Ruinous Right

In Memory of our Fallen Soldiers

Memorial Day is a United States Federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. This year that is today, May 26th. Many friends and families will head to the park or beach for a day of fun and relaxation. The smell of hot dogs, hamburgers and barbeque will fill the air along with sounds of sports, music and children playing. It's a wonderful opportunity for U.S. citizens, but the real reason for this holiday should not go unrecognized.

Formerly known as Decoration Day, Memorial Day commemorates U.S. men and women who perished while in military service to their country. First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War, it was expanded after World War I to include casualties of any war or military action. Many people observe this holiday by visiting cemeteries and memorials. A national moment of remembrance takes place at 3 p.m. US Eastern time. Another tradition is to fly the U.S. flag at half-staff from dawn until noon local time. Volunteers usually place an American flag upon each grave site located in a National Cemetery.

Learn more about the sacrifice our nation and many families have made for our freedoms:

Wikipedia: Memorial Day

Labels: Memorial Day, military, U.S. holiday

Bloggers Unite: Human Rights Stifled In Myanmar

The death toll from the killer cyclone in Myanmar could be in the region of 100,000 or even more. The U.N. had already confirmed 38,491 deaths which is much more than the 22,000 figure from Myanmar's government. Forecasted weather could bring flooding to low-lying areas thus endangering more citizens.

Meanwhile, Myanmar's government is announcing that a military-backed constitution was overwhelmingly approved by voters in last week's referendum. State radio says the draft constitution was approved by more than 92% of the 22 million eligible voters and it put turnout at more than 99%.

Human rights groups have denounced the referendum as a way for the junta to solidify military rule. Voting in the badly-affected Irrawaddy delta and Yangon areas was postponed until May 24th, but state radio said results of the late balloting could not change the outcome. The junta says the new constitution which guarantees 25 percent of parliamentary seats to the military and allows the president to hand over all power to the military in a state of emergency, will lead to a general election in 2010.

Meanwhile, people are dying. The secretive military junta that rules Myanmar has restrained the access of aid agencies. Some relief flights have arrived, but the regime desires the supplies and not the international aid workers. That lack of access makes it hard to bring the scale of destruction into sharp focus. There's a huge frustration that while aid workers may be able to get into the country and into Yangon, they're not at the moment able to move into the affected areas and carry out the tasks they normally carry out. The restricted access imposed by the junta will surely lead to more deaths and is a violation of basic human rights.

Amnesty International has repeated its urgent call on the government to allow aid, expertise, and materials to reach all cyclone-affected areas, while ensuring that aid is provided on the basis of need without discrimination.

Find out more about this tragic situation:

TAKE ACTION: Ensure humanitarian aid for Cyclone Nargis victims

This post is part of Bloggers Unite - an online event where bloggers come together on a single day to blog about important issues. If you blog, come join us!

Labels: aid relief, Burma, cyclone, disaster, human rights, military, Myanmar

U.S. Pentagon: Domestic Propaganda Campaign

"In war, truth is the first casualty" - Aeschylus

Propaganda (prŏp'ə-gān'də) - a concerted set of the messages aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviors of large numbers of people.

More and more, media analysts are having a greater impact on the television media network coverage of military issues. They have a huge amount of influence on what stories the networks decide to cover proactively with regard to the military. Consequently, they influence the views on related issues so we should be concerned when we discover that many of these so-called 'independent analyst' were part of a program orchestrated by the Pentagon to shape our views on the Iraq war, Guantanamo Bay and other hot military issues.

Major television and cable news networks may have been complicit in this program. The military analysts most commonly used by MSNBC, CNN, Fox News, ABC, CBS and NBC routinely received instructions about what to say in their appearances from the Pentagon. Since the story first broke, there has been a deafening silence from many of these networks since it reflects so poorly on them. Media outlets and their corporate parents rely on the Government for all sorts of favors and access and, in return, do nothing to displease them. The Bush administration itself proudly touts its ability to control media content and ensure the presence only of pro-Government voices with regard to war and military matters.

It's true that there are plenty of people who understand the core government-amplifying function of the establishment media, but there are also plenty of people -- likely far more -- who don't. That's precisely why the television networks are so eager to suppress and conceal these revelations and the endlessly illuminating evidence which supports them.

David Barstow of the New York Times first broke the story:

Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon’s Hidden Hand

The Pentagon has been forced to release roughly 8,000 pages and audio tapes regarding their "military analyst" program. You can review them yourself here and draw your own conclusions: