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Showing posts with label census. Show all posts
Showing posts with label census. Show all posts

Friday, September 14

14.Sept.2012: America's War Mentality, Indefinite Domestic Military Detention, End of Humanity, Chicago Teacher Strike, Politics and Religion Don't Mix, U.S. Debt is Political, Growth OR Equality, Boycott of Israel, Corporations vs. Education, Save Money on Health Care, Citizens United Threatens Democracy, Big Pharma Criminal, Naked TSA Scanners, Record Poverty Census, Rachel Corrie, Surveillance State, U.S. Crops Very Poor, Prosecuting Wall Street, Predator Drones, Jesse Ventura Interview, 2012 PETA Video on Animal Abuse

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War: What America Knows Best

When it comes to Iran, Washington’s regional preparations for war are staggering.  The continual build-up of U.S. naval power in the Persian Gulf, of land forces on bases around that country, of air power (and anti-missile defenses) in the region should leave any observer breathless.  There are U.S. special operations forces near the Iranian border and CIA drones regularly over that country.

If Politicians Think Teachers Have it So Easy, Why Do They All Become Bankers?

This week a lot of Democrats and "liberals" are attacking Chicago teachers for what they tell us are their extravagant and "unreasonable" demands. It's funny: If they think teaching's such a gravy train, why have they all become bankers instead?

Journalist's Suit Against Indefinite Domestic Military Detention Wins In Federal Court

A federal judge permanently threw out a key part of the National Defense Authorization Act on Thursday as part of a lawsuit brought by journalist Chris Hedges and others who claimed that they could be held in indefinite military detention because they interviewed suspected terrorists.

The End Of Humanity: Rise of the Robots

The global elite has reached a decision that could spell the end of humanity as we know it in the decades to come. Having become superfluous in the eyes of those who plan to impose a technocracy over the entire planet, robots will be used to both replace and eliminate humans as the elite advances towards its much cherished technological singularity.

Free speech vs. reverence for Muhammad: Can they coexist?

The violence in Egypt, Libya, and Yemen show the results of American ideals clashing with those of nascent Arab democracies. Caught in between are American Muslims.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2012/0913/Free-speech-vs.-reverence-for-Muhammad-Can-they-coexist

Chicago teacher strike: Talks to end strike make progress

Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis said the sides had definitely come closer together.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0913/Chicago-teacher-strike-Talks-to-end-strike-make-progress

In Aftermath of Ambassador's Death, US Warships Headed for Libya
Following a promise by President Obama on Wednesday that the United States would “bring to justice” to those responsible for the attack on the US embassy in Benghazi that led to the death of US Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other officials, military officials now say that two Navy warships—notably armed with tomahwk missile systems—are now steaming towards the Libyan coast.

US Citizens' Due Process Rights Saved from the NDAA's Indefinite Detention

You can't change the world if you don't believe in impossible things. On Wednesday, I was reminded that my obstinate faith in the ability of citizens to stand up against an all-out assault on civil liberties by my own government is not so absurd, after all. Judge Katherine Forrest (an Obama-appointed judge) granted people everywhere a permanent injunction against an unconstitutional provision, section 1021, in the NDAA – and thus a reprieve from the terror of being indefinitely detained by the US military, without charge, evidence or trial.

The Provocateurs Know Politics and Religion Don't Mix

 So another internet clever-clogs sets the Middle East on fire: Prophet cartoons, then Koranic book-burning, now a video of robed "terrorists" and a fake desert. The Western-Christian perpetrators then go into hiding (an essential requisite for publicity) while the innocent are asphyxiated, beheaded and otherwise done to death – outrageous Muslim revenge thus "proving" the racist claims of the trash peddlers that Islam is a violent religion.

Record Poverty Persists While Gap Between Rich and Rest of Us Increases

Sadly, those who "occupied" Wall Street and city squares across the country in 2011, were right: All of the income gains have concentrated at the top, while the rest of us saw a deterioration or stagnation in our wages and income.

Moody's Threat to Downgrade US Debt is Political, Not Fiscal

Moody's threat this week to downgrade the US government's credit rating says a whole lot more about the credit rating agency than it does about the US debt situation. It is really a way of telling the world that Moody's is making a political statement, rather than an assessment of risk for investors who want actual information about US Treasury securities. This is really an embarrassment for Moody's – since they are supposed to be evaluating risk – although most of the media didn't seem to notice.

Labor Is Under Attack All Over the World

There are plenty of notable labor events occurring at the moment. And by “notable,” of course, we mean hideous and horribly depressing. Clearly, management people all over the world believe the stars are in perfect alignment and that they now have a tremendous advantage when it comes to negotiating with their workforce. Naturally, they’re looking to exploit that advantage.

Already God-Soaked Presidential Campaign About To Get Another Dose Of That Old-Time Religion
Religious Right’s ‘Values Voter Summit’ Attempts To Push ‘Culture War’ Issues To The Front And Center, Says Americans United

Monopolizing War? 
What America Knows How to Do Best
Growth or Equality: Two Competing Visions For America’s Future
David Korten on how closing the wealth gap can open the way to a fairer, more prosperous economy.
http://www.countercurrents.org/korten130912.htm
5 Issues This Election Should Be About, And One To Drop
Cutting through the campaign rhetoric and attack ads, here are five issues we believe should be at the center of the 2012 election, plus one that has no place in the public 
http://www.countercurrents.org/vangelder130912.htm
Growing Isolation: Boycott Of Israel Crosses To Governments’ Realm
Should Israel be worried? Very much so, for the age of total impunity is coming to an end. Critical voices of the Israeli occupation and mistreatment of Palestinians are rising - not only within civil society circles, but among world governments as well.

The Path To War For The Sake Of Israel
Canada has recently suspended its diplomatic ties with Iran, accusing Iran of “ significant threat to global peace and security in the world today” . The move is attributed to U.S.-Israel pressure to create a coalition front and provide a façade of “international” legitimacy to justify aggression against Iran.

Corporate Media's War on Public Education

Corporate media scoundrels support making education another profit center and destroying the future of millions of kids.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Corporate-Media-s-War-on-P-by-Stephen-Lendman-120913-718.html

When It Comes To The DoJ And Wall Street, Don't Call It "Justice"

If a recent report is true the Justice Department will need a new name -- and some of us will have to step up and admit we were wrong.

Obama's Unconstitutional NDAA 'Detained Indefinitely' by Federal Judge

A federal judge permanently blocked enforcement of a law signed by Obama late last year that included vague language allowing the military to detain US citizens indefinitely.

The Wrong Way to Save Money on Health Care

Employer outlays for workers' health insurance slowed from a 9 percent jump last year to less than half that -- 4 percent -- this year, according to a new survey from the Kaiser Foundation. Good news?

Southern whites troubled by Romney's wealth, religion
Reuters/Ipsos polling data compiled over the past several months shows that, across the Bible Belt, 38 percent of these voters said they would be less likely to vote for a candidate who is "very wealthy" than one who isn't. This is well above the 20 percent who said they would be less likely to vote for an African-American.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/sns-rt-us-usa-election-poll-bible-beltbre88a05h-20120910,0,630640,full.story

Israeli police intolerant of Christianity: clergyman
The Israeli authorities are growing increasingly intolerant of Christianity in the country, responding inadequately to violent attacks against the faith by Jewish extremists, a senior Vatican official in Jerusalem has warned.

http://www.nationalpost.com/related/topics/Israeli+police+intolerant+Christianity+clergyman/7210631/story.html

Jimmy Carter: Citizens United, 'Financial Corruption' Threaten Democracy
ormer U.S. president Jimmy Carter issued a blistering indictment of the American electoral process Tuesday, saying it is shot through with "financial corruption" that threatens democracy.http://www.readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/13447-jimmy-carter-citizens-united-financial-corruption-threaten-democracy

Attack on US Consulate May Not Be Last: Expert
Benghazi Tuesday night, that claimed the lives of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans, may only be the beginning of more widespread unrest among Muslims worldwide, according to some experts.

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/attack-on-us-consulate-may-not-be-last-expert-291681.html
Six Jerusalem teens charged with attacking Palestinian

Teens broke a 28-year-old man’s ankle, after they suspected him of of ‘taking advantage’ of a Jewish woman.
http://theuglytruth.wordpress.com/2012/09/12/six-jerusalem-teens-charged-with-attacking-palestinian/

Big Pharma criminal: Bribery, fraud, price fixing now public record
Those of us who have long been describing the pharmaceutical industry as a “criminal racket” over the last few years have been wholly vindicated by recent news. Drug and vaccine manufacturer Merck was caught red-handed by two of its own scientists faking vaccine efficacy data by spiking blood samples with animal antibodies. GlaxoSmithKline has just been fined a whopping $3 billion for bribing doctors, lying to the FDA, hiding clinical trial data and fraudulent marketing.


Romney Smiles At News Of American Deaths In Libya:

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/09/12/romney-smiles-american-deaths-libya-image/

TSA Still Not Taking Comments On Naked Scanners; So Public Interest Group Does It For Them

If you needed proof of politicians’ sensitivity to, and encouragement of, persistent terrorism fears, look no further than today’s hearing in the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security. It’s called “Eleven Years After 9/11 Can TSA Evolve To Meet the Next Terrorist Threat?” and it’s being used to feature—get this—a report arguing for a “smarter, leaner” Transportation Security Administration.
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120912/07362920359/tsa-still-not-taking-comments-naked-scanners-so-public-interest-group-does-it-them.shtml

6 Right-Wing Zealots (or Groups of Zealots) That Would Blow Up the World for Political Gain

Step back from the news cycle a moment and what you see is a week in which toxic, wildly irresponsible right-wingers have been trying to set a series of fires around the world, stoking their mythical "clash of civilizations" out of religious bigotry or for political gain, or a little bit of both.

The Dystopian Digital Sweatshop That Makes the Internet Run

Meet the workers making $1.20 an hour "microtasking" for billion-dollar brands like Microsoft and Amazon--right here in the US.

US Census report: Record numbers in poverty and widening inequalityThe United States Census Bureau released its latest survey of poverty in America on Wednesday, revealing that the ranks of those classified by the government as poor remained at record highs in 2011, while the gap between the rich and everyone else widened further.


The troubling case of Rachel Corrie

Almost ten years after the death of Rachel Corrie on 16 March 2003, her case still raises troubling questions. How was a 23-year-old protester killed by an Israeli military bulldozer? Did the driver do it deliberately, as the family have claimed? Were the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) responsible in some other way?

Straight talk about the surveillance state

US crops in a poor state

Prosecuting Wall Street: People and Power






Dennis Kucinich: No More War. No More Business as Usual




Predator drones and the murder of innocents

Jesse Ventura: 
No More Gangs in Government
Part 1

 
Part 2
 

As U.S. Inequality Widens, Scholar Cornel West and Broadcaster Tavis Smiley Launch Poverty Tour 2.0


Islamic Scholar Tariq Ramadan on the Growing Mideast Protests and "Islam & the Arab Awakening"


PETA Forced to Hold Restricted Screening of Animal Abuse Film at the Kansas State Fair [WARNING: GRAPHIC]
Here's the [EXPLICIT] PETA film:
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Wednesday, September 14

Record number of Americans in poverty


Record number of Americans in poverty
By Joseph Kishore
14 September 2011
[REPRINT]

The poverty rate in the US soared to 15.1 percent in 2010, its highest level since 1993, according to a report released by the Census Bureau on Tuesday. Household incomes continued to fall sharply, amidst the worst jobs crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s, and the number of people without health insurance increased.
The bureau's report documents a shocking decline in the living standards of millions of people, a devastating indictment of the policies of the Obama administration and the entire political establishment. The new figures cover conditions one year after the supposed beginning of the recovery in June 2009.
The poverty rate increased nearly a full percentage point, from 14.3 percent in 2009. It was the third consecutive annual increase in the poverty rate and the fourth consecutive annual increase in the number of people living in poverty. Last year, there were 46.2 million people living in poverty, defined at the absurdly low level of about $22,000 a year for a family of four and $11,000 a year for an individual.
The number of people earning less than twice the poverty rate (about $44,000 for a family of four) stood at 103 million in 2010, or about 34 percent of the population.
The percentage of children under 18 living in poverty increased from 20.7 percent to 22.0 percent. A total of 16.4 million children live in poverty, equivalent to the population of New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston combined.
The total number of people in poverty is equivalent to the combined population of the 50 largest cities in the United States. There are more people in poverty in the US in 2010 than during any year on record going back to 1959.
Since 2007, the poverty rate has increased from 12.5 percent to 15.1 percent, or 2.6 percentage points.

The poverty rate for African-Americans increased at a particularly rapid rate, from 25.8 percent in 2009 to 27.4 percent in 2010.
Millions of people live in what is known as “deep poverty,” with incomes less than 50 percent of the official poverty level (or less than about $11,000 a year for a family of four). The deep poverty rate increased from 6.3 percent in 2009 to 6.7 percent in 2010, an increase of 1.5 million to a total of 20.5 million people.
While children under 18 represent 24.4 percent of the overall population, they make up 36 percent of the population (7.5 million individuals) living in deep poverty.
The absolute number of people living in deep poverty and the deep poverty rate are both at the highest level since the government began tabulating these figures in 1975.
The Census report also documented a continued decline in income for working people, with the real median household income falling to $49,445 in 2010, down 2.3 percent ($1,154) from 2009. Since 2007, the report notes, “real median income has declined 6.4 percent and is 7.1 percent below the median household income peak that occurred in 1999.”
These averages mask the enormous inequality that has become the central feature of American society. The lowest 20 percent of households, with incomes of $20,000 or less, saw their share of total income fall from 3.4 percent to 3.3 percent. The top 20 percent took home more than 50 percent of all money income.
A report by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities notes that since 1999, real income “has fallen 12.1 percent for those at the 10th income percentile but only 1.5 percent for those at the 90th percentile. The income gap between those at the 10th and 90th percentile was this highest on record.”
Since 1999, real household income has fallen 5.5 percent for non-Hispanic whites, 14.6 percent for African Americans, 8.9 percent for Asians and 10.1 percent for Hispanics, according to the Census report.
For men with full-time, year-round jobs, the real median income is about the same today as it was in 1973, having remained largely flat for three decades.
Mass unemployment is a major driving force behind the decline in living standards, as corporations utilize the jobs crisis to push through wage and benefit cuts for those who are able to find work. Since 2007, the number of year-round, full-time workers fell by 9.4 million, a fall without parallel since the Great Depression.
These conditions have continued into 2011. Official unemployment stands at 9.1 percent, with the most recent jobs report from the Labor Department showing zero net job growth last month. The level of long-term unemployment is at a historic high. The percent of the population unemployed increased from 16.1 percent to 16.3 percent.

The number of people without health insurance in the United States was 49.9 million in 2010, an increase of nearly one million over 2009. The rise in the uninsured is a particularly damning exposure of the fraud of Obama's health care “reform,” which was in fact an opening shot in a drive to reduce health care costs for corporations and the government.
The rise in poverty is a product of the long-term decline of American capitalism, combined with the ferocious class war waged by the ruling class, now led by the Obama administration. Mass impoverishment is the outcome of a deliberate policy that has resulted in a vast transfer of wealth into the hands of a small corporate and financial aristocracy.
These indices of mass social distress come at a time of record profits, with corporations sitting on a cash hoard estimated at more than $2 trillion. The government has handed over trillions of dollars to the banks, inflating the stock market while bailing out the wealthy. Far from leading to an economic revival, the conditions for the vast majority of the population have suffered a catastrophic decline.
Amidst clear signs of a world economy sinking into a depression, the response of the ruling class is to push for massive austerity. States and local governments throughout the country are implementing cuts in the most basic programs to prevent poverty. The Michigan state government, for example, passed a measure this month that will cut 41,000 people from welfare assistance, including nearly 30,000 children, beginning October 1.
Meanwhile, after outlining a phony jobs proposal that will do nothing to address the unemployment crisis, the Obama administration is set to propose trillions of dollars in cuts to health care and retirement programs.
The administration has made a point of insisting that a proposal being worked on by a bipartisan budget deficit committee must include deep cuts in Medicare and Medicaid, the main federal health care programs.
To fight against these conditions, the working class must enter into industrial and political struggle.
The Socialist Equality Party calls for emergency measures to eliminate poverty, including a multi-trillion dollar public works program to employ tens of millions of workers in high-paying, productive jobs rebuilding infrastructure and meeting other critical social needs. A livable income to meet all basic needs is a social right that must be guaranteed to everyone.
To pay for this program, the SEP fights for a radical redistribution of wealth, including a 90 percent tax on all incomes over $500,000. Corporations, currently engaged in a hiring strike, must be taken over by the working class and run democratically in the interests of social need.
The implementation of these measures is impossible outside of a direct attack on the interests of the wealthy and on the capitalist two-party system, through the building of a mass socialist political movement of the working class.
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