to be deployed only temporarily to provide security for the August elections in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile the U.S. plan to increase our presence from 38,000 to abut 68,000 continues unababated. Too bad our administration cannot find the same measures of restraint our European allies have discovered.

Peace.

Escalation in Afghanistan is Neverending

After taking office President Obama committed an additional 21,000 troops to Afghanistan raising the total to near 60,000. Now comes word there may be another 10,000 added to bring the total to near 70,000.

How many times must we fail in our ongoing use of military might? When will our politicians and national leaders learn the lessons of the past? The Obama administration is making fine steps on so many fronts and failing so miserably in the military arena.

Peace.

HB17 Passes the DE House

In a step toward allowing felons the right to vote HB17 passed the DE House yesterday. Sponsored by Rep. Hazel Plant, the bill would grant felons the right to vote once their sentence is finished.

A felon now is eligible to vote five years after the expiration of his sentence or upon receiving a pardon from the governor.

The current lifetime prohibition from voting remains in effect for those convicted of murder or manslaughter (except vehicular homicide), sex-related felonies, and bribery or abuse of office.

This is a fine step toward ending the lengthy punishments too many in our society endure these days. Those having served their time and finished their probation period deserve the right to vote. They do not deserve further punishment beyond what is meted out by the court.

Now the bill goes to the Senate for consideration. This may be an interesting battle over there. We shall see.

Peace.