Cuckoo for War

Kucinich Questions Bush’s Mental Health Over Iran

“I seriously believe we have to start asking questions about his mental health,”

“There’s something wrong. He does not seem to understand his words have real impact.”

“You cannot be a president of the United States who’s wanton in his expression of violence,” Kucinich said. “There’s a lot of people who need care. He might be one of them. If there isn’t something wrong with him, then there’s something wrong with us. This, to me, is a very serious question.”

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Looking for the sympathy vote

Jailed Rice Protester Surprised by Dearth of Security at Hearing

An Iraq war protester who got within inches of Condoleezza Rice at a hearing last week said she was shocked that tighter security did not prevent her from coming so close to the secretary of state.
If there had been more security at the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, protester Desiree Anita Ali-Fairooz said, she probably wouldn’t have approached Rice. “I anticipated that she would have been surrounded by SS [Secret Service] or by private security,” she said.

No danger from Anita so let her come forward. Play up the cool attitude of Condi. Make the politicos feel sorry for the display she had to go through.

As for me, still doesn't change that she is as guilty as W, Uncle Dick and the rest of the regime.

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Let someone else start the fight

Attacking Iran for Israel?

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is at her mushroom-cloud hyperbolic best, and this time Iran is the target.
Her claim last week that "the policies of Iran constitute perhaps the single greatest challenge to American security interests in the Middle East and around the world" is simply too much of a stretch.

What does her boss say - no the real boss- Uncle Dick...

"Given the fact that Iran has a stated policy that their objective is the destruction of Israel, the Israelis might decide to act first, and let the rest of the world worry about cleaning up the diplomatic mess afterwards."

That's the plan. Let someone else start it - Israel, Turkey, hell even Iceland. We'll then step in as the savior and "clean up" afterwards.

Why this path? It's clear that too many are failing to believe the WMD/threat/fear pattern that was so successfully used to beat the drums for the Iraq war.

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Turkey - our pawn?

Iran says documents show U.S. backing terrorists

Iran has access to evidence of U.S. support for terrorist groups in the Middle East, a senior Iranian official was quoted as saying on Sunday.
Iran's new chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, made the allegation in comments to visiting Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, whose country may soon send troops to hunt down Kurdish guerrillas in northern Iraq.
Tehran says the rebels are operating in Iraq with U.S. forces present in the country and this shows Washington is refraining from tackling them.
Like Turkey, Iran also has faced cross-border attacks by Kurdish rebels and has shelled targets inside Iraq in response.

So Turkey lobs a few bombs at the Kurds. We, being the great diplomats, tell them we'll take care of the PKK. We start attacking PKK forces and - ooopps! - a few US troops cross the border into Iran as they engage in a skirmish. Iran returns fire - we escalate....
Possible? With the desire to invade Iran, anything is possible.

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Says YOU!

No evidence Iran is making nuclear weapons: ElBaradei

Chief UN atomic watchdog Mohamed ElBaradei said Sunday he had no evidence that Iran is building nuclear weapons and accused US leaders of adding "fuel to the fire" with recent bellicose rhetoric.

Now now. Don't go ruining the surprise W has in store for the world.

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Uncle Dick is NUTS!

White House Leak: Cheney’s Plan for Iran Attack Starts With Israeli Missile Strike

US Vice President Dick Cheney -- the power behind the throne, the eminence grise, the man with the (very) occasional grandfatherly smile -- is notorious for his propensity for secretiveness and behind-the-scenes manipulation. He's capable of anything, say friends as well as enemies. Given this reputation, it's no big surprise that Cheney has already asked for a backroom analysis of how a war with Iran might begin.
In the scenario concocted by Cheney's strategists, Washington's first step would be to convince Israel to fire missiles at Iran's uranium enrichment plant in Natanz. Tehran would retaliate with its own strike, providing the US with an excuse to attack military targets and nuclear facilities in Iran.
Given these not-too-secret designs, Democrats and Republicans alike have wondered what to make of the still mysterious Israeli bombing run in Syria on Sept. 6. Was it part of an existing war plan? A test run, perhaps? For days after the attack, one question dominated conversation at Washington receptions: How great is the risk of war, really?

I hope that Dems and Repugs are wondering. I hope they go beyond wondering and take actions to stop the madmen running this regime. So far I haven;t seen too many polticos raising their voices against an Iranian adventure.

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Do you want another 4 years of war?

We Must Bomb Iran, Says US Republican Guru

A senior foreign policy adviser to the Republican frontrunner Rudy Giuliani has urged that Iran be bombed using cruise missiles and "bunker busters" to set back Teheran’s nuclear programme by at least five years.
The tough message at a time of crisis between the United States and Iraq was delivered by Norman Podhoretz, one of the founders of neoconservatism, who has also imparted his stark advice personally to a receptive President George W. Bush.

This upcoming election it is critical to elect a leader not interested in creating wars, not interested in keeping the war machine in power - but a leader dedicated to peace, diplomacy...

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Society, you're a crazy breed

Society, Have mercy on me I hope you're not angry if I disagree...

Lyrics of "Society" sung by Eddie Vedder.

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Is there such a thing as pre-emptive arrests?

Or is wearing pink and flashing a peace sign now a crime?

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The Peace Candidate

The ONLY ONE!

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I thought the Kurds were our friends?

Bush offers to bomb Kurds

THE Bush Administration is considering air strikes, including cruise missiles, against the Kurdish rebel group PKK in northern Iraq.

Round and round it goes - who's our next enemy? W knows!

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Kucinich continues to grow in stature

Kucinich Pushes Bush Impeachment

Congressman Dennis Kucinich, weary from a dozen campaign stops in a week, sat in a small room at the Monterey fairgrounds on Sunday, but he had a look in his eyes that said he knew he wouldn’t sit for long.
he presidential hopeful was energized by a straw poll taken Sunday in San Mateo County, where he came in second after John Edwards as the favored Democratic candidate.
“That shows that I am electable,” he said. “That was very powerful, a sign of rising support because of the stand I take for peace - including standing up against war with Iran.”
He seized the moment to come out with perhaps his strongest stance to date toward impeaching President George W. Bush.
“I’m going to talk to members of Congress this week and tell them taking impeachment off the table is a big mistake,” he said.
Kucinich was moved to take action, he said, in part because of Bush’s recent suggestion to reporters that a world war with Iran might be imminent, leading Kucinich to wonder “whether he’s playing with Armageddon or he’s not well.”
“The world can’t countenance the president of the United States raising the specter of World War III,” he said. “A president must be temperate with his words.”

He continues to stand tall - way above the other candidates. He is growing in stature, growing in the polls. Why? Because he speaks the truth.

Let us stop W before he leads us to the End Times he so desires.

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The War Machine

Neocons Surge Against Antiwar Movement - by Tom Hayden

As thousands of Americans take to the streets this week, they will face a rising right-wing offensive to discredit and derail the antiwar movement. The cry of "troops home now" will echo in 11 cities as an intense year-long battle begins to sharpen. Not since 2002 will the antiwar movement – and dovish Democrats – face as virulent and lavishly funded a backlash as this one.
Consider the gathering storm:
* A powerful and persistent faction of hawks, centered in Vice President Cheney's office, is pushing for a military strike against Iran in the coming year
* The orchestrated campaign for continuing the "surge" in Iraq, led by Gen. Petraeus, succeeded in restoring the nerve of the Republican Party and defeating the Democratic strategy of seeking Republican defections.
* The well-coordinated attacks on MoveOn.org were designed to destroy the group's proven ability to raise millions of dollars for antiwar messages and, in general, Democratic candidates. Seventy-five senators, including the likes of Barbara Boxer, rushed to denounce MoveOn, thus helping the effort to de-legitimize the organization.
* Ari Fleischer, the former Bush spokesman who warned Americans to "watch what you say," now heads an organization that spent $15 million to promote the war as patriotic.
* Pro-Israel and Christian Right groups are attempting to raise $200 million for a campaign calling for war with Iran.
* Rudy Giuliani, currently the Republican front-runner, has selected neocon godfather Norman Podhoretz as his national security adviser.
* David Horowitz is spending millions of dollars to demonize pro-peace professors and organize on campuses against what the neocons call "Islamofascism."
The neocons and hawks of all stripes are fighting back.

With very few exceptions, the War Machine controls both parties. As Ike had said:

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

Is it too late to stop - too late to overthrow?

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War IN Iran?

SAS raiders enter Iran to kill gunrunners

BRITISH special forces have crossed into Iran several times in recent months as part of a secret border war against the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Al-Quds special forces, defence sources have disclosed.
There have been at least half a dozen intense firefights between the SAS and arms smugglers, a mixture of Iranians and Shi’ite militiamen.
The unreported fighting straddles the border between Iran and Iraq and has also involved the Iranian military firing mortars into Iraq. UK commanders are concerned that Iran is using a militia ceasefire to step up arms supplies in preparation for an offensive against their base at Basra airport.
Liam Fox, the Conservative defence spokesman, said: “Increasingly Iran poses a direct threat to our armed forces and our wider interests . . . they are playing a very dangerous game.”

As are we, Liam. Both sides are playing a dangerous game of death.

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It's time to reduce!

Biofuels - Great Green Hope or Swindle -

A raft of new studies reveal European and American multibillion dollar support for biofuels is unsustainable, environmentally destructive and much more about subsidising agri-business corporations than combating global warming.
Not only do most forms of biofuel production do little to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, growing biofuel crops uses up precious water resources, increasing the size and extent of dead zones in the oceans, boosting use of toxic pesticides and deforestation in tropical countries, such studies say.
And biofuel, powered by billions of dollars in government subsidies, will drive food prices 20-40 percent higher between now and 2020, predicts the Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute.
“Fuel made from food is a dumb idea to put it succinctly,” says Ronald Steenblik, research director at the International Institute for Sustainable Development’s Global Subsidies Initiative (GSI) in Geneva, Switzerland.
Biofuel production in the U.S. and Europe is just another way of subsidising big agri-business corporations, Steenblik told IPS.

How many lives will be lost to hunger so that someone in the U.S, can "gas" up their SUV? It's time to reduce, conserve, make sane choices in our daily actions, change the MPG standards,,,,

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What a lovely dress Mrs. Cleaver

Hysterical yet spot on!

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No Nuke Bailout

It makes no sense. We know nuclear facilities are a target for terrorists. We know nuclear energy is toxic to our health and environment. And we know solar and wind power are safer, cheaper, and getting easier to use every day. This should equal a big "no" on nuclear energy, and a big "yes" to investing in clean energy. But the nuclear industry and their friends in Congress don't want to take no for an answer.

Sign the petition at Move On today.

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If you can...

No War No Warming : DC Intervention

The intention of No War, No Warming is to hold Congress accountable and show the world that we will not sit still. We will hold an intervention by taking over Capitol Hill on a day that Congress is in session. We will put our bodies on the line to say enough is enough. We will take positive action to make visible the cost of these failed government policies and to creatively manifest the world we know is possible. Until our Government representatives change course off the path of destruction, we have no choice but to get in the way.

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Don't be scared of peace

It's not frightening

Visitors to the web site, www.un-scared.org/Parade/Halloween.html, share ideas and photos to make this year's Halloween the most peaceful ever.
"Carve a peace pumpkin, bake cookies decorated with peace signs, make peace costumes," says Callahan. "Use your imagination."
The roots for this novel idea come from Callahan's late grandfather, George Markulakis.
"Grandpa's favorite song was 'Imagine' by John Lennon," she says. "I've always been interested in the peace movement and politics."
This bent guided her to actively support Congressman Dennis Kucinich, the Democrats' only presidential candidate who voted against the invasion of Iraq and whose campaign watchword is "Strength Through Peace."
"Everybody prays for peace, and nearly everyone I know celebrates Halloween, so we decided to use the Internet to promote the message, 'Don't be scared of peace,'" she says.
The un-scared website was created in early August by a friend and fellow Kucinich volunteer, Kevin Parcell of St. Augustine, Florida.
"We currently have 532 people who've contributed photos, videos and blogs," says Callahan. Visitors can also freely download bookmarks and "tickets" to The Un-Scared Halloween.

Visit the site, support Kucinich, promote peace. Not scary at all.

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Whole Grains - healthy foods - a way of looking at things

Hippie Love and Whole Foods

When I was too young to babysit, I had a job babysitting for a hippie family down the street. There were two two-year-old twins and their older sister, who might have been five. I can’t remember playing with them, or interacting with them at all. What I do remember is they had a low bookcase with lots of books for kids, including the plain-talkin’, illustrated facts-of-life book “Where Did I Come From?” (by Peter Mayle), and a small photo album of their naked, pregnant mom, month by month, and then in childbirth with the twins. Shocking! Fascinating! Hippies are so wild! And they eat the weirdest stuff!
Along with the hippie sex books, I was obsessed with their kitchen and pantry, filled with fragrant plants, dried herbs and glass jars of… what? What were those things? I took every chance I could to sneak tastes of every little thing I could, most of it unrecognizable to my white bread, Velveeta cheese culinary awareness. I crunched dry, brown rice, gagged on carob, chewed extra long pasta from an extra long canister, and was amazed that someone would have a whole jar — A WHOLE JAR — of sunflower seeds! You didn’t even have to do any work to eat them! There were strange, chewy cookie like things, and brown bread with birdseed on top. Babysitting in the hippie house was my first inkling of what sex was, outside of sneaked peaks of Playboys, and it was my first experience with whole foods.
After many adult years of a fairly average (read not so healthy) diet, I became a whole grain freak. I tried to emulate the hippie kitchen, with jars of dried fruits, nuts, grains and, yes, sunflower seeds. I duly consider most white items in the food pyramid poison. Without much thought I banned white sugar, white flour, white potatoes and white rice from our home menus.

Love this article from Lime.com. It brings back the memories of early issues of Mother Earth News, Euell Gibbons, bulk foods, Kefir (how hard it was to find), learning to bake bread and make yogurt,,,

Sure there was a war going on, but there were marches and protests and underground papers. There are many parts of those years we long for.

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The man they love to hate

Gore Derangement Syndrome

On the day after Al Gore shared the Nobel Peace Prize, The Wall Street Journal’s editors couldn’t even bring themselves to mention Mr. Gore’s name. Instead, they devoted their editorial to a long list of people they thought deserved the prize more.
And at National Review Online, Iain Murray suggested that the prize should have been shared with “that well-known peace campaigner Osama bin Laden, who implicitly endorsed Gore’s stance.” You see, bin Laden once said something about climate change - therefore, anyone who talks about climate change is a friend of the terrorists.

And now the radio talk show nuts (you know who they are) are trotting out William Gray to say that human actions have nothing to do with global warming.

It really is amazing at how much vinegar bubbles to the surface at any mention of Gore. Could it just be FEAR of Gore! It could be FEAR of a Gore campaign? Or is it just FEAR of truth?

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Not so fast General!

Al-Qaeda In Iraq Reported Crippled

The U.S. military believes it has dealt devastating and perhaps irreversible blows to al-Qaeda in Iraq in recent months, leading some generals to advocate a declaration of victory over the group, which the Bush administration has long described as the most lethal U.S. adversary in Iraq.
But as the White House and its military commanders plan the next phase of the war, other officials have cautioned against taking what they see as a premature step that could create strategic and political difficulties for the United States. Such a declaration could fuel criticism that the Iraq conflict has become a civil war in which U.S. combat forces should not be involved. At the same time, the intelligence community, and some in the military itself, worry about underestimating an enemy that has shown great resilience in the past.

Declare victory and leave? But that would mean we would lose our bases when we attack Iran. A little short-sighted of those military experts. Short sighted means short-career!

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Gore/Kucinich 08

Gore Wins the Norwegian Primary

Having now won the Norwegian Primary, it is reasonable to ask why Al Gore would want to slog his way through the snows of New Hampshire. But the inconvenient truth is that never has the man who might yet be president needed to more seriously consider his personal legacy — not to mention the small matter of his potential to make the world anew — than now. There is, after all, the matter of the open space at the end of what is now the most remarkable resume of anyone seeking — or considering seeking — the presidency. Al Gore has arrived at the point that most politicians can only imagine in their wildest dreams. The entire world is asking him to be not merely a candidate but an ecological — not to mention, ideological — savior. And there is simply no question that he is viable. In fact, he is more viable than he has ever been. Can Gore resist? Probably. Should he resist? Probably not.

In no way does my regard and hope and support of Kucinich decrease - but I would equally relish a nation run by Gore. Why not a Gore-Kucinich ticket?

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We'll remember, Hill

It Takes A Village to Start World War III

On September 26, 2007, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton voted yes on the Kyl-Lieberman Amendment that effectively labeled the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps a “terrorist organization.” The Revolutionary Guard Corps is the largest branch of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s military. It is unprecedented in American history that the armed forces of a sovereign nation have been named “a terrorist organization.” In response to the Kyl-Lieberman Amendment, Iran’s Foreign Ministry and parliament have designated the U.S. Army and CIA as terrorist organizations.

Clinton was the lone Democratic presidential candidate to support this legislation that many view as giving President Bush authority to launch an air war against Iran.

Everyone take note. She is just being christened by the media. Remember, there are still primaries that you can participate in to elect a candidate of peace. Let's not make any mistakes - the world and future generations depend on our votes.

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Can you name other Nobel Prize winners who were US Presidents?

Nobel Rumors Energize Groups Hoping To Draft Gore

Hundreds of loyal “Draft Gore” activists in California and around the nation hope Gore hits a trifecta of public recognition on Friday when the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize is announced. The award of a Nobel Prize could prompt the 2000 Democratic presidential candidate to change his mind and launch a 2008 presidential run, they believe. “It’s like waiting for Grateful Dead tickets to go on sale, back in the day,” says Eric Schiller of Moss Beach, an activist with the California arm of America for Gore (americaforgore.org), one of a coalition of 19 independent groups pushing Gore to run for the White House.

We need another Nobel Prize winner as leader.

The answer: Woodrow Wilson, Jimmy Carter, Teddy Roosevelt. If you guessed W - what have you been smoking?

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Either way - a failing Deadly grade

U.S. military: 19 insurgents and 15 civilians, including 9 children, killed in raid targeting al-Qaida in Iraq

U.S. troops backed by attack aircraft killed 19 suspected insurgents and 15 civilians, including nine children, in an operation Thursday targeting al-Qaida in Iraq leaders northwest of Baghdad, the military said.

The figures: 44% of the kills were innocents and 26% of the total were innocent children. How can this be justified? Isn't it time we leave?

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Recognize the Armenian Genocide

Turkey's president warns Bush over Armenian vote

Turkey's president has written to U.S. President George W. Bush warning of the damage to bilateral ties if Congress backs a bill recognizing the 1915 massacres of Armenians as genocide, his office said on Tuesday.
Congress's Foreign Affairs Committee is expected to back a bill on the genocide issue on Wednesday and speaker Nancy Pelosi, a known supporter of the Armenian cause, could then decide to bring it to the House floor for a vote.

W is not expected to sign this bill - why? - because he needs Turkey's support for his visions of a larger war against Iran/Syria. But it is time the slaughter of so many is recognized as genocide. The senseless murder and slaughter of so many innocents in the name of of a "nation" or a religion is nothing more than genocide and must be condemned.

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Happy Birthday Kucinich

Kucinich campaign updates.

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Kucinich and the Imagine Peace Project

October 9 - the day to make our dreams and hopes of peace a reality.

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Imagine

Imagine Peace by Cindy Sheehan.

On October 9th, on what would have been John Lennon’s 67th birthday, his widow, Yoko Ono is dedicating a peace tower in Reykjavik, Iceland in the memory of her husband. There will also be almost a half a million peace wishes buried in capsules around the tower which is a blue tower of light extending up to the sky above us.
I received the link to the Imagine Peace website while I was on a layover in the airport in Las Vegas, Nv. Still reeling from the reports of hundreds, if not thousands of Burmese monks and other humans being slaughtered for protesting against their oppressive government, it was hard for me to watch all the people sitting hypnotized at the slot machines, pulling the handles or pushing the buttons as if the world is not going to hell in George’s hand basket. The dichotomy of business as usual in America compared with genocides in Darfur and Iraq while I am still and always will be mourning my son makes me dizzy sometimes.
So, I made myself close my eyes for a few minutes between planes and tried to shut out the bells and whistles of the slots and “imagined” peace. What would a world at peace look like? What would a world at peace be like to live in? I have a great imagination but I knew this exercise would be challenging.
John Lennon called his song Imagine an “anti-religious, anti-nationalism, anti-conventional, anti-capitalist” sort of a “Communist manifesto.” It is for sure a utopian vision of a perfect society that unfortunately can not be achieved by imagining, and probably not at all—but how close can we get to this world and how much sacrifice will a world at peace take from each and everyone of us?
First of all, imagine a world with no religion. A world where sick and evil people could not manipulate the masses into believing that the set of myths and beliefs that they profess are more important or powerful than the other’s set of myths or beliefs. Israelis could not (with the help of Christian extremists) tell Palestinians that it is okay to occupy them or kill them so that the Jews could claim their “Promised Land.” Land promised to whom by whom? Muslims could not proclaim “jihad” against infidels. There would have been no Nazi holocaust against Jews; no Crusades; no holocaust against our own native population; no black slavery justified by the Christian scriptures; no George Bush saying that his Christian God is like a mob-boss ordering him to “hit” the world. Imagine that!
Secondly, imagine no countries. No jingoistic worship of banners made of mere cloth (not spun gold) or arrogant nationalism that gives leaders the right to kill other human beings just because they do not happen to live within the same false borders that were artificially drawn many years ago by empires that have long ago fallen. In this homeland-istic fervor it is especially correct to kill those other people if they are not the same religion as the religion of your state (and don’t kid yourself that the US does not have a state sanctioned religion). Imagine no armies that in reality kill and get killed for the imperialistic neo-liberalism that has crept around our globe like a flesh eating bacteria since the Reagan years. Imagine that.
Imagine no possessions: This is the crux of our problem. Going back to my brothers and sisters at the slot machines in Vegas, pulling almost catatonically on the lever of the One Armed Bandit, for what? To win the “jackpot” of course! How nice is it of the State of Nevada to allow gambling machines in their airports, so we can perchance live the American dream of buying higher stacks of stuff! On a day that George vetoed the health of over six-million children here in America, 16,000 children around the world died of starvation. In a week that we saw murder on a horrendous scale in Burma, more Iraqis were killed or forced from their homes by violence: to wander in the desert, or probably off to Syria where their daughters may be forced into prostitution to help support the family which should be able to live in peace and relative prosperity in their own country. Imagine that.
It was hard for me to imagine or envision peace when I am terrified because BushCo is contemplating even more slaughter in the Middle East in Iran and when Congress, Inc is busy supporting a murderous status quo that hurts humans within all borders, even our own.
Peace will only happen when every member of humanity is guaranteed prosperity, health and security which will not happen when we here in the US can’t even get off our asses to protest a war that is four and a half years and hundreds of thousands of bodies old, now.
We can imagine peace all we want but until each and everyone of us is willing to sacrifice some of our prosperity (because we have already had our security robbed from us by the rotten Republicans and complicit corporate Democrats) true peace—not just the absence of war—will be as elusive as a morsel of truth or modicum of courage coming out of Washington, DC.
Voluntary sacrifice is truly a revolutionary concept here in the United States of America.
So you say you want a revolution? Imagine that.

I thought about cutting down her words a little - just quoting some paragraphs. But when you read this - it is so spot on that it had to be read as a whole.

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True words from Helen Thomas

I love the first lines from Helen Thomas' The Democrats Who Enable Bush

President Bush has no better friends than the spineless Democratic congressional leadership and the party’s leading presidential candidates when it comes to his failing Iraq policy.

the only complaint Helen is that you just mentioned Kucinich as being

...more definitive in their calls for quick troop withdrawals...

then you failed to write about him - write about his plans for peace, his plans for our nation. Please Helen, Tell everyone that there is one presidential candidate with a spine and convictions and ideals and plans.

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It's clear - we're in Iraq to stay - hello Iran

Bush Warns of Nuclear-Armed Iran

Bush said it's important for the United States to stay engaged in neighboring Iraq to convince the Iranians that the U.S. is committed to democratic reform in the region. "There would be nothing worse for world peace than if the Iranians believed that the United States did not have the will and commitment to help young democracies survive," Bush told businessmen and women where he took questions after a talk on government spending.

First - they have WMDes (oops - we didn't find them). Second - have to get rid of Saddam (done), Third - democracy (they voted already). Fourth - al-Qaeda (really?).

Now a new fifth reason - Our presence in Iraq is important to keep Iran on its toes. The ever changing reasons for Iraq.

I especially love...

In other words, it's his choice, it's not mine anymore.

So when we invade Iran, it's only Ahmadinejad's fault. Don't ever blame W. Be ready for the reports that Iran was involved with 9-11.

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Talking like a diplomat?

Debra Cagan, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Coalition Affairs to Defence Secretary Robert Gates words of wisdom?:

“I hate all Iranians.”

Is this any way to act?

Employed by this White House - you bet it is!

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Getting everyone to feel the pain

Democrats Propose Tax Surcharge for War

Democrats on Tuesday proposed an income tax surcharge to finance the approximately $150 billion annual cost of operations in Iraq, saying it is unfair to pass the cost of the war onto future generations.
The plan, unveiled by Reps. David Obey, D-Wis., John Murtha, D-Pa., and Jim McGovern, D-Mass., would require low- and middle-income taxpayers to add 2 percent to their tax bill. Wealthier people would pay an additional 12 to 15 percent, Obey said.

Nice idea, right? Bring the impact of war to everyone. If we can't get the images on TV (too occupied with Britney) let's make everyone feel the pain in the wallets. Maybe that will make more call for an end to this war (and a call to stay out of Iran).

Too bad though that Congress is not pushing for an immediate end.

Obey also announced that Democrats will not pass a supplemental spending bill for the Iraq war until next year, when Democrats hope public pressure could force Bush to change the course of the war.
Democrats hope their chances of winning a battle with Bush on the war will be better next year as the election season heats up.
"The showdown is going to be in January or February," McGovern said.

Why wait? Every day that passes - more lives are lost. Every day that passes - W increases the drumbeats for a war on Iran.

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Imagine Peace

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Expanding the conflict to Iran

Seymour Hersh has noted that there is a change in the strategy towards Iran.

This summer, the White House, pushed by the office of Vice-President Dick Cheney, requested that the Joint Chiefs of Staff redraw long-standing plans for a possible attack on Iran, according to former officials and government consultants. The focus of the plans had been a broad bombing attack, with targets including Iran’s known and suspected nuclear facilities and other military and infrastructure sites. Now the emphasis is on “surgical” strikes on Revolutionary Guard Corps facilities in Tehran and elsewhere, which, the Administration claims, have been the source of attacks on Americans in Iraq. What had been presented primarily as a counter-proliferation mission has been reconceived as counterterrorism.
The shift in targeting reflects three developments. First, the President and his senior advisers have concluded that their campaign to convince the American public that Iran poses an imminent nuclear threat has failed (unlike a similar campaign before the Iraq war), and that as a result there is not enough popular support for a major bombing campaign. The second development is that the White House has come to terms, in private, with the general consensus of the American intelligence community that Iran is at least five years away from obtaining a bomb. And, finally, there has been a growing recognition in Washington and throughout the Middle East that Iran is emerging as the geopolitical winner of the war in Iraq.
During a secure videoconference that took place early this summer, the President told Ryan Crocker, the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, that he was thinking of hitting Iranian targets across the border and that the British “were on board.” At that point, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice interjected that there was a need to proceed carefully, because of the ongoing diplomatic track. Bush ended by instructing Crocker to tell Iran to stop interfering in Iraq or it would face American retribution.
At a White House meeting with Cheney this summer, according to a former senior intelligence official, it was agreed that, if limited strikes on Iran were carried out, the Administration could fend off criticism by arguing that they were a defensive action to save soldiers in Iraq.

So how is the plan going? Quite well if you ask some - those who are doing the finger-pointing.

The US military in Iraq said Sunday it had seized sophisticated Iranian-made surface-to-air missiles that were being used by insurgents in the war-torn country. Several Misagh-1s have been found in different locations, the military said, although it stopped short of saying the use of the weapons represented an escalation of Iranian activity in Iraq. "We've said that we've found these things, we've seen them employed. That's significant in it's own right," US military spokesman Rear Admiral Mark Fox told reporters in Baghdad.

Will the American public and Congress fall for it? Most did in regard to Iraq - sorry to say.

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