This essay is part of an occasional feature on this blog that presents compelling stories from elsewhere in the world, particularly Africa, that are little reported in the American media. It's part of my campaign to get people to realize there is a lot going on in the world outside the US, IsraelStine and the Trumped Up Enemyhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif of the Month. A list of all pieces in this series can be found found here.
The public radio program Studio 360 has a piece on a fascinating documentary about the Kinshasa Symphony Orchestra, in the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital. It's a compelling story from a country more known for less pleasant things.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Wednesday, April 06, 2011
When 'Never Again' happened again
This essay is part of an occasional feature on this blog that presents compelling stories from elsewhere in the world, particularly Africa, that are little reported in the American media. It's part of my campaign to get people to realize there is a lot going on in the world outside the US, IsraelStine and the Trumped Up Enemy of the Month. A list of all pieces in this series can be found found here..
Today marks the 17th anniversary of the beginning of the Rwandan genocide during which at least 800,000 people were murdered. It was one of the world's worst atrocities of the century and certainly the worst to be covered during the age of cable news television. It occurred a year, almost to the week, after politicians and dignitaries in Washington solemnly promised 'Never again' while inaugurating the Holocaust Memorial Museum.
In 2004, I wrote a long series of essays on the occasion of the 10th anniversary which gave a lot of information and background about the genocide.
They are as follows (yes, I know the images do not work):
-Ten years later (an intro)
-Pre-genocide history
-How the genocide unfolded
-Myths and realities about the genocide (Part 1)
-Myths and realities about the genocide (Part 2)
-The genocide's orphans
-Hate media and their role in the genocide
-International law and American law on genocide
-Post-genocide justice
-The post-genocide government
-Lessons and conclusions
Today marks the 17th anniversary of the beginning of the Rwandan genocide during which at least 800,000 people were murdered. It was one of the world's worst atrocities of the century and certainly the worst to be covered during the age of cable news television. It occurred a year, almost to the week, after politicians and dignitaries in Washington solemnly promised 'Never again' while inaugurating the Holocaust Memorial Museum.
In 2004, I wrote a long series of essays on the occasion of the 10th anniversary which gave a lot of information and background about the genocide.
They are as follows (yes, I know the images do not work):
-Ten years later (an intro)
-Pre-genocide history
-How the genocide unfolded
-Myths and realities about the genocide (Part 1)
-Myths and realities about the genocide (Part 2)
-The genocide's orphans
-Hate media and their role in the genocide
-International law and American law on genocide
-Post-genocide justice
-The post-genocide government
-Lessons and conclusions
Tuesday, April 05, 2011
Frostie the Deadman
Here is a trailer for the young adult novel Frostie the Deadman by Zackary Richards. It's an excellent read.
'The Myth of the Useful Dictator'
Foreign Policy magazine has an excellent piece entitled 'The Myth of the Useful Dictator.'
It deconstructs the false choice that's underpinned US foreign policy for most of the last 100 years.
It deconstructs the false choice that's underpinned US foreign policy for most of the last 100 years.
Monday, April 04, 2011
The big lies behind Cuomo's budget and some truths
by the Green Party of Onondaga County
The Big Cuts and Concessions in [NY Gov. Andrew] Cuomo's Budget: Cuomo proposes to close a $10 billion deficit in a $133 billion budget with 10% across the board cuts, including school aid, $1.5 billion; Medicaid, $2.85 billion; mass transit, $200 million; SUNY and CUNY operating budgets and tuition assistance; and much more. He also calls for 10,000 layoffs, a pay freeze for state workers, and concessions on public workers' seniority, pension, and collective bargaining rights.
The Big Lies Behind Cuomo's Budget:
"We don't have the money. New York State spends too much."
The Facts: New York State government spending has grown at the same rate as New York's economy.
(Source)
"Big fat salaries and pensions for state workers are busting the state budget."
The Facts: The average NY state worker earns $40,000 a year. The average NY retired state worker has a pension of $14,000 a year. Wages and benefits for state workers are only 13% of the state budget. NYS has fewer state workers per capita than 44 other states.
(Source)
"The rich will leave the state if we tax them."
The Facts: The corporate-funded Partnership for New York City study that Cuomo and others cite just made up its data. A peer-reviewed study in National Tax Journal shows the rich don't leave for lower income taxes.
(Source and another source)
The Rich Are Getting Richer Because the Exploitation of the Working People Is Up
Productivity (what workers produce per hour) is up 86% since 1978. But average hourly wages are the same today as in 1974. The rich are taking all the gains. In New York State, the top 1% received 35% of all income in 2007, up from 10% in 1980.
(Source)
The Rich Pay Lower Tax Rates
The top 1% in New York (average income: $3.1 million) pay 7.2% in state and local taxes.
The bottom 99% pay between 9.6% and 10.8% in state and local taxes.
(Source)
Extending the "Millionaire's Tax" Is Not Enough ($1.1 billion): If the "millionaire's tax" is extended, it will provide an additional $5 billion a year, but only $1.1 billion additional in the coming fiscal year because the millionaire's tax will be in effect for 9 months of this fiscal year even if it is not extended. That is not enough to cover the projected $10 billion deficit. The cuts to schools and other public services will go forward this year even if the millionaire's tax is extended.
Stock Transfer Tax ($15 billion): New York State collected between $13 and $16 billion in recent years from the Stock Transfer Tax, but gave it all back to the traders and then declared a fiscal crisis! The Stock Transfer Tax is a tiny sales tax on stock purchases, with a graduated scale topping out at 1/20th of 1 percent or $350, whichever is less, on large purchases of a stock. Compare that to the 8% sales tax on consumer goods. The tax was adopted in 1905. But since 1981, it has been collected and then immediately rebated. Keeping Stock Transfer Tax revenues would more than cover the budget deficit of $10 billion.
(Source)
Bankers' Bonus Tax ($10 billion): A few thousand Wall Street bankers and traders have given themselves $20 billion in bonuses in 2009 and 2010 after the taxpayers bailed them out from the federal level with trillions of dollars in capital injections, asset guarantees, Federal Reserve swaps of toxic assets for treasury bonds, and low-to-no interest Federal Reserve loans. A 50% tax on these bonuses would generate $10 billion a year.
Progressive Income Tax ($8 billion): If New York went back to the progressive income tax structure we had in 1972, the state would raise $8 billion more in revenue while giving 95% of New Yorkers a tax cut. In 1972, New York State had a personal income tax with 14 graduated brackets, ranging from a low of 2% to a high of 15%. Today New York has only five flatter brackets, between 4% and 6.85%. Individuals hit the top bracket at $20,000, couples at $40,000. The temporary 2009-2011 “millionaire's tax” is 7.85% on income over $200,000 ($300,000 couples) and 8.97% on income over $500,000.
(Source)
Property Tax Relief through Single-Payer Health Care: New York State has the highest property tax rates in the country due to unfunded state mandates. The biggest mandate by far is county Medicaid expenses that account for 45% of counties' property tax levies. Instead of Cuomo's proposal for capping the property tax at 2% growth per year, which will devastate schools and other public services, we can relieve counties of their Medicaid costs by a state takeover of all Medicaid costs, allowing counties to cut property taxes and still fully fund schools and public services. The best way to take over Medicaid costs is through a single-payer health care plan for all New Yorkers, which a recent state funded study concluded would reduce health care costs in New York by $28 billion a year by 2019 compared to the private insurance mandate recently enacted by the federal government.
(Source)
A Fair School Aid Formula: New York State has the 46th most unequal state school aid formula in the US. Rich districts spend more than twice as much per student as poor districts. Rich districts depend on state aid for only a few percent of their school budgets, while poor districts depend on state aid for upwards of 65 percent for their budgets. We need a straightforward, needs-based aid formula so that all students have their right to a “sound basic education” under the New York State Constitution, as affirmed by the courts in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity v State of New York decisions (2001-2006).
A Green New Deal for Full Employment: Private jobs are good, but public jobs are necessary for full employment. Spend the fiscal surplus from progressive taxation on public jobs in public works (clean energy, mass transportation, green buildings, water and sewage works modernization, environmental clean-up, etc.) and public services (schools, health care, job training, child care, elder care, youth programs, parks, libraries, etc). The increased demand from full employment will stimulate economic recovery and more jobs in the private sector. A public jobs program to create 500,000 jobs paying living wages of $14-$17 an hour would cost about $14 billion, about equal to what the Stock Transfer Tax brings in.
(Source)
Progressive Tax Reform vs. Cuomo's Austerity Budget
Progressive tax reform ($15 billion Stock Transfer Tax, $10 billion Bankers' Bonus Tax, $8 billion Progressive Income Tax) would generate $33 billion in additional revenues. After closing the $10 billion deficit, we would have $23 billion left for full employment, good schools, clean energy, mass transit, and other public needs.
The Big Cuts and Concessions in [NY Gov. Andrew] Cuomo's Budget: Cuomo proposes to close a $10 billion deficit in a $133 billion budget with 10% across the board cuts, including school aid, $1.5 billion; Medicaid, $2.85 billion; mass transit, $200 million; SUNY and CUNY operating budgets and tuition assistance; and much more. He also calls for 10,000 layoffs, a pay freeze for state workers, and concessions on public workers' seniority, pension, and collective bargaining rights.
The Big Lies Behind Cuomo's Budget:
"We don't have the money. New York State spends too much."
The Facts: New York State government spending has grown at the same rate as New York's economy.
(Source)
"Big fat salaries and pensions for state workers are busting the state budget."
The Facts: The average NY state worker earns $40,000 a year. The average NY retired state worker has a pension of $14,000 a year. Wages and benefits for state workers are only 13% of the state budget. NYS has fewer state workers per capita than 44 other states.
(Source)
"The rich will leave the state if we tax them."
The Facts: The corporate-funded Partnership for New York City study that Cuomo and others cite just made up its data. A peer-reviewed study in National Tax Journal shows the rich don't leave for lower income taxes.
(Source and another source)
The Rich Are Getting Richer Because the Exploitation of the Working People Is Up
Productivity (what workers produce per hour) is up 86% since 1978. But average hourly wages are the same today as in 1974. The rich are taking all the gains. In New York State, the top 1% received 35% of all income in 2007, up from 10% in 1980.
(Source)
The Rich Pay Lower Tax Rates
The top 1% in New York (average income: $3.1 million) pay 7.2% in state and local taxes.
The bottom 99% pay between 9.6% and 10.8% in state and local taxes.
(Source)
Extending the "Millionaire's Tax" Is Not Enough ($1.1 billion): If the "millionaire's tax" is extended, it will provide an additional $5 billion a year, but only $1.1 billion additional in the coming fiscal year because the millionaire's tax will be in effect for 9 months of this fiscal year even if it is not extended. That is not enough to cover the projected $10 billion deficit. The cuts to schools and other public services will go forward this year even if the millionaire's tax is extended.
Stock Transfer Tax ($15 billion): New York State collected between $13 and $16 billion in recent years from the Stock Transfer Tax, but gave it all back to the traders and then declared a fiscal crisis! The Stock Transfer Tax is a tiny sales tax on stock purchases, with a graduated scale topping out at 1/20th of 1 percent or $350, whichever is less, on large purchases of a stock. Compare that to the 8% sales tax on consumer goods. The tax was adopted in 1905. But since 1981, it has been collected and then immediately rebated. Keeping Stock Transfer Tax revenues would more than cover the budget deficit of $10 billion.
(Source)
Bankers' Bonus Tax ($10 billion): A few thousand Wall Street bankers and traders have given themselves $20 billion in bonuses in 2009 and 2010 after the taxpayers bailed them out from the federal level with trillions of dollars in capital injections, asset guarantees, Federal Reserve swaps of toxic assets for treasury bonds, and low-to-no interest Federal Reserve loans. A 50% tax on these bonuses would generate $10 billion a year.
Progressive Income Tax ($8 billion): If New York went back to the progressive income tax structure we had in 1972, the state would raise $8 billion more in revenue while giving 95% of New Yorkers a tax cut. In 1972, New York State had a personal income tax with 14 graduated brackets, ranging from a low of 2% to a high of 15%. Today New York has only five flatter brackets, between 4% and 6.85%. Individuals hit the top bracket at $20,000, couples at $40,000. The temporary 2009-2011 “millionaire's tax” is 7.85% on income over $200,000 ($300,000 couples) and 8.97% on income over $500,000.
(Source)
Property Tax Relief through Single-Payer Health Care: New York State has the highest property tax rates in the country due to unfunded state mandates. The biggest mandate by far is county Medicaid expenses that account for 45% of counties' property tax levies. Instead of Cuomo's proposal for capping the property tax at 2% growth per year, which will devastate schools and other public services, we can relieve counties of their Medicaid costs by a state takeover of all Medicaid costs, allowing counties to cut property taxes and still fully fund schools and public services. The best way to take over Medicaid costs is through a single-payer health care plan for all New Yorkers, which a recent state funded study concluded would reduce health care costs in New York by $28 billion a year by 2019 compared to the private insurance mandate recently enacted by the federal government.
(Source)
A Fair School Aid Formula: New York State has the 46th most unequal state school aid formula in the US. Rich districts spend more than twice as much per student as poor districts. Rich districts depend on state aid for only a few percent of their school budgets, while poor districts depend on state aid for upwards of 65 percent for their budgets. We need a straightforward, needs-based aid formula so that all students have their right to a “sound basic education” under the New York State Constitution, as affirmed by the courts in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity v State of New York decisions (2001-2006).
A Green New Deal for Full Employment: Private jobs are good, but public jobs are necessary for full employment. Spend the fiscal surplus from progressive taxation on public jobs in public works (clean energy, mass transportation, green buildings, water and sewage works modernization, environmental clean-up, etc.) and public services (schools, health care, job training, child care, elder care, youth programs, parks, libraries, etc). The increased demand from full employment will stimulate economic recovery and more jobs in the private sector. A public jobs program to create 500,000 jobs paying living wages of $14-$17 an hour would cost about $14 billion, about equal to what the Stock Transfer Tax brings in.
(Source)
Progressive Tax Reform vs. Cuomo's Austerity Budget
Progressive tax reform ($15 billion Stock Transfer Tax, $10 billion Bankers' Bonus Tax, $8 billion Progressive Income Tax) would generate $33 billion in additional revenues. After closing the $10 billion deficit, we would have $23 billion left for full employment, good schools, clean energy, mass transit, and other public needs.
Sunday, April 03, 2011
The real Africa is hidden
This essay is part of an occasional feature on this blog that presents compelling stories from elsewhere in the world, particularly Africa, that are little reported in the American media. It's part of my campaign to get people to realize there is a lot going on in the world outside the US, IsraelStine and the Trumped Up Enemy of the Month. A list of all pieces in this series can be found found here..
The Columbia Journalism Review has a great piece on why non-governmental organizations prefer bad news about Africa and how that prevents westerners from getting a more nuanced picture about life on the continent.
The Columbia Journalism Review has a great piece on why non-governmental organizations prefer bad news about Africa and how that prevents westerners from getting a more nuanced picture about life on the continent.
Saturday, April 02, 2011
The wisdom of Twitter
It's amusing that it's okay to say "war on drugs" and "war on poverty" but once the military is involved it sure can't be a war. -@Diraccone
Friday, April 01, 2011
The idiocy of equating Assange and O’Keefe
In one of the stupidest things I've read in a while, the executive editor of The New York Times has decided to equate right-wing sting artist James O'Keefe and Wikileaks’ Julian Assange.
O'Keefe is well known for his controversial videos about NPR and ACORN. Assange is well known for his role in leaking various secret documents from the US government and other governmental and private institutions.
O'Keefe is under fire for deceitful editing.
Assange is under fire for not editing at all.
O'Keefe is being attacked for not telling the whole truth.
Assange is being attacked precisely because he did tell the whole truth.
Yeah, they’re doing the same thing. *face palm*
As one blog put it, according to the NYT, true may equal false, but better false than left or right.
The corporate media's appetite for simplistic dichotomies and fake moral equivalency knows no end.
O'Keefe is well known for his controversial videos about NPR and ACORN. Assange is well known for his role in leaking various secret documents from the US government and other governmental and private institutions.
O'Keefe is under fire for deceitful editing.
Assange is under fire for not editing at all.
O'Keefe is being attacked for not telling the whole truth.
Assange is being attacked precisely because he did tell the whole truth.
Yeah, they’re doing the same thing. *face palm*
As one blog put it, according to the NYT, true may equal false, but better false than left or right.
The corporate media's appetite for simplistic dichotomies and fake moral equivalency knows no end.
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