Transfer Pricing: One Way Multi-National Corporations Avoid Taxes

According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), about 28% of large US corporations paid no taxes in 2005. The Washington Post's David Cho reports that Senator "Dorgan and Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) requested the report out of concern that some corporations were using "transfer pricing" to reduce their tax bills. The practice allows multi-national companies to transfer goods and assets between internal divisions so they can record income in a jurisdiction with low tax rates."

The SF Chronicle (Carolyn Said) added:

"Adam Hughes, director of federal fiscal policy at OMB Watch, a nonpartisan government accountability watchdog, explained how transfer pricing works."

"A company will incorporate offshore where there are no taxes," he said. "That (parent) company charges the U.S. company lots of money for things like the trademark for the company logo. The U.S. company says, 'I made $50 million, but my stupid parent company charged me $50 million for the logo.' The U.S. company gets to deduct the royalty fees as an expense and move profits to the parent company offshore in a tax-free haven."

"Although the US has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the industrialized world, in actuality, it has one of the lowest rates. "From 2000 to 2005, revenue from federal and state corporate income tax averaged 2.2 percent of the U.S. GDP, compared to an average of 3.4 percent in 30 of its trading-partner countries, according to the Treasury Department."

Automating and Covering Up White Collar Crime

Yesterday's papers reported that an international ring of computer hackers, including three US citizens, had been charged for stealing 40 million credit card numbers. The Economic Times reports that "the men targeted at least nine major US retail corporations, including "Marshalls and TJ Maxx; BJ's Wholesale Club; Barnes and Noble; Sports Authority; Office Max and DSW shoe stores." NPR reports that retail stores failed to notify consumers, which violates consumer laws. These crimes undermine confidence in the economy, particularly the Internet. NPR also reports that cyber crime now rivals drug crimes in lucrativeness.

Disinformation Leading to War: "The Way of the World"

There were two news stories today that open the window slightly on "the way of the world." The first story, from Politico and the book "The Way of the World: A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism" is from Pulitizer Prize author Ron Suskind. Suskind reports that a high-ranking official in the White House ordered a forged letter to justify going to war with Iraq in 2003. Suskind adds that the US secretly resettled the Iraqi intelligence chief, Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti, to Jordan and paid him $5 million in order to deceive the world about weapons of mass destruction.

On NPR (8-7-08), Suskind states that he has tape recorded his sources and is ready to appear before any Senate or House hearings about these crimes of disinformation.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93319762

Suskind has also posted a transcript of his interview with a high level CIA contractor Rob Richer.
http://www.ronsuskind.com/thewayoftheworld/transcripts/


The second story: In attempting to find someone to prosecute in the anthrax scare,the Federal Bureau of Investigations coerced a man to provide information on his father, a US Army scientist. The Washington post reports that the FBI offered the man $2.5 million and the sports car of his choice. Although the FBI could not prove the father's role in the anthrax scare, their pressure ended in the scientist's suicide.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12308.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/
2008/08/05/ST2008080503796.html

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93319762

The Neoliberal Business Cycle

F. William Engdahl (The Online Journal, 8-5-2008) indicates that the banking situation is much worse than most people imagine, with CitiGroup, once the world's largest bank, having to take billions in funds from Dubai. In addition auto sales showed huge declines last month (Ford down 28%, GM down 18%, Toyota down 21%). Even worse, the Labor Department's U6 unemployment rate has risen to 9.6% and, according to Shadowstats, the actual unemployment rate is estimated at 13.7%.

Of course these "problems" are actually how neoliberal economics functions: to consolidate power and resources and to keep the working class in a position of weakness. This list of US retail shop closings indicates another "problem" with the US economy.

Ann Taylor, closing 117 stores nationwide.

Eddie Bauer to close more stores after closing 27 stores in the first quarter.

Cache, a women’s retailer, is closing 20 to 23 stores this year.

Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, Catherines, closing 150 stores nationwide

Talbots, J. Jill, closing stores. Talbots will close all 78 of its kids and men’s stores plus another 22 underperforming stores. The 22 stores will be a mix of Talbots women’s and J. Jill.

Gap Inc., closing 85 stores

Foot Locker to close 140 stores

Wickes Furniture is going out of business and closing all of its stores. The 37-year-old retailer that targets middle-income customers, filed for bankruptcy protection last month.

Levitz, the furniture retailer, announced it was going out of business and closing all 76 of its stores in December. The retailer dates back to 1910.

Zales, Piercing Pagoda planned to close 82 stores by July 31 followed by closing another 23 underperforming stores.

Disney Store owner has the right to close 98 stores.

Home Depot, closing 15 stores amid a slumping US economy and housing market. The move will affect 1,300 employees. It is the first time the world’s largest home improvement store chain has ever closed a flagship store.

CompUSA (CLOSED).

Macy’s, nine stores closed

Movie Gallery, video rental company, plans to close 400 of 3,500 Movie Gallery and Hollywood Video stores in addition to the 520 locations the video rental chain closed last fall as part of bankruptcy.

Pacific Sunwear, 153 Demo stores closing.

Pep Boys, 33 stores of auto parts supplier closing.

Sprint Nextel, 125 retail locations to close with 4,000 employees following 5,000 layoffs last year.

J. C. Penney, Lowe’s and Office Depot are all scaling back

Ethan Allen Interiors, plans to close 12 of 300 stores to cut costs.

Wilsons the Leather Experts,, closing 158 stores.

Bombay Company to close all 384 U.S.-based Bombay Company stores.

KB Toys, closing 356 stores around the United States as part of its bankruptcy reorganization.

Dillard’s Inc. will close another six stores this year.

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_3583.shtml

Domestic Surveillance as an American Way of Life

The US government has established "fusion centers" to join various federal and local police agencies. The ACLU argues that these centers have been used to systematically spy on citizens who do not commit crimes but who oppose war and the Death Penalty.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/31/
AR2008073101505.html?nav=hcmodule

http://www.commondreams.org/news2008/0729-17.htm

Socializing Kids for Combat

Michael Reagan of Truthout (July 23, 2008) writes of the US Army's shameless attempts to recruit children through its video game and website. According to Reagan, the game simulates training and combat, minus the moral dilemmas of killing other humans and the horror and nightmares experienced by soldiers and civilians who experience war first hand.

Hey DOD, how about a PTSD video game?

http://www.truthout.org/article/us-military-recruits-children

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae: More Corporate Welfare Over the Weekend

The Federal Reserve, not surprisingly, has bailed out Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae by allowing the two corporations to borrow money from its "discount window" (Dawn Kopecki, Bloomberg, 7-14-08). The Treasury Department was also involved in getting "assurances" that Freddie Mac's short-term debt offerings "would go off without a hitch" (Stephen Laboton, NY Times, 7-14-08).

Both moves occurred before the US stock market opened on Monday.

A more telling understanding of the situation can be found from the readers of the NY Times article.

http://community.nytimes.com/article/comments/2008/07/14/
washington/14fannie.html

IndyMac Bank Failure Misses News Cycle

Immediately after the stock market closed for the weekend (7-12-2008), the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) reported the federal takeover of IndyMac. The seizure came after a run on the California-based bank. According to the FDIC this was the third largest bank takeover in US history. At least 3800 employees will be sacked.

IndyMac was a spinoff of Countrywide Financial (Angelo Mozilo and David Loeb) and was heavily invested in high-risk mortgages.

The event came in light of news that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the largest US mortgage-based security firms, were faltering. Julie Creswell (NY Times 7-13-08) reported that both institutions hired high level politicos for years and bought off activist groups by donating to their charities.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/13/business/
13lend.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5087&em&en=b241ddc36df57dec&ex=1216094400

Understanding US Inequality and Economics

Demos.org is a fine source for statistics on US economic conditions, with an emphasis on inequality. The website includes charts on wages, income mobility, wealth, CEO wealth, and personal savings.

http://www.demos.org/inequality/numbers.cfm

White Collar Crime Narrative

Samuel Israel III, fugitive from justice and hedge fund swindler, surrendered to law enforcement today. Israel was sentenced to 20 years in prison for defrauding clients of $309,000,000 between 1998 and 2005. He then faked his death in order to escape imprisonment. Israel went as far as co-creating a bogus accounting firm to certify false financial statements.

There is little or no mention of the immediate victims, who were other rich investors. The ultimate victims, however, are the people.

Israel's lawyer's sentencing letter to the judge is a window into the white collar criminal mind. The letter (URL below) even states that Israel is "the victim" rather than the predator (p.28). Note that, in a way, this white collar criminal is even less honorable than the typical street thug, preferring to blame his crimies rather than accepting the punishment. The letter makes no mention of Israel's great grandfather, Leon Israel, who was also a white-collar criminal (NY Times, April 29,1920).

Note also the unpublished paper, titled "the Subjective Experience of Punishment" beginning on page 70. In it, Professor Adam Kolber, claims that "sensitive" (e.g. rich people) should be given breaks in sentencing over "insensitive" people (e.g. the lesser classes).

Kolber has also written on the ethics of "therapeutic forgetting," which would be used on soldiers to forget the atrocities of war.

The sentencing paper, forthcoming in the Columbia Law Review, was sponsored by the Orwellian Princeton Center for Human Values. Of note, the Center for Human Values, funded by the Mellons and Rockefellers, has also promoted pre-emptive war.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/
business/2008/06/14Bayou-doc2.pdf

Work Injury? What Work Injury?

Bill Moyers' Journal (June 27, 2008) reported OSHA's lack of oversight in the poultry industry. According to the Charlotte Observer, OSHA inspections have been reduced to the lowest levels in 15 years, siding with corporations over their workers. Observer reporter Ames Alexander states "workers are making 20,000 cuts a day, highly prone to repetitive motion kinds of problems like carpal tunnel. They're working with sharp knives, around dangerous chemicals and equipment." Yet these injuries have been reduced or eliminated from OSHA reports since 2002.

House Resolution 362 to Provoke Iran War

The US House is close to voting on Resolution 362 to confront Iran with a military blockade in the Strait of Hormuz. The story has received little mainstream attention (CBS News reported on the Resolution on June 24).

The Senate version, Resolution 580, is also in the works. The sponsor of the Senate Resolution is Democrat Evan Bayh. So much for Democrats being anti-war. Although the Resolutions do not authorize use of force, they put Iran and US troops in positions where conflict appears more likely. Just Foreign Policy has a site where you can send an email protest to your representative.

http://capwiz.com/justforeignpolicy/issues/alert/?alertid=11518951

[Update: Seymour Hersch's article about spending on US covert ops in Iran appeared in the New Yorker, June 30th]

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/07/07/080707fa_fact_hersh

Veterans Used as Guinea Pigs in Drug Experiments

ABC News reports that the US Veterans Administration waited months before notifying vets that the drugs they were given for smoking cessation were associated with psychiatric side effects. The vets in the study had PTSD and were trying to quit smoking. According to WebMD, the 1 year efficacy rate for Chantix is 14%. The VA is continuing the study for Chantix despite the warnings.

Chantix is a trademark of Pfizer.

George Will Favors Prison-Industrial Complex, Suggests Prisons Are Better Investments than Public Universities

George Will’s editorial (“Prison time is about crime, not about race”, Washington Post, June 22, 2008) is lacking not only in compassion, but in intellectual depth and vision. His hypothesis that prisons may have greater social value than public universities is equally disturbing.

Race and class are key factors in every aspect of the justice system, from policing to post-conviction. Race and class shape what we define as crime, who we define as criminals, and how the criminal justice system is administered.

Except in a few sensational news accounts (Enron, Martha Stewart, Jack Abramoff, and now Bear Stearns), white collar criminals are rarely perceived as crooks, though their damage to society far outweighs street crime. College students aren’t typically arrested and thrown in jail for drug possession or intent to sell, though drug use is common on college campuses. Black and Latino youth, on the other hand, are profiled and questioned by the police as a matter of course, creating an atmosphere akin to a military occupation.

As for reducing street crime, there are better social investment strategies than spending billions on prisons. The Rand Corporation, for example, has prescribed child abuse prevention, better education, and social support programs as better ways to reduce crime. Given that the roots of street crime are related to economic conditions, it would seem logical that decent paying jobs would also reduce certain types of crime. Whether the public is willing to make such social investments may depend on whether it is informed by people with vision and intellect or deceived by media people like Mr. Will.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/20/AR2008062002276.html

TSA and the Expanding Police State

More and more America seems to be spiraling into a police state. According to conservative columnist Walter E. Williams (June 2008), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has employed 500 Behavior Detection Officers. The role of these officials is to examine passengers for signs of 'bad intentions.' These cues may include 'micro-impressions' such as fear and disgust. Williams adds that passengers who deter searches are subject to fines of $1500.

TSA's own website reports that the agency has also "enhanced" its airport pat down searches to include crotch areas.

7.2 Million Under Correctional Supervision

From the US Department of Justice:

7.2 million people were under correctional supervision in the US (probation, jail, prison, parole) in 2006. Approximately 1.8 million were under supervision in 1980.

Pentagon Torture Chief Joins Chevron

Anne Flaherty (AP) reports from the Senate Armed Forces Committee that William "Jim" Haynes, the Pentagon's General Counsel, sought the assistance of military psychologists to plan methods of torture and degradation (use of dogs, stress positions and forced nudity) later approved by Donald Rumsfeld in December 2002. The Armed Forces Committee noted that military lawyers protested the strategies to the Joint Chiefs of Staff but the objections were ignored. Sanctioned torture is morally wrong. It also lets others know that these tactics are legitimate.

Haynes now serves as chief counsel to the Chevron Corporation. Given Chevron's human rights record (see 3-25-08 post), this would seem a likely fit.

The Dehumanizing Effects of War and Occupation

As long as the US does not rely on robots for military operations they will have to use the working class like robots--or worse. The only thing is that soldiers feel fatigue, they see and feel the inhumanity and the futility of war. And the military response is to give them meds and tell them to "suck it up" as they face another tour.

According to a Time Magazine report (6-5-08, "America's Medicated Army") "about 12% of combat troops in Iraq and 17% of those in Afghanistan are taking prescription antidepressants or sleeping pills to help them cope." The report does not indicate the number of soldiers who self medicate with alcohol and illegal drugs.

According to the Time report stress illness begins "with mild anxiety and irritability, difficulty sleeping, and growing feelings of apathy and pessimism. As the condition worsens, the feelings last longer and can come to include panic, rage, uncontrolled shaking and temporary paralysis." The Pentagon states that only 10% of soldiers experience long-term "stress illness", but who can trust the military to be honest and objective?

What will be the long-term effects on these people, and on American society? According to the Time report "the symptoms often continue back home, playing a key role in broken marriages, suicides and psychiatric breakdowns."

Enemy to the Working Class

Richard Berman is a lobbyist for the restaurant and beverage industry and an enemy of the working class, with all the ethics of a drug dealer. According to the NY Times (2-14-06), Mr. Berman (aka "Dr. Evil") has:*Lobbied against the minimum wage,*Argued that drinking soda does not contribute to diabetes,*Has fought Mothers Against Drunk Drivers against tightening alcohol limits for drivers,*Has organized an anti-union website called union facts.com

The Stacked Court

The US Supreme Court made two more rulings against the interests of the working class. In Engquist v. Oregon Department of Agriculture, the court decided that a public employee was not protected against individual discrimination based on arbitrary, vindictive, and malicious reasons. The so-called High Court also agreed to hear an appeal by big tobacco's Phillip Morris.

Industrial Disasters

60 Minutes' Scott Pelley investigated the lack of oversight by OSHA in preventing industrial fires and worker deaths. Government has a key role as a check and balance against corporate greed and indifference, unless it becomes the lapdog for industry.

Approximately 5,000 to 6,000 American workers die each year in work-related accidents. Many more die to work-related illnesses, estimated at 50,000 to 70,000 per year (Reiman, 2001). According to David Barstow (NYT, 12-22-03) few people are prosecuted even when the action clearly violated safety regulations.

Maximizing Profits=Switching Up On the Con

Sounds like top US financial institutions--Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS) are taking the opportunity to recoup their losses from the recent mortgage banking crisis, by speculating on oil. Not surprisingly, Morgan Stanley's fortune tellers predict prices will rise to $150 by July 4th; shills for Goldman Sachs say prices could soon rise to $200 a barrel.

According to CNN.com:

"Commodities markets often turn on proprietary information known to a limited number people. An oil company can take advantage of inside information about its own production outlook when it makes trades. However, if traders intentionally create an artificial price and use it to make money, market manipulation charges may arise."

"Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are major players in the world of commodities, which range from trading to hedging and even owning electricity plants and oil barges. In the first quarter, Morgan Stanley calculated that it took more risks in commodities on a daily basis than in stocks."

[Editors note: According to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, speculators make up 71% of NYMEX oil futures shares, up from 37% in 2000.]

The Demise of the US Industrial Middle-Class

Louis Uchitelle (NY Times, 4-20-2008) writes about the steady erosion of wages in US industrial labor, beginning with the steel industry in the 1970s and ending with US automakers replacing union workers with "second tier" hires. GM's recent move to eliminate union workers is only one step in a long race to the bottom. The author adds that use of temp workers, outsourcing, and shifting production to nonunion plants are common corporate tactics.

College promises to be the route back to middle class status for some--while others will sink into the lower class (IMF economists refer to this as "short-term adjustment costs"). Uchitelle adds "that roughly 15 percent of college-educated workers find themselves in jobs for which they are overqualified, the Economic Policy Institute reports, and many of these jobs pay less than $20 an hour." (Note: I would add that tactics used to undermine industrial laborers can be used effectively against white and pink collar labor also.)

In "Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism", Kevin Phillips argues that the US reliance on capital markets instead of manufacturing is a key sign the US is losing dominance in the world economy. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

What's Good for GM

Bloomberg.com reports that General Motors is shedding another 19,000 US workers. According to Bloomberg, "the departures will allow GM to install new employees who will be paid about $14 an hour, about half the wage of the current unionized workforce, while reducing health-care and retirement benefits." In February, GM offered retirement and buyouts to all of its 74,000 UAW employees.

A Graph Speaks a Thousand Words

Zfacts.com has a wide array of graphs and statistics relating to progressive issues.

Timing Our Race to the Bottom

Richard Sennett's "The Culture of the New Capitalism" (Yale University Press) presents some key terms and ideas about the new global economy that validates the experiences of the rightfully fearful American working-class:

Impatient Capital: Cutthroat investors seek "short-term rather than long-term results." The results: American pension funds, for example, held stocks on average from 46 months in 1965 to less than 4 months by 2000. Temp workers with few benefits are ubiquitous. Impatient capital results in companies and workers who have little loyalty for each other.

Skills Extinction: Skills are non-durable, and must be replaced, often several times over a lifetime. Failure to adapt invokes "the specter of uselessness."

Ressentiment: "A cluster of emotions, principally the belief that ordinary people who have played by the rules have not been dealt with fairly."

Gold-plating: Political parties engage in trivial differences instead of profound structural issues. Sennett states that the selling of politicians is similar to selling soap.

The Devil's Invisible Hand

This American Life (5-9-08, show #355) aired a one-hour radio episode on the mortgage banking crisis and the global pool of money. In this show the authors follow the international trail of money and greed that contributed to America's economic malaise.

More Information on the Walking Wounded and the Costs of War

According to Foreign Policy in Focus (May 9, 2008):

"...The Pentagon regularly reports on the numbers of American troops "wounded" in Iraq (currently at 31,948) but neglects to mention that it has two other categories "injured" (10,180) and "ill" (28,451). All three of these categories represent soldiers who are so damaged physically they have to be medically evacuated to Germany for treatment, but by splitting the numbers up the sense of casualties down the public consciousness."

"287,790 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans "filed a disability claim with the Veterans Administration as of March 25th [2008]. That figure was not announced to the public at a news conference, but obtained by Veterans for Common Sense using the Freedom of Information Act."

"According to an April 2008 study by the Rand Corporation, 300,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans currently suffer from post traumatic stress disorder or major depression. Another 320,000 suffer from traumatic brain injury, physical brain damage. A majority are not receiving help from the Pentagon and VA system which are more concerned with concealing unpleasant facts than they are with providing care."

How the rich get richer and the working class die

A NY Times editorial on 3-9-08 revealed that military contractors like KBR have been dodging hundreds of millions in payroll taxes by using offshore shell companies in the Cayman Islands. The Times notes that this strategy is currently legal, but that Congress was working on closing the loopholes.

NNDB Database (nndb.com)

The NNDB website is an Internet source that "documents the connections between people, many of which are not always obvious." Go to Bill O'Reilly, for example, and you'll find a link for Draft Deferment: Vietnam. While there are a diverse number of people on the list, the list includes the following Vietnam era "chickenhawks":

Gary Bauer (Family Research Council)
Dick Cheney
Steve Forbes
Newt Gingrich
Rudy Guliani
Brit Hume (Fox analyst)
Alan Keyes
Scooter Libby
Joe Lieberman
Rush Limbaugh
Mitt Romney
Karl Rove
John Stossel (ABC commentator)
Clarence Thomas
George Will
Paul Wolfowitz

Comparing (Rotten) Apples and Oranges

Shadowstats.com contains several series of data about the US economy, including alternative measures to GDP, CPI, and unemployment. These revised statistics are based on maintaining the same definitions over time. For example, housing and fuel are today excluded from the Consumer Price Index, but they once were part of the formula. Using this alternative to CPI reveals an inflation rate of about 12%. The alternative measures also show a flat line in money supply, 13% unemployment rate and a declining GDP.

Betting on Misery

Steve Fraser and Tom Englehardt present a critical historical analysis of this Second Gilded Age in America, comparing the brutality and anti-democratic nature of the late 1800's to today. Some notable excerpts:

"Think of it as gilding the pain. Last year, hedge fund manager John Paulson of Paulson & Co. hauled in a nifty $3.7 billion. (Yes, you read that right.) Mainly, he did so, according to the Wall Street Journal, "by shorting, or betting against, subprime mortgage securities and collateralized debt obligations." And he wasn't alone. Hedge fund money-maker Philip Falcone of Harbinger Capital Partners raked in a comparatively measly $1.7 billion in 2007, also by shorting subprime mortgages. These are fortunes beyond imagining, made in no time at all by betting on the pure misery of others. Think of them as Las Vegas with a mean streak a mile wide."

...

"However, the wheel turns. The capitalism of the Second Gilded Age now faces a systemic crisis and, under the pressure of impending disaster, may be headed back to the future. Old-fashioned poverty is making a comeback. Arguably, the global economy, including its American branch, is increasingly a sweatshop economy. There is no denying that brute fact in Thailand, China, Vietnam, Central America, Bangladesh, and dozens of other countries and regions that serve as platforms for primitive accumulation. Hundreds of millions of peasants have become proletarians virtually overnight.

Here at home, something analogous has been happening, but with an ironic difference and bearing within it a new historic opportunity. One might call it the unhorsing of the middle class.

During the first Gilded Age, the sweatshop seemed a noxious aberration. It lawlessly offered irregular employment at sub-standard wages for interminable hours. It was ordinarily housed helter-skelter in a make-shift workshop that would be here today, gone tomorrow. It was an underground enterprise that regularly absconded with its workers' paychecks and made chiseling them out of their due into an art form.

Today, what once seemed abnormal no longer does. The planet's peak corporations depend on this system. They have thrived on it. True enough, it has also encouraged the proliferation of petty enterprises -- sub-contractors, consulting firms, domestic service companies -- fertilizing the soil in which our age of democratic capitalism is rooted. But the ubiquity of the sweated economy promises to alter the nation's political chemistry.

Many of the newly flexible proletarians working for Wal-Mart, for auto parts or construction company sub-contractors, on the phones at direct mail call centers, behind the counters at mass market retailers, earn a dwindling percentage of what they used to. Even new hires at the Big Three automobile manufacturers will now make a smaller hourly wage than their grandfathers did in 1948. So too, the relative job security such employees once enjoyed is gone, leaving them vulnerable to the "lean and mean" dictates of the new capitalism: double or triple work loads; or, even worse, part-time work, work always shadowed by indignity and fear; or, worse yet, no work at all.

Meanwhile, the white collar Tomorrowland of "free agent" techies, software engineers, and the like -- not to mention a whole endangered species of middle management -- lives a precarious existence, under intense stress, chronically anticipating the next round of lay-offs. Yet many of them were once upon a time members in good standing of the "middle class." Now, they find themselves on the down escalator, descending into a despised state no one could mistake for middle class life.

"Flexible accumulation" joins this dispossession of the middle class to the super-exploitation of millions who never laid claim to that status. Many of these sweated workers are women, laboring away as home health care aides, in the food services industry, in meat processing plants, at hotels and restaurants and hospitals, because the arithmetic of "flexible accumulation" demands two workers to add up to the livable family wage not so long ago brought home by a single wage earner.

Millions more are immigrants, legal as well as undocumented, from all over the world. They live, virtually defenseless, in a twilight underworld of illegality and prejudice. Thanks to all this, the category of the "working poor" has reentered our public vocabulary. Once again, as during the first Gilded Age, poverty seems a function of exploitation at work, not only the lot of those excluded from work."

Reason and Politics in These Times

Susan Jacoby has written a thought-provoking piece on reason and politics in today's LA Times. Jacoby notes that there have been times and spaces in American history where people were drawn to opposing views, and that this environment was a key component of intellectual progress and uplift. She laments that this ethos is largely invisible today.

Jacoby notes that "when Thomas Henry Huxley, the British naturalist who popularized Darwin's theory of evolution, came to the U.S. in 1876, he spoke to standing-room-only audiences, even though many of his listeners were genuinely shocked by his views."

While Jacoby's historical analysis is overly optimistic about the past, ignoring America's repression of voices, she does bring out an important point, and that is, to quote Jacoby, "This spirit of inquiry, which demands firsthand evidence and does not trivialize opposing points of view, is essential to a society's intellectual and political health."

Walking Wounded

The LA Times reports a recent Rand Study estimating 300,000 US vets from Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering from depression or PTSD.

From the LA Times:

In addition to current PTSD rates, the Rand study found that 19.5% of people who had served in Iraq or Afghanistan suffered a concussion or other traumatic brain injury during their combat tour, a number similar to Army estimates.

Taken together, the study shows that 31% of those who have served in combat have suffered from brain injury, stress disorder, or both.

Combat-related mental ailments and stress can lead to suicide, homelessness and physical health problems. But more mundane disorders can have long-term social consequences.

"These conditions can impair relationships, disrupt marriages, aggravate the difficulties of parenting, and cause problems in children that may extend the consequences of combat trauma across generations," the study said.

According to Rand:

"Many service members said they do not seek treatment for psychological illnesses because they fear it will harm their careers. But even among those who do seek help for PTSD or major depression, only about half receive treatment that researchers consider "minimally adequate" for their illnesses."

Declining Interest in Joining the US Military

NPR reports that interest in joining the Army has declined significantly since 2001, and that to meet quotas, the US military has allowed more waivers. According to a Department of the Army survey, interest in joining the military between November 2001 and June 2007 dropped from 37% to 15% in Hispanics, and from 20-22% to less than 10% in Blacks and Whites. According to the report, the impact on granting moral and health waivers is mixed. Because there is no recent data, the impact of the economic downturn and the so-called success of the surge on recruiting have not been documented.

Poverty and Welfare (for the rich)

Bill Moyers has three interesting pieces on the April 11, 2008 edition, the first on the increasing number of Americans going to food banks, the second on the use of farm subsidies for rich people who, in some cases, do not even farm. The third piece, an interview with David Beckman, puts the first two into context.

From The Journal:


An economist and minister, he [Beckman]spent 15 years at the World Bank overseeing projects to end poverty. For the last 15 years he's been president of Bread for the World, a Washington based coalition that advocates changing farm policies for the purpose of eliminating hunger. Welcome, David, back to The Journal.


BILL MOYERS: We've just seen in this broadcast two different reports. One on hungry people lining up for food stamps, going to the food pantries. Then we saw this report done with the Washington Post on abusive farm subsidies. How do you explain that contradiction?

DAVID BECKMANN:The main thing is that the people who are getting- who have their hands in the cookie jar are well organized. And according to the Wall Street Journal, they spent eighty million dollars last year lobbying Congress to defend those subsidies to affluent people.

DAVID BECKMANN: Commodity growers, the corn growers, the cotton growers.

BILL MOYERS: Rice growers. We saw rice growers in that film.

DAVID BECKMANN: Absolutely. So they're well organized. A group of church and environmental groups went to see Senator Reid, the majority leader of the Senate, about this issue. He came in and the first thing he said is, "Look, I've been here 35 years." He said, "I think the two best organized interests in the United States are the insurance companies and the commodity groups." He said they have very powerful friends on both sides of the aisle. It's going to be very difficult for us to do anything about this.


BILL MOYERS: But you're saying our system is so fouled up, it can't do the right thing?

DAVID BECKMANN: Is that a surprise?

More Corporate Welfare

Time magazine reports that the Federal Reserve is loaning $50 million to "cash-strapped banks." Since December 2007, the Fed has "pumped $310 billion in short-term loans into the nation's banking system." According to the Asia Times this scheme called "the New Term Auction Facility (TAF) has allowed large banks to borrow massive amounts of cash against collateral that can't be sold for close to face value."

Shills

Should citizens trust public officials to work in their interests? Dana Milbank (The Washington Post) presented some important information on the Senate Banking Committee's investigation of the investment banking meltdown. Milbank noted that Banking Committee members had received more than $20 million in campaign contributions from this sector, including:

Chris Dodd (D-$5,796,000)
Evan Bayh (D-$1,582,000)
Chuck Schumer (D-$6,162,000)

Inter Press Service (4-7-08) also reported that:

"Members of Congress invested nearly 196 million dollars of their own money in companies that receive hundreds of millions of dollars a day from Pentagon contracts to provide goods and services to U.S. armed forces, say nonpartisan watchdog groups." Congressional investors included John Kerry and Joe Lieberman.

and the Rich Get Richer

The Congressional Budget Office is projecting all-time high numbers of people using food stamps by 2009.

Not an April Fool

Marketplace has a short radio spot on Credit Default Swaps, a derivative in the relatively unregulated shadow economy. In 2003, Warren Buffet called these speculative derivatives "financial weapons of mass destruction (BBC 3-14-03)." Although Credit Default Swaps are a $45 Trillion market, few people understand how they work. Investment expert Christopher Whalen states that JP Morgan's buyout of Bear Stearns was made because Bear Stearns had $2.5 Trillion in these derivatives, and JP Morgan, another big investor in Credit Default Swaps, could not afford to let its fellow investment bank go down.

Listen to minutes 8:00 to 12:09 for Whalen's analysis.

This is America?

60 Minutes presented a story on a German citizen, Murat Kurnaz, who was tortured by the US in the "war on terror" and detained for five years, though they had no evidence against him.

The Endless War of Divide and Conquer

It's hard to understand how the US occupation of Iraq will lead to lasting peace and democracy--if that ever was a real goal. Rather, the US continues on its strategy of divide and conquer, pitting wealthy and powerful Shiites (The Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq and the Badr Brigade) against the poor (Sadr's Mahdi Army). Chris Floyd of the Baltimore Chronicle states:

"The Bush regime – which is intimately involved in every step of the Basra operations, despite its rote denials – is trying to keep the war boiling on a high simmer. This is the only option it has left to achieve its primary war aim: a permanent U.S. military presence in Iraq."

Floyd adds:

"The only possible move that could even potentially defuse the situation at this point is the total withdrawal of American forces. This could, perhaps, compel the various Iraqi factions to come to some accommodation. It is unlikely that such an accommodation would be reached without bloodshed; but blood is being shed copiously now. And as along as the American presence remains, as an artificial, alien – and ever-aggravating – factor, skewing the playing field, taking sides, killing people, and serving as a focus and fomenter of nationalist rage (and a handy pretext for avoiding accommodation), the situation will only grow worse. And certainly no other possible resolution – internal negotiation, a UN or pan-Arab peacekeeping force, etc. – will ever be possible as long as American forces remain in Iraq.

But let us be clear. The withdrawal of American forces from Iraq is not a "good" solution. It will lead to blood and suffering. But there are no good solutions to what Bush and his willing executioners in Congress, the media and Establishment have wrought in Iraq. There were never any "good" solutions. All hope, all potential for a "good" solution evaporated in the very instant that the first bomb fell on March 19, 2003. From that moment, the only thing – the only thing – that one could hope for and work for has been some kind of mitigation of the murderous consequences of this abominable crime."

Understanding "Externalities"

One of the essential critiques of "free market capitalism" is the understanding of externalities. From this position, corporations have no ethic to do anything other than maximize profits, and therefore try their best to shift their costs to others. Some good websites to check out:

http://www.externalities.net/

Chronicling the Rhetoric that Led to War

The Center for Public Integrity has done a great service by chronicling the rhetoric and false statements leading to the Iraq war:

http://www.publicintegrity.org/WarCard/
Default.aspx?source=home&context=overview&id=945

Consider, for example, these false public statements made in the run-up to war:

* On August 26, 2002, in an address to the national convention of the Veteran of Foreign Wars, Cheney flatly declared: "Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies, and against us." In fact, former CIA Director George Tenet later recalled, Cheney's assertions went well beyond his agency's assessments at the time. Another CIA official, referring to the same speech, told journalist Ron Suskind, "Our reaction was, 'Where is he getting this stuff from?' "

* In the closing days of September 2002, with a congressional vote fast approaching on authorizing the use of military force in Iraq, Bush told the nation in his weekly radio address: "The Iraqi regime possesses biological and chemical weapons, is rebuilding the facilities to make more and, according to the British government, could launch a biological or chemical attack in as little as 45 minutes after the order is given. . . . This regime is seeking a nuclear bomb, and with fissile material could build one within a year." A few days later, similar findings were also included in a much-hurried National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction — an analysis that hadn't been done in years, as the intelligence community had deemed it unnecessary and the White House hadn't requested it.

* In July 2002, Rumsfeld had a one-word answer for reporters who asked whether Iraq had relationships with Al Qaeda terrorists: "Sure." In fact, an assessment issued that same month by the Defense Intelligence Agency (and confirmed weeks later by CIA Director Tenet) found an absence of "compelling evidence demonstrating direct cooperation between the government of Iraq and Al Qaeda." What's more, an earlier DIA assessment said that "the nature of the regime's relationship with Al Qaeda is unclear."

* On May 29, 2003, in an interview with Polish TV, President Bush declared: "We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories." But as journalist Bob Woodward reported in State of Denial, days earlier a team of civilian experts dispatched to examine the two mobile labs found in Iraq had concluded in a field report that the labs were not for biological weapons. The team's final report, completed the following month, concluded that the labs had probably been used to manufacture hydrogen for weather balloons.

* On January 28, 2003, in his annual State of the Union address, Bush asserted: "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa. Our intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production." Two weeks earlier, an analyst with the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research sent an email to colleagues in the intelligence community laying out why he believed the uranium-purchase agreement "probably is a hoax."

* On February 5, 2003, in an address to the United Nations Security Council, Powell said: "What we're giving you are facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence. I will cite some examples, and these are from human sources." As it turned out, however, two of the main human sources to which Powell referred had provided false information. One was an Iraqi con artist, code-named "Curveball," whom American intelligence officials were dubious about and in fact had never even spoken to. The other was an Al Qaeda detainee, Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi, who had reportedly been sent to Eqypt by the CIA and tortured and who later recanted the information he had provided. Libi told the CIA in January 2004 that he had "decided he would fabricate any information interrogators wanted in order to gain better treatment and avoid being handed over to [a foreign government]."

The false statements dramatically increased in August 2002, with congressional consideration of a war resolution, then escalated through the mid-term elections and spiked even higher from January 2003 to the eve of the invasion.

It was during those critical weeks in early 2003 that the president delivered his State of the Union address and Powell delivered his memorable U.N. presentation. For all 935 false statements, including when and where they occurred, go to the search page for this project; the methodology used for this analysis is explained here.

In addition to their patently false pronouncements, Bush and these seven top officials also made hundreds of other statements in the two years after 9/11 in which they implied that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction or links to Al Qaeda. Other administration higher-ups, joined by Pentagon officials and Republican leaders in Congress, also routinely sounded false war alarms in the Washington echo chamber.

It's a Small World, After All

It really is a small world. It appears that Chevron is in negotiations to drill oil in Iraq. This is the same company that had Condoleeza Rice as a Board member until 2001, and the same company that was involved in kickbacks to Saddam Hussein in 2001 and 2002. This is the same Chevron with the following human rights and environmental record:


From
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/05/08/
chevron-to-acknowledge-aiding-saddam/

“Chevron, the second-largest American oil company, is preparing to acknowledge that it should have known kickbacks were being paid to Saddam Hussein on oil it bought from Iraq as part of a defunct United Nations program, according to investigators. … At the time, Condoleezza Rice, now secretary of state, was a member of Chevron’s board and led its public policy committee, which oversaw areas of potential political concerns for the company. Ms. Rice resigned from Chevron’s board on Jan. 16, 2001, after being named national security advisor by President Bush.” (Via Atrios)


From
http://www.globalexchange.org/getInvolved/corporateHRviolators.html

Human Rights Abuses: environmental destruction, health violations, and violent killings

The petrochemical company Chevron is guilty of some of the worst environmental and human rights abuses in the world. From 1964 to 1992, Texaco (which transferred operations to Chevron after being bought out in 2001) unleashed a toxic "Rainforest Chernobyl" in Ecuador by leaving more than 600 unlined oil pits in pristine northern Amazon rainforest and dumping 18 billion gallons of toxic production water into rivers used for bathing water. The toxic crude oil and formation water seeped into the subsoil, contaminating surrounding freshwater and farmland. As a result, local communities have suffered severe health effects, including cancer, skin lesions, birth defects, and spontaneous abortions. Indigenous communities have been dispossessed of their lands, and millions of hectares of rainforest have been destroyed to make way for the company's pipelines and oil wells.

Chevron is also responsible for the violent repression of nonviolent opposition to oil extraction. In Nigeria, Chevron has collaborated with the Nigerian police and military who have opened fire on peaceful protestors who oppose oil extraction in the Niger Delta. In 1998, two indigenous Ilaje activists were killed by Nigerian military officers flown in by the company while protesting at an oil platform in Ondo state. In 1999, two people from Opia village were killed by military personnel paid by Chevron, after soliciting a meeting to complain about the company's harmful effects on local fishing. And in 2005, Nigerian soldiers fired upon protestors at Escravos oil terminal, leaving one protestor dead.

Additionally Chevron is responsible for widespread health problems in Richmond, California, where one of Chevron's largest refineries is located. Processing 350,000 barrels of oil a day, the Richmond refinery produces oil flares and toxic waste in the Richmond area. As a result, local residents suffer from high rates of lupus, skin rashes, rheumatic fever, liver problems, kidney problems, tumors, cancer, asthma, and eye problems.

In December 2004, the Unocal Corporation, which recently became a subsidiary of Chevron, settled a lawsuit filed by 15 Burmese villagers, in which the villagers alleged Unocal's complicity in a range of human rights violations in Burma, including rape, summary execution, torture, forced labor and forced migration. Despite the settlement, human rights abuses continue along the oil pipeline in Burma, which is still "secured" by the Burmese military. Chevron is responsible for the risks associated with this pipeline.

The Forgotten

The Iraq occupation has nearly been removed from America's short attention span.

Sacrifice of the Common Man*

On the same day that President Bush stated that the "outcome" of the Iraq occupation would make the deaths of 4000 soldiers worthwhile, a news story also revealed that Chevron was in negotiations with Iraq to tap oil there.* These stories should be understood together, so that people know who is being sacrificed (working-class people) and for what reason (corporate oil profits). Julian Tuwim's poem, The Common Man, has just as much meaning today as it did almost 80 years ago.


The Common Man (Julian Tuwim, 1929)

When plastered billboards scream with slogans
'fight for your country, go to battle'
When media's print assults your senses,
'Support our leaders' shrieks and rattles...
And fools who don't know any better
Believe the old, eternal lie
That we must march and shoot and kill
Murder, and burn, and bomb, and grill...

When press begins the battle-cry
That nation needs to unify
And for your country you must die...
Dear brainwashed friend, my neighbor dear
Brother from this, or other nation
Know that the cries of anger, fear,
Are nothing but manipulation
by fat-cats, kings who covet riches,
And feed off your sweat and blood - the leeches!
When call to arms engulfs the land
It means that somewhere oil was found,
Shooting 'blackgold' from underground!
It means they found a sneaky way
To make more money, grab more gold
But this is not what you are told!

Don't spill your blood for bucks or oil
Break, burn your rifle, shout: 'NO DEAL!'
Let the rich scoundrels, kings, and bankers
Send their own children to get killed!
May your loud voice be amplified
By roar of other common men
The battle-weary of all nations:
WE WON'T BE CONNED TO WAR AGAIN!


*for a review of Chevron's oppressive human rights and environmental record, including illegal payouts to Saddam Hussein in 2001 and 2002, go to http://www.huffingtonpost.com/judy-dugan/
the-dictator-penalty_b_73097.html

Empire and Racism

One of the great casualties of war and occupation is the objectification of others and the minimizing of deaths and destruction. People in power have long used working-class Americans as pawns and surrogate oppressors. For those on the ground, racist ideas and language are used as defense mechanisms, then as standard operating procedures. Soldiers are coming back to America, inflicted with the disease of racism and ethnocentrism, blaming the pawns on the other side of the chessboard.

This is the way of empire.

Missing the Big Story

I find that reader comments in the NT Times are often more insightful than the stories themselves. Here's an thoughtful comment from an online reader about the Iraq occupation:


"I despair at finding myself living among the horrors I thought happened only in the dark history of the most savage of the Mongol, Roman, Nazi eras. Anyone who imagines that our ravaging of Baghdad is less depraved than the burning of Carthage is delusional. We will carry forever the stink we created among the thousands we killed and millions we dispossessed in Iraq alone."

— Posted by Paul R. Cooper

Obama's Speech on Race

Today, Presidential candidate Barak Obama gave his much anticipated speech on race, in the shadow of Independence Hall. As he invokes history, let us not forget a history few Americans recognize.

Let's not forget that another important building, the Walnut Street Jail, was also built nearby, before Independence Hall. The jail was originally built with 18 by 20 foot cells which would hold 30 to 40 people in unsanitary conditions. These people sometimes had done nothing more than been runaway slaves or debtors. The jailer sold gallons of alcohol for whatever the jailees could afford--which was sometimes the clothes from another inmate's back.

This was, for some historians, the beginning of the American carceral system, a system which, through Black and poor convict labor built railroads, tended plantations and dug out coal mines. These are the roots of a system that is more powerful and corrupt than it ever was some 220 years ago--it is a system that today thrives on its own failures, eating up state and local budgets at the expense of other government functions. Today, the US prison-industrial complex supervises 7 million people, most of whom are working class and people of color.

More Welfare for Wall Street

Economist Paul Krugman (NY Times, 3-17-2008) states that a bailout of investment banks is "inevitable." Bear Stearns was the first to fall last Friday, losing 90% of its value in one day. Media outlets are hinting that Lehman Brothers and UBS are also unstable.

If one follows the money, this run on investment banks has resulted from unscrupulous lending and a form of speculation that working-class people would lose their homes over. In other words, it was the "free market" doing what it does naturally.

If the US government bails out these so-called banks, what kind of message does it send? What lessons have been learned?

A little bit of economic history. According to Krugman, the S&L scandal cost the US $450 Billion in current US dollars, and real estate speculation in Japan cost its people 3 Trillion in current dollars. In an interview in CNNmoney, Krugman predicts capital losses of $6-$7 Trillion in the housing market and $1 Trillion in housing-based securities.

For more analysis read http://www.conservativenannystate.org/

Restricted Speech and Domestic Spying--An American Tradition

The current political appeal to wiretap Americans is nothing new. The US has a long-standing tradition of restricting free speech, domestic spying, and undue government influence of the media. This website includes links and a time line, including information on the Alien and Sedition Acts (1798-1801), Espionage and Sedition Acts (1917-18), Smith Act (1940-1957), McCarran Act (1950-present) and McCarthy era, Operation Mockingbird (1948-?), COINTELPRO (1956-1971), the Patriot Act (2001-present) and Operation Talon.

http://www.trackedinamerica.org/download/docs/Profiles.pdf

A link to Operation Chaos, a secret domestic spying program by the CIA

http://www.serendipity.li/cia/lyon.html

A link to Operation Mockingbird, CIA influence in American media

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mockingbird

Freedom of speech is also highly restricted in work environments, including government service (Garcetti v Ceballos, 2006)

http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/05pdf/04-473.pdf

Formation of the National Applications Office (NAO), using US corporations for domestic spying in the US (2007)

http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=14821

Eyes Wide Open

FYI: The Bush administration was planning for an Iraq occupation in January 2001.

Use these sources to learn the true costs of occupation, counter media distortions, express cogent arguments against continuing the occupation, explain viable alternatives to the present course, and generate collective action.

No Link between 911 and Iraq/Iraq Not a Viable Threat
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47812-2004Jun16.html
http://www.counterpunch.org/leopold06272003.html

The Financial Costs of War (Current- and Long-Term):
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15499.htm
http://warresisters.org/piechart.htm
http://www.nationalpriorities.org/Cost-of-War/Cost-of-War-3.html

Casualties (American and Civilian):
http://www.jhsph.edu/publichealthnews/press_releases/2006/burnham_iraq_2006.html
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/fallen/
http://www.iraqbodycount.org/names.php
http://www.antiwar.com/glantz/?articleid=9937#wounded
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0208/p02s01-ussc.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17315490/site/newsweek/
http://justforeignpolicy.org

US Preparing for US Draft/Allowing “Moral Waivers”
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/22/national/main2291979.shtml
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/14/national/main2474041.shtml

US Plan for War Against Iran/”The Secret War”
http://www.antiwar.com/orig/hirsch.php?articleid=10360
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/04/abc_news_exclus.html

War Profiteers/Persecution of Whistleblowers
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20430153/
http://www.fpif.org/fpifoped/3776
http://www.theglobalist.com/DBWeb/StoryId.aspx?StoryId=2886
http://iraqforsale.org/
http://www.corporatepolicy.org/topics/war.htm

Government/Media Distortions:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/21146

History/Speeches (War is a Racket, A Time to Break Silence, Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex)
http://lexrex.com/enlightened/articles/warisaracket.htm
http://www.sonyclassics.com/whywefight/main.html
http://www.motherjones.com/news/featurex/2007/03/iraq_101.html
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkatimetobreaksilence.htm

Alliances Between the US and Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein
http://www.rense.com/general14/bushsformer.htm
http://www.counterpunch.org/floyd05122003.html

Humanitarian Crisis/Effects of Depleted Uranium
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/31/world/middleeast/31oxfam.html
http://www.thewe.cc/weplanet/news/depleted_uranium_iraq_afghanistan_balkans.html

US War-Occupation Creating More Terrorists/Destabilizing Allies
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-britain-iraq-afghanistan.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0822/p03s03-usmi.html
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/206826.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2142774,00.htmlorg/now/shows/314/index.html

PTSD/Amputations/Traumatic Brain Injuries
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032207B.shtml
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5334479/
http://www.iraqwarveterans.org/ptsd.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2005-02-28-cover-side_x.htm
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041407D.shtml

Alternative Courses of Action:
http://clw.org/
http://commondreams.org/headlines02/0801-04.htm
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/jan-june07/abdullah_03-07.html
http://www.winwithoutwarus.org/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17178274/
http://www.sensiblepriorities.org/pdf/korb_report_Finalb.pdf

Collective Action (Iraq Vets/Religious Organizations/Counter-Recruiting)
http://www.ivaw.org/
http://www.veteransforpeace.org/
http://www.afsc.org/eyes/
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0JVP/is_72/ai_n13788119/pg_1

Updated Websites:
http://www.antiwar.com
http://www.truthout.org
http://democracynow.org
http://www.iraqoccupationfocus.org.uk/
http://thinkprogress.org/?tag=Iraq2
http://icasualties.org/oif/
http://www.nationalpriorities.org

9 Points About the Iraq Occupation

We the People should consider these points as we formulate or reformulate our positions on the continued US occupation of the Middle East.

1. The US has been involved in various adventures over the last century, supporting associates we would later call terrorists (e.g. CIA support of Saddam Hussein).

2. The US invasion was based on a desire for preemptive War against Iraq (see Paul O'Neill's interview on 60 Minutes, 1-11-04), poor information ("WMD") (linking Saddam and Al Qaeda), poor sources ("Curveball" and tortured detainees), hyperbole ("a mushroom cloud"), and poor planning ("they will welcome us"). Key information was censored or not released (Downing Street Memo).

3. Leaders (e.g. The Pope, the King of Jordan) and experts (VIPs) who warned against the war were ignored, and are still being ignored. Anti-war advocates included a diversity of people, including libertarians and nativists.

4. According to a Columbia/Harvard study the total cost of the war/occupation will be more than $2 trillion, excluding the cost of interest on the debt. New reports estimate a $2.4 to $3.5 trillion cost if not considerably higher.

5. Some people, and not others, have profited from the occupation. Could this money have been spent more effectively? Will this debt, particularly to China, affect geopolitics?

6. Since the US War and occupation, 4-4.5 million people have been displaced, creating a refugee crisis/humanitarian disaster. A Johns Hopkins University study estimated more than 600,000 premature deaths as a result of the US invasion and occupation. Most Iraqis do not support a US presence in Iraq.

7. More than 4000 Americans, mostly working-class People, have died as a result of the war and occupation. An unknown number have been wounded (official estimates are over 25,000). Tens of thousands of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder have been reported (New England Journal of Medicine).

8. It may be argued that neither the world, the Middle East, nor Iraq is safer with a US occupation (e.g. AQI would not have been formed or as well developed without a US occupation). Foreign Policy experts (including conservatives) argue that the US has pitted many groups against each other, destabilizing Iraq and the Middle East, including current allies.

9. The US use of torture has also put future US soldier/POWs in peril.

Upper Class Welfare

Bear-Stearns is handing out the tin cup, getting help from its old friends at the Federal Reserve.

The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison

Jeffrey Reiman's book The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison is an important critique of the US criminal justice system. The philosophy scholar argues that the sources of crime are well known (e.g. poverty, prisons, guns, drugs) but that little is done to reduce the causes. In fact, he argues, the criminal justice system has a vested interest in its own failures (The Pyrrhic Defeat Theory).

Other important points in the book:

Reiman cites a 1996 Rand study that indicates what works to reduce crime (preventing child abuse/neglect, enhancing children's intellectual and social development, providing support guidance to vulnerable adolescents, working extensively with juvenile offenders).

Reiman asks important questions: Who defines crime? How is the public image of crime created? How is crime not defined? What is the image we have of criminals? Why do white collar crooks get so little in comparison to the damage they do to society, and why is white collar crime rarely reported?

22% of all assailants are perceived to be Black, but 42% of those arrested are Black. Blacks make up no more than 13% of all drug abusers but 74% of those in prison for drugs. Discrimination occurs at all phases of the criminal justice system from arrest to imprisonment. The race of the victim and the race of the defendant are significantly related to use of the death penalty.

According to Reiman, people who cannot see a better way to curb crime, other than to lockup millions,lack imagination. He adds that "the crime and disorder which flow from hopeless poverty, unloved children, and drug abuse can't be solved by bottomless prisons, mandatory sentencing minimums or more police."

Reiman concludes with eight solutions for a more just society:

1. End poverty
2. Let punishment fit the criminal harm
3. Legalize drugs
4. Correctional programs that promote responsibility and prepare the prisoner for reentry
5. Gun control
6. Limit discretion of police, prosecutors, and judges
7. Right to equal counsel
8. More just distribution of wealth

The American Injustice System

60 Minutes: 26 Year Secret

An innocent Black man in prison for 26 years, and still waiting for his appeal.