I had promised myself not to get involved in the Iraq war discussion
within the group but I can no longer sit by and read this.

First off lets put the facts on the table:
France: Had billions of dollars in contracts with Iraq for oil which was
why they did not want to invade.
Germany: Held millions of dollars in infrastructure contracts i.e.:
Sadam's bunkers and palaces.
Russia: Illegally selling arms to Iraq.
China: They are always against the U.S. (Sorry but it's true) (What
about the SARS epidemic that was started in China because of the
horrible living conditions there.)
They were just looking out for themselves but that seems to be all right
with some members.  Why is it no one here is criticizing those countries.

As for the U.N.:  Let's see, what country gives the most money to
support all these programs? Who hosts the U.N.?  Whose laws are always
broken by U.N. diplomats and they're given diplomatic immunity.  The U.S.
Why is it that France and Russia and Germany aren't doing their fair
share to support programs for the U.N. They want to be big men on
campus, world players.  They need to learn to take responsibility for
cleaning up the campus.  Some say the U.S. created Sadam, well, now
taking responsibility for our mistake.

Another thing, remember back in the late 30's and 40's there was a guy
named Hitler.  No one wanted to do anything about him either.  He's not
hurting anyone they said. How many people died because of one insane
lunatic.  Can we as humans sit back and let this happen again.  Some say
Sadam wasn't on the same level, maybe not but he was killing innocent
people. A lot more than 1600.  Iraq has a population of some 25,000,000.
 Agreed, loss of innocent life is a horrible thing, especially children.
 No casualties are acceptable but let's put it into perspective.

Let's face it the world is driven by multinational corporations whose
only goal is to make money.  They will and do do what ever it takes.
We in the museum "business" feel we are working for a greater good and
maybe some of us are.  But when you take money from corporate sponsors
and grants from the U.S. government which by the way is using my tax
dollars to support you and the war then you really have to take a look
at the big picture and step out into the real world.  With our global
economy we can't sit back let these types of inhuman conditions go on.
 We have to take responsibility for our freedom or do nothing.

Don't forget the U.S. really is anyone who is a citizen. The U.S. is not
a thing, it is it's people.  That is what makes us so great.  It is your
being able to criticize and speak out that is why no one could ever
destroy the U.S. This is mindless flag waiving but it is true.  France,
Germany and Russia what are they, they are their individual histories
that is how they are defined,  by one ethnic group or another but the
U.S. is the world on a smaller scale that is why people don't like us
they feel we have no identity, they are scared of getting lost because
they define themselves by their nationality or race or religion instead
of the bigger picture that we are all just people deep down inside.

I don't remember who said this, I think it was Russian President Putin,
" Evil is man's inhumanity to man".   I'm sorry if I miss quoted him but
the idea is there.

One last thing.  For those of you worried about budget cuts and the like
let's put that into perspective.  There are hundreds of thousands of
people who live in poverty right here the U.S. and yet the government
supports the NEA and helps pay for this that and everything else when in
fact that money should be spent on the people who really need it, the
poor.  How many of us spend our evenings at the soup kitchens or
bringing meals to the elderly of what ever else we could do to make this
a better place to live.  Stop complaining and do something about it.


Jim

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).