The Centrality of Class

There is a synchronicity of events that I haven't seen connected in the lamestream press but for those who slave to the punchclock it may be obvious. The major demonstrations in France and across the U.S. have something basic in common. While one is about corporate backed "labor reform" in France and the other is about immigration policy in the U.S. they are actually both about maintaining a low-wage disposable workforce. It seems that the class struggle remains on the front burner as corporations tighten their grip. What many of us need to be more aware of is that the conditions of all who work are initmately connected. All of us are on the chopping block if we have to compete for the lowest wage and the least security. We could easily solve the immigration problem by instituting international wage continuity so that workers anywhere are paid the same wage for the same work. Of course the corporate run governments would balk at this idea.

Our common interests are diametrically opposed to the profit seeking interests of the corporate system. They have the governments and armies but as those who do the work, we have the ultimate power -- but only in our unity. Not only is our ability to make a living at stake, but our freedom and even the survivabilty of the species. It's All of us or None if we are to have a better world or even a future worth living for.

New Memos Prove Premeditated Misleadership

Memos proving the coniving lies, manipulated intelligence and determined plans for the invasion of Iraq are finally getting attention in the corporate media. The newest release shows the The foreknowledge of lies by Colin Powell prior to his shameless performance at the UN. His concern that the lack of WMDs in Iraq might blow up in this administration's face seem logical. One has to ask why this hasn't happened?

Setting the record Straight

Finally, someone with a memory says what should be said about the passing of Milosevic. Though history is written (and rewriten) by the victors, some of us remember the real story. As usual, the demonizers are usually even worse that the poor guy being demonized.

Behind the Scenes

An interesting report document how our foreign policy appears all but dictated by the Israel Lobby. And what do we get for our Israel-run policy? Only a reputation for supporting the human rights abuses of an apartheid state and the well earned animosity of middle eastern people. Does our support for Israel make us safer? It seems the opposite is true.
Though most American Jews engage in blind support of Israel, it is good when someone speaks out.

Countering the Lies Preemptively

Before we even consider letting the lying thugs occupying the Whitehouse spread their criminal war to Iran, let's consider the facts. We ultimately bear responsibility for what our country does. It's time we take responsibility and remove the illegitimate Cheney/Bush junta before more harm is done.

Corprate Lies vs Working Class Culture

Cutting through the lies presented by the media is vital in preventing a future that looks like the past as historian Howard Zinn points our so eloquently. Our corporate oligarchy promotes a culture based on nationalism, ignorance, racism, a denial of class and a worship of militarism and wealth. They do this knowing that we act out of our culture. It defines our identity and our motivations. If we buy into that version of culture then we will march off to the slaughter on cue, we will show up to work on time and we will not make any waves that challenge their control, but, there is another culture out there.
We in the working class have our own cultural history and shared values; values of community, of sacrifice, of struggle against the tyranny of the workplace. A good example of continuing working class culture is the Blue Collar Review. If we are to reclaim our culture from those who would impose a twisted and deadly corporate version, we need to support and participate in these efforts.

Lies & Videotape

As Bush says, it's time to acknowledge our progress in Iraq. After that, it's time to realize that having a delusional leadership with a sociopathic tendencies is not acceptible. All complicit parties should then be removed and prosecuted.

How is it that we got here? To answer the question we have to examine how the media works; or for whom it works. A good example is the twisted coverage of Isreal/Palestine which include blatant omissions. Control of the media by a few giant corporations with vested interests and by the national security state with which it is connected is nothing more than a propaganda tool. We need to push for a break-up of media monopolies and more public ownership. The present media heads are complicit in the crimes of this administration and should be held accountable for aiding and abetting crimes against humanity.

Give Hillary Hell on Iraq

Though I don't support the "faith-based" politics that relies on the belief that the Democrats will ever be progressive, much less an opposition party, it is valuable and important to keep the pressure on them. Many, like Hillary Clinton, are opportunists whose hollow pandering is just that and they are afraid to mention the elephant in the living room -- namely, Bush's illegal blunder in Iraq, so email them and give 'em hell.

Supporting the (Deathsquad) Troops?

Many of us have opposed the criminal and senseless invasion and occupation of Iraq from the beginning and many have tried to work around the "support our troops" jingoism, even co-opting it in a more logical way. After all, what kind of support is it to send people to kill and die for nothing and then cut their benefits? The truth is, however, that our troops have continued to engage in torture and crimes against the Iraqi people. We can't and don't support that! In the latest news, they have become death squads murdering women and children with cold malice. It's time to end this shameful atrocity and bring justice to bear on it's perpetrators.

What's Up with the Democrats?

There are now 29 co-sponsors for Conyers' Select Committee on Impeachment, H. Res. 635. This effort was led by Senator John Conyers but, it seems that efforts are being blocked by the Democrats themselves! According to reporter Dave Lindorff, "members of Congress - even firebrands like Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) - have been strong-armed behind the scenes by the Democratic National Committee not to introduce an impeachment bill in the House." The DNC chairman is Howard Dean. Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader opposes impeachment as well. This is the same opportunism and short sightedness that has made, and that keeps the democrats irrelevant. Short of writing them off, we need to have a massive call-in and mail campaign aimed at the DNC demanding that they either actively support impeachment and a progressive agenda, or face a stronger third party come 2008.

SCHOLARS AFFIRM CHENEY COMPLICITY IN 9/11

Experts conclude Vice President possessed foreknowledge and suggest Moussaoui trial a "distraction"

(I-Newswire) - Duluth, MN: March 13, 2006 -- A society of experts and scholars contends that the prosecution of Zacarias Moussaoui--for willfully concealing advance knowledge of the events of 9/11 -- has the status of a Soviet-style "show trial" and functions as a diversion from the real culprits. The nonpartisan group, Scholars for 9/11 Truth, asserts that the evidence implicating Vice President Dick Cheney of that very offense is more obvious and compelling. If they are even remotely correct, then the alleged terrorists appear to have been cast in the role of "patsies."

The experts base their conclusion on testimony presented to the 9/11 Commission by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta on May 23, 2003, which was omitted from its final report, and on related events at the Pentagon. Members of the society will present their findings during a press conference to be held at 1 PM on Tuesday at the United States Courthouse in Alexandria, VA, the location of a hearing to determine whether Moussaoui, who is called "the 20th hijacker", should serve a life term or receive the death sentence.

"Mineta's testimony is devastating," observed James H. Fetzer, Ph.D., McKnight Professor at the University of Minnesota. Fetzer is the founder and co-chair of the scholars' society, which recently joined with Judicial Watch in calling for release of documents, films and videos, and physical evidence withheld from the public by the administration. "It pulls the plug on the Commission's contention there was no advance warning that the Pentagon was going to be hit."

According to Secretary Mineta's testimony, which is in the public domain, when he ( Mineta ) arrived at an underground bunker at the White House ( known as the Presidential Emergency Operations Center ), the Vice President was in charge. "During the time that the airplane was coming in to the Pentagon", he stated, "there was a young man who would come in and say to the Vice President, 'The plane is 50 miles out.' 'The plane is 30 miles out.'

"And when it got down to, 'The plane is 10 miles out,'" Mineta continued, "the young man also said to the Vice President, 'Do the orders still stand?' And the Vice President turned and whipped his neck around and said, 'Of course the orders still stand. Have you heard anything to the contrary?'"

"The only reasonable interpretation of the orders," Fetzer observed, "is that the incoming aircraft should not be shot down".

Philip J. Berg, Esq., Former Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania, added, "Those who made it happen were obviously in the position to know that it was going to happen and therefore could have sounded a warning alarm. The case against Cheney is more powerful than the case against Moussaoui. No one is more culpable than the perpetrators. If Moussaoui deserves the death penalty, what does our Vice President deserve?"

Other members of the society include Robert Bowman, head of the "Star Wars" program in both Democratic and Republican administrations; Morgan Reynolds, former Chief Economist for the Department of Labor in the Bush administration; Andreas von Buelow, former assistant defense minister of Germany; Steven E. Jones, a professor of physics from Brigham Young University and the society's co-chair; and Griffin, a noted theologian and author of The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions and Distortions.

Documentary support for the conclusions reported here may be found at the Scholars for 9/11 Truth web site at www.st911.org.

More Media Hypocrisy

The news reports the death of Slobodan Milosevic in his jail cell. The New Youk Times blames him for "orchestrating the break-up of Yugolsavia" but the reality is that President Clinton should get the credit for that. Even after, under much pressure, Milosevic attempted to negotiate points in the Rambouillet accords, Clinton withdrew the option and chose instead to bomb a defenseless country targeting urban areas. Though "defense of the Kosovar Albanians" was the excuse, many had already fled Kosovo and moved to Belgrade, where they were welcomed, only to be bombed by us. Our liberation of Kosovo made drugs and sex-slavery the primary industries in the region.

While Milosevic was no saint, neither was he the demon our press made him out to be. The only positive aspect of his death is that it leaves an empty cell that Clinton, Cheney, or Bush could be moved to as they await trial for crimes against humanity.

The Tortured Logic of Media Propaganda

Here in Tidewater, our local paper reaches new lows in the tortured logic of embedded propaganda as it glorifies the destruction of Falluja and says it gives our Marines a reason to keep fighting in Iraq. I have sent the follwing letter in response.

To the Editor

In the most blatant and twisted example of propaganda I have yet
seen, your article on Marines practicing urban warfare in our
neighborhoods states, "For Marines, the Fallujah battle has come to
symbolize a reason to keep waging the Iraqi war."

A "battle" implies a struggle between roughly equivalent forces. The
destruction of Fallujah was a massacre in which many thousands of
civilians, children and the elderly were purposely murdered. Our use
of banned phosphorus weapons melted people. The destruction of that
city was a brutal and vengeful act of unspeakable horror that will
live in infamy and of which we should be ashamed.

A majority of our soldiers in Iraq say they want to get out of there
as soon as possible and many have spoken out against the needless
horror of a war based on lies. For your paper to assert that our
destruction of Fallujah, our most brutal atrocity to date, is a
reason to keep waging the Iraqi war is more than tortured logic. It
is criminal.

I have no desire to see Marines practicing their tactics in my
neighborhood and many I've heard from feel the same way. What we
want is to see them home and not on the front lines of Bush's
criminal aggression.

Impeachment Time

Here's why it's Impeachment Time but even though 54% of Americans polled agree, the main obstacle seems to be the Democrats.

Instead of supporting spinless opportunists owned by corporations, we need to support independents like John Murphy who will actually represent our interests.

Democracy vs Hegemony

What's the real story on Venezuela? It seems to be a struggle between reactionary ideology and democracy as the US continually turns up the heat. The Jaded Proles says Viva Chavez!

Hypocrisy of the Day

The U.S. Corporate media, embedded with the most powerful and aggressive military empire in all of history, is calling al Jazeera a "dangerous tool of propaganda" after they announced plans to broadcast in English. It seems that allowing Americans access to unembedded news is seen as a threat. It is the ultimate hypocrisy for the U.S. corporate media to call anyone a tool of propaganda given it's complicity in the crimes of the present administration and its role in limiting the information available to our citizens.

Utter Hypocrisy

The New York Times editorial for today asserts that, "America cannot bankroll a Hamas government that preaches and practices terrorism, denies that Israel has any right to exist, and refuses to abide by peace agreements signed by previous Palestinian governments. That should be blindingly obvious. America is engaged in a global armed struggle against terrorism. It is firmly allied with Israel and is committed to Israel's survival."

Lets try it thas way and see if it is any less true -- "America cannot bankroll a Likud government that preaches and practices terrorism, denies that Palestine has any right to exist, and refuses to abide by peace agreements signed with previous Palestinian governments. That should be blindingly obvious. . ."

To assert that we are in a "global armed struggle" with a tactic used by the angry and the desperate is ludicrous and feeds into the Times's complicity in this administrations crimes against the nation and against humanity and they should be held accountable. Our blind underwiting of Israel and our condemnation of Palestinian rights and aspirations only feeds the anger that results in the armed struggle we choose to call terrorism.

So now that Palestinians have gone to the polls, we will deny them the funds (including the taxes they've collected that Israel has control of) to function. What choices are we realistically leaving them in their struggle to survive against US/Israeli tyranny?

Chumming the Waters

Even as Protesters are arrested at the Whitehouse gates, San Franciso leads the way in passing a resolution calling for impeachment of this illigitimate administration. I hope they are only the first and I think many of us need to start working on our own cities, where plausable. Given the Dubious Dubai deal and the newest revelations concerning warnings the administration had about Katrina and the attention the city has gotten this week, not to mention the shame many feel as the details of our torture camps emerge and Iraq deteriorates to chaos, even many true believer repugs are abandoning the flock.

We also need to chum the waters by making it clear that those defending the administration will be tarred by association. Politicians being by nature, opportunists, will turn on this administration like hungery sharks. That feeding frenzy may create a willingness to adopt a progressive agenda as the consquences of association to this criminal junta take many down in the backlash.

It is up to all of us to keep the heat on and create that backlash -- the anger is out there.