THE DEPARTMENT OF FATHERLAND SECURITY
I left the title up... just because I like it! 8-)
Friday, May 18, 2007
About Me
- Name: Snave
- Location: La Grande, Oregon, United States
I am a native eastern Oregonian, and have lived here 50 of my 62 years. I left at 20, but was back by age 32 to be near my parents to help them in times of need. I don't fit in politically here because I view things from a decidedly left wing perspective... but that's o.k. because I love the people, I love the area and for the most part I like living here. I enjoy family time, listening to music, reading books, traveling, bird watching, hiking, backpacking, watching movies, keeping up on politics, watching sports, sitting at the computer so much I get sores on my ass, and playing music... if you need a band for your party or celebration, let me know; I play keyboards and sing for a rock and roll band, and we do mostly "classic rock". (I also like to play guitar and bass and other instruments, but those are for my private enjoyment only!) I am mainly an agnostic/skeptic, but would consider myself spiritual. I work in schools and in clinical settings as a speech/language therapist. It is enjoyable work and it pays some of the bills. I have a rather unpredictable sense of humor, which can get me in trouble at times, but hey, is life worth living without laughter? I think not!
8 Comments:
I tend to look at the Department of Fatherland Security as having characteristics common to those fascist regimes.
Bush has made constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia.
With our widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Blackwater USA are paid more than our troops and are taking over our security.
We are in that place Russia found themselves in the 80's, right before that country went under... their economy went flat.
Our leader continually run after the wrong country to fight and put our resources. While all along our enemy grows strong in Saudi Arabia.
Bush and the Republicans use fear as a motivational tool over the masses.
There's a lot the next President's must do to get this country back together because Bush has put The United States on a path to destruction.
Excellent comments, LT. Speaking of the U.S. spending a disproportionate amount on military, do you know where to find out just what percent of our national budget is spent there? I seem to remember something like over 50%? Could that be correct?
I'm sure there are ways we aren't like the USSR was prior to its collapes, but there are surely some ways we are. The link you provided also shows a number of the ways we could be going wrong as a nation... Thanks much!
Aha! Wikipedia, for as much as its accuracy can be trusted, has this to say:
Military spending accounts for 19% of the United States' federal budget, and approximately half of its federal discretionary spending, which comprises all of the U.S. government's money not accounted for by pre-existing obligations.
However, in terms of per capita spending, the U.S. ranks third behind Israel and Singapore. It is also number 26 in terms of military spending per dollar GDP.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, in 2003 the United States spent approximately 47% of the world's total military spending of USD $956,000,000,000."
SO, the percentage of the budget is a bit smaller than I thought, while the amount of it in federal discretionary spending is about where I thought it might be. The article also says the US spending is over $500 billion per year these days... that's a lot of money.
snave, you might want to take a look at World Military Spending they have a table: http://www.globalissues.org/i/military/us-taxes-2006.png; that shows 41%.
I agree with Snave that we're not quite as poorly off as the USSR was in the 1980s, though there are some disturbing parallels. However, even now, our economy is far more stable than theirs. Let's remember that the USSR's command economy system had been teetering on the brink of collapse long before the nation itself fractured. Either way, something's gotta be done, and whomever has the misfortune to get elected in 2008 has one hell of a cleanup job in front of him. And no, I'm not ignoring Hil when I say "him". I've known burly straight men who are less masculine than Bill's shrew of a wife.
LT agreed 100%
I'm serious about having coffee
Curious
Why would Singapore spend such a high percentage?
I freely admit to being wrong about there being another successful terrorist attack. Though I note that according to the government, a few attacks have been averted. For the most part these have been incompetent boobs who held some anti-American sentiment but had no idea whatsoever how to carry off an attack until an FBI informant showed up and helped them.
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