Filed under: America, Bush Family Business, History, Imperialism, News, Oil, Politics & Current Affairs, Religion, Thoughts, War | Tags: America, Bush, Bush Family Business, History, Imperialism, Israel, News, Oil, Politics, Politics & Current Affairs, Religion, Thoughts, US, War
Up to 12000 marchers today protested in London against the ongoing slaughter of Gazans. Many other protesters braved the cold weather to gather in Manchester and Edinburgh also.
Later hundreds threw symbolic shoes into Whitehall in a similar protest to that of the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at George W Bush at his last press conference in Baghdad.
The crowd chanted “Shame On You, Here’s Our Shoe”
Filed under: America, Bush Family Business, History, Imperialism, News, Oil, Politics & Current Affairs, Religion, Society, Thoughts, War | Tags: America, Bush, Bush Family Business, Gaza, Hamas, History, Imperialism, Israel, News, Oil, Politics, Politics & Current Affairs, Religion, Thoughts, US, War
Finally, proof that George W Bush is insane. He claimed today the slaughter of 400+ Palestinians is the fault of Hamas. Of course we know that he is expected to spout such nonsense in the media because of the strength of the Zionist-driven Jewish lobby in the US which has power over every US politician to some degree or another. Any decent man, given that he has only days left in “power”, would have grown a backbone and condemned the Zionist slaughter for what it is – a planned election-related program of genocide timed meticulously and with an accompanying chorus of propaganda across the media.
Filed under: America, Bush Family Business, Corporate Greed, Entertainment, History, Imperialism, Movies, Oil, Politics & Current Affairs, Thoughts, War | Tags: America, Bush, Bush Family Business, Cinema, Imperialism, Movies, Oil, Politics, Politics & Current Affairs, Thoughts, War
I’m just back from watching W., Oliver Stone’s Bush biopic. Richard Dreyfuss was right – Stone’s film was far too empathetic! Entertaining, but unfortunately not fictional. The most accurate and CHILLING performance was RD’s portrayal of Cheney – he came across as the scary Bond villain – very true to life!
I thought at two hours long it would have covered much more in terms of the Bush connections with the Saudis and the whole 9/11 thing, for example – too much time spent on his drunken youth.
Worth a look, though.
Filed under: America, Art, Books, Bush Family Business, Corporate Greed, History, Imperialism, Life, News, Oil, Politics & Current Affairs, Society, Thoughts, War | Tags: America, Art, Bush Family Business, Corporate Greed, History, Imperialism, News, Oil, Politics, Politics & Current Affairs, Society, Thoughts, US, War
I’m not sure exactly what it is that appeals to me so much about Norman Rockwell’s pictures of American life. I imagine that it is the fantastic realism and the accurate reflection of lighting and detail, but probably more likely, it is the wholesome goodness of the images that reminds me of my impressions of America garnered from the years of Hollywood movies I watched in my youth. This was long before I had begun my political education at the hands of my father. He showed me that in every conflict in which the US was involved, with the exception of the two World Wars, you could find out who the “good guys” were by checking which side the Yanks supported – it was always the other guys. He led me to the writings of Noam Chomsky, David Halberstam and others that opened my eyes to what was happening in the world.
Rockwell’s world detailed an era when the American people in general were comfortable with themselves and their lives. Now that many modern Americans have seen years of blatant profit orientated, oil-based foreign policy and financial scandals, like Cheney’s Halliburton fiasco, the majority of decent people in the US have taken a chance and stepped into a hopeful future with Barack Obama. With lots of effort, patience and focus, the American people can try to return to Rockwell’s world. It will not be easy. In recent weeks, I’ve listened to some Americans on podcasts and radio interviews, with disturbing views on why the US was attacked in September 2001. Their grasp of what goes on outside the US borders and in many cases, inside the US borders, is so far from reality, that it’s frightening. The knee-jerk right wing reaction to anything approaching a foreign threat appears to be “kill them all and let God sort them out” – a glib summary of the situation but not far from the truth in my experience.
Barack Obama has a vast number of urgent and critical issues to deal with. I suggest that political re-education of the American people around US foreign policy and the reasons why the US is considered “the villain of the piece” needs to be near the top of his list.
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This just in…Ted Stevens, the Republican Senator for Alaska, has been found guilty of violating ethics laws concerning his acceptance of gifts from rich friends and contractors in his home state of Alaska.
Considered to be fairly close to Governor Sarah Palin, this latest in a run of controversial news items may well taint the vice-presidential hopeful at this late stage of the election run-up.
Let’s hope so….
Filed under: News, Politics & Current Affairs, Society, Thoughts, Wacky Government | Tags: News, Politics, Politics & Current Affairs, Society, Thoughts, Wacky Government
In another example of wacky government, India launched a moon mission, Chandrayaan-1, while millions of it’s population starve due to government inaction and disinterested officials. Malnutrition is rife among India’s children in a society riven by self-interest, caste discrimination and feudalism. This is a disgraceful episode in India’s history and should not be something celebrated as a matter of national pride.
Filed under: America, Corporate Greed, Culture, Economy, Environment, Family, Global Warming, Life, News, Politics & Current Affairs, Society, Technology, Thoughts, UK, Wacky Government | Tags: America, Economy, Environment, Family, Global Warming, Life, News, Politics, Politics & Current Affairs, Society, Technology, Thoughts, UK, Wacky Government
Rarely have I read such tosh. Evil fat people are now blamed for global warming, instead of the governments around the world, particularly in the UK and US, where successive regimes have failed to invest in public transport and freight-carrying railway systems and allowed countless “entrepreneurs” with their small and medium haulage companies running thousands of small and large trucks across the country. What about those buses too? I was continually blasted by huge amounts of exhaust fumes and hot furnace-like air being expelled from the backsides of New York buses when I was there in July (it was already 98°!) and there were hundreds driving and parked with both engines and air-con running. How many fatties does it take to waste the energy or create the CO2 that one of the behemoths release in one day?
Conveniently, and I fully expect that this study was funded by some Big Pharma company, oil company or other vested interest, this argument completely ignores the fact that big business and their puppets (Thatcher and Reagan) have created such a massive cheap and under-educated labour force and have failed to create the conditions to sustain this workface fairly and healthily (hence the almost twenty-eight million Americans expected to receive food stamps this year and the fact that Wal-Mart, McDonalds and Yum Foods, owners of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, all pay such low wages to their employees that they need to rely on welfare packages such as Medicare).
My point is that many millions of obese British and Americans are obese largely because they rely on cheap fast food to feed their families.
And now it’s their fault that Global Warming is increasing – I don’t think so!
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/4/2/record_number_of_food_stamp_recipients
Don’t Eat That Burger – You’re Killing A Polar Bear!
The weight and consumption habits of the overweight and obese are worsening the pace of global warming, said two researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in a letter to the medical journal Lancet.
It takes more fuel to transport people who are obese and therefore heavier, Phil Edwards and Ian Roberts wrote. In addition, heavier people do not just tend to eat more food: they actually require it. The researchers calculated that it takes an obese person 1,680 calories per day just to maintain their body functioning and another 1,280 to sustain their daily activities. This is 18 percent higher than the caloric intake required for a person with a normal body mass index (BMI).
BMI is a measure of weight relative to height that is used to calculate healthy body weight. A BMI of 18 to 25 is considered normal, while a BMI above 25 is considered overweight and one of 30 or more obese.
But according to Edwards and Roberts, 40 percent of the global population has a BMI in the neighborhood of 30 or more.
“We are all becoming heavier and it is a global responsibility,” Edwards said. “Obesity is a key part of the big picture.”
The production and transportation of food is a major source of greenhouse gases, the researchers noted, with agriculture responsible for a whopping 20 percent of global emissions. They also faulted the overweight for contributing to global food shortages.
“Promotion of a normal distribution of BMI would reduce the global demand for, and thus the price of, food,” the researchers wrote.
Tim Church of Louisiana State University questioned Edwards and Roberts’ focus on obesity, noting that 25 percent of the food produced in the United States is thrown away.
“We throw away far more food than the extra 460 calories per day [that Edwards and Roberts] point out,” Church said. “In other words, most of our food overproduction is due to waste, not overeating.”
SOURCE – BBC
Filed under: Culture, Economy, Family, History, Life, News, Politics & Current Affairs, Society, Stress, Thoughts, Wacky Government, War | Tags: Culture, History, Life, Politics, Politics & Current Affairs, Society, Stress, Thoughts, Wacky Government, War
One major legacy of the Vietnam War was the trail of broken marriages, veteran related crime and general Post Traumatic Stress Disorder issues experienced by society in the US at that time. Forty-odd years later, we shouldn’t be surprised that 1 in 11 prisoners in the UK is an ex-serviceman. Between Northern Ireland, the Falklands War, Iraq and Afghanistan, there are potentially plenty of PTSD sufferers out there who need help. As usual in this country, it comes down to money:
“The MoD said counselling was always available to personnel, troops had briefings before and after postings, there were six mental health therapy pilot schemes, and veterans could have free assessments.”
Counselling and assessments must be made mandatory rather than “available” to troops returning home after any conflict, when many of them are in no position to judge whether they need counselling or not.
Up to 8,500 former members of the armed forces are serving sentences in UK prisons, it has been claimed.
Probation staff union Napo said its figures suggested about one in every 11 prisoners used to be in the forces.
It has led the union and Plaid Cymru MP Elfyn Llwyd to claim there is a lack of support for ex-service personnel.
The Ministry of Defence said it worked closely with charities to support veterans when they left the service and those who went to prison.
Both the MoD and the Ministry of Justice said they planned to carry out further surveys soon to “ensure we have up-to-date figures that will help us better target the help we provide for veterans in prison”.
Mr Llwyd said thousands of former members of the armed services who served either in the Gulf or Afghanistan had been subsequently convicted of offences and jailed.
He claimed that “effectively when armed personnel return, there is no help for them,” and said the position in the UK “contrasts greatly with the way the United States provide counselling and assistance to their armed personnel”.
“I have come to the conclusion that if proper treatment was available for these disturbed servicemen, hundreds if not thousands would not have offended,” said Mr Llwyd, the leader of Plaid Cymru’s parliamentary group.
“The government is letting them and their families down very badly indeed.”
Mr Llwyd said he had been unsatisfied with the initial response he was given when he raised the issue in Parliament after concerns were raised by his constituents in Meirionnydd Nant Conwy.
A criminal lawyer by trade, he saw ex-servicemen being sentenced in north Wales courts for assaults “with worrying regularity”.
He was told in a parliamentary answer that figures from “nationally representative surveys” of some 2,000 prisoners in 2001, 2003 and 2004 showed the proportion of former armed forces prisoners was 6%, 4% and 5% respectively.
The MP contacted Napo, which represents probation and family court staff, which then gathered evidence from 22 probation areas.
Napo said its initial findings and data from the group Veterans in Prison suggested that “as many as 8,500 former soldiers are currently in custody in the UK”. On 15 August, the prison population was 93,574.
Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of Napo, said the number in prison could be greater than 8,500, and its studies suggest there could be more than 7,000 in England and Wales, and another 1,000 in Scotland.
Mr Fletcher said the “vast majority” of offences were violent and related to drugs or alcohol.
“There is no systematic availability of stress-related counselling. This should be made available without delay and would drastically reduce the number of receptions into custody”.
An MoD spokesperson said: “The MoD works closely with the service charities to support veterans when they leave the armed forces and for those who find themselves in prison.
“The Prison In-Reach initiative already provides advice on the support available to veterans before and after their release. Robust systems are in place to treat and prevent PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and other stress disorders.”
The MoD said counselling was always available to personnel, troops had briefings before and after postings, there were six mental health therapy pilot schemes, and veterans could have free assessments.
The Ministry of Justice said prisoners were given support in addressing the issues which led to their behaviour.
SOURCE – BBC
Filed under: America, Culture, Entertainment, Fun, Life, News, Oil, Politics & Current Affairs, Society, Thoughts, Weird & Wonderful | Tags: America, Fun, Funny, Humor, Humour, Politics, Politics & Current Affairs
Love it, love it, love it!
Filed under: America, Culture, Politics & Current Affairs, Society, Thoughts | Tags: America, Politics, Politics & Current Affairs, Thoughts
Poster girl for the American Conservative Right (Life membership of NRA/Pro Life Advocate), Governor Sarah Palin, rising star in the GOP, is in the right place at the right time - disaffected feminist Democrats could even change horses with the thought of a potential female president in the next few years (let’s face it; Really McOldie won’t be around forever – he’s 72!). As a young (compared to John McCain) female (compared to John McCain), she represents the ultimate balancing act for McCain’s ticket.
As governor of Alaska (it’s first female and youngest ever governor) with approval ratings in the 90%+ range, she’s going far. She has five children, the latest of which is only some months old, and she looks the part too.
