Gregory Scott

What's Inside Return to Main Page Four More Years 10/12/04 Price of Freedom 10/02/04 White Cloud 04/05/01

Out of my mind and into print... Four More Years! ...written 10/12/04 The U.S. and George Bush were so proud to see Iraq and Afghanistan in the Olympics because he believes he had a hand in their participation. Liberating their freedom so they can compete. Liberating them so they can be used in his political commercials. The Iraqis wanted no part of this as the world cheered for their athletes but booed the Americans at a lot of events. The Americans were told not to wear items that made them look like Americans for their safety. Carl Lewis the nine-time gold medal champion said: “It was disingenuous. It is funny we boycotted the 1980 Moscow games in support of Afghanistan and now we're bombing Afghanistan.” Adnan Hamad, The Iraqi soccer coach, who said, "My problems are not with the American people. ... They are with what America has done in Iraq: destroy everything. "I want to defend my home The American army has killed so many people in Iraq. What is freedom when I go to the [national] stadium and there are shootings on the road?” "You cannot speak about a team that represents freedom," he also said. "We do not have freedom in Iraq -- we have an occupying force. This is one of our most miserable times." Midfielder Ahmad Manajid was quoted as saying, “ If a stranger invades America and the people resist, does that mean they are terrorists?" "How will [Bush] meet his god [after] having slaughtered so many men and women? ... He has committed so many crimes." Terrorists know that the greatest way to demoralize or defeat the U.S. is to attack its financial sectors. Wall street and the twin towers were a good example of this philosophy. If you weaken the U.S. economy you have weakened the political might of our country. Under the Bush presidency, George W. has instituted a tax break for the one percent of America that makes over 200,000.00 per year. This would of course boost the economy by being able to put that money they save back into their companies to produce more jobs and the like. To date this has helped the one percent to increase sales in companies like BMW and other luxury based companies. It would seem that they are not investing in their own companies but in companies that make their lives more affluent. Simple economics would suggest that if you were to give the other 99 percent of the country the tax break instead that they would be more apt to buy products from companies like Wal-Mart, Target, Costco, etc. which would in turn create more jobs to keep up with the demand for the products they are selling. Increase tax base and stimulate the economy and the stock market with increases in quarterly projections. Health care coverage and insurance have gone up 17% in the four years under Bush and he has made it illegal to buy prescription drugs from Canada that would be less expensive for people who cant afford to buy them here. Under this presidency the number of new jobs created is the worst since the great depression. During the Clinton administration more police jobs were created to make our streets safer and under this administration those jobs are now being lost along with other first responders because we cant afford to pay their salaries when we are fighting a war on terrorism. The average wage in America has dropped to 13.52 per hour. Overtime benefits are now being cut. Who is this hurting? Seems to me that our country has been weakened under the four years of Bush financially…does that mean he is a terrorist? Is he a threat to the U.S.? I was never afraid of Iraq invading our country or using terrorist acts against us. I am afraid to go to downtown areas especially late at night in places like my hometown of Minneapolis which pales in comparison to places like Gary, Detroit, D.C. and so forth were murders are commonplace. 30,000 plus people are murdered by handguns every year and this number doesn’t reflect accidental shootings, suicides, or death by means of knives, assault weapons, and the like. This administration thought that to make this country safer we must reduce the jobs of police officers that the Clinton administration created so we can fight a war on terror. The assault weapons ban has now expired, which in the ten years it was implemented, deaths to police officers went down 66% in cases where assault weapons were used. It sure makes me feel safe when these policies are ignored when our money is going to fight in a country that doesn’t want us there. Am I afraid to fly in an airplane after 9/11? No. I can’t afford to take a trip for one and to go by plane would be even more costly. Would I be afraid to travel abroad? Four years ago I would have said no, after 9/11 I would have said no, after our invasion of Iraq without the worlds consent…yes! Seventeen of the nineteen terrorists were from Saudi Arabia? Why didn’t we invade them? We know the answer to this, so an explanation is not in order unless you are of the elephant persuasion. These same terrorists lived in the U.S. on average of three years to mastermind their plot. The government said they were monitoring their activities. In a time when we invade Iraq because after the WMD explanation had failed (anyone notice there was no such thing as weapons of mass destruction until Bush became president – It’s because he can’t say nuclear!) we had to come up with a back-up plan as to why we invaded. Suddam Hussein and Iraq harbor terrorists! They lived here for three years and we knew about it, wouldn’t that be considered harboring terrorists? Should we invade our own country to rid ourselves of these criminals? We have exhausted a lot of money in a war against terrorism that has bred a new lifeline of terrorists that we are making stronger every day we are in Iraq. The more money we spend the weaker our country is getting. Our troops are being depleted and not just by the rising death toll. When Bush is elected for four more years are we going to go into North Korea, Iran, Philippines, Sudan, Morocco, and anywhere else we need to rid ourselves of these villains. At what cost financially and loss of life? The Bush administration contends that if Kerry is elected he will be a tax increasing, liberal spender. What does that make Bush then? He has spent more money than any other president in history. How are we going to pay for four more years of his freewheeling spending policies? Social Security will be gone. The deficit will be in figures that most republicans can’t even count (Not that they can’t figure out what all those commas are for in such a high number – they cant figure out how to get their share). If the wealthy one percent are going to keep getting their cut from responsibility in taxes, who is going to pay for this? Unless you make over that magical number of 200,000 a year that gives you more money to invest in luxury items then you guessed right. You and I. Return to Top The Price of Freedom ...written 10/02/04 We see the media that applauds the president when he reads from a script, “Why do they hate America, because we have the freedom to blah…blah…blah”. The reason “they” hate America is the same reason the boys at Columbine hated the jocks: We are bullies and when we are threatened we bomb people. Innocent women and children die because they do not wave the American flag proudly. What harm would have been done waiting for other countries to agree on a resolution for a justified war in Iraq to help us find those elusive weapons of mass destruction? We all knew beforehand when Colin Powell said recently that there were probably no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq anyway. This would not be swift justice for the lives that were lost in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania. The president wants us to “smoke ‘em out of their holes”. Why did we give up the fight in looking for Bin Laden and change our directive toward Iraq? A government that will shell out billions in a “war” against terrorism that it simply cannot win with its current “strategory” of go it alone. If you thought the rebate check was a good idea, then spending billions of dollars a year to fight a war we can’t win against countries that hate bullies like the U.S makes great sense! If you look at the media and really look at what is being played and what is being said you can hear, feel, and see between the lines of what lies ahead. We see young children in the streets in third world countries protesting America, only to grow up fighting it later. You hear the reports of tens of thousands of women and children in Afghanistan and Iraq dying in the “war”, and our government quips back, “that’s simply not true”. With the economy the way it is today, the only people seriously profiting right now are the flag makers, oil companies, and the defense contract companies. I Forgot – These people are our former and current elected officials profiting from a war that the world did not want. AKA; Halliburton, The Carlyle Group, and other Bush Backers with oversized checkbooks and lobbies in Washington to help pass their profiteering propaganda. With us spending billions of dollars every year over the next forever…where are we going to get the funds to support such a war? The homeless people in our streets stimulating our economy with the rebate checks they never received? The forty two percent of the children in Texas that didn’t graduate from high school in the last year under that states “Educating Governor” aka, George Dubya? They should be able to get high paying jobs to stimulate the economy for years to come. The 30,000 people that are murdered every year, “because it’s our right to” should be taxed somehow to create more revenue shouldn’t they? The ever-increasing population in our jails and prisons should surely be able to help keep this country out of a funk. War brings upon a strong economy. Heard that one before so why isn’t it working now? The rebate check cut into our social security; we are thinking of issuing war bonds that no one will buy; the stock market is down and not stabilizing; we have a president who’s favorite book as a child was A Very Hungry Caterpillar (written after he graduated from college)…and the list goes on. We have an idiot for a president and I think America is not as stupid as the politicians want to think we are unless you are blinded by republican rhetoric. It was less than forty years ago that black Americans were not allowed many of the freedoms in this country that they enjoy today. Why should they back America when America didn’t support them for a few centuries? It took 72 years since the first time women asked for the right to vote until the time the 19th amendment was passed in 1920. Women are still not treated as equally in the workforce as men so why should they back America when it took so long for America just to let them vote! It is not right for the woman to have a choice in matters that pertain to abortion, but the right to kill and back leaders that kill innocent mothers, children, and fathers is just? They are just casualties of war? Pro-life means you are in favor of human life, not just the choice of how you want to interpret who lives and who dies. Why do we even hold elections to elect people who promise to vote for their constituent’s needs, when they vote the way of the companies and lobbies that pad their wallet? Freedom comes with a price. Sometimes it takes years just to get that freedom. This same freedom allows us to bomb other people and kill their women and children. This type of freedom is called selective freedom. We can select who lives and dies under this freedom by using propaganda that makes the American people feel good about what we are doing. We can show the grieving of American people that were hurt by the tragedy that occurred on September 11th, but we are not allowed to see the suffering of the people that have lost mothers, fathers, and children by our retaliation in a country that had no direct responsibility for what occurred on September 11th. Why would we want to see that anyway? We wouldn’t feel good about our selective freedom to kill others. I wish in my lifetime we would see someone with a backbone strong enough to see what freedom really means…Equality for all races, gender, religious beliefs, and sexual preferences. Wait a minute, what about the Kennedy brothers and Martin Luther King? That’s right, I forgot, we have the freedom to use arms against people who stand up for these beliefs. How does that one flag speech we say in our schools end again? Oh yeah…with freedom and justice for all (except those we don’t like)! The Bush Administration even affects music giants like Clear Channel Communications that ban songs that promote peace when our country is at war. How can a song by John Lennon that talks about what it would be like if all the people lived in perfect harmony be so bad at a time like this! The Freedom to be heard, The Freedom to keep our civil liberties, and The Freedom to have every vote counted! The Freedom of choice! I choose not to vote for more of the same over the next four years. 1984… George Orwell’s fantasy is becoming reality and the Patriot Act and Homeland Security have provisions that will have big brother or guys with the names of Ridge, Rove, Cheney, and Bush able to hold you indefinitely on suspicions of terrorism with no due process. Armed police and FBI personnel will soon be seen at a precinct near you to ensure that the terrorists are not disrupting the election and intimidating those who may not vote the way their freedoms have allowed. How much will your vote cost when no bid contracts are continued at the price of the taxpayers expense? How much will it cost when your neighborhood police officer three doors down was gunned down by an assault rifle trying to protect you at home? How much will it cost when Iraqi’s are paying five cents per gallon of gas when you are paying over two dollars? How much will it cost when your child is killed in a war that strengthens terrorist allies and brings the U.S to a state of isolationism? Is it worth four more years of the same? My vote is worth much more than that! Return to Top White Cloud ...written 4/5/2001 Racism is a learned behavior: You are not born a racist but taught to be one by your peers and family. The movie American History X is a powerful story that shows how this behavior can be spread quickly… the views of a few influencing many. It shows how one person’s views may change through experiences and rationalization. St. Cloud State University has been under fire lately with allegations of racism and bigotry. The latest is by an assistant history professor, Laurinda Stryker, who has recently filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging anti-Semitism and other discrimination on campus. Laurinda, a third year faculty member, claims to being unfairly targeted for speaking out on behalf of a former co-worker, Arie Zmora, who filed a similar complaint against the university last October. This occurrence seems to be a trend at the university over the last decade. St Cloud State is located in a town where you may not hear the banjo’s playing the theme from deliverance, but at times, on a quiet evening… you just might! The joke around town is that most anything that is not normal can be blamed on “Stearns County Syndrome”. This is a condition brought upon by the marrying of one’s relatives. Checking local church records, the joke seems to become fact in a fair amount of cases. This may be where racism in St. Cloud stems. Why not blame it on the syndrome? St. Cloud, which is commonly referred to as “White Cloud”, does seem to have a fair amount of prejudice. Get to know someone close in this tight knit community and they will let you know how they feel toward someone “not like them”. Recently, discussion has been made about the dissolving of the human rights board in St. Cloud, as the need is not there. This comes from Larry Meyer, the proud mayor of this city. Where is the need for such a board when minorities are not as prevalent in their society? They are a minority, so why should they have any input? Larry Meyer was quoted to saying, “It’s simply a silly stereotype about St. Cloud”. E-mail the mayor or any one of the politicians in office in the St. Cloud area and you won’t get a response. Why? Quoting George Carlin, “NIMBY”, it’s fine somewhere else but “Not In My Back Yard.” The truth is, this statement may be correct, as there is such a small portion of the population in the St. Cloud metro to warrant such a board. If Saint Cloud State shared these views would they hire Roy Saigo, a Japanese American, as University president? Would they hire fifteen Jewish faculty members out of 750 with about a dozen Jewish students in an enrollment of more than 15,000? Let’s look closer at the community as a whole that has swelled around the university in the past fifteen years. A young African woman goes to work at a factory and her co-workers get up and leave when she arrives at her workstation because of the color of her skin. This happens in St. Cloud! Is it the university’s fault? No. Is it the company’s fault? Partially. When people in and around St. Cloud State make swastikas and inflammatory remarks, is the university to be blamed when a community sees no racial tensions? When black students are physically removed by local police from the university at a non-alcoholic gathering on campus during the riots, when these students had no idea of the rioting action outside, does this constitute bigotry by the university or by the city police? A black family is made to move from a neighboring school because people in that community believed they wouldn’t tolerate that type of “riff-raff” in their high school…must be the university’s fault! This happens in every large city, you tell yourself. This does not make it acceptable behavior. In St. Cloud, where the minority population isn’t as great, these incidents happen at a regular and all to often-frequent basis. Does St. Cloud have a need for a human rights board? You decide. Watch the movie American History X…watch it twice! See how one voice can influence so many. Then ask yourself what the movie asks of you…”What have you done - to make your life better?” This question is meant in a broader sense of not just yourself, but family and community. It’s simply silly that St. Cloud should dissolve a human rights board that can help educate a community on the beauty that diversity brings to an area. In this respect, would dissolving such a board make your life better? If you believe in an all white community that lacks culture, than yes it would. This is just a fantasy scenario a minority of the population wants to believe in that will NEVER become a reality. Therefore, the correct answer would be: No, it would not make my life better. Maybe St. Cloud is asking the wrong question? Does the problem lie within St. Cloud State University or does it encompass a much broader area, such as the community that surrounds it? Return to Top Want more??? Give me a Shout!