Obama and Hillary on Iraq

This is why I will be hard pressed to favor a candidate other than Obama in a Democratic primary process. He's the only candidate who has any chance in winning who's perspective on Iraq has been consistently right- the war was wrong for America, and now needs to be ended quickly.




Contrast his clarity with Sen. Clinton's unwillingness to admit that she made a mistake in her vote to give the President a blank check in Iraq. Her surrogate keeps using her technique in the interview with CNN: it's not her fault she voted for war.

Leaders cannot avoid responsibility this way. As the CNN interview makes clear, others saw through the smoke and mirrors. She didn't. Furthermore, even if one believed the President's smoke and mirrors, the war was the wrong choice for America.

She got it wrong. She needs to demonstrate she can be a leader different from our current President by showing that she can own up to a mistake.

Seen this yet?

Here's the controversial You Tube video that is a take-off on the Apple 1984 ad. I've seen a lot of discussion of it in the media, but had not see the whole piece. Judge for yourself: Fair or Foul?

If the seas rise...

Global warming creates concerns that melting ice caps could lead to rising sea levels.  If so...

 

One person in 10 worldwide and one in eight among city dwellers are residing in areas which are less than 10 meters above sea level and near the coasts exposing themselves to risks of rising seas and storms caused by global warming, a new study has shown....  634 million people lived in coastal areas -- 360 million in towns and cities -- in 2000.

[M]ore than 75 per cent of such settlements were in Asia, especially China and India, where trade is mostly done through the sea route. In terms of population, China holds the No 1 position in risk with nearly 143 million people living by seacoasts. India comes next, followed by Bangladesh, Vietnam, Indonesia, Japan, Egypt, the United States, Thailand and the Philippines.

What I'd love to see added to this study- what are the economic circumstances of the people living in these threatened areas. 

 

On the surface, there's cause for concern.  China, for example ranks 115th in the world with only about $1,300 per capita in GDP.  Bangladesh has only about $400 per capita in GDP (156th in the world).  Other nations like Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Phillipines are not world economic leaders. 

 

Is this more evidence that the poorest in the world may be hurt most by global warming?  It certainly appears so.

Evangelical Climate Initiative

Their website is here.  Read their "Call to Action" or download that 'call' in a booklet form.

 

Dobson is not the only game in town.

 

Evangelical leader FOR environmental responsiblity

Pastor Joel Hunter.

 

The Bible has always talked about taking care of the Earth. As a matter of fact, that's the first order we got in the Garden, where it said to cultivate the earth and keep it. The Hebrew words are abad and shamar – you see them on police cars, they mean "to serve" and "to protect." And throughout the Scripture it talks about taking care of the gift of creation, and so on. However, the problem is that it's not been very high on our priority list. Most of evangelical Christianity has not really paid attention to that until recently, when this climate-change revelation brought it to our attention. This is a front-burner issue now, because we are fast polluting the earth to the extent that the poor especially are going to be hurt. Knowing how Jesus always prioritized the poor and cared for those who are vulnerable, we've always known we're supposed to do this but we've never really done it. 

 

Not Exactly Stunning

USS Cole suspect: Torture elicited confession

 

A suspected Saudi terrorist told a military hearing that he was tortured into confessing that he was involved in the bombing of the warship USS Cole, according to a Defense Department transcript released Friday.

Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, a Saudi national of Yemeni descent, said he made up stories that tied him to the Cole attack, which killed 17 U.S. sailors and nearly succeeded in sinking the $1 billion destroyer in Aden harbor, Yemen.

"From the time I was arrested five years ago, they have been torturing me. It happened during interviews. One time they tortured me one way, and another time they tortured me in a different way," al-Nashiri said, according to the transcript.

Why isn't he more specific about how he was tortured?  Well, in another item from the "not a surprise category"... 

Portions of the 36-page hearing transcript were edited out, and it does not include any details of the torture al-Nashiri said took place over five years. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said that any allegations of torture would be investigated. He said sections were blacked out of the transcript because of national security reasons.

Apparently US torture techniques are national security secrets.

 

Quote

"Discontent is the first necessity of progress."

 

Thomas Edison

American Torture

This is a must read.  Someone on the inside speaks about US torture. Selections from the article are below.

'We were torturing people for no reason'

 

Tony Lagouranis is a 37-year-old bouncer at a bar in Chicago's Humboldt Park. He is also a former torturer.

That was how he was described in an e-mail promoting a panel discussion, "24: Torture Televised," hosted by the Center on Law and Security of the New York University School of Law on March 21. He doesn't shy away from the description.

As a specialist in a military intelligence battalion, Lagouranis interrogated prisoners at Abu Ghraib, Al Asad Airfield and other places in Iraq from January through December 2004.

Coercive techniques, including the use of dogs, waterboarding and prolonged stress positions were employed on the detainees, he says. Prisoners held at Al Asad Airfield, about 110 miles northwest of Baghdad, were shackled and hung from an upright bed frame welded to the wall in a room in an airplane hanger, he told me in a phone interview.

When he was having problems getting information from a detainee, he recalls, other interrogators said, "Chain him up on the bed frame and then he'll talk to you." Lagouranis says he didn't participate directly in hangings from the frames.

The results of the hangings, shacklings and prolonged stress positions - sometimes for hours - were devastating. "You take a healthy guy and you turn him into a cripple, at least for a period of time," Lagouranis told me. "I don't care what Alberto Gonzales says. That's torture."

Lagouranis reported the detainee abuses that he witnessed in Iraq and is not a suspect in detainee-related abuses. As he says, he followed military guidelines during interrogations. "The things I participated in were technically legal," he explains.

Yet there have been repercussions. He suffered from panic attacks after his return to the United States and was placed under army psychiatric care. He received an honorable discharge from the army in July 2005.

He and other soldiers discussed the Geneva Conventions during military training at Fort Gordon, Georgia, in 2003, before being deployed to Iraq. But it became clear they were not always expected to abide by them, he says.

Some of the soldiers and officers had been influenced by Mark Bowden's October 2003 article in the Atlantic Monthly, "The Dark Art of Interrogation," which described techniques that, in the author's words, are "excruciating for the victim" yet "leave no permanent marks and do no lasting physical harm."

Things seemed different in Iraq. "I started realizing that most of the prisoners were innocent," Lagouranis told me. "We were torturing people for no reason. I started getting really angry and really remorseful and by the time I got back I completely broke down."

At the NYU event, Lagouranis said, "I'm from New York City. I'm college-educated. But you put me in Iraq and told me to torture, and I did it and I regretted it later."

That is something Lagouranis and others like him will be dealing with for a long time. "I didn't know I would discover and indulge in my own evil," he writes in his forthcoming book. "And now that it has surfaced, I fear that it will be my constant companion for the rest of my life."

 

Quote

The decisions we make, the thoughts we think, and the actions we take are all parts of a larger web of human development. This means that each and every human being has been blessed with the ability to positively impact the whole of humanity by living conscious lives and making thoughtful choices. Bringing this notion of interconnectivity into our lives in a practical fashion can be as effortless as beautifying our spaces with objects that are evocative of this highly significant concept and that help us connect with individuals from diverse cultures.
 

Daily OM

Allow the Religious Right to define our Faith?

Have you been following the recent dust-up among evangelicals over global warming.  It's been rather interesting.  James Dobson, for example, has been attacking members of the National Association of Evangelicals (see his letter here) who are interested in global warming as an issue.  He says, in part:

 

More importantly, we have observed that [Richard] Cizik [NAE Vice-President of Governmental Affairs] and others are using the global warming controversy to shift the emphasis away from the great moral issues of our time, notably the sanctity of human life, the integrity of marriage and the teaching of sexual abstinence and morality to our children.

 

Why does the evangelical/religious right seem to think that if we can keep gays from marrying and having children, that all of Christ's work here on earth is done?

 

Take just the issue of the recent controversy on the right over Mary Cheney (VP Cheney's daughter and openly gay) having a baby.

 

"I think it's tragic that a child has been conceived with the express purpose of denying it a father," Robert Knight, director of the Culture and Media Institute of the Media Research Center said. He speaks as if they hope and intend to damage family life in America, rather than simply create a family for themselves.

 

[I]t is sad when men or women model immoral homosexual behavior before innocent children in a home setting.– Peter LaBarbera, Americans for Truth.  He derided the intentions of Mary Cheney and her partner by saying the child was 'fatherless by design'- echoing the statement above.

 

Paul Cameron of the Family Research Institute writes, as an example of Christian un-charity, "By this selfish action, Cheney is not merely disrupting society, she is being cruel to her child...  Her pregnancy is further evidence that participation in homosexual activity distorts value systems, inducing practitioners to harm the commonweal. Our society already has too many children born without the benefits of marriage; Cheney's action is not only a bad example, but poor treatment of an innocent child ."

 

Dobson and others get to define the 'great moral issues of our time', and then attack not only those who violate their sense of those moral issues, like Mary Cheney, but also those who have a broader vision of Jesus' message to us, like Richard Cizik.

 

First, think of how Jesus responded to the 'sinners' he dealt with in the Gospel.  Did he call them 'cruel,' and 'tragic' thus pushing them away from his presence?  Or, did he seek to engage them, even siding with them over their accusers (think of the 'fallen woman' about to be stoned)?  The statements quoted above are political statements, not statements of people of faith hoping to make a better world.  They are divisive, and not helpful to anyone.  Above all else, looking at Jesus' ministry, he sought to help people.

 

Furthermore, Dobson and his cohorts are more like the Pharisees of the Gospels that like Jesus and his disciples- whom they would claim to follow and worship.  Demand that people follow their strict moral code, then ignore the plight of the less fortunate, and ignore how the consequences of global warming may affect the 'least of these' more than those of us higher on the economic ladder. 

 

They are like the Pharisees not only in their focus on what they in their pride determine to be God's law.  They are also like the Pharisees in the lust of power and prestige.  They know that they are able to attract voters to the Republican Party w/ their focus on gays and abortion.  Any broadening of the message would dilute their influence and fund raising.  It is clearly more important to them to keep a Republican in the White House than to bring the broadest possible realization of Christ's message to our nation, and to seek to come as close as possible to bringing God's Kingdom to earth.  It is also clear important to them the access to the political leadership that their electoral impact provides.  With whom do they seek to associate- the ruling class (to whom Jesus was sacrificed in the Gospels) or the suffering class (with whom Jesus dined)?

 

Who am I to question Dobson on such mattes?  Well, he invites the question.  Recently he questioned whether would-be Republican Presidential candidate Fred Thompson is a Christian.

 

Focus on the Family founder James Dobson appeared to throw cold water on a possible presidential bid by former Sen. Fred Thompson while praising former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who is also weighing a presidential run, in a phone interview Tuesday.

"Everyone knows he's conservative and has come out strongly for the things that the pro-family movement stands for," Dobson said of Thompson. "[But] I don't think he's a Christian; at least that's my impression," Dobson added, saying that such an impression would make it difficult for Thompson to connect with the Republican Party's conservative Christian base and win the GOP nomination.

Mark Corallo, a spokesman for Thompson, took issue with Dobson's characterization of the former Tennessee senator. "Thompson is indeed a Christian," he said. "He was baptized into the Church of Christ."

In a follow-up phone conversation, Focus on the Family spokesman Gary Schneeberger stood by Dobson's claim. He said that, while Dobson didn't believe Thompson to be a member of a non-Christian faith, Dobson nevertheless "has never known Thompson to be a committed Christian—someone who talks openly about his faith."

I do not question Mr. Dobson's membership in the Christian community.  I do, however question him, and others such as those quoted in this post, as to their definition of what a Christian should say and do.  I also question which is greater- his commitment to the path of Christ, or his commitment to the electoral prospects of the Republican party.

 

Return of the Pilgrim

As you can see from the posts below, after about a two week layoff, I'm back to posting again.

Why the time away? I can't say really. I've been busy... but everyone is busy.

I guess I just need to recharge my batteries and let my brain rest from thinking about some of the affairs of state that seem to dominate my commentary on the blog.

I'm not fully recharged, but I'm back.

This is why we are failing in Iraq

Iraq admits police massacred Sunni Arabs

 

[P]olice were behind the vengeful slaughter of at least 70 Sunni Arabs in a northern town as soldiers uncovered further bodies of executed men.

Gunmen, at least some of whom survivors charged wore police uniforms, went on a bloody rampage through the town's Sunni district of Al-Wahada after a presumed Sunni suicide bomber blew up a truck in a crowded Shiite district.

We have not taken democracy to Iraq.  We have brought them civil war and the tyranny of chaos.

This is our legacy to Iraq.  And our shame.

Quote

Because we all share this planet earth, we have to learn to live in harmony and peace with each other and with nature. This is not just a dream, but a necessity.

-His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Sign of Warming

'Surprisingly rapid changes' in Antarctic basin

 

A Texas-sized area of Antarctica is thinning and could cause the world's oceans to rise significantly in the long-term, polar ice experts said in wrapping up a three-day conference.

 

[A] number of consensus points reached at the workshop, among them:

• "Satellite observations show that both the grounded ice sheet and the floating ice shelves of the Amundsen Sea Embayment have thinned over the last decades.
• "Ongoing thinning in the grounded ice sheet is already contributing to sea-level rise.
• "The thinning of the ice has occurred because melting beneath the ice shelves has increased, reducing the friction holding back the grounded ice sheet and causing faster flow."

Considering that the impact of the rising seas and warming generally will be felt most by those already suffering, we have to wonder- how long will we continue to debate the need to act?

Christianity, Morality, and Climate Change

Stated better than I can:

 

Going beyond the sheer numbers of people who stand to suffer from the effects of global warming, it is important for Christians to understand that the poor and the vulnerable will disproportionately feel the impact of global warming. The millions of people worldwide, particularly those in the Third World, who already suffer from abject poverty, human rights abuses, civil war, AIDS, hunger, or corrupt or cruel governments – these are the people who will be hit hardest by global warming. Their food supply, shelter, and safety will be at greater risk than those of more affluent nations and communities who have the power to address global warming. Environmental injustice is the idea that people who lack political power, resources, and voices – specifically minority and low-income populations – unfairly bear more of the burden of environmental harm than the rest of us do.

Global warming is a human rights issue, a moral issue, a Christian issue. How much longer will we stand by and do nothing while the powerless suffer?

 

Source:  ThinkChristian

Guilty??

Austrailian David Hicks has pled guilty to one count of supporting a terrorist organization.

 

A victory/vindication for the Bush Administration and it's Gitmo policies?

 

One take:

 

His guilty plea reflects the "success" of American torture techniques lifted from Soviet Russia and Communist China (prolonged isolation, sleep deprivation, varying temperatures, etc). In Stalin's days, the goal-- above all else-- was to secure a confession. These techniques do just that-- they get a deprived and dependent prisoner to sign their name to anything to stop the torture. The truth is merely an afterthought .

Can we allow truth to become an afterthought?  Can we allow our government to use Stalinist interrogation practices?

A Retired General's View

I've watched McCaffrey over the years, and have found his willingness to use blunt honesty refreshing.  He's at it again.

 

McCaffrey Paints Gloomy Picture of Iraq

[H]is bottom line is that the U.S. military is in "strategic peril" -- a sharp contrast to his previous views. In 2005, he concluded in a similar report that "momentum is now clearly with the Iraqi government and coalition security forces." In a 2006 assessment, he wrote: "It was very encouraging for me to see the progress achieved in the past year."

 

[He] is especially critical of the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. It is "despised" by the Sunnis, he writes, is seen as "untrustworthy and incompetent" by the Kurds, and now enjoys "little credibility among the Shia populations from which it emerged."

The government lacks dominance in every province, he added. One result is that "no Iraqi government official, coalition soldier, diplomat, reporter, foreign NGO [nongovernmental organization], nor contractor can walk the streets of Baghdad, nor Mosul, nor Kirkuk, nor Basra, nor Tikrit, nor Najaf, nor Ramadi, without heavily armed protection."

McCaffrey is gloomy about the continuing strength of the insurgency. At this point, he said, about 27,000 fighters are being held, and at least 20,000 others have been killed, yet enemy combatants continue to produce new leaders and foot soldiers. The result, five years into the war, he said, is that "their sophistication, numbers and lethality go up -- not down -- as they incur these staggering battle losses."

This is the opinion of someone with expertise, and with no vested interest.  His views run directly contrary to the recent statements by the White House and Sen. McCain (who appears to have given up on his 'Straight Talk Express' method of campaigning) that the 'Surge' is yielding positive results.

 

The House and Senate have eached passed Iraq War spending measures that include a timetable for withdrawl.  Americans should rally behind these measures, and opposed the President's threatened veto. 

 

It is time to bring this sad chapter in American history to an end.

 

 

Quote

To be a follower of Jesus means in the first place to enter by compassion into his experience, with all that it expresses of the divine and of the human. And it means in the second place to enter with him into the suffering and the hope of all human persons, making common cause with them as he does, and seeking out as he does the places of his predilection among the poor and despised and oppressed.

- Monika K. Hellwig

Quote

The penalty that good men pay for not being interested in politics is to be governed by men worse than themselves.
-Plato

Quote

To show great love for God and our neighbor we need not do great things. It is how much love we put in the doing that makes our offering something beautiful for God.

- Mother Teresa

The depths to which people will sink

The tactic of many on the far right that seems to be emerging as the nation head's into the '08 election can be see here- a vote for the Democrats is a vote for the Devil.

 

From RenewAmerica.com

 

This Scripture could easily be describing the new Stalinist DNC Party "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8-9).

Satan, Islamic terrorists, and the Democrats are out and about like roaring lions, ready to devour any one they can.

War Protest

FRIDAY MARCH 16

3,500 Christian Leaders from 48 States to Protest War at National Cathedral, Mass Arrests Expected at White House

 

(Washington, DC) – Christian Peace Witness for Iraq will begin with a worship service on Friday, March 16 at Washington National Cathedral to be attended by more than 3,500 people of faith from 48 states, followed by a candlelight procession through the center of our nation's capital, where thousands will surround the White House bearing the light of peace, and 700 will risk arrest by remaining in prayer in front of the White House. The service begins at 7 p.m., and the White House vigil will begin at 10:30 p.m. It will be the largest Christian peace demonstration, as well as the largest single civil disobedience action at the White House, since the beginning of the Iraq war four years ago. 

 

More than 190 Christian and interfaith peace vigils and actions will also be held around the country in conjunction with Christian Peace Witness for Iraq-- including large-scale acts of moral civil disobedience organized by Christian Peace Witness coalition member group the Declaration of Peace .

 

WHAT :         Christian Peace Witness National Cathedral Worship Service, Procession and Action at White House

 

WHEN:          March 16, 2007 at 7pm

                                                          

WHERE:        The National Cathedral

                                   Massachusetts and Wisconsin Avenues, NW
                                   Washington, D.C. 20016-5098

WHO:             Features speakers include:

Rev. Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourners/Call to Renewal and author of God's Politics

Taylor Branch, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of America in the King Years and a Presbyterian Elder

Rev. Raphael Warnock, Pastor, Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Ga.

Dr. Bernice Powell Jackson, President of the North American Conference of the World Council of Churches.

Rick Ufford Chase, convener of Christian Peace Witness for Iraq's steering committee and former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church.

Celeste Zappala, a United Methodist and founding member of Gold Start Families Speak Out, whose son was killed in Iraq in April 2004

SPONSOR ORGANIZATIONS : Adventist Peace Fellowship, American Friends Service Committee, Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America, Brethren Witness, Catholic Peace Fellowship, Christian Alliance for Progress, Christian Peacemaker Teams, Declaration of Peace, Disciples Justice Action Network, Disciples Peace Fellowship, Episcopal Peace Fellowship, Every Church a Peace Church, Faith in Public Life; Kairos: A Time to Speak, A Time to Act; Kirkridge Retreat and Study Center, Leadership Conference of Women Religious, Lutheran Peace Fellowship, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, Methodist Federation for Social Action, Peace and Justice Support Network of Mennonite Church USA, National Council of Churches, No2Torture, On Earth Peace, Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service, Pax Christi USA, Pentecostal Charismatic Peace Fellowship, Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, Protestants for the Common Good, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries, Sojourners/Call to Renewal.

Hat tip: Imitatio Christi

Confession?

A 9/11 conspirator confesses:

 

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, long said to be the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, confessed to them at a military hearing held in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, on Saturday, according to a transcript released by the Pentagon yesterday. He also acknowledged full or partial responsibility for more than 30 other terror attacks or plots.

 

"I was responsible for the 9/11 operation, from A to Z," he said.

 

But there was this...

Mr. Mohammed indicated in the transcript that some of his earlier statements to C.I.A.interrogators were the result of torture.

 

Do you really doubt he was tortured? 

 

I'm sorry to say, I don't.  Abu Grahib.  Reports from Gitmo.  The Administration has lost the benefit of the doubt. 

 

We would not allow a confession based on torture in a US courtroom.  This is why Bush needs his secret tribunals.  In this way he can try to keep the light from shining on his betrayal of American values.

 

Quote II

Responsibility is the price of freedom.

- Elbert Hubbard

Quote

A bad man is worse when he pretends to be a saint.

-Francis Bacon

How do you like these odds?

[U.S. Sen. Gordon] Smith said he recently spoke with Gen. David Petraeus, the new top military commander in Iraq, who told him the troop surge has only a one in four chance of succeeding.

Incredibly reckless with the lives of soldiers and the future of our nation.

We are reclaiming a world precariously on the edge. We take action not with arrogance and certainty, but with humility and uncertainty. It is our giving that counts - not our success. But in selfless giving, we have victories. And through everyday actions, we reweave the web of life.

Vandana Shiva

Excerpt from Earth Democracy: Justice, Sustainability, and Peace.

Source: God's Politics

3,173

As of Sunday, March 4, 2007, at least 3,173 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq' war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes seven military civilians. At least 2,547 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.

The latest identifications reported by the military:
• Army Pvt. Wesley J. Williams, 23, Philadelphia, Pa.; died Friday, in Baghdad, of a non-combat related injury; assigned to the 163d Military Intelligence Battalion, 504th Military Intelligence Brigade, Fort Hood, Texas.
• Army Staff Sgt. Karl O. Soto-Pinedo, 22, San Juan, Puerto Rico; died Tuesday in Baghdad from small arms fire; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Schweinfurt, Germany.

Global Warming and Human Rights

Interesting article from Reuters.

Global warming is human rights issue: Nobel nominee
[G]lobal climate change, according to Nobel Peace Prize nominee Sheila Watt-Cloutier, an Inuit born inside the Canadian Arctic ... constitutes a violation of human rights for indigenous people in low-lying areas throughout the world.

The impacts of global warming will not be felt equally. A technologically advanced nation like the US, which has through these advances greatly contributed to the problem, will be able to use technology to, at least in some ways, mitigate against the ramnifications of global warming. Farming technology, to use just one example, will likely keep food on our tables.

What about the peoples of much poorer nations? How will they withstand the effects of global warming?

From a religious perspective, consider the following verse:

When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the alien: I am the Lord your God. - Leviticus 23:22-22."

It is part of God's plan for us that we take into consideration those further down the ladder of economic well-being than ourselves.

From an economic perspective, this is a classic example of a market failure- in this case a global market failure. Those who have derived the benefits of high rates of economic development (and environmental impact) will pass those costs on to people who either did not benefit at all, or benefitted only marginally.

In a market system, those who derive the benefits should pay the costs.

The time is coming when the US must pay up.

Not acting quickly enough

U.S. projects steep rise in CO2 emissions
By 2020, the United States will emit almost one-fifth more gases that lead to global warming than it did in 2000, increasing the risks of drought and scarce water supplies.

That projection comes from an internal draft report from the Bush administration that is more than a year overdue at the United Nations. The Associated Press obtained a copy Saturday.

The draft report, which is still being completed, projects that the current administration’s climate policy would result in the emission of 9.2 billion tons of greenhouse gases in 2020, a 19 percent increase from 7.7 billion tons in 2000.

Our nation needs to act more quickly to stem the tide of global warming. Some actions need to be purely individual- such as finding a way to drive less often and reducing our heating and cooling demands. Some actions will need the support of the federal and state governments, such as providing federal funding to greater amounts of research to develope and implement environmental friendly technologies, and using the tax code to encourage reductions in emissions and to make hybrid vehicles more affordable in the short run (eventually the market will increase supply of these vehicles and reduce prices).

The stakes are high and we've delayed too long. Our moral responsibility is great as the nation the uses greater amounts of energy per capita than any other.

I encourage you to vote your conscience with the environment in mind in all upcoming elections.

Still having problems

Posts have really dried up due to an inability to get posts up remotely. I fail to see how I can fix this at this time. Something's going on out there on 'the web' that is beyond the Pilgrim's control and comprehension.

All in good time.

Why she's on the Pilgrim's boycott list...

Republican journalist Ann Coulter calls Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards a 'faggot.'



Andrew Sullivan writes, "Republicans, if they are serious about reaching the people they lost in 2006, need to start distancing themselves from her. She's their Michael Moore."

Absolutely right. But one step further- Americans need to distance themselves from her. It is a national embarrasment that her books reach the best seller list and that young people wait in line to hear her speak and shake her hand. We have so much better to offer. See earlier posts here and here to see that not only is this typical behavior for Coulter, but also that she seems to have some sort of homosexual fixation.

Two Alternative Views

Choice number 1:
Falwell Says Global Warming Tool of Satan

Choice number 2:
Serve God Save the Planet.org