Camp Casey vs Camp Bushiviek

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Daryl Cagle

The body count in Iraq for American soldiers grows everyday, with the last count, putting the death toll at 1800+ - that is, 1800+ families who will never see their sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, husbands, wives... (I could go on) ever again. And why? Because of an illegal war built on a pack of lies and deceit. A war built around seething lies about fantastical WMD, which don't exist; about ties to 9/11 and terrorism.

I'll concede on the terrorism, and only for a simple reason, the insurgency is a form of terrorism, however, there was no terrorism in Iraq before the war; they had no ties to al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, in fact, Saddam Hussein and bin Laden hated each other and their religious views differed severely.

But, aside from the growing insurgency movement (and no, Mr. Cheney, it isn't in its last throes, no matter what you seem to think).

So, this brings me to my point - there is a growing movement in the USA, the Anti-War movement and it's gaining quite some momentum. It started out with a few people here and there, but then when the deaths started to hit home, more people took it upon themselves to demand answers. One of such people demanding answers is Mrs. Cindy Sheehan, who lost her son Casey on 04/04/04 to the insurgency in Iraq; because of the illegal war being waged in Iraq.

Casey Sheehan enlisted in the Army in 2000 at age 20. The country was at peace. When he was asked to reenlist four years later, he knew that he would probably be sent to Iraq. He reenlisted anyway. In March 2004, he was sent to Iraq as a mechanic attached to the artillery division of the 1st Cavalry Division. When a convoy was attacked in Sadr City a month later, he volunteered to join the rescue mission — although he had no obligation to take part in combat. He was awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star.

He went above and beyond the call of duty; he served his country and he gets the reward of death for his heroism. He wanted to serve his country; the country he loved and the God he believed in. But instead... he died.

And his mother grieved, but then took it to the next stage. Her grief fuelled her desire to make sure that no one else, would go through what she did.

For this, she has been painted by the right-wingers of America as a selfish women, who is dishonouring her son's memory by protesting the war. She has been demonised as an unpatriotic woman who is using her son's memory to push her own political agenda. This of course, is coming from the side that sought to exploit the case of Mrs. Terri Shiavo and push their own religious-based political agenda, in order to dispose of the so-called "activist" judges, who ruled in the late Mrs Shiavo's husband favour time and again.

Those opposed to President Bush's policy in Iraq have been painted as unpatriotic, and criticised for "letting our boys down".

What really amuses me is...

The one-woman show which has generated so much momentum is, however, in danger of running out of steam as Cindy Sheehan's mother had a stroke and she returned to California to be with her.

This "selfish" woman has taken away from her protest to go seek her ill mother. If Mrs. Sheehan was selfish and pushing her own political agenda, would she have so quickly left her own vigil and protest to be by her mother's side? She would've found a way to try and put it off and wait for a diagnosis and word from the doctor.

Fortunately, not everyone in Crawford Texas is an ignorant blockhead redneck who can't see two inches beyond his/her nose. There are some there who have sought to help the protest in anyway they can.

One man, who is a relative of a redneck who claimed he was practicing for "dove" season, allowed the protestors to make use of his property, so that they could move closer to Bush's Crawford ranch.

One resident was arrested on Monday for allegedly running over some 800 wooden crosses, dotted along a roadside, which bore the names of fallen soldiers.
A day earlier, a landowner reportedly fired a shotgun twice in the air.
....
[He] reportedly fired his shotgun twice into the air last Sunday, but was not arrested. He is said to have told reporters he was "getting ready for dove season".

What is really ignorant is the fact that someone had the gall to drive over the crosses and American flags set up in a small makeshift memorial to honour the memory of those who have fallen in the war.

I find it ironic, that the side who is calling the movement unpatriotic and a dishonour to the memory of the fallen, would've done such a thing. The crosses were set up to honour the memory of the fallen, and yet, the crosses were treated with contempt by a man who believed in the message of the right.

A few miles down the road in Crawford itself there's a "peace house" where bloggers work around the clock, a production line for meals and camp supplies is up and running and a small group of women cut, bolt and paint more white crosses to take up to Camp Casey.

If you have time, I recommend that you take a look at the first two links. They go to videos that relate to this. The first is a bit long, but it is shot at the site of the protest and it highlights the reason why people are there. The second is the message that the protest is trying to convey...

One Day at Camp Casey
Gold Star Families for Peace: Cindy's Message
Gold Star Families for Peace
Tensions rise at Bush range vigil
Texas protestpressure point
Who speaks for Casey Sheehan?

The Gaza Pullout: Further Proof Religion Makes People Morons

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The Israeli government is one government I have always been quick to criticise (That and the American one) because of it's stunningly asinine policies. However, there is one case in which I don't have an issue with this government and that is on the issue of withdrawl from the Gaza Strip and eventually West Bank (as well as Golan Heights and East Jerusalem - they are also illegally occupied).

Despite this while-intended step in the Road Map, there are plenty of right-wing religious wankjobs in Israel prepapred to grab their Torah and in a manner that would make their fanatical American Christian counterparts weep in joy, and preach about how this illegally occupied land is Biblical Land and rightfully belongs to the Jewish people. Anything to make the lives of the oppressed miserable.

The less fanatic people (and surely those who remember the 6-days war of 1967 when a young Israeli army and air force pushed back invading Arab forces and took Golan Heights, East Jersusalem, West Bank and the Gaza Strip) that there are more militaristic reasons for keeping the land. They seized it to defend themselves after being threatened.

However, a reasonable group of people would've followed the international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention and acknowledged that the Israeli Settlements were illegal. To establish these settlements, in 1948, Palestinean people were kicked from their home and land within the original 1967 Israeli borders, and forced to seek refuge and asylum.

Ok, now that we've covered history, I'm pretty sure that we don't have to touch on anything else, except this: if you believe that you have a piece of land ordained from god to you, you have a serious problem. Religion is a crutch for those who can't take reality. Religion was the creation of our primate ancestors who needed something to explain why their life sucked so much.

Nowadays, religion serves no real purpose, except to justify those narrow-minded beliefs that many people hold. Why else are the homosexuals being discriminated against; women and other people of other religions? It's all because of the interpretation of centuries-old doctrines that are often take out of context and warped to serve the purpose of the one twisting it.

So, just because the Torah says that Palestine is the land of the Chosen People (the Jews) and that it is their destiny to control it, doesn't mean jack these days. The land belongs to the earth. We belong to earth and not the other way around.

American Has No Respect For Foreigners

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Yes, you read the title correctly.

The American government has no respect for foreigners. Why? You're not a citizen, therefore, you're not a patriot and likely either a terrorist or a liberal; either way the government doesn't like you. Ok, so that is a slight exagerration, but, the lack of rights isn't.

The so-called land of the "free" and the home to "democracy" have no laws to protect those who pass through via airports. So it means, that if you even breath the wrong way, they can damn well do whatever they please, and that really isn't right, and it's a another nail driven into the coffin; another stain on their international image, which has hit a point lower than rock bottom these days.


Flyers passing through U.S. have few rights, Arar judge told

A senior lawyer for the U.S. government has told a judge hearing a lawsuit over Maher Arar's deportation to Syria that foreign citizens passing through American airports have almost no rights.

For those of you who don't know who Arar is, he is a Canadian-Syrian who was victim of America's wide-spread, ill-intended so-called "War on Terrorism". He was detained when travelling home to Canada from Syria via the US. He was detained on US charges and deported to Syria and NOT Canada, where he was held in prison for a period of time and subject to torture.

So it means, according to US lawyer, Mary Mason:

the U.S. government is interpreting its powers in such a way that passengers never intending to enter the U.S. connecting to international flights at U.S. airports must prove they are no threat and could be allowed to enter the country.

This applies to anyone of any ethnicity, religion etc passing through. It's really scary. Though, somehow is doesn't surprise me, since they did detain a cousin of mine (yes, a white all-Canadian girl), because she had dark eyes and hair (like her father). They did let her go after questioning her, but, that does scare me.

If passengers are deemed to be inadmissible, they have no constitutional rights even if later taken to an American prison. Mason told Judge David Trager that's because they are deemed to be still outside the U.S., from a legal point of view.

"Someone who's inadmissible is in the same category as the people that the CIA snatches and grabs from other countries," said Barbara Olshansky, a lawyer for the U.S.-based Center for Constitutional Rights, which is suing a number of U.S. officials on Arar's behalf.

Ah, yes, the face of the world's greatest "democracy".

So, this means, that if border security (customs) is in a pissy mood, and you look at them the wrong way, they can do whatever they so please. This is a clear sign of the abuse of power and this isn't right.

You know, it's really time other countries adopted the same policy, but only targetted American citizens, that way the international pressure would mount and maybe the US would stop being so ignorant and adopt a more international-friendly policy, even if it starts at a domestic level.

They ought to deport the Republicans to Canada and subject them to various sins such as forcing them to watch homosexuals have a discrimination-free (or almost) live style, force them to play GTA:SA and just about anything else that they go against, including depriving them of religion! Now THAT'S torture!

Ok, so that's a little stupid, but so is their policy for dealing with travellers going through and never intended to even stop in their country in the first place.

Anabolic Steroids vs Marijuana

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[SOURCE: The Star - Theo Moudakis]

Take a moment to think about the meaning of the cartoon above and the message it's attempting to relay.

It seems rather trivial, but, it's pointing out a severe flaw with today's mentality and socially acceptable drug use versus that which has been stigamized.

Before taking any drug, one should be well aware of all the risks and side effects. For some drugs such as cannabis, their legal status poses more risk than use of the drug itself, as simple possession alone may lead to imprisonment.

Wikipedia: Drugs

One of those depicted represents the negative side of sports - the bad sportmenship. And yet, there is little stigma still attached to it and these athletes are idolised by many children today. But, yet, the original record setters never used the same performance enchancers to get into the hall of fame; many of them probably never dreamt of there ever being a hall of fame...

The Anabolic Steroids (not to be confused with Medical Steroids, which are used, even though rarely, to help the body, for example, accept a newly transplated organ) used by athletes have few positive effects. The drug is typically used to assist and foster muscle growth, stimulation of bone marrow (increasing red blood cell production rates), increased apetite...

Anabolic steroids are a class of natural and synthetic steroid hormones that promote cell growth and division, resulting in growth of muscle tissue and sometimes bone size and strength. Testosterone is the best known natural anabolic steroid, as well as the best known natural androgen.

However, the undesireable side effects are numerous...

Other side effects (some the opposite of intended effects) include elevated blood pressure and cholesterol levels, severe acne, premature baldness, reduced sexual function, and testicular atrophy. In males, abnormal breast development (gynecomastia) can occur. In females, anabolic steroids have a masculinizing effect, resulting in more body hair, a deeper voice, smaller breasts, masculinized or enlarged clitoris (clitoral hypertrophy), and fewer menstrual cycles. Several of these effects are irreversible. In adolescents, abuse of these agents may prematurely stop the lengthening of bones (premature epiphyseal fusion through increased estrogen), resulting in stunted growth. Serious medical illness can result from extreme hormone use. Enlargement of the heart (the heart is a muscle and thus affected by the muscle-building qualities of the hormones) is a risk which increases the chance of an adverse cardiac event occurring in later life. Another health risk is long-term liver damage, particularly if the anabolic steroid compound is 17-alpha-alkylated in order to not be destroyed by the digestive system when taken orally.

Wikipedia: Anabolic Steroids

DISCLAIMER: The sources quoted are related to anabolic steroids and not medical. Do not let it influence your judgement if in the future your doctor suggests that you might need to take a medication which contains medical steroids. These are not the same as the anabolic form and do not induce many of the same negative side-effects

Cannabis Sativa (Marijuana), is a naturally occurring element in nature (read: plant). It requires, however, a delicate cultivation process to maximise the potency of THC in a recreational plant (hemp is derived from the THC-free marijuana plant).

Wikipedia: Cannabis [drug]

Like with any substance (or plant), marijuana does have undesireable side effects.

Contrary to the "information" given by the US Federal Bureau of Narcotics, marijuana does not make you insane, stupid (though it is temporary - read: while blitzed; any sober stupidity is naturally occurring)... The other warnings have also included that it can kill you and turn you into a murderer.

The negative side effects vary from user to user and depend on the potency of the dosage.

* Difficulty with working memory in some cases
* Dizziness
* Paranoia, agitation, and anxiety
* Irritability
* Tachycardia (Increased heart rate)
* Dry mouth

There are also a few very postive side-effects associared with smoking the plant. These side effects, however, are produced by the sativa cannabis plant (usually used recreationally).

* Mild euphoria, feelings of general well-being
* Relaxation or stress reduction
* Increased appreciation of humor, music and other art
* Holistic attention, introspection
* Enhanced recollection of episodic memory

There are some effects produced by the plant, which depend entirely on the situation.

* Increased awareness of sensation
* Initial wakefulness followed by drowsiness and lassitude
* Disruption of linear memory
* Increased awareness of patterns and color
* Increased or decreased verbalization

Marijuana is commonly associated with the Hispanic and Latino races of Central and South America. It is also associated with the Rastifarian movement and with Hindus. Ancient Jews, as well as Christians and Muslims, some historians believe, also made use of the plant for spiritual purposes.

Herb Hemp [for some interested facts]

And yet, marijuana is the evil here. What's wrong with this pciture?

Double Standard in Justice

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So it seems that if you're a girl, probably about 11 years old, and being pelted with water balloons by infantile-minded boys you can't do anything than get soaked and wail pitifully and wait for daddy to come out of the house and give the boys a good stern lecture and send them on their way. Self-defence is out of the question when being assaulted...

Self-defence is the usual answer, however, in this case, it got the local police on the case of a young girl, who in retaliation to having water balloons hurled at her, threw a rock (yes, as in a single; uno; one; un; ichi, eneo...) at one of the boys hitting her with one of several water balloons.

An 11-year-old girl who threw a stone at a group of boys pelting her with water balloons is being prosecuted on serious assault charges in California.

She must be real dangerous then...

US police pursue girl over stone

Maribel Cuevas was arrested in April [2005] in a police operation which involved three police cars and a helicopter.

So, they apprended a pre-adolscent girl who was demonstrating her abilities in self-defence, and yet, they didn't bother arresting any of the boys who iniate the assault. Of course, one rock did cause a gash in the forehead of one of the boys, who was the one of the instigators of the incident.

To make the situation even peachier; the boy who was injured in this incident was admitted to having started the fight. It seems the boy is very capable of throwing a balloon at a girl, but he can't accept the consequences of his actions, which is in this case, getting a stone thrown back at him.

Police say they had to investigate as the boy who was hit by the stone she threw suffered a deep gash to his head and needed hospital treatment.

He has reportedly acknowledged to officers that he started the fight in late April.

But yet the didn't act on this.

This only further proves that the American justice system doesn't serve those who it's supposed to serve. It's helping those who are the root cause of unlawful activity. In this case, the boys threw water balloons at the girl, who threw one stone back at one of the boys resulted in the girl being the victim of the law.