- People are advised that when in proper company one should
not discuss religion or politics, so it stands to reason that all that
ever gets discussed is nonsensical-empty babble-esoteric abstract utopian
visions that see a world, minus 4 billion useless eaters, riff raff, etc.
that we will finally have a world of plenty; absence of slaughter, famine,
and oppression. Naturally this takes time and killing off 4 billion (per
Ted Turner's vision) takes time, and ingenuity. There's the old standby
war, now super-improved, bound to kill more, 'from a distance'. Vaporize,
annihilate, microwave, and disintegrate. Then there's the twins, chemical
and biological that has flesh eating, immune system destroyers, wasting,
and death in hours, days, or months. Famine, does a laudable job with the
help of; "once in a lifetime, never before seen, hail, earthquakes,
typhoons, hurricanes, and flooding of unprecedented magnitude."
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- Takes time, this management of the world's resources,
for the those identified with credentialed genetic superiority and the
few permitted of less notable quality to cut the grass, clean the toilets,
police their enclaves, pump the oil, cut the forests, maintain the privatized
water supplies (140 thus far, globally), fight fires, arrest malcontents,
guard the prisons, and maintain passive, obedient order. The share and
share alike of wealth, property and resources was just a ploy for dismantling
nations, worldwide.
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- Mr.Turner, owner of the most land west of the Mississippi
wasn't about to 'share' any of his land with the less fortunate living
in hived, concrete outhouses in the cities, nor those living under bridges,
in tunnels or abandoned shacks. Neither he, nor his illustrious self-appointed
Gatekeepers, of the world's resources, attending the yearly meeting of
the Gorbachev Foundation Presidio affair, were about dividing up the wealth,
as they spoke of management of "the herd, human resources, useless
eaters". Pseudo environmental summits and treaties, pleading protection
of the air, waters, lands, and people's; is mere theater with industries
being located to the poorer regions to continue on with their destruction;
minus the messiness of regulations, laws, standards, and above all literate,
studied activism! Dissent abroad brings death. The ongoing destruction
of Nigeria, of the oil conglomerates and the murder of activists seeking
to protect their land is just a snapshot of plunder incorporated going
full steam ahead, from Mexico, to Brazil, to India, Indonesia, Eastern
Europe and on and on.
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- Today's "Politics of Despair", has election
fraud taking place in full view, with a haughty arrogance of 'whatcha gonna
do about it?" VoteScam, by the Collier Brothers, shows the extent
of this fraud by computer, counting of votes. No paper trail, no method
to check for fraud, the counting all in the hands of a private contractor
where all votes go to be tabulated is a sure fired method for getting the
appointed man/woman (mostly men) into his slot. The news announces, "Oops
there's been a glitch in the computer system folks, we'll keep you posted."
Hours later, "Breaking news, Sam Lackey who was running 20% behind
has astoundingly taken the lead from befuddled, bewildered Belinda Bumpers
who was out ahead". Please!
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- The supposed politics of the people has been surreptitiously
dismantled and reassembled into a Frankenstein monster of government for,
of and by the moneyed, the special interests and corporate hucksters. Money
gets you in the Game and keeps you there. Thousands of lobbyists see to
the smooth running of monies dispersed through tax breaks, subsidies, grants,
bailouts and bonuses. Legislative protections, loopholes, and obscure language
sees to it that no liabilities will be suffered by those doing the plundering
and ruination of people's lives.
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- Senator Sununu Junior, of NH, heir to office through
his father, who got himself a cushy appointment, helping George Senior
out (a computer genius Sununu ), was heard to remark running first for
Congress that he didn't like mixing with the masses (that's his constituents).
Little wonder that he led the charge in seeing that the rich would have
their monies protected in off-shore accounts, while the masses took care
of things like taxes. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, as the
tree is 'bent' so grows the tree; Johnny saw to his constituents by again,
leading the charge in having thousands of more guest visas approved so
that foreigners could come in and take over American's jobs, specifically
in the world of computer/technology. No more messiness with these contracted
workers, dealing with pensions, strikes, health care, vacations or job
security. Ask, my friends daughter Sharon from Portsmouth NH, how it feels
to be searching futility for a job in competition with thousands of other
like her? Politics of Despair--you betcha!
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- Bailouts for airlines in the multi-billions with tens
of thousands losing their jobs. Bailouts for utilities (160 billion) with
"the masses" being held holding the bag for 'stranded costs'
(called robbery). Bailouts for the railroads and bailouts for the insurance
industry, again multi-billions! The big dig (pig) in Boston, (a tunnel
under the city) is to date 14 billion in costs, little wonder the rest
of the nations roads are crumbling cowpaths, with 60% of our bridges in
need of repair. Steel workers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who lost their
jobs when the mills were never modernized but shipped abroad to state of
the art mills in Japan, Argentina, Brazil etc. were told with gnarled scarred
hands, in their fifties that government would retrain them to be 'nurses
aides'! Naturally with thousands unemployed, the domino effect of businesses
throughout the state took place. Our seafood store went under, as many
other businesses in our town. People don't buy, shrimp, red snapper, or
lobster tails on unemployment! The boys from Foggy Bottom, D.C., took care
of those who contributed handsomely to put them in office and then went
home this Christmas season to luxuriate, oops, too bad about extending
unemployment benefits which will conveniently expire in the yule time frenzy
and cocktail parties of those not affected. They, busy planning their trips
to get away from the stress of it all! Politics of Despair, you betcha.
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- John W. Snow, President Bush's choice to replace the
fired Paul O'Neill as Secretary of the Treasury is the CEO of a champion
tax dodger. In three of the past four years, Snow's company, CSX Corporation,
paid NO federal income tax at all. In fact, instead of paying taxes, CSX
supplemented it's $934 million in pretax U.S. profits over the four years
with a total of $164 million in tax rebate checks from the federal government.
Profitable corporation will receive a total of $7.4 billion in immediate
Alternative Minimum Tax Rebates. These corporation are also the major campaign
contributors, giving $45.7 million to federal election since '91.
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- The corporations and their legions of lobbyists target
campaign money to where it matters most---the members of the House Ways
and Means and Senate Finance Committees. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) received
$355,430 and Sen. Breaux (D-La) received $251,150. Energy industries will
collect about $27 billion over ten years. The oil and gas industry already
pays the lowest effective tax rate of any industry in America--just 5.7
percent. A special tax credit for research and experimentation benefits
the computer and pharmaceutical industries.
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- An analysis of Enron's financial documents found that
Enron paid NO corporate income taxes in four of the last five years although
the company was profitable in each of those years. Over the five year period,
Enron in fact received a net tax REBATE of $381 million. Among the loopholes
(thank you Sen. Sununu) used to reduce the company's tax liability was
the creation of more than 800 subsidiaries in "tax havens" such
as the CAYMAN ISLANDS. As funding for the states is drying up and cut out
all together for various programs, Medicare, Medicaid, schools, social
etc. the cost to ordinary unemployed, those on fixed incomes, those working
for slave wages are made to pick up the difference, with demands through
taxes, utilities, waste charges, etc. Politics of Despair, you betcha.
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- Politics? I'm in agreement with Mark Twain. "In
statesmanship get the formalities right, never mind about the moralities.
All the talk about doing people good, now is about doing people. Public
office is private graft. The political morals for the United States are
not merely food for laughter, they are an entire banquet."
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- Religion? Left the organized church at about the same
time I left organized politics, some fifteen years ago. I mistakenly voted
for Clinton first go round and even attended the inauguration ceremonies.
There were tens upon tens of thousands there packed in like sardines, you
couldn't move. We were near the front standing with an elderly Black couple
and their two small grandchildren. When one of the little boys wanted to
know why the people all up front had seats and we didn't the soft spoken,
genteel old lady leaned down and said, "Honey, chil' dem's is the
house niggers and we're the field niggers". The grandfather had a
heart attack just before the swearing in, so I missed the whole event.
No big loss!
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- Religion? Love of neighbor not lust of neighbor. Most
respected minister, Rev. Jim Lawson, who studied the Ghandhian philosophy
of non violence while living in India after spending years in jail for
draft resistance. He trained Martin Luther King and thousands of others.
The choice is no longer violence vs. non-violence; the choice is nonviolence
vs. non-existence, no matter your 'politics' or 'religion'. "If you
don't speak out when it matters, when would it matter? The opposite to
courage is not cowardice, it's conformity. A dead fish goes with the flow."
Jim Hightower, my kind of politics.
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- jm
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