The Earth's Rotation

How amazing is it that scientists can calculate the effect that an 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile can have on the rotation of our planet! The ability of human beings to do these amazing things stands in stark contrast with the abysmal lack of human compassion that some people exhibit toward others. What internal mechanism is at work within those who do not display any apparent concern for their brothers and sisters? I am not puzzled by the motivations that drive political agendas that literally obliterate any concern for the society-wide problems that afflict our middle-class and poor populations. The most dramatic example of this has been Senator Jim Bunning’s refusal to allow desperately needed extensions to pass to continue a variety of programs for hundreds of thousands of Americans. This harsh attitude is not unusual in our society. Any number of casual encounters will reveal the innate hostility that some people harbor toward those who suffer. A few years ago, a woman told me with a straight face that people who are out of work should not receive any type of assistance; that they should find something or starve, along with their children. This type of sentiment is at the core of the “tea-bagger” movement. Look that one up in the Urban Dictionary (#4, #5) and you’ll realize why these freaks re-identified themselves as the “Tea Party”. Even they realized it was a misnomer, for some of them. All this deep hatred and scape-goating is reminiscent of the lynching of people of color throughout our nation’s history and the eventual genocide of the Jews and others during the Holocaust. All we need is a severe depression to transform these “nut-cases” into the ruling monsters like those of other horrific eras. Americans who desire the unvarnished truth have to stop accessing the corporate media for their daily news. We have to become truth-seekers to identify what is actually transpiring in this ideologically-sick corporatocracy.

We're Doing Just Fine

The United Corporatocracy of America is thriving; getting stronger every day. Our media mythmakers have been touting patriotism during the Winter Olympics and covering our successful smokeout of some terrorists in Afghanistan. Our magical money managers are thriving; doing the same derivative swapping that brought us to "THE BRINK" (Yikes!) of financial disaster only months ago. Our actual unemployment rate is at least double the reported rate. What most people still don't get is that the Pie-In-The-Sky Recovery that will come some day will not get those jobs back. Read "Take This Job and Ship It" by Senator Byron Dorgan for the ugly details. The corporate lackies in Congress are playing out a well-planned strategy of obfuscate-delay-exaggerate-delay in opposition to any health insurance reform. They say the same things over and over again with new wording for each new script-of-the-week. It's a low-risk tactic because the majority of Americans are incessantly spoon-fed this crap by the media wing of the Corporatocracy. Now the big hissy-fit is over the Reconciliation process that could put a health insurance reform law into effect. Many Senate Democrats are terrified by the prospect of an up-or-down vote because they would have to reveal their real position on the health insurance industry, which closely resembles that of Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office. The great malleable mass that sucks on the major media teat will continue to alternately quake with fear and indulge in soothing distractions while the oligarchy of the elite tightens its hold. Please remove your caps! I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United Corporatacracy of America and to the elite class for which it stands! And the rockets' red glare; the bombs bursting in air......" (Oh, I forgot the religious freaks!) God bless America, land that I love!

Amerikkka.090811.2

Oh, yes, you want your America back.
That’s what you shriek out at some of the town hall meetings.
You know it’s not about the health care issue.
You want your Amerikkka back.
You know you don’t want your America black,
or brown, or yellow, or red.
You want your Amerikkka that you loved when
the puppetmaster and the malicious frat-boy were running it.
You want the Amerikkka that brought the Africans here to work on the plantations.
You wanted the lands of the Red Man, so you engaged in genocide,
but that was OK, because this was Amerikkka.
Then you wanted to build railroads, so you wanted the Asians to do that for
Your Amerikkka.
You have always wanted your fruits and vegetables, so the Brown people
supplied that while Wink,Wink, they crossed the border illegally.
Oh, yes, you want your Amerikkka back.
All of those refugees from Southeast Asia whom we condescended to take in,
because we are such a compassionate people –
they are here, too.
Oh, by the way, we killed three million of the Vietnamese and told the Silent Majority
that the fifty thousand plus Americans who died there were fighting for our freedom.
Robert McNamara didn’t even believe that,
yet he kept quiet until the corpse of his conscience finally uttered it.
Oh, yes, you want the twisted Amerikkka
that was in control of
the yearning masses longing to be free.
Martin Luther King was the worst uppity minority who symbolized the turning tide.
The tide will continue to turn with or without martyrs and symbols.
This is what has you scared and angry.
You want your Amerikkka back and you are not going to get it back.
We want the real America and we will create it with or without you.
You can’t have your perverted version of Amerikkka back.
We the People are still dreaming the American Dream.

McNamara

Howard Zinn's analysis of Robert McNamara on Democracy Now!(7/07/09) included a connection with our current administration. Zinn authored "The People's History of the United States" and the "People's History of American Empire", among other works. He said that the intellectual ability to process and recall information is revered in the American culture. Instead, we should revere and teach "moral intelligence". He compared our current policy of "winning" in Afghanistan with that of "winning" in Viet Nam. He contended that we are making the same mistake of not looking at why we are there from a wider moral perspective. He also pointed out that when McNamara realized that we were losing, he resigned, but he remained silent about it instead of speaking out. This is the malady of involvement in government, when dissenting opinions are not disclosed and mistaken policies are permitted to continue in a downward, destructive spiral. McNamara regretted the failures but never moved to correct them. Is this the road on which we are traveling in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan? Even though we are supposedly engaged in a staged withdrawal in Iraq, we are building a one-billion dollar fortress/embassy in Pakistan and killing Taliban terrorists with drones. Too bad the technician in Arizona with the joystick is vaporizing innocent civilians as well. It's more than "collateral damage" on the ground there, and we are creating new rage daily with our plan for a permanent presence. Is this the change we believed in? --- undertoad57

Smackdown

We don't have cable at home. We are on a two-day hiatus in Salida, Colorado, staying in a motel. I viewed a segment of Anderson Cooper's show, AC360, in which he interviewed Al Sharpton about Michael Jackson. Cooper focused his questions on custody of Jackson's children, questions about drug use, Jackson Family dysfunction and other controversial subjects. Sharpton became visibly annoyed by this line of questioning and referred to Cooper and other media people as only being interested in negative issues, instead of looking at what Jackson had contributed during his lifetime. He cited his call to social awareness in the production of "We Are the World", his philantrophic generousity to poor children and the overall love within the extended Jackson family. At that point, the interview ended abruptly. As Cooper looked into the camera while he made his closing comments, I flashed on the character in "Zoolander", whose success hinged on "The Look". He couldn't have parodied it better, with the intense,squinty-eyed stare. What a vacant, stereo-typical, corporate-media moment. At least cable tv has the History Channel. --- undertoad57

International Seizure

The Israeli Navy recently seized a converted ferry carrying humanitarian supplies in international waters, according to many news sources. 21 activists on the way to Gaza were detained. Many major news organizations have not even mentioned this. When the Somali pirates boarded a vessel in international waters, it was such a big deal. OK, rightfully so. The name of the vessel is "The Spirit of Humanity", of the "Free Gaza Movement". Oh, WOW! What a threat they posed to the Israeli Navy! When activists are trying to bring attention to the devastation in Gaza while simultaneously providing pragmatic assistance, why should anyone care? How about asking the parents of the 300 children who were killed in the Israeli offensive that took place just before the Obama inauguration? That is, if they are not among the other estimated 600 dead innocent victims of the assault. Maybe they can be found in an under-supplied hospital, suffering from unimaginably severe burns. (Can you say: "White Phosphorus"?) I looked in vain today for any report in the Denver Post. ABC News did have a report about it on its website; here is the link to the Edinburg Scotsman on this event: http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Scot-among--British-.5416254.jp --- undertoad57

Health Insurance Reform

The private sector was so enthusiastic about competing with the public sector in the field of education. Too bad that the underlying agenda was to get public funding for education in the bible-thumpers' schools and the elite country day schools (OPM: Other Peoples' Money). Oh, vouchers and charter schools would be great for competition with those crappy public schools. (Read: blame the victim. Remember when the catch-phrase was, "You can't just throw money at the problem."?) Now the tables are turned. The health insurance cabal doesn't want competition from the lowly public sector. SOCIALIZED MEDICINE!!!!!!!!!!!!! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! You can read a great explanation of this issue by "Something The Dog Said" at "The Oxdown Gazette" or at http://www.squarestate.net/. The title of the article is: "This Is Why Insurance Companies Fear The Public Option". --- undertoad57

Health Insurance

Mike Malloy, on his website of 6/29/09, referred to a column by Paul Krugman in the New York Times on the same date (Title: Insurance Company Schemes). Krugman discusses the Health Insurance Industry's nefarious policies that are being formally brought to light in recent congressional committee hearings. Most of these practices have been exposed over the last few years, most notably by Michael Moore in his movie "Sicko", and in many articles and documentaries. The media coverage of these revelations has been tepid, unless, of course, they are carrying water for the Health Insurance Propaganda Machine to discredit the crazy left-wingnuts who would dare to criticize the best health-care system in the world. Most Americans have wised-up to this, as current polls indicate that a majority of our citizens support a single-payor option in new health-care reform legislation. With so many members of congress on the take from the health insurance lobbyists, there are valid grounds for concern that a substantial package will eventually become law. How many more years do Americans want to be subjected to the criminal behaviour of the corporate health-care cabal? We'll see. --- undertoad57

Accountability

Bernie Madoff has been held accountable for his crimes, which cheated investors out of billions of dollars. Those billions are chump-change compared to the trillions for which we will be held accountable instead of the Wall Street criminals who have fleeced the American people. The Madoff story is a convenient diversion of national attention away from the bigger story of our national economic bankruptcy. Americans are constantly being reminded about accountability in the workplace, in schools and in private life. The staggering hypocrasy of this blame-game is exacerbated by the current administration's lack of resolve to pursue those who authorized, performed and condone the torture that we have inflicted on untold numbers of human beings. If you are ever charged with a crime, don't bother to ask the prosecutors to focus on the future and put your offences behind you, because it is now in the past. Duh! This is a seriously, blatantly- flawed justification for inaction by our current president. I am completely floored by this agenda. What a devastating disappointment we have been dealt. --- undertoad57

Pridefest

Members of the faux-religious right will be spewing prodigious volumes of invective and bile today as they kneel before their false gods that reside on Mount Oopsalumpa. Their god of Self-righteousness is sitting on the throne in a weak imitation of Zeus. They prostrate themselves in the slime and slither around in their hate and fear. Pridefest is being celebrated in many cities this weekend, with Gay Pride parades today. My wife and I will march, carrying a banner for our friend who is a state representative. Many Americans who recognize that we all share Constitutional rights will take part to demonstrate our respect for the rights of all persons under the law. Basic rights always exist, whether some misguided people imagine that they can be either granted or taken away. Our society has more important issues to address than that of ostracizing various groups to encourage solidarity for their flimsy, hypocritical beliefs.

Whistleblower

Brad, of BradBlog.com has been filling in for Mike Malloy this past week. I am currently listening to the Mike Malloy Show podcast of June 24th about a woman who was an FBI translator. She became aware of high treason in the previous administration and has been prevented from disclosing this information for years. Her name is Sibel Edmonds. The London Times published an article about this, but no U.S. corporate media even mentioned it. Thank you, Brad. - undertoad57