The message is clear

October 11, 2011 a world of progress, progressive living No comments

 

I’m in the first 9. Can you spot me?

The mainstream media have been saying our message isn’t clear. Well, I don’t know how to make it any clearer.

We want corrupt corporate influence out of our government.

Without the influence of Wall Street, we would have had strong financial reform already.

Without the influence of big banks, we would have gotten credit reform with teeth.

Without the influence of insurance, pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing companies, we would have gotten meaningful health care reform.

Without the influence of the military industrial complex we wouldn’t have wars and other overseas adventures going on.

We want our Democracy back.

The word “mob” is being used to describe what we’re doing, but we are not a mob.

We are nonviolent.

We are acting by consensus, and that’s very hard to do.  It takes painstaking detail and total agreement on each action. In Washington that first night, we spent an hour discussing whether people would sleep in Freedom Plaza, which is illegal, or on city sidewalks, which is legal. The decision came down to stay on the plaza.

Yesterday, after the October 2011 permit expired, the police told demonstrators they won’t interfere for four months.

There has been no violence at Freedom Plaza, although there was the Smithsonian incident where an editor for the American Standard infiltrated our march and shoved a security guard, leading to the pepper-spraying of dozens of marchers. Even after we were hit with pepper spray, several of us walked around calming protesters and reminding them that this is a nonviolent movement and that goes for verbal expression too.

The thing that makes us look muddled is that advovates for a dozen different issues finally have come together. My primary issue is health care; others are working for an end to our wars, an end to the use of unmanned drones, true finance reform, education, poverty, justice system reform, and end to the death penalty, a real living wage … So you’ll see any number of signs.

But we all want the same thing: to get corporations out of government and have it work for the people again.

What scares the 1 percent is that we, the 99 percent, have come together. We are one for economic, social and civil justice.

 

What they say vs. what I saw

October 9, 2011 a world of progress, progressive living No comments
Security guards pepper-sprayed protesters as we tried to enter the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum.

I was with the protesters at the Air & Space Museum today. We had marched there from Freedom Square, probably a mile or so, hundreds of us, chanting and waving. We got to the museum and I was pertty close to the front, perhaps 10 feet back, when I saw people in front of me start to fall down and others running away. My eyes, nose and throat started stinging, but my journalistic instincts kicked in and I ran toward the door with my camera.

I was close enough to the front to know there was no warning. No one asked us to move back in a voice loud enough to hear 10 feet away.
Someone might have pushed a guard although I didn’t see it. I did see guards knock over an older man who was carrying a camera. He was pushed with enough force to fall down and lose his glasses.
We had planned to go into the museum to the drone exhibit and have a “die-in,” meaning some of us would lie down under the exhibit. When we were told to move, only a few of us would remain (the ones willing to be arrested to bring more attention to the use of unmanned drones, which kill civilians).
The guards claimed at first that we were the ones who used chemicals first, but that wasn’t true. No one had any chemical spray of any kind. I heard no one tell us to move back; I only saw people in front of me dropping or running, covering their faces and coughing.
We did not perpetrate any violence. In fact, we all signed a pledge of nonviolence and several of us calmed frightened protesters who were cursing at the guards.
I think the guards themselves were frightened. I’m certain they haven’t had to deal with hundreds of protesters asking to come in.
The Smithsonian spokesperson told the media that we had sprayed first and that they closed the museum because there had been a bomb threat. The truth? They closed the museum because so much pepper spray had been used that you couldn’t get near the door without feeling it.
Hours later I can still taste it, although it no longer stings.
The crowd did NOT disperse, contrary to what the spokesperson said. We sat down and waited for word of the three people who had been detained. We talked to each other, sang, did some improv puppet theater and waited. Some chanted, “Whose museum?” “Our museum!”
When we heard the 19-year-old who had been detained had been taken to jail, a couple dozen of us walked the two miles to the jail and sat on the lawn outside, waiting for her release, which we were told would be within two hours.
When she came out, we decided to take the Metro back to Freedom Square rather than walk. Most of us were pretty tired.
As we waited in the train station, we sang again, and as the train approached, we chanted, “Whose train?” Our train!” The other passengers were supportive, waving, giving us the thumbs-up or peace sign. At our stop, we chanted, “Whose stop?” Our stop!” as the other passengers laughed.
We marched back to the plaza, chanting, “We are the 99 percent!” and arrived to a cheering crowd.
During all our marches, we have been met with enthusiastic support. I think the American people are frustrated with a government that ignores their needs and their wishes just to kiss the butt of corporate donors.
The three days here have felt like something really historic is happening. The crowd has grown each day and people are enthusiastic and positive.
I hate to head home tomorrow.
But I will hook up with the Asheville occupation once I get home. This is just the beginning.

Day One of the Occupation of Freedoom Square

October 7, 2011 a world of progress, progressive living No comments

The Raging Grannies opened the day's events.

I had the best of intentions. I was going to come back after each day of the Occupation of Freedom Square and blog.

But we spent 12 hours in the sun, took the wrong train, came back, finally arriving back in the room at 11 p.m. After I finished uploading my photos and finished sharing my excitement with my tripmates, I was done in.

As soon as I got to Freedom Plaza, I knew I was involved in something historic. Yes, the feeling was there when I stood with Occupy Asheville, but that was 150 people and this was 1,500 before noon.

And the crowd was peaceful and in great humor. People are angry, but there’s a sense that we’re finally doing something. We’re out in numbers large enough to be noticed. When we marched to the US Chamber of Commerce, we were 2,000 or more strong, and when we stood outside chanting, “Where are the jobs!?” you could hear us for blocks.

As we walked back to Freedom Plaza, we chanted, “Tell me what Democracy looks like.” “This is what Democrascy looks like!” Drivers honked their horns and gave us the thumbs up; pedestrians waved, took photos and flashed the Peace sign.

I did see one older, well-dressed man scowling and shaking his head. I figure he’s a banker.

I’m on my way back to the square now for Day 2.

The revolution will be tweeted

October 4, 2011 a world of progress, progressive living No comments
At the kickoff of Occupy Wall Street Asheville. The event started with a memorial to Troy Davis, who was executed in Georgia despite doubts about the fairness of his trial.

I’m heading up to Washington tomorrow with a couple of friends and I plan to stay for the first four days of the October 2011 Movement’s occupation of Freedom Square. When I get back, I’ll hook up with the Asheville crowd.

I’ve said for years that we need to take to the streets, and now, finally, we’re doing just that. We’re telling the 1 percent that we, the 99 percent, aren’t going to roll over and allow ourselves to be abused any longer.

The beauty of this movement is that it’s nonviolent — at least on our part.

The Right has been saying we have no cohesive message, but we do. The problem is, our message won’t fit onto a bumper sticker because there are so many things wrong now.

For years, those in power have managed to keep people apart by attacking different parts of society: education, health care, wages, the social safety net and more. They have risked our national well being with dangerous and illegal wars and other adventures.

But we who want reform are finding ways to work together now, and we have coalesced into one huge group. We have united and we are working together.

At first they tried to ignore us with a virtual media blackout. A friend of mine who works for a newspaper has told me no stories moved from The Associated Press for the first two weeks except for a couple of short briefs.

The New York Times changed an online photo caption after 700 protesters were herded onto the Brooklyn Bridge by police and then arrested for blocking traffic. The first caption told the truth; 20 minutes later, the caption said only that 700 protesters were arrested for blocking traffic.

The media are owned by huge corporations and they have a stake in the failure of this movement. Fortunately, we have social media. There have been attempts to stop tweets and Facebook posts, but enough of us are getting through.

I will tweet from Freedom Square and I will blog from a hotel in the evenings, unless I get arrested, which is entirely possible.

Corporate personhood must be abolished, Wall Street must answer for its crimes and we the people must re-take the reins of government.

 

Numbers don’t lie

September 15, 2011 a world of progress, progressive living No comments

One of the things Republicans like to say when they argue that we can’t afford health care for everyone is, “Numbers don’t lie.”

Well, here’s a number for you: Official estimates by the US Census Bureau say that 49.9 million Americans now are uninsured, an incerase of about a million people from a year ago.

Statistics say that translates to about 5,000 more premature deaths every year, bringing the likely total to about 50,000 Americans.

“That’s one plane crash every day,” says Dr. Margaret Flowers of Physicians for a National Health Plan. “It’s the equivelent of another 9/11 every month.”

Most people are unaware of these numbers because they rely on the corporate media for information, Flowers says, and I agree with her. Instead of getting the truth, we get distractions and misrepresentations leading most Americans to believe we can’t afford health care for everyone.

For example, in Monday’s debate, Wolf Blitzer’s “hypothetical” man chose not to pay $200 a month for insurance. I don’t know anyone whose insurance costs are that low unless they have huge deductibles — $10,000 and more — and co-pays. Almost two-thirds of Americans don’t even have $1,000 to lay out for an emergency at any given time, so I don’t imagine our “hypothetical” man is being cavalier in making his decision.

“The number of young people who can afford insurance and choose not to get it is very, very small,” Flowers said. “If you have these huge deductibles and co-pays, you’re going to go bankrupt if you get sick. So of you’re going to go bankrupt anyway, why shell out hundreds of dollars every month to a big corporation?”

So, Wolf Blitzer’s example is misleading to begin with, although you won’t get that information on CNN.

The money we’re spending on wars and the money we’re not taking in from the wealthiest Americans and corporations would more than pay for Medicare for every American. Instead, we tell people we can’t afford it and 50,000 people die every year — one every 11 minutes.

“It seems to me that’s morally reprehensible,” Flowers said.

So, here are a few of the true numbers you probably don’t know:

  • TheCensus Bureau says 55.3 percent of Americans were covered by employment-based plans in 2010, down from 56.1 percent in 2009. It was the eleventh consecutive year of decline, from 64.2 percent in 2000.
  • In Massachusetts, whose 2006 health reform is supposed to be the model for the Affordable Care Act, 370,000 people were uninsured in 2010, representing 5.6 percent of the population, a jump from 4.3 percent who were uninsured in 2009.
  • Some states saw more than a 3-percentage-point to 5-percentage-point increase in their uninsured rate (Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana and South Carolina). In terms of absolute numbers, Louisiana had the largest increase in the number of uninsured, 240,700, followed by New York (177,700) and South Carolina (173,300).
  • Among various population groups, the greatest loss of coverage was among working-age adults ages 35 to 64, people with incomes below $49,999, and people with disabilities.
  • Latinos continue to  face uninsurance disproportionately (30.7 percent), compared with blacks (20.8 percent), Asians (18.1 percent) and non-Latino whites (11.7 percent).
  • About 7.3 million children remain uninsured. Young people ages 19 to 25 had a drop of 1.6 percentage points in their uninsurance rate, a figure likely linked to the federal health law’s provision that allows dependent children to be covered under a parent’s health plan up to age 26.

I suggest you print this out and show it around. It’s what corporate America doesn’t want people to know.

The ‘hypothetical’ young man

September 14, 2011 a world of progress, progressive living No comments

My very un-hypothetical son, Mike, who died because he didn't have insurance.

I didn’t watch the GOP debate, but before I went to bed Monday night, I checked the headlines.

There it was: video of people cheering, “Yeah!” at the prospect of letting a “hypothetical” young man die rather than care for him. No one, not the candidates, not the moderator, not anyone in the audience reprimands them.

There is nothing hypothetical about it. About 45,000 people die every year — one every 12 minutes — because they don’t have insurance. The vast majority of them do not CHOOSE to be uninsured; they either can’t afford the premiums, or like my son, the insurance companies won’t sell to them.

My son had a birth defect, which is a pre-existing condition. It left him vulnerable to cancer, so he needed colonoscopies every year. He couldn’t get them, though, because he didn’t have insurance and he didn’t have the money to pay cash-up-front for them.

So, here is how it went for my not-hypothetical 30-year-old son:

First, he gets stomach pains. Eventually, they get bad enough so he decides to go into debt to see a doctor, who informs him he can’t have the medical tests he needs because he’s uninsured and he can’t pay the full cost, in cash, up front. The doctor writes in his medical record, “Patient needs a colonoscopy but can’t afford it,” and bills the patient for the appointment.

A week or so later, the patient goes to the Emergency Room, where he’s told it’s persistent gastroenteritis. Still no colonoscopy. The patient is unable to move his bowels and wonders why it would be diagnosed as gastroenteritis. He is billed for the ER visit.

A little more time goes by and the patient is still suffering, so he goes back to the ER.  This time the doctor says he has an ulcer and gives him an antibiotic. He is billed for the ER visit and the medicine.

Still a few more days and by now the patient has lost 30 pounds and is still in pain, still unable to move his bowels. His family is frantic with worry, but no one has enough money to pay cash up front for the colonoscopy. He goes back to the ER and is told he probably has diverticulitis. He is given a strong laxitive and sent home. He is billed for the ER visit and the medication.

The next week, the original doctor agrees to do a colonoscopy and bill the patient, who will be allowed to pay over several months. The patient is sent home without hearing any results. What he doesn’t know is that the doctor didn’t even finish the procedure because the colon was completely blocked. He never told the patient.

Three weeks later, the patient is down to 112 pounds. He is 6 feet tall. He is vomiting fecal matter and his kidneys are shut down. He is hours from death. The doctor realizes he probably could get in trouble for neglecting the patient so badly, so the patient is admitted to the hospital, where it takes five days to stabilize him.

By now, the patient’s cancer is Stage 3. It has spread. A charity pays the hospital, the doctors and the pharmaceutical company for chemo and radiation, so he at least gets treatment.

But six months later, the patient again is in pain and vomits up everything he eats.

This time, the doctors take a wait-and-see attitude, even though they know the radiation has caused another blockage. The patient drops to 104 pounds and family members threaten to take the story to the media as his doctors refuse to feed him intreavenously. They finally agree to feed him and a few days later, he is wheeled into surgery again.

The pathology lab finds “a few viable cells,” and the patient is told he will die. The doctors don’t bother to come talk to him about further treatment, even though he is on the oncology floor for another week. They don’t bother to treat a life-threatening infection in his incision.

The family searches and finds a doctor who will consult with the patient for about $400; as soon as he sees the patient, he knows he has to adopt him to give him any possibility of even short-term survival.

There’s more chemo — the patient has to leave his wife so the giant pharmaceuticals will get paid for his meds through Medicaid. The patient has no income because he has yet to be approved for disability, as though someone with his medical records might be scamming the system.

His family and friends gather round to support him, both financially and emotionally, but he was neglected too long, and he dies on April 1, 2009. His first disability check comes nine days later.

The doctors got paid by the charity; the pharmaceutical companies made hundreds of thousands of dollars from his chemotherapy. But the patient spent three years in horrible pain and in abject poverty. He was treated as though he wasn’t worth saving until he was adopted by a doctor with a heart, although by then it was too late.

His family still grieves, and always will. His friends still tell stories about his amazing courage, his gigantic heart and his decidedly off-kilter sense of humor.

He was not a bum; he was never lazy.

He was my son, and he didn’t deserve to be left to die.

For those whe cheer the thought of his death, I just want you to know I would never wish the same thing on you or anyone you love.

Sons-a-bitches!

September 6, 2011 a world of progress, progressive living No comments

So James Hoffa used the phrase “sons-a-bitches” in a speech to workers on Labor Day.

Big deal. Former Vice President Dick Cheney used the F-bomb on the Senate floor and the right never uttered a complaint. Bush was pictured flipping the bird to press photographers. Not a word. In fact, Most Americans never saw the photo.

But now the right is complaining Hoffa was vulgar and inciting people to violence.

Of course, if you heard the whole sentence, which most Americans have not, you know he’s talking about voting the sons-a-bitches out, not killing them.

Of course, Sarah Palin’s little targets on her web site weren’t there to signify a call to violence, nor were the words “lock and load.” The people who showed up at political rallies toting guns weren’t meant to threaten anyone.

But if the words or actions come from someone who’s worker-friendly, that’s different.

Thing is, if you celebrate Labor Day, you can thank the unions and the people who died to establish worker rights.

Before unions, companies owned entire towns. People were paid in company scrip — not money — which was redeemable only at the company store. Goods were expensive enough so that no one could afford what they needed, so workers were always in debt to the store, and to the company, which meant they couldn’t just quit; they had to keep working for the company until their debt was paid off.

Children as young as 5 or 6 went to work. Corporate people loved them because their little hands could fit into the machinery to untangle fabric or threads and get the machinery working again, and if they lost a finger or a hand in the process, there were always more little hands.

My grandparents both worked in textile mills in New England when they were children. My grandmother left school in the second grade to work in the mills. She taught herself to read and write and later taught my grandfather.

But workers toiled 12 to 16 hours, every day. There were no vacations or paid sick day, coffee breaks or retirement. There was no minimum wage, no Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security. There was no Workers’ Compensation Insurance or Unemployment. There were few, if any, safety rules. Human beings were expendable.

Corporate thugs did all they could to keep the workers down, including beating them up and killing them if they tried to form unions or otherwise make working conditions better.

Those are the days big corporations, and the politicians they own, want to take us back to. You bet we want those sons-a-bitches out of government.

 

Maybe this is punishment …

August 27, 2011 a world of progress, progressive living No comments

Irene as it approached the US.

A Pagan friend of mine suggested that perhaps the earthquake was meant to shake up and dislodge some of our old and misguided ways and Irene is meant to wash them away so we can start anew.

My husband joked that perhaps God is punishing us for being so conservative.

You can be certain that eomeone will say in all earnestness that God is punishing us for being open to allowing gays and lesbians to marry, but I like to twist that up a bit. If the devastation is punishment, maybe it’s because of our mean-spiritedness toward people who need help: the elderly, people who are poor or have disabilities, children, the working class, people who can’t get health care without help.

Instead of asking the wealthy and huge, multi-national corporations to pony up and pay their share, we villify the poor and middle class and because the corporate media control information, many of us believe we  are  to blame for the country’s financial troubles. We believe people who are out of work and collecting unemployment are lazy, and that teachers make too much money and we can’t afford to give everyone access to quality health care. We believe the wealthy are “job creators,” even though they’re sitting on more money than at any time in our history, and they’re looking for ways to amass even more at the expense of the poor and middle class.

Most of us feel powerless in the face of all this abuse — the abnsed often do feel that way, like there’s no way out.

Of course, I don’t believe in a god who throws thinderbolts around, but I do believe a little bit in what the Bea Arthur TV characrter, Maude, used to say: “God’ll get you for that.” You reap what you sow, in other words. In some way, your mean-spiritedness will come back and bite you in the ass. I don’t need revenge; I just need to believe that somehow, some way, there will be asses chewed.

Call it God, Karma or the Way of the Universe, your ass will get bitten, Koch brothers, John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, et al. Stay safe through the hurricane because We the Paople are coming in October and we’re staying until you’re willing to listen.

Fighting for restoration of the American Dream

August 15, 2011 a world of progress, progressive living No comments

I had the great pleasure of meeting Dr. Margaret Flowers during Sunday’s AWOP Radio show. Dr. Flowers is a pediatrician from Maryland who has pretty much left the practice of medicine to advocate for health care for all through Physicians for a National Health Plan.

Recently, she has expanded her advocacy to include ending the war in Afghanistan, supporting a living wage for all workers, stopping the attacks on unions, fully funding education, making corporations and the nation’s wealthiest indivuduals pay their fair share in taxes and developing clean energy sources.

Of course, all these issues are connected, and they’re all about social justice.

We in America haven’t seen such a huge divide between the rich and the rest of us since the Gilded Age of the Industrial Revolution. Unless we take action, that’s where we’re going.

Dr. Flowers has a new effort, The October 2011 Movement (www.october2011.org), which will sponsor an occupation of Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC, starting on Oct. 6, the 11th anniversary of the US invasion of Afghanistan. This isn’t just about health care, which is where she stared; this is about all the places we Americans have lost ground to the huge corporations that effectively rule our nation now.

I’ve called it the We the People effort. That’s because it’s our country, and it’s time to take it back.

This won’t be easy because the corporations and their lobbyists own the media, so we have to work harder to get the truth out there. You won’t see anything about October 2011 in the media; it probably won’t get a lot of coverage as it begins.

But if We the People can muster the courage to speak up and not go away until our stories are heard, we can make a difference.

Margaret Flowers is organizing the effort, but we all have to support it. There will be local efforts in addition to the Washington event. As progressives, we all need to be involved. Go to www.october2011.org and find out what you can do to take back our country.

I joined October 2011 because health care is my passion, but it is only part of the whole. We need to unite to work together for the betterment of our country. Together, we will be heard.

The cuts were a choice

August 11, 2011 a world of progress, progressive living No comments

At the state and federal level, programs that help the poor, the sick and the elderly are being slashed, as is education, which was supposed to put all people on a level playing field. Of course, that hasn’t been the case, as schools in wealthy towns were able to fund their schools better.

But now everyone is affected as class sizes increase and teacher aides, custodians and administrators are laid off. Money for new buildings and upkeep of older buildings is disappearing, and it will be all of us who suffer as children don’t get the education they need.

Education has been under attack for 30 years as legislatures have cut spending and standardized testing has increased. Teachers have little or no time to be creative or to help students develop critical thinking skills. And people with a lack of critical thinking skills are much easier to convince they should vote against their own best interests.

Too many Americans really think we can’t pay for education, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. I call it the politics of scarcity, and it’s wrong.

We are not broke.

Legislators in Raliegh, in other state capitols and in Washington have chosen to make these cuts. They have slashed taxes on the people who can most afford to pay. They call them the “job creators,” but there are no jobs. US corporations are sitting on a nearly $2 trillion surplus that they’re not investing back into the economy.

Legilsators can choose to raise taxes on the wealthy and leave the social safety net in place. Instead they have chosen to cut taxes and let the nation’s most vulnerable drop through what’s left of the net.

This was a choice. It was not the choice most Americans wanted. The majority of people in the United States don’t want Medicaid, Medicare or Social Security touched; they don’t want our children’s education compromised by injudicious cuts.

But our legislators have chosen to ignore the will of the people.

Don’t forget this come election time.

After all, we have a choice, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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