Monday September 21, 2009, 4:23 pm
What a wonderful WORLD! What a Man

Monday September 21, 2009, 4:28 pm

One question: Why is it that, when something proposed from this presidency is unpopular, it is quickly announced that it is not directly from the presidency, but rather his "administration" -- BUT, if it's favorable, it's from "Obama?"

LOL!

Monday September 21, 2009, 4:38 pm
I don't really care where this one comes from...In this case good news is SUPERB news to my ear...

Monday September 21, 2009, 4:55 pm

O.k. Then, for everyone else BUT David, have any of you noticed that?

(And, most probably, if it does NOT come into fruition, the wording will revert BACK to "administration.")

Sorry, David, but I feel the need to point out the hypocrisy of "semantics" when I see them -- whether YOU agree or not!

Monday September 21, 2009, 4:57 pm

Thank you.

Monday September 21, 2009, 5:07 pm
I would not want to be called anti-semantic but this was ever the way with our leaders...they always want the positive spin from things we might approve of while having a handy 'party' to blame the mistakes on.

Yes by all means Ban the Bomb and rid the world of nukes...but what about cluster bombs that kill so many children for years afterwards...
...what about the minefields laid in some forgotten conflict waiting to reek havoc and death and mutilation...
What about dense Inert metal bombs we heard so much about...and white phosphorus as used in Gaza on innocent civilians (The USA provided the lot as a gift to the Zionist State of Israel)

So while I quietly applaud the possibility of banning nuclear weapons I would want to extend that ban just a little bit further...er like banning war as a futile way of resolving conflicts...which it doesn't.

Monday September 21, 2009, 5:15 pm

Absolutely, David G.

(And include "depleted uranium" in that equasion.)

Monday September 21, 2009, 5:37 pm
"O.k. Then, for everyone else BUT David, have any of you noticed that? "

No, I haven't noticed that because I'm not focused on that issue and I'm a supporter of Obama. I'm glad he's ready to slash the nuclear arsenal. Thanks, David B!

Monday September 21, 2009, 5:44 pm

(hehehe)

Tuesday September 22, 2009, 6:39 am
I tend to agree with Marion... sherbet so many people voted for Obama, now it seems that they are unhappy with the outcome... I am also happy for nuclear arms to be put to bed, and hopefully the rest of the world will follow suit and make this world a less threatening place to be in.. sorry no offence to anymone just my opinion...

Tuesday September 22, 2009, 8:24 am
Thanks for this good news David.

Tuesday September 22, 2009, 9:02 am
If we got rid of ALL OF OUR NUKES and were attacked the Chinese or Russians could not send enough troops to police Texas or California, much less control the country. This has been true my life and living through the cold war and arms race is truly MADDness. What is our contribution to history when we lost 13 million troops in WWII to stop Hitler and Japan costing the world a total of about 70 million, but in one day, in one hour we killed 500 million to 1 billion people with 100 to 1000 nuclear bombs.

Which is worse? Hitler killing 70 million with his crazy Nazi crap in 7 years, or the U.S. nukes killing 500 million to 1 billion people in one day. Our nukes are like a thousand gas chambers and ovens in each warhead. Our nuclear arsenal makes the Hitlerian period look like a picnic where a few people got sick and died from the mayonnaise. Not to belittle WWII, but in fact to use it as a standard of absurdity and man's inhumanity to man, why can't or why haven't we learned this lesson? The human condition with religious mythology that includes Armageddon in all 3 major Abrahamic religions makes nuclear war a self fulfilling philosophy.

It is great news that the most intelligent and gifted man and our presidential history is finally reaching out of the darkness of traditional culture to extend hope for humanity to have a future free of our self destructive cultures.

David Gould is correct. We need to end all manner of mass murder and war, not just the nukes, but the news of ENDING the NUCLEAR AGE with respect to U.S. nukes is WONDERFUL to say the least. Now NOW NOW! ! !

Thanks David it is great news!

Tuesday September 22, 2009, 12:38 pm
Well said, David, as usual. Yes, all of these evil weapons should be eradicated - but there is no chance as long as the arms industry is in control of governments everywhere - look at our pathetic government's capitulation after all the fine talk of pre-97! All weapons should be banned if we want to live in a civilised world. Think of the money that goes to the arms industry - what good could be done in the world with it? Immense! Something that makes me sick is when I hear that people get up in arms at cuts in the 'defence budget' because of loss of jobs. Could jobs not be made instead to produce things that help the human race not wipe out its members? Trades Unionists in England were talking like this 40 years ago but were ignored. As for nukes - they are sick. Atom bombs were dropped on Japan because there was a racist choice made - they did not want to drop them on Germans because they were white Europeans. And they were dropped when Japan was suing for peace. How anyone could continue to produce these obscene weapons after the horrific suffering of Hiroshima and Nagasaki I will never understand. I just hope Obama will lead the way to ending this madness. A nuclear-free world would be something that is long overdue. There is no excuse ever for mass murder. Casey, I like your post as well

Tuesday September 22, 2009, 3:09 pm
I fear that there are more severe threats to human life than atomic wars. I have talked to relatives in the military and realize now that a fuel-air mixture bomb has more destructive down pressure than the bombs dropped at the end of the Second World War. Unfortunately a weapon system would only be discontinued, if a more efficient weapon system existed to replace it -- that is now the case. Atomic bombs are not the only WMD's and they are not the worst of the lot. Weapon invention will continue with each tad of scientific progress.

Tuesday September 22, 2009, 3:42 pm
Wars are a thing of the past, peace is at hand. It is love that rules this planet, this fear thing went fa enough, lol!

The whole thing is silly, when you look right at it. WE ARE finally evolving(re-membering)

Tuesday September 22, 2009, 3:58 pm
Mutually Assured Destruction ..MAD.Never has there been a bigger example of our world's absolute stupidity.If Obama does manage to end the arms race..then he will become a far greater leader,then the one he has so far been.The power's that be either murdered Kennedy for taking a move that the Pentagon didn't like or murdered him for a whole range of misdeamenours ..take your pick.
The right wing nutjobs are wounded,deranged and very angry..lets ignore them and heighten the protection..thats what a great President would do..I have my doubts about this..but could it be,that with the debts that exist around the world that this decision is an economic one,as well as a military one..and much more than a moral one.I don't mind,if the pile of nukes starts to dwindle..and eventually they become a thing of the past I will be a very happy man..and even happier when I look at primitive militaristic pentagon warlords pissing their pants in anger,that trillions aren't being wasted on nukes.

Tuesday September 22, 2009, 4:37 pm
"Unfortunately a weapon system would only be discontinued, if a more efficient weapon system existed to replace it"...

Unfortunately Betsy that, (Hopefully only up until now?) has been the crazed (profiteering?) thinking of our governments and the spin put out to keep people on their side...BUT if more people took the line that David(G) takes...Our governments' and munitions corporations would have to re-think their validity?...People power is not worth the effort, is there another that will work??

And yes Pandas...It is MAD otherwise.

Tuesday September 22, 2009, 5:33 pm
Part of my address in carlisle yesterday for the International Day of Peace.

Ever since man first picked up a stick or stone to kill another person, we have invented ever more gruesome and brutal weapons. From spears to battleship guns they have become more and more deadly. Till earth is filled with minefields and cluster munitions that kill and maim long after the war has moved on…and then there are nuclear missiles with the power to kill hundreds of thousands in one blast.

What if instead of all that effort going into the science of death, mankind had developed down a different path and had instead developed the science of the living. Cancer would have been a thing of the past as would many of the illnesses and conditions that debilitate and limit life today.

Today we have that choice. We can blindly follow the leaders of this world and go on as we have for the last 4,000 years and we will end up with more graves, more fear, more bloodshed, more sorrow, more pain, more bereavement….and still our leaders rhetoric will be unchanged. “We fight to preserve the peace.”

"Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding." (Gandhi)


Today we have a better way; a way that makes sense and reduces the fear and pain of the nations. Today we can choose to tell our leaders they are wrong to pursue constant war. It is a blind road leading nowhere.

Just close your eyes for one moment and think what we could achieve in this world if all the resources gobbled by war were instead to be put to peaceful ends…the ending of world poverty, the feeding of the nations, the cure for diseases, sight for the blind, new limbs for the disabled, clearing away the minefields and cluster debris….

Did you see it? This brave new world that could be…it starts with one person…it starts with you…it starts within you...and it starts now the moment you choose the path of non-violence in thought, word and actions.

Tuesday September 22, 2009, 6:29 pm
"You cannot currently send a star to David(G) because you have done so within the last week"...Oh YES I can ***** and if anyone else has such a humanitarianly sensible statement such as this, you will get a star too...Although, thank you David, I guess my star bank will remain full? :-)

Tuesday September 22, 2009, 6:41 pm
Peace sounds great. Especially since there has never been peace since the world began. But, before we toss our weapons, no matter what they are, to the 5th dimension, let's make sure radical muslim terrorists, China, Russia, Venezuela and the rest of the world do it too. Americans would be sitting ducks if we could not protect ourselves with an invasion. We should close our bases around the world and bring home our military men and women. Build military bases on our borders and protect our country and its people.

Wednesday September 23, 2009, 1:44 am
if this is true, it sure appears to be good news.

Wednesday September 23, 2009, 8:56 am
"Today we have that choice. We can blindly follow the leaders of this world and go on as we have for the last 4,000 years and we will end up with more graves, more fear, more bloodshed, more sorrow, more pain, more bereavement….and still our leaders rhetoric will be unchanged. “We fight to preserve the peace.”
"Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding." (Gandhi)"

OUTSTANDING statement, David!!! I encourage everyone to read David's entire post above. We cannot leave it to our leaders to enact peace. It begins with me.

Thursday September 24, 2009, 2:44 pm
Just a comment on the numbers,

Deaths in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were just over 220,000. It ended a world war. Total current population of Japan is approximately 127million people. To compare the US to Hitler, we responded to the attack declaration of war by the Japanese. Hitler rolled out of bed one morning and persuaded his country to attempt genocide.

Chinese army size is estimated at 3,000,000 troops in the army alone +400 intercontinental nuclear warheads.

I understand the passion, but geez, other than planetary destruction or an all out nuclear war, 1billion people is a pretty big number (unless it's budget related). As for me, live and let live. As long as everyone gets rid of nukes, that's cool.

Thursday September 24, 2009, 5:17 pm
UPDATE:

Email from 'Friends Committee on National Legislation' (FCNL) 5.0am, 25 September, 2009:

A World Free from Nuclear Weapons

This morning, the U.N. Security Council, led by President Obama, took a huge step towards realizing the vision of a world free from nuclear weapons.

The most powerful countries in the U.N. reaffirmed their commitment to "general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control." Specifically, they committed to stop the spread of nuclear technology, materials and weapons; to ban nuclear weapons tests, and, ultimately, to ban nuclear weapons.

Wow. In the 20 years I've been working in Washington, no U.S. president has explicitly stated our treaty commitment to eliminating nuclear weapons. In the more than 65 years that FCNL has labored uphill for nuclear disarmament, that goal has not had the kind of support that it has today, both globally and in the United States.

For the vision of a world free from nuclear weapons to become reality, we need to get Congress on board. A first test will be whether the Senate will ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which prohibits all nuclear test explosions. David Culp, FCNL's lobbyist for nuclear disarmament, tells me that many members of the Senate - including some who support the CTBT - are sitting on their hands waiting for the president to lead on this issue.

Take Action (visit site, sign petition)...

http://www.care2.com/news/member/760164053/1255377

Ask your senators to speak out publicly in support of the President Obama's leadership at the Security Council this week. Ask them for real action to free the world from the threat of nuclear weapons by standing up for the treaty to ban nuclear weapons test explosions, the CTBT.

Joe Volk, FCNL

------------------------------------------------------------

PETITION: http://www.care2.com/news/member/760164053/1255377

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Have a GREAT weekend! Doubting Thomases too! :-)

Thursday September 24, 2009, 5:28 pm
Please do not question the valdity of the FCNL email my 'foreign' friends. The date is correct. It is Oz time.

Thursday September 24, 2009, 5:34 pm
Do you ever sleep, David?

Friday September 25, 2009, 3:02 am
I found my own comment offensive, or at least insensitive as I reread it this morning. Thank all of you for not taking offense. I'm not a war monger, and Casey, I really didn't intend to sound that way. The problem with dealing with numbers all the time, is that sometimes I act like a math teacher.....

Friday September 25, 2009, 3:52 am
"Do you ever sleep, David?"...No marion, i don't have time to waste :-) XO

Friday September 25, 2009, 7:03 am
No offense taken, Paul. I worked with engineers for many years, so I noticed nothing wrong with your comment.

Friday September 25, 2009, 7:09 am
Thanks Marion Y, as a music major with a bachelors in voice and a masters in music ed, I'm very flattered to be compared to engineers, although I have worked with several as an advisor and always have to triple check my math before meeting with them...

Have a great weekend!

Friday September 25, 2009, 7:14 am
With your expertise in music, I'm surprised you're good with numbers. Yep, those engineers are something else. It's how how learned to do my research. Even now before I post a comment...I read it, reread it, check for errors, read it again, then pause before hitting the 'submit' button. Damn engineers...perfectionists. Cheers!

Friday September 25, 2009, 7:21 am
Marion Y,

For your amusement, and mine at the time, back in 1986 I got a phone call from a US Government recruiter who wanted me to apply for a computer programming position. I told him my FSU degree, the MME, was not mechanical engineering but music education. He told me that research and their success teaching music majors programming indicated that an aptitude for music indicated the same abilities for math. I'm now an investment advisor and author, so maybe he wasn't totally offbase.

Still break into Italian arias at times. Aren't you glad Care2 comments are written and not sung!

Friday September 25, 2009, 7:24 am
Amusing and amazing, Paul. Being multitalented is an asset these days.

I will now leave this thread back to regular programming...