Anti-Red Cross Sentiment?

Where do idiotic attacks on the Red Cross come from? The Enquirer has a letter that puts forth condemnation of the Red Cross with an almost anti-UN style:

Will Red Cross act over Johnson death?

First, the beheading (on tape and all over the Internet) of Nick Berg in Iraq in May, and now, the beheading (again, on tape and all over the Internet) of Paul Johnson Jr. in Saudi Arabia.

Does the International Red Cross have any plans to determine whether these two incidents were 'acceptable forms of treatment of prisoners,' to the same extent as it has been doing with the incidents at Abu Gharaib Prison and elsewhere in Iraq and Afghanistan by the coalition forces?

Dan Nebert,
Wyoming

Most who know anything about the Geneva Conventions knows that the Red Cross has been charged with determining the treatment of prisoners of war and other detainees held during arm conflicts. It is not the Red Cross's job to inspect criminal organizations who have kidnapped individuals.

The letter implies that the Red Cross should not be worrying about the treatment of Prisoners in American jails. His other contention could only be to try and equate al Qaeda to the US Military, which I am fairly sure he would rebuke. Bottom line issue Mr. Nebert should think about: America is supposed to be better than torture. We are the beacon to the world on human rights, and when we fail, even if one thinks we did so only moderately (a real stretch), we must hold ourselves as highly accountable as any other country. Mr. Nebert likely would prefer to just let the military wipe out anyone who dares not follow American(BushCo) geo-political policy. I guess I am next on the list. Well maybe not next, but on the list.

Know in the News

Nice article today on the Know Theatre Tribe with reports of a fall production, Jason Bruffy news, and Know-to-Go specifics.

By the way ANOTHER AMERICAN: Asking and Telling still has performances on June 18th, 19th, 24th, and 26th.

New College in Warren County

The Ohio Board of Regents annouced approval of a plan to start a community college in Warren county, likely in the Lebanon area. The school has no permanent facility and will be cooperating with three different state schools until they are on their feet.

Countdown to Election Day Rally

Sign up HERE if you want to attend the Countdown to Election Day Rally and Citywide day of action which is part of the Campaign to Repeal Article XII.

Help take a bite out of Phil Burress’s ass! Stop the theocratic fascists in their tracks come November.

'Back in the Day'

Last night while enjoying a wonderful CT walk up in Mt. Adams I got into a great bar debate with a woman whom I shall only call Ms. A. Now, Ms. A commented on the phrase "back in the day" that I used in a discussion we were having about Cincinnati and indicated that she had only heard that phrase used here in Cincinnati, and she hears it a lot. Now, I am not a native of Cincinnati, so I am more than willing to bash us for being 10 years or more behind the times, which made me state that I was sure that they phrase was not unique to Cincinnati. Well, I was right. The Urban Dictionary has it listed: Back in the day. Most of the entries put it forth as an intercity phrase, which has been co-opted by the mainstream society, including myself. Now, this phrase is, as it is put in one of the definitions, really old-school. Cincinnati is not known for cutting edge urban language, so my guess is that we here are finally catching up with a phrase that was "hip" back in the day, say around 1988.

Oh, the coolnees we infuse on the culture. Please?

Crock of Beans

Bush is coming again to Cincinnati. It is just odd how both candidates just follow each other around.

Bush's reported topic will be hismarriage plan. Now, not his anti-gay stances, all though this is a "great" place to push that, he instead is trying to push a social agenda through the law. I thought that the GOP was against that? Oh, right, they are only against it when they are not either reaping the benefits of the cash flow, or their religious dogma is not the social agenda being pushed. He is seeking to push marriage, or should I say encourage, on poor people. If you have to be poor, what better way then to have more mouths to feed and more people to argue with about money.

I was most amused by the comments in the article from a Bush spokesperson:

'The president is going to be talking about his compassion agenda, highlighting his goals to create a more compassionate society,' White House spokesman Jim Morrell said. 'He will be touching on his Healthy Marriage Initiative as well as focusing on ways of building a culture of personal responsibility.'

Now, how is a president supposed to be taken seriously on creating a compassionate society when he rejects support for Stem Cell research on the heals of a call from the Reagans to increase government funding of Stem Cell research in hopes of curing diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s? How can this president seek a society that builds personal responsibility when he can't take personal responsibility for misleading the American public on why we went to war in Iraq? He blames the CIA or some other nameless intelligence agency. He shows he compassion by leading a war that killed thousands of Iraqi civilians and over 800 Americans. That is a great model for American kids. I mean Clinton played semantics with lying about blowjobs and Bush is playing word games with what constitutes "links" with al Qaeda.

More on Bush's visit from the Post and WCPO.

Intent

Down in KY the conservative fundamentalists have taken hold of the state with an iron hand. The new law they have created has to been seen for the intent, not just the anecdotal example used to sell it.

The intent of this law is to try and criminalize abortion. It does not do anything to prevent crime. It does not do anything to deter someone from killing a pregnant woman. The purpose is to put forth a conservative religious agenda by using the law.

Hmmmmmm Doggie, I love opening up a can of worms, and there is no can as big as the abortion debate.