Miriam,
You listened and were horrified. I was horrified and turned it off.
What horrified me was the fact that NPR has become the "Liberal" voice
of the American Empire. Now, it could well be that American
Liberalism has moved to the Right, and NPR is reflecting the views of
Working Class America. But I doubt it. NPR has had its legs knocked
out from under it. Bit by bit it has done what the Democratic Party
has done, which is to kiss the hem of the Empire's Ruling Class.
And the sad thing is, even as NPR is pursing its lips, ready to place
them to the Empire's ass, the Empire is cutting off funding to NPR.
As muddled in the middle of the road as NPR has become, the Empire
cannot tolerate them.
A fellow over on ACB Chat, told me that I should read more broadly.
He feels I am not listening to a diverse enough material base on which
to build my opinions. Which he suggests demonstrate that I am
probably a Marxist. And just to stray for a
moment, I am not well enough versed in Marxist Theory to earn that
title, but what is wrong with being a Marxist? It causes me to grin.
We are supposed to embrace Capitalism, a System that does not allow
most of us access, and often turns us against our own best interest,
but we are sneered at if we even suggest that Karl Marx makes some
sense.
But anyway, after NPR is squelched, RT TV will be removed, along with
such fringe linkups as Democracy Now.
Times are probably going to get worse for working class Americans,
before we come to our senses. But the struggle is always going on.
It may flow and ebb, but eventually Ruling Classes make the same
misjudgement. They believe they can do anything they Damn well
please. And the People turn on them. We are some distance from that
point, but trust me, our Empire's Ruling Class is busy making the same
error.
Although we, the working class, have no part in the direction this
government is going, we do have power. We have the power to sit down
and tell our Masters that if they want their Wars, they will have to
send their own children to the Fields to fight, and take themselves
from their cushy Estates and get their hands dirty building the war
weapons. We, the working class, can refuse to support the Empire's
Dream, but we do need to stay in the fight whether we gain
representation in the Empire's government or not. When the Empire
implodes, we must be there to pick up the pieces.
In the meantime, we can continue reaching out a helping hand to those
we can assist.
Carl Jarvis
On 7/15/18, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I woke up this morning to hear an interview on NPR with someone who's
written a book about how really terrible the Russians are and how evil Putin
is. If you'd heard this piece of propaganda, you'd believe that nothing in
Russia has changed since the 1950's, that it is Putin who is responsible for
the oligarchs rather than the economic shock therapy administered to Russia
by the US after the fall of Communism, and that Russia is poised to disrupt
our midterm elections. Listening was horrifying. Everything was explained
to calmly and carefully. It was like listening to the New York Times, which
has a new podcast called, The Daily, explaining the history of NATO. In that
case, the facts were correct, but the interpretation was flawed. It's very
difficult to expectd the public to understand anything when such clever
intellecdtual manipulation is being used.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Sunday, July 15, 2018 12:10 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: ICE Officers to Asylum Seekers: 'Don't You
Know That We Hate You People?'
"...Hate you people..."
Hate is the operative word.
And why not? Isn't that the underlying message given to our children?
"Hate Russians. Hate Chinese. Hate North Koreans. Hate Mexicans.
Hate all Latinos. Hate Muslims. And then there are those we secretly hate.
Blacks, Jews, Gays, the Elderly, Atheists, and those we hate when they
disagree with our Empire's goals, French, German, English, Italians,
Japanese, and most every other nation on Earth.
We declare people we hate to be "low life" and non human. With Hate comes
Contempt. And just how did we arrive at this sad place in our miserable
life? Several ways. First, Hate has been pounded into our heads by our
Empire's government. If we dare to disagree, even slightly, we are hated
and looked down on.
Second, we've seen the number of broken homes, single parent households, and
poverty spread in ever growing circles within our nation, while a very few
prosper beyond our wildest dreams, creating deep seated hatred. We have
eternal campaigning by our political factions, using hatred of one another
to attempt to rally numbers of Americans to the many causes. Even in
raising our young, we turn to negative reinforcement techniques for
training. We forget that Hatred begets Hatred just as surely as Violence
begets Violence.
If we working class people can't break the cycle and head off our decent
into the Fires of Hell, then the sooner we crash and burn, the better for
what will remain of Life.
Carl Jarvis
On 7/14/18, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
ICE Officers to Asylum Seekers: 'Don't You Know That We Hate You People?'
By Tim Dickinson, Rolling Stone
13 July 18
New court documents reveal the cruelty of Trump's family separations
The Trump child-separation horror is far from over. According to the
government's own numbers, released late last week, as many as 3,000
children were yet to be reunited with their parents. On Tuesday, the
administration failed to comply with a court order to return all
children under the age of five to their parents; dozens are still in
government custody.
In new court documents - released as part of state litigation against
the Trump administration for breaking up these families - the voices
of traumatized parents are front and center. In declarations made
under penalty of perjury, the parents describe the anguish of having
their children snatched away by the U.S. government, as well as
sadistic behavior of the immigration officers who seem to mock and
berate them.
As described in the testimonials, migrant mistreatment extended beyond
separation - including detention facilities so cold they were referred
to as "iceboxes," bleach-tainted drinking water that burned
asylum-seekers'
throats and still-frozen food that made them vomit.
Below is a selection of the parent testimonials, released in the case
of the State of Washington, et al., v. Donald Trump.
Olivia Caceres (El Salvador)
Backstory: Caceres was traveling in a caravan with her 14-month-old
(called "M." in court documents) who became sick on the journey to the
U.S. border.
The father, "J.", rushed ahead with the child, and the two were
separated at the U.S. border crossing in San Ysidro, California,
across from Tijuana.
Testimony: "I learned from other members of the caravan who crossed
successfully.that immigration officers took M. from J. I felt as if
someone had dumped a bucket of cold water on me. Finally, after 7 days
of desperately searching for M., I was able to locate him in a shelter
in Los Fresnos, Texas. [The child was taken in November 2017 and
reunited with his mother - who was detained at the border but
subsequently released in the United States in February 2018.]
I went to the Los Angeles airport, showed my identification, signed
some documents and they returned M. to me. M. looked scared, he looked
absent, he did not seem to capture that he was with me. He would only
stare.. When I took off his clothes he was full of dirt and lice. It
seemed like they had not bathed him the 85 days he was away from us..
M. is not the same since we were reunited. I thought that, because he
is so young he would not be traumatized by this experience, but he
does not separate from me. He cries when he does not see me."
Angelica Rebeca Gonzalez-Garcia (Guatemala)
Backstory: The 31-year-old mother fled domestic abuse with her then
seven-year-old daughter.
Testimony: "On May 10, 2018, the day after our arrest, Officers came
into the room and told me that they intended to take my daughter away from
me.
Most devastating of all, the Officers said I would never see my
daughter again. When the Officers told me this, I felt like collapsing
and dying. I cannot express the pain and fear I felt at that point. My
daughter was only seven years old and she was much too young to be taken
from me.
"When I asked why, the Officers said that I had 'endangered' her by
bringing her here. During this same conversation one of the officers
asked me 'In Guatemala do they celebrate mother's day?' When I
answered yes he said, 'Then Happy Mother's Day,' because the next
Sunday was Mother's day. I lowered my head so that my daughter would
not see the tears forming in my eyes. That particular act of cruelty
astonished me then as it does now. I could not understand why they
hated me so much, or wanted to hurt me so much."
Doris Arriagga-Pineda (Unspecified)
Backstory: Fleeing domestic violence.
Testimony: "On May 20th, I was detained. I requested asylum and they
took me to the 'icebox' (la hielera, where I spent one day with my
daughter. who is
6 years of age. We slept on the floor there, with only the aluminum
blanket.
On May 22nd, they took me to the court, when I got back, they had
taken her away. The officer kept saying that I wasn't my daughter's
mother. What worries me the most about my daughter is the separation.
It is difficult for her to eat. She always cries. The day I called,
she couldn't speak. My life is my daughter."
Gladys Monroy-Guerra de Tesucum (Guatemala)
Backstory: "I am afraid of returning to my country, because my cousin
will kill me and my children. I caught him raping his step-daughter.
He is a drug trafficker and he has killed more than 45 people. He told
me, in writing with a note on my door, that he is going to dismember
me. He has threatened my children as well. We had to flee..The police
in my country cannot do anything to protect us."
Testimony: "When I first spoke with ICE officers, they told us, 'Why
did you come from your country?', 'Don't you know that we hate you
people?', 'We don't want you in our country.'
"My two children. fled with me and came in with me. They separated
them from me, and they took me to court, where they condemned me as a
criminal. No one asked me if I was afraid to return to my country or
why I fled. There was no opportunity for me to say goodbye to my
children. When I came back to the "dog kennel" (perrera), where we
were being held, my boys weren't there anymore. I didn't know where
they were.
"I am seeking refuge in the USA. We are being treated like criminals
in chains and everything. I'm just seeking refuge."
Maricela Batres (El Salvador)
Backstory: "I had a store in El Salvador. Members of the gang MS-13
demanded money as 'rent.' I do not have it, and they have said that if
I do not pay
$300 a month they will kill my son and me."
Testimony: "I entered the USA on May 20, 2018 with my son. We were
placed in the 'kennel,' where we sleep on the ground with a blanket
made of aluminum. The officers told us our children would be taken
from us for the crime of crossing the border. The officers said that
the children would not return. One said 'It is the price to pay for
crossing the border. We do this so that when you return to your
countries you do not return, and so you tell your relatives not to
come because we will take your children from you.' I do not know where
my son is. I have had no communication with him. The consulate gave me
a paper in English with a telephone number. When I call it, no one
answers."
Nery Flores-Oliva (Unspecified)
Backstory: "I came to the United States with my 6-year-old son, afraid
after they killed my husband's two brothers."
Testimony: "I entered the United States on May 14, in Reynoso. I was
picked up and taken to the 'icebox,' a cold room. They treated us
badly. My son was with me. The following day the officer told me that
they were going to take my son to shower. And they sent me somewhere
else, and they never returned with my son. I felt deceived. I never
saw him again. I only ask that I be reunited with my son. He is young.
He needs me."
Yolani Karina Padilla-Orellana (Honduras)
Backstory: "I am a single mother. I received death threats and was
afraid they would take my son in Honduras. That is why I decided to
come with my son to the United States."
Testimony: "When we arrived to the United States on May 18, the
officers said. when would we stop coming? [and] that it would be
better if a bomb were set off in our countries.. From there, my son
Jelsin and I were separated. I was not told where he was being taken.
They only told me he would be a ward of the state.. On the first day
in the 'icebox,' they took me out to have my photo taken. I did not
expect to see my son but they also brought him out so we could take a
photo together. But they did not allow me to talk to him or hug him.
That is the last time I saw my son.
While I was in the icebox, I was able to talk to an officer and I told
him that I was afraid of returning to Honduras for the reasons I have
stated.
He
told me I was going to be deported without my son. He told me I would
be able to ask for my son 45 days after arriving in Honduras. Upon
hearing this, I knelt down crying. The officer only laughed."
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