Well, my apologies.  Somehow the first paragraph of Aegris response quoted by me somehow got totally screwed up in the editing bowels of my computer.

Here is an accurate representation:

“Re: Boycott these Bastards!!!! The problem, however, spills over into the goods we purchase. Buying anything fuels the corporate machine. Even buying food has become politicized and something of question where human rights are concerned. When you can’t feed yourself without hurting other people, the factory farms, big corporations and global economy have you feeding from their trough.”

Grow as much of your own food as possible. Buy less. Not only will you save your money and enrich your character, but you will throw a wrench in the gears of those who see you as a dollar sign while experiencing humanity on a more intimate level.”

By Aegrus, January 31 at 9:37 am #
(39 comments total)”...MoveOn.org started something. Maybe, in time, all this blogging will add up to something important. Right now, it’s still very fragmented. Without solidarity, the cause doesn’t move anywhere…”

Think about 10 years ago!  Blogging and internet communication are in their infancy.  Hang in.  Nothing happens instantly.  We are all learning.
It is important to keep communicating. It is even more important to stop media consolidation and any attempts to control the flow of information on the internet.  Boycotts will be fueled and organized by people communicating on the internet.

By cyrena, January 31 at 12:02 am # Hi Cyrena!
Beg to differ with you, but I don’t believe our country was “founded on slavery.”  Slavery existed, but it was not part of the foundation of the country.
That is why it was finally ended (or so it seems).
However, there are many kinds of slavery.  Forced workaholism for example.

By nrobi, January 30 at 4:47 pm #
(8 comments total)
Another One Bites The Dust!!!...dictators and despots supported by the cia and any other acronym of the federal government, which by the way derives its power from the people of the US…”

The People of The US have no power.  It is improper and wrong to blame the population of the United States for the dictatorship under which we live.  We have had no real choice, usually only rich white men, and just two of them at that.  We are not living in a real democracy, just a system of laws created by white ruling class people to maintain their power. 

Third Parties are always thwarted. Look at what Ralph Nader has had to go through at the hands of the Democrats—costly lawsuits to keep him off the ballot, shaming, blaming, sabotage, media shutouts, you name it.

Politically, we are stuck in a system not of our making, that severely limits our choices for leadership. This will probably not change until there is a revolution. 

I think the internet will help shape this revolution.

By Aegrus, January 31 at 11:09 am #
(39 comments total)
buying food has become politicized and something oRe: Boycott these Bastards!!!!  “The problem, however, spills over into the goods we purchase. BuyiPolitically, we are stuck in a system not of our making, that severely limits our choices for leadership. This will probably not change until there is a revolution in the streets.ng anything fuels the corporate machine. Even f question where human rights are concerned…

Grow as much of your own food as possible. Buy less. Not only will you save your money and enrich your character, but you will throw a wrench in the gears of those who see you as a dollar sign…”

WE DO HAVE OPTIONS.  WE CAN MAKE OTHER CHOICES.  WE DON’T HAVE TO SHOP AT WALMART OR OTHER CHEAP GOODS STORES, where everything you buy falls apart or poisons you.

Organic Farming is becoming more prevalent.  Support these farmers! Fight against all moves to weaken standards for organic food production. Shop in farmer’s markets, natural foods stores, and you can also buy organics from local farmers in the super markets these days—a change that has come about in the last five years.

Make new and different choices!!!

People are brainwashed to believe organics are more expensive and that seems to be confirmed when they see the prices.  However, what they don’t see are the health costs of putting chemicalized and processed food into our bodies, food saturated with pesticides, high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated fats, genetically modified food, cloned animals.  All bad for health.  People don’t understand that you get NO NUTRITION from food grown in depleted, chemicalized soil. 

BETTER YET…Give thought to becoming a vegetarian.  Meat eating is devastating our planet.  More forests are being destroyed (as we speak)to create grazing land for beef for McDonalds (and all the other fast food restaurants) than for any other purpose.
The rain forests are being decimated, along with the many species who inhabit them.

It is not hard to become a vegetarian.  Research it.  There’s a lot of help out there.  It is a CHANGE OF CONDITIONED (programmed) HABITS.  It takes just a little practice, plus a commitment to health and planetary harmony.  We have been conditioned by the Corporate System to continue to eat cow, pig, lamb, chicken, when it is not necessary (or even good) for health, because of PROFIT, regardless of how these innocent animals have suffered.  If you do not confront your compliance and complicity, you are just part of the problem.  It is the same kind of consciousness that needs to be changed in terms of the “oblivion” factor referred to by Cyrena, regarding the political system.

But I don’t think people really are oblivious regarding the latter.  I think people feel HELPLESS and, unfortunately, often hopeless, rather than oblivious.  When human beings feel truly helpless in a situation, it is the natural response to divert attention to something else, to stick their heads in the sand, so to speak.

Regarding meat-eating, people are just plain lazy and self-indulgent, stuck in a habit that involves the torture of helpless creatures, and unwilling to do anything to change when it is within their power to do so.

Go Veggie.  Buy local.  Think global.  As much as possible buy Fair Trade, organic food and other goods. 

Do not use any Standard Oil, Exxon-Mobil, Shell, or other American oil or gasoline products.  Research it.  We have options. 

Boycott AT&T;, Verizon, and other telecommunications companies who would spy on us.

Support FreeSpeechTV and Democracy Now!

There are many things we can do.  Each individual action is part of the world wide web of energy and interconnection.  Each and every act matters.

Every sane person in America knows torture.It is the Geroge Bush waterboarding effect.The drip drip drip of George Bush’s insane policies into the throat until you literally feel that you cannot breath.Amy my dear why go back in history to Indonesia.Remember the brave monks in Cambodia and all the rhetoric of how we were going to help them.George Bush had a special affinity for them becuase he thought that monk was short for monkey and was part of his family tree.

^ comment for you in the Mukasey blog.

You’re heart is in the right place, and I too have turned off my television 98% of the time. For a boycott of MSM to have effect, it would take far more organization.

The problem, however, spills over into the goods we purchase. Buying anything fuels the corporate machine. Even buying food has become politicized and something of question where human rights are concerned. When you can’t feed yourself without hurting other people, the factory farms, big corporations and global economy have you feeding from their trough.

Grow as much of your own food as possible. Buy less. Not only will you save your money and enrich your character, but you will throw a wrench in the gears of those who see you as a dollar sign while experiencing humanity on a more intimate level.

Cut the buck!!! You’ll save America, our environment, the exploited people of the world and yourself!

Be more human, people. Organize, civilize, compromise, sacrifice.

Re: Aegrus & Expat, you are both correct.  We all want to do something about this shame of a democracy that we are currently living in.  The voting process is entirely corrupt as shown in the past 2, going on 3 elections now; our elected officials have become some of the most corrupt and hypocritical in the business.  Our country continues to suffer and drift farther and farther from what our founding fathers envisioned.  The “American Dream” is becoming more and more unattainable for most of the American public. The following passage I grabbed out of a article that I found at http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/16/business/income.php:  In 2007 On average, incomes for the top 1 percent of households rose by $465,700 each, or
42.6 percent after adjusting for inflation. The incomes of the poorest fifth rose by $200, or 1.3 percent, and the middle fifth increased by $2,400 or
4.3 percent.

Like you guys have already mentioned, we can’t just sit here typing all day and expect anything to change. What we can do is hit these guys in
the wallet.  We can boycott these MSM propaganda news stations and the companies that advertise on their stations.  I’ve already vowed not to watch them and I haven’t.  They spew lies and government
sponsored/developed news anyway.  We need to join together and refuse to support these corporations.  Please join the boycott!!!!

Yes, the great American dream and way of life is something alien to us young folk. I spend a lot of time studying the history of America and Europe, and the authentic sacrifice and patriotism of the past doesn’t match with the flag waving of today.

I try to remain skeptical when reading history because there is bias everywhere, and the further back you read the more inaccurate the information can be. So, in a sense, maybe when we think back as Amy is doing and question our government and society… we’re appealing to an idealistic vision of a forgotten golden age in America. Still, it’s an ideal I’d like to experience in my lifetime.

MoveOn.org started something. Maybe, in time, all this blogging will add up to something important. Right now, it’s still very fragmented. Without solidarity, the cause doesn’t move anywhere. Contrarily, when there is complete unity, sacrifice of ideals, sacrifice of ethics and extreme partisanship occur. *shrug*

It’s kind of shameful for me to have these opinions, but I’m one of those many individuals who has real belief in their logic. To my detriment, I couldn’t care less if our species was wiped from existence. Hypocrisy has an unfortunate stranglehold on all our lives.

Sorry, I missed your question; what to do?  I’m at a loss on that one.  I marched in the streets in the 60/70’s, but that seems to be out of vogue now.  This blogging stuff doesn’t work either as far as I can see….it’s too easy.  Blog, blog, blog, type, type, type, sit, sit, sit, talk, talk, talk, blah, blah, blah.  To no effect as far as I can tell.  Very depressing which leads me to think we are doomed.  I think we lost it back about 9/11, which is when we let fear rule!

Free speach zones?  LOL, yes, insulting…..no worse…anti human.  Expat means I’m outside of the country.  I blog/thread from here because I can’t give up on the dream: But, I also cannot continue to live under the present administration.  Any way, thanks for your input.

Absolutely! It’s hard for some of us, though, because organizing action does take time, money, connections and resources the average citizen is no longer able to wield. Believe me, though, I’m trying to fight the good fight when I can. Free speech zones are insulting.

Okay, I understand and agree.  Yes, we just read and sit and blog and expect the world to changs and never leave our seats.  Power to action.  Get off our butts, yes?

Not at all. I’m stating how we believe in her cause vicariously, but don’t act ourselves. I thought that message was pretty clear.

“align ourselves through her words, but not her actions”?

There are so few.  It’s true most Americans seem to have their heads up their asses, but more jounalists with the guts to keep pounding out the truth is the only way to shrink this type of hemorrhoid.  I could be wrong, but it seems we’ve become a nation of sheep and morons.  Now that the fat, useless lifestyle we have all become accustomed to is literally devouring us from the inside out, like a cancer, are we ready to take responsibility and take these creeps out.  It’s not that hard, really.  Start by paying attention and demand to hear the truth that only great journalists can bring us.  The “Ken Leys” and “Dick/Bushes” of the world would not be tolerated had “We the People” paid attention and demanded the truth.  It’s time to do better.  Let’s start with eliminating the current pundits and so-called MSM from our news source.  There are other ways to get to the truth…....

Aegrus,
Could you be a little more clear.  My spin on your words is; Amy Goodman is not an activist?  Is this the thing you are saying?

Amy Goodman is one of my favorite political writers. Her constant advocacy is an inspiration to us all. It is depressing, though, how we align ourselves through her words, but not her actions. Even I am guilty of this sin.

What to do?

Amy writes:

•  “…Our attorney general should not have to be waterboarded to know that it is torture. Likewise, Americans should not have to suffer under a brutal dictatorship in order to know that it is wrong to support dictators abroad….”

The second question is actually the bigger issue,(because of COURSE he knows it’s torture) and it addresses nrobi’s post as well. (#130189)

Amy suggests that we should not have to suffer under a brutal dictatorship, to know that it is wrong to support these dictators abroad. But, what about the fact that we “support” them right here at home? If we didn’t, George Bush/Dick Cheney would not have been able to exercise this brutal dictatorship of the past 7 plus years.

But, they HAVE! They’ve done exactly that, and continue to do so.

Nrobi says that it’s time for Americans to take back our government and again demonstrate the principle of fair, just and merciful government that this country was founded upon.

Well, in all honesty, it wasn’t founded upon fair, just or merciful stuff, because it was founded upon slavery. The principles however, were good, and intended as a democracy, and eventually, we were able to move in that direction, at least on paper. Not without a lot of bloodshed, but we had things basically going in the right direction for a while.

But, the bottom line now, is that we ARE living under a brutal dictatorship, and all I can suggest is that enough people still don’t know it. So, what will it take?

I saw an excellent documentary film today. It’s entitled “State of Fear”. It covers the 30 year war of terror suffered by the People of Peru. It ended finally, with a chance for healing, after a Truth Commission. But, I mention it because one of the things that was most notable to me in the film, (since I’ve studied Peru under their dictatorship, along with so many other countries, like the Indonesians under the brutal dictatorship of Suhato) was that the upper middle class (and mostly white population of that country) was able to remain TOTALLY OBLIVIOUS to what was happening to their country men and women, and for nearly 3 decades. More than half of Peru’s population, (Indians, mostly from the mountains) were tortured and/or disappeared, murdered in massacres, and the mostly middle class of Lima, remained totally unaware of it, for all of that time. Three decades, through 2000.

We are talking every form of torture imaginable, rapes, murders, you name it. And the people of that nation, (allegedly at least 70% of them) actually voted for the dictator (Fujimori) that brought them the bloodiest regime in Latin American history.

Anyway, my point I guess, is that now we are under the same, and there is a huge portion of our own population, that continues to go about their daily affairs, totally oblivious to this. We’ve certainly done nothing to bring down the one that we have.

So, is it any wonder I suppose, that Mukasey was actually confirmed, just a few months ago, or that the dictator criminals have NOT been removed from office? It was 30 years for Peru. Will it take that long to make the rest of Americans aware? Well, we’ll never last that long. We might not even SEE another election or new president, unless enough people get up the guts to get rid of the regime that we have now.

Many of these dictatorships became especially bloody when the dictators declared ‘emergency conditions’ and suspended the constitutions and the rule of law. Fujimori did it, Musharraf has done it in Pakistan. The list is long Why ever do any of us believe that Dick Bush would not do this? And, who’s gonna stop them, if at least half of America is walking around in oblivion, (those in oblivion are mostly relying on god to keep them in denial).

Oscar Wilde once said something to the affect that America was the only country that has gone directly from Barbarism to Decadance without bothering to have a civilization in between.

The problem with this country is that we have become a culture of Narcissim. One in which our leaders feel entitled to do as they dam well please with anyone or anything that gets in their way.

Does it seem strange for a second to consider the idea that we should not reward our business and political leaders for acting like sociopaths?

Yet it seems that there is a never ending supply of these emotional cripples, who have squirmmed their way to the top with the deceit and cunning of a child molestor. But who have ben rewarded for their behaviors by becoming the heads of our corporations and our government, instead of being punished and sent for treatment somewhere.

When will we learn that we must require the same ethics of our business leaders and politicians as we do from our Psychiatrists, Doctors, Nurses, Teachers, all of our Professionals.

Surely the damage done by a Ken Lay is much worse than could be wrought by a an incompetant Doctor.  And the hurdles that Doctors go through for the most part make this a rare event.

So here we are again wondering how it happened, how another government did this in broad daylight.

^ become an oxymoron.  Add to that a new poll confirming 1 million Iraqis have died as a result of our war.  I will now tell people I am Canadian; I’m too ashamed to say the “A” word.

The American Government, in typical fashion, holds up tyranny and dictatorships that suit their political needs. I’m disgusted.

Yes, another one of the tyrannical and despotic policies of the US bit the dust. How sad, that the people of Amerikka, do not know the untold misery, that has been wrought in the name of democracy and freedom.  Are we to believe that all of the dictators and despots supported by the cia and any other acronym of the federal government, which by the way derives its power from the people of the US, is pursuing a good, just and merciful policy towards the people of the world?  If you can say yes with a straight face, I question your sanity and, “have I got a bridge to sell you.”
The Amerikkan government has a long-standing policy of backing the most tyrannical and despotic rulers, for all the wrong reasons. We backed Saddam Hussein, because, “he stands as a bulwark against the rising tide of Communism in the Middle East,” Suharto, for the very same reason, “South” Vietnam for the very same reason. There is no logical reason, why, the Amerikkan government has such imperialistic and lax standards when it comes to standing behind the most unimaginable horrors that are committed in the name of freedom. Yet we continue to do the same thing in the Middle East, Israel, is committing crimes against humanity and genocide, all in the name of democracy and with the backing of the Amerikkan government.
Isn’t it about time that the people of the US take back their government and again demonstrate the principle of fair, just and merciful government that this country was founded upon?