The Guerrilla Campaign

So, Spanish Elmo is leaving tomorrow, with his Donald Rumsfeld doll. He told me that he thought Donald needed to see more of the world, so maybe he’d stop bombing people. It’s always a bittersweet moment when one of your loved ones go off on their own. You’ll be able to follow his adventures at his blogspot, elmoanddonald.blogspot.com . He’s very excited, and hopes to be back in about a year.

So, according to estimates, there are 11 million illegal immigrants in the US. (where does that number come from, anyway?) Leaving aside the question of the accuracy of that number, let’s look at some other assumptions. Let’s say that of that group, around half, let’s say 5 million, work full-time jobs, using phony ID and SocSec cards. And let’s say that the employers are enlightened enough (HA) to pay the minimum wage of $5.15/hour. That comes to an annual wage of $10,712. Social Security and Medicare taxes, (employee & employer contribution is 15.3%, so those 5 million workers and their employers pay $8,194,680,000 into the SocSec fund. Let’s go a bit further, and say the effective tax rate for withholding is around 5% for these workers. That comes to $2,678,000,000. This adds up to $10,872,680,000, give or take, that is put into the US Treasury annually by these workers. Let’s adjust that to $10 billion, smoothing out errors in my assumptions. They will never be able to receive...

“WWJD” is heartbreaking, and beautifully done. http://peacetakescourage.cf.huffingtonpost.com/animations/wwjd.html

Dead Cities By Chris Floyd Published: April 14, 2006 http://context.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/04/14/120.html Of all the war crimes that have flowed from the originating crime of President George W. Bush's unprovoked invasion of Iraq, perhaps the most flagrant was the destruction of Fallujah in November 2004. Now, as ignominious defeat looms for Bush's Babylonian folly, some of the key players in fomenting the war are urging that the "Fallujah Option" be applied to an even bigger target: Baghdad. What these influential warmongers openly call for is the "pacification" of Baghdad: a brutal firestorm by U.S. forces, ravaging both Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias in a "horrific" operation that will inevitably lead to "skyrocketing body counts," as warhawk Reuel Marc Gerecht cheerfully wrote last week in the ever-bloodthirsty editorial pages of The Wall Street Journal. Gerecht's war whoop quickly ricocheted around the right-wing m...

Whose Spring? Our Spring! by Ted Glick April 18, 2006 Znet http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=1&ItemID=10112 For as long as I’ve been an activist for progressive social change, the spring and the fall are usually the times when pre-planned, major demonstrations or campaigns happen. Summer with its heat and vacations, and winter with its cold and snow, generally are not the best times to try to mobilize large numbers of people. Six months ago, in late fall, a mix of progressive groups began having serious discussions about whether there should and could be a major demonstration this spring. It took a couple of months, but we did come to agree that, yes, we should and we can. And as a result, on Saturday, April 29th, many tens of thousands of people, probably hundreds of thousands, will be marching for peace, justice and democracy in New York City ( www.april29.org ). ( more )

With all respect and gratitude to Joe McDonald for the original song. When I was in infantry school in 1969, my company adopted the song as our marching song, much to the dislike and disgust of our "superiors". And yes, we paid a price, but next time out, we broke out into song again, loud and proud. Unfortunately, a good many of those in my company are only names on the Wall now. This update is dedicated to them, and those who are going to die in Iran. We really do seem to be incapable of learning from our mistakes. "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag" -1967 Country Joe and the Fish Yeah, come on all of you, big strong men, Uncle Sam needs your help again. He's got himself in a terrible jam Way down yonder in Iran So put down your books and pick up a gun, We're gonna have a whole lotta fun. And it's one, two, three, What are we fighting for ? Don't ask me, I don't give a damn, Next stop is in Iran; And it's five, six, s...

I know that I'm pushing against the tide, but I've been doing it for 40 years, so it makes no sense to stop now. There ain't nobody in my local area that's going to be sleepwalking into bush's war with Iran. But if they do, when they wake up from their nightmare, they are going to know exactly what they did. I can't shame bush or his acolytes, because they have no shame or conscience, but I can damned sure shame my neighbors and anybody else I can reach. I guess you could say I'm pissed. And that's what we all need to be doing. Slap a picture of a child with their guts blown out down on the table, and make them look. Let them know that bush, with all his rhetoric and bullshit, is, in reality talking about killing kids. Because, that’s what happens in modern wars. There is no way around it. We need to ask ourselves, and our neighbors, “Are we done with allowing bush to do this, or do we also have some more killing to do?”

The bushistas are out rattling sabers again, and denying that there are plans to attack Iran. This why it is going to happen. Our little georgie has given an ultimatum to Iran: “Do as we tell you, or else.” He’s not going to back down. He can’t afford to, now that his Iraq adventure has come to such a humiliating defeat for him and his policies. His alcoholic ego won’t let him. Iran is not going to back down. There is no evidence that Iran is doing anything in violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, although the US is sure in violation with bush’s recent deal with India, and it’s insistence on developing new weapons. If Iran is wanting to develop atomic weapons, that’s a situation that would be years down the road. Today Iran announced that it has been successful in enriching a small amount of uranium to commercial reactor grade, about 4%. Iran has 164 centrifuges working on this effort. In order to enrich enough uranium (about 90%) for even one bomb would take tens of thous...

Christians Sue for Right Not to Tolerate Policies Many codes intended to protect gays from harassment are illegal, conservatives argue. By Stephanie Simon, Times Staff Writer April 10, 2006 http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-christians10apr10,0,6204444.story ...Christian activist Gregory S. Baylor responds to such criticism angrily. He says he supports policies that protect people from discrimination based on race and gender. But he draws a distinction that infuriates gay rights activists when he argues that sexual orientation is different — a lifestyle choice, not an inborn trait.... Hey fuckhead, baylor, be careful what you wish for. Remember christianity is also a lifestyle choice.

US plans strike to topple Iran regime - report Monday April 10, 2006 The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,1750680,00.html The US is planning military action against Iran because George Bush is intent on regime change in Tehran - and not just as a contingency if diplomatic efforts fail to halt its suspected nuclear weapons programme… *** Let’s be clear about this. george bush is intent on murdering people, not regime change or halting any programs. anything else is just icing on his cake. bush is a murderous thug, with his coke and booze-addled brain seeing himself as the messiah. So let’s cut the crap, and call it like it is.

You do know, of course, that nobody’s going to do it for you. If you want change, you’re going to have to work for it. Back in the days, the Black Panther Party would say that “If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem” . And that’s still true today. Now then, if you don’t mind that bush and his cronies have destroyed this country, you don’t have to do anything. The country will go down the tubes for you, just the way you want. If that’s your attitude, then let me warn you. Do not expect politeness from me. Do not expect respect. And don’t expect me to leave you alone, because I will be on you like flies on shit. Which you are. If You Don't Mind, Why Don't You Mind? by Todd Huffman Published on Saturday, April 8, 2006 by CommonDreams.org http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0408-20.htm A favorite line of song, penned by the Canadian band The Magnetic Fields, poses the question: If you don’t mind, why don’t you mind? Where is your sense of indignation? To an...

“Now this conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every office of the Federal government. … In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted…” -Dwight D. Eisenhower, Farewell Address, January 17, 1961 “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.” -Martin Luther King, April 4, 1967, Riverside Church in New York City Dwight David Eisenhower died on March 28, 1969, in Washington, DC. Martin Luther Kin...