The Associated Press as reported in the Washington Post is running a story today that tells it like it is. The story is here.
Nearly half of all American kids will be on food stamps during their childhood and 90% of African American children will be in that group. If there was ever a reason to end our war based economy, bring our troops home and cut the defense budget in half, this clear indication of growing economic disparity between the "haves" and the "have nots" is it.
When 50% of all American kids will be on food stamps during childhood, a major course change is in order. Immediately.
Its time now Mr. President. Bring the troops home, cut the defense budget in half, and take that money and provide an environment for our people that will produce prosperity, not just the hope of it.
This says more than I could ever say about where we are and where we need to be. The foolish dream of military superiority in order to achieve...exactly what I am not sure....is now in dire need of ending. American kids are hungry by the millions now. Enough already with the foolish Roman Empire imitation ! End it. Now. Please.
Now onto other news.
President Karzai has been declared the winner in Afghanistan's non-runoff election and oddly enough this complicates things for the U.S. The guy is legally president of the country but he has no real legitimacy, even among his own people. Mr. President, please bring our troops home. Enough already with the "We are a democracy here in Afghanistan" charade. This is not worth sending neighborhood kids to die over. This Washington Post story is here.
In this Post story the North Korean Army has now taken over the economy completely and is selling minerals to China while regimenting food production in the favor of soldiers. This is never good. This probably means eventual uprising from the people. The story is here.
In the New York Times today there is a news analysis piece concerning Iran's constant waffling on its agreements with the West on uranium enrichment. That story is here.
It seems that Iran's recent illegitimate election which put the ever ethereal Mahmoud Ahmadinejad back into office is causing problems with foreign policy agreement among the clerics who actually run the country.
In the meantime the world is left hanging wanting to know whether or not Iran is going to try and blow up its perceived enemies or simply disintegrate into civil war. It all starts to run together in my mind after awhile. Who are our allies and who are our enemies over in west Asia? It is hard to tell anymore.
In this story, also by the Associated Press, the 20 year old woman from Phoenix, Arizona who last week was run down by her Iraqi immigrant father died today. He ran her over in his car in a shopping mall parking lot because she was becoming too Westernized for his liking.
This son of a bitch needs to be placed in prison for the rest of his life. This is insane. This is when cultural uniqueness translates into fundamentalist nonsense. Put this twisted bastard behind bars and throw away the key.
I am sick to death of one religionist after another demanding that his or her kids meet impossible cultural threshholds for behavior based on vaules and mores that are thousands of years old and thousands of years out of place now. What dangerous and ridiculous nonsense is this? Did G*d call for her to be murdered like this?
Utter tripe. Lock this bastard away.
And here is a disturbing piece from Politics Daily concerning a rape victim and Senator Vitter of Louisiana getting in a shouting match at a news conference concerning his recent support of a bill that would not allow rape victims to sue defense contractors who were implicated in their rapes.
Life is not often pretty is it? But then again, who knows that better than veterans?
Get informed, stay informed because it is your duty as a veteran to help govern this country using an informed opinion on current events and important issues.
Ideology does us no good. In fact as you can plainly see, ideology gets people murdered. You need to know what is actually going on. Partisanship won't help us turn this country around and neither will blind acceptance of ideology, any ideology.
Only dedication to the truth and reasonable accomodation to mainstream beliefs and behaviors and its application to reality will do that. And we need an immediate course correction to help us stave off civil unrest. When 50% of American kids are going to be on food stamps during their childhood, we have failed to deliver the American dream to them.
An informed veteran is a comfort to his friends and a danger to his adversaries. Knowledge holds the key to ultimate freedom.
CWO3 Tom Barnes, USCG (Ret.)
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