Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network Warns Americans Of ‘Demonic’ Halloween Candy
October 29, 2009
http://www.au.org/media/press-releases/archives/2009/10/pat-robertsons-christian.html
Archive for October, 2009
Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network Warns Americans Of ‘Demonic’ Halloween Candy
October 30, 2009Analysis: US report designed to guide strategic thinking/inspire political action on behalf of US ruling class and its allies.
October 3, 2009Analysis: US report designed to guide strategic thinking/inspire political action on behalf of US ruling class and its allies.
Story:
‘Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World’.
An analysis of the US report designed to guide strategic thinking and inspire political action on behalf of the U.S. ruling class and its allies. Oct. 2009
Links on webpage
http://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/oct09/page10.html
The United States ‘intelligence community’ has recently produced a report giving a strategic overview of current geopolitical and economic trends, and mapping out potential scenarios by the year 2025. The U.S. is militarily and economically pre-eminent in the world, and the aim of the report is to guide strategic thinking and inspire political action on behalf of the U.S. ruling class and its allies.
To make it less incestuous, certain academics, consulting firms and think-tanks were invited to participate. These include the Atlantic Council of the United States, the Wilson Center, RAND Corporation, the Brookings Institution, American Enterprise Institute, Texas A&M University, the Council on Foreign Relations and Chatham House in London.
The report is declassified and available to read online (http://www.dni.gov/nic/NIC_2025_project.html), which means it is considered safe for public consumption. The specific plans for action resulting from it will no doubt be on a strictly ‘need to know’ basis. There is enough material to fill several issues of this magazine, so we will look at one broad theme: increasing authoritarianism and its implications for democracy.
The Chairman’s preamble notes that the study seeks to “identify opportunities for policy intervention … (which) … can decrease the likelihood and severity of negative developments and increase the likelihood of positive ones.” So, what do they consider to be ‘negative’ and ‘positive’? The plans do not prioritise, for example, alleviating world hunger, preventing war or cutting the emissions that cause global warming (even though going over the climatic tipping point is recognised as a possibility). No. The ruling class concern is how they can continue to protect their interests as these disasters that their system is causing unfold. Their predictions are to some extent their intentions, and we can stand warned about what to expect from them.
Nation States
The global financial crisis is seen as accelerating processes already underway and the report calls for “long-term efforts to establish a new international system.” (p.11) As the Cold War era gave way to a unipolar order of American hegemony, in which the U.S. became the self-appointed policeman of the world, this too may have to give way and be replaced by a multipolar international system, with strong regional blocks centred in North America, Europe and Asia. China and India, in particular, are expected to have further economic growth and greater regional and world influence. However, this is also expected to cause (or exacerbate) certain problems. Concerning oil and gas resources, and also food and water (partly due to climate change), “demand is projected to outstrip easily available supplies over the next decade or so.” (p.viii) It is predicted that nation states will therefore be taking greater protectionist measures up to and including war.
Capitalism is based on ownership and control by the minority capitalist class, ruthless exploitation of the majority for profit, and thus competition. In this system, the nation state is a mechanism used by capitalists to protect – and extend – their dominion as owners and rulers, and this has always led to international strife. As resources dwindle, due to pollution, overexploitation and climate change – or easily accessible supplies (those that are profitable) are used up – competition and thus conflict can be expected to intensify.
The report’s authors “remain optimistic about the long-term prospects for greater democratization, but advances are likely to slow and globalization will subject many recently democratized countries to increasing social and economic pressures that could undermine liberal institutions.” (p.87) This is something the rich and powerful know all about. U.S. and U.K. governments have regularly intervened to disrupt and sometimes overthrow democratic institutions and to support the installation of military dictatorships when it has been considered good for making money/establishing strategic positions. Such foreign policy has frequently resulted in pro-democracy campaigners being beaten or shot in the street or hunted down, tortured, and imprisoned. U.S. supported coups (and attempted coups) specifically to remove elected governments include: Iran 1953, Guatemala 1954, Chile 1973, Nicaragua 1981, Grenada 1983, Panama 1989, Algeria 1992, Haiti 1994-2000, Venezuela 2002, and Bolivia 2008 (for a full list of interventions see http://tiny.cc/mm8kL) Interestingly, in Venezuela and Bolivia the elected government has been retained due to popular pressure.
Democracy is used by the ruling class as both shield and sword: as a cover (legitimisation) for the continuing rule of the minority class, and when useful as a justification for aggression against other nation states. Whilst it was suddenly imperative for oil-rich Iraq to be ‘democratised’ by operation ‘Iraqi Freedom’, non-democratic regimes that are ‘friendly’ to U.S. business, such as Saudi Arabia, are not deemed to be a problem.
State capitalism
There is speculation in the report that economic success for China may lead to other countries adopting state capitalist authoritarianism; which means the state taking a more direct and prominent role in economic management. This might be a regional phenomenon, or become more widespread. It is suggested that a trade-off could occur with domestic populations; the promise of more ‘security’ and ‘economic success’ in return for less democracy. In a complex world of economic crisis, environmental catastrophe and war over resources, democracy may come to be (or is already being) regarded as too unpredictable and uncontrollable – and may come to be presented to the populace as such. The report notes a “questioning among elites over the ability of democratic governments to take the bold actions necessary to deal rapidly and effectively with the growing number of transnational challenges.” (p.87)
This “questioning among the elites” has long since gone over into action in the U.S. and elsewhere. The enhanced state powers that have been taken following the destruction of the World Trade Center in 2001 marked a speeding-up of processes already underway. In the U.S. we have seen the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security, and the passing of the USA Patriot Act. The latter has legalised greater surveillance of telephone and internet users, searches of premises without consent or knowledge, access without a court order to financial records, library records etc. and indefinite detention of immigrants. This has been accompanied by an increasingly restrictive appeals process in the U.S. judiciary system.
Other countries have also been expanding their anti-terrorism legislation and law enforcement powers. Two significant trends are 1) the broad application of terrorist legislation and 2) moves that have been taken to exclude people who have been labelled as terrorists from having the protections conferred by national and international law such as the right to an open trial. Of course, a state of war – and the ‘War on Terror’ will do – anyway allows for martial law to be imposed by democratic governments on behalf of the capitalist class whenever they see fit.
The report says that “terrorism is unlikely to disappear by 2025.” (p.iv) Given that terrorism is an inevitable consequence of capitalist competition, this is no surprise. And the possibility as well as the actuality of terrorism is a useful propaganda tool. It serves to justify the diminishing of democratic rights – all in the name of defending democracy – and to keep domestic populations sufficiently supportive of state terrorism being carried out by certain liberal democracies (often the U.S. with the U.K. helping) in various parts of the world. We are also told that “counterterrorism and counterinsurgency missions increasingly will involve urban operations as a result of greater urbanization,” including domestically (p70). This accords with the present trend for an increasing percentage of civilian casualties in war.
The capitalist class (or significant sections of it) certainly seems to be preparing to deal with the kind of threats to their system that would be posed by the unrest and disruption that could result from greater societal dysfunction, and also perhaps from the growth of informed types of rebellion that locate the source of our problems as being the profit system itself. The burgeoning of information sharing through the World Wide Web may be something in particular that worries the capitalist class. For a considerable time in the West, propagating deception and distraction has helped to keep the majority of workers compliant, but we should not doubt that the more overtly violent and oppressive techniques that have been used to pursue ruling class interests elsewhere in the world will also be used to control people in the West if it is deemed necessary by the ruling class, and if they can get away with it.
And, to an extent, they are already getting away with it, including in the U.K. As well as the measures mentioned above – and in some cases in close association with them – trade union rights have been neutered or removed, local government has become even more geared to meeting central government targets than meeting local needs, restrictions have been placed on the right to protest, the incidence of ‘stop and search’ by the police has greatly increased and the length of time which people can be detained without charge has been extended. Generally in the West ever larger numbers of people are being criminalized and imprisoned. Hard-won civil liberties and human rights have been removed or limited by law at an accelerated rate during the last few years, and the process isn’t over yet. There are advanced plans for ID cards, yet more CCTV cameras, and further surveillance of telephone and internet use. For the capitalist class, enemies are not just rival capitalists, capitalist groups or states: the enemy also resides ‘within’ – it is us, the working class majority of wage and salary earners.
Alienation
The report notes that “surveys show growing frustration with the current workings of democratic government …” (p.87), which is not surprising given the current level of democratic deficit. Alienation from existing institutions has profound and diverse effects in society, and changes of popular mood and action may be unpredictable. This presents a potential threat to those in power, but for the moment they have been presented with an opportunity. Lack of democratic involvement has itself resulted in growing apathy and lack of political awareness, which in turn results in the unwitting acceptance of democratic erosions and a grudging acquiescence to authoritarian methods. Unfortunately, in capitalist style democracy, it is democracy that is often blamed for not fulfilling the promise, instead of the capitalist structures that place such severe limits upon its function.
Within capitalist limits, democracy exists in a state of flux; the balance altering according to the relative strength of the contending classes, and to the different forces in the capitalist class. Amongst themselves the capitalist class have found use for democracy in solving disputes. However, concerning wider democracy, the more quiescent we are and the more an alternative to the existing system is deemed to be unrealistic or impossible (the more that capitalist indoctrination is successful), the more we stand to lose that bit of democratic space we do possess. Where it exists, the right to vote has been won through direct pressure, and conceded by members of the ruling class who could see the potential of a more inclusive electoral process conferring legitimacy to minority class rule. Subsequently the use of the concept of democracy in the ideological struggle has helped to establish it around the world. However, since so much propaganda (and hypocrisy) has been expended on extolling its virtues, it might prove difficult to switch off.
Even the better democracies existing in capitalism come nowhere near to fulfilling the potential of what democracy can actually be. What we have presently is a system in which wealth is concentrated in the hands of a minority, who therefore have most of the power – including in the media. ‘Free speech’ in these conditions simply means that the wealthy – the rulers – still get to put their view foremost and have so far convinced the electorate to faithfully return capitalist parties to parliament.
Democratic theory
Democracy comes from Greek: ‘demos’ and ‘kratia’. It essentially means ‘people power’ or ‘rule by the people’, i.e. it is about the majority being able to make decisions and put them into effect. Mainstream political theory and practice tries to separate ‘politics’ from ‘economics’. ‘Political democracy’ is allowed in an approved form, but economic democracy is impossible because of economic inequality; the majority are deprived of ownership and control of the means of life.
As long as capitalism continues the working class will continue to be exploited for profit, and the system will continue to give rise to waste, war, poverty and famine. The capitalist class will continue to claim that the aim of their actions is to relieve us of these dire conditions, whereas in actual fact their profit-making policies only perpetuate them. For all the expected changes indicated in the report, what we see is business as usual. As such, there are tactical decisions to be made, and we can rest assured that other power blocs have similar concerns. What the thieves are bothered about is that other groups of thieves will take their booty – or at least take too great a share – or worse still, that the workers will recognise them for what they are and unite to emancipate themselves.
‘Global Trends 2025’ is the capitalist version of the immediate future, but we do not have to be passive recipients of this. It benefits the workers of the world to organise to defend and extend democratic rights; to widen the democratic space as much as possible. For democracy is the way in which we can unite to free ourselves from the insanity of the profit-system and domination by a minority ruling class. We can replace oppression with equality, waste of resources with production directly for use, and systemic competition with cooperation for the common good. We can create the world that we want, fashioned by the majority, in the interests of the majority.
LB/RW
Analysis: US report designed to guide strategic thinking/inspire political action on behalf of US ruling class and its allies.
October 3, 2009Analysis: US report designed to guide strategic thinking/inspire political action on behalf of US ruling class and its allies.
Story:
‘Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World’.
An analysis of the US report designed to guide strategic thinking and
inspire political action on behalf of the U.S. ruling class and its allies.
Oct. 2009
Links on webpage
http://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/oct09/page10.html
The United States ‘intelligence community’ has recently produced a report giving a strategic overview of current geopolitical and economic trends, and mapping out potential scenarios by the year 2025. The U.S. is militarily and economically pre-eminent in the world, and the aim of the report is to guide strategic thinking and inspire political action on behalf of the U.S. ruling class and its allies.
To make it less incestuous, certain academics, consulting firms and think-tanks were invited to participate. These include the Atlantic Council of the United States, the Wilson Center, RAND Corporation, the Brookings Institution, American Enterprise Institute, Texas A&M University, the Council on Foreign Relations and Chatham House in London.
The report is declassified and available to read online (http://www.dni.gov/nic/NIC_2025_project.html), which means it is considered safe for public consumption. The specific plans for action resulting from it will no doubt be on a strictly ‘need to know’ basis. There is enough material to fill several issues of this magazine, so we will look at one broad theme: increasing authoritarianism and its implications for democracy.
The Chairman’s preamble notes that the study seeks to “identify opportunities for policy intervention … (which) … can decrease the likelihood and severity of negative developments and increase the likelihood of positive ones.” So, what do they consider to be ‘negative’ and ‘positive’? The plans do not prioritise, for example, alleviating world hunger, preventing war or cutting the emissions that cause global warming (even though going over the climatic tipping point is recognised as a possibility). No. The ruling class concern is how they can continue to protect their interests as these disasters that their system is causing unfold. Their predictions are to some extent their intentions, and we can stand warned about what to expect from them.
Nation States
The global financial crisis is seen as accelerating processes already underway and the report calls for “long-term efforts to establish a new international system.” (p.11) As the Cold War era gave way to a unipolar order of American hegemony, in which the U.S. became the self-appointed policeman of the world, this too may have to give way and be replaced by a multipolar international system, with strong regional blocks centred in North America, Europe and Asia. China and India, in particular, are expected to have further economic growth and greater regional and world influence. However, this is also expected to cause (or exacerbate) certain problems. Concerning oil and gas resources, and also food and water (partly due to climate change), “demand is projected to outstrip easily available supplies over the next decade or so.” (p.viii) It is predicted that nation states will therefore be taking greater protectionist measures up to and including war.
Capitalism is based on ownership and control by the minority capitalist class, ruthless exploitation of the majority for profit, and thus competition. In this system, the nation state is a mechanism used by capitalists to protect – and extend – their dominion as owners and rulers, and this has always led to international strife. As resources dwindle, due to pollution, overexploitation and climate change – or easily accessible supplies (those that are profitable) are used up – competition and thus conflict can be expected to intensify.
The report’s authors “remain optimistic about the long-term prospects for greater democratization, but advances are likely to slow and globalization will subject many recently democratized countries to increasing social and economic pressures that could undermine liberal institutions.” (p.87) This is something the rich and powerful know all about. U.S. and U.K. governments have regularly intervened to disrupt and sometimes overthrow democratic institutions and to support the installation of military dictatorships when it has been considered good for making money/establishing strategic positions. Such foreign policy has frequently resulted in pro-democracy campaigners being beaten or shot in the street or hunted down, tortured, and imprisoned. U.S. supported coups (and attempted coups) specifically to remove elected governments include: Iran 1953, Guatemala 1954, Chile 1973, Nicaragua 1981, Grenada 1983, Panama 1989, Algeria 1992, Haiti 1994-2000, Venezuela 2002, and Bolivia 2008 (for a full list of interventions see http://tiny.cc/mm8kL) Interestingly, in Venezuela and Bolivia the elected government has been retained due to popular pressure.
Democracy is used by the ruling class as both shield and sword: as a cover (legitimisation) for the continuing rule of the minority class, and when useful as a justification for aggression against other nation states. Whilst it was suddenly imperative for oil-rich Iraq to be ‘democratised’ by operation ‘Iraqi Freedom’, non-democratic regimes that are ‘friendly’ to U.S. business, such as Saudi Arabia, are not deemed to be a problem.
State capitalism
There is speculation in the report that economic success for China may lead to other countries adopting state capitalist authoritarianism; which means the state taking a more direct and prominent role in economic management. This might be a regional phenomenon, or become more widespread. It is suggested that a trade-off could occur with domestic populations; the promise of more ‘security’ and ‘economic success’ in return for less democracy. In a complex world of economic crisis, environmental catastrophe and war over resources, democracy may come to be (or is already being) regarded as too unpredictable and uncontrollable – and may come to be presented to the populace as such. The report notes a “questioning among elites over the ability of democratic governments to take the bold actions necessary to deal rapidly and effectively with the growing number of transnational challenges.” (p.87)
This “questioning among the elites” has long since gone over into action in the U.S. and elsewhere. The enhanced state powers that have been taken following the destruction of the World Trade Center in 2001 marked a speeding-up of processes already underway. In the U.S. we have seen the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security, and the passing of the USA Patriot Act. The latter has legalised greater surveillance of telephone and internet users, searches of premises without consent or knowledge, access without a court order to financial records, library records etc. and indefinite detention of immigrants. This has been accompanied by an increasingly restrictive appeals process in the U.S. judiciary system.
Other countries have also been expanding their anti-terrorism legislation and law enforcement powers. Two significant trends are 1) the broad application of terrorist legislation and 2) moves that have been taken to exclude people who have been labelled as terrorists from having the protections conferred by national and international law such as the right to an open trial. Of course, a state of war – and the ‘War on Terror’ will do – anyway allows for martial law to be imposed by democratic governments on behalf of the capitalist class whenever they see fit.
The report says that “terrorism is unlikely to disappear by 2025.” (p.iv) Given that terrorism is an inevitable consequence of capitalist competition, this is no surprise. And the possibility as well as the actuality of terrorism is a useful propaganda tool. It serves to justify the diminishing of democratic rights – all in the name of defending democracy – and to keep domestic populations sufficiently supportive of state terrorism being carried out by certain liberal democracies (often the U.S. with the U.K. helping) in various parts of the world. We are also told that “counterterrorism and counterinsurgency missions increasingly will involve urban operations as a result of greater urbanization,” including domestically (p70). This accords with the present trend for an increasing percentage of civilian casualties in war.
The capitalist class (or significant sections of it) certainly seems to be preparing to deal with the kind of threats to their system that would be posed by the unrest and disruption that could result from greater societal dysfunction, and also perhaps from the growth of informed types of rebellion that locate the source of our problems as being the profit system itself. The burgeoning of information sharing through the World Wide Web may be something in particular that worries the capitalist class. For a considerable time in the West, propagating deception and distraction has helped to keep the majority of workers compliant, but we should not doubt that the more overtly violent and oppressive techniques that have been used to pursue ruling class interests elsewhere in the world will also be used to control people in the West if it is deemed necessary by the ruling class, and if they can get away with it.
And, to an extent, they are already getting away with it, including in the U.K. As well as the measures mentioned above – and in some cases in close association with them – trade union rights have been neutered or removed, local government has become even more geared to meeting central government targets than meeting local needs, restrictions have been placed on the right to protest, the incidence of ‘stop and search’ by the police has greatly increased and the length of time which people can be detained without charge has been extended. Generally in the West ever larger numbers of people are being criminalized and imprisoned. Hard-won civil liberties and human rights have been removed or limited by law at an accelerated rate during the last few years, and the process isn’t over yet. There are advanced plans for ID cards, yet more CCTV cameras, and further surveillance of telephone and internet use. For the capitalist class, enemies are not just rival capitalists, capitalist groups or states: the enemy also resides ‘within’ – it is us, the working class majority of wage and salary earners.
Alienation
The report notes that “surveys show growing frustration with the current workings of democratic government …” (p.87), which is not surprising given the current level of democratic deficit. Alienation from existing institutions has profound and diverse effects in society, and changes of popular mood and action may be unpredictable. This presents a potential threat to those in power, but for the moment they have been presented with an opportunity. Lack of democratic involvement has itself resulted in growing apathy and lack of political awareness, which in turn results in the unwitting acceptance of democratic erosions and a grudging acquiescence to authoritarian methods. Unfortunately, in capitalist style democracy, it is democracy that is often blamed for not fulfilling the promise, instead of the capitalist structures that place such severe limits upon its function.
Within capitalist limits, democracy exists in a state of flux; the balance altering according to the relative strength of the contending classes, and to the different forces in the capitalist class. Amongst themselves the capitalist class have found use for democracy in solving disputes. However, concerning wider democracy, the more quiescent we are and the more an alternative to the existing system is deemed to be unrealistic or impossible (the more that capitalist indoctrination is successful), the more we stand to lose that bit of democratic space we do possess. Where it exists, the right to vote has been won through direct pressure, and conceded by members of the ruling class who could see the potential of a more inclusive electoral process conferring legitimacy to minority class rule. Subsequently the use of the concept of democracy in the ideological struggle has helped to establish it around the world. However, since so much propaganda (and hypocrisy) has been expended on extolling its virtues, it might prove difficult to switch off.
Even the better democracies existing in capitalism come nowhere near to fulfilling the potential of what democracy can actually be. What we have presently is a system in which wealth is concentrated in the hands of a minority, who therefore have most of the power – including in the media. ‘Free speech’ in these conditions simply means that the wealthy – the rulers – still get to put their view foremost and have so far convinced the electorate to faithfully return capitalist parties to parliament.
Democratic theory
Democracy comes from Greek: ‘demos’ and ‘kratia’. It essentially means ‘people power’ or ‘rule by the people’, i.e. it is about the majority being able to make decisions and put them into effect. Mainstream political theory and practice tries to separate ‘politics’ from ‘economics’. ‘Political democracy’ is allowed in an approved form, but economic democracy is impossible because of economic inequality; the majority are deprived of ownership and control of the means of life.
As long as capitalism continues the working class will continue to be exploited for profit, and the system will continue to give rise to waste, war, poverty and famine. The capitalist class will continue to claim that the aim of their actions is to relieve us of these dire conditions, whereas in actual fact their profit-making policies only perpetuate them. For all the expected changes indicated in the report, what we see is business as usual. As such, there are tactical decisions to be made, and we can rest assured that other power blocs have similar concerns. What the thieves are bothered about is that other groups of thieves will take their booty – or at least take too great a share – or worse still, that the workers will recognise them for what they are and unite to emancipate themselves.
‘Global Trends 2025’ is the capitalist version of the immediate future, but we do not have to be passive recipients of this. It benefits the workers of the world to organise to defend and extend democratic rights; to widen the democratic space as much as possible. For democracy is the way in which we can unite to free ourselves from the insanity of the profit-system and domination by a minority ruling class. We can replace oppression with equality, waste of resources with production directly for use, and systemic competition with cooperation for the common good. We can create the world that we want, fashioned by the majority, in the interests of the majority.
LB/RW
Christian Right Returns to Racist Roots & Week In Review
October 2, 2009AlterNet.org – Headlines Newsletter – Week In Review Friday, 10-2-09 to 9-25-09
Friday, September 25th, 2009:
Tea Party Movement Returns Christian Right to Its Racist Past
By Michelle Goldberg, The American Prospect
Reproductive Justice and Gender: For years, the religious right tried to lose its racist image, reverting to homophobia as its hatred of choice. As it joins the Tea Party fray, it may once again have to own both.
Wall Street Plans to Tap into $26 Trillion Life Insurance Market, Cashing in When People Die
By Jim Hightower, AlterNet
Corporate Accountability and WorkPlace: The bankers who brought us the disaster of 2008 have created a new financial instrument called “life settlements” — call it morbid capitalism.
8 Reasons You Should Stop Drinking Milk Now
By Mickey Z., Planet Green
Health and Wellness: Consuming dairy products — milk, cheese, yogurt, sour cream, ice cream, etc. — is not green and it’s not healthy.
Rick Scott Is Making a Killing off the Uninsured
By Tristram Korten, Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute
Politics: A leading foe of healthcare reform owns a chain of clinics aimed at people who would benefit from a public option.
New Proposed Climate Change Bill in Washington Is Simpler and More Equitable
By David Morris, AlterNet
Politics: Happily, a new climate bill drafted by Sen. Maria Cantwell may change both the nature of the debate and its outcome.
SeXis Magazine Sex and Relationships: So you think you know what an orgasm is (and isn’t)? Think again.
The Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran Crowd Is Getting All Riled up Again
By Pepe Escobar, Asia Times
World: Apparently even Saudi Arabia is on board with the idea of an Israeli strike on Iran.
Round 2 of Howard Dean vs. Rahm Emanuel: Dean Wins Again over Health Care Politics
By Cenk Uygur, AlterNet
Politics: In round 1, Emanuel and Dean boxed over what strategy was best for Dems to regain House seats in 2006. Dean was right there, and in the health care debate, he’s right again.
Thursday, October 1st, 2009:
Why Right-Wing Demagogues Are Trying to Peddle Ludicrous Conspiracy Theories
By Chip Berlet, Indypendent
Politics: Even before Obama was sworn in as the 44th President, the internet was seething with lurid theories exposing his alleged subversion and treachery.
Tough Progressive Congressman Alan Grayson Is Putting the Fear in Republicans
By John Nichols, The Nation
Politics: GOPers are shocked that a Democrat has the nerve to call them out on their repeated health care lies and scare tactics. Rep. Grayson says get used to it.
Why Getting Health Care Passed Is Insanely Difficult
By Brad Reed, AlterNet
Health and Wellness: Special interests have always worked to kill national health plans — from the progressives’ proposals during the Wilson era to Clinton’s failed reforms in the 1990s.
By Zach Carter, AlterNet
Politics: Wall Street-influenced Democrats may not act as nutty as their GOP counterparts, but they’re dealing out the same economic damage.
Marijuana in America: More Mainstream Than Ever, More Arrests Than Ever
By Tony Newman, AlterNet
Rights and Liberties: Marijuana’s coming-out party is kicking into high gear across America — but way to many people still are getting cuffed for it.
Republicans Have Decided to Call Anything a Democrat Ever Does or Says “Nazi”
By Allison Kilkenny, Smirking Chimp
Politics: The cause du jour for the Republican Party is to make as many rapid-fire comparisons etween the Democrats and the Nazis as humanly possible.
Why Europeans Are Kicking Our Butts When it Comes to Living Green
By Elisabeth Rosenthal, Yale Environment 360
Health and Wellness: In Europe it is far easier to channel your good intentions into action. And you feel far worse if you don’t.
No, Not All Bi Women Love Threesomes: Silly Myths About Women and Bisexuality
By Saucy Sarah, SeXis Magazine
Sex and Relationships: Being bisexual means that you are attracted to members of both sexes, even if you’re not sleeping with them. Here are some things bisexuality doesn’t mean.
According to Obama Global Capitalism Is an ‘Abstraction,’ Not Worth Protesting
By Eric Stoner, AlterNet
Rights and Liberties: Does the president not know that these things are tied to “concrete, local, immediate issues that have an impact on people’s lives”?
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009:
By Tara Lohan, AlterNet
Environment: More and more Americans are finding other ways to get around in greener fashion, from Smart Cars to Vespas.
Imagine No Religion? Atheist Movement Gains Momentum
By Tana Ganeva, AlterNet
Rights and Liberties: The Freedom From Religion Foundation is using quotes from famous atheists to spread the message in its national billboard campaign.
Why Are We Lying to Ourselves About Our Catastrophic Economic Meltdown?
By Arun Gupta, AlterNet
PEEK: Sorry, it’s not over yet. This downturn will be severe and long-lasting, and profoundly re-shape our lives, culture, society and the world.
Right-Wing Media Send Their Mobs of Crazy Fans to Go After Private Citizens — Including Kids
By Eric Boehlert, Media Matters for America
Media and Technology: The right-wing is igniting the crazies by pushing them to snoop on everyday people.
G-20 Meetings: Nothing Much Happened in the Suites, and There Was Too Much Punch in the Streets
By Laura Flanders, GRITtv
Take Action: Underrepresented booming countries may get a bigger voice in global finance. Nice. But under-represented people? They got arrested.
The U.S. and Europe Have Propped Up So Many Corrupt “Democracies” That the Word Is Losing Meaning
By Arundhati Roy, Tomdispatch.com
World: What’s next in a world where democracy has been so hollowed out?
Fox TV’s Bizarre New Cartoon Comedy Is a Minstrel Show, Pure and Simple
By Jasmyne Cannick, New America Media
Media and Technology: Fox’s debut of the “The Cleveland Show” is a desperate attempt to work against the improved international image of black people after the election of a black president.
Tuesday, September 29th, 2009:
Wall Street Lies Blame Victims to Avoid Responsibility for Financial Meltdown
By Nomi Prins, Wiley Press
Corporate Accountability and WorkPlace: To hear it from the big financial companies, the big crash started when poor people bought homes they couldn’t afford. But that was at most 1% of the problem.
Is Lou Dobbs, CNN’s Resident Bigot, on His Way Out?
By Don Hazen, AlterNet
Protest campaigns urging CNN to dump Dobbs are gathering momentum. Will ‘the most trusted name in news’ do the right thing?
237 Reasons Why Women Have Sex
By Tanya Gold, The Guardian
Sex and Relationships: Drugs, money, revenge, because it’s fun — those are just a few of the reasons women have sex, according to a new book that interviewed 1,006 women from around the world.
Robocops Employ Scary Crowd-Stopping Technology at Pittsburgh Protests
By Mike Ferner, After Downing Street
Media and Technology: An arsenal of “crowd control munitions,” was deployed with a massive, overpowering police presence in Pittsburgh during last week’s G-20 protests.
What’s the Border Fence Good for? Subsidizing Mexican Scrap Metal Entrepreneurs
By Yasha Levine, eXiled Online
Rights and Liberties: It was obvious from the very beginning that Bush’s push for a border fence was nothing more than a political show to boost Republicans’ creds with their base.
Scary: Bullet Makers Can’t Keep Up With Demand
By Liliana Segura, AlterNet
Rights and Liberties: “I call it the Obama effect,” says one Louisiana gun dealer.
Monday, September 28th, 2009:
Americans Pay More to Die Earlier — Why Is Our Health Care System So Screwed Up?
By Brad Reed, AlterNet
Politics: Because it was created by Dr. Frankenstein and Satan? Actually, the truth is far less comforting.
By Mark Ames, AlterNet
World: Baldasci’s shooting opens a window into Fresno, Calif.’s climate of soaring unemployment, scheming agribusiness oligarchs and Sean Hannity-inspired right-wing rage.
There Was Nice Talk About ‘Change’ and ‘Hope’ But the Money Party Won Again
By Joe Bageant, AlterNet
Politics: Obama needs to lay off the foot-work and throw a punch!
Fast Food Monstrosities: Why Would Someone Eat a 1400 Calorie Sandwich?
By Scott Gold, The Faster Times
Big fast food chains are competing to build bigger, badder and more insanely calorific food. And we eat it. What the hell is wrong with us?
Police Use Painful New Weapon on G20 Protesters
By Allison Kilkenny, True/Slant
This technology has been deployed in Iraq as an “anti-insurgent weapon” — it could easily be used as a torture tool.
James Lovelock: Schemes to ‘Reverse’ Global Warming Could Lead to Disaster
By James Lovelock, The Guardian
Environment: Better, perhaps, to let the earth look after itself than try to regulate its system through mirrors, clouds and artificial trees.
A Day in the Life of an Abortion Clinic Escort
By Anonymous, RH Reality Check
Reproductive Justice and Gender: Every day that our doors are open to women seeking abortions, the sidewalk in front of our clinic is occupied by stalkers, harassers, and creeps.
Pakistan to Allow U.S. Military Ops in Exchange for Aid
By Syed Saleem Shahzad, Asia Times
World: It will be difficult and dangerous to take on the Taliban and al-Qaeda inside Pakistan in a struggle in which there are no guarantees of success.
40 Books About Sexuality That You Have to Read
By Anna Clark, AlterNet
From orgasms to organs, from contraceptives to court decisions, look to the reading list below for the can’t-miss books and articles about sex.
Saturday, September 26th, 2009:
The Green, Clean Art of Keeping Our “Rear Ends” Hygienic: What Are We Afraid Of?
By Liz Langley, AlterNet
Health and Wellness: We use enough deodorizers to ensure that we don’t smell remotely organic, and yet we can’t even keep our own heinies clean? What’s a first-world country to do?
5 Ways the Government Used Our Money to Save Big Banks and Screw Us
By Nomi Prins, Christopher Hayes, The Nation
Corporate Accountability and WorkPlace: The government hasn’t exactly been forthcoming about how it has made buckets of money available to the banking sector. But here’s what really happened.
How Top Generals May Trap Obama in a Losing War
By Tom Engelhardt, Tomdispatch.com
World: As Obama is facing a lose-lose proposition in Afghanistan, we have to look hard at the role of Gen. McChrystal and the political motivation of Gen. Petraeus.
Israel’s Fear of Jewish Girls Dating Arabs; Team of Psychologists to “Rescue” Women
By Jonathan Cook, AlterNet
World: Youth counselors and psychologists are going after young Jewish women who are dating Arab men to “rescue” them.
Why a Ban on Flavored Cigarettes and Outdoor Smoking Will Backfire
By Tony Newman, AlterNet
DrugReporter: We should celebrate our success curbing cigarette smoking but let’s not get carried away and think that criminalizing smoking is the answer.
‘I Was a Birthday Present for an 82-Year-Old Grandmother’
By David Henry Sterry, R.J. Martin Jr., Soft Skull Press
Sex and Relationships: This excerpt from “Hos, Hookers, Call Girls, and Rent Boys: Professionals Writing on Life, Love, Money, and Sex” details what a 17-year-old in 1974 decided to do for money.
Coca-Cola’s Lies About Sustainability Have Gone Too Far
By Amit Srivastava, India Resource Center
Water: They’ve gone from greenwashing to outright lying.
Glenn Beck Faces Backlash — From the Right
By Steve Benen, Washington Monthly
PEEK: It seems as if Beck may be marginalizing himself in a way that will, if we’re all really lucky, make him permanently toxic to those who take politics seriously.
Friday, September 25th, 2009:
H1N1 Just Isn’t That Scary: Why There’s No Reason to Go Overboard with Swine Flu Hysteria
By Joshua Holland, AlterNet
Media and Technology: Just a few years ago, we wouldn’t have known there was a “swine flu.”
Naomi Klein Interviews Michael Moore on the Perils of Capitalism
By Naomi Klein, The Nation
Movie Mix: Moore discusses his new documentary film, widely praised as a call for a revolt against capitalist madness.
I’m a Feminist But I Do All the Housework: What’s Up With That?
By Vanessa Richmond, AlterNet
Sex and Relationships: By and large, women do far more housework than men and are better at it. It’s creating a dirty situation.
Is Eating a Plant-Based Diet a Cure for Cancer?
By Kathy Freston, AlterNet
Health and Wellness: Experts are saying a plant-based diet is not only good for our health, but it’s also curative of the very serious diseases we face.
Why the Dow is Hitting 10,000 Even When Consumers Can’t Buy And Business Cries “Socialism”
By Robert B. Reich, Robert Reich’s Blog
Corporate Accountability and WorkPlace: How can the Dow be so far up when every business and Wall Street executive is screaming about government crushing the economy?
Readers Weigh In: How Do I Help My Son Become a Free Thinker?
By Danny Postel, New Humanist
Belief: A recent article about how to raise children as humanists received hundreds of responses. Here its author, Danny Postel, chooses his favorites.
Geo-Engineering Could Save the Planet … and in the Process Sacrifice the World
By Jason Mark, Earth Island Journal
Environment: Having unintentionally warmed the planet, we may have little choice but to intentionally cool it back down. But at what cost?
Apocalyptic Preacher John Hagee’s Son Ready to Continue in Father’s Footsteps
By Bill Berkowitz, Talk To Action
Politics: As a number of older Religious Right leaders pass on or retire, their sons are stepping in to take their place.
Please support the following organizations to assure America does not become a Theocracy
October 2, 2009Please support the following organizations to assure America does not become a theocracy, by keeping religion and politics separate, which will help end hatred, racism, oppression and stop the destruction of this great country Fundamentalist Christians have been trying to destroy !!!
American Humanist Association – http://www.AmericanHumanist.org/
American United for Separation of Church & State – http://www.au.org/
Council for Secular Humanism – http://www.secularhumanism.org/
Freedom From Religion Foundation – http://www.ffrf.org/
Friends Committee on National Legislation – http://www.fcnl.org/
Interfaith Alliance Foundation – http://www.interfaithalliance.org/
Military Religious Freedom Foundation – http://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org/
Secular Coalition For America – http://www.secular.org/
Christian Right Returns to Racist Roots
October 2, 2009Christian Right Returns to Racist Roots
| Tea Party Movement Returns Christian Right to Its Racist Past By Michelle Goldberg, The American Prospect. 10-2-09 For years, the religious right tried to lose its racist image, reverting to homophobia as its hatred of choice. As it joins the Tea Party fray, it may once again have to own both. |
True Blue Liberal Friday, October 2, 2009 5:06 AM
October 2, 2009True Blue Liberal
Friday, October 2, 2009 5:06 AM
Gore Vidal: ‘We’ll have a dictatorship soon in the US’
Posted: 01 Oct 2009 02:43 PM PDT
From The Times UK By Tim Teeman A conversation with Gore Vidal unfolds at his pace. He answers questions imperiously, occasionally playfully, with a piercing, lethal dryness. He is 83 and in a wheelchair (a result of hypothermia suffered in the war, his left knee is made of titanium). But he can walk (“Of course I can”) [...] More: http://www.trueblueliberal.com/2009/10/01/gore-vidal-%E2%80%98we%E2%80%99ll-have-a-dictatorship-soon-in-the-us%E2%80%99/
Posted: 01 Oct 2009 02:43 PM PDT
From The NY Observer By Joe Conason Listening closely to the politicians with the most clout in the debate over health care, it is startling to discover how little they actually seem to know about the subject. Ignorance rules, even among the bipartisan group of Senators known as the “Gang of Six,” who supposedly have immersed themselves in [...] More: http://www.trueblueliberal.com/2009/10/01/a-convenient-misunderstanding/
A Question of Health—and Equality
Posted: 01 Oct 2009 02:42 PM PDT
From TruthDig By Ellen Goodman My favorite moment so far in the health care debate was when Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl argued against mandating maternity benefits as part of a basic insurance coverage. “I don’t need maternity care,” he blurted out. At which point, Michigan’s Debbie Stabenow quipped, “I think your mom probably did.” For that matter, so [...] More: http://www.trueblueliberal.com/2009/10/01/a-question-of-health%e2%80%94and-equality/
Organic Bytes #193, October 1, 2009
October 2, 2009Organic Bytes #193, October 1, 2009
Health, Justice and Sustainability News from the ‘Organic Consumers Association’
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Quote of the Week – Organic Can Save the World from Climate Chaos
“… carbon sequestration is the best way to buy time in a warming world. Cutting emissions will help, but not as immediately as sequestration…food production must be fundamentally restructured to simultaneously preempt and react to the devastating effects of climate change. …organic agriculture presents an untapped solution, an underutilized carbon sink at the ready. …if the world’s 3.5 billion tillable acres could be transitioned to organic agriculture now, land could sequester almost 40 percent of our current carbon emissions. No other proposed carbon mitigation solution comes close to that potential impact, particularly using existing and readily available technology.”
Rodale Institute, February 2009
LEARN MORE: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_19229.cfm
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Victories of the Week and Ongoing Campaigns – Victory #1 – Stop GMO Sugar!
OCA congratulates our longtime ally, the Center for Food Safety, for gaining a federal court ruling against genetically engineered sugar beets. Despite the ruling, American Crystal, the nation’s largest sugar beet processor, is apparently still planning on using Monsanto’s GE sugar beets. American Crystal President David Berg told the New York Times he thought customer acceptance of GE sugar was “a big non-event.”
A big non-event?
Tell American Crystal that you’re joining the boycott. Avoid Monsanto’s GE sugar by buying certified organic food (GE is banned from organic) and boycotting all non-organic brands that refuse to take a GMO-free stand.
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/642/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=12700
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Organic News of the Week – Organic Counts: Organic Valley Launches Online Calculator to Measure the Toxic Burden of Non-Organic Foods
Organic Valley, America’s largest organic farmers’ co-op, has launched an online calculator called “Organic Counts!” which shows how Organic Valley farmers and consumers collectively kept 89.5 million pounds of synthetic fertilizer and 1.25 million pounds of synthetic pesticides from America’s soil and water from 1988 to 2008.
To create the Organic Counts! online calculator, Organic Valley entered its production data from the past 20 years, as well as parallel data from the USDA to show the average amounts of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides used in industrial agriculture per acre each year.
Public health costs directly associated with pesticide poisoning aount to billions of dollars per year. Exposure to pesticides and synthetic fertilizers have been linked to infertility, Parkinson’s, cancer, birth defects, obesity, and learning and behavioral disabilities.
More than one million children in America age five and under ingest at least 15 pesticides daily. Early childhood exposures to pesticides are a leading cause of autism, obesity, asthma, brain cancer and other childhood diseases.
LEARN MORE: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_19214.cfm
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LITTLE BYTES
1) Mandatory Swine Flu Vaccines for NY Health Care Workers – A few hundred health-care workers are protesting at the NY state Capitol against mandatory swine flu vaccinations. Nurses said they don’t think they should be forced to get a vaccine that has been fast-tracked and that they don’t believe has been tested appropriately as a condition of keeping their jobs. READ MORE: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_19247.cfm
2) Mexican Peasants Pay the Price for U.S. Energy Consumption – Mexico exports 40 percent of the energy that it produces. A proposed energy project, the La Parota dam, would drown rural communities to supply energy to Mexico’s insatiable northern neighbor. READ MORE: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_19230.cfm
3) Organic Advocates Slam Food Safety Plan at USDA Hearings – The National Organic Coalition says the creation of a national version of California’s “Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement” would be “crippling to small- and medium-scale farmers, confusing to consumers, and a highly inefficient and ineffective way to address food safety concerns.” READ MORE: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_19236.cfm
4) Cape Town Turns Its Garbage Into Organic Compost – Cape Town, South Africa, is creating carbon credits under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change by transforming its urban green waste into high-quality organic compost for farmers. READ MORE: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_19237.cfm
5) Imidacloprid: What You Must Know Now to Save the Bees – Many beekeepers, environmentalists and scientists are pointing to imidacloprid is the root cause of colony collapse disorder. READ MORE: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_19228.cfm
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‘Organic Bytes’ is a publication of :
6771 South Silver Hill Drive – Finland, MN 55603
Phone: 218-226-4164 – Fax: 218-353-7652
Foundation Beyond Belief Website Goes Live
October 2, 2009Foundation Beyond Belief Website Goes Live
After months of lead up work, the pre-launch website for Foundation Beyond Belief,(1) is now live! What is FBB? As the site says,
“Foundation Beyond Belief is a 501(c)(3) charitable and educational foundation created (1) to focus, encourage and demonstrate humanistic generosity, and (2) to support a nationwide education and support program for humanist parents.”
1. http://www.foundationbeyondbelief.org/
More: http://friendlyatheist.com/2009/10/01/foundation-beyond-belief-website-goes-live/
