We are even behind Pakistan!

I was watching the tv this weekend, when a commercial from Shell came on.

The commercial spoke of Shell’s commitment to finding alternative energy, and it spoke about CNG (Compressed Natural Gas). It was the standard, “look at what we are doing, we have a commitment to the environment and to getting America off foreign imports” yadaa yadaa yadda

It touched a little on the fact that we have loads natural gas right here, in the US.

No kidding! I used to see the natural gas burn off from refineries as we drove from Denver to my grandparents in KS along Kansas Highway 96. And even as a child I wondered “WTF? Why aren’t they using this for power instead of burning it away?”

Okay I didn’t say WTF back then, as a child in the 60’s I think my strongest word was “doggone it.” But “WTF” now, more accurately represents how I felt back then.

And then came our gas crisis in the 1970s and still, driving back to both sets of grandparents there was the natural gas burn off at the oil refinery we passed. You could see it for miles on a clear Kansas night and again my response “WTF?” and it was even stronger.

So now I’m watching this commercial and they said something that set me over the edge... something so sleezily dishonest but so soothing for those who’ve never been outside the country that they can try to look like good guys now.

The commercial said that Shell was “developing” CNG.

Developing . . . as in still working on it,

Developing . . . as in still perfecting it,

Developing . . . as in it’s just right around the corner,

Developing . . . as in one or two more passes on the merry go round we’ll get to touch the brass ring...

Developing . . . !!!!!

Except:

This is a Shell station in Islamabad, Pakistan. If you can’t see the back two pumps (5 and 6) let me move in a bit.

I took this picture and what follows, when I was in Pakistan in August 2008.

Shell already HAS CNG developed.
Shell already HAS pumps for dispensing CNG.
Shell already HAS CNG stations.

And these stations serve both CNG cars and petrol run cars. There are also stations in Pakistan that are solely CNG or soley petrol. In fact in Pakistan there are more CNG stations than there are petrol stations.

More cars and more buses are run on CNG. Hell, they can even convert them!

But thanks to Oily Bush and buddies we are further behind PAKSITAN in developing, using and converting cars over to CNG.

In this instance, a country in the developing world is MORE developed that the Lone Super Power. More developed than US.

Still Shell puts out an ad saying “we working on it, be patient.”

Be patient ....
be f*cking patient while we grab all that we can- hoping that you never know that we already sell and service CNG . . .and even if you do, what are you going ot do about it?

How long would it take Shell to begin selling CNG?
It's the end of November right?
I've been back home for 3 months
. . . not even that long.

Shell could have put some people back to work building the plant, converting/upgrading stations, etc. etc.

But never fear, Shell is "working on it."

Because they know most Americans don’t know that the technology is already here. Because they know most Americans don’t know that the world already uses it, including troubled Pakistan. It's still promoted as a novelty here!

Meanwhile, while the only work that needs to be done for CNG is this country is building the plant (they don't have to start from scratch - it's already up and running somewhere else), bring in and set up the equipment, upgrading filling stations, and offering conversions.

And also meanwhile Bush is trying to ram through regulations to weaken environmental and endangered species protections so his buddies can drill for more oil. And they will still have to build the derricks and the platforms and put in the pumps ... for oil that won’t be enough, and won’t be ready for use for 5 to 10 years.

We feel all warm and fuzzy when a state vehicle passes us and it said "powered by natural gas."

"Oh look," we say "We're going GREEN!". . . and we pat ourselves on the back. Good for US! [end snark]

Meanwhile we have an "s" load of natural gas beneath our feet. Gas that oil companies have been burning off for years as a waste product while they developed it in other countries.

Would the “drill baby drill,” “American exceptionalism” crowd really feel proud knowing how far behind we’ve fallen?

We’ve fallen so far behind in this area that even troubled, developing/3rd world Pakistan is beating US! (Don't get me wrong I love Pakistan, really I do, BUT come the f@ck on!)

And still there is Shell, who has everything already developed and at it’s disposal, LYING in advertising to the American people and NO ONE calls them on it!!!!!

UPDATE 1/11/09
A friend of mine emailed me that a fleet of trucks for Denver state government was converted to CNG.

Many state and local government vehicles have been coverted to CNG, BUT unlike Pakistan there aren't CNG stations or a push to covert cars to CNG for the average private citizen.

Pakistan does have government vehicles which have been converted to CNG too just like many of our state and local governments.

Until CNG is widely available for everyone in this country CNG will always be considered a novelty, Shell will continue to say it is "developing" gas to liquid technology like it's not already available.

And Pakistan will still be a head.

Walls of a defacto prison, not soliders keep the Baghdad "peace"

What you are not going to see from the corporate owned media that thinks truth, actual journalism and the 4th estate is subservient to entertainment and the almighty dollar.

part 1


part 2


part 3


Our lack of planning, our lack of understanding, our arrogance has created more who hate us. What will the future bring?

What do we loose when we remove the tops of mountains for the coal underneath?

Is this a price we are willing to pay. Or are you happy about the decision that has been made for you?

On this Blog Action Day I am reposting a blog entry I made on September, 15, 2007.

I had orginally heard about this on Bill Moyers Journal; Mountian Top Mining Update the other day. It is an eye opening report and I encourage you to click the link above and watch.

As proposed new rules may allow coal companies to expand mountain top removal mining, BILL MOYERS JOURNAL reports on local evangelical Christians who are turning to their faith to help save the earth.

I was curious and went to Google Maps to see of you can see some of the scars from mountain top removal from the satellitete photos. You can.

The 5 part documentary, "Toxic West Virignia," from VBS is a must see:










Parts 1 thru 3 can also be viewed on YouTube
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
3 more videos on this topic can be found at VBS.TV:
a) Cookie Mountain
b) Marky Bias
c) Erik Reece
See also Christians for the Mountains and order their DVD; Mountain Mourning

Black Adder, Rove, Bush and Cheney

Listen to the election commentary, and the responses. :-)

France is now saying to prepare for war with Iran

French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner says the world should prepare for war over Iran's nuclear programme.

"We have to prepare for the worst, and the worst is war," Mr Kouchner said in an interview on French TV and radio. . .
. . . He said France wanted the European Union to prepare sanctions against Iran.

"We have decided that while negotiations are continuing to prepare eventual sanctions outside the ambit of UN sanctions. Our good friends, the Germans, suggested that," he said.

Until now the Security Council of the United Nations has imposed economic sanctions on Iran, but did not allow for military action.

The United States has not ruled out a military attack against Iran to prevent it from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

BBC

Bush was beating the drum last week. France (France?) is beating the drum this week. And all of us who have been seeing this coming for 2-3 years now are, with Bush's stupidity om Ira1q, Washington's moves emboldening Iran and making it a power broker in the region, are very frightened that we were right all along.

Despite what you hear, Iraqis want a timetable for our withdrawl

Let's see, there are 275 in the Iraqi parliament. Before al-Sadr's group left al-Maliki's UIA (United Iraqi Alliance) with just 85 seats, down from the 140 it once had and giving it a very thin majority.

The al- Sadr camp already had yanked its six ministers from the Cabinet in April over al- Maliki's failure to endorse a fixed timeline for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq. On Saturday, Sadrists trumpeted their resistance to the Americans in justifying the departure from a coalition that had guaranteed Shiite political dominance for nearly three years.

In leaving, they sought to present themselves as Iraq's true patriots -- unlike their fellow Shiite politicians, who remained America's ally.

"The main problem in Iraq now is the occupation, and the solution is to have a timetable for the withdrawal of occupiers, and anyone who agrees with us on this demand will find our hearts opened to him," lawmaker Nasar Rubaie said.

The ruling alliance had been engineered in late 2004 by senior clerics with the goal of securing Shiites' right to power. Until now, Shiite leaders managed to keep unity among the community's fractious political parties, but that had changed Saturday night.

"The UIA has started breaking down. They were the biggest bloc at the parliament, but not anymore," said Salim Abdullah, the spokesman for the largest Sunni political bloc, which withdrew from al- Maliki's Cabinet in August. "Maybe the government will be changed within four months."

So basically to support and protect the embattled al-Maliki government we need to present them wit ha time table for withdrawl of our troops.

For their part, people around al- Maliki were relieved. "To be frank, for a long time the Sadrists were outside of the UIA. Their decisions were always not in line with the UIA," Askari said. "Some UIA members are happy. This makes things clear."

Al- Maliki's camp also was confident that the Kurds would not abandon the ruling alliance. Askari said the Kurds see their interest in sticking with the Shiite bloc, rather than switching to a side that might not back their claims to an autonomous region in the north.

Kurdish parliament member Mahmoud Othman confirmed that the Kurds had no interest in ditching the UIA and al- Maliki, although their relationship had been rocky previously. "There is no better alternative than Maliki," he said. "There is no change."

You know, instead of playing these games for a country that was artifically created by the British, and getting our soldiers killed we sould partition the country and then stand with the Kurds so the Turks, who will have their backs up anyway, won't attack the Kurds.

Iraq is a country that was cobbled together by the British, It does not hold the same feeling of national unity as say Kuwait, Iran, the UAE, Jordan, etc. It's time to realized that because of it's artifical creation, it may NEVER. And we could get our people out much sooner and work for stablisation better if we partitioned it and withdrew.

Sore L.A. Times

"Go For Broke," George Bush's policies are killing Americans in West Virginia

I heard about this on Bill Moyers Journal; Mountian Top Mining Update the other day. It is an eye opening report and I encourage you to click the link above and watch.

As proposed new rules may allow coal companies to expand mountain top removal mining, BILL MOYERS JOURNAL reports on local evangelical Christians who are turning to their faith to help save the earth.

I was curious and went to Google Maps to see of you can see some of the scars from mountain top removal from the satellitete photos. You can.

The 5 part documentary, "Toxic West Virignia," from VBS is a must see:










Parts 1 thru 3 can also be viewed on YouTube
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
3 more videos on this topic can be found at VBS.TV:
a) Cookie Mountain
b) Marky Bias
c) Erik Reece
See also Christians for the Mountains and order their DVD; Mountain Mourning

Feel Good Inc, CEO: ? (either Dick, Karl or George)

Just Reading Makes You Better Prepared

The White House meme this week has been that they are more prepared for an attack this summer (2007) from Al-Qeada than we were the summer of 2001.

Since they (the president and his administration/staff) did not read the report/intelligence given to them in the months before September 11, 2001, just reading an intelligence report about Al-Qeada would make them better prepared this summer than they were that summer 6 years ago.

The shame of our unneccesaary illegal war. You need to know why.

No matter if you beleive, believed, or never believed in the Iraq War, this is a movie EVERY American needs to see. You can be damn sure the rest of the world will.

If any American ever asks why teh middle east is the way it is and why do *they* hate us (why does the world hate us), point them to this movie.

Bush wants war with EVERYONE

Afghanistan (justified, but we are failing at due to Bush’s Iraq quagmire), Iraq (illegal and unjustified), Iran, North Korea, Russia, etc. etc. etc. etc. Along with our loss of respect and standing in the world, earns Bush the title of “God of War.”

This is NOT a compliment. This is NOT a game.

I coulda had a V-8, except now it's an FDA regulated drug.

"At the end and beginning of a war, that we have to watch out for ourselves. In between, it's like a country club. But you got to know how to keep your balance. Keep the balance and make the right friends because this war is defiantly winding down."
- John Malkovich, Empire of the Sun

Does it seem to you that the Bush administration, and corporate America are ramping up their attack on middle and poor America? It's been bad but now it seems that they are trying to inflict as much damage as they can in the 1 1/2 years left of this administration.

It's so bad that this administration with it's corporate friendly policies, and acting as their personal police force, is trying to reclassify vitamins, herbs, supplements, vegetable juices, even massage oils and rocks.

This move will be a end the 1994 DSHEA law that made supplements legal and OTC. Have you noticed that you now find things like vitamin E, St. John's Wort, even Cranberry capsules, on the super market shelf. This will end and it will be a big victory for Big Pharma.

It is true that the bill does not directly state that it intends to regulate or restrict access to dietary supplements. However, language within the section establishing the Regan-Udall Foundation grants the FDA new regulatory power to brand food ingredients (and thus dietary supplements) as unsafe utilizing the Critical Path Initiative drug-related risk assessment technology.
- Byron Richards

And we all know the devil is in the details.

What will be affected by this act:

• All vitamins, nutritional supplements and functional foods will be stripped of their structure & function claims, reducing them to empty labels where virtually nothing at all is allowed to be stated.
  
• Vegetable juice will be regulated as a drug. Raw juice retreats will be raided or shut down.
  
• Growing and selling common garden herbs will get you arrested as a drug dealer.
  
• Massage oils and handheld massagers will be regulated as "medical devices."
  
• Yoga props, pilates machines and weight machines will be regulated as "medical devices" and require FDA approval before being sold or used.
  
• Raw sprouts and other anti-cancer foods will be regulated as drugs.
  
• Bottled water that "treats" dehydration will be regulated as a drug.
  
• Massage therapists who use hot rocks as part of their therapy will have the ROCKS regulated as medical devices! (It's true. The FDA will actually look at a pile of rocks and declare, "Those are medical devices!")
  
• Functional foods, supplements, vitamins and homeopathic remedies will disappear from store shelves, pending FDA "review." (The only things remaining will be processed junk foods and pharmaceuticals, which is exactly what Big Business wants.)
  
• Therapeutic tea products, such as green tea, will be outlawed and confiscated.
  
• Vitamin store owners will be arrested and prosecuted for "practicing medicine without a license."
  
• Citizens owning personal inventories of "unapproved drugs" (vitamins and herbs) may have their homes raided at gunpoint and their inventories confiscated by armed law enforcement agents.
  
• The importation of herbs and functional foods from all countries may be banned.

While drug safety is important, and the governement needs to protect the citizenry from the harmful effects of pharmaceutical companies out of control; herbs, vitamins, vegetable juice, etc. should be left alone. These are time honored remedies and a personal health choice. I mean if you are going to really regulate something, shouldn't you do more to make cigarettes a behind the pharmacy counter, controlled substance?

People like Leslee Unruh can scream all they wants about "Big Pharma," but she and all her Republican friends who support this administration and who have voted to keep them in office and every Republican senator and congressman in Washington are their enablers.

The board of directors is composed of the Commissioner of the FDA, the Director of the National Institutes of Health, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 4 representatives from Big Pharma and Big Biotech, 3 representatives from academia (which is funded by Big Pharma), 2 more from the FDA and NIH, 2 from consumers groups, and 1 from health care providers. This means that the FDA/Big Pharma/Big Biotech voting block always has 13 votes -- to at the most 3. Who are you kidding? This front group foundation is run by the FDA in combination with the industry it is supposed to be regulating. This makes the FDA part of the drug business as a drug company
- Byron Richards

As this corporate/big business friendly, average American hostile, administration winds down expect more and more of this. Keep watch or the social and economic buggering we've been getting from this administration will only get worse.

Send a letter to your senator and congressperson (scroll down to "Health Freedom is on the Line").

More Information:
Understanding the Threat to Dietary Supplements
FDA acquiring new powers to suppress alternative health
U.S. Senate attempts damage control as House braces for onslaught
More Byron Richard's articles

A dose of guilt with your "free" Marine Windbreaker

This is a deck of 12 cards my son received from the Marines last week. As you read through them, partaking of all the emotional manipulation going on in them, please think of Andrew Madison Rove (son of Karl Rove), the 5 sons of Mitt Romney, Paris Hilton, Jenna and Barbara Bush (they could serve state side), any and all Young Republicans (especially those in college and there a lot of them) who have not and are not serving.

Doesn't the priviledged, upper class think that our way of life is worth protecting, that they need to do their part, or want to make a difference? They that benefit the most from this way of life.

The cards are presented in order (there is a number on the bottom right of the back of each card. To see the larger version, click on it. The band that held the cards has the directions.

Inside Paperboard Cover

Band

Card 1

Card 2

Card 3

Card 4

Card 5

Card 6

Card 7

Card 8

Card 9

Card 10

Cards 11 and 12 do not have a number on them so it is impossible to tell which order they belong in. Attached to each card is a perforated Business Reply card asking for name, address, phone number, cell number, date of birth, email address (you can check a box for them not to send you anything via email), name of school, last grade completed, and the size for your free windbreaker (offer expiring 7/31/2007).

Interestingly enough on this post card (which anyone can read as it is being handled) is a "Privacy Act Statement." All the information provided will be used for recruiting purposes only.

Card 11

Card 12


Look for more as we go into Bush's second surge to get us to 200,000 troops in Iraq and a plan for us to be there 5 to 10 more years. It is beginning to look enough like Viet Nam yet to you? Or do we need to get to 200 dead American service persons a day? We are now at 5 a day.

Update:Cheap skate Marine corps chose to let our Marines die from IEDs rather than give them the equipment they needed

President Bush, Fight Like You Mean It!

That's the message I would take back to the president after his veto of war funds.

Those of us who have been paying attention, know that at no time during the Iraq war have we had the number of troops in theater needed to win the war.

Those of us who have been paying attention, know that recruitment is down and that the military revised downward the yearly goal numbers for new recruits.

We also know that not only has the military resorted to "stop lossing," extended tours and many deployments of the same soldiers (decreasing the time at home between deployments that the military says a soldier needs to be able to fight), we are also recruiting those into the military who before we would have turned away (neo-nazis, militia, KKK, etc.) and keeping those on active duty that should be released (due to issues such as mental problems caused by this war).

Those of us who have been paying attention, know that at we sent troops to both Afghanistan and Iraq without the proper equipment and armor.

Those of us who have been paying attention, know that at we are sending new troops into Iraq without their full and necessary training.

Those of us who have been paying attention, know that we as a country, have never been placed on a war footing and as a result all the ordinance and equipment being used and used up in Iraq is not being replaced. We are weaker today than we were 9-11-2001.

The President and the White House are using the talking point that if Democrats really don’t like this war and thinks we shouldn’t be fighting it then we/they should just defund the war.

Democrats are smarter than to bite. They know that those who only watch Fox News, listen to only Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, etc. or who don’t really pay attention but lean to the right will believe that the Democrats are for leaving troops stranded and without bullets in Iraq. While those who are left of center, left leaning, progressive, liberal, etc. know that nothing is further from the truth, we know that Republicans are not above those despicable, untruthful and divisive tactics and talking points to stay in power.

So what should the answer be?

I believe the 30 second sound bite from Demcrats should be “If you believe the Iraq war is necessary then, President Bush, Fight Like You Mean It!”

But what does that mean?

• Give the troops the full rest they deserve before deploying them again.
  
• Give the new recruits the FULL training they need and deserve.
  
• End stop loss.
  
• Reinstate the draft.
  

Yes the draft.

How could I, who have never supported the war in Iraq, want the draft? Actually I don’t, but I do know 3 things.

1. Our troops are exhausted and our volunteer army doesn’t have enough recruits to replace those who need a rest.
   
   
   
2. By in large Americans have not been asked to be part of this war. As a result the war, it’s reasons and casualties happen to “someone else.” A draft will finally bring the realties home, once the majority of America has a loved one who will be put in harms way, they will pay attention.
   
   
   
3. Given number 2, the more attention paid the more chance it will bring an end to the war that much faster.
   

It’s sad, but it’s true. and the Bush administration knows it. That’s why this administration would rather abuse our service men and women and run them to pure exhaustion (and then refuse to deal with the life time physical and mental health issues that have and will happen because of this policy), then to fully fight this war. Instead of all Americans "in" this war and putting us on a war footing we've been told to “go shopping.”

It could be argued that I can be in favor of the draft because I know my 22 year old daughter, and 20 year old son will be somewhere around 4F in the call-up: My daughter due to a birth defect and my son due to an accident when he was 17 (but already an Army recruiter was ready to overlook the lifelong injury and get him into the uniform, so I'm not so sure about that). But you know what, I have two more sons (teen and pre-teen), and if this war lasts as long as Viet Nam (which I am afraid it will) they will be drafted.

The challenge issued in “President Bush, fight like you mean it!,” illustrates that Bush (Mr. Codpiece and Flight Suit) and his administration has NEVER fought this war to win.

They’ve gotten away with it because the majority of the American people aren’t really paying attention.

Americans need to, we must, and if the draft is the way to get it done, well it's what needs to be done. But more than that, if the Republicans REALLY support the troops than they must stop abusing them and reinstate the draft so that those who are fighting can rest, and those that are going to fight, have the time to be fully trained. The Bush administration and the Republicans will finally cease treating these Americans like facial tissue; something to be used (abused) and then thrown away - they will actually support the troops, by getting more men and women (maybe even finally their own children) serving.

Do you really want to fly when there's only one person in the tower?

Planes wait while controller takes potty break
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Two airliners had to circle for 18 minutes and a plane ferrying human lungs for transplant was briefly delayed Friday while an airport's lone air traffic controller took a bathroom break, the controller's union said.

The union on Tuesday cited the Friday incident at the Manchester, New Hampshire, airport as evidence that air traffic control facilities are understaffed.

"There should never be one person in the tower, because it's not safe," said Doug Church, spokesman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. "It's just added proof that the system is stretched to its limits, and these are the type of things that are happening."

Federal Aviation Administration officials responded that staffing is sufficient, that the bathroom break was handled in accordance with policy, and that travelers were not endangered or unduly inconvenienced.

While drawing vastly different conclusions about the significance of the event, the FAA and the union gave details that generally matched.

. . .

"It's the FAA's position that the staffing that was present at Manchester was sufficient to safely handle arrivals and departures at that time of the evening," Peters said. "He was only gone for 12 minutes, so while there may have been a slight delay in the aircraft landing, certainly the controller did what he had to do."

. . .

The FAA and the controllers' union have skirmished repeatedly in recent months about staffing levels at airports.

The union says controllers are often forced to work overtime, contributing to fatigue, which results in safety lapses. But the FAA says most overtime is voluntary and said instances of involuntary overtime are rare.
CNN

First off I know an air traffic controller who just retired, he wanted to "get out" before it got any worse. His wife says that they are stressed to their limit, understaffed and suffer from tremedous fatique (they also get to fly down to Florida every year for a hell of a family vacation, but that's neither here nor there).

I have been to the Manchester airport. In fact my two oldest children flew out of there for what would be their last visit with their father before he died. While it is not as busy as Logan, it certainly isn't as slow as the Wichita airport.

Additionally, having Logan's air controllers double up and take on Manchester's flights for 18 minutes is not comforting at all. These people, we've entrusted with our safety, don't need any more flights dropped in their lap. Logan is a very busy airport.

So what happens when more flights are allowed onto the schedule and the skys become more crowded? Bush administration wants to do that, at the expense of our safety. We've already seen more mining disasters in the past 6 years than we had for the 12 -15 years before that. Due in large part to weaken unions, embolden companies, lax safety and absent enforcement (have you heard that OSHA is pretty much a joke now).

And really with the policticizing of all government agencies, including the CDC, do you really believe anything that comes from the FAA?

Some more subtext of Bush's speech today

"I believe that the American people want to eat cake."

FLASH! President Bush just confirmed he can't do math

In President Bush's press conference today he spoke of carbon/environmental offsets and that China will put so much greenhouse gas into the air as to nullify gains we do in limiting our own output of greenhouse gases.

But wait a minute if we put 1 pound of greenhouse gases into the air and China puts 1 pound of greenhouse gases into the air that's 2 pounds. 1+1=2

But if we put no greenhouse gas into the air and China still puts 1 pound into the air that is only 1 pound of gas into the air. 0+1=1

So, uh, wait, that's only 1 pound greenhouse of gas if we limit of do not produce greenhouse gas vs. 2 pounds of greenhouse gases if we do nothing. And yet some how China's production of greenhouse gases will nullify all our gains. So in Bush's world 1 = 2

So if we 30 pounds in the air last year and only put 15 pound of greenhouse gases in the air, and China still puts 30 pounds into the air . . . that's still a loss of 15 pounds into the air, that's not nullifying. 30+30=60 vs 15+30=45

Maybe Dubbya needs to go back to school . . . we have that nifty "No Child Left Behind Now."

An estimated 5,000 web sites are devoted to the spread of Islamic extremism.

But how many were there BEFORE we invaded Iraq? Jihad On-line



We alrady know that the war in Iraq and Bush's policies have increase terrorist attacks and increased recruitment. So it's not hard to to come to the conculsion (absent numbers) that they weren't even half. Infact Bush's War and Rehetoric might have been and continue to be the best thing that ever happened to and for Al Qaeda.








Read more. . .

We've done soooo much to help women internationally.

Tomorrow, March 8 2007, is International Women's Day ( also here, and here.)

Here's a small snippet

1918 - 1999
Since its birth in the socialist movement, International Women's Day has grown to become a global day of recognition and celebration across developed and developing countries alike. For decades, IWD has grown from strength to strength annually. For many years the United Nations has held an annual IWD conference to coordinate international efforts for women's rights and participation in social, political and economic processes. 1975 was designated as 'International Women’s Year' by the United Nations. Women's organisations and governments around the world have also observed IWD annually on 8 March by holding large-scale events that honour women's advancement and while diligently reminding of the continued vigilance and action required to ensure that women's equality is gained and maintained in all aspects of life.

2000 - 2007
IWD is now an official holiday in Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. The tradition sees men honouring their mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleagues, etc with flowers and small gifts. In some countries IWD has the equivalent status of Mother's Day where children give small presents to their mothers and grandmothers. . .

. . . Annually on 8 March, thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and celebrate their achievements. While there are many large-scale initiatives, a rich and diverse fabric of local activity connects women from all around the world ranging from political rallies, business conferences, government activities and networking events through to local women's craft markets, theatric performances, fashion parades and more. . .

. . . So make a difference, think globally and act locally !! Make everyday International Women's Day. Do your bit to ensure that the future for girls is bright, equal, safe and rewarding.

So what have we, as a nation, done to advance women's lives throughout the world?

1. Despite the initial elation of the Taliban being overthrown in Afghanistan and women and girls being able to return to public life, go to school, get health care, etc. Due to our stupidity in not securing the country and giving it a year of two stable start, before starting anything with Iraq, the Taliban is once again gaining ground, retaking areas and resubjugating women.

2. We removed Saddam Hussein. No matter how much of a bastard he was, and he was, no matter how much he needed to be removed, and he did, he at least
allowed women to go to school, kept them in public life and left the burkha and the veil up to them.

Now with the emergence of hard line religionist women are being forced to adopt the burkha, chaddor and/or veil and to become less visible in public life, and even schooling is iffy.

3. We keep information on birth control/condoms out of the hands of the poor women in Africa and they are now suffering an up tick in deaths due to AIDS leaving many orphaned children.

Yes we as a nation have done so much to help the women of the world.

Here's how you can help turn it around:
Feminist Majority Foundation
CARE
Women for Women International
Aschiana
Malalai Hospital project of RAWA

Forget Al-Fakey we have another! It's called Al-Bombee

The headline says Pentagon blames Iran for 170 US deaths. Okay that's possible, just about anything in this world is possible.

But then you look at the pictures of the supposed ordience and things jump out at you. Like why in a country that is very proud of it's national language is the lettering AND the numbering in English characters?

Farsi numbering looks like this:

Numbering in the Arabic language looks like this:

Farsi and Arabic numerals, like letters and words are read right to left.

Moreover, why are the "Iranians" using the Christian year? On the Islamic calendar the year is 1428 (A.H. = After Hijra) not 2006.

Hopefully, this set up is so obvious that Middle America Red State Republicans can figure it out.

~~

Update 2/13/07

Last night I was told that the reason bombs are marked in English is due to international treaty. Okay, but how do we know that Iran is compling with this treaty? Why would they, so that the American government can futher it's case against them? And haven't they been scoffing at these treaties anyway? .

Further there is nothing to say that ONLY English marking can appear on a bomb.

It would seem to me that in a country whose written language is not based on the same alphabet English, Spanish, French, German, etc. is based on and a country very proud of it's theocracy, would at least agument it's "stamping" of the bomb with either Arabic or Frasi.

I still don't buy that this came from Iran or that the Iranians made it. It seems more "aluminum tubey" to me.