Twelve years ago, Saddam Hussein faced the prospect of being the last casualty in a war he had started and lost. To spare himself, he agreed to disarm of all weapons of mass destruction. For the next 12 years, he systematically violated that agreement. He pursued chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons even while inspectors were in his country. Nothing to date has restrained him from his pursuit of these weapons - not economic sanctions, not isolation from the civilized world, not even cruise missile strikes on his military facilities. Almost three months ago, the United Nations Security Council gave Saddam Hussein his final chance to disarm. He has shown instead utter contempt for the United Nations, and for the opinion of the world.February 2, 2003
There is much hash being flung between blogs over who has and who has not appropriately addressed the loss of lives following the Space Shuttle disaster. Atrios and Kieran Healy thumped Instapundit over the head for his comments about Columbia. So did Tim Dunlop, although he used more colorful language.
I don't want to get sucked into that, although I think I understand why some may lash out. We live in the center of a powderkeg that is about to blow. People are scared.
I'd rather talk about the mission itself. I was more drawn to Kalpana Chawla than to the other astronauts because I believed she had been given a second chance. On her first space mission in 1997, she bumped the Spartan satellite while trying to retrieve it, sending it spinning into space. Two fellow astronauts had to go outside on a spacewalk and get it. That took two days.
Chawla wasn't the only person in the news lately who may have been given a second chance. Gary Hart is another.
Why do tragedies like Columbia and Challenger kick people in the collective gut the way they do? I think it's because of the awe and sense of wonder that make space missions so attractive. Almost everyone I know wanted to be an astronaut when they were children. Although I didn't want to be an astronaut, I did want to be an astronomer and a pilot. I remember watching Neil Armstrong step on the moon when I was in Catholic School. I was blown away. I operated the planetarium at the Maryland Science Center in the 1970s before it moved to the Inner Harbor. I was twelve. The guy who was my "boss" (I volunteered) was completely cracked, not unlike Doc Brown in the Back To The Future movies. I grew up around eccentric brainiacs. To me, they were normal. At the same time, I was cadet commander of my squad in the Civil Air Patrol. I had studied to become a pilot, but I never pursued it. It was interesting being the only girl in the squadron on top of being the girl whom the boys had to obey since I outranked them. :)
Astronauts represent the hope and hunger for exploration and discovery within all of us. Space. The Final Frontier. Goblin Queen brought up these same points. Do those who ridicule Trekkies really envy them deep down? The cynicism of Farscape seems to be much more cool than the bald, childish optimism of Star Trek I must admit that I've gone down that road, too. It's easier in this day and age to admit to liking Farscape better than Trek, if you're into that sort of thing. It might be safer, too. It's hard to feel hopeful when you wonder if your job will exist next week. Joy is hard to come by while George W(ar) Bush pounds the battle drums. It's hard to be optimistic when you're wondering how you're going to pay the electric and fuel bills that have skyrocketed as fast as the economy has tanked. The space program is a ray of hope in the midst of some nasty thunderclouds.
Chawla expressed that vision beautifully in an interview for Colorado Engineer Magazine. When asked what was the most rewarding or surprising part of her 1997 shuttle mission, she said:Actually, I think it was the whole experience. In the big picture you can count a lot of the small things, but really it is the whole experience-including the training year. Like I said. it is important to me to work hard and have fun doing it. It was very stimulating. The earth view was just magnificent, but if that was the only thing it wouldn't be worthwhile.She's right. If every person could experience what she had experienced, maybe we would take better care this place. Reading this interview when war is on the horizon gives one pause. I prefer "awe and wonder" over shock and awe any day.
The earth view is gorgeous. Just looking out is neat. You just hang-you can't feel your hands. It's not like on earth where you can feel the ground and your elbows feel the chair. The only thing I feel is my thoughts. There is nothing else touching me, telling me I have limbs. It's so natural, it's not anything special.
On the tenth or eleventh day, I wanted to do one full pass and sit by the door and watch the earth. Doing that was mind boggling. It really instilled this huge sense of how small earth is. An hour and a half and I could go around it. I could do all of the math and logic for why this was, but in the big picture the thing that stayed with me is this place is very small. I felt that every person needs to experience this because maybe we would take better care of this place. This planet below you is our campsite and you know of no other campground. I didn't think this view would be something so philosophical-I thought I would just go around and see the continents and the oceans, but it was much more than that.
posted at 12:31 PM by Trish Wilson | Link
In a showing of supreme decorum, the Columbia "debris" up for bid on eBay as noted by FARK has been taken down. This has to be the sickest thing I've seen in a long time, and I see plenty of sick every day.
posted at 9:44 AM by Trish Wilson | Link
It's Groundhog Day!!!! Time to get out my dusty Bill Murray DVD...
FARK found a potbellied pig in Wisconsin that thinks it'll replace Punxsutawney Phill. Not a chance.
posted at 9:44 AM by Trish Wilson | Link
February 1, 2003
There are no words to express my grief over the break up of the space shuttle, Columbia. Posting about anything else today seems inappropriate.
posted at 5:48 PM by Trish Wilson | Link
January 31, 2003
Notes On The Atrocities and The Institute for Public Accuracy have excellent analyses of Bush's State of the Union Address.
Becky provided a dual perspective: American and Canadian.posted at 9:50 AM by Trish Wilson | Link
Letters from Gotham has provided a link to Dave Brown's political cartoon in The Independent.It has aroused cries of anti-semitism.
Ampersand says that it draws on the old "Jews eat gentile children" blood libel myth. The blood libel myth is better known in Europe than it is in the U. S. He says that it is "on a par with an American newspaper editor printing a cartoon showing Colin Powell raping white women. It's not just tasteless; it's drawing on a specific, deeply-felt cultural image of bigotry. And it draws on that racist imagery regardless of intent."
I agree with him. Brown wanted to shock his viewers, and he succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. However, his cartoon elicits a visceral reaction that overshadows its possible intent, which I believe may be a reference to Israel's conflict with the Palestinians, in particular Ariel Sharon's bombing of Gaza. This may be a stretch, but I believe it may also refer to police investigations of "allegations of bribery, payoffs and other corruption during the the [Likud] party's selection process for candidates for parliament." This scandal has diverted attention away from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Few commentators have pointed out that Brown had drawn upon Goya's painting Saturn Devouring One Of His Children. I recognized it immediately. Brown depicted Ariel Sharon as a savage, child-eating monster. An explanation of the painting may help to explain Brown's perspective. Goya began his career sucking up to Spanish aristocrats as court painter. He, like most painters of the time, created lovely portraits that depicted aristocrats in the favorable manner they preferred. He ended his career with horrifying depictions of the brutality of war and disgust with the same Spanish aristocracy he had once served. Saturn Devouring One Of His Children is a scathing commentary about the corruption of a political regime that would sooner devour its own children than see its power fall.
I understand why Brown had drawn upon this particular painting. However, regardless of his intent, the cartoon is overpowered by the hateful imagery of "blood libel." It should also be brought to everyone's attention that the cartoon appeared on Holocaust Memorial Day.
Please write to news editor at The Independent to state your opinion about this cartoon.
UPDATE: The Independent responds to the anti-semitism charges.
Dave Brown defends his cartoon.
Another commentary, citing the use of "blood libel."
The Independent has now included an entire page devoted to that cartoon. If Brown wanted to shock, he certainly did it.
posted at 9:03 AM by Trish Wilson | Link
AOL sucks.
posted at 6:29 AM by Trish Wilson | Link
"We've always known it was a powerful idea bringing these companies together. We always knew it could have a profound impact on consumers' lives in terms of improving the way they get information, how they communicate, how they buy products, how they're entertained, and after spending a couple of days, taking it beyond the deal stage into the reality, how we can make this work. I think we're more excited than ever."
They're not excited any more.
posted at 6:28 AM by Trish Wilson | Link
January 30, 2003
Dave Barry keeps talking about puppies on his blog. Does this mean that he is.... oh, my God.... dog blogging?????? Someone should warn him. Could be the early stages of a serious addiction.
posted at 4:45 PM by Trish Wilson | Link
Atrios made an observation in his comments section about the Schmidt/Saavedra case that I would like to address. He wrote, in part: "In particular, women are judged harshly for things which men are judged well on - woman has boyfriend=bad, man has girlfriend = good, woman has job=bad, man has job = good. etc... "
His timing is interesting. The Des Moines Register reported that Rep. Dan Boddicker, who chairs the Human Resources Committee in the Iowa House of Representatives, introduced a House File that would place more emphasis on removing custody of a child from a parent who cohabits. This bill has been criticized for discriminating against mothers, who most often have custody. Noncustodial fathers with live-in girlfriends would not be affected. Hence, that harsh judgment against women of which Atrios speaks.
I am still looking for a copy of the bill. The bills I've seen so far that match the number given in the article have nothing to do with child custody or cohabitation. So, at this point I'm going by a newspaper article and a press transcript. It's not as much as I'd like, but I do have an opinion that I'd like to share.
I found an Iowa Press Transcript from 2000 where Boddicker had commented on the cohabitation issue. At first he had limited his focus to cohabitation involving drug abusers, but then broadened his perspective to cohabitation, period. That would be enough in his eyes to transfer custody to the other parent. Narrowing the scope to whether or not mom lives with a boyfriend (and despite his gender-neutral language, he is talking about mom) oversimplifies the issue. What are the nature and condition of the cohabiting relationship? What if neither mom nor dad cohabit, but have a circle of dubious "friends" who visit frequently, placing the child at risk? Are no sanctions to be given to the noncustodial dad (since most noncustodial parents are dads) who cohabits and/or does drugs? Does the boyfriend of the cohabiting custodial mom risk revocation of visitation if he is a noncustodial parent? A multitude of situations where a child may be harmed are ignored with such a myopic view. A great deal of unwarranted judgment of moms and dads is also evident, while grave situations that do not meet the cohabitation litmus test fall between the cracks.
Falling between the cracks is what lead to Iowa's problems in the first place.
Boddicker has been in the hot seat since the Iowa State Department of Human Services had botched the handling of the Shelby Duis case several years ago. Duis was a two-year old child who was beaten to death. She was known to the system. Her methamphetamine-addicted mother was eventually convicted of child endangerment. The mother's live-in boyfriend was acquitted. No one to my knowledge has ever been convicted of Duis's murder. The Shelby Duis case lay at the heart of a political free-for-all in Iowa that has exposed the serious problems in the state Department of Human Services. Her death in part inspired the House File.
Too little, too late.
Iowa's policy has long been to keep families intact. That approach, which has been taken in other states, has been rightly criticized for exposing children to serious injury and even death. Kay Henderson, of Radio Iowa said that in the mid-'90s Boddicker himself had criticized the Department of Human Services for being "too quick to move in and take kids out of the home and being too quick to place people on the Child Abuse Registry." It seems that Iowa's Department of Human Services needs to clean up shop, fast. Children like Shelby Duis should not fall between the cracks. Putting a spotlight on custodial moms who cohabit is not going to prevent that from happening.
posted at 3:04 PM by Trish Wilson | Link
Woah. I had, like, a massive infusion of hits yesterday. I'm having a Sally Field moment. ( You like me. You really like me.) Kewl. Overall, the attention has been very positive, except for the laughable grumbling of one bloglodyte. Not bad for my first month in the Blogosphere.
I'd like to thank Ampersand and Atrios for sending folks my way. Ampersand gets an extra glass of bubbly for all the help he's given me. Since I feel rested (CSI: Miami was good, as usual), I will be blogging later today. I have a few choice items to add.
posted at 8:38 AM by Trish Wilson | Link
January 29, 2003
That is it for the night. Playing laser tag with Bush's State of the Union Address exhausted me. I just bought the Japanese "Ring" trilogy, and I'm going to take a blogbreak and watch it. I also have to watch CSI: Miami. I taped it on Monday, and never got around to seeing it.
Whew... enough already. Time to get out the popcorn...
posted at 8:45 PM by Trish Wilson | Link
[Trish's additions indented and in purple.]
PRESIDENT BUSH'S STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS
JANUARY 28, 2002
Mr. Speaker, Vice President Cheney, Members of Congress, distinguished citizens, and fellow citizens:
Every year, by law and by custom, we meet here to consider the state of the union. This year, we gather in this chamber deeply aware of decisive days that lie ahead.Oh, bite me.
You and I serve our country in a time of great consequence. During this session of Congress, we have the duty to reform domestic programs vital to our country.
we have the opportunity to save millions of lives abroad from a terrible disease.Lid Put on Domestic Spending Bush Wartime Budget Curbs Other Growth
By Dan Morgan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, January 6, 2003
We will work for a prosperity that is broadly shared.Senate Cuts Boost in Global AIDS Relief;
White House Persuades GOP to Await New Plan
The San Francisco Chronicle
June 8, 2002
and we will answer every danger and every enemy that threatens the American people.Posted 1/9/2003 1:38 AM, Updated 1/10/2003 2:47 PM
Families, the rich stand to gain most
By Sandra Block and Thomas A. Fogarty
USA TODAY
In all these days of promise and days of reckoning, we can be confident. In a whirlwind of change, and hope, and peril, our faith is sure, our resolve is firm, and our union is strong.January 29, 2003
The New York Observer
Korean Crisis Befuddles Bush
by Joe Conason
This country has many challenges. We will not deny, we will not ignore, we will not pass along our problems to other Congresses, to other presidents, and other generations. We will confront them with focus, and clarity, and courage.Newsweek Poll: Bush Loses Ground
New York Times/CBS Poll: Bush's Backing, Though Still Strong, Shows Steady Decline
CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll: Bush's Job Approval Ratings Drop
"...lowest job approval rating since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001."
During the last two years, we have seen what can be accomplished when we work together. To lift the standards of our public schools, we achieved historic education reform - which must now be carried out in every school, and every classroom, so that every child in America can read, and learn, and succeed in life.Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Revised January 16, 2003
BUSH "GROWTH PLAN" WOULD WORSEN STATE BUDGET CRISES
by Iris J. Lav
To protect our country, we reorganized our government and created the Department of Homeland Security - which is mobilizing against the threats of a new era.National School-Age Care Alliance
Public Policy Alert
After School Funding Losing Ground
The President's Budget
ABC News/Washington Post Poll
October 17, 2002
Public Isn't Clamoring For School Vouchers
Among all registered voters, 40 percent support school vouchers, while parents of school-age children are split 47-47 percent. (ABCNEWS.com)School Renovation Funding
The budget eliminates future funding for school renovation and retroactively allows states to redirect the $1.2 billion provided for school renovation for 2001 to pay for either special education or technology needs. The 2001 appropriations bill provided most of this funding to help high-poverty local educational agencies pay for emergency school renovation and repair activities.In the Administration's proposed FY 2003 Budget, announced Monday, President Bush provides no increases in funding for either the Child Care and Development Block Grant or the 21st Century Community Learning Centers. As program costs increase, this proposal for level funding would lead to a decline in services to children.
To bring our economy out of recession, we delivered the largest tax relief in a generation.Personal privacy takes alarming hit, critics say
Trolling the Web for terror plots
Carrie Kirby, Chronicle Staff Writer
(Compare to the Reuters article, White House Claims Web Security Plan Won't Invade Privacy," mass-printed to media, including The Washington Post, biz.yahoo.com, Silicon Valley.com, and Forbes.
To insist on integrity in American business, we passed tough reforms, and we are holding corporate criminals to account.Skepticism Over Bush's Plan
Poll: Many Americans Say President's Tax Policies Favor Rich Analysis
By Dalia Sussman
ABCnews.com
Jan. 7. George W. Bush faces broad skepticism about his economic programs and priorities: Many Americans disapprove of his handling of the economy and think his tax policies favor the wealthy, and more trust the Democrats over the Republicans to create jobs.
Whitewashing the Bush BoysSome might call this a good record.
MotherJones
March/April 1994
by Stephen Pizzo"Had Dowd done her background work she would have found no shortage of decidedly unwacky Bush stories. Among others: a 1987 front-page article in the Wall Street Journal chronicling how Jeb helped a Cuban con man bilk Medicare out of millions of dollars; MoJo's Sept./Oct. 1992 cover story ("My Three Sons") on the Bush sons' long list of dubious business transactions (including George Jr.'s alleged violation of security laws governing insider stock sales when he sold his shares of Harken Oil on the eve of the Gulf War); and a recent New Yorker article detailing sleazy activities by Neil and number-four son Marvin Bush. The Times even ran an April 1992 story listing some of the Bushes' questionable deals (perhaps all motivated by the "Bush creed of competition" that Dowd notes approvingly)."There's more about dirty Bush dealings on this page.
I call it a good start. Tonight I ask the House and Senate to join me in the next bold steps to serve our fellow citizens.Bwahahahah!!
Our first goal is clear: We must have an economy that grows fast enough to employ every man and woman who seeks a job.
After recession, terrorist attacks, corporate scandals, and stock market declines, our economy is recovering - yet it's not growing fast enough, or strongly enough."Bush Policies Offer Little Compassion for Moms"
By Susan Wefald
Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service
5/10/01
Businesses Wait for Bush Economic Watershed
Fox News Channel Politics
Tuesday, December 24, 2002
By Liza Porteus
With unemployment rising, our Nation needs more small businesses to open, more companies to invest and expand, more employers to put up the sign that says, "Help Wanted."Market Share Nosedive for U.S. Industries
Alan Tonelson
Monday, October 14, 2002
Wholesale Prices Nosedive
CBSNews.com
WASHINGTON, Dec. 13, 2002
Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal
March 27, 2002
UCLA study says U.S. economy 'staggering forward'With no obvious driver to power an economic recovery, economists with the UCLA Anderson Forecast predict that the national economy is looking at a "very sluggish period ahead," with considerable risk of another recessionary dip.CNN: Wall Street Still In A Nosedive
July 23, 2002
Visa approvals take a nosedive
Fewer H1Bs this year, but not because of a cap
Barbara Jorgensen -- Electronic Business, 10/1/2002
U. S. Car Sales Nosedive
BBC News
McDonald's Posts $344M Loss, First Ever
By Associated Press
January 24, 2003
Jobs are created when the economy grows; the economy grows when Americans have more money to spend and invest; and the best, fairest way to make sure Americans have that money is not to tax it away in the first place.Associated Press
Unemployment at 8-Year High of 6 Percent
Saturday January 11, 2003
By Leigh Strope, AP Labor Writer
Companies Slash 101,000 Jobs in December; Unemployment Rate Holds at 8-Year High of 6 Percent
I am proposing that all the income tax reductions set for 2004 and 2006 be made permanent and effective this year. And under my plan, as soon as I have signed the bill, this extra money will start showing up in workers' paychecks. Instead of gradually reducing the marriage penalty, we should do it now.
Instead of slowly raising the child credit to a thousand dollars, we should send the checks to American families now. This tax relief is for everyone who pays income taxes - and it will help our economy immediately.There was so much to say about Bush's reduction of the marriage penalty that I had to put it on separate page.
Ninety-two million Americans will keep - this year - an average of almost 1,100 dollars more of their own money. A family of four with an income of 40,000 dollars would see their federal income taxes fall from 1,178 dollars to 45 dollars per year.AFL-CIO
More and Faster Tax Cuts NOT the Road to Economic Recovery or Putting America Back to Work
January 11, 2001
Bush Stimulus Plan Calls for More Tax Cuts
By Peter G. Gosselin and Edwin Chen
Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
Friday 3 January 2003
Proposal to be unveiled next week is said to include a trim in levies on stock dividends and cuts for all but the highest wage earners.
And our plan will improve the bottom line for more than 23 million small businesses.Stimulus plan is boost for wealthy"These tax reductions will bring real and immediate benefits to middle-income Americans," [Bush] said. "Ninety-two million Americans will keep an average of $1,083 more of their own money. A family of four with two earners and $39,000 in income will receive more than $1,100 in tax relief - real money to help pay the bills and push the economy forward."Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
But the analysis by the Tax Policy Center, which is run by the Brookings Institute and the Urban Institute, indicates that the 80 percent of the taxpayers who earn $68,000 or less - and that includes the middle class - would reap only about 15 percent of the tax benefit Bush proposes.
A "Reality Check" on Recent Arguments In Favor of the
Administration's New "Economic Growth" Plan
by Andrew Lee, Robert Greenstein, and Isaac Shapiro
Revised January 28, 2003"92 million Americans will keep an average of $1,083 more of their own money when this tax plan goes through..."
This statement is misleading because the average is skewed upward by the very large tax cuts that would go to a small number of high-income taxpayers. For an example of how averages can be deceptive, consider a group of five individuals - four of whom each receive $100 tax cuts and one who receives a $4,600 tax cut. The average tax cut for the group is $1,000, but four of the five receive far less than this amount. The Administration's use of averages suffers from a similar distortion. Data from the Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center show that 80 percent of tax filers would receive less than the $1,083 "average" amount, while about half of tax filers would receive $100 or less. The White House produced the $1,083 average figure by averaging together high-income people who would get massive tax cuts - the average tax cut would be $90,000 for people who make more than $1 million per year - with the much larger number of Americans who would get small tax cuts.
Thus, while $1,083 may be the average tax cut amount, it does not accurately reflect what an "average" American would receive. The Tax Policy Center data show that the average tax cut for those in the middle fifth of the income spectrum would be $256.
You, the Congress, have already passed all these reductions, and promised them for future years. If this tax relief is good for Americans three, or five, or seven years from now, it is even better for Americans today.Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
A "Reality Check" on Recent Arguments In Favor of the
Administration's New "Economic Growth" Plan
by Andrew Lee, Robert Greenstein, and Isaac Shapiro
Revised January 28, 2003"23 million small business owners will receive an average tax cut of $2,042 under this plan..."
This statement, as well, reflects a misleading use of averages. The Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center data show that 79 percent of returns with small business income would receive less than this $2,042 "average" amount and that 52 percent would get less than $500. The average is skewed by a small number of high-income returns with small business income who are getting very large tax cuts.
In addition, the Administration uses a definition of "small business owner" which includes a substantial number of wealthy investors who don't actually run small businesses but simply have passive investments in them. For example, President Bush and Vice President Cheney count as "small business owners" under this definition. Defining "small business owner" in this way pumps up the average tax cut that small business owners are said to receive.
We should also strengthen the economy by treating investors equally in our tax laws. It is fair to tax a company's profits. It is not fair to again tax the shareholder on the same profits. To boost investor confidence, and to help the nearly 10 million seniors who receive dividend income, I ask you to end the unfair double taxation of dividends.Lower taxes and greater investment will help this economy expand.Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
A "Reality Check" on Recent Arguments In Favor of the
Administration's New "Economic Growth" Plan
by Andrew Lee, Robert Greenstein, and Isaac Shapiro
Revised January 28, 2003
It's true that a significant share of the benefits of the dividend exemption would go to individuals over 65. These benefits, however, would be mostly concentrated among a small number of high-income elderly individuals. Nearly 43 percent of the benefits of the dividend exemption that would go to the elderly would go to the 2.5 percent of elderly people with incomes above $200,000.
More jobs mean more taxpayers - and higher revenues to our government. The best way to address the deficit and move toward a balanced budget is to encourage economic growth - and to show some spending discipline in Washington, D.C. We must work together to fund only our most important priorities. I will send you a budget that increases discretionary spending by four percent next year - about as much as the average family's income is expected to grow. And that is a good benchmark for us: Federal spending should not rise any faster than the paychecks of American families.Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
January 6, 2003
WHO BELONGS TO THE "INVESTOR CLASS"?
by Joel Friedman
"First, a significant portion of investments occurs in the context of tax-deferred retirement accounts, particularly for middle-class investors. These investments would be unaffected by proposals that change the tax treatment of stock dividends and capital gains. Second, higher-income taxpayers are not only more likely to have taxable income from dividends and capital gains, but the amount of this income is far higher than for other income groups. In other words, when it comes to stock holdings in taxable accounts, the "investor class" is still dominated by those with high incomes."
A growing economy, and a focus on essential priorities, will also be crucial to the future of Social Security.Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
April 9, 2001
THE MYTH OF THE 4 PERCENT SPENDING INCREASE:
A Closer Look Shows the Bush Budget Cuts Domestic Appropriations
by Richard KoganFirst, the often-cited four percent figure - which is a figure for 2002 only - applies to total discretionary (i.e., non-entitlement) funding, not to domestic discretionary programs. This is important because although the four percent increase represents an average increase in funding (that is, in "budget authority") for all appropriated programs for 2002, most of that increase is devoted to defense, international affairs, and a new "emergency reserve" for major natural disasters.
Ongoing domestic appropriated programs would receive an average funding increase of 2.1 percent for 2002. This is before adjustment for inflation. Once inflation is taken into account, this is a decrease.
As we continue to work together to keep Social Security sound and reliable, we must offer younger workers a chance to invest in retirement accounts that they will control and they will own.Republicans Failing to Protect Social Security
March 27, 2002
The Honorable Maxine Waters
Our second goal is high quality, affordable health care for all Americans.What Does "Privatization" of Social Security Mean?Diverting money away from Social Security and into individual accounts is risky and involves trading some of today's inflation protected, lifetime guaranteed benefit for an account subject to market risk and not guaranteed to last a lifetime or keep pace with inflation.Why Social Security Privatization Will Hurt Women
Alicia H. Munnell
Peter F. Drucker Chair of Management Sciences
Boston College, Carroll School of Management
The American system of medicine is a model of skill and innovation - with a pace of discovery that is adding good years to our lives. Yet for many people, medical care costs too much - and many have no coverage at all. These problems will not be solved with a nationalized health care system that dictates coverage and rations care. Instead, we must work toward a system in which all Americans have a good insurance policy choose their own doctors and seniors and low-income Americans receive the help they need. Instead of bureaucrats, and trial lawyers, and HMOs, we must put doctors, and nurses, and patients back in charge of American medicine.
Health care reform must begin with Medicare, Medicare is the binding commitment of a caring society. We must renew that commitment by giving seniors access to the preventive medicine and new drugs that are transforming health care in America.
Seniors happy with the current Medicare system should be able to keep their coverage just the way it is. And just like you, the members of Congress, and your staffs, and other federal employees, all seniors should have the choice of a health care plan that provides prescription drugs.Unless Congress acts - Medicare payment cuts of $11 billion will hurt access to care for America's seniors
October 15, 2002
Statement attributable to:
Donald J. Palmisano, MD, JD
AMA President-elect
My budget will commit an additional 400 billion dollars over the next decade to reform and strengthen Medicare.Tax cut getting top priority over drug benefit for seniors
By SARA FRITZ, Times Washington Bureau Chief
St. Petersburg Times
April 22, 2002
Leaders of both political parties have talked for years about strengthening Medicare - I urge the members of this new Congress to act this year.American Health Care Association
Bush Administration's Proposed Medicare Cuts Called
'Disastrous' for Nation's Most Vulnerable Seniors
Budget's Deep Cuts Will Undermine Patient Care,
Jeopardize Hundreds of Thousands of Health Care Jobs
To improve our health care system, we must address one of the prime causes of higher costs - the constant threat that physicians and hospitals will be unfairly sued. Because of excessive litigation, everybody pays more for health care - and many parts of America are losing fine doctors. No one has ever been healed by a frivolous lawsuit - I urge the Congress to pass medical liability reform.AMA applauds Senate action on Medicare reform bill
January 24, 2003
Our third goal is to promote energy independence for our country, while dramatically improving the environment.Alaska Justice Forum
Tort Reform and Access to the Courts
Lisa Rieger
"[T]he measures proposed for tort reform exacerbate the inequalities present in the reality of litigation, in which individual citizens are often fighting large, wealthy corporations with extensive litigation budgets. Those who already have less access to the legal system, such as women and others of lower incomes, will suffer the most, particularly from limits on non- economic damages.
I have sent you a comprehensive energy plan to promote energy efficiency and conservation, to develop cleaner technology, and to produce more energy at home. I have sent you Clear Skies legislation that mandates a 70 percent cut in air pollution from power plants over the next 15 years.Bush Budget Whacks Environment
Wired News
Apr. 10, 2001I have sent you a Healthy Forests Initiative, to help prevent the catastrophic fires that devastate communities, kill wildlife, and burn away millions of acres of treasured forest.Bush Blocks Enviro Orders
Wired News
Jan. 23, 2001
I urge you to pass these measures, for the good of both our environment and our economy. Even more, I ask you to take a crucial step, and protect our environment in ways that generations before us could not have imagined. In this century, the greatest environmental progress will come about, not through endless lawsuits or command and control regulations, but through technology and innovation. Tonight I am proposing 1.2 billion dollars in research funding so that America can lead the world in developing clean, hydrogen-powered automobiles.U.S. Senate kills Bush plan for Alaska drilling
Friday, April 19, 2002
By Tom Doggett, Reuters
A simple chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen generates energy, which can be used to power a car - producing only water, not exhaust fumes. With a new national commitment, our scientists and engineers will overcome obstacles to taking these cars from laboratory to showroom - so that the first car driven by a child born today could be powered by hydrogen, and pollution-free. Join me in this important innovation - to make our air significantly cleaner, and our country much less dependent on foreign sources of energy.
Our fourth goal is to apply the compassion of America to the deepest problems of America. For so many in our country - the homeless and the fatherless,Now, if he didn't bring this up only to deflect attention from all that oil in the Middle East and war with Iraq, this actually sounds good.
FreedomCAR (Cooperative Automotive Research) is a partnership between the USCAR auto industry partners and the U.S. Department of Energy. Announced in early 2002, the partnership is designed to focus primarily on transforming the transportation sector to run on renewable resources--namely hydrogen fuel cells.
the addicted - the need is great. Yet there is power - wonder-working power - in the goodness, and idealism, and faith of the American people.Myths and Facts About Fatherlessness
Trish Wilson: The Woman's Network
U. S. Fatherhood Initiatives
Control of Women and Children Under the
Guise of "Responsible Married Fatherhood"
by Trish Wilson
Feminista, Volume 4, Number 7
Americans are doing the work of compassion every day - visiting prisoners, providing shelter for battered women, bringing companionship to lonely seniors. These good works deserve our praise they deserve our personal support and, when appropriate, they deserve the assistance of our government. I urge you to pass both my faith-based initiative and the Citizen Service Act - to encourage acts of compassion that can transform America, one heart and one soul at a time.
Last year, I called on my fellow citizens to participate in USA Freedom Corps, which is enlisting tens of thousands of new volunteers across America. Tonight I ask Congress and the American people to focus the spirit of service and the resources of government on the needs of some of our most vulnerable citizens - boys and girls trying to grow up without guidance and attention and children who have to go through a prison gate to be hugged by their mom or dad. I propose a 450 million dollar initiative to bring mentors to more than a million disadvantaged junior high students and children of prisoners. Government will support the training and recruiting of mentors, yet it is the men and women of America who will fill the need. One mentor, one person, can change a life forever - and I urge you to be that one person.National Respite Coalition
With the exception of Promoting Safe and Stable Families, most of the programs NRC works hard to support, were cut or level funded in the President's proposal. Even small increases in some programs will not be enough to serve the same number of children and families next year.
Title XX Social Services Block Grant: Cuts funding to $1.7 billion, a cut of $25 million since FY 01. This comes on top of significant cuts the program has had to endure over the last several years. The Title XX Social Services Block Grant allows states to fund a variety of social services, child and elder abuse prevention activities, in-home services for individuals with disabilities, child care and respite care. The NRC is active in the Title XX Social Service Block Grant Coalition to restore Title XX funding to $2.38 billion.
Another cause of hopelessness is addiction to drugs. Addiction crowds out friendship, ambition, moral conviction, and reduces all the richness of life to a single destructive desire. As a government, we are fighting illegal drugs by cutting off supplies, and reducing demand through anti-drug education programs. Yet for those already addicted, the fight against drugs is a fight for their own lives.
Too many Americans in search of treatment cannot get it. So tonight I propose a new 600 million dollar program to help an additional 300,000 Americans receive treatment over the next three years.
Our Nation is blessed with recovery programs that do amazing work. One of them is found at the Healing Place Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A man in the program said, "God does miracles in people's lives, and you never think it could be you." Tonight, let us bring to all Americans who struggle with drug addiction this message of hope: The miracle of recovery is possible, and it could be you.
By caring for children who need mentors, and for addicted men and women who need treatment, we are building a more welcoming society - a culture that values every life. And in this work we must not overlook the weakest among us. I ask you to protect infants at the very hour of their birth, and end the practice of partial-birth abortion. And because no human life should be started or ended as the object of an experiment, I ask you to set a high standard for humanity and pass a law against all human cloning.The Successes and Failures of George Bush's War on Drugs
By Dan Check
[Refers to former President George H. W. Bush]
Congressional Record
A REPORT OF FAILURE IN WAR ON DRUGS (House of Representatives - March 14, 1996)
The qualities of courage and compassion that we strive for in America also determine our conduct abroad. The American flag stands for more than our power and our interests. Our Founders dedicated this country to the cause of human dignity - the rights of every person and the possibilities of every life. This conviction leads us into the world to help the afflicted, and defend the peace, and confound the designs of evil men. In Afghanistan, we helped to liberate an oppressed people and we will continue helping them secure their country, rebuild their society, and educate all their children - boys and girls. In the Middle East, we will continue to seek peace between a secure Israel and a democratic Palestine. Across the earth, America is feeding the hungry; more than 60 percent of international food aid comes as a gift from the people of the United States.
As our Nation moves troops and builds alliances to make our world safer, we must also remember our calling, as a blessed country, is to make the world better. Today, on the continent of Africa, nearly 30 million people have the AIDS virus - including three million children under the age 15. There are whole countries in Africa where more than one-third of the adult population carries the infection. More than four million require immediate drug treatment. Yet across that continent, only 50,000 AIDS victims - only 50,000 - are receiving the medicine they need.
Because the AIDS diagnosis is considered a death sentence, many do not seek treatment. Almost all who do are turned away. A doctor in rural South Africa describes his frustration. He says, "We have no medicines many hospitals tell [people], 'You've got AIDS. We can't help you. Go home and die.'"
In an age of miraculous medicines, no person should have to hear those words. AIDS can be prevented. Anti-retroviral drugs can extend life for many years. And the cost of those drugs has dropped from 12,000 dollars a year to under 300 dollars a year - which places a tremendous possibility within our grasp.
Ladies and gentlemen, seldom has history offered a greater opportunity to do so much for so many. We have confronted, and will continue to confront, HIV/AIDS in our own country. And to meet a severe and urgent crisis abroad, tonight I propose the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief - a work of mercy beyond all current international efforts to help the people of Africa. This comprehensive plan will prevent seven million new AIDS infections treat at least two million people with life-extending drugs and provide humane care for millions of people suffering from AIDS, and for children orphaned by AIDS. I ask the Congress to commit 15 billion dollars over the next five years, including nearly ten billion dollars in new money, to turn the tide against AIDS in the most afflicted nations of Africa and the Caribbean.
This Nation can lead the world in sparing innocent people from a plague of nature. And this Nation is leading the world in confronting and defeating the man-made evil of international terrorism.Bush AIDS Panel Nominee Thacker Withdraws From Consideration Associated PressA Christian activist chosen by the White House for a presidential AIDS advisory panel is withdrawing his name under pressure after characterizing the disease as the "gay plague," along with other anti-homosexual statements.There are days when the American people do not hear news about the war on terror. There is never a day when I do not learn of another threat, or receive reports of operations in progress, or give an order in this global war against a scattered network of killers. The war goes on, and we are winning.Segue into warmongering... the real meat of his speech.To date we have arrested, or otherwise dealt with, many key commanders of al-Qaida. They include a man who directed logistics and funding for the September 11th attacks the chief of al-Qaida operations in the Persian Gulf who planned the bombings of our embassies in East Africa and the USS Cole an al-Qaida operations chief from Southeast Asia a former director of al-Qaida's training camps in Afghanistan a key al-Qaida operative in Europe and a major al-Qaida leader in Yemen. All told, more than 3,000 suspected terrorists have been arrested in many countries. And many others have met a different fate. Put it this way... they are no longer a problem for the United States and our friends and allies.Rally up the public....We are working closely with other nations to prevent further attacks. America and coalition countries have uncovered and stopped terrorist conspiracies targeting the embassy in Yemen the American embassy in Singapore Saudi military base ships in the straits of Hormuz, and the straits of Gibraltar. We have broken al-Qaida cells in Hamburg, Milan, Madrid, London, Paris - as well as Buffalo, New York. We have the terrorists on the run. We are keeping them on the run. One by one, the terrorists are learning the meaning of American justice.Rally 'em up some more...As we fight this war, we will remember where it began - here, in our own country. This government is taking unprecedented measures to protect our people and defend our homeland. We have intensified security at the borders and ports of entry posted more than 50,000 newly trained federal screeners in airports begun inoculating troops and first responders against smallpox and are deploying the Nation's first early warning network of sensors to detect biological attack. And this year, for the first time, we are beginning to field a defense to protect this Nation against ballistic missiles. I thank the Congress for supporting these measures. I ask you tonight to add to our future security with a major research and production effort to guard our people against bio-terrorism, called Project Bioshield. The budget I send you will propose almost six billion dollars to quickly make available effective vaccines and treatments against agents like anthrax, botulinum toxin, Ebola, and plague. We must assume that our enemies would use these diseases as weapons, and we must act before the dangers are upon us.On cue: wave your American flag.Since September 11th, our intelligence and law enforcement agencies have worked more closely than ever to track and disrupt the terrorists. The FBI is improving its ability to analyze intelligence, and is transforming itself to meet new threats. Tonight, I am instructing the leaders of the FBI, the CIA, Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense to develop a Terrorist Threat Integration Center, to merge and analyze all threat information in a single location. Our government must have the very best information possible, and we will use it to make sure the right people are in the right places to protect our citizens. Our war against terror is a contest of will, in which perseverance is power. In the ruins of two towers, at the western wall of the Pentagon, on a field in Pennsylvania, this Nation made a pledge, and we renew that pledge tonight: Whatever the duration of this struggle, and whatever the difficulties, we will not permit the triumph of violence in the affairs of men - free people will set the course of history.The U. S. was one country that supplied ingredients that enabled those terrorists to make those weapons in the first place.Today, the gravest danger in the war on terror the gravest danger facing America and the world is outlaw regimes that seek and possess nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. These regimes could use such weapons for blackmail, terror, and mass murder. They could also give or sell those weapons to their terrorist allies, who would use them without the least hesitation.Cue up: red, white, and blue fireworks...This threat is new; America's duty is familiar. Throughout the 20th century, small groups of men seized control of great nations built armies and arsenals and set out to dominate the weak and intimidate the world. In each case, their ambitions of cruelty and murder had no limit. In each case, the ambitions of Hitlerism, militarism, and communism were defeated by the will of free peoples, by the strength of great alliances, and by the might of the United States of America. Now, in this century, the ideology of power and domination has appeared again, and seeks to gain the ultimate weapons of terror. Once again, this Nation and all our friends are all that stand between a world at peace, and a world of chaos and constant alarm. Once again, we are called to defend the safety of our people, and the hopes of all mankind. And we accept this responsibility. America is making a broad and determined effort to confront these dangers. We have called on the United Nations to fulfill its charter, and stand by its demand that Iraq disarm. We are strongly supporting the International Atomic Energy Agency in its mission to track and control nuclear materials around the world. We are working with other governments to secure nuclear materials in the former Soviet Union, and to strengthen global treaties banning the production and shipment of missile technologies and weapons of mass destruction. In all of these efforts, however, America's purpose is more than to follow a process - it is to achieve a result: the end of terrible threats to the civilized world. All free nations have a stake in preventing sudden and catastrophic attack. And we are asking them to join us, and many are doing so. Yet the course of this Nation does not depend on the decisions of others. Whatever action is required, whenever action is necessary, I will defend the freedom and security of the American people.More fearmongering...Different threats require different strategies. In Iran, we continue to see a government that represses its people, pursues weapons of mass destruction, and supports terror. We also see Iranian citizens risking intimidation and death as they speak out for liberty, human rights, and democracy. Iranians, like all people, have a right to choose their own government, and determine their own destiny - and the United States supports their aspirations to live in freedom.Reread that sentence: " Yet the course of this Nation does not depend on the decisions of others." Bush just gave the finger to the U. N. inspectors. He wants to send in troups whether or not the U. S. has the support and backing of its allies and the U. N.On the Korean peninsula, an oppressive regime rules a people living in fear and starvation. Throughout the 1990s, the United States relied on a negotiated framework to keep North Korea from gaining nuclear weapons. We now know that the regime was deceiving the world, and developing those weapons all along. And today the North Korean regime is using its nuclear program to incite fear and seek concessions. America and the world will not be blackmailed.During the Iran-Iraq war, former President Jimmy Carter provided American support to Iraq because Iran was viewed as the greater threat to U. S. interests. Former President Ronald Reagan and special Middle East envoy Donald Rumsfeld continued in that capacity, including shipment of chemical and biological materials to Iraq.
Take a look at this, too.
Recovered History: When Donald Met Saddam
Thursday, 12 December 2002
The Scoop, New Zealand
See Rummy and Saddam shake hands here at BartcopAmerica is working with the countries of the region - South Korea, Japan, China, and Russia - to find a peaceful solution, and to show the North Korean government that nuclear weapons will bring only isolation, economic stagnation, and continued hardship. The North Korean regime will find respect in the world, and revival for its people, only when it turns away from its nuclear ambitions.Democrats criticize Bush handling of North Korea
Monday, January 6, 2003
By Ken Guggenheim
The Associated PressOur Nation and the world must learn the lessons of the Korean peninsula, and not allow an even greater threat to rise up in Iraq. A brutal dictator, with a history of reckless aggression with ties to terrorism with great potential wealth will not be permitted to dominate a vital region and threaten the United States.CounterPunch
December 27, 2002
North Korea: Calling Dubya's Bluff
by KURT NIMMOTalking Points MemoAnd now comes the war rabblerousing. Rile up Americans with fear of "terror" and "evil" so that maybe they will come around and support that war that most of them and most of the world does not want. Dubya did not get the Green Light to send in the troops that he had hoped he'd get from Blix and ElBaradei. Inspections will continue for at least a few more months. Iraq has a window of opportunity to clean up its act. That window is closing as I type.
Joshua Micah Marshall
December 30th, 2002The Bushies told the North Koreans that they either had to shape up or we'd take them out. Now the North Koreans have called our bluff. And the administration -- as signalled by Powell's comments over the weekend -- has caved, enunciating a policy which is now substantially more dovish than the Clinton policy.
Tough talk sounds great until your opponent calls your bluff and everybody sees there's nothing behind the trash talk. Then you look foolish. That's where we are right now with North Korea.
That is not what Dubya wants, though. This is Dubya's War. He wants it, dagnabit. He can taste it. He's going to stomp and bellow until he gets it. Below is his big sales pitch.
Never trust a flim-flam artist. He'll screw you over every time.
The 108 UN weapons inspectors were not sent to conduct a scavenger hunt for hidden materials across a country the size of California. The job of the inspectors is to verify that Iraq's regime is disarming. It is up to Iraq to show exactly where it is hiding its banned weapons lay those weapons out for the world to see and destroy them as directed. Nothing like this has happened.
The United Nations concluded in 1999 that Saddam Hussein had biological weapons materials sufficient to produce over 25,000 liters of anthrax - enough doses to kill several million people. He hasn't accounted for that material. He has given no evidence that he has destroyed it.
The United Nations concluded that Saddam Hussein had materials sufficient to produce more than 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin - enough to subject millions of people to death by respiratory failure. He has not accounted for that material. He has given no evidence that he has destroyed it.
Our intelligence officials estimate that Saddam Hussein had the materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard, and VX nerve agent. In such quantities, these chemical agents also could kill untold thousands. He has not accounted for these materials. He has given no evidence that he has destroyed them.
U.S. intelligence indicates that Saddam Hussein had upwards of 30,000 munitions capable of delivering chemical agents. Inspectors recently turned up 16 of them, despite Iraq's recent declaration denying their existence. Saddam Hussein has not accounted for the remaining 29,984 of these prohibited munitions. He has given no evidence that he has destroyed them.
From three Iraqi defectors we know that Iraq, in the late 1990s, had several mobile biological weapons labs. These are designed to produce germ warfare agents, and can be moved from place to place to evade inspectors. Saddam Hussein has not disclosed these facilities. He's given no evidence that he has destroyed them.
The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed in the 1990s that Saddam Hussein had an advanced nuclear weapons development program, had a design for a nuclear weapon, and was working on five different methods of enriching uranium for a bomb. The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa. Our intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted to purchase high strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production. Saddam Hussein has not credibly explained these activities. He clearly has much to hide.
The dictator of Iraq is not disarming. To the contrary, he is deceiving. From intelligence sources, we know, for instance, that thousands of Iraqi security personnel are at work hiding documents and materials from the UN inspectors - sanitizing inspection sites, and monitoring the inspectors themselves. Iraqi officials accompany the inspectors in order to intimidate witnesses. Iraq is blocking U-2 surveillance flights requested by the United Nations. Iraqi intelligence officers are posing as the scientists inspectors are supposed to interview. Real scientists have been coached by Iraqi officials on what to say. And intelligence sources indicate that Saddam Hussein has ordered that scientists who cooperate with UN inspectors in disarming Iraq will be killed, along with their families.
Year after year, Saddam Hussein has gone to elaborate lengths, spent enormous sums, taken great risks, to build and keep weapons of mass destruction - but why? The only possible explanation, the only possible use he could have for those weapons, is to dominate, intimidate, or attack. With nuclear arms or a full arsenal of chemical and biological weapons, Saddam Hussein could resume his ambitions of conquest in the Middle East, and create deadly havoc in that region. And this Congress and the American people must recognize another threat. Evidence from intelligence sources, secret communications, and statements by people now in custody, reveal that Saddam Hussein aids and protects terrorists, including members of al Qaida. Secretly, and without fingerprints, he could provide one of his hidden weapons to terrorists, or help them develop their own.
Before September 11, 2001, many in the world believed that Saddam Hussein could be contained. But chemical agents and lethal viruses and shadowy terrorist networks are not easily contained. Imagine those 19 hijackers with other weapons, and other plans - this time armed by Saddam Hussein. It would take one vial, one canister, one crate slipped into this country to bring a day of horror like none we have ever known. We will do everything in our power to make sure that that day never comes.
Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent. Since when have terrorists and tyrants announced their intentions, politely putting us on notice before they strike? If this threat is permitted to fully and suddenly emerge, all actions, all words, and all recriminations would come too late. Trusting in the sanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein is not a strategy, and it is not an option.
The dictator, who is assembling the world's most dangerous weapons, has already used them on whole villages - leaving thousands of his own citizens dead, blind, or disfigured. Iraqi refugees tell us how forced confessions are obtained - by torturing children while their parents are made to watch. International human rights groups have catalogued other methods used in the torture chambers of Iraq: electric shock, burning with hot irons, dripping acid on the skin, mutilation with electric drills, cutting out tongues, and rape.
If this is not evil, then evil has no meaning. And tonight I have a message for the brave and oppressed people of Iraq: Your enemy is not surrounding your country - your enemy is ruling your country. And the day he and his regime are removed from power will be the day of your liberation.
The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. America will not accept a serious and mounting threat to our country, and our friends, and our allies. The United States will ask the UN Security Council to convene on February 5th to consider the facts of Iraq's ongoing defiance of the world. Secretary of State Powell will present information and intelligence about Iraq's illegal weapons programs; its attempts to hide those weapons from inspectors; and its links to terrorist groups. We will consult, but let there be no misunderstanding: If Saddam Hussein does not fully disarm, for the safety of our people, and for the peace of the world, we will lead a coalition to disarm him.
Tonight I also have a message for the men and women who will keep the peace, members of the American Armed Forces: Many of you are assembling in or near the Middle East, and some crucial hours may lay ahead. In those hours, the success of our cause will depend on you. Your training has prepared you. Your honor will guide you. You believe in America, and America believes in you.
Sending Americans into battle is the most profound decision a president can make. The technologies of war have changed. The risks and suffering of war have not. For the brave Americans who bear the risk, no victory is free from sorrow. This Nation fights reluctantly, because we know the cost, and we dread the days of mourning that always come.
We seek peace. We strive for peace. And sometimes peace must be defended. A future lived at the mercy of terrible threats is no peace at all. If war is forced upon us, we will fight in a just cause and by just means - sparing, in every way we can, the innocent. And if war is forced upon us, we will fight with the full force and might of the United States military - and we will prevail. And as we and our coalition partners are doing in Afghanistan, we will bring to the Iraqi people food, and medicines, and supplies and freedom.
Many challenges, abroad and at home, have arrived in a single season. In two years, America has gone from a sense of invulnerability to an awareness of peril from bitter division in small matters to calm unity in great causes. And we go forward with confidence, because this call of history has come to the right country.
Americans are a resolute people, who have risen to every test of our time. Adversity has revealed the character of our country, to the world, and to ourselves.
America is a strong Nation, and honorable in the use of our strength. We exercise power without conquest, and we sacrifice for the liberty of strangers.
Americans are a free people, who know that freedom is the right of every person and the future of every nation. The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world, it is God's gift to humanity.
We Americans have faith in ourselves - but not in ourselves alone. We do not claim to know all the ways of Providence, yet we can trust in them, placing our confidence in the loving God behind all of life, and all of history.
May He guide us now, and may God continue to bless the United States of America.
posted at 8:00 PM by Trish Wilson | Link
Last week, Garland Waller discussed abusers who gain custody of their children on Catherine Crier Live. I figured out why I did not see Waller on the show. I watched on Thursday night. Waller appeared on Friday. A colleague who did see it said that Waller was given barely ten minutes at the very end of the show. She said that fathers' rights attorney Jeffrey Leving was also on, spouting statistics that she said had nothing to do with the segment. Since I did not see it, I don't know how true that is, but my colleague is a reliable source. I'll take her word for it.
Some moms are not as fortunate as Amber Carlson, who secretly videotaped her boyfriend, Eric Gorum, abusing her twins. She had noticed that a rash appeared on their faces when Gorum babysat them for her. Doctors told her that the rash was from an allergy. He told her she was overreacting. That she was being overprotective. The videotape confirmed her worst fears. The rash was not caused by an allergic reaction. It was petechiae - tiny, pinpoint-sized hemorrhages of small capillaries beneath the skin caused by Gorum's physical abuse. Sometimes petechiae appears in the eyes after a person is choked. Gorum pleaded guilty to second degree assault of a juvenile. He received a ten year sentence. Seven years was suspended. In all, he will serve only three years in prison.
A woman's boyfriend beats her child, she proves it, and he goes to jail. It seems so clear cut, but it isn't. Courts, the media, and the public are reluctant to give the same scrutiny to a father who abuses his children. Even when a mother provide a mountain of evidence to prove that a father had beaten, raped, or otherwise abused her children, there is an assumption that she must be lying, especially if the abuse allegations materialize in the midst of a divorce.
Debra Schmidt is one such mother. Since Christmas time, 2001, Schmidt has been sitting in a California jail because she refuses to disclose the location of her two daughters, aged 7 and 9 at the time. She is protecting them from their father, Manuel Saavedra, who is a registered sex offender, an illegal alien who has been ordered deported, and an alcoholic. According to a press-release by Stephanie Dallam, research associate for The Leadership Council, the conviction came in the seven-year custody battle "after the judge refused to allow the jury to hear about Saavedra's sex offense, his status as a registered sex offender, allegations of domestic abuse, or testimony by another ex-wife."
Due to Schmidt's refusal to cooperate, the California court awarded custody of the children to their father.
San Francisco Weekly reported that he was convicted in 1992, of "misdemeanor child molestation in an incident involving his 13-year-old niece." The court was not interested in hearing that this was why Schmidt refused to allow Saavedra his visitation. The court did not want to hear that Saavedra had threatened Schmidt that he would flee with the girls to his native Chile. Instead, Saavedra has been depicted as a model father who cares about his children while Schmidt recovers from a horrific attack by a deranged inmate who had mistakenly been placed in the wrong cell block.
Alameda County prosecutor Robert Hutchens, Jr., who believes Saavedra should have custody of the children, stated that "[t]hey keep throwing up this 'he's a registered sex offender thing' ... well, that's going to end come August [2002] [Saavedra is eligible for a certificate of rehabilitation 10 years after his conviction, which would mean he no longer has to register as a sex offender. The decision is up to a court]. He's led an honorable life from 1992 to present. I've met him many times. He's got a steady job. He's paid the price. He's done what was asked. He deserves his certificate of rehabilitation. [The children's placement] is up to the court, but I think he would be a very good father and he would be very caring to these kids, and I don't see anything that would put these kids at risk. He's living with a girlfriend who has a daughter who is 10 years old living in the house, and he's been seeing [the girlfriend] for about five or six years. There's nothing to indicate that he would ever do this again."
Well, this "very good father" has been arrested and charged again for molesting another little girl.
On January 4, 2003, The Contra Costa Times article "Man in custody fight faces sex charge: Father whose ex-wife took their girls to Texas against a judge's order is accused of molesting a Modesto girl" noted the following:
Police said in court documents that a now-13-year-old girl told Modesto authorities in August that she was molested in 1998 sometime between January and June while staying at Saavedra's Pine Street house. The girl reported her father shared a house with Saavedra, and that she was molested one night while sleeping on a couch, Livermore detective Mike Busevac said.Saavedra had agreed to take a lie detector test. His girlfriend later canceled the test after he had hired an attorney.
This girlfriend has a young daughter. I wonder if she sleeps well at night.
posted at 1:42 PM by Trish Wilson | Link