 |
|||
| March 23, 2006 |
GET BuzzFlash ALERTS | MAILBAG ARCHIVES | |
The BuzzFlash Mailbag The opinions expressed in the Mailbag are not necessarily those of BuzzFlash. More reader opinion is at "Contributors." You can write to Mailbag at http://www.BuzzFlash.com/contact/mail.html. Guidelines for submissions are at BuzzFlash FAQ #18. "It is ours to reason why, not just to do and die." -- Helen Thomas, on why Americans and the Press should ask questions of our government, on the Keith Olbermann show, March 22, 2006. A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Unringing the Bell of Bush's Failed Presidency The President of the United States of America has become more of an anchor than a float to the Republican Party. As we watch the mounting deaths and sacrifices of our American Heroes and of the Iraqi people, a question begins to form: Was this all necessary? Was it all worth it? The price paid for this Iraqi debacle has come at the expense of medical care for our people, and of fortifying Social Security. It also has come at the expense of repairing our arthritic infrastructure … roads, tunnels, bridges. Along with the obscene tax cuts, it has spawned the uncontrolled growth of a multi-trillion-dollar budget deficit that is so large and so pernicious that it will sap us of our strength and render our country irrelevant as a preeminent force in the world. This is all bass ackwards. If we are going to spend anywhere from one half to one trillion dollars for the invasion of Iraq then I, we, have a right to know what we got for our money … Bueller … Bueller … Bueller … Anybody, Anybody? Just when did it become the burden and the duty of the American taxpayer to create a new Assyrian Democracy in the Fertile Crescent of Mesopotamia, or to engage in a military campaign that must look like an American religious Crusade against Islam? With President Bush at the controls of the ship of state, We The People have run aground. We have broken international law by making war an instrument of national polity. In so doing we have acted like other brutal dictators and despots from the tawdry past. In the wake of the dilemma arising from the madness of King George, there is a Hobson’s choice. We either live up to our rights and responsibilities of citizenship and place the good of our country ahead of party loyalty so that we may impeach and fire Mr. Bush and indict Mr. Chaney, or we shall reap a bitter harvest and suffer the forces of ignorance, death, destruction, pestilence and pain. Mr. Bush’s further prosecution of this insane ‘war’ must end now. All that is left between the destruction of our beloved country and the sociopathic behavior of our disturbed and disturbing President are … We The People! David M. Loucas, MD Subject: Heaven and Hell In the 1970s, WGBH (PBS-Boston) did an amazing series -- COSMOS -- with Dr. Carl Sagan. It was very, very impressive the first time around, and since the Science Channel is re-airing it, I have been watching it again -- 20 years later. Last night's episode was one of my favorite ones 20 years ago, and it is particularly poignant and prophetic in light of what is happening today. The episode "Heaven and Hell" focused on how our little tiny and fragile blue and white planet provides the ideal atmosphere for life as we know it. We have the right amount of oxygen and other basic organic compounds to support the life we take for granted. In short, our Earth knows what it needs to work right for us. In comparison, the other planets in our solar system are not amenable to life as we know it. Twenty years ago, the incomparable Dr. Carl Sagan warned of the damage we do to the only hospitable home we know -- by slash and burn agriculture, by pollution, by warfare, and by weapons of war. I was particularly struck by the prophetic nature of Sagan's warnings in the late 70s -- in light of the continued devastation and destruction of our planet and the Bush Administration's refusal to acknowledge and heed those warnings. Potable water is decreasing, and many people lack this very necessity of life. Africa is dying of starvation and lack of useful agricultural land. We are chopping down the rain forests and decimating wetlands to accommodate uncontrolled human population. Governments don't care to protect endangered species and encourage the taking of their habitat. Who will speak for us when we become endangered due to lack of suitable habitat? Dr. Sagan stated very eloquently that we are to be stewards of our planet if we want to ensure our own survival. It seems the Bush Administration is hell-bent on destroying all of us. As Sagan said so eloquently in a previous episode, "The Cosmos is all there is, all there ever was, and all there will ever be." We must choose to be guardians of life, not destroyers of it. Lisa Johnson Subject: American Citizens Must Wake Up and Face Reality Sadly, Karl Rove has the average American citizen's profile down pat! He fully realizes most are not engaged in the political process, and their attention spans are very short. Tomorrow's new tragedy will replace the current mess today! Given the horrible track record of the Bush regime, American citizens need to wake up from their coma and face reality! Their middle class is disappearing, and they don't realize it! Their jobs are leaving by the hundreds of thousands to low paying counties throughout the globe. And their only concerns appear to be how to trade up the house to a bigger one, and how to keep changing the gas guzzling SUV every other year to the latest and greatest! Lincoln Navigators lost their place a few years back to Cadillac Escalades, and so the never ending process of showing the world just how important they are continues. Meanwhile, their personal debt keeps increasing and eventually, once their high paying job disappears, so does their lifestyle! They seem to take comfort in not engaging in the political process and think it's not their problem. Well, it is their problem! Wake up Americans before it is too late! But the real tragedy continues to be the Bush regime, who daily spends money like it was water, and continues to fool the public into believing "they and only they" can protect their children from terrorists! William Dollar Subject: Hostile & Aggressive I thought I'd post something that happened in a "professional enhancement" seminar I had to attend for work. It was entitled "Dealing with Hostile People." The information below was on the slide used as an example. Characteristics of the Hostile/Aggressive Person: (1) Usually feel the need to prove to themselves and others that their view of the world is the right one; (2) Tasks seem clear and concrete to them; and (3) Have a strong sense of what others should do, and they project this with supreme forcefulness The mediator asked me why I was sort of laughing at the examples, and I stated that it just described the President to a "T." Many people agreed. Anita Subject: BuzzFlash Bumper Sticker I want one that says:
A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: IRS to Allow Sale of Tax Returns These days I am rarely surprised, anymore, but this takes the cake: This article is in the Detroit Free Press IRS plan would allow sale of tax data to marketers (Knight Ridder/Detroit Free Press) According to this article, information and even complete tax returns could be sold to marketers and data brokers. Has the IRS NEVER heard of identity theft? Have we no right anymore to ANY privacy whatsoever? I don't know about anyone else, but my personal information is NOT...FOR...SALE. I IMMEDIATELY called the offices of both senators and my congressman, all Democrats. Since it was after 5 p.m. one senate office was closed. However, I managed to speak with the staff in the office of one senator and my congressman. They knew NOTHING about this and I immediately emailed the information to both offices. PLEASE - read the article and IMMEDIATELY contact your senators and congressmen. There is NO TIME to lose. Let everyone know about this and tell them to contact their representatives immediately. THIS MUST BE STOPPPED!!!!!!!! A BuzzFlash Reader [BuzzFlash Note: Quoting from Sen. Barack Obama, in the article: "... once in the hands of third parties, tax information could be resold and handled under even looser rules than the IRS sets, increasing consumers' vulnerability to identity theft and other risks." We also found the following interesting: "The IRS announced the proposal in a news release ... headlined: 'IRS Issues Proposed Regulations to Safeguard Taxpayer Information.'"] Subject: Letter to Senator John Kerry I sent this email to John Kerry, via his website. I do not understand how he couldn't support something that the American public is paying so much attention to - we're at such a critical point. Who else has the courage? Is there a better way to contact him than through his website?? Anyway, here's the email:
Annette Koutchak Subject: "Crash" ... notice you put up the WorkingForChange - "Crash' and the self-indulgence of white America" oh, and a few Gays felt slighted by the Oscars, too, you must have missed that... A BuzzFlash Reader [BuzzFlash Note: Maybe you missed this one? "Capote" DVD Available from BuzzFlash.com. "Why is it a BuzzFlash premium if it is not overtly political? Because of its sheer excellence -- and because it does reveal, as its story unfolds, much about America, although that is not its primary purpose." Subject: Next Stop - TV I believe that the next logical step in the evolution of BuzzFlash is a real, honest news program designed like the web-site ... Readers or viewers vote on the most pertinent stories to cover in depth...ticker runs the BuzzFlash headlines underneath ... Mr. Soros, if you are reading ... please consider ... if Chuck "I haven't made a decent movie in 20 yrs" Norris can get air time ... why can't "the BUZZ"? I only ask that I can be the first intern hired. Coffee anyone? Tony Taylor Subject: Progressives' Tolerance of Homophobia Is Distressing It is MOST disheartening and frightening to see even the most progressive groups and participants accept homophobic slurs as "okay," when of course they so staunchly stand up against all other forms of bigotry. Over and over again, I read and hear liberals, progressives, and lefties attack evil-doers with defamatory anti-gay terms such as "faggot," "homosexual," and worse. Everyone knows Bush is no good...he must be queer. Ditto for Muslim fanatics. Our soldiers scrawl homophobic graffiti throughout the Arab world, accusing Muslims of being "fags.". And today's (March 22) BuzzFlash Mailbag comment by Akhil Bhardwaj: "Scooter means a gay french 2-wheeled object that transports humans from point A to B." Because the scooter is "gay" means it's bad. And of course, those Anti-American French MUST be queer...like most Western Europeans. Not a peep out of BuzzFlash! Had the author used an anti-black word like "n*gger," or anti-female like "c*nt", you bet your liberal arse it would be either censored or severely condemned. Want to end violence on this planet? Starvation? Torture? Fascism? There is only one way through this, to a truly peaceful world: vanquish discrimination against non-hetero minorities. It is this tacitly sanctioned thread of homophobia that runs a red streak through ALL of our present, liberal projects. Such a malicious attitude POISONS any such project because it encourages male-on-male violence no matter WHAT the issue being dealt with. NO group will EVER win its rights, nor will we have a sane ecology, economy, government or anything else good, as long as people seek liberation while maintaining hatred against a vital segment of its membership. ALL oppressed minorities I know of, STILL vehemently hate and persecuted their own homosexuals and other sexual minorities. Should I look forward to a healthy ecosystem, based in part on eradicating sexual minorities? I mean, c'mon: I've met and communicated with MANY homophobes who are active members of ecological groups such as Greenpeace, Sierra Club, etc. No, you don't have to be right-wing to espouse anti-queer dogma. That seems to have also infected most of our liberal movements, including so-called progressive media like BuzzFlash. Gay people truly have NO real allies in ANY political sphere...we are far more alone in this global jihad against homosexuals, than many "liberals" care to admit. The greatest true conspiracy ever to exist in our troubled history, has been the conspiring of misery, trauma and death of homosexuals in most EVERY society. This has gone on for MANY centuries...but is now destined to come crashing down. It is way too clear to me, that much of the world's present institutions will go down in flames of ignorance--and other, better ones--shall arise...all based on this sole issue: gay rights. Whether or not you can accept this, is YOUR problem...but let's not fool ourselves into thinking that being on the left politically is any better for queers. Yet what I see to be true (as a gay activist since 1973), remains suppressed and ignored by even the most progressive media outlets like BuzzFlash. So MUCH heroism in our gay community has gone unreported for the most part. I think those (too-few) heterosexuals who really ARE supporters of gay liberation, ought to come up with a NEW name to separate themselves from the mainstream (mostly anti-gay) hetero majority. Else, how difficult it will continue to be, for us gays to really figure out which breeders we meet, really WILL defend us, when push comes to shove. To me, the conclusion is as obvious as the nose on any hetero-supremacist face: It's the homophobia, stupid! Zeke Krahlin Subject: Maureen Farrell - Apocalypse I recently started reading "Fingerprints of the Gods." This runs over somewhat familiar territory in deciphering the ancient ruins of Egypt and those in Central and South America. The position posited is that the similarities indicate a common, ancient presence or visit by a far superior race that endowed both ancient civilizations with technology far beyond that deemed possible over 6000 years ago. What struck me was the existence of a calendar used to measure the various periods of the Mayan prehistory. We are nearing the end of the 5th era on those calendars. They indicate a catastrophic end to this era. For some reason, the peoples of SA and CA, who were unable to develop the wheel, still had amazingly accurate calendars, one of which predicts the end of the present era, running roughly 5000 years. They predict the end of the world. Are you ready for this? December 23rd, 2012. Now, if you are like me, every corn ball cult that has come along predicting the end of the world, really is of little concern. Their perspective is only decades or a couple of centuries old. But suddenly, we are in the 5th year of a lunatic President who claims God placed him at a particular moment in history for a particular reason. This madman has invaded two sovereign nations. He has stirred millennia-old hatreds. He has set in motion forces that may spell the revival of a nuclear race on the Asian sub-continent. He has ignored treaties and begun the development of "smart" nuclear weapons and has included in our foreign policy the right to preemptive strikes and has indicated his willingness to use nuclear force for the first time in over 60 years. He ignores science that predicts rapid and irreversible weather and climate changes. He is supporting the development of nuclear weapons in Japan. Crazy, but one of the recently triumphant Japanese baseballers recently said their win was like "World War III, only with [sic] the killing and bombs." The right wing here is advocating altering Article 9 of the Japanese constitution to allow the SDF to carry and use weapons in foreign conflicts. Hurricanes, melting icecaps, disappearing glaciers, "terrorist" attacks, preemptive nuclear strikes, rising nuclear tensions with North Korea, Iran, nuclear missiles on JAPANESE SOIL!!! Who woulda thunk? But consider... December 23rd, 2012...? Where will you be on that date? Mark Richey Subject: Financing the Never Ending War While there are many people writing about the injustice of the Bush Iraq war, I find a lack of people explaining how this country is being decimated by the war's cost. Somebody needs to put it all together....in other words, fighting and maintaining the war for 3 plus more years, as Bush alluded to recently, "it will be up to another president as to when the troops come home," is going to result in a major change in our country. This is the Grover Norquist final solution. By finding it necessary to continue to maintain our fighting forces in Iraq, we bankrupt our government and ability to finance the desperately needed social and financial programs. At the same time, tax cuts for the rich widens the gap between haves and have nots, destroying the middle class that is the true heart of America. Of course, without the middle class, corporate America has plenty of low-wage workers for those jobs that just can't be outsourced to India or Asia, low wages which have always been the goal of corporations. Financing this war and the Bush tax policies mean many things for me personally, starting with the fact that I can not send my sons to college without going into enormous debt, as well as my kids graduating with large student loans to repay. My grandmother had to sell her house after the death of my grandfather (they lived in Texas!) when she had to go into long-term care. I have some chronic health issues, and hopefully nothing catastrophic will happen to me, forcing my kids to sell our house to take care of me. Can't afford to file bankruptcy with the new corporate written bankruptcy laws. The absurd Medicare part D, which did nothing for my husband's prescription costs with the copay and deductible, was a give-away to Big Pharma. Bush says he is a businessman, but what businessman gives away the ability to negotiate better prices for his company? Congress no longer feels that it needs to listen to its constituency, we are just "the mob, the unwashed masses." The President, who is all Americans' president, has no problem with restricting who attends taxpayer-funded functions. I could go on, but you've heard it all before. What people need to remember, and what Democrats and Independents need to keep repeating to anyone that will listen, and those that won't, is that this is not something that will be over soon. Even if the troops come home tomorrow, we are so far in debt I don't know if we can recover. My children, and theirs, will be paying for this Administration's actions for years to come. So now I come to the Norquist Final Solution. Bankrupt America can not maintain its social programs, its infrastructure, nothing but its defense department and the military-industrial complex, as Eisenhower warned. This is the way to the smallest government, small enough to be drowned in the bathtub. Everything will be privatized, Wall Street can do Social Security, maybe we will have a Wal-Mart road department, a Target center for disease control, private state militias, because the National Guard will be stationed somewhere in the fight against Terra', ya unnerstan', smirk, smirk. Someone needs to bring the whole picture to America, not just in bits and pieces. I am worried about my country. Cindy Subject: Apocalypse Now -- ANOTHER winner of an editorial Dear Buzzers -- Since nothing else makes sense (in terms of military strategy) except to invade an endless stream of countries (coincidentally -- haha -- the ones who have lots of oil) and to take out "dictators" -- anyone else smell HYPOCRISY here? -- like Chavez in Venezuela) this editorial made me see the bigger picture. That IS the hook for the evangelical right, and the reason they continue, in the face of open lies, pretenses, corruption, profiteering ...need I go on?? Well, I'll make one more point on this subject: Chavez offered aid to people who can't afford to heat their homes; the Busheviks did NOT. As the saying goes, "Actions speak louder than words." But the Busheviks would rather take him out -- in the Mafia sense -- than allow him to help those most in NEED of help. Apocalyptic Times -- Maureen Farrell for BuzzFlash.com Frankly, I couldn't make sense of this coalition. In my defense, it DOESN'T make sense to anyone with a conscience or a sense of justice, but still, I was a bit slow on the uptake. I got the "control freak" connection right, but couldn't quite see -- aside from the imposition of Christian evangelical standards imposed on women: i.e., no abortions, no birth control, etc. -- and other elements of the Bushevik/neocons' obvious intention to dominate the entire world, one war at a time. This morning's Buzz editorial helped me to make the connection: i.e., clearly in contrast to Jesus, whom the evangelicals claim to worship, they, too, hope for perpetual war on the path to Armageddon. They all expect to be raptured up into heaven. Naked. (As I always say, spare me the sight.) That coalition gives permission to rape the environment (sorry, environment, but abortion is illegal under this gang) and hasten the rapture. You got it right, Buzz. I'm pretty good at connecting dots, but this piece explained the one connection -- other than control -- that I hadn't seen for myself. Do not change ANYTHING about your head(s)-on approach to what's happening. Even a seasoned progressive/liberal like me always has more dots to connect, and you're helping me, big-time. Barbara Lee Blazyk Subject: “We the People” Take Back Our Government? In order to answer that question we have to first answer the question, can “we the people” take back our political parties? Both the Republican Party AND the Democratic Party have been hijacked by a small group of extremists, for Republican Party it’s a group of Nazi-conservatives masquerading as Neo-conservatives and for the Democratic Party it’s a group of do nothing, status quo advocates whose only concern is remaining in power. Both political parties ARE “we the people” but small groups at the upper echelon, groups like the RNC and the DNC in control at the top, have compromised both political parties and show no real concern for “we the people,” the ones they are supposed to be representing. The polls say “we the people” want… but our representatives say we don’t care what the polls say…. EXCUSE ME! There is a simple answer for “we the people” but “we the people” must stand up and be counted. With election turnouts in the mid 30% range, “we the people” are abdicating our power to those small groups who control both political parties. If the 70% of people who stay home on election day would turn out to vote, we could turn this around in one election. Do I believe it’s possible? Yes. Do I think it will happen? Unfortunately, no! Things like the following examples of our representatives representing “we the people” just drive me crazy: Partisan political redistricting that insures an incumbent will get reelected, no matter which political party is in power. Paperless computerized elections which have been proven to be easily rigged, can be changed and leave no audit trail or any way to perform a recount. Pork barrel spending, contrary to popular belief if YOUR representative has their snout in the pork barrel trough THEY ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM! Oh sure you got a new bridge BUT you know fully well you didn’t NEED or even WANT the bridge. Your so-called representative was not representing YOU, he was representing himself and his politically connected friends and lining his pockets at your expense AND the expense of YOUR Country. Cary Subject: "Apocalyptic Times" Dear BuzzFlash, The truth of pure consciousness (or heaven if you choose) is that it is ALL about love. Fear, death, and destruction are stories concocted by the mind. Those who promote those stories are either using them to gain power or are so afraid because they are ALREADY IN HELL and need company. The more attention we put on stories like "end times" the more likely we are to create them, but they're not inevitable and have no inherent power or truth attached to them. We can choose in every moment to feed on fear or to act on love, and THAT choice will determine our fate as human beings on the planet more than anything. A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Blaming the Media for Bad News I was wondering when, during the Chimp's news conference, some "journalist" was actually going to do his/her job and point out to the negative-intellect-in-chief that the Pentagon was already deeply involved in PAYING Iraqi news organizations (with US taxpayer $) to publish good news, never mind the high risks involved in just collecting news in-country. That moment never arrived. A BuzzFlash Reader
|
|||
| back to top | |||