Announcing a new Meetup for The San Diego County Community Coalition!
What: Public Access TV Training and Recording
When: October 24, 2008 6:30 PM
Where: El Cajon (for the exact location you must contact us.)
Description: Progress in San Diego: Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things Show
Public Access TV training and screening as part of our public information campaign.
Join us in front of or behind the camera as I attempt to pair activists with celebrities who share their passions.
We will be taping two shows each month.
Walter Davis produces this Community Access TV show.
If you have Progressive Topics to be announced,
Call Walter for location and information.
Walter Davis
760-917-1251
Learn more here:
http://progressiveconcerns.meetup.com/5/calendar/8831655/
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Protecting the public interest in any economic "bailout"
The U.S. government has been turned into an engine that accelerates the wealth upwards into the hands of a few. The Wall Street bailout, the Iraq War, military spending, tax cuts to the rich, and a for-profit health care system are all about the acceleration of wealth upwards. And now, the American people are about to pay the price of the collapse of the $513 trillion Ponzi scheme of derivatives. Yes, that’s half a quadrillion dollars. Our first trillion dollar compression bandage will hardly stem the hemorrhaging of an unsustainable Ponzi scheme built on debt "de-leverages."
Does anyone seriously think that our public and private debts of some $45 trillion will be paid? That the administration's growth of the federal debt from $5.6 trillion to $9.8 trillion while borrowing another trillion dollars from Social Security has nothing to do with this? Does anyone not see that when we spend nearly $16,000 for every family of four in our society for the military each year that we are heading over the cliff?
This is a debt crisis, not a credit crisis. Just as FDR had to save capitalism after Wall Street excesses, we have to re-invigorate our economy with real - not imaginary - growth. It does not address the never-ending war on the middle class.
The same corporate interests that profited from the closing of U.S. factories, the movement of millions of jobs out of America, the off-shoring of profits, the out-sourcing of workers, the crushing of pension funds, the knocking down of wages, the cancellation of health care benefits, the sub-prime lending are now rushing to Washington to get money to protect themselves.
The double standard is stunning: their profits are their profits, but their losses are our losses.
This bailout will not bring real jobs back to America. It will not bring back jobs that make things. It does not rebuild our schools, streets, neighborhoods, parks or bridges. The major product of this financial economy is now debt. Industrial capitalism has been destroyed.
In the next few days I will push for a plan that includes equity for every American in any taxpayer investment in this so-called bail-out plan. Since the bailout will cost each and every American about $2,300, I have proposed the creation of a United States Mutual Trust Fund, which will take control of $700 billion in stock assets, convert those assets to shares, and distribute $2,300 worth of shares to new individual savings accounts in the name of each and every American.
I will also insist that all of the following issues be considered in whatever Congress passes:
1) Reinstatement of the provisions of Glass-Steagall, which forbade speculation
2) Re-regulation of the finance, insurance, and real estate industries
3) Accountability on the part of those who took the companies down:
--a) resignations of management
--b) givebacks of executive compensation packages
--c) limitations on executive compensation
--d) admission by CEO's of what went wrong and how, prior to any government bailout
4) Demands for transparency
--a) with respect to analyzing the transactions which took the companies down
--b) with respect to Treasury's dealings with the companies pre and post-bailout
5) An equity position for the taxpayers
--a) some form of ownership of assets
6) Some credible formula for evaluating the price of the assets that the government is buying.
7) A sunset clause on the legislation
8) Full public disclosure by members of Congress of assets held, with possible conflicts put in blind trust.
9) A ban on political campaign contributions from officers of corporations receiving bailouts
10) A requirement that 2008 cycle candidates return political contributions to officers and representatives of corporations receiving bailouts
And, most importantly, some mechanism for direct assistance to homeowners saddled with unreasonable or unmanageable mortgages, as well as protection for renters who have lived up to their obligation but fall victim to financial tragedy when the property they live in undergoes foreclosure.
These are just some thoughts on the run. You will hear more from me tomorrow.
Dennis Kucinich
Take Action with CREDO
Take Action with Democrats
Take Action with Move On
Take Action with True Majority
Take Action with Obama
Take Action with Congress.org
Take Action with True Majority
Does anyone seriously think that our public and private debts of some $45 trillion will be paid? That the administration's growth of the federal debt from $5.6 trillion to $9.8 trillion while borrowing another trillion dollars from Social Security has nothing to do with this? Does anyone not see that when we spend nearly $16,000 for every family of four in our society for the military each year that we are heading over the cliff?
This is a debt crisis, not a credit crisis. Just as FDR had to save capitalism after Wall Street excesses, we have to re-invigorate our economy with real - not imaginary - growth. It does not address the never-ending war on the middle class.
The same corporate interests that profited from the closing of U.S. factories, the movement of millions of jobs out of America, the off-shoring of profits, the out-sourcing of workers, the crushing of pension funds, the knocking down of wages, the cancellation of health care benefits, the sub-prime lending are now rushing to Washington to get money to protect themselves.
The double standard is stunning: their profits are their profits, but their losses are our losses.
This bailout will not bring real jobs back to America. It will not bring back jobs that make things. It does not rebuild our schools, streets, neighborhoods, parks or bridges. The major product of this financial economy is now debt. Industrial capitalism has been destroyed.
In the next few days I will push for a plan that includes equity for every American in any taxpayer investment in this so-called bail-out plan. Since the bailout will cost each and every American about $2,300, I have proposed the creation of a United States Mutual Trust Fund, which will take control of $700 billion in stock assets, convert those assets to shares, and distribute $2,300 worth of shares to new individual savings accounts in the name of each and every American.
I will also insist that all of the following issues be considered in whatever Congress passes:
1) Reinstatement of the provisions of Glass-Steagall, which forbade speculation
2) Re-regulation of the finance, insurance, and real estate industries
3) Accountability on the part of those who took the companies down:
--a) resignations of management
--b) givebacks of executive compensation packages
--c) limitations on executive compensation
--d) admission by CEO's of what went wrong and how, prior to any government bailout
4) Demands for transparency
--a) with respect to analyzing the transactions which took the companies down
--b) with respect to Treasury's dealings with the companies pre and post-bailout
5) An equity position for the taxpayers
--a) some form of ownership of assets
6) Some credible formula for evaluating the price of the assets that the government is buying.
7) A sunset clause on the legislation
8) Full public disclosure by members of Congress of assets held, with possible conflicts put in blind trust.
9) A ban on political campaign contributions from officers of corporations receiving bailouts
10) A requirement that 2008 cycle candidates return political contributions to officers and representatives of corporations receiving bailouts
And, most importantly, some mechanism for direct assistance to homeowners saddled with unreasonable or unmanageable mortgages, as well as protection for renters who have lived up to their obligation but fall victim to financial tragedy when the property they live in undergoes foreclosure.
These are just some thoughts on the run. You will hear more from me tomorrow.
Dennis Kucinich
Take Action with CREDO
Take Action with Democrats
Take Action with Move On
Take Action with True Majority
Take Action with Obama
Take Action with Congress.org
Take Action with True Majority
Monday, September 22, 2008
Are you ready for the elections? Films to See!!!
UNCOUNTED: The New Math of American Elections
The same manipluations of 2004 and 2006 looms over the 2008 election.
Sept 25, 5pm & Sept 27, 5pm with Brad Friedman & guest panel Q&A
San Diego Film Festival - Gaslamp Theatre - 701 5th Avenue downtown
Hosted by Metro San Diego Progressive Democrats (PDA) 619.665.9415
Join us for our October film series, guest speakers and discussions
Hacking Democracy
The documentary that Diebold Corp doesn't want you to see...the disturbingly shocking HBO documentary bravely tangles with our nation's ills at the heart of democracy.
Wed Oct 1, 6:30 pm social - 7pm program
La Jolla Dem Club, 817 Silverado St, La Jolla 858-752-9544
Mon Oct 13, 7pm Joyce Beers Community Center, Hillcrest shopping center, Vermont near Univ. (next to Trader Joe's) Activist San Diego & TrueVoteSanDiego 858-459-4650
Stealing America: Vote by Vote
The American ideal that every vote counts? Not true, according to this eye-opening documentary. Stealing America also indicts the national media for its reluctance to address the issue.
Fri Oct 3, 7:30pm - Joyce Beers Community Center, Hillcrest shopping center, Vermont near Univ. (next to Trader Joe's) Activist San Diego & TrueVoteSanDiego - 858-459-4650
Wed. Oct 15, 6pm - Malcolm X Library, 5148 Market St, Near Euclid -
Activist San Diego & TrueVoteSanDiego - for info: Marc Chery 619-527-3405
Fri Oct 17, 7:30pm First Unitarian Universalist Church, 4190 Front St, Hillcrest, opposite UCSD Med Center - Peace & Democracy Action Group 858-459-4650
American Blackout
Sat Oct 4, 3pm - Malcolm X Library, 5148 Market St, Near Euclid
For info: Marc Chery - 619-527-3405
(Suggested Donation for all Movie Screenings is $5)
The same manipluations of 2004 and 2006 looms over the 2008 election.
Sept 25, 5pm & Sept 27, 5pm with Brad Friedman & guest panel Q&A
San Diego Film Festival - Gaslamp Theatre - 701 5th Avenue downtown
Hosted by Metro San Diego Progressive Democrats (PDA) 619.665.9415
Join us for our October film series, guest speakers and discussions
Hacking Democracy
The documentary that Diebold Corp doesn't want you to see...the disturbingly shocking HBO documentary bravely tangles with our nation's ills at the heart of democracy.
Wed Oct 1, 6:30 pm social - 7pm program
La Jolla Dem Club, 817 Silverado St, La Jolla 858-752-9544
Mon Oct 13, 7pm Joyce Beers Community Center, Hillcrest shopping center, Vermont near Univ. (next to Trader Joe's) Activist San Diego & TrueVoteSanDiego 858-459-4650
Stealing America: Vote by Vote
The American ideal that every vote counts? Not true, according to this eye-opening documentary. Stealing America also indicts the national media for its reluctance to address the issue.
Fri Oct 3, 7:30pm - Joyce Beers Community Center, Hillcrest shopping center, Vermont near Univ. (next to Trader Joe's) Activist San Diego & TrueVoteSanDiego - 858-459-4650
Wed. Oct 15, 6pm - Malcolm X Library, 5148 Market St, Near Euclid -
Activist San Diego & TrueVoteSanDiego - for info: Marc Chery 619-527-3405
Fri Oct 17, 7:30pm First Unitarian Universalist Church, 4190 Front St, Hillcrest, opposite UCSD Med Center - Peace & Democracy Action Group 858-459-4650
American Blackout
Sat Oct 4, 3pm - Malcolm X Library, 5148 Market St, Near Euclid
For info: Marc Chery - 619-527-3405
(Suggested Donation for all Movie Screenings is $5)
Understanding Economic Meltdowns 101
This is a long story, but if you have any interest
in what's going on in the financial markets, I think
you'll find it a more useful analysis than you're
likely to find anywhere else.
Without this article, you'll still get value from the
video, but with it, you'll REALLY know what's going
on better than most people on earth...including
financial news reporters.
I encourage you to invest the five minutes it will
take to read this. If not, you can skip to the link
at the bottom.
-BRASSCHECK
=========================================
*** A short explanation of how we got to where we are
Today's banking crisis is the THIRD trillion dollar plus
US-caused financial meltdown in the last twenty years.
Each one of these crises came into being through the same basic
mechanism...the fraudulent over-valuing of financial assets by
Wall Street - with a "wink and a nod" (and sometimes a lot more)
from the White House and Congress.
The fraudulently valued assets stimulate the economy, impart
the illusion of health and then, inevitably, the fraud goes
too far and the whole house of card comes painfully crashing
back to earth.
The three trillion dollar plus frauds were:
Fraud #1: The so-called "Savings and Loan Crisis" of the late 80s
Fraud #2: The so-called "Tech Bubble" of the late 90s
Fraud #3: The so-called "Credit Crisis" of today
*** How the scam works
The mechanism of these frauds is simplicity itself...
...Take a shaky financial asset and blow up its value
and then sell as much of it as you can.
In the "Savings and Loan Crisis," the instrument was junk bonds.
In the "Tech Bubble" it was Internet stocks.
In the "Credit Crisis" it was individual mortgages collected
into pools and then re-sold to investors.
In each case, normal, well established "bread and butter"
financial principles were consciously thrown away by Wall Street
with no hint of protest from federal regulators.
***The "Savings and Loan Crisis" dissected
Junk bonds caused the Saving and Loan crisis which
resulted in the US taking over the assets of hundreds of
banks and selling them back over time to the marketplace
at fire sale prices.
Junk bonds, which caused the "Savings and Loan Crisis" were
shaky bonds that were pumped up by deliberate misrepresentation
and what I call "staged dealing."
Bonds get their value from two things: the amount of interest
they pay and how safe they are.
"Junk" bonds have to pay higher interest because they are less
safe. Therefore, until the "Savings and Loan Crisis," savings
and loan banks banks were not allowed by law to buy them and call
them assets.
Reagan/Bush changed all this and then a group of Wall Street
fraudsters used the new loophole to kick off an orgy of junk
bond creation and junk bond selling to banks and insurance
companies.
The crooks would deal the junk bonds back and forth
amongst themselves thereby establishing their "value"
and then they'd sell them to outsiders. The bonds
then became "assets" which could be borrowed against
and leveraged to buy even more bonds.
When the bonds failed, the banks failed and in stepped the
US government to "fix" the problem that it created at the cost
of at least one trillion dollars to US tax payers.
Deja vu, eh?
***The "Tech Bubble" dissected
The instrument of fraud in the "Tech Bubble" was Internet
stocks, start ups in particular.
A stock gets its value from the underlying company's sales,
its growth and its overall prospects for the future.
Pre-tech bubble, companies used to have to prove themselves
by being in existence for several years before they could
be sold on major exchanges. That standard was thrown away
during the tech bubble.
To pump of their values, the companies engaged in
"staged dealing" just like the junk bond crooks.
Company #1 would "sell" 20 million dollars in banner
ads to Company #2 which would in turn "sell" 20 million
in banner ads to Company #1.
In fact, nobody sold anybody anything. Company #2 ran
ads for Company #1 and billed it for them. Company #1
ran ads for Company #2 and billed for an equal amount.
These should have been called media trades not sales, but
Wall Street was happy to claim them as legitimate cash sales
and then use the sales numbers to fraudulently value these
companies - many of them totally worthless - in the
hundreds of millions and sometimes even the billions.
***The "Credit Crisis" dissected
By now, you see how the scheme works.
It's not complicated at all.
You take near worthless pieces of paper (junk bonds, stock
of start up Internet companies, etc.) and declare them to
be good as gold.
Then you create as many junk bonds and Internet start up
stocks as you get and sell them as fast as you can.
In the case of our current crisis, the instrument of fraud
was so-called sub-prime mortgages.
Previously, sub-prime mortgages had very little trading value.
Only people in the sub-prime industry itself dealt in them and for
good reason. They're tricky to value and packed with financial
peril.
But Wall Street changed all that.
Wall Street said: "If we take LOTS of these mortgages and assemble
them into large pools and then slice and dice the pools in various
ways, we can sell the slices to banks and other investors as AAA
paper."
It sounds crazy, doesn't it?
If the underlying pieces of paper are garbage, how does assembling
a whole bunch of garbage into one place make it "better?"
It doesn't, of course, and this is a principle even a three year
old child can understand.
But greed and the need to pump up a shaky economy for propaganda
purposes are two very strong motivators.
Banks created these mortgage pools, sold them to each other,
and they by virtue of these "staged sales" declared them valuable.
Do you recognize the pattern now?
If you do, then you are now smarter than all the assembled j@ck@sses
who do financial reporting because they apparently can't - or
won't.
This is the THIRD trillion-dollar plus fraud driven financial
meltdown in twenty years and apparently no one in the financial
news media can see how it happened.
***But there's more...
Junk bonds were mass manufactured as fast as the crooks could
invent them. Ditto for Internet stocks.
But how did hundreds of billions of dollars worth of "toxic"
mortgages suddenly come into being?
Why did the mortgage industry change its lending standards so
radically and so suddenly to make their creation possible?
And why did real estate lending regulators in all 50 states -
because real estate lending is a STATE-level issue not a federal
- go along with it?
Here's where it gets very interesting...
The fact is state-level lending regulators were VERY concerned
about what was going on. They have been for years.
And they not only expressed their concern clearly, they also
took SERIOUS concerted legal action to stop lenders from making
bad real estate loans to their citizens.
(Most of the sub-prime loans in the news so much today were
designed to screw the people who borrowed the money and can
rightly be called "predatory" loans.)
Guess who stopped the states from enforcing their own time-proven
real estate lending laws and thus created the raw material that
made the current "Credit Crisis" possible?
*** The trillion dollar plus question
If you're a US taxpayer, you're going to pay for this fraud
so you might as well know who did it to you.
His initials are GB.
You know him well.
But perhaps more interesting is the name of the person who
single-handedly rallied first state attorneys general and then
fellow governors to fight the creation of these loans and who
in the process became Public Enemy #1 to the Bush Administration...
His initials are ES.
If you follow "silly" US political scandals, you'll recognize
his name instantly when you hear it.
And you will *finally* understand why he was quickly and
permanently assassinated politically earlier this year.
Had ES been allowed to "live," he would have been in position to
remind everyone every day of who made the current meltdown
possible.
Instead, he was silenced very effectively. Not with a bullet
in the back of the head, but the net effect was just the same.
So effective was his assassination that no one can even
mention his name in connection with today's crisis without
risking ridicule, or worse.
Last note:
On that cheerful note, here's the big story everyone missed
this year and now you'll finally know what REALLY happened
and why:
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/291.html
- Brasscheck
P.S. If you find Brasscheck TV valuable, please share our e-mail
and videos with friends and colleagues.
That's how we grow. Thanks.
in what's going on in the financial markets, I think
you'll find it a more useful analysis than you're
likely to find anywhere else.
Without this article, you'll still get value from the
video, but with it, you'll REALLY know what's going
on better than most people on earth...including
financial news reporters.
I encourage you to invest the five minutes it will
take to read this. If not, you can skip to the link
at the bottom.
-BRASSCHECK
=========================================
*** A short explanation of how we got to where we are
Today's banking crisis is the THIRD trillion dollar plus
US-caused financial meltdown in the last twenty years.
Each one of these crises came into being through the same basic
mechanism...the fraudulent over-valuing of financial assets by
Wall Street - with a "wink and a nod" (and sometimes a lot more)
from the White House and Congress.
The fraudulently valued assets stimulate the economy, impart
the illusion of health and then, inevitably, the fraud goes
too far and the whole house of card comes painfully crashing
back to earth.
The three trillion dollar plus frauds were:
Fraud #1: The so-called "Savings and Loan Crisis" of the late 80s
Fraud #2: The so-called "Tech Bubble" of the late 90s
Fraud #3: The so-called "Credit Crisis" of today
*** How the scam works
The mechanism of these frauds is simplicity itself...
...Take a shaky financial asset and blow up its value
and then sell as much of it as you can.
In the "Savings and Loan Crisis," the instrument was junk bonds.
In the "Tech Bubble" it was Internet stocks.
In the "Credit Crisis" it was individual mortgages collected
into pools and then re-sold to investors.
In each case, normal, well established "bread and butter"
financial principles were consciously thrown away by Wall Street
with no hint of protest from federal regulators.
***The "Savings and Loan Crisis" dissected
Junk bonds caused the Saving and Loan crisis which
resulted in the US taking over the assets of hundreds of
banks and selling them back over time to the marketplace
at fire sale prices.
Junk bonds, which caused the "Savings and Loan Crisis" were
shaky bonds that were pumped up by deliberate misrepresentation
and what I call "staged dealing."
Bonds get their value from two things: the amount of interest
they pay and how safe they are.
"Junk" bonds have to pay higher interest because they are less
safe. Therefore, until the "Savings and Loan Crisis," savings
and loan banks banks were not allowed by law to buy them and call
them assets.
Reagan/Bush changed all this and then a group of Wall Street
fraudsters used the new loophole to kick off an orgy of junk
bond creation and junk bond selling to banks and insurance
companies.
The crooks would deal the junk bonds back and forth
amongst themselves thereby establishing their "value"
and then they'd sell them to outsiders. The bonds
then became "assets" which could be borrowed against
and leveraged to buy even more bonds.
When the bonds failed, the banks failed and in stepped the
US government to "fix" the problem that it created at the cost
of at least one trillion dollars to US tax payers.
Deja vu, eh?
***The "Tech Bubble" dissected
The instrument of fraud in the "Tech Bubble" was Internet
stocks, start ups in particular.
A stock gets its value from the underlying company's sales,
its growth and its overall prospects for the future.
Pre-tech bubble, companies used to have to prove themselves
by being in existence for several years before they could
be sold on major exchanges. That standard was thrown away
during the tech bubble.
To pump of their values, the companies engaged in
"staged dealing" just like the junk bond crooks.
Company #1 would "sell" 20 million dollars in banner
ads to Company #2 which would in turn "sell" 20 million
in banner ads to Company #1.
In fact, nobody sold anybody anything. Company #2 ran
ads for Company #1 and billed it for them. Company #1
ran ads for Company #2 and billed for an equal amount.
These should have been called media trades not sales, but
Wall Street was happy to claim them as legitimate cash sales
and then use the sales numbers to fraudulently value these
companies - many of them totally worthless - in the
hundreds of millions and sometimes even the billions.
***The "Credit Crisis" dissected
By now, you see how the scheme works.
It's not complicated at all.
You take near worthless pieces of paper (junk bonds, stock
of start up Internet companies, etc.) and declare them to
be good as gold.
Then you create as many junk bonds and Internet start up
stocks as you get and sell them as fast as you can.
In the case of our current crisis, the instrument of fraud
was so-called sub-prime mortgages.
Previously, sub-prime mortgages had very little trading value.
Only people in the sub-prime industry itself dealt in them and for
good reason. They're tricky to value and packed with financial
peril.
But Wall Street changed all that.
Wall Street said: "If we take LOTS of these mortgages and assemble
them into large pools and then slice and dice the pools in various
ways, we can sell the slices to banks and other investors as AAA
paper."
It sounds crazy, doesn't it?
If the underlying pieces of paper are garbage, how does assembling
a whole bunch of garbage into one place make it "better?"
It doesn't, of course, and this is a principle even a three year
old child can understand.
But greed and the need to pump up a shaky economy for propaganda
purposes are two very strong motivators.
Banks created these mortgage pools, sold them to each other,
and they by virtue of these "staged sales" declared them valuable.
Do you recognize the pattern now?
If you do, then you are now smarter than all the assembled j@ck@sses
who do financial reporting because they apparently can't - or
won't.
This is the THIRD trillion-dollar plus fraud driven financial
meltdown in twenty years and apparently no one in the financial
news media can see how it happened.
***But there's more...
Junk bonds were mass manufactured as fast as the crooks could
invent them. Ditto for Internet stocks.
But how did hundreds of billions of dollars worth of "toxic"
mortgages suddenly come into being?
Why did the mortgage industry change its lending standards so
radically and so suddenly to make their creation possible?
And why did real estate lending regulators in all 50 states -
because real estate lending is a STATE-level issue not a federal
- go along with it?
Here's where it gets very interesting...
The fact is state-level lending regulators were VERY concerned
about what was going on. They have been for years.
And they not only expressed their concern clearly, they also
took SERIOUS concerted legal action to stop lenders from making
bad real estate loans to their citizens.
(Most of the sub-prime loans in the news so much today were
designed to screw the people who borrowed the money and can
rightly be called "predatory" loans.)
Guess who stopped the states from enforcing their own time-proven
real estate lending laws and thus created the raw material that
made the current "Credit Crisis" possible?
*** The trillion dollar plus question
If you're a US taxpayer, you're going to pay for this fraud
so you might as well know who did it to you.
His initials are GB.
You know him well.
But perhaps more interesting is the name of the person who
single-handedly rallied first state attorneys general and then
fellow governors to fight the creation of these loans and who
in the process became Public Enemy #1 to the Bush Administration...
His initials are ES.
If you follow "silly" US political scandals, you'll recognize
his name instantly when you hear it.
And you will *finally* understand why he was quickly and
permanently assassinated politically earlier this year.
Had ES been allowed to "live," he would have been in position to
remind everyone every day of who made the current meltdown
possible.
Instead, he was silenced very effectively. Not with a bullet
in the back of the head, but the net effect was just the same.
So effective was his assassination that no one can even
mention his name in connection with today's crisis without
risking ridicule, or worse.
Last note:
The crisis this fraud has created is *exponentially* bigger
than the S & L and Tech Bubble combined.
It's not going to be resolved by a quick "patch up" and will
likely have the same impact on the current generation that the
depression of the 1930s had on its parents, grandparents and
great grandparents.
On that cheerful note, here's the big story everyone missed
this year and now you'll finally know what REALLY happened
and why:
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/291.html
- Brasscheck
P.S. If you find Brasscheck TV valuable, please share our e-mail
and videos with friends and colleagues.
That's how we grow. Thanks.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
The Draft - its coming
by Dennis Kcinich
The United States is talking about sending in more troops to Iraq. We already know that our government has extended the tour of duty for members of the armed service. That they have sent people back for a second tour when they thought they were only going to be there for a first tour. That 40% of the people in Iraq today are either guardsmen or guardswomen or reservists. We never anticipated being in combat under those conditions.
We also know as the United States continues to get deeper and deeper into this conflict, there is no question that there will be a draft. There are bills sponsored by both parties in Congress to create a draft. In 2004 the selective service system put up on their website a call for people to staff local draft boards. There was a commotion about it immediately after that went up; they took it down. There's a substantial amount of money in the budget to be able to put into effect the structure to create a draft.
With high stakes at hand, America is getting deeper and deeper into this situation in Iraq. It's getting much worse every day.
Now we're being told by people in both parties, Democrats and Republicans alike, that we have to stay the course. We can't "cut and run." We have to go in and finish the job that we went in there to do. We're hearing all kinds of euphemisms that are frankly are vaguely reminiscent of the kinds of euphemisms that we heard in the sixties, which caused the United States to make a deeper and deeper commitment in a place called Vietnam.
There was a point in the early sixties where the casualty level of Americans was below 100. Then it went into the hundreds. Then it went into the thousands. Then it went into the tens of thousands. And all the time we kept wading into this war in Vietnam, people just kept talking as if it was just going to end. And there was almost this obliviousness to the fact that we kept getting in deeper and deeper. And the casualties kept piling up. And the more lives that were lost, the more people kept insisting, "Well, we've got to stay there."
Historian Barbara Tuchman wrote a book some of you may be familiar with called "The March of Folly," where she traced throughout human history how governments pursued what they fully knew to be the wrong course of action, but once it proved to be wrong, they kept doing it anyhow. She described it as a kind of "wooden-headedness."
This country surely knows that we've gone in the wrong direction in Iraq. But we're somehow committed to continuing it. We're putting in more troops, more resources, running the risk of precipitating a holy war in that region, and setting this country on a path of separating ourselves from the world community.
It's time for this nation, Democrats and Republicans alike, to come together and oppose all efforts to reinstate the draft. For the sake of our children and our future, we must end this wrongful war.
The United States is talking about sending in more troops to Iraq. We already know that our government has extended the tour of duty for members of the armed service. That they have sent people back for a second tour when they thought they were only going to be there for a first tour. That 40% of the people in Iraq today are either guardsmen or guardswomen or reservists. We never anticipated being in combat under those conditions.
We also know as the United States continues to get deeper and deeper into this conflict, there is no question that there will be a draft. There are bills sponsored by both parties in Congress to create a draft. In 2004 the selective service system put up on their website a call for people to staff local draft boards. There was a commotion about it immediately after that went up; they took it down. There's a substantial amount of money in the budget to be able to put into effect the structure to create a draft.
With high stakes at hand, America is getting deeper and deeper into this situation in Iraq. It's getting much worse every day.
Now we're being told by people in both parties, Democrats and Republicans alike, that we have to stay the course. We can't "cut and run." We have to go in and finish the job that we went in there to do. We're hearing all kinds of euphemisms that are frankly are vaguely reminiscent of the kinds of euphemisms that we heard in the sixties, which caused the United States to make a deeper and deeper commitment in a place called Vietnam.
There was a point in the early sixties where the casualty level of Americans was below 100. Then it went into the hundreds. Then it went into the thousands. Then it went into the tens of thousands. And all the time we kept wading into this war in Vietnam, people just kept talking as if it was just going to end. And there was almost this obliviousness to the fact that we kept getting in deeper and deeper. And the casualties kept piling up. And the more lives that were lost, the more people kept insisting, "Well, we've got to stay there."
Historian Barbara Tuchman wrote a book some of you may be familiar with called "The March of Folly," where she traced throughout human history how governments pursued what they fully knew to be the wrong course of action, but once it proved to be wrong, they kept doing it anyhow. She described it as a kind of "wooden-headedness."
"Wooden-headedness, the source of self-deception, is a factor that plays a remarkably large role in government. It consists in assessing a situation in terms of preconceived fixed notions while ignoring or rejecting any contrary signs. It is acting according to wish while not allowing oneself to be deflected by the facts. It is epitomized in a historian's statement about Phillip II of Spain, the surpassing wooden-head of all sovereigns: 'No experience of the failure of his policy could shake his belief in its essential excellence.'"
-- Barbara Tuchman, "The March of Folly"
This country surely knows that we've gone in the wrong direction in Iraq. But we're somehow committed to continuing it. We're putting in more troops, more resources, running the risk of precipitating a holy war in that region, and setting this country on a path of separating ourselves from the world community.
It's time for this nation, Democrats and Republicans alike, to come together and oppose all efforts to reinstate the draft. For the sake of our children and our future, we must end this wrongful war.
TAKE ACTION against Political Repression at the DNC and the RNC!
From Elaine Brower and Prachi Noor, members of the World Can't Wait National Steering Committee:
The police repression of anti-war protest that took place at both national political conventions deeply angered members of the peace community, as well as the many people in this country who were shocked at the behavior of law enforcement. There are those who might believe this brutalization of those who were peacefully demonstrating, with permits issued by the City, and which people believe is their 'right' under the Constitution, was an aberration or "over-reaction."
However, what we saw was am emerging police state further testing new weapons and tactics, and learning how much they can get away with.
In St. Paul, the repression began with over a year ago with infiltration by paid informers of protest organizers, and "pre-emptive" raids on private homes and meeting places, leading to overtly political "conspiracy" charges. Police from around the country were led by Homeland Security in the wanton use of concussion grenades thrown in succession at retreating protesters; smoke bombs; an array of tear gas & pepper gas; wooden batons (bats); weapons, including AR15 automatic assault rifles drawn on unarmed and passive people; riot control horses and dump trucks with blades down as if to scoop up anyone in the streets.
This fierceness of control is what is done in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last 7 ½ years in our names by our military and mercenaries alike, and what has and always will be done in communities of color when no one is looking. But now we see it going high-tech, and co-ordinated with charges of "furtherance of terrorism" under the Minnesota version of the PATRIOT Act.
818 people were arrested in St. Paul, including nearly 40 media from alternative and mainstream outlets. The "RNC8," members of "The RNC Welcoming Committee," are charged with felony "intent to riot in furtherance of terrorism" and face a sentence of 7 ½ years.
People of conscience must stand together in outrage and not accept this repression from the government on the people. We cannot allow these actions to go quietly into the night and forgotten. A massive outpouring of support for the RNC8 is critical. Every detail of the illegitimate detentions in Guantanamo-like conditions, beatings, taserings, denial of medication, medical treatment, food, legal representation and threats must be uncovered, denounced, and never repeated.
We are seizing the opportunity to have our voices heard in unison, denouncing the fascist direction of this country. It is with the utmost urgency and for the sake of stopping the police state and reversing this course that WE WILL NOT BE SILENT.
By signing this statement we pledge to do everything we can to call attention to, and demand justice for those unjustly arrested and charged at the Denver and St. Paul protests.
Debra Sweet, Director, The World Can't Wait - Drive Out the Bush Regime
The last days of the American Empire are near. The destruction of our civil rights of dissent and protest are a symptom of this fall. It is the duty of all good citizens to stand against tyranny. This is the cause passed down by our forefathers, now it is ours to earn, we must survive or die trying.
The police repression of anti-war protest that took place at both national political conventions deeply angered members of the peace community, as well as the many people in this country who were shocked at the behavior of law enforcement. There are those who might believe this brutalization of those who were peacefully demonstrating, with permits issued by the City, and which people believe is their 'right' under the Constitution, was an aberration or "over-reaction."
However, what we saw was am emerging police state further testing new weapons and tactics, and learning how much they can get away with.
In St. Paul, the repression began with over a year ago with infiltration by paid informers of protest organizers, and "pre-emptive" raids on private homes and meeting places, leading to overtly political "conspiracy" charges. Police from around the country were led by Homeland Security in the wanton use of concussion grenades thrown in succession at retreating protesters; smoke bombs; an array of tear gas & pepper gas; wooden batons (bats); weapons, including AR15 automatic assault rifles drawn on unarmed and passive people; riot control horses and dump trucks with blades down as if to scoop up anyone in the streets.
This fierceness of control is what is done in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last 7 ½ years in our names by our military and mercenaries alike, and what has and always will be done in communities of color when no one is looking. But now we see it going high-tech, and co-ordinated with charges of "furtherance of terrorism" under the Minnesota version of the PATRIOT Act.
818 people were arrested in St. Paul, including nearly 40 media from alternative and mainstream outlets. The "RNC8," members of "The RNC Welcoming Committee," are charged with felony "intent to riot in furtherance of terrorism" and face a sentence of 7 ½ years.
People of conscience must stand together in outrage and not accept this repression from the government on the people. We cannot allow these actions to go quietly into the night and forgotten. A massive outpouring of support for the RNC8 is critical. Every detail of the illegitimate detentions in Guantanamo-like conditions, beatings, taserings, denial of medication, medical treatment, food, legal representation and threats must be uncovered, denounced, and never repeated.
We are seizing the opportunity to have our voices heard in unison, denouncing the fascist direction of this country. It is with the utmost urgency and for the sake of stopping the police state and reversing this course that WE WILL NOT BE SILENT.
By signing this statement we pledge to do everything we can to call attention to, and demand justice for those unjustly arrested and charged at the Denver and St. Paul protests.
Debra Sweet, Director, The World Can't Wait - Drive Out the Bush Regime
The last days of the American Empire are near. The destruction of our civil rights of dissent and protest are a symptom of this fall. It is the duty of all good citizens to stand against tyranny. This is the cause passed down by our forefathers, now it is ours to earn, we must survive or die trying.
Friday, September 12, 2008
The True Choice
I realize that the vast majority of American citizens are oblivious to the fact that their country has been pulled out from under them. Most Americans are the uneducated products of the defunct public school system, or worse ignorant immigrants who still shackled with despotism of their home countries fear reprisal if they speak up about anything. Living pay-check to pay-check tends to keep you hungry, afraid than if you rock the boat you might be fired and starve in this land of the free. Above all Americans are lazy, willingly lulled to sleep by entertaining TV and sports shows that vivify them with pseudo-intellectual pursuits, so they can deny their failures and pretend that they are not slaves.
Since the farce of an election in 2000, when the Supreme Court overstepped itself and illegally judged the presidential election without grounds or president, the Executive Administration of George W. Bush, with the help of the corrupt Congress and Senate, have 'adjusted' the Constitution of the United States to make themselves more powerful. They imposed limits on our freedoms, took the checks and balances away and freed themselves to write signing-statements that effectively put the executive administration above and beyond the law.
All this is necessary, they claim, to fight the "War on Terror". Using the concept of the "unitary executive" backed by the specter of the terrible attacks of September 11, 2001, (attacks that might have been prevented if not for their own incompetence) they have played upon the fears and ignorance of America's people. Warping reality with illegal propaganda and flat out lies, they committed our military to endless illegal wars of empire. Foolishly, the majority of our citizens followed them like sheep to slaughter. As our sons die or are irrevocably maimed by the psychological wounds inflicted by the experience of atrocities committed in unnecessary wars, most Americans go on with day to day life, living a beach party, without sacrifice, as their future is slowly sucked away.
Now we face an uncertain future. One without education, or affordable healthcare, where our potential is no longer limitless, but determined by the size of your trust fund. We have let go of the American Dream, and replaced it with the competitive paradigm of capitalism, where each person is out on there own, fighting with their brothers for scraps dropped from above. And still the proud idealists, independent, self-reliant Americans, hard working and defiant, still deluding themselves with the possibility that they can become one of the over-class, win the lottery, or boost themselves up with non-exestant boot-straps, continue to support the bankrupt causes of those who believe themselves their betters based upon the quantity of income they command.
Worse, some of our weak minded Americans have fallen for the oldest con in the book, and accepted the promise of eternal rewards in the hereafter. For that they follow willingly the corrupt and mistaken preachers who live like parasites off their voluntary tithe, and willingly vote as they are told, for those politicians who play to their religious bias and prejudices. Their mistake, believing themselves to be guilty of sin without cause, and just as guilty as those who take them by the nose. Pity the fools who curse this democracy without thought, they know not what they do.
Now, here we stand, on the edge of the knife again. We have been here before, in 1776, and 1860, or maybe 1968, and we have forgotten our legacy. Once we make the choice there will be no going back. Either America will recreate itself, renew itself, reclaim itself, or it will fall back into the dust of history, as the grand experiment that ultimately failed.
We have a great battle ahead, the economy, your homes, education and healthcare, the criminal industrial complex, endless wars, a world of uncertainty awaits. The question is will you allow those who would control you to manipulate you with fear, or will you join the fight and create change. Will you dare to hope.
"We must be the change we have been waiting for."
None of the problems we face are insurmountable, we have the resources, and with hard work and will, we can right the ship. But if we allow our US Constitution, our Bill of Rights, our freedoms to fall as casualty to our failure to elect the right people in the past, then none of it will matter. We can fight, and bail out all the banks, and give people back their homes, and feed the hungry, and sacrifice till it costs our children their potential, but none of it will make any difference without our freedom. Without the Constitution this is just another kingdom, just another dictatorship, a police state called America. Without the protections of our nation, America is nothing. That founding document is what unites us, it is what binds us, it is what makes ours a country that inspires and protects the people's of the world.
What Bush and his ilk have done is unforgivable. They have attacked our Constitution and claimed our power, our freedom, for their own. Like vampires they suck out the lifeblood of our country. Stealing our honor, our potential, our very promise, and using our powers to enrich themselves while inflicting unjust suffering on peoples we had no cause to harm. Atrocities committed in our name are still our responsibility, and we must someday pay for their elite arrogance, but the first step in saving our ship of state is to patch the hole they have torn in her hull.
We must find the strength to face our failures, to rebel against the mistakes we allowed to be made, and renew the checks and balances our fathers died to protect. We must hold a light up to the abuses of power, and hold those accountable who have tarnished our freedoms. We must do the hard work to redefine the powers of the executive, restore transparency in the face of secrecy, demand that all men be held within the laws. No more can we allow our ignorance to excuse us our duty. We must learn, we must understand, we must digest and incorporate the truth of our failures if we are ever to restore our promise. America is the one country on earth that has had the courage to deny kings, now we must rebuke the elitist billionaires who have stolen our potential by buying our government.
Many people think that the American Dream is to start with nothing and become rich, but that is not my dream. My dream is to create a just world where any person can, with honest hard work, fulfill their greatest potential, and together we can succeed at maximizing our freedoms, together, without bloodshed or destructive competition.
Money may be the master of you who dare not question authority, for fear of exposing your weaknesses, but for those who hold higher values, who would face such fear, and gain the courage to stand for something greater than yourself, for you I willing dedicate my life. It is not a sacrifice, it is the price we all must pay to earn our freedom.
I challenge you, move beyond, break your shackles. If we don't hold something above our greed, if we value nothing more than money, then there is no place left for us to go. We have dominated the world with our capital, we have bought all the weapons, and paid off all the terrorists. We effectively own the world. The question now is what kind of world will it be?
The Choice is yours, November 4, 2008.
Since the farce of an election in 2000, when the Supreme Court overstepped itself and illegally judged the presidential election without grounds or president, the Executive Administration of George W. Bush, with the help of the corrupt Congress and Senate, have 'adjusted' the Constitution of the United States to make themselves more powerful. They imposed limits on our freedoms, took the checks and balances away and freed themselves to write signing-statements that effectively put the executive administration above and beyond the law.
All this is necessary, they claim, to fight the "War on Terror". Using the concept of the "unitary executive" backed by the specter of the terrible attacks of September 11, 2001, (attacks that might have been prevented if not for their own incompetence) they have played upon the fears and ignorance of America's people. Warping reality with illegal propaganda and flat out lies, they committed our military to endless illegal wars of empire. Foolishly, the majority of our citizens followed them like sheep to slaughter. As our sons die or are irrevocably maimed by the psychological wounds inflicted by the experience of atrocities committed in unnecessary wars, most Americans go on with day to day life, living a beach party, without sacrifice, as their future is slowly sucked away.
Now we face an uncertain future. One without education, or affordable healthcare, where our potential is no longer limitless, but determined by the size of your trust fund. We have let go of the American Dream, and replaced it with the competitive paradigm of capitalism, where each person is out on there own, fighting with their brothers for scraps dropped from above. And still the proud idealists, independent, self-reliant Americans, hard working and defiant, still deluding themselves with the possibility that they can become one of the over-class, win the lottery, or boost themselves up with non-exestant boot-straps, continue to support the bankrupt causes of those who believe themselves their betters based upon the quantity of income they command.
Worse, some of our weak minded Americans have fallen for the oldest con in the book, and accepted the promise of eternal rewards in the hereafter. For that they follow willingly the corrupt and mistaken preachers who live like parasites off their voluntary tithe, and willingly vote as they are told, for those politicians who play to their religious bias and prejudices. Their mistake, believing themselves to be guilty of sin without cause, and just as guilty as those who take them by the nose. Pity the fools who curse this democracy without thought, they know not what they do.
Now, here we stand, on the edge of the knife again. We have been here before, in 1776, and 1860, or maybe 1968, and we have forgotten our legacy. Once we make the choice there will be no going back. Either America will recreate itself, renew itself, reclaim itself, or it will fall back into the dust of history, as the grand experiment that ultimately failed.
We have a great battle ahead, the economy, your homes, education and healthcare, the criminal industrial complex, endless wars, a world of uncertainty awaits. The question is will you allow those who would control you to manipulate you with fear, or will you join the fight and create change. Will you dare to hope.
"We must be the change we have been waiting for."
None of the problems we face are insurmountable, we have the resources, and with hard work and will, we can right the ship. But if we allow our US Constitution, our Bill of Rights, our freedoms to fall as casualty to our failure to elect the right people in the past, then none of it will matter. We can fight, and bail out all the banks, and give people back their homes, and feed the hungry, and sacrifice till it costs our children their potential, but none of it will make any difference without our freedom. Without the Constitution this is just another kingdom, just another dictatorship, a police state called America. Without the protections of our nation, America is nothing. That founding document is what unites us, it is what binds us, it is what makes ours a country that inspires and protects the people's of the world.
What Bush and his ilk have done is unforgivable. They have attacked our Constitution and claimed our power, our freedom, for their own. Like vampires they suck out the lifeblood of our country. Stealing our honor, our potential, our very promise, and using our powers to enrich themselves while inflicting unjust suffering on peoples we had no cause to harm. Atrocities committed in our name are still our responsibility, and we must someday pay for their elite arrogance, but the first step in saving our ship of state is to patch the hole they have torn in her hull.
We must find the strength to face our failures, to rebel against the mistakes we allowed to be made, and renew the checks and balances our fathers died to protect. We must hold a light up to the abuses of power, and hold those accountable who have tarnished our freedoms. We must do the hard work to redefine the powers of the executive, restore transparency in the face of secrecy, demand that all men be held within the laws. No more can we allow our ignorance to excuse us our duty. We must learn, we must understand, we must digest and incorporate the truth of our failures if we are ever to restore our promise. America is the one country on earth that has had the courage to deny kings, now we must rebuke the elitist billionaires who have stolen our potential by buying our government.
Many people think that the American Dream is to start with nothing and become rich, but that is not my dream. My dream is to create a just world where any person can, with honest hard work, fulfill their greatest potential, and together we can succeed at maximizing our freedoms, together, without bloodshed or destructive competition.
Money may be the master of you who dare not question authority, for fear of exposing your weaknesses, but for those who hold higher values, who would face such fear, and gain the courage to stand for something greater than yourself, for you I willing dedicate my life. It is not a sacrifice, it is the price we all must pay to earn our freedom.
I challenge you, move beyond, break your shackles. If we don't hold something above our greed, if we value nothing more than money, then there is no place left for us to go. We have dominated the world with our capital, we have bought all the weapons, and paid off all the terrorists. We effectively own the world. The question now is what kind of world will it be?
The Choice is yours, November 4, 2008.
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