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Pastimes : Ask God -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Solon who wrote (37691)	6/13/2004 1:59:51 PM
From: haqihana	Respond to of 39621

Solon, For a pseudo-Christian zealot to even mention any comment about a person that is revered by millions, all over the Earth, and even his opponents in his political days, is just not acceptable by any decent person. Brian seems to think that he is above all others, and that he has been "elected" by God to oversee the actions, and thoughts, of all other human beings. I don't recall any Christian teaching that would condone such pomposity. That final sentence of his, so dripped of sarcasm, I am surprised you didn't really tear into him for that.

To: Solon who wrote (37691)	6/13/2004 3:18:47 PM
From: Jamey	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 39621

Maybe you have been reading the wrong "good" books! THE EVIL EMPIRE "The Reagan administration was complicit in cocaine smuggling and the resultant epidemic of crack babies and drive-by shootings in the poor, minority areas of large American cities. Also, the Reagan administration instigated and financed mass murder, torture, disappearances and horrendous repression against leftists around the world and then lied to the American people about it and conducted a cover-up of its activities. I don't believe an airport or freeway should have been named for Ronald Reagan. I despise the idea of a Reagan dime or seeing him on Mt. Rushmore. Instead, the money should be spent building a monument to the millions of his victims or in compensating the survivors of the atrocities." GOOD VS EVIL "Although the saga of good versus evil contained in the Lord of the Rings can be interpreted in various ways, I see the world at present in the throes of a gigantic struggle of good versus evil. George W. Bush, the US ruling class and the corporate media would like everyone to believe that this confrontation of good and evil is one of Western civilization versus Moslem fundamentalism or of the United States and its allies versus terrorism What can history teach us about the truth of these rationalizations for war? Western civilization as embodied in the learning of the Greeks and Romans was actually saved from destruction by the Moslems, while Europe descended into the Dark Ages. The people of the Middle East have had many great civilizations, while the Europeans were still barbarian tribes. This is not a clash of good, humane Western civilizations against evil, barbarous Moslem civilizations. The United States has dropped cluster bombs, Agent Orange and depleted uranium on the civilian populations of other nations, not only killing immediately, but killing and maiming far into future generations. This is not the hallmark of a humane, civilized nation. Neither is it a war of the United States and other countries against world terrorism. Terrorism is a tactic that has existed throughout history. The Russian revolutionaries used it against the Czar and his officials. A nation can't wage a war against a tactic. It is illogical. History does teach us that leaders of nations fabricate all sorts of excuses to deceive their people into going to war, usually for economic reasons. That is precisely what is happening now. These are false good against evil confrontation theories designed deliberately for propaganda and deception. I have an alternative good versus evil confrontation theory that I believe bears a closer resemblance to reality. The world today is in a struggle between capitalism and fascism on one hand and democracy and socialism on the other hand. A capitalist democracy is an oxymoron because great inequalities in wealth always lead to great inequalities in political power. Class warfare has existed all throughout history and for the past 500 years capitalist and mercantilist nations have militarily conquered and exploited the natural resources and labor power of the Third World. The United States is no exception to this history of capitalist exploitation. US corporations have been just as intent as the British East India Company in enriching themselves at the expense of Third World peoples. The reason the United States is in Afghanistan and Iraq has everything to do with oil and nothing to do with terrorism or a clash of civilizations. Returning to the Lord of the Rings saga, my opinion is that the real orcs are in the White House, State Department, Pentagon, CIA, the US ruling class and the corporate media. I know it may be difficult to view your favorite, smiling TV commentator as an orc, but try because these people are lying to you continuously, when the world is in a very dangerous and precarious situation. Of course, I have no trouble at all in visualizing George W. Bush as an orc. These politicians, capitalists, generals, CIA operatives and media personnel are your real enemies and not the Arab people or other Moslems. They want to create a fascist world where corporations dominate completely and more and more of the public wealth is siphoned up by these tyrannical structures called corporations. Less and less of the money in the federal budget will go to the human needs of the American people and much, much more will be spent on the military industrial complex and tax cuts for the rich. They will attempt to privatize Social Security and Medicare so corporations can get their hands on some of that money. Corporations will attempt to break unions and prevent the creation of new ones in nonunionized sections of the economy. They will reduce wages, benefits and transfer all the US jobs they are able to the very cheap labor markets of the Third World. They will launch an all out assault on the environment; the rain forests will largely be destroyed; global warming will worsen; many species will become extinct; pollution will increase, and humanity may face a catastrophic situation in terms of survival. At the very least, there will be a diminished quality of life. The global incidence of starvation, lack of access to clean water and epidemics of disease will accelerate. The Soviet Union and most of the socialist world have disappeared, so these capitalists no longer have to worry about creating a humane version of capitalism to compete with socialism. They can simply pull out all the stops and clamp down on the working class, maximizing their profits in any way possible. There will be many more wars for control of natural resources and inexpensive labor. If future generations aren't going to live in a nightmare world, fascism must be defeated, particularly in the only remaining superpower, the United States. In the movie version of the Lord of the Rings, Sam tells Frodo something important just after Frodo has nearly succumbed to the power of the ring. Sam says that in all the great tales that have been handed down from the past, people have always clung to one belief. That belief is that even in the darkest periods some good remains in the world and that good is worth fighting for. Sam is right. Good still remains in the world and is worth fighting for. Progressive people have fought before against the evils of slavery, feudalism and capitalism. Now the battle is against the most repressive form of capitalism called fascism. In the mythology of The Lord of the Rings the heroic battles were over the fate of a fictitious entity called Middle Earth. In reality the fight will be over the fate of the entire Earth." The Iconoclast 03/22/2004

To: Solon who wrote (37691)	6/13/2004 3:30:28 PM
From: Jamey	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 39621

US diplomats,urge voters to remove Bush! (AFP) WASHINGTON (AFP) - Former US diplomats and military leaders have written a letter strongly condemning President George W. Bush (news - web sites)'s foreign policy, arguing he has damaged US national security and urging Americans to vote against him, according to newspaper reports. The letter -- an unusually strident public critique signed by 26 former military and foreign service officials -- says Bush's policies have proved ineffective and left the United States isolated internationally, according to the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post. The signatories include officials appointed by presidents of both parties, who have served on every continent, including nations like Israel, the Soviet Union and Saudi Arabia. "We just felt things were so serious, that America's leadership role in the world has been attenuated to such a terrible degree by both the style and the substance of the administration's approach," William C. Harrop, ambassador to Israel under Bush's father, told the LA Times. "A lot of people felt the work they had done over their lifetime in trying to build a situation in which the United States was respected and could lead the rest of the world was now undermined by this administration -- by the arrogance, by the refusal to listen to others, the scorn for multilateral organizations," Harrop said. "It is clear that the statement calls for the defeat of the administration," Harrop said. The group, calling itself Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change, plans to release the letter Wednesday in Washington. The public criticism comes amid rising public skepticism about Bush's handling of the war in Iraq (news - web sites), and less than five months before the presidential election. Bush campaign officials declined to comment on the letter before its release. One top strategist from Bush's Republican party said he did not think the letter would cause much political fallout. "Their timing is a little off, particularly in the aftermath of the most recent UN resolution," the strategist told the paper, referring to last week's unanimous Security Council vote endorsing the handover of power in Iraq. Bush also came under attack last month from former diplomats, who faulted his endorsement of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites)'s controversial plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip (news - web sites). That group of 58 former US ambassadors and diplomats said Bush had cost the United States "credibility, prestige and friends" and "placed US diplomats, civilians and military doing their jobs overseas in an untenable and even dangerous position." story.news.yahoo.com