Either Instead of or Along With Defunding Police, Let's Do These

Either instead of or along with defunding police, for a much better, stronger society, let's do the following, instead. I've been saying this for years.

Time to 'Reinvest in People' and 'Cut Weapons of War': Barbara Lee Unveils Plan to Cut Up to $350 Billion From Pentagon

We pay more out, year after year, than any other country, far and away, for what we call "defense." We buy bombs and weapons and have bases all over the world.

You'd think we were still fighting World War II.

And we just keep increasing how much we shell out for this "defense."

It's insane. It's not rational. It's certainly not moral nor necessary. It's not making us stronger, either, as a nation. This businessman said this correctly and it was 3 years ago.

Chinese billionaire Jack Ma says the US wasted trillions on warfare instead of investing in infrastructure

And keep this in perspective, too, before anyone says it would weaken us as a nation.

If we cut our defense budget in half---cut it IN HALF---we'd still, still outspend and overspend EVERY OTHER NATION IN THE WORLD.  Still.

Then, after that, how about we STOP INCARCERATING SO MANY AMERICANS.

Check this out.

United States Still Has Highest Incarceration Rate 

in the World

We incarcerate more people THAN ANY OTHER NATION.

Put that into perspective.

China has approximately 1.43 billion citizens.
India, 1.353 billion people.

We, the US?

We have a paltry 329 million people.

But we jail more fellow Americans than ANY OTHER NATION, to repeat.

How is this not insane?  It's completely, totally unnecessary. Again, obscene and immoral.

Here's a thought.

Instead of jailing so many people, how about we take that money and, oh, I don't know. INVEST IN THEIR SCHOOLS, instead?? Invest in health care? Invest in social programs?  Take care of our people instead of throwing them away?

Check out this one statistic:

America Spends Much More on Prisoners 

Than Students

The U.S. spends more on prisons and jails than it does on educating children – and 15 states spend at least $27,000 more per prisoner than they do per student, according to a new report. (link below)
And along with this incarceration is the fact that, since the end of the Civil War, we, the United States, have also disproportionately incarcerated FAR more African-Americans as a percentage of our population.

Black Americans incarcerated five times more 

than white

Let's stop this insanity. Let's stop this ugliness. Let's stop this waste and stupidity.

Let's do this, America. 

Let's invest in our people.

We'll be far stronger, all of us, because of it.

Nicholas Kristof Poses a Great Question---and Indicts Our Own Home State of Missouri and the Nation

Today's op/ed piece in the New York Times from Nicholas Kristof poses a great question.

What if There Were No George Floyd Video?

A great, even important question.

We wouldn't be trying to, at long, long last, heal these racist, racial wounds in the nation.  

George Floyd's death should never have taken place, of course.  At least we are finally, finally addressing these problems, these issues, this issue of race in America.

But by way of asking this question and addressing these issues, Mr. Kristof also makes a great and important point---and indicts our own state of Missouri, too. He states:

There is no video to show that a black boy born today in Washington, D.C., Missouri, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi or a number of other states has a shorter life expectancy than a boy born in Bangladesh or India.

Get that.

To repeat, a black boy born in these states, including our own home state of Missouri, has a shorter life span expectancy than that of a boy born in Bangladesh or India.

That is obscene.

It's also racism. It's one of the many results of racism in our nation.

We have got to do better.

And we've got to do better quickly. 

Now would be good.

Additional links:

Opinion | Nicholas Kristof: When Whites Just Don’t Get It

Aug. 30, 2014

Opinion | Nicholas Kristof: When Whites Just Don’t Get It, Part 2

Sept. 6, 2014

Opinion | Nicholas Kristof: When Whites Just Don’t Get It, Part 3

Oct. 11, 2014

Opinion | Nicholas Kristof: When Whites Just Don’t Get It, Part 4

Nov. 15, 2014

Opinion | Nicholas Kristof: When Whites Just Don’t Get It, Part 5

Nov. 29, 2014

Opinion | Nicholas Kristof: When Whites Just Don’t Get It, Part 6

April 2, 2016

Opinion | Nicholas Kristof: When Whites Just Don’t Get It, Part 7

Oct. 1, 2016

International Weather Headlines Today

By pure happenstance, I ran across all the following headlines today, not searching for them, on websites home news pages today.

Unusually heavy late monsoon season flooding kills scores

California city hit by series of weird weather events

Record September snowstorm drops 4 feet of snow on Montana

NASA finds Typhoon Mitag’s eye east of Taiwan

And finally, this.

Hurricane Lorenzo sinks Tugboat carrying 14 crew members; at least 1 found dead at sea, 3 rescued

All today. All in one day. And again, I wasn't searching for them. They weren't all together. They were just randomly out there.

Common thread there?

Maybe what scientists predicted with warmer global temperatures and oceans?

Maybe?

Links:

Global warming can make extreme weather worse

Extreme weather gets a boost from climate change

How the Weather Gets Weaponized in Climate Change

Climate Talks In Paris: The Story That's Not Being Covered

So, sure, there are climate change talks going on between 150 nations and it's widely agreed we all need to come to conclusions and goals but.....   in the meantime, there is a rather huge story going on that is extremely pertinent but that isn't being reported much, if at all, by American media. It is this:

Northern China is suffering under a cloud of heavy pollution that is bigger than Spain

As the Paris climate change summit kicks off, China, the world’s leading carbon-emitting country, is choked in pollution. The Ministry of Environmental Protection said Sunday (Nov. 29) (link in Chinese) that heavy smog had covered China’s north, including Beijing, for three days in a row. The haze had reached 530,000 square kilometers ( 204,634 square miles) by Nov. 28.

That is even bigger than the total area of Spain, or California.

The air quality index (AQI) for the fine particulate matter known as PM 2.5 had reached “very unhealthy” or “hazardous” levels in 23 cities in the combined Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area and surrounding regions on Nov. 28, the ministry said. At one time on Nov. 29, PM 2.5 in Beijing reached 429 micrograms per cubic meter, 17 times the recommended limit by the World Health Organization. The reading of Beijing’s AQI was still “hazardous” at 2pm Hong Kong time on Nov. 30, according toair quality monitors...

It goes on:

Pollution hit northern China earlier this month after coal-powered central heating kicked in. Beijing has issued an “orange” alert—the highest smog alert so far this year—and urged residents to stay indoor. Factories have to reduce production and construction sites and heavy vehicles are banned under the orange alert.

And then, if that isn't enough, if 23 cities across China having horrific pollution isn't enough to scare that nation into action and the rest of us as well, there's this from their next door neighbor:

Early morning fog delayed many trains in New Delhi.

Smog capitals: Alert in Beijing, business as usual in Delhi

NEW DELHI: As world leaders met in Paris on Monday to commit to a united fight against climate change, the capitals of India and China remained blanketed in heavy smog triggered by pollution. The difference was that Beijing sounded an alert for its citizens while in Delhi it was business as usual...

Authorities in Beijing have issued an 'orange' pollution alert, the second highest of four levels, wherein outdoor activities in schools and construction work is suspended and residents warned to stay indoors, agencies reported.

Delhi, meanwhile, witnessed one of its worst smog of the season, with visibility remaining less than 800 metres through Monday. PM 2.5 levels were in the 'severe' category in many parts of the city, with the most polluted spot, Anand Vihar, showing levels up to 530 mcg/cubic m between 2.30pm and 8pm.

Despite being labelled by WHO as the world's most polluted city, there's no protocol in Delhi for warning residents when pollution levels spike in the city. PM 2.5 levels at individual air monitoring stations have in the past few days crossed the 600 mark.

So while it's bad in China and across much of that nation, it's as bad or worse in India, in Delhi. And unlike China, the Indian government doesn't even do anything about it. There are, as the article states, no warnings to the citizens of just how bad the pollution is or what it could mean for the people's health.

With this, it seems a few conclusions absolutely have to be arrived at.

The first is that, yes, we absolutely have to do things about global warming but that we rather have to "go back" to the 60's or 70's American problem, so to speak, about the pollution in these 2 countries. The governments and people of those 2 nations have got to work on these currently life-threatening problems. With India being so desperately poor and trying to industrialize, this will be extremely difficult, without doubt.

The second thing that needs to be pointed out is that we, here in the US, need to lose, once and for all, the silly, irresponsible idea that we don't need the Environmental Protection Agency or that it should be weak.

These 2 countries situations, let alone our own history, should prove that we certainly, absolutely, unquestionably need to commit to clean air, water and soil and that any person or group of people---like the Republicans or Right Wing---who say otherwise are being absurdly, irresponsibly short-sighted and foolish.

Finally, we need, as a nation, as a world, to commit to and accept the idea that we must work, all of us, together, to keep that same air, water and soil clean and that we must accept global warming as described and defined and accepted by the scientists as fact for us all. Then we must work, all of us, the world over, to decrease the ways in which we add to these problems and this issue.

It will not be easy.

Links: China and India Cities Have Worst Air Pollution in the World

Cities in India Among the Most Polluted, W.H.O. Says

Top 20 most polluted cities in the world

x

Beijing Leaders Talk Climate in Paris While Residents Sit in Record Smog

Mind your carbon footprints, give us space to grow: PM Modi to rich nations 

The Latest: Obama says India can cut emissions and poverty

A Question for America

A question for Americans.

America? Number one?

And lest anyone doubt, check out that source.

Your religion? Geographic

Aren't you special?  (click on picture for easier reading)

The American Empire

America:  The World's Warmonger

The rest of the world sees this shutdown--and the Republicans--for what it is and they are

(click on picture for easier reading)

 

We need to stop the stupidity, at least, if not the insanity.

 

 

Contact your member of Congress: 

 

Contacting the Congress: A Citizen's Congressional Directory

 

Please.

 

 

Quote of the day--on the nation, the economy, the world economy the corporatization of the world and what it means for us

The economy, if you hadn't noticed, is slowing -- and not just in the U.S. China and India, two of the world's major economic engines in recent years, are slowing dramatically. Other emerging markets are in trouble. Some blame property bubbles and corruption in China and India; others blame the impending end of the Fed's easy money; others think the trouble started with austerity in Europe; others blame global finance, still prone to speculative excesses; others, point to the quagmire of the Middle East.

But I want to suggest a more basic problem: 

Inadequate global demand for all the goods and services the world economy is now capable of creating. 

A technological revolution has increased productivity while also displacing millions of workers in developed nations, whose jobs have disappeared or whose wages have stagnated and declined. 

Their incomes are dropping. (The median household income in the U.S. is now 4.4 percent below what it was at the start of the so-called recovery.) 

Meanwhile, inequality is widening all over the world, as global elites amass fortunes but poor populations continue to grow. (The much-vaunted global middle class hasn't turned out to be as large or as important a source of demand as was predicted.) And governments are unwilling or unable to pick up the slack. 

The result: growing unemployment, especially among the young, tipsy stock and bond markets, and economic fragility. The United States -- the world's largest economy -- exemplifies all of this. If the fall brings a government shutdown and a too-abrupt end to the Fed's bond-buying, we're all in deep trouble.

--Robert Reich, American political economist, professor, author, and political commentator

Links:  Robert Reich

Robert Reich | Facebook

Robert Reich - Wikipedia

A thought

Buddha
Jesus
Mohammed
Ghandi
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
etc.

"Beware when the great God lets loose a thinker on this planet."

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

Remember this guy?

It seems Matt was born to wealthy parents or something as his life is now consumed with traveling the world for these videos.

The lucky duck.

The Right Wing: Dumbing down the American public

"Many Libertarians and Right-wingers like Santorum believe that the federal government should not be involved in education. Ron Paul has frequently stated that education is not a right.' In reality, 135 nations in the world require compulsory education, ranging from 5 years in Nepal to 13 years in Germany. Germany fully funds all years of education. Chile leads the world in providing for 15 years of free public education (ages 6-21), although all of those years are not compulsory. There is not a single developed nation in the world that does not provide public education to its people." --From the article "India joins list of 135 countries in making education a right." Link: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article365232.ece

I'm so old...

...I remember when it was still Calcutta. THAT old.

Is World War III being waged right now?

You know how they say people are usually always fighting the "last war" and that that's also why they usually lose? News out this morning tells of a "State actor seen behind 'enormous' wave of cyber attacks" BOSTON (Reuters) - Security experts have discovered the biggest series of cyber attacks to date, involving the infiltration of the networks of 72 organizations including the United Nations, governments and companies around the world. Security company McAfee, which uncovered the intrusions, said it believed there was one "state actor" behind the attacks but declined to name it, though one security expert who has been briefed on the hacking said the evidence points to China. The long list of victims in the five-year campaign include the governments of the United States, Taiwan, India, South Korea, Vietnam and Canada; the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN); the International Olympic Committee (IOC); the World Anti-Doping Agency; and an array of companies, from defense contractors to high-tech enterprises. The thing is, if we are in the midst of WWIII, we won't know until after someone's conquered. Sobering thought, no? Link: http://news.yahoo.com/biggest-ever-series-cyber-attacks-uncovered-u-n-040749882.html

More big stupidity in defense spending

This time the stupidity comes from Russia.  It seems they are increasing, greatly, the amount they're spending on defense and their military.  This out today:

With Russia's $650 billion rearmament plan, the bear sharpens its teeth

By Fred Weir – Mon Feb 28, 4:22 pm ET

Moscow – The graying bear is getting a make-over. Russia's military is launching its biggest rearmament effort since Soviet times, including a $650 billion program to procure 1,000 new helicopters, 600 combat planes, 100 warships, and 8 nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines.

How sad.

How stupid.

How unfortunate.

It seems humankind will never learn.

The former Soviet Union spent itself into bankruptcy (like the US is doing now, frankly, but they were just ahead of us), instead of taking real care of its people and now this.  More weapons.  More guns.  More bombs.

And for what?  So they can fight WWII?

So they can keep the French at bay?

Check this out--what the top 10 countries spend in "defense spending" annually, around the world in billions of dollars according to the Christian Science Monitor as of June, 2010:

10.  Italy  35.8B
  9.  India  36.3B
  8.  Saudi Arabia  41.2B
  7.  Germany  45.6B
  6.  Japan  51B
  5.  Russia  53.3B
  4.  England  58.1B
  3.  France  63.9B
A big leap here--
  2.  China  100B
And then the biggest, stupidest leap in this spending of all--
  1.  US  $661B

And the total?

One trillion, One hundred forty six billion, two hundred million dollars on weapons, missiles, warplanes, warships and various bombs, just so we can be prepared to kill each other.

Imagine if each country spent this money, instead, on the well-being of their own people.

It would be a vastly different and far-improved world, to be sure.

I'm reminded of a few quotes:

"Man is the only kind of varmint sets his own trap, baits it, then steps in it."  --John Steinbeck, Sweet Thursday


"We are perverse creatures and never satisfied.   --Nan Fairbrother


"Men!  The only animal in the world to fear."  --D.H. Lawrence

Links:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20110228/wl_csm/366331
http://www.csmonitor.com/CSM-Photo-Galleries/Lists/World-s-top-10-military-spenders
http://www.quotegarden.com/human.html

Quote of the day--on war, peace, nations and nation-building

"...nothing enduring can be built on violence."  --Mahatma Ghandi.

Certainly not a nation. 

And not a nation's economy.

Further Obama-bashing has already begun and it needs to stop

The election is 3 days over and already the "Obama-bashing", in order to position for the 2012 election has begun.

From the news today, Mike Huckabee started saying on Fox "News" that the President's trip to India this week was going to cost $200 million per day.  Naturally, Michelle Bachmann repeated it, without either of them doing any research first, so the Drudge report and Glenn Beck spouted it, too.  (Not that Glenn Beck ever did any pesky "research", right?)

Truth be told, the claim came, from all places, from "an anonymous Indian government official."  


As it turns out, the story is absolutely false, no surprise.  At one point in the rumor, it was said that "the U.S. was stationing 34 warships—roughly 10 percent of the naval fleet--off the coast of Mumbai for security reasons."


Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell called the warship claim "absolutely absurd." "That's just comical," he said at Thursday's Pentagon news briefing.  "Nothing close to that is being done."


Additional verification of its silliness:  The nonpartisan FactCheck.org took up the issue, too, saying that even though the administration won't release a price tag, there is "simply no evidence to support" a claim of $200 million a day. One reason to doubt the report, according to the group:  The entire war in Afghanistan costs $190 million a day.


This brings up two points for me.  


The first is that the lies against this President should stop, along with the absurdity, ridiculousness and outlandishness of them.


But they won't stop.  Far from it.  If anything, because of the now-current 2012 election campaign that we'll all be exposed to ad nauseam/ad infinitum from here until that fateful November day, these kinds of things will only flourish.   Instead of all these people working for the betterment and improvement of the country, they will only continue to come up with this kind of nonsense--accusations, lies, attributions, etc.


Employment numbers came out today and they were positive.  Do you think the Republicans are going to celebrate that?  Heck no.  They're not going to be happy, clearly, if the country does well---and this President is re-elected.  Mitch McConnell made it clear when he said "The single-most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president."


The second thing this all brings up for me now, today, and for the next 2 years ties in with this and that is that everyone--everyone--in this country--Republicans, Tea Party members, Libertarians, Democrats, Independents, all--should be working together as Americans, first, last and always, to make this country and all our conditions better.


Sadly, nearly unbelievably, this isn't going to happen. 


Between now and November 2012, Republicans are going to do everything they can--and it better not include impeachment proceedings but they may try that again--to see to it that our economy and our legislative process, both, go against the President so they'll "win" and he'll fail.


And to do that goes against this country in a lot of ways.


It seems very nearly treasonous.


Link to original post:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20101105/el_yblog_upshot/citing-shady-numbers-republicans-take-aim-at-the-cost-of-obamas-trip-to-india/print
http://thinkprogress.org/2010/10/25/mcconnell-obama-one-term/

We can no longer afford the sick luxury that is war

The fact is, with global climate change and what it’s doing to the world—drought, forest fires and losing at least 20% of their food crops all in Russia alone, the floods that have ravaged the people, cities and towns of Pakistan, the 100 square mile ice sheet that just broke off Greenland this week, along with the shrinking of both polar ice caps and the glaciers all over the planet, I think the point needs to be made and considered that humankind can no longer afford war or war machinery and the senseless killing of each other any longer. It seems evident that we need to, instead, use the helicopters and war materiel to, instead, feed, clothe, house and nurse one another and build infrastructure—roads, bridges, highways, streets, power plants, hospitals, etc. If you look at conditions around the world ni various countries from Iraq to, again, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, China, etc., it’s clear too many corners of the world and peoples of the world are in desperate condition. Heck, even look here in the US at what we need—we have too many homeless, underfed, undernourished, in need of health care and so on. So, yeah, the time has come and the time is now. We need to accept that we can afford war no longer. We need to come to this collective conclusion and start working together aound the world. Too many of us are already dying and it will surely only get worse, the longer we put it off. Links to additional posts: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100816/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan_floods http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100816/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_russia_fires

Good on ya', Mr. President

News out today:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration on Thursday unveiled a new national security doctrine that would join diplomatic engagement and economic discipline with military power to bolster America's standing in the world.

In a formal break with the go-it-alone Bush era, President Barack Obama's strategy called for expanding partnerships beyond traditional U.S. allies to encompass rising powers like China and India in order to share the international burden, according to portions of the document obtained by Reuters.

Faced with a struggling economy and record deficits, the administration also acknowledged that boosting economic growth and getting the U.S. fiscal house in order must be top national security priorities.

"At the center of our efforts is a commitment to renew our economy, which serves as the wellspring of American power," the wide-ranging policy statement said.


As I said, good on ya', Mr. President. It's just what we need.

More:

Obama's first official declaration of national security goals, due to be released in full later on Thursday, pointedly omitted predecessor George W. Bush's policy of pre-emptive war that alienated some U.S. allies.

Good for him.

Laying out a vision for keeping America safe as it fights wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the document formalized Obama's intent to emphasize multilateral diplomacy over military might as he tries to reshape the world order.

Good for him--and us.

Obama, who took office faced with the worst financial crisis since the 1930s, took a clearer stand than any of his predecessors in drawing the link between America's economic health at home and its stature overseas.

For all the poo-pooing Republicans and Libertarians who think this guy is just a--to use a horrible and horribly overused cliche'--"tax and spend Liberal", you'll prove them wrong on this path.

The trouble is, the Republicans are apparently willing to do all they can to, as I wrote earlier, make certain this President is not successful--country be damned, almost literally--because they're scared as can be that, if Mr. Obama is successful, it could usher in another 40 years of Democratic Party power and control as was brought in when FDR maneuvered us through The Great Depression.

Keep in mind, he's also created a bipartisan committee to create proposals for cutting our spending and deficits, along with gunning for the equivalent of a watered-down "line-item veto", so he can do away with "earmarks" created in Congress that we may not truly need.

All in all, another good and important move by this President for the benefit of the country.

He's not perfect and let me be clear I no way think as much.

But he surely is on the right track.


Link to original post:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100527/pl_nm/us_security_obama
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100527/pl_nm/us_security_obama