A Rice to the Right and a Rice to the Left

Nine-Eleven, that horrific morning back in 2001 that every American has engraved in their memory until the day they die. Unfortunately, there are those on the right that have no recollection of what happened between that day and March 20, 2003. Amazingly, this people suffer for a rare and incurable case of amnesia: Extreme Whiteness Amnesia. This ailment severely affects white people with low IQs, religious fanatics and bigots. 

For months now we have been tortured with their cries about the “Benghazi scandal.” The Right has gone as far as claiming that Benghazi is the worst terrorist attack they've seen in their entire life, that Watergate pales in comparison, because the horrible, unforgivable offense of publicly saying, less than a week after the attack, that it might have been in response to the offensive video that had Muslims up in arms is the worse lie they have been subjected to. 

That communication given by Susan Rice, the United States Ambassador to the UN and at the time candidate for the Secretary of State position, is what has the Right so upset, wasting thousand of dollars in unnecessary hearings, wasting time and diverting the public’s attention to the fact that Congress is doing absolutely nothing for them. The whole thing is a charade, but we have to endure watching these morons act so arrogantly while saying that the Obama administration “lied to the American people” and it is an offense for which they want to impeach the president, again, since they can't lynch him as they would have done in the "good ol' days". 

I say Americans suffer from severe amnesia because they have erased from their memories the lies that their beloved presidents have said to the people. Their demigod, Ronald Reagan, lied through his teeth when he was caught in the Iran-Contra scandal and George W. Bush, not only knowingly lied to the people but, planned the invasion that he sold to the American people with false pretenses and which have cost us our reputation and thousand of lives from both countries. But for them, that has been forgotten. 

Today, most of us that have managed to escape the apparently highly contagious amnesia, remember how the Bush administration neglected going after those that supposedly attacked us and concentrated in completing the plan that he, Rumsfeld and Cheney had forged long before 9/11 and the invasion. There are documents that proof the invasion was planned, that the administration – and that includes every top official from Bush to the Secretary of the Press and the then National Security Advisor – who later became the Secretary of State (perhaps as a reward for participating in the lies) Condoleezza Rice lied to incite the public into going to war. One Memo dated July 27, 2001 was from Donald Rumsfeld to Condoleezza Rice and the other one was dated November 27, 2001 again from Rumsfeld to General Tommy Franks. Later Condoleezza Rice went on public television to help instill fear in the American Public with her infamous “Mushroom Cloud” comment.

I can’t help but thinking of the two Rice women; similar situations, both women were offered the position of Secretary of State; one woman, lied to help perpetrate a crime a lie for which thousands of lives were lost and the other one, who after the sinister said that the attack was caused by a video and whose comment cost not one single life. One is highly regarded by the Republicans and the other one almost accused of treason and who to this day is a victim of a Republican witch-hunt. On September 16, 2012 Susan Rice on the request of the President, appeared at various news forums to provide a statement about what had transpired in Benghazi on September 11. Her talking points were given to her by the Intelligence Community, information that was also shared with Congress, and which cost this woman her chance to become the next Secretary of State. To this day, the Right is trying to destroy her impeccable career at the expense of the American public; these useless trials are costing us thousands of dollars. Remember, in case you have the disease, what’s being investigated and on trial is not the tragic event but what Susan Rice said on September 16, 2012.

The Right might play stupid but they’re far from it, that is why they are not outraged by the actual attack and they never bring that up to the light because what happened on that fateful night was mainly their fault, after all their constant negations and demands for austerity is what allowed this crime to happen. It was their budget cuts that reduced the funds for the embassy’s security, forcing the embassy to hire local security for their protection instead of our own and that ‘s what allowed the embassy to be broken into and the ambassador and three members of his staff killed. The only ones to blame for those deaths are the Republicans and Teapers in Congress.

What happened in Benghazi was horrible, no one is disputing that, but embassies have been attacked before and I can assure you that somewhere in time, there will be other embassies attacks somewhere in the world. But Susan Rice statement should not be on trial, not until we bring to justice the top members of the previous administration for crimes against humanity, for lying to the American people, for the unnecessary death of many of our young men and women as well as the Iraqis based on a fabricated lie to invade a country to satisfy their greed for oil. Let’s bring Bush, Rumsfeld and Rice to justice and then and only then we should talk about Benghazi. This is owed to the American people and to the world that have been demanding justice for a very long time.

I'm Resolved to Steal (IRS)

I am a Liberal, a Democrat Liberal but before being a political person, I try to be a righteous individual and I will not do what Conservatives do: excuse whatever wrongs those in my Party are caught doing. I said “caught doing” because I am certain that all politicians are crooks, some more than others, but not all have been caught, yet.

The Cincinnati IRS scandal is one of the latest political scandals to hit the airwaves last week. Republicans and obviously the Tea Party – who was the IRS’ target – are all up in arms about it and demanding for heads to roll, and rightly so.

I’ve heard that the reason the IRS targeted Tea Party’s organizations was because after President Obama was elected, and before the elections of 2010, there was an overwhelming number of Tea Party organizations applying for section 501(c)(1), which would provide them tax exempt status and having so many applications, it made their job easier to pin point those that seemed to be political in nature rather than organizations involved in social welfare or charities. Chris Hayes, from MSNBC, showed a graph where you could see that the number of political organizations doubled while the IRS employees decreased in that period of time.

According to many news groups and even on publications so reputable such as Times, the scrutinized organizations applied for 501(c)(4) and if this is true, then the IRS had every right to investigate them because section 501(c)(4) its for organizations whose primary activity is social welfare and not political ones.

Now, why would these political organizations apply for this exemption when there is one that will allow them to do everything they want, legally, and with the tax exemptions they seek?

I understand that for members of the Tea Party what they are doing, in their minds, is for the social welfare of the citizens but anyone with an ounce of gray matter can identify their activities are political, not social. They campaign to have members of their Party elected to office. What social welfare or charity do they engage in to claim exemption on 501(c)(4)? What they should have filed under was 527(e)(2).

What’s wrong here is that the IRS targeted them, but then again, if you have 500 applications and 450 are from the same Party chances are that there will be more applications selected for audit or questioning than from any other group, it’s simple math. But the IRS admits to look for organization’s names that had “Patriot” or “Tea Party” in it, and that is selective scrutiny and no matter how you slice it, it is wrong.

I doubt the President or any other member of Congress – from any Party – were informed of what the IRS was doing. One must keep in mind that the IRS has a special relationship with government, almost as loving as with us mere mortals. While they enjoy almost every perk government officials do, they are not part of the government as the FBI or the CIA is.

I blame Lois Lerner, the person in charge of overseeing the Department of Tax-exemptions. She should have been aware of what was going on and stop it. As I said before, the IRS was right in investigating the applications because they were applying under the wrong section, but targeting a group based on the name of their organizations was and is wrong.

One way to fix this is to end, once and for all, Citizen’s United. Citizen’s United has made of an already corrupt political system a mockery of democracy, where individuals cannot compete with the funds provided by these organizations to support their candidates or agenda and where sooner rather than later, the wealthy will be the ones placing their puppets in the Oval Office and when they do this, it will be the end of America as we know it.

The political party should provide the campaign funds to their candidates and this amount should be a set amount for all candidates of all Parties, as an example a Republican candidate will be given 100 thousand for his or her campaign, the rival will be given the same amount by his/her Party. Ads should be provided by the media, free of charge and as a tax deductible for the media and providing equal space and/or air to each of the candidates. We must make the system work if we are to continue being “We the People.”

Happy Mother's Day!

When a woman is a little girl, all she dreams of ever being is a “mommy.” They play wit their dolls and if they are lucky to have a pet, the poor pet has to endure getting dressed, be walked around in a carrier and to be admonished as mothers do. Then, these little girls grow up and for some the dream changes and being a mommy is no longer their main goal, but for many it may not be their objective but the dream is still there, buried in the back of their minds.

Most women go about their lives, working hard, partying even harder, going out with friends and dating. Some marry and settle down, others decide not to get married while others decide to have a partner. It doesn’t matter if they are heterosexual, bisexual or homosexual most at one time still keep that dream hidden somewhere in the web of their memory.

If a woman is ready, it doesn’t matter if she gets pregnant by accident, after trying and trying, if they are married or single but finding out for the first time that they are pregnant is an unforgettable moment. Mind you, I said if she is ready.

Not all women get morning sickness but many do and it is hell. For the first trimester you can’t hold anything down, you feel like throwing up and it is worse in the mornings, hence it’s name. They gorge saltine crackers trying to settle their stomachs, it is not a very nice time but they keep hearing that it will pass and they endure it with a smile.

After that first trimester everything gets better, soon they start feeling some movement in their abdomen, which at first it seems like a cram but without the pain. The first time she realizes that the weird sensation they’re feeling it’s their baby’s move they are ecstatic! At this point her old jeans won’t fit her and she looks like she has gained a few pounds but lucky her, she doesn’t care after all; she is no longer one, now she is two.

After the first trimester, her skin and hair are better than ever. People will notice a “special glow” that all pregnant women are known for. She looks beautiful and she feels very good. At this stage, it seems that every woman around her has decided to be pregnant like her. Everywhere she goes, she sees pregnant women; of course, this is not so, it is just that now she sees them where before she didn’t put any attention to them and now she does .

Around the sixth or seventh month most women start feeling like a blimp. Her breasts are enlarged – she likes that – but she has lost her waist, the once cute belly button is beginning to protrude and it’s not easy to fall asleep. She wakes up many times during the night because she is now urinating constantly, and the baby’s kick are sometimes painful. But she is happy, she knows that the end is near and even if the baby was born now his chances for survival are greater and for that she is grateful.

The last two months are the most difficult. The skin in her abdomen seems it can’t stretch any further, thin red lines can appear on her breast and or her abdomen… these will later become the infamous stretch marks. Her belly itches very much and she keeps lubricating it, one because it gives her some relief and second because she has heard that prevents stretch marks, it doesn’t but it doesn’t hurt to try, so her belly looks like a shiny balloon.

Towards the end of the 8^th month and until she gives birth, she will have difficulties walking. She will feel a very intense pressure in her groin. This is because her hipbones are beginning to separate to allow the baby to pass through the birth canal. Her legs and ankles swell which makes walking even more difficult. Her back is in constant pain, not only because her hips are separating but also because she is now carrying with her abdomen’s muscles a fully developed baby that will be due any minute.

During the last week when the doctor has told her she will give birth, she has everything set for her trip to the hospital. They have a bag with a nightgown, brush, toothbrush, deodorant, perfume, panties, slippers, a robe and make-up ready for her trip to the hospital. She wants to look her best for when people come to see her and her new bundle of joy at the hospital. Most women never think of taking with them a sanitary pad, they will need it and hospitals charge an arm and a leg for each pad so if any of you are pregnant for the first time and didn’t think of this, you can thank me later, but include a bag of Tena (or any other brand) incontinence pads, you will need them.

She is excited that finally she will have her baby in her arms and get rid of the damn discomfort! Every single woman that has ever been pregnant by the 9^th month they had enough, they just want to be back to their old selves, not knowing that will not happen but that’s what every newbie thinks. The father-to-be at this time is on call 24/7, when he is away from his wife he is constantly checking his cell or calling home… the poor thing doesn’t know that the baby will come when he is at an important meeting, with a client and even at times on a quick trip. Babies like to come when is less convenient!

Finally the day comes when the water breaks. It is such an excitement and embarrassment at the same time… but it is the announcement that the baby is coming no matter what and the couple rushes to the hospital, some are cool and collected and won’t forget to take the bag that has been prepared for at least two weeks but most leave and forget it at home.

Now is when the truth about giving birth makes its appearance. The mild contractions that most women think are excruciating are just the beginning. These contractions will become more frequent and at the same time more intense. Those that requested pain killers will have it easy, those that made the decision to have them “au natural” will experience the glory of going through labor the old fashioned way, painfully.

Most births occur in a hospital setting and in a traditional way. Others are at home through a midwife and others are now giving birth in water, which seems to offer more comfort to the mother and a more natural for the baby. Whichever ay you chose you should consult your doctor to make the best decision in your particular case.

The baby wants out and he is determined to go through your pelvis and vagina at all cost. He is pushing down widening the opening and this is what is causing the pain. The woman will be told to breathe, which at this point is the only thing she will do without questioning. Most women that give birth the natural way make Linda Blair in the Exorcist pale in comparison. They twist, some curse and many scream but rarely you will see a woman that is not taking any pain killers go through this looking like a well composed lady. Labor time varies from woman to woman, some seem just to pop them out like nothing, within half hour after getting to the hospital others spend hours in labor, needless to say that those that spend hours are not the friendliest of people during those long hours!

The best description of what if feels like to give birth was given by Carol Burnett: “Giving birth is like taking your lower lip and forcing it over your head.” She was right!

If a woman is in labor for too long, chances are that she will end up getting a cesarean section (C-Section) because there could be dangers to the child if it is not out by that time and believe me, the woman at this point will welcome it.

Regardless of the time it took to bring the child to this messed up planet, finally it is born and the mother will think it’s the most beautiful thing she has ever seen… even when it looks like a wrinkled, purple shrimp, that doesn’t matter because after all she has gone through she finally is a mom and her baby made it there.

She will never sleep again the same way she did. From this point forward she will sleep only if her offspring is well and home. If the baby was born with an illness, she will be at its side making sure everything is fine. From the moment the child took its first breath of air, her heart will stop if her child is ill. She becomes secondary in her own life because the needs of her child will always come before hers.

There is no one on earth that will love like a mother does. She will gladly give her life to protect her child. She will suffer when her child suffers, she will laugh when her child is happy and she will be strong to offer her child her shoulder when he is weak, sick, sad or in trouble. There is no end to what a mother would do for her children.

Today is Mother’s Day, a commercialized day created to make people spend money on cards, flowers, gifts or fancy meals on their mothers. Mother’s day it's everyday, everyday that you are lucky to have your mother, it’s Mother’s day. Everyday you are alive, it’s mother’s day and you shouldn’t have a day in the calendar to tell her you love her and to be there for her now that thanks to her, you are all grown up. Be there for her because one day you will wish that she were still here with you and all you will have left is her memory.

To all mothers, Happy Mother’s Day today and everyday!

When Neither Head Functions...

The Battle of Puebla

Cinco de mayo, a day of celebrations in the United States, but many of my fellow Americans have no idea what they are celebrating, most think it’s the Independence of Mexico but that is not the case. In reality, this day is not celebrated in Mexico as much as it is in the United States, where I think people in an effort to demonstrate their acceptance – and a good excuse to party – celebrate a holiday that is mostly ignored in the Republic of Mexico except in Puebla.

On this day, we drink Margaritas, Tequila and beer. We enjoy barbeques, tacos (texmex) and guacamole. You can ask anyone celebrating what they are celebrating and they will tell you, in a bad Spanish accent and with a huge smile: Cincou de Maio!

Mexico obtained its independence in 1822, after years of bloodshed and many lives lost on both side of the war. After the independence war, Mexico was left financially bankrupted and incapable of paying back the country’s debt to countries such as England, Spain and France. Representatives from those countries arrived at Veracruz to collect on those debts but after some negotiations the representatives from Spain and England returned to their countries. The French however, decided to establish Mexico as a French territory and in 1861 an army of 8,000 French soldiers landed in Veracruz and proceeded to advance towards Mexico City. It was in Puebla where they encountered a formidable resistance from the poorly equipped Mexican army that had only 4,500 men. On May 5th, 1862 the Mexican army won a battle, but they lost the war a year later when the French army conquered Mexico City and Napoleon instated Emperor Maximilian as the ruler of the country. Some historians believe that the interest of the French in Mexico was to attack the United States from the south, since the United States was involved in a civil war. I don’t doubt it, but Mexico was and still is a very rich country.

Today, the great significance and the bravery of those men capable of fighting the greatest army of the time and win, even when they were outnumbered and not as well equipped, has been forgotten by most.

Cinco de Mayo is celebrated in the State of Puebla where the battle took place but it’s not celebrated anywhere else in Mexico; however, it is celebrated in the country that is trying to build a wall to keep Mexicans out and where many refer to them in a despotic way by calling them wetbacks. Funny, we love their food, their drinks and even their holidays, but many that celebrate and enjoy those things can’t stand Mexicans, what irony!

May Day, The Real Labor Day

May Day is celebrated in most countries of the world. On May 1st, some countries celebrate the event with fireworks and others use the day to display their military strength and power, but regardless of the way each country commemorates the occasion, it is a day to honor the workers for their services and for the struggles they’ve endured throughout history. This day is a holiday for 71% of the world, or 157 countries out of 222 that have chosen to celebrate this day in honor of the Haymarket Affair Martyrs.

Today, when Republicans are so desperately trying to take us back to the same working environment those men fought against so bravely we should pay homage to the history of the real International Labor Day. We should remember the tribulations the American Worker has endured, the sacrifices those before us made in order for us to enjoy what we have and why today’s bureaucrats are generously buying Congress to return us to the time before 1886.

In May 3, 1886 there were some striking workers congregated at the McCormick Reaper Works when the Chicago police interrupted the peaceful assembly by firing into the unarmed crowd, killing and injuring many of the men present.  This event provoked the labor leaders to organize a meeting at the Haymarket Square, an open public place, where they condemned the acts perpetrated by the Chicago police against workers and where they asked those present to intensify their protests demanding an eight-hour workday and better working environment.  Mayor Carter Harrison attended this meeting and asked police not to intervene.  Noticing that this congregation had begun to disperse and that the speeches and atmosphere of the meeting was considerable milder than previous ones, Mayor Harrison decided to go home, it was about an hour after his departure that the police, who had been only a few blocks away and who had spies in the crowd, decided to interrupt that meeting lead by Captain William Ward and Inspector John Bonfield.  No one knows for certain what prompted them to do this when the meeting was about to end.  While the Chicago police was dispersing the crowd someone threw a dynamite bomb to where the police was, killing one policeman immediately and injuring others.  Gunshots were exchanged and at the end there were seven police officers dead; no one knows how many workers were injured or killed, that’s how unimportant they were at the time.

In reality no one knew for certain who threw that bomb but the sinister event prompted, a couple of days later, for the police to round up every known or suspected radical in the city.  It has been said that the State’s Attorney, Julius Grinnell, ordered to “make the raids first and look up the law afterward.”  The police conducted searches and arrests without any warrants and no one but the accused seemed to have a problem with the tactic.  There were several arrests, but at the end only eight would stand trial for the bombing, seven of the eight accused had been speakers at the Haymarket meeting.

The first arrested were Michael Schwab (33), August Spies (31) and Adolph Fischer (28).  The arrest of Samuel Fielden (39), George Engel (50), Louis Lingg (21) and Oscar Neebe (36) came later.   Albert Parsons (38) left the city urged by his friends and his wife, Lucy Parsons.  The police also arrested and released Rudolph Schnaubelt (23), Schwab’s brother-in-law, but later the police thought that he was probably the bomb-thrower and went after him for his arrest but by the time they’ve done this, Schnaubelt had left the country never to be seen again.

Albert Parsons wasn’t caught by the police, he surrendered.  I guess he truly thought that he was going to have a fair trial and believed there was no evidence against him, and in reality there was none.  However, the trial was a mockery from the get go.  State’s Attorney Grinnell made sure that every single person picked to serve as jurors saw these men as criminals and were on the side of the police, every worker that had picketed and called to serve were dismissed as biased.

Grinnell called as witnesses two individuals:  Malvern Thompson and Harry Gilmer.  Thompson claimed that he had heard Spies and Schwab talk about the bomb before the meeting started, and Gilmer said under oath that he had witnessed Spies light the bomb and Schnaubelt throw it into the police.  It did not matter that there were witnesses claiming that Spies never left the wagon, that Schnaubelt had left the event before the sinister took place, that Schwab didn’t even went to the event or that all of these men were German and spoke among themselves in their native tongue, which neither Thompson nor Gilmer understood.   The defense noted all the disparities, however Grinnell maintained these to be true and, even if they weren’t, and he maintained that these men had incited the bomb to be thrown.  In other words, it didn’t matter that they did not had, lit, touched or thrown the bomb; what mattered was that because they were the speakers they were to be blamed.

It did not matter that the evidence presented by Grinnell was faulty, it mattered even less that the case did not prove that any of the men on trial had thrown the bomb or had been involved in planning it.  All of that didn’t matter because Grinnell maintained that it was the words and actions of these men (inciting workers to demand 8-hour workdays and better working environment) that had provoked it and therefore they were accessories to the crime; he went as far as to accuse these men of treason and murder.

The defense argued that the accused only interest was for a better society.  Moses Salomon, their defense attorney, referred to his clients in his closing argument as “men of broad feelings of humanity” and “that their only desire has been, and their lives have been consecrated to, the betterment of their fellow-men.”  According to the Chicago History Museum, the lead attorney, Black, compared them to Jesus Christ, “the greatest Socialist of Judea.”  That remark infuriated Grinnell and Judge Gary, who instructed the jury to dismiss most of the case presented by the defense.  The jury deliberated for just a few hours and found seven of the eight defendants guilty of murder and sentenced to death and Oscar Neebe, of conspiracy and sentenced to fifteen years of hard labor.

The accused were given the opportunity to speak before the sentence would be pronounced.  They all did, beginning with Spies, then Schwab, Neebe, Fischer, LIngg, Engel, Fielden and last was Parsons.  Parsons spoke for eight hours spread in two days.   All the defendants had used a portion of the time they were given to speak on a personal level, Louis Lingg used the time to make his last plea for anarchy and to openly express his disgust towards the system and it has been said that Lingg blamed the system for the “universal misery, the ravages of the capitalist hyena,”  he closed his speech by telling the prosecutors, judge and those that had sentenced him: “I despise your order, your laws, your force-propped authority.  Hang me for it!”

Judge Gary was more than happy to oblige and sentenced Neebe to the State Penitentiary and the rest of the defendants to be hanged by two o’clock on December 3 of the following year.

Out of the seven sentenced to death,  Samuel Fielden and Michael Schwab had their sentences commuted to life in prison –  but Parsons, Engel, Spies and Fischer were hanged on that November 11, 1887, around 10 AM.  All of them gave a declaration while standing on the scaffold.  Spies shouted “The time will come when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you are throttling today,” Spies died without knowing how prophetic his words were.  Fischer and Engle both said “Hooray for Anarchy” and Fischer boldly added, “This is the happiest moment in my life!”  I am sure that as an act of defiance against those that thought they had won over him.  Parsons asked for an opportunity to speak before being shut forever, he said out lout to his jailer “Let me speak, Sheriff Matson! Let the voice of the people be heard!” but as he paused to breathe, the trap fell and his voice was silenced forever.

Louis Lingg, the youngest of the anarchists, was not among those hanged on November 11th, because according to the records of the time, he killed himself the day before.  On November 10^th around 9:00 AM, twenty-three year old Louis Lingg placed a blasting cap in his mouth, lit it up and blew his lower jaw off along with most of his face.  He was in agony for six long hours until he expired around 3:00 PM on the same day.  Most historians believe he committed suicide, others believe he was going to use the blasting cap to scape, after all it was only four days before his death that his jailers confiscated 4 bombs from his cell and which we can only assume he had created them to escape.

A short month after the four executed anarchists were buried, supporters began immediately to plan for the erection of a monument, and in December of 1887 the Pioneer Aid and Support Association was founded to raise funds for this project and to assist relatives of the deceased. On June 25, 1893, the son of Albert and Lucy Parsons, fourteen-year-old Albert Parsons, Jr., unveiled the hooded figure of justice and liberty facing the future resolutely as she places a laurel wreath on the brow of a fallen worker.  The monument was the creation of sculptor Albert Weinert.

In 1893, Oglesby's successor, John Peter Altgeld, acknowledged that these men had been unjustly tried and that no convincing evidence was presented against them and therefore he pardoned the surviving defendants, Fielden, Schwab, and Neebe.  This decision cost him his political career but I guess that he placed more value on justice than politics.

In United States, the Haymarket Affair was just a moment in the history of Chicago and the American labor movement.  A monument to the police officers who lost their lives in the Haymarket confrontation was erected at the Haymarket Square, even though it is believed that the police were the ones that provoked the riot.

To this day I can’t comprehend why we - who have benefited so much from what these men demanded then and for which four of them lost their lives - do not honor their memory by celebrating the American Worker on May 1st and instead it is observed on the first Monday in September for no apparent reason.

The eight-hour workday did not become a reality until 1938 when then President Roosevelt signed the Fair Labor Standards Act, which established a 40 hour workweek with overtime payment for additional hours worked.

Following are links to the famous speeches of the eight Chicago anarchists in court when asked if they had anything to say why sentence should not be passed upon them.  Click on each picture to follow the link.