Memorial Day

May, 2002
This generally hallowed day generates within me feelings of sarcasm more than anything else. Perhaps that is due to memories of my own welcome back from two of my three tours in Vietnam. I know that a lot of these men who are honored today, the majority of which were probably not yet into the estate of manhood, had no choice in where they were and what they were doing when their life suddnly ended violently. It is often stated, on Memorial Day, that we Americans, and many others in the world, owe a great debt to these men, and that is not to be denied. The fact that his holiday keeps their memory alive is only to be contrasted with the reality of the observances which is cocerned only with the spending of money. Those who were killed ultimately had no choice, but we know now that their leaders had many choices that they did not use or were not aware of. We know that Pearl Harbor was tipped off in more than one way, only no one could “connect-those-dots” either. Korea was one of those “slippery slopes” we hear about from timt to time. We slid all the way back down the North Korean part of the place. Why did we go in? Why did we go north of the 32nd parallel? What else could have been done. Why Vietnam? Well, that answer is easy. It concerns the Falling Domino Theory. If Vietnam should fall to Ho-Chi-Mihn, then within a year all of Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Taiway and possibly Japan and Hawaii would fall to communism. Secretary of Defence McNamara has written in 1995, that he and President Johnson knew the war was lost in 1966, and that we fought all the rest of it, the big part of it, those last six years, killing those 50,000 Americans and 2 million Vietnamese to try to “save the presidency,” to save Johnson and Nixon from disgrace. The Gulf War brought home men with “strange illnesses.” They are still dying, and they are told by the United States government that it has nothing to do with their fighting for the United States in the Persian Gulf. They gave for Halliburton, Exxon, and other great giants of American commerce. What other choices were available -before- the Kuwait invasion, or after, for that matter? We know that when the attack on the Twin Towers was being finalized, the American president was spending a month in Texas, to escape the “humdrum” of life in the Capitol. His administration was doubtless at work, but there was no center to events. What else could have been done?
Israel and the Arabs are at low-grade war, Pakistan and India are ready for Glory. And it goes on and on. Maybe we can make some small changes; here’s one: Let’s not ever honor another fallen soldier or lost sailor without convening a war crimes convention to address the fault of those who led their young men into war. Let us make Memorial Day really memorial by declairing that war is a crime against mankind, the universe and God.
It is a travesty that we “honor” young men who were killed by their own countries for the personal enrichment of their leaders. These leaders grow old and get rich; the young men get glory.

Destruction of Democracy

Not to comment on the destruction of democracy is in itself an act equal to or greater than that destruction itself. Democracy is not a right granted by any ruler or god but it is a right that was ripped from the hearts and souls of many rulers and many gods.

Today, we find at least two democratic elections under attack - Israel is attacking the Palestinians because they elected the “wrong” leaders - i.e. those not acceptable to Israel. And the European nations are threatening Iran for the same reason - the Iranian people elected the “wrong” leaders.

It is noteworthy that America is foremost in the countries that have castigated both Palestine and Iran. Are we seeing an establishment by implication of an "approval power" that must be met by all newly elected governments, that power being the American ruling establishment?

Desecration of America

Dear Senator Burr, Dole, Congressman Taylor:

Why is the Congress debating issues like same sex marriage and flag desecration at this time? If you want to debate desecration of the American flag, let's talk about Haditha. We have heard the story of the killings, now let's investigate the real story - the planning of intimidation attacks like this, the countenancing of them and then - when they are inevitably discovered - the real story - the coverup by administration officials.
If the thought of naked people of the same sex getting together on a recurring and intimate basis turns you on, let's talk about Abu Ghraib. Let's hear the American congress talk about Guantanamo or renditions whether extraordinary or not. We want to hear Rumsfeld explain why there are suddenly so many Bad Apples all over the place.
The American public knows that these actions could not come not from a few wayward young boys and girls but have to be specifically planned operations directed from the highest offices in America. I served proudly in the United States armed forces - this is not the same military force that I knew. Instinctively we know that these actions are directed and approved by the Secretary of Defense and the President, and probably now, by the office of the Vice-President.
How much more useless can the Republican Party appear to be than to try to distract the American public with insignificant issues like these two at this time? This appears to be a reflexive response to orders issued by the White House to "keep the natives diverted". Since it has become clear that the Bush Administration will not take ANY steps to alleviate the problems in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the entire Middle-east, it must fall to Congress to take charge of our foreign policy.
I am requesting a personal response from Senator Burr, Dole, Congressman Taylor explaining to me how he/she plans to help move the United States out of the Iraq quagmire and help reinstate our country's honor among the nations of the world. I want him/her to personally explain to me and to the rest of his constituents why he/she thinks these two diversionary debates are more important than Haditha, Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, renditions, American torture, global warming, control of nuclear weapons, the American economy, Iran, North Korea, illegal immigration, the collapse of FEMA and the CIA, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the entire middle-east.
Tell me why the congress needs to debate same sex marriage and flag desecration at this time. Tell me - and the rest of us - why the Republican Party is so out of touch with America. One suspects it can no longer be the same old "playing dumb on purpose", one must suspect this borders on treason.

This message is in the public domain. Feel free to copy, distribute, etc.

His One Shot At Glory.

The real victims of discrimination are those who hear and heed the slurs. Discrimination is really aimed at people who live in fear of those whom they believe are different from themselves. Many of these targeted people tend to be poorer, under educated and generally don’t vote, because the issues which are at stake concern problems about which they know little and in which they are not interested. Too many of them feel themselves to be victims of people in power, and they feel isolated and lost.

Slurs and distortions, whether directed at gays, blacks, immigrants, abortions, gun control, or other issues seem to narrow their choices to black or white, good or evil, intelligence or stupidity. Worse yet, if the slurs and distortions come from someone in power or authority, then those lost and isolated people feel they can become part of a team, and that they have been called to rally around a great cause. Now they not only "understand" these complex issues, they are led to believe they are the last hope of mankind. The fate of the world seems to await their response. Their president and their God now "need" them, and they will obey.

Unfortunately for them, once they have voted, they are no longer needed and slide away back into the great gray void of reality and never know for whom or for what they really voted. The flag and the bible are there to die for and a real patriot would never ask what comes after glory.

© John Womack, 2006. All Rights Reserved.

Unity08 - Party and Blog

This was my first post to this new site - found at http://www.unity08.com/
START
Submitted by John Womack on May 31, 2006 - 10:29pm.
Sounds good so far. Most of us are wary - know there will be terrible attacks to come. But - we now teeter on the brink of disaster. Our country is heading for a massive change very soon. Even if the Unity 08 can't get ready in time to make a difference, we need to have something ready to replace what we have lost. This movement might save what we had that was really good. John.

Come join me here!

Stephen Colbert's Presentation

This at the White House Correspondent's Association annual dinner April 29, 2006. He was sitting next to President Bush.
Unfortunately, Colbert's remarks were not publicized by the media - no real surprise because he took them to task as much as he did Bush. A number of bloggers are trying to make up a little bit for this by passing the comments along. Not the same, sure, but it is the least we can do.

STEPHEN COLBERT: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Before I begin, I've been asked to make an announcement. Whoever parked 14 black bulletproof SUVs out front, could you please move them? They are blocking in 14 other black bulletproof SUVs, and they need to get out.

Wow! Wow, what an honor! The White House Correspondents' dinner. To actually -- to sit here at the same table with my hero, George W. Bush, to be this close to the man. I feel like I'm dreaming. Somebody pinch me. You know what? I'm a pretty sound sleeper; that may not be enough. Somebody shoot me in the face. Is he really not here tonight? Damn it! The one guy who could have helped.

By the way, before I get started, if anybody needs anything else at their tables, just speak slowly and clearly into your table numbers. Someone from the NSA will be right over with a cocktail.

Mark Smith, ladies and gentlemen of the press corps, Madame First Lady, Mr. President, my name is Stephen Colbert, and tonight it is my privilege to celebrate this president, ‘cause we're not so different, he and I. We both get it. Guys like us, we're not some brainiacs on the nerd patrol. We're not members of the factinista. We go straight from the gut. Right, sir?

That's where the truth lies, right down here in the gut. Do you know you have more nerve endings in your gut than you have in your head? You can look it up. Now, I know some of you are going to say, "I did look it up, and that's not true." That's 'cause you looked it up in a book. Next time, look it up in your gut. I did. My gut tells me that's how our nervous system works.

Every night on my show, The Colbert Report, I speak straight from the gut, okay? I give people the truth, unfiltered by rational argument. I call it the "No Fact Zone." FOX News, I hold a copyright on that term.

I'm a simple man with a simple mind. I hold a simple set of beliefs that I live by. Number one, I believe in America. I believe it exists. My gut tells me I live there. I feel that it extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and I strongly believe it has 50 states, and I cannot wait to see how the Washington Post spins that one tomorrow.

I believe in democracy. I believe democracy is our greatest export. At least until China figures out a way to stamp it out of plastic for three cents a unit. As a matter of fact, Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong, welcome. Your great country makes our Happy Meals possible. I said it's a celebration.

I believe the government that governs best is the government that governs least. And by these standards, we have set up a fabulous government in Iraq.

I believe in pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps. I believe it is possible. I saw this guy do it once in Cirque du Soleil. It was magical!

And though I am a committed Christian, I believe that everyone has the right to their own religion, be you Hindu, Jewish or Muslim. I believe there are infinite paths to accepting Jesus Christ as your personal savior.

Ladies and gentlemen, I believe it's yogurt. But I refuse to believe it's not butter.

Most of all, I believe in this president. Now, I know there are some polls out there saying that this man has a 32% approval rating. But guys like us, we don't pay attention to the polls. We know that polls are just a collection of statistics that reflect what people are thinking in "reality." And reality has a well-known liberal bias. So, Mr. President, please, please, pay no attention to the people that say the glass is half full. 32% means the glass -- important to set up your jokes properly, sir. Sir, pay no attention to the people who say the glass is half empty, because 32% means it's 2/3 empty. There's still some liquid in that glass is my point, but I wouldn't drink it. The last third is usually backwash. Okay.

Look, folks, my point is that I don't believe this is a low point in this presidency. I believe it is just a lull before a comeback. I mean, it's like the movie Rocky. Alright? The President, in this case, is Rocky Balboa, and Apollo Creed is everything else in the world. It's the tenth round. He's bloodied. His corner man, Mick, who in this case, I guess, would be the Vice President, he's yelling, "Cut me, Dick, cut me!" And every time he falls, everyone says, "Stay down, Rocky! Stay down!" But does he stay down? No. Like Rocky, he gets back up, and in the end he -- actually loses in the first movie. Okay, doesn't matter. Doesn’t matter.

The point is it is the heart-warming story of a man who was repeatedly punched in the face, so don't pay attention to the approval ratings that say that 68% of Americans disapprove of the job this man is doing. I ask you this, does that not also logically mean that 68% approve of the job he's not doing? Think about it. I haven't.

I stand by this man. I stand by this man, because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things, things like aircraft carriers and rubble and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message, that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo-ops in the world.

Now, there may be an energy crisis. Well, this president has a very forward-thinking energy policy. Why do you think he's down on the ranch cutting that brush all the time? He's trying to create an alternative energy source. By 2008, we will have a mesquite-powered car.

And I just like the guy. He's a good Joe, obviously loves his wife, calls her his better half. And polls show America agrees. She's a true lady and a wonderful woman. But I just have one beef, ma'am. I'm sorry, but this reading initiative. I'm sorry, I've never been a fan of books. I don't trust them. They're all fact, no heart. I mean, they're elitist, telling us what is or isn't true or what did or didn't happen. Who's Britannica to tell me the Panama Canal was built in 1914? If I want to say it was built in 1941, that's my right as an American! I'm with the President. Let history decide what did or did not happen.

The greatest thing about this man is he's steady. You know where he stands. He believes the same thing Wednesday that he believed on Monday, no matter what happened Tuesday. Events can change; this man's beliefs never will.

And as excited as I am to be here with the President, I am appalled to be surrounded by the liberal media that is destroying America, with the exception of FOX News. FOX News gives you both sides of every story: the President's side, and the Vice President's side.

But the rest of you, what are you thinking? Reporting on NSA wiretapping or secret prisons in Eastern Europe? Those things are secret for a very important reason: they're super-depressing. And if that's your goal, well, misery accomplished.

Over the last five years you people were so good, over tax cuts, WMD intelligence, the effect of global warming. We Americans didn't want to know, and you had the courtesy not to try to find out. Those were good times, as far as we knew.

But, listen, let's review the rules. Here's how it works. The President makes decisions. He's the decider. The press secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type. Just put 'em through a spell check and go home. Get to know your family again. Make love to your wife. Write that novel you got kicking around in your head. You know, the one about the intrepid Washington reporter with the courage to stand up to the administration? You know, fiction!

Because, really, what incentive do these people have to answer your questions, after all? I mean, nothing satisfies you. Everybody asks for personnel changes. So, the White House has personnel changes. And then you write, "Oh, they're just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic." First of all, that is a terrible metaphor. This administration is not sinking. This administration is soaring! If anything, they are rearranging the deck chairs on the Hindenburg!

Now, it's not all bad guys out there. There are some of the heroes out there tonight: Christopher Buckley, Jeff Sacks, Ken Burns, Bob Schieffer. I’ve interviewed all of them. By the way, Mr. President, thank you for agreeing to be on my show. I appreciate it. I was just as shocked as everyone here is, I promise you. How's Tuesday for you? I've got Frank Rich, but we can just bump him. And I mean bump him. I know a guy. Say the word.

See who we've got here tonight. We’ve got General Moseley, Air Force Chief of Staff. We’ve got General Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. They still support Rumsfeld. Right, you guys aren't retired yet, right? Right, they still support Rumsfeld. Look, by the way, I've got a theory about how to handle these retired generals causing all this trouble: Don't let them retire! Come on, we've got a stop-loss program; let's use it on these guys. I've seen Zinni in that crowd on Wolf Blitzer. If you're strong enough to go on one of those pundit shows, you’re strong enough to stand on a bank of computers and order men into battle. Come on!

Jesse Jackson is here, the Reverend. Haven't heard from the Reverend in just a little while. I had him on the show. It was a very interesting interview, very challenging interview. You can ask him anything, but he's going to say what he wants at the pace that he wants. It's like boxing a glacier. Enjoy that metaphor, by the way, because your grandchildren will have no idea what a glacier is.

Justice Scalia is here. Justice Scalia, may I be the first to say, “Welcome, sir!” You look fantastic! How are you? Just talking some Sicilian with my paisan.

John McCain is here. John McCain, what a maverick! Somebody find out what fork he used on his salad, because I guarantee you it wasn't a salad fork. This guy could have used a spoon! There's no predicting him. By the way, Senator McCain, it's so wonderful to see you coming back into the Republican fold. I’ve actually got a summer house in South Carolina. Look me up when you go to speak at Bob Jones University. So glad you've seen the light, sir.

Mayor Nagin! Mayor Nagin is here from New Orleans, the chocolate city! Yeah, give it up. Mayor Nagin, I'd like to welcome you to Washington, D.C., the chocolate city with a marshmallow center and a graham cracker crust of corruption. It's a Mallomar, I guess, is what I'm describing, is a Mallomar. It’s a seasonal cookie.

Joe Wilson is here. Joe Wilson, right down here in front, the most famous husband since Desi Arnaz. And, of course, he brought along his lovely wife Valerie Plame. Oh, my god! Oh, what have I said? Ay, gee monetti! I am sorry, Mr. President, I meant to say he brought along his lovely wife “Joe Wilson's wife.” Patrick Fitzgerald is not here tonight, right? Okay, dodged a bullet.

And, of course, we can't forget the man of the hour, new press secretary, Tony Snow. Secret Service name: "Snow Job." Toughest job. What a hero! Took the second toughest job in government, next to, of course, the ambassador to Iraq. Got some big shoes to fill, Tony. Big shoes to fill. Scott McClellan could say nothing like nobody else. McClellan, of course, eager to retire, really felt like he needed to spend more time with Andrew Card's children.

Now, Mr. President, I wish you hadn't made the decision so quickly, sir. I was vying for the job myself. I think I would have made a fabulous press secretary. I have nothing but contempt for these people.

AMY GOODMAN: Stephen Colbert addressing the White House Correspondents' Association annual dinner. He was speaking right next to President Bush, who was sitting at his side

Pop Quiz

1. The US Senate recently spent 8 months studying one of the major parts of the American government. They said the study revealed that "The __________________ Agency is demoralized and dysfunctional, It is beyond repair, Just tweaking the organizational chart will not solve the problem. It should be abolished and a new agency created. We found clear evidence of failures in planning, failures in decision-making, failures to create an effective, coordinated national response system and most of all a failure of leadership at all levels of government,''

Name the agency that best fits their description::

a) FEMA
b) The Central Intelligence Agency
c) The National Security Agency
d) The Department of Homeland Security
e) The Department of Defense
f) The Department of State
g) The Office of the President
h) The Office of the Vice-president
i) The US Senate
j) The US House of Representatives
k) All of the above

Sneak-and-Peek

What’s wrong with the “sneak and peek” operations that President Bush is claiming is his right to do?
The person or people doing the sneak and peek will be some permanently unidentifiable person, perhaps a CIA employee, perhaps a lower level FBI person. . . more and more, perhaps a private company employee.
They will be searching for “evidence”.
Their search will not be a legal search for only certain specified items, authorized by a judge after seeing a “justification” for such a search.
The Sneak and Peek will be a clandestine probe for any possible evidence that could be used for any purpose.
You will have no right to know what “evidence” was found, or to challenge it or confront it or to even see if it really was yours.
Such “evidence” could lead not to your legal arrest, but to your abduction.
More and more, public officials as well as private company employees, are working under terms of program measures and performance standards. Such employees, whose job is to produce “evidence”, will find that the more “evidence” they produce, the more secure their employment, the better their chances for retention and promotion.
These people will have no need to restrict their search to a certain category of “evidence”, either because there is no search warrant. They can sneak in and peek at whatever they wish, copying, photographing, even taking whatever seems likely to be “evidence” of one possible crime or another. “Evidence” could actually be found in your place, or brought into your place by the Sneak and Peekers - they could “certify” later that they were looking for some relatively minor item and “find” this damning stuff instead - stuff they actually brought into your place - or - simply “swore” that they found it there. You would never know what that “evidence” was, and neither would your lawer be able to find out.
Why would anyone want to find “evidence” against you or me? If we are not doing anything wrong, why should be even be concerned about it? Mistaken identity, stolen identity, bureaucratic bungling, a careless mistake either on our part or on theirs, their fear of admiting they made a mistake, a settling of old scores, racial, sexual or religious predjuices, someone needing to make a name for themselves. How’s that for a start?

Zacarias Moussaou: Scape Goat

Zacarias Moussaou
(zack ah REE us Miss SOW wee)
Scape-goat
One who bears the sins of others for them

Diversion of attention from the real causes of a problem.


The blindfold that the goddes Justice normally wears over her eyes has become a full face mask to hide her shame.
The age-old search for legal impartiality has been turned into an emotional caldron over the air crashes of September 11, 2001. More help for a beleagured presidential administration as they try to rally citizens for the administration’s War on Terror. This “war” can only be continued by maintaining a pit of terror in the consciounsess of the American people.
Such events sometimes lead people to ask others, DuKakis-like, how they would feel if such a thing had happened to their loved ones. I can answer such a hypothetical question only for myself - and I am totally against the dealth penalty - see my blog “What Does the Death Penalty Really Kill”
My answer to the question of how would I feel if that had happened to a loved one of mine is that I would probably be furious. I would probably want to kill - maybe even want to torture the guilty one - I would gladly pull the trigger, drop the gate, throw the switch or whatever.
But I also know that would not satisfy me, and I would later regret those actions. It would be revenge - it would not only not be justice, it would be a defeat for justice.
Zacarias Moussaou is not a good person, he is not nice, he is bad and probably can never be turned loose again. He appears to be a very sick person. But the legal question is this: Did he cause the attacks on the Twin Towers, the Pentagon and Flight 93?
It is alleged that if he had told the truth after he had been captured that the FBI could then have averted those attacks.
But in light of all the information the FBI, CIA, NSA, DOD, and the State Department had already been fed - by their own operatives - in whom they completely trusted - and how they purposefully interpreted the other information about WMD in Iraq, etc. It seems doubtful that anybody in authority would have paid any attention to anything. They already knew all they needed to know, therefore they knew all they would ever know. It seems obvious, to this writer at least, that Zacarias' words would have fallen upon ears that “knew better than that.”
Long after Moussaou has been put to death - executed for lying - the American public will still not have even asked the most important qestion of all: “Why? Why did they do it?”

Thousands of Mistakes.

Condolezzza Rice said in Blackburn, England on Friday March 31, 2006, that the US had made mistakes in Iraq, “perhaps thousands of them”.

Thousands, eh? Was she talking about 100,000? 200,000, 500,000? Perhaps only 10,000? Let’s go with the conservative figure - just10,000 mistakes. That works out to 2,000 mistakes a year in the first 5 years of the Bush Administration. That’s 5.48 mistakes a day or one every 4.38 hours. And that’s only in Iraq. And only the ones she recongnizes.

She didn’t venture a guess about how many things they had done right. But it would be interesting to see what she thinks their batting average is. It would be even more interesting to see her before the House of Commons responding to questions like the Prime Minister has to do.

Even more interesting would be to see the members of the Bush Administration answer to the world's public and explain what their management objectives and performance standards had been. Thousands of mistakes might be the kindest appraisal of all. Has anyone seen Carl Sagan lately?

Cheney Hits Home.

The gang that couldn't shoot straight has struck again. Trigger happy Dick bagged a Texas lawyer, an overseer of the undertakers in the Lone Star State, appointed to the Texas taxpayers dole by Gov Bush, long long ago. Main question I have at this time is who is paying for the lawyer's medical care? It is the Cheney family or my family? Biggest casualty of the shoot out? Once again it is the American media - our sacred press. It now has a new fascination with something that is really not important while it ignores the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the screams of cartoon-led mullas in the Middle East, the crimes of Guantanamo and the sins of Katrina.

Muslims Humiliated?

That’s what some of their spokespeople are saying. They say they have been humiliated and embarrassed by cartoons published in Denmark last September, and further insulted by other newspapers in other countries publishing the same cartoons after Denmark was threatened because of the cartoons.
The subsequent publishing was intended as support by the other papers, not for that Denmark paper, but for the concept of Freedom of the Press. This freedom has a long and bloody history in the west where the press has often been engaged in battle with various kings, governments and powerful rulers, including great hierarchies from various churches. This freedom was not given but taken, it is not a gift of any government or religion but it is a right ripped out of the heart of several governments and religions. It is enforced only by other members of the press.
The original Danish publishing was the outgrowth of an attempt by a Danish writer to complete a children’s book on the Life of Muhammod. He was unable to get an ilustrator to draw the stories for his children’s book because they were afraid of being attacked. This created its own story which found its way into the newspapers, and eventually the question arose about publishing freedom. Then came the cartoons - 12 of them.
Some Muslim rulers said this publishing and republishing was an insult to the religion and to its prophet, Muhammod. Now great mobs of vandals have been ordered to form and take part in orchestrated rallies which are now resulting in out-of-control roits, beatings, burnings and even a killing or two.
Muslims say they were humiliated and embarrased by the cartoons, but the real cartoon of embarassment has been drawn by their own depiction of their religion and prophet.
Perhaps the greatest lesson those of us who share values of the Western Heritage can draw from this reaction is to realize there is a total lack of understanding on the part of many of the middle easterners of the concept of the individual as a soverign entity. Individual Rights are not comprehended outside of their family, tribe or religion. The story of the woman kidnapped in Iraq by one tribe for punishment to another tribe for some insult, then she was raped and returned home where her father and husband had to kill her to avenge the embarassment she had caused to their tribe is perhaps an indication of this lack of understanding. Her only status as an individual was within the framework of her family.
Unfortunately for Islam, and increasingly for Christianity too now, is that since they both have slammed themselves upon the world as new political forces, they must be prepared for the world to regard them in a new light. If a religion wants to be respected as a religion it must act like a religion. If it wishes to descend into the hurly-burly mess of politics, it must expect to be treated as a politician.

who Really was Martin Luther King Jr?

Martin Luther King Jr. has come to prominence again a couple of times lately. With the passing of some of his associates, his name and presence comes before us again. What was he really? He was really a miracle. It is easy to forget that Rosa Parks was arrested in a powerder-keg society smarmy with racial gasoline fumes seeping throughout the American country. Parts of the south, the midwest and certain large cities in California were assembled ready for explosion.
Would Rosa be the spark that would tear our country apart? Yes. But the fuse that she lit was Martin Luther King, Jr. He led that burning power to a different place and instead of hatred and self justification exploding upon America, peace and love exploded upon it instead.
So we often wonder what will Peace really look like when it finally arrives. Will it be hugs and kisses, warm and fuzzy feelings? I think Martin Luther King, Jr., introduced America to what Peace will really look like. Peace is work. It is hard work, suffering, patience, doing the right thing over and over again and again. Being pleased with small steps as long as they are in the right direction.

Validity #

For press pass until Jan 15, 2007, number is 73073272956

How I Became a “Good” Republican

How I Became a “Good” Republican
by John Womack

Is America still the land of opportunity? Yes it is! Here I am, a local boy without a party to call my own - but I still made good, and you can do it too! Maybe. Here is how I did it.

When Elizabeth Dole became Senator for our state, I called to talk with her. Like many important women she was hard to get. She didn’t answer the phone and neither did anyone else there. Finally, after about the third or fourth try I got some young staffers to answer. They didn’t seem to know what I was talking about though, and they said they didn’t know how Senator Dole felt about those issues either. I asked them to relay my messages to her and have her write and tell me what she was doing about those things. But I never heard from her.

I persisted in the calls; I e-mailed her too, even wrote some long-handed letters and mailed them to her. I told her I was her constituent and it was her duty to talk with me. Finally I did begin to get replies.

They were all identical. They said: “Thank you for contacting me. I appreciate your input and will consider carefully what you have said. If that issue ever comes to the Senate floor I will take your thoughts into consideration.”

Well! What I had been calling her about, and which she said she would keep in mind IF it ever came to the Senate floor, was the Iraq war, the prisons there and in Guantanamo, the U.S. economy, taxes, conservation, social security, and the “patriot” act, to name only a few. I knew all of those had been to the Senate floor, but I guess she had missed them. I knew she was new on the job, but anybody could do better that that!

So I called her staff now - not her - but her people. I told them they weren’t telling her what I had told them to pass along. I accused them of shielding her from her constituents. I emphasized that I didn’t want her to just blindly support Bush, I wanted congress to assert itself, not to just stumble along following his misguided and incompetent lead. And I wanted her to write and tell me what she thought about all of this.

Finally I began to get a new series of letters. These were each different in wording but they all had the same message: “Thanks for your support, we are helping the President” or “we’re all working together” or “we support President Bush in every way.” They went on: “President Bush is our leader, we support him all the way.” Finally they changed to the viewpoint that “President Bush is our Commander-In-Chief, and we are all behind him!” And they all thanked me for supporting our Commander-in-Chief too.

I couldn’t believe that - I was incensed. I wrote her back and told her that Bush might be the commander-in-chief of the military, but not of the U.S. Senate! I told her he was not the commander-in-chief of of the government, and certainly not the entire country!

I should have stopped there, but couldn’t. I told her the war in Iraq was wrong! I told her to bring our troops home now! I said that Social Security must be saved, to hell with privatization! I called for Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo to close now, pointing out that we are creating dungeons for captured U.S. troops far into the future. I told her that Bush is a loser, that he will be become known as the leader of the gang that couldn’t talk straight, the myopic idiot of American politics, the archetype of those who cannot see and never could see and never even wanted to see; the Mr. Magoo of the Oval Office. The man who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and when he lost it again and again and again, it was shoved up into a different part of his anatomy! Where he couldn’t find it! With both hands!
I figured that would get her attention. I hiked down our quarter-mile long gravel driveway to the hard road where our mail box stands on a post. I put the letter in and raised the red flag. I hiked back home.

Then I wondered if I had gone too far.  Could I get into trouble?

I decided to rethink the issue for a day or two and tone down the language so I went back down to the mail box to get it back out. But the mailman had come and gone. The hard road runs in an isolated part of the country. It comes around a sharp turn to our mail box then goes over a steep hill and that’s it. It was quiet and I had spoken my piece.

I wondered what the future would bring.

About five days later I got a very large brown envelope out of my mailbox. It was from Senator Dole. I was stunned. It’s a subpoena! I thought – I’ll have to go to Washington! Or is it a warrant for my arrest? Don’t they send those things to the sheriff? With a pounding heart and trembling hands, I tore the wrapping open and pulled out a very serious-looking document with a presidential seal on the top of it. It was a declaration.

“Be it known to all who bear witness, that the
Chair, by virtue of the authority
invested in the Executive Director of the
Republican Task Force, confers this warrant
of Platinum Membership to

JOHN H. WOMACK

A Republican Leader in the Franklin community and
steadfast supporter of President George W. Bush.”

It went on:

“Whereas, John H. Womack, is known to represent the
highest Republican ideals and principles; we have,
therefore, affixed the grand seal of the Republican
Presidential Task Force and affixed our names in
confirmation.”

It was signed by Senator Elizabeth Dole, chair, and Mark Stephens, Executive Director.

I screamed “Not ME!” My first thought was to burn it. “What if anybody sees this thing?” I clutched it under my shirt and looked around. The road was deserted. I’ll be ruined! OOOUGH!, I had made her mad, and she got me good!

I wondered if I could sue. I even thought about calling my attorney but he’s a republican. He would be envious. He would want me to get one for him. Accompanying literature pointed out that less than 1% of “good Republicans” would ever earn this award, and if I sent them $120 I would receive another "special honor".

Then, I thought I’ll pay the lousy $120 they want. I will become a full-fledged “Republican of Honor”. Then I can attend their meetings and scream them down, or maybe just sow some seeds of doubt. I can even accompany the President when he comes to visit Franklin or Otto or Nantahala.

I’ll send it back! I can tell them that I had been a republican but “I saw the light.” Or I can be real cool about it and tell them the recipient has “been moved”, and is no longer a Republican. I can get a stamp made, and stamp the envelope: “RECIPIENT EVOLVED”.

Maybe I can send THEM a bill for $120 – hey – why not add a couple of zeros to that figure – they might pay it! Money is different to these guys!

Then again, I can save the document secretly. Put it in a double envelope and hide it in my safe deposit box. If I ever do get subpoenaed, I can pull this thing out and slam it on the exhibit table in a dramatic swoop and stun all of Washington with “proof” that I was an undercover agent for the Republican High Command!

Finally I figured it’s just too much for me. I will have to sleep on it and see what comes out of all this tomorrow.

So, I have a political party again now – wasn’t the one I wanted, but life is often like that. I recall a wise man once told me “be careful of what you hate, you may draw it to you”.


©John Womack, 2005, All Rights Reserved.

The Nature of War

The Nature of War

More and more people are beginning to question whether the war in Iraq should continue. It seems to have developed problems peculiar to Iraq. Some people say the administration conducted it poorly. But maybe the real problem lies in the very nature of war itself. Maybe war always turns bad, and perhaps the reason this happens is because war just doesn’t work.

Military force may well be necessary for defense. And it does seem true that the best defense is a strong offense. Yet there also seems to be some invisible threshold beyond which wars begin to assume a life of their own and are no longer under the control of those who started them.

Wars develop a “patriotic sacredness” and become a nation’s holy mission. The nation must “stay the course,” even if that course has not yet been found. War grows to dominate whole economies, it makes religion avert its pious eyes, it drives politics, reshapes nations and totally destroys its own environment (which is really the economic base of the world).

War glorifies killing, it honors the wasting of innocent children. War encourages surreptitious torture, as long as it can be kept secret, and it too often turns its own citizens against each other. Maybe the real problem with war is not just the war we happen to be in at the moment, but the very nature of war itself.

War is uneven in its seizure and redistribution of a nation’s resources. It authorizes, even “requires” suspension of certain rights, regulations and laws. War always rewards a few already powerful people in certain industries and it punishes the nation’s poorest citizens who must fight in the war because they need a little money or education or any way at all to get out of the mess into which they were born. Too often they return after their duty to the same place they left, but now they are injured, sometimes damaged deeply in their souls. Too often they are abandoned after a patriotic pat on the back and a small pitch of money. Too many veterans soon find their way into the prisons they had gone to war to avoid, or they wander the streets, hiding from authorities.

War generates blame. It blames its leaders who always are proven to be wrong about important points that led into the war. War always blames the “intelligence” which was always wrong. Often it seems that intelligence was “wrong on purpose” such as the Gulf of Tonkin “attack”, or the Iraqi WMD. War makes a nation blame its allies who always fail to provide adequate support or who want too much in recompense for that support. One's native country becomes “friends” with strange nations, and it offends many of its old friends. It even blames the enemies who never fight “fairly”, especially after you invade their country and destroy their women and children and their homeland. Sometimes they provide “unwarranted” insurrection and even call for terrorists to come help them fight the invad So maybe the real problem with the war in Iraq is not really Iraq, perhaps not even the administration, maybe it is the very nature of war itself.

Can we do anything? Of course we can. I have some ideas, and so do you, but the purpose of this letter is simply to frame the following proposition: That war in its very nature is evil, it cannot bring forth good results and it will always corrupt all that it encounters - therefore we must solve our problems in another way.

John Womack

Letter to Congressman Taylor

Congressman Taylor (rep from the district I live in) wrote an article in the Franklin Press about how we should all not question President Bush, but back and support him and praising him for doing such a good job during the hurricane. Then he went on to write about how much of a problem immigration was, and how we all certainly could agree that we certainly needed a fence across the southern US - and certainly this and certainly that. Also he praised the "minuteman" thing that is patrolling the border between US and Mexico, and now Canada. At the bottom, the letter had a place where people could cut out the article and sign it and mail it to him so he could forward it to the White House. I tried to ignore the letter - and did - for a day. Then I wrote a response. I sent it to the paper and also printed it out and actually mailed it in an old-fashioned envelope and stamp to the congressman.



A Letter to Congressman Taylor


This is a reply to your letter to President Bush, published in the Franklin Press, November 8, 2005.
You began by thanking President Bush for his “leadership in handling the recent hurricane relief”. Could you please explain for me what he did that you admired, so I will know what I missed? Which actions of his would you be likely to do yourself if a great natural disaster struck western North Carolina?
Would you remain on vacation for two more days? Would you then fly to another state to raise money for them? Would you fly “low” over the area before returning to Washington to get back to work?
If the local authorities request federal help, would you return their request and just tell them the form was filled out improperly, try it again?
Would you herd the low-income residents who could not get out of the damaged area to the Western Carolina University auditorium say, and keep them there, surrounded with state troopers, so they could not leave? Would you appoint someone who had been associated with horse racing, but never worked in disaster relief - but who was a friend of a friend of yours - to direct the entire operation?
Please let me know which leadership or management traits of President Bush you admire so much? What part of his planning did you admire? The keeping of 30% of the Louisiana National Guard troops in Iraq for such a long time? It was 18 months counting their 5 month training program. Was it the diversion of probably 80% of money approved for levee repair at New Orleans to Iraq? The firing, in 2002, of the Army Corps chief Parker for trying to build a flood control pump in the river?
What was it about the president’s organizing skills that impressed you? Seems to me that there was an amazing inability for almost everyone to communicate with anyone else. Same as in New York on September 11, 2001. Way back in Vietnam we had airborne communication aircraft that would orbit above the battlefield. Those planes carried electronic equipment which enabled all agencies below to talk with each other. The aircraft were there 24/7, year after year, and one aircraft would cover a diameter of almost 400 miles. That’s ancient technology now, what would you want to do if western North Carolina agencies couldn’t communicate during a disaster? Would you do nothing, like the president did? Maybe Swain or Macon county, or Robbinsville could hire one of these airplanes to do this work. Would that make more sense?
Was it his staffing brilliance that you would copy? Have you studied the art of “Croneyship” thoroughly? Have you practiced by appointing enough incompetent friends to work for you in your own office? You probably liked the part when he said “Good job, Brownie - you’re doing a heck of a job”. Did you feel that you could have earned such praise?
You mention the president showed “sensitivity” to the needs of the people in the region. Yes, we saw some of that, particularly when he was talking about Trent Lott’s old porch that used to be on the beach.
Then your letter shifted to suggest a “plan” for protecting the nation’s borders. Your repeated use of the word “certain” was certainly remarkable. That certainly seemed to imply that the nation was certainly united about the issue, and the only hope was to erect a certain “cactus curtain” across the Mexico-US border. Did I miss the national discussion that certainly must have preceded your decision? Where did you study border control? I don’t recall any suggestions for problems this wall might create, or its cost of upkeep, or which companies would make a lot of money from building and maintaining all that, or even any analysis of other alternatives.
As far as the “Minuteman” operation is concerned, don’t you think that it really seems to cry out for a certain type of leadership? Like that already available through Halliburton, Titan, Blackwater and other private police/military organizations, all run by administration leaders like Cheney and Woolsey, and who have already earned their battle stripes in places like Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and perhaps other places in eastern Europe or the middle East? That would also be another step toward “privatization”, and you always say that government is THE problem. It would be also another step toward blurring the distinctions between lynch mob and authority, “company private” and classified material, and between profit and responsibility.
And speaking of responsibility, you say that the president’s leadership should not be questioned. That seems a proper stance for a servant toward his master, or of a baron toward his king. But Benjamin Franklin suggested that the proper role for a free citizen toward his or her elected officials should be one of constant monitoring and continual questioning.
Although it is not included in the constitution, the right to make mistakes is certainly a God-given right, but IF “mistakes” become “made on purpose”, or with “intent to deceive”, or for the purpose of private gain, then we are not talking about error, we are talking about treason. And the only sure guard against treason by elected officials in high places is the citizen who questions those officials. This is the heart and soul of good citizenship, and that citizen who holds his and her officials responsible, and who questions their actions every minute is the true Minuteman.

Respectfully - and watchfully,

John Womack

The New Immigrants.

BernalMug
Originally uploaded by Pretty Penny.

Eduardo Bernal, the Catholic Hispanic Ministry coordinator for Smoky Mountain Vicariate and the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte, spoke to the Franklin Voices for Peace Wednesday night at the Macon County Public Library. The meeting was hosted by Grace and Don Washington, and 13 people attended. The presentation lasted from 7:00 p.m. until 9:15 p.m.
Bernal began by pointing out US Census Bureau figures showing the Hispanic population in Macon County has increased by 400% in the past decade, and by almost 800% in some other counties in North Carolina. The Pew Hispanic Center writes that: "The undocumented population of the United States now numbers nearly 11 million people, including more than 6 million Mexicans. State-level data shows that Arizona and North Carolina now rank among the states with the largest populations of unauthorized migrants. "
Most of these immigrants are Mexican who have come here to make money they can send back home. Some of them may have children or a brother or sister they want to put through school. Others want to help their mother be able to buy a home. "They may earn $300 a month and send back $150, or $200."  Bernal says most of them have a basic dream that they live for, and that it is simply to marry and raise a family. They are accustomed to hard work - they expect it - and also expect to work without complaining. Only the poor Mexicans come north, "the rich ones go to Europe."
Not all the Hispanics who come here are Mexicans. Most Anglos can't tell the difference between various Hispanics, but the Hispanics know immediately . Many of those coming from Central and South America are better educated than the Mexicans who come north, and many of the former come to avoid political persecution at home.
The problems Hispanics face in North Carolina include language difficulties. Almost all are literate in their own language but find living in English a challenge. Authorities are another problem. There is a distrust of police because in their past experience police have often been corrupt. The first question a Mexican policeman asks a person they have stopped Bernal says, is "Who is your father?" If you father is well known or has political power, you are on your way again; if not, you will be provided a ticket, which if taken along with an offer of money from you, might result in the officer taking your money along with the ticket back, and you can go on your way. If they try this in America it has different results. They also want to hide from the police anyway if they are undocumented. Many provide different names to different people they meet. They may be known as Carlos where they work, Juan with one group of their friends, and they may be known other places by yet other names. Many of the immigrants learn how to "not exactly lie" but "to speak around the actual facts" because the "truth" is often not kind to them here.
The place they feel most at home while they are in America is the church. Most of them are not only Catholic but come from a completely Catholic community. They don't even think to ask for a Catholic church when they get here, and sometimes go to the first church they find, assuming it is Catholic. They don't speak English well of course, and expect every thing here to be different from Mexico. It may take them a while to find their error - at least in some churches - Bernal speaks of the possibility of going to the "wrong" church - a Lutheran church say, or an Episcopal church - for as long as a year before finding out, "by then, you have made friends and contacts, become part of a new community, and been accepted by a new denomination."
Coming here is not easy. The trip is hard and sometimes dangerous. It takes a lot longer than most immigrants think it will and it may be very expensive. Up to 2,000 die each year attempting the journey. Most who get here don't last more than a few months before returning. The first year is the hardest. "You are here, your body is here, but your mind is not - you mind is still at home." Bernal says that many of those who come here, come seeking a lie. "They think they are coming to a movie, which is what they know about America. What they find is a new reality. They have to learn to adjust."

©John Womack, 2005
http://home.earthlink.net/~pathways.

What does the Death Penalty really kill?

The United States is one of a small contingent of countries that still provide for execution. Most of the others are struggling to rise to the level of third-world status.

Even though the American death penalty is metered out largely to minorities, and exclusively to poor people, we have shown compassion on these wretched ones by "improving" how we kill them. Now it is generally an injection of a cocktail of drugs that peacefully (we are told) puts our prisoner to sleep wherein he (sometimes she) then dies. Some medical personnel think that only appears "peaceful" to the witnesses; to the dying one it is an agony to be suffered in a drug-paralyzed body. Who really knows?

A group of undergraduate students in Illinois did some pretty basic journalistic research and found several people on death row waiting to be put to “sleep” were actually innocent and a number of them were subsequently found to be innocent, and some were even released from prison as a result! That was a “wake up” for everybody.

What about those like Timothy McVeigh? He confessed freely. He did it. There seems to be no doubt of any degree. If anyone would deserve to be killed, it would be one such as he, or Charles Manson, or others we can all name. But even in those cases, what about those who commit the act of execution or "official killing"? And it is not just one person. There are prison workers who “care” for the one to be put to death during the last days of his life, there are clergy involved, there are technicians, doctors, reporters, witnesses, and even people who just live in the community in which it all takes place.

There cannot be a system to put just one person to death; it must be a system designed to operate in an ongoing manner. There will have to be continual purchases of expensive equipment, maintenance, testing and repair of all that. Personnel will have to be hired and trained, budgets will require additional funds, and that funding will need to increase from year to year. Performance standards and program measures will be developed and implemented; position descriptions will be build around all that, resumes will be solicited and received and evaluated. People will apply for jobs to kill. There will grow "justifications for death, and a “need” to kill prisoners will assume an importance, and will bureaucratically compete at some level with the “need” for justice.

Many of the people who play seemingly distant roles in in the process have found that they have become connected with those who are executed at a very deep place within their spiritual being. Some of them stated in a National Public Radio program that was aired in May, 2001, that these connections seem permanent and do not go away or fade. More than a few have found that they have slowly entered into a post-traumatic stress syndrome type of life that has proven to be irreversible. Some of the countries which have abandoned the death penalty have said that they did so not because of what it did to the prisoners but because of what they found it did to them as a nation and as a people.

Then there is the issue of “promotion”. History often turns on stories of people who have been put to death for following their own conviction, whether inspired by glory or evil. No one can become a martyr without being killed by his enemies. Whenever any person like McVeigh is put to death, then their cause can become “promoted” to a more worthy cause – a cause more important than life itself. Not for everyone, but some people will always come to see the one who is killed by the state as a noble prophet. Throughout history, the very act of execution has “freed” many people from a prison to play a greater role in the future. Just more of the seeds of death.

The Invrionment

Everybody knows the Environment is in trouble and that it needs help. Of course we all help now-and- then, and will continue to do more in the future. We will pitch in when we have enough money to give, or when we have time to spare and we will contribute somehow if things continue to get worse, and so on and so forth.
Webster defines the Environment as “that by which one is surrounded”. While that emphasizes how important it is to all of us, it is also implies the Environment is something which is “out there”. To play a philosopher’s game of words, we could say the Environment is therefore “not-us”, i.e. by definition it is something other THAN us. Thus the Environment becomes a little bit like some old friends who are having problems - we are concerned, of course we are, and we really do feel sorry for them. We will keep them on our mind and perhaps even pray for them. Meanwhile we have to deal with our own problems.
But aren’t we missing something when we then eat food that was “out there” and digest it in our own insides? Or when we drink water from “out there” and use it to refresh and clean the insides of our bodies? Or when we breathe in air from “out there” and mix it with our own oxygen and blood, and pulse all of that deeply inside of us? Isn’t it strange how that which is “out there” keeps coming “in here”? The Environment (En-VIR-oment) keeps becoming our own Invironment (IN-vir-oment), and that’s becoming scary.
The Environment in the Smoky Mountains has become polluted with fine particulate dust and mercury emissions from nearby power plants. We are now finding our Invironments have also become polluted with those same particles and emissions, they are hung up in our lungs and they float through our blood.
The National Academy of Sciences tells us that lead used in paint and other places has become part of the Invironment of many of our children, especially those living in lower income homes, and it has gone deeply inside the brain cells of these children and it inclines them to a lifetime of violence. The Environment of our children has become the Invironment of our society.
An even more recent study indicates that methyl mercury is readily absorbed when ingested, then easily crosses the placenta and blood-brain barriers, and appears to create adverse effects on children while in the womb, and affect their ability to learn language, develop memory and attention skills, and these problems will last their entire life. The degree of affliction is directly related to the amount of mercury their mothers were exposed to during pregnancy. Autism has been found to increase in a predictable rates as mercury in the Environment increases. Mercury comes from eating fish, also in many places from breathing air. Too many American children are now born with permanent brain and nervous system damage due to mercury pollution. Our Environment begins to reach deeper and deeper into our being, no longer just personally but now collectively too, reaching in unknown ways into our posterity. Our government has promised to begin reducing mercury emissions in fifteen years.
All production requires purchasing of raw material from someone else, the labor of processing it and then distributing the product. Material and production costs are subtracted from revenues and the remainder is called "profit". Part of the raw material used in most production processes is clean air and fresh water that is also needed by the citizens of our land who also need that same raw material for their own life. But when many of our citizens receive their air and water it is already seriously damanged. When any business entity takes a resource, uses it and returned it damaged, they have not covered all of their costs of production. The profits they claim are therefore not valid. You rent a car, return it damaged, you will pay for the damage, maybe buy a new car. If a business refuses to pay their labor costs, or their suppliers, they will be sued and incur even greater costs.
Great corporations say they can reduce the pollution they have created but that would cost them more money, that would be passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices. They present the problem/solution as being not really an issue to them, they are just trying to save us money. That seems to imply the problem is our fault, and they are just doing what we want!
But by absorbing the pollution from their production process we are also absorbing some of their costs of production that they did not pay but have taken as “profit” and already dispersed it to their shareholders and officers. Does it actually make no difference to them? not really. If they do pay the real costs of production, a true picture would be available to everyone, not hidden as it is today. While prices would rise for consumers, the profits would also shrink for the shareholders and corporate officers. This would reduce the capital available to the company because shareholders would move to other investments, while many mutual funds would automatically and instantaneously switch through computer programming procedures.
The rising prices would hurt the consumer, of course, but since it would also give a true picture of the costs of our current forms of production it would also encourage conservation among consumers and help them transfer to other forms of production - hybrids in automobiles, solar and wind in electrical, etc. These options are currently repressed because of the high relative price of purchasing them. The market system, so widely endorsed by conservatives, would at last be free to operate on its own in this market, and consumers would finally be able to make wise choices.
Meanwhile, there should be a corresponding decrease in illness costs for the consumers. This would be good for them, but would create a serious problem for the economy because it would significantly reduce money spent for medical care, insurance, pharmaceutical products and the criminal justice system. The costs to respond to the pollution of the Invironment is always much higher than the cost to clean up the Envirionment. So it's complicated - what do you think?
©John Womack, 2005, All Rights Reserved.

The Problem With Religion . . .

. . .is that God, in Her great wisdom, has not yet spoken clearly to the multitude. Not in English at least, nor in Arabic, nor in Yiddish or Aramaic or Italian or Spanish or Batu-batu. Not even in French for God’s sake.

And when God has spoken it has been in secret, to priests, rabbis, Imams, shamans, roshis, itinerant preachers and other assorted receivers of the True Word, all of whom have been afflicted with the identical learning disability associated with being masculine.

God, however, has clearly and truly revealed Her intention to a few special prophets. Most people agree on the first five or six or seven or so, like Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed. But it doesn’t end there - there are always other men who have been "chosen by God" such as Jonathan Edwards, Cotton Mather, Jim Jones and David Koresch, and it even gets worse. Of course not everybody would agree on the validity of all those “prophets”, but therein lies part of the problem with religion.

Even when we have winnowed down the lengthy list of potential prophets, we still are left with a few important questions, like should the sabbath be honored on Friday, Saturday or Sunday? To what tribe does the land surrounding Jerusalem really belong? Should a man cut his beard? How should a man treat his women - also, one wife only or can (should?) he have more? Only one God for that matter or more? Genesis indicates there were several, or that God was at least plural.

Well, never mind. God has provided that His/Her/Their word be truly recorded in language so that all people can have it available as a “Law” for posterity, to guide their actions and thoughts. Once the Law has been established, then it is THERE - for all eternity - no need for any more laws, ever. Therefore, no need for legislatures, we can do away with all that wrangling and bickering, and finally get rid of elected representives and democratic dialog - no need for any more elections either. All the Laws ever needed have already been “passed”. Humanity will now need only judges and police.

The Law will be available to all people at all times. The Ten Commandments will be especially available - all thirteen of them will be posted in all public places. The rest of the Law (fine print) can be read in the Upanishads, Bagavad Gita, Rig Veda, Zend Avesta, the Torah, the Book of Tao, Talmud, Books of Cuang Tzu and Laotse, the Qur’an, the Tao te ching, and the Holy Bible. Doesn’t matter which book you read. They’re all the same - the Judges will explain later.

Doesn’t matter which bible you read either: the King James Version, the Douay, Revised Standard Edition, the New Jerusalem Bible, the New English Edition, the Apocrypha, or the ASV, BBE, BWE, CET, CEV, DKJV, TEV, the Darby Translation, or the Book of Mormon. Well, that’s just to name a few. There are at least another 53 listed on just one site on the web. But it just doesn’t matter, they’re all the same - God would not let Her people be misled. They are all really the same. But don’t try to read them all, that would be confusing. You just have to Believe - the Judges will expalin all that.

These judges will really be busy. And they will need to get right with God, too. No more screwing around like in the past. No more sanhedrins, colonialism, inquisitions, crusades, Salem witchcraft trials, slavery, segregation, and genocide against native people - like American Indians - all of which were (and still are) done in the Name of and for the Glory of God. As far as homosexuality is concerned, that too is a no- no, well - there’s supposed to something about it in there somewhere, no need to try to find it the Judges will take care of that. Female discrimination is different though, that’s OK, the Bible says so.

It is going to require a lot of judges, police and jails ( religious remediating schools). There will have to be substantial hierarchy involved here. The only thing that will handle all that will be a worldwide return to the feudal system. Then we can have a Lord who will run everything. The Lord can finally tell us which book to read and which parts of it to honor, and how to follow all that and how to live on the "Right Side of God". The Lord can appoint a coterie of wise men who will work and act in the name of the Lord. The Lord’s will will finally be done. And it will all be Catholic too. All who protest will be shot - about time! And no more Sunni, Sh**te nonsense either - that will stop! No time for Orthodoxology and certainly no need for Reform - ever! Evolution will be banished both as theory and as a fact. Nothing will ever evolve again. Anyone caught evolving will be burned at a stake! The ban on evolution will evolve to include all learning except for religion and technology. The lion will quit eating all those lambs, and they will just lie down together - never to get up again.

But the real problem with religion is that it usurps the presence of Spirit and turns mystery into laws, glory into mere gold, wonder into mindless creeds, realization into servitude, and tells you that you are a sinful lump of clay instead of a beautiful being of light.

©John Womack, 2005. All Rights Reserved.

Synanim - Peace not Povetry

Participated in the Peace not Povetry Synanim today. A little bit like a two-hour essay exam in college. It was fun, and also frustrating. I didn't know who my group members were and they didn't know me, but there were 6 of us and they all rated me as number 4. That was OK with me. They wanted to resolve the war in Iraq by withdrawing all troops in 30 days and sending in the Peace Corps. They wanted to impeach Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and several others - not that I totally disagree with any of that but I really didn't see that fitting into any kind of a practical way to try to bring the war to an end. This was all done under some serious time restraints - you had to think fast and type fast. Here is my final post:

Ask for a public debate throughout the world. Emphasize that this is not just the end of the war in Iraq but hopefully THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF ALL WARS. Invite UN help. Ask the UN to set up a schedule of public events, to discuss how the war began, what went wrong, and what can be done now. Focus on the outcome.
Bring in people who have had experience working in this type of work before. Bring in some of the people who have benefited from this work, such as places in Africa, the Balkans, and South America.
The Carter Center in Atlanta has many resources that can help, they have access to many people who have done this type of work before, mostly in smaller places. There are other similar organizations - invite all of them to prepare a presentation of suggestions. Ask them to take part in a forum at the UN.
Invite past Noble Prize winners to speak to the subject at the UN.
The United States could ask the Security Council for their suggestions, then open that debate to the entire UN,
Invite neighboring nations (to Iraq) to help.
Some of them can help quietly and in the background. Perhaps they can send "peace troops" in who understand complexities of Iraqs language, religion and mores. They can help curtail terrorists by dealing with them in their homeland.
Israel needs to "understand" that it is part of this problem too, and part of the solution depends upon them restraining their actions and words.
Work with Iraqis to solicit information on peace.
Ask Kurds, Sunnis, Shiites, to work separately, then come together and catagorize their problems and desires. Find mutual ground, and irresolvable differences. Then speak about those, perhaps at a UN forum. Again get professional help in working with them - again the Carter Center comes to mind.
Work with opposition parties in US. What are the good suggestions, what do they see as the problems and the causes of those problems. What do they see as opportunities.
That might be a little like this experience we are taking place in right now. Ask for discussions among the small towns throughout the world. There is a lot of wisdom there.
Check with Old Europe - they have had a lot of practice lately with this kind of thing. They have found that all of their wars have not accomplished much except destruction and reconstruction.
Admit our own errors publicly. Apologize. Work to create a Peace Agency in our own government.

Is Wal-Mart Really to Blame?

Is Wal-Mart Really to Blame?

WARNING - this article contains graphic and explicit language which may not be suitable for those who are not mature enough to think for themselves.

Well of course Wal-Mart is to blame - everybody knows that! They have gone around the globe to find the lowest prices for their consumers and they have brought variety and economy to their stores. As a result, the American public has flocked to them as if grateful for a chance to get rid of all of that nasty money.

In a sense Wal-Mart is only a continuation of the Silk Road traders, those camel caravans that crossed mankind's’ first “seas”, the great Asian and Middle Eastern deserts. They were followed by sailing fleets that traded Oriental goods and European goods. In the 1400’s Mercantilism developed out of the same process and rendered the value of everything into monetary worth and led to the development of colonialism, slavery, share cropping, the company store, and coal-miners’-daughters.

We now see the same concept moving into the construction industry. As the cost of private homes here in Franklin, NC rises from $120 through $200 a square foot, new alternatives begin to creep out onto the market stage. Besides doublewides, this market now includes manufactured homes, modular homes, and stick-builts which are produced at factories and assembled with labor brought in from outside the area, some of which comes from Mexico. Who is at fault here? The local contractors who charge $150 a square foot, or the new factory-contractors with their $80 a square foot price tag?

We want to support our local folks, of course. But - at $150 a sqft, a 1500 sqft home costs $225,000; the new guys will do that same home for $120,000. Or, that $225,000 you would pay for a locally built 1500 sqft house would buy you a 2900 sqft house with the new guys! There is no decision to be made here. The question frames its own decision.
So who’s to blame? How could it be the local contractors? They are just trying to build a family business and support other hardworking Americans. Of course the outside guys who come in here are only providing supply for a demand that is clearly being expressed by the public - how can we hold them at fault? Could it possibly be the public, for being too Mercantilistic and valuing everything in the concept of dollars?

(WARNING: Here is where it gets graphic, folks. No one who is incapable of mature thinking should read any further!)

Maybe it is just a failure of the market economy. Read on.
What has happened is that the income gap has widened to the point of unsustainability. More and more employees are working for wages that will not support them, much less buy $200,000 homes. Meanwhile, those who have good jobs are making more and more money, and becoming fewer and fewer in number. Two groups, which have always existed in every society before, and probably always will, the “have-nots” and the “have-a-lots” have come to inherit the entire economy. In America, in the past, both of them occupied a much smaller part, separated by a large middle class which absorbed people from the “have-nots”, and fed a fewer number of their members into the “have-a-lots”.

But now the American middle class is fading out of existence. It is becoming another of the endangered species. A great economic extinction is already in progress: corner groceries, hardware stores, neighborhood book sellers, along with cafés, butchers, ice cream parlors, hamburger grills, city newsstands, bakeries, locally owned florists, newspapers, radio stations, funeral parlors, banks, real estate offices and endless groups of others including mom & pop diners and restaurants, small industries, family farms and small fishing fleets, all these have been replaced by corporate capitalistic enterprises. Now it is the middle class.

The construction dilemma is similar to a Wal-Mart moving in to a small town. It is reminiscent of the arrival of MacDonalds’ chains. The local guys can’t compete for the public’s money at the prices these great corporations bring in to the community. Neither can the local farmers, they eventually have to sell out - usually at rock bottom prices to the same factory farm that has driven them out of business. They were middle-class but now are “have-nots”, and may even work for the “have-a-lots” who now have even more than they did before.

Why didn’t this happen in the past? Actually it did happen many times in the 18th and 19th century. Booms, busts and “panics” ran through a rapid succession of inflations and recessions, even depressions, until the late 1920’s when the Great Depression fastened itself upon the world. From there most governments around the world began to assert themselves over businesses and not just demand change, but dictated a new way of life to them. For the next 70 years, government regulated much of business, at least Big Business. Goods and services were provided in an increasing amount and the people who provided them made enough money in wages to buy the things they produced. A middle class developed and grew, and with it came a measure of predictability and security. As that middle class began to disperse, it was replaced by a new entity which masked the demise of the middle class and “stretched” it. That new class was the Credit Class. As the middle class was being replaced by a debtor society, the effect was muted because middle class people were able to “hang on” by increasing their debt - “for a short time”. Now, as we enter what President Bush proudly calls the Ownership Society, most middle class people really don’t “own” anything except a constantly increasing debt. Now as their pensions are evaporating, they are falling into the have-not group, and looking for a job at the factory farm.

Codex Alimentarius

Emily Dale wrote in on the Blog (Congress Meets its Match) asking about Codex Alimenatrius - what did I know. I knew that it smacked of scare talk and was without substance. So today I thought I would follow that up. Here's what happened:

050330We1224. Called Congressman Taylor's office 202.225.6401. Talked with aide about Codex Alimentarius. He says he is familiar with issue and that it is very complicated. He agrees that as far as he knows, the Codex Alimentarius will go into effect in June, requiring the FDA to approve all vitamins and supplements, then a medical doctor will be required to examine a patient and prescribe supplements - if “necessary”, then the supplements will have to be purchased from pharmaceutical companies. He also said HB 1146 had been introduced this session, just before Easter recess, and if it passed the House, and was introduced in and passed the Senate, and was signed by the President, then it would “restore soverignty to the United States” concerning this matter. He said he had no idea how Congressman Taylor stood in relation to this issue, but that it was a “very complex issue”. My own experience in the past has been that when people in Washington say something is “very complicated”, that means that there are a lot of special interests involved.
050330We1238. Senator Dole’s Office 202.22426342, Was connected to a "specialist" - not in. got Voice Mail - left message with him including my phone number & email.
050330We1246. Senator Burr’s Office. 202-224-3154. Knew nothing about it. After I mentioned HB 1146, he checked it out and found out that it was introduced by Ron Paul (R) Texas, on March 8. HB 1146 is titled “End membership of United States in the United Nations” - in other words, the United States would withdraw from the UN.
Other information - there must be many more, but information is slow today.

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations_&_policies/Codex_Alimentarius/index.asp

http://www.fao.org/documents/show_cdr.asp?url_file=/docrep/w9114e/W9114e00.htm

http://www.sumeria.net/health/hpb-codex.html

"In October, 1996, Codex met in Bonn, Germany, to make radical changes in the rules governing dietary supplements for member nations. The proposals of greatest concern were those made by the German delegation ("Proposed Draft Guidelines for Dietary Supplements"), which is being sponsored by Hoechst, Bayer, and BASF.
The drug company backed proposals call for the following:
1. No vitamin, mineral, herb, etc., can be sold for prophylactic (preventative) or therapeutic reasons.
2. Natural remedies can be sold as food but they must not exceed the potency (dosage) levels set by the commission. This means that consumer access to dietary supplements will be limited to the RDA dosage as a maximum limit for vitamins (vitamin C - 60 mg, vitamin E - 15 mg, etc.). Supplements without an RDA (e.g. coenzyme Q10) would be illegal to sell because they would all become drugs.
3. Codex regulations for dietary supplements would become binding, eliminating the escape clause within the General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade (GATT) that allows a nation to set its own standards. This applies to all member countries of the U.N. Any nation that does not accept and apply these new standards will be heavily fined by the World Trade Organization (WTO), creating the potential for crippling entire sectors of the nation's economy.
4. All new supplements would be banned unless they went through the Codex approval process.
Five steps have already been taken in the Codex process over the past few years. Remember Canadian Bill C-7 which was passed eventually in Canada as C-8? The similarity of the process, the secrecy, and the wording between the Codex proposals and the Canadian laws is uncanny.
Voting in favour of adopting the German proposal has been overwhelming (16 for and 2 against in the most recent vote). The Codex process is now at "Step Five" - formalization and debate concerning the specific features. In two years, Codex could jump from step 5 to step 8 to finalize these restrictions. The Codex proposals already exist as law in Norway and Germany, where the entire health food industry has literally been taken over by the drug companies. In these countries, vitamin C above 200 mg is illegal as is vitamin E above 45 IU, Vitamin B1 over 2.4 mg and so on. Shering-Plough, the Norway pharmaceutical giant, now controls an echinacea tincture which is being sold there as an OTC drug at grossly inflated prices. The same is true of ginkgo and many other herbs. Only one government controlled pharmacy has the right to import supplements as medicines which they can sell to health food stores, convenience stores, or pharmacies.
I understand that step five has been completed and the process is now at step nine.

Late Winter Vigil

FVOP0503
Originally uploaded by Pretty Penny.

FVOP0503,
originally uploaded by Pretty Penny.
Franklin Voices for Peace conducted a vigil on Friday, March 18, 2005, at 5:30 p.m. in Franklin, NC. Standing across from the county courthouse, the group of 13 stood in a familiar pattern, spread out along the sidewalk facing evening traffic. What was different about this vigil was the significant increase in friendly waves, thumbs-up, horn honks, and even an occasional cheer from the passers-by. Something has definitely changed, maybe it is the length of the war, maybe it is a nation growing tired of lurching from crisis to crisis, perhaps it is just a positive reaction from people sensing that there IS the hope that things can actually get better. The vigil was covered by newspapers, and that is a change too. The Macon County News was there early and got a picture of the vigileers before most of them arrived but by then, the reporter was long gone. The Smoky Mountain News was here from Waynesville, too. Sarah Kucharski covered the entire vigil and spoke at length with each member who was at the vigil. Thanks for helping our part of the community get our message out to the rest of the community.
©John Womack, 2005.

Congress Meets Its Match (again)

We poor, normal, ordinary mortals who constitute the constituency of our government, daily watch our elected leaders wrestle with mighty and immortal problems. We impute to them great powers of skill, knowledge and understanding that we know we can never have for ourselves. We see them dealing with princes and principalities, nuclear weapons and trips to Mars, millions and billions of dollars, the economy and the military, and we stand in solemn awe and respect of their greatness. It is not until we see them grappling with events we can understand as human beings that we suddenly see how ordinary and lost they are. Such revelation occurred today - twice! We saw them bringing Schaivo and McGuire “before them” to wrestle with their problems. It was not a pretty sight. Schaivo and McGuire presented themselves as two badly brain-damaged people without memory of their past lives, who nonetheless easily demonstrated an ability to still out-maneuver all of congress in both wit and passion. Then they came to serve, each in their own way, and effect a respite for the Administration from the great peace rallies now under way, and also to give DeLay a chance to demonstrate that he really can seem to be a fine Christian gentleman
As far as McGuire is concened, all we can say is “Shame! Shame!” His message is that the steriods “are not important”. He said that if he claimed he did not use them that no one would believe him, and if he said he had used them he would be badgered by government. In other words the truth is just not important. It is not worth that effort to try to solve the problem. Besides he wants his impressive accomplishments to remain in the record books and not be removed - and he certainly dosen't want an asterisk! His message to kids of today is “don’t get caught”. He was telling them: "Only cheat when you have to, then evade when you have to do that; that's cool." How did congress react? They understood. He was speaking their language.
Schaivo’s problem demonstrates what can happen when politics and theology collide. Our founding fathers tried to separate the two not because it was a “goody-goody” thing to do but because the two great forces are mutually exclusive when they play in the same arena. They both need souls to thrive and they both play on the emotions of mankind. When they crash together, only one will remain to rule the survivors.
©John Womack, 2005

Veterans Day, 2004

November 11, 2004. The eleventh second of the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour on the eleventh day, was when the great war ended. That morning, at five a.m. the allied forces went on attack - never mind that they ALL knew the war would end in seven hours - the armistice had already been signed and everybody, including all of the soldiers who leaped over the trenches knew that. Yet the battles raged on until 11:00. During those last 6 hours of that war more than 10,000 troops were killed - more than were later lost in the D-day invasion of Normandy.
Monuments are erected to the great generals, they should all document the great stupidity of believing that war can ever do anything positive. But still, now 86 years and 16 American wars later, old American men with large American bellies, still stand once a year with large American tears in their eyes dreaming of the glory that once was them. This year the Franklin VFW hosted a picnic for Vietnam Veterans. Being a member of that group, not the VFW, but Vietnam Veterans, I grabbed my camcorder and headed down there. I found a lot of cars in the parking lot, but no people. I wandered around on a perfect day, clear blue sky, soft warm (65°) breezes, bright sunlight slanting across the green lawns. It was a perfect dayfor a picnic - even better for making pictures of an autumn picnic. I found out all the people were inside the building. I went inside and there indeed was a picnic. Tables sat under cigarette smoke so thick I had to leave. I am allergic to that gas, and it was so thick that I was even concerned about my camera. Went home, changed clothes and showered. no photos.
What a waste - what a perfect day to host the town to a picnic to honor the veterans of that great war that proved the foolishness of the “Domino Theory” which stated that if Vietnam fell, then Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Burma, Korea, Japan, Hawaii and California would also quickly follow. Some say those great wounds can never heal - but the truth of the matter is that the healing will come only after war is renounced and all those who lead their nations into war are punished as criminals to mankind.

© John Womack, 2006. All rights reserved,

Democratic Cannibalism: The Killing and Eating of Dr. Dean

Democratic Cannibalism:
The Killing and Eating of Dr. Dean

For the first time in recent memory, interest among great masses of dejected and depressed political melancholics was stirred and scratched, then struck again and again until a few sparks were clicked from mossy-covered rocks. A poorly prepared bed of dust, debris and other clutter caught some of the sparks and began to smolder. That smolder was exhaustively blown into a feeble flicker of flame, then carefully fed until it became a full-fledged roaring fire that melted the frozen reservoir of the Democratic National Party and brought that mass to a roiling boil, complete with a hissing head of steam! Dr. Dean is solely responsible for this remarkable feat, something the Democratic establishment could never manage on its own. And they are running around screaming FIRE! FIRE! and throwing buckets of water and sand on the stunned doctor. His democracy is not that of the Democratic Party, he doesn’t understand the needs of the party. Just who in the hell does he think he is? And where did all this riffraff who surround him come from - his hodge podge of dormant democrats, indolent independents, rebellious republicans and cute kids? Yech! Where are the union bosses, the financial funders, the tired old senators, those who have learned the trade, earned the rank, those concerned with the party pecking order?
Gore had gone, leaving Gephardt and Lieberman to inherit the party’s greatest honor. Iowa belonged to Gephardt, New Hampshire to Lieberman; after that the campaign would begin. But by the time Iowa cranked up, Dean was a heavy favorite in both states, and it looked like he would kill his only two rivals in the month of February. Gephardt knew he would lose and grabbed Dean and dragged him toward the mud pit; Dean willingly shoved him in, sliding in on top. Then a really strange thing happened. Lieberman, who did not even run in Iowa, came to take part in the Iowa debate! Immediately it became clear that he had come solely to destroy Dean. He attacked him about his having some governor’s records sealed, and went on and on again and again about that single issue. “That doesn’t satisfy me!” he retorted to Dean’s replies. Lilly white, he leaped into the pits. The result was not even a fair fight, Dean easily destroyed both of them and crawled out of the pit screaming. But he had fought and won the wrong fight and could never again be the candidate who would carry the flag of his party.
Meanwhile Clark smiled down on the democratic party, like a newly risen planet, featuring terms like “Electability” and “National Security.” Dean was being eaten away. Gephardt had eaten the labor vote for Dean. Edwards ate away the issue of jobs and morality while Dr. Dean was down in the pits, and Kerry was later seen to wipe his lips with a snow-white napkin and shout out into a crowd, “You have the power!” Lieberman was seen to steal away with something hanging heavy in a brown paper bag, but we never found out what it was. Best guess is he accidentally got Dean’s scream, but we’ll never know because Lieberman’s lips are sealed.
Well, there’s an old saying, “You are what you eat.” Maybe so. Maybe not, but the democrats were in no shape to take on George Bush, he would be way too powerful and mean and tough. But now, after having fought and killed and eaten Dr. Dean, it seems to be a new party, revitalized, redirected with new recruits and a new loud voice, not quite a scream, but a voice strong enough to make a great call to engage the enemy.
This campaign will be a battle for America’s soul, and may very possibly destroy the nation. A new civil war may well be beginning. We will need more than fighters; we must have women and men of vision, honor, integrity and endurance. The legacy of Dr. Dean may be one of America’s best, we may remember him as a “booster rocket” who lifted the country out of the heavy gravity of the lower atmosphere and single-handedly carried it to new heights. Where we will wind up though, will depend on what we do after this.

It’s not just the killing and eating of Howard Dean - there’s more. Think back a few years. In 1995 it was Pat Buchannan who tore apart Senator Dole in New Hampshire. The party immediately bolted to Dole’s aid, and destroyed Buchannan so Dole could claim the prize that he had “earned” through many long and tedious years of dutiful support of his party. Not once did any Republican question why anyone would even think of voting for Pat. Pat was not eaten, just left over on the right-hand side of the road. In 1999, again the Republicans had a similar problem, this time it was clear that Bush was the choice of the party fathers, yet McCain destroyed him in New Hampshire. Did the Republicans seek to find out why the voters of New Hampshire had rejected their pick? No, they simply banded together and destroyed McCain, party with innuendo about his wife and daughter, never clearly brought forward.
Once again here in 2004, it is made stunningly clear to those able to comprehend that the concept of the democratic dialog in America has been hijacked by two private corporations, the Democratic National Party and the Republican National Party. They are NOT our government, and should have no part in it, yet it is they who direct America; they control the land, its resources, its people and their work, their education and entertainment. It is they who choose where its young men and women will go forth to kill, they select what will come to be considered “important,” they decide who will be chosen to run for office, and which “unauthorized” candidates will be hounded, if at all possible, into submission and a sense of rejected shame.
In all three of these cases, there was a substantial portion of those who would be members of the party if only there were some changes. One might say that the large body politic had found a sickness. Medicine was refused, therapy was not received. Finally surgery was conducted and a transplant provided. Then the body rejected the transplant sensing it to be a foreign and alien object.
© John Womack, 2005, All Rights Reserved.

Abortion

Perhaps no other subject has ever so completely and deeply touched and penetrated so many facets of human life as has abortion. It brings with it implications that affect moral, religious, economic, social, ethical, political, legal, spiritual, emotional, medical, family, cultural, and educational values. It is a lightning rod that attracts cataclysmic sparks of destruction and creation from both the fundamental conservative bedrock and the cutting edge of liberal explorers.

Abortion is not really the problem it seems, though. Instead of being a problem in itself, it is really the symptom of a whole catalog of problems. If symptoms of any serious disease are treated and made to disappear, but the underlying disease, is not treated, the disease itself has only been fed. Simply making abortion illegal is an example of how to feed a disease or fan a fire.

There are those who see abortion as a problem caused by deviant judges, or activist judges, assisted by feminists. All this being in open disobedience to God’s clearly expressed will. They seem to feel that abortion can be ended by simply making it illegal. Abortion , however, will not end, it will continue; it will still take place as it always has. Not in hospitals or doctors’ offices, but surreptitiously by more dangerous, and illegal means and performed by law-breakers who are neither professionally trained nor legally responsible for their action.

The only way to control abortion is to eliminate its causes. 1) Discrimination against women. 2) Poor, or no health care for pregnant women and young children. 3) An education system that can neither control its students while in class nor prepare them for graduation. 4) Insufficient wages for low income workers. 5) Child care, including education, that is conducted by the lowest or lower paid members of the society, and 6) To prohibit the great corporations of America using sex to inundate pre- and early teens in a great over-culture of sexual "permissiveness", forget permissiveness, call it encouragement and enticement.

Whenever one sees action against abortion, it seems as if it is always led by the preachers, priests or immans, almost all of whom are male. No man has ever become pregnant, much less carried a child within his womb for even a day, much less to term, no male has ever labored in the birthing process or given birth. And while many men have nursed babies, none have ever suckled a child nor is one ever apt to. Many men do take wonderful care of their children and yet still the fact of life remains, that throughout the centuries and around the world, it is always the women who carry the cildren through famine, war, flood and other disasters.

It is easy to say that pregnancy is the result of having fun indulging in sex - that these "people" have to pay the price. All of these "people" though are women people. Many of them did not enjoy the sex act which impregnated them nor did they wish to take part in it. But once impregnated, they have to carry this child not just "to term" but they are responsible for it for the rest of their lives.

Yes abortion IS bad. It SHOULD never happen. Those who use it WILL feel its effects the rest of their lives. But the same is true of war. And we go to war whenever it is necessary. We honor "those who have fallen" for their country with great ceremonies and monuments. Why not ceremonies and monuments for those who were aborted so they would not be born into a country which did not want them and would not take care of them?  They also died for their country.