A Picture Says A Thousand Words...

Under-reported was the March, 2003 military regulation banning the taking or distribution of any images of caskets or body tubes of soldiers killed in battle. It was put into action on the eve of the Iraq Invasion. Thanks to a Freedom of Information Request those photographs are now available. Soldiers' families and the Louisiana National Guard have also defied the Pentagon and allowed the media to film the arrival of their dead soldiers.

Aside from this effort to censor these images, "...Bush has not attended any memorials or funerals for soldiers killed in action during his presidency as his predecessors had done..."

Grassroots Preservation...

Although St. Albetus Church has been on the National Registry of Historic Places since the early 1970's you may not have known it since the marker was stolen over a decade ago.

Without help from the city or anyone else, Matthew Baka (brianvosburg@juno.com) is working to organize a fundraiser this August 20th to raise money to replace the marker. Contact him to help with this important effort.

Rewriting the Truth...

More than often the truth is changed to meet the needs of other people. For example, the anti-war protest by Cindy Sheehan in Crawford, Texas. Her son was killed in Iraq and she wants to meet with President Bush. What is interesting is how some media sources have framed her as being a terrible person and accused her of changing her opinion since meeting the President in 2004.

It doesn't matter. Her son is dead. She should be allowed to meet with the President; we pay his salary and he works for us.

Uh, Liberal Detroit?

The Bay Area Center for Voting Research in California has determined that Provo, Utah is the most conservative place in the nation (no surprise there) and, prepare yourself, Detroit is the most liberal city in the nation. Explanation: Detroit, "which is impoverished, black and the most liberal."

Popular Detroit Tourism...

I was honored to serve as a tour guide for a good friend and his family as they visited the Detroit area these last few days. They were on their way back home in Cincinnati, but wanted to visit for two reasons: Henry Ford /Greenfield Village, and to see the many downtown abandoned buildings they had heard about.

This being their first visit to Detroit they were amazed at the number of vacant buildings and the beautiful architecture that is now in ruin. The comment that I continued to hear again and again was, "how could anyone let this happen?" That's not an easy question to answer.

It's All In the Numbers...

Writer Paul Craig Roberts makes a very good observation about the recent July, 2005 announcement by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (page down after the link)

The bureau announced that in July about 207,000 jobs were created, but it's all in the numbers. Of those 207,000 jobs about 13% (26,000) were tax-supported government jobs. Of the remaining 181,000 private sector jobs 98% or 177,000 were in the domestic sector:
• 30,000 food servers and bar tenders;
• 28,000 health care and social assistance:
• 12,000 real estate;
• 6,000 credit intermediation;
• 8,000 transit and ground passenger transportation;
• 50,000 retail trade; and
• 8,000 wholesale trade.

In otherwords, not jobs that actually created a product that could be sold or traded, nor positions that actually required any kind of advanced college degree. The economy of the future is now.

I don't want anything to do with him...

A Washington Post article that comes as close as possible as describing the price paid by the soldiers in Iraq. The topic of the story are the wounds and recovery of the soldier, but it's also interesting to note that he refused a visit with President Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Condoleezza Rice.

"They see it on TV, but they can only guess what it feels like over there," he says. "To actually be there and feel it and hear it -- I don't think many people have a clue what it's like."

Bad Books...

The author of the editorial "How schools are destroying the joy of reading" makes a strong statement about his point of view.

The ironic thing is that it's an editorial from a news service (USA TODAY) which you only need a 7th grade education to read. I was forced to read that newspaper on a long plane flight years ago and still have nightmares about it today.

Asking Questions is Bad...

Be careful of the questions that you ask a public servant as it may get you thrown out of the building. Or, at least that's the best advice when you're anywhere near Donald Rumsfeld. When I used to be a teacher I used to joke with my students that, "asking questions is the true sign of intelligence." I hope I'm still correct.