Signs of Growth in the Green Energy Sector

Bottom line, if ones not willing to advance into what should already have happened long ago and with this Country leading those advancements, clean energy sources and a clean environment, then one is damaging the Countries National Security and leaving a more damaged planet to the generations to come!

Signs of Growth in the Green Energy Sector of the New York Metro Area's Economy

08 Feb 2011 - Skylight Green Energy Solutions LLC is an energy consulting and contracting company who is starting a new business in the new "Green" economy that President Obama has so frequently spoken of. One of Skylight Green Energy Solutions LLC (SGES) founding partners and President, Michael Neggie, speaks of the company's business plan: "Showing our clients how they can help save money, while helping the environment, is critical if we as a society are going to transform the world's economy to one based on renewable and Green energy and technology". He goes on to say: "There are numerous ways that everyone can help save energy every day. The way you commute to work. The habits you have in your everyday life, at home or at work. These attitudes can become second nature and then be passed along to the next generation to move all people towards a more sustainable future."

Skylight Green Energy Solutions LLC is in business to help consumers who are interested in a "Total Home" approach to saving energy. SGES's motto "Conservation, Efficiency, Green Energy" is a guide to the way it makes recommendations. Starting by revealing where their clients are losing energy is a good way to begin. {continued}

Global Security

This first link is to the report, a 20 page PDF, from the Oxford Research Group.

Global Security After the War on Terror

Paul Rogers assesses the impact of the "war on terror" on international peace
and stability, and argues for a fundamental re-thinking of those current
approaches to security that focus prmarily on military instruments. Instead,
the major global trends of a wider socio-economic divide, mass
marginalisation and environmental constraints all require an approach rooted
in what is now being termed sustainable security.

Casualty recorders issue joint communique

Saturday, 28 November 2009

The Recording Casualties of Armed Conflict International Practitioner's Network is pleased to announce the release of its first joint communique on 25th November 2009. Twenty organisations so far, from around the world, declare: "We will collaborate to raise our capacity, visibility and collective strength, thereby enhancing casualty recording activities worldwide." The full communique and a list of signatories is available here.

Missing Link?

Frank Rich has another of the many articles, editorials and so called expert opinions voiced widely on our cable media outlets, since the extreme tragedy that occurred at Fort Hood. And once again Rich gets it, but he like the rest are leaving out, in some cases purposely, a major issue feeding the meme of possible cause.

The Missing Link From Killeen to Kabul

If something has been learned from the massacre at Fort Hood, it’s that our hawks are utterly confused about who it is we’re fighting in Afghanistan.

This is not only about Afghanistan but also Iraq and much more.

The dead at Fort Hood had not even been laid to rest when their massacre became yet another political battle cry for the self-proclaimed patriots of the American right...>>>>Read the rest here

Not to minimize what this Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan seemingly {he has yet to be convicted} carried out against his fellow soldiers but there's way to many questions arising as reports keep coming out and some apparently saying the opposite of what they first said or observed from by knowing Hasan or about him.

People are leaving out one extremely important issue while going after, once again, one ideology, and a whole group of people, most don't even care to understand. That issue is the christian? fundamentalism being preached to many in our military and has been especially since both Afghanistan and Iraq began.

The fear and rhetoric of were already against the Muslim religion, remember who they were directly looking for after the Oklahoma city bombing. If memory serves they even arrested a couple of middle eastern looking men before catching the one who masterminded that bombing, one Timothy McVeigh, all American boy and veteran of Gulf War I. McVeigh being radicalized after the David Koresh Waco tragedy of his religious? followers and the FBI.

The so called cold war ended, the hawks need an enemy of fear, the christian? right had growing power, they were pushing the military evangelism deeper as they pushed the United States as a christian? nation.

This Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is looking more and more as a perfect tool of some to further the fears towards a whole religious ideology, not because of religion but because an enemy is needed to keep the wheels of fear and control greased.

Here was someone who's religious faith seemed to be growing, just like the christian? fundamentalist preach to their flocks. he was in the military as a professional mental health counselor sent to serve at one of the first medical facilities returning soldiers, physically and mentally, are sent to when they come back from these two long running occupations. Even with those around him apparently seeing his changing attitude in what he was saying and the way he was acting, no flags were going up, he was even promoted and then sent, apparently with his own orders to serve in Afghanistan, to the largest Army base with the highest suicide rates on bases in this country to counsel the soldiers returning after multiple tours as he did at Walter Reed for six years. Listening to the stories of these soldiers and why they needed counseling, what they had done or witnessed and how they felt about the Afghan and Iraqi people, people who were mostly muslim like himself. While using his computer, which is widely reported he did in making contact with others, he probably came across, not hard to do, the vile, fear and hate ridden posted statements not against just a few but condemning a whole group of people, millions in numbers, who follow a religious ideology or are from a region we now occupy two countries of while condemning other countries and their people, or just turn on a television.

Was his a lone act of someone who finally broke?, while being ignored!, was he being ignored?!

He makes the perfect scape goat to the beating of the drums of fear and our destruction of others, and keeps the Military Industrial Complex wheels well greased as the enemy of the now becomes the enemies for the next decades as we've created tens of thousands with hatreds towards not only our policies but us, Mission Accomplished!!

Added: Christian?? Leaders

Robertson's remarks put McDonnell in a bind

Muslims seek repudiation Gov.-elect received donations from religious broadcaster

Snip

Virginia Muslims are calling on McDonnell (R) to disavow comments made by the Virginia Beach religious broadcaster last week in response to the shootings at Fort Hood, Tex., in which Robertson asserted that Islam is "not a religion" but a "violent political system" and that those who practice it should be treated like members of a communist or fascist party.

Robertson has made similar assertions about Islam before, but the recent comments came only a couple of weeks after he made a late $25,000 donation to McDonnell's campaign and just days after he attended McDonnell's election night party. He told a reporter there that he would be visiting McDonnell in his hotel suite while awaiting election results...>>>>

Someone should explain how Robertson's many statements, as well as others and not only so called religious leaders, are any different than those made by the ones we readily label as fanatics, fundamentalist and terrorist leaders!!!!!

GRITtv: David Cole: Torture and Rationalizing the Unthinkable

David Cole, editor of "Torture Memos: Rationalizing the Unthinkable", on what may be one of the darkest moments in the last half century of US history, possibly longer: the authorization of torture by high level officials in the Bush administration. Cole's new book lays out the case against the architects of US torture policy. But will they be prosecuted?

GWU Edu. NSA: The CIA's Vietnam Histories

On the heals of What were they hiding? concerning the torture policies of the cheney/bush administration/CIA/Private Contractors/Military, the George Washington University National Security Archives brings a slew of documents on the CIA and Vietnam conflict years, before our invasion, during and after.

The CIA's close relationship with Ngo Dinh Nhu, chief political adviser to his brother President Ngo Dinh Diem, is demonstrated by the presence of CIA officer Paul Harwood and his spouse at the confirmation ceremony for the Nhu's daughter Le Thuy. From left: Ngo Dinh Nhu, Mrs. Paul Harwood, Le Thuy, Bishop Ngo Dinh Thu, with Nhu's son Qunh, son Trac, {CIA officer} Paul Harwood, Madam Nhu." {Source, The CIA and the House of Ngo, p. 26}

The CIA's Vietnam Histories

Newly-Declassified CIA Histories Show Its Involvement in Every Aspect of the Indochina War

Washington, D.C., August 26, 2009 - The Central Intelligence Agency participated in every aspect of the wars in Indochina, political and military, according to newly declassified CIA histories. The six volumes of formerly secret histories (the Agency's belated response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by National Security Archive senior fellow John Prados) document CIA activities in South and North Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia in unprecedented detail. The histories contain a great deal of new material and shed light on aspects of the CIA's work that were not well known or were poorly understood. The new revelations include: {Link brings you the rest, to the brief descriptions and documents links.}

On the right side you'll find a description titled: "A TALE OF OBSESSIVE SECRECY" starting with,

Before addressing the substance in the new CIA histories it will be useful to pause and consider what this case also shows about the U.S. Government's broken system for declassifying and releasing records. In actuality, this CIA release was not at all a voluntary contribution to American history, but was compelled by a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Filed in 1992, that FOIA request may be the longest running case in the CIA's files, and its treatment shines a blinding light on how the agency handles its statutory duty to release records.........................

That you might want to read the rest of.

It continues with a brief synopsis of John Prados book on Vietnam Vietnam: The History of an Unwinnable War, 1945-1975

The CIA's Vietnam Story

The Central Intelligence Agency's Vietnam war history actually begins in 1950, when agency officers moved to French Indochina as part of the United States legation in Saigon. During the French war in Indochina the CIA's involvement grew to encompass a base in Hanoi but not much more, since the French did not encourage CIA activity. The French tamped down further after an incident in which CIA officers were revealed as reaching past them to open channels to Vietnamese nationalists. When the lands of Indochina—Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia—became independent "associated states" the CIA expanded its activity somewhat, and during the last year of the French war, 1953-1954, agency involvement grew considerably as the French were obliged to accept U.S. assistance with unconventional warfare activities as a condition of expanded military aid from the Eisenhower administration, and with the use of CIA proprietary aircraft of Civil Air Transport (later Air America) in Laos and at Dien Bien Phu.......................

Between the Torture documents and reports, still coming in, and this new addition on the CIA's involvement in Vietnam, for years, there is a whole host of information to absorb. But their archives don't stop with these, they've been researching and archiving a whole host of issues, especially on National Security for a long time, and will be adding much more, so explore.

After our failed policies concerning Vietnam it will be more then interesting to one day read of the lead up to our numerous failed policies in the regions of Afghanistan, support and supplying the Mujahadeen then walking away, and Iraq. Especially concerning Iraq and our connections, through the CIA and more, with Saddam's reign leading up to and including the First Gulf War then to Operation Iraqi Freedom, OIF, and continuing, along with 9/11 and Operation Enduring Freedom, OEF! Maybe they won't trickle out many years later, hopefully for the rest of the World we'll get the facts and truth much earlier, but us 'Nam Vets will probably mostly be long gone.

Lets hope that what this Country, if it still exists, didn't learn from 'Nam, it will Finally absorb from these times, OEF and OIF, and stop the few from pushing for these War and Occupations, of others, Of Choice! But unlike 'Nam, these times will bring blowback on our country and citizens!

Women: Defense Budget

Women legislators call for cuts to military budget

Women's Take - Georgia State Senator Nan Orrock: We are on a dangerous path to a militarized society

What's next for Republic Windows & Doors Workers?

What happened at that Chicago manufacturing plant brought back alot of memories of how extremely talented workers fought for what they knew were their rights, decent wages for their labor, on the job safety, trading wages for benefits like health and welfare directly and much much more. Fights that shouldn't have really happened in a real model of capitalism where all should share directly in the quality and growth of their work and the companies they work for.

We need to return to that pride in company and product, quality products and customer service, correcting the defaults, and growth for all, owners, workers, and investors.

We like to use the term 'Strong on National Security' and one political party tries to lay claim to the phrase, trouble is having others build and produce the products and services, in other countries, leaves ours without the experiance and knowledge, thus without the ability to get that security if ever needed. And that political party is the one leading in pushing our trades and knowledge to offshore venues, we have already lost many trades and abilities over these last couple of decades, those who did that work are gone or will be!

Lets look at what's asked in the subject title:

Well it looks like they've got a plan, and a plan that can be followed by others, but first lets look at what they got for their nonviolent action for their rights, rights under the law of this land:

After 6 days occupying the plant, workers at Republic Window and Doors in Chicago voted to accept a settlement late last night.

The settlement totals $1.75million. It will provide the workers with:

* Eight weeks of pay they are owed under the Federal WARN Act

* Two months of continued health coverage, and

* Pay for all accrued and unused vacation.

JPMorgan Chase will provide $400,000 of the settlement, with the balance coming from Bank of America. Although the money will be provided as a loan to Republic Windows and Doors, it will go directly into a third-party fund whose sole purpose is to pay the workers what is owed them. In addition, the UE has started the "Window of Opportunity Fund" dedicated to re-opening the plant.

As the Local 1110 leaders characterized the settlement, "We fought to make them pay what they owe us, and we won." Read more about the settlement here.

They also sent along a "Thank You":

We want to extend a big THANK YOU to all of you who participated in this campaign. The tremendous support and solidarity from the thousands of people like you around the country - and the world - who took the time to send messages to Bank of America and who rallied at banks across the country was crucial in winning this victory.

This is truly an historic victory for workers in the United States.

But this struggle is just the beginning! As the economic crisis deepens we need to launch a working class fight back. Rallies for a "People's Bailout" will continue today and throughout the rest of the week. Click here to find an action near you {updated daily}. You can also take action online.

* Tell Congress: We Demand a People's Bailout

* Save Autoworker Jobs

* VOTE NOW for Grinch of the Year

Thanks again for all that you do! You can see photos, video, and press clips from the Week of Action here.

In todays Chicago Tribune they lay out what is on the workers minds, they won their fight for their rights but like many in this collapsing economy they are now out of jobs.

The six-day sit-in by former workers at the shuttered Republic Windows & Doors plant won them money and benefits, but they're still out of work, leading them and others to say they'll try to reopen the factory as they hope what they did provides a spark of hope for a beleaguered labor movement.

While they tried,

Union negotiators were unable to obtain a commitment from the parties to reopen the Goose Island plant, said United Electrical Workers organizer Mark Meinster. So the union has decided to forge ahead to find someone new to run the plant, he said, using some of the money donated from around the world during the sit-in.

City officials have voiced their support for work to resume in the building, which is owned by Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co.

"There are assets in there," said Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd), who said he has contacted companies to see whether they are interested in moving into the plant.

The deal struck for the workers was hailed by some as a symbolic victory for American workers facing a difficult economic climate. Robert Bruno, a labor expert at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said the peaceful occupation might set an example for others faced with abrupt layoffs.

And as a Representative of his Districts People says:

"This Republic Windows saga, I'm sure, is reverberating throughout boardrooms in America," said U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez {D-Ill.}, who moderated the negotiations.

And it shouldn't be only because of the action taken by these workers to force The Law of This Country to be Followed, laws are not only to be followed by some they are to be followed by all!

And this spin, propaganda, group think, that passes as fact should end, that Labor Costs, Wages and Benefits are what takes down companies and economies, while we Totally Ignore the Packages of the Executives, from top down throughout the executive structure and the wheeling and dealings on Wall Street and in our Governments, Federal, State and Local, the greed and incompetence across all these must stop, and rewarding those who are incompetent and fully behind the greed must also stop, especially as workers wages and benefits are stagnant across the board for many years while corporate leadership aren't, for as we're watching and living That's What Brings Down Companies and Economies!

While it will be extremely difficult to obtain financing to restructure companies with the worker input, and that's a must, we need to rebuild a new system, a real Capitalist System where All benefit not just the hand full, we are seeing the results of that last, Everyone Loses, Everyone!!

Oh and a not so little secret, for it's what built this countries economy up till some twenty to thirty years ago, not everyone wants nor needs a piece of paper telling them and others they gained knowledge from so called places of Higher Education. Skills and Experience aren't taught there, skills many feel they have or have developed through their own interests they seek to develop further and get compensated as well as feel good about using and developing those skills. Interests outside of work are sought not only to satisfy a curiosity but a need to learn more about them. Education is a lifelong experience and want for most, it just depends on how one seeks out that education and not being forced into.

Veterans Day on Tuesday.......

The Whole Countries Responsibility, Not Singular Groups!!!


While this was a Great Gesture, on the part of the Redskins Organization teaming up with other Advocacy Groups, this is much more than a one day need. We who serve don't serve for singular organizations We Serve The Country and an Oath and Contract is made for our service. It is the Responsibility, Every Day, for the Country Served to aid our Brothers and Sisters who have given much more than just their Service, Physically and Mentally, because of these Wars of Choice!!


Redskins take timeout for veterans, Host locker room health exams

The Washington Redskins opened up their home to area veterans Saturday, offering free health screenings to recognize their service protecting the country and to encourage them to protect their health.

Three days before Veterans Day, the Men's Health Network and 13 other organizations provided screenings and health education to male and female veterans in the players' locker room at FedEx Field in Landover.

From Service to Streets......


Issues aren't going away for veterans


Modern warfare adding to problems Department of Veterans Affairs faces

The strident language of Fox talk show host Bill O'Reilly contending there are no homeless veterans in America brought a smile of incredulity to Michael Charles.

When Charles, 52, was about to be discharged from the Danville VA hospital, a staffer there called Goodwill Industries of Central Illinois Veterans Home.

"There was an opening, and I came straight over here," Charles said.

"Every VA Center I've been to says that at one time in their lives, 50 percent of all veterans will be homeless."

At any one time, there are 10 homeless veterans in the facility on South Olive Street.

From desert to streets


Homeless veterans find life again through a city-run service that helps to employ those who kept us safe.


To Listen

The issue of homeless veterans has long been seen as an important one for Jacksonville, which because of geography and demographics, attracts a larger-than-average number of such people. By some estimates, as much as 40 percent of the city's chronically homeless - those who are continuously homeless for a year or more - may be veterans.

Looking at everyone in the city who has been homeless, the Emergency Services and Homeless Coalition of Jacksonville has found that 26 percent of the homeless population has served in the military, slightly more than the 23 percent of the national homeless population.

Veterans are more likely to appear among the chronically homeless because they're better equipped to survive such a life, said Diane Gilbert, executive director of the coalition, but such self-sufficiency also can lead to problems.

"Part of the problem of dealing with homeless veterans," Gilbert said, "is that they have such strong survival skills, they're unwilling to ask for help."

Homeless female veterans find few options to get help


VA's shelters don't always take in women, so a housing program is being initiated

The reasons are varied why military veterans become homeless.

Repeated deployments make it difficult for them to keep their finances in order and for reservists to hold on to their civilian jobs. Fallout from military service — which can include post-traumatic stress disorder — can seriously damage family and other relationships. Those stresses can lead to withdrawal and depression, which can make it difficult to land a job. The lack of income makes it hard to pay rent or a mortgage.

Few Veterans Affairs centers offer residential mental health treatment specifically for women with post-traumatic stress disorder, said Amy Fairweather, director of the Iraq veterans program for Swords to Plowshares.

"The services are really behind the curve," she said.

Veterans affairs: Tighter records controls urged

For the record

Military veterans dealing with the Department of Veterans Affairs benefits offices need to guard against their records being lost or destroyed. Tips from veterans advocates:

**Keep a complete copy of your military medical records.

**Update VA files once a year and make copies.

**Never send the original paper work. Send copies.

**Call (800) 827-1000 to request an appointment to view your VA claims folder, also know as the C-file, at the regional office.

**Make sure all the records in the file are yours.

**Make sure all correspondence with the VA is in the C-file.

**Correct mistakes, then request a hard copy of your C-file.

“How long has this been going on, and how many veterans and their families have been deprived of benefits they have earned?” said Army veteran Mike {testvet6778} Bailey of Springdale.

Army General Probes - Suicides of Recruiters


Recent Suicides in Houston-Area Recruiting Unit

An Army-wide problem?
Houston battalion recruiters have said they regularly work 12 to 14 hours a day, six or seven days a week. Many have to deal with long commutes to rural stations far from a military base. They have said if they don't sign at least two new recruits a month, they're punished with even longer duty hours and threatened with losing rank or receiving bad evaluation reports.

"I want to make sure this is not an Army-wide problem," Cornyn said. "If it is, then that's an even more serious issue than what's going on in this one battalion."

Widow pleads for recruiting overhaul


Iraq vet asks Army to evaluate high-stress duty

Two weeks ago today, Sgt. First Class Patrick Henderson walked into a shed behind his house, locked the door and hanged himself from a rafter.

The 35-year-old soldier was the fifth Houston-based Army recruiter to commit suicide in seven years.

VA officials investigate....


mishandled documents at benefits offices in S.C.

Veterans Affairs officials are investigating why 95 records were erroneously dumped in a shredder bin at the VA office in Columbia.

An unidentified employee at the Columbia office is under investigation for mishandling the documents, which include new benefits claims and other personal files, VA officials said.

"I can't discuss in detail what action may be taken against an employee in this instance until the investigation is complete," VA press secretary Alison Aikele said Wednesday.

In South Carolina, the possible destruction of benefit claims could affect some of the state's 413,000 veterans. The shredding probe involves the VA's benefits offices, not the hospitals.

~~~~~~~~~~

The shredding issue was first reported by VA Watchdog, a Web site run by Army veteran Larry Scott, of Vancouver, Wash.

All residents should care about veterans past and present

I particularly want to pay tribute to all our Reserves and National Guard. Before Iraq and Afghanistan became battle zones, these so-called "weekend warriors" joined to gain another paycheck — not that they weren't patriotic. After completing their basic training and boot camps, they were in uniform one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer. Whoever thought they would be thrust into combat situations? We have to look at them in a different light now; they've turned into heroes, fighting for our freedom, many being wounded and some paying the ultimate sacrifice.

"The nation which forgets its defenders will itself be forgotten"
-Calvin Coolidge

"Spreading The Wealth"!! That's How This Country Grew!!!!

I was born in '48 and grew up in the time after WWII and the rapid growth of not only a Great Economic Expansion but the Envy of the World to the American Worker and our Products and Services. We had the power and wealth hungry who tried to suppress but we also had intelligent business minds and workers willing to fight that brought about growing wages, safety in the work place, respect for the worker, and so much more, which gave respect and expansion to not only the employer but the companies, The company owners, the executives, the worker, and for those public companies shareholders were all reaping the rewards of that wealth sharing, that's what built the strong and ever expanding middle class and helped some break out of that and join the upper crust of the wealthy. It was the Only Successful way a true capitalist society that can achieve and expand further. Decent expanding wages for a workers hard work and company dedication gives them the ability to purchase goods and services which in turn gives growth and prosperity to other companies and workers.


This is what this writer is pointing out, as others do

Actually, it has been part of the American economic system since its founding

What is the present day GOP trying to sell everyone with statements like this: "You can spread butter on toast, we can share the love, but we are not going to share the wealth," said the Republican gubernatorial candidate. And why are so many buying this crap?


The PBS Newshour did a series of reports this past week, 10-20 to 10-24-08, on an important subject that really needs to not just be discussed, we've been doing that for years, but needs immediate implementation, meaning it should have started many yesterdays ago, many. In this series, on the first day, Ray Suarez made this statement:

"In the first half of the last century, Americans went on an infrastructure-building spree, and we've made good use of the things that were built, but we've been reluctant to pay to replace and repair thousands of miles of bridges, tunnels, roads, instead choosing to cross our fingers and rely on the good work of our parents, grandparents, even great-grandparents."

My highlight but think about what those that came before built for us, I do, as I watch our economy get rid of the businesses that built replacing with lower wage jobs of service, even the growth jobs in the 90's are now fetching less at start and stagnant wages after.


In waiting for each days report I happened on an interview with one I economist I admire, why because when he spoke he knew what he was talking about and spoke it in terms that most could understand. That was Paul Volcker and he said this in the interview:

"It seems to me what our nation needs is more civil engineers and electrical engineers and fewer financial engineers"

You can find writeup on the interview here at a site I happened on called BloggingStocks, which led me to the Charlie Rose interview with Volcker which I will place the links and interview video below.


But this is the NewsHour series that I think is a must see, and stop talking about, but do not only because it's past time for the need but because of the jobs it will create and with decent wages will spin off even more jobs and much needed growth. Each of these are covering different infrastructure needs, and after watching this first one I wish they would have covered other subjects but when it comes to infrastructure the list is very long and growing, not just repair but new.


This series was done in conjunction with others and they have a site set up called Blueprint America covering their subject material and added material.

Part 1 Aging Bridges Among Country's Infrastructure Woes

As the economic crisis continues, a similar crisis looms in the country's aging infrastructure. In the first of a series of reports, Ray Suarez takes a look at Pennsylvania's bridge problem and how it may impact future economic recovery efforts.

You can find the transcript here.

I live in the south now and because it isn't as cold here, and probably also because of the clay soil, they don't bury their water or drain pipes very deep. Well apparently we've long crossed the line of replacing lines, it seems to happen on an almost weekly basis, on bright sun shiny days and warm nights, they have a water main break, some creating huge damage and taking days to repair, most creating traffic tie ups which waste time and fuel.


Over the years all we've heard is talk after talk after talk........about things like Infrastructure, alternet energy sources, better vehicles that get huge amounts of millage per gallon of gasoline {on that one what do we have but vehicles with ever expanding toys that drivers shouldn't be playing with but still getting single to teen miles per gallon}, there's a long list of talk, and that's all we've been doing Talking!

Part 2 Increased Decay Strains Budget-strapped New Orleans Port

Even before Hurricane Katrina, the structural flaws of the port of New Orleans, combined with increased shipping volume, strained the infrastructure resource. Ray Suarez examines the port's struggle to fund improvements and keep up with its competition.

You can find the transcript here

Look around your communities and listen to the reports, I know there are problems that are just being, and have been, patch work projects, Major upgrades and improvements are way past due and patching only creates more wasted time and monies.


Speaking of just talking, in the report above they mention the Panama Canal. I was stationed there prior to Vietnam, from '68-'70, and they were talking than about needed expansion and or another canal.

Part 3 Population Growth Burdens Roads, Schools and State Programs

Amid explosive population growth, Arizona tackles the traditional problems of urban sprawl as it tries to create a new model for livable communities. Ray Suarez reports on the Valley of the Sun's transition in the face of growing infrastructure demands.

You can find the transcript here

Part 4 Chicago Airport Faces Serious Growing Pains

Ray Suarez examines Chicago O'Hare Airport's battle to increase its capacity and problems with the entire air traffic system.

You can find the transcript here

They don't have the report from friday up on the site yet, not even the transcript, there was a companion report talking to experts that is up but I'll try and continue this post with another adding in what I was originally going to write for this one. But here's the Charlie Rose interview with Paul Volcker which according to the site took place on 10/09/2008.





Once again:

"It seems to me what our nation needs is more civil engineers and electrical engineers and fewer financial engineers," Volcker said.

There's alot of talk about 'Communism', 'Socialism', and 'Marxism' coming from the Presidential Campaign of one who is married to a very wealthy woman, inherited wealth, and according to reports his choice of a running mate isn't doing to shabby neither, but still that campaign figured it could use their donated monies to purchase some extremely expensive duds for the lady.


The question is why this talk, apparently to further spin the meanings of those words as their talking heads, the rush, and the off shoots of his and now fox having been trying for years to do, if you read the definitions they point to the rovian, and others, goal, a One Party, weak representation, Single Person Leader, short of dictatorship or dictatorship, U.S. Government!!

com.mu.nism
Show Spelled Pronunciation [kom-yuh-niz-uhm] Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. a theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state.
2. (often initial capital letter) a system of social organization in which all economic and social activity is controlled by a totalitarian state dominated by a single and self-perpetuating political party.
3. (initial capital letter) the principles and practices of the Communist party.
4. communalism.
Origin:
1835–45; < F communisme. See common, -ism

But the most eye-opening of them all came, it would appear, when the Alaska Governor somehow drew a connection between Barack Obama's tax policy and an encroaching, nightmarish, communist government. Which is exactly what they themselves are trying to achieve, reason for the Double Speak about taxes, not wanting the middle class to receive any cuts and making sure they don't pay their fair share! And the thing is regular folks are falling right into their propaganda and actually arguing for them, against themselves, again!

so.cial.ism
Show Spelled Pronunciation [soh-shuh-liz-uhm] Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.
2. procedure or practice in accordance with this theory.
3. (in Marxist theory) the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles.
Compare utopian socialism.

Origin:
1830–40; social + -ism

To McCain supporters, it's his way or socialism


Not wanting to make what they deserve from their hard physical and mental work, dedication to well I don't see much of that, do see workers giving only up to what the employer is willing to give them or not caring much at all, doing just enough to pass till payday.

Marx.ism
Show Spelled Pronunciation [mahrk-siz-uhm] Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
the system of economic and political thought developed by Karl Marx, along with Friedrich Engels, esp. the doctrine that the state throughout history has been a device for the exploitation of the masses by a dominant class, that class struggle has been the main agency of historical change, and that the capitalist system, containing from the first the seeds of its own decay, will inevitably, after the period of the dictatorship of the proletariat, be superseded by a socialist order and a classless society.

Alot of folks are looking back on what Marx and Engels were sellin and thinking hey they might have had something their, but like the so called 'conservatives' have done to the word 'liberal', many who denigrate haven't a clue what it means let alone even know 'conservative', have turned that word description into a dirty word, or they've tried while destroying 'conservative' and 'republican'.


And what are their wants:

fas.cism
Show Spelled Pronunciation [fash-iz-uhm] Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. (sometimes initial capital letter) a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.
2. (sometimes initial capital letter) the philosophy, principles, or methods of fascism.
3. (initial capital letter) a fascist movement, esp. the one established by Mussolini in Italy 1922–43.
Origin:
1915–20; < It fascismo, equiv. to fasc(io) bundle, political group (see fasces ) + -ismo -ism

With a new descriptive word label coming soon from one of their think? tanks!!

Debate: Foreign Policy & Security {Or No Debate} Video's

Everyone knows that the first Presidential Debate is supposed to take place tonight, but once again we have a member of the GOP trying to put the skids on Democracy, read the 2000 election and the supreme's, by refusing to show because, admitted himself he understands little about economics, he's going to save Wall Street Bankers and the Country from Collapse. Now he's coming to the rescue some 10 or so days after all the bad economic news started survicing, but for Our Savior "Better late than never, Not!".


My guess is that if there is a Debate tonight it won't be on the main subject lines it was to cover: Foreign Policy and National Security. It will be covering the economy or at least much of it will be because of the News that has sucked the air out of everything else.


But wether it covers the intended subject matter, tonight or in another, or not, just in case there are extremely important things to be brought to the Debate about our now lack of a Foreign Policy especially as to our National Security.


The debate will, or will not, take place at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, known colloquially as Ole Miss. NPR has a very good writeup as a leadin: Site Of Presidential Debate Has Come Far From Past for this historic event in more ways than one.


We are a Nation and People that seem to like to use 'God' an awful lot, we say we are a Tolerant Nation, and a Peaceful Nation, we Condemn others for not being so and for practicing Inhumane Treatment of others.


But instead of following what we preach we have many, some elected and large portions of the population, that think we can go and Destroy and Occupy other Countries and somehow be Secure in the fact that we've Killed and Maimed others, instead of leading by example and word and making friends of others we Enhance the Hatreds and Create Enemies than call ourselves Secure. Through our actions even those that allie with us have Little Respect for us, not just our government but Us.


Lets look at the why our National Security is now in jeapordy for possibly decades to come and why the World has lost any remnants of Respect they once gave us:


Introducing Iraqi Refugee Stories:


Voices Missing From Media Describe Life in Exile


Watch "Hiba's Story," one in a powerful new series of video accounts by Iraqis who have had to flee their home.

Beyond the violence and instability of Iraq is the largely untold story of Iraqi displacement and exile and its enormous human consequences. A new website, Iraqi Refugee Stories, is now giving voice to the growing crisis and providing concerned individuals viable avenues to take action.

"The silent story of Iraq has been that of the millions who've been displaced within their country or who have fled to neighboring countries and are now living in limbo. In countries like Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, Iraqi refugees can't work legally and are often hiding at home for fear of deportation because they're unable to renew their visas," said Jennifer Utz, a video journalist, founder and creator of Iraqi Refugee Stories. "The media coverage of the issue has largely focused on the plight of military interpreters, while countless other vulnerable individuals have virtually gone unnoticed, such as single mothers, members of minority religions, the elderly and those in need of serious medical assistance."

In this video clip, a young woman named Hiba, whose family fled Iraq in 2003 only to be denied entrance to Jordan, describes the four years they spent living in a tent in Ruwayshed, a refugee camp on the border, saying that she often thinks about her classmates and wonders whether they lived or died.

To learn more, visit Iraqi Refugee Stories.

Or how about one of the main reasons the violence has dropped, even though Iraqi's and Soldiers are still being killed and maimed:


After Siege, Wall Sadr City’s New Oppression - 09.22.2008

Iraq, Baghdad/Sadr City – After the failure of many security plans proposed by the Iraqi government and US military strategists, a recent plan, hand-in-hand with the so-called “Surge,” was designed. It was a desperate attempt by the US and Iraqi military forces to control the Sunni-Shia militia. At the suggestion of military leaders, the Iraqi and US governments decided to build walls to separate neighborhoods and to control militias and insurgents from entering or exiting any neighborhood without passing a checkpoint. The first wall was built in Adhamiya, in April 2007. Despite protests and opposition, United States military and Iraqi National Guard forces began to erect a wall surrounding the neighborhood of Adhamiya. The people living in the neighborhood engaged in several demonstrations against building the wall, and even Prime Minister Maliki, a Shi’a critical of the neighborhood, publicly protested the plan. Despite his intervention and public discontent, the wall was built and finished by late April 2007.

These walls tend to be approximately 3 meters in height and made from concrete. In some areas the top of the wall is covered with concertina wire to prevent intruders from climbing over the wall. There are patrols set to guard the wall and they are present around the wall daily, and at all hours, to protract the wall from being attacked or bombed by insurgents.

Another wall built at end of April 2007, but this time in Ameriya, this wall is approximately 10 kilometers in length and again 3 meters high. In September 2007 yet another wall was built in the Saidiya neighborhood. The wall surrounding that district was 23 kilometers, and by the end of 2007 there were over 50 different walls built around different neighborhoods across Baghdad.

In May 2008 a wall was built in Sadr City after battles between the US military and the Mahdi Army. There are approximately two million citizens living inside the area now known as Sadr City, probably the largest single group impacted by one of Baghdad’s walls. Previously they could come and go via nine major entrances. Many shops were force to close because of the wall, the shop owners found they could not complete there work anymore due to the wall sitting just in front of their shops.

Or how about Getting to School in Iraq





Would you want to live like this, Would you want your children to live like this, Would you want to live in a Destroyed and Occupied Country, Would you develop growing Hatred for being forced to live like this in your destroyed country, Would you search for retribution for the loved ones, friends, and killed and maimed, and your country destroyed, in an occupation by an outside military force, What Would You Do??


And what happens in Wars of Occupation and Wars of Choice, the Soldiers know:


Winter Soldier: OIF and OEF Soldiers the Book


Back in March of this year History repeated itself. A history many of us Vietnam Veterans felt would never be repeated for we swore we wouldn't allow the country we served to ever allow itself to be led into another debacle of human destruction, a War Of Choice, an Occupation Of Innocent Others!! The country, back than, even seemed to grasp the huge mistake we had made in the policies set forth by those we elect to lead, they themselves said "We will learn from the mistakes made!", we didn't, and others don't neither!


Book Exposes Iraq Occupation Through US Soldiers' Eyes

Aside from the Iraqi people, nobody knows what the U.S. military is doing in Iraq better than the soldiers themselves. A new book gives readers vivid and detailed accounts of the devastation the U.S. occupation has brought to Iraq, in the soldiers' own words.

Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan: Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations, published by Haymarket Books Tuesday, is a gut-wrenching, historic chronicle of what the U.S. military has done to Iraq, as well as its own soldiers.

Authored by Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) and journalist Aaron Glantz, the book is a reader for hearings that took place in Silver Spring, Maryland between Mar. 13-16, 2008 at the National Labour College.

"I remember one woman walking by," said Jason Washburn, a corporal in the U.S. Marines who served three tours in Iraq. "She was carrying a huge bag, and she looked like she was heading toward us, so we lit her up with the Mark 19, which is an automatic grenade launcher, and when the dust settled, we realized that the bag was full of groceries. She had been trying to bring us food and we blew her to pieces."

Glantz admits that it would be difficult for the average U.S. citizen to read the book, and believes it is important to keep in mind while doing so what it took for the veterans to give this historic testimony.

"They could have been heroes, but what they are doing here is even more heroic -- which is telling the truth," Glantz told IPS. "They didn't have to come forward. They chose to come forward."

Few are Sacrificing yet there are still many, who aren't, that support our aggressive actions towards others and seem to relish in making the tens of thousands of enemies that will only take a few to destroy any feeling of a strong national security, for the country or the citizens wherever they travel.


The Brave New Foundation, for the past thirteen weeks, have had a series of very important online inner active Video Shows called "In Their Boots".


The last three weeks have covered a group who have Sacrificed Everything, their Spouses, but are coming together to move on with their lives and give meaning to the loss of their loved ones.


You can watch the video's here, they are about a half hour each, or at the site, where you can catch the previous important episodes and sign up to be notified prior to the wednesday evening coming episodes, But These Three Are Extremely Important, Especially For Those Not Sacrificing Anything!!


Topic: The American Widow Project We Regret to Inform You Chapter 1
Originally aired on September 10th, 2008


Led by Taryn Davis, a group of young military widows band together in a new peer support network called the American Widow Project.


Taryn Davis
War Widow


James Sheeler
Author
Final Salute Site: A Story of Unfinished Lives
Jim's Book: Final Salute: A Story of Unfinished Lives

Taryn Davis
Last year, 22-year-old Taryn Davis' world crumbled. On May 21, 2007, Taryn was told her husband, Army Cpl. Michael W. Davis, had died from wounds sustained from an IED explosion in Iraq. She was crushed. Unable to find the peer support she needed from other recently widowed military spouses, Taryn founded the American Widow Project four months later to help her cope with the loss of the love of her life. Using the power of the internet, Taryn has been able to reach out to over 100 young military widows (the majority of which are under 30), offering them peer support and help with whatever they might need.

Nicole Hart
Nicole Hart, found her soul mate when she was 16-years-old and married him three years later. Then, this past winter she lost him. On January 8, 2008, Army Sgt. David J. Hart was killed while trying to help one of his wounded men. Nicole, now a 23-year-old widow, didn't know life could go on without David, and sometimes she still doesn't understand how the earth continues to rotate. But, with the peer support from her new friends at the American Widow Project, she's realizing that if she gets into her wedding dress on her anniversary and flips through wedding photos, she's not weird, and she's not alone.

Windy Link
Windy's husband Sgt. Joey Link died while serving in Quatar as Air Support for the war in Iraq. Not only did he leave behind his wife Windy, but he also left behind two sons, and their baby daughter, Rylee. This summer, Windy left Rylee for the first time to travel to Austin, Texas to hang out with, and lean on, her new friends with the American Widow Project.

Topic: The American Widow Project ***** We Regret to Inform You Chapter 2


Originally aired on September 17th, 2008


Nicole Hart

Ami Neiberger-Miller
Communications & Public Affairs Officer
Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS)






Topic: The American Widow Project**** We Regret to Inform You Chapter 3


The Women of the American Widow Project


Originally aired on September 24th, 2008





We Regret to Inform You Chapter 3


The Women of the American Widow Project


And a short clip of these young widows moving on together.


American Widow Project--A Light-Hearted Video Clip‏


In Their Boots: We Regret To Inform You - Surfing



Visit their site and show your support to these Military Widows and their families

WAR Powers

Putting them back where they belong comes from an Op-Ed written by James A. Baker III and Warren Christopher in the New York Times today, 7-08-08.

They led a bipartison group, the National War Powers Commission, they concluded:

the law purporting to govern the decision to engage in war — the 1973 War Powers Resolution — should be replaced by a new law that would, except for emergencies, require the president and Congressional leaders to discuss the matter before going to war.

They are right in their conclusion, for the 1973 resolution has been largely ignored, especially in the extreme failed policies we find ourselves in now.

But even if it were a tougher less questionable resolution, many thinking it's Unconstitutional or at least parts of, I wonder if it would have even been forcefully upheld leading up to the debacles we created. Congress, at the time, was controlled by the same political party as the administration that wanted to abandon Afganistan and Invade Iraq, word was if there were meetings the other party leaders, in both houses, were left out. That congress didn't do much in holding the nesscessary debates, the members were selling the administration line, word for word, and they didn't set about the needed funding nor oversite for returning Veterans nor expectation of long term occupations, and that's just a few of the oversites not carried out by a Congress that was supposed to be doing the Peoples work. Since than they have become Obstructionists in anything the administration wants them to block. Still towing the line for Politics not for Country, nor National Security!

Poll: Public wants Congress's OK on war

Americans now as in the past 35 years think the president needs Congress' OK before sending troops to war or bombing suspected terrorists, a poll indicates.

And most actually think that this administration got the consent of Congress to wage a Pre-Emptive War!

The AP has another quick report on this comissions findings.

I'm somewhat left a tad speachless that Baker is coming out with the requested findings, I lost respect for him and his personal goals a long time ago, but the Law does need a Total Overhaul and the powers of the Executive placed in Check when it comes to War especially.

And with all that has come out already the Country needs to follow what the Constitution Clearly States as to Accountability for Failed actions taken by the Executive Branch, from the President on Down to Congress!

A Just Foreign Policy

YES Magazine, Summer '08 Edition, has a number of really good articles, and an interview, that should be read and obsorbed as to some of what we should be putting into public discussion as we try to turn this ship of state around and head in a direction that should already have been. These articles touch on a number of important issues, Very Important, not only for us, as a country, but our place in the world and for the world as a whole. They are also a matter of our Security and the Security of the planet

This one with Shultz might sound abit familiar for any who heard him talking when they returned from this conferance, but this is an Extremely Important subject and not only for us, and our National Security but the Security of everyone.

George Shultz: No Nuclear Weapons
Nuclear weapons abolition is not only possible, but necessary for our security and perhaps even our survival.

It starts of thus:

George Shultz was there when nuclear disarmament slipped through our fingers. Today, he says, action is even more urgent. Sarah van Gelder interviews George Shultz, former Secretary of State.

This near the end stood out:

Shultz: I’m not trying to prescribe for the next president. We’re trying to get the building blocks ready. We’ve talked to people from some other countries, and they’re interested enough so that if the United States, working with Russia, were to take this initiative and get other people to join, it might be pretty exciting. And it might once again put us in the role of doing something that people feel good about.

"Doing someting the people feel good about." Not just something, for we have an awful lot to do, but this issue would bring back much of what we lost in our Moral Standing as a world neighbor. The Neo-Cons, or whatever label one would smack on them, have not only destroyed the arms talk tables, they are developing other uses, under the Nuclear Umbrella, for ordinance, with no worry as to the damage it will inflict nor the long term lasting effects, all for the Now, in Power and Blood Wealth!

Smart Security and the End of War
David Korten's thoughts on a just foreign policy and an emergent social movement calling the world’s parliaments to adopt the principles of Article 9 added to the Japanese Constitution following World War II.

This touches on a number of important issues and leads off thus:

David Korten’s thoughts on a just foreign policy (the theme of the summer 2008 issue of YES! Magazine). “We humans have arrived at a defining moment. We must bring ourselves into balance with one another and Earth or suffer the consequences of social and environmental collapse. It creates a unique opportunity for bold action to end war as an instrument of foreign policy, convert to a peace economy, and create a world that works for all.”

He breaks this down to topics on:

The End of Excess

A Defining Challenge

The Last Superpower

Getting Smart

A Global Movement

A Smart Security Policy for the United States

And ends it with this:

It is an opportunity to at once increase our security, improve the quality of our lives, and regain a position of principled global leadership.

Talking NAFTA and Immigration.

Reclaiming Corn and Culture
For 14 years, NAFTA has displaced farmers and spurred migration. The answer from Mexico’s grassroots: co-ops and fair trade.

Mexicans doing it themselves, and to help solve the immigration problems We should be helping them.

They have sounded their voices loudly in Mexico’s capital, while quietly developing their own answers to NAFTA in farming communities throughout the country—working models of “fair trade” that consider people and the environment, not just profit margins.

Who are the losers.

By 2003, 1.3 million Mexican peasants had lost their livelihoods because of NAFTA. Many of the displaced farmers came north in search of work. Mexican migration to the U.S. increased an estimated 75 percent in the five years after the trade agreement took effect.

And in the name of Corporate, not to mention others seeking lowscale wage earners, profits and to force wages down, what has been presently going on.

Pickard has been a vocal critic of a new trade initiative under the Bush Administration that broadens NAFTA with increased emphasis on border security and corporate access to natural resources. The initiative, called the “Security and Prosperity Partnership,” or SPP, was launched two years ago in a series of negotiations with the Mexican and Canadian governments. Because the SPP is not a treaty, there is no congressional oversight, nor any process for citizen comment. The only input comes from a council of 30 advisors, ten selected by each government. The list reads like a Who’s Who of corporate North America, including the CEOs of Bell Canada, Chevron, Ford, General Electric, General Motors, Home Depot/Canada, Kimberly-Clark/Mexico, Lockheed Martin, Scotiabank, and Wal-Mart.

Just the Facts: Military Spending versus Foreign Aid
The U.S. spends piles of money on foreign aid, right? See how the spending actually stacks up.

Just The Facts Poster in PDF

The top link above gives a smaller version of the tables on spending, the PDF can be downloaded and saved.

Raiding the War Chest
How to cut billions in unneeded weapons systems—and redirect the money towards health care, the economy, and climate.

It’s called “defense” spending, but how much of it is actually about defense? Here’s how we could save billions, and still have billions left to make the U.S. and the world more secure.

This speaks for itself, our continuing wasteful Huge and ever growing Defense Budgets, Questions Never Asked, Schrugs when coruption comes to light, and back to continuing growth of budgets, lining the pockets of the few rather than giving Us what we led to believe we are getting.

An economy slouching toward recession, or—depending on who you talk to—already there, has produced two seemingly contradictory effects. It has pushed the worst foreign policy disaster in U.S. history off the top of the list of citizen concerns. And it has simultaneously gotten those citizens, and even their members of Congress, talking much more about that disaster’s economic costs.

And how much are the 'Look the other way' Representatives, Our Representatives, reaping.

Since 2001 the Administration’s military budgets have more than doubled. Congress has approved every one, sometimes even expanding them a bit

No accountability for the "Worst Foreign Policy Disaster in U.S. History!", just rubber stamp what's requested, and tack on more, to continue the disaster, the disaster not only for us but especially for those we reaped it upon

Just some of what should be eleminated.

A half-dozen items that top this list are:

* The F/A 22 Raptor:
An obsolete, ever-more-costly aircraft designed to counter a Soviet model that was never built.

* Ballistic Missile Defense:
A system that doesn’t work for a threat that doesn’t exist.

* Virginia-Class Submarine:
Any conceivable mission for this new sub can be handled by the existing fleet.

* DD(G-1000) Destroyer:
Another cost-escalating program whose missions are well-covered by existing ships.

* V-22 Osprey:
This hybrid plane-helicopter is being rushed into service in Iraq despite safety, technical, and cost problems, both old and new.

* C-130J transport plane:
Has 168 documented deficiencies that render it unsafe.

And closes with this:

And while we’re repairing the damage to our relations with the rest of the world, we will need to put some of the money into repairing the social contract with our own citizens, by investing in our battered economy.

Just investing in our infrastructure would reap benefits across a number of area's, and investing in other much needed area's would expand those benefits and keep expanding them.

You can go here:

Theme Guide :: A Just Foreign Policy

To catch the ones above and a few more, all in the same issue, and online.

Superpower? Get Over It

Five years into the occupation of Iraq, the American public has had it. Add in an overstretched economy, spreading nuclear arms, climate disruption, and scrambles for scarce resources, and many are ready to ditch the superpower role and join a world of equals to confront our common challenges.

bet you thought I was through passing on some good reads and important information, well I'm not

The ACLU Releases Navy Files On Civilian Casualties In Iraq War (7/2/2008), this will take you to the Press Release.

Public Has A Right To Unfiltered Information About The Human Cost Of War, ACLU Says

Today's documents are available online

Attorneys involved in this project are Bargzie, Ben Wizner and Jameel Jaffer of the ACLU National Security Project. In a separate lawsuit, the ACLU sued for records concerning the abuse of prisoners held by U.S. forces in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantánamo Bay. To date, that request has resulted in the release of more than 100,000 pages, all of which are available online

And another documentary of importance:

The Trailor

ON THE LINE is an inside look at the people behind one of the largest nonviolent movements in America today: the movement to close the School of the Americas/WHINSEC, a U.S. Army school that trains Latin American soldiers. In a world where politics, passion, and Constitutional rights collide, protesters discuss their activism, the dark side of U.S. foreign policy, and the challenges of protesting since 9/11.

The principal cast includes:

* Martin Sheen, actor

* Susan Sarandon, actor

* Fr. Roy Bourgeois, Founder of School of the Americas Watch

* John Perkins, author of Confessions of an Economic Hitman

* Bob Barr, political analyst and former US Congressman

* Gerry Weber, ACLU-Georgia

The film is 55 minutes long.

"Those who make peaceful evolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable." -- John F. Kennedy

Tell Rep. Conyers To Meet With Veterans

Veterans for Peace members have been trying to meet with Representative John Conyers to deliver an Impeachment petition.

Wednesday, June 11, members of Veterans For Peace will be delivering 22,000 signatures demanding impeachment of President George Bush to Representative John Conyers' office. Representative Conyers, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, has refused to meet with the members of VFP for the past two months. Upon arriving at Representative Conyers' office, members from New York, North Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio and the District of Columbia have decided to conduct a sit-in until he agrees to meet with them.

In light of Congressman Dennis Kucinich putting forth 35 Articles for Impeachment and reading those Articles on the floor of the House of Representatives last night, 6-09-08,

YOU CAN HELP VFP

Call Representative Conyers (202-225-5126), ask that he meet with members of Veterans For Peace and accept the 22,000 signatures that call for the Impeachment of the President.

View the Press Release here - PDF

Read VFP's Case for Impeachment - PDF

This Country needs the Accountibility called for in our Constitution and must Act for the sake of Country and that Constitution and Right the Wrongs Committed 'In Our Names'!

Articles of Impeachment - In Case You Missed It Last Night, 6-09-08

TUESDAY EVENING: The Clerk of the House is expected to read the articles of impeachment, which should take about 5 hours, at the conclusion of which Rep. Kucinich will make a motion. Watch C-Span!

Rep. Robert Wexler is the first to cosponsor and will be on Keith Olbermann today.

CALL THE MEDIA!

Email Your Congress Member - Congress has 72 hours to table it, send it to committee, pass it, or reject it.


Extensive documentation to accompany each article will be posted later today. Watch these websites:
Rep Dennis Kucinich

Democrats. com

After Downing Street

Congressman Kucinich has laid out an extensive indictment of the president. Here is the index of article titles:

Article I
Creating a Secret Propaganda Campaign to Manufacture a False Case for War Against Iraq

Article II
Falsely, Systematically, and with Criminal Intent Conflating the Attacks of September 11, 2001, With Misrepresentation of Iraq as a Security Threat as Part of Fraudulent Justification for a War of
Aggression

Article III
Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction, to Manufacture a False Case for War

Article IV
Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Posed an Imminent Threat to the United States

Article V
Illegally Misspending Funds to Secretly Begin a War of Aggression

Article VI
Invading Iraq in Violation of the Requirements of HJRes114

Article VII
Invading Iraq Absent a Declaration of War.

Article VIII
Invading Iraq, A Sovereign Nation, in Violation of the UN Charter

Article IX
Failing to Provide Troops With Body Armor and Vehicle Armor

Article X
Falsifying Accounts of US Troop Deaths and Injuries for Political Purposes

Article XI
Establishment of Permanent U.S. Military Bases in Iraq

Article XII
Initiating a War Against Iraq for Control of That Nation's Natural Resources

Article XIIII
Creating a Secret Task Force to Develop Energy and Military Policies With Respect to Iraq and Other Countries

Article XIV
Misprision of a Felony, Misuse and Exposure of Classified Information And Obstruction of Justice in the Matter of Valerie Plame Wilson, Clandestine Agent of the Central Intelligence Agency

Article XV
Providing Immunity from Prosecution for Criminal Contractors in Iraq

Article XVI
Reckless Misspending and Waste of U.S. Tax Dollars in Connection With Iraq and US Contractors

Article XVII
Illegal Detention: Detaining Indefinitely And Without Charge Persons Both U.S. Citizens and Foreign Captives

Article XVIII
Torture: Secretly Authorizing, and Encouraging the Use of Torture Against Captives in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Other Places, as a Matter of Official Policy

Article XIX
Rendition: Kidnapping People and Taking Them Against Their Will to "Black Sites" Located in Other Nations, Including Nations Known to Practice Torture

Article XX
Imprisoning Children

Article XXI
Misleading Congress and the American People About Threats from Iran, and Supporting Terrorist Organizations Within Iran, With the Goal of Overthrowing the Iranian Government

Article XXII
Creating Secret Laws

Article XXIII
Violation of the Posse Comitatus Act

Article XXIV
Spying on American Citizens, Without a Court-Ordered Warrant, in Violation of the Law and the Fourth Amendment

Article XXV
Directing Telecommunications Companies to Create an Illegal and Unconstitutional Database of the Private Telephone Numbers and Emails of American Citizens

Article XXVI
Announcing the Intent to Violate Laws with Signing Statements

Article XXVII
Failing to Comply with Congressional Subpoenas and Instructing Former Employees Not to Comply

Article XXVIII
Tampering with Free and Fair Elections, Corruption of the Administration of Justice

Article XXIX
Conspiracy to Violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965

Article XXX
Misleading Congress and the American People in an Attempt to Destroy Medicare

Article XXXI
Katrina: Failure to Plan for the Predicted Disaster of Hurricane Katrina, Failure to Respond to a Civil Emergency

Article XXXII
Misleading Congress and the American People, Systematically Undermining Efforts to Address Global Climate Change

Article XXXIII
Repeatedly Ignored and Failed to Respond to High Level Intelligence Warnings of Planned Terrorist Attacks in the US, Prior to 911.

Article XXXIV
Obstruction of the Investigation into the Attacks of September 11, 2001

Article XXXV
Endangering the Health of 911 First Responders

The full text of the articles PDF


Here's a video of Kucinich beginning his presentation on the floor


David, over at After Downing Street, has more to this posting you can read it here

National Security? Supplying 'Guerilla Fighters' Worldwide!

U.S. Foreign Policy: Raising the Hatred Levels and Numbers who than will seek Retaliation, than supplying them with the needed equipment to make the 'Criminal Terrorism' easier!

National Security? Supplying 'Guerilla Fighters' Worldwide!

The U.S. Military Index

In an exclusive new index, Foreign Policy and the Center for a New American Security surveyed more than 3,400 active and retired officers at the highest levels of command about the state of the U.S. military. They see a force stretched dangerously thin and a country ill-prepared for the next fight.

Today, the U.S. military is engaged in a campaign that is more demanding and intense than anything it has witnessed in a generation. Ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, now entering their fifth and seventh years respectively, have lasted longer than any U.S. military engagements of the past century, with the exception of Vietnam. More than 25,000 American servicemen and women have been wounded and over 4,000 killed. Additional deployments in the Balkans, on the Korean Peninsula, and elsewhere are putting further pressure on the military’s finite resources. And, at any time, U.S. forces could be called into action in one of the world’s many simmering hot spots—from Iran or Syria, to North Korea or the Taiwan Strait. Yet, even as the U.S. military is being asked to sustain an unprecedented pace of operations across the globe, many Americans continue to know shockingly little about the forces responsible for protecting them. Nearly 70 percent of Americans report that they have a high level of confidence in the military, yet fewer than 1 in 10 has ever served. Politicians often speak favorably about people in uniform, but less than one quarter of the U.S. Congress has donned a uniform. It is not clear whether the speeches and sound bites we hear from politicians and experts actually reflect the concerns of those who protect our nation.

SNIP: Read rest here, it's a long read and has a number of related links to the report

One statistic stands out in the opening paragraph: "Over 4000 killed", we somehow can't remember Afganistan: 491 KIA's and there are now 4012 in Iraq!And these are not counting the Suicides nor other War Related Deaths!

A Broken Military, Two Quagmires, Failed Foreign Policy, and an almost Destroyed National Security for the Hatreds enhanced have already shown the 'Blowback' retaliations will bring! Perpetual Guerilla War, Wealth for the War Profitteers!!

Building for Nonexistant Conventional Wars

Bush Administration Wastes Trillions in Worthless Weapons

The government has invested trillions in weapons that are completely useless in the fight against stateless terrorists.

Well we didn't Learn a damn thing from Vietnam, nor the Soviet/Afgan Debacle, and we ain't learning from the Present Failed Policies, More Blood Money for the War Profitteers as the Populace stays Silent!!

Ventura: Chickenhawks, Cusack: Military Contractors

Jesse Unloads on the 'Chickenhawks' who force their 'Wars of Choice' yet refused to fight when those before them, their peers, did same! And making sure their own don't come into the Harms way they have set up!

Ventura on 'Chickenhawks'

'Wars of Choice' make enemies of others, damaging national security, creating possible perpetual Guerilla Conflict from the 'Blowback' of Retaliation, Damages Economies, and a Countries Reputation and World Standing!


"I'm Not Ready to Cede the Constitution to This Bunch of Hoodlums!"

Cusack on Military Contractors in Iraq

John Cusack promotes his new film "War Inc", which satirizes the military culture that makes companies like Halliburton and Blackwater rich.

The Dark Side

Lets see Saddam, even though we installed and supported him, Had To Go. Because he Arrested the Innocent and his 'Henchmen' Tortured and Killed many of those arrested, as well as Killing and Maiming Tens of Thousands of Iraqi's. Those are only a Couple of the many 'Nobel Cause' Reasons for the Righteousness of Invading, Destroying, and Occupying Iraq for our National Security!

But the true subject of the movie is the mentality and the atmosphere that produced sadistic conduct, both at Bagram and at Guantánamo

We are a country that speaks on principle, morality, religious ideologies of Human Caring and Rights, the shining house on the hill that condemns others to shame on their actions!

and such figures as John Yoo, the Department of Justice attorney who redefined the practices permitted by the Bush Administration in such a way that they couldn’t be deemed war crimes

We are a country of Law that holds those Responsible that Break the Laws of this Land and on the World Stage!

The prisoners—cut off from any possible counsel, harassed, stripped, hooded, bound, and, in many cases, threatened with attack dogs or abused physically—were locked into a system of punishment before any guilt was established

We are a country that Treats others as we wish them to Treat our own, giving us the right to Condemn others for their Immorality against fellow Human Beings!

>It is not known why Dilawar was accused, but, as his tormentors admit, it became clear before the end of the interrogation—during which he was hung up by his arms and repeatedly struck on the legs—that he was innocent. They kept hitting him, however. They all took turns.

The New Yorker Review Above

Taxi to the Darkside - The Movie

Above, and below, is Now the Ideology of this Country as seen and understood by others on this planet, National Security Was Never A Factor, No more!

Creating Enemies with more Hatreds and want for Retribution is more apt, Perpetual Conflict!

Exposure
The woman behind the camera at Abu Ghraib

All that the soldiers of the 372nd Military Police Company, a Reserve unit out of Cresaptown, Maryland, knew about America’s biggest military prison in Iraq, when they arrived there in early October of 2003, was that it was on the front lines. Its official name was Forward Operating Base Abu Ghraib. Never mind that military doctrine and the Geneva Conventions forbid holding prisoners in a combat zone, and require that they be sped to the rear; you had to make the opposite sort of journey to get to Abu Ghraib. You had to travel along some of the deadliest roads in the country, constantly bombed and frequently ambushed, into the Sunni Triangle. The prison squatted on the desert, a wall of sheer concrete traced with barbed wire, picketed by watchtowers. “Like something from a Mad Max movie,” Sergeant Javal Davis, of the 372nd, said. “Just like that—like, medieval.” There were more than two and a half miles of wall with twenty-four towers, enclosing two hundred and eighty acres of prison ground. And inside, Davis said, “it’s nothing but rubble, blown-up buildings, dogs running all over the place, rabid dogs, burnt remains. The stench was unbearable: urine, feces, body rot.”
SNIP

This countries policies have never been perfect, now what went on somewhat quietly is completely out in the open!

Never again will we find a need to ask, "Why do others Hate us So?", the answer has come out into the open, Finally!!

“ Every war, when viewed from the undistorted perspective of life's sanctity, is a "civil war" waged by humanity against itself."

- Daisaku Ikeda

No Accountibility, No Democracy, No Constitution, No Country!!!!

“Taxi to the Dark Side,” - New Yorker Review‏

Lets see Saddam, even though we installed and supported him, Had To Go, because he Arrested the Innocent and his 'Henchmen' Tortured and Killed many of those arrested, as well as Killing and Maiming Tens of Thousands of Iraqi's, and those are only a Couple of the 'Nobel Cause' Reasons for the Righteousness of Invading, Destroying, and Occupying Iraq for a National Security that No Longer Exists!

*********

The narrative frame for Alex Gibney’s Oscar-winning documentary, “Taxi to the Dark Side,” is the story of the capture, interrogation by Army M.P.s, and death under torture of a young Afghan man, known only as Dilawar, in 2002, at the Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul. But the true subject of the movie is the mentality and the atmosphere that produced sadistic conduct, both at Bagram and at Guantánamo. Gibney interviewed some of the men who were later courtmartialled for criminal behavior; he also talked to some of their lawyers, an F.B.I. expert in interrogation, and such figures as John Yoo, the Department of Justice attorney who redefined the practices permitted by the Bush Administration in such a way that they couldn’t be deemed war crimes. Along with “No End in Sight,” this movie is one of the essential documentaries of the ongoing war.

Though no one says it in so many words, “Taxi” produces an uncanny impression of the fundamental logic at work in the interrogation process: the Army and C.I.A. interrogators who take control of prisoners in Afghanistan or at Guantánamo assume that they must be guilty of something. If they’re not, what are they doing in custody? The prisoners—cut off from any possible counsel, harassed, stripped, hooded, bound, and, in many cases, threatened with attack dogs or abused physically—were locked into a system of punishment before any guilt was established.

The story of Dilawar unfolds at the moment of maximum fear of strikes against the American homeland and against U.S. forces in Afghanistan. The M.P.s who performed the interrogations were under tremendous pressure to produce results, yet they were given only the vaguest guidelines as to how they should behave. They were told, however, that Al Qaeda trained its members to resist. If prisoners failed to give satisfactory answers to questions, it could mean that they had something to hide. And so the incarceration—and, in some cases, the abuse—went on. Dilawar, a taxi-driver, was arrested, along with three of his passengers, after he was accused of driving the getaway car in a raid against an American base. It later emerged that the Afghan who made the charge against him was actually the one involved in planning the raid. Gibney tells us that only seven per cent of the prisoners in Guantánamo were captured by American and Coalition forces. In Afghanistan, most of the detainees were turned over by Afghans friendly to the Americans—members of the Northern Alliance or local police and the like. Some of these people may have had grudges against those they named. It is not known why Dilawar was accused, but, as his tormentors admit, it became clear before the end of the interrogation—during which he was hung up by his arms and repeatedly struck on the legs—that he was innocent. They kept hitting him, however. They all took turns.

The Review Above

Taxi to the Darkside - The Movie



Above, and below, is Now the Ideology of this Country as seen and understood by others on this planet, National Security No more!
Hatreds and Retribution is more apt!

Exposure
The woman behind the camera at Abu Ghraib

All that the soldiers of the 372nd Military Police Company, a Reserve unit out of Cresaptown, Maryland, knew about America’s biggest military prison in Iraq, when they arrived there in early October of 2003, was that it was on the front lines. Its official name was Forward Operating Base Abu Ghraib. Never mind that military doctrine and the Geneva Conventions forbid holding prisoners in a combat zone, and require that they be sped to the rear; you had to make the opposite sort of journey to get to Abu Ghraib. You had to travel along some of the deadliest roads in the country, constantly bombed and frequently ambushed, into the Sunni Triangle. The prison squatted on the desert, a wall of sheer concrete traced with barbed wire, picketed by watchtowers. “Like something from a Mad Max movie,” Sergeant Javal Davis, of the 372nd, said. “Just like that—like, medieval.” There were more than two and a half miles of wall with twenty-four towers, enclosing two hundred and eighty acres of prison ground. And inside, Davis said, “it’s nothing but rubble, blown-up buildings, dogs running all over the place, rabid dogs, burnt remains. The stench was unbearable: urine, feces, body rot.”
SNIP