Soldier may be punished for protesting war

Adam Kokesh, a "war-on-terror" veteran, may have his honorable discharge status removed because he attended an anti-war protest wearing his uniform. This reminds me a lot of the professor who was added to the no fly list because he gave a lecture criticizing the president. Remember what the attendant at the airport asked? "Have you been to any protests lately?"

Why is our government punishing our soldiers for speaking out about a war they feel is wrong? Because there is already a growing number of people in this country who have lost confidence in the Iraq war, and they're scared that once the soldiers start speaking out they'll have to play by the rules. From monitoring their blogging to taking away their benefits, the American government is prosecuting it's soldiers for not wanting to be a witness to a great crime.

Monday Spotlight: The Animal Rights Library

There has never been a lack of literature surrounding the animal rights movement. A topic as controversial as it is, people on both sides of the debate have written long essays and books filled with an uncountable amount of facts, numbers, and names. It's hard for AR-ers to read everything, but The Animal Rights Library is a great place to start. Containing full texts from both classic and modern writers such as Jeremy Bentham and Peter Singer, activists can read up on the pro-AR side of the story without having to spend hundreds of dollars on books.

The Animal Rights Library

Note: If anyone knows of a similar anti-AR online library, please post in in the comments.

Is it REALLY an immigration issue?

On March 30th, Alfredo Ramos killed two girls in Virginia Beach, VA while driving drunk. He later admitted to being in the country illegally. Since then, officials have made more of an effort to detain and deport illegal immigrants.

The story made national headlines when Bill O'Reilly made (yet more of) a spectacle of himself while arguing with Geraldo Rivera. Here's the video: (note: I'm currently using a slower connection, so I'm assuming this is the right video)


Mr. Rivera's right. Completely. This had nothing to do with illegal immigration, but it had everything to do with drunk driving. Instead of working to further reduce the number of people who drives drunk, which would be a daunting task, all the focus has gone to the seemingly easier solution: blame a group that already has a ton of bricks on their shoulders. America is increasingly becoming more and more hostile to immigrants, particularly those of South American heritage. Our government's even gone so far as to build an actual fence! The American people need to realize that our entire nation was built upon immigrants wanting a better life and a fresh start - to take that same hope away from people today is selfish.

Monday Spotlight - Green is the New Red

Note: Sorry this is a day late.

Green is the New Red has been my favorite blog since I found it last year. It focuses on "eco-terrorism", aka the Green Scare. It's horrifying how much freedom is being taken away from activists, and it's not just those of us who work for the environment/animal rights causes. Every time a bill like AETA passes, it's a setback for everyone who wants to change this country through activism. Reading Green is the New Red keeps all of us up-to-date on those people working to put activists behind bars, and how the rest of the world views activism.

Green Is The New Red

Oops

I came across an interesting short article in the May/June issue of VegNews. Apparently, Yum Brands, who owns KFC, unknowingly tried to buy an abandoned warehouse owned by PETA in Norfolk, VA. When PETA offered them the property for free if they would put stronger animal welfare rules into place, they said no.

Education

A new Center on Education Policy survey has concluded that students in the 4th, 8th, and 12th grades are performing only slightly better in history and civics. 43% of 12th grade students, for example, in 2001 performed at or above the basic level, jumping to only 47% last year. For the same group, there was just a 1% increase in civics.

Although I'm glad there's been at least a little progress, it's nothing to be overly happy about. There's still a long way to go before we can be certain that American students are learning about their nation's history and the way the government works. Both subjects are vital to a successful nation. History teaches us to learn from our mistakes, how to spot bad government before it takes over, and gives us a much deeper understanding of how this nation works and how it came to be. Civics is undoubtably the most important class available to students. Politics affects every one of us, whether we realize it or not. With less emphasize in schools, it's inevitable that every new generation will be less and less interested in politics, law, and rights. Even today, there are millions who feel that voting is pointless, and that don't care if a law is just or not as long as it doesn't directly effect them. People are becoming passive and unconcerned with the state of America and the rest of the world, and with students not getting the best history and civics education, leaders will have an almost open door to uncontrollable power and corruption.

I graduated from high school in 2005, and I can say with all confidence that I didn't get a great education. Sure, I took pre-calculus my senior year, was in AP History and English, and took two years of Latin, but every teacher I had was more concerned with test scores than with making sure every student had a complete understanding of the subject. When a school has higher test scores, they get awards and, more importantly, money. Instead of classes being about learning, they've become nothing more than a crash course before the big test. There's so much standardized testing in schools nowadays that most children are burned out before they get to high school. We've also become fantastic guessers and bullshitters. I can easily make a paragraph into a full page essay by doing nothing but adding fluff. My teachers used to teach us how to guess on an exam or end of school test; just eliminate until you find the one that makes the most sense. Why not just teach us enough that we can take the test without having to guess?

Another, even bigger, problem in schools is having more opportunities for the more advanced students. This was at least true in my own high school. The AP students were encouraged, given more freedom to learn how they wanted, and were treated with respect by teachers and counselors. Not so for the rest. I was lazy in my 9th grade Honors English class, so my teacher reccomended me for the regular 10th grade course. I was utterly stunned when I got there. We never did anything. I remember reading maybe three books at most, writing a one page fictional "fairy tale", and watching cartoons. I felt like I was in a special ed. class. It was like the teacher didn't even care about us; she spent most of the time getting stuff together for her AP class for 12 graders. I had the same teacher for that same class two years later, and we wrote two essays a week, read a new book every month, had lengthy discussions about everything from news and politics to literary devices and eras. The difference was startling, and in a way I'm glad that I had the opportunity to see what it was like for students who don't have the AP privalege. One teacher we had even told us that they didn't worry as much about the academic kids since most of them wouldn't go to college or make the most of themselves. She was under the impression that they were all lazy and incapable of doing anything worthwhile. Maybe they would have cared more if the teachers had cared about them.

Monday Spotlight: YouTube

YouTube is a lot more than just a place to watch music videos and quirky home movies. There is so much political and news-related material that you can find practically anything; the latest clips from your favorite news program, satire (not all of it good), old campaigns and commercials, commentary, interviews, and more.

There's also plans for CitizenTube, a politically themed site from YouTube. Which is a great idea, since it'll make videos easier to find.

YouTube

Christian Nationalism

I'm currently reading Michelle Goldberg's Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism. While the whole topic is certainly worth talking about at great length, there's a passage I came across from George Grant's book that shows just how scary these radical right-wing Christians are:

Christians have an obligation, a mandate, a comission, a holy responsibility to reclaim the land for Jesus Christ - to have dominion in civil structures, just as in every other aspect of life and godliness.
But it is dominion we are after. Not just a voice.
It is dominion we are after. Not just influence.
It is dominion we are after. Not just equal time.
It is dominion we are after.
World conquest. That's what Christ has commissioned us to accomplish. We must win the world with the power of the Gospel. And we must never settle for anything less....
Thus, Christian politics has as its primary intent the conquest of the land - of men, families, institutions, bureaucracies, courts, and governments for the Kingdom of Christ.

A lot of readers might think he's an extreme example of Christian Nationalism, and he is, but I think it still speaks very clearly for the religion and its followers. I don't want anyone to think I'm anti-Christian, because I'm not. What I am against is the people who use it to make decisions, and the people who, like Mr. Grant here, want it to take over every aspect of everyone's life.

The biggest problem I have with Christianity is its refusal to accept other religions. And when politicians use it as a basis to their policies, it threatens our freedom both to religion and personal behavior. Gay marriage and abortion are perfect examples.

I've noticed, as has Michelle Goldberg in her book, that Christians are almost always mentioning how they're under attack and being persecuted for their beliefs. That astounds me. Especially since when Christianity (or any other religion for that matter) is used as a foundation for government or laws, people of other religions are being persecuted.

Eastern vs. Western Math

On April 25th, the BBC had an article about Britain's Royal Society of Chemistry offering £500 to anyone who could answer a math question from a Chinese entrance exam.
This is the BBC's example of a similar question from a UK exam:

When I was in elementary school, our teachers used to tell us that the Chinese school systems were much more strict than our own, and that the students were twice as smart as us. What I'm wondering now, however, is why the west is so far behind. Any thoughts?

Monday Spotlight: Americans United

Americans United "...protects separation of church and state by working on a wide range of political and social issues." An organization like AU is especially important today in a country controlled by the far right. One of their recent victories was having Wicca recognized as a religion for military tombstones (here's my story on that). For the sake of our freedom, please support Americans United.

Americans United

The Army Regulates Blogging

According to Wired, soldiers must now have personal e-mails and blogs run by an officer before posting. While I understand the need for military secrecy when it comes to things like positions and plans, this rule is set up to fail. Eventually, if it hasn't already happened, officers will stop approving blogs that are critical of the war, with the explanation that it'll embolden the enemy (which the Bush administration already holds to be true). The main problem I have with this blogging regulation is that it'll silence the voices of our soldiers, making the war farther away from Americans than it currently is.

When you watch the mainstream media, you'll notice that the most frivolous news usually gets the most attention. For example, CNN going commercial free for the death of Anna Nicole Smith. Little if any attention is paid to Afghanistan or Iraq. This is mostly because our war-mongering leaders know that they can get away with much more if the general public is oblivious to what's really happening; if they're living behind pretty curtains. Silencing soldier bloggers is along the same lines; as long as people don't know what the soldiers are really feeling, there will be no larger outcry for a change.

Posting

I'm sorry for the lack of posts the last few days. I started back at work and have been working long hours. From now on, I'll be posting more frequently. As always, send suggestions and opinions my way, along with topics you'd like to see discussed. Thanks!

Horses

The Kentucky Derby was today, so I thought it would be appropriate to discuss it here. Horse racing is cruel and exploitive. I'm sure some of the owners treat the horses alright most of the time, but when a horse is injured, is the owner thinking first about the horse or their investment? They're treated as objects. Horses aren't free when they're constantly being trained so their owners can win a fancy prize. Animal Aid has a great site for horse racing. You can read it here.

Smoking Bans

Smoking bans are nothing new. In 1590, Pope Urban VII wanted to excommunicate people who smoked tobacco in or around churches. More recently, as more and more information concerning the dangers of second-hand smoke has been discovered, companies, states, and even whole countries have put some sort of ban in place.

There's always a lot of controversy over any kind of ban. One one side are people who see improved living conditions, in this case with better health and smoke-free restaurants. On the other hand, people feel as if they're losing their freedom to enjoy life and being told how to treat their own bodies.

I support smoking bans. In fact, I'd love to see every public place in the country have a smoking ban of some kind. It's not that I have a problem with people smoking, especially since I have no business in the matter. However, I don't want my health to be jeopardized because of someone else's smoking. If you walked into a place of business swinging a gun around firing, you'd be arrested on the spot. Why? Because you're jeopardizing the health and well-being of the people around you. Smoking does the same thing, but because it takes years, even decades, to notice the effects, you're not arrested. Instead, you're handed an ashtray.

Due to time restraints (see next post), I've scanned Wikipedia for a list of the reasons people might not support a ban.

1. Government is interfering with personal lifestyles and rights. My argument against this is that the smoker is also interfering with personal lifestyles and rights. I doubt the person next to you wants lung cancer.
   
2. Economic loss. Like Wikipedia says in a few more words: just as many people want smoke-free environments.
3. Disputes over science of bans. I feel like there's been more than enough evidence of second-hand smoke being dangerous. Anyway, until further evidence disproves the theory, wouldn't it be better off on the safe side?
4. Hypocrisy. The main point of this part of the article was that people felt as though the government was be hypocritical due to their using smoking bans but still profiting off tobacco tax. In my opinion, this isn't hypocritical in any way. Public smoking bans are protecting other citizens from second-hand smoke; their health is in danger because of someone else. However, people should be allowed to smoke if they want to. As long as they aren't endangering someone else, they should be able to smoke. I don't see this as hypocrisy, just as the government protecting the lives of its citizens.
5. "Victimless crime". Supposedly, smoking is a personal choice, and if other people don't like it, they can leave. You know people inside that building are smoking, so if you choose to go in, you know you're going to be inhaling their smoke. Like the article says, not everyone has the choice to leave.
6. Health care. This argument says that if you don't smoke, then you'll live longer, therefore racking up just as much or more health care costs then smokers, who'll die way before you. This is absurd. It's like punishing people for wanting to be healthy.
7. Smoking moves. When you ban smoking in public buildings, people will move outside. When you ban smoking outside in a specific area surrounding a non-smoking building, people will smoke somewhere else. I don't quite see the debate here, except that smokers might run out of places to smoke.
   

Call to action: 9/11 Information Petition

A petition was started this past winter by Monica Gabrielle, Lorie Van Auken, Mindy Kleinberg, and Patty Casazza in relation to information that concerned pre-knowledge of the September 11th attacks.

Excerpt from the petition:

We, the undersigned, demand the immediate declassification and release of all transcripts and documents relating to the July 10, 2001 meeting that took place between former CIA Director George Tenet and then National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice. It has been alleged that this urgent and out-of-the-ordinary meeting was called to discuss the increasingly dire warnings of an imminent al Qaeda attack within the U.S.

...In addition, we again call for the declassification and release of both the redacted 28 pages of the Joint Inquiry Into The Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001 (JICI) and the CIA Inspector General’s report, “CIA Accountability With Respect To The 9/11 Attacks”.

When this petition reaches 15,000 names, they are going to take it to Washington, DC. There are already 11,145 signatures at 3:45pm, May 1st. This petition is important because the public has the right to know just how accountable our government was for those attacks.

Petition - Public's Right To Know
Kudos to 911Blogger for their post on the petition