Author's posts
Dec 20 2010
We can help Bradley Manning!
Each of us can help in trying to alleviate or end the plight that PFC Bradley Manning finds himself in — that of total isolation for seven months running now, no sheets nor pillows for his bed, unpermitted to exercise and is under constant surveillance. The U.S. government is holding Manning under these deplorable conditions, supposedly, for his role in having sent various various TRUTHS to Wikileaks, concerning areas in our wars and otherwise, without any charges having been had or placed against him. (Some of which information was known to some of us before such revelations through our own truth-seeking, but not to Americans, in general!)
Thanks to David Swanson, published with his thanks to Ed Fisher, there is very complete information as to how WE may help this 23-year old Bradley Manning.
How to Report the Torture of Bradley Manning to the United Nations
Sample information to include:
a. Full name of the victim:
Bradley E. Manning (born 17 December 1987), Private First Class (PFC), United States Army
b. Date on which the incident(s) of torture occurred (at least as to the month and year):
Ongoing from May, 2010.
The following is a summary of the conditions under which PFC Manning is being held, which in the opinion of experts and even International Law, constitute torture:
“Bradley Manning, the 22-year-old U.S. Army Private accused of leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks, has never been convicted of that crime, nor of any other crime. Despite that, he has been detained at the U.S. Marine brig in Quantico, Virginia for five months — and for two months before that in a military jail in Kuwait — under conditions that constitute cruel and inhumane treatment and, by the standards of many nations, even torture. Interviews with several people directly familiar with the conditions of Manning’s detention, ultimately including a Quantico brig official (Lt. Brian Villiard) who confirmed much of what they conveyed, establishes that the accused leaker is subjected to detention conditions likely to create long-term psychological injuries” Salon
Journalist Glenn Greenwald has investigated and published an extensive report on this issue. Please refer to this article in full for more details: Salon
c. Place where the person was seized (city, province, etc.) And location at which the torture was carried out (if known):
* Camp Arifjan, a military jail in Kuwait
* U.S. Marine brig in Quantico, Virginia
“Manning was arrested by agents of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command in May 2010 and held in pre-trial confinement in a military jail at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait.”
d. Indication of the forces carrying out the torture:
The President of the United States, The Congress of The United States, The United States State Department, The United States Justice Department, The United States Department of Defense, The United States Army, The United States Navy, The United States Marine Corps. All of the above are responsible for this illegal activity.
Furthermore, the torture of PFC Manning is not an isolated incident, rather, it is part of a policy shift that has been documented in The United States over the course of at least two Administrations, those of George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
For example, The United States has been found by the United Nations Committee against Torture to be responsible for:
* the US opinion that the Geneva Convention does not apply to, and would undermine, its War on Terror
* the US attempt to sidestep provisions of the Convention by applying it only to US territory, rather than areas under US control
* the fact that detainees are not always registered, depriving them of safeguards against acts of torture
* allegations of secret detention facilities which are not accessible to the International Red Cross
* the US refusal to comment over the existence of such facilities, and the allegations of torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment which have emanated from them
* the US involvement in enforced disappearances and its refusal to accept that this is a form of torture
* the rendition of subjects, without judicial procedure, to states where they face a real risk of torture
* the use of secret ‘diplomatic assurances’ to justify deporting detainees to country’s with poor human rights records
* the indefinite detention of prisoners without charge at Guantanamo Bay without legal safeguards or judicial assessment of justification
* the inadequate training provided to police and military personnel on the UN’s prohibition of torture
* the 2002 authorization of the use of interrogation techniques, such as water-boarding, shackling, sexual humiliation, and dogs, which have resulted in the deaths of some detainees
* the apparent impunity of police and military personnel accused of torture and not prosecuted
* the lenient sentences given to many people convicted of torture
* the proposal to withdraw the right of habeas corpus to Guantanamo detainees
* the difficulties that victims of abuse have faced in obtaining redress and compensation
* the apparent failure to ban evidence obtained under torture from being used at military commissions, and the limitations placed on the right of detainees to complain
* substantiated information which indicates that US sanctioned executions can be accompanied by severe pain and suffering
* numerous, reliable reports of sexual assault of detainees and sexual violence perpetrated by detainees on each other, to which ‘persons of differing sexual orientation’ are particularly vulnerable
* the humiliation of female prisoners and the shackling of female detainees during childbirth
* the large number of children sentenced to life imprisonment
* the extensive use of electro-shock devices which have caused several deaths
* the harsh regime imposed in ‘supermaximum’ security prisons, and prolonged isolation periods which may be used as a form of punishment
* reports of brutality and excessive force used by law enforcement officers and the numerous allegations of the ill-treatment of racial minorities, migrants and homosexuals which have not been properly investigated.
e. Description of the form of torture used and any injury suffered as a result;
* PFC Manning has been placed in a form of solitary confinement that is cruel and unusual. This is a term utilized within US Constitutional Law, and US citizens are supposed to enjoy protection against this form of treatment.
The US Supreme Court has had occasion to adjudicate on this issue. As long ago as 1890, the US Supreme Court wrote:
“A considerable number of prisoners fell, after even a short confinement, into a semifatuous condition, from which it was next to impossible to arouse them, and others became violently insane; others still, committed suicide; while those who stood the ordeal better were not generally reformed, and in most cases did not recover sufficient mental activity to be of any subsequent service to the community. (In re Medley, 1890)”
. . . . .
Dec 20 2010
We can help Bradley Manning!
Each of us can help in trying to alleviate or end the plight that PFC Bradley Manning finds himself in — that of total isolation for seven months running now, no sheets nor pillows for his bed, unpermitted to exercise and is under constant surveillance. The U.S. government is holding Manning under these deplorable conditions, supposedly, for his role in having sent various various TRUTHS to Wikileaks, concerning areas in our wars and otherwise, without any charges having been had or placed against him. (Some of which information was known to some of us before such revelations through our own truth-seeking, but not to Americans, in general!)
Thanks to David Swanson, published with his thanks to Ed Fisher, there is very complete information as to how WE may help this 23-year old Bradley Manning.
How to Report the Torture of Bradley Manning to the United Nations
Sample information to include:
a. Full name of the victim:
Bradley E. Manning (born 17 December 1987), Private First Class (PFC), United States Army
b. Date on which the incident(s) of torture occurred (at least as to the month and year):
Ongoing from May, 2010.
The following is a summary of the conditions under which PFC Manning is being held, which in the opinion of experts and even International Law, constitute torture:
“Bradley Manning, the 22-year-old U.S. Army Private accused of leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks, has never been convicted of that crime, nor of any other crime. Despite that, he has been detained at the U.S. Marine brig in Quantico, Virginia for five months — and for two months before that in a military jail in Kuwait — under conditions that constitute cruel and inhumane treatment and, by the standards of many nations, even torture. Interviews with several people directly familiar with the conditions of Manning’s detention, ultimately including a Quantico brig official (Lt. Brian Villiard) who confirmed much of what they conveyed, establishes that the accused leaker is subjected to detention conditions likely to create long-term psychological injuries” Salon
Journalist Glenn Greenwald has investigated and published an extensive report on this issue. Please refer to this article in full for more details: Salon
c. Place where the person was seized (city, province, etc.) And location at which the torture was carried out (if known):
* Camp Arifjan, a military jail in Kuwait
* U.S. Marine brig in Quantico, Virginia
“Manning was arrested by agents of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command in May 2010 and held in pre-trial confinement in a military jail at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait.”
d. Indication of the forces carrying out the torture:
The President of the United States, The Congress of The United States, The United States State Department, The United States Justice Department, The United States Department of Defense, The United States Army, The United States Navy, The United States Marine Corps. All of the above are responsible for this illegal activity.
Furthermore, the torture of PFC Manning is not an isolated incident, rather, it is part of a policy shift that has been documented in The United States over the course of at least two Administrations, those of George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
For example, The United States has been found by the United Nations Committee against Torture to be responsible for:
* the US opinion that the Geneva Convention does not apply to, and would undermine, its War on Terror
* the US attempt to sidestep provisions of the Convention by applying it only to US territory, rather than areas under US control
* the fact that detainees are not always registered, depriving them of safeguards against acts of torture
* allegations of secret detention facilities which are not accessible to the International Red Cross
* the US refusal to comment over the existence of such facilities, and the allegations of torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment which have emanated from them
* the US involvement in enforced disappearances and its refusal to accept that this is a form of torture
* the rendition of subjects, without judicial procedure, to states where they face a real risk of torture
* the use of secret ‘diplomatic assurances’ to justify deporting detainees to country’s with poor human rights records
* the indefinite detention of prisoners without charge at Guantanamo Bay without legal safeguards or judicial assessment of justification
* the inadequate training provided to police and military personnel on the UN’s prohibition of torture
* the 2002 authorization of the use of interrogation techniques, such as water-boarding, shackling, sexual humiliation, and dogs, which have resulted in the deaths of some detainees
* the apparent impunity of police and military personnel accused of torture and not prosecuted
* the lenient sentences given to many people convicted of torture
* the proposal to withdraw the right of habeas corpus to Guantanamo detainees
* the difficulties that victims of abuse have faced in obtaining redress and compensation
* the apparent failure to ban evidence obtained under torture from being used at military commissions, and the limitations placed on the right of detainees to complain
* substantiated information which indicates that US sanctioned executions can be accompanied by severe pain and suffering
* numerous, reliable reports of sexual assault of detainees and sexual violence perpetrated by detainees on each other, to which ‘persons of differing sexual orientation’ are particularly vulnerable
* the humiliation of female prisoners and the shackling of female detainees during childbirth
* the large number of children sentenced to life imprisonment
* the extensive use of electro-shock devices which have caused several deaths
* the harsh regime imposed in ‘supermaximum’ security prisons, and prolonged isolation periods which may be used as a form of punishment
* reports of brutality and excessive force used by law enforcement officers and the numerous allegations of the ill-treatment of racial minorities, migrants and homosexuals which have not been properly investigated.
e. Description of the form of torture used and any injury suffered as a result;
* PFC Manning has been placed in a form of solitary confinement that is cruel and unusual. This is a term utilized within US Constitutional Law, and US citizens are supposed to enjoy protection against this form of treatment.
The US Supreme Court has had occasion to adjudicate on this issue. As long ago as 1890, the US Supreme Court wrote:
“A considerable number of prisoners fell, after even a short confinement, into a semifatuous condition, from which it was next to impossible to arouse them, and others became violently insane; others still, committed suicide; while those who stood the ordeal better were not generally reformed, and in most cases did not recover sufficient mental activity to be of any subsequent service to the community. (In re Medley, 1890)”
. . . . .
Dec 14 2010
Not Good News!
I’ve been off and on the telephone this afternoon, after learning that Senator Durbin, was going to vote “yes” on the Obama Tax Cut Deal. I asked, why? Because of the compromise, I was told, i.e, child-care tax credit, $250 for Seniors and Disabled, earned income credit (which we’ve had for so long now, anyway). I was trembling with anger. I did go into a rant, not once, several times. The last call I made, I asked point blank: Why do we keep bending over backwards to the screaming, whining, already rich Republicans and a few Dems? Sen. Durbin has lost my vote and so has President Obama, who’s demonstrated that he has a very good pair of knees! Thank you, the Staffer said, and click!
The Roll Call is still going on, and it is being held open for Senators who have been unable to return due to inclimate weather conditions.
Right now, 79 Senators have voted for the bill, while 11 have voted against it!
I am seeing stars. Called Sen. Durbin’s office back again. I have a proposal, I said –what if I simply offered my house and, whatever Social Security I may have coming to me, to the government now, instead, of it taking from me incrementally? This is where we are headed — Americans have been and are being bled to death — what is to become of them? We are headed toward 3rd world status — we have nothing left to give. The wealthy will be walking amongst dead bodies on the streets — people who hung on as long as they could. How on earth could things be so perverse. I read the rules concerning Unemployment Insurance, why couldn’t we have simply extended those benefits, as is provided for in the rules, in bad economic times? At the worst time of our country, we extend tax cuts that benefit the upper 1% to 2% of the wealthy to the tune of $700 billion to be paid back over the next 10 years. And Social Security will be defunded by those still working Americans by 2% that will not be paid into Social Security Trust Funds, yet individuals must pay taxes on their total income for the year. . . . . I went on — I will not ever vote Republican, but Sen. Durbin has lost my vote. She was the only one of the staffers I spoke to today that seemed to have any concern!
Yahoo/Reuters couldn’t wait to get the news out! Tax deal clears first test in Congress!
By Andy Sullivan and Kim Dixon Andy Sullivan And Kim Dixon – 56 mins ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s bipartisan tax plan was on its way to passing its first test in Congress on Monday but a major Wall Street firm warned that damage to America’s strained finances would outweigh any short-term economic boost.
The $858 billion package, which would keep lowered income-tax rates from expiring at the end of the year, picked up 62 votes in the 100-seat Senate. Voting continued but the tax measure had effectively passed a procedural hurdle and will now go to a full vote in the chamber on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Both chambers of Congress could approve the bill by the end of the week, despite complaints from many Democrats that Obama has given away too much to the Republicans who will soon enjoy greater clout in Washington.
“I think we’ll pass a bill, as opposed to simply not passing anything,” House of Representatives Democratic leader Steny Hoyer said at a news conference. He said he aimed to get a bill to Obama by the end of the week.
Income taxes would rise by an average of $3,000 per household if Congress doesn’t act by January 1 — an unlikely outcome, Hoyer said. [$3,000? for those below $200,000?]
Many economists say the deal could boost the sluggish economy, in part because of a payroll tax credit and extension of jobless benefits, at a time when Congress has shown little appetite for spending-based stimulus efforts. . . . .
But Moody’s Investors Service warned it could move a step closer to cutting the United States’ top-notch triple-A bond rating in the next two years if the package becomes law.
“From a credit perspective, the negative effects on government finance are likely to outweigh the positive effects of higher economic growth,” Moody’s analyst Steven Hess said in a report.
The report could give additional ammunition to Democrats in the House who say the package gives away too much to the country’s wealthiest 2 percent as the country is struggling with budget deficits that are higher as a percentage of the economy than any time since World War Two. . . . .
We can only hope that the House will remain steadfast in its stand against this dreadful bill, which will actually backfire against Americans. There must be a way to demand that Unemployment Insurance be extended NOW without the “provisos” attached by Obama’s tax cut deal!
WE MUST NOT GIVE UP!!!! CALL YOUR REPS. — KEEP CALLING, KEEP WRITING, KEEP DOING EVERYTHING WITHIN YOUR POWER TO FIGHT THIS BILL!
Dec 09 2010
Do you like Bernie Sanders? UPDATE! UPDATE #2
UPDATE #2 — REMINDER: The Senate will reconvene on Monday, December 13, 2010, 3:00 p.m. EST, on C-SPAN, and a rollcall will be commenced.
Sen. Sanders is on right now: December 10, 2010 — 12:11 p.m. CST and is filibustering the President’s Bush Tax Cuts, etc. bill in the Senate watch him RIGHT NOW: Sen. Sanders
This is a “MESSAGE!”
Last night, I listened in on a “tele-conference call” wherein Bernie Sanders spoke his mind about the latest Obama “Bush tax cut extensions,” as well as so-called benefits for the rest of us “humbled” Americans. Excellent questions were asked!
Senator Sanders, stated vehemently, that HE is totally opposed to the Obama, “New Taxation Bill,” in every respect, and that HE will seek every means possible to oppose the proposed bill by Obama!
I admit that I truly love the absolute saneness of Bernie Sanders in a world gone mad!
I urge you to watch a “warrior” amongst “sheeples.”
Latest e-mail:
B E –
President Obama is right about one thing — Republicans in Congress are holding the middle class hostage.
We have a $13.8 trillion national debt, a collapsing middle class and the most unequal distribution of wealth of any major country. With all this in mind, Republicans in Congress say they will block tax cuts to the middle class and block unemployment benefits to more than two million families unless the President gives huge tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires.
Their behavior is morally bankrupt. It is reprehensible.
But instead of challenging the Republicans for their absurd demands and their outrageous tactics, the President gave them virtually everything they wanted.
I cannot and will not support this deal. I will do everything I can to uphold the promise made to the American people to end the Bush tax cuts for the rich.
Join me and my friends at Democracy for America today and sign our pledge calling on Congress to reject this deal.
One of the most under-reported parts of this deal is a cut to the Social Security payroll tax. In just one year, over $120 billion of revenue will be cut from Social Security under the President’s compromise plan, weakening the program and virtually guaranteeing benefit cuts in the future.
Make no mistake about it. Social Security has not added one dime to the national debt and this cut will only embolden Republican attempts to privatize the program and increase the age of retirement. Social Security is a vital safety net for all Americans and a cornerstone of our commitment to protect the middle class.
We are not alone in standing against this compromise. Republicans are holding the middle class hostage and the American people know it. I come from a small state and yesterday my office received more than 1,000 calls on this issue, with over 90% of them in opposition to this deal.
Last night, thousands of DFA members joined me on DFA Live where we had a lively discussion on this issue. One thing was clear to me during that call — DFA members nationwide want Democrats to stop this deal and fight for the middle class, working people, senior citizens and the unemployed while making sure that millionaires and billionaires are not given massive tax breaks.
Make sure Congress gets the message — Join the fight now and sign the petition opposing this so-called “compromise.”
Thank you,
-Bernie
Bernie Sanders
U.S. Senator
The thing that Sen. Sanders stressed OVER and OVER again last night was that Americans MUST act, call their representatives, e-mail, write LTE’s — do everything possible that we can do! HE SERIOUSLY SAID ALL OF THAT!
Dec 04 2010
Velly nice doctor!
Q: Doctor, I’ve heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true?
A: Your heart only good for so many beats, and that it… Don’t waste on exercise. Everything wear out eventually. Speeding up heart not make you live longer; it like saying you extend life of car by driving faster. Want to live longer? Take nap.
Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?
A: No, not at all. Wine made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine, that mean they take water out of fruity bit so you get even more of goodness that way. Beer also made of grain. Bottom up!
Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?
A: Well, if you have body and you have fat, your ratio one to one. If you have two bodies, your ratio two to one, etc.
Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?
A: Can’t think of single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No pain…good!
Q: Aren’t fried foods bad for you?
A: YOU NOT LISTENING! Food are fried these day in vegetable oil. In fact, they permeated by it. How could getting more vegetable be bad for you?
Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?
A: Definitely not! When you exercise muscle, it get bigger. You should only be doing sit-up if you want bigger stomach.
Q: Is chocolate bad for me? A: Are you crazy?!? HEL-LO-O!! Cocoa bean! Another vegetable! It best feel-good food around!
Q: Is swimming good for your figure?
A: If swimming good for your figure, explain whale to me.
Q: Is getting in shape important for my lifestyle?
A: Hey! ‘Round’ is shape! Well… I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.
And remember:
Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways – Chardonnay in one hand – chocolate in the other – body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming “WOO-HOO, what a ride!!”
AND…..
For those of you who watch what you eat, here’s the final word on nutrition and health. It’s a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies.
1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans..
5. The Germans drink a lot of beer and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you!
Nov 05 2010
UPDATE! HE’S BACK !!! BREAKING NEWS! Keith Olbermann has been suspended indefinitely by MSNBC!
(Note new comments at bottom!)
This is INCREDIBLE, Olbermann has just been suspended for having made three individual donations (Grijalva, Senate hopeful Conway and Arizona Reps. Giffords and Grijalva), in the maximum amount of $2,400.
“I became aware of Keith’s political contributions late last night,” MSNBC President Phil Griffin said in a statement. “Mindful of NBC News policy and standards, I have suspended him indefinitely without pay.”
Olbermann, in a statement to Politico, said that he “did not privately or publicly encourage anyone else to donate to these campaigns nor to any others in this election or any previous ones.” Also, Olbermann said he had not “previously donated to any political campaign at any level.”
But the revelation raised clear ethical issues.
. . . .It’s ironic that Olbermann gave to political candidates after criticizing Fox News because its owner, Rupert Murdoch, gave $1 million donation to the Republican Governors Association. “Fox News has put its money where its mouth is,” Olbermann said in an August segment that questioned the network’s impartiality.
In October, Olbermann again raised the issue of Murdoch’s donations, during an interview with Democratic Rep. James Clyburn. Olbermann asked whether there was “a legislative response to the idea that there is a national cable news outlet that goes beyond having a point of view and actually starts to shill for partisan causes and actually starts to donate to partisan groups of one party.”
In the land of the ABSURD!!!!
Bold Progressives has a Petition to get Keith back on the air pronto!! Let’s get him back on the air!
Oct 25 2010
A Song Was “Sung” and it ALL was begun — BEFORE 2000!
I had, as early as 2001, read about the PNAC, when we suddenly switched gears “There’s no targets here,” said Bush. And the propaganda commenced
Military Project etc.
Even Soc. Sec. contemplated — enlarge on this
Oct 23 2010
Haiti and does anyone REALLY care?
Is there any news these days that is not either heartbreaking or so totally disgusting, that you feel sickened inside, or a combination of both?
The “forgotten” people of Haiti, are dying of cholera — so far 150 deaths, and some 1,500 cases reported as of today.
A woman holds her young daughter while receiving medical attention at St. Nicholas
Hospital in St. Marc, Haiti, on Friday.
It amazes me, to some degree, that the Wall Street Journal seems to have been among the first to report this outbreak:
The area, north of the heavily damaged city of Port-au-Prince, was spared most of the wrath of the earthquake, which killed more than 300,000 people. But it did absorb many of the displaced and has long suffered from a lack of clean water. Purifying the water system is difficult in the area because homes are spread relatively widely geographically. [Emphasis mine]
Health officials said they had seen at least one report indicating that the epidemic may be spreading to the Port-au-Prince area, where about 1.3 million people are still living in crowded camps. [Emphasis mine] A woman near Port-au-Prince was reported to have experienced severe diarrhea and vomiting after visiting a local market and died within the same day. . . . .
and, this, from Reuters
Oct 16 2010
What is “WRITING IN THE RAW,” EXACTLY?
IS THIS IT?
Those who want to speak from their HEARTS? Minds “exploding” from RAW thoughts? Whatever you THINK it is — IS PROBABLY WHAT IT IS!!!!
Congratulations to the birth of “WRITING IN THE RAW!”
AND to our “long-distance” friend, who persists in being “raw,” but not “distant.”
Kudos!
Tahoebasha3
Sep 30 2010
What to do now?
Nick Egnatz, is a VietNam vet, who has written an essay and is someone with whom I have rallied with, from time to time, here and there. I am showing the entire essay, because the “thought content” may become lost were I not to do so!
I reserve my personal comments or thoughts (and, frankly, I’m still mesmerizing over the thoughts he portrays in his diary)!
I must say, up-front, I do not disagree with the accuracy of the circumstances, as he portrays them to be! Nor, do I think his solutions absurd, but . . . . . ! We all search for remedies — maybe, Nick’s right and maybe, he’s wrong! What do you think?
The Progressive DilemmaSubmitted by Nick Egnatz on Wed, 2010-09-29 19:49
A self described representative democracy in which the only two political parties are both funded and controlled by elite corporate interests is a contradiction in terms. Control of the population through government propaganda and a monopoly corporate media have made the domination of the American working class and poor by the wealthy corporate elite consensual. The enormity of the crime against true democratic values is so complete that substantive reform of the present system is an impossibility.
A dilemma is a situation in which one is forced to choose between equally distasteful options. That has always been our consignment as Americans when we venture to the polls (either vote for a wishy/washy Democrat or let the even worse Republican win). Every two years we are told that the fate of our democracy rests on our decision. Well it doesn’t because we don’t have a democracy, representative or otherwise. We have a plutocracy (rule by the wealthy). Our two political parties answer out of necessity to the corporate world. No one represents the people and the monopoly corporate media will not allow for a discussion of democratic alternatives.
The chickens have come home to roost from the last 30 years of economic neoliberal globalization policies championed by both political parties. Supply side economics of massive tax cuts for the wealthy and deregulation of the very modest checks on American capitalism necessitated by the Great Depression have made us the most unequal industrial democracy on earth. Imperial wars of aggression and massive bailouts of the very speculators who engineered the financial collapse leading to the Great Recession have allowed both corporate parties to take the stance that there is no money left for the people’s needs. This is poppycock. How can a consumer driven economy recover if the working class and poor have no jobs or money?
To cut spending on social programs with political cover, Obama came up with the brilliant idea of a Budget Deficit Commission made up of bipartisan hacks from both our two corporate parties, representatives from the corporate world of greed and a single union president. Green Party and socialists need not apply and in fact there are no even mildly progressive Democrats (an oxymoron if there ever was one) on the commission. The Commission is not a result of legislation from our Congress. It was formed by Executive Order. This is the way dictators govern, but that’s another issue. The Commission is charged to cut the Budget Deficit by cutting social programs only and leaving the military spending intact. If and when 14 of the Commission’s 18 members agree on policy it will go straight to Congress for a vote with no amendments allowed.
Co-chairman of the Commission Alan Simpson, former Republican Senator from Wyoming received some notoriety recently by referring to seniors on Social Security as “lesser people”, calling Social Security a “cow with 310 million tits” and asking the question of Vietnam veterans “what have they done for us lately?’ None of this bothered our President enough to ask for Simpson’s resignation. Their recommendation is due in December, after the election.
We are expected to accept the government propaganda that the unemployment rate is 9.6%, when that figure does not include those no longer receiving or who never received unemployment compensation, part time workers desiring full time work or workers disdainfully referred to as having given up looking for work. Including all these would bring the unemployment figure to 22%. But that still doesn’t count those working for less than a livable wage, this would easily bring the figure well beyond the 30% range. This assault on the working class has been the goal of the neoliberal globalization policy accepted as gospel by both corporate political parties since Ronald Reagan started selling it in the 70s and 80s when he set out to save the country from the scourge of a prosperous working class. The Great Communicator pushed his dogma of bad government/good corporations with the same smile he used to push Twenty Mule Team Borax soap to TV viewers years earlier.
More than three million families have already been foreclosed and torn from their homes. Another 11 million families are “underwater” (owing more that the home is worth). Research firm First American Core Logic reports that Nevada with 65% of home mortgages underwater, Arizona with 48%, Florida with 45%, Michigan with 37% and California with 35% lead the nation in this foreboding statistic.
The Republicans propose fiscal austerity for the poor and working class and continued tax cuts for the wealthy corporate class to find our way our of the Great Recession. Obama and the Democrats say that economic growth will do the trick. Both so called solutions are illogical. We are expected to believe that if the big bad bankers would just pretty please start loaning money to businesses, the economy will start humming and everything will be hunky dory?
I’m not an economist, but I have been a small businessman and I have been told on more than one occasion that I have half a brain. The road to recovery is both simple and difficult. For businesses to thrive, for the economy to hum, the business owners simply need customers with money in their pockets. The first step is to put our citizens back to work at a livable wage and the economy will flourish. It will be difficult, to the point of impossibility, for corporate politicians to consider the people at the bottom first, but that is what needs to be done.
Aug 22 2010
Disaster upon disaster . . . . . !
I had intended this as a comment, but it grew . . . .!
Pakistan!
(American River Canyon has a very informative diary up here. Jacob Freeze had a very good diary here (he’s had two ) and pinche tejano didn’t miss a stroke here.).
This picture drums it ALL into your psyche!
Pakistani flood affected people look towards an army helicopter which was dropping
relief supplies at the heavily flooded area of Rajanpur, in central Pakistan Sunday,
Aug. 15, 2010. (AP Photo/Khalid Tanveer)
Apparently, it really got to this one Sun-Times regular columnist.
August 17, 2010
BY MICHAEL SNEED Sun-Times ColumnistI’m 66 years old and, as they say, I’ve been around.
Traveling to the world’s broken places is not unusual for a general assignment reporter, which is basically what I am.
Only Monday morning, I didn’t have to smell it, hear it, or see it on television . . . or even be there — in order to feel the story.
It was the extraordinary power of one photograph — a black-and-white still photo, an AP pix by Khalid Tanveer — which transported me into the world of 20 million homeless people affected by a flood in Pakistan of biblical proportions.
This extraordinary still life of a scrap of land, surrounded by water, occupied by goats, cows, baskets, and strewn with the detritus of desperate people, was the cradle of life in harm’s way.
And it was the majesty of a hand-held newspaper; a chance flip of a page controlled by whim; and the profundity of silence — that made me take notice.
I have chosen to devote column space today to this stunningly provocative piece of film. Study it. Place yourself in it. Imagine the nightmare and the need.
And then be what we were born to be: Americans whose pride of place should always be standing next to someone in need.