Upcoming events in the area this week

Upcoming events are listed on the WNC Peace Coalition blog. This is a quiet week in the area, with no events at all listed until Saturday.

Meanwhile there are plenty of actions to get involved with, especially around the war on Gaza and the US support of such a war. I sent out three postcards each to Shuler and Hagen. They have pictures of dead children from Gaza - since they voted to support Israel's aggression, they should know what it is they voted for.

Didn't take long for Hagen to get her hands bloody.

And, as our country is facing economic ruin, I guess they want a shot at moral ruin too. I think we can do both, since we are well on our way!

Several organizations have promoted the idea that we should stop spending money on useless wars and the military. American Friends Service Committee did a whole series of brochures and signs on this. And Progressive Democrats of America have long promoted "Healthcare not Warfare".

This approach has always bothered me - it seems to me that we should stop bombing and killing people because it is immoral, not because we could spend our money on more useful and helpful things (even though I wish they would spend it on my useful and helpful things).

But, with this economic meltdown and bailout of the financial institutions, the argument really does not hold water. So far on this bailout, we have given stimulus, tax cuts, and outright gifts of cash that total MORE THAN ALL THAT WE SPENT ON ALL WARS COMBINED since this country was started.

And there is no end in sight. Now, personally I support ALL stimulus packages that provide jobs or health care to Americans. It may not work, but it is the only plan that has any chance at all of working. Handing over billions of dollars to investment firms is just throwing good money after bad.

So, I predict for 2009 that the US will go broke in the summer or fall. I don't think Obama's plan will stop that, but I wish him luck and hope that I am wrong.

But maybe the silver lining is that we will stop our wars, occupations, military bases overseas, and reduce the Pentagon budget by 90%. I hope.