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| December 8, 2005 |
MAILBAG ARCHIVES | ||
The BuzzFlash Mailbag The opinions expressed in the Mailbag are not necessarily those of BuzzFlash. Read the BuzzFlash FAQ for info on submitting to the Mailbag. THIS IS PART 2 OF THE DECEMBER 8, 2005 BUZZFLASH MAILBAG. CLICK HERE FOR PART 1 BuzzFlash Note: Just a reminder that Mailbag submissions should be kept to about 400 words or less. If we can keep it brief, more voices/letters will be heard and read. Thanks. (See FAQ #18 for more guidance, and "About BuzzFlash.") Subject: John Lennon Today is the 25th anniversary of John Lennon's death, and I don't know about you, friends out there at BuzzFlash, but I still miss him and feel sad about his death every bit as much now as on the moment that I heard he died. Maybe his life was not all the way stellar, but when he was murdered, someone very special who stood for peace was taken from us. Because he died so needlessly and early in his life we lost a light, who in time, might have continued to help show us the way. Also, he may have continued to give us some more fantastic music. John Lennon was shot at 10:50 p.m. and died at 11:15 p.m. EST. Let us light a candle in solidarity in each of our homes tonight and reflect on how we can continue to give peace a chance. A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Military In Iraq - A Personal View This is not your ordinary article like is usually shown in BuzzFlash, but one with a personal side to it. I was the one who submitted an article (about a month ago) about a soldier getting prepared to go to Iraq. He is my nephew. Yesterday I heard of an incident that happened early this week (after barely being one month there) where there was a situation that he was involved in where he had a very close call, but it was not that way for some others there. My sister-in-law got wind of it somehow that his particular unit was involved in this, and she was very worried and for a time there, must have known what it was like to be a mother who got the news that their son is dead. I myself was much relieved that his life was spared, and I am very thankful to God that he is okay (at least physically...he still has way more time to have to spend there), but I feel guilty, as well, because other soldiers and families have not been as fortunate and I hurt inside thinking about how especially at Christmas there will be families of soldiers who have lost loved ones, and they will not physically be there with them (either because they are dead or in the service.) Let us continue to pray for them, that our servicemen and women make it home safely soon. Let us help to make Christmas better for a military family that we may know of, or become aware of one. Let us make a Christmas brighter for a child especially who may miss daddy or mommy and not understand why they are gone. And as the New Year of 2006 comes near, let us firm our resolve to end this ugly unjust war for oil, and to end the bloodshed of the endless number of Iraqi people and American soldiers. Lastly, let us firm our resolve to get out of government positions those who are responsible for the war and the corruption in this country. A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Yet another law Clinton COULD have and SHOULD have vetoed Congress in 1996 eliminated a 10-year time limit on the government's right to seek repayment on defaulted student loans by seizing Social Security. What a mean spirited nation we live in. We are the ONLY first world rich nation that does NOTHING for her citizens. No education, no medical, no retirement (we PAY for social security remember, it is not supplied for free: it is not a benefit supplied by the government: it is an INSURANCE POLICY WE PAY FOR)... no legal representation in court (there are not enough lawyers serving in the pool)... Can anyone think of anything this nation does for its citizens? They tax us to death and kill our children in oil wars, they chip the old off on the proverbial ice block. They ignore the sick and send them to the streets to die... dumping them on the inner city homeless shelters, or out in the ice blizzards in states like Montana and Wyoming (they brag that they have no homeless problem there because mother nature takes care of it for them.). We have no reason to believe we can honestly vote to be represented. Anyone who speaks up and disagrees with the way things are is targeted for unemployment, at the very least; some are hounded into the poor house by the IRS as retribution... or investigated as if they're a terrorist. Fear of our government rules the day. Just what are we all saluting when we honor the flag? A memory of a nation past. It is a funeral dirge whenever they fly the flag and salute it. Court: Disabled Can't Escape Student Loans (peoplepc.com) http://wid.ap.org/documents/scotus/051207lockhart.pdf A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Debtors Beware There's now a Supreme Court approved latter-day equivalent to the debtor's prison that can be used to punish any elderly or disabled person who defaults on an old student loan. Said person, should she happen to fall behind in her loan payments, will see her social security and other benefits garnisheed by the Feds; which, although it will be much appreciated by the banks, is going to be life-threatening to those who up to now have barely been getting by. The powers that be believe that they can get away with their selfish plan to rob the poor to enrich the already rich. Who'll stop them? We the people. By changing the world. A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: How can this happen in America? Only if we let it! This is a ... MUST be read by all Americans. This has gone way too far already! PLEASE AMERICA - WAKE UP. Ohio has great Democrats running in 2006. The Republicans are SCARED SH**LESS. Their one-party corrupt rule must end, action must be taken! In the next election the Republican Party MUST be kicked out of office, this can not wait!!! A Thank you to Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman, the Columbus Free Press and to Smirking Chimp for making it public on their web site today. With new legislation, Ohio Republicans plan holiday burial for American Democracy (The Free Press) http://www.smirkingchimp.com/article.php... Susan Carr Subject: We don't do torture Dear Buzz, Per the always amazing Susan Carr (BuzzFlash Mailbag):
Shockingly (this is irony), we heard similar words from Condi Rice in her remarks to the Kiev President Viktor Yushchenko. It just rankles to hear the lies and manipulation of language that comes so easily to this bunch of thieves and murderers (aka the Bush administration). Sure, we comply with U.S. law. We have a group of legal and judicial Machiavellians who have said the Geneva conventions are "quaint" and can be ignored. We have a Vice President (aka the man behind the curtain) who is arguing with the Senate to allow the CIA to be excused from laws that prohibit torture. This after we had to have a specific bill written to outlaw the torture that we "haven't been using" (Abu Ghraib, Gitmo, etc). When they (Bush, Condi, McClellan) say "we" do they mean themselves personally? Who do they mean when they say those words? What does McClellan mean when he says "we don't torture" in response to press questions? Does it mean the same as we "promote" freedom of the press around the world, by attacking foreign press offices in Baghdad?
Who is she and who are we (the US) to criticize laws restricting human rights activists, promoters of democracy and independent organizations and thinkers? This is a country where if the president, with nothing but the voices in his own head telling him, says someone is a threat, we lock them up. Sometimes indefinitely - for years with no charges filed and no access to legal representation. (see José Padilla http://www.cato.org/dailys/08-21-03.html) This is a country where those who disagree with the human rights violations of the US are relegated to "free speech zones" far away from those they disagree with. (http://baltimorechronicle.com/052704FreeSpeechZones.shtml). This is a country where Senators and Representatives and citizens who disagree with the current repressive and uncivilized behavior of the administration are slandered or "Swiftboated" mercilessly. (See Sen. McCain's remarks re:John Murtha http://thinkprogress.org/2005/12/06/mccain-murtha/) Maybe they just think of torture in a different way, because I'm just gonna say that they have been "torturing" this country and the rest of the world ever since they stole the election in 2000. Support the troops - Bring them home - End the war Leslie.......Evanston Subject: Re: Point of Order! Hi. Dunno where I saw this (and it may have been on BuzzFlash!), but some people in an interview study of responses to "Good Night and Good Luck" said that they thought that it was a shame that the actor playing McCarthy so overdid it. BTW, I saw parts of the Army-McCarthy hearings live when in high school and may have seen in real time the famous Welch put-down (which of course would mean nothing in the politics of Washington today). All the best, Steve Jonas Subject: Lieberman I heard somewhere, sometime ago that Lieberman would be named Sec'y of Defense when Rumsfeld left. I did not think much about it......because I thought Rummy would never leave. But, the way Bush and Cheney have been throwing his name around the last couple of days.....I am beginning to believe. New York Daily News Reports: "Rummy exit rumored; Lieberman eyed for job" Shirley.................St. Louis Subject: Subject: Maxnews.com Dear Buzz, I would never have known about this unless I went to Newshounds.us and they aren't my home page. You are. (Newshounds is a favorite site, though.) I do understand the disappointment of others that rely on you for information that supports their beliefs. But that you post items that I would not otherwise read or see is just one of the myriad reasons I support BuzzFlash and pass the word to others. Thank you for staying true to your mission. Leslie . . . Evanston Subject: Dissident Democrats No one can quarrel with the credentials of Rep. Murtha as far as knowledge of the military and of the situation in Iraq. Murtha, himself is a retired decorated combat veteran who held the rank of colonel. Since entering Congress he has made it a point to become an expert on military affairs and he has earned the respect of Republicans as well as most Democrats. Murtha has been to Iraq and has met with commanders as well as foot soldiers. They have told Murtha what they fear to tell the public because if they do it will end their career. The message is clear, get the hell out of Iraq now! Murtha has relayed this information to the news media. Certain Democratic members of the Senate and Congress have said they disagree with Murtha. They say that we should add more troops or just stay the course. In a democracy every member of Congress has the perfect right and the duty to disagree with another member of Congress if they honestly believe that the other member is wrong and they have evidence to support their contentions. However, I have not heard one dissident person in Congress state the basis for why they disagree with Murtha. Who are their sources who have more knowledge of the situation than Murtha? What combat experience do they have? Who have they talked to who says things are going well in Iraq? Or have they just pulled the basis for their statements out of their ass like most of their other pronouncements. I suspect that is the case. Next time one of the dissident persons in Congress talks about staying the course in Iraq, send them an E-Mail, or phone, or write them, and ask them for the basis of their opinion. Robert Norgren Sr. Subject: I would like to make an observation about the book 'America, Fascism + God' While I believe that more religious leaders need to be speaking out against the Bush administration and the imperialistic tendencies of today's politicians in general, it is the Christian right wing that needs to be addressed. I make this distinction because (having been raised in a fundamentalist Christian church) the Unitarian-Universalist Church is not even recognized by the right wingers as even being Christian. Ergo, it is unlikely that this particular book is going to get much circulation among those who really need to read it. The conundrum here is this; most 'born-again' Christians recognize that the Unitarians are at the least a 'liberal' denomination, and at the worst Satanic, as they often confuse the Unitarians with the Unification Church of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon. Which is interesting when you consider that the self-proclaimed "King of Peace" currently shills for the Bush Administration through his newspaper the Washington Times. So, the Christian righties (I refer to the sheep, not the shepherds) are inadvertently in bed with a guy that they consider to be the Devil. The shepherds are well aware of the company that they keep. Incidentally, the pastor at my fundamentalist church recently gave a sermon decrying the notion that God would side with any political party or give His blessings to killing in a war over killing a fetus. Not a big step, but a glimmer of hope. Not all Christians are either Republican or right wing. We on the left are making our voices heard. I just love interesting connections like this. Jay Subject: The Buzz reader...who would not sign the name (Re:Clinton/NAFTA) Sir, or madam...you are entitled to your choices...just as I am. Now, I have been called everything under the sun about my political beliefs..so nothing you can say is gonna drive me over the cliff. I would like to know who your father's favorite republican was, though! You speak a lot of 'outsourcing jobs, you mean like China? Would that be WTO?, not sure, which was introduced into law....in 1999, when Bill Clinton could not even get the Congress to allocate money to go after Bin Laden when the Cole was bombed. From 1998 (impeachment) until he exited the office in 2001, Bill Clinton did not have much say in anything....I watched it all.! Now, you must know that KBR and Halliburton are taking billion dollar contracts to feed and take care of the troops in Iraq? Well, they are even outsourcing that...and paying third world countries a fraction of what they are getting....they are paying them something like 45 cents a day, to prepare the food and clean up afterwards (per worker). In one of the documentaries about this war, one soldier was telling the interviewer about how he made about 2-3 thousand dollars a month...running the same 2 1/2 mile trip the Halliburton employee made...pulling in 8-10 thousand dollars....he needed to know the justification for that! ...No slimy thing that Clinton ever did...can compare to the horror and lies that have taken place during this war in Iraq! NAFTA....North American Free Trade Agreement...includes Canada, and Mexico, was signed by Bush, Sr.....in 1992, but, the senior Bush did not have time to put it through Congress and Senate......that did happen after Clinton took office, with two Republican congressmen doing the negotiating.....and it passed the congress by a slim margin...and the senate the same. Much of this took place, while Pres. Clinton was defending himself against whatever he was being charged with that week! Not a good policy...I agree....but, it is cheap to still hit this man with the word 'Chaser'.....Why not just call him a liar? (No..uh oh...then you would have to admit Bush had lied about the war....and the consequences were the deaths of over 2100 American soldiers....15 thousand maimed for life......and at least....100,000 innocent Iraqi men, women and children, and it is a horror to see a little baby the the innocent victim of napalm! And as for his "Arrogant" wife...I find that most republican....and many democratic men....hate Hillary ....which only proves to me that some men are threatened by powerful and smart women (even though I don't have much use for anyone who agrees with one thing the Bush administration says or does!). I will sign my name for you so if you need to answer back, you won't have to guess who you are answering to! Shirley..............St. Louis Note (thanks Buzz, for the sensible words) Subject: If You Loved John Lennon As I am sure you realize, tonight will be the 25th anniversary of the death of John Lennon. If you still love John and the things he stood for, please send an e-mail to the White House. In the subject line put the words: "GIVE PEACE A CHANCE." Please send this email to everyone in your address book, international contacts as well as American. "Imagine" the impact of 50,000,000 emails arriving at the White House today asking for peace. IMAGINE………… What better way to remember John? Whitehouse email address: comments@whitehouse.gov Lori Hitchcock
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