More support for our soldiers from this Administration.

Most patients at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington have a lot on their minds: the war they just fought, the injuries they came home with, the future that lies ahead. The last thing a wounded soldier needs to worry about is where the next meal is coming from. But for hundreds of Walter Reed patients, that’s a real concern. Starting this month, the Army has started making some wounded soldiers pay for the food they eat at the hospital.

(See here)
(via Making Light)
I don’t understand how anyone can support this Administration.

Corporate America, which boasted more than 112,000 pension plans in 1985, has since terminated about 80,000 of them. As a result, the share of working Americans earning a pension has dropped from more than 35 percent in 1980 to less than 20 percent today.

And now the country is more and more seeing these seniors, who have worked all their lives, as responsible for their own retirement. “Why should we pay into social security when we won’t get anything out of it?” One occasionally hears.

Why? Because that’s what social security is supposed to be. A safety net for those who worked their whole lives but still don’t have enough to live on in retirement.

If this is the “Christian” country that so many claim it is (and on that count I have many doubts) then we should be lining up to care for the elderly, the sick and the poor. But instead American’s somehow have gotten the idea that people are poor because they deserve to be poor. Because they don’t work hard enough.

And now the elderly and retired are being tarred with that brush.

Bullshit.

Other nations–heathen and athiest nations in the eyes of some–care for the old and the poor. What excuse have we in the US for not doing the same?

1,370 Americans have died in Iraq.

A chronological list of lives lost

An alphabetical list of lives lost

Digital Memorial for those killed in Iraq

I swear that it’s only a few wingnuts that do stuff like this. The rest of us are really okay with it.

At least I hope so.

Congratulations on your inaguartion.

Keep in mind, however, that the mandate was not for you, but against your opponent. If you had done any worse against one of the state’s biggest slum lords, I would have been ashamed for you.

So please, go out there and work hard, it is why we elected you after all. But remember that we’ll be watching you. Closely.

Good luck!
Michelle

P.S. I support raising taxes–we can’t live off the tobacco settlement forever. But you might want to consider getting rid of the 6% food tax, which hurts the poorest in the state far more than the richest.

President Bush said the public’s decision to reelect him was a ratification of his approach toward Iraq and that there was no reason to hold any administration officials accountable for mistakes or misjudgments in prewar planning or managing the violent aftermath.

“We had an accountability moment, and that’s called the 2004 elections”

Guess this proves Bush is a utilitarian and not a follower of Kant’s Duty Ethic.

US army reserve a ‘broken’ force

US reservist Frank O’Farrell, who left for the Gulf last year just after getting married
Part-time soldiers form 40% of US troops in Iraq
The commander of the US army reserve says it is rapidly degenerating into a “broken” force.

Lt Gen James Helmly, in a leaked memo to the Pentagon, says the reserve has reached a point where it cannot fulfil its missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Reservists provide a large share of US troops in Iraq. The army says Gen Helmly’s concerns are being addressed.

But analysts say they will fuel criticism that Pentagon policies are harming the US all-volunteer military.

The army reserve is a force of about 200,000 part-time soldiers who chose not to sign-up for active duty but can be mobilised in time of need.

Together with National Guard troops – who also serve part-time – reservists account for about 40% of US troops in Iraq.

Why does this not surprise me?

Mere words cannot experess how much I dislike Donald Rumsfeld.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld faced renewed criticism Sunday from lawmakers, including one prominent Republican, after he said he has not personally signed letters sent to family members of troops killed in action.

Rumsfeld said armor was being produced as quickly as “humanly possible” — which turned out not to be true. Some lawmakers said they have long been telling the White House that manufacturers were not working at capacity and were offering to make more.

Yet Bush has ASKED this man to stay on the cabinet. He lets Colin Powell leave, but asked Rumsfeld to stay.

Sometimes I think there is no justice in this world.

There is an article in today’s NY Times, about Iraq, American soldiers, and battle stress. It looks at how soldiers are adjusting after returning from Iraq, adjusting to civilian life after living in a battle zone.

I’ve complained releatedly about how I think that our soldiers and returning veterans are not being treated as they should by our country. The article, although not necessarily addressing all the issues that I feel are important, does make several important points.

An Army study shows that about one in six soldiers in Iraq report symptoms of major depression, serious anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder, a proportion that some experts believe could eventually climb to one in three, the rate ultimately found in Vietnam veterans. Because about one million American troops have served so far in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to Pentagon figures, some experts predict that the number eventually requiring mental health treatment could exceed 100,000.

…

As of Wednesday (December 15, 2004) 5,229 Americans have been seriously wounded in Iraq. Through July, nearly 31,000 veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom had applied for disability benefits for injuries or psychological ailments, according to the Department Veterans Affairs.

This article, although highlighting some of the problems, ignores how recent cuts in VA benefits are going to affect the issue.

We’re sending soldiers off without proper armament, and although the advances in medical technology that are saving the lives of our soldiers are amazing, I wonder whether we’re spending our money in the best way possible. I guess you have to understand that I’m coming from a public health perspective here–we’ve put the VA on the chopping block, and are closing VA hospitals. It’s wonderful that we’re saving all these lives, but I have to wonder whether we’re shorting the vast majority of soldiers to save the lives of a few.

Of course it’s not really a zero sum game here. It shouldn’t have to be either or. But I don’t see how we can do both, unless we’re willing to raise taxes to pay for these expenses.

And I don’t see the “yellow ribbon brigade” interesting in doing that, at all.

Send ’em off and make sure to support them by blindly following the CIC and demonizing those who speak dissent, but when it comes right down to it–when it comes down to making a small financial sacrifice for those who are sacrificing far more… Well, that’s just not in their worldview.

View a list of the soldiers killed in Iraq.

Visit the Digital Memorial for those killed in Afghanistan and Iraq

I ran across two very interesting articles this morning while sitting at the Dr’s office.

‘GM cocaine grown in Colombia’
I found this fascinating since I just recently read about Round-Up resistant coca.

I can’t say I’m surprised about either story. It would seem to me that coca growers have as much money as any company doing transgenic research, so why should they be any different?

Once again, I have to wonder how different things would be if drugs were legalized, which would then legalize coca production. What might that do for countries like Columbia?

Second article I also came across in the DA, and also heard something about this last night on The World:
Troops grill Rumsfeld over Iraq
What bothered me most about the bit I heard on the world, was the statement that troops weren’t having to travel in unarmored vehicles. This is, to the best of my knowledge, completely false. A woman who works in this building was very upset last month, because he son told her that he had just travelled through Iraq in an unarmored convoy. Neither had any reason to make this up, and it squares with everything else I’ve read and heard: That are troops are just not being given the armor they need.

Mr Rumsfeld added that vehicle armour might not provide total protection from the perils faced by soldiers in Iraq – such as roadside bombs.

Of course not. Nothing can provide total protection. But an armored vehicle has to be a hell of a lot more protection than an unarmored one!

How (HOW?!) can we send out soldiers into harms way without appropriate equipment? I’ve complained about this before, and it still makes no sense to me.

It also makes me very angry at the fools who sport “yellow ribbons” to “support the troops” but could care less beyond that what happens. I don’t see them saying anything about cuts in combat pay, or cuts in veterans’ benefits.

But they’re all for tax cuts.

Veterans Day

The 11th hour of the 11th day of the11th month.

Please Remember those who gave their health and their lives for our country.

The Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Day Home Page

The Origins of Veterans Day from the VFW.

The Great War

WWII Memorial

Korean War Memorial

Vietnam War Memorial

Digital Memorial for those killed in Afghanistan and Iraq

Data on Veterans from the US Census Bureau

“A man’s country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers, and woods, but it is a principle; and patriotism is loyalty to that principle.”
— George William Curtis

“It is the common fate of the indolent to see their rights become a prey to the active. The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt.”
— John Philpot Curran Speech upon the Right of Election (1790)

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Two weeks ago BBC’s The World did a series on Iran. I’m not that fond of the world, because it preempted All Things Considered from 6 to 7, but it is a good program, and this series was excellent.

Most fascinating to me was part one, on the 1953 coup.

I’ve known for years that the US interfered in Iranian politics, and I knew that the US had held up the Shaw as a puppet regeime prior to the Iranian revolution. What I didn’t know was that Iranians (and most of the middle east to be honest) had good reason to be angry with the US, and to not trust the US, and that stems from the 1953 coup.

During WWII, the British and the Russians overthrew Shaw Raza Kahn because they feared he was supportive of Germany, and placed his son, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi on the throne.

The during the 1950s, Mohammed Mossadegh rose to become primer minister in Iran, and started arguing for Iranian independence. What happened next is, at least to me, absolutely stunning (But you really should read the whole thing).

He slipped clandestinely across the border and in a period of just three weeks, really through his own wits, Kermit Roosevelt organized the overthrow of the government of Iran. He was truly a real life James Bond.

Roosevelt started by tapping into the intelligence networks the British and Americans had built up inside Iran. A few key Iranians proved willing to do his bidding. They unleashed a ferocious propaganda campaign against Mossadegh. They bribed newspapers to print slander; they paid clerics to denounce him at Friday prayers. They hired thugs to organize mobs and riots. Meanwhile, Kermit Roosevelt had to persuade Iran’s young Shah, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, to participate in the coup.
…
So Roosevelt set about stage-managing that confrontation. He had copies of the decree dismissing the prime minister plastered around town. And he went back to the Iranians he was working with and had them organize fresh mobs says Stephen Kinzer.

Kinzer: He would have them surge through the streets of Tehran, break windows, beat up people, shoot their guns into mosques and shout “we love Mossadegh. Up with Mossadegh and communism. And as if that wasn’t enough he then hired another mob to attack this mob to show that Tehran was in such chaos that anarchy was threatening and that just to bring Iran back to a measure of stability, Mossadegh had to be overthrown.

The strategy worked. The demonstrations escalated. Clashes broke out between opposing military factions. On August 19, 1953, anti-Mossadegh forces seized power and Mossadegh went into hiding. An army general was installed as prime minister. The Shah made a triumphant return home. Mark Gasiorowski says the US action changed the course of Iranian history.

It is astounding to me that the US overthrew an elected prime minister and, then was shocked (shocked!) when Iran resented what had happened the threw the US out of the country.

Stephen Kinzer, who is quoted in this article, wrote a book called “All the Shaw’s Men” which I have not read, as well as a book, “Crescent & Star: Turkey Between Two Worlds”, which I have read and very much liked.

But regarding Iran, I strongly recommend that you read or listen to the series, while I go put “All the Shaw’s Men” on my wish list.

(I also enjoyed Elaine Sciolino’s book “Persian Mirrors The Ilusive Face of Iran”, which I read several years ago.)

“I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just”
–Thomas Jefferson

As I said previously, there is a lot out there right now about “what went wrong.” There are also lots of suggestions about what to do about it, including the “blue states” seceding from the “red states”. To which I reply: Excuse me? My state just elected a Democratic governor by the biggest margin EVER, and sends Robert Byrd and Jay Rockefeller to the Senate. Two of our three representatives are Democrats. Our state legislate is dominated by Democrats and local politics are dominated by Democrats.

Did you think that maybe, just maybe, the fault lies in the national party more than it does in the populations of the states that voted for Bush?

But this post isn’t about laying blame. It doesn’t matter who was at fault, if anyone. What matters is what were going to do about it in the future.

Lots of people are talking about activism and getting out there and “doing something.” Well, that’s great to hear, but I’ll be more impressed if I’m still hearing that in six months, and I’ll be really impressed if I actually see people out there doing things.

So it boils down to what exactly should we be doing? I’ve seen lots of comments about giving money to the Democratic party, and even people suggesting that we need to get out and help people. Something that I’ve been saying for awhile, and I’m glad to hear. But it seems to me that many of the same people who complain about the “ignorance” of the voters have their own blind spots.

So what do I think people should do?

Pay attention to what’s going on in our own backyards. People are (justifiably) upset over the way companies like Nike have treated their workers. But few people seem to pay any attention to the way that workers are treated in the US.

The minimum wage is only $5.15 and has not been raised since 1996. If you’ve never worked a minimum wage job, tried to live on minimum wages, I don’t think you can really understand how little money that actually is. So one place to start is to fight to raise the minimum wage, to make it a living wage.

Then go and actually look at the places that pay minimum wage. Look at how they treat their employees. And go read Eric Schlosser‘s Fast Food Nation. See if you can find out what chain restaurants in your area offer benefits to their employees. (Certainties in this area are Eat ‘n’ Park and Ruby Tuesdays.) Find out what places treat their employees decently.

Then: STOP GOING TO PLACES THAT DON’T TREAT THEIR EMPLOYEES DECENTLY.

It’s not difficult. Stop going to McDonald’s and other fast food places. When you go out to eat, avoid chains that don’t offer benefits to their employees. It’s work, finding out what places offer benefits and what places don’t, but it seems to me that if we truly believe in social justice it’s our duty to do this.

Then take a look at other things you buy. Do you know why your food prices are so low? (Again, see Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation.) When people ask me why I don’t eat mammals, they really don’t want to know the answer. It is disturbing not only the way that animals are treated by our big food corporations, but that these places don’t treat humans any better. Again, I recommend Eric Schlosser, especially Chapter 8 The Most Dangerous Job.

If we insist on paying artificially low prices for our food, then those involved in food production are going to be taken advantage of more and more.

And the same goes for other products. Americans, it seems to me, are unwilling to pay in any way, shape, or form, to make sure that their fellow Americans have decent living conditions. We don’t want to pay higher prices to guarantee that workers have benefits, while at the same time we refuse to provide health care to those who work yet have no health insurance.

We cannot have it both ways.

So what I would ask my fellow Democrats who are in despair and wondering what to do, is to put their money where their mouth is. Stop going to places like McDonald’s and Wal Mart that have a history of treating their employees badly. Start buying products that are environmentally responsible, which means buying organic, buying sustainable, and buying from places that treat their employees well.

Will it change the political process? Not really. But it may make life better for our fellow Americans, and maybe next time we’ll have a better understanding of those who we are so willing right now to label “ignorant” and “fools.”