Saturday, April 26, 2003

Separation of Church and State I believe in everyone's right to worship as they see fit (or not). At the same time, I firmly believe in separation of church and state. I am listening to my president at this moment cite scripture while addressing an American journalist conference tonight. No more. No more god, buddha, allah, jehova, whom-the-fuck-ever in political speeches. I am not a part of a fundamentalist society ( on bended knee, praying to a pagan)... There is a reason for this. We (my country) is a vast conglomeration (not amalgamation) of people with varying beliefs. We all deserve respect - especially from he whom governs. Mr Bush, I actually admire your ability to hold onto your beliefs; however, do not dare to presume that those whom you rule (word was chosen carefully) share your viewpoint. There are some who do share that, of course. There are, of course, others who do not. Those of us who do not are still Americans (well, at least for now we are, till the next absolutely stupid regulation comes down... then I suppose I could move to Cuba and feel reasonably at home since they don't like dissidents either). Is this the direction Americans want America to go> comment []  permalink  posted by: jgh  10:13:18 PM

On a Related Note After the debacle at American Airlines, where top execs ensured their bonuses and parachutes while the drones gave up wages to keep the company afloat, CEO Don Carty has been ousted. He should have been, no matter how well or poorly he had done to that point. One should not expect sacrifices of others without willingly sacrifice himself. It's called principles, morals, compassion, humanity. But Carty is not alone. We have Enron, Worldcom, Halliburton... yes, I know Halliburton is not defunct... far from it with their latest rebuild Iraq contracts. Hmmm. Walter Shapiro, in USA Today, writes: "In recent decades, the nation's corporate leadership has lost any sense of what constitutes fair play. At some companies, workers are seemingly viewed as interchangeable parts that can be jettisoned at the slightest hint of a profit squeeze. But corporate executives apparently regard themselves as a mandarin class who are entitled to all the benefits of the free market with none of the risks. The question is, when do these glaring inequities emerge as a full-fledged political issue?" Perhaps now. Particularly when one considers "corporate personhood" and reads what General Smedley Butler had to say about war and corporations - even a long time ago. Mike Ferner, of the Programs on Corporations, Law, and Democracy quotes Butler: "'I helped make Mexico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested." Ferner continues, "Butler acknowledged that he'd spent most of his 33 years in the Marines as 'a high class muscle man for Big Business, Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.'" comment []  permalink  posted by: jgh  4:18:01 PM

Praying for George W A friend forwarded a wonderful read - full of intelligence and humor. It begins: "Let's get to the point. All sources are telling me that you are more than a little outta control. Way out of line. Off-leash and lost and drunk on dreams of global supremacy and in deep need of major karmic spanking, a divine colonic. The various world deities are shooting me urgent e-mails left and right. We gotta have some words, brother. Are you sitting down? Thinking cap on? Pretzels out of reach? Excellent. Word is you're reborn Christian. Great. Didn't quite get it right the first time, is what they say, what with all the inebriants and daddy's silver spoon and dodging Vietnam and, hey, nothing snags those God-fearin'-fundamentalist votes more than claiming you rediscovered Jesus while recovering from another gin bender on Dad's yacht, am I right? Fine and good. Whatever works, I always say. " Read it at SF Gate.com. comment []  permalink  posted by: jgh  11:10:15 AM

Where Is the News? I've been watching CNN for the last hour and a half. I've seen gold guns, gutted palaces, and the statue that toppled several times over now. I hear (again) of Saddam's "love nest." I wonder where Salam Pax is. I wonder whether the power has been restored. I wonder if the hospitals yet have the supplies they need. I wonder... I wonder why I don't know. Why don't we see interviews with or even pictures of Iraqi doctors scrubbing in dirty well water? Or hear of those dying slowly from gangrene infections, untreated for lack of supplies? Why are we no longer reminded "how far Baghdad is from being pacified 17 days after U.S. troops took the city?" Why is there no mention of Britain's Military of Defense offer to test soldiers to determine the level of depleted uranium in their blood because 'coalition' forces used depleted uranium shells (which by the way happens to be illegal if one believes in the UN)? Why do we sit idly by listening to Rumsfeld say the three boys (aged 13 - 16) held by us in Guantanamo Bay are "not children"? comment []  permalink  posted by: jgh  7:05:04 AM

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