Maine Teacher Shock

“Maine Teacher Shock: Soldiers Went to Public School
(2003-02-28) -- Public school teachers in Maine were shocked to learn yesterday that most soldiers stationed near Iraq were educated in public schools. The startling revelation comes after some teachers allegedly told children that their military parents' service is unethical.

"We're baffled," said one unnamed teacher. "We spent years teaching them that all war is unethical, and then they go off and enlist in the Army."

A spokesman for the National Education Association blamed bad parenting for large numbers of public school graduates in the military.

"You can only do so much in seven hours per day, for 180 days per year for 12 years," she said. "Apparently we often can't overcome the influence of the parents' ignorance and immorality."”

“I know your tongue is firmly in your cheek, but if you changed a few words, that could actually be a true statement.”

“Right is Right and Wrong is Wrong.

Unless you are a liberal.”

“Seems like Maine teachers are spoiled. Let everybody else fight their battles/wars...they'll just sit at home (and enjoy their freedom) and whine about how bad the U.S are.”

“bacpac claims that "Right is Right and Wrong is Wrong. Unless you are a liberal."

Guess it must be SO comforting to be a conservative, and thus to be able to rest secure in the veracity of your own dogma.....”

“And of course, EVERY Maine teacher -- or EVERY teacher (in those pesky unions) -- thinks and speaks and acts EXACTLY alike, lock step. I mean, you all remember school, how the teachers were all EXACTLY the same -- right? duh.

"...but if you changed a few words, that could actually be a true statement." Any few in particular?

Or just the ones that would further burnish your biases?”

“Well... not *every* teacher in the union marches to union dogma... but having been a teacher for 25 years, I'd say that the majority do.”

“No. I carry a gun almost everyday & would shoot a terrorist if it was a last resort. I've been shot before & the possibility exists that I'll be shot again. I'll accept this risk to keep others (especially hikers & children) safe. However, by the laws of our country & worldcourt, we are commiting war crimes to attack Iraq on our own. We readily admit that Saddam had nothing to do with the World Trade Center. We readily admit that over 95% of his war making capability % 95% of his weapons of mass destruction (which we supplied) are gone. So I agree with you that right is right & wrong is wrong.”

“will you freekin forgit 9-11 for a rootin tootin moment?

ok...while it's true that if 9-11 hadn't happened , we proply wouldn't be in iraq right now. as bush said the other night....9-11 changed the way we view strategic security of our nation. the threat is no longer a missle launched from half way around the world. it could be in the form of a vial of anthrax, or ebola.

now, if hussein had not kicked out inspectors(frustrated them so bad they left) this wouldn't be an issue right now , would it? if hussein would give them all the info they need , ,no, today, ,this wouldn't be an issue, would it?


americans have become fat , dumb, and happy.....funny, the very reason they hate us, is the very reason it would be so easy to attack us. our short attention span, our instant gratification obsessive-compulsive personalities have made us blind to the big picture. i'm glad we have a good leader in charge. someone with nards and brains.”

“Well, it's kinda hard to cause problems with 95% of your military capability gone. Most of what he did have,(anthrax) We gave him as our ally against IRAN. We made that monster as we also made Osama. Taking out Iraq in this manner is just going to cause more attacks. The Arab/ Islam frustration will be immense. What are we going to do? Turn the whole desert into a sheet of glass & drill thru it when it cools down? This country thrives on war. We still have 10,000 nuclear missiles aimed at each other, so you really don't want to push it too far. What's the big deal? What's he doing? Let the inspectors go for another year. Let the world get tired of him & let us go in united. You want to hurt him, then tighten up his borders. This is going to be a mess./”

“myoptic.


you show me one oil well bush drills there.


one box knife is all you need to carry out 9-11.


iraq is supposed to be showing the inspectors what they have. iraq has admitted to lying about things after they have been caught. your romantic view of the world is ....niave(SP? who cares, it's french)

thankfully for us, bush does not need your permission to protect you and me and our children...



now go watch ohpra on your tevo...”

“Someone just sent me this:

It's become almost routine for members of the American press to throw dumb or leading questions at members of the Bush administration.

Maybe that's one of the reasons why Secretary of State Colin Powell seemed so well prepared for the shifty question recently hurled at him by an Iraqi reporter.

According to the New York Post, one of Saddam's newshounds asked Powell, "Isn't it true that only 13% of young Americans can locate Iraq on a map?"

"That may be true," Powell countered. "You're probably right. But unfortunately for you, all 13% are Marines."

The Left Coast Report doesn't expect that Al Jazeera will be broadcasting that little exchange any time soon.”

“This coming from someone who has never seen war no doubt. Has never defended anyone or anything with his life but freely advocates the death of thousands of others....for what?

Bush has already admitted to control of Iraq's oil after the attack. Who's going to prosper from that? France? Nope, US Oil co's.

Box Cutter? You think that they had no notice of 9-11? Then you sir are naive. I don't believe they knew how bad it would be, after all a B-52 hit the Empire State Building with relatively minor damage. But 9-11 catapulted Bush's presidency into high popularity & vastly increased the very powerfull military budget. Coincidence?

Actually according to world treaty & world court not to mention our own constitution, he does need our permission.

If you feel so strongly about our stand in Iraq I suggest you join the front ranks to gain first hand knowledge of war.”

“You're all right.We created S.H. and O.B.L. and should now have regrets,but what other monsters has our C.I.A. mentality created through the years?I'm in fear that some are already in higher places in our own system.No names now.”

“But 9-11 catapulted Bush's presidency into high popularity & vastly increased the very powerfull military budget. Coincidence?

..."
catskhiker
07:12:52 PM
03/08/03

I'm glad you posted that. Now I can save time by skipping over everything you post from here on out.”

“hyway, excatly correct.

the left is under the misconception that they didn't get their message out in the last elections are are rasing their rethoric across the boards. of course, as more and more people realize what they really stand for (OPPOSE EVERY SINGLE THING BUSH DOES) the dems will be hurtin even worse...




keep up the good work fellas....”

“Who gives a #&%!$ about politics these days?

I actually agree that a war with Iraq can be justified. Saudi Arabia is the real threat in the region. We can't confront them without "turning" Iraq and leveraging their oil against the Saudis. Then we could focus on the true source of terrorism.

But, Bush blew it by killing Kyoto, abandoning ABM and the world court and totally dissing our friends.

What happens if Blair falls in Britain? Will we have any friends?

Personally, we have wagered our good name, economic stability and military flexibility to get a two bit dictator who probably doesn't threaten us at all. This didn't have to happen if Bush had built relationships in the world during his first year as president.

I think Al Qaeda got lucky in NY. We haven't seen anything close to a comparable attack before or since.

Now we've overreacted badly, killed all of our good will and we'll have troops stuck in Iraq for a decade. The UN certainly is going to come running after the war to take over.

Is the war justified? Sure thing. We just don't have a leader strong enough to see it through effectively.

Lack of vision apparently runs in the family. One term.”

“Pray for peace and prepare for war. Be equally sincere in both endeavors.
People who teach in public schools should not be allowed to have that type of liberty to influence children, or by pass parental influence. I say let's trade Maine to Canada for British Columbia.”

“kyoto? geesh. who else signed kyoto RL? france? russia, HA! LOL! cripes man


"'Tis time to fear when tyrants seem to kiss." --William
Shakespeare {} "Do not trust governments more than governments
trust their own people." --Andrei Sakharov ++ "There is no
safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil of
evil men." --Edmund Burke ++ "One ought never to turn one's
back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If
you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it
promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by
half." --Winston Churchill ++ "When you stop a dictator there
are always risks. But there are greater risks in not stopping
a dictator." --Margaret Thatcher {} "The supreme quality for
leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office." --Dwight D. Eisenhower {} "Let us be grateful to the French for what they have done for us, but let us think for ourselves. And, if need be, let us act for ourselves." --John Jay to Benjamin Franklin ++ "France was
long a despotism tempered by epigrams." --Thomas Carlyle {}
"The Supreme Court is divided almost in half on the decisions.
Talk about an international court. How would we ever agree
with a lot of foreigners when we can't even agree among our own
judges?" --Will Rogers”

“Stratdewd!

My point is that most of the world was predisposed against Bush before 9/11 because of his unilateral approach to world affairs.

This was okay when our economy was rolling and we didn't have a care in the world. But after 9/11, when Bush needed friends, they weren't there.

I'm not saying that Kyoto or whatever are great things, but has anyone in Washington thought of trading support for Kyoto for French support of the war? That might be a good deal.

It's a two way street. If we want world support, the world has to see that our dominance will help them.

It would be wonderful if Reagan were still president. He was optimistic and gave a positive vision for the world to follow. That's why he was one of our great presidents and won the Cold War.

Bush is dour and seems fatalistic. Did you see that press conference? Not very inspiring.”

“i agree about regan, but i don't share your pessimism of bush. i think where he has flaws, there are people in his cabinet who's stregths make up the difference. i saw some of the press conference and while there weren't any pyrotechnics, i liked his answers and frankness. it wasn't very exciting, but i think he stated his case as plainly and straightfoward as possible.

kyoto was a bad deal for this nation. making a bad deal for getting supprot that we really don't need anyway is not a good option , IMO. i forget who it was, but i believe only one nation actually signed kyoto.”

“The point is probably mute because we?ve already started aggression. I would feel comfortable with world support and go in under the auspices of the UN as our congress hasn?t declared war or authorized appropriations yet. They haven?t re-instituted the draft.

I?d feel better if we didn?t already give the contract to VP Cheney?s old company to rebuild Saddam?s Oil fields at taxpayer expense. Not to worry though since they have classified the amount.

I also feel better that the combatants we captured and interrogated died of heart attacks & suicide as opposed to being tortured to death. We are after all Americans who don?t condone barbaric behavior.”

“THE UNITED NATIONS CHARTER
AND THE USE OF FORCE AGAINST IRAQ

 

The United Nations Charter is a treaty of the United States, and as such forms part of the "supreme law of the land" under the Constitution, Article VI, Clause 2. The UN Charter is the highest treaty in the world, superseding states? conflicting obligations under any other international agreement. (Art. 103, UN Charter)
 
Under the UN Charter, there are only two circumstances in which the use of force is permissible: in collective or individual self-defense against an actual or imminent armed attack; and when the Security Council has directed or authorized use of force to maintain or restore international peace and security. Neither of those circumstances now exist. Absent one of them, U.S. use of force against Iraq is unlawful.”

“where to begin...

On this issue of Iraq possesing chemical and biological weapons. Dis-arming Iraq of these weapons will not improve our security one bit. Any weapons in Iraq are too far to be used agaisnt US soil. You should also be aware that it does not take a large facility or even that much money to produce weapon grade material. Just to make the situation even worse all the materials needed to make such weapons are in fact readily availible inside the US borders and can easily be obtained with little more then a charge card and a few phone calls. While making a nuclear implosion device is rather difficult, contaminating a major area with radioactive material is not. Cesium for one is a controlled substance but inspite of regulations large amounts of it are not accountted for both inside and outside of US borders.

On 9/11 we simply got caught with our colletive pants down. It is a shame that instead of taking actions which would improve actual security we instead have choosen to give up some more of our freedom for the illusion of security. We knew for years prior to 9/11 that planes were being hijacked and inspite of our supposed efforts a plane could be hijacked even now. We should have mandated that all planes seating 50 or more passengers have a separate compartment and that the pilots compartment be unreachable from the passenger side.

As I have said before so long as no PROOF exists that Iraq was involved in 9/11 we dont not have the moral right to attack Iraq on our own. We must set the example as a nation and not act as a bunch of vigilante thugs running around and ignoring the UN which we helped to establish and claim to support. If Bush advocated destroying terrorist training camps located inside Iraqi borders I could support that and other surgical strikes designed solely to deprive terrorists of their bases and other safe havens. The UN has determined that war against Iraq is not warranted at this time and it is our nations duty to respect that ruling and obey it whether or not we like it. If Bush wanted to give limited arms to Iraqs enemies I could also support that as well since it is in the end their problem for the most part.

Kyoto? A poor compromise based on speculation more then actual science. I suppose we need to start from somewhere but this like the ABM treaties will be mostly a paper fantasy then anything else.

Finally maine teachers are not the only ones who try to influence childrens attitudes and sad to say military children have always had it rough.

(these things get any longer and im gonna get sarabelle to tpye them for me)”

“DOM, but what about 16 out of 19 NATO nations signing on?(the only 3 obstaining having monitary reason for doing so). what about at least 11 nations with troops lined up amongst ours in kuwait?



catshiker, who does cheyney's old company have a contract with? you do realize that france has a 60BILLIONS dollar contract with hussein to develop vast, unexplored areas of iraq. now why oh why would they be opposed to a regiem change? they are putting their profit over our interest. can't really blame them, but at least understand whats going on here.

i personally dont really care what happens to their oil. the nation of iraq will always be rich from their natural resources. they will profit. as things stand, it's mostly only the top of government is "rich" there. shouldn't the whole nation share in the wealth?

why don't you do an extensive study of the human rights situation in the last 30 years in iraq? how come bedwetters can just glance right over this point? i don't understand why you have no compassion for these pitiful people who live under horrendous brutality. what in God's name could excuse these things, in you mind? you can not deny that huussein is brutal to his people. but you can somehow deny your responsability to help someone in true need of help.

try speaking about your president that way in iraq, catshiker....you'll be watching you childred get beheaded in front of the whole neighborhoood, the next morning...

bush has said it will be iraqi oil money that rebuilds the country.

while the US will be in contrroll of the oil for a time, the goal is not to profit from it. the goal is to leverage it against saudi oil, thus putting pressure on the saudi's to end the radical anti-american islam being preached in their schools, streets, and mosques.....”

“It only takes "1" nation to veto a UN proposal. We've done it.

The US taxpayer will finance Cheney's old company.

France's reasons may very well be monetary as ours are. We could & should put them at ease if we want their vote. Not like we haven't bought them before.

We're not going to make Iraq rich, we're going to make US Oil Co's rich & Bush's ticket out of this recession. There's NO country that we've gone into in recent years that we've put a viable democracy into. WE don't give a #&%!$ about the Iraq people. Hell the depleted uranium from the artillary shells has harmed close to a million Iraq children.

Human Rights? We just tortured & killed several recent captives in Afghanistan & we have the right to condemn others for human rights? Who do you think made Saddam?

American way of life is the best there is. America is great. Why can't the present administration get UN support? He's personable enough & he can buy the rest. Get Congress to declare war & I'll be satisfied.

"We" (US OIL- Bush's friends & supporters)will without question profit from Iraq & break the strangle hold on Middle East Oil.”

“We didnt make the rules, we just have to live with it. We can hardly seem creditable with the world if we ignore the rules and break our promises like the ones we made to the afganistan people. Just because our military could rule the world doesnt give us the right to do so. With power comes responsibility and unless we want to turn into a world tyrant we must use our power very carefully.”

“We must be wary of creeping fascism/corporatism.

It can burn all our asses.”

“i think ass burning is a class D misdimenor in maine.....

cat, whatever. your non answer prooves my point.

goodday gentlemen, see you in 30 days......”

“Blow up yer TV!”

“Throw away yer paper!

:)”

“Move to Maine..........”

“...try and find Pamola....on yer own.”

“Pamola?

Is that some kinda aerosol margarine?”

“the next line was supposed to be "eat a lot of moose meat!"

Ain't we singing the same song, Mark Thomas?”

“Doh!

Ok,Ok

...eat a lotta moose meat”

“Pamola, storm god of Katahdin...

Pamola”

“(kinda skeery being on the same wavelength as TomT...lol)

=D”

“twig.......RUUUUUUUUHHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!”