Say It Ain't So Joe, Say It Ain't So

Well, I've been putting up with it for two days now, and I have something to say. First of all, I want to say congratulations to Ned Lamont for winning the primary in Connecticut. I think it's great to see our political system working somewhat in a manner it was intended. But now, what I really want to do is comment on some of the junk I've been hearing about what this means, and how it will affect the democratic party.
Tony Snow came out and said that the defeat of Joe Lieberman suggests that democrats truly do not care about national security since we did not vote for someone who voted consistently with the Presidents wishes over the last six years. What I suggest is that democrats do care. We care about lies. We care about the fact that our President sent our troops to war on false premises and has continued to perpetuate the lie that got us into this terrible mess in the first place. We care about the human condition. The war in Iraq is costing American lives, and Iraqi lives. It has cost us our credibility in a region that desperately needs strong and positive democratic influences. It has limited what we can do to fight countries like Iran and North Korea, countries we know are working together to build nuclear weapons. It has cost us protection. While our armed forces should have been locating Osama Bin Laden and anyone else involved in the September 11th attack, they were forced to do a "death march" in Iraq, leaving time for Al Qaida to plan bigger attacks like the ones unearthed in the UK today. Not to mention the mental and emotional trauma inflicted on our troops, most of them youths, an entire generation of America who will carry scars for a lifetime. These things make us angry! And they are inexcusable. And if you call yourself one of us, you had better not try to be one of them. No kisses, no pardons and no excusing their stupidity. We will cast you out, and cast our votes for someone better.
So farewell Joe, I cannot wish you luck with your run as an independent. But I am glad.... and not just for Lamont. I think this is just the wake up call that dems need nationwide. We do not approve of this president, and our representatives and senators had better take note, or pack their bags.

Leaving Lebanon

Ok, I tried to post on this yesterday, but I lost my post when I tried to spell check. That's what I get going for accuracy.
An estimated 25,000 American citizens are currently living in Lebanon, 8,000 of whom are trying to flee the country. Our government, in true and shameful Katrina like fashion has so far not done a great job of getting this accomplished. After most European countries had already evacuated their countrymen, Americans were still getting the run around at the Embassy, who was claiming it was not their job to organize evacuations. Finally, on Sunday we had managed to evacuate about 160 women and children. Yesterday, we had gotten those numbers increased and loaded about 1,000 Americans on a cruise ship, and we are hopefully getting even more out today. A few things have really distressed me about this situation. First, with 25,000 of our own living in Lebanon, I would have hoped our government would have done more to convince Israel to show restraint with their bombing raids to protect our won citizens. Instead our government has done nothing but defend Israel's attack against infrastructure in Lebanon. Second, reports abound of people being misdirected in their efforts to leave. Being told to call numbers where no one answers the phone, and instructed to show up at the wrong places for departure. Third and most disturbing to me, American citizens are being forced to sign promissary notes to reimburse the costs of evacuation to our government. I just think this is disgusting. Is our government saying that the lives and safety of our citizens are only worth saving if said citizens can pay for it? To force people with this kind of choice, after surviving the last week of bombing and war, it is shameful. It is wrong.

It's Been A Long While

Once upon a time I started up this blog of mine to share my thoughts and perspectives with the world. I was inspired by my brother, Mark, and his own blogging attempts. And as much as I liked the idea of blogging it was difficult to make time to put my thoughts on page. Somewhere along the way I added to my family, and with the sleepless nights, and energy required to raise two small children, I put blogging aside completely.
My children are a year older now. My life once again has a feeling of routine. There are happenings in our lives today that I feel passionate about. So though it has been a long while, I hope to start sharing my thoughts with others out there again.
I'll leave you with a quick blurb, things that have been running through my mind today. I've been reading up on Haditha and the accusations that our military is facing. According to Drudge, the BBC has evidence of another slaying of eleven by our troops, and I read on Yahoo last night, that Marines in San Diego were charged with, amongst other things, murder and kidnapping of an Iraqi civilian in April. Our countrymen easily dismissed the horrors of Abu Graib and tried to justify what happened there as 21st century intelligence gathering, instead of torture. Our nation continues to ignore the injustices of Guantanamo Bay. But I am afraid we have just hit the beginning with Haditha. And I hope not to hear any American try to excuse the murder of civilians, women, children, babies as "war collateral", or " not any worse than what Saddam did to the Kurds." Both of which I saw on Malkins blog. When we begin to compare our actions to those of an evil tyrant, what have we in fact become?

Tag

OK Moose, I hope you die of shock that I'm posting.
You know that we're competitive to a fault.

1. Favorite artist/bands
Billy Joel, Red Hot Chili Peppers

2. Hobbies/Interests
Reading, photography and scrapbooking

3. Things that scare you
Bugs, people who stand really close to you

4. Favorite Fiction Writers
John Irving

5. Celebrity Crushes
Brad Pitt, Jason Lee

6. Wearing right now
My work clothes... yuck!

7. What you want in a relationship
Mutual respect, laughter, comfort

8. Every day essentials
A hug from my son

9. Drug of choice
Tums... hey I'm pregnant!

Williams Settlement

Here in California our public school system is about to undergo major scrutiny thanks to the ACLU. Statewide accessors will be going school to school making sure bathrooms are functional, ceilings are leak free and that every classroom has enough text books for each student. I had heard some things about the Williams settlement before and decided to do some reading up on the subject recently. I think that what it does is really important, but I also feel frustration. I came from a school where most of the students probably lived under or near poverty. I went into high school never having taken algebra and with very little science education. I don't blame my teachers, most of them had a true love of teaching (or at least projected one) and put effort into what they could teach us with thirty year old text books and limited materials. Luckily, I had educated parents who were able to fill in the blands that my grade school couldn't. Most children aren't so lucky. What frustrates me is that the state had to be sued to make such fundamental changes. Our future, our job market, our economy, our quality of life and everything else starts with our education. Why can't we provide a quality education for every child in the state, yes those living not just in the O.C. but also in Oakland, and East L.A. and Sanger and Woodville and every other small or poor or crime ridden community that gets ignored by our legislature? Why should any student have to suffer through mold ridden class rooms or broken bathrooms? How can you learn if you don't have a textbook? I'm grateful to the Williams settlement and will be staying on top of how effective it proves to be in our class rooms.

Kyoto Treaty

I have been reading some posts about this issue recently and am also furious that our President hasn't included our nation in the protocol. We are by far the largest polluting nation in the world, even though our population is much smaller than countries like India and China. We have a responsibility to join and ensure the protection of our environment and our resources. I hope people are writing both the president and the EPA and asking when we are going to become world leaders in this issue!
What I actually wanted to say was, in reading about this issue, I have found a few companies that are going ahead with the requirement of the protocol even though our country hasn't joined. Now, I'm not saying that any of these countries deserve sainthood or even an award. But I do think they are doing the proper thing by recognizing the risk of doing nothing. Two major companies that have been ahead of the EPA for years, and are currently compliant with the Kyoto protocol are Dupont and Chevron. I found this out simply by using google news and reading a few articles. I hope that other companies follow their lead despite the ignorant example set by our President.

Show Me the Money Mr. Bush

I was reading some articles today about the Presidents' new budget proposals. He has proposed a virtual spending freeze on anything not related to national security. While I do think it's about time he started acting responsibly about the deficit and the effect it will have on our economy, I also read about some of the programs that will suffer next year. One of these programs is called the millennium Challenge Account, or MCA. The MCA was created by this administration as a way to reward countries who make strides to attain democracy, freedom, human rights and governments who successfully help the poor, sick and disadvantaged in their country. If a government is shown to meet certain standards of improvement in these areas, we reward them with money to aid development and technology in that country. It sort of goes along with the UN and their millennium Goals to fight poverty and the spread of disease. When the Prez. created the fund, he promised initial funding of 6 billion dollars. As of today, over eleven countries have met the standards and should be receiving money. None of them have. Furthermore, as part of his FY06 budget, the President is actually granting the MCA less than 3 billion dollars, half of what he promised. I guess we shouldn't be surprised, after all this President loves to pass acts and create programs without planning on how to pay for them. On glaring example is No Child Left Behind. The really discouraging thing in this situation is in countries like Bolivia (one country that did meet the standards of improvement) 3 billion dollars can do so much! I guess this President didn't take his own inauguration speech to heart, maybe the words were too complicated or something.