Christmas Bonuses - for Some of Us

I saw a report on NBC Nightly News that said Wall St. Christmas bonuses would be quite generous this year. Hmmm. It also said that (if I remember correctly) 66% of workers don't receive such bonuses. There was also a report in the Phila. Inquirer recently that said the South Jersey food bank was hurting because there is such a demand for food to help families make ends meet; increasingly these families are the "working poor". And I found out today that the one local "strip mall" raised the rent on the Dollar store (a Mom-and-Pop store, not a chain) so it will be going out of business. Word is that a Dollar store chain will take its place.

Why isn't it clear to everyone that our priorities are out of whack? We give lavish bonuses (and tax breaks) to the wealthy; to everyone else - just crumbs. It just keeps getting harder and harder for anyone to own their own store or small business. We're being overrun it seems with franchises and big corporations. One major concern about that is that decisions are too often made at the corporate level without knowledge of local trends. Another is that our choices are too often swallowed up as "little guys" cannot compete with the big retailers. If your favorite brand isn't one of the top sellers, well, good luck having it stay available.

Can we imagine a world where more people are economically empowered? I think it's time to start.

I'm Back, Sort of

If anyone's reading this, you know I haven't posted to this blog for a while. Things have been particularly crazy at work this semester; there's been so much to do on weekends; and there was the little matter of having to get a new heater and oil tank. I'm not sure how much time and energy I'll still have for this, but I may not give it up just yet. There's so much I probably could write about if I were more motivated, it seems.

I even missed my man John Adams' birthday. Well, Happy Belated Birthday, Mr. President! Hope you're praying for this country from the other side.

The Shameful, Tyrannical Detainee Bill

Like many, I am unbelievably upset that Congress passed this horrible piece of legislation. I am astounded that so few of our elected Representatives and Senators have no backbone and caved in to a power grab by the administration.

Please read posts by Jane Smiley, Molly Ivins, and Joshuah Bearman.

If you do not share these concerns yet, I would advise you to wake up, and to do so very soon.

I was especially disturbed that my two Senators - who I thought were pretty good - joined the Republicans in passing this bill. I wrote to them and expressed my extreme disappointment. I would advise anyone whose Senator or Representative voted for this atrocity let them know this is unacceptable. And do not let the GOP get away with continually playing a fear card and using 9/11 as an excuse to shred our liberties.

Merely coincidences...

I think everyone should view the Keith Obermann video in which he lays out some very "strange" coincidences of political events and terror warnings. I sort of felt that there were some very eerie coincidences - or are they- going on. It seems as though someone else has noticed in a much more organized fashion than I have. It's well worth watching.

To view the video go here. Scroll down for Keith Obermann/Politics and Terror. There are a variety of links for different viewing formats.

We should all be aware and insist that politics NOT be played with security and terror warnings.

Is There Something Going On?

Recently it seems that some Yahoo groups were shut down, apparently by Yahoo itself. At this point any information I have is very sketchy. It seems that it was groups critical of the administration who were affected. I have also heard that it was not just Yahoo groups affected but some other groups and blogs have been shut down as well. I think we should all ask what is going on. Is this just the work of hackers? If so, why should they be allowed to shut down someone's mode of communicating with a wider audience? Is it deeper than that? Is there some movement to deny these venues to liberal groups and writers, to dissenters? If so, we'd all better wake up and stop this in its tracks before it's really too late for all of us.

If anyone has more information, please post a reply as I'd really like to know as much about the situation as possible. If there is anyone whose group or blog has been affected, I'd really like to hear from you. Thanks to all in advance.

The GOP must be in trouble

I figured that when Pres. Bush decided to finally address an NAACP Convention that something must be up. Why now? Why hasn't this happened before? It struck me that the GOP must really be in trouble! I'm thinking that until now the present make-up of the party never felt the need to really go after the African-American vote with any kind of enthusiasm. A very recent poll suggests that there might be real trouble for the GOP in the November Congressional elections.

While it may not be totally bad to get some attention from the Republicans - at the very least it may nudge the Democrats from taking us for granted - I hope voters remain wary at this point. I don't feel as though the policies of the present administration and Congress are helpful to the country as a whole, let alone African-Americans who face a greater share of economic and social challenges. I hope that people will not be diverted (I thought Robert Smigel's cartoon on SNL about "The Divertor" (or something like that) was certainly on target) by such non-issues as gay marriage.

Excellent Article

In the Truthout.org archives is an excellent article by George Lakoff, Mark Ettlinger and Sam Ferguson. It's definitely worth reading, digesting, and acting on!