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What we need are score cards on our lawn
we the people v. we the corporation
with a line down the middle
then put each representative in their appropriate column---????
maybe we need to reference current legislation this way---???
this still leaves out any type of progressive outreach.
does the IRS modify taxes from the bottom up with poverty??
I am reminded of Ambrose Briece's dictionary definition of riches:
"The savings of many in the hand of the few."
What we need are score cards on our lawn
we the people v. we the corporation
with a line down the middle
then put each representative in their appropriate column
Thom, you don't have to go to such lengths to explain the (ab)use of the name "Democrat Party".
Simple English. "Democrat" is a noun. "Democratic" is an adjective.
Will America ever be the same, again? I guess it all depends on ones definition of the "same", is I guess!
When one pages through our history, there is a lot, that is less than exemplary, and is not where we should be going. Unfortunately, that seems to be where are headed!
Consider the state of the current Supreme Court. It seems to mirror the pro-corporatist court of the late 1800's, not ruling on a Constitutional basis, but ruling with the "ruling class"! I don't recall any part of the Constitution, that put the "ruling class" in charge!
There is so much here, I could go on all day, but a few of my pet peeves are: 1) the no justice for war criminals, DOJ. 2) the Wall Street bankers and their attitude toward the the American people, and all people of the world for that matter!
Pick and choose carefully, there are a lot of pitfalls laced throughout our history!
@Mark K. why is it hard to get anything done in this country? Hold on let me answer you after I finish watching Faux News......
This is making my head explode.Common sense for the last thirty years has been turned upside down .
Thom said today "we are almost the exact opposite of the time when it was illegal to profit on war" Talk about an understatement!
Thom have you forgotten about " FutureMAP (Futures Markets Applied to Prediction)"
THE PENTAGON ACTUALLY SET UP A FUTURE"S MARKET ON WAR in 2003. This was not a hoax - as ludicrous as it sounds.
The Pentagon had set up a website and was accepting traders registrations to bet on potential terrorist attacks, assasinations etc.
"The idea of a federal betting parlor on atrocities and terrorism is ridiculous and it's grotesque," Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. (2003) NYT
It was a while ago, but we should not forget what we are dealing with and must no let these despicable warmongers prevail.
Thanks for all you do.
Susan G.
Why is it so difficult to accomplish anything in this country? First Marshall Auerback tells us that if we change our trade policy, then that will cause unemployment in this country. Then he and Thom complain how we need to change our trade policies. Huh? Anyways, I'm not entirely certain why it would hurt this country that greatly if China's currency changed either way. First off, they are not buying anything from us anyways; our import to export ratio with China is 5 to 1. Secondly, more expensive Chinese goods hurts us in the short-term only because we have lost so much manufacturing (and assembly) infrastructure, and we would need to build it back-up rapidly, and creating jobs. Is that such a bad thing?
It amazes me just how much America just gave away its manufacturing and financial infrastructure to Asia and Latin America and other countries. Thank you Mr Reagan (and every Pres. after you), now we don't have jobs to go to, and everything else is being flushed away.
The terms of the revolution are simple - QUIT PAYING FOR THEM TO INSLAVE YOU!!!!
Quit paying mortgagues, rents, credit cards, car payments and especially insurance policies (any and all insurance policies).
Require the ER's to become the portals of primary care! Every American should call a financial institution at least once a day and just screw around with the menu system. Out of work? Take 1 or 2 days a week and go down to your local B of A and just stand in line - over and over and over.
Increase the number of dependents on your federal taxes to withhold zero. And make sure you convert your paycheck to cash immediately. Hold only cash!
When dthe sheriff comes to evict you, just keep moving the stuff back in as they walk it to the side walk, SQUAT!!! Pick out any old repo and just move in.
The only way we are going to change the nation is by withholding from the haves what they desire the most - MONEY!!!
The jails can only hold so many of us and if yours are anything like ours they're already full.
No, it won't be bloodless. Only because they will hire the Blackwaters, et al, to gun us down. But if you (or I) are not willing to die for our country - than we only deserve the one we have now,
Marja Offensive Aimed to Shape US Opinion on War
by Gareth Porter
WASHINGTON - Senior military officials decided to launch the current U.S.-British military campaign to seize Marja in large part to influence domestic U.S. opinion on the war in Afghanistan, the Washington Post reported Monday.
The Post report, by Greg Jaffe and Craig Whitlock, both of whom cover military affairs, said the town of Marja would not have been chosen as a target for a U.S. military operation had the criterion been military significance instead of impact on domestic public opinion.
The primary goal of the offensive, they write, is to "convince Americans that a new era has arrived in the eight-year long war...." U.S. military officials in Afghanistan "hope a large and loud victory in Marja will convince the American public that they deserve more time to demonstrate that extra troops and new tactics can yield better results on the battlefield," according to Jaffe and Whitlock.
A second aim is said to be to demonstrate to Afghans that U.S. forces can protect them from the Taliban.
More at: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/02/23-8
*********************
So who can protect the Afghans from the US military? How many deaths for a PR campaign? US death toll tops 1000.
Robert Gates complains to NATO countries that they don't spend enough on military hardware. No Mr. Gates, we spend way too much. And use it far too often. Illegally.
"We must make clear to the Germans that the wrong for which their fallen leaders are on trial is not that they lost the war, but that they started it. And we must not allow ourselves to be drawn into a trial of the causes of the war, for our position is that no grievances or policies will justify resort to aggressive war. It is utterly renounced and condemned as an instrument of policy." - Robert Jackson at Nuremburg
Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention warned us way back when, but he had to go to the BBC to broadcast what he couldn't perform in the US:
"Who could imagine
That they would freak out in Washington, D.C.
Who could imagine
That they would freak out in the suburbs!
(No no no no no no no no no no,Man you guys are really safe
Everything's cool)
And they thought it couldn't happen here
They knew it couldn't happen here
They were so sure it couldn't happen here
.....Help, I'm a Rock...Help, I'm a Rock...Help, I'm a Rock"
If we focus on fear, we attract what we fear.If we focus on peace and justice, we attract them.Put aside the negative and re-focus on positive outcomes, then fight like hell with the power we gain from them.
'Sibel Edmonds: The Traitors Among Us' in March Issue of Hustler (Now on Newsstands)
Also, Mike Connell story still on stands in February's Maxim...
You're welcome. My 2000+ word article on former FBI translator-turned-whistleblower Sibel Edmonds is now featured in the March 2010 edition of Hustler. Sorry, she's wearing all her clothes. Go buy it anyway.
The article brings the story of Edmonds, who was twice-gagged by the Bush Administration's outrageous use/abuse of the "States Secrets Privilege," fully up to date following her naming of names, finally, under oath, in remarkable testimony last summer. (Some of those names: Hastert, Burton, Blunt, Lantos, Schakowsky, Wolfowitz, Perle, Grossman, etc.)
from Brad Blog http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7688
Just wondering if the economy does tank as suggested during today's program what will happen to social security as we know it. I plan on retiring end of this year and am eligible for ss next June. Even though I have retirement funds at my credit union, ss will be a major part of my budget.
I agree with Bruce Judson -- although the one point not mentioned that I see as salient is that it is the middle class that is suffering. Poor people don't usually rise up and "revolt" because they don't have high expectations. But the middle class does have expectations and that's why they've been able to move up and/or maintain their middle classness. But the combination of their economic stability being taken away and the anger and disillusionment at government (in its complicity with corporations) as cause is why I do see this as a ripe time for a [non-violent] revolution.
CREDIT CHECKS for Jobs?
Thom: please cover this serious topic of how employers, including the federal government, run credit checks as part of their background checks for most potential hires (even non-financial positions). It is good business for credit bureaus, good business for the government contractor firms who perform these checks... But a disaster and possibly a discriminatory practice for many non-wealthy Americans who are just trying to earn a living. This practice is classism, at least.
LINK:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35512038/ns/business-eye_on_the_economy/
My recollection of what Thom said Mitt Romney did was the usual corporate raider thing. He would buy a company and lay off a bunch of workers. This would give the appearance in the bookkeeping world that productivity was high. With this metric he was able to sell the company at a high profit. A key component of this approach is that the quality of the products of the company is based on a full workforce that no longer exist when he sells it. It takes consumers some time to realize the quality of the product of the company has fallen. During this time period is a good time to sell it.
@ Harry,
She is a very attractive woman. She has also testified under oath. I am concerned with the fact that Ms. Schakowski has tried to undermine her credibility.
I couldn't care less about the issues Ms. Edmonds brought out about Ms. Schakowski. I care considerably about the rest of her testimony.
@D.Silva - You have hit the proverbial nail directly on the head! As long as the corporate elite can use their slave media to convince the majority of DIMWITS out there that the interests of the masters are identical to those of the masses, we're all SCREWED (to borrow Thom's book title)!
@Zero G: You don't get it that I'll take care of Sibel Edmonds? Have you seen her?
Taking on a mighty military.
George Washington did it. As did Toussaint L’Overture. As did Ho Chi Minh.
Not advocating, just observing.
@ZeroG, re: harry - I suspect that you do get it, ZG - it just wasn't all that funny.
The reason there is no class war here in America is because people feel they are in the "Club". They buy their $4 cups of coffee, they carry a $500 hand bags and lease luxury cars. They feel that they are part of the upper class. Many people cashed out the equity in there homes to keep the illusion alive. The resent down turn has cause a few people to wake up but many still are in denial. We need to realize how close we all are to losing everything. Until we do the ultra elite will continue to write all the rules.