FREE SPEECH?

Watching this election season unfold, I was struck by the absurdity of our present system. Money flooded this election at a level never seen before in our history. Much of this money was donated anonymously. Even if the source is known, the simple fact that people and corporations can spend as much as they want to is very disturbing.
At this point, I imagine some people will be thinking I am spouting some sort of sacrilege. They have bought the idea that money is speech. This is an idea promoted by moneyed interests, and sanctified by our courts. The Supreme Court has ruled so, so it must be so.
The Supreme Court can be wrong.
Money is not speech. Money is an amplifier of speech. I can speak, I'm doing so here. But how many will "hear" me? But if I had millions of dollars to spend, I could place this essay in major newspapers across the country. I could pay to have a professional production outfit turn this essay into a slick video advertisement. And then spend hundreds of thousands placing it in T.V. markets across the country.
Obviously money is NOT speech, it is an amplifier of speech.
When moneyed interests can spend to their hearts content, they can sway elections to their preference. While the overwhelming majority of the population is trying to make financial ends meet, the obscenely affluent can spend more in any given race than the voters will earn in a lifetime. This equation takes away any semblance of fairness, and places all political power in the pockets of a tiny minority of the population.
This problem is not new. For far to long the affluent have been purchasing political power through large campaign contributions, they contribute directly to candidates and to the parties. This money is not free. While contributors may not be able to completely dictate their desires to candidates or parties, we cannot be so naive as to think the contributors desires are ignored.
Recently there has been a brewing controversy over the issue of foreign money possibly being used to pay for political advertising. This is a valid concern. The idea of foreign interests attempting to sway our elections is vile to most thinking people. The logic is obvious.
But we all need to realize that it is just as wrong for a small domestic opulent minority to sway our elections. They have been purchasing political favor for far too long. Ask yourself if you think the Government is in any way responsive to your desires. Do you suppose that any of your friends or co-workers would say that they feel the Government is responsive to their needs? Now I ask you, do think the government is responsive to the desires of the Banksters? Or if I were to ask you, do you think that the major oil companies get their desires heard and considered, how would you respond?
Obviously this is a completely unfair system, in which the general population has been reduced to nothing more than profit sources for the financially powerful.
We all (most of us anyway) claim to embrace the idea of free speech. Free speech is seen as vital to the health of the republic. Yet in our present system the affluent are the only ones with a voice in our political process.

Education Crisis? Lewis Black sheds some light on our problem, and helps us to laugh at the same time!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Back in Black - Education Crisis
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Rally to Restore Sanity

I'm voting (R)eptilian for all these important reasons!

Saje's Eye: An open letter to the Tea Partiers

Saje's Eye: An open letter to the Tea Partiers

The American Dream: You have to be asleep to believe it!

  For most of my life, most of the people I have known have spent very little time or effort thinking about the World. They spend a little time in front of a newspaper, or watch the the TV news. They kinda' pay attention to what is being told. If they think about what they are hearing, they generally believe they are getting a "fair and balanced" view on whatever the subject happens to be. Rarely do they do anything resembling independent investigation of what they are told. Rarely do they even stop to think about the fact that powerful interests are deciding what they hear or see.
  I must admit, I have been guilty of this behavior myself. It is understandable how we fall into this easy acceptance. The news is generally bad news. Pondering the constant stream of depressing news, tends to be just that, depressing. We are all understandably more focused on our personal lives and the problems we face up close. We would rather focus on something fun and enjoyable, and that is what most of us have always done, and prefer to do.
  For the Second half of the Twentieth Century, this was an even easier paradigm to embrace because by historical human standards, or by current world living conditions the American population had it real good. There was plenty of "slack" in the economic chain, small and incremental losses were more theoretical than personal. Most often problems were somebody else's and not our own.
  Those days are over. While we have been asleep at the wheel, generally luvin' our countless and pointless distractions,  amoral, greedy power-mongers have been busy stacking the deck against us, and humanity itself. There is no longer any "slack in the chain".  If you care about your future, more importantly if you care about your children and humanity itself, it is time to get in the game. If you are still breathing it is not too late.
  I am including two links here, the first is George Carlin speaking from his heart, trying to awaken us from our self-indulgent slumber. The second is a documentary detailing another way that our elections are being purchased. Or despite the money changing hands, how they are being stolen. I hope you will invest a little of yourself, in you and your children's future.





This next video is a must see for anyone who cares about free,fair and open elections. It is produced by HBO, and titled HACKING DEMOCRACY.

Dismantling The Empire

Mr. Chalmers Johnson is an astute thinker and well respected author. He has spent his life exploring and researching the inter-twined realms of Economics, International Relations, and Politics.
Here is an excerpt from his latest book:
 Thirty-five years from now, America's official century of being top dog (1945-2045) will have come to an end; its time may, in fact, be running out right now. We are likely to begin to look ever more like a giant version of England at the end of its imperial run, as we come face-to-face with, if not necessarily to terms with, our aging infrastructure, declining international clout, and sagging economy. It may, for all we know, still be Hollywood's century decades from now, and so we may still make waves on the cultural scene, just as Britain did in the 1960s with the Beatles and Twiggy. Tourists will undoubtedly still visit some of our natural wonders and perhaps a few of our less scruffy cities, partly because the dollar-exchange rate is likely to be in their favor.

If, however, we were to dismantle our empire of military bases and redirect our economy toward productive, instead of destructive, industries; if we maintained our volunteer armed forces primarily to defend our own shores (and perhaps to be used at the behest of the United Nations); if we began to invest in our infrastructure, education, health care, and savings, then we might have a chance to reinvent ourselves as a productive, normal nation. Unfortunately, I don't see that happening. Peering into that foggy future, I simply can't imagine the U.S. dismantling its empire voluntarily, which doesn't mean that, like all sets of imperial garrisons, our bases won't go someday.

Our Way of Life is Based On Fear

   John Perkins is a very interesting man.  When he worked as Chief Economist at a major international consulting firm, he often advised the U.N., the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. He also advised  major corporations and a host of nations in many parts of the world.
Having done this work, his insights into the realities of international aid, finance and politics are first hand. It is not a pretty picture. This man knows of what he speaks. He's been an active player in our vicious Empire.
  I am going to add some excerpts here from an essay he wrote last Friday, for Huffington Post :

Our own government, in alliance with the big corporations and banks, has created an empire that imposes servitude, misery and death on millions of people. As a result, we who reside within the walls of the empire find ourselves surrounded by a field of fear that has been constructed by those who fatten their wallets by claiming to defend themselves (and us) against what they assert is tyranny.

We allow ourselves to be told that tiny nail files are so dangerous they must be ripped from our nail clippers, that toothpaste tubes of more than 3 ounces threaten 747s, and that armies owned by millionaire supporters of our political parties are somehow more acceptable than ones staffed by military officers sworn to uphold our Constitution.

The sad truth is that our way of life is based on fear, our economy is dependent on war and so-called Homeland Security. This must end.

 Acts of terrorism and desperation will end when enough of us demand that our corporations, banks, and government cease to exploit the majority of the world's population and resources. Peace will arrive only when we insist on dealing with the world from a place of compassion - the very place I was taught that my dad and so many others defended during World War II.

The hour is indeed ours. You and I must take action.

Here is a link to the article: Vacating The Field of Fear
Also here is a link to his website:  John Perkins.org.

My Recent Response to Obama's Request For Contributions

This is an unedited copy of my email response to Barack Obama's recent request for campaign donations addressed to me. I want to share it with everyone, perhaps others will do something similar:
  
 You Obama were the first politician I ever donated cash to. I feel totally swindled. You campaigned standing behind a podium emblazoned with the word CHANGE, but you have been nothing but more of the same, on every front. 

THE COVE : It got my mercury rising!

 I must admit that most of the time animal abuse takes a back seat to human abuse, in my mind. Because of this, I spend most of my political efforts highlighting problems affecting people. It is not that I don't care about animals, it is simply that there is so much exploitation of humanity occurring that the abused animals might have to "take a number" and get in line!

 Having said that, it calls attention to the fact that this post is primarily about animal abuse. Dolphin abuse to be specific. Did you know that in a small fishing community in Japan thousands and thousands of dolphins are brutally slaughtered, every year? Virtually no one knew about this for a very long time. The people involved in this vicious business, and the Japanese Government have done everything they could to keep this secret. They have been aided in these efforts by the Japanese media. They have also been aided by the US corporate media in this information blackout. I ask you; How much do you know about the annual dolphin slaughter? I'm betting your knowledge of this carnage is limited to your exposure to the new movie/documentary The Cove. If you are as yet unfamiliar with this movie, I imagine your insight into this issue is minimal.

 In The Cove, Ric O'Barry (Flipper's trainer) tells us about his personal experiences with the Flipper cast of dolphins. In fact, Flipper was actually a series of five female dolphins caught in the wild, and trained primarily by him. He explains how these dolphins needed to be replaced frequently because they didn't fare well in captivity. Also he explains how "Cathy" the last Flipper was so depressed by captivity that she stopped breathing in his arms. This traumatic experience was a life changing experience for him. As he puts it, he spent ten years building this dolphin industry up, and the last thirty-five years trying to tear it down!

 As an adjunct to this great new movie the people involved also produced a short (eighteen min.) addendum piece titled Mercury Rising. This title may conjure mental images of hot weather, global warming, or climate change. That is not the point or subject matter of this movie "short". In this interesting piece, the makers highlight the immense problem of mercury contamination. This is a subject everyone needs to know more about. I am embedding this very informative shortumentary here (as well as two previews of The Cove). Please take a few minutes and watch them.

 I have also included the movie trailer in this post, you can view it here:

Background of Distrust, Prelude to Betrayal: America's unaddressed questions lead to culture of coverups

"GLENN BECK HAS NAZI TOURETTES!" - Lewis Black Steamrolls Glenn Beck!

Lewis Black does a great job of putting Glenn in his place! THE ATTIC! Watch and enjoy!

There's Sumpthin' Tricklin' Down Alright...

And it AIN'T LIQUID GOLD!
This is a clear eyed look at our very near future. If we don't change the present course. Take a couple minutes and read this examination of what's up. I think you will be glad you read this.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/opinion/02krugman.html

Doing Nothing Is The Best We Can Hope For - in this case

Letting all of Bush's tax cut expire would be the best thing Congress could do. This reality is laid out clearly by Fareed Zakaria in this video from CNN.   

George Carlin At His Best - No Gloss! No Spin!

In a three minute video clip George lays bare the true state of our nation, and by extension the U.S. dominated World. Get past his vulgarity, and see the larger vulgarity that is using and abusing us all!    http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=159216125164

I Shall Pass This Way But Once

   Back when I was a kid I spent a portion of my youth on my "aunt" and "uncles" farm. I lived with them for a number of years. They weren't my genetically connected relatives, they were my parents best friends.

Really Seeing the Gulf Mess Clearly

   Carl Safina is president of The Blue Ocean Institute, he is a prominent ecologist and marine conservationist. He is also an acclaimed author and respected voice on the Oceans and Seas of this Earth. Carl has been to the Gulf recently. After spending some time assessing the devastation he spoke at a TED conference with the Oil Spill as the topic. He has insights to share, so without further introduction, please watch:

   

The Story of Stuff

  This is an interesting piece, it explores how we get all the things we think we want, and why we think we want them. Annie Leonard has spent a considerable amount of time researching the world of commerce and consumerism. She shares the results of her study here, in an easy to follow explanation of  "The Story of Stuff".
  I promise you, this is far more interesting than I am able to convey. Not only will you find this interesting, you will more than likely think of several people you know should watch this.
  On to the "Stuff"!  http://www.storyofstuff.com/

The Stupidity and Hypocrisy of the Austerity Movement

This an open eyed look at the realities of : The Stupidity and Hypocrisy of the Austerity Movement explained so anyone,( even a politician!) could understand it!

Many thanks to Nate Silver at;   http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/ for his concise analysis.                                                                                   

Lies The Government Told You - Andrew Napolitano and Ralph Nader Speaking Freely

   This is an absolutely fascinating discussion of just what the title of Mr. Napolitano's new book says, Lies The Government Told You. He is interviewed by Mr. Ralph Nader, another man who has a long history of speaking out on behalf of the people. This is a rare moment when we can enjoy two champions of the people, both with a wealth of knowledge of history and the law. They speak freely about a host of lies, major ones that have had dramatic impact on our lives. This is MUST SEE TV! That is probably why it is on C-SPAN! Enjoy! http://www.c-spanarchives.org/program/ID/225457

Reagan Mythology Rewritten

UNJUST SPOILS - The Real Problem In Our Economy !

    I recently read what  I believe to be the best analysis of our economic situation, that I have seen yet. This is a concise explanation of our present problem and an optimistic view towards its solution, written by Robert Reich, a very bright fellow who has worked for a few Presidents , written several books and is worth listening to. Please take a few minutes and gain a greater understanding of our plight.

                                                        UNJUST SPOILS

   Wall Street's banditry was the proximate cause of the Great Recession, not its underlying cause. Even if the Street is better controlled in the future (and I have my doubts), the structural reason for the Great Recession still haunts America. That reason is America's surging inequality.
   Consider: in 1928 the richest 1 percent of Americans received 23.9 percent of the nation's total income. After that, the share going to the richest 1 percent steadily declined. New Deal reforms, followed by World War II, the GI Bill and the Great Society expanded the circle of prosperity. By the late 1970s the top 1 percent raked in only 8 to 9 percent of America's total annual income. But after that, inequality began to widen again, and income reconcentrated at the top. By 2007 the richest 1 percent were back to where they were in 1928—with 23.5 percent of the total.

Each of America's two biggest economic crashes occurred in the year immediately following these twin peaks—in 1929 and 2008. This is no mere coincidence. When most of the gains from economic growth go to a small sliver of Americans at the top, the rest don't have enough purchasing power to buy what the economy is capable of producing. America's median wage, adjusted for inflation, has barely budged for decades. Between 2000 and 2007 it actually dropped. Under these circumstances the only way the middle class can boost its purchasing power is to borrow, as it did with gusto. As housing prices rose, Americans turned their homes into ATMs. But such borrowing has its limits. When the debt bubble finally burst, vast numbers of people couldn't pay their bills, and banks couldn't collect.    ...click here to read more

  Robert Reich is Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley. He has served in three national administrations, most recently as secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton. He has written twelve books, including The Work of Nations, Locked in the Cabinet, and his most recent book, Supercapitalism. His "Marketplace" commentaries can be found on publicradio.com andiTunes. 

  Thank you Robert, for a very insightful explanation of our situation. Eric  

Circle of Strife

   When you sleep with the devil, you should not be surprised when you wake up smelling like a goat. Seems obvious enough, and an idea and process most people would choose not to make, if they had the choice. Often governments make these choices for us. Even worse, they often do these types of things secretly. They do them secretly because they are criminal acts.
   By now you might be wondering what the hell I'm talking about. I will explain;

Explore Our Descent Into Empire

Tom Engelhardt is a man that knows of what he speaks.   I have been a subscriber to both TomDispatch, (http://www.tomdispatch.com/) and The American Empire Project (http://www.americanempireproject.com/) for a couple of years now. These are two blogs to which Tom is very closely connected. TomDispatch.com is his own, the other is a cooperative effort with some other bright folks.
 Tom's new book, The American Way of War : How Bush's Wars Became Obama's  appears to be another of his timely and very insightful efforts.
  I just read an excerpt from this new book, and I have to recommend this book and Tom Englehardt to anyone trying to make sense of (and hopefully find our way out of ) our descent into vicious empire. In this post I am including links to the book excerpt and a recent interview with Tom on Democracy Now!

- Book excerpt
- Interview

http://www.alternet.org is the news-site where the book review is posted and it is a great source for information not told by the corporate media. http://www.democracynow.org is great as well.
Check them out for a dose of reality.  
  

Happy Independence Day

Happy Independence Day! In honor of this wonderfully historic day, here is a link to the Declaration of Independence, and one to the United States Constitution.

http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/
http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html

We'll also be adding these to the Other Links section to the right. Make sure you bookmark them!

New Links

    We just finished adding several interesting links to this site. We hope that you take a moment and check out the Other Links list.  Other Links is where we will be posting interesting morsels from all over the web. We highly recommend all of them and would be hard pressed to rank them.

    -Revenge of the Fighting Quaker is an absolutely fascinating bit of United States history that many people don't know. It tells the story of Maj. Gen. Smedley D. Butler, and how he, almost single-handedly, saved the United States (and possibly even the world).
    -Why We Fight is a documentary by Eugene Jarecki about the United States military machine and how it operates. The film details the corruption of the 'defense' contracting industry, and how the Pentagon runs US foreign policy. Absolutely essential information in an easy-to-watch package.
   -Flow: For Love of Water, a documentary by Irena Salinas, focuses on the worldwide demand for fresh water, and how we may have serious problems meeting that demand in the very near future, in large part due to the misbehavior of multinational corporations. Another must-see!

Knowledge Is Power

  Knowledge is power. If the United States Government is to be a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, then we the people need power. We need knowledge. If we don't know what's going on, we can't put events into context. Without adequate context, we can't make good decisions; And we need to make a lot of very good decisions in the near future.
  Empire kNOw More aims to bring as much knowledge as possible to as many people as possible. To do this properly, we need tons of feedback. That's where you come in. Tell us what you know!

 Eric