Whenever the people who've captured our White House get the idea that the nation isn't being properly distracted by the five 'g's (god,gays,guns,girls and gets), while our pockets are being fleeced and all kinds of mayhem is being planned, they pull out the bumbling buffoon, their Weapon of Mass Distraction, to entertain the credulous.
That's obviously what's been going on in the last couple of weeks, culminating in that ridiculous staged Bush "conversation" with the troops in Iraq. That "inadvertent" exposure of the "rehearsal" to the cameras was obviously planned. Why else have it recorded from three different angles?
Anyway, aside from the usual allocation of money that we're not supposed to pay attention to, there's also the long range plan of the Defense Department, including the development of new nuclear weapons (designed to put the fear of "hellfire" into friends and foes alike. And then, of course, what nobody's supposed to talk about is what those permanent bases we're building in Iraq are for--have been for decades--Nobody is supposed to ask how come, if we're going to be leaving soon, the Pentagon is planning to spend twice as much money on military construction in Iraq in the next year, as it did in the previous four.
Could it be that what the U.S. is up to is still the same as in the '60s and '70s, planting missiles with nuclear warheads in foreign lands? Where else are the ones being moved out of Germany going to be moved to?
Just some things that we might ask about as we start lining up candidates for next year's congressional elections--a major focus of
DFA and other progressive groups. After all, those missiles, a lot more lethal than Katrina, are being bought with our money.
In the mean time, almost every community has important issues closer to home. Like, for example, who owns the groundwater. Bottling water and shipping it over-seas is becoming a serious business. Once one company does it, others have to be given access to this "free resource" under "fair trade" principles.
"Protecting New Hampshire's Water" will be the subject of a Conference to be held on Saturday, October 22nd at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester.
On a lighter (or more elegant) note, Doris GrannyD Haddock, who ran for the Senate from our state (after walking cross country to promote campaign finance reform) is on a speaking tour to promote her book "Telling it Like it is" She'll be in Portsmouth on October 26. Check
http://www.grannyd.com
Given the growing energy crunch, nuclear power is sure to be a hot topic (or should be) during upcoming campaigns. Neighbors of our own Seabrook Nuclear Plant will want to attend the forum "Living Near Seabrook -- Know Your Radiation Risk," which will be held at the Mass. Audubon Joppa Flats Center on the Plum Island Turnpike with featured speakers Eula Bingham, PhD, a National Academy of Science's report author, and epidemiologist Dick Clapp, PhD., who will address the increased cancer-risk findings in the NAS's (BEIR VII) report. October 20, 7:00PM
And everywhere local Democratic party organizations seem to be making a greater effort to get more people aware and involved early on. Our own Strafford County Committee will hold it's next meeting on the UNH campus--Thursday, October 20, at 7 p.m. at the Memorial Union Building at the University of New Hampshire, in the Wildcat Den. UNH College Democrats hosting. We all know it's not enough to be a rubber stamp on election day. http://www.straffordcountydemocrats.org/
The WalMart Movie will be debuting in mid November. Look for discussion programs to be offered in conjunction with the release of "WAL*MART: The High Cost of Low Prices"
It's my personal opinion that industries and enterprises which rely on their employees being provided medical and preventive care through the federal Medicaid insurance program should be the primary supporters of a comprehensive national system--one that would do away with much of the paper work and redundant providers, many of whom, like the Veterans Administration, are not actually able to provide the kind of care that the victims of modern warfare and industrial pollution need anyway.
Finally, mayhem on a minor scale was the order of the day during the 2002 federal election in New Hampshire. A couple of fellows have now gone to jail for jamming the phone lines and our two DeLay cronies are being challenged to return the money set them from his PAC. One has; one's resistant. Neither will probably be sent back to D.C. next year, so it's probably one of those 'get' issues we should ignore--who gets money from Tom Delay is fast becoming just a distraction. But, if Delay gets some jail time for money laundering and racketeering, that would be worth a mention!!!!!!!!!
Posted by Hannah at October 16, 2005 08:28 AM