Poet's Nook: "Forgive Me For Asking" by Propaganda

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OneLove
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 :::MME:::

Musings

A Native American grandfather was talking to his grandson about how he felt.

He said,  "I feel as if I have two wolves fighting in my heart.

One wolf is the vengeful, angry, violent one. The other wolf is the loving, compassionate one." 

The grandson asked him, "Which wolf will win the fight in your heart?"

The grandfather answered:  "The one I feed."

~ Native American Story ~

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OneLove
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:::MME::: 

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Bunny Wailer on Cricket

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(Bunny Wailer talks about cricket in the West Indies - from the documentary Fire in Babylon....I don't think Bunny likes dogs too much...hahaaa). 
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OneLove
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:::MME:::

Thanksgiving Rotations: M.M.E's '90s Redux

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(Also check out my '80s throwback jams here)
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Have a festive, love-filled Thanksgiving weekend, folks! 
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OneLove
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 :::MME:::

The Bitter Truth About Inequality

Sometimes reading the statistics on income/wealth inequality in the US is like reading a tale from Edgar Allen Poe or Dante Alighieri - it's absolutely horrific. The numbers oftentimes highlight the ruinous effects of inequality & reveal how a scant few are able to get away with this broad day-light robbery. To add insult to injury, the poorest are often made to feel that they are the liars, & cheaters who are hell-bent on milking the society dry. Below are some numbers that most talking heads would much rather sweep under the rug to keep the game going. (These stats were taken from an article I read on Reddit. I made some tweaks by hyperlinking to relevant sources & adding a few personal remarks):

1. Only 3% of the very rich are entrepreneurs.

According to both Marketwatch and economist Edward Wolff, over 90 percent of the assets owned by millionaires are held in a combination of low-risk investments (bonds and cash), personal business accounts, the stock market, and real estate. Only 3.6 percent of taxpayers in the top .1% were classified as entrepreneurs based on 2004 tax returns. A 2009 Kauffman Foundation study found that the great majority of entrepreneurs come from middle-class backgrounds, with less than 1 percent of all entrepreneurs coming from very rich or very poor backgrounds.

2. Only FOUR OUT OF 150 countries have more wealth inequality than us.

Many people still believe that the US us the most egalitarian nation on Earth. Trust me - I've argued with many blindfolded patriots who buy into this myth. The truth is, the U.S. has greater wealth inequality than every measured country in the world except for Namibia, Zimbabwe, Denmark, and Switzerland.

3. An amount equal to ONE-HALF the GDP is held untaxed overseas by rich Americans.

Talking heads chatter on & on about what should be eliminated, taxed, tweaked, etc, but it is almost always the average citizen who has to take the hit. The Tax Justice Network estimated that between $21 and $32 trillion is hidden offshore, untaxed. With Americans making up 40% of the world's Ultra High Net Worth Individuals, that's $8 to $12 trillion in U.S. money stashed in far-off hiding places. Based on a historical stock market return of 6%, up to $750 billion of income is lost to the U.S. every year, resulting in a tax loss of about $260 billion.

4. Corporations stopped paying HALF OF THEIR TAXES after the recession.

After paying an average of 22.5% from 1987 to 2008, corporations have paid an annual rate of 10% since. This represents a sudden $250 billion annual loss in taxes. U.S. corporations have shown a pattern of tax reluctance for more than 50 years, despite building their businesses with American research and infrastructure. They've passed the responsibility on to their workers. For every dollar of workers' payroll tax paid in the 1950s, corporations paid three dollars. Now it's 22 cents...22 cents!!

5. Just TEN Americans made a total of FIFTY BILLION DOLLARS in one year.

That's enough to pay the salaries of over a million nurses or teachers or emergency responders.
That's enough, according to 2008 estimates by the Food and Agriculture Organization and the UN's World Food Program, to feed the 870 million people in the world who are lacking sufficient food.
For the free-market advocates who say "they've earned it": Point #1 above makes it clear how the wealthy make their money.

6. Tax deductions for the rich could pay off 100 PERCENT of the deficit.

Another stat that required a double-check. Based on research by the Tax Policy Center, tax deferrals and deductions and other forms of tax expenditures (tax subsidies from special deductions, exemptions, exclusions, credits, capital gains, and loopholes), which largely benefit the rich, are worth about 7.4% of the GDP, or about $1.1 trillion. Other sources have estimated that about two-thirds of the annual $850 billion in tax expenditures goes to the top quintile of taxpayers.

7. The average single black or Hispanic woman has about $100 IN NET WORTH.

The Insight Center for Community Economic Development reported that median wealth for black and Hispanic women is a little over $100. That's much less than one percent of the median wealth for single white women ($41,500). Other studies confirm the racially-charged economic inequality in our country. For every dollar of NON-HOME wealth owned by white families, people of color have only one cent...yes, you read it right - one cent!

8. Elderly and disabled food stamp recipients get $4.30 A DAY FOR FOOD.

When you listen to some people rant about the leaches that suck the economy dry, they're not talking about rich folks. They think that the welfare state is pouring money & resources into the laps of the indigent. The fact is, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) has dropped significantly over the past 15 years, serving only about a quarter of the families in poverty, and paying less than $400 per month for a family of three for housing and other necessities. Ninety percent of the available benefits go to the elderly, the disabled, or working households. Food stamp recipients get $4.30 a day.

9. Young adults have lost TWO-THIRDS OF THEIR NET WORTH since 1984.

I feel sorry for our young adults. I would hate to be a twenty-something year old trying to make it out here. 21- to 35-year-olds: Their median net worth has dropped 68% since 1984. It's now less than $4,000. That $4,000 has to pay for student loans that average $27,200. Or, if they're still in school, for $12,700 in credit card debt. With an unemployment rate for 16- to 24-year-olds of almost 50%, two out of every five recent college graduates are living with their parents. But your favorite company may be hiring. Apple, which makes a profit of $420,000 per employee, can pay you about $12 per hour.

10. The American public paid about FOUR TRILLION DOLLARS to bail out the banks.

That's about the same amount of money made by America's richest 10% in one year. But we all paid for the bailout. And because of it, we lost the opportunity for jobs, mortgage relief, and educational funding. Bonus for the super-rich: A QUADRILLION DOLLARS in securities trading nets ZERO sales tax revenue for the U.S. The world derivatives market is estimated to be worth over a quadrillion dollars (a thousand trillion). At least $200 trillion of that is in the United States. In 2011 the Chicago Mercantile Exchange reported a trading volume of over $1 quadrillion on 3.4 billion annual contracts. A quadrillion dollars. A sales tax of ONE-TENTH OF A PENNY on a quadrillion dollars could pay off the deficit. But the total sales tax was ZERO.

It's not surprising that the very rich (and their spineless defenders) would like to fudge the numbers, as they have the nation.

OneLove

 

:::MME:::

 

The Secret Powers of Time

Everyone has a particular conception/perception of time. Regardless of our take on it, Time just passes by, right? Not according to Philip Zimbardo. He's been studying how people think of time for decades and offers some interesting findings in this animated look at how our time-orientation shapes our families, careers and happiness.
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OneLove
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:::MME:::

Chasing Ice:Planetary Change Through a Camera Lens

A must-see documentary. Photographer James Balog's words in the final minute of this clip are deeply foreboding. The film's website: Changing Ice
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OneLove
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:::MME:::

MME's Jam Of The Day

(Link: Chips Down In No Landfill)
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Something around me tells me
That there’s more to this prize than the diamonds shown me
Waitin on a paycheck but isn’t every day the payment
Well I think so, I think so

Imprisoned men & women can be reformed, if they are around human beings
That don’t treat them like, don’t treat them like a disposable part of the dream

My questions, my answer
My pension, my cancer
My title, my trophy
My theories & market-based strategies
 My schedule, my time piece, 
My competition & salary
My outdated, overprized vague ID

I sold my radio
Hawked my television
I sold my radio
I threw my silicon chips down
In no landfill &
Just walked away
So that I could heal
So that I could heal
Threw my silicon chips down

Why have we gathered around this here table?
Does anybody know?
We’ve been waiting a long time
What kind of customer service do you expect from a Harlot Host?

My questions, my answer
My pension, my cancer
My title, my trophy
My theories & market-based strategies
My schedule, my time piece, my true independence
The salary, my trust fund
Remote controls my memory

I sold my radio
Hawked my television
I sold my radio
I sold it all, I gave it all away, I did
I gave it all away, I did it
I gave it all away..........

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This is heavy stuff  - my favorite cut from Cody Chesnutt's latest CD, Landing On A Hundred ,
which I thoroughly enjoyed  Also check out the video below of the song Everybody's Brother taken from the same album....


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OneLove
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:::MME:::

Musings

“We have to rediscover Africa. The first encounter with Africa by Europe was the wrong one. It was not an encounter. It was an appropriation. What they saw, and bequeathed to future ages, was in fact a misperception. They did not see Africa. This wrong seeing of Africa is part of the problems of today. Africa was seen through greed and what could be got from it. This justified all kinds of injustice.......
 If we see it, it will be revealed. We only see what we are prepared to see. Only what we see anew is revealed to us.” 
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- from “Healing the Africa Within” in A Time for New Dreams
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OneLove

:::MME::: 

Poet's Nook:"Let This Darkness Be a Bell Tower" by Rainer Maria Rilke

Quiet friend who has come so far,

feel how your breathing makes more space around you.

Let this darkness be a bell tower

and you the bell. As you ring,

what batters you becomes your strength.

Move back and forth into the change.

What is it like, such intensity of pain?

If the drink is bitter, turn yourself to wine.

In this uncontainable night,

be the mystery at the crossroads of your senses,

the meaning discovered there.

And if the world has ceased to hear you,

say to the silent earth: I flow.

To the rushing water, speak: I am.

( from Sonnets to Orpheus II, 29)
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OneLove
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:::MME:::  

The Numbers Tell A Story

Elections 2012 - Divided Crowd

Now that President Obama has won a second term, have you noticed how the major media outlets keep emphasizing how the Latino, African-American, Asian and women voted overwhelmingly for Pres. Obama? Although this is important to recognize, there is another more significant statistic that one should note. According to political economy commentator Tom Ferguson, exit polls highlight a big divide in the 2012 vote which revolves around income-based voting. Tom says:

“Now look at the exit poll in today’s New York Times. Yes, indeed, Obama did very well among women, Latinos, and African-Americans. But in sharp contrast to 2008, the partisan split along income lines is huge. Obama’s vote percentage declines in straight line fashion as income rises. He got 63 percent of the votes of Americans making less than $30,000 and 57 percent of those making between $30,000 and $50,000. Above $50,000, the Other America kicks in. Romney won 53 percent of the votes of Americans making between $50 and a $100 thousand and 54 percent of the votes of Americans making above $100,000. The Democrats’ poor showing in the House elections — they way under-performed for a party that had lost so many seats two years before — probably reflects a substantial Republican advantage in money, including the famous Superpacs, some of which poured resources into Congressional races. It was surely also affected by the White House’s reluctance to spend time and resources trying to elect Democratic House candidates. As the President negotiates for a Grand Bargain in the face of the Fiscal Cliff, these are realities that are worth pondering.”

Quite interesting - the implications are enormous especially when you combine this with a recent Pew Research study which charted the keys to Pres. Obama's victory:

 Two things strike me instantly: the black vote was overwhelming, as expected, which in my opinion is a double-edged sword - Yes, it is celebratory to see the first black President (re)elected in a country still bristling with racial animosities, but what was the price paid for this historic achievement? In his first term, African-Americans - notably the poor and working class - went from bad to worse. Although this was not entirely Pres. Obama's fault, he did/said nothing to address their major concerns (perhaps he was afraid of alienating other groups & ruining his re-election chances. ) African-Americans were, for the most part, ignored & their voices muted. The second thing that struck me was the percentage of white votes that went  Obama decreased from 2008. I can bet that the racially-charged, ultra-conservative rhetoric had a lot to do with this. Fox News, Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, the Koch brothers, Sheldon Adelson and a host of other bats from Hades should be credited for poisoning the waters with their disguised racism (& classism). Why a vast number of white people  cannot think outside of skin color is one of the major mysteries of our times. (Spoiler Alert: Pres. Obama is not a Muslim Anti-Christ aiming to destroy the world.....geeez....)

So where does this leave us? In my opinion, we have to get rid of the rock-star adulation for President Obama (& other political elites), think critically for ourselves and pressure his Administration (& state /local governments) on a host of important issues, from health care to taxes. Note how the Latino leadership immediately went to work after Election Day - they called a national press conference and went on record letting the President and the whole world know that they were pivotal in his win and laid out immediately what their expectations & demands were. We - white/black/Latino/Asian/poor/working class/unemployed//elderly - have to demand economic & social justice or else be cast to the side as is the customary practice in US politics after the spectacle of elections is over.


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OneLove
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:::MME::: 

Post-Election Reality

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Many people voted for Pres. Barack Obama in 2008 because of the absolute mess the Bush-Cheney team made of the US economy. Many of us knew that getting the economy out of its funk would take some time, but when we saw how Pres. Obama lined his cabinet with the same miscreants that aided and abetted the financial crisis of 2008, some of us had a WTF moment. Indeed, the President managed to accomplish some very notable things (see the Washington Monthly's Top 50 Accomplishments) which we should appreciate; however, this should not make us blind to the short-sighted policies that he approved like the NDAA  (National Defense Authorization Act), his record on poverty reduction , his assault on entitlements – the legacies of FDR, LBJ and other presidents and their Congresses & his disturbing drone policy . Tavis Smiley & Dr Cornel West raise some serious points in this interview which we should all take note of. The election is over - our real work begins..... 

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 PART 2
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OneLove
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:::MME:::

Poet's Nook: "The Change" by Tony Hoagland

In the park the daffodils came up
and in the parking lot, the new car models were on parade.

Sometimes I think that nothing really changes—

The young girls show the latest crop of tummies,
        and the new president (bush) proves that he's a dummy.

But remember the tennis match we watched that year?
Right before our eyes

some tough little European blonde
pitted against that big black girl from Alabama,
cornrowed hair and Zulu bangles on her arms,
some outrageous name like Vondella Aphrodite—

We were just walking past the lounge
     and got sucked in by the screen above the bar,
and pretty soon
we started to care about who won,

putting ourselves into each whacked return
as the volleys went back and forth and back
like some contest between
the old world and the new,

and you loved her complicated hair
and her to-hell-with-everybody stare,
and I,
         I couldn't help wanting
the white girl to come out on top,
because she was one of my kind, my tribe,
with her pale eyes and thin lips

and because the black girl was so big
and so black,
                        so unintimidated,

hitting the ball like she was driving the Emancipation Proclamation
down Abraham Lincoln's throat,
like she wasn't asking anyone's permission.

There are moments when history
passes you so close
                you can smell its breath,
you can reach your hand out
                                    and touch it on its flank,

and I don't watch all that much Masterpiece Theatre,
but I could feel the end of an era there

in front of those bleachers full of people
in their Sunday tennis-watching clothes

as that black girl wore down her opponent
then kicked her ass good
then thumped her once more for good measure

and stood up on the red clay court
holding her racket over her head like a guitar.

And the little pink judge
                          had to climb up on a box
to put the ribbon on her neck,
still managing to smile into the camera flash,
even though everything was changing

and in fact, everything had already changed—

Poof, remember? It was the twentieth century almost gone,
we were there,

and when we went to put it back where it belonged,
it was past us
and we were changed.

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OneLove
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:::MME:::

***HIATUS***

****TAKING SOME TIME OFF. WILL RETURN SOON****