Whenever social programs are cut, wages are frozen, cost of living allowances are not paid, the excuse is given that there are no funds.  The governing body turns its pockets inside out and says,"look at the books....no money here just a little lint and lots of bills." The agents of the… Read full post »

Following the meeting of the West Contra Costa School Board the community was informed that cuts will be made.  I contend that they are not inevitable and that if the community stands up for itself  there can be another outcome. Parents and teachers will be meeting this week to take action… Read full post »

Like many in our culture I started working at the age of ten, two years prior to being legally allowed to have a paper route I some how got one. Within three years I had taken over every route within a 1.5-mile radius of my home creating a virtual monopoly… Read full post »

 Hundreds of people showed up at the West Contra Costa School District meeting  in Richmond, California tonight,   12/10/08.  An over flow crowed  had to be accommodated  by simulcasting to the gym next door.
Ninty five community members signed up to speak (2 minutes… Read full post »

The victory of finance capital over industrial capital in the USA is all about "rationalizing" the working class. Which means moving production off shore to places where brutal regimes can enforce low wages like the $0.20-$0.50 an hour paid in Asia  (Burma, Vietnam, China,). We, the American wor… Read full post »

When I was in Brasil visiting my wife's family my sister-in-law asked me, in all seriousness, "Why do Americans hate Socialism"? I was flumuxed, that question had never been posed to me. She is from a working class family, her father was a ship captain which is a… Read full post »

Due to the rightward drift of the center since the collapse of the USSR and the rise of the "Me-first" "Greed-is-Good" ideology in the west the entire spectrum of mainstream politics has become intolerable. The Republicans have moved so far to the right that they have isolated themselves. But the Dem… Read full post »

OPEN LETTER TO GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER

 Your proposed 5% across the board cut to State workers is an outrageous way to balance the budget.  When you vetoed CAPS salary survey bill AB 385 on October 13, 2007, you wrote in your veto message: “If the State of California is to have good… Read full post »

Naomi Kline notes that Obama is a centrist and now the job of progressives is to shift the center to the left.   Sure would be nice to see Obama change his position on the death penalty, to freeze the bail out payouts, to pull out of Iraq and Afghanistan completely, and… Read full post »

Leo Gerard president of the United Steelworkers, in a letter penned  October 29th,  challanged Treasury secretary Paulson to explain why the securities he purchased with taxpayers dollars promise only half the return that comparable purchases made by Warren Buffet will produce.   It ap… Read full post »

"Its Time" proclaims this week's Economist.  Last week The Financial Times endorsed Obama.  War criminal Colin Powell and conservative humorist Christopher Buckley turn coat and join the bandwagon.  Michael Moore on Amy Goodman's show "Democracy Now!" tries to assuage progressives conc… Read full post »

If you live long enough, and I hope you all do, the farce of polictics comes back and bites even the big dogs in the butt;  so sometimes  you just have to chuckel.  As the millions of us who struggle to pay our daily bills the Salvation Army and Thrift Town… Read full post »

Unregulated capitalism allows for a quickening of the process of accumulation of capital and the concentration of wealth into fewer and fewer hands. It also allows capital to externalize costs such as pollution leading to global warming, poisoned water, deforestation,  and species eradication.&n… Read full post »

NEWS FLASH  GOVERNOR SLASHES LEAD POISONING PREVENTION

Exercising his line item veto on September 23rd California's Governor
condemned tens of thousands of children to exposure to toxic lead, potential lead poisoning and a lifetime of neurological damage.  Money is not going to be saved and c… Read full post »

I am trying to understand Black Bart's (a frequent commentator at Open Salon) point of view. It appears to be that the brutality of slavery was a shame and stain on our national honor and that the war between the states was fought neither to abolish slavery nor to defend it.… Read full post »

The bail out is nothing but corporate socialism. Socialize the risk and privatize the profit.  It is time for a windfall profit tax.  Trace the collapse backwards and reclaim the profits extracted over the years by the industry leaders.  They have robbed America and should be made to p… Read full post »

According to an article in the Sacramento Bee, “On a statewide basis, state employees are paid $1.57 billion a month before taxes.” This on an annual basis is about 18.84 billion; just a tad more than the budget hole were in. Well it doesn’t take a rocket scientist or… Read full post »

Jim Sinkinson admonishes commentators on Israel’s wall to “argue about the issues, but stick to the facts.” (Letters SF Chronicle 08/02/08). Please consider these facts when pontificating about Israel/Palestine. According to B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights group, between 9… Read full post »

Charles Rachlis 5/26/08
Joel Brinkley rewrites Nicaraguan History

Joel Brinkley’s contribution to the  S. F. Chronicle’s Insight section May 25, 2008 warning of an “anti-American” diplomats lock on the UN presidency attempts to rewrite history under the guise of an honest/… Read full post »