Attack on Planned Parenthood Continues

The Republican attack on Planned Parenthood, in the form of the House zeroing out funding for the organization in the continuing resolution on the federal budget, seemingly came out of nowhere.

For decades, the kinds of services provided with federal dollars by Planned Parenthood---contraception, STD testing and treatment, cancer screening---had been assumed non-controversial by the Beltway media.

The reproductive rights debate was framed mainly as a fight over bodily autonomy versus fetal life, between secular humanists and religious folks who believed fertilized eggs had souls.

From: AlterNet

Things Have Changed?

Twenty years after the beating of Rodney King, the LAPD is a changed operation.

Compared to the cops who beat King, officers these days hit the streets with a new reality ingrained in their minds: Someone is always watching.

"Early on in their training, I always tell them, 'Whatever you do, assume it will be caught on video,' " said Sgt. Heather Fungaroli, who supervises recruits at the LAPD's academy.

"We tell them if they're doing the right thing then they have no reason to worry."

"Things are a whole lot more transparent now and if you're going to do something stupid, then you're going to pay for your stupidity."

It finally took the threat of citizens 'catching' them to get them to stop beating us. And, If you believe they won't still find a way to get away with it, you are living in a fairy tale.

CHEVRON Finally Found Guilty of Rainforest Destruction

Amazon Watch and Rainforest Action Network just announced a major victory for the Amazon rainforest. An Ecuadorean judge today found Chevron guilty of one of the largest environmental crimes in history and ordered the company to pay a whopping $8 billion to clean up its damage in the Amazon. 

 Chevron immediately issued a statement condemning the judgment as "illegitimate and unenforceable" and announced plans to appeal.  This ruling clearly has Chevron riled up, as the statement suggests the ruling is "the product of fraud" and included this ominous line: "Chevron intends to see that the perpetrators of this fraud are held accountable for their misconduct."

Chevron apparently fails to see the irony of the phrase "held accountable for their misconduct" since today was a major slap down of the company's destruction of the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador.

AmazonWatch and Rainforest Action Network have released the following statement in response to the verdict:

"As of today, Chevron’s guilt for extensive oil contamination in the Amazon rainforest is official. It is time Chevron takes responsibility for these environmental and public health damages, which they have fought for the past 18 years.

“Today’s ruling in Ecuador against Chevron proves overwhelmingly that the oil giant is responsible for billions gallons of highly toxic waste sludge deliberately dumped into local streams and rivers, which thousands depend on for drinking, bathing, and fishing.

“Chevron has spent the last 18 years waging unprecedented public relations and lobbying campaigns to avoid cleaning up the environmental and public health catastrophe it left in the Amazon rainforest. Today’s guilty verdict sends a loud and clear message: It is time Chevron clean up its disastrous mess in Ecuador.

“Today’s case is historic and unprecedented. It is the first time Indigenous people have sued a multinational corporation in the country where the crime was committed and won.

“Today’s historic ruling against Chevron is a testament to the strength of the Ecuadorian people who have spent 18 years bringing Chevron to justice while suffering the effects of the company’s extensive oil contamination.”

Background

From 1964 to 1990 Chevron (formerly Texaco) operated a large oil concession in the northeastern region of the Ecuadorian Amazon, reaping billions of dollars in profits before pulling out of Ecuador in 1992.

Chevron has admitted during the long-running trial in both US and Ecuadorian courts that it created a system of oil extraction that led to the deliberate discharge of approximately 18 billion gallons of chemical-laden "water of formation" into the streams and rivers of Ecuador's Amazon, home to six indigenous groups.

Over the course of more than two decades of operations, Chevron abandoned more than 900 unlined waste pits gouged out of the jungle floor that leech toxins into soils and streams; contaminated the air by burning the waste pits; dumped oil along roads; and spilled millions of gallons of pure crude from ruptured pipelines. Internal company documents demonstrate that Chevron officials ordered field workers to destroy records of oil spills. The company refused to develop an environmental response plan or pipeline maintenance program, and Chevron never conducted a single health evaluation or environmental impact study despite the obvious harm it was causing.

America is Headed For A Crash and Only the Voters Can Save Us

Our leaders corrupt way of doing things is responsible for every crisis we face in this nation. And by extension, the American voter holds some of that responsibility for allowing these career con men to remain in office.

The following is a list of what I think are the results of our leaders lack of leadership skills:

• Abandonment of the working class - Our social programs are being scrapped while wildly profitable industries get tax breaks and huge subsidies every year. Financial firms are nearly every financial crisis we have ever faced. And every time their bubbles pop, our political leaders are all too willing to bail them out with taxpayer money. Meanwhile, our industrial strength, which used to be the backbone of this once great nation, has been sold to foreign countries in the name of cheaper labor, yet politicians in Washington do nothing as good paying jobs vanish and average workers’ wages drop. Instead, they dupe us with skewed statistics and urge us to spend beyond our means. That way they can keep the sick cycle of our consumer economy spinning.
• The craft of journalism has sold itself out as entertainment – Corporations own most of our national media so we now hear only the news they want us to hear and only with their ‘special’ spin on it.
• Military used as security forces to protect corporations interests overseas - This business-first foreign policy has turned our democratic republic into an empire. Our government now spends half a trillion dollars every year to police the globe. And yet when our soldiers come home from our wars abroad, we treat them like garbage. Worst of all, despite the terrible sacrifices our troops and their families have made, most Americans feel less secure than ever.
• Political hypocrisy – The labels democrat and republican are interchangeable. There is very little difference between the two as they sell their services to the highest bidder.  Washington idea of ‘change’ is the conversion from ‘public servant’ to a ‘shadow government’ run by shortsighted, money grubbing conmen. Big business and its armies of lawyers, accountants and lobbyists run our country. They all siphon billions from our treasury, writes our laws, and dictates foreign and domestic policy.
• Callousness of the wealthy – abuse of the working class for their own gain

The plan that has been in place since Reaganomics became a buzzword is that Americans are being groomed to be the servile class. Our ability to manufacture goods has been taken away when our factories were sent overseas. We are now left with only service jobs with salaries of less than half what previous generations brought home. Funding for education is being systematically stripped away preventing millions of American’s from attaining their dream of higher education while more jobs are requiring higher education. Only the rich will afford to go to university and therefore only the rich will be employable which keeps the money in the hands of the rich, and the gap between rich and poor expands ever wider.

We need to revolutionize our government. The infection eating away at our country is too great for band-aids. Real reform requires a total overhaul of the political system.

Get Rid of Career Politicians

One of the first things that needs to be done away with is career politicians. We have a perfectly workable framework to guide any new politician on how this nation should be run, and supplanting those politicians who have made a career out of hoarding all the goodies for themselves while hard working tax paying Americans struggle just to make ends meet will free up money to balance the budget and make this nation profitable and independent again.

As a part of this plan salary caps need to be instituted. Everyone entering Congress receives the same pay and benefits and they are directly tied to the health of the economy. If things are going well for the economy then they can get modest annual raises, if not then they do not get a raise. They have to feed their own retirement plans and health care plans just as the tax payers they serve do.

We need to crush the old ‘two party only’ system by ridding ourselves of the ‘electoral map’. This is nothing but a tool that has become masterfully manipulated by incumbents to ensure they stay in power. We need independent voices to be heard in debates and on ballots. This is the only way we are going to get politicians to finally listen to the people.

Where is the planning for our future?

This country is making plenty of money to run it. The problem is the greed of the politicians in charge of it. They give it away to special interest groups instead of following a long term and short term plan designed to benefit the people who supplied that money. And about those long-term and short-term plans, the only plans most of these politicians are interested in is their next election, so they spend their time and our money buying support to keep themselves in office. Our leaders don’t how to budget money, nor do they know how to make any plans for our nation’s future. They are ‘re-active’ instead of ‘pro-active’. And everyone knows that this situation is disastrous for the future. To know this is true you only need to try to name something that has gotten better in this country. Everything has only gotten worse.

The starting salary for members of Congress in Washington is $165,000 per year, four times the national average of $40,000 and more than fifteen times the minimum wage. Do you think anyone bringing home that salary can relate to the sacrifices that tax payers make every day to put three decent meals a day on their families table? Do they live without healthcare? Does their spouse have to take on a second job to make it? Do they worry about losing their pension should they fall ill before they retire?

Members of Congress have their own gymnasium, their own stores, and their own hairdressers. They have “franking” privileges, allowing them to send mail at cheaper rates. After only five years of service – that’s right, five years – they qualify for a full pension. They can supplement their retirement fund by putting an additional five percent of their salaries into a 401(k)-style “Thrift Savings Plan.” And while millions of their fellow Americans go without adequate health coverage, thanks in large part to lawmakers’ kowtowing to the health care industry, Congress members enjoy the highest quality medical care. Plus they bring in their family members to ride the gravy train.

Free For All Spending Is Stifling Us

This free for all spending has to end, the sooner the better. Every time our economy is flush and tax revenue is pouring into the coffers Congress spends like there’s no tomorrow. But when money gets tight, do they cut back on their spending in order to stay within our means? No. They demand more and go into debt so they can continue their spending habits. Today, our national debt is over $10 trillion!

I’m just one guy trying to make some sense of how we got to where we are. I can clearly see that something has to give. This bloated and under-funded system is due to collapse. If we don’t change the way politicians do business in Washington every American will pay dearly from the economic crash that is certain to be far worse than the Great Depression. It’s up to the voters because career politicians are not in any hurry to give up the gilded trough they are currently hooked up to.