US and Race

Following are some of my thoughts on race relations in the US.  Prior to the Civil War the race of a child depended on the race of the mother only, regardless of the father even if he was white.  Now the determination of race is if either parent is African American or if even a grandparent is African American then the child is considered black.  Barack Obama is considered "black" even thou his mother was white and those who raised him-his grandparents-were also white.  Maybe we should remember a Langston Hughes poem that said;

"if your white your alright.

if your brown hang around.

if you  are black stay back".

America has never really learned to deal with its inter-racial past or present.

Corporate Personhood, my ass

So a corporation is a person, says the Supremes.  As Justice Stevens asks, does it have a conscience, a set of beliefs, feelings, thoughts and desires?  I would say "no" it doesn't.  Does a corporation feel cold when it has to sleep under a railroad bridge in the winter.  Does  it cry when a love one dies?  Does it feel pride at the accomplishment of a child.  Does it experience pain when stabbed or shot?  Does it lie dead on the battlefield or limbless in a veteran's hospital?  NO.  In fact it does none of the things a person does.  It is in no way a person; only in the minds of right wing ideologues trying to justify their own set of beliefs.

Recent Readings

In the news for 4/20/12 besides being "everything marijuana day", was a note about the ending of our involvement in Afghanistan "...by the end of 2014 when the majority of international combat troops leave".  That's about 30 months from now and that only includes "combat troops".  I thought Obama promised to end our wars in the middle east.

A second note involves India "successfully test(ing)" a missile capable of firing nuclear weapons into other countries; no one seems to be interested even the Chinese who might have some concern considering the state of India/China relations.  This while the US is going ape-shit over North Korea's failed attempt to launch such a missile.  

Nazis vs Communists

Something is going on here that does not bode well for the future of our country. The republicans are calling everyone they disagree with "communists" include Barack Obama and now congressman Allen West of Florida says that 81 members of the Democratic contingent to the US Congress are "communists".

While this is going down the American Nazi Party has established a lobbying organization in Washington DC. John Bowles-age 55-is that lobbyist.

This all reminds me of my study of German history prior to the rise of Adolph Hitler. He went off on the German communists while bringing his fascists to power. If the communists had defeated Hitler in Germany, how would history have been different? I would bet there would not have been the Second World War.

Could history be about to repeat itself here in the USA? We may have to decide if we want to be fascists or communists.

Government Power

Supreme Court justice Scalia says that if the government can require people to buy health insurance then why can't they require people to buy broccoli. I would answer that the government could draft me-and millions more-to train me to kill people I didn't know, didn't have an argument with and who are now our trading partners, then the government can require almost anything.

Update: Today I bought a golf shirt made in Vietnam. In my youth 55,000 Americans died there and countless were maimed for life and now we buy their shit. There is something wrong with our foreign policy and it doesn't seem to be improving. Today it is Iraq and Afghanistan, tomorrow we will be buying their shit.

Recent Readings

The ACLU tells me that a ballot initiative they fought in Mississippi would have banned abortion with no exceptions for rape or incest victims. It would have banned women from "using birth control pills or benefiting from in vitro fertilization. It would have prevented doctors from treating women "experiencing miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies (?)". The ACLU says they won that case but a similar initiative could occur elsewhere.

(Source: American Civil Liberties Union 2012 Workplan)

The Brady Center tells me the following. One, "it is legal to sell a gun without any background checks" and nearly half are sold this way. The law applies only to "licensed gun dealers" and 40% of guns are sold by others. Two, it is legal-under fed law-to buy or possess assault weapons and assault clips that fire dozens of bullets before reloading. Three, it is legal-under fed law-to buy .50 caliber sniper rifles that have a range of 4 miles "and can pierce airplanes". Four, people on terrorist watch lists and "no fly" lists can still buy guns "even from licensed gun dealers".

(Source: Legal Action winter 2011/2012)

Public Citizen tells me that the WTO can and does issue rulings that strike down consumer protection laws in this country. Food labeling laws in the US are considered to be "illegal barrier to trade" and thus illegal under WTO rules. The WTO has also struck down US laws that protect dolphins from tuna fishermen's nets. Not surprising, "US industry cheered the WTO ruling against a meat labeling law it had long opposed".

(Source: Public Citizen News Jan/Feb 2012)