Report from the ground at Occupy Wall Street
There were protests by OWS at Federal Hall National Memorial on Friday April 20, 2012, across the street from the New York Stock Exchange.
Before OWS protestors moved to the steps of Federal Hall National Memorial on Monday last, they had been sleeping on the streets in the vicinity of Wall and Nassau Streets, they say. The New York Police Department hadn't intervened over the past few weeks protestors say, citing a 2000 New york State Supreme Court ruling, a successful action taken by a low-income housing organization on behalf of New York's homeless population. NYPD arrests and citations however over the past two weeks forced the Occupiers to find a new home at the "birthplace of American democracy" on Monday, April 14.
However, at 5 p.m. the National Park Service, which has jurisdiction over the steps of the Federal Hall National Memorial, surprised OWS protestors by serving them with federal guidelines for the property, severely restricting their movements and ability to protest.
Before OWS protestors moved to the steps of Federal Hall National Memorial on Monday last, they had been sleeping on the streets in the vicinity of Wall and Nassau Streets, they say. The New York Police Department hadn't intervened over the past few weeks protestors say, citing a 2000 New york State Supreme Court ruling, a successful action taken by a low-income housing organization on behalf of New York's homeless population. NYPD arrests and citations however over the past two weeks forced the Occupiers to find a new home at the "birthplace of American democracy" on Monday, April 14.
However, at 5 p.m. the National Park Service, which has jurisdiction over the steps of the Federal Hall National Memorial, surprised OWS protestors by serving them with federal guidelines for the property, severely restricting their movements and ability to protest.
Unite against the war on women
Enough is enough. Many of the basic rights women have fought to acquire and maintain are under assault thanks to the GOP’s unabashed war on women. Since January 2010, over 400 bills have been introduced throughout the United States attacking our reproductive rights and stripping away the freedom to make our own medical decisions.
Every day should be Earth Day
Earth day is the day we all look at ways we can reduce our carbon footprint. 20% of all greenhouse gases come from automobiles, so it makes sense to start there.
The rising gas prices are causing many people to buy a more fuel efficient vehicle. That is a good thing, not just for the economy. Newer vehicles get better gas mileage and produce less toxic emissions. Anyone buying a new vehicle should consider donating their older one to charity. The charity will either fix the car so that it is road worthy and passes emissions tests or make sure it is completely recycled. The money it gets will be used to further its mission.
Anyone not replacing their car can still help the environment by making it greener. Keeping it tuned up, the tires inflated and changing the air filter often will produce up to a 25% improvement in gas mileage.
A less toxic anti-freeze is now available that is 65% less toxic. New life-time wiper blades are available that are not made from petroleum based rubber. They are 100% recyclable. There are many non-toxic cleaning products for both the outside and interior of the car.
The rising gas prices are causing many people to buy a more fuel efficient vehicle. That is a good thing, not just for the economy. Newer vehicles get better gas mileage and produce less toxic emissions. Anyone buying a new vehicle should consider donating their older one to charity. The charity will either fix the car so that it is road worthy and passes emissions tests or make sure it is completely recycled. The money it gets will be used to further its mission.
Anyone not replacing their car can still help the environment by making it greener. Keeping it tuned up, the tires inflated and changing the air filter often will produce up to a 25% improvement in gas mileage.
A less toxic anti-freeze is now available that is 65% less toxic. New life-time wiper blades are available that are not made from petroleum based rubber. They are 100% recyclable. There are many non-toxic cleaning products for both the outside and interior of the car.
Obama's atomic Solyndra?
The future of nuclear power now hangs on a single decision by President Obama---and us.
His Office of Management and Budget could cave to the unsustainable demands of reactor builders who cannot handle the standard terms of a loan agreement.
Or he could defend basic financial procedures and stand up for the future of the American economy.
You can help make this decision, which will come soon.
It's about a proposed $8.33 billion nuke power loan guarantee package for two reactors being built at Georgia's Vogtle. Obama anointed it last year for the Southern Company, parent to Georgia Power. Two other reactors sporadically operate there. Southern just ravaged the new construction side of the site, stripping virtually all vegetation.
His Office of Management and Budget could cave to the unsustainable demands of reactor builders who cannot handle the standard terms of a loan agreement.
Or he could defend basic financial procedures and stand up for the future of the American economy.
You can help make this decision, which will come soon.
It's about a proposed $8.33 billion nuke power loan guarantee package for two reactors being built at Georgia's Vogtle. Obama anointed it last year for the Southern Company, parent to Georgia Power. Two other reactors sporadically operate there. Southern just ravaged the new construction side of the site, stripping virtually all vegetation.
The Free Press uncovers one million voters purged in Ohio
The Free Press obtained public records from all 88 of Ohio’s county Boards of Elections (BOE) documenting that 1,092,392 voters were removed from the voting rolls since the last presidential election.
Cuyahoga County, which includes Democratic-rich Cleveland, led the Buckeye State with 267,071 purges. Franklin County which includes the capital of Columbus, removed 93,578 voters. Franklin County went 58% for Obama in the 2008 election. Hamilton County which includes Cincinnati removed 65,536 voters, for a total of 426,185 from these three Ohio counties. Once again, a few rural Ohio counties reported no purges. These include Hancock, Huron, Sandusky, and Wood counties.
Cuyahoga County, which includes Democratic-rich Cleveland, led the Buckeye State with 267,071 purges. Franklin County which includes the capital of Columbus, removed 93,578 voters. Franklin County went 58% for Obama in the 2008 election. Hamilton County which includes Cincinnati removed 65,536 voters, for a total of 426,185 from these three Ohio counties. Once again, a few rural Ohio counties reported no purges. These include Hancock, Huron, Sandusky, and Wood counties.
The statues in our public spaces lie
There are lies of omission as well as commission, and the statues in Charlottesville, Va. -- typical of other towns -- do both. We have statues of Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, a generic Confederate soldier, George Rogers Clark, Lewis and Clark (with Sacagawea kneeling like their dog), and on City Hall a triptych with Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe. We have a monument to the War on Vietnam. And that's it.
Chemical warfare
To fight our insane wars, we’re wrecking our soldiers’ ability to live with themselves and function in society, then regulating what’s left of them with chemicals, which often make things immeasurably worse.
In the pursuit of order, could we possibly be creating more chaos, not simply externally — in the shattered countries we’re leaving in our wake — but internally, in the minds of those soldiers?
The Los Angeles Times noted that Air Force pilot Patrick Burke was recently acquitted in a court-marital hearing on charges of auto theft, drunk driving and two counts of assault — due to “polysubstance-induced delirium.” This was, the Times explained, a turning point: the first official acknowledgement, by military psychiatrists and a court-martial judge, that the drugs that have become a routine part of military service — in Burke’s case, the prescribed amphetamine Dexedrine (“go pills”) — can contribute to temporary insanity.
Better living through chemistry!
In the pursuit of order, could we possibly be creating more chaos, not simply externally — in the shattered countries we’re leaving in our wake — but internally, in the minds of those soldiers?
The Los Angeles Times noted that Air Force pilot Patrick Burke was recently acquitted in a court-marital hearing on charges of auto theft, drunk driving and two counts of assault — due to “polysubstance-induced delirium.” This was, the Times explained, a turning point: the first official acknowledgement, by military psychiatrists and a court-martial judge, that the drugs that have become a routine part of military service — in Burke’s case, the prescribed amphetamine Dexedrine (“go pills”) — can contribute to temporary insanity.
Better living through chemistry!
The rich are different from you and me – they pay less taxes
Benjamin Franklin, who used his many talents to become a wealthy man, famously said that the only things certain in life are death and taxes. But if you’re a corporate CEO in America today, even they can be put on the back burner – death held at bay by the best medical care money can buy and the latest in surgical and life extension techniques, taxes conveniently shunted aside courtesy of loopholes, overseas investment and governments that conveniently look the other way.
In a story headlined, “For Big Companies, Life Is Good,” The Wall Street Journal reports that big American companies have emerged from the deepest recession since World War II more profitable than ever: flush with cash, less burdened by debt, and with a greater share of the country’s income. But, the paper notes, “Many of the 1.1 million jobs the big companies added since 2007 were outside the U.S. So, too, was much of the $1.2 trillion added to corporate treasuries.”
In a story headlined, “For Big Companies, Life Is Good,” The Wall Street Journal reports that big American companies have emerged from the deepest recession since World War II more profitable than ever: flush with cash, less burdened by debt, and with a greater share of the country’s income. But, the paper notes, “Many of the 1.1 million jobs the big companies added since 2007 were outside the U.S. So, too, was much of the $1.2 trillion added to corporate treasuries.”
A dying empire invades Oaksterdam, our privacy & our speech
At freedom's core is protection from arbitrary police power and the right to choose one's own medicine, as well as to express one's opinion, however controversial.
All three of these rights have taken very troubling recent hits.
Mired in imperial war and corporate privilege, the US Supreme Court and Obama Administration have escalated their attacks on our basic rights. The results are horrifying, and a huge warning to all Americans that the foul debris of a collapsing empire is falling directly on us all.
Since 1791 US citizens have had the right to expect basic legal protection from arbitrary search and seizure by the police. A key bulwark has been the Fourth Amendment, drafted by James Madison and adopted with the Bill of Rights two years after the ratification of the Constitution.
All three of these rights have taken very troubling recent hits.
Mired in imperial war and corporate privilege, the US Supreme Court and Obama Administration have escalated their attacks on our basic rights. The results are horrifying, and a huge warning to all Americans that the foul debris of a collapsing empire is falling directly on us all.
Since 1791 US citizens have had the right to expect basic legal protection from arbitrary search and seizure by the police. A key bulwark has been the Fourth Amendment, drafted by James Madison and adopted with the Bill of Rights two years after the ratification of the Constitution.