Saturday, August 28, 2010

More Musky Mosque Mutterings

Mr. King

Americans who love and support this country hopefully are familiar with the founding documents that are the DNA the "promise" if you will, of this great country.

 The Constitution was augmented with the addition of Amendments that clarified and amplified the thinking of the founders and those who have successfully amended the original document.

The very first Amendment to the Constitution guarantees more than the freedom of speech. It speaks of the protection of the freedom of religion. It makes the promise that the Constitution will not ever allow restrictions to be placed of the freedom to worship and the free exercise there of?

Evidently in some circles, the ill-informed are unfamiliar with the Constitution and the first ten amendments.

Comparisons have been made to building structures on burial grounds, and many have commented that these analogies do not really compare with refurbishing a former coat factory?

Sensitivities to memorials, like Pearl Harbor or Native American massacre sites, miss the central issue of respect for the sacrifices made by Americans to defend the Constitution.

Is it really your opinion, that only the majority religions should be protected? Or maybe only the religion that are popular?

I'm sure that you agree that when the Constitution promises "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;"

It offered no caveats, it is simple and direct especially the statement "...or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"

It sounds to me, that to stand up for America, especially those who hope to honor all those who have worked to make this a better country - we should honor the Constitution.

And therefore claims about "appropriate" neighborhood sites, and appropriate types of worship are actually an affront to American values.

There will be no doubt memorial structures and spaces within the rebuilt Twin Towers site? Surely this sacred space will be welcoming to people of all faiths, there should be no religious restrictions on who might spend a prayerful moment there on the site of the catastrophe that occurred on Sept. 11th.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

RE the ANTI-MOSQUE L2E in Stuart News

Obviously the people who fail to respect the Constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion, which has made our great freedom of religion the standard the world dreams to emulate.
 
These people must be also unaware that the Imam of this Muslim Mosque and Community Center was a major Bush supporter and testified when Mr. Pearle the journalist was slain, by fanatics who are no more representative of the Muslim religion than the Swaggarts, and Tammy Faye Baker and husband are of Christianity.

When demagogues like serial ADULTERER Gingrich compare the ability to freely practice Christianity in Saudi Arabia. He fails (intentionally) to reconcile, the Saudi Kingdom, makes no promise of treating all religions equal. Newtie - that's what makes us better. Not just that we promise it. But in the crunch when we actually honor our higher standards.

We are better than this, we do not hate people because of their religion. That kind of thing is exactly the hypocrisy that some charge us with.

So conservatives, do you support the CONSTITUTION, or not. Or do you support it when it honors your prejudice, and turn your patriotic back when it pinches your fair-weather patriotism.

solidarity & peace
Rick
www.AveryVoice.com


Original
www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/aug/21/letter-construction-of-mosque-in-new-york-city/

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Right Back Atcha Gibby - Amateur political insulter, that you are!

RE Professional Leftist/Amateur Leftist and ... others!

As a full-time Volunteer Progressive, which no apology to Ms Dowd, [PROGRESSIVE] does mean mean something. 

Many of us called ourselves Progressives because, we refused to be defined as simple
anti-war or strictly greens or merely human rights activists or economic fairness activists.

* We support Human Rights [something the conservatives seem not to think is a family value]

* We oppose needless mercantile War for Profit, [which seems to have captured the Christian values bunch.]
 
* We support adequate, even generous funding; not just for the returned damage soldiers, but also for schools and hospitals.

It's as if Gibby pretended that we hadn't thought for a minute two about the Presidents difficulties.


We [progressives] fully understand the necessity of compromise, [PROGRESSIVE UNDERSTAND THE PLURALITY OF VIEWS]

We [progressives] understand the fact of republican obstructionism.

However we just never drank the (infallibility koolaid)

We do understand this Administrations enthusiastic continuation of USA Patriot Act.

We do understand the continued expansion of spying and the continued limitation of civil liberties.
 
We do understand an administration that pursues whistle blowers but fails to investigate War Crimes that are revealed.
 
We understand that the mortgage crisis was not solved when only bankers were PROTECTED. We the people  the mortgage holders have been thrown to the foreclosure wolves.

We have noticed that when we offer our (PROGRESSIVE) opinions it is no more welcome, when we weigh in on the OBAMA AGENDA, than when we weighed in on the BUSH agenda.

What we PROGRESSIVES, amateur, and professionals alike, did hope for, was an attentive and interested ear, from an administration prepared to hear what their supporters had to say. We didn't expect attacks, we didn't expect school yard vulgarisms and insulting insinuations, that we are so politically unsophisticated that we would accept n
nothing short of "Canadian Healthcare" and Dennis Kucinich as president... as if that would be bad.

But I as a practicing thinking progressive have to question "our" administration when they use inflammatory language  like "we wouldn't be happy until the pentagon is closed". Trying to suggest that differing with the administration is akin to wishing to disarm our country? ...

That's the sort of attack  I expect from a Limbaugh or a Beck not from the Administration that I worked hard to elect. So while this administration has it's hearing tuned so closely to the RIGHTWING NOISE MACHINE that they FIRED AN AGRICULTURE Administration Employee without even giving her a chance to REPLY???? How can I be surprised?

So since I'm a progressive that disagrees with the Obama agenda that makes me in Gibbs eye.... an enemy of the STATE

I disagree with Bankers give-aways, Secret Trials, Spying on the Internet - I'm not.... an enemy of this Administration  Yet??? although ...We shall see???

Gibby - disagreeing with the administration is not the same as wishing the Pentagon was closed although regarding  Kucinich for President... you may be on to something there!
solidarity & peace

Rick
www.AveryVoice.com

Sunday, August 08, 2010

What should I ask the Gubanatorial Candidates - said the Editor

Mr. Reisman, Editor and Panelist
[back story -  the local conservative newspaper ask several regular editorial contributors to give him some question as he prepared to question the candidates for Governor of Florida ]

Here are a few suggestions, please consider them carefully as they raise significant questions for candidates and Floridians as well.

1. What specific policies would you enact immediately to insure that Florida's marine habitat will not be poisoned further from BP's cavalier and ecologically devastating approach to drilling in the Gulf.


2. Will you insist that Florida fund long term research by State wildlife toxicologists to scientifically establish the persistent impact of the tragic BP Oil release and the unprecedented release of millions of gallons of COREXIT.


3. Beyond, the typical tax relief manta so typical of boilerplate republican economic theory how will your election improve the number of jobs available to Floridians?


4. Since long years of republican governors and republican legislatures have shown that lowering taxes has not protected Floridians from reduced services and wide-spread unemployment, will you try some new tactic or are you offering more of the same as a "solution" to a critical situation.


5. Do you support a CCC [Depression era Civilian Conservation Corps] type employment program for Floridians.


6. Is firing teachers, and closing libraries, pools and parks, a real solution to Florida's economic woes?


7. Will you preside over a Florida with fewer teachers, libraries, police men and women as well as fewer fire fighters, and will that solve Florida's budget woes.


8. Name your reasons for not investing immediately in renewable energy?

Friday, August 06, 2010

Questions to EPA on Gulf and Dispersants, from Expert at EPA

HUGH KAUFMAN - A noted expert at the Environmental Protection Agency, Kaufman today produced a list of questions for EPA Assistant Administrator for Research and Development Paul Anastas, whose testimony before the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee is currently on C-SPAN:

1) Do you believe EPA had enough technical and scientific information, in April, to make a correct decision as to whether or not to use dispersants in this situation?

2) Did EPA authorize the use of dispersants by BP when the oil spill began in April of this year? If EPA did not, who did?  Please give the name of the person who authorized this action. If you don't know who did, who does know?

3) In your press conference on Monday, you said that EPA has not found dispersants in the water except at the well head where the oil was escaping. NOAA [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] has documented plumes of dispersed oil throughout thousands of square miles of the Gulf of Mexico. Has EPA -- or anybody -- tested these plumes of dispersed oil for the ingredients in the dispersants? If so, who and what are the results?

4) At your press conference Monday, you said NOAA and FDA [Food and Drug Administration] found that the food chain in the Gulf was not affected by the oil and/or the dispersants. Have NOAA and the FDA done testing of food chain marine life for the presence of the ingredients of dispersants?

5) Has the air been tested for dispersant ingredients in the areas where workers, including personnel from the Coast Guard, are conducting cleanup of the oil and dispersant mixture on the surface of the water? If so, who tested it, what instruments were used? What were the results?

6) At your press conference Monday, you stated that the temperatures of the water used in doing your toxicity tests on living shrimp were not the same temperatures as those to which the oil/dispersant mixtures are being exposed in the Gulf. Why did you not do this testing at the actual temperatures that the oil/dispersant mixture is in, in the Gulf of Mexico?

7) Congressman Edward Markey provided documentation over the weekend that two to three times the amount of the dispersant Corexit was spread over the floating oil than was reported to have been spread by EPA and the Government. Do you agree or disagree with Congressman Markey's documented allegation? If you agree, what actions will you take to correct the record?

8) At your press conference Monday, you stated that biodegradation of the oil spilled in the Gulf was 50 percent faster when dispersants were used. This assertion is in direct conflict with evidence of a report describing the Amoco Cadiz oil spill in France in 1978, in which dispersed oil is still not biodegraded. What scientific basis do you have for your conflicting assertion?

9) Did EPA do any ambient air pollution testing for the ingredients of the dispersant Corexit in the communities adjacent to the Gulf? If the answer is yes, which ingredients were tested for and what were the results?

10) Did EPA use wet chemistry in analyzing the ambient air pollution in the communities adjacent to the Gulf?

11) Did EPA use gas chromatographs and mass spectrometers in analyzing the ambient air pollution in the communities adjacent to the Gulf?

12) Does anyone at EPA, to your knowledge, disagree with the use of dispersants in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster? Who? Do you know why?

Background: Kaufman "led the investigation for the EPA's Ombudsman that uncovered Environmental Protection Agency and Occupational Safety and Health Administration cover-up[s] of the environmental effects of the 9/11 World Trade Center attack at the behest of the Bush White House." http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Hugh_Kaufman

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020

solidarity & peace

Rick Spisak
www.AveryVoice.com