A week or two ago, New York police charged four young men with a hate crime after they followed a man of Mexican extraction and beat him with baseball bats, two-by-fours and a chain. New York, it seems, has lower standards for what constitutes a hate crime than places like Texas, where in a Houston suburb called Spring, a Latino teenager can be kicked unconscious, burned with cigarettes, have a racial epithet scrawled on his chest with a knife, had a patio umbrella pole thrust into his rectum—causing massive internal injuries—and had bleach poured over and inside him to “cover-up” the evidence, all perpetrated by two skinheads, one who sported Nazi tattoos, all of which Texas prosecutors claimed did not qualify as a hate crime (nor of course, does dragging a black man tied to a pick-up truck until he is decapitated). The Seattle Times published a brief paragraph on that story, the few details it left in made it seem that the special-ed student was somehow at fault; when I contacted an editor why they paper omitted the gruesome details, he responded by saying the editors didn’t want to “revolt” readers, to which I responded isn’t that the point? It seems that it is OK to hate, but it’s not “OK” to learn the consequences of that hate.

Anyways, I had indicated a few weeks ago that I wanted to offer my view concerning Thom’s talk with Charles Bowden’s and his book “Murder City,” which according to reviews I’ve read tells stories in a novelistic tone revolving around the lives of certain people engaging in or effected by the drug violence in Cuidad Juarez, rather than illuminating the nature or context of the problem. The failure that is the “War on Drugs” is patently obvious by the fact that despite how the U.S. aided in the destruction of the Colombia cartels by extra-legal means, the “inadvertent” side-effect of “winning” this battle was transferring the violence from Colombia to Mexico; there apparently is not the stomach or the will to employ the same tactics that took down the Medellin Cartel, because it is much closer to home, and Americans don’t have the stomach for viewing their foreign doings close-up (the out of sight, out of mind syndrome). But the source of the cocaine traffic remains Colombia, and the eventual destination for most of it remains the United States. Mexico and its people are caught in the middle. As long as there is large market, and as long as “recreational” drugs are illegal, there will be no stopping those willing to employ violence to continue the trade. It is also a bit hypocritical to pretend that this country doesn’t have its own home-grown variety of violence from illicit trade, or that it has a conflicted attitude about drug use; cable television shows like “Weeds” and “Breaking Bad” are suggestive of this phenomenon.

The U.S. is so preoccupied with controlling drugs that heavy-handed methods seems to have the opposite effect intended—with even higher rates of use and addiction. Similarly to sexual Puritanism leading to a greater incidence of sexual deviancy in this country, preoccupation with controlling drug use only makes that problem worse. If a vice is left to the imagination, then imagination creates an alternate reality receptive to vice. Drug and alcohol use by teens is reportedly on the rise again, and for adults, pain-killers and prescription drugs is rapidly becoming the drug addiction of choice (just ask Rush Limbaugh). All this drug use seems beyond the capabilities of law enforcement to control, no matter how many people they lock-up. The fact is that if the trade in illegal drugs were brought out into the open market, it would be easier to control and regulate. But few in authority want to face reality.

The drug violence in Mexico should be seen as the logical result of failed policies and their unintended results. Passing judgment on Mexico or Mexicans denies the culpability of America’s drug use and dealers. Americans have no moral leverage, because they cannot even control themselves.

Mark K: Some people might remember the film “Being There” starring Peter Sellers. In it he portrayed a mentally-challenged middle-aged man who lived a sheltered life in which a garden and television set comprised his entire world, until he was forced out onto the street after the death of his warder. He managed to find a new warder in a politically-connected billionaire, and everyone who met him thought his minimalistic gardening tips were nuggets of wisdom and genius. At the end, there was even talk among party elders to set him up as a candidate for president. There is a person today who also thinks in minimalistic terms, but without any suggestion of forethought, and yet who some would also regard as a serious presidential candidate. The difference, of course, is that Chance the gardener thought in terms of nurturing that which was under his care, while Sarah Palin only seems to care about nothing save nurturing her own ego and bank account—which makes it seem that the people who are the more pathetic are the ones who allow themselves to be fooled by what they wish to see in her. What makes it all the more immoral is that this media creation has in the last year reportedly made $12 million from a book of which her only labor was a jumble of half-baked expectorations that a ghost writer put into legible form, and from repeating ad nauseam the same obtuse lines over and over again that paranoid bigots drink-up like booze-besotted drunks.

Having that percentage of sudden increase on the taxes, how are are we even gonna pay for our basic needs since it would seem we never earned anything for the salary immediately goes for these taxes. It's not even supposed to happen at this point of financial crisis. The government must help us to stop it, and not support the increase. Everyone works hard to earn a living and support our family and ourselves. Talking about taxes, the Laffer Curve is the one directing income tax rates and tax theory mostly in USA. It was pioneered by Jude Wanniski, a buddy of Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfield, Bush and Reagan. It signals the gist of taxation rates which is mainly for collection and use of tax funding, which is essential for payday advances from common people to the government. It's clearly linked to Keynesian economics, and the Austrians questions its effectiveness.

Let Them Secede!

I think that the states which are threatening to secede should be sent packing. Let them go their own way and do things all their way.

I would love to see them enact their "ideal" goverment based on their insane political ideas. Let them experience for themselves how disfunctional the ideas and policies their leaders are proposing actually are in the real world of everday life.

Let's see them live in a world with NO social safety nets; with NO gun laws; with NO regulations on businesses - especially banks, health insurance companies and corporate farming companies. Let's see how quickly they come back to our door begging for help. Let's see how happy they are living with rigid laws based on evangelical doctrine. Let's see how prosperous and happy they would be with the rich guys holding all the cards and huge multi-national corporations deciding how long their work days should be and how much money they should make.

Can you say "foreign aid from the U.S.?" Does anyone remember the movie "The Mouse That Roared?" - A small country was formed and declared war on the U.S. They then surrendered and applied for foreign aid from us.

Let's see how the survival of the fittest philosophy works in actual practice when they are forced to live on minimum wage with no health care or any other benefits. Let's see how they like eating unsafe foods, working in unsafe work places and seeing their families facing gunplay in the streets.

I say Lincoln was wrong. He should have let the South go. We might have avoided 150 years of turmoil, conflict and distress.

The big problem with this is that no state is totally red, there are still lots of progressives living in those states we think of as "red" states. I live in Virginia. But wouldn't it be interesting to see what would happen to those who want to secede and who want to implement all these crazy conservative ideas.

Let them ban all abortions, ban all immigrants, ban all gays, Jews, Muslims and Blacks. Let's see how an all-white, all straight, all Christian country would survive.

So let them have it all their way and choke on it. LET THEM SECEDE!

Hi Thom,

In my opinion, today's high CEO compensation causes a direct reduction of employee productivity. This is no longer the 1890's. Employees in a modern technology-enabled organization create a much higher proportion of the corporate value both in creativity and output today, and are much better educated. Upper managers do indeed make critical decisions and propose directions, however, they do not single handedly do all of the wealth multiplying steps of their business anymore. This role is much more widely distributed today. Unfortunately, the 1890's philosophy of who creates value in a corporation is still held in place by those who benefit from it the most.

Kevin

Elena Kagan Connections

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Is-Elena-Kagan-the-Best-Le-by-Dana-Jill-Simpson-100412-491.html

Excerpts:

The question that should be asked is, "Why is she President Obama's number one pick?" It is a well-known fact that Ms. Kagan taught school at the University of Chicago Law School with President Obama and they were friends.

According to news articles, Ms. Kagan was born and raised in New York City on the Upper West Side of New York. Her father, Robert Kagan, was a founding partner in a real estate law firm located in Manhattan called Kagan & Lubic. Her mother, Gloria Kagan, was a schoolteacher at HunterCollege. She has two brothers, Marc Kagan and Irving Kagan, who are associated with HunterCollege. It is interesting to note that all over the blog world it is being reported that she is the cousin of Arch Neocons, Robert and Frederick Kagan. Their father, Donald Kagan, may very well be the brother of Elena's father, Robert Kagan. So it is clearly possible he is her uncle or cousin. Donald Kagan was also a college professor at HunterCollege and now teaches at Yale. However, to date, no one in the press has been brave enough to ask these leaders of the American Neocon movement if Elena Kagan is their niece and cousin. Elena has remained silent on the issue. It is important to note that Donald Kagan was at one time a Democrat. In the sixties at CornellUniversity, he changed and became a Republican. It has often been reported that the reason he changed is that he got upset that CornellUniversity would consider having a black studies department. After that incident, Donald Kagan became one of the founding Fathers of the American Neocon Movement. It would seem that the press would want to know what Ms. Kagan's family connections are to these members of a right wing fringe group but no one has asked. It is possible the reason why is that Robert Kagan, the son of Donald, writes for the Washington Post and is being protected by the media on this matter. The questions that need to be asked is; "What is President Obama thinking by appointing a woman to the United States Supreme Court who is kin to Arch Neocons?", if these reports on the blogs are true. Further, if these internet statements are true, does this explain the positions Ms. Kagan is taking in her job as Solicitor General?

NOTE for our friend, Don Siegelman:

"Since becoming Solicitor General of the United States, Ms. Kagan has taken many unpopular positions on cases before the Supreme Court that needs to be reviewed by the public. The first set of cases that comes to mind are the political prosecution cases in Alabama and Mississippi. In one of the cases, Ms. Kagan has asked that the Supreme Court not review the United States vs. Siegelman matter."

I cannot find that Elena is married to Fred Kagan. The name Kagan has me breaking out in a cold sweat. A cold sweat also happens with the names Cheney and Bush.

@Gerald, um...I think I was just making a joke on your googling elena's husband behind her back..I dont know who if anyone her husband is.. sorry.

Robert S., maybe you can answer my question. "Is Elena married to Fred Kagan."

Gene Savory, I would like to be a person in the room when Bill Gates walks in because I would be a billionaire by averaging the worth of each person in the room.

Grover Norquist does not understand that taxes are an investment to better Americans way of life. Here are some ways that taxes better our lives - public schools, public colleges and universities, firefighters, law enforcement, libraries, public parks, etc are some examples.

Raising the minimum wage to $19 per hour to keep up with inflation would be a great help for our economy.