Irritating Times, Secret Warriors, And Some Ideas
August 4th, 2011
This is very strange but it has become very hard for me to concentrate for extended periods. I also am finding it hard to work on a project with the TV in the background which for most of my life has never been a problem. It is the medications I am on. They are not the correct ones due to the Medicare donut- hole effect. The donut hole for those of you not on Medicare is the limit Medicare will pay for medications every year about $2850. Since President Bush and Obama have both told the pharmaceutical companies they won't negotiate prices, these medications are sold to providers at full charge and consequently, in my case by the end of May every year I have used up my coverage for anything that is not generic. This would be ok if we could get the generics, but thanks to patent law, we can't unless you happen to travel a lot or find a source out of country that will sell to you. The ones I need are too expensive and the generics I can afford are causing me to feel like I have the hebejebes. My body itches all the time. This is American medicine in practice. Give the rich people the good stuff and the poor people get the junk that doesn't work. Enough of my problems. This is an explanation in part for why I am not posting as much as usual. I physically can't sit still long enough and concentrate.
I want to write about Special Ops. But I can't focus, so I will simply provide links and you can read what other people have to say.
This first link is to a map of places where Special Ops are taking place and some declassified documentation.
http://nationalsecurityzone.org/specialops/maps/
This is a general article in Alternet about the current Special Ops.
http://www.alternet.org/story/151904/our_commando_war_in_120_countries%3A_uncovering_the_military%27s_secret_operations_in_the_obama_era?akid=7358.156678.I30U6W&rd=1&t=2
On another front there is this economic mess that is part smoke and mirrors and part manipulation to benefit banksters and their friends. Basically investors, money lenders, the rich who have more money than they know what to do with, have over extended themselves shoveling credit on debtors who are tapped out. Governments are trying to cover their asses by giving tax money to these investors which means that the services government normally provides to youth, tax paying and disabled or elderly citizens, are being squeezed out. Government is acting as the guarantor of the debt of citizens for the creditors. This is an absurd position that is bankrupting governments all over the world.
What needs to happen is that the debts simply be written off. The creditors should be allowed to go bankrupt and people should be allowed to live their lives without this debt hanging over their heads. Start over. Reset the system. Stop trying to squeeze value out when you have robbed the surplus that there is. Shut down the stock markets and set up government banks that pay interest if you want to get people to save and limit loans to what people can realistically pay back, or call them grants and be done with it. If you want to encourage private investment then allow limited joint venture stocks with lots of oversight and regulation. That is the baby that needs to be shrunk down to the size that can be strangled in the bathtub, not democratic government.
The only way to get rid of the influence of money in government is election reform so that politicians don't have to spend half or more of their time raising money from lobbyists. Since the air waves are a public resource, make it a rule that to get a license to operate, media players must donate air time to election campaigns. Make it a 5% rule. If you can get signatures of 5% of your electoral district then you automatically are eligible for public campaign funds and 15 minutes of air time every day in campaign season and ability to join in on debates. Let the Truthers and Birthers and the rest of the wing nuts have their say if they can get their 5%. And on top of that designate 30 minutes of air time a day for public commentary in prime time. This would be on the radio, TV as well as the internet where most open dialogue has migrated since the end of fair access rules on TV and radio.
But this is only part of the problem. We also need to allow for some way to keep the wealthy from buying up all the air time and putting demagogues like Beck on. This means a firm application of fairness rules, or even better equal time provisions for opposing views, as mandatory and subsidized if the opposition don't have wealthy backers. This would give the media pause before they let the ranters of one side or the other dominate their programing.
Basically it is a matter of bringing the media back under public control. Bringing the economy under public control and building nation states that are planning for the future well-being of the people of the planet and not just for the greedy self-interest of a few capitalists and speculators.
It starts with election reform. We must develop mechanisms that insure politicians reflect the will of the people and the real needs of the people. This may mean suppressing certain elements that want to profit off of the weaknesses of people. Just as we regulate tobacco, and make it socially unpopular, we can do the same for excessive debt, or allowing money to influence votes and elections.
There are a lot of reforms that need to be done. We need to clean up the environment, take care of the greenhouse gas problem, get rid of extreme hunger and provide better medical care for all. Decent housing should be a right. Decent working conditions, with fair wages and limited hours of labor should be a right for all. Free access to all parts of the planet should be a right except areas reserved for animals and plants. Once the entire world has been given a basic level of existence, allowing for indigenous rights to traditional ways of living, and groups like the Roma who are travelers, then we can allow for some speculation on stocks. Until then, it should be means tested for how much it benefits humanity and the planet as a whole.
Even decadent fun areas for those who enjoy the fantasy should be allowed with the social cost included in the price of every transaction. Ultimately capitalism should be an isolated activity on a special resort island for fantasy role playing.
It's time we became adults, and took care of our planet. This is not simply me being a pollyanna, this is becoming more and more self-evident as the requirement for our times. If we are to bring this planet to the next level, our own version of a Star Trek world or Eco-village or however you envision a better world, even if you prefer a noir paradise of back alleys and dive bars, it won't happen if we don't make it so and that means making the politicians responsible and the business leaders part of a community and not isolated in their corporate heights. Social control by educated thinking people is the answer, or at least a start.
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