020061211 23:43 • 
The Iraq war has cost the United States:
- 2,932 American lives (as of 02006-12-11)
- The blood of a possible 655,000 Iraqi lives on our hands (as of ~02006-10)
- 46,880 American non-mortal casualties (as of 02006-12-02)
- US $350 billion dollars, as of today, with a total cost estimate of US $1 trillion, $2 trillion or more when all is completely wracked and ruined. These dollars have gone to the likes of Halliburton and its subsidiaries, flying straight out of the pockets of US citizens and into the coffers of these giant multinationals who are beholden to no nation and simply go where the money is the easiest. There is no economy boost here. This is money stolen from all US citizens, while US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan don’t even have appropriate body armor, properly protective humvees or paid-for care when they return maimed and broken.
- All the future potential each of those lives and all of those dollars would have contributed to the US and the world through time and growth.
- The standing of every American in the world today. Both individually and collectively, we are diminished simply for being American, and must work harder to rise above the branding. It wasn’t like this before the Bush administration took us all for a ride. It wasn’t like this before we let fear rule the day instead of putting a stop to the atrocities being committed in our name by robber barons intent on pillaging the world under the guise of patriotism and security.
What does all this have to do with this post’s title, you ask? Where does the moon in the sky come in?
Right here: NASA is planning to bring a permanent moon base online in 2024, with a roughly projected budget of somewhere around US $230 billion, according to Congress’ Government Accountability Office. The moon base will provide a crucial staging ground for the eventual exploration and colonization of Mars.
Imagine each of those lives lost in Iraq, working instead for the pursuit of science and the building of an infrastructure to further humanity as a whole rather than enrich only the pockets of a few corporate thieves and liars.
Imagine putting our incredible resources and energies into the kind of thing only humans can do: expanding the boundaries of knowledge and creating a larger home for ourselves when this planet is beginning to seem all too small.
Imagine being a part of the generation of humanity that finally opens the doorway to the stars. Imagine being in the graduating class of homo sapiens, moving from troubled youth to responsible adult.
It’s rocket science, yes… but rocket science we already know works, because we’ve done it before. It’s not a pipe dream or a science fictional alternate reality. It’s here. It’s ours, right now.
And, not counting all the death, destruction and other intangibles we could have saved, our new moonbase could already be a reality for just a bare eighth the cost of the Iraq War.
020060131 23:07 •
I have a single comment on the content of George Bush’s nonsensical State Of The Union address tonight. Amidst the lies and sound bite-ready propaganda, every good point in the plan for America he presented, such as increased education, energy independence, health care for the average American, increased safety for the nation… every single one of these and all the rest are opposed by the massive network of corporate business interests the Republican party is owned by.
But all that was designed to roll down the media pipe like oil to your car. The real issue tonight, and one which should ring warning bells in every head, was the arrest and removal from the House Gallery of anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan prior to the commencement of Bush’s address.
Sheehan was an invited guest, present legitimately. She never uttered a sound, never caused a physical disturbance. The cause for arrest? She exercised her Constitutionally guaranteed right to free speech.
Sheehan wore a t-shirt, which said: “2,245 Dead — How Many More??”
If you’re an American, you may feel the wearing of a t-shirt bearing a political statement to a President’s State Of The Union speech is inappropriate. I have some points I’d like you to take a look at.
1) Sheehan is an American citizen, just like you and I. We are all guaranteed the right to free speech by our Constitution. Not just in designated areas, not some of the time and shut-the-hell-up when it’s bothersome to those in charge… it is our right every day of our lives.
2) Freedom of speech as a fundamental right is what makes us, literally, a free people. Without the right to express our views, the potential for joint action against those who might arise in our society to oppress us is severely limited. Freedom of speech, freedom to publicly criticize and call to others to take up your cause, freedom for the least of us to take the largest to task… these are freedoms people don’t have under the governments in China, Iran, North Korea.
3) George Bush is a public servant. As an elected official, he represents you, me, Cindy Sheehan and every other American. He is accountable to every American, including Cindy Sheehan. Let me say it again: George Bush is a public servant, not a King. He’s paid with our tax dollars. The entire State Of The Union address is paid for by us.
Since when are we paying for censorship?
What I want to know is not how many more American soldiers will die in Iraq.
What I want to know is: how many more signs do we need before we realize our government is no longer ours?
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