LOVE is WHAT I GOT...

After so many distressing posts about fucked up mega Corporations ruling America I feel as though I need to post some positivity from the gulch of American Imperialism!

Last night I slept up in a grove of super huge and beautiful REDWOODS... in an area called the Avenue of the Giants... wowsa are they beautiful. I cooked a big fat rib eye steak just the way I like... crispy on the outside, cold on the inside... seasoned with Espelette peppers,sea salt and fresh ground black pepper... I ate it with a pint of Hop Stoopid IPA from Laguinitas Brewery and a big salad of local greens and radishes in my mother's infamous vinaigrette... Life is good!

All these pictures were taken with thirty second or longer exposures at near dark... I slept with towering redwoods watching over me...

LOVE IS WHAT I GOT!

ASWAH

TORTURE

In a recent column, Eric Margolis labeled the Republicans as "America’s champion of war and torture." Those are some harsh words – harsh but true.

The recent release of the Bush torture memos and the revelation that the CIA waterboarded Abu Zubaydah 83 times and Khalid Sheik Mohammed 183 times before Bush claimed that we don’t torture has elicited a predictable response from conservative Christians who think the Republican Party is the party of God: silence.

It is also no surprise that a new survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press shows that of four major religious traditions in the United States (white evangelical Protestant, white non-Hispanic Catholic, white mainline Protestant, and unaffiliated), white evangelical Protestants are more likely to believe that the use of torture against suspected terrorists can often or sometimes be justified. In fact, the more often people attended church, the more likely they were to justify torture.

A similar poll commissioned last year by Faith in Public Life and Mercer University reported that almost 60 percent of Southern evangelicals believed that torture was often or sometimes justified.

When the Spanish did it, it was torture. When the Japanese did it, it was torture. When the Germans did it, it was torture. When the Khmer Rouge did it, it was torture. But when waterboarding was done by Americans under a Republican administration, it suddenly became an "enhanced interrogation technique."

Such has not always been the case. Waterboarding-like techniques used by American soldiers during the Philippine Insurrection and the Vietnam War were condemned. But that was before the "war on terror" where anything goes in the name of "national security."

"Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was not waterboarded 183 times," says a Republican hack at Fox News. That number is "highly misleading" and a "vast inflation" because "the much-cited figure represents the number of times water was poured onto Mohammed’s face – not the number of times the CIA applied the simulated-drowning technique on the terror suspect."

Okay, so how many "pours" does take to be waterboarded? If a prisoner is removed from his cell, taken to an interrogation room, forced to endure one "pour," and then taken back to his cell – can we not say he was waterboarded because he only suffered one "pour"?

And what about Abu Zubaydah? In addition to being waterboarded, he had a collar wrapped around his neck, was smashed against a wall, was forced to stay in a pitch-dark box for hours, was stripped naked, was suspended from hooks in the ceiling, and was deprived of sleep. Is it not torture if these things only happened one time?

The strict constitutionalist at Fox, Judge Andrew Napolitano, who actually read the 175 pages of torture memos, sees things differently from the defenders of the Bush regime at his network: "This is not rocket science and it is not art. Everyone knows torture when they see it; and no amount of twisted logic can detract from its illegal horror, its moral antipathy, and its attack at core American values."

Who are these CIA operatives that engage in waterboarding and other forms of torture? What kind of a man does such a thing? The FBI does profiles of serial killers. How about a profile of a CIA agent who tortures prisoners, in the interest of national security, of course?

Are these men Christians? I suppose they are. The majority of Americans claim to be a Christian of some sort. Can a Christian waterboard an A-rab for Jesus?

For the Christian, there is no other way to do it. The Bible says: "And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him" (Colossians 3:17). It also says that whatsoever we do, we should "do it heartily, as to the Lord" (Colossians 3:23). We should do everything "to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Can a Christian smash someone against a wall in the name of the Lord Jesus? Can a Christian heartily lock someone in a dark box for hours at a time? Can a Christian deprive someone of sleep to the glory of God? Can a Christian give thanks to God while he hangs someone from the ceiling?

Sure he can, but not without violating the whole tenor of the New Testament.

Christians are told to put off anger, wrath, and malice (Colossians 3:, to not render evil for evil (1 Thessalonians 5:15), to not give offense (1 Corinthians 10:30), to abstain from all appearance of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22), to not be a brawler (Titus 3:2), and to abhor that which is evil (Romans 12:9). I think this rules out waterboarding.

Okay, but suppose the perpetrators of torture in the CIA do not claim to be Christians and don’t care what the New Testament says? Well, does that mean it is okay if Christians cheer them on? If not, then what should Christians do? Should they just be indifferent?

John the Baptist told Herod "It is not lawful for thee to have her" when he married his brother’s wife (Matthew 14:4). He also told Roman soldiers to "Do violence to no man" (Luke 3:14). Why aren’t Christians doing likewise?

Why aren’t Christians letting the CIA and the military know that waterboarding is torture and that torture is wrong? Could it be that these institutions are filled with Christians? Could it be that Christians respect these institutions? Could it be that Christians trust these institutions? I think all of the above are true.

Where is the outrage from the evangelical community over these torture memos? I’ll tell you where. It is in the same place as the outrage over the invasion of Iraq, the thousands upon thousands of dead Iraqis, the over four thousand American soldiers who died for a lie, the bloodbath that Iraq has become, the Guantanamo prison camp, the CIA secret prisons, the destruction of liberty in America due to the war on terror, and America’s evil foreign policy.

Christians should be leaving the Republican Party in droves. Christians should be crawling on broken glass as penance for blindly supporting the Republican Party. Christians should be repenting in sackcloth and ashes for thinking the Republican Party was the party of God.

Instead, even as more and more crimes of the Bush administration come to light, I fear that Christians who are outraged, and rightly so, at the crimes of the Obama administration and the Democrats will look in the next election to the Republicans as their savior instead of the champions of war and torture.

America needs more Christians like John the Baptist instead of John Hagee.

Will Obama think my bankruptcy is good?

Dear Mister White House!

Why do you never respond? I am beginning to think you only listen to lobbyists and big corporations...

I also find it troubling that Obama says it is good when a mega corporation files for bankruptcy and fires employees but when an individual files for bankruptcy it is evil and horrible. So we bailed out the banks with our money; then the banks raise credit card rates and punish us and they do not give loans out... does this logic seem strange to anyone else?

Well, I have credit card debt. Following Obama's logic, filling for bankruptcy would ensure my continued success, allow me to restructure and I wonder will I be able to get loans for a house or even keep my job? Will the banks view my situation in the same light as Chrysler?

Chrysler Files for Bankruptcy Protection
The auto giant Chrysler has filed for federal bankruptcy protection under a government-brokered deal. Chrysler hopes to form a new company that would be owned by the US government, the Italian auto giant Fiat, and the company’s workers. On Thursday, President Obama said the bankruptcy filing would ensure Chrysler’s continued operation.

President Obama: “No one should be confused about what a bankruptcy process means. This is not a sign of weakness, but rather one more step on a clearly charted path to Chrysler’s revival. Because of the fact that the UAW and many of the banks, the biggest stakeholders in this whole process, have already aligned, have already agreed, this process will be quick.”

Smithfield Swine Flu

Yes, organic food can be more expensive than mass produced chemicalized food found so in major grocery store chains across America. But what comes with that lower price? Lower quality food, risks to your health and exporting your dollars from your community to corporate bank accounts. Is cheaper food really cheaper? I guess if you do not consider the environmental aspect, your personal health or raping the local economy to be factors in your life than I guess it is cheaper. Support local organic family farmers...

The swine flu, now being renamed Mexican Flu because we don't want to offend Jews and Muslims alike. Why aren't we calling it Smithfield Pork flu? It has been traced to a plant in Vera Cruz run by pork giant and global mass polluter Smithfield Foods. You may remember Smithfield Foods from that great article in Rolling Stone Magazine called "Boss Hog". Here is a taste:

"Boss Hog America's top pork producer churns out a sea of waste that has destroyed rivers, killed millions of fish and generated one of the largest fines in EPA history. Welcome to the dark side of the other white meat." by Jeff Tietz

Here's the whole article... you probably won't eat pork tonight or maybe even tomorrow after reading it:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/12840743/porks_dirty_secret_the_nations_top_hog_producer_is_also_one_of_americas_worst_polluters

Leave it to Amy Goodman and independant bloggers to report what the corporate run media does not want to say:

"Is Smithfield Foods, the world's largest pork packer and hog producer, linked to the outbreak? Smithfield operates massive hog-raising operations Perote, Mexico, in the state of Vera Cruz, where the outbreak originated. The operations, grouped under a Smithfield subsidiary called Granjas Carroll, raise 950,000 hogs per year, according to the company Web site.

On Friday, the U.S. disease-tracking blog Biosurveillance published a timeline of the outbreak containing this nugget, dated April 6 (major tip of the hat to Paula Hay, who alerted me to the Smithfield link on the Comfood listserv and has written about it on her blog, Peak Oil Entrepreneur):

Residents [of Perote] believed the outbreak had been caused by contamination from pig breeding farms located in the area. They believed that the farms, operated by Granjas Carroll, polluted the atmosphere and local water bodies, which in turn led to the disease outbreak. According to residents, the company denied responsibility for the outbreak and attributed the cases to "flu." However, a municipal health official stated that preliminary investigations indicated that the disease vector was a type of fly that reproduces in pig waste and that the outbreak was linked to the pig farms. It was unclear whether health officials had identified a suspected pathogen responsible for this outbreak."

to read the full story: http://www.truthout.org/042809K

OBAMETER

I heard someone on KZYX and Z say that someone needs to start a website to track the lies Obama has stated in his campaign... so instead I am starting a post.

From the onset let me state that Obama is far better than Bush(it)... at least when I am getting screwed by the government it isn't as bad as it was... or maybe just the packaging changed a bit.

I went and saw Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! - probably the only true independent journalistic voice keeping it real. She helped me put a different perspective on my growing mis-feelings about Obama. It truly was historic moment in history when two candidates running for President were a bi racial man and a woman. We have the 60's to thank for that moment. It was historic moment and one that caused more than one of us to shed a tear when Obama was elected... I know I did. It was another proud moment in the psyche of the nation when Obama walked into the White House... the world's most famous house that was built by slaves. A circle has been completed... and for that I am thankful. I am not living in fantasy that racism is gone... just one bridge has been crossed and there are many more on the road ahead. Amy brought up the story of Frederick Douglas, probably the greatest abolitionist that ever existed. How he was a troublesome slave that was sent to Mount Misery, the most evil place where torture and killing of troublesome slaves happened... incidentally now Donald Rumsfeld's house... yeah, no kidding! http://clipmarks.com/clipmark/84D88ECE-CC26-4455-B422-ADB418751941/ I suppose that closes the circle on another more sinister loop in life.

So at some moments I am proud and happy at how far we have come. I am also so sad because Obama really had a rare moment in history when he could have made the biggest shift in the world... he could of stood up and did what was right for the average Joe and Jane... instead he is taking the road that others have built and Bush certainly walked.

Our prison in Cuba is actually ramping up torture and beatings of the untried Muslims held hostage there. Obama has NOT allowed the basic rights to those held captive that we cherish so dearly... the foundations of our society... the right to a speedy and fair trial. Allegations have just started coming out about the worsening of conditions there. Please do not let the economic blanket of despair make you forget all the injustices going on in the world... I still am camping on a hillside in Mendocino County and woke up to freezing temperatures... though I did recently find part time work.

The WAR is still raging and being furthered by Obama... Since when did violence ever bring peace? Violence only begets violence. Look at the struggle of Palestinians... The constant Israeli attacks on innocent people has accomplished nothing but the furthering of resolve to fight the injustice. Obama has increased shipments of military weaponry to the Israeli government... many were used in the recent crackdowns on innocent people in the Palestinian State. OUR weapons are killing mothers, daughters, sons, fathers, grandmothers, aunts. Can you sleep at night? Over ONE MILLION Iraqis have paid for OUR actions. ONE MILLION! That is an insane number! As Franti has said: YOU can bomb the world but you cannot bomb it to PEACE! Bombing for peace is like fucking for virginity. A failed action. So many of us believe in the words of Michael and the rest of the members of Spearhead. Why we are not outraged at this? Why aren’t our voices of dissent being shouted and heard? Many of us on this site and who attend his shows and enjoy his music have been inspired and deeply touched by the message... We all need to YELL for PEACE!
So Obama has strayed far from his promises... we are cutting the amount of teachers on the payrolls but we are expanding the war efforts in two countries. In Iraq Obama is simply renaming the troops and claiming to cut combat troops. He also is hiring mercenaries from a company he has a vested interest in... 120,000 mercenaries. Troop reduction my ASS. Afghanistan is a losing cause. What do we really gain by fighting people who dress a little different, talk a little different... I don't need a passport to walk on this Earth. I am of this EARTH. Why are we killing people who think a little different? By us NOT taking action we are the passive side of the war effort. By us not fighting injustice we become accomplices in the actions of our representatives...

Citibank has increased the salaries and bonuses of its top people in the last few months. INCREASED! Where is the opposition to that? All the failed banks who got TARP money have hired scores of lobbyists... lobbyist who worked for the government (both parties) and are making their will the way. All the failed banks and companies like AIG are increasing pay. That came out this morning in Amy's show. Why isn't that National NEWS? Why aren’t journalists actually fighting for the rights of the masses?

Today it came out that big oil is happy that global warming is happening because now it is easier to get at oil in the Arctic Circle. Happy at the destruction of our fair MOTHER, EARTH. HAPPY? Shell wants to further develop sea leases they acquired and are ready to start drilling for oil in one of the most fragile ecologic sites left on the planet. A BIG OIL spokesmen said you know only 1% of oil drilled is spilled. ONE PERCENT! That is too much. CAN anyone say EXXON VALDEZ? That only wiped out the fishing industry in parts of Alaska and caused ungodly amounts of economic hardship to the people of Alaska. Oh, didn't EXXON settle and give millions of dollars? HELL NO! The fishermen and women have not seen a penny of that money. The herring fisheries that existed in Cordova are now just ghosts... I know I lived 60 nautical miles away from the spill. ONE PERCENT IS TWO PERCENT TOO MUCH. YELLFIRE!

We won't delve into insurance and the documented radical change of position that Obama took there. Single Payer... We are the only civilized country that does not give health care as a right to the masses... In polls, the masses say they want it. BIG AUTO actually is now on the side of it. We are the only civilized country in the world that if you lose your job you lose your healthcare. I guess corporate profits are worth more than you and me. Obama says "I never said we should go and try to get single payer" - and a speech Obama gave to the AFL-CIO in 2003 - in which he says, "I happen to be a proponent of single-payer health care coverage." POLITRICKS AS USUAL!

Obama has put together an economic team of the worst abusers of Wall Street to combat the damage they instituted. Larry Summers who got paid five million dollars last year for working one day a week representing DE Shaw, one of the largest hedge funds in the world. The same Larry Summers, the one who was outraged two weeks ago about some AIG executives who earned $1 million in bonuses, himself earned $8 million in bonuses from the same hedge funds and financial institutions that Larry was appointed to oversee and regulate.

YELLFIRE! Here is an excerpt from "SOLD OUT":

Here are the “highlights” of our Economic downfall:

• Beginning in 1983 with the Reagan Administration, the U.S. government acquiesced in accounting rules adopted by the financial industry that allowed banks and other corporations to take money-losing assets off their balance sheets in order to hide them from investors and the public.

• Between 1998 and 2000, Congress and the Clinton Administration repeatedly blocked efforts to regulate “financial derivatives” — including the mortgage-related credit default swaps that became the basis of trillions of dollars in speculation.

• In 1999, Congress repealed the Depression- era law that barred banks from offering investment and insurance services, and vice versa, enabling these firms to engage in speculation by investing money from checking and savings accounts into financial “derivatives” and other schemes understood by only a handful of individuals.

• Taking advantage of historically low interest rates in the early part of this decade, shady mortgage brokers and bankers began offering mortgages on egregious terms to purchasers who were not qualified. When these predatory lending practices were brought to the attention of federal agencies, they refused to take serious action. Worse, when states stepped into the vacuum by passing laws requiring protections against dirty loans, the Bush Administration went to court to invalidate those reforms, on the ground that the inaction of federal agencies superseded state laws.

• The financial industry’s friends in Congress made sure that those who speculate in mortgages would not be legally liable for fraud or other illegalities that occurred when the mortgage was made.
• Egged on by Wall Street, two government- sponsored corporations, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, started buying large numbers of subprime loans from private banks as well as packages of mortgages known as “mortgage-backed securities.”

• In 2004, the top cop on the Wall Street beat in Washington — the Securities and Exchange Commission — now operating under the radical deregulatory ideology of the Bush Administration, authorized investment banks to decide for themselves how much money they were required to set aside as rainy day reserves. Some firms then entered into $40 worth of speculative trading for every $1 they held.

• With the compensation of CEOs increasingly tied to the value of the firm’s total assets, a tidal wave of mergers and acquisitions in the financial world — 11,500 between 1980 and 2005 — led to the predominance of just a relative handful banks in the U.S. financial system. Successive administrations failed to enforce antitrust laws to block these mergers. The result: less competition, higher fees and charges for consumers, and a financial system vulnerable to collapse if any single one of the banks ran into trouble.

• Investors and even government authorities relied on private “credit rating” firms to review corporate balance sheets and proposed investments and report to potential investors about their quality and safety. But the credit rating companies had a grave conflict of interest: they are paid by the financial firms to issue the ratings. Not surprisingly, they gave the highest ratings to the investments issued by the firms that paid them, even as it became clear that the ratings were inflated and the companies were in precarious condition The financial lobby made sure that regulation of the credit ratings firms would not solve these problems.
It is time that our voices be heard! Demand PEACE! Demand that WALL STREET stays out of our pockets… Demand that everyone is afforded the same rights that we cherish.

ASWAH

more bail out blues

First, I really want to believe that Obama will be the answer so many of us had prayed for. Perhaps many of my statements are interpreted as being anti Obama... I am happy Bush(its) term is over! But I am an individual and make my mind up on that basis rather than being a cheerleader for one party or the next!

With all that being said a few facts that have come out recently have driven me nuts:

Obama was the largest recipient of "donations" from guess which company:

a) AIG
b) AIG
c) AIG

That's right he got over 104,000 dollars from them. They donated a total of 600,000. Guess who was number two, just a few dollars less than Obama... the answer Dodd from Connecticut. Very interesting considering recent mainstream news stories...

Out of the 600,000 given out by AIG, most were given after they got the initial TARP funds... meaning that even Obama got a bonus. Guess which party did put a clause in stimulus monies that did NOT want to stop multi million dollar bonuses? If you said the Democrats than you are correct. Guess which party knew two months ago about the bonuses and tried to cover up that fact... if you said Democrats again than you won. Why should millionaire executives get shielding from our Government when everyday laborers have to get their contracts revised to cut their pay?

I am not a fan of autoworkers and their contracts but this is crap. The allegations that are coming out by the minute are unbelievable. I am trying to keep up to date on the interrelatedness of all these current scandals... from Madoff to AIG. They are so connected. The winners.. the rich and elite... the losers - poor indebt folks like me.

I truly wish and hope that someday in my lifetime that we as a people will retake control of OUR government. Obama is doing many wonderful things and I support and encourage him in that. But we need to write letters and protest the inequities that govern most of our lives... let's all unite as humans, Americans and demand equal rights and justice for all!!!

Holbrooke Served on AIG Board

Meanwhile, a top Obama administration official is coming under scrutiny for his ties to AIG. Richard Holbrooke, the US special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, served on AIG’s board from 2001 until early last year. Holbrooke is believed to have collected up to $800,000 during his AIG stint.

and...

AIG Sues for Return of $300M in Taxes

As AIG faces the loss of its bonuses, it’s quietly filed a lawsuit to recoup more than $300 million in what it says are overpaid taxes. The company says it overpaid the government in charges for using offshore tax havens. The suit effectively means AIG is using US taxpayer money to sue its majority owner, the US taxpayer. The government owns an 80 percent stake in AIG following its $170 billion bailout.

and...

Probe: Bailout Firms Owe $220M in Taxes

In other bailout news, a congressional probe has found the top thirteen firms to receive bailout money owe more than $220 million in unpaid federal taxes. Congress member John Lewis of Georgia, the chair of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight, says two of the companies owe more than $100 million apiece. The review only looked at the top twenty-three bailout recipients, leaving open the possibility of further owed taxes from nearly 450 remaining companies. The inspector general overseeing the federal bailout says he will investigate whether recipient companies misled Congress on their tax obligations.

Citigroup to Spend $10M on Exec Offices

The bailed-out financial giant Citigroup, meanwhile, is coming under scrutiny for a $10 million plan to build new offices for top executives. Citigroup has received $45 billion under the taxpayer-funded bailout.

WE NEED PEACE, NOW!!!

Peace, not War

I was so saddened to hear the news reports this morning talking about the continued atrocities committed by the Israeli government against innocents during their brief but deadly war in Gaza. The subject of the story was an Arab doctor who practiced in Israel whose house was viciously attacked by the Israeli Defense Force. A group of tanks surrounded his house and commenced firing upon it. Dr. Abu al-Aish, a noted gynecologist and peace advocate, had never engaged in any attacks on Israelis, housed or supported militants or even questioned their right to a homeland. The first rounds of tank shells destroyed his house and killed his daughters’ twenty-one-year-old Bessan, fifteen-year-old Mayar, and thirteen-year-old Aya—as well as his niece Nour, who was age fourteen. Another daughter Shada, who was wounded, was crying for her father having her eyes blown out of their sockets. The second round of tank shells decapitated his children showering the house in pools of blood and brain matter. We will never achieve peace thru violence! Bombing for peace is like fucking for virginity. It simply is a failed policy.

The mainstream news in America does not fairly publish the stories of war. We seem to be so scared to confront our Israeli friends about the daily atrocities they inflict. Instead of calling for worldwide peace and being outraged at acts of aggression we condoned their actions demonizing average Arab citizens in our daily biased spoon fed news reports. Two days ago, in the first pages of the San Francisco Chronicle published a story of an Israeli soldier who had been captured by militants and has been held for nearly three years. They gave wonderful background information about his family and his story. When America’s mainstream press talks about Arab casualties, either in Iraq, Palestine or anywhere else we never get the same in depth stories behind their lives or even their names. We simply get body counts.

The same day the paper ran coverage of the captured Israeli soldier, American citizen and noted Peace activist Tristan Anderson was brutally shot point blank in the head by an extended range tear gas canister while peacefully demonstrating with Palestinians against the great barrier wall Israel has illegally built on Palestinian lands. Even George Bush in perhaps his only moment of clarity described the Apartheid Wall as a problem and a major interference in further peace talks.

The fact of the matter is that every American ought to start reading books, newspapers, and blogs and begin educating themselves on our policies and their effects worldwide. If we ever want to find true peace we need to step forward as the citizenry of the dominant world power and demand that our elected officials practice peace and equal rights for all people. We could all take a lesson from DR. Abu al-Aish. Even after the devastating and brutal killing of his entire family terrifyingly recorded on live TV in Israel, he stated publicly and loudly that “Military ways proved its failure. We should look for other ways to give each other its rights. We don’t want to speak about peace. Peace is—you know, this word lost its meaning. We should find something else: respect, equality, justice and partnership. That’s what we should look for.”

“Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace”

- John Lennon

for more information on this story please go to: http://www.democracynow.org/2009/3/20/palestinian_doctor_peace_advocate_recounts_israeli

For more information on the Wall please find the film called “The Iron Wall” produced by the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees at www.theironwall.ps\

For a fantastic book providing fair and equal coverage of the conflicts in Mideast please read Jimmy Carter’s amazing book entitled Palestine Peace not Apartheid.

For horrific coverage of Tristan’s attack please go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE--quy2N9s

note: before someone calls me an anti semite let’s please get a correct definition. A Semite is “A member of a group of Semitic-speaking peoples of the Near East and northern Africa, including the Arabs, Arameans, Babylonians, Carthaginians, Ethiopians, Hebrews, and Phoenicians.”

I suggest writing President Obama at the White House and voice your desire for PEACE... despite Hillary's statements concerning Palestine since joining Obama's team we need to reopen the dialogue, enforce UN resolutions already in place and follow the roadmap to peace!!!