(Just a little clarification to my post on watching Hotel Rwanda and Schindler’s List–I didn’t mean that I don’t recommend the movies, but rather, I don’t recommend watching them both on a weekend. They’re both very well done, but graphically depict the dark side. )
Tommy Thompson’s son has tried to remove the boot from his mouth, but failed miserably. The President deserves an apology. And no, Thompson’s son is not suffering more than anyone else.
<sigh> from people who claim environmentalists are scary, scary people….
….the Whitley County *cough* Patriots put up billboards that implicitly compare Barack Obama as a terrorist who needs to be “taken out”.
All that’s missing is the bulls-eye that Sarah Palin had painted on Gabby Giffords’ head…
I checked out videos of Hotel Rwanda and Schindler’s List from the library for the weekend.
Yeah, it’s not something I would recommend…pretty depressing.
I go round and round about what pushes people to treat another human being as “cockroaches” (Rwanda) or “vermin” (Nazi Germany).
I used to think of it like psychiatry has promoted–these folks were abused as children, therefore, they acted out their anger. But then I realized that there are many people who are abused who do not go on to hurt others–they go on to be good parents, wives/husbands, citizens, etc.
So, then I go back to the start and ask again why some folks grow up to be bullies and others don’t?
I mean, in Schindler’s List, Goeth, a high raking officer, was clearly mentally ill by being torn between loving his Jewish maid, whom he said he wanted to grow old with, but beating her because she was a Jewish “bitch”. He randomly would shoot people for no reason at all. He had a Jewish woman engineer shot because she was telling him that the concrete foundation they had poured for a building was not level and it needed to be re-poured. After she was shot, he told them to tear up the foundation and redo it like she said. Just craziness.
But none of what happened in Rwanda and Nazi Germany could have been possible without people going along with it. People who fed their hatred and jealousy and fear. People who loved having power over others.
I’m reminded of the Native American story of the Grandfather and the grandson. The grandson had told his grandfather that he had two wolves inside him: one was dark that was mean, hateful, selfish, greedy; and the other was Light that was kind, loving, compassionate, and generous. He asked his grandfather which wolf would win, and the grandfather replied, “Whichever one you feed.”
…but I’m not racist. Of course, Faux news is right there to defend this guy in saying there were death threats. Was anyone arrested? No? Then I would question the validity of the person claiming there were death threats. I mean, really, the guy is trying to play the victim here? With someone who is in such denial about being a racist, I would question his claim of people threatening his life.
I just don’t see it.
Chicago the band has posted this up. Wow.
The pictures of New Orleans after Katrina really cause you to draw in a breath…how little things have changed, eh?
Limbaugh has been harping on how the Koch Conservatives are not racists, and how President Obama brought up how the Stafford Act was not enforced for the restoration effort after 9/11 in New York City nor for the other hurricane (the name escapes me at the moment) in Florida….but it was enforced for the victims of Katrina…
They state there was no racism involved in the non-effort of Bush.
My experience was different.
In my hometown (I should probably say the place I grew up in, because “home” has a warm, fuzzy feeling, and this was a cold, dark negative place) had a radio station that had changed ownership and was airing Limbaugh on the AM side. When Katrina hit, they were asking for donations. They specifically stated that the money would go to a certain county in Mississippi. I asked someone with knowledge about demographics if this particular county voted Repub or Dem. The answer: Repub.
They were only going to send money to this county. What a disgusting display of coldness towards human beings.
Secret Cold War tests in St. Louis…
From the story:
But in 1994, the government said the tests were part of a biological weapons program and St. Louis was chosen because it bore some resemblance to Russian cities that the U.S. might attack. The material being sprayed was zinc cadmium sulfide, a fine fluorescent powder.
Now, new research is raising greater concern about the implications of those tests. St. Louis Community College-Meramec sociology professor Lisa Martino-Taylor’s research has raised the possibility that the Army performed radiation testing by mixing radioactive particles with the zinc cadmium sulfide, though she concedes there is no direct proof.
…makes you wonder what they’re doing now, in unsuspecting neighborhoods, for the war on terrorism?
My thoughts went to the chemtrails and how much they affect me and others. I’ve definitely noticed a correlation between behavior and continuous (daily) spraying of trails. When I had this last migraine, they had been spraying five or six trails at a time, all day, every day, for three weeks. (And I noticed that just before the elections in 2008, they were spraying the hell out of the skies for the four days prior to election day–keep your eyes on the skies before this election, folks, and see if you see the same phenomenon.)
Here’s a report on a news station:
I’ve read this this website before, but I can’t remember if I posted it. A little dramatic, but I think there is cause for concern.
I went to the Environmental Working Group website, and could find nothing on the chemtrails. Nothing on the Union for Concerned Scientists, either.
Joe Marmon has sued California authorities for contaminating the air.
Here’s a European take on the chemtrails phenomenon.
Czech Republic:
Here’s a story on the continuing fight for sacred sites and the environment. Another story about it here.
Why are they making fake snow? And why are they occupying a sacred space?
~~~~~~~
Story here on the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous. I’m glad that the U.S. has finally signed on. Special Rappoteur statement here.
One of the problems is that with my generation, the Boomers, we grew up with “Cowboys and Indians” …with the Indians being the “bad guys”. Along with that, we had John Wayne movies (and others) that also portrayed them as the bad guys. Then, when we studied history, we were told of all the brave settlers and how they were to be commended for “settling” the West…we were never told of the other side, or if there was, it was only when the “good Indians” helped whites to settle the land.
It was only when I began reading the Native Americans own account of their history that I began to realize how one-sided my history book had been. This would also include women’s history, by the way, but that is another topic for another day.
I would learn that they were in many ways just the opposite of what I had been told: they were spiritual; they were compassionate; they cared deeply for the environment (the “wilderness” of America was actually a carefully cultivated ecosystem); they respected their elders; they looked out for one another; they were not greedy–they took only what they needed.
We lost so much when we sought to impose our own beliefs on the Native Americans instead of trying to understand their culture.
…we just like to pelt a black camerawoman because…we thought she might be hungry, yeah, that’s it….
…and we respect women, too…
Good Grief. Food Stamp army’s?? Seriously?
A thoughtful article here. This is probably the best summary of the weirdness of someone, like Ryan and Thurmond, whose actions speak louder than their personal lives–they have that mental blind spot where they don’t carry over.
Eagle 