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02:01:26 05/25/12
Myth McConnell
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 02:01:26 05/25/12
In the wake of the debt-ceiling crisis he helped manufacture last summer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell boasted it was "a hostage that's worth ransoming" which "also is a new template" for the future. As it turns out, those threats were among the few true words McConnell has uttered. Because while he's promising once again to blackmail the White House over the debt ceiling, the Kentucky Republican claimed it's because "we'd like to do something about the nation's biggest problem, spending and debt, which of course is the reason for this economic malaise." Of course, as the data show, it's the very austerity policies here and in Europe which are costing jobs and hurting growth.
But Mitch McConnell's myth-making hardly ends there. On the economy, taxes, deficits, health care and so much else, virtually all of McConnell's talking points are tried - and untrue.
( Click a link to jump to the details for each below ):
* "Obama Made the Economy Worse"
* "No Evidence Whatsoever That the Bush Tax Cuts Actually Diminished Revenue"
* "Punishing Job Creators"
* "We Look a Lot Like Greece Already"
* Public Sector Layoffs Are a "Local" Problem
* 47 Million Uninsured Americans "Don't Go Without Health Care"
* The Public Option "May Cost You Your Life"
* Democrats Are "Sticking It to Seniors with Cuts to Medicare"
"Obama Made the Economy Worse"
For months, Mitch McConnell (for example, here , here and here ) regurgitated the GOP talking point that President Obama " made the economy worse ." Sadly for the trickle-down mythmakers of the Republican Party , the facts and the overwhelming consensus of economists - including John McCain's 2008 brain trust - prove otherwise. President Obama not only did not make the American economy worse; no thanks to obstructionist Republicans in Congress he saved the United States from "Great Depression 2.0" and put the nation on the path to recovery.
Start, for example, with the conclusions of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Despite Republican mythmaking that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) "created zero jobs," in November the CBO reported that the stimulus added up to 2.4 million jobs and boosted GDP by as much as 1.9 points in the previous quarter. As The Hill explained, the CBO has found that "President Obama's 2009 stimulus package continues to benefit the struggling economy": >
The agency said the measure raised gross domestic product by between 0.3 and 1.9 percent in the third quarter of 2011, which ended Sept. 30. The Commerce Department said Tuesday that GDP in that quarter was only 2 percent total...
By CBO's numbers, the $800 billion stimulus added up to 0.9 million jobs in 2009, 3.3 million jobs in 2010 and 2.6 million jobs in 2011.
Mark Zandi , an adviser to John McCain in 2008, was adamant on positive role of the stimulus. Federal intervention, he and Princeton economist Alan Blinder argued in August 2010, literally saved the United States from a second Great Depression. In " How the Great Recession Was Brought to an End ," Blinder and Zandi's models confirmed the impact of the Obama recovery program and other federal interventions dating back to 2008, concluding that "laissez faire was not an option": >
We find that its effects on real GDP, jobs, and inflation are huge, and probably averted what could have been called Great Depression 2.0. For example, we estimate that, without the government's response, GDP in 2010 would be about 11.5% lower, payroll employment would be less by some 8½ million jobs, and the nation would now be experiencing deflation.
"No Evidence Whatsoever That the Bush Tax Cuts Actually Diminished Revenue"
In his version of the Republican myth that " tax cuts pay for themselves ," President Bush confidently proclaimed, "You cut taxes and the tax revenues increase." As it turned out, not so much.
After Ronald Reagan tripled the national debt with his supply-side tax cuts, George W. Bush doubled it again with his own. (Reagan's performance would have been much worse, had he not raised taxes 11 times to help make up the shocking shortfall.) As a share of American GDP, tax revenues peaked in 2000; that is, before the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003. As the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities concluded, the Bush tax cuts accounted for half of the deficits during his tenure, and if made permanent , over the next decade would cost the U.S. Treasury more than Iraq, Afghanistan, the recession, TARP and the stimulus - combined .
Nevertheless, as the Republican Party waged its all-out attack in 2010 to preserve the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy , the GOP's number two man in the Senate provided the talking point to help sell the $70 billion annual giveaway to America's rich. "You should never," Arizona's Jon Kyl declared, "have to offset the cost of a deliberate decision to reduce tax rates on Americans." For his part, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell rushed to defend Kyl's fuzzy math: >
"There's no evidence whatsoever that the Bush tax cuts actually diminished revenue. They increased revenue because of the vibrancy of these tax cuts in the economy. So I think what Senator Kyl was expressing was the view of virtually every Republican on that subject."
That may have been a view universally shared by virtually every Republican, but it happens to be wrong.
"Punishing Job Creators"
For years, Senator McConnell has been among the legions of Republicans wrongly arguing that even the slightest increase in taxes for the wealthiest Americans is tantamount to " punishing job creators ." As his colleague John Boehner put it: >
"The top one percent of wage earners in the United States...pay forty percent of the income taxes...The people he's [President Obama] is talking about taxing are the very people that we expect to reinvest in our economy."
If so, those expectations were sadly unmet under George W. Bush. After all, the last time the top tax rate was 39.6 percent during the Clinton administration , the United States enjoyed rising incomes, 23 million new jobs and budget surpluses. Under Bush? Not so much.
On January 9, 2009, the Republican-friendly Wall Street Journal summed it up with an article titled simply, " Bush on Jobs: the Worst Track Record on Record ." (The Journal's interactive table quantifies his staggering failure relative to every post-World War II president.) The meager one million jobs created under President Bush didn't merely pale in comparison to the 23 million produced during Bill Clinton's tenure. In September 2009, the Congressional Joint Economic Committee charted Bush's job creation disaster, the worst since Hoover.
That dismal performance prompted David Leonhardt of the New York Times to ask last fall, "Why should we believe that extending the Bush tax cuts will provide a big lift to growth?" His answer was unambiguous: >
Those tax cuts passed in 2001 amid big promises about what they would do for the economy. What followed? The decade with the slowest average annual growth since World War II. Amazingly, that statement is true even if you forget about the Great Recession and simply look at 2001-7... >
Is there good evidence the tax cuts persuaded more people to join the work force (because they would be able to keep more of their income)? Not really. The labor-force participation rate fell in the years after 2001 and has never again approached its record in the year 2000. >
Is there evidence that the tax cuts led to a lot of entrepreneurship and innovation? Again, no. The rate at which start-up businesses created jobs fell during the past decade.
The data are clear: lower taxes for America's so called job-creators don't mean either faster economic growth or more jobs for Americans .
As Jared Bernstein aptly put it earlier this month: >
"Tax cuts and job growth? They're just not that into each other."
"We Look a Lot Like Greece Already"
As their last round of hostage-taking of the debt heated up last summer, Republicans including Mitch McConnell warned, "We look a lot like Greece."
hile FactCheck.org was quick to conclude that "whatever it 'looks like' through Sen. McConnell's eyes -- the fact is that the U.S. is not yet a fiscal wreck of Greek proportions," its analysis hardly does justice to the scale of the Republican myth-making. The Washington Monthly's Steve Benen summed it up quite succinctly: >
New rule: every time a confused Republican lawmakers compare the United States' fiscal conditions to that of Greece, an angel loses its wings.
Look, the very idea is just crazy. The U.S. has extremely low interest rates and foreign investor are happy to loan us money; Greece has extremely high interest rates and no one is eager to loan the country money. The U.S. has our own currency; Greece has the Euro. We have a great credit rating (for now); Greece has an awful credit rating. We have a manageable debt; Greece has a debt crisis. We're a large country with an enormous economy; Greece is a small country with a small economy. We have one of the world's most stable systems of government (at least until six months ago); Greece's government structure is a little shaky.
For his part, Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman has been decrying the " Hellenization of economic discourse " for months. "Greece -- with a long history of fiscal irresponsibility, very high public debt, and a country without a currency -- doesn't bear much resemblance even to the other peripheral Europeans, let alone the United States."
>
Here's debt levels (if you ask me the IMF projections for Greece are too optimistic). >
Plus there's the having your own currency thing, and the fact that the interest rate on US 10-year bonds is 3.11 percent, on Greek bonds 16.82 percent. >
Otherwise we're exactly the same.
Public Sector Layoffs a "Local" Problem
Last fall, Minority Leader McConnell led the GOP opposition to President Obama's proposed $400 billion American Jobs Act. The loss of hundreds of thousands of police, firefighter, teacher and other public sector jobs, he insisted, was a "local" problem.
As it turns out, the 600,000 state and local government jobs already lost since December 2008 is very much a national issue. That " anti-stimulus ," it turns out, has added a full point to America's unemployment rate .
Last month, the Economic Policy Institute noted that the private sector had gained 2.8 million jobs while federal, state and local governments shed 584,000 just since June 2009. EPI concluded that the public sector job losses constituted "an unprecedented drag on the recovery": >
"The current recovery is the only one that has seen public-sector losses over its first 31 months."
Back in March, Paul Krugman expressed the same point , but with some inconvenient historical context for the Party of Reagan. "In fact, if it weren't for this destructive fiscal austerity," Krugman explained, "Our unemployment rate would almost certainly be lower now than it was at a comparable stage of the 'Morning in America' recovery during the Reagan era." >
We're talking big numbers here. If government employment under Mr. Obama had grown at Reagan-era rates, 1.3 million more Americans would be working as schoolteachers, firefighters, police officers, etc., than are currently employed in such jobs. >
And once you take the effects of public spending on private employment into account, a rough estimate is that the unemployment rate would be 1.5 percentage points lower than it is, or below 7 percent -- significantly better than the Reagan economy at this stage.
47 Million Uninsured Americans "Don't Go Without Health Care"
McConnell the " strict obstructionist " was naturally in the forefront of the all-out Republican effort to block health care reform at any cost. As he repeatedly put it in June 2009 , "all of us want reform, but not reform that denies, delays, or rations health care." To prove his point, McConnell didn't merely trot out a Canadian patient who came to the U.S. for special treatment, but insisted to NBC's David Gregory that no American does without health care now. >
GREGORY: Do you think it's a moral issue that 47 million Americans go without health insurance? >
McCONNELL: Well, they don't go without health care. It's not the most efficient way to provide it. As we know, the doctors in the hospitals are sworn to provide health care. We all agree it is not the most efficient way to provide health care to find somebody only in the emergency room and then pass those costs on to those who are paying for insurance. So it is important, I think, to reduce the number of uninsured. The question is, what is the best way to do that?
That President George W. Bush, Tom Delay and Paul Broun among other Republicans also claimed "people have access to health care in America...after all, you just go to an emergency room" doesn't make it any more true. As the numbers show -- 50 million uninsured, another 25 million uninsured, 45,000 unnecessary deaths, one in five Americans "self-rationing" care and 62 percent of all personal bankruptcies being related to medical bills -- the crisis is far worse than the one Mitch McConnell pretends doesn't exist.
The Public Option "May Cost You Your Life"
While Mitch McConnell insisted that the lack of insurance doesn't prevent anyone from getting health care, in 2009 he suggested having coverage could prove fatal . Months before the passage of the Affordable Care Act without the so-called "public option," Minority Leader McConnell said it would be deadly.
That irresponsible fear-mongering came during an appearance on Dennis Miller's radio show in October 2009. Blasting the "opt-out" version of the public option then being considered in the Senate bill, the Senator from the state ranked 45th in health care performance insisted access to coverage could kill you : >
MCCONNELL: Well, it doesn't make any difference frankly whether you opt-in or you opt-out, it's still a government plan. You know, Medicaid, the program for the poor now, states can opt-out of that, but none of them have. I think if you have any kind of government insurance program, you're going to be stuck with it and it will lead us in the direction of the European style, you know, sort of British-style, single payer, government run system. And those systems are known for delays, denial of care and, you know, if your particular malady doesn't fit the government regulation, you don't get the medication. >
MILLER: Right. >
MCCONNELL: And it may cost you your life. I mean, we don't want to go down that path.
As a Harvard Medical School study found, each year the path of no health insurance leads 45,000 Americans to the grave.
Democrats Are "Sticking It to Seniors with Cuts to Medicare"
For two years running, Mitch McConnell has been among the 40 GOP Senator voting for Paul Ryan's House budget plan to privatize and inevitably ration Medicare now used by 46 million American seniors. In the late 1990's, McConnell joined in Newt Gingrich's effort to slash almost 15 percent from the Medicare budget so that the program would "wither on the vine." But when the Affordable Care Act called for savings from the private Medicare Advantage program used by only 15 percent of elderly beneficiaries, it was Mitch McConnell who warned seniors about the mythical danger.
In July 2009, McConnell tried to scare America's 46 million Medicare beneficiaries by declaring, "The administration plans to use Medicare cuts to fund yet another new government program." Hoping to build on the momentum of the GOP's disgusting and demonstrably false " euthanasia " talking point, McConnell cautioned: >
"Some in Congress seem to be in such a rush to pass just any reform, rather than the right reform, that they're looking everywhere for the money to pay for it -- even if it means sticking it to seniors with cuts to Medicare."
That salvo comes just two weeks after McConnell promised to defeat health care reform in the Senate, warning America's highest turnout voting block: >
"They are going to pay for this plan by cutting Medicare, that is cutting seniors."
Those claims, the New York Times pointed out the day after the Republicans' overwhelming triumph in the 2010 midterms elections were misleading at best and false at worst. But, sadly, they worked .
And so it goes.
As Joshua Green documented last year in the Atlantic , "Mitch McConnell is a master manipulator and strategist" whose "relentless tactics have made his party victorious." But that doesn't make him a truth-teller, except on those rare occasions when he reveals his true motivations. During the debt ceiling stand-off last summer , McConnell briefly got weak in the knees at the prospect of U.S. sovereign default not because it would be a disaster for the nation, but because it could damage his Republican Party : >
"I refuse to help Barack Obama get re-elected by marching Republicans into a position where we have co-ownership of a bad economy. ... If we go into default, he will say that Republicans are making the economy worse and try to convince the public -- maybe with some merit, if people stop getting their Social Security checks and military families start getting letters saying service people overseas don't get paid. It's an argument he could have a good chance of winning, and all of the sudden we have co-ownership of a bad economy," he said. "That is very bad positioning going into an election."
Especially an election which marks the culmination of Mitch McConnell's work over the past three and a half years: >
"The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president."
(This piece also appears at Perrspectives .)
0 Views
15:49:15 04/24/12
Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman & The Decline of Racism & Violence in America
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 15:49:15 04/24/12
Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman & The Decline of Racism & Violence in America
Trayvon Martin will not go gently into that good night, and the poor kid's ghost can and will haunt us, it seems, until justice is done. His shooter, the neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman, has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder, so the wheels of the legal system, however slowly and imperfectly, are grinding forward. But we can't shake the death of 17-year-old Trayvon. That's partly because it was senseless and avoidable. And also in part because his shooting is being ridden like Seabiscuit by everyone to benefit their respective political sides and agendas. Figures such as Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton want to use the Martin shooting to say that when it comes to race, little to nothing has changed in America over the past 20, 30, or 50 years. Gun control advocates want to say that the shooting proves that America is awash in the blood of gun violence egged on by Second Amendment fundamentalists. But neither of those things is true. While there's still a lot of work to be done, race relations are getting better, as is clear from the majority of black, white, Latino, and other respondents in poll after poll. Electing Barack Obama as president doesn't give us a free pass on the nation's ugly history, but it's a pretty good indicator that things aren't the way they used to be. And gun violence in every way is way down from where it was just a few decades ago, when most states and localities started to allow more people to own and carry guns. That's ... From: ReasonTV Views: 15570 497 ratings Time: 02:01 More in News & Politics
185 Views
15:00:46 04/24/12
iPad: Birbal cooks - $.99 - Entertainment
[LESS INFO] 185 VIEWS | ADDED 15:00:46 04/24/12
Birbal takes on a bet with Akbar that people will do anything for money.
Akbar sets a task that a person should stay in biting cold water for one
whole night with no clothes on for 1000 gold coins reward. A poor Brahmin
takes on this challenge. Though the Brahmin wins the bet Akbar refuses to
pay him citing that he has cheated. Birbal uses his wit and humor to
convince Akbar of his mistake and get justice for the man.
28 Views
15:00:46 04/24/12
iPad: Birbal cooks - $.99 - Entertainment
[LESS INFO] 28 VIEWS | ADDED 15:00:46 04/24/12
Birbal takes on a bet with Akbar that people will do anything for money.
Akbar sets a task that a person should stay in biting cold water for one
whole night with no clothes on for 1000 gold coins reward. A poor Brahmin
takes on this challenge. Though the Brahmin wins the bet Akbar refuses to
pay him citing that he has cheated. Birbal uses his wit and humor to
convince Akbar of his mistake and get justice for the man.
0 Views
02:04:00 04/24/12
Occupy the DOJ: Activists Protest Injustice of Criminal Justice System
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 02:04:00 04/24/12
Movement grows against mass incarceration of millions of poor people of color
0 Views
02:04:00 04/24/12
Occupy the DOJ: Activists Protest Injustice of Criminal Justice System
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 02:04:00 04/24/12
Movement grows against mass incarceration of millions of poor people of color
33 Views
17:03:45 10/05/11
Philosopher Matt Zwolinski on "Bleeding-Heart Libertarians," The Poor, and Social Justice
[LESS INFO] 33 VIEWS | ADDED 17:03:45 10/05/11
Philosopher Matt Zwolinski on "Bleeding-Heart Libertarians," The Poor, and Social Justice
"Libertarians ... when they try to convince people of libertarianism, they do it by talking about the way in which free markets make life better for the poor," says Matt Zwolinski, a philosopher at the University of San Diego and a creator of the web site Bleeding Heart Libertarians. While the notion of "social justice" has long been anathema to some libertarians, Zwolinski says that a bleeding-heart libertarian realizes that an abiding concern for the most vulnerable in society is an essential part of any moral political system. "But, simply being committed to social justice does not mean that you have to be committed to the view that government must directly try to promote the well-being of the poor and vulnerable members of society," says Zwolinski. Instead, the bleeding-heart libertarian looks at the empirical evidence and accepts that small government and free markets are the best methods by which to provide for the poor. Interview by Zach Weissmueller. Shot by Paul Feine. Edited by Weissmueller. Approximately 10 minutes. (visit Bleeding Heart Libertarians at bleedingheartlibertarians.com). Visit Reason.tv for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic notifications when new material goes live. From: ReasonTV Views: 9013 297 ratings Time: 09:35 More in News & Politics
11 Views
19:00:00 10/03/11
#OccupyWallStreet Protester Lets Fox News Have It
[LESS INFO] 11 VIEWS | ADDED 19:00:00 10/03/11
This is just wonderful to see. Jesse LaGreca, also known as the Daily Kos blogger MinistryOfTruth , gets in front of a Fox News reporter and lets him know what he and the other 99 percent think of their news coverage.
Here's the transcript: >
Fox: Jesse, so Ray, your partner here, your ..
Ray: comrade.
Fox: Your colleague, she’d seen the protests in Greece and Europe and elsewhere. Did you guys take your cue from that? Are you hoping to cite certainly what was a lot of the tension, if not police activity. I know over the weekend there were over 100 arrests and you guys got things fired up. Are you taking your cues from the international movement and how do you want to see this? If you could have it in a perfect way, how would it be?
Jesse: Well I don’t know, its really difficult to answer questions leading to those conclusions. I’d say that we didn’t take our cue leading off of anybody really. It became a more spontaneous movement. As far as seeing this end, I wouldn’t like to see this end. I would like to see the conversation continue. This is what we should have been talking about in 2008 when the economy collapsed. We basically patched a hole on the tire and said let the car keep rolling. Unfortunately it’s fun to talk to the propaganda machine and the media especially conservative media networks such as yourself, because we find that we cant get conversations for the department of Justice’s ongoing investigation of News Corporation, for which you are an employee. But we can certainly ask questions like you know, why are the poor engaging in class warfare? After 30 years of having our living standards decrease while the wealthiest 1% have had it better than ever, I think it’s time for some maybe, I don’t know, participation in our democracy that isn’t funded by news cameras and gentlemen such as yourself.
Fox: But, uh, yeah well, let me give you this challenge Jesse.
Jesse: Sure.
Fox: We’re here giving you an opportunity on the record […] to put any
message you want out there, to give you fair coverage and I’m not
going to in any way
Jesse: That’s awesome!
Fox:…give you advice about it. So, there is an exception in the case, because you wouldn’t be able to get your message out there without us.
Jesse: No, surely, I mean, take for instance when Glenn Beck was doing his protest and he called the President, uh, a person who hates white people and white culture. That was a low moment in Americans’ history and you guys kinda had a big part in it. So, I’m glad to see you coming around and kind of paying attention to what the other 99 percent of Americans are paying attention to, as opposed to the far-right fringe, who who would just love to destroy the middle class entirely.
Fox: Alright, fair enough. You have a voice, an important reason to criticize myself, my company and anyone else. But, let me ask you that, in fairness, does this administration, President Obama, have any criticism as to the the financial situation the country’s in…?
Jesse: I think, myself, uh, as well as many other people, would like to see a little but more economic justice or social justice—Jesus stuff—as far as feeding the poor, healthcare for the sick. You know, I find it really entertaining that people like to hold the Bill of Rights up while they’re screaming at gay soldiers, but they just can’t wrap their heads around the idea that a for-profit healthcare system doesn’t work. So, let’s just look at it like this, if we want the President to do more, let’s talk to him on a level that actually reaches people, instead of asking for his birth certificate and wasting time with total nonsense like Solyndra.
[h/t Observer.com ]
18 Views
04:18:48 03/25/11
Left Forum 2011 Opening Plenary: Toward a Politics of Solidarity (1)
[LESS INFO] 18 VIEWS | ADDED 04:18:48 03/25/11
Subscribe to Essential Dissent Share this video to email, Facebook, Twitter, or embed into your website. Click the wedge-shaped icon under bottom right of video. See Part 2 of Left Forum 2011 Opening Plenary
See all Left Forum 2011 videos on Essential Dissent
Left Forum 2011
Pace University, NYC
March 18-20, 2011
A unique phenomenon in the U.S. and the world, Left Forum convenes the largest annual conference of a broad spectrum of left and progressive intellectuals, activists, academics, organizations and the interested public. Conference participants come together to engage a wide range of critical perspectives on the world, to discuss differences, commonalities, and alternatives to current predicaments, and to share ideas for understanding and transforming the world. The conference is held each spring in New York City.
BARBARA EHRENREICH is a social critic and essayist, and an honorary chair of the Democratic Socialists of America . Her book, Nickel and Dimed , was a national bestseller in the United States. She is the the author of twenty books, and has written for the New York Times, Mother Jones , The Atlantic Monthly , Ms , The New Republic , Z Magazine , In These Times , Salon , Harpers , and the Progressive . Her latest book is Bright-sided: How Positive Thinking is Undermining America .
One of America's most provocative public intellectuals, CORNEL WEST has been a champion for racial justice since childhood. His writing, speaking, and teaching weave together the traditions of the black Baptist Church, progressive politics, and jazz. West has written more than 20 books, and teaches in the Center for African American Studies and Department of Religion at Princeton University.
Former Air America Radio host LAURA FLANDERS is the host and founder of GRITtv with Laura Flanders. She is the author of the NYT best-seller, BUSHWOMEN: Tales of a Cynical Species ; her latest book is At The Tea Party . She also writes for Nation and Huffington Post , and is a regular contributor to MSNBC. Flanders has appeared on shows from Real Time with Bill Maher to The O%rsquoReilly Factor .
PAUL MASON is the economics editor of the BBC%rsquos flagship current affairs program Newsnight and appears frequently on BBC World News America . He has covered globalization and social justice stories from locations around the world, including Latin America, Africa and China. His book, Live Working, Die Fighting , was longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award.
FRANCES FOX PIVEN is Professor of Political Science and Sociology at CUNY Graduate Center. Her books include Regulating the Poor, Poor Peoples
2 Views
11:57:31 11/30/10
Global food justice
[LESS INFO] 2 VIEWS | ADDED 11:57:31 11/30/10
With more than one billion people around the world considered overweight, why are so many others still starving and struggling to fill their plates?
824 Views
11:57:31 11/30/10
Global food justice
[LESS INFO] 824 VIEWS | ADDED 11:57:31 11/30/10
With more than one billion people around the world considered overweight, why are so many others still starving and struggling to fill their plates?
0 Views
21:43:11 01/12/10
Upper Room Giving The Invisible People A Voice
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 21:43:11 01/12/10
Mark Horvath was a TV executive before alcoholism cost him everything. He ended up homeless on the streets of LA, but thanks to a local church, he rebuilt his life. The economic downturn, however, put his home into foreclosure and Mark found himself homeless once more. He is now a tireless advocate for America's homeless, traveling all over the country to capture the stories of people who would otherwise be "invisible." Mark shares his incredible testimony on Upper Room. He says it is the church's responsibility to care for the poor and gives practical ways in which we can help.
1 Views
02:30:34 09/23/09
Malkia Cyril Seattle 2009
[LESS INFO] 1 VIEWS | ADDED 02:30:34 09/23/09
Media Power Is One Path to Justice Communities of color, poor people and other disenfranchised communities face serious barriers to public participation and democratic inclusion. Building media power through digital inclusion, content standards and fights for representation strengthens not only our First Amendment rights but also our ability to participate as world citizens. Find out how grassroots organizers are transforming an exclusive elite media system into an inclusive democratic tool for justice.
6 Views
19:48:13 06/11/09
Poor People's Justice
[LESS INFO] 6 VIEWS | ADDED 19:48:13 06/11/09
Carolina Lamas and Michael Friedman on basic rights for people encountering the police.
3 Views
05:56:48 01/31/09
2009 Fair Trade Nicaragua Coffee Farmers #3 Organic Coffee Beans Nicaraguan Women Are Respected
[LESS INFO] 3 VIEWS | ADDED 05:56:48 01/31/09
Northern Michigan University students Sarah Swanson and Lisa McCarthy stand near the mouth of Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua. Members of Lutheran Campus Ministry, the students were with a group of Americans participating in a Lutheran World Relief study project.(Marquette, Michigan) - While Upper Peninsula residents endured an arctic blast, two Northern Michigan University students started the New Year learning about Fair Trade during the peak of the coffee growing season in Nicaragua.Three videos of the student's presentation about their Nicaragua trip were produced by Lutheran Campus Ministry at Northern Michigan University and the non-profit Cedar Tree Institute in Marquette, MI.------- Video #1Role of faith communities, Nicaragua coffee farmers, and coffee cooperatives in Fair Trade movement; Northern Michigan University students talk about work that goes into growing coffee including wet mills, dry mills and the process of quality/taste testing called “cupping.”Video #2The Fair Trade movement efforts of Lutheran World Relief, Equal Exchange and the Center for Global Education.A look at Fair Trade Principals including prohibiting child labor, protecting the environment, the need for fair wages and help the entire community (not just coffee farming families).The students describe staying with coffee farming families in a small village in a mountainous area, interacting with the children and some of the interesting and inspiring people they met.Video #3The students describe how the women of Nicaragua are treated with respect, the importance of families and the environmental protection efforts of one Nicaragua’s organic farmers.-------(Photos at St. Mark's Lutheran Church by Greg Peterson) Since their return on January 12, Lisa McCarthy and Sarah Swanson have begun a series of presentations at U.P. churches to encourage Americans to buy Fair Trade coffee that ensures poor Nicaraguan farmers don't lose money in the labor-intensive industry of coffee production.From staring into the mouth of the Masaya Volcano to traveling narrow mountain roads to stay with coffee-farming families to picking beans and participating in all phases of coffee production, the trip was a myth-shattering experience. The students are the latest of hundreds of faith community representatives traveling to Central American over the last decade with Lutheran World Relief (LWR) to get a quick course on Fair Trade while erasing misconceptions about Nicaragua's hard-working low-income farmers who take pride in their coffee.Known for loving a strong cup of hot coffee, U.P. residents are the perfect audience for the two students who were impressed by the work ethic and friendliness of Nicaraguans.The Fair Trade movement was born during the "coffee crisis of 1990s" when prices "really imploded - it was terrible," said Swanson, 20, an NMU junior majoring in speech language and hearing sciences.The fluctuating market price for Nicaraguan coffee in early January 2009 was $1.13 per pound, said Swanson, who is a native of Rapid River, MI.Both students are members of NMU Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) Lutheran Campus Ministry (LCM) and their trips were funded by U.P. parishes and donors. The students met with other groups involved in the Fair Trade effort including Equal Exchange and the Center for Global Education."Equal Exchange was the first Fair Trade distributor of coffee in the United States," said McCarthy, 19, an NMU sophomore majoring in photography.Citing the Underground Railroad run by churches during the American Civil War and sanctuary for refugees during the war in El Salvador, Rev. Jon Magnuson of Marquette said the Fair Trade movement was started by "churches to create an alternative economy to the one that was oppressing small farmers."It's a part of the church's work, part of the faith community's mission and a part people don't know about,' said Magnuson, who is the NMU LCM campus pastor."Sarah and Lisa are going to be encouraging churches to sell Fair Trade coffee and chocolate in their basements," said Rev. Magnuson.Some U.P. Lutheran churches have been on board for years."Fair Trade Coffee sold at Messiah Lutheran Church in Marquette is sold at cost," said Messiah member John Carlson of Marquette. "This is a ministry for helping this program of Fair Trade.""During the coffee crisis they had to bring it (the coffee) through Canada," said McCarthy, a native of Greenville, WI. "They had to go through all these measures to get it (the coffee) here."The students said Nicaraguan coffee producers seek respect for their heritage, and want foreigners to understand what goes into growing that coffee they love each morning.Nicaraguans hope emissaries like the NMU students will spread the word about Fair Trade far and wide thus getting people to only buy coffee originating from democratically-run cooperatives that represent the farmers.Lead by his children, a Nicaraguan coffee farmer carries a heavy sack of beans on his shoulders. They are on the way to his local democratically-run cooperative.(Nicaragua Photos by Lisa McCarthy)"One thing we can do is respect them," said McCarthy during a recent presentation at St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Marquette that was attended by residents from 18 to 80 years old and as far away as Rapid River. "It was really great to go on this trip because it's hard to respect a faceless thing."You buy the coffee and respect Fair Trade but going there and seeing that and knowing the work that goes into one cup of coffee - brings it home," McCarthy said. It's important for Americans to know "the amount of work that goes into everything."LWR "really stresses the accompaniment model that they use with all their programs - They are not just throwing money at them,"Swanson said. LWR works with Nicarguans "to find out what these farmers want and the things that the need" to accomplish their individual dreams.Americans sometimes mistakenly think that Nicaraguans "want all the things that we have," said Swanson."Most Nicaraguan farmers have never tasted their quality coffee because it's way more beneficial for them to ship it out, than for them to drink even a cup," McCarthy said. "They drink the bad quality stuff.""One of the new projects" for the farmers is "trying to get people in Nicaragua to buy high quality coffee because that's a whole other market they haven't touched."The students received a history lesson on Nicaragua and assistance from employees of the Center for Global Education in Managua including program coordinator and interpreter Juan Carlos Lopez and study abroad facilitator Joe Connelly.Lopez and Connelly, who host numerous ecotourism study project coffee tours each year, "came with us on our trip and added to our experience by sharing with us what they know from working there," Swanson said.(Nicaragua Photos by Lisa McCarthy)McCarthy and Swanson were happy to learn that "women in Nicaragua are known as being strong women." Something they learned first hand and was more impressive to the pair than even the current status of women's rights in the U.S.Instead of receiving an expected lecture from men at the co-ops, the students were greeted by a female co-op board secretary, who "spoke to us so passionately and with such great knowledge, that is just blew me away," McCarthy said. "I saw in-person that it's not a factor if you are a man or a women."(Nicaragua Photos by Lisa McCarthy)"Even though it has been fought for here (in the U.S.) it's still part of our culture that the man is the alpha male," McCarthy said."Just seeing that and seeing her was one of the more impactful things for me," McCarthy said, adding she was impressed with "how proud they (women) are of the co-op."A Nicaraguan woman is raking the coffee beans for even drying at SOLCAFE(Nicaragua Photos by Lisa McCarthy) LWR stresses respect for the Nicaraguan farmers who are not looking for a handout rather a fair wage for their hard work.‘They envision a world where all people live in justice, dignity and peace," said Swanson, who told the story of a young women repaying a $200 loan used to buy a home."You could see how this was helping her maintain her dignity because she was paying is back," Swanson. "She wanted to buy her house - they don't want it to be handouts from people.The students visited the SolCaf
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05:31:55 01/31/09
2009 Fair Trade Nicaragua Coffee Farmers #2 Nmu Students On Lutheran World Relief Study Tour
[LESS INFO] 6 VIEWS | ADDED 05:31:55 01/31/09
Northern Michigan University students Sarah Swanson and Lisa McCarthy stand near the mouth of Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua. Members of Lutheran Campus Ministry, the students were with a group of Americans participating in a Lutheran World Relief study project.(Marquette, Michigan) - While Upper Peninsula residents endured an arctic blast, two Northern Michigan University students started the New Year learning about Fair Trade during the peak of the coffee growing season in Nicaragua.Three videos of the student's presentation about their Nicaragua trip were produced by Lutheran Campus Ministry at Northern Michigan University and the non-profit Cedar Tree Institute in Marquette, MI.------- Video #1Role of faith communities, Nicaragua coffee farmers, and coffee cooperatives in Fair Trade movement; Northern Michigan University students talk about work that goes into growing coffee including wet mills, dry mills and the process of quality/taste testing called “cupping.”Video #2The Fair Trade movement efforts of Lutheran World Relief, Equal Exchange and the Center for Global Education.A look at Fair Trade Principals including prohibiting child labor, protecting the environment, the need for fair wages and help the entire community (not just coffee farming families).The students describe staying with coffee farming families in a small village in a mountainous area, interacting with the children and some of the interesting and inspiring people they met.Video #3The students describe how the women of Nicaragua are treated with respect, the importance of families and the environmental protection efforts of one Nicaragua’s organic farmers.-------(Photos at St. Mark's Lutheran Church by Greg Peterson) Since their return on January 12, Lisa McCarthy and Sarah Swanson have begun a series of presentations at U.P. churches to encourage Americans to buy Fair Trade coffee that ensures poor Nicaraguan farmers don't lose money in the labor-intensive industry of coffee production.From staring into the mouth of the Masaya Volcano to traveling narrow mountain roads to stay with coffee-farming families to picking beans and participating in all phases of coffee production, the trip was a myth-shattering experience. The students are the latest of hundreds of faith community representatives traveling to Central American over the last decade with Lutheran World Relief (LWR) to get a quick course on Fair Trade while erasing misconceptions about Nicaragua's hard-working low-income farmers who take pride in their coffee.Known for loving a strong cup of hot coffee, U.P. residents are the perfect audience for the two students who were impressed by the work ethic and friendliness of Nicaraguans.The Fair Trade movement was born during the "coffee crisis of 1990s" when prices "really imploded - it was terrible," said Swanson, 20, an NMU junior majoring in speech language and hearing sciences.The fluctuating market price for Nicaraguan coffee in early January 2009 was $1.13 per pound, said Swanson, who is a native of Rapid River, MI.Both students are members of NMU Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) Lutheran Campus Ministry (LCM) and their trips were funded by U.P. parishes and donors. The students met with other groups involved in the Fair Trade effort including Equal Exchange and the Center for Global Education."Equal Exchange was the first Fair Trade distributor of coffee in the United States," said McCarthy, 19, an NMU sophomore majoring in photography.Citing the Underground Railroad run by churches during the American Civil War and sanctuary for refugees during the war in El Salvador, Rev. Jon Magnuson of Marquette said the Fair Trade movement was started by "churches to create an alternative economy to the one that was oppressing small farmers."It's a part of the church's work, part of the faith community's mission and a part people don't know about,' said Magnuson, who is the NMU LCM campus pastor."Sarah and Lisa are going to be encouraging churches to sell Fair Trade coffee and chocolate in their basements," said Rev. Magnuson.Some U.P. Lutheran churches have been on board for years."Fair Trade Coffee sold at Messiah Lutheran Church in Marquette is sold at cost," said Messiah member John Carlson of Marquette. "This is a ministry for helping this program of Fair Trade.""During the coffee crisis they had to bring it (the coffee) through Canada," said McCarthy, a native of Greenville, WI. "They had to go through all these measures to get it (the coffee) here."The students said Nicaraguan coffee producers seek respect for their heritage, and want foreigners to understand what goes into growing that coffee they love each morning.Nicaraguans hope emissaries like the NMU students will spread the word about Fair Trade far and wide thus getting people to only buy coffee originating from democratically-run cooperatives that represent the farmers.Lead by his children, a Nicaraguan coffee farmer carries a heavy sack of beans on his shoulders. They are on the way to his local democratically-run cooperative.(Nicaragua Photos by Lisa McCarthy)"One thing we can do is respect them," said McCarthy during a recent presentation at St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Marquette that was attended by residents from 18 to 80 years old and as far away as Rapid River. "It was really great to go on this trip because it's hard to respect a faceless thing."You buy the coffee and respect Fair Trade but going there and seeing that and knowing the work that goes into one cup of coffee - brings it home," McCarthy said. It's important for Americans to know "the amount of work that goes into everything."LWR "really stresses the accompaniment model that they use with all their programs - They are not just throwing money at them,"Swanson said. LWR works with Nicarguans "to find out what these farmers want and the things that the need" to accomplish their individual dreams.Americans sometimes mistakenly think that Nicaraguans "want all the things that we have," said Swanson."Most Nicaraguan farmers have never tasted their quality coffee because it's way more beneficial for them to ship it out, than for them to drink even a cup," McCarthy said. "They drink the bad quality stuff.""One of the new projects" for the farmers is "trying to get people in Nicaragua to buy high quality coffee because that's a whole other market they haven't touched."The students received a history lesson on Nicaragua and assistance from employees of the Center for Global Education in Managua including program coordinator and interpreter Juan Carlos Lopez and study abroad facilitator Joe Connelly.Lopez and Connelly, who host numerous ecotourism study project coffee tours each year, "came with us on our trip and added to our experience by sharing with us what they know from working there," Swanson said.(Nicaragua Photos by Lisa McCarthy)McCarthy and Swanson were happy to learn that "women in Nicaragua are known as being strong women." Something they learned first hand and was more impressive to the pair than even the current status of women's rights in the U.S.Instead of receiving an expected lecture from men at the co-ops, the students were greeted by a female co-op board secretary, who "spoke to us so passionately and with such great knowledge, that is just blew me away," McCarthy said. "I saw in-person that it's not a factor if you are a man or a women."(Nicaragua Photos by Lisa McCarthy)"Even though it has been fought for here (in the U.S.) it's still part of our culture that the man is the alpha male," McCarthy said."Just seeing that and seeing her was one of the more impactful things for me," McCarthy said, adding she was impressed with "how proud they (women) are of the co-op."A Nicaraguan woman is raking the coffee beans for even drying at SOLCAFE(Nicaragua Photos by Lisa McCarthy) LWR stresses respect for the Nicaraguan farmers who are not looking for a handout rather a fair wage for their hard work.‘They envision a world where all people live in justice, dignity and peace," said Swanson, who told the story of a young women repaying a $200 loan used to buy a home."You could see how this was helping her maintain her dignity because she was paying is back," Swanson. "She wanted to buy her house - they don't want it to be handouts from people.The students visited the SolCaf
