A powerful statement . . .

Actions speak louder than my words. This site is being shared where ever people feel the need to do so. . I do and encourage you to do likewise. . . .

http://nobravery.cf.huffingtonpost.com

In case you missed it in the title.

MORE about "WORE" . . . .

My friend at one of the senior discussion groups says it like it is. . . .not exactly the way I would but with passion, conviction and RESEARCH. ,. . an invaluable combination.

"my friend - 11:11pm Feb 6, 2006 PT (#555 of 557)
Hello all



I think that single word, "WAR" could be the defining point in much of this. While "we're at WAR" is a neat catch phrase and a rallying cry, it does have a very special real life meaning. The definition of war is quite precise.

Article 1 - The Legislative Branch Section 8 - Powers of Congress of the constitution states that it is the job, the duty, the sole obligation, of the Legislative Branch to declare war.

No other mention is made within the section as to other acts of military action. War is a thing declared by the congress. PERIOD.

Article 2 Section 2 Article 2 - The Executive Branch Section 2 - Civilian Power over Military, Cabinet, Pardon Power, Appointments

Within this section there is not one single mention of the word "war". There is not one single mention of "executive powers to the president at time of war".

There is the mention that "the president shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States;" The word "CALLED" relates to the "declaration of war" defined within the previous cited article and section.

Now, I will be the first one to tell you that when you got yourself what we got in Iraq and Afghanistan, with people shooting at you and people dying, you got yourself a war. That may not be the case.

I could say that we got us a asshole leading this country and many people would agree, but technically, in the proper way, by the proper definition, according to any lawyer, I would be told, that an asshole is not a person. It, in and of itself is not a living thing.

That is the point. The total legal Constitional definition of what the word "WAR" means in relation to what our Constitution says.

There is no provision within Art.1 Sec.8, for any special allowance short of an actual declaration. There is no provision for anything other then a declaration, or NO declaration. No backhanded permission. No congressional authorization. No anything other the a declaration of war or no declaration at all.

U.S. Book of rules--The Constitution

WHEN IS A WAR . . . . not a war

When is a war not a war
. . .when it's a police action


When a nation must protect itself from the criminal acts of individuals and small groups. For Example: the war in Iraq was effectively o over when the govt. fell, when the army was disbanded, when the heads of government hid. what has followed has been a police action, not against the army because it no longer exists having no one to lead it or to pay the bills. The remaining violence is undertaken by individuals some of whom are native to Iraq and others who have come in from other countries as insurgents, criminals engaged in criminal acts of violence.

Alqaeda is only one of many groups determined to anaellate the democracies of the world for what ever reason . They are not even united in that. Their sole purpose is to kill and kill again. To create an atmosphere of fear so that democracy can not work as it has. Their aims are destructive.

When Hammas won an election they were somehow caught off guard. It was said that they did not want to win. that they did not want the responsibility of actually running a government. The only thing they knew how to do was to disrupt a government. They have much to learn. The people have overwhelmingly demanded that they do so.

Hammas has been at war with Israel forever it seems, but where is its army? where was there a head of state other than a fat little man in a striped head cloth, himself a terrorist. No, this was not a war and neither is our continuing problem with the terrorists organizations the members of which have made violence a work-a-day job and a way of life. They wouldn't know what to do without it.

GETTING AWAY FROM IT ALL . . . .maybe

This from my sons online journal. He and wife found "paradise" here on a beautiful island with a nice community and . . .well . . . a few complications. However, they think positive most of the time.There's a good side to this too. read on. . . .

January 14, 2006

Rural septic system moment

When we lived in the city we took the sewer system for granted. We could flush and forget about it – and you could flush almost anything. In contrast, the majority of households on Texada Island use various forms of "on-site sewage disposal," to borrow a phrase from BC's bureaucrats. Now, when we flush, we are making a deposit in our own septic tank, and the liquids involved, after passing through the tank, filter into the soil through a nearby leach field before joining the local water table.

Up until last year, British Columbia law required rural households to construct a conventional septic system with tanks and a leach field for new homes. Now, the law allows for "alternative systems," including composting toilets. The main difference, from my perspective, is that conventional systems are inherently wasteful, while composting systems are designed to turn human manure (a euphemism) into a rich fertilizer.

The larger photo on this page shows our septic tank being pumped, last week. The partially decomposed shit (ok, no more euphemisms; instead I'm going to use a perfectly good English word, with a 400-year history) is pumped into a truck (smaller photo), then taken to Powell River and dumped into a "sewage lagoon" for further decomposition. Eventually, the lagoon is pumped out, and its contents go to a landfill somewhere "far away."

Of course, there really is no "away" where we can forget about it. In reality, we as individuals should come to terms with our shit, and ideally we should find a constructive way to recycle it back into growing more food. That's what the Chinese have done, safely and efficiently, for more than forty centuries.

That's also what we would like to do someday here at our place. But for now we're using the conventional septic system that we were required to install five years ago. Maybe five years from now, by our next septic tank pump-out, we'll finally be ready to close the loop with a composting system.

--Tom