Patricia Biancaniello

In 1776 these words changed the world forever.  The people who signed their name to the Declaration of Independence did so with the knowledge that there were no guarantees. They put everything on the line and created a nation. We are both the benefactors of their actions and the guardians of the unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  As citizens of these United States we embrace the belief that our government derives its power from the consent of those governed (Us).  But too many of the eligible voters are no shows on Election Day.  Too many are uninformed, and too many Americans are not holding their elected officials accountable.

Democratic Government allows for the participation of its citizens. Successful Democratic Government requires an informed and active citizenry. 

This July 4^th remember what was accomplished with the Declaration Of Independence in 1776. Remember Thomas Jefferson’s words “governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.” For yourself and the future of the United States get informed, get involved.

Patricia Biancaniello

Last month, in an act of civil disobedience, a group of international activists attempted to break the three year old Israeli naval blockade of Gaza.  Nine of these activists were killed when the Israeli military used live fire to take control of the ships and prevent them from reaching Gaza.  What happened on the high seas was a tragedy, but it dulls in comparison to the enduring tragedy the blockade has created in Gaza. 

The Gaza strip, because of the land and sea blockade, has become the largest open air prison in the world, and most of the inmates are innocent civilians.  The strip, which is home to 1.5 million people, is twenty-one miles long and between four and seven miles wide.  The entire area is surrounded by walls and armed guards.  Some aid and commerce is allowed through at the discretion of the Israeli military, but for the most part it has become a prison.  Israel claims the blockade is necessary to prevent Hamas militants from obtaining weapons to later be used against the Jewish state, and while that is a just cause, it is obscene to punish the entire population for the actions of a few.  A UN fact-finding mission described the blockade as "collective punishment", and illegal under international law. 

According to a 2010 report by Amnesty International, Israel’s blockade of Gaza has resulted in a humanitarian crisis. “Mass unemployment, extreme poverty, food insecurity and food price rises caused by shortages left four in five Gazans dependent on humanitarian aid,” said the 2010 report, released May 27. “The scope of the blockade and statements made by Israeli officials about its purpose showed that it was being imposed as a form of collective punishment of Gazans, a flagrant violation of international law.”

Ninety to ninety five percent of water is unfit for human consumption, but the tools to fix the water infrastructure are often not allowed to pass through the walls.  In 2008, large areas of the strip were partially or completely destroyed by a military operation (which resulted in over 1,400 deaths) but building supplies such as cement are held back because Israel claims they can be used for military purposes.  Israeli can easily block things like guns and grenades and allow other things to pass freely; including people.  The current list of banned items includes things such as Nutmeg, musical instruments and fishing rods. 

In the wake of its deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, UN chief Ban Ki-moon demanded that Israel lift its blockade of the Gaza Strip immediately.  Ban told reporters that the underlying problem behind the May 31st tragedy was the crippling Israeli siege of the tiny Palestinian coastal enclave, which he described as "counter-productive, unsustainable and wrong." 

While the loss of life resulting from the raid on the flotilla is regrettable, the action has brought the world’s attention to the walls built around a people.  Whether it’s the Warsaw Ghetto during a Nazi occupation or the Gaza Strip during an Israeli one, forcefully walling in an entire population is wrong.  Mr. Netanyahu*, tear down this wall!

*Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has been showing up in the nation’s news headlines over the past several weeks for an unusual reason; he wants to cut military spending.  He wants to trim spending by cutting a few archaic and failed programs and by reducing bureaucratic costs in the top heavy military he commands.  That may not seem like such a bold move until you consider this; Robert Gates was appointed Defense Secretary by George W. Bush, a president who had declared himself a “war president”. 

In the year-long debate over healthcare reform the question that came up again and again was; how can we afford it?  Even though about half of our federal taxes go into military spending*, diverting some of that money to help defray health costs was barely even mentioned.  During the current recession local school districts around Smithtown, Kings Park, and just about everywhere else have had to lay off teachers and cut programs because of cuts in education funding – and the notion that money would be better spent on books rather than bombs is still little more than a catchy bumper sticker.  ** And, now even the Defense Secretary is talking about trimming the fat – what more will it take? 

Data from the International Institute for Strategic Studies shows that, the US military spending in 2010 will roughly equal the rest of the world combined.  Still, according to an article in the Washington Post here congress may override reason and the Defense Secretary and pour even more money into the war machine.  Why? Well, for one it’s about jobs.  High tech fighter planes don’t build themselves.  It’s also about money and public perception.  The mostly faceless corporations that get the lion’s share of those hundreds of billions of tax dollars have a lot of spare change to throw around and money wins elections.  Plus, it’s political suicide to look weak on Defense.  So even at the cost of the nation’s health and education and now perhaps even over the protest of the Defense Secretary, our tax dollars continue to be spent on blowing things up.

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.
This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children...
This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

* This figure combines the Dept. of Defense, military spending in other departments and military costs in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

** The U.S. Department of Defense employees around two million people, combined civilian and military.  The U.S. department of Education employees around five thousand people. 

This item was forwarded to me in an email as a response to dialogue about Arizona and illegal immigration.

Last month President Obama approved a plan to increase offshore oil drilling; maybe that wasn’t such a good idea. 

As massive amounts of oil gush into the Gulf of Mexico and creep towards Louisiana it is becoming more and more difficult to defend additional oil drilling.  The energy giants such as British Petroleum and Halliburton have spent years trying to put a clean spin on dirty energy but perhaps the disaster in the Gulf can do more to change our mind than the industries advertising and lobbying campaigns.  British Petroleum, the same company responsible for one of the largest oil spills in recent memory, even went so far as to call itself Beyond Petroleum and tout its ambition towards a greener future.  And then their oil rig malfunctioned, their workers died and the Gulf of Mexico burned.  Is this the future they were talking about?  Are these the new technologies that will prevent significant environmental impact?

I know; the nation is still hurting from the recession and fossil fuels are the cheapest way to keep the lights on in the house.  I know; the energy infrastructure that has been built around fossil fuels can not be replaced overnight.  I know; alternative energies still have some ways to go before they can replace coal, oil and gas. 

Still, this latest disaster should at least give us pause enough to think; is it wise to drill more holes and spend any more money or effort on an energy infrastructure that not only is having serious environmental consequences but will almost certainly be replaced by cleaner and cheaper energies in half a generation. 

I’m not saying that we need to tear apart any existing oil rigs, but does it make any sense to continue to build news ones.  

Written by John Dennehy

Immigration reform is one of those issues that just won’t go away.  Not only is immigration so important to the future of this nation, but it is an issue that provokes a lot of passion; and a lot of division.  The debate sometimes subsides but it never goes away, and it once more splashed across the headlines in late April when Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed SB 1070 into law.  The law requires police to question people they suspect of being in the US illegally.  It also requires immigrants to carry their alien registration documents on them at all times.   The controversial law will not just encourage, but require police harassment on the Latino community, and likely drive them away – illegal or not.  The law seems to completely ignore the ideals on which this nation was founded upon and replace it with a conservative nationalism that forgets we were all immigrants once. 

America is the home of the immigrant – America is the entire world together.  From every corner of the globe passionate people come to make their dreams a reality.  The “American Dream” is a very real idea the world over, and so many people yearn for it, strive for it, and are inspired by it. 

Our grandparents came here in search of their dreams and bore grandchildren who have forgotten what dreaming is; and have dammed the rest of the world.  We could be a land of ideals; our idealism could be what brings everyone together here.  Freedom has become just a catchy word and arrogant nationalism our new ideal.  America is a pyramid scheme continually pushing everyone up who’s come before with each new generation of immigrants.  And we still are the home of the immigrant, but today’s immigrants come across our borders not with the hope of a better life, just a better paycheck.  All the fences in the world won’t stop an avalanche of hungry people looking for remedial work; money and those who seek it know no bounds.  The fences we build, both physical and otherwise, do not exist to the exploiters and the exploited, but they are very real barriers to the dreamers – and we are driving the dreamers away.  

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John Dennehy is a teacher, writer, dreamer and traveler.  He has spent most of his life in Kings Park but more recently spent five years living and working in Latin America and Asia.  He is finishing his first book which is about life, love, revolution, and sneaking across South American borders.  For more on his book and other projects or adventures check out www.johndennehy.org