Veterans For Peace- Shopping List

The Veterans for Peace have set up shop in Covington, LA. Their anti-war "road trip" is taking a break to help victims of hurricane Katrina, which I think everyone would applaud (until we get to the fine print). They've issued a shopping list of things they need in order to be effective in helping, and here's where the problems start. They want our donations so they can pay for nurses, food bank trucks, self contained kitchens and office and media equipment. Nurses, ok. Food bank trucks, well, maybe. Self contained kitchens... isn't that a bit much? And office/media equipment. What? Did I hear that right- office and media equipment?

Depending on which site you get the list from, they want up to $45,000 of our donations to pay for the following:

(5) Apple iMac G5 Computer 20" Monitor = $3,000 each
(5) 500 Gigabyte Firewire Harddrive= $500 each
(5) Canon XL2Digital Video Camera = $4,500 each
(2) Digital Projector (3000 lumens) =$1,000 each
(5) Apple iPods with recording = $600 each
Monthly Satellite Access and Website Hosting Fee = $200 pr/mo

Do they think the American people are STUPID? Why would we spend that kind of money to upgrade their media wagon when we could be using those funds to feed and clothe the suffering? Not to mention those grotesquely overpriced TOYS have no business being there anyway.

Veterans for Peace are using the disaster to scam us into outfitting them for their pilgrimage into the political arena. Shame on them!

How about those self contained kitchens and food service trucks and vans. Will they be leaving all that stuff in New Orleans for the benefit of the people? And this rolling media center, in their own words- "will support refugees, volunteers, Red Cross, staff, press, keep in touch through via email, web, blogs, and teleconferencing. In order to insure our message gets out." And there it is, folks, the whole reason behind the humanitarian effort and the huge expense-

"In order to insure our message gets out!"

Dear veterans, if you need all this stuff to be "truely effective" in helping the disaster victims, as you say, then maybe you're not cut out for charity work. By your own admission, you're not effective. That means you're in the way. Go home and let someone be there who will make do with what they have for the right reasons. We will not trust our donations to someone who uses them for their own agenda under the guise of hurricane relief.

By the way, how many hungry mouths will an ipod feed?



Here are links to some of their sites in case you want to see for yourself:
http://crawfordpeace.nfshost.com/node/1865
http://www.vfpsb.org/
http://www.vfproadtrips.org/

New Orleans Bush Bashing

First, let me say how horrifying Katrina's devastation is. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims. This article is in no way directed at them in this terrible hour. It's written in response to Van Jones' editorial Bush's Role in the Drowning of New Orleans on Huffington Post. Lots of people are so quick to blame the federal government for everything bad that happens in America. In this case, most of that blame actually belongs to others. And the pundits can't see that all this bashing helps to divide the nation instead of pulling us together to aid those who so desperately need our help.

* * * * *

Everybody's so quick to blame "W" for all of this. In your article you blame him for the flooding because he diverted money. We were in the middle of a war. Should we have said, hmmm, let's leave our servicemen more ill-equipped and pour money into something that might happen years down the road? I imagine if he'd had a crystal ball things might have been a little different. "Experts" have been warning us of disaster for years. I don't know a state or city that has completely prepared for anything. You gonna blame that on W too?

New Orleans has known about the problem for how long? If you want to blame someone, blame the city fathers for not doing more about the situation and protecting their citizens. Blame the city planners for building below sea level in the middle of lakes and next to a gulf, and putting the city in a bowl with no drainage. Blame the CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) who should have stepped right in with a plan developed years ago. Community first, then state, then federal. That's how it works.

You forget that when they ran a mock flood several years ago, 1/3 of the citizens said they'd refuse to evacuate no matter what the government said, even if it was a hurricane. If I were given 3 days warning of an approaching hurricane and I couldn't drive my family out, by hell I'd walk them out! I wouldn't just sit there and blame everyone for making it happen and not rescuing me fast enough.

Another thing... you just have to play the RACE CARD, don't you. Take a natural disaster and turn it into whites hating blacks. I think color was the LEAST of anyone's worries as they tried to get out. It's true that most of NO's survivors are poor and black, which was also true of the community before the flood. That doesn't make it a race issue. It means that New Orleans had a large number of PEOPLE who were poor, under educated and stuck in a rut. Blame the city for not working hard enough to train and motivate them. Blame the welfare system for making it too easy to live on checks and stamps. Blame the people for not having the balls to stand up and change their own lives. Blame bleeding hearts like you who find it easier to complain about it than to dig in and help people improve their lives.

Better yet, stop blaming. There are far too many who need our help, and they need it NOW. Put down the poisoned pen and either start writing checks or handing out food and water. The way to insure America's survival is to help each other instead of tearing each other down.

Pat Robertson In The News

Televangelist Pat Robertson created a firestorm when he recently called for the assassination of Hugo Chavez. Christians are offended that a minister would openly advocate breaking a commandment- murder, no less, and non-Christians have opened the flood gates of disdain and mockery. It's religiously unthinkable to suggest killing someone for any reason no matter who they are, what they've done or how evil they may be.

Ok, let’s see if I understand what you’re all saying… when David “assassinated” Goliath he was evil and should have been convicted of murder. But since he saved thousands of Israelites from slavery and death he was favored of God and eventually became king? How’d that happen?

Now I don’t follow Pat Robertson. In fact, I don’t believe anyone who says they can save my soul if I send them my money. I think that makes him a con man, preaching for “filthy lucre.”

But you have to wonder if maybe Ari Fleischer had a good point. When we invaded Iraq the first time, if we had sent a team of seals into Baghdad to take out Sadaam, we would have saved thousands of American and Iraqi lives. Of course we didn’t because everyone in Washington was high and mighty about not stooping to that and tarnishing our image. Haven’t we done other clandestine acts in times of war? Wouldn’t the miserable life of one evil man be outweighed by the lives of thousands of innocent people?

Kinda makes you think!

Pulling Out Of Iraq

It's an awful fact that soldiers are not the only casualties of war. Mothers, fathers, familes are all affected. Lives are changed forever. Another terrible fact is that you can't reason with a terrorist. They have an ideal. They're obviously willing to give their lives for it. In fact, life is not important to them. That's why they torture and kill their enemies.

They hate Americans for many reasons. Their leaders, from Osama to Sadaam have vowed war on us. They view our attempts at negotiation as weakness. The last time we fought Sadaam, after we pulled out he claimed victory. He continued his reign of propaganda and terror. He tortured and killed his own people. He trained and funded insurgent groups. He stood proudly and defiantly in the face of the "capitalist pigs." And now, in spite of being captured as a coward, he is proclaiming himself a martyr in an attempt to further fuel the fires.

I don't like war. I never understood why countries had to send their children to be slaughtered because their leaders couldn't agree on something. Better to put the leaders in a ring and let 'em duke it out. Save a lot of lives and money that way. But this situation is different. Whether you agree or not with why we're in Iraq, we ARE there. Pulling out too soon will guarantee that the extremists will regain power and the citizens will lose across the board.

It will also send a message to terrorists everywhere that they are winning, that we truly are weak, that we don't keep our word. We're too busy arguing amongst ourselves and living our "infidel" lifestyles to care about what they do. We'll empower them to make bolder moves against us. It's no longer about staying out of other peoples' business. It's about stopping the disease before we become so infected that we can't survive.

Smoke and Mirrors

"Remember the huge tobacco lawsuits of the late 1990's? Threatened with having to foot the bill for all smoking-related illnesses, the nation's largest tobacco companies agreed to pay 46 statesan unbelievable $206 billion. The idea was that the states would use the money 1) to pay for smoking prevention programs, and 2) to defray the costs of health care for smokers who got ill.

So far, however, less than 5% of the $33 billion paid out has gone to prevent smoking. And it gets worse: several states have earmarked their share of the money to help... the tobacco industry. In North Carolina, for example, $43 million of the $59 million they've received has gone to marketing and producing tobacco, the state's biggest crop. They bought equipment for farmers, built a new tobacco auction hall, and put $400,000 toward a new tobacco processing plant. Other states have used the money won from tobacco companies to buy stock- in tobacco companies."

Where is the accountability? Money that was mandated to help citizens who are suffering the effects of smoking is pumped back into the same filthy, decietful machine that caused the problem to begin with. I thought government was supposed to protect citizens, not invest in their deaths!



(Note: The article in quotes was used by permission and is copyright by the Bathroom Reader's Institute. It can be found in Uncle John's Unstoppable Bathroom Reader, 16th edition, p. 243. Some of the most fscinating, enjoyable reading I've found.)

An Open Letter To Cindy Sheehan

Dear Cindy,

First let me tell you how sorry I am for your loss. No parent should have to lose a child. So many families have been changed forever because of military service. I have great respect for the young men and women who put their lives in jeopardy to serve in the armed forces, as well as for their families.

No matter how you feel about the reasons we are in Iraq, I wanted to tell you what Casey was involved in before he died. My best friend served there about the same time as your son. He tells stories that are vastly different from the ones we usually see in the media. He recalls men and women who made great sacrifices because they were proud to wear the uniform and be called Americans.

They freed millions of people from the rule of one of the most evil men alive. That man is now in prison and his equally evil sons are dead. They freed many thousands from torture and death. They not only brought food, medicine and protection to the people of Iraq, they brought them hope and freedom. They restored power, water, communication... rebuilt schools, hospitals, roads. Iraq now has a working education system for both boys and girls. Women have rights. They work, attend school, act as vital members of the community. People can speak without fear of a brutal death. Clinics and hospitals provide the needed health care. They have police and a functioning judicial system. They now have a government that's on the verge of a new constitution. And, contrary to the media, our young men and women have earned the gratitude of most Iraqis.

I think that makes Casey and his compadres heroes.

The resident loudmouths of this country don't want us to remember our sons and daughters that way. They want to fan the tainted flames of propaganda and rhetoric. They have an agenda. Both sides are using you. I'm sure you didn't intend that when you decided to take your stand, but you've become like a piece of meat in a huge feeding frenzy! Some may flatter you as long as you serve their purpose. Once the air time value starts to fade, you'll be dropped for the next hot potato. And where is Casey's memory now? Almost lost in the middle of the media circus. Instead of a hero, a champion of human rights, he's reduced (even in your own words) to just a murder victim. And in a strange reversal, you are trying to assume the role of champion!

Most of us have forgotten the horror we felt on 9/11; how we were galvanized into one national mindset against terrorism. We've slipped back into the political cesspool where we slant the truth and sling blame. One problem is it's hard to recognize the good while we're spewing hate. And the tragedy in this go-around is that we turn a blind eye to the enormous amount of good our soldiers have done and pretend they died in vain. What a vile, ungrateful thing to do!

Maybe it's time to do a little re-thinking. Casey offered the ultimate sacrifice. He gave his life for his country and for suffering people in a far away land. He knew this could happen when he enlisted, yet he served and died honorably. He should be remembered with honor, with love. Anything less would be a real shame. The further this situation progresses, the more his memory will be replaced by your actions. What you thought would be a crusade has turned into a carnival. Put the focus back on Casey. He was an instrument of peace. He helped saved lives and make lives better. Find a way to remember him without becoming part of the problem. Preserve as much dignity as possible. Take comfort in the fact that your voice was heard, but more important, you raised a hero. His, not yours, is the legacy that should be handed down.

One last thing... you mentioned in one of your posts the man who is responsible for your son's death. You're mistaken. There were two. One is hiding in a cave in Afghanistan and the other, thanks in part to Casey, is in prison awaiting trial.

Respectfully,
Mort

What Makes Me Mad

You know what really makes me mad? When people post their feelings and opinions on the internet. I mean, who do they think they are? Why do they think their thoughts are so impostant that others should be exposed to them? As far as I'm concerned, anyone who'd do this would kiss a pig!