Monday, October 30, 2006
A Report on the People in Charge!
The Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction released a report yesterday; following are excerpts from the report:
...major discrepancies in American military records on where thousands of 9-millimeter pistols and hundreds of assault rifles and other weapons have ended up. The American military did not even take the elementary step of recording the serial numbers of nearly half a million weapons provided to Iraqis...
...the American military was not able to say how many Iraqi logistics personnel it had trained — in this case because, the military told the inspector general, a computer network crash erased records. Those problems have occurred even though the United States has spent $133 million on the weapons program and $666 million on Iraqi logistics capabilities...
...of the 505,093 weapons that have been given to the Ministries of Interior and Defense over the last several years, serial numbers for only 12,128 were properly recorded. The weapons include rocket-propelled grenade launchers, assault rifles, machine guns, shotguns, semiautomatic pistols and sniper rifles. Of those weapons, 370,000 were purchased with American taxpayer money...
...There are standard regulations for registering military weaponry in that way, governed by the Department of Defense small-arms serialization program. The inspector general’s report said that when asked why so many weapons went to Iraq with no record of serial numbers, American military officials in Baghdad replied that they did not believe the regulations applied to them...
...money for spare parts was allocated for only 5 of the 12 different kinds of weapons sent to Iraq — and when the inspector general contacted units of the Defense and Interior Ministries, none actually knew how or where to requisition spare parts...
There were also significant discrepancies in the numbers of weapons purchased and those in Iraqi warehouses. While 176,866 semiautomatic pistols were purchased with American money, just 163,386 showed up in warehouses — meaning that more than 13,000 were unaccounted for. All 751 of the M1-F assault rifles sent to Iraq were missing, and nearly 100 MP-5 machine guns.
And some of you want to keep these people in charge of our country; that is amazing! We have the blind leading the blind!!!
...major discrepancies in American military records on where thousands of 9-millimeter pistols and hundreds of assault rifles and other weapons have ended up. The American military did not even take the elementary step of recording the serial numbers of nearly half a million weapons provided to Iraqis...
...the American military was not able to say how many Iraqi logistics personnel it had trained — in this case because, the military told the inspector general, a computer network crash erased records. Those problems have occurred even though the United States has spent $133 million on the weapons program and $666 million on Iraqi logistics capabilities...
...of the 505,093 weapons that have been given to the Ministries of Interior and Defense over the last several years, serial numbers for only 12,128 were properly recorded. The weapons include rocket-propelled grenade launchers, assault rifles, machine guns, shotguns, semiautomatic pistols and sniper rifles. Of those weapons, 370,000 were purchased with American taxpayer money...
...There are standard regulations for registering military weaponry in that way, governed by the Department of Defense small-arms serialization program. The inspector general’s report said that when asked why so many weapons went to Iraq with no record of serial numbers, American military officials in Baghdad replied that they did not believe the regulations applied to them...
...money for spare parts was allocated for only 5 of the 12 different kinds of weapons sent to Iraq — and when the inspector general contacted units of the Defense and Interior Ministries, none actually knew how or where to requisition spare parts...
There were also significant discrepancies in the numbers of weapons purchased and those in Iraqi warehouses. While 176,866 semiautomatic pistols were purchased with American money, just 163,386 showed up in warehouses — meaning that more than 13,000 were unaccounted for. All 751 of the M1-F assault rifles sent to Iraq were missing, and nearly 100 MP-5 machine guns.
And some of you want to keep these people in charge of our country; that is amazing! We have the blind leading the blind!!!
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
What’s a Person to Do - Election Day, November 7, 2006
This Sunday, October 29, I will be speaking at the First Congregational Church in Hendersonville NC. The church's Board of Religious Education sponsor's a monthly forum and Sunday we will discuss the upcoming election and elections in general from a Christian's perspective. The forum is from 9:45 AM to 10:45 AM.
I will be using Sojourners/Call to Renewal's "Voting God's Politics" issues guide as a resource for discussion.
I spoke to the forum last April about my role as the president of the WNC Chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
I will be using Sojourners/Call to Renewal's "Voting God's Politics" issues guide as a resource for discussion.
I spoke to the forum last April about my role as the president of the WNC Chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Your silence denotes your consent!
letter to the editor of the Hendersonvlle Times-News:
A few weeks ago I wrote a letter about the rally at BRCC that had been billed as a town hall meeting (see September 13 entry). It was sponsored by Charles Taylor, and featured Ton Tancredo on immigration reform. I asked for honest discussion on the issue, not just prejudiced rhetoric! I challenged people of faith to respond with voices of reason and tolerance. The only response I heard was from this newspaper’s editor who wrote about the same issue the next day.
Do you know what you are supporting with your silence on this and other important issues? Tancredo also spoke in South Carolina the same day he was in Hendersonville. He addressed the neo-Confederate hate group League of the South; he stood behind a podium draped in a Confederate battle flag.
When you do not respond to this kind of extremism you give your consent for Taylor and his right wing buddies to continue their agenda for this country. Your silence and your lack of attention at the voting booth tell them its okay to cozy up to white supremacist groups that promote violence! Are you content to let these people continue to run our country?
A few weeks ago I wrote a letter about the rally at BRCC that had been billed as a town hall meeting (see September 13 entry). It was sponsored by Charles Taylor, and featured Ton Tancredo on immigration reform. I asked for honest discussion on the issue, not just prejudiced rhetoric! I challenged people of faith to respond with voices of reason and tolerance. The only response I heard was from this newspaper’s editor who wrote about the same issue the next day.
Do you know what you are supporting with your silence on this and other important issues? Tancredo also spoke in South Carolina the same day he was in Hendersonville. He addressed the neo-Confederate hate group League of the South; he stood behind a podium draped in a Confederate battle flag.
When you do not respond to this kind of extremism you give your consent for Taylor and his right wing buddies to continue their agenda for this country. Your silence and your lack of attention at the voting booth tell them its okay to cozy up to white supremacist groups that promote violence! Are you content to let these people continue to run our country?
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Bush's war strategy!
President Bush discussed the war in Iraq with top generals at a White House summit Saturday, two days after the U.S. military said violence had forced a rethink of its crucial Baghdad security plan. In his radio address, Bush emphasized: "There is one thing we will not do: We will not pull our troops off the battlefield before the mission is complete."
This man is delusional and should be impeached for his arrogance and stupidity above all the other reasons!
This man is delusional and should be impeached for his arrogance and stupidity above all the other reasons!
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Winning or Losing in Iraq?
Yesterday 10 more U.S. soldiers were killed, making October one of the deadliest months on record for the U.S. We are fast approaching a tragic 3,000 U.S. soldiers dying in the streets and sands of Iraq .
Last week an independent report revealed that more than 655,000 innocent people have died in Iraq as a result of the U.S. invasion. Just today the Brookings Institution reported a half-million people have been displaced since February - an estimated 100,000 of them children. One report puts the total number of displaced persons at 800,000. Clearly the crisis is spiraling out of all control.
Today when asked about the President's reaction to the mounting death toll, the White House Press Secretary responded that "his strategy is to win."
When is winning losing? Jesus asked, "What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves?" (Luke 9:25) Most people of faith believe in a different kind of winning. Just as wars kill, words can heal. Just as hate destroys, love strengthens. Bonds of understanding and goodwill – whether between persons or nations – are made not with clenched fists, but open hands.
Our hearts are broken by the violence and our nation diminished by pouring U.S. troops and treasure into the middle of what amounts to a deadly civil war, causing untold misery and fueling the very fire that terrorists have been hoping for. Equally tragic is the fact that the majority of representatives in the U.S. Congress have allowed this to happen. That is why your vote this November is more important than ever.
Vince Isner and the FaithfulAmerica.org Team
Last week an independent report revealed that more than 655,000 innocent people have died in Iraq as a result of the U.S. invasion. Just today the Brookings Institution reported a half-million people have been displaced since February - an estimated 100,000 of them children. One report puts the total number of displaced persons at 800,000. Clearly the crisis is spiraling out of all control.
Today when asked about the President's reaction to the mounting death toll, the White House Press Secretary responded that "his strategy is to win."
When is winning losing? Jesus asked, "What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves?" (Luke 9:25) Most people of faith believe in a different kind of winning. Just as wars kill, words can heal. Just as hate destroys, love strengthens. Bonds of understanding and goodwill – whether between persons or nations – are made not with clenched fists, but open hands.
Our hearts are broken by the violence and our nation diminished by pouring U.S. troops and treasure into the middle of what amounts to a deadly civil war, causing untold misery and fueling the very fire that terrorists have been hoping for. Equally tragic is the fact that the majority of representatives in the U.S. Congress have allowed this to happen. That is why your vote this November is more important than ever.
Vince Isner and the FaithfulAmerica.org Team
voiceoftheday from Sojourners
American preachers have a task more difficult, perhaps, than those faced by us under South Africa's apartheid, or Christians under Communism. We had obvious evils to engage; you have to unwrap your culture from years of red, white and blue myth. You have to expose, and confront, the great disconnect between the kindness, compassion and caring of most American people, and the ruthless way American power is experienced, directly and indirectly, by the poor of the earth. You have to help good people see how they have let their institutions do their sinning for them. This is not easy among people who really believe that their country does nothing but good, but it is necessary, not only for their future, but for us all.
- Peter Storey, former president of the Methodist Church of South Africa
- Peter Storey, former president of the Methodist Church of South Africa
Monday, October 16, 2006
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Legislating Violations of the Constitution
Go HERE for an excellent article on separation of church and state.
I continue to be amazed at how the general public ignores what right wing politicians and religious fundamentalists are doing and have been doing for years!
I continue to be amazed at how the general public ignores what right wing politicians and religious fundamentalists are doing and have been doing for years!
Sin is Neither Republican nor Democratic
Click HERE for an excellent article by Diana Butlet Bass
We need political leaders - of both parties - who believe in the importance of integrity, of humility, of honesty, and a commitment to the common good - and who are willing to challenge their own party's desire for power at the expense of moral principle. And we need a pledge by all of us to make fundamental changes in our culture and support political leaders who will work for those changes.
We need political leaders - of both parties - who believe in the importance of integrity, of humility, of honesty, and a commitment to the common good - and who are willing to challenge their own party's desire for power at the expense of moral principle. And we need a pledge by all of us to make fundamental changes in our culture and support political leaders who will work for those changes.
Bush Goes to Bat for Big Business Again!
Tuesday afternoon, Bush's National Labor Relations Board invited employers to rob millions of workers of their right to be in a union.
The Bush NLRB decided to reclassify workers with minimal supervisory duties as 'supervisors.' The 'title change' to supervisor doesn't come with a raise or a promotion, just the automatic loss of the right to form a union!
The decision will not only rob nurses, quality control inspectors, retail employees, and many others of the opportunity to form a union in the future, but longtime union members could suddenly lose union representation when their contracts run out. And revoking the right of these individuals to have a union
means the loss of a number of rights and protections on the job.
This is yet another decision by the Bush Board that sides with business, directly against the interests of workers. In the last few years, the Bush-appointed Board has stripped graduate research assistants and disabled employees of their right to form unions. And the administration has been gradually hacking away at our rights to overtime pay, safe jobs, fair pay, health care, and retirement security. Tuesday the agency took Bush's anti-worker agenda to an unprecedented level, revoking the rights of an estimated 8 million workers to form unions and bargain with employers for a better life!
The Bush NLRB decided to reclassify workers with minimal supervisory duties as 'supervisors.' The 'title change' to supervisor doesn't come with a raise or a promotion, just the automatic loss of the right to form a union!
The decision will not only rob nurses, quality control inspectors, retail employees, and many others of the opportunity to form a union in the future, but longtime union members could suddenly lose union representation when their contracts run out. And revoking the right of these individuals to have a union
means the loss of a number of rights and protections on the job.
This is yet another decision by the Bush Board that sides with business, directly against the interests of workers. In the last few years, the Bush-appointed Board has stripped graduate research assistants and disabled employees of their right to form unions. And the administration has been gradually hacking away at our rights to overtime pay, safe jobs, fair pay, health care, and retirement security. Tuesday the agency took Bush's anti-worker agenda to an unprecedented level, revoking the rights of an estimated 8 million workers to form unions and bargain with employers for a better life!
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Sunday, October 01, 2006
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