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Response & Responsibility
Author: BobR    Date: 2010-07-30 12:44:34

When our government was created, the founding fathers put in a 3-pronged system (not unlike the hats they wore). A 3-legged table will always stand solid. Two legs and it falls over; 4 legs or more and it may wobble on uneven ground. The three branches ensure a system of checks & balances. Humankind being what it is, however, each branch needs it's own check to balance against corruption and misbehavior by its members. Thus, the ethics committee.
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55 comments (Latest Comment: 07/31/2010 02:51:53 by BobR)

GOP to 9/11 Responders: Tough Luck.
Author: Raine    Date: 07/29/2010 13:34:05

Sometimes I really just don't understand how the GOP mind works. Today it's recommending that its members vote against assisting 9/11 victims, particularly the emergency responders to the disaster on that day.

Politico is reporting this morning:
House Republican leadership is advising its members to vote against a bipartisan bill that would, among other things, bolster medical support to Sept. 11 victims.

The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2009, sponsored by New York City Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D), provides medical monitoring to those exposed to toxins at Ground Zero, bolsters treatment at specialized centers for those afflicted by toxins on 9/11 and reopens a compensation fund to provide economic loss to New Yorkers.

And it’s all paid for by closing a tax loophole on foreign companies with U.S. subsidiaries, Democrats say.

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34 comments (Latest Comment: 07/30/2010 03:47:33 by Al from WV)

It's the End of the World
Author: BobR    Date: 07/28/2010 11:53:56


Six O'Clock - TV hour,
Don't get caught in foreign towers,
Slash and burn, return, listen to yourself churn...

-- It's the End of the World As We Know It, REM


Some days, writing this blog is easy, fun, and empowering. The passion and inspiration flow out my fingertips so quickly I can hardly type it all. Then there are days there is so much messed up shit going on I don't know where to begin, and fall into a malaise. This might be one of those days. I see news headlines and think: "It's the end of the world as we know it...". But I don't feel fine.
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34 comments (Latest Comment: 07/28/2010 20:42:20 by Scoopster)

Ask a Vet
Author: TriSec    Date: 07/27/2010 10:01:09

Good Morning.

Today is our 2,687th day in Iraq and our 3,215th day in Afghanistan.

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): 4413
Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03): 4274
Since Capture of Saddam (12/13/03): 3952
Since Handover (6/29/04): 3554
Since Obama Inauguration (1/20/09): 185

Other Coalition Troops - Iraq: 318
US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 1,206
Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 760
Contractor Employee Deaths - Iraq: 1,457
Journalists - Iraq: 338
Academics Killed - Iraq: 437

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

$ 1, 021, 675, 900, 000 .00



As you're probably aware, the media in this country always focuses on the "body count", whether it's the 'enemy' or our own soldiers, those that gave the last full measure of their devotion always seem to garner the most headlines. In any war, the wounded always outnumber the dead, and these are the soldiers that are often overlooked. Over the years, we've tried to stay on top of the goings on at Walter Reed, the diagnosis and treatment of TBI and PTSD, and what the government has been doing to make sure these soldiers have a chance to get back into society.

Here is one of those stories.


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65 comments (Latest Comment: 07/28/2010 03:24:39 by velveeta jones)

MSM has a chance, will they take it?
Author: Raine    Date: 07/26/2010 12:32:35

By now, I am sure that everyone has heard of the Afghanistan War Logs Released by Wikileaks. It's a huge story. There are over 90,000 classified field reports. These reports were sent to three publications months ago for review with the promise that they would wait to publish stories until after Wikileaks 'leaked' it.

These documents are raw field data. I also suspect that there really is very little new news to most of us that have been paying attention to the occupation in Afghanistan. For me the larger story is something that Jay Rosen said "In media history up to now, the press is free to report on what the powerful wish to keep secret because the laws of a given nation protect it. But Wikileaks is able to report on what the powerful wish to keep secret because the logic of the Internet permits it. This is new." He goes on to say that no one seems to know what to do with this new way of presenting information. (the entire post is truly worth the read, btw).
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29 comments (Latest Comment: 07/27/2010 01:46:12 by livingonli)

What's on your Mind?
Author: velveeta jones    Date: 07/25/2010 16:41:08

Here's what's on Velveeta's minds (well, when I push aside the little monkey playing his drum):

Two missing soldiers
in Afghanistan! Seems one may be dead, but the Taliban claim to have them and want to exchange the dead soldier for prisoners.

Sheesh. Can this war get any worse? Will there ever be an end?

KABUL, Afghanistan - U.S. and NATO officials confirmed that two American Navy personnel went missing Friday in the eastern province of Logar, after an armored sports utility vehicle was seen driving into a Taliban-held area.

The two left their compound in the Afghan capital, Kabul, in a vehicle Friday afternoon, but never returned, NATO said in a statement. Vehicles and helicopters were dispatched to search for the two, who may have been killed or captured by the Taliban after getting lost in Charkh district of southern Logar province, said district chief Samer Gul.

In a telephone interview Sunday with the Associated Press, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the pair drove into an area under insurgent control, prompting a brief gunfight in which one of the Americans was killed and the other was captured. He said both were taken to a "safe area" and "are in the hands of the Taliban." The Taliban offered to exchange the body of the U.S. Navy sailor they said was killed in exchange for insurgent prisoners.

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What's on your Mind?
Author: velveeta jones    Date: 07/25/2010 14:04:56

Here's what's on Velveeta's minds (well, when I push aside the little monkey playing his drum):

Two missing soldiers
in Afghanistan! Seems one may be dead, but the Taliban claim to have them and want to exchange the dead soldier for prisoners.

Sheesh. Can this war get any worse? Will there ever be an end?

KABUL, Afghanistan - U.S. and NATO officials confirmed that two American Navy personnel went missing Friday in the eastern province of Logar, after an armored sports utility vehicle was seen driving into a Taliban-held area.

The two left their compound in the Afghan capital, Kabul, in a vehicle Friday afternoon, but never returned, NATO said in a statement. Vehicles and helicopters were dispatched to search for the two, who may have been killed or captured by the Taliban after getting lost in Charkh district of southern Logar province, said district chief Samer Gul.

In a telephone interview Sunday with the Associated Press, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the pair drove into an area under insurgent control, prompting a brief gunfight in which one of the Americans was killed and the other was captured. He said both were taken to a "safe area" and "are in the hands of the Taliban." The Taliban offered to exchange the body of the U.S. Navy sailor they said was killed in exchange for insurgent prisoners.

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5 comments (Latest Comment: 07/25/2010 23:43:27 by livingonli)

Saturday open thread
Author: TriSec    Date: 2010-07-24 13:09:26

We're running late today.

Got a scout event soon, then I'm off to the store.


 
8 comments (Latest Comment: 07/25/2010 01:36:49 by Raine)

RBIs, not Home Runs
Author: BobR    Date: 07/23/2010 11:07:20

Since Barack Obama took office in Jan 2009, he has signed several major bills. Depending on where you stand in the political spectrum and your individual expectations, those bills are either monumental achievements, watered down and worthless, or the end of democracy as we know it. There has been a lot of talk about the inability of the Democrats to get anything done. That of course is not the case. Perhaps it's the notion (in the minds of both legislators and political activists) that every bill has to be an all-encompassing game-changer. It seems every bill has to be a home run.

The reality, of course, is that games can be won with RBIs and batters hitting singles and doubles. Batters that consistently hit singles and doubles often do much more to help a team win than the guy who strikes out several times trying to put one over the wall. The home run may be more crowd pleasing and dramatic, but they don't always help in the big picture.
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38 comments (Latest Comment: 07/24/2010 00:59:30 by clintster)

Starve the hate machine.
Author: Raine    Date: 07/22/2010 12:25:53

I am not going to post a very long blog today. I am fairly sure that there is nothing more I could add to this Shirley Sherrod story. I have posted many times on how I feel about race relations in this country, but today I read and interview Media Matters did with Ms. Sherrod and one paragraph in particular took my breath away:
"I think they should but they won't. They intended exactly what they did. They were looking for the result they got yesterday," she said of Fox. "I am just a pawn. I was just here. They are after a bigger thing, they would love to take us back to where we were many years ago. Back to where black people were looking down, not looking white folks in the face, not being able to compete for a job out there and not be a whole person."

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33 comments (Latest Comment: 07/23/2010 00:38:03 by TriSec)

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