I'm drinking tonight

OK, I'm only having one, but I am having a drink. Not to celebrate. We just returned from seeing Fahrenheit 9/11. You have to see this movie!

Even with our prior knowledge of the connection between the Bush family and the Saudi royal family and the Binladens, our knowledge of the Bushes and The Carlyle Group, Cheney and Halliburton, the lies about WMD and Iraq, the lies about Sadam and al Qaeda ties, ...all the stuff that has made us sick about the Iraq war all along ...This movie made our feelings stronger.

I've read books by Michael Moore, Molly Ivans, and other anti-Bush folks, and have been reading the British and other foreign press for a long time to try and get a slant on the news other than what is served up in the US mainstream media. But the footage in this film of real people (American, Iraqi, and other) and how the Bush policies have affected their lives...it leaves one wondering how the hell George W Bush can sleep at night. How the hell can his wife stay by him? How the hell can anyone who cares about this country and who cares about humanity conceivably support the policies of George W Bush and his ilk?

There were scenes in the movie of various folks involved in businesses that stand to make a lot of money from Iraq. It was especially sickening to hear one of the businessmen stating that the war is "...good for business - bad for people, but good for business". And he said this with a grin on his greedy little face.

Come on folks! Wake up!  How about a little - even a tiny bit of compassion!

Fact: There have been no weapons of mass destruction found in Iraq.

Fact: There has been no connection found between Sadam and the events of Sept 11, 2001

Fact: Roughly 11,000 human lives have been lost in Iraq since we invaded

Fact: The Carlyle Group (George Bush Sr has worked for The Carlyle Group), Halliburton, and many other businesses are making millions of dollars from this war.

Halliburton runs an ad in which they talk about how they provide hot meals and communications services to the troops in Iraq. Yes, they do provide sell these services to the US government (to all of us who pay taxes). So what!?! If they want to make it sound like they are helping our troops, how about providing these services at cost, rather than making a profit from the war.

OK, I'm too angry and disgusted right now to write any more. Closing thoughts:

1. See this movie
2. Be responsible enough to educate yourself about what's going on in this country and in the world, and get your information from diverse sources. Remember, anyone can say anything (Bush does!), and it's even easier to spread falsehoods these days with the Internet. Do NOT believe everything you hear or read!
3. Vote

Jews and Christians believe in the 10 Commandments. The 6th one is usually stated as "Thou shalt not kill". It does not include a clause stating that it is OK to kill if you might get some oil out of the deal. Killing is killing, and killing is wrong.

Kickin' back on Father's Day

Here in the US, today is Father's Day. So that means that I slept in, walked over to the fitness center and did my time on the treadmill (man, I'm out of shape!), and then we went to Mimi's for breakfast. Mmmmm....



No, not that Mimi. Sheesh!

Mimi's is a chain of cafe's with a pretty cool atmosphere, awesome artwork from the late New Orleans artist Leo  Meiersdorff, and great food (at least breakfast - that's all we've tried there :-)

I figured Mimi's would be a fine joint to hit for breakfast, and that it wouldn't be that crowded, 'cause not that many folks go out for Father's Day breakfast, right? At least not compared to the masses that hit breakfast on Mother's Day. Wrong-o, morning-breath! We got there and were told there should be a table in about 35 minutes. OK, OK, where can I get an espresso? Oh, right over there at the bar? OK. Hey, there's 3 open stools at the bar -- and there's no smoking inside Florida restaurants :-) -- doesn't matter if you're at the bar or the dining area, there's no smoking. It's even in the constitution now (which is a whole 'nother topic, to talk about the whacked Florida constitution, but at least there's no smoking in the restaurants). ...So, anyway, we sat right down, ordered up a few espressos, and were done with breakfast shortly after we would have originally been seated.

Now doing some geeking and waiting 1/2 hour for the next broadcast match of Euro2004Euro2004. Life is good.

Fahrenheit 9/11 - Got my tickets!

Michael Moore's latest movie opens this next Friday, June 25. We've ordered our tickets. Now, I'm certainly not saying that I'm going to this movie and plan to immediately believe everything I hear and see. Neither would I ever immediately believe what George W Bush tries to tell us. I see this movie as a good opportunity to get another take on the events of the past few years. I've read a couple of Michael Moore's books, and have seen a number of his videos. Some of the conclusions he draws are a bit of a stretch. But many of the points he illustrates are far too real. Of course, I'll probably have to see the film at least a couple of times to soak it all in :-)

Why I support John Kerry - and not Bush

Iraq:

John Kerry's plan for Iraq calls for working to establish a NATO mission for Iraq, and the authorization of "an international High Commissioner" by the United Nations. The High Commissioner would oversee Iraq governance and reconstruction. This is how it should be - involving the family of nations in this critical endeavor. In contrast, Mr Bush has alienated much of the world, continuing to insist that the US control the reconstruction, even while trying to get other nations to contribute armed forces.

Regarding the whole war and the way it came about, I hold George W Bush personally responsible for the nearly 1000 coalition deaths and the approximately ten thousand civilian deaths that have taken place during this war. Bill Clinton was impeached for lying about oral sex. George W Bush lied to get America into this war, 11,000 human lives have ended because of his lies, and yet some people can still support him. Amazing.

I have one nephew in the Marines in Iraq right now. Another nephew was among the first group of Marines to enter Iraq, suffered the death of his best friend - a fellow Marine - while there, and is now preparing to go back for a second tour. I have tremendous respect and admiration for these brave men and women who serve their country. Most of us will never fully comprehend the sacrifices they make for us.

War is far too serious to be taken lightly. Yet I can't help but feel that George W Bush thinks of the men and women in the military as little more than numbers. John Kerry knows first hand what war is like. George W Bush - at best - had an easy time of his military 'service', and possibly actually shirked his duty. I believe that John Kerry is far more capable than Bush of making reasoned decisions about matters as serious as war. Perhaps I'd feel more confident in Bush if his daughters were serving in Iraq.

Taxes and health care:

At the start of Bush's presidency, the country was operating on a balanced budget and even had a surplus. Less than 4 years later we have a record deficit. For heaven's sake, what kind of moron grants tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans, at the same time that the economy is crumbling and the deficit is rising?! Come on, I'm no accountant, but I have run my own business and have managed to work and pay my bills for many years. Even a guy like me knows that you shouldn't spend more than you make, and if you do need, for some very serious reason, to incur debt, then it should be secured debt, and should be managed very carefully with a solid plan for repayment. Mr Bush, who apparently has an MBA (!), somehow thinks that it is OK to give money back to those who least need it, meanwhile saddling our children and their children with paying off the new debt.

John Kerry will work to repeal Bush's ridiculous tax cuts, and use that money to help finance health care. My dad went bankrupt when he and his wife both experienced serious health issues just after starting new jobs - before they were insured. This is not an uncommon situation in this country. John Kerry will use the funds recouped from the repealed tax cuts to help finance health care that will cover 95% of all Americans, including all children.

OK, enough for now. Time for my beauty rest. If you would like to help elect John Kerry, please consider making a donation or volunteering. Peace.

Space center; hurricanes prepare

Some friends are in Orlando on vacation from our former home town in Washington state. So yesterday we popped out there from Tampa, picked them up and drove over to Kennedy Space Center. It was a blast, and one day was really not enough to take it all in. But the most fun was this (click the image to see the full-size image):

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I'll post more details later. We've been rather busy (as always!). Today I've got some work stuff to do, but we've also been working on our hurricane preparedness kit, so I put up some shelves and we started building up some supplies. Tampa hasn't seen a hurricane in a while, so we're due. The hurricane season started June 1, and runs several months. Just like being prepared for earthquakes in Washington state, here in Florida it is recommended that one have a gallon of water per person for a week, along with several days' worth of canned food, extra batteries, first aid supplies, etc. Basically, one should be prepared to get by with no utilities of any kind for several days. We have more to do, but at least we've started.

Oh, and we finally had the blueprint review for our house this last week, so construction should be able to start once the permits come back in 4-12 weeks (sigh). OK, time to get back to the tasks at hand. Cheers.