The 4th

A few (fellow American) people have recently asked me if Costa Rica celebrates July 4th. I understand it could be a simple assumption, considering the United State's empirical pull across the world...but no, as far as I can tell, there were no BBQ's, parades or fireworks in honor of the USA, in this, another country, today. Go figure.

Although, maybe I wouldn't be completely surprised, as I struggle to find an obvious, defined culture here in Costa Rica, between the Hooters, Wendy's, and True Value. Sure, I feel at home, but that wasn't the point, was it? Two of the five classes I'm teaching take place in offices, and my students are employees whose companies have been bought out by American corporations and are now required to learn English. One of these students simply does not want to learn, but will lose his job if he doesn't. Yeah. Not quite as enriching as the other classes I teach in a school with willing learners.

I wish I could say that my heart-strings feel a tug when I hear the US national anthem. I wish I could say that simply seeing the American flag fills me with a proud warmth...but it doesn't. It would be nice, though, wouldn't it? If all the things that our songs, anthems, banners and signs claim to represent were true? Wouldn't it be great if the United States of America were brave, revolutionary and bold?

I know, how dare I expect more of and question my home country?! Why not just sing the songs and wave the flag and pretend that because my white, upper-middle class existence has been cushy, cozy and all too comfortable, that must mean that America is really not so bad.

I was glad to see I'm not alone in my sentiment (or lack thereof) as I read Howard Zinn's "Put Away the Flags" and Matthew Rothschild's "Why I Don't Celebrate the Fourth" in The Progressive today:

We need to refute the idea that our nation is different from, morally superior to, the other imperial powers of world history.

We need to assert our allegiance to the human race, and not to any one nation.

- Howard Zinn

American patriotism has also gotten in the way of solving global warming. Many in the United States, which consumes 25 percent of the world’s resources but has just 4 percent of the world’s population, believe we have the God-given right to use up all the resources we can. And there is an all-too-common attitude that we don’t need to listen to any other countries, or the U.N., or obey any international agreements because we’re Americans, and we’re better than everybody else.

We’ve got to get over patriotism, and we’ve got to cure the American superiority complex.

- Matthew Rothschild

Nationalism is the egg that hatches fascism.

And patriotism is but the father of nationalism.

Patriotism is not something to play with. It’s highly toxic. When ingested, it corrodes the rational faculties.

It gulls people into believing their leaders.

It masks those who benefit most from state policy.

- Matthew Rothschild

Are you READY?!

Every time I see ads for "ready.gov", I feel weird; not in that "Government, stop! You're EMBARRASSING me!" kind of way, but in the "I think this is an example of fear mongering" kind of way.

I'm glad someone has decided to make fun of it...

Check out Homeland.gov.safenow.org, an amusing commentary on some of the "WARNING" notices on ready.gov.

War Made Easy

Hi, it's me again. I'm just here to tell you that I just watched the documentary,

War Made Easy:

How Presidents & Pundits Keep Spinning us to Death.

I liked it and think that you should watch it too!

(It's only 72 minutes!)

A snippet from its website synopsis:

"War Made Easy reaches into the Orwellian memory hole to expose a 50-year pattern of government deception and media spin that has dragged the United States into one war after another from Vietnam to Iraq."

I knew about the general idea behind the film beforehand, but it's compiled in such a way that it helps to bring it all together. By "it" I mean the United States' LTR with war. If the USA were on Facebook, its relationship status would probably say "In a relationship with War". As Americans, we're supposed to accept this relationship as a MUST. They must NEVER break up because if they do, no one will do what America tells them to anymore. Of course, the main-stream media is along for the ride on the big ole war bandwagon. When the US and War host keggers, the press supply the red cups.

You get the point.

The film consistently references Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s fervent opposition to militarism and it closes with an audio excerpt from his 1967 speech, Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence, so I decided to read it myself. It is (not surprisingly) stirring and eloquent.

Here's an excerpt:

I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a "thing-oriented" society to a "person-oriented" society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.

It seems as though our nation has continued down this destructive path that he so purposefully warned us against. What would Dr. King make of all this now?

Putting the "Disaster" In Disaster Capitalism

Yesterday, as I looked over articles on the aid efforts in Haiti, I wondered why it was so necessary for US Troops to be fully equipped with semiautomatics. This is a relief effort, not a war, right? I mean, it's no secret that I think our current system errs on the side of "shady", so of course I'm going to question the real motives in this situation. I'm coming to find that what's worse than the questioning is the disappointment in knowing that the questioning is merited.

Today, I came across "Profiting from Haiti’s Crisis: Disaster Capitalism in Washington’s Backyard" by Benjamin Dangl on Commondreams.org. If you're interested in this situation in Haiti and our part in it, I STRONGLY recommend reading this article. The first line (as many first lines so often do) paints a pretty clear picture...

US corporations, private mercenaries, Washington and the International Monetary Fund are using the crisis in Haiti to make a profit, promote unpopular neoliberal policies, and extend military and economic control over the Haitian people.

Oh, Uncle "Money Bags" Sam, you never miss an opportunity, do you?

What we also have to keep in mind is that Haiti was in a dire state BEFORE this happened and when you do the math, it's pretty clear who held the cards in all that. The article continues...

Brian Concannon, the director of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti told Hallward of the root causes for the overpopulation of neighborhoods in the city of Port-au-Prince that were hit so hard by the earthquake. "Those people got there because they or their parents were intentionally pushed out of the countryside by aid and trade policies specifically designed to create a large captive and therefore exploitable labor force in the cities; by definition they are people who would not be able to afford to build earthquake resistant houses." Unnatural crises such as this made the earthquake much more devastating.

Dangl quotes the author Naomi Kline:

...throughout history, "while people were reeling from natural disasters, wars and economic upheavals, savvy politicians and industry leaders nefariously implemented policies that would never have passed during less muddled times." This push to apply unpopular neoliberal policies began almost immediately after the earthquake in Haiti.

Get THIS! Check out what Kline recently pointed out on Democracy Now! about the Heritage Foundation:

Following the disaster in Haiti, Klein pointed out that the Heritage Foundation, "one of the leading advocates of exploiting disasters to push through their unpopular pro-corporate policies," issued a statement on its website after the earthquake hit: "In addition to providing immediate humanitarian assistance, the U.S. response to the tragic earthquake in Haiti earthquake offers opportunities to re-shape Haiti's long-dysfunctional government and economy as well as to improve the public image of the United States in the region."

They eventually took that statement down, but it was there, as clear as day (as were their motives).

One of Dangl's final points hits the nail on the head:

While international leaders and institutions are speaking about how many soldiers and dollars they are committing to Haiti, it is important to note that what Haiti needs is doctors not soldiers, grants not loans, a stronger public sector rather than a wholesale privatization, and critical solidarity with grassroots organizations and people to support the self-determination of the country.

That doesn't sound outrageous does it? Sounds like a completely logical statement, right? Wouldn't it be nice if that was the approach that won in the end? I'm afraid it looks as though Uncle Money Bags is setting up camp and drawing up his own rules, yet again...

All That Glitters Is Not Good

So, Pacific Rim (a large Canadian mining company), is aggressively proposing a gold mine in El Salvador, where opposition to this mine has been mounting over the last few years. In the last few weeks, a number of outspoken community leaders opposed to the mine have been murdered. Just last Saturday, Dora "Alicia" Recinos Sorto, eight months pregnant, was shot dead while walking with her two year old son. Uhhhh, I'm appalled. How about you? So, we have a big, powerful mining company that really, really wants to mine and mounting opposition standing in their way, so...why not hire some hit men to take some of this opposition out? Pretty sick. What's also pretty sick is that this crap happens all the time.

A friend of mine sent me the transcript of a Democracy Now interview with Alexis Stoumbelis, Executive Director of CISPES, the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador. It's short, but informative. Why should you care? (Besides the fact that, y'know, being an formed citizen of the world isn't a bad thing and all...) First off, this is silver mining and chances are, you are wearing or have worn gold and silver and knowing where and under what circumstances the items we adorn ourselves with is a good thing to know. Also, the United States has El Salvador (along with pretty much all of Latin America) in its pocket and El Salvador is pretty dependent on the US thanks to the fact that for the last twenty years the country has been run by the right-wing ARENA party, one of the United States' closest allies. So, El Salvador needs our support more than anything.

Unlike so many stories of injustice out there now, there is the potential of some real support behind this movement. Stoumbelis says,

This is a really incredibly important moment in El Salvador. After twenty years of a very hard-right government, they have—the Salvadoran people have elected their first progressive government. The FMLN is now in charge of the presidency and in the majority—well, not the majority, but having the most seats in the legislative assembly. And so, there is really a role like we’ve never had before to hear the voices of people be reflected at the top levels of the government. And Mauricio Funes spoke out last week, specifically around the assassination of Ramiro Rivera, and vowed to investigate fully and not to allow this case to continue in impunity, which was very exciting...

...The FMLN, as a political party, made a very strong denouncement yesterday against the violence and a commitment to investigating, and they have also made a public commitment against mining and have actually introduced a bill in the legislative assembly, which is going to take a huge push, to actually ban all forms of metallic mining, which would be the first in the world.

All of this is important to know because there is REAL injustice happening here and it's the result (as it almost always is...) of big, corporate bullying. People are taking a stand and lives are being lost, BUT there is a real courageous movement going and the push is being felt. The FMLN commitment and bill introduction are proof of voices being heard...but how many lives need to be lost in the process?

Merry Christmas, Insurance Companies!

It seems as though the insurance companies will be having the merriest Christmas this year (in lieu of the coal that many of us hoped they'd find in their stockings). Santa Obama and his senatelves really delivered the goods...to corporate America. They can boast that we got what was on our list (REFORM!!!!!!), but that's like asking for a new pair of shoes and getting an empty shoe box. What will keep our feet warm? Americans awake to find empty shoe boxes, while the insurance companies sneak out the back door, adorned with new kicks.

I, like many, am heartbroken with this turn of events and can't help but feel that the joke is on us. Our representative democracy has failed us yet again. Do you feel you had a say in this? I don't. We went from public option to medicare buy-in to complete CRAP. Suddenly the insurance companies power has expanded; individuals will be forced to buy insurance with NO cost control. Jigga wha?!?!

Last Thursday, Howard Dean took to the Washington Post:

Any measure that expands private insurers' monopoly over health care and transfers millions of taxpayer dollars to private corporations is not real health-care reform. Real reform would insert competition into insurance markets, force insurers to cut unnecessary administrative expenses and spend health-care dollars caring for people. Real reform would significantly lower costs, improve the delivery of health care and give all Americans a meaningful choice of coverage. The current Senate bill accomplishes none of these...

...From the very beginning of this debate, progressives have argued that a public option or a Medicare buy-in would restore competition and hold the private health insurance industry accountable. Progressives understood that a public plan would give Americans real choices about what kind of system they wanted to be in and how they wanted to spend their money. Yet Washington has decided, once again, that the American people cannot be trusted to choose for themselves. Your money goes to insurers, whether or not you want it to.

And on Monday, the National Nurses Union cited "10 fundamental flaws" in the bill:

1. The individual mandate forcing all those without coverage to buy private insurance, with insufficient cost controls on skyrocketing premiums and other insurance costs.

2. No challenge to insurance company monopolies, especially in the top 94 metropolitan areas where one or two companies dominate, severely limiting choice and competition.

3. An affordability mirage. Congressional Budget Office estimates say a family of four with a household income of $54,000 would be expected to pay 17 percent of their income, $9,000, on healthcare exposing too many families to grave financial risk.

4. The excise tax on comprehensive insurance plans which will encourage employers to reduce benefits, shift more costs to employees, promote proliferation of high-deductible plans, and lead to more self-rationing of care and medical bankruptcies, especially as more plans are subject to the tax every year due to the lack of adequate price controls. A Towers-Perrin survey in September found 30 percent of employers said they would reduce employment if their health costs go up, 86 percent said they'd pass the higher costs to their employees.

5. Major loopholes in the insurance reforms that promise bans on exclusion for pre-existing conditions, and no cancellations for sickness. The loopholes include:

· Provisions permitting insurers and companies to more than double charges to employees who fail "wellness" programs because they have diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol readings, or other medical conditions.

· Insurers are permitted to sell policies "across state lines", exempting patient protections passed in other states. Insurers will thus set up in the least regulated states in a race to the bottom threatening public protections won by consumers in various states.

· Insurers can charge four times more based on age plus more for certain conditions, and continue to use marketing techniques to cherry-pick healthier, less costly enrollees.

· Insurers may continue to rescind policies for "fraud or intentional misrepresentation" – the main pretext insurance companies now use to cancel coverage.

6. Minimal oversight on insurance denials of care; a report by the California Nurses Association/NNOC in September found that six of California's largest insurers have rejected more than one-fifth of all claims since 2002.

7. Inadequate limits on drug prices, especially after Senate rejection of an amendment, to protect a White House deal with pharmaceutical giants, allowing pharmacies and wholesalers to import lower-cost drugs.

8. New burdens for our public safety net. With a shortage of primary care physicians and a continuing fiscal crisis at the state and local level, public hospitals and clinics will be a dumping ground for those the private system doesn't want.

9. Reduced reproductive rights for women.

10. No single standard of care. Our multi-tiered system remains with access to care still determined by ability to pay. Nothing changes in basic structure of the system; healthcare remains a privilege, not a right.

I have a "right" to post this blog but I don't have a right to get good, sufficient health care if my arm gets ripped off tomorrow. That's...W-R-O-N-G.

The bill gets pushed through and the hoity toities in Washington make it home in plenty of time to sip egg nog near the roaring fire. Honestly, what's it to them? About 2/3 of the US Senate are millionaires anyway.

Oh! We musn't forget Ben Nelson, the "democrat" with a pivotal vote in all this. The Nebraskan senator who "made is name and money in INSURANCE". Did you catch that? INSURANCE. Also, according to the Examiner...

Under the agreement struck between Harry Reid and Ben Nelson, Nebraska’s expanded Medicaid program will now be fully funded by the federal government. Nebraska is the only state to receive this sweetheart deal.

This should be a WAKE-UP CALL to not only Americans, but the whole wold. This is our HEALTHCARE. What is healthy about this? Who REALLY cares? This is not "reform". This is continued imperialistic greed in reform's clothing.

Grand Old Pest

Ugh, what is this annoying itch? Ahh, it won't go away! I can't stand it! It must be a bad rash. Oh, wait...it's... SARAH PALIN.

Her book is being dismissed as nonsense and scoffed at, even by Republicans. I caught part of her Oprah interview, but had to turn it off because I was so uncomfortable. I almost felt bad for her...almost. She's dense, deluded, and deceptive.

Alright, I'm sick of talking about this goon. This post was written for the sole purpose of posting this hilarious clip:

Viva La Revolución

I just read The Nation's Reflections on a Decade of Civic Revolutions in Latin America and found it to be an informative summation of the recent political happenings in Latin America. It has become apparent to me in the last few months how imperative it is for us North Americans to know what is REALLY going on just to the south of us. We have had and still do have a HUGE presence there, and unfortunately, we have not used our powers for much good at all.

Here are some blurbs:

Contrary to the US media's frequent depictions, Latin America is home to vibrant democratic societies in which organized citizens press for social changes against political elites, an openly hostile corporate media and traditional oligarchs who still control most economic activity.

----

Despite the paranoia of the media and much of the Washington foreign policy establishment, changes occurring in the region are not driven by anti-US plots hatched in Caracas or La Habana. In fact, many in Latin America are quietly "giving up" on the United States, developing regional trade and strengthening ties with countries such as China, India, Russia and South Africa.

----

Get THIS-

Unfortunately, with Barack Obama in the White House, US policy toward Latin America has changed little. Though the Summit of the Americas early this year raised expectations, Obama's administration has in fact escalated Bush-era policies. The United States refuses to label the June ouster of democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya in Honduras a coup; it is moving ahead with plans to establish seven new military bases in Colombia, setting off an arms race in the region; it has extended the embargo on Cuba; and with the Merida Initiative it supports continued "drug war" militarization of Mexico.

I remember hearing about how Obama and Chavez briefly met a few months back, and how the media reported that Obama was "cordial" and exchanged a few words with Chavez. It's not that the West sees Chavez as a mean, scary man, but rather as a threat to their self-serving capitalistic approach to Latin America...and it IS unfortunate that Obama seems to be coloring within the same old lines.

Soviet WWII-era Paintings

Boingboing.net posted a link to these Soviet WWII era paintings. I found them to be soulful and absorbing.

The Boingboing description-

These are amazing paintings. I can't think of anything in the west in the same time period that is as moving, as emotionally evocative, except Norman Rockwell. It surprises me that more people don't like them.

There's a book called The Cultural Cold War: The CIA and the World of Arts and Letters by Frances Stonor Saunders. Part of it deals with the CIA's efforts to destroy social realism, to make acceptable only art devoid of political or emotional content. I thought they had just succeeded in keeping it out of corporate media, out of the museums, but that they couldn't change how people reacted to it. But it may be that they won and that most of us can't react to such art anymore.

These pictures, to me, represent where art should have gone after the impressionists and the post-impressionists, that they are the heirs to Gauguin and Cezanne and of Van Gogh's "Potato Eaters", to Goya's "The Third of May, 1808, or The Executions on Principe Pio Hill." Instead, what do we have today? Sometimes art is pretty. Sometimes it is clever, but it is usually without any deeper significance, without any emotional or political content.

I find that very sad.

What an interesting tidbit, no? I just looked up The Cultural Cold War and I'm definitely intrigued. Looks like I'll be adding that to my Shelfari...

I came across this informative little summation of the events that have taken place and are taking place in Honduras (courtesy of alternet.org). It's in comic-strip form, so it's a quick and easy way to get the gist of what's going on- and it's also nice for those of you who like to read dem picture books. It helps see what a major rule the US plays in all this.

I also found a link to the blog, Honduras Coup 2009, which gives regular updates on what's going on...y'know because most major media coverage of the coup is biased b/c the coup leaders have suspended alternative media and blown up the towers for the alternative media sources in Honduras.

Ohhh, That Ain't Riiiight...

A few blurbs from "Watch What You Tweet" posted on Oregonlive.com by Democracy Now's Amy Goodman:

A social worker from New York City was arrested last week while in Pittsburgh for the G-20 protests, then subjected to an FBI raid this week at home -- all for using Twitter. Elliot Madison faces charges of hindering apprehension or prosecution, criminal use of a communication facility and possession of instruments of crime. He was posting to a Twitter feed (or tweeting, as it is called) publicly available information about police activities around the G-20 protests, including information about where police had issued orders to disperse...

...While alerting people to public information may not seem to be an arrestable offense, be forewarned: Many people have been arrested for the same "crime" -- in Iran, that is.

Madison, his wife and housemates were roused from sleep during the weekend when the Joint Terrorism Task Force swept into their house, handcuffing them for hours, searching the house and removing computers and other property from everyone in the house. Madison said the FBI "for 16 hours, proceeded to take everything, from plush toys to kitchen magnets and lots of books ... they took Curious George stuffed animals."

This is what our tax dollars are going to? Big Brother, anyone? Read the whole article. It's short.