Bush Vetos Water-Boarding Ban
I am speechless.
“This is no time for Congress to abandon practices that have a proven track record of keeping America safe,”
What are we coming to when one of the cardinal virtues attributed to the American establishment is at once both obliterated and underlined. But honestly, what scares me the most isn’t that Bush vetoed the bill. It isn’t that this was a congress approved (hallelujah) intelligence bill. After-all, its G.W we’re talking about here, it was almost a given. It’s the fact that presidential hopeful McCain backed the Bush administration.
We’ll pat each other’s back.
How long ago was the surprising announcement that Bush would endorse McCain? That’s right, not very long ago at all. It seemed a little dubious. Well here’s the answer, McCain helps Bush veto a fundamental human rights bill. Bush helps McCain out uniting the Republican party. When you look like a Dem to the ‘pubs, there’s nothing like a Neo-Con to give it all perspective.
I’ll be the first to say that this may have been a huge mistake on many fronts. Is McCain hoping that this will all just slip by? I’d like to be there when the question is asked of him. What change can we honestly expect from a man who promises to move America forward, when his actions speak of nothing but more of the same.
They’re Starving - Let’s bomb them!
This particular news item really caught my eye today. Somalia is not exactly a rich place. In fact, I’d even say it’s desperately poor. There is mass starvation, and most of the country is ruled by warlords. Of course, it’s also, at least according to some, a hotbed of terrorism. Of course it is. If you’re starving, have absolutely no hope, and someone offers you food and possibly money, chances are you’d take it.
The reason Somalia is an absolute mess is that western aid to it has been halting at best. It is a country where Western involvement might actually do some good. And of course, our best method for helping them is by throwing missiles at them. We’re not even sure if they hit who they were supposed to hit.
By using these tactics - by using an extraordinary amount of force against a foe who is surrounded by civilians without thought of who else might die - we have irrevocably branded ourselves as terrorists. We use tactics which are even called “shock and awe” - the precise mechanisms terrorists use to achieve their goals. A more positive route would be to offer to rebuild their economy and their country. Not only would we be ensuring their continued survival and garnering international respect, but we would also be creating a potential future market.
But of course, this would go starkly against the ‘overwhelming might’ strategy that the US has been pursuing under Bush. This would be completely counter to the ‘be damned with the consequences’ policy they are putting in place. One can only hope it will be at least a little bit better under the new rulers…
Candidate Mudslinging Commences In Earnest
I scan the U.S media with a smile on my face. Candidacy politics have turned very, very personal lately with the big media corps taking hits on the candidates. Depending on which news service you plug into the results vary wildly, with the usual bias and predictability.
Obama was caught in Fox New’s crossfire, I noticed with a certain degree of amusement how banners and intensely serious “officials” noted how Obama’s ties were a little “sketchy”. Stopping short of calling him a philo-Palestinian extremeist with ties to Al-Qaeda.
John McCain was spared no mercy, I came across this interesting article, which questions his very electability. While I do not usually play devil’s advocate I really do feel compelled to say that if McCain was given the right to die for his country by joining the Navy, he should at least have the right to then go on and represent it.
Poor Hillary seems to have been neglected entirely with headlines showing illustrious figures ditching her for Obama. Or other titles which already herald the future candidacy to be that fought between Obama and McCain such as CNN’s “McCain, Obama in heated exchange over Iraq”. It seems the media have made their decisions. Fox has switched from targeting Clinton, to Obama a sure sign that conservatives now fear the man of “change”.
Sorry for the delays
I’ve been a little sloppy recently. The reason for this is that I have been slapped with both a complete and irrevocable computer failure, and a vicious cold that has me by the throat — literally.
I’ll be back as soon as possible. In the meantime Coeus has been kind enough to write an article or two to fill in the gaps and is ready to comment on any glaring issues that may arise.
Thank you for your patience. I’ll be my old self in a day or two at the most.
Starvation - The Crime of Our Time
A recent BBC article starkly highlights the largest problem of our time: starvation. In the western world, we rarely, if ever, go hungry. We see food as something that can be bought in supermarkets. We don’t often see it as a cut-throat market where more or less anything goes.
In a world where many people are starving, and where the majority of the population lives on a pittance, the western nations routinely over-produce and dump food in order to keep the market prices high. If the food that we produce were evenly distributed over the entire population of the world, everybody would have enough to eat.
So instead of patting ourselves on the back about what a great job we’ve been doing invading Iraq and Afghanistan (and, incidentally, causing thousands - if not millions - of refugees who are now also starving, quite apart from the massive casualties), let’s take a good, long look at the way the world works right now, and how it can be changed for the better.
I seriously doubt whether either Clinton or Obama are going to care much about this issue. Of course, the simple fact that the US is in arrears to the UN and has a massive deficit will probably only serve to push the issue from the table.
Some things you can do now:
The Hunger Site - A daily click can save lives.
Free Rice - Feed the hungry, and improve your English.
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