Hoping and praying there will be equal and opposite reaction...

funny report
Originally uploaded by enduring hegemony.

This has been about the most sad and frustrating week in our country since the election. Between feeding tubes and Wolfowitz becoming the new head of the World Bank I am not sure where to start.

My question is this: WHY IN THE HELL ARE WE HAVING CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS ON STERIODS IN PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL WHEN WE ARE AT WAR ON A FALSE PREMISE? Why dont we investigate that? Or, Haliburton overcharging the government by millions and having absolutly no repercussions? The effects of Global Warming? Ken Lay and Enron? WHERE IN THE HELL IS THE MEDIA?

Bah! enough ranting.
I guess war policy is a good start. So its official! Preemptive Strike is now legal (weird it becomes legal after we go through with it. Shouldn't be the other way around?)


President Bush has a gift for naming exactly the wrong people to posts that normally call for tactfulness, compassion and understanding. It was Wolfowitz vs. Bono! And of course Wolfy wins. Our favorite evil organization just got a bit more diabolical. And as per usual Of there is no real media scrutiny. Wolfiwitz was so tactfully placed just a few days after Bush named John Bolton to the position of US Envoy to the UN. It is comforting to know that the man who once said "there is no such thing as the United Nations. There is an international community that occasionally can be led by the only real power left in the world and that is the United States when its suits our interest and we can get others to go along" to be our Envoy to the UN.
George Seems to like the guy and so does former U.S. senator Jesse Helms who had this to say about Bolton in January 2001: "John Bolton is the kind of man with whom I would want to stand at Armageddon, if it should be my lot to be on hand for what is forecast to be the final battle between good and evil in this world."
If he is good enough for Jesse Helms he is good enough for me.

Why is this brain damaged woman with the cognative capacity of a ten month old baby such a big deal? Her death is suddenly this huge contoversy but the death of over 100,000 Iraqi civilians -- half of whom women and children -- that have lost their lives since the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, (according to a study published by the British medical Lancet) no big deal!?! Such small potatoes in fact that we dont even keep an official count!
This woman is such an issue that the House has a roll call vote on a sunday night to overturn the ruling. House rules required that such a vote could not occur until Monday, so the Republican leaders suspended the vote until 12:01 a.m. so they would have time to assemble at least 218 of the 435 House members. Senator Bill Frist had this to say, "These are extraordinary circumstances that center on the most fundamental of human values and virtues: the sanctity of human life," I really just dont get it. I just dont understand all of this "sanctity of human life" BULLSHIT. Why do these values and virtues apply to brain damaged Floridians but not the thousands we have been killing in Iraq? Retarded inmates in Texas?

I swear all I can hear in my head the last few days is that Shitty Lee Greenwood tune : C'MON EVERY ONE SING ALONG!

And Im proud to be an American where at least I know Im free.
And I wont forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.
And Id gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today.
Cause there aint no doubt I love this land God bless the U.S.A.

From the lakes of Minnesota, to the hills of Tennessee,
across the plains of Texas, from sea to shining sea,

From Detroit down to Houston and New York to LA,
Well, theres pride in every American heart,
and its time to stand and say:

Im proud to be an American where at least I know Im free.
And I wont forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.
And Id gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today
Cause there aint no doubt I love this land
God bless the U.S.A.

Soldier vs. War

sjmhummv
Originally uploaded by enduring hegemony.

Meet retired Marine Staff Sergeant
and outspoken antiwar activist Jimmy Massey.

For nearly 12 years, Staff Sergeant Jimmy Massey was a hard-core, some say "gung-ho," Marine. For three years he trained fellow Marines in one of the most grueling indoctrination rituals in military life -- Marine boot camp.
The Iraqi war changed Massey. The brutality, the sheer carnage of the U.S. invasion, touched his conscience and transformed him forever.
Jimmy was a platoon sergeant in 7th Marines during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. After witnessing first hand the horror of war he refused to continue this pointless war. After a hard fight he was discharged and has since been telling people the truth about the war in Iraq.

Others like him have formed the IVAW, or Iraqi Veterans Against the War to organize the antiwar movement & bring the troops home, now!

"I used to tell my Marines our job is not to be over here playing politician, [but to] secure Iraq for a free market democracy, and thats what well do. However, I didnt see any way for America to accomplish that. When I became vocal about that, the Marine Corps did not like what I had to say.

I killed innocent people for our government. For what?Where is the good coming out of it? I feel like I've had a hand in some sort of evil lie at the hands of our government. I just feel embarrassed, ashamed about it.

What [you] need to know is we killed a lot of innocent people. The occupation hurt the Iraqis. And I didn't see any humanitarian support [for the Iraqis]."

Come and Listen to Jimmy Massey speak:
Thursday, April 14
6pm - 8:30 pm
Halle Library Auditorium, EMU Campus
(Taken from event flyer)

No Child Left Untested

kozol
Originally uploaded by enduring hegemony.

Hey all. Sorry it has been so long since my last quality post. I have been really busy with school and couple that with living in Michigan in early March you could imagine I have little to be optimistic about.
I just got home from a wonderful lecture at U of M given by the man pictured to the right- Jonathan Kozol author of "Savage Inequalities", "Amazing Grace" and most recently "The Shame of the Nation : The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America"
The lecture was awesome, edifying, and provocative. I need this about once a week.
Kozol is a Rhode Scholar and former teacher who was fired from a Boston school for reading Langston Hughes to his students in the sixties. The talk was exactly what I need to hear. Kozol reminded me that life isn't as dangerous as the older generation would like us to believe- to not be afraid to take a bold stance and take some risks- that when we rob our poorest children we rob our entire society. I forget these things. Most of the time I tell myself that this is " just the way things are" and he said specifically tonight that those words are not a good enough excuse! Things have to change! Rather then celebrating the civil rights movement and Dr. King once a year- honoring them for their courage- GO OUT AND DUPLICATE IT! There are ways to play ball and at the same time to not play ball. I think about my friends who may be reading this, teachers, professors, lawyers, and students all the people that are most responsible for change in everyday life. The answer isn't to test our children more it is to create equality in our society. For this we are responsible.