Rudolfo sends his Ekos-Squared Readers Holiday Greetings and a Special Story for the Solstice.

 This Holiday season we received our traditional message from Rudolfo the Reindeer. This amazing caribou came to life one night when I was doodling. Little did I know that he would wind up with his companions in a big herd up in Canada. But he writes every year. On these Solstice days, he sends us a greeting and a story.

Rudolfo’s Message: “On behalf of  Natasha and our two youngsters, Pierre and Katie, I wish you all a spectacular solstice, a very merry Holiday Season, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa  and a wonderful New Year.  By the way you may remember, that last year we had celebrated the coming of “Itsy-Bitsy Pierre.” We don’t call him Itsy-Bitsy anymore; he’s quite the young buck. But you can see a picture of Katie, who will be a yearling in a few months, and already a force to be reckoned with. 

We like to read Ekos-Squared, but Internet connections up here are very iffy. I also want everyone to know that we are very concerned about the expansion of the tar sands oil industry up here. I hope you guys will publish more one how the mining and refining destroys our northern forests and tundra — vital ecosystems to our survival.  We ask your readers to call your elected officials and tell em what I said.  

This year I have a special story — one that I just told Katie and Pierre a few days ago.”  Like so many stories they often often arise when a child asks a nearly unanswerable question to a parent. Katie asks me, ‘Daddy, why are there wolves? They scare me. They eat us don’t they.’ Pierre, now quite aware of his growing antlers, rolls his eyeballs.”

“Well, there is good reason to fear wolves.  But listen and I’ll tell you a story that explains why there are wolves.”

The Story: “Many thousands of years ago when the first caribou came to live in the north country, there were no wolves. Those were pleasant times, it was a bit warmer than now, and grasses

Little Katie last April; Photo, ABC

and shrubs were plentiful. Eating was easy; our herd didn’t have to travel dozens of miles every day to eat. At first our group was small, a few hundred caribou; but because times were good our population grew by leaps and bounds. As, you know we’re good at leaps and bounds. It was fun at first; there were big feasts, parades, games and dances. Soon there were tens of thousands in our tribe. But after some years troubles came. There were so many mouths to feed that the herd began to strip away the vegetation. It was hard to find a clump of grass or a willow sprig anywhere. Little fawns like you cried for food. And many caribou died, especially in the cold winter. It was a sad time.”

The Great Spirit creates wolves.  ”And so our elders summoned the Great Spirit and described their plight. The Spirit, as always, was reluctant to intervene. But just then he/she saw a little fawn crying. Visibly moved, the Great Spirit told the elders that she/he  would give the matter serious consideration. 

Adult grey wolf patrols the forest; http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Chris_Muiden

The Great One thought and thought but couldn’t come up with any solution and grew very, very angry and grimaced, growled and stomped. On seeing this scene of other the Spirits laughed aloud. One said, ‘Oh my, oh my. Take a look at your reflection.’ So the Great One went to the pond and saw the reflection of a huge, muscular dog, but one with enormous, sharp fangs. The Great one ran from the pond in fright. Upon seeing this spectacle, the Spirits laughed again. ‘Why does a spirit so Great fear a mere dog?’  The Great Spirit answered, ‘This is no ordinary dog, it must be a ….. wolf!  But,  why am I afraid? — it’s just a reflection of my own fierce nature and strength.’ (At this the other Spirits worked hard to suppress their snickers). 

 Another Spirit, called Big Ideas had a big idea, ‘I know this may sound cruel, but the Wolf is obviously a carnivore and fast enough to catch  caribous. A pack of these  Canis lupi could keep the herd from overgrazing. ‘Hmmmm, said the Great Spirit, not bad.’ The others mulled it over and nodded their approval. ‘ Let it be then, we’ll send a bunch down. said the Great Spirit.’

A portion of our herd migrate across the frozen tundra. Photo: Johnny Johnson, Getty Images

When the Great Spirit told the elder caribous, they did not like the idea one bit. ‘ Wasn’t it bad enough that we have to migrate thousands of miles, be mosquito bitten, not to mention the bot flies, and then have to endure dark and bitterly cold winters?’  But their complaints fell on deaf ears. The decision was made. 

 In the years ahead, and to this very day, we caribous hear the frightening howls of the wolves (click to see and hear). But let me assure you for every thousands of caribou, there are only a few wolves. Our family is known for speed and agility. So kids, keep racing, stay in the middle of the herd, and keep the hooves moving. One more thing, live each day fully and stop to smell the air, the forest, the tundra, the herd, open up to the beauty of the rivers and lakes, and take in the mountains to the west and always  feel the wind against

Hey, we need to feed our families too!

your face as you run.’

 Celebration: “Pierre and Katie started to yawn – as is often the case when parents wax eloquently on and on. Fortunately, just then my beautiful Natasha came along, “Now Pierre and Kate, don’t doze off quite yet, it’s the Solstice and we have a wonderful surprise.” She displayed a huge bundle of bright green grass and a plant with little red berries. The young caribous knew that these were special treats, sweet, juicy and hard to come by. Somehow thoughts of howling wolves, Great Spirits and my fatherly philosophies all faded. Have you ever seen a young caribou smile?

Tomorrow the herd would move again; but tonight we all are warm and cozy in the family snuggle. Natasha sings a lullaby and the family drifts off to sleep. The snow dances down in graceful swirls through the tall and fragrant spruce trees. Natasha and I rub noses ever so gently. Soon the sun will climb back into the sky.”

If you want to learn more about caribous, see this incredible video: Being Caribou

By the way, we sent Rudolfo a message telling him we will cover the tar sands oil issue in coming posts.

Women protest military brutality and dictatorship; Photo: Reuters

Change of plans: I was about to post a Solstice Greeting on the blog. However, when I saw the videos of armed soldiers brutally beating peaceful protesters the streets of Cairo, I had to do something. First I called the White House comment line and told the volunteer to that I was calling to urge the President to (a) immediately condemn the violence against unarmed civilians including women (b) to withhold all military aide and support to the military government of Egypt. I would urge all readers to do the same.  Presidential contact:  Phone : 202-456-1111 or use the email option at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

Image speaks for itself; see the video at link in text. Photo: anorak.co.uk

Today in Cairo, tens of thousands of women and supportive men are marching to protest the beating, public stripping and molestation of women by armed soldiers. Some carried posters and pictures of women they said were beaten, stripped and assaulted in recent days, including one woman who was captured on video as military police stripped off some of her clothing to expose her bra and then appeared to stomp on her body.

As the videos at this website clearly show, the soldiers use their batons with full force, even when civilians are laying helpless on the ground.

It’s our tax dollars: Why would our government spend American tax dollars to fund so brutal a regime?  Apparently, nothing — nothing — has changed since Mubarak was disposed this past spring.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed shock during a speech in Washington on Monday at the treatment of female protesters. ”Women protesters have been rounded up and subjected to horrific abuse. This systematic degradation of Egyptian women dishonors the revolution, disgraces the state and its uniform and is not worthy of a great people.” Agreed, but money speaks louder than words.

Thanks to Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy for his editorial calling for an end to the blank checks.

General Emara, a lot of microphones, a lot of lies.

Military government lies: In spite of international outrage, Military Council leader, General Adel Emara said the military never used violence against peaceful protesters. “The armed forces and the police pledged not to use violence against protesters actively or even verbally,” he said. Instead, he said, the protesters had deliberately provoked soldiers into clashes as part of a plot “to destroy the state.” (Sounding exactly like Bashar al-Assad of Syria).

Time to stop the aid and impose sanctions!

Egyptian army soldiers use brutal force to arrest this female protester and drag her by her hair during clashes with military police near Cairo's Tahrir Square.

Top: Mining trucks carry loads of oil-laden sand at the Albian Sands project in Ft. McMurray, Alberta, Canada, in August 2005. Photo: AP/Jeff McIntosh; Bottom:

BREAKING NEWS: SENATE DEMS, OBAMA AGREE TO DEAL PIPELINE TO GET MIDDLE CLASS TAX BREAK EXTENSION. HOWEVER AS OF MONDAY AM; THE DEAL APPEARS TO LACK SUPPORT IN HOUSE ON TAX ISSUES. STAY TUNE; SEE LATEST HERE. WHAT FOLLOWS IS NO LONGER CURRENT. 

SEE MORE HERE

Decision Deferred: President Obama did the right thing by putting off a decision on the controversial Keystone pipeline that will carry tar sands oil from Central Canada through the Central U.S. down to refineries in Louisiana. The Administration’s action requires a full environmental review – a move that puts off the pipeline decision until 2013, following the Presidential election. Credit to the thousands of environmentalists led by Bill McKibben willing to go to jail in DC to bring the issue directly to the White House. However, see update links above. The issue is unfolding as I write.

Back Door Attack: However, Republicans in the House have added a rider to the bill that would prevent a tax hike on the middle class. If the Senate includes the rider, it would require the President to make a “yes” or “no” decision on Keystone within 60 days. This politically motivated move will pressure Democrats, highly reluctant to raise taxes on the middle class, to support the bill with the Keystone rider. To turn up the heat, Keystone proponents claim that the pipeline will create hundreds of thousands of jobs. Ergo, if the Democrats and Obama scrap the plan, they are against jobs. Interesting that many of the same members of Congress at every turn opposed government investments to fix the nation’s deteriorating infrastructure that can provide jobs everywhere while making the nation more energy efficient and less dependent on environmentally devastating fossil fuel development.

Ecological destruction on a massive scale: Under the Keystone XL plan, pristine boreal forests in Canada will be clear-cut and strip-mined for tar sand. The habitats for millions caribou and other northern birds and mammals are being destroyed. To get the oil, tar sand is melted causing significant greenhouse gas emissions, then transported from Montana to the Gulf of Mexico. According to House member Ed Markey (D-MA), this oil will not reduce prices by adding to domestic supplies but would be sold by oil companies to foreign markets in order to boost their profits. In a letter to Secretary of State Clinton, Markey and other House Democrats said, “We do not believe that turning the United States into a middleman for exports of Canadian tar sands oil in order to increase the profits of a few oil companies is in the national interest of the United States, particularly given the project’s likely adverse environmental impacts, threats to water supplies for farmers, and potential impacts to Indian lands,”http://markey.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4535&Itemid=141

For an excellent video with scenes of tar sands mining and refining as well as beautiful but threatened boreal forest go to ForestEthics. 

Processing of the sands -- major source of pollution and greenhouse emissions. Photo: NRDC

Boreal forests, the lungs of the earth, threatened by tar sands oil development. Photo by Garth Lenz

TAKE ACTION NOW: Ekos-Square urges you to take a minute and add your name to the Wilderness Society petition asking your Senators to say NO. It’s easy click here:

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Students walk out of Professor's EC 10 Class at Harvard, Photo: Adam Ragusea/WBUR

ECONOMICS 101 AND ECONOMICS 10: THE HARVARD WALKOUT

On November 2nd nearly 70 students walked out of an introductory economics class (EC 10), a course taught by N. Gregory Mankiw, former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under George W. Bush and regular New York Times columnist and author of the world’s best selling economics textbook, Principles of Economics.

 The letter to the professor states, “Today we are walking out of your class, Economics 10, in order to express our discontent with the bias inherent in this introductory economics class,” which “espouses a specific—and limited—view of economics that we believe which perpetuates problematic and inefficient systems of economic inequality in our society today.” The course is a prerequisite for social studies and economics majors.

 The students’ then joined an “Occupy” march to protest the prevailing corporate oriented economic theories which leave families and communities out in the cold. You can read the full text of the letter in the Harvard Political Review.  . And a video of the walkout here:

You can also see Professor Mankiw’s NY Times column in response.

For vintage Mankiw we give you the Professor’s explanation as to why janitors don’t deserve a living wage while Wall Street executives deserve to be multimillionaires:

“Under a standard set of assumptions, a competitive economy leads to an efficient allocation of resources…it is also a standard result that in a competitive equilibrium, the factors of production are paid the value of their marginal product. That is, each person’s income reflects the value of what he contributed to society’s production of goods and services. One might easily conclude that, under these idealized conditions, each person receives his just deserts.”[1] 

Wow. In my recollection it wasn’t the grammar school janitor that caused the economic collapse of 2008. According to Mankiw’s theory, the Wall Street guys that caused the crisis should give all of their earnings back to society.

As Ekos-Squared has pointed out in previous posts, classical economics has several failings: (1) fails to give any real economic value to the free services and resources offered by the biosphere (2) places it is emphasis on free market corporatism without looking at its growing failure to provide for human needs (3) hasn’t figured why the dominant global economies increasingly create systemic instability (i.e. vulnerability to collapse) rather than resilience (4) overly preoccupied with  exponential “economic growth” (GDP) rather than appropriate growth (5) doesn’t much care what happens at the local level — top down, trickle-down approach. To name a few.

We suggest that all students (and professors) be required to take the following courses: physics, chemistry, ecology, thermodynamics, complex systems and resilience theory, and climatology before discussing economics.

Weigh in on this one; comment below!!

New York City Food Pantry. When the food runs out, many are turned away. http://www.nycommunitytrust.org

Half of Americans now below poverty line: If mainstream economists such as Mankiw have a lock on economic wisdom, then why do half of Americans live below the poverty line or are struggling to go there? We’re not making this up. According to a Census Bureau report nearly 1 in 2 Americans are living either below the poverty level or just above it. The new figures are based not just on income but on living expenses including medical and commuting costs. According to the new report, 49.1 million Americans are below the poverty line, and another 97.3 million are considered low-income, which is usually defined as having income between 100% and 199% of the poverty level.[2]

George Orwell author "1984": Source: Hi Chicago Blog

Robert Reich, Labor Secretary under Clinton, photo: Michael Collopy

George Orwell could have been talking about present-day Syria, Egypt, Yemen, or the United States when he said,  ” All tyrannies rule through fraud and force, but once the fraud is exposed, they must rely exclusively on force.”  

Over the past month there have been numerous violent police crack downs on peaceful protesters, Oakland, New York, University of California and Berkeley. Protesters have been tear gassed, beaten, hit with rubber bullets and tear gas canisters, thrown to the ground and hauled off to jail (for some by their hair). Most recently campus police at UC-Davis sprayed pepper gas into the faces students who were sitting peacefully. To get a passionate overview see Robert Reich’s two minute video.   Reich was former Labor Secretary under Bill Clinton. He is  now Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley and despite the high sounding title continues to “tell truth to power.” Thank you!

The demonstrators have shown across the country that America is still the “ home of the brave.”

The real question: are we still the “land of the free?” While there may be no nation-wide conspiracy to come down hard on protesters (as some have written), it is shameful that such luminaries as the President and the Secretary of State (so willing to criticize government violence against citizens abroad) have been mute when it comes to defending the right of peaceful assembly here in America. In a way such passivity is tantamount to complicity. 

University of California, Davis – particularly galling. The first figure on is a graph showing the rise in tuition at the University of California over past 20 years. College  loans have becomes a bonanza for Wall Street and the government – Since 2000 the real cost of college is up by 23 percent (along with debt) while the real earnings of college graduates are down by 11 %. The second shows that students are getting their money’s worth.

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Is it really about sanitation or safety? the excuse de jour of mayors and university chancellors.  As Charlene Smith, award winning author put it, “If Mayor Bloomberg has suddenly developed an interest in the health of New York residents he may want to do something  about the New York subway, which is a filthy, poorly air-conditioned sewer that millions of New Yorkers are forced to use daily, and sometimes skirt rats the size of cats.”

The late Muammar Qadaffi; good role model?

So all of you mayors, college presidents, commanders and chiefs, listen up:  You may consider the protesters as errant young folks who need a good lesson. However, given the continued the current and misguided frenzy to cut deficits at all costs — you may soon want to Occupy. At least you can start a dialogue and find common ground.  I  have visited several encampments (Madison, Washington, DC) and found the Occupiers to be peaceful and compassionate — they have helped feed the poor and worked with nurses to help those in need of medical care. So there just may be a way to collaborate on keeping things safe, healthy and clean. This way you won’t look like Muammar Qadaffi.

And Mr. President, how about showing some leadership!!!!

Micro loan helps village farmer grow cabbage in Zambia: Source Color Me In

The Armenia Tree Project plants fruit trees in villages

Thanksgiving morning 7 o’clock, 1960, or so: I awaken to the aroma of roasting turkey wafting up to my attic bedroom. My mother, Jeanette, started her Thanksgivings very early. Just maybe, there’s a bit of turkey to sample, maybe the crisp tip of a wing ready to pilfer while the chef (momentarily) leaves the kitchen.

Author caught reliving a Thanksgiving moment from his youth

A Confession: while for my mother Thanksgiving was about cooking, for my father and three brothers it was about eating and of course football. For context know that our home was located on Chestnut Street directly across from Simpson Field – the athletic field and football stadium for Roselle High (Abraham Clark High School). It’s now called Ralph Arminio field after the Roselle’s great basketball coach during the the 50′s and 60′s. [1] (See end note for more information.)

Every other year “Simpson” was the site of the traditional Thanksgiving morning grid classic between Roselle and arch rival Roselle, Park. As we ate breakfast (sadly not turkey) we could hear the drums, horns, tubas as the band warmed up for the big game. If my memory serves me (and is not too selective) we (the Rams) usually beat Park (the Panthers). In my senior year (1961) we beat Roselle Park 26-0. Last year the Rams aced the Panthers once more (35-0) and unbelievably the Roselle beat Park by the same score (35-0) this Thanksgiving. [2]

At the end of the big game we rushed home lusting at the prospect of roast turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, chopped liver, and an assortment of pies. We rushed into the house, and inhaled the mouthwatering aromas – “when will it be ready.”

There was, however, another reason for wanting to eat soon – we wanted to finish eating in time to see football games on TV Detroit Lions vs. Green Bay Packers. After several years we had the timing down – dessert at half-time or between games. Mom, Sorry; tell me, you were thankful anyway. See response by mother, Jeanette Malinow, in the comments section.

The dining room table: As I look back I am very thankful for my parents. They loved us boys and cared for us well. They made a good table for us – nourishing and a place of great humor and learning. My father, Archie, in those days was the editor of a large number of union news letters – containing news about the latest negotiations between IUE-AFL-CIO and GE or Westinghouse and photo after photo of local union officials and members – once in a while an action photo of a picket line.

Those newsletters were not collated on a big machine. They were assembled around our dining room table by the brothers and whatever friends we could recruit from the Simpson Field basketball court across the street. The pages were assembled in order around the table and all of us would walk clockwise around the table picking up and collating as we walked; in one corner there was a big carton where we stashed the copies. Of course it was fun and there was often a payoff at the end (something good to eat or some spending money).

My parents were both actively engaged in movements for social and economic justice. We talked and debated politics; the dining room table was a great forum.

Those were good times: I can distinctly remember that our family’s economic lot was improving – at the start of my freshman year (1957) we moved into our own house after years of living in an apartment far two cramped for the six of us. We had our own rooms, a big backyard, a gold fish pond, and a wild male beagle, Dewey.

Addition: Dewey one day escaped from the house (he did this about once a week). But this time it was in the middle of football practice. And Dewey couldn’t resist all of the excitement across Chestnut. And there he was right in the middle of the varsity, with every team mate trying to tackle the dog and get him off the field. Finally, Dewey got tired or perhaps smelled a female doggy in heat and left Simpson. Coach Shaffer used this as a teachable moment. “Now boys, that’s what I call broken field running. Just move like that dog, they’ll never get ya!”

JFK: "My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."

John F. Kennedy was in the White House.  My little bedroom office had a picture of our leader and a small American flag. True, I didn’t spend a whole lot of Thanksgiving “being thankful” but somewhere inside, I knew that things were good. America was on the rise. 

However, John Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, 1000 days into his first term and just before Thanksgiving. Perhaps this was a kind of turning point for America. Soon we would be sending hundreds of thousands of youth to Vietnam — many like Sylvester Land (see notes below) never returned.

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Fifty Years Later: We now live in a very different America. The middle class is shrinking. Some 25 million Americans are either unemployed, underemployed or have given up looking. Millions of families lost their homes to foreclosure.   As we start the Holiday Season, record numbers of people are showing up at food pantries. All while the wealthy continue to reap wealth.

Unemployment line; Source: Discovery News

I recently gave a guest lecture at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, my faculty “alma mater.” At the very start of the class, I polled the students to determine their thoughts about their economic future. When I asked for a show of hands for those having confidence in their future, not one of the 50 or so students raised their hands. When I asked whether they were fearful, every student raised a hand. Graduates are burdened with tens of thousands of dollars of college loan debt. All of this bad news happens at a time when the wealthiest Americans have grown even wealthier and Tea-Party spurred GOP legislators attempt to gut Social Security and Medicare, and aid to education, the poor, and much more — while fighting to preserve the tax breaks for the super rich. I am very thankful that the Occupy Wall Street Movement has changed the debate in this nation — it’s no longer about government deficit but about an intertwined economy and political system that delivers to the powerful and wealthy while increasingly leaving the rest of us (99%) out in the cold. See the Occupy Movement’s initial (draft) platform for transforming our nation into a true democracy. You can add your own ideas. 

This Thanksgiving: This Thanksgiving we are again traveling to Connecticut and New Jersey to spend the holiday weekend with our families. Genya (Yevgeniy) our older son is doing his Peace Corps stint in Armenia. Six weeks ago we had an incredible journey to Armenia to visit him and to get to know this beautiful and fascinating country tucked between Turkey, Iran, Georgia and Azerbaijan — crossroads of east and west, north and south, past and present. I’m working on a post about Armenia.  

My son Genya (Yevgeniy) having lunch with at the Armenia Tree Project north of the Capital Yerevan

A scene from the Produce Market in Yerevan a place of great beauty and commotion

What’s different this year is that I’m now a grandpa. My daughter Rachael and husband Mars, had little Alex in July. I am very happy and thankful I am for this mitzvah and for all of our family and good friends.  Have a most wonderful Thanksgiving — and remember the “giving” part. Doing for others is something that can bring a great deal of happiness. AND DON’T PICK AT THE TURKEY BEFORE THE MEAL!

Grandpa with new baby Alex (July 2011)

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[1] Ralph Arminio: During my senior year we had the Ram hoopsters has an unbelievable 26-0 record and swept both the Watchung Conference and Union County NJ championships. Ralph was a great educator and kind human being.

[2] After all we had some great players including Freddy Porter (All-County end), Tim Kempson, Randy Seppelt, Richard Souels (one of the greatest broken field runners ever) and many others: Jerry McDonald,  Stan Fink, Don Walker, Jimmy Argyros, Willy Nichols, Joe Yopcavage, and who could ever forget Al DePalma (the great doo-wap singer who always had a clever retort). And how about the Ram Grid Iron coaches: Donald Schaffer, Verge Bork, and Harry Morson — not only great coaches but mentors and fine human beings.

One of the Rams players was Sylvester Land, a spirited classmate, who died in the Vietnam war. Just before Thanksgiving, a new and beautiful field in Roselle in his name will be used for Pop Warner football and other youth sports.

Actually over the long haul Park leads the ancient series: 47-36-8. But, let’s not forget that Roosevelt (Rosey) Grier (all star NY Football Giant and later one of the LA Ram’s fearsome foursome) graduated from Roselle High in 1953. Once in a while he shot hoops with us kids at Simpson Field as part of his summer training.

Robert F. Kennedy Assassination: Rosey was the body ‘s guard of presidential candidate Robert Kennedy’s wife Ethel at a June 1968 campaign event in Los Angeles, CA.  After the shots were fired, Grier subdued Sirhan Sirhan, the assassin. Click for more on Rosey Grier. (Correction: The original post incorrectly stated that Grier was RFK’s body guard).

Rosey Grier, football great, musician, humanitarian, Roselle alumni.

Newt Gingrich: Why the big "cat that ate the canary" smile?

Impeach Newt: In our last post we announced that we were dropping our impeachment campaign against Herman Cain because he seems to have impeached himself. We also noted that though we often disagree with Newt Gingrich (currently a GOP favorite) we had no evidence of impeachable offensives.

Well, all of that has changed. And we are starting early since impeachment proceedings can take forever. Why impeachment?

Newt wants to bring back child labor. That’s right. He wants to fire those high-paid, pension-snagging janitors in schools and replace them with kids.  As John McEnroe would say to the referee, “YOU CAN’T BE SERIOUS!!!!!“ We are. Here is what he told an audience Harvard University’s School of Government last Friday: “Most of these schools ought to get rid of the unionized janitors, have one master janitor and pay local students to take care of the school. The kids would actually do work, they would have cash, they would have pride in the schools, they’d begin the process of rising.”

According to former (shut-down-the-federal government-Gingrich) his recommendation if put into practice would raise the level of poor students and poor neighborhoods.  We wonder whether the idea, i.e. having junior clean toilets, would catch on in more affluent suburbs? After all, when would the school kids have time to study — to get into, say, Harvard — or play in not-quite-semi-professional soccer teams?

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Impeachment Campaign: Newt is a policy wonk who has more ideas per day than just about anyone. But this one, we regard as impeachable for the following reasons:

Newt says: Fire janitors! Photo Source: St. Louis Jobs with Justice.

1. The plan would role back child labor laws and is a dangerous precedent.
2. Newt’s plan is little more than union busting in disguise.
3. And, wow, this really sounds like a great program, “home-sourcing” parents’  jobs to their kids (at 1/4 the cost and no benefits).

• Apparently hasn’t heard about how hard it is to find a job these days (25 million Americans unemployed, under employed, or have stopped trying).
• Hasn’t thought through what impact firing janitors will have on hundreds of thousands janitor family kids.  Will these families lose their homes?
• Apparently hasn’t heard that Gov. John Kasich’s union-busting law in Ohio was just repealed by an overwhelming majority of voters.
• And hasn’t he heard that another union-buster, Gov. Scott Walker’s little recall problem in Wisconsin?  (We’re campaigning to impeach Walker as well).
• Has he bothered to learn about the physical requirements and risks that janitors face on the job? (He might even attempt to dismantle OSHA).
• Apparently he is not aware that janitors vote. Hey, Newt, according to the the Bureau of Labor Statistics there are more than 4 million “building cleaner workers” in the U.S. and most are classified as janitors. Now maybe your proposal is just for school janitors, but the word does get around.

One more thing: According to the Wisconsin Education Association Council, School custodians are responsible not just for mopping, but for the physical safety of a building. Janitors also go beyond the call of duty to work ‘security detail,’ providing assistance at after-school events, keeping an eye out for suspicious activity on the school grounds, and looking out for the safety of students and staff.

Now I like Newt Gingrich consider myself an ideas person. If you just browse through the various posts, you’ll see this is true. But there are several differences between myself and the other wonk: (a) I’m not running for President of the United States (b) I consult with my wife Claudia — who at least once a day says, “ideas are a dime a dozen — but carrying them out is something else.” But at least once a week she says, “that’s ridiculous.“

We will let you know when we’ve drawn up an official “Bill of Impeachment” for Gingrich.

Now playing at a theater near you. Source: Mother Jones

Breaking News on Walker Recall Campaign:  As of Nov. 18th, just a few days into the campaign,  United Wisconsin and partners have collected over 105,000 signatures to recall Scott Walker, out of the 540,000 needed by mid January.  If you want to join the Impeach (Recall) Scott Walker campaign, please go to this websiteand contribute or if you’re in Wisconsin, join the party. Message: Don’t mess with unions.

Movie Star, Scott Walker, not looking as happy as Newt, above: Source: http://www.isthmus.com/daily/article.php?article=34731

Wisconsin Cheese-Head Kevin Kopplin signs petition: Daily Kos

Impeach Scott Walker:  Last week we launched the impeach Herman Cain campaign. We’ve suspended the campaign (see below). However we enthusiastically support the campaign to impeach (recall) Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker for his Stalinist moves to deprive public employee unions of their right to bargain collectively. The campaign started Tuesday and it’s making huge progress. In  just 48 hours after opponents of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker officially launched their campaign to remove him from office, activists say they gathered 50,000 signatures out of the roughly 550,000 needed get the recall election that could boot the governor from office next spring. If I were the current Governor, I’d be worried. A poll released this week by Wisconsin Public Radio and St. Norbert College found that 58% favored recalling Walker. Go Badgers!

Thank you Mr. Chu: In standard form GOP members of Congress are trying to score political points by highlighting the Obama Administration’s half million dollar loan to Solyndra, a California firm that made solar panels

Energy Secretary Chu testifies before House Energy & Committee, Nov. 17, 2011.

and that went bankrupt. Republicans have been using the Solyndra case as a way to attack the President’s funding initiatives to support renewable energy. The latest blast was the grilling of Energy Secretary Steven Chu by Republican members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Joe Barton (Rep-TX) even called Chu’s approval of the loan as a violation of federal law. Instead of buckling Chu took the offensive and criticized Congress for not doing enough to support solar energy and the jobs it creates. He focused on China’s massive subsidization of its solar industry and unfair competition — that is badly hurting the competitiveness of U.S. Solar firms. Chu is one of the most outstanding members of the Obama cabinet. Thanks!

Addition: We also want to thank Congressman Ed Markey (D-MA) who chastised GOP members of the House Energy & Commerce Committee for going after Solyndra while not saying a thing about the billions in subsidies that Big Oil and Big Nuclear get while cutting back on the budgets for renewable energy. Thank you. See his excellent hearing participation and statement here. 

Drilling in the Arctic's fragile waters: Source: Global Warming.Org

GOP Picks Energy Winners: Guess who?   The GOP has been steadfast in their opposition to government’s involvement in picking winners and losers.  Despite this ideological pillar, Republicans in the House of Representatives had no hesitation when it came to bashing solar (see article above) while pushing for increased oil production.  The increased oil production would increase consumption and provide greater revenues to the now diminished Highway Trust Fund. (The Fund gets a federal tax of 18.4 cents for each gallon of gas sold at the pump.) There move is a clever political ploy that allows the GOP to champion needed infrastructure spending and job creation. And it also puts pressure on Democrats and environmentally-minded leaders. Those who vote against the plan are called out for opposing transportation and jobs.

There is one serious flaw in the GOP ointment. Rather than reduce our addiction to  fossil fuels, the plan enables the habit. Never mind the dangers to fragile Alaskan ecosystems, never mind increased climate-changing emissions from cars.  But when it comes to solar energy, the GOP takes out its wrecking ball (See above story). So much for Republican adversity to government picks of economic winners and losers.  If it’s good for Exxon, it must be good for America. And it’s certainly a good for Republican candidates seeking donations from Big Oil.

Stormy weather ahead and it ain’t just politics: A United Nations Panel just reported that at least some of the weather extremes being seen around the world are consequences of human-induced climate change and can be expected to worsen in coming decades. The report concludes that anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions have already led to more record-high temperatures and fewer record lows, as well as to greater coastal flooding and possibly to more extremes of precipitation, the report said. Although the report is less conclusive about the human influence on hurricanes, tornadoes, and other specific storms, the findings by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,  come at a time of unusual weather disasters around the globe, including catastrophic flooding in Asia and Australia, blizzards, floods, heat waves, droughts, wildfires and windstorms in the United States that have cost billions of dollars.

Record number of billion dollar weather events in U.S. for 2011: Source: NOAA

State by state number of weather events causing severe damage. Source: NOAA

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Impeach Cain Campaign Suspended: 

The GOP's self-impeaching Herman Cain; photo: ABC News

Last week Ekos-Squared initiated a nation-wide campaign to impeach then front-runner Herman Cain — yes, we were sufficiently alarmed to start early;  the Bill of Impeachment contained three charges — nothing to do with the sexual harassment allegations from four women. We are now suspending the campaign since Mr. Cain seems to have impeached himself. To see videographic evidence of Cain’s worst moment click here.  Now it’s Newt’s turn — as GOP Speaker of the House in the mid-nineties, Gingrich shut down the government, lost popularity and left politics. HE’s BACK — for a while at least. We’ll be taking a close look at his ever changing policy innovations in future posts — unless he self-destructs.  We see nothing about Gingrich that rises to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors as of yet. If you do please let us know.

Newt Gingrich former Speaker of House, GOP candidate for President; Source: Gage Skidmore

We Are Ohio members celebrate the victory: AP Photo

Ohio citizens voted by a landslide to repeal an Ohio Law that severely restricted the ability of public employees to organize unions and bargain collectively. The bill was a centerpiece for the Tea-Party backed GOP legislature and a slap in the face to Republican Governor, John Kasich. The vote to repeal the bill — 62 percent to 38 percent! The outcome shows the power of a grassroots movement involving teachers, police, fireman, organized labor as a whole, students and progressives. Three cheers for “We are Ohio”  about 17,000 volunteers to go knocking on doors over the weekend.

Maine: Voters in Maine by 60-40 % to repeal a 2010 law that rescinded the state’s 40-year old Election-Day Voter registration tradition.  The law to rescind same-day registration was designed by the Republican leaders including Governor Paul Le Page to tilt the electorate in their favor. The whopping defeat will force Maine Republicans to re-evaluate their plans for further ballot restrictions including a photo ID requirement. Kudos, Maine!

Mississippi: The state’s voters rejected a measure that would have defined the start of life at conception; the measure would barred abortions in the state and put the kabash on many types of birth control. Disposing of unused fertilized eggs could also have become illegal, making in vitro fertilization treatments more difficult. The referendum sponsored by a Colorado group, Personhood USA lost by a 57-to-43-percent margin. Reason prevails.  Unfortunately, a referendum requiring photo ID’s for voter registration passed. (Can’t win ‘em all.)

IMPEACH CAIN?

The GOP's embattled Herman Cain; photo: ABC News

Sure, he’s not even got the GOP nomination (and maybe won’t). But why not get a jump start? This guy has got to go. But sorry folks my column today has nothing to do with allegations of sexual harassment. No, here I protest: (1) the man’s utter contempt for his fellow humans (2) his disregard for the truth and/or really bad mathematics (3) he’s divorced from reality.

Charge 1 /Contempt for Humanity: If you are poor, homeless or out of work, it’s your fault. Here are his actual words,“Don’t blame the banks; don’t blame Wall Street, if you don’t have a job, if you’re not rich, blame yourself.” It’s on video: see it here.     

Charge 2 / Disregard for the Truth and Bad Math: This CNN Money piece contains video footage of Cain saying that his plan would not hurt the poor. However, the non-partisan Tax Policy Center, a research group, highly respected by both parties, concluded that under Cain’s plan: (1) 84% of U.S. households would pay more than they do under current tax policies and (2) the impact would be felt most heavily by the lowest income groups.

Charge 3 / Divorced from Reality – Totally: This one takes the cake. Herman Cain on banks “They want to help people, they really do.”  If you don’t believe that Cain really said this, its captured on a nice CNN video. His essentially that the problem is over-regulation of banks. But Mr. Cain, wasn’t it Wall Street’s reckless behavior that caused the crash in 2008? And after the big bailouts they got, did they loan to businesses. No, I have a small business and Bank of America cut my credit line from about $20,000 to less than $2000. I had been a BOA customer with multiple accounts for the previous 15 years.

Impeach Cain? Ja, Ja, Ja! (Pronounced, Ya!, Ya!, Ya!)

Enact his tax plan? Nein, Nein, Nein!! (Pronounced 9-9-9!)

Hank Cole: Consummate Punster: Oye Vey!

This is a plea for donations. No,not for Ekos-Squared, but for Community Support Systems as part of Give-2-the Max Day - Washington, DC Area (November 9, 2011). CSS is a non-profit organization that provides many kinds of help to people in need who live in Southern Maryland, a stone’s throw from the nation’s Capital. Services include food pantries, “Mission Nutrition,” energy assistance, senior housing, homeless prevention and advocacy. Bad economic times add to the needs for all of these programs. So please do what you can.

Too contribute and read more go here.  

By way of disclosure, my wife Claudia directs this organization and its 87 volunteers; I am proud of their accomplishments over the past 15 years. 

Occupy Wall Street goes viral here and around the world.

Big OWS Demonstration NYC October 5, 2011; http://www.thenewsignificance.com/tag/activism/

For a good overview see Juan Gonzales article. Here are some of the notable OWS accomplishments:

• OWS in mainstream media every day.
• The message is resonating; in recent CBS Poll, 66% said that the wealth should be distributed more evenly in the U.S.
• AFL-CIO and other labor unions have endorsed OWS; members join the protests.
• Large numbers of college students –facing a grim job outlook and huge college loan debts are joining OWS
• 650,000 Americans switched from mega-banks to credit unions in October — more than whole previous year
• Perhaps in response? Bank of America and others dropped their plan to impose fees on debit card users.
• A tax on speculative financial transactions gains support of unions, European leaders, Warren Buffet,  Bill Gates, NY Times and the Pope (see write up below)
• Occupiers interrupt a Scott Walker speech in Chicago (see great video) — “UNION BUSTING IS DISGUSTING”

The Robin Hood Tax; National Nurses United Leads Campaigns in Washington DC, and Cannes, France: 

Hank (left) and Fred Cole join NNU to support the Robin Hood Tax. Photo: Ekos-Squared

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Milwaukee: Progress Toward Sustainable Jobs:

On October 20, I had the honor of presenting the Second Annual Doug La Follette Lecture sponsored by Clean Wisconsin, one of the state’s leading environmental advocacy organizations. The site of the event was the Helios Solar Works plant located in the Menomonee Valley in the heart of Milwaukee. Helios a recent start-up is already in full gear making efficient, long-lasting photo-voltaic (PV) modules. The Menomonee Valley in the first half of the 20th century was a major industrial hub. After its collapse the Valley was left with dozens of abandoned buildings and contaminated land and badly damaged wetland ecosystems. However, in the 1990′s a collaboration of businesses, government and community activists (Menomonee Valley Partners) hatched an award winning sustainable redevelopment plan. My talk focused on Helios, the Valley, and other projects in Milwaukee that are providing thousands of jobs a better environment simultaneously. You can read my report, based on the presentation here.                                                                                                                                                                       

Menomonee Valley in 2000

The Hank Aaron Trail through Menomonee Valley

]]> http://ecosquared.wordpress.com/2011/11/05/news-wrap-up-occupy-wall-street-vacate-the-banks-tax-speculation-go-green-milwaukee/feed/ 1 hcole Occupy-Wall-Street-Oct.-5th-Demo-300x197 Brothers Hank and Fred Cole in front of the White House Nov 3, 2011 Menomonee valley 2000 Menomonee Co 2010 27-canalstreetandhankaaronstatetrail http://ecosquared.wordpress.com/2011/10/31/a-short-halloween-play-the-night-of-the-living-heartless/ http://ecosquared.wordpress.com/2011/10/31/a-short-halloween-play-the-night-of-the-living-heartless/#comments Mon, 31 Oct 2011 15:20:25 +0000 Henry S. Cole, Ph.D. http://ecosquared.wordpress.com/?p=4099 ]]> The Ekos Gap: Addicted readers probably noticed despairingly that there were no new posts from September 22 until October 28.  I was on the road.

Armenia: On September 25, Claudia and I flew to Yerevan, the incredibly beautiful capital ofArmenia. We went to visit our son, Yevgeniy (Genya) who has been a Peace Corps volunteer there for the past year and a half. We returned home on October 10.  In about a week, we will feature a post on the trip and what we learned about this amazing country.

Doug La Follette in his office this past Saturday; Photo: Mary Maller

Wisconsin: Soon thereafter, I set out for my old stomping grounds in Wisconsin – this time to deliver a lecture in Milwaukee for a Clean Wisconsin event known as the Doug La Follette Speaker Series. And what an honor! Doug is the long-time Secretary of State in Wisconsin and an old friend and colleague. This past spring Governor Scott Walker attempted to coerce La Follette to publish the GOP’s union busting law before the 10-day deadline elapsed. The law deprived public employees of their right to bargain collectively.  La Follette’s stand (under duress) allowed public employee unions to negotiate and secure contracts with many local governments before the draconian law took effect. For a full accounting go to our previous post.

A synopsis of the speech will be posted soon.

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THE NIGHT OF THE LIVING HEARTLESS

Preface: Thank God for Joe Nocera. His column in this past Friday’s New York Times Nocera describes how the Halloween party that Steven J. Baum threw in which employees mocked the homeowners it foreclosed against, wearing horrific “squatter” and “homeless” costumes and setting up a fake foreclosure sale tent city. Baum’s firm happens to be the largest foreclosure mill firm in New York state and carries out the dirty work for Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo, and other Wall Street lenders. Baum’s firm recently agreed to pay $2 million to the Department of Justice with regard to unscrupulous legal maneuverings to throw families out of their homes and is now under investigation by the NY Attorney General. You can see Nocera’s column along with pictures (sent by former Baum employee) here. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/29/opinion/what-the-costumes-reveal.html

This rare glimpse of the arrogant inspired me to write the play. You can read it here.