The cost of U.S. warmongering

There are several websites that attempt to give real time estimates as to the cost of U.S. warmongering, and these numbers are staggering, repulsive and immoral. Those of us who are not caught up in the zealous tribalism seized upon and revved up by opportunistic politicians and media outlets can see that the alleged need to fight unending wars is a fraud perpetrated on the American People, with an even bigger burden borne by those who are the targets of our weapons, including untold numbers of civilians. It is perfectly clear that America must always have an enemy--that is how our collective mind works--and there must always be war, even when we can't explain why we are going to war. [More . . . ]

Continue ReadingThe cost of U.S. warmongering

Hello Kitty AR-15 assault rifle

This fellow thinks that legislators are needlessly worked up over assault rifles like the AR-15 recently used in the Denver movie theater massacre. To give emphasis to his point, he painted his AR-15 in a Hello Kitty motif.

So called "Assault Weapons Bans" such as the now expired 1994 Clinton ban and the one still in place in states such as California seek to ban rifles that our misguided legislators feel have no purpose in civilian hands.

Continue ReadingHello Kitty AR-15 assault rifle

Ralph Nader on Obama’s drone wars

Ralph Nader asks why we aren't hearing an outcry by lawyers, whose duty it is to be the first responders when a politician shreds the Constitution.

The drones have killed civilians, families with small children, and even allied soldiers in this undeclared war based on secret “facts” and local grudges (getting even). These attacks are justified by secret legal memos claiming that the president, without any Congressional authorization, can without any limitations other than his say-so, target far and wide assassinations of any “suspected terrorist,” including American citizens. The bombings by Mr. Obama, as secret prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner, trample proper constitutional authority, separation of powers, and checks and balances and constitute repeated impeachable offenses. That is, if a pathetic Congress ever decided to uphold its constitutional responsibility, including and beyond Article I, section 8’s war-declaring powers. ... Sadly, the bulk of our profession, as individuals and through their bar associations, has remained quietly on the sidelines. They have turned away from their role as “first-responders” to protect the Constitution from its official violators. [The New York Times recently] reported that a weekly role of the president is to personally select and order a “kill list” of suspected terrorists or militants via drone strikes or other means. The reporters wrote that this personal role of Obama’s is “without precedent in presidential history.” Adversaries are pulling him into more and more countries – Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and other territories.

Continue ReadingRalph Nader on Obama’s drone wars

More pithy quotes

I'm still collecting quotes. I'll never stop, because time is ticking on my life (I'm not sick, I'm referring to the fact that I'm human), and there a novel in every excellent quote. Here are some of my recent favorites: Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying. - Arthur C. Clark, as quoted in Visions : How Science Will Revolutionize the Twenty-First Century (1999) by Michio Kaku, p. 295 "We simply do not understand our place in the universe and have not the courage to admit it” - Barry Lopez One of the keys to happiness is a bad memory. - Rita Mae Brown Holding a grudge is letting someone live rent-free in your head. - From a sign. He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire. - Sir Winston Churchill There is nobody so irritating as somebody with less intelligence and more sense than we have. - Don Herold “My main purpose in life is to make enough money to create ever more inventions…. The dove is my emblem…. I want to save and advance human life, not destroy it…. I am proud of the fact that I have never invented weapons to kill….” - Thomas Edison “I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that. I wish I had more years left.” - Thomas Edison “I never did a day’s work in my life, it was all fun.” - Thomas Edison It is part of the general pattern of misguided policy that our country is now geared to an arms economy which was bred in an artificially induced psychosis of war hysteria and nurtured upon an incessant propaganda of fear. While such an economy may produce a sense of seeming prosperity for the moment, it rests on an illusionary foundation of complete unreliability and renders among our political leaders almost a greater fear of peace than is their fear of war. - General Douglas MacArthur. Speech to the Michigan legislature, in Lansing, Michigan (15 May 1952). The crime is not failing to know. It’s failing to ask. - Anon My work is a game, a very serious game. - M. C. Escher (1898 - 1972) Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself.” - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, p. 298 "There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people for a purpose which is unattainable". - Howard Zinn Voting is easy and marginally useful, but it is a poor substitute for democracy, which requires direct action by concerned citizens. - Howard Zinn, "Election Madness" The Progressive (March 2008) "If those in charge of our society — politicians, corporate executives, and owners of press and television — can dominate our ideas, they will be secure in their power. They will not need soldiers patrolling the streets. We will control ourselves." - Howard Zinn, Declarations of Independence: Cross-Examining American Ideology (1991)

Continue ReadingMore pithy quotes