Day: December 15, 2008

Happy Birthday, Bill Of Rights

Most calendars don’t denote today as a special one that requires some sort of observation or celebration. If anything, a quick look at the calendar serves only to remind most of us that Christmas is 10 days away.

But Dec. 15 is a day of great importance to all of us. It is the day we observe as Bill of Rights Day, and today is the 217th anniversary of the day those rights officially became the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution and the law of the land.

For that, we have George Mason to thank, and we’re talking about the man rather than the distinguished university that bears his name and is known by some for sometimes having a decent basketball team.

Mason was one of the founders of our country and was active at the 1787 Constitutional Convention that drafted the Constitution, although he later refused to sign it and opposed its ratification because he thought it ignored individual rights and didn’t sufficiently limit the power of the federal government.

Do you know what those rights are? …..pause for thought…..Do not hurt yourself….

I. Ensures freedom of religion, speech, the press, peaceable assembly and the right to petition the government for redress of grievances.

II. Establishes the right to bear arms.

III. Protects people from being forced to house soldiers in their homes, except in time of war.

IV. Protects the public from unreasonable searches and seizures.

V. Guarantees due process of law and protects against self-incrimination and double jeopardy. Establishes private property rights.

VI. Guarantees the right to a speedy and public trial before a jury and the right to defense counsel.

VII. Establishes the right to jury trial in civil cases.

VIII. Prohibits excessive bail or fines and cruel and unusual punishment.

IX. Establishes that a guarantee of rights by the Constitution doesn’t deny to the people other individual rights not included in the document.

X. Establishes that powers not delegated to the federal government nor denied to the states by the Constitution are reserved to the states.

Take a moment today to think about your rights and what they mean,,,,and a silent “thank you” is in order.

Time To Junk The Electoral College

I have written on this several times and have had numerous great comments both pro and con–below is from an article written by Jonathan Soros for the Wall Street Journal.

The Electoral College was created in 1787 by a constitutional convention whose delegates were unconvinced that the election of the president could be entrusted to an unfiltered vote of the people, and were concerned about the division of power among the 13 states. It was antidemocratic by design.

Under the system, each state receives votes equal to the number of representatives it has in the House plus one for each of its senators. Less populated states are thus overrepresented. While this formula hasn’t changed, it no longer makes a difference for the majority of states. Wyoming, with its three electoral votes, has no more influence over the selection of the president or on the positions taken by candidates than it would with one vote.

We often forget that the power to appoint electors is given to state legislatures, and it is only because they choose to hold a vote that Election Day is at all relevant for us. Nowhere is a popular election constitutionally required. And, as the 2000 election reminded us, the winner of the popular vote is not guaranteed to become president.

The Constitution is no longer in line with our expectations regarding the role of the people in selecting the president. Yet several previous attempts to eliminate the Electoral College through a constitutional amendment have failed, scuttled by the difficulty of the process itself and the tyranny of small-state logic.

Fortunately, a constitutional amendment is not necessary. Rather than dismantling the Electoral College with an amendment, we can use the mechanisms of the Electoral College itself to guarantee popular election of the president.

To understand how the proposal works, one needs to understand two basic principles. First, that state legislatures are basically unfettered in how they choose to appoint electors. And second, that groups of states can enter into binding agreements with one another in the form of so-called interstate compacts. There are many examples of such compacts, including the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the interstate agreement that guarantees a driver points on a Virginia driver license when he or she speeds in Maryland.

Under the proposed National Popular Vote compact, state legislatures would agree to choose electors who promise to support the winner of the nationwide popular vote. For example, if a Republican were to win the overall national popular vote, even if New Yorkers favored the Democrat, New York’s Electoral College votes would go to the Republican. The compact will go into force when states representing 271 Electoral College votes have entered into it to guarantee that the winner of the popular vote will become president.

It is ironic that the most common objection to the National Popular Vote compact is the suggestion that it is antifederalist. In fact, interstate compacts lie at the very core of federalism: individual states combining their powers to solve a problem. In this case, they would be joining forces to allow their citizens to act as one nation in the selection of their president.

Let Them Win!

This is an opinion of the staff of Info Ink.

The whole debate on whether to save the Big 3 and jobs is just disgusting.  A debate to throw 3 million people into the unemployment line.  What a plan!

Time to help the Repubs out–let the Big 3 die–put nearly 3 million people out of work–let the economy tank even further.  Just give the Repubs what they want!  Break the union and increase the availability of foreign cars made in their states.  Never think this is what is good for the country–it is all about breaking the union–period.  Just let them win.

These are the same bunch of morons that were so concerned about “creeping socialism” that Obama was offering.  Well, Bubbas, if you get your way then you could possibly do more to further socialism than Eugene Debs ever did.

Think about it!  A record amount of unemployed workers could possibly see that socialism is the answer to making a better life for them and their families.  Desperation could send them into the ranks of the socialist parties.  The Bubbas from the South could do more in a month to bring about socialism than 100 years of organizing could not do.

So congrats Repubs, You are doing a marvelous job and that your self centered ideology could destroy all that has been achieved since 1776.  Something you guys can be proud of as you tell your grandchildren how you destroyed the America that so many have died to preserve.

The question now is–will the American people be fooled by moronic statements and lies from the conservs?  Probably in the short run, but in the long run, they could have their asses handed to them.  But I never underestimate the stupidity and the political laziness of the American people.

Hey Socialists are you listening?  The opportunity will be there, but will anyone or any organization be smart enough to capitalize on a golden opportunity?

Lessons From Chicago

NO!  I am not talking about that MORON Blago!  Or who knew what when and where.  All that is insane babbling by the media and conserv pundits…it is NO value as news,,,only to mental midgets that relish scandal.

The lessons learned here are those tyaught by the workers of Republic Wnidow and Doors.

The action taken by the Republic workers was an immense step forward, the first independent action of a section of the working class in the US in response to the unfolding economic crisis. The workers acted with courage and determination, insisting that they would not leave the factory until they received the benefits to which they were legally entitled.

The struggle of these workers quickly became a symbol across the country—and indeed around the world—of deepening anger and resistance to mass layoffs and a government policy that has handed out trillions of dollars to banks and financial institutions while ordinary workers continue to lose their jobs by the hundreds of thousands. Their action evoked broad support from all across the country.

The workers marched out of the factory Wednesday night declaring victory in their struggle. Each worker will receive about $6,000—including eight week’s severance pay, accrued vacation time and two months health care coverage.

While from the standpoint of the workers’ immediate demands it was a victory, it was a bittersweet one. The workers at Republic will still lose their jobs under conditions where no decent jobs are to be found. In two months they will have no health care. The American and world economy is entering the worst economic slump since the Great Depression, and the workers at Republic will join millions across the country who will face this crisis with no job security and no safety net.

The occupation at Republic surprised and frightened the American corporate and political elite, which is well aware of rising popular anger over the naked class character of their multi-trillion-dollar bailout of Wall Street. In occupying their factory, moreover, the workers were making an implicit challenge to the basis of capitalist rule—the private ownership of the means of production. The ruling class has become accustomed to forcing through its demands without serious challenge. The very fact that workers have to occupy a factory in order to win benefits to which they are legally entitled is an indication of the state of class relations in the United States.

The initiative of a few hundred workers at a relatively small factory in Chicago threatened to spark something much larger. The quick settlement—coming after the workers received the verbal support of several Democratic Party politicians, including President-elect Barack Obama—reflected an attempt to get ahead of any broader struggle, to contain it before it got out of hand.

The resolve of the workers at Republic stands in stark contrast to the bankruptcy of the United Auto Workers union, which has agreed to a new round of massive concessions at the Big Three auto companies without even the pretense of resistance.

In their action, the Republic workers have demonstrated that the absence of more open forms of working class resistance is not due to a lack of determination among the workers. For nearly three decades the unions have ruthlessly suppressed any independent struggle of the working class. When such struggles have broken out, the union leadership has systematically isolated and betrayed them.

The struggle at Republic is an initial sign of an upsurge in the class struggle around the world, a struggle that arises inexorably from the contradictions and crisis of the capitalist system itself. It has tapped into militant traditions of the American working class that go back decades, including the great sit-down strikes of the 1930s.

In short, other workers could take a page from this sit-in, the workers do have the power, but will they use it?

What Did He Say?

A surprise visit by US President George Bush to Iraq has been overshadowed by an incident in which two shoes were thrown at him during a news conference.

An Iraqi journalist was wrestled to the floor by security guards after he called Mr Bush “a dog” and threw his footwear, just missing the president.

In the middle of the news conference with Mr Maliki, Iraqi television journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi stood up and shouted “this is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog,” before hurling a shoe at Mr Bush which narrowly missed him.

Showing the soles of shoes to someone is a sign of contempt in Arab culture.

With his second shoe, which the president also managed to dodge, Mr Zaidi said: “This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq.”

Mr Zaidi, a correspondent for Cairo-based al-Baghdadiya TV, was then wrestled to the ground by security personnel and hauled away.

“If you want the facts, it’s a size 10 shoe that he threw,” Mr Bush joked afterwards.

Al-Baghdadiya’s bureau chief told the Associated Press that he had no idea what prompted Mr Zaidi to attack President Bush, although reports say he was once kidnapped by a militia and beaten up.

“I am trying to reach Muntadar since the incident, but in vain,” said Fityan Mohammed. “His phone is switched off.”

Correspondents said the attack was symbolic. Iraqis threw shoes and used them to beat Saddam Hussein’s statue after his overthrow.

Some people cannot take a joke (sarcasm intended).

One Good Drug Deserves Another

It’s really not news.  Silent film star Gloria Swanson knew it way back when.  William Duffy’s 1975 bestseller, ‘Sugar Blues,’ quotes her as saying, “That stuff is poison.”  Wouldn’t even allow it in her house.  Now a new study from Princeton University, using modern-day scientific equipment, has documented how sugar affects brain function the same way cocaine and heroin do.

Princeton psychology professor Bart Hoebel led researchers through a study of sugar’s effect on the brains of rats and their evidence indicates a sugar binge alters brain function and fuels the desire for more of the sweet stuff.  The alteration to brain function worked pretty much like the brain functions when addicted to cocaine and heroin, complete with psychological and physical symptoms of withdrawal when sugar was denied.

First comes the sugar high, including the feel-good rush drug addicts crave.  Hoebel says this is due to the release or increase in the neurotransmitter, dopamine, in a particular part of the brain associated with addictive behaviors.

Next comes the blues of withdrawal.  Chattering teeth, anxiety, desire for isolation, refusal to participate in everyday activities.  These symptoms of sugar deprivation mimic closely withdrawal symptoms people experience when tobacco, alcohol, and drugs are withheld

You have always been told about that sugar high…looks like it’s true…it’s all true.