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<p>Mitch Barrie/Flickr</p>
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<p>The <a href="" type="internal">video</a> that made the rounds following the police shooting of Philando Castile, a black man shot during a traffic stop in a Minnesota suburb last week, sparked outrage on social media and <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/11/europe/black-lives-matter-protests-europe/" type="external">international</a> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/11/black-lives-matter-solidarity-march-protest-manchester" type="external">protests</a> over the weekend. According to Castile’s fiancée, who shot and narrated the video, Castile was reaching for his ID when he was shot, after he had informed the officer he was armed and had a permit to carry. The shooting and <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/26fe7ce28380400c8846acdd037cf206/former-florida-cop-indicted-shooting-armed-black-man" type="external">other</a> cases like it have sparked <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/09/us/black-gun-owners-police-shootings.html" type="external">concern</a> among black gun owners—and raised questions about whether the Second Amendment is being applied equally to them. “It terrifies me,” the founder of the Dallas-based Huey P. Newton Gun Club, which advocates black gun ownership, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/09/us/black-gun-owners-police-shootings.html" type="external">told</a> the New York Times.</p>
<p>The number of black Americans who own guns appears to be on the rise. According to a 2014 Pew survey, 19 percent of black adults <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/07/15/the-demographics-and-politics-of-gun-owning-households/" type="external">said</a> they owned a gun, up from 15 percent in <a href="http://www.people-press.org/2013/03/12/section-3-gun-ownership-trends-and-demographics/" type="external">2013</a>. In another 2014 survey, 54 percent of black adults <a href="http://www.people-press.org/2014/12/10/growing-public-support-for-gun-rights/" type="external">said</a> they believed owning a gun makes people safer. Two years earlier, only 29 percent said so.</p>
<p>Black Americans have <a href="" type="internal">historically</a> been the target of black codes and Jim Crow laws aimed at disarming them, notes Philip Smith, founder of the National African American Gun Association. He attributes the ownership increase to several factors. Many blacks, he says, are simply feeling the need to protect themselves against violent crime. (Black Americans are more likely than members of other ethnic groups to be the victim of a gun homicide.) Fear of terrorism also comes into play, he says—the reasons, he adds, vary by sub-demographic—single women, married fathers, rural versus urban, etc.</p>
<p>Smith launched his organization in Atlanta in February 2015. It now boasts more than 11,000 members, he says, and has chapters or groups interested in forming one in about a dozen states—65 percent of the members are women. Before, it was, “‘Don’t get a gun because you can kill yourself’ [or] ‘your kids can hurt themselves.’ But people are saying, ‘Hold on, if I’m in a home by myself at five o’clock in the morning and someone comes banging through my door to rob and kill my family, the police are not going to make it there in enough time. So I need to be able to deal with that threat.'”</p>
<p>Smith, who has a concealed-carry permit, says he has been pulled over more than once while carrying a gun. He told the officers that he was carrying, and there were no problems. But he’s certainly aware of encounters that did not go so smoothly. “I’ve seen situations on YouTube and stories on the internet and in newspapers where people had been in situations like mine where they say, ‘Get out of the car! Put your hands on the hood!’ They arrest you or put you in the back of the car, they take your gun, and they run your gun. It can go a thousand ways.”</p>
<p>Another encounter that went south took place in Florida one night last October, when Palm Beach Gardens police officer Nouman Raja approached 31-year-old <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/26fe7ce28380400c8846acdd037cf206/former-florida-cop-indicted-shooting-armed-black-man" type="external">Corey Jones</a>, whose vehicle had broken down on a highway exit ramp late at night. Raja, who didn’t identify himself as a cop, was dressed in plain clothes and driving an unmarked police van. He opened fire after Jones, likely unaware that he was dealing with law enforcement, allegedly drew a gun on Raja, according to the Associated Press. Jones also had a concealed-carry permit. (The officer was charged with manslaughter and attempted murder, the AP reported.) Jones’ family published an open letter to Castile’s parents last week, reading, in part, “Your son’s life mattered. Our son’s life mattered.”</p>
<p>After watching the Castile shooting video, Smith told me, he will no longer tell an officer who pulls him over that he is armed. “I keep my gun on my hip. They don’t know I have it there anyway. Give me my ticket and I’m on my way,” he says. “I don’t want to add any layer of additional pressure to that situation when I interact with the cops.”</p>
<p>A 2015 <a href="" type="internal">study</a> by researchers at the University of Illinois found that people will shoot at images of armed black men more quickly than images of armed men of other races, and take more time to decide not to shoot when presented with an image of an unarmed black man. More recent <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/12/upshot/surprising-new-evidence-shows-bias-in-police-use-of-force-but-not-in-shootings.html?partner=rss&amp;emc=rss&amp;_r=0" type="external">data</a> suggests black people are no more likely to be shot by an officer than white people, although cops are more likely to use other kinds of force against African Americans.</p>
<p>Robin Wright, who studies implicit bias at Ohio State University, told the New York Times that black gun owners face negative perceptions about their intent. “It’s really just getting at what we know to be a pervasive stereotype of blackness and criminality,” she said. “If you see a black person with a weapon, you don’t assume that it’s legal.”</p>
<p>Racial bias may also have played a role in the police shootings of 12-year-old <a href="" type="internal">Tamir Rice</a> and 22-year-old J <a href="" type="internal">ohn Crawford</a> in separate Ohio incidents in 2014. Both were carrying toy guns and were shot, even though Ohio is an open carry state. (Another black man, <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/photo-raises-doubts-about-police-shooting-jermaine-mcbean-n366386" type="external">Jermaine McBean</a>, was shot in 2013 while walking through his Broward County, Florida, apartment complex carrying a toy rifle.)</p>
<p>In a CNN <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/07/us/philando-castile-family-new-day/" type="external">interview</a>, Castile’s mother said that on the day before her son was shot, her daughter—who also has a concealed-carry permit—expressed concern about carrying a gun because the police might “shoot first and ask questions later.” Smith told the Times over the weekend that black gun owners need to be aware of the racial dynamics, but that that shouldn’t deter them from exercising their right to bear arms: “If I went around worrying about what everybody’s thinking as I’m carrying a gun on my hip,” he said, “I would go crazy.”</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | mitch barrieflickr video made rounds following police shooting philando castile black man shot traffic stop minnesota suburb last week sparked outrage social media international protests weekend according castiles fiancée shot narrated video castile reaching id shot informed officer armed permit carry shooting cases like sparked concern among black gun ownersand raised questions whether second amendment applied equally terrifies founder dallasbased huey p newton gun club advocates black gun ownership told new york times number black americans guns appears rise according 2014 pew survey 19 percent black adults said owned gun 15 percent 2013 another 2014 survey 54 percent black adults said believed owning gun makes people safer two years earlier 29 percent said black americans historically target black codes jim crow laws aimed disarming notes philip smith founder national african american gun association attributes ownership increase several factors many blacks says simply feeling need protect violent crime black americans likely members ethnic groups victim gun homicide fear terrorism also comes play saysthe reasons adds vary subdemographicsingle women married fathers rural versus urban etc smith launched organization atlanta february 2015 boasts 11000 members says chapters groups interested forming one dozen states65 percent members women dont get gun kill kids hurt people saying hold im home five oclock morning someone comes banging door rob kill family police going make enough time need able deal threat smith concealedcarry permit says pulled carrying gun told officers carrying problems hes certainly aware encounters go smoothly ive seen situations youtube stories internet newspapers people situations like mine say get car put hands hood arrest put back car take gun run gun go thousand ways another encounter went south took place florida one night last october palm beach gardens police officer nouman raja approached 31yearold corey jones whose vehicle broken highway exit ramp late night raja didnt identify cop dressed plain clothes driving unmarked police van opened fire jones likely unaware dealing law enforcement allegedly drew gun raja according associated press jones also concealedcarry permit officer charged manslaughter attempted murder ap reported jones family published open letter castiles parents last week reading part sons life mattered sons life mattered watching castile shooting video smith told longer tell officer pulls armed keep gun hip dont know anyway give ticket im way says dont want add layer additional pressure situation interact cops 2015 study researchers university illinois found people shoot images armed black men quickly images armed men races take time decide shoot presented image unarmed black man recent data suggests black people likely shot officer white people although cops likely use kinds force african americans robin wright studies implicit bias ohio state university told new york times black gun owners face negative perceptions intent really getting know pervasive stereotype blackness criminality said see black person weapon dont assume legal racial bias may also played role police shootings 12yearold tamir rice 22yearold j ohn crawford separate ohio incidents 2014 carrying toy guns shot even though ohio open carry state another black man jermaine mcbean shot 2013 walking broward county florida apartment complex carrying toy rifle cnn interview castiles mother said day son shot daughterwho also concealedcarry permitexpressed concern carrying gun police might shoot first ask questions later smith told times weekend black gun owners need aware racial dynamics shouldnt deter exercising right bear arms went around worrying everybodys thinking im carrying gun hip said would go crazy | 558 |
<p>“For drugs or procedures to rise to the level of ‘disrupting profoundly the senses or personality’ they must produce an extreme effect. And by requiring that they be calculated to produce such an effect, the statute [US Law] requires for liability [that] the defendant has consciously designed the acts to produce such an effect”.</p>
<p>US Department of Justice advice to the White House, August 1, 2002, concerning “Standards of Conduct for Interrogation” So it is the declared opinion of the US Justice Department that perpetrators of drug-induced, mind-bending torture and unspecified ‘procedures’ are not guilty of law-breaking if they say they didn’t mean it. And it is impossible to prove that they might have meant it. That’s the way things are in Washington, these days.</p>
<p>In one of the Wizard of Id cartoon strips the Wizard and a peasant are looking at the retreating view of an obviously sleazy slob. The peasant asks “Who was that?” and the Wizard tells him that it was Larsen E Pettifogger, the King’s lawyer. “Ah,” says the peasant, “in what area of the law does Mr Pettifogger specialize?”, to which the Wiz replies : “The gray area.” And there are lots of gray areas in pettifogging Bush Washington, especially where torture and truth are concerned. To the rest of us these would be black or white, moral or immoral, bad or good, right or wrong ; but the White House has different standards.</p>
<p>Hardly a week passes in which there is not another major revelation of Bush administration deceit concerning its assaults on some facet of human dignity, at home or abroad. But the Bush machine remains resolutely aloof from ongoing exposure of its astonishing lies.</p>
<p>Even some formerly tub-thumping, war-supporting, mainstream US newspapers are now plucking up courage and are publishing material that in most European countries would lead to grave consequences for those in government. But in Bush Washington there is no fear of retribution. It is firmly believed that Bush will be elected in November. The combined influence of deeply-rooted respect for the Office of the President and reluctance to be thought of as disparaging the Military in any way are considered to be decisive factors. The atrocities in Iraq will be forgotten, and US casualties will decline, because orders have been given to avoid conflict as much as practicable. (That’s what Iraqisation is all about; forget the nonsense about sovereignty.)</p>
<p>There is no longer any question of US troops being ordered to kill the extremist militant Shia commander, Muqtada al-Sadr (and he really is a nasty bastard), which is somewhat confusing. After all, the commander of occupation forces in Iraq, Lt-General Ricardo Sanchez, said on April 12 (CBC News) that “The mission of US forcesis to kill or capture Muqtada al-Sadr . . . That is our mission.”</p>
<p>Many people are of the opinion that Sanchez was grossly over-promotedwhen he was made a major, but the fact remains he was speaking with the voice of the commander-in-chief when he told his troops that their mission was to kill or capture al-Sadr. He was speaking to the world when he declared publicly that this was the mission he had given to his troops. He now looks a pusillanimous fool in the eyes of his own soldiers, because he has failed to confirm their Mission or to explain why it hasbeen abandoned. “Kill or capture” is, after all, a precise command, and sudden reversal of such a major and much-publicized objective must have a sound political or military reason behind it. Well . . . up to a point ; because it is obvious that if Sanchez had proceeded with his off-the-cuff Mission there would have been hundreds of US casualties in direct fighting at the time and many more, later, when the entire Shia population rose even more ferociously against the occupiers, following the death or capture of al-Sadr. This would not have played well in Peoria, or anywhere else that Bush is standing for election.</p>
<p>This humiliating policy reversal is but one of the consequences of the present administration’s lack of ability to see the world through any eyes but their own. The US has been taken over and is being ruled by a coterie of zealots whose ferocious obsession with power has almost destroyed America’s international credibility while deliberately polarizing the nation through exercising a policy of vicious and antagonistic confrontation. ‘You are with us or against us’ has become the mantra of Bush loyalists, who mistake lickspittle political fealty for genuine patriotism.</p>
<p>The current American Presidency has taken unto itself the role of undemocratic monarchy, while its macabre riffraff of courtiers, advisers and manipulators wield and relish power for which they do not have to account to the representatives of the people. The privileges and autocracy enjoyed by supreme monarchs centuries ago have their life and being in the Bush White House, and are fashioned by those whom Macaulay wrote of as “zealots for the doctrine of divine right”.</p>
<p>In his History of England Macaulay described the Divine Right of Kings as requiring that “no human power. . . could deprive the legitimate prince of his rights; that his authority was necessarily always despotic; that the laws by which . . . the prerogative was limited were to be regarded merely as concessions which the sovereign had freely made and might at his pleasure resume ; and that any treaty into which a king might enter with his people was merely a declaration of his present intentions, and not a contract of which the performance could be demanded . . . this theory, though intended to strengthen the foundations of government, altogether unsettles them.”</p>
<p>Many elected representatives of the people of the United States are being used and manipulated by the imperial presidency to provide support from their positions in the very foundations of government. Those on the Bush side of the political spectrum (you are with us or against us) are regarded as a convenience to be employed or discarded as whim might dictate. Their abject slavishness is pathetic. But their colleagues of different political complexion, who express opinions at variance with those of the ideologues, are reviled, attacked or contemptuously dismissed, as ordered by obnoxious political tricksters whose dedication is to survival of the president in office and not to the American people. Sometimes there is bipartisan activity on the part of the White House. As when its Attorney General, Ashcroft, contemptuously refused to provide information to the country’s legislators, both Democrat and Republican. Ashcroft did not just rebuff and defy Democrats : he publicly scorned Republicans when he appeared in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on June 8. But loyalty to Bush, if you are a Republican representative of the people, demands no more nor less than that you embrace humiliation in the cause of the greater good, which is to have Bush elected in November. All else : all probity, all decency, humanity, independent-mindedness and, alas, integrity, must be subordinated to the Divine Right of Bush. It is imperative he be told what he wants to hear. Those Republicans who dared disagree with the fundamentalist ideology of the Bush administration have long since been forced out of positions of influence.</p>
<p>The recent weird ‘Memorandum for Alberto R Gonzales, Counsel to the President, on the Standards of Conduct for Interrogation’ from the Department of Justice has been analyzed by many wise authorities, and it would be pointless to make much further comment other than to observe that only a soulless robot, an amoral unthinking machine in human shape, could coldly decide that “Because the acts inflicting torture are extreme, there is significant range of acts that though they might constitute cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, fail to rise to the level of torture.”</p>
<p>The people who composed that advice for the President of the United States are the devil’s spawn who have not a compassionate brain cell between them. But they exemplify the ethos of grubby, pettifogging Bush Washington. If you need a lawyer to explain to you what constitutes torture, you are terminally benighted and should be limited in daily decision-making to choice of sock color. And if you are a lawyer who is happy to provide comfortable, relaxing, legal-Muzak advice about what constitutes torture, you are suffering from profound disruption of the senses and are in urgent need of care.</p>
<p>But the memos roll in, the memos roll out, and we are fortunate that at least some of the bizarre and intellectually corrupt papers produced by morally defective goblins have been revealed to us by people in official Washington who still have functioning consciences. Every time a leaked memorandum appears there are attempts at damage control, of course ; but these are becoming increasingly divorced from reality. It is as if the Bush administration has its existence in a separate world ; one in which facts are flexible and where declared beliefs cannot be questioned, no matter what evidence is provided to establish truth. Facts, for the Bush devotees, are what the people can be made to believe.</p>
<p>The insouciant acknowledgement by Rumsfeld that he acted illegally in every aspect of law by ordering concealment of an Iraqi prisoner from the Red Cross has caused scarcely a ripple of condemnation, and none is expected. Why bother? It is the divine right of Washington to rule. As the New York Times observed on June 17 : “Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba, the Army officer who in February investigated abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison, criticized the practice of allowing ghost detainees there and at other detention centers as ‘deceptive, contrary to Army doctrine, and in violation of international law’.” But nothing will happen, because Rumsfeld is above the law.</p>
<p>Further, it is deeply disturbing that there was no consideration given to establishment of precedent. (Where were all the clever lawyers, one wonders?) When, in future wars (and if Bush stays in power, there will be some of these), a US soldier vanishes after being taken prisoner, what then? What possible condemnation can there be by the US, now, of those who spirited him (or her) away from the keep-them-honest, humane scrutiny of the Red Cross? The United States of America, by the illegal actions of its Secretary of State for Defense, has forfeited the right to international, neutral, protection for its prisoners of war. Does nobody in the administration care that this is a development of immense significance for future generations of American citizens and the world at large?</p>
<p>The recent poll of Iraqis indicating their belief that “all Americans behave like the military prison guards” shown in the Abu Ghraib torture photographs, and recording their entire dissatisfaction with the occupying power was concealed from the US public. It was then leaked ; but there has been no official acknowledgement that the results of the poll, which was undertaken at the order of Bremer and his people, might actually be food for thought. The Bush administration doesn’t care about public opinion in Iraq or anywhere else, because it imagines that everything will blow over by November. The zealots are suffering from profound disruption of the senses, and consider it is their divine right to rule, no matter what the consequences of their bungling might be.</p>
<p>There is one matter, however, that might not go away, if only because it has arisen in a more emotional context : that of the 9/11 Commission’s report. The fact that the panel found no connection between Saddam Hussein, al-Qaeda and 9/11 is being contradicted in a preposterous fashion by the Bush machine, but this time the zealots might not get away with bluff, bluster, smears and lies.</p>
<p>It is vital for Bush’s election that the American population should continue to believe the myth about the al-Qaeda connection, because after the WMD bubble was pricked, there was no other possible justification for going to war on Iraq. As The Guardian (UK) put it on June 18 : “The administration’s obstructive attitude to the fact-finding efforts of the commission, which it only set up reluctantly, under pressure from the families of September 11 victims, is hardly surprising. Mr Bush has a vested interest in keeping the American public confused. Most US soldiers in Iraq believe they are fighting the enemy which attacked the twin towers, and this belief may account for some of their abusive behavior; a Harris poll in late April found that 49% of Americans at home believe there is ‘clear evidence’ of Iraqi support for al-Qaida.”</p>
<p>That says it all. But the White House spokesman declared “We stand by what was said publicly” by Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice and the rest of them concerning non-existent bonds between Iraq and al-Qaeda. He had to say that black was white. They all have to pack together to deny the truth, otherwise the Bush presidency will collapse. It is now imperative for Bush that the plainest facts be rejected, if they are inconvenient for the political agenda.</p>
<p>There is profound disruption of the senses in the Washington of Bush, and the situation becomes more depressing day by day. The divine right to rule continues to be assumed, and the American people continue to be deceived. Even if Bush is voted out in November (and this is by no means certain), it will take years to re-establish international trust in US policies and decisions. It is a bleak future, but the American people have overcome disasters before, and surely they will do it again.</p>
<p>BRIAN CLOUGHLEY writes on military and political affairs. He can be reached through his website <a href="http://www.briancloughley.com" type="external">www.briancloughley.com</a></p>
<p /> | true | 4 | drugs procedures rise level disrupting profoundly senses personality must produce extreme effect requiring calculated produce effect statute us law requires liability defendant consciously designed acts produce effect us department justice advice white house august 1 2002 concerning standards conduct interrogation declared opinion us justice department perpetrators druginduced mindbending torture unspecified procedures guilty lawbreaking say didnt mean impossible prove might meant thats way things washington days one wizard id cartoon strips wizard peasant looking retreating view obviously sleazy slob peasant asks wizard tells larsen e pettifogger kings lawyer ah says peasant area law mr pettifogger specialize wiz replies gray area lots gray areas pettifogging bush washington especially torture truth concerned rest us would black white moral immoral bad good right wrong white house different standards hardly week passes another major revelation bush administration deceit concerning assaults facet human dignity home abroad bush machine remains resolutely aloof ongoing exposure astonishing lies even formerly tubthumping warsupporting mainstream us newspapers plucking courage publishing material european countries would lead grave consequences government bush washington fear retribution firmly believed bush elected november combined influence deeplyrooted respect office president reluctance thought disparaging military way considered decisive factors atrocities iraq forgotten us casualties decline orders given avoid conflict much practicable thats iraqisation forget nonsense sovereignty longer question us troops ordered kill extremist militant shia commander muqtada alsadr really nasty bastard somewhat confusing commander occupation forces iraq ltgeneral ricardo sanchez said april 12 cbc news mission us forcesis kill capture muqtada alsadr mission many people opinion sanchez grossly overpromotedwhen made major fact remains speaking voice commanderinchief told troops mission kill capture alsadr speaking world declared publicly mission given troops looks pusillanimous fool eyes soldiers failed confirm mission explain hasbeen abandoned kill capture precise command sudden reversal major muchpublicized objective must sound political military reason behind well point obvious sanchez proceeded offthecuff mission would hundreds us casualties direct fighting time many later entire shia population rose even ferociously occupiers following death capture alsadr would played well peoria anywhere else bush standing election humiliating policy reversal one consequences present administrations lack ability see world eyes us taken ruled coterie zealots whose ferocious obsession power almost destroyed americas international credibility deliberately polarizing nation exercising policy vicious antagonistic confrontation us us become mantra bush loyalists mistake lickspittle political fealty genuine patriotism current american presidency taken unto role undemocratic monarchy macabre riffraff courtiers advisers manipulators wield relish power account representatives people privileges autocracy enjoyed supreme monarchs centuries ago life bush white house fashioned macaulay wrote zealots doctrine divine right history england macaulay described divine right kings requiring human power could deprive legitimate prince rights authority necessarily always despotic laws prerogative limited regarded merely concessions sovereign freely made might pleasure resume treaty king might enter people merely declaration present intentions contract performance could demanded theory though intended strengthen foundations government altogether unsettles many elected representatives people united states used manipulated imperial presidency provide support positions foundations government bush side political spectrum us us regarded convenience employed discarded whim might dictate abject slavishness pathetic colleagues different political complexion express opinions variance ideologues reviled attacked contemptuously dismissed ordered obnoxious political tricksters whose dedication survival president office american people sometimes bipartisan activity part white house attorney general ashcroft contemptuously refused provide information countrys legislators democrat republican ashcroft rebuff defy democrats publicly scorned republicans appeared front senate judiciary committee june 8 loyalty bush republican representative people demands less embrace humiliation cause greater good bush elected november else probity decency humanity independentmindedness alas integrity must subordinated divine right bush imperative told wants hear republicans dared disagree fundamentalist ideology bush administration long since forced positions influence recent weird memorandum alberto r gonzales counsel president standards conduct interrogation department justice analyzed many wise authorities would pointless make much comment observe soulless robot amoral unthinking machine human shape could coldly decide acts inflicting torture extreme significant range acts though might constitute cruel inhuman degrading treatment punishment fail rise level torture people composed advice president united states devils spawn compassionate brain cell exemplify ethos grubby pettifogging bush washington need lawyer explain constitutes torture terminally benighted limited daily decisionmaking choice sock color lawyer happy provide comfortable relaxing legalmuzak advice constitutes torture suffering profound disruption senses urgent need care memos roll memos roll fortunate least bizarre intellectually corrupt papers produced morally defective goblins revealed us people official washington still functioning consciences every time leaked memorandum appears attempts damage control course becoming increasingly divorced reality bush administration existence separate world one facts flexible declared beliefs questioned matter evidence provided establish truth facts bush devotees people made believe insouciant acknowledgement rumsfeld acted illegally every aspect law ordering concealment iraqi prisoner red cross caused scarcely ripple condemnation none expected bother divine right washington rule new york times observed june 17 maj gen antonio taguba army officer february investigated abuses abu ghraib prison criticized practice allowing ghost detainees detention centers deceptive contrary army doctrine violation international law nothing happen rumsfeld law deeply disturbing consideration given establishment precedent clever lawyers one wonders future wars bush stays power us soldier vanishes taken prisoner possible condemnation us spirited away keepthemhonest humane scrutiny red cross united states america illegal actions secretary state defense forfeited right international neutral protection prisoners war nobody administration care development immense significance future generations american citizens world large recent poll iraqis indicating belief americans behave like military prison guards shown abu ghraib torture photographs recording entire dissatisfaction occupying power concealed us public leaked official acknowledgement results poll undertaken order bremer people might actually food thought bush administration doesnt care public opinion iraq anywhere else imagines everything blow november zealots suffering profound disruption senses consider divine right rule matter consequences bungling might one matter however might go away arisen emotional context 911 commissions report fact panel found connection saddam hussein alqaeda 911 contradicted preposterous fashion bush machine time zealots might get away bluff bluster smears lies vital bushs election american population continue believe myth alqaeda connection wmd bubble pricked possible justification going war iraq guardian uk put june 18 administrations obstructive attitude factfinding efforts commission set reluctantly pressure families september 11 victims hardly surprising mr bush vested interest keeping american public confused us soldiers iraq believe fighting enemy attacked twin towers belief may account abusive behavior harris poll late april found 49 americans home believe clear evidence iraqi support alqaida says white house spokesman declared stand said publicly bush cheney rumsfeld rice rest concerning nonexistent bonds iraq alqaeda say black white pack together deny truth otherwise bush presidency collapse imperative bush plainest facts rejected inconvenient political agenda profound disruption senses washington bush situation becomes depressing day day divine right rule continues assumed american people continue deceived even bush voted november means certain take years reestablish international trust us policies decisions bleak future american people overcome disasters surely brian cloughley writes military political affairs reached website wwwbriancloughleycom | 1,125 |
<p>&lt;a href="http://www.cabq.gov/parksandrecreation/parks/veterans-memorial-park/history/history-vietnam-war"&gt;City of Albuquerque&lt;/a&gt;</p>
<p>This <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175662/" type="external">story</a> first appeared on the <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/" type="external">TomDispatch</a> website.</p>
<p>On August 31, 1969, a rape was committed in Vietnam. Maybe numerous rapes were committed there that day, but this was a rare one involving American GIs that actually made its way into the military justice system.</p>
<p>And that wasn’t the only thing that set it apart.</p>
<p>War is obscene. I mean that in every sense of the word. Some veterans will tell you that you can’t know war if you haven’t served in one, if you haven’t seen combat. These are often the same guys who won’t tell you the truths that they know about war and who never think to blame themselves in any way for our collective ignorance.</p>
<p>The truth is, you actually can know a lot about war without fighting in one. It just isn’t the sort of knowledge that’s easy to come by.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com" type="external" /></p>
<p>There are more than 30,000 books on the Vietnam War in print. There are volumes on the decision-making of Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, grand biographies of Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh, rafts of memoirs by American soldiers—some staggeringly well-written, many not—and plenty of disposable paperbacks about snipers, medics, and field Marines. I can tell you from experience that if you read a few dozen of the best of them, you can get a fairly good idea about what that war was really like. Maybe not perfect knowledge, but a reasonable picture anyway. Or you can read several hundred of the middling-to-poor books and, if you pay special attention to the few real truths buried in all the run-of-the-mill war stories, you’ll still get some feeling for war American-style.</p>
<p>The main problem with most of those books is the complete lack of Vietnamese voices. The Vietnam War killed more than 58,000 Americans. That’s a lot of people and a lot of heartache. It deserves attention. But it killed several million Vietnamese and severely affected—and I mean severely—the lives of many millions more. That deserves a whole lot more focus.</p>
<p>Missing in Action (From Our Histories)</p>
<p>From American histories, you would think the primary feature of the Vietnam War was combat. It wasn’t. Suffering was the main characteristic of the war in Southeast Asia. Millions of Vietnamese suffered: injuries and deaths, loss, privation, hunger, dislocation, house burnings, detention, imprisonment, and torture. Some experienced one or another of these every day for years on end. That’s suffering beyond the capacity of even our ablest writers to capture in a single book.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, however, that’s not the problem. The problem is that almost no one has tried. Vietnamese are bit characters in American histories of the war, Vietnamese civilians most of all. Americans who tromped, humped, and slogged through Vietnam on one-year tours of duty are invariably the focus of those histories, while Vietnamese who endured a decade or even decades of war remain, at best, in the background or almost totally missing. (And by the way, it’s no less true for most of the major movies about the war. Remember the Vietnamese main characters in Apocalypse Now? Platoon? <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0805086919/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external" />Full Metal Jacket? Hamburger Hill? Me neither.)</p>
<p>The reasons for this are many and varied, ranging from racism and ethnocentrism to pure financial calculation. Few Americans want to read real stories about foreign civilians caught up in America’s wars. Almost no one wants to read an encyclopedia of atrocities or a tome-like chronology of suffering. And most Americans, above all, have never wanted to know the grotesque truths of their wars. Luckily for them, most veterans have been willing to oblige—keeping the darkest secrets of that war hidden (even while complaining that no one can really know what they went through).</p>
<p>The truth is, we don’t even know the full story of that war’s obscenity when it comes to the American experience. This, too, has been sanitized and swapped out for tales of combat horror or “realistic” accounts of the war in the boonies that focus on repulsive realities like soldiers stepping on shit-smeared punji sticks, suffering from crotch rot, or keeling over from dehydration. Such accounts, we’ve been assured, offer a more honest depiction of the horrors of war and the men who nobly bore them.</p>
<p>Don’t believe it.</p>
<p>As the narrator of Tim O’Brien’s “How to Tell a True War Story” <a href="http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/hmh/site/hmhbooks/bookdetails?isbn=9780547391175" type="external">puts</a> it:</p>
<p>“A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things men have always done. If a story seems moral, do not believe it. If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie. There is no rectitude whatsoever. There is no virtue. As a first rule of thumb, therefore, you can tell a true war story by its absolute and uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil.”</p>
<p>Which brings us back to that rape on August 31, 1969.</p>
<p>Aside from Daniel Lang’s Casualties of War, a brilliantly-compact and harrowing account of the kidnap, gang-rape, and murder of a young Vietnamese girl (a New Yorker <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1969/10/18/1969_10_18_061_TNY_CARDS_000294148" type="external">article</a>-turned-book-turned-movie), you’re not likely to encounter the story of the rape of a Vietnamese woman by Americans in “the literature.” And yet the sexual assault of civilians by GIs was far from uncommon, even if you can read thousands of books on the Vietnam War and have little inkling that it ever happened. <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1513165/" type="external">Hints</a> about the harassment or <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1380789/" type="external">sexual assault</a> of <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/id/25784465/#.USzS_WeJmSo" type="external">American women</a>— <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=E0nypXTQ_C4C&amp;dq" type="external">nurses</a>, enlisted women, and so-called <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/doug-bradley/donut-dollies_b_1384233.html" type="external">Donut Dollies</a>—also rarely make it into the histories. And you can read most, perhaps all, of those 30,000 books without ever coming across a case of GI-on-GI rape in Vietnam.</p>
<p>But that’s just what happened on that August 31st at a US base in Vietnam’s far south, when three GI’s attacked a fellow American, a fellow soldier. For the purposes of this piece, we’ll call him Specialist Curtis. We know his story because the court martial records of one of his assailants, who was found guilty of and sentenced to prison time, made it to the National Archives where I found the document. But really, we know it because, according to the military judge presiding over the case, Curtis delivered “clear, strong, convincing, not halting, not hesitant, not reluctant, straight-forward, direct, willing, sincere, and not evasive” testimony. He and others told a brutal story, an obscene story—that is, a true war story.</p>
<p>What Veterans Won’t Tell You</p>
<p>Curtis was feeling sick that late summer day and wouldn’t drink with his hootch-mates, so they pounced on him, held his mouth open, and poured whisky down his throat. When he began to retch, they let him go and he ran outside to throw up. He returned to his bunk and they attacked him again. The cycle repeated itself twice more.</p>
<p>The last attempt to force Curtis to drink began with a threat. If he didn’t imbibe with them—”them” being a fellow specialist, a private first class, and a private—they swore they would anally rape him.</p>
<p>Curtis resisted.</p>
<p>In a flash, the three tore off his bed sheets and flipped him onto his stomach. They leaned on him to hold him down as he thrashed and bucked, while they ripped off his underwear. Then they smeared hand lotion all over his buttocks. As Curtis cried out for help, the private mounted him. He began to rape him and was heard to exclaim that it was “really good, it was tight.” After the private was finished, the private first class raped Curtis. The specialist followed. “I know you enjoy it,” Curtis heard one of them say before he blacked out from the pain. Across the hootch, another private watched the entire episode. Curtis had protested, he’d later say, but this soldier did nothing to intervene. He was, he later testified, “very scared” of the three attackers.</p>
<p>After Curtis regained consciousness, he retreated to the showers. When he finally returned to the hootch, the fellow specialist who raped him issued a threat. If he reported the attack, they would swear that he had paid them $20 each to have sex with him.</p>
<p>That’s a true war story.</p>
<p>And that’s a Vietnam War story that’s absent from our histories of the conflict—all 30,000 of them.</p>
<p>Given the stigma attached to rape, especially decades ago, and the added stigma attached to male rape victims, it’s shocking that the case ever became public, no less that it went to trial in a military court, or that the victim gave clear, graphic, painful testimony. The truth was out there, but no one ever told this story to the wider world—neither the victim, the perpetrators, the witnesses, the lawyers, the judge, the commanders at the base, nor a historian. You could read thousands of books on the Vietnam War—even books devoted to hidden histories, secrets, and the like—and never know that, in addition to rifles and rice paddies, war is also about rape, even male-on-male rape, even GI-on-GI rape. Just how many such rapes occurred, we’ll never know, because such acts were and generally still are kept secret.</p>
<p>Veterans don’t tell these stories. They almost never offer up accounts of murder, assault, torture, or rape unsolicited. They don’t want you to know. Such realities need to be mined out of them. I’ve done it for the last 10 years, and believe me, it can be exhausting.</p>
<p>Veterans, their advocates, and their defenders often tell us it’s <a href="http://militarytimes.com/blogs/outside-the-wire/2012/03/05/have-you-ever-killed-anybody-st-civilians-say-to-veterans/" type="external">never okay</a> to ask if a soldier or marine <a href="http://www.dva.wa.gov/PDF%20files/Veteran%20Best%20Practices%20in%20the%20Classroom%20.pdf" type="external">killed somebody</a> “over there.” But if veterans refuse to offer up unsanitized accounts of their wartime experiences and it’s improper for us to ask what they did, how can civilians be faulted for failing to understand war?</p>
<p>To set the historical record straight, I’ve traveled across the globe, walked into people’s homes, and asked them questions to which, in a better world than ours, no one should have to know the answers. I’ve asked elderly Vietnamese to recount the most horrific traumas imaginable. I’ve induced rivers of tears. I’ve sat impassively, taking notes as an older woman, bouncing her grandchild on her knee, told me what it was like to be raped with an American weapon.</p>
<p>As I said, war is obscene.</p>
<p>I also asked these questions of American veterans because—some <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/la-na-vietnam6aug06,0,2056752.story" type="external">notable</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPXAxNr8Cno" type="external">iconic exceptions</a> aside—too <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTjm8ZZ68lg" type="external">few</a> have had the courage of that Vietnamese grandmother. After all, some American raped her with that weapon, but as far as I know—and if anybody knew, it would probably be me—he never leveled with the American public about the true nature of his war. He never told the truth, publicly apologized, voiced regret, or even for that matter boasted about it, nor did he ever make a case for why raping a woman with a weapon was warranted in wartime. He kept it a secret and, if he’s still alive, continues to do so today. We all suffer for his silence.</p>
<p>On a single day in August 1969, on one base, three GIs raped a fellow American soldier. Three rapes. One day. What does that mean? What does it say about men? About the military? About war? We can’t know for sure because we’ll never know the whole truth of sexual assault in Vietnam. The men involved in wartime sex crimes—in raping Vietnamese women, in sodomizing them, in violating them with bottles and rifle muzzles, in sexually assaulting American women, in raping American men—have mostly remained silent about it.</p>
<p>One of the rapists in this case may have passed away, but at least one is still apparently alive in the United States. Maybe even on your street. For decades we knew nothing of their crimes, so we know less than we should about the Vietnam War and about war in general.</p>
<p>Maybe it’s time to start asking questions of our veterans. Hard questions. They shouldn’t be the only ones with the knowledge of what goes on in armies and in war zones. They didn’t get to Vietnam (or Iraq or Afghanistan) on their own and they shouldn’t shoulder the blame or the truth alone and in silence. We all bear it. We all need to hear it. The sooner, the better.</p>
<p>Nick Turse is the managing editor of TomDispatch.com and a fellow at the Nation Institute. An award-winning journalist, his work has appeared in the <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/24/opinion/la-oe-turse-afghanistan-and-vietnam-20120424" type="external">Los Angeles Times</a>, <a href="http://www.thenation.com/article/pentagon-book-club" type="external">the Nation</a>, and <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175635/tomgram%3A_nick_turse%2C_a_war_victim%27s_question_only_you_can_answer/" type="external">regularly</a> at TomDispatch. He is the author most recently of the New York Times bestseller <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0805086919/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">Kill Anything that Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam</a> (The American Empire Project, Metropolitan Books). You can watch his recent conversation with Bill Moyers about that book by <a href="http://billmoyers.com/segment/nick-turse-describes-the-real-vietnam-war/" type="external">clicking here</a>. His website is <a href="http://www.nickturse.com/" type="external">NickTurse.com</a>. You can follow him on Tumblr and on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/nick.turse" type="external">Facebook</a>.</p>
<p>Follow TomDispatch on Twitter and join us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/tomdispatch" type="external">Facebook</a>. Check out the newest Dispatch book, Nick Turse’s <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Changing-Face-Empire-Cyberwarfare/dp/1608463109/" type="external">The Changing Face of Empire: Special Ops, Drones, Proxy Fighters, Secret Bases, and Cyberwarfare.</a> To stay on top of important articles like these, sign up to receive the latest updates from TomDispatch.com <a href="http://tomdispatch.us2.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=6cb39ff0b1f670c349f828c73&amp;id=1e41682ade" type="external">here</a>.</p> | true | 4 | lta hrefhttpwwwcabqgovparksandrecreationparksveteransmemorialparkhistoryhistoryvietnamwargtcity albuquerqueltagt story first appeared tomdispatch website august 31 1969 rape committed vietnam maybe numerous rapes committed day rare one involving american gis actually made way military justice system wasnt thing set apart war obscene mean every sense word veterans tell cant know war havent served one havent seen combat often guys wont tell truths know war never think blame way collective ignorance truth actually know lot war without fighting one isnt sort knowledge thats easy come 30000 books vietnam war print volumes decisionmaking presidents lyndon johnson richard nixon grand biographies vietnamese leader ho chi minh rafts memoirs american soldierssome staggeringly wellwritten many notand plenty disposable paperbacks snipers medics field marines tell experience read dozen best get fairly good idea war really like maybe perfect knowledge reasonable picture anyway read several hundred middlingtopoor books pay special attention real truths buried runofthemill war stories youll still get feeling war americanstyle main problem books complete lack vietnamese voices vietnam war killed 58000 americans thats lot people lot heartache deserves attention killed several million vietnamese severely affectedand mean severelythe lives many millions deserves whole lot focus missing action histories american histories would think primary feature vietnam war combat wasnt suffering main characteristic war southeast asia millions vietnamese suffered injuries deaths loss privation hunger dislocation house burnings detention imprisonment torture experienced one another every day years end thats suffering beyond capacity even ablest writers capture single book unfortunately however thats problem problem almost one tried vietnamese bit characters american histories war vietnamese civilians americans tromped humped slogged vietnam oneyear tours duty invariably focus histories vietnamese endured decade even decades war remain best background almost totally missing way less true major movies war remember vietnamese main characters apocalypse platoon full metal jacket hamburger hill neither reasons many varied ranging racism ethnocentrism pure financial calculation americans want read real stories foreign civilians caught americas wars almost one wants read encyclopedia atrocities tomelike chronology suffering americans never wanted know grotesque truths wars luckily veterans willing obligekeeping darkest secrets war hidden even complaining one really know went truth dont even know full story wars obscenity comes american experience sanitized swapped tales combat horror realistic accounts war boonies focus repulsive realities like soldiers stepping shitsmeared punji sticks suffering crotch rot keeling dehydration accounts weve assured offer honest depiction horrors war men nobly bore dont believe narrator tim obriens tell true war story puts true war story never moral instruct encourage virtue suggest models proper human behavior restrain men things men always done story seems moral believe end war story feel uplifted feel small bit rectitude salvaged larger waste made victim old terrible lie rectitude whatsoever virtue first rule thumb therefore tell true war story absolute uncompromising allegiance obscenity evil brings us back rape august 31 1969 aside daniel langs casualties war brilliantlycompact harrowing account kidnap gangrape murder young vietnamese girl new yorker articleturnedbookturnedmovie youre likely encounter story rape vietnamese woman americans literature yet sexual assault civilians gis far uncommon even read thousands books vietnam war little inkling ever happened hints harassment sexual assault american women nurses enlisted women socalled donut dolliesalso rarely make histories read perhaps 30000 books without ever coming across case giongi rape vietnam thats happened august 31st us base vietnams far south three gis attacked fellow american fellow soldier purposes piece well call specialist curtis know story court martial records one assailants found guilty sentenced prison time made national archives found document really know according military judge presiding case curtis delivered clear strong convincing halting hesitant reluctant straightforward direct willing sincere evasive testimony others told brutal story obscene storythat true war story veterans wont tell curtis feeling sick late summer day wouldnt drink hootchmates pounced held mouth open poured whisky throat began retch let go ran outside throw returned bunk attacked cycle repeated twice last attempt force curtis drink began threat didnt imbibe themthem fellow specialist private first class privatethey swore would anally rape curtis resisted flash three tore bed sheets flipped onto stomach leaned hold thrashed bucked ripped underwear smeared hand lotion buttocks curtis cried help private mounted began rape heard exclaim really good tight private finished private first class raped curtis specialist followed know enjoy curtis heard one say blacked pain across hootch another private watched entire episode curtis protested hed later say soldier nothing intervene later testified scared three attackers curtis regained consciousness retreated showers finally returned hootch fellow specialist raped issued threat reported attack would swear paid 20 sex thats true war story thats vietnam war story thats absent histories conflictall 30000 given stigma attached rape especially decades ago added stigma attached male rape victims shocking case ever became public less went trial military court victim gave clear graphic painful testimony truth one ever told story wider worldneither victim perpetrators witnesses lawyers judge commanders base historian could read thousands books vietnam wareven books devoted hidden histories secrets likeand never know addition rifles rice paddies war also rape even maleonmale rape even giongi rape many rapes occurred well never know acts generally still kept secret veterans dont tell stories almost never offer accounts murder assault torture rape unsolicited dont want know realities need mined ive done last 10 years believe exhausting veterans advocates defenders often tell us never okay ask soldier marine killed somebody veterans refuse offer unsanitized accounts wartime experiences improper us ask civilians faulted failing understand war set historical record straight ive traveled across globe walked peoples homes asked questions better world one know answers ive asked elderly vietnamese recount horrific traumas imaginable ive induced rivers tears ive sat impassively taking notes older woman bouncing grandchild knee told like raped american weapon said war obscene also asked questions american veterans becausesome notable iconic exceptions asidetoo courage vietnamese grandmother american raped weapon far knowand anybody knew would probably mehe never leveled american public true nature war never told truth publicly apologized voiced regret even matter boasted ever make case raping woman weapon warranted wartime kept secret hes still alive continues today suffer silence single day august 1969 one base three gis raped fellow american soldier three rapes one day mean say men military war cant know sure well never know whole truth sexual assault vietnam men involved wartime sex crimesin raping vietnamese women sodomizing violating bottles rifle muzzles sexually assaulting american women raping american menhave mostly remained silent one rapists case may passed away least one still apparently alive united states maybe even street decades knew nothing crimes know less vietnam war war general maybe time start asking questions veterans hard questions shouldnt ones knowledge goes armies war zones didnt get vietnam iraq afghanistan shouldnt shoulder blame truth alone silence bear need hear sooner better nick turse managing editor tomdispatchcom fellow nation institute awardwinning journalist work appeared los angeles times nation regularly tomdispatch author recently new york times bestseller kill anything moves real american war vietnam american empire project metropolitan books watch recent conversation bill moyers book clicking website nicktursecom follow tumblr facebook follow tomdispatch twitter join us facebook check newest dispatch book nick turses changing face empire special ops drones proxy fighters secret bases cyberwarfare stay top important articles like sign receive latest updates tomdispatchcom | 1,185 |
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<p><a href="" type="internal">21st Century Wire</a> says…</p>
<p>On the 21st of September The Guardian put out a funding campaign on Twitter. It explained that if we wanted to “help secure the future of progressive, independent journalism” we should donate £5 per month to shore up The Guardian’s resources. We should do this because The Guardian, according to The Guardian, offers us “quality, investigative journalism”.</p>
<p>The Guardian, according to their advertisment, “holds power to account” and that “takes time, money and hard work”. Apparently, a very nifty graph tells us that more people than ever are reading The Guardian but advertising revenue is tumbling. The Guardian needs our support to keep their journalism “open to everyone”. When “others stretch the truth”, the Guardian doesn’t distort facts”. We are urged to “defend independent journalism”. At The Guardian “no billionaire owner pulls the strings” and “no one edits their editor”.</p>
<p>That’s right – now is the time to act, support The Guardian for a fiver a month.</p>
<p>The Tweet is here and below you will find the huge number of replies, pretty much all saying a big, very fat NO.</p>
<p />
<p>Almost in response to the funding request from The Guardian, the following article appeared in <a href="http://medialens.org/index.php?option=com_acymailing&amp;ctrl=archive&amp;task=view&amp;mailid=330&amp;key=ce56d1b2789e07e93ffba626d5fee5b3&amp;tmpl=component" type="external">Media Lens</a> today:</p>
<p>“The corporate media have swiftly moved on from Peter Oborne’s resignation as chief political commentator at the Telegraph and his revelations that the paper had committed&#160; <a href="http://medialens.org/index.php/alerts/alert-archive/2015/787-peter-oborne.html" type="external">‘a form of fraud’</a>&#160;on its readers over its coverage of HSBC tax evasion.</p>
<p>But investigative journalist Nafeez Ahmed has delved deeper into the HSBC scandal, reporting the testimony of a whistleblower that reveals a ‘conspiracy of silence’ encompassing the media, regulators and law-enforcement agencies. Not least, Ahmed’s work exposes the vanity of The Guardian’s boast to be the world’s ‘leading liberal voice’.</p>
<p>Last month, the corporate media, with one notable exception, devoted extensive coverage to the news that the Swiss banking arm of HSBC had been engaged in massive fraudulent tax evasion. The exception was the Telegraph which, as Oborne revealed, was desperate to retain advertising income from HSBC.</p>
<p>But now Ahmed&#160; <a href="https://medium.com/@NafeezAhmed/death-drugs-and-hsbc-355ed9ef5316" type="external">reports</a>&#160;another ‘far worse case of HSBC fraud totalling an estimated £1 billion, closer to home’. Moreover, it has gone virtually unnoticed by the corporate media, for all the usual reasons.</p>
<p>According to whistleblower Nicholas Wilson, HSBC was ‘involved in a fraudulent scheme to illegally overcharge British shoppers in arrears for debt on store cards at leading British high-street retailers’ including B&amp;Q, Dixons, Currys, PC World and John Lewis. Up to 600,000 Britons were defrauded.</p>
<p>Wilson uncovered the crimes while he was head of debt recovery for Weightmans, a firm of solicitors acting on behalf of John Lewis. But when he blew the whistle, his employer sacked him. He has spent 12 years trying to expose this HSBC fraud and to help obtain justice for the victims. The battle has&#160; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8tnvQy6mKA" type="external">‘ruined his life’</a>, he said during a brief appearance on the BBC’s&#160;The Big Questions, the only ‘mainstream’ coverage to date.&#160; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8tnvQy6mKA" type="external" /></p>
<p>Ahmed writes that the ‘most disturbing’ aspect of ‘HSBC’s fraud against British consumers’ is that it ‘has been systematically ignored by the entire British press’.</p>
<p>He adds:</p>
<p>‘In some cases, purportedly brave investigative journalism outfits have spent months investigating the story, preparing multiple drafts, before inexplicably spiking publication without reason.’</p>
<p>Examples include BBC Panorama, BBC Newsnight, BBC Moneybox, BBC Radio 5 Live, the Guardian, Private Eye and the Sunday Times.</p>
<p>The Sunday Times is the most recent example. A couple of weeks ago, the paper had a big exposé on the HSBC consumer credit fraud ready to go. But it was ‘inexplicably dropped’ at the last minute. Ahmed writes:</p>
<p>‘HSBC happens to be the main sponsor of a series of Sunday Times league tables published for FastTrack 100 Ltd., a “networking events company.” The bank is the “title sponsor” of&#160;The Sunday Times HSBC Top Track 100, has been “title sponsor of&#160;The Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200&#160;for all 6 years” and was previously “title sponsor of&#160;The Sunday Times Top Track 250&#160;for 7 years.”‘</p>
<p>Ahmed reports that the Sunday Times journalist preparing the spiked story did not respond to a query asking for an explanation.</p>
<p>THE WORLD’S ‘LEADING LIBERAL VOICE’… LOSES ITS VOICE</p>
<p>But surely the Guardian would go where other papers fear to tread? After all, says Ahmed, the paper:</p>
<p>‘loudly and triumphantly congratulated itself for reporting on the HSBC Swiss bank scandal despite the bank putting its advertising relationship with the newspaper “on pause.” Yet the newspaper has refused to cover Wilson’s story exposing HSBC fraud in Britain. Why?’</p>
<p>Perhaps there is no definitive answer to that question. But as Ahmed points out, the Guardian just ‘happens to be the biggest recipient of HSBC advertising revenue: bigger even than the Telegraph‘, which is ‘something you won’t read in the Guardian’. The Guardian’s ‘partnership’ with HSBC even helped fund the paper’s crucial move into the US market, according to The Guardian Media Group’s financial report last year.</p>
<p>However, The Guardian’s links with HSBC go beyond advertising and extend to the very corporate structure of the newspaper. As Media Lens&#160; <a href="http://medialens.org/index.php/alerts/alert-archive/2014/782-grievous-censorship-by-the-guardian-israel-gaza-and-the-termination-of-nafeez-ahmed-s-blog.html" type="external">noted</a>&#160;when we wrote about Nafeez Ahmed’s sacking from the Guardian last December, the paper’s journalistic freedom is supposedly secured under the auspices of Scott Trust Limited, the company that replaced the much-vaunted Scott Trust in 2008. We added:</p>
<p>‘The paper, therefore, might not at first sight appear to be a corporate institution. But the paper is owned by the Guardian Media Group which is run by a high-powered Board comprising elite, well-connected people from the worlds of banking, insurance, advertising… and other sectors of big business, finance and industry.’&#160;</p>
<p>Ahmed has done further extensive digging, revealing, in particular, the Guardian’s specific corporate ties with HSBC, past and present. For instance, the chair of the Scott Trust Ltd board is Dame Liz Forgan. She has links with St Giles Trust and the British Museum, two institutions that are ‘sponsored’ by HSBC.</p>
<p>Consider, too, Anthony Salz who sits alongside Forgan on Scott Trust Ltd. He is a senior investment banker and executive vice chairman of Rothschild, and a director at NM Rothschild and Sons. Salz was previously a corporate lawyer with Freshfields, a member of the ‘Magic Circle’ of elite British law firms. HSBC is one of Freshfield’s most prominent long-term clients.</p>
<p>Philip Tranter is another board member of Scott Trust Ltd. He is a former partner and head of corporate law at Boyes Turner. HSBC is one of their clients.</p>
<p>As well as past and present relationships with HSBC, there are also wider connections between Scott Trust Ltd board members and elite corporate and financial circles. For example, Jonathan Scott is chairman of Ambac Assurance UK, and a former director at KPMG Corporate Finance. Ambac was ‘at the heart of the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis, and was implicated in fraud to save its skin as the crisis kicked off .</p>
<p>Andrew Miller, another board member, was chief financial officer of Autotrader publisher, Trader Media Group. Until early last year, TMG was jointly owned by the Guardian Media Group and the giant private equity firm, Apax Partners. One early director of an Apax Fund, David Staples, is now a director of HSBC Private Bank Ltd. When the Guardian Media Group sold its 50.1% stake in TMG, one of the firms that provided advice for the sale was Anthony Salz’s former firm, Freshfields. Freshfields also advised HSBC over a government inquiry into competition in the banking sector last year.</p>
<p>And so it goes on… and on. Far from being some kind of benign charitable operation, the Guardian newspaper is deeply embedded in elite networks of corporate and financial muscle.</p>
<p>Ahmed notes the consequences of all this for Guardian journalism. The company board members running the newspaper:</p>
<p>‘must juggle the task of operating the Guardian “as a profit-seeking enterprise,” while securing its “financial and editorial independence” — goals that as the HSBC case illustrates, are ultimately mutually incompatible.’</p>
<p>He summarises Nicholas Wilson’s revelations on HSBC fraud in Britain as ‘the worst and largest single case of banking fraud to have ever emerged in this country. They make the Swiss leaks case look like peanuts.’</p>
<p>And yet the fraud has been entirely ignored by the ‘free press’. Our searches of the Lexis newspaper database yield&#160;not a single article. In particular, there has been no corporate media response to Ahmed’s careful investigative journalism since his article was published on March ‘Even’ the Guardian, the supposed ‘flagship’ of liberal journalism, has looked away.</p>
<p>We would challenge Alan Rusbridger, the outgoing Guardian editor-in-chief (he will replace Forgan as the chair of the Scott Trust Ltd in 2016). But he hasn’t responded to our emails for years and he has long blocked us on Twitter. Perhaps this is because he finally tired of us highlighting examples of his paper’s propaganda role as a ‘guardian of power’. The last straw for Rusbridger appeared to follow our exposure of the paper’s&#160; <a href="http://medialens.org/index.php/alerts/alert-archive/2005/420-smearing-chomsky-the-guardian-backs-down.html" type="external">dishonest attempts</a>&#160;to smear Noam Chomsky in 2005.</p>
<p>However, when one of our readers challenged Rusbridger this week that he felt ‘conned’ that the Guardian is actually owned by a company and not a trust, Rusbridger did&#160; <a href="https://twitter.com/arusbridger/status/572735610034761728" type="external">reply</a>&#160;– although rather evasively:</p>
<p>‘It looks, swims, quacks and acts like a Trust. But, no, it’s not a charity. Nor does it hv anytg to do w HSBC’</p>
<p>‘Nor does it have anything to do with HSBC’? To put it kindly, it would appear that the Guardian editor-in-chief is ignorant of the HSBC links of his fellow company board members, as spelled out in Ahmed’s piece.</p>
<p>Ahmed himself then directly&#160; <a href="https://twitter.com/NafeezAhmed/status/573056554347442176" type="external">challenged</a>&#160;Rusbridger via Twitter:</p>
<p>‘.@arusbridger great that guardian covered #SwissLeaks. Why ignore bigger story of £1bn #HSBC fraud in UK?&#160; <a href="https://medium.com/@NafeezAhmed/death-drugs-and-hsbc-355ed9ef5316" type="external">https://medium.com/@NafeezAhmed/death-drugs-and-hsbc-355ed9ef5316</a>‘</p>
<p>At the time of writing, Rusbridger has not responded.”</p>
<p>**END**</p>
<p>READ MORE MSM CORRUPTION AND DISINFORMATION AT: <a href="" type="internal">21st Century Wire Media Cog Files</a></p>
<p>SUPPORT OUR&#160;WORK BY SUBSCRIBING &amp; BECOMING A MEMBER&#160; <a href="https://21wire.tv/membership/plans/" type="external">@21WIRE.TV</a>&#160;&#160;</p> | true | 4 | 21st century wire says 21st september guardian put funding campaign twitter explained wanted help secure future progressive independent journalism donate 5 per month shore guardians resources guardian according guardian offers us quality investigative journalism guardian according advertisment holds power account takes time money hard work apparently nifty graph tells us people ever reading guardian advertising revenue tumbling guardian needs support keep journalism open everyone others stretch truth guardian doesnt distort facts urged defend independent journalism guardian billionaire owner pulls strings one edits editor thats right time act support guardian fiver month tweet find huge number replies pretty much saying big fat almost response funding request guardian following article appeared media lens today corporate media swiftly moved peter obornes resignation chief political commentator telegraph revelations paper committed160 form fraud160on readers coverage hsbc tax evasion investigative journalist nafeez ahmed delved deeper hsbc scandal reporting testimony whistleblower reveals conspiracy silence encompassing media regulators lawenforcement agencies least ahmeds work exposes vanity guardians boast worlds leading liberal voice last month corporate media one notable exception devoted extensive coverage news swiss banking arm hsbc engaged massive fraudulent tax evasion exception telegraph oborne revealed desperate retain advertising income hsbc ahmed160 reports160another far worse case hsbc fraud totalling estimated 1 billion closer home moreover gone virtually unnoticed corporate media usual reasons according whistleblower nicholas wilson hsbc involved fraudulent scheme illegally overcharge british shoppers arrears debt store cards leading british highstreet retailers including bampq dixons currys pc world john lewis 600000 britons defrauded wilson uncovered crimes head debt recovery weightmans firm solicitors acting behalf john lewis blew whistle employer sacked spent 12 years trying expose hsbc fraud help obtain justice victims battle has160 ruined life said brief appearance bbcs160the big questions mainstream coverage date160 ahmed writes disturbing aspect hsbcs fraud british consumers systematically ignored entire british press adds cases purportedly brave investigative journalism outfits spent months investigating story preparing multiple drafts inexplicably spiking publication without reason examples include bbc panorama bbc newsnight bbc moneybox bbc radio 5 live guardian private eye sunday times sunday times recent example couple weeks ago paper big exposé hsbc consumer credit fraud ready go inexplicably dropped last minute ahmed writes hsbc happens main sponsor series sunday times league tables published fasttrack 100 ltd networking events company bank title sponsor of160the sunday times hsbc top track 100 title sponsor of160the sunday times hsbc international track 200160for 6 years previously title sponsor of160the sunday times top track 250160for 7 years ahmed reports sunday times journalist preparing spiked story respond query asking explanation worlds leading liberal voice loses voice surely guardian would go papers fear tread says ahmed paper loudly triumphantly congratulated reporting hsbc swiss bank scandal despite bank putting advertising relationship newspaper pause yet newspaper refused cover wilsons story exposing hsbc fraud britain perhaps definitive answer question ahmed points guardian happens biggest recipient hsbc advertising revenue bigger even telegraph something wont read guardian guardians partnership hsbc even helped fund papers crucial move us market according guardian media groups financial report last year however guardians links hsbc go beyond advertising extend corporate structure newspaper media lens160 noted160when wrote nafeez ahmeds sacking guardian last december papers journalistic freedom supposedly secured auspices scott trust limited company replaced muchvaunted scott trust 2008 added paper therefore might first sight appear corporate institution paper owned guardian media group run highpowered board comprising elite wellconnected people worlds banking insurance advertising sectors big business finance industry160 ahmed done extensive digging revealing particular guardians specific corporate ties hsbc past present instance chair scott trust ltd board dame liz forgan links st giles trust british museum two institutions sponsored hsbc consider anthony salz sits alongside forgan scott trust ltd senior investment banker executive vice chairman rothschild director nm rothschild sons salz previously corporate lawyer freshfields member magic circle elite british law firms hsbc one freshfields prominent longterm clients philip tranter another board member scott trust ltd former partner head corporate law boyes turner hsbc one clients well past present relationships hsbc also wider connections scott trust ltd board members elite corporate financial circles example jonathan scott chairman ambac assurance uk former director kpmg corporate finance ambac heart 2008 subprime mortgage crisis implicated fraud save skin crisis kicked andrew miller another board member chief financial officer autotrader publisher trader media group early last year tmg jointly owned guardian media group giant private equity firm apax partners one early director apax fund david staples director hsbc private bank ltd guardian media group sold 501 stake tmg one firms provided advice sale anthony salzs former firm freshfields freshfields also advised hsbc government inquiry competition banking sector last year goes far kind benign charitable operation guardian newspaper deeply embedded elite networks corporate financial muscle ahmed notes consequences guardian journalism company board members running newspaper must juggle task operating guardian profitseeking enterprise securing financial editorial independence goals hsbc case illustrates ultimately mutually incompatible summarises nicholas wilsons revelations hsbc fraud britain worst largest single case banking fraud ever emerged country make swiss leaks case look like peanuts yet fraud entirely ignored free press searches lexis newspaper database yield160not single article particular corporate media response ahmeds careful investigative journalism since article published march even guardian supposed flagship liberal journalism looked away would challenge alan rusbridger outgoing guardian editorinchief replace forgan chair scott trust ltd 2016 hasnt responded emails years long blocked us twitter perhaps finally tired us highlighting examples papers propaganda role guardian power last straw rusbridger appeared follow exposure papers160 dishonest attempts160to smear noam chomsky 2005 however one readers challenged rusbridger week felt conned guardian actually owned company trust rusbridger did160 reply160 although rather evasively looks swims quacks acts like trust charity hv anytg w hsbc anything hsbc put kindly would appear guardian editorinchief ignorant hsbc links fellow company board members spelled ahmeds piece ahmed directly160 challenged160rusbridger via twitter arusbridger great guardian covered swissleaks ignore bigger story 1bn hsbc fraud uk160 httpsmediumcomnafeezahmeddeathdrugsandhsbc355ed9ef5316 time writing rusbridger responded end read msm corruption disinformation 21st century wire media cog files support our160work subscribing amp becoming member160 21wiretv160160 | 992 |
<p>“Speak softly and carry a big stick.”</p>
<p>Theodore Roosevelt</p>
<p>“When you pick up a stick at one end, you pick up the other end too.”</p>
<p>Indiana, mid-20th century</p>
<p>Theodore Roosevelt coined a new proverb at the 1902 Minnesota State Fair. “Speak softly and carry a big stick” summarized the foreign policy of the day, and moved into oral circulation. It meant the U.S. had enough military force that it didn’t need to threaten. It could exercise its power and still look gentlemanly, graceful and cool. After all, by 1902 the Philippines and Cuba were squared away.</p>
<p>The proverb is now out of date, at least in foreign policy circles, as the United States sees no need to talk softly, although it still talks behind the scenes. The saying might be changed to “Yell as much as you want, and whack a few countries whenever you feel like it.” And we feel like it. As <a href="" type="internal">Frank Bardacke wrote recently in Counterpunch</a>, it’s now a naked empire.</p>
<p>The purpose of the coming, already unfolding war is to secure and advance an empire. This is not a war about a nasty dictator, and it is not caused by American consumer greed, whether or not you can afford to gas up your sport utility vehicle. This is a war about extending imperial control around the globe — and Central Asia and the Middle East are critically important to that control. That’s what an empire is — controlling basic resources and making decisions about their use worldwide, unchallenged, long-term.</p>
<p>If we use this framework to understand a war on Iraq, it is clear that there’s a good chance this will not be the only war, but others will follow to bring the rest of these regions under U.S. control. U.S. military bases and access agreements in the Gulf and Central Asia have been growing quickly, especially in the last year. As one friend put it, anywhere there is an oil rig or platform, there’s a U.S. military base or landing strip. American troops are already moving very quickly into Djibouti in the Horn of Africa (New York Times, November 17, 2002); a few weeks ago the New York Times reported that about one-third of Kuwait has been sealed off so it will be accessible to the U.S. troops being deployed there. This buildup is not for military convenience; it is intended as permanent, as are all the new bases in the Central Asian “stans”: Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Kazakhstan.</p>
<p>Even before the 2000 presidential election future Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney developed a document that explains U.S. foreign policy goals: the document is called “Rebuilding America’s Defenses: Strategy, Forces and Resources for a New Century.” As Glenn Ford has written in The Black Commentator (www.blackcommentator.org), this plan was policy the moment Bush and Cheney assumed office. “The Project for the New American Century” calls for U.S. engagement in as many as four simultaneous wars at any given time for the foreseeable future. These wars would be initiated by the U.S. to eliminate threats from any quarter. The document raised concerns about preparation for four simultaneous fronts. Would this be possible, the Joint Chiefs of Staff worried? Are we prepared enough to fight four simultaneous wars? What about two? The Joint Chiefs have reassured us, yes, two we can handle. More, well, we’ll see.</p>
<p>Ford notes that in the document the word “threat” has been redefined to mean the capability of any state to resist American intervention anywhere on the globe. In other words, any country which dares to act like it ought to be making its own decisions about its territorial integrity and natural resources is a threat to the United States security. Threat means resistance to American and multinational imperial ambitions. Of course Cuba has been treated this way for decades. We can argue whether the empire is truly American, or whether Americans are simply playing, as the folksinger Phil Ochs put it, “cops of the world” for multinational corporations.</p>
<p>In this framework, if the United States attacks Iraq, it will likely follow up by attacking any state which feels threatened by or is seriously destabilized by the assault — that may include Iran — Dick Cheney has said that Iran will follow Iraq as a target. Maybe Syria, perhaps North Korea. The axis of evil changes week by week, but when asked recently what he wanted Americans know about the war, Cheney replied “it will be long.”</p>
<p>Speaking softly is now pass?. The citizens of the United States are being told to think of themselves as imperial, as running the world — the citizens of the U.S. are also being asked to think of themselves as at war more or less all the time. Simultaneous ongoing war mobilization and propagandizing will be the normal state affairs domestically. As Glenn Ford points out, “no nation in human history has ever spoken words that remotely sounded like this.”</p>
<p>So what are the domestic effects of this? Here’s what we know about empires. They are expensive. They keep expanding until strain on their centers is intolerable. They must constantly be shored up, not only by tribute from abroad but by tribute at home. This tribute is money, but of course it is also human lives, quality of life, and liberty.</p>
<p>When I mentioned that empires are expensive, I’m thinking first about the economy. I don’t want you to think that I am a crude materialist, so let me also say that the effects will be social, cultural, and racial. I think our social infrastructure will take a hard hit and our civil and political rights will be drastically eroded as we come to terms with implications of the USA Patriot Act. Our culture will become narrower and more militaristic than it already is. We will learn less of our own history, and less about other countries than we already do because to justify controlling other people’s worlds we must be ignorant of their pasts and their aspirations, and of our own pasts. Our race relations will likely to become worse, because it is very important for Citizens of an Imperial Nation to believe in their own superiority. On November 17, we learned from the New York Times that Iraqis in the US and Iraqi American citizens are now under surveillance and being pressured to inform on each other. Since the world we wish to control has become part of us through immigration, we’ll see a lot more of this and it will exacerbate racial and ethnic divisions. Already our military adventures are justified by racism. That can’t not have an effect at home.</p>
<p>Back to my crude materialism. Bill Moyers recently said that no one ever discussed the economic costs of the Vietnam War in the early years because no one wanted to bring it up. No one had any real idea. Four years later, as young men were coming home in body bags, Johnson took to his bed, pulled the covers up over his head, realizing it was too late to make a true accounting. Today no one is saying, and no one has any real idea. It’s liars poker. Even if the war is limited to Iraq, unfolding over about six or eight months, with a six to eight year occupation and reconstruction following, this will be very costly. And as their document show, the Bush Cheney plan is much more extensive than this six-month scenario.</p>
<p>The most conservative estimates, not including any occupation to contain the hostile parties in the civil war that will follow in Iraq, ring up at about $100 billion for a one year war, this from Harvard University. But a White House economist guesses $278 billion for a six-month war. Needless to say, those estimates are very vague and wildly out of line with each other. no-one has any idea what will happen.</p>
<p>But let’s accept $278 billion over six months, a tiny fraction of the U.S. economy but still a lot of money. Follow that with the same amount over a ten-year occupation, not including reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan. There are two schools of thought about how to think about the social effects of this kind of military spending. Our economic thinkers and political leaders, such as they are, are by no means agreed on this.</p>
<p>The first view, probably dominant in public debate, is that the economy is very vulnerable. Unemployment is up to nearly six percent in the last several years, consumer debt is high, consumer confidence is low, savings are in the negative, the airlines are going under, the telecommunications industry has tanked, major accounting and computer corporations have folded in the last year, the stock market has been sinking drastically for the better part of the last year. The only bright point is housing starts, and they may have peaked.</p>
<p>An oil shock — that is any rise above current prices of about $27 per barrel — would be a direct consequence of an attack on Iraq and the chain reaction of upheaval and disruption in the Middle East. Such a price rise could throw the U.S. economy into a deeper longer recession, one we might actually have to call a depression. Rising oil prices would lead to higher prices and higher costs of doing business, which usually leads to more unemployment, or at least downward pressure on wages, which leads to less spending — all this would be loaded onto a wagon that is already missing at least one wheel.</p>
<p>The stock market clearly does not like the war news for these reasons, among others. The United States situation vis-?-vis the balance of payments is terrible. If foreign banks and investors holding dollars decide the U.S. economy is in trouble, and begin to trade for a stronger currency, the value of the dollar could decline sharply. There is also the question of how the U.S. economy, if it takes a nosedive, affects the rest of the world. If we sneeze and cut back on our imports of cheap goods, as the saying goes the rest of the world catches pneumonia. So, even in a short-term sense, an attack on Iraq could be very destabilizing far beyond the boundaries of the U.S. That is a cost of imperial ambition, and it might not be short-term.</p>
<p>There’s another school of thought on this, and that is that war is good for the economy — military spending generates profits, it generates new jobs in some sectors. Wages might go up. From this point of view a war would prime the economic pump. Wouldn’t all this Empire-provisioning and arming stimulate other spending? Maybe, for some technical and professional sectors, but not for everyone. War spending is generally unproductive spending. We hear a lot about the benefits to our economy of military research and development. In places like Southern California lots of professional and technical people work at their computers on problems like heat seeking missiles,. But not everybody can do that. I think these benefits are overstated. The military tends to invest in high technology equipment with very narrow uses — surveillance, intelligence, command and control, and killing people — and it builds equipment which does not last long and needs continually to be replaced. Bombs, chemical weapons, ammunition, guidance systems, Predator drones. It mobilizes tremendous numbers of people in support of this non-productive investment. If you think replacing bombs and ammunition and gas masks over and over is productive, I suppose this is a kind of productivity. But it’s also worth remembering that the United States already has huge stockpiles of these materials.</p>
<p>We all know that military contractors are notoriously corrupt and charge hundreds of times the real cost for supplying ashtrays and helicopters — and we know that often this vaunted equipment doesn’t do what it claims to. This turned out to be the case with the Patriot missile. Apparently the Patriot could hardly hit anything, despite the grandiose claims of both Raytheon and the “scud-studs” of CNN. But even if military contractors were not corrupt or inept, production for war does not benefit the entire population in a way that is farsighted — it is investment that is not going into the larger society. It doesn’t build nursing homes, it doesn’t build day-care centers or schools. It does subsidize college tuition and classrooms and labs if your professor does war-related research, but it doesn’t ensure people’s health, it doesn’t invest in public transportation. But it certainly does invest in highly dangerous and polluting technologies, like hardened missile shells made of depleted uranium, that are very damaging to the health of American service people. And others. According to William Hughes in Counterpunch (Oct. 25, 2002) ” During the Gulf War alone, the United States left 600,000 pounds of radioactive waste containing depleted uranium from its use of… dirty bombs.” Tens of thousands of veterans of the first Gulf War are still trying to find out what strange combination of radiation, experimental vaccinations and toxic chemicals caused their intractable illnesses, another cost of war. And of course, production for war is a heavy investment in the maiming and death of civilians on the other side. It’s investment in total defeat.</p>
<p>As we found out through the experience of Vietnam, wars are generally inflationary. The government either takes on huge debt to finance them, or prints money (increases the money supply) to pay for them, or both. One way or another, a war must be paid for, and people are generally reluctant to pay for it through taxes. The deficit increases, interest rates rise, and people’s money is worth less. This is why a sector of the business community eventually opposed the Vietnam War, and why a sector of the U.S. business leaders opposes an attack on Iraq. It isn’t just that their sons might come home in body bags — those are mostly poor people’s sons. Business resistance to the Vietnam War was resistance to the inflation ruining the U.S. economy.</p>
<p>We are not in nearly as good economic shape today as when we ventured into Vietnam. One thing that’s different is that the current recession follows on two decades of slashing funding for the public sector. People born in the 1980s have heard the word “budget cuts” and “budget deficit” and ” austerity” their whole lives. The general idea that this language conveys is “there’s not enough wealth in this society to meet everybody’s basic needs.”</p>
<p>I grew up in the 1950s and ’60s, in a very prosperous time. Until the effects of the Vietnam War were really felt, the economy was expanding. Many people’s lives got better. But for today’s military-age generation, “budget cuts” have always been part of the political landscape. But this “shortage” of wealth is military capitalism’s own creation. Because, since the late 1970s, public funds have been sucked from the public sector into the heavily militarized private sector as a matter of public policy, through the massive inflation of the military budget since the first Reagan administration in 1980 and through tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations. That’s why Amtrak barely runs, and why there’s lousy public transportation in poor neighborhoods, and no decent housing for millions of people, and poor public schools, and no universal health insurance in this country, and that’s why college students are paying more tuition and working harder at outside jobs to make ends meet. It’s not that there’s not enough money to go around, it’s that a huge portion of it has been shifted to the military part of the federal budget. At the same time, this has been the greatest and longest period of wealth creation in U.S. history.</p>
<p>So this is where we are starting from as we contemplate expanding our Empire — we are starting from what is on many dimensions the worst record in the industrialized world. In terms of health care, literacy, education, infant mortality, and nutrition the U.S. is a laggard, even at the bottom of the rankings — and we are being asked to pour more of our own resources into the bottomless project of controlling the resources of the rest of the world. A world which we are well aware is not at all happy to have the United States step into this role and will resist. Or, at least the ordinary people of this world are not so happy about it. A lot of small sticks can kindle a great fire. We may win cleanly with our snappy technology, but no war stays won forever. No occupying power is completely invulnerable. We may see uncontrolled social banditry, or we may see one, two, three, many Vietnams.</p>
<p>I view the effects of the war at home as pushing us faster and harder into the downward economic, social, and environmental spiral that we have been spinning in for 20 years now. So, you can’t pick up just one end of this stick. You have to pick up the whole stick.</p>
<p>What would some of the other costs of this empire be? An empire depends on a lot of people defending it at its borders and, and it needs the acquiescence of the population on the home front to being taxed more heavily — through a declining quality of life — to support it. There may be a draft, and that would absorb some of the young unemployed, forget about the middle-aged unemployed. If there is a draft, it will come as a shock. Americans have gotten used to the idea that they could hire other people to fight for them, either with promises of education after completion of service — a promise that is not as good as it is made to sound — or simply because it’s the best job going, which is sometimes called the economic draft. This would be a new draft for which we are already completely prepared through Social Security registration at birth, and selective service registration at age 18 for men. So another cost would be a generation of young people, although it may be possible for privileged Americans to insulate their sons from a draft. This wasn’t entirely possible in Vietnam, although combat casualties were heavily poor, black and brown. During the first Gulf War in 1991 students asked me if I thought it made sense to go to Canada if the draft were revived. As far as I know, there is now an extradition agreement between Canada and the U.S. for draft evaders. Some young men who resisted registration on grounds of conscience in recent years have received heavy prison terms. A draft resistance movement would certainly arise, but penalties will be harsh and swift. But it’s a good bet American leaders will do anything to avoid a draft, because it helps bring the war home to the middle class. That was one of the lessons of Vietnam.</p>
<p>Empires usually become unpopular at home pretty fast. So they require repression and censorship. Another domestic consequence of this war will be increased surveillance, repression, cutbacks in our rights and liberties, and censorship. It is very important that the domestic supporters of wars not know what their empire is doing in their name. Already we are seeing overt censorship of films and filmmakers from Iraq and Iran in this country, their directors (who are censored at home) are refused visas to enter the U.S., that we might not see the people in their films as human beings suffering under U.S. policies. This is a sort of cultural blockade in a country that is already ignorant of the rest of the world. There will also be, is already, repression and censorship of criticism of our new empire — and of course such censorship is already well in place in the USA Patriot Act of 2001. Web sites are being scrubbed, books and CDs are being removed from federal depository libraries; people on my campus are being called “anti-American” for criticizing American policy towards Israel. Green political activists are being classified as terrorists and prevented from boarding international flights. Admiral John Poindexter, a convicted though subsequently pardoned felon, is back in government, in charge of breaking down the barriers between private, commercial, and government information on individuals. For some reason, Adm. Poindexter calls these barriers “stovepipes” which gives me hope that he knows very little about the problems of information management. Anyway, he’s hoping to harmonize us all into a giant database in the service of Homeland Security. These are just a few examples. We have been through a lot of “love it or leave it” before in this country and I think are in for another heavy round. This time, it may be love it or get locked down.</p>
<p>There’s also the question of violence coming home. There is an argument to be made that war with its accompanying military training and service does great damage to the psychology of the men who survive it. We can think of Timothy McVeigh. We can think of John Mohammed. We can think of the wife murderers and wife beaters of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, men who are just back from Afghanistan. There’s a blowback of violence into the home society when people witness or are asked to commit horrific violence on other human beings. During the first Gulf War I knew commercial pilots who knew military pilots who had been debriefed on returning from the Gulf. They were told to say nothing of what they had seen to anyone, and they suffered greatly, according to my friends. Later, the news leaked out about the “turkey shoot” on the road to Basra; the news leaked out about the hundred thousand retreating, surrendering Iraqis killed or buried alive by U.S. super tanks. General Colin Powell said he was indifferent to the number of Iraqi soldiers killed in 1991. All these kinds of events, and Powell’s comments, reveal a culture accepting of extreme violence.</p>
<p>High schools around the country report increasing pressure to reinstitute junior ROTC training, and pressure to extend military studies down into middle and elementary schools. All of this weaves militarism deeper into everyday life. I think of schools having patriotic assemblies on Veterans Day, and my kindergarten-age daughter being asked to sing “Johnny Got His Gun” a few years back. (The principal wasn’t taking any protests from outraged mommies, either). And I think of watching reruns of Saturday Night Live the other night with my son. We saw a Sony PlayStation ad for a “teen level” game called Attack Iraq. It has been designed by Special Forces who served in the Gulf in 1991, and it’s very realistic. It’s almost a training program. We had to see the ad twice before we realized it was not a joke. It’s being offered for the Christmas season.</p>
<p>Finally, but not finally at all, since it is central, there’s the question of race. A lot of people our empire is deployed against are not white, and for historical reasons, powerful Americans find it easy to make them less than human on the basis of skin color. Sadly, a lot of black and brown people will be fighting a lot of other non-white people in this war, but I imagine that the dominant images will be of whites against people of color. You remember the phrase “nuke the sand gooks” from 1991? A lot propagandistic pressure is going to have to be applied to get people to buy into the empire for the long haul. Racism will grease the wheels of a machine that will not otherwise run by itself. Racial division may be one of the lubricants. Again, Glenn Ford has made this point eloquently. And he also points out that much of the empire — or our future empire — is here at home, too. We already know how Iraqi-Americans are being treated. How will Arab-Americans, Pakistani-Americans, and Iranian-Americans be treated? How will they be expected to act? Will they be able to fade into the woodwork in fear, as German-Americans did here during World War I? Will they be interned like the Italian-Americans and Japanese-Americans? Will they be deported? Will they have any rights of dissent at all? After what has happened in Lackawanna NY, with the secret and summary arrests of 12 Arab-Americans, I would imagine that recent immigrants are very frightened indeed. You can’t pick up just one end of this very dirty stick.</p>
<p>SUSAN DAVIS teaches at the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign. This column was adapted from a teach-in there on Nov. 12. She can be reached at <a href="mailto:sgdavis@uiuc.edu" type="external">sgdavis@uiuc.edu</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | speak softly carry big stick theodore roosevelt pick stick one end pick end indiana mid20th century theodore roosevelt coined new proverb 1902 minnesota state fair speak softly carry big stick summarized foreign policy day moved oral circulation meant us enough military force didnt need threaten could exercise power still look gentlemanly graceful cool 1902 philippines cuba squared away proverb date least foreign policy circles united states sees need talk softly although still talks behind scenes saying might changed yell much want whack countries whenever feel like feel like frank bardacke wrote recently counterpunch naked empire purpose coming already unfolding war secure advance empire war nasty dictator caused american consumer greed whether afford gas sport utility vehicle war extending imperial control around globe central asia middle east critically important control thats empire controlling basic resources making decisions use worldwide unchallenged longterm use framework understand war iraq clear theres good chance war others follow bring rest regions us control us military bases access agreements gulf central asia growing quickly especially last year one friend put anywhere oil rig platform theres us military base landing strip american troops already moving quickly djibouti horn africa new york times november 17 2002 weeks ago new york times reported onethird kuwait sealed accessible us troops deployed buildup military convenience intended permanent new bases central asian stans uzbekistan afghanistan pakistan kazakhstan even 2000 presidential election future secretary defense dick cheney developed document explains us foreign policy goals document called rebuilding americas defenses strategy forces resources new century glenn ford written black commentator wwwblackcommentatororg plan policy moment bush cheney assumed office project new american century calls us engagement many four simultaneous wars given time foreseeable future wars would initiated us eliminate threats quarter document raised concerns preparation four simultaneous fronts would possible joint chiefs staff worried prepared enough fight four simultaneous wars two joint chiefs reassured us yes two handle well well see ford notes document word threat redefined mean capability state resist american intervention anywhere globe words country dares act like ought making decisions territorial integrity natural resources threat united states security threat means resistance american multinational imperial ambitions course cuba treated way decades argue whether empire truly american whether americans simply playing folksinger phil ochs put cops world multinational corporations framework united states attacks iraq likely follow attacking state feels threatened seriously destabilized assault may include iran dick cheney said iran follow iraq target maybe syria perhaps north korea axis evil changes week week asked recently wanted americans know war cheney replied long speaking softly pass citizens united states told think imperial running world citizens us also asked think war less time simultaneous ongoing war mobilization propagandizing normal state affairs domestically glenn ford points nation human history ever spoken words remotely sounded like domestic effects heres know empires expensive keep expanding strain centers intolerable must constantly shored tribute abroad tribute home tribute money course also human lives quality life liberty mentioned empires expensive im thinking first economy dont want think crude materialist let also say effects social cultural racial think social infrastructure take hard hit civil political rights drastically eroded come terms implications usa patriot act culture become narrower militaristic already learn less history less countries already justify controlling peoples worlds must ignorant pasts aspirations pasts race relations likely become worse important citizens imperial nation believe superiority november 17 learned new york times iraqis us iraqi american citizens surveillance pressured inform since world wish control become part us immigration well see lot exacerbate racial ethnic divisions already military adventures justified racism cant effect home back crude materialism bill moyers recently said one ever discussed economic costs vietnam war early years one wanted bring one real idea four years later young men coming home body bags johnson took bed pulled covers head realizing late make true accounting today one saying one real idea liars poker even war limited iraq unfolding six eight months six eight year occupation reconstruction following costly document show bush cheney plan much extensive sixmonth scenario conservative estimates including occupation contain hostile parties civil war follow iraq ring 100 billion one year war harvard university white house economist guesses 278 billion sixmonth war needless say estimates vague wildly line noone idea happen lets accept 278 billion six months tiny fraction us economy still lot money follow amount tenyear occupation including reconstruction iraq afghanistan two schools thought think social effects kind military spending economic thinkers political leaders means agreed first view probably dominant public debate economy vulnerable unemployment nearly six percent last several years consumer debt high consumer confidence low savings negative airlines going telecommunications industry tanked major accounting computer corporations folded last year stock market sinking drastically better part last year bright point housing starts may peaked oil shock rise current prices 27 per barrel would direct consequence attack iraq chain reaction upheaval disruption middle east price rise could throw us economy deeper longer recession one might actually call depression rising oil prices would lead higher prices higher costs business usually leads unemployment least downward pressure wages leads less spending would loaded onto wagon already missing least one wheel stock market clearly like war news reasons among others united states situation visvis balance payments terrible foreign banks investors holding dollars decide us economy trouble begin trade stronger currency value dollar could decline sharply also question us economy takes nosedive affects rest world sneeze cut back imports cheap goods saying goes rest world catches pneumonia even shortterm sense attack iraq could destabilizing far beyond boundaries us cost imperial ambition might shortterm theres another school thought war good economy military spending generates profits generates new jobs sectors wages might go point view war would prime economic pump wouldnt empireprovisioning arming stimulate spending maybe technical professional sectors everyone war spending generally unproductive spending hear lot benefits economy military research development places like southern california lots professional technical people work computers problems like heat seeking missiles everybody think benefits overstated military tends invest high technology equipment narrow uses surveillance intelligence command control killing people builds equipment last long needs continually replaced bombs chemical weapons ammunition guidance systems predator drones mobilizes tremendous numbers people support nonproductive investment think replacing bombs ammunition gas masks productive suppose kind productivity also worth remembering united states already huge stockpiles materials know military contractors notoriously corrupt charge hundreds times real cost supplying ashtrays helicopters know often vaunted equipment doesnt claims turned case patriot missile apparently patriot could hardly hit anything despite grandiose claims raytheon scudstuds cnn even military contractors corrupt inept production war benefit entire population way farsighted investment going larger society doesnt build nursing homes doesnt build daycare centers schools subsidize college tuition classrooms labs professor warrelated research doesnt ensure peoples health doesnt invest public transportation certainly invest highly dangerous polluting technologies like hardened missile shells made depleted uranium damaging health american service people others according william hughes counterpunch oct 25 2002 gulf war alone united states left 600000 pounds radioactive waste containing depleted uranium use dirty bombs tens thousands veterans first gulf war still trying find strange combination radiation experimental vaccinations toxic chemicals caused intractable illnesses another cost war course production war heavy investment maiming death civilians side investment total defeat found experience vietnam wars generally inflationary government either takes huge debt finance prints money increases money supply pay one way another war must paid people generally reluctant pay taxes deficit increases interest rates rise peoples money worth less sector business community eventually opposed vietnam war sector us business leaders opposes attack iraq isnt sons might come home body bags mostly poor peoples sons business resistance vietnam war resistance inflation ruining us economy nearly good economic shape today ventured vietnam one thing thats different current recession follows two decades slashing funding public sector people born 1980s heard word budget cuts budget deficit austerity whole lives general idea language conveys theres enough wealth society meet everybodys basic needs grew 1950s 60s prosperous time effects vietnam war really felt economy expanding many peoples lives got better todays militaryage generation budget cuts always part political landscape shortage wealth military capitalisms creation since late 1970s public funds sucked public sector heavily militarized private sector matter public policy massive inflation military budget since first reagan administration 1980 tax cuts wealthy corporations thats amtrak barely runs theres lousy public transportation poor neighborhoods decent housing millions people poor public schools universal health insurance country thats college students paying tuition working harder outside jobs make ends meet theres enough money go around huge portion shifted military part federal budget time greatest longest period wealth creation us history starting contemplate expanding empire starting many dimensions worst record industrialized world terms health care literacy education infant mortality nutrition us laggard even bottom rankings asked pour resources bottomless project controlling resources rest world world well aware happy united states step role resist least ordinary people world happy lot small sticks kindle great fire may win cleanly snappy technology war stays forever occupying power completely invulnerable may see uncontrolled social banditry may see one two three many vietnams view effects war home pushing us faster harder downward economic social environmental spiral spinning 20 years cant pick one end stick pick whole stick would costs empire empire depends lot people defending borders needs acquiescence population home front taxed heavily declining quality life support may draft would absorb young unemployed forget middleaged unemployed draft come shock americans gotten used idea could hire people fight either promises education completion service promise good made sound simply best job going sometimes called economic draft would new draft already completely prepared social security registration birth selective service registration age 18 men another cost would generation young people although may possible privileged americans insulate sons draft wasnt entirely possible vietnam although combat casualties heavily poor black brown first gulf war 1991 students asked thought made sense go canada draft revived far know extradition agreement canada us draft evaders young men resisted registration grounds conscience recent years received heavy prison terms draft resistance movement would certainly arise penalties harsh swift good bet american leaders anything avoid draft helps bring war home middle class one lessons vietnam empires usually become unpopular home pretty fast require repression censorship another domestic consequence war increased surveillance repression cutbacks rights liberties censorship important domestic supporters wars know empire name already seeing overt censorship films filmmakers iraq iran country directors censored home refused visas enter us might see people films human beings suffering us policies sort cultural blockade country already ignorant rest world also already repression censorship criticism new empire course censorship already well place usa patriot act 2001 web sites scrubbed books cds removed federal depository libraries people campus called antiamerican criticizing american policy towards israel green political activists classified terrorists prevented boarding international flights admiral john poindexter convicted though subsequently pardoned felon back government charge breaking barriers private commercial government information individuals reason adm poindexter calls barriers stovepipes gives hope knows little problems information management anyway hes hoping harmonize us giant database service homeland security examples lot love leave country think another heavy round time may love get locked theres also question violence coming home argument made war accompanying military training service great damage psychology men survive think timothy mcveigh think john mohammed think wife murderers wife beaters fort bragg north carolina men back afghanistan theres blowback violence home society people witness asked commit horrific violence human beings first gulf war knew commercial pilots knew military pilots debriefed returning gulf told say nothing seen anyone suffered greatly according friends later news leaked turkey shoot road basra news leaked hundred thousand retreating surrendering iraqis killed buried alive us super tanks general colin powell said indifferent number iraqi soldiers killed 1991 kinds events powells comments reveal culture accepting extreme violence high schools around country report increasing pressure reinstitute junior rotc training pressure extend military studies middle elementary schools weaves militarism deeper everyday life think schools patriotic assemblies veterans day kindergartenage daughter asked sing johnny got gun years back principal wasnt taking protests outraged mommies either think watching reruns saturday night live night son saw sony playstation ad teen level game called attack iraq designed special forces served gulf 1991 realistic almost training program see ad twice realized joke offered christmas season finally finally since central theres question race lot people empire deployed white historical reasons powerful americans find easy make less human basis skin color sadly lot black brown people fighting lot nonwhite people war imagine dominant images whites people color remember phrase nuke sand gooks 1991 lot propagandistic pressure going applied get people buy empire long haul racism grease wheels machine otherwise run racial division may one lubricants glenn ford made point eloquently also points much empire future empire home already know iraqiamericans treated arabamericans pakistaniamericans iranianamericans treated expected act able fade woodwork fear germanamericans world war interned like italianamericans japaneseamericans deported rights dissent happened lackawanna ny secret summary arrests 12 arabamericans would imagine recent immigrants frightened indeed cant pick one end dirty stick susan davis teaches university illinois urbana champaign column adapted teachin nov 12 reached sgdavisuiucedu 160 | 2,162 |
<p>The most striking fact about the United States of America is not its supposed founding principles — more often lauded than observed — but how often “the greatest country on earth” has waged war. If we count wars against internal “enemies” (i.e., the Indians), covert foreign wars, and aid to other states’ aggressive external and internal wars, we can see the United States has been at war <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_the_United_States" type="external">almost continuously</a> since it broke free from Britain. &#160;By one <a href="" type="internal">estimate</a>&#160;this nation has been at war 214 out of the 228 years since the Constitution took effect — that’s 94 percent of the time — and there were wars during the Articles of Confederation period too. Contrary to popular misconception, the war state did not begin in 1945. <a href="https://www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/tgif-empire-on-their-minds/" type="external">From the start</a>, war was an acceptable means to national policy ends, whether to open markets or to install friendly regimes.</p>
<p>It’s a gross understatement to call this record shameful. It’s criminal when you calculate the predictable butcher’s bill — including the killing of noncombatants, deliberately targeted and so-called collateral damage — not to mention the destruction of scarce resources that would have made all people better off.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Do Americans have any clue? The information is readily available, but you have to want to look for it. Most do not. They don’t want to know the truth. They’d rather laud “the troops” for their heroism and hear pundits describe America as a “force for good in the world.” It’s a state-worshiping worldview that resembles <a href="https://www.libertarianinstitute.org/politics/tgif-religion-state/" type="external">religion</a> from which the ruling elite profits politically and financially.</p>
<p>Of course, that word —&#160;America — is intentionally ambiguous. It includes American inventors, entrepreneurs, workers, traders, and all kinds of artists, who have benefited the world. But it also includes self-serving politicians and military bureaucrats, their chests ostentatiously adorned with ribbons, who could not do a tiny fraction of the damage they do if they did not have the state’s machinery of violence at their disposal. How many voluntary contributions could they have raised to finance their wars and domestic oppression? If that isn’t an indictment of the state in itself, I don’t know what is. It also takes some of the gloss off “limited government,” seeing as how it would be “limited” to the military, the police, and the jailers. Libertarians have long argued over whether they should “hate the state,” but how can you not hate it once you have seen its destructive essence?</p>
<p>Some of America’s many wars eventually lost favor with the public — Vietnam is a case in point, though not until two million Vietnamese and 58,000 Americans had perished &#160;— but the harshest thing that you can say about such wars in polite company is that they were well-meant mistakes committed in “noble causes.” Call the wars criminal and you will be struck from the invitation list. You certainly won’t be published in the respectable U.S.-based media. If you’re a famous investigative reporter with a long track record of documenting American war crimes, you’ll be <a href="" type="internal">banished</a> to the&#160;London Review of Books&#160;or Germany’s&#160;Die Welt.</p>
<p>But let’s be fair about this. War does have its uses besides making a few folks rich and powerful. It’s good for distracting the people, who may otherwise get fed up with the obvious scam we call government. Shakespeare understood this, as he showed when he had Henry IV tell his son, “Therefore, my Harry, be it thy course to busy giddy minds with foreign quarrels; that action, hence borne out, may waste the memory of the former days” ( <a href="http://nfs.sparknotes.com/henry4pt2/page_485.html" type="external">Henry IV&#160;Pt. 2</a>). Thus the need for a constant supply of invented enemies, with Russia always available for the lead villain.</p>
<p>Trump, the alleged Great Disrupter, may not read, but he has demonstrated that he understands Henry’s advice. Trump’s attacks on Syrian and allied forces have won him plaudits even from avowed political enemies. That those enemies have quickly gone back to hating him probably only taught him that he needs to do more of the same. His latest warning to Bashar al-Assad seems to indicate this. So does his statement about Qatar, which stands accused — can you imagine it? — of aiding terrorists by Trump’s new friends in Saudia Arabia. His cynical campaign against Iran is another indication of where he’s heading. And then there’s Ukraine. And North Korea.</p>
<p>What’s more likely to distract Americans from their problems, tweaking the health-insurance rules or a venturing into another splendid war? There are no Purple Hearts for fixing the infrastructure.</p>
<p>If we step back we might appreciate the big picture. What kind of country spends so much time and money making, facilitating, provoking, and underwriting war? Certainly not a progressive — in the everyday sense — or liberal — in the original Adam Smith sense — country. (The original liberals despised everything connected with war.) We Americans thankfully do not live in a totalitarian state. There is still a line the politicians not to cross. But that line has been moving — and not in favor of liberty. Where were the crowds of protesters when the news broke that the government was spying on Americans en masse in the “war on terror” — something we learned, thanks to Edward Snowden, just after the director of national intelligence, James Clapper, swore it was not happening? Not only were there no protests, Clapper today routinely appears on the news networks as a credible source on how Russia is waging cyber war on America. That speaks volumes. Lying under oath if you believe it’s for national security is just fine. We’ll believe whatever you tell us next as if it never happened.</p>
<p>Afghanistan has replaced Vietnam as the site of America’s longest war, but Americans have long stopped paying attention. The war party knows what this means: keep American casualties low, call the troops “advisers,” and a war can continue indefinitely — even occasional surges will be acceptable. Thanks to special ops and drones, wars can&#160;be extended to or intensified in other countries with impunity: Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, Libya, and who knows where else. The casualties and hardships inflicted on indigenous populations don’t count. They are only foreigners, brown-skinned Muslims. Besides, didn’t we get attacked on 9/11 while minding our own business? Just keep saying that.</p>
<p>Members of Congress either approve of wholesale American state violence or are too cowardly to stop it. Occasionally one of them wants a new authorization for the use military force in Syria because the post-9/11 authorization has been stretched beyond recognition. But it never gets far. I hear the Constitution says something about Congress having the power to declare war, but that’s long been a dead letter. Presidents are free to make war anywhere anytime. (John Quincy Adams, who famously orated that America “goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy,” thought those who conducted the <a href="" type="internal">coup d’etat in Philadelphia</a> had erred in not lodging the war power in the executive branch so that American presidents would have the same power as European kings. He needn’t have worried.)</p>
<p>At any rate, for constitutional sticklers, an authorization for the use of military force is not a declaration of war. Rather, it is a delegation of the war power to declare to a president. Forgive my quaint notions.</p>
<p>I see no signs this is going to change anytime soon, which should concern libertarians because the U.S. empire (that is, American super-sovereignty),&#160;militarism, and war profiteering jeopardize liberty like nothing else.</p> | true | 4 | striking fact united states america supposed founding principles often lauded observed often greatest country earth waged war count wars internal enemies ie indians covert foreign wars aid states aggressive external internal wars see united states war almost continuously since broke free britain 160by one estimate160this nation war 214 228 years since constitution took effect thats 94 percent time wars articles confederation period contrary popular misconception war state begin 1945 start war acceptable means national policy ends whether open markets install friendly regimes gross understatement call record shameful criminal calculate predictable butchers bill including killing noncombatants deliberately targeted socalled collateral damage mention destruction scarce resources would made people better 160 americans clue information readily available want look dont want know truth theyd rather laud troops heroism hear pundits describe america force good world stateworshiping worldview resembles religion ruling elite profits politically financially course word 160america intentionally ambiguous includes american inventors entrepreneurs workers traders kinds artists benefited world also includes selfserving politicians military bureaucrats chests ostentatiously adorned ribbons could tiny fraction damage states machinery violence disposal many voluntary contributions could raised finance wars domestic oppression isnt indictment state dont know also takes gloss limited government seeing would limited military police jailers libertarians long argued whether hate state hate seen destructive essence americas many wars eventually lost favor public vietnam case point though two million vietnamese 58000 americans perished 160 harshest thing say wars polite company wellmeant mistakes committed noble causes call wars criminal struck invitation list certainly wont published respectable usbased media youre famous investigative reporter long track record documenting american war crimes youll banished the160london review books160or germanys160die welt lets fair war uses besides making folks rich powerful good distracting people may otherwise get fed obvious scam call government shakespeare understood showed henry iv tell son therefore harry thy course busy giddy minds foreign quarrels action hence borne may waste memory former days henry iv160pt 2 thus need constant supply invented enemies russia always available lead villain trump alleged great disrupter may read demonstrated understands henrys advice trumps attacks syrian allied forces plaudits even avowed political enemies enemies quickly gone back hating probably taught needs latest warning bashar alassad seems indicate statement qatar stands accused imagine aiding terrorists trumps new friends saudia arabia cynical campaign iran another indication hes heading theres ukraine north korea whats likely distract americans problems tweaking healthinsurance rules venturing another splendid war purple hearts fixing infrastructure step back might appreciate big picture kind country spends much time money making facilitating provoking underwriting war certainly progressive everyday sense liberal original adam smith sense country original liberals despised everything connected war americans thankfully live totalitarian state still line politicians cross line moving favor liberty crowds protesters news broke government spying americans en masse war terror something learned thanks edward snowden director national intelligence james clapper swore happening protests clapper today routinely appears news networks credible source russia waging cyber war america speaks volumes lying oath believe national security fine well believe whatever tell us next never happened afghanistan replaced vietnam site americas longest war americans long stopped paying attention war party knows means keep american casualties low call troops advisers war continue indefinitely even occasional surges acceptable thanks special ops drones wars can160be extended intensified countries impunity iraq syria pakistan somalia yemen libya knows else casualties hardships inflicted indigenous populations dont count foreigners brownskinned muslims besides didnt get attacked 911 minding business keep saying members congress either approve wholesale american state violence cowardly stop occasionally one wants new authorization use military force syria post911 authorization stretched beyond recognition never gets far hear constitution says something congress power declare war thats long dead letter presidents free make war anywhere anytime john quincy adams famously orated america goes abroad search monsters destroy thought conducted coup detat philadelphia erred lodging war power executive branch american presidents would power european kings neednt worried rate constitutional sticklers authorization use military force declaration war rather delegation war power declare president forgive quaint notions see signs going change anytime soon concern libertarians us empire american supersovereignty160militarism war profiteering jeopardize liberty like nothing else | 677 |
<p>For someone who finds writing tortuous, Tony Kushner does a lot of it. Probably best known for his two-part epic, “Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes,” Kushner’s other plays include “Slavs!,” “Homebody/Kabul,” “A Bright Room Called Day” and “Caroline, or Change.” He also wrote the screenplays for Mike Nichols’ film version of “Angels in America” and Steven Spielberg’s films “Munich” and “Lincoln.” Kushner, who has won three Obies, an Emmy and a Pulitzer Prize, recently came back to Berkeley Repertory Theatre, where seven of his plays have been produced, for the West Coast premiere of his latest, “The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures” (his husband nicknamed it “iHo”).</p>
<p>The play, directed by Kushner’s longtime collaborator Tony Taccone, the artistic director of Berkeley Rep who co-directed “Angels in America,” tells the story of a family in Brooklyn whose Communist longshoreman father has decided to commit suicide. It runs in Berkeley through June 29.</p>
<p>Out in Berkeley for rehearsals, Kushner talked about how with plays we watch actors suffer so we don’t have to; Taccone’s fearlessness when collaborating on “Brundibar,” a children’s opera originally performed in a concentration camp; the toll “Death of a Salesman” took on the late Philip Seymour Hoffman; the ability of democracy and elections to bring about radical change; and his frustration with leftists dismissing government rather than trying to transform it. The interview has been edited for clarity and length.</p>
<p>Emily Wilson: Do you find it fun to get to rework plays like you’re doing with this one?</p>
<p />
<p>Tony Kushner: I never find any writing fun. It’s all torture. It’s gratifying — it feels like this is what I didn’t understand the first time out and now I understand — maybe I’m just slow. I love having the opportunity to do that, when you do a film that was one of [the] great shocks. The first time I did a film was Mike’s version of “Angels,” and then I did the two movies with Steven, and I didn’t realize that every day of shooting you put another scene in the can. What that means is one after another, scenes you’ve written are gone, and it’ll take its final shape in the editing room. There’s a constant sense of loss even if the filming was fantastic.</p>
<p>I’ve been really lucky in the three things I’ve done so far, and I’m really proud of them. You know, we’re watching Daniel [Day Lewis] do these unbelievable things in “Lincoln.” Like the big Cabinet speech where he talks a long time for a film, and watching him do that for me and for many of the other actors was one of the most electrifying things I’ve ever sat through because he’s so fantastic, and I’m very proud of that, but no one will ever do it again in another way. You don’t have that experience at all in theater. The play keeps going on. Since I own it, I get to do my thing with it, and it keeps it up in the air in a way I find gratifying or pleasurable, although a show like this is backbreaking in a lot of ways.</p>
<p>EW: How is it backbreaking?</p>
<p>TK: It’s a long play. It’s a very dark play, and I think emotionally it’s the most painful play I’ve ever written. There’s a struggle in the play between despair and hope, and between a belief in progress and a belief in revolution, which I think is a conundrum at the center of the progressive political soul. It’s a family drama, and it’s a pretty unhappy family. It’s pretty dense although you don’t have to know anything at all. If you just come and don’t panic and listen, you’ll be fine. We’ve all worked very hard to make sure people are taken care of. You don’t have to be an expert on any of the pretty arcane things some people are discussing to follow it, but it’s not an easy play to do.</p>
<p>It’s very hard for the actors. I don’t know how actors do it, and they have to do it eight times a week. If you’re really going to do a play, you don’t figure out a shorthand way of doing it. You have to go there every single night. This is what actors do, and I don’t understand how they stay sane, and of course, many of them don’t. You see them at the end of a long rehearsal, and they look like they’ve been run over by a Mack truck.</p>
<p>When Mike’s production of “Death of a Salesman” was on Broadway, I hosted a benefit at the Library of America, and I asked the cast to do a benefit, and they came out and did a Q&amp;A with the audience. With Phil Hoffman especially, it was just incredibly clear the toll that “Death of a Salesman” was taking. He wasn’t playing at somebody who was suicidal. In the part of Willy Loman, he took Arthur Miller at his word and didn’t show a guy nobly suffering but a person who was actively suicidal, which is a very strange mental place to be. You’re actively severing your ties to the earth, and it’s not entirely attractive to look at. It was in some ways the truest versions I’ve ever seen.</p>
<p>Then he came out and one of the first questions was, “Do you think you’ll ever get Willy Loman out of your head?” and he said, “Well, there’s a thought.” He looked like someone had spoken his worst nightmare. So it’s very costly. They’re going to a place emotionally, and it’s not possible that on some level that doesn’t take a toll. There’s the sacrificial animal part of theater. We’re watching people suffer so we don’t have to. EW: Do you believe in catharsis in the theater?</p>
<p>TK: I’m a child of Brecht. I revere him. I think he was one of the greatest playwrights who ever lived, almost always badly done. He’s a poet, and he created a genuinely significant body of theoretical writing. I’ve translated “Mother Courage and Her Children,” and I think it’s one of the most heartbreaking plays ever written, and the idea of catharsis and an enlisting of empathic faculties for the rehearsing for an audience of terror and pity, it’s part of the process.</p>
<p>He’s looking for a way to understand the world through Marx. And what Marx says is to understand the world, you have to look beneath the surface and that what we see as the surface, which is disguised as the natural, is actually an entirely constructed system that hides what’s really going on, which is a system of human relationships involved in the manufacturing of the world and the manufacturing of value, in which some people get a lot and some people get very little. And it has nothing to do with the amount of their lives they’re expending in this creation. It has to do with ownership of property and grotesque imbalances in wealth and not just in human misery because of poverty, but an almost spiritual affliction that’s visited on the people whose laboring lives are stolen from them.</p>
<p>To look and see that’s what’s really under an iPhone, takes a kind of seeing, and what Brecht understands, as Shakespeare did, is that’s why we go to the theater — because it shows us this magnificent surface and demands that we look beneath the surface at the same time — and that double vision and critical consciousness which not just Marx, but everybody including Aristotle and Plato, said you have to develop or you’re just a fool. Life will be handed to you and you’ll be entirely its victim.</p>
<p>EW: What do you like about working with Tony Taccone?</p>
<p>TK: Directing is this kind of paradoxical thing of guiding and setting free. It’s like really great parenting — if you over-guide and protect your child, they’re going to turn into a hothouse flower who can’t set foot into direct sunlight, and if you don’t guide them at all, they’re going to turn into some sort of feral creature. That balance is hard to do, and he’s really great at that. Tony has a wonderful spirit and a great sense of humor, and we make each other laugh.</p>
<p>He’s also kind of fearless. I remember when we did “Brundibar,” one of the greatest works of children’s theater ever that was performed in Terezin, a concentration camp, and the composer, Hans Krása, was killed in Auschwitz. It’s only half an hour, so you need something to go with it. I had found this opera called “Comedy on the Bridge.” It’s almost an hour long, and it’s a very adult piece of music. It’s about adultery really — it’s not for kids. Maurice [Sendak] did this fantastic set, but we saw while the kids loved “Brundibar,” “Comedy” was over their heads. So we were about to do it in New York, and I thought this is just a mistake, and I’d always been haunted by the story of how the score got into Terezin. Krása wrote it outside and then he got taken to Terezin, and he didn’t have the score with him. Someone smuggled it in his suitcase when he was arrested and taken to the camp.</p>
<p>They had just packed up the sets on Monday and were going to unload them in New York on Friday. So on Monday night, I sat down and wrote a curtain raiser for “Brundibar” about the smuggling of the score in, and I was really pleased with it. I called Taccone on Tuesday morning, and I said, “You’re going to think I’ve lost my mind, but if you could come here and find a little girl to do this we could do this and drop “Comedy.” He read it and said, “I love it, but it’s incredibly crazy, and we can’t do this.” Then he came out early, and we found a girl who was fantastic and we loved it, but we were still leaving the option to do “Comedy.” The cutoff was 5 o’clock on Friday. By then the Teamsters had to load the sets off the truck and if they did, we were doing “Comedy.” If they didn’t, we were doing “But the Giraffe,” my play.</p>
<p>We had a read through Friday afternoon, and I was losing my nerve, and Maurice was having a nervous breakdown. I said to Tony, “You’re the director, you have to decide,” and we would go back and forth. At 5 to 5, literally in the middle of a conversation, he said, “Oh, fuck it!” and he stood up and popped open his clam phone and called the production manager, and said, “Leave the sets on the truck.” And we did it, and it was fantastic. It changed everything. The kids loved it, and people were crying. Most responsible people would have said, “Oh, we can’t.” But there’s a part of him that loves shutting his eyes and holding his nose and jumping into mid space. Sorry — that took forever — I’ve never told that before. But things like that, it’s thrilling. So I love working with him.</p>
<p>EW: It says in the literature about this play that it deals with, among other things, the paralysis of the left. How does it do that?</p>
<p>TK: The play certainly came out of something I’ve been saying publicly for some time and wrestling with. ‘The left’ is a big word — it’s a multi-headed creature with unspecified boundaries. I think of myself as a person of the left, and I identify almost tribally with the left. It’s a term that means something to me, but I’ve been sort of critical of the left.</p>
<p>It started for me around the time of the Iraq War when I spoke at this enormous rally before the bombing of Baghdad started. I think it might be the largest march in the history of New York City — it was at least a million people. It was really cold, below zero, as I remember it, and these people were so distraught and horrified by what was about to be done by America. They came out in the digital age, and they were on the street protesting to say, “We don’t want you, Bush, to do this.” I had this feeling while I was staring at this immense sea of people that I didn’t quite believe that this was going to accomplish anything. Then the next day Bush said about the demonstrations, “Well, it’s sort of like a focus group.” People got very angry, but I think it’s one of the only recognizably true things the little shit ever said, because that’s exactly what we were. We had no more power than an advisory group that people who did have power were completely free to listen to or, as was likely, to ignore.</p>
<p>I remember that horrendous feeling of falling headlong into the abyss as we saw this thing coming, and The New York Times and everybody else were saying it was a good idea, and people who should know better had for some reason forgotten who was going to be commander-in-chief. All other concerns aside, it’s not going to work if the people running the thing are sociopaths and criminals — it’s just going to go badly.</p>
<p>Sometimes you’re going to have people in the White House who just cannot be handed this extremely dangerous tool. There’s never been anybody in the White House who that’s ever been more true of than George W. Bush. His entire record shows he had no understanding of what death was, he had no normal regard for human life, he executed more people than anyone. So it was a horrible time, and I went to a lot of anti-war demos and teach-ins.</p>
<p>I remember going to one teach-in in Cooper Union after the bombing had started, and this guy said, “The Congress can’t help us, the president isn’t going to help us, we have to take to the streets.” And I thought, “What are you talking about?” That isn’t going to happen in any time that’s going to mean anything to the people of Iraq, and you’re saying Congress isn’t going to help us. Yes, manifestly, the Senate had just handed over war powers to Bush. So it was like, sure, go ahead and create mayhem in this imponderable crazy way.</p>
<p>And the more I thought about it — I think Barack Obama is a great president, and the left has responded to him since day one, and God knows it has not let up since — there’s just been what I consider to be this profoundly dangerous willingness to speak with a shocking recklessness about this administration, and to dismiss it over and over as being no better than Bush. There’s no sophistication about politics and how power works in a democracy. It feels to me that we’ve been in complete exile ever since the Clinton era, and we have found this very dangerous place for people to find when they’re citizens of a democracy, which is we became critics. And if you don’t have power, it’s terrible on one level because you can really get fucked over, but it’s also great because if you don’t have to make compromises in terms of ideology, you can be completely pure in what you believe and be absolutely appalled by any variance because you don’t have to do anything. You just sit back and criticize the people who do.</p>
<p>The fact that we have recovered economically, that we have universal health care, is never even talked about. We screamed and yelled about him saying, “I need time to evolve my feelings about gay marriage.” There’s no way on earth that Barack Obama, a constitutional law scholar, didn’t understand the difference between religious marriage and a secular institution. Could an African-American man in 2008 elected as president have come out for gay marriage? Would you rather have had a Republican in the White House in 2008 and 2012? When he decided to support gay marriage, he picked exactly the right moment, and it worked.</p>
<p>I feel like this is frequently the history of the left, and it’s become increasingly that. People I admire enormously who I think do incredibly important work are being critical — but you really want to have the NSA brought under control? Get rid of the fucking Patriot Act and get a Congress that could actually work as opposed to what we have now, which is a Congress so overburdened with tea party insanity that it literally can’t do anything. The checks-and-balances system is still as far as I know kind of the best idea for how to make a machine for self-governing if the people participate.</p>
<p>But then the people have to participate. If we run around yelling and screaming the government is of no interest, in what way are we different than Rand Paul? Or Ron Paul? We’re just a different form of anarchism. Left anarchism has a very lovely, powerful history, but anarchism is insanity, I think. Law is an expression of a collective will if it’s just law. If you get lucky, unbelievably lucky, and you get an Abraham Lincoln or a Barack Obama, count your fucking blessings. It doesn’t mean you don’t criticize them, but you make sure your criticism doesn’t rise to such a level that only when the Republican candidate is stupid enough to get caught on tape saying he doesn’t give a shit about 47 percent of the country, do you win re-election for a Democrat.</p>
<p>We’re going into a midterm now, and if we lose the Congress, a lot of things will have contributed to that, but there’s an unceasing din of very principled, very sincere people on the left, and this vast, very important energy is not going into making sure we get control of the Congress, get control of the executive branch, get control of the Supreme Court, and roll back Citizens United, which has to be overturned soon. Unless you really have belief there is going to be some kind of revolution that overturns the U.S. government and gives us something better, and no one who isn’t psychotic could really say that that’s likely, we have to start to think about what the fantasy of revolution is, and I don’t mean to belittle it by that. It’s a dream, and it has immense power, and I hope this comes across in the play — it’s not dismissible and it’s not negligible — but in terms of a theoretical basis that guides us into action, why we don’t recognize how often in American history, electoral processes and a functioning democratic republic have brought us to radical transformation is incomprehensible to me.</p>
<p>EW: When has that happened?</p>
<p>TK: We have so many instances and we’re living through one now with LGBT rights. It’s something that it seemed like it would take millennia to turn the country around, and something happens, usually in concert [with] the street and the halls of power, you know, Selma and the March on Washington and the Voting Rights Act and the Great Society programs. Things can change and they can change radically and old baked-in forms of oppression and bigotry and racism and sexism — suddenly, they’re not so baked in, and why don’t we have more faith in that?</p> | true | 4 | someone finds writing tortuous tony kushner lot probably best known twopart epic angels america gay fantasia national themes kushners plays include slavs homebodykabul bright room called day caroline change also wrote screenplays mike nichols film version angels america steven spielbergs films munich lincoln kushner three obies emmy pulitzer prize recently came back berkeley repertory theatre seven plays produced west coast premiere latest intelligent homosexuals guide capitalism socialism key scriptures husband nicknamed iho play directed kushners longtime collaborator tony taccone artistic director berkeley rep codirected angels america tells story family brooklyn whose communist longshoreman father decided commit suicide runs berkeley june 29 berkeley rehearsals kushner talked plays watch actors suffer dont taccones fearlessness collaborating brundibar childrens opera originally performed concentration camp toll death salesman took late philip seymour hoffman ability democracy elections bring radical change frustration leftists dismissing government rather trying transform interview edited clarity length emily wilson find fun get rework plays like youre one tony kushner never find writing fun torture gratifying feels like didnt understand first time understand maybe im slow love opportunity film one great shocks first time film mikes version angels two movies steven didnt realize every day shooting put another scene means one another scenes youve written gone itll take final shape editing room theres constant sense loss even filming fantastic ive really lucky three things ive done far im really proud know watching daniel day lewis unbelievable things lincoln like big cabinet speech talks long time film watching many actors one electrifying things ive ever sat hes fantastic im proud one ever another way dont experience theater play keeps going since get thing keeps air way find gratifying pleasurable although show like backbreaking lot ways ew backbreaking tk long play dark play think emotionally painful play ive ever written theres struggle play despair hope belief progress belief revolution think conundrum center progressive political soul family drama pretty unhappy family pretty dense although dont know anything come dont panic listen youll fine weve worked hard make sure people taken care dont expert pretty arcane things people discussing follow easy play hard actors dont know actors eight times week youre really going play dont figure shorthand way go every single night actors dont understand stay sane course many dont see end long rehearsal look like theyve run mack truck mikes production death salesman broadway hosted benefit library america asked cast benefit came qampa audience phil hoffman especially incredibly clear toll death salesman taking wasnt playing somebody suicidal part willy loman took arthur miller word didnt show guy nobly suffering person actively suicidal strange mental place youre actively severing ties earth entirely attractive look ways truest versions ive ever seen came one first questions think youll ever get willy loman head said well theres thought looked like someone spoken worst nightmare costly theyre going place emotionally possible level doesnt take toll theres sacrificial animal part theater watching people suffer dont ew believe catharsis theater tk im child brecht revere think one greatest playwrights ever lived almost always badly done hes poet created genuinely significant body theoretical writing ive translated mother courage children think one heartbreaking plays ever written idea catharsis enlisting empathic faculties rehearsing audience terror pity part process hes looking way understand world marx marx says understand world look beneath surface see surface disguised natural actually entirely constructed system hides whats really going system human relationships involved manufacturing world manufacturing value people get lot people get little nothing amount lives theyre expending creation ownership property grotesque imbalances wealth human misery poverty almost spiritual affliction thats visited people whose laboring lives stolen look see thats whats really iphone takes kind seeing brecht understands shakespeare thats go theater shows us magnificent surface demands look beneath surface time double vision critical consciousness marx everybody including aristotle plato said develop youre fool life handed youll entirely victim ew like working tony taccone tk directing kind paradoxical thing guiding setting free like really great parenting overguide protect child theyre going turn hothouse flower cant set foot direct sunlight dont guide theyre going turn sort feral creature balance hard hes really great tony wonderful spirit great sense humor make laugh hes also kind fearless remember brundibar one greatest works childrens theater ever performed terezin concentration camp composer hans krása killed auschwitz half hour need something go found opera called comedy bridge almost hour long adult piece music adultery really kids maurice sendak fantastic set saw kids loved brundibar comedy heads new york thought mistake id always haunted story score got terezin krása wrote outside got taken terezin didnt score someone smuggled suitcase arrested taken camp packed sets monday going unload new york friday monday night sat wrote curtain raiser brundibar smuggling score really pleased called taccone tuesday morning said youre going think ive lost mind could come find little girl could drop comedy read said love incredibly crazy cant came early found girl fantastic loved still leaving option comedy cutoff 5 oclock friday teamsters load sets truck comedy didnt giraffe play read friday afternoon losing nerve maurice nervous breakdown said tony youre director decide would go back forth 5 5 literally middle conversation said oh fuck stood popped open clam phone called production manager said leave sets truck fantastic changed everything kids loved people crying responsible people would said oh cant theres part loves shutting eyes holding nose jumping mid space sorry took forever ive never told things like thrilling love working ew says literature play deals among things paralysis left tk play certainly came something ive saying publicly time wrestling left big word multiheaded creature unspecified boundaries think person left identify almost tribally left term means something ive sort critical left started around time iraq war spoke enormous rally bombing baghdad started think might largest march history new york city least million people really cold zero remember people distraught horrified done america came digital age street protesting say dont want bush feeling staring immense sea people didnt quite believe going accomplish anything next day bush said demonstrations well sort like focus group people got angry think one recognizably true things little shit ever said thats exactly power advisory group people power completely free listen likely ignore remember horrendous feeling falling headlong abyss saw thing coming new york times everybody else saying good idea people know better reason forgotten going commanderinchief concerns aside going work people running thing sociopaths criminals going go badly sometimes youre going people white house handed extremely dangerous tool theres never anybody white house thats ever true george w bush entire record shows understanding death normal regard human life executed people anyone horrible time went lot antiwar demos teachins remember going one teachin cooper union bombing started guy said congress cant help us president isnt going help us take streets thought talking isnt going happen time thats going mean anything people iraq youre saying congress isnt going help us yes manifestly senate handed war powers bush like sure go ahead create mayhem imponderable crazy way thought think barack obama great president left responded since day one god knows let since theres consider profoundly dangerous willingness speak shocking recklessness administration dismiss better bush theres sophistication politics power works democracy feels weve complete exile ever since clinton era found dangerous place people find theyre citizens democracy became critics dont power terrible one level really get fucked also great dont make compromises terms ideology completely pure believe absolutely appalled variance dont anything sit back criticize people fact recovered economically universal health care never even talked screamed yelled saying need time evolve feelings gay marriage theres way earth barack obama constitutional law scholar didnt understand difference religious marriage secular institution could africanamerican man 2008 elected president come gay marriage would rather republican white house 2008 2012 decided support gay marriage picked exactly right moment worked feel like frequently history left become increasingly people admire enormously think incredibly important work critical really want nsa brought control get rid fucking patriot act get congress could actually work opposed congress overburdened tea party insanity literally cant anything checksandbalances system still far know kind best idea make machine selfgoverning people participate people participate run around yelling screaming government interest way different rand paul ron paul different form anarchism left anarchism lovely powerful history anarchism insanity think law expression collective law get lucky unbelievably lucky get abraham lincoln barack obama count fucking blessings doesnt mean dont criticize make sure criticism doesnt rise level republican candidate stupid enough get caught tape saying doesnt give shit 47 percent country win reelection democrat going midterm lose congress lot things contributed theres unceasing din principled sincere people left vast important energy going making sure get control congress get control executive branch get control supreme court roll back citizens united overturned soon unless really belief going kind revolution overturns us government gives us something better one isnt psychotic could really say thats likely start think fantasy revolution dont mean belittle dream immense power hope comes across play dismissible negligible terms theoretical basis guides us action dont recognize often american history electoral processes functioning democratic republic brought us radical transformation incomprehensible ew happened tk many instances living one lgbt rights something seemed like would take millennia turn country around something happens usually concert street halls power know selma march washington voting rights act great society programs things change change radically old bakedin forms oppression bigotry racism sexism suddenly theyre baked dont faith | 1,559 |
<p>At a time when Palestinian men, women and children, corralled in the ghetto of Gaza since 1948, are daily, hourly, relentlessly, being bombed from the air, land and sea, it is instructive to turn to some of the founding fathers of Zionism, and ask what they might have thought about this obscene consequence of their messianic vision.</p>
<p>In the writings of these founding fathers, the Palestinians rarely merit even a passing reference. You can pore through one of the earliest statements of the Zionist credo, Moses Hess’ Rome and Jerusalem, but you will find not a single reference to ‘Muslims’ or ‘Arabs.’ Twice, the word ‘Palestinian’ enters this venerated text; the first time, it appears in connection with the training of Jewish youth for the “life of a Palestinian farmer;’ and the second refers to the ‘Jerushalmi Palestinian Talmud Sanhedrin.’ Palestine always exists, inscribed on some divine tablet, as Israeli land; but there are no Palestinians.</p>
<p>If you search Theodore Herzl’s The Jewish State, you come away with the same disappointing results. It contains not a single reference to Muslims, Arabs or Palestinians: or even Bedouins. Incredibly, a search through Arthur Hertzberg’s The Zionist Idea, a classic anthology of excerpts from several generations of Zionist thinkers, produced identical results. The Muslims, Arabs or Palestinians never entered into their plans for a Jewish state. To use a term from Lawrence Davidson, this is ‘perceptual depopulation’ of Palestine, at its extreme.</p>
<p>Nearly from the outset, the Zionists exuded power. Palestine was a thing to be bought; and if it was not for sale, they would take it by force. Twice, Rabbi Kalischer urged the head of the Rothschild family and Moses Montefiore to buy Palestine – or, at least, Jerusalem – from the Ottoman Sultan. More than once, Theodore Herzl too offered to buy Palestine from the Ottoman Sultan. He was told, it was not for sale.</p>
<p>That would not derail Zionist plans; they could persuade one or more European powers to take it for the Jews by force. In 1818, Mordecai Noah, an early American Zionist, proposed that the Jews could create their own army and do it themselves. Nearly all Zionists were more pragmatic: they decided to let the Europeans do it for them.</p>
<p>This is how Theodore Herzl laid out his plan for creating a Jewish state. “Let the sovereignty be granted us over a portion of the globe large enough to satisfy the rightful requirements of a nation; the rest we shall manage for ourselves (italics added).” Hidden in that innocuous ‘the rest’ are the unmentionable people who inhabited Palestine. Two agencies would suffice to carry out this plan: The Society of Jews and The Jewish Company.</p>
<p>In the plan that Herzl worked out, The Society of Jews would “treat with the present masters of the land [the Ottomans], putting itself under the protectorate of the European powers…” Herzl adds that the “creation of our state would be beneficial to adjacent countries…;” but the people living there go unmentioned.</p>
<p>However, Herzl does pay careful attention to more weighty matters, such as how best to get rid of the “wild beasts” in the country they would appropriate. The methods used to colonize Palestine (or Argentina) would have to be modern, using the latest technology. “It is foolish,” he explains, “to revert to old stages of civilization, as many Zionists would like to do.”</p>
<p>Here is how the Zionists should work, Herzl explained, if they “were obliged to clear a country of wild beasts…” “We should not take spear and lance,” he emphasizes, “and go out singly in pursuit of bears; we should organize a large and lively hunting party, drive the animals together, and throw a melinite bomb into their midst (italics added).”</p>
<p>It is most unlikely that Herzl was speaking – even subconsciously, I will grant – of the Palestinians when he explains for the benefit of Jewish colons, how to clear their colony of “wild beasts” such as “bears.”</p>
<p>Nevertheless, who can escape noticing the eerie parallels between the methods that he proposes to get rid of the “wild beasts” and the strategy and tactics that Jewish colonists have adopted since 1948 to clear Palestine of its indigenous population?</p>
<p>Already, in the 1930s, the Yishuv had created “a large and lively hunting party” called the Haganah that would grow very quickly after 1948 into one of the most formidable militaries in the world.</p>
<p>In 1948, this “large and lively hunting party” would launch its first massive drive to “clear” Palestine of the “wild” Palestinians. The “hunting party” has since worked to ensure that the “wild” Palestinian refugees would never return to their lands. Whenever the “wild” Palestinians have ventured out of their refugee pens to re-enter or reclaim their lands, the “hunting party” has deterred them by throwing “a melinite bomb in their midst.”</p>
<p>A second drive to clear out the “wild” Palestinians was launched in 1967, when a much-expanded “hunting party” captured all of Palestine.</p>
<p>After 1967, the Israeli “hunting party” began to implement a new plan for clearing out the West Bank and Gaza of the “wild” Palestinians. Eager to make room for new cohorts of Jewish settlers, the “hunting party” began to “drive…together” the “wild” Palestinians into ever-smaller enclaves within these newly acquired territories.</p>
<p>In Gaza, the Israeli plans began to run into difficulty with the start of the Second Intifada in 2000. The Islamist Hamas had been gaining strength in the heavily overcrowded and miserable pens to which the Palestinians had been confined since 1948. In preparation for a new approach to neutralizing the besieged Palestinians, Israel adopted a new approach in 2005. It removed its “hunting party,” including Jewish settlers, out of harm’s way, as it moved to seal Gaza’s borders, the better to throw “melinite bombs into their midst.”</p>
<p>It is the ghastly culmination of this new strategy we have been witnessing in Gaza over the past weeks.</p>
<p>Israel is the crowning achievement of modernity in our times, of the rational, efficient and ruthless pursuit of power for one tribe; its success depends now, as in the past, on the massive deployment of “melinite bombs” against virtually unarmed “wild beasts.”</p>
<p>In the words of Herzl, again, Israel seeks to complete its colonial-settler enterprise “in a bolder and more stately style than was ever adopted before, for we now possess means which men never yet possessed.”</p>
<p>Yet, for more than a hundred years since the launching of the Zionist project, the “wild” Palestinians have remained undefeated. For more than thirty years, they faced the “iron wall of British bayonets;” and since 1948, they have courageously stood up against the thickening “iron wall of Jewish bayonets.”</p>
<p>The Palestinians have one resource the Zionists do not have: they have justice on their side.</p>
<p>Yet, justice has not always prevailed when it has been overmatched by brute force. America’s dead natives can testify to that. That is the hope that drives Israelis; they are sustained by their conviction that they “possess means which men never yet possessed.”</p>
<p>Perhaps, world conscience will wake up in time to convince the Zionists to the contrary. Perhaps, this can happen before it is too late, before the tide of history has turned decisively against Israel.</p>
<p>Israel can only be sustained if it can score repeated victories against the peoples of the Middle East – clear, quick and stunning victories, like those of 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1982. That has been changing, starting with Israel’s unilateral retreat from Lebanon in 2000. Then there was Israel’s costly and transparent failure to attain any of its objectives with the massive onslaught against Hizbullah in 2006. Israel faces another failure against Hamas now, against a much weaker foe.</p>
<p>How will Israel save face after this? Will they persist in their attempt to destroy the Palestinians, with a new generation of “melinite bombs” dispatched from the United States? Alternatively, will Israeli mothers force Israeli warmongers to make a sincere determination to make amends to the Palestinians and learn to live with them in a non-racist society?</p>
<p>Let us hope that Israelis – at last – will make the right choice.</p>
<p>M. SHAHID ALAM is professor of economics at Northeastern University. He is author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1889999458/counterpunchmaga" type="external">Challenging the New Orientalism</a> (2007). Send comments to <a href="" type="internal">alqalam02760@yahoo.com</a>.</p>
<p>Visit his website at: <a href="http://aslama.org" type="external">http://aslama.org</a>.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | time palestinian men women children corralled ghetto gaza since 1948 daily hourly relentlessly bombed air land sea instructive turn founding fathers zionism ask might thought obscene consequence messianic vision writings founding fathers palestinians rarely merit even passing reference pore one earliest statements zionist credo moses hess rome jerusalem find single reference muslims arabs twice word palestinian enters venerated text first time appears connection training jewish youth life palestinian farmer second refers jerushalmi palestinian talmud sanhedrin palestine always exists inscribed divine tablet israeli land palestinians search theodore herzls jewish state come away disappointing results contains single reference muslims arabs palestinians even bedouins incredibly search arthur hertzbergs zionist idea classic anthology excerpts several generations zionist thinkers produced identical results muslims arabs palestinians never entered plans jewish state use term lawrence davidson perceptual depopulation palestine extreme nearly outset zionists exuded power palestine thing bought sale would take force twice rabbi kalischer urged head rothschild family moses montefiore buy palestine least jerusalem ottoman sultan theodore herzl offered buy palestine ottoman sultan told sale would derail zionist plans could persuade one european powers take jews force 1818 mordecai noah early american zionist proposed jews could create army nearly zionists pragmatic decided let europeans theodore herzl laid plan creating jewish state let sovereignty granted us portion globe large enough satisfy rightful requirements nation rest shall manage italics added hidden innocuous rest unmentionable people inhabited palestine two agencies would suffice carry plan society jews jewish company plan herzl worked society jews would treat present masters land ottomans putting protectorate european powers herzl adds creation state would beneficial adjacent countries people living go unmentioned however herzl pay careful attention weighty matters best get rid wild beasts country would appropriate methods used colonize palestine argentina would modern using latest technology foolish explains revert old stages civilization many zionists would like zionists work herzl explained obliged clear country wild beasts take spear lance emphasizes go singly pursuit bears organize large lively hunting party drive animals together throw melinite bomb midst italics added unlikely herzl speaking even subconsciously grant palestinians explains benefit jewish colons clear colony wild beasts bears nevertheless escape noticing eerie parallels methods proposes get rid wild beasts strategy tactics jewish colonists adopted since 1948 clear palestine indigenous population already 1930s yishuv created large lively hunting party called haganah would grow quickly 1948 one formidable militaries world 1948 large lively hunting party would launch first massive drive clear palestine wild palestinians hunting party since worked ensure wild palestinian refugees would never return lands whenever wild palestinians ventured refugee pens reenter reclaim lands hunting party deterred throwing melinite bomb midst second drive clear wild palestinians launched 1967 muchexpanded hunting party captured palestine 1967 israeli hunting party began implement new plan clearing west bank gaza wild palestinians eager make room new cohorts jewish settlers hunting party began drivetogether wild palestinians eversmaller enclaves within newly acquired territories gaza israeli plans began run difficulty start second intifada 2000 islamist hamas gaining strength heavily overcrowded miserable pens palestinians confined since 1948 preparation new approach neutralizing besieged palestinians israel adopted new approach 2005 removed hunting party including jewish settlers harms way moved seal gazas borders better throw melinite bombs midst ghastly culmination new strategy witnessing gaza past weeks israel crowning achievement modernity times rational efficient ruthless pursuit power one tribe success depends past massive deployment melinite bombs virtually unarmed wild beasts words herzl israel seeks complete colonialsettler enterprise bolder stately style ever adopted possess means men never yet possessed yet hundred years since launching zionist project wild palestinians remained undefeated thirty years faced iron wall british bayonets since 1948 courageously stood thickening iron wall jewish bayonets palestinians one resource zionists justice side yet justice always prevailed overmatched brute force americas dead natives testify hope drives israelis sustained conviction possess means men never yet possessed perhaps world conscience wake time convince zionists contrary perhaps happen late tide history turned decisively israel israel sustained score repeated victories peoples middle east clear quick stunning victories like 1948 1956 1967 1982 changing starting israels unilateral retreat lebanon 2000 israels costly transparent failure attain objectives massive onslaught hizbullah 2006 israel faces another failure hamas much weaker foe israel save face persist attempt destroy palestinians new generation melinite bombs dispatched united states alternatively israeli mothers force israeli warmongers make sincere determination make amends palestinians learn live nonracist society let us hope israelis last make right choice shahid alam professor economics northeastern university author challenging new orientalism 2007 send comments alqalam02760yahoocom visit website httpaslamaorg 160 160 160 160 160 | 747 |
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<p>6:01 p.m. PST: According to <a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_BELGIUM_ATTACKS_THE_LATEST?SITE=AP&amp;SECTION=HOME&amp;TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&amp;CTIME=2016-03-22-14-31-43" type="external">The Associated Press</a>, Islamic State has released a statement warning that Tuesday’s attacks in Brussels would be followed by more violence in other parts of the world:</p>
<p>The statement promises “dark days” for countries allied against the Islamic State, threatening that “what is coming is worse and more bitter.”</p>
<p>[… Islamic State] also released photos purportedly showing its fighters in Syria giving out candy to children to celebrate the Brussels attacks, according to SITE [an intelligence group that monitors jihadi websites].</p>
<p />
<p>* * *</p>
<p>2:45 p.m. PST: The following update comes to us from Truthdig columnist, author and political expert <a href="" type="internal">Bill Boyarsky</a>:</p>
<p>The terrorist attack on Brussels, with its heavy toll of dead and wounded, will increase demands from Republicans and Democrats for surveillance and infiltration of American and foreign Muslim groups—and push non-Muslim America toward greater acceptance of police-state methods against believers of Islam, including surveillance of their mosques and daily life and more restrictions on travel.</p>
<p>It will also help make the presidential campaign a referendum on religious rights. That’s what Islamic State wanted to achieve with its latest attack and those in Paris and perhaps San Bernardino—to create fear and discord in Europe and in a United States already stressed by the divisive presidential campaign.</p>
<p>Republican front-runner Donald Trump was the first to jump on the issue, hitting the phone with calls to the morning television shows, saying that his tough-on-immigrants stand is responsible for his success in the polls and primaries. Republican candidate Sen. Ted Cruz demanded immigration restrictions and new powers for “law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized.”</p>
<p>Mosque by mosque, house by house, store by store the Cruz-empowered police would search and round up anyone striking them as suspicious. Law offices would be scoured by cops. Muslims and their non-Muslim supporters would be subjected to heavy questioning.</p>
<p>President Obama said, “We must be together, regardless of nationality or race or faith” in fighting terrorism. Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were on the same wavelength as the president. But they may find it difficult to be heard, with Trump and Cruz stirring up fears and appealing to a sizable streak of American intolerance.</p>
<p>In this atmosphere, it will take a brave person—politician or average citizen—to stand up for the rights of the besieged Muslim community. * * *</p>
<p>2:35 p.m. PST: And now for Blame Obama: Rudy Giuliani edition. Making use of a tense and tragic moment, the former New York City mayor and 2008 Republican presidential candidate piled on the president on Fox News (via <a href="http://mediamatters.org/video/2016/03/22/foxs-giuliani-blames-obama-for-brussels-terror/209462" type="external">Media Matters for America</a>):</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>2:31 p.m. PST: On the Democratic side of the aisle, Vermont Sen. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/03/22/bernie-sanders-decries-barbarism-of-brussels-attacks/" type="external">Sanders had this to say</a> earlier on Tuesday about the attacks in the European Union capital (via The New York Times):</p>
<p>“We offer our deepest condolences to the families who lost loved ones in this barbaric attack and to the people of Brussels who were the target of another cowardly attempt to terrorize innocent civilians. We stand with our European allies to offer any necessary assistance in these difficult times.</p>
<p>“Today’s attack is a brutal reminder that the international community must come together to destroy ISIS. This type of barbarism cannot be allowed to continue.”</p>
<p>Here’s Sanders’ rival, former Secretary of State Clinton, on Tuesday’s events (via <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/03/22/donald_trump_ted_cruz_hillary_clinton_and_other_candidates_respond_to_brussels.html" type="external">Slate</a>):</p>
<p>“Terrorists have once again struck at the heart of Europe, but their campaign of hate and fear will not succeed,” her campaign said in a statement. “The people of Brussels, of Europe, and of the world will not be intimidated by these vicious killers. Today Americans stand in solidarity with our European allies.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>2:00 p.m. PST: More from the AP, this time on “three Kosovars”—people from the disputed Balkans territory of Kosovar— <a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_BELGIUM_ATTACKS_THE_LATEST?SITE=AP&amp;SECTION=HOME&amp;TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&amp;CTIME=2016-03-22-11-40-49" type="external">arrested by police in southern Germany</a>: “According to the report, they were in a Belgian-registered car. However, the criminal police office said that there are no indications at this point of any link with Tuesday’s attacks in Brussels.”</p>
<p>On this side of the Atlantic, <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/273941-cruz-clarifies-call-to-patrol-and-secure-muslims" type="external">The Hill</a> posted a follow-up to Cruz’s inflammatory comment, made earlier Tuesday, about domestic surveillance of Muslim neighborhoods:</p>
<p>Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign on Tuesday elaborated on his controversial call to “patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods” in the wake of a terror attack in Brussels, Belgium, that left dozens dead and wounded.</p>
<p>“We know what is happening with these isolated Muslim neighborhoods in Europe,” the Cruz campaign said in a statement to The Hill. “If we want to prevent it from happening here, it is going to require an empowered, visible law enforcement presence that will both identify problem spots and partner with non-radical Americans who want to protect their homes.”</p>
<p>In the aftermath of the attack in Belgium, Cruz called for the U.S. to “empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized.”</p>
<p>–Posted by <a href="" type="internal">Kasia Anderson</a> * * *</p>
<p>1:24 p.m. PST: Currently <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/StopIslam?src=tren" type="external">trending on Twitter is #StopIslam</a>, with almost 200,000 tweets using the hashtag.</p>
<p>Launched by those who <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/tech/brussels-attack-stopislam-trends-twitter-7608089" type="external">blame the religion</a> for Tuesday morning’s terrorist attacks in Brussels, the hashtag was immediately picked up by Twitter users criticizing those who began the trend.</p>
<p>As of this posting, most of the top tweets including #StopIslam pointed out the narrow-mindedness of blaming Muslims for atrocities committed by Islamic State.</p>
<p>“Terrorism has no religion,” <a href="https://twitter.com/jannahsabr/status/712328561500114945" type="external">one user said</a>. Others pointed out the hypocrisy of blaming Muslims for terrorist acts when in the United States most mass shootings are <a href="https://twitter.com/amjadt25/status/712323754823716865" type="external">perpetuated by white males</a>.</p>
<p>Many users are <a href="https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/712326051477630976" type="external">calling on Twitter</a> to stop the incendiary hashtag from spreading.</p>
<p>Although the hashtag is now backfiring as users call out its inherent Islamophobia, the fact that it surfaced so quickly after news of the Brussels attacks broke is a reminder of how Islamic State attempts to divide people through acts of terror.</p>
<p>–Posted by <a href="" type="internal">Emma Niles</a> * * *</p>
<p>12:21 p.m. PST: Belgian prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw remarked that it’s “too early to establish a link with the Paris attacks” and those that occurred Tuesday in his own country, Agence France-Presse (AFP) <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/belgian-prosecutor-says-too-early-links-paris-attacks-181339453.html" type="external">reports</a>.</p>
<p>Former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell commented on Islamic State’s growing ranks and strength on Tuesday’s edition of “CBS This Morning” (via <a href="https://www.rt.com/usa/336765-morell-brussels-isis-winning/" type="external">RT</a>):</p>
<p>“So I would say they’re winning, right? They’re winning, and we’re going to have to find additional approaches to try to undermine them,” Morell said.</p>
<p>Morell said he believes [Islamic State] has “more territory today around the world than they did at any time, and they’ve conducted now attacks in Paris, San Bernardino and now in Brussels.”</p>
<p>Following the Brussels attacks, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, an international coalition founded in 1969 and comprising 57 member states, issued this press release:</p>
<p>Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the world’s second largest inter-governmental body, strongly condemns terrorist attacks in Brussels</p>
<p>The Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Iyad Ameen Madani, condemned in the strictest terms the terrorist attacks perpetrated at various locations in the Belgian Capital, Brussels this morning which killed at least 13 and injured many more innocent and peaceful people.</p>
<p>Mr. Madani conveyed his sincere condolences to the families of the victims as well as to the Government and people of Belgium and wished for speedy recovery of the wounded. He also reaffirmed the OIC’s unwavering solidarity and support to Belgium at these critical and painful circumstances.</p>
<p>The Secretary General expressed his firm rejection of these terrorist acts, which violate the sanctity of human life and reiterated OIC’s principled and consistent position in condemning terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.</p>
<p>The Secretary General also called upon all governments across the world, international organizations and civil society institutions to engage in a concerted joint firm action to combat the scourge of terrorism which represents a serious threat to international peace and security.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>10:50 a.m. PST: Federal police in Belgium <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/03/22/471391497/what-we-know-terrorist-bombing-at-brussels-airport?utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=npr&amp;utm_term=nprnews&amp;utm_content=20160322" type="external">released</a> a photo of a suspect in the bombing, along with a question: “Who recognizes this man?” * * *</p>
<p>10:18 a.m. PST: Republican presidential front-runner Trump jumped on the news from Brussels, spotting an opening to once again call for aggressive—even unconstitutional—measures to target terrorism at home and abroad.</p>
<p>As The New York Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/03/22/warning-of-u-s-attacks-donald-trump-advocates-allowing-torture/" type="external">reported</a>, Trump turned the focus back to domestic terrorism, stating, “This is going to happen in the United States.”</p>
<p><a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/trump-brussels-attacks-221075" type="external">Politico made note of Trump’s comments</a> on Tuesday morning’s news circuit:</p>
<p>Shortly after news broke of the terrorist attacks in Brussels, Donald Trump was on television. He didn’t wait to consult with the foreign-policy advisors he announced a day earlier; instead he quickly condemned the attacks and argued that they serve as further rationale for some of his most controversial ideas, from closing America’s borders to allowing the greater use [of] torture in the war on terrorists.</p>
<p>Touring the morning talk-show circuit following multiple explosions throughout the Belgian capital on Tuesday, the Republican front-runner stressed that he is the strongest candidate on border control, an issue he said he has emphasized more than any other GOP contender.</p>
<p>Trump said immigrants aren’t assimilating to other countries’ cultures and that America has to be vigilant.</p>
<p>“We have no idea what’s happening. Our government has absolutely no idea what’s happening, but they’re coming into our country,” predicted Trump, offering no further evidence or specificity. “They’re coming in by the thousands and just watch what happens — I’m a pretty good prognosticator — just watch what happens over the years. It won’t be pretty.”</p>
<p>On the “Today” show, Trump <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/reaction-brussels-terror-attack-trump-says-do-more-waterboarding-n543396" type="external">repeated prior declarations</a> he had made about changing laws and said that under his leadership, “the waterboarding” would be included in the U.S. repertoire of anti-terrorist tactics:</p>
<p>“The waterboarding would be fine. You could expand the laws more than waterboarding to get the information from these people,” Trump said on the TODAY Show.</p>
<p>“If it was up to me and if we changed the laws or have the laws, waterboarding would be fine and if they want to, as long as its, you know we work within the laws. They don’t work within the laws,” he added.</p>
<p>Trump’s GOP rival, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, took a different tack. His spokesman, Chris Schrimpf, told Politico: “Governor Kasich believes that leadership isn’t about playing on people’s fears and driving panic. … It is about responding calmly, bringing people together and talking about the way forward.”</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Cruz fell back on another GOP refrain: the trusty blame-Obama trope, calling for the president to cut short his historic Cuban visit (via <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/ted-cruz-calls-president-obama-home-brussels/story?id=37839050" type="external">ABC News</a>):</p>
<p>–Posted by <a href="" type="internal">Kasia Anderson</a> * * *</p>
<p>9:15 a.m. PST: According to <a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_BELGIUM_ATTACKS_THE_LATEST?SITE=AP&amp;SECTION=HOME&amp;TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&amp;CTIME=2016-03-22-11-40-49" type="external">The Associated Press</a>, Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the Brussels attacks, “saying its extremists opened fire in the airport and ‘several of them’ detonated suicide belts.” The extremist group declared that the attacks were a coordinated response to the Belgian government’s “support of the international coalition arrayed against it.” * * *</p>
<p>Explosions on Tuesday at the Zaventem airport and the Maelbeek metro station in Brussels—only four days after the only survivor involved in the Paris attacks was apprehended there—have raised suspicions that the attacks were a coordinated reprisal.</p>
<p>From The Guardian:</p>
<p>A series of explosions has ripped through the departure hall of a Brussels airport and a metro station in the Belgian capital, killing at least 34 people and leaving many more wounded.</p>
<p>Two blasts targeted the main hall of Zaventem airport at about 8am local time (7am GMT) with a third detonating in Maelbeek metro station, about 100 metres from the headquarters of the European commission, shortly afterwards, as commuters were making their way to work in the rush hour. … “This is a black day for Belgium,” said the Belgian prime minister, Charles Michel, adding “what we feared has happened”.</p>
<p>Authorities are worried about the possibility of more attacks, he added, saying: “We realise we face a tragic moment. We have to be calm and show solidarity.”</p>
<p>Read more about the breaking story as it develops <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2016/mar/22/brussels-airport-explosions-live-updates" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p>— Posted by <a href="" type="internal">Natasha Hakimi Zapata</a></p> | true | 4 | 601 pm pst according associated press islamic state released statement warning tuesdays attacks brussels would followed violence parts world statement promises dark days countries allied islamic state threatening coming worse bitter islamic state also released photos purportedly showing fighters syria giving candy children celebrate brussels attacks according site intelligence group monitors jihadi websites 245 pm pst following update comes us truthdig columnist author political expert bill boyarsky terrorist attack brussels heavy toll dead wounded increase demands republicans democrats surveillance infiltration american foreign muslim groupsand push nonmuslim america toward greater acceptance policestate methods believers islam including surveillance mosques daily life restrictions travel also help make presidential campaign referendum religious rights thats islamic state wanted achieve latest attack paris perhaps san bernardinoto create fear discord europe united states already stressed divisive presidential campaign republican frontrunner donald trump first jump issue hitting phone calls morning television shows saying toughonimmigrants stand responsible success polls primaries republican candidate sen ted cruz demanded immigration restrictions new powers law enforcement patrol secure muslim neighborhoods become radicalized mosque mosque house house store store cruzempowered police would search round anyone striking suspicious law offices would scoured cops muslims nonmuslim supporters would subjected heavy questioning president obama said must together regardless nationality race faith fighting terrorism democratic presidential candidates hillary clinton bernie sanders wavelength president may find difficult heard trump cruz stirring fears appealing sizable streak american intolerance atmosphere take brave personpolitician average citizento stand rights besieged muslim community 235 pm pst blame obama rudy giuliani edition making use tense tragic moment former new york city mayor 2008 republican presidential candidate piled president fox news via media matters america 231 pm pst democratic side aisle vermont sen sanders say earlier tuesday attacks european union capital via new york times offer deepest condolences families lost loved ones barbaric attack people brussels target another cowardly attempt terrorize innocent civilians stand european allies offer necessary assistance difficult times todays attack brutal reminder international community must come together destroy isis type barbarism allowed continue heres sanders rival former secretary state clinton tuesdays events via slate terrorists struck heart europe campaign hate fear succeed campaign said statement people brussels europe world intimidated vicious killers today americans stand solidarity european allies 200 pm pst ap time three kosovarspeople disputed balkans territory kosovar arrested police southern germany according report belgianregistered car however criminal police office said indications point link tuesdays attacks brussels side atlantic hill posted followup cruzs inflammatory comment made earlier tuesday domestic surveillance muslim neighborhoods ted cruzs presidential campaign tuesday elaborated controversial call patrol secure muslim neighborhoods wake terror attack brussels belgium left dozens dead wounded know happening isolated muslim neighborhoods europe cruz campaign said statement hill want prevent happening going require empowered visible law enforcement presence identify problem spots partner nonradical americans want protect homes aftermath attack belgium cruz called us empower law enforcement patrol secure muslim neighborhoods become radicalized posted kasia anderson 124 pm pst currently trending twitter stopislam almost 200000 tweets using hashtag launched blame religion tuesday mornings terrorist attacks brussels hashtag immediately picked twitter users criticizing began trend posting top tweets including stopislam pointed narrowmindedness blaming muslims atrocities committed islamic state terrorism religion one user said others pointed hypocrisy blaming muslims terrorist acts united states mass shootings perpetuated white males many users calling twitter stop incendiary hashtag spreading although hashtag backfiring users call inherent islamophobia fact surfaced quickly news brussels attacks broke reminder islamic state attempts divide people acts terror posted emma niles 1221 pm pst belgian prosecutor frederic van leeuw remarked early establish link paris attacks occurred tuesday country agence francepresse afp reports former cia deputy director michael morell commented islamic states growing ranks strength tuesdays edition cbs morning via rt would say theyre winning right theyre winning going find additional approaches try undermine morell said morell said believes islamic state territory today around world time theyve conducted attacks paris san bernardino brussels following brussels attacks organization islamic cooperation international coalition founded 1969 comprising 57 member states issued press release organization islamic cooperation worlds second largest intergovernmental body strongly condemns terrorist attacks brussels secretary general organization islamic cooperation iyad ameen madani condemned strictest terms terrorist attacks perpetrated various locations belgian capital brussels morning killed least 13 injured many innocent peaceful people mr madani conveyed sincere condolences families victims well government people belgium wished speedy recovery wounded also reaffirmed oics unwavering solidarity support belgium critical painful circumstances secretary general expressed firm rejection terrorist acts violate sanctity human life reiterated oics principled consistent position condemning terrorism forms manifestations secretary general also called upon governments across world international organizations civil society institutions engage concerted joint firm action combat scourge terrorism represents serious threat international peace security 1050 pst federal police belgium released photo suspect bombing along question recognizes man 1018 pst republican presidential frontrunner trump jumped news brussels spotting opening call aggressiveeven unconstitutionalmeasures target terrorism home abroad new york times reported trump turned focus back domestic terrorism stating going happen united states politico made note trumps comments tuesday mornings news circuit shortly news broke terrorist attacks brussels donald trump television didnt wait consult foreignpolicy advisors announced day earlier instead quickly condemned attacks argued serve rationale controversial ideas closing americas borders allowing greater use torture war terrorists touring morning talkshow circuit following multiple explosions throughout belgian capital tuesday republican frontrunner stressed strongest candidate border control issue said emphasized gop contender trump said immigrants arent assimilating countries cultures america vigilant idea whats happening government absolutely idea whats happening theyre coming country predicted trump offering evidence specificity theyre coming thousands watch happens im pretty good prognosticator watch happens years wont pretty today show trump repeated prior declarations made changing laws said leadership waterboarding would included us repertoire antiterrorist tactics waterboarding would fine could expand laws waterboarding get information people trump said today show changed laws laws waterboarding would fine want long know work within laws dont work within laws added trumps gop rival ohio gov john kasich took different tack spokesman chris schrimpf told politico governor kasich believes leadership isnt playing peoples fears driving panic responding calmly bringing people together talking way forward meanwhile cruz fell back another gop refrain trusty blameobama trope calling president cut short historic cuban visit via abc news posted kasia anderson 915 pst according associated press islamic state claimed responsibility brussels attacks saying extremists opened fire airport several detonated suicide belts extremist group declared attacks coordinated response belgian governments support international coalition arrayed explosions tuesday zaventem airport maelbeek metro station brusselsonly four days survivor involved paris attacks apprehended therehave raised suspicions attacks coordinated reprisal guardian series explosions ripped departure hall brussels airport metro station belgian capital killing least 34 people leaving many wounded two blasts targeted main hall zaventem airport 8am local time 7am gmt third detonating maelbeek metro station 100 metres headquarters european commission shortly afterwards commuters making way work rush hour black day belgium said belgian prime minister charles michel adding feared happened authorities worried possibility attacks added saying realise face tragic moment calm show solidarity read breaking story develops posted natasha hakimi zapata | 1,165 |
<p>Has art ever had a more gallant champion than Mayor Rudy Giuliani? We cannot as yet set him beside Pope Julius II as a patron of the arts, but give the man time. The only danger is that by the stridency of his onslaught on the Brooklyn Museum’s latest, rather feeble blasphemy against the dignity of The Last Supper, Mayor Rudy may be devaluing the effect of his comminations.</p>
<p>“Disgusting, outrageous and anti-Catholic,” was the over-heated mayoral outburst about “Yo Mama’s Last Supper”, a fifteen-foot photographic panel by Renee Cox depicting a naked black woman as Christ, surrounded by twelve white guys. The piece was shown in a church in Venice (Italy) in 1999, apparently without arousing any fuss. The same thing happened in Ridgefield, Connecticut, at the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Arts. Nobody cared. It just shows how lucky the Brooklyn Museum is to have Rudy as its flack.</p>
<p>Renee Cox and her photographic panel, Yo Mama’s Last Supper.</p>
<p>Anyway, what was the mayor’s problem? That Christ was black; that he was getting in touch of his feminine side? Or that somehow it somehow reminded the mayor of the scorned and abandoned Mrs Giuliani’s recent flirtation with the Vagina Monologues. The Mayor could always strike back with His or Its side of the story in the presumably forthcoming Penis Monologues, starring Bill Clinton and other notables, assuming they don’t decline to testify on grounds of self-incrimination.</p>
<p>The local New York press has been derisive about the mayor’s roars and threats to block any public funding to the Brooklyn Museum, but talk from the New York Times or Daily News about First Amendment rights is hypocritical in the extreme, given the stance of these newpapers on smut.</p>
<p>The New York Times has been at the forefront of a drive to rid midtown of sex stores, thus enhancing the value of its own real estate. And here’s an editorial outburst from the Daily News at the start of this year: “The city is still plagued by 142 pornographic video stores, topless bars and other X-rated businesses – 73 in Manhattan, 42 in Queens, 14 in Brooklyn, nine in the Bronx and four on Staten Island. In the past two years, the Giuliani administration has padlocked dozens of porn shops and dragged their owners into court. But once there, tenacious smutlords and their lawyers have been able to find enough wiggle room in the city’s zoning rules to stay in business and continue blighting neighborhoods.”</p>
<p>The News’s beef was that the number of “smut shops” had only been reduced by two since the Mayor embarked on his anti-porn rampage. On January 3 of this year The News’s editorialist cheered Giuliani’s renewed efforts to shut down the crafty operators of porn video stores who’ve been trying “to pass themselves off as straight businesses by putting a few spaghetti westerns and kung-fu movies on the shelf.” How about that for respect for freedom of expression?</p>
<p>A few weeks ago I found myself at a small theater in SoHo, attending what had been billed to me as a recreation of Weimar and the world of Sally Bowles. This same Sally Bowles, as first created in a short story by Christopher Isherwood, then in “I Am A Camera”, a stage version that transmuted into Cabaret, was based on Jean Ross, my father’s second wife, a charming woman. So I’ve always taken an interest in the fictional versions of her time in Berlin.</p>
<p>The production in SoHo turned out to have nothing to do with Berlin and everything to do with Giuliani, since the strippers ousted from gainful employment in their usual premises were regrouping under the banner of Art. In fact it was a big relief not to listen to pastiche songs in the manner of Kurt Weill. It was the night of the much heralded snow storm that menaced New York the day of George Bush’s inauguration, so the audience of six was heavily outnumbered by the strippers. The acts were okay, though not particularly rousing. The star of the evening didn’t take off so much as a petticoat, being a magician who, since we’re on the subject of Weill, looked slightly like Lotte Lenya in her cameo appearance as the KGB officer in From Russia With Love. She ogled the sparse audience gloriously as she bumbled her way through her tricks.</p>
<p>Jean Ross was a gentle, cultivated and very beautiful woman, not a bit like the vulgar vamp displayed by Lisa Minelli. Jean died before her time at the age of 62. Her daughter Sarah, my half sister, wrote wonderful detective stories under the name Sarah Caudwell: among them The Shortest Way to Hades, The Sirens Sang of Murder, Thus Was Adonis Murdered and, posthumously published, The Sibyl in Her Grave. Before she turned to crime Sarah was a barrister, and a very good one. She used to negotiate my contracts with Verso and I’d pay her by taking her to lunch at the Ritz. As in any other venue she’d light up her pipe, then when waiters rushed up to protest, fling the thing into her handbag, from which smoke would soon begin to wreathe our table.</p>
<p>Sarah felt strongly about Isherwood’s use of her mother, and wrote a piece about it in the British weekly, The New Statesman, in the mid-Eighties. Her mother Jean, she wrote, never liked Goodbye to Berlin, nor felt a sense of identity with the character of Sally Bowles, which in many respects she thought more closely modeled on one of Isherwood’s male friends. (His homosexuality could not at that time be openly admitted.)”</p>
<p>Sarah’s point was that Isherwood, supposedly so avant garde, was actually very conventional: “The convention does not permit an attractive young woman to have much in the way of intellectual accomplishments, and Isherwood follows it loyally. There is nothing in his portrait of Sally to suggest that she might have had any genuine ability as an actress, still less as a writer. My mother, on the other hand, was at least talented enough as an actress to be cast as Anitra in Max Reinhardt’s production of Peer Gynt and competent enough as a writer to earn her living, not long afterwards, as a scenario-writer and journalist</p>
<p>“Above all, the convention requires that a woman must be either virtuous (in the sexual sense) or a tart. So Sally, who is plainly not virtuous, must be a tart To depend for a living on providing sexual pleasure, whether or not in the context of marriage, seemed to [Jean] the ultimate denial of freedom and emancipation. The idea so deeply repelled her that she simply could not, I think, have been attracted to a man who was rich, or allied herself permanently to anyone less incorrigibly impecunious than my father. She did not see the question as one of personal morality, but as a political one.”</p>
<p>The pipe smoking did in Sarah in the end, presumably causing the cancer in her esophagus that killed her at the age of 60, last year. I knew her best at Oxford in the early sixties where she intrigued successfully to have women admitted to the Oxford Union. She was always exclaiming about so-and-so’s “wonderful profile”, pursuing dons with this particular asset. One don was known for watching television and Sarah, amid the ashes of her love, sent him this verse:</p>
<p>I cast aside my modesty, I laid aside my shame And on my knees I offered love - or something much the same. You brushed my powder from your sleeve, with elegant precision And murmured: ‘Conversation is killing television.’ CP</p> | true | 4 | art ever gallant champion mayor rudy giuliani yet set beside pope julius ii patron arts give man time danger stridency onslaught brooklyn museums latest rather feeble blasphemy dignity last supper mayor rudy may devaluing effect comminations disgusting outrageous anticatholic overheated mayoral outburst yo mamas last supper fifteenfoot photographic panel renee cox depicting naked black woman christ surrounded twelve white guys piece shown church venice italy 1999 apparently without arousing fuss thing happened ridgefield connecticut aldrich museum contemporary arts nobody cared shows lucky brooklyn museum rudy flack renee cox photographic panel yo mamas last supper anyway mayors problem christ black getting touch feminine side somehow somehow reminded mayor scorned abandoned mrs giulianis recent flirtation vagina monologues mayor could always strike back side story presumably forthcoming penis monologues starring bill clinton notables assuming dont decline testify grounds selfincrimination local new york press derisive mayors roars threats block public funding brooklyn museum talk new york times daily news first amendment rights hypocritical extreme given stance newpapers smut new york times forefront drive rid midtown sex stores thus enhancing value real estate heres editorial outburst daily news start year city still plagued 142 pornographic video stores topless bars xrated businesses 73 manhattan 42 queens 14 brooklyn nine bronx four staten island past two years giuliani administration padlocked dozens porn shops dragged owners court tenacious smutlords lawyers able find enough wiggle room citys zoning rules stay business continue blighting neighborhoods newss beef number smut shops reduced two since mayor embarked antiporn rampage january 3 year newss editorialist cheered giulianis renewed efforts shut crafty operators porn video stores whove trying pass straight businesses putting spaghetti westerns kungfu movies shelf respect freedom expression weeks ago found small theater soho attending billed recreation weimar world sally bowles sally bowles first created short story christopher isherwood camera stage version transmuted cabaret based jean ross fathers second wife charming woman ive always taken interest fictional versions time berlin production soho turned nothing berlin everything giuliani since strippers ousted gainful employment usual premises regrouping banner art fact big relief listen pastiche songs manner kurt weill night much heralded snow storm menaced new york day george bushs inauguration audience six heavily outnumbered strippers acts okay though particularly rousing star evening didnt take much petticoat magician since subject weill looked slightly like lotte lenya cameo appearance kgb officer russia love ogled sparse audience gloriously bumbled way tricks jean ross gentle cultivated beautiful woman bit like vulgar vamp displayed lisa minelli jean died time age 62 daughter sarah half sister wrote wonderful detective stories name sarah caudwell among shortest way hades sirens sang murder thus adonis murdered posthumously published sibyl grave turned crime sarah barrister good one used negotiate contracts verso id pay taking lunch ritz venue shed light pipe waiters rushed protest fling thing handbag smoke would soon begin wreathe table sarah felt strongly isherwoods use mother wrote piece british weekly new statesman mideighties mother jean wrote never liked goodbye berlin felt sense identity character sally bowles many respects thought closely modeled one isherwoods male friends homosexuality could time openly admitted sarahs point isherwood supposedly avant garde actually conventional convention permit attractive young woman much way intellectual accomplishments isherwood follows loyally nothing portrait sally suggest might genuine ability actress still less writer mother hand least talented enough actress cast anitra max reinhardts production peer gynt competent enough writer earn living long afterwards scenariowriter journalist convention requires woman must either virtuous sexual sense tart sally plainly virtuous must tart depend living providing sexual pleasure whether context marriage seemed jean ultimate denial freedom emancipation idea deeply repelled simply could think attracted man rich allied permanently anyone less incorrigibly impecunious father see question one personal morality political one pipe smoking sarah end presumably causing cancer esophagus killed age 60 last year knew best oxford early sixties intrigued successfully women admitted oxford union always exclaiming soandsos wonderful profile pursuing dons particular asset one known watching television sarah amid ashes love sent verse cast aside modesty laid aside shame knees offered love something much brushed powder sleeve elegant precision murmured conversation killing television cp | 676 |
<p>The perpetrator of the Charleston terror attack, Dylann Roof, <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/06/20/dylann-roof-s-racist-manifesto-is-ignorant-and-chilling.html" type="external">wrote</a> on his website about Asians: “They are by nature very racist and could be great allies of the White race.”</p>
<p>Many Asians <a href="http://www.asamnews.com/2015/06/21/asian-americans-are-not-your-ally-dylann-roof/" type="external">took umbrage</a> at this characterization. And certainly it is racist to say that an entire ethnic group is “racist by nature.” But Asians cannot deny that anti-black racism exists within our communities.</p>
<p>It is tempting to think that all people of color fall into a single group framed by our non-whiteness. But there is a hierarchy (even if we don’t like to admit it), and blacks are often at the bottom. That is exactly why African-American activists have rightly insisted on the slogan “Black Lives Matter” rather than “All Lives Matter.” We live in a society where African-Americans are the group most negatively affected by <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2015/jun/01/the-counted-police-killings-us-database%20" type="external">police violence</a>, <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wnet/tavissmiley/tsr/too-important-to-fail/fact-sheet-outcomes-for-young-black-men/" type="external">educational disparities</a>, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/20/black-college-graduates_n_5358983.html" type="external">employment discrimination</a> and so on. The United States has never properly dealt with the ugly legacy of slavery, and social indicators for African-Americans are a reflection of national historical amnesia.</p>
<p>Asians, on the other hand, increasingly occupy spaces of power alongside whites. A recent <a href="http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/asianamericans-graphics/" type="external">Pew Research paper</a> concluded that Asian-Americans are “the highest-income, best-educated and fastest-growing racial group in the U.S. … and are more satisfied than the general public with their lives, finances and the direction of the country.”</p>
<p />
<p>As Julie Carrie Wong <a href="http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/8/asian-americans-racecomplicitymodelminority.html" type="external">wrote</a> in Al Jazeera last year, “Being Asian and being white are becoming less and less mutually exclusive and the boundary between them … increasingly porous.”</p>
<p>South Carolina’s Republican Gov. Nikki Haley, an Indian-American, is a good example of how some Asian-Americans have attempted to join the Caucasian club. On a voter registration form, Haley once <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2011/07/indian-nikki-haley-says-she-is-white%20" type="external">identified herself as white</a>.</p>
<p>She was born <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/us/politics/14haley.html?_r=0" type="external">Nimrata Nikki Randhawa</a> and converted to Christianity from Sikhism. Before she was against flying the Confederate flag outside the South Carolina State House, she was for it. The New York Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/23/us/south-carolina-confederate-flag-dylann-roof.html" type="external">speculated</a> that her about-face might have been because “[t]he flag would inevitably complicate [Haley’s] selection as a cabinet member or even vice-presidential nominee, if she wanted either.”</p>
<p>There are many other prominent Asian-Americans who have sided with power and identified with conservative whites. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, also a Republican and also an Indian-American who converted to Christianity, has been the <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/102495458" type="external">epitome of a conservative</a> in his anti-Islam rhetoric and in his stands against gay marriage and many other issues. The right-wing racist writer Dinesh D’Souza, who remains fixated upon Barack Obama, came under fire this year for referring to the president as “a boy… from the ghetto” (Heer Jeet, writing in The New Republic, crafted a <a href="http://www.newrepublic.com/article/121105/dinesh-dsouzas-anti-black-racism-rooted-national-review" type="external">nuanced portrait</a> of D’Souza and how his anti-black racism is rooted in South Asian culture.) John Yoo, a Korean-American who served as a deputy assistant attorney general under President George W. Bush, famously wrote the “torture memos” that provided legal justification for the CIA’s post-9/11 torture of Muslim detainees. Yale Law School professor Amy Chua’s book “The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America,” made a <a href="http://www.salon.com/2014/01/05/tiger_mom_is_back_with_another_theory_of_superiority/" type="external">highly flawed and racist case</a> for why some cultural groups are more high-achieving than others.</p>
<p>One of the most appalling recent instances illustrating anti-black racism by an Asian was the little-covered story of Vijay Chokalingam, who <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/04/06/mindy-kalings-brother-claims-he-got-into-medical-school-by-posing-as-black/" type="external">boasted</a> that he got into medical school by taking advantage of affirmative action policies favoring African-Americans. Chokalingam, who is actress Mindi Kaling’s brother, claims he was less likely to get in to his program of choice as an Indian-American with mediocre grades. So he shaved his head, took the name of Jojo and got accepted as a black student. Demonstrating his astounding ignorance, he referred to affirmative action as “racism,” saying it was “not the answer” and that it “promotes negative stereotypes about the competency of minority Americans by making it seem like they need special treatment.”</p>
<p>We Asians do have a racism problem. I have seen it in my own family. South Asians in particular, whose complexions cluster closer to the dark-chocolate-brown end of the spectrum, harbor a deep sense of self-loathing most clearly illustrated by <a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/sexandrelationships/india-s-unfair-obsession-with-fair-skin-and-its-impact-on-relationships/article1-1328629.aspx" type="external">matrimonial advertisements</a> that overwhelmingly express a desire for light-skinned spouses. The 1991 film <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hANXylrNck8" type="external">“Mississippi Masala,”</a> starring Denzel Washington, as well as the 1993 film <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhaji_on_the_Beach" type="external">“Bhaji on the Beach”</a>, explored themes of anti-black racism in Indian diasporic communities and the pressure faced by Indian women who had relationships with black men.</p>
<p>I have spoken to African-American friends who have traveled to India and other Asian countries and experienced blatant racism that rivals the kind they encounter in the United States. A <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/05/15/a-fascinating-map-of-the-worlds-most-and-least-racially-tolerant-countries/?hpid=z1%20" type="external">study</a> of racial tolerance around the world concluded that India was one of the least tolerant in the world and that Asian countries like Indonesia, the Philippines, China, Kyrgyzstan and South Korea also suffered from racist attitudes.</p>
<p>Liz Lin addressed the complicated relationship that Asian-Americans have with race in “ <a href="http://thesaltcollective.org/asian-americans-might-talk-ferguson/" type="external">Why Asian Americans Might Not Talk About Ferguson</a>.” In it, she raised the crucial point that Asians “don’t fit into the black and white binary that usually frames conversations about race in this country. Just as Asian store owners in Los Angeles were accused of racism and suffered serious damage to their stores during the 1992 riots, there were <a href="http://www.colorlines.com/articles/dispatch-ferguson-convenience-store-owners-talk-race" type="external">fears</a> of a similar dynamic playing out in Ferguson last year. When a Chinese-American New York police officer, Peter Liang, was charged in the shooting death of an African-American man, Akai Gurley, members of the Asian community protested, and one person told <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/23/nyregion/in-new-york-indictment-of-officer-peter-liang-divides-chinese-americans.html?_r=0" type="external">The New York Times</a> that Liang’s arrest “is a vicious attack on the family, and this is a vicious attack on the Chinese community.”Writer Aura Bogado has <a href="http://www.salon.com/2014/05/20/a_matter_of_death_and_death_confronting_anti_black_racism_among_latinos/" type="external">has explored</a> the question of anti-black racism among Latinos. Similarly, Asians must confront and address our own bigotry. In fact, Bogado cites an instance from her own life that is frighteningly analogous to mine: “In Spanish-speaking households, I’ve heard countless phrases such as, ‘She’s pretty, even if she’s black.'” This mirrors almost word-for-word what I have heard from the mouths of my own family members.</p>
<p>None of this is to absolve white supremacy and its prevalence in the U.S. and in Western European nations. Asians have long suffered the consequences of American racism, from the Chinese Exclusion Act to the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II to the racial profiling of South Asians, Muslims and Sikhs after September 11, 2001.</p>
<p>When a 57-year-old Indian man named Sureshbhai Patel was <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/02/11/alabama-cops-leave-a-grandfather-partially-paralyzed-after-frisk-goes-awry/" type="external">brutally accosted</a> by police in Alabama earlier this year in an assault that left him partially paralyzed, he experienced for a brief and terrifying moment what it might mean to be black in America. A neighbor in the suburban area that he was walking through called the police and described him as “a skinny black guy” who looked “suspicious.”</p>
<p>The good news is that on the issue of police violence aimed at African-Americans, many Asian-Americans do see injustice clearly. A poll of Californians last year by the University of Southern California, Dornsife, and The Los Angeles Times found that Asians sided with African-Americans and Latinos in their perceptions of the unfairness of police targeting. Many Asian activist organizations around the country have drafted <a href="http://www.seeding-change.org/asiansforblacklives/" type="external">letters</a> in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, and some have even called for a “ <a href="http://www.racefiles.com/2014/10/13/model-minority-mutiny/" type="external">model minority mutiny</a>.” Groups like the Bay Area-based <a href="http://a4bl.tumblr.com" type="external">#Asians4BlackLives</a> have sprung up across the nation, and the Queer South Asian National Network even offers guidelines for holding <a href="https://queersouthasian.wordpress.com/2014/12/19/it-starts-at-home-confronting-anti-blackness-in-south-asian-communities/" type="external">workshops</a> on confronting anti-black racism.</p>
<p>In facing our own biases, Asians can begin by admitting that we have a problem with racism in our communities. We must take up the redemptive struggle to claim our rightful place in the fight for racial justice and, in particular, for black lives.</p> | true | 4 | perpetrator charleston terror attack dylann roof wrote website asians nature racist could great allies white race many asians took umbrage characterization certainly racist say entire ethnic group racist nature asians deny antiblack racism exists within communities tempting think people color fall single group framed nonwhiteness hierarchy even dont like admit blacks often bottom exactly africanamerican activists rightly insisted slogan black lives matter rather lives matter live society africanamericans group negatively affected police violence educational disparities employment discrimination united states never properly dealt ugly legacy slavery social indicators africanamericans reflection national historical amnesia asians hand increasingly occupy spaces power alongside whites recent pew research paper concluded asianamericans 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minority americans making seem like need special treatment asians racism problem seen family south asians particular whose complexions cluster closer darkchocolatebrown end spectrum harbor deep sense selfloathing clearly illustrated matrimonial advertisements overwhelmingly express desire lightskinned spouses 1991 film mississippi masala starring denzel washington well 1993 film bhaji beach explored themes antiblack racism indian diasporic communities pressure faced indian women relationships black men spoken africanamerican friends traveled india asian countries experienced blatant racism rivals kind encounter united states study racial tolerance around world concluded india one least tolerant world asian countries like indonesia philippines china kyrgyzstan south korea also suffered racist attitudes liz lin addressed complicated relationship asianamericans race asian americans might talk ferguson raised crucial point asians dont fit black white binary usually frames conversations race country asian store owners los angeles accused racism suffered serious damage stores 1992 riots fears similar dynamic playing ferguson last year chineseamerican new york police officer peter liang charged shooting death africanamerican man akai gurley members asian community protested one person told new york times liangs arrest vicious attack family vicious attack chinese communitywriter aura bogado explored question antiblack racism among latinos similarly asians must confront address bigotry fact bogado cites instance life frighteningly analogous mine spanishspeaking households ive heard countless phrases shes pretty even shes black mirrors almost wordforword heard mouths family members none absolve white supremacy prevalence us western european nations asians long suffered consequences american racism chinese exclusion act internment japaneseamericans world war ii racial profiling south asians muslims sikhs september 11 2001 57yearold indian man named sureshbhai patel brutally accosted police alabama earlier year assault left partially paralyzed experienced brief terrifying moment might mean black america neighbor suburban area walking called police described skinny black guy looked suspicious good news issue police violence aimed africanamericans many asianamericans see injustice clearly poll californians last year university southern california dornsife los angeles times found asians sided africanamericans latinos perceptions unfairness police targeting many asian activist organizations around country drafted letters solidarity black lives matter movement even called model minority mutiny groups like bay areabased asians4blacklives sprung across nation queer south asian national network even offers guidelines holding workshops confronting antiblack racism facing biases asians begin admitting problem racism communities must take redemptive struggle claim rightful place fight racial justice particular black lives | 740 |
<p>I was late when I first met my clients, the Lipkin family, outside my office. I was very late. I couldn’t believe I was late. I felt like an imposter. Maybe I was an imposter. I had dressed as professionally as I could: a sophisticated sports jacket, slicked-back gelled hair, elegant briefcase. My straightened posture exuded the charismatic confidence of a seasoned attorney. In my mind, at least.</p>
<p>I extended a hand and introduced myself to a family that was about to have their home foreclosed upon. Carl and Natalie, the husband and wife (I’ve changed their names), were both in their early thirties. Their three young daughters were with them, wilting in the heat of the parking lot. They met me with open smiles, even though they had just driven ninety minutes from Sacramento on a scorching summer day. I invited them in.</p>
<p>I was hoping they would never guess that despite being a licensed attorney two years out of law school, I was utterly paralyzed with fear–and earnestly praying to Allah that my potential clients were not about to call me out as an incompetent charlatan, punch me in the face, storm out of the office, and call the state bar seeking to disqualify me.</p>
<p>I was the guy who was going to save these people from being evicted from their own home? Who was I kidding?</p>
<p>In reality, “my law office” was actually my friend’s office, which he’d lent to me so that I could meet these clients. The classy jacket had been purchased at a clearance sale in an outlet store at the Great Mall in Milpitas. The gel was the last remnant of a decaying and potentially expired bottle I’d probably had since college but never found the opportunity to use. The suitcase was a gift from my relatives in Pakistan–who, much like the rest of my family, were thoroughly shocked that I had passed the bar exam and become a licensed attorney. My business cards had been printed for free by Vistaprint, and despite having a professional front side featuring my name in bold letters and the words ATTORNEY AT LAW, the back side glared BUSINESS CARDS ARE FREE AT WWW.VISTAPRINT.COM!</p>
<p>Game over. I was doomed.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>It wasn’t supposed to be this way. In 2007 I graduated from UC Davis School of Law, a reputable institution that ranks in the top forty of the inexplicably influential U.S. News &amp;World Report annual school ranking. According to my Property professor, students who graduate from top-forty law schools are bred to “find a comfortable desk job, most likely in a corporation, and make a nice income without really having to get their hands dirty.” The old saying goes that the A students become the professors, the B students find jobs in government or corporate law, and the C students end up making all the money.</p>
<p>But given the economy, this conventional wisdom was out the window. Instead of being employed at all, like thousands of others who were unlucky enough to graduate law school in 2007, I ended up in my old bedroom, sharing the family home with my parents and my grandmother.</p>
<p>Despite being thoroughly emasculating for a twenty-eight-year-old, living at home certainly has its benefits. You never have to cook, given that your mother, a culinary Jedi Knight, makes fresh Pakistani food every night. You avoid doing the laundry and the dishes, because your father has a “specific system” that only he has mastered. Also, you have your own personal “prayer factory” in the form of a very pious grandmother, who constantly sends duaas and blessings your way–and reminds you nonstop that the only reason she’s still living is to see you married and with kids. And for a solo attorney without any money, home can also serve as a convenient and rent-free law office.</p>
<p>After passing the bar, I immediately started scouring the internet for any job even tangentially related to law. I applied for legal-secretary positions, legal-assistant jobs designed for nineteen-year-old college students, unpaid internships at shady start-ups, even senior legal-counsel positions at corporations requiring a minimum of ten years’ experience. I shamelessly claimed, as one of my qualifications, “worldly wisdom that compensates for lack of actual legal experience.” I was denied by every recruiting center.</p>
<p>Dejected, I lapsed into my innate South Asian melodrama. I made the following declarations: “My life is shameful. I’m a grown-ass man, thoroughly qualified, who just got denied a menial job at a small law firm. If I was a samurai in feudal Japan, I would have to harakiri myself out of dishonor and shame.”</p>
<p>“Well, you’re no samurai,” replied my mother, “and you’re not in feudal Japan. You’re Pakistani and you’re living at home. So be quiet, eat your daal and naan, and afterward go get some hara dhaniya, pyaaz, tamatar, and Lactaid milk from Food 4 Less.” My mother is the world’s second-bluntest instrument, preceded only by my father.</p>
<p>Tired of being rejected, I decided to venture forth and learn the law on my own. It didn’t take a genius to figure out we were heading toward a full-blown recession; a South Asian attorney, who’d cornered the niche market of “the Pakistani American attorney” years ago, told me to learn how to file Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcies, which were the bread and butter of solo attorneys trying to survive. And so off I went to Google.</p>
<p>I typed in “Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy guides” and found the trusted and respected Nolo legal guides for less than thirty dollars apiece. These guides are manna from heaven for aspiring attorneys; they ostensibly teach the layman all the fundamentals of how to “do it yourself ” so you won’t have to spend money on people like me, but it turns out they’re just as useful to law school graduates living with their parents.</p>
<p>I devoured every bankruptcy book I could find, and then turned to my associate legal counsel, Google, for more (free) information on bankruptcy law. Somewhere along the way I read an article predicting a rise in foreclosures due to the disastrous economy, and realized the rate of Chapter 13 bankruptcies was going to increase exponentially as people desperately tried to save their homes.</p>
<p>I also discovered that agents and brokers who’d made hundreds of thousands in the once booming but now hemorrhaging “loan refinancing market” had magically transformed into “loan-modification consultants.” So the subprime-mortgage brokers who had actively preyed on unsophisticated people by convincing them to sign “too good to be true” loans–which later defaulted, thereby capsizing the housing market–were now demanding more money from these same clients in order to modify their loans and allow them to avoid pending foreclosures.</p>
<p>Despite being equipped with some–some–knowledge, I shared the quintessential trait of all young attorneys: unrelenting, paralyzing fear. It overwhelms everything we do and contaminates the first two to three years of our law jobs. The thought process goes something like this: “I know nothing. How the hell did I get this degree? How the hell did I pass the bar? Law school didn’t teach me anything. Do my employers know I’m incompetent? How long can I fake this before they figure it out? Are my peers like this? How come everyone else knows what they’re doing? What if I never learn? What happens if I get fired or fail? Will I get disbarred? I bet I’ll get disbarred! Damn, I’m getting disbarred! Please, God, don’t let me get disbarred.”</p>
<p>I had all these thoughts as the Lipkin family sat on my friend’s office couch and told me that they were about to lose their home. These people trusted me more than I trusted myself. God help us both.</p>
<p>THE LIPKINS: FORECLOSING THE AMERICAN DREAM</p>
<p>Man, if you can keep me from getting foreclosed, I will personally pimp out your pretty ride over there,” promised Carl, pointing out the window to a sleek BMW that did not belong to me.</p>
<p>“My car is that broken-down 1997 Camry next to the Beemer,” I admitted.</p>
<p>“Get out! A guy like you? A fancy lawyer? You’re riding in that? You probably have a sweet cherry hidden in your garage, huh?”</p>
<p>I just nodded my head to satiate his fantasy, knowing full well the only thing in my garage was my comic-book collection from fifth grade.</p>
<p>Carl has been infatuated with cars since childhood. He loves the way they look, the way they feel, the way they move. Miserable as a stockbroker, Carl quit eight years ago and used all his savings to invest in his first business, a luxury-car detailing service.</p>
<p>“He’s obsessed with cars,” Natalie said. “He wants to make them fast and pretty.”</p>
<p>Although not technically married, Carl and Nancy refer to one another as husband and wife, having been together for nearly fifteen years–ever since Natalie was in high school. They’re now raising three adorable daughters–two from Carl’s previous relationship, and their own eighteen-month-old.</p>
<p>Ironically, Natalie’s previous job, before she began managing Carl’s two businesses (they expanded three years ago), was as a mortgage processor for a division of Countrywide Financial, the nation’s largest independent mortgage lender and a key actor in our current financial mess.</p>
<p>“Mortgage processing was my passion,” she said. “Really, my passion. When I worked for Countrywide, it wasn’t anything like what we’re witnessing now. I was really good at my job. My bosses loved me. I processed twenty to twenty-five loans a month. But right when the mortgage business was hitting its peak, the economy started to slow down, and then everything started falling. They let me go when I had to move.”</p>
<p>Despite Natalie losing her job, the move to Sacramento was auspicious for the family–Carl opened a second branch of his detailing shop, and they finally purchased their first home.</p>
<p>“Before this, we were living in the Bay,” Natalie said, “Carl had bought a house with his dad and sister. All of us stayed in that house. My family, his sister’s family. It was a four-bedroom home. Think about it: two families, four kids, sixteen hundred square feet? We had to buy our own place.”</p>
<p>So they did. Moved to Sacramento and into a house that, as we all now know, was far beyond their means. But it’s hard to blame them; the economy was booming, and Wells Fargo–not some fly-by-night operation–was offering them incredible terms.</p>
<p>“It felt great to get the home,” Natalie said. “Our own home, our own pool. My own master bedroom. My kids finally had their own room instead of sharing it with others. I even had a spare room for once. I was happy. It was starting something new–something completely our own.”</p>
<p>Like many Americans suckered by mortgage deals, the Lipkins were given a “stated-income loan” with an “adjustable interest rate.” This nifty trick allowed brokers and their agents to encourage borrowers to essentially make up any income for themselves. Carl was given a loan he would be unable to afford on his actual salary.</p>
<p>Adjustable interest rates were initially low, thereby enticing borrowers with a promise of low monthly payments. When asked what would happen if the rate “adjusted” and the payments increased, borrowers like the Lipkins were told, “Oh, don’t worry, by that time your property will have significantly appreciated. You can always refinance the loan and take money from the growing equity.”</p>
<p>“We just did what the bank said to do,” explained Natalie. “Our broker said, ‘Here, sign this paper and you’ll get the loan.’ So we did. We wouldn’t have qualified otherwise.”</p>
<p>That same broker was the one who referred them to me to save their home from foreclosure.</p>
<p>On the stated-income loan, the bank claimed Carl was making $25,000 a month. In reality, Carl was netting a salary of $26,000–a year.</p>
<p>“But you knew it was a lie, right?” I asked. “So why do it?”</p>
<p>“You’re right,” Carl admitted. “I mean, I knew I wasn’t making that much, but the broker said it would be no problem, that it was what everyone was doing. And they said it was the only way the bank would approve it, so I just trusted him and signed the paper. He said everything would be okay.”</p>
<p>“I partially blame ourselves for this,” Natalie added. “But then again, I also blame the economy. And I also blame the banks. Ever since we got in trouble, we’ve been trying to work with them! I want to keep my home. I want to stay in my home. I’ve tried to keep my home! I want to raise my children in my home.”</p>
<p>The courts have held that the onus is on the bank to make at least a reasonable effort to ensure their loans are not oppressive, fraudulent, or liable to default. This is why so many of these “stated-income loans” are in violation of federal and state lending laws, and courts generally find the lenders to be breaching their duty to their clients. Many times, the court rescinds the original contract in its entirety.</p>
<p>But like most homeowners, the Lipkins didn’t know the subtleties of the law. They were simply told they could sign a paper and state a mythical income to push the loan documents forward.</p>
<p>In other words, they relied on their broker–in this case, a member of their own Filipino community. In my neck of the woods, it was mostly Vietnamese Americans, South Asians, and Afghan Americans coordinating loans for their fellow minorities–all groups, regardless of race or religion, participated in the fraud. In return, borrowers got a home and a piece of the American dream.</p>
<p>Until the rude awakening.</p>
<p>“In 2008–that’s when things went bad,” Natalie said. “The market for cars started going down, and almost overnight we lost 50 percent of our income. At the same time, the interest rate adjusted, and we were paying nearly $4,100 a month on our loans.”</p>
<p>Their home, meanwhile, which was originally valued at $585,000, had depreciated severely in three scant years. It was now essentially worthless at $270,000.</p>
<p>“We didn’t know what to do,” Natalie said. “We couldn’t make the payments. The banks would call us all the time, asking ‘Have you been able to make your payments? Why not? When will you make the payments?’ We wanted to keep our home! We really tried to do everything. But the banks, oh my goodness, you get the runaround!”</p>
<p>After they realized they couldn’t make the payments, Carl and Natalie first tried for a loan told them to try the HOPE for Homeowners program. They applied, and were denied. The bank told the Lipkins they should have done a manual entry for the loan modification through the loss-mitigation department.</p>
<p>“You never get the same person twice,” Natalie said. “It’s never the same person when you call back. Then someone calculates the numbers wrong. Someone else gets their information wrong. They’re not on the ball on their side–that’s what makes it so frustrating. I’ll fax them something, and I won’t know they didn’t receive it even though I got an ‘okay’ from my fax. They don’t even bother telling you–ever. So then they close my file, and I start all over again.”</p>
<p>That’s when they hired their first attorney. On the radio, Natalie heard about a law group that did loan modification. She Googled the law group and didn’t find any complaints. They hired them.</p>
<p>“This frickin’ guy!” Carl exploded. “I gave him sixty-five hundred dollars! And you know what he did? You know what I got for sixty-five hundred dollars? He foreclosed my home! He did nothing. He wouldn’t even return my calls! Not one call!”</p>
<p>By this time, Carl began eyeballing me with suspicion.</p>
<p>“Hey… do you know what you’re doing?” he asked. “I mean, are you just going to take our money and do nothing?”</p>
<p>My paranoid and terrified mind went into fight-or-flight mode. I pictured Carl lunging for my jugular, his mind clouded by berserker rage as he imagined me as the attorney who had defrauded him. I scanned my friend’s office for a weapon I could use to defend myself, but noticed only a bowl of wasabi peas. I thought perhaps I could quickly fling a pea into his eye, temporarily blinding him, if he took the offensive.</p>
<p>Thankfully, his wife calmed him down, and the pea ended up in my mouth.</p>
<p>Sadly, though, the Lipkins’ tale of being thoroughly screwed by unethical attorneys preying on desperate clients is all too common. The State Bar of California has released several “ethics alerts” reminding attorneys of their professional responsibilities and of the appropriate way to deal with clients in default. The Recorder, a legal newspaper, had a cover feature on the most notorious offenders, who bilked clients out of millions and did nothing as their homes went into default, were foreclosed, and then sold on the steps of their local courthouse.</p>
<p>If you recall, young attorneys are some of the most terrified, neurotic specimens on Earth–paralyzed by the fear of being disbarred at a moment’s notice for their rank incompetence. Anticipating such severe penalties, I had read every single ethics alert, researched the California Civil Code, talked to seasoned attorneys, and called the State Bar Ethics Hotline three times, asking them every hypothetical question I could imagine. After the third call, the patient research assistant said, “I think you can relax.”</p>
<p>And so I exhaled, looked Carl in the eye, and in my most professional “adult voice” launched my rehearsed–but very sincere–spiel, which I reiterated at least twelve times throughout the one-hour-forty-five-minute interview.</p>
<p>I assured him that I was not a sleazy attorney solely after their money. That I was not corrupt or unethical. I told him I wanted my name to mean something. Ethically, I could not guarantee them results. No attorney, I said, can guarantee a result–that would be against the California Rules of Professional Conduct. But I assured them that I would try my utmost–that I would fight to save their home. I was not a scrooge, I told them; you can see how affordable my rate is for this service. I am not just after your money. I want to help you and your family keep your home. Okay?</p>
<p>There was a lengthy pause.</p>
<p>“Okay, I believe you,” replied Carl, after that uncomfortable eternity. “I’m sorry about earlier. I just, you know, it’s stressful. But let’s get started. You want the check now? Do I need to sign an agreement?”</p>
<p>Whenever a client signs an attorney client retainer agreement and hands a young attorney a check, it always feels like the first time a pretty girl told you that you were actually not hideous. It shocks the senses. It is absolutely awesome and unbelievable.</p>
<p>We were officially in the business of saving the Lipkins’ home. They brought over all their financial information, their pay stubs and monthly mortgage statements, but they were missing key loan documents and tax returns reflecting the fraudulent stated income. The foreclosure was scheduled for Friday. It was now Tuesday, 5:46 p.m. I had two days to prepare a legal-demand letter, review their finances, guide them in writing a hardship letter, create a loan-modification package, and get them to a paralegal who would prepare an emergency bankruptcy petition just in case the bank didn’t flinch.</p>
<p>A family about to lose their home. A legitimate check in my hand. Actual clients who had voluntarily agreed to let me represent them. And a trustee sale in two days.</p>
<p>I closed my eyes. I said a prayer. I exhaled. I opened my eyes.</p>
<p>And in front of me there stood a shit-covered bear waiting to wrestle. This was what a battle with a billion-dollar bank would be: a fight with a creature far bigger than I, and covered in feces.</p>
<p>“ON MY SIGNAL, UNLEASH HELL!”:&#160; THE FIRST DAY OF BATTLE</p>
<p>From the pompous bravado exhibited by most young hotshot attorneys, the layman might assume that we go to sleep at night having orgasms thinking about our awesomeness. The brutal reality is that most of us bathe ourselves in ulcer-inducing anxiety as we curl up under our blankets, staring at the ceiling.</p>
<p>It was Wednesday morning, and I had two days to save a family from losing their home. There was no Rocky music playing in the background, no self-assuring voice of confidence, no verbal fellatio–nothing. There was only the overwhelming sense of dread.</p>
<p>Dealing with the banks to suspend your foreclosure date and secure a proper loan modification is akin to repeatedly ramming your head into a brick wall in the hopes that it will eventually break. Before coming to me in utter desperation, the Lipkins, like so many Americans, tried in vain to negotiate with their bank directly. They were told that a “negotiator” had been assigned to their file and was “reviewing it.” Trying to reach this mythical negotiator by phone proved more difficult than finding Bigfoot. On call after call, the Lipkins were told that the negotiator would be in touch by July 21–the date, coincidentally, of their foreclosure sale.</p>
<p>I informed the Lipkins that the bank was simply using a delay tactic: no negotiator was assigned, and no one would ever call. They were flabbergasted that Wells Fargo would lie to them.</p>
<p>But Wells Fargo is a real piece of work. The Obama administration recently blasted the bank by name as being one of the major lenders lagging behind on their promise to help homeowners keep their properties. After receiving billions of dollars from the government to help struggling homeowners, Wells Fargo turned around and offered loan modifications to a whopping 6 percent of their borrowers.</p>
<p>At least the executives of the bank were enjoying the fruits of foreclosure. The L.A. Times broke the news that one of Wells Fargo’s senior vice presidents responsible for overseeing foreclosed commercial properties kept a swanky $12 million foreclosed Malibu home off the market so that he could use it as a weekend getaway. The previous owners, who lost their fortune to Bernie Madoff, saw their family home turned into a beach-party house. Wells Fargo fired the vice president and issued a public apology. But the Lipkins, like so many families in America, were denied the courtesy of a phone call.</p>
<p>My law degree and license to practice, however, gave me considerable leverage. Banks rarely deal with customers in a straightforward manner, but their ears do perk up when an attorney threatens a lawsuit or an emergency bankruptcy filing.</p>
<p>In order to get anywhere, you first have to make a call to the bank. And because there is no special direct line for lawyers threatening lawsuits–that would make it too easy–this means dialing the customer-service number. “Thank you for calling customer service. We appreciate your business. Due to unexpectedly heavy call volume, we are experiencing a delay. Please stay on the line and a customer-service representative will assist you shortly.”</p>
<p>After thirty-five minutes of elevator music a human voice came on the line and asked me about my business. I mentioned “loss-mitigation department” and was transferred. I waited for another ten minutes. A robotic voice calmly asked me to enter the loan number and press pound.</p>
<p>I obliged.</p>
<p>Upon arriving at the desired destination and hearing the first sign of sentient human life on the other side, I started in. “Good morning, my name is WAJAHAT ALI, from the Law Office of WAJAHAT ALI, authorized representative of Carl Lipkin. I would like to inquire–“</p>
<p>“Loan number, please.”</p>
<p>“Excuse me?”</p>
<p>“What’s the loan number, please?”</p>
<p>“Oh, sorry. Here it is. I thought I just gave it to you. Anyway, as I was saying, we have to extend the foreclosure date. I would like to submit a loan-modification package–</p>
<p>“Name, please?”</p>
<p>“Oh, Carl Lipkin. So, as I was saying–“</p>
<p>“Address of the property?”</p>
<p>“Here’s the address.” I paused after relaying it, anticipating another question. I heard nothing. So once more I introduced myself and repeated my query, only to be hit with–</p>
<p>“Last four of social, please?”</p>
<p>“Here’s the last four again. I already inputted those. How about the address? Here it is.” I mentioned the address.</p>
<p>There was a pause.</p>
<p>I begin speaking again. “So, as I was saying–“</p>
<p>“And can I verify the address, sir?”</p>
<p>An inner voice filled my head with obscenities.</p>
<p>“I just gave you the address–“</p>
<p>“Yes, but can you please verify it again?”</p>
<p>I obliged. There is nothing more she can ask, I thought to myself. Just to be safe, I paused and let the dead air anticipate any other question. Nothing. Time to move ahead.</p>
<p>“So, as I was saying, we need to discuss a loan modification here–“</p>
<p>“And you are?”</p>
<p>“As I mentioned, I’m the representative of Mr. Lipkin–attorney WAJAHAT ALI, hired by Mr. Lipkin–“</p>
<p>“Who?”</p>
<p>” WAJAHAT ALI–“</p>
<p>“Warbalot?”</p>
<p>“No. WAJAHAT ALI. I sent you my authorization yesterday. It was faxed. You should have received it. Mr. Lipkin signed it, dated it, and authorized me to represent him.”</p>
<p>“Oh, it doesn’t show up in our computers. I can’t talk to you unless you are authorized.”</p>
<p>“No, but I am authorized. I sent it yesterday.”</p>
<p>“I’m sorry, but it takes three business days for information to be uploaded to our computers.”</p>
<p>“Okay, but I don’t have three days. You realize my client is facing a sale date in two days.”</p>
<p>“Yes, but you are not authorized. I’m sorry.”</p>
<p>It was noon, and I was losing hours. The bank had refused to acknowledge my existence, let alone talk to me. Out of desperation and naiveté, I tried calling the trustee agent, whom the bank had hired to process the foreclosure sale. I learned a valuable lesson: trustee agents are useless in extending sale dates. They merely do what the banks tell them to, so calling them is a waste of time. I had to think. I called Carl.</p>
<p>“Carl, do me a favor. Call up the bank. Here’s the number. Tell them you verbally authorize me to speak on your behalf as your representative. Do it now. I’ll wait on the cell with you; pick up another phone and call.”</p>
<p>Carl obliged, and we waited another half an hour before he finally reached a human being.</p>
<p>The rep asked us to hold. She spoke to a supervisor. She came back.</p>
<p>And then we had a one-day get-out-of-jail-free card in the form of a twenty-four hour verbal authorization. We were off the bench and ready to play ball.</p>
<p>Taking the absurdly high $4,300 mortgage into account, the Lipkins were falling into a monthly deficit. If the bank would simply reduce the monthly payments to a fair reflection of the property’s current value and the Lipkins’ current financial situation, the family would easily be able to make the monthly payments, keep the home, and continue giving the bank substantial amounts of money.</p>
<p>One would think a financial institution would consider this a viable and wise short term solution, considering the country is mired in one of the worst recessions in recent memory. However, wishful thinking is not one of the options on the bank’s automated phone service. One might also assume the banks operate purely out of greed and avarice–but if that were the case, they would simply take the short-term money from the clients instead of wasting resources on foreclosure costs, appraisals, and reselling a house that had been brutally reduced in value.</p>
<p>In fact, shockingly, the banks are mostly apathetic, confused, poorly informed, and poorly managed. The left hand has no idea what the right hand is doing. I imagine a giant warehouse where underlings paid minimum wage simply parrot a written script, crunching numbers in a giant database in which a thousand tubes and wires cross and intersect one another but ultimately lead nowhere.</p>
<p>I called the loss-mitigation number again only to be informed that they could not help me, and that I needed to talk to the bankruptcy department instead. I talked to bankruptcy, who told me to go back to loss mitigation, who then told me to call the trustee agent because they were not authorized to extend the sale date. The trustee agent gave me a random number of some realtor in Arizona who was shocked that I had been given her number. I went back to the loss-mitigation department and asked for the number of their legal counsel, so that I could fax my legal-demand letter. I learned that no bank ever gives you their legal-department phone or fax number; they simply give you an address and ask you to mail your legal complaint. I finally received a number for what I assumed was corporate counsel, who then called me and asked why I was calling her. I told her about the foreclosure; she was sympathetic. But she said “I have no idea why they would give you my number–that is odd. Try this number instead, and best of luck to you and your clients.”</p>
<p>I wrote down the number she gave me. Then I realized it was the number for the loss-mitigation department.</p>
<p>I looked at my notebook and saw a dozen numbers written down over the span of three hours. There were arrows pointing from one number to another, including the numerical options I had to punch into the automated message system in order to reach the appropriate department. My notepad resembled a Cy Twombly painting.</p>
<p>The loss-mitigation department finally talked to me after I used my “adult voice” and expressed some mock anger. Having gotten them to agree to review the file, I expected them to give me the proper fax number to send over the loan-modification package. Instead, they came back and said, “There are two loans on this file.”</p>
<p>“Of course,” I replied. “They’ve been there the whole time. Both are from your bank. We’re dealing with the primary loan, which is currently under foreclosure.”</p>
<p>“Oh, we’re not the right department for this. You have to call the dual-lien department. I’m sorry about that. Someone should have told you.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, you should have told me that three hours ago, you stupid, incompetent, apathetic son of a goat-herder!” I didn’t say this out loud, but the outburst would have been well earned.</p>
<p>I expanded my Twombly painting and added another number. I called the dual-lien department only to discover that they had left for the day.</p>
<p>I called the loss-mitigation department again and prepared an angry speech filled with bile and witty barbs. I was ready to unleash it on the poor, unsuspecting customer-service representative when a kind, all-American, Midwestern-motherly voice picked up the phone and started endearingly referring to me as “Dear.” After two minutes of talking to her, it was abundantly clear that this was her first day on the job. My brilliant anger was reduced to mush, like country applesauce. It took her several minutes to load the file; she had just begun learning the computer system.</p>
<p>Exasperated, I finally asked–in a soothing and respectful voice–“Ma’am, can you simply ask a supervisor for the dual lien department’s fax number, and the number I should try for an escalated sale date?”</p>
<p>She said she would, and returned after what seemed like ages with both. I finally had my key to the elusive gates. When I thanked her she responded with a few more “dears,” “sweethearts,” and “honeys,” before adding a “best of luck.”</p>
<p>I looked over my legal-demand letter, which used some subtle but heavy-duty “we mean business” language. Then I recited some verses from the Quran, blew on the paper, prayed for the best, and faxed the package. It was nearly 5 p.m., and I felt like a battered warrior who had honorably survived the first day. I called Carl to give him the update and ask him if he’d filled out an emergency bankruptcy petition, as I’d instructed.</p>
<p>A little fact that most people don’t know is that if you file an emergency bankruptcy petition, you receive an automatic fifteen-day stay on your foreclosure. It’s a borrower’s Hail Mary. For fifteen days, the bank cannot foreclose your house, and you have those two weeks to either withdraw your application or complete your bankruptcy. But timing is key. If your foreclosure is scheduled for 9 a.m. and you file the petition at 9:05, you are officially out of luck. If you file at 8:59, then you are saved.</p>
<p>Just in case the bank continued acting like unresponsive jerks, though, I wanted Carl to have the option to file for bankruptcy. I’d told him the night before to call a paralegal and have the paperwork signed and ready to go, and he’d promised me he would.</p>
<p>“Nah, man, I didn’t do that,” he told me. “Was I supposed to?”</p>
<p>“Yes, Carl,” I said, trying not to choke him through the phone, “you were supposed to do it several hours ago. You need to do this. Listen to your attorney, please. Have you found a paralegal nearby?” I knew full well the answer would be no.</p>
<p>I hung up, raced to the computer, and Googled paralegals near Carl’s county. I found a number, called it up, and heard an exhausted woman on the other end.</p>
<p>I used old-school ethnic-salesman tricks to convince her to stay late at her office and wait for Carl, who would drive over in the evening after picking up his kids. I promised her I would give her “good business” and use her services repeatedly. I would recommend her to my “clientele.” She grudgingly obliged, grumbled, and told me Carl had to be there by 7 p.m. or she was leaving.</p>
<p>I waited at the office for Carl to call and confirm he’d made it. One hour passed.</p>
<p>I waited.</p>
<p>And then a phone call.</p>
<p>“Got it, Waj! We’re good to go.”</p>
<p>I exhaled. Day 1 was over. Neither a victory nor a loss–a stalemate for sure. The package was faxed off to every single number I’d written down on my yellow canvas. The young attorney and the shit-covered bear retired to their respective corners.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>The next morning, I jumped out of bed yelling “What the hell!?” I looked at the alarm with bloodshot eyes. It was 10 a.m. Day 2. Another sleepless night.</p>
<p>This time the dual-lien department would not escape my wrath. I called them first thing, and, like a biblical prophet, unleashed a righteous fury at the underpaid underling.</p>
<p>“Just listen to me, because I don’t want to waste my time. My name is WAJAHAT ALI, retained counsel for Carl Lipkin. I sent my authorization two days ago and you should have uploaded it into your system. If you haven’t then that’s your fault, but you’re going to listen to what I have to say. My client has a trustee sale date tomorrow and he has tried in good faith to negotiate with your bank for weeks, only to be consistently mistreated. Thankfully he has retained me, and I know what I’m doing.</p>
<p>“Your supervisors and their supervisors will not appreciate me filing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy that will halt and frustrate your foreclosure proceedings. Furthermore, they will not be happy to discover the pending results of a forensic audit being done on the loan, which will reveal a stated-income loan approved by your bank in direct violation of federal and state lending laws–a total breach of a fiduciary duty owed to your clients. As several recent cases have held, the damages and penalty for such egregious behavior is generally a rescission of the entire loan.</p>
<p>“So, you all have a choice: either foreclose on a worthless property which has no equity and has lost more than fifty percent of its original value, or in good faith negotiate with me and my client for more equitable payment terms and receive some money instead of no money. If you want to play hardball, then don’t waste my time. I’m filing a bankruptcy. Now get me your supervisor.”</p>
<p>The service agent didn’t speak for a moment. “Uh–um. Just… hold on. I’ll get a supervisor.” Two minutes later, a supervisor came on the line. Before he could get a word off I unleashed my next can of verbal whoop-ass, reiterating nearly word for word what I had just told the underling.</p>
<p>The supervisor didn’t speak for a moment. “Uh–um. Okay. Just… don’t file bankruptcy, please. Just… here–call this number.”</p>
<p>For the first time I received a phone number with an actual area code. He gave me the name of a human being, too: “Brian the Supervisor.”</p>
<p>“I’ll definitely call him, sir. But I want to know who I’m speaking with so I can verify that this conversation occurred.” I sounded like a paranoid ethnic uncle.</p>
<p>“Sure. My ID number is John X1Z.”</p>
<p>“Thank you very much, John X1Z. I appreciate it. You’ll be hearing from me soon.”</p>
<p>I called Brian the Supervisor expecting to reach a wrong number or a random factory in Chile. Instead, I discovered an answering machine.</p>
<p>With the scant two minutes I had before the machine decided to stop taping, I unleashed my verbal fury yet again, this time at a machine-gun clip. I rattled off the loan number, repeating it twice, then added the last four digits of the social and even threw in the address for good measure. Then I recited my biblical-prophet speech, said thank you, hung up, and exhaled.</p>
<p>One hour passed. Nothing.</p>
<p>Another half hour. Nothing.</p>
<p>And then a phone call on my cell, which was on its last battery bar for the day.</p>
<p>“Um, sir, yes, this is Brian. Uh, please do not file bankruptcy. We, um, do not want to foreclose on this property. Please just, uh, be patient with us.”</p>
<p>“All I need to know is whether there is an extension on the sale date.”</p>
<p>“Yes, sir. We have extended it.”</p>
<p>“Wow, really?”</p>
<p>Okay, so I didn’t say that out loud, but I was genuinely shocked. They actually extended the sale date! The big, bad, mean bank, which had assured me nearly a dozen times that things were hopeless, that nothing could be done, that the Lipkins should prepare to move out, had just told me the foreclosure would be delayed for a month.</p>
<p>“Well, thank you. I would like confirmation of this. I look forward to talking to you soon,” I said in my serious, sober adult voice, barely containing my schoolgirl glee.</p>
<p>I hung up and sat down. I couldn’t believe it. Those bastards had flinched, and the family would get to stay in their home and fight for another day.</p>
<p>I called up Carl to tell him the good news. He replied with the longest “Oh thank God!” I have ever heard. I could hear Natalie screaming for joy in the background. For a moment, the cloud of desperation had lifted. A besieged family could breathe for the first time in months. An incompetent and callous bank would actually review a viable loan modification package.</p>
<p>And I would not get disbarred. At least for a month.</p>
<p>However, out of the corner of my eye I spotted the bear. He was still smiling. He had plenty of fight left in him.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>On the following Monday, three days after the original sale date, I received a fax from the bank.</p>
<p>Confirmation of loan-modification package received July 22. 2:32 p.m. Thank you.</p>
<p>Then I received another fax.</p>
<p>The loan-modification package has been denied. July 22. 2:34 p.m. Reason: not enough income. Thank you. New Sale Date: August 21.</p>
<p>Essentially, some underling had merely inputted the income and expense numbers into the computer, pressed enter, and waited for the result.</p>
<p>The computer recognized that the family was making less money than its expenses–which is utterly predictable and logical, considering they were asking for a loan modification because they were unable to pay their currently exorbitant monthly mortgage–and mechanically turned them down.</p>
<p>And the shit-covered bear flashed a devilish grin.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>“Right, I’d like to move on it now so we don’t waste time, and so the family doesn’t feel unnecessary pressure from the bank. We would like to operate in good faith.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, but it’s four weeks from now, why are you calling us?”</p>
<p>“So we can get this over with now and move on.”</p>
<p>“Oh, well, let me tell you–they don’t do anything this early. I mean, the only time I’ve seen them extend the sale date is within three days of the sale. I’ve never seen it happen earlier.”</p>
<p>I was shocked. I literally couldn’t come up with anything to say in response. Here was a customer-service representative admitting to me that the bank deliberately stalled on approving loan-modification packages. They were keeping borrowers hanging underneath a guillotine until the very last minute.</p>
<p>“So, wait, you’re telling me they won’t do anything before the three-day mark? They intentionally just ignore the situation and their clients instead of helping them or working toward a negotiation?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, um, well, I mean… I really can’t say for sure, but, um, you know, I haven’t seen them do it, like, ever. They’ll always wait until the last day, if possible. So, I mean, I know you’re trying to help, but I’d recommend waiting a few weeks.”</p>
<p>Apparently the early bird loses both the worm and its nest when dealing with banks and foreclosures. My friend’s girlfriend, who conveniently works in a bank’s corporate department, told him her bank had issued an internal policy notice explaining that they would only delay foreclosures if an attorney threatened to file a lawsuit or a bankruptcy petition. This information was not meant for mass consumption. When I heard it, I thought of all the well-intentioned, hard-working moms and pops who lost their jobs, their revenues, and their assets, and who couldn’t afford an attorney to negotiate on their behalf. Who could they turn to, after the customer service agents denied them for weeks on end? Who could they pay to represent them, after a supervisor told them a “negotiator” would call them back, and no one did?</p>
<p>I summoned the image of the gladiator Maximus. And in my melodramatic fashion, I promised, I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.</p>
<p>In the meantime, I concentrated on obtaining all the signed loan documents from the bank. Carl had made a fax request and a phone request for them two weeks ago; I needed these documents to verify that his loan was indeed a stated-income loan, and that he’d written $26,000 as his monthly income even though his actual salary was only $26,000 a year.</p>
<p>I also wanted Carl to get a forensic audit of his loan from a financial-services company. An audit costs around three hundred dollars, and it helps us attorneys get a financial snapshot of what actually went wrong with the loan, from origination to completion.</p>
<p>When I called the bank to demand the loan documents, though, they gave me a number for a RE/MAX title company located in Arizona. Like me, the RE/MAX office was confused about why I was calling and how the bank had gotten their number. I spent another hour waiting for the right customer-service agent to direct me to the appropriate department, where I was promised that the loan documents would be both faxed and mailed within the next forty-eight hours.</p>
<p>To this day, I have yet to receive them.</p>
<p>Thankfully, a week later, the bank sent Carl a package containing everything I needed. We sent the documents over to the financial-services company, received an audit, and found considerable violations of federal and state lending laws. Furthermore, some exquisitely tasty case law supported our arguments. We were in business. It was time to write a firm and potent legal-demand letter.</p>
<p>Carl was receiving five hundred dollars a month in extra income thanks to his wife’s sister renting a room in his home. One of his family members had taken over a debt, thereby decreasing his expenses. And his legal duty to pay alimony had expired, thereby freeing up another three hundred dollars monthly. According to the new numbers, he was just barely making more than his monthly expenses. Knowing full well that the computer gods would simply see this as a net positive, I updated my legal-demand letter with the new financial information and faxed it off.</p>
<p>I called a week later; Judgment Day was about three days away. Unsurprisingly, they had yet to move forward on the loan modification. The foreclosure date was still in place.</p>
<p>I called Brian the Supervisor and learned that he was away on business. I was told to talk to Lisa the Supervisor in his stead. Calling Lisa, I realized that she would never answer the phone–I would always be greeted by a mechanical voice.</p>
<p>As I stood pumping gas, I dialed her again on my cell phone, which again had only one bar of energy left. I declared that I was calling from “the law offices of WAJAHAT ALI” as expensive unleaded gasoline filled my barely living 1997 Toyota Camry. I reiterated my hall-of-fame speech and prayed to Allah that someone would eventually hear it. I threatened severe legal consequences if I did not receive a response within two days.</p>
<p>The robotic lady informed me that I had thirty seconds left on the answering machine. I blurted out all the necessary information, said thank you, left my number, and hung up.</p>
<p>About ten minutes later, I received a call from Lisa. She informed me that the bank had decided to extend the sale date for another month.</p>
<p>I exhaled, and kissed my California State Bar card. I called up Carl to give him the good news as I sat outside of a local Starbucks, relishing my victory with a venti caramel frappuccino with extra caramel sauce.</p>
<p>“Wajahat, I love you!” Carl shouted. “If I had a million dollars, I would buy you a Lamborghini. Really, I would. A Lamborghini!”</p>
<p>And I slurped my frappuccino with a big, sloppy grin plastered on my face. As I looked in the rearview mirror, I spotted the bear behind me drinking a latte with honey. He looked a little worn out.</p>
<p>Before disappearing, however, he flipped me a middle finger to remind me the battle had not ended.</p>
<p>up the numbers properly in the Excel sheets and bolded the key information, placing everything in a strong Times New Roman, size 12 font so that even an elementary- school student would be able to find the “income,” “expenses,” and “profit” totals.</p>
<p><a href="foreclosurestory.html" type="external">Click here to continue.</a></p> | true | 4 | late first met clients lipkin family outside office late couldnt believe late felt like imposter maybe imposter dressed professionally could sophisticated sports jacket slickedback gelled hair elegant briefcase straightened posture exuded charismatic confidence seasoned attorney mind least extended hand introduced family home foreclosed upon carl natalie husband wife ive changed names early thirties three young daughters wilting heat parking lot met open smiles even though driven ninety minutes sacramento scorching summer day invited hoping would never guess despite licensed attorney two years law school utterly paralyzed fearand earnestly praying allah potential clients call incompetent charlatan punch face storm office call state bar seeking disqualify guy going save people evicted home kidding reality law office actually friends office hed lent could meet clients classy jacket purchased 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made following declarations life shameful im grownass man thoroughly qualified got denied menial job small law firm samurai feudal japan would harakiri dishonor shame well youre samurai replied mother youre feudal japan youre pakistani youre living home quiet eat daal naan afterward go get hara dhaniya pyaaz tamatar lactaid milk food 4 less mother worlds secondbluntest instrument preceded father tired rejected decided venture forth learn law didnt take genius figure heading toward fullblown recession south asian attorney whod cornered niche market pakistani american attorney years ago told learn file chapter 7 chapter 13 bankruptcies bread butter solo attorneys trying survive went google typed chapter 7 chapter 13 bankruptcy guides found trusted respected nolo legal guides less thirty dollars apiece guides manna heaven aspiring attorneys ostensibly teach layman fundamentals wont spend money people like turns theyre useful law school graduates living parents devoured every bankruptcy book could find turned associate legal counsel google free information bankruptcy law somewhere along way read article predicting rise foreclosures due disastrous economy realized rate chapter 13 bankruptcies going increase exponentially people desperately tried save homes also discovered agents brokers whod made hundreds thousands booming hemorrhaging loan refinancing market magically transformed loanmodification consultants subprimemortgage brokers actively preyed unsophisticated people convincing sign good true loanswhich later defaulted thereby capsizing housing marketwere demanding money clients order modify loans allow avoid pending foreclosures despite equipped somesomeknowledge shared quintessential trait young attorneys unrelenting paralyzing fear overwhelms everything contaminates first two three years law jobs thought process goes something like know nothing hell get degree hell pass bar law school didnt teach anything employers know im incompetent long fake figure peers like come everyone else knows theyre never learn happens get fired fail get disbarred bet ill get disbarred damn im getting disbarred please god dont let get disbarred thoughts lipkin family sat friends office couch told lose home people trusted trusted god help us lipkins foreclosing american dream man keep getting foreclosed personally pimp pretty ride promised carl pointing window sleek bmw belong car brokendown 1997 camry next beemer admitted get guy like fancy lawyer youre riding probably sweet cherry hidden garage huh nodded head satiate fantasy knowing full well thing garage comicbook collection fifth grade carl infatuated cars since childhood loves way look way feel way move miserable stockbroker carl quit eight years ago used savings invest first business luxurycar detailing service hes obsessed cars natalie said wants make fast pretty although technically married carl nancy refer one another husband wife together nearly fifteen yearsever since natalie high school theyre raising three adorable daughterstwo carls previous relationship eighteenmonthold ironically natalies previous job began managing carls two businesses expanded three years ago mortgage processor division countrywide financial nations largest independent mortgage lender key actor current financial mess mortgage processing passion said really passion worked countrywide wasnt anything like witnessing really good job bosses loved processed twenty twentyfive loans month right mortgage business hitting peak economy started slow everything started falling let go move despite natalie losing job move sacramento auspicious familycarl opened second branch detailing shop finally purchased first home living bay natalie said carl bought house dad sister us stayed house family sisters family fourbedroom home think two families four kids sixteen hundred square feet buy place moved sacramento house know far beyond means hard blame economy booming wells fargonot flybynight operationwas offering incredible terms felt great get home natalie said home pool master bedroom kids finally room instead sharing others even spare room happy starting something newsomething completely like many americans suckered mortgage deals lipkins given statedincome loan adjustable interest rate nifty trick allowed brokers agents encourage borrowers essentially make income carl given loan would unable afford actual salary adjustable interest rates initially low thereby enticing borrowers promise low monthly payments asked would happen rate adjusted payments increased borrowers like lipkins told oh dont worry time property significantly appreciated always refinance loan take money growing equity bank said explained natalie broker said sign paper youll get loan wouldnt qualified otherwise broker one referred save home foreclosure statedincome loan bank claimed carl making 25000 month reality carl netting salary 26000a year knew lie right asked youre right carl admitted mean knew wasnt making much broker said would problem everyone said way bank would approve trusted signed paper said everything would okay partially blame natalie added also blame economy also blame banks ever since got trouble weve trying work want keep home want stay home ive tried keep home want raise children home courts held onus bank make least reasonable effort ensure loans oppressive fraudulent liable default many statedincome loans violation federal state lending laws courts generally find lenders breaching duty clients many times court rescinds original contract entirety like homeowners lipkins didnt know subtleties law simply told could sign paper state mythical income push loan documents forward words relied brokerin case member filipino community neck woods mostly vietnamese americans south asians afghan americans coordinating loans fellow minoritiesall groups regardless race religion participated fraud return borrowers got home piece american dream rude awakening 2008thats things went bad natalie said market cars started going almost overnight lost 50 percent income time interest rate adjusted paying nearly 4100 month loans home meanwhile originally valued 585000 depreciated severely three scant years essentially worthless 270000 didnt know natalie said couldnt make payments banks would call us time asking able make payments make payments wanted keep home really tried everything banks oh goodness get runaround realized couldnt make payments carl natalie first tried loan told try hope homeowners program applied denied bank told lipkins done manual entry loan modification lossmitigation department never get person twice natalie said never person call back someone calculates numbers wrong someone else gets information wrong theyre ball sidethats makes frustrating ill fax something wont know didnt receive even though got okay fax dont even bother telling youever close file start thats hired first attorney radio natalie heard law group loan modification googled law group didnt find complaints hired frickin guy carl exploded gave sixtyfive hundred dollars know know got sixtyfive hundred dollars foreclosed home nothing wouldnt even return calls one call time carl began eyeballing suspicion hey know youre asked mean going take money nothing paranoid terrified mind went fightorflight mode pictured carl lunging jugular mind clouded berserker rage imagined attorney defrauded scanned friends office weapon could use defend noticed bowl wasabi peas thought perhaps could quickly fling pea eye temporarily blinding took offensive thankfully wife calmed pea ended mouth sadly though lipkins tale thoroughly screwed unethical attorneys preying desperate clients common state bar california released several ethics alerts reminding attorneys professional responsibilities appropriate way deal clients default recorder legal newspaper cover feature notorious offenders bilked clients millions nothing homes went default foreclosed sold steps local courthouse recall young attorneys terrified neurotic specimens earthparalyzed fear disbarred moments notice rank incompetence anticipating severe penalties read every single ethics alert researched california civil code talked seasoned attorneys called state bar ethics hotline three times asking every hypothetical question could imagine third call patient research assistant said think relax exhaled looked carl eye professional adult voice launched rehearsedbut sincerespiel reiterated least twelve times throughout onehourfortyfiveminute interview assured sleazy attorney solely money corrupt unethical told wanted name mean something ethically could guarantee results attorney said guarantee resultthat would california rules professional conduct assured would try utmostthat would fight save home scrooge told see affordable rate service money want help family keep home okay lengthy pause okay believe replied carl uncomfortable eternity im sorry earlier know stressful lets get started want check need sign agreement whenever client signs attorney client retainer agreement hands young attorney check always feels like first time pretty girl told actually hideous shocks senses absolutely awesome unbelievable officially business saving lipkins home brought financial information pay stubs monthly mortgage statements missing key loan documents tax returns reflecting fraudulent stated income foreclosure scheduled friday tuesday 546 pm two days prepare legaldemand letter review finances guide writing hardship letter create loanmodification package get paralegal would prepare emergency bankruptcy petition case bank didnt flinch family lose home legitimate check hand actual clients voluntarily agreed let represent trustee sale two days closed eyes said prayer exhaled opened eyes front stood shitcovered bear waiting wrestle battle billiondollar bank would fight creature far bigger covered feces signal unleash hell160 first day battle pompous bravado exhibited young hotshot attorneys layman might assume go sleep night orgasms thinking awesomeness brutal reality us bathe ulcerinducing anxiety curl blankets staring ceiling wednesday morning two days save family losing home rocky music playing background selfassuring voice confidence verbal fellationothing overwhelming sense dread dealing banks suspend foreclosure date secure proper loan modification akin repeatedly ramming head brick wall hopes eventually break coming utter desperation lipkins like many americans tried vain negotiate bank directly told negotiator assigned file reviewing trying reach mythical negotiator phone proved difficult finding bigfoot call call lipkins told negotiator would touch july 21the date coincidentally foreclosure sale informed lipkins bank simply using delay tactic negotiator assigned one would ever call flabbergasted wells fargo would lie wells fargo real piece work obama administration recently blasted bank name one major lenders lagging behind promise help homeowners keep properties receiving billions dollars government help struggling homeowners wells fargo turned around offered loan modifications whopping 6 percent borrowers least executives bank enjoying fruits foreclosure la times broke news one wells fargos senior vice presidents responsible overseeing foreclosed commercial properties kept swanky 12 million foreclosed malibu home market could use weekend getaway previous owners lost fortune bernie madoff saw family home turned beachparty house wells fargo fired vice president issued public apology lipkins like many families america denied courtesy phone call law degree license practice however gave considerable leverage banks rarely deal customers straightforward manner ears perk attorney threatens lawsuit emergency bankruptcy filing order get anywhere first make call bank special direct line lawyers threatening lawsuitsthat would make easythis means dialing customerservice number thank calling customer service appreciate business due unexpectedly heavy call volume experiencing delay please stay line customerservice representative assist shortly thirtyfive minutes elevator music human voice came line asked business mentioned lossmitigation department transferred waited another ten minutes robotic voice calmly asked enter loan number press pound obliged upon arriving desired destination hearing first sign sentient human life side started good morning name wajahat ali law office wajahat ali authorized representative carl lipkin would like inquire loan number please excuse whats loan number please oh sorry thought gave anyway saying extend foreclosure date would like submit loanmodification package name please oh carl lipkin saying address property heres address paused relaying anticipating another question heard nothing introduced repeated query hit last four social please heres last four already inputted address mentioned address pause begin speaking saying verify address sir inner voice filled head obscenities gave address yes please verify obliged nothing ask thought safe paused let dead air anticipate question nothing time move ahead saying need discuss loan modification mentioned im representative mr lipkinattorney wajahat ali hired mr lipkin wajahat ali warbalot wajahat ali sent authorization yesterday faxed received mr lipkin signed dated authorized represent oh doesnt show computers cant talk unless authorized authorized sent yesterday im sorry takes three business days information uploaded computers okay dont three days realize client facing sale date two days yes authorized im sorry noon losing hours bank refused acknowledge existence let alone talk desperation naiveté tried calling trustee agent bank hired process foreclosure sale learned valuable lesson trustee agents useless extending sale dates merely banks tell calling waste time think called carl carl favor call bank heres number tell verbally authorize speak behalf representative ill wait cell pick another phone call carl obliged waited another half hour finally reached human rep asked us hold spoke supervisor came back oneday getoutofjailfree card form twentyfour hour verbal authorization bench ready play ball taking absurdly high 4300 mortgage account lipkins falling monthly deficit bank would simply reduce monthly payments fair reflection propertys current value lipkins current financial situation family would easily able make monthly payments keep home continue giving bank substantial amounts money one would think financial institution would consider viable wise short term solution considering country mired one worst recessions recent memory however wishful thinking one options banks automated phone service one might also assume banks operate purely greed avaricebut case would simply take shortterm money clients instead wasting resources foreclosure costs appraisals reselling house brutally reduced value fact shockingly banks mostly apathetic confused poorly informed poorly managed left hand idea right hand imagine giant warehouse underlings paid minimum wage simply parrot written script crunching numbers giant database thousand tubes wires cross intersect one another ultimately lead nowhere called lossmitigation number informed could help needed talk bankruptcy department instead talked bankruptcy told go back loss mitigation told call trustee agent authorized extend sale date trustee agent gave random number realtor arizona shocked given number went back lossmitigation department asked number legal counsel could fax legaldemand letter learned bank ever gives legaldepartment phone fax number simply give address ask mail legal complaint finally received number assumed corporate counsel called asked calling told foreclosure sympathetic said idea would give numberthat odd try number instead best luck clients wrote number gave realized number lossmitigation department looked notebook saw dozen numbers written span three hours arrows pointing one number another including numerical options punch automated message system order reach appropriate department notepad resembled cy twombly painting lossmitigation department finally talked used adult voice expressed mock anger gotten agree review file expected give proper fax number send loanmodification package instead came back said two loans file course replied theyve whole time bank dealing primary loan currently foreclosure oh right department call duallien department im sorry someone told yeah told three hours ago stupid incompetent apathetic son goatherder didnt say loud outburst would well earned expanded twombly painting added another number called duallien department discover left day called lossmitigation department prepared angry speech filled bile witty barbs ready unleash poor unsuspecting customerservice representative kind allamerican midwesternmotherly voice picked phone started endearingly referring dear two minutes talking abundantly clear first day job brilliant anger reduced mush like country applesauce took several minutes load file begun learning computer system exasperated finally askedin soothing respectful voicemaam simply ask supervisor dual lien departments fax number number try escalated sale date said would returned seemed like ages finally key elusive gates thanked responded dears sweethearts honeys adding best luck looked legaldemand letter used subtle heavyduty mean business language recited verses quran blew paper prayed best faxed package nearly 5 pm felt like battered warrior honorably survived first day called carl give update ask hed filled emergency bankruptcy petition id instructed little fact people dont know file emergency bankruptcy petition receive automatic fifteenday stay foreclosure borrowers hail mary fifteen days bank foreclose house two weeks either withdraw application complete bankruptcy timing key foreclosure scheduled 9 file petition 905 officially luck file 859 saved case bank continued acting like unresponsive jerks though wanted carl option file bankruptcy id told night call paralegal paperwork signed ready go hed promised would nah man didnt told supposed yes carl said trying choke phone supposed several hours ago need listen attorney please found paralegal nearby knew full well answer would hung raced computer googled paralegals near carls county found number called heard exhausted woman end used oldschool ethnicsalesman tricks convince stay late office wait carl would drive evening picking kids promised would give good business use services repeatedly would recommend clientele grudgingly obliged grumbled told carl 7 pm leaving waited office carl call confirm hed made one hour passed waited phone call got waj good go exhaled day 1 neither victory lossa stalemate sure package faxed every single number id written yellow canvas young attorney shitcovered bear retired respective corners next morning jumped bed yelling hell looked alarm bloodshot eyes 10 day 2 another sleepless night time duallien department would escape wrath called first thing like biblical prophet unleashed righteous fury underpaid underling listen dont want waste time name wajahat ali retained counsel carl lipkin sent authorization two days ago uploaded system havent thats fault youre going listen say client trustee sale date tomorrow tried good faith negotiate bank weeks consistently mistreated thankfully retained know im supervisors supervisors appreciate filing chapter 13 bankruptcy halt frustrate foreclosure proceedings furthermore happy discover pending results forensic audit done loan reveal statedincome loan approved bank direct violation federal state lending lawsa total breach fiduciary duty owed clients several recent cases held damages penalty egregious behavior generally rescission entire loan choice either foreclose worthless property equity lost fifty percent original value good faith negotiate client equitable payment terms receive money instead money want play hardball dont waste time im filing bankruptcy get supervisor service agent didnt speak moment uhum hold ill get supervisor two minutes later supervisor came line could get word unleashed next verbal whoopass reiterating nearly word word told underling supervisor didnt speak moment uhum okay dont file bankruptcy please herecall number first time received phone number actual area code gave name human brian supervisor ill definitely call sir want know im speaking verify conversation occurred sounded like paranoid ethnic uncle sure id number john x1z thank much john x1z appreciate youll hearing soon called brian supervisor expecting reach wrong number random factory chile instead discovered answering machine scant two minutes machine decided stop taping unleashed verbal fury yet time machinegun clip rattled loan number repeating twice added last four digits social even threw address good measure recited biblicalprophet speech said thank hung exhaled one hour passed nothing another half hour nothing phone call cell last battery bar day um sir yes brian uh please file bankruptcy um want foreclose property please uh patient us need know whether extension sale date yes sir extended wow really okay didnt say loud genuinely shocked actually extended sale date big bad mean bank assured nearly dozen times things hopeless nothing could done lipkins prepare move told foreclosure would delayed month well thank would like confirmation look forward talking soon said serious sober adult voice barely containing schoolgirl glee hung sat couldnt believe bastards flinched family would get stay home fight another day called carl tell good news replied longest oh thank god ever heard could hear natalie screaming joy background moment cloud desperation lifted besieged family could breathe first time months incompetent callous bank would actually review viable loan modification package would get disbarred least month however corner eye spotted bear still smiling plenty fight left following monday three days original sale date received fax bank confirmation loanmodification package received july 22 232 pm thank received another fax loanmodification package denied july 22 234 pm reason enough income thank new sale date august 21 essentially underling merely inputted income expense numbers computer pressed enter waited result computer recognized family making less money expenseswhich utterly predictable logical considering asking loan modification unable pay currently exorbitant monthly mortgageand mechanically turned shitcovered bear flashed devilish grin right id like move dont waste time family doesnt feel unnecessary pressure bank would like operate good faith yeah four weeks calling us get move oh well let tell youthey dont anything early mean time ive seen extend sale date within three days sale ive never seen happen earlier shocked literally couldnt come anything say response customerservice representative admitting bank deliberately stalled approving loanmodification packages keeping borrowers hanging underneath guillotine last minute wait youre telling wont anything threeday mark intentionally ignore situation clients instead helping working toward negotiation yeah um well mean really cant say sure um know havent seen like ever theyll always wait last day possible mean know youre trying help id recommend waiting weeks apparently early bird loses worm nest dealing banks foreclosures friends girlfriend conveniently works banks corporate department told bank issued internal policy notice explaining would delay foreclosures attorney threatened file lawsuit bankruptcy petition information meant mass consumption heard thought wellintentioned hardworking moms pops lost jobs revenues assets couldnt afford attorney negotiate behalf could turn customer service agents denied weeks end could pay represent supervisor told negotiator would call back one summoned image gladiator maximus melodramatic fashion promised vengeance life next meantime concentrated obtaining signed loan documents bank carl made fax request phone request two weeks ago needed documents verify loan indeed statedincome loan hed written 26000 monthly income even though actual salary 26000 year also wanted carl get forensic audit loan financialservices company audit costs around three hundred dollars helps us attorneys get financial snapshot actually went wrong loan origination completion called bank demand loan documents though gave number remax title company located arizona like remax office confused calling bank gotten number spent another hour waiting right customerservice agent direct appropriate department promised loan documents would faxed mailed within next fortyeight hours day yet receive thankfully week later bank sent carl package containing everything needed sent documents financialservices company received audit found considerable violations federal state lending laws furthermore exquisitely tasty case law supported arguments business time write firm potent legaldemand letter carl receiving five hundred dollars month extra income thanks wifes sister renting room home one family members taken debt thereby decreasing expenses legal duty pay alimony expired thereby freeing another three hundred dollars monthly according new numbers barely making monthly expenses knowing full well computer gods would simply see net positive updated legaldemand letter new financial information faxed called week later judgment day three days away unsurprisingly yet move forward loan modification foreclosure date still place called brian supervisor learned away business told talk lisa supervisor stead calling lisa realized would never answer phonei would always greeted mechanical voice stood pumping gas dialed cell phone one bar energy left declared calling law offices wajahat ali expensive unleaded gasoline filled barely living 1997 toyota camry reiterated halloffame speech prayed allah someone would eventually hear threatened severe legal consequences receive response within two days robotic lady informed thirty seconds left answering machine blurted necessary information said thank left number hung ten minutes later received call lisa informed bank decided extend sale date another month exhaled kissed california state bar card called carl give good news sat outside local starbucks relishing victory venti caramel frappuccino extra caramel sauce wajahat love carl shouted million dollars would buy lamborghini really would lamborghini slurped frappuccino big sloppy grin plastered face looked rearview mirror spotted bear behind drinking latte honey looked little worn disappearing however flipped middle finger remind battle ended numbers properly excel sheets bolded key information placing everything strong times new roman size 12 font even elementary school student would able find income expenses profit totals click continue | 4,124 |
<p>Given the frequency with which murder takes place in the United States, the killing of Laci Peterson is not an extraordinary event; except in the sense in which any murder of a human being is an extraordinary event. But in the current United States of America there has occurred a profound inversion of values in which the sacred is trivialized and the trivial is exalted. A country that can speak so casually of the infinite value of life, of the dignity of the individual, of the majesty of human existence, can quite literally destroy life without consideration and reveal thereby the deep corrosion of its ideology, by which I do not mean the “world view” shared by the population, but the mystification that destroys the possibility of understanding the actual nature of human life and purpose.</p>
<p>What is most extraordinary about the Laci Peterson situation, though it is a common occurrence in America, is the fact that it has become a national melodrama and on the occasion of what would have been her 28th birthday “drew mourners from across Northern California.” (San Francisco Chronicle, 5/5/03) Why are we not surprised to learn that the ceremony included a “video tribute” while the song “I Will Remember You” was played. So I do not use the word “melodrama” lightly or disrespectfully. It is a profound requirement of contemporary American life to inhabit the realms of the melodramatic and the histrionic.</p>
<p>The Reverend Donna Arno, who presided over the ceremony noted that the event was as much for the community as for the family. “The family realized the effect this has had on the town and even on the nation.” Over 800 years ago in Western Europe death was a “collective” affair in which the dying person initiated the procedure of leaving this world and departing for some relation with God in the next. The site of death became a public place in which others came and went at ease. It was not, however, so much the death of a distinct individual, an irreplaceable person, as a member of a species who was marked for death. But that event was the opposite of melodramatic; it was, instead, ordinary and commonplace, what Philip Aires has called “tamed death.” For us, everything has changed.</p>
<p>When Leona Ortiz Ramirez was asked by her 11 year old daughter, Bianca, why she was going to make the drive to the ceremony “for someone I don’t even know,” she explained that when she “first heard Laci Peterson described on television, “she sounded like me.” The American way of mourning embraces vicariously, through the other, what one cannot confront in one’s self, the necessity of death and the anguish thereof. And those who, “casually dressed in jeans or shorts brought their families to say farewell to a woman they only knew from stories they read or pictures they saw,” were enacting what has been a prototypical American sublimation of the grief of mourning. That other for whom one mourns is not a person one has known through one’s lived relationship, but one who essentially “represents” the construction of an artificial sentiment as constituted by the media elaboration of needs deeply denied and vicariously manifested.</p>
<p>Three years earlier at the funeral of her grandmother Laci spoke of her wish for her own funeral. As her brother noted; “She said, ‘I don’t want people to be sad. I don’t want them to be missing me. I want them to be happy.” How does one learn to sacrifice the vital meaning of one’s life for the sake of a murderous creed of abstract anonymity? What Laci lived through, what she deeply believed, we will of course never know, despite the media pretense that we are transparent and readily summarized. But what leads a human being to come to believe in the great virtue of serving the masses in their quest for happiness, of offering herself up in a ritual of common hedonic service. Happiness is, of course, the great American religion, and woe unto him or her who disturbs its majestic equilibrium, its all-comforting assurance. Should the face of happiness be rent, should the suffering that lies beneath its fiercely controlled exterior be revealed, everything is threatened at once; the entire mystification of American life hangs in the balance, the great American Dream is revealed in its fragile betrayal, dangling precariously from the fraying thread of blasted hope. Should we be surprised that in the earlier pictures of Laci on her wedding day or later when pregnant, her husband is not to be seen? Was this the life that brought her happiness and the need to display it?</p>
<p>In front of the stage on the day of the ceremony, behind the huge choir dressed in white, was placed a “photo portrait of Laci, featuring the broad smile that people throughout the country had seen in the months since her disappearance.” “Bright sprays of flowers….along with a small stuffed rhinoceros” graced the stage. “Laci Peters was eulogized as someone who was bubbly, vivacious and the life of every party.” It is essential that we not identify the lived meaning of Laci Peterson’s life with the public construction of that meaning. Her funeral was clearly for those who need to draw comfort from it. But how ghastly that the vicarious mourners should choose as the quintessence of her existence, that vivacious presence as the “life of the party.” And beyond the obvious pathos of this death resonates the defining symbolism of another life curtailed, the aborted promise of further human fulfillment.</p>
<p>Who confronts happiness in America has broken the ultimate imperative of denial. And what can more undeceive us than death, wherein we are forced to confront the limitations, failures and broken hopes that our social world has first raised to the status of certain fulfillment, and then slowly brought down in grief. This is not what we learn form the presentations of mass media, which thrives on escape and mystification; but it is the cry that resonates, as in the well known painting of Ensor, within every meaningful work of literature and serious reflection in the 20th century. In the world of manipulated, voracious consuming images and those ghostly human phantoms who pursue and ingest them, we learn the secret of it all. These figures are not themselves merely happy; they are so far beyond happiness that they reveal themselves in their mania and their manic defense, against …….time, and change, metabolism, the failure of satiation, and finally, aging and death.</p>
<p>Americans are simply forbidden to weep powerfully, passionately, uncontrollably at the conclusion of life, for it carries the burden of too much life unlived. “One only has the right to cry if no one else can see or hear,” Aires noted, or if the crying has been made into a public ceremony with carefully planned protocols and rituals that honors “the life of the party.” As American sexuality is so often sublimated, once again through media stereotypes, so mourning becomes shameful, “like a sort of masturbation.” as Geoffry Gorer noted. It is not that death, as sexuality, has been denied access to the world, but that both of them have been eviscerated and replaced by malleable and secure substitutes.</p>
<p>So, it should come as no ultimate surprise that America can splatter death around the world and not stop to count the corpses. Those others we have killed are unrecognized or soon forgotten. We claim for ourselves the melodrama of war, the pretense of honoring life amidst our compulsion to destroy; it is the pornography of unjustifiable murder and meaningless death that we embrace for ourselves, while the other generally goes unmarked. Yet, there have been occasions when even that other has been invited into our histrionic embrace – that child screaming in her terror on the railroad tracks in Nanking or the girl consumed by napalm and flaming inward toward her unbearable suffering on the road in Vietman, seeking salvation in her abandon. (And why is it so often children we sentimentalize?) We install death in the world with indifferent casualness and insinuate calamity in self-righteous certitude, visiting oblivion on others and ourselves, a sacramental sacrifice to the god of capital accumulation, so seductive in its abstract certainty and dead anonymity. Those who would peer under the surface of official happiness to note the blighted lives, the love of death, the sense of purpose and identity grown corpulent with greed, serving no purpose so much as staving off anxiety, they will be marked for stigma and despair.</p>
<p>So we mourn in our hollow ritual for the woman, we are told, who wanted nothing so much as to be the life of the party. Mourn for her and the party she will not attend.; and for the party of sorts we will live more and more as this insane nation rampages through blighted lands and conducts its terror in the world. Do not be deceived by the practiced joy of simulated war, the president dismounting from his trusty steed in the age of mechanical reproduction. This is only an apparent respite amidst the actual murders. Better to remember Auden’s poem:</p>
<p>Epitaph on a Tyrant</p>
<p>Perfection, of a kind, was what he was after, And the poetry he invented was easy to understand; He knew human folly like the back of his hand, And was greatly interested in armies and fleets; When he laughed, respectable senators burst with laughter, And when he cried the little children died in the streets.</p>
<p>RICHARD LICHTMAN is the author of “ <a href="" type="internal">The Production of Desire</a>,” “ <a href="" type="internal">Essays in Critical Social Theory</a>,” and most recently, “ <a href="" type="internal">Dying in America</a>,” which among other aspects, includes a memoir of the death of his father. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:rlichtman@earthlink.net" type="external">rlichtman@earthlink.net</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | given frequency murder takes place united states killing laci peterson extraordinary event except sense murder human extraordinary event current united states america occurred profound inversion values sacred trivialized trivial exalted country speak casually infinite value life dignity individual majesty human existence quite literally destroy life without consideration reveal thereby deep corrosion ideology mean world view shared population mystification destroys possibility understanding actual nature human life purpose extraordinary laci peterson situation though common occurrence america fact become national melodrama occasion would 28th birthday drew mourners across northern california san francisco chronicle 5503 surprised learn ceremony included video tribute song remember played use word melodrama lightly disrespectfully profound requirement contemporary american life inhabit realms melodramatic histrionic reverend donna arno presided ceremony noted event much community family family realized effect town even nation 800 years ago western europe death collective affair dying person initiated procedure leaving world departing relation god next site death became public place others came went ease however much death distinct individual irreplaceable person member species marked death event opposite melodramatic instead ordinary commonplace philip aires called tamed death us everything changed leona ortiz ramirez asked 11 year old daughter bianca going make drive ceremony someone dont even know explained first heard laci peterson described television sounded like american way mourning embraces vicariously one confront ones self necessity death anguish thereof casually dressed jeans shorts brought families say farewell woman knew stories read pictures saw enacting prototypical american sublimation grief mourning one mourns person one known ones lived relationship one essentially represents construction artificial sentiment constituted media elaboration needs deeply denied vicariously manifested three years earlier funeral grandmother laci spoke wish funeral brother noted said dont want people sad dont want missing want happy one learn sacrifice vital meaning ones life sake murderous creed abstract anonymity laci lived deeply believed course never know despite media pretense transparent readily summarized leads human come believe great virtue serving masses quest happiness offering ritual common hedonic service happiness course great american religion woe unto disturbs majestic equilibrium allcomforting assurance face happiness rent suffering lies beneath fiercely controlled exterior revealed everything threatened entire mystification american life hangs balance great american dream revealed fragile betrayal dangling precariously fraying thread blasted hope surprised earlier pictures laci wedding day later pregnant husband seen life brought happiness need display front stage day ceremony behind huge choir dressed white placed photo portrait laci featuring broad smile people throughout country seen months since disappearance bright sprays flowersalong small stuffed rhinoceros graced stage laci peters eulogized someone bubbly vivacious life every party essential identify lived meaning laci petersons life public construction meaning funeral clearly need draw comfort ghastly vicarious mourners choose quintessence existence vivacious presence life party beyond obvious pathos death resonates defining symbolism another life curtailed aborted promise human fulfillment confronts happiness america broken ultimate imperative denial undeceive us death wherein forced confront limitations failures broken hopes social world first raised status certain fulfillment slowly brought grief learn form presentations mass media thrives escape mystification cry resonates well known painting ensor within every meaningful work literature serious reflection 20th century world manipulated voracious consuming images ghostly human phantoms pursue ingest learn secret figures merely happy far beyond happiness reveal mania manic defense time change metabolism failure satiation finally aging death americans simply forbidden weep powerfully passionately uncontrollably conclusion life carries burden much life unlived one right cry one else see hear aires noted crying made public ceremony carefully planned protocols rituals honors life party american sexuality often sublimated media stereotypes mourning becomes shameful like sort masturbation geoffry gorer noted death sexuality denied access world eviscerated replaced malleable secure substitutes come ultimate surprise america splatter death around world stop count corpses others killed unrecognized soon forgotten claim melodrama war pretense honoring life amidst compulsion destroy pornography unjustifiable murder meaningless death embrace generally goes unmarked yet occasions even invited histrionic embrace child screaming terror railroad tracks nanking girl consumed napalm flaming inward toward unbearable suffering road vietman seeking salvation abandon often children sentimentalize install death world indifferent casualness insinuate calamity selfrighteous certitude visiting oblivion others sacramental sacrifice god capital accumulation seductive abstract certainty dead anonymity would peer surface official happiness note blighted lives love death sense purpose identity grown corpulent greed serving purpose much staving anxiety marked stigma despair mourn hollow ritual woman told wanted nothing much life party mourn party attend party sorts live insane nation rampages blighted lands conducts terror world deceived practiced joy simulated war president dismounting trusty steed age mechanical reproduction apparent respite amidst actual murders better remember audens poem epitaph tyrant perfection kind poetry invented easy understand knew human folly like back hand greatly interested armies fleets laughed respectable senators burst laughter cried little children died streets richard lichtman author production desire essays critical social theory recently dying america among aspects includes memoir death father reached rlichtmanearthlinknet 160 | 801 |
<p>People at a rally in Kolkata, India light candles to honor a 23-year old gang rape victim.India Today/ZUMA Press</p>
<p>This <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175641/" type="external">story</a> first appeared on the <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/" type="external">TomDispatch</a> website.</p>
<p>Here in the United States, where there is a reported rape every 6.2 minutes, and one in five women will be raped in her lifetime, the&#160; <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/9796076/Delhi-gang-rape-victim-to-haunt-attackers-with-dying-declaration.html" type="external">rape and gruesome murder</a>&#160;of a young woman on a bus in New Delhi on December 16th was treated as an exceptional incident. The story of the alleged rape of an unconscious teenager by members of the Steubenville High School football team was still unfolding, and gang rapes aren’t that unusual here either. Take your pick: some of the 20 men who&#160; <a href="http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Defendant-in-Cleveland-gang-rape-case-gets-life-4073766.php" type="external">gang-raped</a>&#160;an 11-year-old in Cleveland, Texas, were sentenced in November, while the instigator of the&#160; <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_21810386/sentencing-today-key-richmong-gang-rape-suspect" type="external">gang rape</a>&#160;of a 16-year-old in Richmond, California, was sentenced in October, and four men who&#160; <a href="http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/04/4_men_found_guilty_in_gang_rap.html" type="external">gang-raped</a>&#160;a 15-year-old near New Orleans were sentenced in April, though the six men who&#160; <a href="http://www.redeyechicago.com/news/chi-police-6-men-abduct-girl-at-gunpoint-sexually-assault-her-20121107,0,7200533.story" type="external">gang-raped</a>&#160;a 14-year-old in Chicago last fall are still at large. Not that I actually went out looking for incidents: they’re everywhere in the news, though no one adds them up and indicates that there might actually be a pattern.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com" type="external" /></p>
<p>There is, however, a pattern of violence against women that’s broad and deep and horrific and incessantly overlooked. Occasionally, a case&#160; <a href="http://www.tmz.com/2012/07/16/kobe-bryant-rape-eagle-colorado-ray-lewis/" type="external">involving</a>&#160;a&#160; <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/05/opinion/granderson-rihanna-brown/index.html" type="external">celebrity</a>&#160;or&#160; <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2232923/Rihannas-battered-face-featured-Chris-Brown-concert-posters-singer-targeted-anti-domestic-violence-campaign.html" type="external">lurid details</a>&#160;in a particular case get a lot of attention in the media, but such cases are treated as anomalies, while the abundance of incidental news items about violence against women in this country, in other countries, on every continent including&#160; <a href="http://www.wisenet-australia.org/issue64/Women%20in%20ANARE.htm" type="external">Antarctica</a>, constitute a kind of background wallpaper for the news.</p>
<p>If you’d rather talk about bus rapes than gang rapes, there’s the&#160; <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2012/nov/10/local/la-me-1110-bus-rape-20121110" type="external">rape</a>&#160;of a developmentally disabled woman on a Los Angeles bus in November and the&#160; <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Man-charged-in-autistic-girl-s-kidnap-rape-4091810.php" type="external">kidnapping</a>&#160;of an autistic 16-year-old on the regional transit train system in Oakland, California—she was raped repeatedly by her abductor over two days this winter—and there was a&#160; <a href="http://www.sinembargo.mx/opinion/08-01-2013/11811" type="external">gang rape</a>&#160;of multiple women on a bus in Mexico City recently, too. &#160;While I was writing this, I read that&#160; <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/01/13/india-rape-death-penalty/1829925/" type="external">another female bus-rider</a>&#160;was kidnapped in India and gang-raped all night by the bus driver and five of his friends who must have thought what happened in New Delhi was awesome.</p>
<p>We have an abundance of rape and violence against women in this country and on this Earth, though it’s almost never treated as a civil rights or human rights issue, or a crisis, or even a pattern. Violence doesn’t have a race, a class, a religion, or a nationality, but it does have a gender.</p>
<p>Here I want to say one thing: though virtually all the perpetrators of such crimes are men, that doesn’t mean all men are violent. Most are not. In addition, men obviously also suffer violence, largely at the hands of other men, and every violent death, every assault is terrible.&#160; But the subject here is the pandemic of violence by men against women, both intimate violence and stranger violence. &#160;</p>
<p>What We Don’t Talk About When We Don’t Talk About Gender</p>
<p>There’s so much of it. We could talk about the assault and rape of a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/15/nyregion/central-park-rape-suspect-was-sought-in-a-2002-murder.html" type="external">73-year-old</a> in Manhattan’s Central Park last September, or the recent rape of a <a href="http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/04/marrero_arrested_in_connection.html" type="external">four-year-old</a> and an <a href="http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2013/01/man_booked_with_raping_83-year.html" type="external">83-year-old</a> in Louisiana, or the New York City policeman who was <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/05/nyregion/man-accused-of-conspiring-with-officer-to-kidnap-woman.html" type="external">arrested</a> in October for what appeared to be serious plans to kidnap, rape, cook, and eat a woman, any woman, because the hate wasn’t personal (though maybe it was for the <a href="http://news.sky.com/story/1015121/california-man-kills-freezes-and-cooks-wife?f=ob" type="external">San Diego man</a> who actually killed and cooked his wife in November and the man from <a href="http://blog.nola.com/tpcrimearchive/2006/10/boyfriend_cut_up_corpse_cooked.html" type="external">New Orleans</a> who killed, dismembered, and cooked his girlfriend in 2005).</p>
<p>Those are all exceptional crimes, but we could also talk about quotidian assaults, because though a rape is <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/soraya-chemaly/50-facts-rape_b_2019338.html" type="external">reported</a> only every 6.2 minutes in this country, the estimated total is perhaps <a href="http://www.ncadv.org/wp-content/uploads/DomesticViolenceFactSheet(National).pdf" type="external">five times as high</a>. Which means that there may be very nearly a rape a minute in the US&#160; It all adds up to tens of millions of rape victims.</p>
<p>We could talk about <a href="http://www.orlandosentinel.com/os-rape-teen-girl-high-school-stairwell-20130115,0,2915879.story" type="external">high-school</a>– and <a href="http://jezebel.com/5964359/when-will-we-stop-pretending-that-college-athletes-cant-be-rapists" type="external">college-athlete</a> rapes, or <a href="http://www.merrimack.edu/about/offices_services/police_services/rape_aggression_defense_rad_systems.php" type="external">campus rapes</a>, to which university authorities have been appallingly uninterested in responding in many cases, including that high school in Steubenville, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/wp/2012/12/04/why-i-wont-be-cheering-for-old-notre-dame/" type="external">Notre Dame University</a>, <a href="http://amherststudent.amherst.edu/?q=article%2F2012%2F10%2F17%2Faccount-sexual-assault-amherst-college" type="external">Amherst College</a>, and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/27/education/amherst-account-of-rape-brings-tension-to-forefront.html" type="external">many others</a>. We could talk about the escalating <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2012/1/30/the_invisible_war_new_film_exposes" type="external">pandemic</a> of rape, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/06/military-sexual-assault-defense-department_n_1834196.html" type="external">sexual assault</a>, and sexual harassment in the <a href="http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/20/16039249-reported-sex-assaults-leap-23-percent-at-us-military-academies?lite" type="external">US military</a>, where Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta <a href="http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/01/18/10184222-panetta-could-be-19000-military-sex-assaults-each-year" type="external">estimated</a> that there were 19,000 sexual assaults on fellow soldiers in 2010 alone and that the great majority of assailants got away with it, though four-star general Jeffrey Sinclair was <a href="http://rt.com/usa/news/army-crimes-general-sinclair-028/" type="external">indicted</a> in September for “a slew of sex crimes against women.”</p>
<p>Never mind workplace violence, let’s go home. So many men murder their partners and former partners that we have well over <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/pub-res/ipv_cost/ipvbook-final-feb18.pdf" type="external">1,000 homicides</a> of that kind a year—meaning that every three years the death toll <a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/reflections-on-9-11-and-domestic-violence" type="external">tops</a> 9/11’s casualties, though no one declares a war on this particular terror. (Another way to put it: the more than 11,766 corpses from domestic-violence homicides since 9/11 <a href="http://www.upworthy.com/dont-believe-in-the-war-on-women-would-a-body-count-change-your-mind?g=2&amp;c=ufb1" type="external">exceed</a> the number of deaths of victims on that day and all American soldiers killed in the “war on terror.”) If we talked about crimes like these and why they are so common, we’d have to talk about what kinds of profound change this society, or this nation, or nearly every nation needs. If we talked about it, we’d be talking about masculinity, or male roles, or maybe patriarchy, and we don’t talk much about that.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0140286012/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external" />Instead, we hear that American men commit murder-suicides—at the rate of about <a href="http://www.vpc.org/studies/amroul2012.pdf" type="external">12</a> a week—because the economy is bad, though they also do it when the economy is good; or that those men in India murdered the bus-rider because the poor resent the rich, while other rapes in India are explained by how the rich exploit the poor; and then there are those ever-popular explanations: mental problems and intoxicants—and for jocks, <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/alyssa/2012/12/05/1283921/belcher-perkins-domestic-violence/" type="external">head injuries</a>. The latest spin is that <a href="" type="internal">lead exposure</a> was responsible for a lot of our violence, except that both genders are exposed and one commits most of the violence. The pandemic of violence always gets explained as anything but gender, anything but what would seem to be the broadest explanatory pattern of all.</p>
<p>Someone <a href="http://gawker.com/5973485/the-unbearable-invisibility-of-white-masculinity-innocence-in-the-age-of-white-male-mass-shootings" type="external">wrote a piece</a> about how white men seem to be the ones who commit mass murders in the US and the (mostly hostile) commenters only seemed to notice the white part. It’s rare that anyone says what this <a href="http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.0050101" type="external">medical study</a> does, even if in the driest way possible: “Being male has been identified as a risk factor for violent criminal behavior in several studies, as have exposure to tobacco smoke before birth, having antisocial parents, and belonging to a poor family.”</p>
<p>Still, the pattern is plain as day. We could talk about this as a global problem, looking at the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19440656" type="external">epidemic</a> of <a href="http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/05/15675200-men-dont-have-to-worry-about-being-caught-sex-mobs-target-egypts-women" type="external">assault</a>, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19440656" type="external">harassment</a>, and <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2012/11/26/300-protesters-sexually-assault-three-women-in-cairos-tahrir-square/" type="external">rape</a> of women in Cairo’s Tahrir Square that has <a href="http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2012-06-08/egypt-mobs-attacks-women/55470356/1" type="external">taken away</a> the freedom they celebrated during the Arab Spring—and led some men there to form <a href="http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/03/activists-tackle-sexual-harassment-in-tahrir/" type="external">defense teams</a> to help counter it—or the persecution of women in public and private in India from “ <a href="http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-01-05/lucknow/36161482_1_hathras-local-police-akhilesh-yadav" type="external">Eve-teasing</a>” to <a href="http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/ranchi/121492-171-rape-cases-registered-in-state-fast-track-court-.html" type="external">bride-burning</a>, or “ <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/12/2012121614107670788.html" type="external">honor killings</a>” in South Asia and the Middle East, or the way that South Africa has become a global rape capital, with an estimated <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20971240" type="external">600,000 rapes</a> last year, or how rape has been used as a tactic and “weapon” of war in Mali, Sudan, and the <a href="http://ncronline.org/blogs/where-i-stand/silence-about-global-treatment-women-disquieting" type="external">Congo</a>, as it was in the former Yugoslavia, or the pervasiveness of rape and harassment in Mexico and the femicide in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_homicides_in_Ciudad_Ju%C3%A1rez" type="external">Juarez</a>, or the denial of basic rights for women in Saudi Arabia and the myriad sexual assaults on immigrant domestic workers there, or the way that the <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175395/" type="external">Dominique Strauss-Kahn case</a> in the United States revealed what <a href="http://www.denverpost.com/latin/ci_18164196" type="external">impunity</a> he and others had in France, and it’s only for lack of space I’m leaving out <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-20481004" type="external">Britain</a> and Canada and <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/07/silvio-berlusconi-sex-antics" type="external">Italy</a> (with its ex-prime minister known for his <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/07/silvio-berlusconi-sex-antics%20" type="external">orgies</a> with the underaged), <a href="http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/lifestyle/2012/10/09/argentine-court-blocks-abortion-for-rape-victim/" type="external">Argentina</a> and <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/120930/jill-meagher-jillian-meagher-melbourne-australia-rape-murder-killing-violence-ireland" type="external">Australia</a> and so many other countries.</p>
<p>Who Has the Right to Kill You?</p>
<p>But maybe you’re tired of statistics, so let’s just talk about <a href="http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/crime-law/woman-stabbed-walking-down-tenderlion-street/nTqRM/" type="external">a single incident</a> that happened in my city a couple of weeks ago, one of many local incidents in which men assaulted women that made the local papers this month:</p>
<p>“A woman was stabbed after she rebuffed a man’s sexual advances while she walked in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood late Monday night, a police spokesman said today. The 33-year-old victim was walking down the street when a stranger approached her and propositioned her, police spokesman Officer Albie Esparza said. When she rejected him, the man became very upset and slashed the victim in the face and stabbed her in the arm, Esparza said.”</p>
<p>The man, in other words, framed the situation as one in which his chosen victim had no rights and liberties, while he had the right to control and punish her. This should remind us that violence is first of all authoritarian. It begins with this premise: I have the right to control you.</p>
<p>Murder is the extreme version of that authoritarianism, where the murderer asserts he has the right to decide whether you live or die, the ultimate means of controlling someone. This may be true even if you are “obedient,” because the desire to control comes out of a rage that obedience can’t assuage. Whatever fears, whatever sense of vulnerability may underlie such behavior, it also comes out of entitlement, the entitlement to inflict suffering and even death on other people. It breeds misery in the perpetrator and the victims. &#160;&#160;&#160;</p>
<p>As for that incident in my city, similar things happen all the time. Many versions of it happened to me when I was younger, sometimes involving death threats and often involving torrents of obscenities: a man approaches a woman with both desire and the furious expectation that the desire will likely be rebuffed. The fury and desire come in a package, all twisted together into something that always threatens to turn eros into thanatos, love into death, sometimes literally.</p>
<p>It’s a system of control. It’s why so many intimate-partner murders are of women who dared to <a href="http://www.domesticabuseshelter.org/InfoDomesticViolence.htm" type="external">break up</a> with those partners. As a result, it imprisons a lot of women, and though you could say that the attacker on January 7th, or a brutal would-be-rapist near my own neighborhood on January 5th, or another rapist here on January 12th, or the San Franciscan who on January 6th set his girlfriend <a href="http://www.sfexaminer.com/blogs/law-and-disorder/2013/01/man-accused-setting-girlfriend-fire-san-francisco-has-prior-domestic-" type="external">on fire</a> for refusing to do his laundry, or the guy who was just sentenced to 370 years for some particularly violent rapes in San Francisco in late 2011, were marginal characters, rich, famous, and privileged guys do it, too.</p>
<p>The Japanese vice-consul in San Francisco was <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Japanese-diplomat-must-stand-trial-in-SF-3866377.php" type="external">charged with</a> 12 felony counts of spousal abuse and assault with a deadly weapon last September, the same month that, in the same town, the ex-girlfriend of Mason Mayer (brother of Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer) <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Marissa-Mayer-s-brother-gets-probation-3866345.php#ixzz2HhSLTKHY" type="external">testified</a> in court: “He ripped out my earrings, tore my eyelashes off, while spitting in my face and telling me how unlovable I am… I was on the ground in the fetal position, and when I tried to move, he squeezed both knees tighter into my sides to restrain me and slapped&#160;me.” According to the newspaper, she also testified that “Mayer slammed her head onto the floor repeatedly and pulled out clumps of her hair, telling her that the only way she was leaving the apartment alive was if he drove her to the <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/golden-gate-bridge/" type="external">Golden Gate Bridge</a> ‘where you can jump off or I will push you&#160;off.'” Mason Mayer got probation. &#160;&#160;</p>
<p>This summer, an estranged husband violated his wife’s restraining order against him, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20023829" type="external">shooting her</a>—and six other women—at her spa job in suburban Milwaukee, but since there were only four corpses the crime was largely overlooked in the media in a year with so many more spectacular mass murders in this country (and we still haven’t really talked about the fact that, of <a href="" type="internal">62 mass shootings</a> in the US in three decades, only one was by a woman, because when you say lone gunman, everyone talks about loners and guns but not about men—and by the way, <a href="http://www.americanbar.org/groups/domestic_violence/resources/statistics.html" type="external">nearly two thirds</a> of all women killed by guns are killed by their partner or ex-partner).</p>
<p>What’s love got to do with it, asked Tina Turner, whose ex-husband Ike once said, “Yeah I hit her, but I didn’t hit her more than the average guy beats his wife.” A woman is beaten <a href="http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/10/prweb9986276.htm" type="external">every nine seconds</a> in this country. Just to be clear: not nine minutes, but nine seconds. It’s the number-one cause of injury to American women; of the two million injured annually, more than <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/pub-res/ipv_cost/ipvbook-final-feb18.pdf" type="external">half a million</a> of those injuries require medical attention while about 145,000 require overnight hospitalizations, according to the Center for Disease Control, and you don’t want to know about the dentistry needed afterwards. Spouses are also the <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/27/health-pregnancy-violent-idUSL3E7LR03R20111027" type="external">leading cause</a> of death for pregnant women in the US</p>
<p>“Women worldwide ages 15 through 44 are more likely to die or be maimed because of male violence than because of cancer, malaria, war and traffic accidents combined,” <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/opinion/sunday/is-delhi-so-different-from-steubenville.html" type="external">writes</a> Nicholas D. Kristof, one of the few prominent figures to address the issue regularly. &#160;</p>
<p>The Chasm Between Our Worlds</p>
<p>Rape and other acts of violence, up to and including murder, as well as threats of violence, constitute the barrage some men lay down as they attempt to control some women, and fear of that violence limits most women in ways they’ve gotten so used to they hardly notice—and we hardly address. There are exceptions: last summer someone wrote to me to describe a college class in which the students were asked what they do to stay safe from rape. The young women described the intricate ways they stayed alert, limited their access to the world, took precautions, and essentially thought about rape all the time (while the young men in the class, he added, gaped in astonishment). The chasm between their worlds had briefly and suddenly become visible.</p>
<p>Mostly, however, we don’t talk about it—though a graphic has been circulating on the Internet called <a href="http://9gag.com/gag/5674046" type="external">Ten Top Tips to End Rape</a>, the kind of thing young women get often enough, but this one had a subversive twist.&#160; It offered advice like this: “Carry a whistle! If you are worried you might assault someone ‘by accident’ you can hand it to the person you are with, so they can call for help.” While funny, the piece points out something terrible: the usual guidelines in such situations put the full burden of prevention on potential victims, treating the violence as a given. You explain to me why colleges spend more time <a href="https://www.orl.ucla.edu/safety/sexual-assault" type="external">telling women</a> how to survive predators than telling the other half of their students not to be predators.</p>
<p>Threats of sexual assault now seem to take place online regularly. In late 2011, British columnist Laurie Penny <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/laurie-penny-a-womans-opinion-is-the-miniskirt-of-the-internet-6256946.html" type="external">wrote</a>, “An opinion, it seems, is the short skirt of the Internet. Having one and flaunting it is somehow asking an amorphous mass of almost-entirely male keyboard-bashers to tell you how they’d like to rape, kill, and urinate on you. This week, after a particularly ugly slew of threats, I decided to make just a few of those messages public on Twitter, and the response I received was overwhelming. Many could not believe the hate I received, and many more began to share their own stories of harassment, intimidation, and abuse.”</p>
<p>Women in the online gaming community have been harassed, threatened, and driven out. Anita Sarkeesian, a feminist media critic who documented such incidents, received support for her work, but also, in <a href="http://www.wbur.org/npr/158433079/virtual-harassment-gets-real-for-female-gamers" type="external">the words</a> of a journalist, “another wave of really aggressive, you know, violent personal threats, her accounts attempted to be hacked. And one man in Ontario took the step of making an online video game where you could punch Anita’s image on the screen. And if you punched it multiple times, bruises and cuts would appear on her image.” The difference between these online gamers and the Taliban men who, last October, tried to <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/04/malala-yousafzai-discharged-birmingham-hospital" type="external">murder</a> 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai for speaking out about the right of Pakistani women to education is one of degree. Both are trying to silence and punish women for claiming voice, power, and the right to participate. Welcome to Manistan.</p>
<p>The Party for the Protection of the Rights of Rapists</p>
<p>It’s not just public, or private, or online either. It’s also embedded in our political system, and our legal system, which before feminists fought for us didn’t recognize most <a href="http://www.ovw.usdoj.gov/docs/history-vawa.pdf" type="external">domestic violence</a>, or sexual harassment and stalking, or date rape, or acquaintance rape, or marital rape, and in cases of rape still often tries the victim rather than the rapist, as though <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/aug/23/dsk-trial-accuser-not-accused" type="external">only perfect maidens</a> could be assaulted—or believed.</p>
<p>As we learned in the 2012 election campaign, it’s also embedded in the minds and mouths of our politicians. Remember that spate of <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/human_nature/2013/01/phil_gingrey_todd_akin_and_richard_mourdock_the_gop_s_rape_problem_is_spreading.html" type="external">crazy pro-rape things</a> Republican men said last summer and fall, starting with Todd Akin’s notorious claim that a woman has ways of preventing pregnancy in cases of rape, a statement he made in order to deny women control over their own bodies. After that, of course, Senate candidate Richard Mourdock claimed that rape pregnancies were “a gift from God,” and just this month, another Republican politician piped up to <a href="http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/11/16465141-gop-congressman-akins-rape-comments-were-partly-right?lite" type="external">defend</a> Akin’s comment.</p>
<p>Happily the five publicly pro-rape Republicans in the 2012 campaign all <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/11/07/1155211/rape-gaffes-lose-elections/" type="external">lost</a> their election bids. (Stephen Colbert tried to <a href="http://www.alternet.org/election-2012/colberts-advice-gop-women-got-right-vote-rapes-approval-rating-has-plummeted" type="external">warn them</a> that women had gotten the vote in 1920.) But it’s not just a matter of the garbage they say (and the price they now pay). Earlier this month, congressional Republicans <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/03/politics/congress-domestic-violence/index.html" type="external">refused</a> to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, because they objected to the protection it gave immigrants, transgendered women, and Native American women. (Speaking of epidemics, <a href="http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/article/tribal-provisions-of-women-safety-law-under-senate-attack-105634" type="external">one of three</a> Native American women will be raped, and on the reservations <a href="http://www.indianlaw.org/safewomen/violence-against-native-women-gaining-global-attention" type="external">88%</a> of those rapes are by non-Native men who know tribal governments can’t prosecute them.)</p>
<p>And they’re out to gut reproductive rights—birth control as well as abortion, as they’ve pretty effectively done in many states over the last dozen years. What’s meant by “reproductive rights,” of course, is the right of women to control their own bodies. Didn’t I mention earlier that violence against women is a control issue?</p>
<p>And though rapes are often investigated <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/17/washington-police-accused-rape-failures" type="external">lackadaisically</a>—there is a backlog of about <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/12/bill-to-end-rape-kit-backlog-introduced-in-congress/" type="external">400,000</a> untested rape kits in this country– rapists who impregnate their victims have <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/22/opinion/prewitt-rapist-visitation-rights/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn" type="external">parental rights</a> in 31 states. Oh, and former vice-presidential candidate and current congressman Paul Ryan (R-Manistan) is <a href="" type="internal">reintroducing</a> a bill that would give states the right to ban abortions and might even conceivably allow a rapist to sue his victim for having one. &#160;</p>
<p>All the Things That Aren’t to Blame</p>
<p>Of course, women are capable of all sorts of major unpleasantness, and there are violent crimes by women, but the so-called war of the sexes is extraordinarily lopsided when it comes to actual violence. Unlike the last (male) head of the International Monetary Fund, the current (female) head is not going to assault an employee at a luxury hotel; top-ranking female officers in the US military, unlike their male counterparts, are not accused of any sexual assaults; and young female athletes, unlike those male football players in Steubenville, aren’t likely to urinate on unconscious boys, let alone violate them and boast about it in YouTube videos and Twitter feeds. &#160;</p>
<p>No female bus riders in India have ganged up to sexually assault a man so badly he dies of his injuries, nor are marauding packs of women terrorizing men in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, and there’s just no maternal equivalent to the <a href="http://www.musc.edu/vawprevention/research/sa.shtml" type="external">11%</a> of rapes that are by fathers or stepfathers. Of the people in prison in the US, 93.5% are not women, and though quite a lot of them should not be there in the first place, maybe some of them should because of violence, until we think of a better way to deal with it, and them.</p>
<p>No major female pop star has blown the head off a young man she took home with her, as did Phil Spector.&#160; (He is now part of that 93.5% for the shotgun slaying of Lana Clarkson, apparently for <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/phil-spector-murder-conviction-upheld-20110503" type="external">refusing</a> his advances.) &#160;No female action-movie star has been charged with domestic violence, because Angelina Jolie just isn’t doing what Mel Gibson and Steve McQueen did, and there aren’t any celebrated female movie directors who gave a 13-year-old drugs before <a href="http://www.salon.com/2009/09/28/polanski_arrest/" type="external">sexually assaulting</a> that child, while she kept saying “no,” as did Roman Polanski.</p>
<p>In Memory of Jyoti Singh</p>
<p>What’s the matter with manhood? There’s something about how masculinity is imagined, about what’s praised and encouraged, about the way violence is passed on to boys that needs to be addressed. There are lovely and wonderful men out there, and one of the things that’s encouraging in this round of the war against women is how many men I’ve seen who get it, who think it’s their issue too, who stand up for us and with us in everyday life, online and in the marches from New Delhi to San Francisco this winter.</p>
<p>Increasingly men are becoming <a href="http://www.nicholasmirzoeff.com/O2012/2012/10/26/savile-silvio-sandusky-the-abuse-of-authority" type="external">good allies</a>—and there always have been some.&#160; Kindness and gentleness never had a gender, and neither did empathy. Domestic violence statistics are down significantly from earlier decades (even though they’re still shockingly high), and a lot of men are at work crafting new ideas and ideals about masculinity and power.</p>
<p>Gay men have been good allies of mine for almost four decades. (Apparently same-sex marriage horrifies conservatives because it’s marriage between equals with no inevitable roles.) Women’s liberation has often been portrayed as a movement intent on encroaching upon or taking power and privilege away from men, as though in some dismal zero-sum game, only one gender at a time could be free and powerful. But we are free together or slaves together.</p>
<p>There are other things I’d rather write about, but this affects everything else. The lives of half of humanity are still dogged by, drained by, and sometimes ended by this pervasive variety of violence.&#160; Think of how much more time and energy we would have to focus on other things that matter if we weren’t so busy surviving. Look at it this way: one of the best journalists I know is afraid to walk home at night in our neighborhood.&#160; Should she stop working late? How many women have had to stop doing their work, or been stopped from doing it, for similar reasons?</p>
<p>One of the most exciting new political movements on Earth is the Native Canadian indigenous rights movement, with feminist and environmental overtones, called <a href="http://www.ottawacitizen.com/opinion/op-ed/Idle+More/7753967/story.html" type="external">Idle No More</a>. On December 27th, shortly after the movement took off, a <a href="http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/article/rape-kidnapping-being-investigated-hate-crime-thunder-bay-146797" type="external">Native woman</a> was kidnapped, <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/voyagenorth/2013/01/04/pattern-of-abductions/" type="external">raped, beaten,</a> and left for dead in Thunder Bay, Ontario, by men whose remarks framed the crime as retaliation against Idle No More. Afterward, she walked four hours through the bitter cold and survived to tell her tale. Her assailants, who have threatened to do it again, are still at large.</p>
<p>The New Delhi rape and murder of <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/wp/2013/01/07/father-of-new-delhi-rape-victim-tell-the-world-my-daughters-name/" type="external">Jyoti Singh</a>*,&#160;the 23-year-old who was studying physiotherapy so that she could better herself while helping others, and the assault on her male companion (who survived) seem to have triggered the reaction that we have needed for 100, or 1,000, or 5,000 years. May she be to women—and men—worldwide what <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/till/" type="external">Emmett Till</a>, murdered by white supremacists in 1955, was to African-Americans and the then-nascent US civil rights movement.</p>
<p>We have far more than 87,000 rapes in this country every year, but each of them is invariably portrayed as an isolated incident.&#160; We have dots so close they’re splatters melting into a stain, but hardly anyone connects them, or names that stain. In India they did. They said that this is a civil rights issue, it’s a human rights issue, it’s everyone’s problem, it’s not isolated, and it’s never going to be acceptable again. It has to change. It’s your job to change it, and mine, and ours.</p>
<p>Rebecca Solnit has written a version of this essay three times so far, once in the 1980s for the punk magazine Maximum Rock’n’Roll, once as the chapter on women and walking in her 2000 book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0140286012/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">Wanderlust: A History of Walking</a>, and here. She would love the topic to become out of date and irrelevant and never to have write it again.</p>
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<p>*This sentence has been corrected.</p> | true | 4 | people rally kolkata india light candles honor 23year old gang rape victimindia todayzuma press story first appeared tomdispatch website united states reported rape every 62 minutes one five women raped lifetime the160 rape gruesome murder160of young woman bus new delhi december 16th treated exceptional incident story alleged rape unconscious teenager members steubenville high school football team still unfolding gang rapes arent unusual either take pick 20 men who160 gangraped160an 11yearold cleveland texas sentenced november instigator the160 gang rape160of 16yearold richmond california sentenced october four men who160 gangraped160a 15yearold near new orleans sentenced april though six men who160 gangraped160a 14yearold chicago last fall still large actually went looking incidents theyre everywhere news though one adds indicates might actually pattern however pattern violence women thats broad deep horrific incessantly overlooked occasionally case160 involving160a160 celebrity160or160 lurid details160in particular case get lot attention media cases treated anomalies abundance incidental news items violence women country countries every continent including160 antarctica constitute kind background wallpaper news youd rather talk bus rapes gang rapes theres the160 rape160of developmentally disabled woman los angeles bus november the160 kidnapping160of autistic 16yearold regional transit train system oakland californiashe raped repeatedly abductor two days winterand a160 gang rape160of multiple women bus mexico city recently 160while writing read that160 another female busrider160was kidnapped india gangraped night bus driver five friends must thought happened new delhi awesome abundance rape violence women country earth though almost never treated civil rights human rights issue crisis even pattern violence doesnt race class religion nationality gender want say one thing though virtually perpetrators crimes men doesnt mean men violent addition men obviously also suffer violence largely hands men every violent death every assault terrible160 subject pandemic violence men women intimate violence stranger violence 160 dont talk dont talk gender theres much could talk assault rape 73yearold manhattans central park last september recent rape fouryearold 83yearold louisiana new york city policeman arrested october appeared serious plans kidnap rape cook eat woman woman hate wasnt personal though maybe san diego man actually killed cooked wife november man new orleans killed dismembered cooked girlfriend 2005 exceptional crimes could also talk quotidian assaults though rape reported every 62 minutes country estimated total perhaps five times high means may nearly rape minute us160 adds tens millions rape victims could talk highschool collegeathlete rapes campus rapes university authorities appallingly uninterested responding many cases including high school steubenville notre dame university amherst college many others could talk escalating pandemic rape sexual assault sexual harassment us military secretary defense leon panetta estimated 19000 sexual assaults fellow soldiers 2010 alone great majority assailants got away though fourstar general jeffrey sinclair indicted september slew sex crimes women never mind workplace violence lets go home many men murder partners former partners well 1000 homicides kind yearmeaning every three years death toll tops 911s casualties though one declares war particular terror another way put 11766 corpses domesticviolence homicides since 911 exceed number deaths victims day american soldiers killed war terror talked crimes like common wed talk kinds profound change society nation nearly every nation needs talked wed talking masculinity male roles maybe patriarchy dont talk much instead hear american men commit murdersuicidesat rate 12 weekbecause economy bad though also economy good men india murdered busrider poor resent rich rapes india explained rich exploit poor everpopular explanations mental problems intoxicantsand jocks head injuries latest spin lead exposure responsible lot violence except genders exposed one commits violence pandemic violence always gets explained anything gender anything would seem broadest explanatory pattern someone wrote piece white men seem ones commit mass murders us mostly hostile commenters seemed notice white part rare anyone says medical study even driest way possible male identified risk factor violent criminal behavior several studies exposure tobacco smoke birth antisocial parents belonging poor family still pattern plain day could talk global problem looking epidemic assault harassment rape women cairos tahrir square taken away freedom celebrated arab springand led men form defense teams help counter itor persecution women public private india eveteasing brideburning honor killings south asia middle east way south africa become global rape capital estimated 600000 rapes last year rape used tactic weapon war mali sudan congo former yugoslavia pervasiveness rape harassment mexico femicide juarez denial basic rights women saudi arabia myriad sexual assaults immigrant domestic workers way dominique strausskahn case united states revealed impunity others france lack space im leaving britain canada italy exprime minister known orgies underaged argentina australia many countries right kill maybe youre tired statistics lets talk single incident happened city couple weeks ago one many local incidents men assaulted women made local papers month woman stabbed rebuffed mans sexual advances walked san franciscos tenderloin neighborhood late monday night police spokesman said today 33yearold victim walking street stranger approached propositioned police spokesman officer albie esparza said rejected man became upset slashed victim face stabbed arm esparza said man words framed situation one chosen victim rights liberties right control punish remind us violence first authoritarian begins premise right control murder extreme version authoritarianism murderer asserts right decide whether live die ultimate means controlling someone may true even obedient desire control comes rage obedience cant assuage whatever fears whatever sense vulnerability may underlie behavior also comes entitlement entitlement inflict suffering even death people breeds misery perpetrator victims 160160160 incident city similar things happen time many versions happened younger sometimes involving death threats often involving torrents obscenities man approaches woman desire furious expectation desire likely rebuffed fury desire come package twisted together something always threatens turn eros thanatos love death sometimes literally system control many intimatepartner murders women dared break partners result imprisons lot women though could say attacker january 7th brutal wouldberapist near neighborhood january 5th another rapist january 12th san franciscan january 6th set girlfriend fire refusing laundry guy sentenced 370 years particularly violent rapes san francisco late 2011 marginal characters rich famous privileged guys japanese viceconsul san francisco charged 12 felony counts spousal abuse assault deadly weapon last september month town exgirlfriend mason mayer brother yahoo ceo marissa mayer testified court ripped earrings tore eyelashes spitting face telling unlovable ground fetal position tried move squeezed knees tighter sides restrain slapped160me according newspaper also testified mayer slammed head onto floor repeatedly pulled clumps hair telling way leaving apartment alive drove golden gate bridge jump push you160off mason mayer got probation 160160 summer estranged husband violated wifes restraining order shooting herand six womenat spa job suburban milwaukee since four corpses crime largely overlooked media year many spectacular mass murders country still havent really talked fact 62 mass shootings us three decades one woman say lone gunman everyone talks loners guns menand way nearly two thirds women killed guns killed partner expartner whats love got asked tina turner whose exhusband ike said yeah hit didnt hit average guy beats wife woman beaten every nine seconds country clear nine minutes nine seconds numberone cause injury american women two million injured annually half million injuries require medical attention 145000 require overnight hospitalizations according center disease control dont want know dentistry needed afterwards spouses also leading cause death pregnant women us women worldwide ages 15 44 likely die maimed male violence cancer malaria war traffic accidents combined writes nicholas kristof one prominent figures address issue regularly 160 chasm worlds rape acts violence including murder well threats violence constitute barrage men lay attempt control women fear violence limits women ways theyve gotten used hardly noticeand hardly address exceptions last summer someone wrote describe college class students asked stay safe rape young women described intricate ways stayed alert limited access world took precautions essentially thought rape time young men class added gaped astonishment chasm worlds briefly suddenly become visible mostly however dont talk itthough graphic circulating internet called ten top tips end rape kind thing young women get often enough one subversive twist160 offered advice like carry whistle worried might assault someone accident hand person call help funny piece points something terrible usual guidelines situations put full burden prevention potential victims treating violence given explain colleges spend time telling women survive predators telling half students predators threats sexual assault seem take place online regularly late 2011 british columnist laurie penny wrote opinion seems short skirt internet one flaunting somehow asking amorphous mass almostentirely male keyboardbashers tell theyd like rape kill urinate week particularly ugly slew threats decided make messages public twitter response received overwhelming many could believe hate received many began share stories harassment intimidation abuse women online gaming community harassed threatened driven anita sarkeesian feminist media critic documented incidents received support work also words journalist another wave really aggressive know violent personal threats accounts attempted hacked one man ontario took step making online video game could punch anitas image screen punched multiple times bruises cuts would appear image difference online gamers taliban men last october tried murder 14yearold malala yousafzai speaking right pakistani women education one degree trying silence punish women claiming voice power right participate welcome manistan party protection rights rapists public private online either also embedded political system legal system feminists fought us didnt recognize domestic violence sexual harassment stalking date rape acquaintance rape marital rape cases rape still often tries victim rather rapist though perfect maidens could assaultedor believed learned 2012 election campaign also embedded minds mouths politicians remember spate crazy prorape things republican men said last summer fall starting todd akins notorious claim woman ways preventing pregnancy cases rape statement made order deny women control bodies course senate candidate richard mourdock claimed rape pregnancies gift god month another republican politician piped defend akins comment happily five publicly prorape republicans 2012 campaign lost election bids stephen colbert tried warn women gotten vote 1920 matter garbage say price pay earlier month congressional republicans refused reauthorize violence women act objected protection gave immigrants transgendered women native american women speaking epidemics one three native american women raped reservations 88 rapes nonnative men know tribal governments cant prosecute theyre gut reproductive rightsbirth control well abortion theyve pretty effectively done many states last dozen years whats meant reproductive rights course right women control bodies didnt mention earlier violence women control issue though rapes often investigated lackadaisicallythere backlog 400000 untested rape kits country rapists impregnate victims parental rights 31 states oh former vicepresidential candidate current congressman paul ryan rmanistan reintroducing bill would give states right ban abortions might even conceivably allow rapist sue victim one 160 things arent blame course women capable sorts major unpleasantness violent crimes women socalled war sexes extraordinarily lopsided comes actual violence unlike last male head international monetary fund current female head going assault employee luxury hotel topranking female officers us military unlike male counterparts accused sexual assaults young female athletes unlike male football players steubenville arent likely urinate unconscious boys let alone violate boast youtube videos twitter feeds 160 female bus riders india ganged sexually assault man badly dies injuries marauding packs women terrorizing men cairos tahrir square theres maternal equivalent 11 rapes fathers stepfathers people prison us 935 women though quite lot first place maybe violence think better way deal major female pop star blown head young man took home phil spector160 part 935 shotgun slaying lana clarkson apparently refusing advances 160no female actionmovie star charged domestic violence angelina jolie isnt mel gibson steve mcqueen arent celebrated female movie directors gave 13yearold drugs sexually assaulting child kept saying roman polanski memory jyoti singh whats matter manhood theres something masculinity imagined whats praised encouraged way violence passed boys needs addressed lovely wonderful men one things thats encouraging round war women many men ive seen get think issue stand us us everyday life online marches new delhi san francisco winter increasingly men becoming good alliesand always some160 kindness gentleness never gender neither empathy domestic violence statistics significantly earlier decades even though theyre still shockingly high lot men work crafting new ideas ideals masculinity power gay men good allies mine almost four decades apparently samesex marriage horrifies conservatives marriage equals inevitable roles womens liberation often portrayed movement intent encroaching upon taking power privilege away men though dismal zerosum game one gender time could free powerful free together slaves together things id rather write affects everything else lives half humanity still dogged drained sometimes ended pervasive variety violence160 think much time energy would focus things matter werent busy surviving look way one best journalists know afraid walk home night neighborhood160 stop working late many women stop work stopped similar reasons one exciting new political movements earth native canadian indigenous rights movement feminist environmental overtones called idle december 27th shortly movement took native woman kidnapped raped beaten left dead thunder bay ontario men whose remarks framed crime retaliation idle afterward walked four hours bitter cold survived tell tale assailants threatened still large new delhi rape murder jyoti singh160the 23yearold studying physiotherapy could better helping others assault male companion survived seem triggered reaction needed 100 1000 5000 years may womenand menworldwide emmett till murdered white supremacists 1955 africanamericans thennascent us civil rights movement far 87000 rapes country every year invariably portrayed isolated incident160 dots close theyre splatters melting stain hardly anyone connects names stain india said civil rights issue human rights issue everyones problem isolated never going acceptable change job change mine rebecca solnit written version essay three times far 1980s punk magazine maximum rocknroll chapter women walking 2000 book wanderlust history walking would love topic become date irrelevant never write stay top important articles like sign receive latest updates tomdispatchcom sentence corrected | 2,217 |
<p>Flickr/&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zetson/"&gt;zetson&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;a href="http://creativecommons.org/about/licenses/"&gt;Creative Commons&lt;/a&gt;)</p>
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<p>After a meeting on Tuesday evening, House Democrats finally seem to be settling on a plan to move forward on health care reform.&#160;But there are some major roadblocks standing in the way of their preferred solution—including squeamish senators, uncompromising anti-abortion congressmen, the Democrats’ own president, and, of course, the Republicans.</p>
<p>Here’s the strategy that House Dems are coalescing around: First, pass the Senate bill. Then, attempt to address some of their members’ concerns with that legislation through the reconciliation process—which would allow the Senate to pass adjusted legislation with a simple majority without the risk of a GOP filibuster.</p>
<p>The first big problem with this idea is President Barack Obama, who has so far refused to specifically endorse using reconciliation to move forward on health care. In fact, he has conspicuously refrained from pushing publicly for any particular strategy. All the administration has said is that passing some sort of reform is crucial. That leaves congressional Democrats wondering why they should stick their necks out for a gambit their own president won’t endorse.&#160;And Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, refused to answer pointed questions on&#160;Tuesday about whether Obama would use his State of the Union address scheduled for Wednesday night to endorse any specific strategies for passing health care.</p>
<p>Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) says the president has to weigh in. “Momentum has clearly stopped. We need the help of the president tomorrow night,” Weiner said Tuesday evening. Weiner added that the Democrats need “legislative marching orders,” and that if Obama doesn’t give them, “it’s a sign of his acquiescence.”&#160; But House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer hinted earlier in the day that he doesn’t expect Obama to lay out a game plan in his address. “I would be surprised if [Obama] said specifically how he hopes to get health care done,”&#160;Hoyer said. If the President does remain mum on reconciliation in his speech, jittery Democrats could take it as a sign he doesn’t fully support the strategy.</p>
<p>Another problem with using reconciliation is one that has bedeviled the entire health care fight—abortion politics. In November, 64 House Democrats and every House Republican voted for an amendment proposed by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) that opponents say would dramatically restrict the ability of health insurers to offer coverage for abortion. The Senate, however, passed a version of the bill with less drastic restrictions on private insurance coverage of abortion. Getting the votes to pass the Senate bill in the House will be hard. The original House bill passed by a narrow margin: 220-215. One of the yes votes, Rep.&#160;Robert Wexler (D-Fla.), has retired. Another, Rep. Joseph Cao (R-La.), will probably vote against the final bill. That already takes the tally to 218-216. Stupak has <a href="http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thegaggle/archive/2010/01/20/stupak-is-back-why-abortion-will-be-a-key-issue-as-health-care-reform-moves-forward.aspx" type="external">warned</a> that he has 10 to 12 Democrats (including himself) who voted for the House bill but are committed to opposing the Senate bill’s abortion language. Some progressives, like Rep.&#160;Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), voted against the&#160;House bill but might be convinced to support a final compromise. But there are not 10 to 12 of them.</p>
<p>So if Stupak is counting correctly, Democratic leaders may decide they need to accommodate his demands in order to get the Senate bill through the House. There’s just one problem: they may not be able to change the parts of the Senate bill that Stupak objects to. Senate Democrats are doubtful that the Senate’s abortion language can be modified under the reconciliation process. To be eligible for reconciliation, a provision in a bill has to affect the deficit. Because the Senate’s language on abortion doesn’t change inlays or outlays, it would be very hard to modify it under reconciliation.</p>
<p>Not everyone agrees with that assessment: Budget expert Stan Collender told the Washington Post’s Ezra Klein yesterday that one “could make the case” that there is “very little that doesn’t belong in reconciliation.” But if the Senate parliamentarian says abortion language changes are out, House Dems would either need Stupak and his allies to cave or they’d have to bring on conservative Blue Dog Democrats who voted against the House bill. That could be a big lift.</p>
<p>If the Democrats can’t get the votes they need from their own party, they might look for them among the Republicans. But with the Democrats’ signature legislative priority on the verge of sinking, the GOP isn’t reaching out a hand.&#160;In a press conference on Tuesday afternoon held by a group of GOP House members who are also physicians, Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), the head of the Republican Study Committee, called on the Democrats to abandon their “job-killing agenda” and stop “the government takeover of health care.” Rep. Phil&#160;Gingrey (R-Ga.), warned that health care was being “turned over to the government lock, stock, and barrel.” And Rep. Phil&#160;Roe (R-Tenn.), told a story about a Democratic colleague who told him “it’s getting harder and harder to pass legislation the people don’t want.” They didn’t sound like people who might vote for a modified version of the Senate’s health care bill. “Republicans by and large made a political decision—they wanted Democrats to fail on health care reform,” observed Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), noting Sen. Jim DeMint’s prediction that a defeat on health care reform would be President Obama’s “Waterloo.”</p>
<p>The final big hurdle is getting the necessary 51 senators to support reconciliation. Four senators have already suggested they will oppose that step. (Update: <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/32056_Page3.html" type="external">At least eight</a> have now raised concerns—although not all of them have taken definitive stances.) Sens. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) and Blanche Lincoln&#160;(D-Ark.) have said <a href="http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/01/lincoln-bayh-nelson-wont-support-passing-health-care-fixes-via-reconciliation.php" type="external">they will oppose using reconciliation to “correct” the Senate bill</a>. Sens. Joe&#160;Lieberman&#160;(I-Conn.) and Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) have <a href="http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/01/can-they-get-it-done-with-health-care-reform-on-the-line-the-senate-waffles.php" type="external">suggested the Democrats start over entirely</a>. Sen.&#160;Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) often takes a hard line on procedural issues, and could also oppose using a reconciliation bill for this purpose. The Democrats can only lose nine Senators if they hope to pass the reconciliation fix—if many more Dems defect, even Vice President Joe Biden’s tie-breaking power wouldn’t be enough to save the bill.</p>
<p>All in all, the situation looks pretty bleak for supporters of health care reform. Still, Rep.&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Alan Grayson</a> (D-Fla.), as usual, offered a different line than his colleagues. Democrats are where they’ve been for months, Grayson explained. There were always 50-some votes in the Senate to pass something like the House health care bill, he argued. Now, he says, the Democratic leadership is “systematically going though all the options and working out procedurally how to pass them,” with reconciliation being the most likely option. Democrats still have one big advantage, he said. Despite Scott Brown’s Senate win in Massachusetts, “59 is more than 50.” Supporters of the bill are counting on that fact to save health care reform.</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | flickrlta hrefhttpwwwflickrcomphotoszetsongtzetsonltagt lta hrefhttpcreativecommonsorgaboutlicensesgtcreative commonsltagt meeting tuesday evening house democrats finally seem settling plan move forward health care reform160but major roadblocks standing way preferred solutionincluding squeamish senators uncompromising antiabortion congressmen democrats president course republicans heres strategy house dems coalescing around first pass senate bill attempt address members concerns legislation reconciliation processwhich would allow senate pass adjusted legislation simple majority without risk gop filibuster first big problem idea president barack obama far refused specifically endorse using reconciliation move forward health care fact conspicuously refrained pushing publicly particular strategy administration said passing sort reform crucial leaves congressional democrats wondering stick necks gambit president wont endorse160and robert gibbs white house press secretary refused answer pointed questions on160tuesday whether obama would use state union address scheduled wednesday night endorse specific strategies passing health care rep anthony weiner dny says president weigh momentum clearly stopped need help president tomorrow night weiner said tuesday evening weiner added democrats need legislative marching orders obama doesnt give sign acquiescence160 house majority leader steny hoyer hinted earlier day doesnt expect obama lay game plan address would surprised obama said specifically hopes get health care done160hoyer said president remain mum reconciliation speech jittery democrats could take sign doesnt fully support strategy another problem using reconciliation one bedeviled entire health care fightabortion politics november 64 house democrats every house republican voted amendment proposed rep bart stupak dmich opponents say would dramatically restrict ability health insurers offer coverage abortion senate however passed version bill less drastic restrictions private insurance coverage abortion getting votes pass senate bill house hard original house bill passed narrow margin 220215 one yes votes rep160robert wexler dfla retired another rep joseph cao rla probably vote final bill already takes tally 218216 stupak warned 10 12 democrats including voted house bill committed opposing senate bills abortion language progressives like rep160dennis kucinich dohio voted the160house bill might convinced support final compromise 10 12 stupak counting correctly democratic leaders may decide need accommodate demands order get senate bill house theres one problem may able change parts senate bill stupak objects senate democrats doubtful senates abortion language modified reconciliation process eligible reconciliation provision bill affect deficit senates language abortion doesnt change inlays outlays would hard modify reconciliation everyone agrees assessment budget expert stan collender told washington posts ezra klein yesterday one could make case little doesnt belong reconciliation senate parliamentarian says abortion language changes house dems would either need stupak allies cave theyd bring conservative blue dog democrats voted house bill could big lift democrats cant get votes need party might look among republicans democrats signature legislative priority verge sinking gop isnt reaching hand160in press conference tuesday afternoon held group gop house members also physicians rep tom price rga head republican study committee called democrats abandon jobkilling agenda stop government takeover health care rep phil160gingrey rga warned health care turned government lock stock barrel rep phil160roe rtenn told story democratic colleague told getting harder harder pass legislation people dont want didnt sound like people might vote modified version senates health care bill republicans large made political decisionthey wanted democrats fail health care reform observed rep henry waxman dcalif noting sen jim demints prediction defeat health care reform would president obamas waterloo final big hurdle getting necessary 51 senators support reconciliation four senators already suggested oppose step update least eight raised concernsalthough taken definitive stances sens evan bayh dind blanche lincoln160dark said oppose using reconciliation correct senate bill sens joe160lieberman160iconn ben nelson dneb suggested democrats start entirely sen160robert byrd dwva often takes hard line procedural issues could also oppose using reconciliation bill purpose democrats lose nine senators hope pass reconciliation fixif many dems defect even vice president joe bidens tiebreaking power wouldnt enough save bill situation looks pretty bleak supporters health care reform still rep160 alan grayson dfla usual offered different line colleagues democrats theyve months grayson explained always 50some votes senate pass something like house health care bill argued says democratic leadership systematically going though options working procedurally pass reconciliation likely option democrats still one big advantage said despite scott browns senate win massachusetts 59 50 supporters bill counting fact save health care reform | 682 |
<p>By Alfred W. McCoy / <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176261/tomgram%3A_alfred_mccoy%2C_would-be_strongmen_worldwide/" type="external">TomDispatch</a></p>
<p>Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte and Donald Trump. ( <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/prachatai/25338475109" type="external">Prachatai</a> and <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/cornstalker/23975424301/" type="external">Matt Johnson</a> / CC 2.0)</p>
<p>In 2016, something extraordinary happened in the politics of diverse countries around the world. With surprising speed and simultaneity, a new generation of populist leaders emerged from the margins of nominally democratic nations to win power. In doing so, they gave voice, often in virulent fashion, to public concerns about the social costs of globalization.</p>
<p />
<p>Even in societies as disparate as the affluent United States and the impoverished Philippines, similarly violent strains of populist rhetoric carried two unlikely candidates from the political margins to the presidency. On opposite sides of the Pacific, these outsider campaigns were framed by lurid calls for violence and even murder.</p>
<p>As his insurgent crusade gained momentum, billionaire Donald Trump moved beyond his repeated promises to fight Islamic terror with torture and brutal bombing by also advocating the murder of women and children. “The other thing with the terrorists is you have to take out their families, when you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families,” he <a href="http://time.com/4655992/donald-trump-spicer-american-terrorists/" type="external">told Fox News</a>. “They care about their lives, don’t kid yourself. When they say they don’t care about their lives, you have to take out their families.”</p>
<p>At the same time, campaigning in the Philippines on a law-and-order program of his own, Rodrigo Duterte, then mayor of a remote provincial city, swore that he would kill drug dealers across the nation, sparing nothing in the way of violent imagery. “If by chance that God will place me [in the presidency],” <a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/03/01/license-kill/philippine-police-killings-dutertes-war-drugs" type="external">he promised</a> in launching his campaign, “watch out because the 1,000 [people executed while he was a mayor] will become 100,000. You will see the fish in Manila Bay getting fat. That is where I will dump you.”</p>
<p>The rise of these political soulmates and populist strongmen not only resonated deeply in their political cultures, but also reflected global trends that made their bloodstained rhetoric paradigmatic of our present moment. After a post-Cold War quarter-century of globalization, displaced workers around the world began mobilizing angrily to oppose an economic order that had made life so good for transnational corporations and social elites.</p>
<p>Between 1999 and 2011, for instance, Chinese imports had eliminated 2.4 million American jobs, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/29/business/economy/more-wealth-more-jobs-but-not-for-everyone-what-fuels-the-backlash-on-trade.html" type="external">closing furniture manufacturers</a> in North Carolina, factories that produced glass in Ohio, and auto parts and steel companies across the Midwest. As a range of nations worldwide reacted to such realities by imposing a combined 2,100 restrictions on imports to staunch similar job losses, world trade actually <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/31/upshot/a-little-noticed-fact-about-trade-its-no-longer-rising.html" type="external">started to slow down</a> without a major recession for the first time since 1945.</p>
<p>The Bloodstained History of Populism</p>
<p>Across Europe, hyper-nationalist right-wing parties like the French National Front, the Alternative for Germany, and the UK Independence Party <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/05/world/europe/populism-in-age-of-trump.html" type="external">won over voters</a> by cultivating nativist, especially anti-Islamic, responses to globalization. Simultaneously, a generation of populist demagogues either held, gained, or threatened to take power in democracies around the world: Marine Le Pen in France, Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, Viktor Orban in Hungary, Vladimir Putin in Russia, Recep Erdogan in Turkey, Donald Trump in the U.S., Narendra Modi in India, Prabowo Subianto in Indonesia, and Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines, among others.</p>
<p>Indian essayist Pankaj Mishra recently <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/world/2016-10-17/globalization-rage" type="external">summed up</a> their successes this way: “Demagogues are still emerging, in the West and outside it, as the promise of prosperity collides with massive disparities of wealth, power, education, and status.” The Philippine economy offered typically grim news on this score. It <a href="http://www.philstar.com/business/2016/01/06/1539645/philippine-economy-and-benigno-aquino-iiis-presidency-2010-2016" type="external">grew by</a> an impressive 6% annually in the six years before Duterte launched his presidential campaign, even as a staggering 26 million poor Filipinos <a href="http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/775062/12m-filipinos-living-in-extreme-poverty" type="external">struggled to survive</a> on a dollar a day. In those years, just 40 elite Filipino families <a href="http://business.inquirer.net/110413/philippines-elite-swallow-countrys-new-wealth" type="external">grabbed an estimated</a> 76% of all the wealth this growth produced.</p>
<p>Scholar Michael Lee <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00335630601080385?journalCode=rqjs20&amp;" type="external">suggests</a> that a populist leader succeeds by rhetorically defining his or her national community by both its supposedly “shared characteristics” and its inevitable common “enemy,” whether Mexican “rapists” or Muslim refugees, much as the Nazis created a powerful sense of national selfhood by excluding certain groups by “blood.” In addition, he argues, such movements share the desire for an “apocalyptic confrontation” through a final “mythic battle” as “the vehicle to revolutionary change.”</p>
<p>Although scholars like Lee emphasize the ways in which populist demagogues rely on violent rhetoric for their success, they tend to focus less on another crucial aspect of such populists globally: actual violence. These movements might still be in their (relatively) benign phase in the United States and Europe, but in less developed democracies around the world populist leaders haven’t hesitated to inscribe their newfound power on the battered bodies of their victims.</p>
<p>For more than a decade, for instance, Russian President Vladimir Putin, a reasonable candidate for sparking this wave of populism, has demonstrated his <a href="https://welltempered.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/vladimir-putin-barechested.jpg" type="external">famously bare-chested</a> version of power politics <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/21/world/europe/moscow-kremlin-silence-critics-poison.html?mtrref=www.tomdispatch.com&amp;gwh=C0179E960BE2CEC3F20B070985742339&amp;gwt=pay" type="external">by ensuring</a> that opponents and critics meet grim ends under “mysterious” circumstances. These include the lethal spritz of polonium 210 that killed Russian secret police defector Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006; the shooting of journalist and Putin critic Anna Politkovskaya outside her Moscow apartment that same year; a dose of rare Himalayan plant poison for banker and Putin nemesis Alexander Perepilichny in London in 2012; a fusillade that felled opposition leader Boris Nemtsov in downtown Moscow in 2015; and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/23/world/europe/a-russian-critic-of-putin-is-assassinated-in-ukraine.html" type="external">four fatal bullets</a> this March for refugee whistleblower Denis Voronenkov on a Kiev sidewalk, which Ukraine has denounced as “an act of state terrorism.”</p>
<p>As an Islamist populist, Turkish president Recep Erdogan has projected his power through <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/10/world/europe/un-turkey-kurds-human-rights-abuses.html" type="external">a bloody repression</a> of, and a new war with, the country’s Kurdish minority. He portrays the Kurds as a cancer within the country’s body politic whose identity must be extinguished, much as his forebears rid themselves of the Armenians. In addition, since mid-2016, he’s overseen <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/erdogans-purge-50000-ousted-arrested-or-suspended-inturkey/article30987001/" type="external">a wholesale purge</a> of 50,000 officials, journalists, teachers, and military officers in the aftermath of a failed coup, and in <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/26/europe/turkey-coup-attempt-aftermath/" type="external">a brutal round</a> of torture and rape filled Turkish prisons to the brim.</p>
<p>In 2014, retired general Prabowo Subianto nearly won Indonesia’s presidency with <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/uk-indonesia-election-prabowo-idUSKBN0FB03F20140706" type="external">a populist campaign</a> of “strength and order.” In fact, Prabowo’s military career had long been steeped in such violence. In 1998, when the authoritarian regime of his father-in-law Suharto was at the brink of collapse, Prabowo, then commander of the Kopassus Rangers, staged the kidnapping-disappearance of a dozen student activists, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1998/07/22/indonesia-sliding-toward-economic-social-chaos/d94b2234-4616-4b50-ba65-d6e982155b9c/?utm_term=.3cd5e28dd0c1" type="external">the savage rape</a> of 168 Chinese women (acts meant to incite racial violence), and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0742538273/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">the burning</a> of 43 shopping malls and 5,109 buildings in Jakarta, the country’s capital, that left more than 1,000 dead.</p>
<p>During his first months in power, newly elected Philippine President Duterte waged his highly publicized war on the drug trade in city slums by loosing the police and vigilantes nationwide in a campaign already marked, in its first six months, by at least <a href="https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/philippines0317_web_1.pdf" type="external">7,000 extrajudicial killings</a>. The bodies of his victims were regularly dumped on Manila’s streets as warnings to others and as down payments on Duterte’s promises of a new, orderly country.</p>
<p>And he wasn’t the first populist in Asia to take such a path either. In 2003, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra launched his “red shirt” movement as a war on his country’s rampant methamphetamine abuse. In just three months under Thaksin’s rule, the police carried out <a href="https://www.hrw.org/reports/2004/thailand0704/thailand0704.pdf" type="external">2,275 extrajudicial killings</a> of suspected drug dealers and users, often <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/08/world/a-wave-of-drug-killings-is-linked-to-thai-police.html" type="external">leaving the bodies</a> where they fell as a twisted tribute to his power.</p>
<p>Such examples of populist political carnage and the likelihood of more to come — including what Donald Trump’s presidency might have in store — raise certain questions: Just what dynamics lie behind the urge toward violence that seems to propel such movements? Why does the virulent campaign rhetoric of populist political movements so often morph into actual violence once a populist wins power? And why is that violence invariably aimed at enemies believed to threaten the imagined integrity of the national community?</p>
<p>In their compulsion to “protect” the nation from what are seen as pernicious alien influences, such populist movements are defined by their need for enemies. That need, in turn, infuses them with an almost uncontrollable compulsion for conflict that transcends actual threats or rational political programs.</p>
<p>To give this troubling trend its political due, it’s necessary to understand how, at a particular moment in history, global forces have produced a generation of populist leaders with such potential compulsions. And at the moment, there may be no better example to look to than the Philippines.</p>
<p>During its last half-century of bloodstained elections, two populists, Ferdinand Marcos and Rodrigo Duterte, won exceptional power by combining the high politics of diplomacy with the low politics of performative violence, scattering corpses scarred by their signature brutality as if they were so many political pamphlets. A quick look at this history offers us an unsettling glimpse of America’s possible political future.</p>
<p>Populism in the Philippines: the Marcos Era</p>
<p>Although now remembered mainly as a “kleptocrat” who plundered his country and enriched himself with shameless abandon (epitomized by the discovery that his wife possessed 3,000 pairs of shoes), Ferdinand Marcos was, in fact, a brilliant populist, thoroughly skilled in the symbolic uses of violence.</p>
<p>As his legal term as president came to an end in 1972, Marcos — who, like many populists, saw himself as chosen by destiny to save his people from perdition — used the military to declare martial law. He then <a href="http://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/07/26/A-longtime-political-opponent-of-Philippine-president-Ferdinand-Marcos/2797428040000/" type="external">jailed 50,000 opponents</a>, including the senators who had blocked his favored legislation and the gossip columnists who had mocked his wife’s pretensions.</p>
<p>The first months of his dictatorship actually lacked any official violence. Then, just before dawn on January 15, 1973, Constabulary officers read a presidential execution order and strapped Lim Seng, an overseas Chinese heroin manufacturer, to a post at a Manila military camp. As a battery of press photographers stood by, an eight-man firing squad raised their rifles. Replayed endlessly on television and in movie theaters, the dramatic footage of bullets <a href="http://opinion.inquirer.net/95625/lim-seng-remembered" type="external">ripping open</a> the victim’s chest was clearly meant to be a vivid display of the new dictator’s power, as well as an appeal to his country’s ingrained anti-Chinese racism. Lim Seng would be the only victim legally executed in the 14 years of the Marcos dictatorship. Extra-judicial killings were another matter, however.</p>
<p>Marcos made clever use of the massive U.S. military bases near Manila to win continuing support for his authoritarian (and increasingly bloody) rule from three successive American administrations, even effectively neutralizing President Jimmy Carter’s human rights policy. After a decade of dictatorship, however, the economy <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1984/06/03/business/the-philippines-uncertain-future.html" type="external">began to collapse</a> from a too-heavy dose of “crony capitalism” and the political opposition started to challenge Marcos’s self-image as destiny’s chosen one.</p>
<p>To either sate or subdue an increasingly restive population, he soon resorted to escalating raw violence. His security squads conducted what were referred to as “salvagings,” more than 2,500 of them (or 77% of the <a href="http://www.manilatimes.net/3257-fact-checking-the-marcos-killings-1975-1985/255735/" type="external">3,257 extrajudicial killings</a> during his 14-year dictatorship). Bodies scarred by torture were regularly abandoned in public plazas or at busy intersections so passers-by could read the transcript of terror in their stigmata. In the capital, Manila, with only 4,000 police for six million residents, the Marcos regime also deputized hundreds of “secret marshals” responsible for more than 30 shoot-on-sight fatalities during May 1985, the program’s first month, alone.</p>
<p>Yet the impact of Marcos’s version of populist violence proved mutable — effective at the start of martial law when people yearned for order and counterproductive at its close when Filipinos again longed for freedom. That shift in sentiment soon led to his downfall in the first of the dramatic “people power” revolutions that would challenge autocratic regimes from Beijing to Berlin.Populism in the Philippines: Duterte’s Violence</p>
<p>Rodrigo Duterte, the son of a provincial governor, initially pursued a career as the mayor of Davao City, a site of endemic violence that left a lasting imprint on his political persona.</p>
<p>In 1984, after the communist New People’s Army made Davao its testing ground for urban guerilla warfare, the city’s murders soared, doubling to 800, including the assassination of 150 policemen. To check the communists, who took over part of the city, the military <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/04/world/right-wing-vigilantes-spreading-in-philippines.html?pagewanted=1" type="external">mobilized</a> criminals and ex-communists as death squad vigilantes in a lethal counterterror campaign. When I visited Davao in 1987 to investigate death squad killings, that remote southern city already had an unforgettable air of desolation and hopelessness.</p>
<p>It was in this context of rising national and local extrajudicial slaughter that the 33-year old Rodrigo Duterte launched his political career as the elected mayor of Davao City. That was in 1988, the first of seven terms that would keep him in office, on and off, for another 21 years until he won the country’s presidency in 2016. His first campaign was hotly contested and he barely beat his rivals, taking only 26% of the vote.</p>
<p>Around 1996, he reportedly mobilized his own vigilante group, the <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/11/21/when-a-populist-demagogue-takes-power" type="external">Davao Death Squad</a>. It would be responsible for many of the city’s 814 extrajudicial killings over the next decade, as victims were dumped on city streets with faces <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/07/world/asia/rodrigo-duterte-philippines-drugs-killings.html?_r=0&amp;mtrref=www.tomdispatch.com&amp;gwh=F8B1FB90C5A0C1461F72A9FBCCA13F3F&amp;gwt=pay" type="external">wrapped bizarrely</a> in packing tape. Duterte himself <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/21/world/asia/rodrigo-duterte-philippines-president-strongman.html" type="external">may have killed</a> one or more of the squad’s victims. Apart from liquidating criminals, the Davao Death Squad also conveniently eliminated the mayor’s political rivals.</p>
<p>Campaigning for president in 2016, Duterte would proudly point to the killings in Davao City and <a href="http://time.com/4462352/rodrigo-duterte-drug-war-drugs-philippines-killing/" type="external">promise a drug war</a> that would murder 100,000 Filipinos if necessary. In doing so, he was also drawing on historical resonances from the Marcos era that lent some political depth to his violent rhetoric. By specifically praising Marcos, promising to finally <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-3729122/Philippines-Marcos-unfit-heros-burial-says-historical-group.html" type="external">bury his body</a> in the National Heroes Cemetery in Manila, and <a href="http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/828171/duterte-bongbong-marcos-could-be-our-new-vp" type="external">supporting</a> Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for vice president, Duterte identified himself with a political lineage of populist strongmen epitomized by the old dictator at a time when desperate Filipinos were looking for new hope of a decent life.</p>
<p>On taking office, President Duterte promptly started his promised anti-drug campaign and <a href="https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/philippines0317_web_1.pdf" type="external">dead bodies</a> became commonplace sights on city streets nationwide, sometimes accompanied by a crude cardboard sign reading “I am a pusher,” or simply with their faces wrapped in the by-now trademark <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-drugs-duterte-idUSKCN11L16K" type="external">packing tape</a> used by the Davao Death Squad. Although Human Rights Watch would <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/01/12/philippines-duterte-unleashes-rights-calamity" type="external">declare</a> his drug war a “calamity,” a resounding 85% of Filipinos <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-duterte-poll-idUSKBN1480HB" type="external">surveyed</a> were “satisfied,” apparently seeing each body sprawled on a city street as another testament to the president’s promise of order.</p>
<p>At the same time, like Marcos, Duterte deployed a new style of diplomacy as part of his populist reach for unrestrained power. Amid rising tensions in the South China Sea between Beijing and Washington, he improved his country’s bargaining position by distancing himself from the Philippines’ classic alliance with the United States. At the 2016 ASEAN conference, reacting to Barack Obama’s criticism of his drug war, he <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-08/rodrigo-duterte-was-directing-comment-at-reporters-not-obama/7828078" type="external">said bluntly</a> of the American president, “Your mother’s a whore.”</p>
<p>A month later during a state visit to Beijing, Duterte <a href="http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-philippines-us-20161020-snap-story.html" type="external">publicly proclaimed</a> “separation from the United States.’’ By setting aside his country’s recent slam-dunk <a href="https://pca-cpa.org/en/news/pca-press-release-the-south-china-sea-arbitration-the-republic-of-the-philippines-v-the-peoples-republic-of-china/" type="external">win over China</a> at the Court of Arbitration in the Hague in a legal dispute over rival claims in the South China Sea, Duterte <a href="http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/10/22/1636102/philippines-china-sign-24-b-deals" type="external">came home</a> with $24 billion in Chinese trade deals and a sense that he was helping establish a new world order.</p>
<p>In January, after his police <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/19/world/asia/philippines-police-south-korean-killing.html" type="external">tortured and killed</a> a South Korean businessman on the pretext of a drug bust, he was forced to call a sudden halt to the nationwide killing spree. Like his role model Marcos, however, Duterte’s populism seems to contain an insatiable appetite for violence and so it was not long before bodies were once again being dumped on the streets of Manila, pushing the <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-drugs-idUSKBN16H1YV" type="external">death toll</a> past 8,000.</p>
<p>Success and the Strongman</p>
<p>The histories of these Filipino strongmen, past and present, reveal two overlooked aspects of the ill-defined phenomenon of global populism: the role of what might be termed performative violence in projecting domestic strength and a complementary need for diplomatic success to show international influence. How skillfully these critical poles of power are balanced may offer one gauge for speculating about the fate of populist strongmen in disparate parts of the globe.</p>
<p>In Russia’s case, Putin’s projection of strength through the murder of selected domestic opponents has been matched by <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21709028-how-contain-vladimir-putins-deadly-dysfunctional-empire-threat-russia" type="external">unchecked aggression</a> in Georgia and Ukraine — a successful balancing act that has made his country, with its rickety economy the <a href="http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2014/jul/27/lindsey-graham/graham-russia-has-economy-size-italy/" type="external">size of Italy’s</a>, seem like a great power again and is likely to extend his autocratic rule into the foreseeable future.</p>
<p>In Turkey, Erdogan’s harsh repression of ethnic and political enemies has essentially <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/13/world/europe/turkey-erdogan-disunity-europe.html" type="external">sunk his bid</a> for entry into the European Union, plunged him into <a href="http://www.politico.eu/article/turkey-unwinnable-war-pkk-protests-media-erdogan-kurds-nato/" type="external">an unwinnable war</a> with Kurdish rebels, and complicated his alliance with the United States against Islamic fundamentalism — all potential barriers to his successful bid for unchecked power.</p>
<p>In Indonesia, Prabowo Subianto <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/world/prabowo-subianto-withdraws-from-indonesian-presidential-election-on-day-vote-was-to-be-declared-20140722-zvte5.html" type="external">failed</a> in his critical first step: building a domestic base large enough to sweep him into the presidency, in part because his call for order <a href="https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/indonesia-dispelling-ghosts-98" type="external">resonated so discordantly</a> with a public still capable of remembering his earlier bid for power through eerie violence that roiled Jakarta with hundreds of rapes, fires, and deaths.</p>
<p>Without the popular support generated by his local spectacle of violence, President Duterte’s <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2016/10/21/china-and-the-philippines-could-ink-oil-exploration-deal-in-south-china-sea.html" type="external">de facto abrogation</a> of his country’s claims to the South China Sea’s rich <a href="http://thediplomat.com/2016/07/the-south-china-sea-is-really-a-fishery-dispute/" type="external">fishing grounds</a> and oil reserves in his bid for Chinese support risks a popular backlash, a military coup, or both. For the time being, however, Duterte’s deft juxtaposition of international maneuvering and local bloodletting has made him a successful <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-36659258" type="external">Philippine strongman</a> with, as yet, few apparent checks on his power.</p>
<p>While the essential weakness of the Philippine military limits Duterte’s outlets for his populist violence to the police killings of poor street drug dealers, Donald Trump faces no such restraints. Should Congress and the courts check the virulence of his domestic attacks on Muslims, Mexicans, or other imagined enemies and should his presidency run into further setbacks like the recent repeal-Obamacare humiliation, he could readily resort to violent military adventures not only in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, and Libya, but even in Iran, not to speak of North Korea, in a bid to recover his populist aura of overweening power. In this way, unlike any other potential populist politician on the planet, he holds the fate of countless millions in his much-discussed hands.</p>
<p>If populism’s need for what scholar Michael Lee calls an “apocalyptic confrontation” and a “mythic battle” proves accurate, it might, in the end, lead the Trump administration’s “systemic revolutionaries” far beyond even their most extreme rhetoric into an endlessly escalating cycle of violence against foreign enemies, using whatever weapons are available, whether drones, special operations forces, fighter bombers, naval armadas, or even nuclear weapons.</p>
<p>Alfred W. McCoy, a <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176106/tomgram%3A_alfred_mccoy,_washington%27s_twenty-first-century_opium_wars" type="external">TomDispatch regular</a>, is the Harrington professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is the author of the now-classic book The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade, which probed the conjuncture of illicit narcotics and covert operations over 50 years, among other works. His newest book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1608467732/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">In the Shadows of the American Century: The Rise and Decline of U.S. Global Power</a> (Dispatch Books/Haymarket) will be published this September. This article is based on a lecture he delivered in February at the Third World Studies Center, University of the Philippines.</p>
<p>Follow TomDispatch on <a href="https://twitter.com/TomDispatch" type="external">Twitter</a> and join us on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/tomdispatch" type="external">Facebook</a>. Check out the newest Dispatch Book, John Feffer’s dystopian novel <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1608467244/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">Splinterlands</a>, as well as Nick Turse’s <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1608466485/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">Next Time They’ll Come to Count the Dead</a>, and Tom Engelhardt’s latest book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1608463656/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">Shadow Government: Surveillance, Secret Wars, and a Global Security State in a Single-Superpower World</a>.</p> | true | 4 | alfred w mccoy tomdispatch philippines president rodrigo duterte donald trump prachatai matt johnson cc 20 2016 something extraordinary happened politics diverse countries around world surprising speed simultaneity new generation populist leaders emerged margins nominally democratic nations win power gave voice often virulent fashion public concerns social costs globalization even societies disparate affluent united states impoverished philippines similarly violent strains populist rhetoric carried two unlikely candidates political margins presidency opposite sides pacific outsider campaigns framed lurid calls violence even murder insurgent crusade gained momentum billionaire donald trump moved beyond repeated promises fight islamic terror torture brutal bombing also advocating murder women children thing terrorists take families get terrorists take families told fox news care lives dont kid say dont care lives take families time campaigning philippines lawandorder program rodrigo duterte mayor remote provincial city swore would kill drug dealers across nation sparing nothing way violent imagery chance god place presidency promised launching campaign watch 1000 people executed mayor become 100000 see fish manila bay getting fat dump rise political soulmates populist strongmen resonated deeply political cultures also reflected global trends made bloodstained rhetoric paradigmatic present moment postcold war quartercentury globalization displaced workers around world began mobilizing angrily oppose economic order made life good transnational corporations social elites 1999 2011 instance chinese imports eliminated 24 million american jobs closing furniture manufacturers north carolina factories produced glass ohio auto parts steel companies across midwest range nations worldwide reacted realities imposing combined 2100 restrictions imports staunch similar job losses world trade actually started slow without major recession first time since 1945 bloodstained history populism across europe hypernationalist rightwing parties like french national front alternative germany uk independence party voters cultivating nativist especially antiislamic responses globalization simultaneously generation populist demagogues either held gained threatened take power democracies around world marine le pen france geert wilders netherlands viktor orban hungary vladimir putin russia recep erdogan turkey donald trump us narendra modi india prabowo subianto indonesia rodrigo duterte philippines among others indian essayist pankaj mishra recently summed successes way demagogues still emerging west outside promise prosperity collides massive disparities wealth power education status philippine economy offered typically grim news score grew impressive 6 annually six years duterte launched presidential campaign even staggering 26 million poor filipinos struggled survive dollar day years 40 elite filipino families grabbed estimated 76 wealth growth produced scholar michael lee suggests populist leader succeeds rhetorically defining national community supposedly shared characteristics inevitable common enemy whether mexican rapists muslim refugees much nazis created powerful sense national selfhood excluding certain groups blood addition argues movements share desire apocalyptic confrontation final mythic battle vehicle revolutionary change although scholars like lee emphasize ways populist demagogues rely violent rhetoric success tend focus less another crucial aspect populists globally actual violence movements might still relatively benign phase united states europe less developed democracies around world populist leaders havent hesitated inscribe newfound power battered bodies victims decade instance russian president vladimir putin reasonable candidate sparking wave populism demonstrated famously barechested version power politics ensuring opponents critics meet grim ends mysterious circumstances include lethal spritz polonium 210 killed russian secret police defector alexander litvinenko london 2006 shooting journalist putin critic anna politkovskaya outside moscow apartment year dose rare himalayan plant poison banker putin nemesis alexander perepilichny london 2012 fusillade felled opposition leader boris nemtsov downtown moscow 2015 four fatal bullets march refugee whistleblower denis voronenkov kiev sidewalk ukraine denounced act state terrorism islamist populist turkish president recep erdogan projected power bloody repression new war countrys kurdish minority portrays kurds cancer within countrys body politic whose identity must extinguished much forebears rid armenians addition since mid2016 hes overseen wholesale purge 50000 officials journalists teachers military officers aftermath failed coup brutal round torture rape filled turkish prisons brim 2014 retired general prabowo subianto nearly indonesias presidency populist campaign strength order fact prabowos military career long steeped violence 1998 authoritarian regime fatherinlaw suharto brink collapse prabowo commander kopassus rangers staged kidnappingdisappearance dozen student activists savage rape 168 chinese women acts meant incite racial violence burning 43 shopping malls 5109 buildings jakarta countrys capital left 1000 dead first months power newly elected philippine president duterte waged highly publicized war drug trade city slums loosing police vigilantes nationwide campaign already marked first six months least 7000 extrajudicial killings bodies victims regularly dumped manilas streets warnings others payments dutertes promises new orderly country wasnt first populist asia take path either 2003 thai prime minister thaksin shinawatra launched red shirt movement war countrys rampant methamphetamine abuse three months thaksins rule police carried 2275 extrajudicial killings suspected drug dealers users often leaving bodies fell twisted tribute power examples populist political carnage likelihood come including donald trumps presidency might store raise certain questions dynamics lie behind urge toward violence seems propel movements virulent campaign rhetoric populist political movements often morph actual violence populist wins power violence invariably aimed enemies believed threaten imagined integrity national community compulsion protect nation seen pernicious alien influences populist movements defined need enemies need turn infuses almost uncontrollable compulsion conflict transcends actual threats rational political programs give troubling trend political due necessary understand particular moment history global forces produced generation populist leaders potential compulsions moment may better example look philippines last halfcentury bloodstained elections two populists ferdinand marcos rodrigo duterte exceptional power combining high politics diplomacy low politics performative violence scattering corpses scarred signature brutality many political pamphlets quick look history offers us unsettling glimpse americas possible political future populism philippines marcos era although remembered mainly kleptocrat plundered country enriched shameless abandon epitomized discovery wife possessed 3000 pairs shoes ferdinand marcos fact brilliant populist thoroughly skilled symbolic uses violence legal term president came end 1972 marcos like many populists saw chosen destiny save people perdition used military declare martial law jailed 50000 opponents including senators blocked favored legislation gossip columnists mocked wifes pretensions first months dictatorship actually lacked official violence dawn january 15 1973 constabulary officers read presidential execution order strapped lim seng overseas chinese heroin manufacturer post manila military camp battery press photographers stood eightman firing squad raised rifles replayed endlessly television movie theaters dramatic footage bullets ripping open victims chest clearly meant vivid display new dictators power well appeal countrys ingrained antichinese racism lim seng would victim legally executed 14 years marcos dictatorship extrajudicial killings another matter however marcos made clever use massive us military bases near manila win continuing support authoritarian increasingly bloody rule three successive american administrations even effectively neutralizing president jimmy carters human rights policy decade dictatorship however economy began collapse tooheavy dose crony capitalism political opposition started challenge marcoss selfimage destinys chosen one either sate subdue increasingly restive population soon resorted escalating raw violence security squads conducted referred salvagings 2500 77 3257 extrajudicial killings 14year dictatorship bodies scarred torture regularly abandoned public plazas busy intersections passersby could read transcript terror stigmata capital manila 4000 police six million residents marcos regime also deputized hundreds secret marshals responsible 30 shootonsight fatalities may 1985 programs first month alone yet impact marcoss version populist violence proved mutable effective start martial law people yearned order counterproductive close filipinos longed freedom shift sentiment soon led downfall first dramatic people power revolutions would challenge autocratic regimes beijing berlinpopulism philippines dutertes violence rodrigo duterte son provincial governor initially pursued career mayor davao city site endemic violence left lasting imprint political persona 1984 communist new peoples army made davao testing ground urban guerilla warfare citys murders soared doubling 800 including assassination 150 policemen check communists took part city military mobilized criminals excommunists death squad vigilantes lethal counterterror campaign visited davao 1987 investigate death squad killings remote southern city already unforgettable air desolation hopelessness context rising national local extrajudicial slaughter 33year old rodrigo duterte launched political career elected mayor davao city 1988 first seven terms would keep office another 21 years countrys presidency 2016 first campaign hotly contested barely beat rivals taking 26 vote around 1996 reportedly mobilized vigilante group davao death squad would responsible many citys 814 extrajudicial killings next decade victims dumped city streets faces wrapped bizarrely packing tape duterte may killed one squads victims apart liquidating criminals davao death squad also conveniently eliminated mayors political rivals campaigning president 2016 duterte would proudly point killings davao city promise drug war would murder 100000 filipinos necessary also drawing historical resonances marcos era lent political depth violent rhetoric specifically praising marcos promising finally bury body national heroes cemetery manila supporting ferdinand marcos jr vice president duterte identified political lineage populist strongmen epitomized old dictator time desperate filipinos looking new hope decent life taking office president duterte promptly started promised antidrug campaign dead bodies became commonplace sights city streets nationwide sometimes accompanied crude cardboard sign reading pusher simply faces wrapped bynow trademark packing tape used davao death squad although human rights watch would declare drug war calamity resounding 85 filipinos surveyed satisfied apparently seeing body sprawled city street another testament presidents promise order time like marcos duterte deployed new style diplomacy part populist reach unrestrained power amid rising tensions south china sea beijing washington improved countrys bargaining position distancing philippines classic alliance united states 2016 asean conference reacting barack obamas criticism drug war said bluntly american president mothers whore month later state visit beijing duterte publicly proclaimed separation united states setting aside countrys recent slamdunk win china court arbitration hague legal dispute rival claims south china sea duterte came home 24 billion chinese trade deals sense helping establish new world order january police tortured killed south korean businessman pretext drug bust forced call sudden halt nationwide killing spree like role model marcos however dutertes populism seems contain insatiable appetite violence long bodies dumped streets manila pushing death toll past 8000 success strongman histories filipino strongmen past present reveal two overlooked aspects illdefined phenomenon global populism role might termed performative violence projecting domestic strength complementary need diplomatic success show international influence skillfully critical poles power balanced may offer one gauge speculating fate populist strongmen disparate parts globe russias case putins projection strength murder selected domestic opponents matched unchecked aggression georgia ukraine successful balancing act made country rickety economy size italys seem like great power likely extend autocratic rule foreseeable future turkey erdogans harsh repression ethnic political enemies essentially sunk bid entry european union plunged unwinnable war kurdish rebels complicated alliance united states islamic fundamentalism potential barriers successful bid unchecked power indonesia prabowo subianto failed critical first step building domestic base large enough sweep presidency part call order resonated discordantly public still capable remembering earlier bid power eerie violence roiled jakarta hundreds rapes fires deaths without popular support generated local spectacle violence president dutertes de facto abrogation countrys claims south china seas rich fishing grounds oil reserves bid chinese support risks popular backlash military coup time however dutertes deft juxtaposition international maneuvering local bloodletting made successful philippine strongman yet apparent checks power essential weakness philippine military limits dutertes outlets populist violence police killings poor street drug dealers donald trump faces restraints congress courts check virulence domestic attacks muslims mexicans imagined enemies presidency run setbacks like recent repealobamacare humiliation could readily resort violent military adventures iraq syria yemen afghanistan libya even iran speak north korea bid recover populist aura overweening power way unlike potential populist politician planet holds fate countless millions muchdiscussed hands populisms need scholar michael lee calls apocalyptic confrontation mythic battle proves accurate might end lead trump administrations systemic revolutionaries far beyond even extreme rhetoric endlessly escalating cycle violence foreign enemies using whatever weapons available whether drones special operations forces fighter bombers naval armadas even nuclear weapons alfred w mccoy tomdispatch regular harrington professor history university wisconsinmadison author nowclassic book politics heroin cia complicity global drug trade probed conjuncture illicit narcotics covert operations 50 years among works newest book shadows american century rise decline us global power dispatch bookshaymarket published september article based lecture delivered february third world studies center university philippines follow tomdispatch twitter join us facebook check newest dispatch book john feffers dystopian novel splinterlands well nick turses next time theyll come count dead tom engelhardts latest book shadow government surveillance secret wars global security state singlesuperpower world | 1,988 |
<p>Click here to read Part One: <a href="" type="internal">Chet Baker: the Junkie Beat</a>.</p>
<p>Chet Baker finally hit New York in May of 1954, fronting his own band, for a month long engagement at Birdland. By all accounts it was a bizarre scene.&#160; Baker’s group had been double booked for two weeks with Miles Davis. On most nights the audience with packed with young girls, who had streamed to the smoky, midtown club to catch a glimpse of their idol, Chet Baker. Davis’s band was forced to open for Baker’s group and on many night played before a white crowd who believed that Davis had been cribbing Baker’s riffs. Baker’s performances that month were tentative and flat. He was ripped by the jazz press for his limp playing and weak vocals. But such critiques did nothing to diminish his popular appeal or cause him to reappraise his own technique.</p>
<p>That spring he launched into a torrid affair with the sultry French actress Liliane Cukier. At parties, Baker told people Cukier was his wife, even though he was still married to Charlaine. One night during Baker’s run at Birdland, Charlaine showed up and glimpsed Baker making out in his car with Cukier. She rushed back to her hotel, picked up Baker’s gun and re-entered the club hot for revenge. While Baker was playing onstage, Charlaine was waving the pistol in Cukier’s face and then ran off toward the stage threatening to kill Baker, only to be restrained by documentary film-maker Al Avakian before she could unload a few rounds into the trumpeter.</p>
<p>With Charlaine on the warpath, Baker soon split from New York, taking Cukier with him, first to the West Coast and then to the Midwest for dates in St. Louis and Chicago.&#160; Cukier liked to party and had already been using heroin before she met Baker. Chet’s drug use escalated, with dismal results for the band. Cukier recalled walking into their hotel room in Chicago after a performance to find Baker and the other musicians shooting up. “They were all lying around, and some people took 45 minutes to find a vein, and it was bloody,” Cukier recalled. “I said, ‘Chet this can’t go on.’”&#160; But of course it did go on.</p>
<p>Before the end of the year, the band was falling apart. The reviews of Baker’s performances had become even more hostile. His playing was called “insipid” and his voice judged “anemic.” Moreover, Baker was incapable of scheduling gigs or handling the money. He burnt the last $300 in the band’s account by purchasing a Jaguar for himself. That was the last straw for Russ Freeman, who returned to California.</p>
<p>Baker’s inability to manage his affairs made him vulnerable to the ruthless vultures that circle around musicians. In his last years, feeble as he was, Baker was generating a big stream of revenue, probably as much as $200,000 a year. Who knows how much of this actually ended up with Baker. Like most junkies, Chet preferred to be paid in cash at the time of the performance. He refused to sign contracts that gave him a percentage of the income from recordings.&#160; It probably cost him millions. For the last couple decades of his life, Baker didn’t even have a bank account.</p>
<p>In the early 1960s, Baker had signed a larcenous deal with the sleazy manager Richard Carpenter, who was notorious for ripping off down-and-out black musicians, including Lester Young, Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt. Baker had been introduced to Carpenter by his old junkie friend Tadd Dameron, one of the <a href="" type="internal" /> most gifted composers and arrangers of the bebop era, who had been hoodwinked into signing away all of his royalties to Carpenter for a mere fifty dollars—or about three days worth of heroin. Baker signed a similarly predatory deal. But he was so fucked up he didn’t care. Carpenter gave him a cheap, roach-infested apartment and doled out $20 a day as his daily dope allowance. Decades later, when he had comprehended the scope of the rip-off, Baker tried to hire a hit man to kill Carpenter.</p>
<p>At the time, none of these problems seemed to matter. In 1955, Baker won the Downbeat reader’s poll as best trumpeter, trouncing Clifford Brown, Miles and Dizzy. Then Baker got a call from Hollywood. He landed the role of trumpet player in the B-grade war movie Hell’s Horizon. The movie was a bomb. But Baker was unfazed. He toured the country with Dave Brubeck, Mulligan and Clifford Brown and appeared on the Tonight Show, playing a zippy, if somewhat inchoate, version of Dizzy’s “Night in Tunisia.”</p>
<p>Later that year, Baker took Liliane and his new band across the Atlantic for his first European tour. It was to prove a fateful trip. That fall Baker’s group featured a brilliant young pianist from Boston named Dick Twardzik, who had played with Charlie Parker in the months before Bird died. Twardzik was a prodigy, with a Bill Evans-like talent for dazzling harmonic patterns. He was as comfortable playing Bud Powell as he was Bela Bartok. But Twardzik had developed a serious heroin habit as a teenager. His lover, the black singer Crystal Joy, hoped he would kick the addiction while on tour. But it wasn’t to be. Twardzik was on the road with a band of junkies, including Baker and drummer Peter Littman. It wasn’t long before the three musicians were sharing their drugs and spiking their veins with the same needles.</p>
<p>The band blazed across Europe, playing a grueling slate of&#160;one-nighters in Amsterdam, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Milan and Rome. After hours, they were also shooting up with European jazz musicians and groupies, with high-grade European heroin straight out of Marseille. In <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1569767572/counterpunchmaga" type="external">Deep in a Dream</a>, James Gavin quotes the French jazz pianist, René Urtreger as saying that by the time Baker’s band hit Europe more 95 percent of the French jazz musicians were heroin addicts, including Urtreger.</p>
<p>While in Paris, the band ducked into the Pathé studios to record a series of sessions for the French jazz label, Barclay Disques. Under Twardzik’s guidance, the music was inventive and challenging, probably the most adventuresome Baker ever played, especially on the classically-infused “Rondette” and Twardzik’s own modernist composition “The Girl From Greenland.” But as the weeks went by Twardzik slipped deeper and deeper into a heroin thrall and on the night of October 20 it all came to an end. When the piano player failed to show up at the studio, bassist Jimmy Bond, the only non-user in the group, phoned the manager at the Hotel Madeleine and asked him to check on the pianist. Twardzik was found dead in his room, his skin a shimmering blue, a needle still hanging from his arm. He was just 24 years old.</p>
<p>*&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; *&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; *</p>
<p>The death of Twardzik hardened Baker. He was no longer seen as the sweet young idol in the States, where he had been savaged in the press for leading a band of junkies. His appearance grew rougher, his temper more explosive, his addictions more voracious. William Claxton photographed Baker in the fall of 1956 and described him as “looking very paranoid, sinister.” By then, Baker had hooked up with a new woman of East Indian descent, the young and naïve Halema Alli, who quickly became pregnant. Baker was not happy with the news. When his son, Aftab, was born, Baker ridiculed the child as a “retard” and blamed Halema’s genes, never once pausing to wonder if his years of drug abuse had been a contributing factor.</p>
<p>Baker had also put together a new band featuring saxophonist Phil Urso, pianist Bobby Timmons and drummer Philly Jo Jones, who had been booted from Miles Davis’s first quintet because of his heroin addiction.&#160; The band recorded one album together, the bop-oriented Chet Baker and Crew, then broke up after Jones went on a spending spree using Baker’s credit card.</p>
<p>Baker spent the next year or so on the skids, scrounging for gigs from New York to Chicago. His star was fading. He was out of money. He had no band and was shooting heroin into his feet. Halema fled the crazy atmosphere surrounding Baker, taking their son with her back to Detroit. Reunions with Mulligan and Getz flopped, mainly because of Baker’s deteriorating playing. Then Baker was arrested twice within a matter of days. Once in Waukegan, Illinois and later in Harlem. Both times for heroin possession. Instead of being sent to prison, Baker checked himself into the US Public Health Service Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky to clean himself out.&#160; Chet wasn’t alone. Inside the famous junkie hospital at that time were three other famous jazz players: pianists Tadd Dameron and Kenny Drew and sax player Sam Rivers.</p>
<p>The cure didn’t take. Within days of checking out of Lexington, Baker was shacking up in New York with a young blonde groupie who had followed him to Kentucky. After he blew through her money, he moved in with a prostitute named Pixie and her boyfriend. Baker skimmed Pixie’s daily earnings to buy dope. “I had all the money I wanted to get high with,” Baker wrote in his autobiography.</p>
<p>For some obscure reason, the Riverside label—once home to Thelonious Monk and Cannonball Adderley–signed the dissolute Baker to a five record deal. Baker showed up stoned at most of the sessions. He muttered his lyrics and wheezed through his trumpet solos.&#160; Even though producer Orrin Keepnews surrounded Baker with top-notch players, like Paul Chambers and Johnny Griffin, the records were ridiculed by the critics.</p>
<p>The lone exception was the Riverside recording titled <a href="" type="internal">Chet</a>, which featured Bill Evans, Herbie Mann, Connie Kay and Kenny Burrell. Here Baker rose to the occasion. Following Evans’ lead, Baker’s playing was lyrical, dark and tender. But sales were tepid. Baker had finally lost most of his luster.</p>
<p>By day Baker was playing in the Riverside studios, by night he was robbing the place to feed his habit. First Baker stole three blank checks from the office, forged producer Bill Grauer’s signature and tried to cash them at a local pharmacy. A few days later Baker broke into the Riverside warehouse and stole a truckload of LPs to sell on the streets. Riverside didn’t prosecute because Baker still owed the label another album.</p>
<p>But before Keepnews could get Baker back into the studio, the trumpeter was busted twice in Harlem trying to buy drugs. Baker had now been arrested 10 times and the judge showed little mercy, sending him to Rikers Island for a six-month term. It was a brutal place to go cold turkey.</p>
<p>*&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; *&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; *</p>
<p>Baker walked out of jail two months early. The experience was rough, especially for someone with Baker’s boy-like looks and debilitated condition, but did nothing to deter his craving for dope. Baker was blitzed as he cut the sessions for his final Riverside album, <a href="" type="internal">Chet Baker Plays the Best of Lerner &amp; Loewe</a>. Baker’s playing is stunted and lugubrious, drained of any hit of emotional creativity.</p>
<p>After the drug convictions, Baker was banned from playing in New York nightclubs, so he collected Halemi and headed back to Europe where he was still adored as an icon of cool. Even his heroin addiction seemed to heighten his allure, especially to young jazz players.</p>
<p>By now Baker couldn’t play unless he was high. His bandmates and promoters pumped Baker full of heroin, opium, morphine and cocaine just to coax him on stage. He soon began taking large amounts of Palfium 875, a methadone-like drug used in addiction treatment. But Palfium was also highly addictive and soon Baker was hooked on both Palfium and heroin.</p>
<p>While he was in Italy, Baker ran into Romano Mussolini at a party. Romano was a jazz drummer and fan of Baker’s music. A stoned Baker supposedly patted Romano on the back on said, “Gee, it’s a drag about your old man.” Now that’s detachment. But the aura of cool was now chemically-induced. By his own admission, Baker was burning through 250 pills of Palfium a day. He was injecting himself 40 to 50 times a day, walking around in a fog. “I lived in a nightmare of eternal anguish, existing from one injection to the other, terrified that without Palfium I would die,” Baker confessed.</p>
<p>Baker was consuming so much Palfium that he ran out of sources in Italy and he sent his wife on plane to Munich, where the drug could be bought without a prescription. Halema had no idea that she was running illegal drugs into Italy. His drummer Gene Victory was dispatched on similar missions. (Years later Baker would hide drugs in his agent’s luggage and inside his girlfriend’s bra.)</p>
<p>While in Italy Baker recorded two albums with Italian musicians, Chet Baker in Milan and Chet Baker and Fifty Italian Strings. His playing was mournful, almost dirge-like, the arrangements bland and uninspired. The Italian musicians try gamely to infuse the songs with a little spirit, but there was no one of Bill Evans’s talent to salvage the records from mediocrity. These sessions demonstrated again that Baker was neither a bandleader nor a visionary. He could still play, but someone had to point the way.</p>
<p>Baker was coarser now and meaner. He would insult his band members in the middle of sets and storm off the stage. At one concert in a Sicilian Cathedral,&#160; he got enraged by some sloppy playing by pianist Michel Graillier and pushed him off his bench.</p>
<p>Baker’s arms and legs were covered with open sores and abscesses. His pants and shirtsleeves were often stained with blood. He disliked bathing and slathered himself in Paco Rabanne cologne to hide the stench.</p>
<p>In the winter of 1960, Baker underwent a bizarre detox procedure at clinic in Milan. The Italian doctor placed Baker in a drug-induced coma for a week. The treatment was supposed to wean the musician from his addiction without having to endure withdrawals. Soon after Baker’s release, he launched into an affair with a British dancer named Carol Jackson who was working as a showgirl at the Teatro Olympia in Milan.&#160; Baker thought Jackson looked like Elizabeth Taylor.&#160; Within a couple of weeks, Baker was using again, shaking down as many as 25 different Italian doctors for prescriptions. But it was never enough. He needed at least 200 pills a day to satiate his habit and the prescriptions for Palfium were limited to boxes of five pills. So Baker began stealing prescription forms from doctors’ offices.</p>
<p>It all came crashing to an end on July 31, 1960. Baker was driving his Alfa Romeo to a gig in the beach town of Rimini. He stopped to fill up at a Shell station in Lucca, locked himself in the bathroom, began shooting up and apparently freaked out.&#160; A worker at the station called the police. When police broke into the bathroom, they found Baker standing before a sink in a stupor, a syringe in his hand, his arms bloody and riddled with track marks.</p>
<p>Baker was arrested. So were two doctors who had written him prescriptions for Palfium. Most tragically, Halema was also arrested and jailed on charges of transporting illegal drugs. Baker and his wife spent grueling months in prison before the trial. The trial was a sensation in Italy, attracting press from around the world. Italian papers called it the “trial of the vipers.” There was widespread sympathy for Halema in the media, almost none for Chet or the doctors he had bribed into selling him Palfium. In the end, Halema was freed and Chet was convicted and sentenced to a year and seven months in the town’s medieval jail, where Baker would play his trumpet in his cell almost nightly, while local residents gathered outside the prison to listen in the moonlight.</p>
<p>By the mid-1960s, Baker’s real jazz act, the true feats of daring improvisation, of working on a net-free tightrope, weren’t found in his haunting phrasings of minimalist melodies played on his trumpet, but in his living day-to-day, score-to-score, scrounging for money and places to crash, surviving bad trips and dirty needles, performing for a few intense moments on stage, if only to fund the next buy, to cop a little bliss at the end of a spike. Month after month, year after year. Baker survived against all the odds, playing almost nightly, recording dozens of albums. He outlasted most of his friends and idols: Parker, Coltrane, Clifford Brown, Tadd Dameron, Paul Chambers, Philly Jo Jones.</p>
<p>Baker’s music remained fixed in time, never evolving. His style, as hauntingly beautiful as it sometimes was, became a relic within a couple of years of those first recordings in Los Angeles. But his life had jumped the system. Baker breached every rule, transgressed every social convention, squandered every friendship, betrayed every intimacy. He negotiated a knife-edge for 30 years. He was a real outsider, a social reprobate, living without shame or remorse, bound only by the burning chain of his addiction. “My home,” Baker said, “is in my left arm.”</p>
<p>Then in Amsterdam, as alone as he had ever been, Chet Baker made his final break, going solo through that small opening in the window and falling out into the night.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Jeffrey St. Clair’s&#160;latest book is&#160; <a href="http://www.easycartsecure.com/CounterPunch/CounterPunch_Books.html" type="external">Born Under a Bad Sky</a>. He is the co-editor of&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion</a>, forthcoming from AK Press.&#160;He can be reached at:&#160; <a href="mailto:sitka@comcast.net" type="external">sitka@comcast.net</a>.</p> | true | 4 | click read part one chet baker junkie beat chet baker finally hit new york may 1954 fronting band month long engagement birdland accounts bizarre scene160 bakers group double booked two weeks miles davis nights audience packed young girls streamed smoky midtown club catch glimpse idol chet baker daviss band forced open bakers group many night played white crowd believed davis cribbing bakers riffs bakers performances month tentative flat ripped jazz press limp playing weak vocals critiques nothing diminish popular appeal cause reappraise technique spring launched torrid affair sultry french actress liliane cukier parties baker told people cukier wife even though still married charlaine one night bakers run birdland charlaine showed glimpsed baker making car cukier rushed back hotel picked bakers gun reentered club hot revenge baker playing onstage charlaine waving pistol cukiers face ran toward stage threatening kill baker restrained documentary filmmaker al avakian could unload rounds trumpeter charlaine warpath baker soon split new york taking cukier first west coast midwest dates st louis chicago160 cukier liked party already using heroin met baker chets drug use escalated dismal results band cukier recalled walking hotel room chicago performance find baker musicians shooting lying around people took 45 minutes find vein bloody cukier recalled said chet cant go on160 course go end year band falling apart reviews bakers performances become even hostile playing called insipid voice judged anemic moreover baker incapable scheduling gigs handling money burnt last 300 bands account purchasing jaguar last straw russ freeman returned california bakers inability manage affairs made vulnerable ruthless vultures circle around musicians last years feeble baker generating big stream revenue probably much 200000 year knows much actually ended baker like junkies chet preferred paid cash time performance refused sign contracts gave percentage income recordings160 probably cost millions last couple decades life baker didnt even bank account early 1960s baker signed larcenous deal sleazy manager richard carpenter notorious ripping downandout black musicians including lester young gene ammons sonny stitt baker introduced carpenter old junkie friend tadd dameron one gifted composers arrangers bebop era hoodwinked signing away royalties carpenter mere fifty dollarsor three days worth heroin baker signed similarly predatory deal fucked didnt care carpenter gave cheap roachinfested apartment doled 20 day daily dope allowance decades later comprehended scope ripoff baker tried hire hit man kill carpenter time none problems seemed matter 1955 baker downbeat readers poll best trumpeter trouncing clifford brown miles dizzy baker got call hollywood landed role trumpet player bgrade war movie hells horizon movie bomb baker unfazed toured country dave brubeck mulligan clifford brown appeared tonight show playing zippy somewhat inchoate version dizzys night tunisia later year baker took liliane new band across atlantic first european tour prove fateful trip fall bakers group featured brilliant young pianist boston named dick twardzik played charlie parker months bird died twardzik prodigy bill evanslike talent dazzling harmonic patterns comfortable playing bud powell bela bartok twardzik developed serious heroin habit teenager lover black singer crystal joy hoped would kick addiction tour wasnt twardzik road band junkies including baker drummer peter littman wasnt long three musicians sharing drugs spiking veins needles band blazed across europe playing grueling slate of160onenighters amsterdam london paris frankfurt milan rome hours also shooting european jazz musicians groupies highgrade european heroin straight marseille deep dream james gavin quotes french jazz pianist rené urtreger saying time bakers band hit europe 95 percent french jazz musicians heroin addicts including urtreger paris band ducked pathé studios record series sessions french jazz label barclay disques twardziks guidance music inventive challenging probably adventuresome baker ever played especially classicallyinfused rondette twardziks modernist composition girl greenland weeks went twardzik slipped deeper deeper heroin thrall night october 20 came end piano player failed show studio bassist jimmy bond nonuser group phoned manager hotel madeleine asked check pianist twardzik found dead room skin shimmering blue needle still hanging arm 24 years old 160160160160160160 160160160160160160 death twardzik hardened baker longer seen sweet young idol states savaged press leading band junkies appearance grew rougher temper explosive addictions voracious william claxton photographed baker fall 1956 described looking paranoid sinister baker hooked new woman east indian descent young naïve halema alli quickly became pregnant baker happy news son aftab born baker ridiculed child retard blamed halemas genes never pausing wonder years drug abuse contributing factor baker also put together new band featuring saxophonist phil urso pianist bobby timmons drummer philly jo jones booted miles daviss first quintet heroin addiction160 band recorded one album together boporiented chet baker crew broke jones went spending spree using bakers credit card baker spent next year skids scrounging gigs new york chicago star fading money band shooting heroin feet halema fled crazy atmosphere surrounding baker taking son back detroit reunions mulligan getz flopped mainly bakers deteriorating playing baker arrested twice within matter days waukegan illinois later harlem times heroin possession instead sent prison baker checked us public health service hospital lexington kentucky clean out160 chet wasnt alone inside famous junkie hospital time three famous jazz players pianists tadd dameron kenny drew sax player sam rivers cure didnt take within days checking lexington baker shacking new york young blonde groupie followed kentucky blew money moved prostitute named pixie boyfriend baker skimmed pixies daily earnings buy dope money wanted get high baker wrote autobiography obscure reason riverside labelonce home thelonious monk cannonball adderleysigned dissolute baker five record deal baker showed stoned sessions muttered lyrics wheezed trumpet solos160 even though producer orrin keepnews surrounded baker topnotch players like paul chambers johnny griffin records ridiculed critics lone exception riverside recording titled chet featured bill evans herbie mann connie kay kenny burrell baker rose occasion following evans lead bakers playing lyrical dark tender sales tepid baker finally lost luster day baker playing riverside studios night robbing place feed habit first baker stole three blank checks office forged producer bill grauers signature tried cash local pharmacy days later baker broke riverside warehouse stole truckload lps sell streets riverside didnt prosecute baker still owed label another album keepnews could get baker back studio trumpeter busted twice harlem trying buy drugs baker arrested 10 times judge showed little mercy sending rikers island sixmonth term brutal place go cold turkey 160160160160160160 160160160160160160 baker walked jail two months early experience rough especially someone bakers boylike looks debilitated condition nothing deter craving dope baker blitzed cut sessions final riverside album chet baker plays best lerner amp loewe bakers playing stunted lugubrious drained hit emotional creativity drug convictions baker banned playing new york nightclubs collected halemi headed back europe still adored icon cool even heroin addiction seemed heighten allure especially young jazz players baker couldnt play unless high bandmates promoters pumped baker full heroin opium morphine cocaine coax stage soon began taking large amounts palfium 875 methadonelike drug used addiction treatment palfium also highly addictive soon baker hooked palfium heroin italy baker ran romano mussolini party romano jazz drummer fan bakers music stoned baker supposedly patted romano back said gee drag old man thats detachment aura cool chemicallyinduced admission baker burning 250 pills palfium day injecting 40 50 times day walking around fog lived nightmare eternal anguish existing one injection terrified without palfium would die baker confessed baker consuming much palfium ran sources italy sent wife plane munich drug could bought without prescription halema idea running illegal drugs italy drummer gene victory dispatched similar missions years later baker would hide drugs agents luggage inside girlfriends bra italy baker recorded two albums italian musicians chet baker milan chet baker fifty italian strings playing mournful almost dirgelike arrangements bland uninspired italian musicians try gamely infuse songs little spirit one bill evanss talent salvage records mediocrity sessions demonstrated baker neither bandleader visionary could still play someone point way baker coarser meaner would insult band members middle sets storm stage one concert sicilian cathedral160 got enraged sloppy playing pianist michel graillier pushed bench bakers arms legs covered open sores abscesses pants shirtsleeves often stained blood disliked bathing slathered paco rabanne cologne hide stench winter 1960 baker underwent bizarre detox procedure clinic milan italian doctor placed baker druginduced coma week treatment supposed wean musician addiction without endure withdrawals soon bakers release launched affair british dancer named carol jackson working showgirl teatro olympia milan160 baker thought jackson looked like elizabeth taylor160 within couple weeks baker using shaking many 25 different italian doctors prescriptions never enough needed least 200 pills day satiate habit prescriptions palfium limited boxes five pills baker began stealing prescription forms doctors offices came crashing end july 31 1960 baker driving alfa romeo gig beach town rimini stopped fill shell station lucca locked bathroom began shooting apparently freaked out160 worker station called police police broke bathroom found baker standing sink stupor syringe hand arms bloody riddled track marks baker arrested two doctors written prescriptions palfium tragically halema also arrested jailed charges transporting illegal drugs baker wife spent grueling months prison trial trial sensation italy attracting press around world italian papers called trial vipers widespread sympathy halema media almost none chet doctors bribed selling palfium end halema freed chet convicted sentenced year seven months towns medieval jail baker would play trumpet cell almost nightly local residents gathered outside prison listen moonlight mid1960s bakers real jazz act true feats daring improvisation working netfree tightrope werent found haunting phrasings minimalist melodies played trumpet living daytoday scoretoscore scrounging money places crash surviving bad trips dirty needles performing intense moments stage fund next buy cop little bliss end spike month month year year baker survived odds playing almost nightly recording dozens albums outlasted friends idols parker coltrane clifford brown tadd dameron paul chambers philly jo jones bakers music remained fixed time never evolving style hauntingly beautiful sometimes became relic within couple years first recordings los angeles life jumped system baker breached every rule transgressed every social convention squandered every friendship betrayed every intimacy negotiated knifeedge 30 years real outsider social reprobate living without shame remorse bound burning chain addiction home baker said left arm amsterdam alone ever chet baker made final break going solo small opening window falling night 160 jeffrey st clairs160latest book is160 born bad sky coeditor of160 hopeless barack obama politics illusion forthcoming ak press160he reached at160 sitkacomcastnet | 1,678 |
<p>Jill Stein was the Green Party's presidential candidate in 2016 and 2012. She is an organizer, physician and environmental health advocate. In the 2016 election, she was the only national Presidential candidate to call for an emergency jobs program to solve jointly the climate and economic crises, and for demilitarization through a foreign policy based on human rights, international law and diplomacy. She was also the only candidate to be arrested for supporting the Dakota Sioux nation in resisting the DAPL pipeline. She launched a recount campaign following the 2016 election to investigate potential interference in the presidential election. She has helped fight for clean air and water, health care and education as human rights, especially in front line communities. In 2006, she transitioned from clinical medicine into "political medicine" to help heal "the mother of all illnesses," our sick political system, so we can begin to fix the other things that are literally killing us. She was part of the recent Solidarity Peace Delegation to South Korea, to support the struggle of the Korean people for peace, sovereignty and demilitarization of the Korean Peninsula. Jill is currently working to support local Green candidates in fighting for radical progressive, sustainable solutions that are critical for our future.</p>
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<p /> PAUL JAY, SENIOR EDITOR, TRNN: Welcome to The Real News Network and Reality Asserts Itself. I'm Paul Jay.
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<p />With SYRIZA's breakthrough win in Greece and rising in the polls of Podemos in Spain, there's perhaps renewed interest in the Green Party in the United States.
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<p />Well, now joining us in the studio is the last presidential candidate of the Green Party, Jill Stein.
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<p />Thanks for joining us.
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<p />DR. JILL STEIN, 2016 GREEN PARTY PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Great to be with you, Paul.
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<p />So, in Reality Asserts Itself we usually start with a personal back story, and we're going to do that now.
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<p />So you grew up in Chicago.
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<p />STEIN: That's right. I grew up in the suburbs north of Chicago.
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<p />JAY: And I know you become a medical doctor. So you start off early with a science bent?
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<p />STEIN: Yes, definitely. I love to go collecting butterflies with my father in suburban Highland Park. Growing up as a kid, I had a family that was very securely middle-class in the 1950s, growing up with all the privileges of being white.
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<p />JAY: Now, middle class can mean two different things in the United States. So is that working class? Or is that middle class that they were professionals?
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<p />STEIN: My father was a professional, and my mother was able to stay home and raise the kids.
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<p />JAY: And what did he do?
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<p />STEIN: He was an attorney.
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<p />JAY: What kind of attorney?
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<p />STEIN: Small business attorney, which--.
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<p />JAY: Corporate law, that kind of stuff.
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<p />STEIN: Yes. Exactly. That's right.
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<p />JAY: Okay.
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<p />STEIN: And I grew up in a household that was largely apolitical but very sympathetic and interested in the civil rights movement. I became very involved in the antiwar movement in high school and sort of had that combat in my household. They weren't quite ready to go there.
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<p />JAY: Were they Democrats? I mean, they voted Democratic Party?
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<p />STEIN: Yes. They weren't sort of ideologically anything, but they tended to vote Democrats.
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<p />JAY: So they supported the Vietnam War, which was to a large extent a war of the Democratic Party?
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<p />STEIN: Yes. And they were clueless about the Vietnam War. And they considered themselves reliable, faithful, patriotic Americans. So of course they supported the war. You know, they were not into questioning things. But they really felt the excitement and the justice at a gut level of the civil rights movement. So that's where they began to sort of break with the system a little bit.
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<p />JAY: So you grew up where the sort of official narrative is your parents' narrative, more or less. When do you start questioning that?
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<p />STEIN: I took a summer trip on the so-called Experiment in International Living, which threw together a number of young people that included a socialist from New York. It included a young African American from Watts in Los Angeles as L.A. was going up on fire.
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<p />JAY: So this is the late '60s.
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<p />STEIN: This was late '60s. And we went to Sweden, you know, a allegedly socialist-leaning country at the time, and it really raised the curtain for me. And I came back sort of a very different person. My mother wanted to know, you know, where was her nice Jewish daughter that went to Sweden and never came back.
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<p />JAY: That's funny.
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<p />So, before you go to Sweden, if you were to imagine what you would grow up to be, what was in your mind? Before the trip.
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<p />STEIN: Truth to tell, it was probably being a housewife, maybe a housewife who would be involved in some kind of science. But it wasn't formulated and it didn't sit well with me.
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<p />JAY: What year do you go to Sweden?
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<p />STEIN: Sixty-seven, summer of '67.
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<p />JAY: You're in high school.
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<p />STEIN: Yeah.
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<p />JAY: So what blew your mind?
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<p />STEIN: The people that I was with, in particular the African American from L.A. who grew up in poverty and was struggling against it and very much had the spirit of the civil rights movement, a young socialist from New York who completely sort of tore apart my framing of the world. But my framing of the world was quite ready to be torn apart, growing up in comfortable suburban Chicago as much of the world was going up in flames. You know, it just--it wasn't making sense.
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<p />JAY: Now, how aware were you of the world going up in flames?
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<p />STEIN: You know, fairly. You know, the riots at the Democratic Party convention. When was that? Sixty-eight. You know, the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy. It was hard not to see that the world was really going up in flames and it wasn't working. The women's movement was beginning to take off at that time, and the antiwar movement. And those all really resonated with me in a deep way. And I felt like that was my home, that was my real home. My real home was not in comfortable suburbia.
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<p />JAY: So you come back from Sweden. You get involved in an antiwar movement. And that pits you somewhat at odds with your parents. Why? What happened? How serious did that get?
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<p />STEIN: You know, I think there was a major culture clash going on there. It was culture as well as politics, and sort of the hippie movement was happening. And there was just a total sort of rethinking in the women's movement, a total rethinking of roles and goals and sort of an existential rethinking of where we were. So I was ready to totally toss out the assumptions I had grown up with. And I went to college, basically, looking to completely reboot my operating system.
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<p />JAY: So talk about your relationship with your parents, though. What happened? Like, does it get bitter, these political fights?
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<p />STEIN: You know, it was clear to me that they weren't moving. And I also wasn't ready to take up combat. My father was a lawyer, and things needed to be very fact-based, and I felt like I didn't have a handle on that yet. I was busy being a good student. Politics wasn't really a part of it. And I did not--I didn't really take up the charge for a long time, although I was going to demonstrations and vigils and things like that. But I quickly kind of gave up on trying to argue it in my family. I had others in the family who were sort of taking the lead on that. And my role in the family was always more of being a peacekeeper and trying to get people to be civil with each other.
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<p />JAY: These are brothers and sisters?
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<p />STEIN: Yes, I have a brother and two older sisters. One of them was political before I was. And that's kind of where the combat took place. And it was a very--what shall we say?--kind of emotional family, where there were lots of crosscurrents going on all the time.
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<p />JAY: And how much were your parents children of the Cold War? Much of their political formation takes place during the Cold War--very anti-communist, anti-socialist. I'm not saying your parents were; I'm saying that's the culture and the outlook at the time. How much were they influenced by that? And then how about you?
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<p />STEIN: Yeah. No, they were not--you know, they were sufficiently apolitical that they really didn't tune in to sort of international anti-communist issues and so on. Not really--.
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<p />JAY: But was socialism good, bad, or not a word that was used?
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<p />STEIN: Not a word that was used. But it's interesting, because the parents of my parents seem to have been more political than my parents were, and those were on opposite sides. My father's family that I really didn't grow up with 'cause they had moved on to California for other reasons, but my understanding, somewhat after the fact, was that they were more involved in the labor movement. And my mother's family was more involved in sort of personal security.
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<p />JAY: So you start getting involved in the antiwar movement. Where do you go to college?
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<p />STEIN: I went to Harvard.
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<p />JAY: Right. That's the first step was Harvard.
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<p />STEIN: Yes.
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<p />JAY: Okay. So you jump right to elite northeast school. But it's also a fairly political time there as well.
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<p />STEIN: It was. Yes. It was a great time to be at Harvard. There was a very vibrant antiwar, human rights movement going on at the time.
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<p />JAY: And why'd you want to go to Harvard? I mean, Harvard is where--there's a book about--Harvard Rules. People go to Harvard to learn how to rule.
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<p />STEIN: Yes.
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<p />JAY: And it's a fairly conscious choice to want to go to such an elite school.
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<p />STEIN: It totally is. And it's really--it's a reflection of where I was that I didn't make the choice. It was totally my mother's decision about where I was going to go to college. And I was perfectly happy with that, because I was for the most part a very compliant and accommodating daughter. And so I went to the school that my parents decided where I should go.
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<p />JAY: So when does this compliance start unraveling?
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<p />STEIN: You know, slowly and progressively. I mean, in many ways I continued to follow the trajectory. I went on to medical school from undergraduate life. And I got married and I had two kids and I was working in the clinic. And just--.
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<p />JAY: And where are you working, mostly?
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<p />STEIN: Initially I was at Harvard Community Health Plan, and then I was at a college clinic caring for students at many colleges in the Fenway in Boston.
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<p />JAY: So that's--being a doctor's a meaningful thing, especially if you're doing community medical work. Where does this come that this isn't enough, it's not meaningful enough politically for you?
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<p />STEIN: Yeah. You know, when I'd gone to medical school, the thinking in my mind was that I would be a part of the community health center movement. And I was very inspired by that, how the work in the Mississippi bayou, basically, where these health centers became centers of community empowerment and education and political struggle, really. And that had been my intention, to sort of develop community health centers.And I got to Harvard Medical School, and there just wasn't a place for it. And when I came out, I was a regular internist working at Harvard Community Health Plan, which became less and less about community and more and more an insurance company in the business of providing HMO-type care.
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<p />And it was just you couldn't shut your eyes to it. And I kept around the margins of the system, trying--you know, working in free clinics. I went to Guatemala and worked in the rural areas delivering care as part of my medical school training. I was always working around the margins of the system, trying to find where it could change.
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<p />And when I was working as a medical doctor and I began seeing these epidemics in the clinic, but also in the community--I'm an internist, and I was taking care of young people, young adults in college. But as a member of a community with my kids in school, I was really seeing this epidemic of asthma and cancer and learning disabilities and autism and diabetes and obesity, all these things that we didn't used to have. They just didn't exist before. And the statistics document them as well. But we didn't grow up with them. And there they were, and everybody was struggling with them. And I said to myself, this is just--our genes didn't change overnight. It takes thousands and thousands of years to change our genes. Things are going on that are driving these diseases, and this is wrong.
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<p />And at that point I became an activist working with Physicians for Social Responsibility and other groups looking at sort of the drivers of these epidemics--everything from poverty to air pollution to your neighborhood toxic waste site, mercury in fish, the food supply, etc. You name it. There are so many drivers. These are not natural-borne diseases, 'cause they're inflicted.
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<p />JAY: So what did you conclude in terms of--.
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<p />STEIN: Well, this is fixable. Not only is it fixable as a health issue, but it's fixable in a way that provides employment, gets our communities out of poverty. There are win-win solutions here.
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<p />And I thought--and, in fact, the issue that really motivated me as a mother of young kids was breast milk contamination, which was, like, this horrifying wake-up call to me as a nursing mother to learn that there were things in breast milk that would get it off the shelf if it was cow's milk. And then I learned, furthermore, it's not breast milk, actually; it's the environment of the womb, it's the prenatal environment, where the really harmful exposures are taking place. Breastmilk on balance is extremely helpful, and I feel it's important to say that every time I raise issues about breastmilk. It's important to stress that it is the best thing out there, way better than your second-best options. But the fetal environment is the real concern.
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<p />And so I thought, well, surely when our elected officials hear that the mother's milk and the womb are paying the price here for these really awful policies that are trashing people and our economy and the planet, surely they will want to do the right thing. And then I got on the treadmill of being an advocate for about ten years, and I learned the hard way, as most advocates do, about how far that gets you. And I was actually ready to throw in the towel.
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<p />In Massachusetts, we had a major coalition that worked on campaign finance reform, and we passed it by a two-to-one margin in a voter referendum. We got big money out of politics and created a voter-funded public funding, which was then repealed within a year by the Democratic legislature that repealed it on a voice vote. And to me that said, okay, this cannot be done through the system. The system will not tolerate reform from within.
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<p />And it was right about at that time that I was asked to run for political office by the Green Party. I had not been a member of a party, did not believe politics. I voted, but I didn't consider myself a member of any party. I just didn't buy it.
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<p />JAY: And at this point you're a full-time doctor.
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<p />STEIN: At this point I'm actually a half-time doctor, because I had cut back in order to have more engagement with my kids, married to a doctor who was doing a residency and never around. Either the kids were going to have half a parent or no parent. So I was very lucky to be in a position where I could cut back to half-time. So I was half-time anyhow as a very hands-on parent and working half-time in medicine. And I began to realize that instead of practicing clinical medicine, I needed to practice political medicine, because politics is really the mother of all illnesses. If we want to fix the things that are literally killing us, we've got to fix this very sick political system, which is inflicting all this stuff on us, which can be fixed.
<p />
<p />JAY: So you started to run.
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<p />STEIN: I ran in the election of 2002. I ran for governor, figuring, well, at least I could address the issues that I was grappling with as an advocate for jobs, for ending poverty as a driver of disease, for cleaning up the air that pollutes poor communities above all. At least I could talk to a broader group. That's how the campaign was pitched to me by the Green Party. And I said, well, that makes sense. So I entered that race because everything else had failed. I figured, well, why not try politics? Nothing else is working.
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<p />JAY: So did that work?
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<p />STEIN: I entered in desperation and I came out with inspiration. And if I can tell you in a second where the lights came on for me in a big way and I suddenly understood in the blink of an eye what was going on, we had fought to get into the debates. We were eliminated, of course. But we made enough noise about it that I actually got into a televised debate. So we were inside the debate. Mitt Romney was in this as well, and the state treasurer, Shannon O'Brien, who was the Democratic Party candidate, and a couple of others as well. And in that debate, which was inside of a TV studio--so there was no audience; it was just the other candidates, the moderator, and the camera people. And I spoke up for the usual things that the Green Party and progressives stand for--health care as a human right, education as a human right, cutting back on our bit military budget, living wages, racial justice, environmental justice, converting to a green economy. The usual things. And I was regarded as a complete lunatic fringe. No one even bothered to rebut those ideas. They were not considered even worthy of discussion.
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<p />And when we walked out of the debate, out of the TV studio, for the first and last time I was mobbed by the press, who told me that I had won the debate on the instant online viewer poll. So, suddenly I realized what was going on, that the political game is a complete scam in which the media collaborate, the political parties collaborate, the nonprofits who are taking money from the political entities collaborate. And we all pretend that nobody's interested in the politics of resistance and transformation. We all pretend. We all pretend it's somewhere out in the fridge. And suddenly I understood that and I realized the power of Alice Walker's words, that the biggest way we give up power is by not realizing we have it to start with. And from that moment on, I felt like, oh my God, you know, we have actually won this race already in the most difficult place--that is, in the court of public opinion.
<p />
<p />The challenge, however, is to get out there when there is a media blackout and when there's institutional blackouts of all sorts. The challenge is how, without being on the payroll of corporate America and Wall Street, as the Democratic and Republican parties and candidates are, without being bought off, how do we then engineer the communications that we need in order to lift each other up?
<p />
<p />So, at that point, my objectives changed from persuading the public--I realized we don't have to persuade the public, the public's already there--to how do we help organize and lift us up, lift each other up, so that we can actually assert the democratic power that we actually have.
<p />
<p />JAY: Okay. In the next segment of our interview, we'll talk about just is the public really there and what you're hoping from the 2016 campaign.
<p />
<p />Please join us for the continuation of our Reality Asserts Itself with Jill Stein on The Real News Network.
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<p />End
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<p />DISCLAIMER: Please note that transcripts for The Real News Network are typed from a recording of the program. TRNN cannot guarantee their complete accuracy. | true | 4 | jill stein green partys presidential candidate 2016 2012 organizer physician environmental health advocate 2016 election national presidential candidate call emergency jobs program solve jointly climate economic crises demilitarization foreign policy based human rights international law diplomacy also candidate arrested supporting dakota sioux nation resisting dapl pipeline launched recount campaign following 2016 election investigate potential interference presidential election helped fight clean air water health care education human rights especially front line communities 2006 transitioned clinical medicine political medicine help heal mother illnesses sick political system begin fix things literally killing us part recent solidarity peace delegation south korea support struggle korean people peace sovereignty demilitarization korean peninsula jill currently working support local green candidates fighting radical progressive sustainable solutions critical future paul jay senior editor trnn welcome real news network reality asserts im paul jay syrizas breakthrough win greece rising polls podemos spain theres perhaps renewed interest green party united states well joining us studio last presidential candidate green party jill stein thanks joining us dr jill stein 2016 green party presidential candidate great paul reality asserts usually start personal back story going grew chicago stein thats right grew suburbs north chicago jay know become medical doctor start early science bent stein yes definitely love go collecting butterflies father suburban highland park growing kid family securely middleclass 1950s growing privileges white jay middle class mean two different things united states working class middle class professionals stein father professional mother able stay home raise kids jay stein attorney jay kind attorney stein small business attorney jay corporate law kind stuff stein yes exactly thats right jay okay stein grew household largely apolitical sympathetic interested civil rights movement became involved antiwar movement high school sort combat household werent quite ready go jay democrats mean voted democratic party stein yes werent sort ideologically anything tended vote democrats jay supported vietnam war large extent war democratic party stein yes clueless vietnam war considered reliable faithful patriotic americans course supported war know questioning things really felt excitement justice gut level civil rights movement thats began sort break system little bit jay grew sort official narrative parents narrative less start questioning stein took summer trip socalled experiment international living threw together number young people included socialist new york included young african american watts los angeles la going fire jay late 60s stein late 60s went sweden know allegedly socialistleaning country time really raised curtain came back sort different person mother wanted know know nice jewish daughter went sweden never came back jay thats funny go sweden imagine would grow mind trip stein truth tell probably housewife maybe housewife would involved kind science wasnt formulated didnt sit well jay year go sweden stein sixtyseven summer 67 jay youre high school stein yeah jay blew mind stein people particular african american la grew poverty struggling much spirit civil rights movement young socialist new york completely sort tore apart framing world framing world quite ready torn apart growing comfortable suburban chicago much world going flames know justit wasnt making sense jay aware world going flames stein know fairly know riots democratic party convention sixtyeight know assassinations martin luther king robert kennedy hard see world really going flames wasnt working womens movement beginning take time antiwar movement really resonated deep way felt like home real home real home comfortable suburbia jay come back sweden get involved antiwar movement pits somewhat odds parents happened serious get stein know think major culture clash going culture well politics sort hippie movement happening total sort rethinking womens movement total rethinking roles goals sort existential rethinking ready totally toss assumptions grown went college basically looking completely reboot operating system jay talk relationship parents though happened like get bitter political fights stein know clear werent moving also wasnt ready take combat father lawyer things needed factbased felt like didnt handle yet busy good student politics wasnt really part noti didnt really take charge long time although going demonstrations vigils things like quickly kind gave trying argue family others family sort taking lead role family always peacekeeper trying get people civil jay brothers sisters stein yes brother two older sisters one political thats kind combat took place verywhat shall saykind emotional family lots crosscurrents going time jay much parents children cold war much political formation takes place cold warvery anticommunist antisocialist im saying parents im saying thats culture outlook time much influenced stein yeah notyou know sufficiently apolitical really didnt tune sort international anticommunist issues really jay socialism good bad word used stein word used interesting parents parents seem political parents opposite sides fathers family really didnt grow cause moved california reasons understanding somewhat fact involved labor movement mothers family involved sort personal security jay start getting involved antiwar movement go college stein went harvard jay right thats first step harvard stein yes jay okay jump right elite northeast school also fairly political time well stein yes great time harvard vibrant antiwar human rights movement going time jay whyd want go harvard mean harvard wheretheres book aboutharvard rules people go harvard learn rule stein yes jay fairly conscious choice want go elite school stein totally reallyits reflection didnt make choice totally mothers decision going go college perfectly happy part compliant accommodating daughter went school parents decided go jay compliance start unraveling stein know slowly progressively mean many ways continued follow trajectory went medical school undergraduate life got married two kids working clinic jay working mostly stein initially harvard community health plan college clinic caring students many colleges fenway boston jay thatsbeing doctors meaningful thing especially youre community medical work come isnt enough meaningful enough politically stein yeah know id gone medical school thinking mind would part community health center movement inspired work mississippi bayou basically health centers became centers community empowerment education political struggle really intention sort develop community health centersand got harvard medical school wasnt place came regular internist working harvard community health plan became less less community insurance company business providing hmotype care couldnt shut eyes kept around margins system tryingyou know working free clinics went guatemala worked rural areas delivering care part medical school training always working around margins system trying find could change working medical doctor began seeing epidemics clinic also communityim internist taking care young people young adults college member community kids school really seeing epidemic asthma cancer learning disabilities autism diabetes obesity things didnt used didnt exist statistics document well didnt grow everybody struggling said justour genes didnt change overnight takes thousands thousands years change genes things going driving diseases wrong point became activist working physicians social responsibility groups looking sort drivers epidemicseverything poverty air pollution neighborhood toxic waste site mercury fish food supply etc name many drivers naturalborne diseases cause theyre inflicted jay conclude terms stein well fixable fixable health issue fixable way provides employment gets communities poverty winwin solutions thoughtand fact issue really motivated mother young kids breast milk contamination like horrifying wakeup call nursing mother learn things breast milk would get shelf cows milk learned furthermore breast milk actually environment womb prenatal environment really harmful exposures taking place breastmilk balance extremely helpful feel important say every time raise issues breastmilk important stress best thing way better secondbest options fetal environment real concern thought well surely elected officials hear mothers milk womb paying price really awful policies trashing people economy planet surely want right thing got treadmill advocate ten years learned hard way advocates far gets actually ready throw towel massachusetts major coalition worked campaign finance reform passed twotoone margin voter referendum got big money politics created voterfunded public funding repealed within year democratic legislature repealed voice vote said okay done system system tolerate reform within right time asked run political office green party member party believe politics voted didnt consider member party didnt buy jay point youre fulltime doctor stein point im actually halftime doctor cut back order engagement kids married doctor residency never around either kids going half parent parent lucky position could cut back halftime halftime anyhow handson parent working halftime medicine began realize instead practicing clinical medicine needed practice political medicine politics really mother illnesses want fix things literally killing us weve got fix sick political system inflicting stuff us fixed jay started run stein ran election 2002 ran governor figuring well least could address issues grappling advocate jobs ending poverty driver disease cleaning air pollutes poor communities least could talk broader group thats campaign pitched green party said well makes sense entered race everything else failed figured well try politics nothing else working jay work stein entered desperation came inspiration tell second lights came big way suddenly understood blink eye going fought get debates eliminated course made enough noise actually got televised debate inside debate mitt romney well state treasurer shannon obrien democratic party candidate couple others well debate inside tv studioso audience candidates moderator camera people spoke usual things green party progressives stand forhealth care human right education human right cutting back bit military budget living wages racial justice environmental justice converting green economy usual things regarded complete lunatic fringe one even bothered rebut ideas considered even worthy discussion walked debate tv studio first last time mobbed press told debate instant online viewer poll suddenly realized going political game complete scam media collaborate political parties collaborate nonprofits taking money political entities collaborate pretend nobodys interested politics resistance transformation pretend pretend somewhere fridge suddenly understood realized power alice walkers words biggest way give power realizing start moment felt like oh god know actually race already difficult placethat court public opinion challenge however get media blackout theres institutional blackouts sorts challenge without payroll corporate america wall street democratic republican parties candidates without bought engineer communications need order lift point objectives changed persuading publici realized dont persuade public publics already thereto help organize lift us lift actually assert democratic power actually jay okay next segment interview well talk public really youre hoping 2016 campaign please join us continuation reality asserts jill stein real news network end disclaimer please note transcripts real news network typed recording program trnn guarantee complete accuracy | 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<p>I’m a professor of communication, but I want to admit something: I hate talking or writing about the media. Also, I agree with what Jell-O Biafra said here on-campus at the Universoty of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign a few weeks ago: that instead of deploring the sad state of the print and broadcast media, we should BE the media. But I’m breaking my usual rule. Today, I’ll talk about the media. I want to take a recent article from the New York Times and try to look at how the conventional wisdom about the current antiwar movement is wrong — about 97 percent wrong. The New York Times and its conventional wisdom exemplify the attempt to redefine and contain the antiwar movement in United States. I want to finish with some reasons why I think it is very important to resist that containment.</p>
<p>These have been very sad and somber weeks. Those of us in the antiwar movement knew that the war would probably happen, and in the past days our dire predictions about humanitarian catastrophes and civilian casualties are being confirmed. We also have had our fears about an intensified public climate of reaction and repression here at home reconfirmed. We worked very hard, and many, many people worked their fingers to the bone, so that this might not come to pass. It has come to pass, and it is bitter. We also know with bitterness that the moment is revolutionary — probably as big a change in our world as the explosion of the atom bomb in 1945. And it is increasingly feeling out of control. We feel, whether we are activists or not, that our children’s future will be — I was going to say unrecognizable — but perhaps I mean recognizable to us in some very unpleasant ways, familiar from the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s as well as unfolding new horrors. So it is hard to be optimistic, but I want to offer grounds for optimism and bravery and moving forward.</p>
<p>One thing is clear in all the swirl of war news around us: A very small group of unelected man and women are making new rules for the world. These rules state that the United States will use force and coercion and bribery to get its way. It will make every effort to suspend our legal and constitutional rights here at home, beginning with attacks on the most vulnerable, to help make sure that it encounters only minimal resistance to what can only be seen as a gigantically risky global gamble. It’s a very frightening moment, because the Bush administration is willing to risk millions of human lives, the world economy, the health of the environment and peaceful future on some very shaky propositions. Obviously, they think if they win this roll of the dice there’s a great deal to be gained in terms of global dominance. I’ve been thinking for while that their strategic plan can be summed up as “this just might work, so let’s roll ’em!”</p>
<p>It’s in this context that we need to remember that the antiwar movement has done something, and become something, remarkable. It has held that the tumbling dice. It’s an international movement that has made it impossible for many otherwise supportive governments to join the coalition of the “bribed and the bullied.” It brought much of the world to a halt on the day the bombing began, in huge demonstrations, strikes, school walkouts and civil disobedience. It’s also time to recognize that the Bush administration has a great deal at stake in containing and isolating the domestic influence the antiwar movement.</p>
<p>So let’s take a look at the New York Times article. There it was, on Saturday March 29, below the fold on the first page of section B., it was titled “Antiwar Movement morphs from Wild -Eyed To Civil” by Kate Zernike and Dean E. Murphy. This is not the worst article, not the best article but it was a major piece of reporting, and one of the few, by mainstream media that in general has frozen the antiwar movement out of serious coverage until recently. Here are five major points.</p>
<p>A first piece of conventional wisdom: the antiwar movement failed, because it failed to stop the war.</p>
<p>Second point: the antiwar movement is relatively recent, mobilized, at its earliest, after Sept. 11, 2001. Therefore, it is wider than it is deep.</p>
<p>A third pillar of wisdom: anti-war movements are protest movements — and limited to protest only. In the politest formulations. Protest is an entitlement in a democracy, as long as it doesn’t threaten to change anything.</p>
<p>Fourth wisdom, encapsulated in the headline: the antiwar movement was wild-eyed, has been mainstreamed. — a threat to good manners has been contained, because a sensible antiwar movement will try not to offend anyone. In order to appeal to the majority, you must not offend anyone.</p>
<p>Fifth wisdom: the antiwar movement is now being run from the top, down (big sigh of relief), once again by responsible people. It’s made up of mostly white peaceniks, guided by large organizations with public relations consultants, and it only connects tangentially with other so-called “interest groups” like the religious, organized labor, and civil rights groups.</p>
<p>Now, I think it’s a great error to consider the movement thus far a failure. We have done something remarkable. We have built an international movement that has made it much harder than it might have been for the Bush administration to act militarily. We built a prewar, anti-war movement before the local and national media took very much notice at all. And this was in spite of insistent mass media celebration — on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, to name only television — that for fully six months made war seem inevitable. It is true that the attack on Iraq had been planned long before Sept. 11, 2001, but it was never inevitable. Popular pressure from below delayed and delayed the attack, forced more and more spin-doctoring and manufactured evidence, and brow -beating and arm-twisting. As a result, the shifting and specious arguments for the war became more and more implausible, and the war’s real, if mixed rationale became more naked. The international antiwar resistance and mobilizations gave voice to skepticism and sentiment that already existed, and it fanned those sentiments. It may very well have held back, and may still hold back, a further push into Iran.</p>
<p>The lack of cooperation from Turkey is an example. So are the resignations of labor MPs and cabinet ministers in Great Britain. The premier of Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world, told George W. Bush that this adventure was a very, very bad idea, and George W. Bush had to listen. There are many more examples, all of them unprecedented, and largely unrecognized by the official voices that we have almost always to listen to.</p>
<p>Second: that the antiwar movement emerged in the last year, or at most two. It is true that following September 11, 2001, peace activists and citizens began to meet to discuss what might happen, and then to think through what it war in Afghanistan might mean in terms of future U.S. policies, and the prospects for peace. Teach-ins, panels at universities, began immediately following September 11, and vigils as well. These were reinvigorated in the last year.</p>
<p>But there’s been a long continuity of activism to draw on in the last decade, again largely under the radar of the mainstream media. The networks of independent media and Internet activism that the antiwar movement draws on grew out of the anti-globalization movements that became visible in Seattle. But they also drew on the knowledge and activism of the Anti-Nafta campaigns of the early 1990s, the movement for redress for the veterans of the first Gulf War, the American victims of which may number as many as 100,000 sick men, the anti sweatshop movement, the living wage movement. These movements — and future historians will have to argue about the size and connections ­ have educated a generation of young people about the United States’ political and economic relationship to the world.. The last time this happened was with the Central American solidarity movement in the 1980s. And then there are the efforts of pacifists like Voices in the Wilderness — which have been part of a movement protesting the sanctions on Iraq for years. It’s notable in the New York Times recent coverage of piece demonstrations that the name of Voices in the Wilderness cannot be mentioned. It’s because they’re pacifist radicalism is deep and continuous. A base was there to draw on, and it usually spoke from deeply moral positions, rather than strategic or tactical positions..</p>
<p>Third -point — and really my most important point. Conventional wisdom would like the antiwar movement to be just protest, just disagreement, safely cordoned off. It’s not just protest as important as visible dissent is. One of the big successes of the antiwar movement is that it has been able to influence the media — in the face of unrelenting propaganda blitzes from the official sources, in the face of an enormous effort to make the war seem inevitable.</p>
<p>How has it done this? Certainly the Internet has been important — but without all the networks laid down, there would be nothing so powerfully informational to put on the Internet except for the same old stories. The Internet has absolutely been key, but so have the hundreds, maybe thousands of small groups meeting around the country to talk about the war and its meaning for the future of United States. Talking about it, sharing information about it, digesting the news, and especially digesting the news from foreign press which gives a much different perspective than the U.S. press. In that way antiwar groups have been the media.</p>
<p>But also by writing position papers, flyering, cracking open the editorial pages of the local conglomerate chain media — forcing the local paper to cover them at the same time that they are working hard to produce real local media — organizing and faithfully attending demonstrations — these local activists have made the antiwar position news.</p>
<p>They also worked hard to make the connections clear between the war and terrorism at home, with its repressive apparatus embodied in the USA Patriot act, and the assault on Iraq. Taking up the space both physical, with demonstrations, and informational with letter writing and editorial writing, the antiwar movement has become a movement for re-democratization of American society.</p>
<p>The fact that all over the country and here in Urbana we’ve been responded to by a corporate sponsored pro war campaign, orchestrated by radio station chains like clear channel and sponsored by Coca-Cola, , means that we really forced ourselves into the picture. This is serious business.</p>
<p>More wisdom from the New York Times: the movement has become mainstream. It has broken with International Answer and its sectarian original organizers (who were not the movement’s original organizers, let’s make the distinction, but were organizers of mass demonstrations). The problem according to the Times — and certainly the leaders of Win Without War — was that the antiwar movement connected the impending attack on Iraq with supposedly unrelated domestic issues like the death penalty, the case of Mumia Abu Jamal and racism, and other international crises, such as the war underway in Palestine. In other words, the smaller, more radical and less generously funded antiwar groups insisted on connecting state violence, government authoritarianism, and the Israeli war on the Palestinians, racism at home and abroad, with the assault on Iraq.</p>
<p>But more importantly, the rest of the world sees these issues as connected — they see the war on Iraq as a racist war, they continuously point out its connections to the United States support for Israel, they see the connection between barbaric practices at home, such as the death penalty, and barbaric histories abroad.</p>
<p>This is what the pro-war party means when it since the peace movement is “anti-American”: it means it is willing to consider the war in light of the broader picture of American relations abroad, many of which have been moral outrages. It is infuriating to many in the so-called mainstream that the heart of the antiwar movement of recognizes Arab rage over the nuclear arming of Israel and U.S. support for its policies toward Palestine. I think it is infuriating to the so-called political mainstream that American pacifists acknowledge and want to speak about about the Israeli peace movement, and fears among the Israeli people aroused by this war. In the past, these were words that could not be spoken, and thoughts that could not be thought. But should not the antiwar movement in United States continue to make these connections? Undoubtedly given its origins and the work it has already done, it will make them, and perhaps pay the cost of being “mainstream.”</p>
<p>Or perhaps the mainstream has moved just a little bit, just a little bit — and perhaps the antiwar movement has moved it. It is just possible that mobilization against this particular, latest war is causing cracks in the American consciousness of foreign policy. It’s very hard work, but some of the antiwar activists I know have simply refused to be intimidated by charges of anti-Semitism. That simple refusal, so hard, so painful, is so important. And so offensive.</p>
<p>Fifth point — that — big sigh of relief — it’s being run from the top-down by responsible people. They are using corporate style public relations techniques to keep everybody on message. The New York Times writes: “protest has become routine. It is no longer seen as an assault on the country’s values.” Groups like the Sierra Club now find they can take an antiwar position. Well, that’s a relief. Just a few months ago the Sierra Club was trying to expel local chapters for taking public antiwar positions. But this can happen because of the formulation linking antiwar sentiment to patriotism. Responsible people support the troops — they may be antiwar but they support the troops. Peace is patriotic. Carl Pope is patriotic</p>
<p>While the patriotism of pacifists has always been an argument, it really got wheeled out in the big demonstrations after Christmas, and as groups like Win without War, and Moveon.org, which the New York Times especially approves of, stepped to the forefront to help organize the enormous national demonstrations of January and February and March. These were very useful and very threatening demonstrations. But in Win without War’s formulations, and I think arguably MoveOn.org’s approach, the United States policy towards Iraq before the war was fundamentally acceptable. That’s a problem. Groups like Voices in the Wilderness have worked for years to undermine the acceptability of so-called containment, which Jeff Gunsel of Voices points out, is really just another word for sanctions — but sanctions were becoming politically unacceptable. If you look today at Moveon.org’s call for letters to the editor about the management of postwar Iraq there isn’t a single critical connection made — the argument is simply back to the status quo of European nations managing what will be Middle Eastern occupied territory.</p>
<p>Let me just wind up by saying that there should be some limits on how responsible we want to be. There should be some limits, given the scale of mass death, the violation of the Nuremberg and Geneva conventions by our own country, the scale of impoverishment of an already brutalized country — there should be some limits on how polite we want to be about this. If “peace is patriotic” and “support the troops” mean we will back off from these questions of illegality and atrocity —- illegality and atrocities that are transparent to hundreds of millions of people around the world, then I strongly argue that we continue to have bad manners.</p>
<p>For after all, if we support the troops, do we really want our young men and women to have to say they were “just following orders” as they move from one theater of war to what I am pretty certain will be the next?</p>
<p>SUSAN DAVIS teaches at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. She is the author of Spectacular Nature.</p>
<p>She can be reached at <a href="mailto:sgdavis@uiuc.edu" type="external">sgdavis@uiuc.edu</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | im professor communication want admit something hate talking writing media also agree jello biafra said oncampus universoty illinois urbanachampaign weeks ago instead deploring sad state print broadcast media media im breaking usual rule today ill talk media want take recent article new york times try look conventional wisdom current antiwar movement wrong 97 percent wrong new york times conventional wisdom exemplify attempt redefine contain antiwar movement united states want finish reasons think important resist containment sad somber weeks us antiwar movement knew war would probably happen past days dire predictions humanitarian catastrophes civilian casualties confirmed also fears intensified public climate reaction repression home reconfirmed worked hard many many people worked fingers bone might come pass come pass bitter also know bitterness moment revolutionary probably big change world explosion atom bomb 1945 increasingly feeling control feel whether activists childrens future going say unrecognizable perhaps mean recognizable us unpleasant ways familiar 1920s 1930s 1940s well unfolding new horrors hard optimistic want offer grounds optimism bravery moving forward one thing clear swirl war news around us small group unelected man women making new rules world rules state united states use force coercion bribery get way make every effort suspend legal constitutional rights home beginning attacks vulnerable help make sure encounters minimal resistance seen gigantically risky global gamble frightening moment bush administration willing risk millions human lives world economy health environment peaceful future shaky propositions obviously think win roll dice theres great deal gained terms global dominance ive thinking strategic plan summed might work lets roll em context need remember antiwar movement done something become something remarkable held tumbling dice international movement made impossible many otherwise supportive governments join coalition bribed bullied brought much world halt day bombing began huge demonstrations strikes school walkouts civil disobedience also time recognize bush administration great deal stake containing isolating domestic influence antiwar movement lets take look new york times article saturday march 29 fold first page section b titled antiwar movement morphs wild eyed civil kate zernike dean e murphy worst article best article major piece reporting one mainstream media general frozen antiwar movement serious coverage recently five major points first piece conventional wisdom antiwar movement failed failed stop war second point antiwar movement relatively recent mobilized earliest sept 11 2001 therefore wider deep third pillar wisdom antiwar movements protest movements limited protest politest formulations protest entitlement democracy long doesnt threaten change anything fourth wisdom encapsulated headline antiwar movement wildeyed mainstreamed threat good manners contained sensible antiwar movement try offend anyone order appeal majority must offend anyone fifth wisdom antiwar movement run top big sigh relief responsible people made mostly white peaceniks guided large organizations public relations consultants connects tangentially socalled interest groups like religious organized labor civil rights groups think great error consider movement thus far failure done something remarkable built international movement made much harder might bush administration act militarily built prewar antiwar movement local national media took much notice spite insistent mass media celebration cnn msnbc fox news name television fully six months made war seem inevitable true attack iraq planned long sept 11 2001 never inevitable popular pressure delayed delayed attack forced spindoctoring manufactured evidence brow beating armtwisting result shifting specious arguments war became implausible wars real mixed rationale became naked international antiwar resistance mobilizations gave voice skepticism sentiment already existed fanned sentiments may well held back may still hold back push iran lack cooperation turkey example resignations labor mps cabinet ministers great britain premier indonesia largest muslim country world told george w bush adventure bad idea george w bush listen many examples unprecedented largely unrecognized official voices almost always listen second antiwar movement emerged last year two true following september 11 2001 peace activists citizens began meet discuss might happen think war afghanistan might mean terms future us policies prospects peace teachins panels universities began immediately following september 11 vigils well reinvigorated last year theres long continuity activism draw last decade largely radar mainstream media networks independent media internet activism antiwar movement draws grew antiglobalization movements became visible seattle also drew knowledge activism antinafta campaigns early 1990s movement redress veterans first gulf war american victims may number many 100000 sick men anti sweatshop movement living wage movement movements future historians argue size connections educated generation young people united states political economic relationship world last time happened central american solidarity movement 1980s efforts pacifists like voices wilderness part movement protesting sanctions iraq years notable new york times recent coverage piece demonstrations name voices wilderness mentioned theyre pacifist radicalism deep continuous base draw usually spoke deeply moral positions rather strategic tactical positions third point really important point conventional wisdom would like antiwar movement protest disagreement safely cordoned protest important visible dissent one big successes antiwar movement able influence media face unrelenting propaganda blitzes official sources face enormous effort make war seem inevitable done certainly internet important without networks laid would nothing powerfully informational put internet except old stories internet absolutely key hundreds maybe thousands small groups meeting around country talk war meaning future united states talking sharing information digesting news especially digesting news foreign press gives much different perspective us press way antiwar groups media also writing position papers flyering cracking open editorial pages local conglomerate chain media forcing local paper cover time working hard produce real local media organizing faithfully attending demonstrations local activists made antiwar position news also worked hard make connections clear war terrorism home repressive apparatus embodied usa patriot act assault iraq taking space physical demonstrations informational letter writing editorial writing antiwar movement become movement redemocratization american society fact country urbana weve responded corporate sponsored pro war campaign orchestrated radio station chains like clear channel sponsored cocacola means really forced picture serious business wisdom new york times movement become mainstream broken international answer sectarian original organizers movements original organizers lets make distinction organizers mass demonstrations problem according times certainly leaders win without war antiwar movement connected impending attack iraq supposedly unrelated domestic issues like death penalty case mumia abu jamal racism international crises war underway palestine words smaller radical less generously funded antiwar groups insisted connecting state violence government authoritarianism israeli war palestinians racism home abroad assault iraq importantly rest world sees issues connected see war iraq racist war continuously point connections united states support israel see connection barbaric practices home death penalty barbaric histories abroad prowar party means since peace movement antiamerican means willing consider war light broader picture american relations abroad many moral outrages infuriating many socalled mainstream heart antiwar movement recognizes arab rage nuclear arming israel us support policies toward palestine think infuriating socalled political mainstream american pacifists acknowledge want speak israeli peace movement fears among israeli people aroused war past words could spoken thoughts could thought antiwar movement united states continue make connections undoubtedly given origins work already done make perhaps pay cost mainstream perhaps mainstream moved little bit little bit perhaps antiwar movement moved possible mobilization particular latest war causing cracks american consciousness foreign policy hard work antiwar activists know simply refused intimidated charges antisemitism simple refusal hard painful important offensive fifth point big sigh relief run topdown responsible people using corporate style public relations techniques keep everybody message new york times writes protest become routine longer seen assault countrys values groups like sierra club find take antiwar position well thats relief months ago sierra club trying expel local chapters taking public antiwar positions happen formulation linking antiwar sentiment patriotism responsible people support troops may antiwar support troops peace patriotic carl pope patriotic patriotism pacifists always argument really got wheeled big demonstrations christmas groups like win without war moveonorg new york times especially approves stepped forefront help organize enormous national demonstrations january february march useful threatening demonstrations win without wars formulations think arguably moveonorgs approach united states policy towards iraq war fundamentally acceptable thats problem groups like voices wilderness worked years undermine acceptability socalled containment jeff gunsel voices points really another word sanctions sanctions becoming politically unacceptable look today moveonorgs call letters editor management postwar iraq isnt single critical connection made argument simply back status quo european nations managing middle eastern occupied territory let wind saying limits responsible want limits given scale mass death violation nuremberg geneva conventions country scale impoverishment already brutalized country limits polite want peace patriotic support troops mean back questions illegality atrocity illegality atrocities transparent hundreds millions people around world strongly argue continue bad manners support troops really want young men women say following orders move one theater war pretty certain next susan davis teaches university illinois urbana champaign author spectacular nature reached sgdavisuiucedu 160 | 1,414 |
<p>“We’ve been sold down the river”, said one of the draymen, “right down the fucking Wandle.” The closing of Young’s brewery in Wandsworth in 2006 was a milestone in the march of gentrification across post-Big Bang London. “A humiliating, downright cry-in-your-beer travesty”, in the words of one local, whose bulletin from the left bank of the Wandle ended with this indelible lament: “When a particularly juvenile men’s magazine article challenged British breweries to organize a piss up, some breweries laid on rock ‘n’ roll bands…another had fish and chips delivered by limousine. Young’s response was to lock us in their small, secret bar in an old stable at the back of the Ram Brewery and give us free Ram and Special until we had to stop. Their point being: this is Wandsworth, we don’t do bollocks, we do beer. Not any more.”</p>
<p>Well, just across the river, they still do any more. At the old Griffin brewery. A bit of a surprise, since Chiswick is sinking under the weight of Chelsea tractors, real estate agents and yellow dumpsters. The Griffin somehow survives on the original site at the west end of Chiswick Mall, near the Hogarth roundabout, where Fuller Ales have been brewed since 1845. I recently returned for a visit.</p>
<p>I first lived in London in the mid-late sixties, at the other end of Chiswick Mall. My lodgings were a garret at 16 Hammersmith Terrace. It was the home of the Zvegintzovs, Mischa and Diana. Mischa’s father had been an Octobrist and president of the fourth Duma; he was killed on the Galician front in 1915. The Zvegintzov family were enemies of the Tzarist state but as epitomes of Russian parliamentary liberalism they had to flee the Bolsheviks. They eventually reached London via Finland and Sweden. The young Mischa was turned into an English gent by way of Winchester College and Corpus Christi, Oxford. There were limits, mind you – his old school chums insisted on calling him “Zog”. He took a job as a research chemist at the Gas Light and Coke company. In 1940 he joined Political Intelligence and ended the war as Director-General of the German Chemical Industry in the British zone. Back in austerity Britain he became a pioneer of food processing for Unilever. When I knew him, he had retired but was energetically leading the agitation for a Thames barrage. Not from any premonition of Arctic meltdown, but because the Thames is tidal at Chiswick and floods daily over the Mall. Indeed when spring tides coincided with cyclonic low pressure and a strong nor’easter, the gardens and basements of Hammersmith Terrace were likely to be under water.</p>
<p>From the high windows of No. 16, one could look east to the ironwork of Joseph Bazaglette’s Hammersmith Bridge, a Victorian baroque structure which was seriously underbuilt and hence the target of three separate IRA bomb teams. First in 1939, when Maurice Childs, a local hairdresser walking home late at night across the bridge, noticed smoke and sparks coming from a suitcase. He opened it to find a bomb inside, which he chucked into the river. The explosion sent up a 60ft column of water.</p>
<p>Beyond the bridge, on the Barn Elms reach, one could just see the roof of Harrod’s massive furniture depository (long before Mohamed Al Fayed flogged it to the property development arm of Bahrain International Bank for stockbroker apartments) and I used to watch flocks of geese on their glide path towards the reservoirs along Castlenau. Through the window, when the wind was from the west, the astringent smell of hops and mashed barley drifted down from the Griffin brewery. Through the wall, no matter what the wind, came the sound of the New Zealand Ladies Massed Choir, accompanied by Mischa and Diana’s son, who had a voice like Chaucer’s pardoner. He passed his days listening to antipodean sacred music, captured in a collection of vintage 78s which he played on an ancient HMV gramophone. To this day, his thin piping descant mingles in my mind with the other music that filled my nights that year. Not that he had the remotest interest in the new sounds emerging from the Hammersmith Odeon, the World’s End, and the Troubador at Redcliffe Gardens, thanks to John Mayall, Alexis Korner, Stevie Winwood, John Renbourn and co. All virtually within earshot, owing to recent developments at the Marshall Amplifier Company.</p>
<p>When I reached the river, the tide was on the turn and Chiswick Mall glistened with a film of Thames sludge. The scene at Upper and Lower Mall was remarkably unchanged, though Hammersmith Terrace had sprouted a fresh crop of blue plaques. Under New Labor, the heritage industry has been hard at work commemorating this radical corner of the book world. Edward Johnson the master calligrapher lived for a while at No. 3, the typographer Emery Walker at No.7, May Morris next door at No. 8. Her father William lived a few yards away at 26 Upper Mall, Kelmscott House, from which he sallied forth to harangue the proletarians of the Hammersmith Socialist League. His neighbor and fellow socialist, T. J. Cobden-Sanderson, was a burned-out barrister whom Janey Morris thought capable of something therapeutic with his hands. And so the Doves Bindery and Press came about, first at 15 Upper Mall and later at 1 Hammersmith Terrace. One night in 1915, as blood flowed at the second Battle of Ypres, Cobden-Sanderson, by then a burned-out bookbinder, threw all the Doves type (from which the Kelmscott Chaucer and Bible were composed) off Hammersmith Bridge, to spite his old partner Emery Walker. The business closed down soon after. But not before he had trained an apprentice, the New Town utopian, Douglas “Care of Books” Cockerell, whose own son Sydney Cockerell in turn took on an apprentice, Gillian Cartwright-Allen, who became my life companion.</p>
<p>T.J. named the Doves Bindery after the neighboring pub at 19 Upper Mall. The Doves was a coffee house in the eighteenth century, but lately – since 1796 – has been serving Fuller’s beer. When I was a frequenter of the Dove (it turned singular sometime in the early 20th century) hot food was an unthinkable accompaniment to a pint of London Pride. You could get a bag of crisps (blue touchpaper twist of salt included) or if you were lucky a “Ploughman’s Lunch”. It sounded like a primordial birthright, but was actually a high marketing concept invented in 1960 by Richard Trehane, chairman of the English Country Cheese Council. It consisted of a lump of cheddar, a crust of bread and some Branston pickle. Today the Dove is a designated “gastro pub”, with a two-page menu and a wide selection of organic vegetables picked at dawn, prepared by virgins. Eat your heart out, Trehane.</p>
<p>I crossed over Hammersmith Bridge, and down the steps to the gravel riverside path – pot-holed and ragged and miraculously unimproved. A rus in urbe experience, vouchsafed no doubt only by savage cuts in public works maintenance. The water lapped close to the boathouses at Putney Hard, and over a pint of Dog’s Knob Bitter at the Duke’s Head I pondered the fragility of this riverscape and the coming deluge. The Thames barrage will soon enough seem like a pathetic finger in the dyke.</p>
<p>From outside the Duke’s Head I could see the tower of St Mary’s Church, at the foot of Putney High Street. St Mary’s was my destination, for an evening of 17th century secular music. Last year there was a poll of Guardian readers, who were asked to nominate the neglected event in Britain’s radical past that best deserves a proper monument. Unexpectedly they chose the “Putney debates” over other potential candidates, such as Bodmin parish church in Cornwall, scene of the 1549 Prayer Book rebellion; the 1819 Peterloo massacre site in Manchester; Queen’s Square, Bristol, site of the reform riots of 1831; Discovery House in east London, centre of the Poplar rate dispute of 1921; the Orgreave coking plant in Yorkshire, symbol of the 1984 miners’ strike.</p>
<p>The Putney debates took place in the late autumn of 1647 in St Mary’s Church, the home base of Oliver Cromwell’s chaplain Hugh Peters who preached fiery sermons there on the edge of the Thames. (He was also one of the founders of Harvard University, a role he has come to regret.) The debates culminated in the execution of Charles 1, the abolition of the monarchy and the House of Lords, and the institution of the 11-year English Republic. In the words of Geoffrey Robertson’s introduction to a new edition of The Putney Debates (Verso, 2007): “From its first ascendancy here at St Mary’s, there may be traced the acceptance – centuries later in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and now in two-thirds of the nations of the world – of the idea that government requires the consent of freely and fairly elected representatives of all adult citizens, irrespective of class or caste or status or wealth.”</p>
<p>On the eve of the 360th anniversary of the debates, Tristram Hunt, historian and New Labor apparatchik, reminded Guardian readers (G2, October 26, 2007) of the events they had voted to commemorate:</p>
<p>By summer 1647, the Roundheads were winning the English civil war. At Marston Moor and Naseby, Oliver Cromwell’s New Model Army had crushed the Cavaliers and King Charles I himself was now in custody. But among the victorious soldiers there was a gnawing fear that parliament and the army generals (or “grandees”) were preparing to sell them out. Some MPs, fearing the religious militancy of the army and keen for a settlement with the king, wanted to cut soldiers’ pay, disband regiments, refuse indemnity for war damage and pack them off to Ireland. Most loathsome of all, they also looked set to betray the religious and political ideals the New Model Army had spent the previous five years fighting for. “We were not a mere mercenary army hired to serve any arbitrary power of a state, but called forth … to the defence of the people’s just right and liberties,” the soldiers complained. The Levellers in the Cromwell’s regiments demanded religious toleration (“The ways of God’s worship are not at all entrusted by us to any human power”); a general amnesty and an end to conscription; a system of laws that must be “no respecter of persons but apply equally to everyone: there must be no discrimination on grounds of tenure, estate, charter, degree, birth or place”; regular, two-yearly parliaments and an equal distribution of MPs’ seats by number of inhabitants.</p>
<p>With Oliver Cromwell in the chair, the general council of the New Model Army came together at Putney church, in October 1647, to argue the case for a transparent, democratic state free from the taint of parliamentary or courtly corruption. It proved to be one of the greatest intellectual encounters in western political thought. What was first of all remarkable was the active involvement of rank and file soldiery. And it is thanks to the shorthand notes of the army secretary, William Clarke, that 360 years on we get to hear their political theory. “Never again, even up to today, have private soldiers been allowed to question their officers,” as one Guardian reader remarked during the competition.</p>
<p>On the second day of the debates, after a good five-hour prayer session, the soldiers focused on the question of the franchise. Who had the right to vote? For the Levellers, the answer was clear: all those who placed themselves under government should have the right to elect it. The vote was a natural right, irrespective of property or position. “I think that the poorest he that is in England hath a life to live, as the greatest he,” in the celebrated words of Colonel Rainsborough, “and therefore … every man that is to live under a government ought first, by his own consent, to put himself under that government; and I do think that the poorest man in England is not at all bound in a strict sense to that government that he hath not had a voice to put himself under.”</p>
<p>The wealthy, socially conservative grandees were horrified by this spectre of egalitarian democracy. To their minds, it presaged anarchy and corruption with wealthy politicians able to buy up the votes of the uneducated, dependent masses. Instead, Cromwell’s son-in-law, Henry Ireton, proposed that the franchise be limited to those with a “fixed local interest”, that is, the independent, propertied sort. For Rainsborough, such a solution was a wretched betrayal of the civil war sacrifice. “I would fain know what we have fought for: for our laws and liberties? (Yet) this is the old law that enslaves the people of England – that they should be bound by laws in which they have no voice at all!” In the end, they reached a compromise that the vote should be granted to all adult males – excluding servants, apprentices, foreigners, beggars and, obviously, women.</p>
<p>The debates then went on to discuss how to deal with the problem of Charles I. And it was during those chilly autumn days, in the pews of Putney, that the mood hardened against that “man of blood” King Charles and a deadly momentum developed to put him on trial for high treason. The road to the English republic – that epic moment in these islands’ history – flowed downstream from Putney to parliament.</p>
<p>Given such subversive sentiments, it was unsurprising that Clarke’s shorthand manuscript (subscribed into long hand after the Restoration) was kept hidden. Many of the ideas expressed at Putney – liberty of conscience; a government dependent upon the sovereign will of the people; equality before the law – would, via the ministrations of John Locke, make their way into American political thought and the US constitution. But in Britain these philosophies remained buried late into the 19th century until the Clarke Papers were finally unearthed in Worcester College, Oxford, by the historian CH Firth.</p>
<p>Tuesday’s recital of 17th century music was part of a week of events at St Mary’s – drama, readings, reenactments, dialogues – challenging establishment amnesia and official history whereby the phrase “English Republic” cannot even be pronounced and the years 1649-60 are rendered in Latin for the sake of decency. Never mind the gap, children, it was only an interregnum, viz., a regrettable hiccup in the glorious pageant of the British monarchy. So this project joins the great works of recovery and levelling – Christopher Hill’s pioneering reinterpretation in The World Turned Upside Down, Kevin Brownlow’s film Winstanley, Caryl Churchill’s play Light Shining in Buckinghamshire, and Peter Linebaugh and Marcus Rediker’s The Many Headed Hydra.</p>
<p>Further down the Thames, on the other side of London, some major levelling of quite another kind has begun. On Saturday I cycled from Shepherds Bush to Hackney Wick to take a look at the future scene of the London Olympics. In the last two months an 11-kilometer cyanide blue fence has been erected around a vast swathe of the East End. The Wandsworth brewery would be swallowed up unnoticed in the vast new building site being prepared for three weeks of calisthenics in 2012. The inhabitants of the Blue Zone have all been evicted; fifteen families of travellers who settled at Clays Lane in 1971 were the last to go, earlier this month, not because they refused to leave but because the date of departure set for them by the Olympics Delivery Authority (in charge of “land assembly”) was postponed eleven times.</p>
<p>When the chief executive of the ODA claimed that the purpose of the Wall was “not to separate communities but to protect them”, one local had this to say: “This is exactly what the East German authorities said when the Berlin Wall was constructed. What could you possibly be building that you need to protect the people on the outside of that wall? You’re simply afraid that us we’ll sneak in and start half-inching all your equipment.”</p>
<p>I was only able to grasp the scale of the thing after climbing to the 19th floor of a high-rise block off Carpenter’s Road, at the invitation of a Jamaican pensioner I’d met in the moribund Stratford Arms, a pub suddenly cut off from passing trade by the blue barrier. I cycled northwest along the deserted Hackney Navigation canal in the hope of finding a gap in the perimeter. There weren’t even any viewing ports. Eventually I came across an active works entrance where a platoon of security guards were on weekend duty. They were friendly enough, but got serious when I attempted to finesse my way past. I hung around and photographed them inspecting a heavy goods vehicles on its way into “Olympic Park”. One of the goons threatened to seize my plastic Boots camera. “It’s throwaway, right, squire?” Right.</p>
<p>I headed further north, beyond the Hackney Cut. Apart from one trip long ago to the old Lea Valley Cycle Circuit, now on the wrong side of the fence and under the jackhammer, this was a landscape I’d only read about. I was entering Iain Sinclair territory, the world of White Chappell, Scarlet Tracings, and Downriver, his playground of weird connections. Sinclair’s psychogeographical fictions have recently got up the nose of John Barker. He accuses Sinclair of giving comfort to the colonizers of East London by making the old docklands exciting and safe for the modern bourgeois with a taste for the off-beat. Mind you, Barker seems even more angry at the sterilizing of his favourite Hackney pubs, which used to cater to the goths and mohicans of the anti-capitalist movement and where the craic was fierce and wild.</p>
<p>I had no intention of getting between Sinclair and Barker, or romancing the Hackney Marshes and the River Lea. I was just aiming to get a feel for the Blue Zone, so that I could compare London’s new enclosures with the social cleansing also under way in Delhi (for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, a kind of Olympics lite) and now more or less complete in Beijing (ready for next year’s Olympics). I would like to understand the evolution of these sportscapes, which are microcosms of spatial form and urban dispossession under capitalist modernity. They have a direct connection to Hitler’s clearances in Berlin for the 1936 Olympics, and to land grabs under the cover of Expos and World’s Fairs.</p>
<p>That deeper history of London’s transformation got an airing last Friday night at the launch of the paperback edition of London: City of Disappearances, compiled by – who else – Iain Sinclair: ” Alongside the London of noise and celebrity is that other city: of the dead, the unvoiced, the erased…and urban myths with more blood and vigour than the contemporary cartoons of manufactured notoriety.” A gathering of weird old England, organized by Penned in the Margins, assembled in the great hall of the Bishopsgate Institute behind Liverpool Street Station. We were witness to a rare urban excursion by the Northampton magus of the graphic novel, Alan Moore. He was in conversation with the anarchist pasticheur Michael Moorcock – sometime Hawkwind librettist, lambaster of Heinlein and C.S. Lewis, the anti-Tolkien, and author of barrowloads of fantasy, most recently The Metatemporal Detective. There was also a reading by the performance artist Brian Catling, although poor acoustics and a uvular delivery combined to obscure his drift. On the other hand, Kirsten Norrie of the low-tech poetics group The Wolf in Winter, galvanized the company with her astonishing vocal improvisation. Using a looper meant for guitar, with a 14 second record time, she built up layers of sound in real time…a solo massed choir.</p>
<p>A sound, it occurs to me, that might have tempted even Zvegintzov fils down from his garret.</p>
<p>Iain Boal is a historian of technics and the commons, a member of the Retort collective, and co-author of <a href="" type="internal">Resisting the Virtual Life</a> and <a href="" type="internal">Afflicted Powers</a>. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:boal@sonic.net" type="external">boal@sonic.net</a></p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | weve sold river said one draymen right fucking wandle closing youngs brewery wandsworth 2006 milestone march gentrification across postbig bang london humiliating downright cryinyourbeer travesty words one local whose bulletin left bank wandle ended indelible lament particularly juvenile mens magazine article challenged british breweries organize piss breweries laid rock n roll bandsanother fish chips delivered limousine youngs response lock us small secret bar old stable back ram brewery give us free ram special stop point wandsworth dont bollocks beer well across river still old griffin brewery bit surprise since chiswick sinking weight chelsea tractors real estate agents yellow dumpsters griffin somehow survives original site west end chiswick mall near hogarth roundabout fuller ales brewed since 1845 recently returned visit first lived london midlate sixties end chiswick mall lodgings garret 16 hammersmith terrace home zvegintzovs mischa diana mischas father octobrist president fourth duma killed galician front 1915 zvegintzov family enemies tzarist state epitomes russian parliamentary liberalism flee bolsheviks eventually reached london via finland sweden young mischa turned english gent way winchester college corpus christi oxford limits mind old school chums insisted calling zog took job research chemist gas light coke company 1940 joined political intelligence ended war directorgeneral german chemical industry british zone back austerity britain became pioneer food processing unilever knew retired energetically leading agitation thames barrage premonition arctic meltdown thames tidal chiswick floods daily mall indeed spring tides coincided cyclonic low pressure strong noreaster gardens basements hammersmith terrace likely water high windows 16 one could look east ironwork joseph bazaglettes hammersmith bridge victorian baroque structure seriously underbuilt hence target three separate ira bomb teams first 1939 maurice childs local hairdresser walking home late night across bridge noticed smoke sparks coming suitcase opened find bomb inside chucked river explosion sent 60ft column water beyond bridge barn elms reach one could see roof harrods massive furniture depository long mohamed al fayed flogged property development arm bahrain international bank stockbroker apartments used watch flocks geese glide path towards reservoirs along castlenau window wind west astringent smell hops mashed barley drifted griffin brewery wall matter wind came sound new zealand ladies massed choir accompanied mischa dianas son voice like chaucers pardoner passed days listening antipodean sacred music captured collection vintage 78s played ancient hmv gramophone day thin piping descant mingles mind music filled nights year remotest interest new sounds emerging hammersmith odeon worlds end troubador redcliffe gardens thanks john mayall alexis korner stevie winwood john renbourn co virtually within earshot owing recent developments marshall amplifier company reached river tide turn chiswick mall glistened film thames sludge scene upper lower mall remarkably unchanged though hammersmith terrace sprouted fresh crop blue plaques new labor heritage industry hard work commemorating radical corner book world edward johnson master calligrapher lived 3 typographer emery walker no7 may morris next door 8 father william lived yards away 26 upper mall kelmscott house sallied forth harangue proletarians hammersmith socialist league neighbor fellow socialist j cobdensanderson burnedout barrister janey morris thought capable something therapeutic hands doves bindery press came first 15 upper mall later 1 hammersmith terrace one night 1915 blood flowed second battle ypres cobdensanderson burnedout bookbinder threw doves type kelmscott chaucer bible composed hammersmith bridge spite old partner emery walker business closed soon trained apprentice new town utopian douglas care books cockerell whose son sydney cockerell turn took apprentice gillian cartwrightallen became life companion tj named doves bindery neighboring pub 19 upper mall doves coffee house eighteenth century lately since 1796 serving fullers beer frequenter dove turned singular sometime early 20th century hot food unthinkable accompaniment pint london pride could get bag crisps blue touchpaper twist salt included lucky ploughmans lunch sounded like primordial birthright actually high marketing concept invented 1960 richard trehane chairman english country cheese council consisted lump cheddar crust bread branston pickle today dove designated gastro pub twopage menu wide selection organic vegetables picked dawn prepared virgins eat heart trehane crossed hammersmith bridge steps gravel riverside path potholed ragged miraculously unimproved rus urbe experience vouchsafed doubt savage cuts public works maintenance water lapped close boathouses putney hard pint dogs knob bitter dukes head pondered fragility riverscape coming deluge thames barrage soon enough seem like pathetic finger dyke outside dukes head could see tower st marys church foot putney high street st marys destination evening 17th century secular music last year poll guardian readers asked nominate neglected event britains radical past best deserves proper monument unexpectedly chose putney debates potential candidates bodmin parish church cornwall scene 1549 prayer book rebellion 1819 peterloo massacre site manchester queens square bristol site reform riots 1831 discovery house east london centre poplar rate dispute 1921 orgreave coking plant yorkshire symbol 1984 miners strike putney debates took place late autumn 1647 st marys church home base oliver cromwells chaplain hugh peters preached fiery sermons edge thames also one founders harvard university role come regret debates culminated execution charles 1 abolition monarchy house lords institution 11year english republic words geoffrey robertsons introduction new edition putney debates verso 2007 first ascendancy st marys may traced acceptance centuries later universal declaration human rights twothirds nations world idea government requires consent freely fairly elected representatives adult citizens irrespective class caste status wealth eve 360th anniversary debates tristram hunt historian new labor apparatchik reminded guardian readers g2 october 26 2007 events voted commemorate summer 1647 roundheads winning english civil war marston moor naseby oliver cromwells new model army crushed cavaliers king charles custody among victorious soldiers gnawing fear parliament army generals grandees preparing sell mps fearing religious militancy army keen settlement king wanted cut soldiers pay disband regiments refuse indemnity war damage pack ireland loathsome also looked set betray religious political ideals new model army spent previous five years fighting mere mercenary army hired serve arbitrary power state called forth defence peoples right liberties soldiers complained levellers cromwells regiments demanded religious toleration ways gods worship entrusted us human power general amnesty end conscription system laws must respecter persons apply equally everyone must discrimination grounds tenure estate charter degree birth place regular twoyearly parliaments equal distribution mps seats number inhabitants oliver cromwell chair general council new model army came together putney church october 1647 argue case transparent democratic state free taint parliamentary courtly corruption proved one greatest intellectual encounters western political thought first remarkable active involvement rank file soldiery thanks shorthand notes army secretary william clarke 360 years get hear political theory never even today private soldiers allowed question officers one guardian reader remarked competition second day debates good fivehour prayer session soldiers focused question franchise right vote levellers answer clear placed government right elect vote natural right irrespective property position think poorest england hath life live greatest celebrated words colonel rainsborough therefore every man live government ought first consent put government think poorest man england bound strict sense government hath voice put wealthy socially conservative grandees horrified spectre egalitarian democracy minds presaged anarchy corruption wealthy politicians able buy votes uneducated dependent masses instead cromwells soninlaw henry ireton proposed franchise limited fixed local interest independent propertied sort rainsborough solution wretched betrayal civil war sacrifice would fain know fought laws liberties yet old law enslaves people england bound laws voice end reached compromise vote granted adult males excluding servants apprentices foreigners beggars obviously women debates went discuss deal problem charles chilly autumn days pews putney mood hardened man blood king charles deadly momentum developed put trial high treason road english republic epic moment islands history flowed downstream putney parliament given subversive sentiments unsurprising clarkes shorthand manuscript subscribed long hand restoration kept hidden many ideas expressed putney liberty conscience government dependent upon sovereign people equality law would via ministrations john locke make way american political thought us constitution britain philosophies remained buried late 19th century clarke papers finally unearthed worcester college oxford historian ch firth tuesdays recital 17th century music part week events st marys drama readings reenactments dialogues challenging establishment amnesia official history whereby phrase english republic even pronounced years 164960 rendered latin sake decency never mind gap children interregnum viz regrettable hiccup glorious pageant british monarchy project joins great works recovery levelling christopher hills pioneering reinterpretation world turned upside kevin brownlows film winstanley caryl churchills play light shining buckinghamshire peter linebaugh marcus redikers many headed hydra thames side london major levelling quite another kind begun saturday cycled shepherds bush hackney wick take look future scene london olympics last two months 11kilometer cyanide blue fence erected around vast swathe east end wandsworth brewery would swallowed unnoticed vast new building site prepared three weeks calisthenics 2012 inhabitants blue zone evicted fifteen families travellers settled clays lane 1971 last go earlier month refused leave date departure set olympics delivery authority charge land assembly postponed eleven times chief executive oda claimed purpose wall separate communities protect one local say exactly east german authorities said berlin wall constructed could possibly building need protect people outside wall youre simply afraid us well sneak start halfinching equipment able grasp scale thing climbing 19th floor highrise block carpenters road invitation jamaican pensioner id met moribund stratford arms pub suddenly cut passing trade blue barrier cycled northwest along deserted hackney navigation canal hope finding gap perimeter werent even viewing ports eventually came across active works entrance platoon security guards weekend duty friendly enough got serious attempted finesse way past hung around photographed inspecting heavy goods vehicles way olympic park one goons threatened seize plastic boots camera throwaway right squire right headed north beyond hackney cut apart one trip long ago old lea valley cycle circuit wrong side fence jackhammer landscape id read entering iain sinclair territory world white chappell scarlet tracings downriver playground weird connections sinclairs psychogeographical fictions recently got nose john barker accuses sinclair giving comfort colonizers east london making old docklands exciting safe modern bourgeois taste offbeat mind barker seems even angry sterilizing favourite hackney pubs used cater goths mohicans anticapitalist movement craic fierce wild intention getting sinclair barker romancing hackney marshes river lea aiming get feel blue zone could compare londons new enclosures social cleansing also way delhi 2010 commonwealth games kind olympics lite less complete beijing ready next years olympics would like understand evolution sportscapes microcosms spatial form urban dispossession capitalist modernity direct connection hitlers clearances berlin 1936 olympics land grabs cover expos worlds fairs deeper history londons transformation got airing last friday night launch paperback edition london city disappearances compiled else iain sinclair alongside london noise celebrity city dead unvoiced erasedand urban myths blood vigour contemporary cartoons manufactured notoriety gathering weird old england organized penned margins assembled great hall bishopsgate institute behind liverpool street station witness rare urban excursion northampton magus graphic novel alan moore conversation anarchist pasticheur michael moorcock sometime hawkwind librettist lambaster heinlein cs lewis antitolkien author barrowloads fantasy recently metatemporal detective also reading performance artist brian catling although poor acoustics uvular delivery combined obscure drift hand kirsten norrie lowtech poetics group wolf winter galvanized company astonishing vocal improvisation using looper meant guitar 14 second record time built layers sound real timea solo massed choir sound occurs might tempted even zvegintzov fils garret iain boal historian technics commons member retort collective coauthor resisting virtual life afflicted powers reached boalsonicnet 160 160 | 1,841 |
<p>In Cuba change is in the air. But such change should not be read as an end to the revolution.</p>
<p>“The United States and the exile community are dead wrong if they think that regime change will take place at any time in the near future,” said Julio Diaz Vazquez, a professor at the Center for Investigations of the International Economy at the University of Havana.</p>
<p>Whether one talks to government and Communist party officials, university professors, or simply to people on the street, it is clear that in Cuba, socialism is very much alive and well.</p>
<p>Consulting Cubans</p>
<p>The sixth Communist Party Congress of April, 2011 proclaimed that Cuba is undertaking an “updating of the economic model,” a simple phrase that belies the 313 lineamientos (guidelines) issued to move the country forward.</p>
<p>“The call to update the economic model opens up a new scenario for… the Cuban economy,” said Vazquez. “Its concrete implementation will dramatically alter the national economic reality, fomenting strategic changes in the social order… and in the sociopolitical renewal of the country.”</p>
<p>This opening in Cuba began with the ascent of Raúl Castro, well before the 2011 party congress. Raúl became acting president in mid-2006 when his brother Fidel Castro fell ill. In February 2008 he was elected president by the National Assembly, Cuba’s legislative body. While Fidel is charismatic and perhaps the greatest revolutionary strategist of the late 20th century, Raúl has paid closer attention to organization, administration, and the rejuvenation of an economy that is largely moribund.</p>
<p>Already in mid-2007, as acting president, Raúl announced “the need to make structural and conceptual transformations” in Cuban socialism. Stymied by three devastating hurricanes that struck Cuba in the latter half of 2008, he assured the National Assembly at the end of that year that “none of the issues I have referred to recently have been shelved… Partial measures have been implemented as permitted by the circumstances, and progress will be made, without any hurry or excessive idealism.”</p>
<p>Perhaps the most important early initiative of Raúl Castro was the call for a consulta (consultation) with the Cuban people. Barrio committees, factory workers, local party organizations, and others were encouraged to meet and register their thoughts and complaints. By August 2009, 5.1 million people out of a total Cuban population of 11.2 million had participated in the consultation. There were 3.3 million registered comments of which almost half were critical.</p>
<p>The most recurring criticism was of limited food production and the daily problems people faced in securing three meals a day for their families. Comments on corruption in government enterprises were also prevalent.</p>
<p>Patricia Groog, a long-time resident of Havana of Chilean descent who works for the Inter Press Service, a news agency based in Havana, noted that in her barrio “the spontaneity and wide ranging comments were striking.” Some criticized deteriorating medical and educational facilities. One woman asserted that Cubans abroad should be able to invest in community projects. “People felt free to speak their minds without any fear of retribution,” said Groog.</p>
<p>Raúl Castro himself embraced the results of the consulta, saying it was an important “rehearsal” for shaping the proceedings of the 6th Party Congress.</p>
<p>An ‘Agrarian Revolution’</p>
<p>A number of important changes have already been introduced.</p>
<p>People are being given title to the homes they reside in, which can be exchanged and sold on the market. Apartheid tourism has been ended, meaning that Cubans can go to hotels, restaurants, clubs, and beaches once designated only for foreign tourists. One hundred and eighty one occupations such as food vendors, hair stylists, taxi drivers, tour guides, and shoe repairmen can now be licensed as trabajo por cuenta propria — self-employment or independent work.</p>
<p>In addition, anyone can solicit the government for 10 hectares of idle land that can be held and farmed for personal profit for 10 years with the opportunity for renewal. Agricultural produce of just about every kind is now sold in open markets in urban and rural areas alike.</p>
<p>Almost from the start of his government, Raúl Castro has recognized that a transformation of the agricultural economy is the key to the survival and future of the Cuban revolution. In recent years, Cuba, a country rich in agricultural resources, has imported up to 70 percent of its food needs.</p>
<p>Accordingly Castro has issued an urgent call for increased agricultural production and announced the distribution of idle fields and forests so that “the lands and resources are in the hands of those who are capable of efficient production.”</p>
<p>Under a law passed in July, 2008 over 1.2 million hectares were distributed to more than 132,000 beneficiaries by mid-2011. There has even been a notable movement of people leaving the cities to take up farming. But the gains in production have been limited. Agricultural produce for the domestic market remained largely the same in 2010 and 2011.</p>
<p>Armando Nova, an agricultural economist at the Center for the Study of the of Cuban Economy, said in April in Havana, “the agricultural system remains in crisis.”</p>
<p>He added, “We need an agrarian revolution to drive the country forward and it is still blocked. The middle level bureaucracy and even sectors of the party, particularly at the provincial level, are determined to prevent market innovations for fear of losing their status and privileges.”</p>
<p>Within the Revolution</p>
<p>Still, major shifts are occurring within the political and state apparatus. One is that the “historic leadership” of the revolution is drawing to a close with the demise of Fidel and the limits of Raul, now an octogenarian.</p>
<p>“A new generation is coming to the fore and it will need to act more collectively than Fidel and Raul, who synthesized the debates and controversies, acting as the final arbitrators,” says Juan Valdes Paz, a sociologist who has written on the Cuban transition. “There will never again be such an entrenched leadership.”</p>
<p>Legislation is now being advanced in the National Assembly that will limit all upper level government positions to two five-year terms. The National Assembly itself will also become more important as a center of debate and discussion over policies while the election of delegates to the assembly will be more competitive than in the past.</p>
<p>But adherence to the one party state is still justified, in part, as a defensive strategy against US intervention. “The Cuban leadership believes that if opposition political parties were permitted the US government along with the Cuban exile community would rush in to back the opposition,” says Valdes Paz.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, as Harlan Abrahams and Arturo Lopez-Levy note in their recent book, <a href="" type="internal">Raul Castro and the New Cuba,</a> “there is an emerging convergence of people who live within the system — workers, artists, intellectuals, and students — advocating for reform.”</p>
<p>Such calls, according to a recent commentary by Aurelio Alonso, have led to “more discussion and polemics than ever before.”</p>
<p>The Sub-director of the literary magazine, Casa de las Americas, Alonso added the conversation now taking place is “broader than even during the period of revolutionary fervor in the 1960s, when the slogan was everything within the revolution, nothing outside of it.”</p>
<p>Roger Burbach is the director of the Center for the Study of the Americas (CENSA) based in Berkeley, California.&#160; Along with Michael Fox and Federico Fuentes he is the co-author of the forthcoming book, Latin America’s Turbulent Transitions: The Future of Twenty-First Century Socialism. It will be released in January, 2013 by Zed Books.</p> | true | 4 | cuba change air change read end revolution united states exile community dead wrong think regime change take place time near future said julio diaz vazquez professor center investigations international economy university havana whether one talks government communist party officials university professors simply people street clear cuba socialism much alive well consulting cubans sixth communist party congress april 2011 proclaimed cuba undertaking updating economic model simple phrase belies 313 lineamientos guidelines issued move country forward call update economic model opens new scenario cuban economy said vazquez concrete implementation dramatically alter national economic reality fomenting strategic changes social order sociopolitical renewal country opening cuba began ascent raúl castro well 2011 party congress raúl became acting president mid2006 brother fidel castro fell ill february 2008 elected president national assembly cubas legislative body fidel charismatic perhaps greatest revolutionary strategist late 20th century raúl paid closer attention organization administration rejuvenation economy largely moribund already mid2007 acting president raúl announced need make structural conceptual transformations cuban socialism stymied three devastating hurricanes struck cuba latter half 2008 assured national assembly end year none issues referred recently shelved partial measures implemented permitted circumstances progress made without hurry excessive idealism perhaps important early initiative raúl castro call consulta consultation cuban people barrio committees factory workers local party organizations others encouraged meet register thoughts complaints august 2009 51 million people total cuban population 112 million participated consultation 33 million registered comments almost half critical recurring criticism limited food production daily problems people faced securing three meals day families comments corruption government enterprises also prevalent patricia groog longtime resident havana chilean descent works inter press service news agency based havana noted barrio spontaneity wide ranging comments striking criticized deteriorating medical educational facilities one woman asserted cubans abroad able invest community projects people felt free speak minds without fear retribution said groog raúl castro embraced results consulta saying important rehearsal shaping proceedings 6th party congress agrarian revolution number important changes already introduced people given title homes reside exchanged sold market apartheid tourism ended meaning cubans go hotels restaurants clubs beaches designated foreign tourists one hundred eighty one occupations food vendors hair stylists taxi drivers tour guides shoe repairmen licensed trabajo por cuenta propria selfemployment independent work addition anyone solicit government 10 hectares idle land held farmed personal profit 10 years opportunity renewal agricultural produce every kind sold open markets urban rural areas alike almost start government raúl castro recognized transformation agricultural economy key survival future cuban revolution recent years cuba country rich agricultural resources imported 70 percent food needs accordingly castro issued urgent call increased agricultural production announced distribution idle fields forests lands resources hands capable efficient production law passed july 2008 12 million hectares distributed 132000 beneficiaries mid2011 even notable movement people leaving cities take farming gains production limited agricultural produce domestic market remained largely 2010 2011 armando nova agricultural economist center study cuban economy said april havana agricultural system remains crisis added need agrarian revolution drive country forward still blocked middle level bureaucracy even sectors party particularly provincial level determined prevent market innovations fear losing status privileges within revolution still major shifts occurring within political state apparatus one historic leadership revolution drawing close demise fidel limits raul octogenarian new generation coming fore need act collectively fidel raul synthesized debates controversies acting final arbitrators says juan valdes paz sociologist written cuban transition never entrenched leadership legislation advanced national assembly limit upper level government positions two fiveyear terms national assembly also become important center debate discussion policies election delegates assembly competitive past adherence one party state still justified part defensive strategy us intervention cuban leadership believes opposition political parties permitted us government along cuban exile community would rush back opposition says valdes paz nevertheless harlan abrahams arturo lopezlevy note recent book raul castro new cuba emerging convergence people live within system workers artists intellectuals students advocating reform calls according recent commentary aurelio alonso led discussion polemics ever subdirector literary magazine casa de las americas alonso added conversation taking place broader even period revolutionary fervor 1960s slogan everything within revolution nothing outside roger burbach director center study americas censa based berkeley california160 along michael fox federico fuentes coauthor forthcoming book latin americas turbulent transitions future twentyfirst century socialism released january 2013 zed books | 700 |
<p>It was fifty-four years ago or so when a classmate at Bard College insisted that I read a short story by Isaac Babel titled “The Reserve Cavalry Commander” that he described to me as a Cossack soldier miraculously bringing a moribund horse to its feet. <a href="" type="internal">The Red Cavalry</a> (the title of Babel’s collection of short stories written when the Jew and former Menshevik was imbedded with pro-revolution Cossacks) had been confiscating peasant horses during the Civil War and trading in nags ridden to exhaustion on the battlefield for fresh ones.</p>
<p>For the backward peasants, this was the sort of intrusion that would become the straw that broke the camel’s back. In about a decade, being forced into collective farms like recalcitrant horses drove them into open revolt. For the time being, however, they were inclined to tolerate the Communists who at least had come to power on the promise of peace, bread and land. It was the assault on the gentry’s land that for the time being assuaged the peasants.</p>
<p>Responding to an aggrieved muzhik (peasant), Dyakov, the eponymous Reserve Cavalry Commander who was a former circus rider described by Babel as “red-faced with a gray mustache, a black cape, and wide red Tatar trousers with silver stripes”, promised that he could make this “lively little mare spring to her feet again”. The idea that the horse splayed out on the ground could be described as “lively” was almost an insult. The muzhik cried out, “Lord in Heaven and Mother of God. How is this poor thing supposed to get up? It’s on its last legs!”:</p>
<p>Dyakov’s ability to bring the horse back on its feet was like Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead but all the more miraculous since it likely occurred. Most of Babel’s short stories were based on his experience as a war correspondent. He wrote:</p>
<p>“You are insulting this horse, my dear fellow!” Dyakov answered with fierce conviction. “Pure blasphemy, my dear fellow!” And he deftly swung his athlete’s body out of his saddle. Splendid and deft as if in the circus ring, he stretched his magnificent legs, his trousers girded by cords around the knees, and walked up to the dying animal. She peered at him dolefully with a severe, penetrating eye, licked some invisible command from his crimson palm, and immediately the feeble mare felt bracing power flow from this sprightly, gray, blossoming Romeo. Her muzzle lolling, her legs skidding under her, feeling the whip tickling her stomach with imperious impatience, the mare slowly and deliberate1y rose onto her legs. And then we all saw Dyakov’s slender hand with its fluttering sleeve run through her dirty mane, and his whining whip swatting her bleeding ranks. Her whole body shivering, the mare stood on four legs without moving her timid, doglike, lovestruck eyes from Dyakov.</p>
<p>“So you see-this is a horse,” Dyakov said to the muzhik, and added softly, “and you were complaining, my dearest of friends!”</p>
<p>Throwing his reins to his orderly, the commander of the Reserve Cavalry jumped the four stairs in a single leap and, swirling off his operatic cloak, disappeared into the headquarters.</p>
<p>Today, reading this story once again for the first time in fifty-four years, I am reminded of how important Babel was to me at the time. Like Ezra Pound, James Joyce and Thomas Mann, he was a portal into the world of modernist literature that still had an immense attraction for young bohemians in the early 60s. I never thought once about who Babel was or anything about the social reality he was trying to depict. All that mattered to me was Babel’s prose that could evoke the mysterious power of a Cossack resurrecting a dying horse.</p>
<p>My early connections to modernism and my later connections to Marxism that superseded it and just about all the other intellectual baggage I carried around with me from the early 60s converged as I watched a press screening of “Finding Babel” that opens on October 28th at the Cinema Village in New York. Directed by David Novack, who has a background as a sound engineer, it is a film that will be of great interest to those whose appreciation of Babel is strictly literary as was mine long ago and to those trying to come to terms with the Soviet legacy. Given the prominence of Ukraine today as a possible trigger of WWIII according to some, Babel’s multiple identity as Jew, Ukrainian, Communist and critic of Soviet deficiencies is worth pondering.</p>
<p>The film is structured around the odyssey conducted by Andrei Malaev-Babel, who is the grandson of Isaac Babel and an acting professor in the theater department of the New College of Florida, to see where his grandfather lived and to speak with people who knew him or who have studied or been inspired by his work. Isaac Babel was executed for treason in 1940, having been charged with belonging to a Trotskyist group and spying for France and Austria. Babel’s wife Antonina Pirozhkova, who died at the age of 101 in 2010, is interviewed in the film and provides much of the information about Babel’s personality and his travails as a dissident. After her husband’s arrest in 1939, the Soviet cops told her to forget about him and to “regulate her life” according to the <a href="" type="internal">New York Times</a> obituary. She was formidable in her own right. With her engineering degree, she helped to design the Moscow subway system. The obit notes:</p>
<p>Ms. Pirozhkova recalled Babel’s dismay at her haphazard reading habits, which he tried to correct by drawing up a list of the “hundred books that every educated person needs to read.” It included a volume titled “The Instincts and Morals of Insects.” She recounted evenings spent with Soviet cultural giants like the film director Sergei M. Eisenstein and visits by foreign luminaries like André Gide and André Malraux.</p>
<p>It was Babel’s mistake apparently to adhere to the values of the original Russian revolution rather than to fall in line as a Stalin toady.</p>
<p>As he travels around Ukraine, Malaev-Babel encounters intellectuals and ordinary people who revere Babel as one of their own especially for “Odessa Tales”, another collection of short stories that is as highly regarded as “Red Cavalry”. Written in 1923 and 1924, the stories focus on Jewish gangsters living in Moldavanka, an Odessa slum, hardly the material you’d expect to find written by a partisan of the Russian Revolution but certainly in keeping with the original inspiration of Soviet culture that conformed to Terence’s observation: “Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto“, or “I am human, and nothing of that which is human is alien to me.”</p>
<p>Although I have never read “Odessa Tales”, I plan to as soon as I find the time since it is about the same sort of characters my grandfather Louis Proyect probably knew in Byelorussia and who like him escaped pogroms by emigrating to the USA. Unlike my grandfather who made a life out of building hotels in Sullivan County in upstate NY, Abe “Kid Twist” Reles and other members of Murder Incorporated only saw the Borscht Belt as a place where they could dump their victims in Swan Lake, about fifteen minutes from my home town.</p>
<p>Throughout the film we hear brief excerpts from both collections narrated by Liev Schreiber that will be a good introduction to Babel’s literary power. There are also interviews with some leading Babel scholars including Stanford professor Gregory Freidin who spent a day traveling around Paris with Malaev-Babel to see places where Babel lived for a few years before returning to Russia. We learn that although he could have avoided becoming one of Stalin’s countless victims by living in exile, he was too attached to Russian culture and language to live abroad.</p>
<p>While in Paris, Babel wrote a play titled “Maria” that likely put him on Stalin’s shit-list although being a free-thinking intellectual and artist might have condemned from the start. With his theater background, Malaev-Babel is ideally suited to discuss the play with fellow thespians including Marina Vlady, an acclaimed Russian-French actress, who reads a letter from the titular character.</p>
<p>In 2003, Gregory Freidin mounted a production of “Maria” at Stanford University. The play’s <a href="http://web.stanford.edu/group/isaac_babel/maria/MariaProgram.pdf" type="external">program</a> describes major character Isaac Dymshit, a Jewish gangster, as a symbol of capitalist rationality while the eponymous Maria epitomized the pure romance of the revolution. She, like the young Babel, served in the Red Cavalry.</p>
<p>Never seen on stage, we only hear from Maria indirectly as her letter is recited by another character in scene five. It begins:</p>
<p>At dawn the bugle from squadron headquarters wakes me. By eight I have to be in the Political Propaganda Division, I’m in charge there–I edit the articles of the divisional newspaper, I run the literacy classes. Our reinforcements are all Ukrainians. They remind me of Italians, the way they talk and act. Russia has been suppressing and destroying their culture for centuries. In our house in Petersburg, opposite the Hermitage and the Winter Palace, we might as well have been living in Polynesia for&#160;&#160; we knew any­ thing at all about our people!</p>
<p>It is writing lines like this that got Babel killed rather than spying for France or Austria.</p>
<p>Babel was a friend and protégé of Maxim Gorky, who remained a diehard Stalinist despite sharing Babel’s inclination for writing about the lower depths of Russian society. He was deeply troubled by how “Maria” depicted political corruption, prosecution of the innocent, and black marketeering within Soviet society. Gorky accused Babel of having a “Baudelairean predilection for rotting meat.”</p>
<p>David Novack, the director of “Finding Babel” has a connection to Odessa but not to its legendary Jewish gangsters. He has an ancestor named David Nowakowsky who wrote liturgical music for a synagogue there.</p>
<p>In an interview given to <a href="http://odessareview.com/finding-babel-interview-david-novack/" type="external">The Odessa Review</a>, Novack sums up Isaac Babel’s relationship to the Soviet experience that resonates with my own on the left. As someone with roots in the existential “outsider” world of the 1960s that saw Albert Camus as its most eloquent spokesmen, I never found myself comfortable with the Trotskyist milieu that fostered cultish obedience to the Genius Leader. To this day, it has been these youthful affinities with outsider culture that makes it difficult for me to join any amen chorus on the left even though it is the left that remains my homeland. I think that Novack’s description of Babel’s “insider/outsider” sensibility can help me preserve my sanity in a period of deep contradictions within the left:</p>
<p>Babel represented the insider outsider, that’s what he was. He got himself all the way inside, up to the upper levels of the NKVD. Up to Beria who ended up supervising his torture in the end, personally. I don’t know if he was in the room, but he had an office in the St. Catharine’s Monastery where Babel was tortured. That monastery was being used as a torture prison, the Sukhanovo prison, which we note in the film, we visited it. He got himself as close to the flame as possible as an insider, but yet he was an outsider because he was from Odessa, he was Jewish. He should not even have been permitted to study under Gorky which is where he really honed his skills. The only reason that he was able to study under Gorky is that he smuggled himself illegally to St. Petersburg when he wasn’t allowed to be there, because it was outside the settlement area for Jews. So Babel was an outsider. He then found himself with Red Calvary with the Cossacks in the Red Army, running through Western Ukraine as he documented brutality against the Ukrainians and the Jews. Brutality brought on by both sides, it was a civil war essentially between the reds and the Poles. Who suffered the most? The Jews and the Ukrainians, the peasantry are the ones who suffered the most in that conflict. There he was again, the outsider insider. It’s from this very unique perspective where all his writing came from.</p> | true | 4 | fiftyfour years ago classmate bard college insisted read short story isaac babel titled reserve cavalry commander described cossack soldier miraculously bringing moribund horse feet red cavalry title babels collection short stories written jew former menshevik imbedded prorevolution cossacks confiscating peasant horses civil war trading nags ridden exhaustion battlefield fresh ones backward peasants sort intrusion would become straw broke camels back decade forced collective farms like recalcitrant horses drove open revolt time however inclined tolerate communists least come power promise peace bread land assault gentrys land time assuaged peasants responding aggrieved muzhik peasant dyakov eponymous reserve cavalry commander former circus rider described babel redfaced gray mustache black cape wide red tatar trousers silver stripes promised could make lively little mare spring feet idea horse splayed ground could described lively almost insult muzhik cried lord heaven mother god poor thing supposed get last legs dyakovs ability bring horse back feet like jesus raising lazarus dead miraculous since likely occurred babels short stories based experience war correspondent wrote insulting horse dear fellow dyakov answered fierce conviction pure blasphemy dear fellow deftly swung athletes body saddle splendid deft circus ring stretched magnificent legs trousers girded cords around knees walked dying animal peered dolefully severe penetrating eye licked invisible command crimson palm immediately feeble mare felt bracing power flow sprightly gray blossoming romeo muzzle lolling legs skidding feeling whip tickling stomach imperious impatience mare slowly deliberate1y rose onto legs saw dyakovs slender hand fluttering sleeve run dirty mane whining whip swatting bleeding ranks whole body shivering mare stood four legs without moving timid doglike lovestruck eyes dyakov seethis horse dyakov said muzhik added softly complaining dearest friends throwing reins orderly commander reserve cavalry jumped four stairs single leap swirling operatic cloak disappeared headquarters today reading story first time fiftyfour years reminded important babel time like ezra pound james joyce thomas mann portal world modernist literature still immense attraction young bohemians early 60s never thought babel anything social reality trying depict mattered babels prose could evoke mysterious power cossack resurrecting dying horse early connections modernism later connections marxism superseded intellectual baggage carried around early 60s converged watched press screening finding babel opens october 28th cinema village new york directed david novack background sound engineer film great interest whose appreciation babel strictly literary mine long ago trying come terms soviet legacy given prominence ukraine today possible trigger wwiii according babels multiple identity jew ukrainian communist critic soviet deficiencies worth pondering film structured around odyssey conducted andrei malaevbabel grandson isaac babel acting professor theater department new college florida see grandfather lived speak people knew studied inspired work isaac babel executed treason 1940 charged belonging trotskyist group spying france austria babels wife antonina pirozhkova died age 101 2010 interviewed film provides much information babels personality travails dissident husbands arrest 1939 soviet cops told forget regulate life according new york times obituary formidable right engineering degree helped design moscow subway system obit notes ms pirozhkova recalled babels dismay haphazard reading habits tried correct drawing list hundred books every educated person needs read included volume titled instincts morals insects recounted evenings spent soviet cultural giants like film director sergei eisenstein visits foreign luminaries like andré gide andré malraux babels mistake apparently adhere values original russian revolution rather fall line stalin toady travels around ukraine malaevbabel encounters intellectuals ordinary people revere babel one especially odessa tales another collection short stories highly regarded red cavalry written 1923 1924 stories focus jewish gangsters living moldavanka odessa slum hardly material youd expect find written partisan russian revolution certainly keeping original inspiration soviet culture conformed terences observation homo sum humani nihil alienum puto human nothing human alien although never read odessa tales plan soon find time since sort characters grandfather louis proyect probably knew byelorussia like escaped pogroms emigrating usa unlike grandfather made life building hotels sullivan county upstate ny abe kid twist reles members murder incorporated saw borscht belt place could dump victims swan lake fifteen minutes home town throughout film hear brief excerpts collections narrated liev schreiber good introduction babels literary power also interviews leading babel scholars including stanford professor gregory freidin spent day traveling around paris malaevbabel see places babel lived years returning russia learn although could avoided becoming one stalins countless victims living exile attached russian culture language live abroad paris babel wrote play titled maria likely put stalins shitlist although freethinking intellectual artist might condemned start theater background malaevbabel ideally suited discuss play fellow thespians including marina vlady acclaimed russianfrench actress reads letter titular character 2003 gregory freidin mounted production maria stanford university plays program describes major character isaac dymshit jewish gangster symbol capitalist rationality eponymous maria epitomized pure romance revolution like young babel served red cavalry never seen stage hear maria indirectly letter recited another character scene five begins dawn bugle squadron headquarters wakes eight political propaganda division im charge therei edit articles divisional newspaper run literacy classes reinforcements ukrainians remind italians way talk act russia suppressing destroying culture centuries house petersburg opposite hermitage winter palace might well living polynesia for160160 knew thing people writing lines like got babel killed rather spying france austria babel friend protégé maxim gorky remained diehard stalinist despite sharing babels inclination writing lower depths russian society deeply troubled maria depicted political corruption prosecution innocent black marketeering within soviet society gorky accused babel baudelairean predilection rotting meat david novack director finding babel connection odessa legendary jewish gangsters ancestor named david nowakowsky wrote liturgical music synagogue interview given odessa review novack sums isaac babels relationship soviet experience resonates left someone roots existential outsider world 1960s saw albert camus eloquent spokesmen never found comfortable trotskyist milieu fostered cultish obedience genius leader day youthful affinities outsider culture makes difficult join amen chorus left even though left remains homeland think novacks description babels insideroutsider sensibility help preserve sanity period deep contradictions within left babel represented insider outsider thats got way inside upper levels nkvd beria ended supervising torture end personally dont know room office st catharines monastery babel tortured monastery used torture prison sukhanovo prison note film visited got close flame possible insider yet outsider odessa jewish even permitted study gorky really honed skills reason able study gorky smuggled illegally st petersburg wasnt allowed outside settlement area jews babel outsider found red calvary cossacks red army running western ukraine documented brutality ukrainians jews brutality brought sides civil war essentially reds poles suffered jews ukrainians peasantry ones suffered conflict outsider insider unique perspective writing came | 1,064 |
<p>In reading through the hundreds of stories readers shared about <a href="/content/dailybeast/articles/2013/02/20/share-your-story-why-i-choose-to-be-childless.html" type="external">“Why I Choose To Remain Childless,”</a> we were scolded for using the term “childless” rather than “child-free,” reminded of DINKS (Double Income, No Kids), learned about DILDOs (Dual Income Large Dog Owners, of course), and heard numerous times about the pleasures of being a “cool aunt.” Many of the (mostly female) respondents noted that they knew from a very young age that they didn’t want to have children—with several saying it was clear to them when they were playing with dolls that babies weren’t for them, and that they never wavered in their decision—while others detailed their moment of epiphany later in life, from adolescence to one postmenopausal writer who said that it was only in the course of writing to us that she fully realized that not having children was a choice she’d made. Others brought up the environment and overpopulation, difficult childhoods, mental and physical illnesses they’d had or feared transmitting, their dislike of babies or revulsion about carrying and delivering one, and, of course, the economy. A few writers brought up foster care and adoption, and many more wrote about the cats and dogs in their care.</p>
<p>We asked readers to share their stories after Joel Kotkin and I wrote for the NewsBeast about <a href="/content/newsweek/2013/02/18/why-the-choice-to-be-childless-is-bad-for-america.html" type="external">the demographic implications of America’s plummeting birthrate since 2007</a>, <a href="" type="internal" />noting that “for many younger Americans and especially those in cities, having children is no longer an obvious or inevitable choice,” and that “many of those opting for childlessness have legitimate, if perhaps selfish, reasons for their decision,” given the aggregate impact of those individual decisions.” The word “selfish” came up in many of the responses, with some agreeing that they didn’t care to sacrifice their own pursuits, others pointing to the economic benefits of being child-free, and others still objecting strongly to the term. Many viewed raising a child as a significant choice, rather than simply what happens in the course of sex after marriage, and suggested that it was people who had children causally who were in fact selfish or irresponsible. As one woman wrote: “If it’s selfish to not want to bring children into the world that are unwanted, then call us selfish, but to me having children you don’t want to have is much much worse.”</p>
<p>Here, then, is a selection of the most representative and striking stories, very lightly copy-edited but otherwise as submitted—and you can share your own <a href="/content/dailybeast/articles/2013/02/20/share-your-story-why-i-choose-to-be-childless.html" type="external">here</a> or email it to us as <a href="https://webmail.iac.com/owa/redir.aspx?C=8RcfDhBYM0q7qmExbUxzuFzEDT0g5s8I7YqLibnDxtHAW0Kj79iRg897IEgGUcfyPWj_RjLH6Cg.&amp;URL=mailto%3adailybeastsubmit%40gmail.com" type="external">dailybeastsubmit@gmail.com</a>. We’ll keep reading all your submissions and share more of them here over the coming days (with the newest ones on top). To link directly to any single story, just click anywhere in the gray box surrounding each one.</p>
<p>I'm a twenty-seven year old college graduate that's over $140,000 in debt from private student loans. I'm no choice but to live in my parent's basement working a call-center job that's always desperate for breathing bodies. Based on how much the bank makes me pay back a month, I have no money for an apartment, a car, groceries, or any frivolous items. That is not the environment to raise a child in.</p>
<p>That being said, even if I was better off, I will not bring children into this world. I like children...but only part time. I'll be the cool, hip aunt to my sibling's kids, or godmother to friend's kids. I think I could raise children well, that's not the issue. I just want to live my life for me, or together with a spouse. I'd be happy filling a house up with pets, those can be my kids.</p>
<p>I don't like it when people and the media imply I'm not doing my job. I am far more than a baby factory. Plenty of other women love kids, so they can keep on having them.</p>
<p>—Rhiannon, Minnesota</p>
<p>My wife and I are childless by choice. I'm 38, born and raised in Wyoming, and the only child of two white-collar professional parents (one with a PhD). My wife is 34, born and raised in Georgia with two brothers, and her parents own their own blue-collar business. We are now both white-collar workers (IT and healthcare), probably on the lower end of what used to be the middle class.</p>
<p>As for the decision, my wife just says that she "always knew" with no specific time or reason. Myself, I remember deciding when I was about 13 or so. I had a miserable school experience right on through dropping out of college (not the actual schooling part, the social part) and had decided that I never wanted to put another human/soul/awareness through anything as miserable as what I was dealing with. My personal life has changed, gotten better with a partner who shares my outlook, but neither of us would willingly bring a life into this world (which we both feel has become a worse place to live than when we were kids).</p>
<p>There are no real steps to ensure being childless... well, there's the one about not being completely ignorant when it comes to sex. But the same thing that protects against STD's is rather effective with limiting procreation as well. A few years into our marriage I had a vasectomy because my wife was having health issues related to birth control pills.</p>
<p>Thankfully, Both sides of our family are perfectly happy with our decision. We have a dog, and they call themselves "Dogparents" in the Grandparents fashion. I noticed that it was an issue when I took my wife back to my home town in Wyoming for a few years though, as all social life revolves around kids/school and church. Our social lives suffered badly (we're not organized religion followers either).</p>
<p>There's a whole subculture around being childless. New acronyms (DINK, Double Income, No Kids), people who have the time to go out and do adult things (4 days of kayaking and camping? No problem), and none of the stupid "but why?" questioning. That last part is where the rift begins and ends. Procreators believe, in their bones, that they are in the right, and any other decision is wrong. Even people who are medically incapable are given the "shame on you" treatment. It's like any other hot-topic debate, abortion, gun rights, politics and religion. The decision is deeply personal with a lot invested, emotionally, on whatever side of the fence you happen to be on.</p>
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<p>I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, there are good parents out there who are raising kids that will be a positive force in the world to come. I just see it as a losing battle on the way to an eventual future straight out of the movie Idiocracy.</p>
<p>—Brian M, Georgia</p>
<p>My name is Veronica. I'm 34, I'm married, and I'm a registered nurse. I never had a desire to have children. I don't like babies or toddlers, I don't find them cute or have any desire to interact with them. I've never had any regrets and must have not come equipped with the mythical biological clock.</p>
<p>My parents divorced when I was in kindergarten and I saw how much my mother hated the drudgery of caring for children on her own. I never wanted that life for myself. I also never had a positive experience with the nuclear family. My extended family is wonderful but the nuclear family was nothing but drama, resentment, financial strain, and unhappiness for everybody. I didn't want to re-live it, this time in the role of mother rather than child.</p>
<p>Thanks to the minimal role religion played in my childhood and the comprehensive sex education I received in public school, I always knew that having children was a choice and not an inevitability. My mother helped me get started on the birth control pill in high school to treat a medical issue, although I was abstinent throughout high school and college. I took the pill for over a decade and then got an IUD. I have never been pregnant or even had a scare, and am grateful I always had access to contraception.</p>
<p>My husband has no interest in having children either. My mother has never indicated to me that she's upset about never becoming a grandmother, nor have other relatives. Both my friends with and without children are accepting of my life choices, as I am of theirs.</p>
<p>Having children is a lifetime commitment and the most serious one anybody can make. Children deserve parents who want them. If you're not 100% invested in becoming and staying a parent, then why do it especially when you are perfectly happy with your life the way it is?</p>
<p>—Veronica, New Jersey</p>
<p>I read <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Population-Bomb-Paul-R-Ehrlich/dp/1568495870" type="external">The Population Bomb</a> at puberty, around the first Earth Day. I decided at 15 that I'd like to adopt one kid of every race, to have a rainbow house. When I grew up and realized humans are causing mass extinction, I got cats instead and now devote my spare time to the "Fanged Wilds and Women Program." Also, I lie around reading and writing novels.</p>
<p>—VCB</p>
<p>At 34, I currently have no plans to have children. Yes, pregnancy freaks me out, yes, I like my current levels of disposable income and time, yes I don't want to be defined first and foremost as a mother.</p>
<p>But also I have always bristled at the idea that having a child is the most important thing I could ever do. I think a lot of people have children because they're hungry to fully invest themselves in something that matters, that has lasting implications, that will make a difference.</p>
<p>I do all of that through my work—it is all-consuming, and self-sacrificing and tiring and I work on things with lasting implications that will make a difference for lots of people. And that for me fills the very human need to have an indelible impact on the world.</p>
<p>—Kathryn, DC</p>
<p>I am 65, so I probably don't fit the demographic you are looking for, but since it was so unusual to make that decision in my child-bearing years I thought I would share anyway. I was in that first generation to take birth-control pills. I never really thought about that. From my perspective it was just the way things were, and I knew I had a choice. My husband would have had children, but it didn't really matter to him.</p>
<p>I was an educator, and by the time I was 35—when you "had" to decide in those years—I was well into the 60-hour work weeks that would continue through my career. I suppose the fact that I worked with 150 middle schoolers every year may have taken some of the edge off of any maternal instincts I may have had. I also think the fact that I had a sister 13 years younger also had an impact. I knew that babies weren't just fun and cute. But those were not the most significant reasons that I made a conscious decision to not bear children.</p>
<p>I was born into an alcoholic family, and it was clear to me then that it was somehow genetic. Although I was fortunate to not have to deal with substance abuse, I had experienced the uncertainties of living with those who do. I was determined to stop that genetic factor with me and not pass it on.</p>
<p>While I deeply love my husband of 47 years, I soon realized that our approaches to family life would not be the same. Our relationship is like many of my generation. Although I eventually earned my doctorate and had a highly successful career which he respected and supported, at home his decisions still dominated. I felt that if we had children, we would most likely end up divorced or I would live my life frustrated by his choices for them. And so, I made a conscious decision to live my life with him without children.</p>
<p>Finally, as an educator I was exposed to all the things that impact a child's life in today's world, and it was overwhelming. While I could do what I needed to do at school to help my students have a successful life, it was clear to me that there were many forces coming together in our society that were leading to the kind of upheaval we are seeing today. I didn't want my child to have to live in that kind of a world. I also knew that if my child carried the tendency toward substance abuse and came from a divorced family that he/she would struggle even more in this world. And so, I made the decision to not bring a child into the world I lived in.</p>
<p>These reasons may seem far-fetched to those who yearn for a child, but they have been very clear in my mind for over 30 years. They have not been vague feelings that I could not articulate. For 30 years, they have been a clear list of specific choices I have made to not have children.</p>
<p>What has been interesting to me through the years is how few people have chosen to make that decision. I have had people feel sorry for me because I didn't have children. I remember one day in my 50s looking around my office and realizing that of the two dozen people who I worked with, I was the only one without children—and I was surprised. I had never really noticed before what a minority I was in because I had such a fulfilling life.</p>
<p>I am fortunate to be very close to my nieces and nephews and to experience a form of grandparenting with their children. I have mentored dozens of my friend's children through college frustrations and job searches. So even though I do not have biological children, I have been able to experience many opportunities to interact with the children and young adults in my life in meaningful ways. I have never wished I made a different decision.</p>
<p>—Jen</p>
<p>I am 45 years old and have no children and frankly never wanted any. From a young age I did not feel comfortable holding babies and never had the internal need of wanting to be a mother. I associated more with Barbie and fashionable dolls, not baby dolls.</p>
<p>I do love children and like being around them, but only for short periods of time. They are a lot to handle and you constantly have to be “on” and present, something that frankly drains me.</p>
<p>I went on birth control when I was a teenage virgin, to ensure if and when I had sex I would not get pregnant. In my twenties I focused on my career. My life consisted fashion, friends and fun and I do not regret it. Children never entered into the equation. The friends I had in in my twenties that had children usually had their parents or relatives watch them so they could go out and enjoy their lives. Children seemed like an expensive burden to me.</p>
<p>When my thirties rolled around I had a great job in the apparel industry and I was busy working hard, dating and having fun. I did have a serious boyfriend during that time and we discussed having children. However, he mentioned something that has forever stuck in my mind. “If we have kids now in our thirties, we will be raising teenagers in our fifties.” That was something I knew I did not want to do.</p>
<p>I will admit, I am selfish. I want to do what I want when I want to do it. I enjoy life with my current fiancé as it is. We can sleep in, travel, and pamper ourselves when we want to without having to worry about another person’s life. Yes, it may sound awful to some, but I knew this and therefore decided not to have children.</p>
<p>I think a lot of people have children because they feel it is “the thing to do.” Or that having a child will help keep their relationship going. To the contrary, having children can strain any great relationship. I also believe people decide “we are going to have a baby,” not realizing that the baby grows up fast and you will always be responsible for that life. Even in my forties my Mom calls to see if I need anything! It never ends. Another reason I think people have children is to glorify their own ego. They want to see what their child will look like. How beautiful he/she will be. It’s a reflection of them. I think that is extremely selfish. Then, once they have the child and it’s not the next Jesus, they are disappointed.</p>
<p>For the people that have children and are great parents, I admire them, however in my life, I am very happy with my choice not to have children. You need to do what is right for you.</p>
<p>—Sher M, California</p>
<p>When I was married in 1971, there were pretty much 2 choices: have children and be a housewife or do not have children and do whatever you wanted. I chose to do the latter. When my husband —to whom I am still married—proposed, I told him I didn't think I wanted children so if he did, I wasn't the one to marry. We reconsidered several times but each time came to the same decision: children were not for us. I don't regret not having children but I do regret that there wasn't more support for women to have both children and a career. I know some women my age managed to do both, but it didn't seem possible considering what else I wanted to do with my life. To this day, my in-laws have never forgiven me—my only value to them was to produce grandchildren. But my mom, who loves kids and had two, said it best: if you don't want a baby and all the responsibility that entails, don't have one!</p>
<p>—Saskia, Washington</p>
<p>I hope I would have been a great mom and thought it's something I wanted at one time, but now that I am post-menopausal but not quite 50, I see how much hormones and biology and tradition drive the desire to reproduce and nurture.</p>
<p>My mother went the traditional route and sacrificed her entire identity and replaced it with Self-Sacrificing Mother of the Year, with frustration and anger at this sacrifice always present. We never quite met her expectations for us because she chose to live her life through us.</p>
<p>My younger sister, wildly successful and educated, who vehemently loathed other people's children and her friends' absorption in their kids up through her 30s, has now sadly doubled down on my mother's sacrifice and competes for Best Soccer Mom of All Time. Watching her kids grow up is like painfully watching my own unhappy childhood, and I can see the desperation in my sister's face as her delightful pre-kids personality has disappeared in Stepford Wives fashion. Naturally she pities me for not having this wonderful experience, too.</p>
<p>I'm convinced now the same might have happened to me had I had kids, and now, safe from ever getting pregnant, I see the choices I made in my 20s and 30s were all designed so as not to be in a stable relationship where kids would be the next logical step. Menopause came early like a gift.</p>
<p>Now I am happily married and so very grateful that I will continue to live MY life, learning every day, not demanding my kids live my life for me. At the end of my life, I won't be sad and lonely and, near the end, come to the tragic realization, like my mother did, that she wasn't a great mom after all. She did the best she could, and I am grateful to her in many ways.</p>
<p>I am grateful that I did not raise unhappy kids, as I think I probably would have like my mom did. I view my decision as a loving decision, love for my hypothetical children, not a selfish one.</p>
<p>God bless great parents, who balance their lives between their children and themselves and nurture their own continued development rather than sacrifice themselves completely for their kids. THAT must be the hardest part of parenting. Great parents rarely question my childfree life choice.</p>
<p>—Anonymous</p>
<p>I was married. My husband wanted children. I truly believe the "child switch" would turn on for me, but each year, I felt more and more certain that my life would be complete never raising a child.</p>
<p>I like my freedom. I like being an aunt. I like having my own time.</p>
<p>I'm a giving person. With a big heart. But I don't need to have a child to feel I have a place in the world.</p>
<p>It's incredibly painful to realize you're in a marriage where you alone are not enough. Where your value is determined by your willingness to procreate. No marriage can survive like that and mine certainly didn't.</p>
<p>Today I woke to fourteen inches of snow. My dog and I blissfully tucked in at home. Me working on the computer, him watching through the window for the slightest bit of activity. I'm not trying to placate a whiny child. Stressed that I don't have something to feed a kid (my cupboards are notoriously bare).</p>
<p>Best of all, I'm me and my life is mine. I wouldn't have it any other way. Though I should probably consider moving to a more "single with no kids" kind of place. The middle of Kansas is far more welcoming to those who are just like them—married with children.</p>
<p>—Jessica, Kansas</p>
<p>I've known since I was a child I didn't want to be a mother. I never played with dolls and when adults said. "When you become a mommy..." I replied, "I don't want kids" I was told I'd change my mind, "grow up" and do the right thing. It has never happened.</p>
<p>I've been married for 17 years and it's sad that women think there are no options, that it's a rite of passage to bare children. People look at me like I'm crazy, like something is wrong with me, then you see another look in their face, like it never occurred to them that it was an option—like it’s a secret that childbirth was actually a choice they had, too. I hate how society treats the childfree and hope there is change in motion because I'm sick of comments like: "Who's going to take care of you?", "What do you do do with your time," "I wish I had time to_____", You did, you had choices too,</p>
<p>I thought long and hard about mine and made the right choice. Some mothers (most that I know) don't even realize how miserable they really are, always complaining and then in the next breath saying how you too should change your mind and have one, like you don't get to join their misery club until you give birth. No thanks, I'm good! The more honest ones will say that they love their kids but had they known how much work it was they would never have had them and that child rearing is "just not worth it."</p>
<p>People say that us childfree might regret our choice but I never have, not once had a second thought about it. It's better to regret not having kids then having them and regretting it. I love my life and would not change a thing. I wish more women made thoughtful decisions instead of "if it happens it happens" and they don't use any birth control. I don't get THAT indifference.</p>
<p>—Carrie</p>
<p>I looked at the world and said: "I see no reason to subject a child to living on this messed up planet."</p>
<p>To those politicians clamoring for women to have more babies: breed your own wage slaves!</p>
<p>I'll be 45 this year, so don't expect me to change my mind.</p>
<p>—Anonymous, Michigan</p>
<p>To whom it may concern:</p>
<p>Are you considering parenthood? Then you have a fucked-up gambling problem. There are support groups for deranged lunatics who want to ruin their life. Find one and go immediately. There is still time.</p>
<p>Gambling is a serious addiction and should not go untreated. You run the risk of destroying the precious time you’ve set aside to read and masturbate. You want to recklessly throw your entire life into the hands of a total stranger who doesn't give a shit about you and will never pick up the check. This is not normal behavior. You need help.</p>
<p>If you’re even remotely considering this, then you’ve obviously been spending time with other toxic gambling addicts. They’ve been lying to you. They’ve been spewing unhealthy, condescending bullshit like “you’ll never know what love is until you’ve become a parent.” This is the kind of propaganda desperate people make up when they’re forced to do something so terrible they can’t face it without a stiff drink and a meaningless platitude. They boldly lie and convince you that it’s all worth it. "Give up your money, your time, aspirations, and personality – join our sick little club so we can all be miserable together!"</p>
<p>You see, I know the secret – you don’t have to do this terrible thing. No one can make you. Not your parents, not your friends and not God (of course it’s easier if you hold God and Frosty the Snowman in the same esteem.)</p>
<p>You’ll know you’re on the road to recovery when you'd rather remove all of your skin with an oyster shell than become a parent. If you imagine someone bothering you every moment for the next thirty years and then make a weekly appointment at an abortion clinic “just in case” – you can breathe a sigh of relief. If you’ve hired someone to permanently and painfully wedge a piece of copper into your twat to keep out the "Other"&amp;nbsp;you can finally relax for now you are cured.</p>
<p>Now you realize how lucky you are to own your life - you would never willingly give it away. Close call!</p>
<p>Think about how narrowly you’ve escaped having to pretend you’re overjoyed when some jerk agrees to eat a few carrots. Now you’ll never have to speak to someone you don’t like just because they decided to stop peeing in their pants. Now you’ll never be held responsible for the outcome of someone else’s shitty life. Unless you choose to!</p>
<p>The other secret. If anyone gives you shit about your decision to quit gambling – you can cut them out of your life because they’re worthless assholes. Parents, friends, pets, anyone. If they question you, get rid of them because they are in the grips of a social illness. Simply explain that the world is overpopulated and that you equate having children with giving the world cancer and pretending like it’s your right to do so.</p>
<p>—Liz M, 38, NM</p>
<p>I've been married for 1.5 years and I'm 33. My husband is 38. We like our lives just the way they are. We love sleeping and being lazy. Before we got married we thought we would have children and luckily, we decided to get a dog as a test run. He is super adorable, but enough work for us. Your whole life changes with a child and I would be sad if I had to suddenly put this child ahead of other things—international traveling, gym time, etc. When we get home from work we are already tired and the last thing we want to do is feed, bathe, play with a kid. My sister has two boys with a little girl on the way so I feel like my parents have enough grandchildren. My husband's sister-in-law is currently pregnant so both sides of our family will have little ones running around....just not ours though! We have a dog son and we can at least leave him at home all day and not worry about a babysitter.</p>
<p>—JJ, CA</p>
<p>We’re the type of people who probably should have children. Responsible, hard-working and with old-school beliefs about being accountable for your own actions and making your own way in the world.</p>
<p>My husband and I started our relationship when we were young: just 16 and 18. When you’re that age, discussing whether to have kids isn’t a priority. After marrying in our early 20’s, we always said we would have kids “someday.” That felt like a lifetime away.</p>
<p>After 10 years of marriage, our ambivalence towards kids has been consistent. There’s always been another reason why now isn’t the right time. We simply lacked the desire to actually do it.</p>
<p>Two years ago, we finally said we “should” have kids. Being early 30’s it was time to put that into action and we decided to start trying once we returned from an overseas holiday. I was hellishly uncomfortable with the prospect and my husband wasn’t enthusiastic either.</p>
<p>We lived with relatives who regularly had their grandkids for the weekend – every time I saw these kids, my immediate thoughts were “I don’t want that”. I’m a self-confessed child hater and I don’t enjoy the company of children. Relating to them or enjoying child-related activities is a battle I have no chance of winning.</p>
<p>I started reading books (such as Laura Carroll’s Families of Two) and my eyes suddenly opened: having children is optional. The decision to remain childfree was not made for me overnight; I’ve spent months analysing this decision to ensure we are making an informed choice.</p>
<p>We discussed questions like these:</p>
<p>- What would it do to our relationship? We’re happy together – why should we change that dynamic?</p>
<p>- As a potential mother, am I willing to give up my career or change companies in order to remain closer to home? Would taking time off for maternity leave be career suicide? Working in the fast-paced and ever-changing IT industry, what are my chances of re-entering it once my skills are outdated?</p>
<p>- If I traded working for child-rearing, how would I get the intellectual stimulation I need? If I continued working, who would raise my kid while I’m working and spending hours commuting each day? Why would I have a kid then pay someone else to raise it?</p>
<p>- Who would become the guardian if we both died? Given our options in this country, how do we feel about having someone with an opposing political view and parenting style raise our children? Would we prefer our kids be returned to our home country?</p>
<p>- What about the hobbies we both enjoy? Would we have to sacrifice them indefinitely? If having a baby required this, would I have an identity other than being someone’s wife and mother?</p>
<p>- Do I want to spend an enormous portion of my life chauffeuring kids around, attending kid’s birthday parties or school sports days? What about caring for sick children and refereeing sibling fights? Will experiencing “culture” be restricted only to productions of The Wiggles? Do we want to spend our lives being judged by sanctimommies or participate in “competitive parenting”?</p>
<p>After careful deliberation, it was easy to see that we don’t want our lives to be dictated by children. We're adventurers and we only get one shot at this life. We want to spend it doing things that make us happy.</p>
<p>—Arow, Australia</p>
<p>"I am a 47-year-old woman living in Brooklyn, NY. I'm not sure if I consciously chose not to have children but here are some of the reasons why I'm part of the "childless revolution"—</p>
<p>Economics: I earn my own salary and take care of myself. I don't have to rely on someone for my livelihood. This probably led to</p>
<p>Comfort: I remained single longer, got a little set in my ways and the older you get, the harder it is to meet someone or even be willing to change to accommodate that person.</p>
<p>Other family members with kids: Having nephews and a niece helps fill that part of me that never had kids.</p>
<p>Bad parenting: I've seen so much of this—whether it is an over-indulgent parent or one who ignores their child. Upsetting to see.</p>
<p>Bad marriages: Sadly I see too many of them. It doesn't help that married friends tell you not to get married. Less than half seem truly happy.</p>
<p>Sure there's a part of me that wishes for marriage and kids—but not at the expense of all above.</p>
<p>—Anonymous, New York</p>
<p>I am a 65 year old woman who started taking birth control pills at 18. Yes, they have been around that long. I was one of the first generation to have that option. Through multiple marriages I never felt my home life was stable enough to bring children into. And yes, I was a bit selfish and didn't want to give up the freedom.</p>
<p>—Melanie, California</p>
<p>I assumed I'd have children. As an only child I wanted lots of them, at least four, and I wanted boys. I wanted a loud, boisterous, sports loving house. Of course I was 6 when I decided this, so what did I know? More importantly, a week away from 35, here is what I know: I don't want children. I got married right out of college, and then I got divorced.</p>
<p>I became involved with a highly unsuitable much older man with three children of his own - talk about a crash course in child rearing. Teenagers really are just horrible, soul sucking, completely unpredictable balls of hormones.</p>
<p>I got out and on my own for the first time ever in my late 20s and you know what? I loved it! I went to graduate school, I pursued career opportunities I had only previously imagined. I traveled, I moved every year and made my mother crazy in the process. But I loved it. I made mistakes, I fell on my face, I formed friendships that go so deep I don't even have words to describe them. I had fun, I lived it up.</p>
<p>And I learned so much along the way. I learned that I love my life, I love the freedom of not having children, I learned (vicariously) that pregnancy sucks and that no matter how far we have come, women still do the lion's share of child rearing and housework.</p>
<p>I actively shun a life of half-lived mediocrity on all sides. If I've got one shot at this then I'm going to do things well and to the fullest, and for me that means a career I am fulfilled by, a life of new experiences and travel and good food and great friends. I would like a person to share those things with, but not children. Not now. Not as the person I have become and learned to love.</p>
<p>—Anonymous</p>
<p>When I was a teenager, I watched while girls in my freshman class pored over Brides magazine picking out their future wedding dress. I remember thinking how silly this was since getting married and having a family is not inevitable. I always knew it was a choice. As I went through my twenties, I never sustained a relationship beyond a year or two and did not think of getting married to anyone I dated. I my thirties I met someone I was serious about and ending up marrying when I turned 40. Both of us were still grappling with our careers and paying off student debt that we did not think of starting a family. I never felt a maternal urge and thought about what a bother it would be for me to have a child. We both like to travel and go to the Opera and bike so having kid would definitely put a kink in our lifestyle.</p>
<p>When I turned 43 my gynecologist reminded me that if I was planning on having kids the time was now. I told her no but decided to bring it up with my husband because it is not only my decision to make. He said his initial reaction was not to have kids but once he thought about it, he thought he could do it. I threw away my pack of pills and we tried for about 6 months to get pregnant.</p>
<p>In the meantime, I was having doubts. A few of my friends who are my age had kids with born with mental and physical defects which freaked me out. An autistic child next door to me vocalizes all day and cannot complete a sentence. If I were to have a kid, I would want it to be healthy and there was no guarantee that this would be the case. It is hard enough raising a child but a child with special needs is another story. I was afraid I would resent the child if that happened so I decided to resume the pill. My husband was upset but said it's my body and I can decide what I want. I am 46, and I sometimes wonder if I made the right decision.</p>
<p>—Anonymous</p>
<p>My husband and I do not want kids. We love animals, and we have a very spoiled cat and dog. I know a lot of my husbands feelings towards not wanting children stem from a unpleasant relationship with his father, and me? I don't want the responsibility for 18+ years, or having my vagina shred, let alone a bunch of people looking at it… and I just don't have that maternal feeling towards children. I love being able to do whatever I want. We can have sex anywhere, we can pick up and go camping or on a road trip, we can smoke pot whenever we want, and we don't have to worry about making an impression on anyone.</p>
<p>Since I was a very young child I had always dreamed of one day adopting a family to call my own. I never wanted to have biological children, it seemed selfish and cruel to leave countless orphaned or abandoned kids without homes. I was on the verge of adoption in 2008 when I was laid off from my job in Salt Lake City, Utah and the prospect of starting a family seemed even more daunting. I was considering adopting again in 2009 when I had found comparable work in Boise, Idaho but was laid off again the end of that same year. The social services field was in continual upheaval and the future seemed bleak. I am now living in New York CIty where I hope that my Teaching Fellowship position will provide greater stability and an opportunity to start a family but frankly without going through the foster-care system and relying on the funding available to foster parents I wouldn't be able to afford to start a family on my own, especially not in the city. It's not the circumstance that I dreamed of, but I know that being even a foster parent will make a difference.</p>
<p>—N, NY</p>
<p>I am a 22 year old female living and working in Manhattan. I grew up wanting the whole shebang: Prince Charming, white picket fence and our cooing angel-faced children. That was until about a year ago when I sat on a train and stared in horror at a very young woman trying to control her kids to no avail. It was right then that I thought to myself, "I never want to have children.” As I pondered my revelation I came to discover multiple reasons for my decision. First off the idea of pushing a 6-10 pound human being through my lady parts seems absolutely horrifying. Second it is a huge time commitment that I believe I want to spend doing other things (working, traveling, possibly participating in less than socially acceptable activities...)</p>
<p>But more than anything the decision really came from the fact that no one had really talked about the option of deciding not to have kids. It was always a part of the plan: Graduate college, have a career, get married, have kids, die. In my opinion people, and women specifically, consume so much time and energy with the thoughts of finding the right partner and reproducing that it takes time away from other important areas of life. And they are not presented with the option early enough to really decide what they want. If I had to guess, I would say there is a large population of people that regret having children but it is taboo to say such things and one would be labeled as dastardly if they were ever to own up to such feelings.</p>
<p>I've had this conversation with countless people since the day of my "awakening" and I have also come to realize that I may not always hold this view. In five or ten years I could wake up and that instinct to have a child could very well be there, who knows. But at the end of the day the conversation about whether to have kids or not to have kids is just not happening, and those who do choose the childless lifestyle are generally looked down upon in the eyes of society as vagabonds who are missing something vital, when in reality the decision not to have children is just as legitimate and the decision to have them.</p>
<p>—Amber, NY</p>
<p>When I was growing up, I always assumed I'd have kids. Friends would talk about how many, what names, gender preferences, and all the associated details. I joined in, and happily.</p>
<p>It came to me one day, with no provocation from what I can recall, that I had never thought over whether I wanted to have kids. I'd made an assumption that I would, and had never thought about the kids decision after that. And that's when I realized, at 17 years old, that no, I did not want to have kids. It wasn't a revolt, or a revulsion, or a fear. It was a bit of a revelation in how suddenly and finally this knowledge came to me. I simply knew I wasn't supposed to be a parent, much in the same way many people know they are supposed to be parents. It's not that I'm determined not to reproduce, per se, it's that having kids just isn't for me. I'm comfortable with this, and looking forward to many of the other milestones and joys that come with living.</p>
<p>I'm also looking forward to my child-minded friends having children of their own. I'll have fun being an aunt, or a parents' friend, or an occasional babysitter on my friends' date nights. That's a hard thing for many other people to understand. I like kids. But I don't want them for my own.</p>
<p>Please don't tell me I'll change my mind. I've known for six years now that having kids wasn't for me, and I'm also lucky enough to have married someone who feels the same way.</p>
<p>You don't say to a 16-year-old who's planning on having kids that she's too young to know if she wants to and will change her mind when she'd older; why would you say that to a 23-year-old who plans on remaining childless? You don't say to a Democrat they'll see the light later on and convert to Republicanism. You don't tell a chef that his or her true calling must be in another profession, and that the Chef is just being self-centered until they change careers. Parenthood is a wonderful thing for so many people, but the attitudes I've encountered over my not wanting children hasn't been sympathy over my missing out on something great (although really, I can imagine that would be annoying enough), it's been an attitude of superiority, one of the know-it-all, the prophet or clairvoyant. This is coming from my mostly childless peers as well. This comes from the neighbor who mansplains to me that he can tell I'll want kids later. This comes from the friend who insists that since my parents' lives wouldn't have been as fulfilling had they not had children, my life surely can't be as fulfilling without offspring. This comes from the in-laws who want their male relative to have a fertile wife, and who think our decision to be childless is my decision to be childless and he must be going along with it.</p>
<p>These conversations never start with my loudly, bluntly proclaiming, "I'm not having kids! And I think having kids is a bad idea, not that I've even thought about it very much myself!" This comes up when people discuss career goals, dream vacations, or their own thoughts on raising kids later on. My contribution, if I say anything related to the compensations in career or vacation when there are children at home, or when people state their plans for when and how often they'd like to give birth, is a simple, "We're not having kids." Then I'm happy listening to their plans, or answering any polite questions they may have. But that's rarely the end of their scrutiny.</p>
<p>Here is what I say to them: I'm actually pretty good at knowing my own opinion. My life is fulfilling now. I will always work on making the world a better place, and I can help accomplish that without raising another human being. What makes some people happy doesn't work for others. I have better communication with my husband than you do. I accept fully, wholeheartedly, and happily that you do want children. Please accept me, and respect me, too.</p>
<p>–Hannah, Oregon</p>
<p>I vowed to never have children at a young age. I grew up in an extremely non-nuclear family. That is: no dad, mom constantly working/dating, and 2 little brothers who needed raising. At 12 I took the reins and at 18 I escaped to college, confident that I had raised those boys well enough that they would get on without me. Though not perfect, I can safely say that my brothers are currently successful men.</p>
<p>This is not a tirade against divorce or against the working mother. Times can be rough and raising 3 children is expensive. However, raising my brothers was all the motherhood I needed in life. I was consistently told that I would grow out of this; that, come my mid-twenties, I would be lured in by bald mini-people and tiny shoes.</p>
<p>Well, that didn't happen. I dated several men who wanted children. Who joked with me that, if we ended up getting married, they would "trick" me into getting pregnant and I would love it. But, even when I thought I was head-over-heels for a Midwestern boy determined to fill his house to the attic with kids, I knew my womb would remain empty.</p>
<p>My mother is still unhappy and some friends still joke I'll pop a few out; but my resolve is unwavering. My stable, long-term paramour and I both agree that children are not in the cards for us. While I can appreciate kids from afar, and while I make a killer Auntie, I know I am too selfish, too easily bored, and just too damn tired to ever have kids. I don't want the strain on my body, wallet, or life, and would much prefer seeing the world for myself than focusing on not screwing up the world of someone else.</p>
<p>Besides, who wants to rear a child in a world hurtling toward the plot of Idiocracy anyway?</p>
<p>–Beth, NY</p>
<p>I'm 34 and have been married for 5 years. We discussed children very early on, but I have never really wanted kids. I was about 12 when I heard my mother on the phone telling someone that she couldn't wait until we were all grown and out of the house, then she could "do stuff again." I guess I just decided I never wanted to stop "doing stuff" long enough have a baby.</p>
<p>–Jen, Missouri</p>
<p>I was in the United States Air Force in 1981. I wanted to get my tubes tied, because I knew I didn't want kids and the procedure would be free. The military doctor (a man) I asked to perform the procedure refused because he "knew" I would change my mind. I'm now 51, never had kids and never regretted it. I did marry and after many years of taking (and paying out of pocket) for birth control pills, my husband graciously agreed to get a vasectomy. Our lives are whole and happy and I don't miss not having had kids, although it's difficult to project what that might have been like. I know that I had a lot of great wild times in my 20's and early 30's that I look back on fondly that would have been impossible if I had children then. I'm so glad there was no Facebook in the 1980's! HA!</p>
<p>Now after reading this article, I hope I can still rely on the kindness of strangers in my old age! Yikes!</p>
<p>BTW, I have two siblings, one older sister and an older brother, who is deceased, and they never had kids either. So I guess we are the last of the line."</p>
<p>—Lisa B, CA</p>
<p>One of my main reasons for not wanting to have children? You don't know what kind of parent your partner will be until there's no turning back.</p>
<p>Several of my friends with children have husbands who are not very supportive of their wives. The mothers do the majority of the child-rearing work, and the fathers are content to watch TV or play video games, totally unaware of how overwhelmed their wives are. Then the wives either have to ask/plead with/nag their blissfully unaware husbands to be more participatory, or the wives soldier on as basically a single parent in a two-parent household. These women are in California, Texas, and Georgia, range from rich to middle class to poor, and have varying levels of education.</p>
<p>Even more annoying, have you heard of a guy say he has to "babysit" his children when his wife has something to do? How can one "babysit" his own children? It's as if these fathers are so disconnected from thinking of themselves as a parent, anytime they spend time rearing their child without the supervision of their wife is viewed as a favor or chore. The saddest part is that these husbands seem to think that they're good parents. They hold the kid for a few minutes, or read her a story, or "babysit" her, and think they've done a fantastic job. Moreover, each of my friends' husbands really wanted to have children! Naturally, the wives had no idea that they'd be on their own as a parent. (Or if they did, I feel even sorrier for them.)</p>
<p>I know there are great supportive dads out there who are egalitarian with their child-rearing duties. I have seen maybe one or two in my life. So the chances of me being a married "single" parent are very, very high—and I don't want to be a single parent. I'm content with being an "aunt" to my friends' kids.</p>
<p>—Anonymous</p>
<p>I am 41, female, and have known I never wanted kids since I was about 15. I think that must have been when I started to realize that it could be a very difficult thing to exist in this world—that there was great suffering all around, and there would always be.</p>
<p>Even in my youth I knew that part of what made me feel that way was my own brain chemistry—that I felt things maybe too deeply for my own good—and I knew that I would not want to bring a child into the world that might end up with my same tendencies towards depression. Even though I don't struggle with that as much as I did when younger, I still think that in itself was a good reason not to have children.</p>
<p>Also, I have always known that there are plenty of kids who have been brought into this world without a stable family situation, and I thought that if I did ever change my mind I would rather adopt someone who was already here and needed a good and loving home.</p>
<p>As I've gotten older and seen my wonderful friends have their kids and begin to raise them, I am secure in my decision. I see how hard it is and I see how amazing it is, and I am awed by my friends' parenting skills. Those are some lucky kids.</p>
<p>—Astrid, Oregon</p>
<p>I am a 42-year-old woman who decided in my early 30s that having children was just not for me. In my 20s, I thought my future would have me follow society's conventions and get married and have a family. However, as my siblings and friends began having children, the more time I spent around the kids, the more I realized that lifestyle did not suit me. The more time I spent around babies, the more it solidified that I did not want my own. I can appreciate the hard work and dedication of parents and the rewards that parenting brings, but in the end the best decision for me was to maintain my independent, spontaneous lifestyle. Some may call it selfish, but I see it as a courageous decision to buck the societal norms and make the choice to be childless.</p>
<p>So many times I would hear "well, you'll change your mind once you meet the right man." Many people cannot accept that a woman CHOOSES not to have children. That sentiment is slowly changing, thankfully. Luckily, my choice has never impacted my relationships with men, and my partner and I share the decision of not wanting children. In fact, I recently underwent a permanent sterilization and have not one regret about it. My family has never questioned or wondered about my decision—in fact sometimes they joke that I'm the "smart one" in the family for not having kids! Having nieces and nephews is just fine with me.</p>
<p>—Anon</p>
<p>I have known since I was a kid that I did not want kids. I never had the fantasy dream of getting married, having kids, etc. I personally never even thought I would ever get married, but I did- twice.</p>
<p>During my first marriage, my husband tried to "force" me to have kids, even though he knew from the beginning that not only did I not WANT kids, I HATED them.... After 8 years of marriage he finally gave me an ultimatum (by that December), that I was tostart trying to have kids or we were going to get a divorce. I was on birth control pills and at the time, the clinic I was going to knew full well how I felt about kids and that I never wanted them.</p>
<p>After the ultimatum, I was at the clinic and told them what was going on and they told me I could get an IUD there and it was good for 5 years and I could "pretend" like I was trying to get pregnant just to remain married. I gave it much consideration, but in the end I knew my marriage needed to be over anyways.</p>
<p>After coming back from a hunting vacation that I did not go on (since I was not "allowed" to go hunting and was only going to be allowed to stay in the motel) he started his same old name calling and said, "and you're not having my kid, eitherm are you?", to which I replied "NO, I'm not having ANYONE'S kid.” We then started divorce proceedings and before the divorce was even final I went and got my tubes tied (free of charge here in Arkansas).</p>
<p>My life was a total disaster but I kept a notebook of my goals and upon divorcing I completed them all in under 6 months! At that time I was not looking to meet another man, but as fate has it, I met Gabe and we have been married almost 10 years now. He knew from the moment I met him that (1) I did not have kids (2) I did not want kids and (3) I hate kids. I also told him that the only things I care about are cars and motorcycles. We married after 6 months of dating. He doesn't like kids either!</p>
<p>Ten years later nothing has changed. We do what we want, when we want and to what extent we want. Our whole life revolves around buying things that we love. Our current and most obsessive love is old Harleys! I have 4 motorcycles now and have been getting featured in a lot of magazines and blogs.</p>
<p>I don't care what other people think or say. I know in the end they are just jealous that they cannot do the things I do because they don't have the freedom or the money to do them. If we want to go eat at midnight or go for a three-day cruise or whatever, we CAN!</p>
<p>It is definitely a decision I will NEVER regret and it is probably my greatest accomplishment. We even have a "No Children Allowed" sign on the front of our house. There are truly no children allowed at my house and another great accomplishment of mine is to say that I have NEVER held or touched a baby- a fact that I am QUITE proud of! How many females can say that?</p>
<p>We live an AMAZING life without children. When I drive my Corvette I see the looks it gets from all the people that have children. People now are becoming more honest and telling me that they wish they would have never had children and that if they didn't, maybe they could have a Corvette or Harley also.</p>
<p>—Chris G, Arkansas</p>
<p>I knew when I was ten years old that having children was not in my future. As the youngest of five in a traditional Irish Catholic family, I was burdened with the care of a terminally-ill mother starting at the age of eight. My siblings all managed their level best to help but failed to see the daily load that crushed me. In practical terms, I was the one who did the work of running the household. I believe that I raised my family and truly did not want to have that responsibility as an adult. Further, I never wanted to have a child who could possibly be burdened with what I grew up in.</p>
<p>My body did the work of making me sterile. I underwent surgery to remove one burst fallopian tube at the age of 19 and the second at the age of 20. I remember the doctor telling me after the first surgery that I was good candidate for in vitro fertilization should I want children in the future. I thought (but never said) Hell no!</p>
<p>When I got married, I would ask my husband every six months or so if he wanted children. He answer was always 'not if you don't'. I told him that if he ever changed his mind, I would grant him the quickest, easiest divorce known to mankind. I was that certain. We are still happily married after 22 years.</p>
<p>I am as certain now at 50 as I was at 8 that this was the correct action for me. I have a life as an adult that I wasn't granted as a child and am satisfied with my choices.</p>
<p>—Ann S, MI</p>
<p>I grow weary of people telling me that BECAUSE I came from a bad home, it would be more likely that I would go out of my way to be a good mother. Unless someone could give me powerful proof of how virtuous I would be as a mother despite my dysfunctional upbringing, then they shouldn’t make that assumption nor would I submit a child to be a guinea pig in that experiment. My mother was raised by a mother who didn’t want her. She turned around and became a mother who was a complete narcissist because she had never had enough attention. After 5 husbands and her numerous dramatic breakdowns, leaving home as soon as I was legally able to do so was my means of survival. It did not instill in me some maternal instinct for my future children. I never felt that instinct. When I met my husband over 13 years ago and I was still safely within childbearing age, I kept waiting for that desire to happen. The fact is, it never did. So I wanted to be different than the previous women in my life and actually listen to my instincts to not have a child. To not have children when you think that maybe you wouldn’t do such a good job being a mother is a hard decision. And for those who assume childless couples are selfish, well they need to walk a mile in my shoes.</p>
<p>—Anonymous, CT</p>
<p>"I'm not sure we'll never have kids, but I am currently 32, married for four years, and we are childless as of yet and I grow increasingly concerned that we will never be able to have children if we want them.</p>
<p>It's purely economical. I have a mortgage worth of student debt, literally—my education cost almost exactly what my parent's house in New Hampshire did. I graduated from law school in 2009, when jobs were scarce. They still are. My husband got a teaching degree in 2010, when teaching jobs in New Jersey evaporated. We've both been struggling with unemployment and underemployment, and we're just now starting to make some headway.</p>
<p>It seems irresponsible to have a child now. Not to mention the fact that it would seriously impair my career prospects. I get asked pointed questions about my intentions towards children all the time in interview. Never mind that they're not supposed to ask me about things like that. Never mind the fact that my husband and I agreed that if one of us has to take care of a child full time, it can't be me, my field punishes women who leave the workforce too heavily, and the only way we'll ever pay off my debt is if I work full time: people still look at me and go "young woman, early thirties, married for a few years, watch, we hire her, and she'll be on maternity leave within the year, and then she'll go part time, and then we'll lose her entirely and we'll be hiring again this time next year."</p>
<p>I can't afford a child if I don't work. If I have a child, getting and keeping work will be harder. It's hard enough when people think I might want one.</p>
<p>I've gotten into it with family about whether these constant delays—and possibly forgoing children altogether, if the situation never really improves, or if it takes so long to improve that time runs out—is selfish of me. I find this depressing. If I had a child I could not support, society—and these same family members—would doubtless call me selfish. But not having a child because I can't support one is also selfish, as if I am waiting until I can afford to have a child and fancy shoes and eat out all the time and go on expensive vacations and so on rather than waiting until I can have a child and still pay the rent on our very modest apartment and not get sued by my student lenders.</p>
<p>Make up your mind, society.</p>
<p>—Anonymous</p>
<p>I never felt the urge to be a mom. If it happens, then I will deal with it, but I have a wonderful life with my husband and I don't want it to change to the degree required by parenthood. I love that my free time is mine and that we can afford nice vacations and watch our shows and movies. I love my nieces and nephews, but find playing their games tedious and I don't want that for myself. I see friends and relatives with children and how much their relationships have changed and I don't like it.</p>
<p>If my husband stresses me out now because of the things he does or doesn't do or the ways he does or doesn't contribute around the house, how much worse will I be with children around! I imagine we would resent each other very quickly and have to give up many of the fun things that we do and that make us "us." My husband in my number-one priority and I his; why would we want to change this so we can be slaves to a child? A child who will alter our finances, upset the balance and harmony of the house, that will need to be sent to a failing school system, and that requires so much attention in order to turn out "right." I know how much hard work it takes to raise a child and make sure it is smart, kind, and all of the good traits we want in our citizens of the world. I don't want to take that on.</p>
<p>I'm 37 and my window is closing. We have discussed this ad nauseum and are still committed to prioritizing each other and our careers. We have worked too hard to give it up now or debt and aggravation. If we change our minds, we would much rather adopt or foster (when we are further along our career paths) and help out those kids and teens who have never had anyone. We don't need more people on this earth, we need to take better care of those already on it. It is a complicated issue and one I think about all the time. I want to make sure this life doesn't appeal to me, but it never has and may never. Just like you may know you don't want to jump out of a helicopter, I know I don't want to have babies.</p>
<p>—Anonymous, CA</p>
<p>I'm a 32-year-old multinational sales manager with a marketing degree and MBA. I'm currently single, and have chosen to be childless. This profile is not common in my country, where only 2% of the population have the opportunity to start college and less than 50% of that group graduates. The usual (for non indigenous women) is to marry in their late 20s and have one or two kids. In native, more traditional communities, girls are often married at 15 and become mothers of five or six children before they turn 30.&amp;nbsp;Important to mention that these women drop school before even finishing elementary. They need not to plan for the future, since their descendants are meant to be their late-day guardians and will take care of their every need until their death.</p>
<p>These statistics sounded scary for me when growing up. I come from a single-parent family, and am a single child, so I spent a fair amount of time on my own, usually reading. By the time I was 10, I started questioning everything I was taught in church and school, both tried to impose what I was supposed to feel, say and do as a Catholic, nice girl. Although I tried to belong to this traditional group (and got married at age 21) one day I decided to be happy rather than adequate. During the three years I was married, I took a treatment for not getting pregnant: I had a career to finish. I also wasn't sure I wanted kids with someone who didn't seem committed enough. I believe it was the right choice.</p>
<p>I've had a couple meaningful relationships since, parallel to studying my MBA and building my career. These two things have kept me busy, that's true, but the main reason behind my postponed motherhood was the consciousness of the huge responsibility raising a human being is, and having the certainty that my partner at the time was not prepared to deal with it. I basically didn't want to wake up one morning ten years from now and realize I've been raising my kids alone, without the necessary support, emotionally and economically.</p>
<p>As this idea became more evident to me, I found myself relieved and liberated from the pressure of time getting too old to have kids, and lost my uncertainty of the future with concise retirement plans. I've also met many women with the same mindset, many of them are now close friends. We are all sure being a mother is a wonderful choice, and love kids, but prefer to enjoy our freedom: freedom regarding schedule, money, activities... But mostly the freedom to decide over our own lives.</p>
<p>—Ana Mazariegos, Guatemala</p>
<p>My wife and I are childless because of the typical economic considerations and atypical emotional reasons.</p>
<p>First the typical: we don't earn enough money for one person to support the family. We decided that daycare would be out of the question, even though we could afford it. We would want to raise our kids and not hand it off to someone else while we work.</p>
<p>Now the atypical: My mother largely checked out of the parent role when I was 6. Yes she was around, but she clearly shifted her priorities to herself when she filed for divorce and began ramping up for a career. Her being neglectful and absent left deep scars. (Thankfully, my father took up the torch and left no doubt that we were looked after.)</p>
<p>My wife has a similar tale.</p>
<p>We both believe that parenting is an all-in or nothing proposition. Without the resources and with reservations informed by the past experiences, we remain childless.</p>
<p>—Anonymous</p>
<p>It's not much of a story. It's just a choice. I never had a strong maternal urge, knew I could be happy with or without kids, married a guy who didn't want them, the end. No problem, happy life, and fully funded in retirement.</p>
<p>—Anonymous</p>
<p>"Having kids is a “want” - a desire - not a need and I just don't want them nor have I ever felt the need for them. It's really that simple. No further introspection required.</p>
<p>According to society, I am "selfish." Of course, I've yet to hear a reason to have children that didn't start with "I want," but yeah, I'm the selfish one. In a way, I will fully admit that I am. I am fiercely protective of my personal time and space, am very comfortable with my own company (unlike a lot of people) and don't feel the need for constant social interaction. I love the sound of an empty apartment, especially after a 40-hour (or more) work week.</p>
<p>I can't even say I “chose” to be childfree. That would imply a conscious choice you make after giving it much thought. I knew at a VERY young age I would never have children and I never gave it any thought. I don't hate children, I just don't like them enough to want one of my own. I don't like cats enough to want one of them, either.</p>
<p>It is an extremely, self-serving myth that childfree by choice people are "lonely." To believe such is self-validation for people with children. The overreaction to people who dare say they don't like kids only goes to underline their own insecurities because, whether they realize it or not, they assume my choice to not have children is a condemnation of their choice to have them. It's not. As far as I'm concerned, kids are like religion. I don't care if you have it, I just get tired of you trying to convince me you're a better person because you do. You're not. And you aren't special because you did something every species on this planet can do. It's not a "gift from god,” it's just biology.</p>
<p>It's had no real impact on my interactions with relatives. There is a small clutch who are close-minded and have no problem (rudely) telling me I will feel differently when I have my own children — I'm almost 40 but they still tell me that. At least they stopped asking if I was a lesbian. And it is EXTREMELY rude to have someone tell you you'll feel differently when you have your own kids — it's akin to telling someone they are too stupid to make the choice on whether to have an abortion so the choice must be made for them.</p>
<p>Parents and CFbc people just don't think the same. People with children see a childless person and assume they want kids. CFbc people see a childless person and don't assume anything either way. "Oh, she's so precious. Don't you just want a dozen of them?" said no Childfree by choice person, ever. At least not about babies.</p>
<p>As for the impact on relationships with significant others, non-issue. Most guys I've dated were actually relieved to hear I've no interest in having kids. At my age, wanting kids and not yet having them puts intense pressure on a relationship to move it along faster than might be good for both parties.</p>
<p>Beyond that, condoms are a girl's bestfriend. Better still, "chicks dig scars" and my partner's vasectomy scar is the sexiest one of all (that's a joke, there's no real scar).</p>
<p>—Jennifer, Texas</p>
<p>I am turning 38 next month, my husband will be 40 this year, and we are childfree by choice. It was a easy discussion ("You don't want kids?" "Nope" "Me neither.") and most of our friends and relatives haven't given us any flack about it. In fact, more than a few have confidentially expressed their jealousy. Bringing a child into the world is a momentous decision, not to be taken lightly, with huge ramifications. If you are at all ambivalent about it, you shouldn't do it just because it's what traditionally comes next. We are very happy with our lives they way they are. When people criticize our choice, or try and convince us that we are wrong, I get the sense that they are really trying to justify their own situation. Someone who tells me that children "don't change your life that much" is either in denial, a bad parent, or has a live-in nanny. If I was independently wealthy and didn't have to work for a living I might consider adopting a child a very worthwhile endeavor - a real positive contribution to the world. In the meantime, I'll continue to volunteer, donate blood, pay plenty of taxes, and be a "productive" member of society in other ways!</p>
<p>—Sherry, NH</p>
<p>The term is child-free. I don't have children because I choose not to, not because I am unable to (which childless implies). I'm 42 and have never had any desire to be anyone's mother for a number of reasons. My husband and I share a fun and fulfilling life. Why is a woman expected to defend her decision not to have children?</p>
<p>—Anonymous</p>
<p>Some big decisions, I think, come about through the slow accretion of hundreds of other small decisions over the years. I didn't choose to childless--but I got a PhD, which delayed the clock. I didn't choose to be childless--but I took time to travel, which made long-term partnership challenging. I didn't choose to be childless--but I broke off an engagement, which removed an opportunity for kids. And so here, in my early 40s, I suppose, yes, I guess I did make a choice to childless, though I've actually never stated that until this moment of typing. It's how glaciers become the sea, right? One fraction of a degree at a time.</p>
<p>—Andi, OH</p>
<p>Why don’t I have kids? Wrong question, really. Every person’s default status is to be childless; one has to actually take some action, make some decision (we hope) to become a parent. And since bringing a child into the world or deciding to rear one has such massive consequences for that life, shouldn’t we be more concerned about how, when, and why people make the decision to become parents? But I suppose that’s a question for another time.</p>
<p>To answer YOUR question… Ask 10 different childfree people why they are childfree and you’ll get 100 different answers (I should know – I’m a sociologist who studies childfree adults). I am childfree because I live at a time and in a place where I get to make that choice. I have the right and the ability to be a sexually active person without becoming pregnant. I have the right and the ability to find fulfillment in ways that do not include children – I have a marriage that I adore and want to put my energy toward, I have a job that I love and want to succeed at, I have hobbies that I enjoy that I want to learn about and become proficient in. Even more, if ever I want to make a direct, interpersonal difference in a child’s life, all I need to do is reach out to any child – my nieces, my nephews, my neighbors, my friend’s kids, my students. All children need caring adults in their lives who are not their parents.</p>
<p>Most importantly, there are millions of humans who already exist who need care. Why are we so intent on creating more human beings when we already have too many? I guess that brings us back to my original question, the more pressing question. Rather than asking, “Why don’t you have kids?,” we should be asking, “Why DO you have kids?”</p>
<p>—Amy B, Professor of Sociology</p>
<p>I am 53, married for 26 years. My husband and I made the decision not to have children prior to getting married. I was on birth control pills for years, and when I got my OBGYN to agree to it- I got a tubal ligation. I never felt a maternal instinct with babies or children. I did not want my life dictated by child chores - taking the kids to school, soccer practice, etc. I also felt that having children was a great expense that I did not want to pay for. I also wanted to travel and see the world.</p>
<p>Another big reason for not wanting children was seeing the problems other people were having with their children.Raising children with developmental disabilities which caused great stress in their marriages and subsequent divorce. Or, having children who turned out bad–drug addicted, in jail, etc. It appeared to me that having children was a gamble. You are bringing a person into your life whom you don’t know anything about, and how they will develop as a person. They could be great kids or like a bomb thrown into your life, ruining it forever. I don't gamble.</p>
<p>Sometimes, I wonder if I will regret not having children when I get really old. But, then I think about all the elderly in nursing homes who got dumped there by their children, and who rarely visit. It used to make sense in the old days when a family needed many children to take care of the elderly, keep the family farm producing. In those days, your children was your retirement plan. Not anymore.</p>
<p>I have had some people tell me that I am selfish, but how can I be selfish in regards to someone that does not exist? Most people tell me that I made a smart decision. A coworker told me that the smartest people she knew had no children.</p>
<p>—Anonymous, WA</p>
<p>"They loved each other too much to have children." I'd read a novel called Staying On by Paul Scott. It wasn't about children, but about an elderly couple. They didn't have children, and that single simple explanation stuck in my mind, so that later, when my wife and I were talking about our choices, it came back to me.</p>
<p>We both agreed that neither of us had a strong desire to have our own children. We have friends who did and have seen the impact it makes on people's lives. I'm sure it strengthens some relationships and is a source of joy to many. But wow, children can also take over people's days and years, sucking life out of them and leaving partners much less time for each other. My wife and I married to spend our lives with each other, not with anyone else. We didn't want anyone new coming between us.</p>
<p>People call it “starting a family.” We feel we already are a family. We've found our happiness, and we don't feel the need to seek a new kind. And children are a gamble. You don't know what kind of person you'll invite into your home and heart. We might not like our child. It does happen, despite what everyone tells you. And we are not prepared to take that risk. We love each other too much to do otherwise and want to continue doing that and being happy all our lives.</p>
<p>Who will look after us when we get old? We don't know. But having a child for that reason must be the most selfish justification of all.</p>
<p>—Alex W, Washington</p>
<p>I choose to be childfree for a few reasons. Firstly, pregnancy seems like a hassle and terrifying all at the same time. You literally have a parasite feeding off of you. How does that not make people squeamish just thinking about it?</p>
<p>Secondly, we get an average of 65 years of life. Why would I waste that by raising children?</p>
<p>And thirdly? I hate children and I always have. Children are, in general, stupid, selfish, and completely unintelligible. Sure, there are some well-behaved children who are naturally empathetic and smart, but a great number of them aren't worth the effort.</p>
<p>My fiance and I don't plan on having children. There are a lot of factors. Financial is a big one. There's no real incentive to have children. I don't want to be a stay at home Mom, but child care costs are ridiculous. Not to mention, more and more children need their parents to help support them for longer. I also work with children, and simply don't have the energy to be teaching them all day and come home to my own. We talk about maybe one day adopting a much older child, but we both like the life we have and like our jobs and don't want to give any of it up for children. If it's selfish to not want to bring children into the world that are unwanted, then call us selfish, but to me having children you don't want to have is much much worse.</p>
<p>—Anonymous, WA</p>
<p>My partner and I met in college and have been together for thirty years. We have the longest-lasting relationship of all of our siblings, who during that period have each divorced and remarried, and in two cases divorced again. We are stable, educated and prosperous and occasionally remark that we would have been excellent parents. We have been told by two of our nephews that we have been a stronger and more positive influence on their lives than their own parents.</p>
<p>That we haven't created our own family is due to only one reason: we are two gay men who came to maturity at a time when having a family was so outside of the norm that to do so seemed, more than anything else, selfish and indulgent. We feared the social consequences for our children. Perhaps, were we thirty years younger and entering into a relationship today, we would choose differently.</p>
<p>Are we happy with our lives together? Exceedingly. Would we be happier with children? Perhaps not happier, but happy in more ways.</p>
<p>—Patrick, California</p>
<p>I decided not to have children, because there are already so many that need a safe, loving home. I knew I did not need to give birth to be a mother. So I chose adoption. The best decision I ever made. My family agrees.</p>
<p>—Michelle, CA</p>
<p>I am a childless 40-year-old person. I decided as a teenager never to have children. I grew up and lived with a bitter and resentful mother due to the perceived loss of freedom and career from having children. I decided I never wanted to make another being feel that way. The best way of ensuring you won't damage your children is by not having any.</p>
<p>Over the years, I have seen my fellow co-workers and their inability to pay bills, mountains of debt, and inability to do things. This has just reinforced my choice. I am not rich but I will be able to retire comfortably. In my non-working years I will be able to live the life of my choosing. Not what I am stuck with after paying all the bills required to raise children.</p>
<p>I am a childless 40-year-old person. I decided as a teenager never to have children. I grew up and lived with a bitter and resentful mother due to the perceived loss of freedom and career from having children. I decided I never wanted to make another being feel that way. The best way of ensuring you won't damage your children is by not having any.</p>
<p>Over the years, I have seen my fellow co-workers and their inability to pay bills, mountains of debt, and inability to do things. This has just reinforced my choice. I am not rich but I will be able to retire comfortably. In my non-working years I will be able to live the life of my choosing. Not what I am stuck with after paying all the bills required to raise children.</p>
<p>—Anonymous, UT</p>
<p>My wife and I must be pioneers of a sort, as we are in our mid to late fifties and chose not to have children way back in the early 1980's when we first met. And we don't fit your assumed demographic: We are Republicans and live in a subdivision consisting exclusively of single-family homes.</p>
<p>I can't remember ever wanting children. My mother was pregnant most of the time from her wedding day until her hysterectomy; she had five of us in seven years, plus a miscarriage. My father had no hobbies and spent what little free time he had helping my Mom take care of us. So I guess I decided that life wasn't for me, and I married the first girl I met (we dated for three years and will celebrate our 29th anniversary this year) who seemed indifferent to parenthood. No regrets.</p>
<p>—Anonymous</p>
<p>In the U.S., women do not get very good maternity benefits, so the thought of having children is already daunting. My profession is more open to maternity leave because attachment is a fundamental idea in counseling and mental health. Also, many counselors work on billable hours, so agencies don't lose much money if we take time off. Not all women are that lucky. Hell, I'm not that lucky. If I don't work, I don't bring income home, I can't afford to have a child. There have been many posts lately about countries with maternity/paternity leave, it's depressing how Neanderthal America seems.</p>
<p>The second reason I will not have a child is the more important for me. As a counselor I am faced with children in foster care, and I see how many children often age out of "the system." It breaks my heart to hear so many teenagers say "no one loves me" or "why didn't my parents want me back?" There are plenty of foster children who need love just as much as a possible future biological child. I have plenty of love to give to a living human, and it would be selfish of me to say "no, I want my OWN."</p>
<p>I guess that isn't really a good answer to why I won't have kids, because in a backwards way I am saying I will love another's if given the chance.</p>
<p>—Belinda D, Idaho</p>
<p>I’ve never wanted kids. The safe explanation – the one I often use to make people feel better, and because it’s just easier – is to say, “I know I’m selfish”, but that’s not entirely truthful. Most people who feel it’s their business to inquire about my reproductive choices find my reason for having ovaries that are just for show more palatable if I admit to some character flaw real or imagined. I don’t believe myself to be selfish. I think I’m realistic.</p>
<p>I knew I didn’t want kids when I was four and grown-ups would condescendingly tell me I’d change my mind, and yet I still feel that way now that I’m staring down the business end of forty. I do, however, consider myself lazy. Lazy but attentive. I actually listened to all the people who said that parenting was the “hardest job in the world,” and decided that it was an occupation I would willingly avoid.</p>
<p>My common-law husband and I have been nauseatingly in love for twelve years. We recognize that our love is rare, and we don’t want to risk it by throwing a kid into the mix. We’re also fortunate in that we don’t have to succumb to religious or familial constraints in regards to our reproductive decisions. Our families recognize and respect our relationship as it exists. I’ve seen strong relationships sag and flat-line under the weight of child-rearing pressures and what Nick and I have is just too precious to gamble on what might be behind mystery door number three. I know couples who have maintained stability once they’ve had kids, but those couples are few and far between, and they all admit that it’s a daily struggle. Friends often tell us we’re exactly the type of people who should have kids because we’re well-adjusted, educated, financially stable and basically decent folks. Anyone with an alcoholic, job-hopping, chronically unhappy yet lovable train-wreck of a friend who was raised in a seemingly ideal household knows that a parent’s skill won’t necessarily determine how well their kids turn out. Just because I can do something doesn’t mean it should be done. Using that logic, I’d probably make a pretty good crack-whore but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna run out and try it.</p>
<p>I think there are too many variables and too many unknowns involved in child-rearing and I’m just not a risk taker. That’s why I could never back-pack across Europe (fit everything I need for a summer into one bag? Pfft!), I couldn’t negotiate the what-ifs. I excel when I’m over- prepared. When I hear my breeder friends complain about being more exhausted than they ever knew possible and how hard raising a baby is, my inner monologue is screaming, “What did you think it was going to be?” Maybe that’s harsh but it’s how I feel. I find it difficult to have sympathy for people who willingly put themselves in a situation and then lament the outcome. Kind of like how a hangover isn’t a punishment but a consequence. Unless you’re the first people in the history of ever, you had access to resources – books, videos, first-person accounts, babysitting experiences, a Wal-Mart during Christmas – that could illuminate you on the intense demands of parenting. If someone tells me not to stick my finger in a socket because I’ll get a shock, I’m gonna take them at their word instead of finding out for myself then bitching that it hurts. An integral component of adulthood is self-awareness, and if you don’t know who you are – strengths, weaknesses, what you’re willing to compromise, in which direction your moral compass points – you’re not going to have much time or energy to figure it out after you have a kid. To the people who say they didn’t know who they really were until they became parents I say that’s a hell of a lot of responsibility to lay on a baby when you could have trained for an Ironman if you were that intent on testing your mettle.</p>
<p>I see parenthood as a numbers game: There’s no guarantee that my kid is going to be what society so lovingly calls “normal.” My kid could have a host of physical, mental or emotional difficulties that we then have to manage on top of the basic food, clothing, shelter, and nurture requirements. There’s no guarantee that Nick or I won’t die, leaving the other partner to raise a child alone. There’s no guarantee that our kid is going to take care of us when we’re older. In fact, the odds are that our kid will be in debt, underemployed and living with us into her twenties. That’s the reality faced by many parents of Millennials today. This is the first generation that won’t be better off than their parents. The odds today that I’ll have a perfectly healthy child who will not incur crushing debt pursuing post-secondary education, that will then find a job in her field and be able to support herself as an adult are about as good as the odds of a not coming across a Seinfeld rerun playing somewhere in the developed world at this very moment.</p>
<p>There’s something else no one wants to talk about: what if my kid is an asshole? Seriously. There are assholes everywhere, and they came from someone. I know plenty of lovely people who have produced assholes—hell, I’m related to a few of them. That might be the worst scenario for me personally. I would love my kid but I might not like her. At least with a physical or mental ailment some guilt can be assuaged. It’s not my fault. But if my kid is an asshole, despite all my best efforts to love, provide and prepare for her, I will forever blame myself.</p>
<p>I suppose the same argument could be used in defense of the odds of producing the next Stephen Hawking or Hillary Clinton, but this is a survey about why I don’t want kids and I am historically unlucky. The odds are almost always not in my favor. Which is why I have a dog. She will never disappoint me in any major way – date a guy I don’t approve of, get pregnant in middle school, steal the car – and she worships me. She’ll never go through a teen phase when I embarrass her and she avoids me. When we got our dog my business partner said, “It’s the perfect amount of responsibility for you. More than a plant, less than a kid.” He calls Nick and I DILDOs — Dual Income Large Dog Owners.</p>
<p>My life is plenty full. So much so that I often wonder how I’d be able to do all the things I want and need to do and also take care of a child. I simply couldn’t. I like my life the way it is. I like to sleep in. As a writer and documentary filmmaker I spend a big part of my day trying to learn as much as I can in order to do my part to make the world a more enlightened place, or at least not make it worse. Kids, particularly in their first few years, make carbon footprints of Sasquatchian proportions.The falling birth-rate isn’t necessarily a bad thing and it’s certainly not a good enough reason to start having more babies. I don’t feel any obligation to, as my hero George Carlin so eloquently put it, “be a brood-mare for the state” just so that the Boomers can ensure people will care for them in their Depends years. As a matter of fact, my 75-year-old sharp-as-a-tack Mum lives on the third floor of my house and I’m happy about that. I’m more focused on trying to shape a world where taking care of people isn’t an imposed obligation but something we do because it’s simply the right effing thing to do. Sure, it’s a lofty ambition but it’s no more wide-eyed and optimistic than entering into parenthood like it’s the most noble thing a person can aspire to. It’s not.</p>
<p>A common misconception about child-free people is that we don’t like children and in my case that isn’t true. I have eight nieces and nephews that I absolutely adore and feel a sense of responsibility to inasmuch as I’m someone in their lives they will always know they can count on. Like the office slacker that lets everyone else plan the boss’s birthday then sweeps in at the last minute to sign the card, I get to reap many of the benefits without doing any heavy lifting. But here’s the rub: I know that by making the choice to remain child-free that I’m giving up something potentially incredible in my existence. When I see the elation on my nephew’s face as he launches himself into his mother’s arms like she’s made of candy and Lego-puppies, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t sometimes feel a pang of doubt. All of my breeder friends will say without prompting that the sleepless nights and projectile vomiting are worth it for the moments of unexpected joy and sheer wonder their children bring into their lives. Do I envy that kind of closeness? Sure I do. But that’s how the most important life decisions are designed to work - the flip side to every choice is that you are losing something of worth, otherwise it's not a choice if one of the choices is all bad.</p>
<p>When I read the Newsweek article and saw that the authors quoted mostly late twenty-somethings/early thirty-somethings, I recalled all of the friends I had at that age who said very similar things about not wanting kids and who now have children. My BFF in particular was dead set against drinking the parenthood Kool-Aid to the point that when, at 36, she told me she was pregnant I didn’t believe her for several days. There are pressures that increase as you get older and the fear of missing out on being parents becomes more real as the fertility window closes. I know people that had kids simply because they were worried they’d regret it if they didn’t, which I suppose is as good a reason as any. At least once a week Nick and I will be in a situation and one of us will say, “I’m so glad we don’t have kids.” But we’re also evolved enough to admit that we too might change our minds. We’ve discussed the possibility of adoption on the slim chance that we ever decide having a child is something we want to do. If we sincerely want a child it doesn’t matter whose it is, we’ll love it regardless and lord knows there are plenty of kids out there who could use a family – even if it’s an opinionated and cynical family governed by a couple of DILDOs.</p>
<p>—Di G, 39, Ottowa</p>
<p>There are so many reasons why people have children, but last on the list seems to be "because I'm 100% sure my child would be 100% glad they were born."</p>
<p>I don't want to have children for their own sake. There's a chance they'd inherit my physical and emotional health problems, and any chance of them being forced into a life of suffering is too great a gamble for me.</p>
<p>If pangs of longing for motherhood get to be too strong, I'd much rather adopt an already existing child—I don't need a baby who looks like me in order to love and care for it.</p>
<p>—Laura, MD</p>
<p>I am 34 years old, happily married (for 10 years), and childless by choice. I am able to maintain this blissful state thanks to the miraculous Mirena IUD. After a rocky first 3 years, our marriage blossomed into a strong, mutually satisfying partnership that I know for a fact would not be as glorious as it is today had we chosen to have kids. We have great sex and the freedom to move where we please when we please.</p>
<p>Witnessing the experiences of our friends and family has been a huge factor in our choice to limit our family to two. I saw my good friend's husband have a vasectomy on the sly because he was working two jobs to support their family of five and she wanted to have another child regardless of his financial concerns. My husband's brother and his wife had 3 children in four years and their youngest was born with severe medical problems requiring open heart surgery at age six months. Thankfully at age three he is now thriving and I have nothing but the greatest respect and admiration for them both. They are both committed to the marriage and I know they love each other but it is obvious their marriage has stagnated as a result of the enormous time and energy that must be devoted to their son.</p>
<p>As a couple we have weathered bankruptcy, foreclosure, six moves, my mother's mental illness, and my husband's return to college at the age of 34, all of which could have been disastrous for my own mental health had children been in the picture. Of course others have dealt with far worse circumstances while raising children and come out the other side better individuals for it but I would not be among them.</p>
<p>Medical science has given us the chance to remain childless and we are incredibly grateful for it. Maybe one day we will have kids. Isn't it amazing that we have the choice?</p>
<p>—Anonymous</p>
<p>This year will mark both my 20th wedding anniversary, and my 50th birthday. My husband and I discussed children before we got married, and our attitude can best be summed up as: "It's not that we didn't want children, it's that we didn't want children." We had no strong desire to procreate, and no strong need to avoid it. As it happens, we've remained childless and don't feel the lack of children – and when we want a hit of kid-ness, we have nine nieces and nephews to spend time with.</p>
<p>I suspect, in our case, part of the indifference is that we are both first-born children, with a significant gap between us and at least some of our siblings: my brother is seven years younger than I am, and while my husband has two siblings close to him in age (and the second-born in his family is also childless, at 52), his youngest sister and brother are ten and twelve years younger than he is. We were, essentially, "assistant" parents; we helped feed, clothe, diaper, bathe and babysit; we helped with homework; we chauffeured them to sports and Scouts; we taught them to drive. It's enough of a parenting role to know at an early age how difficult and time-consuming parenting is, and enough of a responsibility to feel a sense of "job well done" when it's over.</p>
<p>As a woman who came of age in the 1980s – and who has self-identified as a feminist since September 1969 – I can also understand the unwillingness of young women to put careers on hold for motherhood, as well. The US doesn't have a good infrastructure for childcare; in our extended family, those nine nieces and nephews have been cared for by some ever-changing combination of parents (both genders) working part-time or from home; stay-at-home grandparents; and paid child care.</p>
<p>—Anonymous</p>
<p>I'm a 28 year old female. The moment I realized that having children is a choice and not a requirement, I wept tears of joy. What a great sense of freedom. Pregnancy would be awful. I love my career, and the income that comes with it. Not procreating is the single best thing I can do for our environment. Children are not appealing to me in anyway—even as a child I felt this way. Sleep is nice. Painting abstract art the entire weekend fulfills me. I have hundreds of reasons to be childfree. I am so thankful to be a woman born at this time so that I can follow my heart.</p>
<p>In my life, this choice has negative consequences. People say nasty, ignorant, and judgmental things about my lifestyle. I won't lie, it hurts. I love others, and want to be accepted, but I must be true to myself.</p>
<p>—Anonymous</p>
<p>I decided not to have children because of the exponential population explosion on the planet. As supposedly the smartest carbon based bipeds on the planet, we are using up so many of Gaia's resources. Eventually this planet will not be able to sustain itself or our species. Are we the smartest animals?</p>
<p>This is a human fruit-fly experiment gone awry. How short-sighted, irresponsible and narcissistic of people to have so many kids. We only have a finite amount of fresh H2o and food on the planet, there is no more. There is no planet B.</p>
<p>With that said, while I really wanted a child of my own, I could not see contributing to the disastrous course this planet is taking based on the stupidity of our human race. If we keep multiplying with no end in sight, we too will become extinct. While we are worrying about saving all the apex predators on our planet, humanity should take a good look in the mirror because there will come a point where we will not even be able to save ourselves. It will be too late!</p>
<p>Perhaps sadly it is those of us who have chosen to be childless that are the most aware and responsible beings on the planet. I believe we as a collective would have been exceptional parents. It is we who probably should of had children, rather then the thoughtless people who don't even care about anything except themselves or their legacies.</p>
<p>While it is up to us to make a thoughtful decision about our species and the future of this planet, what does it say about these people who are having so many children? Think about it...</p>
<p>I have given this considerable thought. I am married and my husband has also struggled with our choice.</p>
<p>Both our sets of parents are disappointed and so superficial: They just wanted grandchildren to play with, and what's worse is that it’s clear that most people have children just so they have someone to take care of them when they get older. Unconscionable. People are in denial.</p>
<p>—Anonymous</p>
<p>I honestly think I could be a good Mom, because I am selfless and conscientious and responsible. I would live for the kid(s). And that's part of the problem. I have this idea of what it means to be a parent, and it means your own story stops, or at least pauses, for 20 years. You focus on someone else, someone who has no appreciation for your sacrifice, and won't until they're old enough to have their own kids. And every day they get older, and they need you less, and for a while they hate you, and then they're adults and you have to learn to let them be and exist on their own. It seems like the most terrifying and least rewarding endeavor in humankind.</p>
<p>There are other reasons—I don't like how loud kids are, I don't want all of my stuff to be covered in jam, etc.—but the bottom line is that I think the emotional cost is way too high.</p>
<p>—Courtney, Philadelphia</p>
<p>A friend sent me the story about women choosing to be childless. She is a very dear friend, and the mother of two. We have discussed the choice of becoming a mother, more specifically my choice not to, at great length. I have been saying since I was about twelve years old that I didn't want kids. It used to be cute, and adults would shake their heads and cluck their tongues. But in my young heart, I knew I meant it. I kept saying it as a young adult, through my twenties, and the same adults would tell me "the right man will come along and you'll change your mind." I still knew I meant it. Now that I'm 35, and very recently divorced, people are finally starting to take me seriously.</p>
<p>I don't want children for lots of reasons. I joke about it with my friends and acquaintances, and talk about it at length with my close friends. I had a terrible childhood. Lots of trauma, lots of bad things happened. I still had birthday parties, and family vacations, but the times in between were dark and scary. I never wanted to subject another human being to those cruelties. I also had a lot of anger, and I was afraid I might live out the patterns that keep abuse alive and well in this world. I'm not violent, ever, but I can be short tempered and was afraid of myself. And afraid I could never trust the other parent completely. I, like many women before me, choose partners that mirror my family history.</p>
<p>I also recognize that I'm selfish, and want to do what I want to do, when I want to do it. Parents tell me that feeling changes when you are responsible for another life. The thing is, I don't want to change that. I like late dinners, and outings with friends, and weekend trips. Babies are not conducive to those things.</p>
<p>And lastly, my deep dark secret. I generally don't like children. They are loud and perpetually sticky and whiney and selfish. And then they get older and are hormonal and emotional and needy. And while I love my friends children, and find them entertaining more often than not, I don't have to deal with it 24/7. And I like that. I keep hearing "it's different when they're yours" and it might be true. But I don't want to find out.</p>
<p>I have never regretted my decision not to reproduce. And even writing this, I've thought of still more reasons I know I've made the right decision for me.</p>
<p>—Kelly</p>
<p>At 25, I've know I didn't want children for just as long as I was aware of what a child was. At six, I told my mother - proudly and with half-eaten crayon on my face - that "children were yucky and dogs were better." She laughed and assured me I'd grow out of it.</p>
<p>And so has almost every other single person (most frequently, the middle-aged woman saddled with multiple offspring and with the type of sad, droopy eyes that beg you to ask her why she looks quite as tired as she does).</p>
<p>At 18, I dated a 23-year-old with a few-months-old child. I was with him for three years and it truly solidified my decision. Each time the kid woke me up at 7 a.m. with her piercing siren song, I wanted to bolt. Each time she came at me with sticky fingers and a sticky face and snot dribbling down her chin, I further wanted to remain childless. Even when she stopped looking reptilian and began looking like a little human, I wanted no part of it.</p>
<p>My life is mine. I want to be able to, at any point, go to the movies or out to dinner or fly to Vancouver (I know, I'm an adventurer). I want to stay up late and get up late if I so choose. And as I finish off my last semester of law school, I begin seeing children less and less.</p>
<p>I think people tend to put too much emphasis on a little replica on themselves and much too little emphasis on the fact that they are taking complete responsibility for the life and being of another human. That's terrifying to me and should be similarly terrifying to everyone. Not because I'm incapable or intangibly defunct, but because that amount of time and effort and energy is something I'm just not willing to dedicate to anyone that isn't me.</p>
<p>—Anya L</p>
<p>I remember announcing as a 13-year-old to friends and family, that I was never going to be a mother. Neither with children of my own or adopted ones – the thought just did not appeal to me. At the time and for the next 10 years or so, most people would give me an overbearing look, usually followed by ''you're young, you'll change your mind when the time comes''......I am 36 and still waiting for that moment :) No, not really because it was never even a decision.....more a state of mind.</p>
<p>I have left a good relationship but we were friends before and remain great friends now. I am now in a relationship with a man who shares my view.</p>
<p>I have been forced to think about my reasons for not wanting children, not because I need an explanation but because once you pass 30 or so, the overbearing look is replaced by ''WHY?''. I can think of many reasons but here’s a few:</p>
<p>I relish the freedom and lifestyle of not having to plan around a child</p>
<p>I am a big child myself</p>
<p>The thought of something growing inside me freaks me out</p>
<p>And with that last reason I can almost hear all the mothers of world going ‘’that all changes once you’re pregnant and feel a connection with child you are carrying… just wait and see’’. Well I have seen and not for one second during that unwanted pregnancy, did I feel anything but discomfort at the thought of having a stranger in my womb.</p>
<p>—Jana (lucky aunt of two adorable nephews), 36, Copenhagen</p>
<p>I did not realize I had the choice to be childfree, I had always thought having children is what you did when you were old enough or rather when it was the right time (from societal expectations, religion, and/or peer pressure) so I submitted to it.</p>
<p>When my husband expressed he was not ready for children then later admitted he never wants children I had to sit down and evaluate the situation. I certainly understood his concerns economically, for the changes it would bring to our relationship and way of life, and having to worry about another person for the next 18+ years. I could have left to pursue a relationship where children were in the future but what came to mind is that I would not have left if he was sterile... I married him so we could spend our life together not to have a live-in sperm donor.</p>
<p>After taking about a year of self-reflection, research, considering the pros and cons, and then working as a nanny for years I realized I like my freedom, children are a financial strain, a mother will never be an individual–she will live for two or even through her child, while I'm patient I'm not patient enough, my body will change, I have lots of health problems that would put a child or myself at risk, I could end up caring for a child with MR or other extreme health conditions, and my relationship would change with my husband.</p>
<p>I have no doubts that I'd be a good mother or that my husband would be a great father. I've continued working as a nanny because I have a knack for it, bringing joy to children, being a positive role model, bringing aid to mothers, etc is something I see myself doing for the rest of my life–as an 8-5 career.</p>
<p>I know I'd give up my life for my offspring/live for their happiness—I'm just not ready to lose my identity. I also think if you aren't 100% you shouldn't be a parent, it would lead to resentment and putting a child in the middle of an unhappy/difficult situation. It's not like you can't change your mind or adopt later if you regret not having children but you can't exactly take back a child if you regret it.</p>
<p>Essentially I feel like my husband made me realize I have the choice, in choosing love (staying with him) over the financial, mental, and physical strain of a future child. I choose to live a life for myself and be happy with what I have.</p>
<p>My mother is happy with my choice, she thinks I'm lucky I don't have to struggle with parenthood and put my fragile body through a pregnancy. My father thinks that there is nothing wrong with our decision to see the world and just wants my happiness. My youngest sister was glad I don't want children because it made it easier for her to admit she doesn't want any either.</p>
<p>My husband and I have been together 9 years and our relationship is stronger than ever. We've also met great childfree couples by joining childfree groups.</p>
<p>Tomorrow I get an IUD so that I can prevent pregnancy without taking the pill. Though I wanted my tubes tied but was told I'm too young. I'm old enough to vote, drink, etc but not old enough to control my fertility.</p>
<p>—Amy</p>
<p>Reasons why my husband and I are not having children:</p>
<p>1. I have $70,000 in student debt and work in a field that is far from lucrative. We live in Boston where rents are sky high. Basically, we don't want to raise a child with the poverty that we grew up with. Neither of us got help to pay for college, and we will NOT put that burden on our child.</p>
<p>2. Meat. Humans are meat eaters. We buy meat for ourselves that is humanely raised and butchered (when we can). Most humans cannot be healthy on a vegetarian diet. However, industrial farming is way too cruel to the animals. It's a conundrum. Our answer is to not give birth to other beings that need dead animals to be healthy.</p>
<p>3. I personally think it is unethical to have children. I would have liked to have had the choice to not have been born. Since I can't give that choice to a child before it is born, it is not ethical to give that child life in the first place.</p>
<p>—Betsy, Massachusetts</p>
<p>I got married in 1971, and I knew from the start I did not want kids. My husband agreed. He was busy getting a graduate degree and I had to work to support us. Many of my friends felt the same way, and we all read a book called The Baby Trap which confirmed for us that we were doing the right thing.</p>
<p>My husband finished his degree and we moved and both got good jobs making good salaries. I knew, however, that if I had children, they would be MINE; my responsibility, my work. I also knew that he was not about to agree to have me quit my job and stay home with children. He was too fond of money to let that happen.</p>
<p>Therefore, I elected not to take on TWO full time jobs for the next 25 years or so.</p>
<p>There came a time about the time in his early forties when his golf game was in the dumpster, that he said he would like to think about having some kids. I was properly horrified, but I agreed, since he was not going to demand that I keep my day job, but it turned out that he was infertile by that time.</p>
<p>We took on some foster children, but six months of that persuaded him that he had made the right decision in the first place.</p>
<p>I have NEVER missed having offspring, and I don't think he has either. We love our nieces and nephews and we both enjoy spending time with them and spoiling them.</p>
<p>So I guess that our inclination to remain childless had its roots in my laziness.....but we are still married and I think having had no children has a lot to do with that.</p>
<p>—Anonymous, Wisconsin</p>
<p>I think I can answer this question because I'm the only woman I know in my position who has kids. Let me explain. I have a Ph.D . and I'm a university professor and I have two sons, but none of the women I knew in graduate school or became friends with later had children. In fact, none of them even married. The expectations in the work force are tremendous in the United States...a country that doesn't believe in rest, family outings, or "down time." To be really successful, one needs to be totally focused on the job. In may case, how could I leave my children and go off and do research, especially since my husband works. I made it happen but it was so hard on the children, a terrible emotional struggle every time I went off on a research trip. The cost of research is also very high and schools are no longer raising faculty salaries as they were in the past. In 12 years I've had 3 raises, none in the last 5 years. So who can afford children?</p>
<p>I know by trying to "have it all" I've ruined my own health and impoverished myself. My single, childless colleagues at least have time to breath and can put a little away in savings. I'd love my children, but the paradigm changed on me and I don't have the time or money to be a parent. I think many have figured this out. American rewards corporate business. Academics are devalued, especially in the humanities. This wouldn't have been the case in the past. For all these reasons, I think professional women realize they don't have enough to give to have children. It's just not possible in this country. In the past there was much talk about the breakdown of the family—then it was focused on divorce. But in fact, excessive focus in this country on work and productivity makes home life almost impossible now. As Americans we have little balance.</p>
<p>—Annette FC, VA</p>
<p>I'm still young, so whenever I begin telling someone I do not plan on having children, ever, they always say "Well, you're young, you'll meet a nice man, you'll change your mind." It doesn't help that I'm from the south... I don't think women are bred to really do anything else.</p>
<p>Why don't I want children? Well, I want to live my own life. I want to live for me, and I'm ok sounding selfish about it. It's really simple as that. I want to be able to go where I want to go, do what I want to do, be with who I want to be with. I don't want to be a role model, I don't want to deal with children's good moods and bad moods, I don't want to be responsible for someone else's well being. I'm still learning how to live my own life to be happy, I don't want to lose sight of that.</p>
<p>It's so funny because right now my friends are having children so they can be grown by the time they're retired... and so then they can live their lives and travel and do whatever they want. Why can't they just skip that step to begin with? Why is it mandated that the next step after marriage is children?</p>
<p>I have to admit dating is weird because I need to let it known up front that I'm not interested in that sort of future. It seems as if, at first, it's a dream situation for the guy... but I think at some point their own biological clock starts ticking, and they realize that might not be the future they envisioned. I can understand that, simply, because I don't see myself compromising either.</p>
<p>My mom still doesn't want to believe she'll be the only person she knows without grand children. Sorry mom.</p>
<p>—Anonymous, LA</p> | true | 4 | reading hundreds stories readers shared choose remain childless scolded using term childless rather childfree reminded dinks double income kids learned dildos dual income large dog owners course heard numerous times pleasures cool aunt many mostly female respondents noted knew young age didnt want childrenwith several saying clear playing dolls babies werent never wavered decisionwhile others detailed moment epiphany later life adolescence one postmenopausal writer said course writing us fully realized children choice shed made others brought environment overpopulation difficult childhoods mental physical illnesses theyd feared transmitting dislike babies revulsion carrying delivering one course economy writers brought foster care adoption many wrote cats dogs care asked readers share stories joel kotkin wrote newsbeast demographic implications americas plummeting birthrate since 2007 noting many younger americans especially cities children longer obvious inevitable choice many opting childlessness legitimate perhaps selfish reasons decision given aggregate impact individual decisions word selfish came many responses agreeing didnt care sacrifice pursuits others pointing economic benefits childfree others still objecting strongly term many viewed raising child significant choice rather simply happens course sex marriage suggested people children causally fact selfish irresponsible one woman wrote selfish want bring children world unwanted call us selfish children dont want much much worse selection representative striking stories lightly copyedited otherwise submittedand share email us dailybeastsubmitgmailcom well keep reading submissions share coming days newest ones top link directly single story click anywhere gray box surrounding one im twentyseven year old college graduate thats 140000 debt private student loans im choice live parents basement working callcenter job thats always desperate breathing bodies based much bank makes pay back month money apartment car groceries frivolous items environment raise child said even better bring children world like childrenbut part time ill cool hip aunt siblings kids godmother friends kids think could raise children well thats issue want live life together spouse id happy filling house pets kids dont like people media imply im job far baby factory plenty women love kids keep rhiannon minnesota wife childless choice im 38 born raised wyoming child two whitecollar professional parents one phd wife 34 born raised georgia two brothers parents bluecollar business whitecollar workers healthcare probably lower end used middle class decision wife says always knew specific time reason remember deciding 13 miserable school experience right dropping college actual schooling part social part decided never wanted put another humansoulawareness anything miserable dealing personal life changed gotten better partner shares outlook neither us would willingly bring life world feel become worse place live kids real steps ensure childless well theres one completely ignorant comes sex thing protects stds rather effective limiting procreation well years marriage vasectomy wife health issues related birth control pills thankfully sides family perfectly happy decision dog call dogparents grandparents fashion noticed issue took wife back home town wyoming years though social life revolves around kidsschool church social lives suffered badly organized religion followers either theres whole subculture around childless new acronyms dink double income kids people time go adult things 4 days kayaking camping problem none stupid questioning last part rift begins ends procreators believe bones right decision wrong even people medically incapable given shame treatment like hottopic debate abortion gun rights politics religion decision deeply personal lot invested emotionally whatever side fence happen start finish day top stories daily beast speedy smart summary news need know nothing dont know beyond shadow doubt good parents raising kids positive force world come see losing battle way eventual future straight movie idiocracy brian georgia name veronica im 34 im married im registered nurse never desire children dont like babies toddlers dont find cute desire interact ive never regrets must come equipped mythical biological clock parents divorced kindergarten saw much mother hated drudgery caring children never wanted life also never positive experience nuclear family extended family wonderful nuclear family nothing drama resentment financial strain unhappiness everybody didnt want relive time role mother rather child thanks minimal role religion played childhood comprehensive sex education received public school always knew children choice inevitability mother helped get started birth control pill high school treat medical issue although abstinent throughout high school college took pill decade got iud never pregnant even scare grateful always access contraception husband interest children either mother never indicated shes upset never becoming grandmother relatives friends without children accepting life choices children lifetime commitment serious one anybody make children deserve parents want youre 100 invested becoming staying parent especially perfectly happy life way veronica new jersey read population bomb puberty around first earth day decided 15 id like adopt one kid every race rainbow house grew realized humans causing mass extinction got cats instead devote spare time fanged wilds women program also lie around reading writing novels vcb 34 currently plans children yes pregnancy freaks yes like current levels disposable income time yes dont want defined first foremost mother also always bristled idea child important thing could ever think lot people children theyre hungry fully invest something matters lasting implications make difference workit allconsuming selfsacrificing tiring work things lasting implications make difference lots people fills human need indelible impact world kathryn dc 65 probably dont fit demographic looking since unusual make decision childbearing years thought would share anyway first generation take birthcontrol pills never really thought perspective way things knew choice husband would children didnt really matter educator time 35when decide yearsi well 60hour work weeks would continue career suppose fact worked 150 middle schoolers every year may taken edge maternal instincts may also think fact sister 13 years younger also impact knew babies werent fun cute significant reasons made conscious decision bear children born alcoholic family clear somehow genetic although fortunate deal substance abuse experienced uncertainties living determined stop genetic factor pass deeply love husband 47 years soon realized approaches family life would relationship like many generation although eventually earned doctorate highly successful career respected supported home decisions still dominated felt children would likely end divorced would live life frustrated choices made conscious decision live life without children finally educator exposed things impact childs life todays world overwhelming could needed school help students successful life clear many forces coming together society leading kind upheaval seeing today didnt want child live kind world also knew child carried tendency toward substance abuse came divorced family heshe would struggle even world made decision bring child world lived reasons may seem farfetched yearn child clear mind 30 years vague feelings could articulate 30 years clear list specific choices made children interesting years people chosen make decision people feel sorry didnt children remember one day 50s looking around office realizing two dozen people worked one without childrenand surprised never really noticed minority fulfilling life fortunate close nieces nephews experience form grandparenting children mentored dozens friends children college frustrations job searches even though biological children able experience many opportunities interact children young adults life meaningful ways never wished made different decision jen 45 years old children frankly never wanted young age feel comfortable holding babies never internal need wanting mother associated barbie fashionable dolls baby dolls love children like around short periods time lot handle constantly present something frankly drains went birth control teenage virgin ensure sex would get pregnant twenties focused career life consisted fashion friends fun regret children never entered equation friends twenties children usually parents relatives watch could go enjoy lives children seemed like expensive burden thirties rolled around great job apparel industry busy working hard dating fun serious boyfriend time discussed children however mentioned something forever stuck mind kids thirties raising teenagers fifties something knew want admit selfish want want want enjoy life current fiancé sleep travel pamper want without worry another persons life yes may sound awful knew therefore decided children think lot people children feel thing child help keep relationship going contrary children strain great relationship also believe people decide going baby realizing baby grows fast always responsible life even forties mom calls see need anything never ends another reason think people children glorify ego want see child look like beautiful heshe reflection think extremely selfish child next jesus disappointed people children great parents admire however life happy choice children need right sher california married 1971 pretty much 2 choices children housewife children whatever wanted chose latter husband still marriedproposed told didnt think wanted children wasnt one marry reconsidered several times time came decision children us dont regret children regret wasnt support women children career know women age managed didnt seem possible considering else wanted life day inlaws never forgiven memy value produce grandchildren mom loves kids two said best dont want baby responsibility entails dont one saskia washington hope would great mom thought something wanted one time postmenopausal quite 50 see much hormones biology tradition drive desire reproduce nurture mother went traditional route sacrificed entire identity replaced selfsacrificing mother year frustration anger sacrifice always present never quite met expectations us chose live life us younger sister wildly successful educated vehemently loathed peoples children friends absorption kids 30s sadly doubled mothers sacrifice competes best soccer mom time watching kids grow like painfully watching unhappy childhood see desperation sisters face delightful prekids personality disappeared stepford wives fashion naturally pities wonderful experience im convinced might happened kids safe ever getting pregnant see choices made 20s 30s designed stable relationship kids would next logical step menopause came early like gift happily married grateful continue live life learning every day demanding kids live life end life wont sad lonely near end come tragic realization like mother wasnt great mom best could grateful many ways grateful raise unhappy kids think probably would like mom view decision loving decision love hypothetical children selfish one god bless great parents balance lives children nurture continued development rather sacrifice completely kids must hardest part parenting great parents rarely question childfree life choice anonymous married husband wanted children truly believe child switch would turn year felt certain life would complete never raising child like freedom like aunt like time im giving person big heart dont need child feel place world incredibly painful realize youre marriage alone enough value determined willingness procreate marriage survive like mine certainly didnt today woke fourteen inches snow dog blissfully tucked home working computer watching window slightest bit activity im trying placate whiny child stressed dont something feed kid cupboards notoriously bare best im life mine wouldnt way though probably consider moving single kids kind place middle kansas far welcoming like themmarried children jessica kansas ive known since child didnt want mother never played dolls adults said become mommy replied dont want kids told id change mind grow right thing never happened ive married 17 years sad women think options rite passage bare children people look like im crazy like something wrong see another look face like never occurred optionlike secret childbirth actually choice hate society treats childfree hope change motion im sick comments like whos going take care time wish time to_____ choices thought long hard mine made right choice mothers know dont even realize miserable really always complaining next breath saying change mind one like dont get join misery club give birth thanks im good honest ones say love kids known much work would never child rearing worth people say us childfree might regret choice never second thought better regret kids regretting love life would change thing wish women made thoughtful decisions instead happens happens dont use birth control dont get indifference carrie looked world said see reason subject child living messed planet politicians clamoring women babies breed wage slaves ill 45 year dont expect change mind anonymous michigan may concern considering parenthood fuckedup gambling problem support groups deranged lunatics want ruin life find one go immediately still time gambling serious addiction go untreated run risk destroying precious time youve set aside read masturbate want recklessly throw entire life hands total stranger doesnt give shit never pick check normal behavior need help youre even remotely considering youve obviously spending time toxic gambling addicts theyve lying theyve spewing unhealthy condescending bullshit like youll never know love youve become parent kind propaganda desperate people make theyre forced something terrible cant face without stiff drink meaningless platitude boldly lie convince worth give money time aspirations personality join sick little club miserable together see know secret dont terrible thing one make parents friends god course easier hold god frosty snowman esteem youll know youre road recovery youd rather remove skin oyster shell become parent imagine someone bothering every moment next thirty years make weekly appointment abortion clinic case breathe sigh relief youve hired someone permanently painfully wedge piece copper twat keep otherampnbspyou finally relax cured realize lucky life would never willingly give away close call think narrowly youve escaped pretend youre overjoyed jerk agrees eat carrots youll never speak someone dont like decided stop peeing pants youll never held responsible outcome someone elses shitty life unless choose secret anyone gives shit decision quit gambling cut life theyre worthless assholes parents friends pets anyone question get rid grips social illness simply explain world overpopulated equate children giving world cancer pretending like right liz 38 nm ive married 15 years im 33 husband 38 like lives way love sleeping lazy got married thought would children luckily decided get dog test run super adorable enough work us whole life changes child would sad suddenly put child ahead thingsinternational traveling gym time etc get home work already tired last thing want feed bathe play kid sister two boys little girl way feel like parents enough grandchildren husbands sisterinlaw currently pregnant sides family little ones running aroundjust though dog son least leave home day worry babysitter jj ca type people probably children responsible hardworking oldschool beliefs accountable actions making way world husband started relationship young 16 18 youre age discussing whether kids isnt priority marrying early 20s always said would kids someday felt like lifetime away 10 years marriage ambivalence towards kids consistent theres always another reason isnt right time simply lacked desire actually two years ago finally said kids early 30s time put action decided start trying returned overseas holiday hellishly uncomfortable prospect husband wasnt enthusiastic either lived relatives regularly grandkids weekend every time saw kids immediate thoughts dont want im selfconfessed child hater dont enjoy company children relating enjoying childrelated activities battle chance winning started reading books laura carrolls families two eyes suddenly opened children optional decision remain childfree made overnight ive spent months analysing decision ensure making informed choice discussed questions like would relationship happy together change dynamic potential mother willing give career change companies order remain closer home would taking time maternity leave career suicide working fastpaced everchanging industry chances reentering skills outdated traded working childrearing would get intellectual stimulation need continued working would raise kid im working spending hours commuting day would kid pay someone else raise would become guardian died given options country feel someone opposing political view parenting style raise children would prefer kids returned home country hobbies enjoy would sacrifice indefinitely baby required would identity someones wife mother want spend enormous portion life chauffeuring kids around attending kids birthday parties school sports days caring sick children refereeing sibling fights experiencing culture restricted productions wiggles want spend lives judged sanctimommies participate competitive parenting careful deliberation easy see dont want lives dictated children adventurers get one shot life want spend things make us happy arow australia 47yearold woman living brooklyn ny im sure consciously chose children reasons im part childless revolution economics earn salary take care dont rely someone livelihood probably led comfort remained single longer got little set ways older get harder meet someone even willing change accommodate person family members kids nephews niece helps fill part never kids bad parenting ive seen much thiswhether overindulgent parent one ignores child upsetting see bad marriages sadly see many doesnt help married friends tell get married less half seem truly happy sure theres part wishes marriage kidsbut expense anonymous new york 65 year old woman started taking birth control pills 18 yes around long one first generation option multiple marriages never felt home life stable enough bring children yes bit selfish didnt want give freedom melanie california assumed id children child wanted lots least four wanted boys wanted loud boisterous sports loving house course 6 decided know importantly week away 35 know dont want children got married right college got divorced became involved highly unsuitable much older man three children talk crash course child rearing teenagers really horrible soul sucking completely unpredictable balls hormones got first time ever late 20s know loved went graduate school pursued career opportunities previously imagined traveled moved every year made mother crazy process loved made mistakes fell face formed friendships go deep dont even words describe fun lived learned much along way learned love life love freedom children learned vicariously pregnancy sucks matter far come women still lions share child rearing housework actively shun life halflived mediocrity sides ive got one shot im going things well fullest means career fulfilled life new experiences travel good food great friends would like person share things children person become learned love anonymous teenager watched girls freshman class pored brides magazine picking future wedding dress remember thinking silly since getting married family inevitable always knew choice went twenties never sustained relationship beyond year two think getting married anyone dated thirties met someone serious ending marrying turned 40 us still grappling careers paying student debt think starting family never felt maternal urge thought bother would child like travel go opera bike kid would definitely put kink lifestyle turned 43 gynecologist reminded planning kids time told decided bring husband decision make said initial reaction kids thought thought could threw away pack pills tried 6 months get pregnant meantime doubts friends age kids born mental physical defects freaked autistic child next door vocalizes day complete sentence kid would want healthy guarantee would case hard enough raising child child special needs another story afraid would resent child happened decided resume pill husband upset said body decide want 46 sometimes wonder made right decision anonymous husband want kids love animals spoiled cat dog know lot husbands feelings towards wanting children stem unpleasant relationship father dont want responsibility 18 years vagina shred let alone bunch people looking dont maternal feeling towards children love able whatever want sex anywhere pick go camping road trip smoke pot whenever want dont worry making impression anyone since young child always dreamed one day adopting family call never wanted biological children seemed selfish cruel leave countless orphaned abandoned kids without homes verge adoption 2008 laid job salt lake city utah prospect starting family seemed even daunting considering adopting 2009 found comparable work boise idaho laid end year social services field continual upheaval future seemed bleak living new york city hope teaching fellowship position provide greater stability opportunity start family frankly without going fostercare system relying funding available foster parents wouldnt able afford start family especially city circumstance dreamed know even foster parent make difference n ny 22 year old female living working manhattan grew wanting whole shebang prince charming white picket fence cooing angelfaced children year ago sat train stared horror young woman trying control kids avail right thought never want children pondered revelation came discover multiple reasons decision first idea pushing 610 pound human lady parts seems absolutely horrifying second huge time commitment believe want spend things working traveling possibly participating less socially acceptable activities anything decision really came fact one really talked option deciding kids always part plan graduate college career get married kids die opinion people women specifically consume much time energy thoughts finding right partner reproducing takes time away important areas life presented option early enough really decide want guess would say large population people regret children taboo say things one would labeled dastardly ever feelings ive conversation countless people since day awakening also come realize may always hold view five ten years could wake instinct child could well knows end day conversation whether kids kids happening choose childless lifestyle generally looked upon eyes society vagabonds missing something vital reality decision children legitimate decision amber ny growing always assumed id kids friends would talk many names gender preferences associated details joined happily came one day provocation recall never thought whether wanted kids id made assumption would never thought kids decision thats realized 17 years old want kids wasnt revolt revulsion fear bit revelation suddenly finally knowledge came simply knew wasnt supposed parent much way many people know supposed parents im determined reproduce per se kids isnt im comfortable looking forward many milestones joys come living im also looking forward childminded friends children ill fun aunt parents friend occasional babysitter friends date nights thats hard thing many people understand like kids dont want please dont tell ill change mind ive known six years kids wasnt im also lucky enough married someone feels way dont say 16yearold whos planning kids shes young know wants change mind shed older would say 23yearold plans remaining childless dont say democrat theyll see light later convert republicanism dont tell chef true calling must another profession chef selfcentered change careers parenthood wonderful thing many people attitudes ive encountered wanting children hasnt sympathy missing something great although really imagine would annoying enough attitude superiority one knowitall prophet clairvoyant coming mostly childless peers well comes neighbor mansplains tell ill want kids later comes friend insists since parents lives wouldnt fulfilling children life surely cant fulfilling without offspring comes inlaws want male relative fertile wife think decision childless decision childless must going along conversations never start loudly bluntly proclaiming im kids think kids bad idea ive even thought much comes people discuss career goals dream vacations thoughts raising kids later contribution say anything related compensations career vacation children home people state plans often theyd like give birth simple kids im happy listening plans answering polite questions may thats rarely end scrutiny say im actually pretty good knowing opinion life fulfilling always work making world better place help accomplish without raising another human makes people happy doesnt work others better communication husband accept fully wholeheartedly happily want children please accept respect hannah oregon vowed never children young age grew extremely nonnuclear family dad mom constantly workingdating 2 little brothers needed raising 12 took reins 18 escaped college confident raised boys well enough would get without though perfect safely say brothers currently successful men tirade divorce working mother times rough raising 3 children expensive however raising brothers motherhood needed life consistently told would grow come midtwenties would lured bald minipeople tiny shoes well didnt happen dated several men wanted children joked ended getting married would trick getting pregnant would love even thought headoverheels midwestern boy determined fill house attic kids knew womb would remain empty mother still unhappy friends still joke ill pop resolve unwavering stable longterm paramour agree children cards us appreciate kids afar make killer auntie know selfish easily bored damn tired ever kids dont want strain body wallet life would much prefer seeing world focusing screwing world someone else besides wants rear child world hurtling toward plot idiocracy anyway beth ny im 34 married 5 years discussed children early never really wanted kids 12 heard mother phone telling someone couldnt wait grown house could stuff guess decided never wanted stop stuff long enough baby jen missouri united states air force 1981 wanted get tubes tied knew didnt want kids procedure would free military doctor man asked perform procedure refused knew would change mind im 51 never kids never regretted marry many years taking paying pocket birth control pills husband graciously agreed get vasectomy lives whole happy dont miss kids although difficult project might like know lot great wild times 20s early 30s look back fondly would impossible children im glad facebook 1980s ha reading article hope still rely kindness strangers old age yikes btw two siblings one older sister older brother deceased never kids either guess last line lisa b ca one main reasons wanting children dont know kind parent partner theres turning back several friends children husbands supportive wives mothers majority childrearing work fathers content watch tv play video games totally unaware overwhelmed wives wives either askplead withnag blissfully unaware husbands participatory wives soldier basically single parent twoparent household women california texas georgia range rich middle class poor varying levels education even annoying heard guy say babysit children wife something one babysit children fathers disconnected thinking parent anytime spend time rearing child without supervision wife viewed favor chore saddest part husbands seem think theyre good parents hold kid minutes read story babysit think theyve done fantastic job moreover friends husbands really wanted children naturally wives idea theyd parent feel even sorrier know great supportive dads egalitarian childrearing duties seen maybe one two life chances married single parent highand dont want single parent im content aunt friends kids anonymous 41 female known never wanted kids since 15 think must started realize could difficult thing exist worldthat great suffering around would always even youth knew part made feel way brain chemistrythat felt things maybe deeply goodand knew would want bring child world might end tendencies towards depression even though dont struggle much younger still think good reason children also always known plenty kids brought world without stable family situation thought ever change mind would rather adopt someone already needed good loving home ive gotten older seen wonderful friends kids begin raise secure decision see hard see amazing awed friends parenting skills lucky kids astrid oregon 42yearold woman decided early 30s children 20s thought future would follow societys conventions get married family however siblings friends began children time spent around kids realized lifestyle suit time spent around babies solidified want appreciate hard work dedication parents rewards parenting brings end best decision maintain independent spontaneous lifestyle may call selfish see courageous decision buck societal norms make choice childless many times would hear well youll change mind meet right man many people accept woman chooses children sentiment slowly changing thankfully luckily choice never impacted relationships men partner share decision wanting children fact recently underwent permanent sterilization one regret family never questioned wondered decisionin fact sometimes joke im smart one family kids nieces nephews fine anon known since kid want kids never fantasy dream getting married kids etc personally never even thought would ever get married twice first marriage husband tried force kids even though knew beginning want kids hated 8 years marriage finally gave ultimatum december tostart trying kids going get divorce birth control pills time clinic going knew full well felt kids never wanted ultimatum clinic told going told could get iud good 5 years could pretend like trying get pregnant remain married gave much consideration end knew marriage needed anyways coming back hunting vacation go since allowed go hunting going allowed stay motel started old name calling said youre kid eitherm replied im anyones kid started divorce proceedings divorce even final went got tubes tied free charge arkansas life total disaster kept notebook goals upon divorcing completed 6 months time looking meet another man fate met gabe married almost 10 years knew moment met 1 kids 2 want kids 3 hate kids also told things care cars motorcycles married 6 months dating doesnt like kids either ten years later nothing changed want want extent want whole life revolves around buying things love current obsessive love old harleys 4 motorcycles getting featured lot magazines blogs dont care people think say know end jealous things dont freedom money want go eat midnight go threeday cruise whatever definitely decision never regret probably greatest accomplishment even children allowed sign front house truly children allowed house another great accomplishment mine say never held touched baby fact quite proud many females say live amazing life without children drive corvette see looks gets people children people becoming honest telling wish would never children didnt maybe could corvette harley also chris g arkansas knew ten years old children future youngest five traditional irish catholic family burdened care terminallyill mother starting age eight siblings managed level best help failed see daily load crushed practical terms one work running household believe raised family truly want responsibility adult never wanted child could possibly burdened grew body work making sterile underwent surgery remove one burst fallopian tube age 19 second age 20 remember doctor telling first surgery good candidate vitro fertilization want children future thought never said hell got married would ask husband every six months wanted children answer always dont told ever changed mind would grant quickest easiest divorce known mankind certain still happily married 22 years certain 50 8 correct action life adult wasnt granted child satisfied choices ann mi grow weary people telling came bad home would likely would go way good mother unless someone could give powerful proof virtuous would mother despite dysfunctional upbringing shouldnt make assumption would submit child guinea pig experiment mother raised mother didnt want turned around became mother complete narcissist never enough attention 5 husbands numerous dramatic breakdowns leaving home soon legally able means survival instill maternal instinct future children never felt instinct met husband 13 years ago still safely within childbearing age kept waiting desire happen fact never wanted different previous women life actually listen instincts child children think maybe wouldnt good job mother hard decision assume childless couples selfish well need walk mile shoes anonymous ct im sure well never kids currently 32 married four years childless yet grow increasingly concerned never able children want purely economical mortgage worth student debt literallymy education cost almost exactly parents house new hampshire graduated law school 2009 jobs scarce still husband got teaching degree 2010 teaching jobs new jersey evaporated weve struggling unemployment underemployment starting make headway seems irresponsible child mention fact would seriously impair career prospects get asked pointed questions intentions towards children time interview never mind theyre supposed ask things like never mind fact husband agreed one us take care child full time cant field punishes women leave workforce heavily way well ever pay debt work full time people still look go young woman early thirties married years watch hire shell maternity leave within year shell go part time well lose entirely well hiring time next year cant afford child dont work child getting keeping work harder hard enough people think might want one ive gotten family whether constant delaysand possibly forgoing children altogether situation never really improves takes long improve time runs outis selfish find depressing child could support societyand family memberswould doubtless call selfish child cant support one also selfish waiting afford child fancy shoes eat time go expensive vacations rather waiting child still pay rent modest apartment get sued student lenders make mind society anonymous never felt urge mom happens deal wonderful life husband dont want change degree required parenthood love free time mine afford nice vacations watch shows movies love nieces nephews find playing games tedious dont want see friends relatives children much relationships changed dont like husband stresses things doesnt ways doesnt contribute around house much worse children around imagine would resent quickly give many fun things make us us husband numberone priority would want change slaves child child alter finances upset balance harmony house need sent failing school system requires much attention order turn right know much hard work takes raise child make sure smart kind good traits want citizens world dont want take im 37 window closing discussed ad nauseum still committed prioritizing careers worked hard give debt aggravation change minds would much rather adopt foster along career paths help kids teens never anyone dont need people earth need take better care already complicated issue one think time want make sure life doesnt appeal never may never like may know dont want jump helicopter know dont want babies anonymous ca im 32yearold multinational sales manager marketing degree mba im currently single chosen childless profile common country 2 population opportunity start college less 50 group graduates usual non indigenous women marry late 20s one two kids native traditional communities girls often married 15 become mothers five six children turn 30ampnbspimportant mention women drop school even finishing elementary need plan future since descendants meant lateday guardians take care every need death statistics sounded scary growing come singleparent family single child spent fair amount time usually reading time 10 started questioning everything taught church school tried impose supposed feel say catholic nice girl although tried belong traditional group got married age 21 one day decided happy rather adequate three years married took treatment getting pregnant career finish also wasnt sure wanted kids someone didnt seem committed enough believe right choice ive couple meaningful relationships since parallel studying mba building career two things kept busy thats true main reason behind postponed motherhood consciousness huge responsibility raising human certainty partner time prepared deal basically didnt want wake one morning ten years realize ive raising kids alone without necessary support emotionally economically idea became evident found relieved liberated pressure time getting old kids lost uncertainty future concise retirement plans ive also met many women mindset many close friends sure mother wonderful choice love kids prefer enjoy freedom freedom regarding schedule money activities mostly freedom decide lives ana mazariegos guatemala wife childless typical economic considerations atypical emotional reasons first typical dont earn enough money one person support family decided daycare would question even though could afford would want raise kids hand someone else work atypical mother largely checked parent role 6 yes around clearly shifted priorities filed divorce began ramping career neglectful absent left deep scars thankfully father took torch left doubt looked wife similar tale believe parenting allin nothing proposition without resources reservations informed past experiences remain childless anonymous much story choice never strong maternal urge knew could happy without kids married guy didnt want end problem happy life fully funded retirement anonymous kids want desire need dont want ever felt need really simple introspection required according society selfish course ive yet hear reason children didnt start want yeah im selfish one way fully admit fiercely protective personal time space comfortable company unlike lot people dont feel need constant social interaction love sound empty apartment especially 40hour work week cant even say chose childfree would imply conscious choice make giving much thought knew young age would never children never gave thought dont hate children dont like enough want one dont like cats enough want one either extremely selfserving myth childfree choice people lonely believe selfvalidation people children overreaction people dare say dont like kids goes underline insecurities whether realize assume choice children condemnation choice far im concerned kids like religion dont care get tired trying convince youre better person youre arent special something every species planet gift god biology real impact interactions relatives small clutch closeminded problem rudely telling feel differently children im almost 40 still tell least stopped asking lesbian extremely rude someone tell youll feel differently kids akin telling someone stupid make choice whether abortion choice must made parents cfbc people dont think people children see childless person assume want kids cfbc people see childless person dont assume anything either way oh shes precious dont want dozen said childfree choice person ever least babies impact relationships significant others nonissue guys ive dated actually relieved hear ive interest kids age wanting kids yet puts intense pressure relationship move along faster might good parties beyond condoms girls bestfriend better still chicks dig scars partners vasectomy scar sexiest one thats joke theres real scar jennifer texas turning 38 next month husband 40 year childfree choice easy discussion dont want kids nope neither friends relatives havent given us flack fact confidentially expressed jealousy bringing child world momentous decision taken lightly huge ramifications ambivalent shouldnt traditionally comes next happy lives way people criticize choice try convince us wrong get sense really trying justify situation someone tells children dont change life much either denial bad parent livein nanny independently wealthy didnt work living might consider adopting child worthwhile endeavor real positive contribution world meantime ill continue volunteer donate blood pay plenty taxes productive member society ways sherry nh term childfree dont children choose unable childless implies im 42 never desire anyones mother number reasons husband share fun fulfilling life woman expected defend decision children anonymous big decisions think come slow accretion hundreds small decisions years didnt choose childlessbut got phd delayed clock didnt choose childlessbut took time travel made longterm partnership challenging didnt choose childlessbut broke engagement removed opportunity kids early 40s suppose yes guess make choice childless though ive actually never stated moment typing glaciers become sea right one fraction degree time andi oh dont kids wrong question really every persons default status childless one actually take action make decision hope become parent since bringing child world deciding rear one massive consequences life shouldnt concerned people make decision become parents suppose thats question another time answer question ask 10 different childfree people childfree youll get 100 different answers know im sociologist studies childfree adults childfree live time place get make choice right ability sexually active person without becoming pregnant right ability find fulfillment ways include children marriage adore want put energy toward job love want succeed hobbies enjoy want learn become proficient even ever want make direct interpersonal difference childs life need reach child nieces nephews neighbors friends kids students children need caring adults lives parents importantly millions humans already exist need care intent creating human beings already many guess brings us back original question pressing question rather asking dont kids asking kids amy b professor sociology 53 married 26 years husband made decision children prior getting married birth control pills years got obgyn agree got tubal ligation never felt maternal instinct babies children want life dictated child chores taking kids school soccer practice etc also felt children great expense want pay also wanted travel see world another big reason wanting children seeing problems people childrenraising children developmental disabilities caused great stress marriages subsequent divorce children turned baddrug addicted jail etc appeared children gamble bringing person life dont know anything develop person could great kids like bomb thrown life ruining forever dont gamble sometimes wonder regret children get really old think elderly nursing homes got dumped children rarely visit used make sense old days family needed many children take care elderly keep family farm producing days children retirement plan anymore people tell selfish selfish regards someone exist people tell made smart decision coworker told smartest people knew children anonymous wa loved much children id read novel called staying paul scott wasnt children elderly couple didnt children single simple explanation stuck mind later wife talking choices came back agreed neither us strong desire children friends seen impact makes peoples lives im sure strengthens relationships source joy many wow children also take peoples days years sucking life leaving partners much less time wife married spend lives anyone else didnt want anyone new coming us people call starting family feel already family weve found happiness dont feel need seek new kind children gamble dont know kind person youll invite home heart might like child happen despite everyone tells prepared take risk love much otherwise want continue happy lives look us get old dont know child reason must selfish justification alex w washington choose childfree reasons firstly pregnancy seems like hassle terrifying time literally parasite feeding make people squeamish thinking secondly get average 65 years life would waste raising children thirdly hate children always children general stupid selfish completely unintelligible sure wellbehaved children naturally empathetic smart great number arent worth effort fiance dont plan children lot factors financial big one theres real incentive children dont want stay home mom child care costs ridiculous mention children need parents help support longer also work children simply dont energy teaching day come home talk maybe one day adopting much older child like life like jobs dont want give children selfish want bring children world unwanted call us selfish children dont want much much worse anonymous wa partner met college together thirty years longestlasting relationship siblings period divorced remarried two cases divorced stable educated prosperous occasionally remark would excellent parents told two nephews stronger positive influence lives parents havent created family due one reason two gay men came maturity time family outside norm seemed anything else selfish indulgent feared social consequences children perhaps thirty years younger entering relationship today would choose differently happy lives together exceedingly would happier children perhaps happier happy ways patrick california decided children already many need safe loving home knew need give birth mother chose adoption best decision ever made family agrees michelle ca childless 40yearold person decided teenager never children grew lived bitter resentful mother due perceived loss freedom career children decided never wanted make another feel way best way ensuring wont damage children years seen fellow coworkers inability pay bills mountains debt inability things reinforced choice rich able retire comfortably nonworking years able live life choosing stuck paying bills required raise children childless 40yearold person decided teenager never children grew lived bitter resentful mother due perceived loss freedom career children decided never wanted make another feel way best way ensuring wont damage children years seen fellow coworkers inability pay bills mountains debt inability things reinforced choice rich able retire comfortably nonworking years able live life choosing stuck paying bills required raise children anonymous ut wife must pioneers sort mid late fifties chose children way back early 1980s first met dont fit assumed demographic republicans live subdivision consisting exclusively singlefamily homes cant remember ever wanting children mother pregnant time wedding day hysterectomy five us seven years plus miscarriage father hobbies spent little free time helping mom take care us guess decided life wasnt married first girl met dated three years celebrate 29th anniversary year seemed indifferent parenthood regrets anonymous us women get good maternity benefits thought children already daunting profession open maternity leave attachment fundamental idea counseling mental health also many counselors work billable hours agencies dont lose much money take time women lucky hell im lucky dont work dont bring income home cant afford child many posts lately countries maternitypaternity leave depressing neanderthal america seems second reason child important counselor faced children foster care see many children often age system breaks heart hear many teenagers say one loves didnt parents want back plenty foster children need love much possible future biological child plenty love give living human would selfish say want guess isnt really good answer wont kids backwards way saying love anothers given chance belinda idaho ive never wanted kids safe explanation one often use make people feel better easier say know im selfish thats entirely truthful people feel business inquire reproductive choices find reason ovaries show palatable admit character flaw real imagined dont believe selfish think im realistic knew didnt want kids four grownups would condescendingly tell id change mind yet still feel way im staring business end forty however consider lazy lazy attentive actually listened people said parenting hardest job world decided occupation would willingly avoid commonlaw husband nauseatingly love twelve years recognize love rare dont want risk throwing kid mix also fortunate dont succumb religious familial constraints regards reproductive decisions families recognize respect relationship exists ive seen strong relationships sag flatline weight childrearing pressures nick precious gamble might behind mystery door number three know couples maintained stability theyve kids couples far admit daily struggle friends often tell us exactly type people kids welladjusted educated financially stable basically decent folks anyone alcoholic jobhopping chronically unhappy yet lovable trainwreck friend raised seemingly ideal household knows parents skill wont necessarily determine well kids turn something doesnt mean done using logic id probably make pretty good crackwhore doesnt mean im gon na run try think many variables many unknowns involved childrearing im risk taker thats could never backpack across europe fit everything need summer one bag pfft couldnt negotiate whatifs excel im prepared hear breeder friends complain exhausted ever knew possible hard raising baby inner monologue screaming think going maybe thats harsh feel find difficult sympathy people willingly put situation lament outcome kind like hangover isnt punishment consequence unless youre first people history ever access resources books videos firstperson accounts babysitting experiences walmart christmas could illuminate intense demands parenting someone tells stick finger socket ill get shock im gon na take word instead finding bitching hurts integral component adulthood selfawareness dont know strengths weaknesses youre willing compromise direction moral compass points youre going much time energy figure kid people say didnt know really became parents say thats hell lot responsibility lay baby could trained ironman intent testing mettle see parenthood numbers game theres guarantee kid going society lovingly calls normal kid could host physical mental emotional difficulties manage top basic food clothing shelter nurture requirements theres guarantee nick wont die leaving partner raise child alone theres guarantee kid going take care us older fact odds kid debt underemployed living us twenties thats reality faced many parents millennials today first generation wont better parents odds today ill perfectly healthy child incur crushing debt pursuing postsecondary education find job field able support adult good odds coming across seinfeld rerun playing somewhere developed world moment theres something else one wants talk kid asshole seriously assholes everywhere came someone know plenty lovely people produced assholeshell im related might worst scenario personally would love kid might like least physical mental ailment guilt assuaged fault kid asshole despite best efforts love provide prepare forever blame suppose argument could used defense odds producing next stephen hawking hillary clinton survey dont want kids historically unlucky odds almost always favor dog never disappoint major way date guy dont approve get pregnant middle school steal car worships shell never go teen phase embarrass avoids got dog business partner said perfect amount responsibility plant less kid calls nick dildos dual income large dog owners life plenty full much often wonder id able things want need also take care child simply couldnt like life way like sleep writer documentary filmmaker spend big part day trying learn much order part make world enlightened place least make worse kids particularly first years make carbon footprints sasquatchian proportionsthe falling birthrate isnt necessarily bad thing certainly good enough reason start babies dont feel obligation hero george carlin eloquently put broodmare state boomers ensure people care depends years matter fact 75yearold sharpasatack mum lives third floor house im happy im focused trying shape world taking care people isnt imposed obligation something simply right effing thing sure lofty ambition wideeyed optimistic entering parenthood like noble thing person aspire common misconception childfree people dont like children case isnt true eight nieces nephews absolutely adore feel sense responsibility inasmuch im someone lives always know count like office slacker lets everyone else plan bosss birthday sweeps last minute sign card get reap many benefits without heavy lifting heres rub know making choice remain childfree im giving something potentially incredible existence see elation nephews face launches mothers arms like shes made candy legopuppies id lying said didnt sometimes feel pang doubt breeder friends say without prompting sleepless nights projectile vomiting worth moments unexpected joy sheer wonder children bring lives envy kind closeness sure thats important life decisions designed work flip side every choice losing something worth otherwise choice one choices bad read newsweek article saw authors quoted mostly late twentysomethingsearly thirtysomethings recalled friends age said similar things wanting kids children bff particular dead set drinking parenthood koolaid point 36 told pregnant didnt believe several days pressures increase get older fear missing parents becomes real fertility window closes know people kids simply worried theyd regret didnt suppose good reason least week nick situation one us say im glad dont kids also evolved enough admit might change minds weve discussed possibility adoption slim chance ever decide child something want sincerely want child doesnt matter whose well love regardless lord knows plenty kids could use family even opinionated cynical family governed couple dildos di g 39 ottowa many reasons people children last list seems im 100 sure child would 100 glad born dont want children sake theres chance theyd inherit physical emotional health problems chance forced life suffering great gamble pangs longing motherhood get strong id much rather adopt already existing childi dont need baby looks like order love care laura md 34 years old happily married 10 years childless choice able maintain blissful state thanks miraculous mirena iud rocky first 3 years marriage blossomed strong mutually satisfying partnership know fact would glorious today chosen kids great sex freedom move please please witnessing experiences friends family huge factor choice limit family two saw good friends husband vasectomy sly working two jobs support family five wanted another child regardless financial concerns husbands brother wife 3 children four years youngest born severe medical problems requiring open heart surgery age six months thankfully age three thriving nothing greatest respect admiration committed marriage know love obvious marriage stagnated result enormous time energy must devoted son couple weathered bankruptcy foreclosure six moves mothers mental illness husbands return college age 34 could disastrous mental health children picture course others dealt far worse circumstances raising children come side better individuals would among medical science given us chance remain childless incredibly grateful maybe one day kids isnt amazing choice anonymous year mark 20th wedding anniversary 50th birthday husband discussed children got married attitude best summed didnt want children didnt want children strong desire procreate strong need avoid happens weve remained childless dont feel lack children want hit kidness nine nieces nephews spend time suspect case part indifference firstborn children significant gap us least siblings brother seven years younger husband two siblings close age secondborn family also childless 52 youngest sister brother ten twelve years younger essentially assistant parents helped feed clothe diaper bathe babysit helped homework chauffeured sports scouts taught drive enough parenting role know early age difficult timeconsuming parenting enough responsibility feel sense job well done woman came age 1980s selfidentified feminist since september 1969 also understand unwillingness young women put careers hold motherhood well us doesnt good infrastructure childcare extended family nine nieces nephews cared everchanging combination parents genders working parttime home stayathome grandparents paid child care anonymous im 28 year old female moment realized children choice requirement wept tears joy great sense freedom pregnancy would awful love career income comes procreating single best thing environment children appealing anywayeven child felt way sleep nice painting abstract art entire weekend fulfills hundreds reasons childfree thankful woman born time follow heart life choice negative consequences people say nasty ignorant judgmental things lifestyle wont lie hurts love others want accepted must true anonymous decided children exponential population explosion planet supposedly smartest carbon based bipeds planet using many gaias resources eventually planet able sustain species smartest animals human fruitfly experiment gone awry shortsighted irresponsible narcissistic people many kids finite amount fresh h2o food planet planet b said really wanted child could see contributing disastrous course planet taking based stupidity human race keep multiplying end sight become extinct worrying saving apex predators planet humanity take good look mirror come point even able save late perhaps sadly us chosen childless aware responsible beings planet believe collective would exceptional parents probably children rather thoughtless people dont even care anything except legacies us make thoughtful decision species future planet say people many children think given considerable thought married husband also struggled choice sets parents disappointed superficial wanted grandchildren play whats worse clear people children someone take care get older unconscionable people denial anonymous honestly think could good mom selfless conscientious responsible would live kids thats part problem idea means parent means story stops least pauses 20 years focus someone else someone appreciation sacrifice wont theyre old enough kids every day get older need less hate theyre adults learn let exist seems like terrifying least rewarding endeavor humankind reasonsi dont like loud kids dont want stuff covered jam etcbut bottom line think emotional cost way high courtney philadelphia friend sent story women choosing childless dear friend mother two discussed choice becoming mother specifically choice great length saying since twelve years old didnt want kids used cute adults would shake heads cluck tongues young heart knew meant kept saying young adult twenties adults would tell right man come along youll change mind still knew meant im 35 recently divorced people finally starting take seriously dont want children lots reasons joke friends acquaintances talk length close friends terrible childhood lots trauma lots bad things happened still birthday parties family vacations times dark scary never wanted subject another human cruelties also lot anger afraid might live patterns keep abuse alive well world im violent ever short tempered afraid afraid could never trust parent completely like many women choose partners mirror family history also recognize im selfish want want want parents tell feeling changes responsible another life thing dont want change like late dinners outings friends weekend trips babies conducive things lastly deep dark secret generally dont like children loud perpetually sticky whiney selfish get older hormonal emotional needy love friends children find entertaining often dont deal 247 like keep hearing different theyre might true dont want find never regretted decision reproduce even writing ive thought still reasons know ive made right decision kelly 25 ive know didnt want children long aware child six told mother proudly halfeaten crayon face children yucky dogs better laughed assured id grow almost every single person frequently middleaged woman saddled multiple offspring type sad droopy eyes beg ask looks quite tired 18 dated 23yearold fewmonthsold child three years truly solidified decision time kid woke 7 piercing siren song wanted bolt time came sticky fingers sticky face snot dribbling chin wanted remain childless even stopped looking reptilian began looking like little human wanted part life mine want able point go movies dinner fly vancouver know im adventurer want stay late get late choose finish last semester law school begin seeing children less less think people tend put much emphasis little replica much little emphasis fact taking complete responsibility life another human thats terrifying similarly terrifying everyone im incapable intangibly defunct amount time effort energy something im willing dedicate anyone isnt anya l remember announcing 13yearold friends family never going mother neither children adopted ones thought appeal time next 10 years people would give overbearing look usually followed youre young youll change mind time comesi 36 still waiting moment really never even decisionmore state mind left good relationship friends remain great friends relationship man shares view forced think reasons wanting children need explanation pass 30 overbearing look replaced think many reasons heres relish freedom lifestyle plan around child big child thought something growing inside freaks last reason almost hear mothers world going changes youre pregnant feel connection child carrying wait see well seen one second unwanted pregnancy feel anything discomfort thought stranger womb jana lucky aunt two adorable nephews 36 copenhagen realize choice childfree always thought children old enough rather right time societal expectations religion andor peer pressure submitted husband expressed ready children later admitted never wants children sit evaluate situation certainly understood concerns economically changes would bring relationship way life worry another person next 18 years could left pursue relationship children future came mind would left sterile married could spend life together livein sperm donor taking year selfreflection research considering pros cons working nanny years realized like freedom children financial strain mother never individualshe live two even child im patient im patient enough body change lots health problems would put child risk could end caring child mr extreme health conditions relationship would change husband doubts id good mother husband would great father ive continued working nanny knack bringing joy children positive role model bringing aid mothers etc something see rest lifeas 85 career know id give life offspringlive happinessim ready lose identity also think arent 100 shouldnt parent would lead resentment putting child middle unhappydifficult situation like cant change mind adopt later regret children cant exactly take back child regret essentially feel like husband made realize choice choosing love staying financial mental physical strain future child choose live life happy mother happy choice thinks im lucky dont struggle parenthood put fragile body pregnancy father thinks nothing wrong decision see world wants happiness youngest sister glad dont want children made easier admit doesnt want either husband together 9 years relationship stronger ever weve also met great childfree couples joining childfree groups tomorrow get iud prevent pregnancy without taking pill though wanted tubes tied told im young im old enough vote drink etc old enough control fertility amy reasons husband children 1 70000 student debt work field far lucrative live boston rents sky high basically dont want raise child poverty grew neither us got help pay college put burden child 2 meat humans meat eaters buy meat humanely raised butchered humans healthy vegetarian diet however industrial farming way cruel animals conundrum answer give birth beings need dead animals healthy 3 personally think unethical children would liked choice born since cant give choice child born ethical give child life first place betsy massachusetts got married 1971 knew start want kids husband agreed busy getting graduate degree work support us many friends felt way read book called baby trap confirmed us right thing husband finished degree moved got good jobs making good salaries knew however children would mine responsibility work also knew agree quit job stay home children fond money let happen therefore elected take two full time jobs next 25 years came time time early forties golf game dumpster said would like think kids properly horrified agreed since going demand keep day job turned infertile time took foster children six months persuaded made right decision first place never missed offspring dont think either love nieces nephews enjoy spending time spoiling guess inclination remain childless roots lazinessbut still married think children lot anonymous wisconsin think answer question im woman know position kids let explain phd im university professor two sons none women knew graduate school became friends later children fact none even married expectations work force tremendous united statesa country doesnt believe rest family outings time really successful one needs totally focused job may case could leave children go research especially since husband works made happen hard children terrible emotional struggle every time went research trip cost research also high schools longer raising faculty salaries past 12 years ive 3 raises none last 5 years afford children know trying ive ruined health impoverished single childless colleagues least time breath put little away savings id love children paradigm changed dont time money parent think many figured american rewards corporate business academics devalued especially humanities wouldnt case past reasons think professional women realize dont enough give children possible country past much talk breakdown familythen focused divorce fact excessive focus country work productivity makes home life almost impossible americans little balance annette fc va im still young whenever begin telling someone plan children ever always say well youre young youll meet nice man youll change mind doesnt help im south dont think women bred really anything else dont want children well want live life want live im ok sounding selfish really simple want able go want go want want dont want role model dont want deal childrens good moods bad moods dont want responsible someone elses well im still learning live life happy dont want lose sight funny right friends children grown time theyre retired live lives travel whatever want cant skip step begin mandated next step marriage children admit dating weird need let known front im interested sort future seems first dream situation guy think point biological clock starts ticking realize might future envisioned understand simply dont see compromising either mom still doesnt want believe shell person knows without grand children sorry mom anonymous la | 9,849 |
<p>A few years back I visited a village in Colombia whose residents had been instrumental in organizing a month-long blockade of the Pan-American Highway. They were protesting the way the government was willing to make investments in building the infrastructure to facilitate the extraction and export of their resources, but unwilling to invest in schools or health clinics or sustainable agriculture. One of the organizers told me “this is the highway where development passes us by.”</p>
<p>I remembered his words when I first read about Atlantica — an effort to create a new economic zone encompassing northern New England and Canada’s Maritime Provinces, making it easier for goods to pass through the region on their way from the Atlantic to the big cities of the midwest. The symbolic centerpiece of the proposal is a plan to expand Halifax harbor and build an East-West highway from Halifax to Buffalo or Montreal. Other plans include massive natural gas terminals and pipelines, the reopening of a closed nuclear power plant, and the “harmonization” of the region’s labor and environmental laws to “remove barriers to trade.” There will be a <a href="http://www.reachingatlantica.com/" type="external">summit</a>to advance and promote the plan in St. John in early June, and civil society groups are planning a <a href="http://www.reachingatlantica.org/" type="external">countersummit</a>.</p>
<p>I’m a recent transplant to eastern Maine, one of the regions that’s supposed to benefit from this plan. And we certainly are a region that needs some kind of investment. A few weeks ago I saw a poster in the window of the convenience store where I often get my morning coffee — “Cashier Wanted. College graduates encourages to apply.” When I told a friend about this he replied that two summers ago his daughter had two rounds of interviews for a similar job. A sign of the times.</p>
<p>Like southern Colombia, eastern and northern Maine are regions that have long seen their resources stripped away by foreign investors. Mainers joined the American Revolution in the 1700’s in part because they were outraged that the tallest pine trees had been declared the “King’s Pines” and were being taken away to make masts for the ships of His Majesty’s Navy. Some two hundered years later, the North American Free Trade Agreement has made it easy for Canadian companies to use cheap migrant labor to cut trees in Maine and bring the raw logs over the border for for processing, cutting Mainers out of the process altogether.</p>
<p>The rise of the maquilla sector in Latin America and Asia in the 1990’s spelled the final demise of Maine’s footwear and apparel industries — the only sign of their existence is the plethora of “factory outlets” selling tourists clothes and shoes made in China, Jordan, Honduras, and Bangladesh on summer afternoons when its too cold or rainy to go to the beach. The big paper companies have begun moving most of their production offshore too. The Maine Department of Labor estimates that between 1993 and 2005 new trade regimes cost Maine 18,800 manufacturing jobs — a huge loss for a poor and sparsely populated states.</p>
<p>The proponents of Atlantica hold that our region has been a loser in the era of globalization because of high minimum wages and “union density.” But that arguement doesn’t hold water. Companies didn’t move their factories out of Maine in order to pay someone in another state $4 an hour instead of $7 an hour. They left the United States altogether in order to be able to pay workers $4 a day.</p>
<p>Lowering the minimum wage and weakening unions won’t help businesses set down roots in Maine — it will just make it cheaper and more efficient for companies to move goods across Maine. The jobs created will be restaurant, motel, and fast food jobs — hardly a viable replacement for the skilled manufacturing jobs. As it is, even Maine’s relatively high minimum wage doesn’t allow a full time minimum wage worker to support a family. And the companies that profit won’t be investing their earnings in Maine — the money will go to shareholders in distant multinational corporations.</p>
<p>The “race to the bottom” isn’t a race that Maine can win — many of our communities already hit bottom years ago.</p>
<p>The most promising path to economic recovery for rural New England and the Maritimes lies in initiatives to reverse that race to the bottom by providing new incentives for sustainable industries and socially responsible companies. Maine is creating new incentives for biodiesel and wind power. The state pased landmark legislation to insure that the apparel, textiles, and footwear the government buys are made under safe and fair working conditions — a measure meant in part to level the playing field for ethical businesses. Maine Gov. John Baldacci is now working with anti-sweatshop activists to recruit other governors to join him in a new effort to harness the capital of several states’ procurement budgets to press for changes in the apparel industry and create a viable market for non-sweatshop garments. (http://www.sweatfree.org) And Maine farmers have organized one of the most powerful, innovative, and effective organic growers federations in North America.</p>
<p>The economic future of New England and the Maritimes is best served by promoting small, local, sustainable businesses through higher labor and environmental standards and through the strategic use of public procurement dollars — not by building yet another highway where development will pass rural communites by.</p>
<p>SEAN DONAHUE is Director of <a href="http://www.pica.ws/" type="external">PICA</a> (Peace throuth Interamerican Community Action,) a grassroots human rights and economic justice group in Bangor, Maine. Most of his articles and commentaries can be found online at <a href="http://www.seandonahue.org/" type="external">http://www.seandonahue.org</a></p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | years back visited village colombia whose residents instrumental organizing monthlong blockade panamerican highway protesting way government willing make investments building infrastructure facilitate extraction export resources unwilling invest schools health clinics sustainable agriculture one organizers told highway development passes us remembered words first read atlantica effort create new economic zone encompassing northern new england canadas maritime provinces making easier goods pass region way atlantic big cities midwest symbolic centerpiece proposal plan expand halifax harbor build eastwest highway halifax buffalo montreal plans include massive natural gas terminals pipelines reopening closed nuclear power plant harmonization regions labor environmental laws remove barriers trade summitto advance promote plan st john early june civil society groups planning countersummit im recent transplant eastern maine one regions thats supposed benefit plan certainly region needs kind investment weeks ago saw poster window convenience store often get morning coffee cashier wanted college graduates encourages apply told friend replied two summers ago daughter two rounds interviews similar job sign times like southern colombia eastern northern maine regions long seen resources stripped away foreign investors mainers joined american revolution 1700s part outraged tallest pine trees declared kings pines taken away make masts ships majestys navy two hundered years later north american free trade agreement made easy canadian companies use cheap migrant labor cut trees maine bring raw logs border processing cutting mainers process altogether rise maquilla sector latin america asia 1990s spelled final demise maines footwear apparel industries sign existence plethora factory outlets selling tourists clothes shoes made china jordan honduras bangladesh summer afternoons cold rainy go beach big paper companies begun moving production offshore maine department labor estimates 1993 2005 new trade regimes cost maine 18800 manufacturing jobs huge loss poor sparsely populated states proponents atlantica hold region loser era globalization high minimum wages union density arguement doesnt hold water companies didnt move factories maine order pay someone another state 4 hour instead 7 hour left united states altogether order able pay workers 4 day lowering minimum wage weakening unions wont help businesses set roots maine make cheaper efficient companies move goods across maine jobs created restaurant motel fast food jobs hardly viable replacement skilled manufacturing jobs even maines relatively high minimum wage doesnt allow full time minimum wage worker support family companies profit wont investing earnings maine money go shareholders distant multinational corporations race bottom isnt race maine win many communities already hit bottom years ago promising path economic recovery rural new england maritimes lies initiatives reverse race bottom providing new incentives sustainable industries socially responsible companies maine creating new incentives biodiesel wind power state pased landmark legislation insure apparel textiles footwear government buys made safe fair working conditions measure meant part level playing field ethical businesses maine gov john baldacci working antisweatshop activists recruit governors join new effort harness capital several states procurement budgets press changes apparel industry create viable market nonsweatshop garments httpwwwsweatfreeorg maine farmers organized one powerful innovative effective organic growers federations north america economic future new england maritimes best served promoting small local sustainable businesses higher labor environmental standards strategic use public procurement dollars building yet another highway development pass rural communites sean donahue director pica peace throuth interamerican community action grassroots human rights economic justice group bangor maine articles commentaries found online httpwwwseandonahueorg 160 160 | 540 |
<p>&lt;a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/justinhoch/5035139939/in/photolist-8EWpFz-8E1abv-8v5kES-83n3t2-7NtF3v-7NxDZ9-7LmAs8-7Lqy4S-7LmzY4-7LmABv-7LmzQZ-7LmAhp-7LqzdG-7Lqz3Q-7Lqypu-7Lqzes-7LqydS-8GW8J3-8GSXsn-8GW4qQ-8GW7BU-8GSVoT-8GW5Sb-8GW5zo-8GSZKB-8GW3K1-8GW5dJ-8GSUGX-8GSWQk-8GW7ds-8GSTaR-8BRXjy-8tu2d5-8ixLTd-8eRBbQ-7SzoNs-7NxEcL-7LqyaS-7LqyEU-7Lmzpg-7LmAAX-7LmzMr-7LqyC1-7Lqz8L-7LmAKn-7LqxNA-7LmAua-7LmzHK-7LmAM2-7Lmzt2-7Lqz55/lightbox/"&gt;Justin Hoch&lt;/a&gt;/Flickr</p>
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<p>Fox News host Bill O’Reilly continues to insist that he never misrepresented or embellished his wartime reporting experiences and other previous episodes—even after <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2015/02/22/media/cbs-staffers-oreilly-argentina/" type="external">CNN</a>, the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/is-bill-oreilly-making-things-up-or-just-bloviating/2015/02/27/bd5e7f66-bea4-11e4-b274-e5209a3bc9a9_story.html" type="external">Washington Post</a>, the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/feb/26/bill-oreilly-former-colleagues-la-riots-bombardment" type="external">Guardian</a>, <a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/02/24/oreilly-lied-about-suicide-of-jfk-assassination/20265" type="external">Media Matters</a>, and <a href="" type="internal">Mother Jones</a> reported significant discrepancies between O’Reilly’s accounts and what actually occurred. Last Tuesday, O’Reilly appeared on David Letterman’s show, where he <a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/oreilly-letterman-late-show-brian-williams" type="external">maintained</a> he had always been “accurate” when discussing his journalistic exploits and had never “fibbed” on air. (“Not that I know of,” he said.) Yet O’Reilly’s characterizations of his reporting during the Falklands war, El Salvador’s civil war, the troubles in Northern Ireland, the Los Angeles riots of 1992, and the 1977 re-investigation of the John F. Kennedy assassination have been repeatedly challenged, in several cases by former colleagues. Now a principal character in one of O’Reilly’s more dramatic tales—in which the Fox commentator plays a heroic role—says this particular story is not accurate.</p>
<p>In recounting his experiences as a CBS News correspondent reporting from a “war zone” during the 1982 Falklands war, O’Reilly has said that he rescued a CBS colleague during a violent protest that erupted near the presidential palace in Buenos Aires after Argentina surrendered to the British. During a 2013 episode of the O’Reilly Factor, he <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3veRZuHSew" type="external">recalled</a>:</p>
<p>I was in a situation one time, in a war zone in Argentina, in the Falklands, where my photographer got run down and then hit his head and was bleeding from the ear on the concrete. And the army was chasing us. I had to make a decision. And I dragged him off, you know, but at the same time, I’m looking around and trying to do my job, but I figure I had to get this guy out of there because that was more important.</p>
<p>O’Reilly told a similar version in a 2009 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFMpfy898xM" type="external">interview</a>: “The camera went flying. I saved the tape because it was unbelievable tape. But I dragged him off the street because he was bleeding from the ear and had hit his head on the concrete.” In this account, O’Reilly claimed that soldiers had fired into the crowd with live ammunition, “gunning down” civilians, and that a soldier pointed an M-16 at him as he tried to assist his injured cameraman. In a 2001 book, O’Reilly reported that “many” people had died during this melee.</p>
<p>The record is clear, and <a href="" type="internal">O’Reilly’s own report</a> for CBS News confirms this: Argentine soldiers did not massacre civilians during this protest. And now the cameraman who shot the video that O’Reilly filed from this demonstration says another part of the Fox host’s account is untrue: O’Reilly never came to his aid, nor was he in need of rescue.</p>
<p>Ignacio Medrano-Carbo says he was the cameraman on O’Reilly’s crew that night. Jim Forrest, the crew’s sound man, confirms Medrano-Carbo was paired up with O’Reilly. “I worked with Ignacio during the surrender riots in Argentina during the Falklands war,” Forrest says in an email. “We were O’Reilly’s crew the night of the riots.” (O’Reilly has identified another CBS journalist named Roberto Moreno as his cameraman, but Forrest, Medrano-Carbo, and another former CBS journalist who worked in Argentina say that Moreno was a sound man at that time; Moreno has turned down requests from reporters to talk about the episode.) Medrano-Carbo certainly was shooting video in the middle of the tumult. A BBC <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x19xlym_the-falkland-islands-conflict-the-falklands-war-military-history-documentary_tv" type="external">documentary</a> (at the 56:28 mark) captured him filming scenes that appeared in O’Reilly’s report.</p>
<p>Medrano-Carbo has sent the following statement to Mother Jones:</p>
<p>After a call from a cameraman friend, I watched Bill O’Reilly’s report filed in 1982 from Buenos Aires for CBS during the Falkland War posted a few weeks ago on the Mother Jones web page. The part that caught my attention was Mr. O’Reilly’s claim that he helped his cameraman to safety who was bleeding out of his ear after he fell when chased by the army.</p>
<p>Ninety-nine percent of the footage in that report was shot by me. Does that make me his cameraman? I never fell nor was I bleeding out my ear at any time during my Buenos Aires assignment. I do not even recall Mr. O’Reilly being near me when I shot all that footage nor after I left the unrest at Plaza de Mayo that evening. But it is not uncommon to be separated from your reporter during a disturbance such as that one.</p>
<p>I also <a href="https://www.facebook.com/eric.j.engberg/posts/10204873374051471" type="external">read</a> that some colleagues were accusing Mr. O’Reilly of negligently asking his cameraman to turn on the camera light for his stand up. In his defense, I will attest that he never asked me to turn on the light for any reason. I turned on the camera light at my discretion and possible folly. I also never shot a stand up for Mr. O’Reilly.</p>
<p>In another report…Mr. O’Reilly states that his cameraman that night was Roberto Moreno. Mr. Moreno was indeed there but at that time he was a sound man and working with seasoned CBS cameraman Carl Sorensen. Mr. Moreno, who became my friend, did not pick up a camera until years later. My last name is Medrano perhaps Mr. O’Reilly got confused since Mr. Moreno went on to shoot for CBS News? Medrano? Moreno?</p>
<p>Lastly, I can confirm that no one I know of who worked with me in Buenos Aires during the Falkland War ever heard of any CBS crew member getting beat or hurt. Nor did any demonstrators get killed that night at Plaza de Mayo—to quote a colleague, “or we would’ve been following up at the morgue and interviewing family members.”</p>
<p>Fox News and O’Reilly did not respond to a request for comment.</p>
<p>UPDATE: After this story was posted, O’Reilly <a href="http://www.thewrap.com/bill-oreilly-rescue-story-refuted-by-cameraman-oreilly-denies-working-with-him/" type="external">told</a> TheWrap, “I never worked with Ignacio Medrano-Carbo. This is nothing more than yet another coordinated attack which predictably comes on the heels of my appearance on The Late Show with <a href="http://www.thewrap.com/tag/david_letterman/" type="external">David Letterman</a>.” In response, Medrano-Carbo tells Mother Jones, “I don’t know what to say… Ninety-nine percent of that footage in his report was mine. How’d he get that footage, if I’m not his cameraman?…I have the footage to show.” Medrano-Carbo shared with Mother Jones the raw footage he shot that night, and it does match the video in the report O’Reilly filed. He adds, “You can see me in the BBC report. Why would I lie? You used 99 percent of my stuff, and I’m not your cameraman? I certainly did not get beat up. You did not help me.”</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | lta hrefhttpswwwflickrcomphotosjustinhoch5035139939inphotolist8ewpfz8e1abv8v5kes83n3t27ntf3v7nxdz97lmas87lqy4s7lmzy47lmabv7lmzqz7lmahp7lqzdg7lqz3q7lqypu7lqzes7lqyds8gw8j38gsxsn8gw4qq8gw7bu8gsvot8gw5sb8gw5zo8gszkb8gw3k18gw5dj8gsugx8gswqk8gw7ds8gstar8brxjy8tu2d58ixltd8erbbq7szons7nxecl7lqyas7lqyeu7lmzpg7lmaax7lmzmr7lqyc17lqz8l7lmakn7lqxna7lmaua7lmzhk7lmam27lmzt27lqz55lightboxgtjustin hochltagtflickr fox news host bill oreilly continues insist never misrepresented embellished wartime reporting experiences previous episodeseven cnn washington post guardian media matters mother jones reported significant discrepancies oreillys accounts actually occurred last tuesday oreilly appeared david lettermans show maintained always accurate discussing journalistic exploits never fibbed air know said yet oreillys characterizations reporting falklands war el salvadors civil war troubles northern ireland los angeles riots 1992 1977 reinvestigation john f kennedy assassination repeatedly challenged several cases former colleagues principal character one oreillys dramatic talesin fox commentator plays heroic rolesays particular story accurate recounting experiences cbs news correspondent reporting war zone 1982 falklands war oreilly said rescued cbs colleague violent protest erupted near presidential palace buenos aires argentina surrendered british 2013 episode oreilly factor recalled situation one time war zone argentina falklands photographer got run hit head bleeding ear concrete army chasing us make decision dragged know time im looking around trying job figure get guy important oreilly told similar version 2009 interview camera went flying saved tape unbelievable tape dragged street bleeding ear hit head concrete account oreilly claimed soldiers fired crowd live ammunition gunning civilians soldier pointed m16 tried assist injured cameraman 2001 book oreilly reported many people died melee record clear oreillys report cbs news confirms argentine soldiers massacre civilians protest cameraman shot video oreilly filed demonstration says another part fox hosts account untrue oreilly never came aid need rescue ignacio medranocarbo says cameraman oreillys crew night jim forrest crews sound man confirms medranocarbo paired oreilly worked ignacio surrender riots argentina falklands war forrest says email oreillys crew night riots oreilly identified another cbs journalist named roberto moreno cameraman forrest medranocarbo another former cbs journalist worked argentina say moreno sound man time moreno turned requests reporters talk episode medranocarbo certainly shooting video middle tumult bbc documentary 5628 mark captured filming scenes appeared oreillys report medranocarbo sent following statement mother jones call cameraman friend watched bill oreillys report filed 1982 buenos aires cbs falkland war posted weeks ago mother jones web page part caught attention mr oreillys claim helped cameraman safety bleeding ear fell chased army ninetynine percent footage report shot make cameraman never fell bleeding ear time buenos aires assignment even recall mr oreilly near shot footage left unrest plaza de mayo evening uncommon separated reporter disturbance one also read colleagues accusing mr oreilly negligently asking cameraman turn camera light stand defense attest never asked turn light reason turned camera light discretion possible folly also never shot stand mr oreilly another reportmr oreilly states cameraman night roberto moreno mr moreno indeed time sound man working seasoned cbs cameraman carl sorensen mr moreno became friend pick camera years later last name medrano perhaps mr oreilly got confused since mr moreno went shoot cbs news medrano moreno lastly confirm one know worked buenos aires falkland war ever heard cbs crew member getting beat hurt demonstrators get killed night plaza de mayoto quote colleague wouldve following morgue interviewing family members fox news oreilly respond request comment update story posted oreilly told thewrap never worked ignacio medranocarbo nothing yet another coordinated attack predictably comes heels appearance late show david letterman response medranocarbo tells mother jones dont know say ninetynine percent footage report mine howd get footage im cameramani footage show medranocarbo shared mother jones raw footage shot night match video report oreilly filed adds see bbc report would lie used 99 percent stuff im cameraman certainly get beat help | 569 |
<p>Britain’s Prime Minister Blair has now claimed that the war in Iraq was justified by the discovery of mass graves. The ugly truth is that mass graves have become pretty common things since the beginning of the twentieth century, although many of the world’s most savage and horrific acts left no such evidence, as in the case of America’s napalming, carpet-bombing and throat-cutting millions in Vietnam.</p>
<p>No one can be genuinely surprised to learn that a dictator kills people, especially those who rebel against him, but no one should slip into shabby abuse of the word genocide as many reporters do and as politicians like Blair are happy to allow them to do. Genocide is the effort to destroy a whole class or kind of people, not the killing of a group of rebels or enemies.</p>
<p>Of course, we’ve not seen even a modest discovery of the weapons of mass destruction Mr. Blair went on and on about for months to justify the invasion of a country that was threatening no other country. Blair went through several iterations of producing what were called dossiers, although they proved utterly unconvincing, with no genuine evidence. There was what proved to be a cribbed graduate-student paper used on one of his supposedly top-secret intelligence efforts.</p>
<p>Once, Blair frantically asserted that Hussein could mount an attack with chemical or biological weapons within 48 hours. Although one must concede this in no way surpasses the grossness in lying of Colin Powell’s solemn recitation about satellite photos of actual components for chemical and biological warfare.</p>
<p>There was that phony study by an institute in Britain, given great publicity by Blair’s government, claiming Hussein could build an atomic bomb in a very short time. There was a phony biography of Hussein, done by another Englishman, making the same claim. There were the phony papers that surfaced in Italy about Iraqi transactions to buy uranium. And then there were the genuinely-qualified experts, the UN weapons inspectors, who were not allowed to do their jobs.</p>
<p>So I suppose after all that, plus a great many awkward lies stumbled over by President Bush, Blair would feel under some obligation to find a reason for a rash, unjustified war, even if it is on an ex post facto basis.</p>
<p>Blair knows perfectly well that these recently-discovered dead go back many years to uprisings in Iraq after the first Gulf war. The graves can be no surprise since virtually every detail of the uprisings was known to British and American governments. The CIA had many informers, both inside Iraq and as refugees, it had genuine information from spy satellites and high-flying aircraft, it had telephone and Internet interceptions, and it had information from Mossad, people who keep a very close watch on that neighborhood. This information would have kept the two governments about as well informed as Hussein himself.</p>
<p>For some reason, I don’t recall any great outrage expressed at the time. I don’t recall the British or American governments doing anything, or even threatening to do anything, at the time. Could that possibly be because the uprisings in Iraq were actively encouraged from outside? The United States did this knowing full well that it had no intention of helping those it incited to revolt, and it did this knowing the dreadful price that would be exacted by Hussein for the rebels’ almost-certain failure.</p>
<p>In other words, just to keep unrest and turmoil going for Hussein, the United States, and its loyal ally, Britain, deliberately helped send those thousands to certain death. Now, years later, Blair and Bush want to use their poor broken remains as evidence for different claims. Hypocrisy and immorality simply do not come on uglier terms.</p>
<p>The United States has pulled this kind of dirty trick a number of times on people like the Iraqi Shia or the Kurds who find themselves in vulnerable situations, but one does not associate that kind of ruthless activity with modern Britain. Well, one doesn’t associate all the phony arguments and claims made by Blair with modern Britain either. Or the cozy barbecues in rattlesnake country with a powerful ignoramus. Perhaps I just have a somewhat fogged-over idea of the behavior of British governments.</p>
<p>Blair says that because a mass grave has been found which may contain 3,000 bodies (although in Conrad Black’s Telegraph we early find “up to 15,000.” One wonders why not “up to half a million” while you’re at it?), invading Iraq against all international laws and public opinion, killing at least 3,000 more people (I tend to include the poor conscripts who die for their country and not just the unambiguous civilians), including scores of children, was justified.</p>
<p>I wonder would Blair’s assessment also apply to the estimated 500 tons of depleted uranium ammunition used in Iraq, hideous stuff, really a form of dirty bomb, whose vapors and dust will continue injuring and killing children for many years? And I suppose Blair is counting the razor-like shards of the cluster bombs that have crippled and lacerated so many children? Pitching a city of 5 million into chaos with no electricity, no water, no hospitals, no security, and no jobs was justified? Has he allowed for the pillaging and destruction of those priceless archeological treasures, the entire world’s heritage?</p>
<p>In how many dozens of countries across Africa, Western Asia, and Latin America have large groups of a regime’s opponents been murdered in recent years? Should these countries all have been invaded? What made Hussein so particularly intolerable? Surely Blair knows that Israel, certainly not a dictatorship, has killed about 2,500 Palestinians in the last 2 1/2 years? That it was responsible for tens of thousands dying in Lebanon in another illegal invasion?</p>
<p>A couple of countries in South America had the nasty practice for years of flying untried people out to sea, generally after torturing them, and simply throwing them off the plane. Thousands of these “disappeared ones” raised not a word of protest from American or British governments, much less any threats of invasion. I suspect the difference in treatment may have had something to do with America’s seeing the soldiers tossing people out of planes as doing the Lord’s work for political stability. As we all have been given to understand, dictators in the Middle East don’t worship the same Lord, either temporal or spiritual.</p>
<p>Of course, there were the horrors of Pinochet in Chile, torturing and killing thousands. And what was the role of America in those crimes? Why, they put him in power in the first place and have protected him since from justice. Indeed, Britain’s own Baroness Thatcher spoke out against justice for this vampire since he assisted Britain during the Falklands war. That “political stability” stuff goes a long way. You are free to commit the same crimes Hussein did, so long as you do it for the right interests.</p>
<p>But there have been so many, it would become tiresome to name them all. Nasty creatures like Samoza in Nicaragua, the Shah of Iran, Ceausescu of Rumania (a good friend of Nixon’s), Marcos in the Philippines, Suharto in Indonesia, Park in South Korea, and President Salinas of Mexico.</p>
<p>There have been far more terrible events in recent decades than Hussein’s revenge for a revolt. We’ve had genuine holocausts, genuine attempts at genocide. In Rwanda and Congo, where were the US and UK when the blood of a million innocents soaked the earth? There is every evidence a new wave is now underway in Congo. Will Blair convince Bush next time they share a barbecued cow in Crawford to invade Congo? Can you imagine Republican good ol’ boys like Tom Delay or Trent Lott supporting that?</p>
<p>And Cambodia? More than million skulls deposited over the “killing fields,” a direct result of America’s destabilizing a neutral government through invasion and bombing. Nothing was done there to stop the killing, although the US claimed that Vietnam’s effort to stop the slaughter proved how right it had been in the first place. Does that sound familiar, Tony?</p>
<p>At the end of Sukarno’s reign, Indonesia went on a rampage killing at least half a million people. People had their throats slit and their bodies dumped into rivers for being suspected communists. The US not only didn’t lift a finger, it had intelligence people on the phone reporting names of suspected communists not to be missed. Mighty heroic work that.</p>
<p>I do not understand why Blair was willing to see the UN, NATO, and the EU put through a meat grinder over Hussein’s known killings, which while horrible are not so far as we have evidence anything so terrible as these others? And if they were in fact that horrible, if there is evidence for true mass murder rather than a dictator’s punishment for a failed rebellion, why didn’t Blair just tell us so in the first place, with convincing facts?</p>
<p>But Blair knows perfectly well he didn’t invade Iraq over these killings, as he knows he would not invade another dictatorship for identical acts tomorrow. He invaded over the American claim of extraordinary weapons, which Bush said absolutely, over and over, were there, but which we can all see are not.</p>
<p>Iraq was invaded simply because Hussein didn’t play the game by American rules.</p>
<p>JOHN CHUCKMAN lives in Canada. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:chuckman@counterpunch.org" type="external">chuckman@counterpunch.org</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | britains prime minister blair claimed war iraq justified discovery mass graves ugly truth mass graves become pretty common things since beginning twentieth century although many worlds savage horrific acts left evidence case americas napalming carpetbombing throatcutting millions vietnam one genuinely surprised learn dictator kills people especially rebel one slip shabby abuse word genocide many reporters politicians like blair happy allow genocide effort destroy whole class kind people killing group rebels enemies course weve seen even modest discovery weapons mass destruction mr blair went months justify invasion country threatening country blair went several iterations producing called dossiers although proved utterly unconvincing genuine evidence proved cribbed graduatestudent paper used one supposedly topsecret intelligence efforts blair frantically asserted hussein could mount attack chemical biological weapons within 48 hours although one must concede way surpasses grossness lying colin powells solemn recitation satellite photos actual components chemical biological warfare phony study institute britain given great publicity blairs government claiming hussein could build atomic bomb short time phony biography hussein done another englishman making claim phony papers surfaced italy iraqi transactions buy uranium genuinelyqualified experts un weapons inspectors allowed jobs suppose plus great many awkward lies stumbled president bush blair would feel obligation find reason rash unjustified war even ex post facto basis blair knows perfectly well recentlydiscovered dead go back many years uprisings iraq first gulf war graves surprise since virtually every detail uprisings known british american governments cia many informers inside iraq refugees genuine information spy satellites highflying aircraft telephone internet interceptions information mossad people keep close watch neighborhood information would kept two governments well informed hussein reason dont recall great outrage expressed time dont recall british american governments anything even threatening anything time could possibly uprisings iraq actively encouraged outside united states knowing full well intention helping incited revolt knowing dreadful price would exacted hussein rebels almostcertain failure words keep unrest turmoil going hussein united states loyal ally britain deliberately helped send thousands certain death years later blair bush want use poor broken remains evidence different claims hypocrisy immorality simply come uglier terms united states pulled kind dirty trick number times people like iraqi shia kurds find vulnerable situations one associate kind ruthless activity modern britain well one doesnt associate phony arguments claims made blair modern britain either cozy barbecues rattlesnake country powerful ignoramus perhaps somewhat foggedover idea behavior british governments blair says mass grave found may contain 3000 bodies although conrad blacks telegraph early find 15000 one wonders half million youre invading iraq international laws public opinion killing least 3000 people tend include poor conscripts die country unambiguous civilians including scores children justified wonder would blairs assessment also apply estimated 500 tons depleted uranium ammunition used iraq hideous stuff really form dirty bomb whose vapors dust continue injuring killing children many years suppose blair counting razorlike shards cluster bombs crippled lacerated many children pitching city 5 million chaos electricity water hospitals security jobs justified allowed pillaging destruction priceless archeological treasures entire worlds heritage many dozens countries across africa western asia latin america large groups regimes opponents murdered recent years countries invaded made hussein particularly intolerable surely blair knows israel certainly dictatorship killed 2500 palestinians last 2 12 years responsible tens thousands dying lebanon another illegal invasion couple countries south america nasty practice years flying untried people sea generally torturing simply throwing plane thousands disappeared ones raised word protest american british governments much less threats invasion suspect difference treatment may something americas seeing soldiers tossing people planes lords work political stability given understand dictators middle east dont worship lord either temporal spiritual course horrors pinochet chile torturing killing thousands role america crimes put power first place protected since justice indeed britains baroness thatcher spoke justice vampire since assisted britain falklands war political stability stuff goes long way free commit crimes hussein long right interests many would become tiresome name nasty creatures like samoza nicaragua shah iran ceausescu rumania good friend nixons marcos philippines suharto indonesia park south korea president salinas mexico far terrible events recent decades husseins revenge revolt weve genuine holocausts genuine attempts genocide rwanda congo us uk blood million innocents soaked earth every evidence new wave underway congo blair convince bush next time share barbecued cow crawford invade congo imagine republican good ol boys like tom delay trent lott supporting cambodia million skulls deposited killing fields direct result americas destabilizing neutral government invasion bombing nothing done stop killing although us claimed vietnams effort stop slaughter proved right first place sound familiar tony end sukarnos reign indonesia went rampage killing least half million people people throats slit bodies dumped rivers suspected communists us didnt lift finger intelligence people phone reporting names suspected communists missed mighty heroic work understand blair willing see un nato eu put meat grinder husseins known killings horrible far evidence anything terrible others fact horrible evidence true mass murder rather dictators punishment failed rebellion didnt blair tell us first place convincing facts blair knows perfectly well didnt invade iraq killings knows would invade another dictatorship identical acts tomorrow invaded american claim extraordinary weapons bush said absolutely see iraq invaded simply hussein didnt play game american rules john chuckman lives canada reached chuckmancounterpunchorg 160 | 854 |
<p>In a story titled “Survey Finds Church-Going Americans Less Tolerant” (Reuters, 1/22/05), Michael Conlon writes:</p>
<p>Church-going Americans have grown increasingly intolerant in the past four years of politicians making compromises on such hot issues as abortion and gay rights, according to a survey released on Saturday. At the same time, those polled said they were growing bolder about pushing their beliefs on others — even at the risk of offending someone.</p>
<p>The trends could indicate that religion has become “more prominent in American discourse … more salient,” according to Ruth Wooden, president of Public Agenda, a nonpartisan research organization which released the survey.</p>
<p>It could also indicate “more polarized political thinking. There do not seem to be very many voices arguing for compromise today,” she said in an interview. “It could be that more religious voices feel under siege, pinned against the wall by cultural developments. They may feel more emboldened as a result.”</p>
<p>This analysis is correct in terms of the results of intolerance-the refusal to compromise, pushing one’s beliefs on others, an emboldened willingness to offend-but it doesn’t get to the heart of the matter: what causes today’s conservative Christian to be so intolerant.</p>
<p>I’ve noticed that liberal and moderate writers make the same mistaken assumption about what’s causing rightwing Christians to become more actively intolerant towards people who are different from themselves: that intolerance and persecution fly in the face of Christian teachings, hence represent hypocrisy. And if that’s all it is, then we need only alert them to this fact and they, being Christians, will be horrified to realize that they’ve been led astray, repent, and change their ways.</p>
<p>My friend, the truth hurts: Intolerance has become a standard “Christian” teaching in conservative circles and is now a badge of honor. When Antonio Scalia exhorted conservative Christians to “Be a fool for Christ!”, he was speaking in the longstanding tradition of sacrificing one’s pride and risking ridicule with gratitude for Christ’s ultimate sacrifice for us (even semi-atheistic Mark Twain once wrote, “I’m God’s fool”). But Scalia was also alluding to the proud-to-be-intolerant theme.</p>
<p>Scalia was urging his listeners to hold onto their intolerance even when others (liberal Christians included) accused them of being persecutory, hostile, or bigoted. They must remain intolerant because intolerance has been given a makeover: It’s now the most readily observable hallmark of the virtuous and courageous conservative Christian. While intolerance was considered a grave sin back when America was marching towards civil rights instead of away from them, today that vice has become-presto!-a virtue. This means that conservative Christians must become increasingly intolerant in order to demonstrate their faith, and the more in-your-face the intolerance is, the better.</p>
<p>No room here for wishy-washy-“Well I don’t like gay marriage but I guess it doesn’t bother me; I don’t even know any gay people”-if you want to win God’s approval and that of your conservative Christian friends, by golly you’d better start letting gay people know you mean business:</p>
<p>Change the Constitution, boycott business that market to gay people. Keep gays out of public schools, or ban books about them at the library. For Pete’s sake, just do something! Don’t let your worldly desire to be liked or your ungodly desire for peace keep you from working in the Lord’s service! Didn’t Christ die for your sins? Didn’t he say he was coming to earth with a sword? Onward Christian soldiers! The fight is not for the weary, nor the lazy! You must die to your “self”, your sinful pride, and sacrifice all for the moral betterment of our great nation! Now get out there and put those gays back in the closet where they belong-tell them they’re an abomination, and show them whose nation this is!</p>
<p>Paradiastole: Making Tolerance a Sin and Intolerance a Virtue</p>
<p>This is how the thinking-and the preaching-goes, I’m sad to say. So what’s to be done about it? Some progressive Christians are trying to win the hearts and minds of conservative Christians, believing that with just the right words and scripture they can be won back from this new antagonistic, highly political version of Christianity. I hope they succeed, and perhaps they will-but there are no guarantees.</p>
<p>Because intolerance is now a virtue to be acquired rather than a vice to be cast away, there is nothing that you or I can say to awaken the conscience of conservative Christians. They’re too far gone, for their beliefs have changed radically over the last few years. They worship a different God than the one we grew up with; perhaps it’s more accurate to say that they worship the Old Testament God, without the moderating influence of Jesus, who’s considered symbolic and sweet and nice-but nobody whose teachings must be obeyed.</p>
<p>Ask a conservative Christian about Jesus’ teachings, and you’ll be told that they’re wonderful spiritual teachings-for the inner life, not the outer.</p>
<p>Conservative Christians have adopted the warrior mentality of Onward Christian Soldiers, and intolerance is nothing to be hidden under a white robe and pointed white hood: it’s to be waved proudly as a flag demonstrating Christian rigor and personal rightness. Indeed, their conscience, their moral values, and their spiritual priorities have been altered, but not by hypocrisy. They’ve been reversed.</p>
<p>What was wrong is now right. What was down is now up. What was evil is now good. As one writer has pointed out, rhetoricians of Hobbes’ day called this reversal of values “paradiastole”: the method of rhetorical redescription by which what had been defined as vices could be redescribed as virtues, and vice versa. The radical right has turned paradiastole into an art form.</p>
<p>And in case you think this situation is all George W. Bush’s doing, think again. Christians, even conservative ones, can’t be swayed by politicians unless preachers pave the way first. Being more authoritarian than liberal Christians, conservatives are all the pickier about learning only from those who are considered respectable church authorities by other conservative Christians.</p>
<p>This is not to say that they won’t learn from a Rush Limbaugh or an Ann Coulter-they certainly do, and with uncritical enthusiasm-it just means that they must hear those same views endorsed, specifically or generally, by a proper member of the clergy. That’s why you can watch Fox News or listen to the rightwing kingdom of talk radio, then watch the TV preachers (all conservative, of course) on Sunday morning, without hearing a single contradictory word.</p>
<p>The Intolerance Code: Priming Christians for Action</p>
<p>Do you consider intolerance a bad thing? A sin or a hostile trait, perhaps? Something that sounds like the opposite of Jesus’ loving, thoughtful attitudes and behaviors as he talked, feasted and prayed with prostitutes and shady characters? Did you take from the parable of the Good Samaritan the lesson that you should be tolerant and accepting of, even go out of your way to help, those who don’t believe as you do?</p>
<p>If you answered yes to these questions, you’re in for a rude awakening. Conservative Christianity has morphed into Old Testament rigidity and eternally enforced morality, not guided nor even tempered by the interpersonal acceptance, tolerance of social outcasts, and deeper spiritual understanding that Jesus taught and modeled.</p>
<p>Rather than throw up our hands at this ominous glorification of intolerance in conservative churches, sometimes preached on a spiritual level but nearly always enacted at the physical/political level, we’d better discover and understand how their leaders are persuading people to promote curbs on freedom and perpetual “culture war”. Only then can we appeal to the moderates within those churches who’ve gotten swept up into a tide of political antagonism with which they’re not really comfortable.</p>
<p>There’s a new code for intolerance, and it’s not always in-your-face the way James Dobson so often is. Here’s an example from the promo for a book by his son Ryan (whom I always pitied after reading about the terrible whippings he endured at the hands of his father, who whipped their tiny dachshund with a belt, as well): Featuring an angry-looking white man on the cover, it’s titled simply, Be Intolerant:</p>
<p>Are there times when Christians shouldn’t be tolerant? Dobson says yes—if “tolerance” means “willing to accept any version of right and wrong because there is no absolute truth.” Find out why this impassioned youth speaker believes Christianity and moral absolutes go hand-in-hand—and why the church must communicate this to the up-and-coming generation.</p>
<p>But Christians can be taught to flip tolerance into a sin and intolerance into virtue through words far more subtle than these. There’s no need to spell out what’s to be not-tolerated; one can simply prime the pump, readying the troops for action when the time is right.</p>
<p>Here’s a good example from a highly persuasive and widely revered authority figure. This piece never names a target group to oppose or a political action to take, but effectively reverses the way we think about the words “tolerance” and “intolerance”, leaving us more negatively disposed towards the former and more approving of the latter:</p>
<p>“The word ‘tolerant’ means ‘liberal,’ ‘broad-minded,’ ‘willing to put up with beliefs opposed to one’s convictions’ and ‘the allowance of something not wholly approved.’ Tolerance, in one sense, implies the compromise of one’s convictions, a yielding of ground upon important issues. Hence, our tolerance in moral issues has made us soft, flabby and devoid of convictions. We have become tolerant about divorce; we have become tolerant about the use of alcohol; we have become tolerant about delinquency; we have become tolerant about wickedness in high places; we have become tolerant about immorality; we have become tolerant about crime and we have become tolerant about godlessness.”</p>
<p>From The Sin of Tolerance by Rev. Billy Graham</p>
<p>To be continued Why Conservative Christians Fear Tolerance, Part II: Those Liberal Southern Baptists</p>
<p>Dr. TERESA WHITEHURST is a clinical psychologist and writer. Her most recent book describes the nonviolent guidance of children, <a href="http://www.JesusontheFamily.org/" type="external">Jesus on Parenting</a>, Baker Books, 9/2004.</p>
<p>You can contact her at <a href="mailto:DrTeresa@JesusontheFamily.org" type="external">DrTeresa@JesusontheFamily.org</a></p> | true | 4 | story titled survey finds churchgoing americans less tolerant reuters 12205 michael conlon writes churchgoing americans grown increasingly intolerant past four years politicians making compromises hot issues abortion gay rights according survey released saturday time polled said growing bolder pushing beliefs others even risk offending someone trends could indicate religion become prominent american discourse salient according ruth wooden president public agenda nonpartisan research organization released survey could also indicate polarized political thinking seem many voices arguing compromise today said interview could religious voices feel siege pinned wall cultural developments may feel emboldened result analysis correct terms results intolerancethe refusal compromise pushing ones beliefs others emboldened willingness offendbut doesnt get heart matter causes todays conservative christian intolerant ive noticed liberal moderate writers make mistaken assumption whats causing rightwing christians become actively intolerant towards people different intolerance persecution fly face christian teachings hence represent hypocrisy thats need alert fact christians horrified realize theyve led astray repent change ways friend truth hurts intolerance become standard christian teaching conservative circles badge honor antonio scalia exhorted conservative christians fool christ speaking longstanding tradition sacrificing ones pride risking ridicule gratitude christs ultimate sacrifice us even semiatheistic mark twain wrote im gods fool scalia also alluding proudtobeintolerant theme scalia urging listeners hold onto intolerance even others liberal christians included accused persecutory hostile bigoted must remain intolerant intolerance given makeover readily observable hallmark virtuous courageous conservative christian intolerance considered grave sin back america marching towards civil rights instead away today vice becomeprestoa virtue means conservative christians must become increasingly intolerant order demonstrate faith inyourface intolerance better room wishywashywell dont like gay marriage guess doesnt bother dont even know gay peopleif want win gods approval conservative christian friends golly youd better start letting gay people know mean business change constitution boycott business market gay people keep gays public schools ban books library petes sake something dont let worldly desire liked ungodly desire peace keep working lords service didnt christ die sins didnt say coming earth sword onward christian soldiers fight weary lazy must die self sinful pride sacrifice moral betterment great nation get put gays back closet belongtell theyre abomination show whose nation paradiastole making tolerance sin intolerance virtue thinkingand preachinggoes im sad say whats done progressive christians trying win hearts minds conservative christians believing right words scripture back new antagonistic highly political version christianity hope succeed perhaps willbut guarantees intolerance virtue acquired rather vice cast away nothing say awaken conscience conservative christians theyre far gone beliefs changed radically last years worship different god one grew perhaps accurate say worship old testament god without moderating influence jesus whos considered symbolic sweet nicebut nobody whose teachings must obeyed ask conservative christian jesus teachings youll told theyre wonderful spiritual teachingsfor inner life outer conservative christians adopted warrior mentality onward christian soldiers intolerance nothing hidden white robe pointed white hood waved proudly flag demonstrating christian rigor personal rightness indeed conscience moral values spiritual priorities altered hypocrisy theyve reversed wrong right evil good one writer pointed rhetoricians hobbes day called reversal values paradiastole method rhetorical redescription defined vices could redescribed virtues vice versa radical right turned paradiastole art form case think situation george w bushs think christians even conservative ones cant swayed politicians unless preachers pave way first authoritarian liberal christians conservatives pickier learning considered respectable church authorities conservative christians say wont learn rush limbaugh ann coulterthey certainly uncritical enthusiasmit means must hear views endorsed specifically generally proper member clergy thats watch fox news listen rightwing kingdom talk radio watch tv preachers conservative course sunday morning without hearing single contradictory word intolerance code priming christians action consider intolerance bad thing sin hostile trait perhaps something sounds like opposite jesus loving thoughtful attitudes behaviors talked feasted prayed prostitutes shady characters take parable good samaritan lesson tolerant accepting even go way help dont believe answered yes questions youre rude awakening conservative christianity morphed old testament rigidity eternally enforced morality guided even tempered interpersonal acceptance tolerance social outcasts deeper spiritual understanding jesus taught modeled rather throw hands ominous glorification intolerance conservative churches sometimes preached spiritual level nearly always enacted physicalpolitical level wed better discover understand leaders persuading people promote curbs freedom perpetual culture war appeal moderates within churches whove gotten swept tide political antagonism theyre really comfortable theres new code intolerance always inyourface way james dobson often heres example promo book son ryan always pitied reading terrible whippings endured hands father whipped tiny dachshund belt well featuring angrylooking white man cover titled simply intolerant times christians shouldnt tolerant dobson says yesif tolerance means willing accept version right wrong absolute truth find impassioned youth speaker believes christianity moral absolutes go handinhandand church must communicate upandcoming generation christians taught flip tolerance sin intolerance virtue words far subtle theres need spell whats nottolerated one simply prime pump readying troops action time right heres good example highly persuasive widely revered authority figure piece never names target group oppose political action take effectively reverses way think words tolerance intolerance leaving us negatively disposed towards former approving latter word tolerant means liberal broadminded willing put beliefs opposed ones convictions allowance something wholly approved tolerance one sense implies compromise ones convictions yielding ground upon important issues hence tolerance moral issues made us soft flabby devoid convictions become tolerant divorce become tolerant use alcohol become tolerant delinquency become tolerant wickedness high places become tolerant immorality become tolerant crime become tolerant godlessness sin tolerance rev billy graham continued conservative christians fear tolerance part ii liberal southern baptists dr teresa whitehurst clinical psychologist writer recent book describes nonviolent guidance children jesus parenting baker books 92004 contact drteresajesusonthefamilyorg | 920 |
<p>In the following interview on Democracy Now! Amy Goodman interviews journalist Matt Taibbi about his recent investigation into the SEC's shady practices.</p>
<p>AMY GOODMAN: Is the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission covering up Wall Street crimes? That’s the question examined in an explosive new <a href="//www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/is-the-sec-covering-up-wall-street-crimes-20110817" type="external">report</a> by Rolling Stone reporter Matt Taibbi.</p>
<p>He begins the piece: "Imagine a world in which a man who is repeatedly investigated for a string of serious crimes, but never prosecuted, has his slate wiped clean every time the cops fail to make a case." Taibbi argues this is exactly how the Securities and Exchange Commission has been treating the Wall Street bankers who helped cause the ongoing global economic crisis.</p>
<p>Matt Taibbi joins us now, political reporter at Rolling Stone magazine. His latest piece, again, "Is the SEC Covering Up Wall Street Crimes?"</p>
<p>How are they doing it, Matt?</p>
<p>MATT TAIBBI: Well, the SEC had a number of different levels of investigation. They had a thing called a MUI, which is a "Matter Under Inquiry," and this is basically any preliminary investigation, any tip that came in from a whistleblower or from a self-regulating organization like the Stock Exchange or FINRA, if they—suspicious trades, anything like that. If they investigated it and they did not get permission from the people up above in the SEC to proceed to a full-blown investigation, they then shredded all that evidence they gathered in the preliminary stage. So they destroyed all the evidence of all MUIs dating back to 1993, and that might be as many as 18,000 cases.</p>
<p>AMY GOODMAN: Under whose authority?</p>
<p>MATT TAIBBI: Under the authority of the enforcement division. Now, this—there’s no legal authority to do this. And, you know, apparently, according to my sources, this was illegal. You can’t just unilaterally shred any government document, no matter how insignificant. And these are significant law enforcement investigatory files that they were unilaterally destroying.</p>
<p>AMY GOODMAN: Talk about just what the SEC does, the Securities and Exchange Commission.</p>
<p>MATT TAIBBI: Well, they police the financial markets. They’re the main cops on the beat on Wall Street. It’s basically a two-tiered structure. It’s—you know, for Wall Street crime, it’s the SEC and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York are the two main sort of policing organizations that prevent things like insider trading, market manipulation, securities fraud. They also make sure that all publicly traded corporations—they have to make regular disclosures, you know, every year, and they make sure that those disclosures are accurate, that you don’t have an Enron situation, for instance, where a company is reporting profits that they don’t have and hiding losses that they do have. The SEC is supposed to be the number one cop on the beat preventing all of this stuff. And if they’re not doing their job, which they apparently haven’t been, you know, what results is a situation like 2008, where just corruption overwhelms the markets, and you have this explosion of, you know, a lack of confidence all around the globe.</p>
<p>AMY GOODMAN: Who is the whistleblower who started to expose what was taking place?</p>
<p>MATT TAIBBI: His name is Darcy Flynn. He’s a 13-year veteran of the SEC. He had a variety of positions in the SEC, but most recently, he is an attorney who worked, and part of his responsibilities were to maintain the records, within the agency. Now, when he took this new job in 2010, he discovered this policy that the SEC had been destroying all of its preliminary investigations. And he was, you know, understandably upset. And he started this whole process of coming forward. He contacted the National Archives, because he wanted guidance on the issue. And he only came forward publicly because he couldn’t get reassurances from the SEC that they wouldn’t take action against him for coming forward. And so, that’s why he came forward.</p>
<p>AMY GOODMAN: Senator Grassley said the files include "important cases such as the investigation of [Bernard] Madoff, Goldman Sachs trading in AIG credit default swaps in 2009, financial fraud at Wells Fargo and Bank of America in 2007 and <a href="//www.democracynow.org/2011/8/23/covering_up_wall_street_crimes_matt#fn2008" type="external">2008</a>, and insider trading investigations at Deutsche Bank, Lehman Brothers, [and] SAC Capital."</p>
<p>MATT TAIBBI: Yeah, no. One of the criticisms of my article, after it came out, was, well, you know, all of these cases, these MUIs that got destroyed, they were insignificant cases, that’s why they didn’t proceed to full-blown investigations in the first place. Well, we know that this isn’t true. We know that at least a couple of these cases involved Bernie Madoff in the years before the Madoff story came out.</p>
<p>Also, Darcy Flynn, this whistleblower, he also came forward with revelations about his own experience as an investigator. One of the first cases that he talked about was one where he was trying to pursue a case involving Deutsche Bank, a very promising securities fraud case, but it was rejected by the chief of the enforcement division, who shortly thereafter took a job as the general counsel of Deutsche Bank. So we know that this is part of the culture at the SEC. There’s a whole problem where there is this dichotomy. There’s the lower-level investigators, who were the sort of career bureaucrats, career—they’re more like cops, basically. And the guys on the upper level are more like political appointees who come from all these high-priced Wall Street banks, and they’re rejecting a lot of these important cases.</p>
<p>AMY GOODMAN: Peter Henning, who writes "White Collar Watch" for <a href="//dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/08/22/the-s-e-c-s-document-destruction-problem/" type="external">DealBook</a> at the New York Times, wrote yesterday, "Although Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone described the policy as 'Orwellian,' the practice looks more like corner cutting to avoid cumbersome federal regulations on document disposal—the very type of conduct that the S.E.C. often criticizes companies for when it pursues an enforcement action." And he goes on to say, "The actual document destruction, which ended last year, probably had no significant effect on any continuing investigations because it only [applied] to inquiries dropped [early]."</p>
<p>MATT TAIBBI: Yeah, I mean, that’s just preposterous. I mean, I don’t know how—can you imagine if the DEA, for instance, destroyed the files on 18,000 cases of drug enforcement? How could anybody seriously argue that this wouldn’t have an effect on ongoing investigations? Every—you know, law enforcement these days is increasingly dependent upon this intelligence-based model of enforcement, where you piece together bits of information from all kinds of investigations, and you identify patterns that grow over time. So, if you have a company—and there were a number of these companies, like Lehman Brothers and AIG and Goldman Sachs, that had multiple complaints against them in the last 10 years—if you don’t—if you’re an investigator and you don’t have the opportunity to go back and look at those cases and see what patterns might have been there or not been there, I don’t know how you can say that that doesn’t have a serious effect on all enforcement.</p>
<p>AMY GOODMAN: Is this going to stop?</p>
<p>MATT TAIBBI: Well, they have stopped the policy of shredding the files. Last year, after Darcy Flynn came forward, they did adjust the policy. But the thing that was really troubling about that is that when he came forward and made—and brought this to the attention of the people in the enforcement division, they did not immediately admit it, and, you know, admit the problem to the National Archives. They tried to cover it up. And so, we know that there—the culture problem at the SEC that caused this in the first place is—it’s still there. It’s still the same people who are running the SEC, the same bad instincts that got us to this place in the first place, are still—are still a problem.</p>
<p>AMY GOODMAN: Let me ask you about our headline today about Obama administration reportedly putting increasing pressure on New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to agree to a broad state settlement with banks over questionable foreclosure tactics. The federal settlement has been widely criticized because it would insulate the nation’s largest banks, including Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, from all criminal investigations in exchange for civil fines. Schneiderman and others have opposed the settlement because they say it would restrict their ability to investigate and prosecute wrongdoing in a variety of areas, including the bundling of loans in mortgage securities. Matt Taibbi?</p>
<p>MATT TAIBBI: Yeah, no. This whole issue of securitization was central to the cause of the financial crisis. All of the banks—not just a few of them, all of them—were engaged in this wide-scale fraud scheme to take worthless and/or extremely risky subprime mortgages and sell them as AAA-rated investments to unsuspecting investors all over the world, including, you know, pension funds here in the United States and foreigners in Scandinavia, China, Saudi Arabia. Basically, this was a fraud scheme where you’re selling garbage as gold. And they were all engaged in this fraud scheme. They all knew that they were selling extremely risky stuff as AAA-rated investments.</p>
<p>And the Schneiderman investigation is targeting this whole—the root of this process, the securitization process, where they took the subprime mortgages and chopped them up and then waved their magic pixie dust on it to turn it into AAA-rated investments. The national deal is seeking to cover this up and try to insulate all the banks from liability, especially civil liability, for what they did. If they do that, then they’re going to get away with this, and we’re not really going to fix the problem. And I think Schneiderman is really the only law enforcement official out there right now who is seriously trying to uncover this mess.</p>
<p>AMY GOODMAN: Let me get to two other headlines. One is Lloyd Blankfein, head of Goldman Sachs, now retaining a top lawyer known for defending Enron defendants. His name, Reid Weingarten.</p>
<p>MATT TAIBBI: Yeah, no. Goldman’s now stock price has now plummeted to $104, which is unbelievable. It was, you know, in the $160s just earlier this year. And I think this news that Blankfein has retained Weingarten is a serious indication that they’re expecting serious prosecution.</p>
<p>AMY GOODMAN: And Deven Sharma stepping down as head of Standard &amp; Poor’s?</p>
<p>MATT TAIBBI: Well, I mean, I think—you know, I don’t know what to make of that. I do know that Standard &amp; Poor’s and Moody’s and all these ratings agencies are going to become—going to come under increased scrutiny for their role in creating the financial crisis, after they—you know, they downgrade the United States. I think it’s time to start taking a look at them again.</p>
<p>AMY GOODMAN: Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone, thanks so much for being with us and for your reporting.</p>
<p>MATT TAIBBI: Thank you.</p> | true | 4 | following interview democracy amy goodman interviews journalist matt taibbi recent investigation secs shady practices amy goodman us securities exchange commission covering wall street crimes thats question examined explosive new report rolling stone reporter matt taibbi begins piece imagine world man repeatedly investigated string serious crimes never prosecuted slate wiped clean every time cops fail make case taibbi argues exactly securities exchange commission treating wall street bankers helped cause ongoing global economic crisis matt taibbi joins us political reporter rolling stone magazine latest piece sec covering wall street crimes matt matt taibbi well sec number different levels investigation thing called mui matter inquiry basically preliminary investigation tip came whistleblower selfregulating organization like stock exchange finra theysuspicious trades anything like investigated get permission people sec proceed fullblown investigation shredded evidence gathered preliminary stage destroyed evidence muis dating back 1993 might many 18000 cases amy goodman whose authority matt taibbi authority enforcement division thistheres legal authority know apparently according sources illegal cant unilaterally shred government document matter insignificant significant law enforcement investigatory files unilaterally destroying amy goodman talk sec securities exchange commission matt taibbi well police financial markets theyre main cops beat wall street basically twotiered structure itsyou know wall street crime sec us attorneys office southern district new york two main sort policing organizations prevent things like insider trading market manipulation securities fraud also make sure publicly traded corporationsthey make regular disclosures know every year make sure disclosures accurate dont enron situation instance company reporting profits dont hiding losses sec supposed number one cop beat preventing stuff theyre job apparently havent know results situation like 2008 corruption overwhelms markets explosion know lack confidence around globe amy goodman whistleblower started expose taking place matt taibbi name darcy flynn hes 13year veteran sec variety positions sec recently attorney worked part responsibilities maintain records within agency took new job 2010 discovered policy sec destroying preliminary investigations know understandably upset started whole process coming forward contacted national archives wanted guidance issue came forward publicly couldnt get reassurances sec wouldnt take action coming forward thats came forward amy goodman senator grassley said files include important cases investigation bernard madoff goldman sachs trading aig credit default swaps 2009 financial fraud wells fargo bank america 2007 2008 insider trading investigations deutsche bank lehman brothers sac capital matt taibbi yeah one criticisms article came well know cases muis got destroyed insignificant cases thats didnt proceed fullblown investigations first place well know isnt true know least couple cases involved bernie madoff years madoff story came also darcy flynn whistleblower also came forward revelations experience investigator one first cases talked one trying pursue case involving deutsche bank promising securities fraud case rejected chief enforcement division shortly thereafter took job general counsel deutsche bank know part culture sec theres whole problem dichotomy theres lowerlevel investigators sort career bureaucrats careertheyre like cops basically guys upper level like political appointees come highpriced wall street banks theyre rejecting lot important cases amy goodman peter henning writes white collar watch dealbook new york times wrote yesterday although matt taibbi rolling stone described policy orwellian practice looks like corner cutting avoid cumbersome federal regulations document disposalthe type conduct sec often criticizes companies pursues enforcement action goes say actual document destruction ended last year probably significant effect continuing investigations applied inquiries dropped early matt taibbi yeah mean thats preposterous mean dont know howcan imagine dea instance destroyed files 18000 cases drug enforcement could anybody seriously argue wouldnt effect ongoing investigations everyyou know law enforcement days increasingly dependent upon intelligencebased model enforcement piece together bits information kinds investigations identify patterns grow time companyand number companies like lehman brothers aig goldman sachs multiple complaints last 10 yearsif dontif youre investigator dont opportunity go back look cases see patterns might dont know say doesnt serious effect enforcement amy goodman going stop matt taibbi well stopped policy shredding files last year darcy flynn came forward adjust policy thing really troubling came forward madeand brought attention people enforcement division immediately admit know admit problem national archives tried cover know therethe culture problem sec caused first place isits still still people running sec bad instincts got us place first place stillare still problem amy goodman let ask headline today obama administration reportedly putting increasing pressure new york attorney general eric schneiderman agree broad state settlement banks questionable foreclosure tactics federal settlement widely criticized would insulate nations largest banks including bank america citigroup jpmorgan chase wells fargo criminal investigations exchange civil fines schneiderman others opposed settlement say would restrict ability investigate prosecute wrongdoing variety areas including bundling loans mortgage securities matt taibbi matt taibbi yeah whole issue securitization central cause financial crisis banksnot themwere engaged widescale fraud scheme take worthless andor extremely risky subprime mortgages sell aaarated investments unsuspecting investors world including know pension funds united states foreigners scandinavia china saudi arabia basically fraud scheme youre selling garbage gold engaged fraud scheme knew selling extremely risky stuff aaarated investments schneiderman investigation targeting wholethe root process securitization process took subprime mortgages chopped waved magic pixie dust turn aaarated investments national deal seeking cover try insulate banks liability especially civil liability theyre going get away really going fix problem think schneiderman really law enforcement official right seriously trying uncover mess amy goodman let get two headlines one lloyd blankfein head goldman sachs retaining top lawyer known defending enron defendants name reid weingarten matt taibbi yeah goldmans stock price plummeted 104 unbelievable know 160s earlier year think news blankfein retained weingarten serious indication theyre expecting serious prosecution amy goodman deven sharma stepping head standard amp poors matt taibbi well mean thinkyou know dont know make know standard amp poors moodys ratings agencies going becomegoing come increased scrutiny role creating financial crisis theyyou know downgrade united states think time start taking look amy goodman matt taibbi rolling stone thanks much us reporting matt taibbi thank | 965 |
<p>“To bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government”</p>
<p>State Department, April 6, 1960</p>
<p>A few weeks from now, the UN General Assembly will pass, with practical unanimity, a new resolution, the number 15, condemning the blockade on Cuba, which Washington tries to describe as barely an “embargo”. The United States Government will try to justify its policy once again without success. They have been doing this for almost half a century now, concealing the truth behind their fabrications and lies.</p>
<p>The truth is, however, contained in documents that were kept secret by Washington until 1991. More than an embargo or blockade, it is in fact an act of ¨economic warfare¨, as the then secretary of state, Christian Herter, said in 1959. An economic warfare that began with the triumph of the Revolution in January of 1959 and it is still in force today, a war which has always had the same genocidal purpose: to bring about hunger, misery and desperation among the people of Cuba.</p>
<p>Dictator Fulgencio Batista and his main accomplices plundered the Republic’s Treasury and upon fleeing Cuba in January of that year they took with them more than 424 million dollars which came to rest in the United States and form the economic basis of a mafia often hailed by the US press as ¨successful businessmen¨ of Miami. For Cuba the situation was critical and Washington knew it. The Department of State described it as such, saying in February 1959 that:</p>
<p>“the serious threat to the stability of the Cuba peso which results from the fact that following the departure of the Batista administration it was determined that the currency reserve of the country is depleted”, something which, “would tax the governing abilities of any of the best leaders”.</p>
<p>The Central Bank of Cuba sent a team of experts to Washington to seek a modest loan that would alleviate such a crisis. The issue was analysed by the National Security Council on February 12, 1959. The decision was unequivocal: they would listen to the Cubans but offer them nothing at all. They didn’t grant any kind of loan. They didn’t even promise to look into the matter. Needless to say, not one cent of the money stolen from the Cuban people was ever returned.</p>
<p>The dispossession of Cuban bank reserves, which constitutes a blatant act of economic aggression, took place long before any revolutionary measure was adopted on the Island (the first being the Law of Agrarian reform, passed on May 17 of that year).</p>
<p>On March 26, 1959, the National Security Council also discussed the Cuba situation. At this meeting CIA’s director, Allen Dulles, said that: “it was quite possible that the US Congress would do something which would affect the sale of Cuban sugar in the US”. Depriving Cuba of its main source of income, sugar exports to the US market, would become a recurrent theme of Washington’s secret meetings before, long before, relationships with the Soviet Union were re-established and before socialism was proclaimed to be Revolution’s goal. They did that when sugar was still being grown on large landed estates and processed in factories -many of which were US owned- that had not been expropriated and were still in the hands of the Island’s oligarchy and foreign companies.</p>
<p>US Government officials were aware of the consequences of such action. A report from the Department of State acknowledged that: “If Cuba were deprived of its quota privilege, the sugar industry would promptly suffer an abrupt decline, causing widespread further unemployment. The large numbers of people those forced out of work would begin to go hungry”.</p>
<p>But they weren’t just talking about sugar: “if we were to cut the Cubans off from their fuel supply, the effect would be devastating on them within a month or six weeks”.</p>
<p>Nobody in Washington claimed to have been deceived. They knew that the actions taken against the Revolution would cause pain and suffering to all the Cuban people. They did it with premeditation and full knowledge of the effect, converting the act of genocide into a malicious political instrument. An analysis from this same Department, dated April 6, 1960 and approved with the signature of Assistant Secretary, Roy Rubottom, offers us explicit proof of this policy.</p>
<p>In this analysis it is flatly affirmed that:</p>
<p>“The majority of Cubans support CastroThe only foreseeable means of alienating internal support is through disenchantment and disaffection based on economic dissatisfaction and hardshipit follows that every possible means should be undertaken promptly to weaken the economic life of Cuba it should be the result of a positive decision which would call forth a line of action while as adroit and inconspicuous as possible, makes the greatest inroads in denying money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government”.</p>
<p>Note that they acknowledged they should act in a manner “as adroit and inconspicuous as possible”, something that fits with a criminal behaviour, and not just any crime, but rather one that has been particularly condemned by humankind: the crime of genocide clearly defined by the Geneva Convention of 1948 as any attempt to cause total or partial damage to any human group. What is this if it isn’t precisely that: an attempt at ¨bringing about hunger and desperation¨ among all Cubans?</p>
<p>It is probably the most prolonged act of genocide in history. It began before the majority of Cubans alive today were born, meaning that they have spent their entire lives under the blockade.</p>
<p>Soon it will be condemned again by humankind as a whole. Once again the US administration will reveal its arrogance and ignore the demand being made worldwide. When will it end?</p>
<p>NB: All quotes are from the official documents compiled in the book published by the Department of State: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958-1960 Volume VI Cuba, United States Goverment Printing Office, Washington, 1991.</p>
<p>Ricardo Alarcon de Quesada is Cuba’s Vice President and President of its National Assembly. &#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | bring hunger desperation overthrow government state department april 6 1960 weeks un general assembly pass practical unanimity new resolution number 15 condemning blockade cuba washington tries describe barely embargo united states government try justify policy without success almost half century concealing truth behind fabrications lies truth however contained documents kept secret washington 1991 embargo blockade fact act economic warfare secretary state christian herter said 1959 economic warfare began triumph revolution january 1959 still force today war always genocidal purpose bring hunger misery desperation among people cuba dictator fulgencio batista main accomplices plundered republics treasury upon fleeing cuba january year took 424 million dollars came rest united states form economic basis mafia often hailed us press successful businessmen miami cuba situation critical washington knew department state described saying february 1959 serious threat stability cuba peso results fact following departure batista administration determined currency reserve country depleted something would tax governing abilities best leaders central bank cuba sent team experts washington seek modest loan would alleviate crisis issue analysed national security council february 12 1959 decision unequivocal would listen cubans offer nothing didnt grant kind loan didnt even promise look matter needless say one cent money stolen cuban people ever returned dispossession cuban bank reserves constitutes blatant act economic aggression took place long revolutionary measure adopted island first law agrarian reform passed may 17 year march 26 1959 national security council also discussed cuba situation meeting cias director allen dulles said quite possible us congress would something would affect sale cuban sugar us depriving cuba main source income sugar exports us market would become recurrent theme washingtons secret meetings long relationships soviet union reestablished socialism proclaimed revolutions goal sugar still grown large landed estates processed factories many us owned expropriated still hands islands oligarchy foreign companies us government officials aware consequences action report department state acknowledged cuba deprived quota privilege sugar industry would promptly suffer abrupt decline causing widespread unemployment large numbers people forced work would begin go hungry werent talking sugar cut cubans fuel supply effect would devastating within month six weeks nobody washington claimed deceived knew actions taken revolution would cause pain suffering cuban people premeditation full knowledge effect converting act genocide malicious political instrument analysis department dated april 6 1960 approved signature assistant secretary roy rubottom offers us explicit proof policy analysis flatly affirmed majority cubans support castrothe foreseeable means alienating internal support disenchantment disaffection based economic dissatisfaction hardshipit follows every possible means undertaken promptly weaken economic life cuba result positive decision would call forth line action adroit inconspicuous possible makes greatest inroads denying money supplies cuba decrease monetary real wages bring hunger desperation overthrow government note acknowledged act manner adroit inconspicuous possible something fits criminal behaviour crime rather one particularly condemned humankind crime genocide clearly defined geneva convention 1948 attempt cause total partial damage human group isnt precisely attempt bringing hunger desperation among cubans probably prolonged act genocide history began majority cubans alive today born meaning spent entire lives blockade soon condemned humankind whole us administration reveal arrogance ignore demand made worldwide end nb quotes official documents compiled book published department state foreign relations united states 19581960 volume vi cuba united states goverment printing office washington 1991 ricardo alarcon de quesada cubas vice president president national assembly 160 160 | 541 |
<p>Downtown Seattle, with Mt. Rainier.kanonsky/iStock/Getty</p>
<p>Last November, some environmentalists in Washington state went to the polls hoping voters would back an initiative creating the nation’s first tax on carbon pollution.</p>
<p>Initiative 732 went down to defeat as the country’s attention focused on Donald Trump’s shocking electoral college win. But now, one year later and buoyed by the Democrats’ pick up of a state Senate seat in last week’s elections,&#160;Washington will get another chance to pass meaningful climate policy.</p>
<p>The victory not only gave the party control of the State Senate, it will, along with an already Democratic governor’s mansion and House of Representatives, turn Washington solidly blue. That clears the way for a “full-scale effort in the next session of the Legislature” on climate, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/04/us/washington-state-west-politics-democrats.html" type="external">Governor Jay Inslee said</a>&#160;before the election.</p>
<p>“2018 is the year we’re going to push for something big in Washington,” says Nick Abraham, communications director of the Washington Conservation Voters. “Whether that goes through the legislature or the ballot is still on the table.”&#160;</p>
<p>The coalition of groups spearheading the climate campaign, called the Alliance for Jobs and Clean Energy, expects to make a more formal announcement about its plans before the end of the year. They are looking at a <a href="https://wecprotects.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Alliance-Policy_summary.pdf" type="external">policy</a> that reduces greenhouse gas pollution, but also redirects investment into a suite of programs to promote clean energy, electrifying the transportation sector, clean water, and communities of color.&#160;Their plan, similar to one that is under discussion by Democratic leadership, likely will include a tax on carbon.</p>
<p>Before climate advocates can see a carbon tax through, they will have to overcome the internal rifts in the progressive community that sunk the 2016 inititiave, which&#160; <a href="" type="internal">split environmentalists into two camps</a>.</p>
<p>A small group called Carbon Washington sponsored the defeated initiative, which gained support from the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and Washington’s Audubon Society. Despite the high-profile backing, many Washington chapters of national environmental groups, like the Sierra Club and Washington Conservation Voters, declined to support the initiative, and activists Van Jones and Naomi Klein publicly campaigned against it. Their claim: The proposal didn’t generate funds to fight climate change, and was developed without the input of communities of color, and as a result, left those communities behind.</p>
<p>What the 732 initiative was designed to do, in essence, was return the money from its carbon tax through cuts in sales and manufacturing taxes and with tax rebates to low-income households. Carbon Washington boasted the plan was revenue-neutral; its founder, an economist who left the state for Utah after the 2016 election, argued the approach would appeal across party lines. But it angered environmental justice advocates and other local activists who favored steering the revenue into environmental initiatives and community reinvestment programs. After polluters and some environmentalists lined up against it, nearly 60 percent of voters opposed the initiative.</p>
<p>Washington environmentalists have regrouped and, while neither Democratic lawmakers nor members of the Alliance have the details hammered out, are gearing up to push a package of climate and energy efficiency measures next year. Having learned some hard lessons from the 2016 election, they might even put another carbon tax initiative on the ballot in 2018.&#160;</p>
<p>“If we figured out the exact formula in Washington State, we would have a bill by now,” says Kyle Murphy, executive director of Carbon Washington.</p>
<p>Instead of a revenue-neutral tax like the one proposed in I-732, the state’s Democrats are now considering plans that would generate revenue for climate related projects.</p>
<p>State Senator Reuven Carlyle is a Democrat who is poised to become chair of the Senate’s energy and environment committee. While he’s not certain that any legislation will include a carbon tax, he tells Mother Jones that interest in one remains high. There’s “more enthusiasm for a responsible investment package” that would reinvest potential carbon tax revenue,&#160;Carlyle says, than in revenue-neutral proposals like the one that split environmentalists last year.</p>
<p>“There’s strong momentum around some element of carbon pricing in order to invest in clean energy,”&#160; Carlyle says. “We just need a little time to work in our governor and work in our House and Senate to determine what’s achievable.”&#160;</p>
<p>Environmentalists hoping to help the lawmakers draft a plan say that the idea of a revenue-neutral carbon tax is now off the table.&#160;</p>
<p>“No, we’re not talking about a revenue-neutral carbon tax, let’s just say that,” says Aiko&#160;Schaefer, a coordinator with Front and Centered, a coalition of communities of color that are part of the Alliance.&#160;“We’re looking at strategies and approaches and policies that will reduce pollution and greenhouse gas pollution while also investing in solutions.”</p>
<p>There are other challenges to navigate: Democrats have slim majorities in the state legislature, meaning absent bipartisan support, a handful of defections could imperil any bill before it reaches the governor’s desk. Next year’s legislative session year is only 60 days, and climate will have compete with other priorities of the newly empowered Democrats. “There’s a backlog of a destructive trail,” warns Carlyle.&#160;“It’s a serious challenge to clean up some of the issues.”&#160;</p>
<p>And the same divisions that plagued I-732 could resurface again, as Democrats decide whose input to consider. Last year,&#160;Democrats introduced multiple bills to enact a carbon tax in the Republican-controlled chamber. One of them was from then-freshman State Senator Guy Palumbo, who now hopes to produce a bill that could attract colleagues from across the aisle.</p>
<p>“Republican leadership wouldn’t advance the policy over the last 5 years while they were in control,” he explained to Mother Jones. “Now that they are in the minority, the handful of Republican Senators who want to act on climate change are free to vote their conscience.”</p>
<p>Palumbo pointed to the carbon tax bill he introduced in 2017 as a proposal that might garner Republican support. His proposal includes a “Carbon Reduction Fund” to reinvest the tax’s revenue into grants boosting forest health and resiliency to drought and flooding, and as tax rebates for low-income people.</p>
<p>The plan, which carves out&#160; <a href="http://www.seattleweekly.com/news/carbon-tax-now-or-carbon-tax-later-some-say-its-just-a-matter-of-time/" type="external">exemptions</a>&#160;for fossil fuel exporters and some manufacturers, might not satisfy everyone in the environmental community. Palumbo’s bill would&#160; <a href="http://sdc.wastateleg.org/palumbo/2017/04/20/palumbo-introduces-carbon-tax-proposal/" type="external">start</a> the tax at $15 per ton and eventually rise to $30. Carbon Washington’s 2016 ballot initiative&#160; <a href="http://carbonwa.org/new-carbon-tax-bill-sb-5930-analysis/" type="external">started</a>&#160;higher at $25 and would have eventually risen to $100.</p>
<p>If the legislature doesn’t&#160;produce a bill, or introduces one that doesn’t go far enough to satisfy environmentalists, Front and Centered and other activists are eyeing a new ballot initiative in 2018. It’s early yet, but there are already signs of another split: Native American tribes who feel the Alliance’s new framework does not go far enough and that their input wasn’t considered&#160; <a href="http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/politics-government/article173649406.html" type="external">warned in September</a>&#160;that they may offer a competing carbon tax ballot initiative.&#160;</p>
<p>Climate activists argue that that Trump era voters in Washington are more likely to back a ballot measure to fight climate change, especially because its local impact has grown clearer over the past year. In 2017, Seattle’s air quality suffered from the <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/ash-and-smoke-from-pacific-northwests-raging-wildfires-clearing-out-of-seattle-skies/" type="external">ash and smoke</a> from especially bad Pacific Northwest wildfires. Many parts of the state faced an <a href="https://weather.com/forecast/regional/news/pacific-northwest-heat-relief-washington-oregon-aug2017" type="external">unprecedented heatwave</a>. “This is really visceral for people right now,” Abraham says.</p> | true | 4 | downtown seattle mt rainierkanonskyistockgetty last november environmentalists washington state went polls hoping voters would back initiative creating nations first tax carbon pollution initiative 732 went defeat countrys attention focused donald trumps shocking electoral college win one year later buoyed democrats pick state senate seat last weeks elections160washington get another chance pass meaningful climate policy victory gave party control state senate along already democratic governors mansion house representatives turn washington solidly blue clears way fullscale effort next session legislature climate governor jay inslee said160before election 2018 year going push something big washington says nick abraham communications director washington conservation voters whether goes legislature ballot still table160 coalition groups spearheading climate campaign called alliance jobs clean energy expects make formal announcement plans end year looking policy reduces greenhouse gas pollution also redirects investment suite programs promote clean energy electrifying transportation sector clean water communities color160their plan similar one discussion democratic leadership likely include tax carbon climate advocates see carbon tax overcome internal rifts progressive community sunk 2016 inititiave which160 split environmentalists two camps small group called carbon washington sponsored defeated initiative gained support likes leonardo dicaprio washingtons audubon society despite highprofile backing many washington chapters national environmental groups like sierra club washington conservation voters declined support initiative activists van jones naomi klein publicly campaigned claim proposal didnt generate funds fight climate change developed without input communities color result left communities behind 732 initiative designed essence return money carbon tax cuts sales manufacturing taxes tax rebates lowincome households carbon washington boasted plan revenueneutral founder economist left state utah 2016 election argued approach would appeal across party lines angered environmental justice advocates local activists favored steering revenue environmental initiatives community reinvestment programs polluters environmentalists lined nearly 60 percent voters opposed initiative washington environmentalists regrouped neither democratic lawmakers members alliance details hammered gearing push package climate energy efficiency measures next year learned hard lessons 2016 election might even put another carbon tax initiative ballot 2018160 figured exact formula washington state would bill says kyle murphy executive director carbon washington instead revenueneutral tax like one proposed i732 states democrats considering plans would generate revenue climate related projects state senator reuven carlyle democrat poised become chair senates energy environment committee hes certain legislation include carbon tax tells mother jones interest one remains high theres enthusiasm responsible investment package would reinvest potential carbon tax revenue160carlyle says revenueneutral proposals like one split environmentalists last year theres strong momentum around element carbon pricing order invest clean energy160 carlyle says need little time work governor work house senate determine whats achievable160 environmentalists hoping help lawmakers draft plan say idea revenueneutral carbon tax table160 talking revenueneutral carbon tax lets say says aiko160schaefer coordinator front centered coalition communities color part alliance160were looking strategies approaches policies reduce pollution greenhouse gas pollution also investing solutions challenges navigate democrats slim majorities state legislature meaning absent bipartisan support handful defections could imperil bill reaches governors desk next years legislative session year 60 days climate compete priorities newly empowered democrats theres backlog destructive trail warns carlyle160its serious challenge clean issues160 divisions plagued i732 could resurface democrats decide whose input consider last year160democrats introduced multiple bills enact carbon tax republicancontrolled chamber one thenfreshman state senator guy palumbo hopes produce bill could attract colleagues across aisle republican leadership wouldnt advance policy last 5 years control explained mother jones minority handful republican senators want act climate change free vote conscience palumbo pointed carbon tax bill introduced 2017 proposal might garner republican support proposal includes carbon reduction fund reinvest taxs revenue grants boosting forest health resiliency drought flooding tax rebates lowincome people plan carves out160 exemptions160for fossil fuel exporters manufacturers might satisfy everyone environmental community palumbos bill would160 start tax 15 per ton eventually rise 30 carbon washingtons 2016 ballot initiative160 started160higher 25 would eventually risen 100 legislature doesnt160produce bill introduces one doesnt go far enough satisfy environmentalists front centered activists eyeing new ballot initiative 2018 early yet already signs another split native american tribes feel alliances new framework go far enough input wasnt considered160 warned september160that may offer competing carbon tax ballot initiative160 climate activists argue trump era voters washington likely back ballot measure fight climate change especially local impact grown clearer past year 2017 seattles air quality suffered ash smoke especially bad pacific northwest wildfires many parts state faced unprecedented heatwave really visceral people right abraham says | 717 |
<p>British Foreign Secretary&#160;Boris Johnson&#160;has suggested the UK could join US military action against the Syrian government without parliamentary approval. Johnson said he and PM Theresa May agreed that in the event of another chemical attack by the Assad regime, it would be hard for the UK to refuse any request to join military action.</p>
<p>No evidence has been provided that the Syrian government was responsible for the recent attack. If anything, as with the previous&#160; <a href="" type="internal">alleged chemical weapons attack</a>&#160;in 2013, available evidence and logic would suggest it is the&#160; <a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-dirty-war-on-syria/5491859" type="external">US-backed</a>&#160;terror groups trying to topple the government&#160; <a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/fake-news-and-false-flags-against-syria-why-the-assad-government-most-likely-did-not-commit-the-gas-attacks-in-khan-shaykhun/5586223" type="external">that are responsible</a>&#160;and that the situation is part of the psych-ops being used to rally Western public support for direct military action against the Syrian government.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme,&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Johnson said</a>:</p>
<p>“If the United States has a proposal to have some sort of action in response to a chemical weapons attack, and if they come to us and ask for our support, whether it is with submarine cruise missiles in the Med or whatever it happens to be, in my view, and I know this is also the view of the prime minister, it would be very difficult for us to say no.”</p>
<p>It appears the decision to bypass parliament and press ahead has already been made. Indeed, he continued by implying parliament might indeed be sidelined in the push to attack Syria. Asked if any UK strikes against&#160;Syria&#160;would need parliamentary approval, Johnson said:</p>
<p>“How we exactly implement that would be for the government and for the prime minister to decide. But if the Americans were once again forced by the actions of the Assad regime and they asked us to help, it would be very difficult to say no.”</p>
<p>Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the Labour Party, has rejected such action&#160; <a href="http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15251883.Theresa_May_dismisses_Boris_Johnson___s_Syria_strike_suggestion_as____hypothetical___/" type="external">by stating</a>:</p>
<p>“We don’t need unilateral action. We need to work through the UN, but above all we need to bend ourselves totally to getting a political settlement in Syria.”</p>
<p>Johnson has gone out of his way to portray Corbyn as weak and indecisive on military questions:</p>
<p>“There is a real risk that the government of a very great country could be handed over to a guy who has been hostile to Nato all his political career … who would disarm us of nuclear weapons, and a guy who has said he would not advocate a shoot-to-kill policy in the event of an Islamist terrorist putting innocent people’s lives at risk.”</p>
<p>He adds that Corbyn as PM would be “calamitous” in an “age of uncertainty” with growing threats from Russia, North Korea and Islamic terrorism.</p>
<p>Johnson says:</p>
<p>“In recent years we have seen an increase in the global tally of deaths from wars. We and our allies face threats from countries with a nuclear weapons capacity, and from those trying to acquire that capacity…”</p>
<p>“For the first time for many years, some countries are trying to change European borders, not by agreement, but by force. And, as we have seen across Europe in recent months, we face a continued battle against terrorism and the hateful ideology of Islamic extremism.”</p>
<p>Highlighting Corbyn’s refusal to consider using the nuclear deterrent, he argues:</p>
<p>“There can be no more important task for a Government than to keep people safe – and we must be prepared to do everything necessary to do so.”</p>
<p>Boris Johnson reading from the neocon script</p>
<p>Before proceeding, if Johnson and others wish to attack Corbyn for his rejection of nuclear weapons and play some kind of point-scoring morality game, is it he and not Corbyn who is placing humanity in danger; it is he and not Corbyn who should think long and hard about the&#160; <a href="" type="internal">implications of threatening millions (or billions) with nuclear annihilation</a>; it is he and not Corbyn who should consider&#160;his dangerous anti-Russia rhetoric that is helping to push the world closer towards a nuclear precipice.</p>
<p>There is no evidence linking the Syrian government to the recent chemical weapons attack, yet Johnson follows the lead of the Trump administration and its false narrative that has used that incident to intervene in Syria in an attempt to sway the war in favour of its terror groups.</p>
<p>Former US marine&#160; <a href="http://www.trueactivist.com/must-watch-ex-marine-goes-crazy-blows-whistle-on-syrian-false-flag-and-real-agenda/" type="external">Ken O’Keefe</a>&#160;says you have to be a bought-off “prostitute” or “the dumbest of the dumb” to believe the narrative coming out of Washington (humanitarian intervention to ‘protect’ people from Assad) that the US really cares about the lives of ordinary citizens. The US-led West and its allies in the Middle East set out to destabilise Syria and remove Assad from power, which has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Syrians. Although the corporate media like to portray the whole situation as constituting a ‘civil war’ and Western intervention being based on ‘humanitarian’ concerns, it is clear by now that&#160; <a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-dirty-war-on-syria/5491859" type="external">the US is waging a ‘dirty war’</a>&#160;to destroy Syria for&#160; <a href="http://www.theecologist.org/blogs_and_comments/commentators/2986471/syria_an_illegal_war_for_energy_capital_and_empire.html" type="external">geostrategic gain</a>.</p>
<p>Johnson is one of those “prostitutes” O’Keefe speaks of. Like a toy monkey, he beats on cue the&#160; <a href="" type="internal">false narrative</a>&#160;coming from Washington’s neocon regime about Syria, ‘Russian aggression’ and Putin’s desire to reshape Europe.</p>
<p>We have seen an increasing tally of deaths due to various wars and the worlds is more unstable, as Johnson notes. What he fails to admit is the US and its client states, including Britain, have been responsible for the conflicts in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Afghanistan. US imperialist wars of aggression have resulted in death and destruction and failed states. Johnson misrepresents the situation by attempting to hide the reasons for&#160; <a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/americas-gamble-wealth-war-and-power-russian-roulette-and-the-drive-to-nuclear-armageddon/5398617" type="external">US militarism behind a fragile</a>&#160;narrative of Islamic terror (which undoubtedly exists but which should be regarded within the machinations of US empire and attacks on Islamic dominated countries), evil dictators and Russian aggression.</p>
<p>Johnson also throws in the North Korean ‘threat’ for good measure despite the fact that small country has been involved in a rearguard action against a very real and&#160; <a href="" type="internal">overwhelming US threat</a>&#160;for decades. The US has already decimated that nation once.</p>
<p>What Johnson is serving up to the British public is the same old recipe of lies and hypocrisy that his predecessor&#160; <a href="" type="internal">William Hague offered</a>&#160;and what current Defence Secretary&#160; <a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/cheerleader-for-us-aggression-against-russia-pushing-the-world-to-the-nuclear-brink-britains-defence-secretary-michael-fallon/5526384" type="external">Michael Fallon excels in</a>. The aim is to try to keep the majority of the public on board with the dangerous ‘great game’ the US is playing to secure its stated objective of remaining the dominant global force and weakening/destroying Russia. Washington will not allow multipolarity and aims to <a href="" type="internal">&#160;crush any perceived threats (not least the undermining of dollar hegemony)</a>&#160;to its global supremacy.</p>
<p>From Ukraine and Syria to Libya and Afghanistan, the US is involved in geostrategic wars and conflicts, which, aside from resource plunder, are increasingly fuelled by a crisis of capitalism:&#160; <a href="" type="internal">war and militarism are the defining features</a>&#160;of advanced capitalism as it increasingly struggles to find much profit in little else.</p>
<p>When you have nothing else to offer the public – only living under the tyranny of a dying capitalism – repeating the mantra ‘there is no alternative’ and instilling fear is all that’s left. And, if it is not about Putin or some other made up threat, it is about Jeremy Corbyn.</p>
<p>When your policies have already jeopardized national security by inflicting terror on other countries; when you have already sold the economy to the lowest bidder and have attacked welfare, unions and livelihoods; when you have allowed massive levels of tax evasion/avoidance; when you and your neoliberal policies have allowed national and personal debt to spiral; when you have driven up the cost of living by handing over public assets to profiteering cartels; when you have flittered away taxpayers money to banks; when you allowed the richest 1,000 people in the UK to increase their wealth by 50% in 2009 alone while you impose ‘austerity’ on everyone else – then what else can you offer but to roll out a good old dose of fear mongering about Corbyn simply because you have no actual argument?</p>
<p>Conservative Party hypocrisy and crony capitalism</p>
<p>Although certainly not exclusive to the Conservative Party, given how New Labour operated, hypocrisy and crony capitalism come natural to it. Millionaire Owen Paterson, a sitting MP and former environment, food and rural affairs minister, was a member of David Cameron’s cabinet of millionaires. The Conservatives have been for decades waging a war on working people in the UK, which is currently sold as ‘austerity’.&#160;And the outcome has been predictable.</p>
<p>See&#160; <a href="" type="internal">this</a>&#160;about rising food poverty and increasing reliance on food banks in the UK.&#160;See&#160; <a href="" type="internal">this</a>&#160;about the five richest families in Britain being worth more than the poorest 20%.&#160;See&#160; <a href="" type="internal">this</a>&#160;about one third of Britain’s population being in poverty.</p>
<p>According to&#160; <a href="http://www3.open.ac.uk/media/fullstory.aspx?id=27579" type="external">this report</a>, almost 18 million people cannot afford adequate housing conditions; 12 million are too poor to engage in common social activities; one in three cannot afford to heat their homes adequately in winter; and four million children and adults are not properly fed (Britain’s population is estimated at 63 to 64 million).</p>
<p>Welfare cuts have&#160; <a href="" type="internal">pushed hundreds of thousands below the poverty line</a>&#160;since 2012, including more than 300,000 children.</p>
<p>But Paterson really feels the pain of the poor – in faraway lands that is. He will even travel around the world to&#160; <a href="" type="internal">attend conferences</a>&#160;to shout about his concern for the poor on behalf of transnational agribusiness interests. His indifference to poverty in the UK is in marked contrast to his concern about the poor abroad. The indifference suddenly becomes transformed only when there is an opportunity to line the pockets of the global agritech companies.</p>
<p>Then there is Liam Fox who belongs to Theresa May’s cabinet.&#160;Writing in&#160; <a href="" type="internal">The Guardian</a>, George Monbiot describes how a discredited Fox has been central to cementing firm links with US corporate interests via The Heritage Foundation. The story Monbiot outlines is one of Fox’s associations with US banking, oil, agribusiness, pharmaceutical and tobacco interests which have pursued an ultra-conservative economic agenda based on deregulation and the capturing of legislative processes.</p>
<p>Monbiot notes that The Heritage Foundation is now at the heart of Trump’s administration.&#160;Under Theresa May, the trade treaties that Fox is charged with could plug the UK into US food and environmental standards, which tend&#160;to be lower than Britain’s and will become lower still if Trump gets his way.</p>
<p>Monbiot concludes that this is part of what Brexit was about: European laws protecting the public interest were portrayed by Conservative eurosceptics as intolerable intrusions on corporate freedom. Taking back control from Europe means closer integration with the US. The transatlantic special relationship is based on political and corporate power. That power is cemented by the networks&#160;Fox&#160;helped to develop.</p>
<p>Aside from Paterson and Fox, there are many other examples that could be provided to highlight the hypocrisy and grubby backroom deals that the Conservatives excel in, not least the&#160; <a href="http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-335b-The-party-of-the-crony-capitalists#.WQLqBGnyvIU" type="external">ongoing privatisation</a>&#160;of the NHS. The unaccountable, interlocking directorate of financial-corporate interests that are driving the neoliberal agenda in Britain are many and are&#160; <a href="" type="internal">deeply embedded</a>&#160;within the Conservative Party and more generally within the corridors of Whitehall power.</p>
<p>Jeremy Corbyn Britain’s best hope</p>
<p>Corbyn offers an alternative that challenges the ‘Washington consensus’.&#160;He stands on an anti-war and anti-austerity platform, is committed to investing in the public sector, wants to get rid of Britain’s nuclear weapons and says he wants to renationalise profiteering public sector utilities.</p>
<p>Jeremy Corbyn is a credible alternative to the current crop of mainstream politicians – whether Blairite Labour, Conservative or Lib-Dem – not just because of what he says but because of the reactions he elicits from this bunch of discredited and corrupt pro-austerity, pro-war, pro City of London/Wall Street, union-bashing, welfare cutting handmaidens to the rich that have ruined the economy and have helped to devastate countries across the globe with their penchant for militarism.</p>
<p>Whether Corbyn could actually stem to tide of militarism and neoliberalism if elected PM is highly debatable, given the pressure he would face to tow the Establishment line and the forces lined up against him (see&#160; <a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/can-jeremy-corbyn-stem-the-tide-of-neoliberalism-and-militarism/5475948" type="external">this</a>). He would however at least offer a degree of hope for positive change.&#160;The only danger to Britain and the world is US militarism and its wars of aggression, not Jeremy Corbyn. But Boris Johnson’s rhetoric and that of his millionaire cronies in government depends on the British public remaining blind to the chains that enslave them.</p> | true | 4 | british foreign secretary160boris johnson160has suggested uk could join us military action syrian government without parliamentary approval johnson said pm theresa may agreed event another chemical attack assad regime would hard uk refuse request join military action evidence provided syrian government responsible recent attack anything previous160 alleged chemical weapons attack160in 2013 available evidence logic would suggest the160 usbacked160terror groups trying topple government160 responsible160and situation part psychops used rally western public support direct military action syrian government nevertheless speaking bbc radio 4s today programme160 johnson said united states proposal sort action response chemical weapons attack come us ask support whether submarine cruise missiles med whatever happens view know also view prime minister would difficult us say appears decision bypass parliament press ahead already made indeed continued implying parliament might indeed sidelined push attack syria asked uk strikes against160syria160would need parliamentary approval johnson said exactly implement would government prime minister decide americans forced actions assad regime asked us help would difficult say jeremy corbyn leader labour party rejected action160 stating dont need unilateral action need work un need bend totally getting political settlement syria johnson gone way portray corbyn weak indecisive military questions real risk government great country could handed guy hostile nato political career would disarm us nuclear weapons guy said would advocate shoottokill policy event islamist terrorist putting innocent peoples lives risk adds corbyn pm would calamitous age uncertainty growing threats russia north korea islamic terrorism johnson says recent years seen increase global tally deaths wars allies face threats countries nuclear weapons capacity trying acquire capacity first time many years countries trying change european borders agreement force seen across europe recent months face continued battle terrorism hateful ideology islamic extremism highlighting corbyns refusal consider using nuclear deterrent argues important task government keep people safe must prepared everything necessary boris johnson reading neocon script proceeding johnson others wish attack corbyn rejection nuclear weapons play kind pointscoring morality game corbyn placing humanity danger corbyn think long hard the160 implications threatening millions billions nuclear annihilation corbyn consider160his dangerous antirussia rhetoric helping push world closer towards nuclear precipice evidence linking syrian government recent chemical weapons attack yet johnson follows lead trump administration false narrative used incident intervene syria attempt sway war favour terror groups former us marine160 ken okeefe160says boughtoff prostitute dumbest dumb believe narrative coming washington humanitarian intervention protect people assad us really cares lives ordinary citizens usled west allies middle east set destabilise syria remove assad power resulted deaths hundreds thousands syrians although corporate media like portray whole situation constituting civil war western intervention based humanitarian concerns clear that160 us waging dirty war160to destroy syria for160 geostrategic gain johnson one prostitutes okeefe speaks like toy monkey beats cue the160 false narrative160coming washingtons neocon regime syria russian aggression putins desire reshape europe seen increasing tally deaths due various wars worlds unstable johnson notes fails admit us client states including britain responsible conflicts iraq syria libya afghanistan us imperialist wars aggression resulted death destruction failed states johnson misrepresents situation attempting hide reasons for160 us militarism behind fragile160narrative islamic terror undoubtedly exists regarded within machinations us empire attacks islamic dominated countries evil dictators russian aggression johnson also throws north korean threat good measure despite fact small country involved rearguard action real and160 overwhelming us threat160for decades us already decimated nation johnson serving british public old recipe lies hypocrisy predecessor160 william hague offered160and current defence secretary160 michael fallon excels aim try keep majority public board dangerous great game us playing secure stated objective remaining dominant global force weakeningdestroying russia washington allow multipolarity aims 160crush perceived threats least undermining dollar hegemony160to global supremacy ukraine syria libya afghanistan us involved geostrategic wars conflicts aside resource plunder increasingly fuelled crisis capitalism160 war militarism defining features160of advanced capitalism increasingly struggles find much profit little else nothing else offer public living tyranny dying capitalism repeating mantra alternative instilling fear thats left putin made threat jeremy corbyn policies already jeopardized national security inflicting terror countries already sold economy lowest bidder attacked welfare unions livelihoods allowed massive levels tax evasionavoidance neoliberal policies allowed national personal debt spiral driven cost living handing public assets profiteering cartels flittered away taxpayers money banks allowed richest 1000 people uk increase wealth 50 2009 alone impose austerity everyone else else offer roll good old dose fear mongering corbyn simply actual argument conservative party hypocrisy crony capitalism although certainly exclusive conservative party given new labour operated hypocrisy crony capitalism come natural millionaire owen paterson sitting mp former environment food rural affairs minister member david camerons cabinet millionaires conservatives decades waging war working people uk currently sold austerity160and outcome predictable see160 this160about rising food poverty increasing reliance food banks uk160see160 this160about five richest families britain worth poorest 20160see160 this160about one third britains population poverty according to160 report almost 18 million people afford adequate housing conditions 12 million poor engage common social activities one three afford heat homes adequately winter four million children adults properly fed britains population estimated 63 64 million welfare cuts have160 pushed hundreds thousands poverty line160since 2012 including 300000 children paterson really feels pain poor faraway lands even travel around world to160 attend conferences160to shout concern poor behalf transnational agribusiness interests indifference poverty uk marked contrast concern poor abroad indifference suddenly becomes transformed opportunity line pockets global agritech companies liam fox belongs theresa mays cabinet160writing in160 guardian george monbiot describes discredited fox central cementing firm links us corporate interests via heritage foundation story monbiot outlines one foxs associations us banking oil agribusiness pharmaceutical tobacco interests pursued ultraconservative economic agenda based deregulation capturing legislative processes monbiot notes heritage foundation heart trumps administration160under theresa may trade treaties fox charged could plug uk us food environmental standards tend160to lower britains become lower still trump gets way monbiot concludes part brexit european laws protecting public interest portrayed conservative eurosceptics intolerable intrusions corporate freedom taking back control europe means closer integration us transatlantic special relationship based political corporate power power cemented networks160fox160helped develop aside paterson fox many examples could provided highlight hypocrisy grubby backroom deals conservatives excel least the160 ongoing privatisation160of nhs unaccountable interlocking directorate financialcorporate interests driving neoliberal agenda britain many are160 deeply embedded160within conservative party generally within corridors whitehall power jeremy corbyn britains best hope corbyn offers alternative challenges washington consensus160he stands antiwar antiausterity platform committed investing public sector wants get rid britains nuclear weapons says wants renationalise profiteering public sector utilities jeremy corbyn credible alternative current crop mainstream politicians whether blairite labour conservative libdem says reactions elicits bunch discredited corrupt proausterity prowar pro city londonwall street unionbashing welfare cutting handmaidens rich ruined economy helped devastate countries across globe penchant militarism whether corbyn could actually stem tide militarism neoliberalism elected pm highly debatable given pressure would face tow establishment line forces lined see160 would however least offer degree hope positive change160the danger britain world us militarism wars aggression jeremy corbyn boris johnsons rhetoric millionaire cronies government depends british public remaining blind chains enslave | 1,142 |
<p>Emma Marris, the author of <a href="" type="internal">Rambunctious Garden</a> (RG), loves the nature hiding in back street alleys and along the highway median strip. Marris believes it’s time to abandon (or de-emphasize) what she sees as outdated and naïve conservation strategies such as creation of national parks and wilderness reserves.&#160; She feels the biggest obstacles to a bold new world of “designer” and “novel” ecosystems is the “wilderness cult” that naively wants to preserve “natural” landscapes—which she says do not exist anymore.</p>
<p>Marris espouses the anthropocentric perspective that the Earth is more or less a resource cookie jar for humans—to be used carefully to be sure—but she doesn’t really question whether ethically or ecologically this is ultimately a good idea.</p>
<p>Marris is a cheerleader for the dangerous concept that humans are both intelligent enough and wise enough to “manage” the Earth—the ‘smart resource management’ school of thought. She is a prime example of the kind person biologist David Ehrenfeld had in mind when he wrote his book the <a href="" type="internal">Arrogance of Humanism</a>. Embrace weeds, we are told. Assemble new designer ecosystems that can flourish with human activities. Increased economic growth is not seen as a problem, rather an opportunity to work with industry for the betterment of nature.</p>
<p>She sees this prospect of human dominance of global ecosystems as uplifting and joyful, as explained here from her website.</p>
<p>“We argue that the Anthropocene–the epoch marked by widespread human influence–is not by definition a disaster, and that accepting the scope of man’s changes to the Earth can set the stage not for hopelessness, but for a more hopeful environmental movement.&#160; I hope it gets people who have been feeling gloomy about Earth thinking, active, even optimistic again. We can make things better, not just less worse.”</p>
<p>Marris’s optimism can only be shared by those who are blissfully ignorant. As the ecologist Aldo Leopold noted: “One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds.&#160; Much of the damage inflicted on land is quite invisible to laymen”.</p>
<p>Marris unabashedly declares that she is neither an ecologist nor environmental activist. And she says she seldom ventures far from a road. She proudly wears this lack of experience and knowledge as a badge of honor; and instead of displaying some humility, she believes this lack of ecological training gives her a unique perspective. However, she is more like the layman that Leopold suggests is blissfully unaware of the ecological wounds and damage all around.</p>
<p>Marris chooses to characterize creation of parks, wilderness areas, and other reserves based on what she calls the “Yellowstone Model” as an extension of colonialism that has displaced native people, and other local people—and thus spread human exploitation in general. This is in contrast to wildlands supporters who view such protected areas as a significant moral and ethical accomplishment. To members of what she derisively dismisses as the “wilderness cult”, parks and wildlands reserves are places where society in essence practices a kind of self-discipline and a willingness to put at least some parts of the Earth off limits to human exploitation and development.</p>
<p>It is surprising that she chooses to trash Yellowstone, because despite the inappropriate policies of the past such as killing off wolves (now restored), stocking of exotic fish, and so on, Yellowstone is still in better ecological condition than any other surrounding public or private lands. The only real problem with Yellowstone Park is that it needs to be enlarged. As a conservation model, it is the best we have.</p>
<p>Instead of supporting the ecosystems created by the interaction of natural events, evolution, and geological time, Marris supports acceptance of novel ecosystems. Novel ecosystems are entirely new arrangements of plants and animals fostered by human design or at least human intervention, which some call ‘techno-ecosystems’.</p>
<p>In my view as an ecologist, the techno world view is one of the major threats to natural systems. Marris argues there are few “natural” ecosystems left, so novel and designer ecosystems are not a threat, but an opportunity to create pleasing landscapes, much as a gardener might choose which plants to favor in the backyard flower patch—hence her reference to ‘rambunctious garden’ in the title of her book.</p>
<p>However, by moving the goalposts to vacant city lots as an acceptable desired future condition of the landscape, she implicitly, if not explicitly, provides cover for all manner of environmental degradation. I can agree with her that not all human landscapes are necessarily abhorrent. Human dominated countryside and cities can be attractive and beautiful and can even provide for a lot of ecosystem functions. But there is abundant evidence that these human landscapes tend to be less sustainable and more disruptive to biodiversity than natural ecosystems.</p>
<p>One of the problems with a critique of her book is that it’s full of contradictions. If one picks out something to criticize, someone else will be able to find another part of the book where she appears to support exactly the opposite perspective. She’ll bash creation of Yellowstone National Park and other preserves as old fashioned and hopelessly naïve efforts at conservation, but then later laud conservation strategies like the Yellowstone-to-Yukon Initiative which essentially are efforts to protect as much land as wilderness or parks as possible.</p>
<p>What this suggests to me is that Marris can talk the talk, but does not walk the walk in terms of her knowledge of ecology, genetics, conservation history, and even the intricacies of resource management. She knows the key phrases and can briefly describe the key ideas, but there is no real systemic analysis. She will often discuss conflicting ideas without seeming aware of the contradictions in her examples.</p>
<p>For instance, late in the book, she outlines the need to protect genetic diversity and does an admirable job of explaining why this is important, yet earlier, she is an advocate of “assisted migration” and “designer ecosystems” where plants and animals are mixed up and moved around based on human notions of what is a good or useful mix. As any biologist can tell you, moving species around and mixing things up is one of the best ways to destroy genetic diversity, since species or populations with unique genetic attributes can be swamped by newcomers. Think of the numerous cutthroat trout subspecies around the West that are endangered by genetic swamping from hybridization with rainbow trout-that were “assisted” in their migration into new watersheds by state wildlife agencies and fishermen’s bucket brigades.</p>
<p>Marris seems to have gotten most of her information from reading papers by and interviews with some researchers. Reading scientific papers is important, but it is no replacement for time spent outdoors in natural environments and years of immersion in ecological training. She was an English major in college and appears to have started to study these issues as a reporter for Nature Magazine. Consequently, despite being a good researcher, she hasn’t had the time to really delve into these issues.</p>
<p>As I read RG, I kept thinking about some of the smart, but inexperienced younger students I shared graduate seminars with while in school. They were good at memorizing and regurgitating factual information. Yet because they hadn’t been around the woods enough to have acquired the breadth of knowledge that comes from extensive familiarity with the academic literature and actual on the ground, &#160;hands-on experience, these students, like Marris, were often unable to put forth a systemic analysis.</p>
<p>Throughout RG Marris suggests that an old paradigm of working to protect natural patterns of diversity from human activities must be replaced by a new paradigm of accepting human-dominated ecosystems.&#160; In other words, protecting wild areas is passé, in part because, Marris would argue, there are few wild places left.</p>
<p>Setting up a straw man of “pristine” wilderness to knock down, Marris suggests that many conservationists believe there are vast tracts of “wilderness” where the footprint of human activity does not exist.</p>
<p>However, if she really had done the proper scholarship she would know that few (if any) serious observers of nature today believe there are “pristine” lands, in the sense of completely untouched by humans. &#160;Plus if she had done enough background reading, she would know this debate was hashed out decades ago, and her observations offer no further insights.</p>
<p>The idea of wilderness is not black and white, but more nuanced—nuances that Marris and others of her persuasion are unwilling to acknowledge. Most wilderness advocates readily admit that human influences are widespread and pernicious—but that on some parts of the globe natural processes dominate to a greater degree than in more humanized landscapes. It is the degree of naturalness, not the complete absence of human influence, that makes some places wilder and less domesticated than others.</p>
<p>To use just one legal definition, the word ‘untrammeled’ as defined in the Wilderness Act does not mean untouched, or state of “purity”; rather it defines wilderness areas as places that “generally appear to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man’s work substantially unnoticeable.”&#160; Downtown Los Angeles is considerably more modified to human ends than say the Arctic Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Arctic Refuge, by the Wilderness Act’s definition, would qualify as “wilderness” even though the refuge is certainly not “pristine” in a literal sense.</p>
<p>Marris, like many of the Post Modern revisionists before her, also tends to exaggerate the impacts of aboriginal peoples. She equates the modifications, degradation, and exploitation of modern technological human societies — swollen to populations never seen before on Planet Earth — as essentially similar in effect, if not in scope, with the alterations effected by aboriginal peoples. Native people, we are told, were the first members of the smart resource management school of thought. Just because aboriginals may have hunted, gathered plants, and set fires, she jumps to the conclusion that no lands are genuinely wild in the sense of being largely “self-willed” and natural, so any new modification is just a natural extension of the aboriginal use and “management.”</p>
<p>There’s no doubt that aboriginal peoples had some influence on the land.&#160; Early human hunters, it is now argued by many paleo-biologists, contributed to the extinction of some Pleistocene mammals, and many Pacific Islands bird species suffered extinction after the Polynesian people arrived.&#160; Nevertheless, the overall influence of aboriginal peoples upon the Earth was significantly lower due to low population numbers and limited technology, compared to today’s techno society. In favorable, but localized areas Native American influences were likely significant, but the farther one ventured from villages, popular food gathering sites and favored hunting grounds, the more limited the human influence. &#160;Nor would anyone, I think, want to argue that just because aboriginal people caused species extinction, that makes modern extinction rates acceptable.</p>
<p>Human presence has never been evenly distributed upon the face of the Earth. It is simply hyperbole on Marris’ part to make sweeping statements like “we humans have changed every centimeter of the globe.” Even with all our technology, much greater human population, and so forth, there are vast areas of the North American continent, the boreal forest, especially, where human presence is low and human influence is small compared to, say, the agricultural wastelands that dominate the former prairielands of America’s heartland or the cityscapes scattered across the country. Similar degrees of human influence exist on all continents. .</p>
<p>Too many environmental disasters have been justified by exactly this kind of logic—humans are going to make things better. The bucket brigades of fishermen who dump fish willy-nilly across watersheds hoping to “improve” the fishing, as well as the state wildlife agencies that have planted non-native fish around the West, now pose a threat to the majority of native species. &#160;Likewise, the introduction of exotic grasses like buffel grass for “improved” livestock forage is now overwhelming the Sonoran Desert biota. &#160;Even the inadvertent release of diseases from transplanting non-native nursery stock&#160; has led to the spread of&#160; Dutch elm disease,white pine blister rust, and other forest pathogens. These and many other examples of unintended consequences of human manipulation should be enough of a precautionary warning to anyone who has really studied the scientific literature.</p>
<p>To the uninformed, the loss of a particular species may appear to have no serious consequences.&#160; For instance, proponents of ecosystem manipulation like Marris will often argue that substitution of an exotic species for a native one is more or less neutral and may even improve ecosystems. She seems to have adopted the idea that species are mere cogs in a wheel, and interchangeable with few long-term harms to ecosystems.</p>
<p>Marris mocks ecologists who worry about invasives when she writes “the biggest obstacle [to moving species around] is the terror that many ecologists feel when they imagine introducing a species that might become—dum, dum, dum!—invasive.” &#160;Again this demonstrates a real ignorance of the many species that may be co-dependent upon a native species.</p>
<p>A dramatic comparison is between our native oak trees which support 532 Lepidoptera species (butterflies and moths), while the alien invasive Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) supports only two. In addition, at least a thousand other native insect species find homes and food in oak trees, in turn providing food for birds and other creatures. So the loss of an oak tree may not mean the loss of forest cover, but it can definitely have a major impact on biodiversity that is not obvious to the casual and poorly informed observer like Marris.</p>
<p>While she dismisses traditional conservation approaches such as creation of national parks as naïve and ineffective, she provides no systemic analysis of the factors that are accelerating species extinction and biodiversity loss. If one were to believe Marris, the problem is not human population expropriating too much of the Earth’s resources, land and water, but rather a “wilderness cult” that seeks to protect nature from human exploitation.</p>
<p>I do not think Marris intends any malice, but her ideas implicitly provide cover to the industries and people whose activities are the source for environmental degradation around the world.&#160; Developers, logging companies, agricultural interests, ranchers, mining companies, energy companies are effectively given carte blanche to continue what they are doing because in the end everything that is a result of human activities is OK. I won’t suggest that is Marris’s intention, but that is the natural consequence of this perspective.</p>
<p>She argues that we should celebrate weeds for they are survivors, as I imagine one can admire cockroaches, pigeons, and other species that have managed to flourish in the close proximity of humans. But there is a good reason why conservationists don’t celebrate weeds. Not only do such plants and animals often overwhelm native species, frequently leading to a loss or degradation in ecosystem function and biodiversity, but they are, as she notes, remarkably well adapted to human modifications.</p>
<p>She also writes glowingly about how human land modification can “benefit” wildlife. She tells of visiting Nebraska’s Platte River during the sandhill crane migration where she admires the concentrations of the birds. “But the Platte is heavily used by agriculture and industry and the reduction in water has changed the river. Without fast moving icy spring flows to scythe the vegetation off islands, heavy machinery must clear room for the cranes, which are now squeezed into a much smaller stretch of the river. The abundant food in the post-harvest cornfields all around makes it possible for so many to gather together. “</p>
<p>The cranes’ situation illustrates what is wrong with the human dominance and expropriation of the Earth’s resources. One imagines that Marris would see the elk feed-grounds in Wyoming&#160; and salmon hatcheries on the West Coast also in a positive light since both facilitate concentrations of wildlife and use machines, energy and other measures to sustain wildlife at higher populations than the otherwise degraded wildlife habitat would permit. Yet while such concentrations are often to the delight of wildlife observers, hunters, and anglers, they are in fact examples of how badly degraded natural systems are that they must be sustained by artificial and energy intensive means.</p>
<p>Instead of recognizing the mono-culture of GMO cornfields sustained by pesticides and fertilizers — which are used to produce ethanol or feed livestock so people can have steaks and burgers — as wasteful and ecologically damaging, she paints a rosy and reassuring picture of how such human activities actually “benefit” wildlife. Such concentrations of wildlife make them far more vulnerable to disease transmission, to localized catastrophic stochastic events and so on.</p>
<p>Yet Marris asks, “Was this fantastic display [of cranes] somehow counterfeit because the cranes’ numbers ware ‘artificially’ concentrated?” And she answers in a resounding “Nope. Not in my opinion.”</p>
<p>And that is the problem throughout the book. Because she fails to understand and articulate the underlying issues facing wild nature, and instead dismisses efforts to protect landscapes in as natural conditions as possible, she indirectly if not implicitly supports even more manipulation of the planet.&#160; It is the same perverse logic that promotes geo-engineering of the atmosphere as the antidote to global warming, instead of fighting to reduce CO2 emissions.</p>
<p>I don’t have any argument with her admonishment that we should appreciate the bits of nature that survive in our humanized world. I love the birds singing in my suburban yard, the frogs that have found a place to breed someplace under the shrubs and the occasional deer that may wander through my city lot. But I am not fooled. My city lot is not nearly as functional as a large wild reserve, nor is the collective effect of thousands of similar city lots any substitute for one big natural area.</p>
<p>Although Marris belittles wilderness advocates as “romantics” and essentially know-nothings, it is her own ignorance of history and ecology that is demonstrated throughout the book.&#160; Sadly, due to her own lack of scholarship, the author is unaware of how little she really understands about nature.</p>
<p>George Wuerthner is an ecologist. He is the author of <a href="" type="internal">Yellowstone: a Visitors Companion</a> and many other books.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | emma marris author rambunctious garden rg loves nature hiding back street alleys along highway median strip marris believes time abandon deemphasize sees outdated naïve conservation strategies creation national parks wilderness reserves160 feels biggest obstacles bold new world designer novel ecosystems wilderness cult naively wants preserve natural landscapeswhich says exist anymore marris espouses anthropocentric perspective earth less resource cookie jar humansto used carefully surebut doesnt really question whether ethically ecologically ultimately good idea marris cheerleader dangerous concept humans intelligent enough wise enough manage earththe smart resource management school thought prime example kind person biologist david ehrenfeld mind wrote book arrogance humanism embrace weeds told assemble new designer ecosystems flourish human activities increased economic growth seen problem rather opportunity work industry betterment nature sees prospect human dominance global ecosystems uplifting joyful explained website argue anthropocenethe epoch marked widespread human influenceis definition disaster accepting scope mans changes earth set stage hopelessness hopeful environmental movement160 hope gets people feeling gloomy earth thinking active even optimistic make things better less worse marriss optimism shared blissfully ignorant ecologist aldo leopold noted one penalties ecological education one lives alone world wounds160 much damage inflicted land quite invisible laymen marris unabashedly declares neither ecologist environmental activist says seldom ventures far road proudly wears lack experience knowledge badge honor instead displaying humility believes lack ecological training gives unique perspective however like layman leopold suggests blissfully unaware ecological wounds damage around marris chooses characterize creation parks wilderness areas reserves based calls yellowstone model extension colonialism displaced native people local peopleand thus spread human exploitation general contrast wildlands supporters view protected areas significant moral ethical accomplishment members derisively dismisses wilderness cult parks wildlands reserves places society essence practices kind selfdiscipline willingness put least parts earth limits human exploitation development surprising chooses trash yellowstone despite inappropriate policies past killing wolves restored stocking exotic fish yellowstone still better ecological condition surrounding public private lands real problem yellowstone park needs enlarged conservation model best instead supporting ecosystems created interaction natural events evolution geological time marris supports acceptance novel ecosystems novel ecosystems entirely new arrangements plants animals fostered human design least human intervention call technoecosystems view ecologist techno world view one major threats natural systems marris argues natural ecosystems left novel designer ecosystems threat opportunity create pleasing landscapes much gardener might choose plants favor backyard flower patchhence reference rambunctious garden title book however moving goalposts vacant city lots acceptable desired future condition landscape implicitly explicitly provides cover manner environmental degradation agree human landscapes necessarily abhorrent human dominated countryside cities attractive beautiful even provide lot ecosystem functions abundant evidence human landscapes tend less sustainable disruptive biodiversity natural ecosystems one problems critique book full contradictions one picks something criticize someone else able find another part book appears support exactly opposite perspective shell bash creation yellowstone national park preserves old fashioned hopelessly naïve efforts conservation later laud conservation strategies like yellowstonetoyukon initiative essentially efforts protect much land wilderness parks possible suggests marris talk talk walk walk terms knowledge ecology genetics conservation history even intricacies resource management knows key phrases briefly describe key ideas real systemic analysis often discuss conflicting ideas without seeming aware contradictions examples instance late book outlines need protect genetic diversity admirable job explaining important yet earlier advocate assisted migration designer ecosystems plants animals mixed moved around based human notions good useful mix biologist tell moving species around mixing things one best ways destroy genetic diversity since species populations unique genetic attributes swamped newcomers think numerous cutthroat trout subspecies around west endangered genetic swamping hybridization rainbow troutthat assisted migration new watersheds state wildlife agencies fishermens bucket brigades marris seems gotten information reading papers interviews researchers reading scientific papers important replacement time spent outdoors natural environments years immersion ecological training english major college appears started study issues reporter nature magazine consequently despite good researcher hasnt time really delve issues read rg kept thinking smart inexperienced younger students shared graduate seminars school good memorizing regurgitating factual information yet hadnt around woods enough acquired breadth knowledge comes extensive familiarity academic literature actual ground 160handson experience students like marris often unable put forth systemic analysis throughout rg marris suggests old paradigm working protect natural patterns diversity human activities must replaced new paradigm accepting humandominated ecosystems160 words protecting wild areas passé part marris would argue wild places left setting straw man pristine wilderness knock marris suggests many conservationists believe vast tracts wilderness footprint human activity exist however really done proper scholarship would know serious observers nature today believe pristine lands sense completely untouched humans 160plus done enough background reading would know debate hashed decades ago observations offer insights idea wilderness black white nuancednuances marris others persuasion unwilling acknowledge wilderness advocates readily admit human influences widespread perniciousbut parts globe natural processes dominate greater degree humanized landscapes degree naturalness complete absence human influence makes places wilder less domesticated others use one legal definition word untrammeled defined wilderness act mean untouched state purity rather defines wilderness areas places generally appear affected primarily forces nature imprint mans work substantially unnoticeable160 downtown los angeles considerably modified human ends say arctic wildlife refuge alaska arctic refuge wilderness acts definition would qualify wilderness even though refuge certainly pristine literal sense marris like many post modern revisionists also tends exaggerate impacts aboriginal peoples equates modifications degradation exploitation modern technological human societies swollen populations never seen planet earth essentially similar effect scope alterations effected aboriginal peoples native people told first members smart resource management school thought aboriginals may hunted gathered plants set fires jumps conclusion lands genuinely wild sense largely selfwilled natural new modification natural extension aboriginal use management theres doubt aboriginal peoples influence land160 early human hunters argued many paleobiologists contributed extinction pleistocene mammals many pacific islands bird species suffered extinction polynesian people arrived160 nevertheless overall influence aboriginal peoples upon earth significantly lower due low population numbers limited technology compared todays techno society favorable localized areas native american influences likely significant farther one ventured villages popular food gathering sites favored hunting grounds limited human influence 160nor would anyone think want argue aboriginal people caused species extinction makes modern extinction rates acceptable human presence never evenly distributed upon face earth simply hyperbole marris part make sweeping statements like humans changed every centimeter globe even technology much greater human population forth vast areas north american continent boreal forest especially human presence low human influence small compared say agricultural wastelands dominate former prairielands americas heartland cityscapes scattered across country similar degrees human influence exist continents many environmental disasters justified exactly kind logichumans going make things better bucket brigades fishermen dump fish willynilly across watersheds hoping improve fishing well state wildlife agencies planted nonnative fish around west pose threat majority native species 160likewise introduction exotic grasses like buffel grass improved livestock forage overwhelming sonoran desert biota 160even inadvertent release diseases transplanting nonnative nursery stock160 led spread of160 dutch elm diseasewhite pine blister rust forest pathogens many examples unintended consequences human manipulation enough precautionary warning anyone really studied scientific literature uninformed loss particular species may appear serious consequences160 instance proponents ecosystem manipulation like marris often argue substitution exotic species native one less neutral may even improve ecosystems seems adopted idea species mere cogs wheel interchangeable longterm harms ecosystems marris mocks ecologists worry invasives writes biggest obstacle moving species around terror many ecologists feel imagine introducing species might becomedum dum duminvasive 160again demonstrates real ignorance many species may codependent upon native species dramatic comparison native oak trees support 532 lepidoptera species butterflies moths alien invasive tree heaven ailanthus altissima supports two addition least thousand native insect species find homes food oak trees turn providing food birds creatures loss oak tree may mean loss forest cover definitely major impact biodiversity obvious casual poorly informed observer like marris dismisses traditional conservation approaches creation national parks naïve ineffective provides systemic analysis factors accelerating species extinction biodiversity loss one believe marris problem human population expropriating much earths resources land water rather wilderness cult seeks protect nature human exploitation think marris intends malice ideas implicitly provide cover industries people whose activities source environmental degradation around world160 developers logging companies agricultural interests ranchers mining companies energy companies effectively given carte blanche continue end everything result human activities ok wont suggest marriss intention natural consequence perspective argues celebrate weeds survivors imagine one admire cockroaches pigeons species managed flourish close proximity humans good reason conservationists dont celebrate weeds plants animals often overwhelm native species frequently leading loss degradation ecosystem function biodiversity notes remarkably well adapted human modifications also writes glowingly human land modification benefit wildlife tells visiting nebraskas platte river sandhill crane migration admires concentrations birds platte heavily used agriculture industry reduction water changed river without fast moving icy spring flows scythe vegetation islands heavy machinery must clear room cranes squeezed much smaller stretch river abundant food postharvest cornfields around makes possible many gather together cranes situation illustrates wrong human dominance expropriation earths resources one imagines marris would see elk feedgrounds wyoming160 salmon hatcheries west coast also positive light since facilitate concentrations wildlife use machines energy measures sustain wildlife higher populations otherwise degraded wildlife habitat would permit yet concentrations often delight wildlife observers hunters anglers fact examples badly degraded natural systems must sustained artificial energy intensive means instead recognizing monoculture gmo cornfields sustained pesticides fertilizers used produce ethanol feed livestock people steaks burgers wasteful ecologically damaging paints rosy reassuring picture human activities actually benefit wildlife concentrations wildlife make far vulnerable disease transmission localized catastrophic stochastic events yet marris asks fantastic display cranes somehow counterfeit cranes numbers ware artificially concentrated answers resounding nope opinion problem throughout book fails understand articulate underlying issues facing wild nature instead dismisses efforts protect landscapes natural conditions possible indirectly implicitly supports even manipulation planet160 perverse logic promotes geoengineering atmosphere antidote global warming instead fighting reduce co2 emissions dont argument admonishment appreciate bits nature survive humanized world love birds singing suburban yard frogs found place breed someplace shrubs occasional deer may wander city lot fooled city lot nearly functional large wild reserve collective effect thousands similar city lots substitute one big natural area although marris belittles wilderness advocates romantics essentially knownothings ignorance history ecology demonstrated throughout book160 sadly due lack scholarship author unaware little really understands nature george wuerthner ecologist author yellowstone visitors companion many books 160 | 1,687 |
<p>This is at least the third time in the past four years that philosophy professor Michael Neumann has used these pages to lambast the supporters of a one-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. On each occasion he has offered a little more insight into why he so vehemently objects to what he terms the “delusions” of those who oppose – or, at least, gave up on – the two-state solution.</p>
<p>In his <a href="" type="internal">most recent essay</a>, Neumann suggests that his previous reluctance to be more forthright was motivated by “politeness”. Well, I for one wish the professor had been franker from the outset. It might have saved us a lot of time and effort.</p>
<p>Even though I have identified myself as a supporter of the one-state solution, I find much to agree with in what Neumann writes on this occasion. Like him, I do not believe that a particular solution, or resolution, will occur simply because the Palestinians or their wellwishers make a good moral case for it. Success for the Palestinians will come when a wide array of regional developments force Israel to conclude that its current behaviour is untenable.</p>
<p>There are plenty of signs that just such a power shift is starting to take place in the Middle East: Iran’s possible development of a nuclear warhead; an awakening of democratic forces in Egypt and elsewhere; the fraying of the long and vital military alliance between Israel and Turkey; the exasperation of Saudi Arabia at Israel’s intransigence; the growing military sophistication of Hizbullah; and the complete discrediting of the US role in the region.</p>
<p>Neumann is wrong to assume that one has to be an idealist – believing in the political equivalent of fairies – to conclude that a one-state solution is on the cards. It does not have to be simply a case of wishful thinking. Rather, I will argue, it is likely to prove a realistic description of the turn of events over the next decade or more.</p>
<p>While Neumann and I agree on the causes of an Israeli change of direction, his and my analyses diverge sharply on what will follow from Israel’s realisation that its occupation is too costly to maintain.</p>
<p>Neumann proposes that, once cornered by regional forces it can no longer intimidate or bully, Israel will have to concede what he terms the “real” two-state solution.</p>
<p>He does not set out what such a solution would entail, but he is adamant that it – and only it – must take place. So let me help with an outline of the apparent minimal requirements for a real two-state solution:</p>
<p>* Israel agrees to pull out its half a million settlers from the West Bank and East Jerusalem, presumably assisted by lavish compensation from the international community;</p>
<p>* Israel hands over all of East Jerusalem to the Palestinians, while the city’s holy places, including the Western Wall, pass to a caretaker body representing the international community;</p>
<p>* The Palestinians get a state on 22 per cent of historic Palestine, with their capital in East Jerusalem;</p>
<p>* The Palestinians are free to establish an army – with Iran and Saudi Arabia presumably competing over who gets to sponsor it;</p>
<p>* The Palestinians have control over their airspace and the electro-magnetic spectrum. If they have any sense, they quickly turn to Hizbullah for advice on how to neutralise Israel’s extensive spying operations, its overhead drones and listening posts currently sited all over the West Bank;</p>
<p>* The Palestinians get unfettered access to their new border with Jordan and beyond to other Arab states;</p>
<p>* The Palestinians are entitled to an equitable division of water resources from the main West Bank acquifers, currently supplying Israel with most of its water;</p>
<p>* And the Palestinians have, as promised under the Oslo accords, a passageway through Israel to connect the West Bank and Gaza.</p>
<p>Let us leave aside the social problems for Israel caused by this arrangment: the huge disruption created by an angry and newly homeless half a million settlers returning to Israel, as well as the dramatic aggravation of the already severe housing crisis in Israel and the rapid deterioration in relations with the large Palestinian minority living there.</p>
<p>Let us also not dwell on the problems faced by the Palestinians, including the potentially hundreds of thousands of refugees who will have to be absorbed into the limited space of the resource-poor West Bank and Gaza, or their likely anger at what they will see as betrayal, or the inevitable economic troubles of this micro-state.</p>
<p>Doubtless, all these issues can be addressed in a peace agreement.</p>
<p>In his essays, Neumann only factors in what Israelis are prepared to accept from a solution. So let us ignore too the “idealism” of those critics who are concerned about whether a “real two-state solution” can actually be made to work for ordinary Palestinians.</p>
<p>The assumption by Neumann is that, faced with a rapid escalation in the political and financial costs of holding on to the Palestinian territories, Israel will one day understand that it has no choice but to jettison the occupation.</p>
<p>He offers nine reasons for why the one-state solution is “blatantly nonsensical”. Though numerically impressive, most of his arguments – such as his discussion of the right of return, or the representativeness of a Palestinian government, or the nature of legal and moral rights – appear to have little or no bearing on the practical case either for or against one state. The same can be said of his ascription of the sin of idealism to those he lumps together as one-staters, and his allusion, yet again, to the vague formula of a “real two-state solution”.</p>
<p>His other three arguments – the first he lists – are no more revelatory. In fact, they are variations of the same idea, one that can best be summarised by an analogy he offers in one: “If I’m making 50,000 dollars, I might demand 70,000, but not 70 million. It is not clever to demand the whole of Israel when Israel won’t yield even the half that almost the whole world says it must surrender – the occupied territories.”</p>
<p>I am no professor of logic but something about this analogy rings hollow. Let us try another that seems closer to the reality of our case.</p>
<p>One day you arrive at my home and take over most of the building using force. A short time later you drive me out of the house completely, and, in what you consider a generous concession, allow me to live in the shed at the end of the garden. Over the years we become bitter enemies. The neighbours, my former friends, can no longer turn a blind eye to my miserable condition and decide to side with me against you. One day they come to your door and threaten to use violence against you if you do not let me back into the house.</p>
<p>What happens next?</p>
<p>Well, as Neumann implies, it may all end happily with you agreeing to let me live in the box room. But then again, it might not.</p>
<p>Sensing that the shoe is finally on the other foot, I might decide to make your life unbearable in the main part of the house in order to win more space or to drive you out. Or you might decide that, given your precarious new situation in the neighbourhood, you would be better off abandoning your ill-gotten gains and looking for somewhere else to live.</p>
<p>I am not a fan of such analogies. I resort to it simply to highlight that, if one wants to make use of these kinds of devices, then it is at least preferable to use an apposite one.</p>
<p>(Interestingly, if we pursue this analogy, it also questions Neumann’s preferred comparison of Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories with France’s occupation of Algeria. In this case, Algeria appears to be the garden rather than the main house.)</p>
<p>The larger point is that there is no reason to assume that, just because the occupation gets too costly, Israel can simply amputate it like a rotting limb.</p>
<p>Part of the weakness in Neumann’s argument can be seen in his repeated references to the settlers as a group of troublesome misfits rather than a substantial chunk both of the Israeli cabinet, including the foreign minister, and of the high command of the Israeli army and security services, including the current head of the National Security Council.</p>
<p>Likewise, he caricatures Western support for Israel as “Zionist hysteria” in the US Congress, backed by “ridiculous” fellow travellers such as the Canadian government. If only the support for Israel among Western governments were this trivial.</p>
<p>Such misrepresentations make his argument that the occupation is vulnerable appear far stronger than it really is. In fact, the occupation is much more than the settlements.</p>
<p>It is the Messianism industry, run by the settlers, that took over Israel decades ago. Its hold extends far beyond the West Bank to the now-dominant religious education stream feeding poison to young minds, as well as to the seminaries where young religious men training to become army officers are tutored daily in their Chosenness and their divine right to exterminate Palestinians.</p>
<p>It is the ultra-Orthodox with their ambivalence to Zionism but their now-savage sense of entitlement to handouts from the state. They have several large urban communities in the West Bank tailor-made for their separatist religious way of life. The people who riot over a parking lot opening on Shabbat will not easily walk away from their homes, schools and synagogues.</p>
<p>It is a large and profitable Israeli real estate industry that has plundered and pillaged Palestinian land for decades, and which seems to implicate every new Israeli prime minister in a fresh corruption scandal.</p>
<p>It is Israel’s farming industries that depend for their survival on the theft of both Palestinian land and water sources.</p>
<p>It is ordinary Israelis, already spoiling for a fight after an unprecedented summer of social unrest over the exorbitant cost of living in Israel, who have yet to find out the true price of fruit and vegetables – and running water – should they lose these water “subsidies”.</p>
<p>It is Israel’s extensive and lucrative military hi-tech industries that rely on the occupied territories as a laboratory for developing and testing new weapons systems and surveillance techniques for export both to the global homeland security industries and to tech-hungry modern armies.</p>
<p>It is Israel’s security and intelligence services, abundantly staffed with the same Ashkenazis who will go on to become the country’s political leaders, pursuing careers surveilling and controlling Palestinians under occupation.</p>
<p>And it is the profligate military – Israel’s version of the West’s prodigal bankers – whose jobs and lethal toys depend on endless US taxpayers’ munificence.</p>
<p>None of this will be given up lightly, or at a cost that won’t make America’s current $3 billion annual handouts to Israel look like peanuts. And that is before we factor in the huge payouts needed to compensate the Palestinian refugees and to build a Palestinian state.</p>
<p>But these problems only hint at the argument for a one-state solution. The reality is that the elites that run Israel have everything to lose should the occupation fall. That is why they have invested every effort in integrating the occupied territories into Israel and making a “real” peace deal impossible. The occupation and its related industries are the source of their moral legitimacy, their political survival and their daily enrichment.</p>
<p>That is also why they are twisting in agony at the prospect of Iran acquiring a nuclear arsenal to rival their own. At that point, the occupation begins to expire and their rule is finished.</p>
<p>Were the regional conditions to come about that Neumann believes necessary to evict Israel from the occupied territories, these elites and their Ashkenazi hangers-on will face a stark choice: bring down the house or scatter to whatever countries their second passports entitle them to.</p>
<p>They may go for the doomsday scenario, as some currently predict. But my guess is that, once the money-laundering opportunities enjoyed by the politicians and generals are over, it will simply be easier – and safer – for them to export their skills elsewhere.</p>
<p>Left behind will be ordinary Israelis – the Russians, the Palestinian minority, the ultra-Orthodox, the Mizrahim – who never tasted the real fruits of the occupation and whose commitment to Zionism has no real depth.</p>
<p>These groups – isolated, largely antagonistic and without a diaspora occupying the US Congress to assist them – have not the experience, desire or legitimacy to run the military fortress that Israel has become. With the glue gone that holds the Zionist project together, both the Palestinians and the Israelis who remain will have every interest to come up with real solutions to the problem of living as neighbours.</p>
<p>The strangest aspect to Neumann’s claims against the one-staters – repeated in all his essays on this subject – is the argument that they are not only deluded but propagating an idea that is somehow dangerous, though quite how is never explained.</p>
<p>If as Neumann argues, correctly in my view, Israel will only change course when faced with significant pressure from its neighbours, then the worst crime the one-staters can be accused of committing is an abiding attachment to an irrelevant idealism.</p>
<p>Iran will not discard its supposed nuclear ambitions simply because the one-state crowd start to make a compelling moral case for their cause, any more than Hizbullah will stop amassing its rockets. So why should Neumann get so exercised by the one-state argument? By his reckoning, it should have zero impact on progress towards a resolution of the conflict.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, even on Neumann’s limited terms, one can also make a serious case that advocacy of a single state might produce benefits for the Palestinians.</p>
<p>If nothing else, were a growing number of Palestinians and international supporters persuaded that demanding an absolutely just solution (one state) was the best path, would this not add an additional pressure to the other, material ones facing Israel to concede a real two-state solution – if only to avoid the worse fate of a single state being imposed by its neighbours?</p>
<p>But I think we can go futher in making the practical case for a one-state solution.</p>
<p>Although the main cause of Israel changing tack will be the alignment of regional forces against it, an additional but important factor will be the emergence of a political climate in which western states and their publics are increasingly disillusioned with Israel’s bad faith. Congress’ support is not paid in the currency of hysteria but in hard cash. And that support won’t dry up until Israel and its “mad dog” policies are widely seen as illegitimate or a liability.</p>
<p>One of the key ways Israel will discredit itself, following it and Washington’s recent decision to block any Palestinian bid for statehood at the United Nations, is by cracking down – probably violently – on any political aspirations expressed by ordinary Palestinians under occupation.</p>
<p>History, including Palestinian history, suggests that populations denied their rights rarely remain passive indefinitely. Palestinians who see no hope that their leaders can secure for them a state will be increasingly motivated to claim back their cause.</p>
<p>Ordinary Palestinians have no power, as Neumann notes, to force Israel to establish a state for them. But they do have the power to demand from Israel a say in their future, and press for it through civil disobedience, campaigns for voting rights, and the establishment of an anti-apartheid movement. Such a struggle will take place within – and implicitly accept – the one-state reality already created by Israel. If Palestinians march for the vote, it will be for a vote in Knesset elections.</p>
<p>None of this will win them either a state or the vote, of course. But the repression needed from Israel to contain these forces will serve to rapidly erode whatever international sympathy remains and to further galvanise the regional forces lining up against Israel into action.</p>
<p>In short, however one assesses it, the promotion of a one-state solution can serve only to hasten the demise of the Israeli elites who oppress the Palestinians. So why waste so much breath opposing it?</p>
<p>Jonathan Cook&#160;won the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. His latest books are “ <a href="" type="internal">Israel and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and the Plan to Remake the Middle East”</a>&#160;(Pluto Press) and “ <a href="" type="internal">Disappearing Palestine: Israel’s Experiments in Human Despair</a>” (Zed Books). His website is&#160; <a href="http://www.jkcook.net/" type="external">www.jkcook.net</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | least third time past four years philosophy professor michael neumann used pages lambast supporters onestate solution israelpalestine conflict occasion offered little insight vehemently objects terms delusions oppose least gave twostate solution recent essay neumann suggests previous reluctance forthright motivated politeness well one wish professor franker outset might saved us lot time effort even though identified supporter onestate solution find much agree neumann writes occasion like believe particular solution resolution occur simply palestinians wellwishers make good moral case success palestinians come wide array regional developments force israel conclude current behaviour untenable plenty signs power shift starting take place middle east irans possible development nuclear warhead awakening democratic forces egypt elsewhere fraying long vital military alliance israel turkey exasperation saudi arabia israels intransigence growing military sophistication hizbullah complete discrediting us role region neumann wrong assume one idealist believing political equivalent fairies conclude onestate solution cards simply case wishful thinking rather argue likely prove realistic description turn events next decade neumann agree causes israeli change direction analyses diverge sharply follow israels realisation occupation costly maintain neumann proposes cornered regional forces longer intimidate bully israel concede terms real twostate solution set solution would entail adamant must take place let help outline apparent minimal requirements real twostate solution israel agrees pull half million settlers west bank east jerusalem presumably assisted lavish compensation international community israel hands east jerusalem palestinians citys holy places including western wall pass caretaker body representing international community palestinians get state 22 per cent historic palestine capital east jerusalem palestinians free establish army iran saudi arabia presumably competing gets sponsor palestinians control airspace electromagnetic spectrum sense quickly turn hizbullah advice neutralise israels extensive spying operations overhead drones listening posts currently sited west bank palestinians get unfettered access new border jordan beyond arab states palestinians entitled equitable division water resources main west bank acquifers currently supplying israel water palestinians promised oslo accords passageway israel connect west bank gaza let us leave aside social problems israel caused arrangment huge disruption created angry newly homeless half million settlers returning israel well dramatic aggravation already severe housing crisis israel rapid deterioration relations large palestinian minority living let us also dwell problems faced palestinians including potentially hundreds thousands refugees absorbed limited space resourcepoor west bank gaza likely anger see betrayal inevitable economic troubles microstate doubtless issues addressed peace agreement essays neumann factors israelis prepared accept solution let us ignore idealism critics concerned whether real twostate solution actually made work ordinary palestinians assumption neumann faced rapid escalation political financial costs holding palestinian territories israel one day understand choice jettison occupation offers nine reasons onestate solution blatantly nonsensical though numerically impressive arguments discussion right return representativeness palestinian government nature legal moral rights appear little bearing practical case either one state said ascription sin idealism lumps together onestaters allusion yet vague formula real twostate solution three arguments first lists revelatory fact variations idea one best summarised analogy offers one im making 50000 dollars might demand 70000 70 million clever demand whole israel israel wont yield even half almost whole world says must surrender occupied territories professor logic something analogy rings hollow let us try another seems closer reality case one day arrive home take building using force short time later drive house completely consider generous concession allow live shed end garden years become bitter enemies neighbours former friends longer turn blind eye miserable condition decide side one day come door threaten use violence let back house happens next well neumann implies may end happily agreeing let live box room might sensing shoe finally foot might decide make life unbearable main part house order win space drive might decide given precarious new situation neighbourhood would better abandoning illgotten gains looking somewhere else live fan analogies resort simply highlight one wants make use kinds devices least preferable use apposite one interestingly pursue analogy also questions neumanns preferred comparison israels occupation palestinian territories frances occupation algeria case algeria appears garden rather main house larger point reason assume occupation gets costly israel simply amputate like rotting limb part weakness neumanns argument seen repeated references settlers group troublesome misfits rather substantial chunk israeli cabinet including foreign minister high command israeli army security services including current head national security council likewise caricatures western support israel zionist hysteria us congress backed ridiculous fellow travellers canadian government support israel among western governments trivial misrepresentations make argument occupation vulnerable appear far stronger really fact occupation much settlements messianism industry run settlers took israel decades ago hold extends far beyond west bank nowdominant religious education stream feeding poison young minds well seminaries young religious men training become army officers tutored daily chosenness divine right exterminate palestinians ultraorthodox ambivalence zionism nowsavage sense entitlement handouts state several large urban communities west bank tailormade separatist religious way life people riot parking lot opening shabbat easily walk away homes schools synagogues large profitable israeli real estate industry plundered pillaged palestinian land decades seems implicate every new israeli prime minister fresh corruption scandal israels farming industries depend survival theft palestinian land water sources ordinary israelis already spoiling fight unprecedented summer social unrest exorbitant cost living israel yet find true price fruit vegetables running water lose water subsidies israels extensive lucrative military hitech industries rely occupied territories laboratory developing testing new weapons systems surveillance techniques export global homeland security industries techhungry modern armies israels security intelligence services abundantly staffed ashkenazis go become countrys political leaders pursuing careers surveilling controlling palestinians occupation profligate military israels version wests prodigal bankers whose jobs lethal toys depend endless us taxpayers munificence none given lightly cost wont make americas current 3 billion annual handouts israel look like peanuts factor huge payouts needed compensate palestinian refugees build palestinian state problems hint argument onestate solution reality elites run israel everything lose occupation fall invested every effort integrating occupied territories israel making real peace deal impossible occupation related industries source moral legitimacy political survival daily enrichment also twisting agony prospect iran acquiring nuclear arsenal rival point occupation begins expire rule finished regional conditions come neumann believes necessary evict israel occupied territories elites ashkenazi hangerson face stark choice bring house scatter whatever countries second passports entitle may go doomsday scenario currently predict guess moneylaundering opportunities enjoyed politicians generals simply easier safer export skills elsewhere left behind ordinary israelis russians palestinian minority ultraorthodox mizrahim never tasted real fruits occupation whose commitment zionism real depth groups isolated largely antagonistic without diaspora occupying us congress assist experience desire legitimacy run military fortress israel become glue gone holds zionist project together palestinians israelis remain every interest come real solutions problem living neighbours strangest aspect neumanns claims onestaters repeated essays subject argument deluded propagating idea somehow dangerous though quite never explained neumann argues correctly view israel change course faced significant pressure neighbours worst crime onestaters accused committing abiding attachment irrelevant idealism iran discard supposed nuclear ambitions simply onestate crowd start make compelling moral case cause hizbullah stop amassing rockets neumann get exercised onestate argument reckoning zero impact progress towards resolution conflict nonetheless even neumanns limited terms one also make serious case advocacy single state might produce benefits palestinians nothing else growing number palestinians international supporters persuaded demanding absolutely solution one state best path would add additional pressure material ones facing israel concede real twostate solution avoid worse fate single state imposed neighbours think go futher making practical case onestate solution although main cause israel changing tack alignment regional forces additional important factor emergence political climate western states publics increasingly disillusioned israels bad faith congress support paid currency hysteria hard cash support wont dry israel mad dog policies widely seen illegitimate liability one key ways israel discredit following washingtons recent decision block palestinian bid statehood united nations cracking probably violently political aspirations expressed ordinary palestinians occupation history including palestinian history suggests populations denied rights rarely remain passive indefinitely palestinians see hope leaders secure state increasingly motivated claim back cause ordinary palestinians power neumann notes force israel establish state power demand israel say future press civil disobedience campaigns voting rights establishment antiapartheid movement struggle take place within implicitly accept onestate reality already created israel palestinians march vote vote knesset elections none win either state vote course repression needed israel contain forces serve rapidly erode whatever international sympathy remains galvanise regional forces lining israel action short however one assesses promotion onestate solution serve hasten demise israeli elites oppress palestinians waste much breath opposing jonathan cook160won martha gellhorn special prize journalism latest books israel clash civilisations iraq iran plan remake middle east160pluto press disappearing palestine israels experiments human despair zed books website is160 wwwjkcooknet 160 | 1,411 |
<p>Current political developments in California highlight the gaping chasm that divides the established political process – which is routinely mislabeled as “democratic” – with the positions embraced by the vast majority of Californians.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, California is to the United States as Greece is to Europe: both are fiscal basket cases. California has been suffering major budget deficits long before the Great Recession smashed the real estate bubble and drove it further into debt.&#160; But the underlying causes of its chronic fiscal problems are seldom mentioned in the corporate media.</p>
<p>The Great Recession is surely a contributing factor. But more importantly there has been a steady shift of tax revenue away from corporations and the rich – the “people” who can most afford to pay – and onto the backs of working people.</p>
<p>In the late 1970s, for example, Proposition 13 was passed which limited property taxes for homeowners and corporations.&#160; However, because of various loopholes, the proposition has been far more beneficial to corporations than to homeowners, resulting in a major loss of revenue for the state and a downward slide in corporate taxes.</p>
<p>Then in the 1980s the state inheritance tax was abolished, which constituted a huge boon to the rich. The New York Times reported (April 16, 2011, Elizabeth Lesly Stevens, “The Idle Rich Should Give Something Back: Taxes”): “Consider this: If each Californian could bequeath no more than $2 million, a 100 percent tax on the surplus estate assets would wipe out the state’s entire budget deficit.”</p>
<p>Even back in 2003 The New York Times was reporting on declining taxes for corporations across the country and particularly in California:</p>
<p>“Tax sheltering has cost states more than a third of their revenue from taxes on corporate profits, a new study showed yesterday, adding to the severe strain on state finances across the country.” And the article added: “In the 1980s 9 percent of corporate profits were paid to states. This number had declined to less than 6 percent by 2001…” (David Cay Johnston, The New York Times, July 16, 2003).</p>
<p>All these developments have coalesced to produce a <a href="" type="internal">perverse tax structure</a> in California: the poor pay at the highest tax rates while the rich pay at the lowest rates. The bottom fifth pay at a 11.1 percent tax rate while the top 1 percent pay only&#160;7&#160;percent.</p>
<p>And these tax trends have in turn contributed to growing inequalities in wealth:&#160;during the past three decades the incomes of the wealthiest 1 percent of Californians grew by 81 percent while the income of the bottom 20 percent dropped by 11.5 percent (San Francisco Chronicle, April 1, 2011).</p>
<p>But on those rare occasions when politicians propose raising taxes to reduce the deficit, they fail to mention these staggering trends. Instead they engage in incessant clamoring about “shared sacrifice” and a “balanced” approach. With this as his mantra, Democratic Governor Jerry Brown initially proposed a temporary tax measure that would have raised taxes on everyone. It included a regressive one-half cent sales tax increase that would have burdened the poor far more than the rich and a mere 1 percent increase in the taxes on those making over $250,000 and a 2 percent increase on those making over $500,000.</p>
<p>But what Brown was not expecting was a fight-back mounted by one of the teacher unions. California Federation of Teachers (CFT) proposed its own ballot initiative – the Millionaires Tax – that would have only raised taxes on the rich by raising their rates 3 percent on those making over $1 million and 5 percent on those making over $2 million. Their initiative polled much better than Brown’s.</p>
<p>Under intense pressure, CFT’s leaders eventually capitulated and agreed to drop their initiative and instead opted for a dubious compromise version brokered with Brown. The compromise would reduce the sales tax to one-fourth cent and raise tax rates 1 percent on those making over $250,000, 2 percent on those making over $300,000 and 3 percent on those making over $500,000.</p>
<p>It is not clear this compromise measure will pass because of its ambivalent nature. It currently has the support of 56 percent of likely voters, 58 percent oppose “a key part of it – the quarter-cent sales tax increase (San Francisco Chronicle, May 26, 2012). When CFT’s Millionaires Tax was a contender and was polled, it had 62 percent support.</p>
<p>Thanks to the Occupy Movement, people are becoming increasingly aware of the growing inequalities in wealth and the underlying declining tax burden on the rich. Hence, they have offered strong support to initiatives that target only the rich and have rejected regressive taxes such as sales taxes.</p>
<p>And this tenuous support has led Jerry Brown to resort to his terror tactic, intended to strike fear in the hearts of the public.&#160; He has told the people of California that if they do not support this new compromise tax proposal, then automatic trigger cuts will go into effect that will brutally slash the budget of public education on all levels. According to the same Chronicle article, this threat has evoked hatred: “They [likely California voters] also hate the automatic spending cuts to public education if voters reject the Brown’s tax plan. And we mean hate – 72 percent oppose these trigger cuts.”</p>
<p>If democracy ruled, the sales taxes would be reduced, taxes on the rich would go way up, and our schools and social services would be fully funded. But thanks to the influence of the 1 percent and the politicians they subsidize, the people of California are being terrorized into voting for a measure they actually in part reject.</p>
<p>Ann Robertson is a Lecturer at San Francisco State University and a member of the California Faculty Association.</p>
<p>Bill Leumer is a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 853 (ret.). Both are writers for Workers Action and may be reached at&#160; <a href="mailto:sanfrancisco@workerscompass.org" type="external">sanfrancisco@workerscompass.org</a>.</p>
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<p /> | true | 4 | current political developments california highlight gaping chasm divides established political process routinely mislabeled democratic positions embraced vast majority californians unfortunately california united states greece europe fiscal basket cases california suffering major budget deficits long great recession smashed real estate bubble drove debt160 underlying causes chronic fiscal problems seldom mentioned corporate media great recession surely contributing factor importantly steady shift tax revenue away corporations rich people afford pay onto backs working people late 1970s example proposition 13 passed limited property taxes homeowners corporations160 however various loopholes proposition far beneficial corporations homeowners resulting major loss revenue state downward slide corporate taxes 1980s state inheritance tax abolished constituted huge boon rich new york times reported april 16 2011 elizabeth lesly stevens idle rich give something back taxes consider californian could bequeath 2 million 100 percent tax surplus estate assets would wipe states entire budget deficit even back 2003 new york times reporting declining taxes corporations across country particularly california tax sheltering cost states third revenue taxes corporate profits new study showed yesterday adding severe strain state finances across country article added 1980s 9 percent corporate profits paid states number declined less 6 percent 2001 david cay johnston new york times july 16 2003 developments coalesced produce perverse tax structure california poor pay highest tax rates rich pay lowest rates bottom fifth pay 111 percent tax rate top 1 percent pay only1607160percent tax trends turn contributed growing inequalities wealth160during past three decades incomes wealthiest 1 percent californians grew 81 percent income bottom 20 percent dropped 115 percent san francisco chronicle april 1 2011 rare occasions politicians propose raising taxes reduce deficit fail mention staggering trends instead engage incessant clamoring shared sacrifice balanced approach mantra democratic governor jerry brown initially proposed temporary tax measure would raised taxes everyone included regressive onehalf cent sales tax increase would burdened poor far rich mere 1 percent increase taxes making 250000 2 percent increase making 500000 brown expecting fightback mounted one teacher unions california federation teachers cft proposed ballot initiative millionaires tax would raised taxes rich raising rates 3 percent making 1 million 5 percent making 2 million initiative polled much better browns intense pressure cfts leaders eventually capitulated agreed drop initiative instead opted dubious compromise version brokered brown compromise would reduce sales tax onefourth cent raise tax rates 1 percent making 250000 2 percent making 300000 3 percent making 500000 clear compromise measure pass ambivalent nature currently support 56 percent likely voters 58 percent oppose key part quartercent sales tax increase san francisco chronicle may 26 2012 cfts millionaires tax contender polled 62 percent support thanks occupy movement people becoming increasingly aware growing inequalities wealth underlying declining tax burden rich hence offered strong support initiatives target rich rejected regressive taxes sales taxes tenuous support led jerry brown resort terror tactic intended strike fear hearts public160 told people california support new compromise tax proposal automatic trigger cuts go effect brutally slash budget public education levels according chronicle article threat evoked hatred likely california voters also hate automatic spending cuts public education voters reject browns tax plan mean hate 72 percent oppose trigger cuts democracy ruled sales taxes would reduced taxes rich would go way schools social services would fully funded thanks influence 1 percent politicians subsidize people california terrorized voting measure actually part reject ann robertson lecturer san francisco state university member california faculty association bill leumer member international brotherhood teamsters local 853 ret writers workers action may reached at160 sanfranciscoworkerscompassorg 160 160 | 574 |
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<p>Right-wing columnist Charles Krauthammer has weighed in against the Supreme Court’s latest ruling in Hamdan, claiming that the Court erred in barring President Bush from denying Guantanamo detainees the protections of the Third Geneva Convention. The basis for his argument is that the U.S. is at war, and that traditionally “supreme courts have been loath to intervene against presidential war powers in the midst of conflict.”</p>
<p>Let’s look at this assertion for a minute.</p>
<p>First of all, the fact that in the past, presidents have grievously abused their power during wartime, and damaged the Constitution in the process, is hardly grounds for letting this president do so again. Krauthammer cites, for example, President Lincoln’s famous revocation of the age-old common law right of habeas corpus–the right to have one’s imprisonment brought before a judge–to justify Bush’s current denial of habeas corpus to captives in Guantanamo Bay.</p>
<p>Well, what Krauthammer fails to mention is that in 1866, the Supreme Court slapped down the administration of the assassinated President Lincoln, overturning the detention and execution order (never carried out) of one Lambdin P. Milligan, who had been arrested on orders of the president on a charge of treason and denied habeas rights. In that ruling, the Justice David Davis wrote:</p>
<p>The Constitution of the United States is a law for rulers and people, equally in war and in peace, and covers with the shield of its protection all classes of men, at all times and under all circumstances. No doctrine involving more pernicious consequences was ever invented by the wit of man than that any of its provisions can be suspended during any of the great exigencies of government. Such a doctrine leads directly to anarchy or despotism, but the theory of necessity on which it is based is false, for the government, within the Constitution, has all the powers granted to it which are necessary to preserve its existence, as has been happily proved by the result of the great effort to throw off its just authority. (Milligan, 71 U.S. 2 (1866))</p>
<p>Those stirring words should be mailed to every member of Congress as they now consider the Supreme Court’s Hamdan ruling, with many Republicans clamoring to pass a law exempting the Guantanamo detainees from the Geneva Convention’s jurisdiction.</p>
<p>Second, let’s examine Krauthammer’s (and the Bush administration’s) premise that the nation is at war, and that therefore the president can claim special powers.</p>
<p>Is the country at war?</p>
<p>Certainly it’s not at war in Afghanistan, where there is an elected government, and where U.S., British, French, German, Canadian and other military forces serve at the invitation of the government. To call the small-scale fighting against remnant Taliban fighters a war would be to say that the U.S. is always at war, for U.S. military forces have been in combat situations somewhere in the world almost constantly, especially since World War II. Consider Korea, Indochina, El Salvador, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Lebanon, Grenada, Panama, Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo, Kuwait, etc. (have I forgotten any?). If these situations, in which U.S. forces were shooting and being shot at, were all to be called states of war, then by Krauthammer’s faulty “logic,” the U.S. should have been under presidential rule, with the Constitution suspended, for several generations already.</p>
<p>Clearly this is absurd. For the term “war” to have any meaning, it must refer to a condition in which the nation itself is in jeopardy. Certainly it was this threat to America’s very existence that led Lincoln to declare martial law in some jurisdictions, and to suspend the protections of the Constitution, rightly or wrongly.</p>
<p>Happily, nothing like that kind of threat pertains today.</p>
<p>Neither the fighting in Afghanistan, nor the larger fighting in Iraq–which was certainly a war (with us as the invader!), but which is now a police action at the request of a sovereign government, in the words of our president himself–is a war.</p>
<p>The only “war” that can be at issue then, is the so-called “war on terror.” But is this in any way a real “war”? Unless one believes the self-serving clap-trap of the administration that the soldiers in Iraq are fighting in the war on terror–an absurdity because there were no terrorists in Iraq before the U.S. invaded that country, and now what is called “terrorism” in Iraq, at least as directed against U.S. interests, is nothing but garden variety guerrilla warfare against a foreign army (ours)–the answer has to be no. As Bush famously declared back on April 30, 2003, major combat ended in Iraq over three years ago. There is no war in Iraq.</p>
<p>That leaves the global “war” on terrorism. But let’s get real. This is no more a war than was the “war” on drugs or the “war” on poverty. Sure, there may be a few soldiers who are involved, but mostly it’s about spying, monitoring, infiltrating and arresting suspected terrorists. To call that kind of thing a war is to debase the currenty of the language beyond recognition. (The truth is there are probably more actual U.S. military forces involved in the so-called “war” on drugs than there are involved in the so-called “war” on terror.)</p>
<p>Moreover, while terrorists certainly can threaten the lives and safety of Americans, they cannot threaten the survival of or the territorial integrity of the United States, which is after all what wars are all about.</p>
<p>Furthermore, Krauthammer speaks of presidents needing to be able to suspend Constitutional rights and to claim special extra-constitutional powers during wars, and of the tradition of them then restoring those rights after a conflict ends. But the administration has made it clear, in between stirring calls for “total victory,” that there will be no end to this “war” on terror. And indeed there cannot be, for there will always be those who will seek to disrupt or punish a global power like the U.S. through the use of terror. To accept the argument that fighting against such threats requires a suspension of rights and a president with dictatorial powers is to say that the Constitution, with its separation of powers and its Bill of Rights, is finished.</p>
<p>Like the administration he serves, Krauthammer is simply wrong, and surely in making such a preposterous claim has surrendered the right to call himself a conservative.</p>
<p>Justice Davis, writing at a time right after the nation had fought a four-year war for its very survival, a year after the president had been slain by an agent of the enemy, and while forces of resistance in the South were continuing to battle U.S. occupation troops, had it exactly right when he said: “The Constitution of the United States is a law for rulers and people, equally in war and in peace.”</p>
<p>DAVE LINDORFF is the author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1567512283/counterpunchmaga" type="external">Killing Time: an Investigation into the Death Row Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal</a>. His new book of CounterPunch columns titled “ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1567512984/counterpunchmaga" type="external">This Can’t be Happening!</a>” is published by Common Courage Press. Lindorff’s new book is “ <a href="" type="internal">The Case for Impeachment</a>“, co-authored by Barbara Olshansky.</p>
<p>He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:dlindorff@yahoo.com" type="external">dlindorff@yahoo.com</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | 160 rightwing columnist charles krauthammer weighed supreme courts latest ruling hamdan claiming court erred barring president bush denying guantanamo detainees protections third geneva convention basis argument us war traditionally supreme courts loath intervene presidential war powers midst conflict lets look assertion minute first fact past presidents grievously abused power wartime damaged constitution process hardly grounds letting president krauthammer cites example president lincolns famous revocation ageold common law right habeas corpusthe right ones imprisonment brought judgeto justify bushs current denial habeas corpus captives guantanamo bay well krauthammer fails mention 1866 supreme court slapped administration assassinated president lincoln overturning detention execution order never carried one lambdin p milligan arrested orders president charge treason denied habeas rights ruling justice david davis wrote constitution united states law rulers people equally war peace covers shield protection classes men times circumstances doctrine involving pernicious consequences ever invented wit man provisions suspended great exigencies government doctrine leads directly anarchy despotism theory necessity based false government within constitution powers granted necessary preserve existence happily proved result great effort throw authority milligan 71 us 2 1866 stirring words mailed every member congress consider supreme courts hamdan ruling many republicans clamoring pass law exempting guantanamo detainees geneva conventions jurisdiction second lets examine krauthammers bush administrations premise nation war therefore president claim special powers country war certainly war afghanistan elected government us british french german canadian military forces serve invitation government call smallscale fighting remnant taliban fighters war would say us always war us military forces combat situations somewhere world almost constantly especially since world war ii consider korea indochina el salvador nicaragua dominican republic lebanon grenada panama haiti bosnia kosovo kuwait etc forgotten situations us forces shooting shot called states war krauthammers faulty logic us presidential rule constitution suspended several generations already clearly absurd term war meaning must refer condition nation jeopardy certainly threat americas existence led lincoln declare martial law jurisdictions suspend protections constitution rightly wrongly happily nothing like kind threat pertains today neither fighting afghanistan larger fighting iraqwhich certainly war us invader police action request sovereign government words president himselfis war war issue socalled war terror way real war unless one believes selfserving claptrap administration soldiers iraq fighting war terroran absurdity terrorists iraq us invaded country called terrorism iraq least directed us interests nothing garden variety guerrilla warfare foreign army oursthe answer bush famously declared back april 30 2003 major combat ended iraq three years ago war iraq leaves global war terrorism lets get real war war drugs war poverty sure may soldiers involved mostly spying monitoring infiltrating arresting suspected terrorists call kind thing war debase currenty language beyond recognition truth probably actual us military forces involved socalled war drugs involved socalled war terror moreover terrorists certainly threaten lives safety americans threaten survival territorial integrity united states wars furthermore krauthammer speaks presidents needing able suspend constitutional rights claim special extraconstitutional powers wars tradition restoring rights conflict ends administration made clear stirring calls total victory end war terror indeed always seek disrupt punish global power like us use terror accept argument fighting threats requires suspension rights president dictatorial powers say constitution separation powers bill rights finished like administration serves krauthammer simply wrong surely making preposterous claim surrendered right call conservative justice davis writing time right nation fought fouryear war survival year president slain agent enemy forces resistance south continuing battle us occupation troops exactly right said constitution united states law rulers people equally war peace dave lindorff author killing time investigation death row case mumia abujamal new book counterpunch columns titled cant happening published common courage press lindorffs new book case impeachment coauthored barbara olshansky reached dlindorffyahoocom 160 160 | 600 |
<p />
<p>Introduction by Tom Engelhardt</p>
<p>The year is 2030 and <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/09/02/gop.bushs.lkl.access/" type="external">President Pierce Bush</a> addresses the nation:</p>
<p />
<p>“My fellow countrymen, in the past, enemies of America required massed armies, and great navies, powerful air forces to put our nation, our people, our friends and allies at risk. What has changed in the first four decades of the 21st century is that, in the hands of terrorists, weapons of mass destruction have become a first resort — the preferred means to further their ideology of suicide and random murder. These terrible weapons are becoming easier to acquire, build, hide, and transport.</p>
<p>“We’re determined to confront those threats at the source. We will stop these weapons from being acquired or built. We’ll block them from being transferred. We’ll prevent them from ever being used. America, and the entire civilized world, will face this threat for decades to come. We must confront the danger with open eyes, and unbending purpose. I have made clear to all the policy of this nation: America will not permit terrorists and dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world’s most deadly weapons.</p>
<p>“Thanks to the vigilance of the Central Intelligence Agency, news has reached us that, on the Central Asian black market, the Uzbekistan branch of al-Qaeda has acquired a single antimatter weapon small enough to fit into the palm of your hand but powerful enough to destroy a major city. Armed with such a weapon, small groups of fanatics, or failing states, could gain the power to threaten the cities of great nations, threaten the world peace, or our very existence.</p>
<p>“So, my fellow Americans, I have today ordered our Special Forces X-Force of Super Cyborg Soldiers to spearhead an invasion of Uzbekistan to wrest that antimatter bomb, perhaps the most dangerous weapon on a planet of dangerous weapons, from the hands of the terrorists. I thank you and may God bless you all.”</p>
<p>(Adapted from <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/02/20040211-4.html" type="external">President Announces New Measures to Counter the Threat of WMD</a>, February 11, 2004)</p>
<p>Sound like a post-governorship Schwarzenegger movie, a selection from one of Philip K. Dick’s nuttier novels, or maybe an offshoot from <a href="http://livefromcern.web.cern.ch/livefromcern/antimatter/everyday/AM-everyday04-a.html" type="external">Star Trek III: The Search for Spock?</a> Hmmm. Well, not exactly.</p>
<p>Let’s start with that antimatter weapon. It turns out, according to San Francisco Chronicle Science Writer Keay Davidson, that the Pentagon, “is quietly spending millions of dollars investigating ways to use a radical power source — antimatter, the eerie ‘mirror’ of ordinary matter — in future weapons… for example, antimatter bombs small enough to hold in one’s hand, and antimatter engines for 24/7 surveillance aircraft.” And here’s the good news: The hope is that our scientists can create “a new generation of super weapons… [including] a so-called ‘clean’ superbomb that could kill large numbers of soldiers without ejecting radioactive contaminants over the countryside.”</p>
<p>Gee, sounds like a real advance. And, as Dr. Seuss might once have said, that is not all, oh no, that is not all. It may be true that, when it came to post-invasion Iraq, the Bush Pentagon was incapable of planning its way out of yesterday, no less into tomorrow, but when it comes to imagining global domination by force into the wee distant future, it’s the undisputed global planning champ. Nothing is too sci-fi to be on the drawing boards for America’s future war-fighters: <a href="http://www.whiotv.com/news/3781725/detail.html" type="external">paralyzing microwave rays</a> from the heavens for use in crowd control; <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/09/24/ray_gun_sci_fi_staple_meets_reality?mode=PF" type="external">ray guns</a> (familiarly called “pain rays”) for deployment here on Earth; <a href="http://www.spacedaily.com/news/laser-04f.html" type="external">laser beams</a> to destroy incoming missiles; <a href="http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_3222381,00.html" type="external">anti-satellite weaponry</a> for the sort of space wars that once were the province of science fiction. You name it and someone somewhere in the military-industrial-academic complex is probably at work on it — or it’s already a weapons system heading for deployment.</p>
<p>Recently there’s been a good deal written about <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=1458" type="external">“peak oil”</a> (beyond which the curve of global oil production must descend); but perhaps another term should enter our language, “peak military.” Whether or not Hubbert’s Peak proves a “law” of global oil production, there has to be some kind of similar law of advanced weaponry production. Perhaps it could be described something like this: Sooner or later, any weapon system you create for yourself will become available to others. This law would have the following corollary: Whatever you create for brain-numbing sums will someday be available cheaply enough so that even small groups of fanatics can obtain it. “Peak military” would then be the self-annihilating point — whether already reached or not — beyond which we descend into the hell of planetary destruction or its local equivalent.</p>
<p>The United States, once locked in a fierce, spiraling arms race with the Soviet Union, now finds itself in a mad arms race of one. It stands almost alone on the planet in creating ever more frightening and destructive weapons systems for the coming decades and beyond. From new generations of nuclear weapons to initial generations of space weaponry, the Bush administration has only accelerated this process. Sooner or later, however, there are always others ready to tango.</p>
<p>Oh, and as for those X-Force Super Cyborg Soldiers <a href="http://www.madisone-zone.com/viewnews.php?current=32&amp;action=2" type="external">a future President Bush</a> might send into Uzbekistan to secure that antimatter weapon (and maybe a crucial Central Asian oil source too)… well, let Nick Turse, Tomdispatch’s military-industrial-academic-entertainment complex reporter, explain…</p>
<p />
<p>Superhero of the Military-Industrial Complex By Nick Turse</p>
<p>Even if you never read the comic book or watched the hopelessly low-production-value 1960s cartoon, chances are you’ve at least seen the image of <a href="http://www.marveldirectory.com/individuals/c/captainamerica.htm" type="external">Captain America</a> — the slightly ridiculous looking superhero in a form-fitting, star-spangled bodysuit. If you’re still hazy on “Cap,” he was Steve Rogers, a 4-F weakling during World War II who, through the miracle of “modern science” (a “super soldier serum”) became an <a href="http://www.dereksantos.com/comicpage/gold4.html" type="external">Axis-smashing powerhouse</a> — the pinnacle of human physical perfection and the ultimate American fighting-man.</p>
<p>In the 1940s comic, Rogers had taken part in a super-soldier experiment, thanks to the interventions of an Army general and a scientist in a secret government laboratory. He was to be the first of many American super-soldiers, but due to poor note-keeping methods and the efforts of a Nazi assassin, he became the sole recipient of the serum. Today, however, the dream of Captain America turns out to be alive and well — and lodged in the Pentagon. The U.S. military aims to succeed where those in the four-color comic book world failed. By using high technology and cutting edge biomedicine, the military hopes to create an entire army of Captain Americas — a fighting force devoid of “Steve Rogers” or any other “Joe Average,” and made up instead of super-soldiers whose human-ness has been all but banished.</p>
<p>24-Hour Soldiers</p>
<p>The military has long been interested in creating an always-on, 24-hour fighting man. During the Vietnam War, the Army undertook extensive studies on the effects of sleep deprivation. At the time, however, all the military could offer was copious amounts of amphetamines to keep men wired for combat.</p>
<p>As in the Vietnam era, the military is again stretched thin and, with National Guard recruiting having fallen <a href="http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=29485&amp;dcn=todaysnews" type="external">12% below goal</a> in the first three quarters of 2004, in <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4013-2004Jul21.html" type="external">need of troops</a>. What better way to forestall future manpower crises than by creating two-for-the-price-of-one soldiers who never need to sleep?</p>
<p>To this end, the Department of Defense’s blue-skies research outfit, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), currently has a <a href="http://www.darpa.mil/dso/thrust/biosci/cap.htm" type="external">“Preventing Sleep Deprivation Program.”</a> Its aim is to work on ways to enable a pilot “to fly continuously for 30 hours,” Green Berets to carry out 48-72 hours of sustained activity, or “advancing ground troops [to] engage in weeks of combat operations with only 3 hours of sleep per night” — all without suffering from cognitive or psychomotor impairments.</p>
<p>Scientists in the military-industrial-academic complex are hard at work for DARPA on this line of research. At Wake Forest University, for instance, researchers are studying a class of medicines known as “Ampakines” which are thought to be protective against the cognitive deficits ordinarily associated with sleep deprivation. At Columbia University, new imaging technologies are being employed as part of a program to study the “neuro-protective and neuro-regenerative effects” of an anti-oxidant found in cocoa. (In low-tech World War II, they just gave the grunts chocolate bars.) Who’s conducting this line of research for DARPA? Why, researchers at the <a href="http://www.darpa.mil/dso/thrust/biosci/cap.htm" type="external">Salk Institute</a> and also at that all-chocolate-all-the-time company Mars Inc. — yes, the folks who bring you M&amp;M’s and Snickers!</p>
<p>At the same time, the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Warfighter Fatigue Countermeasure program is looking into a drug known as <a href="http://www.dcmilitary.com/army/pentagram/8_06/national_news/21626-1.html" type="external">Modafinil</a> which can reportedly keep people awake for up to 88 hours without sleep; while researchers at the Naval Health Research Center (NHRC), the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center (SPAWAR), the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, and the U.S. Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory, among others, are working on sleep- (or-lack-thereof)-related projects.</p>
<p>Major Morality, You’re Demoted. We’re Promoting Corporal Punishment!</p>
<p>Sleepless soldiers are all well and good while the fighting goes on; but how does one prevent sleepless, anxiety-filled nights after those missions end? Once upon a time, it seems, most soldiers had a great revulsion against close-quarters killing. During World War II, it has been estimated that as few as 15-20% of American infantry troops actually fired their weapons at the enemy. By the Vietnam years, the military had managed to bring that number up into the 90-95% range! Obviously, the armed forces had found ways to turn American men into more efficient killers. But how to deal with the pesky problems of regret, remorse, and post-traumatic stress disorder?</p>
<p>Well, last year, writing in <a href="http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0304/baard.php" type="external">the Village Voice</a>, Erik Baard raised the specter of the creation of a “guilt-free soldier,” noting that researchers from various universities across the U.S. (including Harvard, Columbia, NYU, and UC-Irvine) were working on various methods of fear-inhibition and also memory-numbing by using “propranolol pills… as a means to nip the effects of trauma in the bud.” He further reported that at Columbia, the lab of Nobel laureate in medicine Eric Kandel had “discovered the gene behind a fear-inhibiting protein, uncovering a vision of ‘fight or flight’ at the molecular level.” When asked by Baard if he was funded by DARPA, Kandel answered, “No, but you’re welcome to call them and tell them about me.”</p>
<p>Will DARPA take Kandel up on his tacit offer? It seems only natural that a soldier unburdened by morals, ethics, or remorse would be the military’s dream. But for now, DARPA seems fixated on another long-term project — creating cyborg soldiers — which might make an anti-morality morning-after (combat) pill superfluous.</p>
<p>Remote-Controlled soldiers?</p>
<p>As noted recently in the pages of the <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/talk/content/?040726ta_talk_schaler" type="external">New Yorker</a>, searching for perks to retain troops, the military is offering free cosmetic surgery (funded by taxpayer dollars) to “[a]nyone wearing a uniform.” So right now <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5487712/?GT1=4244" type="external">“bigger breasts”</a> are the type of implants the U.S. military is specializing in. (Military doctors performed 496 breast enlargements between 2000 and 2003.) However, if DARPA scientists have their way, the implants du jour of the future may be the product of the “Brain Machine Interface Program” which seeks “new high-density interconnects for brain machine interfaces that will allow [researchers] to monitor the brain patterns associated with a wide variety of behaviors and activities relevant to DoD [the Department of Defense].”</p>
<p>Monkeys, with electrodes implanted in their brains, have already been taught to use thought-power to do such things as move a robotic arm. But why stop there? A few years back, DARPA scientists succeeded in creating a <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4405552,00.html" type="external">“ratbot”</a> –a living, breathing rat with electrodes implanted in its brain that could be controlled using a laptop computer. Today, DARPA researchers, not exactly heading up the evolutionary scale but evidently proceeding toward larger sized natural fighting machines, are working on a <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/globe/health_science/articles/2004/07/20/biologist_tries_to_steer_a_shark_nose_first/" type="external">remote-controlled shark</a>. And how long will it be until some researcher gets the bright idea of a remote-controlled soldier; short-circuiting free will altogether? The technology isn’t there yet, but what happens when it is?</p>
<p>DARPA already has all sorts of programs designed to use high-tech means to prevent humans from “becoming the weakest link in the U.S. military.” Take the “Neovision Program” whose goal is “using synthetic materials for a retinal prosthesis to enable signal transduction at the nerve/retina interface”; that is, creating devices to technologically-enhance or even re-conceptualize human vision as we know it. Or how about the Biologically Inspired Multifunctional Dynamic Robotics (BIODYNOTICS) Program, which aims to develop “robotic capabilities,” inspired by biology –such as the movements of arms and legs– “for national security applications.”</p>
<p>Foodless Fighters? Water-free Warriors?</p>
<p>But what good is an always-on, morals-free cyborg soldier if s/he’s caught in the classic quagmire of having recurring desires to eat and drink which simply must be met? How pathetically human! Not to worry. Today’s soldiers might complain about choking down MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) but, if all goes well, tomorrow’s might not have such worries.</p>
<p>Typical adults require about 1500-2000 calories per day, but Special Forces’ troops may require as many as 6,000-8,000 calories per day while in the field. Taking time to eat, however, cuts into time that could be spent identifying targets or killing people, so DARPA’s “Peak Soldier Performance Program” is investigating ways of “optimizing metabolic performance” to achieve <a href="http://www.darpa.mil/dso/solicitations/baa03-02mod2.htm" type="external">“metabolic dominance”</a> and so to allow future soldiers to operate at “continuous peak physical performance and cognitive function for 3 to 5 days, 24 hours per day, without the need for calories.”</p>
<p>At the same time, the DARPA crew has instituted a <a href="http://www.darpa.mil/dso/thrust/matdev/watrharv.htm" type="external">“Water Harvesting Program”</a> which seeks to “eliminate at least 50 percent of the minimum daily water supply requirement (7qts/day) of the Special Forces, Marine Expeditionary Units, and Army Medium-Weight Brigades” through initiatives such as deriving “water from air.”</p>
<p>And when it comes to their meals, perhaps someday soldiers will be able forgo water altogether for long periods of time thanks to the efforts of the Combat Feeding Directorate of the US Army Soldier Systems Center in Natick, Massachusetts. Yes, the lab that created the “indestructible sandwich” (which boasts a three year shelf life) has now come up with a <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996185" type="external">dried-food ration</a> that troops can hydrate by urinating on it. And you thought military food was piss-poor to begin with!</p>
<p>Super-Suits: Can I Get This in Star-Spangled Spandex?</p>
<p>What can you say about Captain America’s outfit? While certainly distinctive, his red, white, and blue threads were always a bit light on function. So what can we expect for the real Captain Americas of the future? They won’t be clad in jingoistic jumpsuits. The Army’s Natick Soldier Systems Center is currently supervising a seven-year, $250 million “Future Force Warrior” program, set to be rolled out in 2010, which will outfit soldiers with new, lighter body armor, an on-board computer, “e-textile” clothing (with wiring for computer systems woven into it), and a helmet with built-in night-vision, a computer screen monocle, and bone-conduction microphones. Add a decade onto the Future Force Warrior and the military aims to be rolling out <a href="http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jul2004/n07272004_2004072705.html" type="external">“The Vision 2020 Future Warrior system,”</a> an all-black, sci-fi, storm-trooper outfit that looks like it came from a B-movie prop trailer. But both may seem so last year before they ever have a chance to encase a military body!</p>
<p>Earlier this year, Dr. Steven G. Wax, the director of DARPA’s Defense Sciences Office (DSO), addressed members of the academic, corporate, and military communities and told them that the mech-suit worn by Sigourney Weaver in the movie Alien was fast becoming a reality. While various <a href="http://index.hu/tech/hardver/robotok/exorobot/?print1960s" type="external">clunky exoskeletons</a> have been produced since the 1960s, Wax indicated that “breakthroughs in structures, actuators and power generation — with a bit of help from advanced microelectronics” left DARPA capable of creating a workable “external structure that can move unobtrusively with a soldier and still carry more than 100 pounds with no effort by the wearer.” And through its “Exoskeletons for Human Performance Augmentation” program, DARPA claims to be en route to creating even more advanced “self-powered, controlled, and wearable exoskeleton devices and/or machines” specifically designed, of course, to “increase the lethality” of U.S. soldiers.</p>
<p>Food for Thought</p>
<p>In a world where many still lack access to adequate clothing,</p>
<p><a href="http://portal.unesco.org/shs/en/ev.php-URL_ID=4662&amp;URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&amp;URL_SECTION=201.html#projects" type="external">despite it being decreed</a> a basic human right in 1948, DARPA is pouring massive sums into building costly robotic suits. In a world where <a href="http://www.who.int/nut/nutrition2.htm" type="external">800 million people suffer</a> from malnutrition and <a href="http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2004/pr58/en/" type="external">1 billion lack</a> access to potable water, food and water are only made “sexy” when DARPA researchers figure out how a few (well armed) people in the global North can do without them on military missions (generally in the global South). There’s no DARPA-esque organization involved in actually solving the most pressing problems in the world. And yes, while some in the developing world could benefit from possible DARPA spin-off, trickle-down innovations like futuristic prosthetic limbs, many, many more could benefit from low-cost, low-tech public health initiatives. Of course, many would have no need for high-tech prosthetics if, for so many years, the U.S. military hadn’t pumped so much money into weapons, especially landmine research and production. (In Vietnam, for instance, as many as <a href="http://www.icbl.org/lm/2003/vietnam.html" type="external">3 million landmines</a> and “800,000 tons of war-era ordnance” may still lie in the ground.)</p>
<p>DARPA’s chunk of the vast Pentagon budget is a cool <a href="http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0604/062904tdpm1.htm" type="external">$3 billion</a>, a sizeable hunk of which is now being devoted to creating real-life Captain Americas or, more accurately Captain DARPAmericas. Like so many DARPA projects, the agency’s efforts to craft the super-soldiers of tomorrow typify the ultimate in sci-fi thinking. What was once the stuff of comic books and futuristic movie serials is now assumed to be America’s military future.</p>
<p>In reality, however, most DARPA projects fail to meet their ultimate goals. During the Vietnam War, massive amounts of money, firepower, and high-tech weaponry proved unable to stamp out an enemy that regularly used punji sticks (sharpened bamboo) as a weapon. Today in Iraq, billions upon billions of dollars in military and intelligence spending for satellites, state-of-the-art surveillance devices, stealth bombers, fighter jets, tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, Humvees, heavy weapons, night-vision devices, high tech drones, <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=1338" type="external">experimental weaponry</a> and all the trappings of Technowar, though capable of killing large numbers of people, are again unable to stop resistance fighters who lack heavy armor, airpower, spy satellites, body armor, or high-tech gear and fight with AK-47s — a rifle designed in the 1940s — pickup trucks, and bombs detonated by garage-door openers. Captain DARPAmerica — an always on, never hungry or thirsty, morality-free, remote-controlled soldier– is a frightening prospect; but odds are, even if such DARPA projects pan out, the high-tech super-soldier of our future will fail too, due to underlying conceptual flaws and the ceaseless hubris of U.S. military planners that typified the American experience in Vietnam and continues to do so in today’s war in Iraq.</p>
<p>Further, DARPA imagines the future through the lens of the present. Its projects are largely typified, at their core, by the very opposite of blue-sky thinking, being mired in the mindset and premises of today (or even yesterday). Where Pentagon seers envision an Army of unstoppable comic-book heroes, they may well find over-wrought, strung-out soldiers, suffering from the still unknown side-effects that are sure to come from interfering with basic human functions like sleeping and eating. They will be clad in temperamental gear that will prove vulnerable to yet undeveloped, but sure to be cheap, crude, and effective jamming devices and counter-measures. Odds are, the Pentagon would be better off investing in Captain America outfits. Not only would it be infinitely cheaper, but who’s gonna mess with a platoon clad in star-spangled spandex?</p>
<p>Nicholas Turse is doctoral candidate at the Center for the History &amp; Ethics of Public Health in the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. He writes regularly for <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?emx=x&amp;pid=1786" type="external">Tomdispatch</a> on the military-corporate complex as well as for <a href="http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0438/turse.php" type="external">the Village Voice</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright C2004 Nick Turse</p>
<p>This piece first appeared at <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com" type="external">Tomdispatch.com.</a></p>
<p /> | true | 4 | introduction tom engelhardt year 2030 president pierce bush addresses nation fellow countrymen past enemies america required massed armies great navies powerful air forces put nation people friends allies risk changed first four decades 21st century hands terrorists weapons mass destruction become first resort preferred means ideology suicide random murder terrible weapons becoming easier acquire build hide transport determined confront threats source stop weapons acquired built well block transferred well prevent ever used america entire civilized world face threat decades come must confront danger open eyes unbending purpose made clear policy nation america permit terrorists dangerous regimes threaten us worlds deadly weapons thanks vigilance central intelligence agency news reached us central asian black market uzbekistan branch alqaeda acquired single antimatter weapon small enough fit palm hand powerful enough destroy major city armed weapon small groups fanatics failing states could gain power threaten cities great nations threaten world peace existence fellow americans today ordered special forces xforce super cyborg soldiers spearhead invasion uzbekistan wrest antimatter bomb perhaps dangerous weapon planet dangerous weapons hands terrorists thank may god bless adapted president announces new measures counter threat wmd february 11 2004 sound like postgovernorship schwarzenegger movie selection one philip k dicks nuttier novels maybe offshoot star trek iii search spock hmmm well exactly lets start antimatter weapon turns according san francisco chronicle science writer keay davidson pentagon quietly spending millions dollars investigating ways use radical power source antimatter eerie mirror ordinary matter future weapons example antimatter bombs small enough hold ones hand antimatter engines 247 surveillance aircraft heres good news hope scientists create new generation super weapons including socalled clean superbomb could kill large numbers soldiers without ejecting radioactive contaminants countryside gee sounds like real advance dr seuss might said oh may true came postinvasion iraq bush pentagon incapable planning way yesterday less tomorrow comes imagining global domination force wee distant future undisputed global planning champ nothing scifi drawing boards americas future warfighters paralyzing microwave rays heavens use crowd control ray guns familiarly called pain rays deployment earth laser beams destroy incoming missiles antisatellite weaponry sort space wars province science fiction name someone somewhere militaryindustrialacademic complex probably work already weapons system heading deployment recently theres good deal written peak oil beyond curve global oil production must descend perhaps another term enter language peak military whether hubberts peak proves law global oil production kind similar law advanced weaponry production perhaps could described something like sooner later weapon system create become available others law would following corollary whatever create brainnumbing sums someday available cheaply enough even small groups fanatics obtain peak military would selfannihilating point whether already reached beyond descend hell planetary destruction local equivalent united states locked fierce spiraling arms race soviet union finds mad arms race one stands almost alone planet creating ever frightening destructive weapons systems coming decades beyond new generations nuclear weapons initial generations space weaponry bush administration accelerated process sooner later however always others ready tango oh xforce super cyborg soldiers future president bush might send uzbekistan secure antimatter weapon maybe crucial central asian oil source well let nick turse tomdispatchs militaryindustrialacademicentertainment complex reporter explain superhero militaryindustrial complex nick turse even never read comic book watched hopelessly lowproductionvalue 1960s cartoon chances youve least seen image captain america slightly ridiculous looking superhero formfitting starspangled bodysuit youre still hazy cap steve rogers 4f weakling world war ii miracle modern science super soldier serum became axissmashing powerhouse pinnacle human physical perfection ultimate american fightingman 1940s comic rogers taken part supersoldier experiment thanks interventions army general scientist secret government laboratory first many american supersoldiers due poor notekeeping methods efforts nazi assassin became sole recipient serum today however dream captain america turns alive well lodged pentagon us military aims succeed fourcolor comic book world failed using high technology cutting edge biomedicine military hopes create entire army captain americas fighting force devoid steve rogers joe average made instead supersoldiers whose humanness banished 24hour soldiers military long interested creating alwayson 24hour fighting man vietnam war army undertook extensive studies effects sleep deprivation time however military could offer copious amounts amphetamines keep men wired combat vietnam era military stretched thin national guard recruiting fallen 12 goal first three quarters 2004 need troops better way forestall future manpower crises creating twoforthepriceofone soldiers never need sleep end department defenses blueskies research outfit defense advanced research projects agency darpa currently preventing sleep deprivation program aim work ways enable pilot fly continuously 30 hours green berets carry 4872 hours sustained activity advancing ground troops engage weeks combat operations 3 hours sleep per night without suffering cognitive psychomotor impairments scientists militaryindustrialacademic complex hard work darpa line research wake forest university instance researchers studying class medicines known ampakines thought protective cognitive deficits ordinarily associated sleep deprivation columbia university new imaging technologies employed part program study neuroprotective neuroregenerative effects antioxidant found cocoa lowtech world war ii gave grunts chocolate bars whos conducting line research darpa researchers salk institute also allchocolateallthetime company mars inc yes folks bring mampms snickers time air force research laboratorys warfighter fatigue countermeasure program looking drug known modafinil reportedly keep people awake 88 hours without sleep researchers naval health research center nhrc space naval warfare systems center spawar walter reed army institute research us army aeromedical research laboratory among others working sleep orlackthereofrelated projects major morality youre demoted promoting corporal punishment sleepless soldiers well good fighting goes one prevent sleepless anxietyfilled nights missions end upon time seems soldiers great revulsion closequarters killing world war ii estimated 1520 american infantry troops actually fired weapons enemy vietnam years military managed bring number 9095 range obviously armed forces found ways turn american men efficient killers deal pesky problems regret remorse posttraumatic stress disorder well last year writing village voice erik baard raised specter creation guiltfree soldier noting researchers various universities across us including harvard columbia nyu ucirvine working various methods fearinhibition also memorynumbing using propranolol pills means nip effects trauma bud reported columbia lab nobel laureate medicine eric kandel discovered gene behind fearinhibiting protein uncovering vision fight flight molecular level asked baard funded darpa kandel answered youre welcome call tell darpa take kandel tacit offer seems natural soldier unburdened morals ethics remorse would militarys dream darpa seems fixated another longterm project creating cyborg soldiers might make antimorality morningafter combat pill superfluous remotecontrolled soldiers noted recently pages new yorker searching perks retain troops military offering free cosmetic surgery funded taxpayer dollars anyone wearing uniform right bigger breasts type implants us military specializing military doctors performed 496 breast enlargements 2000 2003 however darpa scientists way implants du jour future may product brain machine interface program seeks new highdensity interconnects brain machine interfaces allow researchers monitor brain patterns associated wide variety behaviors activities relevant dod department defense monkeys electrodes implanted brains already taught use thoughtpower things move robotic arm stop years back darpa scientists succeeded creating ratbot living breathing rat electrodes implanted brain could controlled using laptop computer today darpa researchers exactly heading evolutionary scale evidently proceeding toward larger sized natural fighting machines working remotecontrolled shark long researcher gets bright idea remotecontrolled soldier shortcircuiting free altogether technology isnt yet happens darpa already sorts programs designed use hightech means prevent humans becoming weakest link us military take neovision program whose goal using synthetic materials retinal prosthesis enable signal transduction nerveretina interface creating devices technologicallyenhance even reconceptualize human vision know biologically inspired multifunctional dynamic robotics biodynotics program aims develop robotic capabilities inspired biology movements arms legs national security applications foodless fighters waterfree warriors good alwayson moralsfree cyborg soldier shes caught classic quagmire recurring desires eat drink simply must met pathetically human worry todays soldiers might complain choking mres meals ready eat goes well tomorrows might worries typical adults require 15002000 calories per day special forces troops may require many 60008000 calories per day field taking time eat however cuts time could spent identifying targets killing people darpas peak soldier performance program investigating ways optimizing metabolic performance achieve metabolic dominance allow future soldiers operate continuous peak physical performance cognitive function 3 5 days 24 hours per day without need calories time darpa crew instituted water harvesting program seeks eliminate least 50 percent minimum daily water supply requirement 7qtsday special forces marine expeditionary units army mediumweight brigades initiatives deriving water air comes meals perhaps someday soldiers able forgo water altogether long periods time thanks efforts combat feeding directorate us army soldier systems center natick massachusetts yes lab created indestructible sandwich boasts three year shelf life come driedfood ration troops hydrate urinating thought military food pisspoor begin supersuits get starspangled spandex say captain americas outfit certainly distinctive red white blue threads always bit light function expect real captain americas future wont clad jingoistic jumpsuits armys natick soldier systems center currently supervising sevenyear 250 million future force warrior program set rolled 2010 outfit soldiers new lighter body armor onboard computer etextile clothing wiring computer systems woven helmet builtin nightvision computer screen monocle boneconduction microphones add decade onto future force warrior military aims rolling vision 2020 future warrior system allblack scifi stormtrooper outfit looks like came bmovie prop trailer may seem last year ever chance encase military body earlier year dr steven g wax director darpas defense sciences office dso addressed members academic corporate military communities told mechsuit worn sigourney weaver movie alien fast becoming reality various clunky exoskeletons produced since 1960s wax indicated breakthroughs structures actuators power generation bit help advanced microelectronics left darpa capable creating workable external structure move unobtrusively soldier still carry 100 pounds effort wearer exoskeletons human performance augmentation program darpa claims en route creating even advanced selfpowered controlled wearable exoskeleton devices andor machines specifically designed course increase lethality us soldiers food thought world many still lack access adequate clothing despite decreed basic human right 1948 darpa pouring massive sums building costly robotic suits world 800 million people suffer malnutrition 1 billion lack access potable water food water made sexy darpa researchers figure well armed people global north without military missions generally global south theres darpaesque organization involved actually solving pressing problems world yes developing world could benefit possible darpa spinoff trickledown innovations like futuristic prosthetic limbs many many could benefit lowcost lowtech public health initiatives course many would need hightech prosthetics many years us military hadnt pumped much money weapons especially landmine research production vietnam instance many 3 million landmines 800000 tons warera ordnance may still lie ground darpas chunk vast pentagon budget cool 3 billion sizeable hunk devoted creating reallife captain americas accurately captain darpamericas like many darpa projects agencys efforts craft supersoldiers tomorrow typify ultimate scifi thinking stuff comic books futuristic movie serials assumed americas military future reality however darpa projects fail meet ultimate goals vietnam war massive amounts money firepower hightech weaponry proved unable stamp enemy regularly used punji sticks sharpened bamboo weapon today iraq billions upon billions dollars military intelligence spending satellites stateoftheart surveillance devices stealth bombers fighter jets tanks bradley fighting vehicles humvees heavy weapons nightvision devices high tech drones experimental weaponry trappings technowar though capable killing large numbers people unable stop resistance fighters lack heavy armor airpower spy satellites body armor hightech gear fight ak47s rifle designed 1940s pickup trucks bombs detonated garagedoor openers captain darpamerica always never hungry thirsty moralityfree remotecontrolled soldier frightening prospect odds even darpa projects pan hightech supersoldier future fail due underlying conceptual flaws ceaseless hubris us military planners typified american experience vietnam continues todays war iraq darpa imagines future lens present projects largely typified core opposite bluesky thinking mired mindset premises today even yesterday pentagon seers envision army unstoppable comicbook heroes may well find overwrought strungout soldiers suffering still unknown sideeffects sure come interfering basic human functions like sleeping eating clad temperamental gear prove vulnerable yet undeveloped sure cheap crude effective jamming devices countermeasures odds pentagon would better investing captain america outfits would infinitely cheaper whos gon na mess platoon clad starspangled spandex nicholas turse doctoral candidate center history amp ethics public health mailman school public health columbia university writes regularly tomdispatch militarycorporate complex well village voice copyright c2004 nick turse piece first appeared tomdispatchcom | 1,985 |
<p><a href="" type="internal" />Patrick Henningsen <a href="http://wp.me/p3bwni-5UR" type="external">21st Century Wire</a></p>
<p>Cults and technocracies go together it seems, like peanuts and beer.</p>
<p>No matter what is happening in the real world, zealots and mandarins still carry on, filing their green reports, making incredible claims – in a fit of religious intoxication, in a never-ending compulsive melodrama.&#160;It would be a funny thing, if it weren’t so darn expensive.&#160;</p>
<p>In the United States, a ‘polar vortex’ has swooped into the Midwest, bringing with it a record freeze. It’s a deadly freeze too, and stark reminder of how low temperatures – not ‘warming’, poses the greatest threat to human survival in the Northern hemisphere.</p>
<p>Still, this reality remains lost on the legions of faithful climate cult followers still clinging to pastor Al Gore’s (image, left) religion of global warming. and the UN’s attempt to implement its climate technocracy, coloured by more&#160; <a href="http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/09/28/al-gores-drowning-polar-bear-source-reprimanded/" type="external">wild tales of drowning polar bears</a>.</p>
<p>This year’s freeze is no laughing matter. Millions of Americans have been forced into virtual hibernation as a result of the latest arctic wave, which is now pushing its way from Midwest states like Minnesota, down to the south and over to the east coast. It is so cold that skin exposure to sub-zero elements can result in instant frostbite. In&#160;Minneapolis, low temperatures are predicted to reach minus-24 F, with a wind chill factor of minus-50.</p>
<p>While Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport has seen some 1,200 flights canceled as of Monday,&#160;New York’s Kennedy International Airport saw one if its arrivals&#160;on Sunday slide into snow as it turned from an icy runway to taxi. Other incidents have been reported around the country.</p>
<p>This is not the first record-breaking cold snap in recent years. North America hit&#160; <a href="http://www.adn.com/2012/04/21/2434962/record-breaking-winter-is-keeping.html" type="external">record lows in 2012</a>&#160;along with&#160; <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igefo63VvzI" type="external">record snow falls</a>, and&#160; <a href="http://www.crh.noaa.gov/eax/?n=20110201blizzsno" type="external">record blizzards and ice storms in 2011</a>&#160;. Before that,&#160; <a href="" type="internal">2010 saw record low freezes</a>&#160;as well.&#160;In fact, according to the UN own data, the planet has been in a global cooling cycle for the last 16 years.</p>
<p>And no kidding,&#160; <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/12/13/snow-egypt-middle-east_n_4438571.html" type="external">it’s snowing in Egypt</a>. <a href="" type="internal" /> <a href="" type="internal" />Cold Snap: Gore’s Odyssey continues (PHOTO: Patrick Henningsen)</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterferrara/2013/05/26/to-the-horror-of-global-warming-alarmists-global-cooling-is-here/" type="external">one report from earlier this year</a>, “The world added roughly 100 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere between 2000 and 2010. That is about a quarter of all CO2 put there by humanity since 1750. Yet, still no warming during that time. That is because the CO2 ‘greenhouse effect’ is weak and marginal compared to natural cause of global temperature changes.”</p>
<p>What about the melting polar ice caps? Well,&#160;US space agency NASA has just announced that sea ice around Antarctica (South Pole) has surpassed ​​19.47 million square meters as of September – the highest since measurements began in 1979.</p>
<p>How about the North Pole? Despite it’s earlier attempts to hide this news, the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2415191/And-global-COOLING-Return-Arctic-ice-cap-grows-29-year.html" type="external">UN’s own reports have had to admit</a> how a&#160;chilly Arctic summer has left 533,000 more square miles of ocean covered with ice than last winter – an increase of 29 per cent.</p>
<p>It should go down in history as the greatest scientific hoax of our times. Gore said many times that, “the science is settled”, but the reality was that <a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100017393/climategate-the-final-nail-in-the-coffin-of-anthropogenic-global-warming/" type="external">there was never any science</a> to popular global warming theory.</p>
<p>As the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2415191/And-global-COOLING-Return-Arctic-ice-cap-grows-29-year.html" type="external">UK Mail</a> rightly points out, “The rebound from 2012’s record low comes six years after the BBC reported that global warming would leave the Arctic ice-free in summer by 2013.” Of course, that 2007 BBC’s report relied on one of those ‘green expert’&#160;scientists, Professor Wieslaw Maslowski, who based his conjecture on super-computer models and the fact that ‘we use a high-resolution regional model for the Arctic Ocean and sea ice’. Yes, another computer-generated reality.</p>
<p>So where does this leave the global warming zealots who are still insisting that Al Gore and the UN’s IPCC hacks’ prophecy of CO2 doom is real?</p>
<p>At some point, even the most faithful cult followers will have to admit they’ve been sold a pup.&#160;The computer-modeled, academic concept man-made CO2-induced global warming, or rather, as it has been rebranded for more flexibility, as “climate change”, was simply a creation of high-flying think tanks, egged on by bureaucrats and green opportunists who saw new careers and easy billions that could be conjured out of thin air.</p>
<p>The concept of global warming as a tool of economic and social engineering emerged into mainstream policy in 1991, by way of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_of_Rome" type="external">The Club of Rome</a> ‘think tank’. In their own words:</p>
<p>“In searching for a new enemy to unite us, we came up with the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill… All these dangers are caused by human intervention… and thus the “real enemy, then, is humanity itself… believe humanity requires a common motivation, namely a common adversary in order to realize world government. It does not matter if this common enemy is “a real one or… one invented for the purpose.”</p>
<p>Here was a neatly packaged ideology ready just in time for the UN’s 1992 Earth Summit in&#160;Rio de Janeiro.</p>
<p>People should consider the ridiculousness – and complete waste of state money and resources, of still maintaining whole government departments of Climate Change, staffed by ‘Climate Bosses’, working to implement more ‘Climate Policy’ and ‘Climate Legislation’. This incredible charade is costing us billions, if not trillions.</p>
<p>Sure, it’s beyond a joke when you look at it all through the lense of reality, but it’s important to understand the context in which this climate drive was put in motion. Aside from the failed <a href="" type="internal">Carbon Trading markets</a>, it was a well-placed distraction at a specific place in time especially in the United States, Australia and Great Britain. Look at the timing of the climate movement which went mainstream in 2003-2005.&#160;By tying up millions of ‘green’ activists and controlled opposition organisations like Greenpeace, all three of those governments were able to aid industry in making substantial headway in the&#160;hydraulic fracturing shale gas, or ‘Fracking’ industry – in a quiet takeover of large areas of rural land and with little or no public resistance. By the time activists copped on, plans were already too far down the road and all the relevant civil servants, politicians and journalists were already bought and paid for. City fat cats and multinational energy consortiums have been laughing ever since.</p>
<p>No Greenpeace ships circling Japan over the Fukushima disaster either. Funny that.</p>
<p>If you want to gauge the disfunctionality and insanity of the Climate Cult, just take at look at how climate&#160; <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/8210739/The-climate-bugaboo-is-the-strangest-intellectual-aberration-of-our-age.html" type="external">zealots are now claiming</a>&#160;how, “global cooling is expected because of global warming”.</p>
<p>Humanity is no stranger to mythology. Climate Change is simply the latest mythology for this current epoch, and the elites who control the mythology have always profited and consolidated their power and social control through it.</p>
<p>In the 21st century, you might have thought modern man would surely have advanced past this handicap, but alas… old habits die hard.</p>
<p>READ MORE CLIMATE NEWS AT: <a href="" type="internal">21st Century Wire Climate Change Files</a></p> | true | 4 | patrick henningsen 21st century wire cults technocracies go together seems like peanuts beer matter happening real world zealots mandarins still carry filing green reports making incredible claims fit religious intoxication neverending compulsive melodrama160it would funny thing werent darn expensive160 united states polar vortex swooped midwest bringing record freeze deadly freeze stark reminder low temperatures warming poses greatest threat human survival northern hemisphere still reality remains lost legions faithful climate cult followers still clinging pastor al gores image left religion global warming uns attempt implement climate technocracy coloured more160 wild tales drowning polar bears years freeze laughing matter millions americans forced virtual hibernation result latest arctic wave pushing way midwest states like minnesota south east coast cold skin exposure subzero elements result instant frostbite in160minneapolis low temperatures predicted reach minus24 f wind chill factor minus50 chicagos ohare international airport seen 1200 flights canceled monday160new yorks kennedy international airport saw one arrivals160on sunday slide snow turned icy runway taxi incidents reported around country first recordbreaking cold snap recent years north america hit160 record lows 2012160along with160 record snow falls and160 record blizzards ice storms 2011160 that160 2010 saw record low freezes160as well160in fact according un data planet global cooling cycle last 16 years kidding160 snowing egypt cold snap gores odyssey continues photo patrick henningsen according one report earlier year world added roughly 100 billion tons carbon atmosphere 2000 2010 quarter co2 put humanity since 1750 yet still warming time co2 greenhouse effect weak marginal compared natural cause global temperature changes melting polar ice caps well160us space agency nasa announced sea ice around antarctica south pole surpassed 1947 million square meters september highest since measurements began 1979 north pole despite earlier attempts hide news uns reports admit a160chilly arctic summer left 533000 square miles ocean covered ice last winter increase 29 per cent go history greatest scientific hoax times gore said many times science settled reality never science popular global warming theory uk mail rightly points rebound 2012s record low comes six years bbc reported global warming would leave arctic icefree summer 2013 course 2007 bbcs report relied one green expert160scientists professor wieslaw maslowski based conjecture supercomputer models fact use highresolution regional model arctic ocean sea ice yes another computergenerated reality leave global warming zealots still insisting al gore uns ipcc hacks prophecy co2 doom real point even faithful cult followers admit theyve sold pup160the computermodeled academic concept manmade co2induced global warming rather rebranded flexibility climate change simply creation highflying think tanks egged bureaucrats green opportunists saw new careers easy billions could conjured thin air concept global warming tool economic social engineering emerged mainstream policy 1991 way club rome think tank words searching new enemy unite us came idea pollution threat global warming water shortages famine like would fit bill dangers caused human intervention thus real enemy humanity believe humanity requires common motivation namely common adversary order realize world government matter common enemy real one one invented purpose neatly packaged ideology ready time uns 1992 earth summit in160rio de janeiro people consider ridiculousness complete waste state money resources still maintaining whole government departments climate change staffed climate bosses working implement climate policy climate legislation incredible charade costing us billions trillions sure beyond joke look lense reality important understand context climate drive put motion aside failed carbon trading markets wellplaced distraction specific place time especially united states australia great britain look timing climate movement went mainstream 20032005160by tying millions green activists controlled opposition organisations like greenpeace three governments able aid industry making substantial headway the160hydraulic fracturing shale gas fracking industry quiet takeover large areas rural land little public resistance time activists copped plans already far road relevant civil servants politicians journalists already bought paid city fat cats multinational energy consortiums laughing ever since greenpeace ships circling japan fukushima disaster either funny want gauge disfunctionality insanity climate cult take look climate160 zealots claiming160how global cooling expected global warming humanity stranger mythology climate change simply latest mythology current epoch elites control mythology always profited consolidated power social control 21st century might thought modern man would surely advanced past handicap alas old habits die hard read climate news 21st century wire climate change files | 687 |
<p>There are times when one can only nod in admiration the ability of Israel and its small but influential set of supporters around the world to implant wholly deceptive and self-serving narratives at the highest levels of the western media system.</p>
<p>Two nights ago, while crawling along the darkened byways of the Hudson Valley, I happened upon a BBC radio documentary produced in April called&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Tim Samuels’ Sleepover: Inside the Israeli Hospital</a>&#160;in which a British reporter with strong Zionist ties, if not deep-seated Zionist beliefs, (article <a href="" type="external">here)</a>) tells the heartwarming story of how Israeli doctors operating at Ziv&#160; Medical Center in Galilee selflessly and disinterestedly repair guerrillas and assorted other people&#160; fleeing from the Syrian Civil&#160; War.</p>
<p>The half-hour piece opens with gentle and plaintive piano music and then moves quickly to an interview with a Russian-born physician at the hospital, Dr. Lerner, who is described by our reporter as a “dapper doctor with kindly eyes”. &#160;We are subsequently told of his “irrepressible energy” and his “reassuring mustache and smile”.</p>
<p>We then follow him as he describes the many ways in which the doctors at Ziv have served the poor Syrians fleeing from the festival of savagery just across the border in Syria. &#160;We are subsequently treated to interviews with grateful Syrian guerillas who detail the terrible crimes of the Assad regime—no crimes of ISIS or the numerous other, mostly Islamist, guerilla groups being supported in one way or another by the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia are ever mentioned—and who, when prodded by the reporter, &#160;recount how they have come to realize what wonderful humanitarians the Israelis can sometimes be.&#160; We even hear about what beautiful views of the Dead Sea the fortunate Syrians have from their rooms at Ziv.</p>
<p>Shortly thereafter, listen to the views of an Israeli-Arab doctor and Israeli-Arab social worker who work at Ziv with the smiley-eyed Russian-born doctor. &#160;Much like the segregation-era Southern whites who talked about their black mammies being part of the family, our intrepid reporter tells us how, in what we are meant to believe is the fluidly democratic and multicultural state of Israel, it is &#160;“no big deal” to have such people working side-by-side with Jews at the same humanitarian tasks.</p>
<p>To his credit, our reporter does not edit out the Palestinian doctor’s very pointed demurral and then subsequent, subtly-phrased doubts, &#160;when asked about Israeli motives for providing such fulsome help to these fleeing Syrians.</p>
<p>What’s wholly lacking, of course, is any reflection upon why the native-born Palestinian doctor, living in the “only democracy in the Middle East”, would, unlike his Jewish colleagues born in far off lands, feel so inhibited about expressing the full depth &#160;of his opinions on air to a BBC reporter.</p>
<p>We are then taken up to the “Israel-Syrian border” where we hear the sirens announcing the arrival of injured soldiers from Syria who will be subsequently taken down to Ziv for treatment.</p>
<p>No mention of course, of the fact the Israeli side of what our reporter calls Israel-Syrian border is not, in all likelihood, Israel at all, but rather Syrian land of the Golan Heights illegally occupied by Israel for 50 years.</p>
<p>In the course of his visit to the area, the reporter tells us that the matter of how the Israelis know exactly when an injured Syrian rebel will be coming over the border for treatment are kept “deliberately vague to protect those on the ground”.&#160; &#160;That, of course, is a nice way of NOT talking about the fact that Israeli intelligence is deeply implicated supporting the mostly Islamist fighter cadres on the other side of the illegally established border.</p>
<p>As the Syrian wounded come over the “border”, our reporter talks with the young Israel officer leading the triage operation and asks (no leading questions here!): &#160;“Are you happy to risk your safety and go up to the border and bring it wounded Syrians?” &#160;He issues a quick “yes”, again reminding us for the extraordinary Israeli penchant for selfless sacrifice in the service of all humanity, regardless of national origin or the country’s strategic interests. The soldier’s soliloquy fades out into melodramatic background music that has accompanied us during much of our overnight sojourn with Mr. Samuels in the hospital.</p>
<p>The next segment opens with the sounds of birds tweeting in the backyard garden of an Australian-born Israeli physician, Dr. Harari. We learn how he is spreading Israeli medical goodness beyond the treatment for anti-Assad warriors &#160;&#160;to include a small number of medically needy Syrian children.&#160; &#160;We sit in on his meeting with a grateful Syrian mother, who, as if on cue in the middle of the conversation, suggests with a slashing movement across her throat that she will be killed by the Syrian government if it is learned she has brought her children to Israel for treatment.</p>
<p>The good doctor goes on to tell of us of how, in an Israel where marriage between Jews and Arabs is routinely and often brutally discouraged, where Arab parliamentarians are routinely shouted down and threatened with arrest or suspension for speaking their minds in public and where the inclusion of two Bosnian Muslims on the Beitar Jerusalem football club caused the majority of the team’s fans to boycott it games, there is an ironclad social consensus regarding the need to use scarce medical resources to treat wounded Syrians &#160;in the country’s&#160; hospitals.&#160; &#160;And then, in a long peroration, Dr Harari assures us that there is no absolutely political intention behind any of his hospital’s work with the Syrians in Galilee.</p>
<p>Having cleared up that matter, we are taken to a post-op interview in which a Syrian fighter, surrounded by the reporter and the good Israeli doctors, tell us how much better his leg feels with and Israeli-designed screw in it than the previously implanted Syrian one.</p>
<p>Near the end of the 27 minute piece, however, our reporter suddenly expresses some doubts about the purity of moral&#160;purpose among Israelis that he has just spent the previous 25 minutes telling us about in vivid and sympathetic terms against the backdrop of syrupy background music.</p>
<p>He asks himself if there could be more to this than meet the eye, or&#160; if he might have failed to pick up on &#160;certain hidden motives.</p>
<p>If ever there was a time to go back for another sit-down with that self-censoring Israeli-Palestinian doctor we met earlier in the story, this &#160;would appear to be it.</p>
<p>But, of course, doing that, or worse yet, mentioning the numerous reports of high-level Israeli officials spilling the beans and openly admitting country’s strategic goal in Syria is the promotion of <a href="" type="internal">an open-ended civil war</a> designed to render the country impotent for years to come might run the risk of ruining &#160;his carefully crafted story line and make a mockery of its touching musical accompaniment.</p>
<p>And with facts alike these out in the open, people might begin to see that treating Syrian jihadis crossing into “northern Israel” for what it is: &#160;an integral part of Israel’s cold-blooded plan to prolong the bloody Syrian civil war, much in the way the US cynically prolonged Iran-Iraq war by providing arms and “humanitarian” aid to Saddam Hussein while also helping the Iranians to continue to fight.</p>
<p>So where does our intrepid reporter turn in his last-minute moment of doubt for the effective “last word” of his broadcast?</p>
<p>To &#160;“a former national security advisor to the prime minister, Major General Yaakov Amidror”, &#160;of course.</p>
<p>Who&#160;is Yaakov Amidror? He is a member of the ultra-right and blatantly racist Israel Home party who once referred to secular Israelis as &#160;“Hebrew-speaking gentiles”.</p>
<p>And so what does this paragon of non-tribal universal human values tell our suddenly and belatedly doubtful British Zionist reporter?</p>
<p>That his story line is (whew!) essentially right, that despite the present savagery of the Arabs, Israel is hoping that its selfless humanity will serve as down payment on a better more peaceful world in the future.</p>
<p>The final fade out is a scene of our Australian-born&#160;Israeli doctor sharing a warm and fond farewell with the mother of the Syrian children he has treated.</p>
<p>And with this, the propagandistic masterpiece is complete.</p>
<p>Left enhanced is the aura is the myth of Israel’s morally superior multicultural democracy, and &#160;with it, the reality of Arab (and more specifically Assad-sponsored) savagery on one hand, and Arab dependence on western goodness (not mention superior Israeli medical prosthetics!) &#160;on the other.</p>
<p>All explanations of larger historical and structural realities, not to mention present-day Israeli strategic initiatives and the out and out racism of the “expert” enjoying the last word on the issue at hand are completely suppressed.</p>
<p>After listening to this report, the western consumer of media can once again go to bed secure that his tax dollars and political influence are still working on the side of the angels in that oh-so-complicated set of conflicts in the Middle East.</p> | true | 4 | times one nod admiration ability israel small influential set supporters around world implant wholly deceptive selfserving narratives highest levels western media system two nights ago crawling along darkened byways hudson valley happened upon bbc radio documentary produced april called160 tim samuels sleepover inside israeli hospital160in british reporter strong zionist ties deepseated zionist beliefs article tells heartwarming story israeli doctors operating ziv160 medical center galilee selflessly disinterestedly repair guerrillas assorted people160 fleeing syrian civil160 war halfhour piece opens gentle plaintive piano music moves quickly interview russianborn physician hospital dr lerner described reporter dapper doctor kindly eyes 160we subsequently told irrepressible energy reassuring mustache smile follow describes many ways doctors ziv served poor syrians fleeing festival savagery across border syria 160we subsequently treated interviews grateful syrian guerillas detail terrible crimes assad regimeno crimes isis numerous mostly islamist guerilla groups supported one way another us israel saudi arabia ever mentionedand prodded reporter 160recount come realize wonderful humanitarians israelis sometimes be160 even hear beautiful views dead sea fortunate syrians rooms ziv shortly thereafter listen views israeliarab doctor israeliarab social worker work ziv smileyeyed russianborn doctor 160much like segregationera southern whites talked black mammies part family intrepid reporter tells us meant believe fluidly democratic multicultural state israel 160no big deal people working sidebyside jews humanitarian tasks credit reporter edit palestinian doctors pointed demurral subsequent subtlyphrased doubts 160when asked israeli motives providing fulsome help fleeing syrians whats wholly lacking course reflection upon nativeborn palestinian doctor living democracy middle east would unlike jewish colleagues born far lands feel inhibited expressing full depth 160of opinions air bbc reporter taken israelsyrian border hear sirens announcing arrival injured soldiers syria subsequently taken ziv treatment mention course fact israeli side reporter calls israelsyrian border likelihood israel rather syrian land golan heights illegally occupied israel 50 years course visit area reporter tells us matter israelis know exactly injured syrian rebel coming border treatment kept deliberately vague protect ground160 160that course nice way talking fact israeli intelligence deeply implicated supporting mostly islamist fighter cadres side illegally established border syrian wounded come border reporter talks young israel officer leading triage operation asks leading questions 160are happy risk safety go border bring wounded syrians 160he issues quick yes reminding us extraordinary israeli penchant selfless sacrifice service humanity regardless national origin countrys strategic interests soldiers soliloquy fades melodramatic background music accompanied us much overnight sojourn mr samuels hospital next segment opens sounds birds tweeting backyard garden australianborn israeli physician dr harari learn spreading israeli medical goodness beyond treatment antiassad warriors 160160to include small number medically needy syrian children160 160we sit meeting grateful syrian mother cue middle conversation suggests slashing movement across throat killed syrian government learned brought children israel treatment good doctor goes tell us israel marriage jews arabs routinely often brutally discouraged arab parliamentarians routinely shouted threatened arrest suspension speaking minds public inclusion two bosnian muslims beitar jerusalem football club caused majority teams fans boycott games ironclad social consensus regarding need use scarce medical resources treat wounded syrians 160in countrys160 hospitals160 160and long peroration dr harari assures us absolutely political intention behind hospitals work syrians galilee cleared matter taken postop interview syrian fighter surrounded reporter good israeli doctors tell us much better leg feels israelidesigned screw previously implanted syrian one near end 27 minute piece however reporter suddenly expresses doubts purity moral160purpose among israelis spent previous 25 minutes telling us vivid sympathetic terms backdrop syrupy background music asks could meet eye or160 might failed pick 160certain hidden motives ever time go back another sitdown selfcensoring israelipalestinian doctor met earlier story 160would appear course worse yet mentioning numerous reports highlevel israeli officials spilling beans openly admitting countrys strategic goal syria promotion openended civil war designed render country impotent years come might run risk ruining 160his carefully crafted story line make mockery touching musical accompaniment facts alike open people might begin see treating syrian jihadis crossing northern israel 160an integral part israels coldblooded plan prolong bloody syrian civil war much way us cynically prolonged iraniraq war providing arms humanitarian aid saddam hussein also helping iranians continue fight intrepid reporter turn lastminute moment doubt effective last word broadcast 160a former national security advisor prime minister major general yaakov amidror 160of course who160is yaakov amidror member ultraright blatantly racist israel home party referred secular israelis 160hebrewspeaking gentiles paragon nontribal universal human values tell suddenly belatedly doubtful british zionist reporter story line whew essentially right despite present savagery arabs israel hoping selfless humanity serve payment better peaceful world future final fade scene australianborn160israeli doctor sharing warm fond farewell mother syrian children treated propagandistic masterpiece complete left enhanced aura myth israels morally superior multicultural democracy 160with reality arab specifically assadsponsored savagery one hand arab dependence western goodness mention superior israeli medical prosthetics 160on explanations larger historical structural realities mention presentday israeli strategic initiatives racism expert enjoying last word issue hand completely suppressed listening report western consumer media go bed secure tax dollars political influence still working side angels ohsocomplicated set conflicts middle east | 822 |
<p>In public policy circles, crises are called “focusing events” — bringing to light a particular failing in government policy.&#160; They require government agencies to switch rapidly into crisis mode to implement solutions. Creating the crisis itself is more novel.</p>
<p>The right-wing, free market vision of University of Chicago economist Milton Friedman informed the blueprint for the rapid privatization of municipal services throughout the world due in no small part to what author Naomi Klein calls “Disaster Capitalism.” Friedman wrote in his 1982 treatise Capitalism and Freedom, “When [a] crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around”</p>
<p>In Klein’s book The Shock Doctrine, she explains how immediately after Hurricane Katrina, Friedman used the decimation of New Orleans’ infrastructure to push for charter schools, a market-based policy preference of Friedman acolytes. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan was the CEO of Chicago Public Schools at the time, and later described Hurricane Katrina as “the best thing that happened to the education system in New Orleans.”&#160;Duncan is of the liberal wing of the free market project and a major supporter of charter schools.</p>
<p>There aren’t any hurricanes in the Midwest, so how can proponents of privatization like Mayor Rahm Emanuel sell off schools to the highest bidder?</p>
<p>They create a crisis.</p>
<p>Each year, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) projects a billion dollar deficit. The announcement grabs headlines and the Board of Education announces that they must make serious cuts. These cutbacks are never at the top. The Board cuts education programs, after-school activities, and forces more classroom costs onto its employees.</p>
<p>School closings are announced tangentially to the deficit announcement. In years past, the manufactured budget crisis was used as an excuse to lay off teachers. People were fired, class sizes swelled to epic proportions and — after the budget was reconciled — CPS miraculously found a surplus. This past year’s final audited budget showed a <a href="http://truth-out.org/news/item/14454-fuzzy-math-the-chicago-public-schools-budget-crisis" type="external">surplus of $344&#160;million</a>.</p>
<p>The Chicago Board of Education announced that it must close “underutilized” schools and consolidate students into “receiving schools” to save the district from the projected deficit. The Board argues that some schools simply do not enroll enough students to stay open. A <a href="http://ilraiseyourhand.org/content/cps-response-seth-lavins-10-questions-school-closings" type="external">local teacher and parent published ten questions</a> to Chicago Public Schools regarding how much can actually be saved by closing these schools. The Board’s responses revolved around the idea that previous administrations have let the problem get so bad they must act fast and close these schools or else the district will fall over a fiscal cliff — sorry wrong manufactured crisis — but you get the idea.</p>
<p>So now we have a crisis. Schools closed and students shifted around the city. Many of them may have to cross gang territories to get to their receiving schools. School violence spikes. As Rahm Emanuel said in 2008, “You never want a good crisis to go to waste.”</p>
<p>If only there were a solution “lying around” to attach to this crisis.</p>
<p>At the end of 2012, the Chicago Board of Education approved additional charter schools. The Walton Family Foundation provided seed money for some of these schools. Charter school proliferation can take part of the blame for schools being “underutilized,” as they draw students from other schools, but the Board’s metric for calculating utilization is also suspect.</p>
<p>Charter schools become the “solution” lying around for parents who want to keep their students close to home in a school that will not be closed the following year. Many charter schools have been infused with additional resources, making their facilities look shiny and new. Parents, through the market-based “choice” system (which is revered by Friedmanites) may enroll their children in these new schools. That is unless their children have special needs, are learning English, or are simply bad at taking tests. Reuters recently published a report that showed how <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/16/us-usa-charters-admissions-idUSBRE91E0HF20130216" type="external">charter schools “cream” students to get the kids they want.</a></p>
<p>Charter schools that invest heavily in public relations campaigns and receive positive press, but when stacked against magnet schools, which are public schools (staffed by union teachers) with barriers to access, <a href="http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/chicagos-unionized-public-schools-outperform-charter-schools/Content?oid=7559748" type="external">they do not outperform.</a></p>
<p>Students with special needs, limited English proficiency, or without a regular place to call home are forced to fight over limited resources in the public schools.</p>
<p>This scene is playing out at school closing hearings held by CPS, underwritten by the Walton Family Foundation. School communities are forced to make the case for keeping their schools open. At a recent meeting on Chicago’s north side, schools that take in homeless students from the blighted Uptown community were <a href="http://youtu.be/jbSCvDJQH5U" type="external">pitted against schools with programs that address special needs</a>. Some observers likened the scene to the young adult novel-turned film The Hunger Games where children are forced to fight to the death for the amusement of the 1%.</p>
<p>In real-life, our rulers don’t bother to stick around and watch the fruits of their policy. But they’re more than happy to benefit. The Chicago elites’ charter schools are self-perpetuating gifts. The recent <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/isabel-nunez/chicago-carter-schools_b_2647921.html" type="external">UNO Charter School Scandal</a> shows how people connected to charters can dole out contracts to friends and family. The UNO network was the recent recipient of $98&#160;million in state aid to build more schools.</p>
<p>The head of UNO, Juan Rangel was co-chair of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s election campaign. Members of Rangel’s organization are now in the business of installing Illinois state representatives, the very people who hold the purse strings of these state grants. This is the face of the new municipal political machine.</p>
<p>Charter operators push back on any efforts of their staffs to unionize. When public schools close and charters open, teachers unions become weaker. Teachers unions are democratic institutions with ties to the communities they serve.&#160; When the public is disempowered, the small patronage army of the mayor becomes more entrenched.</p>
<p>The sale of public schools to charter operators cannot be done slowly. The fast pace of crisis management obscures the graft from the public. UNO specifically needs to operate under these crisis management conditions.</p>
<p>UNO operates under $67,800,000 in outstanding debt. The $98&#160;million state gift cannot be used to pay back this debt because it has been earmarked for capital projects, namely building or improving schools. &#160;The only way to keep the UNO patronage train rolling is by continuously expanding and opening schools, with construction contractors serving as potential allies come election time.</p>
<p>The free-market think tank American Enterprise Institute recently <a href="http://www.aei.org/papers/society-and-culture/citizenship/making-americans-uno-charter-schools-and-civic-education/" type="external">praised</a> this particular brand of charter school. The use of patronage in government hiring was a major argument Friedmanites used for privatizing public services. AEI praises UNO’s “assimilationist” philosophy of teaching immigrant youth so perhaps AEI finds more merit in diluting non-European cultures than in ending patronage. I’m not exactly sure where that fits into the free market orthodoxy, but then again the contradictions in the philosophy far from end there.</p>
<p>Friedmanites often criticize redistributive policies as “picking winners and losers.” From the manufactured schools crisis to the market-based solution of charter schools, it appears that the “free market” model picks winners and losers; the winners being the politically connected and the losers being the rest of us.</p> | true | 4 | public policy circles crises called focusing events bringing light particular failing government policy160 require government agencies switch rapidly crisis mode implement solutions creating crisis novel rightwing free market vision university chicago economist milton friedman informed blueprint rapid privatization municipal services throughout world due small part author naomi klein calls disaster capitalism friedman wrote 1982 treatise capitalism freedom crisis occurs actions taken depend ideas lying around kleins book shock doctrine explains immediately hurricane katrina friedman used decimation new orleans infrastructure push charter schools marketbased policy preference friedman acolytes secretary education arne duncan ceo chicago public schools time later described hurricane katrina best thing happened education system new orleans160duncan liberal wing free market project major supporter charter schools arent hurricanes midwest proponents privatization like mayor rahm emanuel sell schools highest bidder create crisis year chicago public schools cps projects billion dollar deficit announcement grabs headlines board education announces must make serious cuts cutbacks never top board cuts education programs afterschool activities forces classroom costs onto employees school closings announced tangentially deficit announcement years past manufactured budget crisis used excuse lay teachers people fired class sizes swelled epic proportions budget reconciled cps miraculously found surplus past years final audited budget showed surplus 344160million chicago board education announced must close underutilized schools consolidate students receiving schools save district projected deficit board argues schools simply enroll enough students stay open local teacher parent published ten questions chicago public schools regarding much actually saved closing schools boards responses revolved around idea previous administrations let problem get bad must act fast close schools else district fall fiscal cliff sorry wrong manufactured crisis get idea crisis schools closed students shifted around city many may cross gang territories get receiving schools school violence spikes rahm emanuel said 2008 never want good crisis go waste solution lying around attach crisis end 2012 chicago board education approved additional charter schools walton family foundation provided seed money schools charter school proliferation take part blame schools underutilized draw students schools boards metric calculating utilization also suspect charter schools become solution lying around parents want keep students close home school closed following year many charter schools infused additional resources making facilities look shiny new parents marketbased choice system revered friedmanites may enroll children new schools unless children special needs learning english simply bad taking tests reuters recently published report showed charter schools cream students get kids want charter schools invest heavily public relations campaigns receive positive press stacked magnet schools public schools staffed union teachers barriers access outperform students special needs limited english proficiency without regular place call home forced fight limited resources public schools scene playing school closing hearings held cps underwritten walton family foundation school communities forced make case keeping schools open recent meeting chicagos north side schools take homeless students blighted uptown community pitted schools programs address special needs observers likened scene young adult novelturned film hunger games children forced fight death amusement 1 reallife rulers dont bother stick around watch fruits policy theyre happy benefit chicago elites charter schools selfperpetuating gifts recent uno charter school scandal shows people connected charters dole contracts friends family uno network recent recipient 98160million state aid build schools head uno juan rangel cochair chicago mayor rahm emanuels election campaign members rangels organization business installing illinois state representatives people hold purse strings state grants face new municipal political machine charter operators push back efforts staffs unionize public schools close charters open teachers unions become weaker teachers unions democratic institutions ties communities serve160 public disempowered small patronage army mayor becomes entrenched sale public schools charter operators done slowly fast pace crisis management obscures graft public uno specifically needs operate crisis management conditions uno operates 67800000 outstanding debt 98160million state gift used pay back debt earmarked capital projects namely building improving schools 160the way keep uno patronage train rolling continuously expanding opening schools construction contractors serving potential allies come election time freemarket think tank american enterprise institute recently praised particular brand charter school use patronage government hiring major argument friedmanites used privatizing public services aei praises unos assimilationist philosophy teaching immigrant youth perhaps aei finds merit diluting noneuropean cultures ending patronage im exactly sure fits free market orthodoxy contradictions philosophy far end friedmanites often criticize redistributive policies picking winners losers manufactured schools crisis marketbased solution charter schools appears free market model picks winners losers winners politically connected losers rest us | 722 |
<p>It is part of America’s state religion, the Free Market fundamentalist religion that is accepted as gospel by all leading politicians, by the “brain trust” that sets goverrnment economic policy, and by the supposedly hard-nosed analysts who convince American investors where to put their money, that “markets know best.”</p>
<p>How then to explain the panicked reaction of investors and markets to the Labor Department’s monthly Bureau of Labor Statistics report on the latest monthly jobs and unemployment figures?</p>
<p>Those numbers reported out for the month of June, released at 9:00 am after the usual kind of tight secrecy you’d expect of a National Security Administration international risk assessment, came in at an anemic 18,000 net new jobs, and a new official jobless rate up slightly from 9.1% for May to 9.2% for June. An hour later the stock market plunged by about 1% in a matter of minutes (that 1% drop represented a paper loss to investors of $140 billion!). The reason given by analysts and financial journalists for the plunge was that the “expectation” of investors, based upon forecasts of the jobs number made by economists and analysts the day before the BLS announcement, was for somewhere between 90,000 and 120,000 new jobs, and for a dip in the jobless rate to 9.0%.</p>
<p>So because the actual number of new jobs reported by the BLS was somewhere like 72,000 to 102,000 lower than the forecast estimates, and because the jobless rate edged up instead of down, investors dumped a pile of shares, causing the value of most shares on the exchanges to lose value.</p>
<p>That investor reaction, and the poor jobs numbers themselves, were interpreted by those same economists and analysts in the following days as an indication that the US economy was in trouble–that the supposed recovery from the deepest recession since the 1930s had “stalled.”</p>
<p>The “wisdom” of the market was saying that the American economy was stumbling again.</p>
<p>But hold on a minute. What has really changed with those numbers?</p>
<p>Before that BLS number came out, most analysts and economists were talking optimistically about the economy. They were claiming that the U.S. economy would show positive growth through the year, even picking up steam in the second half of 2011. They were saying unemployment would edge down over the year. And now all that was out the window because of one pair of numbers?</p>
<p>Let’s look at those BLS numbers, though. According to Betsey Stevenson, the chief economist at the Department of Labor, who works directly under the Secretary of Labor, the BLS new jobs figure, which is developed each month through a survey of 400,000 randomly selected companies about their hiring, has a historic record over the past 35 years of erring by about plus or minus 115,000 jobs. Furthermore, the initial number released at the start of each month gets repeatedly revised as harder figures come in, and can change by a lot over time. For example, the number for May, which was first released in early June, was initially 50,000, but has since already been revised downward to 25,000. That is to say, the concensus forecast of economists for 90-120,000 new jobs in June, just released on July 8, is within the BLS survey’s historic margin of error. Months from now, the June jobless number could turn out to be as much as 133,000 or -87,000, based on the historic record of these things.</p>
<p>The 18,000 number, in other words, was really no surprise at all.</p>
<p>As Stevenson told me, with a laugh, “It is kind of funny when there is such a dramatic reaction in the market” to release of the BLS numbers.” She says the truth is, “One monthly figure doesn’t tell you much. These jobs numbers provide a pretty good measure of what’s happening in the economy, but you really need to look at trends over 12 months’ time.”</p>
<p>Of course, the 12-month trend she refers to tells a pretty grim story: unemployment is stuck at an official rate of around 9%, and that’s just the people who are actively looking for work and who have found nothing. The June figure of 9.2% unemployed represents 14.1 million people officially out of work. It does not count, according to the BLS, 8.6 million “involuntarily part-time” workers and it did not include 2.7 million “marginally attached to the labor force” who want jobs but have despaired of finding work and have given up looking. It also doesn’t include another 1.7 million who haven’t looked for work for over four weeks and who have returned to school or decided to stay home, perhaps caring for kids, rather than continue futile efforts at finding a new job. All those people–13 million of them–are also jobless because of this ongoing deep recession/depression. That’s another 8.4% unemployed, if we’re being honest, which means that the Department of Labor is really saying is that today, nearly four years into this economic crisis, we have a real unemployment rate of 17.8%, meaning more than one in six workers is still jobless.</p>
<p>Furthermore, those numbers have barely budged. If you want a real picture of what’s going on with the US economy, you don’t look at the BLS’s monthly jobs number. You look at how the jobless numbers have been trending, as Stevenson correctly notes. And you might also look at how many of those jobless have been jobless for a long time. The would be those 8.6 million laboring at part-time jobs, and the 2.7 million who have been jobless so long (more than a year) they’ve given up looking. And add to them the 6.3 million of the “officially” jobless whom the BLS says have been looking unsuccessfully for work for over six months. That’s 17.6 million people who have been jobless for at least half a year or more. And 17.6 million is 11.6% of the American labor force, or more than one in nine American workers!</p>
<p>Clearly the idea that investors have some kind of collective “wisdom” is a sad joke. Asked why they would leap to their computers en masse and start selling shares on the release of one bad monthly report from the BLS, Ryan Sweet, a senior economist with Moody’s, one of the three big rating agencies, says, “It’s often overlooked by investors and analysts that the [BLS] number can be off by [100,000] either way.”</p>
<p>Of course, the BLS contributes to this nonsense by wrapping its economic research in super secrecy, such that nobody outside the BLS gets to hear how the surveys of job creation and total official unemployment are going while they’re underway, and the results are kept secret even from the chief economist, the Secretary of Labor, and the White House until 8 am on the morning of the official release. That lends the numbers an air of importance they simply don’t deserve.</p>
<p>It’s a bit like the line of people waiting for communion in a Catholic service. The tension builds as the line of churchgoers slowly moves up to the altar, so that when the priest finally offers each congregant a cracker and a sip of wine it seems like it’s really the body and blood of Christ instead of just a cracker and some cheap booze.</p>
<p>It’s okay for ordinary people and for investors, even, to be fundamentalists, but when the president and his economic and political advisers start making policies based on such mumbo jumbo, as when the president says the latest BLS figures are evidence that employers need “more certainty” about action on the national debt, or when Republican leaders, like House Speaker Boehner, even more ludicrously claim the numbers show the results of the White House’s “stimulus binge, excessive regulations, and an overwhelming national debt,” its like we’ve handed over governing and national economic policy-making to Pat Robertson, John Hagee or the Pope.</p>
<p>And the worst part? The corporate media play right along with this nonsense, trumpeting the numbers as if they really meant anything, and reporting on the policy comments as they they were anything but propaganda and statements of faith-based nonsense.</p>
<p>DAVE LINDORFF is a founding member of <a href="http://?www.thiscantbehappening.net" type="external">ThisCantBeHappening!</a>, the new independent, collectively-owned, journalist-run, reader-supported online alternative newspaper just beginning its second year of daily publication.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | part americas state religion free market fundamentalist religion accepted gospel leading politicians brain trust sets goverrnment economic policy supposedly hardnosed analysts convince american investors put money markets know best explain panicked reaction investors markets labor departments monthly bureau labor statistics report latest monthly jobs unemployment figures numbers reported month june released 900 usual kind tight secrecy youd expect national security administration international risk assessment came anemic 18000 net new jobs new official jobless rate slightly 91 may 92 june hour later stock market plunged 1 matter minutes 1 drop represented paper loss investors 140 billion reason given analysts financial journalists plunge expectation investors based upon forecasts jobs number made economists analysts day bls announcement somewhere 90000 120000 new jobs dip jobless rate 90 actual number new jobs reported bls somewhere like 72000 102000 lower forecast estimates jobless rate edged instead investors dumped pile shares causing value shares exchanges lose value investor reaction poor jobs numbers interpreted economists analysts following days indication us economy troublethat supposed recovery deepest recession since 1930s stalled wisdom market saying american economy stumbling hold minute really changed numbers bls number came analysts economists talking optimistically economy claiming us economy would show positive growth year even picking steam second half 2011 saying unemployment would edge year window one pair numbers lets look bls numbers though according betsey stevenson chief economist department labor works directly secretary labor bls new jobs figure developed month survey 400000 randomly selected companies hiring historic record past 35 years erring plus minus 115000 jobs furthermore initial number released start month gets repeatedly revised harder figures come change lot time example number may first released early june initially 50000 since already revised downward 25000 say concensus forecast economists 90120000 new jobs june released july 8 within bls surveys historic margin error months june jobless number could turn much 133000 87000 based historic record things 18000 number words really surprise stevenson told laugh kind funny dramatic reaction market release bls numbers says truth one monthly figure doesnt tell much jobs numbers provide pretty good measure whats happening economy really need look trends 12 months time course 12month trend refers tells pretty grim story unemployment stuck official rate around 9 thats people actively looking work found nothing june figure 92 unemployed represents 141 million people officially work count according bls 86 million involuntarily parttime workers include 27 million marginally attached labor force want jobs despaired finding work given looking also doesnt include another 17 million havent looked work four weeks returned school decided stay home perhaps caring kids rather continue futile efforts finding new job people13 million themare also jobless ongoing deep recessiondepression thats another 84 unemployed honest means department labor really saying today nearly four years economic crisis real unemployment rate 178 meaning one six workers still jobless furthermore numbers barely budged want real picture whats going us economy dont look blss monthly jobs number look jobless numbers trending stevenson correctly notes might also look many jobless jobless long time would 86 million laboring parttime jobs 27 million jobless long year theyve given looking add 63 million officially jobless bls says looking unsuccessfully work six months thats 176 million people jobless least half year 176 million 116 american labor force one nine american workers clearly idea investors kind collective wisdom sad joke asked would leap computers en masse start selling shares release one bad monthly report bls ryan sweet senior economist moodys one three big rating agencies says often overlooked investors analysts bls number 100000 either way course bls contributes nonsense wrapping economic research super secrecy nobody outside bls gets hear surveys job creation total official unemployment going theyre underway results kept secret even chief economist secretary labor white house 8 morning official release lends numbers air importance simply dont deserve bit like line people waiting communion catholic service tension builds line churchgoers slowly moves altar priest finally offers congregant cracker sip wine seems like really body blood christ instead cracker cheap booze okay ordinary people investors even fundamentalists president economic political advisers start making policies based mumbo jumbo president says latest bls figures evidence employers need certainty action national debt republican leaders like house speaker boehner even ludicrously claim numbers show results white houses stimulus binge excessive regulations overwhelming national debt like weve handed governing national economic policymaking pat robertson john hagee pope worst part corporate media play right along nonsense trumpeting numbers really meant anything reporting policy comments anything propaganda statements faithbased nonsense dave lindorff founding member thiscantbehappening new independent collectivelyowned journalistrun readersupported online alternative newspaper beginning second year daily publication 160 | 759 |
<p>Kimberly Jones knows just how hard it is to wait for emergency food stamps to come through. New Mexico is supposed to grant people in dire financial situations expedited benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) within seven days, rather than the 30 it takes to process regular applications. But it often doesn’t work out that way.</p>
<p>At the end of last year, Jones, who was living in a hotel room because she couldn’t afford an apartment, applied for emergency benefits. But months passed without any word from the state’s Human Services Department (HSD), which oversees SNAP.</p>
<p>Forced to decide between spending her meager income from her part-time job caring for a home-bound patient on either food or the hotel room, she spent it on the room, knowing that she needed somewhere to keep her belongings. So while she waited for help buying food, she managed to get by by visiting soup kitchens and picking up boxes of food from local churches. Things were so tough that she had her five-year-old stay with a family member.</p>
<p>“I didn’t know what I was going to do, I was at my wit’s end, about to start break down crying,” she said. “I said, ‘Oh Lord, I need some help.’”</p>
<p>She says that help came in the form of Louise Pocock, a staff attorney with the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty, who helped her spend an hour on the phone with the department clearing up her case and getting the benefits finally pushed through. Jones now receives $75 a month in food benefits, is living in her own apartment, and has her youngest child with her.</p>
<p>I said, ‘Oh Lord, I need some&#160;help</p>
<p>But thanks to alleged fraud running rampant in the department, thousands of New Mexico residents may have been cheated out of the same benefits. According to the new allegations, food stamp administrators tampered with applications to disqualify people from the program.</p>
<p>The state has long had trouble complying with regulations meant to get food stamps to people quickly and efficiently, particularly the one ensuring that emergency benefits go through within seven days. In the 1990s, New Mexico entered into a court-ordered consent decree as part of a settlement of a class action lawsuit over its inability to follow the rules and process applications for both food and medical assistance correctly and on time. Decades later, it has yet to get out from under the order by proving it’s made the adequate improvements to comply with federal law.</p>
<p>But now even worse charges are being levied against the department. Nine former and current HSD employees have testified that if the department hadn’t met the required seven-day deadline to process an application, they were told to give the case file to a supervisor. When the files were handed back to them, they say, the data on the application had been altered. Assets were added and the applicant no longer qualified for the emergency benefits.</p>
<p>The practice, which testimony suggested has been going on at least since 2003, then allows the department to take the longer, non-emergency timeline of 30 days to process the application. That way, the delay doesn’t count against its efforts to comply with regulations. But if the allegations are true, they constitute fraud. The department did not respond to a request for comment.</p>
<p>It also likely means that many people aren’t getting benefits at all. “Theoretically, if a person does everything and the department does everything right, that person will get their SNAP,” even if it comes 30 days later, Pocock said.</p>
<p>But her group knows that the department already has a long history of not doing things the right way. “If you couple [the allegations] with all of the application processing problems that we have documented in our case in terms of not calling people for interviews, not sending out adequate notices… It’s another barrier to people getting their benefits altogether.”</p>
<p>They’re lying about their incompetence</p>
<p>And as Jones’ experience shows, that extra barrier is particularly problematic for people who are seeking emergency benefits. They are the ones most in need of immediate help and who have the least to fall back on if they get denied or delayed for months on end.</p>
<p>“A lot of those people who are eligible for expedited SNAP are super vulnerable populations. They don’t have access to funds, they don’t have access to resources, they can’t get to the office, they can’t do paperwork,” Pocock said. “That same day processing [of expedited benefits] really helps people alleviate those barriers and overcome them and get the benefits they need.”</p>
<p>The Center on Law and Poverty was already in the midst of going after HSD over its continuing failures to comply with the consent decree. At the end of 2013, it discovered a huge backlog of applications and filed several court motions, including one on the improper delays and denials of benefits. It spent two years working closely with the department, only to end up “exacerbated” with the level of progress, as Pocock put it. So the group filed a motion to put the department under a receiver who would come in and put things in order.</p>
<p>But now the situation looks even worse than it did before. Data already showed that the department wasn’t processing things quickly enough, but even that data may be flawed if officials are fudging the numbers. “What little improvements we thought the data was showing — we can’t really rely on that,” Pocock said. “Before, our argument was really incompetence. With this new evidence…they’re lying about their incompetence.”</p>
<p>At a recent hearing, high-level HSD officials <a href="http://nmpoliticalreport.com/43789/accusations-of-widespread-fraud-at-hsd-grow-while-officials-plead-the-fifth/" type="external">invoked their Fifth Amendment rights</a> and refused to answer 97 questions about the allegations, including whether they ordered employees to change application data, retaliated against the workers who refused or are now speaking out, or lied to the court in previous hearings. The department has been given 60 days to complete its internal investigation and must file its findings with the court on June 28, after which there will be two more days of hearings and hopefully a final decision as to whether to put the department under receivership.</p>
<p>For her part, Jones is doing much better than before. She’s been living in her own apartment for two months and has added an extra client, which means she can afford her rent. But she still struggles. The day she spoke to ThinkProgress, she had just been at a church to get a box of free food, despite the food stamps she gets every month.</p>
<p>And the time she spent waiting for those small benefits to come through stayed with her. “My experience was not a good experience,” she said.</p> | true | 4 | kimberly jones knows hard wait emergency food stamps come new mexico supposed grant people dire financial situations expedited benefits supplemental nutrition assistance program snap within seven days rather 30 takes process regular applications often doesnt work way end last year jones living hotel room couldnt afford apartment applied emergency benefits months passed without word states human services department hsd oversees snap forced decide spending meager income parttime job caring homebound patient either food hotel room spent room knowing needed somewhere keep belongings waited help buying food managed get visiting soup kitchens picking boxes food local churches things tough fiveyearold stay family member didnt know going wits end start break crying said said oh lord need help says help came form louise pocock staff attorney new mexico center law poverty helped spend hour phone department clearing case getting benefits finally pushed jones receives 75 month food benefits living apartment youngest child said oh lord need some160help thanks alleged fraud running rampant department thousands new mexico residents may cheated benefits according new allegations food stamp administrators tampered applications disqualify people program state long trouble complying regulations meant get food stamps people quickly efficiently particularly one ensuring emergency benefits go within seven days 1990s new mexico entered courtordered consent decree part settlement class action lawsuit inability follow rules process applications food medical assistance correctly time decades later yet get order proving made adequate improvements comply federal law even worse charges levied department nine former current hsd employees testified department hadnt met required sevenday deadline process application told give case file supervisor files handed back say data application altered assets added applicant longer qualified emergency benefits practice testimony suggested going least since 2003 allows department take longer nonemergency timeline 30 days process application way delay doesnt count efforts comply regulations allegations true constitute fraud department respond request comment also likely means many people arent getting benefits theoretically person everything department everything right person get snap even comes 30 days later pocock said group knows department already long history things right way couple allegations application processing problems documented case terms calling people interviews sending adequate notices another barrier people getting benefits altogether theyre lying incompetence jones experience shows extra barrier particularly problematic people seeking emergency benefits ones need immediate help least fall back get denied delayed months end lot people eligible expedited snap super vulnerable populations dont access funds dont access resources cant get office cant paperwork pocock said day processing expedited benefits really helps people alleviate barriers overcome get benefits need center law poverty already midst going hsd continuing failures comply consent decree end 2013 discovered huge backlog applications filed several court motions including one improper delays denials benefits spent two years working closely department end exacerbated level progress pocock put group filed motion put department receiver would come put things order situation looks even worse data already showed department wasnt processing things quickly enough even data may flawed officials fudging numbers little improvements thought data showing cant really rely pocock said argument really incompetence new evidencetheyre lying incompetence recent hearing highlevel hsd officials invoked fifth amendment rights refused answer 97 questions allegations including whether ordered employees change application data retaliated workers refused speaking lied court previous hearings department given 60 days complete internal investigation must file findings court june 28 two days hearings hopefully final decision whether put department receivership part jones much better shes living apartment two months added extra client means afford rent still struggles day spoke thinkprogress church get box free food despite food stamps gets every month time spent waiting small benefits come stayed experience good experience said | 599 |
<p>Get ready kids. It’s time for more scare stories about Social Security.</p>
<p>The corporate press is weighing in with &#160;dire warnings that this year, six years ahead of what had been predicted only a few years ago, the Social Security system would be paying out more in benefits than it takes in from the payroll tax. The reason for this earlier-than-anticipated event is the Great Recession, the paper explained.</p>
<p>Well yeah. If you were 62, or 65, and you had lost your job, with no likelihood of it’s coming back, wouldn’t you, once your unemployment checks ran out, opt to start your retirement earlier than planned, so you’d at least have some money coming in each month?&#160; Oh, and with 10 percent of the work force currently unemployed (actually close to 21 percent if you count the people who have given up looking for a nonexistent job, and those who have taken some low-paid part-time work out of desperation), there is a lot less money being paid into the Social Security Trust Fund. So with beneficiaries rising faster than anticipated, and the total national payroll in sharp decline, of course things have gone negative for Social Security earlier than originally anticipated.</p>
<p>So what to do about it?</p>
<p>Hank Paulson and Pete Peterson are both calling for benefit cutbacks, an older retirement age and other attacks on the system. Paulson of course is the the guy who as Treasury Secretary under President George W. Bush, helped engineer the real estate bubble that brought the economy to its knees, and who then engineered the sweet deal that helped his former company, Goldman Sachs, come out of the crisis as the nation’s biggest bank, fattened by tens of billions of taxpayer bailout dollars. Pete Peterson, the former ad exec turned self-described economic guru has been a perpetual doomsayer about Social Security, calling for its privatization.</p>
<p>But really, what’s the crisis?</p>
<p>A wave of Baby Boomers is about to start retiring next year (actually for those born first, in 1946, who decided to retire early at age 62, Baby Boomer retirement began in 2008), but that’s a demographic wave that will eventually pass. In the meantime, financing the benefits for Baby Boomer retirees simply means that current workers–the Baby Boomers’ children and grandchildren–will have to pay more in payroll taxes. Or–and this is what has people like Paulson and Peterson scared–Baby Boomers and their allies among younger workers, may decide to use their unprecedented electoral clout to take those extra tax payments not out of younger workers, but out of their employers. There is, after all, no legal, theoretical or even mystical reason why the Social Security payroll tax should be split 50/50, with half being paid by the worker, and half by the employer. It could easily be a 40/60 split, with the employer paying 50 per cent more than the worker, or even a 30/70 split. That is a political question. Likewise, there is no reason on earth why the payroll tax should be set at the same percentage rate for all income levels, as it is now, instead of progressively calculated, so that high-income workers would pay a higher percentage of income into the fund than low-income workers. And finally, there is no reason why the income subject to the payroll tax (the FICA tax on your W-2 statement) should be capped (currently at $106,800), or why investment income should be exempt.</p>
<p>The so-called Social Security funding “crisis,” which has Republicans and many Democrats warning of the system’s looming “insolvency” as though Social Security were just another AIG, could be solved simply by just eliminating the income cap, and taxing investment income.</p>
<p>Oh, but the conservatives wail, if we raise the payroll tax, America will become uncompetitive, and our economy will collapse.</p>
<p>How then to explain Germany, where social security as a percentage of GDP is much greater than in the US (40 per cent of Germany’s adult population receive some form of government income, whether in the form of retirement payments, unemployment compensation or disability payments–far higher than in the US)? Despite its high social welfare budget, and its high wages, Germany is the second-largest exporter in the world&#160; after China, and despite Germany’s being a huge importer of goods and services, second only to the US, overall, Germany is a net exporter.</p>
<p>Clearly, the problem with America’s economy is not high social security costs, and the “crisis” facing Social Security is not that it is going to “go bankrupt.” It is simply that the corporate interests in America, and the wealthy, don’t want to have to pay for the system. They want the lion’s share of the funding to be paid by ordinary workers and the poor.</p>
<p>The political game being played by corporate interests, Republicans, conservative Democrats, and by the corporate media, is to pretend that Social Security is just another pension system–underfunded, overburdened, and in need of downsizing. They insist the only solution is cutting benefits, raising the retirement age, and privatizing–taking away the guarantee of a monthly benefit check, and replacing it with the “miracle” of the financial markets.</p>
<p>American workers need to reject this campaign of misrepresentation. They need to realize that Social Security is a government income-support program, and that its benefits are not just for the elderly, but are also for the current workers, who are relieved of having to personally care for their parents and grandparents.&#160; They need to realize that Social Security is a government program, and that it will be there for them when they want to retire, just as it is available now for today’s retirees. And they need to realize that there are many ways to finance those current and future benefits besides just raising their own and their employers’ payroll tax payments from the current 7.65 per cent each and/or raising the retirement age beyond the current 66/67 level.&#160; We need to demand that all Americans pay the payroll tax on all income, with no caps and no exemption for investment income.</p>
<p>At that point, the fake “crisis” will be over, and we can focus on the real crises facing us: the endless wars that our government keeps dragging us into (one advantage Germany has is that it spends only 1 per cent&#160; of GDP on its military, compared to 5 per cent for the US), and health care (yeah, they sure didn’t solve that one with the so-called Health Care Reform Act just passed, which will still leave us spending 20 per cent of GDP on health care by 2016, up from 17.5 percent this year!).</p>
<p>DAVE LINDORFF is a Philadelphia-based journalist and columnist. His latest book is “ <a href="" type="internal">The Case for Impeachment</a>” (St. Martin’s Press, 2006 and now available in paperback). He can be reached at <a href="mailto:dlindorff@mindspring.com" type="external">dlindorff@mindspring.com</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p><a href="http://greentags.bigcartel.com/" type="external">WORDS THAT STICK</a></p>
<p /> | true | 4 | get ready kids time scare stories social security corporate press weighing 160dire warnings year six years ahead predicted years ago social security system would paying benefits takes payroll tax reason earlierthananticipated event great recession paper explained well yeah 62 65 lost job likelihood coming back wouldnt unemployment checks ran opt start retirement earlier planned youd least money coming month160 oh 10 percent work force currently unemployed actually close 21 percent count people given looking nonexistent job taken lowpaid parttime work desperation lot less money paid social security trust fund beneficiaries rising faster anticipated total national payroll sharp decline course things gone negative social security earlier originally anticipated hank paulson pete peterson calling benefit cutbacks older retirement age attacks system paulson course guy treasury secretary president george w bush helped engineer real estate bubble brought economy knees engineered sweet deal helped former company goldman sachs come crisis nations biggest bank fattened tens billions taxpayer bailout dollars pete peterson former ad exec turned selfdescribed economic guru perpetual doomsayer social security calling privatization really whats crisis wave baby boomers start retiring next year actually born first 1946 decided retire early age 62 baby boomer retirement began 2008 thats demographic wave eventually pass meantime financing benefits baby boomer retirees simply means current workersthe baby boomers children grandchildrenwill pay payroll taxes orand people like paulson peterson scaredbaby boomers allies among younger workers may decide use unprecedented electoral clout take extra tax payments younger workers employers legal theoretical even mystical reason social security payroll tax split 5050 half paid worker half employer could easily 4060 split employer paying 50 per cent worker even 3070 split political question likewise reason earth payroll tax set percentage rate income levels instead progressively calculated highincome workers would pay higher percentage income fund lowincome workers finally reason income subject payroll tax fica tax w2 statement capped currently 106800 investment income exempt socalled social security funding crisis republicans many democrats warning systems looming insolvency though social security another aig could solved simply eliminating income cap taxing investment income oh conservatives wail raise payroll tax america become uncompetitive economy collapse explain germany social security percentage gdp much greater us 40 per cent germanys adult population receive form government income whether form retirement payments unemployment compensation disability paymentsfar higher us despite high social welfare budget high wages germany secondlargest exporter world160 china despite germanys huge importer goods services second us overall germany net exporter clearly problem americas economy high social security costs crisis facing social security going go bankrupt simply corporate interests america wealthy dont want pay system want lions share funding paid ordinary workers poor political game played corporate interests republicans conservative democrats corporate media pretend social security another pension systemunderfunded overburdened need downsizing insist solution cutting benefits raising retirement age privatizingtaking away guarantee monthly benefit check replacing miracle financial markets american workers need reject campaign misrepresentation need realize social security government incomesupport program benefits elderly also current workers relieved personally care parents grandparents160 need realize social security government program want retire available todays retirees need realize many ways finance current future benefits besides raising employers payroll tax payments current 765 per cent andor raising retirement age beyond current 6667 level160 need demand americans pay payroll tax income caps exemption investment income point fake crisis focus real crises facing us endless wars government keeps dragging us one advantage germany spends 1 per cent160 gdp military compared 5 per cent us health care yeah sure didnt solve one socalled health care reform act passed still leave us spending 20 per cent gdp health care 2016 175 percent year dave lindorff philadelphiabased journalist columnist latest book case impeachment st martins press 2006 available paperback reached dlindorffmindspringcom 160 words stick | 614 |
<p>Once again, we find our political leadership united around a very bad idea, ethanol and other biofuels to help gain “energy independence,” to “help farmers” and most importantly, to help citizens avoid the harsh reality of peak oil converging with unsustainable lifestyles. It is understandable that the politicians must pander to the corn growing states in anticipation of election cycles. Politicians have always been prostitutes for votes. Even the most enlightened, progressive, and thoughtful of them have fallen prey to this cornographic behavior.</p>
<p>While some crops are superior to others and forest eating cellulostic ethanol technology scams are still in development, corn ethanol primacy is devouring the nation’s alternative energy focus. Billions of taxpayer dollars are being thrown into this unsustainable technology and we subsidize each gallon of auto alcohol to the tune of 51 cents per gallon. The ethanol fumes are leaving us drunk on delusion, ignoring the consequences and refusing to face the future when the oil dries up.</p>
<p>To grow enough corn for ethanol to replace our oil addiction would require approximately 482 million acres of cropland, exceeding the current total of 434 million acres of cropland used for all food and fiber. This does not even account for projected growth of oil consumption in the U.S. There is already the push to put the marginal Conservation Reserve Program lands, vital for wildlife and water quality and quantity, into intense energy crop production.</p>
<p>Old school ethical farmers in the corn belt are already lamenting the destruction of soil saving windbreaks, some planted during the CCC years, the plowing under of hayfields to corn, highly erodable hilly lands being put into corn, and water drainages being reduced, hearkening back to the depression era insanity that squandered so much vital topsoil. Cellulostic ethanol scams will fare even worse for the soils as “residues” are scooped up, leaving virtually nothing to feed back to the soil.</p>
<p>“The nation that destroys its soil, destroys itself,” said President Franklin D. Roosevelt.</p>
<p>In the rush to burn our nation’s dwindling soil resources, corn is king. Corn devours soil nutrients at 12-20 times the rate of soil renewal, meaning it is already a highly unsustainable crop. Corn is also highly dependent on fossil fuel based fertilizer and pesticide inputs. With the inevitable hybridization and Genetically Modified Organism corn crops, the soil nutrient depletion will accelerate. The Corn Cartel, led by the likes of Archer Daniels Midland and Monsanto, have been working for decades on their plans for corn dominion over the U.S. and are now reaping record profits and subsidies.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, back on the farm, in addition to the land ethics meltdown, prime farmland prices have soared, rents have become prohibitive to all but the largest agribusiness operations, and again, the small farmers, the backbone, are being winnowed out like so much chaff. Seed, fuel and fertilizer costs are rising to meet the increased profit per bushel and farmers find themselves back on that familiar treadmill, the promise falling short as it always has.</p>
<p>In a land already plagued with poisoned groundwater, the incidence of atrazine and other poisons will only become more pervasive. Aquifers, already drained faster than recharge will only dry up faster in direct proportion to our ethanol consumption. It takes around 8,000 gallons of water to produce a gallon of ethanol from corn and each gallon of it leaves eight gallons of toxic waste sludge. Even in the land of 10,000 Lakes, Minnesota is experiencing water shortages from the ethanol production explosion. With 99% of corn production under intensive fossil fuel nitrogen fertilization regimes, there is a directly proportionate resulting contamination of surface and groundwater and growth of the dead zones where our rivers drain.</p>
<p>Depending on if you believe the science of the Corn Growers Association or scientists from Cornell University, corn will produce slightly more energy than is required to turn it into ethanol or substantially less. Having monitored the bioenergy crowd for a decade, repeated inquiries into true sustainability have been met with deafening silence. There is no ethanol plant in operation that can plant, grow, harvest, transport, process, and transport it’s product on ethanol alone and still show a profit. It cannot be done given today’s economics.</p>
<p>Ethanol also contains only 70% of the energy of gasoline. Therefore, it takes much more ethanol to go a hundred miles than it takes gas, undermining the 10 cent price difference at the pump that seems like you are saving money and the earth. Ethanol blends also evaporate far more readily causing a toxic nauseous moment at the pump and increasing ozone pollution. With the EPA poised to adjust ozone pollution standards to actually protect people, and Chattanooga’s history of barely tolerable air, it is unconscionable for the ethanol bandwagon committee here to be falling for this scam.</p>
<p>Today, communities across the cornucopian landscape are fighting proposed ethanol plants on issues from water consumption, water quality, noxious fumes, noise, traffic safety, and other quality of life issues.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, back at the grocery store …</p>
<p>Do we feed cars or ourselves. To fuel the average American consumer’s driving habits would require 11 acres of cropland per year, the same cropland that could feed seven people for a year. Already we’ve seen tortilla riots in Mexico and other places where corn is a food staple and the 60% price increase is prohibitive for the least affluent amongst us.</p>
<p>Ethanol primacy is in direct competition for the dairy and animal industry. In the US, the USDA projects that the wholesale price of chicken will be 10% higher this year, the price of eggs up 21%, milk 14%, beef 6% and this is only the beginning. Other food crops like soybeans, wheat, barley are being plowed under to feed cars instead. Already in Germany there is a shortage of barley leading the good Germans to fear for the future of their beer. In Mexico, blue agave tequila plantations are being burned and plowed under for corn, leaving those in Margaritaville far less happy while on vacation. And again, the small farmers of the US and elsewhere will be washed out as agribusiness always wins like the other Casinos do.</p>
<p>After we do the inevitable Enron-style bailout of the ethanol scamsters, we will be left with soils so depleted of basic nutrients, that any subsequent food production will be lower in nutrients, adversely affecting human and animal health and well being.</p>
<p>Indonesian and Brazilian rainforests are falling for ethanol and bioenergy production, slavery is making a comeback, peasants are being driven further into the forests, paramilitary corn cartels are stealing land in Columbia, endangered species are on the run and unmindful consumers of the over-developed world keep on consuming with nary a thought.</p>
<p>The ethanol scam will only accelerate global warming. As forests are cleared, more carbon is released than could ever possibly be avoided by burning ethanol. The mere act of using ethanol as a panacea to keep consumption and the American Weigh alive and unwell, will keep consumers unmindful and uncaring. Politically, that is what this whole snake/corn oil boondoggle is all about. To paraphrase the Jack Nicholson line…”We can’t handle the truth..about corn, peak oil, unsustainable lifestyles and how we’re ripping off future generations.” The switchgrass crowd, biodiesel crowd, and others intent on devouring soil and landscapes, might be somewhat less devastating, but the same problems will exist to the degree that the earth’s ability to support us declines and the other degrees continue to rise.</p>
<p>Now what …</p>
<p>If we poured trillions of dollars in subsidies to the oil and corn industries and untold resources into truly sustainable technologies, we could actually avert the worst case scenario of the end of oil and ensuing chaos and anarchy. Hard-Pour Cornography has us all cornfused for now, as our politicians and policies pander to the oil and corn cartels. Consumption based taxation on fuels, vastly improved mileage standards with current technology and technology in development, supporting improvements in solar, wind and storage technologies, car pooling, a conscientious and ethical public, combined with our ingenuity and technical prowess, we could develop truly sustainable options without a noticeable impact on our sacred standard of living like we’re the only creatures on the planet.</p>
<p>There is a reason that Toyota is now the biggest auto dealer in the US…innovation and mileage. The Chevy Volt is promising to get 150 mpg, mostly driven by electricity. Solar technology is on the verge of becoming competitive to the earth raping, subsidized technologies of ripping mountain tops off for coal, mining and leaving nuclear waste for 10,000 generations to deal with, and oil wars that kill and maim millions. Decentralized solar and wind could power virtually all of our current home and transportation needs. If we quit driving our food an average of 1,500 miles per bite and bought locally, lived within our means as communities and individuals, we might find an actual higher quality of life as we re-create communities based on our old values of taking care of the planet for future generations, living by the golden rule, and being tough enough to figure things out and do right. Just sit down by your car and take a swig of your favorite ethanol beverage, share a shot with your SUV, and ponder ways to avert disaster and the bad-mouthing of us by who is left of posterity.</p>
<p>DENNY HALDEMAN can be reached at: <a href="mailto:dennyh@bellsouth.net" type="external">dennyh@bellsouth.net</a></p>
<p>This essay originally ran in the <a href="http://chattanoogan.com/" type="external">Chattanoogan</a> <a href="mailto:dennyh@bellsouth.net" type="external">.</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | find political leadership united around bad idea ethanol biofuels help gain energy independence help farmers importantly help citizens avoid harsh reality peak oil converging unsustainable lifestyles understandable politicians must pander corn growing states anticipation election cycles politicians always prostitutes votes even enlightened progressive thoughtful fallen prey cornographic behavior crops superior others forest eating cellulostic ethanol technology scams still development corn ethanol primacy devouring nations alternative energy focus billions taxpayer dollars thrown unsustainable technology subsidize gallon auto alcohol tune 51 cents per gallon ethanol fumes leaving us drunk delusion ignoring consequences refusing face future oil dries grow enough corn ethanol replace oil addiction would require approximately 482 million acres cropland exceeding current total 434 million acres cropland used food fiber even account projected growth oil consumption us already push put marginal conservation reserve program lands vital wildlife water quality quantity intense energy crop production old school ethical farmers corn belt already lamenting destruction soil saving windbreaks planted ccc years plowing hayfields corn highly erodable hilly lands put corn water drainages reduced hearkening back depression era insanity squandered much vital topsoil cellulostic ethanol scams fare even worse soils residues scooped leaving virtually nothing feed back soil nation destroys soil destroys said president franklin roosevelt rush burn nations dwindling soil resources corn king corn devours soil nutrients 1220 times rate soil renewal meaning already highly unsustainable crop corn also highly dependent fossil fuel based fertilizer pesticide inputs inevitable hybridization genetically modified organism corn crops soil nutrient depletion accelerate corn cartel led likes archer daniels midland monsanto working decades plans corn dominion us reaping record profits subsidies meanwhile back farm addition land ethics meltdown prime farmland prices soared rents become prohibitive largest agribusiness operations small farmers backbone winnowed like much chaff seed fuel fertilizer costs rising meet increased profit per bushel farmers find back familiar treadmill promise falling short always land already plagued poisoned groundwater incidence atrazine poisons become pervasive aquifers already drained faster recharge dry faster direct proportion ethanol consumption takes around 8000 gallons water produce gallon ethanol corn gallon leaves eight gallons toxic waste sludge even land 10000 lakes minnesota experiencing water shortages ethanol production explosion 99 corn production intensive fossil fuel nitrogen fertilization regimes directly proportionate resulting contamination surface groundwater growth dead zones rivers drain depending believe science corn growers association scientists cornell university corn produce slightly energy required turn ethanol substantially less monitored bioenergy crowd decade repeated inquiries true sustainability met deafening silence ethanol plant operation plant grow harvest transport process transport product ethanol alone still show profit done given todays economics ethanol also contains 70 energy gasoline therefore takes much ethanol go hundred miles takes gas undermining 10 cent price difference pump seems like saving money earth ethanol blends also evaporate far readily causing toxic nauseous moment pump increasing ozone pollution epa poised adjust ozone pollution standards actually protect people chattanoogas history barely tolerable air unconscionable ethanol bandwagon committee falling scam today communities across cornucopian landscape fighting proposed ethanol plants issues water consumption water quality noxious fumes noise traffic safety quality life issues meanwhile back grocery store feed cars fuel average american consumers driving habits would require 11 acres cropland per year cropland could feed seven people year already weve seen tortilla riots mexico places corn food staple 60 price increase prohibitive least affluent amongst us ethanol primacy direct competition dairy animal industry us usda projects wholesale price chicken 10 higher year price eggs 21 milk 14 beef 6 beginning food crops like soybeans wheat barley plowed feed cars instead already germany shortage barley leading good germans fear future beer mexico blue agave tequila plantations burned plowed corn leaving margaritaville far less happy vacation small farmers us elsewhere washed agribusiness always wins like casinos inevitable enronstyle bailout ethanol scamsters left soils depleted basic nutrients subsequent food production lower nutrients adversely affecting human animal health well indonesian brazilian rainforests falling ethanol bioenergy production slavery making comeback peasants driven forests paramilitary corn cartels stealing land columbia endangered species run unmindful consumers overdeveloped world keep consuming nary thought ethanol scam accelerate global warming forests cleared carbon released could ever possibly avoided burning ethanol mere act using ethanol panacea keep consumption american weigh alive unwell keep consumers unmindful uncaring politically whole snakecorn oil boondoggle paraphrase jack nicholson linewe cant handle truthabout corn peak oil unsustainable lifestyles ripping future generations switchgrass crowd biodiesel crowd others intent devouring soil landscapes might somewhat less devastating problems exist degree earths ability support us declines degrees continue rise poured trillions dollars subsidies oil corn industries untold resources truly sustainable technologies could actually avert worst case scenario end oil ensuing chaos anarchy hardpour cornography us cornfused politicians policies pander oil corn cartels consumption based taxation fuels vastly improved mileage standards current technology technology development supporting improvements solar wind storage technologies car pooling conscientious ethical public combined ingenuity technical prowess could develop truly sustainable options without noticeable impact sacred standard living like creatures planet reason toyota biggest auto dealer usinnovation mileage chevy volt promising get 150 mpg mostly driven electricity solar technology verge becoming competitive earth raping subsidized technologies ripping mountain tops coal mining leaving nuclear waste 10000 generations deal oil wars kill maim millions decentralized solar wind could power virtually current home transportation needs quit driving food average 1500 miles per bite bought locally lived within means communities individuals might find actual higher quality life recreate communities based old values taking care planet future generations living golden rule tough enough figure things right sit car take swig favorite ethanol beverage share shot suv ponder ways avert disaster badmouthing us left posterity denny haldeman reached dennyhbellsouthnet essay originally ran chattanoogan 160 160 | 932 |
<p>This story was&#160; <a href="//www.marketplace.org/beyond-payday-loans" type="external">co-produced with Marketplace</a>. Listen to&#160; <a href="//www.propublica.org/article/installment-loans-world-finance#marketplace-embed" type="external">their coverage</a>.</p>
<p>One day late last year, Katrina Sutton stood at a gas pump outside Atlanta and swiped her debit card. Insufficient funds. But that couldn't be. She'd been careful to wait until her $270 paycheck from Walmart had hit her account. The money wasn't there? It was all she had. And without gas, she couldn't get to work.</p>
<p>She tried not to panic, but after she called her card company, she couldn't help it. Her funds had been frozen, she was told, by World Finance.</p>
<p>Sutton lives in Georgia, a state that has banned payday loans. But World Finance, a billion-dollar company, peddles installment loans, a product that often drives borrowers into a similar quagmire of debt.</p>
<p>World is one of America's largest providers of installment loans, an industry that thrives in at least 19 states, mostly in the South and Midwest; claims more than 10 million customers; and has survived recent efforts by lawmakers to curtail lending that carries exorbitant interest rates and fees. Installment lenders were not included in a 2006 federal law that banned selling some classes of loans with an annual percentage rate above 36 percent to service members — so the companies often set up shop near the gates of military bases, offering loans with annual rates that can soar into the triple digits.</p>
<p>Installment loans have been around for decades. While payday loans are usually due in a matter of weeks, installment loans get paid back in installments over time — a few months to a few years. Both types of loans are marketed to the same low-income consumers, and both can trap borrowers in a cycle of recurring, expensive loans.</p>
<p>Installment loans can be deceptively expensive. World and its competitors push customers to renew their loans over and over again, transforming what the industry touts as a safe, responsible way to pay down debt into a kind of credit card with sky-high annual rates, sometimes more than 200 percent.</p>
<p>And when state laws force the companies to charge lower rates, they often sell borrowers unnecessary insurance products that rarely provide any benefit to the consumer but can effectively double the loan's annual percentage rate. Former World employees say they were instructed not to tell customers the insurance is voluntary.</p>
<p>When borrowers fall behind on payments, calls to the customer's home and workplace, as well as to friends and relatives, are routine. Next come home visits. And as Sutton and many others have discovered, World's threats to sue its customers are often real.</p>
<p>The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the new federal agency charged with overseeing consumer-finance products and services, has the power to sue nonbank lenders for violating federal laws. It could also make larger installment lenders subject to regular examinations, but it hasn't yet done so. Installment companies have <a href="//www.afsaonline.org/news_and_publications/news_releases_and_statements_view.cfm?newsid=474" type="external">supported Republican efforts to weaken the agency</a>, echoing concerns raised by the lending industry as a whole.</p>
<p>The CFPB declined to comment on any potential rule-making or enforcement action.</p>
<p>Despite a customer base that might best be described as sub-subprime, World comfortably survived the financial crisis. Its stock, which trades on the Nasdaq under the company's corporate name, World Acceptance Corp., has nearly tripled in price in the last three years. The company services more than 800,000 customers at upward of 1,000 offices in 13 states. It also extends into Mexico, where it has about 120,000 customers.</p>
<p>In a written response to questions for this story, World argued that the company provides a valuable service for customers who might not otherwise qualify for credit. The loans are carefully underwritten to be affordable for borrowers, the company said, and since the loans involve set monthly payments, they come with a "built-in financial discipline."</p>
<p>The company denied that it deceives customers, saying that it trains its employees to tell borrowers that insurance products are voluntary and that it also informs customers of this in writing. It said it contacts delinquent borrowers at their workplace only after it has failed to reach them at their homes and that it resorts to lawsuits to recoup delinquent payments in accordance with state laws.</p>
<p>"World values its customers," the company wrote, "and its customers demonstrate by their repeat business that they value the service and products that World offers."</p>
<p>The installment industry promotes its products as a consumer-friendly alternative to payday loans. Installment loans are "the safest form of consumer credit out there," said Bill Himpler, the executive vice president of the American Financial Services Association, of which World and other major installment lenders are members.</p>
<p>About 5 percent of World's customers, approximately 40,000, are service members or their families, the company said. According to the Defense Department, active-duty military personnel and their dependents comprise about 1 percent of the U.S. population.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Back in August 2009, Sutton's 1997 Crown Victoria needed fixing, and she was "between paychecks," as she put it. Some months, more than half of her paycheck went to student-loan bills stemming from her pursuit of an associate degree at the University of Phoenix. Living with her mother and grandparents saved on rent, but her part-time job as a Walmart cashier didn't provide much leeway. She was short that month and needed her car to get to work.</p>
<p>She said she happened to pass by a World Finance storefront in a strip mall in McDonough, Ga. A neon sign advertised "LOANS," and mirrored windows assured privacy. She went inside.</p>
<p>A credit check showed "my FICO score was 500-something," Sutton remembered, putting her creditworthiness in the bottom 25 percent of borrowers. "But they didn't have no problem giving me the loan."</p>
<p>She&#160;walked out with a check for $207. To pay it back, she agreed to make seven monthly payments of $50 for a total of $350. The loan papers said the annual percentage rate, which includes interest as well as fees, was 90 percent.</p>
<p>Sutton had received what World employees call a "starter loan." That's something Paige Buys learned after she was hired to work at a World Finance branch in Chandler, Okla., at the age of 18. At that point, she only had a dim notion of what World did.</p>
<p>At 19, she was named branch manager (the youngest in company history, she remembered being told), and by then she had learned a lot. And the more she understood, the more conflicted she felt.</p>
<p>"I hated the business," she said. "I hated what we were doing to people. But I couldn't just quit."</p>
<p>The storefront, which lies on the town's main artery, Route 66, is very much like the one where Sutton got her loan. Behind darkened windows sit a couple of desks and a fake tree. The walls are nearly bare. Typical of World storefronts, it resembles an accountant's office more than a payday loan store.</p>
<p>Buys said any prospective borrower was virtually guaranteed to qualify for a loan of at least $200. Low credit scores are common, she and other former employees said, but World teaches its employees to home in on something else: whether at least some small portion of the borrower's monthly income isn't already being consumed by other debts. If, after accounting for bills and some nominal living expenses, a customer still has money left over, World will take them on.</p>
<p>In its written response, World said the purpose of its underwriting procedures was to ensure that the borrower has enough income to make the required payments.</p>
<p>With few exceptions, World requires its customers to pledge personal possessions as collateral that the company can seize if they don't pay. The riskier the client, the more items they were required to list, former employees say.</p>
<p>Sutton offered two of her family's televisions, a DVD player, a PlayStation and a computer. Together, they amounted to $1,600 in value, according to her contract. In addition, World listed her car.</p>
<p>There are limits to what World and other lenders can ask borrowers to pledge. Rules issued in 1984 by the Federal Trade Commission put "household goods" such as appliances, furniture and clothing off limits — no borrower can be asked to literally offer the shirt off his back. One television and one radio are also protected, among other items. But the rules are so old, they make no mention of computers.</p>
<p>Video game systems, jewelry, chainsaws, firearms — these are among the items listed on World's standard collateral form. The contracts warn in several places that World has the right to seize the possessions if the borrower defaults.</p>
<p>"They started threatening me," a World customer from Brunswick, Ga., said. "If I didn't make two payments, they would back a truck up and take my furniture, my lawn mower." (In fact, furniture is among the items protected under the FTC rule.) The woman, who asked to remain anonymous because she feared the company's employees, was most upset by the prospect of the company taking her piano. She filed for bankruptcy protection last year.</p>
<p>In fact, former World employees said, it was exceedingly rare for the company to actually repossess personal items.</p>
<p>"Then you've got a broken-down Xbox, and what are you going to do with it?" asked Kristin, who worked in a World branch in Texas in 2012 and, from fear of retaliation, asked that her last name not be used.</p>
<p>World supervisors "would tell us, 'You know, we are never going to repossess this stuff' — unless it was a car," Buys said.</p>
<p>World acknowledged in its response that such repossessions are rare, but it said the collateral played a valuable role in motivating borrowers. "World believes that an important element of consumer protection is for a borrower to have an investment in the success of the transaction," the company wrote. When "borrowers have little or no investment in the success of the credit transaction they frequently find it easier to abandon the transaction than to fulfill their commitments."</p>
<p>Sutton's loan contract said her annual percentage rate, or APR, was 90 percent. It wasn't. Her effective rate was more than double that: 182 percent.</p>
<p>World can legally understate the true cost of credit because of loopholes in federal law that allow lenders to package nearly useless insurance products with their loans and omit their cost when calculating the annual rate.</p>
<p>As part of her loan, Sutton purchased credit life insurance, credit disability insurance, automobile insurance and non-recording insurance. She, like other borrowers ProPublica interviewed, cannot tell you what any of them are for: "They talk so fast when you get that loan. They go right through it, real gibberish."</p>
<p>The insurance products protect World, not the borrower. If Sutton were to have died, become disabled, or totaled her car, the insurer would have owed World the unpaid portion of her loan. Together, the premiums for her $200 loan total $76, more than the loan's other finance charges.</p>
<p>The insurance products provide a way for World to get around the rate caps in some states and effectively to charge higher rates. Sutton's stated annual percentage rate of 90 percent, for example, is close to the maximum that can legally be charged in Georgia.</p>
<p>ProPublica examined more than&#160; <a href="//projects.propublica.org/graphics/installment-loans" type="external">100 of the company's loans in 10 states</a>, all made within the last several years. A clear pattern developed: In states that allowed high rates, World simply charged high interest and other finance fees but did not bother to include insurance products. For a small loan like Sutton's, for example, World has charged a 204 percent annual rate in Missouri and 140 percent in Alabama, states that allow such high levels.</p>
<p>In states with more stringent caps, World slapped on the insurance products. The stated annual rate was lower, but when the insurance premiums were accounted for, the loans were often even more expensive than those in the high-rate states.</p>
<p>"Every new person who came in, we always hit and maximized with the insurance," said Matthew Thacker, who worked as an assistant manager at a World branch in Tifton, Ga., from 2006 to 2007. "That was money that went back to the company."</p>
<p>World profits from the insurance in two ways: It receives a commission from the insurer, and, since the premium is typically financed as part of the loan, World charges interest on it.</p>
<p>"The consumer is screwed six ways to Sunday," said Birny Birnbaum, the executive director of the nonprofit Center for Economic Justice and a former associate commissioner at the Texas Department of Insurance.</p>
<p>Industry data reveal just how profitable this part of World's business is. World offers the products of an insurer called Life of the South, a subsidiary of the publicly traded Fortegra Financial Corp. In Georgia in 2011, the insurer received $26 million in premiums for the sort of auto insurance Sutton purchased as part of her loan. Eighteen million dollars, or 69 percent, of that sum went right back to lenders like World. In all, remarkably little money went to pay actual insurance claims: about 5 percent.</p>
<p>The data, provided to ProPublica by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, paint a similar picture when it comes to Life of the South's other products. The company's credit accident and health policies racked up $20 million in premiums in Georgia in 2011. While 56 percent went back to lenders, only 14 percent went to claims. The pattern holds in other states where World offers the products.</p>
<p>Fortegra declined to comment.</p>
<p>Gretchen Simmons, who managed a World branch in Pine Mountain, Ga., praised the company for offering customers loans they might not have been able to get elsewhere. She said she liked selling accidental death and disability insurance with loans, because many of her clients were laborers who were "more prone to getting their finger chopped off."</p>
<p>According to several contracts reviewed by ProPublica, losing one finger isn't enough to make a claim. If the borrower loses a hand, the policy pays a lump sum (for instance, $5,000). But, according to&#160; <a href="//www.propublica.org/documents/item/699449-world-accidental-death-and-dismemberment" type="external">the policy</a>, "loss of a hand means loss from one hand of four entire fingers."</p>
<p>Simmons took out a loan for herself from a World competitor — and made sure to decline the insurance. Why? "Because I knew that that premium of a hundred and blah blah blah dollars that they're charging me for it can go right into my pocket if I just deny it."</p>
<p>In its written response, World alleged that Simmons had been fired from the company because of "dishonesty and alleged misappropriation of funds," but it refused to provide further details. Simmons, who worked for World from 2005 to 2008, denied that she left the company on bad terms.</p>
<p>Federal rules prohibit the financing of credit insurance premiums as part of a mortgage but allow it for installment and other loans. Installment lenders can also legally exclude the premiums when calculating the loan's annual percentage rate, as long as the borrower can select the insurer or the insurance products are voluntary — loopholes in the Truth in Lending Act, the federal law that regulates how consumer-finance products are marketed.</p>
<p>World's contracts make all legally necessary disclosures. For example, while some insurance products are voluntary, World requires other types of insurance to obtain a loan. For mandatory insurance, Sutton's contract states that the borrower "may choose the person or company through which insurance is to be obtained." She, like most customers, wouldn't know where to begin to do that, even if it were possible.</p>
<p>"Nobody is going to sell you insurance that protects your loan, other than the lender," said Birnbaum. "You can't go down the street to your State Farm agent and get credit insurance."</p>
<p>When insurance products are optional — meaning the borrower can deny coverage but still get the loan — borrowers must sign a form saying they understand that. "We were told not to point that out," said Thacker, the former Tifton, Ga., assistant manager.</p>
<p>World, in its response to ProPublica, declined to offer any statistics on what percentage of its loans carry the insurance products, but it said employees are trained to inform borrowers that they are voluntary. As for why the company offers the insurance products in some states and not in others, World said it depends on state law and if "it makes business sense to do so."</p>
<p>Buys, the former Chandler, Okla., branch manager, said she found the inclusion of the insurance products particularly deceitful. In Oklahoma, World can charge high interest rates and fees on loans under $1,000 or so, so it typically doesn't include insurance on those loans. But it often adds the products to larger loans, which has the effect of jacking up the annual rate.</p>
<p>"You were supposed to tell the customer you could not do the loan without them purchasing all of the insurance products, and you never said 'purchase,' " Buys recalled. "You said they are 'included with the loan' and focused on how wonderful they are."</p>
<p>It was not long into her tenure that Buys said she began to question whether the products were really required. She asked a family friend who was an attorney if the law required it, she recalled, and he told her it didn't.</p>
<p>World trained its employees to think of themselves as a "financial adviser" to their clients, Buys said. She decided to take that literally.</p>
<p>When a customer took out a new loan, "I started telling them, 'Hey, you can have this insurance you're never going to use, or you can have the money to spend,'" she recalled. Occasionally, a customer would ask to have the disability insurance included, so she left it in. But mostly, people preferred to take the money.</p>
<p>One day, she remembered, she was sitting across from a couple who had come into the office to renew their loan. They were discussing how to cover the costs of a funeral, and Chandler being a small town, she knew it was their son's. On her screen were the various insurance charges from the original loan. The screen "was blinking like I could edit it," she recalled.</p>
<p>At that moment, she realized that she could advise customers renewing their loans that they could drop the insurance from their previous loans. If they did so, they'd receive several hundred dollars more. The couple excitedly agreed, she recalled, and other customers also thought it was good advice and dropped the products.</p>
<p>Buys' regional supervisor threatened to discipline her, Buys said. But it was hard to punish her for advising customers that the products were voluntary when they were. "All they could do was give me the stink eye," Buys said.</p>
<p>But World soon made it harder to remove the insurance premiums, Buys said. She couldn't remove them herself but instead had to submit a form, along with a letter from the customer, to World's central office. That office, she said, sometimes required borrowers to purchase the insurance in order to get the loans.</p>
<p>World, in its response to ProPublica's questions, said Buys' assertions about how it handled insurance were "false," but it declined to provide further details.</p>
<p>Eventually, Buys said, her relationship with management deteriorated to the point that she felt she had no choice but to quit. By the time she left in 2011, she had worked at World for three years.</p>
<p>World, in the answers provided to ProPublica, said that when Buys quit, she was "subject to being terminated for cause including dishonesty and alleged misappropriation of funds." The company declined to provide any details about the allegations, but after Buys quit, World filed suit in county court, accusing her of stealing money from the company. Buys retained an attorney and responded, maintaining her innocence and demanding proof of any theft. World withdrew the suit.</p>
<p>Sutton's original loan contract required her to make seven payments of $50, at which point her loan would have been fully paid off.</p>
<p>But if World can persuade a customer to renew early in the loan's lifespan, the company reaps the lion's share of the loan's charges while keeping the borrower on the hook for most of what they owed to begin with. This is what makes renewing loans so profitable for World and other installment lenders.</p>
<p>"That was the goal, every single time they had money available, to get them to renew, because as soon as they do, you've got another month where they're just paying interest," says Kristin, the former World employee from Texas.</p>
<p>Sure enough, less than four months after taking out the initial loan, Sutton&#160;agreed to renew.</p>
<p>In a basic renewal (the company calls it either a "new loan" or a "refinance"), the borrower agrees to start the loan all over again. For Sutton, that meant another seven months of $50 payments. In exchange, the borrower receives a payout. The amount is based on how much the borrower's payments to date have reduced the loan's principal.</p>
<p>For Sutton, that didn't amount to much. She appears to have made three payments on her loan, totaling $150. (The company's accounting is opaque, and Sutton does not have a record of her payments.) But when she renewed the loan, she received only $44.</p>
<p>Most of Sutton's payments had gone to cover interest, insurance premiums and other fees, not toward the principal. And when she renewed her loan a second time, it was no different.</p>
<p>The effect is similar to how a mortgage amortizes: The portion of each payment that goes toward interest is at its highest the first month and decreases with each payment. As the principal is reduced, less interest is owed each month. By the end of the loan, the payments go almost entirely toward paying down the principal.</p>
<p>World regularly sends out mailers, and its employees make frequent phone calls, all to make sure borrowers know they have funds available. Every time a borrower makes a payment, according to the company, that customer "receives a receipt reflecting, among other information, the remaining balance on the borrower's loan and, where applicable, the current new credit available for that borrower." And when a borrower visits a branch to make a payment, former employees say, employees are required to make the pitch in person.</p>
<p>"You have to say, 'Let me see what I can do to get you money today,'" Buys recalled. If the borrower had money available on the account, it had to be offered, she and other former employees said.</p>
<p>The typical pitch went like this, Kristin said: "'Oh, by the way, you've got $100 available, would you like to take that now or do you want to wait till next month?'"</p>
<p>Customers would ask, "'Well, what does this mean?'" Buys said. "And you say, 'Oh, you're just starting your loan over, you know, your payments will be the same.'"</p>
<p>The company often encourages customers to renew the loans by saying it will help them repair their credit scores, former employees said, since World reports to the three leading credit bureaus. Successively renewing loans also makes customers eligible for larger loans from World itself. After renewing her loan twice, for instance, Sutton received an extra $40.</p>
<p>"We were taught to make [customers] think it was beneficial to them," Buys said.</p>
<p>"Retail (i.e., consumer) lending is not significantly unlike other retail operations and, like those other forms of retail, World does market its services," the company wrote in its response to questions.</p>
<p>About three-quarters of the company's loans are renewals, according to World's public filings. Customers often renew their loans after only two payments, according to former employees.</p>
<p>The company declined to say how many of its renewals occur after two payments or how many times the average borrower renews a loan. Renewals are only granted to borrowers who can be expected to repay the new loan, it said.</p>
<p>Lawsuits against other major installment lenders suggest these practices are common in the industry.&#160; <a href="//www.propublica.org/documents/item/699457-security-tx-debtor-suit-good-details-complaint" type="external">A 2010 lawsuit in Texas</a>&#160;claimed that Security Finance, a lender with about 900 locations in the United States, induced a borrower to renew her loan 16 times over a three-year period. The suit was settled. In 2004, an Oklahoma jury awarded a mentally disabled Security Finance borrower $1.8 million;&#160; <a href="//www.propublica.org/documents/item/697120-testimony-by-david-humpreys-attorney-about" type="external">he had renewed two loans a total of 37 times</a>. After the company successfully appealed the amount of damages, the case was settled. Security Finance declined to respond to questions about the suits.</p>
<p>Another&#160; <a href="//www.propublica.org/documents/item/699459-sun-loan-tx-suit-3-amended-complaint" type="external">2010 suit against Sun Loan</a>, a lender with more than 270 office locations, claims the company convinced a husband and wife to renew their loans more than two dozen times each over a five-year period. Cary Barton, an attorney representing the company in the suit, said renewals occur at the customer's request, often because he or she doesn't have enough money to make the monthly payment on the previous loan.</p>
<p>The predominance of renewals means that for many of World's customers, the annual percentage rates on the loan contracts don't remotely capture the real costs. If a borrower takes out a 12-month loan for $700 at an 89 percent annual rate, for example, but repeatedly renews the loan after four payments of $90, he would receive a payout of $155 with each renewal. In effect, he is borrowing $155 over and over again. And for each of those loans, the effective annual rate isn't 89 percent. It's 537 percent.</p>
<p>World called this calculation "completely erroneous," largely because it fails to account for the money the customer received from the original transaction. World's calculation of the annual percentage rate if a borrower followed this pattern of renewals for three years: about 110 percent.</p>
<p>In every World office, employees say, there were loan files that had grown inches thick after dozens of renewals.</p>
<p>At not just one but two World branches, Emma Johnson of Kennesaw, Ga., was that customer. Her case demonstrates how immensely profitable borrowers like her are for the company — and how the renewal strategy can transform long-term, lower-rate loans into short-term loans with the triple-digit annual rates of World's payday competitors.</p>
<p>Since being laid off from her janitorial job in 2004, Johnson, 71, has lived primarily on Social Security. Last year, that amounted to $1,139 in income per month, plus a housing voucher and food stamps.</p>
<p>Johnson could not remember when she first obtained a loan from World. Nor could she remember why she needed either of the loans. She can tell you, however, the names of the branch managers (Charles, Brittany, Robin) who've come and gone over the years, her loans still on the books.</p>
<p>Johnson took out her first loan from World in 1993, the company said. Since that time, she has taken out 48 loans, counting both new loans and refinancings, from one branch. In 2001, she took out a loan from the second branch and began a similar string of renewals.</p>
<p>When Johnson finally declared bankruptcy early this year, her two outstanding loans had face values of $3,510 and $2,970. She had renewed each loan at least 20 times, according to her credit reports. Over the last 10 years, she had made at least $21,000 in payments toward those two loans, and likely several thousand dollars more, according to a ProPublica analysis based on her credit reports and loan documents.</p>
<p>Although the stated length of each loan was about two years, Johnson would renew each loan, on average, about every five months. The reasons varied, she said. "Sometimes stuff would just pop out of the blue," she said. This or that needed a repair, one of her children would need money.</p>
<p>Sometimes, it was just too enticing to get that extra few hundred dollars, she acknowledged. "In a sense, I think I was addicted."</p>
<p>It typically took only a few minutes to renew the loan, she said. The contract contained pages of disclosures and fine print, and the World employee would flip through, telling her to sign here, here and here, she recalled.</p>
<p>Her loan contracts from recent years show that the payouts were small, often around $200. That wasn't much more than the $115 to $135 Johnson was paying each month on each loan. The contracts had stated APRs ranging from about 23 percent to 46 percent.</p>
<p>But in reality, because Johnson's payments were largely going to interest and other fees, she was taking out small loans with annual rates typically in the triple digits, ranging to more than 800 percent. World also disputed this calculation.</p>
<p>As she continued to pay, World would sometimes increase her balance, providing her a larger payout, but her monthly payment grew as well. It got harder and harder to make it from one Social Security check to the next. In 2010, she took out another loan, this one from an auto-title lender unconnected to World.</p>
<p>Eventually, she gave up on juggling the three loans. By the end of each month, she was out of money. If she had to decide between basic necessities like gas and food and paying the loans, the choice, she finally realized, was easy.</p>
<p>At World, a normal month begins with about 30 percent of customers late on their payments, former employees recalled. Some customers were habitually late because they relied on Social Security or pension checks that came later in the month. They might get hit with a late fee of $10 to $20, but they were otherwise reliable. Others required active attention.</p>
<p>Phone calls are the first resort, and they begin immediately — sometimes even before the payment is due for customers who were frequently delinquent. When repeated calls to the home or cell phone, often several times a day, don't produce a payment, World's employees start calling the borrower at work. Next come calls to friends and family, or whomever the borrower put down as the seven "references" required as part of the loan application.</p>
<p>"We called the references on a daily basis to the point where they got sick of us," said Simmons, who managed the Pine Mountain, Ga., store.</p>
<p>If the phone calls don't work, the next step is to visit the customer at home: "chasing," in the company lingo. "If somebody hung up on us, we would go chase their house," said Kristin from Texas.</p>
<p>The experience can be intimidating for customers, especially when coupled with threats to seize their possessions, but the former employees said they dreaded it, too. "That was the scariest part," recalled Thacker, a former Marine, who as part of his job at World often found himself driving, in the evening, deep into the Georgia countryside to knock on a borrower's door. He was threatened a number of times, he said, once with a baseball bat.</p>
<p>Visits to the borrower's workplace are also common. The visits and calls at work often continue even after borrowers ask the company to stop, according to complaints from World customers to the Federal Trade Commission.&#160; <a href="//www.propublica.org/documents/item/699469-world-finance-ftc-complaints" type="external">Some borrowers complained</a>&#160;the company's harassment risked getting them fired.</p>
<p>ProPublica obtained the FTC complaints for World and several other installment loan companies through a Freedom of Information Act request. They show consistent tactics across the industry: the repeated phone calls, the personal visits.</p>
<p>After she stopped paying, Johnson remembered, World employees called her two to three times a day. One employee threatened to "get some stuff at your house," she said, but she wasn't cowed. "I said, 'You guys can get this stuff if you want it.'" In addition, a World employee knocked on her door at least three times, she said.</p>
<p>The goal of the calls and visits, former employees said, is only partly to prod the customer to make a payment. Frequently, it's also to persuade them to renew the loan.</p>
<p>"That's [World's] favorite phrase: 'Pay and renew, pay and renew, pay and renew,'" Simmons said. "It was drilled into us."</p>
<p>It's a tempting offer: Instead of just scrambling for the money to make that month's payment, the borrower gets some money back. And the renewal pushes the loan's next due date 30 days into the future, buying time.</p>
<p>But the payouts for these renewals are often small, sometimes minuscule. In two of the contracts ProPublica examined, the customer agreed to start the loan all over again in exchange for no money at all. At other times, payouts were as low as $1, even when, as in one instance, the new loan's balance was more than $3,000.</p>
<p>For Sutton, making her monthly payments was always a struggle. She remembered that when she called World to let them know she was going to be late with a payment, they insisted that she come in and renew the loan instead.</p>
<p>As a result, seven months after getting the original $207 loan from World, Sutton wasn't making her final payment. Instead, she was renewing the loan for the second time. Altogether, she had borrowed $336, made $300 in payments, and now owed another $390. She was going backward.</p>
<p>A summons of garnishment Katrina Sutton received. When World Finance discovered that it could not garnish Sutton’s wages, the company put a hold on her “payroll card,” a kind of debit card provided by her employer. She was left without any money to pay for the gas she needed to get to work. (Erik S. Lesser/EPA for ProPublica)</p>
<p>Not long after that second renewal, Sutton said, Walmart reduced her hours, and there simply wasn't enough money to go around. "I called them at the time to say I didn't have money to pay them," she said. World told her she had to pay.</p>
<p>The&#160;phone calls and home visitsfollowed. A World employee visited the Walmart store where she worked three times, she recalled.</p>
<p>World didn't dispute that its employees came to Sutton's workplace, but it said that attempts to contact "any borrower at her place of employment would occur only after attempts to contact the borrower at her residence had failed."</p>
<p>In Georgia, World had another path to force Sutton to pay: suing her.</p>
<p>World files thousands of such suits each year in Georgia and other states, according to a review of court filings, but the company declined to provide precise figures.</p>
<p>Because Sutton had a job, she was a prime target for a suit. Social Security income is off limits, but with a court judgment, a creditor can garnish up to 25 percent of a debtor's wages in Georgia.</p>
<p>"When we got to sue somebody, [World] saw that as the jackpot," Buys said. In her Oklahoma store, collecting the junk people had pledged as collateral was considered useless. Garnishment was a more reliable way for the company to get its money, and any legal fees were the borrower's problem.</p>
<p>World said 11 of the states where it operates permit lenders to "garnish customers' wages for repayment of loans, but the Company does not otherwise generally resort to litigation for collection purposes, and rarely attempts to foreclose on collateral."</p>
<p>The sheriff served Sutton with a summons at Walmart, in front of her co-workers. Sutton responded with a written note to the court, saying she would pay but could only afford $20 per month. A court date was set, and when she appeared, she was greeted by the branch manager who had given her the original loan. The manager demanded Sutton pay $25 every two weeks. She agreed.</p>
<p>For five months, Sutton kept up the payments. Then, because of taxes she had failed to pay years earlier, she said, the IRS seized a portion of her paycheck. Again, she stopped paying World. In response, the company filed to garnish her wages, but World received nothing: Sutton was earning too little for the company to legally get a slice of her pay. After two months, World took another step.</p>
<p>Sutton's wages are paid via a "payroll card," a kind of debit card provided by Walmart. World filed to seize from Sutton's card the $450 it claimed she owed. By that point, she'd made more than $600 in payments to the company.</p>
<p>The immediate result of the action was to freeze Sutton's account, her only source of income. She couldn't gas up her car. As a result, she couldn't drive to work.</p>
<p>Sutton said she called a number for World's corporate office in a panic. "I said, 'You're gonna leave me with no money to live on?'" The World employee said the company had had no choice because Sutton didn't hold up her end of their agreement, Sutton recalled, and then the employee made an offer: If Sutton's available wages in her account hadn't covered her total debt to World after 30 days, the company would unfreeze her account and allow her to start a new payment plan.</p>
<p>Desperate, she gave up trying to deal with the company on her own and went to Georgia Legal Services Program, a nonprofit that represents low-income clients across the state.</p>
<p>"Her case is terribly egregious," said Michael Tafelski, a lawyer with GLSP who specializes in collections cases and represented Sutton. World had overstated the amount Sutton legally owed, he said, and circumvented laws limiting the amount of funds creditors can seize. In effect, the company was garnishing 100 percent of her wages. It's "unlike anything I have ever seen," Tafelski said, "and I have seen a lot of shady collectors."</p>
<p>After Tafelski threatened to sue World, the company beat a quick retreat. It dismissed all open cases against Sutton and declared her obligation satisfied.</p>
<p>In its response to ProPublica, World claimed that Tafelski had bullied the billion-dollar company: "Mr. Tafelski used abusive out of court threats to accomplish an end he knew he could not obtain through legal process."</p>
<p>"It's common practice among lawyers to contact the opposing party to attempt to resolve problems quickly, without filing a lawsuit, especially in emergency cases like this one," Tafelski said.</p>
<p>As for Sutton, she had missed several days of work, but her account was unfrozen, and she was done with World Finance forever.</p>
<p>"If I'd known then what I know now," she said, "I'd never have fooled with them."</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | story was160 coproduced marketplace listen to160 coverage one day late last year katrina sutton stood gas pump outside atlanta swiped debit card insufficient funds couldnt shed careful wait 270 paycheck walmart hit account money wasnt without gas couldnt get work tried panic called card company couldnt help funds frozen told world finance sutton lives georgia state banned payday loans world finance billiondollar company peddles installment loans product often drives borrowers similar quagmire debt world one americas largest providers installment loans industry thrives least 19 states mostly south midwest claims 10 million customers survived recent efforts lawmakers curtail lending carries exorbitant interest rates fees installment lenders included 2006 federal law banned selling classes loans annual percentage rate 36 percent service members companies often set shop near gates military bases offering loans annual rates soar triple digits installment loans around decades payday loans usually due matter weeks installment loans get paid back installments time months years types loans marketed lowincome consumers trap borrowers cycle recurring expensive loans installment loans deceptively expensive world competitors push customers renew loans transforming industry touts safe responsible way pay debt kind credit card skyhigh annual rates sometimes 200 percent state laws force companies charge lower rates often sell borrowers unnecessary insurance products rarely provide benefit consumer effectively double loans annual percentage rate former world employees say instructed tell customers insurance voluntary borrowers fall behind payments calls customers home workplace well friends relatives routine next come home visits sutton many others discovered worlds threats sue customers often real consumer financial protection bureau new federal agency charged overseeing consumerfinance products services power sue nonbank lenders violating federal laws could also make larger installment lenders subject regular examinations hasnt yet done installment companies supported republican efforts weaken agency echoing concerns raised lending industry whole cfpb declined comment potential rulemaking enforcement action despite customer base might best described subsubprime world comfortably survived financial crisis stock trades nasdaq companys corporate name world acceptance corp nearly tripled price last three years company services 800000 customers upward 1000 offices 13 states also extends mexico 120000 customers written response questions story world argued company provides valuable service customers might otherwise qualify credit loans carefully underwritten affordable borrowers company said since loans involve set monthly payments come builtin financial discipline company denied deceives customers saying trains employees tell borrowers insurance products voluntary also informs customers writing said contacts delinquent borrowers workplace failed reach homes resorts lawsuits recoup delinquent payments accordance state laws world values customers company wrote customers demonstrate repeat business value service products world offers installment industry promotes products consumerfriendly alternative payday loans installment loans safest form consumer credit said bill himpler executive vice president american financial services association world major installment lenders members 5 percent worlds customers approximately 40000 service members families company said according defense department activeduty military personnel dependents comprise 1 percent us population 160 back august 2009 suttons 1997 crown victoria needed fixing paychecks put months half paycheck went studentloan bills stemming pursuit associate degree university phoenix living mother grandparents saved rent parttime job walmart cashier didnt provide much leeway short month needed car get work said happened pass world finance storefront strip mall mcdonough ga neon sign advertised loans mirrored windows assured privacy went inside credit check showed fico score 500something sutton remembered putting creditworthiness bottom 25 percent borrowers didnt problem giving loan she160walked check 207 pay back agreed make seven monthly payments 50 total 350 loan papers said annual percentage rate includes interest well fees 90 percent sutton received world employees call starter loan thats something paige buys learned hired work world finance branch chandler okla age 18 point dim notion world 19 named branch manager youngest company history remembered told learned lot understood conflicted felt hated business said hated people couldnt quit storefront lies towns main artery route 66 much like one sutton got loan behind darkened windows sit couple desks fake tree walls nearly bare typical world storefronts resembles accountants office payday loan store buys said prospective borrower virtually guaranteed qualify loan least 200 low credit scores common former employees said world teaches employees home something else whether least small portion borrowers monthly income isnt already consumed debts accounting bills nominal living expenses customer still money left world take written response world said purpose underwriting procedures ensure borrower enough income make required payments exceptions world requires customers pledge personal possessions collateral company seize dont pay riskier client items required list former employees say sutton offered two familys televisions dvd player playstation computer together amounted 1600 value according contract addition world listed car limits world lenders ask borrowers pledge rules issued 1984 federal trade commission put household goods appliances furniture clothing limits borrower asked literally offer shirt back one television one radio also protected among items rules old make mention computers video game systems jewelry chainsaws firearms among items listed worlds standard collateral form contracts warn several places world right seize possessions borrower defaults started threatening world customer brunswick ga said didnt make two payments would back truck take furniture lawn mower fact furniture among items protected ftc rule woman asked remain anonymous feared companys employees upset prospect company taking piano filed bankruptcy protection last year fact former world employees said exceedingly rare company actually repossess personal items youve got brokendown xbox going asked kristin worked world branch texas 2012 fear retaliation asked last name used world supervisors would tell us know never going repossess stuff unless car buys said world acknowledged response repossessions rare said collateral played valuable role motivating borrowers world believes important element consumer protection borrower investment success transaction company wrote borrowers little investment success credit transaction frequently find easier abandon transaction fulfill commitments suttons loan contract said annual percentage rate apr 90 percent wasnt effective rate double 182 percent world legally understate true cost credit loopholes federal law allow lenders package nearly useless insurance products loans omit cost calculating annual rate part loan sutton purchased credit life insurance credit disability insurance automobile insurance nonrecording insurance like borrowers propublica interviewed tell talk fast get loan go right real gibberish insurance products protect world borrower sutton died become disabled totaled car insurer would owed world unpaid portion loan together premiums 200 loan total 76 loans finance charges insurance products provide way world get around rate caps states effectively charge higher rates suttons stated annual percentage rate 90 percent example close maximum legally charged georgia propublica examined than160 100 companys loans 10 states made within last several years clear pattern developed states allowed high rates world simply charged high interest finance fees bother include insurance products small loan like suttons example world charged 204 percent annual rate missouri 140 percent alabama states allow high levels states stringent caps world slapped insurance products stated annual rate lower insurance premiums accounted loans often even expensive highrate states every new person came always hit maximized insurance said matthew thacker worked assistant manager world branch tifton ga 2006 2007 money went back company world profits insurance two ways receives commission insurer since premium typically financed part loan world charges interest consumer screwed six ways sunday said birny birnbaum executive director nonprofit center economic justice former associate commissioner texas department insurance industry data reveal profitable part worlds business world offers products insurer called life south subsidiary publicly traded fortegra financial corp georgia 2011 insurer received 26 million premiums sort auto insurance sutton purchased part loan eighteen million dollars 69 percent sum went right back lenders like world remarkably little money went pay actual insurance claims 5 percent data provided propublica national association insurance commissioners paint similar picture comes life souths products companys credit accident health policies racked 20 million premiums georgia 2011 56 percent went back lenders 14 percent went claims pattern holds states world offers products fortegra declined comment gretchen simmons managed world branch pine mountain ga praised company offering customers loans might able get elsewhere said liked selling accidental death disability insurance loans many clients laborers prone getting finger chopped according several contracts reviewed propublica losing one finger isnt enough make claim borrower loses hand policy pays lump sum instance 5000 according to160 policy loss hand means loss one hand four entire fingers simmons took loan world competitor made sure decline insurance knew premium hundred blah blah blah dollars theyre charging go right pocket deny written response world alleged simmons fired company dishonesty alleged misappropriation funds refused provide details simmons worked world 2005 2008 denied left company bad terms federal rules prohibit financing credit insurance premiums part mortgage allow installment loans installment lenders also legally exclude premiums calculating loans annual percentage rate long borrower select insurer insurance products voluntary loopholes truth lending act federal law regulates consumerfinance products marketed worlds contracts make legally necessary disclosures example insurance products voluntary world requires types insurance obtain loan mandatory insurance suttons contract states borrower may choose person company insurance obtained like customers wouldnt know begin even possible nobody going sell insurance protects loan lender said birnbaum cant go street state farm agent get credit insurance insurance products optional meaning borrower deny coverage still get loan borrowers must sign form saying understand told point said thacker former tifton ga assistant manager world response propublica declined offer statistics percentage loans carry insurance products said employees trained inform borrowers voluntary company offers insurance products states others world said depends state law makes business sense buys former chandler okla branch manager said found inclusion insurance products particularly deceitful oklahoma world charge high interest rates fees loans 1000 typically doesnt include insurance loans often adds products larger loans effect jacking annual rate supposed tell customer could loan without purchasing insurance products never said purchase buys recalled said included loan focused wonderful long tenure buys said began question whether products really required asked family friend attorney law required recalled told didnt world trained employees think financial adviser clients buys said decided take literally customer took new loan started telling hey insurance youre never going use money spend recalled occasionally customer would ask disability insurance included left mostly people preferred take money one day remembered sitting across couple come office renew loan discussing cover costs funeral chandler small town knew sons screen various insurance charges original loan screen blinking like could edit recalled moment realized could advise customers renewing loans could drop insurance previous loans theyd receive several hundred dollars couple excitedly agreed recalled customers also thought good advice dropped products buys regional supervisor threatened discipline buys said hard punish advising customers products voluntary could give stink eye buys said world soon made harder remove insurance premiums buys said couldnt remove instead submit form along letter customer worlds central office office said sometimes required borrowers purchase insurance order get loans world response propublicas questions said buys assertions handled insurance false declined provide details eventually buys said relationship management deteriorated point felt choice quit time left 2011 worked world three years world answers provided propublica said buys quit subject terminated cause including dishonesty alleged misappropriation funds company declined provide details allegations buys quit world filed suit county court accusing stealing money company buys retained attorney responded maintaining innocence demanding proof theft world withdrew suit suttons original loan contract required make seven payments 50 point loan would fully paid world persuade customer renew early loans lifespan company reaps lions share loans charges keeping borrower hook owed begin makes renewing loans profitable world installment lenders goal every single time money available get renew soon youve got another month theyre paying interest says kristin former world employee texas sure enough less four months taking initial loan sutton160agreed renew basic renewal company calls either new loan refinance borrower agrees start loan sutton meant another seven months 50 payments exchange borrower receives payout amount based much borrowers payments date reduced loans principal sutton didnt amount much appears made three payments loan totaling 150 companys accounting opaque sutton record payments renewed loan received 44 suttons payments gone cover interest insurance premiums fees toward principal renewed loan second time different effect similar mortgage amortizes portion payment goes toward interest highest first month decreases payment principal reduced less interest owed month end loan payments go almost entirely toward paying principal world regularly sends mailers employees make frequent phone calls make sure borrowers know funds available every time borrower makes payment according company customer receives receipt reflecting among information remaining balance borrowers loan applicable current new credit available borrower borrower visits branch make payment former employees say employees required make pitch person say let see get money today buys recalled borrower money available account offered former employees said typical pitch went like kristin said oh way youve got 100 available would like take want wait till next month customers would ask well mean buys said say oh youre starting loan know payments company often encourages customers renew loans saying help repair credit scores former employees said since world reports three leading credit bureaus successively renewing loans also makes customers eligible larger loans world renewing loan twice instance sutton received extra 40 taught make customers think beneficial buys said retail ie consumer lending significantly unlike retail operations like forms retail world market services company wrote response questions threequarters companys loans renewals according worlds public filings customers often renew loans two payments according former employees company declined say many renewals occur two payments many times average borrower renews loan renewals granted borrowers expected repay new loan said lawsuits major installment lenders suggest practices common industry160 2010 lawsuit texas160claimed security finance lender 900 locations united states induced borrower renew loan 16 times threeyear period suit settled 2004 oklahoma jury awarded mentally disabled security finance borrower 18 million160 renewed two loans total 37 times company successfully appealed amount damages case settled security finance declined respond questions suits another160 2010 suit sun loan lender 270 office locations claims company convinced husband wife renew loans two dozen times fiveyear period cary barton attorney representing company suit said renewals occur customers request often doesnt enough money make monthly payment previous loan predominance renewals means many worlds customers annual percentage rates loan contracts dont remotely capture real costs borrower takes 12month loan 700 89 percent annual rate example repeatedly renews loan four payments 90 would receive payout 155 renewal effect borrowing 155 loans effective annual rate isnt 89 percent 537 percent world called calculation completely erroneous largely fails account money customer received original transaction worlds calculation annual percentage rate borrower followed pattern renewals three years 110 percent every world office employees say loan files grown inches thick dozens renewals one two world branches emma johnson kennesaw ga customer case demonstrates immensely profitable borrowers like company renewal strategy transform longterm lowerrate loans shortterm loans tripledigit annual rates worlds payday competitors since laid janitorial job 2004 johnson 71 lived primarily social security last year amounted 1139 income per month plus housing voucher food stamps johnson could remember first obtained loan world could remember needed either loans tell however names branch managers charles brittany robin whove come gone years loans still books johnson took first loan world 1993 company said since time taken 48 loans counting new loans refinancings one branch 2001 took loan second branch began similar string renewals johnson finally declared bankruptcy early year two outstanding loans face values 3510 2970 renewed loan least 20 times according credit reports last 10 years made least 21000 payments toward two loans likely several thousand dollars according propublica analysis based credit reports loan documents although stated length loan two years johnson would renew loan average every five months reasons varied said sometimes stuff would pop blue said needed repair one children would need money sometimes enticing get extra hundred dollars acknowledged sense think addicted typically took minutes renew loan said contract contained pages disclosures fine print world employee would flip telling sign recalled loan contracts recent years show payouts small often around 200 wasnt much 115 135 johnson paying month loan contracts stated aprs ranging 23 percent 46 percent reality johnsons payments largely going interest fees taking small loans annual rates typically triple digits ranging 800 percent world also disputed calculation continued pay world would sometimes increase balance providing larger payout monthly payment grew well got harder harder make one social security check next 2010 took another loan one autotitle lender unconnected world eventually gave juggling three loans end month money decide basic necessities like gas food paying loans choice finally realized easy world normal month begins 30 percent customers late payments former employees recalled customers habitually late relied social security pension checks came later month might get hit late fee 10 20 otherwise reliable others required active attention phone calls first resort begin immediately sometimes even payment due customers frequently delinquent repeated calls home cell phone often several times day dont produce payment worlds employees start calling borrower work next come calls friends family whomever borrower put seven references required part loan application called references daily basis point got sick us said simmons managed pine mountain ga store phone calls dont work next step visit customer home chasing company lingo somebody hung us would go chase house said kristin texas experience intimidating customers especially coupled threats seize possessions former employees said dreaded scariest part recalled thacker former marine part job world often found driving evening deep georgia countryside knock borrowers door threatened number times said baseball bat visits borrowers workplace also common visits calls work often continue even borrowers ask company stop according complaints world customers federal trade commission160 borrowers complained160the companys harassment risked getting fired propublica obtained ftc complaints world several installment loan companies freedom information act request show consistent tactics across industry repeated phone calls personal visits stopped paying johnson remembered world employees called two three times day one employee threatened get stuff house said wasnt cowed said guys get stuff want addition world employee knocked door least three times said goal calls visits former employees said partly prod customer make payment frequently also persuade renew loan thats worlds favorite phrase pay renew pay renew pay renew simmons said drilled us tempting offer instead scrambling money make months payment borrower gets money back renewal pushes loans next due date 30 days future buying time payouts renewals often small sometimes minuscule two contracts propublica examined customer agreed start loan exchange money times payouts low 1 even one instance new loans balance 3000 sutton making monthly payments always struggle remembered called world let know going late payment insisted come renew loan instead result seven months getting original 207 loan world sutton wasnt making final payment instead renewing loan second time altogether borrowed 336 made 300 payments owed another 390 going backward summons garnishment katrina sutton received world finance discovered could garnish suttons wages company put hold payroll card kind debit card provided employer left without money pay gas needed get work erik lesserepa propublica long second renewal sutton said walmart reduced hours simply wasnt enough money go around called time say didnt money pay said world told pay the160phone calls home visitsfollowed world employee visited walmart store worked three times recalled world didnt dispute employees came suttons workplace said attempts contact borrower place employment would occur attempts contact borrower residence failed georgia world another path force sutton pay suing world files thousands suits year georgia states according review court filings company declined provide precise figures sutton job prime target suit social security income limits court judgment creditor garnish 25 percent debtors wages georgia got sue somebody world saw jackpot buys said oklahoma store collecting junk people pledged collateral considered useless garnishment reliable way company get money legal fees borrowers problem world said 11 states operates permit lenders garnish customers wages repayment loans company otherwise generally resort litigation collection purposes rarely attempts foreclose collateral sheriff served sutton summons walmart front coworkers sutton responded written note court saying would pay could afford 20 per month court date set appeared greeted branch manager given original loan manager demanded sutton pay 25 every two weeks agreed five months sutton kept payments taxes failed pay years earlier said irs seized portion paycheck stopped paying world response company filed garnish wages world received nothing sutton earning little company legally get slice pay two months world took another step suttons wages paid via payroll card kind debit card provided walmart world filed seize suttons card 450 claimed owed point shed made 600 payments company immediate result action freeze suttons account source income couldnt gas car result couldnt drive work sutton said called number worlds corporate office panic said youre gon na leave money live world employee said company choice sutton didnt hold end agreement sutton recalled employee made offer suttons available wages account hadnt covered total debt world 30 days company would unfreeze account allow start new payment plan desperate gave trying deal company went georgia legal services program nonprofit represents lowincome clients across state case terribly egregious said michael tafelski lawyer glsp specializes collections cases represented sutton world overstated amount sutton legally owed said circumvented laws limiting amount funds creditors seize effect company garnishing 100 percent wages unlike anything ever seen tafelski said seen lot shady collectors tafelski threatened sue world company beat quick retreat dismissed open cases sutton declared obligation satisfied response propublica world claimed tafelski bullied billiondollar company mr tafelski used abusive court threats accomplish end knew could obtain legal process common practice among lawyers contact opposing party attempt resolve problems quickly without filing lawsuit especially emergency cases like one tafelski said sutton missed several days work account unfrozen done world finance forever id known know said id never fooled 160 | 3,566 |
<p>Brian Cahn/ZUMA</p>
<p />
<p>Did Jeb Bush help launch a covert mission to airlift thousands of Ethiopian Jews to Israel in the 1980s, saving them from starvation?</p>
<p>He says he did. Twice in the past week his campaign has posted blog posts on its website making this claim in order to tout Bush’s record on Israel and to show his foreign policy chops. One <a href="https://jeb2016.com/operation-moses/" type="external">reads</a>:</p>
<p>In the 1980’s thousands of members of the Jewish community had fled their homeland due to famine for a refugee camp in Sudan. Jeb, hearing of the conditions in the camp and the persecution these Jews were suffering, suggested to Reagan-Bush officials that the United States had a duty to support a massive airlift. The resulting effort, Operation Moses, made history when Israeli planes, with American support, brought these Jews to the homeland of the Jewish people, the State of Israel.</p>
<p>But Bush’s campaign boast is false. Bush, then 31 years old and a fledgling developer in Miami, had nothing to do with with Operation Moses, the secret operation that rescued nearly 8,000 Jews in Africa. And he played no role in triggering the rescue effort by prodding the Reagan-Bush administration to take action. However, he—and several other Americans—did play a bit part in a subsequent effort to rescue about 900 Ethiopian Jews left behind when Operation Moses was halted abruptly in early 1985.</p>
<p>Here’s what happened:</p>
<p>In the mid-1980s, Ethiopia was struck by a drought and famine that ultimately killed 400,000 people. The famine sent thousands of Ethiopians fleeing to neighboring Sudan, where they ended up in refugee camps along the border. Among those fleeing were <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/05/world/ethiopian-israeli-accord-eases-jewish-emigration.html" type="external">about 12,000</a> black Jews who are sometimes referred to as the lost tribe of Israel. The Ethiopian Jews claimed a lineage to Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, and when they started walking to Sudan, many believed they were fulfilling an ancient prophecy in which they would be led back to Jerusalem.</p>
<p>The Israeli government was, in fact, helping to fulfill that prophecy. Since 1978, the Jewish state had been secretly smuggling small numbers of Jews out of Ethiopia. Once the famine hit Ethiopia, thousands of Jews started turning up in refugee camps in Sudan, a country with a large Muslim population and which is officially a foe of Israel. The Ethiopian Jews in the camps were dying at a much higher rate than other refugees, <a href="http://http://articles.latimes.com/1985-07-08/news/mn-9858_1_ethiopian-jews" type="external">in part because of anti-Semitism</a>. So the Israelis stepped up their rescue mission. Between November 1984 and January 1985, in a plan hatched by Jerry Weaver, then the refugee affairs coordinator at the American embassy in Khartoum, the Israelis used a Belgian airline to airlift nearly 8,000 starving Ethiopian Jews out of Sudan. This remarkable and successful covert operation was called Operation Moses.</p>
<p>The operation, though, came to a screeching halt after Israel inexplicably announced its existence in January 1985. Arab governments were in an uproar, as was Ethiopia’s. Sudan put a halt to the mission, leaving about 900 Ethiopian Jews stranded in refugee camps. In <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1985/01/21/world/sudan-s-president-says-all-refugees-are-free-to-leave.html" type="external">a front-page interview</a>with the New York Times‘ Judith Miller shortly after the operation became public, Sudanese President Jafaar Numeiri claimed that the Ethiopian Jews were free to leave, but he said he couldn’t let them go to Israel, which, he said, “knows that I am its enemy.”</p>
<p>The public plight of the Ethiopian Jews, many of whom were still walking to Sudan in hopes of a plane ride to Israel, caught the attention of several wealthy Jewish Americans, who saw a chance for the United States to atone for its failure to save European Jews during World War II. They began a lobbying campaign to push the Reagan-Bush administration to intervene and pick up where the Israelis had left off. Phil Blazer, the California founder of Jewish Life TV, and some other wealthy backers arranged to charter a private plane that would rescue the Jews. But “the CIA got all pissed off at me,” Blazer told me, and he canceled the mission.</p>
<p>Blazer then sought help from Sens. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) and Alfonse D’Amato (R-N.Y.). The pair jumped on the cause and managed in a single day to get <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/1985-03-26/news/mn-28785_1_alan-cranston" type="external">all 100 US senators to sign a secret letter</a> to President Ronald Reagan requesting a US rescue mission for the Jews in Sudan. The letter was delivered to the White House on February 21, 1985. (Members of the House drafted a similar letter.)</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Vice President George H.W. Bush was scheduled to visit Sudan and other famine-ravaged areas of Africa 11 days later. Blazer wanted to meet with Bush in Washington before the trip to press for an airlift. He says Secretary of State George Shultz was unhappy with the Israelis for blowing up Operation Moses and didn’t want Blazer to meet with Bush or the US to get involved with rescuing the remaining refugees.</p>
<p>So Blazer tried to pull some strings to ensure that Bush would see him. He asked Hollywood film producer Jerry Weintraub, a close friend of the Bush family, to call the vice president and ask that he meet with Blazer. Weintraub made the call.</p>
<p>Blazer also contacted another friend, Ronald Krongold, a Florida real estate developer who was active in Jewish causes—and who was a friend of Jeb Bush. Two years earlier, Krongold had escorted Jeb and his wife on a trip to Israel (using airline tickets he got from Blazer for the Bushes).</p>
<p>Blazer says he asked&#160;Krongold to get Jeb to try to ensure that the vice president would see Blazer. (Krongold did not respond to a request for comment.) Jeb did, and in the middle of a big lobbying campaign—with all the senators and others pressing the White House—George H.W. Bush had a private audience with Blazer. Blazer presented the vice president with a book about the US government’s refusal to rescue European Jews during World War II. Blazer recalls that the vice president was deeply moved by the plight of the Ethiopians. The day before the vice president left for Khartoum, he <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2324905-ethiopian-jewish-rescue-letter-2-1.html" type="external">sent Blazer a note</a> saying, “I really want to help.”</p>
<p>George H.W. Bush made good on his promise and persuaded President Numeiri to allow the United States to fly the rest of the stranded Jews out of the country, in what would become known as Operation Joshua. (The Israelis dubbed it Operation Sheba). About two weeks after the vice president left Sudan, Blazer says he got a call from him: “He tells me that in 45 minutes, 1,000 Jews will be arriving in Israel.” About 10 C-130 transport planes flown by US Air Force pilots had swooped into Sudan and gathered up the refugees.</p>
<p>Blazer says he’s surprised that Jeb Bush hasn’t hyped this story more on the campaign trail. But how much credit can he claim? Congress was already leaning on the White House; others were calling for the Reagan-Bush administration to take action. “The way I look at it is that Jeb Bush and Jerry Weintraub were important in making the meeting between myself and the vice president happen,” Blazer says. “They were involved. Who was the more important catalyst? I don’t know. But they were both involved.”</p>
<p>In any event, Jeb had nothing to do with the original Operation Moses. The Bush campaign did not respond to a request for comment. His participation in the lobbying campaign that led to Operation Joshua may have been important, but it doesn’t match his claim that a major and top-secret rescue mission resulted due to his involvement. Blazer doesn’t care; he is supporting Bush in 2016. “Jeb, I owe him for the rest of my life,” Blazer says. “He’s part of this family of Operation Joshua. Whatever degree he was helpful, he was helpful in saving lives.”</p>
<p>Update 9/3/15: After this article was published, the Bush campaign <a href="https://jeb2016.com/operation-joshua/" type="external">altered its website page</a> that boasted of Bush’s crucial role in Operation Moses. The new version substituted “Operation Joshua” for “Operation Moses.” But the site is still wrong. Bush did have a tangential role in Operation Joshua, yet his campaign site now describes the mission as one that “made history when Israeli planes, with American support, brought these Jews to the homeland of the Jewish people, the State of Israel.” That description is not accurate. It fits Operation Moses, not Operation Joshua. During Operation Joshua, US Air Force pilots flew the American—not Israeli—C-130 planes that that took the 900 or so Ethiopian Jews to Israel. Sudan had prohibited Israel from rescuing any more Jews from the refugee camps there, so the United States took over the job.</p>
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<p /> | true | 4 | brian cahnzuma jeb bush help launch covert mission airlift thousands ethiopian jews israel 1980s saving starvation says twice past week campaign posted blog posts website making claim order tout bushs record israel show foreign policy chops one reads 1980s thousands members jewish community fled homeland due famine refugee camp sudan jeb hearing conditions camp persecution jews suffering suggested reaganbush officials united states duty support massive airlift resulting effort operation moses made history israeli planes american support brought jews homeland jewish people state israel bushs campaign boast false bush 31 years old fledgling developer miami nothing operation moses secret operation rescued nearly 8000 jews africa played role triggering rescue effort prodding reaganbush administration take action however heand several americansdid play bit part subsequent effort rescue 900 ethiopian jews left behind operation moses halted abruptly early 1985 heres happened mid1980s ethiopia struck drought famine ultimately killed 400000 people famine sent thousands ethiopians fleeing neighboring sudan ended refugee camps along border among fleeing 12000 black jews sometimes referred lost tribe israel ethiopian jews claimed lineage solomon queen sheba started walking sudan many believed fulfilling ancient prophecy would led back jerusalem israeli government fact helping fulfill prophecy since 1978 jewish state secretly smuggling small numbers jews ethiopia famine hit ethiopia thousands jews started turning refugee camps sudan country large muslim population officially foe israel ethiopian jews camps dying much higher rate refugees part antisemitism israelis stepped rescue mission november 1984 january 1985 plan hatched jerry weaver refugee affairs coordinator american embassy khartoum israelis used belgian airline airlift nearly 8000 starving ethiopian jews sudan remarkable successful covert operation called operation moses operation though came screeching halt israel inexplicably announced existence january 1985 arab governments uproar ethiopias sudan put halt mission leaving 900 ethiopian jews stranded refugee camps frontpage interviewwith new york times judith miller shortly operation became public sudanese president jafaar numeiri claimed ethiopian jews free leave said couldnt let go israel said knows enemy public plight ethiopian jews many still walking sudan hopes plane ride israel caught attention several wealthy jewish americans saw chance united states atone failure save european jews world war ii began lobbying campaign push reaganbush administration intervene pick israelis left phil blazer california founder jewish life tv wealthy backers arranged charter private plane would rescue jews cia got pissed blazer told canceled mission blazer sought help sens alan cranston dcalif alfonse damato rny pair jumped cause managed single day get 100 us senators sign secret letter president ronald reagan requesting us rescue mission jews sudan letter delivered white house february 21 1985 members house drafted similar letter meanwhile vice president george hw bush scheduled visit sudan famineravaged areas africa 11 days later blazer wanted meet bush washington trip press airlift says secretary state george shultz unhappy israelis blowing operation moses didnt want blazer meet bush us get involved rescuing remaining refugees blazer tried pull strings ensure bush would see asked hollywood film producer jerry weintraub close friend bush family call vice president ask meet blazer weintraub made call blazer also contacted another friend ronald krongold florida real estate developer active jewish causesand friend jeb bush two years earlier krongold escorted jeb wife trip israel using airline tickets got blazer bushes blazer says asked160krongold get jeb try ensure vice president would see blazer krongold respond request comment jeb middle big lobbying campaignwith senators others pressing white housegeorge hw bush private audience blazer blazer presented vice president book us governments refusal rescue european jews world war ii blazer recalls vice president deeply moved plight ethiopians day vice president left khartoum sent blazer note saying really want help george hw bush made good promise persuaded president numeiri allow united states fly rest stranded jews country would become known operation joshua israelis dubbed operation sheba two weeks vice president left sudan blazer says got call tells 45 minutes 1000 jews arriving israel 10 c130 transport planes flown us air force pilots swooped sudan gathered refugees blazer says hes surprised jeb bush hasnt hyped story campaign trail much credit claim congress already leaning white house others calling reaganbush administration take action way look jeb bush jerry weintraub important making meeting vice president happen blazer says involved important catalyst dont know involved event jeb nothing original operation moses bush campaign respond request comment participation lobbying campaign led operation joshua may important doesnt match claim major topsecret rescue mission resulted due involvement blazer doesnt care supporting bush 2016 jeb owe rest life blazer says hes part family operation joshua whatever degree helpful helpful saving lives update 9315 article published bush campaign altered website page boasted bushs crucial role operation moses new version substituted operation joshua operation moses site still wrong bush tangential role operation joshua yet campaign site describes mission one made history israeli planes american support brought jews homeland jewish people state israel description accurate fits operation moses operation joshua operation joshua us air force pilots flew americannot israelic130 planes took 900 ethiopian jews israel sudan prohibited israel rescuing jews refugee camps united states took job 160 | 831 |
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<p>Friday, 4/20 is the official, unofficial, national pot smoking day. This means that we get to talk about pot, if not smoke it today here on <a href="" type="internal">addictinginfo.org</a>. As a former pothead, I’m setting up my Cheetos and a dish of&#160; peanut butter for dipping, in honor of stony days long gone by.&#160; As a liberal, I have no issue with the plant, particularly when mixed in a well prepared gingersnap cookie. As a red-state mother however, there is no chance in heck that I’d risk my kids by using marijuana.</p>
<p>Sad isn’t it?&#160; The biggest risk of smoking pot is going to jail, and maybe losing your family. Can you think of any other behavior for which you could go to jail and lose your family that makes less sense?&#160; I mean, one might go to jail if they got drunk and drove through a Wal-Mart, or they might lose their child if they beat them with a frying pan and those punishments make sense to me. But jail for pot?&#160; Loss of custody over pot?&#160; You can get drunk and pass out on the couch every night and you won’t lose your kid, but if you smoke a joint while they’re at school and a DFS worker finds out, your kid could easily be gone <a href="http://www.aclu.org/blog/criminal-law-reform-racial-justice/smoke-pot-lose-your-kid-if-youre-black" type="external">(particularly if you’re black).&#160;</a></p>
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<p>And so, I don’t smoke pot because I know that the reality is that the <a href="http://debatepedia.idebate.org/en/index.php/Debate:_Legalization_of_Marijuana#Background_and_content" type="external">biggest risk of marijuana is the law</a>. In America about 800,000 people per year are arrested for marijuana related crimes. According to a team of 300 economists including 3 Nobel Laureates, marijuana prohibition costs the nation about <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1261226756" type="external">7.7 billion dollars in enforcement costs.</a> <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/17/economists-marijuana-legalization_n_1431840.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009" type="external">&#160;</a> I find this to be absolutely ridiculous in face of the fact that pot is less physically harmful than cigarettes, chewing tobacco, obesity or alcohol.&#160; Unlike these vices, marijuana has never once been found as a cause of death. In fact the CDC doesn’t even have a category for deaths caused by marijuana, whereas nicotine, alcohol and obesity all contribute to massive numbers of deaths nationwide each year.</p>
<p>In fact, we all know that some people smoke pot to get better, not just without concern of dying.&#160; Marijuana has been shown to have medicinal effects for a number of diseases, but there is no actual way for the system of medicine that exists in the U.S. today to recognize this unless we reduce it from its current classification as a <a href="http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/schedules/index.html#define" type="external">Schedule I Controlled Substance</a>.&#160; This classification prohibits us from putting it through vigorous FDA testing to determine the validity of medical use claims, or the proper way to use marijuana so that it can best treat the ailments it most likely has the ability affect. Without this knowledge it is impossible to expect that it not be misused by those who may or may not have medical ailments. Until it is reclassified, and put through that testing by the FDA so that doctors can knowledgeably prescribe it, this pot loving gal doesn’t support the current medical marijuana movement.</p>
<p>I’ll tell you what I do support.&#160; I support making it legal in the manner that alcohol is for three reasons.&#160; First, this would relieve the judicial system so that they may better devote time and energy to sending probation officers to do their job correctly so little girls don’t sit in tents in their abusers back yards for 18 or 20 years at a time while popping out their rapists’ babies. That seems like a better investment than having that same P.O. stand over some guy’s shoulder watching him pee in a cup over a joint.&#160; Second, legalization would also relieve the medical community of this false medical marijuana industry, till the FDA can do its job, while not actually preventing real patients from getting their medicine. Finally, decriminalizing marijuana would be decriminalizing a whole lot of people who you and I love, who use the drug for one reason or another and don’t deserve to have to be criminals for it.</p>
<p>But Wait- There’s more!&#160; This is the best part folks:&#160; If we decriminalize marijuana and treat it like alcohol we not only unburden our courts, our jails, the medical profession and our loving friends and family – – – That same team of economists that predicted that decriminalization would save us $7.7 billion dollars also predicts that we can make an estimated $6 billion dollars a year in tax revenue!&#160; For those of you at home, doing the math, that totals an estimated savings of <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/17/economists-marijuana-legalization_n_1431840.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009" type="external">13.7 billion dollars, just from decriminalizing the drug and then taxing it like alcohol.</a></p>
<p>Think about the economic growth that would come with an industry that could contribute 6 billion dollars in taxation!&#160; Economist Stephen Easton wrote in BusinessWeek that legalizing the pot could bring into existence a brand new $45 to $100 billion per year industry.&#160; &#160;&#160;Talk about preventing outsourcing, wouldn’t you prefer to keep that new market growth in places like California or Tennessee rather than give it to a Colombian drug lord?</p>
<p>I sure as heck would.</p>
<p>I’d also like to be able to smoke a joint once in a while, without vilification.&#160; I’d like to kick my feet back and get no more inebriated than any other mom on cocktail night with the girls, pay taxes on my high, munch down something ridiculous, laugh a little, have some fun and do it all without a hangover. I don’t feel dirty or wrong or bad for wanting that.&#160; I don’t think the people I know and love who use this drug for recreation or medicine deserve to feel that way either.</p>
<p>The fact is, that most Americans agree with me, and a good many of them will be partaking in the use of marijuana in illegal and pseudo-legal ways this Friday. It’s too damn bad we aren’t charging taxes on their celebration of this event. I can think of a few drug lords in South America who are certainly raking it in, hand over fist in fits of violence, and that disturbs me. It makes me ask what the motivation is to keep this drug illegal and who is pushing that agenda.</p>
<p>I’m gonna bet it’s the either the rich <a href="http://www.truthaboutcannabis.org/?page_id=198" type="external">drug dealing murderer in Columbia or the guy who owns all those prisons</a>filled with Americans who make the mistake of getting caught with pot. No one else has the incentive.&#160; Everyone else wants to get high, or at least stop wasting time on those who do.</p>
<p>My youngest kid is six.&#160; Unless things change here in America, it’ll be 2024 before I feel comfortable partaking in my favorite holiday and risking the criminality of a harmless high.&#160; In the meantime, for those so inclined, take a puff for me.&#160; Happy &#160;4:20 to those who celebrate, to those who sit it out, and to those who proved that none of us should have to sit it out.</p>
<p>Please follow my blog <a href="http://thebuckingjenny.blogspot.com/" type="external">thebuckingjenny.blogspot.com</a> and like my page on Facebook <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Bucking-Jenny/260768844001602" type="external">https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Bucking-Jenny/260768844001602</a></p> | true | 4 | friday 420 official unofficial national pot smoking day means get talk pot smoke today addictinginfoorg former pothead im setting cheetos dish of160 peanut butter dipping honor stony days long gone by160 liberal issue plant particularly mixed well prepared gingersnap cookie redstate mother however chance heck id risk kids using marijuana sad isnt it160 biggest risk smoking pot going jail maybe losing family think behavior could go jail lose family makes less sense160 mean one might go jail got drunk drove walmart might lose child beat frying pan punishments make sense jail pot160 loss custody pot160 get drunk pass couch every night wont lose kid smoke joint theyre school dfs worker finds kid could easily gone particularly youre black160 dont smoke pot know reality biggest risk marijuana law america 800000 people per year arrested marijuana related crimes according team 300 economists including 3 nobel laureates marijuana prohibition costs nation 77 billion dollars enforcement costs 160 find absolutely ridiculous face fact pot less physically harmful cigarettes chewing tobacco obesity alcohol160 unlike vices marijuana never found cause death fact cdc doesnt even category deaths caused marijuana whereas nicotine alcohol obesity contribute massive numbers deaths nationwide year fact know people smoke pot get better without concern dying160 marijuana shown medicinal effects number diseases actual way system medicine exists us today recognize unless reduce current classification schedule controlled substance160 classification prohibits us putting vigorous fda testing determine validity medical use claims proper way use marijuana best treat ailments likely ability affect without knowledge impossible expect misused may may medical ailments reclassified put testing fda doctors knowledgeably prescribe pot loving gal doesnt support current medical marijuana movement ill tell support160 support making legal manner alcohol three reasons160 first would relieve judicial system may better devote time energy sending probation officers job correctly little girls dont sit tents abusers back yards 18 20 years time popping rapists babies seems like better investment po stand guys shoulder watching pee cup joint160 second legalization would also relieve medical community false medical marijuana industry till fda job actually preventing real patients getting medicine finally decriminalizing marijuana would decriminalizing whole lot people love use drug one reason another dont deserve criminals wait theres more160 best part folks160 decriminalize marijuana treat like alcohol unburden courts jails medical profession loving friends family team economists predicted decriminalization would save us 77 billion dollars also predicts make estimated 6 billion dollars year tax revenue160 home math totals estimated savings 137 billion dollars decriminalizing drug taxing like alcohol think economic growth would come industry could contribute 6 billion dollars taxation160 economist stephen easton wrote businessweek legalizing pot could bring existence brand new 45 100 billion per year industry160 160160talk preventing outsourcing wouldnt prefer keep new market growth places like california tennessee rather give colombian drug lord sure heck would id also like able smoke joint without vilification160 id like kick feet back get inebriated mom cocktail night girls pay taxes high munch something ridiculous laugh little fun without hangover dont feel dirty wrong bad wanting that160 dont think people know love use drug recreation medicine deserve feel way either fact americans agree good many partaking use marijuana illegal pseudolegal ways friday damn bad arent charging taxes celebration event think drug lords south america certainly raking hand fist fits violence disturbs makes ask motivation keep drug illegal pushing agenda im gon na bet either rich drug dealing murderer columbia guy owns prisonsfilled americans make mistake getting caught pot one else incentive160 everyone else wants get high least stop wasting time youngest kid six160 unless things change america itll 2024 feel comfortable partaking favorite holiday risking criminality harmless high160 meantime inclined take puff me160 happy 160420 celebrate sit proved none us sit please follow blog thebuckingjennyblogspotcom like page facebook httpswwwfacebookcompagesthebuckingjenny260768844001602 | 622 |
<p>Tom Kolossa/Getty Images/iStock</p>
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<p>In January, New Zealanders were surprised to discover that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/feb/01/documents-reveal-how-peter-thiel-was-granted-new-zealand-citizenship" type="external">Peter Thiel</a>, the billionaire PayPal co-founder and Donald Trump adviser whose libertarian proclivities and social quirks were lampooned on HBO’s <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-characters-real-life-2016-6" type="external">Silicon Valley</a>, had quietly become one of them during a 2011 ceremony in Santa Monica, California. Thiel, who owns real estate in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/01/business/peter-thiel-new-zealand-citizenship.html?_r=1" type="external">New Zealand</a>, secured an exception from the country’s residency requirement by emphasizing his business and philanthropic clout, his investments in two Kiwi companies (totaling $7 million), and his donation of nearly $1 million to a local earthquake relief fund. “We do not sell our citizenship; it is earned,” New Zealand’s Ministry of Internal Affairs <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/01/technology/peter-thiel-new-zealand-citizenship/" type="external">claimed</a> after the news broke. Subsequent reports speculated that Thiel, besides being a huge <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/25/technology/peter-thiel-new-zealand-citizenship.html" type="external">Lord of the Rings</a> fan, viewed the country as a survivalist haven in the event of an apocalypse. “I have found no other country that aligns more with my view of the future” is all Thiel would say.</p>
<p>Thiel’s little secret came as no surprise to David Lesperance. The Canadian-born lawyer is among the world’s leading champions of transnational exit plans for the superwealthy. Business is booming. Lesperance says he has expatriated more than 300 ultrarich Americans to date—he calls them “golden geese”—and has set up contingency plans for countless others. Thiel is not a client, but Lesperance says several household-name techies are. Mad Max scenarios aside, their goal is tax avoidance. If that means giving up an American passport, so be it.</p>
<p>Lesperance says his golden-geese range in net worth from about $25 million all the way up to (he Googles it) $19 billion. He won’t discuss his clients by name, but they fall into three categories: The first includes company founders and CEOs concerned with succession planning, strategic philanthropy, and the preservation of wealth across generations. Next are people “who sing a song or act or kick or hit a ball”—including several European soccer pros—who earn very high incomes for an “unknown yet finite” period of time. And then there are the “masters of the universe”—the hedge funders, private-equity guys, and venture capitalists.</p>
<p>The latter are beneficiaries of the carried-interest loophole, an accounting trick that treats their compensation as capital gains, which are taxed at a far lower rate than regular income. Both Trump and Hillary Clinton repeatedly promised to close this loophole, and while the president’s Goldman Sachs-packed Cabinet suggests that carried interest isn’t going anywhere, hedgers gonna hedge. “It is really the uncertainty about the future that is driving people like Peter Thiel,” Lesperance says.</p>
<p>A handful of relatively stable nations court wealthy foreigners with sweet tax deals if they become citizens. Poland is a good prospect, Lesperance says. Ditto Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, and Portugal—where “they will not tax you on income and capital gains for 10 years.” Ireland has attracted seven members of the <a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/troubled-grandson-of-us-oil-magnate-1.571191" type="external">Getty</a> clan, as well as Campbell’s soup heir <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/john-dorrance-iii/" type="external">Jack Dorrance III</a> and <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/1995-07-09/the-darts-fear-loathing-and-foam-cups" type="external">Robert Dart</a>, whose family empire produces McDonald’s packaging. (The United States doesn’t offer these kinds of tax breaks to would-be Americans, but its EB-5 visa program gives green cards to immigrants who make a $1 million business investment. American real estate developers—including Trump—have used EB-5 visas to capitalize their projects.)</p>
<p>Lesperance also points out that America is the only nation besides <a href="http://www.renunciationguide.com/citizenship-taxation-and-expatriation-background-and-history/citizenship-based-taxation-international-comparison/" type="external">Eritrea</a> that taxes people based on citizenship, not residency. This means an expat living and earning income in, say, England, is taxed on those earnings by both countries. The London-based filmmaker and Monty Python alum Terry Gilliam ditched his US citizenship years ago for precisely this reason. “I got tired of paying taxes in a country I don’t live in,” he <a href="" type="internal">told me</a>. “Then I discovered that when I died, my wife would probably have to sell our house to pay for the taxes in America.”</p>
<p>But big names who bail on America can face blowback. In 2012, Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin set off a firestorm after he relinquished his US citizenship and relocated to Singapore in advance of the social network going public. Democratic Sens. Charles Schumer and Bob Casey quickly introduced the <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2012/05/17/schumer-and-caseys-ex-patriot-act-details-of-how-they-plan-to-get-saverins-67m-and-more/" type="external">Ex-Patriot Act</a> to punish erstwhile Americans such as “Mr. Saverin” who, as <a href="https://isaacbrocksociety.wordpress.com/2012/05/26/chuck-schumer-lashes-out-at-petros-on-senate-floor/" type="external">Schumer</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A812lR3twiI" type="external">put it</a> in a speech on the Senate floor, have “chosen to disown the United States to save some money.” Had it passed, the bill would have permanently barred such former citizens from reentering the country, even as tourists, and levied a capital gains tax of 30 percent on their sales of US assets, retroactive for 10 years.</p>
<p>In <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/flight-of-the-golden-geese-ian-o-angell/1121286940?type=eBook" type="external">Flight of the Golden Geese</a>, a 2015 book Lesperance co-authored with the British economist Ian Angell, he forcefully argues that overtaxing the 1 percent is counterproductive. Sure, the ultrarich may pay lower rates than Warren Buffett’s secretary, but they still account for nearly half of federal income tax revenue. Every time Uncle Sam loses a goose, he warns, federal coffers take a disproportionate hit. Enacting new millionaires taxes, he claims, “will not generate more tax dollars, but will rather most likely have the completely opposite effect.” &#160;</p>
<p>Lesperance was raised in Windsor, Ontario, within spitting distance of Detroit. His father, an engineer for General Motors, built an early computer system to track car parts flowing back and forth, so “I grew up at the breakfast table with cross-border issues.” During his college years, his dad helped him land a summer gig with Canadian customs, interrogating drivers headed in from the United States. Lesperance later paid his way through law school at the University of Saskatchewan by stamping passports at the Toronto airport.</p>
<p>He got into the golden-goose game as a newly minted lawyer in 1990, when he was approached by a Detroit attorney who wanted to quit the United States for tax reasons. The client had already stowed part of his $15 million net worth in an “offshore bucket” and purchased citizenship in St. Kitts and Nevis. Lesperance helped him relinquish his US passport and set up permanent residency in Canada. For three years, the client commuted daily from Windsor to Detroit to wrap up his business while still fulfilling Canada’s residency requirement. He then declared himself a nonresident citizen of Canada and moved to Australia, where a retiree incentive program permanently exempted his offshore trust from taxation. “I thought it was very cool and very cute,” Lesperance says.</p>
<p>He also thought it was a one-off. But referrals began trickling in, aided by a mid-1990s Forbes article naming two of his clients who had fled the taxman. Overall, expatriations of wealthy Americans averaged well under 1,000 a year until 2010, when the number abruptly doubled thanks to the expiration of the Bush tax cuts and the enactment of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, which made it difficult for Americans living abroad to conceal their foreign earnings from the IRS. These golden-goose expatriations hit <a href="https://www.irs.gov/businesses/corporations/summary-of-fatca-reporting-for-u-s-taxpayers" type="external">5,411</a> last year—a record high. Now Lesperance spends most of his time arranging new citizenships. One client, he told me, has collected nine passports—for the bragging rights, mainly: “It had gone far beyond prudence.”</p>
<p>It was probably inevitable that the lawyer would one day act upon his own counsel. When we first spoke, in 2015, Lesperance had arranged a backup citizenship for himself, but he wouldn’t say where. That goose has now flown. You can find him in sunny Portugal.</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | tom kolossagetty imagesistock january new zealanders surprised discover peter thiel billionaire paypal cofounder donald trump adviser whose libertarian proclivities social quirks lampooned hbos silicon valley quietly become one 2011 ceremony santa monica california thiel owns real estate new zealand secured exception countrys residency requirement emphasizing business philanthropic clout investments two kiwi companies totaling 7 million donation nearly 1 million local earthquake relief fund sell citizenship earned new zealands ministry internal affairs claimed news broke subsequent reports speculated thiel besides huge lord rings fan viewed country survivalist event apocalypse found country aligns view future thiel would say thiels little secret came surprise david lesperance canadianborn lawyer among worlds leading champions transnational exit plans superwealthy business booming lesperance says expatriated 300 ultrarich americans datehe calls golden geeseand set contingency plans countless others thiel client lesperance says several householdname techies mad max scenarios aside goal tax avoidance means giving american passport lesperance says goldengeese range net worth 25 million way googles 19 billion wont discuss clients name fall three categories first includes company founders ceos concerned succession planning strategic philanthropy preservation wealth across generations next people sing song act kick hit ballincluding several european soccer proswho earn high incomes unknown yet finite period time masters universethe hedge funders privateequity guys venture capitalists latter beneficiaries carriedinterest loophole accounting trick treats compensation capital gains taxed far lower rate regular income trump hillary clinton repeatedly promised close loophole presidents goldman sachspacked cabinet suggests carried interest isnt going anywhere hedgers gon na hedge really uncertainty future driving people like peter thiel lesperance says handful relatively stable nations court wealthy foreigners sweet tax deals become citizens poland good prospect lesperance says ditto italy switzerland belgium portugalwhere tax income capital gains 10 years ireland attracted seven members getty clan well campbells soup heir jack dorrance iii robert dart whose family empire produces mcdonalds packaging united states doesnt offer kinds tax breaks wouldbe americans eb5 visa program gives green cards immigrants make 1 million business investment american real estate developersincluding trumphave used eb5 visas capitalize projects lesperance also points america nation besides eritrea taxes people based citizenship residency means expat living earning income say england taxed earnings countries londonbased filmmaker monty python alum terry gilliam ditched us citizenship years ago precisely reason got tired paying taxes country dont live told discovered died wife would probably sell house pay taxes america big names bail america face blowback 2012 facebook cofounder eduardo saverin set firestorm relinquished us citizenship relocated singapore advance social network going public democratic sens charles schumer bob casey quickly introduced expatriot act punish erstwhile americans mr saverin schumer put speech senate floor chosen disown united states save money passed bill would permanently barred former citizens reentering country even tourists levied capital gains tax 30 percent sales us assets retroactive 10 years flight golden geese 2015 book lesperance coauthored british economist ian angell forcefully argues overtaxing 1 percent counterproductive sure ultrarich may pay lower rates warren buffetts secretary still account nearly half federal income tax revenue every time uncle sam loses goose warns federal coffers take disproportionate hit enacting new millionaires taxes claims generate tax dollars rather likely completely opposite effect 160 lesperance raised windsor ontario within spitting distance detroit father engineer general motors built early computer system track car parts flowing back forth grew breakfast table crossborder issues college years dad helped land summer gig canadian customs interrogating drivers headed united states lesperance later paid way law school university saskatchewan stamping passports toronto airport got goldengoose game newly minted lawyer 1990 approached detroit attorney wanted quit united states tax reasons client already stowed part 15 million net worth offshore bucket purchased citizenship st kitts nevis lesperance helped relinquish us passport set permanent residency canada three years client commuted daily windsor detroit wrap business still fulfilling canadas residency requirement declared nonresident citizen canada moved australia retiree incentive program permanently exempted offshore trust taxation thought cool cute lesperance says also thought oneoff referrals began trickling aided mid1990s forbes article naming two clients fled taxman overall expatriations wealthy americans averaged well 1000 year 2010 number abruptly doubled thanks expiration bush tax cuts enactment foreign account tax compliance act made difficult americans living abroad conceal foreign earnings irs goldengoose expatriations hit 5411 last yeara record high lesperance spends time arranging new citizenships one client told collected nine passportsfor bragging rights mainly gone far beyond prudence probably inevitable lawyer would one day act upon counsel first spoke 2015 lesperance arranged backup citizenship wouldnt say goose flown find sunny portugal | 745 |
<p>When people who honestly believe a lie learn the truth, they will either cease believing, or they will cease being honest.</p>
<p>–anonymous</p>
<p>Speaker Pelosi, President Bush could have achieved his goal of “regime change” in Iraq quickly and without the violence of war. Saddam Hussein offered, weeks before his country was invaded, to leave Iraq and go into exile. President Bush withheld this offer from public view-and refused it. Nor did the President need to invade Afghanistan to apprehend Osama bin Laden. On five different occasions, George Bush refused a standing offer from the Taliban to surrender Osama bin Laden-three times before 9/11 and twice thereafter, again without public disclosure.</p>
<p>No, the military engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan are not directed against terrorism. They are territorial in nature. Mr. Bush intended from his first days in office to invade the two countries: as early as late January, 2001, his Administration was developing the decisions and beginning the preparations for both military incursions. 9/11 was in the distant future, so the conflicts cannot be exercises in counter-terrorism, as the Bush Administration frequently and dishonestly insists. They are premeditated wars of unprovoked conquest and occupation.</p>
<p>Madam Speaker, if you know this, and if you continue refusing impeachment, then you are a criminal accomplice in violating the trust of the American people-and in violating both U.S. and international law.</p>
<p>If you do not know this truth about the wars, Madam Speaker, you must learn its details and embrace it, and then you must seek with dispatch and justice to impeach George Bush and Richard Cheney.</p>
<p>You claim you don’t have the votes. But to say that is to canvass the jury before the trial begins, before the evidence is presented and scrutinized. When the hideous truth of these wars is finally exposed-as it will be in the impeachment process-you will have the vote of every honest and patriotic member of the House of Representatives, Democrat and Republican alike.</p>
<p>Why isn’t the truth already widely known? There are two reasons. The Bush Administration is infamous for its pathological lying and secrecy: they have done everything in their power to distort or suppress the truth. And the mainstream press has become an engine of entertaining, not informing the American people: it is indifferent to the truth.</p>
<p>But the truth is always there, and it can be discovered in foreign news outlets, in the domestic alternate press, in book-length treatises, and in the passion for truth and unconstrained inquiry displayed by people posting to the Internet. These are the sources for the exposition to follow.</p>
<p>Madam Speaker, if you will not impeach, then you must refute this history, if you can.</p>
<p>THE WARS ARE NOT ABOUT TERRORISM</p>
<p>The Bush Administration’s Curious Behavior</p>
<p>Hours after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, President Bush told the world the United States would take the fight directly to the terrorists and the states that harbored them. Thus the Bush Administration’s “War on Terror” was born.</p>
<p>Less than a month later, on October 7, Mr. Bush launched a savage aerial bombardment of Afghanistan. He had the support of a shocked American citizenry and a sympathetic world, all of whom expected justice to be delivered soon to the terrorist Osama bin Laden and the harboring state embodied in the Taliban.</p>
<p>The incursion into Afghanistan was sold as the first action in the “War on Terror.” It was a brilliantly executed charade.</p>
<p>Flashback to October 12, 2000, a year earlier. The USS Cole, an American Navy destroyer in the Yemeni port of Aden, has suffered heavy damage from a terrorist attack, perpetrated by Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda.</p>
<p>Three weeks later officials of the Clinton Administration met with theTaliban in the Sheraton Hotel in Hamburg, Germany. To avoid a violent retaliation of furious bombing, the Taliban offered the unconditional surrender of Osama bin Laden.</p>
<p>Before the details of the transfer were completed, however, a Supreme Court ruling gave George W. Bush the White House, and the message was passed: the actual handover of bin Laden will be deferred until the Bush Administration is sworn in.</p>
<p>Once in office, the new Administration asked the Taliban to delay the handover of Osama bin Laden at least until February. As winter faded into spring, and spring into summer, the Administration demurred twice more.</p>
<p>Then Osama bin Laden struck again, on September 11, 2001.</p>
<p>On September 15, Taliban officials were flown in U.S. Air Force C-130 aircraft to the Pakistani city of Quetta, where the deal was sweetened. The standing offer of surrendering Osama bin Laden was renewed, but now the Taliban would also oversee the closure of bin Laden’s bases and training camps.</p>
<p>This time the White House simply rejected the offer out of hand. It did so again when the offer was repeated several weeks later, and days after that President Bush ordered the violence to begin.</p>
<p>The invasion of Afghanistan was something vastly different than a quest to apprehend a terrorist..</p>
<p>Sources for this section:</p>
<p>1. “Bush Rejects Taliban Offer to Hand bin Laden Over,” Guardian Unlimited (UK), October 14, 2001.</p>
<p>2. “Bush Rejects Taliban Offer to Surrender bin Laden,” Andrew Buncombe, The Independent (UK), October 15, 2001.</p>
<p>3. “Dreamers and Idiots: Britain and the US did everything to avoid a peaceful solution in Iraq and Afghanistan,” George Monbiot, The Guardian (UK), November 11, 2003.</p>
<p>4. “How Bush Was Offered bin Laden and Blew It,” Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair, CounterPunch, November 1, 2004.</p>
<p>5. “Did Bush try to stop bin Laden in his first eight months in office?” MSNBC Countdown, September 28, 2006.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>The War in Afghanistan</p>
<p>The commitment to invade Afghanistan was made long before 9/11.</p>
<p>The Bush Administration wanted to secure for American energy companies-notably the Enron and Unocal Corporations-the strategic pipeline route across Afghanistan to the Caspian Basin. But the Taliban had signed a contract in 1996 with the Bridas Corporation of Argentina, preempting the route.</p>
<p>Scarcely settled in Washington in early 2001, the Bush Administration immediately pressed the Taliban to rescind the Bridas contract, and undertook planning for military intervention should negotiations fail. Administration officials and the Taliban met for talks three times throughout the spring and summer, in Washington D.C., Berlin, and Islamabad-but to no avail.</p>
<p>At the last session, in August, 2001 the Administration threatened a “carpet of bombs” if the Taliban did not comply. The Taliban would not. Soon thereafter-still weeks before September 11-President Bush notified Pakistan and India he would attack Afghanistan “before the end of October.”</p>
<p>Then 9/11. Then two more refusals of Osama bin Laden’s head. Then, on October 7, the Bush Administration looses the carpet of bombs.</p>
<p>Since then Afghanistan has been supplied with a puppet government, the Bridas contract is history, and the country is dotted today with permanent U.S. military bases in close proximity to the pipeline route. It was a war of conquest and occupation.</p>
<p>Counter-terrorism is scarcely visible. Osama bin Laden remains at large, the yield of “terrorists” to date consists of several hundred iconic and badly treated wretches in Guantanamo Bay, and terrorism in the Middle East has intensified, not diminished.</p>
<p>Sources for this section:</p>
<p>1. “Players on a rigged grand chessboard: Bridas, Unocal, and the Afghanistan pipeline,” Larry Chin, Online Journal, March, 2002.</p>
<p>2. Crude Politics: How Bush’s Oil Cronies Hijacked the War on Terrorism, Paul Sperry, WND Books, 2003.</p>
<p>3. Alexander’s Gas and Oil Connections, February 23, 2003.</p>
<p>4. “A Timeline of Oil and Violence: Afghanistan”, see the website, <a href="http://www.ringnebula.com/Oil/Timeline.htm" type="external">http://www.ringnebula.com/Oil/Timeline.htm</a></p>
<p>5. “Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Worsens Terrorism Threat,” New York Times, September 24, 2006.</p>
<p>6. “From Afghanistan to Iraq: Connecting the Dots with Oil,” Richard W. Behan, AlterNet, February 5, 2007.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>THE WARS ARE ABOUT AMERICAN HEGEMONY-AND OIL</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>The War in Iraq</p>
<p>The template for the invasion of Iraq was crafted in 1992, in Richard Cheney’s Defense Department during the first Bush Administration. It was a document advocating a U.S. posture of singular global dominance in economic, diplomatic, and military power. The authors were Paul Wolfowitz, Zalmay Khalilzad, and Lewis “Scooter” Libby. Their document spoke explicitly about the need to secure “…access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil,” and Iraq was in the crosshairs.</p>
<p>In 1996, the Project for the New American Century was created, touting the term “global hegemony,” and seeking to maintain America’s status as the world’s only superpower, using preemptive war if necessary. Among the founders of the PNAC were the earlier advocates of world dominion: Richard Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, Zalmay Khalilzad, and Lewis “Scooter” Libby. Donald Rumsfeld, and Jeb Bush were founding members as well.</p>
<p>In a 1998 letter to President Clinton the PNAC people once again sought the invasion of Iraq. Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Zalmay Khalilzad, and 15 others signed the letter.</p>
<p>In September of 2000 the Project for the New American Century once more advocated the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. Then four months later, Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Zalmay Khalilzad, Lewis “Scooter” Libby-and 24 others from the PNAC-moved into top positions in the Bush Administration.</p>
<p>The commitment to invade Iraq was made at the first meeting of President Bush’s National Security Council in January of 2001.</p>
<p>The rationale was ideological, apparently: by means of a preemptive war, to take an initial step toward global hegemony. A more tangible objective would soon emerge.</p>
<p>Sources for this section:</p>
<p>1. “Empire Builders: Neoconservatives and their blueprint for U.S. Power,” Christian Science Monitor , a series appearing June, 2005.</p>
<p>2. The website of the Project for the New American Century. See <a href="http://www.newamericancentury.org/" type="external">http://www.newamericancentury.org/</a></p>
<p>3. The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O’Neill, by Ron Suskind, Simon and Schuster, 2004.</p>
<p>4. “From Afghanistan to Iraq: Connecting the Dots with Oil,” Richard W. Behan, AlterNet, February 5, 2007.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Regime Change</p>
<p>In December of 2002, 3 months before his country was invaded, Saddam Hussein invited the Bush Administration to send U.S. troops into Iraq to search for weapons of mass destruction, and he said he could prove Iraq was not involved in 9/11. His entreaty was turned aside by President Bush and Vice President Cheney. Two months later Hussein promised unlimited access to the FBI to search for WMD’s, support for the US position on Israel and Palestine, and even some limited rights to Iraq’s oil. All this was rejected. Finally, in desperation Saddam Hussein offered personally to depart Iraq for exile in Egypt or Saudi Arabia. Once again he was refused by the White House, and soon thereafter cruise missiles pounded Baghdad and U.S. tanks rolled across the border from Kuwait.</p>
<p>Regime change was not the objective: that could have been achieved bloodlessly with Saddam Hussein’s exile. Combating terrorism couldn’t possibly have been the objective, either: when President Bush invaded Iraq, there was no sign of al Qaeda in the country at all. There had to be some other purpose.</p>
<p>Sources for this section:</p>
<p>1. “Dreamers and Idiots: Britain and the US did everything to avoid a peaceful solution in Iraq and Afghanistan,” George Monbiot, The Guardian (UK), November 11, 2003.</p>
<p>2. “Llego el momento de deshacerse de Saddam,” El Pais (Spain), a transcript of a conversation between George Bush, Condoleezza Rice, and Jose Maria Anzar in Crawford, Texas, February 22, 2003. Published September 26, 2007.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Oil</p>
<p>Within weeks of taking office the Bush Administration was studying maps of the Iraqi oil fields, pipelines, refineries, tanker terminals, and undeveloped oil exploration blocks. A National Security Council document dated February 3, 2001 spoke of “actions regarding the capture of new and existing oil and gas fields.” Later in the year the Bush State Department undertook the “Future of Iraq Project,” in one element of which Administration bureaucrats and oil company representatives planned the postwar deconstruction of Iraq’s nationalized oil industry. It would be replaced by a clever form of privatization, hugely favoring American and British oil companies. This planning was underway in October of 2001, exactly a year before Congress authorized military force in Iraq.</p>
<p>The State Department’s plan was codified in a model “hydrocarbon law” drafted during Paul Bremer’s Coalition Provisional Authority, with direct participation of the American and British oil companies. The law was not translated from English into Arabic until elections had been held; then Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s cabinet approved the law on February 15, 2007 and submitted it to Parliament for passage.</p>
<p>The hydrocarbon law when passed will grant immensely profitable access for international oil companies to an estimated 81% of Iraq’s undeveloped crude oil reserves. The favored companies are Exxon/Mobil, Chevron/Texaco, Royal Dutch/Shell, and BP/Amoco.</p>
<p>Enactment of the hydrocarbon law was proposed as a mandatory “benchmark” by President Bush in a speech on January 10, 2007. The benchmark was made statutory when the Democratic Congress passed the Iraq Accountability Act a short time later.</p>
<p>The tangible objective for invading and occupying Iraq was suspected early by the war’s opponents and it is now confirmed: to secure access to the country’s immense oil and gas resources. Evidence of success is everywhere. Iraq now has a puppet government and five permanent American “mega-bases” to house 100,000 troops for 50 years. The American embassy in Baghdad is ten times larger than any other U.S. embassy in the world. And in November, President Bush and Prime Minister Maliki signed a document called The Declaration of Principles, to assure an “enduring relationship” between their governments.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Sources for this section:</p>
<p>1. For copies of the Iraqi oil field maps, see the website of Judicial Watch, at: <a href="http://www.judicialwatch.org/oil-field-maps" type="external">http://www.judicialwatch.org/oil-field-maps</a></p>
<p>2. “Contract Sport,” by Jane Mayer,The New Yorker, Issue 23, February 16, 2004.</p>
<p>3. Crude Designs: the Ripoff of Iraq’s Oil Wealth, Gregg Mutitt, ed., the Platform Group, United Kingdom.</p>
<p>4. “Bush’s Petro-Cartel Almost Has Iraq’s Oil,” by Joshua Holland, published on the AlterNet website, October 16, 2006.</p>
<p>5. “Slick Connections: U.S. Influence on Iraqi Oil,” Erik Leaver and Greg Mutitt, Foreign Policy in Focus, July 18, 2007.</p>
<p>6. “Imperial Opportunities for U.S. Builders,” Tom Engelhardt, Asia Times, November 6, 2007.</p>
<p>7. “An ‘Enduring’ Relationship for Security and Enduring an Occupation for Oil,” Ann Wright, truthout website, December 5, 2007.</p>
<p>And so, Speaker Pelosi, here we are after six years of fraudulence, engaged in two wars of conquest and occupation the Bush Administration orchestrated in defiance of honesty, decency, morals, and law. Half a million lives and half a trillion dollars have been poured into the cesspool of their lies and deceit.</p>
<p>Truth and justice are the bedrocks of our existence as a nation. The Bush Administration has trampled truth. We cannot tolerate the withholding of justice as well. Madam Speaker, you must impeach.</p>
<p>Or can you refute this history?</p>
<p>Richard W. Behan lives and writes on Lopez Island, off the northwest coast of Washington state. He can be reached at <a href="mailto:rwbehan@rockisland.com" type="external">rwbehan@rockisland.com</a>.</p>
<p>(This essay is deliberately not copyrighted: it may be reproduced without restriction.)</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | people honestly believe lie learn truth either cease believing cease honest anonymous speaker pelosi president bush could achieved goal regime change iraq quickly without violence war saddam hussein offered weeks country invaded leave iraq go exile president bush withheld offer public viewand refused president need invade afghanistan apprehend osama bin laden five different occasions george bush refused standing offer taliban surrender osama bin ladenthree times 911 twice thereafter without public disclosure military engagements iraq afghanistan directed terrorism territorial nature mr bush intended first days office invade two countries early late january 2001 administration developing decisions beginning preparations military incursions 911 distant future conflicts exercises counterterrorism bush administration frequently dishonestly insists premeditated wars unprovoked conquest occupation madam speaker know continue refusing impeachment criminal accomplice violating trust american peopleand violating us international law know truth wars madam speaker must learn details embrace must seek dispatch justice impeach george bush richard cheney claim dont votes say canvass jury trial begins evidence presented scrutinized hideous truth wars finally exposedas impeachment processyou vote every honest patriotic member house representatives democrat republican alike isnt truth already widely known two reasons bush administration infamous pathological lying secrecy done everything power distort suppress truth mainstream press become engine entertaining informing american people indifferent truth truth always discovered foreign news outlets domestic alternate press booklength treatises passion truth unconstrained inquiry displayed people posting internet sources exposition follow madam speaker impeach must refute history wars terrorism bush administrations curious behavior hours terrorist attacks september 11 2001 president bush told world united states would take fight directly terrorists states harbored thus bush administrations war terror born less month later october 7 mr bush launched savage aerial bombardment afghanistan support shocked american citizenry sympathetic world expected justice delivered soon terrorist osama bin laden harboring state embodied taliban incursion afghanistan sold first action war terror brilliantly executed charade flashback october 12 2000 year earlier uss cole american navy destroyer yemeni port aden suffered heavy damage terrorist attack perpetrated osama bin ladens al qaeda three weeks later officials clinton administration met thetaliban sheraton hotel hamburg germany avoid violent retaliation furious bombing taliban offered unconditional surrender osama bin laden details transfer completed however supreme court ruling gave george w bush white house message passed actual handover bin laden deferred bush administration sworn office new administration asked taliban delay handover osama bin laden least february winter faded spring spring summer administration demurred twice osama bin laden struck september 11 2001 september 15 taliban officials flown us air force c130 aircraft pakistani city quetta deal sweetened standing offer surrendering osama bin laden renewed taliban would also oversee closure bin ladens bases training camps time white house simply rejected offer hand offer repeated several weeks later days president bush ordered violence begin invasion afghanistan something vastly different quest apprehend terrorist sources section 1 bush rejects taliban offer hand bin laden guardian unlimited uk october 14 2001 2 bush rejects taliban offer surrender bin laden andrew buncombe independent uk october 15 2001 3 dreamers idiots britain us everything avoid peaceful solution iraq afghanistan george monbiot guardian uk november 11 2003 4 bush offered bin laden blew alexander cockburn jeffrey st clair counterpunch november 1 2004 5 bush try stop bin laden first eight months office msnbc countdown september 28 2006 160 war afghanistan commitment invade afghanistan made long 911 bush administration wanted secure american energy companiesnotably enron unocal corporationsthe strategic pipeline route across afghanistan caspian basin taliban signed contract 1996 bridas corporation argentina preempting route scarcely settled washington early 2001 bush administration immediately pressed taliban rescind bridas contract undertook planning military intervention negotiations fail administration officials taliban met talks three times throughout spring summer washington dc berlin islamabadbut avail last session august 2001 administration threatened carpet bombs taliban comply taliban would soon thereafterstill weeks september 11president bush notified pakistan india would attack afghanistan end october 911 two refusals osama bin ladens head october 7 bush administration looses carpet bombs since afghanistan supplied puppet government bridas contract history country dotted today permanent us military bases close proximity pipeline route war conquest occupation counterterrorism scarcely visible osama bin laden remains large yield terrorists date consists several hundred iconic badly treated wretches guantanamo bay terrorism middle east intensified diminished sources section 1 players rigged grand chessboard bridas unocal afghanistan pipeline larry chin online journal march 2002 2 crude politics bushs oil cronies hijacked war terrorism paul sperry wnd books 2003 3 alexanders gas oil connections february 23 2003 4 timeline oil violence afghanistan see website httpwwwringnebulacomoiltimelinehtm 5 spy agencies say iraq war worsens terrorism threat new york times september 24 2006 6 afghanistan iraq connecting dots oil richard w behan alternet february 5 2007 160 wars american hegemonyand oil 160 war iraq template invasion iraq crafted 1992 richard cheneys defense department first bush administration document advocating us posture singular global dominance economic diplomatic military power authors paul wolfowitz zalmay khalilzad lewis scooter libby document spoke explicitly need secure access vital raw materials primarily persian gulf oil iraq crosshairs 1996 project new american century created touting term global hegemony seeking maintain americas status worlds superpower using preemptive war necessary among founders pnac earlier advocates world dominion richard cheney paul wolfowitz zalmay khalilzad lewis scooter libby donald rumsfeld jeb bush founding members well 1998 letter president clinton pnac people sought invasion iraq donald rumsfeld paul wolfowitz zalmay khalilzad 15 others signed letter september 2000 project new american century advocated overthrow saddam hussein four months later richard cheney donald rumsfeld paul wolfowitz zalmay khalilzad lewis scooter libbyand 24 others pnacmoved top positions bush administration commitment invade iraq made first meeting president bushs national security council january 2001 rationale ideological apparently means preemptive war take initial step toward global hegemony tangible objective would soon emerge sources section 1 empire builders neoconservatives blueprint us power christian science monitor series appearing june 2005 2 website project new american century see httpwwwnewamericancenturyorg 3 price loyalty george w bush white house education paul oneill ron suskind simon schuster 2004 4 afghanistan iraq connecting dots oil richard w behan alternet february 5 2007 160 regime change december 2002 3 months country invaded saddam hussein invited bush administration send us troops iraq search weapons mass destruction said could prove iraq involved 911 entreaty turned aside president bush vice president cheney two months later hussein promised unlimited access fbi search wmds support us position israel palestine even limited rights iraqs oil rejected finally desperation saddam hussein offered personally depart iraq exile egypt saudi arabia refused white house soon thereafter cruise missiles pounded baghdad us tanks rolled across border kuwait regime change objective could achieved bloodlessly saddam husseins exile combating terrorism couldnt possibly objective either president bush invaded iraq sign al qaeda country purpose sources section 1 dreamers idiots britain us everything avoid peaceful solution iraq afghanistan george monbiot guardian uk november 11 2003 2 llego el momento de deshacerse de saddam el pais spain transcript conversation george bush condoleezza rice jose maria anzar crawford texas february 22 2003 published september 26 2007 160 oil within weeks taking office bush administration studying maps iraqi oil fields pipelines refineries tanker terminals undeveloped oil exploration blocks national security council document dated february 3 2001 spoke actions regarding capture new existing oil gas fields later year bush state department undertook future iraq project one element administration bureaucrats oil company representatives planned postwar deconstruction iraqs nationalized oil industry would replaced clever form privatization hugely favoring american british oil companies planning underway october 2001 exactly year congress authorized military force iraq state departments plan codified model hydrocarbon law drafted paul bremers coalition provisional authority direct participation american british oil companies law translated english arabic elections held prime minister nouri almalikis cabinet approved law february 15 2007 submitted parliament passage hydrocarbon law passed grant immensely profitable access international oil companies estimated 81 iraqs undeveloped crude oil reserves favored companies exxonmobil chevrontexaco royal dutchshell bpamoco enactment hydrocarbon law proposed mandatory benchmark president bush speech january 10 2007 benchmark made statutory democratic congress passed iraq accountability act short time later tangible objective invading occupying iraq suspected early wars opponents confirmed secure access countrys immense oil gas resources evidence success everywhere iraq puppet government five permanent american megabases house 100000 troops 50 years american embassy baghdad ten times larger us embassy world november president bush prime minister maliki signed document called declaration principles assure enduring relationship governments 160 sources section 1 copies iraqi oil field maps see website judicial watch httpwwwjudicialwatchorgoilfieldmaps 2 contract sport jane mayerthe new yorker issue 23 february 16 2004 3 crude designs ripoff iraqs oil wealth gregg mutitt ed platform group united kingdom 4 bushs petrocartel almost iraqs oil joshua holland published alternet website october 16 2006 5 slick connections us influence iraqi oil erik leaver greg mutitt foreign policy focus july 18 2007 6 imperial opportunities us builders tom engelhardt asia times november 6 2007 7 enduring relationship security enduring occupation oil ann wright truthout website december 5 2007 speaker pelosi six years fraudulence engaged two wars conquest occupation bush administration orchestrated defiance honesty decency morals law half million lives half trillion dollars poured cesspool lies deceit truth justice bedrocks existence nation bush administration trampled truth tolerate withholding justice well madam speaker must impeach refute history richard w behan lives writes lopez island northwest coast washington state reached rwbehanrockislandcom essay deliberately copyrighted may reproduced without restriction 160 160 160 | 1,551 |
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<p>“Being nice to Rocket Man hasn’t worked in 25 years, why would it work now? Clinton failed, Bush failed, and Obama failed. I won’t fail.”</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">— Donald Trump</a>&#160;October 1, 2017</p>
<p>On September 18 Presidents Trump and Macron met in New York and said a few words in front of the media. It was a love-fest, with Trump pouring out a honey-stream of compliments and one of his&#160; <a href="" type="internal">observations was</a>&#160;that Emmanuel Macron is “doing a terrific job in France.&#160; He’s doing what has to be done.&#160; He’s respected by the French people,” which was one of his more dubious statements of recent weeks.</p>
<p>Some 53 per cent of French citizens&#160; <a href="" type="internal">disapprove</a>&#160;of President Macron, which is exactly the same as Trump’s domestic disapproval&#160; <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-least-popular-president-ever-even-approval-rating-rises-669483" type="external">score</a>&#160;(pre-Puerto Rico), so it can’t be claimed that either of them is “respected” by a majority of their country’s deeply polarized populace. (Although it must be said that Macron is the direct opposite of his counterpart, in that he is highly intelligent, has the welfare of all his people at heart, and proposes a well-constructed legislative program;&#160;&#160;he also speaks better English.)</p>
<p>The depths of Trump ignorance are verging on the unfathomable, but it isn’t that aspect of his psychotic character that is disturbing to the point of danger for the world as a whole. The scary thing is his rapturous enthusiasm for blasting trumpets, roaring aircraft, rumbling tanks and all the paraphernalia of martial belligerence.&#160;&#160;He said he loved the Bastille Day parade in Paris and “we may do something like that on July 4th in Washington, down Pennsylvania Avenue . . .&#160;&#160;We’re going to have to try and top it . . . we had a lot of planes going over and we had a lot of military might, and it was really a beautiful thing to see.”</p>
<p>When a soldier I participated in many parades and still like to hear bands and see smartly marching troops. The general public in almost every country in the world likes them, too.&#160;&#160;But.&#160;&#160;BUT:&#160;&#160;I have grave doubts about a nation’s leader who gets so worked up and excited about parades being “a lot of military might and . . .&#160;really a beautiful thing to see.”</p>
<p>The day after proclaiming his enthusiasm for the pomp and pageantry of war, President Trump attended the UN General Assembly and&#160; <a href="" type="internal">announced</a>&#160;that if the United States “is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea . . . Rocket Man [President Kim of North Korea] is on a suicide mission for himself.”</p>
<p>Four days after his feverish diatribe, in which he also&#160; <a href="" type="internal">threatened</a>&#160;Iran and Venezuela, Trump&#160; <a href="" type="internal">ordered</a>&#160;B-1 Lancer nuclear bombers and F-15 Eagle fighters to fly close to North Korea’s eastern coast in a display of military provocation, exactly as he and his predecessors directed there be confrontational fandangos by US combat aircraft and missile-armed warships along the coasts of China and Russia.</p>
<p>Did Mr Trump really think that publicly insulting President Kim and sending nuclear bombers to fly by his country’s seaboard would make him bend his knee and bow his head and say he’s terribly sorry but he got it all wrong?&#160;&#160;Naturally, there was quite the reverse effect, with North Korea announcing September 26 that “Since the United States declared war on our country, we will have every right to take counter-measures including the right to shoot down US strategic bombers even when they are not yet inside the airspace border of our country.”</p>
<p>In his UN speech Trump menaced Venezuela, of all places. To be sure, the Venezuelans have had a tough time over the past few years, after the oil-price collapse destroyed its economy they have had presidents who have displayed a mix of ignorance, ultra-nationalistic hubris and blustering incompetence.&#160;&#160;(Remind you of anyone?)&#160;&#160;The country has enormous problems and can’t be called a democracy, but then, neither can that faithful Trump&#160; <a href="" type="internal">ally</a>&#160;Saudi Arabia, which&#160; <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sa.html" type="external">doesn’t have any</a>&#160;political parties at all.&#160;&#160;And Venezuela presents no threat whatever to the United States.</p>
<p>Yet Trump&#160; <a href="" type="internal">vowed</a>&#160;that the Venezuelan people would “regain their freedom, recover their country and restore their democracy”, and&#160; <a href="" type="internal">declared</a>&#160;to all the world that he was ready to take “further action” if the government “persists on its path to impose authoritarian rule”.</p>
<p>What action will the martial Trump take about Iran and North Korea and Venezuela?&#160;&#160;His threats have been malevolently intense, so what comes next?</p>
<p>This is the man who&#160; <a href="" type="internal">said</a>&#160;in February that “We have to start winning wars again. I have to say, when I was young, in high school, and college, everybody used to say we never lost a war. We never lost a war . . .&#160;&#160;America never lost. And, now, we never win a war. We never win. And we don’t fight to win.”</p>
<p>In fact the US lost the war in Vietnam that it was fighting while Trump was&#160; <a href="" type="internal">draft-dodging</a>, but he believes he’s going to win Washington’s next war, when he decides where to wage it. He has already approved a futile new strategy in Afghanistan where “ <a href="" type="internal">we will fight to win</a>.” But US troops have been fighting in Afghanistan for almost sixteen years, and over two thousand of them have been killed.&#160;&#160;Mr Trump might be determined to win his war in Afghanistan, but its few thousand raggy-baggy Taliban insurgents have proved undefeatable for a very long time and are still fighting.&#160;&#160;The US has spent over a&#160; <a href="" type="internal">trillion dollars</a>&#160;on the war, so far, and the Taliban control over&#160; <a href="" type="internal">forty percent</a>&#160;of the country.</p>
<p>The Taliban in Afghanistan haven’t got any aircraft or rockets or submarines or nuclear weapons, but North Korea has all of these things, albeit in rather more modest quantities than the US, which has a&#160; <a href="" type="internal">higher</a>&#160;military budget than Britain, China, France, India, Japan, Russia and Saudi Arabia combined. Washington has 1,367&#160; <a href="" type="internal">deployed</a>, instantly ready-to-use nuclear weapons, and it would take only one North Korean nuclear bomb or rocket to prompt a Trumpian “ <a href="" type="internal">fire and fury</a>” answer.</p>
<p>Trump’s belligerent&#160; <a href="" type="internal">tweet</a>&#160;that “Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at UN. If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won’t be around much longer!” is a direct threat of annihilation. He then&#160; <a href="" type="internal">declared</a>&#160;that his military option would be “devastating for North Korea” and that he is ready to go.</p>
<p>The President of the United States is hell-bent on ultimate military confrontation, and might be able to punish or even invade Venezuela and Iran, but they aren’t going to retaliate with the nuclear option — unlike North Korea.&#160;&#160;His goading of Kim is bringing our world ever-closer to nuclear catastrophe, but he disparages the advice of wiser people who advocate mediation. His sarcastic&#160; <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/914497877543735296" type="external">Tweet</a>&#160;that “I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful secretary of state, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man” had the distinction of insulting friend and foe in equal measure.</p>
<p>China made its stance&#160; <a href="https://guardian.ng/news/china-sees-no-winner-in-a-war-on-korean-peninsula/" type="external">clear</a>&#160;on September 26 by stating that “blindly flaunting one’s superiority with words to show off and mutual provocation will only increase the risk of confrontation and reduce the room for policy maneuvers. A war on the Korean Peninsula will have no winners and would be even worse for the region and regional countries.”</p>
<p>President Putin&#160; <a href="" type="internal">advised</a>&#160;Trump not to “succumb to emotions and drive North Korea into a corner. Now more than ever, everyone needs to be calm and avoid steps that lead to an escalation of tension.”</p>
<p>But Trump’s latest Kim-bashing Tweet&#160; <a href="" type="internal">tirade</a>&#160;that “Being nice to Rocket Man hasn’t worked in 25 years, why would it work now? Clinton failed, Bush failed, and Obama failed. I won’t fail” is a spine-chilling indicator of what he has in mind. The nuclear war drums are beating along&#160;Pennsylvania Avenue.</p>
<p>Back off, Trump, before you drag us down to catastrophe.</p> | true | 4 | nice rocket man hasnt worked 25 years would work clinton failed bush failed obama failed wont fail donald trump160october 1 2017 september 18 presidents trump macron met new york said words front media lovefest trump pouring honeystream compliments one his160 observations was160that emmanuel macron terrific job france160 hes done160 hes respected french people one dubious statements recent weeks 53 per cent french citizens160 disapprove160of president macron exactly trumps domestic disapproval160 score160prepuerto rico cant claimed either respected majority countrys deeply polarized populace although must said macron direct opposite counterpart highly intelligent welfare people heart proposes wellconstructed legislative program160160he also speaks better english depths trump ignorance verging unfathomable isnt aspect psychotic character disturbing point danger world whole scary thing rapturous enthusiasm blasting trumpets roaring aircraft rumbling tanks paraphernalia martial belligerence160160he said loved bastille day parade paris may something like july 4th washington pennsylvania avenue 160160were going try top lot planes going lot military might really beautiful thing see soldier participated many parades still like hear bands see smartly marching troops general public almost every country world likes too160160but160160but160160i grave doubts nations leader gets worked excited parades lot military might 160really beautiful thing see day proclaiming enthusiasm pomp pageantry war president trump attended un general assembly and160 announced160that united states forced defend allies choice totally destroy north korea rocket man president kim north korea suicide mission four days feverish diatribe also160 threatened160iran venezuela trump160 ordered160b1 lancer nuclear bombers f15 eagle fighters fly close north koreas eastern coast display military provocation exactly predecessors directed confrontational fandangos us combat aircraft missilearmed warships along coasts china russia mr trump really think publicly insulting president kim sending nuclear bombers fly countrys seaboard would make bend knee bow head say hes terribly sorry got wrong160160naturally quite reverse effect north korea announcing september 26 since united states declared war country every right take countermeasures including right shoot us strategic bombers even yet inside airspace border country un speech trump menaced venezuela places sure venezuelans tough time past years oilprice collapse destroyed economy presidents displayed mix ignorance ultranationalistic hubris blustering incompetence160160remind anyone160160the country enormous problems cant called democracy neither faithful trump160 ally160saudi arabia which160 doesnt any160political parties all160160and venezuela presents threat whatever united states yet trump160 vowed160that venezuelan people would regain freedom recover country restore democracy and160 declared160to world ready take action government persists path impose authoritarian rule action martial trump take iran north korea venezuela160160his threats malevolently intense comes next man who160 said160in february start winning wars say young high school college everybody used say never lost war never lost war 160160america never lost never win war never win dont fight win fact us lost war vietnam fighting trump was160 draftdodging believes hes going win washingtons next war decides wage already approved futile new strategy afghanistan fight win us troops fighting afghanistan almost sixteen years two thousand killed160160mr trump might determined win war afghanistan thousand raggybaggy taliban insurgents proved undefeatable long time still fighting160160the us spent a160 trillion dollars160on war far taliban control over160 forty percent160of country taliban afghanistan havent got aircraft rockets submarines nuclear weapons north korea things albeit rather modest quantities us a160 higher160military budget britain china france india japan russia saudi arabia combined washington 1367160 deployed instantly readytouse nuclear weapons would take one north korean nuclear bomb rocket prompt trumpian fire fury answer trumps belligerent160 tweet160that heard foreign minister north korea speak un echoes thoughts little rocket man wont around much longer direct threat annihilation then160 declared160that military option would devastating north korea ready go president united states hellbent ultimate military confrontation might able punish even invade venezuela iran arent going retaliate nuclear option unlike north korea160160his goading kim bringing world evercloser nuclear catastrophe disparages advice wiser people advocate mediation sarcastic160 tweet160that told rex tillerson wonderful secretary state wasting time trying negotiate little rocket man distinction insulting friend foe equal measure china made stance160 clear160on september 26 stating blindly flaunting ones superiority words show mutual provocation increase risk confrontation reduce room policy maneuvers war korean peninsula winners would even worse region regional countries president putin160 advised160trump succumb emotions drive north korea corner ever everyone needs calm avoid steps lead escalation tension trumps latest kimbashing tweet160 tirade160that nice rocket man hasnt worked 25 years would work clinton failed bush failed obama failed wont fail spinechilling indicator mind nuclear war drums beating along160pennsylvania avenue back trump drag us catastrophe | 721 |
<p>Editors’ note: The following talk was given in Santa Fe, NM, on February 12. Kathleen was one of three speakers, and her husband Bill was another. Bill’s talk appeared on CounterPunch on February 16. The event, organized by the Santa Fe chapter of Veterans for Peace, was an evening of talks and discussion along with videos, pictures, and graphics displays on “Palestine/Israel: Human Rights and Policy Perspectives.”</p>
<p>We’ve been sated with optimistic talk about Palestine in the last few months: we have a cease-fire now; Ariel Sharon is disengaging from Gaza and may also pull Israeli troops out of some West Bank cities; George Bush and Condoleezza Rice talk all the time about two states living side by side in peace.</p>
<p>But I think we need to be very clear about what is really going on in Palestine. When you know what’s actually happening on the ground — which we all hope to describe to you tonight — you’ll see, I think, that there is no reason at all for optimism. Despite all the nice talk, there will be no real Palestinian state, and there will be no peace, anytime in the foreseeable future, and the responsibility for this will lie with Israel and the United States. The reason there will be no Palestinian independence, and therefore no peace and no justice, anytime soon is purely and simply because the Israeli government does not want it, and the United States does not want what Israel doesn’t want.</p>
<p>Israeli journalist Amira Hass recently put it pointedly: “There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be optimistic,” she said. “The problem arises when optimism acts as an anesthetic, and when the optimists make do with talk and take no interest in bulldozers.” She’s talking about the bulldozers that are still building the separation wall through Palestinian territories, that are still demolishing the homes of innocent Palestinians, that are still clearing Palestinian land in order to build more Israeli settlements and more roads that only Israelis may drive on.</p>
<p>Any map of the West Bank showing the route of the separation wall demonstrates very dramatically how this wall is squeezing the Palestinians into smaller and smaller territories. Keep in mind that the entire West Bank is only 22% of the original land of Palestine in the first place, so already the Palestinians have agreed to have their state in less than one-quarter of their original homeland. Now, however, when the wall is completed, they’ll be left with only about half of that 22%. And even that small portion won’t be contiguous. The area inside the wall is broken up into two very distinct sections. Jerusalem is in the middle, outside the wall; the Palestinians don’t get any portion of Jerusalem. And there are so many indentations and incursions into the territory — sections that jut into Palestinian territory and are meant to accommodate Israeli settlements and keep them on the Israeli side of the wall — that what’s left to the Palestinians cannot be considered to have any territorial integrity, and it certainly is not defensible.</p>
<p>What Amira Hass was saying is that, while American politicians and American commentators talk optimism but do nothing, what is actually happening in Palestine is that Israel is continuing with this wall construction and with other measures to take over Palestine. Let me just list some of the measures Israel is still pursuing in the West Bank and Gaza while Bush and Rice and Sharon and the media engage in empty talk about their optimism:</p>
<p>It is continuing, right now, to expand settlements and is building literally thousands of new housing units in areas confiscated from Palestinian ownership, both in the Jerusalem area and elsewhere along the wall. Hundreds of acres of Palestinian farmland that ended up on the Israeli side of the wall are being cleared by bulldozers to make room for new Israeli settlements. And Israel’s defenders try to claim the wall is not a land grab!</p>
<p>It’s estimated that approximately 90% of the Palestinians’ fresh water wells will end up on Israel’s side of the wall when it’s all completed. And they say this is not a land grab.</p>
<p>Israel has instituted a system of permits for Palestinians to get into the areas that are on the Israeli side of the wall. Palestinians must have a permit to get in to these areas to farm the land, even though this is their own land. But according to the new system, any Israeli and any Jew anywhere in the world is explicitly allowed to enter without a permit. Permits are issued to Palestinians only for six months at a time; they are often denied for no particular reason, and they are often not renewed, also for no particular reason. And they try to say this is not a land grab.</p>
<p>Israel continues to demolish homes: 12,000 since the occupation began, several thousand just in the last year alone. Very few, only about 5%, of all demolitions have had anything to do with terrorism. Most are done to clear land because Israel wants it for some purpose; several hundred have occurred in and around Jerusalem, where Israel simply does not want new Palestinian building, or any Palestinian population growth.</p>
<p>Israel continues to kill Palestinians, despite the optimism and the recent period of so-called “quiet.” 139 Palestinians, about half of them children, have been killed by Israelis in the three months since Yasir Arafat died, while 16 Israelis have been killed in the same period. This is a kill ratio of 8 to 1. And yet we barely hear about this lopsided death toll in the media, amidst all the optimism.</p>
<p>I’d like to take two small Palestinian villages and give you a description of the conditions there to give you a couple of examples of what life is like under Israeli domination.</p>
<p>The first is the village of Jayyous, about which there has been some press coverage. Jayyous is a village of 3,200 people in the northwestern West Bank. The separation wall was built there in the summer of 2003. This used to be a prosperous farming village, living on 3,000 acres of olive groves, citrus trees, guava, and smaller crops. Many of us in the U.S. think of Palestine as a dry, desolate land, but this is not true. Jayyous is located in a rich agricultural area.</p>
<p>Fully 72% — almost three-quarters — of this village’s land ended up on the Israeli side of the wall. All six of the village’s fresh water wells ended up on the Israeli side of the wall.</p>
<p>Farmers must now obtain permits to farm their land. Those who get permits must pass through the one gate in the wall, which is manned only for about an hour two or three times a day — and then only when the Israelis feel like it. For instance, it’s not manned at all during the approximately ten-day period of the Jewish high holy days.</p>
<p>Last year, 15,000 orange trees died and an entire guava harvest was lost because farmers could not get to the land to irrigate it.</p>
<p>Much of the town’s land that’s now on the Israeli side began to be bulldozed in December, and is still being bulldozed, to build 2,000 new housing units for a nearby Israeli settlement. And Israel’s defenders try to say this wall is not a land grab.</p>
<p>The other village I’d like to describe is Anata, just outside East Jerusalem. Bill and I have spent a couple of weeks in each of the last two summers in Anata, helping rebuild homes demolished by the Israeli authorities.</p>
<p>Anata is a town of about 9,000 people. It’s in an area designated during the Oslo peace process to remain under full Israeli control. The Palestinian Authority has never had any authority in Anata, so the town’s very dismal circumstances are entirely Israel’s responsibility.</p>
<p>Anata used to subsist on a quarry industry and on some agriculture, but Israel has confiscated most of the quarries and cut off or confiscated the agricultural land. Four Israeli settlements and two Israeli military bases, all built on land confiscated from Anata, surround the town.</p>
<p>Many houses in Anata have been demolished, not because the owners are suspected of terrorism, but because Israel simply doesn’t want them there: it won’t issue building permits, and when people build anyway, the homes are bulldozed.</p>
<p>There are almost no public services in Anata. There’s no hospital, only a clinic with a nurse and a doctor who comes once a week. The nearest hospital is only about a mile away inside Jerusalem, but as West Bank residents, people from Anata are forbidden to enter Jerusalem. There are public and private schools, but half the teachers live outside Anata and are having increasing difficulty getting to work every day.</p>
<p>Anata had a bus company but it closed down when Israeli checkpoints made travel almost impossible. The town bought one garbage truck a couple of years ago with donations from the EU, but the only dump is in a neighboring town that is now several checkpoints and two segments of the wall away. As a result, there are trash heaps around every corner in Anata.</p>
<p>As a result of all this misery and deprivation, unemployment, crime, and drug use are growing, the town is lifeless and without purpose. The residents can’t work, can’t get medical help, can’t build, can’t worship as they used to in Jerusalem, don’t have decent education, and can’t escape. Construction on the wall began last summer, and this will make every aspect of life in Anata far worse. And they wonder why the Palestinians are fighting against this Israeli occupation!</p>
<p>These are not just isolated examples. This is what the occupation is like everywhere. We must never lose sight of the fact that the source of the problem, the source of the conflict, is not terrorism, it is not the Palestinians. It’s the occupation: Israel’s continued domination over the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem with their 3.5 million Palestinians. The bottom line is that Israel’s occupation continues and is intensifying, despite all the optimistic talk — and no one is doing anything to stop it. Israel is committing ethnocide against the Palestinians. It is trying to ethnically cleanse Palestine, get rid of the Palestinians, squeeze them into smaller and smaller areas, make life so miserable for them that they will simply give up and leave. Simply put, Israel wants all of Palestine, and no one is trying to stop this process.</p>
<p>Defenders of Israel will say that the wall and the checkpoints are there to protect Israelis from Palestinian terrorism, but what they don’t say is that most of these restrictive measures were in place before the peace process broke down and suicide bombings began. The number of Israeli settlers in Palestinian territory doubled during the years of the so-called peace process, the hundreds of miles of roads built for Israelis only on confiscated Palestinian land were there before the Palestinian intifada began, the checkpoints that impede Palestinian movement throughout the West Bank were there before the peace process collapsed, the electrified fence around Gaza that prevents Gazans from moving freely was there throughout the years of the peace process.</p>
<p>No one — none of the optimists — is discussing ending any of these oppressive measures now that we have a so-called cease-fire. In fact, the cease-fire is entirely lopsided: the Palestinians have pledged to give up all violence — promised to end all opposition to the occupation — but Israel is not committed to do anything that will end the occupation.</p>
<p>Israel’s actions and policies in the occupied territories have always been governed not by the issue of when and how to give the Palestinians true independence in a small state in the West Bank and Gaza, but rather by how harshly any given Israeli government needs to act to keep the Palestinians under control and without true independence.</p>
<p>Israel’s oppressive measures have gone so far that the notion of a two-state solution is now virtually meaningless. So much Palestinian land has been taken — confiscated and bulldozed and asphalted over — that there is simply no physical place to put a real state anymore. Advocacy of two states at this point is just an empty slogan; it is merely a way for George Bush to make nice sounds and for some peace activists to salve their consciences without having to think or do anything. As Amira Hass said, optimism is a problem when it simply serves as an anesthetic.</p>
<p>There is a terrible human rights disaster occurring in Palestine, and we Americans are paying for it and supporting it. So many people, out of a false sense of solidarity and sympathy with Israel, have erected a wall around themselves that keeps them from knowing what’s happening in Palestine and that blinds them to the human rights and justice issues there. This issue is not a Jewish issue. It’s a universal issue; it’s a political issue of a state’s behavior toward another people. It’s an issue, most of all, of justice. And justice, we all know, is blind to color and to religion and to ethnicity. Justice shuns the tendency to view this conflict or any other from only one perspective.</p>
<p>And so the question I believe we should all think about, as Americans who pay for all this, is how can any of us, no matter what our religion or our ethnicity or our political inclinations, consider it just for Israel to keep the occupied territories, or any portion of them, when this is all that remains of the Palestinians’ original homeland? How can we consider it just for Israel to confiscate Palestinian land in order to build ethnically exclusive settlements and build a network of ethnically exclusive roads? How can we consider it just if Israel cuts off hundreds of thousands of people from their jobs and their schools and their livelihoods by constructing a cage for them? How can we consider it just for Israelis to bulldoze hundreds of homes — great swaths of people’s homes — for no other reason than that they happen to stand in the way of Israel’s plans?</p>
<p>How can we consider it just to deny Palestinians the right to struggle against this foreign domination? Palestinian terrorism is reprehensible, but I think we need to be aware that Israel’s occupation, which is just as reprehensible, came before Palestinian terrorism. We can condemn the tactics, but justice demands that we not refuse Palestinians the right to struggle for freedom. And in the end, justice demands that we force Israel to stop oppressing another people.</p>
<p>KATHLEEN CHRISTISON is a former CIA political analyst and has worked on Middle East issues for 30 years. She is the author of <a href="" type="internal">Perceptions of Palestine</a> and <a href="" type="internal">The Wound of Dispossession</a>. She can be reached at: <a href="mailto:christison@counterpunch.org" type="external">christison@counterpunch.org</a></p> | true | 4 | editors note following talk given santa fe nm february 12 kathleen one three speakers husband bill another bills talk appeared counterpunch february 16 event organized santa fe chapter veterans peace evening talks discussion along videos pictures graphics displays palestineisrael human rights policy perspectives weve sated optimistic talk palestine last months ceasefire ariel sharon disengaging gaza may also pull israeli troops west bank cities george bush condoleezza rice talk time two states living side side peace think need clear really going palestine know whats actually happening ground hope describe tonight youll see think reason optimism despite nice talk real palestinian state peace anytime foreseeable future responsibility lie israel united states reason palestinian independence therefore peace justice anytime soon purely simply israeli government want united states want israel doesnt want israeli journalist amira hass recently put pointedly theres nothing wrong wanting optimistic said problem arises optimism acts anesthetic optimists make talk take interest bulldozers shes talking bulldozers still building separation wall palestinian territories still demolishing homes innocent palestinians still clearing palestinian land order build israeli settlements roads israelis may drive map west bank showing route separation wall demonstrates dramatically wall squeezing palestinians smaller smaller territories keep mind entire west bank 22 original land palestine first place already palestinians agreed state less onequarter original homeland however wall completed theyll left half 22 even small portion wont contiguous area inside wall broken two distinct sections jerusalem middle outside wall palestinians dont get portion jerusalem many indentations incursions territory sections jut palestinian territory meant accommodate israeli settlements keep israeli side wall whats left palestinians considered territorial integrity certainly defensible amira hass saying american politicians american commentators talk optimism nothing actually happening palestine israel continuing wall construction measures take palestine let list measures israel still pursuing west bank gaza bush rice sharon media engage empty talk optimism continuing right expand settlements building literally thousands new housing units areas confiscated palestinian ownership jerusalem area elsewhere along wall hundreds acres palestinian farmland ended israeli side wall cleared bulldozers make room new israeli settlements israels defenders try claim wall land grab estimated approximately 90 palestinians fresh water wells end israels side wall completed say land grab israel instituted system permits palestinians get areas israeli side wall palestinians must permit get areas farm land even though land according new system israeli jew anywhere world explicitly allowed enter without permit permits issued palestinians six months time often denied particular reason often renewed also particular reason try say land grab israel continues demolish homes 12000 since occupation began several thousand last year alone 5 demolitions anything terrorism done clear land israel wants purpose several hundred occurred around jerusalem israel simply want new palestinian building palestinian population growth israel continues kill palestinians despite optimism recent period socalled quiet 139 palestinians half children killed israelis three months since yasir arafat died 16 israelis killed period kill ratio 8 1 yet barely hear lopsided death toll media amidst optimism id like take two small palestinian villages give description conditions give couple examples life like israeli domination first village jayyous press coverage jayyous village 3200 people northwestern west bank separation wall built summer 2003 used prosperous farming village living 3000 acres olive groves citrus trees guava smaller crops many us us think palestine dry desolate land true jayyous located rich agricultural area fully 72 almost threequarters villages land ended israeli side wall six villages fresh water wells ended israeli side wall farmers must obtain permits farm land get permits must pass one gate wall manned hour two three times day israelis feel like instance manned approximately tenday period jewish high holy days last year 15000 orange trees died entire guava harvest lost farmers could get land irrigate much towns land thats israeli side began bulldozed december still bulldozed build 2000 new housing units nearby israeli settlement israels defenders try say wall land grab village id like describe anata outside east jerusalem bill spent couple weeks last two summers anata helping rebuild homes demolished israeli authorities anata town 9000 people area designated oslo peace process remain full israeli control palestinian authority never authority anata towns dismal circumstances entirely israels responsibility anata used subsist quarry industry agriculture israel confiscated quarries cut confiscated agricultural land four israeli settlements two israeli military bases built land confiscated anata surround town many houses anata demolished owners suspected terrorism israel simply doesnt want wont issue building permits people build anyway homes bulldozed almost public services anata theres hospital clinic nurse doctor comes week nearest hospital mile away inside jerusalem west bank residents people anata forbidden enter jerusalem public private schools half teachers live outside anata increasing difficulty getting work every day anata bus company closed israeli checkpoints made travel almost impossible town bought one garbage truck couple years ago donations eu dump neighboring town several checkpoints two segments wall away result trash heaps around every corner anata result misery deprivation unemployment crime drug use growing town lifeless without purpose residents cant work cant get medical help cant build cant worship used jerusalem dont decent education cant escape construction wall began last summer make every aspect life anata far worse wonder palestinians fighting israeli occupation isolated examples occupation like everywhere must never lose sight fact source problem source conflict terrorism palestinians occupation israels continued domination west bank gaza east jerusalem 35 million palestinians bottom line israels occupation continues intensifying despite optimistic talk one anything stop israel committing ethnocide palestinians trying ethnically cleanse palestine get rid palestinians squeeze smaller smaller areas make life miserable simply give leave simply put israel wants palestine one trying stop process defenders israel say wall checkpoints protect israelis palestinian terrorism dont say restrictive measures place peace process broke suicide bombings began number israeli settlers palestinian territory doubled years socalled peace process hundreds miles roads built israelis confiscated palestinian land palestinian intifada began checkpoints impede palestinian movement throughout west bank peace process collapsed electrified fence around gaza prevents gazans moving freely throughout years peace process one none optimists discussing ending oppressive measures socalled ceasefire fact ceasefire entirely lopsided palestinians pledged give violence promised end opposition occupation israel committed anything end occupation israels actions policies occupied territories always governed issue give palestinians true independence small state west bank gaza rather harshly given israeli government needs act keep palestinians control without true independence israels oppressive measures gone far notion twostate solution virtually meaningless much palestinian land taken confiscated bulldozed asphalted simply physical place put real state anymore advocacy two states point empty slogan merely way george bush make nice sounds peace activists salve consciences without think anything amira hass said optimism problem simply serves anesthetic terrible human rights disaster occurring palestine americans paying supporting many people false sense solidarity sympathy israel erected wall around keeps knowing whats happening palestine blinds human rights justice issues issue jewish issue universal issue political issue states behavior toward another people issue justice justice know blind color religion ethnicity justice shuns tendency view conflict one perspective question believe think americans pay us matter religion ethnicity political inclinations consider israel keep occupied territories portion remains palestinians original homeland consider israel confiscate palestinian land order build ethnically exclusive settlements build network ethnically exclusive roads consider israel cuts hundreds thousands people jobs schools livelihoods constructing cage consider israelis bulldoze hundreds homes great swaths peoples homes reason happen stand way israels plans consider deny palestinians right struggle foreign domination palestinian terrorism reprehensible think need aware israels occupation reprehensible came palestinian terrorism condemn tactics justice demands refuse palestinians right struggle freedom end justice demands force israel stop oppressing another people kathleen christison former cia political analyst worked middle east issues 30 years author perceptions palestine wound dispossession reached christisoncounterpunchorg | 1,266 |
<p>In ongoing negotiations between Congress and President Bush about continued funding of the Iraq war, the President late last week began to make accommodating statements about negotiating on “benchmarks” for the Iraqi government.</p>
<p>On May 10, the New York Times reported:</p>
<p>“After a briefing at the Pentagon, Mr. Bush said he had instructed Joshua B. Bolten, the White House chief of staff, to reach “common ground” with lawmakers of both parties over setting firm goals, or benchmarks, to measure progress in Iraq. Mr. Bush had previously insisted that he wanted about $95 billion for the military with no strings attached.</p>
<p>“‘It makes sense to have benchmarks as a part of our discussion on how to go forward,’ Mr. Bush said, even as he threatened to veto the House plan, approved on a 221-to-205 vote Thursday night, which would require him to seek approval in two months for the balance of the war money.”</p>
<p>But these benchmarks are hardly a compromise for the Bush Administration, and the Times, along with most other U.S. news outlets, continue to ignore one of most important of the criteria being used to judge Iraq’s “progress”: legislation imported from the U.S. that threatens to give most of Iraq’s oil to Western oil giants.</p>
<p>Antonia Juhasz, analyst for Oil Change International and author of The Bu$h Agenda: Invading the World One Economy at a Time, notes,</p>
<p>“What this law does is open up at a minimum, two thirds of Iraq’s oil to private, foreign, corporate investment on terms that are literally the most generous available, just about anywhere in the world. Generous to the oil companies, that is. () The foreign oil companies do not need to transfer any technology. They don’t need to share any of their skills. They don’t need to train Iraqi workers, and () they don’t need to invest any of their money in Iraq.”</p>
<p>Though some observers argue that given the instability in Iraq, extracting oil without significant sabotage and resistance damaging operations will be unlikely, Juhasz points out, “If the law passes first of all it offers [the oil companies] as long as 35-year contracts. In addition, the law gives the companies two years within which they could sign the contract but then not even get to work.”</p>
<p>Raed Jarrar, Iraq consultant of the American Friends Service Committee and author of the widely-read “ <a href="http://raedinthemiddle.blogspot.com/" type="external">raed in the middle</a>” blog, commented, “The new oil law is a direct intervention in Iraq’s domestic policies. It will result in nothing more than increasing the Iraqi-Iraqi imposed violence, and the Iraqi occupation fight. The best oil law is the law that the Iraqis will choose after the last U.S. soldier leaves.”</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.basraoilunion.org/" type="external">Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions</a>recently announced to the Iraqi government its decision to strike on Monday, May 14th to demonstrate strong opposition to the law now before the Iraqi parliament.</p>
<p>Federation President Hassan Jumaa Awad al Assadi said: ‘The oil law does not represent the aspirations of the Iraqi people. It will let the foreign oil companies into the oil sector and enact privatization under so-called production sharing agreements. The federation calls for not passing the oil law, because it does not serve the interests of the Iraqi people.”</p>
<p>The Union is joined in its condemnation of the pending law by all of Iraq’s other trade unions, a number of political parties, and over 60 senior Iraqi oil experts.</p>
<p>In announcing a San Francisco demonstration (organized on very short notice) in solidarity with the oil workers, <a href="http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org/" type="external">National Coordinator of U.S. Labor Against the War</a> Michael Eisenscher wrote,</p>
<p>“The Congress is being sold the idea that Iraq’s adoption of the oil law will assure equitable distribution of the oil revenues, but what they are not being told (or refuse to acknowledge) is that the law has one sentence about equitable distribution, but page after page about how foreign oil companies can secure contracts to control the 2/3 of Iraq’s oil that is yet to be developed and retain that control for a generation or more. To the extent there is equitable distribution, it will be only of the profits that are left after Big Oil takes their cut. The Bush administration and IMF are pressing Iraq to adopt this law. It is shameful for the Congress to become partners in shoving a law that was conceived by, drafted for, and will benefit only the rapacious oil corporations down the throats of the Iraqi people.”</p>
<p>Speaking at the demonstration of veteran labor and anti-war activists in front of the San Francisco Federal Building, Eisenscher, added: “This law is unprecedented in the Middle East. Since the beginning of the war we’ve seen the looting of Iraq’s antiquities. This is a second looting. Iraq’s oil is the cheapest to extract in the world, hence it is the world’s most profitable supply of oil.”</p>
<p>Eisenscher concluded, “It is unjust and immoral for the U.S. to stay there one more day.”</p>
<p>Clarence Thomas, a long-time activist with local 10 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, spoke about his respect for oil workers he met on a labor delegation to Iraq. Thomas recalled that in 2003, one of the major concerns of Iraqi workers he spoke to was privatization, and told the assembled protestors, “this is an example of corpocracy, an alliance of banks, corporations and government promoting the interests of American oil companies.” Thomas saluted the militancy and resilience of the workers, and noted oil worker pay was so low their children were selling gasoline on the sides of highways.</p>
<p>Before the group of thirty or so activists posed for a photo to send to the strikers in Iraq, writer Ted Nace, author of the book <a href="" type="internal">Gangs of America: The Rise of Corporate Power and the Disabling of Democracy</a>, took the microphone.</p>
<p>Nace, who maintains <a href="http://www.iraqoillaw.com/" type="external">a website focused on the law</a>, stressed the long history of U.S. foreign policy shafting the Iraqi people, from Washington’s 1980’s support for Saddam Hussein, to the first gulf war and the subsequent sanctions regime which killed more than a million Iraqis. Nace explained, “What we’re doing by publicizing the law is buying time to slow down the passage of this law in the Iraqi parliament. We have to continue to get the word out. Democrats like Ted Kennedy still say this is about revenue sharing absolutely not! This law has no redeeming features.”</p>
<p>The protest then formed a picket line which marched in a circle in front of the entrance to the Federal Building and chanted demands that Speaker of the House and San Francisco Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi stop supporting the oil law.</p>
<p>On a related front, last week a majority of Iraqi parliamentarians rejected the continued occupation of their country by signing a legislative petition calling on the U.S. to set a timetable for withdrawal. This has long been the sentiment of the majority of Iraqis: In September 2006, a World Public Opinion poll found that 71% of Iraqis wanted the Iraqi government to ask for U.S.-led forces to be withdrawn within a year or less. The emerging nationalist bloc behind the anti-occupation parliamentary vote is also opposed to the U.S. setting up permanent bases or privatizing Iraq’s oil.</p>
<p>BEN TERRALL is a freelance writer based in San Francisco. He can be reached at <a href="mailto:bterrall@igc.org" type="external">bterrall@igc.org</a></p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | ongoing negotiations congress president bush continued funding iraq war president late last week began make accommodating statements negotiating benchmarks iraqi government may 10 new york times reported briefing pentagon mr bush said instructed joshua b bolten white house chief staff reach common ground lawmakers parties setting firm goals benchmarks measure progress iraq mr bush previously insisted wanted 95 billion military strings attached makes sense benchmarks part discussion go forward mr bush said even threatened veto house plan approved 221to205 vote thursday night would require seek approval two months balance war money benchmarks hardly compromise bush administration times along us news outlets continue ignore one important criteria used judge iraqs progress legislation imported us threatens give iraqs oil western oil giants antonia juhasz analyst oil change international author buh agenda invading world one economy time notes law open minimum two thirds iraqs oil private foreign corporate investment terms literally generous available anywhere world generous oil companies foreign oil companies need transfer technology dont need share skills dont need train iraqi workers dont need invest money iraq though observers argue given instability iraq extracting oil without significant sabotage resistance damaging operations unlikely juhasz points law passes first offers oil companies long 35year contracts addition law gives companies two years within could sign contract even get work raed jarrar iraq consultant american friends service committee author widelyread raed middle blog commented new oil law direct intervention iraqs domestic policies result nothing increasing iraqiiraqi imposed violence iraqi occupation fight best oil law law iraqis choose last us soldier leaves iraqi federation oil unionsrecently announced iraqi government decision strike monday may 14th demonstrate strong opposition law iraqi parliament federation president hassan jumaa awad al assadi said oil law represent aspirations iraqi people let foreign oil companies oil sector enact privatization socalled production sharing agreements federation calls passing oil law serve interests iraqi people union joined condemnation pending law iraqs trade unions number political parties 60 senior iraqi oil experts announcing san francisco demonstration organized short notice solidarity oil workers national coordinator us labor war michael eisenscher wrote congress sold idea iraqs adoption oil law assure equitable distribution oil revenues told refuse acknowledge law one sentence equitable distribution page page foreign oil companies secure contracts control 23 iraqs oil yet developed retain control generation extent equitable distribution profits left big oil takes cut bush administration imf pressing iraq adopt law shameful congress become partners shoving law conceived drafted benefit rapacious oil corporations throats iraqi people speaking demonstration veteran labor antiwar activists front san francisco federal building eisenscher added law unprecedented middle east since beginning war weve seen looting iraqs antiquities second looting iraqs oil cheapest extract world hence worlds profitable supply oil eisenscher concluded unjust immoral us stay one day clarence thomas longtime activist local 10 international longshore warehouse union spoke respect oil workers met labor delegation iraq thomas recalled 2003 one major concerns iraqi workers spoke privatization told assembled protestors example corpocracy alliance banks corporations government promoting interests american oil companies thomas saluted militancy resilience workers noted oil worker pay low children selling gasoline sides highways group thirty activists posed photo send strikers iraq writer ted nace author book gangs america rise corporate power disabling democracy took microphone nace maintains website focused law stressed long history us foreign policy shafting iraqi people washingtons 1980s support saddam hussein first gulf war subsequent sanctions regime killed million iraqis nace explained publicizing law buying time slow passage law iraqi parliament continue get word democrats like ted kennedy still say revenue sharing absolutely law redeeming features protest formed picket line marched circle front entrance federal building chanted demands speaker house san francisco congresswoman nancy pelosi stop supporting oil law related front last week majority iraqi parliamentarians rejected continued occupation country signing legislative petition calling us set timetable withdrawal long sentiment majority iraqis september 2006 world public opinion poll found 71 iraqis wanted iraqi government ask usled forces withdrawn within year less emerging nationalist bloc behind antioccupation parliamentary vote also opposed us setting permanent bases privatizing iraqs oil ben terrall freelance writer based san francisco reached bterralligcorg 160 160 | 679 |
<p>Philadelphia’s top cop, Richard Ross, an African-American, has once again exhibited his blind spot on racial bigotry by police during his defense of a specious arrest of two black men inside a Starbucks coffee shop recently that triggered strong condemnation from the mayor of the so-called City of Brotherly Love.</p>
<p>The arrest of those black men for trespassing while they sat inside a Starbucks awaiting their meeting with a white developer to discuss a possible real estate investment deal sparked social media outrage, an apology from the corporate head of Starbucks and a strident assessment from Philadelphia’s Mayor James Kenney.</p>
<p>That Starbucks incident, Kenney said, “appears to exemplify what racial discrimination looks like in 2018.”</p>
<p>Yet, despite wide-ranging condemnations and growing protests at the Starbuck located in Center City at 18th and Spruce, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Ross made a Facebook video two days after that controversial arrest where he continues to declare that his officers “did absolutely nothing wrong.”</p>
<p>Ross said his officers “were professional” in providing a “service” to the Starbucks employees at that coffee shop located in a ritzy residential area of downtown Philadelphia. Reports indicate the Starbucks shop personnel initially said the pair were loitering, later insisting their offense was trespassing. Ross’ defense ignored the bigotry that ignited the encounter producing the arrest, bigotry not addressed by the predominately white group of arresting officers.</p>
<p>Ross said police responded to a 911 call from that Starbucks reporting a “disturbance” – apparently a reference to the non-confrontational refusal of the two men to leave the coffee shop as demanded by that shop’s manager, on the grounds that they were waiting for a third party to arrive and join them. (That third perseon, in fact, a white developer, arrived as cops were cuffing the two black patrons, and reacted angrily to police demanding to know why they were arresting his associates — to no effect.)</p>
<p>A cellphone video of the incident, taken by a customer, does not show any disturbance or even loud resistance to police by the pair, who calmly submitted to the arrest.</p>
<p>Police held the pair for over seven hours before their release after midnight. That release resulted from Starbucks personnel, who claimed a disturbance, declining to press charges and Philadelphia’s District Attorneys Office stating there was a “lack of evidence that a crime was committed.”</p>
<p>Police Commissioner Ross said his officers had “legal standing to make this arrest” that arose from an apparent prejudicial response by Starbucks personnel who denied a request from the men to use the bathroom. After the men accepted the refusal to let them use the bathroom, Starbucks personnel still insisted that they leave — a demand rejected by the two men.</p>
<p>While the Starbucks manager cited corporate policy of bathroom access being only for paying customers, an eyewitness told a Philadelphia television station that a white jogger used the bathroom without making a purchase during the same time frame the two black men were denied use of the bathroom.</p>
<p>Richard Ross said his officers made that arrest after police “politely” asked the men to leave three times and they refused those commands, giving officers “attitude.” Ross said hehad made the Facebook video statement in order to “put out facts” since he did not think the police version was being “heard.”</p>
<p>Ross even played his version of a race-card, stating on the video that as an African-American he is “very aware of implicit bias.” Ross’ declaration implicitly contended he did not observe racism in either the actions of his officers or the actions of the Starbucks personnel who summoned police.</p>
<p>The reaction of Commissioner Ross to what many nationwide easily see as an incident saturated with repugnant racial prejudice from Starbucks personnel and police has provoked criticism.</p>
<p>“More egregious than the incident itself, is the tone deaf response from the police commissioner. Richard Ross is on the wrong side of history, and his assertion took on a tone opposite of the Mayor, which is telling,” Chris Norris said. Norris is a Philadelphia journalist who frequently reports about abusive police practices. Additionally, Norris hosts a popular morning talk radio program on Philadelphia’s WURD900AM, one of the few African-American owned talk radio stations in the United States.</p>
<p>“If Starbucks aims to enforce its no excessive loitering policy, then they should hire security guards,” Norris continued. “Philadelphia police, who are paid by taxpayers, should not be responding to calls of nonviolent trespassing.”</p>
<p>Veteran Philadelphia civil rights attorney Isaac Green, reacting to the actions of Starbucks personnel and Philadelphia police including Commissioner Ross, noted that “according to some, being a young black or Latino male is, by definition, probable cause for the belief that criminal activity is afoot.”</p>
<p>Attorney Green said, “criminal injustice” like the Starbucks arrest “feeds the pipeline for mass incarceration making prisons big business and creating an environment for 21st century slavery conditions.”</p>
<p>During the post-Civil War ‘Jim Crow’ era — that didn’t end until the 1960s — white segregationists used laws against loitering to easily arrest blacks who were then assigned to whites to conduct uncompensated forced labor, a virtual re-enslavement through the criminal justice system.</p>
<p>Philadelphia Police Commissioner, in his Facebook video refuting criticisms of the Starbucks incident, said his department is “committed to fair and unbiased policing and anything less that that will not be tolerated.”</p>
<p>However, since 2011 Ross’ department has been under federal court monitoring for abusive Stop-&amp;-Frisk practices driven by racial profiling. The overwhelming majority of the persons subjected to Stop-&amp;-Frisk in Philadelphia are black males. Police stopped 140,000 people in 2016 and blacks represented 77 percent of those frisked by police. “Racial disparities in stops remain,” the ACLU of Pennsylvania noted in January 2018.</p>
<p>Ross has strenuously defended Stop-&amp;-Frisk as essential to policing despite the documented facts that Philadelphia police recover weapons in less than five percent of the Stop-&amp;-Frisk encounters. Removing weapons from the streets is the reason Ross claims Stop-&amp;-Frisk is necessary.</p>
<p>In 1968, Austin Norris, a prominent black lawyer in Philadelphia, penned an essay where he blasted prejudicial law enforcement by Philadelphia police.</p>
<p>“Stopping and frisking Negroes without due provocation has been a general practice” in black communities, Norris wrote. “Negroes have just grievance against the police department here…because they have suffered more from the tyranny of the police than from any other public officials.”</p> | true | 4 | philadelphias top cop richard ross africanamerican exhibited blind spot racial bigotry police defense specious arrest two black men inside starbucks coffee shop recently triggered strong condemnation mayor socalled city brotherly love arrest black men trespassing sat inside starbucks awaiting meeting white developer discuss possible real estate investment deal sparked social media outrage apology corporate head starbucks strident assessment philadelphias mayor james kenney starbucks incident kenney said appears exemplify racial discrimination looks like 2018 yet despite wideranging condemnations growing protests starbuck located center city 18th spruce philadelphia police commissioner ross made facebook video two days controversial arrest continues declare officers absolutely nothing wrong ross said officers professional providing service starbucks employees coffee shop located ritzy residential area downtown philadelphia reports indicate starbucks shop personnel initially said pair loitering later insisting offense trespassing ross defense ignored bigotry ignited encounter producing arrest bigotry addressed predominately white group arresting officers ross said police responded 911 call starbucks reporting disturbance apparently reference nonconfrontational refusal two men leave coffee shop demanded shops manager grounds waiting third party arrive join third perseon fact white developer arrived cops cuffing two black patrons reacted angrily police demanding know arresting associates effect cellphone video incident taken customer show disturbance even loud resistance police pair calmly submitted arrest police held pair seven hours release midnight release resulted starbucks personnel claimed disturbance declining press charges philadelphias district attorneys office stating lack evidence crime committed police commissioner ross said officers legal standing make arrest arose apparent prejudicial response starbucks personnel denied request men use bathroom men accepted refusal let use bathroom starbucks personnel still insisted leave demand rejected two men starbucks manager cited corporate policy bathroom access paying customers eyewitness told philadelphia television station white jogger used bathroom without making purchase time frame two black men denied use bathroom richard ross said officers made arrest police politely asked men leave three times refused commands giving officers attitude ross said hehad made facebook video statement order put facts since think police version heard ross even played version racecard stating video africanamerican aware implicit bias ross declaration implicitly contended observe racism either actions officers actions starbucks personnel summoned police reaction commissioner ross many nationwide easily see incident saturated repugnant racial prejudice starbucks personnel police provoked criticism egregious incident tone deaf response police commissioner richard ross wrong side history assertion took tone opposite mayor telling chris norris said norris philadelphia journalist frequently reports abusive police practices additionally norris hosts popular morning talk radio program philadelphias wurd900am one africanamerican owned talk radio stations united states starbucks aims enforce excessive loitering policy hire security guards norris continued philadelphia police paid taxpayers responding calls nonviolent trespassing veteran philadelphia civil rights attorney isaac green reacting actions starbucks personnel philadelphia police including commissioner ross noted according young black latino male definition probable cause belief criminal activity afoot attorney green said criminal injustice like starbucks arrest feeds pipeline mass incarceration making prisons big business creating environment 21st century slavery conditions postcivil war jim crow era didnt end 1960s white segregationists used laws loitering easily arrest blacks assigned whites conduct uncompensated forced labor virtual reenslavement criminal justice system philadelphia police commissioner facebook video refuting criticisms starbucks incident said department committed fair unbiased policing anything less tolerated however since 2011 ross department federal court monitoring abusive stopampfrisk practices driven racial profiling overwhelming majority persons subjected stopampfrisk philadelphia black males police stopped 140000 people 2016 blacks represented 77 percent frisked police racial disparities stops remain aclu pennsylvania noted january 2018 ross strenuously defended stopampfrisk essential policing despite documented facts philadelphia police recover weapons less five percent stopampfrisk encounters removing weapons streets reason ross claims stopampfrisk necessary 1968 austin norris prominent black lawyer philadelphia penned essay blasted prejudicial law enforcement philadelphia police stopping frisking negroes without due provocation general practice black communities norris wrote negroes grievance police department herebecause suffered tyranny police public officials | 638 |
<p>The swaths of South East Asia worst hit by the tsunami on December 26 and subsequent days have long been analogous with everything cheap: cheap laborers, cheap raw materials, cheap tourist destinations, and yes, much cheaper life.</p>
<p>The whole episode was utterly horrific. But what was it exactly that most of us found so horrifying as we watched people being swept away by the murky waters? Was it the lost lives that were washed away in a flash? Was it the innate fear that often accompanies natural disasters wherever they strike? Or was it the unstated guilt that our privilege necessitated their servitude and misery in this life?</p>
<p>What I found inexcusable however, was much of the media’s narrative – our visionaries, commentators and thought-provokers – in response to the unprecedented tragedy in Asia. In Western media, priorities were stacked based on the value of racial importance. Thus, the obvious concern was over the safety of the European, Australian and North American tourists. Once that was settled and everyone was accounted for, the Asian multitudes, 165,000 of which have been confirmed dead since the drafting of these words, turns into a statistical issue, with futile and untimely philosophical questions being raised, and affording politicians an opportunity to show off their kinder, gentler side. Hogwash.</p>
<p>Martin Kettle of the British Guardian found it most suitable to ask “Are we too cowed now to even ask if the God can exist that can do such things?” while striking a comparison between the courage of 18th century intellectuals Voltaire, Kant and the like and today’s obviously spineless logicians. While many writers around the world had no suggestion on how to help the estimated five million people roaming the havoc-struck towns of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the Maldives, and others, seeking food and shelter, they had plenty of blame to pin on God, demanding answers for nature’s catastrophes.</p>
<p>Every number associated with the earthquake and Tsunami and their aftermath was distressingly high. The wounded have been estimated to be at least four times as many as the dead. World Health Organization Director Lee Jong Wook spoke of hundreds of thousands of people sustaining serious injuries. Health officials warned of numerous diseases caused by exposed and floating bodies and contaminated water; dysentery, cholera, typhoid, malaria, and dengue fever are only a few.</p>
<p>But the most disturbing figures by far were the dismal pledges of aid to the inhabitants of the disaster areas. Finally emerging from his Texas vacation after days of silence, President Bush promised a paltry aid package of $15 million, which was later upgraded to $35 million, and then to “10 fold as much as the earlier aid contribution,” an astounding $350 million.</p>
<p>Regardless of whether the aid reaches the most deserving or not, or whether there is a political price tag to pay, I think it’s rather interesting to indulge in a few more statistics.</p>
<p>According to the US-based National Priority Project and based on official estimates, the US government’s war in Iraq has thus far cost a whopping $147,611,513,432. That’s nearly $148 billion. The war was unnecessary by all accounts, save those of President Bush and his henchmen-intellectuals. According to NPP, the cost of the war could have housed 1,329,102 families in the United States alone, or could have fully funded worldwide AIDS programs for 14 years. Instead, the money was funneled into the war machine, the Pentagon, defense institutions, and various companies and contractors, to subsidize a catastrophic war, which has claimed the lives of over 100,000 Iraqis, and well over 1,000 American soldiers.</p>
<p>The United State’s final aid contribution to the tsunami victims would hardly sustain the Iraq war for more than 36 hours, with daily spending estimated at $270 million. In fact, the cost of one F-22 Raptor fighter jet is around $225 million, well over half of the aid offered to the millions of victims of the disaster in Asia.</p>
<p>For many, pinning the blame on God is the best possible scenario, for it absolves us of what should’ve been an obligation toward fellow humans. It’s rather a charity, a donation, and a matter of choice. But how much of a choice do we have when our tax money is used to finance the dropping of napalm on sleeping families in Basra, or to “aid” Israel’s most ingenious endeavor to fence off Palestinians in an open-air prison in the West Bank? Wouldn’t most Americans rather contribute a meager half million dollars from the Pentagon’s $1.5 billion-a-day budget to purchase two early warning systems tsunami meters to be placed in the Indian Ocean, which could’ve possibly saved thousands of lives? According to the US-based International Action Center’s estimates, “for what the US is spending for less than one second of bombing and destruction, it could construct a system that could have prevented thousands of needless deaths.”</p>
<p>And because it’s God’s fault anyway, then no need to alter war plans for the sake of miserable Asians. According to the New York Times’ Jane Perlez, three Navy vessels carrying more than 2,000 additional marines being shipped to Iraq from San Diego to sustain the US war could be diverted to help in the aid efforts. Yet the decision was “yet to be made,” since it’s a “political” decision after all. While the diversion of the vessels could indeed save many lives, the compelling need to blow up more Iraqis makes the decision all the more difficult.</p>
<p>It’s interesting, albeit disheartening, to observe the world’s relative level of preparedness for war versus for aid efforts. For example, during the US-British war on Iraq, B-52 bombers made daily flights from their bases in Western Europe, bombarded military and civilian installations in northern Iraq, and arrived safely back to their bases the same night. Yet, journalists managed to make it to the worst hit areas in Aceh, Indonesia, and reported from there for days before aid even began arriving, and when it did, it was hardly comparable to the cost of the bombs that annihilated entire Afghani and Iraqi towns and villages.</p>
<p>The death toll in Asia is expected to grow; faceless victims have been swept away, with many more left to fend for themselves, fighting for the little food that will be dumped for them from speeding trucks. As far as economics is concerned, there are little calculations to be made; most of those who perished owned close to nothing to begin with, and it is likely the survivors will continue to be used as exploitable cheap labor. Meanwhile, the Bush administration bought itself a few days of good coverage, squeezed into the space not occupied by the big philosophical questions of our time: “Why does God allow this to happen,” “How can religious people explain something like this?” and of course, the biggest of all: “Does God exist?”</p>
<p>Once the floodwater subsides and the corpses are buried or burned, there will be nothing else to obstruct our daily normality of killing each other and funding the war machine’s exorbitant costs. It’ll be time to resume our “man-made disasters,” which we have learnt to accept with blissful disinterest and without much intellectual chattering about God and 18th-century philosophers. How pompous and full of condescension we humans are.</p>
<p>RAMZY BAROUD is a veteran Arab-American journalist. A regular columnist in many English and Arabic publications, he is editor-in-chief of <a href="http://www.PalestineChronicle.com/" type="external">PalestineChronicle.com</a> and is a program producer at Aljazeera Satellite Television. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:ramzybaroud@hotmail.com" type="external">ramzybaroud@hotmail.com</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | swaths south east asia worst hit tsunami december 26 subsequent days long analogous everything cheap cheap laborers cheap raw materials cheap tourist destinations yes much cheaper life whole episode utterly horrific exactly us found horrifying watched people swept away murky waters lost lives washed away flash innate fear often accompanies natural disasters wherever strike unstated guilt privilege necessitated servitude misery life found inexcusable however much medias narrative visionaries commentators thoughtprovokers response unprecedented tragedy asia western media priorities stacked based value racial importance thus obvious concern safety european australian north american tourists settled everyone accounted asian multitudes 165000 confirmed dead since drafting words turns statistical issue futile untimely philosophical questions raised affording politicians opportunity show kinder gentler side hogwash martin kettle british guardian found suitable ask cowed even ask god exist things striking comparison courage 18th century intellectuals voltaire kant like todays obviously spineless logicians many writers around world suggestion help estimated five million people roaming havocstruck towns indonesia sri lanka thailand maldives others seeking food shelter plenty blame pin god demanding answers natures catastrophes every number associated earthquake tsunami aftermath distressingly high wounded estimated least four times many dead world health organization director lee jong wook spoke hundreds thousands people sustaining serious injuries health officials warned numerous diseases caused exposed floating bodies contaminated water dysentery cholera typhoid malaria dengue fever disturbing figures far dismal pledges aid inhabitants disaster areas finally emerging texas vacation days silence president bush promised paltry aid package 15 million later upgraded 35 million 10 fold much earlier aid contribution astounding 350 million regardless whether aid reaches deserving whether political price tag pay think rather interesting indulge statistics according usbased national priority project based official estimates us governments war iraq thus far cost whopping 147611513432 thats nearly 148 billion war unnecessary accounts save president bush henchmenintellectuals according npp cost war could housed 1329102 families united states alone could fully funded worldwide aids programs 14 years instead money funneled war machine pentagon defense institutions various companies contractors subsidize catastrophic war claimed lives 100000 iraqis well 1000 american soldiers united states final aid contribution tsunami victims would hardly sustain iraq war 36 hours daily spending estimated 270 million fact cost one f22 raptor fighter jet around 225 million well half aid offered millions victims disaster asia many pinning blame god best possible scenario absolves us shouldve obligation toward fellow humans rather charity donation matter choice much choice tax money used finance dropping napalm sleeping families basra aid israels ingenious endeavor fence palestinians openair prison west bank wouldnt americans rather contribute meager half million dollars pentagons 15 billionaday budget purchase two early warning systems tsunami meters placed indian ocean couldve possibly saved thousands lives according usbased international action centers estimates us spending less one second bombing destruction could construct system could prevented thousands needless deaths gods fault anyway need alter war plans sake miserable asians according new york times jane perlez three navy vessels carrying 2000 additional marines shipped iraq san diego sustain us war could diverted help aid efforts yet decision yet made since political decision diversion vessels could indeed save many lives compelling need blow iraqis makes decision difficult interesting albeit disheartening observe worlds relative level preparedness war versus aid efforts example usbritish war iraq b52 bombers made daily flights bases western europe bombarded military civilian installations northern iraq arrived safely back bases night yet journalists managed make worst hit areas aceh indonesia reported days aid even began arriving hardly comparable cost bombs annihilated entire afghani iraqi towns villages death toll asia expected grow faceless victims swept away many left fend fighting little food dumped speeding trucks far economics concerned little calculations made perished owned close nothing begin likely survivors continue used exploitable cheap labor meanwhile bush administration bought days good coverage squeezed space occupied big philosophical questions time god allow happen religious people explain something like course biggest god exist floodwater subsides corpses buried burned nothing else obstruct daily normality killing funding war machines exorbitant costs itll time resume manmade disasters learnt accept blissful disinterest without much intellectual chattering god 18thcentury philosophers pompous full condescension humans ramzy baroud veteran arabamerican journalist regular columnist many english arabic publications editorinchief palestinechroniclecom program producer aljazeera satellite television reached ramzybaroudhotmailcom 160 | 700 |
<p>The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) deplores this week’s decision by the Israeli High Court of Justice against permitting judicial review for families of Palestinians whose homes are targeted for demolition because a family member has been involved in (or even suspected of) terror attacks. True to the pattern of many years, the Court has accepted the argument of the army that such demolitions take place as integral parts of military operations. Israel’s High Court thus permits the setting aside of fundamental human rights in favor of military considerations (which are but extensions of the governmentOs political goals).</p>
<p>What human rights are violated by this decision?</p>
<p>The right of innocent individuals not to be held legally accountable for the actions of relatives. Blood ties cannot be the basis of demolition someone’s home. The notion that individuals may be punished for crimes of others without any criminal charge being made against them forfeits the elementary protection that the legal system owes to every person.</p>
<p>The right of every person to due process and judicial review. Punishing individuals not charged with any crime, or denying them recourse to the court if they are faced with punitive actions, constitutes extra-judicial punishment. When an entire family is punished for the suspected deeds of one of its members, this is collective punishment. Both violate the essence of both Israeli civil law and international humanitarian law.</p>
<p>The demolition of houses or destruction of other private property of individuals residing in occupied territories is explicitly forbidden by the Fourth Geneva Convention (Article 53), as is collective punishment (Article 33).</p>
<p>This sad decision, which immediately effects 49 Palestinian families whose homes may be demolished at any time, represents the steady erosion of Israeli democracy as it tries to cope with popular resistance to an illegal Occupation. In its decision, the High Court itself subordinates the rule of law, not to mention human rights, to the requirements of military repression. In the simplest terms, it condones and permits war crimes. Absolute rule over another people is possible only by denying them fundamental legal protection. In the end, this must destroy the very moral and legal basis underlying democracy and law.</p>
<p>For the past six years ICAHD has been working on the issue of house demolitions. Every time we think: “OK, we’ve exhausted the subject, let’s go on to other, perhaps more pressing issues,” the systematic destruction of Palestinian homes returns to the center of the conflict with a vengeance. It happened in the Jenin refugee camp, where the indomitable drivers of the massive D-9 Caterpillar bulldozers labored for three straight days and nights demolishing more than 300 homes in the densely packed camp, thereby becoming the heroes of the invasion. And it is happening today as Israel demolishes dozens of houses belonging to families of terrorists, a form of collective punishment that is clearly a war crime.</p>
<p>Why? Why does house demolitions remain at the center of the conflict? Why has it been at the center of the Israeli struggle against the Palestinians since 1948? There are many specific reasons given: security, deterrence, punishment, self-defense, warfare, “illegal” construction, enforcement of the law and on and on. But one element remains throughout: The Message. Sharon, like his predecessors, never tire of warning that Israeli attacks on the Palestinians will continue “until they get The Message.” What is The Message? As stated by Sharon and the others (going back some 80 years to the “Iron Wall” concept of Jabotinsky and Ben Gurion), The Message is: “Submit. Only when you abandon your dreams for an independent state of your own, and accept that Palestine has become the Land of Israel, will we relent.” But The Message goes even deeper, is more sinister than that. The Message of the Bulldozers is: “You do not belong here. We uprooted you from your homes in 1948 and prevented your return, and now we will uproot you from all of the Land of Israel.” “Transfer” has become an acceptable topic of television talk shows. And that is why house demolitions remain so prominent, the bulldozer beside the tank. Because in the end this process of reoccupation is one of displacement.</p>
<p>The bulldozer certainly deserves to take its rightful place alongside the tank as a symbol of Israel’s relationship with the Palestinians. The two deserve to be on the national flag. The tank as symbol of an Israel “fighting for its existence,” and for its prowess on the battlefield. And the bulldozer for the dark underside of Israel’s struggle for existence, its ongoing struggle to displace the Palestinians from the country. For Israel has always treated the Palestinians as an enemy, never as a people with collective rights and legitimate claims to the country with which it might someday live in peace. In 1948 Israel played an active role in driving 75% of the Palestinians from the Land. Over the next four or five years the bulldozer, following the tank, systematically demolished 418 Palestinian villages. Since 1967, as Israel’s tanks suppress Palestinian resistance to the Occupation with increasing frequency and ferocity, its bulldozers (aided by artillery and missiles) have demolished more than 9000 Palestinian homes and counting. Even as I write this, a day after the Israeli High Court of Justice gave its consent to demolishing houses of families of terrorists without warning or a chance to appeal to the court, houses are being bulldozed in Bethlehem and Gaza with dozens more threatened throughout the Occupied Territories. And not only. Throughout Israel proper, in the “unrecognized villages” and Palestinian neighborhoods of Ramle, Lod and elsewhere, houses continue to be demolished 54 years later. Jews now live in Palestinian houses in Israel’s major cities and Palestinian villages have long disappeared under the agricultural fields of kibbutzim and moshavs. Amidst this destruction 150,000 housing units have been built for the 400,000 Jews living across the 1967 border.</p>
<p>The bulldozer remains at the center of the “action” for the simple reason that repression and control alone do not secure the country for those the Jews whose claim excludes all others. Those with competing claims the Palestinians must be displaced if the Jews are really going to take possession, or at least confined to small islands where they cannot interfere with or challenge Israeli dominion. (The announcement this week by the Ministry of the Interior that Palestinian Israelis would be stripped of their citizenship if proven “unloyal” to the State extends the work of bulldozers.)</p>
<p>But just as Israel cannot insulate itself from the Occupation, so too it cannot escape the ravages of its own house demolitions policy. Fear that the displaced might yet rise again and claim their patrimony prevents Israelis from enjoying the fruits of their power. The country has been seized by rising xenophobia and national–religious fanaticism. Polarization characterizes the relations between the right and left, Jewish and Arab citizens, Jews of European and Middle East origin, the working and middle classes, religious and secular. Israelis are “hunkering down,” increasingly isolated from the world. Young Israeli men and women are themselves brutalized as they are sent as soldiers to evict Palestinian families from their homes. Even the beauty of the land is destroyed as the authorities rush to construct ugly, sprawling suburbs and massive highways in order to “claim” the land before Palestinians creep back in. Aesthetics, human rights, environmental concerns, education, social justice these are the finer things of life that cannot coexist with displacement and occupation. “Fortress Israel,” as we call it, is by necessity based on a culture of strength, violence and crudity.</p>
<p>In the final analysis, it will be the bulldozer that razes the structure that once was Israel.</p>
<p>Jeff Halper is the Coordinator of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) and a Professor of Anthropology at Ben Gurion University. He has lived in Israel since 1973. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:icahd@zahav.net.il" type="external">icahd@zahav.net.il</a>. New Print Edition of CounterPunch Available Exclusively to Subscribers:</p>
<p>War Talk As White Noise: Anything to Get Harken and Halliburton Out of the Headlines; First Hilliard, Then McKinney: Jewish Groups Target Blacks Brave Enough to Talk About Justice in the Middle East; Intimidation is the Name of the Game; Smearing “Insane” McKinney As Muslims’ Pawn; The Missing Terrorist? Calling Scotland Yard: “Where’s Atif?” They Never Booed Dylan!: Tape Transcript Shows Famed Newport Folkfest Dissing of Electric Dylan Not True. The Catcalls were for Peter Yarrow! New Shame from the Liffey Shrike</p> | true | 4 | israeli committee house demolitions icahd deplores weeks decision israeli high court justice permitting judicial review families palestinians whose homes targeted demolition family member involved even suspected terror attacks true pattern many years court accepted argument army demolitions take place integral parts military operations israels high court thus permits setting aside fundamental human rights favor military considerations extensions governmentos political goals human rights violated decision right innocent individuals held legally accountable actions relatives blood ties basis demolition someones home notion individuals may punished crimes others without criminal charge made forfeits elementary protection legal system owes every person right every person due process judicial review punishing individuals charged crime denying recourse court faced punitive actions constitutes extrajudicial punishment entire family punished suspected deeds one members collective punishment violate essence israeli civil law international humanitarian law demolition houses destruction private property individuals residing occupied territories explicitly forbidden fourth geneva convention article 53 collective punishment article 33 sad decision immediately effects 49 palestinian families whose homes may demolished time represents steady erosion israeli democracy tries cope popular resistance illegal occupation decision high court subordinates rule law mention human rights requirements military repression simplest terms condones permits war crimes absolute rule another people possible denying fundamental legal protection end must destroy moral legal basis underlying democracy law past six years icahd working issue house demolitions every time think ok weve exhausted subject lets go perhaps pressing issues systematic destruction palestinian homes returns center conflict vengeance happened jenin refugee camp indomitable drivers massive d9 caterpillar bulldozers labored three straight days nights demolishing 300 homes densely packed camp thereby becoming heroes invasion happening today israel demolishes dozens houses belonging families terrorists form collective punishment clearly war crime house demolitions remain center conflict center israeli struggle palestinians since 1948 many specific reasons given security deterrence punishment selfdefense warfare illegal construction enforcement law one element remains throughout message sharon like predecessors never tire warning israeli attacks palestinians continue get message message stated sharon others going back 80 years iron wall concept jabotinsky ben gurion message submit abandon dreams independent state accept palestine become land israel relent message goes even deeper sinister message bulldozers belong uprooted homes 1948 prevented return uproot land israel transfer become acceptable topic television talk shows house demolitions remain prominent bulldozer beside tank end process reoccupation one displacement bulldozer certainly deserves take rightful place alongside tank symbol israels relationship palestinians two deserve national flag tank symbol israel fighting existence prowess battlefield bulldozer dark underside israels struggle existence ongoing struggle displace palestinians country israel always treated palestinians enemy never people collective rights legitimate claims country might someday live peace 1948 israel played active role driving 75 palestinians land next four five years bulldozer following tank systematically demolished 418 palestinian villages since 1967 israels tanks suppress palestinian resistance occupation increasing frequency ferocity bulldozers aided artillery missiles demolished 9000 palestinian homes counting even write day israeli high court justice gave consent demolishing houses families terrorists without warning chance appeal court houses bulldozed bethlehem gaza dozens threatened throughout occupied territories throughout israel proper unrecognized villages palestinian neighborhoods ramle lod elsewhere houses continue demolished 54 years later jews live palestinian houses israels major cities palestinian villages long disappeared agricultural fields kibbutzim moshavs amidst destruction 150000 housing units built 400000 jews living across 1967 border bulldozer remains center action simple reason repression control alone secure country jews whose claim excludes others competing claims palestinians must displaced jews really going take possession least confined small islands interfere challenge israeli dominion announcement week ministry interior palestinian israelis would stripped citizenship proven unloyal state extends work bulldozers israel insulate occupation escape ravages house demolitions policy fear displaced might yet rise claim patrimony prevents israelis enjoying fruits power country seized rising xenophobia nationalreligious fanaticism polarization characterizes relations right left jewish arab citizens jews european middle east origin working middle classes religious secular israelis hunkering increasingly isolated world young israeli men women brutalized sent soldiers evict palestinian families homes even beauty land destroyed authorities rush construct ugly sprawling suburbs massive highways order claim land palestinians creep back aesthetics human rights environmental concerns education social justice finer things life coexist displacement occupation fortress israel call necessity based culture strength violence crudity final analysis bulldozer razes structure israel jeff halper coordinator israeli committee house demolitions icahd professor anthropology ben gurion university lived israel since 1973 reached icahdzahavnetil new print edition counterpunch available exclusively subscribers war talk white noise anything get harken halliburton headlines first hilliard mckinney jewish groups target blacks brave enough talk justice middle east intimidation name game smearing insane mckinney muslims pawn missing terrorist calling scotland yard wheres atif never booed dylan tape transcript shows famed newport folkfest dissing electric dylan true catcalls peter yarrow new shame liffey shrike | 782 |
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<p>[This essay is excerpted from <a href="http://www.easycarts.net/ecarts/CounterPunch/CP_Books.html" type="external">Dime’s Worth of Difference</a>.]</p>
<p>Democrats in action? How about in Mendocino County, California, a great big rugged rural place with 85,000 people strewn over an area larger than Vermont.</p>
<p>The short history of the Democratic Party takeover of Mendocino County goes like this: Beginning in 1967, thousands of hippies drove north on Highway 101 from the Bay Area, headed “back to the land”. The land they were going back to was cheap, and got cheaper the farther north their used Volvos carried them. But when the urban refugees, themselves refugees from the suburbs and everything represented by suburbs, got back to the land, there was no hippie way to support themselves other than dope production, and dope’s a high stress enterprise given the cops, thieves and the IRS. So a lot of the hippies dusted off their diplomas, cleaned up and drove down out of the hills to get themselves public jobs, which in the perennially tight economy of Mendocino County are the only jobs that pay college people the kind of money college people think they deserve.</p>
<p>The hippies were re-entering the society they’d spent their youths being contemptuous of. And being middle-class and civic-minded, they soon elected other hippies, or hip-symps, to a few low-level offices, then some mid-level offices, until Mendocino County’s public jobs were entirely dominated by the love generation.</p>
<p>And public policy in Mendocino County grew crueler by the year, in direct proportion to the re-entry return of the formerly estranged. For $30,000 a year, a flower child would put the figurative, the programmatic boots to anybody a rung down the ladder. Pay an old hippie with a law degree $140,000 a year with the full fringe package for him and Mrs. Lib and the kids, and he’ll kill, which is what Mendocino County’s seven liberal judges, all of them Up From Hippie, do five days a week every week in the Mendocino County Courthouse.</p>
<p>“Life without, punk, but I feel your pain”.</p>
<p>Congressman Mike Thompson picked up a Purple Heart in Vietnam. He said when he got home a hippie spit on him. Thompson runs unopposed for re-election. The Republicans don’t bother putting money into an opponent because they’ve got Thompson who’s just as good.</p>
<p>Thompson presides over an apparatus of career officeholders like himself who replace each other when one of them moves on to another public office.</p>
<p>If no public office is immediately available to a term-limited old boy, the Democrats park him or her on a state board of some kind at a hundred thousand a year for one meeting a week until another old boy leaves another safe seat open.</p>
<p>The electoral base camp for rotating offices consists almost entirely of public employees, whose funding depends on Democrats at the state and federal levels. The edu-bloc votes as one for Democrats, the Democrats send money and promise to send more without raising taxes. People employed at various levels of government ­ and that’s a lot of people in Mendocino County, one third of everyone employed ­ vote Democratic because the Democrats can be depended on to make more government, especially of the kind that keeps on re-electing them. What the Democrats have managed to do on the North coast is create an old fashioned political machine that creates jobs for people who believe that Democrats are “progressive”. Maybe they are in some places, but not here. Here, in real life practice, Democrats are Bush Republicans. To use one of their favorite words, Democrats are “facilitators” of environmental and social destruction.</p>
<p>This is the county whose sheriff and district attorney, libertarian Republicans, ran for office promising to decriminalize marijuana. Which they did, and both were re-elected by even greater margins the second time they ran. They’ve also passed out more concealed weapons permits than any DA and Sheriff in the state. They’re at odds with Democrats and Republicans on most issues, but you won’t hear a critical word from either of them ever on the deficiencies of the career officeholders of the Democratic machine.</p>
<p>We have a thriving Green Party that votes for Democrats and steadfastly avoids running candidates for local office. When the rare Green takes on the Democrats, he’s either stabbed by Democrats or denounced by Greens for not having been sanctioned by them. When Green guy Dave Severn took on a semi-psychotic Democrat for county supervisor, the Mendocino Green Party refused to endorse Severn. When an elected school board trustee and registered Green signed up for the Green Congressional primary this year hoping to oppose Congressman Thompson in the general election in November, a recreational candidate who runs for office on one minority party ballot or another every election, just happened to find $500 to register to run against the viable Green in the Green primary. The recreational candidate, who is neither seen nor heard on any issue between elections, beat the legitimate Green in the primary because she’s a woman and she has a Mexican-sounding surname. The legit Green would have caused incumbent Thompson some serious anxiety in his re-election race against a token Republican because Thompson, like Gore and Kerry on the national level, inspires either zero enthusiasm or negative enthusiasm of the I’ll-vote-for-the-Greens-just-to-screw-things-up-for-the-two-party-dictatorship variety.</p>
<p>Congressman Thompson, Wine Country representative all the way and the industry’s main man in Washington, was instrumental in getting the ban on methyl bromide delayed for five more years on behalf of his industry padrones. Thompson, not deigning to take out the necessary permits, bulldozed a parcel of land he owns in nearby Lake County so he could put in his own little vineyard, rightly assuming the authorities would pretend not to know he did it.</p>
<p>The wine people are heavily Democratic because Democrats, they seem to think, have panache; Republicans don’t. It is hard to imagine John Ashcroft at a wine tasting, not hard to imagine Bill and Hillary at one, the crazed AG is not a likely white wine and brie guy. But a rhetorically liberal upscale couple would be right at home in a setting of the superficial and the silly.</p>
<p>Pumped down into the soil to depths of 12 feet, methyl bromide sterilizes the earth as grape vine site prep. Immigrant Mexicans, dressed in protective moonsuits, apply the lethal stuff, and often die in industry accidents involving ag or industrial wine chemicals, especially nitrogen, because the wine people, thanks to Democrats, are basically exempt from industrial safety standards.</p>
<p>The wine industry, heavy consumers of pesticides and herbicides, is environmentally devastating and socially indifferent; they clearcut large swaths of land with a thoroughness the most demented logger can only dream of doing, then lay on the chemicals year round. Socially, the industry provides little to no worker housing for the immigrant labor upon which depends. The wine industry, which seldom pays better than minimum wages for seasonal work, rises up as one to crush UFW organizing attempts like so many grapes, and fires any worker who complains without so much as promising anything resembling a fair hearing. Congressman Thompson, a Democrat who’sinterchangeable with Republicans on most votes, is the wine industry’s national go-to guy.</p>
<p>One spring morning back in the 1970s, as a clusters of little hippie kids waited for the big yellow school bus to carry them to classrooms as dull and reactionary as the ones their alienated parents had fled for California’s backwoods, a Louisiana-Pacific helicopter, spraying the freshly-logged hills with herbicides to prevent non-commercial re-vegetation, heedlessly sprayed the little Rainbows and Karmas as they waited for their school buses. The hippies mobilized and passed an aerial spray ban. Within months, state Democrats, including those elected from this area, led by Willie Brown, all of their pockets stuffed with corporate ag cash, passed legislation that decreed that individual counties couldn’t regulate herbicides and pesticides ­ only the state could decide on the big ticket stuff like who could poison the kids and who couldn’t. You don’t like Garlon dropped on your kid? Take it up with Sacramento.</p>
<p>Among the re-entry hippies who dominate Mendocino County’s public institutions are too many lawyers. Law degreed hippies were quick to note that Mendocino County’s far-flung communities were served by one-day-a-week justice courts whose judges were “lay persons”, i.e., non-lawyers. Nobody in Mendocino County was unhappy with the lay judges in any organized sense of unhappiness; lay judges were a non-issue. People living in the deep outback liked their judges and their courts the way they were, but the lawyers scented opportunity. The lawyers, especially the under-employed ones barely able to earn enough to support the hepatitis lifestyle they’d moved to the country to pursue, began to say, “The quality of justice is likely to be inferior if the person dispensing it isn’t properly trained. We really should have lawyers sitting as judges in these justice courts”. The law was changed, and the lay judges, who had dispensed Mendocino County justice for a hundred years, were gone. Trained legal professionals, fresh from the big naked solstice piles up in the hills, took over Mendocino County’s justice courts.</p>
<p>There’s been a dramatic change in the quality of justice. Not only are more people than ever going to jail, a new lawyer judge fell in love with an armed robber defendant and, time and again, tossed the charges against his boy friend until people said, “Hey! If this guy would rob people over the hill we wouldn’t mind you sleeping with him, your honor. But we live here!”</p>
<p>The lawyer judge went, but the judge who replaced him, an exhibitionist, kept flashing his court’s female staffers. He finally went off for “counseling”, but came back after a few months of working as a judge an hour away; his judicial pals said privately they’d told him to be sure to wear clothes under his robes, and keep his gonads off the scales of justice.</p>
<p>Lay judges made $300 a month for one-day-a-week. The lawyer judges make $140,000 a year plus fringes for themselves and their families. They can work or not work, as they please; they can stay home and draw their base pay or travel around the state at public expense to sit as visiting judges.</p>
<p>We’ve got more of these $140,000 judges than any population our size in the state. And the justice courts? They’re gone, centralized so the judges don’t have to travel much. The elevation of hippie judges to superior court status was sold as “reorganization” and “increased efficiency”. The Democrat-dominated state legislature sold us that one.</p>
<p>The quality of justice now that long-time pot smokers are presiding? If you can afford a well-connected lawyer you get off; if you can’t you go to the state pen, and the people sending you are all NPR listeners, Democrats, liberals, Clintonians.</p>
<p>A 19-year-old kid recently got sent off on, as they say, on an L-WOP, life without the possibility of parole. He got a one-day jury trial during which his public defender called no witnesses on his behalf, assigned no investigators to look at the facts of the case, wrapped up by denouncing the kid as a very bad person who’d committed a very bad murder. Her defense? The boy hadn’t been properly read his rights. The jury was back within minutes with a unanimous guilty verdict. Even the cops were stomping indignantly around the Courthouse at the Public Defender’s grotesquely inept defense.</p>
<p>The L-WOP boy’s two accomplices, one of whom did the crime, murder, got 15 and 19 years respectively. Everyone involved in the case’s second murder, the judicial murder of this L-WOP kid now buried for life at Soledad, is a registered Democrat. The sentencing judge is an active Democrat whose wife works in the local Democrat Assemblyperson’s office.</p>
<p>We even have an “alternate public defender’s” office, a jobs program for under-employed but hip-lib lawyers. The way this works, and it works at enormous additional expense to taxpayers, is when one of the regular public defenders claims “a conflict of interest”, the “alternate” is summoned. The conflict can be as vague as a remote commercial association from, say, five years ago when the defendant attended the same wedding as one of the attorneys in the public defender’s office. The faux scrupulousness is really just a way to spread the legal work around the Democrats who, of course, delude themselves into thinking they’re fighters for the underdog.</p>
<p>We also have a family court magistrate; and two court administrators; and privatized court reporters (two of whom are girlfriends of sitting judges), and family court mediators, invariably ex-hippies whose own lives are hopelessly fucked up but drawing nice pay to help other fucked up people with their marital woes, usually making them worse, and we have victim witness coordinators; and a triple-sized probation department; and family court advocates; and on and on ­ at least a thousand ‘helping professionals’, and not a Republican in the bunch, and the whole mob of them committed Democrats of the type who write letters to the editor denouncing Ralph Nader.</p>
<p>Mendocino County, having gone big time for Dean, later went big time for Kerry. Our local public radio station, partially funded by WalMart and the local wine industry, both of which are entirely dependent on grotesquely exploited labor, bills itself as “Free Speech Radio, Mendocino County”. It’s dominated by Democrats, and there are exactly two hours a month of aggressively vetted semi-free speech. Pacifica Network-type Stalinists answer the phones, and if you aren’t talking Kucinich or Kerry or Mumia or their local surrogates, you don’t get to talk. No dissent is allowed on air. Ever. But the Democrats get all the air time they want, and since there are no Republicans who either tune in or call in during the two whole hours a month any old body can reach right out and audio touch a tax-paid censor, it’s all Democrats all the time.</p>
<p>As in the rest of America, the Democrats stay in office here in Ecotopia by routing funding to public employees. School people and public employees vote as a bloc for Democrats because Democrats fund them. Local food banks estimate that a minimum of 20% of Mendocino County children under the age of five don’t get enough to eat, and many Mendocino County schools fail to meet prevailing educational standards, low as they are. The Mendocino County Jail, because it has had to take over the care and feeding of the ill because Mendocino County’s helping professionals, many of them active Democrats, and all of them Democratic voters although occasionally registered Green, aren’t equal to the task; the jail is so overcrowded it regularly releases its least violent inmates after they’ve served a third to half their sentences.</p>
<p>The proprietor of a fancy, ocean view inn is “environmental chair” of California’s Democratic Party. During grassroots demonstrations against the possibility that the Pacific off the Mendocino Coast might eventually be drilled for oil, Democrats like Gray Davis, known locally as Eraser Head, showed up in chauffeur-driven gas guzzlers for environmental photo-ops. The inn owner, previously unengaged in the agitation to keep oil rigs out of her viewshed, inserted herself into the turmoil, sedate as it was, and was soon appearing in the New York Times as the lady who’s saving the sea from Chevron. Her inn became a regular pit stop for bigwig Democrats, and she became the person who kept the derricks off the North coast. The grassroots people, who’d hoped for a permanent ban on offshore drilling, were shoved aside, and the safety of sea creatures has been in the well-oiled, well-funded hands of Democrats ever since.</p>
<p>So have the forests, what’s left of them. When the North coast grassroots drew national attention to the grim fact that outside timber corporations were cashing in Mendocino and Humboldt county trees for short-term profit and long-term environmental and employment devastation, the grassroots turned to their Democratic officeholders for help. The Democrats, always ready to oblige, helped the corporations mop up what was left of both the private and public trees, and then, with public money freed up by Clinton, bought up untouched acres of forest at twice their already inflated value from Charles Hurwitz, a junk bond tycoon based in Texas who does big business deals with Senator Dianne Feinstein’s husband.</p>
<p>The Democrats and their local gofers also negotiated a set aside of thousands of acres of land at Big River, just south of tourist ground zero, Mendocino Village. The newest set aside was dedicated to two active Democrats who’d always been among the missing when environmental push had come to environmental shove. It’s as if long time environmentalists like Ron Guenther, who literally risked his neck to take on the timber corporations and was the first local person to protest timber harvest plans on their merits, was ignored as Democrats and their officeholders held a self-congratulatory hand-over ceremony at Big River beach.</p>
<p>The New York Times-owned Santa Rosa Press Democrat serves as major media stenographer for local Democrats. The paper was distraught at Gray Davis’s recall as California’s governor. “We just can’t allow voters to monkeywrench things like this”, the paper wailed editorially. “What if the mob goes after Wes or Patti or Mike and the rest of our progressive friends? It’s too terrible to contemplate”.</p>
<p>The Davis recall lost in Mendocino County. The Democrats managed to convince the minority of eligible voters who bothered with the recall election that Davis was better than the alternative. The alternative was, of course, a lateral move, electorally considered, and here we are again with the Democrats telling us that it’s Kerry or another four years of Bush.</p>
<p>In Mendocino County, it’s another four years of Thompson as methyl bromide’s national advocate, while here with the home folks, Thompson’s in-county rep, long ago secretly anointed by the Thompson Democrats to become a supervisor and thus begin her climb upwards to the imported brie, easily defeated an unblessed male Democrat to get the job.</p>
<p>In November, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors will consist of five Democrats: a gay woman; a recovering alcoholic; a retired rock and roll musician; a trust fund hippie; and a Bly Guy who changed his name to Wildman: rural multiculturalism, Democrat style.</p>
<p>BRUCE ANDERSON was editor of The Anderson Valey Advertiser, headquartered in Boonville, Mendocino County, northern California. After 23 years, in August of this year he and his wife Ling headed for Eugene, OR, craving rain and that brand of blood-thirsty self-righteousness that Oregonian liberals have successfully patented to alternate with the vindictive barbarism of the local Republicanism. He is a contributor to CounterPunch’s hot new book <a href="http://www.easycarts.net/ecarts/CounterPunch/CP_Books.html" type="external">Dime’s Worth of Difference</a>. His new paper, AVA Oregon, will be launched in November. You can reach him at: <a href="mailto:AVA39@msn.com" type="external">AVA39@msn.com</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | 160 essay excerpted dimes worth difference democrats action mendocino county california great big rugged rural place 85000 people strewn area larger vermont short history democratic party takeover mendocino county goes like beginning 1967 thousands hippies drove north highway 101 bay area headed back land land going back cheap got cheaper farther north used volvos carried urban refugees refugees suburbs everything represented suburbs got back land hippie way support dope production dopes high stress enterprise given cops thieves irs lot hippies dusted diplomas cleaned drove hills get public jobs perennially tight economy mendocino county jobs pay college people kind money college people think deserve hippies reentering society theyd spent youths contemptuous middleclass civicminded soon elected hippies hipsymps lowlevel offices midlevel offices mendocino countys public jobs entirely dominated love generation public policy mendocino county grew crueler year direct proportion reentry return formerly estranged 30000 year flower child would put figurative programmatic boots anybody rung ladder pay old hippie law degree 140000 year full fringe package mrs lib kids hell kill mendocino countys seven liberal judges hippie five days week every week mendocino county courthouse life without punk feel pain congressman mike thompson picked purple heart vietnam said got home hippie spit thompson runs unopposed reelection republicans dont bother putting money opponent theyve got thompson whos good thompson presides apparatus career officeholders like replace one moves another public office public office immediately available termlimited old boy democrats park state board kind hundred thousand year one meeting week another old boy leaves another safe seat open electoral base camp rotating offices consists almost entirely public employees whose funding depends democrats state federal levels edubloc votes one democrats democrats send money promise send without raising taxes people employed various levels government thats lot people mendocino county one third everyone employed vote democratic democrats depended make government especially kind keeps reelecting democrats managed north coast create old fashioned political machine creates jobs people believe democrats progressive maybe places real life practice democrats bush republicans use one favorite words democrats facilitators environmental social destruction county whose sheriff district attorney libertarian republicans ran office promising decriminalize marijuana reelected even greater margins second time ran theyve also passed concealed weapons permits da sheriff state theyre odds democrats republicans issues wont hear critical word either ever deficiencies career officeholders democratic machine thriving green party votes democrats steadfastly avoids running candidates local office rare green takes democrats hes either stabbed democrats denounced greens sanctioned green guy dave severn took semipsychotic democrat county supervisor mendocino green party refused endorse severn elected school board trustee registered green signed green congressional primary year hoping oppose congressman thompson general election november recreational candidate runs office one minority party ballot another every election happened find 500 register run viable green green primary recreational candidate neither seen heard issue elections beat legitimate green primary shes woman mexicansounding surname legit green would caused incumbent thompson serious anxiety reelection race token republican thompson like gore kerry national level inspires either zero enthusiasm negative enthusiasm illvoteforthegreensjusttoscrewthingsupforthetwopartydictatorship variety congressman thompson wine country representative way industrys main man washington instrumental getting ban methyl bromide delayed five years behalf industry padrones thompson deigning take necessary permits bulldozed parcel land owns nearby lake county could put little vineyard rightly assuming authorities would pretend know wine people heavily democratic democrats seem think panache republicans dont hard imagine john ashcroft wine tasting hard imagine bill hillary one crazed ag likely white wine brie guy rhetorically liberal upscale couple would right home setting superficial silly pumped soil depths 12 feet methyl bromide sterilizes earth grape vine site prep immigrant mexicans dressed protective moonsuits apply lethal stuff often die industry accidents involving ag industrial wine chemicals especially nitrogen wine people thanks democrats basically exempt industrial safety standards wine industry heavy consumers pesticides herbicides environmentally devastating socially indifferent clearcut large swaths land thoroughness demented logger dream lay chemicals year round socially industry provides little worker housing immigrant labor upon depends wine industry seldom pays better minimum wages seasonal work rises one crush ufw organizing attempts like many grapes fires worker complains without much promising anything resembling fair hearing congressman thompson democrat whosinterchangeable republicans votes wine industrys national goto guy one spring morning back 1970s clusters little hippie kids waited big yellow school bus carry classrooms dull reactionary ones alienated parents fled californias backwoods louisianapacific helicopter spraying freshlylogged hills herbicides prevent noncommercial revegetation heedlessly sprayed little rainbows karmas waited school buses hippies mobilized passed aerial spray ban within months state democrats including elected area led willie brown pockets stuffed corporate ag cash passed legislation decreed individual counties couldnt regulate herbicides pesticides state could decide big ticket stuff like could poison kids couldnt dont like garlon dropped kid take sacramento among reentry hippies dominate mendocino countys public institutions many lawyers law degreed hippies quick note mendocino countys farflung communities served onedayaweek justice courts whose judges lay persons ie nonlawyers nobody mendocino county unhappy lay judges organized sense unhappiness lay judges nonissue people living deep outback liked judges courts way lawyers scented opportunity lawyers especially underemployed ones barely able earn enough support hepatitis lifestyle theyd moved country pursue began say quality justice likely inferior person dispensing isnt properly trained really lawyers sitting judges justice courts law changed lay judges dispensed mendocino county justice hundred years gone trained legal professionals fresh big naked solstice piles hills took mendocino countys justice courts theres dramatic change quality justice people ever going jail new lawyer judge fell love armed robber defendant time tossed charges boy friend people said hey guy would rob people hill wouldnt mind sleeping honor live lawyer judge went judge replaced exhibitionist kept flashing courts female staffers finally went counseling came back months working judge hour away judicial pals said privately theyd told sure wear clothes robes keep gonads scales justice lay judges made 300 month onedayaweek lawyer judges make 140000 year plus fringes families work work please stay home draw base pay travel around state public expense sit visiting judges weve got 140000 judges population size state justice courts theyre gone centralized judges dont travel much elevation hippie judges superior court status sold reorganization increased efficiency democratdominated state legislature sold us one quality justice longtime pot smokers presiding afford wellconnected lawyer get cant go state pen people sending npr listeners democrats liberals clintonians 19yearold kid recently got sent say lwop life without possibility parole got oneday jury trial public defender called witnesses behalf assigned investigators look facts case wrapped denouncing kid bad person whod committed bad murder defense boy hadnt properly read rights jury back within minutes unanimous guilty verdict even cops stomping indignantly around courthouse public defenders grotesquely inept defense lwop boys two accomplices one crime murder got 15 19 years respectively everyone involved cases second murder judicial murder lwop kid buried life soledad registered democrat sentencing judge active democrat whose wife works local democrat assemblypersons office even alternate public defenders office jobs program underemployed hiplib lawyers way works works enormous additional expense taxpayers one regular public defenders claims conflict interest alternate summoned conflict vague remote commercial association say five years ago defendant attended wedding one attorneys public defenders office faux scrupulousness really way spread legal work around democrats course delude thinking theyre fighters underdog also family court magistrate two court administrators privatized court reporters two girlfriends sitting judges family court mediators invariably exhippies whose lives hopelessly fucked drawing nice pay help fucked people marital woes usually making worse victim witness coordinators triplesized probation department family court advocates least thousand helping professionals republican bunch whole mob committed democrats type write letters editor denouncing ralph nader mendocino county gone big time dean later went big time kerry local public radio station partially funded walmart local wine industry entirely dependent grotesquely exploited labor bills free speech radio mendocino county dominated democrats exactly two hours month aggressively vetted semifree speech pacifica networktype stalinists answer phones arent talking kucinich kerry mumia local surrogates dont get talk dissent allowed air ever democrats get air time want since republicans either tune call two whole hours month old body reach right audio touch taxpaid censor democrats time rest america democrats stay office ecotopia routing funding public employees school people public employees vote bloc democrats democrats fund local food banks estimate minimum 20 mendocino county children age five dont get enough eat many mendocino county schools fail meet prevailing educational standards low mendocino county jail take care feeding ill mendocino countys helping professionals many active democrats democratic voters although occasionally registered green arent equal task jail overcrowded regularly releases least violent inmates theyve served third half sentences proprietor fancy ocean view inn environmental chair californias democratic party grassroots demonstrations possibility pacific mendocino coast might eventually drilled oil democrats like gray davis known locally eraser head showed chauffeurdriven gas guzzlers environmental photoops inn owner previously unengaged agitation keep oil rigs viewshed inserted turmoil sedate soon appearing new york times lady whos saving sea chevron inn became regular pit stop bigwig democrats became person kept derricks north coast grassroots people whod hoped permanent ban offshore drilling shoved aside safety sea creatures welloiled wellfunded hands democrats ever since forests whats left north coast grassroots drew national attention grim fact outside timber corporations cashing mendocino humboldt county trees shortterm profit longterm environmental employment devastation grassroots turned democratic officeholders help democrats always ready oblige helped corporations mop left private public trees public money freed clinton bought untouched acres forest twice already inflated value charles hurwitz junk bond tycoon based texas big business deals senator dianne feinsteins husband democrats local gofers also negotiated set aside thousands acres land big river south tourist ground zero mendocino village newest set aside dedicated two active democrats whod always among missing environmental push come environmental shove long time environmentalists like ron guenther literally risked neck take timber corporations first local person protest timber harvest plans merits ignored democrats officeholders held selfcongratulatory handover ceremony big river beach new york timesowned santa rosa press democrat serves major media stenographer local democrats paper distraught gray daviss recall californias governor cant allow voters monkeywrench things like paper wailed editorially mob goes wes patti mike rest progressive friends terrible contemplate davis recall lost mendocino county democrats managed convince minority eligible voters bothered recall election davis better alternative alternative course lateral move electorally considered democrats telling us kerry another four years bush mendocino county another four years thompson methyl bromides national advocate home folks thompsons incounty rep long ago secretly anointed thompson democrats become supervisor thus begin climb upwards imported brie easily defeated unblessed male democrat get job november mendocino county board supervisors consist five democrats gay woman recovering alcoholic retired rock roll musician trust fund hippie bly guy changed name wildman rural multiculturalism democrat style bruce anderson editor anderson valey advertiser headquartered boonville mendocino county northern california 23 years august year wife ling headed eugene craving rain brand bloodthirsty selfrighteousness oregonian liberals successfully patented alternate vindictive barbarism local republicanism contributor counterpunchs hot new book dimes worth difference new paper ava oregon launched november reach ava39msncom 160 | 1,822 |
<p>Ken Burn’s interminable documentary Jazz starts with a wrong premise and degenerates from there. Burns heralds jazz as the great American contribution to world music and sets it up as a kind of roadmap to racial relations across the 20th century. But surely that distinction belongs to the blues, the music born on the plantations of the Mississippi delta. Indeed, though Burns underplays this, jazz sprang from the blues. But so did R&amp;B, rock-and-roll, funk and hip hop.</p>
<p>But Burns is a classicist, who is offended by the rawer sounds of the blues, its political dimension and inescapable class dynamic. Instead, Burns fixates on a particular kind of jazz music that appeals to his PBS sensibility: the swing era. It’s a genre of jazz that enables Burns to throw around phrases such “Ellington is our Mozart.” He sees jazz as art form in the most culturally elitist sense, as being a museum piece, beautiful but dead, to be savored like a stroll through a gallery of paintings by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.</p>
<p>His film unspools for 19 hours over seven episodes: beginning in the brothels of New Orleans and ending with the career of saxophonist Dexter Gordon. But in the end it didn’t cover all that much ground. The film fixates on three figures: Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and the young Miles Davis. There are sidetrips and footnotes to account for Sidney Bechet, Billie Holliday, Bix Beiderbecke, Count Basie, Charlie Parker, Thelonius Monk, and John Coltrane.</p>
<p>But the arc of his narrative is the rise and fall of jazz. For Burns, jazz reached its apogee with Armstrong and Ellington and its denouement with Davis’ 1959 recording, Kind of Blue. For Burns and company it’s been all downhill since then: he sees the avant guarde recordings of Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, and Cecil Taylor and the growth of the fusion movement as a form artistic degeneracy. When asked to name his top ten jazz songs, Burns didn’t include a single piece after 1958. His film packs in everything that’s been produced since Kind of Blue (40 years worth of music) into a single griping episode. Even Kind of Blue-the most explicated jazz session in history-gets shoddy treatment from Burns in the film, who elides any mention of pianist Bill Evans, the man who gave the record its revolutionary modal sound.</p>
<p>This is typical of the Burns method. His films all construct a pantheon of heroes and anti-heroes, little manufactured dramas of good and evil. Armstrong and Ellington are gods to be worshipped (despite their fllirtations with Hollywood glitz), but Davis and Coltrane (both at root blues musicians to our ears) are fallen idols–Coltrane into the exquisite abstractions of Giant Steps and Love Supreme and Miles into the funk and fusion of Bitches Brew, On the Corner and his amazing A Tribute to Jack Johnson. Coleman, the sonic architect of the Free Jazz movement, is anathema.</p>
<p>It’s easy to see why. Burns boasts that his American trilogy-the Civil War, Baseball and Jazz-is at bottom a history of racial relations. But it’s not a history so much as a fantasy meant for the white suburban audiences who watch his movies. For Burns, it’s a story of a seamless movement toward integration: from slavery to emancipation, segregation to integration, animus to harmony. For every black hero, there is a white counterpart: Frederick Douglas/Lincoln, Jackie Robinson/Branch Rickey, Louis Armstrong/Tommy Dorsey. In other words, a feel-good narrative of white patronage and understanding.</p>
<p>This, in part, explains why Burns recoils from the fact that Davis, Coltrane, Coleman and their descendents have taken jazz not toward soft, white-friendly swing sound but deeper into the urban black experience. When Davis went electric, it was as significant a move as Dylan coming out on with a rock-and-roll band (and not just any band, but the Hawks). In 1966. Dylan was jeered by the folkie elites as a “Judas”; and, despite the fact that Bitches Brew went on to be one of the best-selling jazz albums of all time, Davis is still being slammed. Burns includes a quote in his film denouncing Davis’s excursions into fusion as a “denaturing” of jazz.</p>
<p>The Burns style-drilled into viewers over his previous films, the Civil War, Baseball and Frank Lloyd Wright-is irritating and as condescending as any Masterpiece Theatre production of a minor novel by Trollope: episodic, monotonous, edgeless. By now his technique is as predictable as the plot of an episode of “Friends”: the zoom shot on a still photo, followed by a slow pan, a pull back, then a portentous pause-all the while a monotonous narration explains the obvious at length.</p>
<p>The series is narrated by a troika of neo-cons: Wynton Marsalis, the favorite trumpeter of the Lincoln Center patrons; writer Albert Murray, who chastised the militant elements of the civil rights and anti-war movements with his pal Ralph Ellison; and Stanley Crouch, the Ward Connerly of music critics. This trio plays the part that Shelby Foote did for Burns’ previous epic, the Civil War-a sentimental, morbid and revisionist take on what Foote, an unrepentant Southern romanticist, wistfully referred to as the war between the states.</p>
<p>Instead of interviewing contemporary jazz musicians, Burns sought out Marsalis, a trumpeter who is stuck in the past. “When Marsalis was 19 he was a fine jazz trumpeter,” says Pierre Sprey, president of <a href="http://www.mapleshaderecords.com/" type="external">Mapleshade Records</a>, a jazz and blues label. “But he was getting his ass kicked every night in Art Blakey’s band. I don’t think he could keep up. And finally he retreated to safe waters. He’s a good classical trumpeter and thus he sees jazz as being a classical music. He has no clue what’s going on now.”</p>
<p>Crouch brings similar baggage to the table. “Crouch started out as a modern jazz drummer”, a veteran of the New York jazz scene tells CounterPunch. “But he wasn’t very good. And finally he was booted from a lot of the avant garde sessions. He’s had a vendetta ever since.”</p>
<p>The excessive emphasis in the series on Louis Armstrong, often featuring very inferior work, no doubt stems from the fact that Gary Giddins, another consultant for the series, wrote a book on Armstrong.</p>
<p>Burns’ parting shot is the story of Dexter Gordon, a tenor saxophonist whose life is more compelling than his playing. Typically Burns transforms Gordon’s life into a morality play, a condensation of his entire film: born in L.A. Gordon mastered to the Parker/bebop method and when it passed him by, he battled depression and heroin addiction, fled to Copenhagen, and finally returned to the US in the late 1970s enjoying a brief renaissance in high priced jazz clubs in New York and DC, starred in Bernard Tavernier’s tribute to bebop ‘Round Midnight and died in 1990.</p>
<p>How different Burns’ film would have been if, instead of Gordon, he had trained his camera on Sonny Rolllins, who, like Coltrane, learned much from Gordon but ultimately surpassed him. Of course, Rolllins is still alive and still making strikingly innovative music. His latest album, This Is What I Do, is one of his best. But this, of course, would have undermined the Burns/Marsalis/Crouch thesis that the avant garde and Afro-centric strains, which began about the same time Gordon left the states, killed jazz.</p>
<p>After enduring Jazz in its entirety, there’s only one conclusion to be reached: Burns doesn’t really like music. In the 19 hours of film, he never lets one song play to completion, anywhere near completion. Yet there is a constant chatter riding on top of the music. It’s annoying and instructive, as if Burns himself were both bored of the entire project and simultaneously hypnotized by the sound of his own words interpreting what he won’t allow us to hear.</p>
<p>This may be the ultimate indictment of Burns’ Jazz: the compulsion to verbalize what is essentially a nonverbal artform. It’s also insulting; he assumes that the music itself, if allowed to be heard and felt, wouldn’t be able, largely on its own volition, to move and educate those who (unlike Burns) are willing open their ears and really listen. In a film supposedly about music, the music itself has been relegated to the background, as a distant soundtrack for trite observations on culture and neo-Spenglerian notions about the arc of American cap-H History. In that sense, Burns and his cohorts don’t even demonstrate faith in the power of the swing-era music they offer up as the apex of jazz.</p>
<p>There are some great documentaries on popular music. Three very different ones come to mind: Bert Stern’s beautiful Jazz on a Summer’s Day, which integrates jazz, swing, avant guard, gospel and rock-n-roll all into one event, Robert Mugge’s Deep Blues, a gorgeously shot and recorded road movie about the blues musicians of the Mississippi Delta, and Jean-Luc Godard’s One+One, which documents the recording of the Rolling Stones Sympathy for the Devil. All are vibrant films that let the music and musicians do the talking. But Ken Burns learned nothing from any of them. Watching his Jazz is equivalent to listening to a coroner speak into a dictaphone as he dissects a corpse. CP</p>
<p><a href="feedback.html" type="external">See the response of Chuck D from Public Enemy to this article on the CounterPunch feedback page.</a></p> | true | 4 | ken burns interminable documentary jazz starts wrong premise degenerates burns heralds jazz great american contribution world music sets kind roadmap racial relations across 20th century surely distinction belongs blues music born plantations mississippi delta indeed though burns underplays jazz sprang blues rampb rockandroll funk hip hop burns classicist offended rawer sounds blues political dimension inescapable class dynamic instead burns fixates particular kind jazz music appeals pbs sensibility swing era genre jazz enables burns throw around phrases ellington mozart sees jazz art form culturally elitist sense museum piece beautiful dead savored like stroll gallery paintings preraphaelite brotherhood film unspools 19 hours seven episodes beginning brothels new orleans ending career saxophonist dexter gordon end didnt cover much ground film fixates three figures louis armstrong duke ellington young miles davis sidetrips footnotes account sidney bechet billie holliday bix beiderbecke count basie charlie parker thelonius monk john coltrane arc narrative rise fall jazz burns jazz reached apogee armstrong ellington denouement davis 1959 recording kind blue burns company downhill since sees avant guarde recordings coltrane ornette coleman cecil taylor growth fusion movement form artistic degeneracy asked name top ten jazz songs burns didnt include single piece 1958 film packs everything thats produced since kind blue 40 years worth music single griping episode even kind bluethe explicated jazz session historygets shoddy treatment burns film elides mention pianist bill evans man gave record revolutionary modal sound typical burns method films construct pantheon heroes antiheroes little manufactured dramas good evil armstrong ellington gods worshipped despite fllirtations hollywood glitz davis coltrane root blues musicians ears fallen idolscoltrane exquisite abstractions giant steps love supreme miles funk fusion bitches brew corner amazing tribute jack johnson coleman sonic architect free jazz movement anathema easy see burns boasts american trilogythe civil war baseball jazzis bottom history racial relations history much fantasy meant white suburban audiences watch movies burns story seamless movement toward integration slavery emancipation segregation integration animus harmony every black hero white counterpart frederick douglaslincoln jackie robinsonbranch rickey louis armstrongtommy dorsey words feelgood narrative white patronage understanding part explains burns recoils fact davis coltrane coleman descendents taken jazz toward soft whitefriendly swing sound deeper urban black experience davis went electric significant move dylan coming rockandroll band band hawks 1966 dylan jeered folkie elites judas despite fact bitches brew went one bestselling jazz albums time davis still slammed burns includes quote film denouncing daviss excursions fusion denaturing jazz burns styledrilled viewers previous films civil war baseball frank lloyd wrightis irritating condescending masterpiece theatre production minor novel trollope episodic monotonous edgeless technique predictable plot episode friends zoom shot still photo followed slow pan pull back portentous pauseall monotonous narration explains obvious length series narrated troika neocons wynton marsalis favorite trumpeter lincoln center patrons writer albert murray chastised militant elements civil rights antiwar movements pal ralph ellison stanley crouch ward connerly music critics trio plays part shelby foote burns previous epic civil wara sentimental morbid revisionist take foote unrepentant southern romanticist wistfully referred war states instead interviewing contemporary jazz musicians burns sought marsalis trumpeter stuck past marsalis 19 fine jazz trumpeter says pierre sprey president mapleshade records jazz blues label getting ass kicked every night art blakeys band dont think could keep finally retreated safe waters hes good classical trumpeter thus sees jazz classical music clue whats going crouch brings similar baggage table crouch started modern jazz drummer veteran new york jazz scene tells counterpunch wasnt good finally booted lot avant garde sessions hes vendetta ever since excessive emphasis series louis armstrong often featuring inferior work doubt stems fact gary giddins another consultant series wrote book armstrong burns parting shot story dexter gordon tenor saxophonist whose life compelling playing typically burns transforms gordons life morality play condensation entire film born la gordon mastered parkerbebop method passed battled depression heroin addiction fled copenhagen finally returned us late 1970s enjoying brief renaissance high priced jazz clubs new york dc starred bernard taverniers tribute bebop round midnight died 1990 different burns film would instead gordon trained camera sonny rolllins like coltrane learned much gordon ultimately surpassed course rolllins still alive still making strikingly innovative music latest album one best course would undermined burnsmarsaliscrouch thesis avant garde afrocentric strains began time gordon left states killed jazz enduring jazz entirety theres one conclusion reached burns doesnt really like music 19 hours film never lets one song play completion anywhere near completion yet constant chatter riding top music annoying instructive burns bored entire project simultaneously hypnotized sound words interpreting wont allow us hear may ultimate indictment burns jazz compulsion verbalize essentially nonverbal artform also insulting assumes music allowed heard felt wouldnt able largely volition move educate unlike burns willing open ears really listen film supposedly music music relegated background distant soundtrack trite observations culture neospenglerian notions arc american caph history sense burns cohorts dont even demonstrate faith power swingera music offer apex jazz great documentaries popular music three different ones come mind bert sterns beautiful jazz summers day integrates jazz swing avant guard gospel rocknroll one event robert mugges deep blues gorgeously shot recorded road movie blues musicians mississippi delta jeanluc godards oneone documents recording rolling stones sympathy devil vibrant films let music musicians talking ken burns learned nothing watching jazz equivalent listening coroner speak dictaphone dissects corpse cp see response chuck public enemy article counterpunch feedback page | 877 |
<p>Dominic Ware organizing with OUR Walmart for better working conditions.</p>
<p>A little more than two years ago, Dominic Ware was hired as a part-time cart pusher at a Walmart in San Leandro, Calif. During orientation, he said, the managers painted quite a picture of what a worker’s future at Walmart would look like. They said the store manager and assistant manger were making six figures and had fancy cars and nice homes. “You can have that,” they would say. “Work for us. Dedicate your life to us.”</p>
<p>“I fell for it,” Ware said. “I really looked at it as a place to change my life.”</p>
<p>Ware’s hours were good in the beginning. Hired around the holiday season, he started out happily working 30-40 hours per week, despite his part-time status. But after the holidays, his hours steadily were cut down to 12 hours per week and sometimes as low as six hours a week. As work became less busy, Ware spent more time in the breakrooms, which allowed him to talk with his fellow co-workers. He started listening to their stories. Some, who had worked at Walmart for 10 to 20 years, spoke about how they hated coming to work because they felt disrespected on a daily basis.</p>
<p>Although Ware’s hours were cut and he made only $8.25 per hour (with only a 40 cent raise after a year), he too was most upset by a feeling of disrespect.</p>
<p>He said that Walmart has a "15-foot rule," in which employees were supposed to greet and offer assistance to anyone within 15 feet of them. This came naturally to Ware—it was essentially how his grandmother raised him. But when it came to the higher-ups at Walmart, his hospitality wasn’t returned.&#160;</p>
<p>“Our job is to be courteous and kind to anyone in our vicinity. … But I couldn’t even get a ‘Hello’ or ‘Good morning,’” he said. “I would walk past these managers and salary members to try to start the day off with a ‘Hi’ or ‘Good morning,’ and they would walk by like they couldn’t even see me or hear me.… Then over the intercom, a few minutes later, they would call, ‘Dominic, hurry up we need more carts.’ It’s like, wait I thought you didn’t see me?… It’s so demoralizing, and it makes a person hate doing anything they ask you to do.”</p>
<p>Ware decided to use Walmart’s open-door policy, and set up a meeting with his store manager. Ware asked her if managers were trained not to interact with employees. He said she was shocked to hear about how the managers treated employees.</p>
<p>“I walked out of that meeting and felt like I accomplished something — like something was going to be done,” Ware said. “But to my let-down it wasn’t. Even she started doing little things here and there that I felt was kind of the same issue I was dealing with her fellow co-workers. So I was pretty much tired of Walmart.”</p>
<p>Things took a turn in Ware’s life when an organizer for Organization United for Respect, known as OUR Walmart, gave him a pamphlet about their coalition of former and current Walmart workers. Ware began doing research and realized that Walmart workers were suffering from similar problems nationwide.</p>
<p>“It wasn’t until I found out that it wasn’t just going on in my store but every store across this country, and there’s an organization trying to fight the same things I was fighting alone, that I decided to make working at Walmart, staying at Walmart and fighting for the workers at Walmart, my top priority,” Ware said.</p>
<p>He began talking to co-workers and explained to them that workers have rights. While a lot of people started to become activated, a lot of his co-workers also were scared. Ware said that's because of Walmart’s “mind manipulation.” He said, “Workers are made to feel like ‘you need Walmart, Walmart don’t need you.’ … If you want to complain about the hours, it’s ‘Why are you complaining? There’s several other people behind you waiting to come in.’”</p>
<p>Ware said:&#160;</p>
<p>They tell us that if we do our job, we won’t have anything to worry about. But I say to them, I didn’t look at working at Walmart as a job. A job is something you can enjoy doing because it helps you move up in life. A job is something where you can work and have a solid future if you put in the work. A job is something you’re supposed to be proud of. … A job can, with hard work and dedication, one day help you grab your slice of American pie and own your own property. … But this — this is not a job. I feel like it’s a new-age form of slave labor, except this time, there’s no skin color discrepancy. … The gap between the haves and the have-nots is growing more every day.</p>
<p>Ware continued to feel more empowered. In June, he took part in OUR Walmart’s Ride for Respect, a bus ride to Walmart’s headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, mirrored after the Freedom Rides of the 1960s. About 200 Walmart workers rallied outside headquarters demanding better working conditions. It was the longest strike against Walmart in history. When Ware returned from the strike, he was fired, along with 22 other workers across the country who went to Bentonville. Walmart claimed it didn't recognize Ware’s actions as a strike, and terminated him for job abandonment.</p>
<p>The National Labor Relations Board recently <a href="" type="internal">found</a> these firings illegal, meaning Ware may be reinstated with back pay. A Walmart spokesperson has&#160; <a href="//online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303985504579206412630293566" type="external">said</a>&#160;that the company will defend itself and that its actions were “legal and justified.” If Walmart does not reach settlements with the parties, the NLRB will issue complaints, which would lead to a hearing.</p>
<p>Ware says his firing actually worked to make his co-workers less fearful and more eager to push back against Walmart. He continues to encourage employees to speak out, saying that, “If you don’t say something, nothing will happen… you may be fired anyway.”</p>
<p>Ware believes that Walmart is finally starting to take the movement seriously. He said, “First they ignored us, then they laughed at us, and now they are fighting us tooth and nail.”</p>
<p>Employees, he said, are ready to sustain their fight. Ware said, “More people are getting activated, and OUR Walmart is all over our communities, and we’re coming together.”</p>
<p>Ware said he hopes that people come out in support of workers this Friday during the 1,500 OUR Walmart Black Friday rallies planned across the country. Last year, 30,000 people participated in Black Friday protests nationwide while 400 employees walked off the job. This year, it’s expected to be even larger. Ware said it’s vital for people to stand in solidarity with these workers in order to really help their cause. “There are times when silence is a form of betrayal,” Ware said.</p>
<p>“True compassion,” he added, “is more than handing out a dollar. More than listening to a person’s problems. More than saying you agree to the cause. It’s when you see your brothers and sisters walking with that cross, looking tired and worn down. True compassion is when you decide to lift that cross with him and walk the same steps with him, as if they were your own.”</p>
<p>Ware said he will continue to fight for his former co-workers and encourages people to do the same:</p>
<p>I tell people nowadays, that yes, I was a worker. I felt it. But don’t come to support me. Don’t come to these rallies for me. Go for these workers that are still giving these lives to this company and showing loyalty in the face of disrespect. Go for these people that feel like nobody has their backs, and they cannot change Walmart because Walmart is too big. That’s what they put into the minds of these workers.… It’s a daily thing, they smash them, they disrespect them, and I’m sick and tired of it.</p>
<p>To find your local Black Friday protest to support Walmart workers, visit <a href="" type="internal">BlackFridayProtests.org</a>.</p>
<p>Alyssa Figueroa is an associate editor at AlterNet.&#160; <a href="https://twitter.com/alyssa_fig" type="external">Follow @alyssa_fig</a></p> | true | 4 | dominic ware organizing walmart better working conditions little two years ago dominic ware hired parttime cart pusher walmart san leandro calif orientation said managers painted quite picture workers future walmart would look like said store manager assistant manger making six figures fancy cars nice homes would say work us dedicate life us fell ware said really looked place change life wares hours good beginning hired around holiday season started happily working 3040 hours per week despite parttime status holidays hours steadily cut 12 hours per week sometimes low six hours week work became less busy ware spent time breakrooms allowed talk fellow coworkers started listening stories worked walmart 10 20 years spoke hated coming work felt disrespected daily basis although wares hours cut made 825 per hour 40 cent raise year upset feeling disrespect said walmart 15foot rule employees supposed greet offer assistance anyone within 15 feet came naturally wareit essentially grandmother raised came higherups walmart hospitality wasnt returned160 job courteous kind anyone vicinity couldnt even get hello good morning said would walk past managers salary members try start day hi good morning would walk like couldnt even see hear intercom minutes later would call dominic hurry need carts like wait thought didnt see demoralizing makes person hate anything ask ware decided use walmarts opendoor policy set meeting store manager ware asked managers trained interact employees said shocked hear managers treated employees walked meeting felt like accomplished something like something going done ware said letdown wasnt even started little things felt kind issue dealing fellow coworkers pretty much tired walmart things took turn wares life organizer organization united respect known walmart gave pamphlet coalition former current walmart workers ware began research realized walmart workers suffering similar problems nationwide wasnt found wasnt going store every store across country theres organization trying fight things fighting alone decided make working walmart staying walmart fighting workers walmart top priority ware said began talking coworkers explained workers rights lot people started become activated lot coworkers also scared ware said thats walmarts mind manipulation said workers made feel like need walmart walmart dont need want complain hours complaining theres several people behind waiting come ware said160 tell us job wont anything worry say didnt look working walmart job job something enjoy helps move life job something work solid future put work job something youre supposed proud job hard work dedication one day help grab slice american pie property job feel like newage form slave labor except time theres skin color discrepancy gap haves havenots growing every day ware continued feel empowered june took part walmarts ride respect bus ride walmarts headquarters bentonville arkansas mirrored freedom rides 1960s 200 walmart workers rallied outside headquarters demanding better working conditions longest strike walmart history ware returned strike fired along 22 workers across country went bentonville walmart claimed didnt recognize wares actions strike terminated job abandonment national labor relations board recently found firings illegal meaning ware may reinstated back pay walmart spokesperson has160 said160that company defend actions legal justified walmart reach settlements parties nlrb issue complaints would lead hearing ware says firing actually worked make coworkers less fearful eager push back walmart continues encourage employees speak saying dont say something nothing happen may fired anyway ware believes walmart finally starting take movement seriously said first ignored us laughed us fighting us tooth nail employees said ready sustain fight ware said people getting activated walmart communities coming together ware said hopes people come support workers friday 1500 walmart black friday rallies planned across country last year 30000 people participated black friday protests nationwide 400 employees walked job year expected even larger ware said vital people stand solidarity workers order really help cause times silence form betrayal ware said true compassion added handing dollar listening persons problems saying agree cause see brothers sisters walking cross looking tired worn true compassion decide lift cross walk steps ware said continue fight former coworkers encourages people tell people nowadays yes worker felt dont come support dont come rallies go workers still giving lives company showing loyalty face disrespect go people feel like nobody backs change walmart walmart big thats put minds workers daily thing smash disrespect im sick tired find local black friday protest support walmart workers visit blackfridayprotestsorg alyssa figueroa associate editor alternet160 follow alyssa_fig | 711 |
<p>US Scientists Just Edited a Human Embryo for the First Time. (Yes, People Are Freaking Out.)Ben Birchall/Associated Press</p>
<p>For the first known time in the United States, scientists used a gene-editing technique called CRISPR to modify early-stage human embryos, according to <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/s/608350/first-human-embryos-edited-in-us/" type="external">a report</a> <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/s/608350/first-human-embryos-edited-in-us/" type="external">published Wednesday</a> in MIT Technology Review.</p>
<p>Since the development several years ago of&#160; <a href="https://www.broadinstitute.org/what-broad/areas-focus/project-spotlight/crispr-timeline" type="external">CRISPR</a>, a tool that allows scientists to change sequences of DNA within a cell, scientists have speculated about its potential to free families of genetic disease or <a href="http://www.sculptingevolution.org/genedrives/genedrivefaq" type="external">stop the spread of other diseases like malaria</a>, among other possibilities. But the technology also raises major ethical questions.</p>
<p>Here’s a quick rundown of the latest breakthrough—and how it could change the way we think about human&#160;reproduction and, well, humans themselves.</p>
<p>How did the experiment work?</p>
<p>According to MIT Technology Review’s report, a team of researchers at Oregon Health &amp; Science University, led by geneticist Shoukhrat Mitalipov, used CRISPR to correct disease-causing genes in human embryos. It’s not yet clear whether these were “viable” embryos—embryos that could, theoretically, grow into humans.&#160;</p>
<p>A wide range of diseases—like Huntington’s, sickle-cell anemia, and Tay-Sachs, for example—are caused by mutations in genes. It’s also not clear what genes Mitalipov and his team edited in their experiment. But regardless, it appears that their study was successful in a couple ways: First, they reportedly edited a greater number of embryos than scientists had in previous studies. Second, Mitalipov and his team claim they did so without causing as many&#160;errors as previous scientists.&#160;</p>
<p>CRISPR has been used to edit human embryos a few times before; Chinese scientists did it <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00438-017-1299-z" type="external">in March</a>. But in prior experiments, scientists ran into problems when CRISPR edits were taken up only by some of the cells in an embryo. This is called <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23331174-400-mosaic-problem-stands-in-the-way-of-gene-editing-embryos/" type="external">mosaicism</a>:&#160;it means that the child that develops from the embryo could still inherit the disease that scientists tried to edit away.&#160;</p>
<p>According to MIT’s report, Mitalipov reduced the occurrence of mosaicism and seemed to largely avoid “off-target” edits (another kind of CRISPR error, wherein scientists accidentally alter a gene other than the one they aim to change).</p>
<p>Why is this important?</p>
<p>A couple reasons. First, it’s the only known attempt to use CRISPR to edit human embryos in the United States. More on the legality of that below.</p>
<p>Second, if this attempt really was successful, it’s big news for people whose families carry genetic disease. In theory, using this technique, scientists could edit not just our offspring, but our offspring’s offspring. This is called <a href="http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=24623" type="external">human germline editing</a>. When scientists edit the DNA in an embryo, the changes will theoretically be inherited by each successive generation, permanently fixing the “germline”—the genetic inheritance—of a family. &#160;&#160;</p>
<p>This seems ethically complex.&#160;</p>
<p>Right. The ethics and laws surrounding human germline editing&#160;are murky. Scientists in favor of human germline&#160;modification often argue that the technique&#160;will help us reduce the occurrence of genetic diseases.&#160;</p>
<p>But critics&#160;disagree.&#160;“This is just not needed for preventing inheritable disease,” said Marcy Darnovsky, Executive Director of the Center for Genetics and Society. “There are [other techniques that] can already be used safely to prevent the births of children with serious genetic diseases in almost every case.” One example of such a technique is preimplantation diagnosis, commonly referred to as PGD, which allows parents to screen embryos for certain disease-causing genes before implanting them through in vitro fertilization (IVF). But it’s not always effective—if someone carries two copies of a defective gene, for example, all their embryos would carry that gene, as well.</p>
<p>Darnovsky also worries about safety. “Despite whatever the claims are about safety, [like] no mosaicism, we still don’t know if that would mean it’s safe to create a new human being and anyone who tried it would be taking an enormous and unacceptable risk with that future person’s life.”</p>
<p>Another concern: Right now, scientists are&#160; <a href="http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=24623" type="external">supposed to</a> stick to editing disease-causing genes. But the technology opens up the possibility of editing genes for “enhancement”—allowing parents to edit for certain kinds of physical and behavioral characteristics in their children. Darnovsky worries that this would usher in an era of genetic discrimination. “That would be layering new forms of inequality and discrimination onto the ones we already live with,” she said.</p>
<p>Is this legal?</p>
<p>Probably.&#160;In 2015, Congress <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/2029/text" type="external">passed a law</a> forbidding the Food and Drug Administration from reviewing applications for germline editing of human embryos, meaning no clinical trials can move forward with FDA funding. We don’t yet know&#160;how Mitalipov funded his project, but assuming it was funded privately, it’s perfectly legal.&#160;</p>
<p>That wouldn’t be the case in many other countries. The Center for Genetics and Society <a href="https://www.geneticsandsociety.org/press-statement/report-first-gene-edited-human-embryos-us" type="external">reports that over 40 countries</a>, “including most with established biotech sectors, have established legal prohibitions on germline modification for human reproduction.” An international treaty also prohibits it. The United States has no such policy.</p>
<p>What’s next?</p>
<p>We’ll know more once the study is released, but it’s worth noting that in February of this year, the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy <a href="http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=24623" type="external">published a report</a> that said human germline editing “could be permitted in the future.” It outlined criteria for germline editing, recommending that it only be used for disease prevention. The authors of the report wrote that editing for the “enhancement of human traits and capacities should not be allowed at this time.” But the report didn’t eliminate the possibility of editing for enhancement in the future.</p>
<p>Reactions to the report were mixed. Some experts, like Darnovsky, feel that human germline modification should not be done for any purpose. But <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/02/us-panel-gives-yellow-light-human-embryo-editing" type="external">in an interview with Science</a>, Eric Lander, president and founding director of MIT and Harvard’s <a href="https://www.broadinstitute.org/" type="external">Broad Institute</a>, a genomics research center, said he thought the report struck the right balance of optimism and caution. “They want to put friction tape on the slope so the slope isn’t slippery,” Lander said. Whether and for how long the tape will hold is an open question.</p> | true | 4 | us scientists edited human embryo first time yes people freaking outben birchallassociated press first known time united states scientists used geneediting technique called crispr modify earlystage human embryos according report published wednesday mit technology review since development several years ago of160 crispr tool allows scientists change sequences dna within cell scientists speculated potential free families genetic disease stop spread diseases like malaria among possibilities technology also raises major ethical questions heres quick rundown latest breakthroughand could change way think human160reproduction well humans experiment work according mit technology reviews report team researchers oregon health amp science university led geneticist shoukhrat mitalipov used crispr correct diseasecausing genes human embryos yet clear whether viable embryosembryos could theoretically grow humans160 wide range diseaseslike huntingtons sicklecell anemia taysachs exampleare caused mutations genes also clear genes mitalipov team edited experiment regardless appears study successful couple ways first reportedly edited greater number embryos scientists previous studies second mitalipov team claim without causing many160errors previous scientists160 crispr used edit human embryos times chinese scientists march prior experiments scientists ran problems crispr edits taken cells embryo called mosaicism160it means child develops embryo could still inherit disease scientists tried edit away160 according mits report mitalipov reduced occurrence mosaicism seemed largely avoid offtarget edits another kind crispr error wherein scientists accidentally alter gene one aim change important couple reasons first known attempt use crispr edit human embryos united states legality second attempt really successful big news people whose families carry genetic disease theory using technique scientists could edit offspring offsprings offspring called human germline editing scientists edit dna embryo changes theoretically inherited successive generation permanently fixing germlinethe genetic inheritanceof family 160160 seems ethically complex160 right ethics laws surrounding human germline editing160are murky scientists favor human germline160modification often argue technique160will help us reduce occurrence genetic diseases160 critics160disagree160this needed preventing inheritable disease said marcy darnovsky executive director center genetics society techniques already used safely prevent births children serious genetic diseases almost every case one example technique preimplantation diagnosis commonly referred pgd allows parents screen embryos certain diseasecausing genes implanting vitro fertilization ivf always effectiveif someone carries two copies defective gene example embryos would carry gene well darnovsky also worries safety despite whatever claims safety like mosaicism still dont know would mean safe create new human anyone tried would taking enormous unacceptable risk future persons life another concern right scientists are160 supposed stick editing diseasecausing genes technology opens possibility editing genes enhancementallowing parents edit certain kinds physical behavioral characteristics children darnovsky worries would usher era genetic discrimination would layering new forms inequality discrimination onto ones already live said legal probably160in 2015 congress passed law forbidding food drug administration reviewing applications germline editing human embryos meaning clinical trials move forward fda funding dont yet know160how mitalipov funded project assuming funded privately perfectly legal160 wouldnt case many countries center genetics society reports 40 countries including established biotech sectors established legal prohibitions germline modification human reproduction international treaty also prohibits united states policy whats next well know study released worth noting february year national academy sciences national academy published report said human germline editing could permitted future outlined criteria germline editing recommending used disease prevention authors report wrote editing enhancement human traits capacities allowed time report didnt eliminate possibility editing enhancement future reactions report mixed experts like darnovsky feel human germline modification done purpose interview science eric lander president founding director mit harvards broad institute genomics research center said thought report struck right balance optimism caution want put friction tape slope slope isnt slippery lander said whether long tape hold open question | 585 |
<p>Neil Heslin, father of Sandy Hook victim Jesse Lewis, testifies at a Senate hearing on assault weapons.Jay Mallin/ZUMAPress</p>
<p>“Newtown changed America,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal during Wednesday’s Judiciary Committee hearing on the proposed <a href="" type="internal">Assault Weapons Ban of 2013</a>. Few would dispute Blumenthal’s sentiment about the recent gun massacre in his home state of Connecticut, but the pressing question now is: What is Congress prepared to do about it?</p>
<p>Neil Heslin, whose six-year-old son, Jesse Lewis, was among the 20 first-graders murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December, gave further <a href="" type="internal">heartbreaking testimony</a>. Lawmakers from both parties repeated assurances that they were united in the goal of reducing gun violence. But familiar, entrenched arguments again ruled the day, and there was little expectation that the bill authored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)—whose ban would include <a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/dianne-feinstein-gun-bill-text-list-guns-banned-details-assault-weapons-ban-2013-1037402" type="external">scores of specific weapons</a> and ammunition magazines exceeding 10 rounds—has a chance of passing, lacking support as it does even from <a href="http://blog.timesunion.com/politicssource/4782/4782/" type="external">top members of her own party</a>.</p>
<p>Feinstein opened the hearing by tracing a grim history of mass gun violence, from a clock tower in Austin in 1966&#160;to the grade school in Newtown. <a href="http://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=c6287561-bbbf-4971-bfed-3b8f05e63c0f" type="external">She pointed out</a> that there have been at least 62 mass shootings over the last 30 years in the United States and that they’ve been on the rise in recent years, as <a href="" type="internal">our investigation</a> at Mother Jones showed. She cited Supreme Court rulings that affirmed the constitutionality of restricting some guns, including <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_of_Columbia_v._Heller#Decision" type="external">District of Columbia v. Heller</a>, which overturned DC’s ban on handguns but found “support in the historical tradition of prohibiting the carrying of dangerous and unusual weapons.”</p>
<p>Senate Republicans on the committee were unmoved. Any laws should target criminals, not “law-abiding gun owners,” argued Ted Cruz, the freshman from Texas. Chuck Grassley went with his usual refrain blaming the problem on violent video games (for which there is no persuasive evidence of a link) and made an odd reference&#160;to federal enforcement of marijuana laws. Lindsey Graham got into a heated debate with Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn, arguing against expanding federal background checks, despite that <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57568149/poll-9-in-10-americans-support-background-checks/" type="external">polls show strong support</a> for the idea among the American public.</p>
<p>“When almost 80,000 people fail a background check and 44 people are prosecuted, what kind of deterrent is that?” Graham asked. To which Flynn replied, “It doesn’t matter, it’s a paper thing. I want to stop 76,000 people from getting guns illegally. That’s what a background check does,” eliciting applause from the audience. (Republicans in the House on Wednesday <a href="http://seattletimes.com/html/politics/2020443627_apusguncontrolhouse.html" type="external">shared Graham’s disdain for universal background checks.</a>)</p>
<p>Republicans also pointed to Justice Department reviews of Feinstein’s previous Assault Weapons Ban of 1994, claiming that DOJ found it ineffective. One of those studies ( <a href="http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/aw_final.pdf" type="external">PDF</a>)—published seven years before the ban expired in 2004—acknowledges that it could not “detect any reduction to date in two types of gun murders that are thought to be closely associated with assault weapons, those with multiple victims in a single incident and those producing multiple bullet wounds per victim.” But it went on to say that “the available data are partial and preliminary, and the trends may have been influenced by law enforcement agency policies regarding bullet-proof vests.” A follow-up study ( <a href="http://www.sas.upenn.edu/jerrylee/research/aw_exec2004.pdf" type="external">PDF)</a> published by the same researchers three months before the ban expired concluded that its results had been mixed, and that it would be hard to predict how its absence might affect future gun crimes.</p>
<p>John Walsh, a US district attorney from Colorado, pushed back against GOP claims that the <a href="" type="internal">drop in federal gun prosecutions</a> under President Obama indicated federal officials’ failure to enforce existing laws. Federal officials have spent “sleepless nights” pursuing cases, he said.&#160;He also asserted that magazines containing more than 10 rounds were unnecessary for self-defense—most cases he’s seen over the years, he said, typically involved the firing of just one or two bullets at close range. (There is some debate about where that line should be drawn; one veteran law enforcement official recently told Mother Jones that there is no reasonable argument for magazines with more than 15 rounds for self-defense.)</p>
<p>Flynn also suggested that the gun debate isn’t really about the Second Amendment. “If we want to be intellectually honest, [this has] more to do with commerce,” he said. Gun manufacturing is a nearly <a href="" type="internal">$12 billion business</a>.</p>
<p>Comments to Mother Jones after the hearing from witnesses who testified&#160;reflected the polarized status quo. “What I’m a supporter of is addressing what is going on in our communities today with violent criminals, because criminals by their very definition do not obey the law,” said former US Rep. Sandy Adams of Florida, who as a state representative voted in 2005 for Florida’s <a href="" type="internal">controversial Stand Your Ground law</a>.</p>
<p>Asked if he thought Feinstein’s bill stood a chance, Heslin said: “You’ve got to give it a chance, but there’s got to be many changes. It’s not just a ban on assault weapons or high-capacity magazines. Those I think are the first and foremost steps that should be taken,” he said, along with universal background checks for gun purchasers.</p>
<p>“What happened I will have to live with for the rest of my life,” Heslin added. “I’d like to see it never happen again. The way the laws are now, it will happen again.”</p> | true | 4 | neil heslin father sandy hook victim jesse lewis testifies senate hearing assault weaponsjay mallinzumapress newtown changed america said sen richard blumenthal wednesdays judiciary committee hearing proposed assault weapons ban 2013 would dispute blumenthals sentiment recent gun massacre home state connecticut pressing question congress prepared neil heslin whose sixyearold son jesse lewis among 20 firstgraders murdered sandy hook elementary school december gave heartbreaking testimony lawmakers parties repeated assurances united goal reducing gun violence familiar entrenched arguments ruled day little expectation bill authored sen dianne feinstein dcalifwhose ban would include scores specific weapons ammunition magazines exceeding 10 roundshas chance passing lacking support even top members party feinstein opened hearing tracing grim history mass gun violence clock tower austin 1966160to grade school newtown pointed least 62 mass shootings last 30 years united states theyve rise recent years investigation mother jones showed cited supreme court rulings affirmed constitutionality restricting guns including district columbia v heller overturned dcs ban handguns found support historical tradition prohibiting carrying dangerous unusual weapons senate republicans committee unmoved laws target criminals lawabiding gun owners argued ted cruz freshman texas chuck grassley went usual refrain blaming problem violent video games persuasive evidence link made odd reference160to federal enforcement marijuana laws lindsey graham got heated debate milwaukee police chief edward flynn arguing expanding federal background checks despite polls show strong support idea among american public almost 80000 people fail background check 44 people prosecuted kind deterrent graham asked flynn replied doesnt matter paper thing want stop 76000 people getting guns illegally thats background check eliciting applause audience republicans house wednesday shared grahams disdain universal background checks republicans also pointed justice department reviews feinsteins previous assault weapons ban 1994 claiming doj found ineffective one studies pdfpublished seven years ban expired 2004acknowledges could detect reduction date two types gun murders thought closely associated assault weapons multiple victims single incident producing multiple bullet wounds per victim went say available data partial preliminary trends may influenced law enforcement agency policies regarding bulletproof vests followup study pdf published researchers three months ban expired concluded results mixed would hard predict absence might affect future gun crimes john walsh us district attorney colorado pushed back gop claims drop federal gun prosecutions president obama indicated federal officials failure enforce existing laws federal officials spent sleepless nights pursuing cases said160he also asserted magazines containing 10 rounds unnecessary selfdefensemost cases hes seen years said typically involved firing one two bullets close range debate line drawn one veteran law enforcement official recently told mother jones reasonable argument magazines 15 rounds selfdefense flynn also suggested gun debate isnt really second amendment want intellectually honest commerce said gun manufacturing nearly 12 billion business comments mother jones hearing witnesses testified160reflected polarized status quo im supporter addressing going communities today violent criminals criminals definition obey law said former us rep sandy adams florida state representative voted 2005 floridas controversial stand ground law asked thought feinsteins bill stood chance heslin said youve got give chance theres got many changes ban assault weapons highcapacity magazines think first foremost steps taken said along universal background checks gun purchasers happened live rest life heslin added id like see never happen way laws happen | 522 |
<p>Here is a copy of the Australian Labor party’s (opposition) budget reply for 2003. Budgets have little humor or sex appeal, but this one’s interesting in that it comes at a time when our universal healthcare system, “Medicare”, the one Hillary Clinton wanted to emulate back in the early 1990s, is threatened as we know it, by our government. Medicare has been providing no-fee, tax payer funded “bulk billing” when someone visits a doctor, requiring the patient to pay zero dollars on consultation and treatment. Currently, the use of bulk billing by doctors is falling under the current Howard government, whose leaders have, for the past few years, been advocating private health insurance as a way to fund health needs, in preference to giving priority funding to Medicare. Instead, they have been giving citizens a “one third of cost” rebate on private health insurance.</p>
<p>Our public university student places are about to be 50% available for full upfront fee paying students. I fear that within a few years, Australian uni places will be 100% for full fee paying students, with a few scholarships thrown in. When I went to uni (during 1989 and 1995) there were no “full fee paying equals entry” places- you just got in on your academic merit. Money couldn’t enter the equation, for entry. We did, unfortunately, have a part fee payment, called HECS, which had a deferred debt payment option, but it didn’t buy you a seat academically. Now, for 50% of student places, money will buy a place… Uni fees, after this budget, are set to rise by up to 30%. In The Canberra Times on May 17, Stacey Lucas published a list of current federal cabinet minister’s uni education fees, and it exposed that atleast 5 ministers received a free, taxpayer funded Australian uni education in the 1970s to early 1980s, before the HECS debt was introduced, not including those ministers who received government scholarships. When the federal Education minister and the nation’s Treasurer got free degrees with no debt attached, and then now introduce these policies mentioned above, it comes across as the worst and most selfish conservative politics imaginable.</p>
<p>So, an interesting budget reply below by Labor, which also represents the Greens’ beliefs in taxpayer funded, accessible education and maintaining the existence of the Medicare health system. It comes at a time when, if the conservative Howard government maintains power, and puts into place itschanges, and keeps going on with similar changes, this is the starting point of a vast divide between the few rich, and the many working poor, which will serve wealthy individuals and multinational/global interests well. It will broaden the divides which already exist within our society, and then create a gulf so deep, as if an earthquake has passed, which will create marked social changes, which will be hard to reverse. I will not say irreparable, because that is too depressing. But to re-create a universal health care system, and accessible universities, are tall mountains to climb. Think of Hillary’s efforts. I mean Hillary Clinton, not Sir Edmund Hillary’s. The mountains are equally steep and equally difficult. Yet they are achievable and conquerable. But if you already have it in your society, why would you let it disappear- why would you allow the next generations to suffer so greatly, to fight so hard? And be so thwarted. Things here are going fully US style, without the world domination component. We are more the little guy who follows the big bully around. To Iraq, to Afghanistan, and we let the U.S. use Pine Gap in our central desert. Perhaps the Australian people have to lose what they once had, before they can appreciate what they had, and lost. Before they learn to fight for what they need, French style. Australians will become even busier, working to save for medical bills, health insurance and college fees. They will have less time to read, to reflect, to consider, and to protest about the actions of their government, and the state of the society they live in, and its future direction. Let alone have time to contribute to their own cultural identity. All this will be music to the ears of those who want to use Australia for its labor, resources and strategic assets. Also, last week, on Mothers Day, the Governor General of Australia (the Queen of England’s representative), Dr Peter Hollingworth, an ex-Anglican archbishop, stood aside due to the public disgust regarding his protection of a pedophile, and hopeless management of sexual abuse cases within the church when he was an archbishop. He was appointed by our conservative Prime Minister, John Howard. There has been a huge media controversy surrounding rape allegations against Peter Hollingworth, by Rosemarie Jarmyn, who recently committed suicide before her rape allegations reached court. On May 15 the Australian senate moved a motion stating that the Governor General should be sacked or resign. Yet the senate does not have the power to implement this motion. An update of our decay of civilization… Meanwhile, the media just keeps going on about terrorism, as if it’s an opiate for our consciousness- washing over our media screens, to dull out any critique of our loss of education and health services, our weakening economy and increasing personal debt. Let’s freak out about all those nasty, bearded Arabs, and forget about how our media slick, Anglo politicians are engineering a society which will deny us and our children basic, previously tax funded health and education services, unless we pay big bucks for them. Sure, there are “terrorist” horrors occurring globally, but think also about the denial of basic health and education services to a society- is that not a “terrorism” at a daily life level- a living fear and terror, which could result in unnecessary deaths and suffering? Even the French demonstrations earlier last week against cuts to pensions, attended by over a million people, were drowned out in the news. Not the type of thing the media wants to show, when the government that week were increasing uni fees by up to 30% and hammering the last nails into Medicare’s coffin, by favoring private health insurance. SBS TV eventually showed the French pension cut strikes as the last item of news, after the weather, with the credits rolling and the music drum beating, at the end of the news. As if it were an after thought, an atmosphere- all those people taking a stroll through Parisian and Marseille spring streets, all those metro stations empty, as the news ended. So- as winter approaches, we hope those sniffly noses of our kids don’t turn into flus which’ll need a doctor to inspect, and hope that we can start saving enough now for private medical insurance and the kid’s education- sacrifice healthy food and books and holidays, in the hope that we can buy, in the future, what we got less than 5 years ago, as part of our taxes. At least now, we know how it feels to be American.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>Budget reply by Australian Labor (Opposition) Leader, Simon Crean-May 15</p>
<p>“Mr Speaker.</p>
<p>Tuesday’s Budget should have improved life for Australian families. That’s the test any government budget should meet.</p>
<p>Australian families are under growing pressure. They are working longer hours and paying record taxes. The last thing Australian families need is to pay more for vital services like health and education.</p>
<p>But that’s what Tuesday’s Budget was all about.</p>
<p>A civilised society demands health care based on medical need and education for all based on ability.</p>
<p>I believe that health and education are not just about providing services to individuals. They are public goods, for all Australians. We must invest in these vital services.</p>
<p>But under the Howard Government we are heading in the opposite direction.</p>
<p>Instead of improving life for families, this Budget is making things worse. It is giving Australian families a miserly $4 tax cut, while destroying Medicare and charging them more for education.</p>
<p>The Howard Government failed the test on Tuesday night.</p>
<p>It’s time for something new.</p>
<p>Tonight I want to announce a new deal for Australia and Australian families.</p>
<p>A new deal to save Medicare and bulk billing.</p>
<p>A pledge to keep higher education affordable and accessible.</p>
<p>A plan to save the Murray River from a slow, tragic death.</p>
<p>A retirement tax cut for every Australian.</p>
<p>A new deal to protect the savings of Australians.</p>
<p>An end to public subsidies of executive golden handshakes.</p>
<p>A better deal for small business.</p>
<p>And a better way to protect Australia and our children.</p>
<p>Most of all I want to give Australians a sense of hope that Australia can remain a fair and decent country that provides opportunities for all.</p>
<p>Saving Medicare and bulk billing</p>
<p>Mr Speaker, I believe that every Australian must have the right to access a doctor who bulk bills. And they must have the right to attend a well-funded public hospital without charge.</p>
<p>I won’t say for free, because it’s not free. Australians know that. They have already paid for Medicare through their Medicare Levy and their taxes. They have earned it. They shouldn’t have to pay again when they visit a doctor.</p>
<p>Quality health care must only ever be available on the basis of medical need.</p>
<p>It should never be rationed according to ability to pay.</p>
<p>It shouldn’t be a two-tiered system. It shouldn’t be a second-rate system.</p>
<p>Look at the United States.</p>
<p>Forty-five million people do not have any health cover. They live in fear of serious illness. It destroys family finances, sometimes for generations.</p>
<p>That’s not the sort of health system I want for Australia.</p>
<p>Mr Speaker. There’s a profound difference between the Labor Party and our opponents.</p>
<p>We are the builders. They are the wreckers.</p>
<p>Labor built Medibank under Gough Whitlam and then Medicare under Bob Hawke because we believe everyone should have access to affordable health care.</p>
<p>The Liberals have never believed in affordable health care. They want you to pay more. That’s why they wrecked Medibank. And it’s why the Prime Minister is wrecking Medicare now.</p>
<p>That’s why tonight I’m announcing that a Labor Government will act to save Medicare and bulk billing.</p>
<p>I will not allow Medicare to be replaced by an Americanised, privatised system where instead of your Medicare Card, doctors ask for your credit card and refuse to treat you unless you pay up front.</p>
<p>Saving Medicare starts with restoring your patient rebate.</p>
<p>So tonight I am announcing that a Crean Labor Government will lift the patient rebate for bulk billing for all Australians, no matter where they live, or how much they earn.</p>
<p>We will lift your patient rebate immediately upon coming to office to 95 per cent of the scheduled fee, and then take it to 100 per cent – an average rise of $5 for every consultation that is bulk billed.</p>
<p>This is not just for concession card holders. It is for everyone.</p>
<p>As we know, access to bulk billing is declining faster in some parts of Australia than in others.</p>
<p>To remedy this, under Labor, doctors who meet bulk billing targets will receive additional incentive payments.</p>
<p>Doctors in metropolitan areas who bulk bill 80 per cent of services will receive an additional $7,500 a year.</p>
<p>Doctors in outer metropolitan areas who bulk bill 75 per cent of services will receive an additional $15,000.</p>
<p>And doctors in rural and regional areas who bulk bill 70 per cent of services will receive an additional $22,500.</p>
<p>This is the equivalent of increasing your patient rebate by as much as $6.30 for a doctor in a metropolitan area, $7.80 in an outer metropolitan area and $9.60 for a doctor in a rural area.</p>
<p>This is a significant down payment towards restoring bulk billing and saving Medicare.</p>
<p>Without bulk billing there is no Medicare.</p>
<p>Our objective is to get bulk billing to a national average target of 80 per cent. It won’t happen overnight, but tonight’s measures represent a significant down payment.</p>
<p>Labor will also increase the number of doctors in rural areas and make more nurses available to doctors who meet Labor’s bulk billing targets.</p>
<p>These measures will help take the pressure off our public hospitals because that’s where people go if they can’t find a bulk-billing doctor.</p>
<p>And Labor will also provide additional funds to ensure that veterans with Gold and White Repatriation Health Cards continue to have the access to the bulk billing they deserve.</p>
<p>There is another important aspect of Medicare that Labor will protect – affordable access to pharmaceuticals.</p>
<p>Labor will not support the Howard Government’s 30 per cent hike in the cost of essential medicines.</p>
<p>Last year when I announced Labor’s response to this price hike I announced a raft of proposals that will cut the overall cost of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, but which will not impose charges on you.</p>
<p>Medicare is not only the most equitable health system we can have, it is also the most efficient. Medicare is prudent economics.</p>
<p>It is the envy of the world. Why would you want to destroy it? Especially when we know we can afford to save it.</p>
<p>Budgets are about values, priorities and choices. Labor’s priority has been clear – save Medicare.</p>
<p>Labor’s plan to save Medicare is responsible and fully funded.</p>
<p>In the Budget two days ago the Treasurer announced a further $300 million in tax cuts for multinational businesses. Now you know where cuts to your family’s health services are going!</p>
<p>To help pay for Labor’s new deal to save Medicare, I will redirect some of the Government’s business tax changes from Tuesday night.</p>
<p>I will also redirect the savings from scrapping the destructive changes to Medicare that were in the Budget.</p>
<p>This isn’t a tax and spend proposal. It’s a cut and fix proposal. And it is a question of priorities.</p>
<p>Corporate tax cuts do not have the same priority as saving Medicare for Australian families.</p>
<p>Let’s be clear about this. We have a very different view of Australian society than our opponents, and I’ll be happy to have an argument about these priorities anywhere, anytime.</p>
<p>A new deal for lifelong learning</p>
<p>Mr Speaker.</p>
<p>Education is a bridge to the future.</p>
<p>It doesn’t just give individuals opportunity, it advances and strengthens us as a society.</p>
<p>It should not be treated as a tradeable commodity.</p>
<p>Mr Speaker, the world is changing so rapidly that our children will be working in jobs that haven’t been imagined yet and will have to update their skills throughout their lives, not just when they are young.</p>
<p>This bridge to the future has many paths leading to it. We must invest in putting down those paths and we must not put up financial barriers.</p>
<p>Our goal must be the creation of a world-leading system of lifelong learning.</p>
<p>It must start with the early years – the crucial years for developing our learning skills. Too many of our children are slipping through the net because they are not getting the help they need.</p>
<p>Opportunities are being lost because not enough money is being invested in our schools.</p>
<p>While we encourage everyone to get a Year 12 qualification, we don’t provide enough apprenticeships or enough places at university or TAFE for them.</p>
<p>Our Vice Chancellors advise us that 20,000 qualified young Australians are turned away every year. The cost to them and our country is enormous.</p>
<p>Finding those places must be our objective. And we must have a new agreement with the States to create more TAFE places.</p>
<p>We also need to give adults more assistance in upgrading their skills throughout their working lives. We must destroy the blight on our society of middle-age long-term unemployment.</p>
<p>That’s why my new deal for Australian families is a comprehensive plan for lifelong learning – a bridge to the future for all of us.</p>
<p>Just as I have done with Medicare tonight, I will outline in the coming months my plans to build a better education system for all Australians.</p>
<p>As a result of the changes outlined in Tuesday’s Budget, students and their families will be forced into massive debt to obtain a university degree.</p>
<p>Fees will increase by up to 30 per cent, leaving students with HECS debts of up to $40,000 or more.</p>
<p>Many more degrees will cost over $100,000. And students paying those fees will be hit with a 6 per cent interest charge.</p>
<p>Mr Speaker, how can we expect our young people to ever be able to buy a home and start a family with debts like these?</p>
<p>In the interest of keeping student and family debt down, we will support lifting the HECS threshold to $30,000, but will not support the unfair elements of this Government’s unfair university package.</p>
<p>Tonight I make this pledge to Australian families: I will not allow this Government to slug you and your children with a 30 per cent increase in your university fees.</p>
<p>I will not allow this Government to saddle you and your children with $800 million of new debt.</p>
<p>And I will not allow the wealthy to jump the queue and take the university places that rightly belong to the hardest working and the most able young Australians.</p>
<p>The Treasurer said last night that Labor’s refusal to pass these measures means we are blocking his big, bold reforms.</p>
<p>Charging students tens of thousands of dollars for a degree is not a big bold reform, Treasurer. Opening up our universities to all Australians – like the Whitlam and Hawke Governments did – is a big bold reform. And I will do it again.</p>
<p>The Liberals only ever see education as a cost and something they can slug you for. Labor knows – as every parent knows – that education is the greatest investment we can make in our shared future.</p>
<p>Water</p>
<p>Mr Speaker.</p>
<p>Our shared future must involve a commitment to save our natural environment.</p>
<p>We all love Australia’s rugged environment. As a keen bushwalker, I’ve seen first hand how beautiful, but also how fragile, our country is.</p>
<p>I recently visited the mouth of the Murray River in South Australia.</p>
<p>What I saw distressed me. It also angered me.</p>
<p>It will do the same for all Australians who see it.</p>
<p>The once mighty river’s mouth has all but closed. It has shrunk to the length of a cricket pitch. The water is only knee deep. Barely a trickle flows to the sea. In some places it’s flowing backwards!</p>
<p>Mr Speaker, the Murray is dying. Native fish are facing extinction, exotic species are choking the river and salinity is spreading.</p>
<p>If we don’t restore the health of the Murray, there will no longer be a river system capable of supporting our farmers into the future.</p>
<p>This is a great national challenge and it will require a significant long-term investment.</p>
<p>My new deal for Australia will save the Murray.</p>
<p>I announce tonight that Labor will restore enough environmental flows to keep the mouth of the Murray open and to restore the health of the river.</p>
<p>We will stop large-scale and indiscriminate land clearing to prevent salinity.</p>
<p>And we will ratify the Kyoto Protocol to prevent more severe droughts in the future.</p>
<p>Restoring the flows of our rivers will take serious levels of investment.</p>
<p>A Labor Government will therefore create the Murray-Darling Riverbank – a special new Government corporation to secure long-term funding for much-needed investment in Australia’s water resources.</p>
<p>We will make an initial capital injection of $150 million as the first down payment to save our rivers and attract matching funds from the States and the private sector.</p>
<p>Riverbank will invest in innovative projects that will set a new direction for water use in Australia, will help farmers achieve on-farm efficiency improvements and encourage increased water reuse and recycling.</p>
<p>It will finance projects in its own right and participate in joint ventures with State and Territory governments and the private sector. This will greatly increase the funds available for this urgent national priority.</p>
<p>Mr Speaker. Just as Bob Hawke saved the Franklin River 20 years ago, my pledge is to save the Murray River – the lifeblood of our nation.</p>
<p>Tax and the Budget</p>
<p>Mr Speaker.</p>
<p>My father was fond of quoting the American jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes, who famously said: “When you pay taxes you buy civilisation”.</p>
<p>If you ask me what a civilised society means today, my answer is this: a country where anyone, regardless of where they live or how much they earn, can get the same standard of medical care when they get sick.</p>
<p>A country where education is available on the basis of ability, not your ability to pay.</p>
<p>And a country that protects its natural environment for future generations to enjoy.</p>
<p>That’s the sort of civilised society I want Australia to be.</p>
<p>This is the vision that should have been Tuesday night’s Budget. Sadly it was not.</p>
<p>We all know why.</p>
<p>This Government thinks that by giving you $4 a week you won’t notice its real agenda – you pay more. You pay more to see a doctor. You pay more for an education. And you go further and further into debt.</p>
<p>It’s John Howard’s message to all Australians: “Sorry about Medicare, sorry about your kids’ education, sorry about your credit card debt, but here’s four dollars instead.”</p>
<p>The highest taxing government in our history has given you the smallest tax cut in our history.</p>
<p>The Prime Minister and the Treasurer think that Australians earning between $30,000 and $50,000 a year are so affluent that you only need another $4 a week.</p>
<p>But while they give with one hand they slug you with the other.</p>
<p>Up to $50 to go to the doctor. $32 per week in extra HECS debt. And $125 per week to pay for your new student loan.</p>
<p>Mr Speaker, Australians have earned the tax cut in the Budget. Labor will pass it on. But Australians deserve more from their government.</p>
<p>Four dollars on its own, set against the massive cost increases for health and education outlined in this Budget, is miserly and a sleight of hand.</p>
<p>A Crean Labor Government will return bracket creep through both tax cuts and better services.</p>
<p>Tonight I’m demonstrating how a combination of those things can make a family better off.</p>
<p>A new deal on superannuation</p>
<p>A key test of your values, choices and priorities is whether you believe in rewarding the many or the few.</p>
<p>Tuesday night’s Budget contains another tax cut – one Peter Costello was too embarrassed to talk about. His superannuation tax cut for the top few per cent of income earners.</p>
<p>Especially at a time when superannuation returns are going backwards, Australians need a retirement tax cut to reward the many, not the few.</p>
<p>Labor will redirect Peter Costello’s unfair superannuation tax cut to pay for a superannuation tax cut for all Australians, cutting your superannuation contribution tax from 15 per cent to 13 per cent.</p>
<p>This means thousands of dollars more for your retirement.</p>
<p>Labor has always been the party of pensioners, but we are the party of superannuants as well.</p>
<p>Only Labor extended superannuation to all; only Labor will improve it for all.</p>
<p>A new deal to protect your savings</p>
<p>But, Mr Speaker, there’s no use investing in superannuation if your savings aren’t safe.</p>
<p>More than 50 per cent of Australians now directly own shares and 90 per cent of Australian workers have an interest in the share market through their superannuation.</p>
<p>The retirement savings of the whole nation depend on a well-regulated corporate sector.</p>
<p>In the past two years there have been a number of huge corporate collapses, including Ansett, HIH and OneTel. When this happens, the executives in charge invariably refuse to take responsibility for what they’ve done.</p>
<p>We have all heard of over-paid executives awarding themselves massive bonuses and golden handshakes just as their companies go belly-up.</p>
<p>But rather than punish them, the Howard Government rewards these executives with a 30 per cent tax subsidy paid with your taxes.</p>
<p>Why should a family struggling to cope with financial pressures caused by bracket creep, the GST, bank charges and other hidden taxes have to foot the bill for golden handshakes as well – handshakes they don’t get when they are retrenched.</p>
<p>Enough is enough.</p>
<p>Labor will double current penalties when executives break corporate law.</p>
<p>We will force top executives to further disclose their pay packages in full, including their share options.</p>
<p>We will strengthen Australian shareholders’ rights by giving them a vote on these packages when they are unfair and unreasonable.</p>
<p>And tonight I announce that Labor will stop your taxes being used to subsidise by thirty per cent the million dollar golden handshakes being given to some executives.</p>
<p>This means that under Labor all redundancy payments over the value of $1 million will no longer be eligible business deductions for companies.</p>
<p>Labor values Medicare, not corporate greed.</p>
<p>A new deal for small business</p>
<p>Mr Speaker, there were two words missing from the Treasurer’s Budget speech on Tuesday night – “small business”.</p>
<p>While the Budget may not allow us to cut taxes for small business, only Labor will cut their paperwork.</p>
<p>Peter Costello is spending $150 million of your money to employ 1,230 new tax officials to make your BAS nightmare even worse.</p>
<p>Labor will cut that red tape.</p>
<p>Under Labor’s plan, small-business owners will only have to make one simple calculation for each BAS statement based on a per centage of your turnover. The time-consuming and complicated reconciliation process will be eliminated.</p>
<p>By substantially reducing your BAS compliance costs, Labor will put more money back into your pocket and give many of Australia’s small businesses more time to spend on their business or with their families.</p>
<p>Protecting our national security</p>
<p>Mr Speaker.</p>
<p>The Government’s Budget contains many worthwhile initiatives to make our nation safer. But more needs to be done.</p>
<p>Labor will coordinate our security in Australia through a new Department of Homeland Security.</p>
<p>Labor will ensure our intelligence agencies talk to each other through an Office of National Security, headed by a National Security Adviser.</p>
<p>Labor will establish a Coast Guard – a maritime cop on the beat, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to stop drug and gun runners and people smugglers.</p>
<p>And Labor will establish Community Safety Zones to work with your local community to help fight crime.</p>
<p>Labor will protect your security, not just national security.</p>
<p>Protecting our children</p>
<p>Mr Speaker, recent events highlight the need to protect our children.</p>
<p>Something positive must come out of those events.</p>
<p>Labor will establish a National Commissioner for Children who will develop a National Code for the Protection of Children and oversee checks on people who work with children to ensure that potential child sexual abusers do not get access to them.</p>
<p>Under my Government, all organisations in receipt of Commonwealth funds will have to comply with this code and those checks.</p>
<p>We must resolve as a nation to ensure that allegations of child sexual abuse are never ignored in the future and that the truth is never again swept under the carpet.</p>
<p>Labor will give parents more confidence that their children are safe.</p>
<p>Conclusion</p>
<p>Mr Speaker, Tuesday night’s Budget failed Australian families.</p>
<p>The smallest tax cut from the highest taxing government in our history.</p>
<p>More debt for our students and their families.</p>
<p>And the destruction of Medicare.</p>
<p>Mr Speaker, we face serious challenges in rebuilding Medicare, in improving access to affordable education and repairing our environment.</p>
<p>These must be our nation’s long-term national priorities. They cannot be solved overnight, but they must be our priorities.</p>
<p>Governments can make a difference.</p>
<p>Tonight I have laid out my new deal in each of these areas, significant steps towards our long-term goals.</p>
<p>Budgets are about choices. Now the choice is yours.</p>
<p>Tonight I’m offering an alternative.</p>
<p>To make education affordable and accessible to all based on ability.</p>
<p>To save the Murray River from its tragic death.</p>
<p>To help you save for the future and to make your savings income more secure.</p>
<p>To make Australians more secure and better protect our children.</p>
<p>And tonight, Mr Speaker, a new deal to save Medicare, not to destroy it.</p>
<p>That’s what I want for Australia, That’s what I’ll fight for.</p>
<p>A new deal for Australians and a new deal for Australia.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | copy australian labor partys opposition budget reply 2003 budgets little humor sex appeal ones interesting comes time universal healthcare system medicare one hillary clinton wanted emulate back early 1990s threatened know government medicare providing nofee tax payer funded bulk billing someone visits doctor requiring patient pay zero dollars consultation treatment currently use bulk billing doctors falling current howard government whose leaders past years advocating private health insurance way fund health needs preference giving priority funding medicare instead giving citizens one third cost rebate private health insurance public university student places 50 available full upfront fee paying students fear within years australian uni places 100 full fee paying students scholarships thrown went uni 1989 1995 full fee paying equals entry places got academic merit money couldnt enter equation entry unfortunately part fee payment called hecs deferred debt payment option didnt buy seat academically 50 student places money buy place uni fees budget set rise 30 canberra times may 17 stacey lucas published list current federal cabinet ministers uni education fees exposed atleast 5 ministers received free taxpayer funded australian uni education 1970s early 1980s hecs debt introduced including ministers received government scholarships federal education minister nations treasurer got free degrees debt attached introduce policies mentioned comes across worst selfish conservative politics imaginable interesting budget reply labor also represents greens beliefs taxpayer funded accessible education maintaining existence medicare health system comes time conservative howard government maintains power puts place itschanges keeps going similar changes starting point vast divide rich many working poor serve wealthy individuals multinationalglobal interests well broaden divides already exist within society create gulf deep earthquake passed create marked social changes hard reverse say irreparable depressing recreate universal health care system accessible universities tall mountains climb think hillarys efforts mean hillary clinton sir edmund hillarys mountains equally steep equally difficult yet achievable conquerable already society would let disappear would allow next generations suffer greatly fight hard thwarted things going fully us style without world domination component little guy follows big bully around iraq afghanistan let us use pine gap central desert perhaps australian people lose appreciate lost learn fight need french style australians become even busier working save medical bills health insurance college fees less time read reflect consider protest actions government state society live future direction let alone time contribute cultural identity music ears want use australia labor resources strategic assets also last week mothers day governor general australia queen englands representative dr peter hollingworth exanglican archbishop stood aside due public disgust regarding protection pedophile hopeless management sexual abuse cases within church archbishop appointed conservative prime minister john howard huge media controversy surrounding rape allegations peter hollingworth rosemarie jarmyn recently committed suicide rape allegations reached court may 15 australian senate moved motion stating governor general sacked resign yet senate power implement motion update decay civilization meanwhile media keeps going terrorism opiate consciousness washing media screens dull critique loss education health services weakening economy increasing personal debt lets freak nasty bearded arabs forget media slick anglo politicians engineering society deny us children basic previously tax funded health education services unless pay big bucks sure terrorist horrors occurring globally think also denial basic health education services society terrorism daily life level living fear terror could result unnecessary deaths suffering even french demonstrations earlier last week cuts pensions attended million people drowned news type thing media wants show government week increasing uni fees 30 hammering last nails medicares coffin favoring private health insurance sbs tv eventually showed french pension cut strikes last item news weather credits rolling music drum beating end news thought atmosphere people taking stroll parisian marseille spring streets metro stations empty news ended winter approaches hope sniffly noses kids dont turn flus whichll need doctor inspect hope start saving enough private medical insurance kids education sacrifice healthy food books holidays hope buy future got less 5 years ago part taxes least know feels american budget reply australian labor opposition leader simon creanmay 15 mr speaker tuesdays budget improved life australian families thats test government budget meet australian families growing pressure working longer hours paying record taxes last thing australian families need pay vital services like health education thats tuesdays budget civilised society demands health care based medical need education based ability believe health education providing services individuals public goods australians must invest vital services howard government heading opposite direction instead improving life families budget making things worse giving australian families miserly 4 tax cut destroying medicare charging education howard government failed test tuesday night time something new tonight want announce new deal australia australian families new deal save medicare bulk billing pledge keep higher education affordable accessible plan save murray river slow tragic death retirement tax cut every australian new deal protect savings australians end public subsidies executive golden handshakes better deal small business better way protect australia children want give australians sense hope australia remain fair decent country provides opportunities saving medicare bulk billing mr speaker believe every australian must right access doctor bulk bills must right attend wellfunded public hospital without charge wont say free free australians know already paid medicare medicare levy taxes earned shouldnt pay visit doctor quality health care must ever available basis medical need never rationed according ability pay shouldnt twotiered system shouldnt secondrate system look united states fortyfive million people health cover live fear serious illness destroys family finances sometimes generations thats sort health system want australia mr speaker theres profound difference labor party opponents builders wreckers labor built medibank gough whitlam medicare bob hawke believe everyone access affordable health care liberals never believed affordable health care want pay thats wrecked medibank prime minister wrecking medicare thats tonight im announcing labor government act save medicare bulk billing allow medicare replaced americanised privatised system instead medicare card doctors ask credit card refuse treat unless pay front saving medicare starts restoring patient rebate tonight announcing crean labor government lift patient rebate bulk billing australians matter live much earn lift patient rebate immediately upon coming office 95 per cent scheduled fee take 100 per cent average rise 5 every consultation bulk billed concession card holders everyone know access bulk billing declining faster parts australia others remedy labor doctors meet bulk billing targets receive additional incentive payments doctors metropolitan areas bulk bill 80 per cent services receive additional 7500 year doctors outer metropolitan areas bulk bill 75 per cent services receive additional 15000 doctors rural regional areas bulk bill 70 per cent services receive additional 22500 equivalent increasing patient rebate much 630 doctor metropolitan area 780 outer metropolitan area 960 doctor rural area significant payment towards restoring bulk billing saving medicare without bulk billing medicare objective get bulk billing national average target 80 per cent wont happen overnight tonights measures represent significant payment labor also increase number doctors rural areas make nurses available doctors meet labors bulk billing targets measures help take pressure public hospitals thats people go cant find bulkbilling doctor labor also provide additional funds ensure veterans gold white repatriation health cards continue access bulk billing deserve another important aspect medicare labor protect affordable access pharmaceuticals labor support howard governments 30 per cent hike cost essential medicines last year announced labors response price hike announced raft proposals cut overall cost pharmaceutical benefits scheme impose charges medicare equitable health system also efficient medicare prudent economics envy world would want destroy especially know afford save budgets values priorities choices labors priority clear save medicare labors plan save medicare responsible fully funded budget two days ago treasurer announced 300 million tax cuts multinational businesses know cuts familys health services going help pay labors new deal save medicare redirect governments business tax changes tuesday night also redirect savings scrapping destructive changes medicare budget isnt tax spend proposal cut fix proposal question priorities corporate tax cuts priority saving medicare australian families lets clear different view australian society opponents ill happy argument priorities anywhere anytime new deal lifelong learning mr speaker education bridge future doesnt give individuals opportunity advances strengthens us society treated tradeable commodity mr speaker world changing rapidly children working jobs havent imagined yet update skills throughout lives young bridge future many paths leading must invest putting paths must put financial barriers goal must creation worldleading system lifelong learning must start early years crucial years developing learning skills many children slipping net getting help need opportunities lost enough money invested schools encourage everyone get year 12 qualification dont provide enough apprenticeships enough places university tafe vice chancellors advise us 20000 qualified young australians turned away every year cost country enormous finding places must objective must new agreement states create tafe places also need give adults assistance upgrading skills throughout working lives must destroy blight society middleage longterm unemployment thats new deal australian families comprehensive plan lifelong learning bridge future us done medicare tonight outline coming months plans build better education system australians result changes outlined tuesdays budget students families forced massive debt obtain university degree fees increase 30 per cent leaving students hecs debts 40000 many degrees cost 100000 students paying fees hit 6 per cent interest charge mr speaker expect young people ever able buy home start family debts like interest keeping student family debt support lifting hecs threshold 30000 support unfair elements governments unfair university package tonight make pledge australian families allow government slug children 30 per cent increase university fees allow government saddle children 800 million new debt allow wealthy jump queue take university places rightly belong hardest working able young australians treasurer said last night labors refusal pass measures means blocking big bold reforms charging students tens thousands dollars degree big bold reform treasurer opening universities australians like whitlam hawke governments big bold reform liberals ever see education cost something slug labor knows every parent knows education greatest investment make shared future water mr speaker shared future must involve commitment save natural environment love australias rugged environment keen bushwalker ive seen first hand beautiful also fragile country recently visited mouth murray river south australia saw distressed also angered australians see mighty rivers mouth closed shrunk length cricket pitch water knee deep barely trickle flows sea places flowing backwards mr speaker murray dying native fish facing extinction exotic species choking river salinity spreading dont restore health murray longer river system capable supporting farmers future great national challenge require significant longterm investment new deal australia save murray announce tonight labor restore enough environmental flows keep mouth murray open restore health river stop largescale indiscriminate land clearing prevent salinity ratify kyoto protocol prevent severe droughts future restoring flows rivers take serious levels investment labor government therefore create murraydarling riverbank special new government corporation secure longterm funding muchneeded investment australias water resources make initial capital injection 150 million first payment save rivers attract matching funds states private sector riverbank invest innovative projects set new direction water use australia help farmers achieve onfarm efficiency improvements encourage increased water reuse recycling finance projects right participate joint ventures state territory governments private sector greatly increase funds available urgent national priority mr speaker bob hawke saved franklin river 20 years ago pledge save murray river lifeblood nation tax budget mr speaker father fond quoting american jurist oliver wendell holmes famously said pay taxes buy civilisation ask civilised society means today answer country anyone regardless live much earn get standard medical care get sick country education available basis ability ability pay country protects natural environment future generations enjoy thats sort civilised society want australia vision tuesday nights budget sadly know government thinks giving 4 week wont notice real agenda pay pay see doctor pay education go debt john howards message australians sorry medicare sorry kids education sorry credit card debt heres four dollars instead highest taxing government history given smallest tax cut history prime minister treasurer think australians earning 30000 50000 year affluent need another 4 week give one hand slug 50 go doctor 32 per week extra hecs debt 125 per week pay new student loan mr speaker australians earned tax cut budget labor pass australians deserve government four dollars set massive cost increases health education outlined budget miserly sleight hand crean labor government return bracket creep tax cuts better services tonight im demonstrating combination things make family better new deal superannuation key test values choices priorities whether believe rewarding many tuesday nights budget contains another tax cut one peter costello embarrassed talk superannuation tax cut top per cent income earners especially time superannuation returns going backwards australians need retirement tax cut reward many labor redirect peter costellos unfair superannuation tax cut pay superannuation tax cut australians cutting superannuation contribution tax 15 per cent 13 per cent means thousands dollars retirement labor always party pensioners party superannuants well labor extended superannuation labor improve new deal protect savings mr speaker theres use investing superannuation savings arent safe 50 per cent australians directly shares 90 per cent australian workers interest share market superannuation retirement savings whole nation depend wellregulated corporate sector past two years number huge corporate collapses including ansett hih onetel happens executives charge invariably refuse take responsibility theyve done heard overpaid executives awarding massive bonuses golden handshakes companies go bellyup rather punish howard government rewards executives 30 per cent tax subsidy paid taxes family struggling cope financial pressures caused bracket creep gst bank charges hidden taxes foot bill golden handshakes well handshakes dont get retrenched enough enough labor double current penalties executives break corporate law force top executives disclose pay packages full including share options strengthen australian shareholders rights giving vote packages unfair unreasonable tonight announce labor stop taxes used subsidise thirty per cent million dollar golden handshakes given executives means labor redundancy payments value 1 million longer eligible business deductions companies labor values medicare corporate greed new deal small business mr speaker two words missing treasurers budget speech tuesday night small business budget may allow us cut taxes small business labor cut paperwork peter costello spending 150 million money employ 1230 new tax officials make bas nightmare even worse labor cut red tape labors plan smallbusiness owners make one simple calculation bas statement based per centage turnover timeconsuming complicated reconciliation process eliminated substantially reducing bas compliance costs labor put money back pocket give many australias small businesses time spend business families protecting national security mr speaker governments budget contains many worthwhile initiatives make nation safer needs done labor coordinate security australia new department homeland security labor ensure intelligence agencies talk office national security headed national security adviser labor establish coast guard maritime cop beat 24 hours day seven days week stop drug gun runners people smugglers labor establish community safety zones work local community help fight crime labor protect security national security protecting children mr speaker recent events highlight need protect children something positive must come events labor establish national commissioner children develop national code protection children oversee checks people work children ensure potential child sexual abusers get access government organisations receipt commonwealth funds comply code checks must resolve nation ensure allegations child sexual abuse never ignored future truth never swept carpet labor give parents confidence children safe conclusion mr speaker tuesday nights budget failed australian families smallest tax cut highest taxing government history debt students families destruction medicare mr speaker face serious challenges rebuilding medicare improving access affordable education repairing environment must nations longterm national priorities solved overnight must priorities governments make difference tonight laid new deal areas significant steps towards longterm goals budgets choices choice tonight im offering alternative make education affordable accessible based ability save murray river tragic death help save future make savings income secure make australians secure better protect children tonight mr speaker new deal save medicare destroy thats want australia thats ill fight new deal australians new deal australia 160 | 2,595 |
<p>Photo: Juliette Borda</p>
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<p>Unlike some Catholics of a certain age, who moan that the sex abuse scandal that burst onto the front pages almost four years ago shattered their faith in the presumed purity of priests, I didn’t grow up with the notion of priests as saints. Those in my acquaintance ate too much, smoked like stacks, bet on horses, and earned our allegiance, or didn’t, by the quality of their hearts. Saints, in any case, were dead, and I was vaguely aware of my own childish hubris in aspiring to be one. It was much later that I realized many of the saints weren’t even saints, in the colloquial sense of the word. As if to underscore that fact, in the midst of the scandal, in 2002 Pope John Paul II canonized a man who not only wrestled with devils, flagellated himself to bleeding, fasted to the point of collapse, and bore the stigmata but was also accused of having had sexual dalliances with women and of pomading his hair, perfuming his body, and wearing makeup. The Vatican once forbade Padre Pio, or Saint Pio da Pietrelcina as he is now called, from teaching teenage boys and hearing the confessions of women. The ladies had taken to fighting each other for the chance to repent their sins before this voluptuary of suffering. He took money in the confessional, and Rome was so unsettled by the extravagance of his mysticism and his cult that twice it put him under investigation. His own order, the Capuchins, bugged his cell after accusations arose that he brought women there. He died, in 1968, addicted to Valium and downers.</p>
<p>As Michael Bronski noted in a fascinating Boston Phoenix column unearthing this at the time of the canonization, saints are made as object lessons, and by elevating Pio, a doctrinal conservative, in a period of internal upheaval, the pope surely reinforced the ancient Catholicism of miracle, mystery, and authority. And yet, there is something oddly modern about it all, too, this example of colossal frailty, of ambiguity at the edge of hysteria and holiness. Not long before, the Vatican had insisted on modifications in the American bishops’ “zero-tolerance” policy toward accused priests, saying its stipulation to remove permanently from ministry anyone with a single accusation of sex with a minor, whatever the circumstances and however long ago, did not adequately allow for due process and forgiveness. Perhaps unwittingly, the pope expressed something as significant by offering the pancaked visage of Saint Pio for contemplation in a period of puffed-up righteousness, reminding Cath- olics, among them the legion of bishops looking to fix blame everywhere but in their own offices, that our embarrassment, our shame, is us.</p>
<p>Three years on, the Vatican has piled embarrassment on embarrassment, settling the debate initiated then between liberal reformers and reactionary prelates, as it was bound to, in favor of the reactionaries. Reformers had called for democracy, accountability, transparency. Some challenged celibacy, some suggesting that if only priests and bishops had been married with children, the abuse, or at least the silence around it, would not have occurred. That last argument, nonsense given the prevalence of family violence, gave backhanded assent to the reactionaries’ simpler verdict on the scandal: the homosexuals did it. JPII encouraged that line of reasoning, if such it can be called, by ordering seminaries to reject candidates with “obvious signs of deviations,” a stipulation that would have disqualified Pio the moment he first raised the whip against himself. Pope Benedict XVI has now systematized it. Church investigators are scrutinizing America’s 229 seminaries for “evidence of homosexuality,” “signs of particular friendships,” and all-around adherence to the Vatican’s official teaching of homophobia. When the investigation was revealed in August, its overseer, Edwin O’Brien, who is also archbishop for the U.S. military, said the seminary is no place for queers, however virginal or scrupulously chaste. The shoe waiting to drop is a purge of gay priests, men whose sexuality Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua of Philadelphia once declared “a moral evil.” It’s all part of what Benedict, with Teutonic economy, described as “purifying” the church. Put another way, by a gay priest in New York who asked to be nameless, “Everyone fears the knock at the door in the middle of the night.”</p>
<p>Reformers and the press are appalled by the church’s gay panic. They point out, rightly, that there is no statistical correlation between homosexuality and pedophilia, that gay priests are no more likely to flout celibacy than straight ones, and that, while numbers are mushy, many therapists concur that in the universe of priestly victims the vast majority are girls and women. Half the membership of SNAP, or Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, for example, are women. The group’s president, David Clohessy, was astounded that the New York Times, in breaking news of the seminary investigation, reported without qualification the American bishops’ calculation that “about 80 percent of the young people victimized by priests were boys.” Clohessy distrusts everything about the bishops’ numbers and attributes the 80 percent figure to a combination of homophobia and sexism: the greater perceived affront of male-on-male groping which influenced who made noise, who was taken seriously, whose record got kept, who threatened to call a lawyer. But if the numbers are inflated, maybe they appear so believable and are reported so unthinkingly because of all those salacious stories of priests and “boys” (ages 6, 16, 21, the word became elastic) that, particularly in Boston, consumed newspapers, nabbed journalistic prizes, and passed off one-sided accounts—even preposterous “memories”—as ultimate truths, and made the careers of so many good liberal Catholic journalists and prosecutors who were remarkably uncurious about hetero offenses but probably couldn’t imagine themselves accessories to an antigay witch-hunt.</p>
<p>The reactionary churchmen aren’t responding simply, or even mainly, to the press, though, or to the scandal. This isn’t just a pedestrian matter of blame-shifting, as critics contend; it is the gasp of an institution caught in an operatic contradiction. For despite its attempts to organize patriarchy and enforce sexual, particularly same-sexual, shame, the Catholic Church has had, in the form of its priesthood, what today would be called a gay culture for about 1,000 years. Although estimates suggest 20 to 50 percent of American priests are gay (a figure that was probably higher before the Stonewall Riot of 1969 and the birth of the modern gay movement), whether individuals are homo or hetero is secondary. Here is an institution for centuries removed from the everyday construction of straight masculinity: a community of men, living together, freed from admonitions to marry and multiply, engaged in ritual and performance, praising gentleness, wearing dresses, and bound together in worship of a naked man on a cross. Body and blood, a heady mixture of rapture and camp, at once repressive and sensual, dependent, like the army, on structures of submission and domination, only here dedicated to a spiritual doctrine of love—that culture is now exposed and under attack.</p>
<p>For a long time, heterosexuals didn’t think about this much, because no one in the straight world had a clue about the way gay people hid. Even the most flamboyant priest was beyond sexuality. It was all part of the old world, and the church ladies loved the gay priests, the way they loved Liberace, because they were at an angle to the gender universe. No one who grew up in the church pre-Stonewall could miss the way the priest who organized the talent shows and liturgical pageants, decorated the church, drank martinis, and dressed just so dazzled the women, and if in private he rued the deception of it, we wouldn’t have guessed. It wasn’t all deception, of course, but a complex bargain in which renegades from straight sex roles got a measure of authenticity, safety, certainly prestige, though not without sacrificing their most intimate selves in loyalty to policies that declared them deviant, dangerous, sick. With gay liberation came not just an uncloseting of sex but of identity, and eventually the straight world started to recognize all the little markers. For straight men, especially in institutions like the church, the homosocial rituals were suddenly, by association, a little threatening: Might I be queer, too?</p>
<p>The reactionaries’ latest “solution” to this crisis, this embarrassment, has no more chance of success now than it did a generation ago, when John Paul II cracked down on rebellious theologians, and some cardinals tried to clear the seminaries of queers. The problem for the reactionaries is that they love the church culture of the marvelous but hate the identity that has largely sustained it. Purge that identity, and all that’s left are rules, authority, an army. Abandon the regimen of authority and shame, and it’s hardly a church at all, at least in the traditional sense. It’s a fine mess.</p>
<p>Still, even in disdain, the reactionaries’ appreciation of the challenge presented by gay liberation is far more acute than that of reformers, who seem mostly concerned that homophobia is vaguely unhip. Though it has been somewhat obscured by gay-cliché diversions like Queer Eye and debates over gay marriage, that liberationist challenge, at its core, asserts that sexuality is central to human life, not some “don’t tell the children” shameful thing, not something dependent on marriage and a social need to reproduce the workforce or boost the corps of believers. It asserts that sexuality is born with us and is no one’s property but the original owner’s; that desire, pleasure, love, may be complicated, almost certainly will be, but people really do have the right to the pursuit of such happiness; that they also have the right to pursue celibacy, chastity, abnegation, but, like the rest, those are sexual choices; and, among believers, that all of it is God’s creation and nothing God made can be bad, even if it often goes bad. Utopians had always believed such things, along with mavericks, hippies, and some feminists. But with Stonewall “the genie was out of the bottle,” as writer Andrew Kopkind liked to say. For more than 30 years, the ethos of sexual freedom has been working its way through mainstream culture, moving forward, then thrown back, diverted by commerce or expedience from its essentially moral root, surviving but not without a lot of dislocation. Revolution of the body is a lot easier than revolution of the mind, and for all the claims to liberation—and the relentless advertising of sex—we are still groping in the dark, still in a period of transition set off in the 1960s and ’70s.</p>
<p>It’s totally logical, by their lights, that the guardians of an old, punishing morality should fall back on punishment. The harder question is, Where is a reborn morality that doesn’t need retribution, that courts embarrassment and risks freedom with only a radical love to win?</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | photo juliette borda unlike catholics certain age moan sex abuse scandal burst onto front pages almost four years ago shattered faith presumed purity priests didnt grow notion priests saints acquaintance ate much smoked like stacks bet horses earned allegiance didnt quality hearts saints case dead vaguely aware childish hubris aspiring one much later realized many saints werent even saints colloquial sense word underscore fact midst scandal 2002 pope john paul ii canonized man wrestled devils flagellated bleeding fasted point collapse bore stigmata also accused sexual dalliances women pomading hair perfuming body wearing makeup vatican forbade padre pio saint pio da pietrelcina called teaching teenage boys hearing confessions women ladies taken fighting chance repent sins voluptuary suffering took money confessional rome unsettled extravagance mysticism cult twice put investigation order capuchins bugged cell accusations arose brought women died 1968 addicted valium downers michael bronski noted fascinating boston phoenix column unearthing time canonization saints made object lessons elevating pio doctrinal conservative period internal upheaval pope surely reinforced ancient catholicism miracle mystery authority yet something oddly modern example colossal frailty ambiguity edge hysteria holiness long vatican insisted modifications american bishops zerotolerance policy toward accused priests saying stipulation remove permanently ministry anyone single accusation sex minor whatever circumstances however long ago adequately allow due process forgiveness perhaps unwittingly pope expressed something significant offering pancaked visage saint pio contemplation period puffedup righteousness reminding cath olics among legion bishops looking fix blame everywhere offices embarrassment shame us three years vatican piled embarrassment embarrassment settling debate initiated liberal reformers reactionary prelates bound favor reactionaries reformers called democracy accountability transparency challenged celibacy suggesting priests bishops married children abuse least silence around would occurred last argument nonsense given prevalence family violence gave backhanded assent reactionaries simpler verdict scandal homosexuals jpii encouraged line reasoning called ordering seminaries reject candidates obvious signs deviations stipulation would disqualified pio moment first raised whip pope benedict xvi systematized church investigators scrutinizing americas 229 seminaries evidence homosexuality signs particular friendships allaround adherence vaticans official teaching homophobia investigation revealed august overseer edwin obrien also archbishop us military said seminary place queers however virginal scrupulously chaste shoe waiting drop purge gay priests men whose sexuality cardinal anthony bevilacqua philadelphia declared moral evil part benedict teutonic economy described purifying church put another way gay priest new york asked nameless everyone fears knock door middle night reformers press appalled churchs gay panic point rightly statistical correlation homosexuality pedophilia gay priests likely flout celibacy straight ones numbers mushy many therapists concur universe priestly victims vast majority girls women half membership snap survivors network abused priests example women groups president david clohessy astounded new york times breaking news seminary investigation reported without qualification american bishops calculation 80 percent young people victimized priests boys clohessy distrusts everything bishops numbers attributes 80 percent figure combination homophobia sexism greater perceived affront maleonmale groping influenced made noise taken seriously whose record got kept threatened call lawyer numbers inflated maybe appear believable reported unthinkingly salacious stories priests boys ages 6 16 21 word became elastic particularly boston consumed newspapers nabbed journalistic prizes passed onesided accountseven preposterous memoriesas ultimate truths made careers many good liberal catholic journalists prosecutors remarkably uncurious hetero offenses probably couldnt imagine accessories antigay witchhunt reactionary churchmen arent responding simply even mainly press though scandal isnt pedestrian matter blameshifting critics contend gasp institution caught operatic contradiction despite attempts organize patriarchy enforce sexual particularly samesexual shame catholic church form priesthood today would called gay culture 1000 years although estimates suggest 20 50 percent american priests gay figure probably higher stonewall riot 1969 birth modern gay movement whether individuals homo hetero secondary institution centuries removed everyday construction straight masculinity community men living together freed admonitions marry multiply engaged ritual performance praising gentleness wearing dresses bound together worship naked man cross body blood heady mixture rapture camp repressive sensual dependent like army structures submission domination dedicated spiritual doctrine lovethat culture exposed attack long time heterosexuals didnt think much one straight world clue way gay people hid even flamboyant priest beyond sexuality part old world church ladies loved gay priests way loved liberace angle gender universe one grew church prestonewall could miss way priest organized talent shows liturgical pageants decorated church drank martinis dressed dazzled women private rued deception wouldnt guessed wasnt deception course complex bargain renegades straight sex roles got measure authenticity safety certainly prestige though without sacrificing intimate selves loyalty policies declared deviant dangerous sick gay liberation came uncloseting sex identity eventually straight world started recognize little markers straight men especially institutions like church homosocial rituals suddenly association little threatening might queer reactionaries latest solution crisis embarrassment chance success generation ago john paul ii cracked rebellious theologians cardinals tried clear seminaries queers problem reactionaries love church culture marvelous hate identity largely sustained purge identity thats left rules authority army abandon regimen authority shame hardly church least traditional sense fine mess still even disdain reactionaries appreciation challenge presented gay liberation far acute reformers seem mostly concerned homophobia vaguely unhip though somewhat obscured gaycliché diversions like queer eye debates gay marriage liberationist challenge core asserts sexuality central human life dont tell children shameful thing something dependent marriage social need reproduce workforce boost corps believers asserts sexuality born us ones property original owners desire pleasure love may complicated almost certainly people really right pursuit happiness also right pursue celibacy chastity abnegation like rest sexual choices among believers gods creation nothing god made bad even often goes bad utopians always believed things along mavericks hippies feminists stonewall genie bottle writer andrew kopkind liked say 30 years ethos sexual freedom working way mainstream culture moving forward thrown back diverted commerce expedience essentially moral root surviving without lot dislocation revolution body lot easier revolution mind claims liberationand relentless advertising sexwe still groping dark still period transition set 1960s 70s totally logical lights guardians old punishing morality fall back punishment harder question reborn morality doesnt need retribution courts embarrassment risks freedom radical love win | 980 |
<p />
<p>Sue Watson’s nightmare began in early 1982, when she took her pneumonia-stricken daughter Katie, then 20 months old, to a Phoenix, Arizona, hospital. What ensued was described by one local newspaper as a “tragedy of errors.” Hospital staff failed to give the infant oxygen for six hours and a pediatrician prescribed an overdose of the barbiturate Phenobarbital. By the end of the following day, Katie was brain dead.</p>
<p>Four years later, Watson, a fundraiser for a Montessori school in Phoenix, and her husband settled a lawsuit with the hospital for $4.2 million. Legal fees and expenses ate up nearly half the award, while another quarter went towards building a home in which the Watsons could care for their stricken child. The remainder was invested in a so-called structured settlement that the hospital purchased on Katie’s behalf from the Los Angeles-based Executive Life Insurance Company.</p>
<p>Watson said she and her husband opted to accept the structured settlement instead of a lump sum payment in hopes of establishing a reliable income for Katie as a hedge against inflation. The hope, Watson said, was that the income from the structured settlement would increase, if only slightly, year to year.</p>
<p>“We were told that structured settlements were very safe,” she recalls.</p>
<p>Not this one.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>DISECTING THE DEAL A look inside the complex deal which ultimately left so many Executive Life policyholders out in the cold.</p>
<p><a href="insurance_sidebar.html" type="external">Full Story</a></p>
<p>In 1990, Executive was sold to a French bank and its partners. The deal was orchestrated by 50-year-old New York financier Leon Black, Micheal Milken’s unofficial right-hand man as co-head of mergers and acquisitions at the now-defunct Drexel Burnham Lambert.</p>
<p>In October, 1993, the insurer cut Katie’s income by 54 percent. Watson, who personally cares for her stricken daughter, is still livid. And she is concerned that Katie’s future — one that will always require round-the-clock care — hangs in the balance.</p>
<p>“This little girl needed that money,” she says. “If I died, and my husband died today, the money she is getting from that annuity right now is not enough to take care of her.”</p>
<p>The Watsons are not alone. An accounting conducted by the California Attorney General’s office showed that more than 300,000 Executive Life policyholders have lost billions — $4.7 billion, according to Maureen Marr, an activist who has worked on behalf of Executive Life policyholders for the last decade.</p>
<p>Where did all the money go?</p>
<p>By 1990, Executive Life was in deep trouble. The company had purchased billions of dollars of junk bonds — high-yield, high-risk investments — from Milken. A recession, combined with bungling by US and California regulators, had hammered the bonds’ values. With the company teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, John Garamendi, California’s publicity-loving insurance commissioner, seized Executive Life and announced he would auction it to the highest bidder.</p>
<p>In the end, Garamendi sold Executive to an unusual partnership comprised of several French and Swiss investors and the massive French bank Credit Lyonnais. The bank, controlled by the French government, bought the bonds. Since it was illegal for the bank to control the company, the French investor group bought Executive’s insurance operations. Black was billed as the French bidders’ advisor.</p>
<p>The winners of the auction were the only bidders to propose splitting off the insurance company’s $6.1 billion bond portfolio. The bank and its partners paid a total of $3.5 billion — $300 million for the insurance operations and $3.2 billion for the bond portfolio. Considering that the bonds alone had a face value of $6.1 billion, it was a sweet deal — one that Milken, in a 1992 Forbes interview, called “the investment opportunity of the decade.”</p>
<p>Garamendi, who had called the bonds “toxic waste” because of they were so depressed in value, preferred that approach, saying at the time that it would provide some funds to shore up the struggling insurance company. But the effect of that strategy was devastating for Sue Watson and other policyholders, who otherwise may never have lost their money.</p>
<p>Not only had the insurer been sold for less than its market value, the company’s primary source of investment income — its bond portfolio — had been stripped off and taken by Altus. The more lucrative of the bonds gained from the Executive sale were placed in an investment fund managed and partially owned by Black and his colleagues.</p>
<p>In late 1993, with its investment income severely diluted, the company cut policyholders’ payments. Executive had been gutted, and those its policies were meant to protect, like Katie Watson, were left to pick up the pieces.</p>
<p>“Blood money,” Watson fumes. “That’s what these people took.”</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>THE DOCUMENTS Download the lawsuits as PDF files. You will need <a href="http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html" type="external">Adobe Acrobat</a> to view them.</p>
<p><a href="/wp-content/uploads/legacy/news/feature/2002/01/ag_complaint.pdf" type="external">Attorney General’s Complaint</a> <a href="/wp-content/uploads/legacy/news/feature/2002/01/insurance_dept_complaint.pdf" type="external">Insurance Department Complaint</a> <a href="tolling_agreement.pdf" type="external">Tolling Agreement</a></p>
<p>The complex deal in which Executive was purchased is now the focus of two lawsuits, one brought by the <a href="/wp-content/uploads/legacy/news/feature/2002/01/ag_complaint.pdf" type="external">California Attorney General’s office</a> and one brought by the <a href="/wp-content/uploads/legacy/news/feature/2002/01/insurance_dept_complaint.pdf" type="external">California Department of Insurance</a> — the same office under whose auspices the company was sold in 1990. The deal is also the target of legal action by the US Attorney, who has notified French officials that he means to seek indictments related to the case.</p>
<p>All of the legal action, however, focuses primarily on the actions of Credit Lyonnais and its subsidiary, Altus, in the takeover. The two existing California lawsuits argue that secret contracts between the French bank and two members of the French investor group indicate that these investors were acting as fronts for Credit Lyonnais and Altus.</p>
<p>Black, the financial wizard who guided Altus to the complicated takeover of Executive Life and its bond portfolio, is not named as a defendant in either case and has claimed to be “amazed” and “shocked” at allegations that Altus Finance broke the law. Now, Black and his colleagues have agreed to testify in the insurance department’s multibillion dollar lawsuit against the French bank.</p>
<p>In exchange, insurance authorities are essentially giving Black and his associates a free pass — <a href="tolling_agreement.pdf" type="external">releasing them from liability</a> in relation to the Executive deal even if there is evidence that they broke a laundry list of state or federal regulations or racketeering laws. Based on the agreement, the insurance department can only sue Black or his colleagues if there is direct evidence that they knew about the bank’s secret contracts before September 1998. Even then, the agreement requires the insurance department to follow a complex and onerous process before bringing any suit against Black.</p>
<p>Black declined to comment on the agreement or his involvement in the Executive deal.</p>
<p>Why are Black and his Apollo colleagues being let off the hook?</p>
<p>“Their cooperation is important,” says San Francisco attorney Gary Fontana, a partner at Thelen, Reid &amp; Priest, who is representing the insurance department in the matter. “It will expedite collection of the evidence that would take a lot longer and cost a lot more to get without their help.”</p>
<p>Others, however, suggest the insurance department is simply taking the easy way out — and protecting itself in the process. According to the French partners to the lawsuit, Garamendi was well aware that Credit Lyonnais, not the alleged fronts, intended to control the insurance company. As a result, they argue, the lawsuit being pursued against the French bank is itself a sham.</p>
<p>“It’s a sign of weakness,” says Jean-Francois Henin, former chief of Altus Finance, the subsidiary of Credit Lyonnais involved in the deal. “It means he does not have a strong case.”</p>
<p>In fact, a careful reading of the agreement suggests that the insurance department is well aware it may be letting Black off the hook. The release was signed on Nov. 1. But the effective date of the document, which asserts that the commissioner “has no basis” to believe that Black or his colleagues violated any laws with respect to the Executive Life transaction, is June 1.</p>
<p>In an interview, Fontana said that the June 1 date was chosen to ensure that lawyers for the state would have enough time under the statute of limitations to name Black as a defendant if they choose to.</p>
<p>“It’s a protection for us and the policyholders,” he said.</p>
<p>However, sources suggest that the back-date is more likely meant to protect the insurance department itself in the event that evidence implicating Black was collected after June 1.</p>
<p>In fact, the release even appears to address that issue, noting that “the Commissioner is aware that he may hereafter discover potential claims or facts in addition to or different from those which he now knows or believes to exist.” According to reports in the LA Business Journal last August, attorneys close to the investigation said the California Attorney General was close to naming Black as a defendant.</p>
<p>So far, the Attorney General’s office hasn’t named Black in its case. California Department of Justice spokeswoman Sandra Michioku declined to comment on whether they intend to do so.</p>
<p>The insurance department’s agreement with Black also exempts Black and his colleagues from having to disclose documents and information provided earlier to the Federal Reserve or the US Department of Justice in the course of the federal criminal investigation of the deal — including documents concerning the Appollo partnership.</p>
<p>Fontana says the evidence in question is a non-issue for California regulators.</p>
<p>“It is not important to us,” he said. “If they were to disclose what they had said in testimony for the FBI or Federal Reserve or grand jury that arguably creates issues with them for the Feds, we don’t care.”</p>
<p>Fontana’s lack of interest in Black’s role in the deal, while underscoring how determined the insurance department is to secure the financier’s cooperation, could be short-sighted.</p>
<p>Documents obtained by MotherJones.com show that Black was more than just an advisor to the French bank, he was at the very center of the deal as an equity partner of the bank both before and after the auction. Black reached an agreement with Altus Finance, a subsidiary of Credit Lyonnais, in June of 1990 to create two investment funds. One of those funds, for which Altus would provide 88 percent of the capital while Black and his associates would provide the remaining 12 percent, would become the home of the most lucrative bonds won in the Executive auction. Black and Altus partially disclosed their 1990 relationship to the Federal Reserve in September of that year, but failed to disclose the nature of their partnership to California insurance authorities.</p>
<p>This would be no small infraction. The California insurance code requires the disclosure of all financial arrangements in the acquisition or ownership of an insurance company, and failure to do so constitutes not only a breach of the insurance code but also a violation of the state’s False Claims Act. While only the California Attorney General can sue a party for violating the act, insurance authorities could use evidence of such a violation to support other charges, such as fraud, conspiracy or racketeering — all charges included in the insurance department’s complaint. In addition to effectively allowing Black off the hook, the Insurance Department’s legal team appears to also be arguing that Black should not be pursued by the Attorney General.</p>
<p>Fontana has indicated that, as far as he is concerned, the Attorney General should have no jurisdiction in this affair. On November 6, during arguments before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on a separate class action suit brought on behalf of Executive Life policyholders, Fontana went so far as to say that the Attorney General was afraid to serve his complaint because he has no standing as a policyholder and that his case was going to be dismissed, according to Marr and others who attended the session.</p>
<p>This would represent a remarkable about-face for Fontana, who originally filed the whistleblower complaint in 1999 which led to the Attorney General’s current case. At that time, he said the Attorney General had legal priority over the insurance commissioner’s lawsuit.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Sue Watson is left to care for her crippled daughter and wonder at the legal goings-on in California. It’s been 20 years since Katie checked into a hospital a sick little girl and checked out needing 24-hour-a-day care. Watson says she has little doubt that her daughter will outlive her. The only priority now, she says, is to pursue every legal option to ensure that those responsible for the manner in which Executive was taken over and restructured are held accountable — and that Katie’s future income is protected.</p>
<p>“I will fight for my daughter to my death,” she says.</p>
<p />
<p /> | true | 4 | sue watsons nightmare began early 1982 took pneumoniastricken daughter katie 20 months old phoenix arizona hospital ensued described one local newspaper tragedy errors hospital staff failed give infant oxygen six hours pediatrician prescribed overdose barbiturate phenobarbital end following day katie brain dead four years later watson fundraiser montessori school phoenix husband settled lawsuit hospital 42 million legal fees expenses ate nearly half award another quarter went towards building home watsons could care stricken child remainder invested socalled structured settlement hospital purchased katies behalf los angelesbased executive life insurance company watson said husband opted accept structured settlement instead lump sum payment hopes establishing reliable income katie hedge inflation hope watson said income structured settlement would increase slightly year year told structured settlements safe recalls one disecting deal look inside complex deal ultimately left many executive life policyholders cold full story 1990 executive sold french bank partners deal orchestrated 50yearold new york financier leon black micheal milkens unofficial righthand man cohead mergers acquisitions nowdefunct drexel burnham lambert october 1993 insurer cut katies income 54 percent watson personally cares stricken daughter still livid concerned katies future one always require roundtheclock care hangs balance little girl needed money says died husband died today money getting annuity right enough take care watsons alone accounting conducted california attorney generals office showed 300000 executive life policyholders lost billions 47 billion according maureen marr activist worked behalf executive life policyholders last decade money go 1990 executive life deep trouble company purchased billions dollars junk bonds highyield highrisk investments milken recession combined bungling us california regulators hammered bonds values company teetering edge bankruptcy john garamendi californias publicityloving insurance commissioner seized executive life announced would auction highest bidder end garamendi sold executive unusual partnership comprised several french swiss investors massive french bank credit lyonnais bank controlled french government bought bonds since illegal bank control company french investor group bought executives insurance operations black billed french bidders advisor winners auction bidders propose splitting insurance companys 61 billion bond portfolio bank partners paid total 35 billion 300 million insurance operations 32 billion bond portfolio considering bonds alone face value 61 billion sweet deal one milken 1992 forbes interview called investment opportunity decade garamendi called bonds toxic waste depressed value preferred approach saying time would provide funds shore struggling insurance company effect strategy devastating sue watson policyholders otherwise may never lost money insurer sold less market value companys primary source investment income bond portfolio stripped taken altus lucrative bonds gained executive sale placed investment fund managed partially owned black colleagues late 1993 investment income severely diluted company cut policyholders payments executive gutted policies meant protect like katie watson left pick pieces blood money watson fumes thats people took documents download lawsuits pdf files need adobe acrobat view attorney generals complaint insurance department complaint tolling agreement complex deal executive purchased focus two lawsuits one brought california attorney generals office one brought california department insurance office whose auspices company sold 1990 deal also target legal action us attorney notified french officials means seek indictments related case legal action however focuses primarily actions credit lyonnais subsidiary altus takeover two existing california lawsuits argue secret contracts french bank two members french investor group indicate investors acting fronts credit lyonnais altus black financial wizard guided altus complicated takeover executive life bond portfolio named defendant either case claimed amazed shocked allegations altus finance broke law black colleagues agreed testify insurance departments multibillion dollar lawsuit french bank exchange insurance authorities essentially giving black associates free pass releasing liability relation executive deal even evidence broke laundry list state federal regulations racketeering laws based agreement insurance department sue black colleagues direct evidence knew banks secret contracts september 1998 even agreement requires insurance department follow complex onerous process bringing suit black black declined comment agreement involvement executive deal black apollo colleagues let hook cooperation important says san francisco attorney gary fontana partner thelen reid amp priest representing insurance department matter expedite collection evidence would take lot longer cost lot get without help others however suggest insurance department simply taking easy way protecting process according french partners lawsuit garamendi well aware credit lyonnais alleged fronts intended control insurance company result argue lawsuit pursued french bank sham sign weakness says jeanfrancois henin former chief altus finance subsidiary credit lyonnais involved deal means strong case fact careful reading agreement suggests insurance department well aware may letting black hook release signed nov 1 effective date document asserts commissioner basis believe black colleagues violated laws respect executive life transaction june 1 interview fontana said june 1 date chosen ensure lawyers state would enough time statute limitations name black defendant choose protection us policyholders said however sources suggest backdate likely meant protect insurance department event evidence implicating black collected june 1 fact release even appears address issue noting commissioner aware may hereafter discover potential claims facts addition different knows believes exist according reports la business journal last august attorneys close investigation said california attorney general close naming black defendant far attorney generals office hasnt named black case california department justice spokeswoman sandra michioku declined comment whether intend insurance departments agreement black also exempts black colleagues disclose documents information provided earlier federal reserve us department justice course federal criminal investigation deal including documents concerning appollo partnership fontana says evidence question nonissue california regulators important us said disclose said testimony fbi federal reserve grand jury arguably creates issues feds dont care fontanas lack interest blacks role deal underscoring determined insurance department secure financiers cooperation could shortsighted documents obtained motherjonescom show black advisor french bank center deal equity partner bank auction black reached agreement altus finance subsidiary credit lyonnais june 1990 create two investment funds one funds altus would provide 88 percent capital black associates would provide remaining 12 percent would become home lucrative bonds executive auction black altus partially disclosed 1990 relationship federal reserve september year failed disclose nature partnership california insurance authorities would small infraction california insurance code requires disclosure financial arrangements acquisition ownership insurance company failure constitutes breach insurance code also violation states false claims act california attorney general sue party violating act insurance authorities could use evidence violation support charges fraud conspiracy racketeering charges included insurance departments complaint addition effectively allowing black hook insurance departments legal team appears also arguing black pursued attorney general fontana indicated far concerned attorney general jurisdiction affair november 6 arguments ninth circuit court appeals separate class action suit brought behalf executive life policyholders fontana went far say attorney general afraid serve complaint standing policyholder case going dismissed according marr others attended session would represent remarkable aboutface fontana originally filed whistleblower complaint 1999 led attorney generals current case time said attorney general legal priority insurance commissioners lawsuit meanwhile sue watson left care crippled daughter wonder legal goingson california 20 years since katie checked hospital sick little girl checked needing 24houraday care watson says little doubt daughter outlive priority says pursue every legal option ensure responsible manner executive taken restructured held accountable katies future income protected fight daughter death says | 1,155 |
<p>and ROB PARENTEAU</p>
<p>If you want to see the real consequence of smash mouth economics, forget about Greece and take a look at Latvia.&#160; Its 25.5 per cent plunge in GDP over just the past two years (almost 20 per cent in this past year alone) is already the worst two-year drop on record.&#160; The country recently reported a 12% decline in annual wages in Q4 2009 versus Q4 2008.&#160;&#160; The IMF projects another 4 percent drop this year, and predicts that the total loss of output from peak to bottom will reach 30 percent. To put this in a broader context, the magnitude of this loss of output in Latvia is more than that of the U.S. Great Depression downturn of 1929-1933.</p>
<p>Mainstream economics insists that one path to full employment is via lower wages. If you want to sell more labor services, lower the price of them, namely wages.&#160; This is a classic <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallacy_of_composition" type="external">fallacy of composition</a> argument. What might work for one firm is unlikely to work for all firms. Wage cuts in the aggregate simply destroy aggregate spending power, unless the lost demand is made up for in other ways.</p>
<p>But even though Latvia’s external balance is improving (largely through a collapse of imports as a result of the collapse of domestic demand), the country is unable to deploy fiscal policy effectively due to the external constraints of its monetary system, which is predicated on the existence of a currency board system. True, the current account is now turning positive, but to suggest that every single country can “internally deflate” its economy via wage destruction of this magnitude to achieve this state of affairs is another fallacy of composition argument. The whole world cannot run trade surpluses, especially not if policy is designed to destroy demand via massive wage destruction.</p>
<p>More importantly, the very structure of a currency board is wrong. It requires a nation to have sufficient foreign reserves to facilitate 100 per cent convertibility of the monetary base (reserves and cash outstanding). Under this system, the central bank stands by to guarantee this convertibility at a fixed exchange rate against the so-called anchor currency. The Government is then fiscally constrained and all spending must be backed by taxation revenue or debt-issuance.&#160; Pegging one’s currency, then, means that the central bank has to manage interest rates to ensure the parity is maintained and fiscal policy is hamstrung by the currency requirements (which is why organizations like the IMF love them so much; it ties governments’ hands). Latvia pegs its currency at 0.71 lat per Euro and joined the ERM in 2005 with the intent of qualifying for the euro zone. It operates a system similar to Argentina in the 1990s which ultimately collapsed and led to its default in 2001 (Argentina pegged against the US dollar).</p>
<p>The country’s debt is projected to be 74 per cent of GDP for this year, supposedly stabilizing at 89 per cent in 2014 in the best-case IMF scenario.&#160;A devaluation, however, would substantially raise the debt service ratios, given the high prevalence of foreign debt (about 89% of Latvia’s debt is euro denominated).&#160;&#160; The currency peg, then, not only restricted the Latvia government’s freedom of fiscal maneuver, but also created huge financial fragility because Latvians operated under the mistaken assumption that the peg was inviolable, encouraging borrowers to act with no sense of exchange rate risk. As in Argentina nearly a decade ago, a devaluation would, in all likelihood, lead to a default on external debt. Argentina did eventually manage a 25% recovery in output in the two years following Q1 2002, but only after a 190% devaluation (which was 300% at its maximum).</p>
<p>As Michael Hudson and Jeff Sommers have noted, “these debt levels place Latvia far outside the debt Maastricht debt limits for adopting the euro. Yet achieving entry into the euro zone has been the chief pretext of the Latvia’s Central Bank for the painful austerity measures necessary to keep its currency peg.” They also point out that maintaining that peg has burned through mountains of currency reserves that otherwise could have been invested in its domestic economy. It has also precluded the use of fiscal policy, since (by virtue of Latvia’s peg to the euro), the country operates under the same constraints as if it were already working within the Stability and Growth Pact rules.</p>
<p>With no room to adjust the exchange rate, the only other way to make the currency lose value is to engineer a real depreciation – that is reduce labor costs and prices in order to make its tradable products more attractive. This is euphemistically being described as an “internal devaluation”- a one-off coordinated reduction of wages and prices across the board.&#160; It is in reality more like an “infernal devaluation”.&#160; It amounts to a domestic income deflation as wages are crushed in order to get the prices of tradable goods down enough so the current account balance increases sufficiently enough to carry the next wave of growth. The hidden assumption is that a debt deflation spiral does not do the host country in as domestic private incomes are deflated. The argument to justify this toxic remedy is that a reduction in nominal wages and salaries can help Latvia accomplish a boom in net exports, thereby enhancing an economic recovery which would quickly attenuate or short circuit any accompanying debt deflation dynamics that might have been set off at the inception of the internal devaluation.</p>
<p>Here in a nutshell is a country which shows us all of the misery that is enacted through the creation of self-imposed political constraints on policy.&#160; The Latvian government has voluntarily abandoned the policy tools that could make the lives of their citizens better. Policy makers have tied both their hands and their feet behind their backs so that markets could work their self-adjusting magic. They have pegged their currency; they are furiously slashing their net fiscal spending (under the IMF agreement they are due to cut their net position by 6.5 per cent of GDP – a huge fiscal contraction), and the economy continues to deteriorate.</p>
<p>This is something likely in store for Greece, which has recently introduced a new round of austerity measures in order to ensure the success of its latest bond offering. Greece and other countries now face the prospect falling private sector incomes – that is, after all, the direct and immediate result of higher taxes on businesses and households, and lower government expenditures. Euro area nominal GDP is already estimated by the OECD to have fallen over 3% in 2009.</p>
<p>Unless the trade deficits of the nations pursuing fiscal retrenchment can swing sharply into surpluses (as lower domestic incomes lead to less import demand, and lower costs of production lead to higher exports), private debt defaults will now start to multiply and cascade through the system. Last week, as we mentioned, Moody’s placed 4 Greek banks on downgrade watch. This is just the start – the fiscal retrenchment has only just begun to take effect. By taking these steps to avoid a public debt default, we would suggest these economies are now poised for more private debt defaults.</p>
<p>We believe private investors do not yet get this connection, but it will be made very clear in the months ahead. Latvia, with a GDP collapse of nearly 25%, will become the poster child of the region in this regard. This private debt distress will back up into higher loan losses at German banks. Germany’s hard won current account surplus will continue to fade Loan growth is already dead in the water in Europe, and if the above analysis is correct, banker perceptions of private sector creditworthiness are about to go “pear shaped”, as they so delightfully put it in London.</p>
<p>But that’s not all. Each of these countries are about to discover what we will call the paradox of public thrift. Argentina discovered this in 2001-2. Latvia and Estonia have recently rediscovered it. Ireland is rediscovering it, and within the next three months, Greece will no doubt discover it as well. We will let the following comments we came across on <a href="http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=8263" type="external">Bill Mitchell’s excellent blog</a> depict the nature of this paradox for you, because it really does capture the essence of the dilemma at hand:</p>
<p>“From Ireland: Gov’t took billions of €’s out of the economy in the form of public service pay cuts, pensions cuts, dole cuts + wave of private employees replaced by agency workers at minimum wage rates…</p>
<p>Guess what? January tax receipts crashed yet again below projections.</p>
<p>After two systemic budget cuts, the tax receipts keep tanking.</p>
<p>The mainstream consensus?</p>
<p>We need more cuts (except for bankers and top civil servants who don’t have to take wage cuts)! And the international bond market is happy with Ireland.</p>
<p>One day we shall be able to compete with China on a level wage scale, and generous tax incentives for Multinationals. In the meantime, say hello to all the Irish immigrants for me.”</p>
<p>This is the future discovery awaiting Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy…and the UK…possibly Japan…and perhaps the US, although it could manage to skirt the issue for another year. In each of these nations, if the&#160; private sector is retrenching already, and the public sector tries to retrench on top of that, unless a massive swing in foreign trade can be accomplished, policy makers are unwittingly inviting falling private nominal incomes and private debt distress into the picture as they reverse fiscal stimulus.</p>
<p>As private incomes fall, tax revenues fall. In order to hit fiscal targets promised to global bond holders, further expenditure cuts must be implemented, and further tax hikes must be rolled out. As the Irish blogger reveals above, this is not a theory – it is already happening, but policy makers and investors are not willing to acknowledge it. Yet for those who understand the fiscal balance cannot be changed without influencing the cash flows and financial balances of the remaining sectors of the economy, the paradox of public thrift at this juncture is far too evident.</p>
<p>We are by no means defending the generous pension benefit levels of euro zone government workers, the early retirement ages, the corrupt tax practices, etc. These are decisions the citizens of each nation need to make on their own, preferably in full awareness of their consequences, both short and long run. It is not our place to dictate the trade-offs citizens chose in each nation.</p>
<p>The question we are raising, however, is whether the private leverage ratios in many of these countries will allow them to withstand the pressures of transitioning back to growth in the absence of fiscal autonomy. The now prevalent global quest for “fiscal sustainability” may place these economies on a path of private debt default, which is ultimately unsustainable for the economy as a whole. If fiscal retrenchment is to be enacted, then orderly private debt renegotiation and private asset liquidation must be accomplished at a large scale and in a timely fashion. Yet our experience is that this is no easy trick, as the near locking up of various financial channels following the Lehman debacle illustrated in no uncertain terms. Usually such a recipe delivers a financial implosion.</p>
<p>Even the Honorable David Walker, CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Institute, former Comptroller General, and ardent foe of government waste and reckless spending is coming to understand the precarious nature of the current situation. In a February 24th <a href="" type="internal">piece</a> on Politico.com with Larry Mishel, Walker insists on the primacy of job creation at this juncture, and recognizes this may actually serve his goal of reducing fiscal deficits in the long run:</p>
<p>“President Barack Obama is in a difficult position when it comes to deficits. Today’s high deficits will have to go even higher to help address unemployment. At the same time, many Americans are increasingly concerned about escalating deficits and debt. What’s a president to do?</p>
<p>The answer, from a policy perspective, is not that hard: A focus on jobs now is consistent with addressing our deficit problems ahead.”</p>
<p>That, dear readers, is the real deal, and it is not being reported or openly discussed. We have seen this movie before in Argentina almost a decade ago. They eventually got out with a massive “external” currency devaluation of 300% and an equally massive swing in the trade balance.&#160; But the costs of delay were enormous:&#160; from 1998-2001, Argentina suffered its worst recession ever and pushed 42% of its households into poverty.</p>
<p>And not every country can do what Argentina has done. Again, the whole world cannot run trade surpluses, the first mover has an advantage until the second mover moves, etc. Plus, Argentina had an explicit debt repudiation and a 300% “external” devaluation that was timed right with global recovery, hardly the sort of conditions that pertain today.</p>
<p>The US has so far managed to resist anything of this magnitude.&#160; But as the voices of fiscal retrenchment intensify, a future not unlike Latvia, Greece and Argentina could await.&#160; It has taken the people of Iceland to make the first stand against this growing neo-liberal madness. In a historic referendum, over 90 per cent of the population has rejected a proposal for the repayment of billions of pounds lent by Britain and Holland to compensate depositors in a failed Icelandic bank.</p>
<p>The deal would have saddled citizens of Iceland with an additional $16k in debt to compensate the UK and Holland with a $5.3 billion note for the failure of their local banks. &#160;This, in a country of a mere 300,000 citizens. The vote failure has already prompted the ratings agencies to downgrade the country to junk, as well as leaving an IMF-led loan in limbo.&#160; The “experts” are declaring this a disaster for Iceland, but they and their banking allies must secretly be dreading the result, demonstrating as it does that an international bailout watchdog is truly powerless when the people of the bailout recipient nation want to have nothing to do with a poisoned chalice of an economic “rescue”, which does nothing but create a country of indentured serfs.</p>
<p>It is now time for the rest of us to follow the Lilliputians of Iceland:&#160; to take the rentier juggernaut down before it completes the task.&#160;Time to pry the vampire squid off our&#160;faces so we can see the light of day again and allow some semblance of humanity to flourish again.&#160; Hopefully, Iceland represents the future, not Latvia.</p>
<p>MARSHALL AUERBACK&#160;is a market analyst and commentator. He is a brainstruster for the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Intitute. He can be reached at <a href="mailto:MAuer1959@aol.com" type="external">MAuer1959@aol.com</a></p>
<p>Rob Parenteau, CFA, is sole proprietor of MacroStrategy Edge, editor of the Richebacher Letter, and a research associate with the Levy Economics Institute. He can be reached at <a href="mailto:macrostratedge@yahoo.com" type="external">macrostratedge@yahoo.com</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p><a href="http://greentags.bigcartel.com/" type="external">WORDS THAT STICK</a></p>
<p /> | true | 4 | rob parenteau want see real consequence smash mouth economics forget greece take look latvia160 255 per cent plunge gdp past two years almost 20 per cent past year alone already worst twoyear drop record160 country recently reported 12 decline annual wages q4 2009 versus q4 2008160160 imf projects another 4 percent drop year predicts total loss output peak bottom reach 30 percent put broader context magnitude loss output latvia us great depression downturn 19291933 mainstream economics insists one path full employment via lower wages want sell labor services lower price namely wages160 classic fallacy composition argument might work one firm unlikely work firms wage cuts aggregate simply destroy aggregate spending power unless lost demand made ways even though latvias external balance improving largely collapse imports result collapse domestic demand country unable deploy fiscal policy effectively due external constraints monetary system predicated existence currency board system true current account turning positive suggest every single country internally deflate economy via wage destruction magnitude achieve state affairs another fallacy composition argument whole world run trade surpluses especially policy designed destroy demand via massive wage destruction importantly structure currency board wrong requires nation sufficient foreign reserves facilitate 100 per cent convertibility monetary base reserves cash outstanding system central bank stands guarantee convertibility fixed exchange rate socalled anchor currency government fiscally constrained spending must backed taxation revenue debtissuance160 pegging ones currency means central bank manage interest rates ensure parity maintained fiscal policy hamstrung currency requirements organizations like imf love much ties governments hands latvia pegs currency 071 lat per euro joined erm 2005 intent qualifying euro zone operates system similar argentina 1990s ultimately collapsed led default 2001 argentina pegged us dollar countrys debt projected 74 per cent gdp year supposedly stabilizing 89 per cent 2014 bestcase imf scenario160a devaluation however would substantially raise debt service ratios given high prevalence foreign debt 89 latvias debt euro denominated160160 currency peg restricted latvia governments freedom fiscal maneuver also created huge financial fragility latvians operated mistaken assumption peg inviolable encouraging borrowers act sense exchange rate risk argentina nearly decade ago devaluation would likelihood lead default external debt argentina eventually manage 25 recovery output two years following q1 2002 190 devaluation 300 maximum michael hudson jeff sommers noted debt levels place latvia far outside debt maastricht debt limits adopting euro yet achieving entry euro zone chief pretext latvias central bank painful austerity measures necessary keep currency peg also point maintaining peg burned mountains currency reserves otherwise could invested domestic economy also precluded use fiscal policy since virtue latvias peg euro country operates constraints already working within stability growth pact rules room adjust exchange rate way make currency lose value engineer real depreciation reduce labor costs prices order make tradable products attractive euphemistically described internal devaluation oneoff coordinated reduction wages prices across board160 reality like infernal devaluation160 amounts domestic income deflation wages crushed order get prices tradable goods enough current account balance increases sufficiently enough carry next wave growth hidden assumption debt deflation spiral host country domestic private incomes deflated argument justify toxic remedy reduction nominal wages salaries help latvia accomplish boom net exports thereby enhancing economic recovery would quickly attenuate short circuit accompanying debt deflation dynamics might set inception internal devaluation nutshell country shows us misery enacted creation selfimposed political constraints policy160 latvian government voluntarily abandoned policy tools could make lives citizens better policy makers tied hands feet behind backs markets could work selfadjusting magic pegged currency furiously slashing net fiscal spending imf agreement due cut net position 65 per cent gdp huge fiscal contraction economy continues deteriorate something likely store greece recently introduced new round austerity measures order ensure success latest bond offering greece countries face prospect falling private sector incomes direct immediate result higher taxes businesses households lower government expenditures euro area nominal gdp already estimated oecd fallen 3 2009 unless trade deficits nations pursuing fiscal retrenchment swing sharply surpluses lower domestic incomes lead less import demand lower costs production lead higher exports private debt defaults start multiply cascade system last week mentioned moodys placed 4 greek banks downgrade watch start fiscal retrenchment begun take effect taking steps avoid public debt default would suggest economies poised private debt defaults believe private investors yet get connection made clear months ahead latvia gdp collapse nearly 25 become poster child region regard private debt distress back higher loan losses german banks germanys hard current account surplus continue fade loan growth already dead water europe analysis correct banker perceptions private sector creditworthiness go pear shaped delightfully put london thats countries discover call paradox public thrift argentina discovered 20012 latvia estonia recently rediscovered ireland rediscovering within next three months greece doubt discover well let following comments came across bill mitchells excellent blog depict nature paradox really capture essence dilemma hand ireland govt took billions economy form public service pay cuts pensions cuts dole cuts wave private employees replaced agency workers minimum wage rates guess january tax receipts crashed yet projections two systemic budget cuts tax receipts keep tanking mainstream consensus need cuts except bankers top civil servants dont take wage cuts international bond market happy ireland one day shall able compete china level wage scale generous tax incentives multinationals meantime say hello irish immigrants future discovery awaiting greece spain portugal italyand ukpossibly japanand perhaps us although could manage skirt issue another year nations the160 private sector retrenching already public sector tries retrench top unless massive swing foreign trade accomplished policy makers unwittingly inviting falling private nominal incomes private debt distress picture reverse fiscal stimulus private incomes fall tax revenues fall order hit fiscal targets promised global bond holders expenditure cuts must implemented tax hikes must rolled irish blogger reveals theory already happening policy makers investors willing acknowledge yet understand fiscal balance changed without influencing cash flows financial balances remaining sectors economy paradox public thrift juncture far evident means defending generous pension benefit levels euro zone government workers early retirement ages corrupt tax practices etc decisions citizens nation need make preferably full awareness consequences short long run place dictate tradeoffs citizens chose nation question raising however whether private leverage ratios many countries allow withstand pressures transitioning back growth absence fiscal autonomy prevalent global quest fiscal sustainability may place economies path private debt default ultimately unsustainable economy whole fiscal retrenchment enacted orderly private debt renegotiation private asset liquidation must accomplished large scale timely fashion yet experience easy trick near locking various financial channels following lehman debacle illustrated uncertain terms usually recipe delivers financial implosion even honorable david walker ceo peter g peterson institute former comptroller general ardent foe government waste reckless spending coming understand precarious nature current situation february 24th piece politicocom larry mishel walker insists primacy job creation juncture recognizes may actually serve goal reducing fiscal deficits long run president barack obama difficult position comes deficits todays high deficits go even higher help address unemployment time many americans increasingly concerned escalating deficits debt whats president answer policy perspective hard focus jobs consistent addressing deficit problems ahead dear readers real deal reported openly discussed seen movie argentina almost decade ago eventually got massive external currency devaluation 300 equally massive swing trade balance160 costs delay enormous160 19982001 argentina suffered worst recession ever pushed 42 households poverty every country argentina done whole world run trade surpluses first mover advantage second mover moves etc plus argentina explicit debt repudiation 300 external devaluation timed right global recovery hardly sort conditions pertain today us far managed resist anything magnitude160 voices fiscal retrenchment intensify future unlike latvia greece argentina could await160 taken people iceland make first stand growing neoliberal madness historic referendum 90 per cent population rejected proposal repayment billions pounds lent britain holland compensate depositors failed icelandic bank deal would saddled citizens iceland additional 16k debt compensate uk holland 53 billion note failure local banks 160this country mere 300000 citizens vote failure already prompted ratings agencies downgrade country junk well leaving imfled loan limbo160 experts declaring disaster iceland banking allies must secretly dreading result demonstrating international bailout watchdog truly powerless people bailout recipient nation want nothing poisoned chalice economic rescue nothing create country indentured serfs time rest us follow lilliputians iceland160 take rentier juggernaut completes task160time pry vampire squid our160faces see light day allow semblance humanity flourish again160 hopefully iceland represents future latvia marshall auerback160is market analyst commentator brainstruster franklin eleanor roosevelt intitute reached mauer1959aolcom rob parenteau cfa sole proprietor macrostrategy edge editor richebacher letter research associate levy economics institute reached macrostratedgeyahoocom 160 words stick | 1,395 |
<p>The major powers of the world were at war in June 1941, with the sole exception of the United States. Nazi Germany had already occupied much of Europe when it launched a massive and devastating invasion of Russia on June 22, destroying much of the Red Army and laying waste to the country’s western provinces.</p>
<p>Four days later, Harold Ickes, President Franklin Roosevelt’s sometimes controversial secretary of the Interior, spoke at a dinner on the night of June 26 in Hartford, Ct., sponsored by the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies, and declared to the rapt audience that the American people must “make their supreme choice.”</p>
<p>Ickes was impatient. “This is a war for liberty,” Ickes declared. Ickes was speaking six months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States’ formal entry into the Second World War, but everyone knew that it was just a matter of time before the U.S. would enter the fighting.</p>
<p>Ickes spoke as if the U.S. was already a combatant, “If we win it, we may live, but at any rate we will pass on to our children, undamaged, the great heritage that has come to us from our fathers.”</p>
<p>He finished his speech with a hysterical flourish, “If–God forbid!–we lose the war, some of us may live, but those who do would be much better dead.”</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>THE FOLLOWING day, at approximately 3 p.m., FBI agent Thomas Perrin parked his car outside of 919 Marquette Ave. in downtown Minneapolis, Minn.–the address of the local office of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP). It’s doubtful that liberty was on Perrin’s mind when he climbed the stairs to the second floor and entered the SWP’s Labor Book Store. A deputy U.S. marshall accompanied Perrin and both dressed in plain street clothes.</p>
<p>The second floor of 919 Marquette Ave. was well known to a wide variety of people in the Twin Cities–from radical workers and students, to company spies and the local police. The FBI had put the office and many of the party’s leaders under surveillance the previous year.</p>
<p>The Roosevelt administration had given the FBI expanded authority and resources to track and arrest “subversives.” FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover eagerly expanded his empire, employing thousands of new agents and personnel. Perrin was one of these newly minted “special agents,” a title with which Hoover ordained his men. Perrin had been a special agent for little over a month when he was assigned to the Minneapolis office of the FBI at the beginning of 1941.</p>
<p>Perrin’s mission that day was to purchase a handful of books and pamphlets that would provide “reasonable grounds” for a search warrant. According to a prearranged plan, after obtaining the search warrant, the SWP’s offices in the Twin Cities would to raided by the FBI and U.S. Marshals.</p>
<p>Perrin walked through the door and immediately came face-to-face with Grace Carlson. Born in November 1906, Carlson, by the time of Perrin’s visit, was a familiar face in the Minneapolis radical and trade union movements. The previous year she had run for the U.S. Senate as an independent antiwar candidate, receiving nearly 9,000 votes–a larger number of votes than the much bigger Communist Party (CP) in the 1940 elections.</p>
<p>Carlson was also the state organizer of the SWP. Her duties included staffing the office and bookstore, which was a reasonably busy place especially on weekends, and she took no special notice of two strangers who came in on a Friday afternoon. Perrin and the deputy milled around the store looking at pamphlets and books.</p>
<p>Perrin later testified,</p>
<p>In the north end of the room there was another bookcase. Several larger volumes were in this bookcase, together with some pamphlets. We viewed the various books in the room and over in the–I believe it would be the northeast corner of the room there was another table on which were pilled issues of The Militant, the Socialist Appeal, the Northwest Organizer, and perhaps a few other newspapers.</p>
<p>With such a large and varied display of literature before him, Perrin had to make a quick decision on what to buy. His eye’s zeroed in on two pamphlets: The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels–written in 1847 and, one of the most widely distributed pieces of literature in world history–and The Founding Conference of the Fourth International with a forward by Max Shachtman, a former leader of the SWP, and, for many years, one of Leon Trotsky’s closest collaborators.</p>
<p>Perrin purchased the two pamphlets and placed them in his pocket, and left the building. He and the deputy spent a total of about 10 minutes in the bookstore.</p>
<p>While Perrin was walking up the stairs of the 919 Marquette Ave. in Minneapolis, FBI Special Agent Roy Noonan and another deputy U.S. marshal walked into an office building at 138 East Sixth St. in St. Paul–Minneapolis’ “twin city,” and the state capital of Minnesota.</p>
<p>Noonan lived in St. Paul and had been an FBI agent since February 1928. The SWP’s local office was in Room 8. The office was closed and locked, and they searched for the building manager. He unlocked the office door and let them in. No one was there, but Noonan noticed right away a bookcase filled with literature.</p>
<p>“I believe the pamphlets were for sale. I did not ever buy any of them. I read only the titles of the pamphlets,” he would later say.</p>
<p>Perrin, Noonan and their superiors did not have time to read the lengthy pamphlets to judge their “subversive” content. Federal prosecutors would do that later in preparation for the grand jury investigation. The titles and authors of the pamphlets were enough for a warrant. Back at their headquarters, Perrin filled out an affidavit and quickly obtained search warrants.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>TWO ARMED raiding parties made up of FBI agents and U.S. marshals left the Department of Justice and drove to their respective destinations. The U.S. marshals led the raid on the St. Paul office where FBI Special Agent Roy Noonan assisted them. Perrin led the raid on the Minneapolis office, the more important of the two targets.</p>
<p>“No one attempted to interfere with our entrance. When we entered we first went to the book section of the headquarters. Mrs. Carlson came up to us and offered no objection to us,” Perrin later said.</p>
<p>Perrin handed Carlson the search warrant. It said that the basis for the warrant were books by “Karl Marx, Lenin, Felix Morrow [the editor of the SWP’s newspaper The Militant] and Leon Trotsky” that were on sale at the SWP bookstore.</p>
<p>After several hours of rummaging through the SWP’s offices and bookstore, and boxing up hundreds of books, pamphlets and newspapers, the FBI and U.S. Marshals left with their truck fully loaded and returned to the Department of Justice–where their staff began the laborious task of cataloging their cache.</p>
<p>Among the many items seized were innocuous items, including a portrait of Leon Trotsky given to SWP and Teamster leader Vincent “Ray” Dunne after a meeting with Trotsky in Mexico. It was inscribed, “Warmest greetings to Comrade V. R. Dunne, Leon Trotsky, Coyocan.”</p>
<p>The following day, a Saturday–a day of the week when the SWP held their regular public forum and social gathering–Grace Carlson issued a statement to the press:</p>
<p>We believe that the raid on our headquarters by the FBI was unwarranted. We shall move through the proper channels to recover our property. Meanwhile, we expect to have business go on as usual. A class will be held tonight at the Minneapolis headquarters to which the public is invited. The topic for discussion will be “The Revolutionary War of 1776.”</p>
<p>The forum and social went on, despite the shambles that the FBI had left the office and bookstore in. “The SWP does not intend,” Carlson defiantly declared to the press, “to be in the slightest intimidated by any governmental threats or prosecution.”</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>NO ONE was arrested on the day of the raid, but it set off alarms bells for those concerned about the deteriorating situation of civil liberties in the United States as war raged across the globe.</p>
<p>The raids on the SWP in Minneapolis and St. Paul were the latest incidents in a crackdown on radicals and the labor movement. During the previous two years, the federal government had sponsored a short-lived “red scare” that served as a dress rehearsal for the post-Second World War anti-Communist witch-hunts.</p>
<p>A series of laws were passed, the most sinister being “The Alien Registration Act of 1940,” popularly known as the Smith Act after its sponsor Congressman Howard W. Smith of Virginia, a southern Democrat and a leader of the “anti-labor” bloc in the House of Representatives.</p>
<p>The Smith Act became the legal weapon against critics of the government. President Franklin Roosevelt, considered by many to be the greatest liberal president of the 20th century, signed it into law.</p>
<p>It was the biggest legislative attack on free speech and thought in two decades by the federal government. The Smith Act made it a criminal offense to:</p>
<p>teach, advocate, or encourage the overthrow or destruction of any such government by force or violence; or becomes or is a member of, or affiliates with, any such society, group, or assembly of persons, knowing the purposes thereof – Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both, and shall be ineligible for employment by the United States or any department or agency thereof, for the five years next following his conviction.</p>
<p>Such legislation was made possible by, among other things, the hysterical atmosphere in country that had been whipped up against “aliens” and “subversives” by Rep. Martin Dies, an ambitious Texas Democrat who hated the New Deal, immigrants, unions and the left.</p>
<p>Dies chaired the House Committee on Un-American Activities, better known by its mangled acronym HUAC, and he used it to great effect against his enemies. Under his inspiration, dozens of bills flooded Congress in early 1939 directed at immigrants and radicals. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) was one of only three organizations, along with the American Federal of Labor (AFL) and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), to testify at hearings in the House of Representatives in April 1939 against the proposed “anti-radical” legislation.</p>
<p>Osmond K. Fraenkel, one of the best known and well-respected civil liberties attorneys in the United States, testified about the violations of free speech under the 1798 Sedition Act and during the First World War, but to no avail. No one was listening.</p>
<p>What became the Smith Act was signed into law in June 1940 and, according to the New York Times, brought together “most of the anti-alien and anti-radical legislation offered in Congress in the past twenty years.”</p>
<p>The Communist Party, however, played an important role in fostering the anti-Communist hysteria. For most of the 1930s, Stalin’s Russia–and the international communist movement that followed Stalin’s dictates–portrayed themselves as the most principled and determined opponents of fascism. Many liberals and progressives became apologists for Stalin’s regime because of anti-fascist foreign policy.</p>
<p>All of this good will collapsed in August 1939, when Nazi Germany and Russia signed what was popularly known as the Hitler-Stalin Pact. The treaty shocked the world and realigned world politics overnight.</p>
<p>Upon signing it, Russian Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov tried to reassure his newfound Nazi allies of his good intentions by telling the journalists present “fascism is a matter of taste.” The treaty allowed Hitler and Stalin to carve up Poland, while Russia was also given a free hand to conquer the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Hitler was now free to wage war in the West. The American CP, led by Earl Browder, supported and defended Stalin’s actions.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>IN THE wake of the Hitler-Stalin pact, a great wave of anti-Communism, anti-Semitism and national chauvinism swept across the United States. Politicians and the media began to talk of a “Commu-Nazi” conspiracy against the United States. The far-right “Radio Priest” Charles Coughlin spewed anti-Semitic filth on the airwaves, and so-called Christian Fronters, inspired by his rhetoric, attacked Jews on the streets of New York City.</p>
<p>The ACLU even expelled from its leadership Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, one of the great heroes of the American left and a member of the American CP. It was the first time the organization had expelled someone from their leadership because of their political allegiances– great blow to the prestige of the ACLU. It also did nothing, however, to put at bay its reactionary critics who continued to mercilessly accuse of it of being a “Communist front.”</p>
<p>The German invasion of Russia on June 22, 1941, ended the alliance with Russia–and the CP reversed, overnight again, its policy giving unqualified support to the Roosevelt administration, and began pressing for the U.S. to enter the war against Germany. It was now the most super-patriotic of organizations. Its great reversal also saved it from a looming showdown with the federal government.</p>
<p>The SWP now faced the full wrath of federal prosecutors. Henry A. Schweinhaut, an assistant attorney general, arrived in Minnesota to take charge of the prosecution of the SWP. He was there on the instructions of his boss, Francis Biddle, the acting attorney general of the United States.</p>
<p>Biddle came from a long line of American aristocrats who could trace their family history back before the founding of the country. He was a direct descendent of the United States’ first attorney general, Edmund Randolph, and had been a life-long Republican from Philadelphia. His liberal sympathies deepened during the New Deal, specifically concerning workers’ rights and civil liberties. He became a great partisan of Franklin Roosevelt and had also been a consulting attorney to the ACLU.</p>
<p>What motivated him to go after an organization of less than 600 people in the United Sates?</p>
<p>Biddle was not in a secure position in Washington, D.C. His predecessor, Robert Jackson, had been elevated to the Supreme Court. Biddle had stepped in as acting Attorney General, but it now appeared that Roosevelt was hesitant to nominate him for a full term.</p>
<p>Roosevelt, it seems, feared that Biddle would not be tough enough on “subversives.” Why? Biddle, along with his two predecessors in the Attorney General’s office, Frank Murphy and Robert Jackson, were part of a generation of liberal attorneys that were horrified by the federal government’s persecution of dissidents during the First World War. They vowed to never repeat it.</p>
<p>However, they went from young attorneys from incredibly disparate backgrounds–Biddle the aristocrat, Jackson a small town lawyer from upstate New York, and Murphy the former Mayor of Detroit and Governor of Michigan–to the peak of their profession because of Franklin Roosevelt’s political sponsorship.</p>
<p>Roosevelt wanted a crackdown on “subversives,” and he wanted his attorney general and the Supreme Court to back him up. Despite his great personal reservations about the constitutionality of the Smith Act, Biddle conceded to Roosevelt in the summer of 1940 that prosecutions could have a “salutary effect.” A year later. he sent Henry Schweinhaut to Minneapolis to oversee the prosecution of the SWP.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>THE SWP had all the “right” enemies in June 1941. In the past, their enemies had been kept off balance by the forward march of the labor movement, or by rivalries that had kept others from working in concert against the SWP. Now, that had all changed as the U.S. prepared to enter the war. “National security” became the mantra across the political spectrum and the government was able to count on a section of the labor leadership to support it.</p>
<p>While the federal government cracked down on the left and the labor movement, a big push for the prosecution of the SWP came from the FBI. The FBI had been focusing its attention on the SWP because of its leadership of Teamsters Local 544, the most important transportation local union in the upper Midwest. The SWP’s militant and creative leadership of the local union, and its regional organizing, had brought hundreds of thousands of members into the Teamsters. But in the process, the union had earned the wrath of employers across the Midwest, and fell under the watchful eyes of the FBI.</p>
<p>In 1940, Hoover ordered the FBI regional office in St. Paul to recruit confidential informants in Local 544 to gather evidence of an alleged SWP plan to “obtain control of interstate trucking.” Strikes in the defense industries across the country in 1941 gave a boost to Hoover’s notorious hatred of the left and the labor movement, and he warned Roosevelt and his superiors that the SWP and the CP were in a position to attain “complete control of all labor in the state of Minnesota.”</p>
<p>While much of this was a product of Hoover’s feverish imagination, it did represent the thinking of the top levels of the U.S. government. FBI agents even began working with a right-wing caucus in inside Local 544, called the Committee of 100.</p>
<p>But the immediate spark for the prosecution came from Teamster President Dan Tobin, a close ally of Roosevelt’s and the archconservative and authoritarian leader of the union. Tobin had long resented the revolutionary socialist militants in his union. He saw an opportunity to finally rid the union of them as the political atmosphere shifted sharply to the right.</p>
<p>On June 9, 1941, the SWP leadership of Teamsters Local 544, led by Kelly Postal, Ray Rainbolt and Ray Dunne proposed to the membership of the local that they disaffiliated from the Teamsters Union, and form a new a new trucking union that would be allied with the CIO–the militant union federation that came to represent the aspirations of millions of workers in the 1930s. By an overwhelming vote of its 4,000 members, the local voted to leave the Teamsters Union.</p>
<p>Tobin seemed impotent in the face of a membership revolt, and turned to Roosevelt for help. Four days later, on June 13, in an unprecedented public intervention in an internal union conflict, Stephen Early, Roosevelt’s press secretary, speaking on behalf of the president, told the White House press corps:</p>
<p>Mr. Tobin telegraphed from Indianapolis [the Teamsters Union’s headquarters] that it is apparent to him and to the other executives of his organization that because they have been and will continue to stand squarely behind the government, that all subversive organizations and all enemies of our government, including Bundists [German-American fascists], Trotskyists and Stalinists, are opposed to them and seeking to destroy loyal trade unions which are supporting democracy.</p>
<p>Mr. Tobin goes into considerable detail and states he is going to issue a statement from the Indianapolis office of the teamsters’ union. When I advised the President of Tobin’s representations this morning he asked me to immediately have the government departments and agencies interested in this matter notified and to point out to you that this is no time, in his opinion, for labor unions, local or national, to begin raiding one another for the purpose of getting memberships or for similar reasons.</p>
<p>Tobin’s appeal was a long diatribe against his Minneapolis enemies and painted them as traitors who had to be swiftly dealt with. “We feel that while our country is in a dangerous position, those disturbers who believe in the policies of foreign, radical governments, or who are supporting the enemies of our government, must be in some way prevented from, pursuing this dangerous course,” he said. Two weeks later, the FBI raided the SWP’s offices in the Twin Cities.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>ON JULY 1, the Department of Justice convened a grand jury to investigate the charges. Victor Anderson, the federal attorney for Minnesota, a long time nemesis of the SWP and Local 544 presented the government’s case.</p>
<p>Anderson took nearly two weeks to present the evidence, including excerpts from SWP pamphlets, newspapers articles, speeches, and the testimony of government informers and union turncoats. By this point in time, it was rare that a federal grand jury didn’t follow a prosecutor’s lead. The grand jury of 20 men and three women were selected entirely from rural parts of Minnesota. “Not a single resident of Minneapolis is on it,” The Militant pointed out.</p>
<p>Prosecutors were obviously hoping that the grand jurors would not have anyone on the jury who had any contact with the labor movement or radical politics of Minnesota. The ACLU, which had been smarting from its expulsion of Gurley Flynn the previous year, sent a telegram to Francis Biddle urging “reconsideration” of the investigation and terming it “obviously dangerous to the preservation of democracy.”</p>
<p>Three weeks later, on July 15, 1941, an indictment was handed down by a federal grand jury in St. Paul against 29 men and women, including the national leaders of the SWP and 16 leaders and members of the Minneapolis Teamster Local 544. They were charged with violation of the Smith Act and the1861Federal Sedition Act, a law that had been designed to deal with the rebellion of Southern slave owners.</p>
<p>Biddle and the Roosevelt wanted the indictments and trial not to appear to be an attack on the labor movement, but the prominence of the SWP in Teamsters Local 544 was hard to disguise. Some newspapers failed to stay “on message.” The St. Paul Dispatch, for example, came out on June 28 came out with a bold print headline: “U.S. to Prosecute Local 544-CIO.”</p>
<p>Biddle was forced to respond and tried to steer the purpose of the trial back to “subversion.” Biddle pleaded, “The prosecution is not in any sense an attack on organized labor nor is it an effort to interfere in a dispute between labor organizations.” Yet, he admitted:</p>
<p>The principal Socialist Workers Party leaders against whom prosecution is being brought are also leaders of Local 544-CIO in Minneapolis. This prosecution is brought under the criminal code of the United States against persons who have been engaged in criminal seditious activities, and who are leaders of the Socialist Workers Party and hare gained control of a legitimate labor union to use it for illegitimate purposes.</p>
<p>The FBI’s assault upon the SWP and Teamsters Local 544 produced an immediate and angry response from the leadership of the CIO. Frank Barnhart, regional director of the United Construction Workers Organizing Committee, in Minnesota, charged, “Unable to bend the workers to his will by the other vicious tactics which he has employed, Dan Tobin has persuaded Roosevelt to carry out this action in payment of his political debt to Tobin for past services rendered. It is deplorable that the functions of the U.S. Department of Justice have been perverted in this reprehensible manner.”</p>
<p>On August 11, 1941, a month after the indictments were issued, all 29 defendants including the party’s national secretary, James P. Cannon, and its attorney, Albert Goldman, appeared in federal court in Minneapolis before Judge Robert C. Bell. They pled not guilty and bail was quickly arranged.</p>
<p>The stage was set for the most important federal sedition trial since end of the Second World War.</p>
<p>Joe Allen is the author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1931859493/counterpunchmaga" type="external">Vietnam: The (Last) War the U.S. Lost</a>. He writes for the Socialist Worker, where this article originally appeared.</p>
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<p /> | true | 4 | major powers world war june 1941 sole exception united states nazi germany already occupied much europe launched massive devastating invasion russia june 22 destroying much red army laying waste countrys western provinces four days later harold ickes president franklin roosevelts sometimes controversial secretary interior spoke dinner night june 26 hartford ct sponsored committee defend america aiding allies declared rapt audience american people must make supreme choice ickes impatient war liberty ickes declared ickes speaking six months japanese attack pearl harbor united states formal entry second world war everyone knew matter time us would enter fighting ickes spoke us already combatant win may live rate pass children undamaged great heritage come us fathers finished speech hysterical flourish ifgod forbidwe lose war us may live would much better dead following day approximately 3 pm fbi agent thomas perrin parked car outside 919 marquette ave downtown minneapolis minnthe address local office socialist workers party swp doubtful liberty perrins mind climbed stairs second floor entered swps labor book store deputy us marshall accompanied perrin dressed plain street clothes second floor 919 marquette ave well known wide variety people twin citiesfrom radical workers students company spies local police fbi put office many partys leaders surveillance previous year roosevelt administration given fbi expanded authority resources track arrest subversives fbi director j edgar hoover eagerly expanded empire employing thousands new agents personnel perrin one newly minted special agents title hoover ordained men perrin special agent little month assigned minneapolis office fbi beginning 1941 perrins mission day purchase handful books pamphlets would provide reasonable grounds search warrant according prearranged plan obtaining search warrant swps offices twin cities would raided fbi us marshals perrin walked door immediately came facetoface grace carlson born november 1906 carlson time perrins visit familiar face minneapolis radical trade union movements previous year run us senate independent antiwar candidate receiving nearly 9000 votesa larger number votes much bigger communist party cp 1940 elections carlson also state organizer swp duties included staffing office bookstore reasonably busy place especially weekends took special notice two strangers came friday afternoon perrin deputy milled around store looking pamphlets books perrin later testified north end room another bookcase several larger volumes bookcase together pamphlets viewed various books room thei believe would northeast corner room another table pilled issues militant socialist appeal northwest organizer perhaps newspapers large varied display literature perrin make quick decision buy eyes zeroed two pamphlets communist manifesto karl marx friedrich engelswritten 1847 one widely distributed pieces literature world historyand founding conference fourth international forward max shachtman former leader swp many years one leon trotskys closest collaborators perrin purchased two pamphlets placed pocket left building deputy spent total 10 minutes bookstore perrin walking stairs 919 marquette ave minneapolis fbi special agent roy noonan another deputy us marshal walked office building 138 east sixth st st paulminneapolis twin city state capital minnesota noonan lived st paul fbi agent since february 1928 swps local office room 8 office closed locked searched building manager unlocked office door let one noonan noticed right away bookcase filled literature believe pamphlets sale ever buy read titles pamphlets would later say perrin noonan superiors time read lengthy pamphlets judge subversive content federal prosecutors would later preparation grand jury investigation titles authors pamphlets enough warrant back headquarters perrin filled affidavit quickly obtained search warrants two armed raiding parties made fbi agents us marshals left department justice drove respective destinations us marshals led raid st paul office fbi special agent roy noonan assisted perrin led raid minneapolis office important two targets one attempted interfere entrance entered first went book section headquarters mrs carlson came us offered objection us perrin later said perrin handed carlson search warrant said basis warrant books karl marx lenin felix morrow editor swps newspaper militant leon trotsky sale swp bookstore several hours rummaging swps offices bookstore boxing hundreds books pamphlets newspapers fbi us marshals left truck fully loaded returned department justicewhere staff began laborious task cataloging cache among many items seized innocuous items including portrait leon trotsky given swp teamster leader vincent ray dunne meeting trotsky mexico inscribed warmest greetings comrade v r dunne leon trotsky coyocan following day saturdaya day week swp held regular public forum social gatheringgrace carlson issued statement press believe raid headquarters fbi unwarranted shall move proper channels recover property meanwhile expect business go usual class held tonight minneapolis headquarters public invited topic discussion revolutionary war 1776 forum social went despite shambles fbi left office bookstore swp intend carlson defiantly declared press slightest intimidated governmental threats prosecution one arrested day raid set alarms bells concerned deteriorating situation civil liberties united states war raged across globe raids swp minneapolis st paul latest incidents crackdown radicals labor movement previous two years federal government sponsored shortlived red scare served dress rehearsal postsecond world war anticommunist witchhunts series laws passed sinister alien registration act 1940 popularly known smith act sponsor congressman howard w smith virginia southern democrat leader antilabor bloc house representatives smith act became legal weapon critics government president franklin roosevelt considered many greatest liberal president 20th century signed law biggest legislative attack free speech thought two decades federal government smith act made criminal offense teach advocate encourage overthrow destruction government force violence becomes member affiliates society group assembly persons knowing purposes thereof shall fined title imprisoned twenty years shall ineligible employment united states department agency thereof five years next following conviction legislation made possible among things hysterical atmosphere country whipped aliens subversives rep martin dies ambitious texas democrat hated new deal immigrants unions left dies chaired house committee unamerican activities better known mangled acronym huac used great effect enemies inspiration dozens bills flooded congress early 1939 directed immigrants radicals american civil liberties union aclu one three organizations along american federal labor afl congress industrial organizations cio testify hearings house representatives april 1939 proposed antiradical legislation osmond k fraenkel one best known wellrespected civil liberties attorneys united states testified violations free speech 1798 sedition act first world war avail one listening became smith act signed law june 1940 according new york times brought together antialien antiradical legislation offered congress past twenty years communist party however played important role fostering anticommunist hysteria 1930s stalins russiaand international communist movement followed stalins dictatesportrayed principled determined opponents fascism many liberals progressives became apologists stalins regime antifascist foreign policy good collapsed august 1939 nazi germany russia signed popularly known hitlerstalin pact treaty shocked world realigned world politics overnight upon signing russian foreign minister vyacheslav molotov tried reassure newfound nazi allies good intentions telling journalists present fascism matter taste treaty allowed hitler stalin carve poland russia also given free hand conquer baltic states estonia latvia lithuania hitler free wage war west american cp led earl browder supported defended stalins actions wake hitlerstalin pact great wave anticommunism antisemitism national chauvinism swept across united states politicians media began talk communazi conspiracy united states farright radio priest charles coughlin spewed antisemitic filth airwaves socalled christian fronters inspired rhetoric attacked jews streets new york city aclu even expelled leadership elizabeth gurley flynn one great heroes american left member american cp first time organization expelled someone leadership political allegiances great blow prestige aclu also nothing however put bay reactionary critics continued mercilessly accuse communist front german invasion russia june 22 1941 ended alliance russiaand cp reversed overnight policy giving unqualified support roosevelt administration began pressing us enter war germany superpatriotic organizations great reversal also saved looming showdown federal government swp faced full wrath federal prosecutors henry schweinhaut assistant attorney general arrived minnesota take charge prosecution swp instructions boss francis biddle acting attorney general united states biddle came long line american aristocrats could trace family history back founding country direct descendent united states first attorney general edmund randolph lifelong republican philadelphia liberal sympathies deepened new deal specifically concerning workers rights civil liberties became great partisan franklin roosevelt also consulting attorney aclu motivated go organization less 600 people united sates biddle secure position washington dc predecessor robert jackson elevated supreme court biddle stepped acting attorney general appeared roosevelt hesitant nominate full term roosevelt seems feared biddle would tough enough subversives biddle along two predecessors attorney generals office frank murphy robert jackson part generation liberal attorneys horrified federal governments persecution dissidents first world war vowed never repeat however went young attorneys incredibly disparate backgroundsbiddle aristocrat jackson small town lawyer upstate new york murphy former mayor detroit governor michiganto peak profession franklin roosevelts political sponsorship roosevelt wanted crackdown subversives wanted attorney general supreme court back despite great personal reservations constitutionality smith act biddle conceded roosevelt summer 1940 prosecutions could salutary effect year later sent henry schweinhaut minneapolis oversee prosecution swp swp right enemies june 1941 past enemies kept balance forward march labor movement rivalries kept others working concert swp changed us prepared enter war national security became mantra across political spectrum government able count section labor leadership support federal government cracked left labor movement big push prosecution swp came fbi fbi focusing attention swp leadership teamsters local 544 important transportation local union upper midwest swps militant creative leadership local union regional organizing brought hundreds thousands members teamsters process union earned wrath employers across midwest fell watchful eyes fbi 1940 hoover ordered fbi regional office st paul recruit confidential informants local 544 gather evidence alleged swp plan obtain control interstate trucking strikes defense industries across country 1941 gave boost hoovers notorious hatred left labor movement warned roosevelt superiors swp cp position attain complete control labor state minnesota much product hoovers feverish imagination represent thinking top levels us government fbi agents even began working rightwing caucus inside local 544 called committee 100 immediate spark prosecution came teamster president dan tobin close ally roosevelts archconservative authoritarian leader union tobin long resented revolutionary socialist militants union saw opportunity finally rid union political atmosphere shifted sharply right june 9 1941 swp leadership teamsters local 544 led kelly postal ray rainbolt ray dunne proposed membership local disaffiliated teamsters union form new new trucking union would allied ciothe militant union federation came represent aspirations millions workers 1930s overwhelming vote 4000 members local voted leave teamsters union tobin seemed impotent face membership revolt turned roosevelt help four days later june 13 unprecedented public intervention internal union conflict stephen early roosevelts press secretary speaking behalf president told white house press corps mr tobin telegraphed indianapolis teamsters unions headquarters apparent executives organization continue stand squarely behind government subversive organizations enemies government including bundists germanamerican fascists trotskyists stalinists opposed seeking destroy loyal trade unions supporting democracy mr tobin goes considerable detail states going issue statement indianapolis office teamsters union advised president tobins representations morning asked immediately government departments agencies interested matter notified point time opinion labor unions local national begin raiding one another purpose getting memberships similar reasons tobins appeal long diatribe minneapolis enemies painted traitors swiftly dealt feel country dangerous position disturbers believe policies foreign radical governments supporting enemies government must way prevented pursuing dangerous course said two weeks later fbi raided swps offices twin cities july 1 department justice convened grand jury investigate charges victor anderson federal attorney minnesota long time nemesis swp local 544 presented governments case anderson took nearly two weeks present evidence including excerpts swp pamphlets newspapers articles speeches testimony government informers union turncoats point time rare federal grand jury didnt follow prosecutors lead grand jury 20 men three women selected entirely rural parts minnesota single resident minneapolis militant pointed prosecutors obviously hoping grand jurors would anyone jury contact labor movement radical politics minnesota aclu smarting expulsion gurley flynn previous year sent telegram francis biddle urging reconsideration investigation terming obviously dangerous preservation democracy three weeks later july 15 1941 indictment handed federal grand jury st paul 29 men women including national leaders swp 16 leaders members minneapolis teamster local 544 charged violation smith act the1861federal sedition act law designed deal rebellion southern slave owners biddle roosevelt wanted indictments trial appear attack labor movement prominence swp teamsters local 544 hard disguise newspapers failed stay message st paul dispatch example came june 28 came bold print headline us prosecute local 544cio biddle forced respond tried steer purpose trial back subversion biddle pleaded prosecution sense attack organized labor effort interfere dispute labor organizations yet admitted principal socialist workers party leaders prosecution brought also leaders local 544cio minneapolis prosecution brought criminal code united states persons engaged criminal seditious activities leaders socialist workers party hare gained control legitimate labor union use illegitimate purposes fbis assault upon swp teamsters local 544 produced immediate angry response leadership cio frank barnhart regional director united construction workers organizing committee minnesota charged unable bend workers vicious tactics employed dan tobin persuaded roosevelt carry action payment political debt tobin past services rendered deplorable functions us department justice perverted reprehensible manner august 11 1941 month indictments issued 29 defendants including partys national secretary james p cannon attorney albert goldman appeared federal court minneapolis judge robert c bell pled guilty bail quickly arranged stage set important federal sedition trial since end second world war joe allen author vietnam last war us lost writes socialist worker article originally appeared 160 | 2,152 |
<p>Here at Emergency Travel Services, we believe that it’s never too early to plan your vacation.</p>
<p>Or your emigration.</p>
<p>Based on the latest polls, most of you are confident that Donald Trump won’t be elected president in November. If the election were held today, <a href="" type="internal">according to statistician Nate Silver</a>, Trump would have about a 12 percent chance of winning. His odds improve to about 13 percent for November (according to the polls) and a mere 23 percent if you factor in other data on the economy and so on. Trump, who insists on being top dog in everything, is now barking loudly as the underdog.</p>
<p>But that could change. Hillary Clinton’s campaign could implode. An October surprise—a huge info-leak, a major terrorist attack—could mean a 5 to 10 percent swing in popular sentiment.</p>
<p>Bottom line: don’t plan your life around public opinion polls.</p>
<p>Time is running out. Some of our best deals at Emergency Travel Services have already been taken. I know that many of you liberal types have a soft spot for New Zealand: tolerant culture, lots of nice hiking paths, language mostly intelligible to Americans. But our Notorious RBG package is already sold out. Following <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/287179-ruth-bader-ginsberg-if-trump-wins-time-to-move-to-new" type="external">the lead of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg</a>, practically half the populations of the Bay Area, Portland, Oregon, and Burlington, Vermont have planned their escape route to down under.</p>
<p>Don’t wait until November 9. Last minute vacationers often make terrible mistakes. Desperate to get out of town and seduced by misleading ad campaigns, they end up at the Club Med <a href="" type="internal">on the Aral Sea</a> or on a summer <a href="" type="internal">beach vacation in Kuwait</a>. Our travel agency never forgets to account for global warming. The same goes for political climate change.</p>
<p>Always one step ahead, our risk analysts have prepared a guide to the planet’s most welcoming and least welcoming destinations, that is, if your primary objective is to run screaming in the other direction from the specter of President Trump. We’ve divided our guide into four sections: Trump Plus, Trump-Like, Trump Light, and Trump-Free.</p>
<p>Pay close attention. You don’t want to jump out of the American frying pan and into some foreign fire. Let Emergency Travel Services ensure that your landing is a safe one.</p>
<p>Trump Plus</p>
<p>This is probably not news to anyone, but Pyongyang and Damascus are not good places to establish a new life abroad. Donald Trump is perhaps the greatest threat to democracy that the United States has witnessed in the last 75 years. But he’s not Kim Jong Eun or Bashar al-Assad. Of course, give Trump an army and a vast prison system and who knows? Bashar was once just a white-collar professional with a pretty wife. Jong Eun was once just a privileged child who got a big boost from his father. There but for the grace of democratic institutions goes Donald.</p>
<p>Also in the category of one-man dystopias are Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe, Omar al-Bashir’s Sudan, Alexander Lukashenko’s Belarus, Islam Karimov’s Uzbekistan, and Butch Otter’s Idaho (in case you were considering internal exile in a survivalist bunker).</p>
<p>We recommend that you don’t go to war zones (much of the Middle East), pandemic zones (check the CDC site), and island nations that are about to disappear under the ocean. Cancun during spring break is also a no-no.</p>
<p>In short, there are places in the world that are worse than living under Donald Trump. Sure, if you’re a nuclear physicist or a trainer of commando units, Pyongyang and Damascus might welcome you with open arms. We run an exfiltration service—think Argo—if things go horribly wrong. But that will cost you big time. Bottom line: maximize your flexibility and minimize your cost and risk.</p>
<p>Trump-Like</p>
<p>It’s easy to avoid dictatorships. But if you are considering a destination based solely on its designation as a democracy, think again. Plenty of other countries around the world have gone to the polls to install their own little Trumps.</p>
<p>Consider, for instance, the Philippines. The country has suffered under some appalling leadership in the past. Ferdinand Marcos steered the country into pauperdom; Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was under hospital arrest for four years on corruption charges. But the recently elected Rodrigo Duterte is already demonstrating that he can out-Trump the competition. He <a href="" type="internal">called the U.S. ambassador</a> a “gay son of a bitch” and refused to apologize. He made a rape joke too offensive to be repeated here. He even insulted the Pope. In terms of specific policies, <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21698648-return-bad-old-ways-under-rodrigo-duterte-dangers-duterte-harry" type="external">he pledged</a> to dump the corpses of 100,000 gangsters into Manila Bay—indeed, extrajudicial killings <a href="http://time.com/4453587/philippines-rodrigo-duterte-dictator-impunity-marcos/" type="external">are already on the rise</a>—and suspend the country’s legislature if it doesn’t do what he says. At the same time, he wants to shake up the country’s elite, <a href="" type="internal">negotiate with armed rebels</a>, and make a deal with Beijing over the disputed territory in the South China Sea. Bottom line: Duterte is an offensive and unpredictable loudmouth whose war on crime might be balanced by peace initiatives elsewhere, but we don’t recommend that you relocate to Manila.</p>
<p>Russia could legitimately claim that its leader Vladimir Putin championed “illiberal democracy” long before the White House appeared on Trump’s real estate wish list. And Trump seems to defer to Putin—on the threat of terrorism and the proper means to address it, the <a href="" type="internal">annexation of Crimea</a> and the questionable utility of NATO, and the rise of Euroskepticism and the weakening of the European Union. Trump wants to bring back torture to deal with America’s enemies; Putin gets rid of opposition in less medieval but equally distasteful ways. After Boris Yeltsin turned Russia into a post-Soviet backwater, Putin claims that he has made the country great again, measured by military spending, cross-border meddling, and nationalist rhetoric. By ruling like an oligarch and <a href="http://fpif.org/myth-trumps-alternative-worldview/" type="external">pouring money into the Pentagon</a>, Trump promises to duplicate that feat. Bottom line: unless you plan to keep your mouth shut about human rights, corruption, and geopolitics, don’t move to Moscow.</p>
<p>Recep Tayyip Erdogan once won accolades as a reformer for breaking the power of the military, reaching out to the Kurdish community, and bringing Turkey closer in line with European human rights standards. But after throwing dozens of journalists in jail and reigniting a war against the Kurds, Erdogan has swung the other way. His recent efforts to pass a new constitution, which would put even more power into his hands, has a definite Trumpian feel. The recently attempted military coup gave Erdogan a fresh excuse for sweeping potential opponents from the system, and it wouldn’t be difficult to imagine <a href="http://fpif.org/bring-in-the-military/" type="external">such a scenario in Trump’s America</a>. Bottom line: Turkey’s a lovely place, but this is not the time to establish residence in Istanbul.</p>
<p>Japan has long been a popular destination for Americans looking for safe, economically advanced locales. But Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been steadily remilitarizing the country by undermining the “peace constitution.” Recently he installed a <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/japans-defense-minister-courts-controversy-refuses-acknowledge-war/story?id=41116766" type="external">war-crimes denier</a> as his defense minister. Unlike Trump, Abe is not given to outrageous statements. Nor has he proposed any outlandish walls (Japan’s an island, after all). But he’s <a href="" type="internal">no fan of immigrants</a>, and he desperately wants to put Japan first (evoking some of the same noxious World War II-era slogans as Trump’s America First rhetoric). Bottom line: we’re not predicting another Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, but who wants to live in a country that’s been ruled by the same party practically for the last 70 years?</p>
<p>Then there’s a man, a plan, a canal: Ortega. In Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega has partnered with a shadowy Chinese tycoon to <a href="" type="internal">build a huge canal</a> that will ruin the environment, undermine the livelihoods of farmers, and maybe never turn a profit – if it gets built at all. The former comandante of the Sandinistas, Ortega has been politically reborn as an anti-abortion, pro-business autocrat who has manipulated the electoral rules to run for a third term as president this year. He recently <a href="" type="internal">chose his wife</a> as his vice presidential candidate. Like Trump, he’ll do practically anything to win. Unlike Trump, he was a Marxist revolutionary who once deposed a tyrant. Bottom line: the 70-year-old Ortega is expected to win another four-year term in November <a href="" type="internal">by a wide margin</a>, so unless you can stomach Trump in the guise of a putative leftist, stay away from Managua.</p>
<p>The European Union might seem a safe emigration bet, if you’re coming by plane from America and not a boat from North Africa. However, some EU countries have anticipated Trump by electing their own offensive blowhards. In the Czech Republic, President Milos Zeman has argued that Muslim integration in Europe is “practically impossible,” ignoring the experience of millions of immigrants, not to mention Bulgarian Turks, Bosniaks, and Albanians. In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has pledged to remodel his country along the lines of Russia’s “illiberal democracy.” In Poland, the ruling Law and Justice Party has interfered with press freedom, made controversial statements against homosexuality, and squared off against the EU. Bottom line: beware this “new Europe” of intolerance, nationalism, and Euroskepticism.</p>
<p>The spread of illiberal democracy has reached epidemic proportions. There’s simply not enough room in this report to cover them all: Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro, Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni, Egypt’s Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Malaysia’s Najib Razak, and so on. Trump is not as unique as he’d like to believe.</p>
<p>Trump Light</p>
<p>The last thing you want to do is move to a country that seems safe only for the citizens to turn around and suddenly install their own Trump, forcing you to pick up and move again. We call these at-risk countries Trump Light.</p>
<p>Take France, for example. Perhaps you’re already planning a four-year term in Provence. The country has great food, civilized conversation, and a humane vacation policy. But it also has Marine Le Pen. The right-wing extremist is now <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3624382/Controversial-right-winger-Marine-Le-Pen-surges-polls-twice-popular-France-s-President-Hollande.html" type="external">twice as popular</a> as current president Francois Hollande and is leading in the polls against the other presidential hopeful, Nicolas Sarkozy. If she becomes president next year, expect her to try to join the UK in leaving the EU and implement any number of Trump-like laws against Muslims and immigrants. Bottom line: a lot of French might be joining you next year in whatever safe haven we’ve found for you.</p>
<p>Indonesia is the most populous Muslim country in the world. It is also a tolerant democracy under the leadership of Joko Widodo. But two variants of extremism lie in wait. The Great Indonesia Movement Party and its frontman Prabowo Subianto want to turn back the clock to the days of Sukarno, cultivating a <a href="http://www.insideindonesia.org/gerindra-and-greater-indonesia" type="external">potent mixture of hypernationalism and militarism</a>. Subianto came in second in the presidential elections in 2014, and his party commands the third largest bloc of seats in the legislature. Meanwhile, Islamic extremism in the form of Hizb ut-Tahrir is <a href="" type="internal">on the rise</a>, and terrorists have launched a series of attacks to gain headlines and followers. Bottom line: you might want to play it safe and stay away so as not to be caught in the extremist crossfire.</p>
<p>Over one-third of the world lives in India and China, so why not you too? Both countries appear relatively stable at the moment. But before you throw in your lot with the global plurality, consider the following. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the head of the Hindu nationalist party, BJP, which has precipitated communal violence in the past. Modi has been rather circumspect as leader, but that could change if <a href="" type="internal">radicals in and around the party</a> get the upper hand. In China, meanwhile, Xi Jinping is the anti-Trump: a careful bureaucrat comfortable with navigating within the system. But Xi is not above using nationalism—against “separatists,” against Japanese militarists, against claimants to territory in the South China Sea—to sustain support in the Party at a time of cooling economic growth. Bottom line: keep your eye on the headlines before heading to Beijing or Mumbai.</p>
<p>Trump Free</p>
<p>If you’ve been busy crossing off countries on the map as you’ve been reading along, you’ll realize that there’s not a lot of free space left at this point. Much of the globe is downright dangerous in its Trump-like proclivities. If these global Trumps have not already taken power, as in the Philippines or Poland, they are gathering strength, as in France and Indonesia. We are experiencing the formation of a Trump International.</p>
<p>That leaves you with a couple of choices. You could:</p>
<p>* Run across the border and throw yourself on the mercy of Justin Trudeau – until the Canadians build their own wall and make Donald Trump pay for it;</p>
<p>* If you miss the boat on Canada, you could find a quiet, boring, and relatively obscure place to live like Andorra, Tuvalu, or Belize;</p>
<p>* Volunteer to take ice floe measurements in Antarctica for the next four years;</p>
<p>* Get on a cruise ship and stay on it, circling the globe until people come to their senses or the world blows up, whichever comes first.</p>
<p>At Emergency Travel Services, we can help you with any of these options. Don’t be caught with your pants down and your passport expired on November 9. Even if Trump loses this time around, his followers aren’t going anywhere. They’ll get behind an equally offensive but <a href="http://fpif.org/donald-trump-america-b/" type="external">more politically viable candidate in 2020</a>.</p>
<p>Bottom line: in these desperate times, it’s not just the Pentagon that needs an exit strategy.</p> | true | 4 | emergency travel services believe never early plan vacation emigration based latest polls confident donald trump wont elected president november election held today according statistician nate silver trump would 12 percent chance winning odds improve 13 percent november according polls mere 23 percent factor data economy trump insists top dog everything barking loudly underdog could change hillary clintons campaign could implode october surprisea huge infoleak major terrorist attackcould mean 5 10 percent swing popular sentiment bottom line dont plan life around public opinion polls time running best deals emergency travel services already taken know many liberal types soft spot new zealand tolerant culture lots nice hiking paths language mostly intelligible americans notorious rbg package already sold following lead supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg practically half populations bay area portland oregon burlington vermont planned escape route dont wait november 9 last minute vacationers often make terrible mistakes desperate get town seduced misleading ad campaigns end club med aral sea summer beach vacation kuwait travel agency never forgets account global warming goes political climate change always one step ahead risk analysts prepared guide planets welcoming least welcoming destinations primary objective run screaming direction specter president trump weve divided guide four sections trump plus trumplike trump light trumpfree pay close attention dont want jump american frying pan foreign fire let emergency travel services ensure landing safe one trump plus probably news anyone pyongyang damascus good places establish new life abroad donald trump perhaps greatest threat democracy united states witnessed last 75 years hes kim jong eun bashar alassad course give trump army vast prison system knows bashar whitecollar professional pretty wife jong eun privileged child got big boost father grace democratic institutions goes donald also category oneman dystopias robert mugabes zimbabwe omar albashirs sudan alexander lukashenkos belarus islam karimovs uzbekistan butch otters idaho case considering internal exile survivalist bunker recommend dont go war zones much middle east pandemic zones check cdc site island nations disappear ocean cancun spring break also nono short places world worse living donald trump sure youre nuclear physicist trainer commando units pyongyang damascus might welcome open arms run exfiltration servicethink argoif things go horribly wrong cost big time bottom line maximize flexibility minimize cost risk trumplike easy avoid dictatorships considering destination based solely designation democracy think plenty countries around world gone polls install little trumps consider instance philippines country suffered appalling leadership past ferdinand marcos steered country pauperdom gloria macapagalarroyo hospital arrest four years corruption charges recently elected rodrigo duterte already demonstrating outtrump competition called us ambassador gay son bitch refused apologize made rape joke offensive repeated even insulted pope terms specific policies pledged dump corpses 100000 gangsters manila bayindeed extrajudicial killings already riseand suspend countrys legislature doesnt says time wants shake countrys elite negotiate armed rebels make deal beijing disputed territory south china sea bottom line duterte offensive unpredictable loudmouth whose war crime might balanced peace initiatives elsewhere dont recommend relocate manila russia could legitimately claim leader vladimir putin championed illiberal democracy long white house appeared trumps real estate wish list trump seems defer putinon threat terrorism proper means address annexation crimea questionable utility nato rise euroskepticism weakening european union trump wants bring back torture deal americas enemies putin gets rid opposition less medieval equally distasteful ways boris yeltsin turned russia postsoviet backwater putin claims made country great measured military spending crossborder meddling nationalist rhetoric ruling like oligarch pouring money pentagon trump promises duplicate feat bottom line unless plan keep mouth shut human rights corruption geopolitics dont move moscow recep tayyip erdogan accolades reformer breaking power military reaching kurdish community bringing turkey closer line european human rights standards throwing dozens journalists jail reigniting war kurds erdogan swung way recent efforts pass new constitution would put even power hands definite trumpian feel recently attempted military coup gave erdogan fresh excuse sweeping potential opponents system wouldnt difficult imagine scenario trumps america bottom line turkeys lovely place time establish residence istanbul japan long popular destination americans looking safe economically advanced locales japanese prime minister shinzo abe steadily remilitarizing country undermining peace constitution recently installed warcrimes denier defense minister unlike trump abe given outrageous statements proposed outlandish walls japans island hes fan immigrants desperately wants put japan first evoking noxious world war iiera slogans trumps america first rhetoric bottom line predicting another greater east asia coprosperity sphere wants live country thats ruled party practically last 70 years theres man plan canal ortega nicaragua daniel ortega partnered shadowy chinese tycoon build huge canal ruin environment undermine livelihoods farmers maybe never turn profit gets built former comandante sandinistas ortega politically reborn antiabortion probusiness autocrat manipulated electoral rules run third term president year recently chose wife vice presidential candidate like trump hell practically anything win unlike trump marxist revolutionary deposed tyrant bottom line 70yearold ortega expected win another fouryear term november wide margin unless stomach trump guise putative leftist stay away managua european union might seem safe emigration bet youre coming plane america boat north africa however eu countries anticipated trump electing offensive blowhards czech republic president milos zeman argued muslim integration europe practically impossible ignoring experience millions immigrants mention bulgarian turks bosniaks albanians hungary prime minister viktor orban pledged remodel country along lines russias illiberal democracy poland ruling law justice party interfered press freedom made controversial statements homosexuality squared eu bottom line beware new europe intolerance nationalism euroskepticism spread illiberal democracy reached epidemic proportions theres simply enough room report cover israels benjamin netanyahu venezuelas nicolas maduro ugandas yoweri museveni egypts abdel fattah elsisi malaysias najib razak trump unique hed like believe trump light last thing want move country seems safe citizens turn around suddenly install trump forcing pick move call atrisk countries trump light take france example perhaps youre already planning fouryear term provence country great food civilized conversation humane vacation policy also marine le pen rightwing extremist twice popular current president francois hollande leading polls presidential hopeful nicolas sarkozy becomes president next year expect try join uk leaving eu implement number trumplike laws muslims immigrants bottom line lot french might joining next year whatever safe weve found indonesia populous muslim country world also tolerant democracy leadership joko widodo two variants extremism lie wait great indonesia movement party frontman prabowo subianto want turn back clock days sukarno cultivating potent mixture hypernationalism militarism subianto came second presidential elections 2014 party commands third largest bloc seats legislature meanwhile islamic extremism form hizb uttahrir rise terrorists launched series attacks gain headlines followers bottom line might want play safe stay away caught extremist crossfire onethird world lives india china countries appear relatively stable moment throw lot global plurality consider following indian prime minister narendra modi head hindu nationalist party bjp precipitated communal violence past modi rather circumspect leader could change radicals around party get upper hand china meanwhile xi jinping antitrump careful bureaucrat comfortable navigating within system xi using nationalismagainst separatists japanese militarists claimants territory south china seato sustain support party time cooling economic growth bottom line keep eye headlines heading beijing mumbai trump free youve busy crossing countries map youve reading along youll realize theres lot free space left point much globe downright dangerous trumplike proclivities global trumps already taken power philippines poland gathering strength france indonesia experiencing formation trump international leaves couple choices could run across border throw mercy justin trudeau canadians build wall make donald trump pay miss boat canada could find quiet boring relatively obscure place live like andorra tuvalu belize volunteer take ice floe measurements antarctica next four years get cruise ship stay circling globe people come senses world blows whichever comes first emergency travel services help options dont caught pants passport expired november 9 even trump loses time around followers arent going anywhere theyll get behind equally offensive politically viable candidate 2020 bottom line desperate times pentagon needs exit strategy | 1,288 |
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<p>Photo by thierry ehrmann | <a href="" type="internal">CC BY 2.0</a></p>
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<p>The Democratic Party is doing incalculable damage to itself by shapeshifting into the party of baseless conspiracy theories, groundless accusations, and sour grapes. Hillary Clinton was already the most distrusted&#160;presidential candidate in party history. Now she’s become the de facto flag-bearer for the nutso-clique of aspiring propagandists at the CIA, the&#160;New York Times and Bezo’s Military&#160;Digest. How is that going to improve the party’s prospects for the long term?</p>
<p>It won’t, because the vast majority of Americans do not want to align themselves with a party of buck-passing juveniles that have no vision for the future but want to devote all their energy to&#160;kooky witch-hunts that further prove they are unfit for high office.</p>
<p>The reason Hillary Clinton lost the election is because she is a polarizing, untrustworthy warmonger. Period. Putin had nothing to do with it.</p>
<p>And the same rule applies to the major media that has attached itself leech-like to this pathetic fairytale. Here’s a clip from the Times headline story connecting FSB-agent Trump with the evil Kremlin:</p>
<p>“American intelligence agencies have told the White House they have “high confidence” that the Russian government was behind the <a href="" type="internal">theft of emails and documents</a> from the <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/d/democratic_national_committee/index.html?inline=nyt-org" type="external">Democratic National Committee</a>. …</p>
<p>The attack on the congressional committee’s system appears to have come from an entity known as “Fancy Bear,” which is connected to the G.R.U., the Russian military intelligence service, according to an official involved in the forensic investigation…</p>
<p>Clinton campaign officials have suggested that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia could be trying to tilt the election to Mr. Trump, who has expressed admiration for the Russian leader.” ( <a href="" type="internal">Computer Systems Used by Clinton Campaign Are Said to Be Hacked, Apparently by Russians</a>, New York Times)</p>
<p>If there was a Pulitzer Prize for fearmongering innuendo or spurious accusations, the Times would win it hands-down. As it happens, readers have to delve much deeper into the article to find this shocking disclaimer:</p>
<p>“But the campaign officials acknowledge that they have no evidence. The Trump campaign has dismissed the accusations about Russia as a deliberate distraction…..”</p>
<p>“No evidence”???</p>
<p>They got nothing. NOTHING!</p>
<p>All they have is a few&#160;anonymous agents&#160;who refuse to identify themselves speculating on alleged hacking incidents that (they surmise) were the work of Vladimir P. Strangelove in his remote Soviet Cyber-war bunker. That’s not even enough material for a&#160;decent spy thriller.</p>
<p>But, of course, all this bunkum about “Fancy Bear” and&#160; “Russian military intelligence” and the “high confidence” of (unnamed) US intelligence agents is enough to scare the hell out of many&#160;readers and leave them with the impression that the Kremlin is up to its old Cold War tricks again. &#160;The Times editors are wise enough to know that it’s quite easy to tap into 40-years of anti-Soviet brainwashing and convince the gullible sheeple that Washington and Moscow are&#160;still&#160;mortal enemies. It&#160;would have been helpful if the Times had given the story a bit of context, that is, pointed out that&#160;the US has relentlessly expanded NATO eastward establishing military bases in all of the former Soviet satellite states, toppled the Moscow-friendly regime in Ukraine,&#160;and&#160;built nuclear weapons sites in east Europe just a few hundred miles from Moscow.</p>
<p>The Times writers might have also noted that this latest propaganda campaign against Russia could very well be the result of Moscow’s triumph over US-backed militants in Syria that are facing a decisive defeat due in large part to Russian involvement. In other words, the Times and the other US propaganda organs are functioning as they always do, whipping up&#160;public sentiment against the “evildoers” so&#160;Washington can drag the country into another imperial war of expansion. The whole “hacking” mantra fits perfectly with the Pentagon’s hybrid war strategy which manipulates information in order to shape public perceptions&#160;and gain support for another round of genocidal violence in some far-flung location.&#160;(Raqqa, perhaps?)</p>
<p>Do you think that bloodthirsty Hillary would be on-board with such a plan?</p>
<p>Of course she would. Hillary never met a war she didn’t like.</p>
<p>But let’s cut to the chase: Putin didn’t lose the election for Hillary. Obama did. People wanted change, and they didn’t get it, so they moved on to Door Number 2: Donald Trump. Take a look at these three short clips from a recent survey from PEW Research and you’ll get a feel for what really happened in the election:</p>
<p>“The Republican Party made deep inroads into America’s middle-class communities in 2016. Although many middle-class areas voted for Barack Obama in 2008, they overwhelmingly favored Donald Trump in 2016, a shift that was a key to his victory…..In 2016, Trump successfully defended all 27 middle-class areas won by Republicans in 2008. In a dramatic shift, however, Hillary Clinton lost in 18 of the 30 middle-class areas won by Democrats in 2008…</p>
<p>Overall, Democrats experienced widespread erosion in support from 2008 to 2016. Their share of the vote fell in 196 of the 221 metropolitan areas examined. The loss in support was sufficiently large to move 37 areas from the Democratic column to the Republican column…</p>
<p>Not coincidentally, Democrats also were more likely to have lost ground in manufacturing-dependent areas. Of the 56 communities with a relatively large share of manufacturing jobs, Trump picked up victories in 15 metro areas that had supported Obama in 2008 and held onto another 29, leaving only 12 communities in the Democrats’ column.” ( <a href="" type="internal">GOP gained ground in middle-class communities in 2016</a>, Pew Research)</p>
<p>Get it? The Dems&#160;lost ground everywhere because Obama didn’t deliver the goods. That’s reason number one. Second, Hillary didn’t address&#160;the issues that ordinary working people really care about. And what they care about is the economy. Money, security, jobs. Is that hard to understand?</p>
<p>People are afraid because things are getting worse not better. Their standards of living are slipping, they’re worried about their retirement, their jobs, their health care, and the pile of debt their kids have accumulated to go to college. They’ve lost confidence in the media, the congress, the courts and the president who promised change but never lifted a finger for working people his entire time in office.</p>
<p>That’s why Hillary lost, just&#160;look at&#160;the research.</p>
<p>The Democrats have no vision for the future, and without vision, the party will disintegrate which is precisely what’s happening. The Democratic Party is disintegrating before our very eyes. This latest “Russian hacking”&#160;diversion&#160;is just speeding along the process.</p> | true | 4 | photo thierry ehrmann cc 20 democratic party incalculable damage shapeshifting party baseless conspiracy theories groundless accusations sour grapes hillary clinton already distrusted160presidential candidate party history shes become de facto flagbearer nutsoclique aspiring propagandists cia the160new york times bezos military160digest going improve partys prospects long term wont vast majority americans want align party buckpassing juveniles vision future want devote energy to160kooky witchhunts prove unfit high office reason hillary clinton lost election polarizing untrustworthy warmonger period putin nothing rule applies major media attached leechlike pathetic fairytale heres clip times headline story connecting fsbagent trump evil kremlin american intelligence agencies told white house high confidence russian government behind theft emails documents democratic national committee attack congressional committees system appears come entity known fancy bear connected gru russian military intelligence service according official involved forensic investigation clinton campaign officials suggested president vladimir v putin russia could trying tilt election mr trump expressed admiration russian leader computer systems used clinton campaign said hacked apparently russians new york times pulitzer prize fearmongering innuendo spurious accusations times would win handsdown happens readers delve much deeper article find shocking disclaimer campaign officials acknowledge evidence trump campaign dismissed accusations russia deliberate distraction evidence got nothing nothing few160anonymous agents160who refuse identify speculating alleged hacking incidents surmise work vladimir p strangelove remote soviet cyberwar bunker thats even enough material a160decent spy thriller course bunkum fancy bear and160 russian military intelligence high confidence unnamed us intelligence agents enough scare hell many160readers leave impression kremlin old cold war tricks 160the times editors wise enough know quite easy tap 40years antisoviet brainwashing convince gullible sheeple washington moscow are160still160mortal enemies it160would helpful times given story bit context pointed that160the us relentlessly expanded nato eastward establishing military bases former soviet satellite states toppled moscowfriendly regime ukraine160and160built nuclear weapons sites east europe hundred miles moscow times writers might also noted latest propaganda campaign russia could well result moscows triumph usbacked militants syria facing decisive defeat due large part russian involvement words times us propaganda organs functioning always whipping up160public sentiment evildoers so160washington drag country another imperial war expansion whole hacking mantra fits perfectly pentagons hybrid war strategy manipulates information order shape public perceptions160and gain support another round genocidal violence farflung location160raqqa perhaps think bloodthirsty hillary would onboard plan course would hillary never met war didnt like lets cut chase putin didnt lose election hillary obama people wanted change didnt get moved door number 2 donald trump take look three short clips recent survey pew research youll get feel really happened election republican party made deep inroads americas middleclass communities 2016 although many middleclass areas voted barack obama 2008 overwhelmingly favored donald trump 2016 shift key victoryin 2016 trump successfully defended 27 middleclass areas republicans 2008 dramatic shift however hillary clinton lost 18 30 middleclass areas democrats 2008 overall democrats experienced widespread erosion support 2008 2016 share vote fell 196 221 metropolitan areas examined loss support sufficiently large move 37 areas democratic column republican column coincidentally democrats also likely lost ground manufacturingdependent areas 56 communities relatively large share manufacturing jobs trump picked victories 15 metro areas supported obama 2008 held onto another 29 leaving 12 communities democrats column gop gained ground middleclass communities 2016 pew research get dems160lost ground everywhere obama didnt deliver goods thats reason number one second hillary didnt address160the issues ordinary working people really care care economy money security jobs hard understand people afraid things getting worse better standards living slipping theyre worried retirement jobs health care pile debt kids accumulated go college theyve lost confidence media congress courts president promised change never lifted finger working people entire time office thats hillary lost just160look at160the research democrats vision future without vision party disintegrate precisely whats happening democratic party disintegrating eyes latest russian hacking160diversion160is speeding along process | 621 |
<p>Steve Horn is a San Diego, CA-based Research Fellow for the climate/energy website DeSmog.com, a contributing investigative journalist for TYT Investigates and contributing editor for Counterpunch Magazine. His writing has been published by Al Jazeera America, The Intercept, The Guardian,Vice News and beyond.</p>
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<p /> SHARMINI PERIES, EXEC. PRODUCER, TRNN: Welcome back to the Real News Network. I'm Sharmini Peries coming to you from Baltimore. I'm in conversation with Steve Horn. We're talking about Hillary Clinton's emails and her involvement in breaking up the state-owned oil company in Mexico. Steve, thank you for joining us again.
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<p />STEVE HORN, DESMOGBLOG: Thanks for having me.
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<p />PERIES: So let's get right into what Hillary Clinton's involvement in all this is.
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<p />HORN: Well, Hillary Clinton of course, it's still a little bit unclear exactly how much she was involved. All we have is of course very clear signs of her, more broadly her State Department's involvement in this. But looking at Hillary Clinton specifically, talking about some of the contents of the emails, of the emails that are now up on the State Department's website, you can see in the emails there is a reference referring back to a hearing Congress held in which she would likely be underquestioned by Senator Richard Lugar, who was then head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and now he retired, Republican senator from Indiana.
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<p />And in that, it refers to, this is something that he had been pushing for a long time. And what I found out was yes, this is a position, this international energy coordinator position, that helped spearhead these privatization efforts in Mexico. This is something that had been pushed since 2006. And it was actually, the idea was introduced at a speech that Lugar gave at the Brookings Institution back in 2006. And moderating that speech was a guy by the name of Carlos Pasqual, who at the time was a vice president of the Brookings Institution. Fast forward to Hillary Clinton's State Department and he was actually named the United States ambassador to Mexico.
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<p />Not too long after that, after a couple of years, David Goldwyn leaves the international energy coordinator position. And in his place comes, lo and behold, Carlos Pasqual. So you do see connections, at least, the same exact people who are pushing this end up working at high levels of the United States government for the very reforms that they were pushing years before. Going back to Lugar for a second, of course, it's a little bit indirect from Clinton. But she is the one who did help spearhead this. Lugar's top energy aide was a guy by the name of Neil Brown. Neil Brown ended up leaving after Lugar retired and went to go work for David Goldwyn, who was the first international energy coordinator. He worked there for a year. He's still listed as a senior
<p />advisor on Goldwyn Global Strategies' website. But actually, now Neil Brown works for Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, where former head of the CIA David Petraeus works, which is a huge private equity firm based in Manhattan. And KKR has very big ambitions in Mexico to invest in the oil and gas industry there. They already, as my article outlines, signed a big deal earlier this year with a company that is looking to do midstream, which is pipelines and that sort of thing, assets in Mexico.
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<p />Hillary Clinton, although it's still unclear, there's still lots of emails need to be released. Unclear if those emails will be released. Also, it's unclear if those emails will come out redacted or not. Because lots of these emails even that I'm referring to now were heavily redacted. So it's unclear how hands-on she was, but it's very clear that she delegated these tasks to people like David Goldwyn, Carlos Pasqual. And these were the same people who came to assume roles in the private sector after planting the seeds of reform. So they're now profiting from the very privatization situation that they created in Mexico for the oil and gas industry.
<p />
<p />PERIES: Now Steve, this is a part of the norm about being in Washington. Many have come out being critical of this revolving door effect in Washington, where the private sector is the pool of people you attract when you come into office, and then of course when you leave those positions you benefit from it. Is there anybody in Washington who's adamantly against this kind of private sector revolving door effect with the government? And is anyone advocating against this in Washington?
<p />
<p />HORN: Well, we'll just talk about in the context--of course more broadly yes, a lot of public interest groups are opposed to groups like Public Citizen, and various public interest groups in Washington, DC do oppose this or push for longer cooling-off periods between working for the government and working for the private sector.
<p />
<p />That said, in the case of Mexico and concern over this issue, Mexico's kind of been a forgotten thing in general, in discussion over oil and gas in North America. There's obviously quite a bit of talk and a lot of the coverage of the tar sands in Canada, the tar sands pipelines. How Canada fits into this picture and the ties between Canada and the U.S. for energy. But Mexico has sort of, I think, been basically forgotten. I think a lot of people in the United States, it's almost the fact that there was even these constitutional reforms back in December 2013 that did completely overhaul the oil and gas industry there, that is even news. It was not news that was widely covered in the United States except for in the business press and so on.
<p />
<p />We have a lot of catching up to do in the United States, especially people who are interested in the environment, climate change, and energy. We have a lot of catching up to do on what's been going on in Mexico. I think one big disadvantage, of course, is the language barrier. A lot of these articles in Mexico are coming out in Spanish and a lot of people in the United States don't speak Spanish. I think that's one big barrier. But I think there's still a lot of reporting, a lot of investigating, to be done. I think all my article really did is raise a big premise that's out there, that there was heavy State Department involvement.
<p />
<p />PERIES: Steve, what do you make of Hillary Clinton and energy and environmental policy going into this presidential election campaign year?
<p />
<p />HORN: Well, I do think that this clearly show--I think it's another example of the role that her State Department that she led, the push that they have led to spread fracking technology around the world. More broadly looking at this, her State Department ran a program called the Global Shale Gas Initiative that still exists now. It's called the Unconventional Gas Technical Engagement Program. This is part of her legacy at the State Department. It's a program that still exists, as I said.
<p />
<p />And it sort of, I think it should be [obv], I mean, to people watching. She's very friendly to oil and gas interest now. She has heavy funding from bundlers who are in the oil and gas industry. She's of course never, ever said anything critical about things like fracking. So she's sort of, I mean, at this point still trying to posture as somebody who cares about the climate, that sort of thing. But the track record shows complete opposite. It shouldn't be surprising people if she does become president and ends up pushing these same things she was pushing during her four years in the State Department.
<p />
<p />PERIES: Steve Horn, thank you so much for joining us today.
<p />
<p />HORN: Thanks for having me.
<p />
<p />PERIES: And thank you for joining us on the Real News Network.
<p />
<p />End
<p />
<p />DISCLAIMER: Please note that transcripts for The Real News Network are typed from a recording of the program. TRNN cannot guarantee their complete accuracy. | true | 4 | steve horn san diego cabased research fellow climateenergy website desmogcom contributing investigative journalist tyt investigates contributing editor counterpunch magazine writing published al jazeera america intercept guardianvice news beyond sharmini peries exec producer trnn welcome back real news network im sharmini peries coming baltimore im conversation steve horn talking hillary clintons emails involvement breaking stateowned oil company mexico steve thank joining us steve horn desmogblog thanks peries lets get right hillary clintons involvement horn well hillary clinton course still little bit unclear exactly much involved course clear signs broadly state departments involvement looking hillary clinton specifically talking contents emails emails state departments website see emails reference referring back hearing congress held would likely underquestioned senator richard lugar head senate foreign relations committee retired republican senator indiana refers something pushing long time found yes position international energy coordinator position helped spearhead privatization efforts mexico something pushed since 2006 actually idea introduced speech lugar gave brookings institution back 2006 moderating speech guy name carlos pasqual time vice president brookings institution fast forward hillary clintons state department actually named united states ambassador mexico long couple years david goldwyn leaves international energy coordinator position place comes lo behold carlos pasqual see connections least exact people pushing end working high levels united states government reforms pushing years going back lugar second course little bit indirect clinton one help spearhead lugars top energy aide guy name neil brown neil brown ended leaving lugar retired went go work david goldwyn first international energy coordinator worked year hes still listed senior advisor goldwyn global strategies website actually neil brown works kohlberg kravis roberts former head cia david petraeus works huge private equity firm based manhattan kkr big ambitions mexico invest oil gas industry already article outlines signed big deal earlier year company looking midstream pipelines sort thing assets mexico hillary clinton although still unclear theres still lots emails need released unclear emails released also unclear emails come redacted lots emails even im referring heavily redacted unclear handson clear delegated tasks people like david goldwyn carlos pasqual people came assume roles private sector planting seeds reform theyre profiting privatization situation created mexico oil gas industry peries steve part norm washington many come critical revolving door effect washington private sector pool people attract come office course leave positions benefit anybody washington whos adamantly kind private sector revolving door effect government anyone advocating washington horn well well talk contextof course broadly yes lot public interest groups opposed groups like public citizen various public interest groups washington dc oppose push longer coolingoff periods working government working private sector said case mexico concern issue mexicos kind forgotten thing general discussion oil gas north america theres obviously quite bit talk lot coverage tar sands canada tar sands pipelines canada fits picture ties canada us energy mexico sort think basically forgotten think lot people united states almost fact even constitutional reforms back december 2013 completely overhaul oil gas industry even news news widely covered united states except business press lot catching united states especially people interested environment climate change energy lot catching whats going mexico think one big disadvantage course language barrier lot articles mexico coming spanish lot people united states dont speak spanish think thats one big barrier think theres still lot reporting lot investigating done think article really raise big premise thats heavy state department involvement peries steve make hillary clinton energy environmental policy going presidential election campaign year horn well think clearly showi think another example role state department led push led spread fracking technology around world broadly looking state department ran program called global shale gas initiative still exists called unconventional gas technical engagement program part legacy state department program still exists said sort think obv mean people watching shes friendly oil gas interest heavy funding bundlers oil gas industry shes course never ever said anything critical things like fracking shes sort mean point still trying posture somebody cares climate sort thing track record shows complete opposite shouldnt surprising people become president ends pushing things pushing four years state department peries steve horn thank much joining us today horn thanks peries thank joining us real news network end disclaimer please note transcripts real news network typed recording program trnn guarantee complete accuracy | 700 |
<p>LONDON — Imagine making a televised court appearance broadcast to the whole nation to make a humbling, humiliating apology for … showing your hair. Last Sunday, the Iranian regime <a href="http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/05/17/world/middleeast/irans-hard-liners-crack-down-on-models-not-wearing-head-scarves.html?_r=0&amp;referer=" type="external">carried out</a> just such a “public shaming” of some of the country’s most famous models.</p>
<p>With a black scarf and black gloves replacing the happy wedding outfits and brightly dyed blond hair to which her <a href="" type="internal">Instagram followers</a> had become accustomed, 26-year-old Elham Arab confirmed to two prosecutors that modeling had brought her nothing but “bitter experiences.” She went on to warn aspiring young models that they “can be certain that no man would want to marry a model whose fame has come by losing her honor.”</p>
<p>Welcome to <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/16/iranian-models-arrested-for-posting-pictures-without-headscarves/" type="external">Operation Spider 2</a>. Yes, Iran’s War Against Hair even has a code name. In a sting led by no less significant a unit than Iran’s cybercrimes division, eight other models were arrested and charged with “promoting western promiscuity.” State prosecutor for cybercrimes Javad Babaei confirmed that his unit was focused on Instagram and is concerned with “sterilizing popular cyberspaces.” Many of the country’s leading models have reportedly suffered this clampdown. They are <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/16/iranian-models-arrested-for-posting-pictures-without-headscarves/" type="external">accused</a> of promoting "immoral and un-Islamic culture and promiscuity.” Another state prosecutor <a href="http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/05/17/world/middleeast/irans-hard-liners-crack-down-on-models-not-wearing-head-scarves.html?_r=0&amp;referer=" type="external">warned</a> the nation’s women, “If you take part in vulgar sessions, we will publicly announce your names.”</p>
<p>Such is the Iranian theocracy’s fascination with female hair, that even elected officials have not been spared by the morality police. Moderate female politician Minoo Khaleghi was <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/12/world/middleeast/iran-parliament-minoo-khaleghi.html" type="external">barred</a> by the hard-line all-male Guardian Council from taking her seat in parliament, after images of her emerged on social media purportedly showing her without a head scarf. Prosecutor Jafar-Dolatabadi ordered Ms. Khaleghi to explain to judicial officials why the “offending” images of her existed. For her part, Khaleghi had no choice but to prop up the absurd notion that there’s something wrong with showing one’s hair by arguing that the images are “malicious fakes” and proclaiming, “I am a Muslim woman, adhering to the principles of Islam.”</p>
<p>As moderate political forces continue to gain ground in Iran’s educated city centers, establishment clampdowns against “Western promiscuity” are becoming more visible, and more desperate.</p>
<p>Last year, hardliners warned Iranian women that they would have their <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/11999354/Iranian-women-will-have-their-cars-impounded-if-they-drive-without-a-hijab.html" type="external">cars impounded</a> if they were caught driving without a hijab, or headcovering. And every time a woman has tried to run for president, she has always been <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/11875128/Irans-women-problem-All-of-the-things-Iranian-women-arent-allowed.html" type="external">turned down</a> by the country’s powerful Guardian Council, which vets all candidates for public office.</p>
<p>For a long time, with the notable exception of France’s peculiar stance, Western democracies have stepped away from interfering in how a woman chooses to dress. Rightly so, the law has pulled back in order to allow culture to decide the issue. With men and women free to participate in the debate around headscarves, one key principle has been safeguarded: that of choice.</p>
<p>But in societies where imprisonment, and worse, awaits millions of women if they choose to uncover their hair, the brave voices— a minority within the minority—who break this taboo within their own communities, become crucial. Positive signs are emerging of some who have started to question the sexual taboos prevalent among Muslim communities.</p>
<p>Feminist Arab authors are <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/nov/15/sex-citadel-shereen-el-feki-guardian-first-book-award" type="external">writing</a> about the <a href="" type="external">need</a> for a sexual revolution in the Arab world. Male Arab journalists are penning columns about the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/14/opinion/sunday/the-sexual-misery-of-the-arab-world.html" type="external">sexual misery</a> in the Middle East. Feminist Muslim women are organizing online magazines such as <a href="https://twitter.com/sister_hood_mag" type="external">Sister-hood</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/Sedaa_OurVoices" type="external">Sedaa</a> in order to reclaim a voice for female secular progressives of Muslim heritage. Head-scarfed women have chosen to <a href="https://twitter.com/SafiyaAlfaris/status/653194124661800960" type="external">remove</a> their hijabs in <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/my-stealthy-freedom-women-in-iran-step-up-hijab-campaign-by-filming-themselves-walking-in-public-10149226.html" type="external">defiance</a> of restrictions on female dress. Other women have taken to more radical action, by <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-morocco-rights-idUKKBN0OI2HT20150602" type="external">protesting</a> naked.</p>
<p>Exhibitions have <a href="http://www.unbreakablerope.com/" type="external">emerged</a> challenging assumptions around sexuality in Islam. Islamic theologians have started to <a href="http://www.academia.edu/4386604/Islam_and_the_Veil_-_Usama_Hasan" type="external">question</a> openly whether the hijab is religiously mandatory. And in a recent courageous move, Zahra Haider—an unmarried Pakistani Muslim woman—has even written a column about her <a href="http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/what-i-learned-having-sex-as-a-young-woman-in-pakistan" type="external">sexual experiences</a> with 12 different partners while living in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad. This led to quite <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-36213811?ocid=socialflow_twitter" type="external">an online furor</a>, as one can imagine.</p>
<p>These are all examples by Muslim, non-Muslim, male and female activists. Everyone has a stake in this debate, because everyone suffers its consequences. Just as one need not be gay to challenge homophobia, nor black to challenge racism: One need not be a Muslim woman to challenge theocratic misogyny.</p>
<p>A desire to restrict any of these voices is a desire to control. When enforced on others, religion becomes nothing but a tool of power and control. Sexuality, in particular, obsesses male theocrats more so than any other topic.</p>
<p>Start and finish your day with the top stories from The Daily Beast.</p>
<p>A speedy, smart summary of all the news you need to know (and nothing you don't).</p>
<p>Whether in Iran and Saudi Arabia, where women’s dress is government enforced, or in Syria and Afghanistan, where Islamist terrorists seek to enforce it, or across Muslim-majority nations more generally, sexual expression has fast become a dividing line for fundamentalists harboring presumptuous assumptions about a “pure” East and a “promiscuous” West.</p>
<p>Oddly, hundreds of years ago it was the <a href="" type="internal">opposite</a>. A Europe in the Dark Ages, plagued by the Inquisition and conflicts caused by religious intolerance, placed a similar premium on sexuality. Back then, it was the East that European Orientalists fetishized as overly “promiscuous,” while the West valued its prudishness. The one common factor is a correlation between the rise of theocratic demands anywhere, and restrictions on sexuality.</p>
<p>In this way, sexuality has become the axis upon which enlightened values and progress have pivoted between nations. Sexual freedoms have become a litmus test between open societies and closed ones. The drug that dogmatic ideologues are usually addicted to is control, and the thirst for control almost always manifests itself in sexual control. This is why the subject of sex among women, gays and “unmarried” youth fascinates extremists of all bents. And it is why—regardless of our gender or sexual orientation—the struggle against controlling sexuality should preoccupy us all.</p> | true | 4 | london imagine making televised court appearance broadcast whole nation make humbling humiliating apology showing hair last sunday iranian regime carried public shaming countrys famous models black scarf black gloves replacing happy wedding outfits brightly dyed blond hair instagram followers become accustomed 26yearold elham arab confirmed two prosecutors modeling brought nothing bitter experiences went warn aspiring young models certain man would want marry model whose fame come losing honor welcome operation spider 2 yes irans war hair even code name sting led less significant unit irans cybercrimes division eight models arrested charged promoting western promiscuity state prosecutor cybercrimes javad babaei confirmed unit focused instagram concerned sterilizing popular cyberspaces many countrys leading models reportedly suffered clampdown accused promoting immoral unislamic culture promiscuity another state prosecutor warned nations women take part vulgar sessions publicly announce names iranian theocracys fascination female hair even elected officials spared morality police moderate female politician minoo khaleghi barred hardline allmale guardian council taking seat parliament images emerged social media purportedly showing without head scarf prosecutor jafardolatabadi ordered ms khaleghi explain judicial officials offending images existed part khaleghi choice prop absurd notion theres something wrong showing ones hair arguing images malicious fakes proclaiming muslim woman adhering principles islam moderate political forces continue gain ground irans educated city centers establishment clampdowns western promiscuity becoming visible desperate last year hardliners warned iranian women would cars impounded caught driving without hijab headcovering every time woman tried run president always turned countrys powerful guardian council vets candidates public office long time notable exception frances peculiar stance western democracies stepped away interfering woman chooses dress rightly law pulled back order allow culture decide issue men women free participate debate around headscarves one key principle safeguarded choice societies imprisonment worse awaits millions women choose uncover hair brave voices minority within minoritywho break taboo within communities become crucial positive signs emerging started question sexual taboos prevalent among muslim communities feminist arab authors writing need sexual revolution arab world male arab journalists penning columns sexual misery middle east feminist muslim women organizing online magazines sisterhood sedaa order reclaim voice female secular progressives muslim heritage headscarfed women chosen remove hijabs defiance restrictions female dress women taken radical action protesting naked exhibitions emerged challenging assumptions around sexuality islam islamic theologians started question openly whether hijab religiously mandatory recent courageous move zahra haideran unmarried pakistani muslim womanhas even written column sexual experiences 12 different partners living pakistans capital islamabad led quite online furor one imagine examples muslim nonmuslim male female activists everyone stake debate everyone suffers consequences one need gay challenge homophobia black challenge racism one need muslim woman challenge theocratic misogyny desire restrict voices desire control enforced others religion becomes nothing tool power control sexuality particular obsesses male theocrats topic start finish day top stories daily beast speedy smart summary news need know nothing dont whether iran saudi arabia womens dress government enforced syria afghanistan islamist terrorists seek enforce across muslimmajority nations generally sexual expression fast become dividing line fundamentalists harboring presumptuous assumptions pure east promiscuous west oddly hundreds years ago opposite europe dark ages plagued inquisition conflicts caused religious intolerance placed similar premium sexuality back east european orientalists fetishized overly promiscuous west valued prudishness one common factor correlation rise theocratic demands anywhere restrictions sexuality way sexuality become axis upon enlightened values progress pivoted nations sexual freedoms become litmus test open societies closed ones drug dogmatic ideologues usually addicted control thirst control almost always manifests sexual control subject sex among women gays unmarried youth fascinates extremists bents whyregardless gender sexual orientationthe struggle controlling sexuality preoccupy us | 587 |
<p>Every year, in January and April, we commemorate the extraordinary career of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. But there is probably no figure in recent American history whose memory is more distorted, whose message is more bowdlerized, whose powerful words are more drained of content than King.</p>
<p>A few years ago, in preparation for a public lecture on 1968, I reread the most important book on King and his politics to come out in the last decade: Thomas F. Jackson’s&#160; <a href="http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/14280.html" type="external">From Civil Rights to Human Rights: Martin Luther King Jr and the Struggle for Economic Justice</a>. Jackson, a former researcher with the <a href="https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/" type="external">King Papers project</a>&#160;at Stanford, has read King’s every last sermon, speech, book, article, and letter. What Jackson finds is that from the beginning of his ministry, King was far more radical, especially on matters of labor, poverty, and economic justice, than we remember.</p>
<p>In media accounts, King was quickly labeled the “Apostle of Non-Violence” and, by the mid 1960s, portrayed as the antithesis to Malcolm X. While King adhered to nonviolence for his entire career, the single-minded focus of the media on the horse race between Malcolm and Martin led reporters to ignore King’s more radical pronouncements. They simply didn’t fit into the developing story line.</p>
<p>Black power advocates also distorted King, focusing on his ministerial style and arrogance (members of SNCC called him “de Lawd”). They branded King as hopelessly bourgeois, a detriment rather than a positive force in the black freedom struggle. White liberals, fearful of black unrest, embraced King as a voice of moderation, hoping that he could stem the rising tide of black discontent that exploded in the long hot summers of the mid sixties.</p>
<p>The representation of King as mainstream left observers unable to make sense out of King’s opposition to the Vietnam War, his call for an interracial Poor People’s Movement, and his increasingly vocal denunciations of class inequality in America.</p>
<p>King, they contended, had been radicalized or, perhaps, was more calculating in his leftward move, changing his rhetoric to remain a legitimate leader in the eyes of younger, angrier blacks. But as Jackson shows, King was anything but a milquetoast racial liberal or a radical-come-lately.</p>
<p>Through a close reading of King’s work, Jackson finds deep currents of anti-imperialism running through King’s thought, going all the way back to his days as a student. He finds a consistent thread of anticapitalism in King’s speeches. And he finds that King was building alliances with the left wing of the labor movement and allying himself with activists who called for structural change in the economy. King, in other words, was a radical well before he offered his prophetic denunciation of the Vietnam War in 1967 or joined the Memphis sanitation workers on strike in 1968.</p>
<p>King’s radicalism is lost to the obfuscating fog of memory. In American culture today, we have several Martin Luther King Jr’s: the&#160;Commemorative King, the&#160;Therapeutic King, the&#160;Conservative King, and the&#160;Commodified King. Each of these Kings competes for our attention, but each of them represents a vision of King that he himself would not have recognized.</p>
<p>First is the commemorative King. Only fifteen years after his death, King won an extraordinary recognition&#160;—&#160;he became the only individual (unless you count Presidents Washington and Lincoln, whose birthdays have been unceremoniously consolidated into President’s Day) with his own national holiday. That a man who was berated as un-American, hounded by the FBI, arrested and jailed numerous times, was recognized by a national holiday is nothing short of amazing.</p>
<p>To be sure, the King holiday met with significant opposition, particularly from southerners like Jesse Helms, who contended that King was a tool of the Communist Party, and from John McCain, Evan Mecham, and other conservative Arizonans. But the King Holiday legislation was signed into law after overwhelming congressional approval by none other than President Ronald Reagan, who began his political career as an opponent of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and who repeated his act by launching his 1980 election campaign in Philadelphia, MS, a tiny place whose only claim to fame was that three young civil rights activists had been murdered there twenty years earlier.</p>
<p>But if there was anything at all subversive in King’s life, it is lost in the feel-good celebrations of King Day, which has become a day for picking up litter and painting school classrooms. Not that community service is a bad thing, but it’s a long, long way from King’s vision for social change.</p>
<p>The therapeutic King: in American iconography, King is the great healer, the man who called America to be true to its “creed” of equality and opportunity. King’s message, bereft of its hard-hitting political content, is so anodyne that we can all support it, Republican and Democrat alike. The inspirational message of King’s life has moved front and center in our memories of King. A popular school curriculum intended to build student self-esteem, for example, calls for children to express their dreams. King’s message is to hold hands and join our voices together, ebony and ivory, in perfect harmony.</p>
<p>The conservative King: devoid of the political content that drove his message, King has also become an icon of racial conservatism. Today’s most unlikely King acolytes are critics of civil rights policies such as affirmative action. King is the prophet of meritocratic individualism.</p>
<p>The most articulate proponent of this version of King (and there are many) is <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/1997/11/ward-connerly-won-battle-now-hes-facing-war" type="external">Ward Connerly</a>, the leader of nationwide anti-affirmative action campaign who drew from King’s own words to call for a dismantling of race-sensitive admissions. Only one King speech&#160;—&#160;King’s <a href="http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm" type="external">address</a> to the 1963 March on Washington — matters to Connerly-type conservatives. And only one line in that speech matters: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”</p>
<p>King speeches should be judged by their content. And there’s a lot in the “I Have a Dream” speech that would make McCain and Connerly squirm. King celebrated the “the marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community.”</p>
<p>And, speaking of the “fierce urgency of Now,” he encouraged the 250,000 strong gathered on the Mall to take more aggressive action. “This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.”</p>
<p>At a moment when conservatives (and many liberals) were denouncing the movement for going “too far, too fast,” King sent a clear message. Go further, faster. King went on to support aggressive enforcement of civil rights laws, including affirmative action itself. And more than that, he demanded the fundamental reordering of the American economy.</p>
<p>Finally, in perhaps the most American of twists, we have the commodified King&#160;—&#160;efforts in the last decade, largely spearheaded by the King family itself&#160;—&#160;to market the words and image of the Reverend King. In classic American fashion, Martin Luther King Jr has become a consumer good.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-mlk-family-20150119-story.html" type="external">King’s family</a> has engaged in an aggressive effort to market the image of the Reverend King, including a multi-million dollar deal with Time Warner for the rights to King’s speeches, writings, and recordings. The King family sued to prevent companies from using King’s image on refrigerator magnets, switchblades, and on “I have a Dream” ice cream cones.</p>
<p>But they quickly turned to their own business in King kitsch. In the mid 1990s, the Reverend King’s son Dexter King, who administered the King estate, took a pilgrimage to visit the shrine of another King — “THE KING,” Elvis at Graceland in Memphis, TN, to pick up some marketing lessons. Since the mid 1990s, King’s estate has authorized, among other things, commemorative pins for the Atlanta Summer Olympics with the likeness of Martin Luther King Jr, porcelain statuettes of King, and, my favorite, checkbooks bearing King’s likeness.</p>
<p>Whether commodity or conservative icon, suffice it to say that each of these visions of King is flawed. The commemorative King celebrates heroism and courage, but risks the creation of a one-dimensional character that glosses over King’s subversive, challenging, and upsetting messages. The therapeutic King stands in sharp contrast to a political strategy that demanded the overthrow of American apartheid and demanded great sacrifices from blacks and whites alike.</p>
<p>The conservative King is based on a very selective appropriation of King’s words&#160;—&#160;largely from a single speech&#160;—&#160;in service of a cause that King found abhorrent. And the commodified King creates comforting images that are wholly drained of their ability to provoke and challenge —&#160;and, moreover, stand in sharp juxtaposition to King’s penetrating critique of American capitalism and his deep-rooted anti-materialism.</p>
<p>Above all, King’s contribution was to unsettle power, to challenge the status quo — something that a porcelain statuette or an Olympic pin or an anti-affirmative-action law will never do.</p> | true | 4 | every year january april commemorate extraordinary career reverend martin luther king jr probably figure recent american history whose memory distorted whose message bowdlerized whose powerful words drained content king years ago preparation public lecture 1968 reread important book king politics come last decade thomas f jacksons160 civil rights human rights martin luther king jr struggle economic justice jackson former researcher king papers project160at stanford read kings every last sermon speech book article letter jackson finds beginning ministry king far radical especially matters labor poverty economic justice remember media accounts king quickly labeled apostle nonviolence mid 1960s portrayed antithesis malcolm x king adhered nonviolence entire career singleminded focus media horse race malcolm martin led reporters ignore kings radical pronouncements simply didnt fit developing story line black power advocates also distorted king focusing ministerial style arrogance members sncc called de lawd branded king hopelessly bourgeois detriment rather positive force black freedom struggle white liberals fearful black unrest embraced king voice moderation hoping could stem rising tide black discontent exploded long hot summers mid sixties representation king mainstream left observers unable make sense kings opposition vietnam war call interracial poor peoples movement increasingly vocal denunciations class inequality america king contended radicalized perhaps calculating leftward move changing rhetoric remain legitimate leader eyes younger angrier blacks jackson shows king anything milquetoast racial liberal radicalcomelately close reading kings work jackson finds deep currents antiimperialism running kings thought going way back days student finds consistent thread anticapitalism kings speeches finds king building alliances left wing labor movement allying activists called structural change economy king words radical well offered prophetic denunciation vietnam war 1967 joined memphis sanitation workers strike 1968 kings radicalism lost obfuscating fog memory american culture today several martin luther king jrs the160commemorative king the160therapeutic king the160conservative king the160commodified king kings competes attention represents vision king would recognized first commemorative king fifteen years death king extraordinary recognition160160he became individual unless count presidents washington lincoln whose birthdays unceremoniously consolidated presidents day national holiday man berated unamerican hounded fbi arrested jailed numerous times recognized national holiday nothing short amazing sure king holiday met significant opposition particularly southerners like jesse helms contended king tool communist party john mccain evan mecham conservative arizonans king holiday legislation signed law overwhelming congressional approval none president ronald reagan began political career opponent civil rights act 1964 repeated act launching 1980 election campaign philadelphia ms tiny place whose claim fame three young civil rights activists murdered twenty years earlier anything subversive kings life lost feelgood celebrations king day become day picking litter painting school classrooms community service bad thing long long way kings vision social change therapeutic king american iconography king great healer man called america true creed equality opportunity kings message bereft hardhitting political content anodyne support republican democrat alike inspirational message kings life moved front center memories king popular school curriculum intended build student selfesteem example calls children express dreams kings message hold hands join voices together ebony ivory perfect harmony conservative king devoid political content drove message king also become icon racial conservatism todays unlikely king acolytes critics civil rights policies affirmative action king prophet meritocratic individualism articulate proponent version king many ward connerly leader nationwide antiaffirmative action campaign drew kings words call dismantling racesensitive admissions one king speech160160kings address 1963 march washington matters connerlytype conservatives one line speech matters dream four little children one day live nation judged color skin content character king speeches judged content theres lot dream speech would make mccain connerly squirm king celebrated marvelous new militancy engulfed negro community speaking fierce urgency encouraged 250000 strong gathered mall take aggressive action time engage luxury cooling take tranquilizing drug gradualism moment conservatives many liberals denouncing movement going far fast king sent clear message go faster king went support aggressive enforcement civil rights laws including affirmative action demanded fundamental reordering american economy finally perhaps american twists commodified king160160efforts last decade largely spearheaded king family itself160160to market words image reverend king classic american fashion martin luther king jr become consumer good kings family engaged aggressive effort market image reverend king including multimillion dollar deal time warner rights kings speeches writings recordings king family sued prevent companies using kings image refrigerator magnets switchblades dream ice cream cones quickly turned business king kitsch mid 1990s reverend kings son dexter king administered king estate took pilgrimage visit shrine another king king elvis graceland memphis tn pick marketing lessons since mid 1990s kings estate authorized among things commemorative pins atlanta summer olympics likeness martin luther king jr porcelain statuettes king favorite checkbooks bearing kings likeness whether commodity conservative icon suffice say visions king flawed commemorative king celebrates heroism courage risks creation onedimensional character glosses kings subversive challenging upsetting messages therapeutic king stands sharp contrast political strategy demanded overthrow american apartheid demanded great sacrifices blacks whites alike conservative king based selective appropriation kings words160160largely single speech160160in service cause king found abhorrent commodified king creates comforting images wholly drained ability provoke challenge 160and moreover stand sharp juxtaposition kings penetrating critique american capitalism deeprooted antimaterialism kings contribution unsettle power challenge status quo something porcelain statuette olympic pin antiaffirmativeaction law never | 843 |
<p>On the night of February 25th the Argentine government successfully restructured its foreign debt by reducing what it owed foreign banks from $81 to 40 billion dollars. Thirty minutes later conservative political leaders and religious fundamentalists around the globe were baffled by an even more extraordinary news: the abrupt disappearance of Latin American leftists.</p>
<p>Theology of liberation priests and nuns could not be found anywhere; even Brazilian and Peruvian bishops could not be accounted for. The mayors of Mexico City and Bogota had disappeared into thin air, as well as their staffs. Similar reports indicated that entire governments of provincial capital and local cities have banished. Oddly, the very buildings serving as the headquarters of the Cuban Communist Party, the Movimiento al Socialismo in Bolivia, the Frente Amplio in Uruguay, the Piqueteros and the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires dissipated as well. Only vacant lots are found where shanty towns stood in every working class neighborhood throughout Latin America.</p>
<p>The CIA station chief in Lima, Peru – using his cell phone – told the Associated Press – “it is a miracle, the poor have disappeared!.” Traffic flow crossing into San Diego or El Paso had dwindled to just one lane and no begging children were found at the bridge crossings.</p>
<p>Because of the absence of leftists Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Panama, Guyana, Cuba and the smaller islands of the Caribbean no longer have governments. “We have no comments until we can talk to someone down there” declared Richard Boucher at the State Department.</p>
<p>The Dredge learned that former General Rios Montt of Guatemala, a born again Christian, has suggested that the Rapture has already taken place, as expected. But he does not understand why leftists were the ones snatched by God to go to Heaven. Similar rumors have spread throughout the Southernest Baptist Convention but fundamentalist leaders are saying that it could not be true. A spokesman from Lynchburg, Virginia who wanted to remain anonymous charged that “this is a rapture alright, it is the devil’s rapture trying to confuse God fearing Americans.” He stressed that liberal wire services were collaborating with Lucifer.</p>
<p>Demographers at the US Census Bureau estimate that the population pressure in Latin America will be eased since approximately 70-75% of the population is poor and indigent. According to Census analysts the populations most affected by the “disappearance” have been the poor. However, neighborhoods such as Miraflores (Caracas), La Mariscal (Quito) and the ABC [American, Canadian, British] communities throughout Latin America do not report anyone missing.</p>
<p>The people most affected appear to be those who were members of, or identified with, left parties, radical populism, socialists, anarchists, labor unions, peasant organizations, civil rights, solidarity, women’s liberation, the disabled, the unemployed and students.</p>
<p>According to the Disassociated Press the director of the Latin American Missionary Training Institute in North Carolina all of their people doing missionary work in Latin America are accounted for. The Christian Democracy International with headquarters in Brussels also informed AP that they have called about 30% of Latin American Christian Democratic party presidents and they did not report any problems. An unusual development, though, is that all the native staff at US embassies throughout the region apparently raptured as well..</p>
<p>Elliott Abramnowitz at the National Security Council has been meeting since 1 AM (EST) with the Treasury Department officials when the news began to filter in. The lights at the White continued to show some activity as people from the Pentagon and Wall Street gathered. It has been rumored that the demise of leftists throughout the continent will constitute a very serious problem to the economic policies of the United States (who will work for us?) and will have budgetary implications (how to justify Pentagon monies).</p>
<p>The first American analyst to notice the disappearance of the leftists in Latin America was professor of the dismal science Albert Fisheniedrig, director of the Latin American Center at Eastern Seaboard University. In a presentation on February 25th at the University of Old Mejico, the professor declared that “the left” was gone in Latin America. [1] Although the statement seemed odd at the time (the Rapture took place 8 hours later), the assertion was cheerfully accepted by some members of the audience. [It should be noted that the left has disappeared from Latin America on a previous occasion. A generation ago izquierdistas were disappeared by death squads guided by the almighty dollar. Now it was the Almighty herself acting in history].</p>
<p>Spokespersons at the Worldly Bank, the Interest American Development Bank, the International Monetary Fun, Chase Womanhattan and other important money centers were exceedingly pleased. They projected that the pace of globalization will be faster. However, in Wall Street, the US Congress and AM radio stations expressed surprise and disappointment with God. “I had no idea that God did not understand the laws of nature. How could God take leftists to heaven, those people dont understand the free market!” said Cliff Dollar a tele-evangelist.</p>
<p>Some right wing fundamentalists who have been “left behind” are asking the “Left Behind” Book Club to return their monies for the 12 volumes they previously purchased. The Ascending was supposed to have a money back guarantee.</p>
<p>Preachers and charismatics around the country have told the Dredge Report that in their early morning prayers they have promised God they will re-read revelations as well as Matthew. Finally, people south of the border seem to have known the truth all along: Deus é Brazileiro and loves justice.</p>
<p>Nelson Valdes is a professor of sociology specializing in Latin America at the University of New Mexico. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:nvaldes@unm.edu" type="external">nvaldes@unm.edu</a></p>
<p>Notes</p>
<p>[1] The “disapperance of the Latin American left” had been announced since 1991. Numerous academic morticians provided minute certificados de defunción. For a history of the industry see: Jose Luis Renique. 1995. The Latin American Left: Epitaph or New Beginning. Latin American Research Review 30(2): 177-194.</p> | true | 4 | night february 25th argentine government successfully restructured foreign debt reducing owed foreign banks 81 40 billion dollars thirty minutes later conservative political leaders religious fundamentalists around globe baffled even extraordinary news abrupt disappearance latin american leftists theology liberation priests nuns could found anywhere even brazilian peruvian bishops could accounted mayors mexico city bogota disappeared thin air well staffs similar reports indicated entire governments provincial capital local cities banished oddly buildings serving headquarters cuban communist party movimiento al socialismo bolivia frente amplio uruguay piqueteros madres de la plaza de mayo buenos aires dissipated well vacant lots found shanty towns stood every working class neighborhood throughout latin america cia station chief lima peru using cell phone told associated press miracle poor disappeared traffic flow crossing san diego el paso dwindled one lane begging children found bridge crossings absence leftists brazil argentina venezuela panama guyana cuba smaller islands caribbean longer governments comments talk someone declared richard boucher state department dredge learned former general rios montt guatemala born christian suggested rapture already taken place expected understand leftists ones snatched god go heaven similar rumors spread throughout southernest baptist convention fundamentalist leaders saying could true spokesman lynchburg virginia wanted remain anonymous charged rapture alright devils rapture trying confuse god fearing americans stressed liberal wire services collaborating lucifer demographers us census bureau estimate population pressure latin america eased since approximately 7075 population poor indigent according census analysts populations affected disappearance poor however neighborhoods miraflores caracas la mariscal quito abc american canadian british communities throughout latin america report anyone missing people affected appear members identified left parties radical populism socialists anarchists labor unions peasant organizations civil rights solidarity womens liberation disabled unemployed students according disassociated press director latin american missionary training institute north carolina people missionary work latin america accounted christian democracy international headquarters brussels also informed ap called 30 latin american christian democratic party presidents report problems unusual development though native staff us embassies throughout region apparently raptured well elliott abramnowitz national security council meeting since 1 est treasury department officials news began filter lights white continued show activity people pentagon wall street gathered rumored demise leftists throughout continent constitute serious problem economic policies united states work us budgetary implications justify pentagon monies first american analyst notice disappearance leftists latin america professor dismal science albert fisheniedrig director latin american center eastern seaboard university presentation february 25th university old mejico professor declared left gone latin america 1 although statement seemed odd time rapture took place 8 hours later assertion cheerfully accepted members audience noted left disappeared latin america previous occasion generation ago izquierdistas disappeared death squads guided almighty dollar almighty acting history spokespersons worldly bank interest american development bank international monetary fun chase womanhattan important money centers exceedingly pleased projected pace globalization faster however wall street us congress radio stations expressed surprise disappointment god idea god understand laws nature could god take leftists heaven people dont understand free market said cliff dollar teleevangelist right wing fundamentalists left behind asking left behind book club return monies 12 volumes previously purchased ascending supposed money back guarantee preachers charismatics around country told dredge report early morning prayers promised god reread revelations well matthew finally people south border seem known truth along deus é brazileiro loves justice nelson valdes professor sociology specializing latin america university new mexico reached nvaldesunmedu notes 1 disapperance latin american left announced since 1991 numerous academic morticians provided minute certificados de defunción history industry see jose luis renique 1995 latin american left epitaph new beginning latin american research review 302 177194 | 584 |
<p>If I jump now, with Karen Hughes just having left and with Democratic darts starting to hit the Administration’s weak spots, it’ll look bad. Like I’m deserting a ship that’s started leaking badly.</p>
<p>Plus, people will think I’m doing it out of ambition, not wanting to be too tarnished by all the Bush administration’s scandals, those already out there and others yet to be revealed. (I’m mostly kept out of the loop, but I suspect many of those transgressions are on the other side of the moral, and probably legal, fence.)</p>
<p>Sure I want to be President — even Bush and Cheney know that, which helps explain why all the behind-the-scenes dissing of me and the State Department — but I also enjoy feeling that I’m helpful in the world, often just by throwing cold water on some of the Wolfpack’s most outrageous proposals. That Wolfowitz is like a dog on a bone in his determination that the U.S. dominate the globe; I think he should be checked out for rabies.</p>
<p>I’m tolerated. I speak my mind about drugs and sex and poverty, and sometimes even about war policy — though I have to move real carefully here — and they don’t get rid of me. I’m their token, in a great many ways. See, we have an all-inclusive, diverse Cabinet — look there’s Colin Powell. See him? He’s black. And he’s even liberal. Ergo, the Administration can’t be all bad. (I’m sure no liberal; I just look that way when measured against rightwing zealots like Ashcroft and Wolfowitz and DeLay. And I resemble a flaming intellectual when measured against our fearless leader, who knows how to mouth the right phrases and read speeches.)</p>
<p>I’m here partially because of my ties to Poppy and my contacts around the world — I’m regarded as trustworthy by many international leaders — but mainly I’m here for window-dressing and moral cover. And to keep me on the inside, busy and somewhat muzzled, so I can’t become head of a GOP opposition movement. I know all that, and they know I know. It’s just the complex po litical dance you have to dance, in order to be in a position to do some good — or, in the case of this administration, to help stop some of the bad. But I have to choose my fights judiciously, or I won’t have any clout.</p>
<p>But it’s getting harder and harder to swallow a good share of the Administration’s line. These guys — who, of course, found convenient ways to escape serving in the military, from Bush to Cheney to DeLay and so on — are preparing for “permanent war.” It’s insane. They figure with no other country to challenge the U.S. superpower, they might as well go take it all. Sure, we could take it, but then what do we have? A return to the Roman Empire, with our armies having to control everything thousands of miles from home, in a world that would resent and hate and attack us all the more, and nonstep dissent at home. (The most depressing thing about all this is that the Democrats in Congress haven’t even called for a debate on attacking Iraq is a good idea, and what the ramifications might be. They’re so scared of looking “unpatriotic” that they’ve become unpatriotic by remaining silent.)</p>
<p>Too many of our top officials have no military, or political, understanding of the complexities involved, just a desire to grab $ome while the getting is good. I believe in greed, too, as a positive motivating force — but within some reasonable limits. These guys, and their corporate backers, can’t see beyond their bank accounts. I keep trying to tell them that they can have a good share, and help others get a good share too — thus bringing more consumers on line to buy stuff the corporations make — but they just smile at me, like I’m a weak-brained kook or something.</p>
<p>The topper for me was my feeling of being hung-out-to-dry during my most recent Middle East mission. My God, I had to pretend that we weren’t giving carte blanche to Sharon’s — I almost said Sherman’s — military campaign to wipe out the Palestinian Authority’s infrastructure and political network. Come on! They had me galivanting all over the globe for nearly a week before finally permitting me to make my way to the Holy Land. Meanwhile, Bush is “ordering” Sharon to withdraw his troops immediately — wink, wink, nudge, nudge, know what I mean? I coulda been killed hanging out there like that, twisting in the wind.</p>
<p>The Arab leaders are even more scared of Sharon than we pretend to be. None are going to risk irritating the guy, for fear he’ll attack them and destroy them, probably in two days, without even having to use their nukes. But the Arabs sure made it clear that unless the U.S. acts forcefully to solve the Israel/Palestine puzzle, we’re putting our credibility and political capital on the line in their area of the world. And nobody is going to even think about helping us attack Iraq — as much as they want Saddam to be eliminated — until the Palestinian issue is taken care of, once and for all.</p>
<p>I must say that I understand a little bit what George Mitchell must have gone through in Northern Ireland. But those two sides had battled each other “only” for 800 years; we’re talking, in a sense, thousands of years here. And it ain’t gonna be easy. Sharon and Arafat, by this time, are like two crazed animals, pawing the earth, seeing nothing but the other guy about to strike and, at this point, wanting nothing but victory, total domination. Sharon thinks he can bludgeon his way into a Greater Israel, Arafat thinks he can suicide-bomb his way into a Greater Palestine. They’re both starkers.</p>
<p>If we ever get to genuine peace talks — and it may not happen in my lifetime, another reason to consider getting out, before I’m slapped with the image of a big-time loser — we’ll probably spend months talking about the correct shape of the negotiating table. The best possible scenario would be — God, I hope nobody ever finds this diary! — for both of them to die in their sleep, with more reasonable leaders emerging to finish the job of devising a treaty and modus vivendi.</p>
<p>Well, got to end this now. More meetings, more troubleshooting in the Mideast — the Saudi plan is moving again: Arafat may want to sign something while he buys time to rebuild his political and military structure, Sharon wants to find new ways to move away from a possible Palestinian state. I’m going to find myself buried in this Administration, which has its eyes only on attacking Iraq and global control. I gotta get out of here, soon.</p>
<p>Bernard Weiner, a playwright and poet, was the San Francisco Chronicle’s theater critic for nearly 20 years. A Ph.D. in government and international relations, he has taught at various universities, and has published in The Nation, Village Voice, The Progressive and widely on the internet.</p> | true | 4 | jump karen hughes left democratic darts starting hit administrations weak spots itll look bad like im deserting ship thats started leaking badly plus people think im ambition wanting tarnished bush administrations scandals already others yet revealed im mostly kept loop suspect many transgressions side moral probably legal fence sure want president even bush cheney know helps explain behindthescenes dissing state department also enjoy feeling im helpful world often throwing cold water wolfpacks outrageous proposals wolfowitz like dog bone determination us dominate globe think checked rabies im tolerated speak mind drugs sex poverty sometimes even war policy though move real carefully dont get rid im token great many ways see allinclusive diverse cabinet look theres colin powell see hes black hes even liberal ergo administration cant bad im sure liberal look way measured rightwing zealots like ashcroft wolfowitz delay resemble flaming intellectual measured fearless leader knows mouth right phrases read speeches im partially ties poppy contacts around world im regarded trustworthy many international leaders mainly im windowdressing moral cover keep inside busy somewhat muzzled cant become head gop opposition movement know know know complex po litical dance dance order position good case administration help stop bad choose fights judiciously wont clout getting harder harder swallow good share administrations line guys course found convenient ways escape serving military bush cheney delay preparing permanent war insane figure country challenge us superpower might well go take sure could take return roman empire armies control everything thousands miles home world would resent hate attack us nonstep dissent home depressing thing democrats congress havent even called debate attacking iraq good idea ramifications might theyre scared looking unpatriotic theyve become unpatriotic remaining silent many top officials military political understanding complexities involved desire grab ome getting good believe greed positive motivating force within reasonable limits guys corporate backers cant see beyond bank accounts keep trying tell good share help others get good share thus bringing consumers line buy stuff corporations make smile like im weakbrained kook something topper feeling hungouttodry recent middle east mission god pretend werent giving carte blanche sharons almost said shermans military campaign wipe palestinian authoritys infrastructure political network come galivanting globe nearly week finally permitting make way holy land meanwhile bush ordering sharon withdraw troops immediately wink wink nudge nudge know mean coulda killed hanging like twisting wind arab leaders even scared sharon pretend none going risk irritating guy fear hell attack destroy probably two days without even use nukes arabs sure made clear unless us acts forcefully solve israelpalestine puzzle putting credibility political capital line area world nobody going even think helping us attack iraq much want saddam eliminated palestinian issue taken care must say understand little bit george mitchell must gone northern ireland two sides battled 800 years talking sense thousands years aint gon na easy sharon arafat time like two crazed animals pawing earth seeing nothing guy strike point wanting nothing victory total domination sharon thinks bludgeon way greater israel arafat thinks suicidebomb way greater palestine theyre starkers ever get genuine peace talks may happen lifetime another reason consider getting im slapped image bigtime loser well probably spend months talking correct shape negotiating table best possible scenario would god hope nobody ever finds diary die sleep reasonable leaders emerging finish job devising treaty modus vivendi well got end meetings troubleshooting mideast saudi plan moving arafat may want sign something buys time rebuild political military structure sharon wants find new ways move away possible palestinian state im going find buried administration eyes attacking iraq global control got ta get soon bernard weiner playwright poet san francisco chronicles theater critic nearly 20 years phd government international relations taught various universities published nation village voice progressive widely internet | 614 |
<p>It’s not surprising that Stuart Newman was one of the “Altenberg 16” scientists who kicked off a reformulation of the theory of evolution, the “extended evolutionary synthesis,” this July at <a href="" type="internal">Konrad Lorenz Institute</a>. While I’ve been writing about Newman’s work over the last several months, his scientific investigation into form (limb bud development) was first showcased to an international audience a quarter century ago – in a 1982 Newsweek cover story on the embryo. Since then Newman, a dedicated cell biologist and professor of anatomy at New York Medical College, has been in and out of the news, writing about the ethical issues of human genetics and bioengineering in scientific journals, sometimes appearing on public television, as well as testifying before Congress when asked.</p>
<p>Stuart Newman’s current hypothesis is that all 35 or so animal phyla physically self-organized by the time of the Cambrian explosion a half billion years ago using what he and his co-author Ramray Bhat call a pattern language – DPMs (dynamical pattering modules). The DPM concept has generated excitement since publication in <a href="" type="internal">Physical Biology</a> in April, although the commercial media is just beginning to notice.</p>
<p>Newman is a patient man, doesn’t take being overlooked personally, and attributes the lack of mainstream media coverage to “disseminators of information” not yet understanding a physical approach to evolution. Newman, on the other hand, has an A.B. in chemistry and a Ph.D. in chemical physics and is largely self-taught in biology.</p>
<p>With the highly publicized Altenberg meeting over, Newman felt comfortable enough to suggest that I visit him at New York Medical College in Valhalla “one day,” where he teaches and directs a research lab, to talk more about his work.</p>
<p>He followed up with this polite email:</p>
<p>“Please take the Metro-North 1:48 pm “Southeast” train from GCS [Grand Central Station] to Hawthorne, NY. I’ll pick you up at the station at 2:30 pm (just come down the stairs).”&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; (Just come down the stairs)? I wonder why the parentheses. . .</p>
<p>Several days later, I take the train to Hawthorne and walk down the stairs to the parking lot to meet Stuart Newman. Am I misreading cues or has he just spotted me through the window of the enclosed stairwell, put his hands in his pockets and turned his back?</p>
<p>He later asks, “Did I really do that?”</p>
<p>Stuart Newman is a graceful man, about 6’1″ with the hands of a microsurgeon – which he is. He is dressed in casual European elegance with sleeves turned up. I try not to be, but am affected by his sincerity and focus. There is an exotic twist to his hair, which in earlier photos makes him look North African.</p>
<p>Newman keeps fit on a vegetarian diet and does not follow sports, although he confesses he’s been watching the Beijing Olympics. He says he’s never attended a New York Giants football practice though, despite the fact that the Giants summer camp at Pleasantville for many years was only a village or two away from his office. A former student describes Newman as “a cerebral guy”.</p>
<p>We drive to Newman’s lab in Valhalla, a leafy village with fewer than 8,000 people situated along the Hudson River about a half hour from Manhattan.</p>
<p>I finally meet his charming grad student Ramray Bhat, who I’ve also interviewed. Bhat is from India and we speak briefly of problems in Kashmir, a conflict I covered in the 1990s.</p>
<p>The first thing I notice as I follow Stuart Newman into his office is a collection of champagne bottles against the far wall. Newman says they represent the thesis defenses of his graduate students. One bottle of Mumm Extra Dry is from March 1970 in celebration of Newman’s own Ph.D. defense.</p>
<p>Newman offers me a chair beside him. His computer opens to his desktop screen containing the voluptuous images of Rubens’ <a href="http://www.dl.ket.org/webmuseum/wm/paint/auth/rubens/henry-iv.jpg" type="external">“The Apotheosis of Henry IV and the Proclamation of the Regency of Marie de Medicis on May 14, 1610”</a>. He says art was his first love – he still draws – and then science.</p>
<p>He next gives me a crash course in self-organization, presenting the visual evidence:</p>
<p>“This is an extinct limb. And this is another extinct limb. This is a modern limb of an amphibian. This is a bird. An iguana. And you can see that they’re all kind of built the same way. They all have a single bone and then two bones. And maybe a cluster of bones. There’s a mathematical regularity.</p>
<p>This is a transparent view of the chicken limb as the bones start to emerge. And the ones close to the body differentiate first before the ones furthest from the body. It’s the same for all vertebrates – definitely all birds and mammals. They’re showing the orientation. It’s called proximal – distal, dorsal – ventral, anterior – posterior. They’re just axes.</p>
<p>Here’s a limb bud. It’s confining itself to the tip where fingers form by cells contacting each other which then turn into cartilage. Some of the cells in between the dotted lines die off. They don’t interact, they just die off. Or in a duck’s foot they become webs. They don’t differentiate into cartilage.</p>
<p>What happens when these cells interact is that they undergo a process of condensation. There’s a clustering. This actually becomes one of our DPMs – the ability of cells to respond to their microenvironment and cluster. . . .</p>
<p>I’ll show you what a self-organizational process looks like. So here [looking at cells clustering] are places where it starts up randomly, some then fade away and some get stronger. With self-organization, you can have random starts at different places but then you have competition between the centers and finally you get a pattern, which is going to oscillate. The pattern is going to subside and then it’s going to come back. And it will come back with the same statistics but the peaks will be in different places. That shows it is a true self-organizational process. . . .</p>
<p>We’ve taken this self-organizational idea and put it into the context of the geometry of the limb. And we’ve said that at the tip of the limb there’s something suppressing it from happening. Cells have to escape from this suppression to organize into spots or rods.</p>
<p>The geometry changes subtly as the limb grows in length. Under some conditions you’ll get one skeletal element. Under other conditions you’ll get two. Under still other conditions you’ll get three or, as in the human hand, five.”</p>
<p>Newman closes out the program and shows me his previous screen, a much more ethereal image. I wonder what the Rubens says about who Stuart Newman is now. . .</p>
<p>On the way out of the office we pass through his lab where he opens an incubator tray of fertilized eggs that his students are observing. It begins to rain as we exit the college and head into Tarrytown for tea.</p>
<p>We park not far from the Tarrytown theater where the Jefferson Starship will soon appear.</p>
<p>Tarrytown’s Silver Tips is one of the most “serious” tea rooms in the tri-state area, offering 140 kinds of tea. We settle in at a table and order a pot of Assam, which comes in English Chatsford china with matching cups. The feel of the Chatsford cup is half of the delicious experience of sipping. Talking with Stuart Newman naturally is the other half.</p>
<p>Newman mentions his postdoc days at the University of Sussex and his fondness for English scones with clotted cream and preserves, which he now has a chance to enjoy again. “You don’t find clotted cream around much,” he says with a certain nostalgia, as he dips into the cream and raspberries.</p>
<p>How does the Tarrytown scone compare with the Sussex scone?</p>
<p>It’s “authentic” but “too much for me actually . . . won’t you have some?” he asks.</p>
<p>He describes his high school years (same one paleontologist Steve Gould attended) and tells me a bit of his family history. We kibbitz about the Catskills and evolutionary politics.</p>
<p>The rain lets up as we leave the tea room and walk downhill to the car. Newman walks in front of me and begins to pick up his pace telling me he forgot to put money in the parking meter. Luckily the car’s still there.</p>
<p>Prior to my visit, Newman sent me an email asking if I’d like to see Usonia, a colony of homes built in the 1950s by Frank Lloyd Wright and others in the woods of Pleasantville. I was fascinated by the idea. So we drive to Pleasantville along the Kensico Reservoir and then onto Route 141. Newman is a bit concerned that we’re losing sunlight. We turn right now on Lake Street, right again on Bear Ridge Road and make another right onto Usonia Road. Fifty Usonian homes made of glass, wood and stone are somewhere in the surrounding hills, three of them designed by Wright. And we are about to try to find some.</p>
<p>Usonia was begun by a group of New Yorkers following World War II who pooled $22,000 to purchase 95 acres in the area, eventually creating their own homes at a cost of about $5,000 each. Today the homes are individually owned (but the community spirit survives) with some original residents still living in them.</p>
<p>It’s about 6 pm as we enter the woods. Interesting shadows are at play. Newman’s velvety voice becomes even more so as he whispers,”It’s like we’re stalking wild animals.”</p>
<p>“That one is a Wright house, isn’t that something!” He points to the home with a section covered with field stones and amber light oozing from the windows into the trees. “You’ve got to come back in the winter and we’ll. . . .”</p>
<p>Newman says he was never crazy about Wright’s design of the Guggenheim Museum though, describing it as “an insult to its surroundings”. “Wright’s concept was that everything was supposed to conform to the setting and then he plunks this thing on Fifth Avenue which has nothing to do with Fifth Avenue. I think he just didn’t like New York City.”</p>
<p>You’re only allowed to drive through Usonia, and are not supposed to leave the road, but Newman says he often winds up in somebody’s back yard. He points out a sculpture garden. And a tennis court.</p>
<p>Mel Smilow, a famous furniture maker used to live at Usonia. Newman says Smilow and his wife were involved in the nuclear freeze movement and that he got to know them and their house then.</p>
<p>But the shadows soon grow longer, so we leave the enchantment of the forest and head for the Hawthorne train back to Manhattan.</p>
<p>Newman waits with me on the platform as four or five trains pass all going in the wrong direction. 7:21 pm comes and goes without a New York bound train. 7:47 and still no train. We soon learn that trains to GCS are off-schedule because a tree fell onto the track several stations away and there is no announcement about when service will resume. I have to persuade him that I am a veteran of several wars before he agrees to leave me – insisting that I call him at home if there are further delays (and there is an email later from him asking me to email him as soon as I return home).</p>
<p>We say goodbye. And Newman disappears into the night and nearly full moon.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Click here to view SUZAN MAZUR’s interview with Stuart Newman.</a></p>
<p>Stuart Newman is co-author of the textbook Biological Physics of the Developing Embryo (Cambridge University Press) with Gabor Forgacs, and with Gerd Müller (Chair, Konrad Lorenz Institute) co-edited Origination of Organismal Form: Beyond the Gene in Developmental and Evolutionary Biology (MIT Press), a volume about the origination of body form during Ediacaran and early Cambrian periods, also contributing a few chapters to it. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:newman@nymc.edu" type="external">newman@nymc.edu</a></p>
<p>SUZAN MAZUR’s reports have appeared in the Financial Times, Economist, Forbes, Newsday, Philadelphia Inquirer (partial list), and on PBS, CBC and MBC. She has been a guest on McLaughlin, Charlie Rose, and various Fox television programs. Email: <a href="mailto:sznmzr@aol.com" type="external">sznmzr@aol.com</a></p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | surprising stuart newman one altenberg 16 scientists kicked reformulation theory evolution extended evolutionary synthesis july konrad lorenz institute ive writing newmans work last several months scientific investigation form limb bud development first showcased international audience quarter century ago 1982 newsweek cover story embryo since newman dedicated cell biologist professor anatomy new york medical college news writing ethical issues human genetics bioengineering scientific journals sometimes appearing public television well testifying congress asked stuart newmans current hypothesis 35 animal phyla physically selforganized time cambrian explosion half billion years ago using coauthor ramray bhat call pattern language dpms dynamical pattering modules dpm concept generated excitement since publication physical biology april although commercial media beginning notice newman patient man doesnt take overlooked personally attributes lack mainstream media coverage disseminators information yet understanding physical approach evolution newman hand ab chemistry phd chemical physics largely selftaught biology highly publicized altenberg meeting newman felt comfortable enough suggest visit new york medical college valhalla one day teaches directs research lab talk work followed polite email please take metronorth 148 pm southeast train gcs grand central station hawthorne ny ill pick station 230 pm come stairs160160160160160 come stairs wonder parentheses several days later take train hawthorne walk stairs parking lot meet stuart newman misreading cues spotted window enclosed stairwell put hands pockets turned back later asks really stuart newman graceful man 61 hands microsurgeon dressed casual european elegance sleeves turned try affected sincerity focus exotic twist hair earlier photos makes look north african newman keeps fit vegetarian diet follow sports although confesses hes watching beijing olympics says hes never attended new york giants football practice though despite fact giants summer camp pleasantville many years village two away office former student describes newman cerebral guy drive newmans lab valhalla leafy village fewer 8000 people situated along hudson river half hour manhattan finally meet charming grad student ramray bhat ive also interviewed bhat india speak briefly problems kashmir conflict covered 1990s first thing notice follow stuart newman office collection champagne bottles far wall newman says represent thesis defenses graduate students one bottle mumm extra dry march 1970 celebration newmans phd defense newman offers chair beside computer opens desktop screen containing voluptuous images rubens apotheosis henry iv proclamation regency marie de medicis may 14 1610 says art first love still draws science next gives crash course selforganization presenting visual evidence extinct limb another extinct limb modern limb amphibian bird iguana see theyre kind built way single bone two bones maybe cluster bones theres mathematical regularity transparent view chicken limb bones start emerge ones close body differentiate first ones furthest body vertebrates definitely birds mammals theyre showing orientation called proximal distal dorsal ventral anterior posterior theyre axes heres limb bud confining tip fingers form cells contacting turn cartilage cells dotted lines die dont interact die ducks foot become webs dont differentiate cartilage happens cells interact undergo process condensation theres clustering actually becomes one dpms ability cells respond microenvironment cluster ill show selforganizational process looks like looking cells clustering places starts randomly fade away get stronger selforganization random starts different places competition centers finally get pattern going oscillate pattern going subside going come back come back statistics peaks different places shows true selforganizational process weve taken selforganizational idea put context geometry limb weve said tip limb theres something suppressing happening cells escape suppression organize spots rods geometry changes subtly limb grows length conditions youll get one skeletal element conditions youll get two still conditions youll get three human hand five newman closes program shows previous screen much ethereal image wonder rubens says stuart newman way office pass lab opens incubator tray fertilized eggs students observing begins rain exit college head tarrytown tea park far tarrytown theater jefferson starship soon appear tarrytowns silver tips one serious tea rooms tristate area offering 140 kinds tea settle table order pot assam comes english chatsford china matching cups feel chatsford cup half delicious experience sipping talking stuart newman naturally half newman mentions postdoc days university sussex fondness english scones clotted cream preserves chance enjoy dont find clotted cream around much says certain nostalgia dips cream raspberries tarrytown scone compare sussex scone authentic much actually wont asks describes high school years one paleontologist steve gould attended tells bit family history kibbitz catskills evolutionary politics rain lets leave tea room walk downhill car newman walks front begins pick pace telling forgot put money parking meter luckily cars still prior visit newman sent email asking id like see usonia colony homes built 1950s frank lloyd wright others woods pleasantville fascinated idea drive pleasantville along kensico reservoir onto route 141 newman bit concerned losing sunlight turn right lake street right bear ridge road make another right onto usonia road fifty usonian homes made glass wood stone somewhere surrounding hills three designed wright try find usonia begun group new yorkers following world war ii pooled 22000 purchase 95 acres area eventually creating homes cost 5000 today homes individually owned community spirit survives original residents still living 6 pm enter woods interesting shadows play newmans velvety voice becomes even whispersits like stalking wild animals one wright house isnt something points home section covered field stones amber light oozing windows trees youve got come back winter well newman says never crazy wrights design guggenheim museum though describing insult surroundings wrights concept everything supposed conform setting plunks thing fifth avenue nothing fifth avenue think didnt like new york city youre allowed drive usonia supposed leave road newman says often winds somebodys back yard points sculpture garden tennis court mel smilow famous furniture maker used live usonia newman says smilow wife involved nuclear freeze movement got know house shadows soon grow longer leave enchantment forest head hawthorne train back manhattan newman waits platform four five trains pass going wrong direction 721 pm comes goes without new york bound train 747 still train soon learn trains gcs offschedule tree fell onto track several stations away announcement service resume persuade veteran several wars agrees leave insisting call home delays email later asking email soon return home say goodbye newman disappears night nearly full moon click view suzan mazurs interview stuart newman stuart newman coauthor textbook biological physics developing embryo cambridge university press gabor forgacs gerd müller chair konrad lorenz institute coedited origination organismal form beyond gene developmental evolutionary biology mit press volume origination body form ediacaran early cambrian periods also contributing chapters reached newmannymcedu suzan mazurs reports appeared financial times economist forbes newsday philadelphia inquirer partial list pbs cbc mbc guest mclaughlin charlie rose various fox television programs email sznmzraolcom 160 ad 160 160 160 160 | 1,087 |
<p>I hate barstools.</p>
<p>OK, let me amend that. I like them well enough at 2:15 on a Tuesday afternoon, when you can pull one up, lay a stack of bills on the bar and let the afternoon pad away on quiet cat feet of jukebox C&amp;W and Crown Royal.</p>
<p>But when 6:30 p.m. rolls around and you’re trying to get a drink and the bar is palisaded with a Trumpian wall of backs; when putting in a simple drink order means you have to stick your head into someone’s side eye-patrolled personal space and yell past their ear; when reaching over the tight-packed shoulders to get your <a href="/content/dailybeast/articles/2016/06/02/how-luis-bunuel-made-a-perfectly-surreal-martini.html" type="external">Martini</a> is like playing one of those rigged claw games—then, barstools suck.</p>
<p>They represent, ultimately, a private taking of what should be a public space, like so many Malibu beach mansions, and separate us into the protective haves and the resentful have-nots. If you ask me, barstools are un-American.</p>
<p>And in actual fact, they are. Before <a href="/content/dailybeast/articles/2016/12/05/how-prohibition-made-al-capone-an-inadvertent-hero.html" type="external">Prohibition</a>, with very few exceptions stools were for <a href="/content/dailybeast/articles/2016/08/15/the-oyster-makes-its-return-to-the-hudson-and-the-chesapeake.html" type="external">oyster</a> counters and soda fountains. You sat on stools to eat, not to drink. If you wanted a cocktail or a shot of something, you hoisted your foot up on the brass rail, leaned in, and placed your order. When your drink came, you relinquished the space, turned to face your friends, and drank with them. This was the American style of bar, “peculiar to this country,” as the Brooklyn Eagle noted in 1865, “the peculiarity of which is that there are no sitting accommodations” and “the patrons drink standing at the counter.” That Western saloon in the movies, where some cowboy gets tight and starts bashing the Riley next to him with his stool? Never happened.</p>
<p>There were other sorts of bars here, of course—Irish type ones, where you got your <a href="/content/dailybeast/articles/2017/01/26/craft-beer-s-answer-to-light-beer.html" type="external">beer</a> and whiskey standing at the bar but there were also tables along the wall, where you could sit and linger over those drinks; French-style cafes, German-style lager beer gardens, so on and so forth. But the barstool was foreign to them all. Then came Prohibition, and the speakeasy. Some speaks tried to run things on the old saloon plan. Others, however, were forward-looking in their choice of décor. That meant taking their style cues from places people could still drink legally, like London, Paris, or <a href="/content/dailybeast/articles/2017/01/31/drinking-like-hemingway-in-havana.html" type="external">Havana</a>. And those places had barstools, as old postcards depicting institutions such as—to pick a couple out of many—Sloppy Joe’s in Havana or the Adlon bar in Berlin demonstrate. (There were, of course, exceptions, such as Harry’s New York Bar in Paris, which stuck to the American plan—although nowadays even Harry’s has stools.)</p>
<p>One of the reasons those non-American American bars had stools is that they allowed women to drink there, and hoisting a foot up on the brass rail and leaning into a shot of hooch was somehow considered unladylike. Speakeasies allowed women, too. (After all, if you were paying all that protection you couldn’t very well afford to cut off half of your clientele.) And whether for that reason or just because it looked stylish, they tended to have barstools. It being America, some of them took things a little too far: There was even one New York joint that put in a full, working merry-go-round, with the bar in the middle and various carved horses, panthers, and whatnot for the customers to ride.</p>
<p>Come Repeal, even those who wanted to bring back the old saloon all too often couldn’t. Repeal was a bargain: The Federal government lifted the law but let the states regulate alcohol as they saw fit, and in the state capitals the Anti-Saloon League was still alive. If these worthies realized (reluctantly) that they had to bow to the public will, they were still going to make sure that they saved some face. That meant that saloons couldn’t look like, well, saloons (indeed, Missouri law stated that drinking joints “must not resemble old-time saloon[s]”). In some states, such as New York, that just meant you couldn’t call your place a saloon. As late as 1967, when an actor named Patrick O’Neal tried to open a hip, casual bar and grill across from the recently-opened Lincoln Center in New York, the State Liquor Authority nixed his expensive new sign: “O’Neal’s Saloon,” it read. OK. A couple of strokes of paint later and the “S” was a “B.” As “O’Neal’s Baloon” [sic] the bar became one of the iconic watering holes of its age, partly because of its bizarre name.</p>
<p>Other states were more aggressive, jiggering their laws so that a bar had to basically disguise itself as a restaurant that just happened to serve drinks. That meant hot food had to be served and it meant barstools, because it was an eating place now, not just a drinking one. That was the theory. But, as one California newspaper noted, it was still perfectly legal for an individual to “climb on a stool in front of a bar where food is available and order as many drinks as he wishes without bothering about the food.” Some jurisdictions dispensed with the food and simply mandated that people had to sit while drinking, whether at a table or at the bar. Others restricted drinks to table service. (Metzger’s, in Pittsburgh, got around that by placing 15 tiny tables on the bar, one between every two stools, and neatly placing the drinks on those; that is a bar I would have liked to drink at.) By the 1950s, the barstool had spread by osmosis even into the states that didn’t require it.</p>
<p>Eventually, most of the sillier of those Repeal-era strictures faded away, although their ivy-covered ruins can still be found in many state’s liquor codes, and in the culture of the American bar. The barstool is one of those ruins, and it’s with us forever. But if you’ve ever drunk at a place that eschews them, such as J.J. Foley’s in South Boston, you’ll appreciate how doing away with them creates an easy, egalitarian flow at the bar and makes the whole place more social.</p>
<p>Of course, if the place has stools, I’ll do my best to secure one. It’s always better to be a have than a have not. But I don’t like the person having one turns me into. Ideally, the stool would be like the so-called nyctinastic flowers, that fold their petals up at sundown. That way we could still have our occasional leisurely afternoon camp-out without gumming things up once society starts to show up. Call me a barroom utopianist.</p> | true | 4 | hate barstools ok let amend like well enough 215 tuesday afternoon pull one lay stack bills bar let afternoon pad away quiet cat feet jukebox campw crown royal 630 pm rolls around youre trying get drink bar palisaded trumpian wall backs putting simple drink order means stick head someones side eyepatrolled personal space yell past ear reaching tightpacked shoulders get martini like playing one rigged claw gamesthen barstools suck represent ultimately private taking public space like many malibu beach mansions separate us protective haves resentful havenots ask barstools unamerican actual fact prohibition exceptions stools oyster counters soda fountains sat stools eat drink wanted cocktail shot something hoisted foot brass rail leaned placed order drink came relinquished space turned face friends drank american style bar peculiar country brooklyn eagle noted 1865 peculiarity sitting accommodations patrons drink standing counter western saloon movies cowboy gets tight starts bashing riley next stool never happened sorts bars courseirish type ones got beer whiskey standing bar also tables along wall could sit linger drinks frenchstyle cafes germanstyle lager beer gardens forth barstool foreign came prohibition speakeasy speaks tried run things old saloon plan others however forwardlooking choice décor meant taking style cues places people could still drink legally like london paris havana places barstools old postcards depicting institutions asto pick couple manysloppy joes havana adlon bar berlin demonstrate course exceptions harrys new york bar paris stuck american planalthough nowadays even harrys stools one reasons nonamerican american bars stools allowed women drink hoisting foot brass rail leaning shot hooch somehow considered unladylike speakeasies allowed women paying protection couldnt well afford cut half clientele whether reason looked stylish tended barstools america took things little far even one new york joint put full working merrygoround bar middle various carved horses panthers whatnot customers ride come repeal even wanted bring back old saloon often couldnt repeal bargain federal government lifted law let states regulate alcohol saw fit state capitals antisaloon league still alive worthies realized reluctantly bow public still going make sure saved face meant saloons couldnt look like well saloons indeed missouri law stated drinking joints must resemble oldtime saloons states new york meant couldnt call place saloon late 1967 actor named patrick oneal tried open hip casual bar grill across recentlyopened lincoln center new york state liquor authority nixed expensive new sign oneals saloon read ok couple strokes paint later b oneals baloon sic bar became one iconic watering holes age partly bizarre name states aggressive jiggering laws bar basically disguise restaurant happened serve drinks meant hot food served meant barstools eating place drinking one theory one california newspaper noted still perfectly legal individual climb stool front bar food available order many drinks wishes without bothering food jurisdictions dispensed food simply mandated people sit drinking whether table bar others restricted drinks table service metzgers pittsburgh got around placing 15 tiny tables bar one every two stools neatly placing drinks bar would liked drink 1950s barstool spread osmosis even states didnt require eventually sillier repealera strictures faded away although ivycovered ruins still found many states liquor codes culture american bar barstool one ruins us forever youve ever drunk place eschews jj foleys south boston youll appreciate away creates easy egalitarian flow bar makes whole place social course place stools ill best secure one always better dont like person one turns ideally stool would like socalled nyctinastic flowers fold petals sundown way could still occasional leisurely afternoon campout without gumming things society starts show call barroom utopianist | 577 |
<p>Frequently lost in the arguments over financial costs and benefits when it comes to pollution is the cost to human health. Not only illness and respiratory problems but premature death. To put it bluntly: How many human lives should we exchange for corporate profit?</p>
<p>Two new studies by the World Health Organization should force us to confront these issues head on. This is no small matter — the two WHO studies estimate that polluted environments cause 1.7 million children age five or younger to die per year.</p>
<p>Indoor and outdoor air pollution, second-hand smoke, unsafe water, lack of sanitation, and inadequate hygiene all contribute to these 1.7 million annual deaths, accounting for more than one-quarter of all deaths of children age five or younger globally. <a href="" type="internal">A summary notes</a>:</p>
<p>“[W]hen infants and pre-schoolers are exposed to indoor and outdoor air pollution and second-hand smoke they have an increased risk of pneumonia in childhood, and a lifelong increased risk of chronic respiratory diseases, such as asthma. Exposure to air pollution may also increase their lifelong risk of heart disease, stroke and cancer.”</p>
<p>One of the two reports, <a href="" type="internal">Don’t pollute my future! The impact of the environment on children’s health</a>, notes that most of humanity lives in environmentally stressed areas:</p>
<p>“92% of the global population, including billions of children, live in areas with ambient air pollution levels that exceed WHO limits. Over three billion people are exposed to household air pollution from the use of solid fuels. Air pollution causes approximately 600,000 deaths in children under five years annually and increases the risk for respiratory infections, asthma, adverse neonatal conditions and congenital anomalies. Air pollution accounts for over 50% of the overall disease burden of pneumonia which is among the leading causes of global child mortality. Growing evidence suggests that air pollution adversely affects cognitive development in children and early exposures might induce development of chronic disease in adulthood.” [page 3]</p>
<p>These types of calculations on health and mortality are absent from debates on environmental regulations. And not only is the human toll missing from cost/benefit analyses, but this pollution is actually subsidized.</p>
<p>Trump administration’s assault on the environment</p>
<p>These World Health Organization reports were published in the same month that the Trump administration mounted a full-scale assault on the U.S. environment. Not only has the Trump administration proposed draconian cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency and signaled its intention to rescind air-pollution rules for motor vehicles scheduled to come into force between 2022 and 2025, it has issued an <a href="" type="internal">executive order requiring</a> a “review [of] existing regulations that potentially burden the development or use of domestically produced energy resources and appropriately suspend, revise, or rescind those that unduly burden the development of domestic energy resources.”</p>
<p>One of the targets of this order is the Clean Power Plan, which requires a 32 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants by 2030, compared to 2005 emission rates. The standard, implemented by the Obama administration, was already seen as inadequate. The increased danger raised by President Donald Trump’s order was succinctly summed up by this headline on a Weather Underground article written by Jeff Masters: “ <a href="https://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/trumps-executive-order-threatens-to-wreck-earth-as-a-livable-planet" type="external">Trump’s Executive Order Threatens to Wreck Earth as a Livable Planet for Humans</a>.”</p>
<p>Threats don’t get much graver than that, do they?</p>
<p>Given the gigantic size of the United States economy and the pollution thrown into the atmosphere, this is of serious concern to the entire world. The World Resources Institute estimates that the U.S. accounts for <a href="" type="internal">almost 15 percent of</a> Earth’s current greenhouse-gas emissions, second only to China’s 20 percent. Russia and the U.S. emit more than twice the global average on a per capita basis, as does Canada, which, due to its heavy reliance on fossil fuel extraction, has the world’s largest per-person greenhouse-gas footprint.</p>
<p>When greenhouse-gas emissions are calculated on a cumulative basis, then the responsibility of the global North comes into sharper focus: The United States has accounted for 27 percent of all greenhouse gases emitted since 1850, and the countries of the European Union contributed another 25 percent.</p>
<p>Carbon dioxide is the biggest single contributor to global warming — which is why the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had sought to regulate carbon dioxide emissions as a pollutant — but methane is also a significant contributor. The EPA in 2016 <a href="https://www.epa.gov/controlling-air-pollution-oil-and-natural-gas-industry/background-information-request-oil-and" type="external">issued an order requiring</a> that owners and operators of oil and gas facilities provide&#160;data&#160;needed to help it determine how to best reduce methane and other harmful emissions. But the Trump administration <a href="http://columbiaclimatelaw.com/climate-deregulation-tracker/epa-withdraws-request-for-oil-and-gas-industry-to-submit-data-on-methane-controls/" type="external">has withdrawn the order</a> to provide data.</p>
<p>Not everything can be reversed at the stroke a pen, however. The larger attack on the Clean Power Plan will likely <a href="https://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/trumps-executive-order-threatens-to-wreck-earth-as-a-livable-planet" type="external">take years to carry out</a>, Dr. Masters wrote:</p>
<p>“The Clean Power Plan will be difficult to undo quickly. The plan was finalized by EPA in 2015, and is currently being reviewed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Under the new executive order, the Department of Justice will ask the court to suspend the case until the EPA can review and write a new version of the rule. (Before that happens, the court may still rule on the Plan as written, which will influence how the EPA can rewrite the rule.) Once the case is removed from the court, the EPA will have to legally withdraw the existing rule and propose a new rule to take its place, a process that could take years, as the new rule will have to be justified in court, and would likely be challenged in court by environmental groups.”</p>
<p>Hundreds of thousands of lives in the balance</p>
<p>Nonetheless, a fightback is essential. Lives are literally at stake, in large numbers, if regulations safeguarding air quality are reversed. The EPA estimates that 160,000 <a href="" type="internal">premature deaths were prevented</a> in 2010 by the Clean Air Act, and estimates that 230,000 lives will be saved and 120,000 emergency-room visits saved in 2020 if the act is left intact. The EPA said the benefits of the act “exceeds costs by a factor of more than 30 to one.” This study, at least for the moment, hasn’t been expunged from the Internet by the Trump administration.</p>
<p>A separate study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) estimates that air pollution causes <a href="" type="internal">200,000 early deaths</a> each year in the United States alone. The two biggest contributors to that death toll, the MIT report found, are emissions from road transportation and power generation, which together account for just more than half the total. One of the study’s authors, MIT professor Steven Barrett, said a person who dies from an air pollution-related cause typically dies about a decade earlier than he or she otherwise might have.</p>
<p>The Canadian government estimates that a 10 percent reduction in particulate-matter and ozone levels would result in a net social welfare benefit for Canadians of <a href="" type="internal">more than $4 billion</a>. A separate study estimates that the cost to Canadian health care from air pollution <a href="" type="internal">will total $250 billion</a> by 2031 without significant reductions.</p>
<p>This exercise can be repeated around the world. A 2015 World Health Organization study estimates that indoor and outdoor air pollution costs European economies <a href="" type="internal">as much as €1.2 trillion</a> annually in deaths and diseases. This includes £54 billion and 29,000 deaths per year in Britain. For Australia, the cost from air pollution was estimated at $5.8 billion in 2010, a doubling in only five years.</p>
<p>Globally, air pollution could lead to <a href="" type="internal">nine million premature deaths</a> and US$2.6 trillion in economic damage from the costs of sick days, medical bills and reduced agricultural output by 2060, according to an Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development study.</p>
<p>Only a drastic reduction in emissions can reverse these costs in human health and the mounting dangers of global warming.</p>
<p>We’ll have to go well beyond current plans</p>
<p>Cap-and-trade schemes, promoted by North American liberals and European social democrats, simply don’t work. The European Union system, for example, issued so many free certificates that the price of pollution is a <a href="" type="internal">small fraction of the target price</a>, and attempts by environmentalists to reduce the number of certifications are consistently rebuffed. Moreover, cap-and-trade plans often allow “offsets,” whereby companies can buy emission credits from outside the program to “offset” emissions above the allowable level, allowing polluters to substitute unverifiable reductions elsewhere for real reductions locally.</p>
<p>Nor are renewable energy sources, as vital as they are to any rational future, a substitute for reducing energy usage. Renewable energy <a href="" type="internal">is not necessarily clean</a> nor without contributions to global warming. Wind power and biomass, for example, have their own problems. The primary source of bioenergy is wood, which portends an increase in logging, counter to winning a struggle against global warming. Denmark and Britain are among the biggest users of biomass but must import wood to sustain that. The turbines used to produce electricity from wind increasingly are built with the “rare earth” element neodymium, which requires a highly toxic process to produce. Production of rare earths are environmentally destructive; increasing their extraction means more pollution and toxic waste.</p>
<p>The argument here certainly isn’t that a switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy as quickly as practical isn’t necessary; of course such a switch needs to be made. But if reversing pollution and greenhouse-gas emissions is the goal, then renewables are at most a partial measure.</p>
<p>The Paris Climate Summit ended with a surprise decision by the world’s governments to limit the rise of the global average temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial revolution average instead of the previously intended limit of 2 degrees. The difficulty here, however, is that even if every national goal were met, the Earth’s temperature <a href="" type="internal">would rise 2.2 to 3.4 degrees</a> by 2100 with more to come, and the Paris summit contains no mechanism to enforce these goals.</p>
<p>Adding to the difficulty of reducing fossil fuel usage sufficiently to meet the Paris summit’s goals (and which would also reduce the damage to human health) is the astounding total of subsidies for them. A 2015 study that attempted to quantify the size of these subsidies on a global basis <a href="" type="internal">estimated them at US$5.6 trillion</a>! That includes not only direct government subsidies through tax breaks and other programs, but damage to the environment — these are not inconsequential as the costs of air pollution and global warming transferred to society account for nearly two-thirds of that total.</p>
<p>“Fracking” (hydraulic fracturing) of rock to blast out natural gas alone accounts for <a href="" type="internal">billions of dollars of damages</a> through contaminated water, health problems from the chemicals used in the process, air pollution, methane that contributes to global warming, disruption to agriculture and damage to roads from trucks. That the cost of those is transferred to society is another mammoth subsidy to the energy industry.</p>
<p>Overshooting Earth’s carrying capacity</p>
<p>The most recent estimate of planetary consumption is that humanity is <a href="http://www.overshootday.org/" type="external">using the equivalent of 1.6 Earths</a> per year. By 2030, at present rates of increase, we’ll be consuming two Earths — that is, twice the capacity of our planet to sustain.</p>
<p>Then there is the matter of global warming. Two scientific studies issued in 2015 suggest that so much carbon dioxide already has been thrown in the air that humanity may have already committed itself to a <a href="" type="internal">six-meter rise in sea level</a>. A separate 2015 study, prepared by 18 scientists, found that the Earth is <a href="" type="internal">crossing several “planetary boundaries”</a> that together will render the planet much less hospitable.</p>
<p>What is the price of making Earth uninhabitable? No amount of strip-mining the Moon or the asteroid belt will reverse mass die-offs on Earth.</p>
<p>Illusions that “ <a href="" type="internal">green capitalism</a>” will save us really must be abandoned. Beyond that capitalism requires constant growth (infinite growth is impossible on a finite planet) and discourages corporate responsibility because enterprises can offload their responsibilities onto society, every incentive is for more production. Adding to that, capitalist economics discounts the future so much that <a href="" type="internal">future life is seen as nearly worthless</a>. Thus, in this type of accounting, there is no cost for future pollution.</p>
<p>Authors Richard York, Brett Clark and John Bellamy Foster put this plainly in a thoughtful <a href="" type="internal">May 2009 article</a> in Monthly Review. They wrote:</p>
<p>“Where [orthodox economists] primarily differ is not on their views of the science behind climate change but on their value assumptions about the propriety of shifting burdens to future generations. This lays bare the ideology embedded in orthodox neoclassical economics, a field which regularly presents itself as using objective, even naturalistic, methods for modeling the economy. However, past all of the equations and technical jargon, the dominant economic paradigm is built on a value system that prizes capital accumulation in the short-term, while de-valuing everything else in the present and everything altogether in the future.”</p>
<p>As for the present day, capitalist enterprises aren’t going to guarantee jobs to workers displaced from energy-extraction industries, and if those workers don’t have any viable alternatives, it can’t be expected they will do anything other than join their bosses in fighting for their industry. Thus any rational plan to drastically shrink fossil fuel extraction has to be able to provide alternative jobs. Nor do the costs in human lives discussed above factor into capitalist economic calculations.</p>
<p>The drastic changes that are necessary to reverse the human and environmental tolls of pollution will come with a hefty price tag. But the cost of continuing business as usual is much higher — a price our descendants will pay if we don’t move to an economic system that values life rather than only profits.</p> | true | 4 | frequently lost arguments financial costs benefits comes pollution cost human health illness respiratory problems premature death put bluntly many human lives exchange corporate profit two new studies world health organization force us confront issues head small matter two studies estimate polluted environments cause 17 million children age five younger die per year indoor outdoor air pollution secondhand smoke unsafe water lack sanitation inadequate hygiene contribute 17 million annual deaths accounting onequarter deaths children age five younger globally summary notes infants preschoolers exposed indoor outdoor air pollution secondhand smoke increased risk pneumonia childhood lifelong increased risk chronic respiratory diseases asthma exposure air pollution may also increase lifelong risk heart disease stroke cancer one two reports dont pollute future impact environment childrens health notes humanity lives environmentally stressed areas 92 global population including billions children live areas ambient air pollution levels exceed limits three billion people exposed household air pollution use solid fuels air pollution causes approximately 600000 deaths children five years annually increases risk respiratory infections asthma adverse neonatal conditions congenital anomalies air pollution accounts 50 overall disease burden pneumonia among leading causes global child mortality growing evidence suggests air pollution adversely affects cognitive development children early exposures might induce development chronic disease adulthood page 3 types calculations health mortality absent debates environmental regulations human toll missing costbenefit analyses pollution actually subsidized trump administrations assault environment world health organization reports published month trump administration mounted fullscale assault us environment trump administration proposed draconian cuts environmental protection agency signaled intention rescind airpollution rules motor vehicles scheduled come force 2022 2025 issued executive order requiring review existing regulations potentially burden development use domestically produced energy resources appropriately suspend revise rescind unduly burden development domestic energy resources one targets order clean power plan requires 32 percent reduction carbon dioxide emissions existing power plants 2030 compared 2005 emission rates standard implemented obama administration already seen inadequate increased danger raised president donald trumps order succinctly summed headline weather underground article written jeff masters trumps executive order threatens wreck earth livable planet humans threats dont get much graver given gigantic size united states economy pollution thrown atmosphere serious concern entire world world resources institute estimates us accounts almost 15 percent earths current greenhousegas emissions second chinas 20 percent russia us emit twice global average per capita basis canada due heavy reliance fossil fuel extraction worlds largest perperson greenhousegas footprint greenhousegas emissions calculated cumulative basis responsibility global north comes sharper focus united states accounted 27 percent greenhouse gases emitted since 1850 countries european union contributed another 25 percent carbon dioxide biggest single contributor global warming us environmental protection agency sought regulate carbon dioxide emissions pollutant methane also significant contributor epa 2016 issued order requiring owners operators oil gas facilities provide160data160needed help determine best reduce methane harmful emissions trump administration withdrawn order provide data everything reversed stroke pen however larger attack clean power plan likely take years carry dr masters wrote clean power plan difficult undo quickly plan finalized epa 2015 currently reviewed us court appeals district columbia circuit new executive order department justice ask court suspend case epa review write new version rule happens court may still rule plan written influence epa rewrite rule case removed court epa legally withdraw existing rule propose new rule take place process could take years new rule justified court would likely challenged court environmental groups hundreds thousands lives balance nonetheless fightback essential lives literally stake large numbers regulations safeguarding air quality reversed epa estimates 160000 premature deaths prevented 2010 clean air act estimates 230000 lives saved 120000 emergencyroom visits saved 2020 act left intact epa said benefits act exceeds costs factor 30 one study least moment hasnt expunged internet trump administration separate study massachusetts institute technology mit estimates air pollution causes 200000 early deaths year united states alone two biggest contributors death toll mit report found emissions road transportation power generation together account half total one studys authors mit professor steven barrett said person dies air pollutionrelated cause typically dies decade earlier otherwise might canadian government estimates 10 percent reduction particulatematter ozone levels would result net social welfare benefit canadians 4 billion separate study estimates cost canadian health care air pollution total 250 billion 2031 without significant reductions exercise repeated around world 2015 world health organization study estimates indoor outdoor air pollution costs european economies much 12 trillion annually deaths diseases includes 54 billion 29000 deaths per year britain australia cost air pollution estimated 58 billion 2010 doubling five years globally air pollution could lead nine million premature deaths us26 trillion economic damage costs sick days medical bills reduced agricultural output 2060 according organisation economic cooperation development study drastic reduction emissions reverse costs human health mounting dangers global warming well go well beyond current plans capandtrade schemes promoted north american liberals european social democrats simply dont work european union system example issued many free certificates price pollution small fraction target price attempts environmentalists reduce number certifications consistently rebuffed moreover capandtrade plans often allow offsets whereby companies buy emission credits outside program offset emissions allowable level allowing polluters substitute unverifiable reductions elsewhere real reductions locally renewable energy sources vital rational future substitute reducing energy usage renewable energy necessarily clean without contributions global warming wind power biomass example problems primary source bioenergy wood portends increase logging counter winning struggle global warming denmark britain among biggest users biomass must import wood sustain turbines used produce electricity wind increasingly built rare earth element neodymium requires highly toxic process produce production rare earths environmentally destructive increasing extraction means pollution toxic waste argument certainly isnt switch fossil fuels renewable energy quickly practical isnt necessary course switch needs made reversing pollution greenhousegas emissions goal renewables partial measure paris climate summit ended surprise decision worlds governments limit rise global average temperature 15 degrees celsius preindustrial revolution average instead previously intended limit 2 degrees difficulty however even every national goal met earths temperature would rise 22 34 degrees 2100 come paris summit contains mechanism enforce goals adding difficulty reducing fossil fuel usage sufficiently meet paris summits goals would also reduce damage human health astounding total subsidies 2015 study attempted quantify size subsidies global basis estimated us56 trillion includes direct government subsidies tax breaks programs damage environment inconsequential costs air pollution global warming transferred society account nearly twothirds total fracking hydraulic fracturing rock blast natural gas alone accounts billions dollars damages contaminated water health problems chemicals used process air pollution methane contributes global warming disruption agriculture damage roads trucks cost transferred society another mammoth subsidy energy industry overshooting earths carrying capacity recent estimate planetary consumption humanity using equivalent 16 earths per year 2030 present rates increase well consuming two earths twice capacity planet sustain matter global warming two scientific studies issued 2015 suggest much carbon dioxide already thrown air humanity may already committed sixmeter rise sea level separate 2015 study prepared 18 scientists found earth crossing several planetary boundaries together render planet much less hospitable price making earth uninhabitable amount stripmining moon asteroid belt reverse mass dieoffs earth illusions green capitalism save us really must abandoned beyond capitalism requires constant growth infinite growth impossible finite planet discourages corporate responsibility enterprises offload responsibilities onto society every incentive production adding capitalist economics discounts future much future life seen nearly worthless thus type accounting cost future pollution authors richard york brett clark john bellamy foster put plainly thoughtful may 2009 article monthly review wrote orthodox economists primarily differ views science behind climate change value assumptions propriety shifting burdens future generations lays bare ideology embedded orthodox neoclassical economics field regularly presents using objective even naturalistic methods modeling economy however past equations technical jargon dominant economic paradigm built value system prizes capital accumulation shortterm devaluing everything else present everything altogether future present day capitalist enterprises arent going guarantee jobs workers displaced energyextraction industries workers dont viable alternatives cant expected anything join bosses fighting industry thus rational plan drastically shrink fossil fuel extraction able provide alternative jobs costs human lives discussed factor capitalist economic calculations drastic changes necessary reverse human environmental tolls pollution come hefty price tag cost continuing business usual much higher price descendants pay dont move economic system values life rather profits | 1,346 |
<p>One of the bigger stories Friday revolved around an interview Donald Trump’s doctor did with NBC News where he discussed <a href="" type="internal">the highly scrutinized</a> “medical evaluation” he supposedly wrote for Trump last December. In it, he declared that the Republican presidential candidate would be the “healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency” if he were to win the job.</p>
<p>While I’m sure this interview was designed to address renewed interest in the fairly ridiculous letter, personally, I think it did the exact opposite.</p>
<p>To begin with, Dr. Bornstein claims he was given plenty of warning to compose the letter, yet did so in&#160;five minutes&#160;as a limo waited outside his office. Now, maybe it’s just me, but if I’m a doctor for a leading presidential candidate who was asked me to provide a very important document detailing the health of someone who might very well become our next Commander-in-Chief, that’s something I would take&#160;very&#160;seriously. Either you spend the adequate amount of time writing a credible medical evaluation, or you tell the limo to come back later because you weren’t finished. So forgive me if I’m a bit skeptical of his excuse that the reason why the letter came off sounding rather ridiculous is because he was in a rush.</p>
<p>But there’s much more.</p>
<p>Dr. Bornstein used the excuse that he was rushed when writing the letter, but he actually defended one of the most ridiculed&#160;lines where he stated that Trump would be the “healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.”</p>
<p>“I like that sentence, to be quite honest with you, and all the rest of them are either sick or dead,” Bornstein said.</p>
<p>What does that even mean? Just because former presidents such as Jimmy Carter and George H. W. Bush are much older now and not in the greatest of health doesn’t mean they weren’t healthy when elected. That statement had nothing to do with the&#160;current&#160;health of past presidents, but their health&#160;when they were elected.</p>
<p>Not only that, but is he really suggesting that Trump is more healthy than President Obama — a fairly active and fit individual&#160;who’s&#160;15 years younger than the Republican presidential candidate?&#160;And what about George W. Bush? He’s the same age as Trump. Where’s the evidence that “The Donald”&#160;is healthier than our 43rd president?</p>
<p>The good doctor also put his endorsement on Trump’s mental health.</p>
<p>“His health is excellent, especially his mental health,” Bornstein said laughing.</p>
<p>Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m not sure that a doctor who claims to specialize in gastrointestinal issues is exactly the best person to discuss the&#160;mental health&#160;of someone — even if Trump does seem to live with his head up his own backside. Typically you won’t see doctors make&#160;these types of bold health claims outside their field of expertise. Those words also sound an awful lot like something he was told to say since many of Trump’s critics have accused him of being mentally unstable.</p>
<p>Obviously, that’s just speculation on my part based on the circumstances and people involved.</p>
<p>Dr. Bornstein also addressed accusations&#160;by many (myself included) that the letter was actually <a href="" type="internal">written by Donald Trump</a>&#160;himself, by saying that it sounded that way&#160;because he “picked up on his kind of language” then “just interpreted it” as his own.</p>
<p>So, wait, did he mean to write such a ridiculous letter or didn’t he? I’m a bit lost.</p>
<p>In this interview, Dr. Bornstein is doing two things:</p>
<p>But then he completely contradicts the entire premise of the letter by later saying that Trump’s health is no better or worse than the average person with the same lifestyle.</p>
<p>“I don’t think he’s in any better or worse health than the average person that goes and exercises every single day,” Bornstein&#160;said. “Doesn’t smoke, doesn’t drink — and that’s simply the best advantage you can have to live — and he’s got a good family history.”</p>
<p>Wait a minute. So,&#160;we’ve gone from Trump being the “healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency,” a man with “extraordinary” physical strength and stamina whose test results were “astonishingly excellent” — to him simply being no better or worse than any other 70-year-old who lives a similar lifestyle?</p>
<p>Then let’s address this “good family history” comment. While Trump’s father did live until he was 93, he was suffering from Alzheimer’s at the time of his death. So, I’m not exactly sure how having your father die of a severe&#160;debilitating mental illness constitutes a “good family history.”</p>
<p>None of this is adding up.</p>
<p>First, he completely contradicts his reasoning for the lack of professionalism of the letter by&#160;defending&#160;practically every aspect of it — then&#160;he contradicts the entire premise of the letter&#160;by saying that Trump is no better or worse than anyone his age with a similar lifestyle.</p>
<p>I clearly have no way to prove that Donald Trump wrote his own medical evaluation, but Dr. Bornstein’s interview only solidified my belief&#160;that he did.</p>
<p>If you ask me, during this interview, he came off as someone who, knowing there was no actual&#160;way to disprove&#160;anything that was written in that letter, was told by “someone” to come&#160;up with an excuse for the mistakes and very non-medical language used since it had come under such intense scrutiny over the last couple of weeks. Because while he seemed to “stick to the script” by defending the&#160;comically written “medical evaluation,” he also contradicted the entire thing when he said that Donald Trump is no better or worse than anyone his age who’s living a similar lifestyle.</p>
<p>I would like to point out that him saying Trump is “no better or worse” is extremely vague and many 70-year-old individuals&#160;who’ve lived healthy lifestyles still suffer from severe medical&#160;conditions. So that comment doesn’t really address anything related to whether or not Trump is or isn’t healthy.</p>
<p>Practically nothing he said during this interview addressed anything&#160;specific&#160;about Donald Trump’s health. All Dr. Bornstein did was make an excuse for why the letter was written so poorly,&#160;defend&#160;the context of it, then contradict the entire thing by offering a very generic health analysis — that seems to indicate he isn’t aware Trump’s father died of Alzheimer’s. That’s interesting considering he was his doctor, as well.</p>
<p>From my perspective, all Dr. Bornstein’s interview did was solidify my personal belief that <a href="" type="internal">Donald Trump wrote his own</a> “medical evaluation.”</p>
<p>Watch the interview below <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com" type="external">via NBC News</a>:</p>
<p />
<p />
<p><a href="" type="internal">Donald Trump's 'Astonishingly Extraordinary' Health Report Looks Like It Was Written By Him</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Pass The Popcorn: Donald Trump Humiliates Tea Party Group After They Call Him A Joke Candidate</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">The B.S. I Witnessed on Wednesday is Exactly Why Trump Might Become Our Next President</a></p>
<p>0 Facebook comments</p> | true | 4 | one bigger stories friday revolved around interview donald trumps doctor nbc news discussed highly scrutinized medical evaluation supposedly wrote trump last december declared republican presidential candidate would healthiest individual ever elected presidency win job im sure interview designed address renewed interest fairly ridiculous letter personally think exact opposite begin dr bornstein claims given plenty warning compose letter yet in160five minutes160as limo waited outside office maybe im doctor leading presidential candidate asked provide important document detailing health someone might well become next commanderinchief thats something would take160very160seriously either spend adequate amount time writing credible medical evaluation tell limo come back later werent finished forgive im bit skeptical excuse reason letter came sounding rather ridiculous rush theres much dr bornstein used excuse rushed writing letter actually defended one ridiculed160lines stated trump would healthiest individual ever elected presidency like sentence quite honest rest either sick dead bornstein said even mean former presidents jimmy carter george h w bush much older greatest health doesnt mean werent healthy elected statement nothing the160current160health past presidents health160when elected really suggesting trump healthy president obama fairly active fit individual160whos16015 years younger republican presidential candidate160and george w bush hes age trump wheres evidence donald160is healthier 43rd president good doctor also put endorsement trumps mental health health excellent especially mental health bornstein said laughing correct im wrong im sure doctor claims specialize gastrointestinal issues exactly best person discuss the160mental health160of someone even trump seem live head backside typically wont see doctors make160these types bold health claims outside field expertise words also sound awful lot like something told say since many trumps critics accused mentally unstable obviously thats speculation part based circumstances people involved dr bornstein also addressed accusations160by many included letter actually written donald trump160himself saying sounded way160because picked kind language interpreted wait mean write ridiculous letter didnt im bit lost interview dr bornstein two things completely contradicts entire premise letter later saying trumps health better worse average person lifestyle dont think hes better worse health average person goes exercises every single day bornstein160said doesnt smoke doesnt drink thats simply best advantage live hes got good family history wait minute so160weve gone trump healthiest individual ever elected presidency man extraordinary physical strength stamina whose test results astonishingly excellent simply better worse 70yearold lives similar lifestyle lets address good family history comment trumps father live 93 suffering alzheimers time death im exactly sure father die severe160debilitating mental illness constitutes good family history none adding first completely contradicts reasoning lack professionalism letter by160defending160practically every aspect then160he contradicts entire premise letter160by saying trump better worse anyone age similar lifestyle clearly way prove donald trump wrote medical evaluation dr bornsteins interview solidified belief160that ask interview came someone knowing actual160way disprove160anything written letter told someone come160up excuse mistakes nonmedical language used since come intense scrutiny last couple weeks seemed stick script defending the160comically written medical evaluation also contradicted entire thing said donald trump better worse anyone age whos living similar lifestyle would like point saying trump better worse extremely vague many 70yearold individuals160whove lived healthy lifestyles still suffer severe medical160conditions comment doesnt really address anything related whether trump isnt healthy practically nothing said interview addressed anything160specific160about donald trumps health dr bornstein make excuse letter written poorly160defend160the context contradict entire thing offering generic health analysis seems indicate isnt aware trumps father died alzheimers thats interesting considering doctor well perspective dr bornsteins interview solidify personal belief donald trump wrote medical evaluation watch interview via nbc news donald trumps astonishingly extraordinary health report looks like written pass popcorn donald trump humiliates tea party group call joke candidate bs witnessed wednesday exactly trump might become next president 0 facebook comments | 601 |
<p>This article also appears on <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__capitalandmain.com_&amp;d=DwMFaQ&amp;c=r30hyXAdWe8oret4PlAIyA&amp;r=UBx9RyBaoemYzHV0PFXSGwqICaej72mFcoFwS158YzU&amp;m=y0XfUNL6e1fVMgcx_0wa0O_DQ2TubpMgvSfDdn4Aqu4&amp;s=4wOf-RToAQZEZqtYInVNR5hUQZw4J6Deoa6eTo2U0x8&amp;e=" type="external">Ca</a> <a href="https://capitalandmain.com/branding-irony-orange-county-high-school-students-rebel-against-confederate-mascot-1106" type="external">pita</a> <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__capitalandmain.com_&amp;d=DwMFaQ&amp;c=r30hyXAdWe8oret4PlAIyA&amp;r=UBx9RyBaoemYzHV0PFXSGwqICaej72mFcoFwS158YzU&amp;m=y0XfUNL6e1fVMgcx_0wa0O_DQ2TubpMgvSfDdn4Aqu4&amp;s=4wOf-RToAQZEZqtYInVNR5hUQZw4J6Deoa6eTo2U0x8&amp;e=" type="external">l &amp; Main</a>, an award-winning publication that reports from California on economic, political and social issues.</p>
<p>Savanna High School has a Confederate soldier for a mascot, and defenders of &#160;“Johnny Rebel”—chosen by the student body back during the civil-rights movement—argue that the branding is part of their heritage. However, Savanna High School is not in the Deep South, where one might expect such a controversy, but in Southern California’s Orange County, a few miles from Disneyland.</p>
<p>Lay-Onna Clark, 15, didn’t give it much thought until she and some friends formed a black student union last August, the start of her junior year. It was when they started designing T-shirts that it really hit them: “The mascot supports white supremacy—that one race is superior to another,” she said in an interview. Indeed, it literally represents one race fighting to enslave another.</p>
<p>According to a flier handed out by anti-mascot activists at a Thursday, Nov. 2, meeting of the Anaheim Union High School District Board of Trustees, the predominantly white students in the class of 1967 who chose to be represented by Johnny Rebel—a term for a Confederate soldier, and the stage name of a prominent white-supremacist musician—did so to send “a clear message that people of color were not welcome at Savanna High School or in Anaheim.”</p>
<p>A lot has changed in 50 years. Whites now make up less than 10 percent of the student body at Savanna and, as of the 2010 Census, are but a slim majority in Anaheim ( <a href="http://savanna.auhsd.us/view/32416.pdf" type="external">PDF</a>). But a lot of things haven’t changed, too. The election of President Donald Trump, and subsequent displays of explicit white supremacy in the streets of cities like Charlottesville, Virginia (and a <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-klan-rally-in-anaheim-erupts-in-violence-one-man-stabbed-20160227-story.html" type="external">2016 Ku Klux Klan rally</a> in Anaheim), have served as a reminder of that, driving home what “heritage” means with respect to the Confederacy.</p>
<p>Clark said realizing the meaning of Johnny Rebel—depicted on a large quilt hung behind the board of trustees as a soldier clad in gray, charging with rifle in hand—led her and three friends to campaign for its removal. They approached the school board last fall with their concerns, and the board has responded by initiating a process that seems likely to see Savanna’s mascot at the very least rebranded.</p>
<p>On Oct. 25 The Orange County Register <a href="http://www.ocregister.com/2017/10/25/anaheims-savanna-high-students-vote-to-re-brand-their-johnny-rebel-mascot/" type="external">reported</a> that 56 percent of students had voted to “rebrand” Johnny Rebel, with another 18 percent expressing support for doing away with the mascot altogether; 26 percent sided with the status quo. The vote came eight years after the school tore down an old, dilapidated statue of the Confederate mascot, the paper noted.</p>
<p>The non-binding vote came after a student-led forum on the issue, and after the school devoted a week to raising “ <a href="http://savanna.auhsd.us/Savanna/News/74497-Students-Input-for-Fate-of-Rebel-Mascot.html" type="external">awareness and understanding</a>” of the mascot’s place in history.</p>
<p>“I believe this could be a teachable moment for the entire country,” Superintendent Michael Matsuda said ahead of Thursday’s meeting.</p>
<p>Gabriel San Román graduated from Savanna in 2000. A staff writer for OC Weekly, he’s written about how, when he was there, the school still featured the battle flag of the pro-slavery South <a href="http://www.ocweekly.com/news/how-the-confederate-flag-and-johnny-rebel-fell-at-anaheims-savanna-high-school-6462438" type="external">at its pep rallies</a>. In an interview, he recalled how the school’s “rebel” theme used to be even more explicitly tied to white supremacy, and how that required changing.</p>
<p>“1999 is when the Confederate flag became a problem. I was in the basketball program… and we hosted Compton High School.” With many black students expected to attend the game, the schools’ respective principles decided something should probably be done about the large symbol of white supremacy in the gymnasium. “So what they had the cheerleaders do is make a bunch of signs, and those signs were awkwardly placed... to cover the shame of the Confederate flag during that game.”</p>
<p>After that, the school began quietly phasing out the Confederacy.</p>
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<p>“I think it’s happening now because Anaheim has changed, demographically, and with that so has the political makeup of the school board,” San Román said of the latest controversy. As the city has become less white, it’s become more liberal.</p>
<p>But change should be not overstated. Since she began campaigning against her school’s mascot, Clark said she’s discovered that white supremacy still lurks in the halls.</p>
<p>Social media—“Snapchat and Instagram”—is where the abuse is most brazen. “They were calling us niggers and all kinds of stuff, saying they were going to jump me after school,” she said. She no longer takes the bus home from school; instead, she waits in the principal’s office for her mother to pick her up.</p>
<p>But “it’s not about feeling safe,” Clark said. “I think the mascot is more about people feeling comfortable being themselves.” She’s not sure what should replace it—“maybe a bird?”—but she wants one “that will make everybody feel equal. Not just for the African-American community, also for the Latino community, the Korean community, Pacific Islanders. The majority of people in this district. It’s not just African American and white. It’s not that type of battle.”</p>
<p>Yet it’s not a battle without resistance. At the Nov. 2 board meeting, several people, including one man from out of town who said he read about the debate in a local paper, spoke in favor of keeping Johnny Rebel.</p>
<p>And Jeanne Tenno, of the class of 1976, said she is “proud to be a Savanna Rebel,” and warned of a slippery slope where we “remove all the things in the history books that offend people—the bad history.”</p>
<p>“Let’s correct the historical record,” she continued. “Give back the American Indians their land; the land that belonged to Mexico; the kingdom of Hawaii. And let’s return the land that was stolen from the interned Japanese. Because that’s what this is becoming.”</p>
<p>A decision on whether to head down that road could come as soon as Monday, Nov. 6, when the Savanna school board will host a special forum with students at the high school.</p> | true | 4 | article also appears ca pita l amp main awardwinning publication reports california economic political social issues savanna high school confederate soldier mascot defenders 160johnny rebelchosen student body back civilrights movementargue branding part heritage however savanna high school deep south one might expect controversy southern californias orange county miles disneyland layonna clark 15 didnt give much thought friends formed black student union last august start junior year started designing tshirts really hit mascot supports white supremacythat one race superior another said interview indeed literally represents one race fighting enslave another according flier handed antimascot activists thursday nov 2 meeting anaheim union high school district board trustees predominantly white students class 1967 chose represented johnny rebela term confederate soldier stage name prominent whitesupremacist musiciandid send clear message people color welcome savanna high school anaheim lot changed 50 years whites make less 10 percent student body savanna 2010 census slim majority anaheim pdf lot things havent changed election president donald trump subsequent displays explicit white supremacy streets cities like charlottesville virginia 2016 ku klux klan rally anaheim served reminder driving home heritage means respect confederacy clark said realizing meaning johnny rebeldepicted large quilt hung behind board trustees soldier clad gray charging rifle handled three friends campaign removal approached school board last fall concerns board responded initiating process seems likely see savannas mascot least rebranded oct 25 orange county register reported 56 percent students voted rebrand johnny rebel another 18 percent expressing support away mascot altogether 26 percent sided status quo vote came eight years school tore old dilapidated statue confederate mascot paper noted nonbinding vote came studentled forum issue school devoted week raising awareness understanding mascots place history believe could teachable moment entire country superintendent michael matsuda said ahead thursdays meeting gabriel san román graduated savanna 2000 staff writer oc weekly hes written school still featured battle flag proslavery south pep rallies interview recalled schools rebel theme used even explicitly tied white supremacy required changing 1999 confederate flag became problem basketball program hosted compton high school many black students expected attend game schools respective principles decided something probably done large symbol white supremacy gymnasium cheerleaders make bunch signs signs awkwardly placed cover shame confederate flag game school began quietly phasing confederacy start finish day top stories daily beast speedy smart summary news need know nothing dont think happening anaheim changed demographically political makeup school board san román said latest controversy city become less white become liberal change overstated since began campaigning schools mascot clark said shes discovered white supremacy still lurks halls social mediasnapchat instagramis abuse brazen calling us niggers kinds stuff saying going jump school said longer takes bus home school instead waits principals office mother pick feeling safe clark said think mascot people feeling comfortable shes sure replace itmaybe birdbut wants one make everybody feel equal africanamerican community also latino community korean community pacific islanders majority people district african american white type battle yet battle without resistance nov 2 board meeting several people including one man town said read debate local paper spoke favor keeping johnny rebel jeanne tenno class 1976 said proud savanna rebel warned slippery slope remove things history books offend peoplethe bad history lets correct historical record continued give back american indians land land belonged mexico kingdom hawaii lets return land stolen interned japanese thats becoming decision whether head road could come soon monday nov 6 savanna school board host special forum students high school | 567 |
<p>On a clear November morning I am approaching the toll plaza of the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge. I pay the $2 crossing toll and begin proceeding west. Of that $2, $1 is a surcharge that was earmarked for the seismic retrofit of the Bay Bridge. This surcharge was created with the 1997 passage of SB 60, a bill authored by then-State Senator Quentin Kopp, the Independent legislator from San Francisco. Kopp was then chairman of the Senate Transportation committee. Now he’s a San Mateo County Superior Judge</p>
<p>SB 60 is easily the biggest juice bill I’ve encounter since I first began covering the California state legislature in 1981. Besides the more than $500 million in Bay Bridge surcharges, which were extended for an additional seven years by ousted Governor Gray Davis in 2001, SB 60 was also the legislative vehicle from which a number of very savvy investors made significant profits during The Bay Bridge selection process.</p>
<p>The Bay Bridge is the world’s busiest toll bridge, with over 280,000 cars crossing it per day. Unlike The Golden Gate Bridge, its sister span to the west, The Bay Bridge is not truly one bridge but, in fact, three. The most graceful part is the suspension bridge connecting Yerba Buena Island and San Francisco. The section between the toll plaza on the Oakland mudflats and Yerba Buena Island is actually composed of two bridges: the first is a viaduct section between the mud flats and a pier of the bridge called E-9 where it is joined to a cantilevered truss bridge. It was here, where the two different bridge typologies join, that The Bay Bridge collapsed in 1989 during the Loma Prieta earthquake.</p>
<p>For eight years, from 1989 through 1997, there was talk of rebuilding The Bay Bridge. But that’s all it was: talk. In 1995, a University of California, Berkeley engineering professor named Dr. Abolhasan Astaneh-Asl prepared an estimate for the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) that said it would cost $250 million to do a complete steel retrofit of The Bay Bridge.</p>
<p>But the California State Department of Transportation, or Caltrans as it’s known, does not like steel. Caltrans prefers concrete. As Asatneh remembers it, “They took my design and added what I call the Chernobyl effect.” They added massive concrete cladding to Dr. Astaneh’s design, and the estimated cost went up as well. The $250 million grew to become a $700 million estimate, then that grew to $900 million. In late 1996, Caltrans began considering replacing the eastern span with a simple, unadorned viaduct on a straight southern alignment between Oakland and Yerba Buena Island.</p>
<p>But in early 1997, a story was published in The San Francisco Chronicle that altered all such perceptions. The Chronicle story previewed a brand new bridge that was far more attractive than the drab viaduct Caltrans was then espousing.</p>
<p>In the January 9, 1997 Chronicle story, co-authored by Eric Ingram and Greg Lucas, the new bridge design was profiled. It was going to be a 650-foot single-masted, cable-stayed bridge, built out of concrete. The bridge had been the product of a $10 million Caltrans-funded study by Ventry Engineering, and the Ventry team’s chief bridge designer was an engineer named Mark Ketchum, who worked for a San Francisco-based design firm called OPAC.</p>
<p>Remarkably enough, the cable-stayed bridge would be even cheaper to build than retrofitting the present bridge. According to The Chronicle, the new bridge would only cost $700 million. Apparently, the administration of then-Governor Pete Wilson was so enamored of the new idea that in February 1997, Wilson announced that the retrofit option for the Bay Bridge was over; now Wilson wanted a new bridge.</p>
<p>On March 10, 1997, a front-page story was published in The San Francisco Chronicle. The story was by Alan Temko, The Chronicle’s Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic. Temko’s story profiled a bridge “designed” by his friend, T.Y. Lin, the U.C. Berkeley professor emeritus of engineering. This bridge was also a concrete structure, a 700-foot single-masted, cable-stayed bridge that seemed a mirror image of the Ventry bridge profiled in the story published in The Chronicle just two months before. T.Y. Lin was Mark Ketchum’s professor at Berkeley, and Lin’s firm, Lin Tung-Yen China Inc., also owns OPAC. Ketchum himself admits: “I designed the bridge but then T.Y. added some aesthetic improvements to it.” These aesthetic improvements must have been significant for the estimated price had now grown to $1.2 billion, a half billion-dollar increase in only two months.</p>
<p>At any rate, The Chronicle’s lobbying for a new signature span that could compare with The Golden Gate Bridge was effective. Following publication of the Temko story, Governor Wilson took the decision-making power over The Bay Bridge away from Caltrans and handed it to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. The MTC is the Regional Planning Organization in charge of all transportation decisions in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. The MTC’s chief lobbyist is John Foran, who is also its founder. Foran was formerly a state Senator from San Francisco, and was the Senate Transportation Committee chairman before he retired to become a lobbyist and senior partner in Nossaman, Guthner, Knox and Elliott.</p>
<p>Nossaman, Guthner is one of the most powerful lobbying firms in California. Besides transportation clients like the MTC, BART and the LA Metro, they also represent a number of Indian tribes and deal with Indian gaming issues. They were also the lobbing firm for a powerful development company called Catellus Development in the spring of 1997, right when the new Bay Bridge design “competition” was taking place.</p>
<p>Back on the bridge, we are approaching pier E-9, otherwise known as “The Angle.” This is where the bridge failed in 1989, and where most engineers interviewed for this story say it was most vulnerable because that is where the two bridge typologies join.</p>
<p>While it took eight years for Caltrans and the MTC to get around to fixing it, the Bay Bridge selection process proved to be a profitable one for a number of individuals and groups associated with the firm URS Greiner.</p>
<p>URS is a San Francisco-based corporation that is the nation’s fifth largest engineering and design firm. URS’ chief mover-and-shaker is self-described “money manager” Richard Blum, the husband of California’s U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein. URS’ stock performance during The Bay Bridge selection process was fairly dramatic. In late 1996, URS was trading at $6 a share. Then, in early 1997, the stock price began climbing. In spring 1997, it had reached $10 a share; by the summer, after SB 60 was amended with language that all but named the bridge being chosen by the MTC, it had climbed to $13 a share. By June 1998, when a new bridge design had been selected, URS was trading at $18.50 a share.</p>
<p>What makes the URS stock price increases most remarkable is how the stock rises mirror public perceptions that URS stood to profit from the retrofit contract on The Bay Bridge. According to URS’ own literature: “The company derives more than 80% of its revenues from local, state and government programs that are created in response to public concerns with re-building and expanding the nation’s infrastructure. More than 80% of the company’s current and anticipated work is related to government contracts.”</p>
<p>On The Bay Bridge contract, #59N770, URS was first in line to become project manager if the project was “contracted out.” In other words, if a private company other than Caltrans was given the contract. This process is one which has been in place since 1986 and was the subject of a long and bitter court battle that was finally decided in 1998, which resulted in the ban of contracting out. There was one multi-billion dollar exception to the prohibition against contracting out: The Bay Bridge contract.</p>
<p>In the summer of 1998, when the contracting issue was still being resolved in court, URS stock flucuated. When contracting out was banned in by Sacramento Superior Court Judge James Ford in early July, URS dipped to $12 a share. When the Bay Bridge contract was exempted from the ban, URS spiked upwards to $24.50 a share by late August.</p>
<p>What makes the URS stock price rises even more curious is that a number of Selling Shareholders amendments were filed with the Securities Exchange Commission and how their timing fits in with the chronology of the Bay Bridge selection process.</p>
<p>On March 25, 1997, URS held its annual stockholders meeting in San Francisco and announced they were first in line for the contract. After the meeting, a Selling Shareholders amendment was filed with the SEC. The selling shareholders amendment was for over 3.6 million shares of URS stock whose par value was one penny a share. The amendment allowed the selling shareholders to sell the stock at the going market rate and pocket all the profits without having to share any of it with the company. Of the 3.6 million shares of stock, over 2.9 million shares went to four companies tied to Richard Blum.</p>
<p>The four companies were BK Capital Partners I, II, III, and IV, and they listed that they intended to sell all of the newly issued shares. Blum’s partners in the BK groups were the Bass Brothers, the Fort Worth oil billionaires who once attempted a hostile takeover of Texaco in 1985 by using pension funds from the California State Teachers Retirement System. By August of 1998, those 2.9 million shares of URS stock were worth almost $100 million.</p>
<p>Just three days after the amendments were filed, the MTC announced it had selected a chairman of the Engineering and Design Advisory Panel who would be choosing the new Bay Bridge. The MTC’s choice for EDAP chair was Joseph Nicoletti, an engineer with URS Greiner, Blum’s company.</p>
<p>Blum’s money managing was just short of wizardry. But a number of other URS insiders profited even quicker than BK Capital Partners did. Between March 27, 1998 and June 25, 1998, after a selling shareholders amendment was filed for 1.1 million shares of stock a la the previous 3.6 million shares filed on behalf of the BK Capital groups, a number of URS insiders showed they knew how to play the booming market. URS insiders made over $24.5 million in paper profits from their penny stocks. No wonder there was such a bull market.</p>
<p>So, the new Bay Bridge still hasn’t been built, but who cares when profits like this can be gotten just through the process? But there are other fascinating things to look at as we travel across the three-and-a-half mile Bay Bridge span.</p>
<p>As we approach Yerba Buena Island, off to our right is aptly named Treasure Island, the crown jewel in San Francisco’s future development. This is where the signing party of SB 60 took place. Treasure Island is very important to Mayor Willie Brown’s future development plans, and the reason that Mayor Brown told me he had taken up opposition to the bridge selected by the MTC was that “it would reduce the value of the property at Treasure Island by 20-40%.”</p>
<p>Treasure Island was originally intended as the site of San Francisco’s airport before the present location was adopted. Then, in 1939, to commemorate the building of the two new bridges, The Golden Gate and The Bay Bridge, Treasure Island hosted the Golden Gate Exposition, a world’s fair. After that, the U.S. Navy got hold of it and turned it into a naval base. From then until 1992, when it was hit by the Clinton administration’s base closure program, Treasure Island was a navy base. Now it might become the site of Indian gaming casinos, which is one of California’s most lucrative economic engines for the future.</p>
<p>Although Willie Brown told me he has no intention of turning Treasure Island into Atlantic City West, he did float the idea of Indian gambling casinos locating there when he first ran for Mayor of San Francisco in 1995.</p>
<p>If you read between the lines of the Treasure Island Reuse Plan, the idea of Indian gaming casinos doesn’t seem that remote. Citing directly from this document, the plan is for anything that has to do with theme parks, hotels, public attractions, entertainment features and resort. In their own words “the emphasis in the Draft Reuse Plan is on the range of a number of publicly oriented uses that will attract large numbers of people to both public spaces and paid attractions.” In short, Indian gaming casinos might fit the bill rather nicely.</p>
<p>Lurking beneath the bay below us, somewhere below the bridge and trailing off towards Treasure Island is the Temescal formation, an ancient underwater river canyon. When the ubiquitous Dr. Astaneh called attention to the Temescal formation, in late 1997, the new bridge alignment was shifted further south. This shift removed the new bridge tower’s anchorage on Yerba Buena Island and caused it to be relocated in caissons going down into the mud. While this decreased the angle, some think that it might have increased the bridge’s seismic vulnerability. This new, more southward-pointing alignment is what Mayor Brown says will reduce the property values on Treasure Island.</p>
<p>But what’s curious is that Mayor Willie Brown didn’t say boo when the Temescal formation was pointed out by Dr. Astaneh, even though his representatives were holding regular meetings on the new Bay Bridge with representatives from Caltrans, Indian tribes, the MTC, the Coast Guard, and the US Navy. That seems very strange, but this entire journey around the Bay is a very strange one indeed.</p>
<p>Now we are entering the tunnel through Yerba Buena Island. On the other side of it we have emerged onto the twin towered suspension span leading into San Francisco. Off to our left, and far to the south, is San Francisco Airport, which is undergoing a new, $3 billion dollar expansion on the Cargill Salt Flats. Blum’s company, URS Greiner is doing the engineering and design work for the airport, and there is talk of a new bullet train stopping at SFO on its way to the Oakland airport and its final northern terminus of Sacramento.</p>
<p>The new bullet train is another huge pork barrel transportation project, a $35 billion state system that will connect Sacramento and the Bay Area to Los Angeles and continue down to San Diego. Nobody is quite sure where it will stop in San Francisco. One plan is for it to stop at the airport; another plan has it continuing to the present Transbay terminal right at the foot of the present bridge, and there are plans for a brand new $500 million terminal.</p>
<p>Closer in, just beyond Pac Bell Park, the new Giants baseball stadium, is where the other prime San Francisco development jewel is located. The long-stalled Mission Bay Project is finally underway. This is a $4 billion project of Catellus Development, the real estate development giant that was once the Southern-Pacific Realty Company. And now there’s even talk of a new bridge across the bay, a Southern Crossing Bridge. Senator Dianne Feinstein’s in favor of it and has been promoting the idea. The MTC is presently studying it. And T.Y. Lin designed a bridge for it back in 1991 when the MTC first looked into it.</p>
<p>A new, Mid-Bay Crossing Bridge would make sense to some. The Bay Area’s transportation infrastructure is maxed out and needs expansion. A Mid-Bay span could result in an expanded BART and carry a high-speed train from SFO to Oakland Airport- another optional route for high-speed trains. Both of the Mayors Brown- Willie of San Francisco and Jerry of Oakland- have said that they want high-speed train stations at their respective airports, and if a Mid Bay Crossing Bridge was contracted out like the Bay Bridge was, it could provide another opportunity for the stock market bulls to keep charging.</p>
<p>The wheels for such a scenario are already in motion. In 2000, two new juice bills were passed by the California state legislature and signed into law by then-Governor Gray Davis. And in the November 2000 election, California voters approved Proposition 35, which allows contracting out again. These new pieces of legislation could provide the opportunity for three publicly traded transportation stocks to achieve windfall profits. And this can happen without a nut or a bolt being turned. All you need is a process to drives a perception that a new bridge or train is coming.</p>
<p>RICHARD TRAINOR is an investigative reporter living in Eugene, Oregon. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:richardtrainor@hotmail.com" type="external">richardtrainor@hotmail.com</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | clear november morning approaching toll plaza oaklandsan francisco bay bridge pay 2 crossing toll begin proceeding west 2 1 surcharge earmarked seismic retrofit bay bridge surcharge created 1997 passage sb 60 bill authored thenstate senator quentin kopp independent legislator san francisco kopp chairman senate transportation committee hes san mateo county superior judge sb 60 easily biggest juice bill ive encounter since first began covering california state legislature 1981 besides 500 million bay bridge surcharges extended additional seven years ousted governor gray davis 2001 sb 60 also legislative vehicle number savvy investors made significant profits bay bridge selection process bay bridge worlds busiest toll bridge 280000 cars crossing per day unlike golden gate bridge sister span west bay bridge truly one bridge fact three graceful part suspension bridge connecting yerba buena island san francisco section toll plaza oakland mudflats yerba buena island actually composed two bridges first viaduct section mud flats pier bridge called e9 joined cantilevered truss bridge two different bridge typologies join bay bridge collapsed 1989 loma prieta earthquake eight years 1989 1997 talk rebuilding bay bridge thats talk 1995 university california berkeley engineering professor named dr abolhasan astanehasl prepared estimate federal emergency management administration fema said would cost 250 million complete steel retrofit bay bridge california state department transportation caltrans known like steel caltrans prefers concrete asatneh remembers took design added call chernobyl effect added massive concrete cladding dr astanehs design estimated cost went well 250 million grew become 700 million estimate grew 900 million late 1996 caltrans began considering replacing eastern span simple unadorned viaduct straight southern alignment oakland yerba buena island early 1997 story published san francisco chronicle altered perceptions chronicle story previewed brand new bridge far attractive drab viaduct caltrans espousing january 9 1997 chronicle story coauthored eric ingram greg lucas new bridge design profiled going 650foot singlemasted cablestayed bridge built concrete bridge product 10 million caltransfunded study ventry engineering ventry teams chief bridge designer engineer named mark ketchum worked san franciscobased design firm called opac remarkably enough cablestayed bridge would even cheaper build retrofitting present bridge according chronicle new bridge would cost 700 million apparently administration thengovernor pete wilson enamored new idea february 1997 wilson announced retrofit option bay bridge wilson wanted new bridge march 10 1997 frontpage story published san francisco chronicle story alan temko chronicles pulitzer prizewinning architecture critic temkos story profiled bridge designed friend ty lin uc berkeley professor emeritus engineering bridge also concrete structure 700foot singlemasted cablestayed bridge seemed mirror image ventry bridge profiled story published chronicle two months ty lin mark ketchums professor berkeley lins firm lin tungyen china inc also owns opac ketchum admits designed bridge ty added aesthetic improvements aesthetic improvements must significant estimated price grown 12 billion half billiondollar increase two months rate chronicles lobbying new signature span could compare golden gate bridge effective following publication temko story governor wilson took decisionmaking power bay bridge away caltrans handed metropolitan transportation commission mtc regional planning organization charge transportation decisions ninecounty san francisco bay area mtcs chief lobbyist john foran also founder foran formerly state senator san francisco senate transportation committee chairman retired become lobbyist senior partner nossaman guthner knox elliott nossaman guthner one powerful lobbying firms california besides transportation clients like mtc bart la metro also represent number indian tribes deal indian gaming issues also lobbing firm powerful development company called catellus development spring 1997 right new bay bridge design competition taking place back bridge approaching pier e9 otherwise known angle bridge failed 1989 engineers interviewed story say vulnerable two bridge typologies join took eight years caltrans mtc get around fixing bay bridge selection process proved profitable one number individuals groups associated firm urs greiner urs san franciscobased corporation nations fifth largest engineering design firm urs chief moverandshaker selfdescribed money manager richard blum husband californias us senator dianne feinstein urs stock performance bay bridge selection process fairly dramatic late 1996 urs trading 6 share early 1997 stock price began climbing spring 1997 reached 10 share summer sb 60 amended language named bridge chosen mtc climbed 13 share june 1998 new bridge design selected urs trading 1850 share makes urs stock price increases remarkable stock rises mirror public perceptions urs stood profit retrofit contract bay bridge according urs literature company derives 80 revenues local state government programs created response public concerns rebuilding expanding nations infrastructure 80 companys current anticipated work related government contracts bay bridge contract 59n770 urs first line become project manager project contracted words private company caltrans given contract process one place since 1986 subject long bitter court battle finally decided 1998 resulted ban contracting one multibillion dollar exception prohibition contracting bay bridge contract summer 1998 contracting issue still resolved court urs stock flucuated contracting banned sacramento superior court judge james ford early july urs dipped 12 share bay bridge contract exempted ban urs spiked upwards 2450 share late august makes urs stock price rises even curious number selling shareholders amendments filed securities exchange commission timing fits chronology bay bridge selection process march 25 1997 urs held annual stockholders meeting san francisco announced first line contract meeting selling shareholders amendment filed sec selling shareholders amendment 36 million shares urs stock whose par value one penny share amendment allowed selling shareholders sell stock going market rate pocket profits without share company 36 million shares stock 29 million shares went four companies tied richard blum four companies bk capital partners ii iii iv listed intended sell newly issued shares blums partners bk groups bass brothers fort worth oil billionaires attempted hostile takeover texaco 1985 using pension funds california state teachers retirement system august 1998 29 million shares urs stock worth almost 100 million three days amendments filed mtc announced selected chairman engineering design advisory panel would choosing new bay bridge mtcs choice edap chair joseph nicoletti engineer urs greiner blums company blums money managing short wizardry number urs insiders profited even quicker bk capital partners march 27 1998 june 25 1998 selling shareholders amendment filed 11 million shares stock la previous 36 million shares filed behalf bk capital groups number urs insiders showed knew play booming market urs insiders made 245 million paper profits penny stocks wonder bull market new bay bridge still hasnt built cares profits like gotten process fascinating things look travel across threeandahalf mile bay bridge span approach yerba buena island right aptly named treasure island crown jewel san franciscos future development signing party sb 60 took place treasure island important mayor willie browns future development plans reason mayor brown told taken opposition bridge selected mtc would reduce value property treasure island 2040 treasure island originally intended site san franciscos airport present location adopted 1939 commemorate building two new bridges golden gate bay bridge treasure island hosted golden gate exposition worlds fair us navy got hold turned naval base 1992 hit clinton administrations base closure program treasure island navy base might become site indian gaming casinos one californias lucrative economic engines future although willie brown told intention turning treasure island atlantic city west float idea indian gambling casinos locating first ran mayor san francisco 1995 read lines treasure island reuse plan idea indian gaming casinos doesnt seem remote citing directly document plan anything theme parks hotels public attractions entertainment features resort words emphasis draft reuse plan range number publicly oriented uses attract large numbers people public spaces paid attractions short indian gaming casinos might fit bill rather nicely lurking beneath bay us somewhere bridge trailing towards treasure island temescal formation ancient underwater river canyon ubiquitous dr astaneh called attention temescal formation late 1997 new bridge alignment shifted south shift removed new bridge towers anchorage yerba buena island caused relocated caissons going mud decreased angle think might increased bridges seismic vulnerability new southwardpointing alignment mayor brown says reduce property values treasure island whats curious mayor willie brown didnt say boo temescal formation pointed dr astaneh even though representatives holding regular meetings new bay bridge representatives caltrans indian tribes mtc coast guard us navy seems strange entire journey around bay strange one indeed entering tunnel yerba buena island side emerged onto twin towered suspension span leading san francisco left far south san francisco airport undergoing new 3 billion dollar expansion cargill salt flats blums company urs greiner engineering design work airport talk new bullet train stopping sfo way oakland airport final northern terminus sacramento new bullet train another huge pork barrel transportation project 35 billion state system connect sacramento bay area los angeles continue san diego nobody quite sure stop san francisco one plan stop airport another plan continuing present transbay terminal right foot present bridge plans brand new 500 million terminal closer beyond pac bell park new giants baseball stadium prime san francisco development jewel located longstalled mission bay project finally underway 4 billion project catellus development real estate development giant southernpacific realty company theres even talk new bridge across bay southern crossing bridge senator dianne feinsteins favor promoting idea mtc presently studying ty lin designed bridge back 1991 mtc first looked new midbay crossing bridge would make sense bay areas transportation infrastructure maxed needs expansion midbay span could result expanded bart carry highspeed train sfo oakland airport another optional route highspeed trains mayors brown willie san francisco jerry oakland said want highspeed train stations respective airports mid bay crossing bridge contracted like bay bridge could provide another opportunity stock market bulls keep charging wheels scenario already motion 2000 two new juice bills passed california state legislature signed law thengovernor gray davis november 2000 election california voters approved proposition 35 allows contracting new pieces legislation could provide opportunity three publicly traded transportation stocks achieve windfall profits happen without nut bolt turned need process drives perception new bridge train coming richard trainor investigative reporter living eugene oregon reached richardtrainorhotmailcom 160 | 1,613 |
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<p>Is the West “sleeping through” the Pakistani earthquake disaster? (1) Why do the responses to recent natural disasters in the U.S.A. and, often, around the world seem so limited?</p>
<p>Consider this, from William Blum’s “Anti-Empire Report” of 18 October 2005 (2).</p>
<p>“Look at the US government’s preparation for the invasion of Iraq. For almost a full year the bases were set up, the airfields laid out, the tanks moved into place, the army hospitals readied for the wounded in Germany, the body bags inventoried, hundreds of thousands of military and civilian personnel assigned their spots and their duties, money being printed round the clock upon request, every “t” crossed, every “i” dotted, little left to chance … and look at the preparation for a hurricane hitting New Orleans, which was beyond the “if” stage, waiting only for the “when”. The empire has its priorities.”</p>
<p>A German journalist speaking on US radio (KQED-FM San Francisco, 19 October 2005) noted that Germans viewed the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as a demonstration that America’s vast new bureaucracy, the Department of Homeland Security, had “failed miserably.” A similar view has been expressed by Pakistanis regarding the Pakistani Army’s response to the 8 October earthquake, critics contending that the Army fussed over Kashmir border defenses for days before really engaging in relief work.</p>
<p>In fairness, it appears that the Pakistani soldiers involved in relief efforts are doing their best and have every desire to help. The failings are not those of individual performance, but are structural. It also happens that the 8 October earthquake has caused a very large catastrophe, one that would strain the best emergency preparations that could have been devised in ideal circumstances.</p>
<p>Is it “failure” or “misinterpretation?”</p>
<p>The view that the Department of Homeland Security failed during and after Hurricane Katrina is no doubt based on an incorrect understanding of its name.</p>
<p>Hurricane Katrina proved that protection and rescue of the American public are* *NOT functions of the Department of Homeland Security. This department is the domestic component of the Iraq War, which is the immediate activity in the program to control world oil reserves — the energy and financial basis of the American Empire. What is the task of the domestic component? Control of the population; the Department of Homeland Security is the Praetorian Guard of the elite capitalist management class, protecting them from the national population. Now, does the name make sense?</p>
<p>So it is in Pakistan. The Army may defend Pakistanis from invasion and attack should that occur, and it may set out to rescue victims of natural disasters, but one has to conclude that their primary mission is to protect the Pakistani elite “from threats foreign and domestic.” Thus, it will always be difficult to have the assets in manpower, supplies and equipment of security agencies like the Pakistani Army or the US Department of Homeland Security pre-positioned throughout their respective nations waiting to respond quickly and adequately to disasters, which we know will occur.</p>
<p>Planning for earthquake relief in Pakistan or San Francisco or China, and hurricanes and flooding in New Orleans, Florida or Cuba can be done with as much forethought and allocation of resources as was carried out to prepare for the invasion of Iraq, or the ongoing campaign in Kashmir. One can easily imagine a national network of depots stockpiling food, medicines, tents, bedding, emergency communications gear, fuel, vehicles and heavy equipment; and being centers of training and assembly for emergency response personnel.</p>
<p>Relief efforts will always be inadequate where such planning is absent, and when the security forces are entrenched elsewhere in wars of acquisition.</p>
<p>The nature of emergency planning is a reflection of the degree of social solidarity within a nation. Where the greater value is placed upon the bond between people, as in Cuba, emergency planning will be comprehensive and effective. Where the emphasis is placed upon protecting a class structure, which may include a racist component within a primary focus on protecting wealth, then in the aftermath of a natural disaster you will see the genocide of the poor, the flushing away of the waste population to elite economics.</p>
<p>Is there anything to learn here? Consider these two possible lessons.</p>
<p>Perhaps if we see earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes and floods as being naturally produced war zones within our country, we can be induced to provision, staff and deploy an appropriate army — let’s call it the National Guard — to quickly contain the “conflict” against our normal level of social harmony (think optimistically here), and to “defeat” this invasion as quickly as possible by rescuing our people and repairing the physical damage. The vast resources needed for this type of army could be had simply by eliminating the imperialist program.</p>
<p>Obviously, a social and political revolution would be needed to implement this last suggestion. Since over 80% (I think 98%) of the US population would benefit from such a revolution, it could actually be carried out.</p>
<p>As Cuba is an example of these two lessons, it is no wonder the U.S. government carries on such a vindictive and relentless assault against it. Indulge in forbidden thoughts: imagine a U.S.A. like Cuba, with free health care from cradle to grave, and free education from kindergarten through graduate school. (3)</p>
<p>So, it seems less that “the West is ‘sleeping through’ Pakistan’s earthquake disaster” and much more that “the empire has its priorities.”</p>
<p>As a last comment on imperial bureaucracy, the appointment of John Bolton as the US Ambassador to the United Nations is a clear indication that the U.N. is intended to be the administrator of the colonies — to echo a characterization by John Pilger. The imperialists want the U.N. to act internationally in a capacity similar to that of the DOHS domestically, to protect the world’s patricians and their holdings from the envy of proletarians and the desperation of the unwanted.</p>
<p>Manuel García, Jr., can be reached at: <a href="mailto:mango@idiom.com" type="external">mango@idiom.com</a></p>
<p>Notes.</p>
<p>[1] 2005 Kashmir Earthquake <a href="" type="internal">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Kashmir_earthquake</a></p>
<p>[2] The Anti-Empire Report: Portrait of Schizo Americanus William Blum 18 October 2005 <a href="http://www.killinghope.org/" type="external">http://www.killinghope.org</a></p>
<p>[3] Cuba, We need You Rosemarie Jackowski 19 October 2005 <a href="" type="internal">http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Oct05/Jackowski1019.htm</a></p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | 160 west sleeping pakistani earthquake disaster 1 responses recent natural disasters usa often around world seem limited consider william blums antiempire report 18 october 2005 2 look us governments preparation invasion iraq almost full year bases set airfields laid tanks moved place army hospitals readied wounded germany body bags inventoried hundreds thousands military civilian personnel assigned spots duties money printed round clock upon request every crossed every dotted little left chance look preparation hurricane hitting new orleans beyond stage waiting empire priorities german journalist speaking us radio kqedfm san francisco 19 october 2005 noted germans viewed aftermath hurricane katrina demonstration americas vast new bureaucracy department homeland security failed miserably similar view expressed pakistanis regarding pakistani armys response 8 october earthquake critics contending army fussed kashmir border defenses days really engaging relief work fairness appears pakistani soldiers involved relief efforts best every desire help failings individual performance structural also happens 8 october earthquake caused large catastrophe one would strain best emergency preparations could devised ideal circumstances failure misinterpretation view department homeland security failed hurricane katrina doubt based incorrect understanding name hurricane katrina proved protection rescue american public functions department homeland security department domestic component iraq war immediate activity program control world oil reserves energy financial basis american empire task domestic component control population department homeland security praetorian guard elite capitalist management class protecting national population name make sense pakistan army may defend pakistanis invasion attack occur may set rescue victims natural disasters one conclude primary mission protect pakistani elite threats foreign domestic thus always difficult assets manpower supplies equipment security agencies like pakistani army us department homeland security prepositioned throughout respective nations waiting respond quickly adequately disasters know occur planning earthquake relief pakistan san francisco china hurricanes flooding new orleans florida cuba done much forethought allocation resources carried prepare invasion iraq ongoing campaign kashmir one easily imagine national network depots stockpiling food medicines tents bedding emergency communications gear fuel vehicles heavy equipment centers training assembly emergency response personnel relief efforts always inadequate planning absent security forces entrenched elsewhere wars acquisition nature emergency planning reflection degree social solidarity within nation greater value placed upon bond people cuba emergency planning comprehensive effective emphasis placed upon protecting class structure may include racist component within primary focus protecting wealth aftermath natural disaster see genocide poor flushing away waste population elite economics anything learn consider two possible lessons perhaps see earthquakes hurricanes tornadoes floods naturally produced war zones within country induced provision staff deploy appropriate army lets call national guard quickly contain conflict normal level social harmony think optimistically defeat invasion quickly possible rescuing people repairing physical damage vast resources needed type army could simply eliminating imperialist program obviously social political revolution would needed implement last suggestion since 80 think 98 us population would benefit revolution could actually carried cuba example two lessons wonder us government carries vindictive relentless assault indulge forbidden thoughts imagine usa like cuba free health care cradle grave free education kindergarten graduate school 3 seems less west sleeping pakistans earthquake disaster much empire priorities last comment imperial bureaucracy appointment john bolton us ambassador united nations clear indication un intended administrator colonies echo characterization john pilger imperialists want un act internationally capacity similar dohs domestically protect worlds patricians holdings envy proletarians desperation unwanted manuel garcía jr reached mangoidiomcom notes 1 2005 kashmir earthquake httpenwikipediaorgwiki2005_kashmir_earthquake 2 antiempire report portrait schizo americanus william blum 18 october 2005 httpwwwkillinghopeorg 3 cuba need rosemarie jackowski 19 october 2005 httpwwwdissidentvoiceorgoct05jackowski1019htm 160 160 160 | 575 |
<p>The White House press corps has not exactly been a haven for inspirational adversarial journalism over the years. Made up almost exclusively of corporate media outlets, it is largely known for a ridiculous correspondents dinner and its failure to hold presidents to account (FAIR.org, <a href="" type="internal">5/4/13</a>). &#160;But however timid these reporters have been over the years, it is clear the Trump administration is going to great lengths to marginalize them.</p>
<p>John King (Reliable Sources, 3/26/17)</p>
<p>“Pay no attention to the man at that podium,” CNN’s normally timid John King said of Trump’s press secretary, in a segment headlined “How Sean Spicer Lost His Credibility” (Reliable Sources, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2017/03/26/reliable-sources-sean-spicer-spin-and-lying.cnn/video/playlists/reliable-sources-highlights/" type="external">3/26/17</a>). This dismissal came not long after the White House <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/24/media/cnn-blocked-white-house-gaggle/" type="external">barred</a> major media outlets such as the New York Times, CNN and the BBC from an informal press briefing (“We’re going to aggressively push back,” Spicer told the non-excluded journalists; “We’re just not going to sit back and let, you know, false narratives, false stories, inaccurate facts get out there”—New York Times, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/24/us/politics/white-house-sean-spicer-briefing.html" type="external">2/24/17</a>),&#160; though it routinely and happily grants access to such regal journalistic institutions as Breitbart, the Daily Signal and the One America Radio News Network, among a slew of other far-right outlets, many of which spout crazed conspiracy theories and utter nonsense.</p>
<p>Had the New York Times et al. been invited to Spicer’s briefing, there’s no guarantee they would have been called on. Numerous reporters have complained that Trump and Spicer are <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/02/11/us/politics/sean-spicer-white-house-press-briefing.html?_r=1" type="external">stacking the White House press corps</a>with pro-Trump outlets, many from the <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/alternative-right" type="external">alt-right</a> (FAIR.org, <a href="" type="internal">8/25/16</a>). They assert he is calling on these and other conservatives with an alarming frequency, thereby avoiding questions about unwanted subjects, such as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/13/us/politics/donald-trump-national-security-adviser-michael-flynn.html?_r=0" type="external">the resignation</a> of his national security advisor Michael Flynn (Politico, <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/donald-trump-reporters-234972" type="external">2/13/17</a>; CNN, <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/online/the-fix-is-in-cnns-jim-acosta-on-trump-only-calling-conservative-outlets-at-presser/" type="external">2/15/17</a>). “By handpicking reporters, Trump manages to get through news conference without being asked about Flynn,” tweeted New York Times reporter Peter Baker ( <a href="https://twitter.com/peterbakernyt/status/831225943146582020" type="external">2/13/17</a>).</p>
<p>“There’s no other way to describe it but ‘the fix is in,” argued CNN’s Jim Acosta in an interview with co-worker Wolf Blitzer ( <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/online/the-fix-is-in-cnns-jim-acosta-on-trump-only-calling-conservative-outlets-at-presser/" type="external">2/15/17</a>).</p>
<p>Analysis: Spicer’s Call-Ons Nearly Half Conservative</p>
<p>Asterisks denote a conservative outlet. These outlets were called on one time each: Associated Press, &#160;Axios (Australia), Channel 10 (Israel), Channel 7 News (Boston), Christian Broadcasting Network*, Conservative Radio*, Daily Caller*, Daily Mail*, Daily Signal*, Federalist Papers Project*, Fox 8 (Cleveland)*, Fox WKVU (Las Vegas)*, India Times, &#160;Kentucky Radio*, WJHL (Virginia), La Opinion, LifeZette*, New York Times, Politico, Reuters, Sirius, TV News Brazil, Talk Media News, Telemundo, WVNN*, Wall Street Journal*, Washington Blade, Washington Post, Washington Times*</p>
<p>FAIR’s research bears out these impressions. FAIR analyzed each instance where Spicer called on a reporter during his first month of briefings, as archived on <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/" type="external">WhiteHouse.gov</a>. In total, we analyzed seven briefings in which outlets were called on 105 times. (Ten questions were omitted from the analysis since the questioner could not be identified.)</p>
<p>Forty-five percent of the reporters Spicer called on were from conservative outlets—either self-identified as such, or run by overtly conservative publishers and editors. These included the Daily Signal (a project of the Heritage Foundation) and the Daily Mail, whose editor Paul Dacre is one of the most influential conservatives in the United Kingdom (New Statesman, <a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/media/2013/12/man-who-hates-liberal-britain" type="external">1/2/14</a>) and a staunch—some have said “ <a href="https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/brexit_daily_mail_loc/?pv=98&amp;rc=fb" type="external">shrill</a>“—supporter of Brexit (Guardian, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/feb/19/observer-profile-paul-dacre-daily-mail-man-leading-brexit-charge" type="external">2/18/17</a>).</p>
<p>Outlets that are part of the Rupert Murdoch empire—including Fox News, which has become one of Trump’s biggest boosters (FAIR.org, <a href="" type="internal">1/13/17</a>), and the Wall Street Journal were also counted as conservative. Fox is a prominent presence at Trump White House briefings, with representatives of the brand—including Fox News, Fox Business Channel and Fox Radio—asking 15 percent of all questions where the questioner could be identified. This is more than the total questions asked by CNN, USA Today, Time, the New York Times, Washington Post and Associated Press combined.</p>
<p>On principle, there is nothing wrong with inviting smaller, ideologically driven outlets inside the White House briefing room. In fact, if it was done in a way that widened the parameters of debate and included left-leaning outlets, it would be a bold step away from the dominant media’s obsession with unattainable neutrality (FAIR.org, <a href="" type="internal">7/20/12</a>; Intercept, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2016/03/14/the-rise-of-trump-shows-the-danger-and-sham-of-compelled-journalistic-neutrality/" type="external">3/14/16</a>), which serves to narrow parameters of debate. As Howard Zinn often said (e.g., Democracy Now!, <a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2005/4/27/howard_zinn_to_be_neutral_to" type="external">4/27/0</a>5), “to be neutral, to be passive,” in the face of injustice “is to collaborate with whatever is going on.”</p>
<p>White House correspondents were complicit in the failure to expose the George W. Bush administration’s dishonest case for war in Iraq (FAIR.org, <a href="" type="internal">5/4/13</a>), which led to unspeakable carnage. It is the White House press corps that got scooped by two metro reporters during Watergate (FAIR.org, <a href="" type="internal">6/1/12</a>) and generally ignores human rights violations by US presidents (FAIR.org, <a href="" type="internal">1/21/11</a>).</p>
<p>But the data show Trump’s goal is not to widen the debate, but to plant as many friendly reporters in the press corps as possible. There is no left equivalent to LifeZette or Breitbart with a seat in Spicer’s press room. The journalists tasked with holding the White House to account now come almost exclusively from either corporate or right-wing, Trump-supporting outlets.</p>
<p>Press secretary Sean Spicer calls on a reporter</p>
<p>In analyzing more 105 questions (not including follow-ups) from White House reporters, it is hard not to notice how docile the queries are. There were very few, if any, pressing questions about policies on poverty, hunger or inequality. Nobody asked Spicer or Trump why we are the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/06/heres-a-map-of-the-countries-that-provide-universal-health-care-americas-still-not-on-it/259153/" type="external">only developed nation</a> on the planet without universal healthcare. Or how current and former students <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/student-debt-stories/" type="external">shackled by student debt</a> can be helped. Or if we will cease to lock up humans at <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/07/07/yes-u-s-locks-people-up-at-a-higher-rate-than-any-other-country/" type="external">a higher rate</a> than any other nation. These kind of questions weren’t just ignored by conservative outlets, but by the entire press corps, including revered institutions such as the New York Times or Washington Post.</p>
<p>So many of the questions, from conservative outlets and otherwise, are generic or even friendly, fitting neatly into the Trump narrative. “He’s an extremely loyal person, General Flynn. Was it a difficult decision for the president to let General Flynn go?” <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C4LrbBgL4I" type="external">asked John Decker</a> of Fox Radio in a February 14 briefing.</p>
<p>“Can you talk about [former New Hampshire Sen.] Kelly Ayotte’s role shepherding Justice Gorsuch around Capitol Hill?” <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/02/01/press-briefing-press-secretary-sean-spicer-212017-6" type="external">asked a reporter</a>from a Boston NBC News affiliate ( <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/02/01/press-briefing-press-secretary-sean-spicer-212017-6" type="external">2/7/17</a>).</p>
<p>“I was hoping you were going to ask about the Patriots,” Spicer quipped, before giving a nothing answer about how Ayotte “understands the judicial process very well.”</p>
<p>Trump Calls on Conservatives Almost Exclusively</p>
<p>It’s harder to study the outlets Trump himself calls on; he often takes only a couple of questions at press events. The memorable <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/16/us/politics/donald-trump-press-conference-transcript.html" type="external">February 16 press conference</a> is an exception, but reporters, unfortunately, were not using microphones at that event, so the identity of most could not be confirmed. The event still featured some remarkable exchanges, as when a pro-Trump reporter from a magazine serving the Orthodox Jewish community asked mildly how best to combat antisemitism. Trump inexplicably blew up: “Sit down,” he scolded (New York Times, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/17/us/politics/trump-press-conference-jake-turx.html" type="external">2/17/17</a>). “I am the least antisemitic person you have ever seen in your life.” The reporter <a href="http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2017/02/18/jake-turx-reporter-hopeful-ac.cnn" type="external">declared</a> that he remains supportive of Trump, despite the president’s overt hostility.</p>
<p>At joint press events with other state leaders, Trump calls on right-leaning publications almost exclusively. Appearing with heads of state from <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/02/15/remarks-president-trump-and-prime-minister-netanyahu-israel-joint-press" type="external">Israel</a>, <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/02/13/remarks-president-trump-and-prime-minister-trudeau-canada-joint-press" type="external">Canada</a> and <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/02/10/remarks-president-trump-and-prime-minister-abe-japan-joint-press" type="external">Japan</a>, the only questions from US reporters came from the Christian Broadcasting Network, New York Post, TownHall, Fox News, Daily Caller and a local affiliate of Sinclair Broadcasting—all known for their conservative bent. Many in the press corps were aghast when none of the questions at the event with Canada’s Justin Trudeau addressed the Flynn controversy (Politico, <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/donald-trump-reporters-234972" type="external">2/13/17</a>), which had been dominating headlines at the time.</p>
<p>What is alarming about the White House’s reliance on right-wing outlets is not only the unlikelihood of their voicing any challenge to Trump policies that <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2017/03/17/the-repulsive-worldview-of-trump-and-bannon-perfectly-captured-in-one-poll/?utm_term=.7288d8a11eab" type="external">concern</a> a great many Americans, but that so many of them are on the far-right fringe, publishing hateful, hyperbolic stories and conspiracy theories with little regard for accuracy. (These publications often take part in press conferences remotely via Skype, making for what &#160;Salon described— <a href="http://www.salon.com/2017/02/15/sean-spicers-skype-seats-experiment-has-pretty-much-jumped-the-shark/" type="external">2/15/17</a>—as “a bad comedy sketch” that has “further empowered right-wing loons.”)</p>
<p>Federalist Papers Project ( <a href="http://thefederalistpapers.org/us/hillary-joined-bill-clinton-on-trips-to-sex-slave-island-fbi-docs-reveal" type="external">11/5/16</a>)</p>
<p>In a February 14 briefing, the White House called on <a href="http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/story/news/local/2017/02/16/au-faculty-gets-white-house-press-briefing-skype-seat/98002034/" type="external">Jason Stevens</a>, contributor to the Federalist Papers Project, who asked why “unaccountable bureaucrats” spend government money. The outlet—with <a href="https://twitter.com/thefederalist1?lang=en" type="external">8,300 twitter followers</a>—is best known for its liberal use of CAPS LOCK, and for publishing <a href="http://thefederalistpapers.org/us/hillary-joined-bill-clinton-on-trips-to-sex-slave-island-fbi-docs-reveal" type="external">headlines</a> like “Hillary Joins Bill Clinton on Trips to ‘Sex Slave Island,’ FBI Docs Show,” “How the Best Tweet Of ALL TIME Explains the Clinton Kill List,” and “What Democrats and Slave Holders Have in Common BRUTALLY Summed Up” (Media Matters, <a href="http://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2017/02/14/10-headlines-federalist-papers-project-which-white-house-just-invited-daily-briefing/215345" type="external">2/14/17</a>).</p>
<p>It is telling that many of <a href="http://thefederalistpapers.org/us/hillary-joined-bill-clinton-on-trips-to-sex-slave-island-fbi-docs-reveal" type="external">these articles</a>lean heavily on Breitbart for stories. The site, formerly run by White House chief strategist Steven Bannon, has become the de facto house organ of the Trump White House (FAIR.org, <a href="" type="internal">8/25/16</a>), much in the way the neoconservative Weekly Standard reflected thinking during the George W. Bush Administration (Extra!, <a href="" type="internal">10/09</a>). While a frequent contributor of White House questions—the site was called on more than the New York Times, Washington Post and Associated Press combined—Breitbart has so far been unable to get permanent press credentials on Capitol Hill; its colleagues in the Senate Press Gallery are unconvinced that Bannon has really cut ties to his old soapbox, and asking about allegations that the site has been promoting the interests of Egyptian politician Moustafa El-Gindy, from whom it rents office space (Daily Beast, <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2017/03/27/breitbart-denied-capitol-hill-permanent-press-credentials.html" type="external">3/27/17</a>, <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/03/29/ex-writer-breitbart-broke-the-law.html" type="external">3/29/17</a>).</p>
<p>Another right-wing source called on frequently by Spicer is One America News Network (OAN). Launched at CPAC 2013, the network was originally a partnership between the Unification Church-owned Washington Times and Herring Broadcasting (Washington Times, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130315100204/http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/mar/13/the-washington-times-extending-reach-cable-network/?page=all" type="external">3/13/13</a>; Daily Beast, <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/03/14/one-america-news-network-new-conservative-cable-channel-sets-launch.html" type="external">3/14/13</a>), though its current relationship to the Times is unclear (Huffington Post, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marty-kaplan/my-new-favorite-news-netw_b_6419182.html" type="external">1/5/15</a>). The goal, according to Herring, was to fill what he saw as a vacuum for more conservative news. “All we have is Fox,” he said.</p>
<p>The channel is not aired on many of the major cable providers, but has <a href="http://www.oann.com/wheretowatch/" type="external">expanded its reach</a> by making deals with streaming platforms such as AT&amp;T U-Verse (Multichannel, <a href="http://www.multichannel.com/news/telco-tv/one-america-news-gets-u-verse-berth/374065" type="external">4/23/14</a>). In the study, only five outlets were called on more frequently than OAN.</p>
<p>One America Network‘s Liz Wheeler</p>
<p>OAN’s Tipping Point, with Liz Wheeler, provides a glimpse at the network’s content. In one of her “politically incorrect” segments ( <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRf0ZWvEjOQ" type="external">2/21/17</a>), she referred to protests at Berkeley as “riots,” part of a “systematic campaign to radicalize students, instill fear in Republicans and destroy our Republic.” Her guest was the <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/david-horowitz" type="external">xenophobic conspiracist</a>David Horowitz, who explained to OAN’s audience that the protesters were “bigoted” members of the “fascist left.” Wheeler nodded approvingly as Horowitz called <a href="" type="internal">Jeff Sessions</a> a “champion of civil rights.”</p>
<p>Another recent segment ( <a href="https://youtu.be/kMYBNYqJhes" type="external">2/24/27</a>) broadcast Wheeler’s baseless claim that in places where transgender people are allowed to use the appropriate bathroom, “we have seen a lot of sexual predators.”</p>
<p>Transgender rights are a major issue at Newsmax, another outlet called on frequently by Spicer; one day’s big story was Caitlyn Jenner’s views on Trump’s transgender policy, with the most popular comment calling her a “disaster.”</p>
<p>Newsmax comments on a story about Caitlyn Jenner ( <a href="http://www.newsmax.com/US/US-Transgender-Bathrooms-The-Latest/2017/02/23/id/775308/" type="external">2/23/17</a>).</p>
<p>Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy is probably best known for his book suggesting that the Clintons murdered Vince Foster. That Ruddy’s Newsmax is embraced by Trump (Washington Post, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/02/21/newsmax-ceo-chris-ruddys-savvy-play-for-the-ear-of-president-trump/?utm_term=.8f92672e719b" type="external">2/21/17</a> ) is not surprising. Ruddy was an early donor to Trump’s campaign, and to many other Republicans. In fact, he is listed on the Center for Responsive Politics’ list of largest individual donors of hard money, <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/overview/topindivs.php?view=hi" type="external">with $138,000 in donations in 2016</a>, all to Republicans. Since then he has earned himself what the Post calls “a seat at the table” at the Trump White House.</p>
<p>From Bad to Worse: Trump’s Influence on the White House Press Corps</p>
<p>It is important to understand that conflicts of interest between media companies and politicians are not unique to Trump; they speak to larger systemic problems with the corporate press and its relationship to those in power. Had Hillary Clinton won the presidency, there would be major concerns over the fact that the parent companies of virtually all major broadcast outlets were Clinton donors in 2016 (FAIR.org, <a href="" type="internal">9/3/16</a>; Truthout, <a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/37451-the-clinton-foundation-and-the-media-a-deep-seated-conflict-of-interest" type="external">9/1/16</a>).</p>
<p>This is one of many reasons Trump and Spicer’s efforts to stack the White House press corps with ideological allies, and call on them almost half the time, is so worrying. Trump and Spicer have taken a compliant, deferential press and added to it a sizable army of far-right, pro-Trump outlets, leaving us with a press corps where half of the members are working for multinational conglomerates and the other half are shills for the president.</p>
<p>Michael Corcoran&#160;is a journalist based in Boston. He has written for the Boston Globe, The Nation, the Christian Science Monitor, <a href="" type="internal">Extra!</a>, NACLA Report on the Americas and other publications. Follow him on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/mcorcoran3" type="external">@mcorcoran3</a>.</p> | true | 4 | white house press corps exactly inspirational adversarial journalism years made almost exclusively corporate media outlets largely known ridiculous correspondents dinner failure hold presidents account fairorg 5413 160but however timid reporters years clear trump administration going great lengths marginalize john king reliable sources 32617 pay attention man podium cnns normally timid john king said trumps press secretary segment headlined sean spicer lost credibility reliable sources 32617 dismissal came long white house barred major media outlets new york times cnn bbc informal press briefing going aggressively push back spicer told nonexcluded journalists going sit back let know false narratives false stories inaccurate facts get therenew york times 22417160 though routinely happily grants access regal journalistic institutions breitbart daily signal one america radio news network among slew farright outlets many spout crazed conspiracy theories utter nonsense new york times et al invited spicers briefing theres guarantee would called numerous reporters complained trump spicer stacking white house press corpswith protrump outlets many altright fairorg 82516 assert calling conservatives alarming frequency thereby avoiding questions unwanted subjects resignation national security advisor michael flynn politico 21317 cnn 21517 handpicking reporters trump manages get news conference without asked flynn tweeted new york times reporter peter baker 21317 theres way describe fix argued cnns jim acosta interview coworker wolf blitzer 21517 analysis spicers callons nearly half conservative asterisks denote conservative outlet outlets called one time associated press 160axios australia channel 10 israel channel 7 news boston christian broadcasting network conservative radio daily caller daily mail daily signal federalist papers project fox 8 cleveland fox wkvu las vegas india times 160kentucky radio wjhl virginia la opinion lifezette new york times politico reuters sirius tv news brazil talk media news telemundo wvnn wall street journal washington blade washington post washington times fairs research bears impressions fair analyzed instance spicer called reporter first month briefings archived whitehousegov total analyzed seven briefings outlets called 105 times ten questions omitted analysis since questioner could identified fortyfive percent reporters spicer called conservative outletseither selfidentified run overtly conservative publishers editors included daily signal project heritage foundation daily mail whose editor paul dacre one influential conservatives united kingdom new statesman 1214 staunchsome said shrillsupporter brexit guardian 21817 outlets part rupert murdoch empireincluding fox news become one trumps biggest boosters fairorg 11317 wall street journal also counted conservative fox prominent presence trump white house briefings representatives brandincluding fox news fox business channel fox radioasking 15 percent questions questioner could identified total questions asked cnn usa today time new york times washington post associated press combined principle nothing wrong inviting smaller ideologically driven outlets inside white house briefing room fact done way widened parameters debate included leftleaning outlets would bold step away dominant medias obsession unattainable neutrality fairorg 72012 intercept 31416 serves narrow parameters debate howard zinn often said eg democracy 42705 neutral passive face injustice collaborate whatever going white house correspondents complicit failure expose george w bush administrations dishonest case war iraq fairorg 5413 led unspeakable carnage white house press corps got scooped two metro reporters watergate fairorg 6112 generally ignores human rights violations us presidents fairorg 12111 data show trumps goal widen debate plant many friendly reporters press corps possible left equivalent lifezette breitbart seat spicers press room journalists tasked holding white house account come almost exclusively either corporate rightwing trumpsupporting outlets press secretary sean spicer calls reporter analyzing 105 questions including followups white house reporters hard notice docile queries pressing questions policies poverty hunger inequality nobody asked spicer trump developed nation planet without universal healthcare current former students shackled student debt helped cease lock humans higher rate nation kind questions werent ignored conservative outlets entire press corps including revered institutions new york times washington post many questions conservative outlets otherwise generic even friendly fitting neatly trump narrative hes extremely loyal person general flynn difficult decision president let general flynn go asked john decker fox radio february 14 briefing talk former new hampshire sen kelly ayottes role shepherding justice gorsuch around capitol hill asked reporterfrom boston nbc news affiliate 2717 hoping going ask patriots spicer quipped giving nothing answer ayotte understands judicial process well trump calls conservatives almost exclusively harder study outlets trump calls often takes couple questions press events memorable february 16 press conference exception reporters unfortunately using microphones event identity could confirmed event still featured remarkable exchanges protrump reporter magazine serving orthodox jewish community asked mildly best combat antisemitism trump inexplicably blew sit scolded new york times 21717 least antisemitic person ever seen life reporter declared remains supportive trump despite presidents overt hostility joint press events state leaders trump calls rightleaning publications almost exclusively appearing heads state israel canada japan questions us reporters came christian broadcasting network new york post townhall fox news daily caller local affiliate sinclair broadcastingall known conservative bent many press corps aghast none questions event canadas justin trudeau addressed flynn controversy politico 21317 dominating headlines time alarming white houses reliance rightwing outlets unlikelihood voicing challenge trump policies concern great many americans many farright fringe publishing hateful hyperbolic stories conspiracy theories little regard accuracy publications often take part press conferences remotely via skype making 160salon described 21517as bad comedy sketch empowered rightwing loons federalist papers project 11516 february 14 briefing white house called jason stevens contributor federalist papers project asked unaccountable bureaucrats spend government money outletwith 8300 twitter followersis best known liberal use caps lock publishing headlines like hillary joins bill clinton trips sex slave island fbi docs show best tweet time explains clinton kill list democrats slave holders common brutally summed media matters 21417 telling many articleslean heavily breitbart stories site formerly run white house chief strategist steven bannon become de facto house organ trump white house fairorg 82516 much way neoconservative weekly standard reflected thinking george w bush administration extra 1009 frequent contributor white house questionsthe site called new york times washington post associated press combinedbreitbart far unable get permanent press credentials capitol hill colleagues senate press gallery unconvinced bannon really cut ties old soapbox asking allegations site promoting interests egyptian politician moustafa elgindy rents office space daily beast 32717 32917 another rightwing source called frequently spicer one america news network oan launched cpac 2013 network originally partnership unification churchowned washington times herring broadcasting washington times 31313 daily beast 31413 though current relationship times unclear huffington post 1515 goal according herring fill saw vacuum conservative news fox said channel aired many major cable providers expanded reach making deals streaming platforms atampt uverse multichannel 42314 study five outlets called frequently oan one america networks liz wheeler oans tipping point liz wheeler provides glimpse networks content one politically incorrect segments 22117 referred protests berkeley riots part systematic campaign radicalize students instill fear republicans destroy republic guest xenophobic conspiracistdavid horowitz explained oans audience protesters bigoted members fascist left wheeler nodded approvingly horowitz called jeff sessions champion civil rights another recent segment 22427 broadcast wheelers baseless claim places transgender people allowed use appropriate bathroom seen lot sexual predators transgender rights major issue newsmax another outlet called frequently spicer one days big story caitlyn jenners views trumps transgender policy popular comment calling disaster newsmax comments story caitlyn jenner 22317 newsmax ceo chris ruddy probably best known book suggesting clintons murdered vince foster ruddys newsmax embraced trump washington post 22117 surprising ruddy early donor trumps campaign many republicans fact listed center responsive politics list largest individual donors hard money 138000 donations 2016 republicans since earned post calls seat table trump white house bad worse trumps influence white house press corps important understand conflicts interest media companies politicians unique trump speak larger systemic problems corporate press relationship power hillary clinton presidency would major concerns fact parent companies virtually major broadcast outlets clinton donors 2016 fairorg 9316 truthout 9116 one many reasons trump spicers efforts stack white house press corps ideological allies call almost half time worrying trump spicer taken compliant deferential press added sizable army farright protrump outlets leaving us press corps half members working multinational 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<p>Sogorea Te/Glen Cove is part of Vallejo, Calif., which is north of San Francisco Bay. &#160; (Photo by R.M. Arrieta)</p>
<p>Updated with details of settlement reached with Yocha Dehe and Cortina tribes on July 20</p>
<p>After 98 days of a land occupation/prayer vigil, a major victory has been announced over the protection of Sogorea Te/Glen Cove sacred burial grounds in Vallejo.</p>
<p>A cultural easement and settlement agreement was reached with the Yocha Dehe and Cortina tribes, the City of Vallejo and the Greater Vallejo Recreation District (GVRD).</p>
<p>The agreement, announced Wednesday, July 20, sets a legal precedent for granting Native people jurisdiction over their sacred sites and ancestral lands.</p>
<p>It is seen as a “significant step” toward enacting tribal sovereignty because it is the first cultural easement to be negotiated at the city and recreational district level under <a href="" type="internal">CA Senate Bill 18</a>. The bill gives native tribes more protection over their sacred sites on public land and extends to both federal recognized and unrecognized tribes. It requires local governments to notify tribes about possible future development.</p>
<p>According to a statement released by the <a href="http://www.protectglencove.org" type="external">Committee to Protect Glen Cove</a>, the cultural easement forever guarantees that the Yocha Dehe and Cortina tribes will have legal oversight in all activities taking place on the sacred burial grounds of Sogorea Te/Glen Cove.</p>
<p>A plan to install a restroom facility has been scrapped, and a parking lot will be relocated to an area that has been tested to confirm there are no human remains or cultural remnants.</p>
<p>Said Corrina Gould (Chochenyo/Karkin Ohlone), “We appreciate and are humbled by the vast support that we have received in protecting our ancestors. It is our responsibility to continue to do the work to make certain that all of our sacred sites are protected.”</p>
<p>The resistence, stamina and conviction of the people who stayed on the land and protected it paid off. It convinced the city and recreation department to reconsider what at first was a stubborn reluctance not to negotiate at all.</p>
<p>A core of people from the Committee to Protect Glen Cove was there through the biting cold, chill rains, high hot windy days.</p>
<p>They remained not knowing whether they would be jarred awake by the sounds of bullhorns and bulldozers. The good hearts of their supporters — who were numerous and from all around the world — brought food, blankets, prayers, water, and helped maintain the vigil and keep these warriors strong.</p>
<p>Labor comes in many different forms. The kind of labor required to defend one's land is uniquely voluntary— and was apparent in Vallejo, Calif., where a group of native people and their supporters occupied the land at Glen Cove more than three months to stop development in an area that once contained ancient shellmound burial sites.</p>
<p>Background</p>
<p>On April 14 the group—Ohlone and Miwok activists and their supporters—began occupying the 15-acre area north of Oakland where the City of Vallejo and the Greater Vallejo Recreation District (GRVD) want to build bathrooms, a hiking trail and a parking lot on land known to contain shellmound burial grounds and Native American villages dating back to 1,000 A.D.&#160;</p>
<p>Native people, who are seeking permanent legal rights from the city to protect the land, refer to the area as “Segorea Te,” its traditional name in the language of Karkin Ohlone. Hundred of visitors, including nearby residents, have come to Glen Cove offering gifts, food, help with keeping the grounds tended, and prayers to the sacred fire that has burned continuously since the occupation began in April.</p>
<p>This pristine area sits on a cove where cool waters wash over rocks and into the Carquinez Bay. Willows, alder trees and tule shade the land near a fresh water creek. Fishermen ply the shore. The quietness belies the fight waging between indigenous people and GVRD and the City of Vallejo.</p>
<p>On Tuesday, July 12, the Vallejo City Council held a closed meeting to discuss an agreement that would fully protect all 15 acres of Glen Cove. The agreement announced Wednesay is the outcome of that meeting.</p>
<p>In April, The Sacred Site Protection and Rights of Indigenous Tribes (SSP&amp;RIT), a Native American organization based in Vallejo, filed a <a href="" type="internal">civil rights suit</a> with California's attorney general against the City of Vallejo and GVRD for “discriminating on the basis of race in threatening to destroy and desecrate significant parts of the Glen Cove Shell Mound and burial site and in effectively excluding American Indians from their right to full participation in the decision-making process regarding this project.”&#160;Corrina Gould of the Karkin/Chochenyo Ohlone Nation, who is a co-founder of <a href="http://ipocshellmoundwalk.intuitwebsites.com/" type="external">Indian People Organizing for Change</a>, said at a public meeting recently: “It wasn’t like … all of a sudden a group of us decided to pop it in our heads that we wanted to take over and occupy the land in a prayer vigil. This has been an ongoing thing that’s been happening.”</p>
<p>Not a new issue</p>
<p>Many people started working on saving the parcel 12 years ago, when they found out that development plans were underway to further dig up the area, of which parts had already been dug up by another developer years earlier.</p>
<p>Shane McAffee, general manager of the Greater Vallejo Recreation District, <a href="http://blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/2011/04/19/vallejo-native-american-protests/" type="external">told</a>KQED public radio: “The GVRD went through the appropriate local, state and federal process to secure development of the site. We are trying to come up with a project that takes in everybody’s concerns. We developed a Master Plan and this project represents the culmination of that Master Plan.”</p>
<p>There are over 425 shellmounds in the Bay Area. A map created in the early 1900s by a Berkeley archeologist Nels Nelson pinpointed over 400 prehistoric shellmounds. <a href="http://emeryville.wli.net/public_info/archaeology_history.htm" type="external">His work</a> remains a standard reference for Bay Area archeologists. Almost all of the shellmounds he mapped are “capped” now.</p>
<p>“When they talk about capping, they talk about putting maybe a foot of soil over the top of it. But many times what we find is that, like in the city of Emeryville, the “cap” is a huge mall on top of it. In the City of Oakland, there’s a library on top of one of our village sites, on another, there’s a bar at Jack London Square,” said Gould. “Here at Segorea Te, we can touch the ground, not asphalt, and say our prayers and offer them to the sky like we’re supposed to.”&#160;“This was a village site that was thriving, ... it was a beautiful place,” said Gould, adding, “It was one of the last strongholds for Ohlone people—the last places of the Ohlone people to live as they had lived before the [Spanish Catholic] missions pulled us all in.”&#160;Since April, the group has pulled 500 pounds of trash from the area, an area that was supposed to be maintained by GVRD. “It’s our responsibility to take care of those freshwater creeks down there, to make sure that plant life is OK. And it’s our responsibility to clean up this strait,” says Gould.</p>
<p>Fred Short, Ojibwa, the Spiritual Leader of the American Indian Movement in California, has been at Sogorea Te every day. “What gets me is trying to negotiate with the Vallejo City Council and GVRD. Why would they come in and disturb a sacred burial site? This is not a park, this is a sacred burial shellmound site that is 4,000 years old. There’s been a lot of destruction here already and we’re here to say that we don’t want anything more to take place here.”</p>
<p>Due to an editing error, the original version of this story stated that&#160; representatives of the Cortina and Yocha Deh tribes were part of the July 12 Vallejo City Council meeting. In fact, while the city council did negotiate a settlement with those tribes, their members were not part of that closed meeting. In These Times regrets the error.</p> | true | 4 | email name recipients email comma separated message captcha sogorea teglen cove part vallejo calif north san francisco bay 160 photo rm arrieta updated details settlement reached yocha dehe cortina tribes july 20 98 days land occupationprayer vigil major victory announced protection sogorea teglen cove sacred burial grounds vallejo cultural easement settlement agreement reached yocha dehe cortina tribes city vallejo greater vallejo recreation district gvrd agreement announced wednesday july 20 sets legal precedent granting native people jurisdiction sacred sites ancestral lands seen significant step toward enacting tribal sovereignty first cultural easement negotiated city recreational district level ca senate bill 18 bill gives native tribes protection sacred sites public land extends federal recognized unrecognized tribes requires local governments notify tribes possible future development according statement released committee protect glen cove cultural easement forever guarantees yocha dehe cortina tribes legal oversight activities taking place sacred burial grounds sogorea teglen cove plan install restroom facility scrapped parking lot relocated area tested confirm human remains cultural remnants said corrina gould chochenyokarkin ohlone appreciate humbled vast support received protecting ancestors responsibility continue work make certain sacred sites protected resistence stamina conviction people stayed land protected paid convinced city recreation department reconsider first stubborn reluctance negotiate core people committee protect glen cove biting cold chill rains high hot windy days remained knowing whether would jarred awake sounds bullhorns bulldozers good hearts supporters numerous around world brought food blankets prayers water helped maintain vigil keep warriors strong labor comes many different forms kind labor required defend ones land uniquely voluntary apparent vallejo calif group native people supporters occupied land glen cove three months stop development area contained ancient shellmound burial sites background april 14 groupohlone miwok activists supportersbegan occupying 15acre area north oakland city vallejo greater vallejo recreation district grvd want build bathrooms hiking trail parking lot land known contain shellmound burial grounds native american villages dating back 1000 ad160 native people seeking permanent legal rights city protect land refer area segorea te traditional name language karkin ohlone hundred visitors including nearby residents come glen cove offering gifts food help keeping grounds tended prayers sacred fire burned continuously since occupation began april pristine area sits cove cool waters wash rocks carquinez bay willows alder trees tule shade land near fresh water creek fishermen ply shore quietness belies fight waging indigenous people gvrd city vallejo tuesday july 12 vallejo city council held closed meeting discuss agreement would fully protect 15 acres glen cove agreement announced wednesay outcome meeting april sacred site protection rights indigenous tribes sspamprit native american organization based vallejo filed civil rights suit californias attorney general city vallejo gvrd discriminating basis race threatening destroy desecrate significant parts glen cove shell mound burial site effectively excluding american indians right full participation decisionmaking process regarding project160corrina gould karkinchochenyo ohlone nation cofounder indian people organizing change said public meeting recently wasnt like sudden group us decided pop heads wanted take occupy land prayer vigil ongoing thing thats happening new issue many people started working saving parcel 12 years ago found development plans underway dig area parts already dug another developer years earlier shane mcaffee general manager greater vallejo recreation district toldkqed public radio gvrd went appropriate local state federal process secure development site trying come project takes everybodys concerns developed master plan project represents culmination master plan 425 shellmounds bay area map created early 1900s berkeley archeologist nels nelson pinpointed 400 prehistoric shellmounds work remains standard reference bay area archeologists almost shellmounds mapped capped talk capping talk putting maybe foot soil top many times find like city emeryville cap huge mall top city oakland theres library top one village sites another theres bar jack london square said gould segorea te touch ground asphalt say prayers offer sky like supposed to160this village site thriving beautiful place said gould adding one last strongholds ohlone peoplethe last places ohlone people live lived spanish catholic missions pulled us in160since april group pulled 500 pounds trash area area supposed maintained gvrd responsibility take care freshwater creeks make sure plant life ok responsibility clean strait says gould fred short ojibwa spiritual leader american indian movement california sogorea te every day gets trying negotiate vallejo city council gvrd would come disturb sacred burial site park sacred burial shellmound site 4000 years old theres lot destruction already say dont want anything take place due editing error original version story stated that160 representatives cortina yocha deh tribes part july 12 vallejo city council meeting fact city council negotiate settlement tribes members part closed meeting times regrets error | 748 |
<p>“The same principle which forbids me to lie does not allow me to tell the truth.”</p>
<p>Giacomo Casanova, Histoire de Ma Vie (Story of My Life)</p>
<p>I’m in the midst of a humongous move and have no time to even look at the news, let alone write about it.&#160; But how can I – how can anyone – avoid the Erotic Adventures of Tiger Woods?&#160; It’s a soap operatic porno reality show streaming live before our eyes, ears, sanctimonious sensibilities and deep voyeuristic desires.</p>
<p>At first, I thought, so what?&#160; Another sports superstar is caught having illicit sex with a few different mistresses?&#160; Well, more than a few.&#160; But is that such a surprise?&#160; So Tiger’s got wood!&#160; Sure, he presented himself as the honest, monogamous “Family Man” to score the most lucrative endorsements he could.&#160; But don’t all sports stars do that?&#160; And does anyone over 18 actually believe that any of these hot-blooded jocks really ARE that?&#160; I mean, isn’t Tiger’s active, messy sex life par for the course? Yes and no.&#160; In some ways, Mr. Woods is a typical alpha male.&#160; And in some ways, he’s special.&#160; Tiger’s harem is bigger than most sports stars, though he hardly touches basketball Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain who confessed to having had sex with over 20,000 different women.&#160; Both Wilt and Tiger could be labeled what counselors and sexperts deem a “sex addict.”&#160; But professional athletes are often found to be addicted to all kinds of dangerous drugs.&#160; And sex – especially the way Tiger seems to have used it – is a kind of drug.</p>
<p>Interracial Sperm Wars</p>
<p>But why all the fuss?&#160; &#160;Because a black guy is getting all the white women?&#160; Not just a gorgeous, Swedish, blonde, blue-eyed, whiter-than-white wife, but a bevy of Aryan bikini models, porn stars, hot hostesses and waitresses.&#160; Are people secretly alarmed by all that interracial sex?&#160; Or are they aroused by it?&#160; Or both?</p>
<p>My cuckold sex therapy clients are blowing up my phone, like First Mistress Rachel Uchitel is reported to have squealed that Tiger was “blowing up [her] phone” when they first met.&#160; Just in case you don’t know, a cuckold is a guy whose wife has sex with other men.&#160; On the surface, it sounds like a bad deal for the cuckold, but a lot of husbands fantasize about their wives having sex with other men because the <a href="http://drsusanblockinstitute.com/sperm-wars" type="external">Sperm Wars Effect</a> turns them on.</p>
<p>The presence or mere fantasy of male competition for the woman you desire triggers a man’s testicles to increase sperm production so as to better compete for the egg with the other guy’s sperm, enhancing arousal, erection and ejaculation.</p>
<p>Tiger himself seems to be turned on by the Sperm Wars effect.&#160; Consider how he goes for “slutty” women who have a lot of lovers.&#160; His text messages may make him seem *jealous* of their other men, but he’s actually aroused by the competition.</p>
<p>The interracial sex aspect kicks it up a notch.&#160; The most popular turn-on for my Caucasian cuckold clients is to see their white wives having wild sex with well-endowed African-American men.&#160; Now that the Cadillac has hit the tree, so to speak, their biggest fantasy is to see their wives or girlfriends doing Tiger Woods.&#160; He’s the old myth of the “Mandingo” come to life, the black man who comes to town and seduces all the white men’s wives.&#160; Though only Tiger’s single girlfriends have come forward, that doesn’t exclude married lovers who would naturally be more inclined to be discreet.&#160; As I write this, millions of cuckolds around the world, wondering if Tiger’s been doing their wives, are worshiping the Woodsman as the Great Black Sex God.&#160; Even though he says he’s not black.</p>
<p>Integration through Sex</p>
<p>Actually, I like Tiger’s definition of himself (on Oprah) as being “Cablinasian,” a mix of Caucasian, African, Thai, Chinese and Native American. &#160;The term, silly as it sounds, points the way to our mixed-race future, where I’ve long predicted that we will soon achieve “Integration through Sex,”&#160; and racial bigotry will seem as strange as hieroglyphics. But in the meantime, most Americans, racist bigots or excited cuckolds, just look at Tiger and say he’s black.&#160; Then they look at all his hot white concubines in teeny bikinis, and they don’t know whether to call the cops or masturbate.&#160; Or both.</p>
<p>I must confess I am personally hoping that at least one of Tiger’s Girls comes out with a film of their lovemaking.&#160; I’d watch it, wouldn’t you?&#160; Tiger’s Wood caught on tape! Of course, several companies in Porn Valley are already in production on their XXX versions of Puttergate, with Cablinasian porn stars vying to play Tiger.&#160;Adam &amp; Eve Pictures is casting Tyler Knight as the title lead in “Tiger’s Wood” with Kayden Kross as wife Elin Nordegren.</p>
<p>Porn is, after all, a big part of Tiger’s story.&#160; At least two of his alleged mistresses, Holly Sampson and Joslyn James, are actual porn stars with long lists of credits.&#160; And really, “Tiger Woods” is such a porn name to begin with.&#160; It’s like his parents raised him to be a famous stud, as well as a sports star.&#160; And don’t they go together? Athletes tend to have hot, big, strong bodies, powerful drives and lots of stamina. And isn’t the ultimate hole-in-one between the legs of a hot woman?</p>
<p>Tiger the Exhibitionist</p>
<p>It’s the 9-iron swinging in his pants that is probably Tiger’s greatest pride and biggest embarrassment.&#160; He seems to yearn to show it off, in addition to sticking it into a lot of places, er, women, and mostly without protection (according to one of his mistresses), another no-no.&#160; An exhibitionist like Tiger must be frustrated that professional golf clothes tend to be loose trousers, instead of those tight football pants or bicycle shorts.&#160; So he shows it off in other ways.</p>
<p>Tiger is obviously no raincoat flasher, nor is he a professional exhibitionist like his porn star girlfriends.&#160; But he seems to have a profound desire to expose himself, or perhaps to be exposed, caught in the act he loves best. Why else would such a disciplined person be so careless, almost carefree about his indiscretions.&#160; Did his inner Bad Boy really wanted to get caught so he could end the impossible Good Boy charade he’s put on all his life?&#160; His lovers say he enjoys outdoor sex, and I don’t think it’s just because he’s a nature-lover.&#160; On some level, he wanted his wild side – the inner Tiger – to leap out of its respectable cage and romp around the world, risking being caught.&#160; Many of my sex therapy clients are exhibitionists who lead elaborate double lives.&#160; Though they take great pains to keep their philandering secrets from leaking into their public, respectable, married lives, they often fantasize about being “caught” by authorities, relatives or the whole world.&#160; Tiger Woods, a man of action, did more than fantasize.&#160; He made it happen.</p>
<p>While Bad Tiger exposes himself to the world, Good Tiger is doing damage control.&#160; He won a court injunction against anyone publishing nude photos of himself, so it might be a while before we get to see Tiger’s actual wood.&#160; But the fact that he sought the court injunction means photos probably do exist.&#160; With all of his professional exhibitionist girlfriends, I’m sure several hard drives and iPhones are filled with photos of their super-special sex with Tiger.</p>
<p>And if they show it, we will watch.&#160; We will gawk, point and laugh about “Tiger being a Cheetah.”&#160; Sex is a comedy, not a tragedy.&#160; Tragedies abound in the world, a war in Afghanistan rages on, and we can never find Osama (I still think he’s in China). But we got Tiger by the tail.&#160; So let’s all point and laugh at Tiger the Fool, caught with his golf knickers down around his ankles.&#160; He deserves a bit of ridicule for being such a world-class hypocrite and a sloppy one at that.&#160; Doesn’t he realize that a reality show star like Jaimee Grubbs is going to eventually publish all his *secret* sext messages?&#160; Of course, he does.&#160; Part of the turn-on is the risk, the danger, the game, the chance of being caught.&#160; Even the possibility of being blackmailed can be a turn-on to some hard-core exhibitionists.&#160; And Tiger is nothing if not hard-core.</p>
<p>Tiger Woods Syndrome: Philandering Family Man</p>
<p>What makes Tiger tick?&#160; Here is a sports star who was born into the game, like Michael Jackson was born into pop music.&#160; A Mozart of this strange lily-white diversion called golf, little Eldrick Tont “Tiger” Woods was another angel-faced boy prodigy driven by his taskmaster father, Earl Woods, who has fared better in the public eye than Joe Jackson – so far. Tiger won early, he won big and he kept winning.&#160; Rarely losing, it seems he never learned the important lessons of humility and empathy the rest of us reluctantly discover as we stumble through life while Tiger swings.</p>
<p>He wasn’t just a winner on the tees.&#160; Team Tiger parlayed his Prince of Golf athletic skills into the King of Endorsements; the world’s first billionaire sportsman.&#160; To win that game, he had to play the role of “family man” to the hilt, which he probably figured couldn’t be as hard as competitive sports. &#160;Maybe he thought a sex drive was as easy to control as a power drive.&#160; Maybe the life-long pressure to play Mr. Perfect, coupled with the recent death of his Svengali dad, made him crack or just curious to see how far he could push the boundaries of his charmed life. Maybe he just didn’t realize that “family man” is, for the most part, an ideal, and the ideal is the enemy of the real.</p>
<p>Pepsi, Gillette, Gatorade and the others pay – or paid – for the ideal Tiger Woods; the bullet-proof, squeaky clean, politically correct “brand” that isn’t quite human.&#160; The real Tiger Woods has emotions, fears and fantasies, an appetite for erotic variety, a weakness for flattery, a lust for sexual conquest, a fetish for danger and the charm, wealth, success and literal cockiness to get almost any lover he wants (at least, in the good old days).</p>
<p>Tiger’s not the Devil that so many stone-throwing, sanctimonious pundits make him out to be.&#160; How many of them would be able to resist all the tempting groupies that throw themselves at sports stars?&#160; But he certainly does need sex therapy!&#160; It could save his life, his marriage and maybe even his brand.&#160; So I would like to put my money where my mouth is and offer Tiger six months of free sex therapy here at the Institute or in the undisclosed location of his choice.</p>
<p>Seriously, whether he gets the help he needs from me (and I wouldn’t tell you if he did) or someone else, there is no doubt that Tiger should talk to someone about his intense, downright explosive sexual feelings and fantasies.&#160; He needs a therapist to help him face the facts of his sexuality without judging his desires.</p>
<p>I imagine sexperts and psychologists are starting to call cases of philandering family men “Tiger Woods Syndrome.”&#160; I personally have many clients like Tiger; powerful, successful “family men” with conservative reputations who lead complicated double lives with secret mistresses and fetishes.&#160; Most manage to maintain their facades, as most of society maintains its façade, but some are exposed, some fantasize about being exposed, and some have exposure thrust upon them. When uncovered, society tends to blame these guys for everything.&#160; But behind every philandering husband is a wife with some responsibility for their wounded marriage.</p>
<p>Elin The Club-Wielding Valkyrie</p>
<p>And so we come to Elin Nordegren Woods. &#160;The initial reports that she rescued Tiger from his crashed Cadillac Escalade by bashing in the window(s) and hauling him out to safety never quite made sense.&#160; More likely she went into a rage and chased the cheating bastard out of the house with a golf club (I really wish they could have filmed that) as the Tigerman, barefoot and on Ambien or Vicodin (depending on which tabloid you believe), seems to have jumped into his SUV just in time for her to bash it with the club before his brief but fateful drive into the fire hydrant (I wonder if it squirted) and subsequent neighbor’s tree.&#160; Permits notwithstanding, that neighbor would be smart to build a Tiger Woods Sex Museum around that tree, but I digress.</p>
<p>Going after her husband with a 5-iron doesn’t necessarily mean that Elin was surprised. &#160;She’s blonde but she couldn’t be that dumb; her dad is a Swedish radio bureau chief and her mom a politician.&#160; Considering the sheer size of Tiger’s harem, she must have known something about the *real* Tiger and agreed to tolerate his philandering as long as he kept up the lucrative Family Man appearance.&#160; Alas, he &#160;couldn’t do it.&#160; Humiliated by the National Enquirer outing and freaked over the prospect of losing all that endorsement money, Elin the Avenging, Club-Wielding Valkyrie appears to have used the instrument of Tiger’s success as the weapon of his destruction.</p>
<p>Tiger’s face was supposedly riddled with cuts and scratches that were not caused by anything that happened to the Cadillac, making it appear as if the lovely Elin committed some kind of domestic violence before the car accident.&#160;&#160; Then hubby seems to have covered for her with the “she was trying to save me from the car” story.&#160; On some level, they deserve each other.</p>
<p>And yes, poor Elin is surely in need of counseling too, and I would like to offer her the same deal of six months free sex therapy, as well as anger management therapy, whether she wants to stand by her man or not.&#160;&#160; I’d only have to insist that she leave the golf clubs in the SUV.</p>
<p>And then there’s couples counseling.&#160; I don’t know much about their relationship, but (like everyone else) I’ve been ogling their photos for days now, and I do believe that Tiger and Elin should preserve their marriage.&#160; Not just for the sake of the children, the endorsements and the whole Tiger Woods Empire, but because they look so damn hot together.</p>
<p>Seriously, I’d like to throw in a week-long stay at Couples Camp plus one year’s worth of weekly relationship counseling.&#160; I’m not one to say “keep the marriage together at all costs,” but whether they want to stay together, separate or become honest swingers, there is no doubt that they need therapy.&#160; And if they both want to put in the effort to make this billion dollar marital enterprise work privately, publicly, sexually and otherwise, I’m sure I can help them to make an amazing comeback together.</p>
<p>Casanova Woods</p>
<p>Whether he goes to sex therapy, a Swedish island or Buddhist retreat, everyone agrees Tiger’s got to lay low for a year or two (or maybe less in this short term memory world) before he makes his great comeback.&#160; Sponsors come and sponsors go, but the world loves a Casanova.&#160; Tiger may not be the monolithic machine he once was, but he’ll still be in the game.&#160; It’s not like he raped any of these women, or even used the power of his position to coerce them.&#160; He didn’t even pay most of them, and is reputed to be as good between the sheets as he is on the greenways.&#160; Like Giacomo Casanova, who would probably have been labeled a “sex addict” if there had been sexperts in 18th century Italy, Tiger seduced with charm, not force.&#160; And since that is the Bonobo Way of peace through pleasure, you gotta love the big, lying lunk for it.</p>
<p>Of course, now he must say he’s sorry, big-time, to Elin and to all of us, and then maybe, just maybe we’ll forgive him, maybe love him even more.&#160; Most of us adore big, strong, club-swinging men who get down on their knees and apologize “profoundly,” with penitent looks on their naughty, naughty faces (even if we know they’ll just do it again when we’re not looking).</p>
<p>The Real Tiger</p>
<p>Tiger’s travails have even touched that other tall, dark, handsome, very successful, mixed-race American with a hot wife, President Barack Obama.&#160; The two are featured together on the bizarre current cover of Golf Digest (personally, I’ll take the philanderer over the war escalator but that’s another bloggamy).&#160; “10 Tips Obama Can Take From Tiger” is the headline, one of the tips being “Tiger never does anything that would make him ridiculous.”</p>
<p>Well, the joke’s on Golf Digest, because we all do things that make us ridiculous, especially in the sexual arena, especially in a society that demands eternal monogamy and moral perfection of a guy who reached the top of the social heap by hitting balls into holes.&#160; Anyway, all humans who are treated like gods ought to be taken down a notch, lest their heads swell up so much that they float away from us entirely.&#160; Thus, Tiger shall now “retire” from golf to work on being a “better husband, father and person.”&#160; Presumably, he’s also retiring from engaging in multiple extramarital affairs, the implication being that the golf swing leads to sexual swinging, or something like that.</p>
<p>If the Woodsman shows the world he can eat humble pie, then plays well when he makes his comeback, the endorsements will also come back, just like Subway came back to bong-sucking Michael Phelps and Nike topped Adidas for accused sex offender Kobe Bryant.&#160; And if he doesn’t play so well, if he continues the sloppy philandering and/or if Elin leaves his sorry ass, well, the endorsements won’t be so lucrative.&#160; Pepsi and Cadillac won’t be very forgiving if he comes back with a losing streak, sexting his hotties while Elin starts a new life as Sweden’s richest divorcee.</p>
<p>But that’s okay.&#160; I would hope that a billionaire would have put something away.&#160;&#160; And there will be new offers (Tiger Woods for Viagra!) for the new, slightly more real, wounded Tiger, who will be a lot more interesting (to me anyway) than the old, artificial, made-for-endorsements ideal who was never real in the first place.</p>
<p>Dr. SUSAN BLOCK is a sex therapist and author of The 10 Commandments of Pleasure, occasionally seen on HBO and other channels.&#160; Commit Bloggamy with her at <a href="http://drsusanblock.com/blog/" type="external">http://drsusanblock.com/blog/</a>&#160; Email your comments to her at <a href="mailto:liberties@blockbooks.com" type="external">liberties@blockbooks.com</a></p>
<p>© Dec. 13, 2009.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | principle forbids lie allow tell truth giacomo casanova histoire de vie story life im midst humongous move time even look news let alone write it160 anyone avoid erotic adventures tiger woods160 soap operatic porno reality show streaming live eyes ears sanctimonious sensibilities deep voyeuristic desires first thought what160 another sports superstar caught illicit sex different mistresses160 well few160 surprise160 tigers got wood160 sure presented honest monogamous family man score lucrative endorsements could160 dont sports stars that160 anyone 18 actually believe hotblooded jocks really that160 mean isnt tigers active messy sex life par course yes no160 ways mr woods typical alpha male160 ways hes special160 tigers harem bigger sports stars though hardly touches basketball hall famer wilt chamberlain confessed sex 20000 different women160 wilt tiger could labeled counselors sexperts deem sex addict160 professional athletes often found addicted kinds dangerous drugs160 sex especially way tiger seems used kind drug interracial sperm wars fuss160 160because black guy getting white women160 gorgeous swedish blonde blueeyed whiterthanwhite wife bevy aryan bikini models porn stars hot hostesses waitresses160 people secretly alarmed interracial sex160 aroused it160 cuckold sex therapy clients blowing phone like first mistress rachel uchitel reported squealed tiger blowing phone first met160 case dont know cuckold guy whose wife sex men160 surface sounds like bad deal cuckold lot husbands fantasize wives sex men sperm wars effect turns presence mere fantasy male competition woman desire triggers mans testicles increase sperm production better compete egg guys sperm enhancing arousal erection ejaculation tiger seems turned sperm wars effect160 consider goes slutty women lot lovers160 text messages may make seem jealous men hes actually aroused competition interracial sex aspect kicks notch160 popular turnon caucasian cuckold clients see white wives wild sex wellendowed africanamerican men160 cadillac hit tree speak biggest fantasy see wives girlfriends tiger woods160 hes old myth mandingo come life black man comes town seduces white mens wives160 though tigers single girlfriends come forward doesnt exclude married lovers would naturally inclined discreet160 write millions cuckolds around world wondering tigers wives worshiping woodsman great black sex god160 even though says hes black integration sex actually like tigers definition oprah cablinasian mix caucasian african thai chinese native american 160the term silly sounds points way mixedrace future ive long predicted soon achieve integration sex160 racial bigotry seem strange hieroglyphics meantime americans racist bigots excited cuckolds look tiger say hes black160 look hot white concubines teeny bikinis dont know whether call cops masturbate160 must confess personally hoping least one tigers girls comes film lovemaking160 id watch wouldnt you160 tigers wood caught tape course several companies porn valley already production xxx versions puttergate cablinasian porn stars vying play tiger160adam amp eve pictures casting tyler knight title lead tigers wood kayden kross wife elin nordegren porn big part tigers story160 least two alleged mistresses holly sampson joslyn james actual porn stars long lists credits160 really tiger woods porn name begin with160 like parents raised famous stud well sports star160 dont go together athletes tend hot big strong bodies powerful drives lots stamina isnt ultimate holeinone legs hot woman tiger exhibitionist 9iron swinging pants probably tigers greatest pride biggest embarrassment160 seems yearn show addition sticking lot places er women mostly without protection according one mistresses another nono160 exhibitionist like tiger must frustrated professional golf clothes tend loose trousers instead tight football pants bicycle shorts160 shows ways tiger obviously raincoat flasher professional exhibitionist like porn star girlfriends160 seems profound desire expose perhaps exposed caught act loves best else would disciplined person careless almost carefree indiscretions160 inner bad boy really wanted get caught could end impossible good boy charade hes put life160 lovers say enjoys outdoor sex dont think hes naturelover160 level wanted wild side inner tiger leap respectable cage romp around world risking caught160 many sex therapy clients exhibitionists lead elaborate double lives160 though take great pains keep philandering secrets leaking public respectable married lives often fantasize caught authorities relatives whole world160 tiger woods man action fantasize160 made happen bad tiger exposes world good tiger damage control160 court injunction anyone publishing nude photos might get see tigers actual wood160 fact sought court injunction means photos probably exist160 professional exhibitionist girlfriends im sure several hard drives iphones filled photos superspecial sex tiger show watch160 gawk point laugh tiger cheetah160 sex comedy tragedy160 tragedies abound world war afghanistan rages never find osama still think hes china got tiger tail160 lets point laugh tiger fool caught golf knickers around ankles160 deserves bit ridicule worldclass hypocrite sloppy one that160 doesnt realize reality show star like jaimee grubbs going eventually publish secret sext messages160 course does160 part turnon risk danger game chance caught160 even possibility blackmailed turnon hardcore exhibitionists160 tiger nothing hardcore tiger woods syndrome philandering family man makes tiger tick160 sports star born game like michael jackson born pop music160 mozart strange lilywhite diversion called golf little eldrick tont tiger woods another angelfaced boy prodigy driven taskmaster father earl woods fared better public eye joe jackson far tiger early big kept winning160 rarely losing seems never learned important lessons humility empathy rest us reluctantly discover stumble life tiger swings wasnt winner tees160 team tiger parlayed prince golf athletic skills king endorsements worlds first billionaire sportsman160 win game play role family man hilt probably figured couldnt hard competitive sports 160maybe thought sex drive easy control power drive160 maybe lifelong pressure play mr perfect coupled recent death svengali dad made crack curious see far could push boundaries charmed life maybe didnt realize family man part ideal ideal enemy real pepsi gillette gatorade others pay paid ideal tiger woods bulletproof squeaky clean politically correct brand isnt quite human160 real tiger woods emotions fears fantasies appetite erotic variety weakness flattery lust sexual conquest fetish danger charm wealth success literal cockiness get almost lover wants least good old days tigers devil many stonethrowing sanctimonious pundits make be160 many would able resist tempting groupies throw sports stars160 certainly need sex therapy160 could save life marriage maybe even brand160 would like put money mouth offer tiger six months free sex therapy institute undisclosed location choice seriously whether gets help needs wouldnt tell someone else doubt tiger talk someone intense downright explosive sexual feelings fantasies160 needs therapist help face facts sexuality without judging desires imagine sexperts psychologists starting call cases philandering family men tiger woods syndrome160 personally many clients like tiger powerful successful family men conservative reputations lead complicated double lives secret mistresses fetishes160 manage maintain facades society maintains façade exposed fantasize exposed exposure thrust upon uncovered society tends blame guys everything160 behind every philandering husband wife responsibility wounded marriage elin clubwielding valkyrie come elin nordegren woods 160the initial reports rescued tiger crashed cadillac escalade bashing windows hauling safety never quite made sense160 likely went rage chased cheating bastard house golf club really wish could filmed tigerman barefoot ambien vicodin depending tabloid believe seems jumped suv time bash club brief fateful drive fire hydrant wonder squirted subsequent neighbors tree160 permits notwithstanding neighbor would smart build tiger woods sex museum around tree digress going husband 5iron doesnt necessarily mean elin surprised 160shes blonde couldnt dumb dad swedish radio bureau chief mom politician160 considering sheer size tigers harem must known something real tiger agreed tolerate philandering long kept lucrative family man appearance160 alas 160couldnt it160 humiliated national enquirer outing freaked prospect losing endorsement money elin avenging clubwielding valkyrie appears used instrument tigers success weapon destruction tigers face supposedly riddled cuts scratches caused anything happened cadillac making appear lovely elin committed kind domestic violence car accident160160 hubby seems covered trying save car story160 level deserve yes poor elin surely need counseling would like offer deal six months free sex therapy well anger management therapy whether wants stand man not160160 id insist leave golf clubs suv theres couples counseling160 dont know much relationship like everyone else ive ogling photos days believe tiger elin preserve marriage160 sake children endorsements whole tiger woods empire look damn hot together seriously id like throw weeklong stay couples camp plus one years worth weekly relationship counseling160 im one say keep marriage together costs whether want stay together separate become honest swingers doubt need therapy160 want put effort make billion dollar marital enterprise work privately publicly sexually otherwise im sure help make amazing comeback together casanova woods whether goes sex therapy swedish island buddhist retreat everyone agrees tigers got lay low year two maybe less short term memory world makes great comeback160 sponsors come sponsors go world loves casanova160 tiger may monolithic machine hell still game160 like raped women even used power position coerce them160 didnt even pay reputed good sheets greenways160 like giacomo casanova would probably labeled sex addict sexperts 18th century italy tiger seduced charm force160 since bonobo way peace pleasure got ta love big lying lunk course must say hes sorry bigtime elin us maybe maybe well forgive maybe love even more160 us adore big strong clubswinging men get knees apologize profoundly penitent looks naughty naughty faces even know theyll looking real tiger tigers travails even touched tall dark handsome successful mixedrace american hot wife president barack obama160 two featured together bizarre current cover golf digest personally ill take philanderer war escalator thats another bloggamy160 10 tips obama take tiger headline one tips tiger never anything would make ridiculous well jokes golf digest things make us ridiculous especially sexual arena especially society demands eternal monogamy moral perfection guy reached top social heap hitting balls holes160 anyway humans treated like gods ought taken notch lest heads swell much float away us entirely160 thus tiger shall retire golf work better husband father person160 presumably hes also retiring engaging multiple extramarital affairs implication golf swing leads sexual swinging something like woodsman shows world eat humble pie plays well makes comeback endorsements also come back like subway came back bongsucking michael phelps nike topped adidas accused sex offender kobe bryant160 doesnt play well continues sloppy philandering andor elin leaves sorry ass well endorsements wont lucrative160 pepsi cadillac wont forgiving comes back losing streak sexting hotties elin starts new life swedens richest divorcee thats okay160 would hope billionaire would put something away160160 new offers tiger woods viagra new slightly real wounded tiger lot interesting anyway old artificial madeforendorsements ideal never real first place dr susan block sex therapist author 10 commandments pleasure occasionally seen hbo channels160 commit bloggamy httpdrsusanblockcomblog160 email comments libertiesblockbookscom dec 13 2009 160 160 160 | 1,708 |
<p>It was only after whistleblowers came out of the closet during the Great Deflation that Time Magazine honored the practice of what team players call “ratting out your pals.” Conservative magazines like Time may give lip service to whistleblowing in the abstract but never champion whistle blowers until after they have sung. Instead they support the conditions and practices which make whistleblowers a threat in the first place.</p>
<p>Whistleblowers are a reminder that ethics must be embodied in real flesh-and-blood human beings who put themselves on the line. Unless our deeper beliefs and values become flesh, they are words words words designed to make us feel better, rationalize misdeeds, and send distracting pangs of conscience straight into space.</p>
<p>If you have never known a real flesh-and-blood whistleblower, see the film “The Insider” for a good portrait. The film confirms the conclusion of a Washington law firm specializing in whistleblower cases that lists motivations for whistleblowing money, anger and resentment, revenge, justice and eliminates all but one as sufficient to carry a whistleblower through the abuse they will face. Only acting from a pained conscience will sustain a whistleblower through the ordeal.</p>
<p>During a recent speech for accountants about ethics, our Q&amp;A moved quickly into the gray areas where accountants spend much of their time. Outsiders think accountants live in a black and white grid with simple answers but in fact they wade through a swamp of maybe this or maybe that.</p>
<p>Accountants are paid whistleblowers. Accountants are intended to be in the corporate culture but not of it, to use company books like mirrors to reveal the truth and consequences of choices. That’s why it is so difficult to do the job right.</p>
<p>The tension comes from the fact that only an individual can have a conscience. An institution or organization can develop a culture that supports doing the right thing only when a leader pursues that objective with single-minded intensity. Left to themselves, all cultures are based on survival, not telling the truth. Cultures reward team players, not whistleblowers. In all my years as a teacher, priest, speaker and consultant, I have never seen a culture with a conscience.</p>
<p>A cop friend reminds me that the first time a rookie cop sees his partners beat someone up in an alley or notices that money or cocaine doesn’t always get back to the station, he is closely watched. The word goes out quickly that “he’s OK” or “watch out for him.” Those that are OK move up. The cop is a practicing Roman Catholic and noted that recent scandals in the church are symptoms of the same dynamics.</p>
<p>Institutions usually encourage disclosure only when it no longer matters. Operation Northwoods the desire by the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1962 to eliminate Fidel Castro by sinking refugee boats from Cuba, attacking our own base at Guantanamo, and planting terror bombs in American cities was revealed by James Bamford in his book “Body of Secrets,” but nary a peep of outrage greeted revelation of the treasonous scheme. When the Church apologized to Galileo for torturing him four hundred years after the fact, it raised the question of how an institution had so lost its moorings that someone might think an absurd gesture like that had meaning.</p>
<p>In Wisconsin a friend was nominated to head an arts board at the state level. His work on behalf of the party in power and his passion for art collecting made him a natural but he was passed over. I asked a confidante of then-governor Tommy Thompson why.</p>
<p>“He’s not a team player,” he said. “He isn’t predictable.”</p>
<p>The guy who told me this was a team player. He was faithful and steady and worked tirelessly to raise money for the party. When friends were “naughty,” as he called it, he looked the other way. He called recently to tell me he was now a million dollars richer, having been compensated at that level for three years on the board of an energy firm. He had been recommended for the position by his friend, now-Secretary Tommy Thompson.</p>
<p>Thus has it always been. Thus will it ever be.</p>
<p>Why are so many of your heroes, I was asked, people who were assassinated? Why do names like Jesus, Lincoln, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr. keep showing up in your conversation?</p>
<p>I think it’s because they embody what it takes to make a stand on behalf of the truth. They were all human but found the courage to blow the whistle on the cultures of death our institutions create. Their reward was getting whacked.</p>
<p>Make no mistake, those who articulate or embody an upward call always inspire ambivalence. A disciple of Gandhi said that even those who loved him most were secretly relieved when he was murdered because for the moment the pressure was off. Jesus as icon is malleable in the hands of his institutional custodians whereas Jesus the Jew in the street was a real pain.</p>
<p>In an era characterized by increasing secrecy by the government and the gradual but progressive surrender of our rights, it’s only a matter of time until some malevolent design ripens and bursts into the sunlight because some whistleblower just can’t stand it another minute. Some team player, their motives mixed but their conscience pricked, will tell the truth. That’s the only way to have accountability when those with power and privilege remove transparency from the processes of government and business.</p>
<p>When a mainstream Midwest woman asks how she will tell her grandchildren what America was like before the Great Change, how she will explain openness and disclosure, the Freedom of Information Act, guarantees in the Bill of Rights then I know that we don’t need a weatherman to know the direction of the wind and see the firestorm on the horizon. Signs of the times grow on trees like low-hanging fruit, ripe for the picking.</p>
<p>We are all team players, all of us some of the time, some of us all of the time, but we each have our own particular crossroads where we must decide if our words will become flesh. It is never easy and there are always consequences. Only integrity will see us through to the bitter end and none of us really know if we have it until it is tested.</p>
<p>RICHARD THIEME speaks, writes and consults on the human dimensions of life and work, the impact of technology, and “life on the edge.” He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:rthieme@thiemeworks.com" type="external">rthieme@thiemeworks.com</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | whistleblowers came closet great deflation time magazine honored practice team players call ratting pals conservative magazines like time may give lip service whistleblowing abstract never champion whistle blowers sung instead support conditions practices make whistleblowers threat first place whistleblowers reminder ethics must embodied real fleshandblood human beings put line unless deeper beliefs values become flesh words words words designed make us feel better rationalize misdeeds send distracting pangs conscience straight space never known real fleshandblood whistleblower see film insider good portrait film confirms conclusion washington law firm specializing whistleblower cases lists motivations whistleblowing money anger resentment revenge justice eliminates one sufficient carry whistleblower abuse face acting pained conscience sustain whistleblower ordeal recent speech accountants ethics qampa moved quickly gray areas accountants spend much time outsiders think accountants live black white grid simple answers fact wade swamp maybe maybe accountants paid whistleblowers accountants intended corporate culture use company books like mirrors reveal truth consequences choices thats difficult job right tension comes fact individual conscience institution organization develop culture supports right thing leader pursues objective singleminded intensity left cultures based survival telling truth cultures reward team players whistleblowers years teacher priest speaker consultant never seen culture conscience cop friend reminds first time rookie cop sees partners beat someone alley notices money cocaine doesnt always get back station closely watched word goes quickly hes ok watch ok move cop practicing roman catholic noted recent scandals church symptoms dynamics institutions usually encourage disclosure longer matters operation northwoods desire joint chiefs staff 1962 eliminate fidel castro sinking refugee boats cuba attacking base guantanamo planting terror bombs american cities revealed james bamford book body secrets nary peep outrage greeted revelation treasonous scheme church apologized galileo torturing four hundred years fact raised question institution lost moorings someone might think absurd gesture like meaning wisconsin friend nominated head arts board state level work behalf party power passion art collecting made natural passed asked confidante thengovernor tommy thompson hes team player said isnt predictable guy told team player faithful steady worked tirelessly raise money party friends naughty called looked way called recently tell million dollars richer compensated level three years board energy firm recommended position friend nowsecretary tommy thompson thus always thus ever many heroes asked people assassinated names like jesus lincoln gandhi martin luther king jr keep showing conversation think embody takes make stand behalf truth human found courage blow whistle cultures death institutions create reward getting whacked make mistake articulate embody upward call always inspire ambivalence disciple gandhi said even loved secretly relieved murdered moment pressure jesus icon malleable hands institutional custodians whereas jesus jew street real pain era characterized increasing secrecy government gradual progressive surrender rights matter time malevolent design ripens bursts sunlight whistleblower cant stand another minute team player motives mixed conscience pricked tell truth thats way accountability power privilege remove transparency processes government business mainstream midwest woman asks tell grandchildren america like great change explain openness disclosure freedom information act guarantees bill rights know dont need weatherman know direction wind see firestorm horizon signs times grow trees like lowhanging fruit ripe picking team players us time us time particular crossroads must decide words become flesh never easy always consequences integrity see us bitter end none us really know tested richard thieme speaks writes consults human dimensions life work impact technology life edge reached rthiemethiemeworkscom 160 | 551 |
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<p>Gay and lesbian Americans have been able to serve openly in the military ever since President Obama <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/23/us/23military.html?_r=0" type="external">repealed</a> “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” in September 2011. But online, some Pentagon computers appear to force the LGBT military community behind closed doors, blocking military users’ access to LGBT advocates’ and other progressives’ websites, while conservative sites remain fully accessible, according to John Aravosis of <a href="http://americablog.com/2013/01/dod-statement-gay-blog-censorship.html" type="external">AMERICAblog</a>. The military now blames faulty computer software for the de facto censorship, but gay activists say the Department of Defense has known about the problem for over a year—and still hasn’t fixed it.</p>
<p>Aravosis—a journalist and activist who <a href="http://www.wiredstrategies.com/email20.htm" type="external">defended a US Navy sailor</a>&#160;for challenging DADT in 1998—learned from a military contact that his website was blocked on the Pentagon’s official computer system. He then had several other contacts take screenshots of websites that were blocked on Pentagon&#160;computers. Aravosis discovered that LGBT websites like the <a href="http://www.hrc.org/" type="external">Human Rights Campaign</a> blog and <a href="http://www.sldn.org/" type="external">OutServe-SLDN</a>, a website co-founded by Air Force officer Josh Seefried that supports gay members of the military, were blocked. Progressive sites like <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/01/03/1176067/-Daily-Kos-is-blocked-on-military-sites-but-not-Rush-or-Ann-Coulter#" type="external">Daily Kos</a> made the blocked list as well. But the conservative websites of Andrew Breitbart, Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, as well as anti-gay rights groups like the National Organization for Marriage and the Family Research Council, were accessible:</p>
<p>Zeke Stokes, a spokesman for OutServe, told Mother Jones that the organization and its 6,000 affiliated LGBT service members have been notifying the Pentagon and local commanders of this issue since the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in 2011, but the Pentagon failed to adequately respond until this past weekend, when Aravosis pointed out the problem.</p>
<p>The Department of Defense issued a statement on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/DeptofDefense/posts/10151414636365719" type="external">Facebook</a> on Friday that said it “does not block LGBT websites” deliberately. Rather, the pages “were denied access based on web filters blocking the Blog/Personal Pages” category. (Military officials have long blocked workers’ access to websites they consider non-secure, personal timewasters, or otherwise unfit for consumption in office hours.) Aravosis tells Mother Jones he found this initial statement&#160; “disturbing,” because websites like Ann Coulter’s blog and Red State, a conservative news blog, both appear to fall in this category, but were not blocked. “They didn’t seem to recognize the possibility of a problem, and appeared to have no intent to investigate,” he says.</p>
<p>But Aravosis was sent what he calls “ <a href="http://americablog.com/2013/01/new-dod-statement-censor-gay-blogs.html" type="external">a much better statement</a>” from Pentagon Press Secretary George Little on Saturday, saying that “[t]he Department of Defense strongly supports the rights of gay and lesbian men and women in uniform” and “in certain instances, access may [be] limited to content not directly related to carrying out mission or professional duties.” Little added that “some sites may have been unnecessarily blocked” and promised that the matter would be looked into.</p>
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<p>Jeremy Hooper, activist and author of the pro-gay paean&#160;I <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Its-Choice-Zygote-Chose-Balls/dp/0615574548" type="external">f It’s a Choice, My Zygote Chose Balls</a>, says his site, <a href="http://www.goodasyou.org/" type="external">Good As You</a>, was unnecessarily blocked. “[There is no valid reason] for a nine-year-old news site that features daily updated news, commentary, and yes, irreverence, geared towards the fight for equality to be filtered,” he tells&#160;Mother Jones.</p>
<p>One reason the Pentagon may be blocking these sites (at least on some computers) is because it uses many different kinds of filtering software across the department, and one “ <a href="http://iase.disa.mil/eta/" type="external">information assurance</a>” office may not have access to all the security settings.&#160;According to Aravosis,&#160;one of the DOD’s site-blocking programs was developed by Blue Coat Systems, an American company whose wares have also been used by the <a href="" type="internal">repressive regime in Syria</a>. On Blue Coat’s <a href="http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/LGBTStatement.jsp" type="external">website</a>, the LGBT category is defined, not as housing sexually explicit content, but as containing “websites that provide reference materials, news, legal information, anti-bullying and suicide-prevention information, and other resources for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (“LGBT”) people.”</p>
<p>Richard Bejtlich, the chief security officer at the Arlington, Virginia-based info security firm <a href="http://www.mandiant.com/company/" type="external">Mandiant</a> and an expert on Pentagon cybersecurity software, told Mother Jones that “it’s possible that all LGBT sites are blocked by default and the military didn’t know,” or even that “the settings came from the whim of a single person, as these systems are typically not very well-controlled.”</p>
<p>Bejtlich also points out that “blocks are generally not a censorship issue, but instead, DoD has found that the Russians or the Chinese are tunneling information and they shut everything down until they figure out what’s going on. DoD could be falling back on that excuse.”</p>
<p>Both Hooper and Stokes are willing to accept the Pentagon’s explanation that the censorship is most likely a software mistake. “[A]ssuming this is an error that is corrected quickly, it shouldn’t reflect badly,” Stokes tells us, but he also points out that “appropriate attention has not been paid to fixing it until now, despite numerous requests.”</p>
<p>Pam Spaulding, founder of the LGBT blog&#160; <a href="http://pamshouseblend.firedoglake.com/aboutus/" type="external">Pam’s House Blend</a>, says that even if the censorship is unintentional, her site doesn’t pose much of a security risk. “What is so subversive about anything I write here that the tender souls at the Pentagon need their eyes protected from?” she <a href="http://pamshouseblend.firedoglake.com/2013/01/04/pentagon-internet-filtering-blocks-major-lgbt-political-blogs-including-phb-lets-hate-groups-through/" type="external">writes</a>. “Do they think the content will give service members the vapors or make them catch THE GAY?”</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | gay lesbian americans able serve openly military ever since president obama repealed dont ask dont tell september 2011 online pentagon computers appear force lgbt military community behind closed doors blocking military users access lgbt advocates progressives websites conservative sites remain fully accessible according john aravosis americablog military blames faulty computer software de facto censorship gay activists say department defense known problem yearand still hasnt fixed aravosisa journalist activist defended us navy sailor160for challenging dadt 1998learned military contact website blocked pentagons official computer system several contacts take screenshots websites blocked pentagon160computers aravosis discovered lgbt websites like human rights campaign blog outservesldn website cofounded air force officer josh seefried supports gay members military blocked progressive sites like daily kos made blocked list well conservative websites andrew breitbart rush limbaugh ann coulter well antigay rights groups like national organization marriage family research council accessible zeke stokes spokesman outserve told mother jones organization 6000 affiliated lgbt service members notifying pentagon local commanders issue since repeal dont ask dont tell 2011 pentagon failed adequately respond past weekend aravosis pointed problem department defense issued statement facebook friday said block lgbt websites deliberately rather pages denied access based web filters blocking blogpersonal pages category military officials long blocked workers access websites consider nonsecure personal timewasters otherwise unfit consumption office hours aravosis tells mother jones found initial statement160 disturbing websites like ann coulters blog red state conservative news blog appear fall category blocked didnt seem recognize possibility problem appeared intent investigate says aravosis sent calls much better statement pentagon press secretary george little saturday saying department defense strongly supports rights gay lesbian men women uniform certain instances access may limited content directly related carrying mission professional duties little added sites may unnecessarily blocked promised matter would looked jeremy hooper activist author progay paean160i f choice zygote chose balls says site good unnecessarily blocked valid reason nineyearold news site features daily updated news commentary yes irreverence geared towards fight equality filtered tells160mother jones one reason pentagon may blocking sites least computers uses many different kinds filtering software across department one information assurance office may access security settings160according aravosis160one dods siteblocking programs developed blue coat systems american company whose wares also used repressive regime syria blue coats website lgbt category defined housing sexually explicit content containing websites provide reference materials news legal information antibullying suicideprevention information resources lesbian gay bisexual transgender lgbt people richard bejtlich chief security officer arlington virginiabased info security firm mandiant expert pentagon cybersecurity software told mother jones possible lgbt sites blocked default military didnt know even settings came whim single person systems typically wellcontrolled bejtlich also points blocks generally censorship issue instead dod found russians chinese tunneling information shut everything figure whats going dod could falling back excuse hooper stokes willing accept pentagons explanation censorship likely software mistake assuming error corrected quickly shouldnt reflect badly stokes tells us also points appropriate attention paid fixing despite numerous requests pam spaulding founder lgbt blog160 pams house blend says even censorship unintentional site doesnt pose much security risk subversive anything write tender souls pentagon need eyes protected writes think content give service members vapors make catch gay | 518 |
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<p>Article created by <a href="http://www.tcf.org" type="external">The Century Foundation</a></p>
<p>A lot happened in 2005 to shift the political landscape against Bush and the GOP, a fact that has been partially obscured by a modest rise in Bush’s poll ratings right at the end of the year (for an excellent analysis of the magnitude of this bump, <a href="http://politicalarithmetik.blogspot.com/2005/12/abcwp-approval-way-up-gallup-steady.html" type="external">see this post by political scientist Charles Franklin on his website, Political Arithmetik</a>).</p>
<p>CBS News has nicely summarized much of the evidence for this shift in <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/dec_wrap_poll.pdf" type="external">a year-end polling review</a> on their Web site. Here are some relevant excerpts:</p>
<p>President Bush experienced a loss of public confidence on many key fronts in 2005, according to an analysis of the polling conducted by CBS News throughout the year. He began the year (and his second term in office) with lower job approval ratings than other modern two-term presidents did, and his approval rating continued to drop during the year.</p>
<p>Several policy issues no doubt contributed to this drop. The war in Iraq was volunteered by Americans who disapproved of Bush as the main reason they did so. But there was also the attempted Social Security overhaul and the Bush Administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina—areas in which the public expressed doubts about the President’s leadership and proposals.</p>
<p>Bush’s 49% approval rating in January 2005 was lower than Nixon’s 51% in January 1973, and much lower than Clinton’s 60%, Reagan’s 62%, and Eisenhower’s 74% at that point in their presidencies.</p>
<p>But that 49% approval rating was the highest rating the President received in all of 2005. By April, a majority of the public disapproved of the job he was doing. Bush finished the year with a 40% approval rating in December, an improvement from his low point in late October, when only 35% approved.</p>
<p>The President also began the year with mediocre ratings on handling foreign policy, the economy, and the situation in Iraq. He received his most positive evaluation on handling the war on terrorism, which had historically been his strongest area.</p>
<p>In January, just two in five Americans approved of President Bush’s handling of foreign policy, the economy and Iraq. And like his overall approval rating, those numbers continued to drop as the year progressed. By December, 36% approved of his handling of foreign policy and the war in Iraq, and 38% approved of his handling of the economy. Not even half approved of his handling of the war on terrorism—down from 56% at the start of the year. . . .</p>
<p>By December, 28% wanted all troops out of Iraq immediately, and another three in 10 wanted troop levels decreased. 58% said they wanted a time-table for troop withdrawal—something the President said he would not do.</p>
<p>Polls conducted late in the year showed that most Americans felt the President did not have a clear plan for victory in Iraq or for getting troops out, and most were uneasy about his handling of the war.</p>
<p>A September CBS News Poll showed that President Bush’s response to Hurricane Katrina met with disapproval—only 38% approved, while 58% disapproved.</p>
<p>Many felt that the President had acted too slowly in responding to the disaster that followed the storm.</p>
<p>There was more fallout for the President as a result of the disaster. In that September poll, just 48% of Americans thought the President had strong qualities of leadership—the lowest number ever for the President in this poll. (In the weeks after the attacks of September 11th, 2001, 83% of Americans said the President had strong qualities of leadership.) Later in September, 53% thought the President was a strong leader.</p>
<p>Moreover, just 32% expressed “a lot” of confidence in the President’s ability to handle a crisis. This was a sharp change from four years ago when, in the weeks after the 9/11 attacks, 66% expressed “a lot” of confidence in Bush’s ability to handle a crisis.</p>
<p>Many Americans were skeptical that the Social Security system was in the “crisis” the Administration claimed, and 56% felt Americans were being told it was in a crisis so political leaders could make the changes they wanted to the program.</p>
<p>There was little enthusiasm for the President’s proposal to change the current system. Skepticism about the Bush plan remained even while many Americans (especially those under 30) doubted whether the Social Security system would provide them with retirement benefits.</p>
<p>Throughout the year, the public was divided as to whether allowing personal investment accounts was a good idea—but 70% were against such accounts if it meant their benefits would be cut.</p>
<p>Americans’ unease with the President’s plan to add individual investment accounts to Social Security continued during the early part of the year. By July, the President was receiving mostly negative assessments of his handling of the issue.</p>
<p>I realize this is a lengthy quote, but the whole piece is dead-on and I could easily have quoted more. I urge you to read the entire article.</p>
<p>So that’s our context as we move into 2006. Will this shift in the political landscape against the GOP result in a serious upheaval in this year’s congressional elections? E. J. Dionne captures the way this might happen in <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/02/AR2006010200975.html" type="external">his January 3 column</a>, where he points out that “[C]onservatives can’t win elections on their own. They need moderate votes, and significant support outside the old Confederacy. Bush’s carefully cultivated image as a strong, trustworthy leader in the war on terrorism brought around enough middle-of-the road voters to create the Republican monolith that is now our national government.” And, Dionne goes on to say, that alliance with the political center has been blown up by Terri Schiavo, Social Security and, especially, the war on Iraq, which has “struck at the heart of Bush’s appeal to the center.”</p>
<p>Exactly. It’s all about the center and if Bush and the GOP can’t improve their performance there, there will indeed be a real upheaval this November. Think for a moment about how badly the GOP has been faring among independents in recent polls. The most gaudy reading was in the November Newsweek poll, where Democrats led by 26 points among independents in the generic congressional contest. But December readings haven’t been much better for the GOP among these centrist voters.</p>
<p>In an early December CBS News poll, Democrats led among independents by 14 points among independents. In a DLC poll conducted around the same time, Democrats led among independents by 20 points. And in the NPR poll conducted in mid-December, Democrats led by 17 points among this group.</p>
<p>Now check out Democrat leads among independents in actual congressional (off-year) elections, as captured by exit polls. As far back as I can get data (1982), the Democrats have never had a lead among independents larger than 4 points, a level they managed to achieve in both 1986 and 1990. Indeed, since 1990, they’ve lost independents in every congressional election: by 14 points in 1994; by 4 points in 1998; and by 2 points in 2002. So, even leaving questions of relative partisan turnout aside (and I suspect the Democrats will do better, not worse, in this respect in 2006), the implications of a strong Democratic lead among independents in this year’s election are huge. It could be a whole new political ballgame . . . and maybe a whole new Congress. Stay tuned.</p>
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<p>Americans Feeling Better (But Not Good) about the Economy</p>
<p>There’s no doubt Americans are feeling better about the economy these days, probably driven as much by recently falling gas prices as anything else. But “better” doesn’t mean “good.” Consider these data from <a href="http://poll.gallup.com/content/Default.aspx?ci=20653&amp;VERSION=p" type="external">recent Gallup polls</a>:</p>
<p>1. While 39 percent now term economic conditions excellent or good—the most since May of 2005—61 percent still term conditions only fair or poor.</p>
<p>2. Similarly, 37 percent now say economic conditions are getting better which is, again, the most positive reading since May. But that’s 19 points below the 56 percent who still think conditions are getting worse.</p>
<p>3. Two-fifths now say it’s a good time to find a quality job—this time, the best showing since June of last year. But 56 percent still say it’s a bad time to find such a job.</p>
<p>Also note the comparison to the last part of the Clinton years—when the economy was doing much, much better than it is today or has at any time in the Bush years. In the 1998–2000 period, 60 percent to 74 percent of the public routinely termed economic conditions excellent or good and 50 percent to 69 percent typically reported that conditions were getting better, running 12 to 46 points ahead of those saying conditions were getting worse.</p>
<p>My, how times have changed. And not for the better.</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | article created century foundation lot happened 2005 shift political landscape bush gop fact partially obscured modest rise bushs poll ratings right end year excellent analysis magnitude bump see post political scientist charles franklin website political arithmetik cbs news nicely summarized much evidence shift yearend polling review web site relevant excerpts president bush experienced loss public confidence many key fronts 2005 according analysis polling conducted cbs news throughout year began year second term office lower job approval ratings modern twoterm presidents approval rating continued drop year several policy issues doubt contributed drop war iraq volunteered americans disapproved bush main reason also attempted social security overhaul bush administrations response hurricane katrinaareas public expressed doubts presidents leadership proposals bushs 49 approval rating january 2005 lower nixons 51 january 1973 much lower clintons 60 reagans 62 eisenhowers 74 point presidencies 49 approval rating highest rating president received 2005 april majority public disapproved job bush finished year 40 approval rating december improvement low point late october 35 approved president also began year mediocre ratings handling foreign policy economy situation iraq received positive evaluation handling war terrorism historically strongest area january two five americans approved president bushs handling foreign policy economy iraq like overall approval rating numbers continued drop year progressed december 36 approved handling foreign policy war iraq 38 approved handling economy even half approved handling war terrorismdown 56 start year december 28 wanted troops iraq immediately another three 10 wanted troop levels decreased 58 said wanted timetable troop withdrawalsomething president said would polls conducted late year showed americans felt president clear plan victory iraq getting troops uneasy handling war september cbs news poll showed president bushs response hurricane katrina met disapprovalonly 38 approved 58 disapproved many felt president acted slowly responding disaster followed storm fallout president result disaster september poll 48 americans thought president strong qualities leadershipthe lowest number ever president poll weeks attacks september 11th 2001 83 americans said president strong qualities leadership later september 53 thought president strong leader moreover 32 expressed lot confidence presidents ability handle crisis sharp change four years ago weeks 911 attacks 66 expressed lot confidence bushs ability handle crisis many americans skeptical social security system crisis administration claimed 56 felt americans told crisis political leaders could make changes wanted program little enthusiasm presidents proposal change current system skepticism bush plan remained even many americans especially 30 doubted whether social security system would provide retirement benefits throughout year public divided whether allowing personal investment accounts good ideabut 70 accounts meant benefits would cut americans unease presidents plan add individual investment accounts social security continued early part year july president receiving mostly negative assessments handling issue realize lengthy quote whole piece deadon could easily quoted urge read entire article thats context move 2006 shift political landscape gop result serious upheaval years congressional elections e j dionne captures way might happen january 3 column points conservatives cant win elections need moderate votes significant support outside old confederacy bushs carefully cultivated image strong trustworthy leader war terrorism brought around enough middleofthe road voters create republican monolith national government dionne goes say alliance political center blown terri schiavo social security especially war iraq struck heart bushs appeal center exactly center bush gop cant improve performance indeed real upheaval november think moment badly gop faring among independents recent polls gaudy reading november newsweek poll democrats led 26 points among independents generic congressional contest december readings havent much better gop among centrist voters early december cbs news poll democrats led among independents 14 points among independents dlc poll conducted around time democrats led among independents 20 points npr poll conducted middecember democrats led 17 points among group check democrat leads among independents actual congressional offyear elections captured exit polls far back get data 1982 democrats never lead among independents larger 4 points level managed achieve 1986 1990 indeed since 1990 theyve lost independents every congressional election 14 points 1994 4 points 1998 2 points 2002 even leaving questions relative partisan turnout aside suspect democrats better worse respect 2006 implications strong democratic lead among independents years election huge could whole new political ballgame maybe whole new congress stay tuned americans feeling better good economy theres doubt americans feeling better economy days probably driven much recently falling gas prices anything else better doesnt mean good consider data recent gallup polls 1 39 percent term economic conditions excellent goodthe since may 200561 percent still term conditions fair poor 2 similarly 37 percent say economic conditions getting better positive reading since may thats 19 points 56 percent still think conditions getting worse 3 twofifths say good time find quality jobthis time best showing since june last year 56 percent still say bad time find job also note comparison last part clinton yearswhen economy much much better today time bush years 19982000 period 60 percent 74 percent public routinely termed economic conditions excellent good 50 percent 69 percent typically reported conditions getting better running 12 46 points ahead saying conditions getting worse times changed better | 826 |
<p>&lt;a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/newshour/6804705570/in/photolist-bniTTQ-bniUYm-bniTCw-bAdLNV-bkcRfS-b6uWGg-nsuDZz-FsXmN-oPpCq7-8Cow4j-cdmJk7-FsZvB-fjVTWc-pAZtT1-cvGJ53-hQnm3x-c4JSqq-dfrMXk-cHWjFq-7WSPqJ-7WPCPD-5sf31Z-6sUexN-5yXEn1-b4j6hK-dgGKWU-7WSRFo-7WPE7X-7X2FJL-7WSSob-drmSd6-7WPDJ6-7WSQKs-c4gV3w-7WSEYG-7WSyy7-7WPwYe-7WRwsL-7WSMXS-7WPmiT-7WPmQ8-7WSBoU-7WPqCF-7WSHH9-7WPphT-7WPvQg-7WSAUN-7WPpYn-7WPoGX-7WSEhN"&gt;PBS NewsHour&lt;/a&gt;/Flickr</p>
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<p>In 2012, Mitt Romney’s career as a businessman who earned many millions of dollars became a net loss, as political foes slammed him for running Bain Capital, a private equity firm that invested in <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/romneys-bain-capital-invested-in-companies-that-moved-jobs-overseas/2012/06/21/gJQAsD9ptV_print.html" type="external">US companies that downsized and shifted jobs overseas</a> and that <a href="" type="internal">obtained financial stakes</a> in <a href="" type="internal">foreign companies that depended on US outsourcing</a> for profits. At the same time, Romney, who refused to do a full release of his tax returns, was hit with questions (he didn’t answer) about <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/2012/08/investigating-mitt-romney-offshore-accounts" type="external">mysterious personal investments</a> in offshore accounts. Should he mount a third presidential effort, as he has told GOP funders he is considering, all of these issues are likely to return. But there’s another matter that will be be added to the pile of financial controversies for Romney to face: Solamere Capital, the $700 million private equity firm cofounded by his son Taggart that Romney has helped run since March 2013. Who has Romney been investing with, and what has he been investing in? These are questions that Romney 2016 will confront and that, no doubt, the firm will not want to answer.</p>
<p>In March 2013, Mitt Romney <a href="http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2013/03/06/mitt-romney-take-new-role-solamere-capital/Z5mw4EsCcLJPb6rhMLgocL/story.html" type="external">became</a> chair of Solamere’s executive committee and a member of its investment committee, and Solamere’s bare <a href="http://www.solamerecapital.com/wp/solamere-team/" type="external">website</a> currently lists him as the executive partner group chairman. The site only describes the company as “a collection of families and influential business leaders leveraging their broad networks and industry expertise to invest strategic capital.” But the firm has recruited scores of investors willing to give the Romneys millions, and it has invested in an untold number of other funds and companies. Any of these parties—the investors or the investments—could pose a conflict of interest for a presidential candidate or raise a significant question. Has Solamere invested in companies that outsource? Or in overseas firms that compete with US firms? Has it drawn investments from people or corporations at home or abroad that want to curry favor with a possible president? Might the companies and private equity firms Solamere invests in have an interest in lobbying a future Romney administration? There is no way for the public to know; the firm does not disclose any information on its investors or investments. So how will Romney respond to these and other questions about his work for Solamere?</p>
<p>Shortly after Romney ended his presidential bid in early 2008, Tagg Romney and Spencer Zwick, who had been the Romney campaign’s financial director, formed Solamere, which was named after a ritzy part of Utah’s Deer Valley where the Romney family owned a ski mansion. As the New York Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/01/us/politics/ties-to-romney-08-helped-fuel-equity-firm.html?pagewanted=all&amp;_r=0" type="external">reported</a>, “Neither had experience in private equity. But what the close friends did have was the Romney name and a Rolodex of deep-pocketed potential investors who had backed Mr. Romney’s presidential run.” The pair brought in a third partner, Eric Scheuermann, who did have years of private equity experience. In its early days, the firm seemed part of the Romney network. At one point, Solamere shared an address with Romney’s political action committee. It solicited investments from the well heeled, generally seeking a minimum of a $10 million buy-in. According to the Times, Mitt and Ann Romney sank a “critical, early” $10 million into their son’s venture, signaling that the firm had Mitt’s blessing, which Tagg and his crew could use as a selling point as they chased after funding from others.</p>
<p>In 2008, Solamere set out to raise $200 million, and by May 2009 it had attracted $186 million from 39 investors, according to Securities and Exchange Commission records. Tagg Romney, Zwick, and Scheuermann, the records noted, would receive an estimated $16.8 million in management fees in the first six years. The records do not indicate the identities of the 39 investors who kicked in the initial financing. But other public records show that corporate titan Meg Whitman, a longtime friend and political ally of Mitt Romney, invested more than $1 million in Solamere. The University of Utah put about $1 million if its endowment into the firm’s fund. H. Lee Scott Jr., the former CEO of Walmart and short-time member of the board of Goldman Sachs, was an early investor, became a <a href="http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=313059&amp;ticker=WMT" type="external">partner,</a> and served on Solamere’s investment committee. Tagg Romney told the Times that his early investors included a few NASCAR drivers, two NFL quarterbacks, and nine heads of other private equity firms. One of Solamere’s <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/01/us/politics/ties-to-romney-08-helped-fuel-equity-firm.html?pagewanted=all&amp;_r=0" type="external">initial investments</a> was in a North Carolina financial-services firm operated by former officials of a financial company run by Allen Stanford, who was later convicted of running a massive Ponzi scheme. These officials had come from the Charlotte office of the Stanford Financial Group, which had been closed by the feds for selling phony certificates of deposit.</p>
<p>During the 2012 election, with Zwick helping to run Solamere and simultaneously raising money for Mitt Romney’s presidential bid, government ethics advocates questioned the probity of the coziness between Romney’s political funders and his fellow Solamere investors. Stephen Hess of the Brookings Institution <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2011/10/07/mitt_romneys_chief_fund_raiser_built_investment_firm_on_political_network/?page=2" type="external">told</a> the Boston Globe that Solamere was an example of how business and political elites operate “in the first-class compartment.”</p>
<p>Four months after Romney flamed-out as a presidential candidate, Solamere <a href="http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2013/03/06/mitt-romney-take-new-role-solamere-capital/Z5mw4EsCcLJPb6rhMLgocL/story.html" type="external">announced</a> that he would “play a greater role” at the firm, chairing its executive committee and participating on its investment committee. “We believe that Governor Romney’s experience and insight in private investing will enhance Solamere’s distinctiveness,” the firm said in an email to investors.</p>
<p>With Mitt Romney more involved, Solamere expanded. And demand to be in business with Romney was high. The firm, <a href="http://fortune.com/2014/10/27/exclusive-tagg-romney-raises-525-million-for-new-private-equity-fund/" type="external">according to Fortune</a>, was seeking about $300 million for a second round of investment. In the email to investors, Solamere noted, “we feel strongly that there is value in not raising too large of a fund, and therefore anticipate keeping the size to a level we feel we can appropriately manage within our desired band of target returns.” But in May 2014, Solamere Capital filed reports with the SEC noting it had created two new funds, with 200 investors investing a total of $472 million. (Five months later, Solamere reported these two funds had actually drawn $527 million from 215 investors.) Investor interest had been so intense that the firm had raised its self-imposed limit on the size of the funds to accommodate all the investors who wanted to be in bed with Mitt and Tagg Romney. These new funds would invest in other private equity funds and invest directly in private companies.</p>
<p>Solamere freely mixed politics and business. In June 2013, as it was hunting for investors, the firm <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/romney-mixes-business-and-politics-at-exclusive-utah-conference/2013/06/06/2cbdab70-cec9-11e2-8845-d970ccb04497_story.html" type="external">sponsored</a> a policy conference convened by Mitt Romney at an exclusive resort in Park City, Utah, which attracted Rand Paul, Chris Christie, and Paul Ryan as speakers. At the same time—and in the same place—Solamere hosted a conference for investors. As the Washington Post reported, “The concentration of wealthy Romney backers in one place is a natural draw for politicians with national ambitions. But, as Solamere investors acknowledged, the gathering also provided them with potential targets, lending the retreat an aura of personal enrichment along with the focus on public policy.”</p>
<p>With Mitt Romney now an active participant in Solamere Capital, the implications for his potential presidential campaign are more serious. In the last days of the 2012 campaign, several liberal good-government groups and unions <a href="http://www.seiu.org/Romney%20Financial%20Disclosure.pdf" type="external">sent a complaint</a> to the US Office of Government Ethics charging that the financial disclosure form Romney had filed as a presidential candidate was not in compliance with federal law because, in part, it did not list Solamere’s holdings. On the form, Romney noted his family’s investments in several funds, including Solamere’s first fund, but he did not reveal what Solamere invested in—meaning the ultimate investment was not disclosed. As the complaint noted, “precisely because private equity firms typically invest heavily in a few select companies…there is a far greater chance that ownership of these funds could lead to a conflict of interest.” The Office of Government Ethics did not respond to the complaint, and the matter died.</p>
<p>Romney’s Solamere issue will be different this time around. He’s not a passive investor. He has helped run the firm and guide its investments for the past two years. He knows where the money is coming from and where it is going. There will be demands for him to reveal who he has been hobnobbing with financially so it can be ascertained if he is burdened by conflicts of interest—or if he has been making money in a manner at odds with his public policy pronouncements. But firms such as Solamere thrive on privacy. Their investment picks are their secret sauce, and many of their investors might prefer being unnamed.</p>
<p>Solamere Capital did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for Mitt Romney also did not respond.</p>
<p>In the 2012 campaign, Romney was the candidate who defied transparency. (In one memorable moment, an irritated Ann Romney <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0712/78711.html" type="external">huffed</a> that she and her husband had disclosed “all you people need to know.”) Kevin Madden, a top Romney adviser in 2012, recently <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/jeb-bush-tax-returns-114045.html" type="external">noted</a> that the Obama campaign successfully turned Romney’s tax return question into a “character issue” that damaged Romney. With Jeb Bush releasing tens of thousands of emails from his time as Florida governor and signaling he will make public at least a decade’s worth of tax filings, Romney, should he enter the contest, could run smack into the same challenge. But even if he wants to avoid problems similar to those of the 2012 campaign, can he reveal the inner workings of a private equity firm that was fueled by political capital? Might such revelations hurt his political prospects or harm his son’s company? With Solamere, Romney has a new private equity problem.</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | lta hrefhttpswwwflickrcomphotosnewshour6804705570inphotolistbnittqbniuymbnitcwbadlnvbkcrfsb6uwggnsudzzfsxmnoppcq78cow4jcdmjk7fszvbfjvtwcpaztt1cvgj53hqnm3xc4jsqqdfrmxkchwjfq7wspqj7wpcpd5sf31z6suexn5yxen1b4j6hkdggkwu7wsrfo7wpe7x7x2fjl7wssobdrmsd67wpdj67wsqksc4gv3w7wseyg7wsyy77wpwye7wrwsl7wsmxs7wpmit7wpmq87wsbou7wpqcf7wshh97wppht7wpvqg7wsaun7wppyn7wpogx7wsehngtpbs newshourltagtflickr 2012 mitt romneys career businessman earned many millions dollars became net loss political foes slammed running bain capital private equity firm invested us companies downsized shifted jobs overseas obtained financial stakes foreign companies depended us outsourcing profits time romney refused full release tax returns hit questions didnt answer mysterious personal investments offshore accounts mount third presidential effort told gop funders considering issues likely return theres another matter added pile financial controversies romney face solamere capital 700 million private equity firm cofounded son taggart romney helped run since march 2013 romney investing investing questions romney 2016 confront doubt firm want answer march 2013 mitt romney became chair solameres executive committee member investment committee solameres bare website currently lists executive partner group chairman site describes company collection families influential business leaders leveraging broad networks industry expertise invest strategic capital firm recruited scores investors willing give romneys millions invested untold number funds companies partiesthe investors investmentscould pose conflict interest presidential candidate raise significant question solamere invested companies outsource overseas firms compete us firms drawn investments people corporations home abroad want curry favor possible president might companies private equity firms solamere invests interest lobbying future romney administration way public know firm disclose information investors investments romney respond questions work solamere shortly romney ended presidential bid early 2008 tagg romney spencer zwick romney campaigns financial director formed solamere named ritzy part utahs deer valley romney family owned ski mansion new york times reported neither experience private equity close friends romney name rolodex deeppocketed potential investors backed mr romneys presidential run pair brought third partner eric scheuermann years private equity experience early days firm seemed part romney network one point solamere shared address romneys political action committee solicited investments well heeled generally seeking minimum 10 million buyin according times mitt ann romney sank critical early 10 million sons venture signaling firm mitts blessing tagg crew could use selling point chased funding others 2008 solamere set raise 200 million may 2009 attracted 186 million 39 investors according securities exchange commission records tagg romney zwick scheuermann records noted would receive estimated 168 million management fees first six years records indicate identities 39 investors kicked initial financing public records show corporate titan meg whitman longtime friend political ally mitt romney invested 1 million solamere university utah put 1 million endowment firms fund h lee scott jr former ceo walmart shorttime member board goldman sachs early investor became partner served solameres investment committee tagg romney told times early investors included nascar drivers two nfl quarterbacks nine heads private equity firms one solameres initial investments north carolina financialservices firm operated former officials financial company run allen stanford later convicted running massive ponzi scheme officials come charlotte office stanford financial group closed feds selling phony certificates deposit 2012 election zwick helping run solamere simultaneously raising money mitt romneys presidential bid government ethics advocates questioned probity coziness romneys political funders fellow solamere investors stephen hess brookings institution told boston globe solamere example business political elites operate firstclass compartment four months romney flamedout presidential candidate solamere announced would play greater role firm chairing executive committee participating investment committee believe governor romneys experience insight private investing enhance solameres distinctiveness firm said email investors mitt romney involved solamere expanded demand business romney high firm according fortune seeking 300 million second round investment email investors solamere noted feel strongly value raising large fund therefore anticipate keeping size level feel appropriately manage within desired band target returns may 2014 solamere capital filed reports sec noting created two new funds 200 investors investing total 472 million five months later solamere reported two funds actually drawn 527 million 215 investors investor interest intense firm raised selfimposed limit size funds accommodate investors wanted bed mitt tagg romney new funds would invest private equity funds invest directly private companies solamere freely mixed politics business june 2013 hunting investors firm sponsored policy conference convened mitt romney exclusive resort park city utah attracted rand paul chris christie paul ryan speakers timeand placesolamere hosted conference investors washington post reported concentration wealthy romney backers one place natural draw politicians national ambitions solamere investors acknowledged gathering also provided potential targets lending retreat aura personal enrichment along focus public policy mitt romney active participant solamere capital implications potential presidential campaign serious last days 2012 campaign several liberal goodgovernment groups unions sent complaint us office government ethics charging financial disclosure form romney filed presidential candidate compliance federal law part list solameres holdings form romney noted familys investments several funds including solameres first fund reveal solamere invested inmeaning ultimate investment disclosed complaint noted precisely private equity firms typically invest heavily select companiesthere far greater chance ownership funds could lead conflict interest office government ethics respond complaint matter died romneys solamere issue different time around hes passive investor helped run firm guide investments past two years knows money coming going demands reveal hobnobbing financially ascertained burdened conflicts interestor making money manner odds public policy pronouncements firms solamere thrive privacy investment picks secret sauce many investors might prefer unnamed solamere capital respond request comment spokesman mitt romney also respond 2012 campaign romney candidate defied transparency one memorable moment irritated ann romney huffed husband disclosed people need know kevin madden top romney adviser 2012 recently noted obama campaign successfully turned romneys tax return question character issue damaged romney jeb bush releasing tens thousands emails time florida governor signaling make public least decades worth tax filings romney enter contest could run smack challenge even wants avoid problems similar 2012 campaign reveal inner workings private equity firm fueled political capital might revelations hurt political prospects harm sons company solamere romney new private equity problem | 932 |
<p>Illustration by: Mark Matcho</p>
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<p>Every administration has its share of politically appointed deadwood—ex-campaign workers, big fundraisers, incompetent ideologues. Traditionally, after duds like Reagan Interior Secretary James Watt were exposed, presidents showed them the door.</p>
<p>Not today. In the Bush White House, the duds fail upward, obtaining ever more senior government jobs or landing safely in the private sector. This may be because, as Boston College political scientist Alan Wolfe has written, Republicans have become so disdainful of government that they no longer care if the bureaucracy is filled with the unqualified and the unscrupulous. This administration’s premium on political loyalty over substantive experience only makes things worse: A report last year by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee found that in the president’s first five years in office, the number of political appointees hired without public scrutiny or congressional approval increased by one-third. (It had declined by 17 percent under Clinton.)</p>
<p>Some notable masters of professional gravity defying include George Tenet, awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his slam dunks on Iraq and 9/11; Paul Wolfowitz, who went on to shock and awe the World Bank; and Federal Emergency Management Agency (fema) head Michael “Brownie” Brown, who now runs a consulting firm whose specialties include—you guessed it—disaster management. But they’re just the tip of the iceberg.</p>
<p>Patrick Rhodestarted as: fema chief of staff, 2003-2006heckuva job: Former television reporter and Bush campaign event planner Rhode had little disaster management experience when he came to fema. As Katrina drowned New Orleans, he emailed his boss Michael Brown, boasting that he was getting his hair moussed for TV rather than coordinating disaster relief efforts.soft landing: In January, Rhode was hired as a senior adviser at nasa. An agency spokesman conceded that Rhode’s no rocket scientist, but explained, “He’s done a lot of things.”</p>
<p>Ellen Sauerbreystarted as: U.S. representative to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, 2002-2003heckuva job: Sauerbrey, who had little international experience, pushed for pro-life language in diplomatic agreements, earning boos at U.N. conferences.soft landing: Now assistant secretary of state for population, refugees, and migration, she runs relief operations all over the world. At her confirmation hearings, Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.) pointed out that “you don’t have very specific experience.” Sauerbrey noted that she had overseen three Maryland counties as a census administrator. Three!</p>
<p>Hector Barretostarted as: Administrator of the Small Business Administration, 2001-2006heckuva job: Under this former Bush fundraiser’s watch, the sba handed out $2 billion in contracts reserved for small firms to large companies and gave post-9/11 terrorism relief to an Oregon winery and a perfume company in the Virgin Islands. In a 2005 survey of government employees’ morale, the SBA ranked dead last.soft landing: In April 2006, Barreto resigned, only to emerge as head of the Latino Coalition, a conservative Astroturf organization funded by A-list corporations from R.J. Reynolds to Verizon.</p>
<p>Hans A. von Spakovskystarted as: Counsel to the assistant attorney general for civil rights, 2003-2005heckuva job: Von Spakovsky “has devoted much of his legal career to suppressing minority voting rights,” says J. Gerald Hebert, former head of the Justice Department’s voting division. Having worked for the Bush campaign on the 2000 Florida recount, von Spakovsky used his post as a top civil-rights enforcer to help launch an aggressive campaign to purge voter rolls, a move that would slash the number of poor and minority voters. On his watch, doj unsuccessfully sued to force Missouri to toss voters off the rolls. Half the career employees in von Spakovsky’s unit quit during his tenure.soft landing: Bush appointed von Spakovsky to a term on the Federal Election Commission, making him one of the nation’s highest election monitors.</p>
<p>William G. Myers IIIstarted as: Solicitor of the Department of the Interior, 2002-2003heckuva job: A former lobbyist for mining and cattle companies, Myers signed a pledge not to deal with his old clients when he went to work for the government. In 2004, Interior’s inspector general found that he’d met with his former clients at least nine times while in office; accused of unethical conduct, he resigned.soft landing: Bush promptly nominated him to the powerful 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. He now has the distinction of being one of the few Bush nominees who has never been confirmed.</p>
<p>Paul Hoffmanstarted as: Deputy assistant secretary of the Interior for fish and wildlife and parks, 2002-2006heckuva job: A former aide to Dick Cheney and an advocate for more snowmobiles in national parks, he rewrote the rules to permit mining near national parks and essentially told the Park Service not to oppose projects that threatened sensitive environments. “Hoffman was just alone working on this overhaul,” says one former staffer. Even some gop senators expressed dismay.soft landing: Bumped upstairs to a higher position at Interior.</p>
<p>Joseph Schmitzstarted as: Inspector general of the Department of Defense, 2001-2005heckuva job: Tasked with investigating fraud, waste, and abuse at the Pentagon, Schmitz instead found himself being investigated by the Senate for allegedly falsifying press releases, blocking outside oversight of his office, and possibly protecting Defense employees from criminal investigations.soft landing: Upon leaving the Pentagon, he became an executive at the parent company of private security contractor Blackwater, which guards U.S. officials in Iraq.</p>
<p>Robin Clevelandstarted as: Associate director of national security programs at the Office of Management and Budget, 2001-2005heckuva job: Cleveland emailed then-Air Force Secretary James Roche asking for help getting her brother a job with a weapons contractor—just as she was working on a massive military aircraft-leasing program. Roche assured Cleveland about her brother’s job prospects, writing, “Smile. Give tankers now. Oops, did I say that?” Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) launched an investigation and Roche resigned.soft landing: When Paul Wolfowitz failed upward, he gave Cleveland a cushy new job at the World Bank.</p>
<p>William J. Haynes IIstarted as: General counsel of the Department of Defense, 2001-presentheckuva job: Helped set up the Guantanamo detention center, pushed the military to loosen its rules on torture, and refused to provide Congress with information about new methods of interrogation. Also created the military tribunal process, which the Supreme Court ruled violated the Geneva Conventions and U.S. law.soft landing: Last fall, he was nominated to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, despite having tried only three court cases in his entire career. He’s since withdrawn his name.</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | illustration mark matcho every administration share politically appointed deadwoodexcampaign workers big fundraisers incompetent ideologues traditionally duds like reagan interior secretary james watt exposed presidents showed door today bush white house duds fail upward obtaining ever senior government jobs landing safely private sector may boston college political scientist alan wolfe written republicans become disdainful government longer care bureaucracy filled unqualified unscrupulous administrations premium political loyalty substantive experience makes things worse report last year house oversight government reform committee found presidents first five years office number political appointees hired without public scrutiny congressional approval increased onethird declined 17 percent clinton notable masters professional gravity defying include george tenet awarded presidential medal freedom slam dunks iraq 911 paul wolfowitz went shock awe world bank federal emergency management agency fema head michael brownie brown runs consulting firm whose specialties includeyou guessed itdisaster management theyre tip iceberg patrick rhodestarted fema chief staff 20032006heckuva job former television reporter bush campaign event planner rhode little disaster management experience came fema katrina drowned new orleans emailed boss michael brown boasting getting hair moussed tv rather coordinating disaster relief effortssoft landing january rhode hired senior adviser nasa agency spokesman conceded rhodes rocket scientist explained hes done lot things ellen sauerbreystarted us representative united nations commission status women 20022003heckuva job sauerbrey little international experience pushed prolife language diplomatic agreements earning boos un conferencessoft landing assistant secretary state population refugees migration runs relief operations world confirmation hearings senator barack obama dill pointed dont specific experience sauerbrey noted overseen three maryland counties census administrator three hector barretostarted administrator small business administration 20012006heckuva job former bush fundraisers watch sba handed 2 billion contracts reserved small firms large companies gave post911 terrorism relief oregon winery perfume company virgin islands 2005 survey government employees morale sba ranked dead lastsoft landing april 2006 barreto resigned emerge head latino coalition conservative astroturf organization funded alist corporations rj reynolds verizon hans von spakovskystarted counsel assistant attorney general civil rights 20032005heckuva job von spakovsky devoted much legal career suppressing minority voting rights says j gerald hebert former head justice departments voting division worked bush campaign 2000 florida recount von spakovsky used post top civilrights enforcer help launch aggressive campaign purge voter rolls move would slash number poor minority voters watch doj unsuccessfully sued force missouri toss voters rolls half career employees von spakovskys unit quit tenuresoft landing bush appointed von spakovsky term federal election commission making one nations highest election monitors william g myers iiistarted solicitor department interior 20022003heckuva job former lobbyist mining cattle companies myers signed pledge deal old clients went work government 2004 interiors inspector general found hed met former clients least nine times office accused unethical conduct resignedsoft landing bush promptly nominated powerful 9th circuit court appeals distinction one bush nominees never confirmed paul hoffmanstarted deputy assistant secretary interior fish wildlife parks 20022006heckuva job former aide dick cheney advocate snowmobiles national parks rewrote rules permit mining near national parks essentially told park service oppose projects threatened sensitive environments hoffman alone working overhaul says one former staffer even gop senators expressed dismaysoft landing bumped upstairs higher position interior joseph schmitzstarted inspector general department defense 20012005heckuva job tasked investigating fraud waste abuse pentagon schmitz instead found investigated senate allegedly falsifying press releases blocking outside oversight office possibly protecting defense employees criminal investigationssoft landing upon leaving pentagon became executive parent company private security contractor blackwater guards us officials iraq robin clevelandstarted associate director national security programs office management budget 20012005heckuva job cleveland emailed thenair force secretary james roche asking help getting brother job weapons contractorjust working massive military aircraftleasing program roche assured cleveland brothers job prospects writing smile give tankers oops say senator john mccain rariz launched investigation roche resignedsoft landing paul wolfowitz failed upward gave cleveland cushy new job world bank william j haynes iistarted general counsel department defense 2001presentheckuva job helped set guantanamo detention center pushed military loosen rules torture refused provide congress information new methods interrogation also created military tribunal process supreme court ruled violated geneva conventions us lawsoft landing last fall nominated 4th circuit court appeals despite tried three court cases entire career hes since withdrawn name | 682 |
<p>It’s a familiar pattern. First there’s an economic crisis. Then comes an enormous restructuring of capital — and with it a restructuring of labor — throwing past certainties into doubt. Old industries, companies, and occupations disappear and new ones emerge, enabled by new technologies. As people struggle to find a way to describe the seismic upheavals in the economic and social landscape, a linguistic mist arises, muddling the features of this new landscape, blurring attempts to analyze and map it.</p>
<p>This time around, among the first commentators on the scene were techno-utopians, offering terms like “ <a href="" type="internal">sharing economy</a>” and “peer-to-peer networking” to conjure up a vision of a positive new development that, they claim, prefigures what a cooperative, post-capitalist society might look like. This is a society in which the Internet allows services to be freely shared between those who need them and those who can supply them, eliminating the capitalist intermediary. With <a href="" type="internal">3-D printing</a>, they even speculate, we can cut out factories too, allowing goods to be produced when they are needed.</p>
<p>The notion that people are happy to offer their services altruistically to strangers is picked up in another set of discourses in which the “wisdom of crowds” is tapped to “crowdsource” or “cloudsource” solutions to intractable problems.</p>
<p>Perhaps the clue here is in the word “source,” which evokes the corporate practices that took root in the 1990s, such as outsourcing (and variants such as global sourcing, insourcing, or backsourcing and their near relations, offshoring and nearshoring).</p>
<p>When terms like crowdsourcing are deployed, they’re used not to describe a voluntary gift economy but one in which online platforms are used to access a global pool of workers, on a just-in-time basis. In phrases like “liquid labor” and “workforce on demand,” this logic is even more apparent.</p>
<p>This on-tap workforce (the human cloud or crowd) is sometimes described pessimistically as “artificial artificial intelligence.” Its labor, vital for the myriad tasks that keep the internet humming, is often analogized to the Mechanical Turk, the nineteenth-century “automated” chess board that actually concealed a human operator.</p>
<p>Whether it is checking the accuracy of Google ratings, decoding street numbers for Google maps, deciding which horrific images of child sexual abuse or beheadings should be pulled from social media, or matching offers with requests on job search platforms, many of the activities most users imagine to be performed automatically by algorithms turn out in reality to be carried out by human “ <a href="http://www.wired.com/2014/10/content-moderation/" type="external">clickworkers</a>.”</p>
<p>Optimists hyping the creativity and autonomy associated with freelance click-work call it the “gig economy”; more neutral commenters might describe a “platform economy” or “mesh economy.”</p>
<p>Whatever we call it, most of us have now accumulated enough anecdotes, if not firsthand experience, to have formed a mental image of what it is like to be part of the contemporary on-demand workforce. There are horror stories about <a href="http://www.salon.com/2006/07/24/turks_3/" type="external">Amazon Mechanical Turk</a> workers who, if they are not in the United States or India, can be paid only in gift tokens — a reinvention of the company store.</p>
<p>Workers for platforms like Freelancer or Elance, despite being firmly told they are not employees, nevertheless find that their clients have acquired exclusive ownership of their intellectual property, even when they have not been paid — a twenty-first century form of wage theft. And tales of online reputations laboriously built up over months or years destroyed in a flash by one spiteful customer’s unchallengeable low star rating.</p>
<p>It appears a new kind of working life is emerging.</p>
<p>It is a life in which who you are and what you can do are displayed to the world in the form of a standardized profile: your skills and the tasks you can perform listed in standard tick-box form, perhaps embellished with some self-promotional text. The strangers with the power to hire you can assess the quality of your work through user ratings that may reflect informed judgement but might equally be an indication of poor taste or a rationale for not paying you.</p>
<p>You don’t know from one week, day, or even hour to the next when or whether you will have work: so keep the smartphone always at hand, ready to hit “accept” at a moment’s notice. You are, in short, permanently logged on.</p>
<p>And since your work is largely carried out online, your every activity is recorded. You are thus continuously generating the data that makes it possible for you to be monitored even more closely, with increasingly precise performance indicators, reducing still further any wiggle room for individual autonomy.</p>
<p>You become part of an atomized workforce, in which individuals are increasingly interchangeable. Their labor is logged: logged in the sense of being chopped up into standardized units; logged in the sense of being connected online, and logged in the sense of being recorded for future analysis. You could call it triply logged.</p>
<p>This might seem overly dystopian. After all, it can be argued, the kinds of work that are now increasingly managed by online platforms have always been precarious. When was taxi-driving or freelance copy-editing ever secure? By what stretch of the imagination was cleaning or running errands ever regarded as a regular job?</p>
<p>One way of looking at the recent exponential growth of online platforms in service delivery is to see it as a formalization of the informal economy, with the transparency of an open market replacing the old word-of-mouth methods of finding work, and the replacement of unrecorded cash-in-hand payments by trackable online payments, opening up at least the possibility for taxes to be collected and fairness to prevail.</p>
<p>A good thing, some might argue. Especially for people who were formerly excluded from such work by gender or ethnicity or disability. Could the techno-utopians be right?</p>
<p>But viewing the online-platform organization of labor as an issue only affecting the informal market is to ignore a larger reality. Several disparate trends that have been slowly building over decades are now converging, accelerating the formation and dissemination of a new labor management model across a range of sectors. It is appearing in both public and private sectors; in manual, clerical, and intellectual jobs; high-skilled and low-skilled; regardless of whether they are covered by permanent employment contracts.</p>
<p>Logged labor is becoming the new norm.</p>
<p>Slowly and insidiously, it has become accepted that you should have an up-to-date resume permanently available for inspection and be ready to pitch yourself anew for each job, promotion, grant, or inclusion in a project team. It is taken for granted that these applications should be made online, requiring you to contort your past experience to fit the standard tick boxes and drop-down menus. Even if you have a contract that specifies a 40-hour week, it is also now normal to expect you to check your email round the clock wherever you happen to be.</p>
<p>Any occasion may be interrupted by a ping on the smartphone, indicating that a summons to a meeting has popped up in your calendar or that a task awaits completion in your inbox. Woe betide you if you forget your username or password when the time comes to act on it: much easier to stay permanently logged in, whatever the security implications.</p>
<p>This is not just a substitution of one kind of communication for another. It is an outward symptom of a major restructuring of work: the manifestation of an underlying pattern whereby tasks are standardized, enabling them to be coordinated and monitored systematically.</p>
<p>Each unit of production is nested into a larger hierarchy of electronically-managed coordination. And each of these units, under pressure to keep costs as low as possible, seeks to minimize them by externalizing as much labor as possible to its users, or the next level down in the hierarchy.</p>
<p>You need a database with everybody’s details in it? Don’t waste money on a data entry clerk. Make all users fill in the online form and enter their own details. You need to be sure that a project will be completed on time? Make all team members log their hours as they go along and introduce penalties for failure to meet targets.</p>
<p>Any given transaction may take only a few minutes or even seconds, but multiplied across a whole economy, having everybody book their own tickets, submit tax returns, upload articles, order groceries, update their profiles, and log their own working hours saves millions of dollars in wages not paid —&#160;and adds cumulatively to the cyber-bureaucratic load of unpaid “consumption work” required for everyday survival.</p>
<p>Not only is the cost of this labor externalized to others; these procedures also create an audit trail, allowing each transaction to be tracked, each worker’s performance to be monitored; the basis created for establishing what a “normal” pattern of work should look like for any particular occupational group, which can then be used to set targets for the future.</p>
<p>This model has penetrated many industries and occupations, introducing the paradox of work that is both more formalized —&#160;designed to meet standardized performance targets, from volume of content published to sales made, or fine-tuned to function in a complex multinational firm — yet more precarious.</p>
<p>But capitalism requires not just standardization but innovation. And innovation is messy, involving trial and error, sudden bursts of creativity, and false starts.</p>
<p>An increasingly common resolution of this apparent contradiction is, for many capitalist organizations, to put this kind of activity into a sort of black box, hedged around with external controls and involving a minimization of risk.</p>
<p>The trend is towards the development of new products and processes — as well as many aspects of research — to be located in specialist departments or outsourced altogether, with work organized on a project-to-project basis and carried out by temporary teams.</p>
<p>This is a model that has long characterized creative industries, where workers have traditionally come together to produce a particular film, play, or album, and it has spread to video games, software development, and many other applications.</p>
<p>This is where the precariousness comes in. Even if they are ostensibly employees, high-skill development workers are increasingly likely to feel they are only as good as their last project. Each time, they have to prove themselves; putting in extra hours, showing extra dedication, and performing that difficult balancing act of demonstrating that they are a good team player while drawing attention to their individual brilliance — anything to make sure they will be picked for the next team. Life inside the corporation is coming to resemble life outside it ever more closely.</p>
<p>There are even more marked similarities when it comes to low-paid service workers. There is little difference between working on call for a supermarket, warehouse, café, or hamburger chain — waiting for the boss to call you in for work — and watching the smartphone, wondering when the next job from <a href="" type="internal">TaskRabbit</a>, Hassle, Handy, or Uber will come in.</p>
<p>One difference between being a freelancer and being an employee is theoretically that the former has more freedom to say no. But in these days of unpaid internships and online theft of intellectual property, for those without rich parents or spouses to lean on, this is increasingly coming to resemble Anatole France’s famous freedom to sleep under bridges and beg in the streets.</p>
<p>Choice only exists when there are genuine alternatives to choose from.</p>
<p>Does this mean, as some have suggested, that all workers are becoming part of a common “precariat” or undifferentiated “multitude”? No. Precariousness is the normal condition of all labor under capitalism — held at bay only by strong organization of workers under favorable circumstances. It is no more a glue that binds workers together in a common class identity than, say, hunger or poverty.</p>
<p>Bringing larger swathes of the workforce into open markets produces more, not less, differentiation. It does not reduce the importance of specific skills and talents. On the contrary, it accentuates it. Employers are able to pinpoint their exact requirements and target potential workers with great precision, setting them in direct competition with each other, often regardless of location.</p>
<p>The workforce is atomized, but workers are generally substitutable for each other only within the constraints of particular skill sets.</p>
<p>Introducing a formalized and atomized market in a situation that has previously been relatively closed brings new winners as well as new losers. What is catastrophic for a freelance graphic designer or a licensed taxi driver in New York or London may well be a life-changing opportunity for an arts graduate in Pakistan or Bolivia or a newly arrived migrant whose only asset is a car. Designating them all as members of a common precarious class does not magically whisk away the real difference in their material interests.</p>
<p>How should political economists understand the new phase of capitalism that is now reaching critical mass? It has several dimensions.</p>
<p>First, it brings new areas of life within the orbit of capital, allowing profits to be made from activities that were previously freely shared. Companies like Airbnb, SnapGoods, Lyft, or the Italian Gnammo, for example, bring human sociality within the orbit of capitalism, allowing a rent to be taken from each act of sharing, even when no employment relationship exists.</p>
<p>Second, whether it involves the online organization of online work (like Elance, Amazon Mechanical Turk, or Upwork) or manual work (like TaskRabbit, Handy, or Zaarly) or markets for petty manufacture (like Etsy) the platform economy extends capitalism’s scope into the informal economy, again taking a hefty rent from each transaction, as well as bringing this labor within the scope of capitalist discipline and time regimes.</p>
<p>Third, it represents an externalization of investment costs. In the past, companies that ran hotel chains or car fleets had to invest in real estate or automobiles, which represented depreciating assets. Now Airbnb, Uber, and the like have persuaded citizens to carry this cost, including the interest on the loans and mortgages they have had to take out to acquire these assets. This ties them ever more tightly into the capitalist system even while they carry the burden of risk.</p>
<p>The fourth impact is perhaps even more insidious because it extends way beyond the scope of the new online platforms into the heartlands of the “old” economy. By establishing a new normative model of what work should be like — logged in all senses — it removes any sense of entitlement to work that is organized differently.</p>
<p>The bodies, minds, and daily lives of the members of this new global labor force are sites of intense contradiction. They are both highly atomized and highly connected with each other. Their tasks are highly specialized, yet they also have more in common with other workers than ever before.</p>
<p>They must be both autonomous and compliant. They must both compete and collaborate. They must be always available but not show signs of fatigue. They must demonstrate past experience and reputation but are still only judged on the last job. There is the potential for new antagonisms as well as new solidarities between them.</p>
<p>What kinds of consciousness are emerging in these conditions? What potential is there for common demands? Should we look back to the normative models of the third quarter of the twentieth century when, at least for the privileged core workforce of the developed world, it was normal to expect a stable&#160;job, with health care, paid holidays and a pension? Or has the time come to consider completely different ways of organizing work and welfare?</p> | true | 4 | familiar pattern first theres economic crisis comes enormous restructuring capital restructuring labor throwing past certainties doubt old industries companies occupations disappear new ones emerge enabled new technologies people struggle find way describe seismic upheavals economic social landscape linguistic mist arises muddling features new landscape blurring attempts analyze map time around among first commentators scene technoutopians offering terms like sharing economy peertopeer networking conjure vision positive new development claim prefigures cooperative postcapitalist society might look like society internet allows services freely shared need supply eliminating capitalist intermediary 3d printing even speculate cut factories allowing goods produced needed notion people happy offer services altruistically strangers picked another set discourses wisdom crowds tapped crowdsource cloudsource solutions intractable problems perhaps clue word source evokes corporate practices took root 1990s outsourcing variants global sourcing insourcing backsourcing near relations offshoring nearshoring terms like crowdsourcing deployed theyre used describe voluntary gift economy one online platforms used access global pool workers justintime basis phrases like liquid labor workforce demand logic even apparent ontap workforce human cloud crowd sometimes described pessimistically artificial artificial intelligence labor vital myriad tasks keep internet humming often analogized mechanical turk nineteenthcentury automated chess board actually concealed human operator whether checking accuracy google ratings decoding street numbers google maps deciding horrific images child sexual abuse beheadings pulled social media matching offers requests job search platforms many activities users imagine performed automatically algorithms turn reality carried human clickworkers optimists hyping creativity autonomy associated freelance clickwork call gig economy neutral commenters might describe platform economy mesh economy whatever call us accumulated enough anecdotes firsthand experience formed mental image like part contemporary ondemand workforce horror stories amazon mechanical turk workers united states india paid gift tokens reinvention company store workers platforms like freelancer elance despite firmly told employees nevertheless find clients acquired exclusive ownership intellectual property even paid twentyfirst century form wage theft tales online reputations laboriously built months years destroyed flash one spiteful customers unchallengeable low star rating appears new kind working life emerging life displayed world form standardized profile skills tasks perform listed standard tickbox form perhaps embellished selfpromotional text strangers power hire assess quality work user ratings may reflect informed judgement might equally indication poor taste rationale paying dont know one week day even hour next whether work keep smartphone always hand ready hit accept moments notice short permanently logged since work largely carried online every activity recorded thus continuously generating data makes possible monitored even closely increasingly precise performance indicators reducing still wiggle room individual autonomy become part atomized workforce individuals increasingly interchangeable labor logged logged sense chopped standardized units logged sense connected online logged sense recorded future analysis could call triply logged might seem overly dystopian argued kinds work increasingly managed online platforms always precarious taxidriving freelance copyediting ever secure stretch imagination cleaning running errands ever regarded regular job one way looking recent exponential growth online platforms service delivery see formalization informal economy transparency open market replacing old wordofmouth methods finding work replacement unrecorded cashinhand payments trackable online payments opening least possibility taxes collected fairness prevail good thing might argue especially people formerly excluded work gender ethnicity disability could technoutopians right viewing onlineplatform organization labor issue affecting informal market ignore larger reality several disparate trends slowly building decades converging accelerating formation dissemination new labor management model across range sectors appearing public private sectors manual clerical intellectual jobs highskilled lowskilled regardless whether covered permanent employment contracts logged labor becoming new norm slowly insidiously become accepted uptodate resume permanently available inspection ready pitch anew job promotion grant inclusion project team taken granted applications made online requiring contort past experience fit standard tick boxes dropdown menus even contract specifies 40hour week also normal expect check email round clock wherever happen occasion may interrupted ping smartphone indicating summons meeting popped calendar task awaits completion inbox woe betide forget username password time comes act much easier stay permanently logged whatever security implications substitution one kind communication another outward symptom major restructuring work manifestation underlying pattern whereby tasks standardized enabling coordinated monitored systematically unit production nested larger hierarchy electronicallymanaged coordination units pressure keep costs low possible seeks minimize externalizing much labor possible users next level hierarchy need database everybodys details dont waste money data entry clerk make users fill online form enter details need sure project completed time make team members log hours go along introduce penalties failure meet targets given transaction may take minutes even seconds multiplied across whole economy everybody book tickets submit tax returns upload articles order groceries update profiles log working hours saves millions dollars wages paid 160and adds cumulatively cyberbureaucratic load unpaid consumption work required everyday survival cost labor externalized others procedures also create audit trail allowing transaction tracked workers performance monitored basis created establishing normal pattern work look like particular occupational group used set targets future model penetrated many industries occupations introducing paradox work formalized 160designed meet standardized performance targets volume content published sales made finetuned function complex multinational firm yet precarious capitalism requires standardization innovation innovation messy involving trial error sudden bursts creativity false starts increasingly common resolution apparent contradiction many capitalist organizations put kind activity sort black box hedged around external controls involving minimization risk trend towards development new products processes well many aspects research located specialist departments outsourced altogether work organized projecttoproject basis carried temporary teams model long characterized creative industries workers traditionally come together produce particular film play album spread video games software development many applications precariousness comes even ostensibly employees highskill development workers increasingly likely feel good last project time prove putting extra hours showing extra dedication performing difficult balancing act demonstrating good team player drawing attention individual brilliance anything make sure picked next team life inside corporation coming resemble life outside ever closely even marked similarities comes lowpaid service workers little difference working call supermarket warehouse café hamburger chain waiting boss call work watching smartphone wondering next job taskrabbit hassle handy uber come one difference freelancer employee theoretically former freedom say days unpaid internships online theft intellectual property without rich parents spouses lean increasingly coming resemble anatole frances famous freedom sleep bridges beg streets choice exists genuine alternatives choose mean suggested workers becoming part common precariat undifferentiated multitude precariousness normal condition labor capitalism held bay strong organization workers favorable circumstances glue binds workers together common class identity say hunger poverty bringing larger swathes workforce open markets produces less differentiation reduce importance specific skills talents contrary accentuates employers able pinpoint exact requirements target potential workers great precision setting direct competition often regardless location workforce atomized workers generally substitutable within constraints particular skill sets introducing formalized atomized market situation previously relatively closed brings new winners well new losers catastrophic freelance graphic designer licensed taxi driver new york london may well lifechanging opportunity arts graduate pakistan bolivia newly arrived migrant whose asset car designating members common precarious class magically whisk away real difference material interests political economists understand new phase capitalism reaching critical mass several dimensions first brings new areas life within orbit capital allowing profits made activities previously freely shared companies like airbnb snapgoods lyft italian gnammo example bring human sociality within orbit capitalism allowing rent taken act sharing even employment relationship exists second whether involves online organization online work like elance amazon mechanical turk upwork manual work like taskrabbit handy zaarly markets petty manufacture like etsy platform economy extends capitalisms scope informal economy taking hefty rent transaction well bringing labor within scope capitalist discipline time regimes third represents externalization investment costs past companies ran hotel chains car fleets invest real estate automobiles represented depreciating assets airbnb uber like persuaded citizens carry cost including interest loans mortgages take acquire assets ties ever tightly capitalist system even carry burden risk fourth impact perhaps even insidious extends way beyond scope new online platforms heartlands old economy establishing new normative model work like logged senses removes sense entitlement work organized differently bodies minds daily lives members new global labor force sites intense contradiction highly atomized highly connected tasks highly specialized yet also common workers ever must autonomous compliant must compete collaborate must always available show signs fatigue must demonstrate past experience reputation still judged last job potential new antagonisms well new solidarities kinds consciousness emerging conditions potential common demands look back normative models third quarter twentieth century least privileged core workforce developed world normal expect stable160job health care paid holidays pension time come consider completely different ways organizing work welfare | 1,388 |
<p>Where’s T.J.?</p>
<p>No, I don’t know what’s going on with the Los Angeles Times’ love-him-or-hate-him T.J. Simers, whose sports column has disappeared from the paper since June 2, when he staged a free throw shooting contest between his grown daughter, Kelly Nielsen, and NBA star Dwight Howard.</p>
<p>Nielsen beat Dwight, who shot left-handed and, soon thereafter, left the Lakers for Houston, although that was a coincidence.</p>
<p>Mandalay Sports Media put out a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&amp;v=UUTx4_gUcUk" type="external">video</a> of the charity contest, days before Sports Business Daily reported the company was working on developing a TV show based on Simers.</p>
<p />
<p>His only piece since has been a co-bylined news story reporting Howard’s departure. That’s not likely a coincidence, leading to speculation the columnist won’t return.</p>
<p>If there’s an ethical problem, the Times has not acknowledged having leveled one. Simers has yet to be heard. Instead, with both sides observing a months-long no-comment policy, it looks like they’re discussing a settlement that would lead to his departure.</p>
<p>The real question is how this episode has risen to such importance at a newspaper that has wandered further over the ethical line than this as when it wrapped the paper in a <a href="http://chasnote.com/2010/03/06/alice-in-wonderland-ad-on-front-page-of-la-times/" type="external">fake Page 1 flier</a> in 2010 to advertise the movie “Alice in Wonderland.”</p>
<p>If I don’t know the details, I know a lot about the environment at the Times, where I worked alongside Simers for almost 20 years, from the ’80s on one of the most talented sports staffs ever assembled — Rick Reilly was a sidebar writer — to my departure in 2011, with the surviving editorial staff (33 percent of 1,400 employees when Tribune bought the paper in 2000) trying to maintain the tradition, under a continuously purged managerial hierarchy, through a long Dark Age of defying the Chicago-based empire, Sam Zell Hell and years laboring in the twilight of bankruptcy.</p>
<p>If Rupert Murdoch was regarded as a white knight when prospective buyers included the arch-conservative Koch brothers, you see what the Times is up against.</p>
<p>The current Times publisher is Eddy Hartenstein, the DirecTV founder, brought in as part of Zell’s new, clueless wave. With Times editors reining columnists in, it was just a matter of time until something happened with someone … and no surprise that it turned out to be Simers, an attention-demanding, outrage-embracing provocation, if one who usually erred on the side of the angels, comforting the afflicted, as H.L. Mencken put it, while afflicting the comfortable.</p>
<p>The more comfortable, and the more personally dangerous they were to Simers, the better. Topping himself in 2003, he <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2003/sep/19/sports/sp-simers19" type="external">took on Tribune</a> corporate head Dennis FitzSimons, asking whether he was supposed to have a rooting interest between the local Dodgers and the Trib-owned Cubs.</p>
<p>“I would hope you’re rooting for the Cubs,” FitzSimons said, perhaps before realizing Simers was quoting him for the record. “It would be good for everybody’s stock price.”</p>
<p>For good measure, Simers published FitzSimons’ phone number so Dodger fans who didn’t own Tribune stock could call up too, obliging the guy who signed the writer’s paycheck to change his digits.</p>
<p>That was many rough and tumble columns ago, in which Simers went after more heavies, but few like Frank McCourt, then-owner of the Dodgers.</p>
<p>Not that sports history had many likelier targets. McCourt’s financial acumen and lack of any other clue were apparent from his arrival, when he named his wife, Jamie, Dodger CEO, to the Gotterdammerung with the couple’s legal titans hurling lightning bolts in divorce court, before Frank cashed out with a $1.2 billion profit for his seven-year nightmare.</p>
<p>By the end, it was no surprise that everyone in baseball, starting with Commissioner Bud Selig, who had helped McCourt buy the team and eventually seized the franchise, tried to get rid of him. Only one powerful ally remained, Hartenstein, the Times publisher, even as his entire editorial staff battered the Dodger owner on his way out.</p>
<p>I don’t know the extent of the Hartenstein-McCourt relationship. We heard about it for years at the Times but I’ve never seen it acknowledged or confirmed.</p>
<p>I do know the new guidelines that came down in 2011, McCourt’s last season as Dodger owner.</p>
<p>If one columnist wrote about, say, McCourt, the rest weren’t supposed to write more about the same subject.</p>
<p>I learned about it the hard way that spring, after writing a column on the Lakers’ surprise hire of Mike Brown, a bland technocrat, to replace the retired Phil Jackson as coach.</p>
<p>Three days later, I flew home from Miami, where I’d been covering the Heat-Mavericks Finals, writing a Sunday column on the Laker organization going forward — only to be told I couldn’t write anything more on the subject, which was suddenly bigger than Mike Brown.</p>
<p>Shocked and awed, not to mention dismayed, I was assured the new policy applied to all departments. Even Steve Lopez, the Times highly regarded Metro columnist, had supposedly had a piece spiked.</p>
<p>Worse, there was no misunderstanding in this case. Davan Maharaj, then-deputy editor who oversaw sports (now the paper’s editor in chief), told sports editor Mike James that we had already run one too many columns on Brown’s hiring.</p>
<p>We had written two in two days. We often wrote more than that off a single game.</p>
<p>I was told James had pointed out to Maharaj that the articles were different. Bill Plaschke, our lead columnist, had ripped the hire. I had written about it in light of Jim Buss’ ascension to head the day-to-day operation, noting the similarity to his first involvement in 2004 when Rudy Tomjanovich fled within months of being hired as Lakers coach, leaving his five-year $30 million deal behind.With the snap of a finger, management had reversed our well-received, hit-magnet, All Lakers All the Time approach. A year before, then-Editor-in-Chief Russ Stanton had invited me and writers Mike Bresnahan and Brad Turner to lunch to thank us for our work.</p>
<p>Whatever we had lost, we still had fabulous Lakers coverage with beat guys who owned the news and engaged general columnists who broke their own memorable stories, as when Plaschke got Kobe Bryant’s father, Joe, to acknowledge the family’s painful break.</p>
<p>Appearances notwithstanding, Simers had as many confidants as guys who wanted to shoot him on sight. He was the one Bryant told about his split with Karl Malone, revealing that his wife, Vanessa, had claimed the Mailman hit on her at a game.</p>
<p>So, yeah, there was a lot reeling through my mind, driving north from LAX, on the phone with James who confirmed my column was really dead.</p>
<p>“I quit,” I informed him.</p>
<p>That lasted a few hours until I called James and unresigned. I eventually got my piece into the paper — two weeks later, after two rewrites.</p>
<p>Four weeks later, they laid me off.</p>
<p>No, I don’t think Maharaj had anything to do with it. The sports department had cuts to make. I was 67, and had told the editors I would work one more season — which, with a lockout looming, the NBA was threatening not to play.</p>
<p>I’d been lucky. I came up before this puppet-on-a-string BS when everyone from the bosses to the interns felt a sense of mission. If many editors might have cut Simers less slack, great papers didn’t jettison voices like his on penny-ante ethical issues.</p>
<p>The hits have never stopped happening to the industry, which is staging its own disappearing act in plain sight, even as the economy recovers. Now, instead of newspaper empires buying the local baseball team on a whim, Red Sox owner John Henry just picked up the Boston Globe for $70 million, or about what he’s paying this season’s pitching staff.</p>
<p>Once the conscience of the community, newspapers are all but reduced to charity cases. Last week MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow asked viewers to patronize the down-on-its-luck institution, noting, “Your local paper needs you.” Of course, newspapers, which may employ 95 percent of the reporters still working, are especially useful for TV personalities and sites such as Red State and Daily Kos. Otherwise, they’d be — and soon may be — commenting on reports they get from TMZ.</p>
<p>In the new sports/media dynamic, the excitement crackles up from the audience via Twitter, which informs at lightning speed and engages an ever-greater readership ever more deeply — but as for providing perspective, is more like the Tower of Babel.</p>
<p>In the increasingly spider-webbed world known as “journalism,” the Los Angeles sports scene has been a lot quieter since June 2, and a lot less fun.</p>
<p>Here’s a thought that will surprise a lot of the Times’ remaining readers, and should: We miss T.J. Simers.</p> | true | 4 | wheres tj dont know whats going los angeles times lovehimorhatehim tj simers whose sports column disappeared paper since june 2 staged free throw shooting contest grown daughter kelly nielsen nba star dwight howard nielsen beat dwight shot lefthanded soon thereafter left lakers houston although coincidence mandalay sports media put video charity contest days sports business daily reported company working developing tv show based simers piece since cobylined news story reporting howards departure thats likely coincidence leading speculation columnist wont return theres ethical problem times acknowledged leveled one simers yet heard instead sides observing monthslong nocomment policy looks like theyre discussing settlement would lead departure real question episode risen importance newspaper wandered ethical line wrapped paper fake page 1 flier 2010 advertise movie alice wonderland dont know details know lot environment times worked alongside simers almost 20 years 80s one talented sports staffs ever assembled rick reilly sidebar writer departure 2011 surviving editorial staff 33 percent 1400 employees tribune bought paper 2000 trying maintain tradition continuously purged managerial hierarchy long dark age defying chicagobased empire sam zell hell years laboring twilight bankruptcy rupert murdoch regarded white knight prospective buyers included archconservative koch brothers see times current times publisher eddy hartenstein directv founder brought part zells new clueless wave times editors reining columnists matter time something happened someone surprise turned simers attentiondemanding outrageembracing provocation one usually erred side angels comforting afflicted hl mencken put afflicting comfortable comfortable personally dangerous simers better topping 2003 took tribune corporate head dennis fitzsimons asking whether supposed rooting interest local dodgers tribowned cubs would hope youre rooting cubs fitzsimons said perhaps realizing simers quoting record would good everybodys stock price good measure simers published fitzsimons phone number dodger fans didnt tribune stock could call obliging guy signed writers paycheck change digits many rough tumble columns ago simers went heavies like frank mccourt thenowner dodgers sports history many likelier targets mccourts financial acumen lack clue apparent arrival named wife jamie dodger ceo gotterdammerung couples legal titans hurling lightning bolts divorce court frank cashed 12 billion profit sevenyear nightmare end surprise everyone baseball starting commissioner bud selig helped mccourt buy team eventually seized franchise tried get rid one powerful ally remained hartenstein times publisher even entire editorial staff battered dodger owner way dont know extent hartensteinmccourt relationship heard years times ive never seen acknowledged confirmed know new guidelines came 2011 mccourts last season dodger owner one columnist wrote say mccourt rest werent supposed write subject learned hard way spring writing column lakers surprise hire mike brown bland technocrat replace retired phil jackson coach three days later flew home miami id covering heatmavericks finals writing sunday column laker organization going forward told couldnt write anything subject suddenly bigger mike brown shocked awed mention dismayed assured new policy applied departments even steve lopez times highly regarded metro columnist supposedly piece spiked worse misunderstanding case davan maharaj thendeputy editor oversaw sports papers editor chief told sports editor mike james already run one many columns browns hiring written two two days often wrote single game told james pointed maharaj articles different bill plaschke lead columnist ripped hire written light jim buss ascension head daytoday operation noting similarity first involvement 2004 rudy tomjanovich fled within months hired lakers coach leaving fiveyear 30 million deal behindwith snap finger management reversed wellreceived hitmagnet lakers time approach year theneditorinchief russ stanton invited writers mike bresnahan brad turner lunch thank us work whatever lost still fabulous lakers coverage beat guys owned news engaged general columnists broke memorable stories plaschke got kobe bryants father joe acknowledge familys painful break appearances notwithstanding simers many confidants guys wanted shoot sight one bryant told split karl malone revealing wife vanessa claimed mailman hit game yeah lot reeling mind driving north lax phone james confirmed column really dead quit informed lasted hours called james unresigned eventually got piece paper two weeks later two rewrites four weeks later laid dont think maharaj anything sports department cuts make 67 told editors would work one season lockout looming nba threatening play id lucky came puppetonastring bs everyone bosses interns felt sense mission many editors might cut simers less slack great papers didnt jettison voices like pennyante ethical issues hits never stopped happening industry staging disappearing act plain sight even economy recovers instead newspaper empires buying local baseball team whim red sox owner john henry picked boston globe 70 million hes paying seasons pitching staff conscience community newspapers reduced charity cases last week msnbcs rachel maddow asked viewers patronize downonitsluck institution noting local paper needs course newspapers may employ 95 percent reporters still working especially useful tv personalities sites red state daily kos otherwise theyd soon may commenting reports get tmz new sportsmedia dynamic excitement crackles audience via twitter informs lightning speed engages evergreater readership ever deeply providing perspective like tower babel increasingly spiderwebbed world known journalism los angeles sports scene lot quieter since june 2 lot less fun heres thought surprise lot times remaining readers miss tj simers | 822 |
<p>Five-year-old <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/aleppo-boy-in-ambulance-photo-omran-daqneesh-and-family-survive-devastating-air-strike-but-face-a7197961.html" type="external">Omran Daqneesh</a>, his face bloody and bruised from bomb blast, stares out in bafflement at a world in which somebody had just tried to kill him. Pictures of his little figure in the back of an ambulance in <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/aleppo" type="external">Aleppo</a> have swiftly become the living symbol of the slaughter in <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/Syria" type="external">Syria</a> and <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/Iraq" type="external">Iraq</a>.</p>
<p>In the past there would have been more demands for spurious responses to the latest atrocity in Syria, with calls for the immediate overthrow of President <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/BasharAl-assad" type="external">Bashar al-Assad</a> or no-fly zones – measures that sound positive but are never going to happen. This time round there is greater wariness internationally about such quick-fix solutions, opening the way for more realistic action to reduce the present horrendous level of violence.</p>
<p>I am always edgy about proposing anything that might mitigate the barbarity of the war in Syria and Iraq because explaining what aspects of the situation, however murderous, cannot be changed looks like justifying them. For instance, British policy since 2011 has been that Assad should go, but this was never going to happen because he controlled most of the population centres and was backed by <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/Russia" type="external">Russia</a> and <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/Iran" type="external">Iran</a>. To pretend otherwise might sound benign, but was in reality providing the ingredients for war without end.</p>
<p>The conflict is so difficult to end because it is half a dozen crises and confrontations combined into one: <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/sunni" type="external">Sunni</a> Arabs against ruling <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/alawite" type="external">Alawite</a> s and the minorities; better-off against poor; secular against Islamists; city against country; Kurd against Arab; Kurd against Turk; Sunni against <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/shiites" type="external">Shia</a>; Iran against <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/SaudiArabia" type="external">Saudi Arabia</a>; Russia against – but sometimes cooperating with – the US.</p>
<p>The complexity of it all was well described by one commentator as being like three dimensional chess played by nine players and with no rules.</p>
<p>The twin sieges of government-controlled west and rebel-held east Aleppo, with the two antagonists wrapped round each other in a deadly embrace, is an apotheosis of the Syrian conflict. A cruder description might be “a Mexican stand-off” in which neither side can advance or retreat without danger. Russia has proposed a 48-hour ceasefire but, even if it occurs, this will not change the overall situation in which children like Omran Daqneesh are killed, maimed or orphaned.</p>
<p>All sides are terrified of each other and with good reason: <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/AmnestyInternational" type="external">Amnesty International</a> last week published a report describing how 17,723 people, or 300 a month, have been tortured or otherwise done to death in Syrian government prisons since 2011. Most of the 4.8 million Syrian refugees come from opposition areas, many of which have been flattened by bombs, shells and bulldozers so they look like pictures of Warsaw in 1945.</p>
<p>Overall, the Sunni Arab communities in Syria and Iraq are facing ruin with all their cities devastated or depopulated, from Fallujah to Aleppo, and with their last great bastion, Mosul, about to come under attack.</p>
<p>Government supporters in west Aleppo also live in terror of a Salafi-jihadi victory by an opposition that no longer bothers to hide its sectarian agenda. The latest attack by the rebels which partially broke the siege of east Aleppo and cut the main supply road to the west was called the “Ibrahim al-Yousef” offensive. Yousef was the name of an officer in the Syrian army in 1979, who was secretly a member of a Sunni insurgent group and orchestrated the killing of 32 Alawites and the wounding of a further 54 in a notorious massacre in the Aleppo Artillery School. Jabhat al-Nusra, whose fighters led the successful offensive, has changed its name to Jabhat Fateh al-Sham and formally severed its connection to al-Qaeda, but does not bother to conceal its extreme Sunni sectarian agenda.</p>
<p>Every community in Syria feels it is fighting an existential battle that can only end in victory or defeat. In the case of the latter there will be, as the French Algerians used to say, no alternative to “the suitcase or the coffin.” But, bad though the situation is, it is not quite hopeless and, while nobody is in a position to win a decisive victory, the political situation on the ground does develop and change and not always in a negative way.</p>
<p>The biggest change in the past two years is that the US and Russia have entered the war. This makes the conflict more intense and introduces Cold War rivalries, but it has the advantage that the heavy hitters are now publicly engaged in the conflict. They have influence, though they do not quite have control, over their allies and proxies and could, in theory, arrange ceasefires that are more than propaganda.</p>
<p>But one reason the war continues is that many participants still have a lot to gain by fighting on. For Russia, the Syrian battlefield has turned out to be a uniquely advantageous place to re-calibrate to its relationship with the rest of the world. Last week it started using Hamadan airbase in Iran and is cooperating militarily with the belt of countries – Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon – in which the Shia are the most powerful political element.</p>
<p>The Sunni axis opposing Assad – most notably Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar – have been weakened by the failed military coup in Turkey. Earlier in August, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited St Petersburg for talks with President Putin which may modify, though not transform, Turkey’s support for the rebel forces in Syria.</p>
<p>But Russia’s gain is not necessarily America’s loss and President Obama’s policy in Syria and Iraq has been more successful than its critics give him credit for. It is beating back Isis in both countries, primarily by using air strikes to provide overwhelming fire power to its allies on the ground. It is not just that Isis has lost important cities and towns like Ramadi, Fallujah and Manbij, but it has been unable to launch effective counter-attacks for more than a year (except in the shape of terrorist attacks on civilians in the Middle East and Europe).</p>
<p>In Iraq, the war is getting close to a decisive win by the Shia and Kurds (four fifths of the population) over the Sunni Arabs (one fifth). Could the same thing happen in Syria where Sunni Arabs are 60 per cent of Syrians? Possibly, but the Baathist leadership in Damascus has always been much better at fending off defeat than winning a permanent victory. This was the lesson of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and the long struggle for Lebanon in the following years.</p>
<p>Much the same has happened in Syria since 2011 with Assad refusing compromise with any of his numerous enemies. But because the Baathists are better at playing a weak hand than a strong one, they tend to exaggerate their own strength and lack the flexibility to conclusively win the game. They underestimate the fighting ability of Nusra and the extent to which it can draw on disaffected Sunnis in the countryside of northern Syria.</p>
<p>An encouraging sign might be that the 15-year-long Lebanese civil war did eventually end, but Syria is plugged into too many regional conflicts for the fighting to stop any time soon. It will only happen when more winners and losers emerge on Syria’s many battlefields.</p> | true | 4 | fiveyearold omran daqneesh face bloody bruised bomb blast stares bafflement world somebody tried kill pictures little figure back ambulance aleppo swiftly become living symbol slaughter syria iraq past would demands spurious responses latest atrocity syria calls immediate overthrow president bashar alassad nofly zones measures sound positive never going happen time round greater wariness internationally quickfix solutions opening way realistic action reduce present horrendous level violence always edgy proposing anything might mitigate barbarity war syria iraq explaining aspects situation however murderous changed looks like justifying instance british policy since 2011 assad go never going happen controlled population centres backed russia iran pretend otherwise might sound benign reality providing ingredients war without end conflict difficult end half dozen crises confrontations combined one sunni arabs ruling alawite minorities betteroff poor secular islamists city country kurd arab kurd turk sunni shia iran saudi arabia russia sometimes cooperating us complexity well described one commentator like three dimensional chess played nine players rules twin sieges governmentcontrolled west rebelheld east aleppo two antagonists wrapped round deadly embrace apotheosis syrian conflict cruder description might mexican standoff neither side advance retreat without danger russia proposed 48hour ceasefire even occurs change overall situation children like omran daqneesh killed maimed orphaned sides terrified good reason amnesty international last week published report describing 17723 people 300 month tortured otherwise done death syrian government prisons since 2011 48 million syrian refugees come opposition areas many flattened bombs shells bulldozers look like pictures warsaw 1945 overall sunni arab communities syria iraq facing ruin cities devastated depopulated fallujah aleppo last great bastion mosul come attack government supporters west aleppo also live terror salafijihadi victory opposition longer bothers hide sectarian agenda latest attack rebels partially broke siege east aleppo cut main supply road west called ibrahim alyousef offensive yousef name officer syrian army 1979 secretly member sunni insurgent group orchestrated killing 32 alawites wounding 54 notorious massacre aleppo artillery school jabhat alnusra whose fighters led successful offensive changed name jabhat fateh alsham formally severed connection alqaeda bother conceal extreme sunni sectarian agenda every community syria feels fighting existential battle end victory defeat case latter french algerians used say alternative suitcase coffin bad though situation quite hopeless nobody position win decisive victory political situation ground develop change always negative way biggest change past two years us russia entered war makes conflict intense introduces cold war rivalries advantage heavy hitters publicly engaged conflict influence though quite control allies proxies could theory arrange ceasefires propaganda one reason war continues many participants still lot gain fighting russia syrian battlefield turned uniquely advantageous place recalibrate relationship rest world last week started using hamadan airbase iran cooperating militarily belt countries iran iraq syria lebanon shia powerful political element sunni axis opposing assad notably turkey saudi arabia qatar weakened failed military coup turkey earlier august turkish president recep tayyip erdogan visited st petersburg talks president putin may modify though transform turkeys support rebel forces syria russias gain necessarily americas loss president obamas policy syria iraq successful critics give credit beating back isis countries primarily using air strikes provide overwhelming fire power allies ground isis lost important cities towns like ramadi fallujah manbij unable launch effective counterattacks year except shape terrorist attacks civilians middle east europe iraq war getting close decisive win shia kurds four fifths population sunni arabs one fifth could thing happen syria sunni arabs 60 per cent syrians possibly baathist leadership damascus always much better fending defeat winning permanent victory lesson israeli invasion lebanon 1982 long struggle lebanon following years much happened syria since 2011 assad refusing compromise numerous enemies baathists better playing weak hand strong one tend exaggerate strength lack flexibility conclusively win game underestimate fighting ability nusra extent draw disaffected sunnis countryside northern syria encouraging sign might 15yearlong lebanese civil war eventually end syria plugged many regional conflicts fighting stop time soon happen winners losers emerge syrias many battlefields | 640 |
<p>“I am 30 years old and I am struggling to find sanity. Between the Christian schools, homeschooling, the Christian group home (indoctrinating&#160;work camp) and different churches in different cities, I am a psychological, emotional and spiritual mess.” —former evangelical</p>
<p>If a former believer says that Christianity made her depressed, obsessive, or post-traumatic, she is likely to be dismissed as an exaggerator. She might describe panic attacks about the rapture; moods that swung from ecstasy about God’s overwhelming love to suicidal self-loathing about repeated sins; or an obsession with sexual purity.</p>
<p>A symptom like one of these clearly has a religious component, yet many people instinctively blame the victim. They will say that the wounded former believer was prone to anxiety or depression or obsession in the first place—that his Christianity somehow got corrupted by his predisposition to psychological problems. Or they will say that he wasn’t a real Christian. If only he had prayed in faith believing or loved God with all his heart, soul and mind, if only he had really been saved—then he would have experienced the peace that passes all understanding.</p>
<p>But the reality is far more complex. It is true that symptoms like depression or panic attacks most often strike those of us who are vulnerable, perhaps because of genetics or perhaps because situational stressors have worn us down. But certain aspects of Christian beliefs and Christian living also can create those stressors, even setting up multigenerational patterns of abuse, trauma, and self-abuse. Also, over time some religious beliefs can create habitual thought patterns that actually alter brain function, making it difficult for people to heal or grow.</p>
<p>The purveyors of religion insist that their product is so powerful it can transform a life, but somehow, magically, it has no risks. In reality, when a medicine is powerful, it usually has the potential to be toxic, especially in the wrong combination or at the wrong dose. And religion is powerful medicine!</p>
<p>In this discussion, we focus on the variants of Christianity that are based on a literal interpretation of the Bible. These include Evangelical and fundamentalist churches, the Church of Latter Day Saints, and other conservative sects. These groups share the characteristics of requiring conformity for membership, a view that humans need salvation, and a focus on the spiritual world as superior to the natural world. These views are in contrast to liberal, progressive Christian churches with a humanistic viewpoint, a focus on the present, and social justice.</p>
<p>Religion Exploits Normal Human Mental Processes.</p>
<p>To understand the power of religion, it is helpful to understand a bit about the structure of the human mind. Much of our mental activity has little to do with rationality and is utterly inaccessible to the conscious mind. The preferences, intentions and decisions that shape our lives are in turn shaped by memories and associations that can get laid down before we even develop the capacity for rational analysis.</p>
<p>Aspects of cognition like these determine how we go through life, what causes us distress, which goals we pursue and which we abandon, how we respond to failure, how we respond when other people hurt us—and how we respond when we hurt them. Religion derives its power in large part because it shapes these unconscious processes: the frames, metaphors, intuitions and emotions that operate before we even have a chance at conscious thought.</p>
<p>Some Religious Beliefs and Practices are More Harmful Than Others.</p>
<p>When it comes to psychological damage, certain religious beliefs and practices are reliably more toxic than others.</p>
<p>Janet Heimlich is an investigative journalist who has explored <a href="//religiouschildmaltreatment.com/" type="external">religious child maltreatment</a>, which describes abuse and neglect in the service of religious belief. In her book, Breaking their Will,Heimlich identifies three characteristics of religious groups that are particularly prone to harming children. Clinical work with reclaimers, that is, people who are reclaiming their lives and in recovery from toxic religion, suggests that these same qualities put adults at risk, along with a particular set of manipulations found in fundamentalist Christian churches and biblical literalism.</p>
<p>1) Authoritarianism,creates a rigid power hierarchy and demands unquestioning obedience. In major theistic religions, this hierarchy has a god or gods at the top, represented by powerful church leaders who have power over male believers, who in turn have power over females and children. Authoritarian Christian sects often teach that “male headship” is God’s will. Parents may go so far as beating or starving their children on the authority of godly leaders. A book titled, <a href="//valerietarico.com/2013/09/30/biblical-literalism-puts-children-at-risk/" type="external">To Train Up a Child</a>,by minister Michael Pearl and his wife Debi, has been found in the homes of three Christian adoptive families who have punished their children to death.</p>
<p>2) Isolation or separatism,is promoted as a means of maintaining spiritual purity. Evangelical Christians warn against being “unequally yoked” with nonbelievers in marriages and even friendships. New converts often are encouraged to pull away from extended family members and old friends, except when there may be opportunities to convert them. Some churches encourage older members to take in young single adults and house them within a godly context until they find spiritually compatible partners, a process known by cult analysts as “shepherding.” Home schoolers and the Christian equivalent of madrassas cut off children from outside sources of information, often teaching rote learning and unquestioning obedience rather than broad curiosity.</p>
<p>3) Fearof sin, hell, a looming “end-times” apocalypse, or amoral heathens binds people to the group, which then provides the only safe escape from the horrifying dangers on the outside. In Evangelical Hell Houses, Halloween is used as an occasion to terrify children and teens about the tortures that await the damned. In the Left Behind book series and movie, the world degenerates into a bloodbath without the stabilizing presence of believers. Since the religious group is the only alternative to these horrors, anything that threatens the group itself—like criticism, taxation, scientific findings, or civil rights regulations—also becomes a target of fear.</p>
<p>Bible Belief Creates an Authoritarian, Isolative, Threat-based Model of Reality</p>
<p>In Bible-believing Christianity, psychological mind-control mechanisms are coupled with beliefs from the Iron Age, including the belief that women and children are possessions of men, that children who are not hit become spoiled, that each of us is born “utterly depraved”, and that a supernatural being demands unquestioning obedience. In this view, the salvation and righteousness of believers is constantly under threat from outsiders and dark spiritual forces. Consequently, Christians need to separate themselves emotionally, spiritually, and socially from the world.These beliefs are fundamental to their overarching mental framework or “deep frame” as linguist George Lakoff would call it. Small wonder then, that many Christians emerge wounded.</p>
<p>It is important to remember that this mindset permeates to a deep subconscious level. This is a realm of imagery, symbols, metaphor, emotion, instinct, and primary needs. Nature and nurture merge into a template for viewing the world which then filters every experience. The template selectively allows only the information that confirms their model of reality, creating a subjective sense of its veracity.</p>
<p>On the societal scale, humanity has been going through a massive shift for centuries, transitioning from a supernatural view of a world dominated by forces of good and evil to a natural understanding of the universe. The Bible-based Christian population however, might be considered a subset of the general population that is still within the old framework, that is, supernaturalism.</p>
<p>Children are Targeted for Indoctrination Because the Child Mind is Uniquely Vulnerable.</p>
<p>“Here I am, a fifty-one year old college professor, still smarting from the wounds inflicted by the righteous when I was a child. It is a slow, festering wound, one that smarts every day—in some way or another…. I thought I would leave all of that “God loves… God hates…” stuff behind, but not so. Such deep and confusing fear is not easily forgotten. It pops up in my perfectionism, my melancholy mood, the years of being obsessed with finding the assurance of personal salvation.”</p>
<p>Nowhere is the contrast of viewpoints more stark than in the secular and religious understandings of childhood. In <a href="//valerietarico.com/2013/10/21/why-bible-believers-have-such-a-hard-time-getting-child-protection-right/" type="external">the biblical view</a>, a child is not a being that is born with amazing capabilities that will emerge with the right conditions like a beautiful flower in a well-attended garden. Rather, a child is born in sin, weak, ignorant, and rebellious, needing discipline to learn obedience. Independent thinking is dangerous pride.</p>
<p>Because the child’s mind is uniquely susceptible to religious ideas, religious indoctrination particularly <a href="//valerietarico.com/2014/06/28/good-news-club-targets-children-across-u-s-for-summer-salvation-portland-fights-back/" type="external">targets vulnerable young children</a>. Cognitive development before age seven lacks abstract reasoning. Thinking is magical and primitive, black and white. Also, young humans are wired to obey authority because they are dependent on their caregivers just for survival. Much of their brain growth and development has to happen after birth, which means that children are extremely vulnerable to environmental influences in the first few years when neuronal pathways are formed.</p>
<p>By age five a child’s brain can understand primitive cause-and-effect logic and picture situations that are not present. Children at this have a tenuous grip on reality. They often have imaginary friends; dreams are quite real; and fantasy blurs with the mundane. To a child this age, it is eminently possible that Santa Claus lives at the North Pole and delivers presents if you are good and that 2000 years ago a man died a horrible death because you are naughty. Adam and Eve, Noah’s ark, the Rapture, and hell, all can be quite real. The problem is that many of these teachings are terrifying.</p>
<p>For many years, one conversion technique targeting children and adolescents has been the use of <a href="//www.kindertrauma.com/?p=8327" type="external">movies about the “End Times</a>.” This means a “Rapture” event, when real Christians are taken up to heaven leaving the earth to “Tribulation,” a terrifying time when an evil Antichrist will reign and the world will descend into anarchy.</p>
<p>When assaulted with such images and ideas at a young age, <a href="//www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+andy+thomson+american+atheists&amp;FORM=VIRE2#view=detail&amp;mid=816FE49553237FCA9070816FE49553237FCA9070" type="external">a child has no chance</a> of emotional self-defense. Christian teachings that sound truewhen they are embedded in the child’s mind at this tender age can feel true for a lifetime. Even decades later former believers who intellectually reject these ideas can feel intense fear or shame when their unconscious mind is triggered.</p>
<p>Harms Range From Mild to Catastrophic</p>
<p>One requirement for success as a sincere Christian is to find a way to believe that which would be unbelievable under normal rules of evidence and inquiry. Christianity contains concepts that help to safeguard belief, such as limiting outside information, practicing thought control, and self-denigration; but for some people the emotional numbing and intellectual suicide just isn’t enough. In other words, for a significant number of children in Christian families, the religion just doesn’t “take.” This can trigger guilt, conflict, and ultimately rejection or abandonment.</p>
<p>Others experience the threats and fear too keenly. For them, childhood can be torturous, and they may carry injuries into adulthood.</p>
<p>Still others are able to sincerely devote themselves to the faith as children but confront problems when they mature. They wrestle with factual and moral contradictions in the Bible and the church, or discover surprising alternatives. This can feel confusing and terrifying - like the whole world is falling apart.</p>
<p>Delayed Development and Life Skills.Many Christian parents seek to insulate their children from “worldly” influences. In the extreme, this can mean not only home schooling, but cutting off media, not allowing non-Christian friends, avoiding secular activities like plays or clubs, and spending time at church instead. Children miss out on crucial information– science, culture, history, reproductive health and more. When they grow older and leave such a sheltered environment, adjusting to the secular world can be like immigrating to a new culture. One of the biggest areas of challenge is delayed social development.</p>
<p>Religious Trauma Syndrome. Today, in the field of mental health, the only religious diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual is “Religious or Spiritual Problem.” This is merely a supplemental code (V Code) to assist in describing an underlying pathology. Unofficially, “scrupulosity,” is the term for obsessive-compulsive symptoms centered around religious themes such as blasphemy, unforgivable sin, and damnation. While each of these diagnoses has a place, neither covers the wide range of harms induced by religion.</p>
<p><a href="//valerietarico.com/2013/03/26/religious-trauma-syndrome-is-it-real/" type="external">Religious Trauma Syndrome</a> (RTS) is a new term, coined by Marlene Winell to name a recognizable set of symptoms experienced as a result of prolonged exposure to a toxic religious environment and/or the trauma of leaving the religion. It is akin to Complex PTSD, which is defined as ‘a psychological injury that results from protracted exposure to prolonged social and/or interpersonal trauma with lack or loss of control, disempowerment, and in the context of either captivity or entrapment, i.e. the lack of a viable escape route for the victim’.</p>
<p>Though related to other kinds of chronic trauma, religious trauma is uniquely mind-twisting. The logic of the religion is circular and blames the victim for problems; the system demands deference to spiritual authorities no matter what they do; and the larger society may not identify a problem or intervene as in cases of physical or sexual abuse, even though the same symptoms of depression and anxiety and panic attacks can occur.</p>
<p>RTS, as a diagnosis, is in early stages of investigation, but appears to be a useful descriptor beyond the labels used for various symptoms – depression, anxiety, grief, anger, relationship issues, and others. It is our hope that it will lead to more knowledge, training, and treatment. Like the naming of other disorders such as anorexia or Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), the RTS label can help sufferers feel less alone, confused, and self-blaming.</p>
<p>Leaving the Fold. <a href="//journeyfree.org/resources/" type="external">Breaking out of a restrictive, mind-controlling religion</a> can be liberating: Certain problems end(!), such as trying to twist one’s thinking to believe irrational doctrines, and conforming to repressive codes of behavior. However, for many reclaimers making the break is the most disruptive, difficult upheaval they have ever experienced. Individuals who were most sincere, devout, and dedicated often are the ones most traumatized when their religious world crumbles.</p>
<p>Rejecting a religious model of reality that has been passed on through generations is a major cognitive and emotional disruption. For many reclaimers, it is like a death or divorce. Their ‘relationship’ with God was a central assumption of their lives, and giving it up feels like an enormous loss to be grieved. It can be like losing a lover, a parent, or best friend.</p>
<p>On top of shattered assumptions comes the <a href="//new.exchristian.net/2012/12/coping-with-religious-family-over.html" type="external">loss of family and friends</a>. Churches vary with official doctrine about rejection. The Mormon Church, for all the intense focus on “family forever,” is devastating to leave, and the Jehovah Witnesses require families to shun members who are “disfellowshiped.”</p>
<p>The rupture can destroy homes, splitting spouses and alienating parents from children.</p>
<p>For Women, Psychological Costs of Belief Include Subjugation and Self-Loathing</p>
<p>Christianity poses a special set of psychological risks for people who, according to the Iron Age hierarchy found in the Bible are <a href="//valerietarico.com/2012/03/09/15-bible-texts-reveal-why-gods-own-party-is-at-war-with-women/" type="external">unclean or property, including women</a>. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the combination of denigration and subservience takes a psychological toll on women in Christianity as it does in Islam. Not only do women submit to marital abuse and undesired sexual contact, some tolerate the same toward their children, and men of God sometimes exploit this vulnerability, as in the case of Catholic and Protestant child sexual abuse. But most of the damage is far more subtle: lower self-esteem, less independence and confidence; abandoned dreams and goals.</p>
<p>Why Harm Goes Unrecognized</p>
<p>What is the sum cost of having millions of people holding to a misogynist, authoritarian, fear-based supernatural view of the universe? The consequences are far-reaching, even global, but many are hidden, for two reasons.</p>
<p>One is the nature of the trauma itself. Unlike other harm, such as physical beating or sexual abuse, the injury is far from obvious to the victim, who has been taught to self-blame. It’s as if a person black and blue from a caning were to think it was self-inflicted.</p>
<p>The second reason that religious harm goes unrecognized is that Christianity is still the cultural backdrop for the indoctrination. While the larger society may not be fundamentalist, references to God and faith abound. The Bible gets used to swear in witnesses and even the U.S. president. Common phrases are “God willing,” “God bless,” “God helps those that help themselves,” “In God we trust,” and so forth. These lend credence to theistic authority.</p>
<p>Religious trauma is difficult to see because it is camouflaged by the respectability of religion in culture. To date, parents are afforded the right to teach their own children whatever doctrines they like, no matter how heinous, degrading, or mentally unhealthy. Even helping professionals largely perceive Christianity as benign. This will need to change for treatment methods to be developed and people to get help that allows them to truly reclaim their lives.</p>
<p>This article was adapted from “The Crazy Making in Christianity” Chapter 19 from&#160; <a href="//www.amazon.com/Christianity-Is-Not-Great-Faith/dp/1616149566/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1413937390&amp;sr=1-1" type="external">Christianity Is Not Great: How Faith Fails</a>, edited by John Loftus, Prometheus Books, October 2014.</p>
<p>Dr. Marlene Winell is a human development consultant in the San Francisco Area. Valerie Tarico is a psychologist and writer in Seattle, Washington.</p> | true | 4 | 30 years old struggling find sanity christian schools homeschooling christian group home indoctrinating160work camp different churches different cities psychological emotional spiritual mess former evangelical former believer says christianity made depressed obsessive posttraumatic likely dismissed exaggerator might describe panic attacks rapture moods swung ecstasy gods overwhelming love suicidal selfloathing repeated sins obsession sexual purity symptom like one clearly religious component yet many people instinctively blame victim say wounded former believer prone anxiety depression obsession first placethat christianity somehow got corrupted predisposition psychological problems say wasnt real christian prayed faith believing loved god heart soul mind really savedthen would experienced peace passes understanding reality far complex true symptoms like depression panic attacks often strike us vulnerable perhaps genetics perhaps situational stressors worn us certain aspects christian beliefs christian living also create stressors even setting multigenerational patterns abuse trauma selfabuse also time religious beliefs create habitual thought patterns actually alter brain function making difficult people heal grow purveyors religion insist product powerful transform life somehow magically risks reality medicine powerful usually potential toxic especially wrong combination wrong dose religion powerful medicine discussion focus variants christianity based literal interpretation bible include evangelical fundamentalist churches church latter day saints conservative sects groups share characteristics requiring conformity membership view humans need salvation focus spiritual world superior natural world views contrast liberal progressive christian churches humanistic viewpoint focus present social justice religion exploits normal human mental processes understand power religion helpful understand bit structure human mind much mental activity little rationality utterly inaccessible conscious mind preferences intentions decisions shape lives turn shaped memories associations get laid even develop capacity rational analysis aspects cognition like determine go life causes us distress goals pursue abandon respond failure respond people hurt usand respond hurt religion derives power large part shapes unconscious processes frames metaphors intuitions emotions operate even chance conscious thought religious beliefs practices harmful others comes psychological damage certain religious beliefs practices reliably toxic others janet heimlich investigative journalist explored religious child maltreatment describes abuse neglect service religious belief book breaking willheimlich identifies three characteristics religious groups particularly prone harming children clinical work reclaimers people reclaiming lives recovery toxic religion suggests qualities put adults risk along particular set manipulations found fundamentalist christian churches biblical literalism 1 authoritarianismcreates rigid power hierarchy demands unquestioning obedience major theistic religions hierarchy god gods top represented powerful church leaders power male believers turn power females children authoritarian christian sects often teach male headship gods parents may go far beating starving children authority godly leaders book titled train childby minister michael pearl wife debi found homes three christian adoptive families punished children death 2 isolation separatismis promoted means maintaining spiritual purity evangelical christians warn unequally yoked nonbelievers marriages even friendships new converts often encouraged pull away extended family members old friends except may opportunities convert churches encourage older members take young single adults house within godly context find spiritually compatible partners process known cult analysts shepherding home schoolers christian equivalent madrassas cut children outside sources information often teaching rote learning unquestioning obedience rather broad curiosity 3 fearof sin hell looming endtimes apocalypse amoral heathens binds people group provides safe escape horrifying dangers outside evangelical hell houses halloween used occasion terrify children teens tortures await damned left behind book series movie world degenerates bloodbath without stabilizing presence believers since religious group alternative horrors anything threatens group itselflike criticism taxation scientific findings civil rights regulationsalso becomes target fear bible belief creates authoritarian isolative threatbased model reality biblebelieving christianity psychological mindcontrol mechanisms coupled beliefs iron age including belief women children possessions men children hit become spoiled us born utterly depraved supernatural demands unquestioning obedience view salvation righteousness believers constantly threat outsiders dark spiritual forces consequently christians need separate emotionally spiritually socially worldthese beliefs fundamental overarching mental framework deep frame linguist george lakoff would call small wonder many christians emerge wounded important remember mindset permeates deep subconscious level realm imagery symbols metaphor emotion instinct primary needs nature nurture merge template viewing world filters every experience template selectively allows information confirms model reality creating subjective sense veracity societal scale humanity going massive shift centuries transitioning supernatural view world dominated forces good evil natural understanding universe biblebased christian population however might considered subset general population still within old framework supernaturalism children targeted indoctrination child mind uniquely vulnerable fiftyone year old college professor still smarting wounds inflicted righteous child slow festering wound one smarts every dayin way another thought would leave god loves god hates stuff behind deep confusing fear easily forgotten pops perfectionism melancholy mood years obsessed finding assurance personal salvation nowhere contrast viewpoints stark secular religious understandings childhood biblical view child born amazing capabilities emerge right conditions like beautiful flower wellattended garden rather child born sin weak ignorant rebellious needing discipline learn obedience independent thinking dangerous pride childs mind uniquely susceptible religious ideas religious indoctrination particularly targets vulnerable young children cognitive development age seven lacks abstract reasoning thinking magical primitive black white also young humans wired obey authority dependent caregivers survival much brain growth development happen birth means children extremely vulnerable environmental influences first years neuronal pathways formed age five childs brain understand primitive causeandeffect logic picture situations present children tenuous grip reality often imaginary friends dreams quite real fantasy blurs mundane child age eminently possible santa claus lives north pole delivers presents good 2000 years ago man died horrible death naughty adam eve noahs ark rapture hell quite real problem many teachings terrifying many years one conversion technique targeting children adolescents use movies end times means rapture event real christians taken heaven leaving earth tribulation terrifying time evil antichrist reign world descend anarchy assaulted images ideas young age child chance emotional selfdefense christian teachings sound truewhen embedded childs mind tender age feel true lifetime even decades later former believers intellectually reject ideas feel intense fear shame unconscious mind triggered harms range mild catastrophic one requirement success sincere christian find way believe would unbelievable normal rules evidence inquiry christianity contains concepts help safeguard belief limiting outside information practicing thought control selfdenigration people emotional numbing intellectual suicide isnt enough words significant number children christian families religion doesnt take trigger guilt conflict ultimately rejection abandonment others experience threats fear keenly childhood torturous may carry injuries adulthood still others able sincerely devote faith children confront problems mature wrestle factual moral contradictions bible church discover surprising alternatives feel confusing terrifying like whole world falling apart delayed development life skillsmany christian parents seek insulate children worldly influences extreme mean home schooling cutting media allowing nonchristian friends avoiding secular activities like plays clubs spending time church instead children miss crucial information science culture history reproductive health grow older leave sheltered environment adjusting secular world like immigrating new culture one biggest areas challenge delayed social development religious trauma syndrome today field mental health religious diagnosis diagnostic statistical manual religious spiritual problem merely supplemental code v code assist describing underlying pathology unofficially scrupulosity term obsessivecompulsive symptoms centered around religious themes blasphemy unforgivable sin damnation diagnoses place neither covers wide range harms induced religion religious trauma syndrome rts new term coined marlene winell name recognizable set symptoms experienced result prolonged exposure toxic religious environment andor trauma leaving religion akin complex ptsd defined psychological injury results protracted exposure prolonged social andor interpersonal trauma lack loss control disempowerment context either captivity entrapment ie lack viable escape route victim though related kinds chronic trauma religious trauma uniquely mindtwisting logic religion circular blames victim problems system demands deference spiritual authorities matter larger society may identify problem intervene cases physical sexual abuse even though symptoms depression anxiety panic attacks occur rts diagnosis early stages investigation appears useful descriptor beyond labels used various symptoms depression anxiety grief anger relationship issues others hope lead knowledge training treatment like naming disorders anorexia attention deficit disorder add rts label help sufferers feel less alone confused selfblaming leaving fold breaking restrictive mindcontrolling religion liberating certain problems end trying twist ones thinking believe irrational doctrines conforming repressive codes behavior however many reclaimers making break disruptive difficult upheaval ever experienced individuals sincere devout dedicated often ones traumatized religious world crumbles rejecting religious model reality passed generations major cognitive emotional disruption many reclaimers like death divorce relationship god central assumption lives giving feels like enormous loss grieved like losing lover parent best friend top shattered assumptions comes loss family friends churches vary official doctrine rejection mormon church intense focus family forever devastating leave jehovah witnesses require families shun members disfellowshiped rupture destroy homes splitting spouses alienating parents children women psychological costs belief include subjugation selfloathing christianity poses special set psychological risks people according iron age hierarchy found bible unclean property including women anecdotal evidence suggests combination denigration subservience takes psychological toll women christianity islam women submit marital abuse undesired sexual contact tolerate toward children men god sometimes exploit vulnerability case catholic protestant child sexual abuse damage far subtle lower selfesteem less independence confidence abandoned dreams goals harm goes unrecognized sum cost millions people holding misogynist authoritarian fearbased supernatural view universe consequences farreaching even global many hidden two reasons one nature trauma unlike harm physical beating sexual abuse injury far obvious victim taught selfblame person black blue caning think selfinflicted second reason religious harm goes unrecognized christianity still cultural backdrop indoctrination larger society may fundamentalist references god faith abound bible gets used swear witnesses even us president common phrases god willing god bless god helps help god trust forth lend credence theistic authority religious trauma difficult see camouflaged respectability religion culture date parents afforded right teach children whatever doctrines like matter heinous degrading mentally unhealthy even helping professionals largely perceive christianity benign need change treatment methods developed people get help allows truly reclaim lives article adapted crazy making christianity chapter 19 from160 christianity great faith fails edited john loftus prometheus books october 2014 dr marlene winell human development consultant san francisco area valerie tarico psychologist writer seattle washington | 1,625 |
<p>In 1984 I bought one of the first Apple Macintosh computers to roll off the line in Cupertino, California.&#160;&#160;At 132 K ROM (hardly enough to power a toaster by today’s standards), the Mac came loaded with a serviceable writing program (Mac Write) and an ingenious graphics program (Mac Paint) and the age of personal computing was born in earnest.</p>
<p>In those days Apple was a fiercely independent alternative to IBM, the corporate beast that monopolized the computer industry.&#160;Apple was a symbol of American ingenuity and innovation.&#160;&#160;Apple users were loyal to the company and we believed that Apple was loyal to us.&#160;&#160;We remained loyal even through substandard products because we believe that Apple had a social consciousness.</p>
<p>I don’t know when Apple changed.&#160;&#160;It doesn’t really matter.&#160;&#160;But when Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels delivered the Republican response to the State of the Union address, trumpeting the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs as a job creator, I knew something was rotten to the core.&#160;&#160;Daniels was right about Apple job creation.&#160;&#160;The trouble is some 95% of those jobs were created in China under deplorable conditions.</p>
<p>In America the very same politicians whose policies wreaked havoc on the global economy spend most of their time attempting to exploit the devastation by attacking what remains of the rights of labor.&#160;&#160;Too often on the so-called liberal establishment falls silent on the right to organize and the right to collective bargaining (an alternative to a general strike).</p>
<p>In Europe the same voices that claim to represent the left are planting their staffs with the anti-labor forces of austerity.</p>
<p>The recent New York Times exposing Apple’s exploitation of Chinese labor (“How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work” by Charles Duhigg and Keith Bradsher, January 21, 2012) reads more like a rationalization if not an outright defense.&#160;&#160;On international labor rights the Times is as bankrupt as the Greek treasury.&#160;&#160;An unashamed proponent of Clintonian Free Trade, the Times argued with an unmistakable tone of admiration that Chinese workers at substandard wages (the leading Apple manufacturer, Foxconn Technology, recently received two wage increases from an equivalent of $135 per month to roughly $300 per month) were so motivated that they could be roused to work at a moment’s notice.&#160;&#160;They frequently work 24 or 36-hour shifts at tedious jobs with little complaint (except for the occasional riot or threatened mass suicide).&#160;&#160;The story noted that there were plenty more sweatshops making complementary products just down the road.</p>
<p>The Times glossed over the rumored suicide rate and the fact that the company running the largest sweatshop on the planet had to install nets outside its walls to prevent workers from jumping to their deaths.</p>
<p>The Times’ Nicholas Kristof and his fellow compassionate compliciters will tell you that the workers are better off as exploited labor than they otherwise would be.&#160;&#160;They could be back on the farm tending rice fields at a meager existence or worse; they might be on the streets of protest in open rebellion.</p>
<p>There is little to distinguish the defense of Apple and labor exploitation from the antebellum defense of slavery.&#160;&#160;The advocates of slavery also argued with characteristic audacity that the slaves were better off than they would have been on their own accord.&#160;&#160;They had roofs over their heads, clothing, medical care and meals on the table.&#160;&#160;They were slaves, subject to beatings, inhuman treatment and whatever torture can be imagined, but at least they had food to eat.&#160;&#160;Their white masters could rape the women at will and the men could do nothing about it but at least their basic needs were fulfilled.&#160;&#160;If not for a few rabble rousers, malcontents and radical idealists, the slaves would have been happy to live out their lives, generation after generation, in contented servitude.</p>
<p>We recognize now that such arguments are an affront to human decency but in the land of antebellum slave plantations they were tolerated if not embraced.</p>
<p>It is by no means admirable that workers can be roused from sleep at any of the day or night to work another twelve-hour shift.&#160;&#160;It is not laudable that workers can be forced to work in unsafe environments with toxic chemicals and hazardous waste.&#160;&#160;It is not acceptable that children of twelve are subjected to these conditions.&#160;&#160;When workers riot and threaten mass suicide it is not a sign of relative wellbeing.</p>
<p>I know that Apple is not alone.&#160;&#160;Foxconn has contracts with Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Sony, Motorola, Nokia, Toshiba, Samsung, Amazon, Nintendo and IBM.</p>
<p>Apple has responded predictably to the negative publicity of the Times report and the potent monologue of Mike Daisey now playing at the Public Theater in New York (“The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs”).&#160;&#160;It has hired an “independent” watchdog to monitor and report on labor abuse in China and elsewhere.&#160;&#160;Unfortunately, that organization receives its funding from the industry.</p>
<p>Apple perceives labor abuse as a public relations problem because Apple does not care about workers in China or anywhere else.&#160;Apple cares about the bottom line and Apple is afraid that this wave of negative publicity will forever tarnish its image and affect its profit ratio.</p>
<p>I know the futility of calling for a strike.&#160;&#160;We are addicted to our intelligent devices and there are no viable alternatives.&#160;&#160;We cannot for a moment believe that the sweatshops in Indonesia or anywhere else where the economy thrives on cheap labor is any better than those in China.</p>
<p>I am calling for a different response and one that would have an impact on the bottom line.&#160;&#160;We do not need the latest gadget.&#160;&#160;We do not need the immediate upgrade to the latest technological innovation.&#160;&#160;We can wait.</p>
<p>That is what I am suggesting that every conscientious consumer should do.&#160;&#160;Delay that next purchase.&#160;&#160;Delay it as long as possible.&#160;Make that purchase only when it is necessary.</p>
<p>If enough people take this approach, Apple and all the others will notice.&#160;&#160;They will make changes.&#160;&#160;They may not move their plants back home immediately but in time, who knows?</p>
<p>If they were to move back home, you can bet that those 750,000 Chinese jobs would translate to 500,000 robotic devices and a handful of managers and maintenance crews.</p>
<p>So be it.&#160;&#160;If they continue to operate as they are, they need to know that the fight for labor rights does not end at our shores.</p>
<p>Jack Random&#160;is the author of&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Jazzman Chronicles</a>&#160;(Crow Dog Press) and&#160; <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1883938813/counterpunchmaga" type="external">Ghost Dance Insurrection</a>&#160;(Dry Bones Press.)</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | 1984 bought one first apple macintosh computers roll line cupertino california160160at 132 k rom hardly enough power toaster todays standards mac came loaded serviceable writing program mac write ingenious graphics program mac paint age personal computing born earnest days apple fiercely independent alternative ibm corporate beast monopolized computer industry160apple symbol american ingenuity innovation160160apple users loyal company believed apple loyal us160160we remained loyal even substandard products believe apple social consciousness dont know apple changed160160it doesnt really matter160160but indiana governor mitch daniels delivered republican response state union address trumpeting late apple cofounder steve jobs job creator knew something rotten core160160daniels right apple job creation160160the trouble 95 jobs created china deplorable conditions america politicians whose policies wreaked havoc global economy spend time attempting exploit devastation attacking remains rights labor160160too often socalled liberal establishment falls silent right organize right collective bargaining alternative general strike europe voices claim represent left planting staffs antilabor forces austerity recent new york times exposing apples exploitation chinese labor us lost iphone work charles duhigg keith bradsher january 21 2012 reads like rationalization outright defense160160on international labor rights times bankrupt greek treasury160160an unashamed proponent clintonian free trade times argued unmistakable tone admiration chinese workers substandard wages leading apple manufacturer foxconn technology recently received two wage increases equivalent 135 per month roughly 300 per month motivated could roused work moments notice160160they frequently work 24 36hour shifts tedious jobs little complaint except occasional riot threatened mass suicide160160the story noted plenty sweatshops making complementary products road times glossed rumored suicide rate fact company running largest sweatshop planet install nets outside walls prevent workers jumping deaths times nicholas kristof fellow compassionate compliciters tell workers better exploited labor otherwise would be160160they could back farm tending rice fields meager existence worse might streets protest open rebellion little distinguish defense apple labor exploitation antebellum defense slavery160160the advocates slavery also argued characteristic audacity slaves better would accord160160they roofs heads clothing medical care meals table160160they slaves subject beatings inhuman treatment whatever torture imagined least food eat160160their white masters could rape women men could nothing least basic needs fulfilled160160if rabble rousers malcontents radical idealists slaves would happy live lives generation generation contented servitude recognize arguments affront human decency land antebellum slave plantations tolerated embraced means admirable workers roused sleep day night work another twelvehour shift160160it laudable workers forced work unsafe environments toxic chemicals hazardous waste160160it acceptable children twelve subjected conditions160160when workers riot threaten mass suicide sign relative wellbeing know apple alone160160foxconn contracts dell hewlettpackard sony motorola nokia toshiba samsung amazon nintendo ibm apple responded predictably negative publicity times report potent monologue mike daisey playing public theater new york agony ecstasy steve jobs160160it hired independent watchdog monitor report labor abuse china elsewhere160160unfortunately organization receives funding industry apple perceives labor abuse public relations problem apple care workers china anywhere else160apple cares bottom line apple afraid wave negative publicity forever tarnish image affect profit ratio know futility calling strike160160we addicted intelligent devices viable alternatives160160we moment believe sweatshops indonesia anywhere else economy thrives cheap labor better china calling different response one would impact bottom line160160we need latest gadget160160we need immediate upgrade latest technological innovation160160we wait suggesting every conscientious consumer do160160delay next purchase160160delay long possible160make purchase necessary enough people take approach apple others notice160160they make changes160160they may move plants back home immediately time knows move back home bet 750000 chinese jobs would translate 500000 robotic devices handful managers maintenance crews it160160if continue operate need know fight labor rights end shores jack random160is author of160 jazzman chronicles160crow dog press and160 ghost dance insurrection160dry bones press 160 | 580 |
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<p>It’s March, nearly eight months away from the election, and already the Bush campaign is going negative. Which isn’t only highly unusual, it’s highly risky. After all, if voters don’t buy the version of Sen. John Kerry Bush is peddling, what does the president have left to sell them?</p>
<p>The Bush/Cheney campaign’s salvo of attack ads have been accompanied by a raft of remarkably partisan speeches by GOP powers. The hope is to pin an identity on Kerry early — one of a waffler, weak on defense, unpatriotic — while the country is still unsure of who he is and what he stands for. Or, as Jim Rutenberg of The New York Times puts it, “to first strip Mr. Kerry of the positive image that he carried away from the Democratic primary contests and then to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/20/politics/campaign/20CAMP.html" type="external">define him issue by issue in their own terms</a>.”</p>
<p>So far, Rutenberg writes, GOP strategists think the blitz is working: Kerry’s poll ratings have slumped slightly, while Bush’s have revived somewhat. But the Bush approach could still backfire, and badly. Negative ads have a way of coming back to haunt candidates, especially when they’re perceived as untrue or deceptive (and the Bush attack ads are already being described as just that).</p>
<p>But Bush may be running an even bigger risk this year. The president’s team is attempting to define Kerry on two issues: national security and taxes. Predictably, those are also the issues Bush hopes to use in defining his own candidacy. The problem? Stripped of the attack angle, Bush’s campaign message is an essentially built on hopeless worries and hopeful faith. On national security, he is banking on portraying the world as too treacherous, too dangerous to risk having anybody but him in the White House. On taxes, he can only contend that his massive breaks will — eventually — lead to prosperity for the millions of Americans who remain in dire straits. As William Saletan puts it in <a href="http://slate.msn.com/id/2097241/" type="external">a dissection of the recent Bush ads</a> on Slate:</p>
<p />
<p>“Forward” delivers the positive half of the message. It starts with Bush’s reassuring twinkle as he tells us everything will be OK. “We can go forward with confidence, resolve, and hope,” he says, as we see a girl bounding happily toward the horizon of a landscape that appears to be the Windows XP default desktop background. Lest anyone miss the key words, they follow the girl on the screen: “Confidence. Resolve. Hope.” Why these words? Because they require no evidence. You can resolve to make things better, hope that they will get better, and have confidence that they will get better, even when things aren’t getting better. In fact, confidence, resolve, and hope are precisely what a president has to ask you for when he has nothing tangible to show you.</p>
<p>The Bush campaign is now running <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections2004/story/0,13918,1173778,00.html" type="external">five ads in 18 battleground states</a> at the cost of about of $6 million per week. The Kerry campaign has produced just one ad in response, decrying the Bush ads as distortions while trying to redirect attention to the economy. Kerry can only afford one-third of Bush’s media buy, and instead hopes to rely on other political groups to run ads, like moveon.org, who aren’t legally allowed to communicate with the campaign.</p>
<p>The GOP is using Kerry’s long Senate record to drive home an image of Kerry (as they say in the most recent ad) as “wrong on defense” and not a decisive leader. Last week, Bush aired a TV ad in which the following charges appeared on the screen for nine seconds: “John Kerry’s Plan: Weaken Fight Against Terrorists”; “John Kerry’s Plan: Delay Defending America.”</p>
<p>Unfortunately for the Democrats, Kerry’s paper trail in the Senate could provide even more ammunition, with plenty of votes which seem more than questionable when stripped of their political nuance and context. A harshly-toned <a href="http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20040318-9999-1n18kerry.htmltarget=%22new%22" type="external">speech by Cheney</a> last week focused on Kerry’s inability to be a war leader. Referring to his Senate record, he said: “The senator from Massachusetts has given us ample doubts about his judgment and the attitude he brings to bear on vital issues of national security.” As Britain’s, The Guardian writes, it’s not just the advertisements that are at work on Kerry:</p>
<p />
<p>“Besides the ad campaign, all President Bush’s speeches this week have been related to the war on terror. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his deputy Paul Wolfowitz have both been mobilised in support of the theme, appearing on network political shows and talk radio stations up and down the country. Vice-president Dick Cheney is also singing from the same song sheet, amplifying the message: President Bush is a strong leader in a time of war; Senator Kerry just can’t be trusted.</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>The latest polling data has revealed that Senator Kerry is still something of an enigma to most Americans. The Bush team, with their massive advantage in campaign funds, is hoping to fill in the blank with their own version of Kerry and set it in stone.”</p>
<p>Americans are just beginning to develop an image of Kerry, so slapping a few derogatory keywords on him (and then reinforcing those over and over and over again) could be a good strategy for Bush. But <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/03/15/castellanos/index.html" type="external">going so negative</a>, so early, isn’t a surefire win for the Bush campaign. In fact, given there are months until the election, there’s plenty of time for Americans to get tired of the dirty politics.</p>
<p>Kathleen Hall Jamieson, dean of the Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, and author of “Dirty Politics: Deception, Distraction and Democracy” tells Salon:</p>
<p />
<p>“If the ads are seen as legitimate and fair, it’s OK. But for instance the recent Republican attacks on Kerry’s past votes on defense spending have large gaps of evidence, yet are drawing large inferences. If we see similar TV attack ads like that, it will give the press, and the opponent, the chance to argue that Bush is playing loose with the facts.”</p>
<p>She is referring to an ad claiming that Kerry wants to raise taxes by $900 million — a claim Kerry and numerous pundits have refuted as simply untrue. Bush strategists even admitted they invented the issue — assuming that raising taxes to that extent would be the only way Kerry could cover the costs of his proposed health plan. Jamieson also points to the fact that, since 9/11, more Americans pay closer attention to the news, which makes it harder for them to blindly accept the statements in negative ads. “This is not 1996,” she said.</p>
<p>In fact, the Bush campaign has already run into trouble with one of their ads that featured 9/11 footage. The images were supposed to evoke the same feelings of unity and steadfastness with Bush that were present at the time of the attacks. It didn’t work. Families of those involved in the attacks criticized Bush for crassly taking advantage of their loss for his political gain and John Zogby said Republicans’ 9/11-centric strategy was designed with a 75 percent-approval president in mind — not for one whose standing has eroded.</p>
<p>Siobhan Gorman of The National Journal writes that “one big lesson from the controversy over the 9/11 footage in President Bush’s first 2004 campaign ads is”:</p>
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<p>“looking backward tends to be more fraught with political peril than looking ahead. Bush used the public’s 9/11-inspired fear of terrorism to great effect in the 2002 midterm elections, in which his party captured the Senate. He successfully cast Senate Democrats as unpatriotically and dangerously standing in the way of his proposal to bolster the nation’s defenses by creating a Department of Homeland Security. With more at stake in 2004, Team Bush is adopting a riskier strategy.”</p>
<p>Team Bush is obviously trying to keep the campaign focused on their issue, terror and national security, but, as of right now, Americans seem to have different priorities. According to a <a href="http://www.gallup.com/content/default.asp?ci=10966Target=%22new%22" type="external">Gallup poll</a>, the percentage of Americans who are optimistic about the economy is declining. More Americans believe that Kerry would be a <a href="http://www.gallup.com/content/default.asp?ci=11020Target=%22new%22" type="external">better economic leader</a> than Bush. As Gallup states:</p>
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<p>“Unless the issue of terrorism grows more important in the minds of voters by Election Day than it is today — a distinct possibility if terrorist events like the one in Madrid, Spain on 3/11 are repeated elsewhere — President George W. Bush’s solid reputation with the public for handling terrorism may not be enough to secure his reelection.”</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | march nearly eight months away election already bush campaign going negative isnt highly unusual highly risky voters dont buy version sen john kerry bush peddling president left sell bushcheney campaigns salvo attack ads accompanied raft remarkably partisan speeches gop powers hope pin identity kerry early one waffler weak defense unpatriotic country still unsure stands jim rutenberg new york times puts first strip mr kerry positive image carried away democratic primary contests define issue issue terms far rutenberg writes gop strategists think blitz working kerrys poll ratings slumped slightly bushs revived somewhat bush approach could still backfire badly negative ads way coming back haunt candidates especially theyre perceived untrue deceptive bush attack ads already described bush may running even bigger risk year presidents team attempting define kerry two issues national security taxes predictably also issues bush hopes use defining candidacy problem stripped attack angle bushs campaign message essentially built hopeless worries hopeful faith national security banking portraying world treacherous dangerous risk anybody white house taxes contend massive breaks eventually lead prosperity millions americans remain dire straits william saletan puts dissection recent bush ads slate forward delivers positive half message starts bushs reassuring twinkle tells us everything ok go forward confidence resolve hope says see girl bounding happily toward horizon landscape appears windows xp default desktop background lest anyone miss key words follow girl screen confidence resolve hope words require evidence resolve make things better hope get better confidence get better even things arent getting better fact confidence resolve hope precisely president ask nothing tangible show bush campaign running five ads 18 battleground states cost 6 million per week kerry campaign produced one ad response decrying bush ads distortions trying redirect attention economy kerry afford onethird bushs media buy instead hopes rely political groups run ads like moveonorg arent legally allowed communicate campaign gop using kerrys long senate record drive home image kerry say recent ad wrong defense decisive leader last week bush aired tv ad following charges appeared screen nine seconds john kerrys plan weaken fight terrorists john kerrys plan delay defending america unfortunately democrats kerrys paper trail senate could provide even ammunition plenty votes seem questionable stripped political nuance context harshlytoned speech cheney last week focused kerrys inability war leader referring senate record said senator massachusetts given us ample doubts judgment attitude brings bear vital issues national security britains guardian writes advertisements work kerry besides ad campaign president bushs speeches week related war terror defence secretary donald rumsfeld deputy paul wolfowitz mobilised support theme appearing network political shows talk radio stations country vicepresident dick cheney also singing song sheet amplifying message president bush strong leader time war senator kerry cant trusted latest polling data revealed senator kerry still something enigma americans bush team massive advantage campaign funds hoping fill blank version kerry set stone americans beginning develop image kerry slapping derogatory keywords reinforcing could good strategy bush going negative early isnt surefire win bush campaign fact given months election theres plenty time americans get tired dirty politics kathleen hall jamieson dean annenberg school communication university pennsylvania author dirty politics deception distraction democracy tells salon ads seen legitimate fair ok instance recent republican attacks kerrys past votes defense spending large gaps evidence yet drawing large inferences see similar tv attack ads like give press opponent chance argue bush playing loose facts referring ad claiming kerry wants raise taxes 900 million claim kerry numerous pundits refuted simply untrue bush strategists even admitted invented issue assuming raising taxes extent would way kerry could cover costs proposed health plan jamieson also points fact since 911 americans pay closer attention news makes harder blindly accept statements negative ads 1996 said fact bush campaign already run trouble one ads featured 911 footage images supposed evoke feelings unity steadfastness bush present time attacks didnt work families involved attacks criticized bush crassly taking advantage loss political gain john zogby said republicans 911centric strategy designed 75 percentapproval president mind one whose standing eroded siobhan gorman national journal writes one big lesson controversy 911 footage president bushs first 2004 campaign ads looking backward tends fraught political peril looking ahead bush used publics 911inspired fear terrorism great effect 2002 midterm elections party captured senate successfully cast senate democrats unpatriotically dangerously standing way proposal bolster nations defenses creating department homeland security stake 2004 team bush adopting riskier strategy team bush obviously trying keep campaign focused issue terror national security right americans seem different priorities according gallup poll percentage americans optimistic economy declining americans believe kerry would better economic leader bush gallup states unless issue terrorism grows important minds voters election day today distinct possibility terrorist events like one madrid spain 311 repeated elsewhere president george w bushs solid reputation public handling terrorism may enough secure reelection | 784 |
<p>I hear that in the canyons of Mannahatta those occupied in the walls look at those occupying the streets and profess ignorance of their motives, as if there were some difficulty in understanding the historically recent transfer of billions of dollars from street level to wall level to keep the wall occupations flush.&#160; Gee, I wonder what they’re doing in the street?</p>
<p>Meanwhile it’s Vote X day in ’nadaland along the 45th parallel and the little murderettes are driving to my corner here at Hepbourne and Dovercourt to X out anything worth saving, hailing their lesser weevil chiefs.&#160; They go “baa baa” to each other as they step in to the box to be shorn.</p>
<p>My poet, who stays unreal for fear of reprisal, tells me that the age-old wall/street tension is only ever resolved satisfactorily with the destruction of the walls and the—is he allowed to say this?—hanging of the occupants by the digits that’ve sealed their sweetest deals.&#160; Of course we would never condone such action.</p>
<p>For our part this week at world street level, we wish to praise the high school students, Oulipo artists to a lass and lad, who saw through the bullshit of street signs in general and of certain yellow ones in particular.&#160; These yellow ones in my neck of the urban forest are designed to reward drivers who can’t see child-size objects lying in the road.&#160; Praise to the artists of Peed Bum, therefore, who took the S and P off the Speed Bump signs along the Daytona 500 that’s the kid-filled lanes and streets around here.&#160; These visionaries saw through the emperor’s clothes to the pee and the bum at the heart of welfare to cars.&#160; Urban drivers are bums who have grown fat at the common trough.&#160; Do you think we’re fooling around here?</p>
<p>A driver who needs an additional sign to see bright white-striped objects the size of four six-year-olds lying end-to-end in the middle of the street and weighing three or four thousand pounds (in some parts of Anglo-America called zebras or sleeping policemen) is like a wall occupationist who can’t see a man in the street he’s helped to pauperize.&#160; Some occupations pay, some don’t.&#160; A driver who needs an explanatory sign for large objects is the opposite of a visionary.&#160; Let real policemen sleep in the streets, says my poet.</p>
<p>Apparently a wallitician at town hall reckoned that Toronto drivers aren’t mollycoddled enough and so authorized the expensive Speed Bump signs to provide a caption for the sort of people who need things spelled out for them.&#160; Every day for drivers it’s Romper Room day, with signs posted on basic objects.&#160; Po-lice, Speed Bump, Intersection.</p>
<p>Pedestrians have more time than drivers I guess and they get lengthy signs, also yellow, explaining to them that they if want to cross the street they should walk or shove their wheelchairs a quarter of a mile around to the next major intersection so that the cars will have unimpeded progress through their neighborhoods.&#160; The long discursive signs (check out Rusholme and Bloor, for example) leave out the part about how the drivers are leadfooting it through city neighborhoods in the first place because they want to live in the suburbs and pay fewer taxes.</p>
<p>The ostensible “safety” budget implied by the signs didn’t extend so far as to get the lights working at the pedestrian crossing at Ossington and Dewson Monday through Wednesday.&#160; Not that my poet believes in such “rez spaces,” as he calls them, but drivers sure do.&#160; Round up all the bastards on two feet and funnel them through the X like one of Temple Grandin’s cattle squeeze chutes, so reassuring to the cows until they realized they’ve been duped.</p>
<p>The big X’s on the vote signs are like the X’s in the pedestrian squeeze chutes.&#160; X and 0 look like love, XO XO, but they’re the alphanumerics of deletion.&#160; Every X text since Malcolm’s just been a footnote.&#160; The big crossing X’s with their flashing lights cover a tenth of a tenth of a tenth of the space reserved for car parking in the city, and such laughable largesse is used to cover and justify the multitude of sins in which the drivers indulge.&#160; These X lands are free speech zones and they garner the respect of any free speech zone in a democracy, including large objects hurtling through trying to kill people.&#160; X is the crosshairs of cultural animosity.&#160; X is for vendetta.&#160; X is two vendettas fighting it out.&#160; Send your children through the chute if you dare.&#160; Vote X.&#160; Vote for murder.&#160; Vote.&#160;&#160; But now I’m sounding like my poet.</p>
<p>The immediate result of the two days’ worth of broken bulbs at Oz and Dew was that drivers already seething with self-righteousness found the crosswalk filled with the irritating biomass of four lanes of still-living children (at 8:45 a.m. and 3:45 p.m., quel surprise!), not to mention the crossing guard, old man Wu himself, slowing the cars down with his own body.&#160; The view from the cockpit, if rev’d engines and accelerating bumpers were any indication, probably showed that the children and the crossing guard were too damn lazy to push the button and therefore deserved to be run over.&#160; Pedal to the metal.</p>
<p>You [sub]urban drivers who cut yourself so much slack and you (not so dissimilar) wall dealers with the vicious companies you trade in: do you really think history will be as kind to you as you are to yourselves?&#160; You’re a bunch of meanies who will be tinkled on, you farces: mene mene tekl upharsin. The writing’s on the wall.&#160; Up your arses you farces.&#160; Upharsin.&#160; Heed the wisdom of Peed Bum, lest you become a watchword and a byword amongst men.&#160; You wall occupationists, do you think that we think you’re getting rich by trading in and with companies that are figuring out how to—hmm, let’s see—help unemployed guys build passive solar on their roofs with gleaned glass, or companies that’ve figured out how to help folks grow carrots on their roofs with legacy seeds?&#160; You really think you’re rich because you’re smarter, or just more of a douche?&#160; Be kinder to the street, and stop pretending you don’t understand the street occupation.&#160; We know how you’re making your money.</p>
<p>Death to tyrants, my poet says, death to tyrants till every urban street is occupied by foxes and children and food plants.&#160; Tear down the walls.&#160; But I’m all about compromise, settling that poet down, muting his plain speech.&#160; The problem with poets is they just want to say it.&#160; But you can’t do that in a democracy.&#160; Those boys in blue are going to come knocking late at night again, I tell him, if you just say what you’re thinking again.&#160; You gotta beat around the bush, I tell him, be wise as serpents and all that.</p>
<p>Nevertheless I will say that our standard is poor, if we have a standard or a flag at all, and we bear it with pride.&#160; Standard and poors, that’s our march, our street mete.&#160; Our pride is the pride of the poor of the street, and we hope to extend the Oulipo S&amp;P deletion to five hundred signs, the S&amp;P 500.&#160; To every sign in the world, says my poet.&#160; Let the truth of Peed Bum go out on Planet Garrison wherever men are walled-in, pawned.&#160; Walled-in, pawned.&#160; Say it out loud.&#160; Walled-in, pawned.&#160; Mene mene tekl upharsin. &#160;&#160;</p>
<p>Selah.</p>
<p>David Ker Thomson, like the verb “bark,”&#160;is of echoic origin.&#160; He lives in the Holocene.&#160; dave dot thomson at utoronto dot ca</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | hear canyons mannahatta occupied walls look occupying streets profess ignorance motives difficulty understanding historically recent transfer billions dollars street level wall level keep wall occupations flush160 gee wonder theyre street meanwhile vote x day nadaland along 45th parallel little murderettes driving corner hepbourne dovercourt x anything worth saving hailing lesser weevil chiefs160 go baa baa step box shorn poet stays unreal fear reprisal tells ageold wallstreet tension ever resolved satisfactorily destruction walls theis allowed say thishanging occupants digits thatve sealed sweetest deals160 course would never condone action part week world street level wish praise high school students oulipo artists lass lad saw bullshit street signs general certain yellow ones particular160 yellow ones neck urban forest designed reward drivers cant see childsize objects lying road160 praise artists peed bum therefore took p speed bump signs along daytona 500 thats kidfilled lanes streets around here160 visionaries saw emperors clothes pee bum heart welfare cars160 urban drivers bums grown fat common trough160 think fooling around driver needs additional sign see bright whitestriped objects size four sixyearolds lying endtoend middle street weighing three four thousand pounds parts angloamerica called zebras sleeping policemen like wall occupationist cant see man street hes helped pauperize160 occupations pay dont160 driver needs explanatory sign large objects opposite visionary160 let real policemen sleep streets says poet apparently wallitician town hall reckoned toronto drivers arent mollycoddled enough authorized expensive speed bump signs provide caption sort people need things spelled them160 every day drivers romper room day signs posted basic objects160 police speed bump intersection pedestrians time drivers guess get lengthy signs also yellow explaining want cross street walk shove wheelchairs quarter mile around next major intersection cars unimpeded progress neighborhoods160 long discursive signs check rusholme bloor example leave part drivers leadfooting city neighborhoods first place want live suburbs pay fewer taxes ostensible safety budget implied signs didnt extend far get lights working pedestrian crossing ossington dewson monday wednesday160 poet believes rez spaces calls drivers sure do160 round bastards two feet funnel x like one temple grandins cattle squeeze chutes reassuring cows realized theyve duped big xs vote signs like xs pedestrian squeeze chutes160 x 0 look like love xo xo theyre alphanumerics deletion160 every x text since malcolms footnote160 big crossing xs flashing lights cover tenth tenth tenth space reserved car parking city laughable largesse used cover justify multitude sins drivers indulge160 x lands free speech zones garner respect free speech zone democracy including large objects hurtling trying kill people160 x crosshairs cultural animosity160 x vendetta160 x two vendettas fighting out160 send children chute dare160 vote x160 vote murder160 vote160160 im sounding like poet immediate result two days worth broken bulbs oz dew drivers already seething selfrighteousness found crosswalk filled irritating biomass four lanes stillliving children 845 345 pm quel surprise mention crossing guard old man wu slowing cars body160 view cockpit revd engines accelerating bumpers indication probably showed children crossing guard damn lazy push button therefore deserved run over160 pedal metal suburban drivers cut much slack dissimilar wall dealers vicious companies trade really think history kind yourselves160 youre bunch meanies tinkled farces mene mene tekl upharsin writings wall160 arses farces160 upharsin160 heed wisdom peed bum lest become watchword byword amongst men160 wall occupationists think think youre getting rich trading companies figuring tohmm lets seehelp unemployed guys build passive solar roofs gleaned glass companies thatve figured help folks grow carrots roofs legacy seeds160 really think youre rich youre smarter douche160 kinder street stop pretending dont understand street occupation160 know youre making money death tyrants poet says death tyrants till every urban street occupied foxes children food plants160 tear walls160 im compromise settling poet muting plain speech160 problem poets want say it160 cant democracy160 boys blue going come knocking late night tell say youre thinking again160 got ta beat around bush tell wise serpents nevertheless say standard poor standard flag bear pride160 standard poors thats march street mete160 pride pride poor street hope extend oulipo sampp deletion five hundred signs sampp 500160 every sign world says poet160 let truth peed bum go planet garrison wherever men walledin pawned160 walledin pawned160 say loud160 walledin pawned160 mene mene tekl upharsin 160160 selah david ker thomson like verb bark160is echoic origin160 lives holocene160 dave dot thomson utoronto dot ca 160 | 705 |
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<p>Marcus Stanley is the Policy Director of Americans for Financial Reform. Americans for Financial Reform is a coalition of more than 250 national, state, and local groups who have come together to advocate for reform of the financial sector. Members of AFR include consumer, labor, civil rights, investor, retiree, community faith based and business groups along with prominent independent experts. Dr. Stanley has a Phd in public policy from Harvard University, and previously worked as an economic and policy advisor to Senator Barbara Boxer, as a Senior Economist at the U.S. Joint Economic Committee, and as an Assistant Professor of Economics at Case Western Reserve University.</p>
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<p /> PAUL JAY, SENIOR EDITOR, TRNN: Welcome to The Real News Network. I'm Paul Jay in Baltimore.
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<p />After the crisis in 2008, many of us became aware of some language, a vocabulary we hadn't heard before—derivatives, credit default swaps, synthetic bets, this whole dark market that now involves, according to one academic, perhaps as much as $1Â&#160;quadrillion. So what's $1Â&#160;quadrillion look like? Well, take a look at these graphics. These are done by kokogiak.com. Here's what $1Â&#160;trillion looks like if you put it into a queue next to the Empire State building or the Sears Tower. Okay, that's $1Â&#160;trillion. Well, here's what $1Â&#160;quadrillion would look like. Yeah. Enormous. So $1Â&#160;quadrillion dollars—it boggles the mind. This means that it's—the size of the derivatives market is something like 20 times the value of all products produced on the planet.
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<p />Well, people say, well, if this is so big and have such enormous implications to the global economy, it should be regulated. And that's a subject of our interview today, 'cause there's a big battle going on about whether or not this market will be regulated, and if so, how.
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<p />Now joining us to talk about all of this is Markus Stanley. Markus is the policy director of Americans for Financial Reform, which is the main public interest coalition working for stronger financial reform. He previously worked as a senior economist at the U.S. Joint Economic Committee and as an assistant professor of economics at Case Western Reserve University. Thanks very much for joining us, Markus.
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<p />MARCUS STANLEY, POLICY DIRECTOR, AMERICANS FOR FINANCIAL REFORM: Thank you, Paul.
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<p />JAY: Alright. So these market numbers are, like, crazy. I mean, just to be clear, when we're talking about quadrillion, we're talking about what people call the notional value, not the actual cash involved in these bets. So maybe you could just quickly explain that and then get into just how big this is, and then we'll get into the regulation issue.
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<p />STANLEY: Yeah. Well, essentially, derivatives are bets on the value of something else, and usually it's a stock or a bond, a security, an interest rate. And essentially what notional value is is the size of the thing that you're betting on. So the actual amount you have to pay might be only a fraction of that size. But as you said, this market is so enormous compared to the global economy that the amounts of money that are at stake to be paid are very, very large and have extraordinary implications for the financial system.
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<p />JAY: Yeah. And while these bets are—you know, there—some pool of money bets against someone else who controls another pool of money, and one wins and one loses. It's not really a zero-sum game, is it? Because they're betting on real things, even if they don't own those things. So they could well be betting on the price of rice or corn or fuel or oil, or even as ridiculous as—one of the derivatives plays is now they can bet on whether a movie's going to make money or not. But the thing is, if you're betting, for example, the movie won't make money and you happen to own a media company, it's certainly in your interest to see if that movie gets bad reviews. And even more importantly, if you're betting on the default of a bank and you're another bank, then if you can do something to push that other bank into default, you make money. And that's actually happened, hasn't it?
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<p />STANLEY: Well, there are a lot of accusations in 2008 that exactly that happened, that that did happen when institutions were teetering at the brink and some traders had credit default swaps. Then they would have an incentive to sort of push them over the edge.
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<p />And I think there are two things people say as though they're equivalent, but they're actually not the same at all. One is that these are—that this is a zero-sum game, which in some sense is—which is true in the following sense, that anyone who pays something on a derivatives contract, if one person loses, another person is supposed to gain—someone else was getting that money.
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<p />But then the other implication that people draw is that there's no real-world consequence. And that's completely wrong, because as you say, you know, in these—these bets can create incentives for all kinds of real-world activities that can be very harmful, and also these bets can create bankruptcies, and they can create the failures of institutions in the financial system. And when those bankruptcies happen, then that's very disruptive to the whole system, because once a bankruptcy happens, you know, you may not have another party there to pay off on the bets you made, and that can be very disruptive all up and down the line.
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<p />JAY: Well, and it can also involve people's pensions and savings, and very real-world consequences for a lot of ordinary people.
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<p />STANLEY: In fact, pension funds are quite invested in a lot of derivatives products. So it can very definitely involve people's pensions.
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<p />JAY: Okay. So the size of this, scope of this is enormous. To what extent is it regulated, and where are things at in the regulatory battle?
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<p />STANLEY: Well, before 2008, this market was almost completely unregulated, or it was self-regulated by the banks, which, as we've seen, is not really a good model. And that was a very dangerous situation, as we saw. And in the Dodd–Frank Act, which was passed in 2010 as a response to the crisis, for the first time Congress passed—mandated that this market be regulated. And that was a mandate for the United States derivatives markets. And the other major countries around the world agreed in principle that they also would regulate their markets.
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<p />And the regulation was very basic. It revolved around three things, first of all, that people had to reserve some money to make sure that they could pay off their derivatives bets in case anything happened. So that's a very straightforward, common-sense kind of thing to do. Also, that this market had to be transparent, that these trades had to be reported to regulators, so that people understood the risks that were going on, and also that they be traded in open competitive exchanges, where it was possible—so those are, you know, like the stock market—so that this market wouldn't be in the shadows in the way it was before. So these are really very basic reforms.
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<p />But the problem is that since this—it's one thing to pass a law, but it's another thing to implement it. Since this law has been passed, it's come under ferocious attack by industry, by the financial industry, by the financial industry's friends in Congress. And we've seen a lot of success in delaying and attempting to derail the actual implementation of these laws, and that's involved every anything from lawsuits to proposed new laws that would put loopholes in this, to big-money lobbying, to attacks on the funding of the regulators who would have to enforce this.
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<p />One of the main regulators that's going to be enforcing these rules for this $700Â&#160;trillion global market, or even larger, as you pointed out, is the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which is funded at $200Â&#160;million, $200Â&#160;million. And that is, you know, tiny compared to—they really only have a couple of hundred staff to regulate this enormous global market. And there's been a lot of pressure to keep their budget down in order to prevent effective regulation.
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<p />JAY: Now, one of the other things that's happening is there's a battle over—as weak and as many loopholes as might end up being in this legislation, there's a way around all of it, which is simply American banks through subsidiaries can conduct these derivative plays offshore. And Americans for Financial Reform, you've been pushing that there has to be some form of regulating that. So where is that at?
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<p />STANLEY: Yeah. And I should say in reference to what I said before, we have had some success in pushing back some of these attacks. We've managed to stop all the new laws in Congress that would have put loopholes in this, and we have managed to make some progress in some areas toward implementing this. So we are moving toward implementation.
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<p />But one of the things that we're really worried about is that the big banks are trying to exempt their foreign affiliates, basically, from U.S. derivatives regulation. And this is very dangerous, because derivatives are—you know, the modern financial world works on computer, you know, and it's very, very easy to transfer the liabilities for these bets all over the world at the touch of a computer keyboard. And there really is no place to derivatives. These banks have hundreds and sometimes thousands of foreign affiliates, and it's extraordinarily simple for them to move a derivatives bet or a derivatives exposure from their United States affiliate over to an affiliate in Singapore, Hong Kong, London, you know, the Cayman Islands.
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<p />And we've seen this happen over and over again. AIG, which—people probably recognize that we had to do a giant taxpayer bailout of AIG's derivatives—those derivatives were run out of London. If anyone remembers Long-Term Capital Management, which back in the '90s almost brought down the world financial system through overloading on derivatives, those derivatives were run out of the Cayman Islands. So it's very, very important that these rules apply overseas as well as the U.S.
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<p />JAY: And where are you in terms of the political parties? I mean, Romney's—is pretty straightforward. He wants to throw Dodd–Frank out, and who knows what he would replace it with. But where's the Democratic Party and its leadership on this issue about offshore?
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<p />STANLEY: Well, you know, when you get down into the technicalities of these issues, there are the—the partisan lines can blur. There's a lot of money at stake here, and we've definitely seen—we've definitely seen some Democrats supporting the creation of these loopholes.
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<p />And we also see—you know, we see a fight on the regulatory bodies as to how exactly this is going to be done. And it's unclear exactly how that's going to work out. As you said, you know, some people have come out for completely repealing Dodd–Frank, which would repeal these derivatives regulations.
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<p />And you have to wonder and ask, well, you know, what would happen if that was done? Would we have any regulation of this market whatsoever? But the backroom fight over whether we can force regulation of these foreign subsidiaries is something that—you know, you can't take party lines completely for granted. You really have to fight this out in the regulatory agencies and by bringing the details here to people's attentions and the implications of what some of these exemptions [crosstalk]
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<p />JAY: And what about the leadership of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission? Are they in favor of regulating these offshore subsidiaries or no?
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<p />STANLEY: Well, they've come out with a very—with a complex guidance, basically. They've come out with a rule that goes some distance. Gary Gensler, who's the chairman of the CFTC, has actually been pretty good on this issue. But there are five commissioners, and you've got to get three out of five votes. And they've come out with a guidance that goes—takes some steps toward regulating these foreign affiliates but has some significant loopholes.
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<p />And two of the loopholes are, first of all, that they would permit what's called substituted compliance, so that you wouldn't have to comply with U.S. rules. You could comply with the rules of the jurisdiction that you were in, and there would be some attempts to—the jurisdiction you are in would have to have some rules, but they might not be as good as the United States'.
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<p />JAY: Well, it could be Cayman Islands, which would mean not many rules at all.
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<p />STANLEY: Yeah, the historical record of the CFTC on this kind of substituted compliance has not been great, and they're giving some lip service, oh, we'll look, we'll make sure that these rules are just as good. But it's—you know, we're very skeptical of that, and we really have to hold their feet to the fire to limit this kind of substituted compliance, and also to make sure that—basically, to make sure that these guys are following real rules anywhere in the world they are.
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<p />And the second loophole, which could be just as big, if they said that, well, if you have an affiliate and you haven't guaranteed the transactions of that affiliate, in other words, the U.S. parent is not going to be—is totally not going to be responsible for the derivatives transactions of that foreign affiliate, then in that case it's okay, we can treat that foreign affiliate as though it's not part of you, and it won't be regulated. And that's a huge, huge problem, because it's very, very difficult to tell whether these foreign affiliates are guaranteed.
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<p />I mean, if I have an affiliate and I call that J.P.Morgan Cayman Islands, there's a reason I call that J.P.Morgan Cayman Islands. The people I'm dealing with are expecting that I'm going to pay off the liabilities of that affiliate. You know. And we saw that in 2008. Bear Stearns went bankrupt because, you know, hedge funds that it had not technically guaranteed, it had to pay off their debts because the market demanded it. Basically, the market said, people in the market said, if you can't pay off these debts, you know, I'm going to stop lending to the parent company.
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<p />So this issue of whether a foreign affiliate is guaranteed is really not—I mean, any major foreign affiliate of a U.S. bank that's dealing in derivatives almost certainly has at least an implicit guarantee. I mean, that's how banking works. It's all about trust and implicit guarantees. So that could be a huge loophole as well.
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<p />So these two issues, you know, whether you could take the foreign rules and have that apply to you, in which case we could see these regulatory havens starting to emerge, and whether you can tell the regulators that, oh, this foreign affiliate is unguaranteed, don't worry, I won't have to pay any of its debts, you know, and whether you can get it so you don't have to regulate me, you can ignore what I'm doing, those are very important issues that could be really central to whether derivatives rules work.
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<p />JAY: Alright. Thanks very much for joining us, Marcus.
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<p />STANLEY: Okay. Thank you, Paul.
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<p />JAY: And thank you for joining us on The Real News Network.
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<p />DISCLAIMER: Please note that transcripts for The Real News Network are typed from a recording of the program. TRNN cannot guarantee their complete accuracy. | true | 4 | marcus stanley policy director americans financial reform americans financial reform coalition 250 national state local groups come together advocate reform financial sector members afr include consumer labor civil rights investor retiree community faith based business groups along prominent independent experts dr stanley phd public policy harvard university previously worked economic policy advisor senator barbara boxer senior economist us joint economic committee assistant professor economics case western reserve university paul jay senior editor trnn welcome real news network im paul jay baltimore crisis 2008 many us became aware language vocabulary hadnt heard beforeâderivatives credit default swaps synthetic bets whole dark market involves according one academic perhaps much 1Â160quadrillion whats 1Â160quadrillion look like well take look graphics done kokogiakcom heres 1Â160trillion looks like put queue next empire state building sears tower okay thats 1Â160trillion well heres 1Â160quadrillion would look like yeah enormous 1Â160quadrillion dollarsâit boggles mind means itsâthe size derivatives market something like 20 times value products produced planet well people say well big enormous implications global economy regulated thats subject interview today cause theres big battle going whether market regulated joining us talk markus stanley markus policy director americans financial reform main public interest coalition working stronger financial reform previously worked senior economist us joint economic committee assistant professor economics case western reserve university thanks much joining us markus marcus stanley policy director americans financial reform thank paul jay alright market numbers like crazy mean clear talking quadrillion talking people call notional value actual cash involved bets maybe could quickly explain get big well get regulation issue stanley yeah well essentially derivatives bets value something else usually stock bond security interest rate essentially notional value size thing youre betting actual amount pay might fraction size said market enormous compared global economy amounts money stake paid large extraordinary implications financial system jay yeah bets areâyou know thereâsome pool money bets someone else controls another pool money one wins one loses really zerosum game theyre betting real things even dont things could well betting price rice corn fuel oil even ridiculous asâone derivatives plays bet whether movies going make money thing youre betting example movie wont make money happen media company certainly interest see movie gets bad reviews even importantly youre betting default bank youre another bank something push bank default make money thats actually happened hasnt stanley well lot accusations 2008 exactly happened happen institutions teetering brink traders credit default swaps would incentive sort push edge think two things people say though theyre equivalent theyre actually one areâthat zerosum game sense isâwhich true following sense anyone pays something derivatives contract one person loses another person supposed gainâsomeone else getting money implication people draw theres realworld consequence thats completely wrong say know theseâthese bets create incentives kinds realworld activities harmful also bets create bankruptcies create failures institutions financial system bankruptcies happen thats disruptive whole system bankruptcy happens know may another party pay bets made disruptive line jay well also involve peoples pensions savings realworld consequences lot ordinary people stanley fact pension funds quite invested lot derivatives products definitely involve peoples pensions jay okay size scope enormous extent regulated things regulatory battle stanley well 2008 market almost completely unregulated selfregulated banks weve seen really good model dangerous situation saw doddâfrank act passed 2010 response crisis first time congress passedâmandated market regulated mandate united states derivatives markets major countries around world agreed principle also would regulate markets regulation basic revolved around three things first people reserve money make sure could pay derivatives bets case anything happened thats straightforward commonsense kind thing also market transparent trades reported regulators people understood risks going also traded open competitive exchanges possibleâso know like stock marketâso market wouldnt shadows way really basic reforms problem since thisâits one thing pass law another thing implement since law passed come ferocious attack industry financial industry financial industrys friends congress weve seen lot success delaying attempting derail actual implementation laws thats involved every anything lawsuits proposed new laws would put loopholes bigmoney lobbying attacks funding regulators would enforce one main regulators thats going enforcing rules 700Â160trillion global market even larger pointed commodity futures trading commission funded 200Â160million 200Â160million know tiny compared toâthey really couple hundred staff regulate enormous global market theres lot pressure keep budget order prevent effective regulation jay one things thats happening theres battle overâas weak many loopholes might end legislation theres way around simply american banks subsidiaries conduct derivative plays offshore americans financial reform youve pushing form regulating stanley yeah say reference said success pushing back attacks weve managed stop new laws congress would put loopholes managed make progress areas toward implementing moving toward implementation one things really worried big banks trying exempt foreign affiliates basically us derivatives regulation dangerous derivatives areâyou know modern financial world works computer know easy transfer liabilities bets world touch computer keyboard really place derivatives banks hundreds sometimes thousands foreign affiliates extraordinarily simple move derivatives bet derivatives exposure united states affiliate affiliate singapore hong kong london know cayman islands weve seen happen aig whichâpeople probably recognize giant taxpayer bailout aigs derivativesâthose derivatives run london anyone remembers longterm capital management back 90s almost brought world financial system overloading derivatives derivatives run cayman islands important rules apply overseas well us jay terms political parties mean romneysâis pretty straightforward wants throw doddâfrank knows would replace wheres democratic party leadership issue offshore stanley well know get technicalities issues theâthe partisan lines blur theres lot money stake weve definitely seenâweve definitely seen democrats supporting creation loopholes also seeâyou know see fight regulatory bodies exactly going done unclear exactly thats going work said know people come completely repealing doddâfrank would repeal derivatives regulations wonder ask well know would happen done would regulation market whatsoever backroom fight whether force regulation foreign subsidiaries something thatâyou know cant take party lines completely granted really fight regulatory agencies bringing details peoples attentions implications exemptions crosstalk jay leadership commodity futures trading commission favor regulating offshore subsidiaries stanley well theyve come veryâwith complex guidance basically theyve come rule goes distance gary gensler whos chairman cftc actually pretty good issue five commissioners youve got get three five votes theyve come guidance goesâtakes steps toward regulating foreign affiliates significant loopholes two loopholes first would permit whats called substituted compliance wouldnt comply us rules could comply rules jurisdiction would attempts toâthe jurisdiction would rules might good united states jay well could cayman islands would mean many rules stanley yeah historical record cftc kind substituted compliance great theyre giving lip service oh well look well make sure rules good itsâyou know skeptical really hold feet fire limit kind substituted compliance also make sure thatâbasically make sure guys following real rules anywhere world second loophole could big said well affiliate havent guaranteed transactions affiliate words us parent going beâis totally going responsible derivatives transactions foreign affiliate case okay treat foreign affiliate though part wont regulated thats huge huge problem difficult tell whether foreign affiliates guaranteed mean affiliate call jpmorgan cayman islands theres reason call jpmorgan cayman islands people im dealing expecting im going pay liabilities affiliate know saw 2008 bear stearns went bankrupt know hedge funds technically guaranteed pay debts market demanded basically market said people market said cant pay debts know im going stop lending parent company issue whether foreign affiliate guaranteed really notâi mean major foreign affiliate us bank thats dealing derivatives almost certainly least implicit guarantee mean thats banking works trust implicit guarantees could huge loophole well two issues know whether could take foreign rules apply case could see regulatory havens starting emerge whether tell regulators oh foreign affiliate unguaranteed dont worry wont pay debts know whether get dont regulate ignore im important issues could really central whether derivatives rules work jay alright thanks much joining us marcus stanley okay thank paul jay thank joining us real news network end disclaimer please note transcripts real news network typed recording program trnn guarantee complete accuracy | 1,304 |
<p>Justice Antonin Scalia spoke at an unrecorded event at Princeton University last week with Professor Robert George, a leading religious conservative. Though video of the event does not exist, George claims on his Facebook page that Scalia <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/427131/scalia-role-courts-ramesh-ponnuru" type="external">offered some unusual thoughts</a> on how state and federal officials should treat decisions handed down by the Supreme Court:</p>
<p>[Scalia] declared that though Supreme Court rulings should generally be obeyed, officials had no Constitutional obligation to treat as binding beyond the parties to a case rulings that lack a warrant in the text or original understanding of the Constitution. Without prompting from me, he cited Lincoln’s treatment of Dred Scott. As it happened, I had a copy of Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address with me (you never know when you’ll need it), so I read Lincoln’s words on the case to the audience.</p>
<p>In case there is any doubt what Scalia meant by “case rulings that lack a warrant in the text or original understanding of the Constitution,” George says that the justice condemned two sets of cases in particular — the Court’s marriage equality decision in <a href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/14-556_3204.pdf" type="external">Obergefell v. Hodges</a> and the Supreme Court’s cases preserving the separation of church and state.</p>
<p>George’s characterization of Scalia’s remarks, it should be noted, need to be taken with somewhat of a grain of salt. They are, after all, one man’s recollection of an event that was not recorded. Professor George is also <a href="" type="internal">one of the nation’s leading anti-gay activists</a>, so he has an interest in shading Scalia’s remarks so that they appear particularly friendly to opponents of marriage equality.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, if George has not accurately characterized Scalia’s views, then he is putting quite a remarkable claim in the justice’s mouth. According to George, a sitting Supreme Court justice said that government officials who are not parties to a particular lawsuit have “no Constitutional obligation” to treat the rule announced by the Court in that case as binding upon them. That <a href="" type="internal">puts Scalia in similar company as Kim Davis</a>, the anti-gay Kentucky law clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses in defiance of the Court’s Obergefell decision.</p>
<p>It’s worth noting that Justice Anthony Kennedy, the author of Obergefell, recently <a href="" type="internal">delivered a very different message to an audience at Harvard Law School</a>. “The rule of law is that, as a public official in performing your legal duties, you are bound to enforce the law,” Kennedy said. He also strongly implied that officials like Davis should resign if they refuse to carry out their obligations under the Constitution. “Great respect, it seems to me, has to be given to people who resign rather than do something they view as morally wrong, in order to make a point.”</p>
<p>With regard to the substance of Scalia’s alleged remarks, it is true that President Lincoln did briefly discuss the appropriate balance of power between the Supreme Court and elected officials during his <a href="http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres31.html" type="external">first inaugural</a>. While Supreme Court decisions are “entitled to very high respect and consideration in all parallel cases by all other departments of the Government,” Lincoln said, “the candid citizen must confess that if the policy of the Government upon vital questions affecting the whole people is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court, the instant they are made in ordinary litigation between parties in personal actions the people will have ceased to be their own rulers, having to that extent practically resigned their Government into the hands of that eminent tribunal.”</p>
<p>These remarks are widely viewed as a response to the pro-slavery Dred Scott decision, a decision that is almost universally viewed as the worst Supreme Court decision in American history. In the face of that precedent, it is not hard to imagine why Lincoln believed that the Court’s decisions should not be treated as gospel. President Franklin Roosevelt took a <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2015/02/fdr_court_packing_plan_obama_and_roosevelt_s_supreme_court_standoffs.html" type="external">similar approach</a> to a line of Supreme Court decisions that sought to impose a fairly rigid economically libertarian agenda on the nation at the height of the New Deal, despite no language in the Constitution authorizing such a judicially enforced agenda.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, it is important to <a href="" type="internal">understand exactly what is at stake</a> when a president (or a justice) suggests that compliance with the Supreme Court’s decisions is optional. If public officials are not bound by Supreme Court decisions, than the Court ceases to exist as a meaningful check on state officials and on the other two branches of the federal government. It becomes nine lawyers who offer their opinions to the wind, and who can be listened to or ignored as public officials see fit. It also loses its authority to enforce provisions of the Constitution that government officials would rather not follow.</p>
<p>In fairness to Scalia, he does appear to concede that the “parties to a case” are bound by a court’s ruling. That means that Obergefell could conceivably be enforced against recalcitrant officials — provided they were all successfully sued in a lengthy and expensive series of lawsuits. As a practical matter, however, this would make enforcement of many decisions very challenging, and it would make enforcement of many other decisions impossible unless someone was willing to invest a significant amount of resources in litigating repetitive cases.</p>
<p>That’s very strong medicine, even if it may be medicine that is justified in the face of decisions like Dred Scott or the anti-government decisions resisted by Roosevelt — decisions that are now widely viewed as evil. Scalia, however, reportedly wants to prescribe this medicine to cure a decision that allows Americans to marry the person that they love.</p>
<p>In a <a href="http://prawfsblawg.blogs.com/prawfsblawg/2015/11/scalia-sort-of-gets-it-the-media-still-doesnt.html" type="external">condescending blog post</a>, Florida International University law professor Howard Wasserman claims that Scalia’s apparent framework is innocuous because “lower courts are bound by the Court’s judgments” and therefore officials like Kim Davis will still be bound by lower court decisions applying Supreme Court precedents — although he ultimately does not disagree with ThinkProgress’s conclusion that the process of bringing new lawsuits in federal district courts to enforce compliance with a Supreme Court decision that people like Kim Davis do not wish to follow is a “complex and potentially expensive” process.</p>
<p>It is far from clear, however, that the balance of power between judicial and other officials that Scalia suggested in his conversation with Professor George is as benign as Wasserman suggests. George, it is worth noting, is a very prominent conservative scholar — indeed, he is arguably the most prominent conservative Catholic scholar in the nation. Professor George <a href="http://www.amazon.com/What-Is-Marriage-Woman-Defense/dp/1594036225" type="external">coauthored a book</a> that formed much of the backbone of the arguments proponents of marriage discrimination presented to the Court in their failed efforts to defend this discrimination. He also co-authored a statement <a href="http://manhattandeclaration.org/man_dec_resources/Manhattan_Declaration_full_text.pdf" type="external">pledging civil disobedience</a> to “any rule purporting to force us to bless immoral sexual partnerships, treat them as marriages or the equivalent, or refrain from proclaiming the truth, as we know it, about morality and immorality and marriage and the family.” It is a testament to George’s influence that this statement was <a href="http://manhattandeclaration.org/man_dec_resources/list_of_religious_leaders.pdf" type="external">co-signed by several Catholic cardinals and archbishops</a>, including the archbishops of New York and Washington, DC.</p>
<p>In addition to calling for civil disobedience as an appropriate response to marriage equality, George has very particular views about Lincoln, Dred Scott, and Obergefell. In a “ <a href="http://www.salon.com/2015/10/13/the_rights_shameless_new_lincoln_lie_dred_scott_same_sex_marriage_and_the_honest_history_of_abraham_lincoln/" type="external">call to action</a>” issued by George shortly after the Court’s marriage equality decision, the Princeton professor claimed that “Obergefell is not ‘the law of the land.’ It has no more claim to that status than Dred Scott v. Sandford had when President Abraham Lincoln condemned that pro-slavery decision as an offense against the very Constitution that the Supreme Court justices responsible for that atrocious ruling purported to be upholding.” The call to action also instructs “officeholders to reject Obergefell as an unconstitutional effort to usurp the authority vested by the Constitution in the people and their representatives.” It instructs presidential candidates to “refuse to recognize Obergefell as creating a binding rule controlling other cases or their own conduct as President.” And it pledges to “resist” Obergefell “by every peaceful and honorable means.”</p>
<p>It is possible that when Scalia agreed to appear on stage with George that he was unaware of George’s call for massive resistance to Obergefell. It is also possible that when Scalia reportedly referenced Dred Scott and Lincoln during his conversation with George that the justice did not realize that this statement would seem to align him with George’s call for resistance. Especially given George’s prominence, however, it is more likely that Scalia was not ignorant to how these particular remarks would appear if he made them to this particular interlocutor.</p>
<p>As we note above, George “has an interest in shading Scalia’s remarks so that they appear particularly friendly to opponents of marriage equality.” So it is possible that George mischaracterized Scalia’s remark. If George’s characterization of Scalia’s remarks is accurate, however, the most likely explanation for how Scalia happened to find himself on a stage with one of the nation’s most prominent proponents of disobedience to the Obergefell decision — where the justice embraced the exact same rhetoric used by George in the professor’s arguments for disobedience — is that Scalia actually agrees with George’s views.</p> | true | 4 | justice antonin scalia spoke unrecorded event princeton university last week professor robert george leading religious conservative though video event exist george claims facebook page scalia offered unusual thoughts state federal officials treat decisions handed supreme court scalia declared though supreme court rulings generally obeyed officials constitutional obligation treat binding beyond parties case rulings lack warrant text original understanding constitution without prompting cited lincolns treatment dred scott happened copy lincolns first inaugural address never know youll need read lincolns words case audience case doubt scalia meant case rulings lack warrant text original understanding constitution george says justice condemned two sets cases particular courts marriage equality decision obergefell v hodges supreme courts cases preserving separation church state georges characterization scalias remarks noted need taken somewhat grain salt one mans recollection event recorded professor george also one nations leading antigay activists interest shading scalias remarks appear particularly friendly opponents marriage equality nevertheless george accurately characterized scalias views putting quite remarkable claim justices mouth according george sitting supreme court justice said government officials parties particular lawsuit constitutional obligation treat rule announced court case binding upon puts scalia similar company kim davis antigay kentucky law clerk refused issue marriage licenses defiance courts obergefell decision worth noting justice anthony kennedy author obergefell recently delivered different message audience harvard law school rule law public official performing legal duties bound enforce law kennedy said also strongly implied officials like davis resign refuse carry obligations constitution great respect seems given people resign rather something view morally wrong order make point regard substance scalias alleged remarks true president lincoln briefly discuss appropriate balance power supreme court elected officials first inaugural supreme court decisions entitled high respect consideration parallel cases departments government lincoln said candid citizen must confess policy government upon vital questions affecting whole people irrevocably fixed decisions supreme court instant made ordinary litigation parties personal actions people ceased rulers extent practically resigned government hands eminent tribunal remarks widely viewed response proslavery dred scott decision decision almost universally viewed worst supreme court decision american history face precedent hard imagine lincoln believed courts decisions treated gospel president franklin roosevelt took similar approach line supreme court decisions sought impose fairly rigid economically libertarian agenda nation height new deal despite language constitution authorizing judicially enforced agenda nevertheless important understand exactly stake president justice suggests compliance supreme courts decisions optional public officials bound supreme court decisions court ceases exist meaningful check state officials two branches federal government becomes nine lawyers offer opinions wind listened ignored public officials see fit also loses authority enforce provisions constitution government officials would rather follow fairness scalia appear concede parties case bound courts ruling means obergefell could conceivably enforced recalcitrant officials provided successfully sued lengthy expensive series lawsuits practical matter however would make enforcement many decisions challenging would make enforcement many decisions impossible unless someone willing invest significant amount resources litigating repetitive cases thats strong medicine even may medicine justified face decisions like dred scott antigovernment decisions resisted roosevelt decisions widely viewed evil scalia however reportedly wants prescribe medicine cure decision allows americans marry person love condescending blog post florida international university law professor howard wasserman claims scalias apparent framework innocuous lower courts bound courts judgments therefore officials like kim davis still bound lower court decisions applying supreme court precedents although ultimately disagree thinkprogresss conclusion process bringing new lawsuits federal district courts enforce compliance supreme court decision people like kim davis wish follow complex potentially expensive process far clear however balance power judicial officials scalia suggested conversation professor george benign wasserman suggests george worth noting prominent conservative scholar indeed arguably prominent conservative catholic scholar nation professor george coauthored book formed much backbone arguments proponents marriage discrimination presented court failed efforts defend discrimination also coauthored statement pledging civil disobedience rule purporting force us bless immoral sexual partnerships treat marriages equivalent refrain proclaiming truth know morality immorality marriage family testament georges influence statement cosigned several catholic cardinals archbishops including archbishops new york washington dc addition calling civil disobedience appropriate response marriage equality george particular views lincoln dred scott obergefell call action issued george shortly courts marriage equality decision princeton professor claimed obergefell law land claim status dred scott v sandford president abraham lincoln condemned proslavery decision offense constitution supreme court justices responsible atrocious ruling purported upholding call action also instructs officeholders reject obergefell unconstitutional effort usurp authority vested constitution people representatives instructs presidential candidates refuse recognize obergefell creating binding rule controlling cases conduct president pledges resist obergefell every peaceful honorable means possible scalia agreed appear stage george unaware georges call massive resistance obergefell also possible scalia reportedly referenced dred scott lincoln conversation george justice realize statement would seem align georges call resistance especially given georges prominence however likely scalia ignorant particular remarks would appear made particular interlocutor note george interest shading scalias remarks appear particularly friendly opponents marriage equality possible george mischaracterized scalias remark georges characterization scalias remarks accurate however likely explanation scalia happened find stage one nations prominent proponents disobedience obergefell decision justice embraced exact rhetoric used george professors arguments disobedience scalia actually agrees georges views | 836 |
<p>[A] drug which takes away grief and passion and brings a forgetfulness of all ills.</p>
<p>— Homer, The Iliad</p>
<p>Two events took place in June that suggested a primer on how medical marijuana laws are working in Colorado might be appropriate.&#160; The first was an appellate court decision that the state Supreme Court declined to review. The holding was that if an employer has a zero-tolerance drug policy and an employee who uses medical marijuana tests positive and is discharged, the employee is not entitled to unemployment benefits even though the use of medical marijuana is not proscribed by state law.</p>
<p>The second event of note was a newspaper announcement that the Sunday night CBS news program “60 Minutes” had interviewed Stan Garnett, Boulder, Colorado’s District Attorney, with respect to medical marijuana dispensaries operating in Colorado.&#160; Since the interview will not be broadcast until fall, an update might help those who wonder what is happening in the world of &#160;medical marijuana in Colorado. &#160;Although only applicable to Colorado, readers elsewhere can see how the Obama administration has lived up to promises made during the 2008 campaign.</p>
<p>During the 2008 campaign Mr. Obama <a href="http://www.mpp.org/assets/pdfs/library/HolderObamaStatements.pdf" type="external">said</a>, with respect to medical marijuana laws, that if elected: &#160;“What I’m not going to be doing is using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws on this issue simply because I want folks to be investigating violent crimes and potential terrorism.”&#160; In February 2009 Attorney General Eric Holder said what the president said during the campaign “is now American policy” and in a subsequent press conference <a href="http://www.mpp.org/assets/pdfs/library/HolderObamaStatements.pdf" type="external">said</a> the policy is to “go after those people who violate both federal and state law. . . .”&#160; The administration did not rely on those statements to let people know what official policy was. David Ogden, then the Deputy Attorney General of the United States, put it in writing so everyone would understand.</p>
<p>October 19, 2009, &#160;Mr. Ogden, sent a memorandum to the U.S. attorneys in states that authorized the sale and use of medical marijuana.&#160; Its stated purpose was to provide “clarification and guidance to federal prosecutors.”&#160; Mr. Ogden began by saying: &#160;“Congress has determined that marijuana is a dangerous drug, and the illegal distribution and sale of marijuana is a serious crime. . . .” However, he went on to say that “selected U.S. attorneys” to whom he sent his memorandum should “not focus federal resources in your states on individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana.”&#160; Mr. Ogden and Colorado’s U.S. Attorney, John Walsh, would have been well served had Mr. Ogden stopped there since it was clear what he meant.&#160; He didn’t.&#160;&#160; After explaining &#160;the meaning of &#160;“clear and unambiguous” as used in his memorandum&#160; he went on to say that “no State can authorize violations of federal law” which is, of course, exactly what medical marijuana legislation does. &#160;If a U.S. attorney decides to prosecute someone, Mr. Ogden continued, &#160;it is not necessary to prove that a state law was violated. The memorandum, he said, does not “’legalize’ marijuana or provide a legal defense to a violation of federal law. . . . Nor does clear and unambiguous compliance with state law . . . &#160;&#160;provide a legal defense to a violation of the Controlled Substances Act.”&#160; He repeats that in the penultimate paragraph of his memorandum saying the memorandum is not intended to preclude investigation&#160; “in particular circumstances where investigation or prosecution otherwise serves important federal interests.”&#160; The foregoing, as all but the dullest reader can immediately see, is a crystal clear roadmap for U.S. Attorneys who wonder whom to prosecute.&#160; And that brings the curious to Colorado and to the even curiouser John Walsh.</p>
<p>Colorado citizens amended their state constitution in 2000 to permit the medical use of marijuana effective June 1, 2001. &#160;In 2010 a law was enacted that regulates medical marijuana dispensaries.&#160; John Walsh, apparently confused by the Ogden memo, has concluded that he can prosecute those who are in “clear and unambiguous compliance” with Colorado law as stated in the Ogden memorandum. In January, March and May, he sent waves of letters to dispensaries within 1000 feet of &#160;schools telling them they must close and describing in great detail the draconian penalties that may be imposed if they do not.&#160; Mr. Walsh was not concerned about whether local governments were content to have dispensaries closer than 1000 feet to schools as Colorado law permits .</p>
<p>Mr. Garnett wrote Mr. Walsh in March expressing his opinion that the U.S. Attorney’s office could, instead of going after dispensaries, &#160;better use its efforts dealing with “terrorism, serious economic crime,&#160; organized crime and serious drug dealing. . . .” In response, Mr. Walsh said in effect, that his views about how far dispensaries should be from schools overrode local governments’ views. He did not say how his actions comported with Mr. Ogden’s memorandum.</p>
<p>What the Colorado court ruled does not run afoul of what Mr. Obama promised during the 2008 campaign.&#160; What Mr. Walsh has done, does. That is more than a pity.&#160; It is a travesty.</p>
<p>Last week I said that Pope Benedict had made Cardinal Bernard Law the Archpriest of St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome.&#160; The appointment was made by Pope John Paul II.</p>
<p>Christopher Brauchli&#160;can be emailed at&#160; <a href="mailto:brauchli.56@post.harvard.edu" type="external">brauchli.56@post.harvard.edu</a>. For political commentary see his web page at&#160; <a href="http://humanraceandothersports.com/" type="external">http://humanraceandothersports.com</a></p> | true | 4 | drug takes away grief passion brings forgetfulness ills homer iliad two events took place june suggested primer medical marijuana laws working colorado might appropriate160 first appellate court decision state supreme court declined review holding employer zerotolerance drug policy employee uses medical marijuana tests positive discharged employee entitled unemployment benefits even though use medical marijuana proscribed state law second event note newspaper announcement sunday night cbs news program 60 minutes interviewed stan garnett boulder colorados district attorney respect medical marijuana dispensaries operating colorado160 since interview broadcast fall update might help wonder happening world 160medical marijuana colorado 160although applicable colorado readers elsewhere see obama administration lived promises made 2008 campaign 2008 campaign mr obama said respect medical marijuana laws elected 160what im going using justice department resources try circumvent state laws issue simply want folks investigating violent crimes potential terrorism160 february 2009 attorney general eric holder said president said campaign american policy subsequent press conference said policy go people violate federal state law 160 administration rely statements let people know official policy david ogden deputy attorney general united states put writing everyone would understand october 19 2009 160mr ogden sent memorandum us attorneys states authorized sale use medical marijuana160 stated purpose provide clarification guidance federal prosecutors160 mr ogden began saying 160congress determined marijuana dangerous drug illegal distribution sale marijuana serious crime however went say selected us attorneys sent memorandum focus federal resources states individuals whose actions clear unambiguous compliance existing state laws providing medical use marijuana160 mr ogden colorados us attorney john walsh would well served mr ogden stopped since clear meant160 didnt160160 explaining 160the meaning 160clear unambiguous used memorandum160 went say state authorize violations federal law course exactly medical marijuana legislation 160if us attorney decides prosecute someone mr ogden continued 160it necessary prove state law violated memorandum said legalize marijuana provide legal defense violation federal law clear unambiguous compliance state law 160160provide legal defense violation controlled substances act160 repeats penultimate paragraph memorandum saying memorandum intended preclude investigation160 particular circumstances investigation prosecution otherwise serves important federal interests160 foregoing dullest reader immediately see crystal clear roadmap us attorneys wonder prosecute160 brings curious colorado even curiouser john walsh colorado citizens amended state constitution 2000 permit medical use marijuana effective june 1 2001 160in 2010 law enacted regulates medical marijuana dispensaries160 john walsh apparently confused ogden memo concluded prosecute clear unambiguous compliance colorado law stated ogden memorandum january march may sent waves letters dispensaries within 1000 feet 160schools telling must close describing great detail draconian penalties may imposed not160 mr walsh concerned whether local governments content dispensaries closer 1000 feet schools colorado law permits mr garnett wrote mr walsh march expressing opinion us attorneys office could instead going dispensaries 160better use efforts dealing terrorism serious economic crime160 organized crime serious drug dealing response mr walsh said effect views far dispensaries schools overrode local governments views say actions comported mr ogdens memorandum colorado court ruled run afoul mr obama promised 2008 campaign160 mr walsh done pity160 travesty last week said pope benedict made cardinal bernard law archpriest st mary major basilica rome160 appointment made pope john paul ii christopher brauchli160can emailed at160 brauchli56postharvardedu political commentary see web page at160 httphumanraceandothersportscom | 524 |
<p>Like it or not, the next US president must accept that his great country and its mighty dollar are no longer unchallenged masters of a world economy slowing alarmingly. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), there will be 20 million more people unemployed worldwide by the end of 2009 than in 2007. The summit of both industrialized and emerging nations, the G20 on&#160; November 15,&#160; did&#160; not challenge a market system that has patently failed. Change will be slow because China, America’s main banker, has a vested interest in maintaining the status quo – for the moment at least</p>
<p>The US government decision to bail out the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in September came – according to rumor – after a phone call in which the Chinese president, Hu Jintao, threatened President George Bush that if they were not rescued, China would stop buying US Treasury bills. The US government denies the story. The Chinese point to the facts: Fannie and Freddie were saved and the Chinese loans, $595.9bn, were guaranteed. The story is emblematic of the current changes in the geopolitics of capital.</p>
<p>Once upon a time the US determined the world’s financial affairs alone, but at the 63rd session of the UN General Assembly, on&#160; September 24, Bush had to endure the reproaches of heads of state. “There was a certain satisfaction among some of the attendees that the Bush administration, which had long lectured other nations about the benefits of unfettered markets, was now rejecting its own medicine by proposing a major bailout of financial firms” (1).</p>
<p>China ‘vindicated’</p>
<p>On&#160; September 27, Chinese economists and politicians reminded the World Economic Forum in Tianjin that they had been justified in resisting pressures for the total liberalization of China’s financial system. Liu Mingkang, chairman of the China banking regulatory commission, said: “When US regulators were reducing the down payment to zero, or they created so-called reverse mortgages, we thought that was ridiculous” (2).</p>
<p>In recent years Liu has tried to bring order to this chaotic sector and to ensure that the markets are controlled by the state, rather than by their own invisible hand: “A lot of the time, we learned that what we had learned from our teacher the day before was wrong.” This irony did not escape the bankers present who, in a move without precedent in the financial world, admitted responsibility. Stephen Roach, Morgan Stanley’s Asian head, acknowledged that huge mistakes in monetary policy had been made and accused the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, of forcing the US into an orgy of consumption.</p>
<p>Only a few Americans were invited to the orgy. Although 1 per cent of Americans own 20 per cent of national income, a historical record, overall median earnings rose by only 0.1 per cent a year between 2000 and 2007. For most people the problem was less that consumption rose too high than that wages fell too far, forcing people to borrow for housing, education and healthcare (health insurance premiums have rocketed). Wealthy people and leading companies chose to invest abroad at the expense of domestic industrial development, forcing the US to import more and export less, driving up the deficit.</p>
<p>The US rich got richer by refusing to pay decent wages, driving the poor into the arms of lenders. The developing world paid the ultimate price. Until the mid 1980s, capital flowed from the developed to the developing world; this flow has reversed. Emerging economies made US deficits good by buying Treasury securities, debts issued by the US government and 80-90 per cent taken up abroad. Although Japan is still their major purchaser at $1,197bn (3), China, in second place with $922bn, is now the US’s banker as well as the workshop of the world. Including other major holders of US bonds (Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore), Asia incorporates more than half of all foreign US public debt. The oil-exporting countries are major suppliers of capital funds (although only half as much as China), along with emerging nations such as Mexico and Brazil. Russia, so disparaged by Bush, is among the top 20 global lenders, thus demonstrating that you can trade insults and do business simultaneously.</p>
<p>But he who pays the piper calls the tune, or hopes to. It would be catastrophic for Wall Street if China reduced its financing or stopped buying Treasury securities – not that it is contemplating such a move. “We should join hands,” China’s prime minister Wen Jiabao told Newsweek magazine. “And particularly at such difficult times, China has reached out to the US. And we believe such a helping hand will help stabilise the entire global economy and finance and prevent major chaos from occurring. I believe now that cooperation is everything”.</p>
<p>Some commentators have seen this as proof of an ideological alliance between supporters of capitalism. But China is simply trying to defend its interests. As the prime minister continued: “If anything goes wrong in the US financial sector, we would be anxious about the security of Chinese capital” (4). This is true externally, since the crash has not spared China’s foreign holdings, as well as internally.</p>
<p>Treasury bills have allowed the US to finance its deficit and borrow the money to buy cheap Chinese goods; but China is sitting on the world’s largest dollar reserves, almost $2trn (5), more than two-thirds of its total annual production. If the present tsunami swept away the US financial system and undermined the dollar, China’s nest-egg would be destroyed, another reason why China won’t spoil the party, ignore the next round of Treasury securities or significantly reduce its dollar reserves. Any fall in the value of the dollar would bring about a rise in the value of the yuan and devalue China’s dollar reserves, as if China had spent decades stacking up toytown money. Nobody is going to do anything rash.</p>
<p>Japan, Russia also in play</p>
<p>The US can no more do without Chinese finance than China can be indifferent to the fate of the US. This mutual dependence also includes Japan, which holds the world’s second largest dollar reserves, and for Russia, which holds the third largest. This is the legacy of the special role that the dollar has played in world trade since 1945.</p>
<p>The US emerged from the second world war as the richest power. Britain was weakened by debt; France was exhausted; the Soviet Union had been bled dry. US dominance was formalized by the Bretton Woods accords, named after the New Hampshire town where the new financial rules were laid down in July 1944. These affirmed the pivotal role of the dollar (in place of sterling) and created the two institutions that became Washington’s wings: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD, subsequently part of the World Bank) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Marshall Plan for Europe was funded in dollars to consolidate the strength of the dollar and guarantee opportunities for US producers.</p>
<p>One of the most famous participants at Bretton Woods, John Maynard Keynes, fought hard against the dollar’s stranglehold and proposed a monetary system based upon a unit of account, a genuinely international currency called the “bancor” (6). But the balance of power was against him. The dollar won, and with it US hegemony over the West. US politicians could do what they liked, leaving others to pick up the tab. When the situation became too complicated, the US unilaterally changed the rules. As US Secretary of the Treasury John Connally famously told his European counterparts in 1971: “The dollar is our currency, but your problem.”</p>
<p>On&#160; August 15, 1971, President Richard Nixon ended the direct convertibility of the US dollar into gold. Henceforth it would be mere paper, fluctuating at the whim of the markets and US policy. This strengthened the “exorbitant privilege” of the dollar, which had been denounced in 1965 by General de Gaulle. But since governments gave in, commercial transactions were largely carried out in dollars, which the central banks raked in (along with marks, yens and eventually euros).</p>
<p>The dollar system still dominates the globe. The US can run up debts and have them settled by its “partners”. It can simultaneously attract capital investment (for industry, research or to bail out companies at home) and export it (to facilitate the establishment of multinationals abroad). In 2007 the US was the leading beneficiary of global foreign direct investment; it is also the leading investor abroad (7). It enjoys an unrivalled power of geopolitical selection of capital.</p>
<p>But the system is unstable. States with accumulated reserves are no longer content to put their money in banks as the oil-exporting countries did during the 1970s; they have set up sovereign wealth funds (now worth at least $4trn) to invest in colossal development projects, as in the Gulf states, or to buy up foreign companies (8). Many Western companies are apprehensive.</p>
<p>The weight of the dollar in global currency reserves has fallen almost 10 points in less than a decade. In mid-2008 it made up only 62.4 per cent of the currencies held by central banks, compared with 71.2 per cent at the end of 2000. During the same period the euro’s share rose from 18.3 per cent to 27 per cent. The yen, asymbol of Japanese power between 1970 and 1990, when it inspired prophecies of the decline of the US, also fell, from 6.1 per cent to 3.4 per cent (9). But neither the euro nor the yuan is yet in a position to supplant the dollar. Only the combination of acknowledged economic power and an attractive, original political vision could overthrow the prevailing system or allow all its participants to be treated as equals.</p>
<p>Having plunged into US-style deregulation, the European Union is hardly in a position to confront this challenge. Even the most optimistic experts now anticipate only negligible average growth next year, accompanied by an exponential rise in unemployment and business failures. Politically, the EU is impotent and, whatever the press may say, it has come up with no effective response to the crisis. Nobody will lament the fact that it has jettisoned some of its inviolable principles: so much for the Maastricht limits on public deficits, the ban on state aid to national companies, and the “single program”. Europe’s politicians have adopted the policy of bank nationalization first imposed by Britain’s prime minister Gordon Brown, whose Euro-sceptic country isn’t even a member of the euro zone.</p>
<p>China not immune to chaos</p>
<p>But what about China? Shen Dingli, professor of international relations at Fudan university in Shanghai, states: “This is not a time for China to be on a par with America. But the relative shift of the centre of gravity does bring China more confidence” (10). As the world’s third economic power, closely involved in the financial tsunami, China is not immune to the chaos. Chinese economists already estimate that “all the big offshore investments made last year are in the red” (11). Holdings in the banks Morgan Stanley ($5bn) and Blackstone ($3bn), which symbolised China’s arrival as a financial force, have been heavily written down.</p>
<p>There has been debate on current policy within leading echelons of the Communist party and on the internet. China’s government refused to bail out the US bank Lehman Brothers. One official explained that the Chinese should no longer be regarded as “sleeping partners”, or their investments as “dumping grounds for toxic shares”, and pointed to the bailout of Morgan Stanley by the Japanese bank Mitsubishi UFJ, which will acquire a seat on the board.</p>
<p>So far China has been relatively unaffected by the worst insanities of the investment markets. The Financial Times reported a story that did the rounds in Beijing: “At a secret meeting of top Communist officials at the start of this decade, Zhu Rongji, then China’s premier, summoned senior academics and finance officials to teach a crash course on complex financial instruments. Financial derivatives. . . were described as like putting a mirror in front of another mirror, allowing a physical object to be reflected into infinity” (12). This is a good description of a mechanism with a worldwide value of more than a $1,000 trillion – the equivalent of 20 years’ global production – resting on sand.</p>
<p>Zhu and his successors trod carefully. Although, as an economist from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) in Shanghai said, “we don’t know how many skeletons there are in the cupboard”, China’s banks seem to have limited their exposure to investments of this sort. But there must be doubts about the recent decision to authorize margin lending and short selling at a time when some western countries were introducing restrictions to curb speculation. Another potential problem is the housing bubble, which remains significant despite some deflation over the past two years. But as the ICBC economist pointed out, in public building the demand for profit is less pressing since “the Chinese state can wait”.</p>
<p>Globally China has preserved its safeguards. Professor Yang Baoyun of the school of international studies at Beijing University claimed “the financial system is still under control”. Despite international pressure, China has retained a largely-nationalized banking sector and maintained control over its currency and foreign exchanges (13). The IMF had intended to move against these regulations in October; this has now been postponed until a more favorable moment. As the IMF’s managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said, without irony: “China’s imbalance is a long-term problem and can wait one more month” (14). China has retained the capacity for state intervention and has, significantly, kept growth tied to production and research. The systemic crisis affecting the US and Europe is proof that services and finance cannot be decoupled from material production for ever.</p>
<p>Chinese development is driven by exports, so the expected fall in consumption in its main client countries (the US and the EU) may undermine sales and levels of production (15). At the beginning of this year, many analysts argued that since 60 per cent of China’s trade is with other Asian countries, its development would not be damaged by the collapse of the developed world. But the rest of Asia is not immune to the slowdown (Japan is on the edge of recession, South Korea is struggling and India is in no better shape); and between half and two-thirds of intra-Asian trade, in the words of Sopanha Sa, an economist at the Société Générale, “winds up in the markets of the G3 (the US, the EU and Japan)”. The disappearance of this final destination would have immediate consequences. There are already fears that 2.5 million people could lose their jobs in China’s most export-oriented region, the Pearl River delta.</p>
<p>An unsigned editorial in the Chinese Communist Party newspaper, the People’s Daily, summed the situation up perfectly: “Disillusionment with Wall Street myth has further endangered the already downward global economy, and posed a fresh threat to China’s foreign trade, which is already on the verge of collapse… In the long run, the relative advantages of `Made-in-China’ would possibly be offset, and China’s competitiveness in exports would be dulled. The global geopolitics is getting increasingly complex, neo trade protectionism is looking up, and in future, the trade barriers against China would increase rather than decrease” (16).</p>
<p>Aware that it is entering a new phase, the Chinese government is looking for sources of growth. Professor Yang was clear: “Our only option is to develop our internal markets. We’ve been talking about it for a long time; now it’s time to get down to it.” The authorities must tackle inequalities between town and country. Rocketing food prices raised farmers’ incomes by 17.9 per cent during the first half of this year (17). But it takes more than increased purchasing power to drive consumption: some of this increase is squirreled away (China has the highest savings rate in the world) as families put money aside for sickness or retirement. So the government must increase incomes and build the current embryonic system of collective social security into something effective.</p>
<p>But the internal forces that drive growth have already begun to change. According to Li Xiaochao, a spokesman for the National Bureau of Statistics, China’s 11.4 per cent growth in 2007 “broke down into 4.4 per cent driven by consumer spending, 4.3 per cent from investments and 2.7 per cent contributed by net exports” (18). Growth is expected to be 10 per cent this year and 7-8 per cent in 2009. Western leaders would be ecstatic about these rates, but given the internal challenges facing China (poverty, rural discontent, the political unpredictability of the middle classes) they suggest trouble on the horizon. And any future growth must consider impact on the environment.</p>
<p>Another day, another dollar?</p>
<p>Externally, China is looking for ways to loosen the dollar’s stranglehold. It has recycled some of its profits from Africa as loans, ignoring conditions imposed by the World Bank and the IMF. It is signing bilateral trade agreements to guarantee its energy supply (Venezuela, Russia, Iraq and Iran) and to create new outlets (Japan, India). It supports the idea of an Asian Monetary Fund, proposed in May 2007 in conjunction with Japan and South Korea. This would have $80bn to play with, allowing its three founders, and the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, to guarantee their financial stability without having to go to the IMF, which the region has yet to forgive.</p>
<p>There are similar initiatives in other parts of the world that seek to escape the shadow of the dollar. Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela are all members of the Bank of the South, intended to support infrastructure funding outside the Bretton Woods system. Argentina and Brazil have agreed to conduct reciprocal payments in local currency, bypassing the dollar. Brazil, Russia, India and China have come together in an informal bloc known as BRIC. Russia’s self-assertive stand in Europe is due to more than just its control of raw materials. Brazil is a major player in South America, despite its vulnerability to the US recession. Trade is expanding rapidly between countries within the developing world. But we are still a long way from a united front with the capacity to impose new international rules or dethrone the dollar and its institutional props, the IMF and the World Bank.</p>
<p>Professor Arvind Subramanian, a senior fellow at the Peterson institute for international economics in Washington DC, has suggested that China might lend money to the US, but with strings attached. “First, it would declare that the offer of money was conditional on the US government adopting a particular approach to rescuing the banks – the use of government money to recapitalize the banks. . . The second condition would relate to social safety nets, which had become standard embellishments to World Bank/IMF adjustment programmes.” Such moves “would seal China’s status as a responsible superpower” (19). So far China has neither the desire nor the means to do this. But tomorrow is another day.</p>
<p>Notes</p>
<p>(1) Neil MacFarquhar, “Upheaval on Wall Street stirs anger in UN”, International Herald Tribune, 24 September 2008.</p>
<p>(2) These and subsequent quotes from Yann Rousseau, “Quand Pékin donne des leçons de capitalisme à l’Amérique”, Les Echos, Paris, 29 September 2008.</p>
<p>(3) “Foreign holdings of US securities”, United States Department of the Treasury, Washington DC, 29 February 2008.</p>
<p>(4) Fareed Zakaria, “We should join hands”, Newsweek, New York, 6 October 2008.</p>
<p>(5) The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington DC.</p>
<p>(6) Keynes proposed a comprehensive global architecture with an International Trade Organisation supported by a central bank, the International Clearing Union. See Susan George, “Alternative finances”, Le Monde diplomatique, English edition, January 2007.</p>
<p>(7) At the end of 2007, FDI inflows to the US amounted to $237.6bn, compared with outflows of $333.3bn. See “World Investment Report 2008”, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, New York, 24 September 2008.</p>
<p>(8) See Ibrahim Warde, “Where poverty leads to death”, and Akram Belkaïd, “1754”, Le Monde diplomatique, English edition, respectively May and August 2008.</p>
<p>(9) “Currency Composition of Official Foreign Exchange Reserves (COFER)”, International Monetary Fund, Washington DC, 30 September 2008.</p>
<p>(10) David Pilling, “America’s chance to kick its Asian addiction”, Financial Times, 2 October 2008.</p>
<p>(11) Jamil Anderlini, “Prudence guides China’s outook”, Financial Times, 24 September 2008.</p>
<p>(12) Ibid.</p>
<p>(13) See Martine Bulard, Chine, Inde. La course du dragon et de l’éléphant, Fayard, Paris, 2008.</p>
<p>(14) “IMF delays China report”, South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, 1 October 2008.</p>
<p>(15) According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), 19 per cent of Chinese exports go to the US and 20 per cent to EU countries.</p>
<p>(16) “Wall Street turmoil tests China’s foreign trade”, People’s Daily, October 6 2008</p>
<p>(17) NBS, October 2008. But rising prices have eroded the purchasing power of the urban population.</p>
<p>(18) “Consumption edges ahead as the most powerful engine of China’s economic growth”, People’s Daily, 30 January 2008.</p>
<p>(19) Arvind Subramanian, “A master plan for China to bail out America”, Financial Times, 7 October 2008.</p>
<p>Translated by Donald Hounam</p>
<p>This article appears in the November &#160;edition of this excellent monthly, Le Monde Diplomatique, whose English language edition can be found at <a href="http://www.mondediplo.com/" type="external">mondediplo.com.</a> This full text appears by agreement with Le Monde Diplomatique. CounterPunch features one or two articles from LMD every month.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | like next us president must accept great country mighty dollar longer unchallenged masters world economy slowing alarmingly according international labor organization ilo 20 million people unemployed worldwide end 2009 2007 summit industrialized emerging nations g20 on160 november 15160 did160 challenge market system patently failed change slow china americas main banker vested interest maintaining status quo moment least us government decision bail mortgage giants fannie mae freddie mac september came according rumor phone call chinese president hu jintao threatened president george bush rescued china would stop buying us treasury bills us government denies story chinese point facts fannie freddie saved chinese loans 5959bn guaranteed story emblematic current changes geopolitics capital upon time us determined worlds financial affairs alone 63rd session un general assembly on160 september 24 bush endure reproaches heads state certain satisfaction among attendees bush administration long lectured nations benefits unfettered markets rejecting medicine proposing major bailout financial firms 1 china vindicated on160 september 27 chinese economists politicians reminded world economic forum tianjin justified resisting pressures total liberalization chinas financial system liu mingkang chairman china banking regulatory commission said us regulators reducing payment zero created socalled reverse mortgages thought ridiculous 2 recent years liu tried bring order chaotic sector ensure markets controlled state rather invisible hand lot time learned learned teacher day wrong irony escape bankers present move without precedent financial world admitted responsibility stephen roach morgan stanleys asian head acknowledged huge mistakes monetary policy made accused us central bank federal reserve forcing us orgy consumption americans invited orgy although 1 per cent americans 20 per cent national income historical record overall median earnings rose 01 per cent year 2000 2007 people problem less consumption rose high wages fell far forcing people borrow housing education healthcare health insurance premiums rocketed wealthy people leading companies chose invest abroad expense domestic industrial development forcing us import export less driving deficit us rich got richer refusing pay decent wages driving poor arms lenders developing world paid ultimate price mid 1980s capital flowed developed developing world flow reversed emerging economies made us deficits good buying treasury securities debts issued us government 8090 per cent taken abroad although japan still major purchaser 1197bn 3 china second place 922bn uss banker well workshop world including major holders us bonds hong kong south korea singapore asia incorporates half foreign us public debt oilexporting countries major suppliers capital funds although half much china along emerging nations mexico brazil russia disparaged bush among top 20 global lenders thus demonstrating trade insults business simultaneously pays piper calls tune hopes would catastrophic wall street china reduced financing stopped buying treasury securities contemplating move join hands chinas prime minister wen jiabao told newsweek magazine particularly difficult times china reached us believe helping hand help stabilise entire global economy finance prevent major chaos occurring believe cooperation everything commentators seen proof ideological alliance supporters capitalism china simply trying defend interests prime minister continued anything goes wrong us financial sector would anxious security chinese capital 4 true externally since crash spared chinas foreign holdings well internally treasury bills allowed us finance deficit borrow money buy cheap chinese goods china sitting worlds largest dollar reserves almost 2trn 5 twothirds total annual production present tsunami swept away us financial system undermined dollar chinas nestegg would destroyed another reason china wont spoil party ignore next round treasury securities significantly reduce dollar reserves fall value dollar would bring rise value yuan devalue chinas dollar reserves china spent decades stacking toytown money nobody going anything rash japan russia also play us without chinese finance china indifferent fate us mutual dependence also includes japan holds worlds second largest dollar reserves russia holds third largest legacy special role dollar played world trade since 1945 us emerged second world war richest power britain weakened debt france exhausted soviet union bled dry us dominance formalized bretton woods accords named new hampshire town new financial rules laid july 1944 affirmed pivotal role dollar place sterling created two institutions became washingtons wings international bank reconstruction development ibrd subsequently part world bank international monetary fund imf marshall plan europe funded dollars consolidate strength dollar guarantee opportunities us producers one famous participants bretton woods john maynard keynes fought hard dollars stranglehold proposed monetary system based upon unit account genuinely international currency called bancor 6 balance power dollar us hegemony west us politicians could liked leaving others pick tab situation became complicated us unilaterally changed rules us secretary treasury john connally famously told european counterparts 1971 dollar currency problem on160 august 15 1971 president richard nixon ended direct convertibility us dollar gold henceforth would mere paper fluctuating whim markets us policy strengthened exorbitant privilege dollar denounced 1965 general de gaulle since governments gave commercial transactions largely carried dollars central banks raked along marks yens eventually euros dollar system still dominates globe us run debts settled partners simultaneously attract capital investment industry research bail companies home export facilitate establishment multinationals abroad 2007 us leading beneficiary global foreign direct investment also leading investor abroad 7 enjoys unrivalled power geopolitical selection capital system unstable states accumulated reserves longer content put money banks oilexporting countries 1970s set sovereign wealth funds worth least 4trn invest colossal development projects gulf states buy foreign companies 8 many western companies apprehensive weight dollar global currency reserves fallen almost 10 points less decade mid2008 made 624 per cent currencies held central banks compared 712 per cent end 2000 period euros share rose 183 per cent 27 per cent yen asymbol japanese power 1970 1990 inspired prophecies decline us also fell 61 per cent 34 per cent 9 neither euro yuan yet position supplant dollar combination acknowledged economic power attractive original political vision could overthrow prevailing system allow participants treated equals plunged usstyle deregulation european union hardly position confront challenge even optimistic experts anticipate negligible average growth next year accompanied exponential rise unemployment business failures politically eu impotent whatever press may say come effective response crisis nobody lament fact jettisoned inviolable principles much maastricht limits public deficits ban state aid national companies single program europes politicians adopted policy bank nationalization first imposed britains prime minister gordon brown whose eurosceptic country isnt even member euro zone china immune chaos china shen dingli professor international relations fudan university shanghai states time china par america relative shift centre gravity bring china confidence 10 worlds third economic power closely involved financial tsunami china immune chaos chinese economists already estimate big offshore investments made last year red 11 holdings banks morgan stanley 5bn blackstone 3bn symbolised chinas arrival financial force heavily written debate current policy within leading echelons communist party internet chinas government refused bail us bank lehman brothers one official explained chinese longer regarded sleeping partners investments dumping grounds toxic shares pointed bailout morgan stanley japanese bank mitsubishi ufj acquire seat board far china relatively unaffected worst insanities investment markets financial times reported story rounds beijing secret meeting top communist officials start decade zhu rongji chinas premier summoned senior academics finance officials teach crash course complex financial instruments financial derivatives described like putting mirror front another mirror allowing physical object reflected infinity 12 good description mechanism worldwide value 1000 trillion equivalent 20 years global production resting sand zhu successors trod carefully although economist industrial commercial bank china icbc shanghai said dont know many skeletons cupboard chinas banks seem limited exposure investments sort must doubts recent decision authorize margin lending short selling time western countries introducing restrictions curb speculation another potential problem housing bubble remains significant despite deflation past two years icbc economist pointed public building demand profit less pressing since chinese state wait globally china preserved safeguards professor yang baoyun school international studies beijing university claimed financial system still control despite international pressure china retained largelynationalized banking sector maintained control currency foreign exchanges 13 imf intended move regulations october postponed favorable moment imfs managing director dominique strausskahn said without irony chinas imbalance longterm problem wait one month 14 china retained capacity state intervention significantly kept growth tied production research systemic crisis affecting us europe proof services finance decoupled material production ever chinese development driven exports expected fall consumption main client countries us eu may undermine sales levels production 15 beginning year many analysts argued since 60 per cent chinas trade asian countries development would damaged collapse developed world rest asia immune slowdown japan edge recession south korea struggling india better shape half twothirds intraasian trade words sopanha sa economist société générale winds markets g3 us eu japan disappearance final destination would immediate consequences already fears 25 million people could lose jobs chinas exportoriented region pearl river delta unsigned editorial chinese communist party newspaper peoples daily summed situation perfectly disillusionment wall street myth endangered already downward global economy posed fresh threat chinas foreign trade already verge collapse long run relative advantages madeinchina would possibly offset chinas competitiveness exports would dulled global geopolitics getting increasingly complex neo trade protectionism looking future trade barriers china would increase rather decrease 16 aware entering new phase chinese government looking sources growth professor yang clear option develop internal markets weve talking long time time get authorities must tackle inequalities town country rocketing food prices raised farmers incomes 179 per cent first half year 17 takes increased purchasing power drive consumption increase squirreled away china highest savings rate world families put money aside sickness retirement government must increase incomes build current embryonic system collective social security something effective internal forces drive growth already begun change according li xiaochao spokesman national bureau statistics chinas 114 per cent growth 2007 broke 44 per cent driven consumer spending 43 per cent investments 27 per cent contributed net exports 18 growth expected 10 per cent year 78 per cent 2009 western leaders would ecstatic rates given internal challenges facing china poverty rural discontent political unpredictability middle classes suggest trouble horizon future growth must consider impact environment another day another dollar externally china looking ways loosen dollars stranglehold recycled profits africa loans ignoring conditions imposed world bank imf signing bilateral trade agreements guarantee energy supply venezuela russia iraq iran create new outlets japan india supports idea asian monetary fund proposed may 2007 conjunction japan south korea would 80bn play allowing three founders 10 members association southeast asian nations guarantee financial stability without go imf region yet forgive similar initiatives parts world seek escape shadow dollar argentina bolivia brazil ecuador paraguay uruguay venezuela members bank south intended support infrastructure funding outside bretton woods system argentina brazil agreed conduct reciprocal payments local currency bypassing dollar brazil russia india china come together informal bloc known bric russias selfassertive stand europe due control raw materials brazil major player south america despite vulnerability us recession trade expanding rapidly countries within developing world still long way united front capacity impose new international rules dethrone dollar institutional props imf world bank professor arvind subramanian senior fellow peterson institute international economics washington dc suggested china might lend money us strings attached first would declare offer money conditional us government adopting particular approach rescuing banks use government money recapitalize banks second condition would relate social safety nets become standard embellishments world bankimf adjustment programmes moves would seal chinas status responsible superpower 19 far china neither desire means tomorrow another day notes 1 neil macfarquhar upheaval wall street stirs anger un international herald tribune 24 september 2008 2 subsequent quotes yann rousseau quand pékin donne des leçons de capitalisme à lamérique les echos paris 29 september 2008 3 foreign holdings us securities united states department treasury washington dc 29 february 2008 4 fareed zakaria join hands newsweek new york 6 october 2008 5 world factbook central intelligence agency washington dc 6 keynes proposed comprehensive global architecture international trade organisation supported central bank international clearing union see susan george alternative finances le monde diplomatique english edition january 2007 7 end 2007 fdi inflows us amounted 2376bn compared outflows 3333bn see world investment report 2008 united nations conference trade development new york 24 september 2008 8 see ibrahim warde poverty leads death akram belkaïd 1754 le monde diplomatique english edition respectively may august 2008 9 currency composition official foreign exchange reserves cofer international monetary fund washington dc 30 september 2008 10 david pilling americas chance kick asian addiction financial times 2 october 2008 11 jamil anderlini prudence guides chinas outook financial times 24 september 2008 12 ibid 13 see martine bulard chine inde la course du dragon et de léléphant fayard paris 2008 14 imf delays china report south china morning post hong kong 1 october 2008 15 according national bureau statistics nbs 19 per cent chinese exports go us 20 per cent eu countries 16 wall street turmoil tests chinas foreign trade peoples daily october 6 2008 17 nbs october 2008 rising prices eroded purchasing power urban population 18 consumption edges ahead powerful engine chinas economic growth peoples daily 30 january 2008 19 arvind subramanian master plan china bail america financial times 7 october 2008 translated donald hounam article appears november 160edition excellent monthly le monde diplomatique whose english language edition found mondediplocom full text appears agreement le monde diplomatique counterpunch features one two articles lmd every month 160 160 160 160 | 2,166 |
<p>To paraphrase Sean Spicer, this transcript speaks for itself.</p>
<p>LAWRENCE O'DONNELL: Well, today was, really was, as it was predicted to be, the worst day of the Trump presidency. And Donald Trump knows it.</p>
<p>And the proof that Donald Trump knows that this has been the worst day of his presidency is that he did not tweet a word today. Not one tweet about anything. Not one word about James Comey who called the President of the United States a liar today. And while he was at it, James Comey called the White House spokespeople liars too.</p>
<p>COMEY: The administration then chose to defame me, and more importantly, the FBI, by saying that the organization was in disarray, that it was poorly led, that the workforce had lost confidence in its leader. Those were lies, plain and simple. And I am so sorry that the FBI workforce had the hear them.</p>
<p>O'DONNELL: 'And I'm so sorry'...that moment the seething rage that you know the president is living with. Right now. You've seen enough of his behavior to know that when he is criticized by anyone, he needs to lash out on Twitter as fast as possible with a rage tweet aimed at that person. He has done to it me. He has done to it other people on this network. He has done it to other people we've never heard of until he attacked that person for criticizing him. He obviously needs, needs do it. He obviously gets a certain relief, a certain pleasure, perhaps, from viciously attacking his critics. But he is sitting there tonight in the White House, staring at that overused TV without having had that relief, that pleasure. How agonizing is that for him? For someone who fills with rage so easily to be able to release that rage is so important.</p>
<p>We've had reliable reports that the president explodes in rage at his staff inside the White House, sometimes even worse than his public explosions on Twitter. And that might be happening in the White House tonight. There is a report in The Daily Beast tonight that White House staff are all worried about a possible late night Twitter storm. Possibly during this hour. But not yet. Imagine how unsatisfactory that is for the man who so desperately needs and likes retweets of his rage. He hasn't been able to do that today. He needs to see on Twitter how many people share his rage. Can't do that now. So this, this is the darkest night in the Trump White House so far. We know this because we know the nature of the person living in the White House. We know how he deals with criticism. He has made that very public.</p>
<p>James Comey knew the nature of the person he was meeting before he met Donald Trump.</p>
<p>He knew that Donald Trump spent years lying about President Obama's birth certificate.</p>
<p>He knew that Donald Trump lied about seeing thousands of people celebrating the 9/11 attacks in New Jersey.</p>
<p>He knew that Donald Trump had told a string of lies about when he would release his tax returns.</p>
<p>He knew that Donald Trump lied about losing hundreds of friends on 9/11. He lost none, not one. He never went to a single 9/11 funeral. He lied about all of that.</p>
<p>James Comey knew that Donald Trump had defrauded the students of Trump University, lied to them about what Trump University was and what it would be for them. Lied to those students and took their money.</p>
<p>James Comey knew who he was meeting that day in Trump Tower on January 6th. And in his written testimony that was released yesterday, James Comey said I felt compelled to document my first conversation with the president-elect in a memo. Today James Comey explained exactly why he felt compelled to do that.</p>
<p>COMEY: I knew that there might come a day when I would need a record of what had happened not just to defend myself, but to defend the FBI and our integrity as an institution and the independence of our investigative function.</p>
<p>O'DONNELL: He knew there might come a day. That day has come... that day was today. He explained that he never took notes of his discussions with previous presidents, Obama and Bush, because he trusted them.</p>
<p>Why did James Comey think that there might come a day when he would need a record of what happened? Because he didn't trust Donald Trump.</p>
<p>He said it was a combination of things that made him decide to take notes. The circumstances, the subject matter, and third, the nature of the person. Here is what James Comey said about the nature of the person.</p>
<p>COMEY: ...And the nature of the person. I was honestly concerned that he might lie about the nature of our meeting. So I thought it really important to document.</p>
<p>O'DONNELL: "The nature of the person." The nature of the person has been obvious for many years to anyone who has been listening to Donald Trump. I started calling him a liar on this program in 2011, as soon as he opened his mouth about President Obama's birth certificate. It took the rest of the news media to catch up and finally describe Trump's statements as lies. He is a proven liar. That is the nature of the person James Comey was about to meet. That's why James Comey was concerned that he might lie. Because James Comey had heard him lie many times before.fore. We all have. The world has. No one in public life has lied as much about as many things as Donald Trump.</p>
<p>And so not one Republican senator on the committee today tried to defend Donald Trump.</p>
<p>Not one of them said, "I don't believe Donald Trump would have asked for your loyalty."</p>
<p>Not one of them said "I don't believe Donald Trump would have asked you to stop the investigation of Michael Flynn.:</p>
<p>No one on that committee said today "I know Donald Trump, and Donald Trump would never do what you're saying he did. Donald Trump is an honorable man. Donald Trump would never say what you're saying he said." No one on that committee tried to say that.</p>
<p>One Republican senator tried to suggest that President Trump only expressed his hope, his hope to James Comey when he said "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go." James Comey did not take that as a hope. ....When Marco Rubio characterized it as an order, Comey agreed that it was an order. It could be characterized that way. James Comey didn't carry out that order or direction or hope or whatever you want to call it, and he was fired by the president, whose order, whose hope, he defied.</p>
<p>As reported on this program, President Trump was unable to hire an experienced Washington lawyer to defend him in this investigation. And so he is stuck with the same New York lawyer with no experience in Washington who has participated in Donald Trump's frivolous lawsuits against people who have criticized Donald Trump, and who has defended Donald Trump in the Trump University fraud case that cost Donald Trump $25 million. That lawyer, who has no idea at all how to defend a president in a situation like this that could lead to impeachment, that lawyer, made a terrible mistake, of ending the day today with a credibility contest between a proven public pathological liar and former director of the FBI James Comey.</p> | true | 4 | paraphrase sean spicer transcript speaks lawrence odonnell well today really predicted worst day trump presidency donald trump knows proof donald trump knows worst day presidency tweet word today one tweet anything one word james comey called president united states liar today james comey called white house spokespeople liars comey administration chose defame importantly fbi saying organization disarray poorly led workforce lost confidence leader lies plain simple sorry fbi workforce hear odonnell im sorrythat moment seething rage know president living right youve seen enough behavior know criticized anyone needs lash twitter fast possible rage tweet aimed person done done people network done people weve never heard attacked person criticizing obviously needs needs obviously gets certain relief certain pleasure perhaps viciously attacking critics sitting tonight white house staring overused tv without relief pleasure agonizing someone fills rage easily able release rage important weve reliable reports president explodes rage staff inside white house sometimes even worse public explosions twitter might happening white house tonight report daily beast tonight white house staff worried possible late night twitter storm possibly hour yet imagine unsatisfactory man desperately needs likes retweets rage hasnt able today needs see twitter many people share rage cant darkest night trump white house far know know nature person living white house know deals criticism made public james comey knew nature person meeting met donald trump knew donald trump spent years lying president obamas birth certificate knew donald trump lied seeing thousands people celebrating 911 attacks new jersey knew donald trump told string lies would release tax returns knew donald trump lied losing hundreds friends 911 lost none one never went single 911 funeral lied james comey knew donald trump defrauded students trump university lied trump university would lied students took money james comey knew meeting day trump tower january 6th written testimony released yesterday james comey said felt compelled document first conversation presidentelect memo today james comey explained exactly felt compelled comey knew might come day would need record happened defend defend fbi integrity institution independence investigative function odonnell knew might come day day come day today explained never took notes discussions previous presidents obama bush trusted james comey think might come day would need record happened didnt trust donald trump said combination things made decide take notes circumstances subject matter third nature person james comey said nature person comey nature person honestly concerned might lie nature meeting thought really important document odonnell nature person nature person obvious many years anyone listening donald trump started calling liar program 2011 soon opened mouth president obamas birth certificate took rest news media catch finally describe trumps statements lies proven liar nature person james comey meet thats james comey concerned might lie james comey heard lie many times beforefore world one public life lied much many things donald trump one republican senator committee today tried defend donald trump one said dont believe donald trump would asked loyalty one said dont believe donald trump would asked stop investigation michael flynn one committee said today know donald trump donald trump would never youre saying donald trump honorable man donald trump would never say youre saying said one committee tried say one republican senator tried suggest president trump expressed hope hope james comey said hope see way clear letting go letting flynn go good guy hope let go james comey take hope marco rubio characterized order comey agreed order could characterized way james comey didnt carry order direction hope whatever want call fired president whose order whose hope defied reported program president trump unable hire experienced washington lawyer defend investigation stuck new york lawyer experience washington participated donald trumps frivolous lawsuits people criticized donald trump defended donald trump trump university fraud case cost donald trump 25 million lawyer idea defend president situation like could lead impeachment lawyer made terrible mistake ending day today credibility contest proven public pathological liar former director fbi james comey | 646 |
<p>On Wednesday, President Trump floated the idea of pursuing a federal crackdown on NBC and other TV networks, tweeting that it may be “appropriate” to revoke their “License.”</p>
<p />
<p>Trump’s tweet came 10 minutes after <a href="" type="internal">he accused NBC of fabricating a story</a> about him telling national security officials during a meeting in July that he wants to dramatically expand America’s nuclear arsenal. Not only was NBC’s story sourced to&#160;“three officials who were in the room,” but Trump himself tweeted in December that the U.S. “must greatly&#160;strengthen and expand its nuclear capability.”</p>
<p />
<p>The <a href="http://www.nab.org/" type="external">National Association of Broadcasters</a> — the leading trade association for radio and TV — quickly issued a statement condemning Trump’s threat.</p>
<p>“The founders of our nation set as a cornerstone of our democracy the First Amendment, forever enshrining and protecting freedom of the press,” NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith <a href="http://www.nab.org/documents/newsRoom/pressRelease.asp?id=4253" type="external">said in the statement</a>. “It is contrary to this fundamental right for any government official to threaten the revocation of an FCC license simply because of a disagreement with the reporting of a journalist.”</p>
<p>Though the president is sworn to uphold the U.S. Constitution — including freedom of the press — Trump has made no secret of his authoritarian impulses when it comes to the media.</p>
<p>Just last week, Trump <a href="" type="internal">urged the&#160;Senate Intelligence Committee to investigate the American press</a> in response to a previous NBC report about Secretary of State Rex Tillerson calling him a “moron” — a report that <a href="" type="internal">Tillerson himself didn’t deny</a>.</p>
<p />
<p>Trump also has a long history of joking with authoritarian leaders around the world about how much he hates the press.</p>
<p>During a joint news conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda in August, Trump commiserated with Duda over their mutual distaste for so-called “fake news,” with Trump specifically singling out CNN.</p>
<p>As <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/trump-poland-trip-fake-news-president-andrzej-duda-cnn-a7827751.html" type="external">The Independent noted</a>, Duda’s government “has been accused of significantly clamping down on press freedoms,” and Duda “signed a law allowing the government to take political control of state media outlets, resulting in claims&#160;that the government is turning&#160;public news organisations&#160;into mouthpieces for the party.”</p>
<p>His latest attack on the First Amendment</p>
<p />
<p>During a joint news conference in Washington, D.C. early last month with&#160;the emir of Kuwait,&#160;Sheikh Sabah Ahmed al-Sabah, the two men <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/09/07/bashing-the-media-is-how-trump-tries-to-bond-with-world-leaders/?utm_term=.e556c2154f76" type="external">shared a laugh a the media’s expense</a>. After Sabah noted that&#160;“it’s&#160;true we have descended into some not-very-healthy issues, especially in the media,” Trump said that&#160;“I’m very, very honored and happy to know that you have problems with the media also.”&#160;</p>
<p><a href="https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2016/kuwait" type="external">Freedom House notes</a> that in Kuwait, journalists “operate in a restricted environment. Journalists and social media users deemed to have insulted the emir or Saudi Arabia often face prosecution, and the government sustains efforts to stifle criticism of its actions and policies.”</p>
<p>In September, Trump praised&#160;Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a joint appearance before journalists in DC, saying the increasingly authoritarian ruler is “ <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/21/trump-erdogan-turkey-praise-242986" type="external">getting very high marks</a>.”</p>
<p>“It’s a great honor and privilege — because he’s become a friend of mine — to introduce President Erdogan of Turkey,” Trump told reporters. “He’s running a very difficult part of the world. He’s involved very, very strongly and, frankly, he’s getting very high marks.”</p>
<p>Erdogan has presided over a press crackdown since an attempted coup in the summer of 2016. As the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/01/12/amid-turkeys-media-crackdown-erdogan-praises-trump-for-putting-cnn-reporter-in-his-place/?utm_term=.26e7266e0ea0" type="external">Washington Post noted</a> in January, Erdogan “ <a href="https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2017/country-chapters/turkey" type="external">has jailed</a>&#160;at least 144 journalists and shuttered or seized control of more than 150 media companies, according to Human Rights Watch.” That same month, Erdogan praised Trump for calling a CNN reporter “fake news” during a news conference held days before the inauguration.</p>
<p>“Mr. Trump put the reporter of that [media] group in his place,” Erdogan told Turkish journalists.</p>
<p />
<p>In December of last year, Trump dismissed concerns about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime murdering journalists, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/12/18/donald-trump-glad-to-be-endorsed-by-russias-top-journalist-murderer/?utm_term=.02a29560ac07" type="external">telling MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough</a>, “Well, I think that our country does plenty of killing, too.”</p>
<p>While it’s not immediately clear how Trump could curtail NBC and other networks, his Federal Communications Commission chief has already helped disseminate coverage that is favorable to him and other Republicans.</p>
<p>As <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/06/trump-fcc-sinclair-broadcast-expansion-241337" type="external">Politico detailed</a> in August, Sinclair Broadcast Group’s expansion into nearly three-quarters of American households was aided by&#160;Republican FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, “who revived a decades-old regulatory loophole that will keep Sinclair from vastly exceeding federal limits on media ownership.”</p>
<p>“The change will allow Sinclair — a company known for injecting ‘must run’ conservative segments into its local programming — to reach 72 percent of U.S. households after buying Tribune’s stations,” Politico reported. “That’s nearly double the congressionally imposed nationwide audience cap of 39 percent.”</p>
<p>The campaign reportedly traded access for interviews broadcast without commentary.</p>
<p />
<p>The Trump campaign struck a deal with Sinclair for uncritical coverage. Last December, now-White House senior adviser Jared Kushner <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/trump-campaign-sinclair-broadcasting-jared-kushner-232764" type="external">reportedly told business executives in Manhattan</a> that the campaign granted access to Trump and other campaign officials in exchange for broadcasting interviews with them without commentary.</p>
<p>Less than a month before the election,&#160;the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)&#160; <a href="https://cpj.org/2016/10/cpj-chairman-says-trump-is-threat-to-press-freedom.php" type="external">declared Trump to be a threat to press freedoms</a>&#160;throughout the world.</p>
<p>In a move unprecedented in CPJ’s 35-year history, the nonprofit organization released a statement saying, “Trump, through his words and actions as a candidate for president of the United States, has consistently betrayed First Amendment values.”</p>
<p>“Absolute scum. They’re totally dishonest people.”</p>
<p />
<p>“A Trump presidency would represent a threat to press freedom in the United States, but the consequences for the rights of journalists around the world could be far more serious,” the statement said. “Any failure of the United States to uphold its own standards&#160; <a href="https://cpj.org/blog/2016/05/why-trumps-insults-of-journalists-must-be-taken-se.php" type="external">emboldens</a>&#160;dictators and despots to restrict the media in their own countries. This appears to be of no concern to Trump, who indicated that he has no inclination to challenge governments on press freedom and the treatment of journalists.”</p>
<p>UPDATE (10/11, 2:40 p.m.): During a brief appearance before reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon, Trump reiterated his desire for a crackdown on the media, and again called for an investigation of some sort.</p>
<p>“It’s frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write, and people should look into it,” he said.</p>
<p />
<p>Trump, referring NBC’s reporting about his desire to expand American’s nuclear stockpile in particular, went on to accuse mainstream media outlets of simply making up sources.</p>
<p>“When they make up stories like that, that’s just made up, and the generals will tell you that,” Trump said. “And then they have their sources that don’t exist, in my opinion they don’t exist. They make up the sources. There are no sources.”</p> | true | 4 | wednesday president trump floated idea pursuing federal crackdown nbc tv networks tweeting may appropriate revoke license trumps tweet came 10 minutes accused nbc fabricating story telling national security officials meeting july wants dramatically expand americas nuclear arsenal nbcs story sourced to160three officials room trump tweeted december us must greatly160strengthen expand nuclear capability national association broadcasters leading trade association radio tv quickly issued statement condemning trumps threat founders nation set cornerstone democracy first amendment forever enshrining protecting freedom press nab president ceo gordon smith said statement contrary fundamental right government official threaten revocation fcc license simply disagreement reporting journalist though president sworn uphold us constitution including freedom press trump made secret authoritarian impulses comes media last week trump urged the160senate intelligence committee investigate american press response previous nbc report secretary state rex tillerson calling moron report tillerson didnt deny trump also long history joking authoritarian leaders around world much hates press joint news conference polish president andrzej duda august trump commiserated duda mutual distaste socalled fake news trump specifically singling cnn independent noted dudas government accused significantly clamping press freedoms duda signed law allowing government take political control state media outlets resulting claims160that government turning160public news organisations160into mouthpieces party latest attack first amendment joint news conference washington dc early last month with160the emir kuwait160sheikh sabah ahmed alsabah two men shared laugh medias expense sabah noted that160its160true descended notveryhealthy issues especially media trump said that160im honored happy know problems media also160 freedom house notes kuwait journalists operate restricted environment journalists social media users deemed insulted emir saudi arabia often face prosecution government sustains efforts stifle criticism actions policies september trump praised160turkish president recep tayyip erdogan joint appearance journalists dc saying increasingly authoritarian ruler getting high marks great honor privilege hes become friend mine introduce president erdogan turkey trump told reporters hes running difficult part world hes involved strongly frankly hes getting high marks erdogan presided press crackdown since attempted coup summer 2016 washington post noted january erdogan jailed160at least 144 journalists shuttered seized control 150 media companies according human rights watch month erdogan praised trump calling cnn reporter fake news news conference held days inauguration mr trump put reporter media group place erdogan told turkish journalists december last year trump dismissed concerns russian president vladimir putins regime murdering journalists telling msnbcs joe scarborough well think country plenty killing immediately clear trump could curtail nbc networks federal communications commission chief already helped disseminate coverage favorable republicans politico detailed august sinclair broadcast groups expansion nearly threequarters american households aided by160republican fcc chairman ajit pai revived decadesold regulatory loophole keep sinclair vastly exceeding federal limits media ownership change allow sinclair company known injecting must run conservative segments local programming reach 72 percent us households buying tribunes stations politico reported thats nearly double congressionally imposed nationwide audience cap 39 percent campaign reportedly traded access interviews broadcast without commentary trump campaign struck deal sinclair uncritical coverage last december nowwhite house senior adviser jared kushner reportedly told business executives manhattan campaign granted access trump campaign officials exchange broadcasting interviews without commentary less month election160the committee protect journalists cpj160 declared trump threat press freedoms160throughout world move unprecedented cpjs 35year history nonprofit organization released statement saying trump words actions candidate president united states consistently betrayed first amendment values absolute scum theyre totally dishonest people trump presidency would represent threat press freedom united states consequences rights journalists around world could far serious statement said failure united states uphold standards160 emboldens160dictators despots restrict media countries appears concern trump indicated inclination challenge governments press freedom treatment journalists update 1011 240 pm brief appearance reporters oval office wednesday afternoon trump reiterated desire crackdown media called investigation sort frankly disgusting way press able write whatever want write people look said trump referring nbcs reporting desire expand americans nuclear stockpile particular went accuse mainstream media outlets simply making sources make stories like thats made generals tell trump said sources dont exist opinion dont exist make sources sources | 651 |
<p>Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet in Shanghai in May.Pang Xinglei/Xinhua</p>
<p>This <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175903/tomgram%3A_pepe_escobar%2C_new_silk_roads_and_an_alternate_eurasian_century/" type="external">story</a> first appeared on the <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/" type="external">TomDispatch</a> website.</p>
<p>A specter haunts the fast-aging “New American Century”: the possibility of a future Beijing-Moscow-Berlin strategic trade and commercial alliance. Let’s call it the BMB.</p>
<p>Its likelihood is being seriously discussed at the highest levels in Beijing and Moscow, and viewed with interest in Berlin, New Delhi, and Tehran. But don’t mention it inside Washington’s Beltway or at NATO headquarters in Brussels. There, the star of the show today and tomorrow is the new Osama bin Laden: Caliph Ibrahim, aka Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the elusive, self-appointed beheading prophet of a new mini-state and movement that has provided an acronym feast—ISIS/ISIL/IS—for hysterics in Washington and elsewhere.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com" type="external" /></p>
<p>No matter how often Washington remixes its Global War on Terror, however, the tectonic plates of Eurasian geopolitics continue to shift, and they’re not going to stop just because American elites <a href="http://m.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/04/in-defense-of-empire/358645/" type="external">refuse</a> <a href="http://m.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/04/in-defense-of-empire/358645/" type="external">to accept</a> that their historically brief “unipolar moment” is on the wane. For them, the closing of the era of “full spectrum dominance,” as the Pentagon likes to call it, is inconceivable. After all, the necessity for the indispensable nation to control all space—military, economic, cultural, cyber, and outer—is little short of a religious doctrine. Exceptionalist missionaries don’t do equality. At best, they do “coalitions of the willing” like the one crammed with “ <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/09/21/ambassador-powers-touts-international-support-against-islamic-state-but-wont/" type="external">over 40 countries</a>” assembled to fight ISIS/ISIL/IS and either applauding (and plotting) from the sidelines or sending the odd plane or two toward Iraq or Syria.</p>
<p>NATO, which unlike some of its members won’t officially <a href="http://www.atimes.com/atimes/World/WOR-03-050914.html" type="external">fight Jihadistan</a>, remains a top-down outfit controlled by Washington. It’s never fully bothered to take in the European Union (EU) or considered allowing Russia to “feel” European. As for the Caliph, he’s just a minor diversion. A postmodern cynic might even contend that he was an emissary sent onto the global playing field by China and Russia to take the eye of the planet’s hyperpower off the ball. &#160;</p>
<p>Divide and Isolate</p>
<p>So how does full spectrum dominance apply when two actual competitor powers, Russia and China, begin to make their presences felt? Washington’s approach to each—in Ukraine and in Asian waters—might be thought of as divide and isolate.</p>
<p>In order to keep the Pacific Ocean as a classic “American lake,” the Obama administration has been “pivoting” back to Asia for several years now. This has involved only modest military moves, but an immodest attempt to pit Chinese nationalism against the Japanese variety, while strengthening alliances and relations across Southeast Asia with a focus on South China Sea energy disputes. At the same time, it has moved to lock a future trade agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), in place.</p>
<p>In Russia’s western borderlands, the Obama administration has stoked the embers of regime change in Kiev into flames (fanned by local cheerleaders <a href="http://www.moonofalabama.org/2014/08/poland-wants-bigger-freeride-on-us-military-force-and-money.html#comments" type="external">Poland</a> and the <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/nato-considers-missle-shield-directed-against-russia-a-987899.html" type="external">Baltic nations</a>) and into what clearly looked, to Vladimir Putin and Russia’s leadership, like an existential threat to Moscow. Unlike the US, whose sphere of influence (and military bases) are global, Russia was not to retain any significant influence in its former near abroad, which, when it comes to Kiev, is not for most Russians, “abroad” at all.</p>
<p>For Moscow, it seemed as if Washington and its NATO allies were increasingly interested in imposing a new Iron Curtain on their country from the Baltic to the Black Sea, with Ukraine simply as the tip of the spear. In BMB terms, think of it as an attempt to isolate Russia and impose a new barrier to relations with Germany. The ultimate aim would be to split Eurasia, preventing future moves toward trade and commercial integration via a process not controlled through Washington.</p>
<p>From Beijing’s point of view, the Ukraine crisis was a case of Washington crossing every imaginable red line to harass and isolate Russia. To its leaders, this looks like a concerted attempt to destabilize the region in ways favorable to American interests, supported by a full range of Washington’s elite from neocons and Cold War “liberals” to humanitarian interventionists in the Susan Rice and Samantha Power mold. Of course, if you’ve been following the Ukraine crisis from Washington, such perspectives seem as alien as any those of any Martian. But the world looks different from the heart of Eurasia than it does from Washington—especially from a rising China with its newly minted “ <a href="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/Chinese-dream.html" type="external">Chinese dream</a>” (Zhongguo meng).</p>
<p>As laid out by President Xi Jinping, that dream would include a future network of Chinese-organized new Silk Roads that would create the equivalent of a Trans-Asian Express for Eurasian commerce. So if Beijing, for instance, feels pressure from Washington and Tokyo on the naval front, part of its response is a two-pronged, trade-based advance across the Eurasian landmass, one prong via Siberia and the other through the Central Asian “stans.”</p>
<p>In this sense, though you wouldn’t know it if you only followed the American media or “debates” in Washington, we’re potentially entering a new world. Once upon a time not so long ago, Beijing’s leadership was flirting with the idea of rewriting the geopolitical/economic game side by side with the US, while Putin’s Moscow hinted at the possibility of someday joining NATO. No longer. Today, the part of the West that both countries are interested in is a possible future Germany no longer dominated by American power and Washington’s wishes.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1608463656/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external" />Moscow has, in fact, been involved in no less than half a century of strategic dialogue with Berlin that has included industrial cooperation and increasing energy interdependence. In many quarters of the Global South this has been noted and Germany is starting to be viewed as “the sixth BRICS” power (after Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa).</p>
<p>In the midst of global crises ranging from Syria to Ukraine, Berlin’s geostrategic interests seem to be slowly diverging from Washington’s. German industrialists, in particular, appear eager to pursue unlimited commercial deals with Russia and China. These might set their country on a path to global power unlimited by the EU’s borders and, in the long term, signal the end of the era in which Germany, however politely dealt with, was essentially an American satellite.</p>
<p>It will be a long and winding road. The Bundestag, Germany’s parliament, is still addicted to a strong Atlanticist agenda and a preemptive obedience to Washington. There are still tens of thousands of American soldiers on German soil. Yet, for the first time, German chancellor Angela Merkel has been hesitating when it comes to imposing ever-heavier sanctions on Russia over the situation in Ukraine, because no fewer than 300,000 German jobs depend on relations with that country. Industrial leaders and the financial establishment have already <a href="http://www.handelsblatt.com/meinung/kommentare/essay-in-englisch-the-west-on-the-wrong-path/10308406.html" type="external">sounded the alarm</a>, fearing such sanctions would be totally counterproductive. &#160;</p>
<p>China’s Silk Road Banquet</p>
<p>China’s new geopolitical power play in Eurasia has few parallels in modern history. The days when the “Little Helmsman” Deng Xiaoping insisted that the country “keep a low profile” on the global stage are long gone. Of course, there are disagreements and conflicting strategies when it comes to managing the country’s hot spots: Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet, Xinjiang, the South China Sea, competitors India and Japan, and problematic allies like North Korea and Pakistan. And popular unrest in some Beijing-dominated “peripheries” is growing to <a href="http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1604986/umbrella-revolution-weathers-storm-and-cy-leung-admits-protests-set" type="external">incendiary</a> levels.</p>
<p>The country’s number one priority remains domestic and focused on carrying out President Xi’s economic reforms, while increasing “transparency” and fighting corruption within the ruling Communist Party. A distant second is the question of how to progressively hedge against the Pentagon’s “pivot” plans in the region—via the build-up of a blue-water navy, nuclear submarines, and a technologically advanced air force—without getting so assertive as to freak out Washington’s “China threat”-minded establishment.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, with the US Navy controlling global sea lanes for the foreseeable future, planning for those new Silk Roads across Eurasia is proceeding apace. The end result should <a href="http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/04/06/357386/china-uses-economy-to-avert-cold-war/" type="external">prove</a> a triumph of integrated infrastructure—roads, high-speed rail, pipelines, ports—that will connect China to Western Europe and the Mediterranean Sea, the old Roman imperial Mare Nostrum, in every imaginable way.</p>
<p>In a reverse Marco Polo-style journey, remixed for the Google world, one key Silk Road branch will go from the former imperial capital Xian to Urumqi in Xinjiang Province, then through Central Asia, Iran, Iraq, and Turkey’s Anatolia, ending in Venice. Another will be a maritime Silk Road starting from Fujian province and going through the Malacca strait, the Indian Ocean, Nairobi in Kenya, and finally all the way to the Mediterranean via the Suez canal. Taken together, it’s what Beijing refers to as the Silk Road Economic Belt.</p>
<p>China’s strategy is to create a network of interconnections among no less than five key regions: Russia (the key bridge between Asia and Europe), the Central Asian “stans,” Southwest Asia (with major roles for Iran, Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey), the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe (including Belarus, Moldova, and depending upon its stability, Ukraine). And don’t forget Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India, which could be thought of as Silk Road plus.</p>
<p>Silk Road plus would involve connecting the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar economic corridor to the China-Pakistan economic corridor, and could offer Beijing privileged access to the Indian Ocean. Once again, a total package—roads, high-speed rail, pipelines, and fiber optic networks—would link the region to China.</p>
<p>Xi himself put the India-China connection in a neat package of images in an op-ed he published in <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/towards-an-asian-century-of-prosperity/article6416553.ece?homepage=true" type="external">the Hindu</a> prior to his recent visit to New Delhi. “The combination of the ‘world’s factory’ and the ‘world’s back office,'” he wrote, “will produce the most competitive production base and the most attractive consumer market.”</p>
<p>The central node of China’s elaborate planning for the Eurasian future is Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang Province and the site of the largest commercial fair in Central Asia, the China-Eurasia Fair. Since 2000, one of Beijing’s top priorities has been to urbanize that largely desert but oil-rich province and industrialize it, whatever it takes. And what it takes, as Beijing sees it, is the hardcore Sinicization of the region—with its corollary, the suppression of any possibility of ethnic Uighur dissent. People’s Liberation Army General Li Yazhou has, in these terms, described Central Asia as “the most subtle slice of cake donated by the sky to modern China.”</p>
<p>Most of China’s vision of a new Eurasia tied to Beijing by every form of transport and communication was vividly detailed in “Marching Westwards: The Rebalancing of China’s Geostrategy,” a landmark 2012 essay published by scholar Wang Jisi of the Center of International and Strategic Studies at Beijing University. As a response to such a future set of Eurasian connections, the best the Obama administration has come up with is a version of naval containment from the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea, while sharpening conflicts with and strategic alliances around China from Japan to India. (NATO is, of course, left with the task of containing Russia in Eastern Europe.) &#160;</p>
<p>An Iron Curtain vs. Silk Roads</p>
<p>The <a href="http://rt.com/business/184176-russia-china-gas-siberian-power/" type="external">$400 billion</a> “gas deal of the century,” signed by Putin and the Chinese president last May, laid the groundwork for the building of the Power of Siberia pipeline, already under construction in Yakutsk. It will bring a flood of Russian natural gas onto the Chinese market. It clearly represents just the beginning of a turbocharged, energy-based <a href="http://russia-insider.com/en/politics_business/2014/09/22/03-36-31am/6_pillars_chinese_russian_strategic_partnership" type="external">strategic alliance</a> between the two countries. Meanwhile, German businessmen and industrialists have been noting another emerging reality: as much as the final market for made-in-China products traveling on future new Silk Roads will be Europe, the reverse also applies. In one possible commercial future, China is slated to become Germany’s <a href="https://www.destatis.de/EN/FactsFigures/NationalEconomyEnvironment/ForeignTrade/TradingPartners/Current.html" type="external">top trading partner</a> by 2018, surging ahead of both the US and France.</p>
<p>A potential barrier to such developments, welcomed in Washington, is Cold War 2.0, which is already tearing not NATO, but the EU apart. In the EU of this moment, the anti-Russian camp includes Great Britain, Sweden, Poland, Romania, and the Baltic nations. Italy and Hungary, on the other hand, can be counted in the pro-Russian camp, while a still unpredictable Germany is the key to whether the future will hold a new Iron Curtain or “Go East” mindset. For this, Ukraine remains the key. If it is successfully Finlandized (with significant autonomy for its regions), as Moscow has been proposing—a suggestion that is anathema to Washington—the Go-East path will remain open. If not, a BMB future will be a dicier proposition.</p>
<p>It should be noted that another vision of the Eurasian economic future is also on the horizon. Washington is attempting to impose a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) on Europe and a similar Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on Asia. Both favor globalizing American corporations and their aim is visibly to impede the ascent of the BRICS economies and the rise of other emerging markets, while solidifying American global economic hegemony.</p>
<p>Two stark facts, carefully noted in Moscow, Beijing, and Berlin, suggest the hardcore geopolitics behind these two “commercial” pacts. The TPP excludes China and the TTIP excludes Russia. They represent, that is, the barely disguised sinews of a future trade/monetary war. On my own recent travels, I have had quality agricultural producers in Spain, Italy, and France repeatedly tell me that TTIP is nothing but an economic version of NATO, the military alliance that China’s Xi Jinping calls, perhaps wishfully, an “obsolete structure.”</p>
<p>There is significant resistance to the TTIP among many EU nations (especially in the Club Med countries of southern Europe), as there is against the TPP among Asian nations (especially Japan and Malaysia). It is this that gives the Chinese and the Russians hope for their new Silk Roads and a new style of trade across the Eurasian heartland backed by a Russian-supported <a href="http://euobserver.com/foreign/125331" type="external">Eurasian Union</a>. To this, key figures in German business and industrial circles, for whom <a href="http://www.iiea.com/blogosphere/understanding-german-russian-trade-relations" type="external">relations with Russia</a> remain essential, are paying close attention.</p>
<p>After all, Berlin has not shown overwhelming concern for the rest of the crisis-ridden EU (three recessions in five years). Via a much-despised troika—the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the European Commission—Berlin is, for all practical purposes, already at the helm of Europe, thriving, and looking east for more.</p>
<p>Three months ago, German chancellor Angela Merkel <a href="http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/2014-07/09/content_32902392.htm" type="external">visited Beijing.</a> Hardly featured in the news was the political acceleration of a potentially groundbreaking project: an uninterrupted high-speed rail connection between Beijing and Berlin. When finally built, it will prove a transportation and trade magnet for dozens of nations along its route from Asia to Europe. Passing through Moscow, it could become the ultimate Silk Road integrator for Europe and perhaps the ultimate nightmare for Washington. &#160;</p>
<p>“Losing” Russia</p>
<p>In a blaze of media attention, the recent NATO summit in Wales yielded only a modest “rapid reaction force” for deployment in any future Ukraine-like situations. Meanwhile, the expanding Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a possible Asian counterpart to NATO, met in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. In Washington and Western Europe essentially no one noticed. They should have. There, China, Russia, and four Central Asian “stans” <a href="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2014xisco/2014-09/12/content_18591355.htm" type="external">agreed</a> to add an impressive set of new members: India, Pakistan, and Iran. The implications could be far-reaching. After all, India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is now on the brink of <a href="http://www.rediff.com/news/column/modi-leads-india-to-the-silk-road/20140807.htm" type="external">its own version</a> of Silk Road mania. Behind it lies the possibility of a “Chindia” <a href="http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/SOU-02-160914.html" type="external">economic rapprochement</a>, which could change the Eurasian geopolitical map. At the same time, Iran is also being woven into the “Chindia” fold.</p>
<p>So the SCO is slowly but surely shaping up as the most important international organization in Asia. It’s already clear that one of its key long-term objectives will be to stop trading in US dollars, while advancing the use of the petroyuan and <a href="http://en.ria.ru/business/20140827/192383783/Russias-Gazprom-Neft-to-Sell-Oil-For-Rubles-Yuan.html" type="external">petroruble</a> in the energy trade. The US, of course, will never be welcomed into the organization.</p>
<p>All of this lies in the future, however. In the present, the Kremlin keeps signaling that it once again wants to start talking with Washington, while Beijing has never wanted to stop. Yet the Obama administration remains myopically embedded in its own version of a zero-sum game, relying on its technological and military might to maintain an advantageous position in Eurasia. Beijing, however, has access to markets and loads of cash, while Moscow has loads of energy. Triangular cooperation between Washington, Beijing, and Moscow would undoubtedly be—as the Chinese would say—a win-win-win game, but don’t hold your breath.</p>
<p>Instead, expect China and Russia to deepen their strategic partnership, while pulling in other Eurasian regional powers. Beijing has bet the farm that the US/NATO confrontation with Russia over Ukraine will leave Vladimir Putin turning east. At the same time, Moscow is carefully calibrating what its ongoing reorientation toward such an economic powerhouse will mean. Someday, it’s possible that voices of sanity in Washington will be wondering aloud how the US “lost” Russia to China.</p>
<p>In the meantime, think of China as a magnet for a new world order in a future Eurasian century. The same integration process Russia is facing, for instance, seems increasingly to <a href="http://orientalreview.org/2014/08/31/india-and-japan-must-propel-the-eurasian-juggernaut/" type="external">apply</a> to India and other Eurasian nations, and possibly sooner or later to a neutral Germany as well. In the endgame of such a process, the US might find itself progressively squeezed out of Eurasia, with the BMB emerging as a game-changer. Place your bets soon. They’ll be called in by 2025.</p>
<p>Pepe Escobar is the roving correspondent for <a href="http://www.atimes.com" type="external">Asia Times</a>/Hong Kong, an analyst for RT, and a <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175845/tomgram%3A_pepe_escobar,_who%27s_pivoting_where_in_eurasia/" type="external">TomDispatch regular</a>. His new book, Empire of Chaos, will be published in November by Nimble Books. Follow him on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pepe.escobar.77377" type="external">Facebook</a>. To stay on top of important articles like these, sign up to receive the latest updates from TomDispatch.com <a href="http://tomdispatch.us2.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=6cb39ff0b1f670c349f828c73&amp;id=1e41682ade" type="external">here</a>.</p> | true | 4 | russian president vladimir putin chinese president xi jinping meet shanghai maypang xingleixinhua story first appeared tomdispatch website specter haunts fastaging new american century possibility future beijingmoscowberlin strategic trade commercial alliance lets call bmb likelihood seriously discussed highest levels beijing moscow viewed interest berlin new delhi tehran dont mention inside washingtons beltway nato headquarters brussels star show today tomorrow new osama bin laden caliph ibrahim aka abu bakr albaghdadi elusive selfappointed beheading prophet new ministate movement provided acronym feastisisisilisfor hysterics washington elsewhere matter often washington remixes global war terror however tectonic plates eurasian geopolitics continue shift theyre going stop american elites refuse accept historically brief unipolar moment wane closing era full spectrum dominance pentagon likes call inconceivable necessity indispensable nation control spacemilitary economic cultural cyber outeris little short religious doctrine exceptionalist missionaries dont equality best coalitions willing like one crammed 40 countries assembled fight isisisilis either applauding plotting sidelines sending odd plane two toward iraq syria nato unlike members wont officially fight jihadistan remains topdown outfit controlled washington never fully bothered take european union eu considered allowing russia feel european caliph hes minor diversion postmodern cynic might even contend emissary sent onto global playing field china russia take eye planets hyperpower ball 160 divide isolate full spectrum dominance apply two actual competitor powers russia china begin make presences felt washingtons approach eachin ukraine asian watersmight thought divide isolate order keep pacific ocean classic american lake obama administration pivoting back asia several years involved modest military moves immodest attempt pit chinese nationalism japanese variety strengthening alliances relations across southeast asia focus south china sea energy disputes time moved lock future trade agreement transpacific partnership tpp place russias western borderlands obama administration stoked embers regime change kiev flames fanned local cheerleaders poland baltic nations clearly looked vladimir putin russias leadership like existential threat moscow unlike us whose sphere influence military bases global russia retain significant influence former near abroad comes kiev russians abroad moscow seemed washington nato allies increasingly interested imposing new iron curtain country baltic black sea ukraine simply tip spear bmb terms think attempt isolate russia impose new barrier relations germany ultimate aim would split eurasia preventing future moves toward trade commercial integration via process controlled washington beijings point view ukraine crisis case washington crossing every imaginable red line harass isolate russia leaders looks like concerted attempt destabilize region ways favorable american interests supported full range washingtons elite neocons cold war liberals humanitarian interventionists susan rice samantha power mold course youve following ukraine crisis washington perspectives seem alien martian world looks different heart eurasia washingtonespecially rising china newly minted chinese dream zhongguo meng laid president xi jinping dream would include future network chineseorganized new silk roads would create equivalent transasian express eurasian commerce beijing instance feels pressure washington tokyo naval front part response twopronged tradebased advance across eurasian landmass one prong via siberia central asian stans sense though wouldnt know followed american media debates washington potentially entering new world upon time long ago beijings leadership flirting idea rewriting geopoliticaleconomic game side side us putins moscow hinted possibility someday joining nato longer today part west countries interested possible future germany longer dominated american power washingtons wishes moscow fact involved less half century strategic dialogue berlin included industrial cooperation increasing energy interdependence many quarters global south noted germany starting viewed sixth brics power brazil russia india china south africa midst global crises ranging syria ukraine berlins geostrategic interests seem slowly diverging washingtons german industrialists particular appear eager pursue unlimited commercial deals russia china might set country path global power unlimited eus borders long term signal end era germany however politely dealt essentially american satellite long winding road bundestag germanys parliament still addicted strong atlanticist agenda preemptive obedience washington still tens thousands american soldiers german soil yet first time german chancellor angela merkel hesitating comes imposing everheavier sanctions russia situation ukraine fewer 300000 german jobs depend relations country industrial leaders financial establishment already sounded alarm fearing sanctions would totally counterproductive 160 chinas silk road banquet chinas new geopolitical power play eurasia parallels modern history days little helmsman deng xiaoping insisted country keep low profile global stage long gone course disagreements conflicting strategies comes managing countrys hot spots taiwan hong kong tibet xinjiang south china sea competitors india japan problematic allies like north korea pakistan popular unrest beijingdominated peripheries growing incendiary levels countrys number one priority remains domestic focused carrying president xis economic reforms increasing transparency fighting corruption within ruling communist party distant second question progressively hedge pentagons pivot plans regionvia buildup bluewater navy nuclear submarines technologically advanced air forcewithout getting assertive freak washingtons china threatminded establishment meanwhile us navy controlling global sea lanes foreseeable future planning new silk roads across eurasia proceeding apace end result prove triumph integrated infrastructureroads highspeed rail pipelines portsthat connect china western europe mediterranean sea old roman imperial mare nostrum every imaginable way reverse marco polostyle journey remixed google world one key silk road branch go former imperial capital xian urumqi xinjiang province central asia iran iraq turkeys anatolia ending venice another maritime silk road starting fujian province going malacca strait indian ocean nairobi kenya finally way mediterranean via suez canal taken together beijing refers silk road economic belt chinas strategy create network interconnections among less five key regions russia key bridge asia europe central asian stans southwest asia major roles iran iraq syria saudi arabia turkey caucasus eastern europe including belarus moldova depending upon stability ukraine dont forget afghanistan pakistan india could thought silk road plus silk road plus would involve connecting bangladeshchinaindiamyanmar economic corridor chinapakistan economic corridor could offer beijing privileged access indian ocean total packageroads highspeed rail pipelines fiber optic networkswould link region china xi put indiachina connection neat package images oped published hindu prior recent visit new delhi combination worlds factory worlds back office wrote produce competitive production base attractive consumer market central node chinas elaborate planning eurasian future urumqi capital xinjiang province site largest commercial fair central asia chinaeurasia fair since 2000 one beijings top priorities urbanize largely desert oilrich province industrialize whatever takes takes beijing sees hardcore sinicization regionwith corollary suppression possibility ethnic uighur dissent peoples liberation army general li yazhou terms described central asia subtle slice cake donated sky modern china chinas vision new eurasia tied beijing every form transport communication vividly detailed marching westwards rebalancing chinas geostrategy landmark 2012 essay published scholar wang jisi center international strategic studies beijing university response future set eurasian connections best obama administration come version naval containment indian ocean south china sea sharpening conflicts strategic alliances around china japan india nato course left task containing russia eastern europe 160 iron curtain vs silk roads 400 billion gas deal century signed putin chinese president last may laid groundwork building power siberia pipeline already construction yakutsk bring flood russian natural gas onto chinese market clearly represents beginning turbocharged energybased strategic alliance two countries meanwhile german businessmen industrialists noting another emerging reality much final market madeinchina products traveling future new silk roads europe reverse also applies one possible commercial future china slated become germanys top trading partner 2018 surging ahead us france potential barrier developments welcomed washington cold war 20 already tearing nato eu apart eu moment antirussian camp includes great britain sweden poland romania baltic nations italy hungary hand counted prorussian camp still unpredictable germany key whether future hold new iron curtain go east mindset ukraine remains key successfully finlandized significant autonomy regions moscow proposinga suggestion anathema washingtonthe goeast path remain open bmb future dicier proposition noted another vision eurasian economic future also horizon washington attempting impose transatlantic trade investment partnership ttip europe similar transpacific partnership tpp asia favor globalizing american corporations aim visibly impede ascent brics economies rise emerging markets solidifying american global economic hegemony two stark facts carefully noted moscow beijing berlin suggest hardcore geopolitics behind two commercial pacts tpp excludes china ttip excludes russia represent barely disguised sinews future trademonetary war recent travels quality agricultural producers spain italy france repeatedly tell ttip nothing economic version nato military alliance chinas xi jinping calls perhaps wishfully obsolete structure significant resistance ttip among many eu nations especially club med countries southern europe tpp among asian nations especially japan malaysia gives chinese russians hope new silk roads new style trade across eurasian heartland backed russiansupported eurasian union key figures german business industrial circles relations russia remain essential paying close attention berlin shown overwhelming concern rest crisisridden eu three recessions five years via muchdespised troikathe european central bank international monetary fund european commissionberlin practical purposes already helm europe thriving looking east three months ago german chancellor angela merkel visited beijing hardly featured news political acceleration potentially groundbreaking project uninterrupted highspeed rail connection beijing berlin finally built prove transportation trade magnet dozens nations along route asia europe passing moscow could become ultimate silk road integrator europe perhaps ultimate nightmare washington 160 losing russia blaze media attention recent nato summit wales yielded modest rapid reaction force deployment future ukrainelike situations meanwhile expanding shanghai cooperation organization sco possible asian counterpart nato met dushanbe tajikistan washington western europe essentially one noticed china russia four central asian stans agreed add impressive set new members india pakistan iran implications could farreaching india prime minister narendra modi brink version silk road mania behind lies possibility chindia economic rapprochement could change eurasian geopolitical map time iran also woven chindia fold sco slowly surely shaping important international organization asia already clear one key longterm objectives stop trading us dollars advancing use petroyuan petroruble energy trade us course never welcomed organization lies future however present kremlin keeps signaling wants start talking washington beijing never wanted stop yet obama administration remains myopically embedded version zerosum game relying technological military might maintain advantageous position eurasia beijing however access markets loads cash moscow loads energy triangular cooperation washington beijing moscow would undoubtedly beas chinese would saya winwinwin game dont hold breath instead expect china russia deepen strategic partnership pulling eurasian regional powers beijing bet farm usnato confrontation russia ukraine leave vladimir putin turning east time moscow carefully calibrating ongoing reorientation toward economic powerhouse mean someday possible voices sanity washington wondering aloud us lost russia china meantime think china magnet new world order future eurasian century integration process russia facing instance seems increasingly apply india eurasian nations possibly sooner later neutral germany well endgame process us might find progressively squeezed eurasia bmb emerging gamechanger place bets soon theyll called 2025 pepe escobar roving correspondent asia timeshong kong analyst rt tomdispatch regular new book empire chaos published november nimble books follow facebook stay top important articles like sign receive latest updates tomdispatchcom | 1,746 |
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