America the Beautiful

It always moved me when Ray Charles sang it, but it also made me think of how we have taken this beautiful land for granted. Nearly 150 years have passed since Henry David Thoreau wrote the following words in his essay “Walking” in 1862:

“I wish to speak a word for Nature, for absolute freedom and wildness, as contrasted with a freedom and culture merely civil – to regard man as an inhabitant, or a part and parcel of Nature, rather than a member of society. I wish to make an extreme statement, if so I may make an emphatic one, for there are enough champions of civilization: the minister and the school committee and every one of you will take care of that.”

John Muir, who died in 1914, wrote these words in A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf:

"Why should man value himself as more than a small part of the one great unit of creation? And what creature of all that the Lord has taken the pains to make is not essential to the completeness of that unit - the cosmos? The universe would be incomplete without man; but it would also be incomplete without the smallest transmicroscopic creature that dwells beyond our conceitful eyes and knowledge.

President Theodore Roosevelt understood, respected and acted on John Muir’s call for preservation and stewardship of the environment:

"We have become great because of the lavish use of our resources. But the time has come to inquire seriously what will happen when our forests are gone, when the coal, the iron, the oil, and the gas are exhausted, when the soils have still further impoverished and washed into the streams, polluting the rivers, denuding the fields and obstructing navigation.”

Even today, there are those who still believe that global warming is not an emergency. Hurricane Katrina showed us painfully what can happen when we are not prepared. The Bush administration’s record on the environment is an embarrassment. Vote for real change. Write your senators and congressmen. Don’t give up. Make America Beautiful and lead the world by example.

“I am deeply honored to receive the Nobel Peace Prize…We face a true planetary emergency. The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity. It is also our greatest opportunity to lift global consciousness to a higher level”. Al Gore 2007

CHAOS

1. a state of utter confusion or disorder; a total lack of organization or order.

That's the dictionary definition and it is a fitting description of what is happening in Iraq now. Chaos is what is supposed to happen if the "cut and run" Democrats set a timeline for withdrawal. Thomas Friedman, Pulitzer Prize winning author and Middle East expert said in a recent column that President Bush has essentially handed the mess over to the next administration --that there is no Commander-In-Chief in office now. Friedman states that it is up to the Democrats to articulate how to end this war for the sake of national security. Quoting Rep. Ike Skelton, Head of the House Armed Services Committee, Friedman stated that it is impossible for the United States to keep so many troops in Iraq and still be flexible to handle other security contingencies. To get elected, the Democrats will have to take control of the issue of national security and convince the public that a real commander-in-chief will be in the White House. His plan:

1. "A detailed blueprint with a fixed withdrawal date tied to a negotiation with Iraqi factions on a federal solution tied to a military redeployment plan to contain the inevitable spillover from Iraq.
2. A commitment by the next president to impose a stiff tariff on all imported crude oil, to make sure we become less dependent on what is sure to be a more unstable Middle East as we leave Iraq.
3. A plan to deal with the broader terrorist challenge."

He adds : "Set a date. Set a price. That will get people’s attention."

For further evidence of the state of chaos in Iraq, please visit the links below:

Sunni insurgents targeting government and police:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/26/world/middleeast/26iraq.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Cholera spreading WHO reports 2100 cases and 30,000 potential cases
http://uk.reuters.com/article/middleeastCrisis/idUKL2580746820070925

Blackwater -(Private soldiers for hire unaccountable to the American public)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20892483/site/newsweek/

Corrupt Iraqi police:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article2401262.ece

There is a Civil War now:
http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20070301faessay86201-p0/james-d-fearon/iraq-s-civil-war.html

"War is a cowardly escape from the problems of peace"

Thomas Mann

The way I see it, the wrong asses are getting kicked in Iraq.

According to Congressman McDermott (D-WA), there are 71,000 documented Iraqi civilian casualties. It will take a lawsuit by the ACLU to acquire our military documents on innocent civilians killed and this figure is likely to be much higher. The Iraqi police are corrupt. There are 27,786 wounded US military personnel. Add to that the humanitarian crisis due to a lack of clean water, and the fact that women are tremendous losers in the democratization of Iraq now that Tribal Sharia law trumps the Iraqi constitution. The spin the administration will put on this situation should be enough to make an activist out of anyone. John Edwards has the right message – “No timeline, no funding, no excuses.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/09/07/dem-congressman-heres-_n_63541.html
http://www.aclu.org/natsec/foia/search.html
http://eprints.qut.edu.au/archive/00006081/01/6081.pdf
http://www.equalityiniraq.com/english/2007/OWFI-4YOccupation290307.htm

It's the Environment, Stupid

Humorist Dave Barry once said that lab rats had to spell out with their food pellets: “Cigarettes Cause Cancer” before Big Tobacco “scientists” would accept the overwhelming evidence. What will it take for Big Oil to accept the evidence on global warming?

As reported in Newsweek’s August 13th cover story “Global Warming is a Hoax*, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), composed of 600 scientists from governments, academia, green groups and businesses in 40 countries, concluded that “Warming of the climate system is unequivocal” It further concluded that that greenhouse gases released from burning of fossil fuels causes longer droughts, more flood-causing downpours and worse heat waves. Unfortunately, the panel also concluded that even if we act today to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, there will still be some degree of warming due to the fact that past emissions stay in the atmosphere for decades or more. On the other hand if we do not act at all, the IPCC concludes that there will be twice as much warming over the next two decades than if we had acted to stabilize these and other climate pollutants in the atmosphere at their 2000 levels.

So what does Big Oil say about all of this?
Incredibly, according to the Newsweek article, “a conservative think tank long funded by Exxon Mobil, offered scientists $10,000 to write articles undercutting the new report and the computer based climate models it is based on”.

We know the current administration’s track record on environmental stewardship, and its ties to Big Oil. While not ideal, I applaud the efforts of the western states to take matters into their own hands. Six western states and two Canadian provinces have joined to form a climate initiative partnership to reduce greenhouse gases regionally.

Clearly, the facts on climate change require a change in our environmental policy. The League of Conservation Voters can provide us with some direction and they have stated “compared to other candidates with public name recognition, in terms of specific proposals, Edwards stands alone, especially in the area of energy policy and climate change.” They have further indicated his potential for strong leadership in this area "Senator Edwards' plan demonstrates that he understands the magnitude of the challenge before us and the need for bold leadership to meet it."

Perhaps, like the rats spelling it out with their food pellets, it will take the cows to convince us. A recent study concluded “Rising carbon dioxide levels are almost certainly fueling the encroachment of shrubs on global grasslands, a trend that could eventually jeopardize the use of these lands for cattle grazing”

Exxon Mobil Global Warming Denial
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20122975/site/newsweek/

Union of concerned Scientists Findings of the IPCC http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science/ipcc-highlights1.html

Six Western States and Canada Join to Cut Greenhouse Gases:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/08/22/BAGMQRNACP21.DTL&tsp=1

League of Conservation Voters
http://www.lcv.org/newsroom/press-releases/page.jsp?itemID=32451178

Rising CO2 levels:
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/08/28/grazing_pla.html?category=earth&guid=20070828103000&dcitc=w01-101-ae-0002

Last Best Hope

This year is the 400th anniverary of the Jamestown settlement. While many Americans are only familiar with the myths of these early days of our history, The River Where America Began by Bob Deans makes the story of who we are as a people real and relevant to us--now. He compares the ignorance Captain John Smith and Chief Powhatan had of each other's worlds, --and the fear, prejudice and suspicion that ignorance bred-- to the "clash of civilzations" brewing between the Islamic world and the West today. Deans reminds us that America's strength is its diversity and the "radical" belief that it might be possible to build a nation where all men and women actually are treated with equality. As an election year approaches, we should be mindful that there is still much work to be done and that there are many serious threats to the hard won progress we have made. Please visit the links below to learn more about these important issues and take action to help keep our nation, in Lincoln's words " The last best hope"

Geneva Conventions/ Habeas Corpus
https://secure.aclu.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&id=557&page=UserAction

Women's Rights:
http://www.bpwusa.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3313ghts

Domestic Spying
http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/31381prs20070820.html

Hate Crimes
https://secure.aclu.org/site/Advocacy?JServSessionIdr005=rpv7kgu563.app26a&pagename=homepage&id=643&page=UserAction

Racial Profiling
https://secure.aclu.org/site/Advocacy?id=113

Progress in Iraq

Today was one of the most violent days in Iraq. Having just finished Khaled Hosseini's best-selling novel "A Thousand Splendid Suns," about the women of Afghanistan under Taliban rule, I recoil at the fact that the once free and modern women of Iraq are facing a similar plight.

I hope when the progress report to Congress comes in on September 15 that the American people ask a lot of questions.

One of the benchmarks assumed already met is the drafting and aproval of a constitution. Yet for women in Iraq, that constitution provides no protection of rights. Although Article 14 states that Iraqis are equal without discrimination based on gender, Article 2 states "Islam is the official religion of the state and is a basic source of legislation." It further states "No law can be passed that contradicts the undisputed laws of Islam."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Iraq

Women are increasingly being denied employment in Iraq simply because they are women - leading some who are widows, to be unable to feed their children. "Honor" killings of women are returning to Iraq prompting the creation of shelters and even an underground railroad for those women who cannot leave the shelter for fear of being killed. When walking out in public, women may be told to go home and dress decently - or worse they can be beaten.

This is not progress for women by any definition of the word.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10543975
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RS21968.pdf

$200,000 a minute

That's the current cost of the Iraq war, as quoted by Bob Sheiffer of Face the Nation on Sunday. It astounds him and it astounds all Americans I am sure. The question I have is what is America getting for this amount of money? Incredibly, a recent audit found that only 42% of a major contractor's projects in Iraq have been completed.

"The cost for unfinished efforts was high: the US government approved a total of US$180 million in payments for Bechtel’s ten allegedly unfinished projects. They include a US$24 million water treatment plant in Baghdad's impoverished Sadr City, a US$26 million children's hospital in Basra and a US$4 million Baghdad landfill that was never built"
http://www.bi-me.com/main.php?id=11956&t=1&c=33&cg=4

If that is not enough, there has been careless contract monitoring and supervision. Bob Shieffer reported that a recently completed water plant was shut down because a $90 million turbine was ruined due to an unqualified worker using the wrong fuel.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/07/29/opinion/schieffer/main3108184.shtml

The headline this morning is that there are 8 million people in Iraq that are in "urgent need of water, food and shelter" And 70% are without adequate water supplies...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20031683/

Meanwhile, back in the United States, President Bush is likely to veto a bill increasing funds for children's health insurance for those who make too much to qualify for medicaid. The revenue would be obtained by increasing the federal excise tax on cigarettes by 61 cents.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/07/14/national/w200608D60.DTL&type=politics

The majority of American people, I believe, have stated that they want improvement in the health care system and they want an end to the cost in dollars and lives in Iraq. We can only hope the next administration will listen.