Announcement

The Inkwell 4 will be on hiatus until after the first of the year. We wish all readers the joy and friendship of the season. Thank you for your support. See ya next year!

Worldpress.org - World in Cartoons

Worldpress.org - World in Cartoons

Green Party USA

This is the issues that are important to the GP, I find that I am in agreement twith all the issues. I am have found party that I can truly support.

1. GRASSROOTS DEMOCRACY
Every human being deserves a say in the decisions that affect their lives and not be subject to the will of another. Therefore, we will work to increase public participation at every level of government and to ensure that our public representatives are fully accountable to the people who elect them. We will also work to create new types of political organizations which expand the process of participatory democracy by directly including citizens in the decision-making process.

2. SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
All persons should have the rights and opportunity to benefit equally from the resources afforded us by society and the environment. We must consciously confront in ourselves, our organizations, and society at large, barriers such as racism and class oppression, sexism and homophobia, ageism and disability, which act to deny fair treatment and equal justice under the law.

3. ECOLOGICAL WISDOM
Human societies must operate with the understanding that we are part of nature, not separate from nature. We must maintain an ecological balance and live within the ecological and resource limits of our communities and our planet. We support a sustainable society which utilizes resources in such a way that future generations will benefit and not suffer from the practices of our generation. To this end we must practice agriculture which replenishes the soil; move to an energy efficient economy; and live in ways that respect the integrity of natural systems.

4. NON-VIOLENCE
It is essential that we develop effective alternatives to society’s current patterns of violence. We will work to demilitarize, and eliminate weapons of mass destruction, without being naive about the intentions of other governments. We recognize the need for self-defense and the defense of others who are in helpless situations. We promote non-violent methods to oppose practices and policies with which we disagree, and will guide our actions toward lasting personal, community and global peace.

5. DECENTRALIZATION
Centralization of wealth and power contributes to social and economic injustice, environmental destruction, and militarization. Therefore, we support a restructuring of social, political and economic institutions away from a system which is controlled by and mostly benefits the powerful few, to a democratic, less bureaucratic system. Decision-making should, as much as possible, remain at the individual and local level, while assuring that civil rights are protected for all citizens.

6. COMMUNITY-BASED ECONOMICS AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE
We recognize it is essential to create a vibrant and sustainable economic system, one that can create jobs and provide a decent standard of living for all people while maintaining a healthy ecological balance. A successful economic system will offer meaningful work with dignity, while paying a “living wage” which reflects the real value of a person’s work.

Local communities must look to economic development that assures protection of the environment and workers’ rights; broad citizen participation in planning; and enhancement of our “quality of life.” We support independently owned and operated companies which are socially responsible, as well as co-operatives and public enterprises that distribute resources and control to more people through democratic participation.

7. FEMINISM AND GENDER EQUITY
We have inherited a social system based on male domination of politics and economics. We call for the replacement of the cultural ethics of domination and control with more cooperative ways of interacting that respect differences of opinion and gender. Human values such as equity between the sexes, interpersonal responsibility, and honesty must be developed with moral conscience. We should remember that the process that determines our decisions and actions is just as important as achieving the outcome we want.

8. RESPECT FOR DIVERSITY
We believe it is important to value cultural, ethnic, racial, sexual, religious and spiritual diversity, and to promote the development of respectful relationships across these lines.

We believe that the many diverse elements of society should be reflected in our organizations and decision-making bodies, and we support the leadership of people who have been traditionally closed out of leadership roles. We acknowledge and encourage respect for other life forms than our own and the preservation of biodiversity.

9. PERSONAL AND GLOBAL RESPONSIBILITY
We encourage individuals to act to improve their personal well-being and, at the same time, to enhance ecological balance and social harmony. We seek to join with people and organizations around the world to foster peace, economic justice, and the health of the planet.

10. FUTURE FOCUS AND SUSTAINABILITY
Our actions and policies should be motivated by long-term goals. We seek to protect valuable natural resources, safely disposing of or “unmaking” all waste we create, while developing a sustainable economics that does not depend on continual expansion for survival. We must counterbalance the drive for short-term profits by assuring that economic development, new technologies, and fiscal policies are responsible to future generations who will inherit the results of our actions.

The Last Democratic Debate

Finally! The last debate of the year....may I have an amen! The last dem debate was a well done one with all candidates giving ample time and really nothing new. A few zingers, but most stayed on message. The only loser was Dennis Kucinich because he was not allowed to participate. That was the only low point, since the whack job Keyes was allowed to participate on the Repub side, but that is another story.....I am sure. Everyone was polite and civil, no attacks, direct attacks.

Okay, let us look at the candidates:

Clinton--not much new....she was on message....the only problem was she wants to reform NAFTA. She was cool and comfortable.

Obama--he also was on message.....he was also calm, confident and collected...but nothing new.

Edwards--still strong on people power...he was confident and clear.

Dodd--Look good and spoke with authority.

Biden--Definately calm, cool, and confident spoke with authority.

Richardson--He was adequate...spoke with confidence...only one to link Iraq with the economy...a positive point. Good on environmental responses.

No movement in the polls will be seen as a result of this debate...all candidates were on their message...no screw ups...all had excellent answers...No real winner and no real loser. Biden would get my vote for the way he handles the questions hurdled at him.

We, political geeks and addictions, can now sleep at night without worrying about another debate looming on the horizon.

May the force be with you!

CHUQ

Last GOP Debate Of The Year

We at the Inkwell, have discussed the latest debate and these are our conclusions.

It is mid December and yet another debate, but the good news is this is the last GOP debate of the year and next the voters in Iowa will caucus shortly after the first of the New Year.

The ones who DID NOT win the debate were the people of Iowa. Why? Nothing new, nothing controversial, nobody's opinion will be changed by the debate. Candidates looked tired and unenthusiastic.

Mitt and Rudy--pandered and gave pat rehearshed answer to everything.

Huckabee was same jovial self, nothing new, with the exception that he tried to appear a bit sophisticated....did not work.

McCain gave clear concise answers.

Paul, IMO, was the winner, he was not cute, glib or anything beyond clear and concise with good positions.

Thompson appear calm and almost comatose.

Hunter and Tancredo---thinking....thinking....no one will care.

Keyes--who the f*ck is this yahoo?

Islamo-terrorists, global jihad, I slam extremism, all the fear stuff was at play, not as bad as some of the other debates but it was there. Oh yeah, Rudy mentioned 9/11--go figure!

You want to know who won? look at the polls....Huck leading...Mitt second and Rudy third. Why? Only because it was a snooze of a debate and the candidates will remain as they were before the debate. I personally think that Paul was by far the best debater on the stage.

May the force be with you!

CHUQ

Pres Helps Struggling Home Owners

Well he, Bush,last week gave a plan to help the homeowners struggling with ARMs. OK is it help? NO f*cking way! It will be a short, very short term fix for the homeowners but it will be a major boom for the financial services that created this problem.

Sorry to say, there is no long term help in his plan. And only a small percentage of homeowners will see any, any assistance in this move.

You DO realize that foreclosures are up 94% over last year? Right? They are up 18% over last month. Anytime the government gets involved in saving a market, the notion of free markets goes down the toilet.

The saddest thing about this situation is that the financial institutions will come out of this pretty good. The borrowers will LOSE their homes. That is somehow okay as long as the financial sector does not suffer. Is this what you want from your government? If so, you are a sick f*cker!

Is There Confidence?

Recently, we at the Inkwell 4 were asked to rate the confidence factor of some of the candidates. below is our analysis.


Democrats:

Clinton--Yes, but it is a frightening confidence.
Obama--No, has likability, but the confidence is not there.
Edwards--Yes, in a weird sort of way.
Kucinich--Yes, his stands are consistent and passionate.
Dodd--No, he looks like anice guy, but they finish last.
Richardson--No, not from lack of experience, but more message to the people.


Republicans:

Romney--No, he has too many different positions, they change on which election he is in.
Giuliani--Yes, not from issues or stands but because of 9/11
McCain--Yes, he has been a maverick for years, and the positions are still the same.
Huckabee--No, he will be a flash in the pan. Only with people that make religion the issue.
Paul--Yes, he is consistant on his stands and is a passionate orator.
Thompson--No, he appears to be lazy and disorganized.


These are just a few of the candidates and we at Inkwell spent a week talk and debatin the subject. These are just our takes on the confidence factor of the different candidates.

What Will Congress Do?

With the new NIE, Iran gave up their search for Nuke weapons in 2003, that would be about the time we went into Iraq. Now if that is so, they saw what the US was capable of doing to any country and possibly decided to step back from the weapons program for now.

With that said, how long has the Admin known this? Who knew this? Why would they not keep the Pres from making an ass of himself over the WWIII comment?

It is time for Congress to act. An investigation is called for! And impeachment is more necessary now than ever. At least, start demanding resignations for misleading the country and Congress. It is WMD all over again. Lies! Lies! It is time to draw a line on this crap and jump on it vigorously.

I will be watching Congress and the candidates--I want to know how they will handle this revelation.

Stem Cell Research

Much has been said one both sides of the issue about whether it is good or bad, or if it is legal or not, yada, yada.

We talked about this at this week's meeting of the Inkwell 4. And we have a few questions. Ok, let me see if I have this right. A fertilized embryo is considered a "person" whether in or out of the womb. And if a pregnant woman wants to have an abortion, the religious right says that is the murder of an unborn child. Right?

So, say my wife and I cannot conceive child and we go to a fertility clinic for help. They take my sperm and her eggs and fertilize them, then they implant the fertilzed eggs into my wife. Say 2 of the 10 fertilized eggs are implanted and the rest are then held to see if the implantation takes effect. Are you with me so far? Let say after a couple of weeks, the implant has taken. Now the unused fertilized eggs are then discarded.

But wait, is that not the killing of an unborn child? How can the destruction of the fertilized eggs be justified? The Religious Right needs to consider this when they start their coming protests on the use of stem cells for medical research.

CHUQ

Professor's Congressional ScoreCard

This is a monthly feature of the Inkwell 4, we grade the month's congressional progress for the people. The scoring system is a step forward, backward or no step.

For the month of November. it was a short session with the holiday recess.

1--non-binding resolution for not supporting an attack on Iran--backward

2--farm bill--forward

3--house overrides pres. veto of water bill--forward

4--confirm Mukasey--backward

5--deadlock on war funding--backward

6--veto on domestic bill--backward

7--impeachment bill--forward

8--per forma session to prevent end run by pres.--forward

9--fuel standards for cars--no step--because they are giving companies 5 yrs or more to do so.


For the first time since we started rating these guys--there is no movement--the Congress basically stood still for the month. Unfortunately, the previous months were all backwards steps, so these asses accomplished nothing in November.

CHUQ