Ancient Mythic Origins of the Christmas Story

Ancient Mythic Origins of the Christmas Story

Valerie Tarico interviews Dr. Tony Nugent, scholar of world religions. Dr. Nugent is a symbologist, an expert in ancient symbols. He taught at Seattle University for fifteen years in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies and is an ordained Presbyterian minister.

Most Americans know how Christmas came to be celebrated on December 25: The Emperor Constantine chose the date because it was winter solstice in the Julian Calendar, the birthday of dying and rising gods like Mithra and Sol. Some people also know that our delightful mélange of Christmas festivities originated in ancient Norse, Sumerian, Roman and Druid traditions - or, in the case of Rudolph, on Madison Avenue.

But where does the Christmas story itself come from: Jesus in the manger, the angels and wise men?

The familiar Christmas story, including the virgin conception and birth of Jesus, is found in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. Scholars have pointed out that these stories are somewhat disconnected from other parts of these Gospels and the rest of the New Testament. In fact, by the time he is a young boy in the temple, Jesus's parents seem to have forgotten the virgin birth. They act surprised by his odd behavior. There is never any other mention in the New Testament of these incredible events! These stories seem to be an afterthought, written later than the rest of the gospels that contain them.

To make matters more interesting, the stories themselves have inconsistencies and ambiguities - contradictory genealogies, for example. Our Christmas story (singular) is actually a composite.

Or consider the idea that Mary is a virgin. The Greek writer of Matthew quotes Isaiah as saying: "a parthenos shall conceive and bear a child." The Hebrew word in Isaiah is "almah," which means simply "young woman." But the Greek word parthenos can mean either a virgin or a young woman, and it got translated as "virgin." Modern Bible translations have corrected this, but it is a central part of the Christmas story.

That's a lot of added complications. If the rest of the New Testament doesn't refer to these stories or need them, then how did we end up with them? Where do they come from?

One part of the answer comes from Hellenistic culture. (It is no accident all New Testament books written in Greek.) In this tradition, when a man did something extraordinary there was the assumption that he did this because he was different, either divine or semi-divine. They would make up a story about how he came to be divine. Almost all Greek heroes were said to be born of a human woman and a god--even Alexander the Great, Augustus and Pythagoras.
The father typically was Zeus or Apollo. The god would come and sleep with the woman, pretending to be the husband or as a bolt of lightning, or some such. Greek mythology also shows up in the book of Genesis: the gods lusting after the women and coming down and mating with them.

Why were they added to the Christian story?

Jewish Christians - the first Christians didn't believe in the virgin birth. They believed that Joseph was the biological father of Jesus. Part of their Christology was "adoptionism"--they thought Jesus was adopted as the unique son of God at some time later in life. There were disagreements about when - Mark suggests the baptism, Paul suggests the resurrection.

Over time, gentile Christianity replaced Jewish Christianity. There were Jewish-Roman Wars. The Jewish Christians were marginalized and oppressed. The Gentile branch became dominant. Eventually we get the gospel of John which pushes the sonship of Jesus back to the beginning of time. This writer is at the other end of the spectrum from the Jewish Christians.
But Matthew and Luke think that the Sonship of Jesus began at birth. And they want to tell a story that reinforces this point. Matthew and Luke are the source of the Christmas story as most of us learned it.

Why didn't the writers do a better job of cleaning the contradictions? They did, some. This is called the "orthodox corruption of scripture." (Bart Ehrman article , book) . But it appears that these birth stories were added toward the end, so scripture got frozen before they could get integrated.

I was raised that the bible was the literally perfect, "inerrant" word of God, essentially dictated by God to the writers. What you are saying about the Christmas story sure calls into question this point of view.

Which Bible?! There are thousands of manuscript variations.
Most biblical stories are probably fiction, not non-fiction. They are mythology in the deepest sense of the word. But we need to get beyond issue of whether biblical reports happened in the historical, physical sense to understand what they mean spiritually and mythically.

Ok. Back to Christmas. Of all the images from the Christmas story, the one that people fall in love with most is angels. The Christmas story is full of angels, beings of light. Is this because of the solstice tradition?

Actually it comes from the Hebrew Bible, the Jewish scriptures that were eventually adopted into the Christian Bible as the Old Testament. It also comes from the Jewish literature written between the Old and New Testaments that didn't get into the biblical canon. Some of these are even quoted in the New Testament, for example Enoch, from the 2nd Century BC. It's all about angels.

What are angels in these stories? Who are they?

The Bible calls them the sons of God, the Divine Council. The word used for God in parts of the Hebrew Bible, Elohim, is plural implying a family of deities. Angels are the lesser gods of the deposed pantheon of ancient Israel. They are under the rulership of Yahweh. Together with Yahweh they are part of Elohim, a plural word that we translate "God" in the book of Genesis. Elohim/God says "Let us make humans in our image." Christians understand this to refer to the trinity, but that is a later interpretation. These angels came from the ancient pantheons of Mesopotamia and Egypt. Many of these gods come from stars. There is a strong astral dimension. "Heavenly Hosts" are stars.

The Luke story focuses on one angel specifically: Gabriel. Is he the archangel?
Gabriel is the Angel of the Lord. He is one of two angels who are named in the Jewish canon and the Christian canon outside of the apocrypha: Gabriel and Michael. They are the angels of mercy and judgment. Gabriel means "Strong One of El." He is first named in Daniel.

If you go into an Eastern Orthodox church you have two icons on the north and south. Michael is on the North to fight with Satan who lives there. Gabriel is on the south. He is more like what the angels originally were, which is messengers of the gods. That is what angel means. The idea that God has a special messenger is exactly what we read about in the Middle Eastern mythologies. Each of the earlier gods has his own special messenger. Enki, who becomes Yaweh, has Isimud. The goddess Inana has Ninshubur. Each high god will have an envoy or assistant, who is a lesser god. The angel of the lord is the same thing. The distinction between angels and gods came later.

Is he a star person? Or one of those semi-divine descendents of gods and women?

He is one of the gods who would come down to earth.

Why do you say that?

The offspring of the gods mating with women are called Gaborim--from the same root as Gabriel. In the second century, Gabriel appears in the Epistula Apostolorum. It talks about Jesus and these secret teachings that he gave to his apostles after the resurrection. One of the secrets is that he is actually Gabriel. After Gabriel took on flesh and united with Mary, then he becomes Jesus. The idea that Christ was an angel was extremely popular in the early church. Later we find this really strict separation between humans and angels; between gods and angels. (more)

We have time for just one more favorite Christmas story: The Star of Bethlehem and the Magi.

The Magi are astrologers. They are Zoroastrian priests. Just to the east of the Roman Empire was the Persian Empire, which was Zoroastrian. They see this star at its rising (the better translations don't say in the East). The astrologers paid a lot of attention to this. It is likely that what this refers to was a heliacal rising, which is the first time that a star appears over the horizon during the course of a year. They thought this was a sign of the Jewish messiah. Scholars speculate that they would have been living in Babylon, where there were lots of Jewish merchants. The Jews had been there from the time of the Jewish exile from Babylonia. We have cuneiform records from them.

Are you assuming that this story is historical?

Think of it as a frog and pond. The pond is real, the frog is not. They are fictional stories in a real setting. They don't always get the details of the setting right, but they are fictional characters in real places. The Magi follow their star from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. The author has in mind a real star that would be in front of you in this situation. It would have to be a star in the far southern sky. Remember what I said about the Heavenly Host being stars? The star in Matthew and the angel in Luke are two variants of the same mythology.

My former fundamentalist head is spinning. Is there anything else you'd like to say in closing?

We need to be able to appreciate these stories as myths, rather than literal histories. When you understand where they come from, then you can understand their spiritual significance for the writers and for us.

John McCain a Hero?

In contrast to Ayers, whose acts were at worst tactically misguided, John McCain did engage in terrorist acts, war crimes that in all likelihood killed hundreds if not thousands of poor people in Vietnam. He committed these atrocities in the most cowardly fashion, dropping bombs from a plane thousands of feet above the ground, using the most advanced military technology to slaughter people in an impoverished peasant country. To those who would offer some banality about McCain just being a soldier or serving his country, such defenses are neither true nor legally relevant. McCain volunteered enthusiastically to commit these atrocities, and even if he hadn't the Nuremberg principles had decades before put to rest the excuse that one was just following orders. Indeed, as Robert Richter has reported, General Telford Taylor, American prosecutor at Nuremberg, even offered to help prosecute McCain and other captured pilots for war crimes.

Mr. Ayers would be quite justified in being disappointed with Barack Obama for his cowardice in this whole affair. In keeping with his characteristic unprincipled opportunism, Obama repeatedly called a friend who had helped him in the past "despicable" while characterizing McCain as a "hero" for the infinitely more monstrous crimes he committed. If his old friend, or just acquaintance if that's what he really is, had any sense of decency, Ayers would not be in this position of having to defend himself now.

It's also hard not to see a connection between all of this and the Iraq War. The media and McCain campaign attack Ayers and hold up McCain as a hero in order to further try to rehabilitate the Vietnam War and the American government's murder of several million people in Southeast Asia while also discrediting and ridiculing anti-war opposition. It is greatly to his credit that Ayers defends the anti-war movement in such strong terms in this piece. That Obama went along with trashing Ayers and glorifying McCain is a dark sign about his real position on the Iraq War, a subject on which he has already flip-flopped and proven totally insincere and uncommitted to the anti-war position that won him such enthusiasm among millions of American young people.

There was an unrepentant terrorist in this presidential campaign. Indeed, one who has built an entire career, and a lucrative one at that, solely on the basis of boasting about his terrorist acts. His name is John McCain, and it is time the media stopped treating him as a hero.

— DA, Cambridge, MA

The Real Bill Ayers

The Real Bill Ayers
IN the recently concluded presidential race, I was unwillingly thrust upon the stage and asked to play a role in a profoundly dishonest drama. I refused, and here’s why.
Unable to challenge the content of Barack Obama’s campaign, his opponents invented a narrative about a young politician who emerged from nowhere, a man of charm, intelligence and skill, but with an exotic background and a strange name. The refrain was a question: “What do we really know about this man?”
Secondary characters in the narrative included an African-American preacher with a fiery style, a Palestinian scholar and an “unrepentant domestic terrorist.” Linking the candidate with these supposedly shadowy characters, and ferreting out every imagined secret tie and dark affiliation, became big news.
I was cast in the “unrepentant terrorist” role; I felt at times like the enemy projected onto a large screen in the “Two Minutes Hate” scene from George Orwell’s “1984,” when the faithful gathered in a frenzy of fear and loathing.
With the mainstream news media and the blogosphere caught in the pre-election excitement, I saw no viable path to a rational discussion. Rather than step clumsily into the sound-bite culture, I turned away whenever the microphones were thrust into my face. I sat it out.
Now that the election is over, I want to say as plainly as I can that the character invented to serve this drama wasn’t me, not even close. Here are the facts:
I never killed or injured anyone. I did join the civil rights movement in the mid-1960s, and later resisted the draft and was arrested in nonviolent demonstrations. I became a full-time antiwar organizer for Students for a Democratic Society. In 1970, I co-founded the Weather Underground, an organization that was created after an accidental explosion that claimed the lives of three of our comrades in Greenwich Village. The Weather Underground went on to take responsibility for placing several small bombs in empty offices — the ones at the Pentagon and the United States Capitol were the most notorious — as an illegal and unpopular war consumed the nation.
The Weather Underground crossed lines of legality, of propriety and perhaps even of common sense. Our effectiveness can be — and still is being — debated. We did carry out symbolic acts of extreme vandalism directed at monuments to war and racism, and the attacks on property, never on people, were meant to respect human life and convey outrage and determination to end the Vietnam war.
Peaceful protests had failed to stop the war. So we issued a screaming response. But it was not terrorism; we were not engaged in a campaign to kill and injure people indiscriminately, spreading fear and suffering for political ends.
I cannot imagine engaging in actions of that kind today. And for the past 40 years, I’ve been teaching and writing about the unique value and potential of every human life, and the need to realize that potential through education.
I have regrets, of course — including mistakes of excess and failures of imagination, posturing and posing, inflated and heated rhetoric, blind sectarianism and a lot else. No one can reach my age with their eyes even partly open and not have hundreds of regrets. The responsibility for the risks we posed to others in some of our most extreme actions in those underground years never leaves my thoughts for long.
The antiwar movement in all its commitment, all its sacrifice and determination, could not stop the violence unleashed against Vietnam. And therein lies cause for real regret.
We — the broad “we” — wrote letters, marched, talked to young men at induction centers, surrounded the Pentagon and lay down in front of troop trains. Yet we were inadequate to end the killing of three million Vietnamese and almost 60,000 Americans during a 10-year war.
The dishonesty of the narrative about Mr. Obama during the campaign went a step further with its assumption that if you can place two people in the same room at the same time, or if you can show that they held a conversation, shared a cup of coffee, took the bus downtown together or had any of a thousand other associations, then you have demonstrated that they share ideas, policies, outlook, influences and, especially, responsibility for each other’s behavior. There is a long and sad history of guilt by association in our political culture, and at crucial times we’ve been unable to rise above it.
President-elect Obama and I sat on a board together; we lived in the same diverse and yet close-knit community; we sometimes passed in the bookstore. We didn’t pal around, and I had nothing to do with his positions. I knew him as well as thousands of others did, and like millions of others, I wish I knew him better.
Demonization, guilt by association, and the politics of fear did not triumph, not this time. Let’s hope they never will again. And let’s hope we might now assert that in our wildly diverse society, talking and listening to the widest range of people is not a sin, but a virtue.
William Ayers, a professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, is the author of “Fugitive Days” and a co-author of the forthcoming “Race Course.”

Capitalism and Communism failed what next?

Capitalism and Communism failed what next?

Barack Obama right now as of this writing is trying to save capitalism from itself even before he has the power to do so. The only way he can do it is to add Socialist programs into the mix which is blasphemy to those who hold the “Free Market” as a religion the same as those in China who held Communism as a religion hold Capitalist programs as blasphemy. The only hope for both America and China has is that he finds the right mix and can get it through the hard heads who don’t like “Change”. Barack Obama is perhaps the Smartest President ever elected, but he must change minds set in stone a very hard task that even God is still trying to do.

President Elect Barack H Obama After the Election

Barack Obama or cool hand Barack as someone called him for he always kept his temper when all through the campaign his opponents throw everything they could find at him he rarely turned fire instead he just kept on explaining what he would do if they elected him President of the United States of America. He showed great decision making by first selected a great Campaign staff then Joe Biden for his running mate. He doesn’t seem to me to be progressive enough, but hopefully those in Congress that are can push through some more progressive programs in Health Care and Education. Barack Obama is a strong signal as to how far we have come and he again hopefully take us another step forward, but there will be still a long road ahead for future generations to travel.

Vice-President elect Joseph Biden After the Election

Joe’s weakness is that his mouth works at a faster speed than his mind. He often says the wrong name like Obama when he means McCain, but I can related to that I often call my own kids by the wrong name and Joe once said Television instead of Radio when talking about FDR’s fire side chats. The media ignored Joe during the campaign except when the other side took issue with something he said which only came as Election Day drew near and they were looking for anything to save themselves. They did use his voice in an Ad when he said the new President would be tested within the first six months. They used it as if he meant only Obama, but he meant any new President as the history of former Presidents would confirm. Joe Biden was a very good choice for Vice-President for he been in Washington for 35 years and knows how to get Obama’s programs through Congress

Governor Sarah Palin After the Election

Governor Sarah Palin After the Election

I was astonished when John McCain picked an unknown Governor of Alaska to be his running mate for Vice-President. After hearing her speak at the Republican Convention I thought what the hell is McCain thinking, she has got to be the worst choice in US History. She did appeal to the Republican Right wing base which he had anyway, to some women at first, but the more even they heard her the more she turned them off. Sarah Palin’s lack of knowledge especially for a Governor of a State is astonishing. Sarah’s Father was a Science Teacher, but neither his wife or his daughter believe in Science maybe she say more about the state of our country that someone like can be elected Governor much less Vice-President.

Sen. John McCain After the Election

I Think John was a fine Senator before he got the desire to run for President then he lost his way. John is a Republican, but he did have some good ideas as Senator and was not always on the “Right Side” of an issue, he was for Campaign financing, against the war in Iraq, against torture and in short was a Social Progressive while being a Fiscal Conservative. Once John decided to run for President he was all for the war and wanted nothing less than victory and he had no other ideas and he started talking about his POW story over and over again or just trying to run down his opponent. Just the want of power changed him for the worst so maybe loosing this election might have been the best thing for him. Maybe the old John McCain will come back to Washington.

Regulate the Airlines and on line ticket Services.

Regulate the Airlines and on line ticket Services.

In the year 2007 we booked a trip to Portugal from Cheap Tickets.com on Delta Airlines for September of 2008 unfortunately I became sick just before the trip and had to cancel the trip. In early August of 2008 we called Cheap Tickets to Cancel and they said that they could only give us credit which we had to use on the same Airline by December 31, 2008. We called a second time because we didn’t think that was right and they told us that they could not cancel the tickets that we had to call Delta Airlines. So we called Delta Airlines and they said that we had to bring a Doctor’s note to a Delta Ticket office they said the nearest one to us was at Islip Airport. So in September we got in our car and drove to Islip Airport where we were told that Delta Airlines is no longer there and we had to go to JFK Airport. We then took the LIRR from Patchogue to the Airtrain to the Delta terminal at JFK. Where after standing on a long line an Delta Agent told us that they would give us a full refund, but that Delta Airlines is only in control of the Tickets ten days before the flight and that Cheap Tickets could have and should have done it before the ten days. He said the on line ticket services are always dumping it on the Airlines by telling their customers to call the Airlines for refunds when they should do it. It seems to me that there is a need for Government regulation of both the Airlines and the On Line Ticket Services because they can not do it themselves.
Adele and Richard Boyle Medford LI NY

Invest in America.

Invest in America.

Where should the hard earn tax money of the Working Class (or if you prefer Middle Class)? Some say just give it back to the tax payer as a Stimulus package, which did not work back in May, so even if we do like getting money in the mail it is a bad idea. Some say to use it to buy more war machinery to kill people that don’t think or look like us, another bad idea. A better idea is to invest it in rebuilding the Electrical Grid of our nation then we can have Mass transit running on electric power, Training people on how to install solar panels with people getting tax breaks for installing them like Germany has been doing for years. Installing more windmills and hydroelectric power all bring high paying jobs that can’t be shipped overseas. Building Electric cars that will replace Gas driven car completely. Improve our education system by studying what makes other countries education systems better than ours for our children are our future we should give them a New Deal.

The Second Presidential Debate

McCain says Obama has never done anything, but everything that is wrong with America is his fault. McCain didn’t bring up Bill Ayers because he knew Obama would be ready for him for a so called war hero he is a real coward. McCain’s answer to the economic upheaval was to claim a mortgage plan that was already in the 700 Dollar Bail out plan and Obama talked about two weeks ago. McCain’s Health care plan is just to give each Taxpayer a 5000 dollar Tax break which would pay for about two months of health care coverage and pay for it by taxing any health care coverage you get from your employer. McCain wants to fight on to “Victory” in Iraq and Afghanistan no matter how long that takes. He also wants to take on Iran as if the American people didn’t have enough of War. McCain’s only mention of education was to say that Obama spent too much on an education bill. McCain agrees with Obama on energy both would spend more on solar, wind, hydroelectric, clean coal, and drill baby drill, but McCain is for giving more to big oil companies while Obama would get America off of oil hopefully in ten years. Obama gets more into detail on what he would do after the bail out in both policing Wall Street and insuring Main Street. Obama’s Health Care Plan is to insure all children and give small business up to 50,000 dollars to pay for health insurance there by helping both employee and employer. Obama’s health care is still not enough, but better than McCain’s no plan. Obama plan for Iraq was said to be surrender not Victory, but is now accepted by both the Bush and Iraqi Governments once again Obama realizes that results not empty words is what is needed. I think Obama won the first two debates and should be elected our next President.

Question; What is free about the Free Market?

A Question to all you well educated people out there especially in the Free Market. What is free about the Free Market? Manufactures and Farmers limit production to drive up prices, fix prices to maximize profits and keeping any one company from becoming a Monopoly there by bring down the government Sherman Antitrust Act on them. Plus the many rules put on both Banks and the Stock Market to keep people from losing too much of their money there by damaging the economy. So with all this in mind should the government have more control over the Financial Systems to protect the working and middle classes?

Looking forward without looking backwards?

In the Vice-President debate Gov. Palin said “we that the McCain-Palin Administration would look forward to the future and not backwards to the past”. Now how can you going forward without knowing where you came from when you go to the food store it is because you know it had good food in the past, but you are buying for the future. When you are hiring someone you want to hire you look into their past to know how they will perform in the future.

Obama vs. McCain first Debate

The talking heads Seem to think has long has McCain keeps talking without Pausing that is all he had to do to win the debate. One of the main things that came across to me was that McCain is more pro war than Obama, McCain seems hell bent on going to war with Iran. You would think a man who suffered as a POW after getting himself shot down over North Vietnam would not want others to suffer the same way, but he comes from a military family and that is where his mind set is with the military. Obama seems to give in to the Military complex to much too, but says he is willing to talk to nations like Iran that have a different way of looking at the world than us. Obama’s family history is different than McCain’s so may give him a better view of the customs of the people in different parts of the world and an appreciation of those differences.
McCain also seem more pro business at the expense of the middle and working classes. It was Obama that talked about cutting taxes, relief for people about to lose their homes, and creating jobs here in America instead of shipping jobs overseas. McCain is for the trickle down theory only the money is trickling on China and India with very little on the American workers.
Looking at the decisions that both candidates have made so far McCain picked Sarah Palin to help him push his programs through Congress and Obama picked Joe Biden to help him push his programs. J.F.K picked L.B.J who put the 1964 civil rights laws and the 1965 voting rights laws through Congress so picking the right Vice President is more important than people seem to think.

Taxpayers getting their Moneys worth

I heard President Clinton on the Daily Show (Wednesday 9/24/2008) talking about the 700 billon dollar “bailout” and what he said made sense, that in exchange for buying a company’s bad mortgage debts the Government should either charge interest on the money loaned to the company or get part of the profits of the company with the money going to pay for Health care for all Americans, Education, rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure plus tax brakes. It seems to me this might be a win/win system. The companies hid themselves of their bad debts and the Taxpayer’s get something back on the money for once. A system can be set up to help people having trouble paying the mortgage and might lose their homes. If our representatives don’t get bogged down with fear words we might come out of this better than we went in.

Paulson Plan

I don't think I understand this plan at all, I think the Government meaning the American Taxpayer will buy all the debt from large Corporations that no one else would even touch there by freeing up money to ship more jobs out of the country, but has it been decided that the plan will pay .40 on the dollar or will they pay the whole dollar and the taxpayer will be the big loser? Another question is how are we going the pay for all the bail outs plus the war debt. America has better start cutting the fat military budget and let some companies fail. We can not avoid all the pain and save the patient.

Globalize Labor

Corporations have become globalized so they can play one group of workers against another. They would threaten countries if they don’t lower their safety standards and the workers lowered their wages or they will go to another country that will. I heard one story where a woman in Bangladesh formed a union of her colleagues to get one penny more per shirt that she made in a sweat shop so that she could give her children meat with their rice, it shouldn’t have made the shirts more than a penny more, but Wal-Mart told them that they would pay 2 cents less per shirt or Wal-Mart would take their business to another country. This is the kind of distortion they play on the workers of the world.
It is time for the workers of the world to Globalize and strike for safely Standards and living wages. First workers must be able to commutate, to this end laptops should be giving to poor workers with training on how to use them. If workers can commutate they will learn that they have some of the same goals, and then they can take action to obtain them. It will take time, but it will be worth it.

Socialism and Democracy

Socialism and Democracy


Any time a Politician or anyone else talks about being fairer to the Middle, Working or poor Classes in the United States of America they are called Socialist. Any program that helps the lower classes is shot down just by calling is a Socialist idea. This is just another way that the Global Corporations Control the people working for cheap wages there by adding to their wealth. It is an old story to be sure they know that with fear and Propaganda they can control the people. Socialism, Labor Unions, Free Public Schools, Social Security, Medicare and Universal Health care are all bad and must be feared. They use the Christian Religion to promote the totalitarian programs that control the people, but keep them free to do what they want. The ideas that Jesus teaches us are Socialist principles that is why the “Christian Right” fights for the Old Testament and not the New Testament. The Corporations use Religion, race, ethic background and Political parties to divide the people into little groups that will not be a threat to them. I also have a fear that it is only when it is too late that the people will unite against their suppressers.
When I was in Italy one of my fellow tourist said that “the Italians will never have a stable Government because too many different factions trying to have their say” I told him that is what they call democracy. He is use to the phony democracy we have in the United States. Where we have “Two Parties” that have similar views both the right of center having destroyed any affective Left wing parties in the 1950’s when they call anyone with what they thought were left leaning ideas a Communist and jailed or black listed them. There is no such thing a liberal that was a word dreamed up by Social Conservatives to call something they don’t like. Progressives who are in the Center are the only ones that keep this Country going toward the right track.

Who should Vote?

When the American forefather’s were debating not only what type of Government they wanted, but who in the future should decide who their representatives in government should be. Now in their time the late 18th early 19th centuries only the Upper and Middle Class were educated. (Not to be confused with what is considered Middle class today, then it meant someone who owned Property or ran their own business, if you worked for someone else you were Working Class) there was no need to educate working class until the industrialization of the 19th Century caused the need for educated workers. The American forefather’s want only informed voters and feared that uneducated voters would be too easily influenced by others to vote against their interest. Those fears may have been well founded up to now, but with the advent of the internet where anyone can go up on a candidate’s Web site and find out where he or she stands on the issues there is now no good reason to vote for a person because of what they are, but what they stand for. So don’t vote for Obama because he is black or Biden because he is the smartest and most qualified, McCain because he was a POW or Palin because she is a woman.


For more information on the issues see Obama’s web site http://www.barackobama.com and McCain web site http://www.johnmccain.com

Vote for the Issues

Vote for Issues not celebrities

Sarah Palin’s speech to the Republican Convention was filled with slogans and ambiguities meant to inspire McCain’s Conservative base. Palin says McCain wants Victory in Iraq and Obama never says the word when talking about Iraq. Funny thing is that is one of the things I like about Obama he knows that “War” is not a Hockey game. There are no winners just Losers, one side loses less than the other, but they are both losers. She says she saved the people of Alaska a half a billon dollars in programs, but never says what programs she cut and what the cut cost the people of Alaska in Health Care or Education were they good or bad cuts we don’t know and she is not saying.
McCain picked Palin to get the Conservative and Women’s vote and that she might do for the Conservative only want to the same old tired slogans like the Democrats will raise your taxes, Lose the war game in Iraq, we will drill because the “Liberals” don’t like that. It is funny that Palin and her husband want to drill since they have worked in the oil companies in Alaska. Women who vote for McCain/Palin just because Palin is a Woman are insulting their sex.
Taxes; Obama says he wants to Cut taxes for the Working class people and drop the Bush Cut for the top one percent, Seniors will “Not” pay income tax for incomes under $50,000.00 If he cut back on Money give-aways to Iraq and Georgia that we can not afford. McCain want to cut the taxes of the Corporate and Oil Companies putting the taxes weight on the Middle and Working Classes.
Health Care; Obama will bring us closer to the rest of the world by Health care affordable to all. McCain has no real Health Care program.
Education; Obama want to make a college education available and affordable to all. McCain of giving out money according to Income for private schools meaning that the rich get a best education as happens now, the Middle Class get a education not as good as the rich, but better than the Working Class, the working Class get a education not as good as the Middle Class, but better than the Poor Class.
For more information on the issues see Obama’s web site http://www.barackobama.com and McCain web site http://www.johnmccain.com

Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin

John McCain just Selected Sarah Palin to be his Vice President who was just elected Governor of Alaska, she was a soccer Mom and Beauty Queen before becoming Governor. We don’t know much about Sarah except that she seems to be Pro-Gun, Pro-War, Anti-Choice, Anti-environment, We don’t know about her stand on Health Care or Education, but we can make a good estimate. If McCain is elected we hope he sees his 80th birthday. I think she is a insult to women, McCain is saying that women will vote only on the base of Sex and not on the issues that matter to them.

Change or Fear you decide

Obama vs McCain
Aug 4, 2008

It is Change against Fear in this election so far as McCain has launched some fear Ads that say that Obama look different than you, has a funny name, we might not “Win” in Iraq, He will raise your taxes etc. All out of the Republican play book of former elections. McCain says all we have to do to lower Gas price is to throw more money at the Big Oil Companies and let them drill off our shores, even if they only drill on 10% of the territory they can drill in now. If they are allowed to drill anywhere they want it would be 10 years before they could get any oil then they would sell it on the open market to China. Obama say he would allow it if the Republican would put some money into new types of Energy Sources, but he should be able to do that anyway without damaging our fishing industry and seashores. They still both want a larger Military which the taxpayer can not afford. What we real need is a better way to elect our Government leaders or a real democracy where we have candidates with reasonable ideas.

Crossing the Great South Bay in 1957

Adventures at Sea
One Saturday in the winter of 1957 some friends and myself were going to go to the Movies, but had a little time to kill and the Great South Bay was frozen over so we decided to walk across the ice and see how far we could get. We of course didn't realize then how dangerous it was, but we did get to the island just across the state channel from Gilgo Beach where we saw an hunter's cabin after looking at it we decided we better get back we were late for the movies. While we were returning across the ice an airplane buzzed us then we saw red light flashing from the shorelines in seems that someone saw us crossing the ice and called the police. We were almost to the shore when one of the older brothers of one of my friends came out to meet us and told Kathy where to walk. She fell though the ice, but got herself out with her legs now wet. I think we would have made it all the way without incident if it wasn't for our "rescuer". But we did get home safely even if we did miss the movie. All the local and City Newspapers Newsday, Long Island Press, Daily Mirror, Daily News, The New York Herald Tribune came to take pictures and do stories on us. It was my luck that summer when I was talking to a couple of friends Botzy and Woody who also lived near us. I told them about the hunter's cabin and they decided that they wanted to see it. So we took a row boat out to the first island and walked across a sallow between the islands finally getting to the hunter's cabin after looking around we returned to the boat only to find that someone had taken our oars and anchor it was getting late so we went back to the cabin. We started a fire in the potbelly stove found some canned soup and went to bed in the cabin's bunk beds. Our families of course became alarmed, it seems that Woody's Father took his cabin courser out to look for us and came up to the cabin, but we were all asleep. So not hearing anything he left. The next morning we decided to walk back to the boat when a Coast Guard boat picked us up. We almost got a helicopter ride but it couldn't land a helicopter ride would have made it almost worth it. My father said he wasn't worried because he could see our row boat and he figured that we were on the island. All the Newspapers came for more pictures and stories. The Herald Tribune also did a human interest story with pictures of kids jumping off the docks. Now of course I and probably my friends where ever they are realize now dangerous going out on the water winter or summer can be. When I was Graduating from Amityville High School class of 1961 the three top students Own K. Bradford, Gary P McColgan and Steven M. Stein all died in a boating accident not far from where we had spent a couple of nights. They stayed with their boat as experts say you should do and in most situations it is the right thing to do, but tragically this time it wasn’t.

America must adjust to the times

I always thought that I lived in American’s Golden Age for my parents had such hard lives. They lived through the great depression (or the great recession as the Walker-Bush Family called it). They both came to America for a better life for their children and my brother, sister and I had much better lives, but so far out of seven of their grandchildren only one is doing better than their parents. My hope is that our country will finally come to grips with the worlds changing dynamics and the lives of their Great-grandchildren will be better than their parents. The American people can no longer afford to police the world it cost too much in both blood and money, it must be shared through the strengthen UN. I would like to know how the candidates are going to fund their domestic programs when they both have said that they want a larger military. America must listen to Al Gore if he has a plan to get us off oil in ten years, life will get better for all the people in this world. The age of super powers maybe over, but that doesn’t mean things will get worst instead of better as more job in energy using solar, wind, and the tides as well as other source if their problems can be solved.

The Vatican Business of Religion

The Vatican Business or Religion

Vatican Orders Records Withheld from Mormons
The Catholic News Service has published an article about new Vatican orders to not cooperate with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the microfilming of records. The Vatican wishes to block posthumous rebaptisms by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a practice that Catholics, Jews, and some others find objectionable.
Catholic dioceses throughout the world have been directed by the Vatican not to give information in parish registers to the Mormons' Genealogical Society of Utah.
An April 5 letter from the Vatican Congregation for Clergy, obtained by Catholic News Service in late April, asks Episcopal conferences to direct all bishops to keep the Latter-day Saints from microfilming and digitizing information contained in those registers.
The order came in light of "grave reservations" expressed in a January 29 letter from the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the clergy congregation's letter said.

When did religion become like private businessman’s clubs, it seems to me that religions are public in the United States that is one of the reasons the don’t pay taxes. So it should be up to the local governments who can access their records.

The Vatican though the years has trouble with their faith, first with the pre-Christians, then the non-Christian in Spain (Muslims and Jews) and now with the Mormons. They obviously they do not believe in Jesus Christ and his wisdoms

Anti-Vatican is not anti-Catholic the local church do a lot of good work and maybe not even listen to this ban at all. It is the Vatican that keeps supporting every dictator that comes along so they can still operate within the country.

The Supreme Court decisions

Supreme Court decisions

The Supreme Court handed down three landmark decisions lately

The Supreme Court recently decided that non-American citizens have the same rights to defend themselves in a court of law as do American citizens by a 5 to 4 vote
The Supreme Court recently decided that the Death Penalty is cruel and Unusual Punishment for People found Guilty of the rape of a child therefore is Unconstitutional by a 5 to 4 vote.
The Supreme Court recently decided that an individual has the right to own guns under the second amendment of the US Constitution by a 5 to 4 vote.

I agree with the first two, first I don’t think you can say some people have rights and others don’t. Everyone in the world should have the same rights as anyone else maybe there should be a World Constitution that guarantees that everyone no matter what your local government says has rights agreed to by a world vote. Second the Death Penalty is barbaric no matter what the crime. Only six states had the death penalty for child rape (the death penalty for adult rape was already declared unconstitutional) and most of them never used it. This decision is a step in the right direction.
The third decision was on the second amendment which reads; A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed. I think the Supreme Court decision that this some how give individual the right to a hand gun is be on me. When it say Militia and people means Local governments not individuals and they must be “well regulated” admittedly this has to be the worst written of the amendments. This decision was purely political and will cost lives. The US Constitution should updated to make it a lot clear or even better a World Constitution with a World Police force that all countries contribute both people and money not just one country.

Obama vs McCain on recent Supreme Court decision

Obama vs McCain

The Supreme Court recently decided that non-American citizens have the same rights to defend themselves in a court of law as do American citizens. Obama rightly says that this is the right decision and that it helps bring back up the reputation of the United States of America. McCain says that it is the wrong decision that only Americans or people that agree with the American Government should have those rights. He says they may hurt Americans if they are let free and they may or may not, but that has nothing to do with the fact that they are human. You either believe in freedom for all or you really don’t believe in it at all. American will be safer if we help protect the rights of all the people of this world and not make American citizens some how better than anyone else. Obama is right on this issue.

The McCain Ad

McCain Ad

A new McCain ad that says we should be sorry for him because he was a prisoner of War in Vietnam so we should elect him our president. He says he hates war and loves peace that is why he wants to keep the Iraq oil war going for another hundred years. We are suppose to believe that we are now “winning” as if war was like a sporting event where one side wins and the other loses, but in actually reality both sides always loses in both lives and money. We can not afford to be the world’s policeman any longer. We have lost too many poor young people who have sir come to false patriotism or the College trap only to die a “hero”. Now McCain went off to war in ‘Vietnam for the same reasons only he thought that joining the Air force was a safer way than to crawling through the jungle with the workingman’s sons, but he got himself shot down and then captured by people that only wanted to be free of foreigners like him.

Little Kenny's first train ride

Kenny Boyle Jr.’s first train ride

My oldest son Michael John Boyle came up with the idea first to take his nephew Kenneth John Boyle Jr who was the son of my youngest son Kenneth John Boyle Sr. to the “City” (meaning Manhattan of course) for Fleet week. I first thought it would be too crowded, but after Mike got Kenny Sr. to go I decided that I wanted to see my Grandson’s first train ride so I told Mike that I would go after all. Adele Grace Eiermann Boyle my Wife and Grandmother to Kenny Jr and Richard William Boyle said that she would stay home with little Richie who was just three years old and would have been a hand full (Kenny Jr was five years old). Josephine Dorothy Coyle Boyle Kenny Jr and Richie’s Mom decided that she want to go too so now we had four adults plus Kenny Jr. going so Mike and I checked the internet and found that some US Navy ships were going to be at the 48th street and 12th Ave (West side drive) pier.
So on Saturday May 24th we all piled into Kenny Sr. and Josephine’s car for it was the only car we have that we all would fit into and Kenny Sr. drove us to Patchogue Railroad station. First I bought my senior ticket which was $13.95 as compared with the others $19.95 for an Off Peak round trips from Patchogue to Penn Station. The Metro-card of which we brought two both with $20.00 on them which was more than we needed, but what the hell they are good for a year. So we got onto the platform and waited for the train where little Kenny’s Uncle Mike started taking his picture I think he actually likes to get his picture taken which both his Uncle Mike and his Grandpa did a lot during this trip to the city.
The train came and we got on to find it was crowded, but at least we did find seats in the same area. Kenny Jr loved looking out the window and after a while said “are we going around in a circle” he was obviously relating the real train to a toy train so if toy trains go around in a circle why not a real trains? Kenny Jr started getting bored looking out the window and said “I have to go to the bathroom” so his Dad took him to look for the “bathroom” actually lavatory first going in one direction only to find of course it was in the other direction. (He did go before we left) We had to change at Jamaica Queens for the train we were riding in was a diesel and are not allowed through the tunnel to Penn Station so we changed to an electric train that is allowed. Fortunately we found seats on that train too even if it was more crowded yet and sure enough Kenny Jr said “I have to go to the bathroom” yet again and his Dad took him again to find the Lavatory and had better luck this time. We finally got into Penn Station and Kenny Jr.’s first train was over, but his first Subway was about to begin.
After coming out of LIRR platform we took the E Train to 50th Street which was just two stops from Penn Station it just stopped at 42nd Street before 50th. Little Kenny loved it the train that wasn’t too crowded and he played with the pole in the middle of the car floor. We must have taken pictures of him like every five minutes, but he didn’t mind it.
When we got out of the Subway Station at 50th St. and 8th Ave we naturally started walking in the wrong direction for some reason the Subway always turns me around direction wise. When we ended up at Broadway and 50th St. I knew we had walked the wrong way and we first showed little Kenny Time Square telling him that now he can say he saw Time Square if only for a second. We walked in the other direction up the 10th Ave then crossed to 48th street and while walking down 48th showing little Kenny all the sites we came upon two Mounted Policeman, I pointed them out to little Kenny and one of the Policeman crossed the street to come close to little Kenny then waved at him and he waved back at the Policeman. Right after that we saw the ships straight across the West side highway.
Access was free, but we did have to go through metal detectors they weren’t as sensitive as the ones at the Airports so you could walk through with your belt on. There were two soldiers with M-16’s as if terrorist are going to attack through their front gates, I wonder if their M-16’s are even loaded or were just for show. One was a female soldier, I think they impressed little Kenny anyway. One of the ships appeared to be a Coast Guard Ship and the other (I forget the names) a Helicopter carrier so we decided to go for the Helicopter Carrier and the lines were not bad a all, when we went to Fleet week a few years ago there were line was long just to get on the pier to get on the JFK that is what I was afraid of, but the crowds were small in comparison. The ship was not that big and they tried to crowd a lot of weapon systems into a small area and that made for a bit of a crowd. Little Kenny want to go on anything that had guns on it. One had a bit of a line because they were only letting a couple of kids at a time on the Vehicle which had two machine guns on it. So we told him to sit in a Hummer type Vehicle with an electronic Machine Gun on it. Then he got upon a Tank and even got into it. I don’t think he has any pro-war toys, but I am sure he at least seen them on TV and some of his friend might have them so I am sure they impressed him. After that we went up on to the flight deck to see the Helicopters. Little Kenny’s Mom brought him through one and his Dad brought him through another. He also liked the view of the city from the flight deck.
Then we left the flight deck and the ship, on the pier we came on some booths and one had what they called the US Navy Seal challenge that is if a kid could do six pull ups or fifty push ups they would win a recruiting poster. Little Kenny wanted to do the pull ups, he did them and got his poster.
Then we walked back up 48th Street looking for someplace to eat lunch as little Kenny kept reminding us that he was hungry. We found a place called Social’s a Bar and Grill with specials of $7.95 each and it was empty so we sat in a back booth. Little Kenny’s Uncle Mike took him to the lavatory for of course he had to go. The men ordered Heineken beers and Josephine and little Kenny had sodas while we played I spied with my little eye with little Kenny on until the food was served. Josephine gave little Kenny half of her Hamburger of which he ate very little. After lunch we decided to go the New York Museum of Natural History to show little Kenny the Dinosaurs.
I had thought that the number 1 or 2 train went to the Natural History Museum which I knew was on Central Park West somewhere in the 80’s. So at the 50th street station we took the number 1 train uptown and got off at 86th Street station because I knew the museum was somewhere in the 80’s when we got out on 86th street I looked up and down and thought I saw more tree in one direction than the other looking for Central Park so we started walking and of course we were walking in the wrong direction again I asked a passer by in which direction was Central Park West and he pointed to the direction we just came from saying it was about four blocks. So we started walking the other way and sure enough we did get to Central Park West, but I wasn’t sure if the museum was above or lower than 86th street so I asked a doorman that was nearby and he said it was on 81st street and when we walked down to 81st street there it was with painted horses in front of it. After taken some more pictures of little Kenny we followed a crazy dressed lady in.
The first thing we saw when we went in was some dinosaurs on display in the lobby. We went up to buy tickets and the casher said the “suggested donation” was 54 dollars do you want to pay that, well Mike wanted to say no I’ll pay a lower amount, but of course we paid the “suggested” amount and we know they need to make money to keep the museum going. We then went in to the room with the stuffed elephants in the middle of the room and displays of stuffed animals that I think are the same ones that were there when I was little Kenny’s age some sixty years ago when my parents brought me to the New York Museum of Natural History.
Little Kenny seemed very interested in the displays looking at each one and asking questions. We wanted to find an elevator and after a little bit of looking we found one and took it to the fourth floor where the big dinosaur display was. When we got there he looked at all the displays and a short movie on how animals evolved. He seemed to like the museum which encourages us to bring him to more museums in the future.
We decided it was time to go home and we went down to the Subway Station that connects to the museum and found a notice saying that the C train was not running this weekend and everyone had to use the A train which we did and it was crowd for the only time during the trip we had to stand, but we got to Penn Station and guess what getting off the subway we first went in the wrong direction.
We got the 4:12 train to Patchogue and little Kenny fell asleep before we got to Babylon where we had to change from our electric train to a diesel train to Patchogue. Little Kenny was very good and I am sure this was only his first trip to the city.

Cluster Bombs

CONTACT CONGRESS TO BAN CLUSTER BOMBS, WAR’S DEADLY DEBRIS
Three young Cambodian boys were playing near their village when they found four small steel
objects that they picked up and used to play an impromptu game of marbles. Their newfound
toys, however, were actually "bomblets" left from a cluster bomb that had been dropped years
before. In the middle of their game, one of the balls was struck by another, triggering an
explosion. One boy died from massive abdominal wounds. The other two boys survived with
serious injuries.
A cluster bomb consists of a canister designed to open in midair
and disperse smaller
submunitions – bomblets that
can kill all living creatures within an area as large as several
football fields. Though designed to explode on impact, many bomblets initially fail to detonate,
leaving behind large numbers of hazardous explosive “duds” that are de facto landmines,
injuring and killing civilians and contaminating the land long after conflicts.
This April is the 33 rd anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, yet millions of unexploded
cluster bomblets litter the countries of Southeast Asia the
deadly garbage left from U.S.
bombing campaigns in the 1960s and 1970s. In Laos alone, more than 11,000 civilians, many of
whom were not born when the bombs were dropped, have been killed or injured by these cluster
bomblets. Stories like the one above are all too common in wartorn
areas countries
affected by
cluster bombs include:
Afghanistan
Albania
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Cambodia
Chad
Croatia
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Iraq
Israel
Kuwait
Laos
Lebanon
Montenegro
Pakistan
Russia (Chechnya)
Saudi Arabia
Serbia (including Kosovo)
Sierra Leone
Sudan
Syria
Tajikistan
Vietnam
Western Sahara
Cluster bomblet duds are killing and maiming civilians and US troops in Iraq; Lynn Bradach, the
mother of a U.S. marine who was killed in Iraq by a U.S. cluster bomb, has asked Congress to
honor the memory of her son by passing a ban on the weapon that killed him
Like landmines, cluster bomblets must be located and destroyed one by one, a dangerous, costly,
and timeconsuming
process they
have proven to be a serious and longlasting
threat to
civilians, soldiers, peacekeepers, and clearance experts.
B1
Lancer releasing cluster bombs
The United States has the largest stockpile of cluster munitions in the world and is a major user,
exporter, and producer of the weapon. The U.S. has a stockpile of about 5.5 million cluster
bombs that’s
728 million bomblets Aerojet, Alliant TechSystems, General Dynamics, L3
Communications, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, and Textron Defense
Systems are all associated with the production of cluster bombs
Cluster bomblet.
The Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act (Senate Bill 594, House Bill 1755) is a step
towards mitigating the death and destruction caused by cluster bombs, one step towards ending
the horror of war. This legislation would:
(a) Immediately prohibit the use of cluster bombs in or near populated or urban areas.
(b) Require governments using U.S.made
cluster bombs to quickly clean up unexploded
bomblets.
(c) Prohibit the use, sale, and transfer of U.S. made cluster bombs containing bomblets
with a failure rate of more than one percent; as nearly all cluster bombs in the US arsenal
have a failure rate of more than one percent, this would essentially ban the use and sale of
cluster bombs.
Below are members of Congress who are considered potential ‘swing’ votes in supporting the
Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act. As veterans for peace we draw on our own personal
experiences to raise awareness of the true costs and consequences of war. We must raise our
voices and tell these members of Congress to support the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection
Act.
Senator Norm Coleman—MN
Senator Chuck Hagel*—NE
Senator George Voinovich—OH
Senator Gordon Smith—OR
Senator Arlen Specter—PA
Senator Susan Collins ME
Representative Jeff Flake—AZ
Representative Chris Shays—CT
Representative Jim Saxton—NJ
Representative Chris SmithNJ
Representative James Walsh—NY
Representative Walter Jones—NC
Representative Ralph Regula*—OH
Representative Steven LaTourette—OH
Representative Phil EnglishPA
Representative Joe Pitts*PA
Representative Ron Paul*TX
*Veterans
Offices, phone numbers, & email addresses can be found at www.senate.gov and
www.house.gov.
The Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act is a step towards the US joining the more
than eighty countries which support a treaty banning cluster bombs. The Cluster
Munitions Civilian Protection Act is a step towards ending one horror of war, one step
towards peace.
Cluster bomb victim
RESOURCES & INFORMATION
Human Rights Watch http://hrw.org/doc/?t=arms_clusterbombs
US Campaign to Ban Landmines http://www.banminesusa.org/
Friends Committee on National Legislation
http://www.fcnl.org/weapons/clusterlanding/clusters_landing9.htm
Article
compiled by Mike Felker, VFP Chap. 31 member, who served as a hospital
corpsman with the 1 st Marine Division in Vietnam in 1970 and cared for the victims of
landmines and other weapons, mfelker@cis.upenn.edu

Spitzer, Paterson and oh yeah the election

"I did not live up to what was expected of me"

A prominent politician, especially one known for a certain righteousness, is alleged to be a customer of high-priced call girls.

As Spitzer resigns, David Paterson becomes New York's governor and a pioneer. But can he end the state's gridlock?

Reverend Wright an Obama supporter said:

"Hillary was not a black boy raised in a single parent home. Barack was," Wright says in a video of the sermon posted on YouTube. "Barack knows what it means to be a black man living in a country and a culture that is controlled by rich white people. Hillary! Hillary ain't never been called a 'nigger!' Hillary has never had her people defined as a non-person."

Ferraro stirred controversy with her recent remarks that Obama's campaign was successful because he was black.

Castro Retires and Obama wins the Cheese and Pineapple states

Raul Castro bring "Change to Cuba"

The Baseball cap instead of the

Block Cap of his brother Fidel

Obama may change things in Cuba, but McCain will blow another chance to

improve things for the Cubian people

Looks like Obama vs McCain

McCain = spent taxpayer's money on other countries.

Obama = spent taxpayer's money on America.

Presidental Election as of 30 Jan 2008

Obama wins South Carolina

Hillary and McCain win Florida

Edwards drops out

What is a debate anyway?

Hillary and Barack point out each other’s weakness and try to put fourth their strong points, now I am just a common old working man, but isn’t that what debates are all about?

Nevada and the Republican South Carolina Primaries

McCain wins South Carolina and Mitt Romney picks up Nevada for the Republicans

Hillary Clinton wins in Nevada, but race with Barack Obama is still close for the Democrats.

The Michigan Vote of Jan 15 2008

Michigan Vote:

Mitt Romney 40%

John McCain 30%

Mike Huckabee 16%

Ron Paul 6%

Frederick Thompson 4%

Rudy Giuliani 3%

Hillary Clinton 55%

Dennis Kucinich 4%

Hillary and Meet the Press

Hillary was on Meet the Press with Tim Russert plowing over very old ground, it was more Histroy than News.

Lets elect a President 2008 as of Jan 10

http://www.hillaryclinton.com/action/conversation/conversation.aspx?sc=1100

http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/semr?source=SEM-register-google-obama-search-national

http://www.johnedwards.com/

Lets elect a President 2008 as of Jan 5

Terrorist our new enemy

Symbols and Attitudes

People seem to think that Symbols like flags and the Swastika is what makes people like the Nazi, Fascists or American patriots think the way they do. It is not the Symbols it is the Attitude of the people that “We are better than anyone else” We are Rich and “they” are poor so we must be smarter and better bred than they were therefore better. We are German, Japanese, Roman, or Americans etc. so we must be better than anyone else. If Attitudes don’t change it won’t matter if you change Symbols.
The Christians found when the Bible was finally printed and available to anyone that can read that it was the words of Christ that shapes one’s attitude toward the poor and less fortunate and not the symbols like the cross. It is an attitude of bring people together Rich and poor that makes a real Christian.
The world is under going another great change as a Global culture is starting to grow, but people don’t like to see their local culture become museum peaces for tourists. It can be a good thing if this brings understanding between people and fewer differences. There were many cultural changes in the past some good and some bad, but people had to change with them and so will we, hopefully with a better Attitude toward one another.

Immigrants Access to Driver’s Licenses

Immigrants Access to Driver’s Licenses

Even as a common old working man I can see that giving Driver’s Licenses to immigrants is good the security of the United States as it documents the before undocumented. Governor Spitzer of New York announced that New Yorkers can obtain a driver’s license without regard to their immigration status. The new policy will benefit millions of New York residents, as hundreds of thousands of motorists who used to be uninsured will be able to obtain a driver’s license and automobile insurance making our roads safer.
Congress passed the Real ID Act in 2005 in an attempt to federalize state driver’s licenses by imposing a broad array of regulations on how they are issued and verified. Should the Real ID Act become law in New York, it will force the Department of Motor Vehicles into the business of enforcing federal immigration law by again requiring that all driver’s license applicants prove their lawful immigration status.
States are not required to implement the Real ID Act, and seventeen states already passed legislation rejecting it. Governor Spitzer to protect the important progress made should express his opposition to the federal Real ID Act.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks, anybody Listening?

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks,
But is anybody listening.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran was invited to talk and answer some questions at Columbia University on September 24, 2007. Columbia University President talked before Ahmadinejad and told the students not to listen to him that all he is going to say are lies. Lee Bolinger the University President is called a expert on freedom of speech, but he seems to say you can talk, but I’ll have cotton in my ears (some expert), instead of let him speak then telling the students where he was wrong and why, but Lee instead insulted not only Ahmadinjad, his university, but both Iran and the United States of America. A lot of what he said was obviously untruths like more children dieing in Iran than anywhere else, what about Africa, Iraq and Afghanistan which of course calls into question the rest of his “facts”.
Ahmadinejad actually answered all the questions given to him before they were even asked, but not with the answers the professors wanted to hear. Nuclear power Ahmadinejad said that they were using it for peaceful purposes and international agencies have confirmed this. This should be easily checked out the fact we have not heard that he is wrong does this mean he is right?
What should have been the main topic Human Right inside Iran got only a little time most of which was about a Columbia University intellectual that got in trouble with the law in Iran? Like most Islamic countries Iran does not live up to Western standards for Human Rights.
What was the most talked about topic was the Holocaust and Israel which seem to be the most important to the professors and students. He said there is a need for more research from a different prospective, but many seem to fear what more research would find out after all there is a lot under that rug. He said there should be elections in Palestine to see what kind of country “they want”. He said “You know quite well that Palestine is and old wound. For 60 years these people are being displaced, for 60 years these people are being killed, for 60 years on a daily basis there’s conflict and terror, for 60 years innocent women and children are destroyed by helicopter and airplanes”
When asked about homosexuals he made a joke in an effort not to answer the question. Iran is ruled by Islamic clerks who watch over everything the government of Iran does and like most religious groups they don’t like homosexuals.
What happen in New York that day tells us more that freedom of search has a long way to go in both countries than anything about Iran.

Sicko

I thought Sicko was Michael Moore’s best film so far because he covered all his facts with sources, which he did not always do in his other films leaving it up the movie going public to check the facts by reading books on the issues. There are two reasons that I can think of for this, one is the subject matter there are more sources on health care than any other subject and two it would have made his other movies less entertaining it is easer to list sources in books than in films unless you put them in the credits that no one reads.
The big difference between Michael Moore’s Critics and Michael Moore is his backs his facts with sources and his critics don’t. Michael Moore made CNN back down from many of their criticisms. A lot of what the supporters of the American Medical system say about the other systems around the world are either lies, BS, half truths, or true about one system, but not about others and many are also true about the American system sometimes worst in America. The thing that Americans hate most is Taxes which would go up a lot if we went to a one payer system, but that would be made up for in the fact that we or our employers would pay less for Medical Insurance making America more competitive in the world job market. The fact that we are 37th in health care does not mean there are not good things about the American system and the fact that France is number one does not mean that they don’t have problems, but medical care for profit have problems built into it that other systems don’t

Fireworks for the Fourth or the Fourth for Fireworks

Fireworks for the Fourth or the Fourth for Fireworks

The fourth of July 1776, the day John Hancock signed the Declaration of Independence (the others signed much later) was the date set a side has the date the United States of America started. Actually independence didn’t come until 1789 when the treaty of London was signed. Since I was a kid the fourth has been celebrated with Fireworks, but I always thought that the important thing was that it is Independence Day not the Fireworks themselves. Fireworks are nice, but they shouldn’t be the important thing. They are not freedom as some have said they are dangerous and should only be in the hands of Professionals

First Democratic Debate

The first Democratic debate on April 26, 2007 in SC in my humble opinion helped me to get to know the positions of some of the candidates.

Former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel; I did not know him before and even if they did treat him like a potted plant, when he did get to talk he was very good and I liked him a lot, but they will probably make him look like a nut. I don’t know what his position on other issues than Iraq like health care and education.

Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich; I like his position on Iraq, but I would have to hear more about his positions on health care and education.

Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards; I think he has the most detailed position on health care, education and how he would pay for it. He has to work of his Iraq position a little more other than saying he is sorry for his vote on the war.

New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton; she has a good position on the war in Iraq if she gets elected, she has had a great position on health care since she was first lady. I would like to hear more about education, but her husband was good on education when he was president.

Delaware Sen. Joe Biden; he has the best position on Iraq of any of the candidates, but I need to hear more about health care and education.

Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd; another potted plant they didn’t call on him much, but he sounds like a run of the mill politician. I didn’t hear his position on Iraq, Health care or education.

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama; he said he is against the war, but when asked how he would respond he sounded more pro-war than anti-war and he had very poor response to health care and I am still waiting for his position on education

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson; Poor on Iraq, Gun control, health care and education. He fell more than anyone in my opinion as a result of this debate

Military Lies

Since the first recorded military report thousands of years ago there probably has not been one account of military action that has told the whole truth. Which is why they say that history is written by the victors and today’s military is no different.
The Pat Tillman and Jessica Lynch stories illustrate how easily the military lies without even thinking about it. Pat Tillman was said by the military to have been killed the enemy in a firefight with al-Qaida and Taliban troops as he led his unit to assist a group of ambushed soldiers. Actually Tillman was killed by a group of US Soldiers that were itching for a firefight and mistook him for the enemy. The military also said that they took him to a hospital where they continued medical care. Actually his head was half blown off and he was dead on the battlefield. The question for congress is how far up does the cover up go.
Jessica Lynch an Army truck driver who was captured in an ambush during the early days of the Iraq war. The military put out the story of the little girl Rambo from the hills that went down fighting. This was not true she was wounded with broken legs and a cut to her head and she had pasted out. She said that she thought this might not be bad because “it would inspire our troops and rally a nation”. What she wants to inspire our troops to do what is the question is it to take unnecessary risks trying to be another Rambo and endangering their lives and that of their follow troops.
So when you hear stories from a War Zone take them with a lot of salt.

Don Imus and Free Speech

What Don Imus said was not covered under the first amendment because he stepped on other people’s rights mainly the Girls on the Rutgers Basketball team and he has a history of using his radio program to do just that to others. The right wing media has tried to marginalize the issue by pointing out how many people were on Don Imus’s show, or how many people had to apologize publicly giving them another excuse to play the file film of President Clinton which has nothing to do with making racial and sexist statements on the air. Speech has never been free actually the ink was not dry on the first amendment when the Government made it against the law to say anything against the president (John Adams) and his administration. Eventually that law was repealed I’ll bet some in the Bush Administration wishes it hadn’t been. No one should have a right that hurts other people that is why Don Imus was and should have been fired.

Cho's Message

Cho’s Message to NBC


Seung-Hui Cho sent a package to NBC containing Photos, Videos and his writings mostly a lot of double talk about the fact he came from a poor family and had to work hard for what he got. When other students seem to have everything they wanted for little or no work. Now they say that Cho was mentally ill and some people knew about him being dangerous for months if not years a judge even said he was dangerous to himself and others. The question here is was he ignored because he was Korean or what? Why was he still able to buy handguns when he had a history of being mental ill? Another question is if his family had stayed in Korea would he have been set off by better off Koreans? You don’t hear of Massacres in other Countries unless there is a war going on. So maybe it was a combination of things. He is poor while other students seem like spoiled brats with everything, but not looking at the fact he had a lot more than other people. He might have felled like an outsider, but there were students from all races and one of his victims was Korean herself. He might have been caught up in the American culture of violence that made the other pressures come to a boiling point that otherwise wouldn’t have happened.

Virginia Tech Massacre

Virginia Tech Massacre

The first report about the Virginia Tech Massacre I heard from CNN was that it set a new record for school massacres, that’s what we need to set new goals for our young people. Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine said he didn’t think anyone should use the Virginia Tech massacre for a political hobby horse while he flew back as fast as he could from Japan to gave a news conference on something he knew nothing about so he could get his Photo-op. Everyone from University officials, Campus police and Doctors patted themselves on the back at how well they did and no one should look back on their actions (Monday morning quarterbacking, 20/20 hind site etc), but the only way we learn from our mistakes is to review our work or we will repeat our mistakes over and over again. The only way to change the culture of Violence is to educate future generations that violence only begets more violence and to give peace a chance.

Wild West America

We all watched as the Pro-Gun people were trying to explain away Cho Sung-Hui with such statements as “there were too few guns on campus”, “It is irresponsibly dangerous to tell citizens that they may not have guns at schools.” This is just some examples of the thinking of the Pro-Gun Culture in America and that keeps the United States of America near the top of Murder by firearms Number eight behind South Africa, Colombia, Thailand, Zimbabwe, Mexico, Belarus, and Costa Rica. It is interesting to note that Countries with Gun Control have low murder rates per-capita than countries that don’t. See the Web site below:
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_mur_wit_fir_percap-crime-murders-firearms-per-capita

Gun control measures might have made it hard for Cho Sung-Hui to get a gun, but not impossible, what is need is a change in the Pro-Gun Culture which is one of the reasons that Virginia Tech Campus Police did not shut down the campus after the first shooting and a gunman which still loose on campus. It was too normal for someone to shoot his girlfriend in Virginia; if they had thought different they might have saved 31 lives.

A True Planetary Emergency

Al Gore took his case to save us from ourselves to Congress and I for one thought he made a good case. Judging from the reaction of the Senators some seem to think of Global Warming another way Liberals are tiring to keep them from making money. This is not an issue like evolution that can and probably will be debated until the end of time. Changes that Al Gore and Scientist (Scientist not in the employ of Corporations or Government) says must be made now or the end of time will be sooner than we think. We all may have to pay a little more now, but our children and our children’s children will receive a world worth living in.

St. Patrick's Day 2007

When the Irish Catholics came to America they to a Man and Women were of the Working Class many in the 1840’s were escaping Starvation in Ireland when Countries like Britain and America would only help non-Catholic Irish. When the Irish got to America they found they were hated as much here as in their homeland except in America they had food. So you would think they would have empathy with other minorities that are suffering the same way their ancestors did and some do, but a lot seem to think the best way to be accepted by Society is to become the haters instead of the hated. They have turned Irish originations into hate groups and have excluded some minorities from the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade. I am picking on the Irish, but other ethic groups have followed this path as well. The world would be a lot better place for all people if you just would remember where you came from!
Happy St. Patrick's Day

Democrats take over Congress

Yes it is a good thing that the Democrats have taken over the house by a good margin and the Senate barely because it put some progressives the head of some committees. There are more progressives in the Democratic Party than the Republican Party. The question is there enough progressives to get anything done for the working class in America, it seems that so far Congress has been tried up with Iraq and sending more working class people to died, than social programs to help them. Now they are starting the 2008 Presidential race ahead of time. So it seem like the good news is the Republicans are not in control of Congress and the bad news is that the Democrats are.

I return at last

You might have noticed (but probably not) that I have not posted since October 2006. I have some excuses like I was busy with putting videos on YouTube, digitizing old photos, a trip to Ireland and a little thing called prostate cancer.
The videos I put on YouTube are mostly of the trips my wife and I have taken over the years. Some are Slideshows other videos (one from 1977 was on super 8 film) I put music to a lot of the slideshows and videos and have gotten a good response from the YouTube viewers.
It’s going to take me a long time to digitize the entire old photo collection especially since when I find a new and better way to do it I go over what I already did, but it keeps me alive.
Our trip to Ireland was great and you can see videos of it on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=bellrich . we went to Dublin for a week then to Kerry on the west coast of Ireland.
The Doctor gave me the options of doing nothing about my prostate cancer in the hopes that something else would kill me before the cancer could. Implanting radio active seeds in my prostate or removing my prostate. There are side effects to all the options, so I took the middle one and had seed implants.
There have been a few big news events since I last posted and I will try to catch up.

What Military option?

North Korea, Bush’s Military option?


In his Rose Garden News Conference Bush laid out what he thought were his options.
One; bilateral talks with North Korea by the Bush administration which Bush says will not work because Kim Jong-Il has told “Lies” before.
Two; get other nations in the area that are in harms way like South Korea, Japan, Russia and especially China to pressure North Korea to give up their Nuclear Arms.
Three; The Military Option bomb and invade North Korea.
Now Bush being a wise man says he chooses option two, but he says option three is still on the table. The reporters let him get away with this and some seem to want him the bomb North Korea.
Well I am just a common old working man, but it seems to me that we couldn’t handle North Korea in the 1950’s when that was the only war we were fighting and we had the drift. Now with an Army of only people we can fool into joining and fighting two and a half wars it seems to me that Bush has no military option and in fact has only the option he so wisely chose.

Anne Greenwood Hunter dies at home in Scotland

BIOGRAPHY OF ANNE HUNTER


Anne was born in Alva in 1944, daughter of Mary Greenwood sister of Jeanette.

Post war Scotland had little to offer but, Anne spent a lot of her childhood holidays with her Uncle Peter and Aunt Jes, along with her cousin Sheena. On leaving school
Anne worked in the Mills at Alva along with most of her friends.

In the year of 1960 love was found under the Ochil Hills, when a skinny young man moved in over the road from Anne. She soon became the wife of Donald Stuart McLean Hunter. Their love grew to the sounds of Cilla Black and Cliff Richards.

Anne and Stuart lived in Alva for the next 10 years where they had their first two children, Dorothy and Vivien

They left in the year of 1970 with another daughter in their arms, Valerie, and moved to Grangemouth as Stuart had a new job in the BP.

Anne looked after her three daughters and then along came her long awaited and adored son Stuart.

For Anne and Stuart their family was complete and they were over the moon with their four children, well for most of the time!!

Over the next years Anne worked as a cleaner and then moved to a small company making blinds, she made a few good friends during these years.

They stayed in Moray Place and they have indeed been living there for the last 36 years.

She made more good friends there, the Quinny’s and the Shaw’s to name but a few. The neighbours all had children and there were always groups of kids coming and going into all the neighbouring houses.

Every Sunday without fail Anne would attend Church with these neighbours and in the early years the children were ‘dragged along’ also, she was always trying to save their souls. She was also a Sunday School teacher for a number of years at the Dundas Church.

Over the next years Dorothy, Vivien, Valerie and Stuart grew up, married and of course along came the grandchildren, Scott, Steven, Kathyrn, Alasdair, Emma and finally little Millie.

Anne loved and adored all her grandchildren from the oldest to the youngest, her years were spend looking after them whilst their parents worked, helping them with their homework, playing games with them and of course wiping away their tears when they were ill or had hurt themselves.

When she got time off from the grand children, Anne loved her TV, loved to watch morning television seeing what other people were up to in their lives. And of course when the summer came Big Brother took up all of her time, when visitors came during this time they knew they would have a fight to get any other conversation from Anne other than what had been happening on Big Brother.

Anne never stopped worrying about all her children and grand children over the years, always making sure they were okay, and, of course, was always ‘praying for their souls’ every Sunday at Church. She was a very caring person and was there whenever she was needed.

Anne and Stuart had an amazing marriage and their love was solid for the full 45 years they had together.

This love was a great foundation for their family, who never strayed very far from the nest, and Stuart and the children have drawn great strength from it in the last week since Anne has passed away.

Anne was taken suddenly from the family and there is a now a huge hole in all of their lives. This will never be filled but it will slowly shrink with the love of family and friends.


One breath here, the next you were gone,
A saving grace is your pain was not long,
We hoped to have you for a good while yet,
The things we never said fill us with regret.

You taught us to love with perseverance,
Let us live our lives without interference,
We’re better people for having known you,
We have each other to pull us through.

You’ve earned your rest and a place above,
All things must die but never love,
We’ll only think of the happy times together,
Knowing you’ll be part of us forever.

Don't let the Media tell you what to think

Media News or Inductions?

This week we have seen the Television News both Network and Cable Demonize international leaders Mahmoud Ahmadinjad, Hugo Chavez and our own Bill Clinton.
The Media has been doing a job on Mahmoud for a while trying to picture him as a nutty leader of Iran who refuses to give in to western pressure to give up Iran’s Nuclear program. This week at the UN in New York he made a great speech in which he came out against the Western Powers control of the UN though the Veto. Usually the American people can not hear full speeches, but are only told what is said though the Media the way they want you to hear it. So they had to demonize him in some way and they came up with an old speech of his where he is said (by the Media) to have denied the Holocaust, but really said that more than Jews died in World War two and that the Arabs had nothing to do with the Holocaust, but are being punished for it.
Now Hugo Chavez also made a speech to the UN in New York this week in which he started out with a joke about Bush being the devil, but the rest of the speech was about the corporations exploration of the People of South America and now he is trying to improve the lives of his people. Hugo also made a speech in a church in Harlem where he increased the Fuel discount three times to poor Americans. The only thing the American people would hear from the Media was the first few minutes of his UN Speech in which he made his joke about Bush unless they turned to C-span and heard the full speech. Some politicians really said only American citizens can criticize the president confusing President with King we do not have Royal Citizens in this country.
Bill Clinton made the big mistake of giving the Foxy news network an interview. It was to be about his Global Program to give billions of dollars help feed the people of the world, stop Global Warming, give Medical care to areas that need it and more that I can’t remember. The Foxy Newsman sandbagged him with a fake question asking him why he let 9/11 happen, he of course got mad, but kept his cool and give it right back to the Foxy “News” reporter. The only News that reported it right that I saw was NBC News.
People should not let someone on television or newspaper form your opinion about world leaders hear them out then form your opinion.

Freedom of Religion


The first Amendment to the Bill of Rights to the Constitution of the United States of America states:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, prohibition the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of Grievances.”
Later counts have used this for the establishment of the wall of separation between church and state this was never meant to protect the state from religion, but religion from itself. The framers of the constitution had seen what happens when one religion becomes dominate in both the Puritans in Massachusetts and the Anglicans in Virginia (Jamestown). Especially the Puritans who burned people at the stake if the didn’t believe the same as they did. The main ones who fought for freedom of religion were James Madison and Thomas Jefferson along with John Adams and Ben Franklin, Madison wrote “Whilst we assert for ourselves a freedom to embrace, to profess and observe the religion which we believe to be divine origin, we cannot deny an equal freedom to those whose minds have not yet yielded to the evidence which has convinced you.”
They saw the use of the word God by the Government as a “Public God” which could mean a divine God in heaven or just the human spirit that moves humankind forward whatever your personal believes are it was meant to mean all things to all people. They did not live in the fancy world that school history books put them in, but the real world in which they knew there would always be those that would try to make their religion the dominate one in the nation that is why the first amendment.
There are those today that are trying to make this a Christian America, put their prays in public schools, to make all student learn Science the way their Bible says there by making their religion the dominate one. Thank God there are groups like the ACLU that fights for our freedom of religion and other right given to us by the Constitution.
Note: some idea and saying from the American Gospel by Jon Meacham. You can find out a lot more on this subject by reading this book.

Bush "they just don't listen"

Bush’s News Conference

George W said people are not listening to him, but the real trouble is that he or anyone else in his gang is listening to themselves. When George W was asked about why America got into the Iraq War he said that first was the Weapons of Mass Destruction which we found out that he didn’t have any, but he thought in would be nice to have some. Bush being a religious man and thinking about sinning is just the same as doing it. Then came the classic Bush he said after all we have to remember the attack on the World Trade Center that killed 3,000 then the reporter ask what Saddam Hussein had to do with 9/11? Bush answered nothing! No one ever said they did which of course he just did and has done many time in the past three years as well as his VP as done also. So it seems that they don’t listen to themselves.

Terrorist Bomb Plot?

Terrorist Bomb Plot?

The world is in a panic over a Allege Bomb Plot to blow up from one to ten planes going from London to the USA or a least American’s and Brittan’s fear of terrorist is reinforced. This even if Scotland Yard or FBI have yet to find any Explosive of any type, the people arrested didn’t even have passports or tickets, what were they waiting for, but ho one of them called his brother in Pakistan how unusually. A couple of the arrested people made videos watch out all you U-Tube fans. I am sure the governments of UK and USA will come up with more which of course they can’t tell us about like Islamic Charities sending them money. How much money do you need for this plan it seem to be a low cost plan to me and why did so many people know about it? It seems like part of the plan was to be found out.
Public opinions in both America and Brittan is increasingly turning against the Middle East wars they needed something to reinforce public fear the British wanted to wait, but the American Government wanted the plot to break before the November election.

Terror Alert there must be an Election coming.

Election = Orange Alert

Now I am just a common old working lad, but has anyone besides me noticed that when elections come nearer the terrorist alerts come more often. The last time we heard these color alerts was in 2004 about six months before the Presidential Election. The closer the election came the more often the Alerts they were coming weekly by the end of October. They even came up the film clip of Osama bin Laden just before the election. Osama bin Laden of course was in the employ of the CIA to fight against the Soviets in the 1980’s that is how he got his start. The art of fear Politics is hardly new, but Bush and his gang have brought it to a new level.
Using fear as to control the Masses is as old as the human race. It was use by many people though out history to gain and keep their hold on power. When America geared up for World War two Capitalist found that a lot of money was to be made in the defense industry if they just keep the public in fear of something. First it was Nazism, then Communism and now the best one of all Terrorism which they can keep on going forever if we let them. The next alert will be at the end of October

What is a life worth?

When we listen to Israeli officials talk about the Lebanon’s civilian deaths they don’t seem to think Arab lives are worth much, certainly not as much as Israeli lives. The Israeli’s seem to think to destroy Hezbollah is to kill as many Arabs as possible. But it is human nature to value your national Citizens more than whose of other nations. What about the Arabs themselves the Hezbollah and other much groups came up with the suicide bomber that targets civilians, kills a loyal supporter of the Group and usually turns public opinion against them. The Hezbollah rockets seem to be more like World War two rockets that you just fire in the general direction of your target. When it runs out of fuel it comes down usually killing civilians.
It seems to me that both sides should have figured out by now that they can’t wipe out the other side and there for must come to some kind of an agreement. I am just a common old working lad, but I seems to me that they could come to that agreement before they started killing civilians most of who are children.
Then there are the young people that risk and sometimes give up their lives willingly sometimes for a lies told by their leaders. Just because these young people want to be heroes does not mean governments or any leader has a right to take their lives unless they tried everything else and there is no other way.

Ned Lamont's Primary Victory

Peace Movement Victory

The Democratic Primary victory of Ned Lamont was a victory over the mainstream media who pushed Joe Lieberman before and after the Primary. All the interviews were with Sen. Joe Lieberman and rarely mentioned Ned Lamont except as that Anti-War or leftist candidate and yet enough voters saw though that to vote for Ned Lamont. I am sure that the Mainstream Media will continue to do the same up to November.
There seems to be the view of the elite in this country to keep the view of both national parties the same to keep the working people from their fair share of the profits that they help to make. If a Political party says “it has a big tent that except both sides of issues” that mean one side is not going to be heard.