When will we ever learn that war is not the solution?

When Secretary of State Colin Powell went to the Security Council in February 2003, however, he was decisively rebuffed. Despite its determined efforts to twist arms, the US was only able to muster the votes of the UK, Bulgaria, and Spain. Rather than face the humiliation of such a paltry showing, the White House withdrew the proposed resolution and proceeded with the attack.

Bush’s so-called “coalition of the willing” was a threadbare arrangement that provided little military help. The massive scale of public opposition prevented many countries from joining and convinced most of those that did to limit their role to noncombat duties. The US Army history says the coalition was “largely unsuccessful” at the operational level, with American troops doing almost all of the fighting and suffering 93 percent of the casualties.

Colin Powell’s disingenuous presentation to the UN about the “WMD”, weapons of mass destruction, when the UN’s own inspection team headed by Hans Blix had not found any evidence of was the end of Powell’s political career and brought shame to the government of the U.S. in the international community.

Further, the lie that the war into Iraq was a multinational affair has been exposed even though it goes unacknowledged by the American people. These lies which attempt to justify military aggression by the United States need exposure if the American people are to learn from their mistakes and make amends for the harm they have perpetrated. As the chorus in the old folk song Where have all the flowers gone? “When will we ever learn? When will we ever learn?” The time is now. Non violent resistance is a path to raising our cultural consciousness and lead to better social policies.

Do protests matter?

David Cortright has a great article in The Nation, 02/20-27/23 issue entitled "Why Protest Matters.

On February 15, 2003, in hundreds of cities across the world, some 10 million people demonstrated against the United States’ impending invasion of Iraq. By many accounts, it was the largest single day of anti-war protest in history. More than a million people jammed London’s center, while huge throngs marched in Rome, Berlin, Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, and Sydney. In New York City, hundreds of thousands braved the bitter cold to rally against the war.

“The world says no to war” was the slogan and the reality.

A few days after the February demonstrations, the New York Times reporter Patrick Tyler wrote that the huge anti-war demonstrations were indications of “two superpowers on the planet: the United States and world public opinion.” The Nation’s Jonathan Schell wrote of the movement’s “immense power” in winning the hearts and minds of the majority of the world’s people.

10 Million around the planet earth protested the U.S. Iraq war which the U.S. started anyway which has been called "criminal" by the U.N.

While the protests did not stop the U.S., 20 years later, increasingly, the Iraq war is a source of shame especially for politicians who voted for it and promoted it.

What have Americans learned from their blunder into Afghanistan and Iraq? In the short run very little, but in the long run we can be hopeful and Americans will learn from their military hubris.

Children aren't threatened by LBGTQ but by guns. What's the GOP up to?

In Texas and Florida today, state authorities are coming for the parents of trans kids. Red states that have been seized by fascist demagogues are purging libraries and schools of books, banning drag shows, and outlawing women’s rights to abortion and contraception.

Sexuality, race, and religion are universally weaponized by fascists. But it usually begins with sexuality/gender.

The ACLU is tracking 371 anti-trans bills across the United States: every one was introduced by Republicans. Most all include draconian criminal penalties. Erin Reed has compiled a map of them on Substack. Many are promoted as being necessary to “protect the children.”

That would be the same children who die by bullets every 2 hours and 26 minutes every day in America. Are injured every 10 to 15 minutes.

For more click here.

Republicans want to cut Social Security and Medicare

 

Views about abortion by religious group.

 

China's fertility rate below replacement.

 

Quote of the day - Stupidity of American Voters

Makes you wonder what the heck is wrong with the people of Long Island who elected such a person (George Santos) to represent them? A running theme on this list which I take responsibility for keeping alive is the stupidity of the American voters. Allowing uninformed people to vote is the major flaw in democracy which the founding fathers were well aware of and took steps to try to mitigate. And then there is the media....

Anonymouse

Has the society envisioned in The Handmaid's Tale has become real in some states in the United States?

With the Dobbs decision by the US Supreme Court have some states in the United States taken a step closer to the society envisioned in Margaret Atwood's novel, The Handmaid's Tale?

 

American corporations will pay for abortions but not parental leave and benefits.

 

Policies at most American corporations are not family friendly.

People may want to consider who they work for and from what companies they buy their products and services if they are concerned about families.

You can learn more by clicking here.

Housing First programs work.

During the last decade, Houston, the nation’s fourth most populous city, has moved more than 25,000 homeless people directly into apartments and houses. The overwhelming majority of them have remained housed after two years. The number of people deemed homeless in the Houston region has been cut by 63 percent since 2011, according to the latest numbers from local officials. Even judging by the more modest metrics registered in a 2020 federal report, Houston did more than twice as well as the rest of the country at reducing homelessness over the previous decade. Ten years ago, homeless veterans, one of the categories that the federal government tracks, waited 720 days and had to navigate 76 bureaucratic steps to get from the street into permanent housing with support from social service counselors. Today, a streamlined process means the wait for housing is 32 days.

As a society we know how to eliminate homelessness. The problem is the political will and the organizational skill to align the elements of the system to provide this outcome.

Eliminating homelessness improves the quality of lives of the individuals who gain a stable residence, their communities in which they reside, and our society as a whole which cares for those with few resources.

Tell others about housing first programs and support them.

You can learn more by clicking here.