Monday, 19 December 2005
The Open Trackback Alliance VII For Monday
When I first started upon my journey through the blogverse I created a
Statement of PurposeNow upon reading it, one can realize that I did not hold to every detail of that original statement, but from it's basic premise, I have never swayed, in my belief that the Blogs are in fact the Committees of Correspondence of the Second American Revolution.
And that it is a Revolution of Information, no longer can we afford and allow elite gateways to control what we can see, hear and discuss.
One of the most important discoveries I make in those early days was the website of Samantha Burns, which included a unique informal community of bloggers, who not only linked to each other but actually browsed and read the blogs they linked to.
Later I was honored to be allowed to join another more formal blog community. At that time I decided that while I welcomed blogs that wanted to link to me, I was not that interested in simply joining blogrolls to add links. After that I made no more attempts to join any blog alliances. I have been kept busy supporting the linkages I have and at times I feel guilty that I cannot get around to all the websites on my blogroll as I could when it was smaller.
So why do I welcome this recent invitation to join the Open Trackback Alliance? Have I reconsidered my former decision?
No I am posting and joining this Alliance because it is RIGHT for me to do so.
Because it FULFILLS my original Statement of Purpose that the Blogs are indeed the 21st Century Committees of Correspondence, whose duty and honor it is to SHARE information, thoughts, ideas, news and to discuss the same. To diligently search for the truths that lie behind the distortions and half-truths of the Legacy Media.
What the blogs associated with the Samantha Burns site did informally, and without structure, this Alliance only aids and structures. There is in fact no conflict between what I do now, and what I decided to do sometime ago.
For I believe that those bloggers who find their way, here and in particular from the Blogs associated with Sam.
HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY.
Some of us are more Serious, some of us are more lighthearted and some post the common ordinary things that make one smile and recall that Life without the simple things to treasure is meaningless.
And it is important that all have a platform from which to speak.
As I understand this process you can link to this post and trackback to this post on ANY subject or post you think important. It is open. I will repeat this every Monday.
The Committees of Correspondence welcomes your intelligent comments. And also welcomes you to join the
OPEN TRACKBACK ALLIANCE
Blogs that Trackback to this Post:
On Monday
Ironic juxtaposition: Guard the Borders/Open Post from third world county
Jackass in a Fox Suit from freedom folks
Christmas Parody Songs from freedom folks
Guard the Borders: Round-Up from TMH's Bacon Bits
Y'al come back now, Y'heah? ;-)
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Friday, 16 December 2005
Democrats
will have an
"issue agenda"
The Democrats Punt
Nancy Pelosi says that the Democrats will have an "issue agenda" for next year's Congressional elections, but it will not include a position on Iraq.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said yesterday that Democrats should not seek a unified position on an exit strategy in Iraq, calling the war a matter of individual conscience and saying differing positions within the caucus are a source of strength for the party.
Pelosi said Democrats will produce an issue agenda for the 2006 elections but it will not include a position on Iraq. There is consensus within the party that President Bush has mismanaged the war and that a new course is needed, but House Democrats should be free to take individual positions, she sa(i)d."
Let me see,
they were FOR it,
BEFORE they were AGAINST it,
but now they are NOT SAYING,
what their position is On what for most Americans is THE defining issue of the present era.
Oh and they want us to elect more of them to the Senate and House of Representatives to--
Uhh, "they are not saying?"
Just vote for us, we are not Bush, nor are we Repugs and when we figure out what we stand for, you will be the first to know, MAYBE.
Is that a firm unequivocal maybe, or a conditional,let's consult with a focus group before making any semipermanent decisions, maybe?
I wonder if they will take this firm a stand on the REST of the issues that may come up?
If having NO position as a Party on the Iraq War is a source of strength, will having no position on any other issue but them in a position of unassailable strength?
Vote for us, we stand for Nothing? Linked to
third world county at OTA Free-for-All Post
Stray Dog at T.G.I.O.T.A.F.
Bloggin' Outloud at Friday Funny Stuff & Open Posts
NIF at It's a beautiful day
MacStansbury.org at So, did you think about Open Trackback spam, buddy?
Right Wing Nation at Friday Open Trackbacks
Colbert Report at Quote of the day
The Conservative Cat at Continue the Conversation and Evolve to a Higher Level
![](12-17-2005.JPG)
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From Iraq,
this will make you smile
An Update from
![](logo.gif)
Greetings.
This is a small happy story on a great day when Iraq celebrates a big happy story with its election.
Over a year ago we launched a project called "Operation Snapshot" in response to a request from Marines in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. They asked for Polaroid cameras and film so they could take pictures of local children and families and give those Polaroid photos as gifts.
Back then LtCol Jeff Vold emailed us, "in the end 200-300 Polaroid cameras with plenty of film spread across the Division zone may go farther in establishing enduring relations than a thousand soccer balls!" This also fit with my experience in Iraq (and pretty much anywhere else in the world). People love pictures of themselves. The original project is described here:
http://www.spiritofamerica.net/projects/77Fortunately, you - our donors - provided the money for the cameras and film. We sent 160 cameras and 2900 packs of film to Iraq. Unfortunately, violence in Al Anbar prevented the kind of interaction with Iraqis that the Marines hoped for and delayed the project.
Things are getting better. And, finally - a year later - Operation Snapshot is underway. A message from Sgt. Charity Lewis, USMC follows below. And the pictures tell the story!
![](opsnapboysfinal.jpg)
![](opsnapboy1.jpg)
![](opsnapmarine.jpg)
Like the Marines above, we all hope the cameras and film will help reduce the need for the rest of their gear. You can see more photos here:
(If you blog please link):
http://www.spiritofamerica.net/site/blog/671 And here:
http://www.spiritofamerica.net/site/blog/670
Best wishes for a Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah and Happy New Year from all of us at Spirit of America to you and your loved ones. Thank you for your support that makes possible stories like the one above. They warm our hearts. We hope they do the same for you.
Jim Hake and the Spirit of America team
ps: As we're in the "giving season," we would appreciate it if you would consider a gift to Spirit of America or one our active projects. We believe your donation can be put to excellent use. You can give online via credit card or by phone or check. Details here:
http://www.spiritofamerica.net/site/give
------------------------------
Message from Sgt Charity Lewis, United States Marine Corps
From: Charity Lewis
Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2005 3:41 AM
To: Michele Redmond
Subject: Polaroids
Michele,
Thank you so much. I was completely amazed. I am always thankful to get out of this office and out into the field. This, by far, was the greatest adventure yet.
We convoyed out and drove to a local Iraqi Army Station, from there the IA Soldiers took on us a foot patrol out to a local school not far from their area.
Yes, it was a little tense, but once we arrived at the school the children started to come from everywhere. The team I was with was delivering backpacks and I toted along with my backpack full of Polaroids and film.
The pictures were the hit of the day. I showed the Iraqi Soldiers how to take pictures and just let them go with it.
Again, thanks for all your support.
Sincerely
Charity
This e-mail was sent by Spirit of America, located at 12021 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 558, Los Angeles, CA 90025 in the USA. To not receive further e-mails, please click here or reply to this e-mail with "unlist" in the Subject line
Join Us and Make Freedom Win
![](main1.jpg)
Linked to
third world county at OTA Free-for-All Post
Michelle Malkin at IRAQI ELECTION: THE DAY AFTER
Stray Dog at T.G.I.O.T.A.F.
Bloggin' Outloud at Friday Funny Stuff & Open Posts
NIF at It's a beautiful day
MacStansbury.org at So, did you think about Open Trackback spam, buddy?
Right Wing Nation at Friday Open Trackbacks
Colbert Report at Quote of the day
The Conservative Cat at Continue the Conversation and Evolve to a Higher Level
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Thursday, 15 December 2005
Wednesday, 14 December 2005
The Lusty Chinese Economy
Everywhere one looks these days, one sees articles in Business Journals and the Mainstream Media, buoyantly trumpeting messages such as,
Continued economic growth will make this the Chinese Century
Phil Ruthven - posted Monday, 17 November 2003
China was the world?s largest economy (in purchasing power parity terms) for most of the last millennium, excluding the 19th and 20th Centuries, when it had largely ignored the industrial revolution.
Today it is the second-largest nation after the USA in economic size (PPP GDP) ? although still just over half the size of the USA ? and will be fifth largest in $US terms by the end of 2003, having climbed several rungs on the ladder over the past two decades.
![](20_largest_economies.gif)
China will have overtaken Britain by the end of 2003 calendar year, and France by the end of 2004 or early 2005. Sometime on or around 2010, it will overtake Germany; and between 2015-2020 it is expected to overtake Japan to become the world?s second largest economy in both US$ terms and PPP terms.
Will China then set its sights on the USA? Yes, but it is unlikely to overtake the USA easily or quickly. By the same token, a fast rising number two often gets more attention than number one, as we saw with Japan in the 1980s before Japan?s economy slowed to a halt in the 1990s and early years of this new Century.
If China is to overtake the USA, it is expected to be in the second half of the 21st Century; and that feat, if achieved, would make this the Chinese century.
China has the numbers, of people that is. With 1.3 billion citizens (20.5 per cent of the world)
A market of that size does have a logic all of it's own. Of course the People's Daily is even more optimistic.
Wu on China's Economic Prospects in 21st Century
The reason why China has been able to maintain a good momentum of economic growth in an adverse economic environment is that it has, under the leadership of President Jiang Zemin, adopted timely measures to respond to the circumstances and gone ahead with reform and opening-up," he stressed.
China's Economy to Fly Colors in 21st Century
China is entering an upturn stage of its economic growth, and it will be one of the few economies that will experience faster growth in the 21st century, said a group of economists from the world's leading banking and investment institutions in Hong Kong.
The most important factor that keeps China's economy continuing to maintain an accelerating, sustainable growth is the country's impending accession into the World Trade Organization (WTO), said Yiping Huang, Salomon Smith Barney (SSB) vice-president for Asia Pacific economic and market analysis.
The move will not only bring in more foreign investments, but also create a more favorable environment for its development to promote thoroughgoing reform and wider opening up, Huang noted. "What is more important is that the entry into the WTO will result in a range of economic rules that conforms to the international conventions," he added.
But there are other visions, visions that give other reasons for the continual accelerated growth.
From Stratfor.com we hear of a seething volcano about to erupt.
Last week, a group of Chinese villagers staged a demonstration against a wind-power project near Shanwei, a town in Guangdong province about 100 miles from Hong Kong. In the first incident, protesters blocked access to the site of the wind-power generation project. The next day, Dec. 6, demonstrators returned. According to Chinese official reports, they were led by three men -- Huang Xijun, Lin Hanru and Huang Xirang -- and were armed with knives, steel spears, sticks, dynamite and Molotov cocktails. Members of the local People's Armed Police fired tear gas at the crowd, hoping to break things up, but the three leaders rallied the crowd to continue what, depending on who was telling the story, was either a protest or attack. According to the description of events given by the Chinese government, the demonstrators started to throw explosives at the police as night fell. The police opened fire. Official reports said that three people were killed, eight wounded"
"The shooting is new. The pattern is not. There has been intensifying unrest in China over the past year -- frequently, as in this case, over issues that have been simmering for years. This has been particularly true for peasants who have seen their land confiscated by the government for industrial projects. Money is issued to local officials by state-owned enterprises and other investment groups to cover the cost of the land. That money passes through the regional and local bureaucracies. By the time it should reach the owners, there often is nothing left; it has been stolen by officials at various levels. No one denies the farmers' claims to the land, but no one acts to compensate them. The laborers go from being small farmers to being destitute.
This is a critical process at the heart of Chinese industrialization. The purchase of land, including forced sale, is considered necessary for Chinese economic development. However, Chinese economic development is driven as much by corruption as by land. The government in Beijing has no particular desire to see the farmers dispossessed; on the contrary, the money is made available for delivery to the farmers. But the diversion of funds is hard-wired into the process. It is one of the primary means for capital formation in China. "
"The old economy was land-based: Mao created a peasant economy that was overlaid by attempts to industrialize. The new economy regards land as an input into the industrial machine. However, given the nature of the Chinese political system, the farmers are not simply bought out -- they are forced off the land. And that can lead to social explosions."
![](12_13_china_2005.jpg)
The specifics of what happened, of course, have no geopolitical consequence. What is important is that tensions in China have been rising steadily. Thousands of
(74,000, according to figures released last year by the government) have taken place)
-- some reportedly violent, if not fatal. In one case earlier this year, residents protesting corruption related to land seizures took control of their town, forcing the police out. The Chinese government appeared to capitulate to the demonstrators, giving into their demands -- but weeks later, those who had participated in the rising were quietly arrested. In another incident, which also turned deadly, brute squads believed to have been hired by local officials and businesses attacked protesters. There are numerous other examples to draw from.
"Beneath the surface, a number of things are taking place. The Chinese economy has been growing at a frantic pace. This is not necessarily because the economy is so healthy, nor because many of these industrial projects make economic sense. In fact, the government in Beijing has been very clear that the new projects frequently don't make a great deal of economic sense, and has been trying to curb them (though it does not necessarily command obedience in every case from provincial or local governments). On the other hand, China needs to run very hard to stay in place."
"China is a mass of dispossessed farmers, urban workers forced into unemployment by the failure of state-owned enterprises, and party officials who are urgently working to cash in on their position. It is a country where the banking system has been saved from collapse by spinning off bad debts -- at least $600 billion worth, or nearly half the GDP of China -- into holding companies. This maneuver cleaned up the banks' books and allowed Western banks to purchase shares in them, shoring them up. But it also left a huge amount of debt that is owed internally to people who will never see the funds."
"The important thing to note is that both the quantity and intensity of these confrontations is increasing. While the Western media focus on the outer shell of China's economic growth -- the side that is visible in Western hotels throughout major cities -- the Chinese masses are experiencing simultaneously both the costs of industrialization and the costs of economic failure. The sum of this equation is unrest. The question is how far the unrest will go"
For brevity I have cropped part of an email from stratfor.com.
I will put the full report on a separate page for those who wish to read it's entirety.
This report may be distributed or republished with attribution to Strategic Forecasting, Inc. at www.stratfor.com.
Lest anyone feel my viewpoint is too pessimistic, I wish to point out there is an area of the Chinese economy that is growing, without the dislocations mentioned above, an industry that may make up between 6 to 12% of China's GDP.
It happens to be the Oldest Profession
Which Brings us now, full circle to the Title that started all this.
The Lusty Chinese Economy
A Close Look at China's "Sex Industry
[related link: Red Light District a book on prostitution in China]
by Zhong Wei (Lianhe Zaobao -- Singapore October 2, 2000)
"Prostitutes are people living on the edge, struggling for existence. If we estimate that 20 million prostitutes earn 25,000 RMB annually, that comes to 500 billion RMB or is 6 percent of the PRC GDP. More over, China's "new left" economist Yang Fan estimates that half of the prostitutes income goes to consumption, so that represents consumption of 250 Billion RMB. Prostitutes need quite a lot of equipment: beepers, cell phones, cabs, apartments or rooms in homes, expensive clothes and fine cosmetics and even bodyguards, pharmaceuticals.. so the sex industry may well move the economy along with an annual level of consumption of 1 trillion RMB.
The "sex industry" is certainly a significant part of the Chinese economy. When we consider that the Chinese GDP in 1998 and 1999 was 7.8 trillion RMB and 8.3 trillion RMB, the contribution of the "sex industry" to the GDP comes in at about 12.1 - 12.8 percent. Thus it is not moonshine to talk about the economic importance of the "sex industry". The economist Yang Fan even estimates that with the implementation of the "Regulations on the Management of Places of Entertainment" issued by the State Council during the latter half of 1999,
the Chinese GDP dropped by one percent. "
The sanbeinuu [prostitutes in dance halls, bars etc.] break down into three types:
-- From the countryside, very young with little education. They have no skills and have a hard time getting a decent job in the city so it is very easy for them to fall into that line of work. The cruelest fact is that after selling all of their self-respect they often kill them selves in their little hole in the underground spaces of the city.
-- The second type is the urban girl with a modicum of education who falls into this life because she want fancy things
-- The third type is the highly educated, pretty urban girl who goes into it voluntarily to have a golden nest.
As more and more rural people leave the limited lands in the countryside to move into the city, likewise are more and more industrial workers finding themselves jobless as the result of advancing technology. There must be over a hundred million unemployed women. Where can they go?"
There will be much opportunity and much risk it seems during the Chinese Century
A prudent investor might look south west of China to the Largest Democracy in the world with a market that rivals China, India.
I wonder why we don't read articles about the
Indian Century??
Linked to
Diane's Stuff at Wednesday Weekly Open Trackback Alliance Fest
third world county at Batting cleanup... and Open Post
Stuck On Stupid at Crooked Democrats in ByrdLand & Open Trackbacks & Link Fest
Rempelia Prime at Wednesday Open Trackbacks
NIF at Zing!
MacStansbury.org at If it's Wednesday, it must mean Open Trackbacks, cause you can't have Wednesday without Open Trackbacks, now can ya? Can ya?
Right Wing Nation at Wednesday Open Trackbacks
Colbert Report at Mr. Ambassador, Perhaps a Review of our Laws are in Order
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Tuesday, 13 December 2005
The Flash
Mind Reader
Do Not Try
![](Mindreader.JPG)
If having your mind read might upset you!|
Why Might Jesse
Identify With Tookie?
It comes as no surprise that the
Media outnumber protesters in hours before execution
Neither came it as a surprise that
Among the anti-death penalty protesters were the Rev. Jesse Jackson,
Why Might Jesse Identify With Tookie?
As it turns out there may be other areas in which Jesse Jackson can identify with Stanley "Tookie" Williams besides the obvious.
I received the following tip from one of my readers a while back, but I have been saving it for a special occasion. ;-)
Court Rules Jesse Jackson Must Face Civil Trial for Assault and Civil Rights Violations
Judicial Watch represents Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson in claims against Jackson
(Washington, DC) Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes corruption, today announced that on January 17, 2006, Jesse Lee Peterson, et al., v. Jesse Jackson, et al. (BC 266505) will go to trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court after a ruling last week by Judge George H. Wu. Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit against Jackson, his son Jonathan, and others on behalf of Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, who was the victim of a physical and verbal assault at an event hosted by Jackson?s Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. in December 2001. Rev. Peterson is an ordained minister, who has dedicated his life to working with underprivileged black youth and men in our society.
The Jacksons and the Rainbow/PUSH coalition, who had sought to have the case dismissed, will now face multiple civil charges, including: Assault, Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress and a California Civil Rights Claim. Jonathan Jackson also will face the additional charges of Battery and False Imprisonment.
Judicial Watch?s lawsuit stems from a public meeting held in Los Angeles, California on December 10, 2001 to discuss participation in Toyota?s ?21st Century Diversity Strategy,? which had been announced after Jackson and Rainbow/PUSH threatened to boycott Toyota. After remarks from Jackson and Toyota representative Irving Miller, the meeting was opened up to questions from the audience. Rev. Peterson asked Miller if black Republicans and conservative groups like his organization, Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny (BOND), would have to go through Rev. Jackson?s Rainbow/PUSH in order to participate in the Toyota program.
Jackson told the crowd, ?And the issue, for the record?is not conservative or liberal. The issue is certain parasites trying to pick up fruit from trees they didn?t shake.? Rev. Peterson testified that after the ?parasite? comment, the crowd became ?more hostile?.Some of the words I can?t even mention here.?
Within minutes following adjournment of the meeting, Jonathan Jackson struck Rev. Peterson and Rev. Peterson was physically threatened and verbally assaulted by both Jesse Jackson and Jonathan Jackson. Incited by Jackson?s earlier remarks, an angry crowd gathered, cursing, shoving and encircling Rev. Peterson and one of his associates. ?I feared for my life,? said Peterson.
Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said, ?Jesse Jackson attempted to use every legal trick at his disposal to have this case dismissed, and he failed. This trial is a major step in holding Jackson accountable for his actions.?
?I?m pleased the court ruled in our favor,? said Reverend Peterson. ?I am looking forward to taking my case to court and to forcing Jesse Jackson to answer for his actions.?
To read a legal brief summarizing the allegations against Jackson, log on to Judicial Watch?s Internet site, www.judicialwatch.org, or click here.
Here is one of the parts that jumped out at me.
The issue is certain parasites trying to pick up fruit from trees they didn?t shake.?
It is public record that the Good Reverend moved to Chicago some 40 years ago and to my knowledge in Chicago the "Shake Down" has been for decades honed to a fine degree as has strong arm tactics to enforce it.
Sounds like Gang Style Tactics to me.
Linked to
Those Bastards! at If it's Tuesday, it must be an Open Trackback Day
NIF at Zing!
MacStansbury.org at Tuesday shill for Open Trackbacks Right Wing Nation at Tuesday Open Trackbacks
The Business of America is Business at Tire Tracks
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Monday, 12 December 2005
The Open
Trackback Alliance VI
For Monday
My abject apologies for getting this up so late, I have been under the weather, I have posted all the trackbacks dated 12/12 in links on this newest OTA post and to make up for lost time consider Tuesday a make up OTA and trackback to this post if you wishWhen I first started upon my journey through the blogverse I created a
Statement of PurposeNow upon reading it, one can realize that I did not hold to every detail of that original statement, but from it's basic premise, I have never swayed, in my belief that the Blogs are in fact the Committees of Correspondence of the Second American Revolution.
And that it is a Revolution of Information, no longer can we afford and allow elite gateways to control what we can see, hear and discuss.
One of the most important discoveries I make in those early days was the website of Samantha Burns, which included a unique informal community of bloggers, who not only linked to each other but actually browsed and read the blogs they linked to.
Later I was honored to be allowed to join another more formal blog community. At that time I decided that while I welcomed blogs that wanted to link to me, I was not that interested in simply joining blogrolls to add links. After that I made no more attempts to join any blog alliances. I have been kept busy supporting the linkages I have and at times I feel guilty that I cannot get around to all the websites on my blogroll as I could when it was smaller.
So why do I welcome this recent invitation to join the Open Trackback Alliance? Have I reconsidered my former decision?
No I am posting and joining this Alliance because it is RIGHT for me to do so.
Because it FULFILLS my original Statement of Purpose that the Blogs are indeed the 21st Century Committees of Correspondence, whose duty and honor it is to SHARE information, thoughts, ideas, news and to discuss the same. To diligently search for the truths that lie behind the distortions and half-truths of the Legacy Media.
What the blogs associated with the Samantha Burns site did informally, and without structure, this Alliance only aids and structures. There is in fact no conflict between what I do now, and what I decided to do sometime ago.
For I believe that those bloggers who find their way, here and in particular from the Blogs associated with Sam.
HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY.
Some of us are more Serious, some of us are more lighthearted and some post the common ordinary things that make one smile and recall that Life without the simple things to treasure is meaningless.
And it is important that all have a platform from which to speak.
As I understand this process you can link to this post and trackback to this post on ANY subject or post you think important. It is open. I will repeat this every Monday.
The Committees of Correspondence welcomes your intelligent comments. And also welcomes you to join the
OPEN TRACKBACK ALLIANCE
Blogs that Trackback to this Post:
On Monday
TMH's Bacon Bits with The Moderates Surrender
freedom folks with Mexican Standoff
Bloggin' Outloud with Christmas Caption Contest
freedom folks with Blurring the Line on Immigration
TMH?s Bacon Bits with Light Up? Yer Out!
Conservative Cat with Desperately Seeking Community in a Fancy Box
On Tuesday
Peakah's Provocations...with Keeping a Good History Teacher from Becoming History
Y'al come back now, Y'heah? ;-)
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Sunday, 11 December 2005
Arbeit Macht Frei
Some of you may recognize the title of this article.
Some of you may have known it in the past but forgotten its meaning.
Some of you have yet to be enlightened.
One of the most dangerous things in the world is a Social Liberal with an idea to enhance the Greater Good.
One bright idea that surfaces from time to time is the concept of Mandatory Federal Service.
It would be good for the Nation, it would benefit the Youth, allow all sorts of needed and beneficial public service.
It would also be in complete violation of the Spirit and the Word of
The XIIIth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
I ask you? What is so complicated about those words?
Now I have a confession to make. I at times have looked upon the Draft as something not entirely negative in its effects on the Republic.
Before you get too excited, let me explain. My thoughts stem in part from my upbringing.
I am a Navy Brat. I spent my childhood on military bases, in many ways isolated and protected from the outside world.
As a small boy I understood the Order of the Universe.
It was ordered in this fashion.
The Navy
The Marine Corps
The Army
The Air force.
Then came
Snakes
Rats
Spiders
Other assorted Vermin
Then way down at the bottom some very scary things called.
Civilians.
At the time I did not really know what Civilians WERE, but I got the distinct impression that they were not very nice, however I was not worried the Base Marines were between me and whatever they were. ;-)
So part of me approves in principle of a Military composed in large part of temporary members who do not WANT to be in it forever. Prevents Military Coups and such unpleasantness.
All of that may be true, but still does not in my mind over ride that Mandatory Federal Service is in fact,
involuntary servitude, NOT as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convictedFor me it is that simple. No attempt to rationalize or justify it can negate the simple words in the
XIIIth Amendment.
Some maintain the Constitution is a living document to be reinterpreted and modified as our Society changes.
I say we as a Nation paid too bitter a price for this Amendment to discard it for wishful thinking.
From
Statistical Summary
America's Major WarsDeaths
Combat Other
184,594 373,458
Combat deaths refers to troops killed in action or dead of wounds. Other includes deaths from disease, privation, and accidents, and includes losses among prisoners of war
Some may maintain that this is only the pipe dream of a few Transnational Progressives and no danger of it ever being attempted by the Government is possible.
I commend the following to their contemplation.
John Kerry Outlines Plan to Require Service for High School Students
As part of his 100 day plan to change America, John Kerry will propose a comprehensive service plan that includes requiring mandatory service for high school students and four years of college tuition in exchange for two years of national service.But what about the Constitution? Well another Democratic Leader who ran for his Party's nomination had some interesting words on his concept of Presidential Power.
"When I'm president, we'll do executive orders to overcome any wrong thing the Supreme Court does tomorrow or any other day," Gephardt said.So much for Separation of Powers and the Rule of Constitutional Law.
These were
not obscure and unknown political theorists, but persons who had the potential to be come the Commander in Chief of ALL US Military Forces .
Think about it.
Oh the title I began all this with? Began with that title because it is what comes to my mind whenever I hear a proponent of Mandatory Federal Service?
Arbeit Macht Frei?It means
Work makes free It was the sign over the main gate at Dachau.
![](sac-arbeit.jpg)
It was a lie then, it is a lie now.
Make no mistake Mandatory Federal Service is Involuntary Servitude under the meaning of the XIIIth Amendment and is nothing more or less than an attempt to rationalize and justify what is in reality the simple concept called.
Slavery
In a free Society there may be places the Government can prevent you from going, but when the day comes it prevents you from leaving. You are no longer free.
"Take this Job and Shove it" I'm out of here is the minumum basis for Personal Liberty. That line when crossed is the Demarcation between a Free Society and a Slave State.
What is Mandatory Federal Service but that?
Linked to
Otimaster at The battle of the bridges Open Trackback Post
Oblogatory Anecdotes at Weekend Open Trackbacks
The Right Nation at (Open Trackback) Weekend Round-Up
The Uncooperative Blogger at Weekend Open Trackback Party!
Stuck On Stupid at Exploiting Terri Schindler (Schiavo) & Open Trackbacks
Robinik.net at Week-end Easy Open Trackback
Colbert Report at National Capital Region Blog Mafia Tonight
Right Wing Nation at Weekend Open Trackbacks
MacStansbury.org at OPEN TRACKBACKS 11
The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns at Another OTA Weekend
Blogs that Trackback to this Post:
On Monday
Stuck On Stupid with Exploiting Terri Schindler (Schiavo)
Bloggin' Outloud with Christmas Caption Contest
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Thursday, 8 December 2005
Forward Charge In Full Retreat
The Democratic Party's attacks on President Bush and the Republican Party have faltered and bogged down.
Prominent Democrats are heard to state Publicly,
"Howard Dean does not speak for me."
If the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, does not speak for the Democratic Party, who does? There is only
one word which can describe this situation,
QUAGMIREThe burning question remains.
To where will the Democratic Party Cut and Run?
In related News there are questions being raised about the absence of an Exit Strategy from Bosnia/Kosovo and Germany.
The Normandy Invasion was June 6, 1944. Does the presence of troops in Germany a full 60 years later indicate that the European War is Unwinnable?
Isn't it past time to,
BRING THE TROOPS HOME!
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