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THX for the Advance Uncorrected Galley copy of Unequal Protection!! Arrived so quickly! Will be reading this and writing another book review! Here was book review of last copy Edison Gene:
http://developmental-psychology.suite101.com/article.cfm/thom-hartmann--on-genetically-gifted-children--the-edison-gene
We CAN change the world!
Wow thx Louise for posting this- Imagine is what John Lennon no doubt would say if he were here. LOCALISM must be our battle cry. A large component of slavery, and Illegal immigration, animal torture, crazy right wing control of the airwaves could all be significantly reduced if each community could or would be allowed to become self-sufficient. See http://www.verticalfarm.com/Press/pyra-1.jpg We could install glass pyramids of hydroponics in city centers and make them carbon neutral and zero waste as in here http://www.popsci.com/futurecity/home2.html.
So many problems in this country will fix themselves if we can get manufacturing back to this country. So much of why this country is as divided as it is is because nobody is making any money any more and people are frustrated, and as Thomm has said many times before, one group of people (we'll call them the teabaggers) blame immigrants and people of color. We liberals blame large corporations, the uber rich and the corupt government that make the laws as favorable to their corporate sugar daddies as they need to in order to get their re-election campaigns financed.
Repeal NAFTA?
Whereas the U. S. Constitution makes no provision to pass Agreements, how many votes are needed to repeal an Agreement?
Repudiate NAFTA, it never got the 67 votes needed to pass as a Treaty in the Senate.
I'm sick of Obama already- I voted for him and now my parents may lose their home to a predatory ARM loan. They have tried to get help for the last year from his "HAMP" program - it is non sense, and simply a lie to sound like there is action. My parents even had the Treasury Dept. claim that their case was closed, even as Boxer's office was telling them that they were going to help. At least with Bush you knew the pitchfork was coming. Why all this insane coddling of the weak Democrats from our side? Whoohoo I have to buy insurance from a criminal...what a victory...Wait What? The Banks inflate the market, tell people that it's going up, "trust me I'm a professional"...then bet it's going to fail (As some most likely TRIED to crash it). Power plants, clean coal and stealing Mom's house. You could say I am far from impressed. With Democrats like these..... ? And Advisors? What did they say?--Ya, let's give them billions to throw around, a tax rebate, ignore offshore subsidiaries and go after Grandma in Vermont. America the Beautiful.
Talk about a fearsome foursome of choices for costumes for Halloween. If I ran into any of those four outfitted characters in a dark alley, I'd definitely be most scared of the pizza. Probably the most fattening costume choice of the four, and that's saying something with the King involved.
one aspect of the immigration debate that is neglected is the fact that most of the undocumented farm workers are indios-mexicans, guatemalans, hondurans etc. but still indians. the Ladinos or European/Mexicans are for the most part members of the upper-middle class or members of the 28 families that own Mexico and therefore have no need to immigrate illegally.
It's not just manufacturing to China , we are also outsourcing our computer based information management job pool to India. That was the promise of NAFTA. We would rid ourselves of the drudgery of manufacturing and our kids would become computer literate and the future would be bright for them in the new information age, no sooner did they graduate and gain employment than the companies they worked for downsized the domestic work force in favor of cheap computer savvy mouse jockeys in India.
Grossest Thing I Ever Ate:
While held in conscription during the Vietnam war in Thailand, I noticed that the locals would hang around street lights at night. Giant "rice bugs" which are huge beetles, about 4" long, and 3" wide, would be circling the light, like any other insect, except that these beetles are so heavy that they don't stay airborne very long. When they hit the ground, they would go skipping across the road like a cross between a rock and a Frisbee. The locals would chase them down, rip their legs out one-by-one (think of legs about the size of a decent frog), and they would nibble the meat off the upper leg. When the legs were all gone, they would bite the head off and suck the guts out of the shell. I was brave enough to munch on one of the legs, but I stopped there... it tasted like peppermint.
Simply another attempt for organized religion or more accurately the blind patrons of organized religion to deny science and offer crude explanations, remnant of ancient history, to the ignorant masses.
Captain
Farm Workers Fight for an Extra Cent
Monday 19 April 2010
by: Andrew Stelzer | Inter Press Service
Tampa, Florida - Chanting "No more slaves! Pay a living wage!", hundreds of farmworkers, students and others marched 22 miles through central Florida for three days, calling on the Publix supermarket chain to pay an extra penny to the impoverished workers who pick their tomatoes.
The three-day long march was organised by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a collective of Mexican, Guatemalan and Haitian migrants based in the small south Florida town of Immokalee. The procession passed through the cities of Tampa and Plant City, and then culminated with a rally in Lakeland, where Publix corporate headquarters is located.
The farmworkers are calling on Publix to pay them a penny more for every pound of tomatoes they pick, which would almost double their meager wages. They also want Publix to sign onto a code of conduct, co-written by the workers themselves, which would prevent the supermarket chain from buying tomatoes from any growers that did not meet certain basic working conditions.
"We get paid 45 cents for picking a bucket of tomatoes," says farmworker Wilson Perez.
Have a good day!
@Mark K - US farmers only needs to compete with imported produce because we no longer tax the imports. If Chilean apples (only pickin' on Chile cuz thats the label I'm seein' on most of Shop-Rite's produce these days, BTW) were taxed at a high rate, then perhaps domestic farm workers could be paid at a rate that would enable them to actually support a family.
Some imported produce wouldn't be taxed, of course. We can't grow bananas, so they would not. Maybe peaches, plums & the like, OUTSIDE the domestic growing season, could also be untaxed.
The domestic (out-of) work force is EXTREMELY unlikely to apply for a job that won't pay them what they can get on unemployment - or on welfare. The neocon refusal to protect the domestic work force is what's really at fault here. The repeal of NAFTA would be a good start on the road to bringing jobs back home. If you disagree, I'd like to hear more about why you do than a statement that such a viewpoint is naive.
Oh - and demanding a "living" wage is outrageous, eh, Mark? And you call ME a faux-progressive?
Zero G. you're not Mexican, you have no idea what it is to be a victim of racism, none what-so-ever. Your world is picture perfect, not just black and white, right and wrong. There is just no possible way you could have experienced hate just for being who you are... because your not Mexican!!!!! (You're not right? 'cause mommy won't let me play with you anymore if you are.)
N
Mark,
I've worked with many Mexicans, both documented and not, I go to their houses, eat with them (habanero salsa!) and play with their kids. You don't know me at all, at all.
Furthermore, on Saturday, I was out protesting the National Socialist Movement here in L.A. as they were rallying against immigration rights. I stood with Mexicans/Salvadorans/Colombians, Jews, Gays, Socialists, etc., against the fascistas as they trod on both the Mexican and Israeli flags.
If all the Mexicans went to Mexico, what we do about the serious impact to Mexican food restaurants? I mean seriously have you ever eaten at a Mexican restaurant with an Asian chef (talk about gross food)? I'm getting Carne Asasda withdrawals just thinking about it.
Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project
ASAP helps create and expand local food markets that will preserve our agricultural heritage, give everyone access to fresh, healthy food, and keep our farmers farming. Our mission is to collaboratively create and expand regional community based and integrated food systems that are locally owned and controlled, environmentally sound, economically viable, and health-promoting.
Seriously Quark I need one of 'dose Sundaes to eat while I sit with my gun and Minuteman friends on the border just waiting to shoot those dang families coming over hear.
Gawd how I hate those Candjuns (no offense to Rick), remember Blame Canada!
N
Nels,
I think I'm getting in over my head. Maybe I should just ...
Darn, I was going to say something perfectly nice, but couldn't because I realized it could be taken two ways.
'Time to get out while the getting's good! 'Take care, have a nice evening. 'See you tomorrow. 'Bye!
Robert S:
The problem is that you are trying to use that article to make your "point." Let's face it: you don't really care about the conditions that Mexican laborers work in--even the ones who are legal. You want them out of those jobs--all of them. They are all the same. This is antithetical to the agenda of the SPLCenter.
awww Quark, you're making me blush ;-)
Nels,
Some things we are better off only guessing at...
QUAAARRRK, quick where can I get one of 'dem Sundae's, until now I've never known how incomplete my life was.
Nels,
Well, I didn't want you to think (as Stephanie Miller puts it) that you weren't BOTH pretty! LOL!
Mark,
You could have clicked on the link to see that that came from the Southern Poverty Law Center, and specifically dealt with the Immokalee workers who were trying to organize for a wage hike, many had been working in near slave conditions.
Ignore the macro and micro? Me? When I spend all this time talking about how US foreign/trade policies drive the Global Corporate agenda?
Quark, only sometimes?