Labor Day Reflections

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Monday September 02, 2013 · 3:16 PM PDT

2013/09/02 · 15:16

Today is the day we’re supposed to be celebrating Labor. Yet for most workers in the US today, those working part time, working without benefits, without job security, the working poor, there is really not much to celebrate.

I remember in my high school, there were other options for those who did not wish to continue their academic careers and go onto college. As described in this Forbes article, many of those choices have been removed from our high schools. http://www.forbes.com/...

There used to be a time when a family could be supported by one adult working full time. Benefits were supplied by the company, health insurance kicked in after 30-90 days of work. Pensions were guaranteed. A regular 40 hour work week meant time for families to be together. It meant you could buy a home, take a vacation, put money away for your kids to go to college. None of these benefits came easily. Before unions, laborers suffered terrible working conditions Young children were sent to work to help support poor families. People worked long hours without breaks, in dangerous conditions. Does anyone remember the recent Bangladesh factory collapse? http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/... Just a hundred years ago, American workers suffered the same working conditions. http://www.history.com/... For a look at the suffering of the American worker and the control that corporate owners had over their lives, look up the Ludlow Massacre. The murder of innocent people, including women and children by state authorities at the request of a Rockefeller is a permanent part of our history that has been hidden from us. These are the people who fought and died for worker’s rights.

Workers in this country always suffered terrible working conditions, until they finally got together and formed unions. With the unity and strength in numbers, they were able to form a united voice to challenge the large corporate masters to force the issue of human dignity, demanding livable working conditions and a decent wage. These victories were not won easily, for many put their bodies and their lives on the line to earn these rights. No victory for the poor is ever won by gentle persuasion. Most times, blood was shed. Many times, entire families were slaughtered.

Today’s workers are suffering terrible conditions, and corporate profits and CEO wages are at an all time high. We are increasing the number of working poor in this country, those who work full time yet still have the need to go on public assistance for food to feed their families. Corporations have found ways to avoid certain responsibilities to American workers. They now force workers onto part time shifts, just beneath the required hours to offer health care. Corporations have figured out how to cut down their labor and require workers to do the work of what used to take many workers. Our good paying factory jobs have been shipped overseas to countries that still allow their populations to be exploited the way our workers were exploited 100 years ago.

When the large factories leave their communities to exploit workers in other countries, the communities are left devastated. With no reliable jobs, there’s no money to be spent, so small businesses close down. Towns are literally left to die.

In many communities, Wal-Marts set up shop, the large superstore with the bottom of the barrel prices. Wal-Marts force any competition out of business, regularly shutting down local small business owners who cannot keep up with the low pricing. Many times, good union jobs are lost as industry jobs such as the grocery store worker, once earning a decent wage and good benefits, is cut down to a part time, minimum wage job that offers no benefits. Families have to rely on more than one part time job to keep up with basic needs. Many have to rely on food stamps to feed their families.

It should be no surprise that many workers are living below poverty levels. Where does all this corporate profit come from? Where are these CEOs earning record profits from? Of course, we already know where the money comes from- directly from the pockets of the American worker. Cuts in wages and benefits are all cuts to bottom line expenses, all going back to profits for the corporate masters. Add in our corporate friendly government who offer endless benefits to Corporations, the worker is left to fend for themselves. Few workers have the protections that unions once offered.

We have the talking heads on television who blame the poor for their current conditions. Get a better job, they claim, as if such a thing were so easy. Hey, I could live on $130 a month on food stamps, claimed one ignorant news caster. Just think what it will do to your waistline! The suffering is blamed on poor choices instead of poor conditions trickled down from corporate board rooms.

This is devastating our American families. Single parents suffer much more than families who have two working adults bringing in paychecks, but either way, kids are left at home alone because working parents are struggling to keep a roof over their heads. Staying home to raise a family seems like a distant memory to many couples as both are required to be in the workplace. Stable, reliable childcare is difficult to find, and usually is an extremely high cost to the working family. The stress endured by the working family adds to the family dynamic, adding to the struggles for families to maintain loving homes as worries about meeting the needs of basic living expenses are difficult to achieve. Parents have to work through illnesses because they don’t have paid sick days. Workers have to work while injured because they can’t afford to take time off. Forget about vacation time, those luxuries are a thing of the past.

The decimation of the middle class has been a terrible reality of our current corporate and governmental policies. Our workers are being reduced to terrible working conditions and poverty wages, and few are speaking up for them. At the anniversary for Dr. Martin Luther King’s March On Washington, not much was said about the working poor. We have millions in need of food stamps, and yet our government allows these food stamps to be cut for the benefit of corporations who are allowed endless tax loopholes, taking their profits and storing them down in the Caymans. Trillions of dollars that belong back in this country, that should be paid to American workers to earn a decent wage, should be used to rebuild our infrastructure, should be invested in our schools, should be used to pay for universal healthcare in this country. Instead, trillions are making interest for corporate entities and billionaires who seek to take whatever is left of the wealth in this country.

The trillions taken from the American people in cuts to wages, cuts to benefits, cuts to improving our infrastructure, cuts to our schools, cuts to our government services, cuts to the needy in food stamps and school lunches, cuts to meals on wheels that feed our homebound elderly, cuts to social programs, theft through predatory banksters, theft from a manipulated mortgage crisis, this all represents the Great Theft of America. The American Dream is not dead so much as it’s been stolen in the middle of the night by the great corporate thieves who would leave the American citizen to die from hunger, from thirst, from choking on poisonous air and left to rot in the desert created from the climate change that will eventually doom the human species.

Time to wake up, America. Time to take our dreams back from those greedy thieves.

5 Principles of Propaganda War

regibaby67

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Friday August 30, 2013 · 7:22 PM PDT

2013/08/30 · 19:22

Here we are again, on the verge of another war. The nightmare of Iraq all over again.

I remember the outrage I felt as I watched Bush and Co. lead us into that misguided chaos. I knew it was all manufactured bullshit. Now, we can look back and see what a bunch of malarky it really was. http://www.motherjones.com/... And yes, I’m being gentle when I use the word “malarky.” Believe me, there are many other words I’d like to use. Trying to watch my tongue, so to speak.

Are we really going to go down this path again?

We’ve been hearing about the tragedies in Syria for some time now. The terrible civil war that’s resulted in what most reports claim over 100,000 dead, endless destruction of communities, thousands upon thousands of injured, who knows how many refugees have fled to other countries. We here in the U.S. can’t imagine what it must be like to endure that kind of violence.

President Obama has been making the Red Line threat for a while now. The use of chemical weapons is indeed a terrible, horrific event. We were told by the President that he would be forced to act if this did indeed happen. Last week, we found out it has indeed taken place. This is an atrocity, we are being told. “It defies any code of morality,” said John Kerry, it’s a “moral obscenity.” Yes, Mr. Secretary. It is a moral obscenity.

The reports that have come out of Syria of a chemical weapons attack, terrible images of dead children, claims that Assad made the order to use chemical weapons on his own population. We’ve been hearing about what a monster this guy is for some time. Chemical weapons is the last straw, we are being told, before we take action against this bad guy. We must take action to protect American interests.

Wait a second. What American interests? I thought we were going there to help protect Syrians against Assad? Isn’t that why we’re going to show him a lesson? What the heck are American interests, anyway?

This sounds familiar.

After the fiasco of Iraq, we should all be very aware and concerned when the talking heads start pontificating the need for the United States to bomb Syria to “teach them a lesson” to not use chemical weapons on their people. It is unfortunate that it appears Obama has backed himself into a corner with all of this “red line” rhetoric, claiming again and again over the last several months that if there was proof that chemical weapons were used in Syria, it would be cause for American intervention. Many of the same talking heads who insisted we needed to take out Saddam Hussein are now insisting that we need to take the same action on Assad. Strange how the outrage over children dead from poisonous gas somehow garners the reaction that we should rain missiles on Syria to somehow “save” them.

Now, I admit, I’m not a journalist. But just a bit of research on the subject has given me a more clear understanding of the situation than what you can get from most of the talking heads on television demanding American forces start another bombing campaign on another country that has not attacked us.

What I’ve discovered is a chilling account by Michel Collon, a Belgian investigative journalist and writer who’s put together the theory of what he calls the 5 Principles of a Propaganda War.

When you put the Iraq war up against the test, all the pieces fit. Let’s take a look, shall we?

1. Hide economic interests.

Yes, indeed, they did just that. We were told Saddam had WMDs and he was going to use them against us, we were told Saddam was a danger to Americans, we were told we would be greeted as liberators by the Iraqis, we were spreading democracy and joy and freedom to the Middle East! Yay America! What they failed to tell you was their profit motives behind the war. According to International Business Times,

“...companies that made money off the war by providing support services as the privatization of what were former U.S. military operations rose to unprecedented levels. Private or publicly listed firms received at least $138 billion of U.S. taxpayer money for government contracts for services that included providing private security, building infrastructure and feeding the troops. Ten contractors received 52 percent of the funds, according to the analysis by the Financial Times.... The No. 1 recipient: KBR, which was spun off from it’s parent....Halliburton.... The company was given $39.5 billion.”

I’d say that was a pretty large economic interest. No conflict of interest at all, was there, VP Cheney?

2. Hide history of what colonialism did to divide the people of the country.

Did we really understand the history of Iraq before we went storming in to bring them “democracy?” Did anyone know or understand the difference between a Sunni or a Shiite or a Kurd? What we failed to acknowledge was that 75% of Iraqi citizens, an estimated 26 million people, belonged to one of 150 tribes that populated Iraq at the time of our “humanitarian” invasion. The arrogance of those like Rumsfeld, who spoke of the war estimate claimed “It could last ...six days, six weeks. I doubt six months.” We had no clear understanding of the underlying tensions that simmered just below the surface of an ancient population.

3. Demonize the one you intend to attack

It is much easier to demonize one person than an entire population, although much effort is still being made to demonize Muslims, Arabs, or any person from the Middle East, unless of course they are a Syrian child who’s been killed by poisonous gas. Saddam Hussein was propped up as the boogeyman who was going to use his Weapons of Mass Destruction against us. He was the Bad Guy who did terrible things to his people. It is easier to focus hatred on one man than an entire country, that way when he doesn’t live up to whatever ultimatums we put in place for him, we can call him out on it as it serves our purpose. In January of 2003, Rumsfeld claimed “Iraq poses a serious and mounting threat to our country” and Bush told us “The Iraqi regime is a threat to any American.” We were told Saddam could attack us with chemical weapons, and endless lies were propagandized to the American public that Saddam and Iraq had something to do with 9/11, a lie so well ingrained in many American minds that there are still those today who claim this falsehood to be true. (Good work, Fox News. I hope that Halliburton offered up a great Christmas bonus for you all.)

4. Pretend you are making an intervention to protect the victims.

The Iraqi people would be so happy to have our bombs of freedom rain down on them that we’d be greeted as liberators. I can still remember the ill feeling I got in the pit of my belly the first time I heard that rubbish. Those poor Iraqi women, once American forces were there, they were going to be free of their oppression. Our humanitarian bombs of democracy and freedom were going to bring justice to the Iraqi people who suffered for so long under the wrath of Saddam. Uncle Sam is coming to save the day! The terror we caused the people of Iraq, the countless deaths, and the unbearable living conditions those people are still living under today are reminders of how far their promises fell to those we looked to “save.”

5. Monopolize any debate.

If you believe there was a fair debate in the lead up to the war in Iraq, please take a look at this

http://fair.org/...

It is widely known that Phil Donahue, the well respected talk show host turned MSNBC news hour host, had been offering the opposing view on the Iraq war. He had been instructed to have 2 conservative pro war voices on air for ever 1 liberal anti war voice. He did not last long. He was taken off the air, unable to keep up the corporate talking points. (GE owns MSNBC and is in the business of being a defense contractor.)

It has been proven again and again that war is a racket used by the military industrial complex to create more profit for defense contractors and profiteers. They convince the masses that a military strike is being made for humanitarian reasons, hiding their profit motive and stifling dissent by either suppressing opposing views or calling them out as supporters of the evil madman they’ve propped up for us to all hate, calling those who are against the war “anti-American” or traitors. They create a situation where the “good guys” are being forced by the “bad guys” to attack them, creating a twisted logic meant to blame the poor bully for having to beat up the geeky kid in school and steal his lunch money because it was the geek’s fault for walking down that hall when he did. The bully had no choice but to beat him up and stuff him in a locker. The aggressor creates the illusion of taking action as a humanitarian response, because our bombs will free the oppressed, save the innocent, create democracy born from bloodshed.
Journalists are fed the appropriate talking points of untold atrocities displayed for all to see, and the defense of what they deem an appropriate military response is painted conveniently with the brush stroke of humanitarian action. Dead children paraded on airwaves like sacrificial lambs to the gods of pre emptive war, creating the idea that our cause is sacred, for the bombs we drop are motivated by the need for a retaliation for those little dead bodies.

“Wars do not start with bombs, they start with media lies.” - Michel Collon

I share this with you because I watched the horrors of the pre emptive war with Iraq unfold with barely a challenge to the status quo. I can’t help but place these same 5 Principles of a Propaganda War upon the tragic events happening now in Syria. What concerns me is that Syria is definitely NOT Iraq.

General Wesley Clarke, in an interview with Amy Goodman of Democracy Now, revealed to us the Bush Administration’s original intentions soon after 9/11 was that they intended to take out 7 countries in 5 years: Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Iran. “The truth is about the Middle East is had there been no oil there, it would be like Africa. Nobody is threatening to intervene in Africa.” This should be a very telling statement indeed. While we may have a different administration under a different president, we must acknowledge the very real fact that the military industrial complex operates in the shadows whether or not there is a Republican or a Democrat in the White House.

There have already been warnings issued by Iran and Russia of a retaliation if indeed the US attacks Syria. Make no mistake about it, to drop bombs on a country that has made no threat to us, that has made no clear cut attack upon us, is to declare war with them. The NeoCon game to make the claim that it will be a “surgical” strike, that there will be “pin point” targets are all to be taken with a very large grain of salt. How would Americans feel if Syria were to just make a “surgical” strike upon one of our Naval ships in the Persian Gulf? There is simply no such thing as a small strike. Syria is a well equipped to retaliate to any of our Naval ships in the area. There have been threats towards American allies such as Israel. Iran is close allies with Syria, as well as Russia and China. This isn’t just throwing a lit match in a powder keg, it’s throwing a live grenade in there.

We have been told that Obama will not wait for the UN report, and will not go to congress to seek approval. There are claims that Assad was the chemical weapons culprit, yet the fact that we cannot wait for a report from the UN leaves unanswered questions. After 9/11, we now have the Authorization to Use Military Force, and Obama intends to use it without congressional approval. We have reached the slippery slope, and our checks and balances are spinning out of control down the abyss towards an unchecked imperialism.

While I am not claiming to be a "journalist," I had the pleasure of reading the following quote by Mr. Collon, that I would like to share with you. It helped give me the motivation (and, by the way, the nerve) to write the above diary (please note, it's a loose translation from French):

"Praise of the citizen journalist. The information you can do, you're not helpless, you have power. You too can be journalist. It is up to each of us to engage in this battle...information, this battle for the truth."

Stop and Frisk the Real Criminals

regibaby67

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Monday August 12, 2013 · 12:29 PM PDT

2013/08/12 · 12:29

A judge ruled that the Stop and Frisk policy by the NYPD is in violation of the constitutional rights of minorities.

Bloomberg vehemently supports Stop and Frisk, claiming it reduces crime He plans on fighting the decision.

I say, Mr. Bloomberg, go ahead and continue your Stop and Frisk policy. However, you need to start going after the REAL criminals.

We know who they are. Wall Street Banksters. Corporate CEOs. Mr. Bloomberg can worry all he wants about the poor kids of color who may commit a petty crime. The criminals most Americans are concerned about are the ones who’ve bankrupted our country through their endless greed, and who continue to go unpunished. The ones who’ve stolen pensions, who’ve robbed elderly of their life savings, who’ve caused massive unemployment, a mortgage melt down, and caused needless suffering to millions of regular Americans.

What NYPD officers need to start doing is a Stop and Frisk on every white guy in a suit. Imagine, when a Town Car pulls up to some swanky restaurant on the Upper East Side, or a Wall Street bank building, there are a couple of men in uniform waiting to pat him down, take his briefcase, do a search, maybe take him downtown for a cavity search. See if he’s got any “contraband” on him. They could go into Wall Street offices, unannounced, and search the offices for anything looking “suspicious.” Go into the Board of Directors meeting for Goldman Sachs and do a Stop and Frisk of everyone in attendance. Go through their database on their computers, see if they plan on stealing any more of America’s wealth. Put a quota on how many men in suits they can prosecute.

I bet there’s more than a handful of NYPD men and women who would love to oblige.

Stand Your Ground Dirty War Trickle Down

regibaby67

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Monday July 15, 2013 · 12:47 PM PDT

2013/07/15 · 12:47

I, like many Americans, am torn at the verdict of the Zimmerman trial. The real tragedy of it for me, besides the grief over the death of an innocent child, is how the laws of this land have been changed to allow for such a crime to be committed, and to go unpunished.

Sure, you can say Mr. Zimmerman committed no crime, because he was put on trial and by a jury of his peers, he was found not guilty. The law permits him to do exactly what he did. He is innocent.

I say, this man saw a hooded figure walking in his neighborhood, ignored police advice, decided this hooded figure was guilty, and decided to punish him. And he did. To me, he shot an innocent, unarmed child, and got away with it. That, my friends, is a crime against humanity.

Zimmerman was legally within the laws of his state. He felt threatened, he went to where he believed he had a right to be, he brought a gun, he Stood His Ground, he shot in what he believed to be Self Defense. End of story. Police don’t even have grounds to arrest him.

I wonder if it had been Trayvon, sitting in his house, and saw George walking by in a hoodie, had been afraid of some mysterious guy, had called the police, who told him to stand down, yet decided to pick up his gun and go after George on his own. Imagine him walking up to George, demanding what he was doing. I imagine George, simply walking home after grabbing a soda at the store, would be a bit unnerved by some guy following him. Imagine, George trying to defend himself from some guy he didn’t know. Imagine, George crying, screaming for help, and Trayvon shooting him dead. Imagine the police show up, Trayvon telling them his story, that he was defending himself, and the police pat him on the back, and say, hey, buddy, no worries, go on home, we’ll take it from here. Cause that’s okay too, right? It would have been acceptable for a 17 year old child of color to follow a man through the neighborhood, confront him, feel threatened, and shoot him down in cold blood? No need to arrest him, officer, he was simply following the law.

Zimmerman was a man who lived in fear, and his actions were a reflection of that fear. Where did he get that fear?

From the system that pushes it, like a junky, through the collective veins and arteries that make up this country. It is an IV with direct access to our darkest doubts. It is shoveled down our throats in a daily buffet on our news channels. Keep a watch out. Fear your neighbors. Fear is the daily bread of our collective unconscious.

It is not only the laws that were created in order to socially accept the shooting of another human being, simply because you felt threatened by this other person, it is the fear that lives behind it that justifies murder.

There are thousands of good people out there who are responsible gun owners, who might have saw a hooded guy walk by in their neighborhood, and simply thought, hey, that dude’s just walking home. No big deal. But if someone tries to break in here and mess with me, I’m ready. They would never just shoot someone. Not without a real cause. I don’t blame responsible gun owners.

If I saw a guy walking by my street who was wearing a hood on a rainy night, would I refuse to listen to police advisement and grab my Walther and hunt this guy down?

If you are so afraid, why would you go after someone who should be innocent until proven guilty?

This hooded figure had committed no crime. There was no one calling saying, hey, someone was just robbed. Someone was just assaulted. Look out for the Hooded Guy. Hooded Guy is bad news. Call the police if you see Hooded Guy.

No, it was simply an everyday occurrence, a kid walking down the street. Yet, Mr. Z decided upon himself that he was that much in fear, that he had to go chase it. Maybe he was looking for a fight. He had already decided, this punk is up to something, he’s guilty of something, and I’m going to take care of him myself.

Mr. Z had already tried and convicted Hooded Guy in his mind. He looks suspicious. He’s guilty. I don’t know of what. But he’s guilty. He knew if he got into an altercation, that he could simply say, I felt in danger. I stood my ground.

Once he spoke these words, there was nothing the police could do. The law states, he doesn’t even have to be arrested, brought in for questioning, explain what happened, explain to a family how their child was shot dead when he had simply taken a walk to get some tea and candy, and the next thing they know, he’s dead, gone, because he went for a walk. Because someone felt threatened by that. Someone was afraid of a kid walking by in a hoodie.

Of course, we understand that there is a racist component to these laws, these fears. A study done using FBI data reveals that whites who kill blacks in Stand Your Ground laws are 354% more likely to be cleared of murder. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/...

So, for those of you who say there’s no racist component in these shootings, put that in your racist pipe and smoke it.

Despite our hope for justice in our country, our laws have not been created to ensure a moral standard in our judicial system. Those who claim we should all follow the “rule of law” should realize who’s been making the rules lately, (ahem... ALEC, and GOP extremists) and what these laws in fact mean to all of us.

Stand Your Ground laws are the result of a very cozy relationship between ALEC and the NRA. http://mediamatters.org/... This legislation has not been brought state by state from a grassroots movement of worried, fearful citizens looking to protect themselves. This has been a top down, big corporations conspiring with the gun lobby to allow gun owners to get away with murder. Big money for those who make weapons. Feed the fear, and arm up, boys. Someone walks through your neighborhood and you think he’s up to no good? Shoot ‘em down, tell the police you felt afraid, and it’s no questions asked.

This kind of collective consciousness of death comes straight from our leaders.

What does the Terror Tuesday meeting do? A gathering of government officials with information on cards about people a world away, and stories discussed on who’s making them feel threatened today. Who should we kill today, gentlemen, so they don’t come and kill us first? Second hand news used to decide who is going to die this week, because maybe, just maybe, they might want to harm us.

It says, I think you are guilty, I feel threatened, so I am going to kill you before you have a chance to kill me. It’s the ultimate Stand Your Ground on an international level. The Stand Your Ground Dirty War Trickle Down.

This isn’t just about Zimmerman, or Trayvon, this is a look inside the belly of the beast. This is what our country has become. It represents who we are, what we represent. Where we place our value on humanity and human lives. If they can do it out there on an international level, then we might as well do it in our own neighborhoods too.

They don’t call it The Bully Pulpit for nothing.

So how do we fix this problem when by it’s very nature is systemic in our government policies, whether they be foreign or domestic?

This is more than just a story about Trayvon and George. Yes, I want to save that black child from gun violence. I want to save that white child’s life too. And that brown child’s life from drone strikes a half a world away. This doesn’t just happen in our neighborhoods, it’s happening across our country and around the world. It is the unregulated, immoral laws that keep on giving, except it’s gift is the endless stream of dead bodies that pile up in the name of “freedom” and “security.”

Gun laws that don’t value human life. Bombing campaigns a world away that don’t respect international treaties.

Where do we go from here? As with most serious issues, I wonder if we will have a serious debate about the substance of the issue, instead of just the players who were caught in the ugly circumstances.

Yes, we should all be angry at what happened with this Zimmerman verdict. For those who cheer and wallop and celebrate Zimmerman’s newfound freedom, I weep for your lack of humanity at the collective grief the rest of us feel about the sad fact that a child went out for a walk to the store, and was shot dead because someone feared him. It makes us hold our children closer, maybe drive our kids to the store, instead of letting them walk the streets of our neighborhoods, not because we fear a predator in a van might be ready to assault him or her, but because our neighbor down the street might think he’s guilty of a crime he never committed, and shoot him down because he was afraid. The words Zimmerman uses, that he has no remorse, that he believed it was “God’s plan,” is a slap on the face to all of us who grieve the loss of a child. If for one moment, he had apologized, had shown regret, had said, what an awful tragedy, maybe the agony of it all would have less of a sting to it. Maybe there would not be such anger.

It all adds fuel to the fire, the collective unconscious of the rest of us who worry about the spread of violence against innocent citizens, and the culprits continuing to go unpunished.

I understand the anger at the injustice perpetrated upon our communities. We live in a gun culture, a shoot ‘em up and no questions asked Wild Wild West of legally carrying a gun into a legislative house of democracy, yet having a tampon confiscated from a woman’s purse while laws are being passed against a woman’s right to govern her own body.

When we look at the laws being forced through state houses right now, we see the realities of what is important to the law creators. We see those who claim the desire to protect an unborn fetus, who claim to value life, yet speak nothing on the endless children suffering from starvation, from homelessness, from child abuse, and dying from gun violence. They claim moral outrage at “baby killers” yet their voices are silent at those lawmakers who cut food stamps, literally taking food out of hungry children’s mouths. There is no moral outrage at a starving child, or a murdered one either.

There are those of us who are outraged, though, at what we see happening across our country. It is the de-valuing of human life through a system of governmental policies brought to us by corporate leaders who care nothing about human dignity. Those of us who’ve suffered along the fringes, who’ve been victims of these “laws” that we are supposed to follow like sheep, who’ve watched hunger and homelessness and injustice happen again and again, have grown weary, and tired, and angry.

We are ready to direct that anger towards thoughtful, powerful, useful, transformative action that will bring about the kind of change that will only come when we unite together to bring about the change we all wish to see in this country, not only in our domestic laws and policies, but in our international policies as well.

We must fight not only to prevent more Trayvons from happening. We must also fight to prevent more drone strikes, bombings of innocent lives on the other side of the world. We must fight for the value of the life of the child that is already here, the one who lives on the street,the one who goes hungry every night, the ones who will starve because their food stamps have been cut by some dirty politician who thinks they are balancing the budget.

It is when we value all human life and fight for the dignity and freedom of everyone that will bring about the change we wish to see in our country, and in the world.

Happy Independence Day

regibaby67

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday July 04, 2013 · 1:07 PM PDT

2013/07/04 · 13:07

Independence day. Our day to celebrate our independence. From what? From Tyranny. From an oppressive government. From taxation without representation. For freedom. For democracy. A real democracy, where the government is for the people, by the people. A government with checks and balances to ensure, that we are treated equally. That we have rights and protections. That we have a say in our lives.

I think about the people who we are as a nation now, as it now stands that people are seeking asylum from our government. I remember with maybe a childish naivete, how we were the once great nation that served as a beacon of hope against the oppression of the world. We stood up for human rights, for fairness, we protected the world from evil. We were the good guys. The bad guys were out there somewhere, wanting to hurt us, hurting their people. We were the safe haven. That is the image of the country of my childhood.

Yet, the child in me has grown up, and woken up to the unfortunate realities that exist in our own government. Who are we as a nation now? I grew up being proud of my heritage. As a Mexican American, I love all of me. It was not easy, the life of struggle I endured, but my story is not unique. I am just a thread in the fabric of what makes this country great. Woven together, we are all a part of this fabric that makes this country what it is today.

Yet, the tyranny that our forefathers once fought to escape generations ago seems to be upon us again. We should be used to it by now. WE should be used to the fact that the powers that be will always seek to take us for granted. They will use their wealth and privilege to justify their stripping of our rights. No freedom or right came to us easily. Ask the women suffragettes who were laughed at, mocked, beaten, if their right to vote came easily. Ask the freedom marchers who were beaten, sometimes murdered, if the civil rights they attained years later, were easily achieved. Ask those who died fighting for the right to unionize if it was an easy struggle. We, the ones who make things, who work in the jobs that keep this country moving, who teach the kids, who mow the lawns, who pave the roads, who fix things, who serve the food, we have never been given over anything that did not come without a fight. Many battles, over decades, over centuries. Nothing was handed over to us easily. We had to fight like hell, march, battle, organize, bleed, and sometimes die. It was worth it, though. It made us better. It made our nation better.

I think about the battles that are upon us now. We are fighting old battles that seem to be needing our attention all over again. The battle for the right to vote? Yeah, gird your loins. The battle for women’s rights? What century is this? The battle for equal pay? We should make it a battle for fair pay for all of us. The battle for fair and living wage? The battle for our privacy? The battle for our civil liberties? The battle against corporations who would just as soon poison the drinking water for an entire metropolitan area for profit, than to put the health and welfare of men woman and children first. My God, pick a fight, and you could find a different one every day of the week for the next week, month, year. Unemployment, homelessness, hungry children, the elderly, the poor. Where do you begin? Just when one battle gets going, another one must emerge. We sing the praises like Wendy in Texas, yet bare witness to those like Zimmerman, a man who shot a child down, and yet can still go on national television, and say he has no regrets for his actions.

I look around, and I see the battles that were fought and the celebration of the 4th of this July are still in progress. Around every corner, is another battle against tyranny. It takes many shapes and forms, but we know they exist. We know.

Nothing will be handed over to us easily. Yet, we know, this is the battle we must continue. This is the fight we were born to make. This is a generation full of greatness. The powers that be, want to call the young hipsters narcissistic. They want to call the working poor lazy. They want to call those who fight for women’s rights feminazis. The laugh and scoff in our faces when we demand that Wall Street pay for their crimes against humanity. They spray pepper spray when young people and old gather together and march, demonstrate to say, no, we’re not gonna let you get away with this. They spy on us, our every move monitored and maintained in some huge facility. Imagine if they had that kind of overreach during the 60’s? Would we have ended the Vietnam war? The draft?

We are told we are not patriots if we do not sit on our hands and tow the party line. I say, we are doing what’s vital to our patriotic duty by standing up to the tyranny that we are witnessing in our country. That’s what makes us Americans. I love my country, and i want it back from those who seek to oppress it’s citizens, poison it’s waters, air and land, imprison it’s innocent, steal it’s wealth. No one is going to hand it all over to us easily, without a fight, without us demanding the change we want to see. This isn’t just about our country anymore, this is about the safety and compromise on a global scale. World wide war crimes, done in our name. Unfettered authority they’ve given themselves, against all of us.

On this Independence Day, I celebrate the continuation of our right to challenge and overcome the tyranny that would oppress us all. It is a fight that all of us must Join In. Together, we can gain our country back.

A Trip Down the NSA Rabbit Hole

regibaby67

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday June 10, 2013 · 7:20 PM PDT

2013/06/10 · 19:20

I can hear the defenders already. “We are doing this for your own good” they will say. “We stopped this terrorist attack,” they will offer. “Terrorism!” they will shout. “9/11 changed our world,” they will try, desperately, to convince us.

There will be those who will side with those defenders. “I have nothing to hide,” they will say, “let the government read and listen and track and monitor and watch my every move. They will be bored to death.” “I trust my government. If the President says it’s okay to do this, then by golly, they should,” some devoted individuals will claim.

I need to take this a bit further for you all. I need you to see further down the rabbit hole. I need you to understand what is also at stake here.

I just need to figure out how to say this the right way.

We know this: Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

First, let’s clear something up. At this point in time, your government does not belong to you. It does not work for you. It does not exist to serve you, your family, your community.

It exists to serve the elite, the top .09 percent. Sure, there are other wealthy factions who do quite nicely in our current state. As long as they keep the status quo.

Wall Street has gone unpunished. Why?

Well, because they are part owners of the government.

We are in a global war on terror, where our government entities, both in open engagement with our military, and hidden in the shadows, as described in Dirty Wars, work every day to keep the world’s population in fear. Why, you ask, would our government partake in such horrors?

If you don’t know about the military industrial complex, go take your blue pill and enjoy your nap.

The military industrial complex is also a co-owner of our government. War is big business. It’s the cash cow that keeps the engine running.

Across this nation, in fact found across the world, the institution of plundering the earth for her treasure has been relentless. Blood for oil is not just a statement found on an activist’s blog, it is government policy. Our government policy. Fracking is simply the next move. They know the earth is running out of oil. We are reaching the tipping point. We are reaching Peak Oil, and the fight for oil reserves is at an all time high. Fracking is decimating our ecology, our land, our water, our people. Sure, people are fighting back. They are left staring at a palm in their face, telling them, we can’t help you. Why, they ask?

Because the oil and gas industry is also part owner of our government.

I say these things as a point of reference for those who like to say, I trust my government with my privacy. I have nothing to hide. This is our government, they are working for me.

No they are not.

The recent revelations released by Edward Snowden to Glenn Greenwald is hopefully a wake up call to All Americans, despite any political affiliation or left/right leanings you may have. For those of you who say, “I have nothing to hide,” I’d like to share some things with you.

First, let’s understand the relentless attack on whistleblowers. Unprecedented by any other administration ever. If you have not been reading up on Bradley Manning, do your patriotic duty and read up on him. If you don’t know who Aaron Swartz is, do yourself a favor and read up on him as well. While you’re at it, look up Daniel Ellsberg, John Kiriakau, and Thomas Drake. Throw in some Bill Binney while you’re at it.

We live in the information age, where we carry more technology in the palm of our hands than has existed in libraries over the ages. Sure, I can check the weather in Australia, I can read movie reviews, I can access email, play a favorite song, and find out what the hell “derp” means. I have a clever GPS that can allow me to plug in an address, and my smart phone will tell me how to get there.

Unfortunately, it can also allow my government to track my every move.

Why should I worry, you say. Are you a criminal? Are you up to some underhanded behavior? No, I will tell you. But that doesn’t matter to the government. By their standards, I could easily be categorized as one.

Here are some truths about me I will share. I have duel citizenship.

I was once married to a man from Iran. When I traveled with him, and with our children, to visit his homeland to visit family, I also became an Iranian citizen. This is simply how it is done. I had to do it to travel there. Once you marry a Persian man, the woman becomes an Iranian citizen. I have a birth certificate, and was placed on his passport along with the children we had together. I spent 5 weeks there in the summer of 2003, soon after the start of the Iraq war. I also went in the summer of 2009, soon after the beginning of the demonstrations of the Iranian Green Movement soon after their elections. In short, I had a wonderful time on both vacations, surrounded by loving members of my ex husband’s family.

One particular family member, my kids’ uncle, was once a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. This is a part of the requirements of the society there, men serve in the military, I was told by my ex. No big deal to me, I thought. He’s a great guy, and a loving uncle to my kids.
My government has deemed the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization.

So here is my issue: Does this mean I am considered a person of interest, having spent time with someone who was part of a “known terrorist” group? What does it mean for my children? Are they on a watch list? Under surveillance? Is someone speculating that they may grow up some day to become a terrorist?

You may say my speculations are all unfounded. That I have nothing to worry about. As long as you are living your life within the guidelines of the law, you should be fine.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I give you Anwar Al-Awlaki. No, I am not a cleric, I am not trying to convince someone to hurt our country, our countrymen. This is an American Citizen who supposedly said bad things about our government. He supposedly helped influence those who would bring harm to us, like the underwear bomber. I say supposedly, because no charges or proof have been supplied in a court of law to support these allegations. He was on the kill list, and our government issued a drone strike and killed him.

Two weeks later, in an odd turn, his 16 year old son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was blown to bits. The only way his relatives know this is was by the piece of skull that remained with his billowing hair still intact on it. Otherwise, all that was left was unrecognizable bloody flesh and bone.

What had this boy done? Why was a child, an American Citizen, murdered at the request of our government?

Why indeed. We still do not know.

Speculations abound. He had the wrong parents? Is this what defines our logic and reasoning for how we determine who lives and dies? Is this the justification on those Tuesday Morning terrorist meetings?

Did they kill him because of what he might become? That this 16 year old child might one day seek to avenge his father, that people who were supporters of his father might use him as a martyr to set up further support of the backlash against what our government is doing in our name?

Where is the outrage? Where is the rule of law? Where are the decent human beings who see this act as a crime against humanity? That all of this endless war and suffering done in our name is indeed unjust, inhuman, and despicable?

I share my story, not because this is about me, but because there are others like me out there. People who have done nothing wrong. Who are simply living their lives. But someone informed on them, someone decided to put some “clues” together, someone in a position of power put them on a kill list and said, hey, this guy looks suspicious, he might do America harm one day, we need to take him out, Mr. President. If you look at the definition of what is considered a terrorist these days, or what is considered "intent," well, sorry, buddy, but many of you could be considered a terrorist. When we use these broad terms to deem innocent people guilty of a crime they’ve never committed, when we remove any due process and any court of law that presents facts and simply say, this person is a terrorist, they should die, when we fail to recognize how out of control our government has been behaving and stand silently by as children and innocent civilians continue to be slaughtered in our name, then we have no right to shout out when they finally come for us in our own homes.

That’s exactly what they are doing now. They have infiltrated our homes, our phones, our computers, our lives. All of our information has been accumulated, filed, and stored, for whatever reason they wish to use it for. And not just citizens.

This is how we look further into the rabbit hole. This is the part we need to take into consideration. Everyone is being spied on.

Everyone. Judges. Senators. Lawmakers. Journalists. Public figures.

EVERYONE.

Let’s review.

Our government does not belong to us. Look at what’s happening in our country right now. Austerity? Cutting Social Security? Schools being closed down while billions spent on for profit private corporate prisons? Local police departments being militarized? Endless Dirty Wars? Fracking spreading across the country? A bill requiring back round checks for gun purchases, supported by 90% of Americans, voted down.

Don't think for a minute the NRA isn't a valuable part of the military industrial complex. Weapons are big business too.

Tens of thousands of people with security clearance, can easily be paid off to infiltrate and reveal information about anyone, ANYONE. Mr. Snowden could have easily made a fortune. He could have sold secrets to corporations, he could have blackmailed powerful, wealthy people, he could have sold information to other countries. He had the information at his fingertips. He knew others had this same information at their fingertips. Imagine a Senator about to speak out against something important, like spying, or war, or fracking, and a corporate entity gaining access to NSA information, able to use it against him or her, to get their compliance, to keep them quiet.

Whoever owns all of the information about all of us, owns the power. What might look suspicious on paper, could be a completely innocent, logical, explainable turn of events. Just because they've made it legal, doesn't mean it's right. They've made it "legal" to torture, to imprison without charges, to kill any suspicious American citizen. Being that there have been drum beats for war with Iran in the very recent past, with the President and his administration claiming "all options are on the table," does that mean I am considered a terrorist? What if I go to a peace rally, with signs saying no to war, to support peace?

Yet, who's gonna be able to explain anything when that Terror Tuesday meeting sends a drone strike on you, or your family, or your village?

Are you seeing the bigger picture yet? Step back, and open your eyes.

Or a sophisticated hacker from another country, gaining access to all of these endless files. The NSA has conveniently done all the work for them. We are supposed to trust that every person in the intelligence community has enough scruples to not do anything harmful to others?

I wish I could say, I know there's proper oversight, that my government will do what is necessary to protect me and my family from harm, that all of our personal information is not being gathered by a for profit corporation who can dow what it likes. If you trust President Obama, congratulations. You may not trust the next president, thought.

This leads to the next level of the rabbit hole.

We know that activists who’ve done work for, say, Occupy Wall Street have been under surveillance. The fact is, those who are trying to bring about positive change are all under suspicion. If they believe you are gaining too much influence, too much of a public voice, who’s to say they won’t go through your data base they’ve developed from this Prism system, and piece together a picture that can reveal whatever story line they want about you? They keep people in fear to keep them in compliance.

Right now, there are those who are seeking to crush Mr. Snowden. Create a story they can throw out to the talking heads, like Ailes and his talking points he issues to his Fox staff.

This bright, level headed, bold young man took an amazing risk for us all. I for one will defend him, and others like him, because he's out there protecting people like me, like you, like all of us. So are all the other brave gentlemen I mentioned earlier in this diary. So is Glenn Greenwald. And Jeremy Scahill. And so many others. I wish I could thank each and every one of them personally. A group hug to encompass all those dedication to justice and freedom and democracy that our own government is so lacking. Mr. Snowden is sitting in a hotel room, worried about his family and his girlfriend that he had to leave behind. Worried about what they are going to go through. His conscience and his own moral compass forced him to take this path. He has given everything up for all of us, so that we know the truth. So that we empower ourselves. So that we have the tools to bring the change that needs to happen in this country, before it becomes what he called it a "turnkey tyranny." He did this for the right reasons, we know this. He says he is not afraid. Neither am I.
The only thing to be afraid of is to watch this brave young man risk everything and still have nothing change. I ask each and every one of you reading this, to please not let that happen. I don't have the answers, but at least, let's start asking the right, informed questions. Let's be bold, let's be fearless, let's step out and honor those who've risked everything for our benefit, and defend them from the upcoming detractors who will slander and sideline these brave whistleblowers.
Only by uniting together will we accomplish greatness.

What Happened To America?

regibaby67

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday May 22, 2013 · 10:33 PM PDT

2013/05/22 · 22:33

There are people who grow up believing the world to be a fair and just place. Bad guys will eventually get what’s coming to them. Good guys win in the end. If someone is doing wrong in your neighborhood, the good guys can be called, and the bad guys will be taken care of accordingly. We are a democracy, we are told. Justice will always win in the end.

For some people, this kind of life exists for them. They grew up in the right neighborhoods, went to the right schools, came from the right families. They got into the college of their choice, or maybe their second choice, but that wasn’t so bad. They got that job they were counting on, maybe their father called in a favor to an old colleague. Maybe that summer internship paid of in the end. Perhaps that letter from their professor helped open the door.

For many of us, we know that life isn’t always fair, in fact, it seems that rarely is it ever. We grow up in poor neighborhoods. Our clothes always seem to be a bit small, no matter how we try to hide it. We are picked on in school, and no one ever seems to come to our defense. There is violence in our school, our neighborhood, sometimes even in our homes. Sometimes we hide beneath dusty beds or in musty closets to get away from it. We have parents who both need to work to make ends meet. We sometimes go to school hungry, and sit in the corner, trying to not show our hunger as the other kids go on eating their lunches. Our schools lack funds for enrichment classes, art classes, music classes. P.E. classes, once a daily staple, have become a one day a week event. Kids aren’t allowed to play tag, for fear that someone might fall and get hurt, and in our sue happy society, their parents might sue the school for damages. Instead of being urged to develop our critical thinking, and use our imaginations, we are fed a constant barrage of information that we must retain, so that we can pass The Test. Because if we don’t do well on The Test, the school loses money, and another teacher might lose her job. If we fall behind, there is no reviewing information, for we must stick to the carefully laid out plans for the testing, always forward to the next subject. Sometimes our teacher has to spend a lot of time with the kid with the learning disability who has trouble keeping up, because the school budget doesn’t allow for a teacher’s aide any longer. We managed to make it home somehow avoiding the bully who stalks us after school. College? Just to make it through to high school graduation is an accomplishment where we come from.

We are then thrown into real life, where supporting one’s self is a challenge that’s even more dire. There was a time when high schools offered shop classes and hands on skills, where you could learn a skill that could be utilized in the labor market. You could go and become a mechanic, and make a decent living at the local garage, forever having a dull dirt beneath your fingernails from the endless hours beneath a car hood. You could work in a fabrication shop, working with tools. Now, jobs are hard to find, even with a college degree. In fact, many kids coming out of college are not only horribly in debt, but the job market seems to offer them jobs they could have gotten right out of high school. Many jobs they are deemed overqualified.

We look around, and see our neighborhoods suffering. Shops closed down for business. Houses that were foreclosed on, standing empty, landscaping that was once plush and proud, left overgrown, grass dead and brown. Roads need repairing, but there’s no money for fixing them, not in this economy, we are told. A giant superstore comes into town, with prices fixed so low, all the other shops in town, small businesses owned by locals in the community for years, are forced to close down, unable to keep up with the competition. The large supermarket union job, that guaranteed a living wage and a valuable benefits package, becomes a thing of the past as all the residents in the community choose instead to stretch their dollars at the giant superstore. The once living wage, 40 hour workweek is reduced to minimum wage, minimum hours, and the only benefits package is in the employee area, where the managers at the giant superstore advise you on how to apply for food stamps, because you don’t make enough money to feed your family. Factories closed down, because the corporation realized it’s better for their bottom line to run a slave labor factory in Bangladesh and pay a 10 year old girl twelve cents an hour instead of what the labor market demands of them in the U.S. So what if that child dies in a fire, or a building collapse, or a vicious gang rape. There’s another bus load of little brown kids ready to take her place in no time.

We sit and watch our wages become smaller and smaller while the cost of our basic needs goes higher and higher. The big bosses decide it’s in their best interest to make the job of two or three people into one job, so you are stretched to your limit to do the work of two or sometimes three people, but you are never paid more for your work. You pray you don’t get sick, or your child does not become sick, for a sick day could mean not being able to have enough money for your rent and basic bills. You have to work 2 jobs to meet the demands of having a roof over your head. You live one paycheck away from sleeping on the street.

You are told by the big energy company, here you go, here’s tens of thousands of dollars, we’re gonna do a bit of drilling over here in the corner of your property, don’t mind us. You are safe from any harm. Oh, they would never let anything bad happen to us, your neighbor says, as he shows you his contract. Who can resist, you think, as you sign your name on the dotted line. I can put some money away now. I can have some breathing room.

The next thing you know, here comes the trucks, in an endless parade, with the drills, and chemicals, and God knows what else they’ve got. Smelly clouds surround your home, so awful that you keep your kids inside on what used to be a nice sunny day. You go to get water one day, and realize, it’s a brown, smelly mess that runs out of your faucet. You go to your local government agency, and demand some answers. You show them your water. You notice that your cat is losing his hair. The neighbor down the street says her cows are sick. You are told by the state officials, there’s nothing wrong with your water, go ahead and drink it. You cannot believe they are telling this to you with a straight look on their face. You demand that the friendly guy from the big energy company do something about it. They say, with that same straight face, it’s not our faults. Your sick child and your sick animals and your wife’s miscarriage has nothing to do with the drilling taking place 200 feet from your home. By the way, remember that paperwork you signed? That means you can’t tell anyone about any of this.

Suddenly, you’re not in your country any longer. Your land, your family, your children, your pets, your community, all you hold dear, are suffering, and there seems to be nothing you can do about it. You go to the place that’s supposed to protect you, supposed to care about the well being and safety of the community, and they seem to laugh in your face and say, sorry, buddy, can’t help you here. If you don’t like it, move.

Move where, you think, as you look around at the ravaged wasteland that was once your community, was once rolling green hills, dotted with ponds and lakes and rivers bursting with fish and frogs and kids, now some mysterious, unnatural color, filled with fumes so toxic you have to wear a mask to go anywhere near it. I grew up here, you think, as you survey the destruction with a tear in your eye and a lump in your throat. I swam in that lake. I fished in that pond. I grew up in this house. Where am I supposed to go?

Meanwhile, we are told, we need to fix the budget. We need to pay off the deficit. We need to take your Social Security to do it. We need to close your local health clinic. We need to close your child’s Head Start program. We need to stop the Meals on Wheels that feeds your invalid uncle in the next county over, because the government just can’t afford it. We must all make a sacrifice.

We are told, those big bankers on Wall Street have saved us from the big collapse that could have wrecked the economy. We are told, we’re just not bright enough to understand it all, even though, common sense would tell anyone that it makes no sense to pay the very ones who almost broke the economy in the first place millions of dollars in bonuses as reward money for what they’ve done. No one is putting money back into your pension, though. I didn’t do a damned thing, you think with bitterness, and they took half of my pension, and yet those guys get bonuses?

You watch in horror at the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, you say a silent prayer to those poor people who must be suffering. You are surprised to see, within days, the lights of the large Goldman Sachs building lit up like a Christmas tree, surrounded by the dark buildings all around it, dark and cold, and full of frightened, hungry people, and no FEMA to help them out.

You watch the horror stories of the families of small children, gunned down by another crazed maniac. Even though you are a gun owner, you feel it’s the duty of the country to restrict gun sales. Who wants some crazy guy getting out of jail, or a mental institution, to be able to show up at a gun show and buy an AK-47 without a back round check? You keep your gun under lock and key, in a safe place, and are careful any time you take it out and go down to the local shooting range. You watch stunned as, even though you know 90% of your fellow citizens agree to the simple idea that a dangerous weapon should not be sold to just anyone on the street, that any law abiding citizen should care about a gun being sold to the proper law abiding citizen, you cannot fathom how the legislation just got voted down. Shame on them, you mutter to yourself. Those poor little kids. Every day, another child is dead, at the hands of some irresponsible gun owner who looks upon these weapons as toys for kids to play with. Might as well give those kids keys to the car and let them drive on down to the local Toys R Us.

You hear on the news, another big company that didn’t pay one dime in taxes. How ‘bout them Apples? You start to see, the system is rigged, and it’s not in your favor. The country is one big Vegas scam, and they’ve got you betting the whole house, while they’re the ones that tweeked the slot machines, they’ve been counting cards, they’ve been hiding the secret switch beneath the felt covered tables. They’re not gonna stop until they’ve taken the last of your security, drilled and sucked every drop of fluid and gas from the land, poisoned every body of water, and leveled every mountaintop. The once majestic land of your youth has been sold off to the highest bidder, and you wonder who it is that gave them the right to do so. The big Wall Street banksters continue their fraud with no repercussions, no regulations, no retributions, and no shame. Large corporations continue oppressing third worlds for their big profits, while stashing their trillions in foreign banks in perfectly legal loopholes that they bought and paid for with their well funded ALEC legislation.

We read the recent news, another terrorist attack. More dead. More fear spills through the airwaves. We learn, somehow, that the freedoms we once held dear are a thing of the past. How is it that for reasons we are given, of safety and security, our homes can be searched without warrants? We can be arrested without being charged of a crime? We can be locked up indefinitely, we can be tortured, we can even be killed by our leaders, if we are suspected of a crime? What happened to our Bill of Rights? What happened to Habeas Corpus? What happened to freedom and democracy?

And we sit, in our aging homes, our struggling communities, our battered cities, holding our fist full of broken dreams, and wonder, what the hell happened to America?

America's "Dirty Wars"

regibaby67

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday May 05, 2013 · 7:27 PM PDT

2013/05/05 · 19:27

Today, I had the opportunity to listen to Jeremy Scahill, author of "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army" speak about his new book, "Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield." The crowd squeezed into the small venue of The Last Bookstore (an appropriate name for a bookstore nowadays) in downtown Los Angeles to hear him give a scathing indictment of the current policy by our government to conduct secret wars across the globe. The movie version of the book by the same title is on it's way to theaters soon, and has already won praise at Sundance. A quick google and you can view the trailer yourself.

The reality of the terror that is being inflicted across the globe in our name should be a concern to all American citizens. We are told we are bombing the "enemy," and we are taking out the terrorists before they have a chance to carry out their evil plans to kill Americans on our shores. We are assured that the kill lists that our government uses in order to take out these said "terrorists" is reviewed in depth, and approved by the highest reaches in our government, heads of the CIA and our own President. We are told, these are evil people who want to harm us, because of our "freedoms" here in the US. We are told this War on Terror is a war without real end. For every terrorist we remove, there will be more to take his place. It is truly an unwinnable situation. A perfect situation for the military industrial complex.

We invaded Iraq during the Bush administration under the concerns, we were told, that there were WMD's. That Saddam had weapons that would harm Americans, and he was intent on using them on us. We had to take action before the smoking gun in the form of a mushroom cloud appeared. Certain 24 hour news channels fed the lie over and over again that Iraq somehow had something to do with 9/11. While we know this is a false assertion, there are those who still believe that Iraq had something to do with 9/11. The fact that they still believe this lie is I believe a part of the problem for the public dialogue about the realities of war. Members of the previous administration proudly boast on national tv that they would, if given the chance, indeed do the same thing, and attack a nation innocent of any crimes against the United States of America.

The fact is, this is already happening, secretly, in many places around the world. America, unknown to most Americans, is the aggressor. While leaders claim we are "defending" ourselves against known "terrorists," our bombs are dropping into countries on the other side of the world, killing innocent women, children, and many times, innocent men. There are secret covert operations, secret prisons, secret places of torture, and secret renditions, still taking place. Americans are kept in the dark about such things, or maybe choose to turn a blind eye in the direction of such atrocities, because it is simply too hard to accept the truth of the matter. No one wants to really swallow that bitter pill that our country is performing such despicable acts on innocent human beings. We rally around our own injured and fallen, in attacks such as the one in Boston. We praise our heroes who ran towards the bombs. We set up a fundraising campaign for the injured. We don't talk too openly about those who lost limbs who have no health insurance. We show pictures of the innocent little 8 year old child who only wished for peace, and who's parents will forever grieve his loss.

Yet, for some reason, we do not shed tears for the innocent dead on their way to a wedding party, or on their way to bury their own dead as the result of a bombing a few days prior. Or the killing of a 16 year old child, an American citizen, for no apparent reason other than what Robert Gibbs is quoted as saying was the result of bad parenting. For some reason, because those over there, a world away, are of another ethic back round, are Muslim, or have darker skin than us, for some reason, those losses are not mourned. They are those who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. They were hanging around those known terrorist hot spots. Collateral damage. We're busy protecting American lives, so what if a few dark skinned Muslims have to die in the process?

No longer can we turn a blind eye and claim that we don't understand why a couple of young men in Boston would attack innocent civilians while in the meantime we don't acknowledge the terror we are inflicting on innocent civilians in other countries. No longer can we sit still and let our leaders sift through kill lists, becoming judge, jury, and executioner to those who are offered no day in court, no awareness of their supposed crimes, no lawyer to defend their rights, no voice to speak out on their behalf to the injustices that are being inflicted on them, on a daily basis. Is this justice? Is this the "democracy" we are spreading across the globe? Is this the kind of treatment we will allow our fellow human beings to endure in the name of God and country?

How long until those who've endured watching their loved ones being blown into pieces by American made bombs retaliate in the name of revenge and justice that they interpret as just and honorable? Can you close your eyes and imagine going to your sister's wedding and having most of your family blown up by drones from another country? We endured an attack on Boston, watched in horror as the video of a bomb exploding was replayed again and again, watched their stories unfold, witnessed their hopes and dreams being permanently altered by the violence inflicted upon them. In other places, this scenario is played out again and again as bombs fall across their countries. Children don't go to school for fear of drones. Local tribal leaders don't meet, for fear that the grainy images viewed on a computer screen somewhere in a bunker in New Mexico might be mistaken for an Al Qaeda conspiracy, and they'll be blown to bits.

The war on terror will never be won by inflicting more terror in the world. War does not promote peace. Dropping bombs does not promote democracy. Murder does not make us a free nation.

Jeremy Scahill is doing what so few others will do, or can do. He is pulling back the curtain to reveal the truth about what is being done in our name. It's about time we took a hard look at the truth, for only when we acknowledge the reality of the situation, will we be able to take a stand and do something to change it.

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