Thursday, October 11, 2012
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
1983 Terrorist Bombings in Beirut Lebanon, Hold Lessons For Discussions of Benghazi Attack
The results of that bombing is not shown above. The bombed out building above is the result of an October 23, 1983 bombing of the Marine barracks building in the same city that killed 220 Marines and 21 Navy servicemen just about 6 months later.
A Middle East expert later reported that the US prejudice towards the Maronite Christians in the multi-faith nation was key to the cause of the attack. (I am not saying that the groups that inspired, planned, and activated the attack are right, only that was their inspiration.)
But, instead of Democrats in Congress raising a big stink in 1983 or the next year during the campaign over the failure of the Reagan administration to stop even the second attack, we all came together, like we did after the failures of the Bush 43 administration to protect Americans on the day we now simply call 9/11.
But the Republicans are all up in arms proclaiming that Obama needs to be replaced for a much smaller terrorist attack on the Benghazi consulate that killed four people including the ambassador to Libya, though , of course, there are other reasons that the GOP want Obama out. They neither pushed Reagan, nor Bush to be removed from office at the first election after much larger failures to prevent terrorism.
It couldn't be the "GOP first" attitude they have, could it? Or maybe they are already committed to starting another war for Israel, a much bigger war than the Invasion of Iraq. Romney has had two secret meetings with Netanyahu during his campaign. The Israeli Prime Minister, like his predecessors is not above wasting American's lives and money for his purposes. Netanyahu has already called for an invasion of Iran because of Benghazi. (He's been quieter since that obvious outburst, but it fits a pattern of Americans dying to fix things in the Middle East with the biggest benefit going elsewhere.)
The millionaires and billionaires that own and fund the news system tend to favor Republican candidates for obvious reasons, and they are working their magic this year too. They are pretty blatant, but they have control of most news and entertainment venues and continue to pass out the stories about the brave newsmen and women who defy the wealthy, and bring us pure truth.
Actually, we should pay more attention to what Deep Throat said to Bob Woodward. "Follow the money." When millionaires and billionaires own and fund the news, the news is going to favor their agenda, their candidates, even if the result is tens of thousands of middle class and poor kids will be killed.
The truth they may be hiding now is that Romney appears to have made a deal with Netanyahu to invade Iran whose military is 10 times stronger than Iraq's military was in 2003, and which was never forced to give up its chemical and biological weapons. The coming war could make the Iraq war look like the cake walk the Bushies claimed it would be, and is likely to trigger the universal draft plan that Dubya's Selective Service created in 2004, which has been kept secret, even as two GOP allies, a top General, and a pro-military writer prepared the ground for starting it up just this summer.
When the children of the wealthy even do go to war they are placed in units surrounding major officers which are protected by many rings of security. They don't go to the wars that our kids go to, the ones in which service personnel really get killed. The wealthy ride in caravans protected by Blackwater type troops who will kill 17 or more natives if they feel itchy about any security situation.
But the fix is in. The rich want Romney and will do what they can to get the huge tax cuts and war, and they control the news media, and just about everything else.
I just wanted to point out how unfair our "Fair and Balanced" news media and apparently our own minds really are.
If You Do Not Vote, You Hand Jim Crow the Victory
Defeat The New Jim Crow! Get Out and Vote!
Fact: The new game that Republicans are playing is a gambit to continue suppressing women and minorities and even the non-affluent middle class.
Fact: If you give in to their attempts to take your vote away from you, you will lose big time. If you do not vote, they can take your Social Security, quality schools for your kids, and even you and/or your children to feed their deadly wars.
Fact: Now that Romney looks so much more like Dubya 2, you really need to know this. Remember Dubya was going to bring peace and prosperity. Instead he brought war and economic disaster.
Fact: Now they want to grab everything you've put into Social Security and Medicare for those under 55.
Fact: No matter what people in your state say, every new voter ID law enacted in the past year has been struck down on constitutional grounds --mostly about timing. If they ask for ID in states where they just enacted the laws this year, you can say you don't have it and vote anyway. It turns out that there was not enough time to issue everyone in the state an ID so the courts found the new gambits unworkable and therefore to be unconstitutional. There is some news that people at the polls are going to try to keep you from voting by lying, or by harassing your based on the color of your skin or how affluent you look. Ignore them. If they continue to harass you grab your cell phone and call the cops. No one should be harassing voters.
Fact: And the Washington Post reported that Romney and Ryan's plans for Medicare will bankrupt the program by 2016. This is not a campaign talking point. It's reality. It won'[t matter what they said in this campaign when Medicare is broke. It will be gone for all. End of story. The haters win. Who's going to pay for your, or your parents medical care then. I guess the banks will end up owning all the houses pretty soon as they foreclose on them for medical bills. History shows that then the price of having a place to live skyrockets and billionaires get even happier.
Picture used via Creative Commons License Attribution-Share Alike (CC x SA 2.0) thanks to Flickr user DonkeyHotey who has no conncetion to this blog or blogger. BTW, to see the real message from new voter id laws enacted since 2011 roll over picture, DH created that message.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
The Truth About Social Security That Many Don't Want You to Know
Ironic?:
You Pay over 15% of your Salary into the Social Security/Medicare System Every Year.
But:
Republicans Call It an "Entitlement", Implying You Feel "Entitled" to Other People's Property.
Explanation: As a self-employed individual I pay both sides of the tax towards the Social Security/Medicare system. That's 15.3% of my income each year. I was shocked when I first saw the rate a couple of decades ago, since as an employee I paid less than half of that. A little checking led to the realization that my employer paid half of the total amount that needed to be paid, matching my contribution. But I've also read, that employers maintain that if they did not have to pay their portion of the "payroll" taxes they would instantly transfer that money to their employees.And, if you believe they would actually funnel the money into your paycheck, I've got a brand spanking new Ford Model T to sell you! But it shows the mindset of the business community, and they probably do take it out of your salary. I know its completely taken out of mine.
So for the years you've worked the government has taken 15.3% of your salary for all intents and purposes for Social Security and Medicare
But for thirty years or more mainstream news media have joined the GOP in proclaiming that program an "entitlement" like something wholly unearned passed down to you as an inheritance (a windfall that Republicans actually believe you should get in entirety without paying taxes on) and the GOP has acted like it's something you are demanding from poor starving billionaires.
I checked out a while back and found that even 6.2% interest applied to what is taken from only your paycheck for your Social Security alone would make a nice nest egg and keep you living at the same standard of living (as you averaged) for 20 years past your retirement. And the calculator I used only paid the interest yearly. By paying daily (like money you owe is usually calculated) that number should be a good deal higher. Social Security payments are not paid out at the amount you were receiving, but substantially less, so you should receive them for substantially longer than 20 years without costing the government anything.
Also, there is the charge that the government doesn't pay out interest on payroll taxes funds because they don't make interest on them. But if the government avoids higher interest charges because it has the FICA funds sitting around waiting for people to retire, then it is receiving a kind of interest on them most (actually all because you and I are the government of the people, for the people and by the people) of that benefit should be passed on to you. Also, there is still the employers side of the SS payments, which, as I said probably are from what you might have once gotten, though I doubt they would ever be returned is the employer contribution disappeared. That would instantly double your retirement years, so the government should be able to pay you for 40 years of retirement at the average of a years income out of your own funds. And that's what the GOP and the mainstream news media don't want you to know. Both of them are selling your rights to the same billionaires and centi-millionaires that are continually using their strings to pay them big interest free loans and providing them fantastic investment opportunities through wars or at least mega military purchases, as well, a prison building and maintenance and even tax cuts for the wealthy that never actually provide better paying jobs for us.
Finally, we should take the employers at their words and calculate double the amount that we actually pay for our Social Security, because I'm sure they do take it from our pay. So we could live 40 years beyond retirement and only take out what we've paid in and at a reasonable interest. Ask politicians where our money is. Did it already disappear into war and tax cuts for the wealthy?
And we need to put to bed the idea that young people pay for older people's retirement. The numbers show they don't.
Conclusion:
Don't let anyone call your Social Security an "entitlement". You earned it, you saved it. It's yours!
But the Republicans want to take it away for tax cuts for fat cats and war.
Here is the compound interest calculator I used for the above calculations.
Picture above used via Creative Commons License thanks to Flickr user
DonkeyHotey who has no connection to this blog or blogger.
A shorter URL for this post is http://bit.ly/1gU7wlF
A shorter URL for this post is http://bit.ly/1gU7wlF
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Mitt Romney Won Debate by Lying
It's apparently what he does best. That fits with what the people who's jobs he shipped to China tell us. Romney will say anything to get his way. No wonder he's Karl Roves new champion.
Mitt Romney's Coal Mine Owner Buddy Leans On Workers for $$ for GOP Candidates
Boss: "you're not giving this month. step it up. you're insulting me by not giving. what's going on? sometimes he'll attach a list of employees not giving or a spreadsheet showing who is giving and who is not."BTW, Mitt, there is no such thing as "clean coal" The effects of scrubbing coal emissions are miniscule on the amazing capabilities of coal to create Global Warming. It is actually the most dangerous fuel to burn. It would be better to pension coal miners and send their kids to college so they don't have to risk their lives in the mines.
Mr Romney, your "Clean Coal" buddies kill 1000 kids a day, over 400,000 people a year according to a new report.
Another toxic factor here is that this is not being dealt with in Ohio and maybe in other states and other types of businesses. Buckeyes and anyone in a state where people are affected by such manipulation from their bosses should see to their state government and force their elected officials to clean this up.
Apparently Governor Kasich doesn't care that people in his state are being coerced to donate to the mine owner's select candidates at a cost to their families., and to the party that allows mine owners to run risky operations. Remember the three disastrous coal mine tragedies that have happened since the start of the 21st century? Those belong back in the 19th century, and should not be happening today.
This goes beyond the mining industry. It could be common elsewhere if not now, then later. This could become standard in all occupations, owners or managers keeping track of employees' donations, making sure that money is flowing to candidates of the bosses' choice who will likely reduce protections for working people like sick leave, and or overtime, not to mention safety standards for people affected by the business.
Who would be immune? Could doctors' eduction requirements be reduced with the proper people in office who's campaign coffers were boosted by physicians forced to donate by a hospital administration?
That's what breaks the constitution, not a poor mother and children getting some food in hard times.
Also, when was the last time that solar power or wind power killed a dozen people in a day let alone the numbers seen in coal mine disasters and the 1000 children who die each day by the dirtiest of old energy sources, Big Coal.
Friday, October 5, 2012
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
#Jets Owner Loves Socialist $$ From #NFL But Works To Elect Extreme Capitalists #Romney/Ryan
I'm glad I'm not a Jets fan. I'd be ready to switch right now. The NYC area, even has another team to watch and support!
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