A little insight

"Everything we did from 1983 onwards was based on our new sense of mission to have the south "privatised' or die; towards this end we ignominiously created economic bedlam in Latin America and Africa in 1983-88" - Davidson Budhoo, IMF senior economist from Enough is Enough: Dear Mr. Camdessus...Open Letter of Resignation
http://www.amazon.com/Enough-Camdessus-Resignation-International-Documentary/dp/0945257287

Nuts and what?

roots, fruits, greens, grains, weeds and seeds

Authority of Truth

I just read a headline saying three were guilty in airline bomb plot. It's interesting to me the word "found" is not in the sentence as in, "three were found guilty..." Left out it becomes a statement of truth supposing the courts are the repository of truth.

And notice on the news when fact is portrayed as an allegation by assigning it to some group (usually not a source the mainstream media is comfortable with) as in, "the group alleges that he..."

So truth is what is handed down by government. Facts are simply one side of a story when coming from "un-expert" sources.

Some Quotes from the Left

The most terribly destructive idea on the left is the idea that we're
special, that we're different. We're not- everybody rebels in some
way. Our problem is to recognize rebellion and find a way of touching
it. The most profound challenge of the Zapatistas is when they say,"
We are perfectly ordinary people, and therefore rebels." That is
perhaps the most important thing- To understand the everyday nature of
revolution.

Theodore Roszak, in "The Voice of the earth: An exploration of
Ecopyschology (1992), implores the environmental movement to "Draw up
a psychological-impact statement." He asks: "Are dread and desperation
the only motivations we have to play upon? What are we connecting
within people that is generous, joyous, freely given, and perhaps
heroic? If cound ecology comes to stop asking us to be the animal we
are, even if it is for our own good, it will not win many converts"
(Roszak 1992, p. 38)"

Dear Government

April 16, 2009


Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service Center
Fresno, CA 93888-0102

Franchise Tax Board
P.O. Box 942867
Sacramento, CA 94267-0008


To Whom It May Concern,

Enclosed you will find a Payment Voucher for my 2008 tax return, which I filed electronically. However, instead of paying the monies enumerated on said vouchers for state and federal income taxes I am using the precise amounts to fund groups dedicated to peace and justice.

I cannot pay federal income tax in good conscience as more than half that money is spent on Pentagon weapons programs and for destroying people around the globe and terrifying the nation. Nor can I pay state income tax as it is spent on prisons instead of schools.

Though the purpose of the tax system may have been at one time to redistribute the wealth downwards, the current tax system concentrates wealth in the hands of the rich (they after all have found many ways—both legal and illegal—of evading payment of their share). This requires the middle, working and lower classes to fund wars of aggression and ever-dwindling social services at home, education and healthcare being only two of the most egregious examples.

When a large majority of the population has been for years in favor of a universal healthcare system (Single Payer) and an administration elected purportedly to bring change to this country will simply not consider a single payer system, then it is obvious that the government is not ruled by the people, but by the monied interests.

Increased inequality, wars of aggression, the prison-industrial complex, the deterioration of “education” and “healthcare” in this country is not what I am going to fund with the value of my labor.

Sincerely,
Michael Borucke

“For revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy America reigns without a rival.”
–Frederick Douglas

What if...

What if the US wasn't the nicest kid on the block? What if our nation wasn't so great? I know it is. Don't get me wrong. But what would it mean if it's actions weren't done with the best of intentions, but were done out of nefarious, insidious intentions? I agree with you, America is the greatest. But can't we contemplate the idea for a little bit that America is a bunch of well-meaning citizens led by an empirical government, bent on consuming all resources and power? It's not possible I know. There's no way this is reality. Not even close. I love America.

But can we just discuss the question: what if it's not as good as we believe?

Protests, the corporate Media, and Agent Provocateurs

I've been having an interesting time reading the NYTimes blog on the G20 protests and the corporate media's portrayal of the protests. After a while, this is what the author of the NYTimes Blog Robert Mackey wrote in the comments section.

"A friend who is a photographer in London writes in to share some observations on shooting the protests, and has something very interesting to say about the violence that broke out on Wednesday night.

Since he needs to maintain a good working relationship with the police, he asked not to be named, but I’d like to share some of what he, and another photographer he was with for part of Wednesday observed while working.

He writes that it appeared to at least these two photographers that most of the much-photographed violence on Wednesday evening was caused by people who looked like “agent provocateurs,” who “were going from police line to police line baiting the police — and they were the ones who instigated the push against police lines that kicked off the evening violence.” This photographer adds that “There was another guy baiting the police and whipping up the crowd to rush the police, he got a hundred or so protesters to follow him and then sneaked off as they reached police lines.” He also writes that the second photographer, who is a reliable reporter, “saw a bunch of protesters trying to stop a guy in black throwing bottles at the police, the protesters had an argument him and then accused him of being a policeman, whereupon he ran to the police cordon, showed some I.D. and was let through!”

Finally, my friend says: “I should point out that the only reason that we were able to spot these guys so easily was because the protest at that point was so peaceful, they really stuck out, so we followed them from one police line to another as they tried to start trouble.”

— Robert Mackey