UKRAINIAN PERSPECTIVES AND BEYOND........

A good friend sent me this short  poignant comment about the situation in Ukraine, and how a Palestinian looks at it.

Oh my God !!! It is a truly scary situation. I can certainly empathize with the Ukrainian people. And, Ukraine is in grave danger of becoming yet another "Palestine": IF, yes IF Russia occupies Ukraine for 74 years, conducts genocide and ethnic cleansing of 80% of the Ukrainian population, destroys 535 Ukrainian towns and villages, prevents Ukrainian refugees from ever returning to their homeland (against UN Resolution 194), builds 250 colonial settlements, and establishes an apartheid regime.

But, please don't fret too much. Please calm down. No one expects more than "a fraction" of that to actually happen in Ukraine. Remember that Zelensky is a comedian and Putin is bound to finally give up and smile. Please, just relax and take it easy, like us Palestinians who have endured an Ultra-Form of Occupation for 74 years and counting.                 Signed Awad.

I will continue, by copying this quick short article, by Robert Reich, complimenting and describing the situation from a Western and American point of view, Mr. Reich is a leading political analyst in the U.S and international arena.

We must do what we can to contain Vladimir Putin’s aggression in Ukraine. But we also need to be clear-eyed about it, and face the costs. As I’ve said before, economics can’t be separated from politics, and neither can be separated from history. Here are eight sobering realities:

1. Will the economic sanctions now being put into effect stop Putin from seeking to take over Ukraine? No. They will complicate Russia’s global financial transactions but they will not cripple the Russian economy. After Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014, the U.S. and its allies imposed economic sanctions which slowed the Russian economy temporarily, but Russia soon rebounded. Since then, Russia has taken steps to lessen its reliance on foreign debt and investment, which means that similar sanctions will have less effect. In addition, the rise of crypto currencies and other digital assets allow Russia to bypass bank transfers, which are the control points for sanctions. Bottom line: The sanctions already imposed or threatened could reduce Russia’s gross domestic product, but only by a few percentage points.

2. What sort of sanctions would seriously damage Russia? Sanctions on Russia’s enormous oil and gas exports could cause substantial harm. Russia produces 10 million barrels of oil a day, which is about 10 percent of global demand. It ranks third in world oil production (behind the United States and Saudi Arabia). It ranks second in natural gas (behind the United States), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

3. Then why not impose sanctions on them? Because that would seriously harm consumers in Europe and the US — pushing up energy prices and worsening inflation (now running at 7.5 percent annually in the US, a 40-year high). Although the US imports very little Russian oil or natural gas, oil and natural gas markets are global — which means shortages that push up prices in one part of the world will have similar effects elsewhere. The price of oil in the US is already approaching $100 a barrel, up from about $65 a year ago. The price of gas at the pump is averaging $3.53 a gallon, according to AAA. For most Americans, that gas-pump price is the single most important indicator of inflation, not just because they fuel their cars with gas but because the cost is emblazoned in big numbers outside every gas station in America. (The biggest beneficiaries of these price increases, by the way: Energy companies like Halliburton, Occidental Petroleum and Schlumberger, which are now leading the S&P 500. Anyone in favor of putting a windfall profits tax on them?)

4. Will stronger sanctions weaken Putin’s control over Russia? Possibly. But they could also have the opposite effect — enabling Putin to fuel Russia’s suspicions toward the West and stir up even more Russian nationalism. The harshest U.S. measures would cause the average Russian to pay higher prices for food and clothing or devalue pensions and savings accounts because of a crash in the ruble or Russian markets, but these might be seen as necessary sacrifices that rally Russians around Putin.

5. Any other foreign policy consequences we should be watching? In a word: China. Russia’s concern about the West has already led to a rapprochement with China. A strong alliance between the two most powerful world autocracies could be worrisome.

6. What about domestic politics here in the US? Foreign policy crises tend to drive domestic policy off the headlines, and weaken reform movements. Putin’s aggression in Ukraine has already quieted conversations in America about voting rights, filibuster reform, and Build Back Better — at least for now. Large-scale war, if it ever comes to this, deadens reform. World War I brought the progressive era to a halt. World War II ended FDR’s New Deal. The Vietnam War stopped Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society.

Wars and the threat of wars also legitimate huge military expenditures and giant military bureaucracies. America is already spending $776 billion a year on the military, a sum greater than the next ten giant military powers (including Russia and China) together. Wars also create fat profits for big corporations in war industries.

The possibility of war also distracts the public from failures of domestic politics, as the Spanish-American War did for President William McKinley and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq did for George W. Bush. (Hopefully, Biden’s advisors aren’t thinking this way.)

7. Could the sanctions lead to real war between Russia and the West? Unlikely. Americans don’t want Americans to die in order to protect Ukraine (most Americans don’t even know where Ukraine is, let alone our national interest in protecting it). And neither Russia nor the US wants to be annihilated in a nuclear holocaust.

But international crises such as this one always run the risk of getting out of hand. Russia and the US have giant stockpiles of nuclear weapons. What if one is set off accidentally? More likely: What if Russia cyberattacks the US, causing massive damage to US utilities, communications, banks, hospitals, and transportation networks here? What if Russian troops threaten NATO members along Ukraine’s borders? Under these conditions, might the US be willing to commit ground troops?

Those who have fought ground and air wars know war is hell. Subsequent generations tend to forget. By the eve of World War I, many in America and Britain spoke of the glories of large-scale warfare because so few remembered actual warfare. Today, most Americans have no direct experience of war. Afghanistan and Iraq were abstractions for most of us. Vietnam has faded from our collective memory.

8. What is Putin really after? Not just keeping Ukraine out of NATO, because NATO itself isn’t Putin’s biggest worry. After all, Hungary and Poland are NATO members but are governed in ways that resemble Russia more than Western democracies. Putin’s real fear is liberal democracy, which poses a direct threat to authoritarian “strongmen” like him (just as it did to Donald Trump). Putin wants to keep liberal democracy far away from Russia. Yet for nearly two centuries, Ukraine has been the leading edge of Western ideology and culture in the face of a reactionary Russia.

Putin’s means of keeping Western liberal democracy at bay isn’t just to invade Ukraine, of course. It’s also to stoke division inside the West by fueling racist nationalism in Western Europe and the United States. In this, Trump and Trumpism continue to be Putin’s most important ally.

As  always, my many thanks to all! Stay safe and well

IT SOUNDS GOOD !!! WHY IS THE OTHER SIDE TOTALLY AGAINST IT ???

 

Dear Mr. Dabbagh , 

As we begin the New Year, I want to take a moment to reflect on the remarkable progress we made in 2021 as a community, a Commonwealth, and a country. 

Despite the unprecedented challenges facing our society and our economy, President Biden’s first year in office has left our nation stronger and more resilient than before. Thanks to the bold actions taken by Congress and the Biden Administration, our economy is roaring back to life, and we are positioned to continue that growth this year.

President Biden and the Democratic Congress have led the United States to a stronger economic recovery than virtually any advanced economy on earth, making us the only nation in the G7 with a larger economy now than we had prior to the beginning of the pandemic.

Thanks to the landmark American Rescue Plan, which my colleagues in Congress and I worked hard to pass quickly in early 2021, American businesses and employees have jumped into action and laid the groundwork for a booming economic recovery. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, signed in November, builds on that foundation by creating millions of good-paying jobs modernizing and improving infrastructure around the country.

Here are some of the economic successes we can all be proud of as we head into the New Year.

This last year has brought nearly unprecedented gross domestic product (GDP) and profit growth. While the GDP saw negative growth in Donald Trump’s last year in office, President Biden’s first year saw it jump 5.5%, largely due to the American Rescue Plan and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Our nation’s businesses have outperformed the global market by over six points and hit the lowest debt ratios in recorded history. American companies saw 15% profit increases, and the U.S. dollar has strengthened 7.4% in international trade. The stock market is growing. We are creating manufacturing jobs and increasing payrolls. Businesses are more productive than they have been in decades.

More than 6 million new jobs were created last year, more than double the number created during President Trump’s first year in office, and unemployment has decreased from over 6% to just over 4%. In Virginia, the unemployment rate decreased from 5.6% to only 3.4%. Before we passed the American Rescue Plan, experts did not expect us to reach that benchmark until 2025.

Furthermore, unemployment claims have decreased to the lowest level since 1969. At the beginning of the year, over 18 million Americans were receiving unemployment benefits. Thanks to the jobs we have worked to create, that has decreased to 2 million.

Perhaps one of the most significant reasons we have been able to make these crucial gains is the success of our effort to get Americans vaccinated. When Democrats passed the American Rescue Plan, we provided funding for an historic vaccine rollout that has put nearly 500 million shots in arms. This massive effort has saved over a million lives and prevented over 10 million hospitalizations.

More than 71% of American adults are fully vaccinated, at least 85% of adults have had their first shot, and we have conducted groundbreaking research that has led to vaccine availability for children, keeping Americans of all ages safer. Nearly two thirds of all children aged 12-17 have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and children between the ages of 5 and 11 are starting to get their shots. This past January, only 46% of schools were open. Due to Democratic efforts to mitigate and prevent infections, we have increased that number to 99%.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will create and save a total of 15 million jobs building and restoring our nation’s outdated infrastructure. Rebuilding bridges, roads, and mass transit, we will create the infrastructure we need to keep our economy competitive. In Northern Virginia, this also means $245 million for our airports and part of the $66 billion allocated to Amtrak and other railroad improvement projects. I am personally proud that provisions of my legislation to reauthorize federal funding for Metro were included in this bill, as thousands of my constituents depend on Metro every day.

Virginia will receive $7 billion for highway restoration and $537 million for bridge replacement and repairs. We will also see millions to build charging stations across the Commonwealth for electric vehicles, protecting our environment by lowering carbon emissions. In a time when telework and quarantines are necessities, there is no excuse not to expand broadband internet access. This legislation will extend broadband access to the 473,000 Virginians who need it.

It is true that inflation has risen recently and that the pandemic exposed weak links in our global supply. In response, President Biden worked to resolve these supply chain issues, slashing the number of shipping containers stuck in ports for over a week by half. Since his efforts in early November, store shelves have remained stocked for the holiday season. And while inflation may have risen, experts and executives alike agree that this is likely a temporary phenomenon. Trust in the Federal Reserve is high, and all indicators show a strong belief that prices will even out soon.

Employed Americans’ disposable income has increased as well, with the average American having about $100 more every month than they did last year, even accounting for inflation.

We have accomplished a tremendous amount, and we don’t plan to stop now. I plan to keep fighting for the Build Back Better Act to expand the Child Tax Credit, which has cut the child poverty rate nearly in half. This bill will help us fight climate change, lower prescription drug prices, and establish universal pre-K education for all Americans. I am proud to work towards these causes for you.

There is much to do this year. I’m ready to get to work.

Please continue to take care of yourselves and each other and remember that my office is here to help. If you have any questions or concerns, or if you need assistance, please don’t hesitate to call us at (703) 256-3071.

Sincerely,

Gerald E. Connolly Member of Congress As always, my many thanks to all, stay safe and well.

AN APARTHEID ENTITY !!!!

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FEBRUARY 9, 2022

Israel, an Apartheid Nation? Of Course!

BY MELVIN GOODMAN

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Photograph Source: eddiedangerous – CC BY 2.0

Israel dismisses charges of “apartheid against Palestinians” as anti-Semitic propaganda, and the United States has been an enabler of Israeli racism over the years with its hands-off attitudes toward the inhumanity of Israeli actions on the West Bank and Gaza.  But the tragic death of an elderly Palestinian-American on the West Bank last month highlights the worst aspects of Israeli policy.  The nature of the death, directly due to Israeli brutality and negligence, amounts to manslaughter.  The outrageously tepid response from the Israeli military’s central command tells us everything we need to know about Israel’s unconscionable occupation policy.

First of all, let’s deal with the issue of Israel as an apartheid nation, which Israeli information policy strongly denies.  When serious human rights violations are committed by one racial group to maintain a system of prolonged oppression of another racial group, as in South Africa from the 1940s to the 1990s, international law refers to this as a crime against humanity or a policy of apartheid.  South Africa’s apartheid sparked intense international and domestic opposition to that country.  This hasn’t been the case with regard to Israel. Nevertheless, the fifty-years of apartheid in South Africa is echoed by the fifty-year period in Israel, starting with the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza in the wake of the Six-Day War in 1967.

The circumstances of the death of Omar Abdelmajed Assad are dispositive.  The man’s village was being patrolled by the Netzah Yehuda battalion, which is manned by Ultra-Orthodox Jews, the most racist element in Israeli society.  Placing any members of an Ultra-Orthodox community in a policing role virtually guarantees that crimes will be committed against Palestinians.  The Israeli human rights organization, B’Tselem, has fully documented the crimes in the occupied areas and has condemned Israeli military investigations of the killing of Palestinians as whitewashing.

The Israeli investigation of this particular incident was far worse than a whitewash; it was unconscionable.  The pathetic nature of the punishment of the battalion, which involved letters of reprimand and a temporary removal of command for the leaders of the battalion, is particularly ugly.  The investigation, moreover, stated that the soldiers used no violence “apart from when Assad was apprehended after refusing to cooperate.”  Eyewitnesses, however, stated that Assad was “severely beaten” and “subjected  to harsh treatment and violence.”  An autopsy established there was a traumatic brain injury as well as internal bleeding in Assad’s eyelids as a result of being tightly blindfolded.  Imagine the consequences if the battalion had inflicted similar punishment on an elderly Jew who simply could not produce identification.

Israeli policy toward Gaza has become far worse, involving relentless and repetitive attacks on innocent civilians since Israel’s disengagement from Gaza in 2005.  In addition to using overwhelming and immoral military force against the Palestinians in Gaza, Israel has limited their use of electricity; forces sewage to be dumped into the sea; makes sure that water remains undrinkable; and ensures fuel shortages that cause sanitation plants to be shut down.  Former President Benjamin Netanyahu and now President Naftali Bennett have maintained policies of enforced desperation among the innocent civilians who live in these conditions.

Gaza is essentially an outdoor prison, and a comparison with the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II would not be far-fetched. Both Gaza and the Warsaw Ghetto point to the inhumanity of man.  Living in such conditions might lead any human being to consider violent resistance as the only recourse.

B’Tselem issued a report last year that documented the violence of Israeli settler’s on the West Bank against Palestinians as well as the misappropriation of land.  Over the years, Israel has built more than 280 settlements in the West Bank, now home to over 450,000 settlers.  More than half of these settlements are outposts—the Israelis refer to them as “farms”—that are not officially recognized by the government.  There are two tracks: the Israeli government takes the land openly, using “official” methods sanctioned by judges; the settlers, however, simply resort to violence against Palestinians.  In Track One, the Israelis expropriate these lands by issuing military orders, declaring an area a “state land,” a “firing zone,” or a “nature reserve.”  In Track Two, regular acts of violence include attacks on Palestinians and their property.  Actually, we are dealing with a single track because the Israeli government fully supports and assists the acts of violence, witness the killing of Assad.

Israelis are particularly sensitive to the apartheid analogy that links them to South Africa, but the “system of controls” in the West Bank and Gaza are comparable to the Bantustans established in South Africa.  The settler colonialism in the occupied territories with its ID system, military checkpoints, and inequities in infrastructure is familiar to students of South African apartheid.  The Israeli argument against the apartheid analogy is particularly feckless, emphasizing that occupied territories are not part of sovereign Israel and are governed by the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas government in Gaza.

Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and B’Tselem believe the “bar for labeling the Israeli regime as apartheid has been met.”  I certainly agree.  But the Wall Street Journal and CNN treat these charges as excessively critical of Israel.

There is no sign that the Bennett government will do anything to stop the violence against the Palestinians or the seizure of Palestinian lands.  The United States, meanwhile, does nothing to put any pressure on Israel.  The Biden administration recently held back $130 million in military aid to Egypt because of violations of human rights. Democratic lawmakers favor ending support to Saudi Arabia’s air force because of the killing of innocent civilians. Is it too much to ask the Biden administration to take similar steps against Israel, which receives more military aid from the United States than any other nation in the world?

Melvin A. Goodman is a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy and a professor of government at Johns Hopkins University.  A former CIA analyst, Goodman is the author of Failure of Intelligence: The Decline and Fall of the CIA and National Insecurity: The Cost of American Militarism. and A Whistleblower at the CIA. His most recent books are “American Carnage: The Wars of Donald Trump” (Opus Publishing, 2019) and “Containing the National Security State” (Opus Publishing, 2021). Goodman is the national security columnist for counterpunch.org.

A good and very factual description of the sad situation reigning in the Palestinian territories, even in our twenty first century, barbarism, colonialism and apartheid are fully tolerated, only for some unfortunately.  My usual many thanks to all for their time.

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A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER ....

 

From the many closely watched cases that shape daily life in the U.S., one is particularly alarming; Americans are very strongly split along what they perceive as ideological lines, especially so in recent years, on abortion, on guns control, labor unions, wealth distribution and taxation, corporate regulation, gerrymandering and fixing electoral districts, campaign finance and voting rights, even on social benefits and affordable health care for all, as well as spending on renewing our infrastructure and public buildings. another front line victim is our democracy, it is no exaggeration to say that the past few years showed us we are in immediate danger of losing sane democracy. One point they are all agreeable on though, is military budgets and military armament spending and wars. 

Some other points now are emerging and becoming important dividing issues, like personal liberties and the limits set on them, exactly as it's happening with the Covid mandates and vaccination requirements, and more so the whole guns and arms issue, where a Kyle Rittenhouse who shot and killed 3 people with a lethal machine gun during some protest gathering, was acquitted on some funny grounds and a law only applied in some areas and few States. 

One side likes to behave in ways compatible with white male Evangelical supremacy, and extreme right wing, while officially denying it. The other side prefer to call themselves progressive and liberal and look at all Americans as one, regardless of race, gender, religion or ethnicity, they are of course automatically labelled socialists and communists. But both sides are very entrenched and dug in their ideas and pseudo ideologies. 

These differences are rendering life more difficult in general, and civility is quickly vanishing, paralyzing politics, legislating and governing, even inciting violence to enhance specific results. Interfering grossly in all aspects of civilized daily life, as the appointment of judges at all levels of the judiciary system, especially the supreme court. 

The armed forces, until now, are spared these ideological divides, but it's coming, as it found its way already with other forces like local police, FBI, and other agencies and departments. The same divide is infiltrating slowly and surely to all Federal and State agencies. It is reaching alarming stages. 

As we all look at, understand and interpret scientific data, regarding essential issues like climate change, rising sea levels, a clear transition to a clean energy economy, health threats and costs and major pandemics, education curriculum, they are all being interpreted with the same partisan divide and its proponents are accusing the others of treason and blasphemy. 

Is it the beginning of the end for a great nation and a leading super power?? By the looks of it, it's coming fast, and it is not a good prospect for our common future, nor our planet's future. Not good when  only dirty tricks and nasty tactics and violence are openly admitted and applied to win the game. Winning is becoming a goal in itself and on its own, regardless of the price the entire country, its people and the world end up paying. 

   As always, my profound thanks to all my good readers, stay safe and well.                              

PROTECTING OR KILLING AN ELECTION YEAR .....

 

This week's shameful display in the U.S Senate, is one of the worst in many decades and will surely have long term consequences for every coming election. Jointly every Republican Senate member, joined by two very obstructionist and traitors to their party and president Democrats, voted to uphold an old piece of legislation called filibuster, it is a rule that has been used by minority parties to block and delay any legislation i.e. gun control, elections and anti voters games, and racial issues. 

The two Democrat Senators, Manchin of West Virginia and Sinema of Arizona have given the green light and a clear  signal to the far-right anti Democracy extremism that have besieged American democracy for the past year. The sad fact is, the political and financial forces behind anti voter laws, gerrymandered maps, and attempts at outright election sabotage and denial of loss results, will be emboldened by these senators and their Republican colleagues, they are deliberately taking their disgusting political schemes to new lows for this year's elections and future elections as well. 

Meanwhile, in Texas, record numbers of voters are having their registrations rejected under the State's newly introduced ultra strict rules. Even as the State stubbornly refuses to implement secure on line voter registration. Now the State says they're running out of papers registration forms. Florida with its aspiring fascist Governor is asking for special forces or a specialized militia to regulate and observe the entire election process. Missouri Republicans are debating whether to draw a new legislative map that will favor a majority of Republican seats, while trying to fit all of the Democratic seats and their voters into a single ultra-packed district. More than 500 similar piece of legislation are being passed in all Republican controlled States. 

Sadly, this could be just the tip of the iceberg, many more new bills are set to take place, all in one direction, restrict voting power to mostly minorities and people of color. Of course not all Americans agree or approve of these restrictions favoring strictly white supremacy and white male Evangelical conservatism. Democracy is facing unprecedented threats, even when all these legislators knowingly see the veer into fascism. They believe its  their fascist legal era, their right, and their role to secure it. 

This new Republican strategy, under the auspices of the former president, Donald Trump, and his oligarchy and family, are willing to suppress and silence voters in order to secure their winning, and overturn election results that didn't go their way, they've turned repeated Trump's big lies about the 2020 elections into a litmus test, and an entire strategy for the 2022 elections. They have built bigger and more affluent, dangerous on line disinformation networks. they have passed many negative legislations and put many voting stations directly under their control. 

Make no mistake, this year elections will decide the fate of democracy in this country as we know it. and we will deliberately and purposely join the Somalias and afghanistans of the world. It was surely devastating to see 52 (50Republicans+2 pseudo Dem.) choose to uphold an archaic outdated rule, one used strictly to impede and obstruct civil and voting rights, over preventing American democracy from backsliding into ugly forms of totalitarianism and authoritarianism. 

Every American should resist the attempts to destroy what the country upheld for centuries, and to insure that the citizen's rights, all the citizens, are protected and preserved. 

As always, my many thanks to all, stay safe and well.                             

A GOOD AND FACTUAL OPINION .....

 

It’s Starting to Look a Lot Like Treason

Nadin Brzezinski

Dec 20, 2021·3 min read

By Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America — Donald Trump, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=95662264

It’s the time of the year to celebrate in the winter holidays. However, at this time of good cheer and be merry, we are getting confirmation of what many of us suspected. January 6 was treason, and not just because I like the sound of the word. In the very technical sense, it was an attempt to overthrow the government.

I suspected it, from word go. Why? Who was present at the Trump hotel the previous night, and the tours given by representatives. The language used by many Republicans and the refusal to go along into an investigation made this transparent.

Now we got receipts.

The question is what to do with this information at this point?

In an ideal situation, Republican leadership would do more than obstruct, instead, they put their fingers in their ears, and go la, la, la. They would not continue to write fan fiction and misrepresent what happened in far-right, so-called news, spaces. Fox News is hardly alone and should change their name to Fox Fan Fiction at this point.

However, there is a strong minority of the country that is ready for the lies. This is because they want an end to American democracy. They claim otherwise, but democracy demands we allow minorities to vote freely. These are the same people who desire to stop this. This is why electoral laws are shaped to add as many obstacles as possible. This is why cities are centers of degeneracy and electoral fraud in their fevered imagination.

This is why they recoil at critical race theory, a product of law school, and not taught in k-12, no matter what they tell you. The mere idea that we must re-examine American history through a lens of race relations sends them recoiling. Why? This is ideology, that presupposes all that is good with the country is white and Christian. It is an extremely nativist and provincial ideology, that happens to intersect with a global far-right (white supremacy) movement.

This far-right movement feels under threat as people of color secure political power around the world. They also know that they are no longer dominant, partly due to patterns of migration. One explanation for this is a Jewish plot to replace whites, control the media and business, and of course blood libel. All this is recycled antisemitic tropes Donald Trump is part of this, not exceptional.

What we saw on J6 was treason.

I am not going to sugarcoat it.

This was about keeping a white supremacist in power, and not recognizing the democratic process. There were members of Congress who were part of this. There were members of the cabinet or former members of the cabinet who were involved as well.

I am willing to bet that the former president and his family were up to their necks in this. I have suspected this from the beginning.

The question is will the Justice Department act? Going after foot soldiers is always easy. A former president, cabinet members, and members of Congress get a little more tricky. It is eminently political for starters because this DoJ is Democratic. So yes, this will become political in certain spaces. In fact, it already is.

My, as always, many thanks to all, stay safe and well....

A NEW YEAR, A NEW UNDERSTANDING.....

When one is on top of the world, one can afford to be incoherent even weird, and perpetuating lies. Are we discouraged by what is happening in America right now ?? rest assured that it's all by design. And no it's not by Devine design, not even by anyone single religious grouping or religious sect, but there are forces working hard to undermine our democracy, as well as many others around the world, polluting the planet, stoking hatred and planting doubt, and counting seriously on everyone of us to give-up hope. It's easier and more efficient to hit the head or the more influential entity and country and then move to the weaker. And that's exactly what's happening and taking place here in the U.S. 

They want us to believe that the government is always the problem, and never the solution. That the massive wealth gap between the richest one or two percent billionaires and the rest of the population is normal, even healthy, they use prefabricated answers like "these rich people and corporations are the creators of jobs and well being, and good for the economy, so let's cut their taxes, even when they enslave people and millions of workers with barely livable wages." While they amass huge power and colossal fortunes. All a natural extension of "free capitalism, and total lessez fair mentality. Well it's wrong and a big lie.    

They are trying to divide us, from our closest families and friends, even from our neighbors, they are stoking fear by telling us a false story and a big lie of America in which we were perfect from the beginning, and great all the way, while leaving out unpleasant truths about original annihilation of entire populations of natives, ignoring all about slavery, even denying it totally, about colonization and colonialism, racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, and huge inequality in everything. Even today some aspects of our foreign policies, and our allies and pseudo partner's adventurism all indicate that we are still at it big time when we get a chance. 

Our total fear and our total dismissal of certain modern concepts, like social benefits, health for all, education for all, rebuilding our public structures, schools and airports, strengthening our social securities for all needy and elderly retired citizens. all these and others fall under few satanic descriptions;  socialism, communism, dictatorship, lack of absolute freedom, even the freedom to kill under certain excuses and accommodating laws. We are continuously being brainwashed, and that goes to all ages and strata of the population, and lately to some horrific degrees. Terrifying the masses and planting despair. 

Instead of making it our mission, as the most prosperous nation in history, to remedy inequality, and inform millions of Americans and billions globally about our true history, and our current realities, fight together world wide pandemics and what we can all of us do about it, pointing away from despair and apathy, and petty disputes, apartheid and colonialism where they still exist, but looking forward toward hope, dignity, and making sure that change to a better and more stable future are possible and reachable. Because it is possible and doable, and it always has been. 

Why are our politicians willing to pass with no questions, a 780 billion$ annual budget for the Pentagon, while refusing to even fully discuss less than double that amount for over a 10 years period to revive our infrastructure and some other social benefits. Or crying and denouncing a labor shortage, while it doesn't exist, we are living in our lowest unemployment era in decades, but totally ignoring there's a shortage of decent jobs willing to pay workers a descent living wage. Or ignoring that open gun ownership and carry policies are behind the country's most and ugliest mass killings epidemic, The numbers are frightening . 

We have to start seriously analyzing how far we've come and how far we still have to go. And I'm talking about America, admitting that the same type of problems exist and plague many parts of the world. We all have to respond quickly. The first couple decades of our 21st century were strange and a bit apocalyptic, things are generally going to the worse, we need, all of us to stop, rethink, and consider restarting and doing the work of the 21st century and beyond. 

Thanks to all my good readers, wishing you all a good and calm year ahead, stay safe and well.