Category: politics

is it just me?, listen up!, politics, venting

just a few thoughts

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On Iraq:

  • I really hope that Congress does something useful for a change; we need to get out of Iraq and soon. Seriously, when you have no idea what constitutes a “successful” mission, then you have no goal, and that is scary; especially when it is costing us thousands of lives (3100 and growing… not counting the hundreds of thousands Iraqi deaths), and destroying hundreds of thousands more.
  • If you think that sending 20k+ more troops to Iraq will solve the problem, please explain that to me, especially because the top military officials have said that it will take more than 5 times that amount to even do anything (which would mean a total occupation, which is not what we are supposed to be doing over there). Their recommendations are to get out… why aren’t we listening and actually doing something to accomplish that goal?
  • Do you think that we are really going to attack Iran? I don’t get why we would want to do that; especially when we really aren’t supposed to, like we weren’t supposed to attack Iraq (at least, not without UN counsel, yeah, that we forgot to do with Iraq). I mean, the president is really pushing it now… it is like he has a personal vendetta with that whole region (and I think that he probably does). It looks more and more everyday like the only reason why we chose to occupy that territory (which we are doing, and it is also what we said we wouldn’t be doing), was so the contracting companies could get even richer. What sucks, is that we, the taxpayers, have to pay for that; and if not us, then our kids will. That just makes me sick.
  • Yes I support the troops, so don’t even go there. The people that don’t support the troops are those that underfund and under supply the troops that need our support that are already in Iraq, as well as those coming home injured and abused. It is inexcusable to say that you support the troops when you don’t provide them with the equipment to adequately protect themselves in a combat zone. It is also completely reprehensible to say you support the troops when they have to wait for VA services upon returning home from Iraq. That is just awful. Shame, shame, shame. Republicans constantly say pulling funding for the war is wrong because it will be pulling funds from those already in Iraq, when they don’t take into account that they already don’t have what the need, and the funding is active. Why can’t they see that (eh, because they don’t want to)? It doesn’t make sense.
  • What about the representatives that are still saying they agree with the war, and still want to support it? I say that you show us you are serious about your position. Give up some of your salary, and send your kids to fight. Show us you are serious. Many of those that have their kids over there are experiencing it personally, and have a better perspective on this than you do, even though you get to make the decisions; maybe it is time for you to pony up and put your money where you mouth is.
  • I have many other thoughts on this subject, but I don’t want to put too much in one post; people tend to have a hard time digesting it all… even me. So enough on Iraq for now.

On global warming:

  • Seriously. How are there people that still don’t think global warming exists?? Seriously. I saw that the Czech president said that there was no such thing, and that saying that it does exist is political propaganda. WTF dude? Why is science so scary for some people?
  • How can we, as the biggest locust nation on the planet, consume and consume and consume without giving much back to the environment we are raping? How come the government isn’t really doing anything about it? Does that make sense to you?
  • I am really scared to see what is going to happen over my lifetime with regards to nature, climate, and the world. We have done enough in 100 years to significantly damage a planet that has been around for billions of years. Can it be fixed? I worry that it can’t.

On depression:

  • I really think that people don’t understand my sometimes. I feel like I talk about how I feel, and it just goes right in one ear, and out the other, mostly because people essentially tell me that the way to get over my depression is to get over it. I freak out because I can’t get over it, and I don’t understand why others can’t see that.
  • I also freak out because I worry that I am being too needy. I worry about my depression which causes more depression. That doesn’t even make sense! UGH! I feel trapped in a box with no way out… depression sounds a lot like desperation.
  • I often wonder if we truly do deserve to be happy. What if we don’t?
  • I read an article earlier today about evolutionary psychology, and how it viewed depression. It talked about depression, like other mental conditions, as being a product of evolution, and therefore, a response to change over time, both environmentally, and emotionally. Basically, they were saying that if you were depressed, it is partly because you have learned that in order to get what you need, you feel depressed, because it is an evolutionary trait we developed meet those needs. Also, depression is viewed as anger turned inward, and while I can see part of each argument, the first suggests that depression is made up; which I truly don’t believe it is, because if I made it up, I should be able to make it go away. Also, with regards to the first argument, I don’t think the reason I am depressed is so people will meet my needs, I feel like I can’t even meet my needs, which really depresses me. Explain that! With regards the the anger turned inward argument, while that may be some of depression, I don’t know how that can be all of it. Depression is such a weird thing that can be different for different people… it is so weird how even psychologists don’t grasp that concept sometimes.
  • Part of my depression comes from issues I have in life. I have talked to many people, and discovered that a lot of people share these problems. But is that supposed to make me feel bad that I feel this way? It kind of makes me feel like I am being a baby, and that freaks me out even more; mostly, because I’m not.

Well, that was probably a lot to take in today, but that is pretty much what is going on in my head right now. Feel free to discuss any of that you want to; the posts for the last couple of days haven’t seemed to interest too many readers. Hope everyone is staying dry today…

civil rights, listen up!, politics

happy birthday, Roe v. Wade!

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Today is the anniversary of the monumental Roe v. Wade case, which, as all of you may know, effectively legalized abortion in the US. As I have said before, and will continue to say until there is no breath in my body, abortion should always be a fundamental right of every woman, everywhere. It is a pledge to women’s health, and should always be taken seriously. For those people that disagree with abortion, all I can say to you is, if you don’t like abortion, don’t have one. Avoiding the issue by not having one yourself is the best way you can protect yourself from the fact that all women deserve the right to control their own uterus, as well as the protection of having safe and sterile abortions from licensed doctors; as opposed to unsafe methods that many have to resort to when a safe abortion is not an option for them.

I for one hope this ruling is never challenged or overturned, because I believe that this is something that women deserve; the right to decide what happens to their own bodies and their own lives. I am in no way, nor have I ever been, advocating more abortions, or even suggesting that people go and have one; BUT, I AM advocating a woman’s right to choose, and I always will. Legalized abortion is not about “killing babies”, it is about having the RIGHT to choose what happens to your own body. And that, to me, is fundamental.

Finally, I feel the need to say it one more time for those of you that are blinded by the word “abortion”, make sure that you understand that legalized abortion is NOT ABOUT ABORTION; it is about the right to choose.

civil rights, is it just me?, politics, well?

stem cells and Jimmy Carter

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Two things that as I sit here thinking about, don’t really make sense to me:

1) Why Bush (or anyone) is so opposed to stem cell research, especially because of the amazing benefits that it can bring in curing many different incurable diseases, like cancer and Alzheimer’s. More importantly, why Bush should be the final say in the decision for the stem cell bill that passed recently with a vast majority.

Okay, so you don’t agree with abortion. Fine. I get it. It may mean you are a little narrow-minded, but you don’t like it, I understand that. I still stand by the position of, “if you don’t like abortion, don’t have one”, but I understand that doesn’t work for everyone. But why attack stem cells? First of all, these cells are not the reason people get abortions. The source of stem cells may come from aborted fetuses, but they also come from embryos that were slated for in vitro fertilization; that is, eggs that were fertilized outside of the body for later transplantation, that for whatever reason, were not used. Now, the only other option, is to throw these cells away. You can also clone these cells, but I can see where some are against cloning too; but if it is only for the purpose of research, and the cells are going to be destroyed anyway, why not? Especially when the benefits are so potentially great? That doesn’t make sense. Think of what the world would be like without surgery. They had to practice it and try new things when it was first developed; do you think people didn’t die? At least in this circumstance, people wouldn’t be dieing; it would be cells slated for destruction, cells that could potentially allow someone who is paralyzed be able to walk again. Making this decision as one man, is completely selfish and unrepresentative of the people that live in this country, and those that will be living here and affected by this narrow-minded decision in the future. I just don’t understand that, especially because, hey, don’t we have 3 arms of government? The two should keep the third in check, right? So why does he just get come in and veto it? It just doesn’t work for me.

2) How people can be saying that Jimmy Carter is anti-Semitic with his book, and why 14 people decided that he is so “evil” that they resigned from the board of the Carter center.

First of all, it is pretty clear that anyone that calls Jimmy Carter an evil man is a pretty delusional person. The man won the Nobel Peace Prize, is an amazing diplomat, and possibly most contradictory thing to the “evil” label, is the fact that he is a renowned humanitarian. Jimmy Carter is not anti-Semitic, in fact, he isn’t anti-anyone; which is why he wants peace in Palestine, and not apartheid, which is basically enforced discrimination and separatism resulting in the denial of human rights. The statements he has made in favor of peace for Palestine (and Israel) make complete sense if you look at them in context. People have said that he is anti-Israeli because of his stance against bombing Lebanon and Palestine; but he is against this because he is against war and killing. He stated that Israel has no right to destroy and reclaim Palestine, because, well, they don’t. Just because you believe “God” ordained something for you to have, doesn’t mean that you can take it by force. Sure, Palestine doesn’t have a spotless history, but when do you stop and say, “let’s think about our future?” A great man once said, “An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.”, and you know what, Gandhi was right. Continued fighting over the right to this tiny piece of land will bring about nothing but death and destruction in both places, and what Jimmy Carter is highlighting with his book, is that it doesn’t have to be like that. A call for piece is a call for survival. It is a call for humanitarianism, and should never been seen as anything but civil and just. People have got to stop hiding behind religion and killing each other over land and differences of opinion… and that is what Jimmy Carter sees. We as a nation have no right to stand on either side of that fence and state “we agree” with either side; it is not our place. But if we have any involvement in the region or the discord between these two nations, it should be one of peace making and diplomacy; something that Jimmy Carter knows a lot about. That is why I wonder how people can still think he is anti anything, other than anti war, anti death, and anti hate. I don’t know about you, but he sounds like a pretty good guy to me. UPDATE: After several conversations, I feel the need to follow up on these statements I made about Jimmy Carter, and have done so in this blog post. Please check it out.

Man, I have been thinking way too much lately. A nice 3 day weekend is just what the doctor ordered. Hope everyone has a great weekend, and a great Monday remembering such a wonderful man, Martin Luther King, Jr.!

is it just me?, politics, venting, well?

answers, accountability, and more importantly, change; we need some NOW

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After hearing Bush’s “new” plan for Iraq, I find myself scratching my head and asking myself a few questions. Of course, we know that this in fact is not a new plan, because he said pretty much the same thing he said 3 months ago. Well, that plus the surge of more troops. Here’s hoping that the funding is killed before he can send any more American men and women to their deaths.

After seeing the speech, and realizing the obvious lack of any real change in our “plan” to “win” Iraq, there are a few things I would like to know:

1) Who is Bush listening to with regards to actually trying to end this war? Because it is pretty clear he isn’t listening to anyone that doesn’t have monetary gain at stake; those serving to make money through this war are just getting richer, and there is no desire for it to end for them. It is pretty clear to me that he is listening to them, but not us… and why not? Isn’t his job to represent our interests (after all, we are paying for this war, and will be for a LONG time to come)? Isn’t that what a Democracy is supposed to do?

2) When is he going to realize that more than 70% of Americans have made it clear that the war has got to end now? (This piggybacks on the last question.) Bush needs to realize that we elected a new majority to speak for us, and that voice needs to be taken seriously. I ask, because his approval rating doesn’t seem to matter to him one bit.

3) Does he really care about the soldiers that have died, as well as those that have been injured (which total WAY more and are, for some reason, never mentioned)? Because he doesn’t seem to have an ounce of remorse, especially as his new plan will call for more deaths.

Quoth the Bush: (source)

Let me be clear: The terrorists and insurgents in Iraq are without conscience, and they will make the year ahead bloody and violent. Even if our new strategy works exactly as planned, deadly acts of violence will continue – and we must expect more Iraqi and American casualties.

Um, when will be in a position to not EXPECT more casualties? What if the plan doesn’t work? Will that mean even more dead? As of right now, there have been over 3000 soldiers lost, and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi deaths. That sounds like enough is enough to me, one more death is one too many. And no more soldiers need to be subjected to injuries; these people are coming home without arms, legs, genitals, etc. That is just not right.
4) If we are trying to end the war, why is there a surge of new troops being deployed? I mean, if the plan is (was) to provide support to Iraq, and help them build up their own military, why hasn’t that worked, since we have been doing that from the beginning? Are more troops really what we need to do something we haven’t yet been able to accomplish? And are 20,000 troops really going to be able to make it happen? Or, is it more plausible that we can’t attain this “goal”, and the best thing to do is make things right (since we started by making them wrong) by ending the war? There have to be better strategies… Oh wait, there are several, but Bush didn’t seem to pay attention any of those. Remember what happened in 2001 when he ignored some good advice… I’m just saying.
5) Since it is obvious that there is no desire to end the war, what will the next steps be? Are we ever going to bring home our troops? If so, is there a plan for getting them out? If there is, what is this plan? To me (and many others) this seems like he is just passing the buck, holding out this war until his term is over. He won’t admit defeat or failure (his lame ass “I accept responsibility” last night was weak and pathetic), and as a result, he will pour everything we have into making it look like we are “making it work”. How is that making things right?
6) Why haven’t we ever acknowledged, and therefore altered our plans accordingly, that the people responsible for the attack on 9/11 are not the ones we are gunning for? And why is that, because wasn’t why the war was started; a war on terror? WTF? I know there are volatile people in the region, but most of those are insurgents gunning for us because we invaded and continue to occupy THEIR COUNTRY. Why aren’t we trying our diplomatic hand at making things better in the surrounding countries; who now are continuing to get more and more pissed at US, and will soon be coming for US??!
As a fellow livejournaler invoking the spirit of Kelly said, “George Bush is a douche-bag…. I want to send that guy a douche bag in the mail.”. Seriously, folks, this guy is a real sadist and mass murderer. Calling him anything less would be inaccurate.

Now, I know that the Bush supporters/conservatives out there are going to go all ape-shit on this post, but I don’t even care. These questions are based on what has been said and what is currently going on… much of it without opinion. Say what you want, and argue all you want, but this war is wrong, and Bush’s plan is plain wrong for suggesting we continue down the same old road. Something has got to change, and I hope that change comes soon. Come through for us Congress! Come through!!

And to you, John McCain, shut the fuck up. You have no idea what you are talking about you douche. You can’t say the “failure” of the war is from the consequences of actions taken by Congress NOW… if anything, that failure has already happened, we are dealing with a mess that needs to be cleaned up ASAP, ass. I might send him a douche bag in the mail too. If you were in Vietnam, and you see the same thing now, how can you continually bury your head in the sand little man? Wake up! (source)

all about me, listen up!, mixed media, politics, venting, well?, wtf?!

do you think he has been drugged?

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That is the only thing that I can think of that would lead Bush to be open minded, and actually LISTEN to a plan about the war that doesn’t focus on “staying the course”, and pumping more and more resources and troops into Iraq. If he is on drugs, I hope he stays on them for at least two more years, so we can get our troops home, and hopefully solve this situation we are currently mucking up half a world away. My only fear, is that listening is not a guarantee that he will actually hear what is being said; let’s hope that my fear doesn’t become reality. Perhaps Bush is beginning to realize that very few people are backing him in his warmongering efforts, and finally grew a conscious!? Who knows… I guess we will see, won’t we? (source)

UPDATE: Looks like he isn’t listening. Stay the course, moron, stay the course. Fucker.

Other than that news, there isn’t much going on for me right now. Going into another weekend, I am just excited about spending time doing things with friends, rather than sitting at work. Man, I cherish my weekends. Don’t we all, though? I just wish I could have an actual vacation, and not have to use it for sick time and going to see family. One of these days, I will spend some time on a sandy beach sipping some kind of fruity drink. On second thought, scratch that, I don’t do sand, and too many fruity drinks can make you feel quite ill; trust me, that is based on experience. I would just settle for a week of uninhibited fun… anywhere. Hopefully some day…

Now, I will quit rambling, and hope that you all have a great weekend. I took some of the advice provided in the previous post’s comments, and hopefully that will solve some of my problems. I may try out WP, but not right this minute. I am also thinking of switching webhosts, so if you have referral codes or shit like that, let me know.

Also, does anyone still watch ANTM? Caridee is the best!! I am so glad she won!!!! YAY! Alright, I’m outta here!

politics

Tell us the truth Cathy Cox: for us, or against us?

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Today I happened to stumble onto some information about one Ms Cathy Cox, and thought, as a concerned Atlantian, I should share it. Before I get into that, I guess I should point out that Cathy is running for governor of Georgia, and this is merely one way of asking Cathy what she means by this, and if there will be a change in the near future. Sorry to keep you in the dark, children, so here comes the light. Apparently, Cathy Cox is a member of the Druid Hills Country Club. Her and her husband, Mark Dehler, are both members. They are members, as a family, and are recognized as such by the country club. But that is not what disturbs me. It disturbs me that Cathy Cox portrays herself as a Democrat that is “for the people of Georgia” and attends events advocating gay rights (HRC dinner in Atlanta), but gives thousands of dollars a year to an organization that does not believe gay and lesbian couples deserve the same rights as straight couples do.

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politics

darfur update: Condi to the rescue!

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Well, now we are the world’s father and mother, telling them to act, what to do, and how to do it. Apparently, pray-fest 2005 was a bust (See last weekend’s “weekend of prayer” for Darfur), so Condi flew down to Sudan to tell them that they needed to act now against the torture and genocide in Darfur. And! On top of that, (quote taken from BBC news)

Ms Rice stressed that the US would hold him to account if he failed to act, particularly in stopping violence to women.
Ms Rice told reporters: “I said to the Sudanese government that they had a credibility problem with the international community… I have said, ‘actions not words’.”

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politics

live 8, weekend of prayer; why not DO something?

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It seems that as Americans, we would rather talk about things than actually DO things. Case and point: The live 8 concerts that recently took place all over the world, were crafted as a means to raise awareness and promote programs for ending hunger and starvation all over Africa. Well, what about the action that would actually end the hunger and starvation all over Africa? I can imagine that if the money that was used to promote, initiate, and carry out live 8 were used to actually FEED CHILDREN in Africa, then that would have been a much better allocation of the available resources. Instead, as my friend Jason Coleman pointed out, all of the performers at the Philadelphia show were given $20k gift bags (kind of like the Oscars). Why not give that money, to oh, let’s say… the starving people of Africa???

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politics

What’s wrong with the EBT system? I’ll show you!

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There is a gas station near my house that has this sign outside that says “use your EBT for beer, cigarettes, cash, etc”. Now, I may be wrong, but I thought that EBT was kind of like a food stamp debit card; it is only given to those that qualify, and those that express need for governmental support with regards to buying food. So that means that this probably isn’t supposed to be used for beer and cigarettes, right? I honestly don’t think that it is right to allow gas stations to accept this as a form of payment. You don’t do your grocery shopping at the gas station, do you? Chances are… probably not.

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