Joseph Dwyer

Joseph Dwyer died a few days ago. The guy who took this picture wrote a moving tribute to him in the Washington Post. He was an Army Medic who helped to save this poor Iraqi child who was just as much a victim as Joseph Dwyer was. He died because he never came home from Iraq. The Post-Tramautic Stress Syndrom that has plauged so many of our best and brightest condemened him. He is one of the many faces that should be remembered. He is one of the ones that paid the ultimate sacrifice. His sacrifice was for a monumental mistake that we as a nation will have to dig out of for a very, very long time. I am sure that George W. Bush thinks about it every day. But, I wonder what it is about power that allows a person to be so blind as to not see the results of this.

Sgt Jose Pequeno

Today was not a particularly good day. I, like many others, continue to worry about the economy, my business and my future. I continue to worry about my family and whether I am able to make it or not. The stock market drop today was particularly scary. In addition, there was the price of oil and the continued slide in home prices and home sales. The bottom seems to falling!!!

It seems as if the Lord smacked me on the head. I picked up the latest edition of the Nation Magazine (http://www.thenation.com) I read about Sgt. Jose Pequeno. I read about a 34-year man who volunteered to serve his country. He was severely injured in an attack on a Iraqi Police Station. "He lost the bottom two lobese of his brain (his picture shows that over half his brain is gone)." When I saw his picture, it brought tears to my eyes. It brought me down to earth. It reminded me to be thankful for what I have. It made me truly believe that whatever challenges I have will be overcome. I think I owe Sgt. Jose Pequeno for the sacrifice he and his family has made.

The Tragedy that is Iraq...

A fellow blogger (Source: http://www.sportandpolitics.com/2008/06/special-comment-ii.html, retrieved June 12, 2008) just featured Keith Oberman's take on Senator McCain "Not Important" comment yesterday On The Today Show Interview with Matt Lauder. A lot to think about and reflect upon...

"The Wages of Peace"

In the March 31, 2008 of the Nation Magazine (http://www.thenation.com) there was an eye-opening article by Robert Pollin and Heidi Garrett-Peltier titled "The Wages of Peace". The essential argument of it was that the spending on the war in Iraq is a job killer. They also advocate the fact that ending the war will free up resources to help rescue the U.S. economy from a looming recession.

One statistic that was particularly striking to me was what was sighted on pages 24 and 25 of the March 31, 2008 edition of the Nation magazine. It cited studies by the Institute for Policy Studies (http://www.ips-dc.org) and the National Priorities Project (http://www.nationalpriorities.org) noting that the cost of the war to the City of Cleveland is $ 479.2 Million. The services that could have been provided by the City of Cleveland for this amount is noted below:

1) $ 43.6 Million to retrofit 48,784 Homes with renewable electricity;
2) $ 43.6 Million to provide health care for 24,772 children;
3) $ 43.6 Million to provide health care to 14,601 people;
4) $ 43.6 Million to provide 6726 Head Start places for Children;
5) $ 43.6 Million to provide 5390 scholarships for University Students;
6) $ 43.6 Million to hire 1045 Public Safety Officers;
7) $ 43.6 Million to hire 899 Port Container Inspectors;
8) $ 43.6 Million to hire 740 elementary school teachers;
9) $ 43.6 Million to hire 647 Music & Arts Teachers;
10)$ 43.6 Million to build 406 affordable housing Units;
11) $ 44.6 Million to build 4 new Elementary Schools

Instead of this potential life-changing investment, the folks who got rich were the 625 corporations who have been active in the Iraq war. We have to think about our priorities for the sake of our children.

When will this nightmare end? When will we understand our true priorities?

The Cost of the Iraq War

Today's Democracy Now featured an interview with two leading economists (available at http://www.democracynow.org/2008/2/29/
exclusive_the_three_trillion_dollar_war) about the cost of the Iraq War.
According to the report, they say that the cost of the war is around 3 trillion
(THREE TRILLION) dollars. Yet, the Bush Adminstration says otherwise.
Public information available reflects that the cost of the war is "off budget". But, this is staggering and sad!!! As the money is being spent and we're being fed what a friend of mine once called happytalk, the local school district in Orange County, California, has just adopted a tenative budget that cuts 21 million dollars from the budget. What is our priority?

George W. Bush does not have to worry about anything. He's already set. But what about the rest of us who have to be faced with the challenges? When I hear such stories, I am convinced that George W. Bush is probably the worst President this country has ever seen. I can't wait to see the back of him.

How Hypocritical We Are....

I had a chance to watch The Movie "Deep Impact". The story is about two big comets on their way to Earth. As I was watching this movie, I thought about all the conflicts around the world. I am right now listening to today's edition of Democracy Now about the cost of the Iraq War, about the continued killings in Israel and the Palestinian Territories and thought about the hypocracy of it all. We have lost seven years to think about taking our lives to the next level. Will we have the will to truly committ to change and think about insuring that there are no people who are hungry and who are sick? Will we committ to go to the stars and allow our planet to be able to expand its' horizons? I wonder if ordinary people truly matter.