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Hanging Together, or Separately
Another early morning discussion with Dick; this one as he got ready to fly off to the west coast for a discussion of peak oil and what can be done about it.
What can be done about ANY of the truly formidable challenges we face right now? We have a corrupt government, full of selfish spoiled people who think they are clever, but whose arrogance may take us all down yet; we have abandoned the least among us, we have a cynical and irrelevant press, and broadcast news personalities who know the price of everything but the value of nothing, and we have only a mere shell of our constitutional democracy.
As we talked, we went back to something we had begun talking about earlier. Dick found this article from Germany yesterday:
One thing is certain: the way humanity has organized itself – "capitalism", "competition", "empire", "globalization" – not only does the number of losers increase every day, but as in any large group, fragmentation soon sets in. In a chaotic, unfathomable process, the cohorts of the inferior, the defeated, the victims separate out. The loser may accept his fate and resign himself; the victim may demand satisfaction; the defeated may begin preparing for the next round. But the radical loser isolates himself, becomes invisible, guards his delusion, saves his energy, and waits for his hour to come.
I found that passage chilling and true. But not quite as chilling as the following:
No one pays any mind to the radical loser if they do not have to. And the feeling is mutual. As long as he is alone – and he is very much alone – he does not strike out. He appears unobtrusive, silent: a sleeper. But when he does draw attention to himself and enters the statistics, then he sparks consternation bordering on shock. For his very existence reminds the others of how little it would take to put them in his position. One might even assist the loser if only he would just give up. But he has no intention of doing so, and it does not look as if he would be partial to any assistance.
I feel the stab of guilt in my heart—how many times have I joked about wanting to strike out at the oppressive forces—how many moments of rage have I felt at injustice? But what can one person do, really?
But wait, it gets worse:
…what happens when the radical loser overcomes his isolation, when he becomes socialized, finds a loser-home, from which he can expect not only understanding but also recognition, a collective of people like himself who welcome him, who need him?
Then, the destructive energy that lies within him is multiplied – his unscrupulousness, his amalgam of death-wish and megalomania – and he is rescued from his powerlessness by a fatal sense of omnipotence.
For this to take place, however, a kind of ideological trigger is required to ignite the radical loser and make him explode. As history shows us, offers of this kind have never been in short supply. Their content is of the least importance. They may be religious or political doctrines, nationalist, communist or racist dogmas – any form of sectarianism, however bigoted, is capable of mobilizing the latent energy of the radical loser.
The article goes on to remind us about the Nazis, and to make the case that Islamist terrorism is perpetrated primarily against other Muslims, and is therefore analogous to the headlines in the US about fathers killing their children and committing suicide, or kids opening fire in school yards, etc., none of which is reassuring in any way. And so, I point out to my husband, off to tilt with windmills (literally), how can we have any hope whatsoever?
History offers no example of a regressive society that stifled its own productive potential being capable of survival in the long term.
Jeez, I say to myself. He thinks that’s HOPEFUL? And so we launch into another in a long series of bolstering conversations about what our country might look like if it actually worked as a democracy.
It’s the community, he says. You mean, the community is a holding environment for the individual, I reply. Yes, he says. But I know he does not mean a commune, or a private club, or any exclusive, enjoined entity. We have had this conversation before. He means a messy, familial, loving group of creative problem-solvers. People who work together to make a difference for other-than-themselves. People who cross boundaries in order to listen and learn. People who argue their positions passionately, and then let go just enough to grow outwardly through the cracks. People who pick each other up when they falter, and feed each other. People who make new ideas out of old tired notions.
I think about the particular events we have been a part of lately—feeding the activists, Jan 31 State othe Union/State of Emergency, February 4th rally and march, meetings with other progressive groups, and recent discussions about what’s next—and I understand why I can identify with both the radical loser and the happy activist. It’s a roller-coaster ride in this town.
Mladen Milicevic, a professor of musicology at Loyola Marymount University, in an archived article entitled “Body Dwelling”, reminds me:
T.S. Eliot, in commenting on Dante's Inferno, describes Hell as some place where nothing connects with nothing… We have to broadly educate ourselves about the various aspects of our own and other cultures, if we want to convey and share common experiences. Without this mutual understanding no communication is possible. Only connect... the rest is silence.
Perhaps an argument for going back to the peace and love of the 1960’s? Shall we all join hands and sing Kumbaya?
You betcha’. And following the hootenany and the folk dancing—a discussion about how to solve international trade and fuel cell issues, OK?
If in Hell, nothing connects with nothing, then isn't that exactly what Rove and the neoCONS have done? They've isolated us. They've created and environment which propagates division and isolation.
However, though they're trying to squash the blogosphere and the spirits of progressives, they are discovering that there is fight left within us.
In terms of the nationalism, you see it already with the mindless support of rage against Muslims, now raising levels of anti-semitism, and even the whole "Patriot" thing.
Do you know, when I was canvassing, when I saw a flag on the door, or a God Bless the USA sign, I all but shook with fear. However, once in a while, behind that door, there was a progressive who also was making a statement. Other times there was a Republican who still had the same values I have but just didn't know it. And many times, behind that door was a person who with utter rage would slam the door on my face when they discovered I was working for the Democratic Party.
The internet is under attack, and online organizing appears to be the main target. AOL is spearheading the attack. It is offering to sell access to your inbox to giant corporations. For a fee, these corporations will be allowed to bypass spam filters. Online organizations which cannot afford the tax will be blocked from emailing AOL members.
This is a serious threat that could greatly diminish our ability to keep one another informed. Our friends at MoveOn.org have launched an online petition drive to stop AOL. Please sign the petition at:
http://civic.moveon.org/AOLpetition/
America Online is not used to citizen outrage, and our voices could stop the company in its tracks. This is a critical issue for all of us engaged in political organizing. One of the great benefits of the internet is that it has provided a way for the voices of everyday Americans to make a difference. Now AOL is trying to hand the advantage back to giant corporations. Please help. Sign MoveOn.org's petition.
Dianne,
I clicked that link. Why are we sending them our email address at the same time? Why do they need that too? Seems to me that it makes it easier for them to spam you or to discard your voice if you don't have an aol account.
DiAnne:
Does anyone actually still drink Micelob anymore? Me, I liked those old Ranier Beer commercials in the late 70's early 80's.
Chuck in Doha
Chuck in Doha
I like either a nice light Mexican beer with lime or a nice ale like Anchor Steam from SF or one of the microbrews, & preferably with food. Those Rainier commercials were the best!! Remember Green Death (their ale?)
Karen
That is a heavy-duty article. It's no wonder we are seeing splintered off elements like the young neoNazi punks who recently marched through Olympia, all 9 of them, & got plenty of press - and the underage guy who hacked up the gay bar near Boston then fled to Arkansas & shot a woman and a cop & was killed.
Violence begets violence. I am still thinking about the SuperBowl violence & the Michelob commercial because 140 million people watched and it had mega-corporate backing & I heard so much about betting & bookmakers & Vegas. Corruption at every level.
I think alot of what we've been seeing is post-millenium madness. Confusing times lead to overdependence on more radical religion. The sun is almost a million miles in diameter and Beetlejuice is 5x that, yet literalist Christians believe the earth is less than 5000 years old. Are they mad? If the earth were that young, there would not BE any oil, unless God created the oilfields as is. No one would have cancer, because viruses are not possible without evolution.
The German article, in my reading, tells me to continue to try to find out what is going on in the world. Organize, participate yes - but search for truth at all times.
Sparrow
As far as the email thing, I predict that whatever they try to do, they will have such a glut of data that they will have no idea what to do with it. I always subscribe to a few rightwing things too. It keeps them on their toes.
Even if they put walls around the US, someone will find a way around them. Giant tunnels have been found going into both Canada and Mexico and full of loot - it took them forever to find them. I don't paranoia guarantees efficiency in government.
Yeh, it was a heavy duty article. Scary!
DiAnne:
Oh god -- "Green Death." Yep, back in the day when I had a real decent pool game. That and the Blitz version -- "Olde English 800" or something.
Chuck in Doha
PS: But, to try to get into the topic -- we had a strong sense of community back then! We were all very connected (if a little bleary on occassion....)
WHITE HOUSE KNEW ON MONDAY MORNING THAT THE NEW ORLEANS LEVEES HAD FAILED:
Updated: 09:41 AM EST
White House Knew of Levees Breaches in New Orleans
Former FEMA Director Set to Testify on Capitol Hill
By LARA JAKES JORDAN, AP
WASHINGTON (Feb. 10) - The earliest official report of a New Orleans levee breach came at 8:30 a.m., hours after Hurricane Katrina roared ashore. Word of the possible breach surfaced at the White House less than three hours later, at 11:13 a.m.
In all, 28 federal, state and local agencies reported levee failures on Aug. 29, according to a timeline of e-mails, situation updates and weather reports -- a litany at odds with the Bush administration's contention that it didn't know the extent of the problem until much later. At the time, President Bush said, "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees."
After the levees gave way, thousands of people were left stranded on rooftops and hundreds died of the flooding and its aftermath.
Democrats say the new documents raise questions about whether the government moved quickly enough to rescue storm victims from massive flooding.
http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20060209231609990004
Karen:
For more insight into that sort of social phenomenon, I found the Joseph Conrad novel "The Secret Agent" useful.
Chuck in Houston
It kind of redeemed Lieberman to me - to hear him talking on NPR about how the admin knew about failure of the levees and then laid low and pretended to be surprised.
It also sounded as though the Senate is looking at the NSA spying in a more bipartisan manner, and that some favor calling Gonzalez back in.
Good to see the Libby/Cheney leaker story in full high profile this morning.
Also heard insightful comments from Iranians on NPR; people there said that when Bush or Condi make comments encouraging people in mideast countries to rise up for democracy, this probably aids the hardliners more than the reformers. It was also interesting that Putin was inviting the new Hamas government to visit, which could be interpreted as a slam against Israel or it could open a dialogue.
What would I do without BBC and NPR? If there was news on tv I would watch it. Some say NPR is liberal. I think it's actually middle-of-the-road fair and balanced. TV news should be something like that.
Karen:
Also, in the last part of the topic, you alluded to a project on energy independence, which I think is so very key, and which is finally starting to show up on the national political radar. Heck, I even think it might warrant inclusion as a key DCP initiative along with electoral reform and dicussion of modern media and politics. Maybe you guys can start adding some facts-based websites to the resources for reference. I sort of like this one because it is comprehensive:
http://www.iea.org/
but I still haven't looked hard at it.
Chuck in Doha
DiAnne:
Yep, I think it's about time old Joe got up to the plate and started swinging his heart out for our side. He can't be all bad (almost nobody is, excepting, of course, the "Anti-Elvis"). I think it's redemption time for old Joe Lieberman; reckoning time.
Chuck in Doha
Some Doubt Seriousness Of Terror Scheme Described By Bush
February 10, 2006
Combined Wire Services
WASHINGTON -- Several U.S. intelligence officials are playing down the relative importance of an alleged al-Qaida plot to strike the West Coast after Sept. 11, 2001, cited by President Bush Thursday in defense of his campaign against terrorism.
Bush, under pressure from Congress, offered for the first time a vivid account of what he said was the foiled plot to crash a hijacked commercial airliner into a Los Angeles skyscraper.
Bush said four Southeast Asians who met with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan in October 2001 were taught how to use shoe bombs to blow open a cockpit door and steer a plane into the Library Tower, the tallest building on the West Coast. But Asian authorities captured the four first, he said.
The intelligence officials, who declined to be identified because they did not want to criticize the White House publicly, said there is deep disagreement within the intelligence community over the seriousness of the scheme to attack the 73-story building and whether it was ever much more than talk.
Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism specialist with the Rand Corp., said Bush's account still leaves key questions unanswered.
"It doesn't really give us any more indication of whether this was a plot that was derailed or pre-empted, or a plot that was more in the realm of an idle daydream," Hoffman said.
more... http://www.courant.com/news/nationworld/hc-bush0210.artfeb10,0,3963401.story?coll=hc-headlines-nationworld
Hey all:
Someone (Madame?) had posted this "Purple Heart Breakers" NY Times op-ed by a guy, James Webb, that was Secretary of the Navy under Reagan (and a decorated Marine Vietnam combat veteran) on the Swift-Boating of Murtha a bit ago:
http://www.jameswebb.com/articles/nytimes/purpleheartbreakers.htm
I always sort of liked him because I saw this article when it came out:
http://www.jameswebb.com/articles/wallstjrnl/scotsirishvote.htm
Then I bought and read his one non-fiction book, "Born to Fight" if memory serves.
Anyway, I stumbled across a news item today and apparently he is running as a Democrat for the US Senate Virginia seat currently held by Republican George Allen:
http://www.jameswebb.com/articles/washpost/wapo%20senate%202%208%2006.htm
I don't see eye-to-eye with this guy on everything but I like his style and I don't much like George Allen.
I wonder what him and Carlucci got twisted off about in 1988 -- guess it had something to do with the Navy budget (I think Carlucci was a RAND guy).
Anyhow, off-topic (sorry!) and just FYI....
Chuck in Doha
Posted by: ralpheh at February 10, 2006 10:19 AM
We knew Monday AM.
v and ralph,
Makes a person pretty sick doesn't it?
Even makes a monkey sick... especially since I've lost a number of good friends in NOLA to the aftermath of Katrina.
It's criminal... and remember cages ain't just for monkeys.
Head em out, round em up... rawhide.
There seems to be a wonderful sense of synchronicity to this thread header and our discussions over the past few days. This is from the "Free and Fair Elections" header earlier this week:
Chuck in Doha:
I feel as though now it goes even deeper than being heroes, at least in the sense of what mainstream media tries to portray heroism as.
I try to imagine myself as heroic, but like everything else Madison Avenue does (including sell this war), we don't always synch up to what the images portray.
So I am working very hard to release myself from the images, not very hard to do as a child of the sixties and seventies, and to stay away from media as much as possible, read as many sources as I can and talk to as many people as I can.
I guess what I'm saying is that the creation of heroism in this 21st century day and age is going to depend by and large on community, instead of individual. That by empowering us as a group, we honor ourselves AND others. I think this is the meaning of the time--we can't do it on our own anymore. Our community has to be heroic. And because we have the internet tools to do it, there's really no other way.
Posted by: Fe at February 8, 2006 04:14 PM
Truth:
Please keep in there hammering away! Nice and subtle, of course, and not judgmental. I know you know that why do I feel I have to post it? Just something on my mind I guess. And keep reminding them that not only can we be heros but we also like to have a little fun once in a while and it does everybody some good!
Chuck in Doha
Posted by: chuck at February 8, 2006 04:15 PM
Fe:
Right on -- and heroes are around everyday. Help someone in a parking lot. Help someone in a supermarket check-out line. Respect people. Challenge bullies. Be a hero one day at a time and one place at a time. Didn't do it yesterday or today? No problem! Try to do it today and tomorrow. I think we are on the same page on that. So we can be heroes, one day at a time. The rest is up to fate.
Chuck in DOha
Posted by: chuck at February 8, 2006 04:29 PM
Or maybe Led Zeppelin (Zepellin? no idea) said it best: "If we could just join hands, that's all it takes, that's all it takes"
Chuck in Doha
Posted by: chuck at February 8, 2006 04:47 PM
Fe:
After re-reading your post I have to think on this some more -- you seem to visualize a community heroism and I am thinking in terms of individuals that just do the right thing, to their minds, and abstracting a community of values from that. Kind of a direction of causality thing. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. That always messed me up in Statistics Class!
Chuck in Doha
Posted by: chuck at February 8, 2006 04:53 PM
Posted by: Fe at February 8, 2006 04:14 PM
Fe,
I am getting to reading the blog only now. Amen to what you said about the role of the electronic community and individuals in that community.
However, It has been said before, and referred to a different time in our country's history; we see it in front of our faces everyday: E
pluribus unum.
Posted by: oncall at February 8, 2006 11:29 PM
My friend Eric sends me this today:
"We are seeing again and again that heroism leads us further into war and violence, and self-centered misunderstanding. There is another way, but we need to agree that this is true, and we need to find it."
I think its more about finding not the hero in ourselves, but in each other...
We have a representative Republic, not a true democracy, as 2000 and 2004 elections Testify.
International Trade is an area i have taken heavy interest in, for no other reason than the incredible amount of misinformation and ignorance of benifit / risk / reward etc.
China is not a threat to American Business, and never has been. It is German, Italian, Spanish, French, English, etc companies setting up shop in China and selling to the USA that represent the threat to American Business.
But that does not play well to the extremes in both political parties. Ive read the speeches being drawn up by democrats and republicans alike regarding Trade with China, and they are so full of inaccuracies and outright manipulation of data it is dispicable, and intellectually dishonest.
Instead of visiting China with Serious trade delegations, seeing for themselves the opportunities and rewards that come to companies investing and accessing the massive consumer group in Asia, our leadership tries to incite fear, suspicion, and revocation of trade status with the largest economic region on Earth.
Incredibly shortsighted, and dangerous. China is buying over 50% of US debt, which is the only reason this Nation is still able to operate running these massive deficits. International trade also allows Consumers to buy goods at such incredibly low prices as well.
Instead of promoting education, research, Healthcare, technical training....our leadership seeks to place blame for their shortsightedness on those that invest in the very Social programs they are cutting in the USA.
We either become part of international trade, or watch other nations fill the vacuum we leave in our absense. The world will not wait for the United States any longer.
I wrote this letter in response to an article on hybrids in the New York Times. The author was calling for the imposition of a gasoline tax to slow consumption, arguing that the sale of fuel-efficient hybrid automobiles was allowing automobile makers to sell even more fuel-inefficient Hummers and Cadilacs. This was my response.
Voodoo Economics, Progressive Style
A gasoline tax is so retro. Why not instead try voodoo economics, progressive style - like cutting the associated federal corporate tax in half on every product sold that meets a rigorous energy efficiency standard. In that way, corporations get the message that they can make much more money per unit by being part of the solution instead of part of the problem. And once automakers and other energy technology manufacturers took that message to heart, the benefits would be felt throughout the American economy.
As a diminishing resource in ever increasing demand (especially as the Chinese and Indian economies continue their ramp-up), petroleum will only become more expensive as the years go by. And the rising cost of energy negatively impacts the entire American economy - from the airlines, to the produce industry, to the shipping industry, to any business that needs to use one of these services, etc.; and the soaring costs of gasoline and heating oil negatively impact discretionary income, and with it, consumer demand. Obviously, the more money a consumer needs to spend on home heating oil or gasoline, the less they have to spend anywhere else in the American economy. And the need to continually import petroleum is a critical factor driving our current trade imbalance.
Hence, it's in everyone's interest that dramatically greater energy efficiency become the trademark of a new American economy. And that businesses that produce a more equal measure of profits and social good be more richly rewarded than businesses that just produce profits.
What I'm offering is merely a brief outline of a larger concept. Obviously, you'd have to pay for tax cuts through revenue enhancements elsewhere (and maybe that's where a substantial gasoline tax fits in, as well as a restoration of Clinton-era individual tax rates). And you could even mandate that in order to qualify for this lower corporate rate, a product had to be made entirely in America.
But in my view, if we really want to address our growing energy crisis, the bottom line must truly be the bottom line.
Posted by: monkey at February 10, 2006 12:29 PM
I'm so sorry, Monkey! I really am.
And if anyone here was aware of nolies32 asking questions about katrina she's had some comments on her blog about this post. Maybe it might interest you.
http://www.progressiveu.org/160000-what-next-for-katrina-refuges
ps all--irc is still locking me out. When I try to get in it says "no connection" or something like that. I've rebooted the computer and it's still not working. It just sits and sits on that opening screen until it says no connection.
So HI all in the irc--miss ya!
Posted by Karen at February 10, 2006 08:26 AM
Good Points....
My stray thoughts as I was reading it:
Oil has peaked already (according to some "experts"), OR it is about to peak (according to other "experts). The US is greedy and uses more energy resources than any other nation and we also put out more pollution than any other nation (and the current administration doesn't give a damn - refuses to sign on to a commitment to produce less pollution). Just when we should have been manufacturing smaller, more efficient cars as of many years ago, along comes the mania for huge gas-guzzling SUVs (which short people with back problems can't even climb up into without a little mini-stepladder!). What's wrong with that picture?
Oil WILL run out, peak or no peak at the moment (it's already happened, is happening this moment, or will very soon in the near future). That's a FACT, and it's a REALITY the people of this nation have not been thinking about or dealing with.... In "olden days" the Native American elders made decisions by thinking about how it would affect the future generations (six or seven generations after the elders were long dead). We are not taught to think ahead into the future or how our decisions will affect future generations (our own descendants among them), nor are we encouraged to learn lessons from past mistakes by studying history, but the mania for instant gratification and group-think is pushed on us through every possible media outlet.
The administration deals with the FACT of 'peak oil' by promoting more energy consumption, not less (bless his heart, Jimmy Carter tried to tell us these things many years ago!!!)... we are taught to unquestioningly buy oil/energy from the big fascist oil corporations who put them in office... so they can acquire more oil by starting wars based on LIES... so the big fascist oil corporations and weapons manufacturers who support the wars in countries rich in oil so they can make even more money with the objective that they will make a killing in the sale of oil and control all the world's oil resources as oil becomes more and more scarce which will drive the prices sky high. We are taught the defeatist attitude, "well, there's nothing we can do about it and the neoCons control Congress and they are making all the decisions" (a sentiment echoed in Rep. Oberstar's email to me answering one of my communications to his DC office!!! I was more than surprised to see the defeatism in the letter!) and we shell out more money for that energy because there are no controls on those corporations (who have made news recently because they've made record profits since The Cretin declared his illegal, unjust, unethical and immoral war in Iraq, and now he has his sights on Iran!).
No one seems willing to step off of the wheel of defeatism and acceptance of what the corporate fascists are doing to us. We're like hamsters on a treadmill in a cage, and "someone else" controls who opens the door to that cage.
A few threads back I posted this link and comment:
Sweden Plans to Be World's First Oil-Free Economy
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0208-05.htm
{{{Now there's a concept that would make the corporate oil executives in this country sweat bullets.... What's more civilized, is that all sorts of people from different areas of expertise in Sweden are collaborating to make it all happen!!!}}}
This is what our inventors of efficient energy should have been doing all along: cooperating with each other and exchanging information to help each other to make us independent of oil consumption, following Sweden's lead.... But, oh, no, thanks to The Cretin and his Criminal Cabal and their program of psy-ops terror against the American people, they've got us collectively either terrified of our own shadows because of one criminal act of terrorism on 9/11 and they keep harping that there's more to come if they can't make war in other countries to seize their oil, and spy on us while taking away our civil rights to keep us safe (what oxymoronic thoughts), or entertaining ourselves with terror (movies, video games - and even commercials are violent), while media gives us mindless entertainment to keep us from thinking into the future and keeps us from inventing efficient and alternative sources of energy because we're kept too busy entertaining ourselves to death. If our children and teenagers are not busy being bored to death in front of the TV, they are busy committing crimes "because they are bored" - two teenagers were recently arrested in the Cities for arson and for killing cows and horses, and their rationale for committing the crimes is that "they were bored!" They recorded their activities on cell phones that take movies....
For the sake of money and intellectual property rights, people from many different walks of life and organizations and companies and government are NOT coming together in this nation to make alternative sources of energy (as they obviously are in Sweden), even if there is a blurb here and there in Lamestream Media of "progress" in research and development... by large corporations who will make mega-bucks when it comes time to sell any of those alternative sources of energy - IF any of them can actually be successful inventing alternative energy sources in isolation because they refuse to work together for the good of all of us..., and our descendants.
In this over-populated country (we need to go back to Zero Population Growth!) of greedy and bored fools who blindly accept anything this administration dishes out (exception for those of us who are politically aware), we're poised to either self-destruct (and take others with us through pollution) and/or have another civil war because of the political situation in this country. Mother Nature and history provide the lessons - if we're wise enough to listen.
Do what we can together, as ability permits, and protest like we did back in the '60s and 70s to stop yet another needless, stupid, unjust war of aggression (the US is the offender in starting these wars, dammit, and that reflects badly on those of us who do not approve of war of any kind), stop this nation from hitting the bottom of that greased slippery slope we're on toward becoming a fascist dictatorship so we can make progress in other areas so we even have descendants to leave anything to??? Yes, it's absolutely necessary at this point.
Hey, the brains under the gray hair of the Boomers still work! Ask the "wise old elders" of this nation how to go about organizing protests like they had 30-40 years ago. (Jeez, Boomers organized the happening at Woodstock, after all! Ask the organizers of Woodstock how it was accomplished.) Boomers are a vast untapped resource for information and advice on protests and demonstrations. Ask; they'll tell. The able-bodied will join in, and the others can be supportive in other areas, as well as being wise advisors. Boomers have a vested interest in stopping war (we don't want our kids, grandkids, and great grandkids killed in more stupid wars because we want our DNA to be carried on to the future through living descendants), we have a vested interest in Medicare and Social Security (we need both, and so will our descendants in the future - one needs to be simplified and the other needs to be left the hell alone - 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'), and while Boomers fought for and gained progress for equal rights, women's rights, and maintaining our civil rights (which means we need people possessed of good ol' fashioned common sense on the SCOTUS), we want future generations to have the same benefits and rights and privileges. Otherwise past demonstrations and protests 30-40 years ago were all for nothing, provide no benefits to our descendants who will inhabit the future, and that's a demoralizing and depressing thought....
Kumbaya, baby! Protest? Hell, YES!!! Sit-ins, love-ins, demonstrations, protest marches.... War, huh, good God, y'all, what is it good for? Absolutely nuthin'!!! To Every Season! Seasons in the Sun! People Got To Be Free! Eve of Destruction! Where Have All The Flowers Gone? Abraham, Martin, and John! (Play those and other songs of peace and protest at demonstrations. Music plays with subconscious emotions.... Gads, we Boomers had good music with powerful lyrics!) Imagine... Peace.
IMPEACH the LIARS!
Bu$h LIED!
UNITARY EXECUTIVE = DICTATOR!
NO WAR FOR OIL!
BRING THE TROOPS HOME!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by: DiAnne at February 10, 2006 09:44 AM
If nine neo-Nazi punks with a negative message can get Lamestream Media attention under their First Amendment rights of free speech, there must be some way to get MSM's attention when thousands are peacefully demonstrating......!?!?!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by: monkey at February 10, 2006 11:13 AM
"Some" doubt?!? Well, if what I saw while channel surfing the first few minutes of Lamestream TV nooze last night is any indication (prompted to do so by the headlines I saw here and in e-newsletters), there's more than merely "some" doubt. It was in the body language and the faces of 'news' anchors and in the interviews with those who cast huge shadows of doubt while being interviewed that the story is even real. IMHO, the story is a paranoid daydream concocted by The Cretin and his Criminal Cabal to keep 'terror' on the minds of the paranoid sheeple, and to "justify" their illegal wiretaps, and the build-up of their LIES of 'justification' for attacking Iran - probably by March at the latest... (ETC.) I admit, I was shocked that Lamestream Media even entertained the idea that there is any doubt about the 'truth' of what The Cretin said in his speech, and I don't, in all honesty, expect it to continue... but it was nice to see such doubts expressed in Lamestream Media and PBS's News Hour, nonetheless.
I wonder...... IF - only IF, mind you - Lamestream Media is waking up to the fact that they've been ill-used to broadcast propaganda by the administration that enacted legislation to make media corporations richer than Midas, perhaps - only perhaps - they might be more receptive to covering mass protests and demonstrations against the administration, protests that advocate IMPEACHMENT, investigations into all the LIES we've been told for five long years about war, terra, illegal wiretaps, ETC. I wouldn't believe it until I saw a nice long five-minute sound bytes and interviews with leaders of protests repeatedly.... but I'm wondering if some media executives are tired of being told what to publish, print, air, and MIGHT be open to honestly covering news featuring peaceful, non-violent protestors, demonstrators...??? Of course, we could help them along by pointing out the LYING inconsistencies of the administration, which is what would prompt any protests and demonstrations anyway... which might then influence our politicians to wake up and pay attention to the people they are supposed to represent...?
Either way, there has to be a chain reaction of awareness happening between people, media, and politicians that will enable the start of an open dialogue about all the unjust, illegal, unethical, and immoral things going on in *our* government that desperately needs fixing. Without an open dialogue, we'll implode.
The above are my stray thoughts for the morning.... :-)
Fe:
I like the resonance between seeing the hero in others and the new testament admonition to love god first and second love your neighbor as yourself, which I read as respect yourself (introspective - find god or faith in ourself), and once you acheive that, strive see it in everyone else. That's the way I read your post and I really like that approach.
Chuck in Doha
White House Misused Iraq Intel:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060210/pl_nm/iraq_usa_intelligence_dc
You don't say...
Catherine Lanctot | Stealing A President's Spotlight
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0209-24.htm
Absolutely priceless small essay about dissent and protest in 1916 America - lessons to be learned from history.
Celia Viggo Wexler / Dawn Holian | Senators Mull An Internet With Restrictions
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0209-21.htm
What's to "mull" about restrictions and regulations??? Control of the internet by any other name is still censorship for profit....!!! Jeez, get a grip, Congress, and remember the First Amendment! (Technically, we do still have the First Amendment, don't we?)
Benefits Go the Way of Pensions
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/020906LB.shtml
GM, struggling to maintain its grip in the global auto industry, is being forced to bow to a changing competitive landscape and join the ranks of hundreds of other companies that are moving to unburden themselves of as much of the cost of supporting their retired work force as they can.
{{{This is what happens when corporations and/or governments control the purse strings of your own money!!! Northwest Airlines, based in the Twin Cities, is undergoing something similar, asking employees to do all the sacrificing, taking cuts in salaries, retirement benefits and such, and when NWA got a compromise, they sent the top executives to Mexico for an all-expenses paid vacation.... People really need to take control of their own money (savings, retirement, insurance) and don't leave it to corporations or the government to manage; people always end up losing.}}}
Hastert, Frist Said to Rig Bill for Drug Firms
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020906R.shtml
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and House Speaker Dennis Hastert engineered a backroom legislative maneuver to protect pharmaceutical companies from lawsuits, say witnesses to the pre-Christmas power play.
Abramoff Paid for Aide to Rep. Doolittle's Trip, Records Show
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020906S.shtml
A former top aide to California Republican Rep. John Doolittle traveled to Puerto Rico on a trip paid for by Jack Abramoff's lobbying firm, records show. House rules prohibit lawmakers and staff from taking trips paid for by registered lobbyists or lobbying firms.
"Voodoo Economics, Progressive Style
A gasoline tax is so retro. Why not instead try voodoo economics, progressive style - like cutting the associated federal corporate tax in half on every product sold that meets a rigorous energy efficiency standard. In that way, corporations get the message that they can make much more money per unit by being part of the solution instead of part of the problem. And once automakers and other energy technology manufacturers took that message to heart, the benefits would be felt throughout the American economy."
Posted by: Matthew Carnicelli at February 10, 2006 12:49 PM
Matthew - I LOVE this idea. I think dems should latch on to this hard - let 'em say the dems don't have any ideas. Here's a fabulous one right here. Excellent letter!
Government without Representation: A Call to Action :
By Charles Sullivan
Regimes such as the Bush cabal have always plagued America They are a recurring cancer that pervades every cell of society. They recur because we are treating symptoms, not underlying causes.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11853.htm
Excerpt:
The neocon cabal that is in power will not voluntarily step down. They must be forcefully removed from power by demonstrations and acts of civil disobedience on a massive scale. Let me stress that these demonstrations and marches are to be non-violet. Violence begets violence. These must not be sporadic events—they must be frequent, widespread and economically disruptive. As workers, our greatest weapon has always been to withhold our labor through the general strike, as well as our refusal to consume beyond the most basic necessities.
We have but a brief window of opportunity to organize and to mobilize against our oppressors, before dissent is criminalized and punishable by imprisonment. Beyond the Rubicon dissenters will be imprisoned and every channel of free and open communication will be commandeered and subverted to the service of empire. This is already happening on a large scale. Unless we appreciate the approaching danger and act to defend our human rights and our dignity, we will quickly reach the point of no return. We stand now at the brink of the Rubicon wondering how to proceed.
As we put our bodies on the line we will suffer many defeats and indignities. These events must be so widespread that even the commercial media cannot afford to ignore them. There will be beatings and attacks upon us. Our oppressors must be exposed and revealed for who and what they are. The world will be our witness. So great will be the force of worldwide opposition to this brutal conduct, that its perpetrators will be forced to relinquish their hold on power. This is the only way to bring the system down and give power to the people.
At this point a brief clarification is in order: Giving power is a misnomer. Power is never given; it is taken, or asserted. Let us take that which is rightfully ours and use it for the public good. We cannot afford to wait for our acorns to evolve into oranges. The window of opportunity is rapidly closing. It may not be available to us tomorrow.
Regimes such as the Bush cabal have always plagued America They are a recurring cancer that pervades every cell of society. They recur because we are treating symptoms, not underlying causes. A few decades ago it was Nixon and his henchmen. The cancer replicates itself through the capitalistic system of inherent inequity. The time has come to treat the disease, to rid ourselves of its scourge for all eternity, rather than treating the symptoms manifested in the present moment of crises. Otherwise, history is doomed to repeat itself in endless replicating cycles of want and waste and human misery. A long road to industrial and personal emancipation awaits our eager footsteps. Let the journey begin.
Posted by: chuck at February 10, 2006 01:23 PM
Chuck:
I think what you wrote exactly hits the mark between the eyes. Alot of our misery seems to swirl around the idea that ONE of us has got to be The Hero--and God help us because there's alot of ego-centric perspective--on both the left and right sides of the argument, that keeps us from moving forward.
What I think this entire thread header is about is how to overcome the isolation that threatens to oppress us individually, and through a government that opposes our very freedoms with its media and corporate support--threatens our very freedoms societally and as a nation.
The Revolution has to be in Everyone.
Life in the USA
By James Rothenberg
There were no intelligence failures concerning Iraq. The invasion was not a mistake. Neither was the torture. Instead, bright, rational people acted in the best tradition of U.S. foreign policy since the birth of our great nation.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11846.htm
A must read:
Milton Mayer: They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-45:
"Once the war began," my colleague continued, "resistance, protest, criticism, complaint, all carried with them a multiplied likelihood of the greatest punishment. Mere lack of enthusiasm, or failure to show it in public, was ‘defeatism.’
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11845.htm
House Committee Squashes Torture Queries :
Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., chairman of the House International Relations Committee, said Democrats who submitted the resolutions should "at least silently confess to themselves that their actions pose real dangers to our country."
http://tinyurl.com/7ocws
{{{Is Hyde going senile?!? Why haven't Repubs demanded the same info of the Criminal Cabal?!? If you read this after the above article, it represents how the process of becoming a dictatorship is facilitated by "elected" representatives in our republic when they buy into the LIES of the administration.}}}
Sidney Blumenthal: The president, the stripper and the attorney general:
The extraordinary legal defence of George Bush's domestic spying reads like a blend of Kafka, Le Carré and Mel Brooks
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1705412,00.html
{{{The last two paragraphs, in particular, are spot-on!}}}
Bush Leaks On Himself...
Latest Bush administration leak comes from ... Bush
CAMBRIDGE, Md. The source of the latest leak from the Bush administration is: President Bush himself.
Thanks to an error by a White House technician, the sound of what were supposed to be private remarks to G-O-P House members was relayed to the White House press corps.
Bush made a brief public speech to lawmakers at their retreat on Maryland's Eastern Shore. He then shooed out reporters and photographers, saying, "I support the free press, let's just get 'em out of the room."
Once they were gone, Bush -- not realizing he was still audible -- said, "I expect this conversation we're about to have to stay in the room." He added, "I know that's impossible in Washington."
Bush then spoke for roughly two minutes on the war on terror and his warrantless eavesdropping program before the outside feed was switched off. On the surveillance, he repeated earlier assertions he'd cleared the program with top government lawyers.
http://www.kaj18.com/Global/story.asp?S=4485542
Posted by: monkey at February 10, 2006 04:21 PM
Gee, I wonder which lawyers? Maybe the Senate needs to question them, too? Gonzales was so informative I wondered if he really went to college and got a law degree....
I'll bet that WH technician got fired....
Ok I got this from
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0209-24.htm
It seemed very on topic....
Muzzling dissent has a surprisingly long history in a nation that presses commitment to freedom of expression. But that history also teaches us that the government cannot keep silent forever a message whose time has come. The real lesson may be that of another nonviolent protester, Mohandas Gandhi, when he described the course of movements for social justice: "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."
Posted by: Carol at February 10, 2006 02:42 PM
Thanks, Carol.
Sometimes I think the Democrats are actually allergic to ideas that their pollsters haven't told them they should consider (that is, new ideas).
In my view, it's the crucial problem with the party: the lack of an integrated, holistic vision of the good, and positive benefits of active government, that the American people can easily understand and pledge allegiance to.
Totally OT, but sometimes we need to celebrate the good news that's not political...
New tomb opened in Egypt's Valley of the Kings
VALLEY OF THE KINGS, Egypt (Reuters) - A newly found tomb containing five mummies was officially opened in the Valley of the Kings on Friday, the first such discovery since the grave of Pharaoh Tutankhamun was uncovered in 1922.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/10/AR2006021000999.html
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Posted by: ralpheh at February 10, 2006 10:19 AM
We knew Monday AM.
Posted by: Veritas at February 10, 2006 12:06 PM
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Brownie was testifying before the Senate Committee today about the disasters in New Orleans - natural and man-made. He did not do well at all - Brownie tried to shift blame to the OHS department (Chertoff and the OHS are going to love that) and he tried to appear indignant, wounded and put-upon by the "harsh" questioning from the Senate. He appears to little if any remorse and guilt over one of the worst disasters to hit an American city in decades (excluding 9-11). I think Brownie managed to anger just about everyone - the Senators, the Katrina survivors, even the Bushies at OHS.
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Some Doubt Seriousness Of Terror Scheme Described By Bush
February 10, 2006
Combined Wire Services
WASHINGTON -- Several U.S. intelligence officials are playing down the relative importance of an alleged al-Qaida plot to strike the West Coast after Sept. 11, 2001, cited by President Bush Thursday in defense of his campaign against terrorism.
Bush, under pressure from Congress, offered for the first time a vivid account of what he said was the foiled plot to crash a hijacked commercial airliner into a Los Angeles skyscraper.
Bush said four Southeast Asians who met with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan in October 2001 were taught how to use shoe bombs to blow open a cockpit door and steer a plane into the Library Tower, the tallest building on the West Coast. But Asian authorities captured the four first, he said.
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I quite frankly don't believe the story - but then again, I don't believe anything that Dumbya Bu$h tells us.
Apparently the Commander in Chief 1) got the name of the targetted building wrong, call it the "Liberty Tower" when it was, in fact the "Library Tower" 2) the mayor of Los Angeles knew nothing about it.
Really important story here.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x379453
Adding:
Of course we do have many major stories. I think we can pick more than one to focus on as long as we're united!
??? PICTURES OF BUSH WITH ABRAMOFF ??? GO HERE:
http://server3.pictiger.com/%20img/%20161731/%20picture-hosting/%20colage-2.php
The quality of the pictures are not that good (they are too small)and I don't know if they can be verified or where they came from etc....
Apparently the Commander in Chief 1) got the name of the targetted building wrong, call it the "Liberty Tower" when it was, in fact the "Library Tower" 2) the mayor of Los Angeles knew nothing about it.
Hmm, hmm, we were just explained the same on the 8 p.m news tonight in France and how Bush used of disinformation regularly. It was kind of "Here is W trapped in his lies again", with the various examples.
We also had a long report, earlier, on Coretta King's funerals with one of his former friend yelling/denoucing the war and the administration failures, getting roaring applause, and it ended with Bill and Hilary Clinton...
As you see, we SEE what is going on.
Posted by: madame defarge at February 10, 2006 05:55 PM
I saw that - it actually made MSM and PBS news! :-) A camera panned over the nearest sarcophagus, and it looks like it's a woman's face and form - a very pretty woman's face - and the story mentioned five sarcophagi. I don't know how long it will take to excavate and document the tomb, but I will be following the story and try to catch any longer TV shows about it - Nova usually does something on things like this within a year or two after the finds and documentation. Should be quite interesting, I think, but that one sarcophagus with the pretty woman's features must have been artistically exquisite when it was first made....
Yes, sometimes one must find joy in the small wonders that can still be had in today's world...!
Events:
Powerful documentary reminding us of Ike’s warning about the military industrial complex. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize, Sundance Film Festival
As the movie business is what it is, it is critical for films to have a strong turn out the first weekend. Playing in my city, watch for it in yours.
www.whywefight.com
Please support this film so more films like it will be made in the future.
Also, go to http://www.backbonecampaign.org if you want to sign up for a conference call on energy independence with Congressman Jay Inslee.
News I heard about despite little chance to connect with internet or other news source:
- Bush leaked on himself
- Abramson won't fall on sword for Bush
- Libby won't fall on sword for Cheney
- "Brownie" won't fall on sword for Bush
I also saw a photo in the Everett WA Herald showing Bush peering at a bust of himself and looking particularly Simian, even though the bust was misleadingly distinguished & statesmanlike-looking.
Totally off topic (almost as far as anybody can go), Here is an interesting link that shows that George Bush's name is actually the sign of the devil.
http://wiltfong.com/pages/numbers.php
To see the George Bush numerology click on the "Conversion Chart" link
Just some random thoughts:
Karen,
Thank-you for that thread head, but knowing how corrupted our election process has become, I fear that no matter how hopeful or angry we become, we are doomed to live a life that our forefathers revolted against two hundred thirty years ago. Will the people rise up and make a change happen? Or should we expect that our electronic conversations, which simultaneously amplify our fears and sense of community, will hypnotize us into prison of dejected resignation?
This is a very difficult time. We and the rest of the world can see how Bush's policies have made the entire planet less safe. We can see how the party in power has become overwhelmed with corruption and incompetence and in the process, seriously harmed our country. Yet we don't see the widespread grass roots movements that are necessary to effect change. Quite honestly, I don't know what it will take to make people hungry enough for a change. Several days ago you asked our opinon as to what might have the most influence to effect a positive change. In my opinion it is the local movements that are more likely to influence people to vote for a change in 2006. However, without an effective media component, the message will fade over a short distance. We need radio stations such as Air America radio to devote more of their programming day to highlight what people are doing in order to make a positive change.
As is is, people have become conditioned to believe that no matter what they say or do, they can not have any influence on their destiny. I suspect that is why nearly half of Americans don't vote.
FEMA to begin ILLEGAL evictions of Katrina victims on Monday, Feb 13th
Call to Action:
On Monday, February 13th, the New Orleans homeless population will skyrocket, and the survivors of Katrina will be victimized again. FEMA's short-term hotel program expires for most of the 26,000 displaced hurricane survivors and most of these evacuees have not been provided with long-term, or even transitional housing solutions. An immediate nation-wide phone call and email campaign is needed to help keep families off the
street. Don't let Katrina survivors be further victimized by the poverty-promoting plans of those with the power to correct the issues!
CONTACTS
FEMA Nicol Andrews, Deputy Strategic Director, 202-646-7917,
nicol.andrews@dhs.gov
MAYOR NAGIN ph 504-658-4900, fx 504-658-4939
CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS ph 504-658-(1010 John Batt) (1020 Renee Pratt) (1030 Jacquelyn Clarkson) (1040 Cynthia Morrell) (1050 Cynthia Lewis) (1060 Ed Sapir) (1070 Oliver Thomas)
GOVERNOR BLANCO ph 866-366-1121, fx 225-342-7099
WHEN YOU CALL OR WRITE:
* Tell each council member and the mayor to provide housing now! Council members must stop pushing trailer parks out of their districts, and the mayor must take a stand for housing NOLA citizens. Now is not the time for self-interested political jockeying.
* Tell the elected officials: There are major absentee voting efforts organizing their evacuated constituents. If they do not act in the best interests of ALL their constituents they will be defeated in the upcoming elections.
* Tell the elected officials: Governor Blanco's plan to shelter survivors for 30 days in cities far from their jobs and their damaged homes is unacceptable. Those shelters must be provided in New Orleans.
* Tell the elected officials: Our tax funded National Guard should not be used to force survivors into homelessness at gunpoint.
* Tell FEMA: that they are mandated by the Stafford Act to provide housing for disaster victims for eighteen months. Their atempt to cut-off shelter programs is illegal as well as immoral.
* Tell FEMA: The Stafford Act requires that transitional housing and rental assistance must be provided locally to the survivors workplace. Trailers hours outside of NOLA are not feasible, or acceptable.
* Tell everyone: The money that has been pledged to the recovery belongs to the people, not the corporations. Homeowners need the grants to rebuild, give corporations the loans - they were insured.
* Tell these hotels to honor the FEMA extensions Don't
evict hurricane survivors into homelessness to house wealthy Mardi Gras tourists! Royal St Charles 504-587-3700, AmeriHost Inn and Suites 504-299-9900 Quality
Inn: Maison St Charles 504-522-0187
For more info contact
www.no-heat.org, 504-883-8225
www.communitylaborunited.org
www.commongroundrelief.org
NO MORE HOMELESS KATRINA SURVIVORS!
On Monday, February 13th, the New Orleans homeless population will skyrocket, and the survivors of Katrina will be victimized again. FEMA's short-term hotel program expires for most of the 26,000 displaced hurricane survivors and most of these evacuees have not been provided with
long-term, or even transitional housing solutions.
For those lucky enough to have gained access to FEMA's long-term resources, many have been told they must live far from their jobs, far from homes needing repair, and out of reach of their communities.
Transitional housing is meant to aid people in fixing up their houses and reclaiming their previous lives. Despite not having any local long-term housing for the hotel guests, the National Guard is on call to evict people. There are three groups of people who are making the decision
to evict these people; these three groups should be the targets of our dissent.
FEMA - The Short Term Lodging program is required to provide shelter until transitional housing is provided. All FEMA guests should be extended until a long-term solution has been found for them. Rental assistance needs to cover a market that is roughly triple the pre-Katrina levels.
Trailers must be placed locally for survivors to maintain their jobs, rebuild their homes and reclaim their lives.
HOTELS - Many hotels refuse to honor FEMA extensions beyond the 13th preferring instead to house wealthy tourists for the Mardi Gras season. However, according to the Chief Financial Officer of a hotel group, FEMA is paying the going rate for each room, each day. According to several
managers, the hotels have made more money this winter season then they have in many years. All extensions from FEMA should be honored and, if someone doesn't have a place to stay, the hotels should grant them a few amnesty days before eviction - it is the hotels turn to give back to the survivors whose tragedy has made them so wealthy. Few of the hotels housing FEMA guests are: the Marriott, the Sheraton, Quality Inn: Maison St. Charles, Royal St. Charles, Queen and Crescent, and the AmeriHost Inn and Suites. People should be present at all of these hotels on Monday. If you cannot come to New Orleans you can hold solidarity actions
at the chains local venue. If you live in a major city, it's likely that hotels in your town are evicting evacuees on 2/13 - there are thousands across the country. When you call the hotels in New Orleans please be nice to the staff, they are mostly survivors living as FEMA guests too.
LOCAL POLITICIANS - Hundreds of FEMA trailers have arrived in New Orleans, yet they sit in train yards unoccupied. City officials continue to bicker over where the trailers should be placed. Many public housing developments also lie vacant, despite remaining virtually unscathed through the storm. The only solution the Governor has offered is a thirty
day shelter program in either Baton Rouge or Lafayette. This is not an option for those who maintain jobs or are fixing up their homes within New Orleans.
On Monday many will be facing the National Guard on these streets and we are asking that everyone with the means to come down to New Orleans converge in support. We need as much of a presence as possible to put a massive amount of pressure on all three targets. If you can't get down
here please start calling FEMA, New Orleans politicians, and the hotels.
The rest of the world does not weep for America. They are solving their environmental issues, health care issues, economic and educational issues.
When we stop feeling sorry for ourselves and remove the criminals running our Nation, we will lead the world again.
Posted by: wild salmon at February 11, 2006 01:55 AM
It may not be popular or well-administrated, but FEMA is not doing anything illegal by ending the hotel program for those who did not file for extensions.
1. Stafford Act says 18 months is the maximum, not the minimum.
2. No requirements on location of temp housing.
Here are the relevant parts (with some words omitted...Google "Stafford Act" to see in full...apologize, it's long):
SEC. 408.
The President, in consultation with the Governor of a State, may provide financial assistance, and, if necessary, services, to individuals and households in the State who, as a direct result of a major disaster, have necessary expenses and serious needs in cases in which the individuals and households are unable to meet such expenses or needs through other means.
Housing Assistance.-
Eligibility.--The President may provide financial or other assistance under this section to individuals and households to respond to the disaster-related housing needs of individuals and households who are displaced from their predisaster primary residences or whose predisaster primary residences are rendered uninhabitable as a result of damage caused by a major disaster.
Determination of appropriate types of assistance.-
In general.--The President shall determine appropriate types of housing assistance to be provided under this section to individuals and households described in subsection (a)(1) based on considerations of cost effectiveness, convenience to the individuals and households, and such other factors as the President may consider appropriate.
Multiple types of assistance.--One or more types of housing assistance may be made available under this section, based on the suitability and availability of the types of assistance, to meet the needs of individuals and households in the particular disaster situation.
In general.--The President may provide financial assistance to individuals or households to rent alternate housing accommodations, existing rental units, housing, recreational vehicles, or other readily fabricated dwellings.
Direct assistance.-
In general.--The President may provide temporary housing units, acquired by purchase or lease, directly to individuals or households who, because of a lack of available housing resources, would be unable to make use of the assistance provided under subparagraph (A).
Period of assistance.--The President may not provide direct assistance under clause (i) with respect to a major disaster after the end of the 18-month period beginning on the date of the declaration of the major disaster by the President, except that the President may extend that period if the President determines that due to extraordinary circumstances an extension would be in the public interest.
Collection of rental charges.-- the end of the 18-month period referred to in clause (ii), the President may charge fair market rent for each temporary housing unit provided.
Sites.-
In general.--Any readily fabricated dwelling provided under this section shall, whenever practicable, be located on a site that-
is complete with utilities; and
is provided by the State or local government, by the owner of the site, or by the occupant who was displaced by the major disaster.
Sites provided by the president.--A readily fabricated dwelling may be located on a site provided by the President if the President determines that such a site would be more economical or accessible.
State Role.-
Grant to state.--Subject to subsection (g), a Governor may request a grant from the President to provide financial assistance to individuals and households in the State under subsection (e).
Maximum Amount of Assistance.-
In general.--No individual or household shall receive financial assistance greater than $25,000 under this section with respect to a single major disaster.
Adjustment of limit.--The limit established under paragraph (1) shall be adjusted annually to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers published by the Department of Labor.
"we will lead the world again."
Toolmaker,
If I know there is nothing agressive in your sentence. It still had me jumping on my seat , because for most foreigners this means "American Imperialism". Why do you want to lead us all, upon which basis, for which goal?
You are stll in a bipolar thinking : we and the world, but things have changed. We are now in a multipolar world. Un less you intend to erase China, India, Europe, Brazil...from the map the system doesn't work anymore.
As big as you are, you are part of it, but as long as you keep ignoring the fact that you cannot decide for the planet, you will be putting your country at danger.
We are facing one of the worst crises since WWII, opposing the western world to the Muslim one. Who would have thought of that 10 years ago? King George's "Great Middle East" is a pure failure and created the greatest instability ever seen. For sure he has to go, but do we still have to do just as told if it doesn't suit us?
We won't get out of it unless we COLLABORATE upon shared values and not just interests.
new thread
Andree
Well said. The whole US foreign policy is based on protecting American interests and it's explicitedly stated (eg. http://www.newamericancentury.org) - it's the doctrine of Reagan revived. It would be good if America could once again set a better example and in that way "lead" but I do believe it is a multipolar world and that there need to be checks and balances, not imperialistic, militaristic superpowers. The new war doctrine came out and they identify China as a potential threat and plan contingencies for war. China resented this.
The whole mentality is sick and too many go along with it. It's from the last century, so ironic that they "frame" it as a change in their doctrine.