 |
Gestopo Chief Ashcroft
|
In This Edition Robert Lederman gives us part two of the Bush/Walker Nazi connections in "Open Letter to President GW Bush." Estrella Holzknecht/Berosini talks about "Blue Ribbon Visibility". She also penned this editions poem of the same name. Harvey Wasserman explains PG&E and Edison’s staged shortages in "Unnatural Disaster." Michael Schwartz explains why US corporations are closing down factories and laying off workers only to replace them with slave labor right here in America in "Slave Labor Means Big Bucks for U.S. Corporations." Then finally your wicked Uncle Ernie says, "Gimmie That Old Time Religion" and also makes a case to "Boycott Florida." We spotlight the cartoons of Rex Rabin with additional cartoons from Chadsux and Cunningham Strikes. We’d like to thank Celeste over at Political Amazon for supplying us with the 'Boycott Florida' gifs. Politex over at The Bush Watch is responsible for the top 100 names for the Emperor Bushit. Plus we have all your favorite departments, so welcome once again to "Issues & Alibis." We hope you enjoy your stay. 
Gimmie That Old Time Religion
You have to hand it to Smirky the Wonder Chimp even while you rail against the traitor. He certainly gets an A for having balls I must admit. Not happy with his treason and sedition when he destroyed the Republic, he went right to work appeasing the right-wing wackos of his party by gutting the laws of this land. First up to go is the Separation of Church and State. The religious types that came here to practice their own brand of insanity did so because the state Church of England branded them heretics and used real branding irons to do so. They were quite aware of the problems of having a state religion. If you are a religious zealot it may sound like a good idea but what if it’s not your religion? Think this is a Christian nation do you? I beg to differ, just trot your own brand of lunacy out to Utah and lay it on the folks of the Church of LDS or LSD? I get those two confused. I think you’ll be in for a rude awaking if you go and proselytize on that bunch. You may understand how a Buddhist or Muslim or Jew feels in Alabama.
You may say Smirky is of your faith and therefore what harm could he do you? Well where to begin? Did you realize that the backers of the prayer breakfast on the day before the inauguration where all the Baptists and Catholics came together was sponsored by Smirky’s backer good ole Rev. Sun Myung Moon leader of the Moonies? Are you ready Mr. Baptist to marry whom the Reverend Moon chooses for you? Point is it doesn’t matter what becomes the official religion of the United Snakes it won’t be the same in a weeks time. Want to see how well a religious state works take a little trip over to Pakistan or Iran? Feel the joy that the Islamic folk know in Israel. Oh they’re not Christian I hear you say, well fly on over to Ireland north or south and see how well a Christian government works. If you're Catholic try Northern Ireland if Protestant fly on in to Dublin. Or like I mentioned before make your destination Salt Lake City.
What’s that you say it’s only for social services? You haven’t heard what Smirky said to the Catholics at the Fuhrer Bunker the other day I’m guessing? Unaware that reporters were listening, Smirky told Catholic leaders that his new program to give tax money to religious groups will help them promote opposition to abortion. The remarks, unintentionally broadcast over a White House public address, contradicted his earlier lie that the program will not fund the religious activities of any group. Giving churches and religious charities public money raises troubling questions about the separation of religion and government that is at the heart of American republic. Recognizing this, Bushit promised that the new office would only fund social services, such as soup kitchens and drug treatment programs, when he announced its creation. But in his private conversation with Catholic leaders, Bushit said the program is intended to change the culture of America in ways that will make it easier for them to oppose abortion and save babies. That is proselytizing - trying to convert people to a particular religious belief - and clearly breaches the constitutional wall between church and state. Why do you think they call Smirky, "The Lyin’ King?"
Now if you have the brains to figure out that all gods or devils are nothing more than a myth, a way for the unscrupulous few to make an easy living off the sheep than this should make you see red. Can the Christians guess where it will be a cold day at, when the Atheists and all the religions left out of power pay a penny in federal taxes? Here it comes ladies and gentlemen, the revolution that we should have had 30 years ago. Coming to a street near you the "Third American Revolution!" And like the old hippie said, "My brothers and sisters it’s time for you to choose. You must choose if you are going to be part of the problem or if you are going to be part of the solution?" I’ll give you a hint, nobody likes to be around a Tory, as they have a tendency to attract fatal accidents! 
Open Letter to President GW Bush
Dear President Bush,
As the Jewish son of a US veteran who fought in Nazi
Germany during WWII I am deeply troubled by your links to
the Third Reich, anti-Semitism and eugenics. References to
these connections can be found in many books and newspaper
articles and on thousands of websites on the internet.
I have personally done two years of research which have
convinced me of the validity of these accusations involving
three generations of your family. Among the prominent authors
that link the Bush family directly to Nazi Germany is former
US Justice Department Nazi War Crimes Prosecutor, John
Loftus, now the President of the Florida Holocaust Museum.
While I did not vote for you and feel the outcome of the 2000
election has questionable legitimacy, I fully accept that you are
now the President of the United States. Therefore, it is very
important that you personally address these issues.
Since the election I have observed a concerted public effort on
your part to "reach out" to groups such as African Americans
and the disabled - the same groups your family targeted for
elimination or sterilization in the past. I'd like to believe this
represents a dramatic change of heart on your part rather than
being a cynical public relations effort intended to make people
forget your family history - or worse - a smoke screen for more
horrors to come.
You frequently claim to be a man of faith, a born-again
Christian. Both the old and new testaments you read from each
day place great emphasis on repentance and forgiveness.
In that context it would seem appropriate that you respond to
these allegations, either by denying or acknowledging them
and if true, publicly apologize to the American people. That,
rather than empty rhetoric and political posturing, could go a
long way towards accomplishing the "healing" you seek.
For the purpose of clarity I will list and briefly summarize
some details of the four main allegations in question and ask
that you respond to each. References from books, newspapers
and the websites of think tanks and foundations associated
with you which support each allegation can be found on the
website and in the texts noted at the end of this letter.
1. THE BUSH FAMILY FINANCED HITLER
Your grandfather Prescott Bush (whose picture now hangs in
the oval office) and his father-in-law, George Herbert Walker
(who you are named after) were managing directors, stock
holders and board members of Brown Brothers Harriman, once
the most important private banking house in America. In that
capacity they personally directed a constellation of interlocking
companies including the Hamburg-Amerika Shipping Line and
the Union Banking Corporation. In 1942 a number of their
companies were seized by the U.S. Alien Property Custodian
under authority of the US Congress' Trading with the Enemy
Act, which declared them to be fronts for the Nazis.
These companies functioned as a means of channeling
hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and strategic war
materials to Nazi Germany and to IG Farben, an oil, chemical
and munitions cartel half-owned by John D Rockefellers'
Standard Oil. This same IG Farben built and operated
Auschwitz and forty other slave labor factory/death camps.
Unfortunately, this shameful corporate history did not end with
the WWII era. Many of the corporations such as GM, Alcoa,
Monsanto and the various oil companies represented so
abundantly by your cabinet appointees were also enthusiastic
supporters of Nazi Germany and in a number of instances were
directly involved in IG Farbens' slave labor factories, the
Holocaust and eugenics. The origin of your family fortune and
extensive political and corporate connections can virtually all
be directly traced to the Third Reich.
2. THE BUSH FAMILY ARE THREE GENERATIONS OF
EUGENICISTS
While your public pronouncements have led many Americans
to believe you are a principled opponent of abortion and a firm
supporter of equal rights for minorities, the mentally ill and the
disabled even a little research into your family background
paints a very different picture. In close cooperation with the
Rockefeller and Harriman families - a relationship that began
with financing Hitler - your family has been at the forefront of
the American eugenics movement for almost seventy years.
Your father and grandfather were both prominently involved in
Planned Parenthood at a time when this was a very
controversial organization. Known today as an advocate for a
womens' right to choose, when your father and grandfather
were involved this organization was at the forefront of a
nationwide movement to sterilize minorities, the mentally ill
and the disabled. Its' founder Margaret Sanger enthusiastically
supported Hitlers' eugenics laws in the 1930's and sought to
established them throughout the US. Both your father and
grandfather spent many years trying to limit the population of
third world nations which they saw as a threat to the
dominance of the US. As a Congressman you father was
nicknamed "rubbers" by his colleagues because of his
obsession with limiting the birthrates of minorities.
Like you and many of your advisors, both your father and
grandfather were associated with the Pioneer Fund, a private
eugenics foundation in NYC founded by Wycliffe Draper.
Draper and other Pioneer Fund members helped Hitler draft
both Nazi Germany's racial laws and the US laws requiring
mandatory court-ordered sterilization which at one time were
on the books in 30 States. These were the very laws Hitlers'
eugenics laws - which led to the Holocaust - were inspired by.
William H. Draper III, a relative of the Pioneer Fund's Wycliffe
Draper and co-fundraising chairman for the 1980
Bush-for-President national campaign, has also been a leader
of the world eugenics movement. His father, William H.
Draper, Jr. was director of the German Credit and Investment
Corp, a Nazi front company associated with your grandfather,
Prescott Bush.
As UN Ambassador your father worked with both William H.
Draper III and John D Rockefeller III to expand the activities
of the Office of Population Control at the US Agency for
International Development (USAID). Your father praised the
lifelong eugenics efforts of both Rockefeller and Draper in an
introduction he wrote to a 1973 book, World Population Crisis:
The United States Response. Many researchers now believe the
African AIDs epidemic was the result of one of the many
covert population control techniques employed by USAID.=20
While chair of the Republican Task Force on Earth Resources
and Population your father brought William Shockley, a noted
race scientist, before the US Congress to testify in support of
Shockleys' "Bonus Sterilization Plan" which proposed offering
a cash incentive to African Americans, drug addicts and the
disabled who would voluntarily be sterilized as a means of
reducing welfare, social security benefits and crime.
3. COMPASSIONATE CONSERVATISM IS THE NEW
EUGENICS
Most Americans know that while Governor of Texas you
presided over more executions than any US governor or world
leader, including the executions of women, the mentally ill and
retarded prisoners. Simultaneously, under your watch Texas
has had the worst record of legal assistance to accused
prisoners of any State. Your "Guinness record" for executions
is consistent with the eugenics-based efforts of both your father
and grandfather.
Numerous members of your cabinet and staff have praised or
are direct associates of Charles Murray, author of the Bell
Curve, a classic text of eugenics which attempts to prove that
African Americans are genetically inferior and thus have the
lowest IQ's of any race. This bogus theory is then used by
Murray as the justification for eliminating welfare, affirmative
action, social service programs and for building more prisons -
all of which are ideas you are closely associated with. Almost
every reference in the Bell Curve about African Americans can
be directly traced to the Pioneer Fund, a eugenics organization
with long-standing ties to your family.
Among your appointees and advisors who share an
organizational or personal association to the Bell Curve are
Stephen Goldsmith, Tommy Thompson, Elaine Chou, Myron
Magnet, Marvin Olasky, Linda Chavez, Karl Rove, Floyd
Flake, Spencer Abraham and John Ashcroft. Even your
minority advisors have a Bell Curve connection.
Your Health and Human Services Sec. Tommy Thompson,
based his welfare reforms while Governor of Wisconsin on
Murrays'' books and employed Murray as a consultant. Your
chief domestic policy advisor, Stephen Goldsmith, credits
Murray with creating the entire welfare reform movement in
the US and recently introduced him as a great scholar at a
welfare seminar at the Manhattan Institute. Myron Magnet, the
man whose book you claim has influenced you second only to
the bible, praises Murray in almost every article he writes.
Murrays'' racially-charged ideas are extensively quoted and
lavishly praised on the websites of the Heritage Foundation,
The Federalist Society and the Manhattan Institute - right wing
think tanks closely identified with you and virtually all of your
appointees. On some of these websites Murray is mentioned
hundreds of times, always as a visionary and brilliant thinker.
These foundations significantly contributed in numerous ways
to your becoming President and even a number of the US
Supreme Court Justices who ruled in your favor are members.
The Bell Curve was written at the Manhattan Institute, the very
think tank that you have publicly acknowledged as the source
of your policy ideas. Murray continues to give speeches there
to this day alongside some of your closest advisors.=20
Manhattan Institute senior fellows, John J. DiIulio Jr. and
Stephen Goldsmith, were just appointed by you to head up a
multi-billion dollar "faith based initiative" intended to replace
social services. Consistent with many facts addressed in this
letter, the Manhattan Institute was founded by former CIA
director, William Casey - a close associate of your father - who
spent the years following WWII bringing hundreds of former
Nazis involved in eugenics to the US.
4. YOU HOPE TO MAKE CHRISTIANITY THE DEFACTO
"OFFICIAL" RELIGION OF THE US
You have made numerous public statements both as Governor
of Texas and US President which imply that Christianity is the
official religion of this nation, a viewpoint apparently shared
by many of your staff, cabinet members and advisors. As
governor you created an official Texas State holiday, Jesus
Day. I am unable to find any reference to you creating a
corresponding Moses Day, Buddha Day or Mohammed Day
despite your state having many citizens of those faiths.
Unlike any other modern-day US President you have not
appointed a single Jewish person to your diverse cabinet which
uniquely has an Arab-American, a Chinese-American, a
Japanese-American, an African-American and a
Cuban-American. While campaigning for President you
publicly stated your belief that only those who accept Christ
can enter heaven, which implies that followers of other
religions - specifically Judaism - are condemned to hell. This
same statement has been used for centuries to justify
anti-Semitism, forced conversions and genocide. At issue is not
your beliefs but that you chose to highlight this while running
for the nation's highest office, despite knowing it's historical
use as a means of fomenting anti-Semitism.
During your father's 1988 Presidential campaign it was
discovered by a Jewish newspaper that at least ten former
Nazis, a number of them SS officials directly involved in
carrying out the Holocaust, were working in high-level
capacities within his campaign. Public pressure forced them to
resign but later many resumed working with your father.
Your father is also known to be a close friend, long-time ally
and business partner of the Saudi royal family, as is your Vice
President, Dick Cheney. During WWII this corrupt, virulently
anti-Semitic dynasty - which was set up as rulers in the 1920's
by your father's Wall Street oil business partners - were among
Hitler's most enthusiastic supporters.
Your so-called faith-based initiative "guru", Marvin Olasky,
converted from Judaism to Christianity and actively seeks to
convert other Jews as well. Unlike some participants in your
faith-based initiative, Mr. Olasky is honest enough to admit
that proselytizing will take place while social services are
performed at taxpayer expense.
In light of these facts and your families decade long efforts to
finance Nazi Germany it seems only fair to ask, are you an
anti-Semite?
Mr. President, I understand that you have many important tasks
to accomplish. Nevertheless, it seems essential that you
respond to these questions in detail without further delay. If as
you have repeatedly said, you are a, "uniter not a divider", then
nothing could do more to resolve the lingering doubts millions
of Americans have about you, your agenda, your cabinet
appointees and your presidency than straightforward answers
to these questions.
The American people would surely be comforted to find that
all of these charges are untrue and that you are in fact the
humble family man and born-again Christian your aides and
the corporate media are so intent on portraying to us.
Articles containing detailed references and links to sources of
information related to the above questions can be found at
Baltech Quotable Quote ... 
Boycott Florida
As I sat watching the Election Day treason unfolding in Florida I thought, well what did you expect? There is nothing really new here. It’s just politics as usual. Besides, there is nothing you can do about it anyway. Remember that the US has the bomb and will use it! So the powers that be are just pulling their puppets strings and watching the Florida legislature dance for them. Bubba had been a fluke and as Al was no Bubba it was back to the good old days of Jim Crow and Corporate mayhem. Treason and sedition for sure but as just another slave what could I do? I suppose I could stand and scream, "I am Spartacus," but other than being annoying for that nano-second so what? The Nazi’s would just keep going to the bank with the profits from their slaves.
Hey now there was an idea! Just hanging a few of the bastards would do no harm but what if the American sheep started voting with their pocket books? And that glorious word "Boycott" sprang to mind. It’s the one thing they can’t stand because they can’t keep it from happening. If Florida went way out of its way, and I’m speaking about corporate Florida now, then the least the rest of us could do is stop supporting those monsters! If we needed a warm vacation during the winter there is the entire Caribbean to choose from, go visit a Rasta man in Jamaica or a hula girl in Hawaii. If we needed to drink Orange Juice I know the folks in California would be happy to sell us some. In fact there is nothing that Florida has that I need to purchase as I can get anything they have somewhere else at a similar or better price. Why then should I support this treachery? Duh I shouldn’t! Eureka! And neither should you!
Let’s make these Nazi bastards pay where it really hurts them, in their wallets. Don’t get me wrong if by some miracle we get the opportunity to draw and quarter a few of them I’m all for that as well! But like the song says "Only the good die young." How old is Ronnie Ray Guns or Jerry Ford now, about 100? See what I mean? When John Kennedy was Smirky’s age he had been dead for eight years! So if you think what Florida did was illegal, immoral, seditious and treasonable then join our happy crusade. Tell your friends and neighbors, your relatives, the folks where you work and everyone you meet. Together we can kick some ass and take some names as well! It will also cause the people of Florida to throw those bastards out of office in 2002, so that by the 2004 elections even the Blacks and Jews will be able to vote again. Or of course you can be a good little robot/slave and obey your corporate masters;
the choice this time however is still all yours!
 BLUE RIBBON VISIBILITY
ATTENTION OUTRAGED VOTERS:
WEAR A BLUE RIBBON IN OPPOSITION TO ALL THE RESULTS OF ELECTION 2000.
THIS BLUE RIBBON INCLUDES OPPOSITION TO WHAT BUSH IS DOING AFTER JUDICIAL
COUP D' ETAT. IT STANDS FOR WHATEVER BUSH ISSUE MAKES YOU FURIOUS OR AFRAID.
THE NEWS MEDIA IS IGNORING THAT THE MAJORITY OF AMERICANS ARE OUTRAGED AT
THIS ILLEGITIMATE PRESIDENT. WEAR A BLUE RIBBON SO WE CAN SEE OUR POWER IN
NUMBERS.
We can do this. Wearing a blue ribbon is a peaceful way for a vast
majority of Americans to see each other and to show our government, and the
media, that they can't disregard our votes and ignore our rage. The red
ribbon was a powerful symbol for aids awareness. Our blue ribbon stands for
the real first place winner. Blue is the color of the Al Gore states on the
news. If Bush people try to counter us with a Republican red ribbon, that
color was already taken by "aids awareness". ha ha.
Please get this going by buying a couple of yards of blue ribbon at your
local store (drugstore, sewing and craft store, Walgreens, many stores have
ribbons, guys.) and just make a loop and pin it with a straight pin or safety
pin. Please do get creative with it. You can wear State Fair type blue
ribbons, blue ribbons in your hair, blue ribbon necktie like the one Bill
Clinton wore at Bush's inauguration, and any other thing you want to do with
the blue ribbons. Let's make this a vigil until we get Bush to resign. Let's
walk in silent circles around the White House wearing blue ribbons.
This Blue Ribbon will also be useful to all boycotts such as those
against Bush supporter, Walmart, and "Boycott Florida". Walmart and Florida
will be able to see, with their own eyes, exactly how many customers they are
loosing.
Just in case you haven't heard, we found that the vote counting machine
software had been tampered with and sent throughout the South, Midwest,
Southwest, and Northwestern States, including Tennessee. The software
companies in Omaha, Nebraska and Exciter, California are being taken to court
by a lawfirm. As I write this, all the news can talk about is the pranks
Clinton's people left behind at the White House. I suppose that's worse than
vandalizing the voting process and stealing an entire nation?
Please help with Blue Ribbon Visibility, wear a blue ribbon and help
others to get a blue ribbon. Come spring and summer, all of the USA will be
walking around with blue ribbons flying. We'll walk rings around the White
House until Bush disappears.
Thank you so much for caring about our nation and democracy. 
Heil Bush,
Dear Gruppenfuhrer Feingold,
Congratulations you have just been awarded the Vidkun Quisling Award for 2001. Your name will now live throughout history with such past award winners as Marcus Junius Brutus, Judas Iscariot, Benedict Arnold, Vidkun Quisling and last years winner Volksjudge Wilhelm (golden stripes) Rehnquist.
With your vote to allow Herr Ashcroft to take command of the Gestapo we will soon certainly put those Darkies and Jews back in their place und make Jesus das King.
Along with this award there will be an Iron Cross 2nd class presented by our glorious Fuhrer Herr Bush at a gala party in der Fuhrer Bunker, formerly the White House on 4-1-2001. We salute you Herr Feingold! Sieg Heil!
Signed,
Heil Bush 
Boom Boom Boom Out Go The Lights Unnatural Disaster
By Harvey Wasserman Electric utility deregulation has become a spectacular catastrophe, starting in California and stretching deep into our economic and ecological future, here in Ohio and nationwide. To keep it simple, we'll start with the top 10 truths about this unnatural disaster: 1. There is no electric supply shortage threatening California (or the nation), only a series of complex, cynical manipulations that have ramped prices sky high, yielding enormous profits for a few distributors and generators. 2. The deregulation bill at the root of this crisis was drafted by the California utilities now facing bankruptcy and was rammed through the California legislature (unanimously, in 1996) by the utilities' own lobbyists. 3. The Natural Resources Defense Council, through its chief energy spokesperson Ralph Cavanagh, and with support from the Energy Foundation, played a key role in drafting, passing and then defending that bill. 4. But the California bill's catastrophic outcome was accurately predicted in intricate detail by a wide range of grassroots, consumer and environmental groups that challenged the deregulatory scheme in a 1998 statewide referendum. 5. The utilities now screaming for help spent at least $40 million to defeat the referendum that would have saved the state and nation from the current crisis. 6. The utilities now screaming for help walked off with more than $20 billion in "stranded cost" bailouts as part of deregulation, but nobody seems to be able to account for where the money went, nor is there a concrete plan for getting that money back. 7. The consuming public would gain, not lose, if the utilities now threatening to go bankrupt actually did go bankrupt, and the public then took over the utilities. 8. The public-owned utilities that supply Los Angeles and Sacramento are prospering in the midst of this crisis, proving once again that public power is the answer to the nation's long-term energy needs. 9. Those municipal utilities are deeply invested in energy efficiency and renewable sources (wind and solar), which has provided them with a stable supply in the midst of the crisis. 10. Any new electricity production added to the state and national grid should come from wind, which is the cheapest and fastest-to-build new power source, and from solar power, which can be installed on rooftops and at industrial sites, freeing homeowners and businesses from the lethal fluctuation of monopoly manipulations. The core of the California power crisis is simple: The utilities got greedy. They thought they were taking the electricity business into a brave and profitable new millennium. Instead, they threw it back to a chaotic old century. In the 1880s, when Thomas Edison and others first made electricity a salable commodity, rampant competition created chaos. Wires were strung everywhere, power plants popped up in bad places, service was abominable. But as the Morgans and Rockefellers inevitably swooped in to create stable monopolies, the public rebelled against price gouging and centralized private control. The barons who gobbled up the revolutionary new technology were confronted with the threat of being taken over by angry consumers. So Samuel Insull, the godfather of the new industry, came up with a compromise -- regulation. From 1907 through 1920, virtually every state established its own regulatory commission to set rates and monitor growth and service in the electric power business. But the state commissions were rapidly taken over by the utilities themselves, and there were extensive flaws in the scheme, most notably its propensity to encourage the construction of massively expensive, inefficient and dirty power plants. Along the way, massive abuses brought on the New Deal installation of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and other national controls. Since then, state and federal regulation has provided the nation with a relatively stable and reliable electric supply system. It has been stodgy and short on technical innovation. It has also stemmed the tide of public power, which still, where it's in place, provides cheaper and more reliable electricity than private investor- owned utilities, regulated or otherwise. And, in fact, regulation is still in place in 27 states. Though Texas has insisted on deregulating in the midst of the California debacle, the chaos in the Golden State has pretty much stopped what looked like a national avalanche of state deregulations. In California, the disaster has taken the form of a mafia- style shakedown. As a price for ending regulation, the utilities demanded a $28.5 billion "stranded cost" bailout for their bad investments, most importantly their obsolete, super-expensive nuclear power plants (in Ohio the "stranded cost" tab has been more like $9 billion). What happened to that money, nobody seems to know. Southern California Edison invested at least $5 billion in Asia; Pacific Gas & Electric bought up much of the power generation in New England and upstate New York. But in a huge shell game, the California utilities shifted those assets to their parent companies, while leaving their distribution companies to flirt with bankruptcy -- and to get hundreds of millions more dollars in public subsidies. And, as usual, the state is just handing over this money while demanding nothing in return. The power generators, the allegedly bankrupt utilities and dozens of sharp operators manipulating the utility grid are all making out like bandits while blackouts roll through California. They're also using the "power shortage" as an excuse to demand construction of more fossil fuel and nuclear generators, burning natural gas, oil and coal and trying to revive the atomic energy industry, all to the detriment of the public and the environment, but all certain to generate gigantic profits for the very people causing the crisis. Here, instead, is what should happen: * The public should take direct ownership of the utilities, which have clearly failed. The system should be controlled on a municipal basis, as in Sacramento and Los Angeles and, hopefully, soon in San Francisco and other cities, towns and counties across the state and nation. * No new fossil fuel or nuke plants should be built. All new construction money should go to building windmills, solar panels and increasing efficiency. Wind is the cheapest and fastest to build form of new generating capacity in the world today. Solar photovoltaic panels should be generating electricity atop virtually every rooftop in the nation, starting with all new construction. All water should also be heated by the sun, again starting with new construction. * All this work should be done with union labor, starting with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which has been training its labor force for just such a conversion. The California crisis is not one of supply -- it's one of manipulation by an obsolete private utility industry and a fleet of cynical power generators. The solution is not to feed them still more warehouses full of money. The solution is to take them over, make them directly responsible to the public that owns them, and switch them over to wind, solar and increased efficiency.
They say electric deregulation will be different here in
Ohio. But the basic structure for corporate theft has been
put in place here as well -- and the solutions are ultimately
also the same.  Slave Labor Means Big Bucks for U.S. Corporations. By Michael Schwartz ©2001 Daily Bruin U. California-Los Angeles It seemed like a normal factory closing. U.S. Technologies sold its electronics plant in Austin, Texas, leaving its 150 workers unemployed. Everyone figured they were moving the plant to Mexico, where they would employ workers at half the cost. But six weeks later, the electronics plant reopened in Austin in a nearby prison. At the same time, the United States blasts China for the the use of prison slave labor, engaging in the same practice itself. Prison labor is a pot of gold. No strikes, union organizing, health benefits, unemployment insurance or workers' compensation to pay. As if exploiting the labor of prison inmates was not bad enough, it is legal in the United States to use slave labor. The 13th Amendment of the Constitution states that "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted shall exist within the United States." There are approximately 2 million people behind bars in the United States -- more than three times the number of prisoners in 1980. The United States now imprisons more people than any other country in the world. In fact, in the last 20 years California has constructed 21 new prisons while in the same amount of time, it has built only one new university. That statistic is even more astounding when we think about the fact that it took California almost 150 years to build its first 12 prisons. Another five new prisons are under construction and plans are in the works to build another 10. The question that needs to be answered is -- why? Why are prisons such a booming business? The answer lies in the prison industrial complex. At the same time that prisons clear the streets of those you feel are a "threat" to society, prisons also offer jobs in construction, guarding, administration, health, education and food service. Prisons in impoverished areas often end up with inmates from the local area who had previously worked in the community. Often they were laid off from a factory job that moved overseas and they turned to alcohol or drugs, which ultimately landed them in prison. Others are luckier and get a job in the prison. One of the fastest-growing sectors of the prison industrial complex is private corrections companies. Private prisons also have an incentive to gain as many prisoners as possible and to keep them there as long as possible. Many corporations, whose products we consume on a daily basis, have learned that prison labor can be as profitable as using sweatshop labor in developing nations. You might have had a first-hand experience with a prison laborer if you have ever booked a flight on Trans World Airlines, since many of the workers making the phone reservations are prisoners. Other companies that use prison labor are Chevron, IBM, Motorola, Compaq, Texas Instruments, Honeywell, Microsoft, Victoria's Secret and Boeing. Federal prisons operate under the trade name Unicor and use their prisoners to make everything from lawn furniture to congressional desks. Their Web site proudly displays "where the government shops first." Federal safety and health standards do not protect prison labor, nor do the National Labor Relations Board policies. The corporations do not even have to pay minimum wage. In California, inmates who work for the Prison Industrial Authority earn wages between 30 and 95 cents per hour before required deductions for restitutions and fines. State Corrections agencies are even advertising their prisoners to corporations by asking these questions: "Are you experiencing high employee turnover? Worried about the cost of employee benefits? Getting hit by overseas competition? Having trouble motivating your work force? Thinking about expansion space? Then the Washington State Department of Corrections Private Sector Partnerships is for you." Prisons are being filled largely with the poor, the mentally ill, people of color, drug addicts and many combinations of these characteristics. They are not reserved for violent people who are extremely dangerous to society. In fact, of the nearly 2 million prisoners, about 150,000 are armed robbers, 125,000 are murderers and 100,000 are sex offenders. Prisons are certainly not filled with corporate criminals who make up only 1 percent of our nation's prisons. In California, then-Gov. Pete Wilson signed the "three strikes and you're out" law in 1994. The law states that if an offender has two or more previous serious or violent felony convictions, the mandatory sentence for any new felony conviction is 25 years to life. Though people thought the three-strikes law was intended to protect society from dangerous career criminals, the actual enactment of the law has been dramatically different. Kendall Cooke was convicted under the three-strikes law for stealing one can of beer with two previous convictions of theft. Clarence Malbrough was sentenced to 25 years to life for stealing batteries, a crime that would usually send someone to jail for about 30 days. Eddie Jordan stole a shirt from a JC Penney store, Juan Murro attempted to steal wooden pallets from a parking lot and Michael Garcia stole a package of steaks from a grocery store. All of these people are facing life in prison for petty theft. They are fueling the prison industry. They are not the exception, either. Eighty-five percent of those sentenced under the law in California faced prison for a nonviolent offense. Two years after the law went into effect, there were twice as many people imprisoned under the three-strikes law for possession of marijuana as for murder, rape and kidnapping combined. More than 80 percent of those sentenced under the three-strikes law are African-American and Latino. In the 1980s, Congress established several different mandatory minimum sentences. These laws require offenders of certain crimes to receive fixed sentences without parole. Mandatory sentences, especially for drugs, are largely responsible for the ever-increasing number of people behind bars in the United States. In May of 1998, drug defendants made up 60 percent of the federal prison population, up from 25 percent in 1980. The disproportionate number of African Americans being sent to prison for drug use, however, is largely due to racism in the actual mandatory minimum laws themselves. Though crack and powdered cocaine are virtually the same drug (crack is powder cocaine mixed with baking soda) possession of five grams of crack gets you a mandatory five years in jail, while it takes 500 grams of powdered cocaine to get this same sentence. The U.S. Sentencing Commission reported that in 1995, whites accounted for 52 percent of all crack users and African Americans, 38 percent. But just 4.1 percent of those sentenced for crack offenses are white, while 88 percent are African Americans. Seventy percent of our nation's prisons are made up of African Americans. You now know that they are there through a variety of unjust racist laws.
Corporations are happily using these people for slave labor, which is
perfectly legal under the constitution. Almost 2 million human beings are
now locked up in our nation's prisons. The vast majority are not there
because they are murderers, rapists or other violent people. They are
there because prisons are a business in this country, whether we're talking
about private prisons or private companies using prison labor. The next time
you think of prison slave labor you don't have to think of China, think of
the
United States. And go take a look at the 13th Amendment.
Here is a very important ethical question for you to answer: You are in the Midwest of the USA – there is a huge flood in progress. Many homes have been lost, water supplies compromised and destroyed. You are a photographer out getting still photos for a news service, travelling around, looking for particularly poignant scenes. You come across President George W. Bush who has been swept away by the floodwaters. He is barely hanging on to a tree limb and is about to go under; there is no other help in sight. You can either put down your camera and save him, or take a Pulitzer Prize winning photograph of him as he loses his grip on the limb. Here is the question – and please do think carefully before you answer: Which lens do you use? The Cartoon Corner ... This edition we're proud to showcase the cartoons of Rex Babin.
    
BLUE RIBBON VISIBILITY By Estrella Holtzknecht/Berosini
Blue stands for the first place winner
On Saturday, May 19, 2001, Voter March will sponsor the Voter Rights March at the Mall in
Washington, DC from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm to voice our outrage over the fraud and
disenfranchisement of voters in the latest Presidential election, to call for critically-needed
voting and electoral reforms, and to protest the illegitimate President's right wing agenda to
turn back gains in the environment, a woman's right to choose, and the separation of church and
state. Tune up your six string, break out the banjo and sing along. The Kennebunkport Hillbillies
Sung to the tune of The Beverly Hillbillies Theme Song
Come and listen to my story 'bout a boy name Bush.
DUI, that is. Criminal record. Cover-up.
Blow, that is. White gold. Nose candy.
Cushy, that is. Country clubs. Nose candy.
Gun owners, that is. Falwell. Jesse Helms.
Chads, that is. Duval County. Miami-Dade.
Rigged, that is. Illegitimate. No moral authority.
|
|
Parting Shots...  THE TOP 100 NAMES FOR BUSH Two years ago we put up a list of 25 names Bush was being called at the time. Now, on the eve of the various anti-inauguration activities taking place throughout the country, we thought we'd expand the list to 100. Compiling such a list was easy, thanks to you, our loyal Bush Watchers who sent in suggestions. The most popular name was some variation of Dubya...Dumbya, Dudya, DAH-bya, DWI-bya, Duh? Bya, Dubius, D-Dubya-I, Double-Duh, Dubfus, Dubius Dubya, Flubya, etc. Then there were comments upon the fact that Bush didn't win the popular vote, nor did he win the electoral votes in Florida, the count having been stopped by the Scalia Court, which, as we know, is the court of last political resort in our country...Bogus W. Potus, Shrubus Illegitimus, Your Accidency, His Fraudulancy, Commander in Thief, Spurious George, George Putsch, "*", Mona Loser, The Thief Executive, President Select, etc. Then there were those that commented upon his abilities, personality, or character...The Lyin' King, Oaf of Office (one of our favorites), Drinky McDumbass, Whoosh Bush, Mini-Prez, Stumble-ya, Prince Snippy, Sock-Puppet-in Chief, [sic] Bush, Smirky the Chimp. There were also many plays on "President"...Resident, Pre$ident, Duh President, Presidunce, Presidump, Presidumb, ?President? with the first question mark upside-down for Spanish speakers, President Reject, UnPresident, President* Bush, ala Roger Maris, President Select, President Putsch. All told, there were a little over 100 suggestions, and the entire list is posted below in the order we received them. We're sure you'll find one that appeals to you. . But for now, let's talk about the "winner." We believe that there is no one winning name for Bush, since that depends upon your style, your typical audience, and your intentions. For us, we've usually just called him Bush, because that's what he is. But when we feel he needs to be given a more formal title, it will be Resident Bush, because, after all, he does live in the White House, if only for the time being. --Politex, 1/20/01  THE LIST (UNRANKED)...bush, Smirk, George of the Bungle, Dubious, The Lyin' King, Boy George, Junior, Commander-in-Thief, Spurious George, George W. Butcher, LoserBush, Dumbya, DUHbya, George Putsch, Scurrilous George, Bushwacker, Bush II, King George II, His Fraudulency, Bush Baby, Oaf of Office, Mini-Bush, "*", *, Mona Loser, Giggles the Clown, President Reject, UnPresident, Drinky McDumbass, Whoosh Bush, Prince Snippy, President Select, Duh?bya, Ersatz DumbShrub, Resident Putsch, President* Bush, Twiggy Bush, Resident Bush, StumbleYa, King George the Turd, Shrubus Illegitimus, Dubfus, Sniffy, ?President?, Bushware 2.0, Bushbrat, "President", Beelzebush, The Son King, His Royal Fraudulency, Embarrassment-in-Chief, The Perp, Flubya, Our Beerless Leader, Our Foundling Father, Quayle II, Duh President, [sic] Bush, DWIbya, Bushit, Bushwacker, Ambush, Bogus W. Potus, Rotus, George the Lesser, His illegitimacy, Humpty Dumbty, DoubleDay, Bush League, Great Pretender, Supreme Choice, G. Whizz George, Dead Brain Talking, D. Dubya I., The English Mauler, The English Patient, Our Encephalic Emperor, Pediatric President, Lyin' Scion, Pre$ident, Presidunce, Presidence, DoubleScrewed, Gridlock George, Your Accidency, George W. Gump, The Rain Man, Dubious Dubya, Smirky the Chimp, :Pretender-in-Thief, Poppy's Puppet ... politex1/20/01 |
Issues & Alibis Vol 1 # 2 ©2/15/2001
