NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

During this past research trip to the Tohoku Region of Japan with the Popoki Peace Project there was one visual constant as we traveled the most significantly affected disaster areas. In Chamorro, odda', in English, dirt. On March 11, 2011 a huge earthquake struck Japan and caused a meltdown in the Fukushima nuclear power plant, causing radiation to blanket areas even one hundred miles away. Although the areas of compulsory evacuation were much smaller than the areas that were significantly affected, you could still see signs, even four years later of how the radiation have infected the land and threatened populations.  Some areas the Japanese government says it will try to move people back to within the next few months, others a few years, other areas may take decades or centuries before they are "safe" for human habitation again. The earthquake also led to a huge tsunami which battered hundreds of miles of coast and destroyed the coastal areas of several cities and

Someone once told me that Nicaragua is a land of wounds. If Latin America is a land of open veins, Nicaragua is a land of wounding after wounding. Since becoming independent from Spain in the early 19th century, it has gone through regular periods of social upheaval and repression, generally with the United States playing some form of oppressor. In the 1850's a US mercenary and would be monarch William Walker took over the country and re-instituted slavery. Although the US government didn't necessarily fund and organize his private imperial venture, they recognized his facade of a government, as it would be one where they were certain it would follow their interests. Walker was expelled by a coalition of local Central American leaders who all detested the power that the United States and its economic and military emissaries tended to wield over their local affairs. As the United States saw Latin America as their sphere of influence, they closely monitored any potential inte

Published on Monday, July 2, 2012 by Common Dreams Some Outrageous Facts about Inequality by Paul Buchheit   Studying inequality in America reveals some facts that are truly hard to believe. Amidst all the absurdity a few stand out. 1. U.S. companies in total pay a smaller percentage of taxes than the lowest-income 20% of Americans. Total corporate profits for 2011 were $1.97 trillion. Corporations paid $181 billion in federal taxes (9%) and $40 billion in state taxes (2%), for a total tax burden of 11%. The poorest 20% of American citizens pay 17.4% in federal, state, and local taxes. 2. The high-profit, tax-avoiding tech industry was built on publicly-funded research. The technology sector has been more dependent on government research and development than any other industry. The U.S. government provided about half of the funding for basic research in technology and communications w

I haven't posted anything about it yet, but the war on the war on Christmas, that fantastical past time of people who have way too much time on their hands and are angry about things they aren't allowed to openly hate or discriminate against anymore (women, minorities, foreigners), has long since begun. Talking Points Memo put up a nice video that I've embedded above. This is such a pathetic thing it almost defies explanation. That people could devote so much time and energy into attacking the phrase "Happy Holidays" and constantly seek out any potential omission of the phrase "Merry Christmas." It is a cruel and sick joke that somehow this issue is taken seriously by people. The real way on Christmas should be about how greedy Christmas has become and how corporate it has become.The essence of Christmas shouldn't be in the browbeating of people to yell out "Merry Christmas" but rather in reflecting on things such as charity, family c

For more information on the Occupy Wall Street Protests, Common Dreams has special coverage . I've been meaning to write something about it for a while, but I've got so many writing projects going on, so I haven't been able to. I wanted to include here some articles for those who are interested in learning more about what it going on. Like most protests of a liberal or progressive nature, the media tends to judge them more harshly and fixate on the idea that they don't have a clear message and that the intent of what they are doing is sadly being lost in the confusion of their tactics. You can argue part of the treatment of the Occupy Wall Street protests is that they are actually occupying an area and not just appearing to protest and then going back to their lives. The Tea Party is of course different because they appear, invoke themselves as defenders of everything holy, good and sacred about the US, and then slink away to sleep in their beds made with sheets and