This Thanksgiving, No Place for Refugees at the American Table
Posted on Nov 18, 2015 By Amy Goodman and Denis Moynihan
In the wake of the horrific attacks in Paris on Nov. 13, there has been a crushing backlash against refugees from the wars in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. As Americans prepare for one of the most popular national holidays, Thanksgiving, which commemorates the support and nourishment provided by the indigenous people to English refugees seeking a better life free from religious persecution, a wave of xenophobia is sweeping the country.
In the U.S. Congress, no less than six separate bills have been put forward to block any federal funding to resettle refugees from Syria or Iraq and to empower states to deny entry into their “territory.”
Imagine if all of a sudden we had 50 “statelets” creating their own border checkpoints, stopping all travelers, looking for anyone suspicious, i.e., any and all Syrians.
So far, 31 state governors have essentially demanded this.
Republican Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback issued an executive order forbidding any agency of state government from cooperating in any way with Syrian refugee support efforts. House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have called for a pause in the Syrian refugee program, with the support of Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer.
(all so called Chrstians)
It has been almost 400 years since that first, fateful Thanksgiving feast in Massachusetts.
Xenophobic policies like those threatening to shut out refugees from these wars, if allowed to stand, should serve as a shameful centerpiece at every Thanksgiving table this year.
Corporate welfare is a term that analogizes corporate subsidies to welfare payments for the poor.
The term is often used to describe a government’s bestowal of money grants, tax breaks, or other special favorable treatment on corporations or selected corporations, and implies that corporations are much less needy of such treatment than the poor.
The term is used interchangeably with crony capitalism; to the extent that there is a difference, the corporate welfare might be restricted only to direct government subsidies of major corporations, excluding tax loopholes and all manner of regulatory and trade decisions, which in practice could be much larger than any direct subsidies.
The term, “Corporate Welfare“, was reportedly invented in 1956 by Ralph Nader; conservatives like Grover Norquist prefer “Crony capitalism“.
Supreme Court’s landmark ruling legalizes gay marriage nationwide
How each Supreme Court justice came down on same-sex marriage
In the 5-4 ruling, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority with the four liberal justices. Each of the four conservative justices wrote their own dissent.
Nearly 46 years to the day after a riot at New York’s Stonewall Inn ushered in the modern gay rights movement, the decision could settle one of the major civil rights fights of this era. The language of Kennedy’s opinion spoke eloquently of the most fundamental values of family, love and liberty.
“No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice and family,” Kennedy wrote. “In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than they once were.”
“IOTD” is image of the day, a concept I came up with. I teach visual meditative therapy – or in easy terms – a mini mental holiday. For some people it is very difficult for them to get their image right. I post an image a day for people to use in their mini mental vacay. Some are serious, some are silly, and some are just beautiful!”’
13 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE CRISIS IN PUERTO RICO
Any Latino on social media knows one thing:
There’s a crisis in Puerto Rico.
Headlines about the island’s almost decade-long recession, credit rating cuts and its residents’ mass migration into the U.S. mainland, fill Facebook newsfeeds, Tumblr dashboards and Twitter timelines alike.
It can be difficult to keep up, especially when this news involves complicated issues like taxes and investments. To help keep you in the loop, here’s 13 things on the critical matters happening right now on that tropical island just 1,150 miles from Florida’s waters.
FACTS
1. Puerto Rico is struggling to emerge from its recession. While the rest of the U.S. is experiencing economic growth, La Isla del Encanto has not been able to draw itself out of a 9-year recession. The U.S. territory has a 15.4 percent unemployment rate, with per capita income around $15,200 (that’s half of Mississippi’s, the poorest state in the U.S.).
2. This harsh economy is pushing thousands off of the island every year. Puerto Rico is experiencing the largest migration wave since the 1950’s. Rampant crime and a dwindling economy have pushed so many people out of the island that, for the first time in history, there are more Puerto Ricans living in the U.S. mainland than there are on the island.
3. Economists fear that this mass migration leaves little hope for the island’s economic recovery. Orlando Sotomayor, an economist at the University of Puerto Rico, told the New York Times that “the phenomenon is highly uncommon and underscores the lack of hope that the ship can or will be righted.”
4. The Caribbean island is more than $72 billion in debt. To put that in perspective, this is the U.S.’ third-largest municipal debtor, behind California’s and New York’s, though the island is both significantly smaller and poorer than both states.
5. Another major difference: Puerto Rico, unlike U.S. cities, cannot file for bankruptcy. To restructure debts, Puerto Rico must negotiate with investors.
6. Standard & Poor’s, a U.S. financial services company, slashed Puerto Rico’s rating to B, a non-investment grade. This has essentially frozen Puerto Rico out of the bond market. Over the last few years, investment companies like AllianceBernstein have sold their Puerto Rico holdings, with others hesitant to invest without a signpost of increased revenue.
7. The recent passing of a sales-tax bill can be that sign. Unfortunately, while the 4.5 percent hike in sales tax is expected to bring in $1.2 billion in new revenue, and generate more investments for the island, it’s bad news for the people of Puerto Rico, especially the poor, who will now have to pay a whopping 11.5 percent sales tax.
8. In an effort to pay the island’s utility investors, Puerto Rico is negotiating a restructuring of its public power company. The plan, which is likely to be approved by the end of the month, would definitely increase the electric rate for the island’s residents. Critics of the overhaul, like Puerto Rico’s delegate to Congress, Pedro Pierluisi, believe the increase “will not benefit anyone.”
9. Puerto Rico’s Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla also planned to implement a $166 million cut to public university budgets, but the decision was later reversed after thousands of Puerto Rican students protested the proposal. Go, millennials!
10. However, there still remains a healthcare crisis on the island. The Center for Medicaid and Medicare services will soon execute an 11 percent cut in Medicare Advantage reimbursements, which will cost Puerto Rico’s health-care system nearly $500 million. About 60 percent of the island’s population relies on Medicare, Medicare Advantage or Medicaid to pay for their health care. Last month, the Washington Post reported that doctors practicing in Puerto Rico are forced to get by with much smaller Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates than those received by others on the continental U.S.
11. Puerto Rico’s recession has also injured the island’s housing market. According to Fox News Latino, call for sales are expected to be just 15 percent of what they were a decade ago. President of the Puerto Rico Home Builders Association (ACH), Roberto Trapaga, said “when the time comes to buy a house, people don’t have the money,” adding that banks, which have also been hit by the crisis, have tightened the requirement to obtain a mortgage loan.
12. Whether Puerto Ricans own a home or not, water-rationing measures in San Juan have left thousands of islanders without water. The measures, imposed because of an ongoing drought that has lowered Puerto Rico’s main reservoirs, have limited access to water to just every other day for more than 160,000 people living in and near the capital.
13. Good news (kinda): Puerto Rico’s tax hikes and budget cuts are expected to assuage the island’s economic woes. Writing for NPR, economic reporter Greg Allen reminds us that both New York City and Washington, D.C. saw similar fiscal problems and eventually found stability. Unfortunately, fiscal recovery for both cities also brought along with it the process of gentrification, which has displaced much of the areas’ impoverished communities of color, a fate we are already seeing in Puerto Rican barrios like Santurce.
“As it appears in …. full and total credit of information and main graphic”
~Puerto Rico’s Financial Crisis: Is The Island The New Greece?~
~Published on Mar 12, 2014~
The island is in dire financial conditions and it is thousands of U.S. mom-and-pop investors that might lose a big part of their savings if the small territory goes bankrupt.
Kate Middleton has released a set of four photographs taken by her of Prince George holding his baby sister, Charlotte, via social media.
“There was a very warm public response when Princess Charlotte was born, which was very much appreciated by the Duke and Duchess,” The Telegraph quoted a royal source as saying,
“And so they wanted to share these photographs with the public.”
In a dramatic shift to the way previous royal pictures have been distributed to the public, the images were released through Kensington Palace’s official Twitter and Instagram accounts at 9 p.m. last night, along with a series of informal — but no doubt carefully crafted — messages.
In the photographs, Prince George is wearing the same adorably old-fashioned long socks and white shirt look that he sported when he went to the hospital to meet his sister after she was born.
Charlotte is wearing a white romper suit with a knitted sweater.
The pictures were taken in May at Anmer Hall, the Norfolk house on the Queen’s country estate that William and Kate now call home.
Being gay IS in your genes, say scientists in controversial new DNA study
Being gay could be in the DNA
Scientists have found two stretches of DNA linked to homosexuality in men.
The confirmation of the existence of a ‘gay gene’ or genes will strengthen arguments that homosexuality is a matter of biology, rather than choice.
It is not known which of the many genes they contain are key or how they affect the development of sexual orientation.
However, the result, revealed at a science event in Chicago, backs up a contentious 1993 study.
That research, the first to find evidence of a ‘gay gene’, created a storm of controversy, which was further fueled when other scientists failed to find a genetic link.
Dr Michael Bailey from Northwestern University in Illinois, who contributed to the latest study, said it is the biggest of its kind.
He added: ‘Sexual orientation has nothing to do with choice. Our findings suggest there may be genes at play – we found evidence for two sets that affect whether a man is gay or straight.
‘Although this could one day lead to a pre-natal test for male sexual orientation, it would not be very accurate, as there are other factors that can influence the outcome.’
Big Step Forward: Puerto Rico will no longer defend marriage discrimination
By Lily Hiott-Millis
Mar 20, 2015
The Puerto Rican government announced that it would no longer defend the territory’s ban on marriage between same-sex couples. The announcement was made today at a press conference given by Puerto Rico’s Secretary of Justice, César Miranda.
The announcement was in reference to the case Conde Vidal v. Rius Armendariz, which was filed by a same-sex couple seeking respect for their marriage in Puerto Rico. The couple married in Massachusetts in 2004, but their marriage is not respected in Puerto Rico. On October 21, U.S. District Court Judge Juan Perez-Gimenez broke from the nearly 50 judges in states across the country who have ruled in favor of the freedom to marry this year by dismissing this case. The case is now before the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Puerto Rican government’s announcement further indicates the growing support for the freedom to marry across the country, and the necessity for a national resolution from the United States Supreme Court this summer that brings the freedom to marry to the country as a whole.
“IOTD” is image of the day, a concept I came up with. I teach visual meditative therapy – or in easy terms – a mini mental holiday. For some people it is very difficult for them to get their image right. I post an image a day for people to use in their mini mental vacay. Some are serious, some are silly, and some are just beautiful!”’
I found a video on my Facebook feed this morning. It’s a video made by this company: Brave New Films.
Brave New Films is a new media company based in Culver City, California. The brainchild of filmmaker Robert Greenwald, BNF produces progressive feature-length documentaries and investigative videos “to educate, influence and empower viewers to take action around issues that matter.”
I think it’s very interesting and points out a very important issue: the state of perpetual war that the country has been in for innumerable years. I only wished that the main person addressed had been some other than President Obama but it so happens that he’s the current Commander in Chief so the “ball is in his court” now.
The message could be directed to any leader of a major power.
“Since 1980, we have militarily intervened at least 35 times in more than 27 countries. We keep bombing, we continue spending trillions of dollars, but we’re no safer as a result.”
~~GALLERY~~
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~How Perpetual War Fuels Terrorism~
~Published on Sep 18, 2014~
Because perpetual war fuels terrorism.
And yet, President Obama now has the same plan for Iraq and Syria.
We’ve tried arming “friendly” rebels before. We armed the Mujahideen in Afghanistan to fight the Soviets. They later became Al Qaeda and the Taliban, who not only attacked us, but terrorized their own people. We ramped up strikes in Yemen in 2009. Since then, the country has seen MORE terrorist attacks, not fewer.
When we only respond with military force today, we create tomorrow’s enemy. The kid whose house was bombed by an American drone will grow up to hate America. Maybe one day he’ll fight against us.
Perpetual war does not make us safer.
Share this because President Obama needs to stop and think.
How does this end?
This are the responses on the Facebook post (caps and all):
BEING IN DENIAL IS TRULY BLIND …. So if America did not respond to the Japanese attack of WWll … that would have been the better recourse. So if America didn’t drop the atomic bomb on JAPAN to end the war would have been the better recourse. If Franklin Roosevelt were still alive to comment on current world standing what do you think he would say? How about the likes of Winston Churchill, what would his comments be. Europe almost got bombed back to the stone age by the Germans. The Japanese killed EVERYONE in the Pacific they came across. Do you think for ONE SECOND that using EXCESSIVE FORCE was not needed to WIN THE WAR on both fronts. ‘IF YOU DONT LEARN FROM HISTORY … HISTORY IS BOUND TO REPEAT ITSELF”.
IF THERE WASNT AN OVERLY FORCEFUL RESPONSE DELIVERED BY THE ALLIES DURING WWll WE WOULD ALL BE SPEAKING GERMAN OR JAPANESE RIGHT NOW ….
Unlike many candy-asses don’t think war is REAL nor can it come to your door step. I DO. All I have to do is sit back and hear my MOM talk about the horrors of the Vietnam War. THATS WERE I’M FROM. I HAVE REMEBERED ALL MY MOM’S STORIES SINCE I WAS LITTLE. I don’t have read about it in a book or live in some sorta bubble SUCH AS YOU. Our family seen the atrocities first hand. Suicide bombings of GIs in Siagon … complete villages murdered by the Viet Cong. Dead bodies liter the streets during the TET OFFENSIVE of 1968.
It Is What It Is 