[Marxism-Thaxis] Castro autobiographical essay

2010-08-06 Thread c b
Disponía ya desde que me gradué de bachiller, y a pesar de mi origen,
de una concepción marxista-leninista de nuestra sociedad y una
convicción profunda de la justicia

http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/2010/08/06/nacional/artic02.html


Publicamos el ensayo autobiográfico que inicia el libro La victoria
Estratégica, escrito por el Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro y que
presentó el pasado lunes en presencia de varios de sus compañeros
guerrilleros.

Dudé sobre el nombre que le pondría a esta narración, no sabía si
llamarla "La última ofensiva de Batista" o "¿Cómo 300 derrotaron a 10
000?", que parece un cuento de Las mil y una noches. Me veo obligado,
por ello, a incluir una pequeña autobiografía de la primera etapa de
mi vida, sin la cual no se comprendería su sentido. No deseaba esperar
que se publicaran un día las respuestas a incontables preguntas que me
hicieran sobre la niñez, la adolescencia y la juventud, etapas que me
convirtieron en revolucionario y combatiente armado.

Fidel y el comandante Juan Almeida Bosque.

Nací el 13 de agosto de 1926. El asalto al cuartel Moncada de Santiago
de Cuba, el 26 de julio de 1953, se produjo tres años después que me
gradué en la Universidad de La Habana. Fue nuestro primer
enfrentamiento militar con el Ejército de Cuba, al servicio de la
tiranía del general Fulgencio Batista.

La institución armada en Cuba, creada por los Estados Unidos después
de su intervención en la isla durante la segunda Guerra de
Independencia, iniciada por José Martí en 1895, era un instrumento de
las empresas norteamericanas, y la alta burguesía cubana.

La gran crisis económica desatada en los Estados Unidos, durante los
primeros años de la década de 1930, implicó altos niveles de
sacrificio para nuestro país, al que los acuerdos comerciales
impuestos por aquella potencia hicieron totalmente dependiente de los
productos de su industria y de su agricultura desarrolladas. La
capacidad adquisitiva del azúcar se había reducido casi a cero. No
éramos independientes ni teníamos derecho al desarrollo. Difícilmente
podían darse peores condiciones en un país de América Latina.

A medida que el poder del imperio crecía hasta convertirse en la más
poderosa potencia mundial, hacer una Revolución en Cuba se tornaba una
tarea bien difícil. Unos pocos hombres fuimos capaces de soñarla, pero
nadie podría atribuirse méritos individuales en una proeza que fue
mezcla de ideas, hechos y sacrificios de muchas personas, a lo largo
de muchos años, en muchas partes del mundo.

Con esos ingredientes se pudo conquistar la independencia plena de
Cuba, y una revolución social que ha resistido con honor más de 50
años de agresiones y el bloqueo de los Estados Unidos.

Celia, Fidel y Haydée, sentados en un secadero de café, abril de 1958.

En mi caso concreto, sin duda por puro azar, a esta altura de la vida
puedo ofrecer testimonio de hechos que, si tiene algún valor para las
nuevas generaciones, se debe al esfuerzo de investigadores rigurosos y
serios, cuyo trabajo durante decenas de años, reunió datos que me
ayudaron a reconstruir gran parte del contenido de este libro, al que
decidí poner el título La Victoria Estratégica.

Las circunstancias que me llevaron a tales acciones bélicas las guardo
imborrablemente en mi mente. No deja de ser satisfactorio para mí
recordarlas, porque de otra forma no me explicaría por qué llegué a
las convicciones que al fin y al cabo determinaron el curso de mi
existencia.

No nací político, aunque desde muy niño observé hechos que, grabados
en mi mente, me ayudaron a comprender las realidades del mundo.

En mi Birán natal, solo había dos instalaciones que no pertenecían a
mi familia: el telégrafo y la escuelita pública. Allí me sentaban en
la primera fila porque no había, ni podía haber, algo parecido a un
círculo infantil. Forzosamente aprendí a leer y a escribir. En el año
1933, cuando no había cumplido todavía siete años, la maestra, que no
recibía siquiera el sueldo que le debía el gobierno, pretextando la
hipotética inteligencia del niño, me llevó para Santiago de Cuba,
donde residía su familia, en una vivienda pobre y casi sin muebles,
que se filtraba por todas partes cuando llovía. En aquella ciudad, no
me enviaron siquiera a una escuela pública como la de Birán.

Después de muchos meses sin recibir clases, ni hacer algo como no
fuera escuchar en un viejo piano la práctica de solfeo de la hermana
de la maestra, profesora de música sin empleo; aprendí a sumar,
restar, multiplicar y dividir, gracias a las tablas impresas en el
forro rojo de una libreta que me entregaron para practicar la
caligrafía, y que nadie dictó ni revisó nunca.

En un alto de la guerra, el Comandante Fidel Castro recibe a niñas
campesinas que fueron a saludarlo.

En la vieja casa donde inicialmente me albergaron, de una cantina que
llevaban una vez al día, nos alimentábamos siete personas, entre
ellas, la hermana y el padre de la maestra. Conocí el hambre creyendo
que era apetito, con la punta de uno de los die

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] 34 billionaires pledge half of their fortunes

2010-08-06 Thread CeJ
>>Hope , faith and charity. The greatest of these is charity.<<

More like PR, tax shelters and untaxed investment/finance capitalism,
and the greatest of all these Bill and Melinda know more about than
100 Michael Hudsons.

CJ
---
ELT in Japan
http://www.eltinjapan.com/

Japan Higher Education Outlook
http://japanheo.blogspot.com/

We are Feral Cats
http://wearechikineko.blogspot.com/

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[Marxism-Thaxis] The Korean War revisited?

2010-08-06 Thread c b
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/12/using-lasers-to-zap-mosquitoes/
snip
Americans need to get past the idea, Mr. Cumings says, that the Korean
War was a ?discrete, encapsulated? story that began in 1950, when the
United States intervened to help push the Communist north out of the
south of Korea, and ended in 1953, after the war bogged down in a
stalemate. The United States succeeded in containment, establishing
the 2.5-mile-wide demilitarized zone that still runs through Korea?s
middle, but failed miserably at the war for the north, an attempt at
Communist rollback.

Mr. Cumings argues that the Korean War was a civil war with long,
tangled historical roots, one in which America had little business
meddling. He notes how ?appallingly dirty? the war was. In terms of
civilian slaughter, he declares, ?our ostensibly democratic ally was
the worst offender, contrary to the American image of the North
Koreans as fiendish terrorists.?

Mr. Cumings likens the indiscriminate American bombing of North Korea
to genocide. He writes that American soldiers took part in, or
observed, civilian atrocities not dissimilar to those at My Lai. An
official inquiry is needed into some of these events, he writes, for
any kind of healing to begin. (He also writes that this war, during
which nearly 37,000 American soldiers died, deserves a memorial as
potent and serious as Maya Lin?s Vietnam memorial.)




-raghu.

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[Marxism-Thaxis] Throwing gasoline on the fire in Asia

2010-08-06 Thread c b
Throwing gasoline on the fire in Asia


by: Sam Webb
August 2 2010

tags: peace, Asia, Korea, China, Vietnam, foreign policy



The only good thing I can say about Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton's trip to Asia last month is that it is over. Some people put
out fires; other people throw gasoline on them. After her trip to
Asia, I can safely say that Clinton is in the latter category.

I wish her performance could be attributed to inexperience or jet lag,
but I'm afraid that is not the case. What she said and did was
obviously scripted and rehearsed.

Here are some "high points" of the trip:

* Lectured the Chinese and Vietnamese on human rights, never
mentioning our own human rights failures in the political, economic,
and social spheres.
* Turned up the verbal heat on North Korea.
* Visited the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas.
* Announced new sanctions (which inevitably hurt people more than
governments), including freezing of bank assets thus making it more
difficult for the North Korean government to purchase food and other
necessities.
* Expressed full support for the joint U.S.-South Korean military
exercises, supposedly in reaction to the alleged sinking of the South
Korean warship the Cheonan by the North Koreans.
* Ignored the UN resolution that condemned the sinking of the ship
but named no responsible party until more evidence is available.
* Disregarded the advice of the Chinese government to turn down
the temperature on the Korean Peninsula and to resume the six-party
talks promptly.
* Insinuated herself into a territorial dispute between China and Vietnam.

This is provocative stuff - the kind of stuff that heightens tensions
and triggers wars. It can only make an inflamed situation on the
Korean Peninsula more flammable. Common sense should tell you that.

No one should think that war on the Korean Peninsula is out of the
realm of the possible. That would be a dangerous misreading of the
situation. In the present environment, a small misstep or
misunderstanding on either side could unleash a bloody and deadly
confrontation - even a clash between the U.S. and China. War can
easily acquire a logic and dynamic of its own that even the best
policymakers are unable to control.

It is hard to believe President Obama wishes such an outcome. And yet
the threats and sanctions of Secretary of State Clinton go in this
direction.

So why are the president, the secretary of state, the Pentagon and
other policymakers pursuing this course of action? Is it because of
their abhorrence of the regime in the North? Is it because North Korea
is a "rogue" state? Is it only because of pressures from right-wing
Republicans?

No. A better explanation is found in examining the new balance of
power in Asia and other regions of the world and the reaction in elite
circles to it.

Asia is arguably the new engine of global economic growth, the center
of rapid and sustained accumulation of capital, and the home of an
ascendant world power - China. In this region new patterns of
political, economic and cultural interaction and integration are
steadily gaining ground to the disadvantage of the U.S.

Powerful political and economic forces in the U.S., however, are
determined to scuttle this integrative process, cut down if not
isolate China, and employ their financial and military power in order
to maintain their controlling position in a region that they have
dominated since the end of World War II. To put it more concisely,
their aim is to reconstitute their imperial domination in the context
of changing conditions.

Much the same is happening in other regions of the world where these
same forces are bending to new realities of power (Latin America, for
example), but resisting any scaling back of their dominant role.

Early on President Obama gave every indication that his administration
would recalibrate U.S foreign policy in a more democratic direction,
that it would close one chapter and begin another one in our relations
with the rest of the world.

He engaged with states that during the Bush years were considered
mortal enemies, including North Korea.

In Latin America, he expressed readiness to put relations on a
different footing. In a speech in Prague, he voiced his wish to reduce
and ultimately abolish nuclear weapons. And in an address in Cairo, he
expressed his eagerness to develop new relations with the Muslim
world, sit down with the Iranian government, and press for a two-state
solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

A promising start! But it wasn't sustained. Under the pressure of
imperialist-minded institutions and people, the administration has
backtracked in recent months, not reversed directions entirely, but
enough to cause alarm among peace-minded people everywhere.

Clinton's Asian trip continues and reinforces this negative turn in
the administration's foreign policy. It suggests that the policy
articulated by the president in the first months of h

[Marxism-Thaxis] Right tries to block NAACP criticism of Tea Party racism

2010-08-06 Thread c b
Right tries to block NAACP criticism of Tea Party racism
By Ron Walters
NNPA Columnist
http://www.michigancitizen.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=76&twindow=Default&mad=No&sdetail=8850&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1070&hn=michigancitizen&he=.com


(NNPA) — It was another right-on-time moment that Ben Jealous
exercised at the NAACP Convention in calling out the Tea Party for
coddling elements of racism within their midst.  The Convention went
on to passed a resolution to this effect, calling on the leadership of
the party to repudiate these elements, but it will not become official
until approved by the Executive Committee in October.

Right away, Mark Williams, the head of a group called the Tea Party
Express and a California radio host, posted a letter to his website
that was aimed at Jealous and dripping with racism.  It said in part:
“We Coloreds have taken a vote and decided that we don’t cotton to
that whole emancipation thing. Freedom means having to work for real,
think for ourselves, and take consequences along with the rewards.
That is just far too much to ask of us Colored People and we demand
that it stop.”  With this racist letter, he made Jealous’ case and he
did it so strong that, flush with sensitivity to the NAACP charges,
the Tea Party Federation kicked Williams out.

This was a positive act by the Federation because the leading lights
of the Republican Party still, either said nothing, or defended the
movement.  For instance, Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader, said
that he was not “interested in getting into that debate” on CNN.  When
asked whether he had seen the signs depicting the president as Hitler
and etc. he defended it by saying that such extremism exist at the
fringe of both parties.  But the usual suspects, Fox people like Glenn
Beck, Sarah Palin, and others jumped into the fray to defend the
movement.  Palin, regarded as the mother of the Tea Party movement,
said that the charge of racism was unfair and Glenn Beck, FOX TV show
host, said he would repudiate the elements of racism if he knew where
they were.

What surprised me was the opposition of Cynthia Tucker, African
American editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, who wrote that
the NAACP had no business condemning the Tea Party.  Her view was: 1)
she did not know what “elements” of racism were; 2) this would confirm
that the NAACP was an arm of the Democratic Party; 3) the NAACP did
not purge its own ranks; and 4) the resolution just draws attention to
the Tea Partiers. This is very weak stuff for the editor of a major
American newspaper, especially coming from an African American.   With
enough space, I — or any one else — could easily prove all of them
wrong.

The big push-back from the Right however (more of a political
strategy) has been to raise the New Black Panther Party case from the
grave.  On November 4, 2008, some members of the New Black Panther
party went to a polling station in downtown Philly because they had
heard that white people would be trying to stop Blacks from voting for
Obama.   It was absolutely stupid for one of the young men to go down
there with a club in his hand and a McCain staffer photographed him in
front of the polling station.  The Bush administration Justice
Department did not bring suit because although the law (intimidating
voters) was potentially broken, no one had been prevented from going
to the polls; in other words, there was no injured party.

Now the case is in the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department
and Conservatives have charged that Eric Holder is covering it up and
a former conservative staffer who resigned said the case was not being
pursued because they only want to bring discrimination charges against
whites.  So, Fox news and other Right wingers have succeeded in
pushing this issue up into the spotlight by arguing that the liberal
fringe also has racist groups.  Most important, they have charged that
the left wing media wasn’t carrying the story and The Washington Post,
CNN and others have slavishly fallen in line.

So, if some people want to compare the actions of the New Black
Panther party to those of the Tea Party which, although it is
overblown, still has thousands of adherents, it calls into question
their motives.   Most likely they want to cover up the racism in the
Tea Party.  The Panthers have no influence in B lack or Democratic
Party leadership circles but the Tea Party is the main influence in
the Republican Party at this time.  Still, I am amazed that major news
organizations, so intimidated by the Right, will give credibility to
this made-up story on the Panthers on equal terms to the NAACP’s
criticism of Tea Party racism.

Dr. Ron Walters is a political analyst and Professor Emeritus of
Government and Politics at the University of Maryland College Park.
One of his books is: White Nationalism, Black Interests (Wayne State
University Press)

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] US to Attend Hiroshima Memorial for First Time

2010-08-06 Thread c b
CeJ  wrote:
> >>CB:  What would the US have done if Japan had not allowed same ?<<
>
> Most likely the US would have said it valued the US-Japan alliance more than
> an issue like that, and then lie and say it didn't have any nukes in Japan
> while bringing them here anyway.

CB: Ok. I thought they might say "We conquered you. We do what we want
here." especially in the period just after WWII when anti-Japanese
sentiment in the US would still be very strong.

 But your scenario seems more clever , saving face for their compradors.

>
> At least more Japanese would be aware that the US military was and still is
> armed with thousands of nukes, which they deploy all over the world.
>
> BTW, officailly the Japanese government didn't allow anything. They don't
> have the constitutional right to allow nuclear weapons in the country. Wait,
> you mean the leadership of Japan, US puppets that they are, are also a bunch
> of lying, unconstitutional criminals?
>
> CJ


CB: Not to disagree, but this compliments this bourgeois constitution.

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[Marxism-Thaxis] Dialectic of Reform: reform defined under the industrial epoch

2010-08-06 Thread Waistline2
Marxism contains a language, a set of terms accepted as short cuts in  
describing society and movement. Problems arise with words and terms that mean  
different things to different folks and groups using this language. "Reform" 
and  "concession" is a case in point. When "reform" - as a logic or society 
motion,  is reduced to subjective dimensions detached from the "object" 
being reformed or  "reform of society structures" confusion ensue. Reform - 
rather than reformism,  is a material relation. Reformism is political and 
ideological. 
 
The dictionary states that reform is "an improvement or amendment of what  
is wrong." Reform means to restructure. Restructuring changes something  
material; the social relations between and within in classes. Social relations  
express and correspond to material relations of the economy. 
 
Reform and concession is not the same. Wrestling greater shares of the  
social product and expanded political liberties from the state or employer is  
the content of most social struggle. Concessions do not change the material  
relations within and between classes. Concessions can be taken based on  
political will. Reforms are more than less permanent and cannot be taken away  
based on political will alone. Something must change within the structure 
of  society for a reform of the system to become unraveled. Reforms do not 
change  the property relations. 
 
Reform can be defined as "change in relations between and within classes,  
without changing the property relations." 
 
The structure of society and the contradiction that is the unity of primary 
 classes as the process of production is the environment - context. Society 
is  the totality of the relations between classes and groups in a 
community. The  creation of wealth depends on the state of development of the 
productive forces.  The form of this wealth and mode of accumulation is the 
meaning 
of property  relations. The means of production are always developing as 
incremental  quantitative inputs until a qualitative leap is underway. 
 
As involuntary promoter of industry, the privileged ruling classes,  
economic and political layers in society have a stake in keeping the system the 
 
same because that is how their wealth, power, privilege and life experiences 
are  realized. As the means of production evolve, a corresponding deepening 
change  and contradictions widens with the static immobile property 
relations expressed  as corporations, organizations and civic structures. As 
favorable condition  emerges the social struggle ends with a quantitative leap 
in 
the social  relations, which brings a reformed society more into 
correspondence with  improved or new means of production. 
 
Our generations have witnessed, lived and recorded the epochal movement of  
a mode of production and how it reformed itself until all the space in the  
industrial system was exhausted. At each juncture - quantitative boundary 
of our  developing production relations, the subjective question of 
revolution emerged  as the cutting edge of reform. The impulse for reform 
arises from 
the  spontaneous development of means of production. Henry Ford's factory 
system  accelerated restructuring of production relations and changes the in 
the form of  the working class destroying the structural basis of 
craft/skilled labor of the  historic artisan. Assembly line production 
restructured 
the industrial work  process driving transition from craft to industrial trade 
unionism. This motion  logic was genuine reform of the system. Assembly 
line auto production nail the  coffin shut on the "company town" and laid the 
basis for suburbia; expanded the  cement and housing industry and fifty years 
later resulted in our nationwide  Interstate system. There are thousands of 
incremental changes to society brought  about by the Henry ford system. 
 
The growth of the industrial union movement was a subjective/political  
reform of the system, expressing a material reform as the system passed from 
one  quantitative boundary of growth to another. Reform of the system is a big 
thing  and in all cases gushes forth as based on continuous quantitative 
growth of a  distinct "quality" defined as state of development of the means 
of production. 
 
As the proletarian masses and labor movement in its totality spontaneously  
fought to reform the system in their favor, communists fought the 
revolutionary  struggle for reform during every leap between quantitative 
boundaries 
of the  industrial system. The most recent memory of the reform movement is 
that of the  African American freedom struggles. African Americans have 
always fought and  struggled for freedom and equality. This critical subjective 
factor of fighting  gives shape to the outcome of reform. Yet, we are 
confronted with a living  dynamic screaming for unraveling. 
 
No matter how heroic their struggle and sacrifice, they could not gain any  
freedom as a mass so long as a ce

[Marxism-Thaxis] Cooling It! No Hair Shirt Solutions to Global Warming

2010-08-06 Thread c b
Cooling It! No Hair Shirt Solutions to Global Warming

http://www.nohairshirts.com/

by Gar W. Lipow
Read this post on the economics of solving the climate crisis. In
general, you can follow my posts on Grist.

"... a carefully documented compendium of cost-effective ways to cut
fossil fuels. ... the most comprehensive case to date that the
obstacles to solving global warming are political not technological.”
Dr. Joseph Romm, Executive Director of The Center for Energy & Climate
Solutions
"... a compelling and readable business case for how energy efficiency
and renewable energy can grow the economy and dramatically reduce
[global warming] pollution from energy use. ... I recommend it to
anyone concerned about a sustainable energy future for their children
and grandchildren.” Eric Heitz, President of The Energy Foundation

“...exhaustively researched work.. optimistic and realistic at the
same time...” Patrick Mazza, Research Director at Climate Solutions

"... Another energy future is possible!” Patrick Bond – Director of
the “Centre for Civil Society” at the University of KwaZulu-Natal
School of Development Studies

"...Methodical research ... clear lively writing ... Wonkery with
attitude!” Michael Perelman, author of The Perverse Economy: The
Impacts of Markets on People and the Environment

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[Marxism-Thaxis] Jobs, Justice,and Peace March in Detroit

2010-08-06 Thread c b
rom: mecawi-bounces+rosendo=luum@organizerweb.com
[mailto:mecawi-bounces+rosendo=luum@organizerweb.com] On Behalf Of
MECAWI
Sent: Thursday, August 05, 2010 10:46 PM
To: MECAWI
Subject: [MECAWI] Outreach for Aug. 28 Jobs, Justice,and Peace March in
Detroit


An important development has taken place that deserves the attention of all
progressive forces.  The UAW International Union has joined with Rev. Jesse
Jackson's Operation PUSH to spearhead a regional demonstration in Detroit on
August 28, 2010 calling for "Jobs, Justice and Peace."

The program includes demands to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and use
the money to restore and expand social services.  The demand for a federal
moratorium on foreclosures is also being raised.

 In Detroit the Moratorium NOW! Coalition and MECAWI are working to get the
word out into the community.

This Saturday, August 7 we will be doing a mass leafleting at Eastern Market
starting at 10 AM until around 1 PM.  We will be gathering at 9:30 am at
5920 Second Ave. to pick up leaflets.  Please join us.

We also ask your help on August 21-22 at the Hart Plaza African World
Festival.  We will have an outreach station set up at the Coleman A. Young
Municipal Center (Spirit of Detroit Statue - Woodward at E. Jefferson) on
Saturday, Aug. 21 from 5 to 8 PM and again on Sunday, Aug. 22 from 4 to 7
PM.  Help distribute leaflets to the tens of thousands of people attending
this festival.

Please see the note below for more info.






August 4, 2010


Sisters & Brothers,


Greetings.


We are writing to invite you to join us in building the "Jobs, Justice, &
Peace," rally and march in Detroit August 28, 2010. This event will
commemorate the historic "Walk to Freedom" march led by Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. in Detroit June 23, 1963.




This exciting mobilization is sponsored by the Rainbow Push Coalition and
the UAW. A diverse, growing list of endorsers from labor, community and
youth/student organizations throughout Metro Detroit and beyond are joining
in. In the spirit of Dr. King, those organizing for August 28 are demanding
relief for poor and working people who are being devastated by the worst
economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Demands for August 28 include:



- A federal moratorium on foreclosures and evictions;

- An immediate end to U.S. wars in the Middle East with funds being
redirected to human needs;

- A national jobs program;

- Bail Out the people, not the banks;

- Full rights for immigrants;

- Enforcement of workers' rights, civil rights, industrial regulation and
creation of fair and just educational, economic, environmental and health
policies


Only by working together, can we turn around the grim situations facing poor
and working people today. We are looking forward to you and your
organization joining us in building for August 28. We only have a few days
left and we need everyone's help.

What you can do:

- Please fill out and email the attached Organization Commitment Form and
email it to: uptf...@gmail.com;

- Distribute August 28 fliers;

- Send emails, texts, make phone calls, post Aug. 28 info online


To confirm participation for Aug. 28, contact: Bryan G. Pfeifer:
313-559-7074 / uptf...@gmail.com


For more information about Aug. 28, contact: Theresa Bullock at 313-926-5361
/ tbull...@uaw.net.


For information on obtaining Aug. 28 fliers, contact: Miguel Foster at:
313-926-5361 / mfos...@uaw.net.

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[Marxism-Thaxis] HOW DEMOCRATS HELPED FIRE UP THE CRAZY RIGHT WHILE DEMORALIZING THE LEFT

2010-08-06 Thread c b
HOW DEMOCRATS HELPED FIRE UP THE CRAZY RIGHT WHILE DEMORALIZING THE LEFT

By Robert Reich, Robert Reich's Blog
Many of the President's successes have been large enough to
fuel opposition, but not big enough to strengthen his
support.

http://www.alternet.org/story/147735/how_democrats_helped_fire_up_the_crazy_right_while_demoralizing_the_left

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[Marxism-Thaxis] Michigan Republican candidate least rightwing of group

2010-08-06 Thread c b
The effect of Tea Party in Michigan may have been to give us the least
rightwing of the Republican primary candidates.

Charles

Right to Life unlikely to back Snyder
Group won't accept his support of embryonic stem cell research
Karen Bouffard / Detroit News Lansing Bureau
Lansing -- Right to Life of Michigan -- which helped boost Republican
John Engler into the governor's seat three times in the 1990s -- will
likely not endorse GOP nominee Rick Snyder in his November bid,
officials said Thursday.

Right to Life, which opposes abortion and embryonic stem cell
research, is traditionally a much-sought after endorsement for GOP
candidates. Its backing can give a boost through mailings, advertising
and pressing its more than half a million supporters to vote for one
candidate over another.

"If he maintains his position on embryonic research, I doubt (he will
be endorsed)," said Larry Galmish, Political Action Committee chairman
for Michigan Right to Life.


Snyder was the only one of the five GOP gubernatorial candidates in
the primary to support embryonic stem cell research. He opposes
abortion but would allow it in cases of rape or incest.

Galmish said the organization will try to convince Snyder to reverse
his position before the Right to Life board of directors decides the
issue in September.

Snyder campaign spokesman Jake Suski said the Ann Arbor businessman
won't change his position.

"Rick Snyder supports stem cell research -- he's made that clear,"
Suski said. "(Snyder) will not take any PAC or special interest money
and isn't seeking endorsement."

Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee,
supports abortion rights and favors stem cell research.

Right to Life backed Attorney General Mike Cox for governor in the primary.

Impact on voter turnout
With voters more focused on jobs and the economy, some strategists say
anti-abortion supporters may sit out the November election because
they don't have a candidate they agree with in the governor's race.

"It seems that Snyder's strategy was to camp out in the middle, and
now that he's won the nomination he will have to consolidate the
Republican base," said Democratic strategist Jill Alper, with the
Dewey Square Group. "It's a bedrock issue for hardcore Republicans,
and it's a quandary for him potentially. They could not vote, or skip
the race.

"This could impact overall turnout, and in that regard it might be
helpful to Democratic candidates. It could impact Republican
candidates across the board if hard-right voters weren't turning out."

Republican voter Edmund Crawford of Kalkaska said he's against
abortion but wouldn't rule out a candidate who agrees with stem cell
research.

"Stem cell research has its good points and its bad points," said
Crawford, 78. "I don't look at it in the same way as I look at
abortion."

Bringing visibility
Right to Life rarely makes direct contributions to candidate
campaigns, but can bring significant visibility to candidates it
endorses, Galmish said. The group has about 620,000 supporters,
including 150,000 member-donors, he added.

"Our approach is to allow them to do mailings with our lists, and we
include our endorsed candidates in our newsletters and fliers right
before the elections," Galmish said, adding Right to Life also
sometimes does radio ads and telephone calls on behalf of endorsed
candidates.

Doug Koopman, a political science professor at Calvin College in Grand
Rapids, doesn't believe Right to Life can significantly affect the
race. West Michigan anti-abortion voters were solidly behind U.S. Rep.
Pete Hoekstra of Holland in the primary and were unhappy Right to Life
endorsed Cox, who in the past admitted he'd been unfaithful to his
wife. Anti-abortion forces will vote for who they want come November,
Koopman said.

Snyder can solidify his base by picking a lieutenant governor from
West Michigan who is against abortion, he added.

He said if any impact is felt, it will be on legislative and
congressional races.

"If Right to Life got in heavily for the governor nominee you might
get more straight ticket voting," Koopman said, adding that a number
of anti-abortion Democrats on the West Michigan ballots could look
attractive to anti-abortion Republicans who don't vote straight
ticket.

Galmish said Right to Life will divert its resources into other races,
focusing on supporting 7th Congressional District candidate Tim
Walberg, and 9th Congressional District candidate Andrew Rocky
Raczkowski. A number of legislative races are also on the group's
radar.

"We have an opportunity to win a number of other ones and we'll be
looking at those, too," Galmish said. "We'll look more closely at the
state House and Senate races, very definitely."

kbouff...@detnews.com (517)

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] 34 billionaires pledge half of their fortunes

2010-08-06 Thread c b
On 8/5/10, CeJ  wrote:
> The most interesting thing about this is people fall for the line that
> they are 'giving it away'. Not the case at all. What they seem to seek
> is some way to keep their fortunes intact after their death and still
> have some say over how the money is invested and used, even as they
> lie mouldering in the cold cold ground.
>
> Pity the poor Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. They lost 150 million
> dollars because they owned too much BP stock!
>
> If I were worth a billion dollar now, greedy person that I am, I would
> keep 10 million and retire and give the rest to people who could
> actually use it and whether I was alive or dead I wouldn't try to
> assert say over how they use it. NOW THAT WOULD BE CHARITY.
>
> F- Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and T. Boone Pickens and their crappy
> charitable foundations.
>
> CJ



Hope , faith and charity. The greatest of these is charity.
>
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