Saturday, March 15, 2003

War or Peace? QUOTE OF THE WEEK "When Mr. Bush became Governor in 1995, the average number of executions per year was 7.6. Mr. Bush succeeded in quadrupling this to a magnificent 31.6 per year. He must have had the terrible chore of personally signing over 150 death warrants while he was Governor. I suppose the advantage of killing Iraqis is that you don't have to sign a piece of paper for every one of them. Just one quick scribble and - bingo! You can kill a hundred thousand and no questions asked! What's more, nobody is going to quibble about some of them being mentally retarded or juveniles, which is what happened to George W. Bush when he was Governor of Texas." - - Terry Jones (From THE BOTTOM LINE article below) SINGIN' LINK OF THE WEEK: http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/multimedia/bushblair_endlesslove.mov RHINO HERE: The women of Code Pink succeeded in surrounding The White House last weekend, having confirmed that shrub was inside. Here's a 1st hand account from an old friend of mine. "Before you heard it from the rumor circuit, I thought I'd tell you.  I was one of the 25 women arrested in front of the White House Saturday afternoon at the International Woman's day Code-Pink march. Code-Pink for compassion, patience and love.....instead of code-orange for fear and what ever. Authors Alice Walker, Maxine Hong-Kingston & Medea Benjamin as well as a reporter and camera woman from a TV station in San Francisco were also arrested. This took place after they called out the metro police helicopters & motor cycles, the park police, their mounties, some in riot gear, the swat team and even sharp shooters on the White House roof!  All for us!!!! We were hand cuffed for 4 1/2  hours and held in jail for about 6 hours. ...Can you imagine,   25 women from ages 16 to 80 singing "All we are Saying, is Give Peace a Chance"!! The big threat that we are!!... We all have to stand up for what we believe. I'm back home now, fine other than a few bruises from the hand cuffs being too tight!  Bush Whacked!! Love to you all,  Code Pink Granny Carol" ONGOING CODE PINK ACTIONS AT: http://www.codepink4peace.org/codepink.html More & Bigger Protests Coming Up Worldwide On 3/15, demonstrations in DC, San Francisco, Los Angeles & Miami. On 3/16, global candlelight vigils for peace. On 3/17, nonviolent direct action organized by United for Peace. On 3/19,  national call-in to Congress to oppose further tax cuts for the rich. On 3/22-24,  Veterans Against Iraq War present "Operation Dire Distress" -  teach-in & lobby in DC. If shrub launches his War, converge at the main gathering place in your city or town at 12 noon. FOR DETAILS ON ALL THESE ACTIONS GO TO: http://www.legitgov.org/action.html United for Peace Plans Nonviolent Direct Action Starting 3/17 United for Peace writes, "Millions around the world have said 'No!' to war on Iraq - and still Bush won't turn back. We have written letters, sent email, made phone calls, participated in delegations, rallied, marched, walked out - and still the Congress refuses to uphold their constitutional duty to decide on matters of war as representatives of the people. Resources for human needs are being cut, our rights are under attack, and our democracy is being betrayed. We have no choice but to RAISE THE BAR OF OUR RESISTANCE and rise up to the challenge of reclaiming our democracy and defending the promise of freedom from tyranny - including the greatest tyranny of all: WAR. We must take action to demand that our elected officials represent our interests and vote no to war. The time has come to bring the new voices of democracy to the Congress: if they won't uphold the Constitution and represent the people, WE WILL." http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=1330 How Kofi Annan Can Stop the War Earlier this week a  professor emeritus of political science at Adrian College in Michigan, Paul F. deLespinasse wrote an op/ed piece calling on concerned world citizens to urge UN Secretary General Kofi Ananto keep theinspectors in Iraq, thereby keeping the shrub gang from giving the go ahead for their "shock & awe" 3000 bombs in 48 hours plan. Join me in urging him by writing: The Hon. Kofi Annan,  United Nations Secretary-General Email:     sg@un.org      and/or      ecu@un.org Mr. deLespinasse's op/ed is posted at: http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0311-10.htm The Big Dick's On "Meet The Press" This Sunday shrub gang trivia of the week: Dick Cheney's still getting a million bucks a year from Halliburton. Rhino ponders, "Is that legal?" And Rhino wonders if Tim Russert will have the gumption to ask the big dick about all this... From - "Cheney is Still Paid by Pentagon Contractor" The Guardian, 3/12/03,  by Robert Bryce and Julian Borger ...Halliburton, the Texas company which has been awarded the Pentagon's contract to put out potential oil-field fires in Iraq and which is bidding for postwar construction contracts, is still making annual payments to its former chief executive, the vice-president Dick Cheney.  The payments, which appear on Mr Cheney's 2001 financial disclosure statement, are in the form of "deferred compensation" of up to $1m (£600,000) a year. http://truthout.org/docs_03/031403C.shtml From - "Blood Money" t r u t h o u t | Perspective, 2/27/03, By William Rivers Pitt ...It is well known by now that Dick Cheney, before becoming Vice President, served as chairman and chief executive of the Dallas-based petroleum corporation Halliburton. During his tenure, according to oil industry executives and United Nations records, Halliburton did a brisk $73 million in business with Saddam Hussein's Iraq. While working face-to-face with Hussein, Cheney and Halliburton were also moving into position to capitalize upon Hussein's removal from power. In October of 1995, the same month Cheney was made CEO of Halliburton, that company announced a deal that would put it first in line should war break out in Iraq. Their job: To take control of burning oil wells, put out the fires, and prepare them for service. http://truthout.org/docs_03/022803A.shtml THE BOTTOM LINE Terry Jones is most often remembered for his work on Monty Python, the influential British sixties comedy series which went on to create five films, many books, and several albums, and which changed the shape of comedy forever. He now writes for the UK Observer. In this article, he makes way too much sense to be considered comedy. 8:10:06 AM    comment

Mr Bush Goes For The Kill UK Observer, 3/9/03, by Terry Jones Mr. Bush is right, Saddam Hussein is a nasty man and nobody I know has the least objection to Mr. Bush killing him. It's just the way he proposes doing it that worries me. Dropping 3000 bombs in 48 hours on Baghdad is going to kill a lot of other people who, as far as I am aware, are not nasty at all. That's the bit of the 'moral' argument I don't follow. It's a bit like the police saying they know a murderer comes from the south of England so they are going to execute everybody in Epsom. Then again why does Mr. Bush need to drop 3000 bombs on Saddam Hussein? I would have thought one would have been enough to take him out, if he knows where Saddam is. And if he doesn't know where he is, what on earth is the moral justification for dropping any bombs at all? Doesn't Mr. Bush realize they are dangerous things and tend to kill people when they land? Or does Mr Bush simply enjoy the idea of taking out a lot of Iraqis? I appreciate Mr. Bush's argument that because Saddam Hussein has refused to take any notice of the UN, Mr. Bush should teach him a lesson by dropping a lot of bombs on him. But now he's telling us that if the UN won't give him permission to do it, he's jolly well going to drop a lot of bombs on Saddam anyway. In which case won't Mr. Bush be guilty of the same thing he's accusing Saddam Hussein of? Apparently not because, according to the President's advisers, if the United Nations won't give him permission to drop a lot of bombs on Saddam Hussein, it will have ceased to be a Responsible World Organization and therefore he doesn't need to take any notice of it. But doesn't the same thing go for Saddam Hussein? If the United Nations ceases to be a Responsible World Organization how can the fact that Saddam Hussein has refused to take any notice of it be something so evil that it justifies dropping bombs on the poor people living under his heel?... THE REST OF THE ARTICLE IS AT: http://www.observer.co.uk/worldview/story/0,11581,910024,00.html "RHINO'S BLOG" is the responsibility of Gary Rhine. (rhino@kifaru.com) Feedback, and requests to be added or deleted from the list are encouraged. SEARCH BLOG ARCHIVES / SURF RHINO'S LINKS, AT: http://www.rhinosblog.info RHINO'S OTHER WEB SITES: http://www.dreamcatchers.org (INDIGENOUS ASSISTANCE & INTERCULTURAL DIALOG) http://www.kifaru.com (NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONS VIDEO DOCUMENTARIES) Articles are reprinted under Fair Use Doctrine of international copyright law. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html All copyrights belong to original publisher. 7:47:09 AM    comment

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