Quote and Link of the Day..Obama escalates in Yemen – again - Salon.com

Obama escalates in Yemen – again - Salon.com: "As usual, to the extent that most Democrats mention any of this, it will be to celebrate its political value: how it proves that Obama is so very Tough and Strong on national security. Because nothing exudes Strength — or the values of the Nobel Peace Prize — like continuously escalating secret wars and targeting people for death via remote-controlled aircraft from thousands of miles away without even knowing their names.  The innocent corpses, the trampling on accountability and transparency, the ongoing fueling of Endless War, must not be permitted to interfere with the President’s re-election, so all of this is just best ignored, again. Dead Yemenis will be kept out of sight and out of mind, and on those rare occasions when we hear about them, we’ll just tell ourselves that the President is a Good, Magnanimous Man who just wants to Keep us Safe. "

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Thoughts on the Trayvon Martin Killing

Some thoughts on the Trayvon Martin killing by Zimmerman. 


Racists with guns are a dime a dozen. All the focus on Zimmerman's alleged individual racism is serving as a distraction from the larger institutional racism of the Sanford police department and the District Attorney. Black kid gets shot dead, and they shrug their shoulders and hem and haw whether to charge manslaughter? (Really? MANSLAUGHTER?!?!) With all the evidence that they had that Zimmy killer pursued Martin? And the relatively minor injuries he had, and they still pass off that police report and say one of the witnesses' reports supports Zimmerman's story? And the media, including the more liberal MSNBC are giving them a pass and hardly raising tough questions about the racist corruption of the Sanford police and District Attorney?


Zimmerman's PR campaign keeps saying once the facts come out, those facts will clear him. That BS is collapsing quicker than the Twin Towers on 911.


And Fox News and the Righties. They carrying on about MSNBC and who they call the "race-baiters" (Sharpton and Jackson) as "exploiting the story". Well it appears to me that Fox News is exploiting the story to attack Jackson, Sharpton and MSNBC (and hoodies!). The fact of the matter is, it required the media and civil rights leaders to bring this story to national attention. And without that, there would have never been a second look and a special prosecutor investigating this case.


Finally, It was reported that Trayvon Martin was suspended for having a baggie with MJ residue. Big Whooopie! Does anybody have an idea how many people in this country, including white male teenagers have baggies with MJ residue or more in their possession? Give me a Fucking Break!

Does Management Exploit Capital? Not Really, Because Labor Creates Wealth

Does Management Exploit Capital?: "If it's true that the CEO community has created a cartel of interlocking insider-dominated boards that conspire to pay executives above their prevailing wage, the people being victimized are not the firm's low level employees but the firm's owners. You'd be looking primarily at a redistribution of wealth from one set of rich people to another set of rich people. "
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I am sure there are plenty of better and more sophisticated Marxist critiques of Yglesias/ view,  but its good to remember,  it is labor that creates value, and thus is the exploited  party.

Quotable from Paul at Café of the Cosmic Dance

Café of the Cosmic Dance: "I am a strong believer in the notion that, although everyone has a right to his or her opinions, not all opinions are created equal. Some opinions are forged of sound logic and a weight of evidence. Some other opinions are forged of logical fallacies and bullshit. Many people believe that differences of opinion never reflect differences of intellect. I disagree. Some opinions are so stupid their owners, if not merely ignorant, must be stupid."

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Things Could Be Different, But Won't Be--David Harvey

The Best Kind of Soldier-A Disobedient One

In honor of Veteran's Day, the trailer for one of my most favorite documentaries. Sir, No Sir!

Obama's Anti-War Promises Kept?

Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com: "Second, the Obama administration has been working for months to persuade, pressure and cajole Iraq to allow U.S. troops to remain in that country beyond the deadline. The reason they’re being withdrawn isn’t because Obama insisted on this, but because he tried — but failed — to get out of this obligation. Again, listen to the White House itself:"

The Status of Forces Agreement between the United States and Iraq expires at the end of the year. Officials had been discussing the possibility of maintaining several thousand U.S. troops to train Iraqi security forces, and the Iraqis wanted troops to stay but would not give them immunity, a key demand of the administration. . . .

“The Iraqis wanted additional troops to stay,” an administration official said. “We said here are the conditions, including immunities. But the Iraqis because of a variety of reasons wanted the troops and didn’t want to give immunity.”

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