Dec 22 2008
Original article, by Barry Grey, via World Socialist Web Site:
Some of the more astute and honest commentators on the “bailout” of the American auto companies announced Friday by President Bush have pointed to a critical aspect of the plan to shut plants, wipe out jobs and bring the wages, benefits and work rules of United Auto Workers members in line with those of workers at nonunion foreign-owned companies in the US.
Dec 22 2008
Dec 22 2008
What is suburban bliss on a cold winter night. Well one thing is having a heated POS plow truck to clear snow. Yes the plow wiring survives on duct tape and the “check engine” light is always on but I have been able to goose that sucker and create six foot snowbanks. Another is knowing a complete winter stock of wood pellets is available. Yet another is the generator that will power the wood pellet stove is safely tucked away, ready to go. Days start to get longer from this day forward, but do people get wiser from this day forward.
Dec 22 2008
I'm sitting in a cozy little study on Seattle's Capitol Hill. A warm halogen desk lamp, four computers, several piles of books, a shelf full of my favorite and beloved tomes beside a comfortable chair. A pot of earl grey. Outside, it looks kind of like this:
Well, OK…exactly like that, since I just took it five minutes ago from the window above my right monitor. It is cold as hell and the snow just won't stop, which is unusual for this part of the world. Everyone I talk to has gotten sick of the holiday magic of it all, and just wants it to go the hell away. I have gone from resenting the impact on my daily habitrails, to taking eight perimeter laps around the park you see…exactly 5.3 miles. It makes my teeth hurt, but it's better than letting the carbohydrates win. And it's a thrill to see the vast machine of the city come to a softly falling halt. Anyway…that's only part of what this is about.
Dec 22 2008
Dec 22 2008
Topic: Care Packages for the Troops; Jacob’s Light
Originally aired on December 17th, 2008
Dorine Kenney lost her only child Jacob to the Iraq war. Eleven days after Jacob’s death, on his 29th birthday, Dorine sent a care package to one of her son’s friends still serving in Iraq. This single act spawned The Jacob’s Light Foundation, an organization to honor her son and care for those still fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Dec 21 2008
Please go to Democrats.com and sign the petition!
Not much of a response, but heartening in its own small way….depending on, lol, how you interpret it!
From Attorney General Designate Holder, in response to the The Citizens Petition: Special Prosecutor for Bush War Crimes.
“Enough folks. I hear you.”
The petition was initially set up to relay every signer to Mr. Holders public e-mail address. Since it’s formal launch yesterday, we are now at 1085 signers and growing. In response to AG Designates Holder’s response, we have stopped sending him each signature and comment that appears on the petition and are now collecting all names and comments for eventual submission to AG Designate Holder, the media and members of Congress.
We have since asked Mr. Holder for a formal statement on the petition. We await it eagerly! But we now know that he is aware of the petition, aware of our concerns, and aware that there is a citizens movement aimed at bring Bushco to justice. In other words…it is working!
Dec 21 2008
Weekend News Digest is an Open Thread
U.S. News and Politics Update.
| From Yahoo News Top Stories |
1 AP study finds $1.6B went to bailed-out bank execs
By FRANK BASS and RITA BEAMISH, Associated Press Writers
13 mins ago
| Banks that are getting taxpayer bailouts awarded their top executives nearly $1.6 billion in salaries, bonuses, and other benefits last year, an Associated Press analysis reveals.
The rewards came even at banks where poor results last year foretold the economic crisis that sent them to Washington for a government rescue. Some trimmed their executive compensation due to lagging bank performance, but still forked over multimillion-dollar executive pay packages. Benefits included cash bonuses, stock options, personal use of company jets and chauffeurs, home security, country club memberships and professional money management, the AP review of federal securities documents found. |
Dec 21 2008
President-elect Barack Obama’s invitation to Pastor Rick Warren to deliver the invocation on January 20th deserves something other than just a visceral negative reaction. Warren’s pre-scientific, homophobic views and his church’s exclusion of gays and lesbians from membership have understandably created an uproar of criticism from the progressive community. But we need to reflect not merely on Obama’s tactic for his inaugural ceremony, but on his long-term political strategy.
First, the numbers: in the 2008 elections exit polls suggested that evangelicals made up 23 to 26 percent of all voters. Barack Obama was the choice of 25 to 26 percent of those evangelicals. Here is an interesting map of the evangelical voting breakdown state-by-state. Note the wide variation in Obama’s evangelical totals: in Iowa and MInnesota he even managed to garner 38 percent of the evangelical vote; in Mississippi, only 9 percent.
How can we expect Obama to deal with the evangelicals during the next four years? Let us ponder the question below the break.
(X-posted at Big Orange.)
Dec 21 2008
I was in eighth grade for the first half of 1962 and a freshman, but still at Lake Oswego Junior High at the end of it. I had my first girlfriend, Bonnie, who became too much of an obsession in my life for quite a few years. I played a football game in the middle of Typhoon Frieda on October 12.
And music ranged from Nat King Cole to the Beatles.
My back is killing me today, so in lieu of actual writing, I pulled the news from 1962 out of wiki: every fifth story. In some cases, I added some comments.
I found it an interesting study. Maybe you will, too.
Dec 21 2008
Armed with a guitar, Santa hats and some terrific antiwar lyrics for Christmas caroling, members of Military Families Speak Out sang out on Iraq Moratorium day Friday, serenading two members of Congress and asking them to bring family members and loved ones home now.
The carolers visited the homes of two Republican House members,Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) and even got a photo and article in the Orange County Register, no easy feat.
The lyrics by Vern Nelson are terrific. You can find them, for eight different songs, on the Orange Juice Blog Here’s a sample:
Why the Hell Are We Here?
(tune of Do You Hear What I Hear, Nelson-Alviso 2006)Said the grunt to his sergeant in Iraq:
Why the hell are we here? (Why the hell are we here?)
Tryin’ to not get shot in the back,
Why the hell are we here? (Why the hell are we here?)
A wife and child wait for me back home,
spending Christmas-time all alone,
spending Christmas-time all alone.Said the sarge to the Captain in command:
Why the hell are we here? (Why the hell are we here?)
Ev’ry week it seems I lose a man.
Why the hell are we here? (Why the hell are we here?)
A roadside bomb planted in the night
filling ev’ry moment with fright;
There’s no way to win such a fight.Said the Captain to the Joint Chiefs of Staff:
Why the hell are we here? (Why the hell are we here?)
In this civil war in Iraq?
Why the hell are we here? (Why the hell are we here?)
Each bomb we drop only makes things worse;
and our choosing sides is perverse
in this Sunni/Shia universe.Said the troops to the Congressman back home
Time to bring us back now! (Time to bring us back now!)
Congressman all comfy back home,
Time to bring us back now! (Time to bring us back now!)
This war, this war, has gone on far too long,
Can you hear the words of our song-
Getting out will make us- more strong!!!
A report from that action, and reports and photos from others across the country, are available at the Iraq Moratorium website.
