www.nationalview.org and Note From a Madman brought to you by
for your Information Technology needs
owned and operated by Noah "The Madman" Greenberg
This Is What Democracy Looks Like
Today's Note From a Madman
April 27, 2008
McCain on Katrina
John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, is attempting to
get the Maverick" back in his game. And the vehicle he's using to get there is
Hurricane Katrina.
McCain has been applying the Bush strategy of "stay the course" to so many of
his would-be predecessor's policies that it's hard to imagine the once and
future Maverick being hard on President Bush about anything.
"terrible and disgraceful,''
"Never again will a disaster of this nature be handled in this terrible and
disgraceful manner,''
"History will judge this president,"
"This was an unacceptable scenario,"
-McCain after a tour of the Lower Ninth Ward, a neighborhood without what
appears to be a shot at ever being rebuilt, despite the promises of the Bush
administration
McCain even went so far as to put some of the blame on Congress for the disaster
and its aftermath:
"I would also place some of those responsibilities on the Congress, which funded
pork barrel projects that were not only not needed but certainly not as
important as some of the projects that were needed here,"
-McCain
But what the Senator from Arizona failed to mention is that it was a REPUBLICAN
Congress, a REPUBLICAN Senate, and a REPUBLICAN White House which performed
"terribly and disgracefully." Also missing from McCain's walk and talk with new
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (REPUBLICAN) was the fact that while New Orleans
was drowning, McCain was having a birthday bash in his home state with none
other than President Bush as his guest of honor.
And after the get-together, President Bush did his fly-by of the tortured New
Orleans as Air Force One buzzed a few thousand feet over head in order for
Georgie-Boy to have a look-see.
I wish someone asked McCain why he hadn't insisted that President Bush, upon his
arrival at the gala event, leave immediately and tend to the issues in our Gulf
Coast. One also might ask why McCain didn't offer to go with President Bush.
After all, he was a ranking member of the US Senate. Certainly his experience
would have been welcome in such a catastrophe.
And even had McCain not done all that he should have (like canceling his party),
certainly he could have suggested that after President Bush finished his last
slice of Birthday cake that the President then tend to the problems in the Gulf
Coast.
Shouldn't he?
McCain seems to realize that he is actually a part of our government and that
leaders step forward during trying times. McCain has only blame to access and
fingers to point, and none of it at himself.
True to form, John McCain is becoming the rightful heir of the Bush legacy. May
it die a painful death come this November.
-Noah Greenberg
George W. Bush Lie-brary
The George W. Bush Presidential Lie-brary is now in the planning stages. You'll
want to be the first on your block to make a contribution to this great man's
legacy. The lie-brary will include:
-The Hurricane Katrina Room, which is still under construction.
-The Alberto Gonzales Room, where you can't remember anything.
-The Texas Air National Guard Room, where you don't have to even show up.
-The Walter Reed Hospital Room, where they don't let you in.
-The Guantanamo Bay Room, where they don't let you out.
-The Weapons of Mass Destruction Room (which no one has been able to find).
-The Iraq War Room. After you complete your first tour, they make you to go back
for a second, third, fourth, and sometimes fifth tour.
-The Dick Cheney Room, in the famous undisclosed location, complete with
shooting gallery.
Plans also include: The K-Street Project Gift Shop where you can buy (or just
steal) an election. The Airport Men's Room, where you can meet some of your
favorite Republican Senators. Last, but not least, there will be an entire floor
devoted to a 7/8 scale model of the President's ego To highlight the President's
accomplishments, the museum will have an electron microscope to help you locate
them. When asked, President Bush said that he didn't care so much about the
individual exhibits as long as his museum was better than his father's.
-Sean
Globalization Stinks!
Remember when this country had a thriving agricultural base? Shrimp was one
product we raised domestically. Welcome to new world of globalization. Thailand
and Bangladesh now import $4 billion worth of shrimp sold in U.S. retail stores
and restaurants such as Wal-Mart, Costco, Sysco, Harris Teeter, IGA, Trader
Joe’s, Cub Foods, Giant, Long John Silver’s and Red Lobster.
Where's there is globalization, there is abuse! I read an absolutely awful
report from the Solidarity Center on shrimp workers in Thailand and Bangladesh.
Here are some of the atrocious details:
-Widespread exploitation of migrant workers, including beatings, torture, sexual
assault and unlawful imprisonment.
-Human trafficking of workers.
-Forced labor where workers often work 16 to 20 hours for as little as 30 cents
per day or nothing at all.
-Widespread use of child labor, with some factories employing up to 150
children, some as young as 5 years old.
http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/04/23/new-report-shows-true-cost-of-shrimp-to-workers/
There is a consistent pattern; American workers lose their jobs and
international workers that replace them are exploited. I wonder how many
Americans truly think globalization is a good thing?
-Robert Scardapane
The Food Crisis and Farm Subsidy
Hunger and its cousin malnutrition are working together to bring the globe into
an untenable situation.
Food riots in Bangladesh, Egypt and Haiti have occurred, cost of food in the USA
is skyrocketing and the situation grows worse daily. At a news conference last
Sunday, April 14th World Bank President Robert Zoelick came out with this
assessment: "We have to put our money where our mouths are so that we can put
food into hungry mouths.”
The price of the staple rice crop has risen by as much as 70% since the last
annual report, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), with
increases accelerating recently.
The USA is far from exempt from this catastrophe as food banks, soup kitchens,
and other food distributor organizations reported an estimated twenty- percent
increase since April of last year. Additionally in the last year, the United
States has seen the number of citizens enrolled in food stamp programs grow by
one point three million, the highest one year increase ever.
A recent report on CNN, informed us that the average price of a loaf of bread
has increased 32% In the last year alone, the average price of carton of eggs
has increased almost 50 percent. Currently the wheat storage supply for the USA
is at a 60 year low.
The worst food price inflation in nearly 20 years has many Americans giving up
restaurant meals to eat at home. We are buying fewer luxury food items, eating
more leftovers and purchasing more store brands instead of name-brand items. As
it grows worse we will be challenged to find sustenance that does not cost an
arm and a leg.
Causes are various, yet the ethanol pitch has come under scrutiny lately as this
corn and wheat hoarding for fuel has increased the cost of all foods. Irregular
weather like droughts, rising fuel cost, diet changes such as increases in meat
consumption in Asia, and booming populations have added to the food inflation.
Secondary protein is also a cause as it takes 8.3 grams of corn to produce one
gram of Beef, so that many more could be fed if primary protein sources were
preferred. High petroleum prices low valued dollar and tighter supplies have all
added to this looming problem.
International cooperation is needed to stave off this crisis, the UN in
conjunction with the International Monetary Fund has asked for an emergency fund
of 500 million less than a week’s cost of the Iraq war. The Bush administration
has {to its credit} has taken the first step pledging funds of up to 200 million
from a food reserve know as the Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust.
America should act with others in the international community to increase
agricultural output in developing societies so that these states can become
self-sufficient. Working hand-in-glove with Western nations we must reduce
subsidies and tariffs so that, once produced, developing countries can sell
their goods both domestically and on the international market.
International food aid programs should also be reformed so that funds are given
directly into the hands of farmers and producers, rather than Western shippers,
suppliers, and corporations. Lastly, the world should move to the new generation
of biofuels on semi-arable land that are not as dependent on corn and do not
directly compete with food crops.
American farmers have been paid to leave certain fields un-sown and subsidies
have been in place to keep the market price high enough for US farmers to stay
in business, this practice must cease and all agricultural land available for
food production.
The $286 billion farm bill, which has recently been passed by both the House and
Senate, gives Congress a legislative chance to assist in solving the domestic
and international food crisis. Providing more than just a safety net to
America's agricultural system, the new farm bill grants the critical funding to
our nation's poverty, nutrition, land conservation, energy, and international
trade programs.
However, final compromise on this controversial measure has not yet been
reached. Congress drags their feet as the world suffers and we all pay for
procrastination. The farm bill as it currently reads is a lost opportunity to
remove oppressive subsidies that could positively impact this crisis both
domestically and abroad.
-Robert W. Barker
In response to the Supreme Court's decision to deny women the right to sue for
workplace discrimination, and the Senate Republicans' agreement, Victoria
Brownworth writes:
The Republican vote against equal pay for women once again signals why we need a
woman president. The second-class citizenship of American women has gone on
throughout our entire life as a nation. Other Western countries have caught up.
Pakistan, India, Liberia, Burma--even these nations have had or currently have
women leaders. Mitch McConnell and Madman's piece on him certify why America is
so behind the Western and even Eastern world on this issue.
In response to, "Jimmy Carter remains the only president in recent history to
accomplish anything, as it relates to peace, between Israel and her neighbors,"
Victoria Brownworth writes:
I'm sure Madman did not mean to ignore the Oslo Peace Treaty orchestrated by
President Bill Clinton nor the historic moment (which led to the Noble Peace
Prize for those involved) that he orchestrated between Yassir Arafat and Yitzak
Rabin. Nor the other meetings between Arafat and Ehud Barak and Shimon Peres
that he also orchestrated.
I guess in these days of Clinton bashing it's easy to ignore the eight years
Bill Clinton spent working in the Middle East with Madeline Albright in favor of
the one that Jimmy carter spent in his White House. But history actually says
otherwise.
Send your comments to: NationalView@aol.com
-Noah Greenberg