A "Prayer" From James Randi

I submit the following "prayer" from skeptic James Randi in response to President Bush's prayer to a "loving God", regarding the massacre of 32 innocent people on the campus of Virginia Tech. This response can be found at Randi's own website, dedicated to exposing fraud and foolishness.

I agree with every word Mr. Randi has written.

To God the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth, God of Abraham, Jehovah, whoever or whatever:

God, You in Your omniscience – You know everything, past present and future – and also in Your omnipotence – You can do anything You want to do – why, 23 years ago, did You create this deluded man Seung-Hui Cho, then allow him to buy the guns, go to the Virginia Tech campus, and slaughter all those students and faculty? That took long-term planning, determined intention, and careful nurturing of Cho’s delusions and hatred, by You. God, what’s “loving” about that? Our President may labor under the delusion that such an act somehow shows Your “loving” nature, but in my admitted ignorance, I cannot see that. Help me to understand.

Or was this – forgive my suggestion, God – yet another failure of Your Intelligent Design, along with tobacco, cancer, spina bifida, and Crohn’s Disease?

A better plan, God – in my humble opinion – would have been to prevent that horrendous, senseless, slaughter, and then You would have had no reason to have to “comfort” those parents, friends, fellow-students and so many others who will now have to do without the delight of knowing these beautiful people. You see, God, You could have saved the lives – and futures – not only of those 32, but of Mr. Cho, as well! This deranged young man, angry and desperate, reacted to a society he felt was opposing him. He murdered 32 persons because he felt he had to, in answer to impulses he could not control. But You, Almighty God, Creator of Heaven and Earth, etc., etc., could have intervened – “omnipotent,” remember? – and there would be far less sorrow in our nation today.

Why did You do this to us? The figures show us that most of us believe in You, believe in Your loving nature, and appeal to You for Your comfort even after You have decided to allow tragedies such as this to happen; doesn’t that count? Personally, I don’t believe in You, but don’t the numbers count?

God, I’m sure that Dr. Richard Roberts, president of Oral Roberts University, speaks for You when he says, “…there’s no doubt that this act was Satanic in origin." He calls Cho's recently-revealed writings, “just words,” which he says are “one of Satan’s tools to bring about Man’s destruction.” Now, this fits the Christian idea of demonic possession, which says that human existence is predicated on the narrative of Man’s Fall from Grace in the Garden of Eden, and that wherever there is good, Satan is trying to destroy it.

Please, God, try to get Your act together, or there may be fewer people out there willing to appease a jealous, callous, vindictive, cruel, obviously insecure deity such as Yourself. And what would You do then?

God only knows…

Airline Unions Deserve Our Thanks

American Airlines followed through on their promise to screw their rank-and-file employees last week. While their employees work for reduced pay (which they agreed to in an effort to save the airline from bankruptcy), American rewarded these employees by using their reduction in pay to finance huge bonuses for management.

The five top executives at American Airlines split about $20 million, while 874 other executives and managers split another $160 million. This is a real slap in the face for the employees who sacrificed to save the airline by agreeing to work for severely reduced pay.

Now the airline wants these workers to continue working for less while management gets richer off their sacrifices. It's no wonder that the airline unions are protesting this outrage! If they let the company get away with this, they will be marginalized forever and forced to work for ridiculous wages.

But these unions are fighting the corporation, and I believe they will continue the fight when union contracts start coming up for renewal next year. That is why I say we owe these unions our thanks. The airlines are not the only corporations trying to get away with this kind of selfishness.

Corporations all over America are treating their workers like crap while rewarding management with ever larger bonuses. Corporations seem to think there are two classes of people in their organizations - the "real" people in management who deserve to get rich, and the "peons" who do the work and deserve as little as management can get away with paying them.

The airline unions are taking a stand not only for themselves, but for all of America's working people. We need to remember this next year if the unions decide they must strike. Workers all over this country need to step up and back these workers when the time comes.

We need to take what the airline unions have started, and spread it all over this country. It is time to let the corporations know that workers are not going to stand for the abuse any longer!

Scandal Brewing With Katie Awards ?

For the last 48 years, the Dallas Press Club has been honoring the best journalists in a six-state area (Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Louisiana) with an award called the Katie. It's kind of like a regional version of a Pulitzer.

In the past, this has been considered a very prestigious award and can result in a career boost for those receiving the award. Now it looks like there may be a scandal brewing over last years awards.

Tom Stewart, current president of the Dallas Press Club, says, "I am now of the opinion that the 2006 judging was bogus." Stewart believes that past president, Elizabeth Albanese, didn't bother to appoint impartial judges, but just gave the 2006 awards to whoever she wanted (including 4 awards to herself).

Albanese wound up with Katies for:

Best Speciality News Reporting

Best Investigative Reporting

Best Business News Story

Best Business Feature Story

It does look kind of strange that the person who organized last year's banquet and awards, and was responsible for picking the judges, wins more awards than anyone. But it doesn't stop there.

The Dallas Press Club has commissioned a group of former reporters, headed by Hugh Aynesworth (former bureau chief of the Washington Times). They asked Albanese for a list of all the judges, but only received seven names and e-mails. No one recognizes any of the names, and e-mails to them have not been answered. Aynesworth said, "We've never heard of them. We've e-mailed them. We've tried to call them. We've Googled them. They are suspect, let's put it that way."

Albanese has been unable to come up with the names of any judges that can be contacted. She said she sent entries to the New York City and Washington, D.C. press clubs, but both say they never received any entries to judge. She was also unable to come up with any UPS receipts showing she sent the entries anywhere. What was her excuse? "I guess I was sloppy."

But it's now looking like it goes much farther than sloppiness. Many members now believe she didn't send the entries to any judges, but just chose the winners herself (including her own four Katies). She has put a black mark on the organization and their awards.

This is a real shame. Most journalists don't get paid all that much, and a Katie means an awful lot to the recipients. I feel sorry for the rest of 2006's winners. Their award will be suspect now, whether they deserved it or not.

Going Out Of Town

My employer is sending me out of town for the next couple of days. I won't have access to a computer, so I won't be able to do any posts until at least Saturday.

But this is only temporary! Should be back to regular posting this weekend.

Bush To Veto Cheaper Drugs For Elderly

Why do Republicans hate old people?

Democrats were set to begin a debate Tuesday on allowing Medicare to negotiate cheaper drug prices with drug companies. I can understand why the huge drug companies don't want this to happen - it would cut into their exorbitant drug profits. After all, they can now charge the elderly whatever they want. They don't seem to care whether the elderly can afford their overpriced drugs or not.

But why are Republicans opposing a move that would result in cheaper drugs for America's elderly? Do they just not care whether the elderly can afford to buy their medication or not? Or is it that they have sold their souls (and their votes) to the huge drug conglomerates.

Bush has threatened to veto the bill if it survives the Senate. He says that's because it would make little difference in the price of drugs. Once again he shows that he thinks that Americans are stupid. Does he really believe that if Medicare could negotiate cheaper drug prices, that drug prices would not be cheaper? No one could believe that - he's just trying to protect the outrageous profits of his corporate buddies.

Other Republicans say it is not neccessary because the current Medicare drug plan is working so well. If you believe that, then you don't know anyone who has to depend on Medicare. Just ask those on Medicare if the program is working well. They'll tell you the program is a mess and almost impossible to understand.

We used to respect the elderly in this country and tried to help them. But since the Republicans came to power that has changed. All they want is ever larger corporate profits, and the elderly be damned.

Personally, I don't think allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices goes far enough, but it is a good start and would lead to cheaper drug prices.

I would have thought the Republicans were in enough trouble in the upcoming election with their support of the war. It's certainly not going to help them to now oppose cheaper drugs for the elderly.

Do you suppose they're making so much from the drug companies that they don't care about getting re-elected? Or maybe they're making so much they think they can buy the election?

Bush Still Refuses To Accept Reality About Iraq

Bush and Cheney are evidently still unwilling to accept the reality of the situation in Iraq. Bush is still threatening to veto the Iraq spending bill that sets a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq. He wants another $100 billion to conduct an unpopular and open-ended war.

Bush says he is willing to talk to Democrats about the bill, but will not negotiate. He says he will not talk about a timetable and will not discuss the extra funding in the bill (much of it concerning improved benefits for veterans).

I have to ask, what is the point of having the talk at all? If he is not willing to discuss any of the points in contention, then the talk would be pointless. But this is what Bush always does. It is how he tries to conduct "diplomacy" as well. He says he is willing to talk, but only if you first agree with him on all points. That's not discussion, negotiation or diplomacy - it's a demand for unconditional surrender!

It's time Bush, and his cohort Cheney, realized that his support is almost non-existent. A huge majority of Americans now oppose our involvement in Iraq's civil war (even if it was started by Bush). A huge majority of people outside this country also agree that it is time we withdrew from Iraq. They consider our misadventure in Iraq to be one of the greatest threats to world peace.

I'm not even sure why he wants to stay in Iraq anymore. It's certainly not to protect the Iraqi people. If that is the supposed reason, then we're doing a very poor job of it. The Iraqis know we're not there for their protection, and they want us to leave.

The Sunnis have always wanted us to leave, and now the Shiites agree with them. This may be the only thing they can agree on, but both groups want us out of their country. The most popular Shiite leader in the country has withdrawn his support of the government in an attempt to get America to set a timetable for withdrawal.

So if we're not there for oil (as Bush and Cheney claim) and we're not there to protect the Iraqis (as the Sunnis and Shiites both believe), then why are we still there? Evidently we are there just to prevent further embarrassment to Bush and Cheney. They know that Iraq will go down in the history books as a black mark against them unless they can either pull off a miracle (extremely unlikely) or pass the problem to a new president (and hopefully the blame also).

Personally, I don't think Bush's attempt salvage his reputation is worth the life of a single American soldier. The Iraqis want us out. The world wants us out. The American public wants us out.

It is time to get out of Iraq!

Thinking Of Virginia Tech

Tonight our thoughts are with the students, staff and teachers of Virginia Tech University. Today their campus was attacked by a depraved coward. This coward killed 32 people and wounded many others.

I call him a coward because that's what I consider him to be. It certainly takes no courage to attack unarmed, innocent and defenseless people with a firearm. Then after the attack, he again showed his cowardice by committing suicide.

As a gunshot victim myself, I can understand the pain and terror experienced by the victims of this senseless crime. I wish the suvivors a speedy and full recovery, but I know they will be haunted by this terrible experience for many years to come.

I have seen today that some are already parceling out blame for this horrible crime. That is wrong. The administration of VT is not responsible for this crime. The security department of VT is not responsible. The gun laws of Virginia are not responsible.

There is only one person responsible - the craven coward who did the shooting. It would be nice to know why he did it, but personally I'm just glad he's dead.

Our condolences and best wishes go out to the good people of Virginia Tech University.

Dallas Morning News Opposes Death Penalty

Opponents of the death penalty have just gained a powerful new ally. Yesterday, the Dallas Morning News changed its editorial opinion and came out against the death penalty. This is important because the Morning News is not only one of the largest newspapers in the state, its editorial board is generally regarded as one of the most conservative.

This new and important voice against the death penalty does not come from the liberal end of the political spectrum (where there are many death penalty opponents). No one could accuse the Dallas Morning News of having any liberal tendencies. In the past, the Morning News has been one of the staunchest supporters of the death penalty.

Why did they change their position? It has to do with the imperfection of our system of justice. While we may have one of the better systems of justice in this country, it is far from perfect.

We have always known that innocent men (and women) are sometimes convicted and sent to prison. But with the advent of DNA evidence, we are finding that it is far more common than we once believed. It is no longer an unusual occurrence to hear about an innocent man being released from prison.

The DMN points out that at least 13 innocent people have been released from Texas prisons in the recent past. They also point to the case of Carlos De Luna, who was executed even though the evidence now shows he was probably innocent.

The DMN believes (as I do) that the state has the obligation to protect its citizens from violent offenders - especially those who may re-offend in a violent way. But since the passage of "life without parole", we now have an option other than the death penalty.

The DMN points out that the death penalty is not reversible once it has been carried out. They also point out that any system of justice run by human beings is going to be imperfect, because humans are imperfect. That means there will always be instances of innocent people being convicted. Because of these two facts, they have come out in opposition of the death penalty.

I agree with them, but I would also point out that it is not just the imperfection in humans that is at fault - it is also the glaring imperfection of our society in general. Like it or not, the following facts are true and have an effect on our system of justice:

Rich people and poor people are treated differently.

White people and minorities are treated differently.

Men and women are treated differently.

Straights and Gays are treated differently.

Natural-born and naturalized citizens are treated differently.

As long as the above facts are evident in our society, we have no business executing people. Our justice system is not only imperfect, it is inherently unfair. The Dallas Morning News editorial is right - it is time for Texas to stop using the death penalty.

Employees Picket American Airlines

Yesterday, the American Airlines flight attendants union, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA), picketed the headquarters of American in Fort Worth. This kicked off a series of demonstrations that will take place in at least 15 airports. On Wednesday, the AA pilots will join in the demonstrations.

Why are they unhappy? It seems that they just found out that they are being screwed by American Airlines again. Four years ago, the rank-and-file employees of the airline agreed to a pay-cut to help save the financially-troubled airline. Now that the airline is back on is back on a firmer financial foundation, it is proposing to reward some of its employees.

But the financial rewards are not going to the employees that sacrificed to help save the airlines. The unions have recently learned that American Airlines is scheduled to give over $200 million to airline management next week. The head of American Airlines, Gerard Arpey, is scheduled to receive around $7 million.

This is a slap in the face to attendants, pilots and other employees who are still working for the reduced salaries agreed to in 2003. I don't blame them for picketing the airline! Why should they continue to work at reduced wages, while airline executives receive exorbitant bonuses?

Once again, an American corporation is shafting its workers while making its executives and management rich. This is just wrong!

Management should not receive a single dollar in bonuses until full wages have been restored to all employees. These bonuses have not been earned. They are coming straight out of the pockets of rank-and-file employees.

This is not a very smart move by American Airlines. I doubt if the unions can stop management from getting rich at their expense right now, but contract negotiations will begin next year for some of the airline's unions. You can bet the unions will not have forgotten how they were treated this year.

In their race to make themselves rich through bonuses this year, the American Airlines management have just made their next round of employee negotiations much more difficult. These unions will no longer be willing to make sacrifices just so the bosses can get richer.

Various Thoughts On A Friday

There's been a big furor over the latest idiotic and racist statements from the now former radio personality, Don Imus. Of course he's claiming he's not a racist - he just made a terrible mistake. Nonsense! The statement he made on nation-wide radio and TV speaks for itself.

Imus supporters would have you believe this is an isolated incident that he's being crucified for. That also is nonsense. This guy has been a slimeball for many years. I certainly won't be sorry to see him disappear from the airwaves.

But one of the most ridiculous stories on the Imus affair was on the LA Times website yesterday. It said the Democrats have lost a valuable resource by Imus being kicked off the airwaves - that he gave them a place to appeal to white males in this country. That is a ridiculous statement, and little more than an attempt to smear the Democratic Party. I'm sure Democrats can do just fine without Imus and his ilk.

***************

I have not remarked before about the TYC affair. Others have covered it very well - sites like Capitol Annex & Grits for Breakfast. But the Texas Senate has now proposed a couple of changes that I really think are needed and will help the agency to fulfill its mission.

First, they are proposing to cut the age of offenders committed to the agency. TYC would no longer accept 19 and 20 year olds as they currently do. This is a very good change. Like it or not, 19 and 20 year olds are adults, and are not likely to be helped by the youth-oriented programs of the Youth Commission.

Second, they propose to separate younger and non-violent offenders from the older and more violent offenders. This is another good change. Back in the seventies and eighties, the Youth Commission did this. I don't know why they changed the policy, but it will be good to get back to it.

Finally, let me say this. There are thousands of decent hard-working people working for the Texas Youth Commission, who are doing their best to protect and rehabilitate the young offenders committed to their care. Abusers must be flushed from the system, and changes need to be made to the system, but people should take care not to demonize the thousands of decent and innocent workers in the system. Most of these workers are happy to see changes are finally being made.

***************

Ten more American soldiers were killed over the last weekend in Iraq. Yesterday, a bomb blast went off inside the Iraqi Parliament, and insurgents blew up a bridge inside Baghdad. A few days ago, the most popular Shiite leader (Al-Sadr) called on his followers to attack American soldiers.

Is there anyone besides Bush, Cheney and McCain that thinks this new "troop surge" is accomplishing anything other than destroying our own military capabilities? How many more will have to die before our leaders come to their senses and bring our troops back home?

***************

I applaud the recent move by the University of Texas to honor two great Americans. By this Fall, they will be unveiling a statue on campus of Cesar Chavez. They are also in the process of choosing a likeness of Barbara Jordan, which will then also be made into a statue for the campus.

They couldn't have chosen two more worthy people to honor. These are the kind of American heroes I would like my children to emulate.

McCain Is Fading Fast In Race For Prez

You might as well wave goodbye to John McCain, because he's fading fast in the 2008 presidential race. But do it quick because he may not survive much longer as a viable candidate.

After the 2004 election, most people had McCain pegged as the favorite for the Republican nomination. But evidently that wasn't good enough for McCain. Since then he's made some really bone-headed decisions, and thrown most of that support away.

I guess he believed the idiots at Fox who said he must appeal to the far-right of the Republican party if he wanted to win. So several months ago he began to move to the right and pander to the nut-wing of the party. But the ultra-right just doesn't like McCain - they didn't like him when he opposed them, and they don't like him now that he's kissing their butts.

Instead of gaining votes by pandering to the right, he has just lost the votes of many moderates. In an effort to regain his lost momentum, McCain then makes an even worse decision. He decided to pin his hopes on rabid support for the war in Iraq. I can't believe that someone in his campaign didn't point out to him that 70% of the American people now oppose the war.

I'm glad he's fading fast, because I'd hate to have a president that makes such poor decisions. It would be like replacing Bush with his own clone!

The Los Angeles Times tells us that in a new LA Times/Bloomberg poll conducted recently, McCain finished third behind Giuliani and Fred Thompson (who is not even in the race). Romney finished a poor fourth. Here are the numbers:

Giuliani.............29%
Thompson.........15%
McCain..............12%
Romney.............08%

While McCain is dropping like a rock, Romney is not doing very well either. He may be a whiz at raising money, but it's not being translated into real popular support. And frankly, Giuliani's 29% is not all that impressive either. I'm starting to think that Republicans are not too happy with any of the three (and I don't blame them).

I think any of the major Democratic candidates (Clinton - Obama - Edwards - Richardson) could beat any of the three major Republican candidates. But there is one Republican that comes out of this looking good - Fred Thompson. He got 15% and he hasn't even said he wants to run.

Thompson is the only one of the Republicans that kind of scares me as a Democratic supporter. He has a lot of built-in name recognition after being both an actor and a senator. He also has a kind of homey grandfatherly image that makes you want to trust him. He is liked by those on the right and could easily be accepted by moderates. Personally, I hope he stays out of the race.

In other news, Bill Richardson continues to impress with his diplomatic abilities. He has just returned from North Korea, where he helped in the return of the remains of six American soldiers who had died in the Korean War. While he was there, he had high-level talks with the North Koreans, and now it looks like they will be shutting down their nuclear program.

In a letter to his supporters, Bill Richardson had this to say:

"The bottom line is that diplomacy works - there is no other lesson to draw from this monumental breakthrough. And we desperately need someone in the White House who understands this and can restore American international leadership.

In today's world, we have to be willing to engage our adversaries in tough and direct talks that lead to resolution, not more confrontation and isolation. I don't have to tell you that there are trouble spots all over the world that could use some of this tough and smart American diplomacy.

I'm running for President, in part, to keep our country safe and secure. I'm proud that yesterday in North Korea I was able to make a contribution to real progress toward that goal."

We need more of Bill Richardson's miracle-working diplomacy. Wouldn't it be nice to have a truly competent president?

Time To Stop College Tuition Inflation

In 2003, Texas legislators made a serious error. They decided to allow state colleges and universities to set their own tuition rates without guidance or regulation from state government. Since that time, it seems like every time we turn around colleges are raising their tuition.

On the average, tuition in state colleges has increased by 40% since 2003. At the University of Texas the figure is 57%. These are outrageous figures. As Senator Tommy Williams (R-The Woodlands) says, "This is like crack for the universities. They just can't seem to get enough of these tuition increases."

It was already hard for poor and working class people to be able to fund a college education. With tuition costs rising every year, many people are simply finding that they cannot afford a college education no matter how badly they want it. This is not only a tragedy for those denied a college education. It is also a tragedy for our society and our state.

The fact is that the more people who can get a college education, the better off our state will be. Funding a college education is one of the most cost-effective things a state can do. Those who receive the education make significantly larger salaries, and over their lifetime will pay a lot more in taxes of all kinds. The government receives far more in additional taxes than it spent on educating these people.

During the Republican regime of the last few years, our government has found billions of dollars to throw at corporations, but has been unable or unwilling to help Texas students to get a college education. They claim to be business-minded, but cannot understand a truly cost-effective proposition such as funding college educations.

If we were really smart, we would be offering free tuition for those who maintained a 2.5 grade-point average, and open up the opportunity of a college education to all who want it. It would increase the percentage of educated people in our society. It would raise the standard of living for many thousands of people. And it would feed the tax coffers of our state with more money. It would truly be a win-win situation.

But I'm afraid that is just a dream no matter how much sense it makes. Probably the best we can hope for is for the legislators to put a cap on tuitions and regulate their growth. We'll probably be lucky if they even do that.

Sen. Juan Hinojosa (D-McAllen) said, "I think we'll look back in history on the day we deregulated tuition as one of the worst decisions ever made by the Legislature." He is right. The only question now is do they have the political will to correct this horrendous decision.

Our society already has too large a divide between the rich and poor. We cannot allow a college education to become something only the rich can afford.

White House Aides Misuse Their Computers

When the Bush administration took over the White House in 2001, the Republican National Committee provided White House aides with laptop computers. According to the RNC, this was so the aides would not use the government computers for campaign purposes, which they recognized would be inappropriate.

I'll give the RNC the benefit of the doubt and say if that was their ultimate purpose, then it was appropriate and laudable. But after years of lies and coverups by the Bush administration, it should come as no surprise to anyone that these computers have been misused.

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-California) has discovered that many of the aides have used the computers to conduct official government business. This is a clear violation of the Presidential Records Act, which requires the preservation and disclosure of government records. Instead, the Bush administration has used these computers to hide many of its government records.

Waxman also believes the computers were used to hide White House communications with convicted lobbist, Jack Abramoff. By keeping Abramoff communications off the government computers, they thought they could hide his White House ties.

These same computers were also used to hide the White House involvement in the politically-motivated firing of U.S. Attorneys. And they were used to pressure the General Services Administration to make decisions that would help Republican candidates in the last election.

Many Republican activists are terrified now that this computer misuse has been discovered, because they have no idea what other dark secrets may be lurking in these computer files and e-mails. Waxman is now demanding access to the computer e-mails, and since they have been used to hide government business, he should be given that access.

After watching Bush's rather cavalier disrespect for the law over the past few years, it is easy to believe that he would take a gift given him to obey the law, and use it to break the law. Is there any depth to which Bush and his henchmen will not sink to further their own ambitions?

Congressional democrats need to back Rep. Waxman on this issue. It looks like we have only seen the tip of this iceberg, and much more muck is hiding under the surface.

Did Bush Make The World A Safer Place ?

After 9/11, many who weren't already paying attention suddenly realized that we live in a dangerous world. President Bush used the opportunity to promise Americans (and the world) that he would declare a war on terror, and make the world a safer place for everyone.

His first move, the invasion of Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, was almost universally supported. Anyone who has read this blog knows I am not a Bush supporter, but even I thought the Afghanistan invasion was neccessary and appropriate. The Taliban didn't just support and protect Al-queda, their beliefs are virtually interchangeable.

But Bush wasn't happy with attacking the real criminals who had attacked us. Before we had even finished the job in Afghanistan, he turned his attention elsewhere. After lying to America and the world, he invaded Iraq, once again using the excuse of "making the world a safer place".

Of course, now we know that he was not telling us the truth. Saddam was not a danger to America (or any other country for that matter), he did not have nuclear weapons or even a nuclear weapons program, and he was not in league with Al-queda. In fact, as most Muslims already knew, Saddam and Osama hated each other.

Now we are stuck in a real mess in Iraq, and the Taliban is coming back in Afghanistan. Why did Bush have to invade Iraq before finishing the job in Afghanistan? I don't know. But most of the world thinks it was to control Iraq's vast oil supply.

The Pew Global Attitudes Project gives us the following percentages of people in different countries who think we invaded Iraq because of the oil:

Great Britain..........33%

Russia.....................51%

France.....................58%

Germany.................60%

Pakistan..................54%

Turkey....................64%

Morrocco................63%

Jordan....................71%

But has the invasion of Iraq made the world a safer place? No! Once again referring to the Pew Global Attitudes Project, we find that most people, including half of Americans, think Bush has made the world a more dangerous place. Here are the numbers:

COUNTRY............LESS SAFE

France..................76%

Spain....................68%

Germany..............66%

Great Britain.......60%

Russia..................44%

Japan...................61%

China...................44%

India....................34%

Nigeria................32%

Jordan.................74%

Egypt...................70%

Turkey.................70%

Indonesia............54%

Pakistan..............52%

As you can see, a majority of people in countries that we consider to be our allies, think that Bush's blunder in invading Iraq has made the world a more dangerous place.

The war in Iraq is bleeding away the effectiveness of our military, is needlessly costing the lives of our soldiers, is using resources that could be put to better use in Afghanistan, and has made the world a more dangerous place!

It is time to bring our troops home. Just yesterday Muqtada al-Sadr, who was once a supporter of the government Bush installed in Iraq, called on Iraqi soldiers and police to join his militiamen in attacking American soldiers. Over the weekend, 10 more American soldiers were killed in Iraq. Our soldiers have no friends in Iraq. They are hated by both the Shiites and the Sunnis.

Stop the madness and bring our soldiers home!