Mayor Daley's Final Revenge

This is a picture of Richard J.Daley, Mayor of Chicago. His son, William Daley was appointed today to be President Obama's new chief of staff.

In the picture William's brother, Richard M. Daley (who eventually succeeded his father as mayor)is seated next to his father during the 1968 convention. They are reacting to Senator Ribacoff who was calling attention to the Chicago police beating peace demonstrators outside the convention hall.

William Daley in the White House is a sign of the final triumph of the cold stony racist heart of the corrupt old Democratic party of the north. These corporate big-money democrats have finally, completely taken back this party and killed the last bit of liberal conscience left in it and gotten Dick Daley's final revenge for his humiliation.

It is such an incredible irony that it took the first black president to do it.

Mike Whitney: The Great Awakening of Vladimir Putin

Mike Whitney: The Great Awakening of Vladimir Putin:

"The World's Most Popular Leader?
The Great Awakening of Vladimir Putin

By MIKE WHITNEY

Vladimir Putin is the most popular leader in the world today. His personal approval ratings are in the stratosphere, usually well-above 80 percent. He is admired for his quiet, confident manner and for having restored Russia to its former greatness following the chaotic breakup of the Soviet Union. The Russian people love Putin. Parents name their children after him, vodka and caviar producers use his name to boost sales, and his face appears on the tee-shirts of students and young people. It's unthinkable that he would step down after his term as prime minister is over a year from today. The Russian people want him to stay on and run for a third term as president, and that's probably what he'll do....

...Putin's real "awakening" came about when Georgia's President Mikail Saakashvili invaded South Ossetia 4 years ago. At the time, all of the western media reported that Russia had started the war, but now we know that wasn't the case. Here's a brief summary of what really happened by former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev:

"For some time, relative calm was maintained in South Ossetia. The peacekeeping force composed of Russians, Georgians and Ossetians fulfilled its mission, and ordinary Ossetians and Georgians, who live close to each other, found at least some common ground....What happened on the night of Aug. 7 is beyond comprehension. The Georgian military attacked the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali with multiple rocket launchers designed to devastate large areas....Mounting a military assault against innocents was a reckless decision whose tragic consequences, for thousands of people of different nationalities, are now clear. The Georgian leadership could do this only with the perceived support and encouragement of a much more powerful force. Georgian armed forces were trained by hundreds of U.S. instructors, and its sophisticated military equipment was bought in a number of countries. This, coupled with the promise of NATO membership, emboldened Georgian leaders into thinking that they could get away with a "blitzkrieg" in South Ossetia...Russia had to respond. To accuse it of aggression against "small, defenseless Georgia" is not just hypocritical but shows a lack of humanity."

("A Path to Peace in the Caucasus", Mikhail Gorbachev, Washington Post)

Gorbachev's account is accurate, but leaves out some important details. There aren't any military installations in Tskhinvali. In fact, there aren't any military targets at all. It's an industrial center consisting of lumber mills, manufacturing plants and residential areas. It's also the home of 30,000 South Ossetians. When Saakashvili ordered the city to be bombed by warplanes and shelled by heavy artillery, he knew that he'd be killing hundreds of civilians in their homes and neighborhoods. But he ordered the bombing anyway.

The Georgian army entered the city unopposed after most of the townspeople had fled across the border into Russia. The old and infirm huddled in their basements while the tanks rumbled bye firing at anything that moved. Some critics have compared the assault to Israel's invasion of Gaza where the full force of a modern army was used against a civilian population. It's a fair comparison.

Less than 24 hours after the initial invasion, Russian armored units swarmed over the border and into Tskhinvali scattering the Georgian army without a fight. Journalist Michael Binyon summed it up like this, "The attack was short, sharp and deadly---enough to send the Georgians fleeing in humiliating panic." Indeed, the Georgians retreated in such haste that many of them left their weapons behind. They simply dropped their guns and ran. It was a complete rout and another black-eye for the US-trained army.

By the time Tskhinvali was liberated, the downtown area was in engulfed in flames and the bodies of those who had been killed by sniper-fire were strewn along the streets and sidewalks. The city's only hospital had been reduced to smoldering rubble. All told, more than 2,000 civilians were killed in an operation that was clearly engineered and supported by the Bush White House.

The clash in South Ossetia was a valuable lesson for Putin who had hoped that US/Russia relations would gradually thaw. Now he knows that's not possible. When another nation kills your people, everything changes. Each side becomes more inflexible and the prospects for peace dim. At the same time, US strategic objectives in Central Asia haven't changed at all, so Putin must prepare for the next confrontation. That's why he's strengthening alliances that challenge US dominance in the region and in the world. That's why he's looking for opportunities to weaken US power and erode US prestige. That's why he wants to dump the dollar. It's all preparation.

When trouble breaks out, Putin will be ready."

Halting food exports should be illegal, says Caroline Spelman | Environment | guardian.co.uk

Its a long tradition in England to insist on using the market to feed England by extracting food from their colonies and letting those people go hungry. Its what they did to Ireland in the so-called Famine. Tons of food were shipped from Irish estates under guard to English ships while the Irish farm workers who produced it for their landlords starved or emigrated.

Lord Charles Trevelyan, the government administrator in charge of famine relief, said it clearly. He was a great believer in the wisdom and virtues of the "free market.":

"In the middle of that crisis Trevelyan published his views on the matter. He saw the Famine as a "mechanism for reducing surplus population". He described the famine as "The judgement of God sent the calamity to teach the Irish a lesson, that calamity must not be too much mitigated. …The real evil with which we have to contend is not the physical evil of the Famine, but the moral evil of the selfish, perverse and turbulent character of the people"."[Wikipedia]

Some people used to say that if women were able to get into power in the government they would bring about more humane and peaceful policies. But it is clear now that women in politics can be as ideological, cruel and bloodthirsty as any man. Margaret Thatcher, Madeline Albright, Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin all come to mind.

Halting food exports should be illegal, says Caroline Spelman guardian.co.uk

The environment minister, Caroline Spelman, today risked incurring the wrath of many major food-growing countries by saying it should be illegal to halt food exports even at times of national crisis.

In a clear reference to Russia and the Ukraine, which temporarily halted exports of wheat and other grains in order to protect supplies for their own people during an unprecedented heatwave last year, she said no country should be allowed to interfere with the global food commodity market.

World food prices enter 'danger territory' to reach record high | Business | guardian.co.uk

Grain used for animal feed, alcohol and biofuels could be saved to use for food.

Also wealthy people buy food stocks as investments to sell at a profit when prices go up. Those without money to buy the more expensive food or without land to grow their own food simply starve.

World food prices enter 'danger territory' to reach record high | Business | guardian.co.uk:

"Soaring prices of sugar, grain and oilseed drove world food prices to a record in December, surpassing the levels of 2008 when the cost of food sparked riots around the world, and prompting warnings of prices being in 'danger territory'.

An index compiled monthly by the United Nations surpassed its previous monthly high – June 2008 – in December to reach the highest level since records began in 1990. Published by the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the index tracks the prices of a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy, meat and sugar, and has risen for six consecutive months.

Abdolreza Abbassian, FAO economist, told the Guardian: "We are entering a danger territory." But he stressed that the situation was not yet as bad as 2008.

Sugar and meat prices are at record levels, while cereal prices are back at the levels last seen in 2008, when riots in Haiti killed four people and riots in Cameroon left 40 dead.

Abbassian warned prices could rise higher still, amid fears of droughts in Argentina and floods in Australia and cold weather killing plants in the northern hemisphere...."

With New Heart Pump, Cheney Slowly Resumes Old Life - NYTimes.com

All I can hope is that God is keeping him alive long enough to repent and tell the truth about his vile, evil deeds. How can innocent children die of war, hunger and disease and this ...person... be continuing to walk on the earth and see the sunshine?

With New Heart Pump, Cheney Slowly Resumes Old Life - NYTimes.com: "WASHINGTON — A few days before Christmas, former Vice President Dick Cheney ended a self-imposed sabbatical from partisan politics to headline a fund-raiser for Maria Cino, a party operative and Bush administration official who is running to replace Michael Steele as head of the Republican National Committee.

The fund-raiser for Ms. Cino, held at the Alexandria, Va., home of Mr. Cheney’s former aide Mary Matalin, was his first major foray into partisan Washington political theater since receiving a mechanical heart pump in July that has, most doctors say, saved Mr. Cheney’s life by taking on the task of helping to push blood through his arteries."...

How the Other Half Lives @ naked capitalism

How the Other Half Lives @ naked capitalism


Its all true here in Barboursville, WV the same as in New York: Falling behind on bills; medical emergencies and medicine you can't afford; reduction in work hours.


Tuesday, January 4, 2011
How the Other Half Lives

Even though most people face some form of financial stress in their lifetime, and the financial crisis upended the affairs of many who had been comfortable, the poor and near poor contend with ongoing difficulties.

The Community Service Society conducts an annual survey, The Unheard Third, which catalogues some of the conditions poor and near-poor New Yorkers face. My impression is that New York has fared much better than the rest of the country in the aftermath of the crisis precisely because of the massive overt and covert subsidies given to the financial services industry, which is the foundation of the local economy. Thus I suspect if you were to conduct the same sort of survey in other US cities, the results would be even more grim.

The survey focused on low income residents, with those defined as poor (household earnings at or below federal poverty standards, or FPL) sampled most intensively.

Notice how many of the poor have trouble affording food ...

Health care is the most common trouble area for middle income New Yorkers ...

Lower income workers were also more likely to suffer reductions in employment income ...

And the supposed recovery seems to be leaving them behind ...

I encourage you to read the results in full. It is ugly out there.

Book of Protection - Discourse on Outcasts

The fundamental truth is that people are not to be judged by how they are born, but by what they do.

As Jesus said, "Judge a tree by its fruits."

Book of Protection - Discourse on Outcasts

Discourse on Outcasts
(Vasala Sutta) (1)

Thus have I heard:

On one occasion the Blessed One was living near Savatthi at Jetavana at Anathapindika's monastery. Then in the forenoon the Blessed One having dressed himself, took bowl and (double) robe, and entered the city of Savatthi for alms. Now at that time a fire was burning, and an offering was being prepared in the house of the brahmin Aggikabharadvaja. Then the Blessed One, while on his alms round, came to the brahmin's residence. The brahmin seeing the Blessed One some way off, said this: 'Stay there, you shaveling, stay there you wretched monk, stay there you outcast.' When he spoke thus the Blessed One said to the Brahmin: 'Do you know, brahmin, who an outcast is and what the conditions are that make an outcast?' No, indeed, Venerable Gotama, I do not know who an outcast is nor the conditions that make an outcast. It is good if Venerable Gotama were to explain the Dhamma to me so that I may know who an outcast is and what the conditions are that make an outcast.(2)

'Listen then, brahmin, and pay attention, I will speak:

Yes, Venerable Sir, replied the Brahmin.

1. Whosoever is angry, harbours hatred, and is reluctant to speak well of others (discredits the good of others), perverted in views, deceitful — know him as an outcast.

2. Whosoever in this world kills living beings, once born or twice born (3), in whom there is no sympathy for living beings — know him as an outcast.

3. Whosoever destroys and besieges villages and hamlets and becomes notorious as an oppressor — know him as an outcast.

4. Be it in the village, or in the forest, whosoever steals what belongs to others, what is not given to him — know him as an outcast.

5. Whosoever having actually incurred a debt runs away when he is pressed to pay, saying, 'I owe no debt to you' — know him as an outcast.

6. Whosoever coveting anything, kills a person going along the road, and grabs whatever that person has — know him as an outcast.

7. He who for his own sake or for the sake of others or for the sake of wealth, utters lies when questioned as a witness — know him as an outcast.

8. Whosoever by force or with consent associates with the wives of relatives or friends - know him as an outcast.

9. Whosoever being wealthy supports not his mother and father who have grown old — know him as an outcast.

10. Whosoever strikes and annoys by (harsh) speech, mother, father, brother, sister or mother-in-law or father-in-law — know him as an outcast.

11. Whosoever when questioned about what is good, says what is detrimental, and talks in an evasive manner — know him as an outcast.

12. Whosoever having committed an evil deed, wishes that it may not be known to others, and commits evil in secret — know him as an outcast.

13. Whosoever having gone to another's house, and partaken of choice food, does not honour that host by offering food when he repays the visit — know him as an outcast.

14. Whosoever deceives by uttering lies, a brahmin or an ascetic, or any other mendicant — know him as an outcast.

15. Whosoever when a brahmin or ascetic appears during mealtime angers him by harsh speech, and does not offer him (any alms) — know him as an outcast.

16. Whosoever in this world, shrouded in ignorance, speaks harsh words (asatam) or falsehood (4) expecting to gain something — know him as an outcast.

17. Whosoever debased by his pride, exalts himself and belittles other — know him as an outcast.

18. Whosoever is given to anger, is miserly, has base desires, and is selfish, deceitful, shameless and fearless (in doing evil) - know him as an outcast.

19. Whosoever reviles the Enlightened One (the Buddha), or a disciple of the Buddha, recluse or a householder — know him as an outcast.

20. Whosoever not being an Arahant, a Consummate One, pretends to be so, is a thief in the whole universe — he is the lowest of outcasts.

21. Not by birth is one an outcast; not by birth is one a brahmin. By deed one becomes an outcast, by deed one becomes a brahmin.

22. Know ye by the example I now cite (the fact that by birth one is not an outcast). There was an outcast's son, Sopaka, who became known as Matanga.

23. This Matanga attained the highest fame so difficult to gain. Many were the warriors (kshatriyas) and brahmins who went to attend on him.

24. Mounting the celestial chariot (the Noble Eightfold path, and driving) along the passion-free high road, (Sopaka, now a monk), reached the Brahma realm having given up sense desires.

25. His (lowly) birth did not prevent him from being reborn in the Brahma realm. There are brahmins born in the family of preceptors, kinsmen of (veda) hymns.

26. They are often seen committing evil deeds. In this life itself they are despised, in the next they are born in an evil state of existence. High birth does not prevent them from falling into a woeful state, or from censure.

27. Not by birth is one an outcast; not by birth is one a brahmin. By deed one becomes an outcast, by deed one becomes an brahmin.

When the Buddha had thus spoken, the Brahmin Aggikabharadvaja said to the Blessed One: 'Excellent, O Venerable Gotama, excellent! Just as, O Venerable Gotama, a man were to set upright what had been overturned, or were to reveal what had been hidden, or were to point the way to one who had gone astray, or were to hold an oil lamp in the dark so that those with eyes may see things, even so in many ways has the Venerable Gotama expounded the Dhamma, the doctrine. I take refuge in the Venerable Gotama, the Dhamma, and the Sangha, the Order. May the Venerable Gotama accept me as a lay follower who has taken refuge from this day onwards while life lasts.'

Forecast 2011 - Gird Your Loins for Lower Living Standards - Clusterfuck Nation

Forecast 2011 - Gird Your Loins for Lower Living Standards - Clusterfuck Nation:

"The outstanding question from the get-go of 2011 is just this: can a political economy be kept floating along like a Winnie-the-Pooh balloon on gusts of sheer fakery? To me, the simple answer is no. The people running things in the USA have tried everything from pervasive accounting fraud to complete opacity in trading procedures to looting the republic's future. The consensus trance of 'recovery' makes itself manifest through every conduit of public utterance - cable TV news, The New York Times, the pronouncements of every last elected official - even though the Consumer Price Index omits items such as food, gasoline, and heating oil in its calibrations, while heaping on fictional "hedonic" adjustments.

What's left of the American economy is a web of financial rackets divorced from the production of real wealth, dependent on an elaborate computerized three-card-monte edifice of swindling. Those groans and creakings you hear are the agonies of this ediface swaying under its burden of lies, while underneath it the ground of history shifts."

Just out of curiosity I did a little drawing and figuring on how much it would cost to put up my little cabin: $2,500 to frame up four walls and a roof. Of course I need to add in a door and some windows.

Twelve by Twenty four makes a HUGE space.

I am just a self-taught amateur rough carpenter, so experts please keep your opinions to yourselves.

benu_interview_withphoto.pdf (application/pdf Object)

benu_interview_withphoto.pdf (application/pdf Object)

LEAVING THE GHETTO
Istvan Lazi,
a Hungarian Dalit,
speaks of struggles for a better life
www.fwbo-news.org/features
My name is Istvan Lazi. My nickname is Benu. I was born at
Kazincbarcika, in Northern Hungary, in 1987. My family are gypsies. It
is difficult for non-gypsies to understand what that really means. Most
non-gypsies think it is a matter of race or skin colour, but it is not. To be
a gypsy is a belonging. It is to be part of a community where everyone
knows, 'We are gypsies'. Gypsies are a community of people who have
the same way of thinking about things. Even though skin colour is not
the main point about being a gypsy, many gypsies are dark skinned.
When two Buddhist friends visited us recently from India, people seeing
us together thought they were my relatives. If an Indian doesn't speak
English then people in Hungary will think he is a gypsy.
In my village there are several gypsy localities, all separate from the non-gypsies. There is the
gypsy locality where I live - most of these, my people, are gypsies who have been in Hungary for
many centuries and speak Hungarian. There is another smaller gypsy locality for Vlach gypsies who
came from Romania a century or so ago and speak the ancient gypsy language, which is quite
similar to Hindi and other North Indian languages....