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Four years after Hurricane Katrina, only 19 percent of residents have returned to the poorest neighborhoods. That is a disaster for them, but it is not an accident.

A wealthy New Orleans resident gave away the game in 2005, during the Katrina disaster. Referring to the poor, black population of the flooded areas, he told the Wall Street Journal “we do not want them back”.

Standing beside the swimming pool in the backyard of his New Orleans mansion, this latter day “Southern gentleman” said that the storm was a good opportunity to “clean up the city” by getting rid of “those people” (the poor and black who have still not been allowed to move back in to New Orleans). And so the New Orleans elite have managed to do since the storm.

Perfectly sound public housing and homes were torn down to ensure that the poorest people could not return to New Orleans. Naturally the land for the public housing units, only a fraction of which will be replaced (somewhere, sometime, supposedly), is being sold.

The land under the scarcely damaged, sturdily built old public housing projects just happens to be quite near some very expensive New Orleans real estate—and therefore highly valuable to developers.

For decades, everyone knew that New Orleans was a disaster waiting to happen. Yet the federal government (the only entity who could legally do so) did not rebuild or reinforce the levees.

In the interests of real estate developers and right-wing politics they simply waited for a major hurricane to free up valuable land—and vastly change the demographics of New Orleans by getting rid of many thousands of poor, black Democrats.

What happened and is still happening in New Orleans is a crime. People were put in harm’s way and deliberately allowed to die for the sake of politics, racism and greed. Then their homes, including houses that had been owned by families for generations, were taken away.

We must never forget the real meaning—and purpose—of the Katrina disaster.

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The insurance giants and big pharma feel really threatened by the prospect of healthcare reform. Insurance is spending $1.4 million each day to fight reform.

As part of that effort, the right-wing is organizing “unruly mobs” to disrupt healthcare town meetings across America.

Unfortunately for them, the behavior is so obvious, so obnoxious, and so antidemocratic that reporters have noticed and written about it all over the country. Here are a few samples of the media coverage of the carefully orchestrated disruptions of public discussions.

The Post-Standard

“‘It was like he was tarred and feathered and ridden out of town on a rail,’ [one of the protesters] said. ‘It was a beautiful thing.’ Actually, for anyone who treasures a functioning democracy, where ideas from all sides are respectfully debated, it’s a pretty ugly development.” [RIP, public discourse?, Post-Standard, 8/5/09]

Herald Times Reporter

“He’s absolutely right. There’s no place for mob behavior in these kinds of situations, and it shouldn’t be tolerated. We always can agree to disagree, but shouting down an adversary won’t accomplish anything.” [Editorial: No room for mobs, Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter, 8/5/09]

SalisburyPost.com

“The protesters jeer, heckle, wave placards, shout over the speaker and carry on much like the student radicals of yore. Memos that have cropped up on the Web show that these protests are not intended to be any kind of dialogue but purely disruptive, preferably ending with the member of Congress forced to retreat. Videos of the demonstrations almost immediately appear on the Internet. The idea is to make opposition to health-care reform seem more widespread than it really is.” [Beware of staged disruptions, Salisbury Post, 8/5/09]

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It has been obvious for some time that Republicans suffer from (or enjoy) factophobia. They fear the facts.

They hate science and distort, deny, or subvert it at every opportunity. They claim there is no global warming (or if there is, it’s caused by chipmunks, or something). Remember when Ronald Reagan asserted that “trees cause more pollution that cars”.

It’s wacko science! Asbestos, smoking, air and water pollution, the fact that abstinence-only sex education fails kids—you name it, they deny it. If the general population knew the facts, the GOP would be in real trouble. Oh, wait, they are.

Despite the lie factories such as Limbaugh, Coulter, Beck, Rove, and the Astroturf (fake grassroots) organizations such as the FOX-TV-organized, corporate-sponsored, so-called Tea Parties, the general population doesn’t seem to be drinking the Kook-Aid anymore.

Still the factophobes are out there, dancing around with their “I hate Obama” signs waving. As long as they keep moving, bobbing, weaving, and spinning, I guess, they don’t have to face the inconvenient facts.

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Want to know more about the importance of Earth Day? How it got started? What it has accomplished so far? Take a look at the following Earth Day video and find out.

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Earth Day began in 1970 when 20 million people across America peacefully demonstrated to save the environment by ending pollution and the wanton destruction of species and ecosystems. Legislators got the message.

Several pieces of landmark legislation to clean up toxic waste, alleviate air pollution, and clean up rivers and streams directly resulted from that Earth Day demonstration. Naturally the big polluters and despoilers immediately started to fight back.

It has become every more clear that the opposition to protecting the Earth is not just about the money. In many cases doing the right thing would actually be cheaper or more profitable for corporations.

The right-wing seems to be actually waging some kind unholy war on the environment, especially the animals and the indigenous people. From their actions, their idea appears to be that if they kill off all the endangered species and indigenous people, there will be nothing left to protect, and they will be able to do as they please.

Even worse, there seems to be a deep hatred for all natural things such as animals, wild plants, and free people. Sarah Palin’s War on Wolves is a good example. Why does she hate wolves so much?

Another example is the Bush administration’s determination to kill as many buffalo as possible in the Yellowstone area, despite scientific evidence that they do not spread disease to cattle, and despite the danger of reducing their numbers to a genetically unviable number.

Some people say that a willful misinterpretation of the Christian Bible is behind the unholy war on the environment and the primal peoples. But they also hate the poor people in America, blaming them for—just about everything. And they hate poor indigenous people who come to the United States to do low-paid labor worst of all.

Clearly they are interpreting their Bible selectively. In fact, Jesus said, “Whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me.” That sort of rules out a biblical justification for their hatred of the poor, the weak, and the animals, doesn’t it? One would think so.

Most people do not hate the earth, the animals, and the indigenous people. Most folks, when they think about it, do not blame their financial woes on the poor or hate the undocumented aliens who make their lives easier by working hard for a pittance, paying taxes, and doing the jobs no one else wants.

Most people do not want any more animals to become extinct. Most people do want something done to stop global warming, and most are willing to make some sacrifices to secure a safe, healthy future for their children—and for all children.

But not everyone understands the issues. And there is plenty of vicious right-wing propaganda, thoughtfully paid for by right-wingers and broadcast by the corporate media, to mislead them.

People of good will and good sense need to be armed with facts and rallied around the cause of saving the environment—to save our own lives and those of our children—as well as to save the beauty, the grace, and the awe and wonder of exotic animals and plants and indigenous peoples.

So Earth Day matters, because it gets the attention of people who would otherwise not notice the dangerous degradation of our environment and fosters in some of them a need to find out more, maybe to do a little something to help, donate a few bucks, vote for environmental candidates, conserve energy, take a stand.

April 22 is Earth Day 2009. Where will you be? What will you do for the Earth? For the animals? For your children and all the other children of Earth?

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As the old song says, ”Propaganda strikes deep. Into your mind it will creep….” Oh, wait! That’s “paranoia”. But actually propaganda leads to paranoia—both for the people who are lied to and for the liars. You can see it any day on FOX TV or hear it on AM radio talk shows.

Either the propagandists start to believe their own nonsense, or they gradually start to get worried that their lies will be exposed. Or maybe both.

Meanwhile I’m wondering just how many highly paid PR consultants and others are being employed to come up with the weird accusations and ridiculous catch-phases that propagandists use to to short-circuit the thinking process of their listeners.

Mucho dinero must be flowing to sustain that steady stream of doublespeak, slurs, distortions and outright lies. That stuff doesn’t happen accidentally. Nobody that crazy becomes a highly paid TV personality or best-selling author.

So here is a video on the latest propaganda labels being applied to President Obama and his programs. It would be funny—if it were not for the paranoia that these professional propagandists are able to stir up in those who are incapable of or unwilling to think logically. Those who are already paranoid, of course, are easy prey for them.

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So if you are an “American” who is wishing and hoping that the President’s plan to restore the U.S. economy fails, what does that make you?

It makes you Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck, or one of a host of right-wing propagandists and ill-wishers, including some prominent right-wing clergy, who have publicly stated that they are rooting from the President’s efforts to save the U.S. economy from meltdown and to alleviate the suffering of millions of Americans who are losing their jobs, homes, and health will fail.

Wanting millions of Americans to suffer and thousands of businesses to fail. Does that sound like patriotism to you?

Me neither.

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Craig Ferguson is interviewing Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who turns out to be a charming character. Very disarming. Then he turns serious.

Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, can be very serious indeed. He is highly knowledgeable and articulate. He has lived through so much in South Africa and become a highly respected world figure.

Still, he has a big, wide grin and a sort of gleeful, elfin charm. Ferguson seems both charmed and impressed. It is nice to see that humility.

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UPDATE to this post: Sadly the widget described in this post is no longer available. The site has shut down.

The late, great Molly Ivins is still with us in spirit, of course. One can imagine her pithy commentary on current events.

Molly would have loved to be here to see Obama elected. She would have had a field day making fun of Coleman trying to sue to get back the Senate seat he lost to Al Franken in a close but scrupulously recounted election. She would have skewered the hypocrisy of—-well, just too many to list—and we would have all had fun watching her do it.

Now you can have Molly’s inspiration on your blog or web site every single day—for free—in a colorful miniposter. The miniposter is comes in two widths (125 pixels or 300 pixels). Here’s the smaller version. I added the larger version to lower right-hand sidebar of this blog. It is much easier to read. It says:

So keep fightin’ for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don’t forget to have fun doin’ it. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce. And when you get through kickin’ ass and celebratin’ the sheer joy of a good fight, be sure to tell those who come after, how much fun it was!  —Molly Ivins  (1944-2007)

To get the snippet of code needed to add either version of the poster to your own site, go to this page at the poster publisher’s web site.

My only complaint is the picture on the doesn’t do her justice. You wouldn’t even recognize her from it. (See the photo at the beginning of this post for comparison.) I’m sure she would rather have had just her words speak for her, as they so amply did—and still do.

Wouldn’t Molly have just made hay with some of the recent events in Texas? You bet she would! “Governor Goodhair” provided some of her best material.

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As usual, Rush Limbaugh is rushing to do the Limbaugh Limbo (How low can he go?) over President Obama’s economic stimulus package. Says Rush, “I hope he fails!” 

So who cares what Limbo thinks? Apparently a lot of nonthinkers do. He is galvanizing the reactionary nonthinkers to call their U.S. Representatives and Senators and demand that they vote against the stimulus bill. And quite a few Limbo listeners are doing that.

If you ever wonder just how stupid people can be, here’s one answer. These people seem to have no sense of what is in their own best interests and no compassion for anyone else. They just hate President Obama and want him to fail.

One is tempted to say that the nonthinkers deserve whatever they get for listening to Limbo, but the problem is, the results of their actions may be visited upon the rest of us, too.

Presumably this hateful nonsense will rebound on the Republicans just like their other economic misdeeds. (Anyone care for another Great Depression?)

Still, you have to wonder, will people ever learn?

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