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When Ideologies Collide
Author: BobR    Date: 10/19/2011 10:28:06

Between Occupy Wall Street and the Republican race (with their mind-numbingly repetitive debates), there seem to be few news cycles for anything else. Foreign affairs normally get short shrift as it is, and the last couple weeks have been no exception. As the war in Afghanistan continues in seeming perpetuity, the war in Iraq (or at least U.S involvement) is finally coming to an end.

So it's no surprise that other than our own TriSec reporting yesterday, we have seen very little coverage of our newest military entanglement: Kenya. Naturally, there will be the conspiracy theorists going on about it because of President Obama's father, but look at the details and it's clear that it has more to do with Uganda than Kenya.
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86 comments (Latest Comment: 10/20/2011 00:56:58 by TriSec)

Ask a Vet
Author: TriSec    Date: 10/18/2011 10:32:41

Good Morning.

Today is our 3,135th day in Iraq, and our 3,663rd day in Afghanistan.

We'll start this morning as we always do; with the last casualty figures from our ongoing wars, courtesy of Antiwar.com:

American Deaths
Since war began (3/19/03): 4477
Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03): 4338
Since Handover (6/29/04): 3618
Since Obama Inauguration (1/20/09): 249
Since Operation New Dawn: 49

Other Coalition Troops - Iraq: 318
US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 1,809
Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 957
Contractor Employee Deaths - Iraq: 1,487
Journalists - Iraq : 348
Academics Killed - Iraq: 448

We find this morning's Cost of War passing through:

$ 1, 265, 104, 600, 000 .00

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59 comments (Latest Comment: 10/19/2011 00:45:11 by wickedpam)

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Author: Raine    Date: 10/17/2011 14:28:52

This morning I came across a really good article about the Occupy movement and what demands to make and if they should be made at all.
“We absolutely need demands,” said Shawn Redden, 35, an earnest history teacher in the group. “Like Frederick Douglass said, ‘Power concedes nothing without a demand.’ ”

The influence and staying power of Occupy Wall Street are undeniable: similar movements have sprouted around the world, as the original group enters its fifth week in the financial district. Yet a frequent criticism of the protesters has been the absence of specific policy demands.
As many of you know, I have been asking this. I'm afraid I am starting to sound like a broken record. It's never been the why for me. It's been the how -- and to a lesser extent, the what. In New York it appears there is a forming consensus developing:
In New York, the demands committee held a two-hour open forum last Monday, coming up with two major categories: jobs for all and civil rights. The team will continue to meet twice a week to develop a list of specific proposals, which it will then discuss with protesters and eventually take to the General Assembly, a nightly gathering of the hundreds of protesters in the park.
BobR and I went to the Occupy DC site on Friday night after the days events/marches/assemblies were over. We saw a small team of people in a circle discussing issues and decided to take a listen. They were debating and voting on the issue whether of not to take it up with the General Assembly on a vote about garbage removal. I'm not going to judge Occupy DC site for a few moments we witnessed, but it does seem to be the case here as in NYC that small groups discuss and vote on whether or not to take the issue to the larger General Assemblies where things are either endorsed or rejected.

Perhaps there is a shift in the way things are getting done from the early weeks of this movement. It appears that Wall Street is becoming the center of operations and smaller sites are taking their cues from them. All good moves in my opinion. I still believe that movements of social change need leaders.
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64 comments (Latest Comment: 10/18/2011 01:54:44 by livingonli)

Sunday Open Blog
Author: velveeta jones    Date: 10/16/2011 15:39:54

Good morning bloggies.

Velveeta had to sleep today, and for the first time in almost a year, I was able to get up after the sun came up. What a JOY!!

Watching our President with his family touring the new Martin Luther King Jr, memorial. Cute little Malia is really growing! Goodness. She is so adorable in klutzy-ness and somewhat self consciousness walking alongside her Dad.

Even though we now have our first memorial of an African-American on the National Mall, we still have to fight racism and bigotry and classism everyday. The Occupy Wall Street is a testament to that.

Have a great day everyone.
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3 comments (Latest Comment: 10/17/2011 00:12:00 by trojanrabbit)

A Parable
Author: TriSec    Date: 10/15/2011 11:25:00

Good Morning.

Most of you know about my wanderings among the major Abrahamic religions over the past few years. (No secrets around here, eh?) Over the past couple of months, I've started listening to a New Testament podcast. It's a hoot, actually...they are apparently using the King James version, full of "Thees" and "Thoughs" and many instances of when Jesus "Spake". (And one outright , concerning the virgin birth: 'But how am I to bear a child, for I have not known a man?' "The Holy Spirit will come upon thee." But I digress.)
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13 comments (Latest Comment: 10/16/2011 00:49:16 by trojanrabbit)

Mr. Mojo Rising
Author: BobR    Date: 10/14/2011 12:54:17

It's been a roller-coaster year for the president. From the Debt talks to Osama bin Laden to poor jobs numbers to battles with Congress to DADT, he has ridden a wave up and down in popularity and effectiveness. Depending on your point of view, either he keeps bouncing back, or he keeps getting knocked back (sometimes by the very people that should be supporting him). His current trend is moving in a more postive direction.
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52 comments (Latest Comment: 10/14/2011 22:12:52 by Raine)

It's Not the Economy, Stupid.
Author: Raine    Date: 10/13/2011 13:26:12

This may be the understatement of the year: The GOP talks a lot about the deficit and jobs. They do it ALL day long; they do it on TV, on the radio, on the web and in the papers. They are saying it on campaign trails and in town halls. They send that message via the United States Postal Service. They keep asking the President: 'Where are the jobs?" It's not just the candidates, it is also the leaders and the rank and file Republicans members of the House and Senate. Who can forget what Mitch McConnell said? The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.

They talk jobs. They talk economy. And what do they do? They attempt to pass laws curbing women's rights. From Politico:
The bill would ban federal funding of abortions. It would also ensure that providers have protections if they believe abortions violate their consciences and prohibit the tax subsidies in the health reform law from going toward a health plan that includes coverage of abortions except in cases of rape or incest or for the safety of the mother.

Planned Parenthood warns that the bill could allow hospitals to refuse to treat a patient whose life depends on having an abortion. The group argues that a hospital would be able to use the bill’s conscience clause to escape the federal law — the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act — that requires hospitals to treat all patients.
Eric Cantor says it's all part of the Economic reform and cost-cutting the GOP promised to Americans. No, really:
“That was a part of our Pledge to America that we had always said that we were going to move to eliminate government funding of organizations that perform abortions,” Cantor said on Capitol Hill on Tuesday. “That’s something that we said we were going to do, and we’re upholding that pledge.”
The bill likely won't see any movement in the Senate, and the White House has has said it would see a veto pen. The question remains: how serious is the GOP about the economy? For me, the answer is: They are not serious at all. They would rather limit a woman's right to choose - even in the case of death - and privatize health care for the elderly. They want to ban marriage equality. They are fighting to keep DOMA in place.
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48 comments (Latest Comment: 10/13/2011 23:05:46 by Raine)

The Gulf Between Perception and Reality
Author: BobR    Date: 10/12/2011 12:59:45

Yesterday illustrated the large disconnect between what is important to the majority of Americans, and what Republicans think they must do and say to get elected (or re-elected). The Republican debates focused on cutting taxes with no real definitive solutions to our economic problem that could be backed up with studies from experts. The Senate Republicans also voted down the President's Jobs Bill.

Meanwhile, what do Americans think is important? For the vast majority of Americans, it is the economy. During the 2010 elections, it was Jobs specifically, which is a component - or possibly a symptom - of the economy. Unemployment continues to be the major concern, and it seems common knowledge that improving the jobs situation will improve the economy. There is a certain chicken/egg disagreement though. Will jobs improve when the economy improves, or will increasing jobs improve the economy? Democrats believe the latter; Republicans believe the former.
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71 comments (Latest Comment: 10/13/2011 14:53:39 by forrest)

Ask a Vet
Author: TriSec    Date: 10/11/2011 10:36:27

Good Morning.

I touched upon it briefly last Friday on the actual anniversary....but we'll let the dates speak for themself further below.

We'll start this morning as we always do; with the latest casualty figures from our ongoing wars, courtesy of Antiwar.com:

American Deaths
Since war began (3/19/03): 4477
Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03): 4338
Since Handover (6/29/04): 3618
Since Obama Inauguration (1/20/09): 249
Since Operation New Dawn: 49

Other Coalition Troops - Iraq: 318
US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 1,802
Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 954
Contractor Employee Deaths - Iraq: 1,487
Journalists - Iraq : 348
Academics Killed - Iraq: 448


We find this morning's cost of war passing through:

$ 1, 261, 854, 850, 000 .00



This past Friday marked 10 years that we've been at war. A decade is an awfully long time, in American terms. Think of something you've done for ten consecutive years. Have you been married that long? Stayed at one job that long? Lived in the same house for ten years?
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65 comments (Latest Comment: 10/11/2011 22:48:15 by Raine)

Occupy? Yes. Occupy the Streets, Legislatures, Congress AND the Vote.
Author: Raine    Date: 10/10/2011 13:30:20

I am watching the events of the Occupy movement -- by now, you know that I am watching with a certain amount of skepticism, and hope for its success. It's important. It has great potential. I hope to attend a General Assembly here in DC to further understand the inner workings on a personal level. A friend of mine (Shoq) wrote of them here. It includes a video of how they work, but more importantly, he wrote this:
Those familiar with democracy will recognize the problems of holding such assemblies on a city, state, or national level. You'd need "representatives" to attend them. And dang it all, those are so hard to appoint by consensus in some accountable way. It's been tried. Many times.

Thus, GAs, as they are known, useful on small scales for some kinds of actions or ordinances (like that one above), are lovely exercises in what we might call, a pre-representative democracy.

In practical usage, those often lead to the need for some form of representative democracy, often called a republic. You remember those, right? They're kinda like the United States of America before someone broke it.

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55 comments (Latest Comment: 10/11/2011 02:21:38 by clintster)

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