Curious George goes to war

“A lesson of 9/11 is that allowing terrorists to find a sanctuary anywerhe in the world can have deadly consequences on the streets of our cities,’’ the president said. “It would embolden our enemies and confirm their belief that America is weak… It would be an invitation to the enemy to attack America and our friends around the world.’’
-George W. Bush

Last time I looked, before we went into Iraq the only threat we had to deal with was Saddam Hussein and that threat was relativley benign. He ran a secular government and yes inflicted damage on his own people but did not allow for terrorists in his country. Once his government was removed we saw the rise of fanatical Islamic groups on both sides, something not found prior the US invasion. Now Iraq is a hotbed of terrorists and is home to a branch of Al-Qaeda which it was not previously. It seems by removing an older and more predictable evil we have invited a newer and more volatile enemy into the mix.

“Last November, the American people said they were frustrated and wanted a change in our policy in Iraq… I listened,’’ Bush said, pointing to an increased deployment of forces announced in January and which is still amassing in Iraq. “The American people did not vote for failure, and that is precisely what the Democratic leadership’s bill would be.’’
- George W. Bush

The American people were frustrated and did vote for a change in policy and what they have received so far is more of the same. The troop surge simply continues George W. Bush's military strategy in Iraq that is accomplishing very litte rather than approaching the problem diplomatically and forcing the Iraqi government to honor its pledges. The bill will not be for failure but rather for accountability from people whom we went there to help who appear to have no desire to help themselves.

Retired Army Maj. Gen. John Batiste:

"This important legislation sets a new direction for Iraq. It acknowledges that America went to war without mobilizing the nation, that our strategy in Iraq has been tragically flawed since the invasion in March 2003, that our Army and Marine Corps are at the breaking point with little to show for it, and that our military alone will never establish representative government in Iraq. The administration got it terribly wrong and I applaud our Congress for stepping up to their constitutional responsibilities."

And retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton:

"This bill gives General Petraeus great leverage for moving the Iraqi government down the more disciplined path laid out by the Iraq Study Group. The real audience for the timeline language is Prime Minister al-Maliki and the elected government of Iraq. The argument that this bill aides the enemy is simply not mature - nobody on the earth underestimates the United States' capacity for unpredictability. It may further create some sense of urgency in the rest of our government, beginning with the State Department."

Last time I checked, despite Bush being the "commander in chief" it doesnt mean he knows anything about how to go to war. That has been proven true with his strategy, his ouster of generals who dont believe in it and his appointment of military yes men. I'm guessing these two life long military men might have had a bigger clue than curious George on capitol hill.

Stop Looking for Someone to Blame

The articles I read about the Va. Tech shootings continue to sicken me. As I have said it is a not a situation where blaming someone else is going to help especially when everyone wants to blame the law enforcment and campus administration when by almost all accounts they acted in a manner consistent with the initial events that occured. Here are some quotes from people that know alot more about this situation.

Steger and other top administrators declined to be interviewed. The chiefs said the criticism benefits from information police did not have at the time.
Shutting down the campus -- keeping everyone in place -- was not a legitimate option, they said. By the time police had secured the dorm, the school day was well underway. Thousands of students had slung backpacks on their shoulders and were on their way to school. There was no way to contact them all. In a briefing to the school's Board of Visitors last week, police also said a lockdown could have trapped an angry Cho inside his dorm, making things worse.
"Trying to lock down a college campus with over 25,000 people in over a dozen buildings spread across acres and acres presents monumental challenges. It is like trying to lock down an entire city," said Kenneth S. Trump, president of National School Safety and Security Services, a consulting firm.(Washington Post)

The above seems logical, the steps require to lockdwon a city are immense and with a campus police department that has 55 members, not all working each shift it becomes virtually impossible.

For almost 2 1/2 hours after the initial alert at 7:15 a.m., a rapidly swelling team of law enforcement officers took steps that Flinchum and other top police officials say were appropriate to investigate a double murder. But in fact, they were witnessing only the first act of the most deadly mass shooting by an individual in U.S. history. While police pursued what they expected to turn out to be a crime of passion, Cho mailed his violent manifesto and headed for Norris Hall.(Washington Post)

This makes sense as well they handled the situation as most murders are handled, by looking for someone that knows the victims and woul have motive, a boyfriend would make sense. There is no way to know that what happened would lead to the killing of 30 more people, no police force on earth could have seen that and for people to use the "hindsight is 20/20" logic is wrong. With a dorm of over 900 students and only two dead there was no reason to believe this was anything more than a domestic triangle gone wrong, for people to make accusations otherwise is wrong.

USA = ISRAEL????

In my nightly browsings online due to an intense boredom I came across an interesting and troubling article on the NYtimes.com. The article highlights the United States plan to build a 12 foot high 3 mile long security wall to quell sectarian violence in Baghdad. Is this what the troop surge is for, so they can construct a wall rather than actually effectivley make Baghdad safer?

The reason I relate the US to Israel in this case is because it appears they both want to seperate a nation with walls for security. For those of you not aware Israel has been building a 20 foot high security wall to pretect its settlments many of which are in Palestinian territory but that doesnt stop Israel from evicting Palestinians and building the wall around where there homes used to be as well. The strategy in Israel no doubt works and that is because Israel is an apartheid nation. They seperate the Palestinians with walls, require ID cards everywhere and assign them all seperate license plates so they can be idenitifed. Not to mention they completely restrict their economy and trade as well which is nice of them. If thats not blatant and illegal segregation from a nation that in the eyes of international law(and myself) shouldnt exsist. This wall and apartheid in Israel creates more enemies than it saves Israel from by alienating a population and subjugating the palestinians to second class citizens.

Obviously this wall will be immensley popular with the Iraqi people for the same reasons the wall in Israel is so popular. By seperating the Sunni's and Shiites with a wall the US will more than likely not eliminate the sectarian violence. What they will do is create more animosity towards the US troops already in country for segregating the population. What comes next are we going to tattoo the different sects to tell whose who, we already right on them in marker to tell whos been searched and treat them like they arent people. And why is that? Its because the US army is not trained to do police work nor is it capable and that is what we are asking them to do. The key fact being overlooked here is that the majority of Shiite and Sunni's are not killing each other. It is a small segment of the population that is performing these killings and in many cases appears to be involved with the Iraqi police or army that we created. By building a wall it is almost as if the US is hiding the problem rather than solving it. But hey, George W Bush seems pretty good right now at pretending problems dont exsist. Just look at how hes dealing the the Justice Department issues, there aren't any, just ask him, just like his plan works in Iraq.

Free Advice

This is some free advice to the nation after the tragic events at Virginia Tech. I cannot stress this advice enough, STOP LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO BLAME. The stories that seem to be pouring forth now all realte to the university knowing of the students mental state and the response to the tragedy by law enforcment officials. Dont look to blame the university for not having done something with the mentally fragile student. They are not in a position to force an unwilling studnet to receive help all they can do is offer the services. Second what are they supposed to do with the student, have him on 24 hour watch, that is not feasible or realistic in any way. As I said in my previous post the law enforcment officials acted in a manner at the time that made sense to a murder and that was to look for a suspect who knew the victim, not a random studnet who was unstable. Virignia Tech is larger than many small towns, it is larger than the one I live in and it is impossible to provide ever present security or video cameras as my brother has commented due to financial reasons. The college campus is one of the safest places to be, it is rocked by a one in a billion occurence and all of a sudden the campus police are supposed to automatically know how to respond to the situation of a mass murderer? This line of logic does not make sense. Again, stop looking for someone to blame, the one to blame is dead and took the cowards way out. The only thing that we as a nation and the community of Virginia Tech can do is heal, it is a long process with many questions that lack solid answers at this point. So for one last time, stop looking to blame someone other than the murderer who comitted these acts, that is where the responsibility lies and that is whom is to blame.

Virginia Tech Response

As outsiders not involved with the Virginia Tech shootings, we obviously have no clue what occured or how the events were handled. All that is being offered at this point is speculation on wether or not the situation was handled properly by the University. I am on the side of the university with how this was handled. The campus police at the time treated the shootings in Ambler hall as a domestic event, which in the overwhelming majority of murders is correct. Most people who are murdered are murdered by someone they know, not by a crazy person who will go on to kill dozens. At the time the only lead for the police was the boyfriend of the girl who was killed who ent to Radford. At this point the dorm was locked down and police were there as well as looking for the suspected shooter. No one gave evidence to lead in the direction of Cho Seung-Hui. What occured next was not something that could be anticipated or expected it was an event that happens not even once in a lifetime and there was no way to anticipate. The actions of the university will be investigated, Im sure findings will take quite a while to come out and when they do we will know the true story. As for right now lets not overlook the fact that the campus police are not to blame, there is only one person to blame and he took the cowards way out and is dead.

Baghdad Surge

No doubt the events that occured at Virginia Tech are overshadowing anything else in the media these days and rightly so. But not to let it get lost in the shuffle the situation in Iraq is not getting any better despite the efforts of the troop surge.
Today in 4 waves of attacks, 171 people were killed. The car bombings have only stepped up and at this point appear to have become more lethal as well with todays attacks being the most deadly day since the new security measures took place(NY Times). The alleged success that is being pointed to by the Bush administration is the lack of sectarian killings. Despite the fact that many of the militias and insurgent groups have simply decided to lay low and avoid the surge. The strategy doesnt work it is simply pouring fuel on the flames and unless tactics and treatment of civilians change no progress will be made. As I've said time and again, this situation has to be solved by outside diplomacy and internally by Iraq and its security forces. Only the Iraqis can police Iraq and until they realize we wont be there there is no incentive for them to put their lives on the line in a law enforcment capacity if someone else will do it for them. Whats the old saying, who boys the cow when you get the milk for free?

Its bigger, its more expensive, it must be better right?

Several days ago the US Marine Corps unveiled its newest and apparently most useless piece of military equipment. For years the Marines have been flying and maintaining a fleet of aging helicopters that have no doubt served them well and been a cost efficient use of funds. However with the urge to have new toys, they are unveiling the V-22 Osprey, a half airplane, half helicopter monster that costs 80 million dollars.
In what has been a 25 year process of the Marines developing an aircraft that they can call their own, all with a budge so far of 40 billion dollars and an allotted budget of 54.6 billion dollars, all while the helicopter has been working fine for years. Now I’m not one to have a problem with the military making advances in technology, it’s the way things go and has helped keep this country as it is.
However, in the testing of the V-22 to this point, 26 Marines have lost their lives as well as 4 other individuals and many other accidents not involving losses of life related to fires and engine failure. It is an aircraft that has numerous flaws, the main problem being its propellers causing it to get caught in its own turbulence during landing which results in the plane/copter rolling over on landing and heading into the ground. It also in many cases cannot land but have to land troops with a rope ladder because the propellers can cause a brown out because of all the dirt kicked up.
The other problem is that even though it can attain much higher speeds than a helicopter it must lowers it speed immensely to land, going as low as 8-9mph which exposes it to much more fire. It also does not have the ability of a helicopter to make evasive maneuvers necessary in combat actions due to its unwieldy prop design or to perform a hard landing.

“Should the V-22 lose power, it can not “autorotate” like a helicopter and allow the updraft of air to rotate its propellers for a hard, but survivable, landing. Because of this, according to the 2005 Pentagon report, emergency V-22 landings without power at altitudes below 1,600 feet “are not likely to be survivable.”

As a result the V-22 osprey has been classified by the pentagon as “suited only for low- and medium-threat environments” and is not “operationally effective” in high threat environments like Iraq and Afghanistan which we have today.
Reports by the pentagon also indicate that the V-22 does not have adequate space to carry 24 marines as it is supposed to and that the windowless cabin can promote airsickness and that leg numbness can also occur.
The Marines counter that it can fly higher and faster than a helicopter and in situations of wounded evacuation claiming that it can save vital time during the “golden hour” following injury. The downside of this is that if it has to go 8 miles an hour to land chances are you are still in trouble once you’re in and taking off. Its pluses are that it can fly five times as far and carry three times the payload.
For further evidence of what a bad idea this is the war hawk of all war hawks, Dick Cheney 4 times as the secretary of defense of George H.W. Bush tried to cancel the funding for the program but was stopped by congress.

Here is one last ringing endorsement from the pilot of a V-22 Osprey.

“Safety is a big issue,” wrote one V-22 crew chief, in a questionnaire filled out for the Pentagon’s 2005 operational evaluation. “If we had went down in the water we would have most likely lost at least 24 troops because of restricted egress. I felt like I was in a coffin.”

That sounds like the type of aircraft I want to fly in, sign me up!

How much is a life worth?

How much is a life worth, that’s the question and the US government in Iraq, thinks it has the answer. Obviously with any war there will be what is called collateral damage that is the damage to buildings and the loss of life of innocents. The US military in Iraq knows this all too well although some of the incidents that have occurred are not quite in that definition.

The Army, on a daily basis answers claims made by Iraqi citizens regarding losses of property and losses of life. After an incident has occurred where an “accident” may have happened the soldiers leave a claim card with victims that tells them how to file a claim for compensation. This process is anything but perfect operating in the lawless vacuum that is Iraq, where the military appears to not be accountable to anyone. In all so far the US has paid 32 million dollars worth of these claims, and this does not include condolence payments that are made on the decision of unit commanders. In its grand wisdom, the US military has decided that an Iraqi life is worth 2500.00 and includes no admission of guilt or admission of fault. Just pay the man and he will go away seems to be the line of thinking.

In some cases that have been deemed “combat cases” innocent civilians have been killed while doing things such as fishing and the majority appear to be related to confusion at checkpoints. In one case a brother and sister were killed after the military dumped 200 rounds of ammo into their car for doing something as vague as “approaching the checkpoint to quickly” this claim was actually one of the highest paying, the military shelling out 10,000.00 to the victims family. In this case the soldiers were found to violate the rules of engagement. In the case of the fisherman who was killed, was shot for leaning over to turn of his boats engine after holding up fish and yelling “fish, fish!” The military in this case compensated the victim’s family for his boat and equipment which drifted down river and were stolen, but did not compensate for the loss of life. In this case, it was deemed “combat activity”, that’s a hell of a combat situation, man in boat v. men with guns.

Take a long look at actions in Iraq, from the cheapening of a life to the heavy handed tactics used in patrols of evicting families from their homes for up to 48hrs to use as operations bases. This is not how you make friends which is a key to winning this war, the old philosophy of “winning hearts and minds”. None of these actions would be acceptable in the US, the deaths would be subject to lengthy and likely multi million dollar wrongful death suits and if you refer to the third amendment you will see that the quartering of soldiers in such a manner would not be allowed. The war is going in the wrong direction and has been for years, the troop surge won’t work and if you listen to the politicians, at least the ones in power, there is no plan B. The answer to this problem is diplomatic, not military and until we and the Iraqi government realize this, there will be no progress.

Virginia Tech

Obviously much like the rest of the nation I was shocked and saddened to see the events that unfolded at Virginia Tech yesterday morning. A college or school of any sort is a place where the students should feel safe and secure and 99.9% of the time this is the case. Every once in a great while a incident will come around that will completely shake ones faith in an institution. I don’t believe that the students at Va. Tech are any less safe after this event, but I do believe that the feeling of security has been shattered and it will take a long time if ever to repair. As it is I can only wish the students the best for the rest of their year and send out condolences to the families who have lost loved ones because of the actions of a sick and what appears to be very emotionally troubled young man.

On a side note I can only wonder what may have occured if one student had been carrying a gun. Due to college gun laws, this is not possible and I am not saying that it would have prevented the problem, but Im not saying it wouldnt have either. As I have made the case for numerous times in arguments, the only thing that gun laws do is create a zone where the victims are defenseless and the attakcers have no fear of reprisal. For more on this issue check here. Link

Dick Cheney

Dick Cheney today blasted the war funding bill put forth by congress and the senate as "irresponsible". Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but isnt shooting one of your hunting buddies in the face irresponsible? Last time I checked someone that shoots someone else in the face on accident should never be telling me or anyone else about the definition of responsibility.

I have a real post in the works at the moment regarding the US's ridiculous monetary compensation towards victimized Iraqis. At the moment though I am studying for the MTTC history test, which oddly enough at this point appears to be more like a social studies test than a history test as 68% of the material is either "Connections among social science disciplines" at 34% or "Social Science Perspective and Skills" at 34%. Tell me why I have to take a social studies test to, how does this not take care of both?

Emails dont get lost, they get deleted.

Lost emails? Emails don’t get lost, they get deleted or moved somewhere else, they don’t get lost. But that’s what the administration wants you to believe. The White House said today that what could amount to thousands of emails have been “lost” through a private email system used by Karl Rove and fifty other top officials. Oddly enough these emails are directly related to the firing of eight US attorneys.

The White House claims that they are now trying to find these emails, but it is my guess that they can’t find something that isn’t there. Bush is standing by his attorney general Alberto Gonzalez despite the fact that he has been exposed so far as having conflicting statements regarding his knowledge of the firings. The loss of these emails raises serious legal issues as the White House has an obligation to disclose all information that it has. Not to mention the fact that the “loss” of emails could create a problem for the Bush White House as he will not fall in line with the Presidential Records Act of 1978 which calls for all presidential papers to be preserved.

Obviously the Bush administration is not too concerned with its public image as it is terrible nor are they worried about the public perception of Bush appointees as many have called for Gonzalez’s resignation. This all comes after Karl Roves office has allegedly had prosecutors removed for not falling in line with Bush White House policies and pursuing matters such as voter fraud. Voter fraud being an issue that has been found to be irrelevant and extremely rare over the last 5 years(Link). But I'm sure Bush would rather have the US attorneys work on voter fraud rather than prosecute the likes fo Scooter Libby who was prosecuted by Chicagos US attorney and convicted. Oddly enough the justice department wanted to fire the afformentioned attorney because he was "undistinguished". Even in states where cases have been brought for voter fraud for example in Wisconsin, prosecutors have lost twice as many cases as they have won and many voter frauds are tied to confusion on rules, not conspiracy. Heres my favorite example that I could find of confusion linking to voter fraud and a ridiculous consequence:

"In Pakistan, Usman Ali is trying to rebuild his life after being deported from Florida, his legal home of more than a decade, for improperly filling out a voter-registration card while renewing his driver’s license."

Gotta love George and his great priorities dont ya?

The Bush White House has been operating for 7 years now as an entity that does not have to answer to any other branches of government or the people. Don’t think for a minute that Bush would not appoint himself dictator for life if he could, let’s hope we can avoid that. Thank god there is one year left of this debacle and hopefully new ideas and a cooperative White House will be in place.

Heres a link: Bush Advisers’ Approach on E-Mail Draws Fire

Iraqi Security?

The surge of troops again shows itself to be incredibly effective and efficient as a bombing has now taken place in the Iraqi parliament. You would think that of all areas in Iraq, that the parliament would be the safest, but apparently not as a bomb ripped through the cafeteria while parliament was at lunch. The result was one dead Sunni lawmaker and one Shiite. This is a clear example that insurgents can penetrate through the high levels of security in Iraq as the streets are teeming with Iraqi and US troops in the latest defense surge. This attack comes shortly after a rocket attack that was aimed at the UN secretary general on April 1st which missed its mark and harmed no one. This was one of the rare attacks which takes place in the heavily fortified "green zone" of Baghdad. It will undoubtedly not be the last either.
I’ve said it before and I will say it again, this "war on terror" is being fought all wrong. A war on terror is not fought by the regular army by occupying a country. A war on terror is fought by Special Forces operating in a country, and police and security forces of the country. To handle a terrorist threat, you must have an innate knowledge of the country and its people, something that the US does not have and does not appear to want with Iraq. The heavy handed and unilateral policies in Iraq have backfired and have turned into an occupation. One that will likely stretch for years unless checked and unless the Iraqis are given firm dates to begin meeting goals and having US troops gradually phased out. Accountability is something that the Iraqi government does not seem to have, they want the US out, but do nothing to make that happen. Until we cut the proverbial cord on Iraq it will be a problem that does not go away.

Parliament Bombing Article: NY Times

Duke Lacrosse

Looking back at my post on the Duke lacrosse case in April of 2006, I think I have been validated in my thoughts on the case. Clearly Mike Nifong, the district attorney who was in charge of the case (and up for reelection) pressed forward in a case that had little validity. Not only did he proceed with the case, but purposely had the accuser change testimony to incriminate the 3 lacrosse players when things didn’t go his way.

Now, all charges have been dropped against the 3 lacrosse players. This is after the initial rape charges were dropped by Nifong, but he kept sexual assault and kidnapping I believe. After this gaff, he allegedly removed himself from the case and turned it over to the state attorney general. The attorney general unlike Nifong conducted a good case, examined evidence and decided there was no basis for charges. The attorney general did not have much good to say about the case, including that “There were many points in the case where caution would have served justice better than bravado. And in the rush to condemn, a community and a state lost the ability to see clearly.” This hardly seems to back up the idea that Nifong acted properly, but rather acted in a way to make himself look better.

Not only did he decide that there were no charges, but he went as far as to proclaim the innocence of the three players, not just say there was not enough evidence for the case. This is a stunning blow, and it shows me that the country in the way the players were vilified lost sight of the fact that our court system is based on the presumption of innocence. That is not how this case played out. Cooper, the attorney general went as far as to “portray Nifong as a "rogue prosecutor," Cooper called for the passage of a law that would allow the North Carolina Supreme Court to remove a district attorney where justice demands it. He declined to say whether he believes Nifong should be disbarred.”(ESPN.com)

Now he question is what will the lacrosse players do, how do they get their dignity back and how do they get their good names back after being dragged through the mud for so long. There are reports that indicate that these players had issues prior to this, but the fact that a state attorney general would go as far as to proclaim their innocence speaks volumes for this case. The option of a civil suit against Nifong and Durham County, but rarely in a case like this can you win. The best action would be to fully investigate Nifong and all the inaccuracies in his case as well as how he handled all the evidence.

Despite the fact that names may have been tarnished for the accused, they will all almost certainly bounce back, coming from affluent families with the means to defend them. The biggest victim of this case is the North Carolina legal system and the way that it failed because of one prosecutor. Congrats Mike Nifong on the blundering and biased job you did of vilifying three young men and in the process failing the alleged victim. Perhaps if the case had been handled in a more consistent professional manner then some charges may have stuck. I fully believe that some violation of this women did occur, but the fact that the case was mishandled in such a way will leave that question unanswered.

Bush is a Liar

Hey, looks like George Bush is a liar after all. Despite his saying that the lack of a war funding bill that met his approval would be the reason that troops would have to serve longer tours of duty, it appears that isn’t the case. As is clearly show in this article the tours have already been extended to 15 months from the normal 12 month tour thus exposing our troops to another 3 months thus increasing their risk of death obviously as well all the other fun side effects of this ill conceived war.
Now I doubt that with this increase that the down time at home for training and re outfitting will also be extended. These wars are taxing the US military beyond its capabilities and the ruling elite (that’s what they are) do not care. They simply sit in the Whitehouse and decide that extending the tours is good because the war they started is not going as planned due to their mismanagement.

For another great example of how Bush's war is not going well check out this article. This article highlights how George W Bush is seeking to appoint a "war czar" to lead the efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. First of all, who even has a czar anymore is this pre World War I Russia? Obviously the war is going swimmingly as the top 3 choices for the post have all turned it down. With one commander, Retired Marine Gen. John Jack Sheehan, a former top NATO commander who rejected the White House overture, told the Post: ''The very fundamental issue is, they don't know where the hell they're going.''(New York Times). Obviously this war is being led right from the top down as he is alluding to the fact that the administration has no clue what its doing.
But hey, as long as we "stay the course" everything will be alright. Seems to be we've been hearing the same line of crap for the last 4 years and all it’s gotten us is over 3000 good Americans dead and creating many new enemies for us based on our heavy handed unilateral strategy to take care of a problem. I bet Bush can’t wait to get out of office and hand this problem off to someone else.

Granholms Ideas make Sense

I know that I have done plenty of Bush bashing on this blog in recent days, but I'm not anti republican, I don’t want you to think that. I'm more anti stupid politicians and to highlight that, let's take a look at democratic Michigan governor Granholm. Despite the fact that her government is running at a 1 billion dollar deficit for this year, she is backing a great idea to buy every student in Michigan schools Ipod's.

First off I'd like someone to explain to me why students need Ipod's? I never had an ipod, from elementary through college, nor was there ever a need for an Ipod. I guess the entire education system has changed so much that it is impossible for students to get by without that new technology. Despite the fact that with all the schools I have seen and all the schools I know of, most don’t even have enough computers or multi media resources to begin with. Despite this, it isn’t frivolous at all to buy all the students Ipods so that they can put god knows what on there instead of the pod casts of class that they are supposed to provide. This idea is terrible it gives students the ability to not pay attention in class but then not suffer because the teachers are now putting up pod casts of their lectures and what not. Not only does the plan waste money, but it wastes student’s brains by teaching them its okay not to pay attention.

Granholm has done a horrible job running this state and her ideas are ridiculous. Let’s help Michigan’s economy by raising taxes, that makes sense right? No, none of her ideas do. My favorite part about her is that she is pro choice, but is a devout catholic? How the hell is that even possible, talk about pandering for votes on both sides of the fence.

The 36 million dollars that are proposed for this stupid idea could be much better served to try and prop up the states stagnant economy. The auto industry is not in good shape, but there doesn’t seem to be any attempt to encourage growth or to create new industry. As a matter of fact based on some of the taxes being levied against business to "fix the economy" those very businesses are leaving. Use the 36 million to provide incentives for new business or small business, but do something to fix the state, not to rot brains.

George Bush knows what works

Again, george Bush is in the news for giving the Deomcartic congress a lecture on how they should be doing their job. Bush was quoted again with this gem.

"Congress’s failure to fund our troops will mean that some of our military families could wait longer for their loved ones to return from the front lines. Others could see their loved ones headed back to war sooner than anticipated. This is unacceptable.”

As I already pointed out in my previous post about Bush and his great ideas, this is already happening and has been happening since he began this ill conceived war. He is falling back on lies at this point to try and shift his problem to the congress and senate rather than having it reflect poorly on himself. I dont know why he is so afraid of it reflecting on him as he is already the worst president in US history, so how can it get worse??

The real balls of his speech is that he is trying to tell congress how to do their job which basically consists of "do what I say". Thats not what congress is for, it is there to enforce the will of the people, which it rarely does, but is trying to in this case. This war is wrong and poorly executed and has been from the begining the people of the US want out. Not immediatley, not in a fashion of abandoning, but in a phased withdrawl that will allow the Iraqis to take control of their country. Until that phased withdrawal happens nothing can be accomplished.

For further evidence of how well Bush's surge strategy is working in Baghdad check this article at the New York Times.

Imus in the Morning

Recently Don Imus has come under attack for comments which he made on his nationally syndicated radio show last week. In a conversation Imus and his producer were having, discussing the appearance of the Rutgers women’s basketball team, Imus referred to the women as “nappy-headed ho’s”. Now every African American group in the country is calling for the firing of Imus and for his show to be off the air. No doubt that what Imus said was insensitive, no doubt he may have gone too far, but a fireable offense, I think not.

Don Imus, if you are not familiar with his program makes the lowest comments possible about everyone on earth, family, friends anyone. It is part of the unique character of his show and no doubt any number of groups in this country could call for his dismissal because of comments he has made. I am not one to say that acting this way on the radio is wrong, hell I think its funny and an amazing amount of people do as well based on his ratings.

The main problem I have with this issue is the fact that all of a sudden when anything is said about an African American it is automatically exponentially worse than if said about any other ethnic group in America. Despite the fact that great strides and concessions have been made in the area of civil rights and also in amending for past wrongs, for some reason the African American community still feels slighted. It is the classic situation of a double standard. There are certain words that are “their words” that other ethnic groups cannot use. Apparently “nappy-headed” on that list as there is nothing racially motivated about the word “ho’s”. Never mind that two of Rutgers players are white, apparently they are not in the equation. The decision has to be made that certain words that are offensive are offensive no matter who uses them. Not just when a group who those words don’t belong to use them.

I believe it also must be looked at as to how the women of Rutgers basketball represent themselves in terms of appearance. The fact of the matter is that with collegiate sports at the Division I level these days, whether the players are white or black there seems to be an overwhelming prevalence of tattoos and clothes that are associated with the ghetto. I understand that this is how some of the athletes are used to dressing but I believe it comes down to representing the university that pays you to play and also the NCAA in a positive light. Based on what I see in the women’s NCAA tournament (which is very little) Rutgers team was very rough looking in comparison to the other teams (UNC, Duke, Tennessee). Not to say they are “nappy-headed ho’s” but, as they say first impressions are everything.

Imus has done nothing but apologize for his comments and no doubt has suffered already, in terms of pulbic image, embarassment and of course sponsors. It is not as if everyone is laughing it off and saying "Oh Imus." The fact is that despite apologies that appear to be heart felt and appearing on the Al Sharpton show only to be bated and harrased by the host, people still want blood. His apology is not enough for the people who claim that he "has set this country back many year". He didnt firebomb a church, he made a comment, simply words which he acknowledged were wrong and which he has attempted to atone for, not to mention receiving a two week suspension of his show.

To sum it up this is much ado about nothing in my eyes, the comment was made in jest in a joking fashion, Imus has never displayed racial overtones on his show. The calling for firing by some groups in my eyes is a call for publicity especially with Al Sharpton. If you can find me a problem that he has ever been the solution to as opposed to part of the problem I’d love to hear about it. The African American population of this country as well as all others need to look at the real issue at hand. That is certain words that are used and when this is decided that the words shouldn’t be used, all parties should abide, not just certain segments of the population should have to. Well, that’s what I think and now I’m probably a racist to.

Happy Easter

Hide your eggs, Jesus is coming hes been dead for three days and he wants breakfast!!

Do as I say...or its your fault.

So more news on Iraq and our fearless leader. The all wise and all seeing president of the United States George W has decided that unless you do what he says it is your fault that American troops are at risk.

In recent news the senate and congress have decided that they don’t want to fund President Bush’s war unless he can set a time table for withdrawal. Not to mention that Bush has decided that all the “pork projects” which are attached to the bill are completely unacceptable. Despite the fact that the pork projects are bogus and shouldn’t be attached to any bill, this is something that the republicans had been tagging onto their war funding bills the entire war. What it comes down to is that President Bush now wants to shift the blame for the war and if something should go wrong. Despite the fact that this legislation more closely resembles what the people of the United States wants, that is no concern to George W Bush who has flatly said that he will veto this bill when it crosses his desk, thus make under funding the congress and senates fault, not his.

Now let’s look at some of President Bush’s comments and see what the reality behind them is.

"When Congress does not fund our troops on the front lines, our military is forced to make cuts in other areas to cover the shortfall," he said. " . . . By mid-April, the Army will be forced to consider cutting back on training, equipment repair, and quality of life initiatives for our Guard and Reserve forces . . . By mid-May, the problems grow even more acute."

If funding for the war is delayed much longer, Bush said, "some of our military families could wait longer for their loved ones to return from the front lines. And others could see their loved ones headed back to war sooner than they need to."

The reality of this situation is that the aforementioned events are and have been happening already. Because Bush entered the war unprepared units have been forced to stay in the field longer than normal and soldiers have had their service length made longer even after their discharge dates. On top of this soldiers are not receiving the appropriate amount of downtime, usually 18 months for a year of service but many have been returning to Iraq with as little as 7 months of recovery time with some guard and reserve units serving 3-4 tours. We can also look at the fact that the last military funding bill was not passed through until June and the soldiers didnt suffer, Bush is reaching for straws and having a hard time finding one to hold onto.

Training and equipment is a whole issue in and of itself. Because of the shortage of equipment from day one with our brave leader’s new war, training has lagged. There is a shortage of training tools, equipment and vehicles because the US was unprepared for the conflict and had to ship much of it to Iraq rather than train. Lastly Bush wants to claim the congress and senate are putting troops in harms way? This is the worst accusation of all as it is Bush who sent US troops into combat action without the proper body armor; it is Bush who decided that putting sufficient armor on Humvees was not a priority to the point where troops were using old Iraqi tank armor to put on Humvees. The same armor that is toxic due to uranium depleted ammo used by the US in the first Gulf War.

The real problem lies with the leader, not the congress or senate. They are doing the right thing and following the will of the people, not their misguided dreams. If he wants to blame anyone for problems in Iraq, from the top down he needs to look at himself and realize not only has he failed the Iraqi and American people, but he has also failed the US fighting men and women by constantly short changing them. The congress is trying for a solution; Bush is the hurdle that needs to be overcome.

Washington Post article: Here

European Union, Not so United...

With the release of 15 British hostages by Iran, the tensions between the nations are somewhat put to rest, but what remains are some serious questions about the EU and UN.

There is no doubt that Iran illegally seized the British sailors and marines in an attempted power play to assert themselves in the region and the world stage, to flex their muscle and to gain influence. This is exactly what occurred, Britain limps away with its tail tucked between its legs and Iran comes away after illegally seizing hostages with no negative effects, rather it would appear they came out well ahead. It is not just coincidence that after the release we find out that an Iranian “diplomat” who was held for two months in Iraq was released, nor can it be considered coincidence that 5 Iranian “officials” held by the US have now been granted visitation. These concessions clearly are a tool in the process of release, none of which should have occurred.

The fact of the matter is that two key institutions failed in this hostage situation, they are the European Union (EU) and United Nations (UN).

The sailors captured were not just British citizens but as defined by the EU, they are European citizens and fall under the protection of the EU. However, Britain went as far as to ask the EU to freeze trading with Iran in an attempt to have its hostages freed rather than fall to the Iranian power play. However, the EU who does 18 billion dollars of trade with Iran each year decided that it was not in their best interest. Despite the fact that Europe claims to stand united they will not link arms to bring back their own. Money would be lost on both sides and the European attitude seems to be that if it is not our citizens it is not our problem. Kudos to you Europe on being embarrassed by Iran.

The UN was the other guilty party who did not aid the release at all. This lies in the fact that the UN is a horribly ineffective body. With Russia and China serving as active veto powers on the UN nothing can ever be accomplished against Iran or a variety of other countries. China will veto and hard sanctions against a nation with whom it can receive oil or other energy assets. Russia, especially with Putin seeming to reestablish the old KGB style of operations sees Iran and supporting it as a way to prevent overwhelming US power in the gulf nations. The UN would not even put together a harshly worded statement denouncing Iran’s piracy, but rather said that they “deplored” the actions. No threat of sanction (which is useless thanks Russia and China). With the obvious problems of having Russia and China as major players in the UN we still have the Darfur issue as well as the Iranian nuclear problem and North Koreas nuclear testing. Way to flex that muscle UN.

In the end some unilateral actions may be necessary. Not in cases of preemptive war, but in a case of securing release of hostages from illegal piracy. In terms of supporting an ally in the same quest. What Iran did was illegal by international law, and the TV footage of the captured goes against many conventional rules of war etc. In the end Britain seems in my eyes to be the only country in Europe that isn’t a slave to smaller and less powerful countries, but with no backing there is no way that they could take the real forceful steps necessary to solve the problem.

The Surge is working....trust me

As many of you certainly know, there was a large troop surge that has been taking place in Iraq thanks to the orders of our fearless leader George W. Bush. Now initially this was supposed to be a 20,000 troop surge, but has already exceeded that and is over 30000 so right away we have some misrepresented facts. On top of this it was supposed to quell the rising tide of sectarian violence that has been sweeping through the country. As evidence indicated it hasnt, violence is still at high levels, troops are still dying and the strategy is still ineffective. On top of this we now see evidence of chemical attacks in Iraq. Just today in the New York Times there is evidence of a car bomb attack with chlorine gas which is the sixth such attack in the last 2 months which has killed 20 people. What Bush wants you to believe is that he knows how to fight this war, even though all signs point in the opposite direction. He also wants you to believe that the terrorists arent getting better at what they do as is clearly the case. This is not the tank warfare that the US needs to be in, but rather urban combat that needs to be fought by people who know the country and its people. Until George sets a date for withdrawl and makes the Iraqi government responsible for their safety(they havent reached any of their self imposed benchmarks for success) than he will contin ue to cost many Americans their lives in what can best be described not as our second Vietnam, but rather our Afghanistan as the Russians found out. These middle eastern islamic countires cannot be conquered and cannot be made western, history has proved it time and time again, all you have to do is open a book.

I think it truly speaks volumes that the only real safe area in Baghdad is the area controlled by the cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr. This is a good area, hospitals are running well, children receive an education and food is to be found. But none of this is from the Iraqi government. It is from Sadr who uses his power to dole out aid to the needy citizens of Baghdad. It will be very difficult for the US to win hearts and minds with George Bushs strategy when the government we have installed is completley inept at what it is trying to do and cannot or will not help its people. For more on the safe haven in baghdad read here, its on the Washington Post.

Call the zoo!!!

In browsing online today on freep.com I couldnt help but notice the wonderful article about Detroit shutting down 34 schools. Of course there is an amazing amount of outrage from "concerened parents" who dont want their schools shut down. This is a problem, but not a gigantic one, in looking at the diagram of schools closing many appear to be small money drainers with 250-500 students or in some cases less. The term closing might not be the best, it may be better called consolidation in an attempt to right the sinking ship that is Detroit and its finances. I believe that only around 60% of Detroits citizens even pay their property taxes which has helped to result in the lack of funds for the city and the educational system.

Of course another part of the problem is the school board itself which is as inept and corrupt of an organizational body as could be found. It is amazing to me that the state nor federal goverment have not stepped in to solve the problem that is the Detroit Public Schools. Each election they elect the same members to the board and every time they strive to line their pockets and do nothing to help schools and the students, that is where the true disservice lies. The fact of the matter is that now there are the same number of schools for 119,000 students as there were for 180,000 students ten years ago. The other aspect that concerned citizens seem to overlook is that Detroit is losing its population base day by day, this is not a growing city that needs more schools, it is a declining city that needs better schools. By elminiating some of the underperforming or under populated schools they can better alocate fundsfor the schools that are left.

Why do the parents of Detroit take no blame for the poor education of their children. The schools are there but students arent going, this is a city with a 51%, thats right 51% dropout rate. Parents dont know about this, are they schocked? If the parents truly cared they would be taking an active role in the childrens education themselved rather than not acknowledging the fact that there is no financial ability to keep the schools open so that their freshman can drop out the next year and leave just one more empty seat in the school.

The most embarassing aspect of the whole closings is the action of parents. The way that the parents at these meetings conduct themselves is absurd. With parents shouting and humming with all sorts of carrying on to interupt the meeting and needing securtiy officers to maintain control. This last meeting was highlighted by the throwing of grapes at council members. Not that I feel the council members do a good job, but by the same token that is no reason to assault the members or embarass yourself or the city.

Lastly the City of Detroit, its citizens and politicians need to look at themselves. The mayor is and has been corrupt since Archer left office, essentially admitting he is a crook which is a far cry different than Coleman Youngs reign pre Dennis Archer. They city was on a steep and steady decline with Young in charge but the citizens kept reelecting him. It is as if the city doesnt care what happens to it and doesnt care who leads it as long as they know who they are. The police department is in shambles with a terrible chief and underfunded. The problems lie within and until the citizens of Detroit take the initiative and care what happens to their city the people of the suburbs and surrounding areas are going to continue to turn their noses at the city and wonder what went wrong.

Language and what not

Why is it that through all the years I always hear how good Japanese people are in terms of speaking english. How they take classes for years and years and learn it as soon as possible. How it is a key part of their education system and success on the world stage. I say bullshit on this. Eveytime I see a Japanese baseball player come into the major leagues, they need an interpreter. I was just watching ESPN and this Matsuzaka guy has a crib sheet for his arm and its all in japanese, how can these guys converse with their teammates when they dont know the language. All im asking is to see one of these japanese players come over and speak english at his press confrence and do it will as opposed to being paid 100million dollars as Matsuzaka(Boston Red Sox) is and having the team hire an interpreter.


Also why does bilingual in America only mean American and Spanish? Are there no other nationalities in the country who dont speak the language. Oh wait, there arent, because all the rest of the immigrant population has managed to assimilate. God forbid the spanish speaking immigrants learn to do the same. They never will until we cut the cord either, that would be great. Same way Iraq will never take over its own problems until they know America will be leaving at some point. ITs a matter of motivation.