Quotation
The One Percenters: Game, set, and class warfare
Naomi Klein, author of "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism," really tagged the wealthiest one percent of America the other day in a speech at the Occupy Wall Street rally.
Her speech was shortened because there were no amplified microphones, but here's what Klein said in the full, written version. You can't get much more succinct about what's happening in the US right now regarding "class warfare," and her words surely will remind many of the Scott Walker school of public policy. Here she is:
If there is one thing I know, it is that the one percent loves a crisis. When people are panicked and desperate and no one seems to know what to do, that is the ideal time to push through their wish list of pro-corporate policies: privatizing education and social security, slashing public services, getting rid of the last constraints on corporate power. Amidst the economic crisis, this is happening the world over.
And there is only one thing that can block this tactic, and fortunately, it’s a very big thing: the 99 percent. And that 99 percent is taking to the streets from Madison to Madrid to say “No. We will not pay for your crisis.”
Protests Grow Nationally, Locally
The ongoing Occupy Wall Street protest in New York and its spinoffs, such as Occupy OKC, are part of a broader movement expressing general frustration and even outrage with growing wealth disparity and a lack of economic justice in this country.
The movement's strength, of course, is just what the establishment pundits and media claim is its weakness, which is a decentralized, inclusive and local focus. It seems messy and without a precise frame but any movement that can really challenge the status quo will be diametrically opposite in shape and tone to what it challenges.
Its historical roots are protests in late nineteenth-century Gilded Age, which came after similar, growing wealth disparity between the wealthy and the middle-class, and protests in the 1930s in the Great Depression era, which led to worker protections and Social Security.
US DOJ Declares War on Pot
Original Author:
Brian Leubitz
4 US Attorneys Announce that they are going after California Marijuana Industry
by Brian Leubitz
Remember when Eric Holder said that the US Department of Justice wasn't going to spend a lot of time investigating medical marijuana, but that they would spend time on distributors? Turns out the later overrules the former:
Federal prosecutors in California announced a series of actions Friday targeting what they characterized as the "large, for-profit marijuana industry" that has developed since the state legalized medical marijuana for select patients 15 years ago.
Four U.S. attorneys -- Benjamin Wanger, Andre Birotte Jr., Laura Duffy and Melinda Haag -- detailed in a joint press release steps they had taken in conjunction with federal law enforcement and local officials in California. (CNN)
I honestly don't understand why the Administration would make this a priority? Does somebody thing this will win any votes? Will some vast amount of lives be saved? Sure, there probably is a bit of corruption in the industry, but nothing a formal recognition of the industry couldn't solve. It's time to give up this ridiculous war on marijuana and move on to focus on that war on poverty we never really won.
I can't really say it any better than Asm.
Van Hollen's boot-licking response to NRA: 'I'm making it as easy as I can'
Wisconsin's attorney general, J.B. Van Hollen, sure knows how to talk tough. The National Rifle Association criticized his department this week, saying it was drafting rules for concealed carry training that were too strict, required four hours of training and included firing a weapon. (Imagine that!)
Van Hollen's weak-kneed response:
"I'm surprised the NRA isn't grateful," Van Hollen said. "We're making it as easy as possible."
The rules don't require any hands-on practice as [the NRA's Chris] Cox believes, the attorney general said.
So, not to worry. You won't actually have to handle or fire a weapon in order to get a permit to carry one. (You might be a little surprised at how much noise it makes if you ever pull the trigger.) Presumably, the four hours of training will include information on which way to point it and which end the bullet comes out.
Van Hollen's boot-licking response to NRA: 'I'm making it as easy as I can'
Wisconsin's attorney general, J.B. Van Hollen, sure knows how to talk tough. The National Rifle Association criticized his department this week, saying it was drafting rules for concealed carry training that were too strict, required four hours of training and included firing a weapon. (Imagine that!)
Van Hollen's weak-kneed response:
"I'm surprised the NRA isn't grateful," Van Hollen said. "We're making it as easy as possible."
The rules don't require any hands-on practice as [the NRA's Chris] Cox believes, the attorney general said.
So, not to worry. You won't actually have to handle or fire a weapon in order to get a permit to carry one. (You might be a little surprised at how much noise it makes if you ever pull the trigger.) Presumably, the four hours of training will include information on which way to point it and which end the bullet comes out.
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