Monday, December 12, 2011

Economic and Political News

EkDesiLadki wrote:
What are your feelings on Occupy wall street protests ?
You might be delighted to know that the American Association of University Professors (of which I am a member) has endorsed the Occpy Wall Street Movement.
Though some academicians shrink from the thought, we educators are also part of the 99% that is getting screwed by the corporate elite. We alos live on a paycheck that can be lost. At least we regular faculty have health care benefits that are being attacked and can be lost. Moreover, university administrations are not only using the economic crises to cut funds and services needed by ourselves and our students, they are also making attacks on academic freedom.
(By the way, CONTRACTUAL faculty get lower pay and often have NO health care benefits even when they work full time. And over HALF of all faculty are now contractual. I happen to belong to the fortunate minority of regular faculty who are better paid and with benefits. But these are under attack...which shows again that justice is for ALL or it is for NONE).

Also, the American Philosophical Association (to which I also belong) will be meeting this December in Washington, DC. I will be trying to get their support for the 99% movement.
If we cannot get the APA as a whole to support the movement, then we may be able to get some learned societies withing the Association to do so: among these being the "GAndhi/King Society", "Concerned Philosophers for Peace", and various committees and societies for Blacks, Hispanic, Asian & Women philosophers.
Perhaps some of those philosophers will want to personally support the Movement.
And though Cornel West doesn't often attend meetings of the APA outside the Massachusett area, I will personally contact him to request his prssence in DC to help with this initiative.
Despite my issues with Barack Obama, he was right in one thing he said to a meeting of the African-Americans: it's time to lace up our marching shoes and get moving!!!!


-Savant
___________________



EkDesiLadki wrote:
Tea buggers/rePugs just want to put evade taxes and put MORE money in their pocket as usual.
Before our ex-Emperor bush leaves the office he hands out billions of dollars to save greedy corporation and fraudulent banks. It's surprising that they blame that on Obama too.
The lie well-told becomes truth.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/03/news/economy/...
With all the disinformation, we've gotten to the place in American politics that the truth will only be told long after the participants are out of office or dead. Even when there's clear and undisputable facts, people will believe what they want to believe and there's no reasoning with them. Furthermore, they expected miracles out of Obama, knowing full well the mess Bush left and they expected the mess of eight years to be cleaned up in four! He's had to battle the racisim and disrespect, he's had to battle an obstinate and obstructionist Republican party, he's inherited two ongoing wars, he did what Bush couldn't do and that's catch and kill not only Osama but a whole slew of his henchmen and yet, that's still not enough??? I am amazed that given their behavior and their totally messing up this country, Republicans have the nerve to even open their sorry mouths, but open them they do and nothing but lies and manipulated information comes out of them

-bappie

____________________


-EkDesiLadki
Interesting Article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/opinion/07k...
"The richest 1 percent of Americans now take home almost 24 percent of income, up from almost 9 percent in 1976. As Timothy Noah of Slate noted in an excellent series on inequality, the United States now arguably has a more unequal distribution of wealth than traditional banana republics like Nicaragua, Venezuela and Guyana.
C.E.O.’s of the largest American companies earned an average of 42 times as much as the average worker in 1980, but 531 times as much in 2001. Perhaps the most astounding statistic is this: From 1980 to 2005, more than four-fifths of the total increase in American incomes went to the richest 1 percent.
That’s the backdrop for one of the first big postelection fights in Washington — how far to extend the Bush tax cuts to the most affluent 2 percent of Americans. Both parties agree on extending tax cuts on the first $250,000 of incomes, even for billionaires. Republicans would also cut taxes above that.
The richest 0.1 percent of taxpayers would get a tax cut of $61,000 from President Obama. They would get $370,000 from Republicans, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. And that provides only a modest economic stimulus, because the rich are less likely to spend their tax savings.
At a time of 9.6 percent unemployment, wouldn’t it make more sense to finance a jobs program? For example, the money could be used to avoid laying off teachers and undermining American schools.
Likewise, an obvious priority in the worst economic downturn in 70 years should be to extend unemployment insurance benefits, some of which will be curtailed soon unless Congress renews them. Or there’s the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, which helps train and support workers who have lost their jobs because of foreign trade. It will no longer apply to service workers after Jan. 1, unless Congress intervenes.
So we face a choice. Is our economic priority the jobless, or is it zillionaires? "
MrAnderson9 wrote:

I think it's great, finally the intellectual crowd stands up with a cause that makes sense that they actually understand what they're asking for.
The tea party for the most part was just a bunch of clueless white folks that watched too much Hannity and Beck..
When Ron Paul had the Tea Party it was pure, meant something and the members knew what that wanted and stood by it. When Fox, Bauchman, Beck and all those started claiming it, it turned into nothing more than a bunch of under informed racist with no clue as to what they were really asking for.
This is obvious by the lack of support that Rob Paul is getting in the Republican Primary.
The Occupy Wall Street Protesters are the real deal, informed, and know what they are asking for and not doing it on whim.
America is Tired of 5% of the population holding almost 90% of the Nations wealth.






________________________________

germandog21Moderator3 days agoin reply to Lexe
Cute! Those socialist/communist labels are so funny.....only the divisive/negative code words of conservative/capitalist/ republicans who will guarddog every penny of the wealthy, while the poor and middle class go in the toilet......THAT ISN'T FAIR!

Nobody wants a "soviet union setup" in america, only tax increases on the wealthy that americans found acceptable under Clinton & Reagan.

However, since an african american president seeks mild tax increases on the wealthy......he is labelled hitler, stalin, and like characters. THIS IS BASED ONLY IN RACISM....REPUBLICANS NOT WANTING TO COOPERATE IF IT MEANS A BLACK MAN WILL BE EFFECTIVE & SUCCESSFUL.

IF PRESIDENT REAGAN WAS ALIVE AND IN OFFICE....HE WOULD TELL THE COUNTRY AS HE DID DURING HIS ERA......"IT IS UNFAIR FOR THE WEALTHY TO NOT PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE".

Giving up a thrid is silly and nobody requested such percentage. You mention if one had a hundred million dollars, thus and so......what difference does it make, they are already keeping it to themselves.

Sir, you can label ""equity in taxes" anyway you would like.....at the end of the day, there is nothing fair, decent, or correct about the wealthy or corporations exploiting the middle/poor classes.

IF THAT IS SOCIALIST THINKING.....GOOD, SO BE IT. EXTREMES IN ANY SYSTEM IS SELF DESTRUCTIVE TO SOCIETY.......THAT IS TRUE THROUGHOUT HISTORY.


______________________


Richard wrote:
Iam a WASP conserative, and i have many problems with Obama that have nothing to do with his color,religion or any of that BS. My problems with him are like i have with so many libreals. I do not like most any of his social stances when it comes to gun control, homosexuality, abortion. I will for the momet leave those debates for another time. some of my other issues is this belief that we have to share. When a person goes out and takes a risk starting a business and becomes successful besides for normal taxes then why should this person have to share anything? Dosent that person share enough inhiring and providing a living for employees? Paying taxes that are so much higher than most people ever dream? I do not like the half truth that President Obama said about war. Yes he said lets get out or Iraq, Great no problem but he always glossed over the fact he wanted to escalate the war in Afganhistan. This notion of his vision of health care is so off the mark to me that it si funny. Oh i get some of it and like it. But to force people into these programs who might not want t be in them in such a govt interference that it defines logic. Oh well we all have our opinions about President Obama. Not really matters though does it. We have him for at least 3 more years if not longer. The only way to express real and true disagreement is at the polls. So only time will tell.
I've no doubt that as a progressive I would disagree with you on a number of issues you mention above.
However, you might be interested in noting that many progressives take issue with Obama regarding the Afghanistan war.
In progressive publications like THE NATION and THE PROGRESSIVE, as well as in progressive internet sites like "Alternet.org " deep concern, and often SEVERE criticism, has been expressed on account of Obama's having taken on the Afghanistan war.
Unfortunately, Barack Obama's position BEFORE his election was that there was no justification of the Iraq war (Saddam not having been involved with 9/11d), but Afghanistan was the "right" war.
I disagree, as do many progressives, who have tried to urge him no to let Bush's war become his war.
But he wasn't exactly unclear about possibly widening the Afthanistan war.
I remember trying to warn people of that in a thread I entitled: BLACK PEOPLE, Don't get TOO EXCITED about Barack Obama.
I suggested that while he's preferable to the Republican alternative, he has a lot of issues--including corporate ties (which nearly all politicians have). And I posed the question: Is Obama only against the Iraq war? Or is he opposed to MILITARISM?
That question remains.

-Savant
_______________

germandog21Moderator3 days agoin reply to Lexe
I wasn't calling "YOU" racist, only the double standard in response among republicans in regard to tax increases among the wealthy. You claim to be politically neutral, huh?

All inequities aren't attributable to taxes, however there are clear taxation inequities if individuals are making millions or huge corporations are making billions but pay little or no taxes......thereby leaving the middle class/poor to pay an unfair amount.

Lexe, if nobody is taxed, you will have a "pure capitalist" country which would eliminate the middle class . Would you want to live in a country where billionaires & corporations owned the police, fire departments, no medicare/medicaid, no government wathdogs to prevent all sorts of exploitation, and the richest 2% making all decisions for everyone???
________


EkDesiLadki wrote:
If you compare GW b vs Obama, you can see that GW b followed his idiotic plans which lead to the destruction of the country. Obama, on the opposite is intelligent but he doesn't follow his plans that will bring the required progress.
First stimulus helped in stabilizing economy and created 1+ million jobs but it's still overlooked because of the pitiable condition of the economy. I feel, Obama should prioritize and work on passing his job package.
Even healthcare is needed but it's not that important right now for people because having a job and earning is much more important.
The stimulus, partly because of tax cut concessions to Republicans, didn't go far enough. And the health care package was watered down before it even got to the table.
It's remarkaable how many right wing loons actually believe Obama is a socialist or communist. He's just barelyu liberal.
One of the signs at Occupy Baltimore: "Obama, stop CAVING IN!"


-Savant

______________

TheHardTruths wrote:
And good job for those of you who are IGNORING the trolls and not allowing them to deter us from our mission, which is waking up as many of our people as possible.
One of our BIGGEST goals should be to absolutely require that ANY and ALL non-blacks have NO SAY WHATSOEVER in our business. They are NOT allowed to "suggest" any mode of thinking for us. The reason for that should be obvious.(They NEVER will have OUR best interest at heart. And besides, we don't need ANYBODY to think for us.) If we can come up with inventions, etc., etc., then we come up with our own solutions. And we can determine what lifestyles we accept as a community.
They don't allow us to tell THEM what and how to think on ANY subject, and neither should we allow THEM to tell US how to think on any subject. And the black slaves who support our enemies or who don't support us (with NO exceptions) should be PERMANENTLY banned and EXCOMMUNICATED from our community/presence. POINT BLANK PERIOD.
I cosign 1000000000% I didn't make this thread for it to crumble under the boot of these trolls, ignore them, even better I don't even read the crap.


-Near Future

________

Blackheywood HeywoodModerator45 minutes ago
It's a sin and a damn shame some Black people still chose to be uneducated and ignorant about that demon 'The Pope"and that cult he runs. After all the atrocities that so-called religion was behind and still cause in Africa those ignorant as Africans are giddy over his arrival .How sad, regretful and unfortunate for them as a people. Lock up your young boys African parents, pedophiles are walking among you.


____________



Altruism wrote:
I feel that we need to counter the belief that working hard in school and getting good grades is acting "white". This is a problem that is very pervasive in inner city urban high schools and is basically implying that black people are supposed to be stupid and ignorant. I think this results from the lack of black figures in the media that are smart and well educated. We need to tell other black people that studying hard and getting an education will solve our problems more than playing sports professionally or becoming a music artist. There can only be so many athletes or musicians. We need more black doctors, engineers, accountants etc.
An easy fix we simply need to stop supporting these fake examples of our intellect. We need to seek better rolemodels for our kids. Entertainment is entertainment, education is what determines our future.
-Near Future

________

Redefined wrote:

More reasons why I say the Entertainment Industry is poison & are probably the Anti-Christ. I mean why promote this kinda stuff in society?? Isn't America suppose to be such a Christian Nation??
Its all run by the the Taviststock Institute of human relations its call long range penetration from the media, the run the news, the music industry and the newspapers they set the trends of America this is how they shape and mold us to be the way we are. that is why i don't watch television its poison.

-Black man Speaking

_________________________

Hotep, Very well done documentary. The sad part about this is, there are still Weak Negropeans that support the sick, retarded mentality of Tamahu. The beautiful part about this is, we have very very conscious individuals that produce information to wake up those who are tired of the programming.
Peace, love and light 144000

WOW!! This opened my EyEz. Had no idea the beast was targeting our children with these perverse videos, but your videos are opening people's chained minds & allowing them to think for themselves & stop the cycle that willie lynch implemented, that predates before him.
Our own ppl are using their own kids to poison our future. smh. Black people gotta get it together. boycott, destroy, or eliminate these disgusting images from our kids, becuz the enemy will definitely not hesitate to show it to our kids. Great work BLK Queen



_____________________


To Kashta Bureh:

Savage black men and savage black women (a small group of people) are no threat to white supremacy as you have proven. They are no different than an overt Uncle Tom since both factions want to ruin the black community. These 2 factions (of Uncle Toms & savages) just want to ruin it in 2 different ways (either by total capitulation to white society or by promoting degeneracy including anti-intellectualism in the black community). The savages aren’t pro-black culturally since they encourage nefarious behavior. They have no chance and they will reap what they have sown period. It’s the law of nature. We of course disagree on the percentages (I believe these savages are a minority and you believe it’s a majority) and other issues. Yet, we do agree on the solution to the problem (which is radical intellectual, moral, social, and physical development of the black race worldwide). The Black man increasingly must act like men and not act submissive to anybody of any race. Manhood though can’t be expressed in radically suppressing women’s rights though. Women should have basic freedom, but a man should have the right to be a man aggressively too. It’s obvious that the white supremacy crowd abhors any black man that is not only intelligent, but won’t bow down to their social mores. That’s a fact and it’s proven by the testimonies from black individuals in the workplace. It’s a shame that some try to emasculate a real man for acting different from a stereotypical image, but real men are fighting back increasingly. Racist whites hate any black person who refuses to act as a caricature. Also, we aren’t demonizing all sisters in the process either.

Real black women are our allies, so I can’t disregard them (or authentic black women). I know plenty of black sisters in America (or American black women) that know what time it is. The black American sister Sojourner Truth was a threat to white supremacy, which is why she had a bounty on her head (in the range of thousands of dollars). The sisters Harriet Tubman and Coretta Scott King refute white supremacy alone for their strength & deeds. It’s just that the minority of the hooligans (many of these thugs don’t know how to fight one on one, some of them are closet cases, etc.) try to ruin our culture. The sellouts that either hate Black men or hate Black Women will have their day. We don’t have to mess with these sellouts. We should focus on the blacks that have seen the light and hope that the sellouts come home. If the sellouts refuse to wake up, leave them alone. If you want to marry a foreign black woman or an American black woman, that is cool with me. I’ve met nice foreign Caribbean sisters before and I know real sweet black American sisters too.

-By Timothy

HUFFPOST SUPER USER
BdoMcGregor
01:37 AM On 08/16/2011
I have lived in Britain and Australia. You people have never set foot outside your country. I can gurantee that. Conservati­ves are too afraid to travel the world and learn anything from anyone else. Which is why you are able to be so easily lead.

People in the UK complain about their health care not because they want our model, but because they believe it is a public service and that the service should be improved.

However, when I lived there I did get sick. And the doctor came to my house. And it cost me nothing. ddarkury you love to comment on health stories with all these little catch phrases and grandstand­ing but you don't know what you are talking about.



_______________


NearFuture wrote:
I've thought over things and instead of blacks making multiple positive black threads we should try and just talk about all things positive and black here. I think it would be better because obviously everyone is not going to go around looking for positive black threads to find and post on and very few will be talked about any how. I see this thread going to the top because we can talk about multiple positive black things all at once and the subject can change at any time keeping this thread alive.
But it is EXTREMELY important that we give no attention to racists and trolls, their posts are invisible on this thread. they are not worth it.
Now one thing I have noticed is that many blacks never actually learn about African history. We are mainly taught only about the slave trade and the hardships afterward or the apartheid. We never learn much about the great ancient African civilizations besides Egypt(Kush)like Mali. I find it funny because after studying some of the ancient African civilizations they break all of the stereotypes that are associated with blacks now. The stereotype of blacks being poor is thwartred by the fact that Mali was one of the richest Kingdoms of its time, and all of its residents had high amounts of wealth. The Africans living mainly in mudhuts stereotype is destroyed by the fact that civilizations in ancient Nigeria had various styles of architecture that were massive and their civilizations had outer walls for protection that were as high as 70 feet, not to mention African tribes such as the bushmen and masai account for an etremely small part of Africa yet when we think of Africa (yes us blacks do this too) we think of black people wearing loin cloths living in huts with spears. The stereotype of blacks being "genetically" violent is bashed by the fact that the African civilization of Mali abhorred violence. And the infamous stereotype I hear all of the time that blacks are ignorant is immediately dismissed by the fact that blacks made some of the most intricate and well constrructed civilizations in history, and created Timbuktu the educational center of that time period that held thousands of books filled with all types of information on math and sciences for black students. And all of these facts together destroy the most notorious black stereotype of all; that blacks have no history and they contributed nothing to society. We are really doing ourselves a disservice in not learning our true worth and potential on this great Earth. What I'm trying to say is if our African ancestors who come from a time without modern technology can create and develop these great structures and keep honorable values, we most definantely should be able to pull our true potential and lead ourselves out of this perpetual state of oppression. So my question to you is how do you think blacks can tap into this potential that our ancestors displayed outwardly and gave them some of the greatest civilizations on Earth? How do we hel pother blacks realize that without our history to show us that we can be better than we will fall for the same traps? andhow do we get our young people interested in these things?



 

No comments: