Archive for May, 2008

Are you an “enemy combatant”?

{ May 24, 2008 @ 9:16 pm } · { News & Politics, The Constitution + Bill of Rights, War }
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CBS reported today on a man who is a US Citizen, and has been detained at a Military prison in South Carolina without charges brought against him, without access to legal counsel, and without a trial. 

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/05/24/national/main4125235.shtml?source=RSS&attr=HOME_4125235

Here are my thoughts…

Can anyone be an “enemy combatant”? 

YES

What is an “enemy combatant”? 

Any person, US Citizen or otherwise, whom George Bush decides, without the burden of proof, is a threat to “America’s interests.”

What are “America’s interests”? 

Bush’s interests… corporate profits, capitalism, nationalism, greed, exploitation, globalization

Does this really represent America’s interests?

NO!  America is (supposed to be) about democracy… democracy is about people first, all of Bush’s interests put the average citizen last… whenever profit is the goal, the good of the people, and of the world are lost.

What does this all mean?

Say there is a “crisis” situation, such as a “terrorist” attack, or an economic breakdown (sound familiar?), and Bush decides he needs to invoke martial law (which, by the way, already is the state we’re in since Habeas Corpus was suspended in 2006) to “maintain order” throughout the country.  Say there are protests to, say… a US strike on Iran, or pertaining to the war in Iraq.. or any other crazy situation Bush can think up.  The laws that ARE ALREADY IN PLACE mean that the military can be ordered to search our homes, take ANY OF US away to one of the 800 concentration camps already built in the US, kill us if we resist, force us into inoculations, etc. etc…  If I keep going I scare myself.  Friends of Liberty lists the many legal justifications for such actions.

Why would I think such a thing could happen?

According to Naomi Wolf, who wrote The End of America, every dictator of the past who “took over” a nation, took the same 10 steps to break the nation down before their “take overs”.  Bush has already taken all of these 10 steps.

But, if I’m not doing anything illegal, why should I worry?  Why should I be concerned?

Because.. this all means that the entire Constitution can be suspended for ALL OF US, at the will of George Bush!      
You don’t have to be doing anything illegal to be considered an enemy combatant!  Shit… I suppose by writing this, Bush could consider me an “enemy combatant” against the “war on terror”… terrorist that he is. 

Under Hitler, new laws were made to essentially make it illegal for certain people to exist where they were.  Ask yourself, who is Bush prejudice against?  Even if it’s not you, don’t you think it’s scary that someone who’s proven to be so anti-American could do this to anyone he decides he doesn’t want to exist here?

I think that if you really are against terrorism, you CAN NOT support Bush’s policies and actions!  Under his rule (and his father’s, and other elite powers linked to evil causes), the United States IS a terrorist country!

What can I do?

I wish I knew, I was so freaked out by Naomi Wolf’s book that I couldn’t read the end of it.. I was getting nightmares!  Apparently though, it offers a suggestion of what to do, and I know her answer is not “move to Canada.” 

I was trying to convince everyone to write to their senators, representatives, etc.. before the Military Commissions Act was passed, and before it seemed inevitable to me that if Bush is planning to take over the country, dictatorially, I couldn’t stop him. 

Unfortunately, the American public are asleep at the wheel.. we’re amazing consumers, but we’re not so good at thinking critically about our future and present politics.  It’s no wonder, when American students are fed lies and justifications without explanation about our history.

So, I’m done trying to prevent such an attack… I can only do so much.  What I can offer is this knowledge.  Some links, and ideas to get you to explore the issue yourself.  If you have any great ideas, please share it with the world.

Pay attention!  Don’t just watch Fox or CNN.  Download the Flock Eco-Browser, and subscribe to the hundreds of news sources available… worldwide.  Create a blog of your own and share what’s on your mind.  Knowledge IS power, and it can’t be taken away.. like everything else.

What will I do?

          Martial Law Survival Guide

70K Show Up To See Barack!

{ May 20, 2008 @ 4:31 pm } · { Election, News & Politics }
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70 Thousand people showed up at a PRIMARY rally! Has any crowd ever gathered like this for a Presidential Primary Candidate, let alone a Presidential Candidate in a General election???

What an amazing man! I’ve been looking forward to this election for a really long time, because I wanted anyone but Bush in office… but now I can see a true leader, a real activist who really is going to do some real good in the White House and abroad. His experience far outweighs Clinton’s if you just compare all of the good things they’ve done in their times. She’s far more “experienced” with corruption and scandal, but he’s got the GOOD experience, he’s done a lot of good already! Thank goodness for Barack!!!


Minnesota Gets Smart About Protecting Against Pregnancy and STDS

{ May 20, 2008 @ 3:46 am } · { News & Politics, Sexuality, Society & Culture }
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http://feminist.org/news/newsbyte/uswirestory.asp?id=10974

This is awesome!

A great step in the right direction… considering the levels of STDs and unwanted or unplanned pregnancies have risen drastically since the implementation of “abstinence only education” funding from the government, it’s about time we start giving our youth the tools to have a successful life, and to make the CHOICE to have children when they are ready, and not to if they’re not!

We owe it to the youth to educate them and make them aware of the risks and responsibilities of human sexuality! If we don’t, they’ll find out anyway, but have much greater consequences because they were not prepared!

http://aboutmyrecovery.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/Sex_Education1.gif
http://aboutmyrecovery.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/Sex_Education1.gif

Misogyny and the Military

{ May 20, 2008 @ 3:36 am } · { War }
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http://www.feministpeacenetwork.org/2008/04/28/sisters-in-death-the-systemic-misogyny-of-militarism-leads-to-deaths-of-us-servicewomen-and-iraqi-civilian-women/

This article details the deaths of women within the US military, and in Iraq since the US Invasion, misleadingly called originally, “Operation Iraqi Freedom.”  Suspiciously, many of the women who are labeled suicides or accidental deaths show gross evidence of homicide and brutality.  Even more curious is the fact that many of these women had reported being raped or harassed prior to their death.  Here are some examples found in the article:

One woman, Lavena, was labeled by the Army as a suicide.  She had a broken nose and teeth knocked out of her head, a distended elbow, debris from the groud on her clothes, and blood leading to the tent she allegedly burnt herself in, from a contractor’s tent nearby.  She also had a “corrosive liquid poured into her genital area, probably to destroy DNA evidence of sexual assault.”  The army concluded that she did this to herself. 

Another woman, Tina, was found shot dead by a M-16 shot, which the Army concluded she shot herself with her toe, since the evidence showed it was physically impossible for her to shoot herself otherwise to achieve the angle of the shot.  “The Army never investigated Tina’s death as a homicide, but only as a suicide.”

Women outside of the military have been “perpetrated against… in the lawless aftermath of the US Invasion.”  The article tells of a 19 year old woman in Iraq who committed the “crime” of having an “unknown phone number in her cell phone.”  She was killed.  You can read more about her here:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/barbaric-honour-killings-become-the-weapon-to-subjugate-women-in-iraq-816649.html

Basra police are said to acknowledge that “15 women a month are murdered for breaching Islamic dress codes.”

Yes, Sadaam was a ruthless dictator over Iraq (whom the US placed there)… but he was also the only thing keeping order in a war ravaged country.  They had electricity and water before we invaded.  What have they got now?  More terrorism, less security, less resources, more disorder. 

The article goes on to identify these assaults as war crimes, and says “They serve as a grisly illustration of the fundamental connection between militarism and misogynist violence.”  Right on.