Justice – Page 16

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David Suzuki says why conventional economics is a form of brain damage

David Suzuki explains why,

Conventional economics is a form of brain damage.

Money doesn’t stand for anything. And money now grows faster than the real world. Economics is fundamentally, so disconnected from the real world it is destructive.

Economists call life and biodiversity, “externalities,” yet we rely on the services that plants, insects and animals render to the world.

We are told over and over that the economy is the bottom line. I don’t think so.

Visit davidsuzuki.org/ to learn more about David Suzuki and his foundation
sustainableman.org explores the world of sustainability read more

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“School reform” aka diverting school funds to the rich

David Sirota helps us see that the true mission of the corporate backed charter school initiative is to bust unions and divert public funds earmarked for student education. The goal is to remove barriers to corporate control of society and for rich guys to get all the money in the world (or at least the US). These people didn’t get the memo that you can’t take it with you.

The bottom line is clear: In attempting to change the mission of public education from one focused on educating kids to one focused on generating private profit, corporate leaders in the “reform” movement are pursuing a shrewd investment strategy. Millions of dollars go into campaign contributions and propaganda outfits that push “reform,” and, if successful, those “reforms” guarantee Wall Street and their investment vehicles much bigger returns for the long haul. read more

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Santa Ana residents beg police, “Stop killing us.”

Police in Santa Ana, California have killed five unarmed residents this year. Some residents wonder if this is part of a political strategy to create an environment which discourages people from fighting against being run out of their homes and off their land.

Concerns about Santa Ana corruption are more widespread than just shooting the public. Mark Burcaw reported illegal citations issued by the Santa Ana Police Department for the purpose of illegally seizing property.

This writer has been informed by other residents about land grab schemes within the city. People who want other people’s property reportedly have city officials misuse their positions to cite the property for bogus violations for the purpose of later condemning and stealing the desired property. The city has been known to turn off the water of residents and then cite them for not having water as part of this seemingly continuous scheme of corruption. The information provided by residents appears to confirm that Mr. Burcaw’s complaints are common place in Santa Ana. read more

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Trayvon’s killer won’t suffer – he lacks a conscience & has money

Everybody wants to believe GZ will suffer. Pffff. If smirky George had a conscience, this might be true. If he wasn’t getting his legal expenses paid by private donations, this might be true. But now he’s got money, is nuts, arrogant, self-deceiving and self-aggrandizing. His wife is a lady willing to perjure herself for personal gain. And, George has presently situated himself outside of the US where he might experience trouble, in a secret overseas location where he must feel safe. read more

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Act for Trayvon

Join the movement.

Here’s a list of actions we can carry out to honor Trayvon Martin’s life and protest the Florida government’s handling of his murderer’s trial. Please add yours as a comment.

Trayvon’s Bday was Feb 5th. So, NO SPENDING every month on the 5th.

No Florida NOTHING! We are boycotting Florida tourism, travel, spending, entertainment, oranges, orange juice … EVERYTHING!

No more BLACK Friday … We are turning Black Friday RED! No spending, period.

Vote out bad politicians and replace them with politicians who are caring, fair and who will be accountable to us.

Vote in local, state and national elections

Boycott products of all companies and brands the Koch Brothers own shares in

Increase our civic engagement and bring our voices to the table on every issue

Practice community journalism

Reduce our spending to the bare minimum

Go green and sustainable

Move money out of banks and into to credit unions (which are cooperatively owned)

Boycott Big Money and their financial institutions as much as possible.

Increase entrepreneurship

Rethink investments in stocks and insurance. How can we invest in communities instead.

Mentor youth of color

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Does Disney World have sovereign nation status?

What’s the status of Disney World relative to United States law? If it exists outside the law and is “detached from” the State of Florida, is Disney World a sovereign nation or …. or, what?

This and other issues are explored in National Geographic’s brilliant article on the entertainment empire:

Disney’s new empire in central Florida would be marketed as Disney World. Its official name was, and remains, the Reedy Creek Improvement District. Thanks to a sweetheart deal with the state legislature, the lands Disney purchased were detached from the rest of Florida to form a Magic Kingdom, above and outside the law. Even now, Disney World’s rides are exempt from state safety inspections. Democratic process is excluded, too. Power remains in the hands of a board of supervisors composed of Disney allies. However much you pay for a time-share condo in Disney World, you cannot buy property outright, and therefore establish official residence, and therefore vote for the board. Celebration, Disney’s residential community themed to evoke pre-1940s small-town America, has a city hall but no actual municipal government. read more

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Librarian commuter films her NJ Transit bus driver jerking off

Did you hear what a NJ Transit bus driver had in his hand this week during an evening Lincoln Tunnel commute? His “male member” is what ~ fully exposed ~ ! A woman passenger caught several minutes of the “show” on tape.

Yes, the driver was suspended. And charged with three criminal offenses.

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Early voting will help Cory Booker

The New Jersey primary to elect party candidates for the Wed Oct 16 2013 special Senatorial election will be held on Tues Aug 13 and voting is set to begin as early as next week, with counties getting ready to sending out vote by mail ballots early to the 15,000+ voters registered to receive them for the year. People who vote early may not have enough time to learn about the Real Cory Booker.

The buzz is just starting to build about Cory Booker’s sellout of the people of Newark he is pledged to serve in favor of the big money financiers he’s so in love with. They want to run the voters who elected Cory out of Newark and destroy Newark public education for children so departing residents will have nothing to come back to. We’re talking financiers like Mitt Romney, whom Cory lavishly praised on public television during the last presidential election. sneich reacts with comments and a hard-hitting question on the Daily Kos: read more

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Dems aren’t perfect. Republicans are a little worse.

Today, the highest court in our nation stooped to a new low, thanks to Republican ideology loyal Supreme Court justices who voted to strike down a part of the Voting Rights Act designed to protect the voting rights of this country’s most vulnerable citizens. Adam Liptak of the New York Times writes,

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg summarized her dissent from the bench, an unusual move and a sign of deep disagreement. She cited the words of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and said his legacy and the nation’s commitment to justice had been “disserved by today’s decision.” read more

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This cartoon shows us where we DON’T want to be – in a place of hate

My friend David Meza sent me this anti-Nazi propaganda cartoon created by Disney during WWII to stimulate United States citizen’s hatred for Germans. I’m a Jew who lost family in Hitler’s holocaust, so I’m far from being a Nazi sympathizer. But, I like to remember that not everything that reinforces my experiential and cultural judgments is factual or true. And I am a lover of truth. So, please, when watching this disturbing 10 minute cartoon portraying how Nazis killed love and hope in their young men to make them into the optimal fighting machines they wanted them to be, keep in mind that this is the American propaganda version of Germany. What really went on there may have been quite different from what this film portrays.

The cartoon disturbed me for another reason. In the militaristic, unfeeling youth mindlessly pledging obedience to the heartless Nazi philosophy, I see too many parallels with American society today. Which makes sense, right …. as this film is an American brainchild. Today in America, there are too many parents and children taking an approach to education and career preparation that embraces arrogance, elitism and a willingness to hurt anyone who blocks a student’s path to academic success, job security and the acquisition of material goods. In today’s education system, financially stable parents want their children to be separate from those who are not; standardized tests which are culturally skewed to favor middle class children over others and are used as leverage for separating students by economic class or ethnicity. And Blacks, Latinos and other students who struggle with the challenges poverty exerts on their school performance – and their lives overall – are ruthlessly deemed by financially secure student families to be worthy only of condemnation, and neither of inclusion nor assistance. read more

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Sharpe James corrects NY Times reporter on Newark history

Branch Brook Park & cathedral — Branch Brook Park

Today I came across this letter from former Newark mayor Sharpe James to the author of a front page December 2012 New York Times article about Cory Booker: Promise vs. Reality in Newark on Mayor’s Watch. Written by Pulitzer Prize winning reporter author Kate Zernike, the article presents an unflattering view of Booker, but it also refers offhandedly to Mr. James as corrupt. In this statement, Mr. James rebuts that characterization and shares some history about Newark and its governmental accomplishments. read more

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Almost 1 in 100 jailed in US

Here are a few quotes and visuals to help us see what the United States’ almost 1% incarceration rate looks like – a phenomenon the ACLU condemnsin its new report Banking on Bondage: Private Prisons and Mass Incarceration.

The imprisonment of human beings at record levels is both a moral failure and an economic one …

refers to the reality that 750 people out of each 100,000 residents in the United States are being jailed. In mathematic terms, that equates to .0075% of our population (3/4 of a percentage point) meaning that it comes way too close to being 1% of our population (1 person out of every 100). read more

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NAACP’s police interaction guide: The 411 on the 5-0

The NAACP advises that the “war on crime” fought by police, sometimes results in innocent people needlessly surrendering constitutional and civil rights which they are not aware they have. The NAACP and its members support just and effective law enforcement, and also believes that people must learn how to exercise our constitutional rights to ensure that law enforcement, and law officers, work as they should: to protect all United States citizens and visitors regardless of race, ethnicity, immigration or economic status. read more

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PBS & TED review the state of education today

The Chicago Tribune has a fabulous article on PBS’ TED Talks Education hour long show on May 8 2013, which brought

… together a diverse group of teachers and education advocates delivering short, high-impact talks on the theme of teaching and learning. You’ll also see Chicago’s Malcolm Xavier London performing a spoken word poem about the racial and class tensions he experienced … London, who just turned 20, is a terrific fit for TED — which stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. The nonprofit organization bills itself as being devoted to ideas worth spreading and often features people who have taken unorthodox paths giving talks about what they’ve learned read more

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HIPAA offers no privacy or protection to an ill child

Joey Furlong is a Bethlehem, NY 4th grader interned in hospital for a life-threatening condition and awaiting brain surgery. This week, he was approached by one of the teachers employed by the hospital, who wanted the boy to take a standardized test. CBS News reports (Tami is Joey’s mom),

Tami’s husband was in the room when one of the teachers came in talking about the test but she wonders what would have happened had he not been, “I would like to hope she would not have taken his arm that has an IV and oximeter on it and put a number 2 pencil in it, I would like to hope that she would wait to talk to the family.” read more