5 Comments so far

1. paulrevere February 16th, 2007 5:25 pm

   The Republican Party is our bridge to the Eleventh Century.

2. Gail February 16th, 2007 8:39 pm

   paulrevere:

   The Democrats and Republicans had several years to investigate the “hidden agendas” within the Patriot Act before they re-authorized this piece-of-sh$t legislation.

   What the hell were the Democrats doing from 2002 until it came up for re-authorization in 2006?

   I just saw on the news that Ralph Nader might run again if he is dissatisfied with the Democratic nominee for the 2008 election. If I am equally dissatisfied with the new Democratic House and Sentate by then, there’s no question that I will vote for Ralph Nader next time around.

   Progressives on both sides of the isle in this country are getting impatient with the K-Street mentality and/or the ignorance and stupidity of Republicans and Democrats alike.

   It is absolutely mind-boggling that our congressional leaders actually cast votes on issues they know nothing about, and are totally ignorant and indifferent to the rammifications of those votes.

   In retrospect, Democrats have also contributed to the building of this bridge back to the Eleventh Century. Do they think we’re going to roll over like dogs while they dangle a carrot here and there?

3. albert February 16th, 2007 10:09 pm

   the only way to starve this monster is with a general strike. the real sacrifice will be by you and me as we give up our huge everything. we don’t have to give up living just to scale back. just try to give up the power, the insurance, the lg. mortgages, the rich food and drink. tell them to shove their corp. jobs and go on our own and take care of each other a little more.

   if we stop feeding this beast it will die. it will be biblical, it will involve a tremdous amount of violence at first, but as the machine begins to wind down, the world will be able to disarm itself. with the help of more sane countries, i think we can entrap this beast (look how easy it was for bl) and take away it’s venom and starve it to death.

4. albert February 16th, 2007 10:16 pm

   sell your mcmansion to a family from a third world. they would probably get together with their whole neighborhood and all move here.

   the more the merrier!

5. Virginia February 17th, 2007 11:44 pm

   “To its credit, the Red Cross is favored for its convenience, economy of scale and historical legacy. Unfortunately, its economy of scale is responsible for sucking the air from donors, crushing smaller nonprofits, and making decisions that are not responsive to local concerns. The “big box” phenomenon overlooks grassroots organizations with records of responsiveness and accountability.”
   I’d like to challenge caring progressives to make the extra effort involved in getting to know what is really going on in any program that you choose to support. If you take the time to actually go out on a Saturday morning to work with the folks who feed the homeless on the streets, you’ll get to know more about both the issues relating to homelessness and the integrity of the people who are running that particular program. Then you can make an informed and caring decision about what you choose to do next, whether it’s a financial contribution or speaking up at city council or just continuing to be a presence on the serving line.
   As a more extreme example, in 2005 I volunteered, through an American NGO, to spend three weeks as a physical therapy instructor in a rehab center in Da Nang, Vietnam. It was a great experience for me and it enabled me to get a sense of what I might do to help disabled people in Vietnam. One conclusion that I came to was that short-term deployment of physical therapists was not making a difference in the way PT is practiced in Vietnam and that a long-term presence would be more appropriate. So, in 2006, my husband and I formed our own NGO, Steady Footsteps, sold our home and moved to Vietnam so that we could be more responsive to the demands of the situation there. I would contrast our approach of providing ongoing mentoring to physical therapists and devising of appropriate, affordable adaptive equipment made locally with that of other NGOs here who build large, unnecessary buildings or send discarded, inappropriate American equipment and who don’t make the effort to ensure that they are doing something that will actually benefit poor and disabled Vietnamese people and their families.
   Yes, it’s more “convenient” to sign up for automatic deductions from your paycheck to benefit United Way, but is that really the level of involvement you want with your fellow man?

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