Joe The What ???

Just when we thought that we heard the last from the man who has become known as Joe “The Plumber,” Samuel J. Wurzelbacher is now back in the news but only this time he isn’t bemoaning Barack Obama’s tax plan nor is he snubbing John McCain rallies. The conservative online news site, pjtv.com, has hired Wurzelbacher as a war correspondent in Israel. His stated ten day project is to travel around the country, asking the so called “Average Joes,” about their feelings regarding the war in the Gaza strip. Of course several questions should arise from this story, including the following.

While the state of US journalism has been in near collapse over the past 30+, one should still expect news professionals to have a firsthand world view before they are ever hired by any syndicate. One must wonder what an Ohio resident who poses as a plumber knows about the detailed history of the Gaza conflict. By putting a novice into the international ring, especially one with such a narrow understanding of world affairs, the only possible outcome of his “reporting” is to perpetuate a one-sided view. But more to the point, this stunt, much like the image of “Joe The Plumber” serves only to forward one of a long series of false dialogues normally used to rile the rightwing base every four to six years. Even if one were to take seriously the premise of the project, it’s curious that a more seasoned journalist who could better articulate the conclusion that this conservative outlet has already come to, was not used.

Then there is the question of why no Palestinians are being interviewed for this project, only Israelis. Unfortunately the residents of the Gaza strip have long been portrayed as terrorists or, “non-people,” by much of the American mainstream media. How else then can one explain the total lack of coverage on the gates, walls and check points that surround Gaza, making the residents in the area prisoners and turning the entire region into one big jail. It is equally disheartening to see no press given to the fact that the Israeli Government has had its finger on the pulse of the Palestinian people and the functioning of their everyday lives. This ranges from the now infamous separation wall, which cuts farmers off from their land and family members from each other, to the overt manipulation of the area’s political system.

For good or ill Hamas did win the most recent election that was allowed by outside forces, and this includes the United States. The outcome of those election results was the cutting off of oil, food and water and medical supplies to the non-Jewish residents of Gaza. Even before the outbreak of violence, all supply levels had remained at near crisis level. And should be noted that even at the time Hamas was still the legitimate Government of Gaza, Israeli airstrikes assassinated several cabinet members and killed crowds of civilians. Perhaps if Joe Wurzelbacher was serious about his role as a so called journalist, he could very well interview the Palestinian mothers who saw their infants blown in half or the children now orphaned after watching their parents being blown apart. Or does he see them too as “elitists” as he did Barack Obama?

Then there is Joe, the man behind the image. Samuel J. Wurzelbacher came onto the scene, claiming that he was just an average American, making $200,000 a year, who was just trying to open a business as a plumber, which he is not licensed for, and Obama’s tax plan would hurt his chances at success, a claim that has long been discredited. And when it became obvious that his presence on the McCain campaign would make little difference in the outcome of the elections, he publically bashed the Republican ticket. So the final question I have is what is Joe’s credibility even as a person?

Until next time.

John McCain Advocates Military “Iraq” Tactics Be Used In Civilian Life

Of all the issues we will not hear about John McCain at any point during this current election cycle, the call by McCain to use similar tactics in US urban areas as those being used in Iraq by US and Iraq forces military forces is perhaps one of the most troubling. McCain called for a “crack down” in many inner city areas while speaking at a gathering of the National Urban League.

John McCain was asked how he, as President, would handle the issue of crime in some of the poorer urban neighborhoods. McCain used the opportunity to push the idea of using military tactics as a model for fighting crime.

“And some of those tactics, very frankly—you mention the war in Iraq—are somewhat like that we use in the military. You go into neighborhoods, you clamp down, you provide a secure environment for the people that live there, and you make sure that the known criminals are kept under control. And you provide them with a stable environment, and then they cooperate with law enforcement.”

To understand what exactly this would entail, one can check out a three part series featured in the Guardian London newspaper, by journalists, Chris Hedges and Laila Al-Arian. The series focused the testimony by US soldiers who have come forward to discuss the abuses they had either observed or taken part in. The stories were compiled by hundreds of transcripts which never saw the light of day in the papers or TV stations run by the great PR firm. The stories consisted of US forces raiding the homes of civilians, unarmed people with no connection to the rebel fighters, and killing men, women and children, some still in their night clothes. It is important to note that these were not isolated events.

As was pointed out in the first article, many of those who participate in these actions are able to do so by almost dehumanizing their victims. A report released by the Surgeon General’s on May 4^th show that that only 47% of soldiers and 38% of marines agreed that Iraqi civilians should be treated with respect and dignity. Furthermore only 55% of soldiers and 40% of Marines said that they would report a member of their unit who killed an innocent civilian. This is important to remember when recognizes the wall of silence which already exists in every police department across United States. It is helpful to think about the transfer of these conditions to the US urban environment.

The explicit murder of US citizens in different neighborhoods is certainly not hypothetical. The Katrina disaster in New Orleans, which eventually led to a “shoot to kill” order against African Americans, would no doubt be used to justify such a policy which McCain is proposing.

Until next time.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/08/01/mccain-suggests-military-style-invasion-modeled-on-the-surge-to-control-inner-city-crime/

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theworldnewser/2008/08/surge-at-home.html

tp://www.politicsforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=94038&sid=cc4d2594d4014ea2fb51dcbe113894f0

http://ivaw.org/wintersoldier

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/jul/13/usa.iraq

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/jul/13/usa.iraq1

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/jul/13/usa.iraq2

If You Think Contaminated Pet Food Has Been Dumped, Think Again!

If you think that the tens of thousands of pet food products that were found to contain melamine, a chemical used in fertilizers and plastic kitchenware was disposed of, think again. A recent discovery has found that many of the recalled foods were feed to hogs and chickens on corporate farms in six states. Hundreds of pigs have tested positive for the chemical. It is unclear if any of the contaminated animals have made their way on the dinner table. The troubling problem is that the
US animal testing regulations are rather relaxed compared to most other industrial nations. The sad fact is, FDA demands on farm testing became less demanding during the mad cow disease scare according so several sources.  

The question here is how did these products get into our food supply and who allowed it?   When we take a look at the mad cow disease scare a few years ago, we can see a complete lack of oversight concerning the blood meal that had been to feed to cows. Most of the meal was made up of fellow bovine which them selves were extremely sick or suffered from neurological disease. Had it not been for the uncovering of the issue by Ophera Winfrey, the vast majority of American’s would still be eating contaminated beef. What’s even more troubling is how they now check for infected cattle less cows are tested for mcd. The FDA still hasn’t held anyone liable for cases in which American citizens had been severally injured from the tainted meat.  

. The FDA should figure out why these recalled pet foods were not dumped or incinerated. Other wise we must consider them complicit in the illegal feeding of a known dangerous toxin to the nations hog population.  

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Where We Are Today

How fast the high rollers in Washington forget what it is that the American people voted for as they play politics with the lives of both those in Iraq and those American troops that are currently being sent over. The Republicans still want to wrap themselves in old glory while they ignore the voice of the voter who spoke last November and demanded that the US should withdraw from this disaster known as the Iraq war. It does not matter now. Even with the Democrats who purposed a non-binding resolution that George W Bush went on record and stated he would not allow himself to be tied to. The formation of such a resolution would seem as a bit of a cop out considering it would have no teeth and would allow the party to say that they did what everything the could do to end the war.

The Senate Democrats were unable to muster up the 60% of support that they needed to pass the before mentioned, non-binding resolution. In fact, they were only able to bring in 49% of the votes. But, with the house looking to have more success, there are already some looking to put tougher measures in the resolution that, if passed could make a real dent in the GOP’s plans to increase the numbers in Iraq and should be able to cut off any possible war with Iran. Among them is Dennis kucinich, and Bernie Sanders. The measure that the more progressive Democrats are looking to pass calls for the cutting off of funds to the war. While this would seem to fall in line with the results of the 2006 campaigns, Nancy Pelosi and other rank and file Democrats have already stated that they would not cut off funding for the war. And here is the problem.

Despite winning a huge election, they still act as a defeated party and have done everything they can to marginalize the progressive wing of the party, while letting Hillary Clinton run a muck. What we are seeing in the furthering of the same reasoning that took impeachment off the table.

Then there are the Republicans who have paid no attention to the voice of the average voter. What some may consider a tactic to silence any real demands made upon Washington by the average citizen on street, the GOP has done everything they can do to, “stay the course.” But, if any of the earlier debates regarding the Iraq is any indication, then we know the right are no where as united as they would seem. Sen. Chuck Hagel, for example supports the resolution in the Senate and was looking to be one of the crusaders to push it through, and looked as if he three other supporters from his own party on board. But, like any obedient dog, everyone in the party fell back in line and blocked the resolution from even getting debated on in the Senate. The good news for the Democrats, however, is that the Republicans have far fewer seats in the House. So some thing could get passed very shortly. The “decider,” may have to realize that he is not the soul voice in decision making regarding the war,

So that’s where we are today. Until next time…

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Global Warming

Global Warming

 With the battle brewing in the middle east, mostly over those who wish to control the taps on the oil pipelines, Unfortunately, there is no attention being paid to the real threat to human civilization. As I have written several times on this sight, we are heading down a very dangerous road that will undoubtedly come to meet us sooner rather than later. As mentioned in earlier reports, 1969 the University of Columbia released what was known as the “Dooms Day Report” which focuses on the exhilaration of global warming based on the numbers they were receiving during those years, along with the calculated increase of temperature change and arctic melt. When taken into proportionality, the numbers were right on target, the problem is, however, the increase in global climate change has been moving twice as fast as the report attempted to predict. For example, the intrusion of sea levels moving into major metropolis areas like mexico city and the greater part of Bangladesh were projected to occur in about 100 years to 200. Now, those numbers have receded to 50 to 100 years until such disasters are being predicted.

Much of this information can be found on Green Peace’s website or you can google, “Marshall Report, global warming,” to read what has some frantic pentagon insiders so worried. So far it appears that the first canary in the cave mine in the polar bear whose habitat decreases at an ever increasing rate. For the first time in recorded history, scientists are finding drowned polar bears who can swim for more than 100 miles. When you take into consideration that distance you can get at least some idea how serious the situation actually is. Further more, when you consider the fact that in 1998 3 miles of the arctic fell into the ocean and in 2006 more than twice that land mass has disappeared, you just get barely a taste of things to come. 

So what does that mean for US, well global warming is threatening the human population in several, including the ways it has effected our friend the polar bear. First with rising sea levels coastal areas around the world and including the United States are going to quickly disappear. But higher sea levels are also expected cause far more damage than just the disappearance of expensive ocean side real estate. If you can check out the Times magazine of July, 2001. In it you will a come across a section in an article that focuses on this very subject. In it, there is more than a little speculation about the disappearance of such locations as, Mexico City, Bangladesh, (the entire country to be exact) New Orleans and other areas below sea level. The author of that article was not putting this disaster scenario in terms of 100 to 150 years but, more in line with 50 to 75 years. And in case you were wondering where they got their information from, there was an updated study from the Dooms day report released just months before the Time article was written. The report was a collaboration of all the leading climatologists from around the world and who the UN members often go to.   

As for the the Marshall Report, you read it on several websites but this link should suffice for now. http://reclaimdemocracy.org/articles_2004/pentagon_report_global_warming.html

Also, you can go to the Marshall report blog that I placed on this website for more information. 

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The Issue Of Tent City

The Issue Of Tent City

In what has become an increasing battle in Tampa Florida between homeless advocates and the city government, the issue of what is called tent city is now gaining news. Located on the property of St Vincent church in the county of Saint Petersburg, many of the local homeless sent up tents over a month ago after it came clear that social services weren’t taking the issue seriously. Here is a closer look at the situation. 

A new report has revealed that both the mayor of St. Petersburg, Rick Baker and the fire department told the police department to look for any reason to close down tent city. Authorities a few days later came into the compound without warning and started cutting up many of the tents with box cutters. The reason given was that several people were caught smoking in their tents, violating fire code. As it turned out, there were no warning given by the police or by the fire chief according to the report. Representatives of Mr. Baker have gone on record with apologies over the situation, but the actions taken by the county follow a pattern that back almost a month ago when Baker ruled against the community, saying in violated camping laws. At the same time, service programs that were set up focus on the homeless have been doing almost nothing according to many of the homeless themselves.

Some NIMBY groups have sided with the mayor, complaining that they come home to people peeing on their driveways or somewhere near their homes. Others fear that the crime rates will go up. Unfortunately none of the members of these groups worry about where the homeless will end up.

Finally, the city of Tampa have been so lacks when comes to the homeless, that public officials have not conducted any recent census over the last few years to get any kind of idea on the actual numbers concerning those that are homeless. In fact, homeless advocates are now being forced to conduct the surveys themselves. Further troubling is that many organizations that were suppose to be taking care of the homeless are now being accused of performing abusive practices  concerning those they swore to protect. For more on this story, please check out the links below.

Until next time.

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Senator Obama To Run For President

The Senator from Illinois, Barak Obama has filed the proper paperwork needed to raise the money to run a presidential campaign. He joins a field already crowded by potential nominees ranging from John Edwards to Hillary Clinton to John Kerry. While Obama’s popularity continues to rise, the road to the White house will be a very rocky one. Among the obstacles standing before him, will be the powerhouse staff of Clinton to the rising status of dark horse candidate Al Gore.

While we are not even out of January of 2007, already we are hearing about the potential candidates of 2008.  Near the top of that list is Barak Obama who is the Democrats current golden boy. He has the charismatic charm of a Bill Clinton and the mastery of language similar to that of a Bobby Kennedy. Furthermore, he is young which could very well attract younger voters but, it is important to remember the Hillary Clinton’s skillful staff.   Her advisors are the same road-warriors who helped her husband Bill Clinton win office in 1993 and maintain it ‘97. They know the political game as well, if not better, than most Republican strategists. she also has the major money donors that backed Bill during his second term. Furthermore she has gained the support of many conservatives including popular New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Then there is the dark horse in this race, Al Gore. True, he keeps saying that he won’t run in 2008 but the numbers are on his side.  His position against the Iraq war along with his rebirth as a decent public speaker puts the current opinion poll numbers in his favor. If he threw his hat in the ring tomorrow, he would come in as the Democrats leading candidate.  After his movie, “An Inconvenient Truth,” he now has the star power to beat even John McCain whose numbers are starting to drop off for his stance on the proposed troop increase. Gore is no fool, he knows how to sail in the direction of wherever the wind blows.

John Edwards is not a major threat to Barak Obama but, is one worth mentioning anyway. Like Obama, he is young and hungry. Like 2004, he is entering the race as the poor man’s candidate.  Don’t look for him to get much attention by the rank and file in the Democratic party, but he could very well sneak up on everyone if he can get the working poor in New Orleans and around the rest of the country to the polls.

Then there is the issue of race. Barak Obama could win the more liberal states if he becomes the Democrats presidential candidate but, the big question, could he win in the red states like Georgia, Tennessee and New Mexico, all-important states for any candidate. Time will tell but, for those of us who have traveled to middle America, race relations are far from where they should be and in many towns, the ghosts of Jim Crowe are alive and well.  Obama’s ability to overcome this obstacle could very well decide if he takes the office of president in ‘08. 

Until next time…

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The Meaning In The Balance Of Power

Yesterday during a radio interview, South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson had what it appeared at the time as a stroke. In mid sentence he suddenly had difficult speaking, often stumbling over his words and seemed to forget what he was trying to say. Later in the interview, he seemed to improve as he finished up. But, even after the interview, he had been said not to be feeling well. Johnson was taken to the hospital where it was determined that he needed surgery. As we now know, he had suffered not a stroke, as originally feared but, bleeding on the brain. Both doctors and fellow Democrats are both saying that it is far too early to predict the long term condition of M.R. Johnson and the future of his political career.  His condition is going to be closely watched since it suddenly puts the Democrats control over the Senate in a precarious position.  But, the question the American people should be asking themselves is, how much of a difference are we really to expect from Democrats both nationally and internationally from of what have seen from the GOP over the last six years.

Internationally, concerning the war in Iraq, the Democrats have backed away from their election message of bringing troops home immediately and forcing the Iraqi Government to take over that responsibility. In fact some in the party have even suggested increasing troop levels by 20,000. And like the Republicans, the party has shied away from the Iraq study group’s suggestion of changing the U.S.’s role from that of combat to a more advisory role. This suggestion would have been the perfect plan to embrace since they would appear to be fulfilling their promise of changing course and at the same time the Democrats would avoid looking soft on the terror issue. But, they seem to have dropped the ball on what could have been a clear example of what separates Republicans and Democrats. By the way, there is talk among the Democratic party to actually increase the defense spending  in next years bill. 

For other international issues, the rank and file of the Dems also support NAFTA and CAFTA along with the other sectors of globalization. Despite popular belief among those in the mainstream press, the everyday citizen of third world nations are not benefitting from these policies. According to several sources including the Global Watch Group, http://www.globalwatchgroup.org/news/index.html, the globalized market reduces the living standards of the vast majority of citizens in third world nations. Remember, many were farmers before companies like Monsanto forced numerous family farms world wide to fold. These policies also reduce access to natural resources, increase potential warring situations and so on. So it is odd that the Democrats who like to betray themselves as being on the left of the Republicans would support policies that would make a habit of allowing western companies to pollute or cause a major disaster in one these countries, think Union carbine here, which causes the deaths of thousands of people, then at the same same time claim that they are helping to improve living standards.

Then there are the are domestic issues.  It wasn’t so many months ago that the Democrats voted with the Republican party to cut habeas corpus from the U.S. court system. As of now the FBI or the Bush administration can label anyone an enemy combatant and their families and friends would never hear from them again. Such changes in the law should send a chill up our collective spines since the foundation of what made our judical system a true Democracy has been seriously compromised to the point that it now appears to be something far less appealing. In fact this new draconian law which now  sits one the books looks more like what you would see in Turkey or Iran. So how could the Democrats vote for such a bill? The prevailing answer is that they knew it was going to pass any why so there was no need to go against the grain. But, there is the moral vote to not vote for such a bill that just seems far more important.  

In the interest of time, I’m going to end this piece here but, for more on the Johnson story, you can check the link bellow. Until next time.           

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How The Media Attacks Young Girls

In 1969 a model named Twiggy had invaded the American conscienceness and the careers of many classic models came to screeching halt. For America, the message was clear, the fame of this new style model meant extremely thin women were in while the healthier models were now considered outdated or, over weight. So, many of them would adopt a junk habit just to work again or to regain some notoriety among the vanguard. But, their careers were shortened considerably. Some would wind up and Warhol’s factory and star in third rate films while others bought tickets to an early grave. For the L.A. crowd, the Sun Set Strip was littered with these has been starlets.

Since then, the impossible goal of becoming one these models is now a target of teenage girls who have decided to adopt the habit of, self-weighing. To the dismay of many of these children, remember that’s what we are talking about here, most gain weight at a higher rate than those girls who never weigh themselves at all. But thats the least of their troubles. The rate of eating disorders is almost double of those who pay less attention to their weight while others take up smoking in the faint attempt to get rid of the urge to eat. And this attack of images doesn’t target one group of people or any particular neighborhood. Fashion is a meat market and the cattle are lead to believe the illusion of their own self importance.

For more on this story check out the link below. Until next time

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Robert Gates In Focus

While the roars cheers coming from the Democratic caucus are still reverberating around the nation, there is little attention being made towards the fact that the Democrats have just dropped the ball and their not even in office yet. Yesterday, George Bush’s choice to replace Donald Rumsfeld, Robert Gates was confirmed as the next secretary of defense by a 95-2 vote. Like the Republican’s, the Democrats had nothing but praise for Gates despite his past which shows a very different picture than the, “pragmatist” we are being sold. Mr. Gates, while not coming from the school of the neo-cons, is no less a stranger to human rights violations or other criminal behavior.

For younger people today, the Contra scandal is considered old news and no longer relevant. This perception has been perpetuation by an A historic media that does no real analysis of any given situation. If they had, than we would hear considerably more about Robert Gate’s role in the scandal and thus, there might be much more scrutiny regarding this recent confirmation. 

For those recent victims of the American education system, The Contra scandal involved the  financing, arming and other direct dealings with the right wing narc group, the contras. They mostly worked out of  Nicaragua where they would transport cocaine into the United States. Several Reagan insiders either helped or worked directly with the drug smuggling operations, not the least of which was Oliver North, in return for the money which went towards the purchasing of the weapons that were sent to Iran. Much of the arms sales went through Con Air, the CIA’s personal airline. one of the over seers was Robert Gates who escaped jail time even though other Reaganites weren’t so lucky. As a result of the Central Intelligence Agencies dealings with the contras, the same group that were among the sworn enemies of the Sandinistas who had taken power by the late 1980s, the American embassy was attacked in Nicaragua by leftist troops. What is not reported in mainstream news is that, it was Gates who pushed for a retaliation. The backlash for the attack on the American base was an absolute bloodbath that spared few and included even the elderly, women and young children.

So this is the Robert Gates that we are now being sold, hardly a breath of fresh air and not exactly a huge difference from what one might expect from Rumsfeld.

What is being overshadowed in all this the Iraq study group report which lambasts Bush for his administrations shabby planning concerning the War in iraq.

For more on this story, you can checkout the link below. until next time.   

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