Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
unhappycamper
unhappycamper's Journal
unhappycamper's Journal
December 20, 2013
BOOK REVIEW: Destination Afghanistan? Write a will ... Facing the Taliban by Anoja Wijeyesekera
Reviewed by Thalif Deen
Dec 20, '13
When Anoja Wijeyesekera, an aid worker with the UN children's agency UNICEF, received her new assignment in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan back in 1997, her appointment letter arrived with a "survival manual" and chilling instructions: write your last will before leaving home. "It was an exercise that helped me to mentally prepare myself for Afghanistan," she told IPS during a recent visit to New York to launch her just-released book titled Facing the Taliban.
The book details her memorable experiences in a country where "women were reduced to objects of lust". It not only savages some of the hardcore Islamic fundamentalists but also lambastes the United States for indiscriminate bombings that killed many civilians.
A former UNICEF representative in Bhutan, the Sri Lankan national headed an all-male office in Jalalabad, located in what the UN calls a "hardship non-family duty station", where she "came close to making enemies of the Taliban and getting jailed or shot by them".
She recounts meeting Taliban mullahs who were "absolute tough nuts", and recalls stories of women covered from head to toe in a country "where animals had greater freedom than these women".
BOOK REVIEW: Destination Afghanistan? Write a will ...
http://atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/SOU-03-201213.htmlBOOK REVIEW: Destination Afghanistan? Write a will ... Facing the Taliban by Anoja Wijeyesekera
Reviewed by Thalif Deen
Dec 20, '13
When Anoja Wijeyesekera, an aid worker with the UN children's agency UNICEF, received her new assignment in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan back in 1997, her appointment letter arrived with a "survival manual" and chilling instructions: write your last will before leaving home. "It was an exercise that helped me to mentally prepare myself for Afghanistan," she told IPS during a recent visit to New York to launch her just-released book titled Facing the Taliban.
The book details her memorable experiences in a country where "women were reduced to objects of lust". It not only savages some of the hardcore Islamic fundamentalists but also lambastes the United States for indiscriminate bombings that killed many civilians.
A former UNICEF representative in Bhutan, the Sri Lankan national headed an all-male office in Jalalabad, located in what the UN calls a "hardship non-family duty station", where she "came close to making enemies of the Taliban and getting jailed or shot by them".
She recounts meeting Taliban mullahs who were "absolute tough nuts", and recalls stories of women covered from head to toe in a country "where animals had greater freedom than these women".
December 20, 2013
Congress hatchet job on Modi fails
By Bipin Shah
Dec 20, '13
Indian voters are asking when are they going to realize freedom from the corruption and the poverty that has affected since independence was granted in 1947 from the British.
The Congress Party, which marched into narrow victory at the last general election, is mired in corruption scandals. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a head of state appears powerless to act without party chief Sonia Gandhi’s consent, and her immature and inexperienced son Rahul seems not even ready to win the trust of the Indian voters.
Corrupt media tycoons have forgotten their enshrined responsibilities and have become mouthpieces for politicians. Journalists who write for their well-connected bosses are being paid off one way or another, disseminating misinformation to the public on behest of the politicians.
The ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) have repeatedly used national investigative agencies to taint opposition Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Narendra Modi - and found nothing.
(Indian) Congress hatchet job on Modi fails
http://atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/SOU-02-201213.htmlCongress hatchet job on Modi fails
By Bipin Shah
Dec 20, '13
Indian voters are asking when are they going to realize freedom from the corruption and the poverty that has affected since independence was granted in 1947 from the British.
The Congress Party, which marched into narrow victory at the last general election, is mired in corruption scandals. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a head of state appears powerless to act without party chief Sonia Gandhi’s consent, and her immature and inexperienced son Rahul seems not even ready to win the trust of the Indian voters.
Corrupt media tycoons have forgotten their enshrined responsibilities and have become mouthpieces for politicians. Journalists who write for their well-connected bosses are being paid off one way or another, disseminating misinformation to the public on behest of the politicians.
The ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) have repeatedly used national investigative agencies to taint opposition Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Narendra Modi - and found nothing.
December 20, 2013
SKyrgyz president fears war in the south
By Ryskeldi Satke
Dec 20, '13
President Almazbek Atambayev of Kyrgyzstan announced this month that a US$1 billion Kyrgyz-Russian arms deal is ready to be implemented, with delivery "soon" of "artillery pieces, tanks, shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles and other military equipment". [1] The Russian Federal Security Service controlled Regnum news agency [2] has coincidentally quoted a statement by Atambayev on December 16 referring to a possible "foreign army attack" on Kyrgyzstan. [3]
Domestic politics insiders in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, believe Atambayev was referring to complications with Uzbekistan in the Ferghana Valley. It is no secret that the present state of Kyrgyz-Uzbek relations is considered outside government as counterproductive given the numerous deadly cross border skirmishes between the states. Official Tashkent, the Uzbekistan capital, does not miss a chance to remind its neighbors in Kyrgyzstan of the possible consequences of any unilateral decisions Bishek makes to build hydro stations in the upstream rivers in the Ferghana Valley.
The complexity of the relations between the states outlines Central Asia's vulnerability to internal crises in light of unresolved disputes. Specifically, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are the two primary republics prone to interstate animosity.
A host of issues remain at the center of their ongoing hostility, with deadly encounters on the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border continuing without urgent attention from either government. Aside from routine border shooting incidents, Uzbekistan has been irritated by Kyrgyz-Russian plans to control the regional water stream that is vital to Uzbekistan's agricultural industry.
Kyrgyz president fears war in the south
http://atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/CEN-01-201213.htmlSKyrgyz president fears war in the south
By Ryskeldi Satke
Dec 20, '13
President Almazbek Atambayev of Kyrgyzstan announced this month that a US$1 billion Kyrgyz-Russian arms deal is ready to be implemented, with delivery "soon" of "artillery pieces, tanks, shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles and other military equipment". [1] The Russian Federal Security Service controlled Regnum news agency [2] has coincidentally quoted a statement by Atambayev on December 16 referring to a possible "foreign army attack" on Kyrgyzstan. [3]
Domestic politics insiders in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, believe Atambayev was referring to complications with Uzbekistan in the Ferghana Valley. It is no secret that the present state of Kyrgyz-Uzbek relations is considered outside government as counterproductive given the numerous deadly cross border skirmishes between the states. Official Tashkent, the Uzbekistan capital, does not miss a chance to remind its neighbors in Kyrgyzstan of the possible consequences of any unilateral decisions Bishek makes to build hydro stations in the upstream rivers in the Ferghana Valley.
The complexity of the relations between the states outlines Central Asia's vulnerability to internal crises in light of unresolved disputes. Specifically, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are the two primary republics prone to interstate animosity.
A host of issues remain at the center of their ongoing hostility, with deadly encounters on the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border continuing without urgent attention from either government. Aside from routine border shooting incidents, Uzbekistan has been irritated by Kyrgyz-Russian plans to control the regional water stream that is vital to Uzbekistan's agricultural industry.
December 20, 2013
American Public: Invasion of Afghanistan a Mistake, Speed up Withdrawal
By Juan Cole | Dec. 20, 2013
(By Sarah Lazare)
More than twelve years after the initial invasion, U.S. public opinion of the so-called Good War in Afghanistan appears to be souring.
A clear majority of people in the U.S. say the 2001 decision to attack Afghanistan as a response to the events of September 11th was a mistake and that the current withdrawal of U.S. troops is not moving fast enough, according to an Associated Press-Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung poll (pdf) released Wednesday.
"I'm glad to know the majority of Americans now acknowledge what we've been saying all along," said Suraia Sahar of Afghans United for Justice in an interview with Common Dreams. "This war continues to have disastrous consequences. I can only hope this time a lesson has been learned."
The poll finds that 57 percent say the United States did the "wrong thing" by "going to war in Afghanistan."
Based on results from 1,367 adults with a reported margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, the poll finds that 57 percent say the United States did the "wrong thing" by "going to war in Afghanistan." By contrast, 40 percent said the U.S. did the "right thing."
American Public: Invasion of Afghanistan a Mistake, Speed up Withdrawal
http://www.juancole.com/2013/12/american-afghanistan-withdrawal.htmlAmerican Public: Invasion of Afghanistan a Mistake, Speed up Withdrawal
By Juan Cole | Dec. 20, 2013
(By Sarah Lazare)
More than twelve years after the initial invasion, U.S. public opinion of the so-called Good War in Afghanistan appears to be souring.
A clear majority of people in the U.S. say the 2001 decision to attack Afghanistan as a response to the events of September 11th was a mistake and that the current withdrawal of U.S. troops is not moving fast enough, according to an Associated Press-Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung poll (pdf) released Wednesday.
"I'm glad to know the majority of Americans now acknowledge what we've been saying all along," said Suraia Sahar of Afghans United for Justice in an interview with Common Dreams. "This war continues to have disastrous consequences. I can only hope this time a lesson has been learned."
The poll finds that 57 percent say the United States did the "wrong thing" by "going to war in Afghanistan."
Based on results from 1,367 adults with a reported margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, the poll finds that 57 percent say the United States did the "wrong thing" by "going to war in Afghanistan." By contrast, 40 percent said the U.S. did the "right thing."
December 20, 2013
Scotland is going 100% Green by 2020; shame on Dirty America
By Juan Cole | Dec. 20, 2013
Glasgow is the city of the future, not Phoenix.
Scotland has a population of about 5.3 million, a little more than the US state of Arizona. But the resemblance stops there. Arizona’s state government is backward-looking, roiled by racial politics, contemptuous of higher education, and a climate laggard, dirtying up the atmosphere and causing its state’s own increasing desertification.
Last year, Scotland got 40% of its electricity from renewables, up from 24% in 2010.
Arizona gets 9 percent of its electricity from renewables, despite vast solar potential that completely dwarfs that of Scotland. Almost all Arizona renewable energy is hydroelectric. About 35% of Arizona electricity is from coal, the dirtiest possible source. A similar proportion comes from natural gas, also a big source of carbon dioxide emissions. Arizona has a pitiful plan to be at 15% renewables by 2025, which is the sort of goal that dooms the earth.
Scotland is going 100% Green by 2020; shame on Dirty America
http://www.juancole.com/2013/12/scotland-green-america.htmlScotland is going 100% Green by 2020; shame on Dirty America
By Juan Cole | Dec. 20, 2013
Glasgow is the city of the future, not Phoenix.
Scotland has a population of about 5.3 million, a little more than the US state of Arizona. But the resemblance stops there. Arizona’s state government is backward-looking, roiled by racial politics, contemptuous of higher education, and a climate laggard, dirtying up the atmosphere and causing its state’s own increasing desertification.
Last year, Scotland got 40% of its electricity from renewables, up from 24% in 2010.
Arizona gets 9 percent of its electricity from renewables, despite vast solar potential that completely dwarfs that of Scotland. Almost all Arizona renewable energy is hydroelectric. About 35% of Arizona electricity is from coal, the dirtiest possible source. A similar proportion comes from natural gas, also a big source of carbon dioxide emissions. Arizona has a pitiful plan to be at 15% renewables by 2025, which is the sort of goal that dooms the earth.
December 20, 2013
A 1990 law passed by Congress seeking to close a loophole in the Estate Tax ended up having an even bigger loophole that has cost the government $100 bn in taxes.
Congress cuts Food Stamps, maintains Estate Tax Loophole worth $100 bn to the Rich
By Juan Cole | Dec. 20, 2013
You know how the Tea Party House of Representatives obsessed with cutting food stamps to working families and veterans and children this fall? They were trying to save $4 bn. At the same time, they have kept in place a piece of fatally flawed legislation regarding estate taxes that has cost the government $100 bn and counting, and which threatens our democracy.
A 1990 law passed by Congress seeking to close a loophole in the Estate Tax ended up having an even bigger loophole that has cost the government $100 bn in taxes.
The Estate Tax was created in 1916 in an attempt to forestall the rise of an American hereditary aristocracy of barons, especially robber barons. But the 1990 loophole allows the superwealthy to avoid Estate taxes and pass their obscene wealth on to the next generation, stacking the deck in society against anyone not born with a silver spoon in their mouths.
The Paul Ryan Congress is nickel and diming the American people into hunger and insecurity in the name of avoiding Federal budget deficits. But the House has done nothing about this massive hole in the side of the ship of state through which $100 bn in revenues has flowed out to people who don’t need it.
Not only do the Walton heirs of Walmart fame have as much wealth as the bottom 30 percent of the entire US population (100 million people), but it is increasingly certain that the Waltons will be able to pass most of that on to the next generation.
Congress cuts Food Stamps, maintains Estate Tax Loophole worth $100 bn to the Rich
http://www.juancole.com/2013/12/congress-maintains-loophole.htmlA 1990 law passed by Congress seeking to close a loophole in the Estate Tax ended up having an even bigger loophole that has cost the government $100 bn in taxes.
Congress cuts Food Stamps, maintains Estate Tax Loophole worth $100 bn to the Rich
By Juan Cole | Dec. 20, 2013
You know how the Tea Party House of Representatives obsessed with cutting food stamps to working families and veterans and children this fall? They were trying to save $4 bn. At the same time, they have kept in place a piece of fatally flawed legislation regarding estate taxes that has cost the government $100 bn and counting, and which threatens our democracy.
A 1990 law passed by Congress seeking to close a loophole in the Estate Tax ended up having an even bigger loophole that has cost the government $100 bn in taxes.
The Estate Tax was created in 1916 in an attempt to forestall the rise of an American hereditary aristocracy of barons, especially robber barons. But the 1990 loophole allows the superwealthy to avoid Estate taxes and pass their obscene wealth on to the next generation, stacking the deck in society against anyone not born with a silver spoon in their mouths.
The Paul Ryan Congress is nickel and diming the American people into hunger and insecurity in the name of avoiding Federal budget deficits. But the House has done nothing about this massive hole in the side of the ship of state through which $100 bn in revenues has flowed out to people who don’t need it.
Not only do the Walton heirs of Walmart fame have as much wealth as the bottom 30 percent of the entire US population (100 million people), but it is increasingly certain that the Waltons will be able to pass most of that on to the next generation.
December 19, 2013
Judge Leon's Dirty Climb to the Bench
by Robert Parry | December 18, 2013 - 8:57am
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon is winning kudos across the political spectrum for a ruling that rejects the constitutionality of the National Security Agency vacuuming up the metadata on virtually every phone call made in America. Leon clearly possesses a libertarian streak, but he earned his place on the bench by running a partisan cover-up of a historic crime.
Leon was appointed to his lifetime judicial post by George W. Bush in 2002 after Leon won the gratitude of the Bush Family by protecting its interests as an aggressive and reliable Republican legal apparatchik on Capitol Hill. There, the heavy-set Leon gained a reputation as a partisan bully who made sure politically charged investigations reached a desired outcome, whatever the facts.
In the 1990s, Leon served as special counsel to the House Banking Committee as it transformed President Bill Clinton’s minor Whitewater real estate deal into a major scandal that eventually led to the House vote to impeach Clinton in 1998 and thus set the stage for Bush’s disputed election victory in 2000.
But Leon’s most important work for the Bushes may have come in the 1980s and early 1990s when he helped construct legal justifications for Republican law-breaking and sought to intimidate Iran-Contra-related witnesses who came forward to expose GOP wrongdoing.
Judge Leon's Dirty Climb to the Bench
http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/robert-parry/53231/judge-leons-dirty-climb-to-the-benchJudge Leon's Dirty Climb to the Bench
by Robert Parry | December 18, 2013 - 8:57am
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon is winning kudos across the political spectrum for a ruling that rejects the constitutionality of the National Security Agency vacuuming up the metadata on virtually every phone call made in America. Leon clearly possesses a libertarian streak, but he earned his place on the bench by running a partisan cover-up of a historic crime.
Leon was appointed to his lifetime judicial post by George W. Bush in 2002 after Leon won the gratitude of the Bush Family by protecting its interests as an aggressive and reliable Republican legal apparatchik on Capitol Hill. There, the heavy-set Leon gained a reputation as a partisan bully who made sure politically charged investigations reached a desired outcome, whatever the facts.
In the 1990s, Leon served as special counsel to the House Banking Committee as it transformed President Bill Clinton’s minor Whitewater real estate deal into a major scandal that eventually led to the House vote to impeach Clinton in 1998 and thus set the stage for Bush’s disputed election victory in 2000.
But Leon’s most important work for the Bushes may have come in the 1980s and early 1990s when he helped construct legal justifications for Republican law-breaking and sought to intimidate Iran-Contra-related witnesses who came forward to expose GOP wrongdoing.
December 19, 2013
Under Amazon’s CIA Cloud: The Washington Post
by Norman Solomon | December 18, 2013 - 9:35am
News media should illuminate conflicts of interest, not embody them. But the owner of the Washington Post is now doing big business with the Central Intelligence Agency, while readers of the newspaper’s CIA coverage are left in the dark.
The Post’s new owner, Jeff Bezos, is the founder and CEO of Amazon -- which recently landed a $600 million contract with the CIA. But the Post’s articles about the CIA are not disclosing that the newspaper’s sole owner is the main owner of CIA business partner Amazon.
~snip~
And there’s likely to be plenty more where that CIA largesse came from. Amazon’s offer wasn’t the low bid, but it won the CIA contract anyway by offering advanced high-tech “cloud” infrastructure.
Bezos personally and publicly touts Amazon Web Services, and it’s evident that Amazon will be seeking more CIA contracts. Last month, Amazon issued a statement saying, “We look forward to a successful relationship with the CIA.”
Under Amazon’s CIA Cloud: The Washington Post
http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/norman-solomon/53235/under-amazon-s-cia-cloud-the-washington-postUnder Amazon’s CIA Cloud: The Washington Post
by Norman Solomon | December 18, 2013 - 9:35am
News media should illuminate conflicts of interest, not embody them. But the owner of the Washington Post is now doing big business with the Central Intelligence Agency, while readers of the newspaper’s CIA coverage are left in the dark.
The Post’s new owner, Jeff Bezos, is the founder and CEO of Amazon -- which recently landed a $600 million contract with the CIA. But the Post’s articles about the CIA are not disclosing that the newspaper’s sole owner is the main owner of CIA business partner Amazon.
~snip~
And there’s likely to be plenty more where that CIA largesse came from. Amazon’s offer wasn’t the low bid, but it won the CIA contract anyway by offering advanced high-tech “cloud” infrastructure.
Bezos personally and publicly touts Amazon Web Services, and it’s evident that Amazon will be seeking more CIA contracts. Last month, Amazon issued a statement saying, “We look forward to a successful relationship with the CIA.”
December 19, 2013
The Country That's Dismantling Its System of Privilege for the 1% — Can the U.S. Be Next?
by Thom Hartmann | December 18, 2013 - 9:54am
Chileans have rejected Reaganomics, and it’s time we followed their lead. Back in the early 1970s, Chile was one of the most progressive countries in South America.
Its democratically elected socialist president, Salvador Allende, nationalized big businesses and gave every Chilean access to free healthcare and higher education. GDP went up and income inequality went down, and for the first time ever, working-class Chileans had a chance to live out their version of the American dream.
But not everyone was happy with President Allende’s Chilean New Deal. Behind his back, the United States and the country’s corporate and military elite were conspiring to sabotage his reforms and destroy the economy. Although Allende’s policies were successful, Chile still needed foreign loans to survive, so the Nixon administration got the International Monetary Fund to suspend all aid. This decimated the economy and stunted the progress Allende had made over his first few years in office.
The Chilean elite’s sabotage campaign turned into outright treason on Sept. 11, 1973 when, with the help of the CIA, General Augusto Pinochet overthrew Allende’s government and ushered in 17 years of military rule. Pinochet’s dictatorship was one of the most brutal in Latin American history. Dissidents were jailed, tortured and executed. People were thrown out of helicopters into the ocean. Others were taken to the national soccer stadium in Santiago where they were shot at point blank range by firing squads.
The Country That's Dismantling Its System of Privilege for the 1% — Can the U.S. Be Next?
http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/thom-hartmann/53236/the-country-thats-dismantling-its-system-of-privilege-for-the-1-can-the-u-s-be-nextThe Country That's Dismantling Its System of Privilege for the 1% — Can the U.S. Be Next?
by Thom Hartmann | December 18, 2013 - 9:54am
Chileans have rejected Reaganomics, and it’s time we followed their lead. Back in the early 1970s, Chile was one of the most progressive countries in South America.
Its democratically elected socialist president, Salvador Allende, nationalized big businesses and gave every Chilean access to free healthcare and higher education. GDP went up and income inequality went down, and for the first time ever, working-class Chileans had a chance to live out their version of the American dream.
But not everyone was happy with President Allende’s Chilean New Deal. Behind his back, the United States and the country’s corporate and military elite were conspiring to sabotage his reforms and destroy the economy. Although Allende’s policies were successful, Chile still needed foreign loans to survive, so the Nixon administration got the International Monetary Fund to suspend all aid. This decimated the economy and stunted the progress Allende had made over his first few years in office.
The Chilean elite’s sabotage campaign turned into outright treason on Sept. 11, 1973 when, with the help of the CIA, General Augusto Pinochet overthrew Allende’s government and ushered in 17 years of military rule. Pinochet’s dictatorship was one of the most brutal in Latin American history. Dissidents were jailed, tortured and executed. People were thrown out of helicopters into the ocean. Others were taken to the national soccer stadium in Santiago where they were shot at point blank range by firing squads.
December 19, 2013
Five Stars For Irony: Walmart Sells Occupy Poster, Say What?
by Abby Zimet
12.18.13 - 12:01 PM
It Takes A Lot To Laugh It Takes A Train To Cry Dept: In this season of grace and joy, buy a poster of the OWS encampment at Zuccotti Park for your loved ones at Walmart, that bastion of populism (except when it's "bleeding communities dry" as a case study in our nation’s growing inequality) for just $42.75 or $52.25, "printed on Premium Heavy Stock Paper which captures all of the vivid colors and details of the original... ready for hanging or framing.” No wait. The small one has sold out. Hmm: sold out. Sigh. They sell an Occupy book too. And adding insult to gross capitalistic injury, the picture's terrible. Here are some better ones, and here's what you can buy instead.
"Thus did a handful of rapacious citizens come to control all that was worth controlling in America. Thus was the savage and stupid and entirely inappropriate... American class system created. Honest, industrious, peaceful citizens were classed as bloodsuckers, if they asked to be paid a living wage. And they saw that praise was reserved henceforth for those who devised means of getting paid enormously for committing crimes against which no laws had been passed. Thus the American dream turned belly up, turned green, bobbed to the scummy surface of cupidity unlimited, filled with gas, went bang in the noonday sun.” - Kurt Vonnegut, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
Five Stars For Irony: Walmart Sells Occupy Poster, Say What?
http://www.commondreams.org/further/2013/12/18Five Stars For Irony: Walmart Sells Occupy Poster, Say What?
by Abby Zimet
12.18.13 - 12:01 PM
It Takes A Lot To Laugh It Takes A Train To Cry Dept: In this season of grace and joy, buy a poster of the OWS encampment at Zuccotti Park for your loved ones at Walmart, that bastion of populism (except when it's "bleeding communities dry" as a case study in our nation’s growing inequality) for just $42.75 or $52.25, "printed on Premium Heavy Stock Paper which captures all of the vivid colors and details of the original... ready for hanging or framing.” No wait. The small one has sold out. Hmm: sold out. Sigh. They sell an Occupy book too. And adding insult to gross capitalistic injury, the picture's terrible. Here are some better ones, and here's what you can buy instead.
"Thus did a handful of rapacious citizens come to control all that was worth controlling in America. Thus was the savage and stupid and entirely inappropriate... American class system created. Honest, industrious, peaceful citizens were classed as bloodsuckers, if they asked to be paid a living wage. And they saw that praise was reserved henceforth for those who devised means of getting paid enormously for committing crimes against which no laws had been passed. Thus the American dream turned belly up, turned green, bobbed to the scummy surface of cupidity unlimited, filled with gas, went bang in the noonday sun.” - Kurt Vonnegut, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
Profile Information
Member since: Wed Mar 16, 2005, 11:12 AMNumber of posts: 60,364