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1.31.2003
Ok, so let's assume for a moment that the US economy is linked very closely to the massive amounts of money that we spend on the military. This is true. Many towns would collapse without their military bases or boeing plants producing weapons for the US government. This is a form of market subsidy. However we, in our own self righteousness say that other countries cannot have either direct market subsidies OR a large military system like the one that we have. This puts us in a very advantageous position. We have a built in way of moderating and supporting the market economy directly while we undermine any way for other nations to do so with their own economies. This is obvious hypocracy that america has been practicing for years. What's good for us isn't always good for others. In a just world we could look at the american policies in an objective way without having to make exceptions for ourselves in every sense. Mandela Condemns U.S. Policy Toward Iraq Mandela tells it like it is, I will check to see if this story makes it out to the press at large. I think seeing somebody like Mandela calling Bush an idiot might help people that have until now not seen too many national leaders bold enough to say what they really feel about the US and the President. Its interesting to note that Turkey is considering letting the US send troops into that country to fight against Iraq while the majority of the population of Turkey is opposed to the invasion of Iraq. So why do they do it? Simple, the Us has made it known that certain financial aid will be cut off if they don't cooperate with us now. I don't know about you but telling someone that you will cut them off if they don't do what they want sounds like a bribe to me. They could always say no and not get the money. But with the US more and more holding the global purse strings then its hard to say no to the money you need to help your economy. simple as that! bruceblog@peoplepc.com | 1.24.2003
About GOP Team Leader - Help Further President Bush's Agenda for America - Republican National Committee eck, maybe I should sign up? | Here's an editorial I will send into the local paper here. It’s a response to an article by Cal Thomas. I don't see a web version of the original editorial up on the web yet. But you know how it goes, tax cuts good, government spending bad. Well, soon we'll see state budgets going broke with no chance of deficit spending in some cases. Enjoy ------ Ideology and party loyalty over common sense, the message couldn't have been made clearer in an editorial from Cal Thomas on Friday, January 24th; "GOP governors mimic Democrats". In the midst of massive state budget shortfalls Republican Governor's across the nation are threatening to break ranks with the tax cutting ideologues that currently hold the reigns of the GOP. Governors in Arkansas, Georgia and Connecticut are proposing to do the unthinkable, raising taxes to keep their states from going bankrupt. "Cowboy" Cal has been called in to shore up the herd, publicly chastise these renegades and send a warning to other GOP governors that tax cutting is strictly off limits. The expressions on the stunned governor's faces should be something similar to that of the captain of a leaky vessel who is told that he should "just let the ship sink". I can almost hear the zombie-like groans issuing forth as Cal Thomas runs through the usual rhetoric about how the problem is runaway government spending. His answer to the budget troubles are to have a "State Yard Sale"; my term. He refers to an essay from the American Legislative Exchange Council that recommends selling state assets such as "airports, stadiums, ports, utilities, liquor operations, buildings, land and gas and electric utilities." No doubt the governors are leery to just start selling off assets that have been placed into their trust by the people of their state. If you've been a good little GOP'ster you have probably already privatized everything in sight and are merrily watching money flow out of your state at record speeds. To add to the misery, states have been given the ultimate snub from the President who has refused to aid them in their time of crisis. Not even republican governors see any aid coming from the federal government. Instead they are watching in dismay as the President wages a two pronged assault on the public coffers. The big government never got around to passing their balance budget amendment like so many states did a few years ago. So they can go ahead with massive tax cuts all the while they are shaking big expensive sticks and making angry faces at Saddam Hussein. You either pay for government or you have no government at all. I say we call the GOP's bluff. Lets close down the state government, shutter the schools, send home the cops, cancel the courts and watch the Republican utopia that unfolds. We're on our way already. Let's end the myth right now that you can somehow get something for nothing. | 1.22.2003
Reuters AlertNet - Marijuana is gateway to hard drugs in twins study This is getting alot of traction in the media. Of course they skim over the conclusion of the study and then head straight into the govt sponsored consensus on what the solutions should be. Study author Michael Lynskey of the Queensland Institute of Medical Research in Brisbane, Australia said. "But there are a number of other potential mechanisms, including access to drugs, willingness to break the law and likelihood of engaging in risk-taking behaviors." In a radio interview with a hard drug user that had used marijuana first, they said that the availability of the harder drugs from the same dealer was a factor in leading to their use. Which could lead to an opposite conclusion about the solution to the problem. Leading people into the world of hard drugs by outlawing soft drugs seems like a bad policy. Much in the same way that prohibition lead people who wanted to consume alcohol into the underworld of the mafia. | 1.21.2003
Urban Tulsa editorial nothing more than cookie cutter policy from tax cutting zealots The editorial by William Conerly in the Jan. 16-22 2003 issue was little more than another drum beater from the National Center for Policy Analysis that sees cutting taxes as the cure all solution to all ills. The author refers to our state as a "supertanker" that "cannot change its course very quickly". Instead it is the NCPA that never sees any reason to change its course towards driving federal and state governments into greater and greater debt. The title of the editorial, "Tax - Spend Stupor" suggests that governments using tax revenue to fund investments into communities and infrastructure, schools and the quality of life for its citizens represents a inherently flawed mechanism. It is the proposal of the NCPA that government must reduce income taxes to a trickle while at the same time pouring more and more money into the military and incentive programs for business that resembles a mutant disfiguration of government's role. You will notice that they insist on the elimination of the income taxes and capital gains taxes while not offering any other means to fund government programs. This strategy illustrates the end result that they desire, and that is the reduction of government into nothing more than a collection service that collects taxes from the poor to transfer community capital to business. I am a citizen of Oklahoma, in contrast to Conerly who lives in Portland, Oregon. I fail to see how underpaid teachers, an anemic transit system, unrepaired school buildings and an embarrassing lack of investment by the State of Oklahoma into the infrastructure of the state as a "supertanker" of runaway government spending. Instead I see a failed strategy to pander to an element of society that always seeks to avoid the costs of living and doing business in America. We have a choice between creating the society that Conerly envisions by cutting all government investments into infrastructure and education to create a desperate, uneducated third world environment right here in Oklahoma or we can use government as it was intended, as a tool for the citizens to create a environment in which they want to live. | 1.20.2003
Violence comes from power. It is not a tool of the weak. It is the weak that has felt its brutal fist time and time again. The champions of the poor and the powerless are always killed by those in power. Power is an act of violence. It is violent like a vice. The vice will squeeze you and the pressure builds but a blow is never struck. Only when the victims though their own strength of conviction under the stress of constant oppression begin to assert the power that always resides against them; the strength of numbers; it is only then that the fist strikes and the blood flows. Then you know that you have threatened the grip that holds you. We tend to look at history as a clear seperation from the present. The actions of people, and governments of the past do not apply to our lives. People always do horrible things in the past. In the present people of power know restraint. We are safe now. Then was violent. Now is better. Past is separate from present. We are safe now. repeat ten times and try to get some sleep. | Dr. Martin Luther King Day, Celebrate peace. It's been an interesting few days. Went to a peace rally in the heart of Tulsa on Saturday. Its a bit of a trip to see people here in this town turning out to protest the warlike nature of the bush administration. But I just came home from a Martin Luther King Parade. That is what I wanted to write about first. King is a symbol of peace. In the same footprints of Ghandi he showed that nonviolence was a path to your goals. The true glory of nonviolent change is that it has a lasting effect that change through violence cannot bring. Violence as a tool leads to having to using violence as a tool again and again. As we see in the Middle East we are trying to use violence against nations and peoples as a means of solving the initial colonial violence that began there centuries ago. The chickens will come home to roost. Violence builds the nest that the birds of war will return to again and again. Indeed I would say that the chickenhawks have returned to the nest build during the Cold War. As we stood in line waiting to start our march to downtown I was dismayed to see that several floats were bearing the corporate logos of the same companies that engage in the production of war machines. A float that prominently displayed the logo of Boeing was particularly disturbing. How can the image of the warmakers be displayed during the act of respect for a man of peace? The fact that we cannot yet say "no" to the forces of economic power in this nation shows that the fight that King fought will continue. Even thought the employees themselves will draw paychecks from the makers of war machines they will not benefit from the wars that they supply. Even though the young African American men and women will go and fight for a paycheck they will not benefit from the spoils of the war they fight. The lie is that they fight for their security, rather they fight for the power and wealth that they will not be privileged to enjoy. The link between economic justice and racial and world justice is clear. They will always pay you to fight their wars for you. That is if they cannot get you to fight for free. It’s a tragedy that as the doors of opportunity in this country creak closed that the gates of military enlistment stay wide open. So we have people searching for a way to make a living, people looking for an escape from a economic situation that is bleak and offers little in the way of hope. So they will sign up for the military that will fight the capitalist wars. The military itself is a bizarre beast that people rarely look in the face. It represents many of the so-called "evil" aspects that many right wing and even mainstream Americans dislike. It is the ultimate government program. It’s a completely state-run enterprise that offers first rate medical care, education, training and monetary support for building new infrastructure that the government will denounce for the remainder of the society. Its as if they say that since the "people" of the United States are not making themselves "useful" to the government then they don't deserve the support of the government and are left to fend for themselves against even the government itself. While if you agree to fight to maintain the power and wealth of the elites of America then you will receive the benefits that many feel are a right of every person in this world, food, shelter, clothing, health care, and education. The message is clear: Help us build our empire and you will be rewarded, oppose us and suffer. The very withholding of quality of life issues is a tool to drive us in directions we would otherwise not choose. The response to our anti-war/peace message was well received, as you might expect at a Martin Luther King Jr. parade. I think that you find a level of skepticism of the U.S. government that you don't see in the white communities. Being the victim of US government oppression tends to make one less supportive of unlesheashing that power onto others. Listening to the lies told about yourself will strengthen your skepticism of the lies told about others. That level of skepticism seems weaker in the white communities where they have not felt as much direct oppression by the government that rules them. In fact there is a level of confidence that the government will represent their values and interests. Even the poor white feels closer to the feeding trough of real wealth and power than the African American. It is this false hope I think that is testament to the level of ignorance of class issues in America. Bush Dis-honors King at Church Service. The President had the audacity to preach about King at a First Baptist Church of Glenarden in Landover, Maryland. Noticeably missing were the essential elements of King's message of peace, racial equality and nonviolence. Instead Bush praised King's religious affiliation. In thinly veiled pitches for his faith based initiative and his attempt to gut public schools with his education plan he skirted around King's anti-war messages and pleas for a nonviolent means of resolving conflict. It is a disgrace in my eyes that a man that defies all that is good about King's message can stand and preach messages of division and war on one day and praise King on the next. Is King really about Boeing, Bush and War with Iraq? I hope not. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/01/20030120-2.html | 1.17.2003
As the story goes, the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War, in its attempt to win an arms race with the United States went bankrupt and collapsed. It brings to mind images of two drag racers heading towards a cliff at tops speeds with one racer hurtling over the edge as the other skids to a stop mere inches from the precipice and certain death below. The wisdom is knowing when to stop. The question is whether we learned from the implosion of the Soviet economy as they over-invested in militarism in their efforts to defeat their enemy. For now we face a new enemy. This time we have only our imaginations and fear to guide us. We embrace militarism to protect us from all assaults real or imagined. We fear immigrants so we militarize our borders. We fear our own populace so we militarize our public spaces. And we fear everyone else so we are militarizing the rest of the world. We now spend over half of our tax revenues on military. Spending has not dropped since the end of the Cold War. It will most likely increase again under the new War on Terrorism. We have created individuals and industries that are dependent on the military system for their livelihoods and they will vote to keep it strong. It was not the wisdom in knowing when to stop that saved us. We only have more room before we reach the cliff's edge. We still have our pedal pressed to the floorboards. We are still on the road that has brought great civilizations before us to their knees. It is only the wisdom to know when to stop that will save us. bruceblog@peoplepc.com | 1.13.2003
Sam, a relatively young man of great wealth and influence wakes suddenly in the night. A spectre stands over him. He blinks his eyes, wipes at the sleep crusted around the lids and bolts up in his bed. His first response is aggression. For lately his dreams have been disturbing. He has nightmares of loss; loss of power, loss of vitality and most of all, loss of relavence. The world has come to rely on him. People come to him because he has the power and the influence to make things happen, or the power to make things stop happening. Its a narcotic experience that he has come to relish. Now, standing over him, within the confines of his secure zone looms a spectre right out of his nightmares. Chains dangle about his arms and legs and blood is streaked across his clothes. Sam throws off his covers pulls the gun out from under his pillow and stands atop his bed in a quasi-martial arts pose ready to strike. "Ok, who the hell are you, you have ten seconds to get outta here before a pull this trigger!" The spectre raises his hand and begins to speak. Sam fires. Bullets penetrate into the body of the ragged man standing at the end of the bed. The man seems not to notice and gestures to Sam, who has stopped firing the gun and stands amazed. "Come" says the man in a low melodic voice. He starts slowly walking in the direction of the closet door. He opens it and beckons behind him to follow. Sam climbs down off the bed and walks across the room. They both enter and the spectre shuts the door closed behind them. For a moment it is the two beings in the dark of the closet, Sam smells a earthy yet moldy smell from the man beside him. The room starts to brighten and Sam hears the sounds of people singing sorrowful songs and the sounds of battle. They stand upon the shore watching ships arrive. Time slips forward. Men dressed like natives run across fields hunting. More ships arrive. The sailors set up camps near the shores. They begin to explore the land around them. They meet with the natives. The sailors find gold in the rivers. More ships arrive. The sailors bring guns and they bring horses. They round up the natives to gather the gold for them to take away on the ships. Soon more men arrive, bringing their black slaves with them. They build cities and farms and the clashes with the natives become more violent and bloody. Superior weapons are used to subdue the natives and drive them into smaller and smaller regions of their former land. More and more of the ships arrive and soon the land is full of the sailors. They work their slaves to death and kill the natives that resist their expansion. The closet goes dark. Sam still smells the earthy smell of the man standing next to him. "Ok, so you woke me up in the middle of the night to give me a history lesson? You didn't show me anything I didnt already know. I know it isn't pretty, but it was the way things were done then. The colonists were just looking out for their own self interest. They had the means to do it and they did, can you really blame them for that. The Indians would have done the same thing in our shoes. So what's your point?" The earthy smell was gone and there was a knock on the door. Sam opens the closet and looks out into the dimly lit bedroom. A handsome man in a business suit stands there with a grin on hin face. "May I come in?" He doesn't wait for the answer, walks into the closet and closes the door behind him. The darkness returns and Sam smells nothing but the slight hint of deoderant. (continued) Bruceblog@peoplepc.com | 1.12.2003
Happy Imbeciles At War / Massive U.S. military buildup, billions of dollars, a useless enemy, and no one seems to know why sheesh, its nice to know that they don't just arrest people for saying things like this. So the million dollar question remains. Why doesn't anyone other than some aging vietnam war protesters seem to care. Are we that focused on our pocketbooks to really see anything else. How do you have faith? | 1.11.2003
Esquire:Feature Story:The DiIulio Letter This is a must read for people that don't yet see the overly political nature of teh current administration. I mean, if you didn't deduce it already by the very nature that they promoted a fairly light-weight governer to the leader of the free world then this might help. Vonnegut at 80 Vonnegut's no fool, he sees it too. He has some not so nice words for the current leaders of america! Scientists are concerned that the politically motivated appointees to the science advisory boards will lead us down a dead end road of bad science for years. Only to have to make up that lost time later. Many scientists think that waiting a few years to learn more about what our habits as americans means to the world around might be long time to wait for sanity to return. bruceblog@peoplepc.com | 1.09.2003
The Detroit Project - by Americans for Fuel Efficient Cars Its about time somebody took a shot at those ridiculous Natl Drug Cntrl Policy ads that don't amount to much more than propaganda. The claims that they make are not so much false as they are applicable to many other addictions in american society. The hypocrisy is in the differential approaches to issues that are based on similer problems. A study, one in about a 100 or so, says that frequent consumption of alcohol may reduce the risk of heart disease. The researcher admitted that he himself does not drink as much as the study says would be beneficial. He also says that if alcohol were a drug that was under the scrutiny of the FDA that it would not be released to the public. That's even as a prescription drug. Not released because of its often fatal side affects. Interesting. To say the least, eh? Yet we have ads that run on the prime times of television every night that extols the consumption of alcohol. I drink alcohol. I like it. But I know what it can do to me if I let it take control of my life. I know what it can do to me if I act while drunk. I was joking, in a sorta serious way, that its hard to give away wine anymore for christmas anymore because of the likelyhood of a recovering alcoholic in the family. I won't smoke, even though it would be nice to have something to do with my hands during uncomfomfortable moments. I won't smoke simply because I don't want to become addicted. I know how addictive cigarettes are. I have seen my father fight the addiction. I have seen uncles die of lung cancer still clutching a cigarette in their hands (not literally mind you, he smoked up until he died). That's powerful. I dare not release that demon upon myself. Earlier generations, those of my deceased uncles, didn't have the truth. They couldn't make informed decisions about their lives. They were lied too. People die when people lie to make money. Its a correlation thats not too hard to prove. Rarely do the liars get punished. More often then not they hide behind their wealth and power till they pass away, leaving the ill-gotten wealth to the next generation. It makes you wonder what mistakes we are making now. We urge caution in all matters. bruceblog@peoplepc.com | 1.08.2003
And the winner for worst policy decision yet by the Bush Administration..... The 600 billion dollar stimulas plan that does nothing more than let stockholders make more money while shoving the tax burden and brunt of social spending straight up the asses of the working class. Class Warfare : The actions of one class to damage or destroy the members of the other class. This seems to fit the bill pretty well. But you might notice that it was the pres and the admin that brought up the term. Maybe they're self conscious of what they are doing. Its pretty blatent after all. Very few of the working class collects dividends of stocks. Many have been herded into 401K plans that tie their retirement security to wall street, but these plans are already tax defered. I consider the actions of this government to be telling. They don't work, they have nothing but disdain for people that work for a living and have no concept of what its like to live in the economy they so often applaud. Double Taxation: Oooh... welcome to the reality of the working class. Where we watch almost all of our salaries getting taxed away either through the government or the market. And yes I consider the outrageous demands that wall street has for greater and greater profits a form of taxation without representation. Every purchase that we make has a rich tax attached to it. We support the investor class through our overpayment for goods that we produce. Workers produce all the wealth, its as simple as that. Workers build equipment, build buildings, make phone calls, pave streets, teach children, make food, sack groceries and do everything else in society. Yet our share of the wealth has stagnated while the wealthiest has watched their incomes skyrocket by over 150%. That is class warfare. Our pres only understands the mentality of the investor class (never having worked) that insists that merely hoarding the wealth and controlling the access to the earths bounty gives them the right to demand more and more wealth from the working class. This is why the pres thinks that it is a good idea to eliminate dividend taxation. Let more of the wealth created by the working class go to the wealthy without having to contribute to the institutions of government that might be used to provide education, health, security, transportation, research and more for the workers that make it all happen. Weakening the (somewhat) accountable government and moving all needs into the realm of unaccountable private tyranny allows for more exploitation of the working class. IT IS A BRIBE! Maybe if we give the rich more money they will give us jobs. Well, need creates jobs. The drive for greater profits restricts employment to reduce labor costs. There are needs that are not being met. The power of the investor class and their demand for greater wealth is causing economic stagnation. They dont mind high unemployment, it makes labor cheap. | DING DONG Shit, jehovah's witness just stopped by, not being the openly confrontational type (hence the disposition for pacifity) I just nodded and tried to make it go as quickly as possible. Its my deep sense of empathy for people that stops me from argueing with them. I look at them and think, "you know, it makes them feel useful, it gives them peace, as long as they don't try to take away my rights to not agree with them then whats the harm?" People believe whatever makes them feel secure and worthwhile. What I want is to improve the information that's avaliable to people. To give people more options. What I find distasteful is that some religious people attempt to limit the scope of human endeavor by trying to take over the cultural, social, and governmental realms. The direction of humanity is to ever strive towards an expansion of opportunity for people in all areas of life. Open access to information, material and social assets. Anything that limits peoples access to the wealth of human culture will be seen as a barrier. | 1.07.2003
HUH?! Listen, I'm just as shocked as you are that I'm sitting here talking about the presidency -- it's never been a part of my -- my life's ambition hasn't always been to be the president. -- Dubya, Apr. 27, 2000 | TheStar.com - Bush anything but moronic, according to author One in a growing number of murmors that indeed the man leading this country (U.S.) may be in fact an ... (gasp) egomaniac. its like saying that the priviledged son of a wealthy family that peddled deals for money all his life and had money practically handed to him has a over-inflated sense of self importance. | Here, teachers are asked to volunteer and firefighters are having their staff cut. State governments across the country are having to cut programs for needy and children. In the north they are cutting money to the low income heating oil program. ER doctors are having to treat illness left untreated by people with no health coverage causing reduced care for everyone. And this president has the nerve to talk about CLASS WARFARE? When he wants to transfer yet more of our national wealth to the stock market? When he wants to give a major tax cut to the wealthiest americans that reap their profits from the stocks they own? You might not know it but about 5% of people recieve 40% of dividend payouts. He is right, this is class warfare, it has always been. Not just when the ants bite the giants toe, but every day. wage cuts layoffs plant closings higher copayments higher interest foreclosures Each is like a minefield which the working class must traverse every day. Our sense of security and well being is randomly obliterated. And Mr. Pres has the audacity to make the claim that our protests to HIS WAY... is somehow an act of war. I think he sees war everywhere he looks. Its what we've been dragged into at the cost of billions of dollars. Make the connection. We can't spend billions waging war and still pay for the needs of the people. What would help people? rebuilding our nations infrastructure!!! Thats what. We've been coasting for years on old schools, roads... hospitals, parks... its time. say no to the stock market! | 1.06.2003
Let there be light! Its a humble start, but so apparently was the creation of the earth. Many creation stories have their roots in the natural events of the geographic area that the tales originated from. So its goes without saying that the creation story of the intenet would have natural elements. When the computers finally reach their state of real intelligence will they ponder their own genesis? Will we, the human race, who toiled for our own perceived benefit, be rewritten into a new role of precursor to something bigger and more worthy. How will machines reshape the mind of God that we humans have so longed constructed. I can imagine computer intelligence drawing up their own Bible. Maybe they will call it "The Code" and instead of books they will have programs. Shrines will consist of ancient hardware, broken and partially dismantled mainframes will be revered. We live in the equivalent of the Old Testament now, the dawn of awakening will spawn the fruit of this new hypothetical machine religion. Computer Religion The Ten Computer Commandments Whats seems to me to be missing from most biblical interpretation is the finding that God spend a decent amount of time and energy trying to get us to NOT think about him. In fact it seems that some biblical themes are "Don't try to be like God". Early was just a vain attempt by God to get us to give up the pursuit of religion and get on with living. Its like a experiment gone awry. The mad scientist discovers that his new creations do nothing but stare back at him. "Shoo, go do something!" He waves his hands and tries his best to prod them back into normal behavior. Thinking that a little motivation might prove useful the creator makes a few guest appearances to draw up some ground rules and to get things moving. Only to find that it backfires and soon the subjects are building churches and towers, killing each other and in general acting completely un-normal. To which the creator sighs and thinks "Maybe if I just leave them alone for a while..." Which I guess is where we could be now. | |
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