Express Yourself!

<p><font style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #333333" color="#ffffff">As George W. Bush is traveling in Europe, I am reminded of an international trip that his Daddy made to the Republic of Panama, after </font><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Just_Cause"><font style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #333333" color="#0099ff">&quot;Operation Just Cause</font></a><font style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #333333" color="#ffffff"><font color="#0033ff"><font color="#0099ff">&quot;</font>.</font>  I'd like to draw a few parallels and contrasts.  Listening to </font><a href="http://www.ndrinfo.de/ndrinfo_pages_nimex/0,3228,SPM5170_URLaHR0cDovL3d3dy50YWdlc3NjaGF1LmRlL2V4cG9ydC9OSU1FWC8wLDE2NDYsT0lENDA4ODE4Ml9NT0QxLDAwLnhtbA==,00.html"><font style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #333333" color="#0099ff">NDR4 </font></a><font style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #333333" color="#ffffff">(North German Public Information Radio) I heard the report of the demonstrations against George W. during his visit in Brussels (and Germany as well).  Unfortunately, few mainstream American media sources reported on this issue.  During the summer of 1990 I was teaching in the Republic of Panama.  During this time, Daddy Bush made a PR stop to show the world the gratitude of the Panamanian people for <em>Operation Just Cause</em>.   To ensure a positive performance by the attendees of Daddy's speech, it was invitation only. (Does this remind you of someone's Presidential campaigning technique?)  Despite being invitation only (only wealthy people were invited), the speech did not take place, because the Mayor of Panama City could not finish her introduction due to the tear gas that was thrown.  Too bad!  I watched the speech live on a military channel, which simply went off the air, after it was apparent that things were not going well.  What type of democratic society cannot sustain critical discussion of it policies?  What kind of censored country are we living in?!</font></p>

<p>So a mere $300 Billion to fund massive destruction, <a href="http://www.iraqbodycount.net/">tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis dead</a>, <a href="http://icasualties.org/oif/">around 1500 US military</a> and hundreds of the coalition-of-the-willing dead, and what has the US involvement wrought in Iraq?   Bringing about another religious state in the region?  At least the Iraqi people told Bush what they thought of his influence by voting for the US backed party of Iyad Allawi by a mere 14%, and supporting the Shiite, United Iraqi Alliance, by 48%.</p><p>There is a silver lining to this horrific quagmire.  According to Naomi Klein in her column &quot;<a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20050228&s=klein">Getting the Purple Finger</a>&quot;, the platform of the United Iraqi Alliance calls for a time table for US withdrawal, calls for the state to provide all able Iraqis with jobs,  and to use oil wealth for economic development projects.  Sorry, Cheny you better pack up <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7115-2004Jul22.html">Halliburton and find another counry to plunder</a>.  Hopefully, soon you won't have the US tax-payers' money to line your pockets with. </p>

<p><font style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #333333" color="#ffffff">I made reference to the irony of Bush's wish to spread &quot;freedom&quot; throughout the world in my </font><a href="http://turing.plymouth.edu/~estiller/blog/archives/20050124.html"><font style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #333333" color="#ffffff">Jan. 24th posting</font></a><font style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #333333" color="#ffffff">.  Additonal information has surfaced which was brought to my attention by the recent edition of The Nation magazine.  Human Right's Watch has issued a report entitled,  <em><a href="http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2005/01/25/usdom10052.htm">Blood Sweat, and Fear, Workers' Rights in US Meat and Poultry Plants</a></em>.  </font></p><p><font style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #333333" color="#ffffff">Is this the &quot;freedom&quot; that Bush wishes to export to other countries?  Does Bush have a different definition of the word, freedom than we do?  Perhaps we should look up &quot;freedom&quot; in our Bushionary:</font></p><p><font style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #333333" color="#ffffff">Freedom : (Noun) the condition of large corporations being free; the powerof these corporations to act or speak or think without externally imposed restraints.  The power to under-pay and exploit workers at will.</font></p><p><font style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #333333" color="#ffffff">Well, I guess that explains it.  But, do we really want to export this &quot;freedom&quot; to other countries?</font></p>

<p><font style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #333333">I find the Bush budget to be particularly outrageous, given his (hidden) budget priorities.  It seems that all the money is going to the defense industry, and coming out of the pockets of the poor and the environment.  He is cutting back on health-care for the poor, pell grants, EPA funding etc.</font></p><p><font style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #333333">Guess where Bush got his money?  Ok Ok, from his daddy!  But, where did George Sr. get <em>his</em> money?   From <em>his</em> daddy and oil.  Historically, the Bush family got their money as from the defence indistry (see </font><a href="http://www.oshoresbooks.com/library/books/americandynasty.htm"><font style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #333333"><em>American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune, and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush</em> </font></a><font style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #333333">by Kevin Phillips for details<em>)</em>.  According to </font><a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040301&s=drew"><font style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #333333">The Nation:</font></a><font style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #333333">  <font size="2">&quot; Phillips argues that the Walker and Bush families, along with other wealthy investment bankers, profited mightily from the rearmament efforts after the end of the First World War and were prominent members of the &quot;military-industrial complex,&quot;.  </font>Currently, George Sr. sits on none-other than the </font><a href="http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=1875084"><font style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #333333">Carlyle Group's Board</font></a><font style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #333333"> of Directors.  Do we see a little conflict of interest? </font></p> <br /><a href="http://turing.plymouth.edu/~estiller/blog/archives/9-Youre-a-Mean-One-Mr.-Grinch!.html#extended">Continue reading "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch!"</a>

<p><img height="108" hspace="5" src="http://turing.plymouth.edu/~estiller/blog/uploads/dollar.serendipityThumb.jpg" width="110" align="left" border="0" />As reported today on <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4475013">National Public Radio</a> by <span class="byline"><a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=2100955">Patricia Neighmond</a></span><noindex /></noindex />, a new study from Harvard University reports that the <strong>real </strong>economic crisis is <strong>health care</strong>.  The Harvard Study indicates that 50% of all personal bankruptcies are attributed to medical bills.  In George W. Bush's state-of-the-union address this evening <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4474425">he is anticipated to address the Social Security &quot;crises&quot;</a>, rather than health care.</p><p>I bet he does not so much as acknowledge the real crisis so many Americans are struggling with.</p><h3 class="contenttitle" />

<p>Apparently the Bush administration is taking literally the idea of selling its policies to  the American people by targeting key pundits and bribing them for their support.  Columnist Mike McManus is the latest to be found out.  <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/02/09/white.house.reporter/index.html">According to CNN</a>, <font color="#ffff00">&quot;<strong><font size="2">The Department of Health and Human Services said Friday that a third conservative columnist was paid to assist in promoting a Bush administration policy.&quot;</font></strong></font>  McManus joins <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20050131&s=alterman">Armstrong Williams</a> and <a href="http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/8974">Maggie Gallagher </a>as pundits receiving administration payola.</p><p>Personally, I can think of better ways to spend tax-payer money than bribing columnists.  How about putting some money behind your &quot;No Child Left Behind&quot; initiative, rather than paying Armstrong Williams nearly a quarter-million dollars to support his flawed policy.</p>

<p>In President Bush's<a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/01/20050120-1.html"> inaugural address</a> he states the following:</p><p><font color="#ffff00">&quot;The great objective of ending tyranny is the concentrated work of generations. The difficulty of the task is no excuse for avoiding it. America's influence is not unlimited, but fortunately for the oppressed, America's influence is considerable, and we will use it confidently in freedom's cause. &quot;</font></p><p>How about ending corporate tyranny right here in this country?  How can we battle tyranny in other countries, when we permit working conditions that are similar to those at the turn of the century, as described by Upton Sinclair in <em><a href="http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Literature/Sinclair/TheJungle/">The Jungle.</a></em> Christopher Cook's wonderful book, &quot;<a href="http://www.thenewpress.com/newbooks/dietplanet.htm">Diet for a Dead Planet&quot;</a> describes how immigrant workers working in the meat packing industry are denied bathroom breaks and suffer repetitive motion problems at high rates due to excessive line speeds that are set by the <a href="http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usdahome">USDA</a>.  Other problems such as contaminated meat also result from this.  So, hey Bush!  Slow the lines down!</p>

<p>In the January 11 edition of the Boston Globe I was struck by the unbelievable level of irony posed by a pair of articles.  The first article, <font color="#ffff00">&quot;4 fired at CBS for report on Bush&quot;</font>, discusses how four high-level CBS employees were fired for their handling of the 60 Minutes piece concerning George W. Bush's service record.  The second article, <font color="#ffff00">&quot;Despite false claim, his star rises&quot;</font> discusses how <font color="#ffff00">Robert G. Joseph</font> insisted that Bush make the claim that Saddam Hussein was seeking uranium for nuclear weapons, and now he is likely to become undersecretary of state for arms control and international security.  </p><p>The irony stems from the consequences of each group/person's laxity of fact checking.  In the case of Joseph, tens of thousands of innocent lives have been lost and hundreds of billions of dollars squandered as a result of the war with Iraq, so he is being promoted.  In the case of CBS, their journalistic integrity has suffered, but Bush was still reelected, and they are being fired.</p>

<p><span class="date">January 6, 2005</span> · <a href="http://www.npr.org/about/people/bios/mbrand.html"><font color="#ffffff">NPR's Madeleine Brand</font></a> talks to Tess Vigeland of <i>Marketplace</i> about the latest turn in the WorldCom accounting scandal. Ten former WorldCom board members reportedly have agreed to pay millions of dollars <strong><font color="#ffff00">out of their own pockets</font></strong> to settle some pending lawsuits.</p><p>Using the phrase, &quot; out of their own pockets&quot;,  has a similar effect as saying &quot;out of the goodness of their hearts&quot;.  The money was effectively stolen from employees and investors, so a phrase reflecting that should be used.  For example, I would say WorldCom board members are agreeing to repay some small portion of investors' money.<!-- end center column --><!-- start resources in center column --><noindex /></p>