Humanitarian Causes

I was reading some articles about the upcoming G8 conference and ran across some info about a group called Global Call to Action Against Poverty. They have put up a website at www.whiteband.org, and if you are interested you should check it out. Basically, this group is participating in the world forum and world conferences to make sure that the G8, the UN and the wealthier nations of the world are doing their part to help end global poverty. It's worthwhile to look at their site, and they have a section that covers what they do and how to get involved if you're interested. Take a look!

Human rights and What the President Says

Obviously there has been a lot in the news the past week or so about the President and his speech and what his words mean in the rest of the world. Actually, I was somewhat surprised to read that much of Europe was pleased with what he had to say about defending freedom and human rights throughout the world. I just feel like the promises are empty and meaningless. I still can't grasp the concept of forcing people to be free. You can't tell a society we have made you free, now protect it or else! Look at what a struggle it is in Iraq and Afghanistan. To tell a person that your idealogy is better than their own, and they need to accept it for their own benefit, it would be a difficult task anywhere. Well, I hope that if the President is truly interested in human rights issues, and making a better world, that he doesn't overlook the people who really need a voice. The people of Africa. Look at what is happening in the sudan, congo and all over Africa with the AIDS virus. If there is anyplace in the world where human rights, and quality of life need to be defended, this must be it. I hope our President doesn't just turn a blind eye like he has in the past.

I Wish I Lived in A Bubble Too!

I was reading some of the content from an interview President Bush gave on AirForce one last week. Wow! Talk about interesting stuff. The President is surely feeling some confidence right now, coming up on his second inauguration. I'm sure he feels victorious and relieved. He must be to be saying the things he says, either that or he lives in a bubble with Dick Cheney and Condi Rice. First of all, he believes that Americans approve of his Iraq policy. I guess when he said he doesn't read the news, he wasn't lying (that in itself is a first). Otherwise he would know that most opinion polls show that Americans disagree with his Iraq policies and don't know think we should have gone there, knowing what we now know. How he could say this just days after the search for WMD was called off, I can't fathom.
He also said he won't pursue a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Oh, won't Ralph Reid be ticked off? All of those christian conservatives who like to deny people basic rights that went out to vote for the holiest candidate must be severely disappointed. Poor Ann Coulter, I'm sure she had to pop a whole bottle of pills after reading that one, assuming that she reads the news. I guess the Pres. and Karl Rove were just manipulating all those good christian coalition people to win the election, and it looks like it worked.
I know conservatives are still gleeful about winning the election. I know there is still a lot of talk about red states all over the map. I know the President won. But I also know that three percent isn't a slam dunk. I know that when you lie to people, when you send their kids to die in war and can't come up with a reason why, when you use their religion against them, you're setting yourself up for a backlash. And the republican party had better be afraid that this President is going to talk too much, and lose them the next few elections.

The WMD Search is Finally Over!

I read in the news today that the search for WMDs in Iraq has been terminated "officially" today. Of course, David Kay could have told you that last year in January. I think most Americans shouldn't be surprised by the news that no major weapon stockpiles were found of any kind. As a person who has utmost respect for our armed forces, I don't want to be misunderstood. I hope that Americans are outraged that the President played so carelessly with human life for naught! Over 1100 American soldiers dead and thousands more wounded and maimed. Over 100,000 Iraqi civilians dead, women and children who had nothing to do with terrorism or any attack on our country ever. And people like Ann Coulter still feel justified spreading hate and fear over Muslim countries. I think King George should put on his crusade outfit and stop pretending that we invaded Iraq because they were a threat to our safety. Attacking innocent people is a threat to our country, and when our country engages in actions that make us more hated and feared in the world, that is a threat to our country, and how dare our President take such actions! I hope that you take the time to write a letter to him, and let him know that you are outraged, and you think he acted negligently if not criminally.

By the way, at politicalmoose.blogspot.com there is a great post about Ann Coulter. You should read it.

What Money Does Buy...

It's amazing what 200,000 dollars can get you in Washington these days. Our President and his administration have been acting more like the mob making payouts and handing out pats on the backs to their goons than like honorable politicians, but is anyone truly surprised.
Earlier this week it was disclosed that a prominent Washington columnist was paid 240,000 dollars by the Bush administration to promote their No Child Left Behind Act. The department has defended itself for such actions, and the journalist, Armstrong Williams, has both apologized and been relieved of his job. He did not however, offer to return the money. Two disturbing points about this. One, that the President and his men don't have any qualms about buying the press to shift public opinion. Using the press as basically a propaganda machine to bamboozle the poor and uneducated, as well anyone who might have made the mistake of respecting Williams' opinion. Secondly, that this administration feels it is perfectly acceptable to use tax payers money to make this kind of pay off. This money came directly out of funding for No Child Left Behind. If you follow this sort of thing, you know that a major problem with this act is that it is being terribly underfunded. Apparently, there was just enough in the pot for bribes and pay offs.

Today Bush announced that he wants to appoint former college buddy, Al Hubbard to the post of NEC chairman. Hubbard is a business man from Indiana who was Deputy Chief of Staff under Dan Quayle and a former State GOP chair. He also, along with his spouse, has the esteemed title of "Ranger". A Ranger is someone who earned more than 200,000 dollars for Bush while he was campaigning. This evidently was not an exercise in futility. After all, chairman of the NEC is a prestigious job. This man will basically be shaping economic policies for the president and his administration. Number one priority on his list? Privatization of social security, and you already know how I feel about that.

I just feel disgusted by the actions of the leadership in our country. Our president doesn't even attempt to hide the bribery coming both in and out of his office. Our nation is for sale people, I hope you can afford a piece of it.

Leonard T. Bayard and the Mystery Jet

I've been reading articles about this for the last few days. If you haven't heard of it, please take the time to read the article, or you can just google the name Leonard T. Bayard. Basically, the CIA is believed to own this jet, and be using it to spirit people suspected of terrorism to other countries for questioning(where international torture laws don't apply. I was fairly appalled and frightened about the direction of our country. Where do we draw the line in what is acceptable behavior of our federal government agencies? This link will take you to the article.

Social Security and the "Mess" that We're In.

I've been trying to keep up with the Presidents push to "reform" Social Security. I'm not surprised that this administration would wish to privatize the program and let younger Americans invest some of their benefits into the stock market. Mr. Bush has accepted over the years millions of dollars from mutual fund companies to finance his and his associates campaigns. In fact, of his top ten political contributors (lifetime) half of them are mutual fund companies like Merryl Lynch. He certainly must feel that he owes his financial backers this golden opportunity. The problem I have with this particular idea is that it doesn't really solve anything. For one thing, I am already able to invest funds in the stock market for retirement if I wish. This is through something called a 401k. If I don't have a 401k offered through my employer, I can go to a bank and invest in an IRA. Most people know that they have these options available if they are worried about (and my generation, you should be worried) not having enough money for retirement. The second thing I worry about when I think about this plan is stock market crashes. What if I'm someone who participates in this plan, and I'm 67, freshly retired with a nice little nest egg of.... oh who knows, biomedical stocks? And suddenly the market crashes because who knows why, but we know these things happen! So, do I then have to go beg Wal-Mart for a job as a greeter making minimum wage, which will probably still be six dollars an hour? What I wanted to say when I started writing this, was I've been reading that the President is having a hard time getting support for his plan from within his own party. This makes me glad, I'm glad that congress is questioning the validity of his suggestions on both sides of the line. It gives me back a little faith in our political system....for now.

Welcome Back to the World According to Alli

Well Bloggers, it's been awhile hasn't it. With so much going on in the world today, of course I had to come back and start blogging again. I read an interesting news piece a moment ago about my old pal Tucker Carlson. Tucker fans of the world, you will be heart broken to learn that his show Crossfire is going to be cancelled, and Tucker is not going to be offered other employment at CNN. Now, the head of programming at CNN wants to get away from argument based talking head shows and go back to more substantial news programming. I think that CNN deserves to be applauded here. They sent Cooper Anderson out to Tsunami torn regions this week to report from the scene and let us know what is going on first hand. Cooper is doing a great job too, if you've had a chance to see any of his reporting you know what I'm talking about, if you haven't had a chance, try to catch him. I hope that CNN continues in this new direction and allows some of the great reporters that they have to really use their talents. As an intelligent adult who cares about what is happening both in my own country and around the world, I appreciate being treated as more than a spectator at a chicken fight. I am more interested in what's happening to the dollar compared to the Euro, than what Nancy Pelosi said about Tom Daschle, got that Fox News?