Jim Kunstler is giving Saudi Arabia three weeks before it blows. Then $10 a gallon diesel fuel will end civilization as it is presently known. Peacenik says plant your garden now. And tune up your bicycle. Time for communities to get their acts together because working together is the only
Continue readingAuthor: Peacenik
punditman: Wake Me, Shake Me
Jim Kunstler is giving Saudi Arabia three weeks before it blows. Then $10 a gallon diesel fuel will end civilization as it is presently known. Peacenik says plant your garden now. And tune up your bicycle. Time for communities to get their acts tog…
Continue readingpunditman: Wake Me, Shake Me
Jim Kunstler is giving Saudi Arabia three weeks before it blows. Then $10 a gallon diesel fuel will end civilization as it is presently known. Peacenik says plant your garden now. And tune up your bicycle. Time for communities to get their acts together because working together is the only
Continue readingpunditman: 10 Ways Scott Walker Is Selling Out His Constituents to Corporations
Peacenik read this list of stuff the GOP is doing in Wisconsin and Peacenik realized that there is no common ground. All 10 of these GOP actions are insane. You cannot convince Peacenik otherwise. And Peacenik is certain that you cannot convince Scott Walker that his actions are crazy. Clean drinking water is too much of a burden on who? So in the misguided belief that only in taking actions like the 10 listed here, can the economy be cured and employment return, the GOP is taking society back to a time that is forgotten. Back to the dark ages. What would you do if you lived in Wisconsin. In Ontario, what would you do if the government passed a law that created the likelihood that the Walkerton tragedy would replay itself? Peacenik is not even sure that the regulation of drinking water in Ontario is adequate after Walkerton. What do you do when the government turns its back on the people and acts like there is no common good? Watch Wisconsin. The future is there.
Walker’s assault on public employees is only one part of a larger political program that aims to give corporations free reign in the state.
As the standoff between the Main Street Movement and Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) continues for the twelfth day, much of the media coverage — and anger — from both sides has focused on Walker’s efforts to strip Wisconsin public workers of their right to collective bargaining. But Walker’s assault on public employees is only one part of a larger political program that aims to give corporations free reign in the state while dismantling the healthcare programs, environmental regulations, and good government laws that protect Wisconsin’s middle and working class. These lesser known proposals in the 144-page bill reveal how radical Walker’s plan actually is:
1. ELIMINATING MEDICAID: The Budget Repair Bill includes a little-known provision that would put complete control of the state’s Medicaid program, known as BadgerCare, in the hands of the state’s ultra-conservative Health and Human Services Secretary Dennis Smith. Smith would have the authority to “to override state Medicaid laws as [he] sees fit and institute sweeping changes” including reducing benefits and limiting eligibility. Ironically, during the 1990s it was Republicans, especially former Gov. and Bush HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson, who helped develop BadgerCare into one of the country’s most innovative and generous Medicaid programs. A decade later, a new generation of radical Republicans is hoping to destroy one of Wisconsin’s “success stories.”
punditman: 10 Ways Scott Walker Is Selling Out His Constituents to Corporations
Peacenik read this list of stuff the GOP is doing in Wisconsin and Peacenik realized that there is no common ground. All 10 of these GOP actions are insane. You cannot convince Peacenik otherwise. And Peacenik is certain that you cannot convince Scott Walker that his actions are crazy. Clean
Continue readingpunditman: 10 Ways Scott Walker Is Selling Out His Constituents to Corporations
Peacenik read this list of stuff the GOP is doing in Wisconsin and Peacenik realized that there is no common ground. All 10 of these GOP actions are insane. You cannot convince Peacenik otherwise. And Peacenik is certain that you cannot convince Scott Walker that his actions are crazy. Clean
Continue readingpunditman: Chomsky: Only a Massive Uprising Will Change Our Politics
Are there enough progressives to stage a mass uprising in the U.S.A? Wisconsin seems to be the test. And in Wisconsin a majority of the citizens apparently elected a Republican/Tea Party dominated legislature. The eviseration of the labour movement in Wisconsin, and in your state or province might just be
Continue readingpunditman: Chomsky: Only a Massive Uprising Will Change Our Politics
Are there enough progressives to stage a mass uprising in the U.S.A? Wisconsin seems to be the test. And in Wisconsin a majority of the citizens apparently elected a Republican/Tea Party dominated legislature. The eviseration of the labour movement in Wisconsin, and in your state or province might just be done democratically. That one percent of the U.S. that controls over 99 percent of the wealth, seems to have convinced the 99 percent that that is a normal and just state of affairs. Is this the last gasp of the labour movement in the U.S. (and soon in Canada), or is it the beginning of a re-birth. Peacenik is not feeling good about what is going down in Wisconsin. Editorials about Tea Party over-reach are not going to get it done. This is the pitch fork moment. But wait, who is on Dancing with The Stars. And did J-Lo really cry on American Idol this week. Is Charlie Sheen finished? Will Lindsay go to jail?
Chomsky: “What has to be done is what’s happening in Madison, or Tahrir Square. If there’s mass popular opposition, any political leader is going to have to respond.
NOAM CHOMSKY: We were talking about unions before. Union busting is criminal activity by the government, because they’re saying, “You can go ahead and do it; we’re not going to apply the laws,” effectively. And the COINTELPRO, which you mentioned, is actually the worst systematic and extended violation of basic civil rights by the federal government. It maybe compares with Wilson’s Red Scare. But COINTELPRO went on from the late ’50 right through all of the ’60s; it finally ended, at least theoretically ended, when the courts terminated it in the early ’70s. And it was serious.
It started, as is everything, going after the Communist Party, then the Puerto Rican Independence Party. Then it extended—the women’s movement, the New Left, but particularly black nationalists. And it ended up—didn’t end up, but one of the events was a straight Gestapo-style assassination of two black organizers, Fred Hampton and Mark Clark, literally. The FBI set up the assassination. The Chicago police actually carried it out, broke into the apartment at 4:00 in the morning and murdered them. Fake information that came from the FBI about arms stores and so on. There was almost nothing about it. In fact, the information about this, remarkably, was released at about the same time as Watergate. I mean, as compared with this, Watergate was a tea party. There was nothing, you know?
punditman: Chomsky: Only a Massive Uprising Will Change Our Politics
Are there enough progressives to stage a mass uprising in the U.S.A? Wisconsin seems to be the test. And in Wisconsin a majority of the citizens apparently elected a Republican/Tea Party dominated legislature. The eviseration of the labour movement in Wisconsin, and in your state or province might just be
Continue readingpunditman: WikiLeaks’ Assange can be extradited to Sweden: judge
Has Sweden offered any assurances that Julian Assange will not be extradited to the U.S.A? Sweden has already shown itself to be a big secret supporter of U.S. foreign policy. And now for the first time someone has been extradited for sex charges in the European Union. Peacenik doesn’t trust Sweden in this matter, nor Britain, nor the U.S.A. Peacenik hopes Julian Assange will have his own security. Meanwhile has anyone noticed a lack of news from Wikileaks. The efforts to marginalize and intimidate and bankrupt Wikileaks seem to be having an effect. Peacenik says release the Doomsday File now. Lets see the Bank of America documents. And free Julian Assange.
Supporters of the founder of WikiLeaks Julian Assange hold placards as they wait for his arrival for his extradition hearing Feb. 24.
LONDON — Julian Assange can be extradited to Sweden in a sex crimes inquiry, a British judge ruled Thursday, rejecting claims by the WikiLeaks founder that he would not face a fair trial there. Assange’s lawyer said he would appeal.
Judge Howard Riddle said the allegations of rape and sexual molestation by two women against Assange meet the definition of extraditable offenses and said the Swedish warrant had been properly issued and was valid.
Assange, 39, a key figure in the release of tens of thousands of secret U.S. government and military documents, has been out on bail during the extradition fight. He has seven days to appeal the ruling in British courts.
After hearing three days of testimony this month, Riddle concluded “there is simply no reason to believe there has been a mistake” about the European Arrest Warrant issued by Swedish authorities.
punditman: WikiLeaks’ Assange can be extradited to Sweden: judge
Has Sweden offered any assurances that Julian Assange will not be extradited to the U.S.A? Sweden has already shown itself to be a big secret supporter of U.S. foreign policy. And now for the first time someone has been extradited for sex charges in the European Union. Peacenik doesn’t trust
Continue readingpunditman: WikiLeaks’ Assange can be extradited to Sweden: judge
Has Sweden offered any assurances that Julian Assange will not be extradited to the U.S.A? Sweden has already shown itself to be a big secret supporter of U.S. foreign policy. And now for the first time someone has been extradited for sex charges in the European Union. Peacenik doesn’t trust
Continue readingpunditman: This is my farm: From the city to the country and back again
Peacenik has been so busy trying to follow and make sense out of all the revolutions and protests in the world that Peacenik hasn’t written much about urban farming and sustainability lately. But with bank runs in Korea, riots in Wisconsin and Tripoli, food shortages all over the world, and
Continue readingpunditman: This is my farm: From the city to the country and back again
Peacenik has been so busy trying to follow and make sense out of all the revolutions and protests in the world that Peacenik hasn’t written much about urban farming and sustainability lately. But with bank runs in Korea, riots in Wisconsin and Tripoli…
Continue readingpunditman: This is my farm: From the city to the country and back again
Peacenik has been so busy trying to follow and make sense out of all the revolutions and protests in the world that Peacenik hasn’t written much about urban farming and sustainability lately. But with bank runs in Korea, riots in Wisconsin and Tripoli, food shortages all over the world, and
Continue readingpunditman: Wisconsin’s Political Crisis Is A Good Deal More Serious Than Its Fiscal Crisis
Peacenik thinks that if public sector collective bargaining can be destroyed in Wisconsin, then public sector collective bargaining can be destroyed anywhere in North America, including Canada. There are lots of movies about the development of unions in North America. Watch one. It was a tough battle. And now after years of having the right to bargain collectively, the right to join a union, and the right to worker safety laws, it is now all at risk. Some wingnut in Missouri is even trying to ban child labour laws. And who is standing up to defend worker rights. Is Obama? Is Bill Clinton? Is Hillary? A lot of common people are, along with the captain of the Green Bay Packers. If the governor of Wisconsin wins this battle, the United States of America will make Libya look like a tea party. Not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But sooner than anyone wants. Collective bargaining is part of the fabric of society. Rip it apart, and watch out.
MADISON – Wisconsin’s Legislative Fiscal Bureau was created in 1968 by a Republican governor, Warren Knowles, and a Republican-controlled state legislature.
The purpose was to establish a non-partisan agency that would provide honest fiscal analysis and information for Wisconsin Legislators. Across more than four decades, the bureau has done just that, earning the respect of legislators from both parties, including a young Scott Walker, who frequently cited the bureau when he served in the state Assembly.
Less than a month ago, a Fiscal Bureau memo reported that the state had a $121.4 million surplus through the remainder of the current fiscal year.
That is a fact that is now under attack by Governor Walker, who the conservative publication Human Events refers to as the “new hero” of the Republican right. Walker argues– as Republicans and Democrats have acknowledged for some time — that the state’s fiscal house is not in order and that unsettled issues relating to a payment due Minnesota after the canceling of a tax agreement, as well as rising health care and prison costs, could well create a shortfall before the end of the year.
So it is possible that Wisconsin might need a budget repair bill of the sort Walker has proposed before the fiscal year is finished, as it has in many years.
punditman: Wisconsin’s Political Crisis Is A Good Deal More Serious Than Its Fiscal Crisis
Peacenik thinks that if public sector collective bargaining can be destroyed in Wisconsin, then public sector collective bargaining can be destroyed anywhere in North America, including Canada. There are lots of movies about the development of unions in North America. Watch one. It was a tough battle. And now after
Continue readingpunditman: Wisconsin’s Political Crisis Is A Good Deal More Serious Than Its Fiscal Crisis
Peacenik thinks that if public sector collective bargaining can be destroyed in Wisconsin, then public sector collective bargaining can be destroyed anywhere in North America, including Canada. There are lots of movies about the development of unions in North America. Watch one. It was a tough battle. And now after
Continue readingpunditman: Radical States: GOP Forcing Their Nightmarish Right-Wing Vision on People Who Elected Them
The scary thing is that these people are getting elected in the first place. The U.S.A. is a very sick place, Culturally, politically and economically. And it may take more that some protesting to cure it. And Canada may not be much better off. Tea Bagger Ford got elected mayor
Continue readingpunditman: Radical States: GOP Forcing Their Nightmarish Right-Wing Vision on People Who Elected Them
The scary thing is that these people are getting elected in the first place. The U.S.A. is a very sick place, Culturally, politically and economically. And it may take more that some protesting to cure it. And Canada may not be much better off. Tea Bagger Ford got elected mayor
Continue reading