A Moment of E-Silence

At lunch today, a good friend of mine asked our table what we all thought about having a moment of silence during school for the victims of 9/11. Everybody agreed that it was a good idea, but I didn’t say anything. Not because I didn’t agree with everybody else, I just thought the question had a pretty obvious answer. Then he turned to me specifically and said “And I’m guessing that you have something wrong with that…”

I’m not that cynical that I don’t believe in moments of silence, and my friend isn’t stupid, he’s just been sucked in by the Fox News style propaganda that anybody who is liberal or doesn’t support the George Bush 90% of the time is a bad person whose dissent supports terrorism. Of course, that’s crazy talk.

Just in case, let me make this perfectly clear: I support moments of silence on September 11th. In fact, right here I’ll have an emoment of silence. Please take some time to reflect on all the tragedies throughout the world: Iraq, Darfur, Israel, Palestine, and all the rest, but more importantly, let’s remember September 11th, 2001. And not for trying to pin the blame on somebody, but to make sure we don’t forget what that was like to be attacked, and to remember the victims who’s lives were cut short so unjustly.

I was helping a friend the other day write a story which mentioned September 11th, and we couldn’t think of the right verb for the attacks. Finally, we settled on describing it like a cancer invading the towers that day. And it was certainly settling. I’m not sure that anybody is ever going to find the right words.

America did learn one thing from 9/11 though, and it is something that we need to remember in the coming months as the election approaches and our words get ever more vicious. We can unite as one people, and we are more the same than different.

Crossposted at We’re Quite Hostile

Kucinich reads Bush Articles of Impeachment on the House floor

I flipped on my television at approximately ten-thirty Eastern time on Monday night, and I was pleasantly surprised to find Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) speaking on C-Span. Kucinich was talking about President Bush and his various crimes against the United States, and I soon became aware that the Representative was introducing Articles of Impeachment against President Bush (also known as House Resolution 1258).

Dennis Kucinich had begun his long trudge through the Articles two hours earlier, and he would continue his reading, to an almost empty House chamber, for nearly another three hours. There were 35 Articles in total, each one detailing a crime that Bush had committed that warranted impeachment. I congratulate Kucinich for having the courage and conviction to undertake this task.

A summary of each offense for each Article, as provided by the index of the Articles of Impeachment, reads as follows: Read more

Giuliani Exaggerates Again, This Time Fakes Cancer Stats

Rudy Giuliani has been trying to humanize himself lately, today he was picking pumpkins New Hampshire. But that’s not what I want to talk about, he also mentioned his battle with prostate cancer over the weekend. He says “That in America the survival rate for prostate cancer is 82%, while it’s 44% in England.” He elaborates that “He may have not survived if the health care system had been socialized.”

After doing a quick Google search, I found Cancer Research UK says that the survival rate in England is 72%. But Giuliani’s contrast wasn’t to highlight cancer survival rates, it was to complain about a system in which he believes “Americans will be forced to be part of government health care system.” Interestingly, the statistic he cited was 28 points off, just like his other claims.

If you remember New York City was attacked twice while Rudy was mayor. The first was the 1993 World Trade Center Bombings. He took five years to establish a central command center, despite calls after the terrorist attack to build one. And guess where he put it? In the same complex that had been attacked. He also ignored warnings about faulty radios, which resulted in the unnecessary death of many firefighters.

Most of all he hid the dangers of the World Trade Center dust after 9/11. In an article published in the September 2007 Discover magazine, they report on a class action lawsuit of 10,000 individuals, most of who have come down with illnesses as a result of 9/11. Many of these people suffering from rare disease due to the local, state, and federal government covering up damage to Lower Manhattan to preserve real estate values.

Giulani knew the New York economy would be hurt if people knew Lower Manhattans dangers, so he instead sold New Yorkers and Americans to real estate interests. And now he claims to be a patriotic terrorist fighter?

Conspiracy!

Okay, as a disclaimer the following opinions are my own and do not reflect the opinion of ThinkYouth.net

Haven’t you guys noticed that since 9/11 there has been an explosion of “the government is trying to get us!” crap going around? One day during my MySpace pillaging I have came across one of these conspiracy fanatics. Being open minded I decided to read what he had to say.

In doing so, I also discovered Prison Planet (www.prisonplanet.com). I like it how Alex Jones uses FLAWED logic to get his arguments across. So, for the some of you who are actually concerned what our Government might be up to, here’s a couple of tips.
1. Pay attention to the newspaper and do not count on websites like Prison Planet for what’s going on. The views on many websites are biased (including this one) and have their own agenda. Some of them may be noble, but most of the time they are in it for the shock value.

2. If you are unhappy with something, DO SOMETHING about it and not just sit there and whine about it. Really, we choose who runs our country, might as well as be a smart person than C average.

3. Have some common sense. While it might be true that Bush had used wire tapping to find out what the country is doing, he is not trying to take over the world. Big business men are not trying to take over the world. No one is going to force communism on you. I just want to make this clear because most conspiracy websites are claiming that a group of people will take over the world and become rich while the rest of us are broke and if we say anything unpleasant we get shot it. It’s the 21st century. Enjoy it.

In general, I just want these doom-and-gloom types to stop trying to make us sensible people scared and feel helpless. Really… that attitude is not productive whatsoever.

Rudy Giuliani’s 9/11 Power Grab

On Thursday Rudolph Giuliani was ‘caught red’ nosed when he said that, referring to September 11th that, “I was at ground zero as often, if not more, than most of the workers. … I was there working with them. I was exposed to exactly the same things they were exposed to. So in that sense, I’m one of them.” [NYT, The Caucus]

A Firefighter whose son was killed on September 11th said, “That’s insulting and disgraceful. He’s a liar. I was down there on my hands and knees looking for my son. [Giuliani is] living in a dreamland.” [Fox News]

And in regular John Edwards fashion, he called out the Republican presidential candidate, as well he should. The Edwards camp called Giuliani a “fraud”. Rudy’s camp blasted back by saying that Edwards is “the same guy who thinks the War on Terror is simply a ‘bumper sticker.’” Read more