Don't believe the hype

For those who are content enough to form your opinions from simple headlines, please stay ignorant and read no further. But then, this blog is not for you anyway.

In yet another blatent example of the NY media painting a biased picture of the recent transit strike, the headline from todays NY Daily News: "$ubway $anta Clause: New contract gives $110M pension payout bonanza to transit workers"
First paragraph: "Thousands of bus and subway workers are poised to reap up to $14,000 each in a new contract pension windfall that will ease the pain of their strike penalties - but will cost commuters an estimated $110 million."
How horrible!! Those selfish thugs!!

But what is the basis for this headline? Later in this same article (please read it yourself):
"The $110 million represents a refund of extra pension contributions that up to 20,000 union members made between 1994 and 2000. The new transit contract will give workers back the 2.3% of wages they paid toward pensions for those six years - plus interest."
"Thousands of MTA workers like Rios paid 2.3% extra into the pension fund for six years so they could retire at 55 instead of 62. But when the Legislature lowered the retirement age for all MTA workers to 55 in 2000, their extra contributions were for naught."

Wait a minute? After that headline, it turns out that...IT'S THEIR MONEY!!

All throughout the strike, the media fanned the anti-union flames. Inform yourself before you decide.

- Vox

The truth behind the hype

Kurds in Iraqi army proclaim loyalty to militia
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/13495329.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
"The Kurds have readied their troops not only because they've long yearned to establish an independent state but also because their leaders expect Iraq to disintegrate,..."

Huh? What was that about Iraqi elections? What was that about a democratic Iraq?
The reality of the situation in Iraq & Afghanistan is SO different from what the Bush administration is describing. Don't take it from me, all you have to do is read!

(Flashback to March 4, 2005 , "Why Democracy in Iraq Will Not Work", towards the bottom of the page)

- Vox

More on "Where Do We Go From Here?":

Another quote:
"...There are forty million poor people here. And one day we must ask the question, Why are there forty million poor people in America? And when you begin to ask that question, you are raising questions about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth. When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy. And I'm simply saying that more and more, we've got to begin to ask questions about the whole society. We are called upon to help the discouraged beggars in life's marketplace. But one day we must come to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. It means that questions must be raised. You see, my friends, when you deal with this, you begin to ask the question, Who owns the oil? You begin to ask the question, Who owns the iron ore? You begin to ask the question, Why is it that people have to pay water bills in a world that is two-thirds water? These are questions that must be asked.
Now, don't think that you have me in a bind today. I'm not talkingabout communism.
What I'm saying to you this morning is that communism forgets that life is individual. Capitalism forgets that life is social, and the kingdom of brotherhood is found neither in the thesis of communism nor the antithesis of capitalism but in a higher synthesis. It is found in a higher synthesis that combines the truths of both. Now, when I say question the whole society, it means ultimately coming to see that the problem of racism, the problem of exploitation, and the problem of war are all tied together. These are the triple evils that are interrelated.

MLK Quote

I just heard a speech given by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered on August 16, 1967. The speech is entitled "Where Do We Go From Here?", and really shows an edgier MLK. I thought the following quote was pretty deep:

"...For through violence you may murder a murderer, but you can't murder murder. Through violence you may murder a liar, but you can't establish truth. Through violence you may murder a hater, but you can't murder hate through violence. Darkness cannot put out darkness; only light can do that."

- Vox

Priorities Priorities

Hurricane insurance losses $57.6 bln: Advisen
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=businessNews&storyid=2005-12-27T160903Z_01_ARM758110_RTRUKOC_0_US-FINANCIAL-KATRINA-ADVISEN.xml&rpc=23
"NEW YORK (Reuters) - Advisen Ltd. on Tuesday estimated worldwide insurance and reinsurance losses related to the three major hurricanes that hit the United States this year would amount to $57.6 billion, making the cumulative catastrophe losses the largest on record."

Insurance costs? Who the eff cares? I wonder if this is some kind of pretext to screwing people who have already suffered through disaster; who have paid their premiums.
Boy, the focus on the profit margins and such during the holiday season really puts into focus the priorities that our society deems important.

- Vox

Please read, update

An update to my post of Dec. 19, 2006 (Please read to educate yourself...):

Federal agents' visit was a hoax
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/12-05/12-24-05/a01lo719.htm
"NEW BEDFORD -- The UMass Dartmouth student who claimed to have been visited by Homeland Security agents over his request for "The Little Red Book" by Mao Zedong has admitted to making up the entire story."

What an arse.

- Vox

Do you need any more proof?

Straight from the horses-asses mouth:
""Watergate and a lot of the things around Watergate and Vietnam, both during the 1970s, served, I think, to erode the authority I think the president needs to be effective, especially in the national security area," Cheney told reporters traveling with him on Air Force Two."
(http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-spy21dec21,1,5224791.story?coll=la-headlines-nation&ctrack=1&cset=true)

Let me get this straight: Watergate was when the President of the United States blatently and criminally abused his powers to spy on political rivals. He's saying that the oversight that resulted from this dispicable episode in our history IS A BAD THING!

This Bush administration and its neo-con cronies hate the restrictions of law and the Constitution.

- Vox

Update

New Orleans police fired for roles in beating
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/12/21/police.fired/index.html

As I suspected...

...LETTERMAN'S CIA!

- Vox

The Judge John Roberts gambit

Perhaps we are now seeing the reason President Bush nominated Judge John Roberts for the Chief Justice position of the Supreme Court.
See Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act - Title I: Electronic Surveillance within the United States for Foreign Intelligence Purposes :
"...Requires the Chief Justice of the United States to designate seven district court judges, who shall constitute a special court, each of whom shall have jurisdiction to hear applications for and grant orders approving electronic surveillance anywhere within the United States. Requires the Chief Justice to designate three Federal judges to comprise a special court of appeals which shall have jurisdiction to hear an appeal by the United States from the denial of any application..."

Hmm, turns out the Chief Justice debate should've been about a little more than his views on Roe v. Wade.

An interesting article on FISA.

- Vox

Thoughts/feelings on the TWU strike

You cannot CRIMINALIZE organized labor! It is our right as human beings to organize and strike if necessary. Laws were created to prevent the association of slaves in groups because slave owners feared the potential of their organized labor. This "Taylor Law" is itself illegal and immoral.

As I see it, the hardline by the MTA, the Governor, and Mayor Bloomberg is to try not only to break the TWU, but TO BREAK THE ORGANIZED LABOR MOVEMENT! This is the bigger picture. In a sense, to support the TWU is to support human rights and organized labor world-wide. Millions of eyes are watching this outcome. Pro-labor = Pro-people.

And for those haters out there who say "If I can't retire until I'm 62, then they shouldn't be able to either", go ahead and collect your slave wages along with your social security check.

- an inconvenienced but supportive Vox

Democracy, American Style (aka Capitalism)

Iraq Fuel Price Hike Sparks Protests
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051219/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_fuel_protests
"Oil Minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum said that when the Cabinet increased prices, it also decided that the extra money would be used to establish a fund for more than 2 million low-income families to help them pay for the fuel." (oil profits being used to lower fuel costs to the consumers? HOW UNAMERICAN! No, really. That is unAmerican. - Vox)
"Some aid money was supposed to reach the families before the price increases, but that did not happen, he said."

How did the Bush address miss this?

- Vox

Please read to educate yourself...

...but not too much
Agents' visit chills UMass Dartmouth senior
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/12-05/12-17-05/a09lo650.htm
"NEW BEDFORD -- A senior at UMass Dartmouth was visited by federal agents two months ago, after he requested a copy of Mao Tse-Tung's tome on Communism called "The Little Red Book.""
"The student, who was completing a research paper on Communism for Professor Pontbriand's class on fascism and totalitarianism, filled out a form for the request, leaving his name, address, phone number and Social Security number. He was later visited at his parents' home in New Bedford by two agents of the Department of Homeland Security, the professors said."
"The professors said the student was told by the agents that the book is on a "watch list," and that his background, which included significant time abroad, triggered them to investigate the student further."

A PRESIDENT ABOVE THE LAW

Reacting to Bush's vow to continue spying on Americans, Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., said the president's remarks were "breathtaking in how extreme they were." Feingold said it was "absurd" that Bush said he relied on his inherent power as president to authorize the wiretaps. "If that's true, he doesn't need the Patriot Act because he can just make it up as he goes along. I tell you, he's President George Bush, not King George Bush."

I could not have said it better myself. Russ Feingold for President in '08!

- Vox

Venezuela oil to the rescue

Bx. gets help from S. American prez
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/372230p-316616c.html
"With heating oil prices expected to skyrocket this winter and Congress slashing subsidies for the poor, 8 million gallons of discounted oil will be sold at a 40% discount to three nonprofit housing groups by Citgo, the U.S. subsidiary of Venezuela's state-run oil company."

Whenever possible, buy Citgo.

- Vox

The New Cold War, cont.

Russia Makes Deal to Sell Missiles to Iran
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051205/ap_on_re_eu/russia_iran_arms
"The reports last week prompted expressions of concern from the U.S administration and Israel, which considers Iran to be its biggest threat. Israeli concerns recently were heightened after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged that Israel be "wiped off the map.""

Remember my post about The New Cold War (posted August 18, 2005, middle of the page).

- Vox

US Iraq/Soviet Afghanistan

History may compare our quagmire in Iraq and its failure to the Soviets failure in Afghanistan. This administration should learn from that lesson.

Also, don't be fooled by the rhetoric that "if we pull out too early, Iraq will become bogged down in a bloody civil war". IRAQ IS ALREADY IN A CIVIL WAR! We are just becoming collateral damage.

What's wrong with a civil war?
You know, it's funny: This administration compares Iraq's fledgling so-called "democracy" to our own. But in getting to where we are as a country, good and bad, we had to go through our own civil war! Remember that? Perhaps we should begin to understand that it is necessary for iraq, in order to obtain a true self-determining gov't, there must be a civil war. Our presence there is only retarding this process and costing us our own democracy (what's left of it) in the process.

Please, I would like to hear what you think.

- Vox