Author: Jason

IMF is coming to town

So this Friday the International Monetary Fund is coming to DC and with it the protestors. All of these anti-capitalist groups (they call themselves that) have said their goal will be to shut the city down, blocking streets, bridges, Metro stations and then some. And then they say how they’re not out to hurt anyone.

Bull.

Hey, guess what? If people can’t get to work, they can’t get paid, and if they can’t get paid, who’s going to pay their bills, put food in their stomaches, a roof over their head? You? Many people don’t come to work in DC for their health, they come because the pay is better here and they NEED that money to get by. You’re really messing with people’s budgets when you prohibit them from going to work.

What a wonderful way to get your message across.

Hey, you ever think about the fact that capitalism, the great evil you are protesting against, is the reason you are even able to organize and protest? Really.

Capitalism is the natrual byproduct of a free society. A society that allows freedom of speech, freedom or expression, freedom to buy and sell land and goods, that society natually leads to capitalism, an economic system that thrives when the government stays out of it. Capitalism occurs because the government allows these freedoms. When the government starts to step into this economic system and make drastic changes or even a move to get rid of it, you begin to see a loss of freedoms.

Sure, the government should and needs to do more about working conditions, wages, inflation and the like, but that needs to occur as a simple regulation of the capitalist system we have.

And, really, what is the alternative to capitalism? None of you guys are giving any options, you’re just jumping up and down and screaming about how evil it is. What would you prefer, communism? Barter system? Total government control in production and distribution of goods?

Christ, you need a message and a goal before you set to blocking off streets and disrupting the financial stability of untold thousands.

Besides, isn’t the IMF getting together to discuss sending money to poor countries? Aw, man, that SUCKS! Let’s protest that, shall we?

Grow up guys or you’ll never be seen as anything more than a neusance.

Dude September 2001 – September 23, 2002

This evening my roommate had his cat put to sleep. Jenn and I were at her house and got a call from David saying Dude was spazzing out. We went by my place to find David over Dude who laid still, staring up, teeth bared. Jenn’s first thought was that she was dead. She wasn’t. We rushed her to the 24 hour animal hospital (me driving like a madman the whole way) and they took her back to have a look at her. The vet said she was critical, but they would have no idea what to do until they ran blood work. While discussing with David the options, the vet was pulled away by a nurse. He came back a couple minutes later to say she was having trouble breathing and they would have to perform CPR. David said let her go. They euthanized her and we burried her behind Jenn’s house near a young tree at the edge of the woods. It seems like it was pnumonia (sp?) as the vet showed us a syringe of white puss he got out of her lungs after putting her to sleep. It all happened so fast. I miss that cat already. Sigh.

Oh…

And in case you all haven’t noticed yet (you all being the five people who visit this site regularly), I now have a journal of some sorts over at DeadJournal. It’s not much and, really, most of what is on there either has been or will be on here as well, but it’s there. I mainly have it so I can view and comment on other friends’ journals, but I figured while I was at it I should try my hand at this journal thing. We’ll see how it works out.

Sold!

Jenn and I (and our friend Amy) just got back from an auction. For $103 total we got a 8 person china set (bone china from some really fancy, expensive company), a tin of recipes, stamps and drawings, 8 boxes of books, 2 blankets, a fur coat (came with a bunch of other stuff, I don’t want it), 2 fans, and a radio/record cabinet that’s kinda broken but can be fixed up (that was only $2). Woo! Jenn and I always do well at these things. Spent $15 at the first one we went to and came out with a working electric typewriter and record player (both from the 60s), a wodden bowling pin, three boxes of records, a box of sheet music, some glasses, and a few other trinkets. The other one we spent $10 and got an 8mm film projector and a Model-T window frame. Yeah! Auctions rule.

Would an attack on Iraq really be a preemptive strike?

I’m not saying I completely support an attack, but the Bush Administration does have a case for not referring to any attack as a preemptive strike. I mean, think about it here. Iraq had been violating sanctions and embargos placed upon them since the end of the Gulf War in the early 90s. They have refused to allow proper inspections, they have violated the no-fly zones, they have placed military armaments into positions which threatened our planes in the region, they have violated trade embargos and failed to distribute food to the people as agreed through the oil for food programs.

In short, Saddam has not held up his end of the deal to end the Gulf War. And if he has not followed through on his end, then, technically, the war is not over.

Any attack the United States makes against Iraq can be termed as an enforcement of the agreement, or, better still, a humanitarian mission for the sake of the Iraqi people. We have ample evidence of Saddam harming his own people through everything from testing of military weapons to witholding food and money that is supposed to be distributed to the Iraqi citizens.

And, really, the United Nations does not have much room to complain in that respect. Then we’d be treating Iraq the same way we treated Somolia. That was a humanitarian mission to help the people that ended up being a manhunt for a warlord that they felt was keeping food and goods from the people. Sure, the Iraqi people aren’t as bad off as Somalian’s, but should we wait until they are?

The Bush Administration has a perfect arguement right here, though, worded a bit differently and supported with evidence the public does not have ready access to. The world community would be better able to agree to an attack if we simply remind them that this is not a matter of preemting, this is simply a matter of enforcing and aiding.