Monday News in April 15, 2013

 

 

One of the slickest evils now is the warmongering campaign against North Korea. The Western media is lying in claiming that North Korea has massive nuclear missiles that can destroy America or the leader of North Korea is on par with Hitler. Even Mike Adams is wrong to assume that North Korea has a nuclear warhead on a missile. Even the Pentagon and the intelligence services don’t agree with that claim. The reason that folks like Mike Adams would make such a claim since they hate Communism (when radical neoliberal activists and radical reactionaries have been involved in eugenics, racial oppression, and neo-feudalism for centuries long before Karl Marx was ever born). His or Adams' libertarian extremism is something that I can never accept philosophically or personally at all. I have no issue with a watchful eye on government, but not eliminating government in all forms of education, having no public schools, having no public health care at all, etc. When someone confronts corporate power, then you are waking up. We see corporate oligarchs infiltrating the government. This is a reality since $30 trillion sits hidden in offshore tax havens and the majority of that money is own by wealthy Americans. We need money for the people not for militarism. One out of three large corporations pays no taxes in a given year. Even the lost revenues that are found in tax havens are not even discussed in the six mainstream media companies with interlocking boards of directors. Both major parties have ties to the corporate elite. As for immigrants, immigrants are here to stay. So, the reality is that citizenship rights should be given to those that want to become citizens or have legal residence. If all workers have decent wages, and real working conditions, then all Americans will benefit. The rising of the minimum wage into a living wage will benefit all Americans and prevent folks from being economically exploited. Also, I will never vote against my own interests. My people marched, protested, and sometimes died in the 20^th century to fight for the Civil Rights that we are still fighting for today.  Now, Secretary of State John Kerry has meet with South Korean leaders, Chinese leaders, and others in the region. Yet, he refuses to meet with the leaders of North Korea as a means to solve this crisis. John Kerry said that North Korea should not test a missile. The big picture is that the West wants Asian dominance. The current President is very neoliberal and reactionary when it comes to foreign policy and even some domestic policies (especially when it deals with the economy). There is a propaganda campaign to make North Korea as the most nuclear prone regime in the globe when the facts show the truth as being opposite of what is being presented by the mainstream media. We know that the Obama administration is a continuation of many of the political policies from the previous Bush administration. Much of the Obama team accepts the Milton Friedman Chicago School of economics. The administration is trying to cut cost of living adjustments after promising not to do so back in 2008. The track record of the current administration is real. When you have the Vice President Joe Biden calling for a new world order, then you know what time it is.

 

There has been a lot of discussion about Rand Paul and Howard University. Here is my take on this issue. Rand Paul spoke to Howard University as a means to appeal to the African American community (in the sense of trying to convince black citizens to vote for Republicans). Paul said that since Abraham Lincoln was a Republican and then the Republican Party would fit for most African Americans. Yet, the problem with this type of argument is that GOP ignores history. They ignore the evil actions made by some Republicans in the Southern Strategy where racial stereotypes and poor bashing were utilized by some GOP members as a means to drive a wedge in Americans. Also, many Democratic Dixiecrats moved into the Republican Party after Barry Goldwater lost the 1964 election to President Lyndon Baines Johnson. Not to mention that parties change. Back in the 19th century, by and large, the Republicans were more progressive than the Democrats. Today in 2013, the reality is vice versa. Yet, both parties are not perfect. Historically, both parties have oppressed African Americans and exploited the black community for their own political interests (not for the betterment of African American human beings in the States). The GOP has to listen to black people since most of us want a strong social safety net, most of reject viewing the free market as God, and most of us oppose the Republican-led voter intimidation tactics of the 2012 Election (including many ID laws that hamper the voting rights of the poor, elderly, and minorities). Most black Americans agree with affirmative action and agree with social justice. The Republicans should apologize for their errors in voter intimidation and other bad actions over the years, which no major Republican has done in public at all. Even Colin Powell admitted that some vein of intolerance is found in the GOP. Now, it is time to discuss about the reactionaries' talking points. One is that they hate welfare. Welfare is not a sin and used rightly, it can benefit society. Most black people do not take welfare at all. LBJ cut the poverty rate in half. The other lie that the reactionaries use is that many Republicans are for black civil rights. The truth is that mostly progressive Republicans voted for the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. The more conservative Republicans in some cases opposed the CRA of 1964. When Republicans talk about Democrats being the party that opposed civil rights, they never acknowledge that those Democrats who were in opposition became Republicans. There were 47 Democrats who voted in favor of the Civil Rights Act that were not Dixiecrats and 26 Republicans who voted in favor the 1964 Civil Rights Act. There were 20 Dixiecrats, 1 Democrat, and 6 Republicans who voted against the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The Dixiecrats (who were Democrats) moved into the Republican Party. Black African Americans are very intelligent and realized that the reactionaries took over the GOP. That is why most black Americans are not GOP members too. Very late in life Harry S. Dent, Sr., who had been one of the principle engineers of the Republican "Southern strategy" to move white southern bigots from the formerly racist Democratic party to the newly racist Republican Party confessed, “When I look back,” he said, “my biggest regret now is anything I did that stood in the way of the rights of black people.”  Since the 1960's, many Republicans have supported voter suppression laws, the Southern Strategy, the crushing of the society net, militarism, the war on Drugs, tough on crime tyranny, and other policies that contradict the civil rights cultural ideal of black Americans. We have to look at the past and where folks are at now too. This never leaves the Democrats off the hook since then and now, many of their leaders have been for Empire and oppression too. I don't agree with Paul Craig Roberts on all issues. Yet, he made great point that if a Republican was anti-war, anti-Empire, was for the social safety net, believed in human civil liberties, wanted to end the War on Drugs, was for environmental protection, was for a living wage (and other means to fight poverty and economic inequality), was for having a fair and balanced immigration policy (which is fair to citizens and compassionate toward undocumented workers without ICE raids), disagreed with reactionaries like Hannity, Beck, including Savage, and wanted true populist including progressive economic development, then that Republican would have unprecedented support among the populace. The blueprint is there. The question is whether the GOP wants the blueprint or the same old game.

 

The Caribbean struggle for civil rights is ever real and known in history. The struggle for human rights is international since all human beings deserve and ought to have equal rights. Caribbean heroes, therefore, spread their talents globally as a pristine means to advance justice. Marcus Garvey was a giant and a hero not only among Caribbeans, but among all human beings (especially those of black African descent). Marcus Garvey gave us a real vision and a real plan for liberation. There were others before him that talked similar dreams (like Martin Delany advocated similar goals back in the 19th century), but Marcus Garvey was the first in my view that took it to the next level. He organized millions of black brothers and black sisters to not only culturally appreciate their African heritage, but to actively set up programs to directly assist black human beings internationally. His legacy is that pan-Africanism is a great ideal to fight for and advance. Amy Ashwood Garvey was born in Jamaica and was in the struggle for black pan-African liberation as well. Amy Ashwood Garvey was Marcus Garvey's first wife. She was told by her grandmother that she was of Ashanti descent. She and Marcus Garvey founded the UNIA (or the Universal Negro Improvement Association) in 1914. Amy Garvey became a director of the Black Star Line Steamship Corporation and founded the Negro World newspaper. She was a friend of the brother Ladipo Solanke. Amy Garvey worked in women's issues via creating the London Afro-Women's Centre as well. She joined the West Indies National Council and the Council of African Affairs. She campaigned for Adam Clayton Powell. Amy Garvey tortured the Americas and fought for justice until her death in 1969. She was 72 years old. William Grant was a Jamaican labor activist too. He was one great figure in the working class struggle for justice in the land of Jamaica. Malcolm X and Kwame Ture have Caribbean ancestry too. Each wanted human rights. Each believed that black people should have strength, dignity, power, and true equality in the world. Malcolm X woke up in his life and he including his family were Garveyites. They knew greatly the contributions of black people in world history and the oppression system from the European elite (not everybody in Europe since there are black folks in Europe too). Claudia Jones is an unsung hero of the Caribbean influence in civil rights as well. Claudia Jones was born in Belmont, Port of Spain in Trinidad. As far back as the 1930's, she fought for civil rights. She wanted an end to Jim Crow and she believed in justice for the masses of the world. She was right to advocate black women to be militant in action (as she wrote back in 1949) so all of the black community can fight against imperialism. Whether you agree or disagree with her other political views, she was right that action must be taken to improve the conditions of the black community. In the United Kingdom, she organized with others as a means to allow British Afro-Caribbean community to have access to basic access to basic facilities and equal rights. She campaigned against racism in housing, education, and employment. She addressed peace rallies as well. In the early 1960s, despite failing health, Jones helped organize campaigns against the 1876 Immigration Act, which would make it harder for non-Whites to migrate to Britain. She also campaigned for the release of Nelson Mandela. Paul Stephenson is one human being who fought for black civil rights in the UK as well (not in his bus boycott, but in other avenues). She or Claudia Jones contributed to the rise of consciousness in the Black British community. She died in December of 1964. After WWII, there was a massive increase of black Caribbeans coming into the United Kingdom.

 

 

Latin Americans have fought for their civil rights for a long time. In 1903, inside of Oxnard, California, there were more than 1,200 Mexican and Japanese farm workers who organized the first farm worker union. It was called the Japanese-Mexican Labor Association or the JMLA. It would be the first union to strike against the California agricultural industry. That industry back then was already a powerful force. There was the famous labor organizer Lucy Gonzales Parsons. She was from San Antonio, Texas and she helped to found the Wobblies, the Industrial Workers of the World. By 1910, there was the Mexican Revolution, which changed Western Hemisphere history forever. This revolution caused many Mexicans to cross the border into America. They wanted safety and job employment.  Many Mexican Americans formed the El Primer Congreso Mexicanista. This group was to fight for social justice. They had a large convention in 1911 inside of Laredo, Texas. In 1914, the Colorado militia attacks striking coal miners in what becomes known as the Ludlow Massacre. More than 50 people are killed, mostly Mexican Americans, including 11 children and three women. Yet, many Hispanics continued to fight for their human rights. In 1921, San Antonio's Orden Hijos de América (Order of the Sons of America) organizes Latino workers to raise awareness of civil rights issues and fight for fair wages, education and housing. In 1927, in Los Angeles, the Confederación de Uniones Obreras Mexicanas (Federation of Mexican Workers Union-CUOM) becomes the first large-scale effort to organize and consolidate Mexican workers.  The largest and longest latest civil rights group in America for Latino American is called the League of United Latin Americans or LULAC. Latino unions in California lead the El Monte Strike as a means to fight for better wages among farmers. This occurred in 1933. By May 1933, wages dropped to nine cents an hour. In July, growers agreed to a settlement including a wage increase to 20 cents an hour, or $1.50 for a nine-hour day of work. During WWII, thousands of Latinos served in the armed forces as a means to fight Nazism and totalitarianism. In 1944, Senator Dennis Chávez of New Mexico introduces the first Fair Employment Practices Bill, which prohibits discrimination because of race, creed or national origin. The bill failed, but it was an important predecessor for the 1964 Civil Rights Act. After WWII, Latino civil rights groups fought to end discrimination and segregation in public education. The 1954 Hernandez v. Texas case of the Supreme Court strike down discrimination based on class and ethnicity in certain areas. In the 1960's, there were fights for civil rights, labor rights, great schools, and economic justice. Even the Brown Berets worked with the Black Panthers as a means to advocate justice, liberty, equality, and economic justice. In the 1970's, tons of ethnic groups continued to work for justice. They fought against law enforcement brutality against immigrants. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan appoints Dr. Lauro Cavazos as Secretary of Education. He becomes the first Latino appointed to a presidential cabinet. In 1989, Miami’s Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Cuban American, becomes the first Latino woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. From the 1990's to our time in the 21st century, immigrant rights groups continue to exist. In 2006, high school students (of Latinos and others) stage walkouts in Los Angeles, Houston and other cities, boycotting schools and businesses in support of immigrant rights and equality. Schools issue suspensions and truancy reports to students who participate, and several students are arrested.  So, if you want freedom, sometimes, sacrifices are made. Sometimes, folks face ridicule, jail, or death. Yet, if you fight for a just cause via just means, then you have nothing to be ashamed of at all. You have nothing to be ashamed of if you advocate truth and righteousness in any land of the world.

 

 

The current administration approves raising the permissible levels of nuclear radiation in drinking water. This can cause civilian cancer deaths to skyrocket. This is about the dramatic or huge raising of the permissive radioactive levels in drinking water and soil after the radiological incidents. These incidents include the nuclear power plant accidents and dirty bombs. The final version would be loved by the nuclear industry. This new reality is slated from the Federal Register publication as soon as tomorrow. The nuclear industry wants the new normal as a means to have even more radiation exposure among the U.S. population as said by PEER or the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. The radiation guides are issued by the Environmental Protection Agency. These radiation guides are called PAGs or Protective Action Guides. The guides allow cleanup many times more lax than anything that the EPA has ever before accepted. The guides can govern shelter in place order, food restrictions, evacuations, and other actions after a range of "radiological emergencies." The Obama administration blocked a version of these PAGs from going into effect during its first days in office. The version given approval late last Friday is substantially similar to those proposed under Bush but duck some of the most controversial aspects. In the soil, the PAGs can allow long term public exposure to radiation in amounts as high as 2,000 millirems. That could cause an increase in the longstanding 1 in 10,000 person cancer rate to a rate of 1 in 23 persons exposed over a 30 year period. In water, the PAGs punt a new standard and the EPA “continues to seek input on this.” But the thrust of the PAGs is to give on-site authorities much greater “flexibility” in setting aside established limits. There is an internal fight in the EPA between nuclear versus public health specialists in favor of the former. The PAGs are the product of Gina McCarthy, the assistant administrator for air and radiation whose nomination to serve as EPA Administrator is taken up this week by the Senate. This debate has increased since the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Japan is trying to deal with these same issues. “This is a public health policy only Dr. Strangelove could embrace. If this typifies the environmental leadership we can expect from Ms. McCarthy, then EPA is in for a long, dirty slog,” stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, noting that the EPA package lacks a cogent rationale. Some are using slick euphemistic words as a means to justify this mistake of increasing levels of radiation in our environment. This policy can increase cancer deaths in America thereby growing corporate miscalculations several hundred fold. Reportedly, the PAGs had been approved last fall but their publication was held until after the presidential election. The rationale for timing their release right before McCarthy’s confirmation hearing is unclear. The PAGs guide agency decision-making. They do not formally set standards of make statutory requirements like the Safe Drinking Water Act and Superfund. This new policy will therefore go into effect after a short public comment period. Nonetheless, the PAGs will likely determine what actions take place on the ground in the days, weeks, months and, in some cases, years following a radiological emergency.

 

 

By Timothy