Support the Troops, Burn Money?

Instead of burning the money, why don't we simply give the money over to the rich, they need it in order to buttress the tax breaks that they (the wealthy) received over the past 7 years, from GB?

There is an old saying: when the majority suffers, a minority is in trouble! There is sufficient wealth and earning power in this nation of ours. There is no reason that every American who is willing to work, cannot work and earn a decent wage, the resources in this nation belong to all of us.

Our bifurcated class-structured society is plodding along on a collision course, similar to when a nation under similar class-struggle conditions, erupted. Does anyone recall the Bolshevik Revolution?

Our country is bankrupt (up to its ears in debt), the rich got richer, and the numbskulls who returned us to a Ronald Reagan style economic predicament, will soon retire to lives of lesisure and excess!

What is wrong with this picture? The question that members of the elitist class should be asking themselves is, who will be their enemies then, Arabs, Muslims, people of the Americas, or the majority of American citizens?

For those of you who continue to refuse to consider wealth redistribution in America, a time will come when you will wish that you had. We have given the wealthy all of the breaks, and what have they done for the American people? The answer is nothing, instead they have worked at increasing their profit margins and exporting meaningful jobs overseas, while filling their pockets.

And how do they do that, by reselling the products that they produced given tax breaks by the American people, at absorbitant prices!

Wake up Americans, for we appear to be headed back to a greedy master v. poor slave-manor society!

On both the money waste topic (in this case, suppression of war dissent), AND the technology of futurewar as applicable to the civilian populations of the industrialised nations:

http://www.dailymotion.com/flash/dmplayer/loader.swf?rev=1198003828&uid=d8070c4c4367fee6266d03a699f852b0&lang=en&preview=http%3A%2F%2Fak.static.dailymotion.com%2Fdyn%2Fpreview%2F320x240%2F6245536.jpg%3F20071210025353&video=%2Fget%2F15%2F320x240%2Fflv%2F6245536.flv%3Fkey%3D56d288241abfd81189cbb297845afe68133b71c%40%40spark%7C%7C%2Fget%2F15%2F80x60%2Fflv%2F6245536.flv%3Fkey%3D56d288241abfd81189cbb297845afe68133b71c%40%40spark-mini&click=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailymotion.com%2Fvideo%2Fx3pv34_le-taser-irobot-packbot-explorer_news%40%40_blank&log=http%3A%2F%2Flogger.dailymotion.com%2Fvideo%2Faccess%2Fx3pv34%3Fsession_id%3D%26referer%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fpatriotboy.blogspot.com%252F2008%252F05%252Fdangerous-among-us.html%26country%3DUS%26blog_key%3Dx3pv34%26key%3D77ca5tdrwv0hr0s1mk0dne0%40%40firstplay%7C%7Chttp%3A%2F%2Flogc25.xiti.com%2Fhit.xiti%3Fs%3D311102%26s2%3D188%26x5%3D%25%25v%25%25%40%40preview%7C%7Chttp%3A%2F%2Flogc25.xiti.com%2Fhit.xiti%3Fs%3D311102%26s2%3D189%26x5%3D%25%25v%25%25%40%40firstplay&share=%2Fwidget%2Fvideo%2Fshare%2Fx3pv34_le-taser-irobot-packbot-explorer_news%3Fskin%3Ddefault&info=%2Frss%2Fvideo%2Fx3pv34_le-taser-irobot-packbot-explorer_news&related=%2Frss%2Frelated%2Fx3pv34_le-taser-irobot-packbot-explorer_news%2F1%3A30&relatedAtEnd=0

H/T Jesus' General, an eleven on the manly scale of absolute gender: http://patriotboy.blogspot.com/2008/05/dangerous-among-us.html

Am I the only one here that knows that the Founding Fathers did not want a standing Army. It is in now way required by the constitution. President Eisenhauer warned us to be ware of the Military Industrial (Congressional) Complex.

We are now seeing the results of his warning gone unheard.

The Iraq "War" and the soon (perhaps) Iran "War" are not Wars at all. They are invasions performed by the Department of Defense on behalf of the corporate influences that sustain the DOD.

Ever since Kissinger went off to attach the value of the dollar to Saudi oil, the powers that be have attempted to "guide" the middle east. Well, it turns out that Iraq and Iran aren't playing the game any more. So, the powerful "rulers" are doing all they can to control the oil.

The troops are in the middle.

Support the troops, defend the constitution, either have Congress declare War and let's get the job done and come home, or get the hell out of dodge.

It is either - or.

Do not let any GD politician mindscrew you in to believing anything else.

This War, our President, most of Congress, our Military, most police officers, and most Americans havve turned their backs on the constitution.

THAT is why we suffer now.

Pre-Katrina, to rebuild the levies in the New Orleans area would have cost $6B, instead roughly $200B has already been spent.

If the President's priorities were correct, he would have more money to spend for war (His War On Poverty Program) instead of borrowing from China and elsewhere!

=='Prevention of recurrence', is the ONLY issue that can be suitably resolved, and the answer to that lies solely in 'WHY'.==

I intellectually agree, but can't help wondering about the mechanics of it all. In addition, the "How" and the "Who" may be connected to the "Why" in ways we can't apriori conceive of.

Why would Israelis mount a large scale, failry transparent espionage operation with no obvious target during the 9/11 time frame? Why would they have their agents operate in close proximity to the locations of the 9/11 plotters to no obvious ends? Whey did they send their people in NY to "document the event" in such an obvious way?

I know I wouldn't like the real answers to these questions, but...the truth should set you free...right?

==Although he may be wrong about this one point - I wouldn't be so foolish to throw the rest of his main point out ==

Tacking to the left are we?

One can argue that the Patriot Act philosophy and general idea of American invasion of the nations in the "arc of instability" were planned "years ago", but that is not particularly relevant. Neocons have been planning all kinds of things in their think tanks, their "plans" only became remotely possible after 9/11 and Bush.

The only "conpiracy theory" worth considering, is the "Israeli Art Students" - an enigma wrapped in a mystery that may, or may not have had anything to do with how the history unfolded. If it does, then it puts Israeli intelligence into very close proximity to the 9/11 plotters. Give the neocon's very close relationship to the Israeli Likud party, this is a very troubling possibility. Whether the Israelis did or did not choose to reveal to us everything they knew about what was about to go down remains a mystery - unlikely to be looked at in America today.

OK - we are going to discuss engineering now?
Are you trying to debunk this fellow who claimed there is trouble brewing in the future by trying to say that if one of premises is wrong - they must all be wrong? Although he may be wrong about this one point - I wouldn't be so foolish to throw the rest of his main point out - like the baby with the bathwater syndrome. That would be foolish; but foolishness abounds...

Dimitry's explination for the tower collapse is the same understanding that I had learned. Steel that wasn't properly coated to accept a jarring impact that removed the insulation material which softened in time in the presence of heat and load culminating in a domino effect of progresssive floor failure from the top down. Yeah - got it five yaers ago...

Dimitry: "...unfortunate load case combination ..."

I've tried explaining it to people by using a cardboard box/fan analogy.

Cut the top off of a refrigerator box and apply a strong wind... eventually the torsional flex will weaken the structure even if it was apparently intact.

Even a wino could visualize that.

Building 7? The beach analogy. put 2 sticks in the sand next to each other and then lever one of the sticks over... the other stick will move or be undermined.

You could show that to a ten year old and the child would understand.

The whole underneath of Manhattan is a honeycomb of substructures, and in the Wall st. area... It's mud (from 14th st down to the Battery). Move one building, and the whole area around it has be substantially weakened and undermined, not to mention the incipient damage from the shock wave produced by the crashing of the planes into the towers.

I could also do a simple debunking on the molten whatever in the hole, but honestly, I find the whole subject tragically tedious. because 9/11 conspiracy 'theo-factualists' are totally obsessed with the 'how' and 'who', and 'WHY' never enters the argument.

Nor will they allow it to do so.

IMNSHO, the 'how' and 'who' are not relevant to the most important issue, and are indeed the biggest 'red herring' that American society has ever faced.

'Prevention of recurrence', is the ONLY issue that can be suitably resolved, and the answer to that lies solely in 'WHY'.

==The collapse of the twin towers and building number 7 of the WTC complex violates both the laws of conservation and the laws of thermodynamics.==

I strongly suspect you actually don't know what that means.

I am a aerospace engineer by training and structural analyst by experience. It seems that the collapse initiation seems like a fairly straighforward case of buckling augmented by some unfortunate load case combination that wasn't properly considered during design phase. Main vertical beams were braced against compressive buckling via connections to floor reinforcements. When the planes hit, some of the vertical beams and some of the floor reinforcement was destroyed, but true to the original airplane impact load case, the structure held. The civil engineers did a good job, so far.

Now, you have to know that the steel most buildings are made from is cheap crap. It's yield strength is typically 36 ksi and high temperature strength retention is very poor. None of the good stuff that flies is ever made of this stuff. Anyway, in order to meet the spec on fire, the main structure had to retain its strength during high temperature - which was attained by coating the main beams with some kind of ceramic based thermal insulation. Again, so far so good, but the problem during 9/11 was that the planes hit with an impact and explosion, the force of which knocked a lot of that insulation off, plus the fire was very intense and lasted a long time. When the steel got soft, the main vertical beams to floor reinforcement connections gave way, increasing the "free span" of the vertical beams, and the buckling load equations go with length to the third power. The main beams were also hot, decreasing their stiffness and decreasing the critical buckling load. When the main beams buckled, the top of the building collapsed, creating dynamic forces on the lower structure that were enough to collapse each floor in succession, with the net result being the building folding in on itself. Civil engineers have special names for each of the main structural pieces of a building, which I don't know, so my terms are very generic.

Now, the main problem was that the engineers did each load case separately - plane impact as one case and fire as another. This is typical of this industry, and the problem lies in the fact that it is very expensive to either build large buildings of high strength, high temperature resistant steel, or to coat the crappy steel in ways that can resist the force of the blast and intense long duration heat from a get fuel fire.

However, to my mind, some questions do remain. It does seem bad luck that the initial impact of the top section of the building (even the one that got hit high) was enough to collapse lower floors, one by one. I assume that a team of good civil engineers did a very detailed analysis afterwards to show that this was in fact correct dynamic behavior. The other thing that seems a bit odd to me is the high symmetry of the collapse - you usually don't get this behavior from random events. Perhaps some design features that were built in (for purposes of future demolition) played into how the collapse unfolded.

On the other hand, people forget that the buildings did indeed behave quite well, allowing significant time before collapse, which explains the relatively low death toll from this horrific urban disaster. There was legitimate criticism of the inability of the escape routes to navigate through the burned out sections, but that's a really tough one to build against.

The first impulse when the subject of supporting the troops comes up is either to have more troops (!) or spend more money.

Mr. Arkin,

In contrast, New Orleans required about $6 to rebuild its levy system pre-Katrina, which pales in comparison to what America spends per week in Iraq; but the same goons in Washington declined. And just like on 9/11 when they weren't prepared, another 2000 lives were lost, and many more were displaced.

Just how many Americans have we lost since this man has been in Washington, while emptying out the American treasury for his forays into other nations.

And that decision, the Katrina decision, has cost the American taxpayer approximately $200M and it is still climbing! I believe, out of touch Bush, really believed that Browny had done a fine job!

The priority and needs of the people have always been secondary to the Bushtanistas!

Whatever happened to Stockman, I believe his name was, from the Reagan Administration? He felt that ketchup was a sufficient vegetable source for the poor!

He would fit right in with the Reagan Republican Bushtanistas!

//Plainfacto, your so-called "all-American worker" base for immigrant bashing that people like you NEED to fulfill your little fantasy about how people from 'other places' are 'ruining America', in-country legally or not, does not exist in the world without idiots like you spewing crap..\\ -Da Buff

My turn. I lived in the Bay Area since '59; but born in El Paso TX. Been around illegals since I can remember.

I am not picking on the legitimate, hard working MF's; but if they are here causing trouble OR are here illegally - then - Houston we have a problem. The law-abiding/hard working one have a greater chance to stay - so long as they can pay for taxes - or reasonably demonstrate they have. Forging birth certificates ane NOT the way to please our courts - either. The Immigration laws ARE THE LAW OF THE LAND.

I pretty much know what the Mexican street gangstas are all about. They have lived and profitted outside of our laws. We must satisfy the requirements of the law by sorting them all out. Those with criminal records with histories of street gang violence is NOT what anyone would call being outstanding citizens. Murder for hire (the very reason why I must carry a gun), massive drug trafficing for heroin, meth, pcp, and crack within the gang's protection. And the lists of their crimes goes on and on and on. I don't want it, I don't need it - and I resent their presence that makes law enforcement, the judicial system, and prisons be at overload capacity ALL OF THE TIME. This situation simply MUST change; there are no if's, and's, or but's about it...

Iraq and the United States accuse Iran of sending arms to Iraqi militants and offering them training, but there's one thing Iran is exporting (to Iraq)...

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2008/05/iraq-its-made-i.html#more

Posted by: Plainfacto - "Dear USDefender:

That is right!
Additionally, illegals have gotten away without paying taxes - since they haven't a SSN."

Gotta tell you. One of my more interesting jobs over the years was driving bobtail out of the back side of Watsonville California from a ranch at the foot of Mt Madonna that grew Cilantro and Celery Root.

The guys I worked with were ALL Mexican nationals, except the owner, an American citizen, born and raised in the Bay area.

Early in the morning I'd pull the truck in, and working out of an open shed that looked like a small livestock feeding area, they'd pack and ice the boxes of produce, throw 'em up on the truck for me to stack and palletize... By ...4:00am or so, I was on my way to the produce distributors in Oakland, by Candlestick park, and then on to the Chinese markets in S.F.

One thing I KNOW out of 'Two things'.

Each and every one of those guys was in the country legally. They's take the airlines down to Mexico over the holidays and fly back... The airlines flying out of California gouge them too! Knowing they leave and return at certain time of the year, the fee to fly skyrockets (sic).

If you want to find illegal aliens plainfacto, check out GW's friends. Last yeart they busted one OLD, most likely mothballed after WWII factory (Ive worked @ places like that in New England, machine shop, and dying fabric) that was using illegal aliens to manufacture cloth (or was it leather...) items for the US military on contract.

The workers... Deported.

The Staff... Busted, albeit I have not heard of any criminal legal actions against them.

The company itself... Still making stuff for the government, most likely @ seriously reduced net profit due to having to hire workers at the local going rate. Too Too bad.

The other thing I know. You've never worked with immigrants, and would NEVER consider getting up at 3 in the morning to work with them... no less do ANY phyiscal labor at all, or you'd know that they're some of the hardest working, loyal and honest MFs in America.

Now that I'm done with THAT ad hom, I'll reiiterate what was reported in the news about the Longshore workers action.

"...and, in America... 25,000 Longshoremen take the day off, effectively shutting down all port activity and ocean shipping on the West Coast of the United States in protest of the Iraq war, and in support of the soldiers suckered into destroying that country, it's culture, economy and society to allow a group of imperial Western governments the leisure of rebuilding it in the West's phantasmic image, and also indirectly destroying the American economy and society.

At the San Francisco march, *****the longshoremen hooked up with Immigration Rights demonstrators as well***.

Plainfacto, your so-called "all-American worker" base for immigrant bashing that people like you NEED to fulfill your little fantasy about how people from 'other places' are 'ruining America', in-country legally or not, does not exist in the world without idiots like you spewing crap.

Most of the immigration whiners I've met are unemployed losers who have to blame someone for their inability to hold a job due to too many expectations, and not enough 'talent', or the corupt government official who pander to them and the owners of factories like that one in New England that was making equipment for US soldiers using "illegals".

I'll BET you they thought they were in the country legally too!

george bush - a human & presidential failure that American school children will study & discuss, far into the future. all America should demand revocation of his citizenship, and condemn him to exile.

Don't call me a "theorist" - you insult my intelligence.

Here are a few provable facts for you:

911 was a false-flag operation which was engineered by members of our own government and federal agencies.

The collapse of the twin towers and building number 7 of the WTC complex violates both the laws of conservation and the laws of thermodynamics.

There is overwhelming evidence that the collapse of these building was achieved by the use of pyrotechnic chemical and explosive means. Professor Steven Jones has published scientific papers to this effect which have now passed peer review and have been published in several scientific and engineering journals. Traces of these suspect chemicals have also been discovered in what little remains of the structural steel from these buildings. The corroborative evidence is overwhelming.

The invasions of both Afghanistan and Iraq were planned long before either the presidency of George W. Bush or 911.

The Patriot Act was also written long before the presidency of George W. Bush or 911.

The Bush Administration told a documented 935 lies regarding weapons of mass-destruction and ties to terrorists prior to the invasion of Iraq.

I could continue bur what would be the point? For those of you who rely on the corporate network media for "news" and "information" there is no hope of penetrating the deeply ingrained layers of lies which you believe, so just turn on Faux News and ingest some more of their Fairly Unbalanced disinformation.

Don't worry about the destruction of your economy and of human lives, nor about the loss of your freedom and sovereignty. After all, it's all for a good cause. Just ask the talking heads at Faux.

When considering where the defense spending was spent - one consideration of how it's mis-spent would be who and how contracts get awarded. I really think that deserves further exploration.

Naturally, defense contracts are serious matters. Defense is at stake. So I can see where it's too easy for government to get into a rut and use whom they have always used, for example. Also, Cheney's connections here are very concerning. If someone sits or sat on a board of a large defense company and or owns stock in it, and also is the number 2 person in charge in The USA, we have a conflict of interest. One that was ignored over the last eight years.

Imagine a more open contract process that allowed for more American businesses to get involved. How much of our defense budget is spent buying "things" from other countries? Stuff we could produce here? Worth asking. It needs to be more of a reciprocal relationship that has benefits to our country not just in what it's spent on but who receives those funds. I'd rather see it go back into our economy for example. Even if the defense company is American, how much of what they manufacture is imported?

It's (past) time to evaluate the benefits of "Made in America" - to a much greater degree.

We are under attack from within!

Afraid to Identify

Ah don't be [scurred]!

America will not correct its internal problems as long as there is a majority in America that is unwilling to admit that we have our own egregious set of growing problems.

The same majority, along with our inchoate leaderships, would prefer to go around the world tell and punish other nations given their perceived problems based on an American perspective - it is a lot easier to do that than to deal with America's problems.

In consideration of some of the other great powers in world history, I suppose that a 232 year prebubescent nation wants to have its chance at being a bully Superpower!

Hopefully, America will settle down at the 500 year mark, if we last that long and recognize that what matters is its citizens, honesty, virtue and being an honest nation in the world!

If our hearts had been in the right place from the onset, poverty, hunger, racism, despair, social inequeties, injustice and a government that preferred one class of its citizens, and provided every advantage for that class of citizens over the other would not have persisted.

The wealth has always been present to address many of America's social ills, however, the will has not been present!

Bush will find money to conduct his illegal war, however, for 50M Americans without health insurance - that is simply not his problem, in addition to all of what you mentioned before and America's other problems!

We are in the middle of catastrophic climatic changes, soaring food and energy prices, military adventures sanctioned by a corrupt government, and a dozen other problems. How many of these problems are being addressed by our government?

I read today that there is not much food stored by the government to remedy a food shortage.

The US government is nothing but the biggest organized crime mob in the history of the human race.

It is time to recognize this and to face the fact that criminality is rampant in our government.

We are under attack from within!

Da' Buffalo Amongst Wolves

Thank you for the corroborating data regarding the financial plight of soldiers returning home..., many of them finding their cars repossessed and their homes in foreclosure, in violation of the law.

As you probably know by now, I've said it enough, I am from the Bay area. I can recall when GMAC was repossessing the automobiles of American soldiers at the Presidio, now a park in San Francisco.

It happened at the same time that these soldiers were serving in the armed forces of the USA.

And your data is correct, many of the service-connected were unaware of their rights, however, that did not stop GMAC - no full disclosure there!

The government should be ashamed of itself for allowing such a thing to have ever taken place!

It is amazing to me the number of people in government as well as the military that are getting paid salaries on a weekly and monthly basis, that can never seem to get the job done!

Still they want more money. Speaking of pork...!

Janet: "Now all of the blogs and news shows are complaining about the candidates THEY PUSHED AHEAD..."

I've NEVER supported ANY of the candidates, includiong Ron Paul, who is very intelligent and forthrght, but has an "Immigration Problem" that panders to a right-wing racist base.

Now if you ran a Dennis Kucinich/Ron Paul ticket, I'd run with that.

Kucinich would stifle Paul's immigrant bashing and Paul would kep Kucinich's fet on the ground about what's politically feasible.

Anywho, it's not gonna happen, because in America, elections are bought by the biggest spending budget, and it's the corporations who do the buying.

That's why I say the United States is currently a fascist (corporatist cf. Mussolini) system, bordering now on the brink of despotism in the name of a "War on Terror", really a war to terrorize the American populace into fearfully, meekly following along in vain hope of ethereal 'safety' even as we continue to disgrace allies and make enemies globally due to the profit and production necessities (the latter driven by consumer demand for an ultimately untenable 'lifestyle') of western industrial and extractive industries.

..And it's not JUST oil, or DynCorp wouldn't be all over the Horn of Africa and Latin America as an American proxy army.

Now all of the blogs and news shows are complaining about the candidates THEY PUSHED AHEAD with their over played stories. Now they want to know why no candidates are asking the tough questions.

YOU PEOPLE wanted it this way. Now you better start liking it, because thats what our choices are.

All along you could have thrown a bone or two to Ron Paul. He has been telling you where all this defense money is going and what we could do better. He has been telling you why our dollar is worth nothing, our gas prices are going up and our economy is folding. He has been telling you the truth about what washington is doing to take away our civil liberties. Why won't anyone listen.

You can only blame yourselves. You all talk about this change you want like it is some revolutionary idea coming from the top three candidates. The truth is, you must not want change because you ignored the one candidate that wanted to give us our country back. Shame on you all. Ron Paul could have started us on the way to fixing this country for our children.

When your children ask you what you have done to make this country better, you'd better tell them that you did nothing.

Supporting your Troops means nothing more then making sure that they are sent to war for the best interest of America, and the Constitution of the United States without self interest.
It means making sure that those who are wounded in battle have proper medical treatment and if separated from service that they continue to maintain that coverage to include their families (hard to pay for health-care for your family when your missing a leg and have no job because the country you defended kicked you to the curb once you were no more use to them.) Also it means that it is not the lives lost but it is also the time away from our families and loved ones. The War is over in Iraq it has been sense the "Mission Complete statement" this is a rebuilding and the military should only play one part in it not all four parts (Diplomatic, Infrastructure, Military, and Economic(DIME)) So what is the solution?? Well my belief is we need to pass a law that says that congress can not exceed spending past the rate of inflation from the previous year unless in a state of emergency (Natural Disaster, time of War). Only congress should be given the ability to decide a "time of war" Congress should also be forced to vote to continue the "War" every 6 months unless it is a War being fought on American soil. We need to wake up and see that we shouldn't just cave every time we hear the word "Terrorism". Where did our attackers really come from? (Anyone ever heard of Saudi Arabia??) Our interest in the Middle East should be limited to ensuring the sovereignty of Israel and that is all.

The question is on the clearance form to let them know if this person might be thinking for themselves or questioning themselves through therapy, thereby getting in touch with the fact that the war is a farce. I support soldiers because they are either poor and have no choice or the they are just ignorant { not stupid} and do not question.

Let's face it: Who would sign up to die so that a bunch of wealthy pigs could gain more? They don't tell people that. They use patriotism, fear, and poverty. This has been going for the last 150 years folks.
Stop thinking that the government even remotely cares about you because it doesn't. Period. They are all scumbags -bought and paid for by corporations.
I think it was Jefferson who said " The public should raid the Whitehouse every 5 years or so just in order to clean house and make sure its fresh in there".

Sure, we all want to believe that somebody somwhere is looking out for things. Well, I hate to be the one to break it to you : nobody is. The folks that truly want to make a difference NEVER get in office. Call me wrong but just look at around you and tell me what you see. Let that be your guide.

This is what supporting the troops means to the dock workers:

"This war is like all wars,'' Robert Cavalli, president of dockworkers union Local 34 said at a rally after the march. ''It kills the sons and daughters of workers.'' 'Big foreign corporations that control global shipping aren't loyal or accountable to any country,'' said Bob McEllrath, the ILWU's international president. ''But longshore workers are different. We're loyal to America, and we won't stand by while our country, our troops, and our economy are destroyed by a war.''

http://warnewstoday.blogspot.com/2008/05/news-update-for-may-1-2008-mission.html

What does it reaaly mean "to support our troops" ?
Is it all these right wing talk show hosts with their fat incomes and contracts talking it to death on radio and Tv..with their supersized egos.. ?.
The vast majority of us have no idea about supporting or have any ideas about the troops...wait till hundreds of thousands of soldiers come back home....Bush,Chenney and their pea brained clique did not and still do not have any idea what it is to go invading other countries....

Good article, Arkin. A related question: for the hundreds of billions we pay, why is it so hard to field an army of about 200,000 combatants in Iraq/Afghanistan?

I forget how much a B2 bomber costs - is it $500 million?

Great article by Mr. Arkin- The great thing that is lacking in our government is accountability. Accountability and competence. Leaders are selected based on their ability to manipulate public perception and not on their competence, awareness, and qualifications. Every job in the civil service requires a screening and a civil service exam, yet we give any two bit power politician the keys to the White house and seats in Congress. Why do we not screen the competence of these individuals and vet them before they are even allowed to run? We could have avoided the fiasco of the last 8 years in that the majority in this country elected an unqualified person for the highest office in the land. And the Congress stood by passively while our country was pillaged and plundered by incompetence. These people need to be held accountable.

plainfacto: "BTW - have you heard about the meal that Kentucky Fried Chicken is now offering? Yeah, it is called the 'Hillary Meal-Deal'. You get two very fat thighs, a small breast, and a left-wing. All at a price that no one in their right mind can afford...

Posted by: Plainfacto"

In the sociology of advertising, that is know as 'dismemberment'... It's in there with "four on the floor" and a bunch of other female-imaged marketing practices.

That doesn't mean the joke's not funny though

Ron Paul is still running.

Rev Asks: "I wonder how many of the troops had their homes repossessed white (sic) fighting ..."

Not turning up any stats, but I did find this: In 2005, a series of articles in the New York Times revealed the financial plight of soldiers retuning home, many of them finding their cars repossessed and their homes in foreclosure, in violation of the law. The article noted that many creditors and servicemembers are unaware of the protections granted by SCRA and that enforcement of the law has been difficult because servicemembers are responsible for invoking their rights under the act. A 2005 report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommended that DOD take steps to provide better communications access for deployed servicemembers with their creditors.

http://www.unitedwayli.org/newsletterDetails.asp?newsletter_id=90

But the story that made MY day today:

...and, in America... 25,000 Longshoremen take the day off, effectively shutting down all port activity and ocean shipping on the West Coast of the United States in protest of the Iraq war, and in support of the soldiers suckered into destroying that country, it's culture, economy and society to allow a group of imperial Western governments the leisure of rebuilding it in the West's phantasmic image, and also indirectly destroying the American economy and society.

At the San Francisco march, the longshoremen hooked up with Immigration Rights demonstrators as well.

WAY TO GO ILWU!

More from Juan Cole:

"In a sign of a reinvigorated American Left, longshore workers declined to come to work on Thursday, paralyzing ports along the West Coast from Los Angeles to Seattle, in protest against the Iraq War.

...and from Crooks and Liars:

"The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) made good on its threat to stage a virtual strike on May Day, effectively shutting down all U.S. and Canadian West Coast ports. The one-day "work-stoppage," said ILWU officials, is to protest the war in Iraq..."

In... 'Other' news:

Great steps forward in military technology: The latest and greatest IED-resistant transportation for US Troops (With a price tag ranging from $300000 to $1 million each) isn't. More.

In Full: http://leighm.net/wp/2008/05/02/tth_080502/

Excuse me if I am asking an inconvenient question, but what if the "infamous" Question 21 is actually necessary and proper from a security standpoint? Is it really OK for clearances to be issued to individuals with serious mental problems as long as they originated from combat? Should drivers licenses be issued to blind veterans provided they lost their eyesight on the battlefield?

I certainly agree we owe veterans who sacrificed either their physical or mental wellbeing a great deal, but must it include a privilege that jeopardizes national security?

The military industrial complex is controlled by the same people.

carl carol,

Of late, the religious military complex! What industry? Does being the number one weapons producer and exporter in the world qualify?

Onward Christian Soldiers! Study dominionism and you will find out what Robertson, Hagee, the late Reverend Falwell...were and are still up to! Most people are not aware of the religious dimension over which the war in the Middle-East is being waged. Bush was became born again (chuckle chuckle) under a white dominionist preacher in Texas!

No not, WACO, 'we ain't coming out'. Check it out!

Armageddon has been redefined: God Wants Middle-East Oil, and he has appointed the Bushtanistas, supported by the Religious Right to get it for him! What's he gonna do with it? You need something to start that eternal fire!

The poor troops are kind of naive in my opinion.

Bush, Cheney, Fife, Wolfowitz, Snowe, Cheney..., are all, to borrow from the kids, 'getting paid'.

In fact Afghanistan chiefs, warlords ... and American contractor are 'getting paid' as well. Many Americans contractors (over 100,000 of them) are earning 6-figures; however, the trooops even with combat pay are just above the poverty level.

I can recall when GMAC and others would repossess automobiles from the troops while they were away fighting for their country. Cheney built a mega home while the troops were off fighting this time - I wonder how many of the troops had their homes repossessed white fighting for Deferment Cheney and abstaining from war Bush!

The least the Bushtanistas could do if they are going to send Americans away to fight, is to share the largese!

I have not seen in my time such financial irresponsibility by an American government, one that does not know what its priorities should be! Everyday that they are still in office, the cost of negligence and irresponsible spending goes up. Having said that, fighting unjust wars and nation-building have a dual cost of lives & money!

For Goon I. Guess:

The constant implicit claim that the only way to serve your country is through the military is as insulting as it is ludicrous. All of us, ALL OF US contribute a third or so of our hard-earned income to "serve our country." Some people's jobs are hazardous, and they too risk life and limb "for their country." So please cut the pompous pretension that only military folks serve their country. I respect and admire their courage, valor, and patriotism, but we ALL serve our country.

Unfortunately, the Pentagon is rife with incompetent, back-stabbing career politician soldiers salivating over the prospect of being "consultants" for the military industry when they retire from the military, presumably as a reward for throwing so much pork. That is most definitely worth analysis and criticism, at very least.

//In addition, they NEVER qualify to receive SSI benefits, nor do they receive tax refunds. Why do you think the Republicans want to maintain the status quo?\\ -Grant

They use phoney SSN - some of them. That is - the craftier ones. There is an underground organization that helps them accomplish this feat, and has yet to be properly exposed. They already know how to abuse the system; that ship has sailed. They are recieving many benefits, including schools and other cost-incurring machinery of local gov'ts.

The 'fat cat' employer is not out of the crosshairs - either. If they are making illegal immagrants their bread and butter - they will also be subject to heavy penalties. Up to - and including - incarceration.

Yes, this subject is off-topic. But since you raised the issue - I will give you my hard-earned two cents. I am not a Republican - but some may argue that I am. I am an Independant. The Republicans were the first to scream about this issue, and will probably be the last to do so - until this situation is remedied. The pseudo-lib Dems want to give them ID's and drivers licenses. Which some of them have already attained using forged birth certificates to acquire them with.

BTW - have you heard about the meal that Kentucky Fried Chicken is now offering? Yeah, it is called the 'Hillary Meal-Deal'. You get two very fat thighs, a small breast, and a left-wing. All at a price that no one in their right mind can afford...

"security goons" is a very revealing phrase, a glimpse into the actual mindset of William M. Arkin. Hey, Bill, exactly who do you mean? Police, army or just all protectors?

Wish all Americans were doing a little service for the nation but most are too selfish to ever be "goons".

The US has a military budget greater than the rest of the world combined. Why are the troops wanting for anything? Because the military is robbing us blind. Remember the $800.00 toilet seats and such? With bush in power they've kept their thievery hidden much better. Wake up Sheeple, DON"T EVEN CONSIDER MCAIN unless you want more of the same.
How bush has not been prosecuted is beyond me.

Although off-topic, I have to respond to Plainfacto's post. Plain wrote: "Additionally, illegals have gotten away without paying taxes - since they haven't a SSN. It is the law of the land to enforce our citizenship standards."

I'm sorry, but when "illegals" work, they pay taxes. If their employer pockets that money, well then blame the fat cat, but undocumented aliens certainly pay more than their share.
In addition, they NEVER qualify to receive SSI benefits, nor do they receive tax refunds. Why do you think the Republicans want to maintain the status quo?

And yet you fail to point out The Big Lie. The "Global War on Terror" is a lie, a huge scam that justifies the squandering of most of that half a trillion dollars. Islamic extremism is a tiny threat to the US and the world. There are many, many problems that pose far, far greater danger to humanity.

It is not Iran that is the major funder of terrorists, it is Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Emirates. They do so both for deranged and backward internal political reasons and to maintain a sense of crisis regarding the "Middle East Situation" to justify wild speculation on international petroleum markets. The US$100 or so premium we pay per barrel of oil is pure profit based on pure BS. Stop the Saudis and Emirates from funding Islamic extremists, madrassas, and small bands of hoodlums around the world and both the Global War on Terror and the rapacious oil premium will end very quickly. The Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex described by Eisenhower will then have to find another gimmick, as will the international petroleum industry and its speculators.

While I agree that the Pentagon is mis-managed "the more it screws up. the more it fails; the more money it gets", I must take exception with the comment that they are the only enterprize in the world to do this. I would offer that the public education system is in the same boat.

The military industrial complex is controlled by the same people who try to scare everyone in this country into believing more money for our own weapons of mass destruction is the answer to all our problems, and anyone who questions that is unpatriotic. Wake up people! The money is spent on national offense, not defense. Our ports and borders are still porous and by the way, no nation has attacked this country in the last century that I'm aware of. A handful of ignorant, poorly trained, unsophisticated sociopaths (aka terrorists) with a grudge does not constitute a war on America requiring $500 Million a year dollars to defeat.

Dear USDefender:

That is right!
Additionally, illegals have gotten away without paying taxes - since they haven't a SSN. It is the law of the land to enforce our citizenship standards.

I can see keeping those who qualify IF they can pay their back taxes - or at least a good chunk of it. Citezenship is a privilidge to those who have shown themselves acceptable. The rest - especially street gangsters with criminal records in the US - should be booted out w/o any possibillity of returning.

The spending that the US has employed because we have an all-volunteer army has begotten an inefficient burden. We should clean this factor up before any more dung is flung.

I think that we should have the Draft ready to be immediately employed - as an added contingency plan ready to go at any given moment. That would have a positive long-term/short-term effect on our foreign policy with any gov't that plans to play subversive games. Did I say pseudo-libs('neo-commies') and/or Iran - beware? I did now...

Republicans couldn't run a 7/11. All they can do is wrap themselves in the flag and accuse everyone else of being liberal. How's that working for everyone, huh? Strong of Defense???

In this day and age the problem is not with the military, but with our Congress,Senate, and the Administrations that run this Country. Sorry, I meant ruin this country. It is pass time to stop the crooked voting adjustments and select our Congress, Senate, and administration by Lottery in each state with a base of taxpayers to draw from. Let them serve six years and be responsible for the job they are suppose to do. No more extensive vacations but a five day work schedule. Dump the retirement program and put them on Social Security like the people they are suppose to represent. Then watch the polls go up. At the end of six years we do it all over again. Revisit old laws and re-vote them

In this day and age the problem is not with the military, but with our Congress,Senate, and the Administrations that run this Country. Sorry, I meant ruin this country. It is pass time to stop the crooked voting adjustments and select our Congress, Senate, and administration by Lottery in each state with a base of taxpayers to draw from. Let them serve six years and be responsible for the job they are suppose to do. No more extensive vacations but a five day work schedule. Dump the retirement program and put them on Social Security like the people they are suppose to represent. Then watch the polls go up. At the end of six years we do it all over again. Revisit old laws and re-vote them

Thanks for the above article about where the money for our defense system goes. As anyone with a pulse rate knows, all this money, the most money in the world, that we taxpayers are forced to hand over goes to those who perpetuate their own wealth over the welfare of the troops, both in the field and at home. We have a government run by a callous and greedy administration which, in effect, tells them to do it at our expense, leaving wounded troops in squalor at Walter Reed. We are a sick country and deserve every bad name we get.

In my opinion the reason why our military is not supported critically with attention and oversight is because we have an all volunteer military. If more legislators sons and daughters had to fulfill a military obligation, you would see conditions markedly improve.
As it is nothing but contractors and poor people or non-citizens serve in our military, with the exception of the officer corps. We need a better cross-section of all U.S. people serving and doing.
Please deport all illegal aliens and call on all citizens to serve. No exceptions!

For uncensored news please bookmark:

www.wsws.org
www.onlinejournal.com
www.globalresearch.ca
www.takingaimradio.com

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8856

McCain accused of accepting improper donations from Rothschilds

A US campaign watchdog has accused presumptive Republican president nominee John McCain of violating election laws by accepting campaign contributions from two prominent Londoners.

At issue is a fundraising luncheon held in March at London's Spencer House, during McCain's swing through the United Kingdom. An invitation to the event lists Lord Rothschild and Nathaniel Rothschild as hosts, and indicates the event was made possible with their "kind permission".

Judicial Watch, a Washington organisation instrumental in the March release of Hillary Clinton's White House schedules, has asked US election monitors to investigate whether the Rothschilds improperly sponsored the fundraiser. US political campaigns are forbidden from accepting contributions from foreign nationals.

"The question is whether or not the Rothschilds paid for the event, the venue, the catering, or any other related costs," said Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton.

Tickets to the event cost $1,000 to $2,300, and the luncheon dress code was "lounge suits," the Washington Post reported in March.

The McCain campaign did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Judicial Watch also complained to the US election authority, the federal election commission, about Elton John's involvement in Clinton's campaign. The group alleged the British rocker broke US campaign laws by performing at a fundraiser for the New York senator. The Clinton campaign argued US law allowed the British musician to volunteer his time and solicit Americans for contributions.

The federal election commission is unlikely to act soon on the group's McCain complaint. It is currently short-handed, a result of a political squabble between the Democratic-led senate and the Bush administration, and lacks a quorum to take action.

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