The Issues List

What does the occupation movement want?

2011-12-07T01:13:00.000-08:00

The people protesting today want justice,
peace, freedom, liberty, health care, jobs,
and education. And as Americans, they
have a right to speak out about the economic
emergencies facing this nation.

Bailing out billionaire bankers who screwed
up our economy does not make any sense.
If you think it does, you are brainwashed.

The occupy movement people and someone
to apply the rule of law and stop enforcing
corporate occupations with US troops.

Today's economic problems stem from the
largest transfer of funds in the history of
the planet. This occurred during the Bush years...
And you are one of the 99& who got screwed
royally by these right wing thugs.

The occupation movement organizers
have asked that we invest in American
roads, bridges, libraries, schools, hospitals,
and ports instead of investing in corporate welfare,
war profiteering, tax breaks for billionaires, and the misuse
of our troops to enforce corporate exploitation abroad.

When we throw the bums out and put in real leadership,
we will end the wars, prosecute the war profiteers, and spend
the savings and reparations on schools, parks, libraries, hospitals,
roads, bridges, seaports, airports, railroads, ships, space exploration,
scientific research, and other programs which provide for the good
of everyday people.

And you, as always, will benefit from programs which build bridges
to a more prosperous, peaceful, and secure tomorrow.

Organize for Issues!

2011-11-08T17:59:00.000-08:00

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Has the Republican Party Become a Religion?

2011-09-22T11:06:00.000-07:00

If the GOP is a religion
(I do not argue the premise),
then Obama is a convert.

The only rationale for voting for Obama
is the "lesser of evils" theory. But we
have evidence to contradict this notion.
The Obama presidency has been more
dangerous than the George W. Bush's legacy.
No hope or change. More war,
job losses, foreclosures, unemployment,
skyrocketing health care costs, etc.

Obama is a dyed in the wool, right wing Republican of the most
dangerous sort. He talks the Democratic talk so he can walk the
Republican walk. And he walks on: crushing peace, health care,
effective schools, intact infrastructure, environmental
responsibility, and progress beneath his feet. And along with these...
we lose hopes, dreams, and aspirations he does not share.

Obama embraces wars of choice, executions of prisoners,
rendering Americans, wiretapping citizens, suspending habeas
corpus, taking nonprofit health care off the table, and virtually
every other item on the right wing agenda.

The choice between Eisenhower and Stephenson... did represent
two prudent, principled, and moderate traditions. But comparing
Obama to either is a false choice. Obama most closely resembles
George W. Bush. He believes in unrestrained executive power,
misusing our military to enforce corporate ambitions abroad, and
suspension or dismissal of constitutional protections,
habeas corpus, & basic civil rights.

He is an absolutely dangerous man. Even George W. Bush did
not refer to calculated assassinations in contradiction of US civil,
constitutional, and international law as "justice." But Cheney
would be on board.

We must find a more prudent and progressive vehicle in our
attempt to take back this nation. A second term for Obama
will guarantee four more years of increasing militancy, dilutions
of personal freedom, and corporate control of our government,
military resources, and economic future. We cannot afford
another four years of Bush family rule. We are already bankrupt.
We have zero credibility. Our infrastructure is crumbling, health
care costs continue to skyrocket, home foreclosures are increasing,
our schools are failing, and wars of choice sap our economic and
military strength while contradicting our most basic values.

Now is no time for compromise. Wishful thinking will not
transform the failed Obama presidency. Obama is a zealot, and his
recklessness and pure religious ideology of hellfire, brimstone,
and vengeance... will never allow pragmatism, civility or reason.
This is why he talks the talk and walks in the opposite direction.
His temperment and tone allow him a pretense of civility, while
he engineers a devastating corporate takeover which continues to
destroy this nation. If he defeats the Republicons next year, the
war is over. Everyday people will have lost and corporate cons
will be securely in control for generations to come.

We need real change and true courage to counter the corporate
con game. There is too much on the line to compromise with
corruption, carnage, and corporatism, We must choose peace,
freedom, and jobs with justice. These are not on Obama's agenda.
He has made this abundantly clear. We have extended our war-
based economy, lost more freedom, our jobs continue to move
overseas, and while we lose our homes and our children lose
their future, our wages continue to decline.

If you want to guarantee this sordid decline, campaign for
Obama. He will deliver war, corporate hegemony, foreclosures,
unemployment, and a perverse form of indentured servitude...
while China, India, the European block, and transnational
economic cartels make us the largest third-world nation
on the planet.

We must locate and support a viable presidential candidate.
Register as a Democrat for the primaries, and afterwards
re-register as Working Families Party or some other alternative
to the corporate con game. At least this tactic keeps real issue
on the table and in the debates... Democrats Rep. Alan Grayson
(D-FL), Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), and Bernie Sanders (D-Vt)
(who refuses to run) are potential candidates who "would be far
and away a better choice than than President Obama." And other
candidates may emerge:

Keith Olbermannk, Al Franken, Sheryl Sandberg, Elizabeth
Warren, Thom Hartmann, Barbara Lee, Raul Grijalva, Lynn
Woolsey, Joe Sestak, Dennis Kucinich, Rachel Maddow,
Robert F.Kennedy Jr., Bill Moyers... Any other ideas?

Identify the Enemy

2011-09-09T11:55:00.000-07:00

We are now in six wars of choice to support corporate
ambitions abroad while Americans lose jobs, homes,
income, and hope. The corporate parties are not responding
to demands for peace, jobs with justice, and rebuilding
infrastructure for a better tomorrow. Since these clueless
legislators don't get it, 2012 will be a watershed election.
Republicons and Demagogues have overplayed their hands.

Corporatists in congress and the White house will be shown
the door. Everyday people intend to take back this nation.
The delusions of the mean right wing spin machine will no
longer carry the day or deliver the votes. And Democrats who
are willing to compromise ideas and ideals... are going to find
themselves without a shred of support.

Unrestricted Corporatism is our enemy. We fought the good
fight against the military industrial complex after Eisenhower
warned us about the danger. But they won. We have to face
what has happened to America. We are a divided nation. All
of us know people who were foolish enough to vote for extremists
on the right. And these people are not, for the most part, bad,
or hateful people. What they are is afraid. They are afraid of
terrorists, gays, liberals, poverty, losing their jobs, change, and
a laundry list of bogeymen, ghouls, ghosts, and goblins. Progressives
and liberals are afraid for some of the same reasons, and also afraid
of big government, wiretapping, wards of choice, deteriorating
infrastructure, unending wars, bombs, corruption, and body bags.

Most everyday people just want to live their lives, according to
their own choices, and be left alone. But more often than not, we
are forced to listen to someone else's standard being forced upon us.

Corporate media sells us Viagra, tells us Social Security is in danger,
pontificates about Muslim threats, and tells us to be very afraid.
Transnational economic cartels move decent jobs overseas while
simultaneously accepting corporate welfare supplied by middle
class Americans. Large insurance cartels threaten to take our homes
when we cannot pay our medical bills. And the Fortune 500
companies that deliver our "news," produce papers and magazines
which more closely resemble gossip rags than actual journalism.

And regardless of who we vote for, our government is run according
to the whims of corporate cartels. People have lost control of our
government and of their own lives, fortunes, and future. While we
lose our homes and send our kids to failing schools, too many of us
have turned on one another instead of facing the real enemy.

The people have lost control and they are afraid. There is a need
to blame someone. We as a people have turned on each other and
instead need to realize who the enemy really is.

The enemy is not capitalism, socialism, fascism, or communism....
The enemy is unrestrained and unregulated corporatism.
This trumps everything: family, nation, religious beliefs,
and truth.

It's time we put hate aside, stop calling each other names
(left and right), and focus on the real enemy.
We can stand together, in courage,
and make a difference.

Are broke or broken, or can be fight back!

2011-08-02T16:06:00.000-07:00

The reason we are in debt is because speculators, unimpeded by meaningful
regulation, destroyed our economic system... because they could. And started
crippling wars of choice, because they chose to.

And now, instead of ending corporate adventurism abroad, we talk about cutting
basic human services at home. Absolute nonsense. Not a statement of policy
but a retreat to delusion. A bald-faced lie.

The debt or its ceiling is beside the point. We must end regressive corporate welfare,
reinvest in America, and remove lifetime congressional welfare workers.

When we end the war and restore congressional retirement benefits to
the Social Security Trust Fund from whence they came, we will be on
the way to becoming solvent. There is no good reason for public servants
to give themselves raises and untenable benefits extending beyond their
time in service. Simple extortion. They need pay cuts and chill pills.

As we rebuild the trust fund we can invest in job creation at home,
rebuilding our infrastructure instead of paying corporate contractors
to exploit taxpayers at home and those they misuse our forces to
occupy and expliot abroad.

The Chickens have come home to roost. And it has little to do
with debt-ceiling rhetoric and everything to do with the bottom line.

We deserve justice, integrity, and competence.
It is time we demanded accountability and reparations.
We are not broke or broken. We are being robbed.
It is time to restore the rule of law.

tmf

On Flogging, Beating, Torture, Rape, Murder & other crimes and perversions.

2011-04-25T09:33:00.000-07:00

Dear Mr. Moskos,
History has lessons for us. Violence begets violence. Murdering people
has never stopped people from murdering people. Beating people will
not stop people from beating people. Abrahamic traditions agree the
greatest commandment is love. Loving your neighbor as you would
be loved, is the sum of wisdom. There is no defense for rape, torture,
brutality, or murder. Courage is the cure for fear, and faith is the bridge
to freedom. A sad and cowardly surrender to violence, war, hatred
and cruelty... is foolish, imprudent, criminal behavior which must
not be condoned, ignored, or embraced. We can do better.

Torture and brutality are slippery slopes toward rape, murder,
perversity, and chaos. Fortunately, most people understand the
difference between crude violence and creative reconciliation.
We can all get along without wallowing in the gutter with criminals.
Judicial homicide and torture are illegal, immoral, and ineffective.
This is why all civilized nations have rejected capital
punishment and torture. Perhaps if we join them we can
all get along and build bridges to a better tomorrow.

Those who encourage violence are part of the problem.
If we want creative social change and a better future for
our children, we will work together for peace, justice,
and freedom.

Values, principles, and truth matter. Those who embrace
violence are wrestling with their own personal demons
in a match they are destined to lose. With love, we can
make a difference. And our future may hang in the balance.
When we choose to ignore history, we are doomed to repeat it.

love always, Tim

Timothy Martin Flangan, editor of The Portland Alliance,
"Speaking Truth to Power for 30 Years."
http://www.theportlandalliance... /
Contact: editor@theportlandalliance.org
Box 14162, Portland, Oregon 97293-0162
Phone: (503)-327-8377 Fax: (503)-327-8949
http://theissueslist.blogspot....
https://sites.google.com/site/...

What "The Left" Thinks About Oil Prices...

2011-03-27T23:38:00.000-07:00

1. The oil companies set the prices to make as much as they can,
regardless of what that may cost this nation.
2. Congress gets paid off and does not regulate the oil company
behavior. (Like forcing them to pay taxes.)
3. The president can either use the bully pulpit to influence pricing
or not. Mostly not.
4. It is all about greed. The war in Iraq was all about oil. Libya is
being bombed because they have lots of oil and are a weak
nation we can easily attack, invade, occupy, and exploit. Since
domestic oil companies are extracting a US taxpayer asset,
FOR NOTHING, they are robbing us blind. They should be
paying their share of our tax burden. (aka they should pay for
the oil they steal and share the profits they make.) If they did,
we would not be closing schools, laying off police, and
watching our infrastructure deteriorate beyond repair...

...Oil is a pretty slippery subject.

Right Wing Claims To Care About US Troops

2011-01-04T19:46:00.000-08:00

But progressive Americans and US Peace Movement members
want to secure the peace rather than waste American lives in
ill-advised corporate invasions and occupations overseas.

Anyone who thinks sending our military to die for Fortune 500
adventurism abroad has anything to do with caring about
military personnel... has a problem with basic logic. Dick and
George lied us into a war which has cost millions of lives.

This has been a disaster for everyone. Obama, the closet
Republican, perpetuates this error.

But history speaks: "In 1944, Democratic President
Franklin Roosevelt enacted the historic G.I. Bill,
initiating the Democrats’ longstanding commitment
to providing America’s veterans access to higher
education and the promise of success as a civilian
—a commitment that remains strong today."

The left wing cares about people first.
For the right wing mean extreme...

profits trump people.

We can do better.

In response to the conversation on Karylee's wall!

2011-01-03T01:44:00.000-08:00

Timothy Martin Flanagan Obama is a Republican... He was a better choice than McCain and Palin... but not by much. Hopefully we can find an actual progressive to run. Obama's embrace of the death penalty, the Bush agenda, wiretapping, and rendering Americans for torture, rape, and murder overseas... is only the short list of why we need someone on our side for a change...
Saturday at 3:56pm ·
|
Doug Stanley
Timothy. While I respect your right to your opinion, you frighten me. I sincerely hope, for the sake of the future of this country, that a candidate who embraces the things you espouse is never successful in attaining elective office. Esp...ecially as President of the United States.
I'm pleased that you recognize that Obama was and is not the Messiah he was thought to be, and I agree that the selection of Sarah Palin was a horrible choice. However I also hope that this run at socialism is over. I do appreciate the dialogue, and thank Karylee for allowing it on her wall. God bless America.

Tim Wrote: I did not "espouse" any of the sad realities which now exist. I only pointed them out. I think that having a president who embraces the Bush agenda, wiretapping, and rendering Americans is frightening as well. But what would be more frightening is to ignore the facts.

The linguistic acrobatics which are necessary to call Obama a "socialist" are ludicrous. Just more spin from the mean machine. However, your claim that the Bush agenda is tantamount to socialism may, at some levels, be historically accurate. Hitler considered himself a socialist. And the claim that we have a right to attack anyone, anywhere, anytime, for any reason... seems relatively Un-American to me. As for Obama... while his embrace of wars of choice is frightening... this stance has more to do with corporate fascism than socialism. We are on a slippery slope...

Basically Obama's surrrender to the right wing does not bode well for everyday people. Hopefully we will find someone to secure the peace, fix our schools, and get insurance companies off the table and out of our pockets. We need a Dept. of peace instead of endless war. And cutting social services to fund tax breaks for billionaires is insane. We should properly care for our elderly, students, children, veterans,
and other Americans who have lost jobs, homes, and health.

We need universal nonprofit healthcare like the rest of the planet... functioning schools, intact infrastructure, constitutional integrity, and a return to the rule of law. Today's progressives, in many ways, are the new conservatives. We would conserve values, laws, the environment, and the constitution. Who could argue with this? Healthy educated employed citizens can build a better tomorrow.

The mean right wing spin machine's vision of endless corporate occupations on the taxpayer dime is nonsense. And it is unfortunate that Obama has surrendered to this view. Most Americans have no idea what they have lost. Legalizaed rendering, wiretapping, wars of choice, and the suspension of habeas corpus has set this nation back 400 years. Congress is most to blame. They suspended habeas corpus and made torture legal. Their betrayal of the values my father defended in World Ware Two is a tragedy. In my view.

But... opinions vary... And thanks Karylee for the space for the preceding conversation. Any who have opinions on these matters could send a letter to editor@theportlandalliance.org.... for 20 thousand readers!
http://www.theportlandalliance.org

Islamophobia: the efficacy of hate

2010-10-15T16:45:00.000-07:00

Anyone
who calls
an entire
religion evil...
is sick.

Abrahamic
traditions
(Judaism,
Christianity,
& Islam)
have each
inspired a
variety of
nutcases
and wackos
who have
chosen to commit unfathomable atrocities.

But the idiotic and sociopathic behaviors
of individuals who claim one religion or
another... in no way provides reason to
indict all Muslims, Christians, and Jews
who share the same God and
spiritual foundations.

Abrahamic tradition holds that the greatest
force is love. The faith, hope, and courage
of these faithful has moved mountains
and ended wars.

Devout Christian, Muslim, and Jewish
people understand and agree that others
should treated with the same compassion
and kindness which all of us would hope
to receive.

Fortunately, the sane among us can keep
these things in perspective while
ignorant and hateful fear-mongers
recklessly spew violence and vitriol.

Labor Day, Fall, Celebrations, & Epiphanies...

2010-09-06T06:15:00.000-07:00

Enjoy! www.writingresource.info/laborday

"... Happy Labor Day. Time for another uprising. Nonviolent civil society, unified across racial, ethnic, class and religious lines, has all the power if they ever choose to use it."

peacevoice.info/

More Administrators hired than faculty!

2010-08-18T20:58:00.000-07:00

August 17, 2010, 03:10 PM ET http://theissueslist.blogspot.com/

Growth in Administrators
Outstrips Growth in Faculty Members

A report issued today says that the number of administrators for every 100 college students increased by 39 percent from 1993 to 2007, while the number of professors and researchers rose by 18 percent during that period. The study of 198 public and private universities was released by the nonprofit Goldwater Insitute, and led by Jay P. Greene, a senior fellow at the institute who is also head of the department of education reform at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. Officials at one university system, the University of Texas, objected to the study's methodology. They told The Dallas Morning News that the study included counselors, deans, and accountants in the administrative ranks, which artificially inflated those numbers. Mr. Greene said the point was to account for staff not directly involved in instruction or research. His report blames this "bloat" for the increase in college costs.

Is Government the solution or the problem?

2010-08-17T00:08:00.001-07:00

Effective leaders in various governments have created productive jobs and steered economies from ruin to prosperity. Freely established nations of good people have banded together to secure the peace, protect their freedom, and realize justice according to a foundation in the rule of law.

Recessions may come and go, but these are merely fluctuations in economic conditions which transcend governments, taxes, and the vicissitudes of nature. Government spending, when creatively administered, demonstrably raised all ships and move us from the great depression into a position of strength and security as the richest and most powerful nation in modern history.

Obama is creating great uncertainty by allowing the Bush tax's to continue. His surrender to corporate insiders on health care has been a disaster, although what small steps forward which have been made are helpful. The decision by congress to consider heath insurance premiums as taxable income is insane.

The astronomical debts run up by the Bush and Cheney administration have crippled this nation for the next half century. If our current president would reject endless wars and occupations as a platform, we might be able to move forward. Businesses in American will hire when our government stops exporting jobs overseas in blatant surrender to transnational economic cartels who have bought this this nation.

Personal incomes in America have been in decline for the past ten years. Until we begin to invest in America, incomes will continue this downward spiral.

Bush's Third Term....

2010-08-16T00:19:00.000-07:00

In his campaign stump speech, Obama said that he wanted to
restore the moral high ground he thought was lost under Bush:
"We are going to lead by example, by maintaining the highest
standards of civil liberties and human rights."
He explained ways this would be accomplished.
"Close down Guantanamo, restore habeas corpus (the right
to see the evidence against you), say no to renditions,
no to wireless wiretapping." He also declared that single
payer was the only solution to our health care crisis.
How did he do?
Obama has not closed Guantanamo -- and some Guantanamo
prisoners have reported harsher treatment under Obama.
The Obama administration has argued against extending habeas
corpus to some prisoners, and it has continued rendition
and warrantless wiretapping. In fact, Obama went further:
secret sentences. Osama bin Laden's cook Ibrahim al-Qosi
was convicted, and his sentence will not be revealed until it's
been completed.

Obama criticized Bush for claiming that the U.S. president |
has the authority to detain U.S. citizens without charges.
Osama’s administration goes further and says that, without
charges or evidence, the president has the authority to kill
U.S. citizens and even maintains a list of citizens targeted for
assassination. Obama complained about the "revelation of
secret programs" under Bush; yet, as a Washington Post
headline said this summer, "U.S. 'secret war' expands globally."

The Bush administration was criticized for making backroom
deals where the participants weren't revealed. Obama promised
his administration would be transparent and that, for instance,
he would make every aspect of the health care reform debate
open to public view, even broadcasting all negotiations on C-Span.

In practice, Obama held back names of health industry
representatives meeting behind closed doors in the
White House until a lawsuit was filed and didn't
allow transparent health care negotiations or for
them to be broadcast. He has, however, been more
open than any other administration, according to the
Pulitzer-winning PolitiFact, and posts most visitors
online, with exceptions for "sensitive meetings."
Obama criticized Bush for being in bed with oil interests.
But Bush's people were left in place in the Minerals
Management Service, which approved without
inspection at the behest of oil interests the drilling
permit that led to the Gulf\of Mexico spill. Rolling
Stone reported that staffers throughout the Interior
Department refer to working there now as "Bush's
third term."

There are many more similarities, such as in the use of
military tribunals instead of traditional courts,
Middle Eastern strategy and lack of protection
for whistle-blowers. And the Cheney-Bush policy
of endless war to enforce corporate occupations...
has only continued and expanded.

All that said, there are examples where Obama has gone against Bush policies: abortion, children's health insurance, tax cuts for the rich and the release of torture memos.

The verdict
So would a person have to be "crazy" to compare
George W. Bush's presidential policies with those
of Barack Obama's?

No. Bush and Obama have behaved similarly on
major issues, including energy policy, government
transparency, terrorism, civil liberties, health care,
war & peace. Obama, like Bush and Cheney,
favor judicial homicide, even when compelling
evidence exists that such laws result in the deaths
of innocents and undermine the moral authority
of the law.

We deserve better. All we can hope for now,
is that some more progressive candidate may emerge
so that Bush does not get a Fourth Term.

Hiroshima

2010-08-15T09:31:00.000-07:00

"In visiting Hiroshima, Obama wouldn't question the service and sacrifice of American veterans. The purpose wouldn't be to make America or Americans feel guilty about the past. Rather, he could begin putting into action his talk of a world free of nuclear weapons. Hiroshima is a stark reminder of the incomparable destruction wrought by nuclear weapons.

...Obama is ideally suited to alter the conversation on Hiroshima. He has changed America by reintroducing hope into the political and social conversation during a time of financial crisis and war.

...By paying his respects to those who died in Hiroshima, Obama can show both Japan and the rest of the world that Americans take this history seriously, that we say in one voice "never again."

The U.S. president can also help inaugurate a new era in relations between Washington and Tokyo. The new Japanese Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama, stood at the United Nations last month and invited leaders to understand the need for a world free of nuclear weapons from the perspective of those who were in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Hatoyama did so not to blame Americans for this history, but rather to articulate Japan's responsibility as the only country to be devastated by such bombs: Others must never know such suffering. The new Japanese prime minister is also promising a forthright examination of Japan's role in World War II. It's time for President Obama to make this a joint endeavor.

As the president wrestles with the intricacies of Afghanistan's future, recognizing America's past history should be fairly straightforward by comparison. His visit would give him and the United States credibility to move forward in setting the tone for discussions of nuclear nonproliferation, weapons reduction, and, ultimately, their abolition. We can only focus on this future if we deal honestly with the past.

Put differently, if Mr. Obama cannot visit Hiroshima, why would the leader of any other country believe he or any American could turn words about a non-nuclear world into action?

John Feffer

On the "decline" of Europe...

2010-08-15T09:20:00.000-07:00

Europe is moving forward: securing peace, embracing justice,
and enhancing freedom. Many all over the world embrace these
articles of faith and have the courage to walk the talk.

Those who indulge in fear-mongering, war, aggression, occupation,
exploitation, and exclusion will not prevail. Good people are building
bridges to a more abundant future. The cynics and those who do little
but whine and complain will be displaced and transcended by people
of vision with serenity in their hearts. Not to worry."

For the Tea Party Pretenders...

2010-08-15T09:15:00.000-07:00

Tea Party pretenders claim government is always bad...

But reality intervenes:

In America, government job creation moved us from the great depression
into a position of strength and security as the richest and most
powerful nation in modern history.

Obama is creating great uncertainty by allowing the Bush taxs cuts to
continue. His surrender to corporate insiders on health care has been a
disaster, although what small steps forward which have been made are
helpful. The decision by congress to consider heath insurance premiums
as taxable income is insane. The astronomical debts run up by the Bush and
Cheney administration have crippled this nation for the next half century.

If our current president would reject endless wars and occupations
as a platform, we might be able to move forward. Businesses in American will
hire when our government stops exporting jobs overseas in blatant surrender to

transnational economic cartels who have bought (and stolen) this this nation.

Personal incomes in America have been in decline for the past ten years.

Until we begin to invest in America, incomes will continue this downward spiral.

We can do better. And the government (which is us) can be part of the solution.
Tim

Dangerous Disinformation

2010-07-13T14:16:00.000-07:00

Disinformation is Dangerous

The American people will not allow
King George, Dick Cheney, or Rush Limbaugh
to destroy this nation by making neo-colonialism
national policy.

Allowing transnational economic cartels to
dictate terms for healthcare and misuse our military
for corporate ambitions overseas... clearly destroyed
our economy during the Cheney fiasco and does not
serve us well today. The residual effects of Cheney's
betrayal and collaboration with the oil industry now |
soils our shores, contaminates our resources, and
diminishes our future. No more.

Patriotic Americans will take back this nation.
Corporate ambitions for occupation and exploitation
have cost millions of lives and trillions of dollars.
These crippling blows are not partisan issues.

Taking back this nation is a matter of survival.
Those who depend on infortainment for their "news"
will be in for a surprise during this election cycle.

They were surprised when a black man won the
presidency. And they will be more surprised when
a liberal majority in America (from both sides of the
aisle and beyond) take back this nation from the
Fortune 500 and install principled leadership to
secure prosperity and progress based on
peace instead of war, construction instead of destruction,
and courage instead of fear.

in solidarity and with best regards, Tim

http://sites.google.com/site/constitutionalrightsresource/disinformation

Post Script: The "pajama party" is not a "news" service.
They deliver disinformation. Pure and simple.
Their product might more accurately
be called info-tainment.
Their various contributors
aim at the lowest common
denominators of ignorance
and fear. We must depend on proactive
journalists to debunk their junk.

Timothy Flanagan,
editor at The Wordsmith Collection

Facts still matter.
Take a look at this offering from http://newsjunkiepost.com/

"The top 50 conservative websites are a fascinating compilation that
seems to be dominated by disinformation. That is, false information
promoted in order to influence public opinion or the government.
They demonstrate a high degree of alarmism coupled with a serious
lack of journalistic integrity, which can be a noxious mix that helps
ignorance grow."

http://www.unionresource.org/
"Together we make a difference."

Nothin' but the truth...

2010-05-14T17:31:00.000-07:00

~Nadine Gordimer

"The truth isn't always beauty,
but the hunger for it is."

Wisdom is found only in truth.
~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

A thing is not necessarily true
because a man dies for it.
~ Oscar Wilde

Truth only reveals itself
when one gives up all
preconceived ideas.
~Shoseki

“The truth is rarely pure
and never simple.”
~ Oscar Wilde

"Nothing is easier
than self-deceit.
For what each man wishes,
that he also
believes to be true."~Demosthenes

Believe those who are seeking
the truth; doubt those who find it.
~Andre Gide

The ultimate test
of what a truth means
is the conduct it
dictates or inspires.
~ William James

"Truth resides in every human heart,
and one has to search for it there,
and to be guided
by truth as one sees it.
But no one has a right
to coerce others to act according
to his own view of truth. ~Edmund Burke

Ye shall know the truth,
and the truth shall make you mad.
~Aldous Huxley

It's no wonder that truth
is stranger than fiction,
Fiction has to make sense.

~Mark Twain

~Malcolm X
I'm for truth,
no matter who tells it.

I'm for justice,
no matter who
it's for
or against.

Truth is mighty and will prevail.
There is nothing the matter with
this, except that it ain't so.
~Mark Twain

What people believe
prevails over the truth.
~SOPHOCLES

I believe that
unarmed truth and
unconditional love
will have the final
word in reality.

This is why right,
temporarily defeated,
is stronger than
evil triumphant.
~Martin Luther King, Jr.

New Arizona Law

2010-04-29T17:47:00.000-07:00

The law is unconstitutional.
It will not stand up to judicial review.
The law is most vulnerable to the argument
that it essentially criminalizes "walking
while Hispanic."

1. Under the Constitution,
    federal law is the supreme law of the land
    and states may not pass laws that seek to
    overshadow federal statutes.

2. The law violates the Fourth Amendment
     which protects people from unlawful search
     and seizure.
3. The 14th Amendment is compromised in this "law."
    The amendment clearly states that any person in the
    jurisdiction of a state, not just citizens, should be
    protected equally by the laws.

4. Legislators and experts on the law agree it is unconsitutional.

Senator Lindsey Graham (R) of South Carolina,
Karl Manheim of Loyola Law School in Los Angeles,
and Erwin Chemerinsky of UC Irvine Law
agree the law is “unconstitutional.”

5. Arizona's New Immigration Law: Unconstitutional, Bad Policy

     Opinion by Southern Poverty Law Center
http://sites.google.com/site/pdxafsc/arizonalaw

Question Authority?

2010-04-23T17:35:00.000-07:00

"Unthinking respect
for authority
is the greatest
enemy of truth.

Albert Einstein

"No oppression is
so heavy or lasting
as that which is inflicted
by the perversion and
exorbitance of legal authority."
~ Joseph Addison ~

"We too often bind ourselves by authorities
rather than by the truth."
- Lucretia Coffin Mott

~Benjamin Franklin was often quoted as saying

"It is the first
responsibility
of every
citizen to
question
authority."

Those who do not rightly question
authority may surrender to murder,
chaos, or fascism.
...Lest we forget.

If more people asked questions,
we might save millions of lives and
trillions of dollars needlessly squandered.

But too many voluntarily surrender to
fear, compromising their values in silence.

tmf

"Nothing
strengthens authority
so much as silence."
~ Leonardo da Vinci

"The disappearance
of a sense of
responsibility
is the most far-reaching
consequence of
submission to authority."
Stanley Milgram

“The only thing
necessary for
the triumph of
evil is for good men
to do nothing”

Edmund Burke

"The ultimate authority must always
rest with the individual's own
reason and critical analysis."

Dalai Lama

"A central lesson of science
is that to understand complex
issues (or even simple ones),
we must try to free our minds
of dogma and to guarantee the
freedom to publish, to contradict,

and to experiment.

...Arguments from authority
are unacceptable."
Carl Sagan

"But man, proud man,
Drest in a little brief authority,
Most ignorant of
what he’s most assur’d,

His glassy essence,
like an angry ape,
Plays such fantastic tricks
before high heaven,
As make the angels weep."
    Measure for Measure.
    Act II. Sc. 2. L. 117.

"It is dangerous
to be right in matters
on which the
established authorities
are wrong."
    Voltaire

"No moral system can rest solely on authority."
    A J Ayer

"The vices of authority
are chiefly four:
  delays, corruption,
roughness, and facility."
    -Bacon, Francis,
    Viscount St Albans
     Essays, no.11,
     'Of Great Place'.

"Every great advance in natural knowledge
    has involved the absolute rejection of authority."
       Thomas Huxley

"Authority in science exists to be questioned,
  since heresy is the spring from which new ideas flow."
     — John C. Polanyi

"A position of authority is neither

necessary nor sufficient
for the exercise of leadership."
    Eric Werkowitz

"The faith that stands
on authority is not faith.”
    Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Unthinking respect for authority
  is the greatest enemy of truth.”
    Albert Einstein

"No statement should
be believed because it
is made by an authority.”
Robert A. Heinlein

“Anyone who conducts
an argument by
appealing to authority
is not using his intelligence”
Leonardo da Vinci

“All authority belongs to the people”
    Thomas Jefferson

"I was bold in the
pursuit of knowledge,
never fearing to follow
truth and reason
to whatever results they led,
and bearding every authority
which stood in their way."

   Thomas Jefferson

"Men in authority will always think that
criticism of their policies is dangerous.
They will always equate their policies
with patriotism, and find criticism subversive."
    Henry Steele Commager

“Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.”
Howard Zinn

|"What you need is sustained outrage...
there's far too much unthinking respect
given to authority."
Molly Ivins

"The examples of vice at home corrupt
us more quickly and easily than others,
since they steal into our minds under
the highest authority.
    Decimus (Junius Juvenalis)
Juvenal c.55-c.130
    Roman Satirical Poet

"An argument from authority
is but a weak kind
of proof,--it being but a
topical probation, and
an inartificial argument
depending on
naked asseveration."

    - Sir Thomas Browne

"Science is not perfect. It can be misused.
It is only a tool. But it is by far the best tool we
have, self-correcting, ongoing, applicable to everything.
It has two rules. First: there are no sacred truths; all
assumptions must be critically examined; arguments
from authority are worthless. Second: whatever is
inconsistent with the facts must be discarded or revised.
... The obvious is sometimes false; the unexpected is
sometimes true.

     — Carl Sagan

"The reason why the simpler sort are moved
by authority is the consciousness
of their own ignorance."
- Richard Hooker

"Authority has always
attracted the lowest
elements in the human race.
All through history
mankind has been
bullied by scum.
Those who lord it over
their fellows and toss
commands in every
direction and would
boss the grass in the
meadow about which
way to bend in the wind
are the most depraved kind of prostitutes.
They will submit to any indignity, perform
any vile act, do anything to achieve power.
The worst off-sloughings of the planet are
the ingredients of sovereignty. Every
government is a parliament of whores.
The trouble is, in a democracy the whores are us."

P. J. O'Rourke

"If you attack the establishment
long enough and hard enough,
they will make you a member of it."
Art Buchwald

"The public school system:
Usually a twelve-year
sentence of mind control.
Crushing creativity,
smashing individualism,
encouraging collectivism and compromise,
destroying the exercise of intellectual inquiry, twisting
it instead into meek subservience to authority."
Walter Karp

"Respect authority while questioning it.
    Randy Pausch

"The wisest have the most authority."
     Plato

"Perhaps nothing in our society
is more needed for those in
positions of authority
than accountability."
    Larry Burkett

Where does it say the government pays for health care?

2010-04-21T13:30:00.000-07:00

Some wonder why "the government"
should "pay" to provide for the
health of working people.

Such an expenditure is part and
parcel of natural rights established
by our founders in the constitution.

(Article One, sections 8)

The Congress shall have power to lay and
collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises,
to pay the debts and provide for the
common defense and general welfare
of the United States; but all duties,
imposts and excises shall be uniform
throughout the United States;

To borrow money on the credit of the United States;

To regulate commerce with foreign nations,
and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes;

To establish a uniform rule of naturalization,
and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies
throughout the United States;

To coin money, regulate the value thereof,
and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;

To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting
the securities and current coin of the United States;

To establish post offices and post roads;

To promote the progress of science and useful arts,
by securing for limited times to authors and inventors
the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;

To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court;

To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on
the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations;

To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal,
and make rules concerning captures on land and water;

To raise and support armies,
but no appropriation of money
to that use shall be for a longer
term than two years;

To provide and maintain a navy;

To make rules for the government
and regulation of the land and naval forces;

To provide for calling forth the militia to execute
the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the state in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings;--And

To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.

In a functioning state, we who are "the government,"
must pay for firemen, police, army, navy, air force,
marines, libraries, schools, streets, regulatory agencies,
environmental protection, courts, public buildings, seaports,
rail systems, airports, utilities, hospitals, universities, and
myriad services and programs which keep a nation functioning.

In the real world, governance is necessary to regulate the
economy, provide for military defense, establish laws,
maintain order, and provide public services. Without these,
a country would be chaos. This essential infrastructure and
these critical services are what keep us strong, safe,
competitive, and moving forward. These facts matter.

But
"where does it say that a government should pay for this stuff?"

In the United States Constitution.
http://topics.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articlei

Here is a comprehensive list of constitutionally proscribed expenditures:
The Federal Government was established by the Constitution
to provide services to the public. While these services vary considerably,
all are designed to improve the lives of the United States population,
as well as people around the world.

Goods and services. The Federal Government's essential duties include defending the United States from foreign aggression, representing U.S. interests abroad, crating and enforcing national laws and regulations, and administering domestic programs and agencies. Workers employed by the Federal Government are responsible for enacting and implementing the programs and performing the services that accomplish these goals, playing a vital role in many aspects of daily life. (While career opportunities in the U.S. Postal Service and the Armed Forces are not covered here, they are described in Handbook statements on Postal Service mail carriers; Postal Service clerks; Postal Service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators; and job opportunities in the Armed Forces.)

Industry organization. More than 200 years ago, the founders of the United States gathered in Philadelphia to create a constitution for a new national government. The Constitution of the United States, ratified by the last of the 13 original States in 1791, created the three branches of the Federal Government and granted certain powers and responsibilities to each. The legislative, judicial, and executive branches were granted equal powers but very different responsibilities that act to keep their powers in balance.

The legislative branch is responsible for forming and amending the legal structure of the Nation. Its largest component is Congress, the U.S. legislative body, which is made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives. This body includes senators, representatives, their staffs, and various support workers. The legislative branch employs only about 1 percent of Federal workers, nearly all of whom work in the Washington, DC area.

The judicial branch is responsible for interpreting the laws that are established by the legislative branch. The Supreme Court, the Nation's definitive judicial body, makes the highest rulings. Its decisions usually follow the appeal of a decision made by the one of the regional Courts of Appeal, which hear cases appealed from U.S. District Courts, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, or State Supreme Courts. U.S. District Courts are located in each State and are the first to hear most cases under Federal jurisdiction. The judicial branch employs about 2 percent of Federal workers, and unlike the legislative branch, its offices and employees are dispersed throughout the country.

Of the three branches, the executive branch has the widest range of responsibilities. Consequently, it employed about 97 percent of all Federal civilian employees (excluding Postal Service workers) in 2008. The executive branch is comprised of the Executive Office of the President, 15 executive Cabinet departments, and about 70 independent agencies, each of which has clearly defined duties. The Executive Office of the President is composed of several offices and councils that aid the President in policy decisions. These include the Office of Management and Budget, which oversees the administration of the Federal budget; the National Security Council, which advises the President on matters of national defense; and the Council of Economic Advisers, which makes economic policy recommendations.

Each of the 15 executive Cabinet departments administers programs that oversee an aspect of life in the United States. The highest departmental official of each Cabinet department, called the Secretary, is a member of the President's Cabinet. Each department, listed by employment size, is described below and in table 1.

Defense: Manages the military forces that protect our country and its interests, including the Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force and a number of smaller agencies. The civilian workforce employed by the Department of Defense performs various support activities, such as payroll and public relations.

Veterans Affairs: Administers programs to aid U.S. veterans and their families, runs the veterans' hospital system, and operates our national cemeteries.

Homeland Security: Works to prevent terrorist attacks within the United States, reduce vulnerability to terrorism, and minimize the damage from potential attacks and natural disasters. It also administers the country's immigration policies and oversees the Coast Guard.

Treasury: Regulates banks and other financial institutions, administers the public debt, prints currency, and collects Federal income taxes.

Justice: Works with State and local governments and other agencies to prevent and control crime and ensure public safety against threats, both domestic and foreign. It also enforces Federal laws, prosecutes cases in Federal courts, and runs Federal prisons.

Agriculture: Promotes U.S. agriculture domestically and internationally, manages forests, researches new ways to grow crops and conserve natural resources, ensures safe meat and poultry products, and leads the Federal anti-hunger programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as the Food Stamp program) and the National School Lunch Program.

Health and Human Services: Performs health and social science research, assures the safety of drugs and foods other than meat and poultry, and administers Medicare, Medicaid, and numerous other social service programs.

Interior: Manages Federal lands, including the national parks, runs hydroelectric power systems, and promotes conservation of natural resources.

Transportation: Sets national transportation policy, plans and funds the construction of highways and mass transit systems, and regulates railroad, aviation, and maritime operations.

Commerce: Forecasts the weather, charts the oceans, regulates patents and trademarks, conducts the census, compiles economic statistics, and promotes U.S. economic growth by encouraging international trade.

Energy: Coordinates the national use and provision of energy, oversees the production and disposal of nuclear weapons, and plans for future energy needs.

Labor: Enforces laws guaranteeing fair pay, workplace safety, and equal job opportunity, administers unemployment insurance (UI) to State UI agencies, regulates pension funds; and collects and analyzes economic data.

State: Oversees the Nation's embassies and consulates, issues passports, monitors U.S. interests abroad, and represents the United States before international organizations.

Housing and Urban Development: Funds public housing projects, enforces equal housing laws, and insures and finances mortgages.

Education: Monitors and distributes financial aid to schools and students, collects and disseminates data on schools and other education matters, and prohibits discrimination in education.

Numerous independent agencies perform tasks that fall between the jurisdictions of the executive departments. Some smaller, but well- known, independent agencies include the Peace Corps, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Federal Communications Commission. Although the majority of these agencies are fairly small, employing fewer than 1,000 workers (many employ fewer than 100), some are quite large. The largest independent agencies are:

Social Security Administration: Operates old age, survivor, and disability insurance programs.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Oversees aviation research and conducts exploration and research beyond the Earth's atmosphere.

Environmental Protection Agency: Runs programs to control and reduce pollution of the Nation's water, air, and lands.

General Services Administration: Manages and protects Federal Government property and records.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: Examines insuring deposits and promoting sound banking practices.

Office of Personnel Management: Oversees issues related to human resources, such as hiring practices, health insurance policies, and workforce performance evaluation.

http://topics.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articlei

Will the new healthcare legislation get the job done?

2010-04-11T17:28:00.000-07:00

Health care reform would be useful.
But the watered-down insurance
“reform” we got on March, 21,
2010 is simple surrender.

This gift to the insurance industry
allows the same profiteers
to call the shots, set the prices,
and keep their antitrust exemption.

We will still have 18 million or more
Americans with no access to
healthcare. The bill contains
language that may restrict
womens' access to reproductive
health services.

The public option and a provision
to establish federal oversight of
premium hikes were both stripped out
of the bill by transnational insurance cartels.
There is no way to control costs.
This means they will go up.

This president and Congress "settled"
for a privately run, for-profit system.

Insurers can’t wait to gain 31 million
new customers, and they will set
whatever price the market will bear.

We still need single payer
to make real headway.
Dennnis Kucinich is one
of the co-authors of H.R. 676,
which would create a single-payer,
Medicare-for-all, non-profit health
care system. It currently has 78
co-sponsors. We must continue
to advocate for such a system.

The profiteering must end.
The bill which was just passed
will not make that happen.

Here is what the doctors say:

"...the president's proposal would
ship hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars
to the private health insurance industry in the
form of subsidies," Young said.

"And to help finance this, it would impose a
new tax on health benefits of workers,
especially those in high-cost states.
Its individual mandate would force millions of
middle-income uninsured Americans to buy
insurers' skimpy products - insurance
policies full of gaps like ever-rising co-pays,
deductibles and premiums. Such policies
already leave middle-class American families
vulnerable to economic hardship and medical
bankruptcy in the event of a serious illness like
cancer...Even so, at least 23 million people
would remain uninsured. We know that being
uninsured raises your chance of dying by about
40 percent," he continued, citing another recent
study. "That translates into about 23,000
unnecessary deaths each year. As physicians,
we find this completely unacceptable...
In short, this proposal is an insurance company
bonanza, not good, evidence-based health reform.
The president would do better by abandoning the
insurance and drug companies and instead taking
up the single-payer approach."

http://pnhp.org/
http://www.jwjpdx.org/campaigns/page1-general-info
www.Writingresource.info/healthcare
http://health-careresource.blogspot.com/

Why Dennis held his nose and supported the bill..

in solidarity and with best regards,
Tim Flanagan
tflanaga@pcc.edu
editor@writingresource.org

Box 22, Lake Oswego, OR 97034
Affiliated with the KBOO Labor Radio Collective,
Jobs with Justice, AFT, & The Portland Alliance
http://computerresource.org/
http://resourceresource.org/
http://peaceresource.org/
http://unionresource.org/
http://writingresource.info/
http://www.writingresource.org/

The issue is torture.

2010-04-01T16:53:00.000-07:00

Torture is a crime under US law.

Those who order it, participate in it, condone it,
or who try to cover it up are criminals.
They should be prosecuted.

Torture is illegal, immoral, and it does not
work. The law is quite clear. The position of all
three branches of Abrahamic tradition agree.
The experts at the Pentagon and intelligence experts
worldwide agree that resorting to torture produces
flawed intelligence.

"Torture and abuse cost American lives."
"We need to return to an ethic of responsibility and accountability
that is critical if citizens are to have faith in their government and
the world is to respect this nation. This is not just a matter of the
rule of law. It is a matter of national security."

Is Obama a one-term wonder?

2010-03-30T12:40:00.000-07:00

Obama will more than likely
serve two terms, even if he
does not deliver sufficient
reasons for hope or
fundamental change.
     Barack is immensely popular
in spite of being to the right of the
general population. By virtue of
his political talents, personal
charisma, and speaking skills,
he is able to talk the right talk
while walking in the wrong
direction. Hopefully he will
do more good than harm.
So far, he has improved our
image abroad and provided
more health care access.
This is a beginning.
       Our Republican defense secretary (Gates)
and corporate misadventures abroad will be the
biggest problems for the Democrats this November.
This wrong-headed and dangerous embrace of
the "Bush agenda" cannot stand.
       As we continue to provide critical information
and organize, more and more working Americans
will demand jobs, universal healthcare, functioning
schools, and a restoration of civil rights, the rule of law,
and constitutional integrity.
http://www.unionresource.org/
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