Organizing Help wanted, the last article, has our name in it. Can you walk like an Egyptian?
Scott *EGYPTIANS HOLD "FAREWELL FRIDAY" * ** *After President Mubarak refused to step down last night, /Al Jazeera's/ Sherine Tadros, reporting from Tahrir Square <http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/201121125158705862.html>, said people there were hugely disappointed and vowed to take the protests to "a last and final stage." "They're frustrated, they're angry, and they say protests need to go beyond Liberation [Tahrir] Square, to the doorstep of political institutions." * *Indeed, this morning thousands surrounded the Cairo TV/radio station, which has long been controlled by Mubarak. * *Almost the entire corporate mass media got it wrong, announcing that Mubarak was about to step down last night. * *Another bit of misinformation corporate media have put out from the start is too much emphasis on the Egyptian Army protecting protesters. In fact, at least hundreds of protesters have been detained by the Army <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/09/egypt-army-detentions-torture-accused>, many of whom were tortured or are missing. The Army does appear to heed advice (with some reluctance), from Washington, as the USA trains their leaders and supplies them with weapons, and President Obama is likely worried that if the army starts gunning down crowds it will look bad for the Empire-- hence, his caution, while not asking that Mubarak step down as president. Another important factor is that soldiers may not be expected to shoot at their fellow citizens on command, adding to the hesitation from commanders loyal to President Mubarak. * */IPS News/ out of Rome <http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=54439> has a stirring piece this morning on the women's role in the Middle East's democracy movement, bravely marching side by side with the men, and providing inspiring leadership for the revolutions. We highly recommend this piece for essential information that's been overlooked by our mass media. * ** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ** ** ** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE * ** *The federal government's first-ever comprehensive Veteran Homelessness <http://www.hudhre.info/documents/2009AHARVeteransReport.pdf> study shows that veterans are 50 percent more likely to become homeless than other Americans. Additionally, minority veterans have an even greater chance of ending up on the streets or in homeless shelters. * *The mass media commercials romanticize military service to lure our young to profitable wars on behalf of our ruling Forces of Greed <http://members.cox.net/libertyuv/FOG.htm> and their National Security State <http://members.cox.net/libertyuv/NatSec.htm>.* ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **When Bernie Sanders was on the House Banking Committee under the chairmanship of the wonderful progressive, Henry Gonzalez, he would drill Chairman of the Fed Alan Greenspan like no other Congressman. He would ask, "How can you sleep at night raising interest rates just when people start to get jobs? How can you drive down wages and any hope for the working class, just to benefit millionaires like yourself?" Greenspan would twist his face in befuddlement, pretending not to understand, as was his job in maintaining the plutocratic oligarchy. The last Senator of Bernie's character was Paul Wellstone, and it appears the public interest is only allowed one representative at a time in the Senate. Wellstone was known as "the conscience of the Senate," likely because the others haven't got much of one. Bernie is proud to identify himself as a socialist, which adds a second opinion in the Senate, where the other 99 identify as mostly laissez faire capitalists. This does not dissuade Bernie from standing for higher principles than his colleagues, who would wrench the last crust of bread from the trembling hand of a starving child to give to their backers-- the ruling defense cheats, polluters and banksters --Jack ** Organizing Help Wanted <http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/02/10-0> We must defend America's middle class before millionaires and billionaires own the entire country. *by Bernie Sanders* ** ** ** *There is a war going on in this country and I am not referring to the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan. I am referring to the war waged by the wealthiest people in America on the disappearing and shrinking middle class of our country. The nation's billionaires are on the warpath. They want more, more, more. Their greed has no end and they are apparently unconcerned for the future of this country if it gets in the way of their accumulation of power and wealth.* ** *On the floor of the Senate, we discuss a lot of things. But one thing we fail to talk about is who is winning in this economy and who is losing, and what that means for parents struggling to survive while working longer hours with lower wages, and worrying about whether their children will have the same kind of standard of living they have.* ** *Right now, the top 1 percent controls more than 23 percent of all income earned in America. The top 1 percent controls more than the bottom 50 percent. It's not only that the rich are getting richer. The very, very rich are getting richer. In the last 25 years, we have seen 80 percent of all new income going to the top 1 percent.* ** *On top of all this, while the millionaires get richer and there are more and more billionaires, as a result of the /Citizens United/ decision, what we are beginning to see in elections is unbelievable---a group of billionaires getting together and deciding where they are going to spend their money. Billionaires are going to flood states with all kinds of negative, dishonest ads in an effort to defeat people defending the middle class and to elect people who will stand up for right-wing billionaires.* ** *The Republicans' goal---and to their credit, they have been pretty honest about it---is to bring this country back to where we were in the 1920s. All of the progressive legislation that started with FDR is on the chopping block. Despite the great successes of Social Security over the last 75 years, despite the fact that Social Security today has a $2.6 trillion surplus, they are targeting Social Security. They are targeting Medicare. In Arizona today, people on Medicaid who need transplants are no longer able to get them---that is a real death panel.* ** *Right now, according to a number of studies, we are losing about $100 billion every year because corporate America and the very wealthy are stashing their money in tax havens like the Cayman Islands and Bermuda. We should be aware that in 2009, ExxonMobil made $19 billion in profits and not only did the company not pay anything in taxes, it got a $106 million refund from the IRS. We should also be aware that since 1997, we have almost tripled funding for the military. So if we are serious about reducing the deficit, those are things we need to look at---not at Social Security, not programs everyday Americans need.* ** *Our job now is to rally Americans to put pressure on a handful of Republicans---to tell them, go into your hearts, talk to your constituents and tell me if it is appropriate to hold hostage the future of this country for an agenda that benefits only the very rich.* ** *If we act, we can win this fight. It is crucial that we do, because if we don't---if they roll over us now---there is no stopping them. It is time we organize.* ** *Your help is wanted. * **http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/02/10-0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *If you wish to be removed from this list, please let us know* ** *To join the Liberty Underground news service email [email protected] "join" for a subject* ** *You may also join our talk group athttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/libertyundergroundtalk/ <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/libertyundergroundtalk/>if you would like to participate* ** *email: [email protected]* ** *Tell your friends about /LUV News/ because some people just don't get it* [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[email protected]?subject=laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
