03-08-09
- Class Warfare Via the Tax Tables:
- Soaking the Rich (Redux) (washingtonmonthly) -- Examine the chart carefully. It was about 1952 that a little booklet was distributed to wealthy Americans, telling them it was their right to be wealthy and that they could restore what was taken away from them by the New Deal. It caught on in a big way, and a few years later, we can see that they were effective in buying their way into lower tax rates, year after year. Now, at a very low rate, Obama tells them he will let Bush's budget-busting trillion dollar tax cuts expire -- and they cry like little babies, loudly and long. Their perennial claim whenever Democrats raise their taxes at all is "it's 'class warfare and socialism,'" but when Republicons give them part of the U.S. Treasury, it's just and equitable and much-needed tax revision. These guys and gals are what is wrong with this once great nation. What they do is for themselves at the expense of everyone else. The noise machine belongs to them, so they cry long and loud, obfuscating and prevaricating every step of the way, because they are afraid of your power if you knew the truth. They admit by their need to lie to you that they are afraid of your power, so use your power and go after them. Inform yourself and take them on. Take back what they have stolen from the rest of us -- our country.
- Barack's Gang - Upholding the Bush Tradition:
- Salazar Upholds Bush-era Decision to Delist Gray Wolves (commondreams/ens) "Wolves in other parts of the 48 states, including the Southwest wolf population, remain endangered and are not affected by the actions taken today."
- Prison-Industrial Complex Thriving - 1 in 31 Americans in jail, on parole, or on probation - and lots of profits being made:
- The Dog Eats Its Tail: Oversized Classes, Overpopulated Prisons (commondreams) ". . . states like Washington even determine how many prison cells to build based on 4th grade reading scores and graduation rates. So rest assured, if your 9-year-old stumbles over syntax or has trouble sounding out the word 'priorities,' the state has readied the necessary cellblock accommodations. Why flush money down the sinkhole of reading improvement teachers when there are solitary confinement cells to be built? As the Pew study reports, 'In the past two decades, state general fund spending on corrections increased by more than 300 percent, outpacing other essential government services from education, to transportation and public assistance.'"
- Global Broiling:
- Scientists to issue stark warning over dramatic new sea level figures (guardian/uk) "Rising sea levels pose a far bigger eco threat than previously thought. This week's climate change conference in Copenhagen will sound an alarm over new floodings - enough to swamp Bangladesh, Florida, the Norfolk Broads and the Thames estuary [by 2100]." -- And of course, there is always that inconvenient little fact that each time you see new reports, the data are worse and the disaster is happening faster than the previous reports indicated.
- Restore the Rule of Law:
- Greenwald: Britain's bizarre reaction to war crimes allegations: investigations needed (salon)
- Israeli/Palestinian Atrocities - Educating A Whole New Generation of Terrorists:
- Israeli airstrikes continue to haunt Gaza children (commondreams ctv/ca) "But a true accounting of the injuries suffered by the children of Gaza may never be known, says Matthews, noting that the horror of the bombings has left countless numbers of kids psychologically scarred."
- Unsung Hero: Mike Jones
- Haggard scandal will always haunt Mike Jones (wiki - google) (gazette article) -- When Mike Jones outed the very powerful RW evangenital gay basher Ted Haggard as an arrogant, brazen man-on-man-sex hypocrite, he did the whole world a VERY big favor. As the scandal tumesced in the media, Haggard lied every step of the way, until the megachurch he had founded kicked him out with a generous parachute. Its own phony "ex-gay" program was never considered in the media as the logical place for him to seek "repair" and redemption. Instead he was assigned to a committee of "experts", including humorless bigot James Dobson, who after hearing Haggard's miserable tale, told him to get lost. Too bad he didn't reassign him to pretty-boy Ralph Reed, with whom Teddy might have found much more in common to explore together. -- When Mike Jones brought down the mighty Ted Haggard, the hateful religious right was given a big black eye, the image of which was burned into the skulls of many otherwise Republicon and undecided voters. THANK YOU, MIKE JONES, for those Obama-Biden votes that just as easily could have gone to John McLame and Theocratia Palin. -- Because Mike Jones had been a kiss-and-tell prostitute (at least in the case of RW hypocritical power-politics players Haggard and Craig) and drug procurer for Haggard and other clients, the gay press hypocritically showed him little mercy or much-deserved appreciation. Like Nancy Pelosi's "Impeachment Is Off The Table," too cowed by what straight, white soccer moms, nascar dads, and other potential voters might think, liberal and gay gatekeeper blogs to their great shame made sure Jones never got the full appreciation and honor he deserved for falling this very deserving Goliath and boosting Democratic chances at the polls. -- As the wheel so turned, in faithful mimicry of Sodom and Gomorrah, since the initial revelations came out, Haggard and other high-ranking New Life Church officials have also allegedly been implicated in several additional "sexual immorality" cases, including the sexual abuse of three victims who were allegedly underage at the time. -- Go to Mike Signorile's site for good coverage of Haggard and New Life Church's comings and goings.
- Gibbous Europa (apod)
