Aurora massacre
In the wake of the Aurora Massacre, pundits of all stripes are saying the same things they always say after all the massacres. In this sort of situation, poems are better, even if they may be just as inadequate as any other form of communication.
Aurora Massacre
The survivors will hug and tell their stories
With flashing lights the living and the dead
Will be taken to the morgues and to the hospitals
We'll hear about the last words that they said
At least if it was a notable occasion
Like if it happened just down the road from Columbine
If the victims numbered in the dozens
The murder plan especially malign
The governor will talk about the senselessness
The madness that must explain the crime
Some will ask about the guns, six thousand rounds of ammunition
He bought legally all at the same time
If the murders were especially dramatic
This man will have his week of fame
But by around this time next year
Just a few will remember his name
Fewer still will remember his victims
In this great nation that seems to have no peer
And who can blame us for our amnesia
Aurora Massacre
The survivors will hug and tell their stories
With flashing lights the living and the dead
Will be taken to the morgues and to the hospitals
We'll hear about the last words that they said
At least if it was a notable occasion
Like if it happened just down the road from Columbine
If the victims numbered in the dozens
The murder plan especially malign
The governor will talk about the senselessness
The madness that must explain the crime
Some will ask about the guns, six thousand rounds of ammunition
He bought legally all at the same time
If the murders were especially dramatic
This man will have his week of fame
But by around this time next year
Just a few will remember his name
Fewer still will remember his victims
In this great nation that seems to have no peer
And who can blame us for our amnesia
New certifications, planned expansion
Black Box Voting has been investigating and reporting on this disconcerting trend for nine years now. Everything we've been reporting has not only turned out to be true, but is increasing. A press release today about the planned expansion of Unisyn into more USA locations renews attention on foreign ownership of corporations selling voting systems into the United States.
Unisyn is owned by a Malaysian gambling outfit. Another major elections industry player, Canada's Dominion, purchased the massive Diebold Election Systems division (which it shares with ES&S); Dominion also owns Smartmatic, which handles electronic vote-counting in the Philippines and Belgium. Military voting is now handled in several states by Barcelona, Spain-owned Scytl. In January 2012, Scytl acquired the largest election results reporting firm, SOE Software.
Unisyn is owned by a Malaysian gambling outfit. Another major elections industry player, Canada's Dominion, purchased the massive Diebold Election Systems division (which it shares with ES&S); Dominion also owns Smartmatic, which handles electronic vote-counting in the Philippines and Belgium. Military voting is now handled in several states by Barcelona, Spain-owned Scytl. In January 2012, Scytl acquired the largest election results reporting firm, SOE Software.
About the Colorado movie theater shooting
The second amendment of the United States Constitution states:
"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State,
the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
Obviously the need for a state militia has been replaced by the National
Guard and Coast Guard whereby trained military personnel are entrusted with
the defense of this country against domestic enemies. Their weapons are
tightly controlled and safeguarded.
The only two reasons for a citizen to own a firearm are for hunting or defense of the household from intruders. In either case, ownership of a handgun, shotgun or rifle is more than adequate to satisfy these purposes. There is absolutely no need for any U.S. civilian to own any weapon more powerful or sophisticated than these.
The only two reasons for a citizen to own a firearm are for hunting or defense of the household from intruders. In either case, ownership of a handgun, shotgun or rifle is more than adequate to satisfy these purposes. There is absolutely no need for any U.S. civilian to own any weapon more powerful or sophisticated than these.
The Geopolitics of Compassion
Beyond the spectacle of the presidential race, the Washington consensus pursues business as usual. This is the season in which I wonder, with an ever-intensifying sense of urgency, what it would take to turn our political system into a democracy.
"And yet the militarization of the United States and the strengthening of the national security complex continues to accelerate," Tom Engelhardt wrote earlier this month. "The Pentagon is, by now, a world unto itself. . . ."
And as the world’s major powers play a 21st-century version of the "Great Game" to control the resources of the world, the U.S., in contrast with China, writes David Vine, "has focused relentlessly on military might as its global trump card, dotting the planet with new bases and other forms of military power."
"And yet the militarization of the United States and the strengthening of the national security complex continues to accelerate," Tom Engelhardt wrote earlier this month. "The Pentagon is, by now, a world unto itself. . . ."
And as the world’s major powers play a 21st-century version of the "Great Game" to control the resources of the world, the U.S., in contrast with China, writes David Vine, "has focused relentlessly on military might as its global trump card, dotting the planet with new bases and other forms of military power."
Thanks Woody - We're standing on your sholders
It is the 100th Birthday of Woody Guthrie, the true folk hero, the epitome of the Beatles’ “working Class Hero,” a really true American hero (a description that Woody would no doubt despise). Born in Okemah, Oklahoma on July 12, 1912, named after his father’s favorite politician, Woodrow Wilson, Woody was born into and was a product of that rough and tumble time and place.
Well known as the author of “This Land is Your Land,” “Dust Bowl Blues,” “Hard Traveling,” “Talking Columbia” and so many more songs of and for poor folks, beaten down and fighting back in the Great Depression of the 1930’s, Woody was that, and so much more! We today know Woody as the fighting troubadour that traveled with the Dust Bowl “Okies,” forced off their farms by greedy banksters, fighting and singing with striking workers, memorializing the Grand Coolie Dam , and traveling, singing for the Merchant Marines in the Atlantic. In all of that, we know and are inspired by Woody’s life, but only 200 of the over 3,000 songs that Woody wrote were ever published.
Well known as the author of “This Land is Your Land,” “Dust Bowl Blues,” “Hard Traveling,” “Talking Columbia” and so many more songs of and for poor folks, beaten down and fighting back in the Great Depression of the 1930’s, Woody was that, and so much more! We today know Woody as the fighting troubadour that traveled with the Dust Bowl “Okies,” forced off their farms by greedy banksters, fighting and singing with striking workers, memorializing the Grand Coolie Dam , and traveling, singing for the Merchant Marines in the Atlantic. In all of that, we know and are inspired by Woody’s life, but only 200 of the over 3,000 songs that Woody wrote were ever published.
The Supreme Court ruling on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
The historic ruling by the Robert’s Court based on common law, precedent and moral judgment is a victory all Americans. Opponents of the PPACA claim that it will bankrupt our country. The Office of Management and Budget, OMB, the bipartisan congressional committee which scores the financial effects of bills and laws, estimates that it will cost $200 billion to implement the PPACA. But, that it will save $200 billion in health care cost during the first during decade and it will save $1.2 trillion during the second decade. Benefits to workers, from the PPACA and other safety nets are spent. With secondary spending, markets for goods and services increase. Everyone, including entrepreneurs, profit. Unemployment is reduced and the economy grows.
When shit just gets you down--this is what Debs said!
“Ten thousand times has the labor movement stumbled and bruised itself. We’ve been enjoined by the courts, assaulted by thugs, charged by the militia, traduced by the press, frowned on by public opinion and deceived by politicians. But, not withstanding all of these, organized labor is today the most vital and potential power this planet has ever known, and its historic mission is as certain of its realization as the setting of the sun!”
Eugene Debs, 1910
I know, but it’s really tough now!
Eugene Debs, 1910
I know, but it’s really tough now!
Book Review: At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape and Resistance–a New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power
At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape and Resistance–a New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power
Danielle L. McGuire,
Alfred A. Knopf, New York
Rosa Parks is often referred to as the Mother of the modern civil rights movement. Historically she has been depicted as a prim, virtuous, diminutive lady who was merely too tired after a long day at work to move from her seat. Had she been Catholic she surely would have been canonized by now; St. Rosa, the patron saint of bus riders. Forty-two years old at the time of the bus boycott, she was described by Martin Luther King Jr, as “. . the victim–emphasis mine–of both the forces of history and the forces of destiny. She had been tracked down by the Zeitgeist–the spirit of the times.”
Danielle L. McGuire,
Alfred A. Knopf, New York
Rosa Parks is often referred to as the Mother of the modern civil rights movement. Historically she has been depicted as a prim, virtuous, diminutive lady who was merely too tired after a long day at work to move from her seat. Had she been Catholic she surely would have been canonized by now; St. Rosa, the patron saint of bus riders. Forty-two years old at the time of the bus boycott, she was described by Martin Luther King Jr, as “. . the victim–emphasis mine–of both the forces of history and the forces of destiny. She had been tracked down by the Zeitgeist–the spirit of the times.”