General Strike

Bernie Sanders Exposes Federal Reserve Conflicts of Interest

2012-03-05T07:41:00.000-08:00

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, the only self-described socialist serving in the U.S. government is likely the last honest person in U.S. politics. He demanded, and got, an audit of the Federal Reserve and discovered, among other things, $16 TRILLION (every trillion is 1,000 billion) in secret loans to foreign and domestic banks.

Here's the link to Senator Sander' blog about this:

http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=9e2a4ea8-6e73-4be2-a753-62060dcbb3c3

This came out last summer. You read about it everywhere, right?

From Sanders' blog:

The first top-to-bottom audit of the Federal Reserve uncovered eye-popping new details about how the U.S. provided a whopping $16 trillion in secret loans to bail out American and foreign banks and businesses during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. An amendment by Sen. Bernie Sanders to the Wall Street reform law passed one year ago this week directed the Government Accountability Office to conduct the study. "As a result of this audit, we now know that the Federal Reserve provided more than $16 trillion in total financial assistance to some of the largest financial institutions and corporations in the United States and throughout the world," said Sanders. "This is a clear case of socialism for the rich and rugged, you're-on-your-own individualism for everyone else."

Think about this, please

2012-01-31T14:27:00.000-08:00

Legalize weed and outlaw banking.

Hmmmmn

2012-01-04T10:33:00.001-08:00

Well, one thing is for sure -- if I go on a general strike by myself, it won't mean much.

Does Size Matter?

2011-12-30T07:54:00.001-08:00

"If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito." -The Dalai Lama

The 1% Will Try to Stop This

2011-12-22T14:36:00.000-08:00

There is so much out there that's being stifled by the billionaires. They live by the code "Burn it and we will profit." It can be anything -- oil, gas, an entire country.

Please watch this. The time to stop burning is now!

Who the Hell Is Reading This?

2011-12-20T06:46:00.000-08:00

No comments ever. A few hits a day, almost every day. So, who is reading this blog? The Feds?

The interest level is so low it occurs to me that deleting the blog is becoming a real possibility.

LOOKING FOR CONTRIBUTORS

2011-12-10T07:18:00.000-08:00

This blog is getting some hits now that more posts are going up. Is there anyone else out there who would like to join this effort and become a contributor to this blog? Please leave a comment, if so.

If no one decides to join the effort, it might be time to shut down. There are tons of political blogs out there. A General Strike requires more than one person getting involved.

Thanks and happy holidaze!

Occupy Production: A Vision for Democracy at Work

2011-12-03T21:33:00.000-08:00

This is from Truthout.org.

Occupy Production: A Vision for Democracy at Work

Friday 2 December 2011

by: Richard D. Wolff, Truthout | Op-Ed

(Photo: Bill Ruhsam / Flickr [3])

As the Occupy movement keeps developing, it seeks solutions for the economic and political dysfunctions it exposes and opposes. For many, the capitalist economic system itself is the basic problem. They want change to another system, but not to the traditional socialist alternative (e.g. USSR or China). That system, too, seems to require basic change.

The common solution these activists propose is to change both systems' production arrangements from the ground up. Every enterprise should be democratized. Workers should occupy their enterprise by collectively functioning as its board of directors. That would abolish the capitalist exploitative system (employer versus employee) much as our historical predecessors abolished the parallel exploitative systems of slavery (master versus slave) and feudalism (lord versus serf).

In workers' self-directed enterprises, those who do the work also design and direct it and dispose of its profits: no exploitation of workers by others. Workers participate equally in making all enterprise decisions. The old capitalist elite - the major corporate shareholders and the boards of directors they choose - would no longer decide what, how and where to produce and how to use enterprise profits. Instead, workers - in partnership with residential communities interdependent with their enterprises - would make all those decisions democratically.

Only then could we avoid repeating yet again the capitalist cycle: (1) economic boom bursting into crisis; followed by (2) mass movements for social welfare reforms and economic regulations; followed by (3) capitalists using their profits to undo achieved reforms and regulations; followed by (1) again, the next capitalist boom, bust and crisis. US capitalism since the crash of 1929 displays this three-step cycle.

In democratized enterprises, the workers who most need and benefit from reforms would dispose of the profits of enterprise. No separate class of employers would exist and use enterprise profits to undo the reforms and regulations workers achieved. Quite the contrary, self-directing workers would pay taxes only if the state secures those reforms and regulations. Democratized enterprises would not permit the inequalities of income and wealth (and ,therefore, of power and cultural access) now typical across the capitalist world.

Actually existing socialist systems, past and present, also need enterprise democratization. Those systems' socialization of productive property plus central planning (versus capitalism's private property and markets) left far too much unbalanced power centralized in the state. In addition, reforms (guaranteed employment and basic welfare, far less inequality of income and wealth etc.) won by socialist revolutions proved insecure. Private enterprises and markets eventually returned and erased many of those reforms.

Traditional socialism's problems flow also from its undemocratic organization of production. Workers in socialized state enterprises were not self-directed; they did not collectively decide what, how and where to produce nor what to do with the profits. Instead, state officials decided what, how and where to produce and how to dispose of profits. If socialist enterprises were democratized, the state would then depend for its revenue on collectively self-directed workers. That would institutionalize real, concrete control from below to balance state power from above.

Workers' self-directed enterprises are a solution grounded in the histories of both capitalism and socialism. Establishing workers' self-directed enterprises completes what past democratic revolutions began in moving societies beyond monarchies and autocracies. Democratizing production can finally take democracy beyond being merely an electoral ritual that facilitates rule by the 1 percent over the 99 percent.

This article originally appeared as "Occupy Production" in the December 1, 2011 edition of The Occupy Harvard Crimson, Issue No. 2

This work by Truthout is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License

Source Link:

http://www.truth-out.org/print/9936

Jackson Browne @ OWS

2011-12-03T21:24:00.000-08:00

Jackson Browne gave a free concert for the Occupiers at Zuccotti Park on December 1. Oh yeah, there's still a movement growing.

Jackson Browne doing a Little Steven tune: I Am A Patriot

GOOD MORNING, POLICE STATE AMERICA

2011-11-30T06:06:00.000-08:00

Today police forces in Philadelphia and Los Angeles carried out a fascist attack on protestors exercising their rights as Americans. This was all done at the behest of the corporate fascist Obama and his administration (see the Naomi Wolf link below.)

How long before people wake up? Strike!

OWS WAS CRUSHED BY US DHS

2011-11-26T22:45:00.000-08:00

Naomi Wolf lays out the whys behind the coordinated suppression of the OWS movement at the behest of the Obama administration's Department of Homeland Security.

You can read the entire article in the Guardian here.

Here's part of Wolf's conclusion:

"So, when you connect the dots, properly understood, what happened this week is the first battle in a civil war; a civil war in which, for now, only one side is choosing violence. It is a battle in which members of Congress, with the collusion of the American president, sent violent, organised suppression against the people they are supposed to represent. Occupy has touched the third rail: personal congressional profits streams. Even though they are, as yet, unaware of what the implications of their movement are, those threatened by the stirrings of their dreams of reform are not."

RTWTH

"SAVE THE DELAWARE RIVER" Rally in Trenton

2011-11-21T08:22:00.000-08:00

Rally for the Delaware River Watershed

Groups to Governors and President Obama: Vote No to Protect our Water and Communities from Drilling and Fracking

West Trenton, New Jersey –Hundreds gathered today in front of the War Memorial in Trenton to say “Don’t Drill the Delaware” at a Rally of various constituencies and organizations opposed to gas drilling in the Delaware River Watershed. The Rally was held at the steps of the building where the Delaware River Basin Commission was to hold a meeting on this same day to consider opening the Watershed to drilling and fracking. That meeting was cancelled on Thursday, apparently because the voting members of the DRBC could not reach agreement on the issue.

The Rally was called so that people could make it clear that they are more determined than ever to keep drilling and fracking out of the Watershed, building awareness of the intrinsically polluting nature of shale gas development – drilling and fracking -- and actively engaging more people to speak up for the DRBC’s voting members to make this momentous decision based on protection of communities, drinking water and public health, not politics and the pressures applied by drilling interests and big energy corporations.

The Rally, organized by a Coalition of organizations, featured prominent activists: writer and director Josh Fox www.gaslandthemovie and www.savethedelawareriver.org; actor, director and founder of WaterDefense.org Mark Ruffalo; actress Debra Winger; and biologist, author and cancer survivor Dr. Sandra Steingraber. Representatives of several constituency groups and organizations rallied the high-spirited crowd from 11:00 am to 12:30. The group then marched to the New Jersey State House to Governor Chris Christie’s office to call for his vote at the DRBC against drilling in the Watershed; they were greeted on the steps by members of the New Jersey Legislature who are sponsors of the NJ Frack Ban Bill. Governors Jack Markell of Delaware and Andrew Cuomo of New York have both publicly stated they are voting against the plan to drill, Governor Corbett has called for drilling to commence (the rest of Pennsylvania is experiencing the largest drilling campaign in its history), but Christie and the Obama Administration have not made any public statement about the delayed vote.

"We have just had a major victory that is true. But there is immense suffering happening and irreparable damage being done across Pennsylvania, across the US and across the world from fracking. New York State is in the process of holding crucial hearings on its drilling regulations and we must weigh in. We are not stopping now; we must redouble our efforts, encouraged by this significant and symbolic but momentary win. Stopping fracking in the Delaware River Basin, even just for this moment is huge but it is also a drop in the bucket. We must push ahead. We must take this momentary victory at the Delaware River and press on. Let’s not lose our incredible momentum. We have to keep up our level of action and perseverance and not back down”, said Josh Fox, writer and director, “Gasland” and www.savethedelawareriver.org.

Actor and Director and founder of WaterDefense.org Mark Ruffalo said “I applaud Governor Markell for admitting that there is no science to justify opening up one of North America’s important River Basins to industrialization and greed. Now the rest of the commission will hear from us, the people who speak for this beautiful river not for short term profits.”

"Today's Rally is about sending a message — a message of hope for success to our community, a message to the governor's and the president that opposition to gas drilling is key to their political futures because it is critical to the ongoing health of our communities, and a message to the drillers that their campaign of deception and lies isn't working," said Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper. "And today is about sending a hearty thank you to Governor Markell for taking a fresh look at this issue and casting his vote for the community, and to Governor Cuomo for making clear his ongoing opposition to the regulations."

“We have clearly seen what a mobilized citizen response can do to shine a light on a major lack of oversight by our government watch dog agencies over this very dangerous practice. Finally, our politicians are waking up to find out that what’s been going on under our noses, the poisonous onslaught and major expansion of fracking, is a really bad idea. And good for them, namely the Governors of Delaware and New York, as these guys are finally hearing the alarm sounded by this broad based coalition of citizen action groups and environmental organizations to the threat of hydraulic fracturing”, said David Braun, United for Action. “Kudos to those elected officials who remember that they were put into office to protect and serve the people. We are anxiously waiting to see which side President Obama weighs in on,” Braun added.

“The DRBC has postponed a vote but they still haven't asked for an EIS which is the law under the National Environmental Policy act. They need to hear the voices that want this national treasure protected. This river and its surrounding habitat are just too important to trash,” said Wes Gillingham, Program Director, and Catskill Mountainkeeper.

"Today’s Rally is a new kick-off of a campaign to ban fracking in the Delaware River Basin. This is a Rally for the future of our river and to protect the water supply for 15 million people. We cannot trust the politicians or the DRBC to protect that water from fracking; we must get them to ban fracking. We had a victory in stopping the weak DRBC rules from going forward now we must get President Obama and Gov Christie to support a fracking ban. This is just the beginning of the grassroots campaign to get the New Jersey Legislature to over ride the Governor’s veto of the Fracking Ban Bill and get the DRBC to ban fracking in the basin. We will win this campaign because our future and the River’s future are at stake. There is no fracking way they will drill the Delaware!” said Jeff Tittel, Director, NJ Sierra Club.

“Delaware's Governor Markell got it right by saying the fracking proposal ‘Currently Lacks Sufficient Health and Safety Protections’, the title of his post on his letter to the Commission saying Delaware votes "NO". In order to fulfill Gov. Markell's demand to assure that the 2/3 of his state's water that comes from the Delaware River remains viable drinking water there has to be a Cumulative Impact Study of the effects of gas drilling on the watershed,” said Barbara Arrindell, Director, Damascus Citizens for Sustainability. “On behalf of the 15 million residents of the Basin, Damascus Citizens salutes Governor Markell. DCS will continue to insist on a cumulative Impact study in the Basin in order to fully understand BEFOREHAND all the ramifications of drilling,” concluded Arrindell.

“The Delaware River won today,” said Doug O’Malley, field director for Environment New Jersey. “But New Jersey residents deserve to know whether Governor Christie would have voted to start gas drilling or protect the Delaware. The Delaware is still in the crosshairs of the gas drilling industry.”

“Never has there been a more reasonable outcry. We know we can't live without clean air, clean water and clean food; we know our grandchildren may need this gas, but we don't need it. We need to lead our nation away from fossil fuels altogether, and fast,” said Iris Marie Bloom, Director, Protecting our Waters. “The cancellation of the DRBC meeting is a turning of the wheel of the nation away from that insanity. We are taking the helm. We are going sane,” added Bloom.

"By delaying action, the DRBC is recognizing that the proposed regulations are far too weak to prevent harm to communities and the environment from irresponsible drilling," said Nadia Steinzor of Earthworks Oil and Gas Accountability Project. "But they still have a long way to go to prove that they will uphold their mandate to protect vital natural areas and water supplies despite pressure from the gas industry."

“If it wasn't for all of us and our colleagues - regionally and in the drilling fields, there would by now be drilling and fracking and air pollution and water contamination and landscape desecration and industrialization in the DRB. Today is a wonderful and overwhelming display of solidarity and coming together to protect our homes, property and environment from the thieves in power - the corporations and those they buy and own,” said Joe Levine, NYH2O. “We must continue to apply all the pressure we can from every perspective on every public official and force them to switch their priorities. 28 - 1/2 days of fuel is not worth ruining the basin for 20 million people for generations. We hereby put President Obama on notice that he will be held accountable, because he has breached his promise to those who elected him to protect our most valuable environmental resources,” concluded Levine.

"CLEAN WATER ACTION and GAS TRUTH Rallies in Trenton because we must show the powers-that-be in Trenton, Harrisburg, Albany, Dover, and Washington, DC that our commitment to preserve and protect the Delaware Watershed is absolute,” said Nathan Sooy, Clean Water Action, Harrisburg, PA. “We must draw this line and then STOP THE DRILLING where it is occurring now in our region”, added Sooy.

Dave Pringle, Campaign Director, NJ Environmental Federation said, “Kudos to Governor Markell! He is not only protecting Delaware citizens but also Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Jerseyites and setting the standard for the rest of the country.”

“The rally we are holding today is a testament to the growing grassroots movement that is working to ensure human needs are put above the interests of a greedy few who would jeopardize our livelihoods for their own personal profit. This victory for the Delaware River should serve as a ray of hope to everyone in New York, Pennsylvania and across the country who are struggling to ban fracking. The tide is turning and we can win,” said Jim Walsh, Food & Water Watch.

"The DRBC's postponement of its vote shows what individuals can accomplish when they band together against the tyranny of fossil fuels. The Delaware River, the drinking water source for 15 million people, belongs to all of us, not the few gas corporations who would destroy this pristine river for profit. The people have woken up, and we will no longer allow our earth and our children's future to be compromised by greed and shortsightedness. Frack Action will continue to fight against fracking, whether it is along the Delaware River Basin, or New York State," said Claire Sandberg, Executive Director, Frack Action.

“We have won a battle in a much larger war. We hope that this serves as inspiration for the many environmental and health advocates on the front lines of countless other battles being waged in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and everywhere else dirty drilling is happening. We know it serves as an inspiration to everyone who has fought this battle and knows that there are more ahead before the Delaware River receives the protection it deserves”, said Karen Feridun, founder, Berks Gas Truth.

"The fight to protect the Delaware Basin watershed from fracking is far from over. But today's action demonstrates that we are committed to continuing the fight. We intend to leverage the momentum of this victory to apply pressure on Governor Cuomo and DEC Commissioner Martens to heed their own advice and take the time to get it right in New York, as their fracking plan is in no better shape than the DRBC's," said Kate Hudson, Riverkeeper Watershed Program Director.

“Congrats to Governor Markell for applying the precautionary principle and putting the health and welfare of the 15 million people who depend on the Delaware River Basin for clean fresh water ahead of industry profits. And a big thanks to the thousands of people who work together as one to get out the message that transparent, peer-reviewed science - not advocacy science - should be the determining factor on this important issue, for the basin, the nation and the world,” said Michael Lebron, New Yorkers for Sustainable Energy Solutions Statewide.

"Today, the Delaware River Basin Commission took an important pause," said Deb Nardone, Director of Sierra Club's Natural Gas Reform Campaign. "The Sierra Club will continue to work with coalition groups and the Commission to stand by this decision and keep an unsafe and unsupervised natural gas industry out of sensitive areas like the Delaware River Basin."

“Right now we have a Mexican standoff but we are determined to turn this temporary reprieve into a permanent prohibition on drilling in the Delaware River Watershed, demonstrating to all regions who are enduring the drilling invasion that the pollution and degradation the resource extraction industry is forcing on us must be stopped to protect clean water and a healthy future,” said Tracy Carluccio, Deputy Director, Delaware Riverkeeper Network.

The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) is composed of the Governors of the four states that drain to the Delaware River - New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware - and a federal representative, the Army Corps of Engineers for the Obama Administration. The issue has been a raging controversy over the past 3 ½ years; a drilling moratorium is currently in place in the Basin while the DRBC develops natural gas regulations.

69,800 comments were received by the DRBC during a public comment period (December 2010 to April 2011) on draft natural gas development regulations proposed for the Basin, breaking all records for public interest. Since that time, 73,000 more letters and Petitions, in addition to several sign-on letters from diverse constituency groups, have been submitted to the voting members of the DRBC in opposition to the commencement of drilling and in support of comprehensive environmental review.

The DRBC provides a layer of regulation that prevails over State regulations, if stricter than the State, to protect the exceptional water quality of the Delaware River and its outstanding resources recognized by Congress under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. Under adopted law based on the Compact that resulted from the Supreme Court Decree that established the DRBC in 1961, all gas drilling within the Delaware River Basin requires a permit from the DRBC in addition to a state permit.

If Monday’s DRBC vote had approved the regulations, the drilling moratorium would have been lifted and gas drilling and fracking would have commenced in the Upper and Middle Delaware River Watershed which is underlain by Marcellus and Utica Shales. The DRBC is required to provide 10 days public notice of a meeting where the voting members will cast a vote on the adoption of regulations and the vote is required to be made in public. In Pennsylvania, where drilling is occurring at breakneck speed, permitting would likely occur quickly. In New York State, where the Department of Environmental Conservation is updating its environmental review process for fracking and horizontal drilling, there is a de-facto moratorium in place, which would continue to hold up Delaware River Basin drilling.

###

West Trenton, New Jersey –Hundreds gathered today in front of the War Memorial in Trenton to say “Don’t Drill the Delaware” at a Rally of various constituencies and organizations opposed to gas drilling in the Delaware River Watershed. The Rally was held at the steps of the building where the Delaware River Basin Commission was to hold a meeting on this same day to consider opening the Watershed to drilling and fracking. That meeting was cancelled on Thursday, apparently because the voting members of the DRBC could not reach agreement on the issue.

The Rally was called so that people could make it clear that they are more determined than ever to keep drilling and fracking out of the Watershed, building awareness of the intrinsically polluting nature of shale gas development – drilling and fracking -- and actively engaging more people to speak up for the DRBC’s voting members to make this momentous decision based on protection of communities, drinking water and public health, not politics and the pressures applied by drilling interests and big energy corporations.

The Rally, organized by a Coalition of organizations, featured prominent activists: writer and director Josh Fox www.gaslandthemovie and www.savethedelawareriver.org; actor, director and founder of WaterDefense.org Mark Ruffalo; actress Debra Winger; and biologist, author and cancer survivor Dr. Sandra Steingraber. Representatives of several constituency groups and organizations rallied the high-spirited crowd from 11:00 am to 12:30. The group then marched to the New Jersey State House to Governor Chris Christie’s office to call for his vote at the DRBC against drilling in the Watershed; they were greeted on the steps by members of the New Jersey Legislature who are sponsors of the NJ Frack Ban Bill. Governors Jack Markell of Delaware and Andrew Cuomo of New York have both publicly stated they are voting against the plan to drill, Governor Corbett has called for drilling to commence (the rest of Pennsylvania is experiencing the largest drilling campaign in its history), but Christie and the Obama Administration have not made any public statement about the delayed vote.

"We have just had a major victory that is true. But there is immense suffering happening and irreparable damage being done across Pennsylvania, across the US and across the world from fracking. New York State is in the process of holding crucial hearings on its drilling regulations and we must weigh in. We are not stopping now; we must redouble our efforts, encouraged by this significant and symbolic but momentary win. Stopping fracking in the Delaware River Basin, even just for this moment is huge but it is also a drop in the bucket. We must push ahead. We must take this momentary victory at the Delaware River and press on. Let’s not lose our incredible momentum. We have to keep up our level of action and perseverance and not back down”, said Josh Fox, writer and director, “Gasland” and www.savethedelawareriver.org.

Actor and Director and founder of WaterDefense.org Mark Ruffalo said “I applaud Governor Markell for admitting that there is no science to justify opening up one of North America’s important River Basins to industrialization and greed. Now the rest of the commission will hear from us, the people who speak for this beautiful river not for short term profits.”

"Today's Rally is about sending a message — a message of hope for success to our community, a message to the governor's and the president that opposition to gas drilling is key to their political futures because it is critical to the ongoing health of our communities, and a message to the drillers that their campaign of deception and lies isn't working," said Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper. "And today is about sending a hearty thank you to Governor Markell for taking a fresh look at this issue and casting his vote for the community, and to Governor Cuomo for making clear his ongoing opposition to the regulations."

“We have clearly seen what a mobilized citizen response can do to shine a light on a major lack of oversight by our government watch dog agencies over this very dangerous practice. Finally, our politicians are waking up to find out that what’s been going on under our noses, the poisonous onslaught and major expansion of fracking, is a really bad idea. And good for them, namely the Governors of Delaware and New York, as these guys are finally hearing the alarm sounded by this broad based coalition of citizen action groups and environmental organizations to the threat of hydraulic fracturing”, said David Braun, United for Action. “Kudos to those elected officials who remember that they were put into office to protect and serve the people. We are anxiously waiting to see which side President Obama weighs in on,” Braun added.

“The DRBC has postponed a vote but they still haven't asked for an EIS which is the law under the National Environmental Policy act. They need to hear the voices that want this national treasure protected. This river and its surrounding habitat are just too important to trash,” said Wes Gillingham, Program Director, and Catskill Mountainkeeper.

"Today’s Rally is a new kick-off of a campaign to ban fracking in the Delaware River Basin. This is a Rally for the future of our river and to protect the water supply for 15 million people. We cannot trust the politicians or the DRBC to protect that water from fracking; we must get them to ban fracking. We had a victory in stopping the weak DRBC rules from going forward now we must get President Obama and Gov Christie to support a fracking ban. This is just the beginning of the grassroots campaign to get the New Jersey Legislature to over ride the Governor’s veto of the Fracking Ban Bill and get the DRBC to ban fracking in the basin. We will win this campaign because our future and the River’s future are at stake. There is no fracking way they will drill the Delaware!” said Jeff Tittel, Director, NJ Sierra Club.

“Delaware's Governor Markell got it right by saying the fracking proposal ‘Currently Lacks Sufficient Health and Safety Protections’, the title of his post on his letter to the Commission saying Delaware votes "NO". In order to fulfill Gov. Markell's demand to assure that the 2/3 of his state's water that comes from the Delaware River remains viable drinking water there has to be a Cumulative Impact Study of the effects of gas drilling on the watershed,” said Barbara Arrindell, Director, Damascus Citizens for Sustainability. “On behalf of the 15 million residents of the Basin, Damascus Citizens salutes Governor Markell. DCS will continue to insist on a cumulative Impact study in the Basin in order to fully understand BEFOREHAND all the ramifications of drilling,” concluded Arrindell.

“The Delaware River won today,” said Doug O’Malley, field director for Environment New Jersey. “But New Jersey residents deserve to know whether Governor Christie would have voted to start gas drilling or protect the Delaware. The Delaware is still in the crosshairs of the gas drilling industry.”

“Never has there been a more reasonable outcry. We know we can't live without clean air, clean water and clean food; we know our grandchildren may need this gas, but we don't need it. We need to lead our nation away from fossil fuels altogether, and fast,” said Iris Marie Bloom, Director, Protecting our Waters. “The cancellation of the DRBC meeting is a turning of the wheel of the nation away from that insanity. We are taking the helm. We are going sane,” added Bloom.

"By delaying action, the DRBC is recognizing that the proposed regulations are far too weak to prevent harm to communities and the environment from irresponsible drilling," said Nadia Steinzor of Earthworks Oil and Gas Accountability Project. "But they still have a long way to go to prove that they will uphold their mandate to protect vital natural areas and water supplies despite pressure from the gas industry."

“If it wasn't for all of us and our colleagues - regionally and in the drilling fields, there would by now be drilling and fracking and air pollution and water contamination and landscape desecration and industrialization in the DRB. Today is a wonderful and overwhelming display of solidarity and coming together to protect our homes, property and environment from the thieves in power - the corporations and those they buy and own,” said Joe Levine, NYH2O. “We must continue to apply all the pressure we can from every perspective on every public official and force them to switch their priorities. 28 - 1/2 days of fuel is not worth ruining the basin for 20 million people for generations. We hereby put President Obama on notice that he will be held accountable, because he has breached his promise to those who elected him to protect our most valuable environmental resources,” concluded Levine.

"CLEAN WATER ACTION and GAS TRUTH Rallies in Trenton because we must show the powers-that-be in Trenton, Harrisburg, Albany, Dover, and Washington, DC that our commitment to preserve and protect the Delaware Watershed is absolute,” said Nathan Sooy, Clean Water Action, Harrisburg, PA. “We must draw this line and then STOP THE DRILLING where it is occurring now in our region”, added Sooy.

Dave Pringle, Campaign Director, NJ Environmental Federation said, “Kudos to Governor Markell! He is not only protecting Delaware citizens but also Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Jerseyites and setting the standard for the rest of the country.”

“The rally we are holding today is a testament to the growing grassroots movement that is working to ensure human needs are put above the interests of a greedy few who would jeopardize our livelihoods for their own personal profit. This victory for the Delaware River should serve as a ray of hope to everyone in New York, Pennsylvania and across the country who are struggling to ban fracking. The tide is turning and we can win,” said Jim Walsh, Food & Water Watch.

"The DRBC's postponement of its vote shows what individuals can accomplish when they band together against the tyranny of fossil fuels. The Delaware River, the drinking water source for 15 million people, belongs to all of us, not the few gas corporations who would destroy this pristine river for profit. The people have woken up, and we will no longer allow our earth and our children's future to be compromised by greed and shortsightedness. Frack Action will continue to fight against fracking, whether it is along the Delaware River Basin, or New York State," said Claire Sandberg, Executive Director, Frack Action.

“We have won a battle in a much larger war. We hope that this serves as inspiration for the many environmental and health advocates on the front lines of countless other battles being waged in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and everywhere else dirty drilling is happening. We know it serves as an inspiration to everyone who has fought this battle and knows that there are more ahead before the Delaware River receives the protection it deserves”, said Karen Feridun, founder, Berks Gas Truth.

"The fight to protect the Delaware Basin watershed from fracking is far from over. But today's action demonstrates that we are committed to continuing the fight. We intend to leverage the momentum of this victory to apply pressure on Governor Cuomo and DEC Commissioner Martens to heed their own advice and take the time to get it right in New York, as their fracking plan is in no better shape than the DRBC's," said Kate Hudson, Riverkeeper Watershed Program Director.

“Congrats to Governor Markell for applying the precautionary principle and putting the health and welfare of the 15 million people who depend on the Delaware River Basin for clean fresh water ahead of industry profits. And a big thanks to the thousands of people who work together as one to get out the message that transparent, peer-reviewed science - not advocacy science - should be the determining factor on this important issue, for the basin, the nation and the world,” said Michael Lebron, New Yorkers for Sustainable Energy Solutions Statewide.

"Today, the Delaware River Basin Commission took an important pause," said Deb Nardone, Director of Sierra Club's Natural Gas Reform Campaign. "The Sierra Club will continue to work with coalition groups and the Commission to stand by this decision and keep an unsafe and unsupervised natural gas industry out of sensitive areas like the Delaware River Basin."

“Right now we have a Mexican standoff but we are determined to turn this temporary reprieve into a permanent prohibition on drilling in the Delaware River Watershed, demonstrating to all regions who are enduring the drilling invasion that the pollution and degradation the resource extraction industry is forcing on us must be stopped to protect clean water and a healthy future,” said Tracy Carluccio, Deputy Director, Delaware Riverkeeper Network.

The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) is composed of the Governors of the four states that drain to the Delaware River - New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware - and a federal representative, the Army Corps of Engineers for the Obama Administration. The issue has been a raging controversy over the past 3 ½ years; a drilling moratorium is currently in place in the Basin while the DRBC develops natural gas regulations.

69,800 comments were received by the DRBC during a public comment period (December 2010 to April 2011) on draft natural gas development regulations proposed for the Basin, breaking all records for public interest. Since that time, 73,000 more letters and Petitions, in addition to several sign-on letters from diverse constituency groups, have been submitted to the voting members of the DRBC in opposition to the commencement of drilling and in support of comprehensive environmental review.

The DRBC provides a layer of regulation that prevails over State regulations, if stricter than the State, to protect the exceptional water quality of the Delaware River and its outstanding resources recognized by Congress under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. Under adopted law based on the Compact that resulted from the Supreme Court Decree that established the DRBC in 1961, all gas drilling within the Delaware River Basin requires a permit from the DRBC in addition to a state permit.

If Monday’s DRBC vote had approved the regulations, the drilling moratorium would have been lifted and gas drilling and fracking would have commenced in the Upper and Middle Delaware River Watershed which is underlain by Marcellus and Utica Shales. The DRBC is required to provide 10 days public notice of a meeting where the voting members will cast a vote on the adoption of regulations and the vote is required to be made in public. In Pennsylvania, where drilling is occurring at breakneck speed, permitting would likely occur quickly. In New York State, where the Department of Environmental Conservation is updating its environmental review process for fracking and horizontal drilling, there is a de-facto moratorium in place, which would continue to hold up Delaware River Basin drilling.

###

Michael Bloomberg -- Wall Street Scam Artist

2011-11-20T09:51:00.000-08:00

Bloomberg benefited immensely from the Wall Street criminality since Bill Clinton set loose the dogs of greed in 1998. Bloomberg is the perfect example of an evil billionaire, as laid out in this excellent article by Robert Scheer:

Basically, Scheer notes that the arrogant mayor of New York City should be the last person evicting people protesting Wall Street greed.

RTWTH: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_villain_occupy_wall_street_has_been_waiting_for_20111117/

Say it loud and say it proud: FUCK MIKE BLOOMBERG!

Occupy Oakland

2011-11-07T06:31:00.000-08:00

Seniors take back the streets of Oakland, California after days of police brutality.

From "Organic Bytes" email newletter.

2011-11-03T10:04:00.000-07:00

"Is the 1%'s Super Committee Writing a Secret Farm Bill?

Demand Cuts to Corporate Welfare - Not Hunger and Sustainable Ag Programs!

The Big Ag lobby suffered a shock when an amendment offered by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) to cut farm subsidies to anyone with an average income of over $1 million cleared the Senate by a vote of 84-15. This proposal has yet to become law, but it is clear that the momentum is not in Big Ag's favor. Congress is ready to vote for a fairer Farm Bill in 2012 when the current law expires. Knowing that, corporate lobbyists working for the 1% are trying to prevent any more votes like that one.

Big Ag's current strategy is for Congress not to vote on a new Farm Bill at all. They'd rather have the Super Committee, set to cut at least $1.2 trillion from the federal debt in November, shape the bill behind closed doors. Their idea is for the Super Committee to cut $23 billion over 10 years, mostly from conservation and nutrition programs that help the hungry, family farmers, and sustainable agriculture, rather than save more money by adopting the White House proposal to save $50 billion over 10 years by ending all direct payments that go to mega farms growing crops for polluting factory farms and unhealthy junk food.

Ag Committee Chairmen and Super Committee members are currently working on a Secret Farm Bill that by all accounts will favor Big Ag over family-scale organic farmers and the swelling ranks of those who are relying on Food Stamps and school lunch programs to survive during the continuing economic crisis."

The Organic Bytes crew have a FaceBook page (which I refuse to link due to Goldman Sachs part-ownership). It's called Millions Against Monsanto!

Wiki Leaks

2011-11-03T09:03:00.000-07:00

Wikileaks is being shut down by the consortium of fascist governments colluding with global bankers to deprive citizens of information and openness.

WikiLeaks is cut off from donations by the banks and credit card companies, including PayPal. When the time comes, all the CEOs of banks should be imprisoned for long terms. It is obvious that they are using their power and control of the cheap government politicians to prevent the truth about their crimes from coming out. WikiLeaks was about to release all sorts of info about the corrupt banksters when funding access was cut off.

Here's an interesting interview with the guy who is sheltering Assange during his fight against the bullies.

Dylan Ratigan rants

2011-11-03T06:55:00.001-07:00

Reactivating this Blog

2011-11-03T06:34:00.000-07:00

This blog was started back in 2009 in the hope that a committee of individuals would form to urge and lead a general strike in the United States. That did not happen. Nobody was interested. The other writers and musicians I approached were still in the thrall of Obama.

Things are changing and the Occupy Wall Street movement is the central reason why.

The news media are a bunch of corporate whores -- with the possible exception of Dylan Ratigan. All the rest of these folks are interested in is keeping their jobs -- and who can blame them on that front? It would be nice if they did their jobs, as expect6ed, rather than as dictated by corporate overlords and billionaires.

Anyway, if you've read this far, I'm preaching to the choir. So, what can we do?

Yesterday, the attempt at a general strike in Oakland, California was somewhat successful. It did shut down the port of Oakland. Good for them.

2010-02-03T20:11:00.000-08:00

http://www.alternet.org/module/printversion/145481

I found this article very helpful in explaining the absolute inertia with which the idea of a general strike is met whenever I broach the topic.

The piece is the cover story of Tikkun magazine this month. Here's a blog from tyhe magazine.

This Is Kind of a Drag

2010-01-07T11:07:00.000-08:00

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alex-brantzawadzki/tea-party-strike-led-by-c_b_398863.html

The Tea Party? Really?

It's a good idea for too many of the wrong reasons -- though I agree the government is out of control.

A New Year's Resolution -- Move Your Money

2009-12-30T12:01:00.000-08:00

Here's a good idea for MMX

GENERAL STRIKE JULY 6 and 7, 2010

2009-12-18T19:40:00.000-08:00

Let's have a General Strike on July 6 and 7, 2010. Let's shut down all business, government, and transportation. Let's give ourselves an extra 2 days off on the 4th of July weekend and let the crooked politicians and their corporate masters know that We, the People, are not going to take it any more.

Let's use this General Strike to demand an immediate end to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Let's let the corrupt pols and the military industrial complex kno0w that we are tired of seeing and feeling our country being bankrupted to enrich them.

Let's use this to demand REAL health care reform -- a single payer system.

Let use our General Strike to demand that the Wall Street bankers be stripped of the ill-gotten gains and their companies downsizied and regulated.

Let's use the General Strike to demand full employment.

Let's remind the elected officials across the USA that they are in office to serve the people, not corporations.

Let's make this the first effort in a series that will end only when the USA belongs to the people once again.

Please help spread the word.

Please comment.

Please contact me and help me form a General Strike Committee.

Please let me know if you'd like to become a contributor to this blog.