Daily Topics - Monday - January 4th 2010
By Louise
Hour One - Are we about to re-enact 1937?
Hour Two - Was the Uganda anti-gay bill started by US evangelicals?
Guest: Doug Cunningham www.laborradio.org Topic: Labor news update - Just how high will those Wall Street Bank bonuses go? SEIU has released the dollar amount and you won't believe it!!
Hour Three - Guest: Michael German www.aclu.org Topic: How long is it going to be before they ask us to bend over and spread 'em?
UPCOMING EVENTS WITH THOM HARTMANN:
Portland, OR - Friday evening 1/15/10 - join us along with AM 620 KPOJ - Portland's Progressive Talk Station & Cinema Libre for a fundraiser for nonprofit "Free Speech TV" at the Baghdad Theatre & Pub. KPOJ's Carl & Christine will open the show, followed by a special screening of "The End of Poverty?" Afterwards, Thom Hartmann will be joined by movie director Philippe Diaz for a Q&A with the audience. Tickets are on sale now for just $25 at the Bagdad Theater Box Office (also Ticketmaster.) For more info, go to www.620kpoj.com
Comments
#2
Oh, and one other thing. I was listening to a Catholic radio station, where a caller stated her belief that the country was falling, like the Israelites, to “barbarian” forces and culture because they has turned away from God. Who could these modern day “barbarians” be? According to people like Pat Buchanan and Lynn Cheney (and quite possibly Thom), those people are Latinos. No matter how they try to “assimilate” they may always be seen as an “alien” presence sent to destroy Western Civilization—that is to say, the “Anglo-Saxon-Arian-Nordic version; the mendacity in this belief remains that “Spanish culture”—or “French” culture, or “Italian” culture, for that matter—is not seen as a variation of “Western” culture.
What I find most interesting, however, is the way Latinos (especially immigrants) are happily used by the Catholic hierarchy to “pad” the stats on the number of members of the Church, but are otherwise marginalized, because most are in the lower income bracket and cannot put as much money in the offering basket as whites (the Catholic Church isn’t very subtle about these things, especially when the usher sticks one of those baskets on pole under your face).
#3
Mark,
Do you think that shows like Thom's can hasten the trend to self-examination and reformation within Islam by having Muslim clerics as guests and "drilling down" on this issue with them?
#4
Mark,
Is there any part of the country where you could get a job with a livable wage and be among family or friends (or a sense of community?) Having people around one who support, accept and care can mean so much. (You are on my mind so much these days.)
#5
Mark: many and probably most Islamic scholars condemn the killings. You can discover this easily with a little research.
#6
Ethanol giant shifts focus
Interesting change in direction for ethanol industry. Excerpts:
Ron Fagen, the CEO of Fagen Inc., put this western Minnesota town (Granite Falls) on the national map by building 47 ethanol projects across the United States between 2006 and 2008. His family-owned company generated $2.2 billion in revenue in 2007.
But the U.S. ethanol building boom is over.
"It all came to a screeching halt when our friends on Wall Street manipulated the commodity market," Fagen said, commenting on the volatility of corn and oil prices. Others would argue that it was ethanol's friends and enemies in Washington and state capitals who did the manipulating over subsidies and mandates. The Environmental Protection Agency last month, for example, postponed a decision on a proposal backed by the ethanol industry that would increase the amount of ethanol blended into gasoline from 10 to 15 percent.
Regardless, Fagen has been retooling his business model. The company will finish one more U.S. ethanol plant in Pennsylvania, but Fagen's attention already has turned to other forms of renewable energy -- biomass and wind. Going forward, Fagen said he thinks his business mix will be about 60 percent biomass projects, 25 percent wind energy and the remaining share coming from building other types of industrial facilities.
Complete article:
http://www.startribune.com/business/80453572.html?elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO...
#7
re: new decade: Any devout Catholic will tell you the 3rd Millennium began Jan. 1, 2001, not Jan 1, 2000. The 20th century BEGAN Jan 1, 1901. However, Bill Clinton gave us our 1st and only 99-year century. During the Summer of '99, he referred in a speech to Memorial Day '99 as "the last Memorial Day of the 20th century.". When I heard it I gasped 'cause I though the media would castigate Clinton for the gaffe. However, nobody in the media either knew nor cared. The only reporter I heard get it right was an Australian reporter from Sydney during the New Year Eve 1999 news coverage. The Australian reporter referred to New Years Eve 1999 as "the PENULTIMATE New Year of the 20th century." Still no news source brought up the subject. I guess I'm the only person left in America who knows what penultimate means. So, Clinton gave us our one and only 99-year century. I'll always remember him for that, and for his grossly mis-named autobiography. He named it 'My Life". He should have called it "My Bad."
#8
Thom's remarks at the opening of today's show should bring to mind the concept that corporations are a new life-form of a type our Earth has never seen before. Just as animal cells make up multicellular animal life in a way that the individual cells cannot perceive, so too, corporations are made up by human individuals who do not easily perceive the corporate form of life. Corporations communicate, reproduce and most of all grow without much regard for that which makes it up or that which they consume.
There's nothing mystical or strange about it; it's pretty obvious if you look at corporations from a systems point of view. The corporate form of organization has many advantages to we humans but left uncontrolled, it can end us.
#9
Sea Lions: The sea lions left San Francisco 'cause they can no longer afford the rent.
#10
Looks out initial fear that the Senate version of the healthcare bill might actually be the one that gets passed thru with small almost inconsequential bill:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/04/dems-will-bypass-conferen_n_410...
#11
A couple of interesting articles in yesterday's NYTimes Week in Review:
1) "the development of agriculture was the result of an irrepressible impulse toward drinking and intoxication" ?
Grist
The Stone Age Rocked, if You Liked Your Liquor
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: January 1, 2010
Maybe they were better off in the Stone Age than we think. As early as 9,000 years ago, long before the wheel was invented, inhabitants of a Neolithic village in China were brewing a type of mead, or fermented honey and fruit, with an alcohol content of 10 percent, the archaeologist Patrick McGovern discovered recently. The finding by Dr. McGovern, a biomolecular archaeologist at the University of Pennsylvania Museum, fits in with his thesis that the development of agriculture was the result of an irrepressible impulse toward drinking and intoxication, Spiegel Online reports. “Consuming high energy sugar and alcohol was a fabulous solution for surviving in a hostile environment with few natural resources,” said Dr. McGovern, a leading expert on ancient brewing.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/weekinreview/03grist.html?ref=weekinre...
#12
2) Red or Yellow? South of the Border, Underwear Says All
From the flurry of New Year’s Eve sales at some market stalls in Mexico City, one might wonder if those living south of the border are going through tough economic times at all. They are, reports the Economix blog of The New York Times. Just look at what they have been buying.
It is a New Year’s Eve tradition in many parts of Latin America to ring in the new year wearing new underwear. There’s more: The color of the underwear signifies what resolution one is seeking for the year ahead. Red means love. Yellow means money.
At Mexican markets, according to one published report cited by Mr. Lacey, yellow undergarments are flying off the shelves at a far greater pace than red ones as Mexicans seek to rebound financially.
“Before, we’d sell more red but today everyone needs money more than love,” Javier, who has sold underwear at the sprawling Martínez de la Torre market for a decade, told El Universal newspaper.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/weekinreview/03grist2.html?ref=weekinr...
#13
I had meant inconsequential CHANGES on my post a few minutes ago! Thom you need to provide us with a way to edit the entries that we post!
#14
The caller just now who urged a march on Washington but didn't like to do local politics is part of the problem.
I certainly have empathy for her preferences, but it's time to grow up. The easiest thing in the world is to have a big march in D.C. with a big crowd and lots of people who agree with you. And it'll get ignored; marches didn't stop Bush's wars after all. The corporate media know how to cover them for entertainment purposes and then go on defining the issues in the same-old way. Thinking that a huge march will do anything other than make you feel good is just magical thinking.
The hard work is local, going to meetings talking with neighbors assembling a group of 1 vote or 5 votes at a time. It's hard. That's why people don't like it.
The hopeful thing about localness, however, is that it works. You can build a community of friends to keep you going while working on the vastly slower process of national change.
#15
A Terminal Cancer
There is a parasitic, systemic cancer that is running unchecked in the world and is, thus-far -- terminal! The original source of this cancer is the United States and it's creeping and unrelenting growth now permeates every aspect of not only the lives of our U.S. citizens, but the rest of the citizens of the world, as well.
The original, very minor and virtually undetected, tumor began developing in 1886 and has now grown to not merely infect, but to severely and continually metastasize throughout our political, legal, capitalistic/financial, military, educational, media, medical, environmental and social bodies -- just to name our most critical systems. Even if one is to diagnose the majority of our personal problems, one can surely trace this mindless cancer back as the original source.
It's detection, and thus treatment, is particularly insidious in that it remains relatively undiagnosed, due to a massive state of uneducated and willful denial by a vast majority of the patients thus afflicted. Unless we break through our denial about this cancer and return the vastly under-regulated and perpetually endowed corporations to their pre-1886 status, the entire world will surely and slowly die a cruel and inhuman death.
#16
Thom,
The anti-gay, pro-homophobe people you mentioned are "Old Testament Christians," a contradiction in terms.
They should be called "Christianists."
#17
Quark
Re: Old Testament Christians.
Keep in mind that Paul was anti-homosexual as well.
#18
rewinn,
You are SO right! It's hard work. If people are interested in finding Dem. groups in their states, this might help:
#19
D Richards,
Paul goes right next to Peter (the misogynist) on my "bad boys" list!
#20
if Jesus Christ returned to earth, do you think the evangelicals and the anti-homosexuals and the Christian Right would really accept his message if he told them they were all wrong?
would they really want to stop selling their prayer crosses?
#21
when rahm says that progressives will ultimately cave because they have no place to go, their conduct proves him correct each and every time.
which is exactly why they have no power.
and exactly why much smaller groups - blue dogs, for instance - have lots of power.
it is really the simplest rule in negotiations.
you have to be willing to walk away from the table in any negotiation. progressives have repeatedly shown that they will NEVER walk away from the table, if they really want something, anything in a particular bill.
until and unless progressives walk away from the table because the requested sacrifices are just too great, they will continue to get rolled and they will never be an effective negotiating block.
they need to get up and walk away from the table now.
if they do not, on this bill, they will see a repeat of this fiasco, over and over again in the next 3 years.
what is great about drawing a line at this point is that it does not sabotage obama. he still has other options - breaking the bill up, doing reform via regular rules, a public option or medicare by-in via reconciliation.
they would simply be flexing their muscle and forcing him to do what he promised to do. and what they want him to do.
negotiations 101.
#22
Chicken McNuggets? I never ate them because all I could think about was what part of a chicken would you think a McNugget would come from?
#23
Dave, Re: If JC returned
That's assuming that Jesus Christ was an actual historical figure, rather than a mythological figure.
Regardless, I agree that most fundamentalist Christians pay little attention to the Sermon on the Mount.
#24
I for one am tired of the cheney,I urge all to call Eric Holders office and tell them you want the bush crime family invetigated.the # is 202-514-2001.Tell them this can not go unanswered.As a country we need it to start our healing.
#25
Tom Palmer,
'Will do. Thanks for that.
#26
We've given up many of our freedoms, and we are still not "safe".
Looks like we will just have to give up even more of our freedom!
#27
We are not slaves but we are not free. We are like indentured servants. We can't leave where we are unless we are let go by our master. Unlike a slave, we pay for our own food, clothing and shelter. We can't afford to lose healthcare so we don't leave a bad job. We must work hard to do well because the corporation holds a carrot in front of us, just out of reach, that we think we will get to if we just try a bit harder! We are buffeted from all sides while various corporations take our earnings and increase costs while no pay increase keeps us from falling.
#28
Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
-- Benjamin Franklin
#29
After about a twenty day respite where I prayed, center prayed, contemplated, and meditated, I now realize that as an American citizen, I am part of the problem in our killing and maiming of God’s children by committing war crimes against humanity. As an American citizen I am now also part of a people and a nation that lusts and craves for wars, war crimes, torture, and human blood.
I beg my God for mercy in judging me. I tried but I failed to return our country to fill their hearts with love, mercy, and forgiveness.
With a merciful God we have a chance for salvation; with a just God very few of us will have a chance for salvation.
Dear God, please have mercy on me for my failure in trying to help our citizens and our nation to understand the importance of love, mercy, and forgiveness in their hearts. – Gerald Socha
The whole of our life is God, love, compassion, and peace. We must reject hatred, corruption, and lies and accept the nonviolence voices of Jesus, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King.
This respite was quite helpful. I need to stand away from my computer to comment and post for a period of time. Why should I try to seek truth, justice, and the American way? In the USA there are only lies, injustices, and a disastrous American way. The following statement is an eternal truism. THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY REMAIN THE SAME!!!
Even though I did not comment for about twenty days, I was reading articles and seeing and hearing three documentaries. From this hiatus I have several (eight or so) comments to post. Some comments are short, somewhat short, somewhat lengthy, and lengthy. But, the length is relative to every person. We have different ideas as to what maybe short comments and what maybe longer comments.
A twenty day hiatus or respite is quite lengthy but a five, ten, or fifteen day hiatus may be better. I need these hiatuses and respites. During the twenty day respite there were articles, issues, ideas, and thoughts that I wanted to share but I said I would not comment or post until after New Year’s Day so I kept my word.
#30
For years the US government has been trying 'dealing' with existing governments in Muslim areas (countries, kingdoms etc) or trying propping up rulers who are sympathetic to the US for their own selfish means. And time has proven that it just does not work that way.
US needs to deal directly with the people in these areas. Normal muslims on the street are not going to listen to 'experts' who are highly educated in western colleges, but lack basic religious knowlege. Instead US government should start dealing with knowledgable and respected clerics and other people who can speak the language of the locals, and despise attacks against civilians NOT BECAUSE THEY HAVE A SOFT CORNER FOR OR PERSONAL INTEREST IN USA, BUT SINCE IT IS UNLAWFUL TO KILL CIVILIANS even as per the Qur'an. It would be better to finance study of science and english in Madrasas in Pakistan, Afghanistan etc rather than forcing governments to shut all of them down. It would be better to use the manpower and finances of the muslim citizens of US to spearhead our outreach, rather than shutting down (or make it difficult to exist for) Muslim charities here in the USA and rather than sending for profit companies and mercenaries to help in 'development' and 'outreach.
We need to seek the help of people who like us, not because we can help them with F-16s or dollars, but stand by us when we do right, but are not afraid to critize us when they think we are wrong; either way they stand by their believes and do not reinterpret things to suit their point of view (like to the scholar alligned with the extremists or the dictators put in place by past US governments).
#31
As a Catholic I am familiar with the Seven Sacraments. At seventy plus years of age the priest’s homily for Christmas Mass was on Sacramental Moments. This was the first time that I heard of Sacramental Moments.
Sacramental Moments are all around us. These moments occur daily. Sacramental Moments are the good deeds we do to help make our world a better place. Each of us has various kinds of Sacramental Moments. Here are some examples, such as caring for and helping the poor, working for justice and peace, and speaking out against wrong and immoral wars. These are a few examples. Other persons may have their ideas as what constitutes Sacramental Moments.
Striving to make Medicare for Everyone a reality is a Sacramental Moment.
Joining the International Criminal Court at The Hague, Netherlands to investigate and prosecute crimes against humanity, war crimes, mass murders in wrong and immoral wars, and torture of human beings is another Sacramental Moment.
Working to stop irresponsible corporations from exploiting human workers is a Sacramental Moment.
We have Sacramental Moments all around us. We should always work to increase Sacramental Moments in our daily lives to help make our world a better place for our environment and for animal and human life.
#32
I think the Underwear Bomber is a better description then the Christmas Bomber.
#33
Here is the hardest and yet most important of the instructions of Jesus. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of justice.”
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me, theirs is the kingdom of heaven. So if you are pretty content, if you haven’t made waves, if you are not being persecuted in some way, maybe, just maybe, you are not working very hard to be a true follower of Christ.
This beatitude warns us that the world is full of sin and will not always welcome the Good News. Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s full commitment to following the way of Jesus gave him clarity and courage to speak out and lead other Christians in opposing Hitler’s injustice and violence against the Jews. He believed that this beatitude gave Christians the guidance they needed for delivering justice and bringing peace to our world.
Jesus encourages us to stand faithful and not change because of all the ideologies that the world, the media, even the neighborhoods in which we live abide by. The only way peace can come into our world is through us. The people of the first three centuries of Christianity really understood this. It is our turn to discover peace in our day.
#34
It is very interesting we say that Muslims are radical but there is no talk about radical Jews or radical Christians. In the USA we create fear; we blame; we divide; we stereotype; we spread chaos and not democracy; we label; we steal a country’s resources; we kill God’s children; we torture; we use incendiary weapons of mass destruction; we are a terrorist nation but make believe that we are not radical. In the USA we call ourselves Christians. But, Mahatma Gandhi knew, “I like your Jesus. It’s your Christians I do not like.”
#35
Well said Gerald Socha! This is true of all the existing religious communities of the world.
Bad elements exist in all communities (including religious groups) but it take only one bad deed to get into and dominate the 24hr new cycle today and it takes years of good work to get anywhere close to that kind of converage. We need to marginalise the bad guys and promote the good ones.
#36
Re: Masons
No, there is no conspiracy. The only connection is that Masonry has always been a "rich man's fraternity (until the past 30 years, as membership declined). Mason do not take a blood oath to defend each other, no matter what the crime.
#37
It was a week or so prior to Christmas and Mary Shaw had an article on Charity giving. She highlighted one such Charity. The Charity’s name is well known. The Charity will help people in need but it is quite selective in its giving. Some people will receive help and other people will not receive help.
Her article made me think about my charitable giving. A friend of mine recommended two charities in Haiti. One charity was for feeding the people and the second charity was for health care.
What I did was to try and receive information on these two charities. The only information that I was able to gather was N/A. The only information that was not released to the public was N/A. Well, this will be my last two donations to these charities. I believe, like Mary Shaw, that the people need to have information as to how much direct aid goes to the people in need and how much is spent on salaries, funding raising, marketing, and maintenance of facilities.
Most Americans believe that slavery ended in 1865 when the North defeated the South and the slaves were set free. Well, slavery in America is alive and sick even today in the year 2010.
Here are some examples of such slavery – the exploitation of the human worker, slave wages, lack of salary increases, the destruction of the labor unions, lack of good health care for most human beings, stagnant salaries to help people buy goods and services that drives an economy, and the push to end minimum wage.
The babble coming from the corporations and the rich is that removal of the minimum wage laws would create more jobs. They are right but how much can the American worker buy on less than a dollar per hour in our Consumer-driven economy that requires money to buy the goods and services to keep our economy running?
The issue is not more jobs for the American worker but huge profits for the corporations and for the rich. The elimination of minimum wages would enslave the American worker at an even deeper level in comparison to the worker of today.
There are corporations and the rich who export slavery to other countries in order to have huge profits and we have in America human sweat shops running with no standards for the treatment of our immigrants.
#38
mir, you are right!!!
#39
Mark,
As an afterthought per my previous link to an article about the end of the ethanol boom, does this company hold any interest or opportunity for you? You are so smart, you'd be a real asset for them. (It's cold in Granite Falls right now, though! brrrrrrrrrrr! LOL)
#40
Mark,
More signs of a better economy (more and better jobs?) in the future in the midwest:
State unveils its high-speed Twin Cities-to-Chicago rail plan
http://www.startribune.com/local/80421717.html?elr=KArks:DCiU1PciUoaEYY_...
#41
My second documentary by Naomi Wolf cannot be posted because my comment awaits moderation. How does a person moderate a comment when I took direct notes from Naomi Wolf's presentation?
#42
Gerald,
Do you have more than one URL in your post? That usually gets it sidelined. If that is the case, send each URL in a separate post.
#43
Quark, please explain URL! I am a neophyte regarding computer literacy.
#44
Quark, if the f-word or the n-word is in a comment or if I highlight some articles by authors, these comments await moderation.
The f-word is seven or eight letters that end with a t for singular and s for plural words. The n-word is four or five letters that end with an i for singular and s for plural words.
#45
A third documentary will not be posted because it, too, will await moderation. This third documentary is the crown jewel of the three documentaries. It is titled, "Superpower."
#46
Dear Thom,
You want President Obama re-elected in 2012 because he will have influence in nominating Supreme Court Justices. I do not even want Obama to run in 2012 because he has failed as a president and as a leader.
Appointment of Supreme Court Justices is no guarantee that the Justices will side more as a progressive than as a conservative. Some of our great justices who were appointed to the Supreme Court were great justices because they were neither progressive nor conservative. They believed in and they followed the U.S. Constitution.
Personally, with his $150 million in his campaign fund from the pursuit of the presidency invested and a great retirement plan for him and his wife I do not know if Obama wants to run for re-election. He receives $500,000 in pension and his wife receives $250,000 in pension per year plus there is a $2 to 4 million stipends for secretaries, office space, etc. Both the former president and first lady have secret service protection 24/7.
Obama is the Grand Experiment that has not worked for a better America.
Sincerely,
Gerald
#47
It's all Greek to me!
#48
Gerald,
The website printed in blue in your last post is a URL. :-)
#49
Gerald,
Forgive me --- I see I was being redundant...oops!
#50
We need to continue moving the ball forward... and we need a movement to make that happen. a possible 2010 national movement theme... restoring justice in America.
Folks who listen to Thom are familiar with the Don Siegelman story... a story that includes alleged corruption on the part of the US Attorney and Federal Judiciary systems.
Nominees for these positions are cleared through the local US Senators. If there's corruption in the US Attorney and Federal Judiciary systems within a state, US Senators helped make it happen. They can address the problem... or they can be replaced.
I suggest hiring a nonpartisan groups of experts who would take the next few months to identify CORRUPT US Attorneys and Federal Judges... based on realistic criteria. We could then use that information to pressure the respective US Senators to address the problem. If they won't budge... then we can work to replace those Senators.
The focus would be on corruption... NOT ideology. Ideally... this idea should get support across party lines... from the tea partiers to sane GOP and everyone else. And the focus is on the Senate... where the most change needs to happen.
The Thom Hartmann's of the world could drum up support for the project in the form of small donations... to fund the effort.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Micah+6%3A6-8&version=NIV
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This past weekend came the report that the Taliban killed scores of Pakistani women and children while tribal leaders held a conference discussing establishing an anti-Taliban militia. At what point to will Islamic “scholars” and religious leaders say, enough is enough, this is not what Islam is about? When will they finally say, those who kill innocent women and children (and men) will not be going to “paradise” for such acts? Even the Catholic Church had two Vatican Councils to “reform” itself and “re-interpret” certain aspects of doctrine in keeping with the times. But no such redefining seems to be afoot in regard to Islam. While many Muslims (especially university students) do have some regard for their future here on Earth, and do not crave a “glorious” early death, many of their aged imams live comfortably and exhort some in their flock to desire an early exit, and take as many people with them. I have heard it said (particularly on this show) that if Muslim women are educated, it would be a different Muslim world; but then again, that’s making a rather broad assumption along Western thinking, and does nothing about the many uneducated Muslim men who have become radicalized because they see no future.
Not that this country doesn't have its issues with violence, and its acceptability in some sectors. After an unheard of string of shootings in which local police were victims, a look at the New Year’s Day paper reveals that everything seems to back to “normal”: Deputy answers domestic disturbance call. Dispute between father of pregnant female and her boyfriend. Initial story states that boyfriend allegedly stabbed father in the face with a screw driver. Deputy tells boyfriend to drop the screw driver. How much time he was given to do this is unknown, or the extent to which he was a threat. Deputy shoots him dead instead of “disabling” him. Nobody cares, and the cop will never be required to answer for it. Accompanying this story is a column by a female columnist who tends to the self-obsessed gender side. How to help police deal with stress? Obviously she doesn’t read her own paper to find out.