Daily Topics - Friday August 6th, 2010
By shawnt56
The New England Salem Children’s Village provides a home and nurturing environment for neglected and emotionally disturbed children. The States are behind in making their payments to kids in care so we need your help, if you can. Even $10 or $25 is helpful. You can donate at www.salemchildrensvillage.org
Quote of the Day: How we treat the earth basically effects our social welfare and our national security. -- Jim Fowler
"Anything Goes on Townhall Friday!"
Hour One: Now that the gay marriage ban in California has been struck down, what challenges are ahead? Constitutional law expert, Professor Marjorie Cohn will be here www.marjoriecohn.com
Hour Two: BP spill...is it really over? Master Mariner, Captain Kelly Sweeney will be here www.maritimeheadhunters.com; Plus, what is the lasting impact on life in the Gulf? Dr. Riki Ott weighs in www.rikiott.com
Hour Three: California's prop 8 has been overturned...what's happening now with marriage? Evan Wolfson, Executive Director of Freedom to Marry will be here www.freedomtomarry.org
Comments
#2
"Look forward" is an attempt to weasel out of the responsibility to investigate and prosecute past and present crimes, which by definition, do not occur in the future.
The obligation to uphold and defend The Constitution is being swept aside. It seems that those who swore to uphold and defend are guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors and should be removed from office to an acceptable dungeon. I'd suggest imprisonment with no possibility of pardon, but the Constitution says we can't do that.
#3
The problem with Wikileaks is not that they are revealing information vital to the prosecution of the wars and defense of "our" troops, it is that they are revealing to the American public information that the Afghans, Pakistanis and Iraqis already know.
Another blatant attempt at keeping us in the dark. This is similar to reporting bombing missions in Viet Nam in "violation" of security laws. The Vietnamese already knew where the bombs fell. The American people did not.
#4
The US for the first time today sent an envoy to the Hiroshima Memorial Service:
Obama Revives Debate About Hiroshima with Envoy Decision
But US ambassador to Japan John Roos and UK deputy ambassador David Fitton, who is also attending, will shrug off demands for an apology and questions about the controversial bombing, which killed more than 140,000 people, mostly civilians.
"The attention is on the ceremony itself and on the victims so we don't want to overshadow the event," said a spokesman for the British embassy in Tokyo. "But given the way the international debate is going, we think this is the right move at the right time."
But, the US is continuing to use Depleted Uranium:
The curse of Fallujah: Women warned not to have babies because of rise in birth defects since U.S. assault
By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 3:21 PM on 5th March 2010
I ask again, who are the criminals? Those who tell the truth, or those warmongers and profiteers who seem to have complete immunity?
#5
@Zero G: Robert McNamara admitted that he was involved in war crimes with respect to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
#6
Gene, #3:
One of my favorite Doonesbury strips, the original of which hangs on my wall, is a person going to a Cambodian couple standing in front of their leveled home and saying, "This is a historic site. This is the site of the secret bombing of Cambodia."
The Cambodian man says: "No, it wasn't any secret. I said to Martha, 'Look, there are the bombs falling on us.'" Gary Wills author of Bomb Power
#7
By the way, the Japanese were trying to find an honorable way to surrender. Admiral Nimitz opined that the atomic bombs were not necessary.
#8
@Zero G. re #4, yesterday I was listening to KPFK here in Los Angeles, on my drive home. A fill-in host played a taped interview with a scientist, Christopher Busby, who had did studies on the effects of Depleted Uranium on the citizens of Fallujah. You can check out the free podcast on KPFK, Thursday Aug 5 3:00pm. I recommend anyone here who is even slightly interested in this subject to check it out. Good plain explanation of whats going on over there and why.
N
#9
Scott Horton Interviews Chris Busby
Chris Busby, co-author of the epidemiological study “Cancer, Infant Mortality and Birth Sex-Ratio in Fallujah, Iraq 2005–2009,” discusses the difficulties of carrying out a door-to-door survey of skeptical and hostile Fallujah residents, the severe birth deformities in regions where depleted uranium munitions were used, the study’s focus on infant mortality rates, the military’s outdated risk modeling for battlefield uranium exposure and why a dramatically lower male birth rate is a telling sign of regional genetic damage.
Thanks Nels, I've been enjoying Scott Horton's being on KPFK of late.
#10
#11
Truman was an artillery man in WWI, blowing people up from a distance was second nature to him. Also, like many American military men involved with WWI, they thought Germany was being let off easy by letting them surrender. "The Germans didn't believe they were actually beaten." I think that mentality carried through to Truman when he decided to drop the bombs.
Of course the reality of why Germany rose up after WWI, was more about the Allies keeping their boot to the neck of Germany (especially France) and by the time Germany was finally getting to the point where they were able to regain its economic strength it was too late, the NAZI movement had reached a momentum that swept it into power.
So basically, the dropping of the A-bombs went hand in hand with the carpet bombing of Germany and Japan during WWII, the Allied leaders wanted to beat the Axis powers into humiliation... which they did. However, it wasn't those actions that prevented another world war, but the fact that the Allies at least realized it was important to rebuild the countries (more so as a bulwark against the USSR than any altruistic motive). Also it can be argued that the dropping the bombs was done more to threaten all would be contenders to America's new found Super Power status. Lastly don't forget, to Americans at the time, the Japanese were an inferior race and therefore quite expendable.
We've come a long way since then, though please don't take any part of my rant as an excuse or justification for the destruction of two cities. I'm just trying to round out the whole picture of why it was done, and why America has been so detached from the terror and horror it unleashed.
BTW the First Congregational Church in Long Beach http://www.firstchurchlb.org/cranes.html will have events related to the dropping the bombs on Japan. Personally plan on being there for the Aug 15th event with Capt. Paul K. Chappell speaking about ending war.
N
#15
The right kind of stimulus!!!
http://www.opednews.com/articles/A-WEALTHY-STIMULUS-NEEDED-by-Jim-Quinn-100806-851.html
#18
#19
Working longer hours per week for less salary!!!
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2010/07/13/reich_economic_anger/index.html
#20
A one and one half dip toward the Great Depression!!!
#21
A death blow for Americans - unemployment!!!
#22
Tzedakah is more than charity; it is justice.
Thom's Blog Is On the Move
By webmaster
Hello All
Thom's blog in this space and moving to a new home.
Please follow us across to hartmannreport.com - this will be the only place going forward to read Thom's blog posts and articles.
Images of Thom
With His Holiness The Dalai Lama, at His home in Dharamsala, India (Synthesis Dialogues - made into a movie narrated by Harrison Ford)
From Unequal Protection, 2nd Edition:
"If you wonder why and when giant corporations got the power to reign supreme over us, here’s the story."
From Screwed:
"Hartmann speaks with the straight talking clarity and brilliance of a modern day Tom Paine as he exposes the intentional and systematic destruction of America’s middle class by an alliance of political con artists and outlines a program to restore it. This is Hartmann at his best. Essential reading for those interested in restoring the institution that made America the envy of the world."
From The Thom Hartmann Reader:
"With the ever-growing influence of corporate CEOs and their right-wing allies in all aspects of American life, Hartmann’s work is more relevant than ever. Throughout his career, Hartmann has spoken compellingly about the value of people-centered democracy and the challenges that millions of ordinary Americans face today as a result of a dogma dedicated to putting profit above all else. This collection is a rousing call for Americans to work together and put people first again."
The decision to look forward and not back at the lies, aggression and torture of the previous administration is redoubling in its consequences these days as the war is being rebranded in Iraq and only escalating in Afghanistan. The refusal of the Obama administration to hold to account its predecessors leads to their having to condemn WikiLeaks and Bradley Manning for daring to show us the contemptable face of war.
Now Pentagoon spokesperson Geoffrey Morrell is issueing a threat to WikiLeaks:
"The only acceptable course is for WikiLeaks to take steps to immediately return all versions of all of those documents to the US government and permanently delete them from its website, computers, and records," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said on Thursday, according to the Guardian.
He added: "If doing the right thing is not good enough for them, then we will figure out what alternatives we have to compel them to do the right thing."
No, we must tell this administration, in no uncertain terms, it is the Crimes of Aggresssion that put our soldiers and allies at rist. It is the warmongers and profiteers who must be held to account, and not those brave enough to expose the lies and the bloody hell into which this nation has been thrust.
Public Rally Outside Quantico Base to Support Alleged Whistleblower Bradley Manning
Exposing War Crimes is Not a Crime - Support Bradley Manning! and WikiLeaks!