ViceZilla’s Views

I am just shocked at this news!

My prayers go out to Mr. Kennedy and his family.

Technorati Tags: Sen. Kennedy, Kennedy, Brain Tumor

Tags: But Seriously Though... by vicezilla
No Comments »

This could very well be the demise of our society as we know it! This news story is repulsive on a few different levels, and not for the obvious reason you might think. You see, the suspected person who raped this CHILD is believed to be an illegal immigrant.

Judging by this news clip of the story, the fact that the suspect is believed to be an illegal immigrant, seems to be the story! So if the suspect wasn’t an illegal immigrant, then I guess there wouldn’t be any point to this story I guess.

Is this what our media has devolved into? A little 10 year old child is raped and then gives birth, is disturbing. But the fact that she was raped by an illegal, now that’s news! Despicable!

Tags: But Seriously Though... by vicezilla
2 Comments »

Just how screwed up does a government have to be to declare that they are not ready for help? What, do they feel the need to tidy up a bit? You know, sweep, vacuum, fluff the pillows, etc. etc.?

Seeing as news that comes from the iron fisted junta controlling Myanmar, the only release made by the government consists of oner sentence:

Myanmar is “not ready” for foreign search and rescue teams after the deadly cyclone, the foreign ministry said Friday in a state newspaper, announcing that some aid workers had been deported.

Having worked in organized search and rescue teams throughout Central America for a number of years, I know a thing or two about dealing with governments and offering aid after a major natural disaster. The majority of the governments at first seem a little indignant that they need outside help to overcome the situation. It’s only natural because there is an overwhelming sense of not being able to help your own people. But that is quickly replaced with a sense of relief as country’s with massive resources at their disposal show up with the right tools for the job. Food, water, medical supplies, medical personnel, search and rescue teams, heavy equipment, portable shelters. You name it, they got it. Countries like the U.S, and Canada don’t worry about the price tag until the effort is finished.

Its too easy to compare the half-assed effort of the FEMA debacle and New Orleans with offering aid to other countries after a natural disaster, and I’m not going to go there. But Myanmar needs assistance in the worst way. Only problem is, we like many other countries have offered to help, but have had the door slammed in our faces by a ruthless. uncaring government.

For them to say “they are not ready for help,” is basically them telling the world “if the phone doesn’t ring, its us.” No, Myanmar is quite content to let their citizens suffer while they wonder what to make of all the offers of help from the country’s who truly can make a difference. Do they care? Nope, not at all. When they start caring, they will declare they are ready for help. In the mean time, all we can do is sit and wait for them to be ready.

Tags: But Seriously Though... by vicezilla
No Comments »

Ask Vice President Dick Cheney what a “No Wake Zone” is, and he’ll probably tell you it’s between the hours of 10 AM and 3 PM when he’s having his daily nap. But when he’s not napping he is studying scientific data on how not to protect whales. And as we all know very well, Cheney works from facts, more facts and nothing but the facts.

So it should come as no surprise that Cheney is preventing the implementation of rules to protect the endangered right whale. In a letter from Henry Waxman to the White House today, he urged the administration to quit delaying the rules which would restrict the speed of ships near American ports, thus lessening the likelyhood of collisions between the vessels and the whales. According to NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), faster moving ships are more likely to hit the whales, causing injury or death.

But according to Vice President Dick Cheney’s office, that is not true, which has resulted in the delay of approving NOAA’s recommendations. Cheney’s office states:

Another internal document shows that the officials working for the Vice President also raised spurious objections to the science. According to this document, the Vice President’s staff “contends that we have no evidence (i.e., hard data) that lowering the speeds of ‘large ships’ will actually make a difference.” NOAA rejected these objections, writing that both a statistical analysis of ship strike records and the peer-reviewed literature justified the final rule. In its response to the objections from the Vice President’s staff, NOAA reported that there is “no basis to overturn our previous conclusion that imposing a speed limit on large vessels would be beneficial to whales.”

Bottom line is, who would be better to listen to regarding the benefits to right whales of lowering the speed of ships near US ports, NOAA, or the Vice President? I’m thinking NOAA knows a hell of a lot more about the situation than Cheney does.

Why Won't Cheney Help Prevent This?

Tags: Bush Administration, But Seriously Though... by vicezilla
No Comments »

A Fort Bragg soldier’s father uploaded a YouTube video of photos he took of his son’s barracks earlier this month. The video shows the deplorable living conditions to which his son and the other soldiers of his unit in the 82nd Airborne Division returned after a 15-month-long deployment to Afghanistan.

This is absolutely disgusting, the conditions these men must endure when they return home! Our government should be thoroughly embarrassed by this video! The amount of money that Bush has asked for his wars has obviously not been spent on the conditions of soldiers quarters here at home.

File this under pitiful! No, disgraceful is a better description!

Technorati Tags: Fort Bragg, Barracks, Living Conditions, Army,

Tags: But Seriously Though..., War in Iraq by vicezilla
4 Comments »