http://www.truth-out.org/3-things-must-happen-us-rise-and-defeat-corporatocracy/1314378373
We're doing a pretty good job at exposing the monster. The invisibility cloak is tattered, torn, and fluttering in the breeze. Now what?
All the best, if you work and vote for it,
Dan
US Flag
United We Stand!
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
York PC 112: What Wisconsin Means: On a 96-year-old labor journalist and burning down the forest.
http://inthesetimes.com/article/11844/what_wisconsin_means
All the best, if you vote and work for it,
Dan
All the best, if you vote and work for it,
Dan
Thursday, August 25, 2011
York pC 112: Network World On The Coming TSA Tracking Of Your Every Move From front Door To Work, Parties, Or Grocery Store...
The amazing police-state being birthed makes the old Nazi & Soviet models of "Papers, Please" look like Keystone Cops in comparison. They USED to tell us that the biggest difference between the USA and the Soviet Union was freedom of movement, rule of law, equal protection under the law,and rights of privacy. Is the US becoming WORSE than the old Soviet Union? You tell me:
http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/future-tsa-track-all-daily-travels-work-groce?source=NWWNLE_nlt_daily_am_2011-08-24
All the best, if you work and vote for it,
Dan
http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/future-tsa-track-all-daily-travels-work-groce?source=NWWNLE_nlt_daily_am_2011-08-24
All the best, if you work and vote for it,
Dan
Thursday, August 18, 2011
SEC Accused Of Willfully Destroying Investigative Documents Related To Melt-down Bank Fraud & Madoff In Possible High-level Cover Up...
Are the top bank cops crooked?
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/08/17/sen-grassley-sec-may-have-covered-up-bank-wrongdoings/
Reminds me of all the Enron-era docs that were lost when WTC-7, the un-struck 3rd building that housed SEC offices, went down on 9/11/1.
All the best, if you work for it and vote for it,
Dan
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/08/17/sen-grassley-sec-may-have-covered-up-bank-wrongdoings/
Reminds me of all the Enron-era docs that were lost when WTC-7, the un-struck 3rd building that housed SEC offices, went down on 9/11/1.
All the best, if you work for it and vote for it,
Dan
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
LA Times: US Workers Are Victims Of A "Speed Up"
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-jeffery-bauerlein-speedup-20110814,0,5795904.story
Wonder why you still have a job, but no life? Wonder why unemployment is so high? Here you go.
All the best, if you vote for it,
Dan
Wonder why you still have a job, but no life? Wonder why unemployment is so high? Here you go.
All the best, if you vote for it,
Dan
Monday, August 15, 2011
York PC 112: The Help, And A String Of Recent Union Victories
Unions have made some poorly-reported but important victories, ones that Progressives can learn from:
http://www.alternet.org/story/151974/8_union_victories_progressives_should_be_watching--and_learning_from/?page=entire#.TkhwIY-paik.facebook
On a similar note, my wife and I saw the movie "The Help" on Saturday night. The bravery of all the women involved was heart-warming. But when I step back and look at the big picture of life today, it strikes me that to Billionaires and Corporations, the rest of us ARE the help. It's obvious that they are trying to get away with treating those of less means world-wide far worse than what was depicted in the movie. Color isn't of much consequence in this larger battle in terms of who the Rich care about, that is only themselves in most cases. Color is simply a tool to stratify and divide Labor and keep it as cheap as possible. The same is true of many other things artificially dreamed-up, such as regional identities.
The Rich will do anything to pit Labor against itself in un-witting opposition to its own large-scale interests. That is you and I, folks. It's not about color, it's about money.
All the best, if you work and vote for it,
Dan
http://www.alternet.org/story/151974/8_union_victories_progressives_should_be_watching--and_learning_from/?page=entire#.TkhwIY-paik.facebook
On a similar note, my wife and I saw the movie "The Help" on Saturday night. The bravery of all the women involved was heart-warming. But when I step back and look at the big picture of life today, it strikes me that to Billionaires and Corporations, the rest of us ARE the help. It's obvious that they are trying to get away with treating those of less means world-wide far worse than what was depicted in the movie. Color isn't of much consequence in this larger battle in terms of who the Rich care about, that is only themselves in most cases. Color is simply a tool to stratify and divide Labor and keep it as cheap as possible. The same is true of many other things artificially dreamed-up, such as regional identities.
The Rich will do anything to pit Labor against itself in un-witting opposition to its own large-scale interests. That is you and I, folks. It's not about color, it's about money.
All the best, if you work and vote for it,
Dan
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
York PC 112: "Katrina For Incumbents?" Or, Why Primary Elections Are The "Killer App" For Pissed-Off Voters
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/08/10/poll-79-percent-of-americans-dissatisfied-with-u-s-political-system/
The place where you have a choice about which person will run for your party is the Primary. What we've been handed by DC is the perfect reason to do your homework and get to the Primary elections.
All the best, if you vote for it,
Dan
The place where you have a choice about which person will run for your party is the Primary. What we've been handed by DC is the perfect reason to do your homework and get to the Primary elections.
All the best, if you vote for it,
Dan
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
York PC 112: Protesters Shout Down Governor Walker In Wisconsin
Speaking of being out-louded...
All the best, if you work for it,
Dan
All the best, if you work for it,
Dan
Monday, August 8, 2011
York PC 112: Truthout On How The Koch-Funded Right Is Using New Media And Old Money To Game Elections And Public Opinion...
http://www.truth-out.org/koch-spider-web/1312231636
People think that New Media are not that critical, but increasingly they are becoming critical territory in the war of information and disinformation being spread. Take a good hard look at the story above, and then tell me we don't need to be all over the internet and the old ways of communicating too. We need every tool we can get to work against the money that is being thrown at us on and off-line.
Online information distribution is one area where we can fight well if we have enough people-power. Money is still an advantage there, but not as much by a long way.
All the best, if you work for it,
Dan
People think that New Media are not that critical, but increasingly they are becoming critical territory in the war of information and disinformation being spread. Take a good hard look at the story above, and then tell me we don't need to be all over the internet and the old ways of communicating too. We need every tool we can get to work against the money that is being thrown at us on and off-line.
Online information distribution is one area where we can fight well if we have enough people-power. Money is still an advantage there, but not as much by a long way.
All the best, if you work for it,
Dan
Sunday, August 7, 2011
York PC 112: Thom Hartmann And The Tea Party Takeover You Didn't Know About
See, THIS is exactly what I'm talking about! Check Thom out:
All the best, if you work for it,
Dan
All the best, if you work for it,
Dan
York PC 112: We've Had The Debtbacle, And Everything Nasty Before it, So Now What Do We Do?
The first thing that we need to do as a people is stop abdicating the most basic office of our government - the Precinct Representative - and take back control of the local party organizations.
People think "I just can't do any more, I'm too tired and stressed-out." Or they think that all politics is a dirty game full of slimy people. That's because good people have abdicated their responsibility in our democracy by letting the most basic party office go mostly unfilled.
Simply-put, if only bad people go into politics, only bad people will be in politics.
What I find on the ground, being involved in the local party organization, is that you have a few dedicated individuals who are trying to fill the boots of what should be three or four times their number, at least on the Democratic side. That's the case here in DuPage County, at least. I can't speak to what's going on in other regions, but my guess is that you'll find a mix of people who support the status quo corporate agenda in opposition to a few dedicated people trying to do good for their fellow citizens.
We need to take these basic offices back. We need people to get back in and work at the local level for change - because one guy in the White House is going to get his behind handed to him if he has no allies behind him.
Precinct-level Representatives in aggregate can pull on the Party platform, filter information to the officers above them, elect the officers above them, and control the boots-on-the-ground efforts of the local parties. The more Precinct Reps there are working for good campaigns in our elections, the less those campaigns will be forced to depend on corporate campaign donations to hire out what currently non-existent Precinct Reps should be doing. That's right, you can have a direct effect on how dependent political candidates are on donations to get their message out. How?
You, and sometimes volunteers with you, go out walking door-to-door talking to the people in your precinct, letting them know who the candidates are. You hear their concerns and take them back to the campaigns. Believe me, people will value a person they see face-to-face who will listen to their concerns over someone in an ad on the TV that they can't talk to.
If you can't stand what's going on in Washington, contact your local Democratic Organization, and do some volunteering with them. Attend a few of their meetings and get a sense of who they are. If there isn't an appointed or elected representative in your precinct, consider taking on that position. If there is, offer to help the current Precinct Representative in your precinct.
Most precincts are maybe 100 to 200 households in size. Large ones could have up to a couple of thousand people, but they're not too large for one person to walk. The other Precinct Reps who've been at this for awhile will usually help you and explain how things work. Often, you can walk precincts together with another Rep. It is doable, and it is very valuable to the benefit of our society.
In order for the Grass Roots to be truly effective and put an end to this long slide we've been going down, we need a fully-grown root system. We need our fellow citizens to get in there and pitch with us.
Just going out and voting isn't enough. You can't just give Democracy a kiss and send it out the door and expect it to come home for you. You have to give it time, attention, and kindness if you want to feel the warmth of a solid and gracious society standing with you. Like anything else in life, you get out of your government what you put into it.
We can do this. The results of failing to do this are clear all around us, in empty houses and empty storefronts and restaurants, and in tired faces and pink slips skittering down Main Street when the cold winds blow. It's right there in the scent of cigar smoke and clinking champagne glasses coming out of the bright neon windows of those 1% mansions on sprawling grounds hidden from the rest of us by tall trees and heavy security.
We've all done wonders at the jobs the Capitalist Captains of Industry want us to do, but so much so that we've ignored the duties a functioning democracy requires of us, which is to be involved and informed.
The only way the Ship of State is going to sail Main Street's way, is if Main Street gets their hands on the ropes and tiller.
All the best, if you work for it,
Dan
People think "I just can't do any more, I'm too tired and stressed-out." Or they think that all politics is a dirty game full of slimy people. That's because good people have abdicated their responsibility in our democracy by letting the most basic party office go mostly unfilled.
Simply-put, if only bad people go into politics, only bad people will be in politics.
What I find on the ground, being involved in the local party organization, is that you have a few dedicated individuals who are trying to fill the boots of what should be three or four times their number, at least on the Democratic side. That's the case here in DuPage County, at least. I can't speak to what's going on in other regions, but my guess is that you'll find a mix of people who support the status quo corporate agenda in opposition to a few dedicated people trying to do good for their fellow citizens.
We need to take these basic offices back. We need people to get back in and work at the local level for change - because one guy in the White House is going to get his behind handed to him if he has no allies behind him.
Precinct-level Representatives in aggregate can pull on the Party platform, filter information to the officers above them, elect the officers above them, and control the boots-on-the-ground efforts of the local parties. The more Precinct Reps there are working for good campaigns in our elections, the less those campaigns will be forced to depend on corporate campaign donations to hire out what currently non-existent Precinct Reps should be doing. That's right, you can have a direct effect on how dependent political candidates are on donations to get their message out. How?
You, and sometimes volunteers with you, go out walking door-to-door talking to the people in your precinct, letting them know who the candidates are. You hear their concerns and take them back to the campaigns. Believe me, people will value a person they see face-to-face who will listen to their concerns over someone in an ad on the TV that they can't talk to.
If you can't stand what's going on in Washington, contact your local Democratic Organization, and do some volunteering with them. Attend a few of their meetings and get a sense of who they are. If there isn't an appointed or elected representative in your precinct, consider taking on that position. If there is, offer to help the current Precinct Representative in your precinct.
Most precincts are maybe 100 to 200 households in size. Large ones could have up to a couple of thousand people, but they're not too large for one person to walk. The other Precinct Reps who've been at this for awhile will usually help you and explain how things work. Often, you can walk precincts together with another Rep. It is doable, and it is very valuable to the benefit of our society.
In order for the Grass Roots to be truly effective and put an end to this long slide we've been going down, we need a fully-grown root system. We need our fellow citizens to get in there and pitch with us.
Just going out and voting isn't enough. You can't just give Democracy a kiss and send it out the door and expect it to come home for you. You have to give it time, attention, and kindness if you want to feel the warmth of a solid and gracious society standing with you. Like anything else in life, you get out of your government what you put into it.
We can do this. The results of failing to do this are clear all around us, in empty houses and empty storefronts and restaurants, and in tired faces and pink slips skittering down Main Street when the cold winds blow. It's right there in the scent of cigar smoke and clinking champagne glasses coming out of the bright neon windows of those 1% mansions on sprawling grounds hidden from the rest of us by tall trees and heavy security.
We've all done wonders at the jobs the Capitalist Captains of Industry want us to do, but so much so that we've ignored the duties a functioning democracy requires of us, which is to be involved and informed.
The only way the Ship of State is going to sail Main Street's way, is if Main Street gets their hands on the ropes and tiller.
All the best, if you work for it,
Dan
Saturday, August 6, 2011
York PC 112: Tea Partying Like It's 1954...
The Tea Party has an earlier analogue:
http://www.truth-out.org/tea-partying-its-1954/1312298621
All the best, if you vote for it,
Dan
http://www.truth-out.org/tea-partying-its-1954/1312298621
All the best, if you vote for it,
Dan
York PC 112: ACLU seeks to uncover cell phone tracking by law enforcement
Look who's guarding your right to privacy now!
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/08/03/aclu-seeks-to-uncover-cell-phone-tracking-by-law-enforcement/
All the best, if you vote for it,
Dan
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/08/03/aclu-seeks-to-uncover-cell-phone-tracking-by-law-enforcement/
All the best, if you vote for it,
Dan
Friday, August 5, 2011
York PC 112: The Ed Show & Bill Maher On The Debtbacle...
See the video:
All the best, if you vote for it,
Dan
All the best, if you vote for it,
Dan
York PC 112: "They Then Loaned To The Government What They No Longer Had To Pay In Taxes," or, "The Tale Of Two Lootings"...
Ever wonder why your parents or grandparents could have one person at home and one working, but you can't? Ever wonder why you're always tired and too stressed-out to do much but plop in front of the tube after work?
Ever wonder why you can't seem to get ahead, or are always falling further and further behind?
Yes, it's that blessed miracle of the new smaller government, brought to you by your Corporate Overlords, and boy, have they got a deal for YOU!
http://www.truth-out.org/tale-two-lootings/1312292014
All the best, if you see through the propaganda machine,
Dan
Ever wonder why you can't seem to get ahead, or are always falling further and further behind?
Yes, it's that blessed miracle of the new smaller government, brought to you by your Corporate Overlords, and boy, have they got a deal for YOU!
http://www.truth-out.org/tale-two-lootings/1312292014
All the best, if you see through the propaganda machine,
Dan
Thursday, August 4, 2011
York PC 112: GOP Shuts Down The FAA So They Can Go Union-Busting...
Read it and weep, but be really careful flying this month:
http://www.truth-out.org/gop-holds-faa-hostage-over-anti-union-demands/1312398896
All the best, if you vote for it,
Dan
http://www.truth-out.org/gop-holds-faa-hostage-over-anti-union-demands/1312398896
All the best, if you vote for it,
Dan
York PC 112: Protesters Invade Wall Street Over Debtbacle...
Check it out:
All the best, if you vote for it,
Dan
All the best, if you vote for it,
Dan
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
York PC 112: Seniors Hold "Knit-Ins" At New York Banks...
Seniors are knitting "security blankets" that say "Save Medicare" to give to Congress Members on recess.
Check it out: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/08/03/seniors-hold-knit-ins-protests-at-new-york-banks/
All the best,
Dan
Check it out: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/08/03/seniors-hold-knit-ins-protests-at-new-york-banks/
All the best,
Dan
York PC 112: From Truthout - "Ransom Paid," Or As I Call It, How A Faux-News Construct Hijacked The Middle Class...
There is no Excuse for this. There's not even an un-capitalized excuse for this.
First, read on here: http://www.truth-out.org/ransom-paid/1312207122
Clearly the economics on this turkey are going to be smelling like skunk down the road. Mark my words, it is going to stink to high Heaven.
I have to agree with Jon Stewart on this one, "you're not going to pin this excrement on us," meaning the American public. Watch this clip:
http://www.rawstory.com/rawreplay/2011/08/jon-stewart-debt-deal-the-democrats-got-hosed/
The Washington Democrats were warned of exactly the scenario that just got played out LAST DECEMBER.
Worse yet, the debt ceiling itself, the so-called source of the "crisis," is considered unconstitutional by most legal scholars:
http://www.truth-out.org/forget-compromise-debt-ceiling-unconstitutional/1312205856
Before Faux News hyped the Tea Party, they were a small group of billionaire-funded right-wing extremists most people hadn't ever heard of. Their recent "convention" was canceled for lack of attendance. Their darling "Momma Grizzly" Sarah Palin had her movie debut to an empty theater in the most Republican county in California: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/07/sarah-palin-movie-debuts-to-empty-theater-in-orange-county/241983/ , and very quickly left the big screen for Pay-Per-View: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/palin-undefeated-tanks-heads-pay-per-view-193115807.html .
I am thoroughly disgusted with the whole mess.
Here's Thom Hartmann taking a look at the great Presidents and World Leaders and how they stack up with "compromising:"
There are a lot of people who think that President Obama is somehow pulling a "chess-wizard" move here. Personally, I think that's putting lipstick in the toilet before flushing. To me, this is not a good deal for the working-class majority in this country.
We're going to have to live with it for now, but as it unfolds, it's going to shake up a lot of folk's worlds.
Maybe it will in time drive people to understand that we should be investing in the future with education, infrastructure, and innovation, instead of investing in carnage overseas because the people making money off that carnage put a turban on the Boogey Man.
The bottom line is, if working-class Americans don't have good-paying jobs, the big corporations are going to have to compete for a lower-rent market, and even worse, so are all the small businesses.
This is the wrong direction, America. It's not going to make things better in the long-term. It will at best drag out the nasty "jobless recovery" that is really not a recovery, and at not-so-best, cause another full-blown recession.
We could be doing better. We could be doing a LOT better.
I hope we decide to before we're left behind by the rest of the world.
Dan
First, read on here: http://www.truth-out.org/ransom-paid/1312207122
Clearly the economics on this turkey are going to be smelling like skunk down the road. Mark my words, it is going to stink to high Heaven.
I have to agree with Jon Stewart on this one, "you're not going to pin this excrement on us," meaning the American public. Watch this clip:
http://www.rawstory.com/rawreplay/2011/08/jon-stewart-debt-deal-the-democrats-got-hosed/
The Washington Democrats were warned of exactly the scenario that just got played out LAST DECEMBER.
Worse yet, the debt ceiling itself, the so-called source of the "crisis," is considered unconstitutional by most legal scholars:
http://www.truth-out.org/forget-compromise-debt-ceiling-unconstitutional/1312205856
Before Faux News hyped the Tea Party, they were a small group of billionaire-funded right-wing extremists most people hadn't ever heard of. Their recent "convention" was canceled for lack of attendance. Their darling "Momma Grizzly" Sarah Palin had her movie debut to an empty theater in the most Republican county in California: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/07/sarah-palin-movie-debuts-to-empty-theater-in-orange-county/241983/ , and very quickly left the big screen for Pay-Per-View: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/palin-undefeated-tanks-heads-pay-per-view-193115807.html .
I am thoroughly disgusted with the whole mess.
Here's Thom Hartmann taking a look at the great Presidents and World Leaders and how they stack up with "compromising:"
There are a lot of people who think that President Obama is somehow pulling a "chess-wizard" move here. Personally, I think that's putting lipstick in the toilet before flushing. To me, this is not a good deal for the working-class majority in this country.
We're going to have to live with it for now, but as it unfolds, it's going to shake up a lot of folk's worlds.
Maybe it will in time drive people to understand that we should be investing in the future with education, infrastructure, and innovation, instead of investing in carnage overseas because the people making money off that carnage put a turban on the Boogey Man.
The bottom line is, if working-class Americans don't have good-paying jobs, the big corporations are going to have to compete for a lower-rent market, and even worse, so are all the small businesses.
This is the wrong direction, America. It's not going to make things better in the long-term. It will at best drag out the nasty "jobless recovery" that is really not a recovery, and at not-so-best, cause another full-blown recession.
We could be doing better. We could be doing a LOT better.
I hope we decide to before we're left behind by the rest of the world.
Dan
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Truthout: Forget Compromise: The Debt Ceiling Is Unconstitutional
http://www.truth-out.org/forget-compromise-debt-ceiling-unconstitutional/1312205856
Once again, the artficial "debt ceiling" crisis is being used as a tool to defraud people who have paid into Sociual Security and Medicare for years out of benefits they have already paid for.
All the best,
Dan
Once again, the artficial "debt ceiling" crisis is being used as a tool to defraud people who have paid into Sociual Security and Medicare for years out of benefits they have already paid for.
All the best,
Dan
Monday, August 1, 2011
From Truthout.org: Hope for the Hell of It
This is one of the best lists of activist accomplishments and reasons not to surrender that I've seen in a decade:
http://www.truth-out.org/hope-care-and-feeding/1312210173
Read on, and take heart.
All the best,
Dan Stafford
York 112 PC
http://www.truth-out.org/hope-care-and-feeding/1312210173
Read on, and take heart.
All the best,
Dan Stafford
York 112 PC
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