Happy O.I.L. Day
April 9, 2006
Today is the 3rd anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. It is a solemn occasion. It is time to reflect upon the 2,350 Americans, and 208 ‘coalition’ troops, killed in this war of Bush’s creation. It is a time to rededicate ourselves to the purpose of ensuring that that our government does the right thing
Idiot with a microwave
April 9, 2006
Sensible Spending Priorities
April 8, 2006
A group of liberal members of Congress, including our own Raul Grijalva, are sponsoring H. R. 4898 to cut wasteful military spending by 60 billion dollars (15%) and reallocate those savings to badly needed social investments. The recomended cuts come very close to the military spending cuts recommended by the Progressive QDR authored by Lawrence
Nationalizing the Abortion Debate
April 7, 2006
In what I consider a wise strategic move, Democrats have introduced legislation which would protect a woman’s right to choose under federal law, explicitly precluding state laws and constitutional amendments that undercut a woman’s rights. The anti-woman theocrats have overplayed their hand with laws like South Dakota’s, and they are only begining to realize the
The Least Popular President Ever?
April 7, 2006
I love to be able to say, "I told you so." But then, who doesn’t? Of course, this particular pleasure comes at great expense to our prestige and reputation, so I can take no real pleasure from the eminent collapse of the Bush Administration (well, ok, I do get a little kick from this liberal
Frameshop: Socialized Medicine
April 5, 2006
There is little that is more nonsensical than the argument against universal healthcare coverage that goes, "We don’t need socialized medicine in this country because…" As if the system of healthcare we currently have isn’t ‘socialized’. We have a ‘socialized’ medical system in this country already. It’s just a crappy, peicemeal, unequal ‘Socialized’ system. The choice this county has to make is not between ‘socialized’ medicine and ‘private’ medicine (the only people who have private medical care in this country are the uninsured, and they would prefer almost anything else), but between efficient, lower-cost, equitable ‘socialized’ medicine and ever-more expensive, bloated, profiteering ‘socialized’ medcine that leaves millions of Americans out.
Drinking Liberally Thursay 4/6
April 5, 2006
Drinking Liberally will be meeting again this Thursday at the Shanty. The event begins at 6 and runs till you gotta go. This week Karl Reiner, who penned this extended opinion piece here at BFAz, will be attending, so I imagine that one major topic of discussion this week will be immigration policy. The meetings
The Ethics of Incediary Weapons on the Urban Battle Field
April 4, 2006
The Pentagon has admitted using White Phosphorous (WP) on ‘enemy combatants’ (a term which apparently embraces anyone in Fallujah at the time of the U.S. assault on that city). WP eats flesh down the bone, leaving clothing and structures intact. It has been widely reported that U.S. forces are also using MK-77, a form of napalm in Iraq. Additionally, the Marines have recently introduced a new shoulder mounted assault weapon that uses a fuel-air thermobaric mixture, which has been compared to a micro-nuke, intended to flatten buildings and incinerate any inhabitants.
There may be sound military reasons to use these weapons – force protection, maneuver cover, even their very lethality – but what remains problematic is whether incendiaries such as these raise the same ethical concerns as other banned chemical weapons, such as nerve or blistering agents. So far, the Administration is defending the use of such weapons as a military neccesity, when used with due care to avoid civilian deaths.
