The Vertical Pole

Hershey Exploiting Trafficked Labor

I wonder if the antis will say anything about it...

Cutting Union Rights & Exploiting Slave Labor

In this video TheYoungTurks show just how much of a Pig Scott Walker and his masters are by showing how Wisconsin is using prisoners to do the labor while they cut union rights.






On June 24th they did a piece on a study that revealed privately owned prisons were spending TONS on lobbying so they can keep things like marijuana illegal and make money off prisoners.

Slut Walk Speeches To Remember

The first one is by Hugo Schwyzer. In this video he talks about the "myth of male weakness."






The second is a very brave speech by Alana Evans. Here she shares her rape story and the way she was treated by authorities just because she's a sex work.

Shame Culture

What feminist worth their “Sex War” scares has NOT heard of “Raunch Culture?” As Ariel Levy; author of Female Chauvinist Pigs, put it on NPR:

“It's sort of this term I made up to describe what I see is the spread of the values and aesthetics of a “red light” district into mainstream culture....female chauvinist pigs are women who make sex objects of other women and of themselves...the women who really epitomize this are sex workers.”

Well if Ms. Levy; who seems to make a healthy living redirecting blame for female oppression from patriarchy to sex workers, can make up terms then so can I. How's this one...

”Shame Culture.”

“Shame Culture” is the culture of sexual shaming our hetero-patriarchal society has built around us as a tool of social control.



It is homophobia, Don't Ask Don't Tell (which has been repealed but not yet enacted), marriage inequality, same-sex attraction therapy, gay bashing, trans~misogyny and much more.



It is slut~shaming, victim blaming, “Raunch Culture,” anti~porn feminism, porn harms, whore hate, the Swedish model, criminalization of prostitution & talk of women “objectifying THEMSELVES.”



It is the “monogamy is the only acceptable relationship structure” belief and yes I think Mormons should be able to be married to as many people as they want through their church. I think Pagans should be able to practice their polyamory publicly too. Yes, Mormon compounds can be extremely oppressive for women. NEWS FLASH! If they didn't need to HIDE they wouldn't be unprotected on an isolated compound!



It is this RIDICULOUS idea many antis have that all forms of BDSM are oppressive to women (even if there's not a woman involved in the scene...long story) and that anyone who enjoys it is destined to be a serial killer. You know why you only hear about BDSM when someone mentions a serial killer. BECAUSE EVERYONE ELSE INTO BDSM HAS TO HIDE IT!



It is talk of “family values” from politicians trying to get elected & Focus on the family; which should really be called “the nuclear family is the only family and all others must be STOPPED!”



It's abstinence only “education.”



It's every anti~abortion bill that has been introduced this year.



It's every anti~slut walk idiot that just doesn't get it.



It's Gail Dines, Melissa Farley, Donna M. Hugh, Porn Harms,Shelly Lubben and the lies they tell about trafficking.



It's non~secularism.



It's rape because rape isn't about pleasure it's about anger and rape is it's expression.



It's calling every sexual act you don't approve of “rape” even if all parties are consenting.



It's second guessing a woman when she says she does consent to and enjoys being a sex worker.



It's the belief that you can't rape a sex worker.



It's everyone who has a problem with a woman breast feeding her child in peace.



Did I mention Gail Dines?



It is the Achilles heal society imposes on all of us so that if we dare to express a sexuality that is not in lock step with everyone else's our works do not matter, our character does not matter, our courage, honesty and kindness do not matter. NOTHING MATTERS once we step outside of the very small “acceptable sexuality” box and dare to be different.



It's sex work stigma and the categorizing any woman who is a sex worker as nothing more then her job. i.e. “you would date 'a stripper?'”



Now, I know some people have a hard time imagining a society without these constrains so for those who would molest children unless society told them not to...I AM TALKING ABOUT CONSENTING, ADULT, HUMANS. Now take your slippery slop fallacy and go sit in the corner.



“Shame Culture” is all these things and more...and it the reason Anthony Wiener had to resign yesterday amid flashing lights and heckling from some Howard Stern show idiot. Here was a man who broke NO laws. Here was a man who fought for women's rights and planned parenthood tooth and nail. Here was a man the right actually FEARED & because he did something sexual our “Shame Culture” didn't approve of; with consenting, adult females, he had to resign and the entire Democratic Party threw him under the bus.



I guess you could say “Shame Culture” is also the reason I will never again call myself a Democrat because I am so disappointed by the weakness of the Democratic party in general but this Anthony Wiener thing was just the last straw. I'll be damn'd if I'll ever vote for a Republican but the Democrates are just too weak sauce for me and they are part of perpetuating “Shame Culture” too...

and can someone please tell Rachel Maddow it's “sex workers” NOT “hookers!”

(I will probably come back later and add links)

Racist Anti-porn Feminists

UPDATE 6/11/11 iremythpurr has written a blog post responding to this one (which she conveniently does NOT link to.) In it she claims not to be racist and that she would appreciate not being misrepresented. The irony of this statement coming from her is comical because later in the post she says, "She also names former antipornstar youtuber antiquelens as racist without backing it up either." Anyone reading this blog post can clearly see she is lying proving her disingenuousness for what it is.

I came to YouTube on November 23, 2009. Some of the first people I met were the feminists who opposed all forms of sex industry and for this reason I have come to call them “antis.” This is not what I called them at first; however, because at that time I knew nothing about the “Feminist Sex Wars.” I knew nothing about how truly contentious the issue has become and how it has almost completely divided feminism. I only knew that I was the only openly self-identifying feminist that I knew of and I was hungry for a little feminist fellowship. Many that oppose the sex industry say that it's racist and I'm sure in some cases this is true. But I have another story of racism...and this is it.



There were four: NuclearNight, Antiquelens, jedimasterbooboo and DianaBoston. From the beginning things were tense between the YouTube anti-porn feminists and I. I used to be a stripper and my first videos were advice videos for strippers; save your cash, don't self-medicate, etc. Now that I look back I can see how they merely tolerated me; partly thinking that they might show me the light, partly to make an example out of me. They would make condescending remarks about me rooted in politics I didn't quite understand at the time and didn't recognize.



This doesn't mean I didn't stand up for myself when I did see something wrong with their arguments or when they would say things about the sex industry that I knew from experience were just wrong. In fact, NuclearNight (a Marxist feminist); now iremythpurr, went through a phase of reading from The Industrial Vagina by Sheila Jeffreys; usually after a video exchange with me. Now looking back I realize she wasn't doing this just because she liked the book but also to dig at me and paint a picture of some of the things I must have done as a stripper for her subscribers to laugh at. This also marked the beginning of our more heated exchanges. Antis just don't like to be told that they're wrong and; as I have witnessed since, they will offer all sorts of fallacious rationalizations for their squashed assertions when proven wrong.

Jedimasterbooboo; now Aliceinhats/boobootoob, was nice to me for a while and always seemed to skate along the edge of the group but made it clear where her loyalties were when I started challenging the others on their claims. Antiquelens is not on YouTube anymore. That is her story to tell but even though she was vicious and even dehumanizing in her critique of sex workers when my docs were dropped by DianaBoston she was the only one among the antis who stood up for what was right and spoke out against it. I have a feeling; were she here now she would not stand idly by and condone the racist attack I have been on the receiving end of. She does seem to have strong principles when it comes down to it. Even though I don't agree with many of her positions and don't appreciate her venom I do respect her on some level and hope she is doing well.



This brings me to DianaBoston/AuntieDiana1969/SaelPalani/Girlonfilm1969. A self proclaimed: deist, pagan, Caucasian (Jewish/Italian), former “prostituted woman,” radical-socialist feminist, artist and “eccentric” who swears that; though she lives in Canada, the radiation from Fukushima is making her sick. I must specify she is Caucasian/white because it is relevant to this post and the discussion on race relations within feminism in general.

I cover most of the conflict I've had with her in the ONE other blog post I've done mentioning her so I won't go into much detail but I will say this; most of our conflict is a result of me confronting her on her abuse of others in the name of “feminism.” I AM a feminist, a Latin (Mexican/American) woman, former sex worker and current sex worker's rights advocate. Feminism is very important to me and I know it's reputation is in much need of some rehabilitation so when I saw her using it as an excuse for her abusive behavior I just couldn't let it stand unchallenged. I will also mention now that by her own admission she is also suffering from Borderline Personality Disorder and chronic depression; something I try to keep in mind when dealing with her so I do hold back with her quite a bit.



The race based abuse started a few months ago. D0llsnatch; one of her fellow YouTube anti-porn feminists, called me a “chola” in a comment section. For those of you who don't understand this term it is a female, Mexican, gang member of a certain type. I have known cholos/cholas before. They are hard people. One must understand; though, that the conditions of their lives have made many of them have to be hard. Anyone who claims to understand anything about the intersection of class oppression and race oppression should understand this. When taken at face value with no understanding of the conditions of their lives they are often exploited as the stereotype of the Mexican/American woman: violent/impulsive, uneducated, promiscuous with many children at a young age and “low class.”

So let's look for a second at these various stigmatizing qualities.

1. A chola has to be tougher then everyone else because growing up in the barrios of this country can be dangerous especially when getting a cop to come to your neighborhood to actually HELP someone can be like pulling teeth. Many sex workers have told me they were raped by the very cops that tax payers are paying to protect us. This is also the reason many of them join gangs. The price can be high but sometimes that's the only protection there is.

2. Uneducated? Sometimes. But when you look at how much money governments give to inner city schools compared to schools in more well off neighborhoods does it really make sense to degrade someone based on that? Not only that but now with the GOP push to cut so much education funding in order to make a path for charter schools it may just get worse. Is that the fault of an inner city kid whose parents work two sometimes three jobs? Poverty IS oppression and in my opinion it is also a form of violence. Talk about blaming the victim.

3. Promiscuous with many children at a young age: The fact is that many Mexican/Americans are Catholic and if there's one thing the Catholic church doesn't like it's contraception. Comprehensive sex education is hard to come by in the U.S. and don't get me started on “abstinence only” non-education education. I have spoken to so many woman who rely on Planned Parenthood for their reproductive health services that this GOP push to completely defund it is very troubling to me. But let's look at another aspect of this. Oppressed people cling to each other for support and sometimes they place so much hope in the next generation knowing that not all of them will make it. But sometimes; like my mother, they do. She will be the first person on either side of my Latino family to get her doctorate. Oh, if my grandma could see her now.

4. “Low class” How a socialist or a Marxist feminist can insult someone by calling them “low class” is beyond me but that's what I have been called...several times. These people go on and on about oppression and denouncing their “white privilege” but have no problems pulling rank with it when a brown woman gets too out of line. Yes, I am low class. I was not born rich. I was not born white. I am self educated because formal education has always been just out of reach for me. Yes, I am low class and these women obviously think it's one of the many things; along with my skin color, that's wrong with me.

So d0llsnatch called me a “chola” and I confronted her with it and it's racially stereotyping associations and from there it just snowballed into one big brown bashing, anti-porn feminist, racist hatefest. Once she saw that it was something that bothered me the language became more and more frequent and then Diana picked it up...and ran with it.



Diana has been confronted for her transphobia, slut-shaming/whore-bashing, racism against Chinese people and homophobia all while swearing up and down that she's a victim, that people are out to get her and just “stirring up drama.” Of course she blames me for all of it. If some random stranger crosses her she accuses them of being a “div troll” even if I've never seen them before in my life. Every thumb down she gets on her videos she blames on me. Every time she does anything bigoted and hateful and is confronted for it she says it must be my fault in someway. She is obsessed. To date she has made approximately 80 videos about me telling lie after lie and calling me a “whore,” a “cunt” etc. The point is she's quite disturbed. If it were just her I would just chalk it up to one woman's obsession but all her anti friends cheer on her every slut-bashing remarks...and now they've begun cheering on her racism.



Her first all out racist attack came in a three part video she uploaded on another site called i-tube. Even though she claims she uploaded it off of YouTube to keep it from getting “flagged,” given the vile and overtly racist nature of the videos it's pretty safe to assume that she did this to hide from the greater YouTube community that openly frowns on racism. On this site one can “promote” a video to get it more views and that's exactly what iremythpurr did. As if all this weren't bad enough these women seem to have appointed themselves the champions of the poor oppressed women of color of the world. Like many antis they seem more content to champion what they think we need rather then listen to any of us or treat us with respect if we step out of line. In her 30 minute diatribe she continually calls me a “chola,” “fat chola,” and a “fucking Latina bitch.” She also seems to go on and on about how much smarter then me she is that she almost seems like she's trying to convince herself.

Racist attack video 1
Racist attack video 2
Racist attack video 3

If you look at who has been promoting these videos you'll notice there are many other YouTube, anti-porn feminists and their fan boys that seem to share her racist sentiments. Their channels are:
iremythpurr
29harveydinio
Zaimren
LordClydeofOMAR
AngryPunkPixie
DesertLaser
and a few others.


In this video I confront her and iremythpurr on their racism and let them know that NO ONE who would use someone's race as a tool of abuse has any place appointing themselves to speak for them.





Now, if there's anymore confusion about the history of the word “chola” or why the way Diana used it constitutes racism alowlyapprentice made a video addressing these very questions.





I've made just about all I'm going to make of this on YouTube so to close the issue there I put together a little comedy piece to show the antis how ridiculous their perception of my "gangster" behavior really is. I think it also helped to cut some of the awkwardness my subs may have felt to have witnessed this race baiting. Now that I watch it again I think I came off more like a male cholo but oh well. It was funny anyway.





Yes, I've made all I'm going to make of this on YouTube. How fitting that they would chose now to ramp up the racism nice and high. Diana has created a sock account on i-tube called DivsCellulite. On it she has uploaded a video comparing me in a video I did purposely for comedic reasons to Laura Chinchilla Miranda; the first woman president of Costa Rica giving a formal speech. As you can see below.



This video is blatantly racist for a number of reasons.

1. In the beginning she criticizes my use of "Spanglish."

This is a common criticism many Latino-Americans face sometimes even from our own. Many second, third etc. generation Latino-Americans find themselves in a position to have to navigate this gray area of intersection sometimes having to wear a mask to fit into whatever group we may be around. Around other Latinos we may be told that we are not Latino enough. Often it's because; like me, many of us don't know Spanish but for a few English/Spanish hybrid phrases that seem to be the mark of our merging cultures.

This criticism coming from another Latino is one thing because we share the same oppression. Coming from a Caucasian; who seems to using it as a way to abuse and degrade, is quite another. So many people forget that; like Native Americans, we were here first and we too had our land stolen from us. Now, most white people I know understand this and would NEVER mock my culture or ethnicity but these Caucasian, anti-porn feminists are NOT among them. Coming from a Caucasian, mocking my "Spanglish" is like saying "We conquered and raped your people and culturally displaced you to the point that we have FORCED your language to begin to change and now we're going to rub it in your face by mocking you for it." And YES "forced" is correct. In many States there is a great deal of stink made over statements like "Please press ONE for English." And Bills like S.B.1070 are being adopted or introduced in many states including Arizona, Utah and Georgia a.k.a. the "Show me your papers" bill.

2. Ethnic Body Shaming.

Once she shows the clip of me, she takes great pains to call me fat. I'm not a small woman. This I have no problem with but women of different cultures are often body shamed especially concerning differences in our bodies that may be a little more specific to our ethnic backgrounds. Latin women do tend to have more voluptuous bodies. There is also a different dynamic to this I'd like to touch on. It's the body shaming of ethnic women by white women. It harkens back to the Hera complex.

Zues; the Greek sky god and ruler of all other gods, was notorious for not just seducing women behind his wife's back but also rape by deception and rape by force. Rather then hold him accountable for this injustice against women; as any real feminist would, she instead punished the women; sometimes quite cruelly. When I see a racist, white woman body shaming a woman of color I see Hera all over it. Not because interracial relationships are oppressive today but because; historically, interracial rape has been. Desperate to hold their preferred position of wife under that oppressive patriarchal structure; and thus maintain her access to her husbands resources, she was put in a position to have to look at the rape victim as competition. Some women still play that old game, competing for the patriarchal defined preferred female position by abusing other women they view as a potential threat.

3. Assigning Value

But the final racist aspect of this video that I will touch on is this: By putting herself in a position to compare me with President Miranda, this white woman is claiming for herself the authority to assign value to various women of color like an old fashioned slave owner.

A slave owner mentality she seems to have no problem displaying when she thinks I DESERVE it i.e. "when the dumb chola gets out of line it's ok to beat her because she's not being a 'proper' Mexican by my superior white standards." She also seems to take advantage of the fact that society in general is more aware of black oppression then it is of brown oppression. She's displayed every kind of racism outside of outright calling me a "spic" or a "wet back" which can't be far away because she's crossed every other line of human decency concerning race there is.

Just a couple of her racist comments:

This last one was a comment she left under a video a male Marxist feminist named MaoistRebelNews2 made to me and apparently racism is ok with him because only he has the ability to moderate his own thread. I tweeted this post to him in case he missed the racist comment and he still neglected to moderate the racist comment. Guess he's not an ally to women...or Latin women of color at least. And being a member of a minority does not make one immune to racism as I pointed out to him respectfully.

I guess to conclude this I'll say that this idea of "justified" racism is nothing new. This idea of "we're trying to liberate you and if you don't submit to that we are going to show you just how bad things can really be for you" is nothing new. It's nothing new to people of color and it's nothing new to sex workers. The blatant lack of respect these people have seems to be sick throughout much of the movement. While they are trying to impose their ideology on the world and "alter society" the most oppressed among us are suffering NOW! And they need practical help NOW! The only way they will ever get it is if people stop trying to "save" them in the way they think is best for us poor oppressed people and

LISTEN TO US!

Believe it or not we ARE smart enough to know what is best for us. This paternalistic repression is every bit as bad as patriarchal oppression. In fact...BIG SHOCK...they're the same THING! We Latinos have been though so much. We've had our land stolen. We've had our blood stolen and we've had our voice stolen for too long. Making all this known is my own little way of contributing to the fight and I'm not going anywhere. If my grandmother could make it our of poverty in Mexico to a good full life here in the U.S. and raise seven successful children and more grandkids then I care to break my writing flow to figure out then this; what these racist, anti-porn feminists are putting me through, is nothing. I honestly believe that most of them don't really care about us at all. From the way I've been treated and the way I've seen antis treat sex workers and women of color just like me I can't help but believe it. Well, I won't be part of their agenda. I won't let them exploit my oppression and the suffering of MY people; sex workers and Latinos, and turn us into nameless, voiceless poster children whose suffering is profitable for them. I hope to see more women like me speak up about these things. We are the only ones who can liberate us. And we will...someday.

FOR REAL! Michigan GOP Turning On Orphans NOW!?!?!?

As a Michigan Public Radio; an affiliate of NPR, reports:

Foster children in Michigan would use their state-funded clothing allowance only in thrift stores under a plan suggested by State Senator Bruce Caswell.

Caswell says he wants to make sure that state money set aside to buy clothes for foster children and kids of the working poor is actually used for that purpose.

He says they should get "gift cards" to be used only at Salvation Army, Goodwill or other thrift stores.

As Caswell himself puts it:

To this Gilda Jacobs; CEO of the Michigan League for Human Services, had this to say:

First of all, let's talk about what this is NOT about. This is not about me having any problem with second hand clothing. I buy second hand & I never throw cloths away. There is a Goodwill not far from where I live and I ALWAYS take them there.


This is about singling out an already disenfranchised group of CHILDREN for deferential treatment & robbing them of ALL choice in the process. Little choices mean a lot to someone with very little. It's those little things that make a person feel empowered in some way. Besides, people should have the option to NOT buy certain things second hand like underwear and shoes.


Also; as someone who thinks we should pass things like our clothes on, this just serves to stigmatize the buying of second hand clothes even more. Taking all other choices away from orphans turns the buying of second hand clothes INTO a punishment because it's something they HAVE TO do "unlike kids with parents," they will tell themselves.


Lastly, I have a serious problem with the idea of orphans being limited to buying clothes from the Salvation Army. Why? The Salvation Army is notoriously anti-gay. Because of people who run that organization, gay people and same-sex adoption are much less further along in this country then they should be. I wonder how many of those kids would have safe, loving, same-sex parents if organizations like the Salvation Army would welcome themselves into the 21st century.

Wachovia Launders $378.4 BILLION in Drug Money

Un-Fucking BELIEVABLE!

BP Oil Spill ~ One Year Later

Update 7-8-11 Rachel Maddow reveals that the Deepwater Horizon was actually a replacement for a rig that was malfunctioning. That original rig is now sinking off the Coast of Africa. Meanwhile, the GOP declares intentions to drastically cut funding for inspecting Deep water drilling rigs.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ORIGINAL POST

Exactly one year ago today, the Deepwater Horizon exploded in the Gulf Of Mexico killing 11 people, injuring 17 others and setting in motion an environmental catastrophe so enormous it's consequences are too disturbing for many to even think about.

The subsequent oil spill that followed is the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. For three months crude oil oozed into our oceans totaling approximately 4,900,000 barrels of oil; that's 206,000,000 US gallons or 779,000 cubic meters, poisoning our planets delicate ecological balance in ways we are not full capable of predicting. Have we learned anything from this event? We shall see...

First a little BP history:

On March 23, 2005, a fire and explosion occurred at BP's Texas City Refinery in Texas City, Texas, killing 15 workers and injuring more than 170 others. BP was charged with criminal violations of federal environmental laws, and has been subject to lawsuits from the victim's families.

On March 2, 2006 an oil spill was discovered at a pipeline owned by BP Exploration in western Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. About 212,252 US gallons were spilled making it the largest oil spill on Alaska's north slope in history. The pipeline was decommissioned and replaced. In November 2007, BP Exploration, Alaska (BPXA) plead guilty to negligent discharge of oil, a misdemeanor under the federal Clean Water Act and was fined US $20 million.

But those two events; though tragic, are pretty common knowledge. Here's something just came out. September 2008; 17 months BEFORE the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill, there was a previous blowout on a BP owned deep water drilling well in the Caspian Sea. Why isn't this event as well known as the others? Because BP completely hid it from congress and U.S. safety regulators.

A secret memo concerning the blow out reads

"Given the explosive potential, BP was quite fortunate to have been able to evacuate everyone safely and to prevent any gas ignition."

If you would like more history on BP and it's shenanigans you can refer to and earlier blog post of mine: Could There Be Justice Concerning BP

Now to the present:

Mother Jones has a piece called 10 Reasons to Still Be Pissed Off About the BP Disaster. I'm only going to touch on a few points here but it's a great piece which I suggest you read.


1~ BP is gunning to get back to drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. The first deepwater drilling permit to be issued went to (you guessed it) a well half owned by BP. On top of that, they are in negotiations with the U.S. government now to resume drilling at 10 deepwater wells in the Gulf this July.

2~ People are not only sick, some have died. There is actually an entire channel on youtube documenting one woman's struggle to get help for the multitude of health problems she and her former co-workers are now suffering after working to help clean up the beaches.

3~ Harm to sea life since the spill has been severely under reported.

4~ Elected officials have actually been exposed using money that should be going to help cleanup and victims for personal goodies like iPads and SUVs

5~ Congress hasn't changed a single law concerning drilling.

6~ GOP House members want more drilling off all our coasts with less environmental review.

7~ There issuing drilling permits even though the blow out preventers they deep water drilling rigs are STILL using DON'T WORK!

8~ BP is STILL blocking reporters from the beaches in order to keep them from exposing the tar balls washing ashore.

9~ COREXIT; the chemical dispersant used to hide the oil, is still washing up on the beaches.

(Above) Tar balls still line the beaches.

Now let's see who's pockets BP has been lining.

So what has BP or the U.S. government learned about an ounce of prevention?

NOT A DAMNED THING! Not only have they NOT learned...THEY DON'T CARE!

If they cared they wouldn't be issuing drilling permits to rigs using the same faulty blow out preventers.

If they cared they wouldn't be using the money meant to help with clean up and medical care for a bunch of BULLSHIT!

If they cared congress would have changed at least ONE law concerning drilling.

THEY DON'T CARE!

THEY HAVEN'T LEARNED SHIT AND THEY DON'T CARE!

And when there's another blowout they won't care THEN! They won't care until we MAKE them care! This is OUR fault too.

We are...WE THE PEOPLE!

and we the people have been so busy chasing the myth of the American dream they PURPOSELY keep just out of our reach to notice. AND WHEN WE DO notice we are too tired after working our multiple jobs to do anything about it.





Only we can stop this! We have to STOP voting for those who put our interests and safety second to their corporate donations. We have to STOP sticking our heads in the oil soaked sand and pay attention! We have to teach our kids about democracy and what it means to be a citizen of this country...and a patriot!

And most of all we have to let them know NOW that we are mad and we are not going to take it anymore.

This is YOUR children's future on the line.





Years from now when you look at the FUCKED UP state of the world are you going to wonder if things would have been different if you had done something NOW! By then it will be to late.

BE ANGRY!

If not now, WHEN?

Just Gotta Get It Off My Chest

With all the research I've been doing on BP before and after the spill as well as the hold big oil has on our political system I gotta say, I'm depressed. I don't really do blogs on my personal feelings much but the weight of all this is just too much and I don't know who I can share this with or if anyone will even get it or care.

They just shit all over all of us...and all over our political system. What's worse? Our politicians just let them. Obama promised us change! He campaigned on an environmentally friendly platform! Yet only a year after the worst oil disaster this country has ever known they are issuing drilling permits AGAIN! Using the same defective blowout preventers AGAIN! Congress hasn't changed a single GOD DAMNED law to make this shit safer!

Meanwhile ocean life and people are dying and politicians have the blatant, balls out CONTEMPT for the sick and the dying...for the offices they were elected to hold, that they buy SUVs and laptops for themselves with the money!

I WANT TO FUCKING SCREAM!

I just can not BELIEVE all the shit I'm reading! All the shit I'm finding!

On top of it they are declaring financial marshal law in cities HERE! In the United States! Our democracy is a JOKE! I am so beside myself with this feeling of hopelessness that I actually broke down crying at my computer!

THIS HAS TO STOP!

FUCKING OUTRAGED!

Do As I Say~Not As I Do

I have to say I'm at a loss. Rep. Paul Ryan (WI-R) ; Mr. Draconian budget cuts himself, actually collected Social Security until he was 18.

There has been so much focus on the Ryan bill would do to Medicare and Medicaid that Social Security has been largely ignored in all this. According to Campaign For America's Future:

"Ryan would free up Social Security for fast-track cuts by turning it into a regular line budget item. Since Social Security is not part of the general budget, has its own revenue stream, and is forbidden by law from borrowing, it has always been dealt with separately from the rest of the budget. In fact, Ryan had to create a new fast-track process to trigger cuts for Social Security alone, because by law, it is excluded from fast-track reconciliation procedures for the general budget."

Do I need to go there? Yea, I think I will...I bet daddy would be proud.


If you would like to let Ryan's office know of your disapproval of this hypocrisy here's the contact info:

(608)266-1221
vanhollenjb@doj.state.wi.us

Fun Facts For The Pissed Off

Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power. ~Benito Mussolini

1~ExxonMobil made $19 billion in profits in 2009. Exxon not only paid no federal income taxes, it actually received a $156 million rebate from the IRS. Plus, it didn't pay any Federal Taxes.



2~Bank of America made $4.4 billion in profits last year. This was after it received a $1 TRILLION bailout from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department, and a $1.9 billion tax refund from the IRS.



3~General Electric has made $26 billion in profits in the United States over the past five years. It's also received a $4.1 billion tax refund from the IRS. GE has cut a fifth of its American jobs in the past nine years, and is boosting jobs overseas~where tax rates are lower. And where it can continue evading U.S. taxes.



4~Chevron's IRS refund last year totaled $19 million, but its 2009 profits came to a whopping $10 billion.



5~Boeing received a &30 billion contract from the Pentagon to build 179 airborne tankers. It also received a $124 million refund from the IRS.



6~Valero Energy made $68 billion in sales and received a $157 million tax refund check from the IRS. Over the past three years, it has received a $134 million tax break thanks to oil and gas manufacturing tax reduction.



7~Goldman Sachs paid 1.1% of its 2008 income in taxes. Yet it made a profit of $2.3 billion. And guess how much it received from the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury Department? $800 billion.



8~Citigroup profits last year totaled more than $4 billion. But it paid zero dollars in federal income tax, and received a $2.5 trillion bailout from the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury.



9~ConocoPhillip' profits from 2007 through 2009 totaled $16 billion. But it was still awarded $451 million in tax breaks because of the oil and gas manufacturing deduction.



10~Carnival Cruise Lines is apparently getting pretty good business: It's profits over the past five years totaled more than $11 billion. Its federal income tax rate; however, came to just 1.1%.



And how can they get away with this? Well, with all that money to throw at accountants and lawyers is it really any wonder. Wow, imagine how much a single mother of 3 working 3 jobs just to get by could get back form the IRS If she had access to all those resources. Dare to dream.

For more on this click:

HERE

Scott Brown Asks & The Koch Brothers Deliver

Shmoozin with the big guys Scott Brown; Republican of Massachusetts, lays down at his Koch daddies boots and takes a lick.




Did ya catch that:

BROWN: Your support during the election, it meant a ton. It made a difference and I can certainly use it again. Obviously, the –

KOCH: When are you running for the next term?

BROWN: ’12.

KOCH: Oh, okay.

BROWN: I’m in the cycle right now. We’re already banging away.

Wow, I wish I could just ask some Billionaire for money and get it...and get it he did. According to Political Intelligence:

"Shortly after his conversation with Koch, Brown received a $2,500 donation to his campaign fund from Koch Industries through its political action committee, according to campaign finance reports made public yesterday."

What gives greater returns then oil nowadays?

Politicians!

The Paper Coup Is Upon Us

Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power. ~Benito Mussolini

On March 16, 2011, Governor Rick Snyder and the Republican dominated House and Senate of Michigan passed a law. This law stated that if Gov. Snyder declared a financial emergency in any given Michigan city at any given time, he then had the authority to appoint an Emergency Financial Managers (EFM) to take over the town. This EFM has the authority to

"cancel or modify contracts (including with unions) and even to fire the municipality's government."

He basically now has the authority to declare FINANCIAL MARSHAL LAW! And if you think this is one mans insanity, one mans desperate bid for total power think again. As I write this good ol' Scott Walker is trying to seize this power for himself as well. One of Wisconsin's largest law firms; Foley & Lardner, is in the process of drawing up the language now.






So what is this NOT about? As Rachel says "this is not about the budget" as Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio exposes in this video:


(If you would like to watch the full hearing click here.)

Walker claimed before his push to bust the unions that he was doing it for the sake of the budget but SURPRISE! That was bullshit.






So what is this about...really? Well, I know many are going to call me a conspiracy theorist for this but, I think this is a plan that has long been in the works. To understand this we must go back to the Reagan era. Reaganomics/Trickle-down economics is based on a theory that if markets are completely deregulated and the wealthiest untaxed they will reinvest their riches in our country creating jobs. In other words, trust the richest among us to be infinitely generous and ethical. To that all I can say is

SARCASM WARNING: Yea, and the BP oil spill is TOTALLY cleaned up & all those who helped do it have full coverage for all the health problems that resulted from the work. Just ask the P2S workers that are now dying with no help in sight.






Now lets look at the facts. According to Willamette Week's 9 Things The Rich Don't Want You To Know About Taxes, Reaganomics has not only failed but it has almost completely brought economic growth for the middle, working and poverty class of this country to a halt.

"Since 1980, when Reagan won the presidency promising prosperity through tax cuts, the average income of the vast majority—the bottom 90 percent of Americans—has increased a meager $303, or 1 percent. Put another way, for each dollar people in the vast majority made in 1980, in 2008 their income was up to $1.01.

Those at the top did better. The top 1 percent’s average income more than doubled to $1.1 million, according to an analysis of tax data by economists Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez. The really rich, the top one-tenth of 1 percent, each enjoyed almost $4 in 2008 for each dollar in 1980."

Does anybody else feel like they've been scammed?






Is this all a ploy to ruin our economy so corporate puppets like Snyder & Walker have a reason to declare Financial Marshal Law in their states and appoint ANYONE; even those affiliated with major corporation creating a major conflict of interest, dictator of the town? And is it only Republicans? Anyone else notice that President Obama has been oddly quiet about this assault of our Democracy? Is this simply a case of "good cop, bad cop?" I don't know but I do know this; many of those Wallstreet fools that drove our economy into the ground and got bailouts were major contributors to the Obama presidential campaign.

I voted for President Obama. I may do so again even though I live in Texas and a Democratic Presidential vote in this state is worth about as much as an ice maker is to an Eskimo...but I may not. I just know he'd better start showing where his loyalties lie and quick! The Justice Department should be all over this EFM business by now.

I guess we'll see.

~~~~~~~~~~(UPDATE)~~~~~~~~~~



Benton Harbor conflict of interest exposed

Ashton Kutcher Displays His Lack Of Understanding PERFECTLY:

I think Salon said it best.

Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore's "real men don't buy girls" PSAs are filled with stars -- and zero substance

As if filling the very real issue of human trafficking with disinformation & conflations; muddying the issue in the process, wasn't bad enough! Now we have celebrities who barely know what they're talking about making a BIG joke out of the issue!



Beware all who try to tell one of these celebrities they need to go back and do a little homework. As highly respected immigrants & sex workers right's advocate Laura Agustin found out when Mira Sorvino compared her to a holocaust denier, they don't know much about debate either. Ad homs like that serve nothing but their own egos.



Can we have someone who actually cares too much about the victims of trafficking to use the issue as an excuse to self stroke on the field?

PLEASE!

As I found out when I thumbed up their facebook page in order to engage some of their frequenters in debate, their fans can be just as ferocious as they are.



Here's the thing: I was really worried about such celebrity power being thrown behind the disinformationists. Everyday there are new sites popping up making fallacious claims like traffick911 that claimed as many as 100,000 trafficked women and children would be trafficked into the DFW area for the Super Bowl. You won't find much of that propaganda still up though. The site that was sick with it just before the Super Bowl, now seems to be conspicuously absent of it. Must be because the whole thing was exposed as a HOAX!

With all this disinformation and only a handful of sex workers right's advocates to refute it, it's no wonder a girl can get stressed. The good news it, after Ashton & Demi are done with it our work should be a lot easier. Someone please tell the real victims of human trafficking to be patient. The celebrities and politicians should be done making themselves feel better at their expense any day now...



hopefully

For Those Who May Have Forgotten

In the late 90's one woman; Brooksley Born, saw the great financial crisis we are still trying to recover from coming and tried to warn us. Needles to say, no one listened. This is that story. As you watch this keep in mind that

-Bank of America received a $1.9 billion tax refund from the IRS last year, although it made $4.4 billion in profits and received a bailout from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department of nearly $1 trillion.

-Goldman Sachs in 2008 only paid 1.1 percent of its income in taxes even though it earned a profit of $2.3 billion and received an almost $800 billion from the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury Department.

-Citigroup last year made more than $4 billion in profits but paid no federal income taxes. It received a $2.5 trillion bailout from the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury.

Now; with the biggest tax cuts in this countries history at stake, the American people are being asked to sacrifice where the wealthy are not. Some of those wealthy are the very same people and corporations that helped to create this mess.


I have little or no love for Republicans but I am not so foolishly lead by propaganda that I do not see how the Democrats have contributed to this mess.



Timothy Geithner is now the Secretary of the Treasury.

And if Obama was serious about getting this country in order he would put all his weight behind Elizabeth Warren.

How long will "We The People" stand by and watch those who started this crisis get off scott free while Republicans play bad cop and demonize TEACHERS! Well, I've made my decision. Until now I've had my money in a major bank. THAT ENDS THIS WEEK! I will no longer allow these plutocrats to put their grubby hands all over what little money I have! Once that's done I will encourage those around me to do the same.

POWER TO THE PEOPLE!

Watch the full episode. See more FRONTLINE.

Dr. Cornel West Tells It Like It Is Concerning Obama

I've never quite known what to think of Dr. West. I respect him without a doubt, but he has always seemed deliberately wordy to me and I'm an impatient, as blunt as humanly possible kinda woman. I have to say; though, I have gained a new found respect for the man. He had the courage to say what I've been thinking for a while now but people actually pay attention to him.


I voted for Obama. I had so much hope. But, he has proven himself to be no different & I can not claim to be a principled progressive and deny it. What will come of our country? With the village idiots running the right and neo-liberals (rather then liberals) in the lead on the left who knows. If a third party was ever going to have a chance for the presidency in this country, could this be the time?

MRA Gets PWND by Stephen Colbert

I just HAD to blog this. ROFLMAO!

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Difference Makers - Roy Den Hollander
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog Video Archive

Solidarity On April 4th

This April 4th is a day to show solidarity with those who fight for human rights, labor rights, womens rights and anti-war. Please find an event near you and go. It is also on this day in 1968 that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot standing in solidarity with those who fought for the rights of sanitation workers to collectively bargain. In his honor and in the honor of those who continue to fight I made this video.




Thank you Dr. King. We won't let the world forget.

AN SOS FROM JAPAN

Mayor Katsunobu Sakurai has sent out an SOS asking for help. Please watch and spread the word.

The TRUTH about the Tea Party

Despite what some may have you believe, the Boston Tea Party was NOT about defending the desires of large corporations to exploit those smaller then them as the video below will prove.




In honor of those who have taken up the patriots task today I made this video. Enjoy

How has Governor Rick Snyder “reinvented” Michigan?

Watch this video to find out.

Could There Be Justice Concerning BP

According to Reuters:

U.S. prosecutors are considering whether to pursue manslaughter charges against BP managers for decisions made before the explosion on the rig that killed 11 workers and caused the biggest offshore spill in U.S. history, a report from Bloomberg said, citing people familiar with the matter.

A U.S. official said the Department of Justice is investigating possible criminal charges related to the deaths of the workers. These charges could include manslaughter, but the official declined to confirm this was under consideration.

Well, this is interesting. Could it be? Is there really justice in the world? We'll see. I know at times I am cynical when I should be hopeful and hopeful when I should be a cynic but if there is truth to this...THIS...IS...BIG!


Why? Is it just me or does it seem like corporations are holding all the nuts around here? (and I don't mean the nutritious kind) Now, I know that no matter what comes of this corporate personhood will still be intact and we will still have a long way to go but will this be the case that sets a precedent for corporate accountability for lives lost?


See, if someone who is BORN a person kills one person they go to jail or worse BUT if a corporation that enjoys corporate personhood kills thousands slowly via pollution or industrial "accident" they get slapped with a fine and sent on their way. How is this possible you might ask. I think Thom Hartmann may be able to explain it better then I can:





As he said,

"We need to add the word 'natural' before the word person because its absence in the last 150 years has mortally wounded our democracy."

I would add that our democracy is not all that has been mortally wounded. If a corporate person kills someone it's not like we'd be able to put it in jail. All we can do is fine them and to multibillion dollar corporations that's like shooting a rubber band at an elephant.


In the BP explosion 11 workers were killed and 17 were wounded and BP should not be able to get away with that. This company has a long history of poorly enforced and outdated safety standards that have resulted in deaths before as the documentary at the bottom of this post called Frontline:The Spill will show. But what about the OTHER victims of the BP oil spill?


I'm talking specifically about the hundreds of workers hired to help clean up the oil spill that are now coming up with a multitude of health problems. Jennifer Rexford; a former P2S employee, was one of these workers. She opened a channel on YouTube for the purpose of documenting the many health problems she and her former co-workers are now having as well as the hard time they have been having getting any help from insurance companies or the government...and yes this is going on on Obamas watch.




In this video she shows the persistent, excessive and reoccurring boils she has been having on her body.






In this video she shows proof of her medical problems and exposes the endless harassment and intimidation she has be suffering since she decided to speak out.






In this video she takes a walk along the shore in Panama City, FL and show the oil and COREXIT that continue to wash up on the shore there as well as the sea life that have suffered.





I don't know how long her channel will be available. A bulletin on it says that she has been diagnosed with Luikemia and seems to say that she continues to be mocked and harassed. I hope she doesn't even though I know she must be going through a lot. He story and the stories of many like her need to be told.




jmrexford YouTube bulletin from 3-28-11

To those of you who have suffered at the hands of big oil my thoughts are with you. Stay strong and please continue to tell your stories. If you don't...who will?




Frontline: The Spill (Please follow the link below the embed and watch the whole documentary.

Watch the full episode. See more FRONTLINE.

Cynical Anti-chioce Billboard in Chicago Targets Blacks

The south side of Chicago has a new billboard. Anti-choice groups have decided to target black people by using a highly successful black persons image on a billboard meant to dissuade them from getting the procedure...original I know.

You know, this reminds me of the last presidential election when John McCain chose Sarah FAIL-in as a running mate because the GOP thought women where so dense all you had to do was hold someone with a vagina in front of us to gain our support.

Anyway, the slogan reads

"Every 21 minutes, our next possible leader is aborted"

but I think the mostly religious groups that beat the anti-choice drum are more concerned that the next "savior" could be aborted. I find all this ironic because IF Jesus did exist he was probably closer to the Presidents skin tone then most of the images that depict him today show.