100,000 more Iraqi deaths than usual since US occupation

FINALLY, somebody managed to get in there and count this. I've been looking for this information for a year, but there was only partial information from the bodycount website.

source:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8243-2004Oct29.html?nav=hcmodule

And G. Bush call himself "pro-life"? Only to get votes, I think.

To this, one of my good friends wrote:

All destruction of human life is evil. But for a comparison, it is estimated over 44 million lives have been lost through elective abortion.

I guess the question is what we doing about it?

Since our "leaders" are actively promoting death in the Middle East, some for profit, some just out of arrogance, that seems to me to be clearly wrong. And that is directly the President's responsibility. It's in his hands. Directly. He acts proud to present United States violence as his policy.

On the other hand, he doesn't have that much effect on the abortion issue, because the American people have more say than he does, through the court system, and through the fact that, legal or illegal, abortion is always an event that happens in private. In the big picture, abortion and suicide are both deaths that can mostly be prevented by addressing the conditions that surround the event (which has implications for dealing with both abortion and suicide-terrorism).

People tell me that all these [irresponsible, probably criminal] acts that this administration keeps pulling are justified because Bush signed the partial-birth abortion bill and supports faith-based initiatives. As far as I can tell, that bill never had much effect on abortions, and anyone who knows law knew that it would be useless, except as a statement, even before it was passed.

Maybe as a statement it might be another case of "going in the right direction." But I think it was more about campaigning to his "base." Bush is a great campaigner. I don't think he's working for the babies at all, and he's not effective at ANYTHING that requires subtlety, skill or appreciation of pluralism.

I'll say one thing. This has sure wakened me up to the fact that we can't be just leaving abortion to politicians and lawmakers, "other" people and laws. I used to do a lot of work with Girl Scouts, where I had direct influence on young people, on helping them match values and actions. Since then, the only thing I've done is give money to the people who put up pro-life signs and billboards. Not a very good record on that issue.

To John Kerry I say:

You haven't managed to give pro-life people a way to vote for you. Can't you find a way to say:

"Abortion has always been with us, but in our responsibility to protect the vulnerable, there are things that we will do. We have to respect the mother and the unborn.

"No law yet devised would be able to eliminate abortion, but we can cut it by ??% in eight years if we do _____."

Surely there's something you guys can come up with that can fit the bill. Just figure it out.

I have faith that you, as president, have the capacity to be one of our best presidents. I say this because of your past record, including the parts of your record that this campaign seems to make you want to disown.

Keep the faith! I'll keep working to get the vote out.

pax,
maggie hettinger

Voting For a Butterfly Endorsement

Neat article. Amy clued me in to this one.

Also, Ralph Nader's paragraph-sound-bite on NPR yesterday made a lot of sense. He talked about the way the representation for votes has been gerry-mandered so much that we are trapped in a perpetual continuation of incumbents according to party. That's why it's so important to maintain other parties. (He explained it in different words, more understandable.)

Randomness--A house divided.

It's been a long time since I explicitly mentioned randomness, even though it the concept that always commands my attention.

Teenagers speak of "random" as if it is everywhere. Always available and operative. Ordinary.

But, as I've explained elsewhere, it is not. It is a highly-prized commodity, whose existence must strongly be supported by high degrees of order. In the interconnected world of matter and life, the level within a system in which randomness appears is crucial.

Any perception of randomness somehow also corresponds with a delineation, a bifurcation of some set of opposites that polarize in relationship to the capability of randomness.

And our current political/social system is caught in a highly-visible exercise of the condition in which the capability of randomness that enables evaluation is not operating in its usual mode. So where is it functioning now? What exactly IS the new order that is forming? We can feel the polarization, but what is it really?

If we could first know where we are and whither we are tending, we could better judge what to do and how to do it.

We are now far into the fifth year, since a policy was initiated, with the avowed object, and confident promise, of putting an end to slavery agitation.

Under the operation of that policy, that agitation has not only not ceased, but has constantly augmented.

In my opinion, it will not cease, until a crisis shall have been reached, and passed--
"A house divided against itself cannot stand."

I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free.

I do not expect the Union to be dissolved--I do not expect the house to fall--but I do expect it will cease to be divided.

It will become all one thing, or all the other.

---Opening lines of A. Lincoln's Speech delivered at Springfield, Illinois, at the Close of the Republican State Convention, June 16, 1858

Creation.

Al Gore | 'Take Our Country Back'

t r u t h o u t - Al Gore | 'Take Our Country Back':
It the article linked above, Al Gore dissects President Bush's ideology. He says Bush is not stupid, not blinded by religious faith, but following, inflexibly, a "right-wing Republican ideology that exalts the interests of the wealthy and of large corporations over the interests of the American people. Love of power for its own sake is the original sin of this presidency."

excerpts:

We know from the 9/11 commission that within hours of the attack, Secretary Rumsfeld was attempting to find a way to link Saddam Hussein with 9/11. We know the sworn testimony of the President's White House head of counter-terrorism Richard Clarke that on September 12 th - the day after the attack: 'The president dragged me into a room with a couple of other people, shut the door, and said, 'I want you to find whether Iraq did this…I said, 'Mr. President…There's no connection. He came back at me and said, 'Iraq! Saddam! Find out if there's a connection…We got together all the FBI experts, all the CIA experts…They all cleared the report. And we sent it up to the president and it got bounced by the National Security Advisor or Deputy. It got bounced and sent back saying, 'Wrong answer. ... Do it again.' …I don't think he sees memos that he doesn't-- wouldn't like the answer.'


  He did not ask about Osama bin Laden. He did not ask about al Qaeda. He did not ask about Saudi Arabia or any country other than Iraq. When Clarke responded to his question by saying that Iraq was not responsible for the attack and that al Qaeda was, the President persisted in focusing on Iraq, and again, asked Clarke to spend his time looking for information linking Saddam Hussein to the attack."

...

 This is not negligence, this is deception.


  It is clear that President Bush has absolute faith in a rigid, right-wing ideology. He ignores the warnings of his experts. He forbids any dissent and never tests his assumptions against the best available evidence. He is arrogantly out of touch with reality. He refuses to ever admit mistakes. Which means that as long as he is our President, we are doomed to repeat them. It is beyond incompetence. It is recklessness that risks the safety and security of the American people.

...

He claimed that he was going to war to deal with an imminent threat to the United States. The evidence shows clearly that there was no such imminent threat and that Bush knew that at the time he stated otherwise. He claimed that gaining dominance of Iraqi oil fields for American producers was never part of his calculation. But we now know, from a document uncovered by the New Yorker and dated just two weeks to the day after Bush's inauguration, that his National Security Counsel was ordered to "meld" its review of "operational policies toward rogue states" with the secretive Cheney Energy Task Force's "actions regarding the capture of new and existing oil and gas fields."


  We also know from documents obtained in discovery proceedings against that Cheney Task Force by the odd combination of Judicial Watch and the Sierra Club that one of the documents receiving scrutiny by the task force during the same time period was a detailed map of Iraq showing none of the cities or places where people live but showing in great detail the location of every single oil deposit known to exist in the country, with dotted lines demarking blocks for promising exploration - a map which, in the words of a Canadian newspaper, resembled a butcher's drawing of a steer, with the prime cuts delineated.

...

Iraq is not the only policy where the President has made bold assertions about the need for a dramatic change in American policy, a change that he has said is mandated by controversial assertions that differ radically from accepted views of reality in that particular policy area. And as with Iraq, there are other cases where subsequently available information shows that the President actually had analyses that he was given from reputable sources that were directly contrary what he told the American people. And, in virtually every case, the President, it is now evident, rejected the information that later turned out to be accurate and instead chose to rely upon, and to forcefully present to the American people, information that subsequently turned out to be false. And in every case, the flawed analysis was provided to him from sources that had a direct interest, financial or otherwise, in the radically new policy that the President adopted. And, in those cases where the policy has been implemented, the consequences have been to detriment of the American people, often catastrophically so.

...

There is now only one center of power left in our constitution capable of at long last holding George W. Bush accountable, and it is the voters.


  There are fifteen days left before our country makes this fateful choice - for us and the whole world. Join me on November 2 nd in taking our country back.

Former Vice-President Al Gore

Notes from Ky Author Forum--Karen Armstrong

Theology is poetry.

Socrates would say that confusion is the beginning of the spiritual quest.

Hillel

It is difficult to be creative religiously when you are under attack.

Religious fundamentalism is under attack, by Harvard and Yale secularism.

Realize that today's brand of "terrorism" is not Muslim, but Arab.

If religion becomes an ego-maker instead of an ego-loser, it goes bad.

QUESTION: How can we learn compassion for those who are fear-based?
(we ourselves are threatened).
Decode the fundamentalist fear-based imagery. An individual who gives such emphasis to violent end-of-time catastrophies would be considered mentally disturbed.
When we feel attacked, know that the other side, fears the anhillation of religion.

Historically, fundamentalism, when attacked, becomes more extreme.
Before the Scopes trial, fundamentalist Christian activists worked with the left (including communists). After the Scopes trial, they swung to the "right."
Consider the British/IRA conflict. British were always careful NOT to characterize it as a religious conflict. Progress began to be made when the British began to understand that not only were they being attacked, but also that they were at fault.
In USA, you could make it a spiritual process: learning about the "other" and wanting the best for them.
Use 'women's experience' of discrimination to understand those who are excluded and dispossessed.
At the beginning of the 20th century, every major Muslim mullah was in love with the West.

QUESTION: How do I raise my own children in the faith as Muslims in America given that we are being attacked from without and within?
(affirmation from author and from audience)
The best asset the United States has is its own Muslims in the [not "war"] with terrorism.

Pharisees and publicans

Discussing next Sunday's gospel with Sr. Marilyn at St. Joe, we looked at the Pharisee's bragging way of prayer, "O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity..." Sister Marilyn reflected that people today are not so likely to have that fault, being more likely to downplay their talents and needing to be encouraged to share their gifts in ministry.

That got us thinking.

I share that perception, but a light-bulb went off in reference to this huge demand for a Marriage Amendment (marriage=one man + one woman) -- which makes no sense to me, as it doesn't protect MY marriage, nor can I see that it protects marriage in any way for my children who are all of that age, nor can I see that it offers higher-quality lifestyle for the children of any marriage, which is one of the supposed reasons for supporting it.

No. But now I see what the Marraige Amendment does. It lets people (as a group, not individually) act as the Pharisee in Luke's gospel. After all, the Pharisees were basically good people, very serious about maintaining their relationship with God. The Pharisee was stating how he followed the rules, therefore justifying his relationship with God. The Marraige Amendment allows people to justify their goodness in terms of following a set of rules. What's more, they can define clearly those people who don't follow those rules as "other." This is simple. It is clear. And it is such a relief to be clear about things in this complicated world.

A legislation such as the Marriage Amendment clearly defines Evil in terms of biology, which is settled once and for all at birth, not in choices or decisions. It lets the majority point to a minority of others as the source of Evil. And it certainly avoids any need to look for Evil in one's own actions, lifestyle, or the unintended results of those actions and lifestyles. This seems to me to be a very Old-Testament way of looking at things.

I would hope that followers of the Way of Christ can take the more fruitful road offered by compassion. Can't we be inspired to recognise the goodness in stable, loving relationships? Can't we support caring people in their life-choices? Can't we see the fairness and richness this adds to our society? This is the direction toward which our governments and civil entities have been evolving. To me, it looks like the Christian choice as well.

Prayer for All Saints

A Catholic's Companion: "Blessed and Holy are those who turned the time of trial into a moment of grace.

Holy are those who choose peace in a violent situation.

Blessed are those who live in simplicity amid overflowing stuff.

Thanks and praise to those who live gently in an often angry and competitive environment.

How wonderful are those who show mercy and kindness in an uncaring time.

Holy and Blessed are those who choose purity in a depraved age.

Thanks and praise to those who act in justice with the weak and the powerless, the downtrodden and homeless, the old and the young.

Holy are those who choose less in an abundant and consumer society.

O Gracious God and Father, we gather this day to thank and praise you and those who choose your way. These are the Holy Ones, the Saints of the ages. Fill us with your Spirit. Help us to choose the better way and be numbered among your Saints, among those who dine at the Feast in your Kingdom.
"

Deus, Deus meus respice .mp3 Psalm 22 recording

This recording is VERY long, and quite a download if you're on dialup. (12 meg) This psalm ("Oh God, my God, why have you abandoned me?") is one of the few "through-composed" Gregorian chant psalms in the Graduale Triplex. It is incredibly expressive, and not likely to be part of the parish liturgy, since it is to be sung after the first reading as the responsorial psalm, and it takes fully 33 minutes to sing. But I can only imagine what it would be like to take part in a Palm Sunday liturgy that included this beautiful, haunting prayer.

Text, translation and reflection here

Recorded at Bernheim Forest, Sept 2004.

Rockridge Institute - Reframing the Political Battle: Market Fundamentalism vs. Moral Economy

Rockridge Institute - Reframing the Political Battle: Market Fundamentalism vs. Moral Economy:

"The United States should be working to build democracy in every corner of the globe. But Market Fundamentalism actually undermines democratic values. We cannot successfully export democracy without also exporting economic justice and economic opportunity.


Iraq in this sense is a microcosm of a much larger problem. For more than twenty years now, the United States has been aggressively exporting Market Fundamentalist policies to other nations. This country tells foreign governments that they must lower their tariff barriers, dismantle controls over capital flows, cut government spending, and privatize state-owned industries. Most of the world’s developing and transitional economies have followed these policies and the overwhelming majority of them have been moving backwards–not forwards-- on all of the key indicators of economic success reported by the World Bank and the United Nation’s Human Development Reports. Market Fundamentalism, in short, has subverted economic development in most of the poorer regions of the world.


Even before the disaster in Iraq, the global failure of Market Fundamentalism had badly undermined our nation’s credibility in the developing world. It is now far easier for Islamic Radicals to demonize the U.S. as a greedy superpower bent on continuing the subordination of all Muslims. The failures of Market Fundamentalism have made recruitment easier for Al Queda and similar groups. In short, a new Administration needs a radically new strategy to counter the terrorist threat. The centerpiece of such a strategy must be a new approach to global development that abandons Market Fundamentalism in favor of exporting economic opportunity and economic justice."

This is a group that seems to be making progress with what I would consider to be the greater, all-encompassing values into the political and social conversation.

Chant at St. Joe

David H. has been talking to me, and to the folks at St. Joe, about singing the chant at the early morning masses.

The music director asked me if I'd like to be part of the rotation for Sunday early mass, and I agreed. We also set up a time to rehearse with anyone who wants to learn to chant--Wednesdays from one to two, following Sr. Marilyn's lunchtime scripture discussion.

So. We start. (Not this week, but the week after.)

Operation Truth

Operation Truth

CBS News | All In The Family | September 19, 2003 18:41:47

CBS News | All In The Family | September 19, 2003 18:41:47

USATODAY.com - Army reviews reservists in mission refusal

USATODAY.com - Army reviews reservists in mission refusal: "Andrew Krepinevich, executive director of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a Washington think tank, said troop refusals are rare, but not unprecedented in combat. This incident, he said, could reflect poor leadership."

Poor leadership at the top. Good leadership at the unit.

Poll Shows Disapproval of Cheney Daughter Reference (washingtonpost.com)

Poll Shows Disapproval of Cheney Daughter Reference (washingtonpost.com):

"Kerry mentioned that Cheney's daughter was a lesbian in response to a question from moderator Bob Schieffer of CBS News asking the candidates if they believed 'homosexuality is a choice?'


After President Bush had answered that he 'did not know,' Kerry began by saying, ' . . . If you were to talk to Dick Cheney's daughter, who is a lesbian, she would tell you that she's being who she was, she's being who she was born as.'"

Well, it did come out a little awkward, but homosexuality is a subject that John Kerry is not uncomfortable discussing, and I think he was trying to make the question personal to the listeners, not just an "issue." Since candidates families are admired and in a way, adopted, by their supporters in this voting ritual, Kerry's strong statement of empathy might have crystallized into a shared realization among the people of this country. That would have been a good thing, especially since it's largely the neo-conservatives who have adopted the Cheney's as part of their extended family.

I guess it didn't. Too many Americans consider "lesbian" a cuss word.

I wish all that sensitivity that's showing up as "disapproval" would translate into consideration for partners' rights being upheld in our Constitution and state laws.

t r u t h o u t - The Cracks in Bush's Crown

t r u t h o u t - The Cracks in Bush's Crown: " But perhaps he (President George Bush) was thinking of the director of his faith-based initiative. John DiIulio, from Princeton, the most distinguished man of ideas to join his administration, who said, after resigning, 'There is no precedent in any modern White House for what is going on in this one: a complete lack of a policy apparatus. What you've got is everything - and I mean everything - being run by the political arm. It's the reign of the Mayberry Machiavellis.'"

debate: look, mom, I didn't slouch or scowl

No, President Bush didn't slouch or scowl. But he whined. At least 4/5ths of his words were delivered in a defensive, high-pitched "But I DID do what you told me, Mom. I did. See? Why are you being mean to me?" tone of voice.

And it's an accurate portrayal of his position. The things that he thought were the right things to do, really aren't good enough, and he just didn't know.

Not enough experience under his belt, too much adulation and power.

baby bowman

Thank you, Carmel, for asking me to be with you guys. He is beautiful, and you are a beautiful family.

Native grasses

We went out today and collected some seed from a field of native grasses. We think they are Indian Grass , Little Bluestem , and Big Bluestem .

It's been really dry around here for weeks, so I assume we can just put the seed in canning jars and it should keep until spring.

I want to at least make a bunch of round areas in the yard to plant these grasses, and down at the bottom (but can I roundup the current grass? There are fruit trees to consider). I might try to plant the old garden area in native grass, as well.

I'd really like to get some of that perennial corn, too.

Native American Seed - Establish a Native Lawn

Native American Seed - Establish a Native Lawn

Kenyan Environmentalist Wins 2004 Nobel Peace Prize

Kenyan Environmentalist Wins 2004 Nobel Peace Prize: "Ms. Maathai's Green Belt Movement has planted more than 30 million trees across Africa in an attempt to stem the deforestation that has turned parts of Africa into desert. The committee praises Ms. Maathai for enlisting poor women to take part in the tree-planting effort. The citation notes that Ms. Maathai's strategy to combat deforestation combines education, family planning, nutrition and the fight against corruption."

Electoral College, Afghan style

Afghans vote, ready or not | csmonitor.com: "Deference to tribe is a common attitude all across southern Afghanistan, where the largest ethnic group, the Pashtuns, live. Individuals such as Sayid Amir, an astrologer waiting for loaves of bread at a bakery in Qalat, know that the new Afghan Constitution allows them full personal rights. But he still says he must defer to his tribal elders with his vote.


'It depends on our tribal leaders,' he says. 'Yes, I know it is my right to choose whom I want. But in my region, the tribal leaders will all get together and choose whom they will vote for, and then everyone will vote for that person."

Democracy-->no terrorism?

Watching the VP debate, I am struck by a statement that Vice President Cheney made twice: that establishment of a Democratic government will somehow end terrorism in Iraq. I believe he considered this to be obvious.

What is the basis for this? By common definition, "the calculated use of violence or the threat of violence to attain goals that are political, religious, or ideological in nature" is considered "terrorism." History shows that Democratic nations' interests and policies are at least as likely to do this as non-democratic governments, and there are many examples in our own backyard.

One aspect of our choice for leadership in the upcoming election is to consider the Bush administration's near-sighted policy of using inappropriate levels of money, power, and violence to promote Democracy and to "fix" problems in countries (Iraq, Afghanistan) whose unrest and anger has been substantially exacerbated, if not caused in the first place, by inappropriate money, power, and violence.

Compare the Bush administration's brash commitment to military bravado with the Democratic Party's 2004 commitment to deploy, "in addition to military might, ALL that is in America's arsenal--our diplomacy, our intelligence system, our economic power, and the appeal of our values and ideas." In John Kerry we have a leader who has the depth and breadth of experience (in peace/war, ecology and economics) to allow us to combat the deep causes of terrorism, not be locked into stubbornly forcing U.S. image at all costs.

Suicide is a very common component of today's terrorism. This is significant. Medical experts know that in treating suicide, you can't treat the disease, you have to work with the environment. It's the distress of the global environment that underlies this social earthquake we are embroiled in. Attention to environmental issues is the only way to make a long-term difference. Here, again, is a clear difference between the Bush administration, which is systematically dismantling environmental practice at home and abroad, and Kerry/Edwards, which sees the environmental effort as a significant part of the social/political/economic picture.