The last time I sat down to write a column I wrote about taking in your surroundings and becoming aware of the impact that is made by the decisions and actions that you take.

However, I forgot to point out some certain things that are necessary to obtain the knowledge that is necessary to become fully aware. I know we all learn in LA 101 to research, and what kinds of research are acceptable and what kinds of research are unacceptable.

I obtain my information from a variety of sources, and check those sources against other sources, and then check what the recent discussion has been in the public sphere about that subject.

I realize that I am a news/political junkie and I expect too much out of my fellow citizens in regards to obtaining the information necessary to make wise decisions about the effect you have on the environment and the effect your beliefs have on others.

There are things, however, that I cannot stand others firmly believing that are so easily proven to be false, and I think that it is time now, after a war was started under false pretenses, after private information was obtained illegally and then justified under false pretenses about you and everyone in America, after reasons that freshmen at this university learn are called “fallacies” are used to scare the American people and gain political clout are used, and overused, and overused further even after they have been called out on their irrationality.

There were no weapons of mass destruction as described by George W. Bush, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice and Donald Rumsfeld in Iraq at the time of the reports to go to war came out, as we went to war, after we entered Iraq or even today.

I know this is a shock to some of you, to know that Saddam did not posses weapons, and to know that while you can tell yourself that Mr. Bush didn’t lie because “we can’t prove that he didn’t believe the lie” you and I both know it’s crap.

Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with the attacks on America on Sept. 11, 2001. He neither gave money to, nor had contact with Osama Bin Laden or his associates to plan the attacks or give any kind of support to Al Qaeda.

Again, I know, “Iraq is full of terrorists now so there must have been terrorists then, right?” Wrong. The terrorists did not enter Iraq until after the United States toppled the government of Iraq and failed to provide the necessary support to rebuild the country, thereby giving the terrorists Iraq to use as a “war zone” to further their political and religious ideologies, which include killing each other mostly.

We never caught Osama Bin Laden, and actually reduced our troop levels in Afghanistan to fight the Iraq War, which was never a part of the “War on Terror” until we decided to add it after Mr. Bush realized he was wrong the first time. In fact, he has always been wrong.

“Dead or Alive,” “Smoke ’em Out,” and any other clever catch phrase and promise to bring those responsible for attacking our nation were just that, empty catch phrases. When the chance to start another war and fulfill Mr. Bush’s dream of attacking Iraq (which he had planned before Sept. 11, and actually began planning the week he took office) became possible by using the same rhetoric and scare tactics the polling data told him would work, he did it.

Iraq is currently involved in a religious civil war, and the plan that Mr. Bush had to bring democracy to Iraq is now a failed plan. The only way to end this war is to understand the situation in Iraq not as Americans but as scholars, and to look at the situation in terms of what is best for the Iraqis, even though I know that could ruin the oil profits that Bush wanted his buddies to gain from this war.

The day after Sept. 11 we should have all been looking at who we were attacked by.

We should have learned about their religion, the history of their religion, and the current state of Islam and its factions, to better understand where those who are trying to attack America are coming from so that we can find a solution without appealing to the ignorance of American’s to automatically be racist against those who are different. (I mean after Civil Rights and the Soviets all ended we were kind of left without a group of people to hate in this country, you know, because just enjoying life and being happy is much less fun than banding together in racism and ignorance).

Your government lies to you, they spy on you, they know who you called, what books you checked out, what movies you rented, and I can only imagine they’re logging how many hours you spend watching “Skinemax” at night.

They don’t trust you, so they want to know everything about what you’re doing. The government under Mr. Bush is like the nosiest parent ever, always expecting the worst and never fostering development because they are too busy worrying about what mistakes you are out making.

Oh, and that whole “we only spy on the terrorists in this country, so you can understand us wanting to know everything you’re doing so we check you off our list, oh, and we just started this after Sept. 11” is a lie.

Just go to CNN.com and check. Mr. Bush is like a paranoid Nixon, except he doesn’t just want to make sure he’s re-elected, he wants to make sure you know he’s the boss, and you should just let him make all of your decisions.

I know this won’t change anything, and I know that most people don’t really care; I mean the Chiefs are tied for first goddamnit, and have you seen the latest NCAA poll? KU is No. 15, and just who is South Florida? Don’t even get me started on the Rockies man, I’ll hop on that bandwagon.

And before football season can even begin we’ll have basketball season starting up, so I know that I’m asking too much of you, especially when we don’t even know if Britney will get her kids back or if O.J. will finally go to jail for murder (I know it’s theft, but it’s also karma).

So instead of heeding these warnings to change your ways so that your grandchildren aren’t all born bubble-babies, just go ahead and sit back in your recliner.

I mean Drew Carey is on the “Price is Right” now so we’ve all got other things to pay attention to that are far more important that the “future,” right?