speaking of capitalism...let's start growing commercial hemp

I have long supported turning the tobacco fields into commercial hemp fields and begin producing rope and cloth in this country again. 

 

Curious Carl

----- Original Message -----

From: Abby Vincent

To: 'Blind Democracy Discussion List'

Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2011 4:47 PM

Subject: RE: speaking of capitalism...

Just change the tobacco fields into California weed fields, convince pot smokers to go to Costco for their supply and pay taxes on it, and California wouldn't have to cut funds for disabled kids.  Then legalize gay marriage and the tax on all that wedding stuff and we'd almost have a balanced budget.  I might also save my prop 13 property tax break from the governor of Los Angeles, who wants to repeal it so business property owners will pay more tax.

Abbby

 

 

scanning a Braille Playboy

A note from another blind man:

My memory could certainly be playing tricks ... again.  On the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised to find "Playboy" has been targeted more than once by more than one interfering do-goober who thought the morals of the poor blind needed protection.  JH

 

All of this discussion brings back long buried memories.  I re-entered the University of Washington in 1966 at the age of 31, just one year after becoming totally blind.  The Department of Services for the Blind used its limited resources to put together some reading rooms for blind students and a VR Counselor to act as an on-campus advisor.  So they attempted to direct as many of the college bound students to the University.  There were over 30 of us roaming the campus.  I think I was the senior member but I got invited to just about every party thrown by members of the group.  It was at one of these festive occasions that someone pulled out a reel to reel tape that amounted to the equivalent of a "banned in Boston" book.  We all gathered around to listen to some sleazy, drooling fellow reading all the dirty words we were forbidden to hear, as blind people.  Everybody wanted a copy.  Since I had access to a duplicator I took the prize and made about 30 copies, handing them out like dope to desperate junkies. 

Later I mused over the absolute stupidity of "professionals" to believe that "protecting" blind people from hearing what every school child learned on the playfield was going to somehow keep us pure and chaste. 

Much later, I learned, as a professional myself, just what sort of fun and games and reading material many of these "Protectors" wallowed in. 

 

Curious Carl

from Fox News: "Women should just stop having irresponsible sex!"

Subject: Fox News: "Women should just stop having irresponsible sex!"

In recent times I've received a large number of similar messages to the one below. 

As much as I want to help, I am puzzled by the inability of women to head off these attacks on Women's Rights.  It is clear to me, a mere man, that the way to "end, "irresponsible sex" is to explain to those eager, groping men in your life that All sex is irresponsible and the subject is closed until the Pro Lifers and Anti Women people crawl back under their rocks, and politicians come into the light of the modern world. 

 

Curious Carl

Subject: Fox News: "Women should just stop having irresponsible sex!"

Dear Carl, $75,000 Matching Gift Opportunity to help fend off the most aggressive anti-choice campaign in history! Here is a recent gem from a segment on Fox News about no-cost birth control for women: "Women should just stop having irresponsible sex ... Let's stop making excuses and providing a way to get women out of trouble when they should be responsible in their behavior."i What's even more outrageous is that there are politicians at all levels of government who share this extreme view. Not only do they oppose access to abortion care, they oppose access to birth control and basic reproductive-health care too. As a matter of fact, in state legislatures across the country, we are tracking a whopping 473 anti-choice bills this year -- nearly three times as many as last year. Make no mistake, there's a War on Women -- and we need your help to end it. Carl, it will be tough to fight back against all these attacks. And that is why we urgently need your support for our Stop the War on Women Mobilization Fund. This fund will help continue our fight to protect choice at all levels. As part of our work to fight the War on Women, we will be training those who are on the front lines of the battle to protect the right to choose in the states. We are convening an Action Summit in Washington, D.C. next month to provide strategy sessions and intense training to our state affiliates to fight attacks on our reproductive freedom. And because the Stop the War on Women Mobilization Fund is so critical, a generous donor has stepped up to the plate and offered to match any gift that you make -- dollar-for-dollar -- up to $75,000. Your gift -- doubled in value -- will go a long way in our fight against anti-choice attacks at all levels, including helping to fund an Action Summit for our state affiliate leaders. Your gift of $35 -- worth $70 -- could help us provide transportation to Capitol Hill for 16 state leaders to lobby members of Congress face-to-face. Your gift of $50 -- worth $100 -- could provide action kits for four affiliate leaders. Your gift of $100 -- worth $200 -- could provide two training sessions about turning out voters to the polls. Plus, gifts over $100 would also have double the impact -- and could help us fly someone from a key state into Washington, D.C. for the Action Summit ... or help cover the cost of the training site for our pro-choice lobby day. No matter what state you live in -- we urgently need your generous support to protect choice at all levels. We'll train our affiliate leaders to ensure that they get MORE feet on the ground ... to multiply the power of our voices to fight back against this War on Women in the states. We can end the War on Women, but we must have the resources to train those on the front lines. We only have until August 31, 2011 to take advantage of this special matching gift. So please hurry! Make your online donation right now while this $75,000 matching gift opportunity can DOUBLE the impact of your gift. Sincerely, Nancy Keenan President, NARAL Pro-Choice America i"Fox News Contributor: "Let Women Stop Having Irresponsible Sex,"* Media Matters, July 20, 2011

Visit our Website | Unsubscribe | Update Your Profile | Tell A Friend

© Copyright 2011 NARAL Pro-Choice America. All Rights Reserved

getting our sights on the right target

The following letter was sent to me by an outraged relative.  She is among those who believe that it is our incompetent government that is the cause of all our troubles.  I pointed out to her that this government is doing exactly what it was bought and paid to do.  The problem is that we've been sold a bill of goods and have been misdirected.  We need to go after the real villains, the Ruling Class. 

 

Curious Carl

 

 

********* 

 This fellow is just a little ticked off and clearly speaks his mind.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Alan Simpson, Senator from Wyoming , Co-Chair of Obama's deficit
> commission, calls senior citizens the Greediest Generation as he
> compared "Social Security" to a Milk Cow with 310 million teats.
> August, 2010.
>
> Here's a response in a letter from a unknown farmer in Montana ....
> I think he is a little ticked off! He also tells it like it is !
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "Hey Alan, let's get a few things straight..
>
> 1. As a career politician, you have been on the public tit for FIFTY
> YEARS.
>
> 2.. I have been paying Social Security taxes for 48 YEARS (since I was 15
> years old. I am now 63).
>
> 3. My Social Security payments, and those of millions of other
> Americans, were safely tucked away in an interest bearing account for
> decades until you political pukes decided to raid the account and give
> OUR money to a bunch of zero ambition losers in return for votes, thus
> bankrupting the system and turning Social Security into a Ponzi scheme
> that would have made Bernie Madoff proud.
>
> 4. Recently, just like Lucy & Charlie Brown, you and your ilk pulled the
> proverbial football away from millions of American seniors nearing
> retirement and moved the goalposts for full retirement from age 65 to
> age 67. NOW, you and your shill commission are proposing to move the
> goalposts YET AGAIN.
>
> 5. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying into Medicare
> from Day One, and now you morons propose to change the rules of the
> game.. Why? Because you idiots mismanaged other parts of the economy
> to such an extent that you need to steal money from Medicare to pay
> the bills.
>
> 6. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying income taxes our
> entire lives, and now you propose to increase our taxes yet again. Why?
> Because you incompetent bastards spent our money so profligately that
> you just kept on spending even after you ran out of money. Now, you come
> to the American taxpayers and say you need more to pay off YOUR debt.
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> To add insult to injury, you label us "greedy" for calling "bullshit" on
> your incompetence. Well, Captain Bullshit, I have a few questions for
> YOU.
>
> 1. How much money have you earned from the American taxpayers during
> your pathetic 50-year political career?
>
> 2. At what age did you retire from your pathetic political career, and
> how much are you receiving in annual retirement benefits from the
> American taxpayers?
>
> 3. How much do you pay for YOUR government provided health insurance?
>
> 4. What cuts in YOUR retirement and healthcare benefits are you
> proposing in your disgusting deficit reduction proposal, or, as usual,
> have you exempted yourself and your political cronies?
>
> It is you, Captain Bullshit, and your political co-conspirators called
> Congress who are the "greedy" ones. It is you and your fellow nutcases
> who have bankrupted America and stolen the American dream from
> millions of loyal, patriotic taxpayers. And for what? Votes. That's right,
> sir. You and yours have bankrupted America for the sole purpose of
> advancing your pathetic political careers. You know it, we know it, and
> you know that we know it.
>
> And you can take that to the bank, you miserable A__. If you like the way

 

money, money money!

Subject: Re: money, money, money!

It's getting crazy.  I signed my name to a couple of petitions and all at once I began receiving begging letters from all corners of the Universe.  Some Martian is trying to replant Mars and needs money.  A fellow from Sirius is getting serious about a famine spreading among a rare breed of Glutterbogles on a distant planet. 

Most of these I do not post to the Blind Democracy list because, as it has been pointed out, many of us are poor senior citizens struggling to avoid having to draft a begging letter of our own. 

 

Curious Carl

----- Original Message -----

From: Miriam Vieni

To: Blind Democracy List

Sent: Thursday, July 28, 2011 5:46 PM

Subject: money, money money!

So, if the emails aren't asking me to sign another petition saying the same
thing that all the other petitions said, they're asking for money.  And I
began answering calls from numbers I don't recognize in case they were from
politicians to whom I could express an opinion, but they're all groups,
asking for money.  To the last one who called, I said, "You're asking for
money at this time? I'm a senior citizen who receives social security and
medicare and I can't donate money to anyone at this point in time".  But you
know, I wonder if all of the social security recipients, the poor, the
working families, the disabled, are even real to the groups who are
supposedly advocating for us."  Do they think that everyone who's on their
lists of email recipients and former donors are financially secure
altruistic people?  I don't have my own deficit yet, but if I donated to
everyone who asked, I would.

Miriam

_______________________________________________
Blind-Democracy mailing list
Blind-Democracy@octothorp.org
http://www.octothorp.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-democracy

To All Believers In Freedom And The Human Way Of Life

To All Believers in Freedom and the Human Way of Life. 

 

Tell me again the definition of insanity? 

How many times do we try to make Capitalism work for the American People before we get the message that Capitalism is not structured to provide dignity, security, peace, respect, or compassion? 

Capitalism's bottom line is profit.  Increasing profit calls for increasing control of the market, which creates wealth and power. 

None of this wealth and power is handed down by God.  It comes from the only place where all wealth begins.  It comes from the masses, the people who labor and build and harvest. 

Capitalism could only benefit all people if all people were honest and respected all of their fellow men and women. 

Has this ever happened?  Has Capitalism ever worked to the benefit of all? 

I'm waiting! 

Just as the bottom line for religious Believers is Faith, so Greed is the driving force for the Capitalist. 

Even as I've said before, I do not believe that religion has proven itself to be a friend to the Masses, neither is Capitalism. 

Finally, think of how far we are removed from trust and respect of our fellow human beings.  Just turn on your TV or browse the magazine racks at your local grocery stores.  Violence, anger, degrading women, cartoons that thrive on violence, reality shows that are based on put down situations, court rooms where working stiffs are made to appear stupid and where they behave like animals, news programs that blast out all of the latest slaughter, both internationally, nationally and locally.  Then just for fun, take a good look at the games your children and grand children are "playing".  Are they being trained to love and respect their fellow human beings, or are they being conditioned to become mindless killers? 

We can no longer afford to keep trying to shore up the Capitalists Playing Field.  We must begin looking toward, and building a new form of government. 

 

Curious Carl

 

to all believers in freedom and the human way of life

To All Believers in Freedom and the Human Way of Life. 

 

Tell me again the definition of insanity? 

How many times do we try to make Capitalism work for the American People before we get the message that Capitalism is not structured to provide dignity, security, peace, respect, or compassion? 

Capitalism's bottom line is profit.  Increasing profit calls for increasing control of the market, which creates wealth and power. 

None of this wealth and power is handed down by God.  It comes from the only place where all wealth begins.  It comes from the masses, the people who labor and build and harvest. 

Capitalism could only benefit all people if all people were honest and respected all of their fellow men and women. 

Has this ever happened?  Has Capitalism ever worked to the benefit of all? 

I'm waiting! 

Just as the bottom line for religious Believers is Faith, so Greed is the driving force for the Capitalist. 

Even as I've said before, I do not believe that religion has proven itself to be a friend to the Masses, neither is Capitalism. 

Finally, think of how far we are removed from trust and respect of our fellow human beings.  Just turn on your TV or browse the magazine racks at your local grocery stores.  Violence, anger, degrading women, cartoons that thrive on violence, reality shows that are based on put down situations, court rooms where working stiffs are made to appear stupid and where they behave like animals, news programs that blast out all of the latest slaughter, both internationally, nationally and locally.  Then just for fun, take a good look at the games your children and grand children are "playing".  Are they being trained to love and respect their fellow human beings, or are they being conditioned to become mindless killers? 

We can no longer afford to keep trying to shore up the Capitalists Playing Field.  We must begin looking toward, and building a new form of government. 

 

Carl Jarvis

 

Oops! SMy boot straps broke.

There seems to be an American attitude that any of us might strike it rich, or work our way up the ladder by pulling on our own boot straps.  So on the one hand we envy the rich, but we also act as though we think they are being targeted because of their luck or diligence.  So, just in case lightning strikes us rich, we protect the very thieves who have robbed the working man/woman for the history of this nation.  I sometimes question if the average American realizes that there exists a layer of Super First Class Citizens, including the First Class Corporate "People", who see America as their property, and the masses of workers as their personal resource. 

While President Obama turns to talking about jobs, these "Citizens" far prefer a vast pool of unemployed from which to draw.  And, as we are seeing in Rick Perry's Texas, the jobs they do offer are at the wage minimum level.  And this level will be taken off the books if the trend continues. 

I wonder what the results would be if there was a poll of the Super Rich, asking if they think Warren Buffett has gone mad? 

 

Curious Carl

 

Eat the Rich, then what?

Subject: Re: Eat the Rich, then what?

Pour another cup of tea my friend, and settle down.  Manipulating official statistics and people's minds is what these Puppets do for a living.  You can spot them by their big brown lips and twitching noses.  They are well paid to spin their webs of hooey. 

The hard part of it is that because they put on a clean suit of clothes and comb their hair...usually...many Americans find them credible. 

We work with many older folks who are scared witless over the current unrestrained plunder of our economy.  They see their life savings going down the toilet.  Who do they blame?  They know that they did everything they were supposed to do in order to have a secure retirement, so it can't be them.  And it can't be their bankers and stock brokers.  These are the "good guys" who advised them over the years.  So they tune on Fox News and learn the truth.  It's that incompetent government and those greedy welfare bums and all those illegal's as well as Terrorists and other non Christian trouble makers.  Cathy and I do what we can, but the fact is that they've been so overwhelmed with the Ruling Class Party Line that we're about as effective as when we try to explain to an eighty year old lady that she can live a full life without eyesight.  People don't rely on their eyes for 80 years and then suddenly accept the idea that they can just pick up and go forward without their precious sight.  Neither can we expect folks to have lived under this never ending barrage of lies and then suddenly see the light.  We don't give up our beliefs that easy. 

It's sort of funny when you stop and look at it.  Here we are, thinking that we can inform the American People, when they already believe that they are informed. 

But hey, let's try pushing that boulder up the hill again. 

 

Curious Carl (the happy pessimist)

 

why can't the working class take care of it's own?

Power begets power; and the rich take care of their own. 

Wonder why the Working/Middle Class can't do the same? 

 

Curious Carl

 

getting in our own way

Probably the very characteristics that made us the dominant species are also the ones that will bring about our demise. 

We certainly have proven that we have the capacity to study the problems confronting us, and to design some theories that should make life better for all people

But we just can't manage to put any of them in place. 

We get in our own way.  When California, Washington State and Iowa had been outplaced by the NFB, a number of blind people met and discussed beginning a new organization.  The United Blind, it would be called.  A true people's movement.  We were convinced that we had learned from the oppression of the NFB's ruling class, and we had looked at the disorganization within the ACB, and we could now develop the True Way.  And before I knew it the jockeying began.  Several individuals began to squabble over who would be the new leaders and who would determine our new direction. 

Now we had moved beyond developing a new, progressive organization, and were at that old familiar place where we were fighting for control.  Enough of us walked away from it and the whole thing fell apart. 

My mother belonged to a large garden club.  Now who would think that a garden club would become a political battle field?  Several dozen ladies meeting to discuss gardening and share tips.  But wait!  One woman decided that the garden club should become responsible for tending to the run down city parks.  Good idea.  Some ladies supported this idea.  But wait!  Another lady reminded the group that they had been founded for the specific purpose of teaching people how to care for their own yards and gardens, not to become a cheap labor source for the city.  And so the battle lines were drawn and the name calling began. 

My mother-in-law, a devout Catholic lady, belonged to the Wild Flowers.  This was a group of Catholic women who raised money each year to support an orphanage in Mexico.  Christian ladies, worthy cause, non political.  And yet, two strong willed ladies began to disagree on how to raise the money.  Before long the group was scattered to the four winds and no money was ever raised again. 

We are our own worst enemy. 

Forget all the great theories.  Until we figure out how to channel this human need to control,  until we can actually develop mutual respect and understanding, the greatest theories are going to fail.  We keep looking for some sort of global solution to a problem that is close at home.  It is within each of us. 

My own personal belief is that we may not be able to solve it.  And if we can't, it will take us down. 

 

Curious Carl

 

Clearing the Deck

What we really need is a government Of the People, By the People and For the People. 

It's a novel concept, but it could work.  First we will need to clear the deck of that crowd of Empire Hirelings and toss out their playing field.  Next we will need to reclaim all that has been stolen from us.  Darned if this isn't beginning to sound like a call for a revolution. 

 

Curious Carl

 

Out of Focus

We're getting all muddy and out of focus. 

Let's start back a couple of miles.  The situation is this. 

When people have the need to control others, to hold them as unequal's, contemptible, expendable, and so much vermin, then it does not matter how you attempt to structure society. 

When people trust, honor, respect, love, and watch over one another, just about any form of government is going to work. 

When I care enough for you and your family, as if you were my own, I am not going to cheat you or treat you unfairly. 

If I see you as just another cow or pig or chicken, do you think I will obey any rules you and your ilk try to force on me? 

I am an admirer of Marx and Engels, but I don't hold out any hope for any of their theories until we deal with the more basic issue of how Man sees Man...and women too! 

 

Curious Carl

 

Contract for the American Dream

From Sharon.

Sent: Saturday, August 13, 2011 5:46 PM

Subject: Re: Contract for the American Dream

I think that part of the reason for Obama's failure to act for the average American is that it is not just an American problem. All over Europe they are having the same problem with job loss and government cuts in helping agencies. Truly this is a Global problem, and we need to tune up our ears to what is going on to be able to join with other countries to fight the global greed of corporations.

 

I heard that to be part of the European Union England will have to pay from 300 million of some sources to 1 billion from another source. Paying this while increasing tuition for students in college by 3 times.

 

I have been watching about riots on YouTube. We need a very big stick to fight this problem, and it needs to be wielded by many strong arms across many nations. Unless we think on a global basis, and unite with others across the globe, I do not think we can win the war on the average person to take all their dollars.

 

Perhaps I am wrong, I hope I am.

 

Love,

Your Niece Sharon

 

Reply to my Niece Sharon:

 

Very well said.  We have been so misinformed by the mass media for so many years that we, the American People, are totally disorganized and confused, not knowing who to hold responsible for our economic woes. 

But while this growing International Empire keeps us off balance, it is becoming better and better organized. 

Through long exposure Americans have come to rely on and trust the mass media for daily news and information.  So when we are told over and over again that we have a bumbling, incompetent government, we assume that politicians are either fools or crooks. 

This sets us against our own government.  When someone speaks out and says, "The government is doing exactly what it has been paid to do.  Politicians have been bought by big corporate money and will always do what is best for their Masters", no one believes them.  They are a faint stirring in the night.  As long as we believe that we can level the playing field...play on the Ruling Classes terms, we lose.  We must find a way to remove the buying and selling of politicians.  Open public channels for *All candidates to promote their beliefs.  Let the people who care, listen and and those who don't care can continue watching their latest Reality Show or Sporting Event. 

Take the lobbyists out of the halls of the state and national Capitols.  Make them rent offices off-campus and invite politicians to come to their office.  Why should Americans pay their expenses in the Public Buildings when most of us can't afford to ever enter our seat of government? 

Stop paying the military to buy war equipment that they will never use, only to keep pumping our tax dollars into the pockets of giant corporations like Boeing and General Electric.  And these corporations pay no taxes themselves. 

Oh well, enough for one rant. 

 

Uncle Curious Carl

 

Meet the Global Financial Elites Controlling $46 Trillion In Wealth

Sent: Saturday, August 13, 2011 6:20 PM

Meet the Global Financial Elites Controlling $46 Trillion In Wealth
By David DeGraw, Amped Status
Posted on August 11, 2011, Printed on August 13, 2011
http://www.alternet.org/story/151999/meet_the_global_financial_elites_contro
lling_%2446_trillion_in_wealth

The following is an adapted excerpt from David DeGraw's new report on the
financial destruction of the United States. The full report can be read
here: Analysis of Financial Terrorism in America.


"There's class warfare, all right, but it's my class,
the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning."
- Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway

How Much Wealth Do The Economic Elite Have?

While 68.3 million Americans struggle to get enough food to eat and wages
are declining for 90 percent of the population, US millionaire household
wealth has reached an unprecedented level. According to an extensive study
by auditing and financial advisory firm Deloitte, US millionaire households
now have $38.6 trillion in wealth. On top of the $38.6 trillion this study
reveals, they have an estimated $6.3 trillion hidden in offshore accounts.

In total, US millionaire households have at least $45.9 trillion in wealth,
the majority of this wealth is held within the upper one-tenth of one
percent of the population.

If all this isn't obscene enough, to further demonstrate how the global
economy has now been completely rigged, Deloitte's analysis predicated,
based on current trends, that US millionaire households will see a 225
percent increase in wealth to $87.1 trillion by 2020. Accounting for wealth
hidden in offshore accounts, they are projected to have over $100 trillion
in total within the next decade.

Most people cannot even comprehend how much $1 trillion is, let alone $46
trillion. One trillion is equal to 1000 billion, or $1,000,000,000,000. To
put it in perspective, last year the entire cost of feeding all 40 million
Americans on food stamps was $65 billion.

Now consider, according to the latest IRS data, only 0.076 percent of the
population, less than one-tenth of one percent, earned over $1 million in
2009.

The graph below, based on data from the Tax Policy Center, shows how much
income is earned by a household at any given percentile in income
distribution:

 

The highest bracket for annual income is $50 million or more. Only 74
Americans are in this elite group. The average income within this category
was $91.2 million in 2008. As astonishing as that is, in 2009 they averaged
$518.8 million each, or about $10 million per week. This means, in the
depths of the recession, the richest 74 Americans increased their income by
more than five times within this one year. These 74 people made more money
than 19 million workers combined.

In context, overall, the richest 400 people in the US have as much wealth as
154 million Americans combined, that's 50 percent of the entire country. The
top economic 1 percent of the US population now has a record 40 pecent of
all wealth, and have more wealth than 90 percent of the population combined.

Who Rules America? Revealing The Economic Top 0.1 Percent

Here is an analysis from an investment manager with mega-wealthy clients
breaking down the economic top 0.5 percent of the population, recently
published by William Domhoff, sociology professor and author of Who Rules
America?:


"Unlike those in the lower half of the top 1%, those in the top half and,
particularly, top 0.1%, can often borrow for almost nothing, keep profits
and production overseas, hold personal assets in tax havens, ride out down
markets and economies, and influence legislation in the US. They have access
to the very best in accounting firms, tax and other attorneys, numerous
consultants, private wealth managers, a network of other wealthy and
powerful friends, lucrative business opportunities, and many other benefits.

Folks in the top 0.1% come from many backgrounds but it's infrequent to meet
one whose wealth wasn't acquired through direct or indirect participation in
the financial and banking industries.. Most of the serious economic damage
the US is struggling with today was done by the top 0.1% and they benefited
greatly from it.. For example, in Q1 of 2011, America's top corporations
reported 31% profit growth and a 31% reduction in taxes, the latter due to
profit outsourcing to low tax rate countries.. The year 2010 was a record
year for compensation on Wall Street, while corporate CEO compensation rose
by over 30%..

In 2010 a dozen major companies, including GE, Verizon, Boeing, Wells Fargo,
and Fed Ex paid US tax rates between -0.7% and -9.2%. Production,
employment, profits, and taxes have all been outsourced..

I could go on and on, but the bottom line is this: A highly complex and
largely discrete set of laws and exemptions from laws has been put in place
by those in the uppermost reaches of the US financial system. It allows them
to protect and increase their wealth and significantly affect the US
political and legislative processes.

They have real power and real wealth. Ordinary citizens in the bottom 99.9%
are largely not aware of these systems, do not understand how they work, are
unlikely to participate in them, and have little likelihood of entering the
top 0.5%, much less the top 0.1%..

. the American dream of striking it rich is merely a well-marketed fantasy
that keeps the bottom 99.5% hoping for better and prevents social and
political instability. The odds of getting into that top 0.5% are very slim
and the door is kept firmly shut by those within it."


To get into the top economic 0.01 percent (one-hundredth of one percent) of
the population, you have to have a household income of over $27 million per
year.

If you look at some of the central players who caused this economic crisis,
you will see that they are among this Economic Elite group.

Former Goldman Sachs CEO and Bush Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson had
already amassed at least $700 million prior to moving to the US Treasury in
2006. Current Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein and a few other top
executives at Goldman Sachs just received $111.3 million in bonuses.
Blankfein just took home $24.3 million, as part of a $67.9 million bonus he
was awarded. Goldman's President Gary Cohn took home $24 million, as part of
a $66.9 million bonus he was awarded. Goldman's CFO David Viniar and former
co-president Jon Winkelried both took home over $20 million in bonuses.

Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit just took home $80 million, in what may
eventually total more than $200 million in compensation and bonuses. Coming
in at the top of the list is JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who just took
home $90 million.

If you think people in this income level don't control the US political
process, you are not paying attention. After they caused this economic
crisis, they got the government to give them trillions of dollars in
taxpayer support, and then, after taking our tax dollars, they gave
themselves all-time record-breaking bonuses. 2009 was an all-time
record-breaking year for Wall Street executives bringing in a total of $145
billion. And then, in 2010, they raised the bar even higher, breaking the
all-time record set the year before by pulling in another $149 billion. The
audacity of it all is stunning.

Finding people more grotesquely greedy than Wall Street executives would
seem to be impossible. However, health insurance CEOs are giving them a run
for their money. As the LA Times reported:


"Leaders of Cigna, Humana, UnitedHealth, WellPoint and Aetna received nearly
$200 million in compensation in 2009, according to a report, while the
companies sought rate increases as high as 39%..

H. Edward Hanway, former chief executive of Philadelphia-based Cigna, topped
the list of high-paid executives, thanks to a retirement package worth
$110.9 million. Cigna paid Hanway and his successor, David Cordani, a total
of $136.3 million last year..

Ron Williams, the CEO of Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna Inc., earned nearly
$18.2 million in total compensation, down from $24.4 million in 2008."


Aetna CEO Ron Williams has recovered from hisdownyear in 2009 by making $72
million in 2010.

Given this level of obscene profiteering within the health care industry, it
is not surprising that Americans pay more for medical care than any other
nation in the world. In fact, Americans are forced to pay twice as much as
most nations, and get lower quality care in return. As health insurance
companies admitted, they have been reaping windfall profits because
peoplewith health insurance plansstill cannot afford to go to the doctors
and have stopped going unless it is an absolute emergency. With well over 50
million people unable to afford health insurance and the skyrocketing costs,
it is not surprising that over 60 percent of all personal bankruptcies are
the result of medical bills. In fact, 75 percent of the medical bankruptcies
filed are from people whohave health insurance.

Within this Economic Elite group, you also have the war profiteering oil
companies, which themselves are in large part owned by the big Wall Street
banks. The biggest five oil companies, while gas prices have been
skyrocketing, reaped $36 billion in profit last quarter. These companies
also receive an average of $6 billion per year in tax subsidies.

Tax Breaks For The Rich, Budget Cuts For The Rest Of Us

To further demonstrate how the mega-wealthy have seized control of our
political process, consider that the richest 400 Americans paid 30 percent
of their income in taxes in 1995, but they now pay only 18 percent.

In fact, 1,470 Americans earned over $1 million in 2009 and didn't pay any
taxes.

The average tax rate for millionaires was 22.4 percent in 2009, down from
30.4 percent in 1995. The average millionaire saves $136,000 a year due to
reduced tax rates.

Looking at the tax rate from a long-term perspective, the amount of money
the richest people and most profitable corporations pay in taxes has fallen
dramatically since 1955. Corporate tax accounted for 27.3 percent of federal
revenue in 1955. In 2010, corporate tax accounted for only 8.9 percent of
federal revenue. Corporate taxes accounted for 4.3 percent of overall GDP in
1955, in 2010 they accounted for only 1.3 percent.

Deliberate Systemic Attacks

The dramatic increase in economic inequality and poverty, along with the
unprecedented rise in wealth within the topone-tenth of one percentof the
population has not happened by mistake. It is the designed result of
deliberate governmental and economic policy. It is the result of the richest
people in the world, and the "too big to fail" banks, using the campaign
finance and lobbying system to buy off politicians who implement policies
designed to exploit 99.9 percent of the population for their financial gain.
To call what is happening a "financial terrorist attack" on the United
States, is not using hyperbole, it is the technical term for what is
currently occurring.



C 2011 Amped Status All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/151999/

[w1]

Meet the Global Financial Elites Controlling $46 Trillion InWealth

 

Ted wrote:

    Reading this commentary, I am more convinced of a position I expressed a while back but haven't expressed since: In some way, we need some sort of worldwide minimum wage and other laws to balance out the enormous wealth and power being displayed by multinational corporations that can pack up and move to another country any time they don't like a particular country's business environment. I do not know how such a worldwide system of laws for doing business would be accomplished, but I am now certain that at some point, multinational corporations will be forced to face worldwide taxes and regulations on the ways that they do business.

Ted

 

My reply:

Ted,

multinational corporations won't face taxes if they control the international government.  I still grumble over the lost opportunity of American Labor Unions to do two things.  First, to organize the working people in Third World nations.  Second, to promote legislation preventing American corporations and companies from shipping their jobs and factories and production centers over seas. 

Now we are faced with the reality that Labor Unions do not have the clout to hold onto the hard fought gains from past struggles. 

As we wave bye bye to the Middle Class, blow a few kisses to the once grand American Labor Movement. 

 

Curious Carl

 

woman faces charges robbing oh acb

Sent: Saturday, August 06, 2011 7:54 AM

Subject: Re: woman faces charges robbing oh acb

Someone is bound to say, "How despicable!  Imagine, stealing from the blind!" 

Why not?  Our money is as good as anybody else's.  The focus should be on how to prevent the act itself, regardless of who the potential victim is. 

In my many years as a traveler on Planet Earth, I have witnessed the shock and horror as good Christians discovered that their trusted minister or church secretary made off with their money.  A school for disturbed children in the San Juan Islands, directed by a close friend, was nearly ruined by an administrator who had the total trust of everyone involved.  He stole over two hundred thousand dollars during his five years at the head of the school. 

Cathy and I have run into many cases of care givers stealing from their blind elderly clients.  In several cases the blind person was financially ruined.  But often it was stolen items like prized family keepsakes. 

What I know is that these penny anti crooks are nothing more than CEO Wanna Bees. 

 

Curious Carl

 

----- Original Message -----

From: joe harcz Comcast

To: blind democracy List

Sent: Saturday, August 06, 2011 7:32 AM

Subject: woman faces charges robbing oh acb

Woman Faces Charges After Robbing Organization For Blind

 

Thursday,  August 4, 2011 5:19 PM

 

WBNS-10TV

Video

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A woman was charged on Thursday for stealing from the American Council of the Blind in Ohio.

 

The president of the organization, Nolan Crabb, said a fully sighted person stole thousands of dollars.

 

Crabb described the group as a small, non-profit organization that is dedicated to improving the lives of the blind and visually impaired, 10TV's Andy Hirsch

reported.

 

"We have a bizarre, tragic horror in which a fully sighted individual has stolen in a cold, calculated, cynical way from people who are blind and visually

impaired," Crabb said.

 

A Delaware woman, Heidi Busic, had volunteered at the council since 2006 and was indicted for theft from the organization.

 

Investigators said that Busic started stealing from the council in April 2009 and said the crime continued through May.

 

Busic allegedly made off with more than $25,000, Hirsch reported.

 

"The American Council of the Blind of Ohio is not a group of incompetent, stupid people who will shrug this away and pretend it never happened," Crabb said.

"There will be consequences."

 

Busic was not at her Delaware home on Thursday for a comment.

 

Watch 10TV News and refresh 10TV.com for additional information.

 

http://www.10tv.com/live/content/local/stories/2011/08/04/story-columbuss-woman-steals-from-blind.html?sid=102

30 Years Ago Today: The Day the Middle Class Died ...a letterfromMichael Moore

Subject: Re: 30 Years Ago Today: The Day the Middle Class Died ...a letterfromMichael Moore

I still remember my shock and anger at organized labor's stupidity. 

But the blue collar workers were played off against those, "over paid, arrogant air traffic controllers".  1981 was a recession year and the ripple of fear over job security among the working class was easily turned into anger toward these rich elitists who just sat in an airport tower all day while real labor sweated for a living.  And they were so greedy that they couldn't even take a small pay cut. 

 

Curious Carl

**********

 What in God's name was the AFL/CIO thinking?  If they didn't see what was happening
as a threat, the working people were already lost.

Miriam
----- Original Message -----
From: "Carl Jarvis" <carjar82@gmail.com>
To: <blind-democracy@octothorp.org>
Sent: Friday, August 05, 2011 9:58 PM
Subject: 30 Years Ago Today: The Day the Middle Class Died ...a letter
fromMichael Moore


Michael Moore knows how to cut to the chase.
Curious Carl

Sent: Friday, August 05, 2011 4:38 PM
Subject: 30 Years Ago Today: The Day the Middle Class Died ...a letter from
Michael Moore


30 Years Ago Today: The Day the Middle Class Died ...a letter from Michael
Moore

Friday, August 5th, 2011

Friends,


From time to time, someone under 30 will ask me, "When did this all begin,
America's downward slide?" They say they've heard of a time when working
people could raise a family and send the kids to college on just one
parent's income (and that college in states like California and New York was
almost free). That anyone who wanted a decent paying job could get one. That
people only worked five days a week, eight hours a day, got the whole
weekend off and had a paid vacation every summer. That many jobs were union
jobs, from baggers at the grocery store to the guy painting your house, and
this meant that no matter how "lowly" your job was you had guarantees of a
pension, occasional raises, health insurance and someone to stick up for you
if you were unfairly treated.

Young people have heard of this mythical time -- but it was no myth, it was
real. And when they ask, "When did this all end?", I say, "It ended on this
day: August 5th, 1981."

Beginning on this date, 30 years ago, Big Business and the Right Wing
decided to "go for it" -- to see if they could actually destroy the middle
class so that they could become richer themselves.

And they've succeeded.

On August 5, 1981, President Ronald Reagan fired every member of the air
traffic controllers union (PATCO) who'd defied his order to return to work
and declared their union illegal. They had been on strike for just two days.

It was a bold and brash move. No one had ever tried it. What made it even
bolder was that PATCO was one of only three unions that had endorsed Reagan
for president! It sent a shock wave through workers across the country. If
he would do this to the people who were with him, what would he do to us?

Reagan had been backed by Wall Street in his run for the White House and
they, along with right-wing Christians, wanted to restructure America and
turn back the tide that President Franklin D. Roosevelt started -- a tide
that was intended to make life better for the average working person. The
rich hated paying better wages and providing benefits. They hated paying
taxes even more. And they despised unions. The right-wing Christians hated
anything that sounded like socialism or holding out a helping hand to
minorities or women.

Reagan promised to end all that. So when the air traffic controllers went on
strike, he seized the moment. In getting rid of every single last one of
them and outlawing their union, he sent a clear and strong message: The days
of everyone having a comfortable middle class life were over. America, from
now on, would be run this way:

* The super-rich will make more, much much more, and the rest of you will
scramble for the crumbs that are left.

* Everyone must work! Mom, Dad, the teenagers in the house! Dad, you work a
second job! Kids, here's your latch-key! Your parents might be home in time
to put you to bed.

* 50 million of you must go without health insurance! And health insurance
companies: you go ahead and decide who you want to help -- or not.

* Unions are evil! You will not belong to a union! You do not need an
advocate! Shut up and get back to work! No, you can't leave now, we're not
done. Your kids can make their own dinner.

* You want to go to college? No problem -- just sign here and be in hock to
a bank for the next 20 years!

* What's "a raise"? Get back to work and shut up!

And so it went. But Reagan could not have pulled this off by himself in
1981. He had some big help:

The AFL-CIO.

The biggest organization of unions in America told its members to cross the
picket lines of the air traffic controllers and go to work. And that's just
what these union members did. Union pilots, flight attendants, delivery
truck drivers, baggage handlers -- they all crossed the line and helped to
break the strike. And union members of all stripes crossed the picket lines
and continued to fly.

Reagan and Wall Street could not believe their eyes! Hundreds of thousands
of working people and union members endorsing the firing of fellow union
members. It was Christmas in August for Corporate America.

And that was the beginning of the end. Reagan and the Republicans knew they
could get away with anything -- and they did. They slashed taxes on the
rich. They made it harder for you to start a union at your workplace. They
eliminated safety regulations on the job. They ignored the monopoly laws and
allowed thousands of companies to merge or be bought out and closed down.
Corporations froze wages and threatened to move overseas if the workers
didn't accept lower pay and less benefits. And when the workers agreed to
work for less, they moved the jobs overseas anyway.

And at every step along the way, the majority of Americans went along with
this. There was little opposition or fight-back. The "masses" did not rise
up and protect their jobs, their homes, their schools (which used to be the
best in the world). They just accepted their fate and took the beating.

I have often wondered what would have happened had we all just stopped
flying, period, back in 1981. What if all the unions had said to Reagan,
"Give those controllers their jobs back or we're shutting the country
down!"? You know what would have happened. The corporate elite and their boy
Reagan would have buckled.

But we didn't do it. And so, bit by bit, piece by piece, in the ensuing 30
years, those in power have destroyed the middle class of our country and, in
turn, have wrecked the future for our young people. Wages have remained
stagnant for 30 years. Take a look at the statistics and you can see that
every decline we're now suffering with had its beginning in 1981 (here's a
little scene to illustrate that from my last movie).

It all began on this day, 30 years ago. One of the darkest days in American
history. And we let it happen to us. Yes, they had the money, and the media
and the cops. But we had 200 million of us. Ever wonder what it would look
like if 200 million got truly upset and wanted their country, their life,
their job, their weekend, their time with their kids back?

Have we all just given up? What are we waiting for? Forget about the 20% who
support the Tea Party -- we are the other 80%! This decline will only end
when we demand it. And not through an online petition or a tweet. We are
going to have to turn the TV and the computer and the video games off and
get out in the streets (like they've done in Wisconsin). Some of you need to
run for local office next year. We need to demand that the Democrats either
get a spine and stop taking corporate money -- or step aside.

When is enough, enough? The middle class dream will not just magically
reappear. Wall Street's plan is clear: America is to be a nation of Haves
and Have Nothings. Is that OK for you?

Why not use today to pause and think about the little steps you can take to
turn this around in your neighborhood, at your workplace, in your school? Is
there any better day to start than today?

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

P.S. Here are a few places you can connect with to get the ball rolling:

Showdown in America
Democracy Convention
Occupy Wall Street
October 2011
How to Join a Union, from the AFL-CIO (They've learned their lesson and have
a good president now) or UE
Change to Win
MoveOn
High School Newspaper (Just because you're under 18 doesn't mean you can't
do anything!)


Join Mike's Mailing List | Follow Mike on Twitter | Join Mike's Facebook
Group | Become Mike's MySpace Friend



      You are currently subscribed to michaelmoore as: carjar82@gmail.com
      Add maillist@michaelmoore.com to your email address book to ensure
delivery
      Forward to a Friend  |  Manage Subscription  |   Subscribe  |
Unsubscribe



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


_______________________________________________
Blind-Democracy mailing list
Blind-Democracy@octothorp.org
http://www.octothorp.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-democracy

_______________________________________________
Blind-Democracy mailing list
Blind-Democracy@octothorp.org
http://www.octothorp.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-democracy

strange message

Well, in my unscientific opinion, and that would be the proper level to conduct this discussion, it would seem that schizophrenia and religion are one and the same condition. 

What is the difference between believing your life is directed by some unseen, never proven Almighty Power, or by little green men from Mars? 

The difference is on two points. 

First, promoting the idea that our lives are controlled by little green men from Mars has no value to the Ruling Class in their control over the masses.  They already have this long established, well defined Fairy Tale that allows them many options in maintaining their power position. 

And secondly, the little green men from Mars have worked very hard to cover their tracks and make it appear that God Almighty is the Ruler of Planet Earth. 

 

Carl Jarvis

 

    ----- Original Message -----

From: Roger Loran Bailey

To: Blind Democracy Discussion List

Sent: Friday, August 05, 2011 9:59 AM

Subject: Re: dave's at it again/strange message

And faith is just that, a mental lock down. It denies even the validity of
truth seeking at all. Your point about schizophrenia is telling too. That is
a point I mentioned to Dave. In downtown Charleston, West Virginia there
used to be two group homes for the mentally ill. The residents were mentally
ill to varying degrees, but were all functional enough to be allowed to live
in a setting like that. If you spent much time downtown you were bound to
meet them. One of the reasons that you are bound to meet them is because
while it is a kind of an unspoken social convention that you do not just
walk up to a total stranger on the street and strike up a conversation,
those who are mentally ill do not necessarily have that compunction, so I
ended up meeting a number of them. Some of the schizophrenics would tell me
about their delusions. Some of those delusions were extremely intricate and
internally consistent. They were also absolutely ridiculous and often
involved being ppersecuted by space aliens or demons or personally having
supernatural powers. Well, I am not one to humor anyone when they hold
absurd beliefs, so I challenged them. It was exactly like arguing with Dave.
They had absolute faith in the truth of their absurd delusions. This led me
to wonder about something. It seems to me that there must be a connection
between schizophrenia and religiosity. I look at the differences between a
schizophrenic and a religious fanatic and I see only two differences. The
first is that a schizophrenic usually has some amount of a problem
functioning in everyday life. If that were not the case there would be no
need to have these group homes and other institutions for them. The effect
of the schizophrenia is variable, though, and not all of them have that
functional problem and religious fanatics do not. However, the functionality
issue has little to do with the actual delusions themselves. The second
difference does. The second difference is that religionists seem to need
each other to reinforce their delusions. They actually have institutions
like churches and priest hierarchies to reinforce those delusions. In the
case of schizophrenics the delusions are usually personal and if any
reinforcement is needed then they tend to reinforce themselves. I do note
very much, though, that a schizophrenic delusion is no more nor less absurd
than religious doctrine. So I am wondering, could it be that the same brain
process that allow religious belief also permit schizophrenia? Could
schizophrenia be just a stronger form of religion? I am certainly no
neuroscientist, but it really does strike me as something that the
neuroscientists should be investigating.

the Lesser of two Evils and the slightly less conservative

Even as we jokingly vote for the lesser of two Evils, so we happily vote for the slightly less conservative candidate.  Or at least the one who campaigns on the more moderate platform.  Since, as we have seen, we have little control over their performance once elected. 

But as we allow ourselves to be pulled further and further to the Right, we see that we've lost our ability to seriously promote labor candidates.  Labor has become a dirty word.  Liberal is akin to Communist. 

Will we awaken in time to realize that the lesser of anything gets exactly that?  The lesser.  And we Americans are now getting lesser and lesser.  Is this what is called Leveling the Playing Field?  Can anyone explain to me why we insist that we can play on the rich man's playing field, with any hope of winning? 

We never talk of building a Working Man/Woman's playing field and insisting that Corporate First Class Americans play on it.  Have we really become nothing more than the Ruling Classes sheep herd, bleating and blindly following their Pied Pipers? 

 

Curious Carl