At least 6256 US veterans committed suicide in 2005 - an average of 17 a day - the network reported, with veterans overall more than twice as likely to take their own lives as the rest of the general population. While the suicide rate among the general population was 8.9…
I’m in Washington DC still (I’ve been here most of the week for a business conference). Yesterday was the day of the American flag. You can see flag-waving everywhere these days. Americans do focus on the accoutrements of democracy rather than making sure we have a healthy democracy with active citizen participation (e.g., consider our pathetic voter turnouts compared to many other countries).
We obsess about flags instead of getting our citizens involved in their government. Our persistent failure to correct this situation is mind-numbing. It’s like being a baseball player at bat in the 9th inning. He could tie the game with one swing of the bat, but strikes out. Instead of focusing on putting the wood of the bat on the ball, he’s obsessing about drinking champaign and having his photo in tomorrow’s newspaper. He’s spending his energy at the wrong level. The waving of American flags is like thinking of drinking champaign while at bat. By waving flags instead of educating and empowering the People, we’re waiving real democracy.
For a strong democracy we need fewer flags, fewer Pledges of Allegiance and a lot more participation by informed citizens. This would start with an active and vigorous media.
Yesterday, Dennis Kucinich wrote this letter to the House Judiciary Committee Chairman: November 9, 2007The Honorable John Conyers, Jr. Chairman Committee on the Judiciary 2138 Rayburn HOB Washington, DC 20515 Dear Chairman Conyers I am writing in support of H. Res. 799, the Articles of Impeachment which were referred to…
Today, the following Associated Press article was run on page-19 of my local newspaper (the St. Louis Post-Dispatch):
An epic drought in Georgia threatens the water supply for millions. Florida doesn’t have nearly enough water for its expected population boom. The Great Lakes are shrinking. Upstate New York’s reservoirs have dropped to record lows. And in the West, the Sierra Nevada snowpack is melting faster each year.
Across America, the picture is critically clear — the nation’s freshwater supplies can no longer quench its thirst.
The government projects that at least 36 states will face water shortages within five years because of a combination of rising temperature, drought, population growth, urban sprawl, waste and excess.
“Is it a crisis? If we don’t do some decent water planning, it could be,” said Jack Hoffbuhr, executive director of the American Water Works Association, based in Denver.
Water managers will need to take bold steps to keep taps flowing, including conservation, recycling, desalination and stricter controls on development.
The price tag for ensuring a reliable water supply could be staggering. Experts estimate that just upgrading pipes to handle new supplies could cost the nation $300 billion over 30 years.
“Unfortunately, there’s just not going to be any more cheap water,” said Randy Brown, utilities director for Pompano Beach, Fla.
Truly, this is a major story; our country is running out of a critically important resource. Combine that lack-of-water news, though with the equally unreported news that the world is running out of …
As reported by The Raw Story, the U.S. is hemorhaging money into it's Middle East adventures. The numbers are staggering: The United States is spending about $8,000 per man, woman and child in the country to pursue wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to new estimates that show the wars…