A Voice From The Left-The Latest From The Steve Lendman Blog

 

Click below to link to the Steve Lendman Blog

http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/

From The Pen Of Frank Jackman

Over the years that I have been presenting political material in this space I have had occasion to re-post items from some sites which I find interesting, interesting for a host of political reasons, although I am not necessarily in agreement with what had been published. Two such sites have stood out, The Rag Blog, which I like to re-post items from because it has articles by many of my fellow Generation of ’68 residual radicals and ex-radicals who still care to put pen to paper and the blog cited here, the Steve Lendman Blog.  The reason for re-postings from this latter site is slightly different since the site represents a modern day left liberal political slant. That is the element, the pool if you will, that we radicals have to draw from, have to move left, if we are to grow. So it is important to have the pulse of what issues motivate that milieu and I believe that this blog is a lightning rod for those political tendencies. 

A Jackman disclaimer:

I place some material in this space which may be of interest to the radical public that I do not necessarily agree with or support. Sometimes I will comment on my disagreements and sometimes I will just let the author/writer shoot him or herself in the foot without note. Off hand, as I have mentioned before in other contexts, I think it would be easier, infinitely easier, to fight for the socialist revolution straight up than some of the “remedies” provided by the commentators in the entries on this website. But part of that struggle for the socialist revolution is to sort out the “real” stuff from the fluff as we struggle for that more just world that animates our efforts. Read on.

*******
Fascist Police Attack Anti-Maidan Protesters

by Stephen Lendman

Fascist police operate the same way everywhere. They do it across America. They brutalized nonviolent Occupy Wall Street activists.

FBI officials equated them with terrorists. Independent journalists covering them were harassed, arrested, handcuffed and beaten.

It happened in New York's Zuccotti Park. They were accused of trespassing. They had valid NYPD-issued press passes.

It happened nationwide. Peaceful protesters were accused of pursuing violence. Rogue cops got free reign to attack them. 

Global justice activists are treated the same way. Free expression is denied. So is public assembly. Petitioning government about grievances is considered heresy.

A previous article discussed Eastern Ukrainian resistance. Thousands in Kharvov, Donetsk, Dnepropetrovsk, Lugansk, Odessa, Nikolayev and elsewhere reject Kiev putschists.

They want local autonomy. They want Crimean-style referendum authority to decide. 

They took over Donetsk's Security Service building. They proclaimed a People's Republic of Donetsk.

Kharkov protesters took over the Regional State Administration. They occupied the putschist UNIAN news agency building.

They proclaimed independence.

Protesters flooded streets. It's happening across Eastern Ukraine. 

On April 8, RT International headlined "Kiev cracks down on eastern Ukraine cities after two proclaim independence."

Police arrested at least 70 activists. Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said:

"The anti-terrorist operation has begun. The center of the city and Metro stations are closed. As soon as we finish the operation, we will unblock them." 

"The building of Regional State Administration is totally free from the separatists who seized it earlier."

He threatened to sack 30% of Khakov's police, adding:

"I said yesterday that a considerable number of police officers not so much had been serving their Motherland as sabotaging the process." 

"I believe at least 30% of Kharkov police will be dismissed."

According to RT, police attacked protesters violently. They "used fire-hoses, stun grenades, and tear gas…" 

In response, activists threw Molotov cocktails. They did so at the building. They avoided harming anyone. They set tires ablaze.

It spread on the building's first floor. Fire crews extinguished the blaze. Minor damage was reported. 

Eye-witnesses said putschist provocateurs triggered violence. Earlier, pro-EU elements clashed with federalization supporters.

Witnesses said demonstrators still control the building. RT said an activist used a loudspeaker.

He proclaimed Kharkov independence. He said a regional referendum will decide it up or down. Demonstrators responded supportively.

Protesters erected barricades around administrative buildings. They did so around Security Service headquarters.

Donetsk protesters reacted the same way. Mariupol Donetsk region port city conditions remain tense.

On Saturday, pro-Russian activists stormed the local prosecutor's building. They demanded people's mayor Dmitry Kuzmenko's release.

Odessa residents protested against Kiev repression. Clashes erupted in Nikolaev. It's in southern Ukraine.

Hundreds of activists tried storming the city's administration building. Police attacked them with rubber bullets.

At least 15 injuries were reported. Eleven were hospitalized. Over 20 arrests were made.

Dnepropetrovsk authorities tried reason over violence. They moved to negotiate with protesters.

Boris Filatov is regional vice governor. Protesters agreed to refrain from "calls for separatist actions," he said.

Authorities let them operate out of administrative building facilities. They provided free print media access.

On April 8, Voice of Russia (VOR) headlined "Tanks heading for Ukraine's Lugansk on Kiev order," saying:

Southeastern self-defense squads are readying "for an armed attack." According to activist Yury Germes:

"Citizens are all wound up. Lugansk residents are demanding a referendum on self-determination. It was hard to negotiate with the interior ministry representatives." 

"We've just got info on six armored vehicles and soldiers heading for Lugansk. We will not give in. There must be a referendum!"

Donetsk mayor Alexander Lukyanchenko blamed Kiev. Fascist extremists ignited protests.

"New Ukrainian authorities do not quite understand what is happening in Donetsk now."

"Indeed, the seizure of administrative buildings is illegal and bad. Separatist slogans that were voiced in city squares are unacceptable." 

"Yet all these problems are a consequence of the new authorities' incorrect policy, their unwillingness to look into the problems to understand them."

They have themselves to blame. Protesters reject them. They want their rights respected. Putschist extremists deny them.

On April 8, Itar Tass headlined "Federalization crucial for Ukraine - Russian lawmaker."

According to Moscow's lower house State Duma Education Committee chairman Vyacheslav Nikonov:

"It's perfectly clear that if the Kiev authorities do not go the way of federalization, do not give official status to the Russian language and non-aligned status to Ukraine, it will probably be doomed as an independent and integral state."

Growing thousands across Eastern Ukraine demand it. Protesting reflects "the extremely near-sighted nationalist policy pursed by so-called incumbent Kiev authorities," Nikonov added.

Russia may have to intervene to avoid violence and bloodshed, he said. Doing so would excluded troops, he stressed.

Socioeconomic conditions alone are deplorable. IMF diktats assure far worse ahead. Plundering Ukraine is planned. 

So is sacking thousands of workers. Increasing poverty exponentially is certain. Ukraine heads toward becoming Greece 2.0. 

Horrific conditions reflect things. Growing human misery describes them. Expect angry Ukrainians becoming enraged ahead. 

They've yet to feel neoliberal harshness full force. It's coming. It's planned. It'll hit like a hammer on arrival. It'll leave millions of Ukrainians on their own out of luck.

It remains to be seen how they'll react. Perhaps not just in Eastern cities. Maybe nationwide. People take only so much before rebelling. A potential social explosion looms.

Maybe civil war. Maybe what opposition putschists can't contain. Will US-led NATO forces intervene? Will mass slaughter follow? 

Will Obama's grand strategy fail? Will conflict spread cross-border? Will Russia be targeted? Will it be blamed for US-led lawlessness? These and other important questions remain unanswered.

Sergei Lavrov is a consummate diplomat. He shames John Kerry. He deserves Nobel Peace Prize recognition. War criminals alone get it. Obama is Exhibit A.

On April 7, Lavrov's London Guardian commentary headlined "It's not Russia that is destabilizing Ukraine."

He called what's ongoing a "profound and pervasive crisis." It's "a matter of grave concern," he added.

External forces should be helping Ukraine, he stressed. At issue is "protect(ing) the foundations of civil peace and sustainable development…"

Moscow goes all-out to do it. Lavrov is front and center involved. Russia more than any other country. Best efforts are criticized.

Misguided Western ones substitute. Kiev was "undemocratically" seized. Putschists have no legitimacy.

No one elected them. Legal authority is absent. Self-appointing themselves mocks lawful governance. It reflects tyranny writ large.

At the same time, US-led NATO encroaches closer to Russia's borders. Doing so is provocatively dangerous.

"No less troubling is the pretence of not noticing that the main danger for the future of Ukraine is the spread of chaos by extremists and neo-Nazis," said Lavrov.

"Russia is doing all it can to promote early stabilisation in Ukraine." 

"We are firmly convinced that this can be achieved through, among other steps: real constitutional reform, which would ensure the legitimate rights of all Ukrainian regions and respond to demands from its south-eastern region to make Russian the state's second official language; firm guarantees on Ukraine's non-aligned status enshrined in its laws, thus ensuring its role as a connecting link in an indivisible European security architecture; and urgent measures to halt activity by illegal armed formations of the Right Sector and other ultra-nationalist groups."

Moscow imposes nothing on anyone, Lavrov added. If policies benefitting all Ukrainians fairly aren't implemented, crisis conditions may spiral out-of-control.

With "unpredictable consequences," said Lavrov. Russia is ready to partner with Western nations. It urges "achieving (important) goals."

Belligerent actions worsen things. Sanctions are counterproductive. They cut both ways. They're stupid. They're lose - lose.

"De-escalation should begin with rhetoric," said Lavrov. It's time to stop "whipping-up" tensions. He urges cooperation. Serious work remains unresolved.

It's up to both sides to do it. Russia wants no less. It can't pursue mutually beneficial policies without a willing partner.

It has none. Washington prefers confrontation. It drags its EU partners along. Doing the wrong thing assures its own punishment.

What's worse than global war. Odds of it erupting increase with every Western provocation. 

They repeat with disturbing regularity. Media scoundrels echo Big Lies. Murdoch controlled Wall Street Journal editors are some of the worst.

Putin bashing writ large persists. On April 7, they headlined "Putin's Latest Escalation."

He's "back on the offensive," they said. They lied claiming it. They outrageously blamed him for Eastern Ukrainian protests.

Moscow has nothing to do with them. Claiming otherwise hypes a Big Lie. It's featured. It's longstanding Journal editorial policy.

Truth is systematically buried. It's verboten. It's not tolerated. It's opposite the acceptable narrative.

Journal editors suggest "bloodshed could provide the excuse Mr. Putin wants to order Russian forces to take over another chunk of the country, not that the Russian has shown he needs a pretext."

They hyped the Big Lie about Russia invading Crimea and annexing it. Crimeans acted on their own. They did so overwhelmingly.

They voted 96.77% for reunification. Record turnout made it more impressive. Ordinary Crimeans chose. International law supports them. UN Charter principles endorse self-determination.

Washington can't deny them. Nor Journal editors. Big Lies can't hide truth. Calling Crimea's referendum a "sham" doesn't wash. 

Nor blaming Russia for Eastern Ukrainian activism. It's spontaneous. It's self-generated. It's real. It's legitimate. It has legs.

It's spreading. It may go nationwide. Obama's new imperial trophy may slip from his grasp. Maybe he'll go to war to save it. 

Maybe Journal editors will cheerlead it. They're in lockstep with all US imperial wars. Calling them humanitarian interventions turns truth on its head.

So does saying Putin uses Russia's "military (for) leverage." Claiming its parliament is "rubber-stamp." 

Suggesting "Russian forces (are) green-lighted…anywhere in Ukraine to protect Russian speakers." Lying about them ready to invade Ukraine "at any moment."

They bury legitimate voices. They give them no say. They quoted illegitimate/fascist extremist/self-appointed president Oleksandr Turchynov. He maliciously accused Russia of:

"Debstabilization, toppling the current government, thwarting elections and tearing the country apart."

Things were stable until he and other putschists allied with Washington and Western partners. They wrecked Ukraine doing it.

They established illegitimate fascist rule. They plan sham May elections. They'll be manipulated to install likeminded extremists. 

Democracy is strictly verboten. Ukrainians have no say. Not according to Journal editors.

They praised coup d'etat "democracy." They hailed a "prosperous alignment with the West." They lied claiming Putin wants things his way.

His "troops on the border are a reminder of what can happen by force if Kiev declines the offer."

Legitimate editors wouldn't touch this rubbish. Journal ones feature it. Propaganda substitutes for required reading. War winds head toward gale force.

A Final Comment

On April 8, John Kerry testified before Senate Foreign Relations Committee members. He highlighted the Big Lie.

He blames "Russian provocateurs" for spontaneous Eastern Ukrainian protests. He claimed Moscow may use them as a pretext to invade cross border.

He cited nonexistent Russian special forces involvement. He mentioned intelligence operatives. He said they're acting as catalysts. They're stoking unrest, he claimed.

"Quite simply, what we see from Russia is an illegal and illegitimate effort to destabilize a sovereign state and create a contrived crisis with paid operatives across an international boundary," he said.

It's hard understanding why anyone takes him seriously. He's transparently disingenuous. He hypes one Big Lie after another. He's been caught red-handed many times.

He's not deterred. He blames Russia for US crimes. He blames Syria and Palestinians the same way. 

He mocks legitimate statesmanship. He lacks honor. Integrity isn't his long suit. Nor credibility. Sergei Lavrov shames him by comparison. 

Mismatch describes their relationship. A diplomatic giant v. a tactless incredibly shrinking pretender.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. 

His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. 

Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.

It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs. 

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour

A Voice From The Left-The Latest From The Steve Lendman Blog

 

Click below to link to the Steve Lendman Blog

http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/

From The Pen Of Frank Jackman

Over the years that I have been presenting political material in this space I have had occasion to re-post items from some sites which I find interesting, interesting for a host of political reasons, although I am not necessarily in agreement with what had been published. Two such sites have stood out, The Rag Blog, which I like to re-post items from because it has articles by many of my fellow Generation of ’68 residual radicals and ex-radicals who still care to put pen to paper and the blog cited here, the Steve Lendman Blog.  The reason for re-postings from this latter site is slightly different since the site represents a modern day left liberal political slant. That is the element, the pool if you will, that we radicals have to draw from, have to move left, if we are to grow. So it is important to have the pulse of what issues motivate that milieu and I believe that this blog is a lightning rod for those political tendencies. 

A Jackman disclaimer:

I place some material in this space which may be of interest to the radical public that I do not necessarily agree with or support. Sometimes I will comment on my disagreements and sometimes I will just let the author/writer shoot him or herself in the foot without note. Off hand, as I have mentioned before in other contexts, I think it would be easier, infinitely easier, to fight for the socialist revolution straight up than some of the “remedies” provided by the commentators in the entries on this website. But part of that struggle for the socialist revolution is to sort out the “real” stuff from the fluff as we struggle for that more just world that animates our efforts. Read on.

*******
Obama's War on Immigrants

by Stephen Lendman

Obama exceeds the worst of his predecessors. He governs lawlessly. He does so multiple ways. He targets humanity globally. 

He does so at home. He's waging racist war on immigrants. He mocks notions of welcoming tired, poor, wretched masses yearning to breathe free.

He enforces white supremacist policies. Poor, desperate arrivals aren't welcome. People of color are scorned. America never was beautiful. For sure it's not now.

Obama reflects the worst of rogue leadership. He deported larger immigrant numbers than all his predecessors combined.

On average he exceeds 1,000 a day. In total it's over two million. With nearly three years left in office, maybe he'll try doubling it before departing.

His legacy will be hard to top. He wants tougher congressional legislation enacted.

According to National Day Laborer Organizing Network executive director Pablo Alvarado:

"Unless (he) alters course, he risks cementing his legacy as having presided over the most anti-immigration administration in history."

Latinos are prime targets. Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement arm (ICE) scapegoats them for political advantage.

They're dehumanized. They're hunted down. Gestapo-like warrantless raids target them. Neighborhoods, workplaces, and other locations are raided.

They're targeted with shotguns and automatic weapons. It's done  extrajudicially. Families are terrorized. Immigrants are pulled from their beds. They're rousted from workplaces.

They're confronted at gunpoint. It's done without explanation. Mistakes are made. Wrong homes or places of work are targeted. 

It's done unapologetically. ICE agents are licensed to terrorize. They do so freely. They're unaccountable.

Immigrants are brutalized. They're rounded up. They're held in dehumanizing detention.

They're separated from family members. They're criminalized. They're treated like terrorist threats. They're horrifically treated. 

They're summarily deported home. They're given no right of appeal.

Independent studies are scathing. ICE agents operate with no legal authority. They arrest people randomly.

They conduct lawless searches and seizures. They arrest based on ethnicity, race, appearance and English proficiency.

Neighborhoods are targeted pre-dawn. Local police cooperate. Homes are broken into lawlessly. Innocent victims are harmed. Family members are terrorized.

Misconduct is rife. Rule of law principles don't matter. Raids occur nationwide. They're virtually daily. They're unannounced.

Excessive force is commonplace. Constitutional protections are violated. Police state lawlessness substitutes.

Viciousness reflects official policy. It's worse than ever under Obama. From June 2012 through October 2013, nearly half of some 350,000 immigrants transferred to ICE from local jails had no criminal records or traffic violations.

Obama bears full responsibility. He defends himself irresponsibly. He does so by blaming Congress. He does it duplicitously.

Executive orders can stop this practice. They can close Guantanamo. They can halt illegal roundups. 

They can close repressive detention centers. They can free lawlessly held immigrants. They can reunite them with family members.

They can grant immigrants immunity. They can grant full constitutional protections. They can mandate humane treatment. They can do so instead of branding unwanted immigrants as fifth column threats.

Obama lies claiming he's constrained. He governs by diktat lawlessly. He abstains from doing the right thing lawfully.

Immigrant rights activists call him the "deporter in chief." On April 5, nationwide rallies occurred in 62 US cities.

Eighty-three supportive organizations endorsed them. They included the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), numerous church groups, community action ones, and various legal defense organizations.

Activists chanted "two million, too many." "Up with education, down, down with deportation."

"Not one more." Marchers carried pictures of deported immigrants. They carried signs with Obama's face. They read "Deporter In Chief."

Other signs read "Smash the borders." A woman with her son held a sign saying: "Obama Don't All Kids Need Their Momma."

Another woman's sign said: "It's in your hands Mr. President." "We want education, not Rejection," said one more.

Hundreds around the White House demanded justice. Their signs said: "Time is Now." "A world without borders." 

"Immigration relief for trafficked victims in the US." "Immigration Reform with Justice + Dignity."

Not One More campaigners organized April 5 rallies. They made three demands:

• stop deporting law abiding immigrants;

• end Secure communities: it's a federal initiative; it gives state and local authorities extrajudicial power to hold undocumented immigrants before transferring them to ICE for possible deportation;

• expand Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA); it defers deportation for two years; it lets undocumented immigrants work.

Bipartisan complicity blocks comprehensive immigration reform. Obama supports what he claims to reject. 

He's the most anti-immigrant president in US history. He lies claiming otherwise.

Deportations come under two broad categories:

(1) Removals are judicially ordered;

(2) Returns let targeted subjects apply legally to return much faster.

Over two million Obama deportations are removals. Federal data show longstanding practice averaged about 40,000 annually through 2008.

Bush averaged about 250,000 a year. From 2009 through 2012, numbers increased exponentially.

They jumped to about 400,000 a year. They include returned removals again sent home.

The 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) gave immigration authorities increased enforcement powers.

They can reinstate removal orders without judicial review. In 2005, Operation Streamline was introduced.

It lets immigration courts hear dozens of cases simultaneously. It lets them rule on them collectively.

Doing so facilitates mass removals. According to immigration attorney Ben Winograd:

"In terms of how immigration enforcement is carried out, it's really a crossing of the Rubicon."

Deportations include parents of US-born children. Imagine separating them unjustly. Imagine giving them no legal recourse.

Between July 2010 and mid-October 2012, it happened over 200,000 times.

From 1997 to 2007, about 100,000 parents of US-born children were deported. Imagine the family crisis conditions created.

Imagine an uncaring government. Imagine one worse than ever under Obama. Imagine a president saying one thing and supporting another.

National Council of La Raza head Janet Murguia was unsparing. She blasted Obama.

She called two million deportations "a staggering number. (It) far outstrips any of his predecessors and leaves behind it a wake of devastation for families across America."

US immigration policy is hopelessly corrupted. It's too broken to fix. Remaking it entirely is needed. Long denied immigrant rights deserve respecting.

Emma Lazarus' Lady Liberty words once had meaning. No longer in a nation hostile to its tired, poor, huddled masses.

No welcome sign greets them. They're scorned, abused, exploited ,deported and discarded like yesterday's garbage.

They're vilified for being the wrong color from wrong parts of the world. They're wanted only for low-pay/no benefits hard labor others eschew. 

They're exploited and persecuted. They're denied all rights. They're underpaid. They're hung out to dry when not wanted. 

It's the American way. It's longstanding. It's worse than ever under Obama. 

New York Times editors tried having things both ways. They praised and criticized Obama at the same time.

On April 5, they headlined "Yes He Can, on Immigration," saying:

He's "correct when he complains that long-term immigration repairs have been throttled in Congress." 

False! Blame falls squarely on his shoulders. He can do plenty. He abstained instead. He endorses hostile immigrant policies. He lies claiming otherwise.

"Neo-nativist Republicans fixated on mass deportations have blocked a worthy bipartisan bill," said Times editors.

Obama matches the worst of them. He's done so throughout over five years in office. On major issues besides immigration. Times editors didn't explain.

His anti-immigrant agenda removed over two million immigrants in the last five years.

He "recently told the Homeland Security secretary, Jeh Johnson, to find ways to conduct immigration enforcement more 'humanely,' " said Times editors.

He says one thing. He does another. The pattern repeats with disturbing regularity. He's perhaps America's most anti-populist president ever. He lies claiming otherwise.

He deferred for two years deporting "young people who would have qualified for legal status under the stalled Dream Act," said Times editors.

His "move to protect them was timely and wise." Comprehensive immigration reform is needed, they urged. They're right saying so. What's needed is much more than what they support.

Obama needs to say less and do more. He "often seem(s) like a bystander, watching the wheels spin, giving speeches and hoping for the best," said Times editors.

"It's hard to know when he will finally stir himself to do something big and consequential."

It's easy knowing he'll do nothing to help beleaguered immigrants. He hasn't for five years. Expect nothing different going forward.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. 

His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. 

Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.

It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs. 

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour

***On Intergenerational Sex-“…And Keep Me Young As I Grow Old”

 

 

Markin comment:

This space, fundamentally, is devoted to political struggles, the big picture communist future political struggles that reflect the hard fact, as noted by Leon Trotsky's definitive biographer, Isaac Deutscher, that we communists have in the past, and continue now, to devote the bulk of our energies to the most immediately pressing of the three great tragedies of life, the struggle against hunger. The other two, sex and death, have gotten short shrift other than to be dealt with in broad brush stokes, basically arguing that in our communist future those two acknowledged mysterious passages will be dealt with more thoughtfully, less traumatically, and with deeper insight.

That said, where does that leave my old North Adamsville High School Class of 1964 corner boy class mate, Johnny Silver, and his twin sex and death dilemmas-growing old and still having a yearning for sexual adventure, sexual adventure with younger, much younger women. Other than calling him, rightly I think, a “ dirty old man” for even thinking about having sex with a young, curvaceous, nubile woman, to speak nothing of what it might do to his physical condition, we have no immediate communist program to alleviate his problem. Sorry Johnny. No question though under such a now seemingly utopian regime inter-generational sex will be no more the subject of scandalous gossip that various other homo and heterosexual variations of sexual activity that are the norm now.

Now, if one has been attentive, I have, with the exception of Leon Trotsky’s brief fling with Mexican painter Frida Kahlo in the late 1930s during his Mexican exile, not spent much time on the personal sex lives of our revolutionary forbears. That has been in keeping with the traditional reticence of revolutionaries to discuss their personal sexual lives. And with my own preferences in the uses of this space. I, however, feel that Johnny Silver’s case can be instructive for those of us who are going into our “golden years” and are still as randy as middle schoolers. Therefore I have posted Johnny Silver’s story, non-communist, non-political, Johnny Silver’s story, here for your perusal. The weak of heart, those under a doctor’s care, and assorted outraged moral philistines should avoid reading this for the good of your lives and/or souls. Note, and note carefully that other than a little editorial work this is strictly Johnny’s responsibility although I will admit my temperature and pulse were vicariously rising somewhat while performing this onerous task.

Johnny Silver’s comment:

I always liked younger girls when I was just a kid and I never got out of that habit, that sweet young thing habit. I used to take a lot guff from Frankie Riley, Peter Paul, and the other corner boys “up the Downs” at our hang-out, Salducci’s Pizza Parlor, when at sixteen I dated up twelve-year old “Luscious” Linda Lorraine (but “hot,” hot way beyond her years as I found out, have mercy, when she practically “raped” me, raped me if you can believe that, on our first date down at the North Adamsville Beach one summer night. I won’t say more because Peter Paul, who is editing this thing, might take a heart attack when he reads this since he never got to first base with her, and he tried, at least that is what she said, they all tried). They would yell “jail bait,” “baby-snatcher,” “cradle-robber,” and all that stuff that has been said by people, guys especially, since about the time Adam tried to date up Eve (who was a lot younger than he was and must have been pretty “hot” herself to get Adam off the straight and narrow) but she was fine, some sweet soap-smelling fine, and just getting some nice curves and stuff. Maybe that is where I go the habit. [Markin: All we ever said was “watch out” Johnny. Linda, who lived the next street over from me then, was nothing but a “man trap,” a serious man-trap and Johnny was only one of several who enjoyed her “favors” in those days. Despite Johnny’s obvious lapse of memory I never tried to get to first base, or any base with her. As for the others, the corner boy others, I would not be surprised if on some “horny” girl friend-less nights they didn’t take a shot at it. It wasn’t hard. Last we heard of Linda she had had several kids by her early twenties and died of a heroin overdose in her mid-thirties so it wasn’t the age thing at all about Linda whatever Johnny might say now.]

And it's always pretty much was that way going forward. My first wife, Laurie, whom I met and who Peter Paul knows, was nothing but a fox when I was in graduate school and she was in high school and whom I met when I came back for a North Adamsville –Adamsville high school Thanksgiving Day football game. She was captain of the Red Raider cheer-leaders and I took dead aim at her [Markin: I agree Laurie was a fox, no question, but again we told Johnny to “watch out” on her as well because she was nothing but a man-eater as he found out a few kids, and a lot of alimony payments, later. I admit I took a “run” at her myself when they split up but I am still grinding my teeth over the way she treated me during our short “affair,” if that’s what you could call it.] When I met my second wife, Alicia, she was just in graduate school and I was in my late thirties. [Markin: Johnny and I started drifting apart then, mainly different parts of the country, so I don’t know about Alicia’s qualities but Johnny says that she treated him “good,” which to Johnny always meant good at giving him oral sex and stuff like that. Okay, get used to it we are adults and more explicit sexual details will be coming up so be forewarned. And take your heart medicine for god’s sake.] My third wife, Becky, was barely out of college and I was in my forties when we met but she was “good.”

After that I stopped marrying them and just settled into a steady diet of “dating” seemingly ever younger women that I met through my work contacts or other social situations. [Markin: Johnny was, and is, a very good construction site consulting engineer.] And then, after Carrie left to pursue her screen-writing “dream” in California things dried up, dried up hard for this older man [Markin: Carrie was Johnny’s last serious live-in girlfriend, emphasis on the girl part, barely legal]. Well, first, damn the computer age for one thing, since it meant I could do more of my consulting work from home. And get more work done (and charge more as well). But it meant that the social situations also dried up. And no 50-something guy, no 50-something guy in his right mind, is going to the “meat market” singles bars around town trying to pick up the young ones when they have plenty of young guys around to moon over and get worked up about. [Markin: I am trying to be gentle with Brother Silver here but he “forgot” to mention getting laughed at, ridiculed and told to go “back to the nursing home” by those self-same younger women. He also “forgot” to mention that he was not a 50-something guy but a 60-something guy when the “heat” came on him.]. And second, damn, whatever that Adam “spreading his seed” thing was because even if things dried up socially this old man wasn’t dried up, if you get my meaning. [Markin: Translation; he was still as randy as a middle- schooler] So I did whatever any “on the information super-highway” guy would do, I went online looking for sex sites, younger women-centered sex sites. [Markin: Johnny didn’t have to work up a sweat finding them they practically come at you from the homepage onward.]

Of course “dating” services have been going on since just after Adam and Eve got it on. (Eve, by the way, a younger woman, a much younger woman and probably pretty “hot,” with a firm, curvaceous, naked body hot from what I heard, if I didn’t mention it before). Nowadays though (thank god, and thank god I took my medicine beforehand) the sexually explicit stuff women are putting online for your perusal is “over the top,” especially the younger ones, thank god. So naturally I filled out my “profile” page, paid my dough (via credit card but be careful), and “joined” all the other guys, horny guys waiting, wanting to “get laid” tonight.

Well things were kind of slow for a while since I blocked off returning messages to any women over thirty, and rightly so as they started looking kind of sad sack by then (although there were plenty of them around, around with kid baggage, if that is where your tastes run go see). I though at first it might be because there was a prejudice against 50-something guys in this hellish youth-drive universe. [Markin: See note above on the age question, the Johnny Silver age question.] And then Tracy, sweet eighteen-year old Tracy, answered my plea.

Now Tracy was not your average young woman (girl really but let’s leave it at that). She was eighteen, bright, intelligent, ambitious, resourceful, and looking for a “sugar daddy,” whatever that might mean. Yes dear, Johnny Silver is just your meat. [Markin: After some research this old-fashioned term “sugar daddy” could mean, like in the old days, someone, some man, who paid the freight to today’s “hook-up” or “friends-with benefits," or something entirely innocuous.] But here is where the problem came in. We sent many message back and forth and we were making some headway. She stated clearly that she was not into “mere boys,” but older men who had been around, and knew a thing or two (or three). Yes Tracy, Johnny is very, very just your meat.

Eventually she agreed to meet me in a public place to discuss, discuss our “the exact meaning of sugar daddy" business, and the like. But here is where the wheels started to come off, almost. She wanted some pictures of me, presumably recently up-loaded digital camera-produced photos, before we met. Her idea, innocent enough, and actually reasonable enough, was to make sure I was not some three-headed monster or, perhaps, someone recently released from parole for any number of charges from sexual offenses to murder and mayhem [Markin: Smart girl. As for any possible sexual offenses, as far as I know, they were all consensual and not in the least bit criminal although a few irate fathers might differ. The murder and mayhem I would advise that Johnny plead the Fifth on that one.]

And that was the first stumbling block. See, old guys like Peter Paul and me, were not suckled on computer technology practically from birth like today’s kids. We survive on the “information super-highway” but juts barely and while I know, as Markin does, enough to get by let’s just call us “primitives.” In short, I confess, bitterly confess, any pictures I had were not digital, and even if they were I did not know how to up-load them onto any site, sex site or not. Truth. However Tracy did not believe me, and it made sense in her iPhone, iPad, texting, Facebook world that everybody knew how to do such an eight year old simple task. I only avoided total defeat by producing some older photos and reading every manual for up-loading that came with the printer. But it was a near thing.

I won’t bore the reader with the details of our first meeting, or our later meetings but she was certain fetching in person and wiser in age than some of the older young women that I have been with through the years. But the big thing was that she was wonderful in bed. And this is where the faint-hearted, or just plain perverted, can get off and find your own sex site. Well let’s start off as always with the firm, soft, wrinkle-free skin, breast, buttock, thighs, that has driven me wild since old-time Linda Lorraine (hell, I can still smell her Palmolive soap, or perfume or whatever she used to drive the boys wild even now). Then of course the school-girlish strip tease that always gets me going. And then placing her mouth, well, placing her mouth where it did some good. Hell though everybody who reads this knows what’s what. I don' t have to draw a diagram, do I? Yes, we did it did several times (not all in one day, Viagra is good but no that good). She was very inventive with positions and of course, I knew a thing or two (or three) that got her going (read: moaning and groaning for her sugar daddy and not the old –fashioned meaning of the word either whatever Markin’s research said it meant in the old days). She still smiles about those two (or three things when I bring it up).

But the point is really about “… and keep me young while getting old” as the line from the Van Morrison song, The Beauty Of The Days Gone By. Some guys get it by pumping iron or other maniac strenuous exercising, and some by endless youth-enhancing operations. And some, like Markin, by writing endlessly about the old days like they were coming back, or could do anybody any good. [Markin: Watch it, Johnny, watch it brother.] Me, no, I want a young thing, a young firm thing, a young sex-crazed thing, a firm young thing that wants a lesson in those two (or three) things I could teach her (and have her sweaty-smiling a couple of days later over) right next to me right up until, and maybe past, judgment day. Can you blame me?

Markin postscript comment:
We had better get to that communist future in a hurry, a real hurry. In the meantime I’ll go off and take a shower, a very cold shower. Oh yes, Johnny, by the way (BTW for the cyber-slang crowd) what is Tracy’s cell phone number? Or does she have a geezer-craving girlfriend? Whatever you do, Johnny- “don’t watch out, not now.”
 

 

SPRING DAYS OF DRONE ACTION - 2014 Campaign Bulletin #10; April 12, 2014 By Nick Mottern Don't forget: Weekly open conference call for activists every Wednesday, 9 pm EST (605) 562-3000, Access code - 484539# Click here to view the bulletin: http://www.knowdrones.com/2014/04/campaign-bulletin-10.html Below is a list of the subjects covered in this week’s bulletin. ACTION REPORTS    - Whiteman AFB    - Honolulu    - New York City    - Pakistan    - Washington DC    - San Francisco WCC STANDS OUT AMID CLERGY SILENCE ON DRONES THE U.S. KILLER DRONE PROGRAM IS GROWING KILLER DRONES, CLIMATE CHANGE AND JOBS IDEAS PLANNED EVENTS Photo by: Charles Heiss, Sheriff, Johnson County, MO In solidarity, Nick

follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook | forward to a friend  Copyright © 2014 Nick Mottern, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you have expressed a concern about drones. Our mailing address is: Nick Mottern 38 Jefferson Avenue Hastings on Hudson, NY 10706 Add us to your address book  unsubscribe from this list | update subscription preferences

Fair Food Program “good for business…” Media round-up highlights Fair Food Nation’s remarkable progress in first months of 2014… In January, Walmart signed a Fair Food agreement, adding the world’s largest retailer to the growing list of food giants supporting the Fair Food Program. In February, the documentary “Food Chains” premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival, introducing Europe to the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and to the two-decade long fight for Fair Food.  In March, the national Now is the Time Tour rocked ten cities in ten days, with massive actions at the top and bottom of the tour, in Dublin, Ohio, and Lakeland, Florida. And in April, Del Monte Fresh Produce joined 90% of the Florida tomato industry in the Fair Food Program, thereby expanding the protections of the country’s most effective human rights program for farmworkers to thousands of new farm labor jobs across the state. With the star of the Fair Food Program steadily on the rise, it is no surprise that, from time to time, we have to play catch-up just to keep up with the media coverage!  So, without further ado, we present the very latest Fair Food Program media round-up: First up, after debuting in the national industry publication The Packer, the news that Del Monte Fresh Produce joined the FFP continued to ripple through the produce industry.  Here is a brief excerpt from the online forum Fresh Fruit Portal, which covered the momentous news in a remarkably detailed article titled “Del Monte deal shows fair food is good business, says Reyes”: A subsidiary of Del Monte Fresh Produce (NYSE: FDP) recently signed up to the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) fair food program, but what does that actually mean?  CIW staff member Gerardo Reyes explains a system that is protecting Florida tomato workers’ rights like never before, and which may expand into new crops and states. [...] Don't miss the full media round-up on the Fair Food Program at the CIW website!

Tax Day is also the Global Day of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS.)  On every continent, peace and disarmament, sustainable development groups will hold events. In 65 locations across the US, activities, forums and vigils will be held to raise the call to Move the Money from wars and weapons to fund jobs, public services and transition jobs in defense industries to green sustainable manufacturing. Join the global action by calling Congress 202-224-3121 Tell your Senator and Representative: Cut $100 billion over ten years wasted on nuclear weapons. Urge your Senators to co-sponsor the SANE Act, S. 2070 and your Representative to cosponsor the REIN IN Act, H. R. 4107.  Background: MA Senator Ed Markey introduced Senate bill S. 2070, the Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditures (SANE) Act. OR Congressman Earl Blumenauer introduced a companion bill in the House, H.R.4107, the Reduce Expenditures in Nuclear Infrastructure Now (REIN-IN) Act.  Join the Tax Day/GDAMS actions on social media: Sign onto the Thunderclap asking Congress to eliminate the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO), also known as the Pentagon” slush fund.” It is a simple one step action that can reach tens of thousands. Just click on this link. Power to the peaceful, Judith Le Blanc Field Director PS: Join an event in your area. US Tax Day/GDAMS sponsored by: Alliance for Global Justice, American Friends Service Committee, CODEPINK, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Foreign Policy in Focus, Friends Committee on National Legislation, National Priorities Project, National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee, Peace Action, Progressive Democrats of America, United for Peace and Justice, USAction, US Labor Against the War, War Resisters League, Women’s Action for New Directions & Women’s Legislators Take Action: Call Congress on Tax Day - 202-224-3121- and demand they Move the Money from wars and weapons to meet the needs of our communities. CONNECT TO US:  Find us on Facebook  Follow us on Twitter  Read our blog  Contact us

***Growing Up Absurd In The 1950s- Out In The Teen Dance Night-Penny’s Sweet Sixteen Party

Scene: Prompted by the cover photograph, the memory cover photograph, which graced each CD compilation in The Golden Age Of American Rock ‘n’ Roll series that I reviewed recently. The photo, as might be expected, shows a girl, a pony-tailed, starch-bloused, woolen-sweatered, wide, flouncy skirt-wearing, Penny Parker, all grown up almost, as the good teen D.J., a.k.a. hostess, that she is, doing her chore of spinning platters, okay, okay, putting records on her portable 45s record player for the guests at her sweet sixteen party, her very first house teen be-bop hop.

We all wish her well, right? And hope she plays a couple of Elvis, Chuck, and Jerry Lee things and not too many slow dances since some of the guys still have not got the hang of that yet. Oh yes, for the clueless, a record player was a machine to put records on in order to hear those guys just mentioned. And records, for the really clueless, were grooved, vinyl plate-like objects that kept the blues away in the 1950s teen night. Just like iPOD, texting, voice messaging, etc. keep the blues away from the hip-hop nation teen night today.
******
“Don’t come back before one,” Penny Parker, now sweet sixteen party-crowned Penny Parker, as she shouted to her parents leaving out the breezeway door to the garage to take off to places unknown, maybe unknowable, until at least that one o‘clock hour. Peter Parker, Penny proud without showing it, muttered under his breath that he damn well would not be back before one, come hell or high water, while that rock and roll music was infesting, and that was the word that he used, his house. Or at least the downstairs part, rock and roll previously being limited to the Penny upstairs netherworld, and kept away from his ears, well, mainly away from his ears. “Now, Peter,” was all that Delores Parker at first could come up with, and that was usually enough. Tonight however she added, and told him so in no uncertain terms, that her husband was being an old fogy seeing that this was Penny’s sweet sixteen party, she had baby-sat to perdition in order to fund the party (with a little Parker parent help, Delores mainly), had done mostly what they had asked of her, as much as one could expect from a rock-addled post-World War II teenager from what she had read in the women’s magazines that she was addicted to reading.

More importantly tonight was, and here is where woman-girl- female whatever solidarity came in, Penny was going to “coax” Zack Smith into giving her his class ring, the universal teen sign of “going steady,” hands off, and a 180 degree turn in their sometimes stormy relationship since back in about junior high school. If he showed. At least that is what Delores thought, she had been given to believe that Penny have given Jimmy Kelly the air, although he was invited, invited tonight for old times sake since Jimmy had been there the night Penny played her first record, Could This Be Magic by the Dubs on her brand new, slave wages-bought record player. But enough of Parker parents, tonight is Penny's night.

Penny night or not, Miss Parker is already starting to fret that Zack will be a no-show. See they had had an argument last week about that “going steady” thing, that eternal love class ring- signifying thing, and Zack for the twenty-third, at least, time stormed off. And Penny for the twenty-second time made peace over the telephone, the midnight blues telephone. But you never knew with Zack. All Penny knew was she wanted him, wanted him bad, and wanted him here tonight to share her sweet sixteen-ness.

So as the couples, maybe a dozen or so of their close friends, started filling up the Parker living room Penny, knowing that she was not the only rock-addled teen in the room, played D.J. And revved up the old Sear& Roebuck record player with a stack of platters (records, 45 RPM records okay); Ray Sharpe ‘s Linda Lu; Nappy Brown’s Little by Little; Maybe by the Chantels although she always wondered how they could get their voices that high on that one; a tear-jerker but a slow one by request from Pammy and Sue who had boyfriend troubles of their own, Little Anthony and the Imperials’ Tears On My Pillow which got even hardened corner boys a little weepy as she found out once when Zack and she were “finished” and king corner boy Frankie Riley had asked her out, and she had accepted. Well, she thought that should last this crowd for a while, for a while until Zack gets here, hopefully.

Later, around ten, ten-thirty, just as she was about to give up the thought of Zack’s coming that night, and had resigned herself to playing D.J. putting Buddy Knox’s Party Doll on (although she wasn’t feeling like any party doll then) for this rock-addled crowd Zack came in kind of sneakily through the side door. And instead of coming over to say thanks to Penny for inviting him or any other kind of social graces recognition he began to get into an animated conversation with Jimmy Kelly. Nothing serious but as Penny found out later Zack was miffed at Jimmy, one of his best friends now that the Zack-Jimmy girl wars, or rather Penny wars were over in Zack’s favor, because Jimmy had not told Penny that he was going to be a little late. But that miffed-ness turned into nothing once Zack told the reason for his lateness. See, Penny performing, as it turned out, her last D.J duty for the evening putting on that much requested previously mentioned Could This Be Magic was finally called over by Zack and as the strains of the song echoed through the house he presented her with his class ring, just a while ago engraved with To P.P. Always 10/7/59. Magic.