Archive for July 2006
Mr. T on "sorry celebrities" and photo ops
In an article on ABC News.com, Mr. T said the following:
“I saw some, I call it `sorry celebrities.’ They’ll go down there and hook up with the people to take a photo-op. I said, `How disgusting.’ If you’re not going to go down there with a check and a hammer and a nail to help the people, don’t go down there.”
700,000
The number of Angolans who will go hungry because the World Food Programme has a $12.6 Million shortfall.
The U.N. food aid is meant to alleviate the suffering of the sub-Saharan African country’s poorest people and support post-war reconstruction.
Reuters AlertNet – U.N. short of funds to pay for Angola food aid
LACK OF FUNDING THREATENS FOOD AID PROGRAM IN WAR-STRICKEN ANGOLA
Question: Where are the rich countries? Where are the rich men and women who like to think themselves philanthropists. There are so many who could cover the entire $12.6M out of their pockets and that not even make a dent in their checking accounts.
Wait, I figured out where all the rich folk are. They’re paying millions to “lawmakers” so they’ll vote to repeal the Paris Hilton Tax.
But what if you're neither?
George W. President sat down with Larry King on CNN tonight (transcript). During the interview, he made the following statement:
I like to tell people I would rather be — when history looks back, I’d rather be judged as solving problems and being correct, rather than being popular.
That made me think, “But what if you’re neither?”
Putting bigotry ahead of child welfare
After last week’s Arkansas Supreme Court decision that ruled a ban on gay men and lesbians serving as foster parents unconstitutional, almost all of the state’s political leadership has attacked the decision.
The National Conference for Community and Justice has released a statement on the issue. An excerpt:
Opponents of gays and lesbians serving as foster parents are working from a position of prejudice and purposeful lack of knowledge or understanding. There is simply no credible evidence that children who are otherwise cared for and loved are damaged by the sexual orientation of their parents. Despite lack of evidence of harm, many Arkansas public officials would completely exclude gay and lesbian citizens from the pool of potential foster parents. They are willing to pronounce gays and lesbians, by definition, unfit parents. This is discrimination, pure and simple. While this is terribly sad for otherwise qualified gays and lesbians who want to help children in need, it is truly tragic for the children. Children are not put at risk by being placed in homes with caring, stable adults—straight or gay—who are willing and able to provide for their emotional and physical needs. Why would we deprive any child of the possibility of a loving home?
Read the rest: Arkansas Blog: Put children first
Related:
Joseph Kony must be punished.
Joseph Kony is the leader of a Ugandan rebel group called the Lord’s Resistance Army. He is responsible for multiple acts of torture, mutilation, rape, and murder. He is under indictment by the International Criminal Court. Ugandan President Museveni has promised amnesty to Kony if peace talks are successful.
Kony must not get amnesty. He must be arrested, convicted, and punished for his crimes.
Take this one for example:
The rebels tried to force me to pick up a log and hit [the other prisoners’] heads but I refused so one came for me with a knife and cut off my left ear.
They returned to me at some point and re-tied me before chopping off my lips. They then cut off my right ear and my nose.
My wounds had begun to rot. The smell was so bad. But still they refused me any treatment.
Then on the seventh day, because I never expected to live, I insulted their commander in the hope that in revenge he would kill me.
He just ordered his soldiers to cut off my hands. They did.
That evening I remember seeing my fellow female abductees crying. One of them had been killed and another had had her breast cut off.
BBC NEWS | Africa | LRA victim: ‘I cannot forget and forgive’
Kony must not be granted amnesty. He must be made to pay for his crimes.
North Korean missile range
The image seems to have disappeared from the server. Even WaPo still links to it, even though it’s gone. ~Jeff 07/09/2006
An image from Jane’s posted on the Washington Post website shows the range of the North Korean Taepodong-2 long range missile. Former SecDef William Perry thinks the U.S. should strike before they launch the test of the missile but intelligence officials say that while there is the possibility of a launch, they can find no evidence that the rocket has been fueled.
Cheney minimized the threat posed by North Korea to the United States, saying that its “missile capabilities are fairly rudimentary” and that “their test flights in the past haven’t been notably successful.”
U.S. Rejects Suggestion to Strike N. Korea Before It Fires Missile
Update 07/04/2006: CNN is reporting that fuel trucks and other equipment has departed the launch site which could indicate that the missiles are fueled for launch that some say could come as early as Wednesday.
CNN.com – U.S. officials: North Korea missile test may be near
JeffSay... 