The blog of a North Country Swede!

Thursday, December 29, 2005

Photos - Temporary


















Monday, December 26, 2005

More Thoughts on Fascism

I came across this quote in Robert O. Paxton's THE ANATOMY OF FASCISM:

"Whenever fascist parties acquired power, however, they did nothing to carry out [their] anticapitalist threats. By contrast, they enforced with the utmost violence and thoroughness their threats against socialism. Street fights over turf with young communists were among their most powerful propaganda images. Once in power, fascist regimes banned strikes, dis­solved independent labor unions, lowered wage earners' purchasing power, and showered money on armaments industries, to the immense satisfac­tion of employers."

Fundamental to the establishment of the inalienable rights of all human beings as defined in the Declaration of Independence which marked the beginning of these United States is the separation of powers as defined in our Constitution. In fact, our very real freedom and liberty (when it does exist at the individual level) stems directly from the separation of power in this nation raised to the nth power: between church and state, between branches of government, between political parties, between employees and employers (when unions exist, protecting the rights of workers), between public school and parents in the minds of our children, ad infinitum.

The biggest danger (like in HUGE) from the Straussian Neocons is that by using a centralized loyalty to the Neocon leadership within the framework of the Christian Right (it's all about establishing an elite to rule for the benefit of the masses lest we succumb to some idealogy--ain't that a hoot!), the Neocons eliminate de facto separation of power.

The secularist is bought off with the concept that the pursuit of self-interest ultimately brings the greatest collective good ... with the benchmark for the pursuit of self-interest defined as a mix of personal wealth and power. And as FEMA's Mike Brown and Defense's Don Rumsfeld have shown, loyalty trumps competence in the Neocon scheme of awards.

The religious true-believer is bought off with the Biblical story of Job. God rewards those who stay the course.

The trouble I have with the Left is that they believe that if they get THEIR hands on the controls of the distribution of wealth and power, THEY will create Nirvana for the masses.

At least under Capitalism (not Monopolism), you have the creative tension between the interests of the working class vs. the interests of the owners, expressed in the distribution of profit. One benefit of Capitalism is this creative tension ... at least until we have a 1984 world, or become a banana republic, or descend entirely into fascism.

The very real problem with the atheistic Communist state, is it's failure to sustain the essential characteristic it defines in human history, the dialectic of thesis and antithesis. It is the struggle between what "is" and what we can imagine "ought to be" that defines in our choosing "what we will in turn create for our future" this essential characteristic of being human. We can choose.

Eliminate choice, and we no longer are human beings. Without the separation of power, there is no choice.

Friday, December 23, 2005

Thoughts in the aftermath of the strike by Local 100 of the TWU against the MTA

"The MTA is corrupt." This seems to be the consensus opinion of the pundits.

"New York Governor Pataki has appointed political cronies and shills to the governing board of the MTA." This statement (paraphrased here) is repeated by a wide spectrum of politcal analysts.

Yet the strike was "illegal".

But it was legal for Mayor Bloomberg, a rich white man, (I'm a poor white man) to attempt to give away hundreds of millions of dollars of MTA property value to a wealthy cohort--value that had been created in large part by the efforts of the workers aka members Local 100 of the TWU.

Reminding us of the Civil Rights movement, Local 100 President Roger Toussaint has raised the issue of social justice as a higher calling than the letter of the law, particularly when the Taylor Law is so obviously unjust in allowing public governing bodies to delay settlements, sometimes for years, and then not have to make up all of the back pay.

Some definitions with links:

MTA - Metropolitan Transportation Authority

TWU- Transportation Workers Union - Local 100 - National

Office of the Mayor of New York City

Office of the Governor of New York

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Postcard sent to Mayor Bloomberg

December 22, 2005

Dear Mayor Bloomberg:

If you hadn’t tried to “legally” transfer hundreds of millions of dollars of MTA property value to wealthy cohort(s) … maybe this little ol’ farm boy from Northern Minnesota wouldn’t think you are full of manure regarding what you call an “illegal” strike. The wealth you tried to give away was created by the efforts of the working men and women of the TWU.

What is it about rich white men anyway? Do you really think wealth is a measure of some god’s favorable attitude toward you?

Sincerely yours,
Hilding G. Lindquist

An impeachable offense?

President Bush (#43) admits he violated the Fouth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States and ordered the NSA to spy on citizens of the United States without any judicial oversight let alone a warrant.

Have you been watching his gyrations and those of his supporters in justifying this action?

Bush, on his own, replaced judicial oversight and instituted warrantless searches of the "papers and effects" of citizens with limited Congressional oversight ... and we now learn that at least one Senator (U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller, Dem-W.VA) raised the issue of their probity with the Executive Branch.

The Constitution for the United States of America
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

If this is not clear, what is clearer than this?

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

The MTA Strike vs. the War in Iraq: a struggle for the attention of New Yorkers







Wednesday, December 14, I went to Carmen at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, aka The Met—seldom confused in conversation with the other Met, the Metropolitan Museum.

The MTA strike hadn't started yet and the city was alive and aglow with the holiday season festivities. The War in Iraq did not intrude on our consciousness, let alone our activities. The war was not making a difference in the lives of the revelers, as far as I could tell. Whatever disturbance was occurring, was occurring out of sight and out of mind.

Not so with the strike against the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) by the Transport Workers Union (TWU), now that it has started. "My god," say the Republican politicians, "the strike is disrupting our lives. We're not safe. People can't get to work. The stores are empty. This is an illegal strike. Fine the union. This is happening to us. It has to end. Now!"

If Iraq weren't so tragic, the irony would be laughable.

Some background to the strike: First, I unabashedly support the unions. The last minute change to the pension contribution, the excess funds accumulated by the MTA, and Mayor Bloomberg's willingness to give hundreds of millions of dollars in MTA property value to wealthy associates create a climate of distrust on the part of the workers who do the work that creates the wealth. There is no good-faith bargaining on the part of the MTA if they hide behind the "no-strike" law to bring the workers to heel.

Then like Bush #43 on 9/11, Bloomberg invokes the decrease in crime in the city in his comments about the need for the union to return to work, as if people don't want to work.

What we need is a living wage ... enough to support a family with children.




Tuesday, December 20, 2005

What is it that President Bush doesn’t understand?

In CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776,
the unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

The Constitution for the United States of America
Amendment IV:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

The Gettysburg Address:
… government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.

President Bush's order to spy on citizens of these United States of America is a clear violation of his oath of office to uphold the Constitution of the United States, and is in direct opposition to the principles that have made our nation great.

Let's not forget that a big--like in HUGE--reason we were blindsided on 9/11 was the administration's--led by Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld--preoccupation with a Stars Wars defense.

You know, it does get a wee bit scarey when this little ol' farm boy from Northern Minnesota can spot the manure pile from a distance, and those standing in the middle of it, can't even detect the odor.

Friday, December 16, 2005

How quickly times flies ...

How quickly time flies when you're old and having fun.

The war in Iraq has a kind of surreal experience for those of us in the United States who are making no real sacrifice in waging it. Yet our President calls on us to persevere, to stay the course until victory is achieved.

Does that mean "continue shopping as usual"?

Whatever ... Bush #43 has a strange way of rallying the nation to the barricades. His call to arms seems to be, "Stay where you are and trust me. Unless, of course, you qualify for enlistment in the Armed Services. Then it's "Come on down, the price is right (cuz you're poor and we'll pay you to fight)".

Then over in Iraq itself, when I learn more about the constitution now in effect, I simply shake my head in bewilderment. Are our leaders delusional?

The following words end the lead editorial, "Iraq's Most Important Election", in the NY Times for Wednesday, December 13:

"A more diverse representation of Shiite political views and a smaller role for the sinister party militias, which are now an important element of the Iraqi Army and police forces, would be welcome developments. That could also make Sunni Arab neighborhoods feel less threatened. Democracy entitles the majority to rule, but not at the expense of everyone else."

Let me repeat that, "Democracy entitles the majority to rule, but not at the expense of everyone else."

Are they kidding us? What kind of sophomoric pabulum are "these people" (are they neocon Zionists in liberal smocks?) trying to feed us?

You don't even have to be a majority in the US ... just have the majority of the votes counted, and the opposition is in trouble. And we are supposedly a "mature" democracy! Think DeLay in Texas ... and the Democrats before the Republicans.

Who is dealing with the reality on the ground over there?

If these are our "intelligentsia" on the "liberal" side ... we are in such deep doo-doo that we might as well start learning Chinese.

Somehow the neocons have forgotten that it is the separation and resulting balance of real political power basically outside our military that makes our nation so strong democratically. It is the VERY real sense that the tables can and do turn in one's own lifetime that keeps the semblance of fairness in government we have. Whenever one power center starts believing it has a lock on political power, corruption spreads faster than an oil slick on a pool of water.

In a patriarchal society people do not give up power and control without a fight. (It may be the same in all societies.) In a democracy we decree that the battle is in the ballot. And what happens then? Look at Florida in 2000. Look at Ohio in 2004. Think "easily manipulated electronic voting machines" ... and we are supposedly a mature democracy, for chrissake.

As long as reason is pulled along by testosterone ... and the males engage in pissing contests ... pissing into the wind always has a predictable outcome.