God bless Hugo Chavez. If you believe propaganda from the corporate controlled media, you are missing a few facts that need to be taken into account. 1) 2002 democratically elected President Chavez is briefly whisked away in a helicopter from the presidential palace as a US led coup begins. The media in Venezuela was at the time owned and controlled by the 1%, e.g., ruling elites. However, the citizens were getting calls from their relatives in places such as Spain that let them know what was really going on. The citizens of Venezuela stormed the presidential palace where inside the new president had just abolished the congress and the Supreme Court. President Chavez returned in the helicopter that has whisked him away to retake his office. Meanwhile the coup participants, including the coup president, escaped to a random location ... Miami.
2) At his second inauguration President Chavez read directly from the Bible and pointed out that Christ was an anti-imperialist just as he was. Well, the Roman Empire certainly thought he was.
I am writing about my evolution from liberal to radical. This blog contains observations along the way. This is me during my arrest at the White House on September 2, 2011 to stop Keystone XL.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Saturday, February 18, 2012
.Rick Santorum: The White House is Not Biblical
Rick Santorum has declared that the White House is not following Biblical principles as he sees them. It might be useful to perform a brief synthesis bringing together Biblical quotations and Republican Party principles. Such a synthesis might read something like this.
The Republican Biblical Plan to herald the coming of the Kingdom of God: I was hungry and you voted to cut off my food stamps; I was thirsty and you privatized my water supply; I was a stranger. You first imprisoned me and then deported me; I was naked and you raided my homeless camp and trashed the little I did have; I was sick and you cancelled my health insurance; I was in prison, and in the spirit of Christian forgiveness, you made sure that when I served my time I could never get a job, vote or be eligible for benefits.
The Republican Biblical Plan to herald the coming of the Kingdom of God: I was hungry and you voted to cut off my food stamps; I was thirsty and you privatized my water supply; I was a stranger. You first imprisoned me and then deported me; I was naked and you raided my homeless camp and trashed the little I did have; I was sick and you cancelled my health insurance; I was in prison, and in the spirit of Christian forgiveness, you made sure that when I served my time I could never get a job, vote or be eligible for benefits.
Arizona Republican Sheriff Paul Babeu: I'm Gay
Friday, February 17, 2012
Supreme Court Rules for Capital against Democracy
Today the Supreme Court continued to privilege capital over labor and states rights, of all things, by ruling that the State of Montana could not prevent capitalist domination of its elections by statute as the state has done for one-hundred years. Thus, the court upholds the rights of capital to absolutely swamp any pretext of democracy in the US. Citizens United lives on. The 1% are not going to relinquish their power over night.
Of course the Supreme Court has struck down this threat to thwart the free flow of capitalist power to dominate our democratic elections. That's why the Justices are there. They represent the capitalist class. Not that it matters. There is only one political party in the US: It is the capitalist party. It has two right wings. That’s the reason why it continues its rightward spiral. And this is news?
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Stroke at 33. California State Worker Laid Off - Could not afford Blood Presseure Meds.
I'm seated here in the surgical patients' family waiting room at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. While waiting for my partner, John, who is having a procedure today, I have begun talking with Sonia. She is waiting to hear about her thirty-three year-old son. He was a custodian for the State of California until recently when he was laid off. Of course, in accordance with free market principles, his medical insurance was terminated. This was despite the fact that he suffers from high blood pressure and is required to take daily blood pressure medication that was prescribed in order to prevent a possible cerebral hemorrhage. Then of course, when he became unemployed, he could not afford to renew his life preserving prescriptions.
Sonia, his mother, was sharing, (we first met in the elevator), that her son suffered a massive stroke yesterday. Because he is young and otherwise healthy, he has survived thus far. Sonia awaits word of his prognosis. This event highlights the truth that poverty is a death sentence. Forty-five thousand Americans die each year due to lack of health insurance: That's fifteen 9-11's annually. Odds are that Sonia's son has suffered debilitating losses from this stroke. Accordingly, he may have permanent disabilities. This is personal responsibility in action in America today with free markets for the working class and government sponsored socialism for the capitalist class. The free market was spared the burden of providing a young man's medical care. Now the citizens of the US are picking of the up the bill. The thing is, I would have been willing to pay for Sonia's son's medical care that could have prevented this disaster through my taxes. We need single payer medical insurance now. Yes, a government program. The free market is a killer.
Sonia, his mother, was sharing, (we first met in the elevator), that her son suffered a massive stroke yesterday. Because he is young and otherwise healthy, he has survived thus far. Sonia awaits word of his prognosis. This event highlights the truth that poverty is a death sentence. Forty-five thousand Americans die each year due to lack of health insurance: That's fifteen 9-11's annually. Odds are that Sonia's son has suffered debilitating losses from this stroke. Accordingly, he may have permanent disabilities. This is personal responsibility in action in America today with free markets for the working class and government sponsored socialism for the capitalist class. The free market was spared the burden of providing a young man's medical care. Now the citizens of the US are picking of the up the bill. The thing is, I would have been willing to pay for Sonia's son's medical care that could have prevented this disaster through my taxes. We need single payer medical insurance now. Yes, a government program. The free market is a killer.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Andrew Breitbart's Eruption at Occupy
Andrew Breibart exploded in a volcanic like eruption Friday evening when he encountered Occupy Protesters outside the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, scene of the 2012 Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC, in Washington, DC. As luck would have it, Emily Crocket, representing Campus Progress, found herself in a position to record the tirade that has gone the viral route on the Internet. The Washington Times Columnist, Andrew Breibart verbally accosted the Occupy protesters as he repeatedly screamed at the top of his lungs "Behave yourself, behave yourself." But that's not all. He went on to describe the Occupy contingent as "freaks and animals." Before he was ushered away, he suggested that the Occupy movement "Stop raping people." But why was Andrew Breibart, the astute conservative pundit, so disruptive that he needed to be led away by police into the hotel? What did he understand?
The answer to this question is this: The Occupy movement reveals the class fault lines in America that the ruling elites continually try to prevent the working class from seeing. The contradiction between the capitalist class and the working class, that must sell its labor in the labor market, has grown to the point of tectonic rupture. The Occupy movement, much like an impending tidal wave, threatens the very existence of neoliberal capitalism. Breibart gets this.
The Occupy forces are not "behaving" compliantly. They don't buy the lies that spew forth continually from the corporate controlled media. Marx saw one primary contradiction within capitalism. It is the necessary contradiction without which capitalism cannot continue. This is the contradiction between the capitalist class and the people who actually create the wealth, the laboring class. The media and the corporate government nexus seeks to create a docile working class. Here is a question: The working class are taxed on their wage labor at rates of 30% or more. The finance capitalists are taxed at just 15% on their capital gains. Why is this just fine? How does this inequity persist? Answer: The President is merely a place holder for the One Per Cent. He would be removed if he did not fulfill this function. Just consider his economic advisers. They represent the very core of the finance capitalists who provoked the current depression resulting in the current redistribution of wealth from the 99% to the 1 %. When the banks fail, who pays? Ask the Greek working class. The members of Congress and the Supreme Court justices represent the ruling elites. The 1%. Citizens United merely reinforces the ruling elites hold upon the political process. And the Occupy has a message. It is this. It is the utterly complete disparity between the 1% and the rest of us; it is the great contradiction that renders our economic system unstable. It is the disparity between private property and the commons.
The answer to this question is this: The Occupy movement reveals the class fault lines in America that the ruling elites continually try to prevent the working class from seeing. The contradiction between the capitalist class and the working class, that must sell its labor in the labor market, has grown to the point of tectonic rupture. The Occupy movement, much like an impending tidal wave, threatens the very existence of neoliberal capitalism. Breibart gets this.
The Occupy forces are not "behaving" compliantly. They don't buy the lies that spew forth continually from the corporate controlled media. Marx saw one primary contradiction within capitalism. It is the necessary contradiction without which capitalism cannot continue. This is the contradiction between the capitalist class and the people who actually create the wealth, the laboring class. The media and the corporate government nexus seeks to create a docile working class. Here is a question: The working class are taxed on their wage labor at rates of 30% or more. The finance capitalists are taxed at just 15% on their capital gains. Why is this just fine? How does this inequity persist? Answer: The President is merely a place holder for the One Per Cent. He would be removed if he did not fulfill this function. Just consider his economic advisers. They represent the very core of the finance capitalists who provoked the current depression resulting in the current redistribution of wealth from the 99% to the 1 %. When the banks fail, who pays? Ask the Greek working class. The members of Congress and the Supreme Court justices represent the ruling elites. The 1%. Citizens United merely reinforces the ruling elites hold upon the political process. And the Occupy has a message. It is this. It is the utterly complete disparity between the 1% and the rest of us; it is the great contradiction that renders our economic system unstable. It is the disparity between private property and the commons.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Occupy DC and Marriage Equality in California
This week has had its downs and ups as Occupy DC was dispossessed of its commune space in McPherson Square, and the Ninth Circuit Court declared Proposition 8 unconstitutional. Both of these events are relevant to me. In November, when I was in Washington, DC for the Keystone XL Pipeline demonstration, I visited Occupy DC twice: once in the evening and once in the morning before I hopped the Metro to Reagan International to catch my flight home to California. As for Proposition 8 here in California, both John and I participated in a candle light vigil in Sacramento that moved from the steps of the Capitol to the State Supreme Court building. Then I attended a "Meeting in the Middle" rally in Fresno later in the summer of 2009. In DC I was at the Occupy site in McPherson Plaza on the evening following our Keystone XL Pipe Line action. It was joyous and fresh at the commune. No rats. There was spontaneous drumming and a young man danced in perfect rhythm to the beat in the subdued lighting that evening. On the next morning I stopped by to have a cup of coffee. I met my friend Theo and we policed the commune to pick up cigarette butts. There were tents and Occupy members were just waking up. I spent some time at the commune library and talked with the monitor of the commune central booth where I purchased an Occupy DC button.
Both the Occupy Movement and the movement for the extension of marriage equality to GLBT people cut against the grain of the ruling elites. Occupy threatens the capitalist class power by modeling an alternative to class exploitation. Gay rights is less of a class issue than one that is used as a wedge to divide and manipulate the working class. As such, it remains a vital tool for maintaining capitalist class dominance. The threat of Occupy becomes apparent when it is seen that Congressman Darrell Issa, Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, found it necessary to call a special session of his committee in order to decry the threat of rats at Occupy DC. Occupy DC was portrayed for the media as a health issue. In reality, the only health that is threatened by Occupy is the class status of the capitalist ruling elites whom Congressman Issa serves. I'm certain there are rats in DC. Moreover, I'm equally certain that the permanent residents of our Capitol would appreciate the newly emerging interest in eradicating rats in their neighborhoods. But that wasn't really the issue.
Both the Occupy Movement and the movement for the extension of marriage equality to GLBT people cut against the grain of the ruling elites. Occupy threatens the capitalist class power by modeling an alternative to class exploitation. Gay rights is less of a class issue than one that is used as a wedge to divide and manipulate the working class. As such, it remains a vital tool for maintaining capitalist class dominance. The threat of Occupy becomes apparent when it is seen that Congressman Darrell Issa, Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, found it necessary to call a special session of his committee in order to decry the threat of rats at Occupy DC. Occupy DC was portrayed for the media as a health issue. In reality, the only health that is threatened by Occupy is the class status of the capitalist ruling elites whom Congressman Issa serves. I'm certain there are rats in DC. Moreover, I'm equally certain that the permanent residents of our Capitol would appreciate the newly emerging interest in eradicating rats in their neighborhoods. But that wasn't really the issue.
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