Liberty Bell

Although the Democrats still hold the lead in Washington politics (and have since 1980), recent events have shown their lead is not unshakeable. The 2004 race for governor between Dino Rossi (Republican) and Christine Gregoire (Democrat) was the closest in Washington State history and in any governors race in the United States. After two recounts and court battle, Rossi lost by 129 votes to current Governor Gregoire.

The Rossi/Gregoire race pointed out several deficiencies with the Washington State voting system, and led to heated debate between the different parties. In the governor’s race, Rossi narrowly led the initial count and a machine recount, but lost in the hand recount requested by the Democrat party. The Republicans questioned and sued over the number of votes from deceased people and convicted felons included in the election – particularly from King County, known to be strongly democratic. Superior Court Judge John Bridges rejected the claims saying that while the claims were significant there was no evidence of fraud or manipulation. Republicans called Democrats cheaters; Democrats insisted they weren’t.

Rossi is expected to run for Governor in 2008. Analysts in both parties agree that a rematch wouldn’t just be a rerun of ‘04. Former thinking that “Pandering to rural voters is a waste of time,”* has been abolished. Democrats have realized the weight of King County may not be enough to hold the election and have started campaigning across Lake Washington, hoping to gain more power. If Rossi runs and wins, he will end the 24-year-hold Democrats have on the governor’s seat.

* From “Better Dead Than Red,” by Dan Savage. It was printed by the Portland Mercury and The Stranger in 2004.

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
— Emma Lazarus, on the Statue of Liberty

America has been a country of freedom and hope for many years. And because of that, it has drawn and continues to draw people from other nations to it. Most are longing for a better life. They believe America will provide it.

They see America as a great nation. They hear people talk of a glorious land - possibly a paradise on earth. They hear job opportunities, not shortage of jobs. They hear about food and free health care - not about the American citizens with no health insurance, and others who struggle to provide for their families.

I know many didn’t realize the problems with America. I know because the people my Dad work with (Turks) viewed America as a great nation. And when they visited, and realize how much Katrina had affected people’s lives, they were shocked. They hadn’t heard of the homeless people, the starving people, the out-of-work people…

America! America!

Now America is facing problems regarding immigration. And we see people who are in the U.S. illegally (mostly Mexicans), take jobs and get health care where U.S. citizens can’t. And we hear people talking Spanish and wonder what they’re saying - realizing that because we can’t understand them, we might be the ones out of a job.

I know another family, who moved to Washington State from California. The dad’s an out-of-work white electrician. Not because he’s lazy - he tried very hard to find work. But because when he tried to find a job, he was rejected because he couldn’t speak Spanish.

God shed his grace on thee…

There was an article on Think and Ask, called Free Los Angeles, Go Fix Mexico. It’s copyrighted - “reproduction of any kind is not permitted without written consent” - which I don’t have. But it’s a good article and I wanted to use a few paragraphs:

What is wrong with Mexico? Gotta dictator? Can’t put food on the table? No jobs to be found? Well, join the club, for life is no better in the United States for poor and middle class blacks and whites.

The only difference is now we whites and blacks have to pay socially and financially for those Mexicans who enter this country and work for cash while they avoid paying income, property, and school taxes. But Mexicans get healthcare and public school education — for free. If we tried avoiding taxes the IRS would be on our door before you could say si si. If we show up at hospital expecting free assistance we’d die while waiting in the emergency room without health insurance.

Here is one possible all encompassing answer: Life is easy for the Mexicans. It is easy to enter the United States illegally and stay under the radar. It is easy to come to the United States and pop-out a baby to gain citizenship and apply for welfare. It is easy to work here for $8-per hour cash, pile-up 20 illegals in a one-bedroom apartment to save rent and split the cost of a beer keg on the weekends. It is easy to build political clout with the sheer influx of immigrants along with the baby boom that follows with each new family.

It seems ironic that illegal aliens gathered such steam in Los Angeles to march, considering they offer no intellectual exchange to advance innovation in this nation…other than halting laws that infringe upon their own special cause. Be proud of Mexico: Go home to build a life your children can boast was the effort of their parents’ hard work and reform. Meanwhile, rest assured, we are telling our children that there is no free ride in the United States…unless one is here illegally from Mexico.

And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

U.S., British Troops Rescue Iraq Hostages

U.S. and British troops Thursday freed three Christian peace activists in rural Iraq without firing a shot, ending a four-month hostage drama in which an American among the group was shot to death and dumped on a Baghdad street.

Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, the U.S. military spokesman, said the hostages were being held by a “kidnapping cell” in a house, and the operation to free the Canadian and British captives was based on information from a man captured by U.S. forces only three hours earlier.

“They were bound, they were together, there were no kidnappers in the areas,” Lynch told a news briefing.

He also said military operations concerning other hostages were ongoing, “probably as a result of what we’re finding at this time.”

The freed hostages were Canadians, but members of the Chicago-based Christian Peacemaker Teams. Although Tony Blair and others have thanked the soldiers, the Canadians and the Christian Peacemaker Teams have not done so.

In regards to a statement on their web-page:

Not once do they thank or even reference the fact that a Special Forces team rescued these guys. In fact, the only reference to military at all is blaming them for the kidnapping in the first place. Nice!

Also on their home page is a long statement about how terribly treated terrorists are when detained by evil soldiers.

They have faith in the power of God and his protection. “If you have the faith to love your enemies, you might consider loving your friends and rescuers too.”

The Christian Peacemaker Teams said the activists went to Iraq “motivated by a passion for justice and peace.” Group volunteers have been in Iraq since October 2002, investigating allegations of abuse against Iraqi detainees by coalition forces. Its teams promote peaceful solutions in conflict zones.

“They knew that their only protection was in the power of the love of God and of their Iraqi and international co-workers,” Pritchard said.

He also called for coalition forces to leave the country.

“We believe that the illegal occupation of Iraq by Multinational Forces is the root cause of the insecurity which led to this kidnapping and so much pain and suffering in Iraq,” Pritchard said

There’s a story/joke I know about a Marine just released from active duty and newly registered in a class taught by an avowed Atheist. The teacher shocked several of his students when he flatly stated he was going to prove there was no God. Addressing the ceiling he shouted: “God, if you are real, then I want you to knock me off this platform. I’ll give you 15 minutes!”

The lecture room fell silent. You could have heard a pin fall. Ten minutes went by. Again he taunted God, saying, “Here I am, God. I’m still waiting.”

His count-down got down to the last couple of minutes when the Marine walked up to the professor, hit him full force in the face, and sent him tumbling from his lofty platform, knocking him out cold. At first, the students were shocked and babbled in confusion. The young Marine took a seat in the front row and sat silent. The class fell silent…waiting.

Eventually, the professor came to, shaken. He looked at the young Marine in the front row. When the professor regained his senses and could speak he asked: “What’s the matter with you? Why did you do that?”

“God was busy. He sent me.”

Thank-you.

Other bloggers posting on this subject: Christian Peacemaker Teams is not Pro-Peace, TALK ABOUT UNGRATEFUL, US and British troops rescue ‘Peace’ hostages

I had a discussion the other day with a friend (I’ll call him "Tom" to keep him apart) about terrorism. Tom was having troubles with a friend of his, "Jon", on the same topic. Jon was trying to convince Tom that early patriotic Americans had been terrorists, and because of that should not be hunting/killing Middle East terrorists. Tom ended up very confused and asked me a few historical questions ‘cause I’m the history geek. Most of them were covering the Sons of Liberty. Jon had used them as an example of American terrorism. 

Some historical information on the Sons of Liberty:

1. They took their name from a debate on the Stamp Act in Parliament in 1765. Charles Townshend, speaking in support of the act, spoke contemptuously of the American colonists as being "children planted by our care, nourished up by our indulgence…and protected by our arms." Then Isaac Barre, a Member of Parliament and supporter of the American colonists, responded by describing the Americans as "these Sons of Liberty" and warned that they would resist the new tax.

2. Although the origins are unknown, the Sons of Liberty was most likely started in 1765 by Samuel Adams

3. The first, and largest, branches were in Boston and New York City

4. The Sons of Liberty groups tended to meet late at night so as not to attract the attention of British officials and the American Loyalist supporters of the British Crown.

5. The Sons of Liberty worked with Committees of Correspondence. The "Committees" were colonial groups established for the purpose of formally organizing public opinion and coordinating patriotic actions against Great Britain.

6. Patriot mobs did attack gentlemen’s homes, Customs officers, East India Company tea, and vocal supporters of the Crown. They did not commit murder.

7. British authorities and their supporters considered the Sons of Liberty rebels, and referred to them as "Sons of Violence" and "Sons of Iniquity." Latter-day historians have called them terrorists, a word coined during the French Revolution gaining new meanings in recent decades.

Jon was saying (summarized version) that since the Sons of Liberty had used violence (unlawful) that harmed both British people and property they were terrorists.

In my opinion terrorism is: trying to intimidate or force people - usually for political reasons - by an unlawful use of violence harmful to people and/or property. Not a dictionary definition format and clarity, but I think it covers everything.

So a terrorist would be someone who: intimidates or forces people - usually for political reasons…

And that is why I do not agree with Jon’s statement that the Sons of Liberty were terrorists. They broke Britian’s rules. They harmed some people and property. For goodness sake, it turned into a WAR! But they fought for freedom. For freedom of religion and speech, in the hopes it would be handed down through generations. In a way, it was for the same freedom that allowed Jon to call them terrorists - because the freedom they handed down allowed the right to all viewpoints.

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out
because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out
because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Rev. Martin Niemüller, 1945

“Niemoeller was one of the most respected Protestant leaders in Germany. After a signal career as a young man, a decorated U-Boat captain in the First World War, he became an activated Christian. In 1933, when he became the most high profile of Hitler’s Christian opponents, he was in charge of a prestigious suburban parish in Berlin-Dahlem.

Niemoeller was a leader in the mobilization of the Pastors’ Emergency League, in the Synod that denounced the abuses of the dictatorship in the famous “Six Articles of Barmen,” and in other visible joint actions and sermons that finally led to his arrest on 1 July 1937. There were then a few honest judges still functioning in Germany, and when the court let him go with a slap on the wrist Hitler personally ordered his incarceration. Niemoeller was in concentration camp, including long periods of solitary confinement, until the end of the war.”

Quoted from Littell’s article in Christian Ethics Today
Found at PIA CAUSA

At the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics of 2002, a collaboration between the French and Russian judges sparked the controversy that put the skating world in an uproar. As many as six Olympic figure skating judges may have been contacted by a reputed Russian mobster charged with fixing two events at Salt Lake City. Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov was accused of scheming to get a French judge to vote for the Russian pairs team, and a Russian judge to vote in turn for the French ice dancing team, according to a criminal complaint filed in Manhattan federal court. Both teams won their events.

The Salt Lake judging scandal, the biggest in Olympics history, resulted in a duplicate set of gold medals being awarded to the Canadian team that finished second to the Russians.

Since then the scoring system has been changed to avoid further cheating. Instead of the old 6.0 system, values are assigned to every jump, spin, and footwork sequence, allows judges to add and subtract for execution. It also adopted a randomized selection of marks from a greater number of judges, whose identities are now undisclosed. In the past, the scores of all nine judges counted. Now, a computer chooses nine of 12 and drops the highest and lowest marks. Since only seven then count, it’s possible that skaters picked by a minority of the panel can end up on the award stand.

The new scoring has caused some confusion among skaters and the spectators. The difference between a 5.8 and a 6.0 was easily understood - but how do you compare 225.34 to 224.47?

The ISU isn’t trying to confuse. They are trying to avoid another scandal by radically changing the scoring system. But you have to wonder at a system that allows the results to be changed up until 24 hours after the event in case of a math mistake.

I’m pleased to say so far no scoring scandal has come up in this year’s Olympics. While Russia has three gold figure skating medals from these Games (men’s free skating, ice dancing, and pairs) they were won by skill.

On December 28, 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt stated, “The definite policy of the United States from now on is one opposed to armed intervention.”

Now, with the war in Iraq going on, and as more and more people question President Bush’s plan, I believe it is worth going back to look at Roosevelt’s comments on World Peace.

Roosevelt believed that peace could be reach by an agreement between all the different countries. He realized that about 90% of people were content with what they had, and, that if those 90% persuaded the other 10%, “practical peace, permanent peace, real peace throughout the world” could be reached.

He proposed some guidelines to reach this peace: (summarized)

1. An agreement between all the nations to eliminate every weapon of offense in its possession and create no additional weapons of offense.

2. A declaration that no nation will permit any of its armed forces to cross its own borders into the territory of another nation.

Roosevelt did realize that unless all the nations agreed, the plan would fail. So he decided the plan would not go into affect unless “every nation, without exception, entered into the agreement by solemn obligation.”

This policy became known as the “Good Neighbor Policy.”

The Good Neighbor Policy has suffered throughout the years. It is easy to see that World Peace has not been achieved since Roosevelt’s time. From the time Roosevelt made his speech in December 1933, America has participated in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, as well as using military force to settle other issues. Now questions about the Good Neighbor Policy and World Peace have arisen again due to the way President Bush is dealing with Iraq. We begin to wonder if World Peace is a practical idea in the world we live in. Yet we also doubt the effectiveness the direct approach President Bush is taking in this issue. As I mentioned earlier, I believe it is worthwhile to look back at what Roosevelt was suggesting.

The first guideline that Roosevelt mentioned regarding the Good Neighbor Policy was the aspect of weapons. An agreement between all the nations to eliminate every weapon of offense in its possession and create no additional weapons of offense. I would question as to the practicality of that idea. If all nations agreed with this, peace could be kept until someone broke the agreement. Then the other nations would all be in danger. Not good.

The second guideline was that no nation would allow any of their armed forces across their own border.

Okay, you’ve knocked out thousands of jobs. Have fun.

Seriously, if the armed forces aren’t allowed to leave the country, the only reason to have any is to protect the border(s) of your country. Which only leaves the Coast Guard. (in America) Good-bye Army. Good-bye Navy, Air Force, Marines… Nice having you. Wish you good luck finding work.

Also, there are other reasons other than war for armed forces to cross borders. Yes, if the world was perfectly at peace, there would be no need of them. No need of police, judges, lawyers, (hmm… wouldn’t be bad) prison guards or prisons either. It makes a nice dream world, but wake-up buddies – this ain’t no dream! This is LIFE. AND NOT THE GAME. Now that we’ve cleared that up…

Roosevelt was practical, and he knew that unless all nations agreed to perfectly follow those two points, the idea wouldn’t work. He also realized nations striving for peace could still be drawn into war:

“We are not isolationists, except so far as we seek to isolate ourselves completely from war. Yet we must remember that so long as war exists on earth there will be some danger that even the nation which most ardently desires peace may be drawn into war.”

I agree with that. Cool.

That basically summarizes Roosevelt’s ideas for World Peace.

Monday marked the one-year anniversary of the deadly tsunami that brought destruction and death to many in South East Asia. On December 26th, 2004, an earthquake beneath the Indian Ocean spread giant waves over surrounding coastlines and islands. The damage was horrific. Over 200, 000 people died, and millions of people were left homeless.

People compared the damage to that caused by an atomic bomb:
“Everything was flattened. It was like a nuclear bomb had hit the place. I’ve seen bodies before but nothing like this. We lost count. The destruction was of biblical proportions.”—British tourist Al Howard who miraculously survived on Indonesia’s most northwestern island of Pulau Weh.

Please remember these people throught the coming year. Pray - if you believe in prayer. If not, you can still encourage the survivors through money, food, clothing…

The Liberty Bell is a symbol of America. Built in 1752, the Liberty Bell rang at many occasions in the early life of our country. These occasions include the deaths of Franklin and Washington, the inauguration of John Adams, and also to mark events during the American Revolution. In fact, the bell was rung so many times people living near the bell complained they were “incommoded and distressed” by the constant “ringing of the great Bell in the Steeple.”

Although the Liberty Bell is now no more than a symbol, we need to keep that same spirit for freedom and liberty. America is more than a country. At least it was. It was a land where people were free, where they were treated fairly and equally. Liberty is worth fighting for. We shouldn’t get content in our daily lives not caring about the liberty and freedom of others. One person will not change a country. But a force of people can.

For as long people have been on this earth, they have yearned to live freely, as they want. Because of this longing, people are willing to fight, to risk their lives, so others (and hopefully themselves) will live in a new way. Over 200 years ago, Americans fought for the freedom and liberty of this country. The famous words of Patrick Henry are still repeated:

“Today, we need a nation of Minutemen, citizens who are not only prepared to take arms, but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as the basic purpose of their daily life and who are willing to consciously work and sacrifice for that freedom” – John F. Kennedy