There are two things that I admire in the human spirit: fortitude and patience. I don’t have fortitude, which definitely challenges my patience. My partner has fortitude but depends on me for the patience. I guess that’s how we make it through the day and years.
Recently an editor expressed a comment about a politician offering prayers at a public meeting. Subsequent letters to this editor, which were freely printed, really lambasted her. As the former leader of the Dignity [GLBT Catholics organization] chapter in Sarasota, I totally agree with this editor and her position. Religion and prayer have no place in the public forum. Politicians have made prayer a cliché. If you want to or need to pray, you should do it in silence, and for those Christians who would challenge this, I refer them to Matthew 6:5-8. Politicians on both sides are diminishing the importance of the human spiritual experience. Government in the United States should be oblivious to religion and take no particular religious stand. Most of all, politicians should not be judged based on their religious upbringing. On the other hand, religion, at least Christian religion as I understand it, should be about securing the dignity of all of God’s creations, the poor, the homeless, the sick, the veterans of war, our natural environment, the creatures that are struggling for existence as a result of human greed. Honest Christians should not allow the “professional Christians” the scum who use Jesus to acquire wealth and avoid the laws of this land to diminish their faith and most of all, should never allow those so called leaders to impose guilt, shame and fear on innocent people.
The people of Christian Faith, who have been led astray by those who seek to control them and in turn set this Nation back two thousand years, need to re-evaluate the message of Jesus; His message of Love, Peace and tolerance.
Jesus said “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites” Matthew 6.5. Amen.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
ANWR
One would think that a man who is about to leave the Presidency of the United States with the lowest favorability rating, ever, would make some attempt to redeem himself and act responsibly. Instead George Bush, after having been told a few weeks ago, and to his surprise, that gasoline prices were approaching $4.00 a gallon repeated the mantra of his oil cronies and insisted that we begin drilling for more oil in ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge). The following facts can be found on the Energy Information Administration’s website; If drilling were to be approved no oil would come out of ANWR for at least ten years, that’s 2018; The biggest field in ANWR would produce, at the maximum, 1.4 billion bbls (barrels), total, secondary fields would produce another 2.8 billion bbls., which is maximum total of 4.2 billion bbls. In 2007 the U.S. imported approximately 4.9 billion barrels of oil, 2.2 billion bbls came from OPEC nations and of that 800 million bbls were imported from the Persian Gulf and the rest from various supplier nations. Considering these production and consumption figures, the most we can expect by drilling in ANWR is to sustain our economy’s thirst for oil for less than one year, ten years from now, but the potential environmental damage is immeasurable. My opinion is that the President should not be promoting the continuation of oil dependence; instead he should, for once, be a trail blazer and initiate a project to promote alternative energy and energy conservation. We’ve been through this before, back in the early 1970s. Had the President and Congress acted responsibly by creating an energy task force we probably would not be in the position we are today.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/servicerpt/anwr/methodology.html
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/pet_move_impcus_a2_nus_ep00_im0_mbbl_a.htm
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/servicerpt/anwr/methodology.html
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/pet_move_impcus_a2_nus_ep00_im0_mbbl_a.htm
Monday, June 23, 2008
Catholic Marriage
There is a conflict when the Catholic Church demands that “Marriage” should only be between a man and a woman. In the twelfth century Pope Alexander III gave the doge of Venice a ring and told him “Receive this ring as the symbol of your empire over the sea…You and your successors be married to her each year, so that succeeding generations may know that the sea is yours and belongeth to you as a spouse to a husband”. And so each year afterwards the succeeding Doge’s of Venice, Italy, dropped a wedding ring into the sea to renew his vow to Venice’s wife, the sea.
After the newly professed nun receives a blessing from a priest, she receives a blessed profession ring, a wedding ring. This ring is to symbolize her contract of virginity and perpetual chastity. The ring is the seal of the Holy Spirit. Through the reception of this ring, she is espoused forever to Jesus Christ. In other words, she is married to Christ.
These things are good things, both examples talk about love. In the case of Venice it is the love of the sea and the great wealth, material and knowledge that the mariners of Venice were able to achieve. Their exploits and the exploits of mariners all over the world gave us the beginnings of good science.
In the case of the good nuns married to Christ, despite all the funny Broadway shows, I personally will always be grateful for their love, their sacrifice and their marriage to Christ. I am not sure where I would be without them.
So there you are, two examples of marriage in the Catholic Church that is not between a “man and a women” but have produced great things, myself excluded my life relationship included.
After the newly professed nun receives a blessing from a priest, she receives a blessed profession ring, a wedding ring. This ring is to symbolize her contract of virginity and perpetual chastity. The ring is the seal of the Holy Spirit. Through the reception of this ring, she is espoused forever to Jesus Christ. In other words, she is married to Christ.
These things are good things, both examples talk about love. In the case of Venice it is the love of the sea and the great wealth, material and knowledge that the mariners of Venice were able to achieve. Their exploits and the exploits of mariners all over the world gave us the beginnings of good science.
In the case of the good nuns married to Christ, despite all the funny Broadway shows, I personally will always be grateful for their love, their sacrifice and their marriage to Christ. I am not sure where I would be without them.
So there you are, two examples of marriage in the Catholic Church that is not between a “man and a women” but have produced great things, myself excluded my life relationship included.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Bullshit
Oh Good, Candidate John McCain has offered his alternative to the Health Care crises that millions of Americans, 47 million and growing, were waiting to hear from the Republicans. So what is he offering? What he is suggesting is that individual Americans can take a $2,500 tax credit and families $5,000. These tax credits would not be granted to the individual tax payer, instead they would be turned over to the so called “Health Insurance Company” of your choice. Mr. McCain has no option for people with “pre-existing” conditions other than to turn that problem over to the States.
When I was a young accounting supervisor for a major oil company, about 25 years ago, the Vice President of Human Resources understood the need for a National Health Care initiative. He understood that in a Global economy American’s would no longer stay in jobs that would last a lifetime; he also understood that Corporate Sponsored Health Care Insurance would stagnate people of talent.
As it turns out, twenty-five years later, people who depended on their corporate benefits are the losers. Even those who were loyal workers for some corporation or another throughout the years are lost.
John McCain’s voice is the voice of “Greedy America”, it is the voice of the very wealthy who are getting even more wealthy without any concern for the Nation. McCain’s Voice is the voice of fundamentalist so called Christians who pay homage to wealth rather than the spirit of Christ. McCain’s voice is about sending the un-wealthy children of America to fight his and Bush’s wars and not even securing the dignity, health and welfare of our troops.
It is becoming so transparent that John McCain is indeed the epitome of another four years of the incompetent and un-Middle Class American administration of George W. Bush.
When I was a young accounting supervisor for a major oil company, about 25 years ago, the Vice President of Human Resources understood the need for a National Health Care initiative. He understood that in a Global economy American’s would no longer stay in jobs that would last a lifetime; he also understood that Corporate Sponsored Health Care Insurance would stagnate people of talent.
As it turns out, twenty-five years later, people who depended on their corporate benefits are the losers. Even those who were loyal workers for some corporation or another throughout the years are lost.
John McCain’s voice is the voice of “Greedy America”, it is the voice of the very wealthy who are getting even more wealthy without any concern for the Nation. McCain’s Voice is the voice of fundamentalist so called Christians who pay homage to wealth rather than the spirit of Christ. McCain’s voice is about sending the un-wealthy children of America to fight his and Bush’s wars and not even securing the dignity, health and welfare of our troops.
It is becoming so transparent that John McCain is indeed the epitome of another four years of the incompetent and un-Middle Class American administration of George W. Bush.
If I was Straight
“A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation”.
This is a quote I lifted directly from Rhonda Storm’s Church’s web site. As I read it, it says that the world Rhonda Storm wants to create in Florida would not tolerate a Rhonda Storm. Indeed it basically says that Mrs. Storm should be home baking cookies, wiping noses, making school lunches for her children and, I guess now, grandchildren. Further, She should not voice any opinion in public at all and much less having a voice in the Florida Senate. All opinions and decisions should be left to her husband and she should graciously serve his leadership. But we all know that is just silly, who could imagine putting a muzzle on that clap trap? The real problem with Rhonda Storm is that she is out to reduce the integrity, not only of science but of religion. She and her supporters, if successful, will introduce Florida to the world as “Ignoramus Central” (not that a lot of people don’t already think that), a place where you can learn that God did not give humankind free will and intellect, but only a book, that has not been updated for two thousand years, and indeed her Religious beliefs are only one amongst many. On the other hand, Science is updated every second of every day, we learn new things about this wonderful and at times scary Universe in which we live. In terms of scary things in the Universe, Rhonda Storm’s thinking probably ranks among the highest.
This is a quote I lifted directly from Rhonda Storm’s Church’s web site. As I read it, it says that the world Rhonda Storm wants to create in Florida would not tolerate a Rhonda Storm. Indeed it basically says that Mrs. Storm should be home baking cookies, wiping noses, making school lunches for her children and, I guess now, grandchildren. Further, She should not voice any opinion in public at all and much less having a voice in the Florida Senate. All opinions and decisions should be left to her husband and she should graciously serve his leadership. But we all know that is just silly, who could imagine putting a muzzle on that clap trap? The real problem with Rhonda Storm is that she is out to reduce the integrity, not only of science but of religion. She and her supporters, if successful, will introduce Florida to the world as “Ignoramus Central” (not that a lot of people don’t already think that), a place where you can learn that God did not give humankind free will and intellect, but only a book, that has not been updated for two thousand years, and indeed her Religious beliefs are only one amongst many. On the other hand, Science is updated every second of every day, we learn new things about this wonderful and at times scary Universe in which we live. In terms of scary things in the Universe, Rhonda Storm’s thinking probably ranks among the highest.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Two Stories
There were two stories in print media this week that caught my attention. The first was in the Sarasota Herald Tribune and it was about the success of the Florida4Marriage organization soliciting enough signatures to place an amendment to the Florida Constitution on the 2008 ballet to deny Gay Americans , as the Declaration of Independence insists, the right according to “Nature's God” to secure their “unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”.
The second story that caught my attention was in one of the weekly magazines that quoted Avi Primor the former Israeli ambassador to Germany. He was praising Germany for taking responsibility for its history. They are erecting a memorial commemorating murdered Gypsies and a second for gays and lesbians killed in the Holocaust. Avi Primo said “Where in the world has one ever seen a nation that erects memorials to immortalize its own shame”.
Indeed, and where in the world has the shame of Germany’s Holocaust been resurrected other than right here in Florida.
The second story that caught my attention was in one of the weekly magazines that quoted Avi Primor the former Israeli ambassador to Germany. He was praising Germany for taking responsibility for its history. They are erecting a memorial commemorating murdered Gypsies and a second for gays and lesbians killed in the Holocaust. Avi Primo said “Where in the world has one ever seen a nation that erects memorials to immortalize its own shame”.
Indeed, and where in the world has the shame of Germany’s Holocaust been resurrected other than right here in Florida.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
There is a ignoramus Republican Machine generated email going around the internet suggesting that 14,000 US Military Personnel were killed under President Clinton’s Administration. The real scary part of this email is that apparently Republicans can’t even count or add even the figures they are sending out.
There is an old saying that lies can be carried around the world before the truth can get it’s shoes tied.
So below is the truth and following that is the republican Spin Machine Lie. The truth can be found in your own government records, you just need to check, i.e., if you are really interested in Truth, otherwise don’t bother reading.
Bart
I did a little research on this and it appears that only 1 United States military personnel was killed in hostile action during the Clinton Administration. This information comes from a search of the Department of Defense Information site http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL32492.pdf.
You will note that in 1993 there are 29 Military personnel listed in the category of "Terrorist Attack". These are probably soldiers killed in Mogadishu (for those who can’t connect or only identify war in terms of motion pictures, this is "Black Hawk Down". This number is insignificant relative to the 241 Americans killed in Lebanon under Regan, not to mention the 40 French troops. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Beirut_barracks_bombing ), a real disaster and waste of American life.
It is also interesting that the number of “pending” and “undetermined” increases significantly in the Bush years. If you combine the “Hostile Action” and the “Terrorist Action” I think you get a better picture of what really is happening.
Despite Republican interference in Clinton’s attempt to stop the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia in what use to be Yugoslavia, Clinton succeeded without the lost of any American military person, Army, Marine, Airman or Navy.
Base on the information I was sent, i.e. the below, below information, I am glad my parents didn’t waste a lot of money and time to send me to college because apparently it didn’t pay off for a lot of people. I wish your friends (the person who sent me the original email) would do a tiny bit of honest to goodness research before spouting off. Sending out lies/Republican Machine crap only proves the ignorance of what some thought to be college educated intelligent people, who could have thought? Apparently Republicans like to be told what to think and now as entire Nation, America, is suffering from that “think control”.
The true numbers play like this as far as they are available (2006) and if you don’t like the numbers call the Pentagon and complain:
1992 – 1,293 Total deaths. 676 Accidental, 0 from Hostile Action,109 Homicides, 252 Illness, 238 Self Inflicted, 1 Terrorist Attack and 17 and 1 undermined.
1993 – 1,213 Total deaths. 632 Accidental, 0 Hostile Action, 86 Homicides, 221 Illnesses, 236 Self Inflicted, 29 Terrorist Attack and 8 undetermined.
1994 – 1,075 Total deaths. 544 Accidental, 0 Hostile Action, 83 Homicides, 206 Illness, 0 terrorist Attack, 10 undetermined.
1995 – 1,040 Total deaths. 538 Accident, 0 Hostile, 67 Homicides, 174 Illness, 250 Self Inflicted, 7 terrorist attack and 4 undetermined.
1996 – 974 Total Deaths. 527 Accident, 1 Hostile action, 52 homicides, 173 illness, 188 Self Inflicted, 19 Terrorist Attack and 14 undetermined.
1997 – 817 Total Deaths. 433 Accident, 0 Hostile Action, 42 Homicides, 170 Illness, 159 Self Inflicted and 13 undetermined.
1998 – 827 Total Deaths. 445 Accident, 0 Hostile, 26 Homicides, 168 Illness, 10 Pending, 3 terrorist attack, and 14 undetermined.
1999 – 796 Total deaths. 436 Accident, 0 Hostile Action, 37 Homicides, 150 Illness, 13 pending, 145 self inflicted 0 Terrorist attack and 15 undetermined.
2000 – 758 Total Deaths. 398 Accident, 0 Hostile Action, 34 Homicides, 138 Illness, 151 Self Inflicted, 17 Terrorists Attack and 20 undetermined.
George W. Bush Years
2001 – Total Deaths, 891. 437 Accidents, 3 hostile action, 49 homicides, 185 illnesses, 1 pending, 140 self inflicted, 55 terrorists attack and 21 undetermined.
2002 – Total Deaths, 999. 547 Accidents, 18 Hostile Action, 51 Homicides, 190 Illness, 6 pending, 160 Illness and 27 undetermined.
2003 – Total Deaths, 1228. 440 Accidents, 344 Hostile action, 36 homicides, 207 illness, 16 pending, 167 self inflicted and 18 undetermined.
2004 – Total Deaths, 1874. 604 Accidents, 739 Hostile Action, 46 Homicides, 270 Illness, 19 pending, 188 Self Inflicted and 8 Undetermined.
2005 – Total Deaths, 1942. 632 Accidents, 739 Hostile Action, 49 Homicides, 281 Illness, 72 pending, 150 Self Inflicted and 19 undetermined.
2006 – Total Deaths 1858. 465 Accidents, 753 Hostile Action, 30 Homicides, 205 Illness, 238 “Pending”, 155 self inflicted and 12 undetermined.
The Most interesting statistic is the number of wounded. In Vietnam there were 153,303 “Wounded- Not Mortal”, in Iraqi Freedom there are 25,830 listed in the category of “Wounded in Action”. The number that served in Vietnam was 2,594,000 and while the report I have does not give the number who served in Iraq it is pretty much the same 140 to 150,000, over and over again. If you remember most GIs only served a year in Vietnam, some more, but for the most part just a year. So, I guess the question I have is “are American’s willing to foot the bill to take care of those who diminished their lives for us”? So far that does not seem to be the case. We hear a lot of “for the Troops” speech but not a whole lot of action.
Indeed that ningcompoop O’Rielly, suggests that there are no “homeless veterans”. I think it would be a great idea to send O’Rielly and that drug addict Rush Limbaugh into combat, oh, never mind…we want to win the war against terrorist.
bart
This is the Republican Spin Machine intrepretation of the numbers.
"==================================================================
As it is now the official Election Year nationally, I have been getting these reports sent to me. This one was particularly interesting ( I have included a link to the original report). Whatever your politics, however you lean, however you feel about the War on Terrorism, this report should open some eyes.
Military losses, 1980 through 2006
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL32492.pdf
These are some rather eye-opening facts.
Since the start of the war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan, the sacrifice has been enormous. In the time period from the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 through today, we have lost over 3,000 military personnel to enemy action and accidents.
As tragic as the loss of any member of the US Armed Forces is, consider the following statistics: The annual fatalities of military members while actively serving in the armed forces from 1980 through 2006:
1980 ........ 2,392 (Carter Year)
1981 ......... 2,380 (Reagan Year)
1984 .......... 1,999 (Reagan Year)
1988 .......... 1,819 (Reagan Year)
1989 .......... 1,636 (George HW Year)
1990 ......... 1,508 (George HW Year)
1991 .......... 1,787 (George HW Year)
1992 .......... 1,293 (George HW Year)
1993 .......... 1,213 (Clinton Year)
1994 .......... 1,075 (Clinton Year)
1995 ...........2,465 (Clinton Year)
1996 ......... 2,318 (Clinton Year) Clinton years @14,000 deaths
1997 ......... 817 (Clinton Year)
1998 ........ 2,252 (Clinton Year)
1999 ......... 1,984 (Clinton Year)
2000 ..........1,983 (Clinton Year)
2001 .......... 890 (George W Year)
2002 .......... 1,007 (George W Year)
2003 .......... 1,410 (George W Year)
2004 .......... 1,887 (George W Year) George W years (2001-2006): 7,033 deaths
2005 ......... 919 (George W Year)
2006.......... . 920 (George W Year)
If you are confused when you look at these figures, so was I.
Do these figures mean that the loss from the two latest conflicts in the Middle East are LESS than the loss of military personnel during Mr. Clinton's presidency; when America wasn't even involved in a war? And, I was even more confused; when I read that in 1980, during the reign of President (Nobel Peace Prize winner) Jimmy Carter, there were 2,392 US military fatalities!
These figures indicate that many members of our Media and our Politicians will pick and choose. They present only those "facts" which support their agenda-driven reporting. Why do so many of them march in lock-step to twist the truth? Where do so many of them get their marching-orders for their agenda?
The latest census, of Americans, shows the following distribution of American citizens, by Race:
European descent............................69.12%
Hispanic ....................................... 12.5%
Black...............................................12.3%
Asian ...............................................3.7%
Native American ......................... . ..1.0%
Other ................... ........................... 2.6%
Now... here are the fatalities by Race; over the past three years in Iraqi Freedom:
European descent (white) .............74.31%
Hispanic ................................... 10.74%
Black ......................................... 9.67%
Asian ...........................................1.81%
Native American ......................... 1.09%
Other ........................................... 0.33%
The point here is that our mainstream media continue to spin these figures (for liberal political gain). Nothing more...it’s all about politics and the libs are famous for turning American against American for a vote.
(These statistics are published by Congressional Research Service, and they may be confirmed by anyone at: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL32492.pdf )
Now ask yourself two questions:
"Why does the mainstream Print and TV Media never print statistics like these?"
and
"Why do the mainstream media hate the (world wide) web as much as they do?"
Ensure you do your homework before you place your vote.
There is an old saying that lies can be carried around the world before the truth can get it’s shoes tied.
So below is the truth and following that is the republican Spin Machine Lie. The truth can be found in your own government records, you just need to check, i.e., if you are really interested in Truth, otherwise don’t bother reading.
Bart
I did a little research on this and it appears that only 1 United States military personnel was killed in hostile action during the Clinton Administration. This information comes from a search of the Department of Defense Information site http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL32492.pdf.
You will note that in 1993 there are 29 Military personnel listed in the category of "Terrorist Attack". These are probably soldiers killed in Mogadishu (for those who can’t connect or only identify war in terms of motion pictures, this is "Black Hawk Down". This number is insignificant relative to the 241 Americans killed in Lebanon under Regan, not to mention the 40 French troops. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Beirut_barracks_bombing ), a real disaster and waste of American life.
It is also interesting that the number of “pending” and “undetermined” increases significantly in the Bush years. If you combine the “Hostile Action” and the “Terrorist Action” I think you get a better picture of what really is happening.
Despite Republican interference in Clinton’s attempt to stop the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia in what use to be Yugoslavia, Clinton succeeded without the lost of any American military person, Army, Marine, Airman or Navy.
Base on the information I was sent, i.e. the below, below information, I am glad my parents didn’t waste a lot of money and time to send me to college because apparently it didn’t pay off for a lot of people. I wish your friends (the person who sent me the original email) would do a tiny bit of honest to goodness research before spouting off. Sending out lies/Republican Machine crap only proves the ignorance of what some thought to be college educated intelligent people, who could have thought? Apparently Republicans like to be told what to think and now as entire Nation, America, is suffering from that “think control”.
The true numbers play like this as far as they are available (2006) and if you don’t like the numbers call the Pentagon and complain:
1992 – 1,293 Total deaths. 676 Accidental, 0 from Hostile Action,109 Homicides, 252 Illness, 238 Self Inflicted, 1 Terrorist Attack and 17 and 1 undermined.
1993 – 1,213 Total deaths. 632 Accidental, 0 Hostile Action, 86 Homicides, 221 Illnesses, 236 Self Inflicted, 29 Terrorist Attack and 8 undetermined.
1994 – 1,075 Total deaths. 544 Accidental, 0 Hostile Action, 83 Homicides, 206 Illness, 0 terrorist Attack, 10 undetermined.
1995 – 1,040 Total deaths. 538 Accident, 0 Hostile, 67 Homicides, 174 Illness, 250 Self Inflicted, 7 terrorist attack and 4 undetermined.
1996 – 974 Total Deaths. 527 Accident, 1 Hostile action, 52 homicides, 173 illness, 188 Self Inflicted, 19 Terrorist Attack and 14 undetermined.
1997 – 817 Total Deaths. 433 Accident, 0 Hostile Action, 42 Homicides, 170 Illness, 159 Self Inflicted and 13 undetermined.
1998 – 827 Total Deaths. 445 Accident, 0 Hostile, 26 Homicides, 168 Illness, 10 Pending, 3 terrorist attack, and 14 undetermined.
1999 – 796 Total deaths. 436 Accident, 0 Hostile Action, 37 Homicides, 150 Illness, 13 pending, 145 self inflicted 0 Terrorist attack and 15 undetermined.
2000 – 758 Total Deaths. 398 Accident, 0 Hostile Action, 34 Homicides, 138 Illness, 151 Self Inflicted, 17 Terrorists Attack and 20 undetermined.
George W. Bush Years
2001 – Total Deaths, 891. 437 Accidents, 3 hostile action, 49 homicides, 185 illnesses, 1 pending, 140 self inflicted, 55 terrorists attack and 21 undetermined.
2002 – Total Deaths, 999. 547 Accidents, 18 Hostile Action, 51 Homicides, 190 Illness, 6 pending, 160 Illness and 27 undetermined.
2003 – Total Deaths, 1228. 440 Accidents, 344 Hostile action, 36 homicides, 207 illness, 16 pending, 167 self inflicted and 18 undetermined.
2004 – Total Deaths, 1874. 604 Accidents, 739 Hostile Action, 46 Homicides, 270 Illness, 19 pending, 188 Self Inflicted and 8 Undetermined.
2005 – Total Deaths, 1942. 632 Accidents, 739 Hostile Action, 49 Homicides, 281 Illness, 72 pending, 150 Self Inflicted and 19 undetermined.
2006 – Total Deaths 1858. 465 Accidents, 753 Hostile Action, 30 Homicides, 205 Illness, 238 “Pending”, 155 self inflicted and 12 undetermined.
The Most interesting statistic is the number of wounded. In Vietnam there were 153,303 “Wounded- Not Mortal”, in Iraqi Freedom there are 25,830 listed in the category of “Wounded in Action”. The number that served in Vietnam was 2,594,000 and while the report I have does not give the number who served in Iraq it is pretty much the same 140 to 150,000, over and over again. If you remember most GIs only served a year in Vietnam, some more, but for the most part just a year. So, I guess the question I have is “are American’s willing to foot the bill to take care of those who diminished their lives for us”? So far that does not seem to be the case. We hear a lot of “for the Troops” speech but not a whole lot of action.
Indeed that ningcompoop O’Rielly, suggests that there are no “homeless veterans”. I think it would be a great idea to send O’Rielly and that drug addict Rush Limbaugh into combat, oh, never mind…we want to win the war against terrorist.
bart
This is the Republican Spin Machine intrepretation of the numbers.
"==================================================================
As it is now the official Election Year nationally, I have been getting these reports sent to me. This one was particularly interesting ( I have included a link to the original report). Whatever your politics, however you lean, however you feel about the War on Terrorism, this report should open some eyes.
Military losses, 1980 through 2006
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL32492.pdf
These are some rather eye-opening facts.
Since the start of the war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan, the sacrifice has been enormous. In the time period from the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 through today, we have lost over 3,000 military personnel to enemy action and accidents.
As tragic as the loss of any member of the US Armed Forces is, consider the following statistics: The annual fatalities of military members while actively serving in the armed forces from 1980 through 2006:
1980 ........ 2,392 (Carter Year)
1981 ......... 2,380 (Reagan Year)
1984 .......... 1,999 (Reagan Year)
1988 .......... 1,819 (Reagan Year)
1989 .......... 1,636 (George HW Year)
1990 ......... 1,508 (George HW Year)
1991 .......... 1,787 (George HW Year)
1992 .......... 1,293 (George HW Year)
1993 .......... 1,213 (Clinton Year)
1994 .......... 1,075 (Clinton Year)
1995 ...........2,465 (Clinton Year)
1996 ......... 2,318 (Clinton Year) Clinton years @14,000 deaths
1997 ......... 817 (Clinton Year)
1998 ........ 2,252 (Clinton Year)
1999 ......... 1,984 (Clinton Year)
2000 ..........1,983 (Clinton Year)
2001 .......... 890 (George W Year)
2002 .......... 1,007 (George W Year)
2003 .......... 1,410 (George W Year)
2004 .......... 1,887 (George W Year) George W years (2001-2006): 7,033 deaths
2005 ......... 919 (George W Year)
2006.......... . 920 (George W Year)
If you are confused when you look at these figures, so was I.
Do these figures mean that the loss from the two latest conflicts in the Middle East are LESS than the loss of military personnel during Mr. Clinton's presidency; when America wasn't even involved in a war? And, I was even more confused; when I read that in 1980, during the reign of President (Nobel Peace Prize winner) Jimmy Carter, there were 2,392 US military fatalities!
These figures indicate that many members of our Media and our Politicians will pick and choose. They present only those "facts" which support their agenda-driven reporting. Why do so many of them march in lock-step to twist the truth? Where do so many of them get their marching-orders for their agenda?
The latest census, of Americans, shows the following distribution of American citizens, by Race:
European descent............................69.12%
Hispanic ....................................... 12.5%
Black...............................................12.3%
Asian ...............................................3.7%
Native American ......................... . ..1.0%
Other ................... ........................... 2.6%
Now... here are the fatalities by Race; over the past three years in Iraqi Freedom:
European descent (white) .............74.31%
Hispanic ................................... 10.74%
Black ......................................... 9.67%
Asian ...........................................1.81%
Native American ......................... 1.09%
Other ........................................... 0.33%
The point here is that our mainstream media continue to spin these figures (for liberal political gain). Nothing more...it’s all about politics and the libs are famous for turning American against American for a vote.
(These statistics are published by Congressional Research Service, and they may be confirmed by anyone at: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL32492.pdf )
Now ask yourself two questions:
"Why does the mainstream Print and TV Media never print statistics like these?"
and
"Why do the mainstream media hate the (world wide) web as much as they do?"
Ensure you do your homework before you place your vote.
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