WhyNow2000

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Posts by WhyNow2000

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  52

  If You Could Have Had Bill Clinton As President For Another Term.....

  by minimus in

  1. social
  2. current

  would you have voted him in?

  do you think we would be in iraq today??

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  WhyNow2000

  Everything Clinton did is HIS fault.... Everything Bush did is Clinton's fault.
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  52

  If You Could Have Had Bill Clinton As President For Another Term.....

  by minimus in

  1. social
  2. current

  would you have voted him in?

  do you think we would be in iraq today??

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  WhyNow2000

  CLINTON 8 years = less than 80 died due to terrorism

  BUSH 9 Months = more than 3,000 died due to terrorism

  Longest economic expansion in American history More than 22 million new jobsMore than 22 million jobs were created in less than eight years -- the most ever under a single administration, and more than were created in the previous twelve years. Highest homeownership in American history Lowest unemployment in 30 years Largest expansion of college opportunity since the GI Bill Lowest crime rate in 26 years 100,000 more police for our streets

  Smallest welfare rolls in 32 years

  Higher incomes at all levels

  Paid off $360 billion of the national debt

  on and on and on...

  Oh yeah....and he had SEX outside his marriage.....He was the WORST president.
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  159

  The Answer to high Gas Prices.....

  by ThiChi in

  1. social
  2. current

  any thoughts on mr. taylor?s claims?.

  u.s. demands greater oil output, lower prices.

  "finance ministers from the united states and other major industrialized countries, hoping to affect the outcome of a battle within the organization for the petroleum exporting countries, formally demanded yesterday that oil-exporting nations raise production and lower prices to a level 'that is consistent with lasting economic prosperity,'" the new york times reports.

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  WhyNow2000

  The Answer is SIMPLE:
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  92

  One Soldier's Viewpoint of Iraq

  by ThiChi in

  1. social
  2. current

  one soldier?s viewpoint of iraq.

  greetings (names withheld).

  as i head off to baghdad for the final weeks of my stay in iraq, i wanted to say thanks to all of you who did not believe the media.

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  WhyNow2000

  Thank you for the info....but NICE TRY!

  Source:http://www.orwelliantimes.com/2004/04/26.html

  The email sure has a lot of the earmarkings of right-wing propoganda -- ignore any information which doesn't support your position, slam the media, misinform, make unfair attacks on the opposition and asking to spread the word.

  This morning (Monday) I spoke with Lt. Col. Gregory O. Hapgood, the Public Affairs Officer for the Iowa National Guard. He told me that Sgt. Ray Reynolds exists. Lt. Col. Hapgood told me that he received an email this morning from Sgt. Reynolds which confirmed Sgt. Reynolds wrote the email. While we talked about the contents of the email, I did not confirm that every word in the email I received was written by Sgt. Reynolds. Nonetheless, for the most part, the email appears to be an authenticate communication from one of our soldiers.

  Contrary to the information in the email I received, Sgt. Reynolds is not a medic. He does communications work. In fact, the 234th Signal Battalion's "mission is to provide wide area communications support in a theater of operations."[ * ] Sgt. Reynolds' civilian job is as a police officer.

  Lt. Col. Hapgood told me these were Sgt. Reynolds' sources for the information in the email:

  • USAID Fact Sheet
  • Influential Iraqis
  • The Police Chief of Baghdad

  While the email appears to provide some truthful information, it is replete with misinformation. I don't have time to check each representation in the email, but here's an overview:

  • Over 400,000 kids have up-to-date immunizations

  This is interesting. A lot of kids have been immunized in Iraq. In fact, last year the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) "25 million doses of vaccines to Iraq to help prevent the spread of polio, tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, measles, and tuberculosis -- considered the main killers of children in developing countries."[*] At the time, UNICEF spokesman Gordon Weiss explained that the children of Iraq would need several stages of repeated immunizations for the immunizations to be effective:

  "Iraq is in a particularly delicate stage at the moment -- postwar, with a lot of the health system having broken down and a lot of the water systems having broken down, as well. So children are more than ever this year vulnerable to water-borne diseases. Usually you don't vaccinate just once, you vaccinate a number of times in order to have the vaccinations work."[*]

  Here's what the Fact Sheet says:

  "USAID has partnered with UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Abt Associates to support health program in Iraq. Since the end of the war, USAID has vaccinated three million Iraqi children under the age of five, administered tetanus vaccine to more than 700,000 pregnant women, and by April 30, 2004 the USAID mission will have provided updated vaccinations to 90 percent of pregnant women and children under five years of age."

  Hmmm. UNICEF said that 3 1/2 million Iraqi children were vaccinated last year. Does this mean that the vaccination program is not being pursued as much as last year? I don't know.

  I also don't know where the 400,000 number came from. Last year, Iraq had approximately 4.2 million children in Iraq under the age of five. If fewer than 10% of young Iraqi children have up-to-date immunizations out of the millions who have been on an immunization schedule and are exposed, that would seem to be a serious failure.

  That being said, hundred of thousands of immunized children has got to be a good thing.

  • The country had its first 2 billion barrel export of oil in August.

  Nonsense. First, there's nothing in the Fact Sheet about oil. Iraq is presently exporting approximately 1.9 million barrels of oil a day, or under 60 million barrels per month. And that's going to be difficult to maintain. You probably already know that insurgent attacks have been limiting the exports.[*] In August -- the supposed 2 billion barrel month -- Iraq was expecting to export fewer than 1.2 million barrels a day, about 37 million barrels for the month.[*]

  • Over 4.5 million people have clean drinking water for the first time
    ever in Iraq.

  Here's what the Fact Sheet says:

  "Iraq has 13 major wastewater facilities. Baghdad's three facilities are currently inoperable and comprise three quarters of the nation's sewage treatment capacity. Raw waste flows directly into the Tigris River. In the rest of the country, most wastewater treatment facilities were only partly operational before the conflict, and a shortage of electricity, parts, and chemicals has exacerbated the situation and only a few wastewater treatment plants are operational. Iraq's 140 major water treatment facilities operate at about 65 percent of the pre-war level of three billion liters a day."

  Water does appear to be getting to a lot more people. But, apparently, at a price. A witness from Basra last month claimed:

  "The [water] plant seems to be working well . . . This plant is up and going and provides water for a huge number of people. Someone is constructing a new plant to expand so that there is drinking water. I have not met anyone here yet despite the poverty who is not buying drinking water."[*]

  • The country now receives 2 times the electrical power it did before the war.

  Not true. According to the Fact Sheet, on March 11, 2004, power peaked at approximately 92% of "the pre-conflict generating level". ABC reports that power generation is off since last October and is averaging somewhere around pre-conflict generation.[*]

  • 100% of the hospitals are open and fully staffed, compared to 35% before the war.

  Not true. The Fact Sheet provides no information about this. But, the Washington Post on March 5, 2004 reported[*]:

  "Health Minister Khudair Fadhil Abbas said about 90 percent of the hospitals and clinics have been brought back to the same poor conditions as before the war but that the others will take more time to reach even that low level."

  Here are the first few paragraphs from the article:

  "The stout woman, covered from head to toe in a black abaya, shuffled into the crowded hospital. She went straight to the emergency room and opened her robe to reveal a tiny baby wrapped in fuzzy blankets. The boy had been born prematurely, and the family was afraid he was going to die.
  
  Uday Abdul Ridha took a quick look and shook his head. The physician put his hands on the woman's shoulders in sympathy, but his words were blunt. "I'm sorry," he said. "We cannot help you. We don't have an incubator, and even if we did, we are short on oxygen. Please try another hospital."
  
  Scenes like this one at the Pediatric Teaching Hospital in Baghdad's Iskan neighborhood have become common in Iraq in recent months, as the health care system has been hit by a critical shortage of basic medications and equipment. Babies die of simple infections because they can't get the proper antibiotics. Surgeries are delayed because there is no oxygen. And patients in critical condition are turned away because there isn't enough equipment."

  • Elections are taking place in every major city, and city councils are in place.

  False. In June, 2003, US authorities put a halt to local elections. We installed mayors and administrators of our choosing.[*]

  • Over 60,000 police are patrolling the streets.

  I don't know how many Iraqi police are on duty, given widespread desertions.[*] But, we know how many police are in the New York Police Department -- 39,110.[*] According to the 2000 Census, NY City had a population of more than 8 million and covered an area of 320 square miles.[*] According to 1993 estimates, the population of Iraq is about 19,435,000.[*] Iraq is about the size of California, approximately 171,000 square miles.[*]

  Though New York, like any other big city, can be dangerous at times, armed insurgents aren't blowing people up daily. New York has about 1 police officer for every 205 residents. Iraq -- which does have armed insurgents blowing people up daily -- has about 1 police officer for every 324 citizens.

  • Over 400,000 people have telephones for the first time ever.

  Not true. The Fact Sheet says that before we invaded 1.2 million Iraqis had "subscribed to landline telephone service." As of March 9, 2004, "104,680 subscribers to the Iraqi landline phone network were reconnected." Repairs have reconnected some form of telephone service between Baghdad and 20 other cities.

  • Girls are allowed to attend school.

  True, but not because of the invasion. Girls were allowed to attend school during Saddam's rule. Between 1997-2000 82% as many girls attended primary school as did boys. 62% as many girls attended high school as did boys, during the same period.[*]

  The email is not informative, but disinformation. It's propaganda. While he did not cite any particular rule, Lt. Col. Hapgood said that members of the force are not to take a politically partisan stance in any communications they use in which they identify themselves as members of the force. Lt. Col. Hapgood, in essence, also said that it was improper for Sgt. Reynolds to attack Senator Kerry in his email.

  Thanks to Andrew Lazarus for his comment at dailyKos[*] for some fact checking leads.[*]

  UPDATE: Apparently, Lt. Col. Hapgood misinformed me about Sgt. Reynolds' civilian job. He's not a cop. He's a firefighter. This is how Sgt. Reynolds responds to inquiries about his message: "I did write it and I am in Kuwait now on my way home. I wrote it while at home because I felt that too many people were exploiting the violence in Iraq to sell papers and gain votes. Sometimes the silent majority need to be awakened to respond to the bad things in our world. I am passionate about our President's decision and support this rebuilding whole heartedly...Yes legit..I am a fire fighter in Denison, Iowa and to verify, call Mike McKinnon of the Denison Iowa fire department." Too bad that the Sergeant's passion got ahead of his control of the facts.
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  25

  Johnny Cash

  by Schizm in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  any johnny cash fans here?

  if not, shame on the forum!

  the late, great johnny cash was born and raised in arkansas, and by the time he was a mere 12 years of age, he was already writing his own songs.

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  WhyNow2000

  Reel to Reel.....Folsom Prison! Big Fan here.
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  21

  To The Opposers of George W. Bush and The War In Iraq

  by L_A_Big_Dawg in

  1. social
  2. current

  as i read grenpalmtrees post to those of us that support president bush and the current iraqi war, i was reminded that i needed to do something concrete to show me support for this situation.

  so i contacted camp pendleton (a marine base which has lost a number of troops in iraq), and spoke with an officer, and asked what i could do to support the families of those that have paid the ultimate price in this war.

  he gave me a list of accounts, and i have since donated money to those accounts.

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  WhyNow2000

  So if you have read this, and you have not done something to "support the troops"

  You seem to equate support by ones manifestation of physical or vocal deed. Support first starts in the heart....the rest is just display.
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  24

  Whats UR Favorite Radio Station?????????????????????

  by plmkrzy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just discovered onion radio today.. actually i always knew it was there but never paid attention to it.

  but since i gutted my pc recently and did not re-up music match jukebox this time, i've been listening to launch via yahoo.

  this morning i tuned into "onion river radio" and i really like it a lot.

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  WhyNow2000

  This is a great thread....

  http://www.kbga.org/
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  3

  US troops caught Abusing the Enemy

  by WhyNow2000 in

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  did u.s. abuse prisoners in iraq?soldier's photos aired by cbs program indicate iraqi detainees were mistreated.

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  WhyNow2000

  Did U.S. abuse prisoners in Iraq?

  Soldier's photos aired by CBS program indicate Iraqi detainees were mistreated
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  31

  I feel like crying................................:(

  by desib77 in

  1. jw
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  about my hair.....i think i've ruined it.... i tried a home highlighting kit and had a friend do it for me last night.........now i look like a lemon..... i feel horrible and don't want to leave the house....i'm not sure anything can even be done about it.

  kind of seems like it fried my hair and bleached strands of it.. just wanted a shoulder(s) to cry on..... desi

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  WhyNow2000

  Desi...

  Do you mind posting a pic so some of us guys can fully understand what you are going thru.
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  82

  What's your ethnic background?

  by Joker10 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  it seems that light skinned ex-ws speak out more against watchtower than people of a darker skin color.

  what is your ethnic origin?

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  WhyNow2000

  It seems that light skinned Ex-Ws speak out more against Watchtower than people of a darker skin color. What is your ethnic origin?

  What is YOUR ethnic origin Joker?

  The facts clearly shows that people of a "DARKER COLOR" are more Enlightned than "LIGHT SKINNED" people.

  Of course, my scientific conclusion is based using the same data that Joker used to come up with such a great question.