The Big Easy

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MKFaizi

The Big Easy

Post by MKFaizi » Thu Sep 01, 2005 1:08 pm

I reckon the shock of the Gulf Coast disaster is not so much the devastation that Nature can wreak but the obvious fact that the US is a Third World country. Very poor people cannot afford to evacuate. They don't have cars and they cannot afford gasoline.

Had the same crap happened in a more upscale area of the country, there would not have been the deaths and the homeless in quite the same way.

Back in the late Seventies, I wanted to move to New Orleans. My husband at the time said he did not want to do it because it was so poor. He had been there many times. I have never been there.

Right now, looks worse than Baltimore.

Thousands likely to have died. I don't think that would have happened in Palm Beach, for example.

Looks worse than India.

This would not have happened quite like this back in the Sixties. There would have been much more federal aid provided more quickly.

Bunch of black people. No one gives a shit.

Kind of gets me that GW gets a reprive from the Iraq fiasco.

The whole thing disgusts me. The hypocrisy disgusts me.

Faizi

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Post by avidaloca » Thu Sep 01, 2005 1:20 pm

My first cousin recently married an American from this area and they now live in Jackson, Mississipi, a few hours north of New Orleans (where they sometimes drive to on vacation). This guy aint no genius I can tell you - I imagine he fits in well there.

MKFaizi

Post by MKFaizi » Thu Sep 01, 2005 2:05 pm

I love Mississippi and Alabama and Louisiana.

Where exactly do you think that a genius might fit in?

Boston, Massachusetts is a very educated city. But I don't think it fosters genius any more than any other place.

I don't think, for instance, that Brisbane fosters genius. I don't think that genius is a matter of geography. More a matter of cause and effect and geographical coincidence.

Faizi

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Post by BrianT » Thu Sep 01, 2005 2:45 pm

I think Berkeley fosters genius. Even the homeless people there are incredible.

I bet that if this hit India there'd be tens of thousands.
--Brian

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Post by avidaloca » Thu Sep 01, 2005 3:05 pm

When I said the guy aint no genius, I meant that ironically. He has a fairly low intelligence level. This might make him more at ease with living in a medium-sized town in the poorest state of the US compared to say a Harvard graduate or someone like that.

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Re: The Big Easy

Post by DHodges » Fri Sep 02, 2005 12:03 am

MKFaizi wrote:I reckon the shock of the Gulf Coast disaster is not so much the devastation that Nature can wreak but the obvious fact that the US is a Third World country. Very poor people cannot afford to evacuate. They don't have cars and they cannot afford gasoline.
Still, it's interesting to compare what happened there to what happened with the recent tsunami.

"This is our tsunami," someone said on the news. One of the worst natural disasters to ever hit the U.S.

But look at the magnitude. The tsunami killed at least 180,000 people. So far, in Lousiana, there are about 200 reported dead - likely to rise to a thousand or two.

Meanwhile, after mourning the devastation in Lousiana for hours, the news throws in at the end as an afterthought: "965 dead in Baghdad." More attention was paid to that one guy in Louisiana who lost his wife and house.

Similarly, when reporting on Iraq, the American casualties are reported, but the Iraqi casualties usually aren't - just not worth mentioning.

So we can infer that, to Americans, one American life is worth approximately 1000 non-American lives. It's hardy a news flash that Americans consider themselves more important - just kind of interesting that it can be quantified this way.

MKFaizi

Post by MKFaizi » Fri Sep 02, 2005 10:35 am

Dave Hodges,

I realize what you are saying. Yes, far more people were killed and displaced during the tsunami but that covered a far more wide spread geographical area. Thailand, southern India, Sri Lanka.

The comparison between the geographical area of India and the gulf coast of the US is no comparison. I don't believe that the life of someone in Sri Lanka is less valuable than an American's life. I think that is beside the point.

This happened in our back yard. "We" are responsible for our citizens. We are not responsible for the citizens of India. We are not obligated to send help to India. Morally, we should send help and, to some extent, the US did send help.

The government -- so called -- is obligated and supposed to be responsible for its own citizens. Assistance and rescue is something that Americans logically expect from its government when there is a disaster. On the day that the World Trade Towers were hit in NYC, there was a great outpouring of help and support. Of course, New York City has a lot more resources than New Orleans or Biloxi.

Where are the heroic firemen in New Orleans? Firemen and ironworkers from all over the US went to New York City to help with the recovery of the WTC. Why is there no such mobilization to help the poor people in New Orleans?

Is the life of a NY stockbroker worth more than the life of a poor black dude with nothing in New Orleans?

The hypocrisy of that is astounding.

Why -- I think you might want to ask yourself -- was the disaster in NYC important enough to demand immediate and purposeful help -- help that helps -- when focus in the press was diverted from world news for months -- when rich widows were interviewed ad nauseum in the press -- why was the loss of three thousand lives in NYC more important than the disaster of New Orleans?

There were no refugees in the WTC disasters. The rich widows went home to grieve in comfort. Compensation for lost life was doled out in terms of probable life time earnings.

I don't resent that. That is utterly cool.

But the destitute in New Orleans are American citizens, too. There are numerous dead left lying on the streets. There are babies who have no food. There are people dying for lack of water and food. The city is eighty percent flooded -- people walking in shit. Up to their butts in shit water; up to their chests. Rats eating bodies on the streets.

The US is supposedly the richest country in the world and -- yes -- I think we were obligated to help with the tsunami victims. But, damn, this is bad. Very bad -- in our own backyard. We can't even help our own people? India could do better than this, for God's sake.

You leave thousands of people up to their butts in filthy water for days and expect them to obey the law? You expect them not to loot? No communication. No electricity. No water. And you expect people to obey the law?

What law?

The people trying to survive in the convention center had no food for days. Filth. Dead bodies.

Law? Obedience?

Give me a fucking break! What is there to obey and respect?

The governor of Louisiana states that law and order will be restored while the mayor of New Orleans is telling people to get out on the highway and start walking.

How are people supposed to obey the so called law while simultaneously fending for themselves>

I am utterly disgusted. Dave, it is not a matter of an American life being more valuable than an Iraqi life. It is a matter of a government being responsible for its citizens in the aftermath of a devastating disaster. There has been very little done to help these people and that, dear David, underscores the fact that the US has become a Third World country.

It is becoming a country of the rich barricaded behind gated communities -- not that much different from Pakistan. I have seen this coming for years -- since the Eighties. It is here now.

People ask, "Why could not buses and cars and trucks gone down there and evacuated people before the storm hit?"

I can tell them why. It would not have been cost effective. No profit.

Capitalism has become the new communism. I am deeply ashamed of it.

In his time, Charles Dickens wrote about the miseries of rampant capitalism. Such a voice is needed now. Tupac is dead.

Yes, I am sorry to hear of the people who suffocated in the crowds in Iraq. I have written many, many times here about Iraq and about my disagreement with US involvement there. The whole thing there makes me sick. I am very sorry for those people. I wish that I could do something to help.

But I pay taxes in the US. I work hard for a living. I expect my government to assist its citizens in the same way the people of New York were assisted after 9/11. I expect poor people to be assisted as well as the wealthy.

Obviously, my expectations are too high.

No one gives a shit.

Faizi

MKFaizi

Post by MKFaizi » Fri Sep 02, 2005 10:36 am

Dave Hodges,

I realize what you are saying. Yes, far more people were killed and displaced during the tsunami but that covered a far more wide spread geographical area. Thailand, southern India, Sri Lanka.

The comparison between the geographical area of India and the gulf coast of the US is no comparison. I don't believe that the life of someone in Sri Lanka is less valuable than an American's life. I think that is beside the point.

This happened in our back yard. "We" are responsible for our citizens. We are not responsible for the citizens of India. We are not obligated to send help to India. Morally, we should send help and, to some extent, the US did send help.

The government -- so called -- is obligated and supposed to be responsible for its own citizens. Assistance and rescue is something that Americans logically expect from its government when there is a disaster. On the day that the World Trade Towers were hit in NYC, there was a great outpouring of help and support. Of course, New York City has a lot more resources than New Orleans or Biloxi.

Where are the heroic firemen in New Orleans? Firemen and ironworkers from all over the US went to New York City to help with the recovery of the WTC. Why is there no such mobilization to help the poor people in New Orleans?

Is the life of a NY stockbroker worth more than the life of a poor black dude with nothing in New Orleans?

The hypocrisy of that is astounding.

Why -- I think you might want to ask yourself -- was the disaster in NYC important enough to demand immediate and purposeful help -- help that helps -- when focus in the press was diverted from world news for months -- when rich widows were interviewed ad nauseum in the press -- why was the loss of three thousand lives in NYC more important than the disaster of New Orleans?

There were no refugees in the WTC disasters. The rich widows went home to grieve in comfort. Compensation for lost life was doled out in terms of probable life time earnings.

I don't resent that. That is utterly cool.

But the destitute in New Orleans are American citizens, too. There are numerous dead left lying on the streets. There are babies who have no food. There are people dying for lack of water and food. The city is eighty percent flooded -- people walking in shit. Up to their butts in shit water; up to their chests. Rats eating bodies on the streets.

The US is supposedly the richest country in the world and -- yes -- I think we were obligated to help with the tsunami victims. But, damn, this is bad. Very bad -- in our own backyard. We can't even help our own people? India could do better than this, for God's sake.

You leave thousands of people up to their butts in filthy water for days and expect them to obey the law? You expect them not to loot? No communication. No electricity. No water. And you expect people to obey the law?

What law?

The people trying to survive in the convention center had no food for days. Filth. Dead bodies.

Law? Obedience?

Give me a fucking break! What is there to obey and respect?

The governor of Louisiana states that law and order will be restored while the mayor of New Orleans is telling people to get out on the highway and start walking.

How are people supposed to obey the so called law while simultaneously fending for themselves>

I am utterly disgusted. Dave, it is not a matter of an American life being more valuable than an Iraqi life. It is a matter of a government being responsible for its citizens in the aftermath of a devastating disaster. There has been very little done to help these people and that, dear David, underscores the fact that the US has become a Third World country.

It is becoming a country of the rich barricaded behind gated communities -- not that much different from Pakistan. I have seen this coming for years -- since the Eighties. It is here now.

People ask, "Why could not buses and cars and trucks gone down there and evacuated people before the storm hit?"

I can tell them why. It would not have been cost effective. No profit.

Capitalism has become the new communism. I am deeply ashamed of it.

In his time, Charles Dickens wrote about the miseries of rampant capitalism. Such a voice is needed now. Tupac is dead.

Yes, I am sorry to hear of the people who suffocated in the crowds in Iraq. I have written many, many times here about Iraq and about my disagreement with US involvement there. The whole thing there makes me sick. I am very sorry for those people. I wish that I could do something to help.

But I pay taxes in the US. I work hard for a living. I expect my government to assist its citizens in the same way the people of New York were assisted after 9/11. I expect poor people to be assisted as well as the wealthy.

Obviously, my expectations are too high.

No one gives a shit.

Faizi

MKFaizi

Post by MKFaizi » Fri Sep 02, 2005 10:58 am

Yes, the bums on the streets in Boston are very educated, too. Hell, even the rats are educated in Boston. I reckon a Boston rat could one day wind up as president of the US.

I have never been to Berkeley. But I know a lot of people who lived there. One in particular.

He went to Berkeley to live after he was arrested by the Secret Service for threatening to kill President Nixon. He was involved in Insane Liberation. He helped mental patients escape hospitals. Broke into 'em and helped the people get over fences.

He liked Berkeley but, like most people there, he was not born or raised there. He grew up in a small city in the Appalachian mountains.

I rate him as a genius above most people. He had his own agenda.

He lives in the woods now. About fifty four years old. He is a logger. I spoke with him a few years back and we chuckled over his SS arrest and the SS investigation of my Paki husband. Figured the line was tapped.

I don't think genius is a matter of location. It's a matter of individualism -- knowledge and insight into reality -- horror.

Faizi

MKFaizi

Post by MKFaizi » Fri Sep 02, 2005 11:08 am

I am fairly bright. I am happy living in a town of 2000. I bitch about the Christianity but, on the whole, I like it here because of the physical beauty of the forests and mountains.

There are plenty of people with low intelligence living in big cities. I lived in a big city for seventeen years. Plenty of idiots. Here, there are plenty of idiots but in smaller numbers. Plus, I can live at more of a distance from them.

In a year, I expect to move somewhere in the woods away from the town.

The dude you refer to may be dim but he could be dim anywhere and it would not make a difference. You are short sighted and prejudiced to assume that anyone who lives in Mississippi is stupid. I love Mississippi and Alabama. Beautiful states.

Faizi

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Post by avidaloca » Fri Sep 02, 2005 10:16 pm

Faizi

I didn't actually say that anyone who lives in Mississippi is stupid. I said he would fit in well there. The implication was that per capita, he would find more people at his own level than say in New York City or Boston. That doesn't mean anyone who lives in Mississippi is stupid, just that they are found there in a higher proportion than other parts of the US - it is the poorest state of the entire country after all. There are of course plenty of exceptions though, and everyone has something to offer anyway.

What I find ironic about the hurricane aftermath is that Bush has made grand statements championing the cause of the Iraqi peoples' freedom from Saddam, and spent countless billions to achieve that objective. For the people who live in his own country though, even a state bordering on Texas, he seems far less interested.

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Is the US a 3rd world country?

Post by DHodges » Sat Sep 03, 2005 12:23 am

MKFaizi wrote:Where are the heroic firemen in New Orleans? Firemen and ironworkers from all over the US went to New York City to help with the recovery of the WTC. Why is there no such mobilization to help the poor people in New Orleans?
Part of that could be geographical. Around NYC, you have New Jersey, the most densely populated state in the US. There are a lot of people - and firemen - within a relatively short distance.

The population of Louisiana is less than the population of Manhattan.

There have been a large number of people working to rescue people with boats and helicopters. But I agree it has been totally inadequate. The federal government is talking about an aid package, but it's taking far too long. There should have been an immediate response.

Another part of the problem could be that the WTC was an attack, and there was a sense of banding together against a common enemy. You don't get that with a storm.

You leave thousands of people up to their butts in filthy water for days and expect them to obey the law? You expect them not to loot? No communication. No electricity. No water. And you expect people to obey the law?
The law has broken down there in a big way. They called off 1500 police from the rescue efforts to try to stop the looting.

From CNN:
"We've got small children and sick and elderly people dying every day, small children being raped and killed, people running around with guns -- I'm scared for my life, my wife and my 5-year-old daughter's life. We don't even want to live here anymore."
(...)
Police officers told CNN that some of their fellow officers had stopped showing up for duty, cutting manpower by 20 percent or more in some precincts. Before night fell, police were stopping anyone they saw on the street and warning them they were not safe from armed bands of young men.
So now they are sending in the troops:
"These are some of the 40,000 extra troops that I have demanded," Blanco said. "They have M-16s, and they're locked and loaded ... I have one message for these hoodlums: These troops know how to shoot and kill, and they are more than willing to do so if necessary, and I expect they will."
That's fucked up.
I am utterly disgusted. Dave, it is not a matter of an American life being more valuable than an Iraqi life. It is a matter of a government being responsible for its citizens in the aftermath of a devastating disaster. There has been very little done to help these people and that, dear David, underscores the fact that the US has become a Third World country.

It is becoming a country of the rich barricaded behind gated communities -- not that much different from Pakistan. I have seen this coming for years -- since the Eighties. It is here now.
Well - I agree. The US has some deep, deep problems. We are fighting several wars, and have several more lined up (Iran, North Korea, Venezuela). I can see a point where the rest of the world will stop tolerating the domination of the US, and act as a group to oppose us.

The domination of the US is based on policies that, it seems, are supported by about half the US population.

With forces from the outside, and the big split on the inside - is it the start of the fall of the US?

In his time, Charles Dickens wrote about the miseries of rampant capitalism. Such a voice is needed now. Tupac is dead.
Is capitalism the problem? Seems like most of the rest of the world is leaning toward socialism. The US' colonialism seems to be a big problem, and that must be mostly driven by capitalism.

It seemed like the US was stable because the middle class was well-off enough that it did not feel like it was being oppressed by the upper class. But the US seems to have gotten more polarized. The rich have become super-rich, and the middle class can no longer afford to buy a house.

At this point I see the US as a failed experiment. There were some good ideas behind it, but in the end good ideas are subverted by human nature.

I've been thinking a bit about the problem. Is it possible to devise a government that would get around some of the problems of the US? I'm sstarting to come up with some ideas:

Absolute separation of church and state. This was not stated strongly enough in the Constitution. In particular, churches should not be tax-exempt. Religious belief should not grant an exemption from any law.

The major focus of the government should be education. This is dangerous because education can easily tilt toward dogma and indoctrination, so there needs to be some real checks and balances here. Education is way down the list of priorities in the US, and it shows.

The problems of rampant capitalism are becoming clear. There has to be greater care for the environment. It's also a problem when it's possible to turn a large profit by running a company into bankruptcy. But I'm not sure what the solution is. Socialism can merely turn into state-run capitalism. Changing who owns or controls the means of production only works in the short term. Power corrupts, and tends to centralize in the hands of a few.

MKFaizi

Post by MKFaizi » Sat Sep 03, 2005 10:19 am

Before I get into any details, I just want to say one thing:

Thug Life, ladies and gentlemen. Thug Life. That's what you see happening in Louisiana. Thug Life.

What is Thug Life? Does it refer to lawlessnes and looting? No, it is about worthlessness. It's about being taught over and over again that you are worthless. It's about being treated like absolute shit because of the poverty in which you live; the deepest sort of ignorance is ignorance that is kept ignorant with intention. It is racism. The worst sort of racism.

The worst sort of racism is the kind that is unconscious. This is why many people say that they prefer overt racism because, at least, then, you know exactly where you stand. Boy howdy, I know that is the truth. I have seen unconsicous racism many, many times. I was MADE conscious of it during my time in the army and during my seventeen years living in inner city Baltimore where whites were a minority. I can give you countless examples of it and I am sure that I have done exactly that in my years writing here.

Before someone calls me down for being liberal and for insinuating that white people are not as good as blacks or for insinuating that racial differences should be overlooked and that Nietzsche was a white man and superior in every way. I have heard all that crap and I don't want to hear it again. None of that has anything to do with simple human decency. Just that. Simple human decency.

Jesus Christ was not a white man. Neither was Spinoza.

This week, I have seen people who are not politically liberal; who do not decry the so called plight of black people, weep openly over the disgusting spectacle in New Orleans -- also Mississippi and Alabama. I know one woman who emptied her savings account of her three hundred dollars and bought canned food to send down south. I mean, she is not rich. She is not a bleeding heart liberal but she is a decent human being.

I will offer a brief example of unconscious racism that I have witnessed:

In a hospital, the nurses marveled over one special little girl. She was a baby -- a near drowning victim. There were three or four other near drowning victims on this hospital floor. The white nurses said, "Don't know what it is but there is just something special about her."

The other children were all black. DUH. It was that obvious.

Imagine how that sort of unconscious racism effects cops -- cops with guns. Cops with power. Why is a young black man gunned down by a cop in a liquor store when he takes out his cigarette lighter? Why was the white cop so jumpy?

There is no way that the racial factor of no relief for the poor people of New Orleans can be erased. The lack of timely help is racist.

Yes, the density of the population in New York City and Jersey provided more immediate resources after 9/11. But give me a break already. I have traveled in convoys. I can tell you a convoy from Maryland or Virginia could reach New Orleans in two days. We could make South Carolina from Maryland in a day. I know. I have done it and an army convoy can't go all that fast but it could make New Orleans in two days.

Poised on the edges of southern Tennessee or northern Mississippi, a convoy could make it to New Orleans in a day. What about coming from Texas? Less time.

Firemen and other needed personnel made it to NYC very, very quickly -- not from Jersey. There were workers from Arkansas and Virginia and many other states who made it to NY in a day or so.

Louisiana is not India or Pakistan. We have a very good interstate system.

There is no excuse for the lack of help offered to the poor people of New Orleans and Mississippi. There is no excuse for racism of that kind and elitism of that kind.

I am sickened by it and ashamed of it.

Faizi

MKFaizi

Post by MKFaizi » Sat Sep 03, 2005 10:26 am

Kind of ironic that the state of Texas has done more to relieve the situation than the federal government.

I have heard several people whine about no offers of help from the rest of the world. Well, Fidel Castro has offered to send doctors and medical personnel. Will that offer be accepted?

Faizi

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Post by avidaloca » Sun Sep 04, 2005 1:09 am

New Orleans chaos exposes Bush's racism, says rapper

Rapper Kanye West has surprised viewers of an NBC benefit concert for Hurricane Katrina victims by accusing President George W Bush of racism.

"George Bush doesn't care about black people," West said from New York during the show aired live on the US East Coast on NBC, MSNBC, CNBC and Pax, just before cameras cut away to comedian Chris Tucker.

West, who is black, suggested moments earlier that delays in providing relief to survivors of the hurricane that hit the US Gulf Coast on Monday and flooded New Orleans were deliberate.

He said America was set up "to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off, as slow as possible".

The Grammy award-winning singer, who was paired with comedian Mike Myers, also said in what NBC described as unscripted remarks, "We already realised a lot of the people that could help are at war right now, fighting another war, and they've given them permission to go down and shoot us."

He was apparently referring to shoot-on-sight orders issued to National Guard troops to halt violence and looting in New Orleans.

West also criticised the media's portrayal of blacks, saying: "I hate the way they portray us in the media. If you see a black family, it says they're looting. See a white family, it says they're looking for food."

In a statement, NBC said, "Kanye West departed from the scripted comments that were prepared for him, and his opinions in no way represent the views of the networks.

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FASCISM

Post by Leyla Shen » Sun Sep 04, 2005 7:20 am

In a statement, NBC said, "Kanye West departed from the scripted comments that were prepared for him, and his opinions in no way represent the views of the networks.
Fucking capitalists.

I am a fascist.

Fuck the industrial revolution. Nothing more than stone monuments and tombs for the living dead.

MKFaizi

Post by MKFaizi » Sun Sep 04, 2005 11:22 am

Dave Hodges,

No, I do not advocate that the US become a socialist state. But I do recall the time when some socialist political philosophy tempered the capitalism.

That was back in the day when the US had a big middle class. I grew up in a lower middle class neighborhood. Nobody was rich but nobody was poor. There were loggers and insurance salesmen and grocery store managers and road workers. Mostly small two and three bedroom houses. No one in want. No one struggling unless they were struggling to get into the middle middle or upper middle classes. And that took college. College in those days was not out of reach for working class kids. If nothing else, you could work your way through college.

I reckon it is still possible to work your way through college but I don't think that is commonly done. Most of the young people I know who have gone to college over the past ten years have had their tuition and everything else paid for by their parents. Pretty wealthy parents.

There was a time that a man could be a laborer or a factory worker and make a decent wage. That is very unusual now. Two factories in my area are closing their doors now.

I realize that things have changed and jobs that can be done by those without education have been outsourced. There is always Burger King.

I am leaving a lot out but the fact is that there is an underclass in the US now that I have never seen before. The underclass is growing. There is a huge gap between the rich and the poor.

I mentioned Charles Dickens. He wrote of capitalism run amok in England during the Nineteenth Century. Then, there was wide spread child labor. I certainly hope that there will be no child labor in the US but, then, much of our goods come from countries that do have child labor. The relatively poor in the US shop at Walmart that buys much of its merchandise from countries that do allow child labor.

Before labor unions in the US, there was child labor.

Well, I am saying a lot and there is much to say.

What I am saying essentially is that the US needs a sea change. We cannot continue in this dogmatic, inhumane, unfeeling, nastily selfish, idiotic, top hat capitalistic, Dickensian way. The US has been voting selfish for more than twenty years. The US has been voting with its asshole for more than twenty years -- what my country can do for me, not what I can do for my country.

This shit needs to stop. We need to stop. We need to put a stop to the greed. We need to stop the bullying and the lying. The only reason the US is in Iraq is because of a big fat lie - WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION. George Bush pulled that off -- in partial thanks to Ossama bin Laden. Indeed, they do look like fraternity brothers.

I have no problem with a patrician being president of the US -- just let it be a patrician with brains and guts and heart.

The Bush years need to be flushed down the national toilet.

The US needs a fresh start and, cockeyed optimist that I am, I hope that this fiasco on the gulf coast and The Big Easy in particular might be an eye opener.

Unlike yourself, I do not think that the US is a failed experiment. I don't think that it has been an experiment yet to my satisfaction. For the past twenty years or so, there has been a stagnancy -- a matter of mine, mine, mine.

I do not consider slavery to have been part of any so called democratic experiment. I do not consider jingoism to have been part of any democratic experiment. I do not consider the class divisions of capitalism run amok to have been an experiment in democracy. I do not believe the deliberate creation of an American underclass to be an experiment in democracy.

To quote the Buddhist, Leonard Cohen, "Democracy is coming to the USA."

'Bout fuckin' time.

Time for motherfuckers to get up off their asses. Stop wallowing in your own expensive shit and give a shit.

Stop voting with your wallet and vote for humankind.

Faizi

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Post by Jamesh » Mon Sep 05, 2005 4:10 pm

The sort of person Bush appoints to KEY jobs


Brown pushed from last job: Horse group: FEMA chief had to be `asked to resign'
By Brett Arends
Saturday, September 3, 2005 - Updated: 02:01 PM

The federal official in charge of the bungled New Orleans rescue was fired from his last private-sector job overseeing horse shows.

And before joining the Federal Emergency Management Agency as a deputy director in 2001, GOP activist Mike Brown had no significant experience that would have qualified him for the position.

The Oklahoman got the job through an old college friend who at the time was heading up FEMA.

The agency, run by Brown since 2003, is now at the center of a growing fury over the handling of the New Orleans disaster.


``I look at FEMA and I shake my head,'' said a furious Gov. Mitt Romney yesterday, calling the response ``an embarrassment.''

President Bush, after touring the Big Easy, said he was ``not satisfied'' with the emergency response to Hurricane Katrina's devastation.

And U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch predicted there would be hearings on Capitol Hill over the mishandled operation.

Brown - formerly an estates and family lawyer - this week has has made several shocking public admissions, including interviews where he suggested FEMA was unaware of the misery and desperation of refugees stranded at the New Orleans convention center.

Before joining the Bush administration in 2001, Brown spent 11 years as the commissioner of judges and stewards for the International Arabian Horse Association, a breeders' and horse-show organization based in Colorado.

``We do disciplinary actions, certification of (show trial) judges. We hold classes to train people to become judges and stewards. And we keep records,'' explained a spokeswoman for the IAHA commissioner's office. ``This was his full-time job . . . for 11 years,'' she added.

Brown was forced out of the position after a spate of lawsuits over alleged supervision failures.

``He was asked to resign,'' Bill Pennington, president of the IAHA at the time, confirmed last night.

Soon after, Brown was invited to join the administration by his old Oklahoma college roommate Joseph Allbaugh, the previous head of FEMA until he quit in 2003 to work for the president's re-election campaign.

The White House last night defended Brown's appointment. A spokesman noted Brown served as FEMA deputy director and general counsel before taking the top job, and that he has now overseen the response to ``more than 164 declared disasters and emergencies,'' including last year's record-setting hurricane season.

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Leyla Shen
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PEOPLE OF AUSTRALIA, THE STOCKMARKET NEEDS YOU

Post by Leyla Shen » Mon Sep 05, 2005 10:27 pm

Today, I saw a commercial inviting the general public to invest in the stockmarket.

I don't watch much TV, so I may be mistaken in thinking that that is the first time there has ever been such a public invitation. And this in light of the recent legislative slashings of the rights of working class people.

Australian Workplace Agreements are to replace collective ones. Unionism, and all it stood for, went to hell a long time ago. We're especially for it now with Howard controlling the senate. Prior to that, Labour at least had to look like it represented the working class. Less pay, no leave entitlements, sacking on a whim. Sick kid? So what. Dog eat fucking dog.

Hoorah! Let's give them more money. Any idea what a politician's superannuation pay-out is? Millions.

Save who?

Motherfuckers, alright.

MKFaizi

Post by MKFaizi » Tue Sep 06, 2005 7:11 am

I keep having one little nagging thought. I keep picturing those images of George Bush continuing to read to the children after the aide whispered in his ear that NYC had been attacked.

May or may not be entirely relevant but just thought I would throw that in.

Good to hear that some NYC firemen and police officers are on the way to New Orleans. They had plenty of help from all over the country during their disaster.

I thought about finding some way to volunteer to go but I am not in a position to do so.

Faizi

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Amerikkka

Post by DHodges » Wed Sep 07, 2005 2:42 am

MKFaizi wrote:No one struggling unless they were struggling to get into the middle middle or upper middle classes. And that took college. College in those days was not out of reach for working class kids. If nothing else, you could work your way through college.
Nowadays, without college, you're doomed.
I reckon it is still possible to work your way through college but I don't think that is commonly done. Most of the young people I know who have gone to college over the past ten years have had their tuition and everything else paid for by their parents. Pretty wealthy parents.
My girlfriend's daughter is working her way through college. The problem is, to make enough money to support herself, she has to work more hours than allow for being a full-time student. She lost her full-time student status, and so she lost her grants.

Eventually, it may come down to me. Will I pay for her schooling, if that's what it comes to? Her biological father does nothing for her.
What I am saying essentially is that the US needs a sea change. We cannot continue in this dogmatic, inhumane, unfeeling, nastily selfish, idiotic, top hat capitalistic, Dickensian way. The US has been voting selfish for more than twenty years. The US has been voting with its asshole for more than twenty years -- what my country can do for me, not what I can do for my country.
I can only hope that people who voted for Bush will be able to admit to themselves that they really fucked up.
The US needs a fresh start and, cockeyed optimist that I am, I hope that this fiasco on the gulf coast and The Big Easy in particular might be an eye opener.
You can hope, but more likely, it will be blamed on the dickhead in charge of FEMA, he'll get fired, and the rest goes on.
Unlike yourself, I do not think that the US is a failed experiment. I don't think that it has been an experiment yet to my satisfaction. For the past twenty years or so, there has been a stagnancy -- a matter of mine, mine, mine.
I do not consider slavery to have been part of any so called democratic experiment. I do not consider jingoism to have been part of any democratic experiment. I do not consider the class divisions of capitalism run amok to have been an experiment in democracy. I do not believe the deliberate creation of an American underclass to be an experiment in democracy.
We both see that something is terribly wrong with the US. What I'm trying to figure out is what went wrong, and from that, to see if there is a way to prevent those things from going wrong.

The way I see it, the US is so fucked up that I have no hope for it. It is completely corrupt and doomed. It may be a slow slide, or it may come quickly. The recent rise in gas prices reminded me of how quickly things can change. Public opinion can swing pretty fast, too, when something big is driving it.

I don't think the US can be patched up. It needs a ground-up rebuild. The things that went wrong didn't go wrong in a day. The power structure is too entrenched.

It's easy enough to be against all that. But then, what am I for? That's what I'm trying to figure out. What should the proper structure of a government be?

The US needs a big, big change. But to what?

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Post by Leyla Shen » Wed Sep 07, 2005 7:24 am

I know that's a big question, Dave. But, insofar as to goes -- to balance. With that, one can begin to ask and resolve questions like: why is a politician worth so much more than the garbage man? Masters and serfs.

Who fucking decides and why are we, the "democracies" -- we, the free people -- of the world, so willing to let them without a say in the matter?

Why have we allowed our legal and justice systems to protect only the rich?

How is it that we, the democratically free of the world, feel that there is nothing we can do?

Individuals philosophise, but in the end it takes a union to act with enough veracity to bring about change. Do we, the democratic and the free, really believe in our own?

There is no such thing as democracy.

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Post by Leyla Shen » Wed Sep 07, 2005 7:46 am

And, furthermore, let us be reminded that it is only women who go with the flow -- right? No moral fibre, no fortitude, no integrity, foresight, insight or hindsight -- just kinda throw their hands up in the air and plunge in with the rest of them...

Or, am I mistaken?

MKFaizi

Re: Amerikkka

Post by MKFaizi » Wed Sep 07, 2005 11:13 am

Nowadays, without college, you're doomed.
Pretty much. I do know one kid who is already a very skilled builder at the age of eighteen. He can make it with -- pfrobably -- just an associates in business or something so that he will understand how to run his own business. But you definitely need something way beyond high school. Hardest thing to get through to my two kids. Neither one of them are particularly academic. Just not in the genes. Rock might go to nursing school. In nursing, you can still make fifty bucks an hour with nothing more than an associate's degree.
My girlfriend's daughter is working her way through college. The problem is, to make enough money to support herself, she has to work more hours than allow for being a full-time student. She lost her full-time student status, and so she lost her grants.
Well, that sucks. I mean, she is in a better position than somebody, say, living in a ghetto in Baltimore, for example. Yesterday, I was listening to a conservative radio station and Bill Riley was saying how every person should educate himself and fortify himself so that he never has to depend on anyone or anything to help him out of a problem. Ideally, I agree with him. Every boy in every hood should go to college and become a Donald Trump or one quarter Donald Trump or one eighth Donald Trump so that no boy in the hood would ever be without a car to escape deadly hurricanes.

Out of the same breath, dude said that it is impossible to economically equalize people. Well, duh.

If that is the case and it is the case, then not everyone can be one eighth Donald Trump or even one sixteenth Donald Trump. Since that is true, does it follow then, that government should not be expected to rescue its citizens in a disaster? Should the government also not be expected to send the Coast Guard to rescue rich yachters who get in trouble out at sea? Should not, then, all persons who are victims of natural disasters or other disasters be left to fend for themselves? If The Donald is lost at sea, should the Coast Guard use its resources to rescue him?

Well, I think so. But I also think that the Army and Guard and Navy and whatever else should be used to rescue poor people, too.

But, according to good ol' Bill, if you are fucked, then, you are fucked.

I fully realize government assistance can go too far the other way but, damn, I think a civilization has a responsibility to its people in the wake of disaster. To poor people in New Orleans and rich people in New York.
Eventually, it may come down to me. Will I pay for her schooling, if that's what it comes to? Her biological father does nothing for her.
If you can do it without it causing too much of a hardship on yourself, I would do it. Obviously, she has made a go of making it on her own. If I could help a kid who is trying to help him/herself, I would do it. I would not make it a loan. Too much obligation. I would make it a gift.
I can only hope that people who voted for Bush will be able to admit to themselves that they really fucked up.
Hard to say. I can only measure it on a small scale. I have heard some die hard Bushies say that they are disgusted. I have heard one woman say that she has voted Republican all of her life but she has never been so disgusted with a president as she is now. That's saying a lot because though she is not a hater, she ain't no nigga lover, dig.

My father has become more socially liberal in old age. He was chuckling over the mayor of New Orleans today. Proud of him for cussing out everybody and standing up to the prez and the governor -- who is a Democrat by the way.

Funny.
You can hope, but more likely, it will be blamed on the dickhead in charge of FEMA, he'll get fired, and the rest goes on.
That's what it's building up to -- yeah. But he was fine last year during the Florida hurricanes. I think the responsibility goes all the way to the top. I think the scandalous images of people stranded in stagnant filthy water might be an eye opener. One woman -- very heavy black woman -- swam for thirty minutes in filthy water while in labor to get help for her asthmatic son. She swam until she was picked up and put into an ambulance where she gave birth.

I mean, that is strength.

Could Paris Hilton pull that off? Maybe.

Anyway, I do think there is some hope. I think there is a possiblity of an awakening and a freeing of sorts. Kind of like the Sixties. Maybe better. More deliberate. Less based on drugs. Kids are very experienced with the destructiveness of drugs.
Unlike yourself, I do not think that the US is a failed experiment. I don't think that it has been an experiment yet to my satisfaction. For the past twenty years or so, there has been a stagnancy -- a matter of mine, mine, mine.
I do not consider slavery to have been part of any so called democratic experiment. I do not consider jingoism to have been part of any democratic experiment. I do not consider the class divisions of capitalism run amok to have been an experiment in democracy. I do not believe the deliberate creation of an American underclass to be an experiment in democracy.
We both see that something is terribly wrong with the US. What I'm trying to figure out is what went wrong, and from that, to see if there is a way to prevent those things from going wrong.

The way I see it, the US is so fucked up that I have no hope for it. It is completely corrupt and doomed. It may be a slow slide, or it may come quickly. The recent rise in gas prices reminded me of how quickly things can change. Public opinion can swing pretty fast, too, when something big is driving it.

I don't think the US can be patched up. It needs a ground-up rebuild. The things that went wrong didn't go wrong in a day. The power structure is too entrenched.


That's right. It did not go wrong in a day. Took about twenty or thirty years. That is all. Yes, of course, there were things wrong from the get go, too -- like slavery. Like the lack of civil rights for blacks and women. We worked through all those things and did pretty well basically. Then, we got selfish. Then, it was mine mine mine -- gimme gimme gimme.

The Woodstock generation got fat and became the SUV generation. We knew better. I don't fault the WWII generation for that. I fault the Pepsi Generation. Such hogs. We knew better. The baby boom generation was the generation that forced the end of the Vietnam War and ousted two presidents with their protests.

Well, what goes around comes around. It's just a scent in the air right now. My daughter is basically a beautiful rebel. My son is an idealist. My daughter is a chip off the old block with her abrasiveness. My son is a neo-hippie. He wants a decent world more than he wants things. My daughter is outspoken and she loathes the political status quo.

I think young people will come up to the task. I think the days of the Young Republicans are numbered. Ten years ago, most kids were utterly materialistic. I don't see that with the upcoming generation of young Americans. They will not go to die in a Bush war.

It's easy enough to be against all that. But then, what am I for? That's what I'm trying to figure out. What should the proper structure of a government be?

Well, hell. That's easy. I thought Clinton was a lousy president. But his years in office look like gold in comparison to this bitch. I don't mean that as partisan either. I think it is possible that John McCain might make a good president. He survived as a POW under the worst conditions imaginable.

I mean, if we could at least get back to the Clinton years, that would be a huge improvement. We need twenty years of good leadership. Eight years of idiocy have nearly ruined us. I do not mean that I think Hillary would necessarily make a good president. A McCain/Clinton ticket might take.

Too early to tell. Obama is promising. Eight years of McCain/Clinton and eight years of Obama might not be bad.

Don't give up hope. I think it is possible for the US to yet be a decent country.

In the early days of this disaster, I heard people whining about how other countries should help the US. I thought that was absurd. I mean, the US does not need help. I just heard that Bangladesh has pledged to send a million dollars. I mean, damn.

The US needs a big, big change. But to what?

Democracy, stupid :)

Democracy is coming to the USA.

Ever heard that song? It's a little dated and long in the tooth but still some truth to it.

Too bad I am not a campaign manager because I would definitely use that as a theme song for a presidential campaign. Beats hell out of "Refugee."

Last evening, I introduced my daughter to Leonard Cohen's stuff. I said, "Who turned you on to the Kinks and the Doors and Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan when you were five years old? Who was listening to Ice Tea when you were in diapers? Who was hearing RunDMC and Curtis Blow before I ever thought about having babies? Have I ever steered you wrong?"

She loved Leonard. That's progress. Trust me.

Listen to Democracy. I believe in it.

Faizi

MKFaizi

Post by MKFaizi » Wed Sep 07, 2005 11:48 am

Spirit, Dave. That's all. Spirit. Will. Drive. The woman swimming through filthy water to try to save her son and giving birth when she is dragged from the water. The double amputee clinging to a tree for dear life for sixty hours.

Hell, we knew that the Indians and Bangladeshis could pull off those sorts of stunts. We thought Americans were soft.

I am sure as hell not ready to give up. Don't give up.

Sail on, oh mighty ship of whatever state.

Sail on.

Democracy is coming to the USA. From a hole in the air.

Democracy is the will of the people. All people. Not just "Americans."

Get out of your slump.

Write what you think. Think. Write what you thing to political blogs. Change is sorely needed.

Don't give up. We can do it.

Faizi

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