http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/category_rss/religion Vietnam was my war, my senior trip.  58,000 dead, 304,000 wounded, most by small arms fire, up close, personal and such an adrenalin rush that many Vietnam veterans are hooked to this day.  Our fuses are short and our mood swings are legend, it takes a lot of VA prescription drugs to manage the madness.  No one tells a story like Bill Moyers, it is in his Baptist minister DNA, in the days of Jesus they called him teacher/master/rabbi, enjoy this lesson in history.  BTW, LBJ was not as dumb as he looked or sounded.  The real villains in this story are the Petraeus/Tommy Franks/McChrystal's of yesteryear. MC Watch and Listen http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZhj http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZhj/commentary#comments Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:25:22 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZhj Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZhj/ I noticed some of the right wing pundits are shouting that a civil trial is "too good" for Khalid Sheik Mohammed. I am mindful that five of the first ten amendments relate to civil rights pertaining to the accused. We deny those rights to anyone at our own peril. The fifth amendment mentions "except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; " After the "Patriot Act" I am not sure what we are left with. Timothy McVeigh was convicted by a civil trial. I affirm that a civil trial is our best chance of stating OUR case against terrorism and OUR belief in the rule of law. However, we have violated international law on so many levels for such a long time that our supposed belief in the Constitution and the rule of law is but a joke to the international community. Conservative estimates show that up to 88,585 Iraqi civilians have been killed since 2003, compared to 2,976 victims and the 19 hijackers died in the attacks. 2,700,000 Japans civilians and military killed for the deaths of 2,040 American civilian and military deaths at Pearl Harbor. Nothing like a "sneak" attack to bring the devil out in us, kill them all, let God sort them out.. Regardless of who killed whom, we were responsible for Iraq security as soon as we set foot in Baghdad and yes they had nothing to do with 9/11, nor did they possess anything that would create a "mushroom cloud." unless you count napalm. Something Powell said seems to fallen on deaf ears, "We break it we own it" MC [Article deleted] http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZhM http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZhM/commentary#comments Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:23:15 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZhM Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 1 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZhM/ Today on DenverPost.com, Vincent Carroll wrote : "Shouldn't this country's experience after 9/11 reassure those who fear a backlash against Muslims?... The most recent data, from 2007...: Of 1,477 offenses motivated by religious bias, only 9 percent were directed at Muslims." Peter Boyles was echoing the "there has been no Anti-Muslim backlash" mantra.  They seems to be ignoring the rest of the FBI Religious Hate Crimes data : Year - % of Religious Hate Crimes that were Anti-Islamic 1995 - 2.3% 1996 - 1.9%  (page 11) 1997 - 2.0%  (page 10) 1998 - 1.5%  (page 10) 1999 - 2.3%  (page 9) 2000 - 1.9%  (page 11) 2001 - 26%   <-- I'd call this a "backlash" 2002 - 10.8%  (page 13) 2003 - 11%  (page 9) 2004 - 13% 2005 - 11.1% 2006 - 12% 2007 - 9.0%  (last year available) Muslims in America were 0.5% of total U.S. population in 2001 (Jewish was 1.4% ).  In 2007, Muslims made up 0.6% of total U.S. population (Jewish was 1.7% ).   http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/nowmds/CZRs http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/nowmds/CZRs/commentary#comments Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:47:03 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/nowmds/CZRs NoWMDs http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/fb7bdc7167f99eb19d_h7xmv2a1w.gif NoWMDs 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZRs/ A bit of war music for Veteran's Day, the dead cry, 'Remember me'  the mothers cry, 'I can't forget'  the nation cries, 'I know not war or sacrifice and we will forget'  MC Music from "Mansions of the Lord " The song was sung by the  West Point Glee Club  at the end of the movie "We Were Soldiers" "The Mansions of the Lord"  To fallen soldiers let us sing  where no rockets fly nor bullets wing  Our broken brothers let us bring  to the mansions of the Lord  No more bleeding no more fight  No prayers pleading through the night  just divine embrace, eternal light  in the mansions of the Lord  Where no mothers cry and no children weep  We will stand and guard tho the angels sleep  All through the ages safely keep the mansions of the Lord  Words by Randall Wallace http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZRP http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZRP/commentary#comments Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:34:25 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZRP Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZRP/ Could $292,000 pay for a college or trade school education, room and board?  Subsidize a young person until they could land a good job?  With the change left over, could it pay to make high school more hospitable to the poor? For public works projects? For more teachers? Research and development?  We ignore the needs of young people at a terrible cost. And yes, it does take a village.  What are the economic effects of 1.2 million high school dropouts per year?  At $7,300 per student, that amounts to $8.76 billion a year, year two adds another 1.2 million students and becomes $17.52 billion, ad infinitum. Can we solve the problem?  Can we afford not to? What can you buy with $8.76 billion?  How about 175,200 teachers at $50 K a pop, that's one teacher for every 7 dropouts.  MC "The report puts the collective cost to the nation over the working life of each high school dropout at $292,000. Mr. Sum said that figure took into account lost tax revenues, since dropouts earn less and therefore pay less in taxes than high school graduates. It also includes the costs of providing food stamps and other aid to dropouts and of incarcerating those who turn to crime." October 9, 2009 Study Finds High Rate of Imprisonment Among Dropouts By SAM DILLON On any given day, about one in every 10 young male high school dropouts is in jail or juvenile detention, compared with one in 35 young male high school graduates, according to a new study of the effects of dropping out of school in an America where demand for low-skill workers is plunging. The picture is even bleaker for African-Americans, with nearly one in four young black male dropouts incarcerated or otherwise institutionalized on an average day, the study said. That compares with about one in 14 young, male, white, Asian or Hispanic dropouts. Researchers at Northeastern University used census and other government data to carry out the study, which tracks the employment, workplace, parenting and criminal justice experiences of young high school dropouts. "We’re trying to show what it means to be a dropout in the 21st century United States," said Andrew Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern, who headed a team of researchers that prepared the report. "It’s one of the country’s costliest problems. The unemployment, the incarceration rates — it’s scary." A coalition of civil rights and public education advocacy groups and a network of alternative schools in Chicago commissioned the report as part of a push for new educational opportunities for the nation’s 6.2 million high school dropouts. "The dropout rate is driving the nation’s increasing prison population, and it’s a drag on America’s economic competitiveness," said Marc H. Morial, the former New Orleans mayor who is president of the National Urban League, one of the groups in the coalition that commissioned the report. "This report makes it clear that every American pays a cost when a young person leaves school without a diploma." The report puts the collective cost to the nation over the working life of each high school dropout at $292,000. Mr. Sum said that figure took into account lost tax revenues, since dropouts earn less and therefore pay less in taxes than high school graduates. It also includes the costs of providing food stamps and other aid to dropouts and of incarcerating those who turn to crime. Continued at the: NY Times http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZnn http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZnn/commentary#comments Sun, 11 Oct 2009 11:25:13 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZnn Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZnn/ I've been a little depressed lately, the Michael Moore movie seems to have intensified the despair. Much has been said to marginalize the so called "left wing" of the Democrat Party. In reality, the left wing is the "right" wing, meaning that it is the segment of the party that is mostly correct in it's philosophies and promotes academic, logical introspection and solutions. Most of all they are somewhat unselfishly devoted to truth, justice and the idea that America is duty-bound to strive for a more perfect union. That liberty and justice for all applies to our law and most certainly to economic equity. I am afraid that conservative/blue dog Democrat thought implies no room for improvement or reflection and a preference for a balance that is in their favor. The Right Wing of the Democrat Party seems the most "Christian" in its opinions and deeds. However, they are less likely to belong to an organized religion, they carry within them the only law that matters when dealing with most human, animal and earthly interaction. The Golden Rule is at once logical and effortless, what else could qualify as "self-evident" if not the Golden Rule. Where are we as a nation? From the Declaration of Independence comes a profound clue, an indication that we are in fact sheep, the status quo is undemanding of social responsibility or activism: "accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed." The Declaration of Independence "When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed............................." In the words of Ann Richards in answer to, "What must Democrats do in order to win" she answered, "You (All of us) must find the courage to talk to the people you don't know and tell them things they may not want to hear." Michael Moore has that kind of courage. I wish I had asked Governor Richards if there was a cure for complacency. MC CONFORMITY We are discreet sheep; we wait to see how the drove is going, and then go with the drove. - Mark Twain's Autobiography Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to reform (or pause and reflect). Mark Twain- Notebook, 1904 Conformity-the natural instinct to passively yield to that vague something recognized as authority. Mark Twain- "Corn Pone Opinions" TREACHERY Gratitude and treachery are merely the two extremities of the same procession. You have seen all of it that is worth staying for when the band and the gaudy officials have gone by. Mark Twain- Pudd'nhead Wilson TRADITION ...scrap heap of unverifiable odds and ends which we call tradition. Mark Twain- Speech, 5/25/1908 JUSTICE The rain ...falls upon the just and the unjust alike; a thing which would not happen if I were superintending the rain's affairs. No, I would rain softly and sweetly on the just, but if I caught a sample of the unjust outdoors I would drown him. - Mark Twain, a Biography TRUTH Familiarity breeds contempt. How accurate that is. The reason we hold truth in such respect is because we have so little opportunity to get familiar with it. Mark Twain- Notebook, 1898 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSY http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSY/commentary#comments Sat, 03 Oct 2009 14:58:31 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSY Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZSY/ I saw the movie tonight at a special showing at Chez Artiste. Mr. Moore has done it again, he has taken pure, unadulterated truth and made it an art form. Moore expressed a desire to be a priest in his early days, I think he became one for all intents and purposes. Bravo, Mr. Moore, you are a priest in every sense of the word. http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSP http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSP/commentary#comments Fri, 02 Oct 2009 01:08:48 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSP Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZSP/ If the American people are fed up with war, imagine how the soldiers, sailors and airmen feel.  Besides, being "fed up with war" would imply America's sacrifice in general or  profound awareness of what our troops endure.  I can name several of the Colorado delegation that have never visited the Denver VA and without naming names, I daresay, with the exception of patients, their families and a handful of volunteers, the VA is a total mystery to most and a place where you can meet America's most recent wounded heroes along with many from the past.  If you haven't seen "Born on the Fourth of July" rent it.  The only difference between then and now?  The VA is even less prepared to deal with those in it's care and those new to the system.  Without civilian knowledge and advocacy, the VA remains what it is and not what politicians call the "best care in the world."  Not sure how these young men and women are doing it, after my Vietnam tour, I was not capable mentally or physically from doing another.Herbert mentions a victory parade towards the end of this op/ed.  I know that Colorado Springs had a parade in honor of Ft. Carson a few years ago.  Has it ever occurred to any large American city to have a thank you parade for any of the major combat units that have served in Iraq or Afghanistan.  After the first tour?  The second tour?  The third tour?  MC NY Times September 26, 2009 Op-Ed Columnist Fed Up With War By BOB HERBERT Most Americans, looking at a globe, would be hard pressed to find Afghanistan. Americans on the whole know very little about the land or its people — and care even less. They know we’re at war over there, wherever it is, but if you were to ask what a Pashtun is or mention the name Abdullah Abdullah you would most likely get a blank stare. Americans’ minds are on other things, like trying to figure out why, if the Great Recession is over, as Ben Bernanke seems to believe, the employment landscape still looks like a toxic waste dump. A New York Times/CBS News poll found that eight years after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, there is a general feeling of disenchantment with our military involvement there and a desire to bring it to an end. About half of all Americans believe that the war has had no effect on the threat of terrorism, and a majority want the troops out of there in two years. Americans are tired of the war. Some of the young people currently being outfitted for combat were just 10 or 11 years old when Al Qaeda struck the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001. They are heading off to a conflict that most Americans are no longer interested in. The difference between the public’s take on this war and that of the nation’s top civilian and military leadership is both stunning and ominous. http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSf http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSf/commentary#comments Sat, 26 Sep 2009 17:06:13 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSf Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZSf/ .......for they shall have peace. Jesus H. Christ FYI, we spend $600 billion a year on defense plus supplemental funding in the $ billions.  China is #2 at $71 billion.  There ought to be a law against throwing gasoline on a fire.  MC "Almost every weekend, there are cocktails and closed-door presentations in the suites of New Delhi's five-star hotels, hosted by retired admirals and generals from the U.S. armed forces who now work for defense firms, such as Raytheon and Northrop Grumman." Who better than a general to promote weapons systems? That's all they're really good for, with the exception of begging for more troops and explaining why they had to destroy the village to save it.. They make tax and spend Democrats look like puppies trying to pee like a big dog.. MC U.S. Eyes Bigger Slice Of Indian Defense Pie New Delhi Boosting Military Budget in Modernization Mission By Emily Wax Washington Post Foreign Service Saturday, September 26, 2009 NEW DELHI -- In the ballroom of a five-star hotel here, executives from Bethesda-based Lockheed Martin, the world's biggest arms supplier, threw a candlelight reception one recent night to woo Indian defense experts as their country embarks on a major military shopping spree. India plans to spend an estimated $100 billion on defense over the next decade to modernize its Soviet-era arsenal. With its growing military footprint, India is steering away from traditional ally Russia, its main weapons supplier, and looking toward the United States to help upgrade its weapons systems and troop gear. As the world's largest democracy, India is seen as the most dependable U.S. ally in a part of the world that also includes Afghanistan and Pakistan, both of which are racked by Islamist insurgencies. But India's expanding military ambitions, and the U.S. role in selling this nuclear-armed nation more firepower, is starting to worry its neighbors, especially perennial rival Pakistan. India also has ongoing border disputes with another Asian giant, China, which defeated it in a short 1962 war. Continued at The Washington Post   http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSL http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSL/commentary#comments Fri, 25 Sep 2009 23:09:16 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSL Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZSL/ Not actually making light of this tremendous tragedy, my hometown of Austell was hardest hit. FYI, Georgia receives $1.01 for every dollar they pay in federal taxes. Colorado receives 81 cents. The top three states that receive federal money are New Mexico, Mississippi and Alaska, $2.03, $2.02 and $1.84 respectively. Governor Perdue of Georgia is a Republican, but most Republicans down there drink lots of the Libertarian Kool-Aid. Housing down there is pretty cheap by Denver standards, so $250 million is pretty substantial.   "Gov. Sonny Perdue of Georgia declared a state of emergency in 17 counties and pleaded for federal aid, offering his appeal directly to President Obama on Tuesday night. The state insurance commissioner estimated that $250 million worth of damage had been done, mostly to homeowners without insurance." NY Times September 24, 2009By ROBBIE BROWN and LIZ ROBBINS ATLANTA — The death toll from the floods in Georgia rose to nine people as the waters continued to recede on Wednesday, and residents grappled with the damage that has destroyed their homes, uprooted their lives and shut down bridges and major roadways around the Atlanta area. Another body was found Tuesday evening in hardest-hit Douglas County. Richard Butler, 29, was swept from his car and died, like the other five victims from the county, as a result of flash-flooding, said Wes Tallon, the spokesman for the county’s emergency management agency. In the county, about 23 miles west of the city, people were lining up for bottled water while the authorities checked abandoned cars for bodies and swept debris to clear streets. Continued at the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/24/us/24rain.html?hp http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSK http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSK/commentary#comments Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:19:50 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSK Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZSK/ Starts Friday, October 2 at the Mayan Theatre and Greenwood Village In Capitalism: A Love Story, filmmaker Michael Moore (Sicko, Fahrenheit 9/11, Bowling for Columbine, Roger & Me) tackles an issue he has been examining throughout his career: the disastrous impact of corporate dominance on the everyday lives of Americans (and by default, the rest of the world). Moore explores the root causes of the global economic meltdown and takes a comical look at the corporate and political shenanigans that culminated in what he has described as the biggest robbery in the history of this country—the massive transfer of U.S. taxpayer money to private financial institutions. http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSr http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSr/commentary#comments Mon, 21 Sep 2009 19:11:32 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSr Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 1 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZSr/ "The political and commercial morals of the United States are not merely food for laughter, they are an entire banquet." - Mark Twain in Eruption Romanoff Remarks on Courage and Leadership About 6:20 into the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuN4plsyNzE "Courage means standing up for what you believe, even when somebody might take offense." -A. Romanoff Kind of like believing in the Preamble of the Constitution, the most liberal quotation in the fewest words I have ever read. I'm sure that they inspire Romanoff as much as they do me. "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." None of the things mentioned above have conservatives done well or for that matter had any intention of promoting or upholding. Regarding "Defence" their bread and butter, ha ha, the greatest breach of national security in our country's short history was due to the supreme incompetence of a Republican administration. The only apparent asset of the Republican party is the ability to strictly adhere to their motto, "If at first you don't deceive, lie, lie again." Hey, bearing false witness is no small matter, unless of course you're a Baptist. The best kind of leadership? Leading by example, something that Romanoff has no trouble doing, he talks the talk and walks the walk. "It is curious--curious that physical courage should be so common in the world, and moral courage so rare." - Mark Twain in Eruption http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSt http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSt/commentary#comments Fri, 18 Sep 2009 23:26:48 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSt Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZSt/ "We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people" Martin Luther King, Jr. http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSN http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSN/commentary#comments Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:59:05 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSN Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZSN/ Religious Leaders Urge Action on Climate Change, Clean Energy Jobs As leaders from Colorado’s faith communities, we call for dramatic action to avert the most drastic effects of global climate change as one of the dominant moral imperatives of our time. The earth, our home, is a gift—we did not create it or earn it, and we do not own it, but we do have a sacred responsibility to be good stewards of that gift. The earth's resources are finite, and with our technological prowess we have the ability to upset the ecological balance which supports our life on this earth. We must be attentive to the impacts of our activity on the environment, and not foolishly pretend that we are immune from those impacts. We believe that our planet is in great peril from the threat of climate change. We believe it is real, and that it is to a significant extent human-induced. We accept the vast body of scientific evidence which forecasts severe consequences for the Earth and all its inhabitants—including rising sea levels, increased drought and desertification, more frequent and more severe extreme weather events, ocean acidification, new disease epidemics, massive population relocation and attendant conflicts-- if we fail to act. Our thirst to consume the earth's natural resources, and our reliance on old energy sources which emit greenhouse gases, has led us to a both a spiritual and environmental crisis. In view of this, for us as spiritual leaders to remain silent would be an abdication of our responsibilities. http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/nbock6552/CZSJ http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/nbock6552/CZSJ/commentary#comments Tue, 15 Sep 2009 17:49:18 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/nbock6552/CZSJ Nelson Bock http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/4b519578d91f18752b_efm6b4e7n.jpg Nelson Bock 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZSJ/ Sign me up, I'm a "Liberal" If your elected Democrat doesn't talk and think like this, you have a problem and perhaps you should encourage that "Centrist" to switch parties. I certainly wouldn't contribute my money or time to a person just because they use a "D" by their name. People who pretend to be liberal can get elected in Colorado, e.g. Ken Salazar, a liberal Hispanic, Bill Ritter, a liberal, law and order, Catholic kind of guy ("Law and Order" types scare me, they usually consider "prison building" a solution). Ben NightHorse Campbell, a liberal Native American. Liberals can get elected in Colorado, even if they are DINOs. MC "What do our opponents mean when they apply to us the label 'Liberal'? If by 'Liberal' they mean, as they want people to believe, someone who is soft in his policies abroad, who is against local government, and who is unconcerned with the taxpayer’s dollar, then the record of this party and its members demonstrate that we are not that kind of 'Liberal'. But if by a 'Liberal' they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people — their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties — someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a 'Liberal', then I’m proud to say I’m a 'Liberal'." John F. Kennedy Wikipedia http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSM http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSM/commentary#comments Sat, 12 Sep 2009 14:04:19 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSM Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZSM/ Ben Nelson, Max Baucus, et al., all DINOs. Anti-tax, anti-prosperity and anti-justice for all is anti-American. Look no further than the peamble of the US Constitution or the beauty of the concept, "E pluribus unum" "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. " NY Times September 9, 2009 Op-Ed Columnist Our One-Party Democracy By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN Watching both the health care and climate/energy debates in Congress, it is hard not to draw the following conclusion: There is only one thing worse than one-party autocracy, and that is one-party democracy, which is what we have in America today....................................... ...........................The G.O.P. used to be the party of business. Well, to compete and win in a globalized world, no one needs the burden of health insurance shifted from business to government more than American business. No one needs immigration reform — so the world’s best brainpower can come here without restrictions — more than American business. No one needs a push for clean-tech — the world’s next great global manufacturing industry — more than American business. Yet the G.O.P. today resists national health care, immigration reform and wants to just drill, baby, drill. “Globalization has neutered the Republican Party, leaving it to represent not the have-nots of the recession but the have-nots of globalized America, the people who have been left behind either in reality or in their fears,” said Edward Goldberg, a global trade consultant who teaches at Baruch College. “The need to compete in a globalized world has forced the meritocracy, the multinational corporate manager, the eastern financier and the technology entrepreneur to reconsider what the Republican Party has to offer. In principle, they have left the party, leaving behind not a pragmatic coalition but a group of ideological naysayers.......................” Continued at the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/09/opinion/09friedman.html http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSx http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSx/commentary#comments Sat, 12 Sep 2009 10:01:04 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSx Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZSx/ "And he finally laid down a warning: “I will not waste time with those who have made the calculation that it’s better politics to kill this plan than improve it.” He should stick to that commitment." September 10, 2009 NY Times Editorial President Obama Steps Forward For a man who made health care reform his top domestic priority, President Obama stood on the sidelines throughout a long difficult spring and politically overheated summer. He left it primarily to Congress to flesh out the details of reform and waited in vain for a bipartisan compromise to emerge — a virtual impossibility from the start given the determination of top Republicans to kill his effort and cripple his administration. On Wednesday night, reeling from the angry if ill-informed outbursts at town hall meetings and concerned about his slipping poll numbers, the president finally found his voice. His speech to a joint session of Congress was rhetorically powerful in its insistence that reform must finally happen — for the sake of Americans’ health and the economic health of the country. We hope it was only the start of a sustained campaign to get this essential legislation passed. Mr. Obama did well to reveal his requirements for meaningful reform. He stood by the importance of requiring everyone to carry insurance and requiring businesses to provide it or pay to help cover their workers’ costs. That is critical to ensuring a big enough pool of healthy and unhealthy people to spread risks fairly. Mr. Obama said the plan he is proposing would cost about $900 billion over 10 years, mostly to expand Medicaid coverage of the poor and provide subsidies for low- and middle-income Americans to buy policies on new health insurance exchanges. Mr. Obama fell short when he failed to say how generous the subsidies should be and who should be eligible to receive them. His $900 billion may not be enough to cover nearly all of the uninsured. Congress should increase it. Equally important, Mr. Obama pledged that his plan would not add to the nation’s enormous deficit now or in the future. He said any legislation must include a provision that requires additional spending cuts if reforms don’t provide the expected savings. Mr. Obama was absolutely right when he said that the relentless rise in the cost of Medicare and Medicaid will cripple the nation’s economy. But Americans need to hear a lot more from him and from Congress about how they will address that problem. Anyone opposed to reform has to answer that same question. Mr. Obama made a strong case for creating a new public plan to compete with private plans on the exchanges. He is right that all Americans will benefit if the insurance companies have more competition, but he stopped short of declaring a public plan a necessity. It may not be, but it is too soon to abandon the idea. He should trade it away only in return for significant political support — and should demand a trigger to resurrect it should private plans fail to provide affordable policies. The president was right to stress that reform is essential not just for the uninsured but for all Americans — far too many of us are just a layoff or a job switch or a divorce or an illness away from losing coverage. He said his plan would make it unlawful for insurance companies to deny coverage or refuse to renew it based on health status, and would limit how much people can be charged for out-of-pocket expenses such as co-payments. We believe that Mr. Obama has been far too passive — for the sake of an unrequited bipartisanship — as his opponents have twisted and distorted the health care debate. It was encouraging to hear him reject those distortions — specifically the absurd charge that he was opening the door to “death panels” — as lies. And he finally laid down a warning: “I will not waste time with those who have made the calculation that it’s better politics to kill this plan than improve it.” He should stick to that commitment. Having let his opponents frame the debate for far too long, Mr. Obama will need to do more than orate. He needs to twist arms among timid Democrats in Congress to get a strong bill passed, most likely with little support from Republicans. NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/10/opinion/10thu1.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1252591330-vfUdC0O+/V9wBKjwmuYG8w http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZNp http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZNp/commentary#comments Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:07:32 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZNp Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZNp/ For deliberate silliness, the behavior of the wing nuts around President Obama’s speech to school kids has no parallel since Gilbert and Sullivan wrote the immortal lines of Dick Deadeye in HMS Pinafore –The crew has been threatening him and objecting to his sensible and realistic observations about the reality of life in the British navy, and he says “From such a face and form as mine, the noblest sentiments ring forth like the mad utterances of a depraved imagination. It’s human nature; I’m resigned.” Once again, nature imitates art. The whole reaction of the right wing strikes me as such childish and irrational tantrums, like you would see from a toddler in a grocery store, I think back to what I might once have said before child abuse became nothing to joke about – “Where you dropped on your head as a baby?” It now turns out that this may actually have some merit. In his book Dare to Discipline, James Dobson advocated the spanking of children of up to eight years old when they misbehave and that the spanking should be of sufficient magnitude to cause the child to cry genuinely."[35] In contrast, Dr. Spock influenced several generations of parents to be more flexible and affectionate with their children, and to treat them as individuals, and that it would not spoil babies by picking them up when they cried. Dobson pushed the “strict father” model, in contrast to Spock’s “nurturing family” model. Researchers have linked authoritarian “strict father” childrearing with children who withdraw, lack spontaneity, and have lesser evidence of conscience (Maccoby & Martin, 1983). Corporal punishment has been found to be consistently related to poor mental health; including depression, unhappiness, anxiety, and feelings of hopelessness in children and youth. Corporal punishment is a risk factor for relationship problems, including impairment of parent-child relationships, increased levels of aggression and anti-social behaviour in children, raised thresholds for defining an act as violent, and perpetration of violence as an adult, including abuse of one's family members. (Hart, Stuart N. et al, Eliminating Corporal Punishment. UNESCO Publishing).[3] It’s probably true that many of the kids raised by Dobson’s principles probably had their brains rattled a few times, and it sure looks like some fell out. Certainly his views gave an “expert’s” permission for increased levels of physical violence against children. I don’t know whether any of this would hold empirical water, but it sure explains a lot to me. Pathological deference to authority, refusal to negotiate, equation of tolerance with deviance, condemnation of alternative religious practices or lifestyles, willingness to kill to enforce “morality”, strict party discipline, unthinking acceptance of myths and lies emanating from authority figures, obdurate resistance to reasoned argument…these all seem to fit the model of children raised by the Dobson method. The criticism of Spock’s approach (which began with Norman Vincent Peal and was taken up by such illuminati as Spiro Agnew), is that it led to generations of children who grew up with self-indulgence, moral relativism, and a lack of respect for the norms and institutions of patriotism, religion and even protection of life. The contrast was captured by George Lakoff, in his book Moral Politics: What Conservatives Know that Liberals Don't," published by the University of Chicago Press., 1996. Remember "Question Authority?" After Vietnam, Watergate, Iran-Contra, child molestation by priests, the Iraq invasion, murders of doctors, that sure seems like good advice to me. Thank you Dr, Spock. So the next time you see a tea-bagger going into his “Whaaa!” tantrum, give him a hug; that’s what he really wants. http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/bullwinkle/CZNn http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/bullwinkle/CZNn/commentary#comments Wed, 09 Sep 2009 03:03:08 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/bullwinkle/CZNn Doc Martin Doc Martin 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZNn/ Not sure why there was not a concerted effort right after WWII, especially in Europe, where the resources/manpower were available and the flight logs accessible. There were more Airmen lost in Europe than the total number of Marines lost in the Pacific. A total of 78,750 (19%) almost one in five, of the 405,399 killed in action (KIA) were reported as missing in action (MIA). The Vietnam war produced a rate of 4% MIA, the lowest total for all American wars. There are no accurate figures that I can find for WWI, total US KIA were 116,000. For the world, it was not quite the grand daddy of all wars with some BATTLES like the Somme, equaling the total missing for the US in WWII. Assuming 20% of total WWI KIA's, 10 million, one could assume 2 million missing on both sides and approximately 20,000 US MIA's. In WWI there were well over 6 million civilian deaths. Figures for the grand daddy of them all, WWII, over 25 million military deaths and 47 MILLION Civilian deaths. Can you imagine the deaths among animals? In other words and the more I think about it, there is something bad, stinking wrong with humans that I'm not so sure can be fixed. I guess we have an equal in nature, bacteria? MC NY Times September 6, 2009 Teams Seeking Remains Dig Back to World War II By ELISABETH BUMILLER BAULER, Germany — At the start of the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944, an American bomber was shot down by German fighter planes and sent into a fiery, nose-first crash in a cow pasture here. The pilot’s body was never found. Almost 65 years later, on a recent late summer day, a 10-member Defense Department team was in the same pasture, searching through mounds of excavated mud for a trace of the airman. The group had already unearthed shreds of a parachute and part of a leather glove when one of the team’s forensic anthropologists, Allysha Powanda Winburn, found a crucial clue to the mystery: a small piece of what she called “possible osseous remains,” or potential human bone. The real mystery, at least to the 77-year-old farmer who witnessed the crash at the age of 13, Hermann Reuter, was the group of Americans who had turned up in the pasture near his home in search of the pilot. “Why after such a long time?” he asked, perplexed. Continued at the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/world/europe/06search.html?hp http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZNg http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZNg/commentary#comments Sun, 06 Sep 2009 11:34:40 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZNg Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZNg/ A friend asked about details of the airstrike and it triggered this response. As far as the air strike, (I don't like drones, either) it was in all likelihood a manned mission using "smart bombs" They usually specify the identify of drone attacks and they are usually employed in Pakistan although they are used in Afghanistan. The more wedding parties, funerals, "tiny villages" we bomb, the less likely we will be looked at as a force for good. As a matter of fact, it is Vietnam all over again, "We had to destroy the village in order to save it." As long as "democracy" (unfettered capitalism, OUR ideology) is promoted and supported by a powerful military, the less likely its success. You build trust by demonstrating good will- schools, hospitals, infrastructure, security without terror and above all not forcing ideology on the natives, e.g. the plight of women, even as important as it is to us, you have to remember that Rome was not built in a day and women in the US have been able to vote for less than 100 years. The United States is incapable of realizing their error, they suck really bad at the process here at home and are certainly not a shining city on the hill, regardless of what the jingoists would have you believe. I know this is long and drawn out, but Afghanistan was never supposed to be a war in the conventional sense. It was supposed to be a police and small unit operation against a handful of al Qaeda. Instead they decided to build a permanent military presence along with the air force and artillery, incorporated nation building while further inflaming the common dislike of the West. In many respects they are right about us, we are a worldwide problem and have the audacity to blame it on the necessity and unfettered consumption of "our way of life." Just ask any citizen of the oil producing regions ANYWHERE if they like the deal oil companies gave their monarchs and dictators. You would think that the British, French and the US are divine. "The divine right of kings is a political and religious doctrine of royal absolutism. It asserts that a monarch is subject to no earthly authority, deriving his right to rule directly from the will of God." Wikipedia. Ask the Iranians what they think of the Shah, the Iraqis, Hussein all puppets and benefactors of US military weaponry/intelligence. Mike http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZ5T http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZ5T/commentary#comments Fri, 04 Sep 2009 16:22:24 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZ5T Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZ5T/