---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Carl Jarvis <carjar82@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2014 07:22:53 -0700
Subject: Ray McGovern Triumphs Over State Department
To: Blind Democracy Discussion List <blind-democracy@octothorp.org>
Have we passed into the Land of the Living Dead?
Sure, I can believe that some dull witted Macho guards would believe
that a man standing and turning his back on Hilary Clinton was an act
of aggression. After all, we now have videos of cops who are shooting
aggressors attacking them by running at them backward.
But the real tragedy in the attack on Hilary was that Hilary did not
shout out to the guards to let the man have his say. And to compound
the matter, why did not more members in the audience stand and turn
their backs, or shout out for Hilary to demand that the man be allowed
his Free Speech?
Isn't there a song somewhere that goes..."the Land of the Free and the
Home of the Brave"?
Whatever became of those people?
I know that the words don't fit the tune, but shouldn't we be singing
about the Land of the debt ridden consumers and the Home of the Brain
Dead?
Carl Jarvis
On 9/27/14, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@optonline.net> wrote:
> I remember seeing that incident on Democracy Now. I don't remember what
> Hillary was talking about and I'm not sure that his action was related to
> her specific speech. It might have been related to something that the U.S.
> was doing at the time. Anyway, he just stood up and turned his back and
> was
> silent. The guards came and treated him as if he'd committed a violent act.
>
> Miriam
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Blind-Democracy [mailto:blind-democracy-bounces@octothorp.org] On
> Behalf Of Bob Hachey
> Sent: Saturday, September 27, 2014 1:20 AM
> To: 'Blind Democracy Discussion List'
> Subject: RE: Ray McGovern Triumphs Over State Department
>
> Wowza! Wondering if any of us here on this list are on the BOLO list? Since
> we didn't work as spies, I'm thinking probably not, or maybe not yet! LOL.
> I think it'd be pretty cool to attend a speech by Hilllary or some other
> powerful figure who believes in this ongoing war and if the war gets
> mentioned and supported I'll stand ut and turn my back to the stage. Seems
> to me we could benefit from more members of such audiences turning their
> backs for this and other issues as well.
> Bob Hachey
>
> _______________________________________________
> Blind-Democracy mailing list
> Blind-Democracy@octothorp.org
> https://www.octothorp.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-democracy
>
> _______________________________________________
> Blind-Democracy mailing list
> Blind-Democracy@octothorp.org
> https://www.octothorp.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-democracy
>
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Friday, September 26, 2014
Fwd: Stupid Stuff on Steroids - Syria and Comic Book Thinking
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Carl Jarvis <carjar82@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 17:52:50 -0700
Subject: Stupid Stuff on Steroids - Syria and Comic Book Thinking
To: Blind Democracy Discussion List <blind-democracy@octothorp.org>
There is so much insight and truth in the words of that great
philosopher Pogo, spoken to his long time friend and faithful side
kick Albert, as they strolled through the swampy comic strip, "We have
met the enemy, and they are us".
Everything I ever learned as a small child, concerning the evil Nazi's
and wicked Japs, and everything I was taught as a teenager, about the
immoral Commies, and all of the cruel inhumane practices of the
Arabs, turn out to have been no different than the behavior of my own
American Culture
I marvel at the lies that were laid on me as I grew up. This Land of
the Free. and Home of the Brave. A wondrous land provided to us by a
loving God. Each Thanksgiving our grade school would put on a Pageant
where the Pilgrims and Indians came together and thanked God Almighty
for the bountiful feast. I usually was selected to be one of the
Indians.
Then we were taught that the Pioneers trudged across the prairies with
their few belongings, searching for a place to build their homes and
farm the land. And they were beset upon by Savages who massacred
them. forcing our Great White Father to send out the cavalry to whip
the Savages into submission and drive them onto reservations. And we
had to run the mean Mexicans out of California, Arizona, New Mexico
and Colorado in order to allow civilized folks a safe place to live.
And we cried, "Remember the Maine", and sent the cruel Spaniards
packing out of Cuba and the Philippines so those folks could live free
lives.
And in all of this I was taught that we were God Fearing, gentle
people who loved their freedom and wanted to share our way of life
with everyone else.
Then I completed school, grew up and entered a different world,
called, The Real World.
In the Real World I soon learned that I, along with the majority of
Americans, had been born on the wrong side of the tracks. This, I
later learned, was what we said instead of admitting that we were a
Class Society.
And I learned that the Savages we slew, were actually human beings,
just like us. And so were the Spaniards and the Mexicans. And those
brave Pilgrims were actually seeking a safe place to practice their
brand of "Make Believe", and had no intention of sharing anything with
any strange people who did not believe the same as they did. And
those Pioneers were nothing more than the advance guard of a never
ending horde of invaders, taking the Land away from the
Natives...because they could.
So forgive me if I fail to rise and pledge allegiance to the flag, or
sing, "God Bless America". For this land is not my land, and it never
was. My people farmed the land and built roads, and fell trees, but
it was never their land...even though they thought it was. It has
always belonged to the Ruling Class. And when we place our hand over
our heart and pledge to that flag, it is a pledge to protect and hold
safe our Ruling Class.
Carl Jarvis
On 9/26/14, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@optonline.net> wrote:
> Stupid Stuff
> Thursday, 25 September 2014 00:00 By L. Michael Hager, Truthout | Op-Ed
> (Image: Jared Rodriguez / Truthout)Do you want media that's accountable to
> YOU, not to advertisers or billionaire sponsors? Help sustain Truthout's
> work by clicking here to make a tax-deductible donation!
> The president's reported quote, "Don't do stupid stuff," is good advice.
> However, our policy makers too often ignore it. The Middle East wars,
> Guantánamo and the unconditional support of Israel are ongoing examples of
> stupid stuff.
> His critics jeered when reporters quoted President Obama last spring:
> "Don't
> do stupid stuff." They would have done better to reflect on all the
> "stupid," illegal and immoral "stuff" that the president and his
> predecessor
> have already inflicted on the United States and the world.
> Our Middle East wars, the indefinite detention of Guantánamo prisoners, and
> unconditional military aid to Israel are ongoing examples of
> counterproductive policies that keep making things worse.
> Middle East Wars
> In response to 9/11 and in violation of the UN Charter, Article 51 (which
> limits self-defense to an "armed attack"), the United States launched two
> wars: on October 7, 2001, against al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan,
> and on March 19, 2003, against the forces of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.
> Extending the wars to northwestern Pakistan and Yemen, the targeted killing
> of militants began in 2004 and increased over the years, killing or maiming
> hundreds of civilians, terrorizing local communities and aiding militant
> recruitment.
> The Afghanistan war, now in its 13th year, is winding down. President Obama
> marked the end of the US combat mission in Iraq on December 21, 2011.
> However, in a televised address to the nation on September 10, 2014, the
> president announced a planned US bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria - this
> time against ISIS.
> What do we have to show for 13 years of warfare? No clear victory, a loss
> of
> 5,000 US soldiers, between 100,000 and 500,000 civilian casualties and a
> war
> bill of more than $1 trillion. Though less visible, a downgrading of
> international law and US standing in the world is due to the Middle East
> wars. The UN Human Rights Committee recently condemned the United States'
> performance under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
> citing among other breaches: targeted killings, drone strikes, Guantánamo
> and extraordinary rendition. The degrading photos from the Abu Ghraib
> prison
> shamed the United States before the world.
> Guantánamo
> President Obama seemed to recognize Guantánamo's liabilities when he
> pledged
> to abolish it during his first week in office. However, the pledge lapsed
> from legal complications and Congressional opposition. Now six years later,
> the prison still festers. It has become an even larger symbol for the
> recruitment of ISIS militants. In clear reference to Guantánamo, the two
> kidnapped and murdered American journalists had been waterboarded and were
> shown wearing orange jumpsuits.
> Guantánamo is also a showcase for the United States' new disrespect for
> law.
> Only a lawless society could tolerate indefinite detention and
> force-feeding.
> According to a 2013 Miami Herald estimate, US taxpayers now pay almost $500
> million a year to maintain the facility and pay troop salaries. That's
> almost $3 million a year for each current inmate. Notwithstanding
> administration promises, the 77 prisoners who have been cleared for release
> still languish in the prison, with no relief in sight. Recent reports from
> detainee attorneys describe brutal beatings of hunger strikers forcibly
> extracted from their cells.
> The Gaza War
> Israel's 50-day war on Gaza, which killed more than 2,000 Palestinians and
> was grossly disproportionate to the damage inflicted by Hamas' rocket
> strikes, will be a proper subject for war crimes inquiries.
> The failure of the US president and Congress to restrain Israel by
> withholding unconditional military aid enabled not only the IDF's massacres
> of civilians, but also Israel's continued occupation of Gaza. Unless the
> Israeli occupation ends and borders are opened, hostilities will likely
> resume. In their August 23, 2014, advertisement in The New York Times, more
> than 350 Holocaust survivors and their descendants condemned the United
> States for providing Israel with the funding to carry out its attacks on
> Gaza.
> In her 1984 book, The March of Folly, Barbara Tuchman wrote, "There is
> always freedom of choice to change or desist from a counter-productive
> course if the policy maker has the moral courage to exercise it." In his
> May
> 23, 2013, speech to the National Defense University, President Obama
> addressed force-feeding in Guantánamo: "Is this who we are?" he asked. "Is
> that the America we want to leave our children?"
> Now we need the moral courage to end the stupid stuff.
> Copyright, Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.
> L. MICHAEL HAGER
> L. Michael Hager is cofounder and former director-general of the
> International Development Law Organization, Rome.
> RELATED STORIES
> Gaza and American "Security"
> By Ray McGovern, Consortium News | Op-Ed
> Guantánamo Detainees Launch Hunger Strike to Protest Prison's 10th
> Anniversary
> By Amy Goodman, Democracy Now! | Video
> Guantanamo and Permanent War: The View From Camp X-Ray
> By Adam Hudson, Truthout | News Analysis
> ISIS Born From Occupation of Iraq, Not Syrian Civil War
> By Anton Woronczuk, The Real News Network | Video Interview
> Gaza, Iraq and Our Tragic Drone War Fantasy
> By Nick Mottern, SpeakOut | Op-Ed
> ________________________________________
> Show Comments
> Hide Comments
> <a href="http://truthout.disqus.com/?url=ref">View the discussion
> thread.</a>
> Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
> Stupid Stuff
> Thursday, 25 September 2014 00:00 By L. Michael Hager, Truthout | Op-Ed
> * font size Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Error! Hyperlink
> reference not valid.Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Error! Hyperlink
> reference not valid.
> * (Image: Jared Rodriguez / Truthout)Do you want media that's
> accountable to YOU, not to advertisers or billionaire sponsors? Help
> sustain
> Truthout's work by clicking here to make a tax-deductible donation!
> * The president's reported quote, "Don't do stupid stuff," is good
> advice. However, our policy makers too often ignore it. The Middle East
> wars, Guantánamo and the unconditional support of Israel are ongoing
> examples of stupid stuff.
> His critics jeered when reporters quoted President Obama last spring:
> "Don't
> do stupid stuff." They would have done better to reflect on all the
> "stupid," illegal and immoral "stuff" that the president and his
> predecessor
> have already inflicted on the United States and the world.
> Our Middle East wars, the indefinite detention of Guantánamo prisoners, and
> unconditional military aid to Israel are ongoing examples of
> counterproductive policies that keep making things worse.
> Middle East Wars
> In response to 9/11 and in violation of the UN Charter, Article 51 (which
> limits self-defense to an "armed attack"), the United States launched two
> wars: on October 7, 2001, against al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan,
> and on March 19, 2003, against the forces of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.
> Extending the wars to northwestern Pakistan and Yemen, the targeted killing
> of militants began in 2004 and increased over the years, killing or maiming
> hundreds of civilians, terrorizing local communities and aiding militant
> recruitment.
> The Afghanistan war, now in its 13th year, is winding down. President Obama
> marked the end of the US combat mission in Iraq on December 21, 2011.
> However, in a televised address to the nation on September 10, 2014, the
> president announced a planned US bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria - this
> time against ISIS.
> What do we have to show for 13 years of warfare? No clear victory, a loss
> of
> 5,000 US soldiers, between 100,000 and 500,000 civilian casualties and a
> war
> bill of more than $1 trillion. Though less visible, a downgrading of
> international law and US standing in the world is due to the Middle East
> wars. The UN Human Rights Committee recently condemned the United States'
> performance under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
> citing among other breaches: targeted killings, drone strikes, Guantánamo
> and extraordinary rendition. The degrading photos from the Abu Ghraib
> prison
> shamed the United States before the world.
> Guantánamo
> President Obama seemed to recognize Guantánamo's liabilities when he
> pledged
> to abolish it during his first week in office. However, the pledge lapsed
> from legal complications and Congressional opposition. Now six years later,
> the prison still festers. It has become an even larger symbol for the
> recruitment of ISIS militants. In clear reference to Guantánamo, the two
> kidnapped and murdered American journalists had been waterboarded and were
> shown wearing orange jumpsuits.
> Guantánamo is also a showcase for the United States' new disrespect for
> law.
> Only a lawless society could tolerate indefinite detention and
> force-feeding.
> According to a 2013 Miami Herald estimate, US taxpayers now pay almost $500
> million a year to maintain the facility and pay troop salaries. That's
> almost $3 million a year for each current inmate. Notwithstanding
> administration promises, the 77 prisoners who have been cleared for release
> still languish in the prison, with no relief in sight. Recent reports from
> detainee attorneys describe brutal beatings of hunger strikers forcibly
> extracted from their cells.
> The Gaza War
> Israel's 50-day war on Gaza, which killed more than 2,000 Palestinians and
> was grossly disproportionate to the damage inflicted by Hamas' rocket
> strikes, will be a proper subject for war crimes inquiries.
> The failure of the US president and Congress to restrain Israel by
> withholding unconditional military aid enabled not only the IDF's massacres
> of civilians, but also Israel's continued occupation of Gaza. Unless the
> Israeli occupation ends and borders are opened, hostilities will likely
> resume. In their August 23, 2014, advertisement in The New York Times, more
> than 350 Holocaust survivors and their descendants condemned the United
> States for providing Israel with the funding to carry out its attacks on
> Gaza.
> In her 1984 book, The March of Folly, Barbara Tuchman wrote, "There is
> always freedom of choice to change or desist from a counter-productive
> course if the policy maker has the moral courage to exercise it." In his
> May
> 23, 2013, speech to the National Defense University, President Obama
> addressed force-feeding in Guantánamo: "Is this who we are?" he asked. "Is
> that the America we want to leave our children?"
> Now we need the moral courage to end the stupid stuff.
> Copyright, Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.
> L. Michael Hager
> L. Michael Hager is cofounder and former director-general of the
> International Development Law Organization, Rome.
> Related Stories
> Gaza and American "Security"
> By Ray McGovern, Consortium News | Op-EdGuantánamo Detainees Launch Hunger
> Strike to Protest Prison's 10th Anniversary
> By Amy Goodman, Democracy Now! | VideoGuantanamo and Permanent War: The
> View
> From Camp X-Ray
> By Adam Hudson, Truthout | News AnalysisISIS Born From Occupation of Iraq,
> Not Syrian Civil War
> By Anton Woronczuk, The Real News Network | Video InterviewGaza, Iraq and
> Our Tragic Drone War Fantasy
> By Nick Mottern, SpeakOut | Op-Ed
>
> Show Comments
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Blind-Democracy mailing list
> Blind-Democracy@octothorp.org
> https://www.octothorp.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-democracy
>
From: Carl Jarvis <carjar82@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 17:52:50 -0700
Subject: Stupid Stuff on Steroids - Syria and Comic Book Thinking
To: Blind Democracy Discussion List <blind-democracy@octothorp.org>
There is so much insight and truth in the words of that great
philosopher Pogo, spoken to his long time friend and faithful side
kick Albert, as they strolled through the swampy comic strip, "We have
met the enemy, and they are us".
Everything I ever learned as a small child, concerning the evil Nazi's
and wicked Japs, and everything I was taught as a teenager, about the
immoral Commies, and all of the cruel inhumane practices of the
Arabs, turn out to have been no different than the behavior of my own
American Culture
I marvel at the lies that were laid on me as I grew up. This Land of
the Free. and Home of the Brave. A wondrous land provided to us by a
loving God. Each Thanksgiving our grade school would put on a Pageant
where the Pilgrims and Indians came together and thanked God Almighty
for the bountiful feast. I usually was selected to be one of the
Indians.
Then we were taught that the Pioneers trudged across the prairies with
their few belongings, searching for a place to build their homes and
farm the land. And they were beset upon by Savages who massacred
them. forcing our Great White Father to send out the cavalry to whip
the Savages into submission and drive them onto reservations. And we
had to run the mean Mexicans out of California, Arizona, New Mexico
and Colorado in order to allow civilized folks a safe place to live.
And we cried, "Remember the Maine", and sent the cruel Spaniards
packing out of Cuba and the Philippines so those folks could live free
lives.
And in all of this I was taught that we were God Fearing, gentle
people who loved their freedom and wanted to share our way of life
with everyone else.
Then I completed school, grew up and entered a different world,
called, The Real World.
In the Real World I soon learned that I, along with the majority of
Americans, had been born on the wrong side of the tracks. This, I
later learned, was what we said instead of admitting that we were a
Class Society.
And I learned that the Savages we slew, were actually human beings,
just like us. And so were the Spaniards and the Mexicans. And those
brave Pilgrims were actually seeking a safe place to practice their
brand of "Make Believe", and had no intention of sharing anything with
any strange people who did not believe the same as they did. And
those Pioneers were nothing more than the advance guard of a never
ending horde of invaders, taking the Land away from the
Natives...because they could.
So forgive me if I fail to rise and pledge allegiance to the flag, or
sing, "God Bless America". For this land is not my land, and it never
was. My people farmed the land and built roads, and fell trees, but
it was never their land...even though they thought it was. It has
always belonged to the Ruling Class. And when we place our hand over
our heart and pledge to that flag, it is a pledge to protect and hold
safe our Ruling Class.
Carl Jarvis
On 9/26/14, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@optonline.net> wrote:
> Stupid Stuff
> Thursday, 25 September 2014 00:00 By L. Michael Hager, Truthout | Op-Ed
> (Image: Jared Rodriguez / Truthout)Do you want media that's accountable to
> YOU, not to advertisers or billionaire sponsors? Help sustain Truthout's
> work by clicking here to make a tax-deductible donation!
> The president's reported quote, "Don't do stupid stuff," is good advice.
> However, our policy makers too often ignore it. The Middle East wars,
> Guantánamo and the unconditional support of Israel are ongoing examples of
> stupid stuff.
> His critics jeered when reporters quoted President Obama last spring:
> "Don't
> do stupid stuff." They would have done better to reflect on all the
> "stupid," illegal and immoral "stuff" that the president and his
> predecessor
> have already inflicted on the United States and the world.
> Our Middle East wars, the indefinite detention of Guantánamo prisoners, and
> unconditional military aid to Israel are ongoing examples of
> counterproductive policies that keep making things worse.
> Middle East Wars
> In response to 9/11 and in violation of the UN Charter, Article 51 (which
> limits self-defense to an "armed attack"), the United States launched two
> wars: on October 7, 2001, against al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan,
> and on March 19, 2003, against the forces of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.
> Extending the wars to northwestern Pakistan and Yemen, the targeted killing
> of militants began in 2004 and increased over the years, killing or maiming
> hundreds of civilians, terrorizing local communities and aiding militant
> recruitment.
> The Afghanistan war, now in its 13th year, is winding down. President Obama
> marked the end of the US combat mission in Iraq on December 21, 2011.
> However, in a televised address to the nation on September 10, 2014, the
> president announced a planned US bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria - this
> time against ISIS.
> What do we have to show for 13 years of warfare? No clear victory, a loss
> of
> 5,000 US soldiers, between 100,000 and 500,000 civilian casualties and a
> war
> bill of more than $1 trillion. Though less visible, a downgrading of
> international law and US standing in the world is due to the Middle East
> wars. The UN Human Rights Committee recently condemned the United States'
> performance under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
> citing among other breaches: targeted killings, drone strikes, Guantánamo
> and extraordinary rendition. The degrading photos from the Abu Ghraib
> prison
> shamed the United States before the world.
> Guantánamo
> President Obama seemed to recognize Guantánamo's liabilities when he
> pledged
> to abolish it during his first week in office. However, the pledge lapsed
> from legal complications and Congressional opposition. Now six years later,
> the prison still festers. It has become an even larger symbol for the
> recruitment of ISIS militants. In clear reference to Guantánamo, the two
> kidnapped and murdered American journalists had been waterboarded and were
> shown wearing orange jumpsuits.
> Guantánamo is also a showcase for the United States' new disrespect for
> law.
> Only a lawless society could tolerate indefinite detention and
> force-feeding.
> According to a 2013 Miami Herald estimate, US taxpayers now pay almost $500
> million a year to maintain the facility and pay troop salaries. That's
> almost $3 million a year for each current inmate. Notwithstanding
> administration promises, the 77 prisoners who have been cleared for release
> still languish in the prison, with no relief in sight. Recent reports from
> detainee attorneys describe brutal beatings of hunger strikers forcibly
> extracted from their cells.
> The Gaza War
> Israel's 50-day war on Gaza, which killed more than 2,000 Palestinians and
> was grossly disproportionate to the damage inflicted by Hamas' rocket
> strikes, will be a proper subject for war crimes inquiries.
> The failure of the US president and Congress to restrain Israel by
> withholding unconditional military aid enabled not only the IDF's massacres
> of civilians, but also Israel's continued occupation of Gaza. Unless the
> Israeli occupation ends and borders are opened, hostilities will likely
> resume. In their August 23, 2014, advertisement in The New York Times, more
> than 350 Holocaust survivors and their descendants condemned the United
> States for providing Israel with the funding to carry out its attacks on
> Gaza.
> In her 1984 book, The March of Folly, Barbara Tuchman wrote, "There is
> always freedom of choice to change or desist from a counter-productive
> course if the policy maker has the moral courage to exercise it." In his
> May
> 23, 2013, speech to the National Defense University, President Obama
> addressed force-feeding in Guantánamo: "Is this who we are?" he asked. "Is
> that the America we want to leave our children?"
> Now we need the moral courage to end the stupid stuff.
> Copyright, Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.
> L. MICHAEL HAGER
> L. Michael Hager is cofounder and former director-general of the
> International Development Law Organization, Rome.
> RELATED STORIES
> Gaza and American "Security"
> By Ray McGovern, Consortium News | Op-Ed
> Guantánamo Detainees Launch Hunger Strike to Protest Prison's 10th
> Anniversary
> By Amy Goodman, Democracy Now! | Video
> Guantanamo and Permanent War: The View From Camp X-Ray
> By Adam Hudson, Truthout | News Analysis
> ISIS Born From Occupation of Iraq, Not Syrian Civil War
> By Anton Woronczuk, The Real News Network | Video Interview
> Gaza, Iraq and Our Tragic Drone War Fantasy
> By Nick Mottern, SpeakOut | Op-Ed
> ________________________________________
> Show Comments
> Hide Comments
> <a href="http://truthout.disqus.com/?url=ref">View the discussion
> thread.</a>
> Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
> Stupid Stuff
> Thursday, 25 September 2014 00:00 By L. Michael Hager, Truthout | Op-Ed
> * font size Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Error! Hyperlink
> reference not valid.Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Error! Hyperlink
> reference not valid.
> * (Image: Jared Rodriguez / Truthout)Do you want media that's
> accountable to YOU, not to advertisers or billionaire sponsors? Help
> sustain
> Truthout's work by clicking here to make a tax-deductible donation!
> * The president's reported quote, "Don't do stupid stuff," is good
> advice. However, our policy makers too often ignore it. The Middle East
> wars, Guantánamo and the unconditional support of Israel are ongoing
> examples of stupid stuff.
> His critics jeered when reporters quoted President Obama last spring:
> "Don't
> do stupid stuff." They would have done better to reflect on all the
> "stupid," illegal and immoral "stuff" that the president and his
> predecessor
> have already inflicted on the United States and the world.
> Our Middle East wars, the indefinite detention of Guantánamo prisoners, and
> unconditional military aid to Israel are ongoing examples of
> counterproductive policies that keep making things worse.
> Middle East Wars
> In response to 9/11 and in violation of the UN Charter, Article 51 (which
> limits self-defense to an "armed attack"), the United States launched two
> wars: on October 7, 2001, against al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan,
> and on March 19, 2003, against the forces of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.
> Extending the wars to northwestern Pakistan and Yemen, the targeted killing
> of militants began in 2004 and increased over the years, killing or maiming
> hundreds of civilians, terrorizing local communities and aiding militant
> recruitment.
> The Afghanistan war, now in its 13th year, is winding down. President Obama
> marked the end of the US combat mission in Iraq on December 21, 2011.
> However, in a televised address to the nation on September 10, 2014, the
> president announced a planned US bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria - this
> time against ISIS.
> What do we have to show for 13 years of warfare? No clear victory, a loss
> of
> 5,000 US soldiers, between 100,000 and 500,000 civilian casualties and a
> war
> bill of more than $1 trillion. Though less visible, a downgrading of
> international law and US standing in the world is due to the Middle East
> wars. The UN Human Rights Committee recently condemned the United States'
> performance under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
> citing among other breaches: targeted killings, drone strikes, Guantánamo
> and extraordinary rendition. The degrading photos from the Abu Ghraib
> prison
> shamed the United States before the world.
> Guantánamo
> President Obama seemed to recognize Guantánamo's liabilities when he
> pledged
> to abolish it during his first week in office. However, the pledge lapsed
> from legal complications and Congressional opposition. Now six years later,
> the prison still festers. It has become an even larger symbol for the
> recruitment of ISIS militants. In clear reference to Guantánamo, the two
> kidnapped and murdered American journalists had been waterboarded and were
> shown wearing orange jumpsuits.
> Guantánamo is also a showcase for the United States' new disrespect for
> law.
> Only a lawless society could tolerate indefinite detention and
> force-feeding.
> According to a 2013 Miami Herald estimate, US taxpayers now pay almost $500
> million a year to maintain the facility and pay troop salaries. That's
> almost $3 million a year for each current inmate. Notwithstanding
> administration promises, the 77 prisoners who have been cleared for release
> still languish in the prison, with no relief in sight. Recent reports from
> detainee attorneys describe brutal beatings of hunger strikers forcibly
> extracted from their cells.
> The Gaza War
> Israel's 50-day war on Gaza, which killed more than 2,000 Palestinians and
> was grossly disproportionate to the damage inflicted by Hamas' rocket
> strikes, will be a proper subject for war crimes inquiries.
> The failure of the US president and Congress to restrain Israel by
> withholding unconditional military aid enabled not only the IDF's massacres
> of civilians, but also Israel's continued occupation of Gaza. Unless the
> Israeli occupation ends and borders are opened, hostilities will likely
> resume. In their August 23, 2014, advertisement in The New York Times, more
> than 350 Holocaust survivors and their descendants condemned the United
> States for providing Israel with the funding to carry out its attacks on
> Gaza.
> In her 1984 book, The March of Folly, Barbara Tuchman wrote, "There is
> always freedom of choice to change or desist from a counter-productive
> course if the policy maker has the moral courage to exercise it." In his
> May
> 23, 2013, speech to the National Defense University, President Obama
> addressed force-feeding in Guantánamo: "Is this who we are?" he asked. "Is
> that the America we want to leave our children?"
> Now we need the moral courage to end the stupid stuff.
> Copyright, Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.
> L. Michael Hager
> L. Michael Hager is cofounder and former director-general of the
> International Development Law Organization, Rome.
> Related Stories
> Gaza and American "Security"
> By Ray McGovern, Consortium News | Op-EdGuantánamo Detainees Launch Hunger
> Strike to Protest Prison's 10th Anniversary
> By Amy Goodman, Democracy Now! | VideoGuantanamo and Permanent War: The
> View
> From Camp X-Ray
> By Adam Hudson, Truthout | News AnalysisISIS Born From Occupation of Iraq,
> Not Syrian Civil War
> By Anton Woronczuk, The Real News Network | Video InterviewGaza, Iraq and
> Our Tragic Drone War Fantasy
> By Nick Mottern, SpeakOut | Op-Ed
>
> Show Comments
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Blind-Democracy mailing list
> Blind-Democracy@octothorp.org
> https://www.octothorp.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-democracy
>
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Are Head Injuries the Bridge Between the NFL Playing Field and Domestic Violence?: one factor, for sure.
As bad as constant head trauma can be, it is just one factor in the
violence that erupts within professional football.
Banging your head against a solid wall, day after day, will eventually
lead to brain damage. But add to the head banging an environment of
violence where the goal is to dominate your opponent, and you begin to
compound that brain damage. Add to that our attitude toward women,
and our macho male need to "possess" them, along with the attitude
that you have a right to be the man in charge, and you begin to see
the real problem that comes from teaching violence.
Take a boy from early childhood and train him to be part of a team
that is focused on dominating their opponents. They must become
tougher and more cunning than the other boys competing for whichever
position they wish to play. Over the years, the weak and the faint of
heart are left behind. Only the strongest and meanest and most
skilled will survive. Those few who finally grab off the brass ring
and find themselves in the ranks of the NFL, have been conditioned to
think of themselves as invincible. They are the "Master Race". By
all standards, they are revered and fawned over. They expect to
benefit from the spoils of their long years of sacrifice. And what
are the rewards we offer them? Money and women.
Yet, after only a few years of success, they are "retired". Put out
to pasture. The lucky ones have salted away a few millions, or been
courted by some corporation to help entice business. But most are
left to become lonely has beens, living in past glory. Their wives
and children become the only objects they can dominate. And as the
years pass and the head trauma begins to exhibit itself, violence
erupts. Very often it is coupled with alcohol and drugs. It can be
complicated by doctors prescribing drugs to help with the growing pain
that often develops in bodies that have been punished over many years.
Finally, add to all of this the fact that we are a violent nation,
basking in our Empire's dominance of the world. We sneer at
"Peaceniks" and call them Pussy's, or worse. So tell me, how else
would we expect these aging warriors to behave?
Carl Jarvis
Carl Jarvis
On 9/23/14, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@optonline.net> wrote:
> Are Head Injuries the Bridge Between the NFL Playing Field and Domestic
> Violence?
> Dave Zirin on September 21, 2014 - 7:13 PM ET
>
> NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
> There is an unspoken question lurking behind the NFL domestic violence
> cover-up saga that has emerged over the last month. It is whether the
> brutality of the game, particularly head injuries, plays a role in the
> prevalence of players committing acts of violence against women. The NFL
> has
> a vested interest in not having this discussion. On head injuries, as the
> title of the award-winning book said so clearly, it remains "a league of
> denial." If, in the name of public relations, the owners won't have a
> discussion about the connection between their sport and horrific
> post-concussive syndromes like ALS and early-onset dementia, are they
> really
> going to talk about links between head injuries and domestic violence? The
> sports media are largely in denial about this topic as well, as there was
> not one question in Roger Goodell's instantly infamous Friday press
> conference about whether the league would investigate whether brain
> injuries
> could be the bridge between the violence at work and the violence at home.
> Yet many domestic violence advocates are also-understandably-not thrilled
> with this line of discussion. Partner abuse occurs in all walks of life,
> all
> professions and among all income groups, and post-concussive syndromes are
> almost always not a part of those stories. Additionally, to blame it on
> concussions seems to be excusing domestic violence and denying the fact
> that
> NFL players have agency and choice before becoming abusers. This resistance
> is very understandable. But attempting to explore and explain the
> shockingly
> high rates of domestic violence in the NFL is not the same as excusing it.
> So is there a connection? As my friend Ruth, who is a DV counselor, says,
> "When it comes to domestic violence, it is extremely difficult to
> generalize
> across the board, in the NFL or otherwise." In other words, every case is
> distinct, reflecting the interpersonal relationships of the parties
> involved. But there are factors that appear to show themselves in the
> football cases with alarming regularity. Some of these factors are high
> rates of stress, a culture of entitlement for sports stars that predates
> their life in the NFL, and an inability to turn off the violence of the
> game
> once the pads are off. This is when we see the most toxic part of the
> sport's hyper-masculinist culture poison the relationships between the men
> who play the game-as well as the men who own teams-and the women in their
> lives. But among many players, this question of the role of head injuries
> still lingers in the background.
> Dan Diamond over at Forbes is one of the few journalists I have seen
> explore
> these links in detail. In one piece, he cites a "disturbing new report"
> that
> shows "3 in 10 NFL players suffer from at least moderate brain disease."
> Diamond then details many examples of former players who were found in
> their
> autopsies to have the repetitive post-concussive syndromes known as CTE,
> and
> were also arrested at some point or another for domestic violence. He
> writes:
> The key issue is whether suffering repeated head trauma lowers a person's
> self-control. And while many pro football players haven't been diagnosed
> with concussions in the NFL, nearly all of them have been playing football
> since they were young and suffered repetitive, frequent blows that can add
> up over time. And researchers know that those concussions can change a
> person. Even a pillar of the community.
> This connects anecdotally with much of my own research. Over the last two
> months, I have spoken with three different women whose husbands are or were
> NFL players. All three are domestic violence survivors. In one case, the
> marriage was mended and endures to this day. In one case, it ended in
> divorce. In one case it ended with the suicide of the player in question.
> Yet that is where the differences ended. The similarities were stunning. In
> all three cases, the violence was precipitated either by migraine headaches
> or self-medicating-drugs or alcohol-to manage migraines. In all three
> cases,
> the survivors spoke about their NFL husbands becoming disoriented or
> light-sensitive, easily frustrated and quick to anger in ways that did not
> exist earlier in the relationship. In all three cases, they spoke about
> bizarre looks on their husbands' faces when they committed the abuse, from
> a
> chillingly peaceful calm to quizzical smiles. Whatever the look, they spoke
> of being in the presence of someone they "did not recognize."
> Please support our journalism. Get a digital subscription for just $9.50!
> I also spoke with Matt Chaney, a former college football player and author
> of the book Spiral of Denial: Muscle Doping in American Football, about
> whether he believed there was a causal link between concussions and
> domestic
> violencw. He e-mailed me back the following. "I can't speak as medical
> authority on any link but as a journalist and academic who's read and filed
> tens of thousand documents on football hazards from violence to drugs, and
> one who's interviewed a thousand people, along with being a former college
> player who has knowledge of countless athletes and their relationships, I
> believe football brain injuries lead many players to violence they wouldn't
> otherwise have committed, ranging from domestic cases to random acts.. I
> think brain injuries, after studying the topic as we all have in recent
> years, now explains much about the perplexing cases of violence and other
> irrational behavior among football players I've known. And while I thought
> I
> abhorred street fighting, before college football, I found myself nearly
> involved with or nearly instigating such trouble on more than one occasion
> while I was in full-contact activity, fall and spring practices, banging my
> head. If I didn't have headache after a college contact session, I didn't
> think I'd done anything."
> This question, of course, has profound implications well beyond the sport.
> It is about the choice families make whether to let their children play
> tackle football. It is about the health and safety of women in
> relationships
> with NFL players, and whether recognizing warning signs of CTE can create
> opportunities for intervention before abuse takes place. It is about the
> degree to which the league's very violence bears some complicity in their
> abuse. This is a difficult question, one Roger Goodell is loathe to
> discuss.
> That is exactly why we need to keep asking it.
> Read Next: "No Justice, No Football: Ferguson Demonstrators Bring Struggle
> to NFL Sunday"
> Related Topics: Sports | Society
> Are Head Injuries the Bridge Between the NFL Playing Field and Domestic
> Violence?
> Dave Zirin on September 21, 2014 - 7:13 PM ET
> . Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
> .
> /printmail/blog/181695/are-head-injuries-bridge-between-nfl-playing-field-an
> d-domestic-violence
> /printmail/blog/181695/are-head-injuries-bridge-between-nfl-playing-field-an
> d-domestic-violence
> .
> .
> https://subscribe.thenation.com/servlet/OrdersGateway?cds_mag_code=NAN&cds_p
> age_id=105997&cds_response_key=I11BSPRV1
> https://subscribe.thenation.com/servlet/OrdersGateway?cds_mag_code=NAN&cds_p
> age_id=105997&cds_response_key=I11BSPRV1
> http://www.thenation.com/sites/default/files/roger_goodell_ap_img_1.jpg
> http://www.thenation.com/sites/default/files/roger_goodell_ap_img_1.jpg
> NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
> There is an unspoken question lurking behind the NFL domestic violence
> cover-up saga that has emerged over the last month. It is whether the
> brutality of the game, particularly head injuries, plays a role in the
> prevalence of players committing acts of violence against women. The NFL
> has
> a vested interest in not having this discussion. On head injuries, as the
> title of the award-winning book said so clearly, it remains "a league of
> denial." If, in the name of public relations, the owners won't have a
> discussion about the connection between their sport and horrific
> post-concussive syndromes like ALS and early-onset dementia, are they
> really
> going to talk about links between head injuries and domestic violence? The
> sports media are largely in denial about this topic as well, as there was
> not one question in Roger Goodell's instantly infamous Friday press
> conference about whether the league would investigate whether brain
> injuries
> could be the bridge between the violence at work and the violence at home.
> Yet many domestic violence advocates are also-understandably-not thrilled
> with this line of discussion. Partner abuse occurs in all walks of life,
> all
> professions and among all income groups, and post-concussive syndromes are
> almost always not a part of those stories. Additionally, to blame it on
> concussions seems to be excusing domestic violence and denying the fact
> that
> NFL players have agency and choice before becoming abusers. This resistance
> is very understandable. But attempting to explore and explain the
> shockingly
> high rates of domestic violence in the NFL is not the same as excusing it.
> So is there a connection? As my friend Ruth, who is a DV counselor, says,
> "When it comes to domestic violence, it is extremely difficult to
> generalize
> across the board, in the NFL or otherwise." In other words, every case is
> distinct, reflecting the interpersonal relationships of the parties
> involved. But there are factors that appear to show themselves in the
> football cases with alarming regularity. Some of these factors are high
> rates of stress, a culture of entitlement for sports stars that predates
> their life in the NFL, and an inability to turn off the violence of the
> game
> once the pads are off. This is when we see the most toxic part of the
> sport's hyper-masculinist culture poison the relationships between the men
> who play the game-as well as the men who own teams-and the women in their
> lives. But among many players, this question of the role of head injuries
> still lingers in the background.
> Dan Diamond over at Forbes is one of the few journalists I have seen
> explore
> these links in detail. In one piece, he cites a "disturbing new report"
> that
> shows "3 in 10 NFL players suffer from at least moderate brain disease."
> Diamond then details many examples of former players who were found in
> their
> autopsies to have the repetitive post-concussive syndromes known as CTE,
> and
> were also arrested at some point or another for domestic violence. He
> writes:
> The key issue is whether suffering repeated head trauma lowers a person's
> self-control. And while many pro football players haven't been diagnosed
> with concussions in the NFL, nearly all of them have been playing football
> since they were young and suffered repetitive, frequent blows that can add
> up over time. And researchers know that those concussions can change a
> person. Even a pillar of the community.
> This connects anecdotally with much of my own research. Over the last two
> months, I have spoken with three different women whose husbands are or were
> NFL players. All three are domestic violence survivors. In one case, the
> marriage was mended and endures to this day. In one case, it ended in
> divorce. In one case it ended with the suicide of the player in question.
> Yet that is where the differences ended. The similarities were stunning. In
> all three cases, the violence was precipitated either by migraine headaches
> or self-medicating-drugs or alcohol-to manage migraines. In all three
> cases,
> the survivors spoke about their NFL husbands becoming disoriented or
> light-sensitive, easily frustrated and quick to anger in ways that did not
> exist earlier in the relationship. In all three cases, they spoke about
> bizarre looks on their husbands' faces when they committed the abuse, from
> a
> chillingly peaceful calm to quizzical smiles. Whatever the look, they spoke
> of being in the presence of someone they "did not recognize."
> Please support our journalism. Get a digital subscription for just $9.50!
> I also spoke with Matt Chaney, a former college football player and author
> of the book Spiral of Denial: Muscle Doping in American Football, about
> whether he believed there was a causal link between concussions and
> domestic
> violencw. He e-mailed me back the following. "I can't speak as medical
> authority on any link but as a journalist and academic who's read and filed
> tens of thousand documents on football hazards from violence to drugs, and
> one who's interviewed a thousand people, along with being a former college
> player who has knowledge of countless athletes and their relationships, I
> believe football brain injuries lead many players to violence they wouldn't
> otherwise have committed, ranging from domestic cases to random acts.. I
> think brain injuries, after studying the topic as we all have in recent
> years, now explains much about the perplexing cases of violence and other
> irrational behavior among football players I've known. And while I thought
> I
> abhorred street fighting, before college football, I found myself nearly
> involved with or nearly instigating such trouble on more than one occasion
> while I was in full-contact activity, fall and spring practices, banging my
> head. If I didn't have headache after a college contact session, I didn't
> think I'd done anything."
> This question, of course, has profound implications well beyond the sport.
> It is about the choice families make whether to let their children play
> tackle football. It is about the health and safety of women in
> relationships
> with NFL players, and whether recognizing warning signs of CTE can create
> opportunities for intervention before abuse takes place. It is about the
> degree to which the league's very violence bears some complicity in their
> abuse. This is a difficult question, one Roger Goodell is loathe to
> discuss.
> That is exactly why we need to keep asking it.
>
> _______________________________________________
> Blind-Democracy mailing list
> Blind-Democracy@octothorp.org
> https://www.octothorp.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-democracy
>
violence that erupts within professional football.
Banging your head against a solid wall, day after day, will eventually
lead to brain damage. But add to the head banging an environment of
violence where the goal is to dominate your opponent, and you begin to
compound that brain damage. Add to that our attitude toward women,
and our macho male need to "possess" them, along with the attitude
that you have a right to be the man in charge, and you begin to see
the real problem that comes from teaching violence.
Take a boy from early childhood and train him to be part of a team
that is focused on dominating their opponents. They must become
tougher and more cunning than the other boys competing for whichever
position they wish to play. Over the years, the weak and the faint of
heart are left behind. Only the strongest and meanest and most
skilled will survive. Those few who finally grab off the brass ring
and find themselves in the ranks of the NFL, have been conditioned to
think of themselves as invincible. They are the "Master Race". By
all standards, they are revered and fawned over. They expect to
benefit from the spoils of their long years of sacrifice. And what
are the rewards we offer them? Money and women.
Yet, after only a few years of success, they are "retired". Put out
to pasture. The lucky ones have salted away a few millions, or been
courted by some corporation to help entice business. But most are
left to become lonely has beens, living in past glory. Their wives
and children become the only objects they can dominate. And as the
years pass and the head trauma begins to exhibit itself, violence
erupts. Very often it is coupled with alcohol and drugs. It can be
complicated by doctors prescribing drugs to help with the growing pain
that often develops in bodies that have been punished over many years.
Finally, add to all of this the fact that we are a violent nation,
basking in our Empire's dominance of the world. We sneer at
"Peaceniks" and call them Pussy's, or worse. So tell me, how else
would we expect these aging warriors to behave?
Carl Jarvis
Carl Jarvis
On 9/23/14, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@optonline.net> wrote:
> Are Head Injuries the Bridge Between the NFL Playing Field and Domestic
> Violence?
> Dave Zirin on September 21, 2014 - 7:13 PM ET
>
> NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
> There is an unspoken question lurking behind the NFL domestic violence
> cover-up saga that has emerged over the last month. It is whether the
> brutality of the game, particularly head injuries, plays a role in the
> prevalence of players committing acts of violence against women. The NFL
> has
> a vested interest in not having this discussion. On head injuries, as the
> title of the award-winning book said so clearly, it remains "a league of
> denial." If, in the name of public relations, the owners won't have a
> discussion about the connection between their sport and horrific
> post-concussive syndromes like ALS and early-onset dementia, are they
> really
> going to talk about links between head injuries and domestic violence? The
> sports media are largely in denial about this topic as well, as there was
> not one question in Roger Goodell's instantly infamous Friday press
> conference about whether the league would investigate whether brain
> injuries
> could be the bridge between the violence at work and the violence at home.
> Yet many domestic violence advocates are also-understandably-not thrilled
> with this line of discussion. Partner abuse occurs in all walks of life,
> all
> professions and among all income groups, and post-concussive syndromes are
> almost always not a part of those stories. Additionally, to blame it on
> concussions seems to be excusing domestic violence and denying the fact
> that
> NFL players have agency and choice before becoming abusers. This resistance
> is very understandable. But attempting to explore and explain the
> shockingly
> high rates of domestic violence in the NFL is not the same as excusing it.
> So is there a connection? As my friend Ruth, who is a DV counselor, says,
> "When it comes to domestic violence, it is extremely difficult to
> generalize
> across the board, in the NFL or otherwise." In other words, every case is
> distinct, reflecting the interpersonal relationships of the parties
> involved. But there are factors that appear to show themselves in the
> football cases with alarming regularity. Some of these factors are high
> rates of stress, a culture of entitlement for sports stars that predates
> their life in the NFL, and an inability to turn off the violence of the
> game
> once the pads are off. This is when we see the most toxic part of the
> sport's hyper-masculinist culture poison the relationships between the men
> who play the game-as well as the men who own teams-and the women in their
> lives. But among many players, this question of the role of head injuries
> still lingers in the background.
> Dan Diamond over at Forbes is one of the few journalists I have seen
> explore
> these links in detail. In one piece, he cites a "disturbing new report"
> that
> shows "3 in 10 NFL players suffer from at least moderate brain disease."
> Diamond then details many examples of former players who were found in
> their
> autopsies to have the repetitive post-concussive syndromes known as CTE,
> and
> were also arrested at some point or another for domestic violence. He
> writes:
> The key issue is whether suffering repeated head trauma lowers a person's
> self-control. And while many pro football players haven't been diagnosed
> with concussions in the NFL, nearly all of them have been playing football
> since they were young and suffered repetitive, frequent blows that can add
> up over time. And researchers know that those concussions can change a
> person. Even a pillar of the community.
> This connects anecdotally with much of my own research. Over the last two
> months, I have spoken with three different women whose husbands are or were
> NFL players. All three are domestic violence survivors. In one case, the
> marriage was mended and endures to this day. In one case, it ended in
> divorce. In one case it ended with the suicide of the player in question.
> Yet that is where the differences ended. The similarities were stunning. In
> all three cases, the violence was precipitated either by migraine headaches
> or self-medicating-drugs or alcohol-to manage migraines. In all three
> cases,
> the survivors spoke about their NFL husbands becoming disoriented or
> light-sensitive, easily frustrated and quick to anger in ways that did not
> exist earlier in the relationship. In all three cases, they spoke about
> bizarre looks on their husbands' faces when they committed the abuse, from
> a
> chillingly peaceful calm to quizzical smiles. Whatever the look, they spoke
> of being in the presence of someone they "did not recognize."
> Please support our journalism. Get a digital subscription for just $9.50!
> I also spoke with Matt Chaney, a former college football player and author
> of the book Spiral of Denial: Muscle Doping in American Football, about
> whether he believed there was a causal link between concussions and
> domestic
> violencw. He e-mailed me back the following. "I can't speak as medical
> authority on any link but as a journalist and academic who's read and filed
> tens of thousand documents on football hazards from violence to drugs, and
> one who's interviewed a thousand people, along with being a former college
> player who has knowledge of countless athletes and their relationships, I
> believe football brain injuries lead many players to violence they wouldn't
> otherwise have committed, ranging from domestic cases to random acts.. I
> think brain injuries, after studying the topic as we all have in recent
> years, now explains much about the perplexing cases of violence and other
> irrational behavior among football players I've known. And while I thought
> I
> abhorred street fighting, before college football, I found myself nearly
> involved with or nearly instigating such trouble on more than one occasion
> while I was in full-contact activity, fall and spring practices, banging my
> head. If I didn't have headache after a college contact session, I didn't
> think I'd done anything."
> This question, of course, has profound implications well beyond the sport.
> It is about the choice families make whether to let their children play
> tackle football. It is about the health and safety of women in
> relationships
> with NFL players, and whether recognizing warning signs of CTE can create
> opportunities for intervention before abuse takes place. It is about the
> degree to which the league's very violence bears some complicity in their
> abuse. This is a difficult question, one Roger Goodell is loathe to
> discuss.
> That is exactly why we need to keep asking it.
> Read Next: "No Justice, No Football: Ferguson Demonstrators Bring Struggle
> to NFL Sunday"
> Related Topics: Sports | Society
> Are Head Injuries the Bridge Between the NFL Playing Field and Domestic
> Violence?
> Dave Zirin on September 21, 2014 - 7:13 PM ET
> . Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
> .
> /printmail/blog/181695/are-head-injuries-bridge-between-nfl-playing-field-an
> d-domestic-violence
> /printmail/blog/181695/are-head-injuries-bridge-between-nfl-playing-field-an
> d-domestic-violence
> .
> .
> https://subscribe.thenation.com/servlet/OrdersGateway?cds_mag_code=NAN&cds_p
> age_id=105997&cds_response_key=I11BSPRV1
> https://subscribe.thenation.com/servlet/OrdersGateway?cds_mag_code=NAN&cds_p
> age_id=105997&cds_response_key=I11BSPRV1
> http://www.thenation.com/sites/default/files/roger_goodell_ap_img_1.jpg
> http://www.thenation.com/sites/default/files/roger_goodell_ap_img_1.jpg
> NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
> There is an unspoken question lurking behind the NFL domestic violence
> cover-up saga that has emerged over the last month. It is whether the
> brutality of the game, particularly head injuries, plays a role in the
> prevalence of players committing acts of violence against women. The NFL
> has
> a vested interest in not having this discussion. On head injuries, as the
> title of the award-winning book said so clearly, it remains "a league of
> denial." If, in the name of public relations, the owners won't have a
> discussion about the connection between their sport and horrific
> post-concussive syndromes like ALS and early-onset dementia, are they
> really
> going to talk about links between head injuries and domestic violence? The
> sports media are largely in denial about this topic as well, as there was
> not one question in Roger Goodell's instantly infamous Friday press
> conference about whether the league would investigate whether brain
> injuries
> could be the bridge between the violence at work and the violence at home.
> Yet many domestic violence advocates are also-understandably-not thrilled
> with this line of discussion. Partner abuse occurs in all walks of life,
> all
> professions and among all income groups, and post-concussive syndromes are
> almost always not a part of those stories. Additionally, to blame it on
> concussions seems to be excusing domestic violence and denying the fact
> that
> NFL players have agency and choice before becoming abusers. This resistance
> is very understandable. But attempting to explore and explain the
> shockingly
> high rates of domestic violence in the NFL is not the same as excusing it.
> So is there a connection? As my friend Ruth, who is a DV counselor, says,
> "When it comes to domestic violence, it is extremely difficult to
> generalize
> across the board, in the NFL or otherwise." In other words, every case is
> distinct, reflecting the interpersonal relationships of the parties
> involved. But there are factors that appear to show themselves in the
> football cases with alarming regularity. Some of these factors are high
> rates of stress, a culture of entitlement for sports stars that predates
> their life in the NFL, and an inability to turn off the violence of the
> game
> once the pads are off. This is when we see the most toxic part of the
> sport's hyper-masculinist culture poison the relationships between the men
> who play the game-as well as the men who own teams-and the women in their
> lives. But among many players, this question of the role of head injuries
> still lingers in the background.
> Dan Diamond over at Forbes is one of the few journalists I have seen
> explore
> these links in detail. In one piece, he cites a "disturbing new report"
> that
> shows "3 in 10 NFL players suffer from at least moderate brain disease."
> Diamond then details many examples of former players who were found in
> their
> autopsies to have the repetitive post-concussive syndromes known as CTE,
> and
> were also arrested at some point or another for domestic violence. He
> writes:
> The key issue is whether suffering repeated head trauma lowers a person's
> self-control. And while many pro football players haven't been diagnosed
> with concussions in the NFL, nearly all of them have been playing football
> since they were young and suffered repetitive, frequent blows that can add
> up over time. And researchers know that those concussions can change a
> person. Even a pillar of the community.
> This connects anecdotally with much of my own research. Over the last two
> months, I have spoken with three different women whose husbands are or were
> NFL players. All three are domestic violence survivors. In one case, the
> marriage was mended and endures to this day. In one case, it ended in
> divorce. In one case it ended with the suicide of the player in question.
> Yet that is where the differences ended. The similarities were stunning. In
> all three cases, the violence was precipitated either by migraine headaches
> or self-medicating-drugs or alcohol-to manage migraines. In all three
> cases,
> the survivors spoke about their NFL husbands becoming disoriented or
> light-sensitive, easily frustrated and quick to anger in ways that did not
> exist earlier in the relationship. In all three cases, they spoke about
> bizarre looks on their husbands' faces when they committed the abuse, from
> a
> chillingly peaceful calm to quizzical smiles. Whatever the look, they spoke
> of being in the presence of someone they "did not recognize."
> Please support our journalism. Get a digital subscription for just $9.50!
> I also spoke with Matt Chaney, a former college football player and author
> of the book Spiral of Denial: Muscle Doping in American Football, about
> whether he believed there was a causal link between concussions and
> domestic
> violencw. He e-mailed me back the following. "I can't speak as medical
> authority on any link but as a journalist and academic who's read and filed
> tens of thousand documents on football hazards from violence to drugs, and
> one who's interviewed a thousand people, along with being a former college
> player who has knowledge of countless athletes and their relationships, I
> believe football brain injuries lead many players to violence they wouldn't
> otherwise have committed, ranging from domestic cases to random acts.. I
> think brain injuries, after studying the topic as we all have in recent
> years, now explains much about the perplexing cases of violence and other
> irrational behavior among football players I've known. And while I thought
> I
> abhorred street fighting, before college football, I found myself nearly
> involved with or nearly instigating such trouble on more than one occasion
> while I was in full-contact activity, fall and spring practices, banging my
> head. If I didn't have headache after a college contact session, I didn't
> think I'd done anything."
> This question, of course, has profound implications well beyond the sport.
> It is about the choice families make whether to let their children play
> tackle football. It is about the health and safety of women in
> relationships
> with NFL players, and whether recognizing warning signs of CTE can create
> opportunities for intervention before abuse takes place. It is about the
> degree to which the league's very violence bears some complicity in their
> abuse. This is a difficult question, one Roger Goodell is loathe to
> discuss.
> That is exactly why we need to keep asking it.
>
> _______________________________________________
> Blind-Democracy mailing list
> Blind-Democracy@octothorp.org
> https://www.octothorp.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-democracy
>
Friday, September 12, 2014
Fwd: Once upon a Time we imagined we were a democracy...
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Carl Jarvis <carjar82@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 20:19:23 -0700
Subject: Once upon a Time we imagined we were a democracy...
To: Blind Democracy Discussion List <blind-democracy@octothorp.org>
Once upon a time there was an American democracy, but not for the
common Working/Lower/Slave Class.
True, we were set up as a Republic, but democracy lived among the
White, Male, Property Owners. These were the Pillars of America,
invested in the Land and all of its riches. The Working/Lower/Slave
Class was held to be too ignorant to be trusted to make informed
decisions. They were seen to have no stake in this new nation.
The White Males over 21 years of age led the ragged army against the
best forces England could ship across the ocean. The Red Coats were
driven out of the Colonies, and the White Males over 21 claimed the
right to rule the New World. In order to maintain control over the
Masses, the new Ruling Class wrote its own history. A book of
untruths and make believe.
You can hunt down your favorite stories, perhaps George Washington
cutting down the Cherry tree and confessing to his father. Maybe you
like the one where Honest Abe Lincoln walked for miles to return a few
pennies to a woman who had been over charged. Then there was Paul
Bunyan and his faithful side kick Babe Ruth...or was it Babe the Blue
Ox?
My personal favorite is the tale of the brave little band of Pilgrims,
running from the heavy hand of religious persecution, bravely
defending their new land from the Savage Devils who tried to butcher
them.
This tale is told and retold, never growing old. Today it is the
brave little Israelites defending their new homes from the Palestinian
Devils.
But hey! If you don't like any of the histories floating around, make
up your own. After all, most of what we hold near and dear has been
seriously tampered with.
Start in little ways. Just the other day I sent in a cookie recipe to
our WCB Newsline publication. I declared that the "One, One, One
Cookie", was created by John Jarvis(born in West Virginia in 1756).
and passed down from father to son. The name John Jarvis and the time
and place of birth is factual. But this old farmer probably never
cooked a cookie in his life, much less to have invented one.
But there it sits, in a publication that prides itself in being factual.
Do I blush with shame? Why should I. I learned it from the New York
Times. Tell a story over and over and people will begin to believe at
least part of it.
And so, even while we watch our nation sliding down the slippery slope
of melt down, we keep believing the lies whispered to us through our
Media, telling us that we are a Free People. And we believe that we
must always vote, in order to stay Free. Even as we watch our
officials being bought and sold and traded on the stock market. But
we work even harder to vote in the right people. Over and over. But
it never changes...except for the worst. Will we ever wake up from
this drug induced dream?
Carl Jarvis
On 9/12/14, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@optonline.net> wrote:
> Bob,
>
> Once upon a time, the U.S. was a democracy.
>
> Miriam
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Blind-Democracy [mailto:blind-democracy-bounces@octothorp.org] On
> Behalf Of Bob Hachey
> Sent: Friday, September 12, 2014 5:38 PM
> To: 'Blind Democracy Discussion List'
> Subject: RE: Remember the photos on my father's prison walls
>
> Hi Miriam,
> No doubt about it, Ghassan Elashi is a political prisoner.
> Funny thing here, I thought only "bad countries" like Cuba and the former
> Soviet Union and other similar nations held political prisoners?
> The United States is a Democacy! The first three words of our Constitution
> are WE THE PEOPLE. WE would never stoop so low as to hold political
> prisoners! Nod Nod, Wink Wink.
> Bob Hachey
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Blind-Democracy mailing list
> Blind-Democracy@octothorp.org
> https://www.octothorp.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-democracy
>
> _______________________________________________
> Blind-Democracy mailing list
> Blind-Democracy@octothorp.org
> https://www.octothorp.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-democracy
>
From: Carl Jarvis <carjar82@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 20:19:23 -0700
Subject: Once upon a Time we imagined we were a democracy...
To: Blind Democracy Discussion List <blind-democracy@octothorp.org>
Once upon a time there was an American democracy, but not for the
common Working/Lower/Slave Class.
True, we were set up as a Republic, but democracy lived among the
White, Male, Property Owners. These were the Pillars of America,
invested in the Land and all of its riches. The Working/Lower/Slave
Class was held to be too ignorant to be trusted to make informed
decisions. They were seen to have no stake in this new nation.
The White Males over 21 years of age led the ragged army against the
best forces England could ship across the ocean. The Red Coats were
driven out of the Colonies, and the White Males over 21 claimed the
right to rule the New World. In order to maintain control over the
Masses, the new Ruling Class wrote its own history. A book of
untruths and make believe.
You can hunt down your favorite stories, perhaps George Washington
cutting down the Cherry tree and confessing to his father. Maybe you
like the one where Honest Abe Lincoln walked for miles to return a few
pennies to a woman who had been over charged. Then there was Paul
Bunyan and his faithful side kick Babe Ruth...or was it Babe the Blue
Ox?
My personal favorite is the tale of the brave little band of Pilgrims,
running from the heavy hand of religious persecution, bravely
defending their new land from the Savage Devils who tried to butcher
them.
This tale is told and retold, never growing old. Today it is the
brave little Israelites defending their new homes from the Palestinian
Devils.
But hey! If you don't like any of the histories floating around, make
up your own. After all, most of what we hold near and dear has been
seriously tampered with.
Start in little ways. Just the other day I sent in a cookie recipe to
our WCB Newsline publication. I declared that the "One, One, One
Cookie", was created by John Jarvis(born in West Virginia in 1756).
and passed down from father to son. The name John Jarvis and the time
and place of birth is factual. But this old farmer probably never
cooked a cookie in his life, much less to have invented one.
But there it sits, in a publication that prides itself in being factual.
Do I blush with shame? Why should I. I learned it from the New York
Times. Tell a story over and over and people will begin to believe at
least part of it.
And so, even while we watch our nation sliding down the slippery slope
of melt down, we keep believing the lies whispered to us through our
Media, telling us that we are a Free People. And we believe that we
must always vote, in order to stay Free. Even as we watch our
officials being bought and sold and traded on the stock market. But
we work even harder to vote in the right people. Over and over. But
it never changes...except for the worst. Will we ever wake up from
this drug induced dream?
Carl Jarvis
On 9/12/14, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@optonline.net> wrote:
> Bob,
>
> Once upon a time, the U.S. was a democracy.
>
> Miriam
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Blind-Democracy [mailto:blind-democracy-bounces@octothorp.org] On
> Behalf Of Bob Hachey
> Sent: Friday, September 12, 2014 5:38 PM
> To: 'Blind Democracy Discussion List'
> Subject: RE: Remember the photos on my father's prison walls
>
> Hi Miriam,
> No doubt about it, Ghassan Elashi is a political prisoner.
> Funny thing here, I thought only "bad countries" like Cuba and the former
> Soviet Union and other similar nations held political prisoners?
> The United States is a Democacy! The first three words of our Constitution
> are WE THE PEOPLE. WE would never stoop so low as to hold political
> prisoners! Nod Nod, Wink Wink.
> Bob Hachey
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Blind-Democracy mailing list
> Blind-Democracy@octothorp.org
> https://www.octothorp.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-democracy
>
> _______________________________________________
> Blind-Democracy mailing list
> Blind-Democracy@octothorp.org
> https://www.octothorp.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-democracy
>
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Fast Food Workers Hold Biggest Ever Strike For Wages in U.S., While Blind Organizations Sit on Their Hands
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Carl Jarvis <carjar82@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 9 Sep 2014 07:45:29 -0700
Subject: Fast Food Workers Hold Biggest Ever Strike For Wages in U.S.,
While Blind Organizations Sit on Their Hands
To: "S. Kashdan" <skashdan@scn.org>, Blind Democracy Discussion List
<blind-democracy@octothorp.org>
Might as well get the day out here started with a personal grump. It
fries my fritters to think that I belong to an organization that
chooses to remain apart from the struggle by underpaid workers to
raise their standard of living...to a living standard, while this
lofty organization doesn't want to offend any of its members who might
disagree with the concept of people enjoying eating two meals per day
and affording some sort of roof over the heads of their families.
My own WCB List has cautioned me on several occasions to back off
"controversial" subjects, fearing that I might "offend" some members
by challenging them to think. Because I'm on a state-wide committee,
I have not dropped off. But I quit the ACB Chat List after "getting
the message" that I was offending more folks than were being
challenged to discuss issues.
Perhaps I do get a bit over the top, but I hope I've never put anyone
down for their position on any subject. I simply am trying to
encourage folks to examine what we think and why we take the positions
we take.
It is alien to my thinking to belong to any blind organization and
believe that I should not be deeply involved in such critical matters
as demanding the respect of a decent wage.
While I had great respect for Ken Jernigan as a brilliant promoter, I
strongly disagreed with him on his position that we, the "Organized
Blind" must protect our gains, even if it meant opposing other
disability groups the same opportunities. In the long haul this
elitist position has not proven good for the rank and file blind
person. Only the NFB Leaders have gained financial status. But most
of today's blind Americans are little better off than the blind of 50
years ago. Now we blind folk have a golden opportunity to join our
fellow suffers on the Line, speaking out against the desecration of
the Lower and Working Classes.
When I hear the Profiteers whining that a rise in the minimum wage
will put countless thousands of workers out on the streets, I wonder
if they ever check to see where many of these people do live. And I
recall the same tire old lie when the wage minimum was raise from 75
cent an hour to one dollar, and again to one dollar twenty-five cents.
"There will be mass lay-offs and great suffering". At the time I was
working in a drapery factory. Dozens of women slaved over machines
and cutting tables helping to allow Mister Bixer enjoy a very fine
life. No one cared about the employees. The boss could fire them all
and a new crowd of destitute women would line up to sweat for the
dribble of pay that was bestowed upon them. And the boss couldn't
understand why these wretched souls were not grateful.
Today that factory is gone, and the daughters and grand daughters of
those women are probably slaving in another factory, or at a fast food
joint, for even less spendable cash than those long forgotten women.
But I have not forgotten. And neither should any blind man or woman.
Allowing people to be dragged down into poverty can only mean our own
eventual downfall.
Carl Jarvis
On 9/8/14, S. Kashdan <skashdan@scn.org> wrote:
> Fast Food Workers Hold Biggest Ever Strike For Wages in U.S.
>
>
>
> by Pratap Chatterjee
>
>
>
> CorpWatch Blog, September 5th, 2014
>
>
>
> http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15967&printsafe=1
>
>
>
> Hundreds of low wage fast food workers were arrested at strikes and protests
>
> in some 100 cities around the U.S. on September 4. They were demanding that
>
> companies like Burger King, KFC, McDonald's and Wendy's pay workers a living
>
> wage of $15 an hour.
>
>
>
> The "Low Pay Is Not OK" campaign began in July 2012, when workers in New
> York city went on strike, an unusual event in an industry that has few
> unions and little worker organizing. The average fast food worker makes
> $8.74 an hour, or about $17,500 a year if they are able to get full time
> work (which is quite rare). This is despite the fact that the U.S. Census
> Bureau estimates that a family of four needs to make more than $23,000 to
> stay out of poverty.
>
>
>
> This latest protest was timed for the first business day following the Labor
>
> Day holiday. It was backed by the Service Employees International Union,
> (SEIU) which represents about 2 million workers across the U.S.
>
>
>
> "This fight is for my children and younger sister, and the countless
> families of fast-food workers. It's for my parents and grandparents, who
> marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.," wrote Andrew McConnell, in an
> opinion article published on Salon. McConnell quit his job as an elementary
>
> school teacher to go to work at a McDonald's in Kansas City for $7.45 an
> hour in order to support his sister who has mental health issues. He
> supplements this work with online sales, baby sitting and cutting hair.
>
>
>
> McConnell first chose to walk off his fast food job in May to protest
> working conditions and has continued to speak out since then."It's for my
> coworkers, those who have almost fainted after working in kitchen
> temperatures nearing 95 degrees--or 105 near the stove--and those who
> regularly have their hours docked and wages stolen," McConnell wrote in his
>
> Salon commentary. "It's for fast-food managers and franchisee owners like
> mine, who face relentless pressure and frequent visits from corporate to
> keep labor costs down and profits up."
>
>
>
> Organizers estimated that some 436 people were arrested around the country
> at pickets, protests, sit-ins and marches. Police confirmed that at least 34
>
> were arrested in New York city, 30 in Detroit, 27 in Milwaukee and 19 in
> Chicago at incidents outside McDonald's outlets. Another 46 arrests were
> reported in Kansas city, 10 in Little Rock and 10 in Las Vegas.
>
>
>
> McDonald's claims that it does not set salary levels for workers since the
> fast food outlets are small business owned franchises who purchase supplies
>
> and the brand name from the parent company. Activists challenged this by
> filing 181 cases against the company in late 2012 for harassing workers who
>
> were organizing for higher wages. In late July, the U.S. National Labor
> Relations Board ruled that the company was a "joint employer" suggesting
> that it exercised power over working conditions at the franchisee
> restaurants.
>
>
>
> "Their pitch to consumers is that the dining experience in one McDonald's is
>
> virtually identical to another's," wrote Michael Hitlick in the Los Angeles
>
> Times after the ruling came down. "But when the chips are down--when a
> workplace regulation or a union organizing drive surfaces, for
> instance--they claim that they just provide a big umbrella under which
> thousands of small businesses find some shade."
>
>
>
> Trade organizations are fighting back against the protests. "The activities
>
> have proven to be orchestrated union PR events where the vast majority of
> participants are activists and paid demonstrators," said the National
> Restaurant Association, in a press statement. "This is nothing more than
> labor groups' self-interested attempts to boost their dwindling membership
> by targeting restaurant employees."
>
>
>
> But McConnell says the companies are wrong. "They think they can ignore us;
>
> that we'll get discouraged; that our movement will fizzle out; that somehow
>
> the challenges we face will simply go away," he wrote. "They deflect
> responsibility for an outdated business model, and refuse to accept that we
>
> aren't high schoolers looking for extra money but mothers and fathers trying
>
> to put our children through high school."
>
>
>
> Labor Day in the U.S. falls on a different day from most other countries
> which typically celebrate labor rights on May 1. Ironically May Day
> commemorates a U.S. event - the Haymarket massacre in Chicago in 1886, when
>
> workers and police officers were killed at a protest for an eight hour work
>
> day.
>
>
>
> CorpWatch has previously conducted and done contract work for Service
> Employees International Union. This article was neither funded nor written
> in consultation with SEIU.
>
> _______________________________________________
> Blind-Democracy mailing list
> Blind-Democracy@octothorp.org
> https://www.octothorp.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-democracy
>
From: Carl Jarvis <carjar82@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 9 Sep 2014 07:45:29 -0700
Subject: Fast Food Workers Hold Biggest Ever Strike For Wages in U.S.,
While Blind Organizations Sit on Their Hands
To: "S. Kashdan" <skashdan@scn.org>, Blind Democracy Discussion List
<blind-democracy@octothorp.org>
Might as well get the day out here started with a personal grump. It
fries my fritters to think that I belong to an organization that
chooses to remain apart from the struggle by underpaid workers to
raise their standard of living...to a living standard, while this
lofty organization doesn't want to offend any of its members who might
disagree with the concept of people enjoying eating two meals per day
and affording some sort of roof over the heads of their families.
My own WCB List has cautioned me on several occasions to back off
"controversial" subjects, fearing that I might "offend" some members
by challenging them to think. Because I'm on a state-wide committee,
I have not dropped off. But I quit the ACB Chat List after "getting
the message" that I was offending more folks than were being
challenged to discuss issues.
Perhaps I do get a bit over the top, but I hope I've never put anyone
down for their position on any subject. I simply am trying to
encourage folks to examine what we think and why we take the positions
we take.
It is alien to my thinking to belong to any blind organization and
believe that I should not be deeply involved in such critical matters
as demanding the respect of a decent wage.
While I had great respect for Ken Jernigan as a brilliant promoter, I
strongly disagreed with him on his position that we, the "Organized
Blind" must protect our gains, even if it meant opposing other
disability groups the same opportunities. In the long haul this
elitist position has not proven good for the rank and file blind
person. Only the NFB Leaders have gained financial status. But most
of today's blind Americans are little better off than the blind of 50
years ago. Now we blind folk have a golden opportunity to join our
fellow suffers on the Line, speaking out against the desecration of
the Lower and Working Classes.
When I hear the Profiteers whining that a rise in the minimum wage
will put countless thousands of workers out on the streets, I wonder
if they ever check to see where many of these people do live. And I
recall the same tire old lie when the wage minimum was raise from 75
cent an hour to one dollar, and again to one dollar twenty-five cents.
"There will be mass lay-offs and great suffering". At the time I was
working in a drapery factory. Dozens of women slaved over machines
and cutting tables helping to allow Mister Bixer enjoy a very fine
life. No one cared about the employees. The boss could fire them all
and a new crowd of destitute women would line up to sweat for the
dribble of pay that was bestowed upon them. And the boss couldn't
understand why these wretched souls were not grateful.
Today that factory is gone, and the daughters and grand daughters of
those women are probably slaving in another factory, or at a fast food
joint, for even less spendable cash than those long forgotten women.
But I have not forgotten. And neither should any blind man or woman.
Allowing people to be dragged down into poverty can only mean our own
eventual downfall.
Carl Jarvis
On 9/8/14, S. Kashdan <skashdan@scn.org> wrote:
> Fast Food Workers Hold Biggest Ever Strike For Wages in U.S.
>
>
>
> by Pratap Chatterjee
>
>
>
> CorpWatch Blog, September 5th, 2014
>
>
>
> http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15967&printsafe=1
>
>
>
> Hundreds of low wage fast food workers were arrested at strikes and protests
>
> in some 100 cities around the U.S. on September 4. They were demanding that
>
> companies like Burger King, KFC, McDonald's and Wendy's pay workers a living
>
> wage of $15 an hour.
>
>
>
> The "Low Pay Is Not OK" campaign began in July 2012, when workers in New
> York city went on strike, an unusual event in an industry that has few
> unions and little worker organizing. The average fast food worker makes
> $8.74 an hour, or about $17,500 a year if they are able to get full time
> work (which is quite rare). This is despite the fact that the U.S. Census
> Bureau estimates that a family of four needs to make more than $23,000 to
> stay out of poverty.
>
>
>
> This latest protest was timed for the first business day following the Labor
>
> Day holiday. It was backed by the Service Employees International Union,
> (SEIU) which represents about 2 million workers across the U.S.
>
>
>
> "This fight is for my children and younger sister, and the countless
> families of fast-food workers. It's for my parents and grandparents, who
> marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.," wrote Andrew McConnell, in an
> opinion article published on Salon. McConnell quit his job as an elementary
>
> school teacher to go to work at a McDonald's in Kansas City for $7.45 an
> hour in order to support his sister who has mental health issues. He
> supplements this work with online sales, baby sitting and cutting hair.
>
>
>
> McConnell first chose to walk off his fast food job in May to protest
> working conditions and has continued to speak out since then."It's for my
> coworkers, those who have almost fainted after working in kitchen
> temperatures nearing 95 degrees--or 105 near the stove--and those who
> regularly have their hours docked and wages stolen," McConnell wrote in his
>
> Salon commentary. "It's for fast-food managers and franchisee owners like
> mine, who face relentless pressure and frequent visits from corporate to
> keep labor costs down and profits up."
>
>
>
> Organizers estimated that some 436 people were arrested around the country
> at pickets, protests, sit-ins and marches. Police confirmed that at least 34
>
> were arrested in New York city, 30 in Detroit, 27 in Milwaukee and 19 in
> Chicago at incidents outside McDonald's outlets. Another 46 arrests were
> reported in Kansas city, 10 in Little Rock and 10 in Las Vegas.
>
>
>
> McDonald's claims that it does not set salary levels for workers since the
> fast food outlets are small business owned franchises who purchase supplies
>
> and the brand name from the parent company. Activists challenged this by
> filing 181 cases against the company in late 2012 for harassing workers who
>
> were organizing for higher wages. In late July, the U.S. National Labor
> Relations Board ruled that the company was a "joint employer" suggesting
> that it exercised power over working conditions at the franchisee
> restaurants.
>
>
>
> "Their pitch to consumers is that the dining experience in one McDonald's is
>
> virtually identical to another's," wrote Michael Hitlick in the Los Angeles
>
> Times after the ruling came down. "But when the chips are down--when a
> workplace regulation or a union organizing drive surfaces, for
> instance--they claim that they just provide a big umbrella under which
> thousands of small businesses find some shade."
>
>
>
> Trade organizations are fighting back against the protests. "The activities
>
> have proven to be orchestrated union PR events where the vast majority of
> participants are activists and paid demonstrators," said the National
> Restaurant Association, in a press statement. "This is nothing more than
> labor groups' self-interested attempts to boost their dwindling membership
> by targeting restaurant employees."
>
>
>
> But McConnell says the companies are wrong. "They think they can ignore us;
>
> that we'll get discouraged; that our movement will fizzle out; that somehow
>
> the challenges we face will simply go away," he wrote. "They deflect
> responsibility for an outdated business model, and refuse to accept that we
>
> aren't high schoolers looking for extra money but mothers and fathers trying
>
> to put our children through high school."
>
>
>
> Labor Day in the U.S. falls on a different day from most other countries
> which typically celebrate labor rights on May 1. Ironically May Day
> commemorates a U.S. event - the Haymarket massacre in Chicago in 1886, when
>
> workers and police officers were killed at a protest for an eight hour work
>
> day.
>
>
>
> CorpWatch has previously conducted and done contract work for Service
> Employees International Union. This article was neither funded nor written
> in consultation with SEIU.
>
> _______________________________________________
> Blind-Democracy mailing list
> Blind-Democracy@octothorp.org
> https://www.octothorp.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-democracy
>
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