The House That Dick Built

Defense Secretary Gates threatens to lay off 200,000 civilians working on military bases by the first of the year if congress fails to fully fund the Iraq war. I can hardly wait to hear the screaming, crying and gnashing of teeth.
Gates threatens civilian jobs in congressional districts around the country; the congress caves to pressure from it constituents, because they need their jobs to pay their portion of the war debt (currently $20,000 per household); The war debt climbs to 3 Trillion and the people owe even more money and taxes must rise..... Finally a plausible explanation for the war in Iraq: We fight the war to create jobs for people who work to support the war that creates jobs that pays for the house that Dick built.
This sounds like the failed attempts at producing a perpetual motion machine. Money like energy always incurs heavy losses when converted from one form to another, especially when there are skimmers in the line like Halliburton/KBR and Blackwater.
~NED~

The Spoils of War

"I believe in adequate defense at the coastline and nothing else. If a nation comes over here to fight, then we'll fight. The trouble with America is that when the dollar only earns 6 percent over here, then it gets restless and goes overseas to get 100 percent. Then the flag follows the dollar and the soldiers follow the flag." -- Major General Smedley Darling Butler (1881-1940) Major General USMC, "Old Gimlet Eye'' and "Hell Devil Darling", one of the most highly decorated military men from the pre-World War II era. Source: from a speech in 1933.
http://rationalrevolution.net/war/major_general_smedley_butler_usm.htm
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quotes_by/major+general+smedley+darlington+butler

I received this Quote some days ago from Information Clearing House. I think I totally dismissed its wisdom and truth until this morning, when the same words began to rattle in my head.

The rich man wages war and the common man does the dying.
We always seem to understand the senseless, dishonest nature of war after our surviving and wounded are home for a while. With about a decades worth of firm resolve, we vow to never let this happen again. Yet, before the bill has been settled, there begins the rattling. Sabers!
~NED~

The Unholy Alliance

Robertson, right, appears with Giuliani after endorsing him.
And what are those solid Christian vales that Rudy wishes to align himself with?

Rudy's Position:

Rudy Giuliani: I was mayor of New York on 9/11. I want to be president because of 9/11. I want to protect the US from blood thirsty Muslims becase of 9/11. We must never forget 9/11. 9/11 is a day that will live in infamy. I'm qualified to be president because of my experience on 9/11. I will make the best president becase of 9/11.
Abortion
Ultimate decision by woman, her conscience & her doctor. (Aug 2007)
Seek bipartisan ways to reduce abortion & increase adoption. (May 2007)
1997:Supported partial birth; opposed parental notificiation. (May 2007)
Giuliani donated to Planned Parenthood throughout 1990s. (May 2007)
Ok to repeal Roe v. Wade, but ok to view it as precedent too. (May 2007)
Allow states to fund or not fund abortion. (May 2007)
Embryonic stem cell research ok if limited properly. (May 2007)
Pro-choice; no ban on partial-birth abortions. (Dec 1999)
Gay Rights
No Marriage Amendment needed now, but maybe if DOMA fails. (Oct 2007)
Supports domestic partnerships, but not same-sex marriage. (Aug 2007)
Don't change gays-in-military policy in time of war. (Jun 2007)
Opposed Pres. Bush's ban on gay marriage. (Jan 2007)
Pro gay rights. (Jul 2006)
Extended all city benefits to same-sex couples. (May 1998
Gun Control
NYC gun control laws made NYC safest big city in US. (Sep 2007)
Supported nationwide licensing & assault weapons ban. (May 2007)
Gun control reduces urban crime; no effect on hunting. (Feb 2007)
NYC sued two dozen major gun manufacturers and distributors. (Jun 2000)
All gun owners should pass written test. (Mar 2000)

Pat's Position:

Pat Robertson: The terror attacks of Sept. 11 proved that God was lifting his protection from an abortion-giving, gay-loving nation.
Pat Robertson: You say you're supposed to be nice to the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians and the Methodists and this, that, and the other thing. Nonsense. I don't have to be nice to the spirit of the Antichrist. I can love the people who hold false opinions but I don't have to be nice to them.
Pat Robertson: I know this is painful for the ladies to hear, but if you get married, you have accepted the headship of a man, your husband. Christ is the head of the household and the husband is the head of the wife, and that's the way it is, period.
Pat Robertson: The Constitution of the United States, for instance, is a marvelous document for self-government by the Christian people. But the minute you turn the document into the hands of non-Christian people and atheistic people they can use it to destroy the very foundation of our society. And that's what's been happening.
Pat Robertson: [about apartheid South Africa] I think "one man, one vote" just unrestricted democracy, would not be wise. There needs to be some kind of protection for the minority which the white people represent now, a minority, and they need and have a right to demand a protection of their rights.
Pat Robertson: NOW is saying that in order to be a woman, you've got to be a lesbian.
Pat Robertson: [about Planned Parenthood] It is teaching kids to fornicate, teaching people to have adultery, every kind of bestiality, homosexuality, lesbianism - everything that the Bible condemns.
Pat Robertson: The public education movement has also been an anti-Christian movement. We can change education in America if you put Christian principles in and Christian pedagogy in. In three years, you would totally revolutionize education in America.
Pat Robertson: You see what happened in 1962. They took prayer out of the schools. The next year the Supreme Court ordered Bible reading taken from the schools. And then progressing, liberals, most of them atheistic educators, have pushed to remove all religion from the lives of children. The people who wrote the "Humanist Manifesto" and their pupils and their disciples are in charge of education in America today.
Pat Robertson: Many of those people involved with Adolph Hitler were Satanists, many of them were homosexuals. The two things seem to go together.
Pat Robertson: I think we ought to close Halloween down. Do you want your children to dress up as witches? The Druids used to dress up like this when they were doing human sacrifice. [Your children] Pat Robertson: are acting out Satanic rituals and participating in it, and don't even realize it.
Pat Robertson: [about Gay Day at Disney World] I would warn Orlando that you're right in the way of some serious hurricanes and I don't think I'd be waving those flags in God's face if I were you. This is not a message of hate; this is a message of redemption. But a condition like this will bring about the destruction of your nation. It'll bring about terrorist bombs, it'll bring earthquakes, tornadoes, and possibly a meteor.
Pat Robertson: The key in terms of mental ability is chess. There's never been a woman Grand Master chess player. Once you get one, then I'll buy some of the feminism.
Pat Robertson: I think the sky is blue because it's a shift from black through purple to blue, and it has to do with where the light is. You know, the farther we get into darkness, and there's a shifting of color of light into the blueness, and I think as you go farther and farther away from the reflected light we have from the sun or the light that's bouncing off this earth, uh, the darker it gets. I think if you look at the color scale, you start at black, move it through purple, move it on out, it's the shifting of color. We mentioned before about the stars singing, and that's one of the effects of the shifting of colors.
Pat Robertson: To see Americans become followers of, quote, Islam, is nothing short of insanity. Terry, you know, I've been in Africa many, many, many, many times, and you see people over here learning Swahili, for example. Swahili was the language of the slave traders. The Islamic people, the Arabs, were the ones who captured Africans, put them in slavery, and sent them to America as slaves. Why would people in America want to embrace the religion of the slavers, and the language of the slavers?
Pat Robertson: As long as the husband is following the mandate of the Lord, the wife should submit to his leadership even though she may disagree with it. God's standard is true. Yet in many marriages, the wife is more able than her husband. Regretfully a woman with great abilities sometimes marries a man who does not have much ability. This wife must resist the temptation to dominate her husband. Her husband will sometimes make decisions that the wife feels are wrong. She must either gently persuade her husband or pray that God will change her husband's mind.
Pat Robertson: Why are so many marriages falling apart? Why is the divorce rate so high? Why is there such a tragedy in marriage? Now the basic answer to the basic problem of marriages today is a question of leadership. The wife actually makes the husband the head of the household and she looks to him and she says, "Now you pray, and I'm going to pray for you that the Lord will speak to you."
Pat Robertson: [about homosexuals] It's one thing to say, "We have rights to jobs, we have rights to be left alone in out little corner of the world to do our thing." It's an entirely different thing to say, well, "We're not only going to go into the schools and we're going to take your children and your grandchildren and turn them into homosexuals." Now that's wrong.
Pat Robertson: I am absolutely persuaded one of the reasons so many lesbians are at the forefront of the pro-choice movement is because being a mother is the unique characteristic of womanhood, and these lesbians will never be mothers naturally, so they don't want anybody else to have that privilege either.
Pat Robertson: If the widespread practice of homosexuality will bring about the destruction of your nation, if it will bring about terrorist bombs, if it'll bring about earthquakes, tornadoes and possibly a meteor, it isn't necessarily something we ought to open our arms to.
Pat Robertson: [about separation of church and state] That was never in the Constitution, however much the liberals laugh at me for saying it, they know good and well it was never in the Constitution! Such language only appeared in the constitution of the Communist Soviet Union.
Pat Robertson: The courts are merely a ruse, if you will, for humanist, atheistic educators to beat up on Christians.
Pat Robertson: [during an interview] I read your book. When you get through, you say, "If I could just get a nuclear device inside Foggy Bottom, I think that's the answer." I mean, you get through this, and you say, "We've got to blow that thing up." I mean, is it as bad as you say?

Attaboy Pat! Vote the courage of your convictions.

Rudy, you're doing a fine job. Endorsements are like Easter eggs; you need to get as many of them in your basket as you can.

~NED~

To: Saddam bin Hussein at-Takriti c/o Allah

Dear Saddam,
I hardly know where to begin, with you being hung and all, this letter seems a bit late. As you already know, we didn't find any DubyaMmmmDeeez. We had the list of those ones we sent you during that Iran thing, but I guess you used 'em up or true to your word, destroyed 'em. With you gone, it's kindly troublesome keeping them I-rainians down on the farm, if you know what I mean. The other thing is this, you might of been right all along about those Kurds, at least the PKK ones. They been causin' quite some troubles for our new Turkish friends. I think we may have to send the Turkies some little WLDs (wepuns of limited distrucshun) to finish the job you started.
As it turns out, you didn't have a yellow cake or labs either, but since we decimated "YOUR" conutry, seems like everyone in the hood thinks they ought to get some, just to use on yours truly. Boy, that sucks. See, fool me once, but you can't get fooled again.
Most Mercans are getting real sorry about the whole misunderstanding (67%), but Dick says we mussen't let on. "In KBR we tust."
I have to go and take Barney for a walk. Sorry about stealin' your conuntry and getting you hung. I guess we're kinda even up since you were threatenin' to kill daddy. Rummy says hey.
XOXOXO
George

Honoring True Heroes

"Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind...War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today." : - John F. Kennedy

Censorship by Youtube/Google?

The following two links were links to segments of a performance by comedian Lewis Black on a HBO special, posted on Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOe7EuHclyo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaNDeJW4ACM

I shared these links with friends in my personal e-mailbox and received replies stating that they enjoyed the vids. Today if you try to access these links you will receive the following message.

This video has been removed due to terms of use violation.

Both of these videos are not very flattering to George Bush, anti-evolutionist or the religious right. I have e-mailed links from Youtube on occasion without problem; and the remainder of Black's HBO special has not been removed. This whole business smacks of censorship. This message is being transmitted on a Google Blog; a sort of test of freedom of speech.

~NED~

Your Doing a Great Job Georgie!

Today in the news, Our Prez is proposing sanctions against Pakistan for declaring military emergency rule.

The US and Britain are today expected to demand that Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, honour pledges to hold elections in the next two months and step down as the army chief, or face a cut in western support.
Guardian Unlimited -

You're doing a great job Georgie. Let's really piss off one more country for not having our brand of democracy (Huh!), that already has strategic nuclear capabilities. For you neocons, that's WMDs.
~NED~

Peace for a Troubled World

Ultimately, we have just one moral duty: to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace, and to reflect it towards others. And the more peace there is in us, the more peace there will also be in our troubled world.
Etty Hillesum: An Interrupted Life

Apocalypso No!

Gloria Patria
The Glory Be, also known as the Doxology, is one of the earliest-known prayers to refer to the Holy Trinity. In Eastern Rite Catholic churches (as well as Eastern Orthodox ones), the Sign of the Cross is made while the Glory Be is recited.
The Glory Be
"Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen."

Living as if the end is near and foretold, as many do, has served our world poorly. Many have used it for the vilification of peoples, wholesale murder and the justification of hatred. Let us make a way of peace for an eternal world.
Amen,
~NED~

The Neocon Strategy

If the notion of unilateral preemptive strike by US toward Iran becomes a reality, it will lead to a much more harsh reality than our country faced in our own civil war.
~NED~

View this Link
Http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/opinion/04rich.html?hp

Tippling City, Ohio

I think our commander may have been up to his old habit of tippling in Tipp City, Ohio.

There are jobs Americans aren't doing. ... If you've got a chicken factory, a chicken-plucking factory, or whatever you call them, you know what I'm talking about." --George W. Bush. Tipp City, Ohio, April 19, 2007

"There are some similarities, of course (between Iraq and Vietnam). Death is terrible." --George W. Bush, Tipp City, Ohio, April 19, 2007

"I've been in politics long enough to know that polls just go poof at times." --George W. Bush, Tipp City, Ohio, April 19, 2007

"My job is a job to make decisions. I'm a decision -- if the job description were, what do you do -- it's decision maker." --George W. Bush, Tipp City, Ohio, April 19, 2007

"Politics comes and goes, but your principles don't. And everybody wants to be loved -- not everybody. ... You never heard anybody say, 'I want to be despised, I'm running for office.'" --George W. Bush, Tipp City, Ohio, April 19, 2007

"I said to her, make sure the rug says 'optimistic person comes to work.'" --George W. Bush, on his instructions to First Lady Laura Bush in choosing a rug for the Oval Office, Tipp City, Ohio, April 19, 2007

"One of my concerns is that the health care not be as good as it can possibly be." --George W. Bush, on military benefits, Tipp City, Ohio, April 19, 2007

"Forms of government matter, in my opinion. It matters how -- the nature of the government in which people live." --George W. Bush, Tipp City, Ohio, April 19, 2007

"My attitude is, if they're still writing about (number) one, 43 doesn't need to worry about it." --George W. Bush, on his legacy, Tipp City, Ohio, April 19, 2007

"A good marriage is really good after serving together in Washington, D.C." --George W. Bush, Tipp City, Ohio, April 19, 2007

"The best thing about my family is my wife. She is a great first lady. I know that sounds not very objective, but that's how I feel. And she's also patient. Putting up with me requires a lot of patience." --George W. Bush, Tipp City, Ohio, April 19, 2007

One Way Diplomacy

"I feel that I have done what Secretary Rice and President Bush have asked of me by transforming public diplomacy and making it a national security issue," she said.
~Karen Hughes~

Under her leadership, the U.S. budget for public diplomacy nearly doubled, to $900 million a year. The State Department focused on trying to reverse the hostility toward America in the Muslim world, assigning more Arabic speakers to talk to the Arabic news media and setting up "rapid-response units" to try to counter negative commentary on U.S. foreign policy.
~New York Times~

Wouldn't true diplomacy include trying to reverse the hostility toward Muslims in the American world? That is a world security issue.
~NED~