Harriet Tubman, born Araminta Ross (c. March 1822 – March 10, 1913)
African-American Abolitionist, Humanitarian, and Union Spy during the American Civil War
Source: MoveOn.org
Quote: Harriet Tubman / On Self-Servitude
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Category Archives: Economics
US Marines Desecrate Afghan Dead
There are no AK-47s or other weapons in view that would indicate the dead Afghans were armed combatants. Instead, an overturned wheelbarrow suggests otherwise. The bare feet of one of the deceased are also visible. He had been wearing the sandals typical of a farmer, not the sneakers or boots preferred by insurgents operating in the rugged terrain of southern Afghanistan. . .
It underscores the criminality of the entire decade-long US occupation, again exposing the official lies according to which US forces are bringing human rights and democracy to Afghanistan.
Masses of people in America and throughout the world are appalled and horrified at these events, which expose the vast gulf between the imperialist policies of the ruling class and the democratic sentiments of the population. . .
The mentality that pervades the US military, and which is inculcated into soldiers sent to the war, is that every Afghan is a potential enemy. The determined opposition of the Afghan people to the occupation is portrayed not as the outcome of their desire for freedom from foreign domination and oppression, but of religious fanaticism and irrationality that must be forcibly suppressed.
The GOP’s [i.e., The White-wing’s] Blatant Racism
. . . According to the Agriculture Department, more whites use food stamps than blacks and Latinos combined. By coloring poverty and food insecurity black, even in areas where few black people exist, Republicans hope to spin food stamps as a racial entitlement program, diverting attention from their attempts to balance the budget on the stomachs of the poor. . . But efforts to encourage whites to identify with their race rather than their class, as though the two could be separated and then ranked, is an age-old ploy perfected first by Southern Democrats.
Bill Moyers: Why I am Returning to the Air (VIDEO)
The lack of civility and common sense that has paralyzed our democracy, the vast economic and social inequality that sends both left and right raging into the streets, the corrosive influence of money in politics – we’re in a tailspin with little hope for a course correction from our elected leadership or corporate-dominated media. The need for voices of reason, simple and eloquent, has rarely been stronger.
Trickle-Down Economics
Source: OccupyKnowledge
George Lucas: Hollywood Didn’t Want To Fund ‘Red Tails’ Because Of Its Black Cast (VIDEO)
In an appearance on The Daily Show last night, George Lucas said that he had trouble getting funding for his new movie, “Red Tails,” because of its black cast. . .
“It’s because it’s an all-black movie. There’s no major white roles in it at all…I showed it to all of them and they said no. We don’t know how to market a movie like this.”
“Red Tails,” which stars Cuba Gooding, Jr., and Terrence Howard, is based on the Tuskegee Airmen, the group of pioneering black pilots who fought in the United States’ segregated armed forces during World War II.
Jon Stewart Rips GOPs Hypocritical ‘Class Warfare’ With Mitt Romney (VIDEO)
While there has been much infighting among the six remaining candidates, Jon Stewart realized Monday night that there’s one thing they pretty much can all agree on: “Class warfare” against the rich — excuse me, job creators — is wrong, unless we’re talking about Mitt Romney.
Mitt Romney Quotes Lesbian Poet Concerned About Income Inequality On The Stump
Mitt Romney regularly incorporates lyrics from “America the Beautiful” into his stump speeches. Little does he probably realize that the hymn was written by a progressive feminist lesbian who composed it to critique country’s greed, excess, and growing economic inequality. The original third-verse lyrics Katharine Lee Bates wrote in 1894 were as follows:
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till selfish gain no longer stain
The banner of the free!
Should People and Governments Shun the Totalitarian Catholic Church? [Seriously, is it not blatantly obvious to any intelligent . . . ah, disregard, my bad?]
When a totalitarian regime aids and abets the rape of tens of thousands of children one would expect it to be shunned by governments and citizens alike. And any statements it might issue on matters of morality accorded no respect. Why should we make an exception when the regime is the Catholic Church? . . .
That the Catholic Church is guilty of widespread rape is also undeniable. A few years ago there was a spate of news items when sexual abuse cases first surfaced in Boston and a few other cities. Media coverage since then has withered but the issue has not. Just the opposite. In 2011 allegations of sexual abuse of minors have spread to 26 countries. . .
The Vatican has been a state since 1929, when it was granted that status by Benito Mussolini in return for its support for his dictatorship. Comprising 110 acres, an area smaller than Washington’s National Mall, and 800 people Vatican City is by far the smallest nation in the world.
Some might say that an institution, even a totalitarian institution, cannot be blamed for the actions of a small fraction of its members. But when stories of sexual abuse were first raised the Catholic Church ignored them. Later it often reassigned the rapacious priest to another parish where he might prey on other minors. . .
Instructively, virtually all of the Church’s most aggressive policy interventions relate to sex. (e.g. contraception, abortion, gay rights).
Indeed, the Catholic Church acts of if it believes that sex matters above anything else. It will not go to the mat to fight against poverty or injustice but it will pull out all the stops to prevent people of the same sex from marrying.
The 2012 US presidential campaign begins: A cynical exercise in duping the people
The January 3 Iowa caucus, the first contest for the Republican presidential nomination, marks the official beginning of 2012 US election campaign, an exercise in mass deception whose purpose is to legitimize the individual whom the financial aristocracy chooses as its political champion for the next four years. . .
As for the candidates themselves, it would be hard to come up with a more reactionary collection of corporate flunkeys, religious fanatics and influence peddlers. . .
The election provides the illusion of choice, but there are no fundamental differences between the two corporate-controlled political parties. Both the Democrats and the Republicans defend the wealth of the super-rich and the worldwide interests of American imperialism.
From the standpoint of working people, it does not matter in the slightest whether Barack Obama is reelected to a second term in the White House or replaced by any of his Republican challengers. The next president, whatever his name or party, will function as the representative of the political, military and corporate elite that controls all the levers of power. . .
US elections have increasingly become a media spectacle aimed at distracting the population while the political establishment shifts further and further to the right. . .
Both [big business parties] are committed to the defense of corporate interests and obey their real masters in the financial oligarchy, regardless of what they say to the voters in the course of an election campaign.
Always Question Authority 