Pat Political

The IWW and Mother Jones

What a shock to learn that the international Industrial Workers of the World, which was begun by our own Mary Harris Jones who was so well loved by the miners for whom she worked so hard that they called her "Mother", was labeled a terrorist organization back in the McCarthy era!

We have had some sad periods in our history and this was one of the worst.  We were so ready to label evryone 'evil' and 'terrorist'-- Hitler, Communism-- but the really sad part is that we are still tarnished by this today.

Our willingness to accept Bush's labelling of people as 'terrorist' has led to our accepting also that these people are sub-human and therefore not needing human treatment as detainees...

David Griffin's lecture

And I did not hear anything I did not already know. But he gave a very carefully detailed, if somewhat dry lecture, on all of the questionable official details concerning each of the hi-jacked planes. And in particular he damned the 9/11 Commission for ignoring anything which did not fit the official versions.

I am old enough to have learned in the 1950’s of Roosevelt’s setting us up for Pearl Harbor and to have watched how the Warren Commission assured us that there was no conspiracy involved in the assassinations of the two Kennedy’s and Martin Luther King when at least half of the country was gut-sure there was. And so I have no trouble believing this revelation about our good Bush Republican government.

I find this set-up especially heinous because we have been conned into sending so many of our idealistic young people to die in an inadequately prepared for war which is being fought only for the business advantage of the Bush Republican elite. At least in Roosevelt’s case, there was a very real need for us to come to Europe’s and the Orient’s assistance.

The two most compelling reasons for me to believe are:

First: That President Bush was sent into the most uninvolved position they could find for him that day-- reading to very young children in a public school. I saw from TV clips that he appeared totally stunned and unable to respond when he began to learn of the extent of the disaster. I am not one to hold too strong a brief for him, but I am ready to believe that he had no previous knowledge of exactly what was planned. Just as I am equally sure that Roosevelt did not anticipate the sinking of the battle ship and the thousands of deaths which resulted when Pearl Harbor was attacked.

Second: That no fighters were dispatched to intercept the hi-jacked planes although there was a very sure and well established plan for dealing for just such an occurrence. The blame for these failures was placed solely on the local controllers and their immediate superiors by official accounts although no one was subsequently disciplined for dereliction of duty.

I am glad to know that David Griffin plans to continue his efforts to make more Americans aware of this terrible conspiracy and hope to hear that as many more people are moved to become activist in changing the present direction of our country as I heard from yesterday.

Two comments

Iraqis are going to vote on a constitution Saturday, wnicn most of them will not get  to see before they vote, which is still changing even as one version is being printed.  This is a splendid exercize in democracy, according to our government.  Heavn proitect us from such democracy here!

Many of our more fundamentalist leaders, like Billy Graham's daughter Anne, have been saying that Katrina is God's judgment on us for not putting God into our schools.  As we hear even more of the horrors of the recent earthquake in Pakistan, do you suppose that some Muslim clerics will be telling their followers that this is Allah's judgment on us for supporting the Americans...?

David Griffin speaking

On Wednesday, October 12th, at 12 noon, I shall be listening to David Griffin, who has written “The New Pearl Harbor”, speaking at Trinity Methodist Church in Montpelier on the truth behind 9/11 and the American Empire. (He is also speaking in Brattleboro and Manchester on the 11th, and in Burlington on the 12th in the evening.)

What do I expect to learn? Very little that I don’t already know or believe to be probably true. After all I am from the WWII generation which learned sometime during the fifties that Roosevelt had set us up for Pearl Harbor. Why should I not be ready to believe that the Bush Republicans set us up for 9/11.

Will David Griffin galvanize us hearing him in Vermont into action. This an outcome greatly to be hoped for.

We need to come together to find candidates for our legislature to replace the representatives and senators who are too oriented to the corporate business ‘community’.

We need a candidate for governor who is strong on our values to defeat Douglas.

We have the power. Will we use it.

Food Pyramid for Children

I am absolutely horrified by the new food pyramid for children which our government is suggesting should be the guide to children’s nutrition.

This food pyramid suggests low-fat milk for children.

Fat has become almost a dirty word today. But saturated fat and the fatty acids, the mono- and poly-unsaturated fats which are principally present in chicken and pork fat and oils like olive and sunflower are crucial to the body’s health.

Every cell wall of your body is made up of saturated fat. Every hormone your body produces is synthesized from saturated fat.

Children are growing. And they need a lot of saturated fat for their new cells and hormones to develop properly. And they need the good natural fats from whole milk and butter, not the artificial trans fats that are in margarine.

At this time of year when we are starting to worry about colds and flu, let me remind you that the best way to boost everyone’s good health is with real, old-fashioned chicken soup. Scientifically, real chicken soup contains all the fatty acids and minerals and protein your body needs for the health of your immune system in particular and your body in general.

Most Vermonters probably know what I mean by real chicken soup, but I offer the following instructions for the benefit of anyone who needs a refresher.

What is needed is a large pot with a cover and a whole chicken. Cut up chicken will do provided both the white meat and dark meat cuts have their bone. All of the cooking is to be done in the covered pot at a high simmer, that is, just below a boil. Never, ever boil a soup stock. Both the clarity and the flavor will be harmed.

Cook the chicken until the meat is tender. Remove the meat and keep it refrigerated. The skin and bones are to be cooked for an additional 48 hours so that all of the fatty acids and minerals will be in the broth. The soup is made ready to eat at the end of the 48 hours by removing the cooked out skin and bones from the broth and adding back in the meat and any seasonings desired.

Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. Good health and bon appetit to you as you enjoy yours!

Rumsfeld Resume

New Job opening:

Director

Pentagon To Head Domestic Disaster Relief-- Agency change proposed by President Bush

Applicant: Donald Rumsfeld

Resume:

Has made maintaining our army far more expensive for those of us who do pay taxes by privatizing so many functions previously always a part of our civilian army. Contracts for these new expensive services given, no-bid, to companies like Halliburton and Bechtel.

Flatly refused to accept and incorporate the recommendations of experienced army generals that far more troops than he wanted to send would be needed if we were to secure Iraq.

When extensive looting occurred, the result of his inadequate troop deployment, shrugged his shoulders and said “Stuff happens....“

Did not incorporate local citizens in the rebuilding of Iraq infrastructure as we did so successfully in Germany after WWII, but granted all reconstruction contracts, again, no bid, primarily to Halliburton.

Has consistently refused to accept any allegations that the huge number of unemployed Iraqi youth is fuel for the insurgency, but insists that the insurgency is primarily fueled by imported Al Qaeda fighters. Has launched several unsuccessful attacks against various so-called foreign fighter strongholds. Only clear results are civilian deaths and property devastation.

Continues to fight his never-ending wars in Afghanistan and Iraq with army reservists, states’ National Guards, and financial incentives for volunteers. Although he talks “promoting democracy in the Middle East” as the reason for our being there, has never proposed our own democratic way for fighting any danger to our country-- the civilian draft. (Is this because President Bush-- and Senator Kerry also-- has daughters of the ideal military age?)

After carefully reading this resume, I can only conclude that Donald Rumsfeld is the ideal candidate for this job....

Comet update

The comet will definitely not hit us in 2029.  But it will in 2036 unless it can be deflected.  Check out Celestial Update on Living on Earth.

Addendum to yesterday's post

My last ten working years were as a research technician in the pharmacology department of a small medical college. Many graduate students came to us seeking their doctoral degrees from all over the world-- China, South America, eastern Asia. When I would ask these new students what was impressing them most about the United States, I would expect that the big buildings of our cities might be the answer.

Bur from everyone of them I heard-- There are no soldiers on the streets of your towns and cities..

Think about that, good people....

The Founders are shuddering!

It seems that the Bush administration will use anything available in its effort to dismantle what our forefathers gave us as a government offering the maximum of freedom to every individual.

Now it is proposing that the president as commander-in-chief be able to send the army into disaster areas to help save lives.. And the administration is using the fact that the Louisiana National Guard was unable to respond adequately as its excuse. Having the army a part of civilian life is the last thing our forefathers wanted. The Second Amendment was to ensure both that citizens would know how to use arms and that the army would be for purposes of national defense only.

BUT- if the Louisiana National Guard were up to its pre-Iraq strength and not off fighting the administration‘s war-- if all of its emergency generators were in Louisiana where they should have been and not sent to Iraq, the Louisiana Guard could easily have restored the communication system destroyed by the hurricane and would have been able to deal with all of the storm’s immediate horror and stress without outside assistance..

Disaster, disaster, disaster

The weather report today is on the coy side. Tropical storm Rita may/will pick up strength and become a hurricane when it passes over the Florida. Its long range forecast is that it may pass into the Gulf, become a major hurricane, and hit Texas/Mexico.

My Biloxi relatives are looking at Rita as a twin of Katrina. And if Rita does pass into the Gulf they are predicting that because of the still very warm waters in the Gulf it also will magnify into another category 4 or 5 hurricane. Another potential disaster no matter where it strikes.

Heard on the news today that local real estate agents are being asked to locate housing for incoming clean-up workers. Halliburton and Bechtel are now about to accomplish the same successful efforts at reconstruction for the Gulf Coast area and New Orleans that they have achieved in Iraq. One New Orleans resident who was there in the city has complained at finding outside workers doing what he said he and others who live there could do as well or better.

And finally NASA is preparing to spend what could probably finance the entire clean-up from Katrina on what will be a manned station on the moon and become the ultimate jumping off point for a trip to Mars. You will recall that I thought we should anticipate some sort of coming disaster (see March 14th,2005) on earth that would make our billionaires want to spend a few years away from earth if we saw an upsurge of interest in space exploration on the part of this administration.