Hope Amid a Sea of Violence

The news is, of course, distressing; violence and hate seem to be all around us. Electorally we have never, I think, been as divided since the Civil War but nothing, no political system and, certainly, no one person is perfect. George Orwell knew that dystopia is the usual reality and utopia a fantasy which is why he wrote "Animal Farm." Nearly all revolutions ultimately fail. It is why the French Revolution had its Robespierre, the Russian Revolution had its Stalin, China its Mao, and North Korea its brutal Kim Jong-Un. It is why Cambodia had its slaughter by the Khmer Rouge of Pol Pot, why the Shah of Iran fell and why a brutal religious dictatorship of the humorless Ayatollah Khomenini took hold. Free speech for so many is a quiet dream of those who dare not speak its possibility. There are, of course, dozens more examples of revolutions that sour. Hope in the beginning of a revolutionary political movement feels so good and all things seem possible but as humans are prone to do they often take a wrecking ball to it.

I am going out on a limb to say it is why the American Revolution of 1776 looks so good to me, a fervent criticizer of American power. Have we had our wrecking balls throughout our short nearly 250 year history? Absolutely, we have. Still, the ideals for which the colonials fought are, I believe, still very much alive and its goals for which we strive are still possible because we have a process. Persons of color were freed by that process, a Civil Rights and a Voting Rights Act passed, a Depression overcome, two Word Wars won with a little help from our friends and later adversaries. Women got the vote and women's rights are expanding with every decade. People with a different sexual orientation can now love and marry whom they choose, the disabled obtained rights and our nation licked polio. Most importantly a black man became president and a woman just may (I hope) take the presidency as well. At the very least she will win the nomination of one of the two main political Parties of this huge nation. Is our nation perfect yet? No, of course not and with our competing interests it never will be but we strive and hope the demagogues and religious fanatics are not given power. Well, I can hope they are not.

In the end it is amazing that a nation of 350 million human beings is still alive and stuck together with an invisible glue. There are many good things to save about this nation and many bad things we must throw out. But there is a process to do so and I want to see this nation, no matter who it elects, live understanding one cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Indeed, it is why I devote my years now to try to be an advocate for causes that are humane, fair and just whether for humans, animals, or the planet which gives all of us life. I live since the late 1960's in hope that, as Martin Luther King said, we will overcome one day. We must, I think, at least try. There is hope amid this sea of violence and Lady Liberty still shines her light in that sea beckoning others to light their own lamp with her torch!

My Letter to Rachel Maddow -- Murder in Flint

Rachel, I just heard on Amy Goodman’s "Democracy Now" broadcast (linked below) about the murder of two young mothers in Flint, Michigan one of whom was at the center of the legal action she brought against the City of Flint for the lead poisoning of their children. One of the first to file suit and murdered at her town house was Sasha Avonna Bell. I do not know the name of the other murdered woman. I had to replay the story again to see if I heard it correctly. I did. See video below of Amy Goodman's broadcast.

Only you, Rachel, can expose the Flint lead-poisoning-in-water issue you revealed against the noxious Republican Snyder administration and his self-appointed Emergency Managers answerable only to him. They have produced this water-in-lead poisoning crisis impacting thousands of children (as well as adults) into eternity stealing their future if not, ultimately, their lives. It now involves the alleged murder of a woman or women seeking damages for the injustice the Snyder administration has perpetrated.

We need the truth. This cannot and must not be swept under the rug. Who murdered Sasha Avonna Bell? Perhaps you can pull back the opaque curtain of hidden things to reveal those things to the light of transparency on Snyder and the actions of his deceitful administration. 

http://www.democracynow.org/

Why the Presidency needs to be kept in Democratic hands: The House Just Voted To Give Wall Street Billions From Americans’ Retirement Savings

Enforcement of the Fiduciary Rule

This article attached here or below is not long but it behooves you to read the link. I also provided a summary of it below to know why the Presidency MUST be kept in Democratic hands. This bill has been lobbied by the Wall Street immorals and will overturn the Obama administration's proposed "fiduciary rule." Luckily, for those who rely and will rely on their 401Ks and retirement accounts the House vote will ultimately get a presidential veto by the DEMOCRATIC President Obama. In short, if it passed it means Wall Street can continue to sell you any investment it wants no matter the risk without telling you of the risk and without telling you the fees associated with it, legally. The Obama proposed "fiduciary rule" would ensure they must tell you about the risk and their fees but Republicons want to undo it.

A Republicon presidential signature would allow investment banks to continue to NOT tell you the risk and the fees associated with an investment so retirees and those who will become retirees could and do lose billions. It would ensure Wall Street can continue to make huge profits legally at your expense through your investments no matter the risk of which you probably now may not know or even know the fees it attaches (sometimes through the back door) because they do not have to tell you. What Wall Street wants to continue to do and does do is wrong, it is immoral and it is what Republicans -- the hypocrite usurious good religious Fundamentalists they SAY they are -- will ensure. Read the short summary I have cut and pasted and then go to the link below it and read the rest of the short article. Also read about the "fiduciary rule" by clicking on the link within the article. READ and HEED!!!!!

The House voted 234 to 188 Thursday to undo a rule proposed by the Labor Department earlier this month that would require anyone getting paid to provide retirement investment advice to act in the best interest of retirees. Many people think that’s already how things work, but it isn’t.

The way things work right now is that brokers who oversee retirement savings accounts can be paid extra to steer their clients into unnecessarily expensive funds or excessively risky investments, without disclosing that fact to their clients. That sort of conflicted investment advice costs Americans saving for retirement $17 billion a year, according to the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

To remedy the situation, the Obama administration proposed a fiduciary rule to keep Wall Street from taking so much money in fees from retirement accounts. The financial industry has opposed the rule from the start.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/house-fiduciary-rule_us_57222ef1e4b0f309baeff11b