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01/27/2003 Archived Entry: "There's no place like home!"

On the Political Front:

An interesting two days are unfolding. Later today: the UN report and the US reaction. (Not to mention Iraq's.) Tomorrow: Israel's election which may be deeply influenced by antiwar backlash.

The Bush administration is pondering a tactical nuclear strike on Iraq and the wisdom of mass graves for American troops killed over there. And the Democrats have found their tongues. John Kerry cries, "Don't rush to war!" Edward Kennedy warns against a "chip-on-the-shoulder" foreign policy. Where were they when war measures were passing, as tho' greased, through the Senate? Where were these Democrats of principle when the Patriot Act, the Homeland Security measures, and the Alphabet Agencies that are turning America into a police state were put into place?

Meanwhile, the economy continues to collapse in the wake of a huge increase in the money supply and the incredible hyper-spending caused by the War on Terrorism and the upcoming Invasion of Iraq. A report from 300 mayors who met in Washington for the U.S. Conference of Mayors asks the feds for financial aid to pay for the cost of implementing homeland security. The metro areas represented -- cities with populations of more than 30,000 -- are hurting not only from soaring costs but also from loss of jobs. An estimated 646,000 jobs disappeared in 2002. The job loss doesn't seem to be restricted to specific industries, regions, or categories of people. Bush keeps promising multi-million dollars aid to cities...

...but where is the money to come from? The stock market is slumping as it waits for UN Report. Bush is calling for more tax cuts in his State of the Union address tomorrow: $670 billion cut is predicted. The US is pursuing economic disaster.

And it is showing on the day-to-day consumer level. Just one example...yesterday, on our drive back to Canada from visiting his folks in Illinois, Brad and I stopped off in Michigan for dinner at a "Texas" bar & grill. We groaned aloud as we realized it was past 4:00 and the SuperBowl would begin in less than an hour; we've not "fans." The bar had several TVs blaring pre-game boola-boola; it had printed a special glossy "SuperBowl" menu; no less than 7 waitresses and 2 bartenders were poised to "serve." When we left about an hour and a half later only three customers had showed up for the game. A scattering of other customers were at the other side of the restaurant, consisting of four families out for a Sunday meal and us. People had saved money by staying home in front of their own sets, with cheaper drinks and snacks. Who can blame them? Because the answer to the question, "Where is the money to come from?" is FROM THEM. From the pockets of ordinary, working people who are losing jobs and discretionary income.

This just in...because you won't hear it on the mainstream media...thousands of antiwar protesters clogged the street of Pittsburg in an outburst against war that is being repeated in city after city in the U.S. and internationally. At the 117th Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association in January, historians from more than forty colleges and universities agreed to form a new national network, "Historians Against the War." GIVE PEACE A CHANCE.

On the Personal Front:

Things continue to move along with ifeminists.com and I thank everyone for their patience. I am working as quickly and efficiently as the (now dissolving) roadblocks permit.

As a matter of fact, I had best get back to work right now.

Stay safe,
mac