Troy Davis: A Plea for Clemency Denied
7 of the 9 witnesses against him recanted, saying that the police had convinced them to lie. The very man who identified Davis as the shooter later confessed to the shooting. The ballistics used at trial have been disproved. The shell casings found at the scene were never connected to Davis' gun. There was no other physical evidence to support his conviction.
Listen, I don't know that this guy is innocent, but when every single piece of evidence that convinced him has been called into doubt, we don't need to be executing him. A justice system that makes life or death decisions better be perfect, and this one clearly isn't.
It's not that I care more about Davis than the victim, it's just that if we execute an innocent man, we're the murderers. There's a good chance that that is going to happen.
Read the article CNN/Last-minute push to save Troy Davis is promised
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“To the Davis family (and the world),
As an attorney and volunteer for the ACLU of Georgia I apologize that we
failed you Troy. I am so saddened that the Georgia Board of Pardons and
Parole has denied you clemency.
Since your conviction in 1991, seven of the nine witnesses against you have recanted or contradicted
their testimony. There also have been questions about the physical
evidence linking you to the killing. If there is one inch of doubt then
the death penalty needs to be stopped. There have been many prisoners
put to death and only later they were found to be innocent and you Troy
will be one of those statistics.
Today the rain in Georgia is
symbolic of this decision. So many of us are crying in anger and shame
towards the state of Georgia. I am so very sorry, I feel like our
efforts failed you. Shame on the Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole, I
hope you are all able to live with your decision once this man has been
put to death.”
Read the article CNN/Last-minute push to save Troy Davis is promised
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Like Red said in Shawshank Redemption, everybody in prison is innocent.
Reminds me of the guy in Virginia who had all the ACLU lawyers, celebrities and others convinced he was innocent. He talked a good talk, had TV shows dedicated to helping him get off death row. After he was executed, they were all certain he was wrongly convicted and an innocent man had been put to death.
They pushed and pushed for DNA testing on the rape kit of the woman he raped and murdered, and guess what? He was GUILTY afterall. Everyone in prison claims they're innocent, it's just some of them are better actors than others.
Read the article CNN/Last-minute push to save Troy Davis is promised
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Jurors and witnesses that recant and change their opinion are just like buyers that change their mind 20 minutes after they buy something. Now after thinking about it and being pressured by the bleeding heart liberals,for 22 years, they say the police pressrued them. Which pressured testimony is more accurate.
This felon was tried, convicted, appealed and appealed and appealed and was still found to be guilty. The only reasonable doubt in my mind is why we are letting the court of public opinion to try to sway this verdict instead of obeying the legal court system that convicted him.
Read the article CNN/Last-minute push to save Troy Davis is promised
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I honestly do not understand and cannot reconcile how 5 UNELECTED members of th Ga State Board of Pardons and Paroles, whose names and identities are even protected and to my knowledge have never been printed in these reports, can have more power to decide whether a US citizen lives or dies than the Supreme Court.
I ask the Times to please publish the names of the Board members so that they can be held publicly accountable for this State-sanctioned murder. I also do not understand how people who say they are opposed to goverent's right to tax, regulate, and manage care for the poor endorse a government's power to execute its own citizens,especially those whose guilt has not been proven "ironclad."
Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/
Georgia Pardons Board Denies Clemency for Death Row Inmate
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I am also an attorney, and have tried quite a few jury trials in 30 years, both as a public defender (in Georgia's neighbor, South Carolina) and then as a defense attorney in a civil practice
. I know how how juries take shape, how trials take shape, and how many variables there are in getting from point A to point Z, the latter being enforcement of judgment. I know that transcripts usually don't reflect when a juror is sleeping or when a lawyer or judge is daydreaming. I know that there's no way to review objectively what goes on during jury deliberations, notwithstanding instructions from the court about proper deliberative conduct.
I know that pro bono lawyers from large corporate firms are often young associates who always have more zeal than trial experience. I know that judges at all levels of review are just as human as the rest of us, and weigh information not only according to precedent but also according to their own worldviews.
In short, I know firsthand that, while our legal system may be better than most others, it's still frighteningly fallible. Leaving aside the moral questions, the fallibility of the system is reason enough to abandon the death penalty once and for all.
Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/
Georgia Pardons Board Denies Clemency for Death Row Inmate
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As a former long term resident of Georgia, and as a former resident of Savannah in particular, I am proud of the parole board's decision not to overturn the jury verdict and the opinions rendered by the appellate courts. The judicial system has been manipulated by the defense in this case for years and that is what has led to the 20 years of "abuse" that the defendant has allegedly suffered. Neither the State nor the McPhail family is responsible for this case being dragged out this long. The decision is not racist, it's based on the facts. I personally witnessed the intimidation that has been brought to bear on the District Attorney's office in this case by Mr. Davis' supporters, but there aren't any newspaper articles on THAT. I can only imagine the intimidation and threats that were brought to bear on the witnesses who finally recanted their statements years and years after the trial but there's nothing printed about THAT, either.
I don't want to see an innocent person put to death either. Officer McPhail was as innocent as he could be, but he lost his life in a vicious, vicious crime. The State has laws that make it clear that taking a life can result in the offender losing their life. This was not an accident, the jury that heard and SAW the original evidence in the case found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. IF they had acquitted Davis, the Davis family would have been rejoicing in the criminal justice system having worked, and the McPhail family would not have had ANY recourse, but because that is not the way the criminal justice system works, the Davis family has complained and appealed for 20 years that an injustice occurred.
May the souls of both Officer McPhail and Troy Davis rest in peace and may their families find solace in their belief in God. I feel nothing but the deepest sympathy for both families as they have both lost a father, a son, and a brother,
Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/
Georgia Pardons Board Denies Clemency for Death Row Inmate
Poverty Rate Rises to 15.1%; 49.9 Million Have No Health Insurance
Census Bureau Slide Show
We are entering an era of class warfare.
The rich and the moneyed corporate interests and the Republicans in their pockets have been quite bold about this: no healthcare for the poor. No education for the poor. And the middle class is weakening and falling away while the ultrarich control more and more.
The truth is, such a society is, overall, a poorer society. What I don't understand is why some middle class and some poor actually support Republican initiatives that make them poorer and hurt their own health and the education of their children. It is a stunning triumph of propaganda, where some people support policies that hurt them, because of false contrived bogeymen like freeloading illegals and welfare queens. And the entire country is suffering for this propaganda bought and paid for by the rich and the corporations who don't want to pay for your health and your education. And some of you agree with it! Insanity.
I thought it was "We the people," not "We the rich people and corporations." You who are poor and Republican or middle class and Republican: please take note of the war that is being waged against you, and reevaluate your support for policies which only impoverish you, bought and paid for by propaganda mouth pieces that appeal to your irrational fears rather than your sense of reason
Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/U.S. Poverty Rate, 1 in 6, at Highest Level in Years
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The stagnation and inability of many Americans to set aside money for a rainy day, retirement, medical bills, or even a down payment has been going on for years. For those of us who started working in the 80s starting pay was poverty level, responses to resumes was nil, and living independently of our parents was dicey. This time was the start of the Republican drive to privatize and downsize government. It was in the 80s that unions became less effective and when the standard of living started to decline.
It hasn't changed. I'm nearly 53 years old, single, and still living under my means. I've managed to save money by not going on vacation, not trying to live in decent housing, avoiding medical care, and limiting my expectations in life. This is what life in America has become if one does not make over six figures. It's filled with worries, sacrifices, and the knowledge that our elected officials care nothing for those who cannot donate large sums of money.
That 45.3% of Americans aged 25-34 are living at home and are earning poverty level wages is, in this day and age, unforgiveable. That some have loans from going to college that they will never be able to pay off is even worse. How does this country expect to remain a productive and safe place to live when it allows so many to live at or near poverty? This is not because of illegal immigrants. This is because of a misguided policy which puts profits above everything else. The last time that happened we had the Great Depression.
Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/U.S. Poverty Rate, 1 in 6, at Highest Level in Year
I'm one of them. I used to be lower middle class and now jobs are so short and housing so high ,I live in a Travel trailer next to the home that I own that is rented out so I don't loose it.I care for a disabled brain injured son and am sixty years old. Cannot get food stamps as I own a home. He cant get them because he lives with me. We live off of the food bank since I lost my partime job last July.
Things have been this bad for 3 years. Hangin on by a thread. When I do have money I get waited on in the business world by visa workers who employers would rather hire because they save so much on taxes. How are we ever going to get our jobs back from the foreign workers? Hillary Clinton please stop the Visa guest worker program you are literally starving and killing off americans with this program.
Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/U.S. Poverty Rate, 1 in 6, at Highest Level in Year
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This brief survey of a government report reinforces trends that have been in
place for a long time, trends which are exacerbated by the financial crisis: the
rich are getting richer, the poor get poorer and the middle class is eroding. It
is a tendency toward becoming a third-world country.
If only from the
perspective of decreasing complexity, we are putting the brakes on our culture,
assuming that highly complex societies are more inventive and powerful. But the
very tangible problem of increasing poverty for far too many has implications
for everyone, for those poor or poorer segments simply have less to spend and
that reduces consumption.
If our savings rate would be better or excellent, that
would not be much of a problem, for saved income does not simply make that saved
income disappear: Those saved or invested funds are put to good use somewhere.
So if you put funds into your retirement plan and your plan purchases income and
dividend-producing real estate to generate returns, or invests them into
industry and research, that investment stimulates the economy or long term
strength and and growth: The difference is only that such savings habits, which
is absent in our culture, represents a long-term improvement in our economy,
whereas spent income at best spurs growth short term.
No society has ever
consumed itself wealthy. The big problem, show by the report, is that we are and
have been for far too long reducing all forms of income for far too many people,
so there are less funds both for spending and also savings.
Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/Household Income Falls, Poverty Rate Rises
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Obama picked his priorities at a time when the Democrats had a filibuster-proof majority.
Obama's first mistake was in the design (or lack thereof) in his massive Stimulus which didn't fulfill any of the promises made...and they were big promises regarding infrastructure, Education, the new "Green Economy" and on and on.
Unfortnately, Obama drank his own Kool-Aid and thought his Stimulus would succeed, so he then made the colossal mistake of ignoring the critical issue of jobs and focusing rather on what he believed would be historic health care reform legislation that a majority of Americans opposed.
This hubris led to a loss of support, a betrayal of many promises regarding process and open government and the permanent loss of any hope of bi-partisanship. The health care legislative process was particularly ugly and damaging, but it wasn't too late to turn to jobs.
Unfortnately, Obama decided to pursue "financial reform" over job issues and in came more regulations, ironically not enough to regulate derivatives, which were the biggest culprit in the meltdown, but I digress.
So here we are, almost three years into his presidency, with unemployment SCREAMING for attention since before DAY ONE and now, after a massive failed stimulus, a frightening mess of a health care law and a lot of bad karma Obama wants to blame Republicans for his own failed programs.
the extreme left may buy it, but that version is not selling on Main Street where obama's support has evaporated.
Read the article DAILY BEASTU.S. Poverty Jumps to 27-Year High
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No surprise here. The middle class (with their jobs thrown under the bus by Corporate America) have fallen into poverty. Plain and simple: It's the fault of Congress to let Corporate America send jobs that were created here to foreign lands.
Every time I call a service center (Citicorp, for example), I get someone on the other line from the Caribbean or India. And I'm not knocking either the Caribbean or India.
Our laws "must" be changed. If a product is sold here, then some percentage (like 50%) should be made here. Corporate America must be given a ultimatum to bring our job back to the USA--or have their products/services banned. If that's not a solution, then these companies should not be given any tax credits (or any other incentives) to send our jobs overseas. Congress should be made up of a government of the people, by the people and for the people.
Today, it’s a millionaire’s club. That’s got to change, or more of us will fall into poverty.
Read the article ABC U.S. Poverty Rate Up, Household Income Down
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What a national disgrace. While millions of working families struggle just to put food on the table, and with millions more living in poverty in a nation of immense wealth, we have the rich getting richer, avoiding taxes, and simply not giving a damn about paying their fair share. One mansion, one Yacht, or private jet is not enough for these damn worms, many who made their riches off the backs of those in misery today. This is utterly disgraceful and should offend everyone.
This is not about Republicans, Democrats, or whatever party or politics there may be. It's about decency, human decency, right and wrong. What kind of conscious and values do we have as a nation when there would be some that would defend such outrage? What this country has become is a long way from what made this country great. Nothing but greed is the value that now drives this nation.
No society has ever stood or survive such disparity among the classes. Nor will our once great nation. Sooner or later, it too will fall. Our worst enemy is not from abroad, but from within.
Read the article ABC U.S. Poverty Rate Up, Household Income Down
Remembrance and Reflection: Ten Years After September 11, 2001...
I was 2 weeks away from my due date on 9/11, pregnant with my first child. I was at work on the Upper East Side when the first plane struck and spent the following several hours trying to get home to Brooklyn. "If we are going to die," I told my husband, "I want us to be together." Since the island of Manhattan was shut down, I wanted to walk home but my husband and colleagues talked me out of it. so I waited and watched the nightmare unfold, like the rest of the world.
In the late afternoon I walked to a friend's house across the park and waited for the trains to start running again to Manhattan. i went to the subway station and was amazed by the number of people trying to get on trains to speed them away from the horror. Anyone who was in NYC that day will remember how dreadfully silent it was, and the subway station was no different, a huge, quiet mob. I realized it could be a potentially dangerous situation with all those people, and me very pregnant, but I wanted more than anything to get home so plunged headlong into the throng.
The platform was a crush of bodies and I was starting to try to turn around to try to leave when I realized that space was opening around me. In the silence, people were looking at me and my big pregnant belly and moving to form a protective barrier. It was one of the most beautiful, primal moments of my life. the crowd, silently, became my guard. At that moment of such loss everyone seemed to want more than anything to protect the future, my baby.
This continued as we shuffled onto the train, they escorted me to a seat, reformed a semi circle around me as we rode on. Over the manhattan bridge everyone cried as they looked at the smoke, ash, debris floating through the air. and when the train stopped people walked me up the steps and into the sunlight of Brooklyn. Not a word was said. I have never felt more safe.
My son will turn 10 in a couple of weeks. He is a beautiful boy with an easy smile, full of wonder - people are drawn to him. I tell him he was blessed by that group of strangers, how he was so surrounded by love and hope on that terrible day. How a silent and broken city came together to keep him safe. It is a day I will never forget - I saw the very worst and very best of humanity and was humbled by the beauty that came out of the ashes.
Read the article NPR/ON POINT/Remembering 9/11
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On September 11th, my brother Quentin was an American Airlines Flight Attendant, flying out of Boston to the west coast. He was probably the last person on the ground to see Flight Attendant Betty Ong on AA Flight 11 alive. He and Betty were friends, and he saw her that morning on the jet bridge leading to Flight 11. She asked if he was coming to LA with them today, and at that point he realized he was on the wrong jet bridge. He gave her a hug and a kiss, they wished each other well, and off they headed off to their respective flights and very different destinies. Betty Ong was the flight attendant who called in to flight control and read the passenger roster to officials, so they knew who was on board and who the terrorists were. She was brave and courageous, and as she was transmitting the vital information, Flight 11 hit the World Trade Towers.
Quentin's flight was brought down with a forced landing in Chicago, where they were grounded for a week due to the no-fly enforcement. For my own part, I knew my brother was flying to the west coast that day, and after I learned that an American Airlines flight had crashed into the towers, I spent a very scary couple of hours trying to contact American Airlines Flight Services to find out if that was the flight my brother was on. Finally, I was told that he was not. My relief was immense, but as with the rest of the country, my shock and grief at the events of September 11th were overwhelming. It is all coming back to me now, the pain, the fear, the incomprehension of the magnitude of what had just happened. And then the silence. No planes in the air. Nothing. Everything had changed that day, and nothing has ever been the same since.
Read the article NPR/ON POINT/Remembering 9/11
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Okay, I'll say it.
Is it at all possible that this decade has gone exactly as Osama Bin Laden hoped as he planned the 9/11 attacks? A superpower that had long since lost its adversary, living large on the credit card and the final vestiges of the post WWII colonial system. A spectacular 24/7 news style terrorist attack on the symbols of American power. A prideful and jingoistic over-reaction leading to unfunded wars and unjustifiable security legislation. Finally a financial collapse predicated on the accumulated debt and the underlying corruption of a bubble and burst economy.
I guess we will likely never know if this actually was the plan. If it was, Osama Bin Laden would have to be considered one of the greatest strategists of all human history. Imagine a single man with the help of a few dozen accopmplices destroying the equivalent of the Roman Empire within 50-60 years of its peak.
Read the article NPR/ON POINT/George Packer: The Decade Since 9/11
I don't think the economic, security, or even the building collapses were in the plans.
Lets not brand a terrorist a visionary genius.
Its always easier to destroy complex systems, than it is to construct and sustain them. Those with the lowest IQ's can cause fearful destruction if given access to the machinery of civilization. Its why we don't let children drive cars. If we start branding destruction as genius, then how did the earthquake plan for the tsunami and the nuclear disaster in Japan.
As to the financial ruin, loss of freedom, etc... Look no farther than the rat. They thrive after disasters, because disasters give fertile ground for vermin that feed in the chaos. Those vermin can be human as well.
Read the article NPR/ON POINT/George Packer: The Decade Since 9/11
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To say that the events of September 11th were but small blip in the history of the country and didn't change the course America was on before then is to discount the experience of an entire generation of Americans. I was thirteen when the towers came down, and for myself and everyone in my age bracket, these events will forever represent a loss of innocence as a nation; the moment when everything in all of our lives became serious all at once.
Read the article NPR/ON POINT/George Packer: The Decade Since 9/11
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Andrew Sullivan is giving Osama way too much credit for our debt crisis. Osama originally believed that the United States did not have the stomach for prolonged losses or seeing its soldiers coming home in body bags. In his 1996 ruling declaring war on America, bin Laden noted that the United States withdrew its forces from Lebanon after the 1983 bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut. In 1993, after 18 American soldiers were killed on a single day in Mogadishu, the United States retreated from Somalia. Later on, he asserted that his initial intention was to galvanize the Islam world against the United States. The planning of 9/11 was brilliant and well-coordinated, but Osama or Al Qaeda would have had no way of knowing that the twin towers would collapse. It took in-depth studies by engineers and other experts to determine why the buildings fell. It was an added bonus for the terrorists that the jet fuel caused the structures to crumple.
While OBL may have expected an invasion of Afghanistan, there is no way that he could have envisioned that the United States would have spent billions of dollars on homeland security and billions more invading Iraq. He certainly was not responsible for an unpaid-prescription drug benefit in Medicare, the housing bubble and the sub-prime loan crisis. He had nothing to do with the spiraling growth of Medicare.
Why the doom and gloom? Our Democracy (Republic) is not dead. It is alive and well. Witness the kind and caring people, affected by Hurricane Irene, reaching out to help each other. Joplin, the little city in our state, is recovering, thanks to all of the charities and volunteers streaming in from everywhere bringing food, medicine and helping with cleanup. The United States is still a great nation and we will solve our problems.
Read the article DAILY BEAST/ANDREW SULLIVAN/Did Osama Win?
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This is ridiculous. We are not in a "civilizational war." For all that nonsense that conservative pundits spew about "Islamofascism," al Qaeda never had a positive plan for law or economic structure, bureaucracy and state infrastructure. It was a purely negative organization that never had the kind of power that the neocons wanted us to think it did. There is no struggle between Western Civilization and Islamic Civilization except in the weak minds of both conservative and Islamic sycophants and their automaton minions. Stop selling this clash of civilizations that doesn't exist, you're imbuing the crazies with power.
Read the article DAILY BEAST/ANDREW SULLIVAN/Did Osama Win?
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Bin Laden failed because there are not very many people who wanted to join him in the 7th century. He represented an archaic period that offered little comfort to those who aspire to modern values.
Religions do not have to be repressive and brutal. They can become that way, as Christianty did during the middle ages and as Islam has drifted to in many current countires.
One thing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have done is give the fundamentalists a platform to demonstrate to the world the kind of government they would like to establish if they gain control. With the Internet, information is available about the entire world and this gives people the opportunity to compare systems the world offers. I'm positive that the Arab Spring this year is affirmation that the Middle East wants to join the modern world and not the one advocated by Bin Laden.
So in a way, Bin Laden has helped the world work towards sanity, something he was lacking.
Read the article DAILY BEAST/ANDREW SULLIVAN/Did Osama Win?
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9/11 10th Anniversary Gettysburg Tribute
With Apologies to President Lincoln
Many score and 235 years ago our fathers brought forth on this
continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition
that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great ideological
war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated,
can long endure. We were met not on a great battle-field of war but where we
lived and worked with liberty and in freedom. We have come to dedicate a portion
of that place, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives
while living free in a nation that tolerates dissent. It is altogether fitting
and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not
dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave
men and women, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far
above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long
remember what we say here, but it can never forget what happened here. It is for
us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they
who lived and worked here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us
to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these
honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the
last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead
shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new
birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the
people, shall not perish from the earth.
Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/9/11 and the Struggle for Meaning
Wartime Contracting Commission Finds Sinkhole of Waste, Corruption, Abuse
READ WARTIME CONTRACTING CIOMMISSION'S REPORT
60 Billion dollars of waste in Iraq and Afghanistan!!!!
The cost of the
latest devastating hurricane Irene is being pegged at 10 billion
dollars.
The money that went to line the pockets of US military contractors,
Afghan and Iraqi politicians and , worst of all, the Taliban could have rebuilt
every water drenched home, business, road all up and down the east coast 6
TIMES!
We spend enough in ONE month in Afghanistan alone to rebuild the
entire hurricane affected area.
Enough waste. It's time the military got
cut down to size. It's too big, wastes too much money and doesn't produce
results!
Why has it taken ten years cost hundreds of billions of dollars
and 1700 lives to fight a bunch of illiterate peasant farmers in Afghanistan who
have no tanks, no planes, no ships, no cruise missiles, no night vision goggles,
no helicopters, no B-1 Bomber, no aircraft carriers, no nuclear
submarines.
This is a kick in the face to every American who is
unemployed an embarrassment to the 750 billion dollars we waste each year on the
Pentagon.
Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/Study Finds Extensive Waste in War Contracting
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The only people that benefitted from these contractors are Haliburton stock
owners and people who have a stake in Blackwater and other like companies. There
is money to be made in war and unfortunately, over 5,000 American soldiers died
fighting a war that was unjust and only benefitted these "contractors" thanks to
the public coffers.
Privatizing war is wrong on so many levels. For one,
Congress has little control over many of these contracting companies, thanks to
bills passed by a Cheney Bush and GOP Congress. Also, the regular rules of war
and Geneva conventions do not have to be followed by many of these defense
companies such as Blackwater. They are literally operating on a "no man's land."
No liability for war crimes and opportunity to act carte blanche.
Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/Study Finds Extensive Waste in War Contracting
What exactly did Blackwater actually do? And how much more $ was spent
subcontracting those tasks to private industry under non-competitive, no bid
contracts?
When you say "no one else could do the job", what job is "the
job". Killing people? Our soldiers know how to do that. Building schools and
hospitals for Iraqis? There are a variety of construction companies operating in
the US.
If Blackwater understood the climate they would be operating in
better than the State Department under the Bush administration, as you claim, I
think that observation, if true,speaks more to the incompetence of our
government than to any merit of Blackwater. Why would the Bush administration
decide to invade Iraq in the first place if it didn't understand the climate in
which it would be operating?
The Iraqi government didn't indemnify
Blackwater. Blackwater's immunity from Iraqi law was provided for under the
governing provisions of the Provisional Authority documents written and imposed
unilaterally upon Iraq by the US government.
More importantly, whether
the money was wasted in Iraq directly by the US government, or indirectly by
Blackwater or other subcontractors, I don't see why any fiscal conservative (if
you are one) would seek to defend such waste of tax payer funding.
I
thought we were all on the fiscal austerity bandwagon these days, n'est-ce pas?
Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/Study Finds Extensive Waste in War Contracting
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My son is a captain in the air force and I can't write much here without risking
getting him in trouble. The numbers are real. There is no way of stoping the
waste as long as we are in Afghanistan. There is nothing to save there and the
people don't want us there except for the few Afgan "leaders" that want US $.
Since the US, especially under Obama, will waste it anyway-let's waste it in the
US. Among all the despicable things that go on there, the Afgan men do horrific
things to the young boys and we support this pit whole with US $.
Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/Study Finds Extensive Waste in War Contracting
Afterwords: In the Wake of Irene
Thank you very much for the words of understanding and support from the posters who are civil and empathetic. To those who wish to bash Governor Shumlin or President Obama or anyone else during this time - you disgust me.
People have lost their lives in this storm. Many of my neighbors in Waterbury have lost most everything they have. And many places in the State were hit harder than even Waterbury. Guess what? A flood doesn't discriminate based on whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, or anything else. People are suffering. I pray that NONE OF YOU, including those with the crass, cruel and thoughtless comments ever have to experience what some of our FELLOW VERMONTERS and FELLOW AMERICANS are experiencing. And, as Voila wrote, a fellow Vermonter, a man who worked for the State Government that some of you like to knock as being overpaid and under-worked, etc. etc. lost his life trying to help his fellow Vermonters.
Again, if you don't have anything supportive to say, why don't you keep your mouth shut. Because right now you give a bad name to all Vermonters. Why don't you do something positive and get out and help those in need. Trust me - you will feel better.
Read thearticle BURLINGTON FREE PRESS/Vermont devastation widespread, 3 confirmed dead, 1 man missing
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Personally, I do not care to get into squabbles at this board over global climate change just now. What we are dealing with is a historic disaster, one that probably rivals or surpasses the Great Flood of 1927. No matter what your position is on global climate change, Mother Nature must be respected ... and this has been a humbling experience.
When you go across bridges over what were once gentle babbling brooks, you often see the date 1928 or 1929. My parents brought me up reminding me of the history of that 1927 catastrophe, so when we bought our home near such a babbling brook in 1986 I wanted to be sure it was on high enough ground. I knew that that babbling brook could once again become a raging river, as I saw the date on the bridges over it. Almost every time I took a walk over the little bridges, I thought of what it must have been like for Vermonters in 1927. No cell phones. No internet. How sad that Vermont has now lost some (I do not know the exact count) of the historic covered bridges.
Anyway, for the moment I would just like for all Vermonters to take a time to pause on the potential wrath and fury of Mother Nature .... on the suffering and isolation of those now stranded ... and like you and Jeff said, just think about ways you might pitch in if you are able. These are the things I have been thinking about.
Read thearticle BURLINGTON FREE PRESS/Vermont devastation widespread, 3 confirmed dead, 1 man missing
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A good postmortem but here's the fact that many miss - computer models do a really poor job at forecasting tropical cyclone intensity and dynamics. And even more problematic is the over-reliance of meteorologists on the computer simulations than the science itself. It's almost as though people purposely overlook the contrary data because "the computers are saying this, so it must be true."
Your post explains that the signs were indeed there, but so many chose to ignore them. Sometimes the right answer is contrary to the conventional thinking
Read thearticle WASHINGTON POST/lessons from Hurricane Irene
The failure of VPR to prepare for and provide current, local ongoing radio coverage during the night and morning hours when Hurricane Irene was creating flooding and power outages in Vermont should be a cause for soul searching among VPR's leadership and Board of Directors. Vermont citizens were anxious and desperately needed current information on flooding, dangerous situations, and road conditions. Instead, VPR stuck with its usual program feeds from NPR and the local situation was covered only on the following day, too late for those who needed information the night before.
In contrast, one local commercial radio station, WDEV, stayed on the air all night providing current information from State and local officials, reports from affected citizens, and contemporaneous weather and flood reporting. That extraordinary effort is in stark contrast to VPR's remarkable failure to cover and respond to the storm and flooding that so devastated Vermont communities. VPR leadership and staff should feel shame for their failure to provide useful communication and support to their neighbors in a time of genuine danger and need at the time when it was most needed.
Read thearticle VERMONT PUBLIC RADIO/the after-effects of Irene
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I'm not American but I am totally in awe of most of the comments here. I mean how low can you go?
Countless numbers of Americans have lost their lives, homes, EVERYTHING. But most of you - not all - use this forum, not to sympathize with your fellow countrymen Instead you;-
Use the occasion to snipe at political opponents
Use it to make cheap, anti-religious comments
Undermine the severity of the storm and mock the victims
What the hell did you want? A Steven Speilberg disaster movie? My heart goes out to all the victims, especially when they have to read trash from their fellow Americans [ who were totally unaffected by the storm!]
I really thought Americans still had the unity of the pioneering spirit. Apparently not. That's sad.
Read thearticle CNN/Rescues, places of refuge mark aftermath of Irene in New York town
READ MORE TOP COMMENTS -- JULY-AUGUST 2011
