One Last Thing Before You Leave

Thought I would send President Bush an email reminder that he should address global poverty at the G8 Summit meeting next week in Heiligendamm, Germany. Here's the reply I got:

On behalf of President Bush, thank you for your correspondence.

We appreciate hearing your views and welcome your suggestions.

Due to the large volume of e-mail received, the White House cannot respond to every message.

Thank you again for taking the time to write.

I'm sure my email went directly into some kind of automated trash heap. It didn't even come with a presidential seal, a flag or an eagle! It was the technological equivalent of "flipping me the bird" but I'm fine with it because I'm pretty certain I'll write him again about something else before he leaves office.

I wrote the president Although he's so far removed from poverty, it does exist in the US. The big boys at the G8 Summit will be pushing that climate change thing that President Bush and his homies continue to deny in spite of evidence to the contrary. For the big bank Republican party, it's all about unabated corporate interests which take precedence over the environment and the welfare of its citizens. Regulations be damned! By the time the planet self-destructs, they will all be dead anyway but then so will everything else.

A Fela Kuti Moment: Water No Enemy

Link of the Day: Amnesty International's Report 2007

If you don't believe fear is being used as justification for more military spending, arming our allies and fighting against al-Qaeda and other extremist groups, think again. All you need to do is listen to any speech by Dick Cheney and you'll get the picture.

Ever since 9/11, fear has permeated our society, culture and politics. Lies on top of lies have been used to justify our invasion and occupation of Iraq and our invasion of Afghanistan. Since we declared our war on terror, we've used this as an excuse not adhere to the Geneva Convention protocols. We hold alleged enemy combatants in Guantanamo for years on end while they have no opportunity to know what the charges are against them. I'm not even going to talk about the CIA black sites in Europe where alleged terrorists are held or our newest outpost in Ethiopia where we detain, question and sometimes torture suspected terrorists.

Amnesty International has published a report about the politics of fear being used by democracies, despots and belligerents alike. If you don't think the US is waging a war against Islam, think again. If you don't think al-Qaeda is waging a war against innocent people and the heathens in the West threatening Islam, you'd better ask somebody. If you don't think fear is used by governments in China, Zimbabwe and Sudan to control, brutalize and frighten their own citizens, you haven't been keeping up.

Fear is a pervasive part of our culture now but for all the wrong reasons. Instead of finding ways to get along, we find ways to antagonize each other. While all of the posturing and chest-beating is going on, it is the innocent citizens who are paying the cost for the politics of fear. We're the ones getting blown up, displaced, murdered and who knows what else while Cheney gives another speech and those al-Qaeda nitwits issue another communique.

I'm done talking about this but you can check out Amnesty International's Report 2007 here.

Ira Newble Steps Up, LeBron James Leans Back

Ira Newble of the NBA Cleveland Cavaliers along with eleven of his team mates has written an open letter to the government of China regarding the crisis in Darfur. Hoping to put pressure on the Chinese to do more to ensure the civilians in Darfur are protected; Beijing will be the home of the 2008 Olympic Games. I applaud Newble and his team mates for this gesture. Anything to call attention to the ongoing genocide is much-needed and a high profile team like the Cavaliers makes it all the more better.

China is a very close ally of Sudan and has been an enabler to President Omar al-Bashir since the crisis began in 2003. They have supplied the military equipment being used to displace more than 2 million people and have also been indirectly responsible for the genocide of 200,000 and 400,000 people from African ethnic groups in Southern Sudan. Attempts by the United Nations Security Council to impose sanctions on Darfur have always been blocked by the Chinese and they have done very little to change the course of events in Darfur.

Notably absent from the Cleveland Cavalier's open letter are LeBron James and Damon Jones. Both claim not to know enough about the issue to sign the letter. From the looks of it, LeBron has a multi-million dollar deal with Nike, who no doubt has some shoe factories as well as various business dealings in China. As far as Damon Jones, he is alleged to have some kind of shoe deal with a Chinese company in the works that obviously requires him to be apolitical and amoral.

As human beings, we are all interrelated whether in Cleveland, Darfur or China. We all have basic needs and share some of the same concerns about happiness, freedom and peace. Compassion for others, not just our own, should be important because we could find ourselves in the same position one day. If we stand by silently, who can we expect to speak up when it happens to us? The Dalai Lama says it much better but you get my point.

To be fair to James, he is a phenomenal athlete who jumped straight into the NBA from high school. While he is hailed as one of the best players in the NBA, he has a long way to go before he develops a social conscious. I think his unwillingness to sign on to the Darfur letter is indicative of his limited intelligence and lack of concern for others. For him, it's about the money. He'd rather stand by and be a spectator in his Nike sneakers. His behavior is reminiscent of former NBA star, Michael Jordan who was also a modern day slave to Nike; everybody wanted to be like Mike but Mike had no social consciousness.

I've never thought much of LeBron James but now I think even less of him. He probably doesn't even know where Darfur or Sudan is but what's worse is he doesn't know the power of celebrity. Standing aside and being an observer while innocent people are being killed and displaced is deplorable, cowardly and unforgivable. In some of the worst genocides in history, the Middle Passage, the Holocaust and Rwanda, there were always people who stood by and watched silently as atrocities were committed, LeBron James and Damon Jones are proof. What good is the money if you have no conscious?

Dick Cheney Does West Point

Vice President Dick Cheney is loose again. This time he had a captive audience of graduating cadets at West Point. Spreading his usual warmth and good cheer, he couldn't help but remind the cadets about the imminent threat we all face from terrorists. Here's a snippet from his commencement speech that also explains why I think the man is scarier than the grim reaper:

The terrorists know what they want and they will stop at nothing to get it. By force and intimidation, they seek to impose a dictatorship of fear, under which every man, woman, and child lives in total obedience to their ideology. Their ultimate goal is to establish a totalitarian empire, a caliphate, with Baghdad as its capital. They view the world as a battlefield and they yearn to hit us again. And now they have chosen to make Iraq the central front in their war against civilization.

Keep in mind that Cheney served nary a day in the military. He was a recipient of five deferments from 1959 to 1962 that allowed him to skate through the Vietnam War era without being drafted. You'd never know it from all the macho, he-man posturing he does every time he makes a public appearance.

He's guilty of the same things he accuses the terrorists of. I don't know what he's trying to prove running around spreading lies and trying to scare the crap out of people. The fact that we invaded Iraq without securing the borders is one of the main reasons why the country has been unstable for the past four years. Our poorly planned mission resulted in Iraq becoming the battlefield and breeding ground for jihadists from all over the Middle East. He's got the fear tactics mastered.

He might want to lean back on those comparisons between a caliphate and totalitarianism. Blind submission and concentrating power among a small group of elites, sounds like some of the tactics Cheney and the rest of the Bush administration have used to justify their position on Iraq and the war on global terrorism.

I'd say those terrorists have nothing on Cheney. Under the guise of the Patriot Act, the Bush administration has needlessly poked, pried and spied their way into the lives of American people. What could be more frightening than someone who does not respect the Constitution or Bill of Rights?

What Is Robert Mugabe Smoking?

mugabe, originally uploaded by arlingtonhynes.

The demented little dictator is at it again! Robert Mugabe, aging President of Zimbabwe, was given the podium at the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) trade summit yesterday. In what has become his standard fall back, he lambasted the British to "boisterous laughter and clapping from many fellow Africans". At least some people find Mugabe entertaining, I'm certain the starving, dirt poor masses in Zimbabwe don't.

Although Mugabe is the least qualified to offer other African leaders economic advice, it never stops him from blaming the British for his country's economic demise. His standard criticism of the west always deflects from the issues he needs to address like his unwillingness to step aside and allow someone else to stand for President, his country's 3,200% inflation rate or food shortages. I'm pretty certain he is going to be mummified or stuffed so he can run the country from the grave.

Here's a snippet of his impromptu speech:

That's why we are always saying to imperialists ... keep away, we are married to Africa. Britain and Europe, you have your own territory. America, Bush, your own territory, hands off Africa. If you are friends, come with clean hands.

Speaking to a crowd of leaders from twenty African nations, nary a democracy in the room but a bunch of men whose combined net worth was probably more than a trillion dollars, Mugabe was praised. To look at it another way, not one of these countries could tout a thriving middle class or a true democratic form of government. For most African nations, it's the wealthy elite and everybody else. Those who are able to leave the country for education or work usually don't return home and for good reason; there are no jobs for them. The average citizen in sub-Saharan Africa still struggles on less than a $1 a day.

One of COMESA's principles is recognition, promotion and protection of human and people's rights in accordance with the provisions of the African Charter on Human and People's Rights. It looks good on paper but few of the leaders in attendance actually put this principle to practice. To have Mugabe dispensing anything like economic advice to others is disingenuous but Omar al-Bashir of Sudan, Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Jose Eduardo dos Santos of Angola need to be put on blast for their assault on human rights too.

This is another instance of African solidarity for all the wrong reasons. African nationalism was great during the wave of independence in the 1960s but now it's obsolete because colonialism has given way to tyranny. The African people suffered under colonialism and suffer even worse under tyrants like Mugabe, al-Bashir and Kabila.

One of My Passions

St. Louis, Senegal - January 2006

One of the things I am passionate about is Africa. As a descendant of enslaved Africans brought to the Americas, I can't help but care about what happens to the people of Africa. Although it is home to some of the worse humanitarian crises, wars and kleptocrats, I remain hopeful that the countries of Africa, particularly sub-Saharan Africa will manage their own resources, resolve their own conflicts and provide basic services to its citizens. Beyond hunger and poverty, there is much more to Africa than what you see on television and read in the news.

Dig beyond the headlines, there is always more to the story. Read different newspapers, watch a different television channel and read some of the blogs out there on the internet. You're guaranteed to learn something new. Besides my weekly blog at African Path, please check out Nigerian Village Square, my blog about Nigeria's $311 million satellite was posted there. The crowd in village are a lively crowd and equally passionate about their country. It's definitely worth reading.

Link of the Day: Jimmy Carter Slams Bush & Blair

Someone had to say it and I'm glad it was former president and humanitarian Jimmy Carter. As expected, the Bush people fired off an insult calling Carter "increasingly irrelevant", I'm not buying it. Carter also had some choice words for George Bush's lap dog a.k.a. Britain's outgoing Prime Minister, Tony Blair. Carter characterized Blair as "Abominable. Loyal, blind, apparently subservient". The truth isn't always pretty. Read the article for yourself at Mail & Guardian Online.

What Is R. Kelly Smoking?

Uploaded on September 1, 2005 by planetacid

As an accused child pornographer R. Kelly is not content to keep a low profile. He was charged with 14 counts of child pornography for allegedly having sex with an underage girl about five year ago. The alleged act was caught on videotape and ever since 2002, he's been running around acting the fool. I'm not an R. Kelly fan. He is one of the most vulgar, unimaginative singer-producers in R&B but I'm over 40 and very jaded. A few days ago, he was quoted as saying:

I'm the Ali of today. I'm the Marvin Gaye of today. I'm the Bob Marley of today. I'm the Martin Luther King, or all the other greats that have come before us. And a lot of people are starting to realize that now.

Sounds like someone is believing their own hype. He might want to refrain from making such ignorant and baseless claims. He couldn't carry Muhammad Ali's boxing glove. Ali had principles, he was a proud black man and conscientious objector of the Vietnam War who wasn't afraid to go to jail for his beliefs. R. Kelly on the other hand, has a do-rag, some diamonds and a fur coat.

Marvin Gaye was a troubled but talented singer and songwriter with a style of all his own. He was half of one of the best duets in music with Tammi Terrell. I still sing "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" like it was released yesterday. Marvin had a unique way of expressing himself, he was sexy without being vulgar. All R. Kelly could conjure up is "Bump N' Grind".

Bob Marley is the most influential musician of our time, R. Kelly is not. f it weren't for Isley Brothers ballads, he would be creatively bankrupt. As far as comparing himself with Dr. Martin Luther King, I'm not even going to touch that one because it's wrong on so many levels. If I didn't know any better I'd think he was trying to sell some CDs, he's got a new album dropping soon. Lord help us!

Yolanda Denise King 1955-2007

originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

First daughter of the civil rights movement, Yolanda King died unexpectedly yesterday at age 51. She was the daughter of civil rights activists Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King. Rather than follow her parents footsteps into the civil rights movement, Ms. King established her own career in theater. She held bachelors and masters degrees from Smith College and New York University and was a talented actress, speaker and producer who lived in California. My prayers and thoughts are with King Family during this difficult time.

Wolfowitz Must Go

Am I the only one still wondering why Paul Wolfowitz still has a job? No where else would someone be able to hired his girlfriend and use his influence and power to get her a raise and a promotion and then pretend as if they've done nothing wrong. Exhibiting the hubris that is characteristic among Bush appointees, Wolfowitz' fate will be determined today by the World Bank's board. He wants them to take some responsibility in that girlfriend pay raise fiasco. Now that's what I call passing the buck!

In spite of breaking the terms of his contract and the bank ethics, Wolfowitz still think he deserves to keep his job and refuses to resign. We'll have to see about that. Opposition is building against him but he refuses to take responsibility for this bad decision. Don't know about you but using your influence to get someone with whom you are intimately involved with is a big no-no anywhere. What Wolfowitz' behavior was improper and is just plain unprofessional.

Wolfowitz's girlfriend, Shaha Riza, a former communications officer in the Middle East and North Africa department, was given a new job with $193,000 salary putting her income well ahead of Secretary of State Condolezza Rice. I'm not sure what Riza's qualifications are but it appears sleeping with a powerful man will put you in higher income bracket than making it on your own.

This situation proves that a woman's sexual prowess will do more for her career than education, experience or intelligence. I wonder if Riza's relationship with Wolfowitz had soured if she'd be able to keep her $193,000 a year job. I doubt it. We'd be faced with some other scandal instead,

Pleading for his job to the board, Wolfowitz asked the board to be lenient:

I acted in what I believed were the best interests of the institution," he said, according to a copy of his remarks. I implore each of you to be fair in making your decision, because your decision will not only affect my life, it will affect how this institution is viewed in the United States and the world.

He's got a point, his behavior and ethics breech have affect how the United States is viewed by the rest of the world and it's not good. Another arrogant, self-entitled Bush appointee who believes the rules apply to everyone but him.

Another Distinction for Zimbabwe

I've added a new badge to my blog. In case you haven't noticed, I'm a critic of tyrannical governments in Africa, particularly Zimbabwe. On a continent with such vast mineral wealth, I am saddened by the chaos, corruption and poverty that exists in some African countries. I'm appalled at the fact that most leaders of African countries have personal fortunes worth millions and sometimes billions of dollars while the majority of their populations live on less than $1 a day.

The economic crisis in Zimbabwe has been ongoing for many years but with the world's highest inflation rate at 2,000% and prices that have increased 300% to 400%, the cost of basic items like food, health care and education out of the reach of the country's poor. According to the The Independent, Zimbabwe now has another distinction to add to its appalling record of human rights abuses, economic mismanagement and despotic rule, its women now have the world's shortest life expectancy at age 34.

The campaign for the rights of Zimbabwean women is an important one. Dignity. Period! is a fund raising campaign by Action for South Africa to distribute sanitary products free of charge the women of Zimbabwe. According to the website, the cost of sanitary products are more than 50% of the average monthly income. The majority of women cannot afford to buy them and have have resorted to using newspaper during their monthly menstruation cycle. The fact that women menstruate is a basic fact of life but can't even imagine what life would be like if I lived in a country where I couldn't afford to buy sanitary products.

One of the benefits of living in such a wealthy country as the US, is that this would never be an issue. A trip to any supermarket or drugstore will reveal a dizzying array of women's sanitary products, store brands, generics and name brands like Kotex, Always, Playtex, Tampax, etc. We've got mini pads, maxi pads, panty liners, super maxi pads, overnight maxi pads, lite tampons, regular tampons and super absorbent tampons. It's hard to imagine what life would be like if we couldn't afford to buy them. It's just one of those things we take for granted. The majority of women in Zimbabwe can't afford to buy sanitary products.

Believe it or not, the inability to afford tampons and sanitary napkins is a form of torture. In poverty stricken Zimbabwe, the life expectancy for women is estimated to be 34 but by some accounts could be as low as 30. With 85% of the population living in poverty and 80% unemployment rate, life for most citizens has taken a turn for worse.

Stressful living conditions and extreme conditions can affect the quality of life for everyone but for women who are traditionally the caregivers and homemakers it's worse. To suffer the indignity of using newspaper is incomprehensible. In any economic crisis, it is the women who suffer the most.

Attention Wal-Mart Shoppers

Le Wal-Mart de la rue Karl-Marx., originally uploaded by L'Hibou.

This place is truly the evil empire. They won't be satisfied until everyone is working for minimum wage with no benefits and less than 30 hours a week. Those extra low prices come at a cost to everyone. The fact that they've been sued for discrimination, hiring illegal workers and other labor violations should be a red flag.

Now Human Rights Watch has published a 210 page report about how they deny workers basic rights and thwart every attempt by their workers to organize into a union. Everyone deserves the right to earn a decent living, but if left up to Wal-Mart, it's povery wages for everyone.

A living hourly wage for an adult with one child is $13.32 per hour, the Wal-Mart in my area pays half of that. If you're earning $6.22 an hour, you're officially earning poverty wages and barely scraping by. You can't afford health insurance, day care for your child or gasoline at $3.05 a gallon. You are trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty courtesy of Wal-Mart.

Out, out Cheney!

Yesterday in Iraq, amid chants like "No, no America" and "Out, out occupiers", Cheney encouraged the ineffective, U.S. controlled Iraqi government to behave and settle their differences. Like the angry pimp whose prostitute has shorted him for the last time, Cheney threatened the Iraqis with some dire consequences if they don't clean up the mess. Wherever he goes, his time warp goes with him. He lives in some kind of outdated, time capsule that he ventures out of occasionally to amuse us with some interesting but untrue facts about the Iraq war, global warming or some other ridiculousness.

In the second of his unannounced visits to Iraq this year, Cheney was there to bitch slap Nuri al-Maliki and the rest of the U.S. anointed Iraqi leadership into doing the impossible, controlling the chaos in their own country. To complete the pimps and hos analogy, everyone knows you can't put the bottom bitch "on the track" and expect her to earn like she's today's "turnout", it just doesn't happen that way. In this case, al-Maliki is the bottom bitch and whatever credibility he had with the Iraqi people was gone years ago.

Link of the Day: Bill Richardson's Plan to Deauthorize the Iraq War

I think Bill Richardson is one of the most dynamic candidates running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008. He's currently governor of New Mexico but he served as Bill Clinton's ambassador to the United Nations. He's smart, he's got some very good experience and he has a plan to get us out of Iraq.

Don't get sucked in by all of the hype about those premature presidential polls. It's still early and for the media to predict or anoint a certain candidate in either party before the primaries is doing our democratic voting process a huge disservice. All I can point to is Howard Dean's campaign back in 2004, he was a dark horse candidate who built a very successful campaign on the internet. His campaign peaked prematurely and the Democrats ended up with John Kerry as their presidential candidate and we know how that ended.

If Grace is Mad at Bob, We Should Be Too

Looks like First Lady of Zimbabwe, Grace Mugabe has grown tired of the ball and chain. According to an article by Zimdaily.com, Grace is separated from her husband Bob. Perhaps it was the strain of living with an obstinate, cranky 83 year old man, the 40 year age difference or because her Ferragamos are getting worn and outdated. She once told a reporter "I have very narrow feet, so I wear only Ferragamo."

Rumor has it, Grace doesn't like being isolated. Gone are the days of being Zimbabwe's "First Shopper" and "Grabbing Grace" as she was dubbed by the UK's Sun. Before the sanctions at least she could escape on her private jet for hundred thousand dollar shopping sprees in Europe or the US but now she's stuck at home with Bob. Poor Grace.

Life in Zimbabwe has been very difficult for most people not just for Grace. She's stuck with Bob but so are the people of Zimbabwe. The unemployment rate is 80% and even people who work struggle to afford basic necessities. Being married to an old guy when you are still in your prime years can be B-O-R-I-N-G. Some things not even Viagra or Cialis can solve. It's like living in two different worlds.

The age expectancy for men and women in the country is a paltry 37. Bob has outlived most people in Zimbabwe but he eats well, lives much better and has a lot more money. The average Zimbabwean lives on $341 a year. A pair of Ferragamos for Grace's narrow feet cost anywhere from $300 to $650 a pair at Neiman-Marcus.

I bet Grace's eyes glaze over when Bob reminisces about the good old days when he was fighting against white rule when Zimbabwe used to be Rhodesia and Southern Africa's breadbasket or when he talks about his aspirations for the next presidential term. Evidently, Grace isn't very happy about his plans for another term but neither is anyone else. If she can't talk him out if, no one can.

Mugabe's Dangerous Path

President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe with First Lady Grace at a ZANU-PF rally. The nation of Zimbabwe celebrated 27 years of national independence on April 18, 2007., originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos.

It's been awhile since I've railed against Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe but it's time to talk about him again. The sad news is that he's still in office and attempts to negotiate an exit plan for him have failed, old dude isn't trying to hear it. South African president Thabo Mbeki was reported to be negotiating with him and the opposition leaders, but that little pow-wow didn't get off the ground. Mugabe has been criticized and ostracized by the international community yet all he seems to do is knock heads, threaten people and become more obstinate. What gives?

I've always been fascinated by the fact the some African leaders never want to leave office, they take a rigged election or interim election for a lifetime mandate and become tyrants like Mugabe.He fails to realize that he is responsible for Zimbabwe's demise. He's done everything a tyrant can possibly do, now he's threatening the Catholic Archbishop of Bulawayo, Pius Ncube. Criticizing Mugabe's governance has serious consequences.

Months back, Ncube and other religious and opposition leaders held a public prayer meeting in Harare which resulted in two activists being killed and scores wounded by the police including Morgan Tsvangarai, a leading opposition leader. This action was widely condemned by the international community, but Mugabe didn't care. Amid an 80% unemployment rate and the world's highest inflation rate, Mugabe remains as stubborn as ever. In the meantime, the people of Zimbabwe suffer.

Since the normal channels of negotiation have failed, I wonder if Mugabe's wife Grace can talk some sense into him. I'm certain they've pilfered more than enough money from the country over the past twenty years that he could keep her in a fresh new pair of Ferragamos for the rest of her life. You have wonder what goes on in the Mugabe household. Does he know he's a tyrant or does everyone lie to him and tell him that people are just picking on him? I wonder if anyone ever has an honest discussion with him about the future of Zimbabwe. Probably not, Grace is probably lying to him and telling him he's doing a great job. If she really loved her husband, she'd get him to step aside immediately.

Carlos the Jackal Embraces Islam

Reuters Photo taken from Stuff

By my estimates, the majority of violence that takes place in the Middle East and other parts of the world is attributed to Muslim fanatics or jihadists. For those of you who don't know, a jihadist is usually defined as a Muslim who has decided to make the ultimate sacrifice for what they perceive to be a war against the Islam; they blow themselves up in public places killing and maiming innocent people with them. Jihadists are known by other names like Islamic extremists, Muslim fanatics, suicide bombers, martyrs, etc. because they are willing to die for their cause however misguided it may be.

Jihadists are supposed to be dedicated to justice and furthering the cause of Allah but this is rarely the case. They believe by murdering innocent people, whether in Iraq, the World Trade Center or a Spanish train, they will make it to paradise. There is nothing honorable about murdering innocent people and claiming to be a devout Muslim, it doesn't work that way. Instead of paradise, these murderers need to spend eternity in the burning pits of hell or someplace where its very uncomfortable, perhaps Dante's Inferno, Ninth Circle, Ring Four where the worst sinners are punished by spending the rest of eternity in an icy submersion. Now that's cool! For those who misunderstand Islam to be a religion of violence and intolerance, they'd best be educating themselves instead of relying on television commentators, religious zealots and the media for the truth. Lies are always more convincing than the truth.

I read today that convicted mad bomber Illich Ramirez Sanchez aka 'Carlos the Jackal' has converted to Islam and has praised Osama bin Laden. He can't be serious so I'm assuming he became Muslim so he can wage his own holy war and justify the murder of innocent people. I'm deciding whether I should believe it but in the meantime I cringe because the last thing Islam needs is another lunatic. I find it duplicitous for someone like 'Carlos the Jackal' to be a Muslim and condone the murder of innocent people, it's an anathema.

In the meantime, I don't care if he took his vow to become a Muslim; I don't consider him Muslim any more than I consider Osama bin Laden and the rest of those extremist murderers Muslims. They hide their evil behind the veil of Islam, giving people the wrong idea about Islam. If being a martyr is so honorable, why hasn't Osama bin Laden dedicated himself to the cause? Better yet, since Carlos the Jackal is so impressed with bin Laden, why don't we send him on his own suicide bombing mission?

Mission Not Accomplished

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED, originally uploaded by thane.

As promised President Bush vetoed the bill by Congress to provide more funding for Iraq and deadlines for troop withdrawal. He shows no signs of wanting to wind down the war, he just wants more money to pay for it. Grab your calculators, we have already spend $450 billion already and the additional spending on the war is projected to be about $124 billion once this funding bill is repackaged without the withdrawal deadlines. I'm not expecting Congress to override it.

We should be debating more constructive uses for $124 billion that don't involve risking someone's life or pissing it down the black hole that is Iraq. I'm not an isolationist but we have enough problems in America that deserve our immediate attention but President Bush would rather spend this money in Iraq so that our troops can be nothing more than security guards in Iraq. What's missing is some much needed dialog between all the parties in Iraq, Sunnis, Shi'as, Kurds and even the al-Qaeda/terrorist types. Although I'm a firm believer of the "you broke, you fix it" philosophy, we should just stay out of it.

I bet old George is betting on dragging this thing out so that he can pawn the chaos that is Iraq off on the newly elected president in 2008. He ignored the Pigheaded doesn't even begin to describe the president. He has no regard for the will of the American people, 71% of whom disagree with his handling of Iraq and the Iraqi people want us out of the country too. We need to be discussing options for withdrawing from Iraq, it's been long overdue. To those who say the country will descend into chaos, they're probably right but all we're doing is delaying the inevitable. We can't stay there forever. It's time to move on.