The Coleman and Pawlenty Sellout - by TPO

The Coleman and Pawlenty Sellout 

- by TPO -

What is irksome in politics?  In my view, it is the persistent political infiltration by outside forces to purposefully sway local electoral outcomes.  Here in Minnesota, we had a taste of it back in the Bush/Cheney years (2001-2008).  There were two rising (?!) stars named Tim Pawlenty and Norm Coleman. Tim was from the State legislature, and Norm was a former mayor of St. Paul.

Of the two, Tim Pawlenty was the least harmful, in my opinion.  He had shown progressive mettle and was in effect a moderate politician.  Norm Coleman, on the other hand, was a mealy-mouthed opportunist who once used to be a democrat but had defected to the dark side.  In 2002, Norm Coleman was going to make another attempt for the governorship, and Tim Pawlenty had begun the preliminary steps of a campaign for the U.S. Senate seat (running against Paul Wellstone).

Then Dick Cheney stepped into the picture and rearranged the political plans of these young politicians.  He got Coleman to go for the Senate seat and told Pawlenty he should run for Governor instead.  All political munitions and what not were aimed at defeating Wellstone.  It was, I am sure, very fortuitous for Norm and the Republican White House that Wellstone died in a plane crash.  Norm won the Senate seat against a democratic party that was in disarray and undergoing persistent political doldrums.  As for Tim Pawlenty, on the other hand, his victory was uncomplicated, unblemished, and well-earned. 

To me, to this day, the nauseating thing about Coleman and Pawlenty  was that they were Dick Cheney's puppets.  They worked for him and not for Minnesota!

A Yank in Ireland! - by Unknown

 

An American Tourist in Ireland ** ===> 
--------------------------------------------- <<
Well now, folks ... There is this American here a-touring all of Ayre-land, ya see.
When his tour bus arrives in Belfast, the yank decides to go for a stroll on his own with the aim of taking in the sites 'n the culture first hand.
After he has been walking for a while, someone rushes up behind him and sticks a gun in his back.
The person says to the tourist "What are you, Catholic or Protestant ?"
The American thinks to himself: "Great - if I say I'm Catholic, this guy is sure to be Protestant ... and if I say I'm Protestant, he is sure to be Catholic. Either way, I am dead."
Then he has an inspiration, and he says to the guy with the gun, "Actually I'm Jewish."
This, he thinks to himself, will surely keep him safe.
The mugger then replies, "Gee, I must be the luckiest Arab in Ireland!"  >>
========================================
** Source: An unknown narrator, presumed to be an irreverent, hard-drinking, politically incorrect, and outspoken Irishman who has no use for foreigners (especially Americans and Arabs) !

The Good Farmer - by TPO

 

[The Good Farmer] *
- by TPO -
There was [once] a farmer who grew excellent quality corn. Every year, he won the award for the best-grown corn.

One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting .... The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors. “How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?” the reporter asked.

“Why sir,” said the farmer, “Didn’t you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn.”

So [it] is with our lives... Those who want to live meaningfully and well must help enrich the lives of others, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others find happiness, for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all ....

-Call it power of collectivism...
-Call it a principle of success...
-Call it a law of life.
The fact is, none of us truly wins, until we all win!!

============================================
* Source: Aaron Avner (Facebook, September 24, 2015)
============================================

TPO's comment ...-
This debunks the irrational social and political conclusions of ...
1- all Darwinian proponents who focus only on the destructive (negative) side of "evolution",
2- all followers of Ayn Rand,
3- all short-sighted, hypocritical, and greedy people - especially the non-altruistic politicians and the mega-wealthy. 

In a Pig's Eye! - by Hénock Gugsa

In a Pig's Eye! 

- by Hénock Gugsa -

A couple of days ago, a big fat guy was driving an SUV in front of me ... and I noticed he had a bumper sticker that said: "Cop Lives Matter too!"

** I was so outraged and I did not know what to make of such stupidity!  The only way I can respond is by designing a meme of my own that encapsulates the totality of my reaction! **

America's Humanity at Risk! - by TPO

America's Humanity at Risk! 

- by TPO -

~~~~~~~ **** ~~~~~~~

Stephen Colbert: Syrian Refugees & the Republicans' Panic

Vive la Liberté ! - Hénock Gugsa

Vive la Liberté !  
~~~~~~~~~

- Hénock Gugsa -

"J'aime Paris ... j'aime la France! " - Hénock Gugsa

J'aime Paris ... j'aime la France!

V I V E    L A    F R A N C E   !!!!!

"La Marseillaise" -- chanteuse: Mireille Mathieu

Help Me Understand, Please! - by Hénock Gugsa

Help me understand ... please!

by 
Hénock Gugsa
~~~~~~~~ ////// ~~~~~~~~

Why do some racists show their racism in the most stupid and cowardly way?!

-- The racists at the University of Missouri who painted (?!) black students' dorm room doors with feces ... what was the message being delivered?
a) ... that swastikas are shitty symbols?!
b) ... that the racists play with their crap, like doing finger painting and stuff?!
c) ... that the racists have never heard of toilet paper or toilets?!
d) ... that these racists are just sewer rats on a rampage?!

-- The racists who fly confederate flags, wear symbols and trinkets of the confederacy or of Nazi Germany ...
a) ... are they just saying they love a losing side no matter what?!
b) ... do they even know  that hate is like a self-inflicted wound and it can boomerang and come back at you?!
c) ... isn't there enough hot air out there without the extra heat and discomfort from racists' hate?!

*** I have more respect and fear for the intelligent racist who is subtle and uses (manipulates) society's institutions to get his way and do his evil deeds. ***

Bernie bitch-slaps Wall Street's thugs! - by TPO

 Bernie bitch-slaps Wall Street's thugs !

 - by TPO -

Recently, Wall Street's shakers and movers had the premeditated gall to  lecture Americans to “act on the deficit and reform Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.”   The following is Senator Bernie Sanders' response =======>

<<  There really is no shame. The Wall Street leaders whose recklessness and illegal behavior caused this terrible recession are now lecturing the American people on the need for courage to deal with the nation’s finances and deficit crisis. Before telling us why we should cut Social Security, Medicare and other vitally important programs, these CEOs might want to take a hard look at their responsibility for causing the deficit and this terrible recession.

Our Wall Street friends might also want to show some courage of their own by suggesting that the wealthiest people in this country, like them, start paying their fair share of taxes. They might work to end the outrageous corporate loopholes, tax havens and outsourcing provisions that their lobbyists have littered throughout the tax code – contributing greatly to our deficit.

Many of the CEO’s who signed the deficit-reduction letter run corporations that evaded at least $34.5 billion in taxes by setting up more than 600 subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands and other offshore tax havens since 2008. As a result, at least a dozen of the companies avoided paying any federal income taxes in recent years, and even received more than $6.4 billion in tax refunds from the IRS since 2008.

Several of the companies received a total taxpayer bailout of more than $2.5 trillion from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department.

Many of the companies also have outsourced hundreds of thousands of American jobs to China and other low wage countries, forcing their workers to receive unemployment insurance and other federal benefits. In other words, these are some of the same people who have significantly caused the deficit to  explode over the last four years. >>

 

Coexistence - by TPO

Coexistence

- by TPO -

In a time of difficulties back in the 1930s, an Italian photographer saw something which he had never seen anywhere else but in Ethiopia and was very much surprised: Muslims and Christians praying together.
 

After a little conversation with the locals he documented his unique experience in pictures. 

The picture was later published by Richard Pankhurst and Denis Gerard.
 

The photo caption read: “At St George’s Cathedral, Addis Ababa, Christians and Muslim’s praying together for peace.”
-----------------------------------------------------------
Coexistence: (noun) a policy of living peacefully with other nations, religions, etc., despite fundamental disagreements.
source: Dictionary.com

"Oromo Street" in Minneapolis, MN - by Hénock Gugsa

"Oromo Street" in Minneapolis, MN

 - by Hénock Gugsa  -

[አገር የሌላቸው ሰዎች በሰው አገር መጥተው አስፋልት መንገድ ይሰጠን አሉ !]  

-------------------------------------------------
There is a saying in Ethiopia: 

"Without food and starving, yet she covets the fancy dress!"
" የምትበላው የሌላት የምትከናነበው አማራት !! " 
-------------------------------------------------- 

The street in this picture is found in the West Bank neighborhood of Minneapolis (near the U of M campus), which is now locally known as "Little Mogadishu".  The black building in the background is a madrasas (Islamic school) that belongs to the dominant Somalis in the area.  Up-to almost fifteen years ago, this same building used to be a bar/club called "the 400 Bar".  I have some great memories of some good times at that bar back in the late 80's.  But back then, there were few Oromos and even fewer Somalis here in the Twin Cities.

Regarding this street ... thankfully, I don't believe the city of Minneapolis completely recognizes this new, strange name.  It is still "S 4th Street" as far as everybody (including this writer) is concerned ! 

To be sure, the money wasted on this stupid street name (the sign itself and the license or permit fees, etc.) could have been put to better use in Ethiopia.  That money could have bought school books and materials for poor Ethiopian children, it could have bought hospital beds, and it could have been used as startup funds for building community wells, etc. 

One last point of note:  Has anybody seen streets named for Laos, for Vietnam, for Liberia, for Kenya, etc. here in America?  The expats from those countries living here are to be commended for having sense enough to keep low profiles and making noteworthy contributions to America, their new home.   So, Oromos and Somalis: ===> If you want to be recognized, please be good citizens here first, and then go and do something substantial, something meaningful and respectable for your former (native) lands ... and do it quietly!
 

Wealth and Happiness - by Yaakov Menken

Wealth and Happiness *

- by Yaakov Menken -

     "Who is wealthy? He who is happy with his lot."
Imagine a farmer who owns a modest few acres of land. He works through the year, harvests his crop, and knows that he'll be able to feed his family. He's content, because he has all that he needs.

But before he can take advantage of that crop, he knows he has to bring his first fruits. So he saddles his donkey, fills a small bag with loaves of bread and a few clusters of grapes, and heads off for [the city]. After traveling for a while, he reaches the main highway.

[And then things change...] He isn't happy anymore!

He gets to the main road, but needs to wait -- a huge caravan is passing. There is a huge carriage with extraordinarily large and beautiful grapes. The next is piled high with loaves of bread. And in the third sits the owner of the horses, carriages, farmland and crop.The farmer looks at his small bag of first fruits. 

Has anything changed? Only his perception. His satisfaction is replaced by jealousy, because someone else has all that wealth.
______________________________________________________ 
* Source: Yaakov Menken (News from Project Genesis and Torah.org)

La Revolución - from the 1966 movie, "The Professionals"

La Revolución
("The Professionals" - Burt Lancaster and Jack Palance)

~~~~~~~~~ //// ~~~~~~~~~

Capitalism, Plutocracy, Oligarchy - by Hénock Gugsa

 Capitalism, Plutocracy, Oligarchy 

(My Take)

- by Hénock Gugsa -

Well, let me start with "Capitalism". It is a set of economic beliefs that holds fast to the notion that a free and untethered market place for goods and services will produce the utmost benefit to both consumers and producers. The guiding principle here is "laissez-faire," which translates as Hands-Off, meaning Government(s) should basically have little or no influence in the production or sale of commodities. The role of Government should be to facilitate and accommodate the marketplace to flourish (by providing defense, protective laws and lax regulations, low taxes, and favorable international trade positions). 

Plutocracy and Oligarchy are almost synonymous, in my view. They vary from each other only in size and scope. They are similar in the fact that neither one is an adherent of democracy. A truly representative government that advocates and looks out for the people is considered almost an anathema by both groups!

A plutocracy consists of a small group of economic heavy-weights that have strong influence in the economic and political direction of a nation. These plutocrats can be CEOs of large multinationals, banks, conglomerates, etc. They are shakers and movers ... think of Fortune 500. However, these guys don't necessarily have to be the same folk or corporations for ever. From decade to decade, you may have different guys ruling the roost.

On the other hand, oligarchy is a narrower set of players. It is indeed a very few number of individuals who wield enormous sway on a nation's economy and its political path. They are very powerful because of their enormous and bottomless source of wealth. Two supreme examples are the multi-billionaires of today : The Koch Brothers, and The Walton family. These oligarchs have more staying power than plutocrats. In fact, plutocrats may be working for them.

The above is totally my view and assessment of these matters. 

 

Black Lives Do Matter! - by Hénock Gugsa

 Black Lives Do Matter! 

- by Hénock Gugsa -

I have not understood why some people have taken offense (or exception) to the recent (year-old) slogan: "Black Lives Matter."

I think the context of its origin is lost on many. The intent or implied message is: "Black lives matter just as much as white lives."

It is clearly evident that the abuse and atrocities are more plentiful for the black community as opposed to the white.

If there were a need to say "All lives matter", it should have been done loudly way before these abuses came to light. This latter slogan somehow seems to me like a Johnny-come-lately attempt to water down or trivialize a serious social trauma. 

Deep in the Gilded Age - by TPO

Deep in the Gilded Age 

- by TPO -
/////// ======= ///////
  "What is the chief end of man?--to get rich. In what way?--dishonestly if we can; honestly if we must."
-- Mark Twain-1871

 
The Rise of the Modern-day "Gilded Age"
================================
Between the years 1870 - 1900, it was common to observe poor people work as slaves or laborers under the rich, who exploited them to work hard in deplorable conditions, and paid them meager wages, while retaining the profits. This made the rich richer, and the poor poorer.

The Gilded Age was the encapsulation of the unfettered capitalism present at that time, e.g., the railroad company of Jay Gould and the oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller. Individuals controlled entire capitalistic ventures and reaped the profits, while the employees of the venture were given fixed low wages, thus deepening the chasm between the rich and the poor.

The Return of "Gilded Age" with a Vengeance 

(beginning in the early 1980's and into the present day)
==========================================
- Unregulated Corporate Capitalism, especially the poorly regulated financial industry

- Union busting being done by the government at the behest of corporations

- Unheard-of levels of Income  Inequality through systematic attacks on the middle class by plutocrats

- Citizens United essentially allows corporations and plutocrats to openly buy elections

-An aggressively partisan Supreme Court that takes interpretation of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to illogically logical lows

- Violations of Civil Liberties ... eg, the abuses of the Patriot Act

- Voter repression by means of voter ID laws and the questionable gerrymandering practices of some States

-The promotion of anti-immigration, xenophobia, and the scapegoating of the powerless for the current problems of society.

"The Incomparable" Dick Gregory - by TPO

 "The Incomparable" Dick Gregory 

- by TPO -

~~~~~~~ // ~~~~~~~

Tight Spots - by Hénock Gugsa

  

Tight Spots

by

Hénock Gugsa

====== //// ======

Let's face it. The current political zeitgeist is practically a perennial quagmire. We are dealing with a few self-inflicted vicious cycles that continue to exacerbate the "bad situations." * [George Clooney called them "tight" spots in "Oh Brother, Where are thou?"]

A major cause for these situations is people's lethargy - their disinterest and indolent attitude toward knowledge and information about important current political and social events in their lives. Furthermore, even when they read and listen to the information media, people hardly ever bother to verify the veracity and objectivity of the news sources. Thus they are misinformed and misguided.

It is also a sad fact that far too many citizens are too lazy to even bother to exercise their right to vote. Well-founded protests are not demonstrably expressed, and above all more people need to be active in their communities.

Another cause - Americans' desire and preference for quick-fixes and short-cuts when it comes to solving problems ... also, the ready-willingness to assign blame and the aversion to share responsibility.

To wrap it all up ... there is a real and radical need for cultural reform, for education, and for leadership to steer us to the right (the progressive) political path. We need to get away from the old and tired, the cyclical, political mire of today. It is for this reason, that we should enthusiastically welcome Bernie Sanders! At least, he will educate us!

==================================
  * These bad situations are the result of the utterly worthless policies and laws that our political leaders are imposing on us. Bad policies and positions are affecting the environment, types and use of energy, labor, employment, education, health care, the elderly, income gaps, rights and freedoms (LGBT matters, planned parenthood, etc.), civil rights (race relations, protection from police brutality) , ... and the list goes on and on!

When justice goes awry ... - by TPO

When justice goes awry...

- by TPO -

Very relevant today!

Emile Zola (1840-1902) in his open letter "J'accuse" (I accuse) - The Dreyfus affair ...

"Quant aux gens que j'accuse, je ne les connais pas, je ne les ai jamais vus, je n'ai contre eux ni rancune ni haine. Ils ne sont pour moi que des entités, des esprits de malfaisance sociale. Et l'acte que j'accomplis ici n'est qu'un moyen révolutionnaire pour hâter l'explosion de la vérité et de la justice."
===>
"As for the people I accuse, I do not know them, I never saw them, I have against them neither resentment nor hatred. To me, they are only entities, spirits of social evil. And the act I am hereby accomplishing is only a revolutionary means to hasten the explosion of truth and justice."

TPP in Essence - by Hénock Gugsa

TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) in Essence
- by Hénock Gugsa -

TPP seems to be nothing but NAFTA inflated and expanded ... yet more dangerous because of its lack of openness.

In the long run, it is very highly likely that the participating nations will regret such a pact. The rush and the secrecy behind the agreement package is a dead giveaway to the perils that lie ahead. The manipulators, i.e the puppeteers, behind TPP are big nameless corporations and financial organizations. And the first thing they focus on is their legal immunity in all matters. They even go further and and get assurance of their citizenship rights to sue governments if they feel wronged or damaged. Have you heard AIG (the ungrateful bastard of a corporation) is suing the U.S. Federal government for "its 2008 bailout of the firm violated [their] constitutional rights"?!!

Thus, it is a very scary scenario all around. Corporations are beginning to rule the world. No wonder China is not currently a member of TPP. Maybe, it is because Taiwan already is ... but that could change, of-course.

Meanwhile, the President is dismissing all convincing arguments against TPP as mere scare-based hypotheses. What does he have against hypotheses? Isn't science based on hypotheses and observations? What next ... deny science? ... deny climate change? And even going by observations alone, haven't we observed the behavior patterns of corporations right here inside America? Can you imagine let alone believe a tiger changing its stripes?!  

=======================

News update: 

Per Huffington Post, "The House is expected to vote on fast track trade promotion authority as soon as [this coming] week. If it passes, the corporate-negotiated Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a done deal -- even though it is still secret."
[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dave-johnson/fast-track-hits-house-nex_b_7465280.html]

The probability that the fast track is going to be authorized is quite high despite vehement opposition from many democrats and even ultra-conservative groups.