<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:blogger='http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5250320457333613225</id><updated>2024-09-25T00:45:27.956-04:00</updated><category term="video"/><category term="news / politics"/><category term="immature nonsense"/><category term="Gaza"/><category term="Israel"/><category term="news/politics"/><category term="Hamas"/><category term="iraq"/><category term="palestine"/><category term="rachel maddow"/><category term="Gaza Border"/><category term="Israeli Airstrikes"/><category term="Israeli slaughter"/><category term="Israeli-Palestinian Conflict"/><category term="Obama Rick Warren"/><category term="Obama Warren"/><category term="Politics News"/><category term="President Obama"/><category term="President Obama Warren"/><category term="Rick Warren"/><category term="Rick Warren Obama Gay Marriage"/><category term="bush"/><category term="denial"/><category term="lies"/><category term="war"/><category term="Airbag"/><category term="Al Jazeera"/><category term="America&#39;s New Year Resolution"/><category term="Arab-Israeli Conflict"/><category term="Barack Obama"/><category term="Bob Herbert"/><category term="Bush Final News Conference"/><category term="Bush Last Press Conference"/><category term="Bush Press Conference"/><category term="Bush Presser"/><category term="Car"/><category term="Change"/><category term="Chomsky"/><category term="Cuban embargo"/><category term="Evo Morales"/><category term="Expel US Ambassadors"/><category term="Fail"/><category term="Gaza Airstrikes"/><category term="Gaza Rockets"/><category term="George Bush"/><category term="Hosni Mubarak"/><category term="Israel Airstrikes"/><category term="Israel Airstrikes Gaza"/><category term="Israel Gaza Operation"/><category term="Israel Hamas"/><category term="Israel Operation"/><category term="Israeli Attacks"/><category term="Jabaliya  refugee  camp"/><category term="Latin America"/><category term="Madoff"/><category term="Mahmoud Abbas"/><category term="Martin  Luther  King"/><category term="Media"/><category term="Nahal Oz"/><category term="Noam Chomsky On Gaza"/><category term="Palestinian Territories"/><category term="Ponzi scheme"/><category term="President Bush Last Press Conference"/><category term="Raul Castro"/><category term="Sderot"/><category term="UN school"/><category term="UNRWA"/><category term="World News"/><category term="antiwar  speech"/><category term="ayds"/><category term="ayds  plan"/><category term="candy"/><category term="cheney"/><category term="chomsky  chomsky 2009.01.13"/><category term="christmas song"/><category term="dick"/><category term="diet  aid"/><category term="dissent"/><category term="economy"/><category term="funny"/><category term="gaza hospitals"/><category term="headbanger"/><category term="history"/><category term="hurricane  katrina"/><category term="hurricane  katrina shootings"/><category term="international culpability"/><category term="israeli bombs school children"/><category term="january  2009"/><category term="labor"/><category term="lame duck watch"/><category term="markets crash"/><category term="merry  fucking  christmas"/><category term="merry christmas"/><category term="mlk"/><category term="mossad"/><category term="mr.garrison"/><category term="nation  institute  videonation"/><category term="new orleans shootings"/><category term="no gays allowed"/><category term="noam chomsky gaza"/><category term="obama"/><category term="occupation"/><category term="organizing"/><category term="palistinion civilians dead"/><category term="pension funds"/><category term="politics"/><category term="racist  hurricane  katrina"/><category term="raw footage"/><category term="religion"/><category term="retirement"/><category term="safety net"/><category term="social security"/><category term="south park"/><category term="speech"/><category term="stupid amareicans"/><category term="the Bolivian president"/><category term="transcript"/><category term="troops"/><category term="unions"/><category term="united  nations"/><category term="vietnam"/><category term="vigilante"/><title type='text'>NO YOU LISTEN TO ME</title><subtitle type='html'></subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default?redirect=false'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><link rel='next' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default?start-index=26&amp;max-results=25&amp;redirect=false'/><author><name>Shana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/18106721768185978435</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XFytXyGNqQg/StKT0wCXSSI/AAAAAAAAASU/A0FjqzsSSiw/S220/Shana+Pic.jpg'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>52</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5250320457333613225.post-1962975956343497218</id><published>2009-01-19T05:21:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2009-01-19T05:30:44.856-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="antiwar  speech"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="dissent"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="history"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Martin  Luther  King"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="mlk"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="politics"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="religion"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="speech"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="transcript"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="vietnam"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="war"/><title type='text'>MLK: &quot;Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam.&quot;</title><content type='html'>&lt;object height=&quot;344&quot; width=&quot;425&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;movie&quot; value=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/b80Bsw0UG-U&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowFullScreen&quot; value=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowscriptaccess&quot; value=&quot;always&quot;&gt;&lt;embed src=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/b80Bsw0UG-U&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; allowscriptaccess=&quot;always&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;true&quot; height=&quot;344&quot; width=&quot;425&quot;&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&quot;Let me say finally that I oppose the war in Vietnam because I love America. I speak out against this war, not in anger, but with anxiety and sorrow in my heart, and, above all, with a passionate desire to see our beloved country stand as the moral example of the world. I speak out against this war because I am disappointed with America. And there can be no great disappointment where there is not great love. I am disappointed with our failure to deal positively and forthrightly with the triple evils of racism, economic exploitation, and militarism. We are presently moving down a dead-end road that can lead to national disaster. America has strayed to the far country of racism and militarism.&quot; -Martin Luther King Jr.</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/feeds/1962975956343497218/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/5250320457333613225/1962975956343497218?isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/1962975956343497218'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/1962975956343497218'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/2009/01/mlk-why-i-am-opposed-to-war-in-vietnam.html' title='MLK: &quot;Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam.&quot;'/><author><name>Shana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/18106721768185978435</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XFytXyGNqQg/StKT0wCXSSI/AAAAAAAAASU/A0FjqzsSSiw/S220/Shana+Pic.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5250320457333613225.post-9048294385626840629</id><published>2009-01-18T09:23:00.010-05:00</published><updated>2009-01-18T18:14:27.145-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Chomsky"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="chomsky  chomsky 2009.01.13"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Gaza"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Gaza Border"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Hamas"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Israel"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Israel Operation"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Israeli slaughter"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="news/politics"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="noam chomsky gaza"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Noam Chomsky On Gaza"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="palestine"/><title type='text'>NOAM CHOMSKY ON GAZA</title><content type='html'>part 1&lt;br /&gt;&lt;object height=&quot;344&quot; width=&quot;425&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;movie&quot; value=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/uuWm3G1FZvU&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowFullScreen&quot; value=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowscriptaccess&quot; value=&quot;always&quot;&gt;&lt;embed src=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/uuWm3G1FZvU&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; allowscriptaccess=&quot;always&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;true&quot; height=&quot;344&quot; width=&quot;425&quot;&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpvuzdDpIiE&quot;&gt;part 2&lt;/a&gt;     &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtYymtfsuQk&quot;&gt;part 3&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VD0tlVli2JI&quot;&gt;part 4&lt;/a&gt;     &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1ppEDqh7FE&quot;&gt;part 5&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tXDVszybQg&quot;&gt;part 6&lt;/a&gt;     &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSaT0iGPUak&quot;&gt;part 7&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeLGPdg5R-4&quot;&gt;part 8&lt;/a&gt;     &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGqpX5N1je4&quot;&gt;part 9&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBif2pgvzMI&quot;&gt;part 10&lt;/a&gt;     &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysERpDTlQTo&quot;&gt;part 11&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/feeds/9048294385626840629/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/5250320457333613225/9048294385626840629?isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/9048294385626840629'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/9048294385626840629'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/2009/01/noam-chomsky-on-gaza.html' title='NOAM CHOMSKY ON GAZA'/><author><name>Shana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/18106721768185978435</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XFytXyGNqQg/StKT0wCXSSI/AAAAAAAAASU/A0FjqzsSSiw/S220/Shana+Pic.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5250320457333613225.post-7546400507404137284</id><published>2009-01-13T00:24:00.006-05:00</published><updated>2009-01-13T00:49:23.790-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Bush Final News Conference"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Bush Last Press Conference"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Bush Press Conference"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Bush Presser"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="George Bush"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="lame duck watch"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="news / politics"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="President Bush Last Press Conference"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="rachel maddow"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="video"/><title type='text'>BUSH&#39;S UNBELIEVABLE LAST PRESS CONFERENCE  AS REPORTED ON THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW</title><content type='html'>&lt;div&gt;&lt;iframe src=&quot;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/28629277#28629277&quot; scrolling=&quot;no&quot; width=&quot;425&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;339&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;style type=&quot;text/css&quot;&gt;.msnbcLinks {font-size:11px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #999; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 425px;} .msnbcLinks a {text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px;} .msnbcLinks a:link, .msnbcLinks a:visited {color: #5799db !important;} .msnbcLinks a:hover, .msnbcLinks a:active {color:#CC0000 !important;} &lt;/style&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;msnbcLinks&quot;&gt;Visit msnbc.com for &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/&quot;&gt;Breaking News&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032507&quot;&gt;World News&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032072&quot;&gt;News about the Economy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;iframe src=&quot;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/28629487#28629487&quot; scrolling=&quot;no&quot; width=&quot;425&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;339&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;style type=&quot;text/css&quot;&gt;.msnbcLinks {font-size:11px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #999; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 425px;} .msnbcLinks a {text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px;} .msnbcLinks a:link, .msnbcLinks a:visited {color: #5799db !important;} .msnbcLinks a:hover, .msnbcLinks a:active {color:#CC0000 !important;} &lt;/style&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;msnbcLinks&quot;&gt;Visit msnbc.com for &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/&quot;&gt;Breaking News&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032507&quot;&gt;World News&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032072&quot;&gt;News about the Economy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;iframe height=&quot;339&quot; width=&quot;425&quot; src=&quot;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/28629585#28629585&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; scrolling=&quot;no&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;style type=&quot;text/css&quot;&gt;.msnbcLinks {font-size:11px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #999; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 425px;} .msnbcLinks a {text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px;} .msnbcLinks a:link, .msnbcLinks a:visited {color: #5799db !important;} .msnbcLinks a:hover, .msnbcLinks a:active {color:#CC0000 !important;} &lt;/style&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;msnbcLinks&quot;&gt;Visit msnbc.com for &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/&quot;&gt;Breaking News&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032507&quot;&gt;World News&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032072&quot;&gt;News about the Economy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/feeds/7546400507404137284/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/5250320457333613225/7546400507404137284?isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/7546400507404137284'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/7546400507404137284'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/2009/01/bushs-unbelievable-last-press.html' title='BUSH&#39;S UNBELIEVABLE LAST PRESS CONFERENCE  AS REPORTED ON THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW'/><author><name>Shana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/18106721768185978435</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XFytXyGNqQg/StKT0wCXSSI/AAAAAAAAASU/A0FjqzsSSiw/S220/Shana+Pic.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5250320457333613225.post-5057158221490404150</id><published>2009-01-10T03:40:00.004-05:00</published><updated>2009-01-10T03:48:02.349-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Gaza"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Israel"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="israeli bombs school children"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Jabaliya  refugee  camp"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="january  2009"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="mossad"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="news / politics"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="palestine"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="UN school"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="united  nations"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="UNRWA"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="video"/><title type='text'>Israel Bombed School Intentionally</title><content type='html'>&lt;object width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;movie&quot; value=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/1cr8YvJRI8A&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowFullScreen&quot; value=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowscriptaccess&quot; value=&quot;always&quot;&gt;&lt;embed src=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/1cr8YvJRI8A&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; allowscriptaccess=&quot;always&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;true&quot; width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Intentionally</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/feeds/5057158221490404150/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/5250320457333613225/5057158221490404150?isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/5057158221490404150'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/5057158221490404150'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/2009/01/israel-bombs-school-intentionally.html' title='Israel Bombed School Intentionally'/><author><name>Shana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/18106721768185978435</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XFytXyGNqQg/StKT0wCXSSI/AAAAAAAAASU/A0FjqzsSSiw/S220/Shana+Pic.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5250320457333613225.post-3524234288698984921</id><published>2009-01-10T03:31:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2009-01-10T03:35:25.620-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="ayds"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="ayds  plan"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="candy"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="diet  aid"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="immature nonsense"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="video"/><title type='text'>I APOLOGIZE FOR THIS IN ADVANCE</title><content type='html'>&lt;object width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;movie&quot; value=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/vPYZ3AfCzYU&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot;&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowFullScreen&quot; value=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowscriptaccess&quot; value=&quot;always&quot;&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/vPYZ3AfCzYU&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; allowscriptaccess=&quot;always&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;true&quot; width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/feeds/3524234288698984921/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/5250320457333613225/3524234288698984921?isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/3524234288698984921'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/3524234288698984921'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/2009/01/i-apologize-for-this-in-advance.html' title='I APOLOGIZE FOR THIS IN ADVANCE'/><author><name>Shana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/18106721768185978435</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XFytXyGNqQg/StKT0wCXSSI/AAAAAAAAASU/A0FjqzsSSiw/S220/Shana+Pic.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5250320457333613225.post-1770676313140245798</id><published>2009-01-05T13:54:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2009-01-05T13:56:43.838-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Gaza"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Hamas"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="international culpability"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Israeli slaughter"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="news/politics"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="obama"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="palestine"/><title type='text'>Tragedy in Gaza -- Desperately Seeking Leadership from Obama</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur=&quot;try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}&quot; href=&quot;http://www.monde-magouilles.com/photos_guerre/gaza3.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 136px;&quot; src=&quot;http://www.monde-magouilles.com/photos_guerre/gaza3.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;b&gt;By    &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alternet.org/authors/10248/&quot; title=&quot;View all stories by Sunera Thobani&quot;&gt;Sunera Thobani&lt;/a&gt;,   &lt;a href=&quot;http://rabble.ca/&quot;&gt;rabble.ca&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/b&gt;&lt;p&gt;The New Year has begun with Muslims around the world being taught a lesson in the crudity of racial equations: 400 Palestinian lives equal four Israeli lives. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Reeling from having learnt that over a million Iraqi and Afghan lives equal 3,000 American lives, the logic of this racial mathematics is certainly no new thing. After all, the first U.S. Constitution engaged in just such calculations of human worth, and Katrina demonstrated their ongoing effects. But the lesson has the power to shock every time: the images of Palestinian bodies being pulled out of the rubble in Gaza that flood news reports are unbearable to witness.&lt;a onblur=&quot;try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}&quot; href=&quot;http://images.huffingtonpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/783/slide_783_14413_large.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 204px; height: 149px;&quot; src=&quot;http://images.huffingtonpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/783/slide_783_14413_large.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Surely the lesson cannot be lost on President-elect Barack Obama. That such violence can be waged on so defenseless a population with the support of the Bush Administration is unconscionable. That Obama chooses to remain silent is nothing short of cowardice.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Why is Israel able to continue its deadly assault on Palestinians in Gaza? Because western governments (and their Arab quislings) are willing to allow the carnage to carry on into day three, four, five ... After all, these governments enabled the Israeli blockade of Gaza for the last year and a half, they aided and abetted Israel&#39;s criminal meting out of collective punishment to the population for daring to vote for Hamas.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The mainstream media faithfully reported as true every lie told by the Bush Administration about Iraq. Now the media upholds the fiction that Hamas is responsible for the violence waged by the Israelis. Israel probably calculated, and rightly so as has turned out to be the case, that the support it enjoys from these governments could withstand whatever murmurs of regret politicians might be moved to express by anti-Israeli demonstrations in their capitals.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The current Israeli attack is being attributed by some commentators to the machinations of Israeli politicians jockeying for power in the upcoming elections in that country. But there is another consideration that is far more important. Of all the Middle Eastern countries, it is Israel that stood to lose the most with the incoming Presidency of Barack Obama later this month.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Obama promised to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq and committed his administration to pursuing diplomatic and political solutions ahead of military ones, not only in Iraq, but also in other conflicts within the region. Iran has been strengthened by the U.S. defeat in Iraq, while Israel was out-maneuvered by Hizballah in Lebanon in 2006.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The writing has been on the wall for the Israelis. The carte blanche given to that country by past U.S. administrations to destabilize the region and pursue its territorial ambitions could no longer be counted upon.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The worldwide enthusiasm for the election of Barack Obama signaled a global desire for change, people around the world are sick of the lies and wars, of the guns and bombs.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;A return to the rule of law and an end to the Iraq war is what Obama promised, not only to the American electorate, but to the entire world. The election of the first Black President was an ecstatic moment for people of colour around the world, as it was for those white populations sickened by the racism and violence of American empire-building. People around the world took Obama up on his promise of hope, daring to believe that political change was coming.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Whether President-elect Obama will, or can deliver what he promised is a question people of colour passionately debate with eyes wide open. The hope that a Black man will stand up to the racial calculations that turn the ‘native&#39; into a ‘thing&#39;, as Frantz Fanon put it, is palpable among many Muslims.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Obama&#39;s public comments that he will welcome pressure from movements for social justice won him some time and a measure of credibility. Surely there is no greater cause for social justice than that of the Palestinian people. And Obama is the first U.S. President who seems to understand the nature of the Palestinian crisis prior to his election, as some who know him, including Ali Abunimah, have pointed out.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;In one fell swoop, the Israelis have destroyed whatever momentum Obama might have mobilized for a peaceful resolution of the blockade of Gaza and the siege that Gazans and Hamas have endured. Israel has pushed Obama into a corner with this attack, intensifying the suffering of the Palestinian people and making it all but inevitable that retribution will follow.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;A state of war with its neighbours benefits Israel&#39;s ambitions in the region, even as it secures support for Zionist lobbies in the western world. During the U.S. election campaign, Vice-President Elect Joe Biden had warned that Obama would be tested early in his presidency. Few expected the challenge to come from a staunch U.S. ally and not from those contesting U.S. power.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Obama&#39;s silence on the Gaza crisis grows more curious by the day; it has already cost him much political capital. He appears weak and ineffectual even before his inauguration, one more symbol of hope capitulating to the realpolitik of the ‘special&#39; U.S./Israeli relationship.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;As a community organizer in Chicago, Obama understood the racial calculations that shape the everyday lives of Black people in the U.S. With a Kenyan father who was a Muslim, Obama surely understands the consequences of such racial calculations at the international level. Palestinians have paid a heavy price for their resistance to Israeli power. As a law professor, Obama most certainly understands the terrible toll of surviving the crimes of an occupying power bent on genocide.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, Obama is missing in action in this first challenge to his Presidency. The Israelis have used his own words to justify their aggression, and Obama has responded with a deafening silence. This does not bode well for the future.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;U.S. and Israeli elites have a long history of buying off quislings to further their interests. Obama needs to act quickly to prove he is not one of them. &lt;/p&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/feeds/1770676313140245798/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/5250320457333613225/1770676313140245798?isPopup=true' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/1770676313140245798'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/1770676313140245798'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/2009/01/tragedy-in-gaza-desperately-seeking.html' title='Tragedy in Gaza -- Desperately Seeking Leadership from Obama'/><author><name>Shana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/18106721768185978435</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XFytXyGNqQg/StKT0wCXSSI/AAAAAAAAASU/A0FjqzsSSiw/S220/Shana+Pic.jpg'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5250320457333613225.post-5574981238233270748</id><published>2009-01-04T19:14:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2009-01-04T21:38:27.710-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="cheney"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="dick"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="iraq"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="news / politics"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="occupation"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="troops"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="video"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="war"/><title type='text'>DICK CHENEY BLAMES IRAQIS FOR FAILURE OF THE U.S. OCCUPATION OF IRAQ</title><content type='html'>&lt;object width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;movie&quot; value=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/xEeXEdhofeg&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowFullScreen&quot; value=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowscriptaccess&quot; value=&quot;always&quot;&gt;&lt;embed src=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/xEeXEdhofeg&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; allowscriptaccess=&quot;always&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;true&quot; width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/feeds/5574981238233270748/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/5250320457333613225/5574981238233270748?isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/5574981238233270748'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/5574981238233270748'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/2009/01/dich-cheney-blames-iraqis-for-failure.html' title='DICK CHENEY BLAMES IRAQIS FOR FAILURE OF THE U.S. OCCUPATION OF IRAQ'/><author><name>Shana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/18106721768185978435</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XFytXyGNqQg/StKT0wCXSSI/AAAAAAAAASU/A0FjqzsSSiw/S220/Shana+Pic.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5250320457333613225.post-6748839688634350533</id><published>2008-12-30T15:56:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-30T15:59:02.624-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="gaza hospitals"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Gaza Rockets"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Hamas"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Hosni Mubarak"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Israel"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Israeli Airstrikes"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Israeli Attacks"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Israeli-Palestinian Conflict"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="video"/><title type='text'>Gaza Update: The Hospitals Are Full and More</title><content type='html'>&lt;object width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;movie&quot; value=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/ktXyF5Ye7p8&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot;&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowFullScreen&quot; value=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowscriptaccess&quot; value=&quot;always&quot;&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/ktXyF5Ye7p8&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; allowscriptaccess=&quot;always&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;true&quot; width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/feeds/6748839688634350533/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/5250320457333613225/6748839688634350533?isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/6748839688634350533'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/6748839688634350533'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/2008/12/gaza-update-hospitals-are-full-and-more.html' title='Gaza Update: The Hospitals Are Full and More'/><author><name>Shana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/18106721768185978435</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XFytXyGNqQg/StKT0wCXSSI/AAAAAAAAASU/A0FjqzsSSiw/S220/Shana+Pic.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5250320457333613225.post-4734208740362741126</id><published>2008-12-30T15:46:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-30T15:55:34.123-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Al Jazeera"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Gaza"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Gaza Border"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Israel"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Israel Gaza Operation"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Israeli Airstrikes"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Israeli-Palestinian Conflict"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Mahmoud Abbas"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Media"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Nahal Oz"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="news/politics"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Palestinian Territories"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Sderot"/><title type='text'>Jamal Dajani: Reporters Barred By Israel From Going Into Gaza</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur=&quot;try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}&quot; href=&quot;http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45329000/jpg/_45329290_kids_apgrab466.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 237px; height: 152px;&quot; src=&quot;http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45329000/jpg/_45329290_kids_apgrab466.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;By Jamal Dajani| al Jazeera&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Near Nahal Oz, Israel -- The Israeli &quot;all-out war&quot; on Gaza has entered its fourth day leaving more than 363 dead and 1,800 wounded. Israeli troop movements on the Gaza border point to an imminent ground battle in the upcoming few days. On Monday, the Israeli military declared the Gaza border, where tanks, artillery and troops are massing for a possible ground offensive, a closed military zone.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Reporters are being barred by Israel from going into Gaza to cover the carnage. Many have been relegated to reporting from behind Israel&#39;s declared military zone, some report from Jerusalem or Tel Aviv and rely on phone dispatches by stringers in the Gaza Strip. The best television coverage I&#39;ve seen so far comes from Al Jazeera; the most provocative comes from Hezbollah&#39;s Al Manar. The Israeli coverage on IBA TV and Ch 10 reminds me of FOX News during the Iraq War with a focus on military strategies, graphics and interviews, with Israeli government spokesmen and generals. &lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p&gt;At Beit Agron, the Israeli Government Press Office has not yet issued my &quot;visiting journalist credentials.&quot; I went there in person three days ago, thinking they would be processed and delivered to me the same day. As I waited, a steady stream of international reporters applied for and received theirs. The press office liaison hands a British journalist his credentials and smiles, &quot;don&#39;t forget to report that we were first attacked by Qassam rockets; they&#39;re hitting us we&#39;re not hitting them.&quot; The office wall is adorned with rockets fired by Hamas on the Israeli town of Sderot. A Korean journalist poses in front of them and does a &quot;stand-up.&quot; The polite but evasive liaison keeps making excuses for the delay in issuing my press card. He keeps uncovering additional material that is missing in order to complete my application. He finally tells me that he won&#39;t have an answer for me until the next day... I won&#39;t bore you with the details, but I am Palestinian American. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;I&#39;ve been zigzagging my way between Israel and the West Bank to avoid IDF checkpoints. When we enter the Palestinian territories where emotions ran high, my Palestinian driver almost has a fit when he finds out that my cameraman is an Israeli. The Israeli strikes on Gaza are being broadcast in grisly detail almost continually on Arab satellite networks. In Bethlehem, an angry mob attacks the fortified Rachel Tomb Compound with stones and set tires on fire, but they are quickly dispersed by the Palestinian Authority riot police. Most West Bank towns have demonstrations and riots, and the Palestinian Authority forces keep them under control while Israeli soldiers watch and fire tear gas from a distance.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&quot;Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) is a Zionist dog,&quot; screams a demonstrator in Hebron. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Many demonstrators are angry with Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas. They are blaming him of collusion with Israel. They are also angry with Egypt for not opening Rafah&#39;s border crossing to let in desperately needed medical supplies and food, which have been all but depleted by the ongoing siege on Gaza.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Two miles away from the Gaza border is the Israeli soldiers&#39; staging area, and foreign journalists gather in anticipation as if it is minutes before the start of the Super Bowl or the start of the Olympics. No one talks about the death and destruction that will follow. IDF spokesmen keep saying that a ground force invasion was a distinct possibility but had not yet been decided upon. As I write helicopters hover overhead, their sound reminds me of a scene from &lt;em&gt;Apocalypse Now&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  Jamal Dajani produces the &lt;a href=&quot;http://linktv.org/mir&quot;&gt;Mosaic Intelligence Report &lt;/a&gt;on Link TV</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/feeds/4734208740362741126/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/5250320457333613225/4734208740362741126?isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/4734208740362741126'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/4734208740362741126'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/2008/12/jamal-dajani-reporters-barred-by-israel.html' title='Jamal Dajani: Reporters Barred By Israel From Going Into Gaza'/><author><name>Shana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/18106721768185978435</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XFytXyGNqQg/StKT0wCXSSI/AAAAAAAAASU/A0FjqzsSSiw/S220/Shana+Pic.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5250320457333613225.post-2006851902267361068</id><published>2008-12-29T10:58:00.008-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-29T19:03:08.905-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="America&#39;s New Year Resolution"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Bob Herbert"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Change"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Madoff"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="markets crash"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="news/politics"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Ponzi scheme"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="stupid amareicans"/><title type='text'>America&#39;s New Year Resolution: Stop Being Stupid Drooling Morons</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur=&quot;try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}&quot; href=&quot;http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u88/zaykoh/homer.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 320px;&quot; src=&quot;http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u88/zaykoh/homer.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;By BOB HERBERT, The New York Times&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I’ve got a new year’s resolution and a new slogan for the country. The resolution may be difficult, but it’s essential. Americans must resolve to be smarter going forward than we have been for the past several years.&lt;br /&gt;Look around you. We have behaved in ways that were incredibly, astonishingly and embarrassingly stupid for much too long. We’ve wrecked the economy and mortgaged the future of generations yet unborn. We don’t even know if we’ll have an automobile industry in the coming years. It’s time to stop the self-destruction.&lt;br /&gt;The slogan? “Invest in the U.S.” By that I mean we should stop squandering the nation’s wealth on unnecessary warfare overseas and mindless consumption here at home and start making sensible investments in the well-being of the American people and the long-term health of the economy.&lt;br /&gt;The mind-boggling stupidity that we’ve indulged in was hammered home by a comment almost casually delivered by, of all people, Bernie Madoff, the mild-mannered creator of what appears to have been a nuclear-powered Ponzi scheme. Madoff summed up his activities with devastating simplicity. He is said to have told the F.B.I. that he “paid investors with money that wasn’t there.”&lt;br /&gt;Somehow, over the past few decades, that has become the American way: to pay for things — from wars to Wall Street bonuses to flat-screen TVs to video games — with money that wasn’t there.&lt;br /&gt;Something for nothing became the order of the day. You want to invade Iraq? Convince yourself that oil revenues out of Baghdad will pay for it. (Meanwhile, carve out another deficit channel in the federal budget.) You want to pump up profits in the financial sector? End the oversight and let the lunatics in the asylum run wild.&lt;br /&gt;For those who wanted a bigger house in a nicer neighborhood, there were mortgages with absurdly easy terms. Credit-card offers came in the mail like confetti, and we used them like there was no tomorrow. For students stunned by the skyrocketing cost of tuition, there were college loans that could last a lifetime.&lt;br /&gt;Money that wasn’t there.&lt;br /&gt;Plenty of people managed their credit wisely. But much of the country, including many of the top government officials and financial titans who were supposed to be guarding the nation’s wealth, acted as if there would never be a day of reckoning, a day when — inevitably — the soaring markets would crash and the bubbles explode.&lt;br /&gt;We were stupid in so many ways. We shipped American jobs overseas by the millions and came up with the fiction that this was a good deal for just about everybody. We could have and should have taken the time and made the effort to think globalization through, to be smarter about it and craft ways to cushion its more harmful effects and to share its benefits more equitably.&lt;br /&gt;We bought into the dopey idea that you could radically cut taxes and still maintain critical government services — and fight two wars to boot!&lt;br /&gt;We were living in a dream world. The general public, and to a great extent the press, closed its eyes to the increasingly complex and baffling machinations of the financial industry, which kept screaming that oversight would ruin everything.&lt;br /&gt;We should have known better. It didn’t require a genius (or even an economics degree) to understand a crucial point that popped up some years ago in a front-page article in The Wall Street Journal: “Markets are a great way to organize economic activity, but they need adult supervision.”&lt;br /&gt;Did Alan Greenspan not understand that? Bob Rubin? Larry Summers?&lt;br /&gt;Now that the reality of a stunning economic downturn has so roughly intervened, we at least have the option of being smarter going forward. There is broad agreement that we have no choice but to go much more deeply into debt to jump-start the economy. But we have tremendous choices as to how we use that debt.&lt;br /&gt;We should use it to invest in the U.S. — in a world-class infrastructure (in its broadest sense) to serve as the platform for a world-class, 21st-century economy, and in a system of education that actually prepares American youngsters to deal successfully with the real world they will be encountering.&lt;br /&gt;We need to invest in a health care system that improves the quality of American lives, enhances productivity, puts large numbers of additional people to work and eases the competitive burden of U.S. corporations.&lt;br /&gt;We need to care for our environment (if long-term survival means anything to us) and get serious about weaning ourselves from foreign oil.&lt;br /&gt;And, finally, we need to start living within our means and get past the nauseating idea that the essence of our culture and the be-all and end-all of the American economy is the limitless consumption of trashy consumer goods.&lt;br /&gt;It’s time to stop being stupid.</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/feeds/2006851902267361068/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/5250320457333613225/2006851902267361068?isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/2006851902267361068'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/2006851902267361068'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/2008/12/americas-new-year-resolution-stop-being.html' title='America&#39;s New Year Resolution: Stop Being Stupid Drooling Morons'/><author><name>Shana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/18106721768185978435</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XFytXyGNqQg/StKT0wCXSSI/AAAAAAAAASU/A0FjqzsSSiw/S220/Shana+Pic.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5250320457333613225.post-395820083071725070</id><published>2008-12-29T10:42:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-29T10:50:53.062-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Arab-Israeli Conflict"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Gaza"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Gaza Airstrikes"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Hamas"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Israel"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Israel Airstrikes"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Israel Airstrikes Gaza"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Israel Hamas"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="news/politics"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="palistinion civilians dead"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="raw footage"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="video"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="World News"/><title type='text'>RAW FOOTAGE: 290 PALESTINIAN CIVILIANS MASSACRED BY ISRAEL IN GAZA</title><content type='html'>Warning: Graphic Raw Footage&lt;br /&gt;&lt;object width=&quot;480&quot; height=&quot;295&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;movie&quot; value=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/SwZoAziUFLY&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowFullScreen&quot; value=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowscriptaccess&quot; value=&quot;always&quot;&gt;&lt;embed src=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/SwZoAziUFLY&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; allowscriptaccess=&quot;always&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;true&quot; width=&quot;480&quot; height=&quot;295&quot;&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;object width=&quot;480&quot; height=&quot;295&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;movie&quot; value=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/gZaG96pnnEQ&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&quot;&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowFullScreen&quot; value=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowscriptaccess&quot; value=&quot;always&quot;&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/gZaG96pnnEQ&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; allowscriptaccess=&quot;always&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;true&quot; width=&quot;480&quot; height=&quot;295&quot;&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/feeds/395820083071725070/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/5250320457333613225/395820083071725070?isPopup=true' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/395820083071725070'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/395820083071725070'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/2008/12/raw-footage-290-palestinian-civilians.html' title='RAW FOOTAGE: 290 PALESTINIAN CIVILIANS MASSACRED BY ISRAEL IN GAZA'/><author><name>Shana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/18106721768185978435</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XFytXyGNqQg/StKT0wCXSSI/AAAAAAAAASU/A0FjqzsSSiw/S220/Shana+Pic.jpg'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5250320457333613225.post-1622203159011140461</id><published>2008-12-24T20:55:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-24T21:09:09.352-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="christmas song"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="funny"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="immature nonsense"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="merry  fucking  christmas"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="merry christmas"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="mr.garrison"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="south park"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="video"/><title type='text'>AN AMERICAN CHRISTMAS</title><content type='html'>from SOUTH PARK&lt;br /&gt;&lt;object width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;movie&quot; value=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/guLKl3v7XFI&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowFullScreen&quot; value=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowscriptaccess&quot; value=&quot;always&quot;&gt;&lt;embed src=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/guLKl3v7XFI&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; allowscriptaccess=&quot;always&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;true&quot; width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/feeds/1622203159011140461/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/5250320457333613225/1622203159011140461?isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/1622203159011140461'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/1622203159011140461'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/2008/12/american-christmas.html' title='AN AMERICAN CHRISTMAS'/><author><name>Shana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/18106721768185978435</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XFytXyGNqQg/StKT0wCXSSI/AAAAAAAAASU/A0FjqzsSSiw/S220/Shana+Pic.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5250320457333613225.post-7170773908601731700</id><published>2008-12-24T03:45:00.006-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-24T13:59:04.275-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="news / politics"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="no gays allowed"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Obama Rick Warren"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Obama Warren"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Politics News"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="President Obama"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="President Obama Warren"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="rachel maddow"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Rick Warren"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Rick Warren Obama Gay Marriage"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="video"/><title type='text'>RICK WARREN DIGS AN EVEN DEEPER HOLE AND RACHEL MADDOW REPORTS IT</title><content type='html'>&lt;div&gt;&lt;iframe src=&quot;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/28372831#28372831&quot; scrolling=&quot;no&quot; width=&quot;425&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;339&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;style type=&quot;text/css&quot;&gt;.msnbcLinks {font-size:11px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #999; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 425px;} .msnbcLinks a {text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px;} .msnbcLinks a:link, .msnbcLinks a:visited {color: #5799db !important;} .msnbcLinks a:hover, .msnbcLinks a:active {color:#CC0000 !important;} &lt;/style&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;msnbcLinks&quot;&gt;Visit msnbc.com for &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/&quot;&gt;Breaking News&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032507&quot;&gt;World News&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032072&quot;&gt;News about the Economy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/feeds/7170773908601731700/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/5250320457333613225/7170773908601731700?isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/7170773908601731700'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/7170773908601731700'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/2008/12/rick-warren-digs-even-deeper-hole.html' title='RICK WARREN DIGS AN EVEN DEEPER HOLE AND RACHEL MADDOW REPORTS IT'/><author><name>Shana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/18106721768185978435</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XFytXyGNqQg/StKT0wCXSSI/AAAAAAAAASU/A0FjqzsSSiw/S220/Shana+Pic.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5250320457333613225.post-1766868592753394869</id><published>2008-12-21T21:51:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-21T21:56:05.860-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Airbag"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Car"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Fail"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="headbanger"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="immature nonsense"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="video"/><title type='text'>HEADBANGER&#39;S BALL</title><content type='html'>&lt;object width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;movie&quot; value=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/6E51BQVOmdo&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowFullScreen&quot; value=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowscriptaccess&quot; value=&quot;always&quot;&gt;&lt;embed src=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/6E51BQVOmdo&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; allowscriptaccess=&quot;always&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;true&quot; width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/feeds/1766868592753394869/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/5250320457333613225/1766868592753394869?isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/1766868592753394869'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/1766868592753394869'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/2008/12/headbangers-ball.html' title='HEADBANGER&#39;S BALL'/><author><name>Shana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/18106721768185978435</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XFytXyGNqQg/StKT0wCXSSI/AAAAAAAAASU/A0FjqzsSSiw/S220/Shana+Pic.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5250320457333613225.post-8222282570103895417</id><published>2008-12-21T03:05:00.006-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-21T03:19:22.930-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="hurricane  katrina"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="hurricane  katrina shootings"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="nation  institute  videonation"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="new orleans shootings"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="news / politics"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="racist  hurricane  katrina"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="video"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="vigilante"/><title type='text'>White vigilante groups blockaded small town in post-Katrina New Orleans and murdered blacks</title><content type='html'>Earlier this week, A.C. Thompson of The Nation revealed that after Hurricane Katrina, white vigilante groups patrolled New Orleans, blockaded streets, and shot at least eleven black men. It “was like pheasant season in South Dakota. If it moved, you shot it,” said one vigilante. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.colorofchange.org/nation/&quot;&gt;Color of Change is organizing a campaign&lt;/a&gt; to tell Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) and state officials to investigate the shootings, as “Louisiana’s broken law enforcement agencies have refused to investigate these crimes.” Watch Thompson’s video on his report:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;object width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;movie&quot; value=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/5r1X_G7cWak&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowFullScreen&quot; value=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowscriptaccess&quot; value=&quot;always&quot;&gt;&lt;embed src=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/5r1X_G7cWak&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; allowscriptaccess=&quot;always&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;true&quot; width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/feeds/8222282570103895417/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/5250320457333613225/8222282570103895417?isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/8222282570103895417'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/8222282570103895417'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/2008/12/white-vigilante-groups-blockaded-small.html' title='White vigilante groups blockaded small town in post-Katrina New Orleans and murdered blacks'/><author><name>Shana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/18106721768185978435</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XFytXyGNqQg/StKT0wCXSSI/AAAAAAAAASU/A0FjqzsSSiw/S220/Shana+Pic.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5250320457333613225.post-3859676509557239197</id><published>2008-12-19T06:42:00.010-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-21T01:41:33.725-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="economy"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="labor"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="news / politics"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="organizing"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="pension funds"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="retirement"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="safety net"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="social security"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="unions"/><title type='text'>Pension Funds Collapse: The End of Retirement?</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur=&quot;try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}&quot; href=&quot;http://www.wehaitians.com/end_of_pension_2.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 231px; height: 159px;&quot; src=&quot;http://www.wehaitians.com/end_of_pension_2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;b&gt;By    &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alternet.org/authors/10196/&quot; title=&quot;View all stories by Shamus Cooke&quot;&gt;Shamus Cooke&lt;/a&gt;,   &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/&quot;&gt;Information Clearing House&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;p&gt;Unless things change fast, human history will show that the phenomenon of &quot;retirement&quot; was limited to one generation. After World War II, when European and Japanese economies stood in tatters, American capitalism could fulfill &quot;the American dream,&quot; since there was little foreign competition to speak of. For the first time ever, workers were promised that -- after working thirty or so years -- they would be able to securely retire. That was largely the case ... for one generation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The second generation is having a devastating reality check. 2008 was supposed to be a watershed year for retirement: it was the first year that the baby-boomers turned 62, and the retirement frenzy was to begin (since people could begin to draw on their social security benefits). Early in the year, however, a study was conducted that found one-fourth of these boomers were delaying retirement (only the baby-boomers who were actually able to plan for retirement were studied). The economy has since nosedived, and many more retirements are being delayed. The unfortunate reality is that many who planned on retiring will work until the grave, joining the millions of other baby-boomers who never had such dreams.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The experts are calling this the &quot;perfect storm&quot; for retirement. Everything that could go wrong is in fact going wrong. This storm, however, was not created by supernatural forces, but the coordinated effort of big-business and their puppet politicians.&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21460.htm?ref=patrick.net&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The deliberate destruction of the pension and its replacement by the 401(k) was, of course, a giant step towards attacking retirement; but now that the economic crisis has emerged, we&#39;re beginning to see just how ruinous the effects are.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;At the end of September, just as the crisis was beginning to gain steam, it was discovered that in the previous year the value of stocks in 401(k) accounts had fallen by nearly $2 trillion! Much more has been lost since then. This is especially devastating since almost one-third of 401(k) participants in their 60s had 80 percent of their money in stocks (pension funds have been similarly destroyed).&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21460.htm?ref=patrick.net&quot;&gt;CLICK TO CONTINUE&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21460.htm?ref=patrick.net&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/feeds/3859676509557239197/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/5250320457333613225/3859676509557239197?isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/3859676509557239197'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/3859676509557239197'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/2008/12/by-shamus-cooke-information-clearing.html' title='Pension Funds Collapse: The End of Retirement?'/><author><name>Shana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/18106721768185978435</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XFytXyGNqQg/StKT0wCXSSI/AAAAAAAAASU/A0FjqzsSSiw/S220/Shana+Pic.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5250320457333613225.post-8337009483189434175</id><published>2008-12-19T05:30:00.006-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-21T01:44:41.120-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Barack Obama"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="news / politics"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Obama Rick Warren"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Obama Warren"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Politics News"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="President Obama"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="President Obama Warren"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="rachel maddow"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Rick Warren"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Rick Warren Obama Gay Marriage"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="video"/><title type='text'>RACHEL MADDOW SLAMS OBAMA FOR GIVING RICK WARREN A ROLE AT THE INAUGURATION</title><content type='html'>&lt;div&gt;&lt;iframe src=&quot;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/28304233#28304233&quot; scrolling=&quot;no&quot; width=&quot;425&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;339&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;style type=&quot;text/css&quot;&gt;.msnbcLinks {font-size:11px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #999; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 425px;} .msnbcLinks a {text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px;} .msnbcLinks a:link, .msnbcLinks a:visited {color: #5799db !important;} .msnbcLinks a:hover, .msnbcLinks a:active {color:#CC0000 !important;} &lt;/style&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;msnbcLinks&quot;&gt;Visit msnbc.com for &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/&quot;&gt;Breaking News&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032507&quot;&gt;World News&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032072&quot;&gt;News about the Economy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/feeds/8337009483189434175/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/5250320457333613225/8337009483189434175?isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/8337009483189434175'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/8337009483189434175'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/2008/12/rachel-maddow-slams-obama-for-giving.html' title='RACHEL MADDOW SLAMS OBAMA FOR GIVING RICK WARREN A ROLE AT THE INAUGURATION'/><author><name>Shana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/18106721768185978435</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XFytXyGNqQg/StKT0wCXSSI/AAAAAAAAASU/A0FjqzsSSiw/S220/Shana+Pic.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5250320457333613225.post-8560509005722774464</id><published>2008-12-17T16:01:00.005-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-21T01:48:21.106-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Cuban embargo"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Evo Morales"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Expel US Ambassadors"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Latin America"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="news / politics"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Raul Castro"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="the Bolivian president"/><title type='text'>Bolivian President Evo Morales: All Latin American Nations Should Expel US Ambassadors</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur=&quot;try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}&quot; href=&quot;http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images//2008/12/16/20081216231056146734_5.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 167px; height: 111px;&quot; src=&quot;http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images//2008/12/16/20081216231056146734_5.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://english.aljazeera.net//news/americas/2008/12/20081217165622147627.html&quot;&gt;Al Jazeera&lt;/a&gt; reports:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Evo Morales, the Bolivian president, has said that all&lt;br /&gt;Latin American nations should expel US ambassadors in their country&#39;s until the American economic embargo against Cuba is ended.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Speaking on Wednesday at the end of a two-day summit of Latin American leaders in Brazil, Morales said it would be a &quot;radical move&quot; to express &quot;solidarity&quot; with the Caribbean nation.&quot;If the United States does not raise the blockade, we will remove our ambassadors until the United States government lifts its economic blockade on the Cuban people,&quot; he said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Morales expelled the US ambassador to Bolivia in September, accusing him of siding with violent opposition protests. Both Morales and Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan leader, have expressed hope that Barack Obama, the US president-elect, will remove the embargo on Cuba.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On Tuesday, leaders attending the Mercosur summit in the resort town of Costa Do Sauipe also issued a special statement demanding an end to the US sanctions which have been imposed on Cuba since 1962. The regional meeting, aimed at solidifying South American unity, includes senior officials from 33 countries including Raul Castro, the Cuban president, on his first foreign tour abroad.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;&#39;Political violation&#39;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Raul Castro said he was in &#39;no hurry&#39; to mend US diplomatic relations. Speaking on Tuesday, Raul Castro, the Cuban president, said that leaders at the Mercosur summit had supported a request to demand the US &quot;cease this illegal and unjust political violation of the human rights of our people&quot;. Castro said in his speech to the other leaders that regional integration was needed in Latin America to help it advance against what he said was the failure of US-backed policies. Castro, 77, took over as Cuban leader from his brother, Fidel, in February.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The summit is the largest in the Western hemisphere to exclude US representation and has been hailed as a sign that Latin America is demanding a new independence from Washington.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&quot;The presence of Cuba is a very strong signal that America is no longer the boss in Latin America,&quot; Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, said as he arrived.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;&#39;Concessions&#39; demanded&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On Monday, Castro told Al Jazeera that the US must make concessions first if the two countries are ever to restore diplomatic ties severed for more than 40 years.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Reports say Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the Brazilian president, could mediate between Washington and Havana.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Castro, said the &quot;era of unilateral concessions was over&quot;, and insisted that Cuba had only ever defended itself against the US. &quot;We have never hurt the United States, we have only defended ourselves. We are the ones who have been hurt so we are not the ones who have to make a gesture. Let them do it,&quot; he said on Monday.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Cuban leader said he was in &quot;no hurry&quot; to mend diplomatic relations with the US, which were severed in 1961, following the overthrow of the US-backed government by Fidel&#39;s revolutionary movement. &quot;More than 70 per cent of Cubans were born under the blockade which has been in place for almost 50 years,&quot; Castro said. &quot;I&#39;m 77-years old but I feel good and young. In other words, if this doesn&#39;t get resolved now, we&#39;ll wait another 50 years.&quot;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/feeds/8560509005722774464/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/5250320457333613225/8560509005722774464?isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/8560509005722774464'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/8560509005722774464'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/2008/12/bolivian-president-evo-morales-all.html' title='Bolivian President Evo Morales: All Latin American Nations Should Expel US Ambassadors'/><author><name>Shana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/18106721768185978435</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XFytXyGNqQg/StKT0wCXSSI/AAAAAAAAASU/A0FjqzsSSiw/S220/Shana+Pic.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5250320457333613225.post-5640130199348005515</id><published>2008-12-17T06:05:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-21T02:02:20.759-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="bush"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="denial"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="iraq"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="lies"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="news / politics"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="video"/><title type='text'>DICK CHENEY ADMITS TO WAR CRIMES!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div&gt;&lt;iframe src=&quot;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/28269977#28269977&quot; scrolling=&quot;no&quot; width=&quot;425&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;339&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;style type=&quot;text/css&quot;&gt;.msnbcLinks {font-size:11px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #999; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 425px;} .msnbcLinks a {text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px;} .msnbcLinks a:link, .msnbcLinks a:visited {color: #5799db !important;} .msnbcLinks a:hover, .msnbcLinks a:active {color:#CC0000 !important;} &lt;/style&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;msnbcLinks&quot;&gt;Visit msnbc.com for &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/&quot;&gt;Breaking News&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032507&quot;&gt;World News&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032072&quot;&gt;News about the Economy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/feeds/5640130199348005515/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/5250320457333613225/5640130199348005515?isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/5640130199348005515'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/5640130199348005515'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/2008/12/dick-cheney-admits-to-war-crimes.html' title='DICK CHENEY ADMITS TO WAR CRIMES!'/><author><name>Shana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/18106721768185978435</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XFytXyGNqQg/StKT0wCXSSI/AAAAAAAAASU/A0FjqzsSSiw/S220/Shana+Pic.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5250320457333613225.post-9144873046356498929</id><published>2008-12-17T05:47:00.006-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-21T01:48:21.109-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="bush"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="denial"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="iraq"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="lies"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="news / politics"/><title type='text'>BUSH IS TRYING TO WEASEL HIS WAY OUT OF HISTORY</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur=&quot;try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}&quot; href=&quot;http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h52/Tiktaalik/bush3cardwg6.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 181px; height: 215px;&quot; src=&quot;http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h52/Tiktaalik/bush3cardwg6.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;b&gt;By    &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alternet.org/authors/6587/&quot; title=&quot;View all stories by Matthew Yglesias&quot;&gt;Matthew Yglesias&lt;/a&gt;,   &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.prospect.org/&quot;&gt;The American Prospect&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;p&gt;It&#39;s tiresome to need to point this out at this late date but, yes, George W. Bush and his administration misled the country while making the case for war with Iraq and, remarkably, are still trying to mislead people about it. In a Dec. 1 &lt;a href=&quot;http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=6356046&quot;&gt;interview&lt;/a&gt; with ABC News&#39; Charlie Gibson, Bush said that &quot;the biggest regret&quot; of his presidency was &quot;the intelligence failure in Iraq.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In other words, his biggest regret wasn&#39;t regret over anything &lt;i&gt;he&lt;/i&gt; did but rather regret over something that was &lt;i&gt;done to him&lt;/i&gt;, a vague &quot;intelligence failure&quot; rather than a misguided decision to invade another country. Bush explained that &quot;a lot of people put their reputations on the line and said the weapons of mass destruction is a reason to remove Saddam Hussein. It wasn&#39;t just people in my administration; a lot of members in Congress, prior to my arrival in Washington, D.C., during the debate on Iraq, a lot of leaders of nations around the world were all looking at the same intelligence.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This is, even by Bush standards, a pretty breathtaking revision of history. In fact, very few members of Congress looked at the intelligence -- Thomas Ricks reports in his book &lt;i&gt;Fiasco&lt;/i&gt; that just five read the classified version of the National Intelligence Estimate on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction capabilities. But had more members taken the time, they would have found what Spencer Ackerman and John Judis &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/unmovic/2003/0630selling.htm&quot;&gt;reported&lt;/a&gt; back in June of 2003 -- that the Bush administration removed a number of caveats and contrary pieces of evidence from the classified version of the estimate when producing a shorter, unclassified version for public consumption. More curious investigators might have been further interested in the fact, reported in the same piece, that even the more accurate classified version represented a dramatic change in the intelligence community&#39;s assessment of the Iraq situation. As Judis and Ackerman observe, when George Tenet offered his January 2002 review of nuclear proliferation issues &quot;he did not even mention a nuclear threat from Iraq.&quot; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.alternet.org/election08/111104/bush_tries_to_white-wash_history%3B_portrays_himself_as_a_victim/&quot;&gt;CLICK TO CONTINUE&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/feeds/9144873046356498929/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/5250320457333613225/9144873046356498929?isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/9144873046356498929'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/9144873046356498929'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/2008/12/bush-is-trying-to-weasel-his-way-out-of.html' title='BUSH IS TRYING TO WEASEL HIS WAY OUT OF HISTORY'/><author><name>Shana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/18106721768185978435</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XFytXyGNqQg/StKT0wCXSSI/AAAAAAAAASU/A0FjqzsSSiw/S220/Shana+Pic.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5250320457333613225.post-2364938420309008684</id><published>2008-12-16T06:04:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-21T01:48:21.109-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="news / politics"/><title type='text'>How the American Health Care System Got That Way</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur=&quot;try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}&quot; href=&quot;http://farm1.static.flickr.com/178/392051956_a0f9cb24c4.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 197px; height: 147px;&quot; src=&quot;http://farm1.static.flickr.com/178/392051956_a0f9cb24c4.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;By Jeremy Brecher, Tim Costello and Brendan Smith, truthout.org&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; As Americans respond to President-elect Obama&#39;s call for town hall meetings on reform of the American health care system, an understanding of how that system came to be the way it is can be crucial for figuring out how to fix it. The American health care system is unique because, for most of us, it is tied to our jobs rather than to our government. For many Americans, the system seems natural, but few know that it originated not as a well-thought-out plan to provide for Americans&#39; health, but as a way to circumvent a quirk in wartime wage regulations that had nothing to do with health. &lt;p&gt;    As far back as the 1920&#39;s, a few big employers had offered health insurance plans to some of their workers. But only a few: By 1935, only about two million people were covered by private health insurance, and on the eve of World War II, there were only 48 job-based health plans in the entire country.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;    The rise of unions in the 1930&#39;s and 1940&#39;s led to the first great expansion of health care for Americans. But ironically, it did not produce a national plan providing health care to all, like those in virtually all other developed countries. Instead, the special conditions of World War II produced the system of job-based health benefits we know today.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;    In 1942, the US set up a National War Labor Board. It had the power to set a cap on all wage increases. But it let employers circumvent the cap by offering &quot;fringe benefits&quot; - notably, health insurance. The fringe benefits created a huge tax subsidy; they were treated as tax-deductible expenses for corporations, but not as taxable income for workers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.truthout.org/121508R&quot;&gt;CLICK TO CONTINUE READING&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/feeds/2364938420309008684/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/5250320457333613225/2364938420309008684?isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/2364938420309008684'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/2364938420309008684'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/2008/12/how-american-health-care-system-got.html' title='How the American Health Care System Got That Way'/><author><name>Shana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/18106721768185978435</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XFytXyGNqQg/StKT0wCXSSI/AAAAAAAAASU/A0FjqzsSSiw/S220/Shana+Pic.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/178/392051956_a0f9cb24c4_t.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5250320457333613225.post-2995013084890995413</id><published>2008-12-14T18:57:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-21T02:02:20.760-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="news / politics"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="video"/><title type='text'>MY FAVORITE THING THIS WEEK: BUSH GETS A SHOE THROWN AT HIM IN IRAQ</title><content type='html'>&lt;iframe height=&quot;339&quot; width=&quot;425&quot; src=&quot;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/28223089#28223089&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; scrolling=&quot;no&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/feeds/2995013084890995413/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/5250320457333613225/2995013084890995413?isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/2995013084890995413'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/2995013084890995413'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/2008/12/my-favorite-thing-this-week-bush-gets.html' title='MY FAVORITE THING THIS WEEK: BUSH GETS A SHOE THROWN AT HIM IN IRAQ'/><author><name>Shana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/18106721768185978435</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XFytXyGNqQg/StKT0wCXSSI/AAAAAAAAASU/A0FjqzsSSiw/S220/Shana+Pic.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5250320457333613225.post-7661070670725537029</id><published>2008-12-13T14:37:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-21T02:05:08.124-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="immature nonsense"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="video"/><title type='text'>I KNEW THE COUNT WAS A PIMP</title><content type='html'>&lt;iframe allowfullscreen=&#39;allowfullscreen&#39; webkitallowfullscreen=&#39;webkitallowfullscreen&#39; mozallowfullscreen=&#39;mozallowfullscreen&#39; width=&#39;320&#39; height=&#39;266&#39; src=&#39;https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxhlQynVw6OqndUUa7oly4nxVHAbIomr82tha9IC__AaRL4q7zDrwQDvsfvvcNMwjkSeXB3zfqw5BYxGEBNYg&#39; class=&#39;b-hbp-video b-uploaded&#39; frameborder=&#39;0&#39;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&quot;One, two, three &#39;#@$&amp;amp;^ *&amp;amp;@%$*&#39; AHH HA HA HA!&quot;</content><link rel='enclosure' type='video/mp4' href='http://www.blogger.com/video-play.mp4?contentId=cdcb8ac27a299e2f&amp;type=video%2Fmp4' length='0'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/feeds/7661070670725537029/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/5250320457333613225/7661070670725537029?isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/7661070670725537029'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/7661070670725537029'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/2008/12/i-knew-count-was-pimp.html' title='I KNEW THE COUNT WAS A PIMP'/><author><name>Shana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/18106721768185978435</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XFytXyGNqQg/StKT0wCXSSI/AAAAAAAAASU/A0FjqzsSSiw/S220/Shana+Pic.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5250320457333613225.post-7393286005378857747</id><published>2008-12-12T18:37:00.006-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-21T01:48:21.111-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="news / politics"/><title type='text'>MICHAEL MOORE:Senate to Middle Class -&quot;Drop Dead&quot;</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur=&quot;try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}&quot; href=&quot;http://weblogs.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/blog/moore.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 132px; height: 153px;&quot; src=&quot;http://weblogs.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/blog/moore.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;      Friends,&lt;div class=&quot;entry_body_text&quot;&gt;  &lt;p&gt;They could have given the loan on the condition that the automakers start building only cars and mass transit that reduce our dependency on oil.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;They could have given the loan on the condition that the automakers build cars that reduce global warming.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;They could have given the loan on the condition that the automakers withdraw their many lawsuits against state governments in their attempts to not comply with our environmental laws.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;They could have given the loan on the condition that the management team which drove these once-great manufacturers into the ground resign and be replaced with a team who understands the transportation needs of the 21st century.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Yes, they could have given the loan for any of these reasons because, in the end, to lose our manufacturing infrastructure and throw 3 million people out of work would be a catastrophe.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;But instead, the Senate said, we&#39;ll give you the loan only if the factory workers take a $20 an hour cut in wages, pension and health care. That&#39;s right. After giving &lt;em&gt;billions&lt;/em&gt; to Wall Street hucksters and criminal investment bankers -- billions with no strings attached and, as we have since learned, no oversight whatsoever -- the Senate decided it is more important to break a union, more important to throw middle class wage earners into the ranks of the working poor than to prevent the total collapse of industrial America.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;We have a little more than a month to go of this madness. As I sit here in Michigan today, tens of thousands of hard working, honest, decent Americans do not believe they can make it to January 20th. The malaise here is astounding. Why must they suffer because of the mistakes of every CEO from Roger Smith to Rick Wagoner? Make management and the boards of directors and the shareholders pay for this.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Of course that is heresy to the 31 Republicans who decided to blame the poor, miserable autoworkers for this mess. And our wonderful media complied with their spin on the morning news shows: &quot;UAW Refuses to Give Concessions Killing Auto Bailout Bill.&quot; In fact the UAW has given concession after concession, reduced their benefits, agreed to get rid of the Jobs Bank and agreed to make it harder for their retirees to live from week to week. Yes! That&#39;s what we need to do! It&#39;s the Jobs Bank and the old people who have led the nation to economic ruin!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;But even doing all that wasn&#39;t enough to satisfy the bastard Republicans. These Senate vampires wanted blood. Blue collar blood. You see, they weren&#39;t opposed to the bailout because they believed in the free market or capitalism. No, they were opposed to the bailout because they&#39;re opposed to workers making a decent wage. In their rage, they were driven to destroy the backbone of this country, not because the UAW hadn&#39;t given back enough, but because the UAW hadn&#39;t given up.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;It appears that the sitting President has been looking for a way to end his reign by one magnanimous act, just like a warlord on his feast day. He will put his finger in the dyke, and the fragile mess of an auto industry will eke through the next few months.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;That will give the Senate enough time to demand that the bankers and investment sharks who&#39;ve already swiped nearly half of the $700 billion gift a chance to make the offer of cutting their pay.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Fat chance.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Yours,&lt;br /&gt;Michael Moore&lt;br /&gt;MMFlint@aol.com&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.michaelmoore.com/&quot;&gt;http://www.michaelmoore.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;            &lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/feeds/7393286005378857747/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/5250320457333613225/7393286005378857747?isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/7393286005378857747'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/7393286005378857747'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/2008/12/senate-to-middle-class-drop-dead.html' title='MICHAEL MOORE:Senate to Middle Class -&quot;Drop Dead&quot;'/><author><name>Shana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/18106721768185978435</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XFytXyGNqQg/StKT0wCXSSI/AAAAAAAAASU/A0FjqzsSSiw/S220/Shana+Pic.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5250320457333613225.post-9110475641644611057</id><published>2008-12-12T15:49:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-21T01:48:21.112-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="news / politics"/><title type='text'>IS THE REJECTION OF  THE AUTO BAILOUT IN THE SENATE TREASON?</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur=&quot;try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}&quot; href=&quot;http://www.mentalcontagion.com/issue0602/jpgs/chrisjordan/crushedcars.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 132px;&quot; src=&quot;http://www.mentalcontagion.com/issue0602/jpgs/chrisjordan/crushedcars.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;by&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.therandirhodesshow.com/&quot;&gt; RANDI RHODES .therandirhodesshow.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ahead of the beginning of a new Presidency which seemed imminent way back in 2007, Republicans began preparations for the ultimate destruction of America.  “If we can’t have it then the Democrats can’t either”.   A scorched Earth policy was put into play.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Treating America as if it were about to be conquered by enemy invaders, Republicans destroyed the factories, plundered the Treasury and broke the backs of the people.  It’s what conquered Armies do to prevent their enemies from having any resources once the invaders are at the gates ready to breach the checkpoints and occupy the city.   Our new President will take over in a time of war.  Economic WAR.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Southern Senators would rather let Foreigners take over our country rather than turn over anything useful to a Democratic President.  The South is at War with the rest of the US.  The South is the only region of the US where Republicans still retain power and they fully intend to wage their war from there with the aid of their Foreign Allies. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ladies and Gentlemen, prepare to fight them HERE after all.  Foreign companies and Southern Republican Senators are at war with the United States from within the United States.  The South is Central Command for their side.  Everywhere else is a battleground to be scorched and pillaged.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A slavish, unhinged contempt for organized labor, perhaps a mindset dating back to days when &#39;labor&#39; was called &#39;slavery&#39;, and thus meant by Providence to be owned by Property Owners or CREAL” Americans, is worth fighting for.  The bad old days of Southern Plantation Politics is back.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Southern Senators declared their loyalty to their foreign Armies last night.  Pledged their Allegiance to their Axis and formed The Coalition of Willing foreign Bankers, Property Owners, and Manufacturing giants to attack the United States.  Now comes recruitment.  Disgruntled workers who are too hungry and broken to “work for America” will march in their Army against the American people.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It&#39;s ironic.  Exactly 63 years after we beat back Fascism the Appeasers who have toiled on the “dark side” conspiring almost everyday to destroy the very means by which America won the greatest victory against the Axis, have begun the battle anew.  This time we will have to fight it HERE.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Last night the South rose again with their Allied Foreign Forces and destroyed the last great thing of value we had: American Manufacturing! In one fell swoop, Richard Shelby, Bob Corker and a host of Southern Republican Senators have won World War II for Germany &amp;amp; Japan. And they are refighting the Civil War, too.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Obama had better be one part FDR, one part Lincoln.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/feeds/9110475641644611057/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment/fullpage/post/5250320457333613225/9110475641644611057?isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/9110475641644611057'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5250320457333613225/posts/default/9110475641644611057'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://noyoulistentome.blogspot.com/2008/12/is-rejection-of-auto-bailout-in-senate.html' title='IS THE REJECTION OF  THE AUTO BAILOUT IN THE SENATE TREASON?'/><author><name>Shana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/18106721768185978435</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XFytXyGNqQg/StKT0wCXSSI/AAAAAAAAASU/A0FjqzsSSiw/S220/Shana+Pic.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry></feed>