guns, hunger, & eisenhower

It’s December.  Which means at the end of the month the Bush era tax cuts will either expire, or be extended.  And if any Democrat wants to be reelected I am sure we will all see the tax cuts extended.  But that’s enough about what a payroll tax or estate tax would do for some, and nothing for a whole lot more. 

With all this talk about where everyone’s tax money is going, it made me ponder a quote from Dwight D. Eisenhower that I heard today: “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.”

First, with the rising of the Tea Party, do we let tax money go toward defense, or toward people who don’t have food or shelter?  Or, do we let those who cannot fend for themselves be susceptible to Darwin’s theory of evolution?  Second, if we can move beyond the idea of killing off the weak, is Eisenhower right?  Is the idea of ‘every gun…made’ theft from those who are hungry?  Finally, can we bring justice to Eisenhower’s idea?  Can we feed those who are hungry, warm those who are cold, and clothe those who are not?  

one trillion dollars: cue pinkie to mouth

One trillion dollars is a lot of money.  So much money that you could buy everyone in the state of California a Subaru, and still have money left over.  Fox News has claimed that the Obama stimulus package will actually cost more than the eight-year Iraq War.  These accusations, although most definitely false, do assert that the stimulus bill is a lot of money – hundreds of billions of dollars.  However, I don’t think the stimulus bill is a good comparison to the Iraq war.  I mean, the Bush Administration tried several stimulus packages, but those are not talked about in the comparison.  And of course we don’t know what Republicans would have done if they had a majority in office.  Maybe they would have implemented a stimulus similar to the Bush Administration. The accusations about the stimulus seem to be more over politics than anything else.  Similarly, the Democrats made an outcry over the Bush stimulus.  In addition, Republicans, even if they did provide another stimulus, would not have spent as much money as the Democrats, right?

I think a better comparison would be to compare the Iraq War with the new Health Care bill.  Both are stated to cost around one trillion dollars.  And both Democrats and Republicans seem to reprove the decision of the other.  The choice is then between an unwinnable, unjustified, fake war, that was started under false pretenses of securing WMD that never existed, or a bill that is helping millions of people have health care coverage that normally would not have it.

Now I am not going to get into all the reasons why people hate the Health Care bill.  You know forcing people to have health coverage, a trillion dollars of tax payer’s money going to “welfare health care patrons”, etcetera.  Nor am I going to get into why the Health Care Bill is good: it covers donut holes, pre-existing coverage, and gives people a chance to have health care when they’ve never had a chance before.  Nope, not going to do that.  Just the basics.  If you had one trillion dollars and you could spend it on either the Iraq War or health care, which would you choose?  And no, the money couldn’t be spent on option C - the improvement of public education.   Or option D – not spending the money in the first place.  Then the American taxpayers could do what they do best – spend the money on themselves.

land of the free, well for some of us anyway

There is a war going on. And it is not in Iraq or Afghanistan. It is going on right here in the United States. No, it is not immigration legislature. That’s not a war, it is just descendents of former poor immigrants refusing to let current immigrants into the country. Racism apparently did not end with the Civil War, Civil Rights, or with the election of a Black president. The war is actually going on in New York City and the issue is over whether to build a Muslim Center near Ground Zero.
Nearly nine years ago 9/11 happened over terrorists who were - and are still - upset over Western and Christian ideals. Just in the news recently a few doctors overseas were not allowed to continue their practice because the authorities thought they were Christians trying to proselytize. Once the powers-that-be figured out that they were not Christians, just citizens trying to be doctors, they let them continue without any problems. Forget freedom of religion.

In a country that demands freedoms to do just about everything, much of the country wants to take that same freedom from other Americans in the form of not allowing them to build a Muslim Center in New York City. In a country that prides itself above everyone else for its laws on freedom - especially freedom of speech, the right to bear arms, religion, etcetera – it is not allowing freedom of religion to its own citizens.

It is ironic – in a horrible, awful way. A country that was founded on freedom over 230 years ago, who fought for freedom, who sat on buses and had sit-ins for freedom now has many people who want to stop fighting for that right. They essentially want to eliminate the freedom of religion for some of our citizens – the very thing that we claim as a country that makes us different.

The Muslim Center is bigger than bricks and mortar. If it is not allowed to be built any claims of freedom will be a hoax, our progressions as a society will be a hoax, and bringing freedom to other countries will be a hoax. The foundations of freedom of 1776 were stained with the blood of Native Americans and Slavery, the Civil War stained with decades of Jim Crow Laws and Exclusion, the Civil Rights stained by a continued ambiguous racism. The freedom of today seems to be for some, but not all.

demanding apologies, demanding history

334 years after King Philip's War, a war which killed 3,000 natives (or 15% of the population) and was the beginning of the end of a forced expulsion of the natives from Massachusetts land, some residents of Middleboro are demanding apologies from local Native American tribes.  The demand is over a casino building plan in Middleboro.  For a few years now, the casino planners have been going back and forth on deciding whether or not to have a casino in Middleboro.  Residents are apparently fed up and don't care either way if the casino goes up or not – they just want a decision. 

Now they are demanding an apology from the local tribe responsible for the casino development.  It takes great audacity to demand an apology from a group of people that were forced off their own land.  But nevertheless, some residents have neglected and ignored the past and are demanding it. 

This is just another reason why history is important and has such an impact in today's society.

three cups of tea, education, and the urban city

I recently finished Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. And it is a must read for everyone. The book is about one man’s journey to bring a school to a poor community in Pakistan. The book is inspiring. It gives life to the people of Pakistan, to Afghanistan, and the Middle East. It gives a hope for peace that is not through war, power, and death, but through a road less traveled.

The book gives an alternative view to the way life has been lived out since 9/11. It’s a view that involves less U.S. taxpayer money, less death, less destruction of towns and villages in Iraq and Afghanistan, and less fear of terrorism.

Just as the U.S. wages war in the Middle East, the country been raging war domestically since it’s conception. Cities such as Detroit, MI and Gary, IN, and in poorer neighborhoods in cities such as Chicago or Boston were not always poor, dangerous, and places to avoid rather than seek. All these cities have history. Many of them can trace the growth of unrest from their beginnings, to the industrial revolution, to events as recent as white flight around the middle of the twentieth century. These places of course are hit hard with violence and theft. Locals who could get out did. The working class and poor just kept on working.

The alternative is education. A radical idea never used before. Education is the same thing that many people, myself included, have thought for years would help inner cities of the United States. Of course here in the U.S., compared to such places as in Three Cups of Tea, there are actually schools – for the most part. The quality and opportunity of education, of course, are vastly different. Most urban schools are given half the money that a suburban school is given. A quick Google search will confirm this. The administration? What administration? If anyone has dealt with bad school administrations in the ‘burbs or rural area – just try a poor urban community. And what about the quality of teachers? All you have to do to figure this out is to go to a teacher’s job fair in Chicago. The lines for the suburbs are out the door. For the North Side expect to wait an hour to speak to a representative from the school. For the South or West side of Chicago: wait time - zero minutes. It’s an area so desperate for good teachers, yet no one wants to work there.

Just as thousands of miles away education is an alternative to war, violence, gangs, and a life of terrorist groups, Three Cups of Tea provides a realistic alternative for those of us eager to make a difference in the U.S.. We don’t have to sentence our cities to a life of poverty, injustice, and violence. There are peaceful options, if we are brave enough to embrace them.

iraq and the middle east: part I

I’m not sure who is winning the war on terrorism. In 2003 the U.S. decided they would enter Iraq and bring “freedom” to the people. Six years later a few thousand U.S. (UK and other countries) soldiers have been killed. And this doesn’t include the ongoing war that is next door in Afghanistan. The number of casualties seem to keep climbing each month despite the claim for change and peace proposed. Hey! And, what about the people of Iraq or Afghanistan?

In the end though, Bush (or maybe better put Cheney and Rove) or the Obama Administration can’t be accused alone for starting a war or continuing a war. Like anything, the blame cannot be put on one person or country, or ideal for that matter. I recently just finished Three Cups of Tea and am in the middle of Power, Faith, and Fantasy (a history of the U.S. and the Middle East). I’ve still got to learn about the U.S. relations with the Middle East, but like anything there is history behind the U.S. relationship with Iraq. For example we can’t really understand racism in the U.S. without understanding how the history of slavery, the Civil War, Jim Crow laws, the Civil Rights era, and all the history in between have affected racism is today.

There is a lot of history with the Middle East. And amazing as it was to me, it is not all that bad. In Power, Faith, and Fantasy author Michae B. Oren does, however, string along a common theme – America’s desire to bring the same freedoms, liberties, democracy, and Westernization that they won in 1776 to the Middle East. In the book it really doesn’t seem that bad. I mean who wouldn’t want freedom, right? Well, in 1900 the freedom sounds a whole lot better than the imperialist ideals that other countries were trying to impose in the Middle East.

It is interesting to learn that oil and power were not always a means for war for the U.S. Even when the U.S. finally entered WWI they never declared war on Turkey. A peaceful means by President Wilson. I can only imagine a different outcome if Roosevelt was still president. As I finish the book I will have a second reflection on the U.S.’ involvement in the Middle East.

reality, far from it

Blah, blah, blah. With a quick search on Google of this song by Lilly Allen the same thing kept coming up: the buzz worthy, loaded statement “social commentary”. The phrase, although true to its form, is more thrown around encourage people to disregard the lyrics than to emphasize them as truth. While some of the language may not be seen as age appropriate for younger audiences, it is not unlike much of the content throughout the rest of the album. However, we are not talking about the rest of the album, just this song, and it has a lot of good tidbits that can (and should) be taught to young and old adults alike.

The lyrics - they aren’t going to solve all of life’s problems, but they sure do point out a few. First and foremost, the opening sentence about being rich and wanting lots of money. It seems to be everyone’s goal in life. And in the fourth paragraph it talks about film stars being more popular than mothers. There is no denying that. The song also addresses greed, shopping, human rights (diamond trade), nudity, the need for speed, plastic surgery, war, and murder.

The most important message I think this song send is in its title: The Fear. It’s an odd title for a song. And it is a little confusing (at least to me) because it is a blanket statement for something else – a life that convincingly looks like the American dream, but in reality is far from it, and like the lyrics, most people ‘don’t know what’s right and what’s real anymore.’

The fear
I want to be rich and I want lots of money
I don’t care about clever I don’t care about funny

I want loads of clothes and [many] loads of diamonds

I heard people die while they are trying to find them

I’ll take my clothes off and it will be shameless

‘Cuz everyone knows that’s how you get famous

I’ll look at the sun and I’ll look in the mirror

I’m on the right track yeah I’m on to a winner

I don’t know what’s right and what’s real anymore

I don’t know how I’m meant to feel anymore

When we think it will all become clear

‘Cuz I’m being taken over by The Fear

Life’s about film stars and less about mothers

It’s all about fast cars and passing each other

But it doesn’t matter cause I’m packing plastic

And that’s what makes my life so ******* fantastic

And I am a weapon of massive consumption

And its not my fault it’s how I’m programmed to function

I’ll look at the sun and I’ll look in the mirror

I’m on the right track yeah I’m on to a winner

I don’t know what’s right and what’s real anymore

I don’t know how I’m meant to feel anymore

When we think it will all become clear

‘Cuz I’m being taken over by The Fear

Forget about guns and forget ammunition Cause

I’m killing them all on my own little mission

Now I’m not a saint but I’m not a sinner

Now everything is cool as long as I’m getting thinner

I don’t know what’s right and what’s real anymore

I don’t know how I’m meant to feel anymore

When we think it will all become clear

‘Cause I’m being taken over by fear.

seven years to the day +1

It’s hard to reflect on 9/11. Not because there is not a lot to say about it, but because it is still one of those moments that is stuck in my head as if it happened today or yesterday. I still remember the look of my Pre-Calc professor when a student came in to tell him the news that seconds later he told us. I still remember the prayer vigil that night. I remember the next spring being in New York City at ground zero and it being silent in a city that does not know how to be silent.

Everything is in an era of post 9/11. There is no going back. The effects from that day are obvious. War for one. In Afghanistan, and in Iraq. Homeland security was boosted, making it one of the top priorities of the government. And of course it has created longer lines at airports. I didn’t fly for a couple years after 9/11. Not because I was afraid, but because I didn’t have any reason to. Therefore, I didn’t notice much of the changes in airports. I did however notice one change - the surge in racism against people of Middle East descent as well as those of Muslim faith. On my college campus I could feel the effects.

Seven years later there is still a huge “get them out” mentality. More stereotypes have been created and discrimination has gotten worse. Tolerance and love need to be expressed on days like this. In a country that idealized freedom more than any other place it doesn’t always allow it for everyone living there.

what's in a name?: independence day

The Independence Day holiday is spent most of the time eating burgers and brats and watching fireworks explode in the night sky. It is the time where people stake out seats and set out their lawn chairs the night before for the parade. It is a time where people dust off their American flag and hang it outside for the week. Much of the holiday is spent with family and friends who are glad to have a day off of work.

I like the idea of spending time with family and friends. The idea of fireworks is a great way to celebrate Independence Day. Or is it Fourth of July? On July 4, 1776, (or around that time) it was not the end to the tyrannous hold of Britain - but a declaration of independence. It was the beginning! Thousands of men (and women) free and slave lost their lives over the next years for the glorious cause.

It was a war for freedom. It must have been bizarre to be in an era where towns were split between rebels and Tories, when towns were pillaged, and where militia were born. Soldiers fought for freedom with barely the clothes on their back and sometimes not even that. Medical care was even worse than it is for the soldiers that come home wounded from Iraq or Afghanistan. There was no assurance of victory and it was against the biggest and the best in the world: the regulars of the British (and Hessian) army.

Amidst the brats and parades that barely resemble anything about liberty and freedom, remember the legend of Washington and the brave soldiers under his command, the farmers and families who lived and died for their country and for generations to come.

smc: 6/15/08

this is not the hand of justice

washington’s crossing review

I’ve recently read Washington’s Crossing by David Hackett Fischer. The book won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 2005. After reading the book, it would be no surprise to me if it has won other awards. Fischer is also known for his book Albion’s Seed: Four British Folkways in America (1989) and Paul Revere’s Ride (1994) among others.

The book covers a moment and a man. The moment is when a small, defeated continental army in the winter of 1776 crossed the Delaware on Christmas night to defeat and change the momentum of the war and eventually history itself. The person is non-other than George Washington. The book itself is not a light read, but Fischer’s style of writing keeps you interested in every moment. Fischer begins the book by comparing and contrasting the British and Hessian regulars with the diverse farmers and pheasants of the continental army. The book itself encompasses the winter of 1776-77. Fischer not only goes into great detail about the historical battles, but other pivotal moments, people, and events that changed history during that cold winter.

The myth of George Washington comes alive in Fischer’s book. This can be seen in many aspects. Washington leads and defeats a ragamuffin army against the biggest and best army in the world. Washington demonstrates strong, egalitarian, smart leadership with his officers, army, and ordinary people. Lastly, Fischer inspires the reader with the inspiring leadership of Washington on the battlefield.

The book is thrilling and I would recommend it to anyone interested in the Revolutionary War or George Washington.

super: bowl, tuesday, change

As far as weeks go, this is going to be a super one. On Sunday is the Super Bowl. Two days after, on Tuesday, is Super Tuesday. The Super Bowl, where thousands of people host parties and watch a football game. It is a day where the sports mecca is at its highest. A thirty second commercial for the Super Bowl costs three million dollars. Companies are willing to pay that much because they know so many people will be watching. And when there are that many people droned to the television they know they can reach more people with their product.
What about Tuesday? The debate for the candidates has turned from the war to the economy. That’s ok with me. We don’t need to be deciding a president based on a war. However, the economy is also an issue. People want to know how more money is going to be made; more jobs are going to be produced. Is the government really concerned about this? Just look at how the government spends money. The U.S. spends $481.4 billion dollars on defense and $145.2 billion on the global war on terror. That is 626.6 billion dollars. What is shocking is that this figure does not even include the war on Iraq. Here is an interesting website to see how much the war is costing. What I am concerned about is the ratio of defense and war spending compared to other spending. If the rest of the budget is added all together it is just over the 481.4 billion spend on defense. There is 56 billion spend on the department of education. This figure is just a tenth of the defense bill. A good education for everyone is a key to everyone’s well-being.
Along with education, people are more concerned today with the environment, eating organic, global warming, and energy. If we take a look at the spending on these concerns we notice that: 24.3 billion on energy, 20.2 billion on agriculture, 12.1 on transportation. I would like not only to see these figures rise, but to see the money used appropriately. It would be great to see the department of energy find better alternatives of energy for everyone instead of spending it on maintaining nuclear power. It would be great to see the money being filtered towards agriculture go towards proper farming methods and growing in the United States and farmers to produce and live on an organic faming industry instead of the pesticides and cruelty to animals farming standard of today. I would like to see the dept. of transportation really work towards making viable options for public transportation and alternative cars and fuel sources.
It’s sad that people have kicked the environment, their health, and the health and well –being of all just to make a few extra dollars. I’m not saying I don’t want the economy to grow and that it isn’t important to provide more jobs. I am hoping to convey the well-being of all by looking at the way spending is done in the government and the priorities of the government. If we change our life styles for the well-being of all it can be a better life for everyone. There is someone that is always going to be at the top of the mountain, that doesn’t mean that more people have to be at the bottom because of it. As the Super Bowl is on this Sunday, and with voting on Tuesday, maybe there are alternatives we can begin to look for, keeping in mind the reality of all and the best interests for all.

935 reasons not to be in Iraq

Today, I’ve decided to write on whatever Yahoo! had as their main new features. Not expecting anything actually news-worthy, I instead found a short article that states that Bush and officials made 935 false statements on Iraq. Did we not know this already or is it news-worthy because now we know it was 935 times? What is interesting about the number is that it is not 935 different lies it is just how many times we as a country were lied to. The basic lies which have been revealed were: 1) Iraq did not have weapons of mass destructions and 2) Iraq did not have a link to al-Qaida. Is something a lie if as it is said we know that it is not the truth? I’m not sure how Iraq even got equated with the United States and war. The government, if they did lie, knew that there were no weapons of mass destruction and no link to al-Qaida. Then why did they go into Iraq and start a war? Democracy? Well, was that the initial reason? Even if it is the reason now, why Iraq? Why not some other country?

costs & losses in the war in Iraq

I heard on the news this morning that the war in Iraq so far has cost 1.7 trillion dollars. Whether that number is correct or not (as pointed out that it may not be by the same broadcast) is not important. I did however find a website with a continual cost of what the war is. It had the cost of the war as of today at about $468 billion dollars. The website has nice links that show very well what the war is really costing the United States.

I remember when this war first began and Iraq was threatening that the U.S. was going to lose the war. I am not exactly sure what was meant by ‘lose,’ but has the U.S. lost the war? For months now there has been serious talk in Washington D.C. about taking U.S. troops out. Although no bill has passed, just the mere fact that there is serious discussion and a close vote to do it says that this war in Iraq is not going as planned. Another indication of how seriously this war has failed is how many people are ready for George Bush to be out of office. There are bumper stickers and all types of propaganda promoting the day when G.W.B. leaves the White House permanently. (I can proudly say that I did not want him in the office before he was voted in, in 2004.) Although the war has been called ‘another Vietnam’ and people are calling for a national holiday when Bush is out of office these are not the real costs or losses of the war.

The real costs as I alluded to in the first paragraph are how much the U.S. has spent on this war. The U.S. may not have lost the war in a military defeat, but has certainly lost in its budget and spending. Children are not getting adequate education, but money continues to pour into the war in Iraq. People do not have adequate housing, but money continues to pour into the war in Iraq. People do not have adequate health care, but money continues to pour into the war in Iraq. People are losing loved ones, but money continues to pour into the war in Iraq. All these losses can not be merely blamed on the war or defense spending. However, $468 billion dollars, or whatever the cost, could be turned into a better life for the people of this country.


The BBC has a good website on the war.