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Daily Archives: June 2, 2007
We are going to be in Iraq for how long?
June 2, 20071:03 a.m.
President Bush this week likened the U.S. commitment in Iraq to America’s almost six-decade military presence in South Korea.
Which raises a question: Did the American people know they were signing on to permanent bases in Iraq and decades of occupation and conflict?
As Newsweek columnist Jonathan Alter points out, the analogies between Iraq and South Korea are mostly spurious, as far as protecting democracy.
“The only two reasons to station troops in the Middle East for half a century,” says Alter, “are protecting oil supplies (reflecting a pessimistic view of energy independence) outside the normal channels of trade and diplomacy, and projecting raw military power. These are the imperial aims of an empire. During the cold war, charges of U.S. imperialism in Korea and Vietnam were false. Those wars were about superpower struggles. This time, the ‘I word’ is not a left-wing epithet but a straightforward description of policy aims — yet another difference from those two older wars in Asia.”
Were the cynics right that this war is mainly about oil?
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Corporations should not help criminals con senior citizens
June 2, 20071:02 a.m.
One of the largest compilers of consumer information, InfoUSA, sold data on millions of elderly people to known lawbreakers, the New York Times reported. It offered database categories such as “Elderly Opportunity Seekers,” which boasted 3.3 million elderly folks looking for ways to make money, and “Suffering Seniors,” which had 4.7 million people with cancer or Alzheimer’s disease. Once the crooks trick senior citizens, some major banks make it easy for the criminals to access bank accounts without authorization.
Posted by Andie Clum
Maher never misses a chance to diss Kansas
June 2, 20071:01 a.m.
“America was started in Massachusetts — Massachusetts, Philadelphia and Virginia — and they act like America started in Kansas.” — Bill Maher on his HBO show, on how Mitt Romney and Republicans now must diss Massachusetts, the state he formerly governed, if he is to win the GOP presidential nomination. At least Maher later shared the lack of love, expressing surprise that Arkansas has newspapers.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
New ideas for parks: Don’t forget the cats
June 2, 20071:00 a.m.
The city park board is asking Wichitans for ideas on how to upgrade our parks and greenways. Among the ideas so far: dog parks, where mutts can run loose (isn’t that already being done in some neighborhoods?), indoor water parks, and more bike and walking paths.
Dog parks are fine, but what about cat parks? Think giant balls of yarn, scratch-post stations, designated fur ball-coughing areas.
Or how about a Haranguers’ Corner? This would be modeled on Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park, London, and enable anyone with strong opinions to rant at will. Kind of like this blog.
Other ideas here in my column.
Hey, WE Bloggers, have any serious or playful park ideas? Let’s hear them.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
