Brother, can you spare a Dime?

We live in the world's richest state and we are befuddled, numb, angry and hungry. In fact 30 millions folks are getting food stamps. How did this happen?

It isn't often that I read a piece of journalism that resonates as much as this piece in the Guardian Weekly December 19, 2008. Ed Pilkington reminds me how important journalists are in geting out the information that we need to know and not what corporations dictate. Lets hope that after the technology shake out that they bounce back in a different medium.

Please check out his article on a week in the U.S. economy that we wish had not happened. The only difference between this soup kitchen picture and the line today is that women and children have joined it. I guess this is what happens when the foxes watch the chickens. It is sad that "Brother can you spare a dime" is as true today as it was in the 1930s.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eih67rlGNhU

http://www.guardianweekly.co.uk/?page=editorial&id=866&catID=17

Should the US lead the world out of the Fiscal Disaster?

Check out an excellent article in the latest issue of Business Week on the Bush Administration's and the financial industry's involvement in the mortgage crisis which is at the heart of the unravelling of the entire financial system. After you have read this article decide, what do you think?
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_42/b4104036827981.htm

It was only last week that a friend of mine told me how the entire mess started with the excess cash available in China and India that they were begging to invest in the U.S. As a result the U.S. financial industry created esoteric derivatives. Then she went on to say "but I've no doubt we will be blamed for the crisis." Just because there is excess cash does not mean that we should have created what I consider fradulent transacations.

So, yes we are to blame and who will pay the most for this is the countries whose populations are living on the brink. It is unforgivable. The good news is that perhaps we will change drastically the way we view capitalism which would give our ecosystem a chance to recover. Unfortunately though I think it will take five hard years for the financial system to recover as no one is talking about the next major shoe to drop: unpaid credit bills. Many jobs will be lost, less money means we will drive less, buy less, and live more within our means because we will be forced to. many people will be forced to downsize the size of their houses which will save a lot of oil in heating them. Of course, I acknowledge that those folks at the bottom of the economic chain will suffer the most for they don't drive, buy little and do live within their means, but most of us don't. This could lead to a more healthly life style for all.

There is massive resentment in the U.S. at this time, as there should. Perhaps folks will step back now and reconsider the notion that there is no end to growth, because I have always believed there is. A moral I live by is "just because it is available, does not mean that it is the right thing to do." As to our upcoming elections, I would ask our candidates to focus on the crisis rather than mud slinging. This is unappropriate and unappreciated at this time.

Check out the 20-page section in the latest Economist on the World financial meltdown. http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displayStory.cfm?source=hptextfeature&story_id=12373696
The picture at top is from this latest edition.

The Forever War

The focus of our election over the next few weeks looks as if it will be entirely focused on our financial crisis rather than the War. However, since the war has cost $500 billion to date (August 2008) the two cannot be separated. There is also the question on how the war is being fought, for what, and the number of dead which vary wildly but appear to be around 950,000. When you finish this book you will understand why we are in such a quagmire. The book left me very angry. I wish that every politician who voted for the war had been made to spend time in the war zone and share what our soldiers and the Iraqis have gone through.

I will be the first to say that this is not the type of book I would generally read much less buy. When I started reading it a few days ago, I could not put it down. Once you are a third of the way through the book you will fully understand why the author chose the title that he did, and that all by itself is depressing. In fact this realization made me feel that I had been hit in the chest by a very large object. I don’t want to give away anything in the book except to say that the Iraqis must think that they are living through Dante’s Inferno. One wonders who is better off, the dead or the living and were the Iraqis better off before the Americans arrived? What is the price of democracy, is it possible for an occupier to impose democracy on another, and if so is this democracy?

My biggest surprise reading the book was not the lies we were told about going into Iraq but simply what we were not told. Who knew the numbers of different nationalities involved in the war, particularly the Pakistanis and the Uyghur’s’ from Western China. The book opens with the seize of Falluja in November 2004. Dexter Filkins had gone in with the troops and wrote what he saw from his side of the invasion. This chapter is the best piece of war reporting that I have read in a very long time. You could smell the fear and sweat from the soldiers and the reporter. My heart was in my mouth for that entire first chapter.
Picture U.S.1st Calvary Divison


Also read Jo Wildings report of the same event from the other side. Click on the articles tab and then go to April 11th Falluja. http://www.jowilding.net/archiveframeset.html

Now I have finished the book I will add one more comment. Massoud is not who you thought he was, Chalobi was a chameleon and as to Paul Bremmer less said the better.In fact the only person who appears to be what he says is Muqfada Sadir. So while he may be the villian of the piece, I am left wondering about all the other folks on the Iraqi stage, how many of those are equal vilians too?

Dexter Filkins went into areas in Iraq and Afghanistan that most would not. He talked to ordinary Iraqis and Afghans about their life and what they thought of the invaders. He had high level access to folks on both sides of the war which is what makes this book so invaluable. Read this book and you will understand why the war has gone on forever, why it has cost so much in human lives and money, and what Iraqis’ really think about us.


If you want to understand the U.S. role in Central Asia read Ahmed Rashid's Descent into Chaos, a very aptly named book. http://www.democracynow.org/2008/6/10/descent_into_chaos_ahmed_rashid_on

At the end of a four year history of the war I felt that the shifting sands of Iraq had slipped through our fingers and what we were left with was a $550 billion dollar debt and counting. So how do the Iraqis feel? If Iraqis cannot go outside without the fear of being killed what kind of freedom do them have? Please read this book. In addition for your teanager is Walter Dean Myers' excellent book Sunrise Over Fallauh http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/life/stories/2008/09/29/2_YA_BOOK_REVIEW.ART_ART_09-29-08_D2_OVBEJLV.html?type=rss&cat=&sid=101

To keep up to date with what is happening in these areas of the world visit the New York Times site of Dexter's Filkins reporting.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/f/dexter_filkins/index.html?inline=nyt-per

The Week that Shocked the Global Economy

Two major bank collapses and one more on its way out, One huge insurance company,and four money markets in trouble for risky investments. The house of cards has collapsed. I don't think that any one party was particuarly at fault but rather our entire government that allowed the deregulation of the banks with no follow up. To say they would self regulate themselves was ridiculous and again who is left holding the price tag for this? The same folks who have lost their houses due to the unethical behaviour of the folks who worked for the financial institutions. So in the huge bail out of the financial institutations we should ensure that the folks who will lose their jobs (the worker bees), the folks who were foreclosed on, and those who need a leg up directly due to this clamity are taken care of too.

Check out Obama and McCain position on this currant calamity. Here is Obama's take on the sitation
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/economyvideo

Alaskian Anti Palin Rally

Added 10/12/08 picture from the Cambridge, MA OctoberFest



Thanks to my friend in Seattle who sent in these great photos.

Obama for President

Hello All


For those of you who could not listen to the Obama Democratic acceptance speech for President here it is

http://my.barackobama.com/barackspeech<

Credit Card Debt

Is another shoe about to fall in the U.S.; most likely. Who will bail out the credit card companies; tax payers no doubt and just as the folks who created the sub-prime mess were not prosecuted, I doubt one credit card executive will be held accountable for the practices of the companies they lead. Now you may say that those who spend money they don’t have are at fault and that is true, but what about the companies who send cards to folks in the mail who did not ask for them, who are not credit worthy, and in some cases who are not really old enough to have a card. What about the high interest rates that the government allows the card companies to charge? What about the length of the card agreements that are getting to be the size of a mini bible? Why is this necessary if the business is upfront, clear and honest? For me personally there is only one thing I need to know. What is the interest rate and how does the card company treat their customers who are late with their payments. I am not interested in “and”, “buts,” “maybe’s" or any other ambiguous language, I just want a straight forward agreement.

Some time ago I received an offer of an American Express Blue to go with my Green card. The first is a credit card and the latter is not. I read the agreement with the Blue and was shocked. The fees for being late were what I considered of a usury nature and so I called them. The conversation went in circles. There was a large increase the first time you were late. The second time you were late there was also another large increase to the point that you were paying close to 28% at a time when the banks are offering 3% on your savings. They tried to say that the increased interest was only assessed to their bad customers. Of course, when could ask why do you renew cards to your bad customers! This was certainly not the American Express of the old days when you could only get the card if your earnings were above average and your income was checked. If credit card companies no longer do this then who do you think is responsible? I would say the credit card company. I think that anyone who has a credit card should ensure the card is working for them otherwise cut it up, you don’t need it.

The Shaming of America

**Since I wrote this article I heard that a fund had been established to help these and other immigrants**
www.imigrateusa.us>

Also email the senators for Iowa
Chuck Grassley www.grassley.senate.gov>
and Tom Harkin www.harkin.senate.gov>
they are both big names on the Senate Agriculture Committee.
The Representative for the Pottsville area is Bruce Bailey who on all accounts seems to be very socially conscious and active can be reached at www.bailey.house.gov>

Also to keep upto date on events visit the National Immigration Law Center at www.nilc.org>

First we had Katrina, then the Abu Grav prison scandel, followed by the ongoing saga at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and now this immigration scandel. It seems to me that economically and morally, America is falling apart at a spectacular pace.

I have posted the first part of article by a court translator Erik Camayd-Freixas who I thank from the bottom of my heart for bringing the issue to our attenton. The entire artilce is on the WBUR link along with much more.

When I figture out what protest group is trying to close down the factory, or if you know of one let me know and I will post it. IF you are an American, email your sentors and representatives that this is not the behaviour we expect from business in our country. Lastly make a connection between production and consumerism - think; It is your responsibliity.

Quote

Interpreting after the Largest ICE Raid in US History: after the Largest ICE Raid in US History:

A Personal Account by Erik Camayd-Freixas, Ph.D.
Florida International University 0 June 13, 2008

On Monday, May 12, 2008, at 10:00 a.m., in an operation involving some 900 agents,Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) executed a raid of Agriprocessors Inc, the nation’s largest kosher slaughterhouse and meat packing plant located in the town of Postville, Iowa. The raid –officials boasted– was “the largest single-site operation of its kind in American history.”

At that same hour, 26 federally certified interpreters from all over the country were en route to the small neighboring city of Waterloo, Iowa, having no idea what their mission was about. The investigation had started more than a year earlier. Raid preparations had begun in December. The Clerk’s Office of the U.S. District Court had contracted the interpreters a month ahead, but was not at liberty to tell us the whole truth, lest the impending raid be compromised.

The operation was led by ICE, which belongs to the executive branch, whereas the U.S. District Court, belonging to the judicial branch, had to formulate its own official reason for participating. ...

We arrived at the heavily guarded compound, went through security, and gathered inside the retro “Electric Park Ballroom” where a makeshift court had been set up. The Clerk of Court, who coordinated the interpreters, said: “Have you seen the news? There was an immigration raid yesterday at 10am. They have some 400 detainees here. We’ll be working late conducting initial appearances for the next few days.” He then gave us a cursory tour of the compound.

The NCC is a 60-acre cattle fairground that had been transformed into a sort of concentration camp or detention center. Fenced in behind the ballroom / courtroom were 23 trailers from federal authorities, including two set up as sentencing courts; various Homeland Security buses and an “incident response” truck; scores of ICE agents and U.S. Marshals; and in the background two large buildings: a pavilion where agents and prosecutors had established a command center; and a gymnasium filled with tight rows of cots where some 300 male detainees were kept, the women being housed in county jails. Later the NCC board complained to the local newspaper that they had been “misled” by the government when they leased the grounds purportedly for Homeland Security training.

Echoing what I think was the general feeling, one of my fellow interpreters would later exclaim: “When I saw what it was really about, my heart sank…” Then began the saddest procession I have ever witnessed, which the public would never see, because cameras were not allowed past the perimeter of the compound (only a few journalists came to court the following days, notepad in hand). Driven single-file in groups of 10, shackled at the wrists, waist and ankles, chains dragging as they shuffled through, the slaughterhouse workers were brought in for arraignment, sat and listened through headsets to the interpreted initial appearance, before marching out again to be bused to different county jails, only to make room for the next row of one of my fellow interpreters would later exclaim: “ They appeared to be uniformly no more than 5 ft. tall, mostly illiterate Guatemalan peasants with Mayan last names, some being relatives (various Tajtaj, Xicay, Sajché, Sologüí…), some in tears; others with faces of worry, fear, and embarrassment. They all spoke Spanish, a few rather laboriously.

www.onpointradio.org/shows/2008/07/the-postville-raid

Books our Presidential Candidates Should Read

This was taken from the New York Times Summer Reading issue June 1, 2008. I bought the paper just for this response from Lorrie Moore. I loved it!!!

For Obama: "The Portrait of a Lady," by Henry James. A virtuous orphan is plotted against by a charming, ruthless couple the orphan once trusted and admired.

For Clinton: "Macbeth," by William Shakespeare. The timeless tale of how untethered ambition and early predictions may carry a large price tag.

For McCain: "Tales from the Brothers Grimm." In case more are needed.

Go Obama, Go!

What a Week Its Been

Wow! my head is in a spin.
First we have the spectacular fall of a political figure that literally shook the walls of the New York State senate and vibrated around the country.

Then we had the collapse of a big Wall St Investment Bank and the unprecedented brokered rescue by a Republican Administration - one who believes that we are all responsible for our actions.

That we had the swearing in of David Paterson, the first blind governor in U.S. history and only the third black governor since Recontruction.

And then to cap it all we had the most remarkable speech from a most remarkable BLACK man - Barack Obama.
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/23695322#23698937

Same old or CHANGE! - Updated

The Speech.
Everytime Obama is attacked I am more and more impressed with him. I thought this speech was perhaps his crowning achievement for it was incredible, not to mention truthful and to the point. I do hope he becomes our President for we would at last have someone that we can be proud of. Here is the link to the speech. A speech that should be listened to by all not just now but many times over our lives.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/23695322#23695322

This is a link to a funny video.
http://www.dipdive.com/dip-politics/ywc/


For anyone who has not taken the opportunity to go to a Barack Obama rally, visit his website and listen to what he has to say; feel inspired and move forward for the status quo is no longer acceptable.
www.barackobama.com

America can only be great and achieve great things when all its' citizens participate and everyone is doing well. For we cannot be well if our neighbor is not, Boston cannot be well if New Orleans is not, and America cannot be well if Mexico is not. We are all integrated in this new global economy and decisions that America makes affects people far and wide. There is no longer "us" and "them" but only humanity.

Now I know that many say Obama does not have the experience and I was in that camp for a while too but then I stopped to think "where has experience got us so far?" Because of fear we allowed the govenment to go into Iraq without anyone questioning the data. Because of fear we abandonded the citizens of New Orleans. I say "we" because we get the government we deserve, we elect our officials and we pay for them. If they do something that you don't like or agree with you should be banging on their door, or at the very least calling your senator every week to get your point across. Based on the passed six years I want my money back and I definately don't want to see any "insider" in power from any party and that includes Bill Clinton who I voted for twice.

In that vein please read this piece written sometime ago by the editor and founder of the Resurgence magazine, Satish Kumar, a sane voice in an otherwise insane world. It is worth keeping as unfortunately you will refer to it time and time again. And as you read it please think 'do you want the same old same old or will you have the courage to vote for change!!. Sign up for the Barack Obama Avalanche and do some phone calling for the campaign. I haven't yet but I made my first donaton ever to a political party today and I just signed up to make a difference in this race. I don't want to see the Clinton political machine steal the vote, what happened once has set a precedence and it is for us all to ensure it never happens again.

Quote
Fear seems to rule our life. We are afraid of terrorism, afraid of death, afraid of old age, of loneliness, of illness, of being attacked. We build nuclear weapons and than bunkers. We are afraid that we will run out of “stuff” and so we insist that success measured by constant growth and yet growth creates global warming. To save ourselves from global warming we want to cover the earth with wind turbines, nuclear power stations, or corn fields for ethanol which takes land away from food growth and this in turns produces the actual scarcity that that started this revolving door in the first place.

Fear is the cause of our environmental problems which cannot be solved by fear of a global catastrophe. Telling our children to “be environmentally friendly or civilization will come to an end” is the wrong message. We should not be protecting the earth because we are afraid of its demise but because we love Mother Earth. We should promote living in harmony with the Earth, being sustainable, frugal, simple and compassionate to all beings – humans and otherwise. A culture of non violence, respect and reverence for life has to become part of our psychological make up. Even if there was no global warming or oil shortages we should not be destroying life, because life is sacred.
Unquote

California's Secession Letter to Bush

Picture courtsey of Arthur Tsicoulias - freelance photographer. He can be contacted at atsicoulias@copper.net

March 2007
Fm: Ed Flowers (I have no idea who Ed Flowers is or even if he is real but I received it via email)

To: President George Bush

Dear President Bush:

Congratulations on your victory over all us non-evangelicals.
Actually, we’re a bit ticked off here in California, so we’re leaving.
California will now be its own country. And we’re taking all the Blue States with us. In case you are not aware, that includes: Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, and all of the North East.

We spoke to God, and she agrees that this shift will be beneficial to almost everybody, and especially to us in the new country of California. In fact, God is so excited about it; she’s going to shift the whole country at 4:30 p.m. EST this Friday. Therefore, please let everyone know they need to be back in their states by then.

So you get Texas and all the former slave states. We get the Governator, stem cell research and the best beaches. We get Elliot Spitzer. You get Ken Lay. (Okay, we have to keep Martha Stewart, we can live with that.) We get the Statue of Liberty. You get OpryLand. We get Intel and Microsoft, You get WorldCom. We get Harvard. You get Old Miss.’ we get 85% of America’s venture capital and entrepreneurs. You get all the technological innovation in Alabama.

We get about two-thirds of the tax revenue, and you get to make the red states pay their fair share. Since our divorce rate is 22% lower than the Christian coalition’s we get a bunch of happy families. You get a bunch of single moms to support, and we know how much you like that.

Did I mention we produce about 70% of the nation’s veggies? But heck the only greens the Bible-thumpers eat are the pickles on their Big Macs. This means trouble for you, because most of the medical innovation in the U.S. happens in Blue States. Oh yeah, another thing, don’t plan on serving California wine at your state dinners. From now on it’s imported French wine for you. Ouch, bet that hurts.

Just so we’re clear, the country of California will be pro-choice and anti-war. Speaking of war, we’re going to want all Blue Citizens back from Iraq. If you need people to fight, just ask your evangelicals. They have tons of kids they’re willing to send to their deaths for absolutely no purpose. And they don’t care if you don’t show pictures of their kids’ caskets coming home.

Anyway, we wish you all the best in the next four years and we hope, really hope, you find those missing weapons of mass destruction. Seriously!
Soon.

Sincerely,

California *Footnote*
We now have another opportunity to vote again - participate - it is important and many folks are