Stephanie Miller on MSNBC, Tenet's on the Hot Seat

George Tenet paints a picture of himself as a victim, but the real victims of his compliance in the run up to the war in Iraq are more than 3000 U. S. service members who have died, the thousands who have been injured, the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who have been killed or wounded and the families of all those affected. While Tenet should be applauded for telling the truth, why didn’t he do this in 2002 or 2003?


Remember seeing George Tenet sitting behind Colin Powell when the former Secretary of State spoke before the United Nations? Let’s not treat him as a hero for exposing more of what we already know about the Bush administration, let’s hold him accountable, along with the rest.








For three days beginning today the Stephanie Miller Show will be broadcast on MSNBC during the spot formerly filled by Don Imus. Stephanie is a progressive radio show host who is the daughter of former republican U. S. Representative William Miller. Quick, what is he known for?

William Miller was Barry Goldwater’s running mate in the 1964 presidential election. Her MSNBC show is on from 5 to 8 central time. Much better than Imus. Funny. You can also pick up Stephanie on Sirius Channel 146 from 5 to 8 in the evenings.

Roots of Distrust, Seeds of Trust

More on that later, but first:
I borrowed this from Sack Sessions. It's an easy way to feel better this weekend.

HOW TO START EACH DAY WITH A POSITIVE OUTLOOK
1. Open a new file in your computer.
2. Name it “Jeff Sessions”
3. Send it to the Recycle Bin.
4. Empty the Recycle Bin.
5. Your PC will ask you……………….
“Do you really want to get rid of “ Jeff Sessions?”
6. Firmly Click “Yes.”
7. Feel better.


Go to Sack Sessions to find reason we need to get rid of Jeff Sessions (as if you don't already know). http://sacksessions.com/


And this from Australia's Herald Sun, via The Birmingham News:


They asked Larry King: How often have you lost your cool with a guest?" Replied King," Not often...I'd have to go all the way back to George Wallace, governor of Alabama. He walked in ponpously to our TV station, Channel 4 in Miami, and said 'I don't see any blacks working here.' And I said, 'They own the station. They're out to lunch.' It started from that, then we started arguing." Way to go, Larry!



"Erica Young is a rare breed. She lives in Bessemer, teaches in Hoover, schools her kids in Homewood, frequests Southside and downtown Birmingham, visits family in Center Point and thrift shops in Midfield. Too many people in the metro area, she thinks stay in their own little worlds." These words begin the front page article in The Birmingham News today about trust. Her comments are part of an article titled Can We Trust One Another, about Birmingham's path forward and the challenges we face. Read the articles here: http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2007/04/can_we_trust_one_another.html




I give a tip of the hat to Erica because she has for years worked to improve our city of Bessemer and now the whole metro area. Thanks Erica. Speaking of improving Bessemer, and the efforts of Erica, the Jonesboro Community Gardens had its second workday last Saturday and we planted more shrubs and mulched the plantings.

In the weeks to come arbors will be built, and a walking path established. During the summer a gazebo will be built. In the meantime, come and enjoy what is there.

Slow Blogging or No Blogging

This weekend I will be away from the computer much of the time. See ya soon!

Dems Debate and in Birmingham, SHOUT

Hillary Clinton couldn’t have had a better night last night. While all of the candidate’s answers were fairly predictable, Senator Clinton seemed most at ease and best prepared. And she looked presidential.

My favorite hopeful Bill Richardson was most disappointing. He stumbled on the question about Alberto Gonzoles and had a puzzled look on his face during many of the camera shots that came his way. Too bad, but I will put money on him having a high level position in the next administration.




Barack Obama had a good night also, but seemed like he was trying to get past something invisible. I guess he is, but with John Edwards not demonstrating much assertiveness Obama assured himself of remaining the greatest challenge to Clinton.

Who thinks Clinton and Obama will both be on the ticket in 2008?

When Dennis Kucinich pulled his “pocket constitution” out of his coat, I couldn’t help think that all representatives (and former representatives like Tom DeLay) should carry one. And look at it every day.


Don’t forget Shout!!!!

Here is the site to read about the various films and see the schedule and purchase tickets. See you there. http://www.bhamshout.com/
Be sure to see “Bulldigger” tonight, the premier of the doculmentary about Patrica Todd and her election to the Alabama legislature. And on Friday, “Semper Fi” the world premier about the life of Jeff Key. In the archives to the left see my post about Jeff Key.

I was concerned that the rain would destroy the roses and the newly blooming peonies, but the survived. It was the 6 inch high sunflowers that suffered the most, but some sturdy stakes will help them to recover.


Peonies

Pat Tillman, Tom DeLay and Gun Control; It's All Related

I have tried to stay political light this week, but yesterday my head almost exploded. Old news by now, but the revelations about Pat Tillman’s death are just driving me crazy. Not the fact that he died as a result of “friendly fire” (an oxymoron if I’ve ever heard one… “Here come the friendly bullets, don’t worry!). Nor that the army lied to his family, we already knew that, too.

No, what almost made me sick was army Lt. Col. Ralph Kauzlarich calling Pat Tillman “worm dirt” and implying that if his family were Christians they would be happy that he was dead and in a better place. Read the entire story and interview at

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=tillmanpart1, but here is the meat of it:

"When you die, I mean, there is supposedly a better life, right? Well, if you are an atheist and you don't believe in anything, if you die, what is there to go to? Nothing. You are worm dirt. So for their son to die for nothing, and now he is no more — that is pretty hard to get your head around that. So I don't know how an atheist thinks. I can only imagine that that would be pretty tough."

Pat’s mother has responded to this line of thought:

"Well, this guy makes disparaging remarks about the fact that we're not Christians, and the reason that we can't put Pat to rest is because we're not Christians," Mary Tillman, Pat's mother, said in an interview with ESPN.com. Mary Tillman casts the family as spiritual, though she said it does not believe in many of the fundamental aspects of organized religion.

"Oh, it has nothing to do with the fact that this whole thing is shady," she said sarcastically, "But it is because we are not Christians."

After a pause, her voice full with emotion, she added, "Pat may not have been what you call a Christian. He was about the best person I ever knew. I mean, he was just a good guy. He didn't lie. He was very honest. He was very generous. He was very humble. I mean, he had an ego, but it was a healthy ego. It is like, everything those [people] are, he wasn't."

So, Kaulzarich has declared himself judge (best left to God) and has sunk to the lowest depths of insensitivity in his public statements about a family in grief, who has been lied to by the very institution that the insensitive one represents (and who has been one of the parties investigating the death).

This is Pat and his brother Kevin.

Pat Tillman is a hero, no doubt. He died while defending our country in Afghanistan (not in Iraq, where we shouldn’t be in the first place). If his mother’s description of him is accurate, and there is no reason to doubt her, then Pat may well be in a better place, but his family, and the American people, still deserve the truth. And the army, or certain members, should pay a price for putting the family through unnecessary grief, for using their son’s tragedy in an immoral way, and for deceiving the American public.


Once again the Christian right is giving unbelievers good reason not to enter into their faith. There is no doubt that Jesus would approach this differently. Many of you know that I am a Christian, but I (and many Christians) do not worship the same god that they do.

Then there is Tom DeLay. Accusing (or coming very, very close, using his words) Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid of treason. He says he looked it up before he came to the interview (pocket dictionary?) I laughed as he gave his dictionary definition. He should have looked it up in the CONSTITUTION. I guess Tommy boy came very, very close to recommending Pelosi and Reid be put to death which is the punishment for treason. As he sits awaiting trial why does he think anyone is listening to him anyway? Well, I guess I listened, but as least I know not to agree with him.

Tom, don’t forget what you said in 1999 about Clinton and Kosovo:

“[Milosevic is] stronger in Kosovo now than he was before the bombing. … The Serbian people are rallying around him like never before. He’s much stronger with his allies, Russians and others.” Clinton “has no plan for the end” and “recognizes that Milosevic will still be in power,” added DeLay. “The bombing was a mistake. … And this president ought to show some leadership and admit it, and come to some sort of negotiated end.”

Oh, treason, Tom, treason!!!

Then to top it all off, all on the same day, I get a local weekly newspaper in the mail, and the editor says the Virginia Tech tragedy would have been prevented if the students and/or the professors had guns. His headline reads “A Gun Could Have Stopped the Violence.” I have a better one. “Had There Been No Guns There Would Have Been No Violence” I don’t think the founding fathers had automatic weapons and Glocks in mind when they gave us the right to bear arms, although certain NRA members are actually saying that they may have envisioned automatic weapons. Laugh.

Just to get a feel of how students feel, I asked several of my classmates at UAB and my daughter who is also in college how they would feel knowing their classmates were carrying weapons. Not one said they supported the idea. In one class we had a group project part of which involved making universities and colleges safer. These are all graduate students some with master’s degrees already. Not once in our research or in our presentation did the suggestion that college students and professors arm themselves come up. This is such a preposterous idea that I find it hard to believe it is even being mentioned.

How about laws that limit the sale of automatic and semi-automatic weapons?



How about gun registration?

You know, we are close to being able to trace cattle back from farm to farm as all cattle will be registered and accurate records of sales kept in our fight against mad cow and other diseases. If we can track cows and calves and know their entire family history, why can’t we find a way to track gun ownership and sales and know a guns history? Just a thought.

How about limiting the sale of guns to mental health patients that have been declared to be a danger to themselves or others? Oh yeah, we already have that law, it was just ignored.

And while we are passing gun laws, how about one that requires trigger locks to keep toddlers from using their daddy's guns to accidently kill themselves or others?



Or, how about banning handguns altogether like Britain did after a horrific shooting years ago? The NRA has too much power to allow any of this to happen, unless the American public rises up in order to put a halt to senseless killing taking place in our schools at unexpected intervals and in our streets every day.

Time to editorialize a little. No one denies that thousands of Americans of all ages die each year from gun shots injury. This was published on Tuesday, June 25, 2002 in The Washington Post.

"For decades public health officials tried to address gun violence the way they tackled tobacco use and other leading causes of death. Former surgeon general C. Everett Koop labeled the bullet a pathogen. But targeting gun injuries can be hazardous to research. A pilot project at CDC in the 1990s to monitor firearm fatalities drew ire from gun advocates and was stopped after three years. Now all money appropriated to CDC to study injuries comes with a stipulation from Congress that the funds cannot be used to advocate for gun control." http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/hicrc/nviss/news_measuringviol.htm

So the CDC, which solves health problems around the world, has its hands tied regarding gun violence because of the powerful gun lobby. You begin to think they just don't care who dies, as long as they are not denied the opportunity to be the one to pull the trigger.

A New Planet and More Roses

What if this new planet that was discovered did support life? And what if the life was intelligent, on the same par as us? And what if their civilization has developed to a level comparable to ours? Unlike us, maybe theirs is a peaceful civilization, and they have never spoiled their environment or depleted their resources.

Imagine we discover first a way to communicate, and the language barriers are quickly overcome. Advancing technology allows us to plan a visit to their planet, and they say they will welcome us. A huge investment is made to send a party of earthlings to the new planet. Using space warp technology, we arrive after just 6 years in space.

And within 8 earth months, we have introduced disease, war, and a disregard for their environment. Within a year, we have screwed their planet up, and started it on the path to ruin, much as we have done to our own planet. Will there be someone like Al Gore to save their environment? A Jimmy Carter to bring peace back to them? A Bill Clinton to promote solving the medical crisis that has developed? Let's hope so.

These roses are about 15 to 20 feet off the ground, the one on the left is "Mermaid" growing up through a magnolia tree. A close up is below.

Mermaid, introduced in 1918, grows up to 30 feet as a climber.

This is Celestial, I have been told, although does it really grow as a climber? This one is about 12 feet tall, growing on the pergola. The fragrance is really outstanding, I look forward to this flower every year.

This is the rose I am calling Will Scarlett until someone corrects me, above the pergola.

And this is the "noisette" (I pictured a single bloom a few days ago). It's blooming up high above the pergola also. Standing (or sitting with a cup of coffee) under the pergola these days one is just immersed in fragrance that is unbelievable. What a way to start your morning!

Too bad storms are coming tonight. We need the rain, but there will be rose petals all over the yard.

UAB Remembers Virginia Tech

This worker is painting the trim on Broken Vessel church, undergoing restoration in the South Highlands neighborhood of Bessemer. They expect to be using the church within a few weeks.

There is beautiful and there is ugly, and sometimes the two are linked.

Last night a candlelight vigil was held at UAB Commons to remember the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings. Several hundred students and staff were present, as several people spoke, including Dr. Carol Garrison, the president of UAB and Dr. Jeff Graveline, the president of the Virginia Tech Alumni Club of Greater Birmingham. Most moving were the remarks by Melissa who spoke of her friend Ryan Clark, a triple major, 4.0 student who she had known for eight years since they served together as counselors at a camp. She said media reports said Ryan died a hero coming to the aid of another student in the dorm where he was resident assistant, but she tearfully said that he was a hero long before that. She had worked her way up to assistant director and Ryan had become music director, and he was always a favorite of the campers. They became close friends even away from camp and her description of his concerns for others and the way he encouraged and helped friends who were troubled were an inspiration. She said the world was already a darker place without his light shining, yet through her words his light shines on.

Then there is the ugly.

The American Family Association has released a DVD that begins with a letter being read. “Dear God,” the letter begins, “Why didn’t you save the students at…” and then a long list of cities where school shootings have occurred is read, ending with Blacksburg, Virginia. “Signed, Concerned Student.”

“Dear Concerned Student” the voice over continues. “I am not allowed in schools. Sincerely, God.”

The narrator then goes on to describe how this came about, blaming Madeline Murray O’Hare for removing God from schools, Dr. Spock for the lack of discipline our kids recieve, the removal of corporal punishment in schools, internet child predators and the legalization of abortion, among other things. The dialogue ends with “You reap what you sow.”
Finally, the truth.

When you sow gun laws that allow the sale of automatic and semi-automatic weapons, you reap murder. When you sow ignoring requirements that certain mental health patients can not purchase guns, you reap mass murder. When you skirt federal law requiring reporting of patients who have been determined to be danger so that they will be flagged during the laughable instant background checks and prevented from buying guns, as the state of Virginia did, you get Blacksburg, VA. When you sow arming the general public, including students in classrooms, as some have proposed, you get disaster.

Let me remind you of something. Last year a man shot and killed five girls at an Amish school in Nickel Mines, PA, a location curiously left off the AFA list of "Godless schools". If God was ever present in schools, the Amish schools for sure would be filled with his presence. The Amish practice discipline in the manner the AFA suggests, and I assume the Amish do not support abortion. So God being in the schools, and disciplining children does not protect the students.

How can people who claim to be Christians overlook the facts and distort the truth to promote such views? Why don’t they focus on fixing the mental health system? Why don’t they work to promote responsible gun ownership and laws that protect the public? This is no different than Jerry Falwell blaming 9-11 on homosexuals. In my view, they lose all credibility and are more likely to drive people away from Christianity rather than attract people to it. Of course, people need to be driven from this radical Christianity, which really isn’t that much different from radical Islam, but that is a different subject for a different day.