Be INFORMED

Friday, February 02, 2007

U.S. Helicopter Downed On Friday

    We all know about the U.S. helicopters that have been getting shot down at a quick pace in the last 2 weeks and the fact that the Bush administration is mostly blaming the Iranians for supplying newer weapons to the Iraqi insurgents to use against the U.S. and other groups.

    We are all used to Bush's rhetoric when it comes to blaming the wrong groups and people for various things and as of yet he has not shown any proof to lay on the Iranians door step. Cherry picking the false facts must be getting tough for him and his group of hoods.

   Anyway, while I was going through some articles that I keep on disk, I ran across this story from back in December.

Original Article

 Saudis reportedly funding Iraqi Sunni insurgents
Updated 12/8/2006 

CAIRO (AP) — Private Saudi citizens are giving millions of dollars to Sunni insurgents in Iraq and much of the money is used to buy weapons, including shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles, according to key Iraqi officials and others familiar with the flow of cash.

Saudi government officials deny that any money from their country is being sent to Iraqis fighting the government and the U.S.-led coalition.

But the U.S. Iraq Study Group report said Saudis are a source of funding for Sunni Arab insurgents. Several truck drivers interviewed by The Associated Press described carrying boxes of cash from Saudi Arabia into Iraq, money they said was headed for insurgents.

Two high-ranking Iraqi officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity, told the AP most of the Saudi money comes from private donations, called zaqat, collected for Islamic causes and charities.

   The White House has never pointed their rhetoric in the Saudi direction even though this rumor/story has persisted for quite some time.

 

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Michigan's Issue Over Same-Sex Benefits

   On Friday,a writer at Daily Kos known as Trapper John,  did an article on the bigotry of a same-sex amendment which passed in Michigan back in 2004.But that was not the point of the article, this was:

 The Wages of Bigotry

by Trapper John
Fri Feb 02, 2007 at 01:10:07 PM PST

Actions have consequences, though, and the people of Michigan are about to realize that their 2004 vote to prohibit same-sex marriage did, in fact, relegate an entire class of citizens to permanent second-class status.  Because the Michigan Court of Appeals held today that the gay marriage ban also bans same-sex domestic partner benefits.

"The marriage amendment's plain language prohibits public employers from recognizing same-sex unions for any purpose," the court wrote.

A constitutional amendment passed by Michigan voters in November 2004 made the union between a man and a woman the only agreement recognized as a marriage "or similar union for any purpose." Those six words led to the court fight over benefits for gay couples.  Gay couples and others had argued that the public intended to ban gay marriage but not block benefits for unmarried opposite sex or same-sex domestic partners.

The appeals court agreed with the Michigan attorney general, Republican Mike Cox, who said in a March 2005 opinion that same-sex benefits are not allowed in a state that does not recognize same-sex unions.   The Article

   It is an article that I would think that you should read.

    My thinking is, What's the big deal? I think that it makes alot of sense that if you are banning same-sex unions then the same-sex benefits should be dis-allowed also.

   At this same time, heterosexuals who are not married should not be receiving the benefits either. Living with a boyfriend or a girlfriend does not make you a union.

 

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