Frank Rich | Suicide Is Not Painless
October 21, 2007 at 10:12 pm | In Politics | Leave a Comment
America has to date “spent twice as much in inflation-adjusted dollars to rebuild Iraq as it did to rebuild Japan — an industrialized country three times Iraq’s size, two of whose cities had been incinerated by atomic bombs.” (And still Iraq lacks reliable electric power.)
The cost cannot be measured only in lost opportunities, lives and money. There will be a long hangover of shame. Its essence was summed up by Col. Ted Westhusing, an Army scholar of military ethics who was an innocent witness to corruption, not a participant, when he died at age 44 of a gunshot wound to the head while working for Gen. David Petraeus training Iraqi security forces in Baghdad in 2005. He was at the time the highest-ranking officer to die in Iraq.
Colonel Westhusing’s death was ruled a suicide, though some believe he was murdered by contractors fearing a whistle-blower, according to T. Christian Miller, the Los Angeles Times reporter who documents the case in his book “Blood Money.” Either way, the angry four-page letter the officer left behind for General Petraeus and his other commander, Gen. Joseph Fil, is as much an epitaph for America’s engagement in Iraq as a suicide note.
”I cannot support a msn that leads to corruption, human rights abuse and liars,” Colonel Westhusing wrote, abbreviating the word mission. “I am sullied.”
Gail Collins | None Dare Call It Child Care
October 21, 2007 at 12:59 am | In Feminism, Politics, birth | Leave a Comment
”You have a work force that makes $8.78 an hour. They have no training. They have not been background checked, and we’ve put them in with children who don’t have the verbal skills to even tell somebody that they’re being treated badly,” said Linda Smith, the executive director of Naccrra. “What is wrong with a country that thinks that’s O.K.?”
We aren’t going to solve the problem during this presidential contest, but it is absolutely nuts that it isn’t a topic of discussion – or even election-year pandering. The Democratic candidates for president happily come together to tell organized labor about their unquenchable desire to have a union member as secretary of labor. The Republican candidates flock to assure the National Rifle Association about their dedication to Americans’ constitutional right to carry concealed weapons in churches. But you do not see anybody racing off to romance child care advocates.
The only candidate who talks about child care all the time is Chris Dodd of Connecticut. He has been the issue’s champion of the Senate forever. People who work in the field know he’s their guy, but it’s hard to see what good it does him out on the campaign trail. “They aren’t inclined to be the kind of people who engage in the political process,” he admitted. “They don’t have the money.”
This is Hillary Clinton’s Women’s Week. On Tuesday, she gave a major speech on working mothers in New Hampshire, with stories about her struggles when Chelsea was a baby, a grab-bag of Clintonian mini-ideas (encourage telecommuting, give awards to family-friendly businesses) and a middle-sized proposal to expand family leave. Yesterday, she was in the company of some adorable 2- and 3-year-olds, speaking out for a bill on child care workers that has little chance of passage and would make almost no difference even if it did. Clinton most certainly gets it, but she wasn’t prepared to get any closer to the problems of working parents than a plan to help them stay home from work.
At least she mentioned the subject.
Tools for Rehandling, axes and such
October 20, 2007 at 6:08 pm | In Reference and tools | Leave a Comment
Link to Tools for Rehandling, Handtools for Trail Work, MTDC Pubs
This was a good article with pictures, step by step for those of us who haven’t done it before.
Stark’s War Comments Enrage Republicans
October 19, 2007 at 8:42 pm | In Politics | 1 Commentmy hero!
“You don’t have money to fund the war or children,” Stark declared. “But you’re going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the President’s amusement.”
A White House spokesperson was not immediately available Thursday afternoon to respond to Stark’s comment.
A clip of Stark’s remarks was quickly posted to YouTube and e-mailed around by Republicans.
”Congressman Stark’s statement dishonors not only the commander in chief, but the thousands of courageous men and women of America’s armed forces who believe in their mission and are putting their lives on the line for our freedom and security,” said House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio. He called for Stark to retract his statement and apologize.
Instead of retraction or apology the statement Stark issued in response to Boehner just offered more criticism of the “chicken hawks in Congress who vote to deny children health care.” Stark did also express respect for the troops.
It was just the latest provocative comment from Stark. On one occasion in 2001 he and then then-Rep. J.C. Watts of Oklahoma had to be separated after Stark claimed all of Watts’ children were illegitimate. In fact only two of Watts’ six children had been born out of wedlock.
Earlier this year, Stark became the first member of Congress to publicly proclaim himself an atheist.
Paul Krugman | Conservatives Are Such Jokers
October 14, 2007 at 6:15 pm | In Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
If you identify with the downtrodden, even a little, you don’t belong. If you think ridicule is an appropriate response to other peoples’ woes, you fit right in.
And Republican disillusionment with Mr. Bush does not appear to signal any change in that regard. On the contrary, the leading candidates for the Republican nomination have gone out of their way to condemn “socialism,” which is G.O.P.-speak for any attempt to help the less fortunate.
So once again, if you’re poor or you’re sick or you don’t have health insurance, remember this: these people think your problems are funny.
Susan Feiner | Which Dem Has the Most Woman-Friendly Health Plan?
October 2, 2007 at 3:38 pm | In Feminism, Politics | Leave a Comment
So who’s got the most women-friendly health care plan?
Is it Hillary, Obama or Edwards?
Answer: none of the above.
Only Dennis Kucinich offers what women really need: single-payer, universal health care.
To the others I have one question: Why are you ignoring over 50 years of experience in our peer nations, which show that the public provision of health care delivers far better results at far lower costs?
The national disparities in women’s deaths between the United States and countries such as Canada, France and Germany are horrendous.
Source: Susan Feiner | Which Dem Has the Most Woman-Friendly Health Plan?
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