11.01.2003
Some Thoughts
Halloween just passed; we speak a bunch here about folks in costume, folks masquerading in positions in government- Mr Bush, unelected, selected by partisan Supreme Court Justices in fact. Again, Mr Bush, all dressed up in his flyboy drag to land on the Abraham Lincoln although he was AWOL from his Air National Guard service, a photo-op of the rankest Hypocrisy. We could talk about William Bennett the chest thumping moraliser unmasked as a gambler; he'd laid odds we would never hear of his addiction- but lost.
But I'm not barking up the tree of Right Wing Hypocrisy. Sadly, the hypocrisy seems endemic.
As we see and hear so many folks vying to be President I'd like you to sharpen your awareness, tune in your bullshit detector to the Demuplican/Republicrat. A sort of Republican lite. When you talk middle of the road politics "We the People" are marginalized as a "special interest group" Which we are in the finest sense, who can be of a more special interest in a "heavily democratic"system than the actual "Demos", the people. But our Republic's interests are a bit askew now, Business is the predominant interest of Government.
I'll be leaving the question of just what our two party system means in these days of corporate control of both the political process and parties to the attitude management through media control...
As a Progressive I see many candidates, hear a lot of sound bite rhetoric but see little substance among them. I try to look into the speaker a bit, and don't take anything for granted because if one takes long enough, looks deeply into world events there are very telling connections to be made. Connections that tell a story much different from the ones ersatz ernest corporate pitchmen tell us of themselves, the media portrayed "in the box" perspective we are to believe complete with baby kissing pictures and stories of Mom's apple pie cooling on the windowsill.
Al Gore. The left's guy, right? Maybe in soundbite land, or on the McNews, but what if one draws some connections between people and events in the real world?
We might not be fighting in Iraq today without Mr Bush as pResident (Tie on the tinfoil beanie, we might not have suffered 9/11, but hey, think it through yourself...) but would we be fighting in Columbia?
Al Gore and his family have had lifetime links with Occidental Petroleum. ( A Democracy Now! audio file from August 2000 tells more) The fellow who wrote Earth in the Balance" an optimistic and intelligent analysis of what we are doing to our physical world. Although he saw the Kyoto Protocol so in keeping with his book signed, Clinton/Gore never put it before Congress for ratification and in fact worked to undermine it. Granted, Senate Republicans would have fought it tooth and nail. Bush came out officially against the Protocol- but was that any worse than sitting on it when you have the "Bully Pulpit"? Mr Bush and his party have stood by Occidental Petroleum as well, subsidizing the company to the tune of $3.00 a barrel of oil to protect its' Columbian Canon-Limon pipeline. You might want to look into Occidental's use of drug funded right wing paramilitary groups for security and the atrocities they commit.
You can see the oil/defense industry connections in each days news articles. Who is making money on the occupation of Iraq? Who is dying and suffering pay and benefit cuts? There seems to have been a replacing Right initiation of class war here at home. Do you here/see much about it in the media? What terms is this phenomena couched in when you do?
I need to admit that Mr Gore said he would strengthen The Clean Air Laws. He would have kept drilling off many US land ie ANWR.
Although Mr Gore was said to have enjoyed pot and that his sister got benefit from it he, like so many of todays presidential hopefuls backpedaled on the issue. Much like Mr Bush, Rush, Gore and Clinton (I should't forget Newt) America's elite can "still get by" even after drug use.
I guess what I want to highlight is that even candidate that knows better is beholden to his financial supporters and the realities of corporate driven politics. And in a world where thinking folks, seeing the way our country is being stained and pillaged say " Anyone but Bush in 2004" we need to be especially cautious in our analysis of the candidate's stands on the issues, to take the time to dig deeper, to find the connections. As always, in a two party winner take all system the difference in the candidates unfortunately need be profound. Or speak to the will of the people. When centrist candidates are labeled "progressive" and radical in the press you can see we are not being served, the "WE" that make up the majority of America. The winners make the rules as our present tax and environmental situation shows; when oil compant profits and corporate greed take the fore as they obviously do in this dollar driven corporate climate we need to be aware and to speak out about the realities as we see them.
We need our country back.
Resources:
The Center for Public integrity offersThe Buying of the President 2004.
The Real Al Gore on the Environment links page.
11/01/2003
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10.31.2003
Donald Luskin: Self Proclaimed Stalker
I'm not sure how best to support Atrios should he have to deal with a frivolous as well time and money wasting lawsuit concerning Donald Luskin. I'll do all I can.
It seems Atrios used a hyperlink to refer to Mr Luskin that used the word "Stalker", a title Luskin has used to describe himself and his "Truth Squad"
We Stalked. He Balked.
The Truth Squad is getting to Mr. Krugman.
It's beginning to work. The Krugman Truth Squad has America's most dangerous liberal pundit - columnist Paul Krugman of the New York Times on the run.
Obviously, Donald Luskin you are a self proclaimed stalker. And an idiot to boot.
I fell into blogging by checking out Tom Tomorrow's's blog, not even knowing what a "blog" was. I was checking for a web presence of his honest and visionary cartoons, little did I expect trenchant political analysis in text. From there I got turned on to Atrios, Ruminate This and skippy- the rest is history; plain folks like me analyzing and making connections concerning the news because they have a sweet vision of America consonant with what I see to be the fondest hopes of our founders. All aided by sweatless web publishing systems. Putting the "Demos" in Democracy. Go down my sidebar, it's a BIG community. Blogtopia ( thanx skippy).
To me Atrios is like a distant good buddy, yet unmet. An unwitting mentor.
Luskin? Well I think his writing portrays him adequately, a Whining Right Wing Hypocrite.
As any blogger can l tell you, and reality shows (are you reading this Mr Luskin?) collaborating with the power structure pays, while being an honest citizen only offers the reward of knowing you are standing by your country, truth and human decency.
And that's enough.
10/31/2003
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10.30.2003
State Terrorism
Many people are unaware that the country of Israel supported US state terrorism during the tenure of Ronald Reagan just as Mr Bush supports the state terrorism of Israel now. Years go by and the players stay the same...
Is it anti-Semitic to point out Israel's state terrorism? Is it anti-Christian to point out the state terrorism of the US?
A video interview of Ms.Hanan Ashrawi who won the Sidney Peace Prize.
Dean and Clark: Peace Candidates?
10/30/2003
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Democracy Now has an incredible piece posted concerning the truth about the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty. It features audio excerpts from the film "The Loss of Liberty" by Tito Howard.
A year old comment by attack survivor James Ennes.
A photographic account of the attack.
Extensive Realaudio clips of USS Liberty survivors in their own voices.
A comprehensive USS Liberty attack resource, http://www.ussliberty.org//liberty.htm.
Historian John Borne weighs in: The Attack of the USS Liberty.
10/30/2003
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Stand aside Al Franken: Fox Network threatening The Simpsons with legal action?
10/30/2003
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10.29.2003
Stop on by a great new Blog: Hell for Halliburton
Another progressive voice making a difference...
10/29/2003
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Do you ever consider where the food on your plate comes from? Most of us don't I'm guessing, maybe a passing thought at most, a flicker of thought dismissed as we are reaching for the fork. Let's think about the journey the meat sitting there took and the lives it has touched on it's way from feedlot to our fridge.
This link (in .pdf format) is to an article Michael Pollan (here interviewed for the PBS offering "Frontline") wrote for The New York Times entitled "Power Steer", a straightforward account of his steer's trip from calf to killing floor.
Joby Warrick documents what he has seen on the highspeed killing floor.
Livestock is not all that suffers the effects of the highspeed meatpacking industry, an industry that has radically sped up in the last 25 years, from 175 to 400 animals an hour; the workers suffer dangerous repetitive work. You and I "the consumers" can suffer too, the rapid pace allows contaminants such as fecal matter to corrupt the meat, putting us in danger of food poisoning.
Concentration by large agricultural corporations has turned high-wage union jobs at meatpacking and food processing plants into low-wage, dangerous, non-union jobs increasingly filled by immigrants, according to Ritchie.
"It has turned the world's safest food supply into a game of consumer Russian roulette, frequently pumping out millions of pounds of contaminated meat and dairy products...
Eric Schlosser brings our attention to the industry inroads into government that put meat safety in peril; as well as alerting us to the why and how of the presence of pathogens there.
"Shielding the Giant: The USDA'sDon't Look, Don't Know Policy for Beef Inspection" is an eye opener that readily illustrates the "profits before people" focus evinced by some in this industry when faced by a "toothless" USDA.
Do you want your food irradiated when simply slowing down its processing will keep it from the contamination of pathogen bearing fecal matter?
If you take the time to read these links you'll know more than the majority of Americans about the meat on your plate. Or you too can take the "Don't Look, Don't Know" path.
Bon Apetite...
Resouces:
Frontline: Modern Meat
Speed Kills, Worker Injuries and Fecal Contamination in Slaughterhouse Production .pdf
The Food Markting Institute gives some background on the pathogens.
Why Oppose Food Irradiation.pdf
Disclaimer: I eat meat and have slaughtered farm animals.
10/29/2003
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10.27.2003
Heather Wokusch posted a piece that touches on what I wrote here the other day, that sexual repression (cultural and individual) breeds violence. I recommend you read the Fromm and Prescott links I offered, my conclusion is that a highly repressed people such as ours (think "family values" that do not allow for sex outside marriage) that live in such a sexualized society (seen any TV or advertising lately?) are victims of a classic Double Bind making us an easy mark for frustration borne authoritarian attitudes heavy with violence and hate.
Yet no degree of moralizing can make sex disappear from every realm of human life that does not relate to the nuclear family. The bonobo's behavioral peculiarities may help us understand the role of sex and may have serious implications for models of human society.
The Bonobo Ape shares 98% of our genetic structure but these critters from tropical Zaire share none of the habits of our present societal structure. Female centered and egalitarian, the Bonobo uses both touch and sex to reassure and strengthen the bonds of the group. The warmth of relaxed ready sex stems conflict, even between different bands.
Interestingly they mate in the "missionary position" and kiss...
Seems like Mr Bush, Ashcroft, the whole Christian Right could stand to learn a bit from these simian citizens of Gods green Earth.
10/27/2003
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Stop by the page Diebold has been trying to block, Black Box Votingby Bev Harris, and download this book in .pdf form. Essential reading. Let's help get the word out, Save Our Sufferage. A democracy with votes that don't count is like, well, look around, read the non-mainstream news.
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
A well informed electorate can somewhat steer the Corporate/Government nexus that rules our land, this information needs to go mainstream before another media supported electronic coup robs "We the People" of the limited Democracy our republic offers. Florida 2000 was enough...
10/27/2003
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Could anyone out in blogtopia ( thanx skippy) tell me why my punctuation doesn't show in blog comment fields? And why does only one title each day show when each piece is titled?
10/27/2003
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Is this supporting our troops?
10/27/2003
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10.26.2003
Don't Freak out....
Unless you're in the military... At least it is not from DU.
The U.S. Military's War on the Earth.
Learn more about DU...
Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Bush-you sat out your generations immoral war, never learning as our troops ever have, just what war is.
10/26/2003
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Nazi influence on America's history. We didn't learn of this in school.
10/26/2003
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People are people. Transcending War.
10/26/2003
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Rush Limbaugh, Conservative hypocrite, should not be able to utter Jerry's name, much less get out of Jail time...
How about poor Tommy Chong?
10/26/2003
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I was shocked when Mr Gore lost the Florida election all those nights ago that chilly February. Greg Palast can tell you about how some of it happened. Blackbox voting can tell you more. Stop by Scoop to get insight.
Democracy?
The people know. The people think. The people decide.
Are we too comfortable, too domesticated to think, to act, to breathe life into our democracy?
10/26/2003
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