Tyrant John Kerry

John Kerry and a sinister gang of American politicians have trashed the US Constitution they swore to defend. The FISA Amendments Act allows almost unlimited government spying with no oversight or accountability. The US government and a handful of subordinate regimes are detaining people indefinitely without charge or trial. Torture & summary execution threaten everyone anywhere at any time. These acts are wrong.

John Kerry survived the horrors of the illegal war waged in Vietnam & surrounding nations. His antiwar activism helped end the killing. But he's now befriended the tyrant class. Judas John Kerry enjoys a fancy payoff...

Votes for & against America

The FISA Amendments Act allows almost unlimited  government spying with no oversight or accountability. The government also continues to detain people without charge or trial. These acts are wrong.

Many chances to better balance FISA were all defeated in the US Senate. The YEAs vote for totalitarian powers -- Fascist USA.

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H.R. 5949 - FISA Amendments Act Reauthorization Act of 2012
A bill to extend the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 for five years.

YEAs ---73
Alexander (R-TN) Ayotte (R-NH) Barrasso (R-WY) Bennet (D-CO) Blumenthal (D-CT) Blunt (R-MO) Boozman (R-AR) Brown (R-MA) Burr (R-NC) Cardin (D-MD) Carper (D-DE) Casey (D-PA) Chambliss (R-GA) Coats (R-IN) Coburn (R-OK) Cochran (R-MS) Collins (R-ME) Conrad (D-ND) Corker (R-TN) Cornyn (R-TX) Crapo (R-ID) Enzi (R-WY) Feinstein (D-CA) Gillibrand (D-NY) Graham (R-SC)	Grassley (R-IA) Hagan (D-NC) Hatch (R-UT) Heller (R-NV) Hoeven (R-ND) Hutchison (R-TX) Inhofe (R-OK) Isakson (R-GA) Johanns (R-NE) Johnson (D-SD) Johnson (R-WI) Kerry (D-MA) Klobuchar (D-MN) Kohl (D-WI) Kyl (R-AZ) Landrieu (D-LA) Levin (D-MI) Lieberman (ID-CT) Lugar (R-IN) Manchin (D-WV) McCain (R-AZ) McCaskill (D-MO) McConnell (R-KY) Mikulski (D-MD) Moran (R-KS)	Nelson (D-FL) Nelson (D-NE) Portman (R-OH) Pryor (D-AR) Reed (D-RI) Reid (D-NV) Risch (R-ID) Roberts (R-KS) Rockefeller (D-WV) Rubio (R-FL) Schumer (D-NY) Sessions (R-AL) Shaheen (D-NH) Shelby (R-AL) Snowe (R-ME) Stabenow (D-MI) Thune (R-SD) Toomey (R-PA) Vitter (R-LA) Warner (D-VA) Webb (D-VA) Whitehouse (D-RI) Wicker (R-MS)

NAYs ---23
Akaka (D-HI) Baucus (D-MT) Begich (D-AK) Bingaman (D-NM) Brown (D-OH) Cantwell (D-WA) Coons (D-DE) Durbin (D-IL)	Franken (D-MN) Harkin (D-IA) Leahy (D-VT) Lee (R-UT) Menendez (D-NJ) Merkley (D-OR) Murkowski (R-AK) Murray (D-WA)	Paul (R-KY) Sanders (I-VT) Schatz (D-HI) Tester (D-MT) Udall (D-CO) Udall (D-NM) Wyden (D-OR)

Not Voting - 4
Boxer (D-CA) DeMint (R-SC)	Kirk (R-IL) Lautenberg (D-NJ)

Senior Power

As President Obama and the Republican Party conspire to cut Social Security payments, America's senior citizens should pledge never to vote a Democrat or Republican into national office.

Those who aspire to retired life might make a similar vow.

Professional politicians have ruined countless lives, swindled their constituencies, sold-out the nation. These lying scheming scum should be held accountable.

TEPCO Trouble

The Japanese people are being held to ransom by TEPCO, Tokyo Electric Power Company -- the mismanagers responsible for the Fukushima nuclear meltdown.

The firm paid dividends until the accident, and refused to clawback previous dividend outlays when it was clear TEPCO could not pay disaster costs. Typical of the worst scummy big business, they've forced the public to pay.

In addition their operations have poisoned land & sea. Both the natural world and human lives are damaged, in some cases beyond repair. Jerks. Others elsewhere must learn from Japan's disaster and hold developers responsible for their operations.
 

Idle Death

Canada is embroiled by controversy over Federal efforts to change key environmental & property rights. Indigenous peoples are fighting back via a campaign named "Idle No More" -- while Atiwapiskat First Nation Chief Theresa Spence's hunger strike continues (since 11th Dec 2012).

Hawaiian people join in solidarity with others who must fight to preserve their homelands. Chief Spence's sacrifice for sovereignty -- starving -- is a stark reminder of dispossession & occupation. Pray during Christmas for the little guy, outmaneuvered by larger forces but retaining zest for life.

Profit from Meltdown USA

The USA has entered a meltdown. I'm sad about it. But what can be done? We're locked in decline -- by a corrupt corporatist system.

Can individual Americans profit during this meltdown?

Sure. It's best to protect yourself & your loved ones - and money may not be the best path to protection.

Breakdown is likely because of hopelessness. What opportunities or trends promise a better life ahead? Far too few...

Education & public health are in decline. Security and 'correctional' services are major growth industries. Police & military hog increasing chunks of all public spending.

As with programmed trading, the poor get squeezed to become poorer & poorer. They're also demonized. As these dispossessed grow in number, they threaten & endanger America's elite, and destabilize the shrinking middle class who serve them.

If civil unrest leads to widespread looting, or insurrectionary "redistribution" of wealth, fortified buildings & neighborhoods may be quickly targeted - perhaps by their own security guards.

The government has already instituted changes circumventing the US Constitution. They now hold US citizens indefinitely without charge or trial in military detention centers under Section 1021(b) of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Torture is called "enhanced interrogation" but used as punishment. Banks & media drive oppression, and they profit from the churn.

This topic needs more analysis. Send your comments.

New Tax on Banks

The looming grim "fiscal cliff" can be easily avoided, in a way most Americans would find painless: add a new financial transaction tax.

The financial industries do not adequately pay their way. It's past time for The New Financial Transaction Tax. Or call it The Money Market Tax.

At less than a tenth of one percent, such a tiny tax will not bring doom & gloom to the world (though big bankers & financiers might say so. Major economists favor the tax). We might thus escape mechanized corruption.

In a culture of greed and payoffs, self-regulation is clearly insufficient. We must build safeguards into our systems. Tumbling the conspiracies years later is too little, too late. But the oversight bodies need resources - thus the Money Market Tax.

Recognize both Bohner & Obama are in the pockets of big bankers. Remember the bailout gifts & TARP? Instead of "hiring" the losers who'd caused the meltdown (at millions of dollars per financier) they could have directly helped the people. They've given immunity to hundreds of bankers & finance scum whose frauds cost trillions, and who remain personally wealthy. The bailout was dirty and irresponsible.

Look in the news for big banks paying huge fines - they've criminally stolen our future, and now pay pennies on the dollar without admitting guilt.

Ask your national lawmakers, left right & center, for The New Financial Transaction Tax.

Call it something catchy, and make the system work. With a Money Market Tax, our world will be a better place.

Transaction Tax Fences Cliff

It is long past time the USA should institute a financial transaction tax (sometimes called "Tobin Tax"). Many American people have been burned by mechanical speculation and robo-signing. A small financial transaction tax will be a step forward for the public. Financiers need to be fenced-in, not bailed-out. They take pride in holding the nation hostage; we must clearly say  - No More.

A Bagel for Hagel ?

Former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, Chairperson of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board, is being considered for the post of US Secretary of Defence, and the rightwing lobby for the State of Israel is reportedly against him.

I don't know Chuck Hagel, and I'm unfamiliar with his policies. But Cabinet officials follow Presidential directives. Given Hagel's long public service, and being twice wounded in action serving in the US military, I assume he's patriotic.

Israeli patriotism is not American patriotism. If the Israelis don't like American leaders, too bad. American policies must focus on what's best for America. Israel is not our Master - and shouldn't dictate America's path.

AIPAC flirts with treason.

Insane McCain

John McCain, the 76-year old US senator from Arizona, should retire. Hard living has taken a horrible toll on body & mind. He's served well, and is a great example of a warrior who should honorably retire. Sure he's reluctant, and hesitates to admit weakness & decline, but he must be encouraged to depart.

Public life is rough & bitter. Hang it up Senator.

So sad for his legacy... if faltering & doddering lead to him being labeled "insane McCain"...

Impunity?

Too much state-sponsored violence & abuse hides under the rubric of patriotism. A key problem is greed - especially among big industrial interests. Let's encourage them to police themselves, as their interests are often in competition. Otherwise we are fed bullshit by corporate media.

There are no good reasons the USA should occupy Iraq or Afghanistan. Let's bring our warriors back to the homeland, and spend domestically. Almost everyone will be better-off.

Tyranny and legal impunity are like diseases, quickly infecting others. The wider community must condemn such shenanigans.

Torture Glorified

Mark Boal (writer) and movie director Kathryn Bigelow have glorified torture in their 2012 film 'Zero Dark Thirty' -- reportedly making it seem tortures generated the information that lead U.S. forces to finding Osama Bin Laden.

Not many of us will be tortured. Thankfully. But after this whitewash in the US of A, more people are likely to be thus sacrificed. Maybe Boal & Bigelow should be entered onto Russia's blacklist of human rights violators, along with other buddies from the Waterboard Club. Inciting torture is similar to inciting hate crime.

(Scum such as John Yoo, David Addington & Nino Scalia are certain fingernail removal works wonders, yet barely hurts).

Krawcheck Devils

Sallie Krawcheck
 -- Opportunistic bankster bitch, spawn of Citigroup & Bank of America. For five cents profit she'd sell yo mortgaged ass to the devil. Dog-eat-dog till the big hounds eat you. Sallie's a crony capitalist in makeup, a creation of spin & too-slick PR.

Magnitsky - Manning Laws

Russian poster boy Sergei Leonidovich Magnitsky (Сергей Леонидович Магнитский) was a Moscow lawyer & corporate auditor whose activism against Russian government corruption led to he himself being arrested & held without charge in Moscow's infamous prison Butyrka (Бутырская тюрьма). In 2009 Magnitsky died in police detention.

Magnitsky's death was variously blamed on negligence, torture, or poor medical care. His whistleblower claims of massive tax fraud and accusations against specific powerful officials clearly put him under great threat, and his close links to foreign business interests raised further suspicions.

Magnitsky's abuse & tragic death has become a cause célèbre around the world, a symbol of bad government that is corrupt, unaccountable and ruthless. The Magnitsky case also highlights collusion between the press, government officials and powerful private interests, who repackage stories as weapons for purging and realigning leadership factions. This is likely to become more pronounced with the passage in the USA of revised US-Russia trade legislation that demands Russian officials linked to human rights violations face travel restrictions & asset seizures. 

As the USA unilaterally puts together a "Magnitsky List" against Russians previously protected from accountability, the Russians are threatening to highlight dirty American officials who've similarly operated above the law. Might such checks & balances become a step forward for human rights?

Human rights violations are far too frequent in our world, with many governments turning a blind eye to torture, unilateral warfare, illegal military occupation, and extrajudicial punishments. Magnitsky is one of tens of thousands murdered by assorted nations via bureaucratic difference.

Sadly, media relations budgeting determines who is freedom fighter or terrorist. Naming human rights offenders is a highly political process sure to fuel further collusion between media & governments.

The Russians might highlight the cases of Daniel Ellsberg or Bradley Manning or Muhammed Ali or Julian Assange or a host of others who've suffered retaliation or abuse for their efforts. Surely the USA has hundreds of weasels who've actively crushed human rights both home & abroad. String 'em up!

Who are the public employees responsible for extrajudicial killing and holding hostage huge swathes of our world? Ultimately our enslavement relies on faceless officials and belief in their immunity.

    

Onward & Upward

An anonymous comment to another blog very much worth reposting:

"Good executive talent is relentless about improvement, bad executive talent is relentless about maintaining and managing their own personal ‘image’ in the eyes of their superiors. The result is that good executive talent will regularly change course to correct errors once they realize that methodologically superior avenues are available, while bad executive talent is always making excuses for their errors and staying course."

"Matter of fact, I’d go so far to say that is one thing is a total dealbreaker if I recognize it in any of my people. Show me a man who stands around and makes excuses for inoptimal decisions worried more about how it reflects on him personally rather than his responsibility as a manager, I’ll show you a man who’s packing his desk within the hour. It’s something I’ve learned to recognize very quickly and I have fired people for just that within the past 12 months."

Thanks Anon & Elliot Silver.

Hating Colin Powell

US Secretary of State Colin Powell went to the United Nations Security Council in 2003 and promised "every statement I make today is backed up by sources, solid sources. These are not assertions. What we're giving you are facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence."

He lied. The cost of his lies about Iraq was tens of thousands of lives lost, and a huge outlay of funds to militarists that continues to destabilize American society. Costofwar.com estimates spending for the Iraq war at over $800 billion, or nearly $3000 per person in the USA. Of course, if you also lost loved ones, you might somehow celebrate their sacrifice.

Anyhow, Powell supposedly now feels his UNSC presentation was a "painful" incident. I can't agree - compared to tens of thousands (maybe millions) of others, Colin Powell knows little about pain.

Earlier in his career, Colin Powell earned respect & honor before he abandoned his integrity. Honor is not something turned on & off. He schemed to deceive us, harnessing his honor to forces dark & horrible. It's especially painful as we were led to expect better from Powell. We were played like dumb chumps.

Powell, Bush, Cheney & Blair should be in prison. The others were already corrupt, but Powell especially might have changed the world positively. He did the opposite.

Last week, United States Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice had the opportunity to cast a vote for Middle East peace that would have echoed for years. Sure it would have disobeyed her government and it's masters, and likely she'd have lost her job. But she'd have done the right thing, and become a hero to millions.

When Tommie Smith & John Carlos stood on the podium at the 1968 Olympic Games and silently demonstrated for Black Power, their effort was ridiculed & condemned. Years later they are seen as heroic & courageous. We can't expect so many others to stand proudly and refuse to compromise to hatred and prejudice, but the torch of human rights is not extinguished. Some people will step forward in the face of crushing power to work for a better world.

2 Wrongs ! !

Millions of innocent Jewish people were tortured & murdered by the Nazis. All Germans and associated peoples share some responsibility for that Holocaust.

Some Jewish survivors and others migrated to the Middle East and re-created the nation of Israel. The people displaced there were different from those responsible for the Jewish Holocaust. Land was taken from the native peoples, and still Israel continues to advance and occupy the land of others. Many Israelis now believe their ultra-right factions and squatter settlements undermine the nation's foundations, though some claim persecution & security needs as justification. Other Zionists claim divine guidance.

Surely to torture and steal from the innocent is unsustainable and wrong.