thoughts from podunk: Kelly Westlund's Congressional campaign is being funded by Mike Wiggins, Jr. and the National and Regional Indian Gaming Associations

Monday, March 17, 2014

Kelly Westlund's Congressional campaign is being funded by Mike Wiggins, Jr. and the National and Regional Indian Gaming Associations

Why was my comment removed from this website:

http://unitedindefenseofthewater.com/lake-superior-basin-says-no-mine/

Mike Wiggins, Jr. is the biggest hypocrite. He operates a loud, noisy, smoke-filled casino that is ruining the health and lives of the workers he impoverishes.

The workers employed in the Bad River Casino have NO rights under state or federal labor laws--- does anyone call this being respectful of human rights?

Mike Wiggins, Jr. hides his real motives for opposing this hideous mine project that will tear apart the Penokees behind very legitimate reasons for opposition; however, his only motivation is to keep wages down because his casino operation requires a huge pool of cheap labor as casino workers are fired left and right for no other reason than they are getting to sick to work from working in this smoke-filled casino.

If Mike Wiggins, Jr. really respected human rights and a liveable environment he would:

1. Put up "No Smoking" signs in the Bad River Casino; and,

2. Sit down and negotiate a union contract that would protect the rights, lives and livelihood of casino workers.

Kelly Westlund talks about jobs; but, like other Democrats, she refuses to talk about real living wage jobs.

Kelly Westlund's campaign for Congress is being financed by Mike Wiggins, Jr. and the Indian Gaming Industry.

If you notice, Kelly Westlund does not utter a peep about the horrendous unhealthy working conditions casino workers are forced to endure nor does she utter a peep of protest about the poverty wages paid to casino workers in this Indian Gaming Industry which is far more profitable than any iron ore mining operation.

The mainstream media refuses to address these issues of the Indian Gaming Industry as do the public and alternative media.

Nick Vanderpuy, Mike Wiggins, Jr.'s buddy, interviewed me for hours about the plight of casino workers and the tape ended up in the hands of one of the union busting outfit hired by the National Indian Gaming Association, Altegrity/USIS--- so much for concern about human rights. Just how did Altegrity/USIS "Special Agent" George Armstrong get his hands on this interview which never aired?

Kelly Westlund and the Democrats point to industries providing jobs that are an alternative to mining and yet she and Mike Wiggins, Jr. and the Democrats the Indian Gaming Association money buys can only point to a bunch of poverty wage jobs with unhealthy working conditions. There are no efforts made to make these jobs real living wage jobs in healthy working environments.

Just a bunch of hypocrites--- and this gaggle of upper-middle class muddle-headed intellectuals posing as "environmentalists" couldn't give two-hoots about workers forced to work in smoke-filled casinos.

Why didn't the Associated Press' Todd Richmond ask Mike Wiggins, Jr. about the unhealthy smoke-filled Bad River Casino workers are forced to work in and the fact all of these workers are employed at poverty wages and without any rights under state, federal, tribal or international labor laws in complete violation of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights?

And; oh, yes; these "environmentalists" will claim they can only handle one issue at a time but they don't explain why they tolerated these deplorable working conditions in Mike Wiggins, Jr.'s Bad River Casino for so many years before this mining issue came along?

Mike Wiggins, Jr. conceals the fact that every single slot machine and table game in the Bad River Casino are owned by a bunch of racist, rich mobsters who rake in the profits skimming the cream off the top leaving the people of the Bad River Tribe mired in poverty causing debt from which they will never escape.

Alan L. Maki
Director of Organizing,
Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council

I was asked a question; this was my answer.

At a recent forum in Thief River Falls, Minnesota where I was on a panel discussing Minnesota's financial woes, I was asked what I would do if I was governor.

This is a fair question.

This was my answer:

Please keep in mind as I proceed with my thoughts that there is a "fare" and a "fair." One is spelled "f-a-r-e" and means something completely different from "fair" spelled "f-a-i-r."

If I were elected governor of Minnesota the very first reforms I would implement to solve the state's budget problems would be:

1. A hefty tax on the rich like Mark Dayton promised as he campaigned for election but reneged on once elected.

2. Substantially increase the taconite tax; the mining companies are robbing us blind leaving us with poverty and pits filled with pollution while they abscond with the profits. This has to end.

3. Place a really hefty tax on the forestry industry in the form of stumpage fees; cut down any tree and you pay what the tree is really worth.

4. I would place toll booths at the entrances to each and every casino in Minnesota charging the exact same fee Minnesotans are charged to enter our State Parks. Anyone who can afford to gamble can afford such a fee. I would also initiate a "gambling license" on all gamblers. Just like a fishing license

Like most of you, I am fed up with this "circus in the Cities." Democrats and Republicans don't know the difference between the words "f-a-r-e" and "f-a-i-r;" we should give them all a dictionary not our votes.

I think most Minnesotans would agree with these four solutions. So, what kind of democracy do we have where politicians won't do what people want and expect?

It's just like the priorities at the national level... like they say in the Navy--- it's a SNAFU. If you don't know what a S-N-A-F-U stands for, look it up in the Urban Dictionary on your computer when you get home.

If the United States government would stop spending our tax dollars on this insane militarism and all these dirty imperialist wars we would have the money to put people to work solving the problems of the people.

I recently read this little book by former Democratic Vice-president under FDR, Henry Wallace, "Sixty Million Jobs." I would encourage everyone to read this book because it was in 1945 when this book was published to support the Full Employment Act of 1945 when Democrats and Republicans--- at Wall Street's insistence--- decided not to take Henry Wallace's advice provided in this book that our country began going way off track.

Henry Wallace pointed out that Peace will put everyone to work which will solve just about every major problem we have in this country.

How capitalism works...

How capitalism works explained from a worker's perspective...

Abba Ramos, a veteran organizer in the International Longshore and Warehouse Union:

"If they can get a trained monkey to unload that boxcar tomorrow morning, rest assured, they'll have them over there and they'll have some bananas for lunch, and you'll be out on the street looking for work. Simple as that. You've got to remember, they follow only one rule of economic law, and that's that maximum production-minimum cost yields the greatest amount of profit. They don't deviate from that."

A program for real change...

* Peace--- end the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya and shutdown the 800 U.S. military bases on foreign soil.

* A National Public Health Care System - ten million new jobs.

* A National Public Child Care System - three to five million new jobs.

* WPA - three million new jobs.

* CCC - two million new jobs.

* Tax the hell out of the rich and cut the military budget by ending the wars to pay for it all which will create full employment.

* Enforce Affirmative Action; end discrimination.

* Raise the minimum wage to a real living wage

* What tax-payers subsidize in the way of businesses, tax-payers should own and reap the profits from.

* Moratorium on home foreclosures and evictions.

* Defend democracy by defending workers' rights including the right to collective bargaining for improving the lives and livelihoods of working people.

* Roll-back and freeze the price of food, electricity, gas and heating fuels; not wages, benefits or pensions.

* Wall Street is our enemy.

Let's talk about the politics and economics of livelihood for a real change.

Follow and support the important working class' victory at the polls in Canada

Canadian workers and their New Democratic Party are blazing the path of independence from the big-business controlled political parties. Manitoba will be having elections in the fall. Workers here in the United States should be paying attention to Canadian politics as there is a lot to learn. Ask your union to link its websites to the Canadian Labour Congress, New Democratic Party and Manitoba NDP.

Also, I would encourage you to paste this into your own personal blogs, web sites and FaceBook and other social netwoking sites.

Here are the links:

Canadian Labour Congress---

http://www.canadianlabour.ca/home

New Democratic Party---

http://www.ndp.ca/

Manitoba NDP---

http://todaysndp.ca/

Also, check out Howard Pawley's new book---

"A Life in Politics, Keep True" available through:

http://msupress.msu.edu/bookTemplate.php?bookID=4250

Check out my blog:
http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/

Question...

Could Minnesota's debt be eliminated by modestly taxing the Indian Gaming Industry in Minnesota?

If, so, why haven't any of the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party candidates for governor brought this idea forward as part of their campaigns?

Other businesses and industries are faced with a myriad of taxes... shouldn't there be a level playing field in taxation?

Wouldn't such a tax on gaming revenues amounting to tens of billions of dollars provide working people and small business owners and the middle class with a little much needed tax relief?

Suggestion:

Ask this question at a "meet the candidates forum;" no one else will ask this question if you don't.

Comment:

We have toll booths at the entrances to all Minnesota State Parks; put up toll booths on the public roads going into all casinos--- budget problems solved.

Building a new era of justice and peace

Post from Alan Maki's Blog:

Building a new era of justice and peace

By Alan L. Maki - Mar 23rd, 2009 at 8:37 pm EDT

The United States has 800 military bases on foreign soil... What we need--- instead--- is 800 public health care centers spread out across the United States where people can universally access, for free, all their health care needs from pre-natal care, to general health care to eye, dental and mental care right through to burial.

Instead of moving in this progressive direction, President Barack Obama and the United States Congress are moving in a most reactionary direction towards establishing military bases in outer space as they seek to insure the profits of both the merchants of death and destruction and the profit-driven health care industries... talk about skewed priorities and your wacky ideas which will execerbate the problems surrounding the failing capitalist economy, and ideas devoid of common sense.

In addition to these 800 U.S. military bases on foreign soil, Barack Obama and the United States Congress continue funding--- with our tax-dollars--- the Israeli killing machine to the tune of tens of billions of dollars. Where is the "change?"

This is the change Americans want, and the change we need:

A network of 800 public health care centers spread out across the United States would create over four-million good-paying, decent jobs--- talk about your "economic stimulus" package!

We would be redistributing the wealth as we are planting the seeds of socialism while helping to eradicate poverty by keeping people healthy and getting them well when sick.

Think about this kind of solution in relation to what Barack Obama, the U.S. Congress and the Wall Street bankers and coupon clippers are offering the American people, and the peoples of the world... just what is the reason for bailing out the banks and AIG and maintaining more than 800 expensive U.S. military bases of foreign soil?

The Mt. Carmel Clinic in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada offers us a glimpse at what militarization and wars continue to rob us of.

The problems created by Wall Street will not be solved as long as the military-financial-industrial complex is allowed to squander human and natural resources on militarism and wars... we might just as well be dumping these resources out into the ocean... at least no one would die in wars.

These merchants of death and destruction must be stopped if humanity is to survive in a livable world.

The time has come to talk about working class Marxist politics and the economics of livelihood... capitalism has failed humanity miserably and left us a real mess to clean up.

Capitalism is on the skids to oblivion and unless we take a "left turn" we will continue down this road to perdition.

Something for working people to think about and discuss around the dinner table... the capitalist sooth-Sayers certainly are not going to broach such solutions to the problems of working people as they hide behind the skirt of Rosy Scenario as this global capitalist economic depression intensifies while wars rage on.

The times and conditions call for "building a new era of justice and peace;" this is one step in that direction; this is the change the American people voted for.

Alan L. Maki

Founder,

Frank Marshall Davis Roundtable for Change

A gift returned...

Dear Mr. Ambassador,

Thank you for the 3 bottles of wine that you sent me as season’s greetings. I wish to you, your family and everybody in the Embassy a happy new year. Good health and progress to you all.

Unhappily, I noticed that the wine you have sent me has been produced in the Golan Heights. I have been taught since I was very young not to steal and not to accept products of theft. So I cannot possibly accept this gift and I must return it back to you.

As you know, your country occupies illegally the Golan Heights which belongs to Syria, according to the International Law and numerous decisions of the International Community.

I take the opportunity to express my hope that Israel will find security within its internationally recognized borders and the terrorist activities against Israel territory by Hamas or anybody else will be contained and made impossible, but I also hope that your government will cease practicing the policy of collective punishment which was applied on a mass scale by Hitler and his armies.

Actions such as those of these days of the Israel military in Gaza remind the Greek people of holocausts such as in Kalavrita or Doxato or Distomo and certainly in the ghetto of Warsaw.

With these thoughts allow me to express to you my best wishes for you, the Israeli people and all the people of our region of the world.

Athens, 30/12/2008

Theodoros Pangalos, Member of Parliament (Greece)

Ann Holdreith

Michigan poet--- The poetry of Ann Holdreith merges the mystical with the everyday. A chapter of her work is included in "Beyond the Lines", an anthology of Michigan authors published by Plainview Press. Her publishing credits also include: Wayne State University, Gravity Presses, Dixie Phoenix, Poetry Motel, Free Fall, Snakeskin, Gravity Webzine, Stirring (Best Love Poems), Aether, Friction Magazine and a Pushcart Prize nomination. Ann has taught for the Detroit Writer's Voice and is a Magna Cum Laude graduate in Fine Art and Literature from the University of Detroit. She has featured at the Michigan Opera Theatre, The Detroit Festival for the Arts and Spring Fed Arts of Detroit. Her riveting performance style synthesizes her background as an actress, vocalist, dancer and performance artist. Ann has been teaching her Fire Seed workshop, designed to free the authentic self, since 1987. Her work is dedicated to the full expression and elevation of the human spirit.

Autumn Sky

By: Ann Holdreith

On the ride home from Toledo,
from a worn out school
resurrected for good honest men,
for men with kids and grandkids,
guys who eat sugar doughnuts and wink
while they hammer-out fenders
and hurl the carcasses of metal beasts,
against autumn’s haunted sky,
I wonder if they remember
the grip of thighs around engine-less
muscle and sweat, ragged dirty hair
assaulting the wind, buttocks and back
pounding with hooves that know
exactly where they belong
on this earth.

On the way from Toledo,
a pulsing cloud of blackbirds
hurls its wings against the dying blue;
dark umbrellas opening
to summer’s last ride.

Democratic majority in the Michigan House abandons casino workers...

Wednesday, August 8, 2007--- Lansing, Michigan. By a shameful vote of 63 to 41... not a single Michigan Legislator--- with the exception of one lone Republican--- would take a stand in defense of the rights of casino workers to be employed in a workplace free of second-hand smoke. Not one single Michigan Legislator would take a stand for casino workers being paid real living wages protected by state and federal labor laws along with the right to organize for collective bargaining. House Democratic Floor Leader Steve Tobacman and Democratic Representative Barbara Farrah did this dirty work for the Fertitta Family and the Kansas City mob which will "skim" the profits from the Gun Lake Casino like they have done in all the other casinos managed by the Fertitta Family. The United Auto Workers union leadership, fearing estrangement and being shunned by the Democratic Party, dropped its feeble opposition to this legislation giving a hint as to how they intend to abandon autoworkers in the present contract negotiations with the "Big Three."

This Land Is Your Land

Words and Music by Woody Guthrie, one of America's outstanding working class Communists

Chorus:

This land is your land, this land is my land
From California, to the New York Island
From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters
This land was made for you and me

As I was walking a ribbon of highway
I saw above me an endless skyway
I saw below me a golden valley
This land was made for you and me

Chorus

I've roamed and rambled and I've followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
And all around me a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and me

Chorus

The sun comes shining as I was strolling
The wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
The fog was lifting a voice come chanting
This land was made for you and me

Chorus

As I was walkin' - I saw a sign there
And that sign said - no tress passin'
But on the other side .... it didn't say nothin!
Now that side was made for you and me!

Chorus

In the squares of the city - In the shadow of the steeple
Near the relief office - I see my people
And some are grumblin' and some are wonderin'
If this land's still made for you and me.

Chorus (2x)

Marxism on right-wing talk radio

Saturday April 25, 2009

The Headliners Hr2. With The Northern Alliance

Mitch Berg interviews Alan Maki, union organizer and socialist.

Length: 00:48:55

AM 1280 The Patriot; Right-wing talk radio with Mitch Berg

Maki calls for:

* health care not warfare

* smoke-free casinos to protect worker health

If He Only Had A Clue

He could get it fixed on Wall St.
create real jobs on Main St.
and select a better crew,
He'd end blank checks to Israel
and bring some peace to that hell
-- if he only had a clue

He could make the Congress line up
if he pressed them all to sign on
but instead he tries to woo
the right-wing crooks who hate him
and will still block and berate him
-- if he only had a clue

He could deal with all the Repugs
imprisoning the worst thugs
and save the constitution too
but instead he will continue
their imperialist venue,
-- if he only had a clue

He could close down all our gulags
and end so-called "renditions"
but this he will not do--
He could bring the world together
and address the changing weather
-- if he only had a clue

posted by Jaded Prole

Words used around the kitchen table

constitution
predatory lending
capitalism
imperialism
socialism
public ownership
single-payer, universal health care
real living wage
standard of living
secure the population
McGovern "Blueprint" to end the war in Iraq
"new democratic majority"
fiduciary responsibilities
Benchmarks for progress in Iraq
democracy
accountability
neoliberalism
redistribution of wealth
People's Lobby
People's Front
People's Bailout
obstreperous citizens' movement
Obamalism: lack of contact with reality.
Matchstick Man
Full Employment
NEW WORD:
Living wage

It's time to start thinking outside the capitalist box...

We need to get off the beaten path and begin to explore the cooperative socialist alternative to capitalism. The Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party together with the "Red" Finns on the Iron Range created a solid progressive foundation; we can continue to build on the legacy they left to us as we network and grow our movement for peace and social justice by establishing working class clubs for education and action... now is the time to begin discussing how we are going to put an end to capitalism as we struggle to end this dirty war for oil in Iraq and work towards socialized health care by taking the first step with single-payer, universal health care... these discussions should take place frequently around the kitchen table with family, friends, and fellow workers.

Writing a Letter the Editor

Write A Letter To The Editor--- a very effective way to influence public opinion.

By: Alan L. Maki

Letters to the Editor are an effective way of speaking to a large group of people, and often getting the attention of elected officials; but, most important is that elected public officials understand that through a Letter to the Editor you are speaking directly to your friends, neighbors and fellow workers in the proverbial public square and these politicians will understand that their own positions are being publicly challenged and people are beginning to “think outside the box” which often leads to movement building.

First, you should pick an issue that you feel strongly about and you are familiar with; citing your own personal experiences with unemployment and poverty or with war makes for a very strong Letter to the Editor.

One important thing to remember is that newspapers like to publish letters that have a local tone; so your letter should address how the issue is pertinent to people in your area.

Also, it is best to always refer to an article that was published in the newspaper you are submitting your letter to. State that you are opposing or supporting the views in the article or editorial. Give the date and page of publication you are referencing.

If you need the address for your local paper, check out this site which has links to newspapers all over Minnesota: http://www.mnnews.com/

Remember to show your published Letter to the Editor to everyone you know; encourage them to write, too.

If you and a couple friends get Letters published you can photo-copy them and use it as a leaflet.

One effective way to use Letters to the Editor to build movements is to write a Letter and then get friends to follow up with Letters of their own on different aspects of the issue.

Remember to stick to the newspaper's guidelines as to limitation on words, etc. that the newspaper establishes.

* If your Letter doesn't get published, call the Editor and ask for the reason your letter wasn't published. Often the Editor will suggest “corrections” that you can make and then you can resubmit the Letter for publication consideration. Also, don't waste a Letter to the Editor; submit it to another paper if one doesn't publish it.

There are some important working class issues many Editors of corporate newspapers will not publish unless pressured to do so. If this happens then take the opportunity to publish your Letter as a leaflet with a big, bold headline like this: The Duluth News-Tribune refused to publish this--- why? What is happening to democracy in our community?

If you are working on an issue or problem, gather together a few people and have a Letter to the Editor writing party at your home, in a union hall, community center, library, church or park. Libraries are good places to have such a party because you have many resources available.

Provided courtesy of:

The Podunk Blog http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/

A blog for working class activists.

Alan L. Maki, publisher

58891 County Road 13

Warroad, Minnesota 56763

Phone: 218-386-2432 Cell Phone: 651-587-5541 E-mail: amaki000@centurytel.net

An example of some well-written Letters to the Editor which were published:

http://nativeamericanindianlaborunion12.blogspot.com/2009/10/finally-pioneer-published-this-letter.html

http://nativeamericanindianlaborunion12.blogspot.com/2009/08/letter-to-editor.html

This was rejected by the Editor as a Letter to the Editor because of its length but the Editor then agreed to publish it as an Op-Ed piece: http://nativeamericanindianlaborunion12.blogspot.com/2009/08/grand-forks-herald-op-ed-piece.html

A good writing guide: “Elements of Style” by W. Strunk & E. B. White; free on-line: http://faculty.washington.edu/heagerty/Courses/b572/public/StrunkWhite.pdf

Each of us is like one little snowflake; we don't amount to much... but watch out for a Minnesota blizzard!

How capitalism works...

How capitalism works explained from a worker's perspective...

Abba Ramos, a veteran organizer in the International Longshore and Warehouse Union:

"If they can get a trained monkey to unload that boxcar tomorrow morning, rest assured, they'll have them over there and they'll have some bananas for lunch, and you'll be out on the street looking for work. Simple as that. You've got to remember, they follow only one rule of economic law, and that's that maximum production-minimum cost yields the greatest amount of profit. They don't deviate from that."

Money should go to health care and jobs, not wars

« Readers view

Reader's view: Money should go to health care and jobs, not wars

Published: April 24, 2010 12:00:00 AM CDT

Barack Obama has turned out to be just one more Wall Street flim-flam man and con artist posing as a president while selling health insurance on the side. Here we are spending billions on wars with unemployment soaring as the economy collapses. With Obama’s health-care reform, the for-profit health-care system is in an even bigger mess.

Listening to Democrats making excuses for Obama has been sickening. People voted for peace and got more war. People voted for health-care reform and got a health insurance industry bailout and profit maximization act. The Democrats scream, “Jobs, jobs, jobs!” and we get more unemployment and poverty-wage jobs.

Common sense tells us to end these dirty wars and use the money to pay for a world-class, socialized, health-care system, providing free health care for all, which would create as many as 10 million new jobs with the enforcement of affirmative action.

Every single delegate to the Minnesota DFL State Convention in Duluth should have to pass through a gauntlet of warriors for peace and social justice, insisting on the change they voted for. If we can’t get peace with social justice out of the Democratic Party, we are going to have to look elsewhere —possibly start a new political party.

Alan L. Maki

Warroad, Minnesota.

The writer is a delegate to the 2010 Minnesota DFL State Convention in Duluth.

An open letter to: The organizers of the “Minnesota Tea Parties.”

Thursday, April 16, 2009

An open letter to:

The organizers of the “Minnesota Tea Parties.”

What kind of ideas do you people have if you are afraid to debate and fear the ideas of others?

You are no better than, certainly no alternative to, Barack Obama and the pathetic Democrats and the even more corrupt and disgraced Republicans.

Come on, put your ideas up against a real socialist.

I challenge you to hold debates in everyone of the Minnesota communities where you had your big-business/Wall Street financed “Tea Parties.”

Just give me the dates and times and I will be there to debate any of you on the issues you claim to be so concerned about.

It is easy for you to rant and rave against the perverted caricature of socialism you have created without having to sit side by side with a socialist and debate the issues.

Here I am… let’s have at it… or are you afraid to put your ideas out where they can be challenged in the “public square.”

Alan L. Maki

Director of Organizing,

Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council

When I try to post this message on the Tea Bagger's blog I keep getting this message with my posting never posted:

Please Note: Your comment is awaiting moderation.

What I see in your Tea Party “movement” is:

1. racism
2. vicious anti-communism
3. warmongers
4. people sucked in by Wall Street
5. a gross distortion of “patriotism.”

I would encourage all of you to read “Citizen Tom Paine” by Howard Fast and his other historical novels on the American Revolution to get some kind of basic grounding and understanding as to what constitutes fighting for freedom, justice and liberty.

You really have a very shallow understanding of the issues.

For instance—

Why no mention of this “little” fact:

Our government is wasting trillions of dollars maintaining over 800 U.S. military bases on foreign soil dotting the globe in countries where we have no business when, instead, we should be establishing 800 public health care centers spread out across the United States providing free health care for everyone.

It is easy for you all to say things like you do using assumed names and monikers… I am wondering if you would dare to say such pathetically stupid, harmful and hurtful things if you had to sign your real names and provide contact information?

I would challenge any of you to debate these issues: anytime, anyplace anywhere.

Any takers?

Bak, bak, bak, bak, baaakkk, bak, bak, bak, baaaaakkkkkkkk.

Just a bunch of chicken shit patriots.

Give me a call if you can converse intelligently.

Alan L. Maki
218-386-2432

Alan L. Maki

58891 County Road 13

Warroad, Minnesota 56763

Phone: 218-386-2432

Cell phone: 651-587-5541

E-mail: amaki000@centurytel.net

Check out my blog:

Thoughts From Podunk

http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/

The United States has 800 military bases on foreign soil...

What we need--- instead--- is 800 public health care centers spread out across the United States where people can universally access, for free, all their health care needs from pre-natal care, to general health care to eye, dental and mental care right through to burial.

Instead of moving in this progressive direction, President Barack Obama and the United States Congress are moving in a most reactionary direction towards establishing military bases in outer space as they seek to insure the profits of both the merchants of death and destruction and the profit-driven health care industries... talk about skewed priorities and your wacky ideas devoid of common sense.

In addition to these 800 U.S. military bases on foreign soil, Barack Obama and the United States Congress continue funding--- with our tax-dollars--- the Israeli killing machine to the tune of tens of billions of dollars.

A network of 800 public health care centers spread out across the United States would create over four-million good-paying, decent jobs--- talk about your "economic stimulus" package!

We would be planting the seeds of socialism while helping to eradicate poverty as we keep people healthy and get them well when sick.

Think about this kind of solution in relation to what Barack Obama, the U.S. Congress and the Wall Street bankers and coupon clippers are offering the American people, and the peoples of the world... just what is the reason for bailing out the banks and AIG and maintaining more than 800 expensive U.S. military bases of foreign soil?

The Mt. Carmel Clinic in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada offers us a glimpse at what militarization and wars continue to rob us of.

The problems created by Wall Street will not be solved as long as the military-financial-industrial complex is allowed to squander human and natural resources on militarism and wars... we might just as well be dumping these resources out into the ocean... at least no one would die in wars.

These merchants of death and destruction must be stopped if humanity is to survive in a livable world.

The time has come to talk about the working class Marxist politics and economics of livelihood... capitalism has failed humanity miserably and left us a real mess.

Something for working people to think about and discuss around the dinner table... the capitalist sooth-Sayers certainly are not going to broach such solutions to the problems of working people as they hide behind the skirt of Rosy Scenario as this global capitalist economic depression intensifies.

Alan Maki

Simple Crusty Bread

[This recipe, from the New York Times, really is simple and produces a crusty crust and soft interior. It uses the bare minimum of ingredients, and no kneading, and works fine with either free-standing or pan loaves. Next time I may enhance it with sun-dried tomatoes, or Kalamata olives, or onions.]

1½ tablespoons yeast

1½ tablespoons salt

6½ cups unbleached, all-purpose flour, more for dusting dough

Cornmeal.

* * * Directions * * *

1. In a large bowl or plastic container, mix yeast and salt into 3 cups lukewarm water.

Stir in flour, mixing until there are no dry patches.

Dough will be quite loose. Cover, but not with an airtight lid.

Let dough rise at room temperature 2 hours (or up to 5 hours).

2. Bake at this point; or refrigerate, covered, for as long as two weeks.

When ready to bake, sprinkle a little flour on dough and cut off a grapefruit-size piece with serrated knife.

Turn dough in hands to lightly stretch surface, creating a rounded top and a lumpy bottom.

Put dough on pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal; let rest 40 minutes.

Repeat with remaining dough or refrigerate it.

3. Place broiler pan on bottom of oven. [Instead of this, I spritzed the oven with water several times during the baking.]

Place baking stone on middle rack and turn oven to 450 degrees; heat stone at that temperature for 20 minutes.

4. Dust dough with flour, slash top with serrated or very sharp knife three times [once worked fine].

Slide onto stone.

Pour one cup hot water into broiler pan and shut oven quickly to trap steam.

Bake until well browned, about 30 minutes.

Cool.

Yield: 4 loaves.

Variation: If not using stone, stretch rounded dough into oval and place in a greased loaf pan.

Let rest 40 minutes if fresh, an extra hour if refrigerated.

Heat oven to 450 degrees for 5 minutes.

Place pan on middle rack.

Here is a good recipe for Au Gratin Potatoes:

Nine ingredients…

A. 9 large potatoes

B. 1 16 oz container sour cream

C. 2 cans cheddar cheese soup

D. 1/2 cup melted butter

E. 2 tsp salt

F. pepper to taste

G. 1 pint half and half or regular milk or evaporated

H. onion – optional

I. 12 oz package of mild shredded cheddar cheese

Seven easy steps…

1. Cut uncooked potatoes in thin slices

2. Spray 9x13 pan with oil spray

3. Layer cut potatoes in oiled pan

4. Mix above ingredients together

5. Pour ingredients on top of potatoes

6. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour or until potatoes are soft and done

7. Ten minutes before taking out of oven add shredded cheese

Recipes for Jams, Jellies & Juice...

Green Tomato Preserves

8 lbs. green tomatoes, cut up

4 lbs. sugar

1 quart vinegar (white)

1 tbsp powdered cloves

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 tbsp salt

Boil slowly and stir frequently till thick. Can in sterile jars.

Red Pepper Jelly

7 sweet red peppers

2 sweet yellow peppers (optional)

5 hot peppers

1½ cups vinegar

1½ cups apple juice

1 package powdered pectin

½ teaspoon salt

5 cups sugar

Wash peppers and remove stems and seeds. Cut up. Puree peppers and vinegar. Stir in apple juice. Refrigerate overnight.

Strain mixture through cheesecloth. Measure 4 cups juice. Combine juice, pectin, and salt in a saucepot. Boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Add sugar, stirring until dissolved. Boil 1 minute more, stirring. Remove from heat, skim foam (if any).

Ladle hot jelly into hot, sterilized jars. Process 5 minutes in a boiling water canner.

Tomato juice

Cook the following for half an hour:

Heirloom tomatoes, mixed varieties and colors

Fresh herbs (basil, Italian parsley, oregano, thyme)

celery, chopped

carrots, chopped

onions, chopped

garlic, cut up

hot and sweet peppers, cut up

lemon juice

salt, pepper

Put through a food strainer. Process pints 40 minutes, quarts 45 minutes, in a boiling water canner.

From Leonard Cohen's, "The Energy of Slaves"

Any system you contrive without us

Any system you contrive without us
will be brought down
We warned you before
and nothing that you built has stood
Hear it as you lean over your blueprint
Hear it as you roll up your sleeve
Hear it once again
Any system you contrive without us
will be brought down
You have your drugs
You have your guns
You have your Pyramids your Pentagons
With all your grass and bullets
you cannot hunt us any more
All that we disclose of ourselves forever
is this warning
Nothing that you built has stood
Any system you contrive without us
will be brought down

Recipe for Coney-Roney:

Crock Pot Method

Put the beef and turkey meet in the crock pot and let it cook for at least 35 minutes:

1 lb of Angus Ground Beef
1 lb of Premium Ground Turkey

Season the meat with this:
1 tablespoon of Curry
1 tablespoon of Lawry's
1 tablespoon of black pepper

Then add the Veggies:

1 - small or large can of corn (drained)
1 - Jar of Paul Newman's Tomato Sauce
1- Can of diced tomatos
1 - diced Onion
1 - Cut up bunch of Cilantro
2 - "Hand full's of either Minute Rice or Regular Rice

After the meat has cooked for 35 minutes just throw the rest of the stuff in including the sauce and put the lid back on the crock pot. The food will be ready to eat in about an hour. Remember, the longer you let it cook at low in the crock pot, the flavor will get better.

As posted to FaceBook by Donald Allen

A program for real change...

NASTURTIUM CHICKEN KEBABS

1 LB Chicken Breasts Fillets,Cubed

1/3 Cup Herb Vinegar

1/3 Cup Garlic Oil

1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce

1 Teaspoon Crushed Fresh Ginger

1 Tablespoon Sherry

24 Button Mushrooms

24 Cherry Tomatoes

1 Green Pepper,Cubed

1 Red Pepper,Cubed

12 Pickling Onions

2 Tablespoon Chopped Chives

8 Nasturtium Flowers,Chopped

Pickled Nasturtium Seeds,Chopped

1/4 Cup Plain Yogurt

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Nasturtium Leaves

Marinate the chicken in a glass dish overnight in the combined vinegar,garlic oil,soy sauce,ginger and sherry.

Drain the chicken and reserve the marinade.

Thread the chicken and vegetables alternately onto 8 skewers.

Grill or barbecue the kebabs,brushing with the reserved marinade,until cooked through.

Combine the chives,nasturtium flowers and seeds then mix the plain yogurt and salt and pepper to make a dressing.

Remove the kebabs from the skewers and serve on the nasturtium leaves.

Top with the dressing.then roll up and eat.

Serves 4......ENJOY!

**********************************************************************************************************

From the Minneapolis Star Tribune---

Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, Bill Hilty: The nation's wars are a heavy burden on the state

Article by: JACK NELSON-PALLMEYER and BILL HILTY
Updated: July 25, 2011 - 7:02 PM

http://www.startribune.com/opinion/otherviews/126142923.html

Budget gap could have been easily closed with the money we send away.

Citizens in Minnesota are being encouraged to see scarcity as the new normal. If you are an elected official at any level of government, your job has been reduced to managing austerity.

It doesn't have to be this way -- if we address the elephant lurking in the budget deficit hall. That would be the high costs of militarization and war.

Technically, the military budget is a federal issue, distinct from state, county and city budgets. However, we can no longer maintain the fiction that distorted federal spending that prioritizes war and militarism is disconnected from state and local budget crises and is eroding living standards.

According to the nonpartisan National Priorities Project, Congress devotes 58 cents of every dollar of federal discretionary spending to war-related purposes. To better understand the impact on Minnesota of privileging military spending priorities, consider this: We have just experienced a painful government shutdown over how to deal with a two-year $5 billion shortfall. Yet Minnesota taxpayers over the same two-year period will spend $8.4 billion just for our share of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

This will bring Minnesotans' total contribution to those wars to about $36 billion. Additionally over the next two years, Minnesotans will pay $26 billion for our share of the nation's base military budget, a budget that has doubled since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Every Minnesota citizen and every layer of government is impacted negatively by current war-related priorities. Faced with pressing local needs, taxpayers in Fergus Falls will pay $17 million for their share of counterproductive Iraq/Afghan wars over the next two years; Minneapolis taxpayers will contribute $255 million.

We believe it is time for Minnesotans to communicate clearly to our members of Congress and to President Obama that federal funding priorities must shift from unnecessary wars to meeting essential needs. A new citizen-driven effort, the Minnesota Arms Spending Alternatives Project (MNasap), is a vehicle for doing so.

We have crafted a simple resolution that can be adapted and enacted by individuals, community groups, library boards, city councils and other elected bodies throughout the state. It reads in part: "Whereas our nation desperately needs to better balance its approach to security to go beyond military defense and include the economic, social, and environmental needs of our communities, state, and nation ... Therefore [we] call on Senators Klobuchar and Franken, and Representatives Walz, Kline, Paulsen, McCollum, Ellison, Bachmann, Peterson and Cravaack as well as President Barack Obama, to shift federal funding priorities from war and the interests of the few, to meeting the essential needs of us all."

The state government shutdown has ended, but the pain will be ongoing for many Minnesotans. As a recent Star Tribune editorial ("New budget rests on shaky structure," July 20) states, borrowing against future state revenues and delaying school payments will have serious consequences, and the budget "inflicts too much pain. The hurt will be felt most keenly on college campuses and among those who serve low-income disabled and elderly people."

Imagine what we can accomplish if we stop squandering wealth and talents on militarization and counterproductive wars. Schools could reduce class sizes and have adequate supplies. Bridges could be repaired. Food shelves could be adequately stocked but rarely needed. We could take steps to make homelessness rare and temporary. Cities and states could adequately provide essential services, including meeting their authentic security needs. Critical investments could be made in infrastructure and green technologies. Public libraries could expand hours and programming. Urban and national rail systems could be built. The country could address climate change and end child poverty. All Americans could have access to quality, affordable health care.

This sounds like a fantasy only because current choices keep us on the dead-end road of militarization. It is a realistic possibility once we demilitarize priorities, realistically assess security needs and refocus governing on serving the common good.

Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer is associate professor of justice and peace studies at the University of St. Thomas. Bill Hilty, DFL-Finlayson, is a member of the Minnesota House. For information on the resolution campaign, contact MinnesotaASAP@gmail.com

Previously Pallmeyer and Hilty authored this resolution:

Resolution Calling for Re-ordering Priorities

Resolution Calling for Re-ordering PrioritiesResolution Calling for Re-ordering of Priorities:

Whereas Minnesota is faced with a $5.028 billion budget shortfall; and,

Whereas past budget cuts have resulted in painful reductions in essential services and future cuts would further erode the quality of life for and, in fact, endanger the lives of many citizens; and,

Whereas many cities and communities in Minnesota are laying off police, firefighters, teachers and other essential employees; and,

Whereas past budgets have been balanced by cutting social services, under investment in essential infrastructure, and other measures that push the crisis onto local governments and the poor; and,

Whereas Minnesota taxpayers even during these times of economic crisis and fiscal austerity are poised to pay the equivalent of the entire state biennial budget, more than $35 billion over the next two years, for their share of the Defense Budget of the Federal government; and,

Whereas Minnesota taxpayers alone have already spent more than $27.5 billion, and will spend $8.4 billion more over the next two years for the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; and,

Whereas 58 cents of every dollar of federal discretionary spending is devoted to military purposes; and,

Whereas military spending priorities at the national level negatively impact budgets and quality of life at all levels of government and society; and,

Whereas our nation desperately needs to better balance its approach to security to go beyond military defense and include the economic, social, and environmental needs of our communities, state, and nation;

Therefore be it resolved that we, the Legislature of the State of Minnesota call on Senators Klobuchar and Franken, and Representatives Walz, Kline, Paulsen, McCollum, Ellison, Bachmann, Peterson and Cravaack as well as Congressional leadership and President Barack Obama, to shift federal funding priorities from war and the interests of the few, to meeting the essential needs of us all.

Approved [date]

Drafted by Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party State Representative Bill Hilty.

A more comprehensive alternative I put together based on talks with people across the Great Lakes Region:

A program for real change...

* Peace--- end the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya and shutdown the 800 U.S. military bases on foreign soil.

* A National Public Health Care System - ten million new jobs.

* A National Public Child Care System - three to five million new jobs.

* Works Progress Administration - three million new jobs.

* Civilian Conservation Corps - two million new jobs.

* Tax the hell out of the rich and cut the military budget by ending the wars to pay for it all which will create full employment.

* Enforce Affirmative Action; end discrimination.

* Raise the minimum wage to a real living wage

* What tax-payers subsidize in the way of businesses, tax-payers should own and reap the profits from.

* Moratorium on home foreclosures and evictions.

* Defend democracy by defending workers' rights including the right to collective bargaining for improving the lives and livelihoods of working people.

* Roll-back and freeze the price of food, electricity, gas and heating fuels; not wages, benefits or pensions.

* Wall Street is our enemy.

How is Barack Obama's Wall Street war economy working for you?

Let's talk about the politics and economics of livelihood for a real change.

Obviously the resolutions by Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer and Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party State Representative Bill Hilty will never be realized as government policy while we are stuck in this "two-party trap" because militarism and wars are an integral and primary component of Wall Street's imperialist agenda.

Woods for grilling

Here's a list of Smoke Wood

ACACIA - these trees are in the same family as mesquite. When burned in a smoker, acacia has a flavor similar to mesquite but not quite as heavy. A very hot burning wood.

ALDER - Very delicate with a hint of sweetness. Good with fish, pork, poultry, and light-meat game birds.

ALMOND - A sweet smoke flavor, light ash. Good with all meats.

APPLE - Very mild with a subtle fruity flavor, slightly sweet. Good with poultry (turns skin dark brown) and pork.

ASH - Fast burner, light but distinctive flavor. Good with fish and red meats.

BIRCH - Medium-hard wood with a flavor similar to maple. Good with pork and poultry.

CHERRY - Mild and fruity. Good with poultry, pork and beef. Some List members say the cherry wood is the best wood for smoking. Wood from chokecherry trees may produce a bitter flavor.

COTTONWOOD - It is a softer wood than alder and very subtle in flavor. Use it for fuel but use some chunks of other woods (hickory, oak, pecan) for more flavor. Don't use green cottonwood for smoking.

CRABAPPLE - Similar to apple wood.

GRAPEVINES - Tart. Provides a lot of smoke. Rich and fruity. Good with poultry, red meats, game and lamb.

HICKORY - Most commonly used wood for smoking--the King of smoking woods. Sweet to strong, heavy bacon flavor. Good with pork, ham and beef.

LILAC - Very light, subtle with a hint of floral. Good with seafood and lamb.

MAPLE - Smoky, mellow and slightly sweet. Good with pork, poultry, cheese, and small game birds.

MESQUITE - Strong earthy flavor. Good with beef, fish, chicken, and game. One of the hottest burning.

MULBERRY - The smell is sweet and reminds one of apple.

OAK - Heavy smoke flavor--the Queen of smoking wood. RED OAK is good on ribs, WHITE OAK makes the best coals for longer burning. All oak varieties reported as suitable for smoking. Good with red meat, pork, fish and heavy game.

ORANGE, LEMON and GRAPEFRUIT - Produces a nice mild smoky flavor. Excellent with beef, pork, fish and poultry.

PEAR - A nice subtle smoke flavor. Much like apple. Excellent with chicken and pork.

PECAN - Sweet and mild with a flavor similar to hickory. Tasty with a subtle character. Good with poultry, beef, pork and cheese. Pecan is an all-around superior smoking wood.

SWEET FRUIT WOODS - APRICOT, PLUM, PEACH, NECTARINE - Great on most white or pink meats, including chicken, turkey, pork and fish. The flavor is milder and sweeter than hickory.

WALNUT - ENGLISH and BLACK - Very heavy smoke flavor, usually mixed with lighter woods like almond, pear or apple. Can be bitter if used alone. Good with red meats and game.

Basic Pizza Dough

• 2 1/2 tbsp fresh cake yeast or 1 pkg dry yeast
• 1 cup lukewarm water
• Pinch of sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 3-3 1/2 cups unbleached white flour

Warm a medium mixing bowl by swirling some hot water in it. Drain. Place the yeast in the bowl, and pour on the warm water. Stir in the sugar, mix with a fork, and allow to stand until the yeast has dissolved and starts to foam, 5-10 minutes. Use a wooden spoon to mix in the salt and about one-third of the flour. Mix in another third of the flour, stirring with the spoon until the dough forms a mass and begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Sprinkle some of the remaining flour onto a smooth work surface. Remove the dough from the bowl and begin to knead it, working in the remaining flour a little at a time. Knead for 8-10 minutes. By the end the dough should be elastic and smooth. Form it into a ball. Lightly oil a mixing bowl. Place the dough in the bowl. Stretch a moistened and wrung-out dish towel across the top of the bowl, and leave it to stand in a warm place until the dough has doubled in volume, about 40-50 minutes or more, depending on the type of yeast you used. (If you do not have a warm enough place, turn the oven on to medium heat for 10 minutes before you knead the dough. Turn it off. Place the bowl with the dough in it in the turned off oven with the door closed and let it rise there.) To test whether the dough has risen enough, poke two fingers into the dough. If the indentions remain, the dough is ready. Punch the dough down with your fist to release the air. Knead for 1-2 minutes. Divide dough into smaller balls.

Roll to desired thickness, top with desired ingredients, and bake at 475° until crust is crispy and golden (about 10 minutes).

The trick is to ALWAYS use a pizza stone to bake on, it is not nearly as good and crispy if you don’t...

thoughts from podunk

Texas Longhorns with newborn calf in Bluebonnets

Please note I have a new phone number...

Alan Maki

It's time to claim our Peace Dividend

We need to beat swords into plowshares.

A program for real change...

Let's talk...

Monday, March 17, 2014

Kelly Westlund's Congressional campaign is being funded by Mike Wiggins, Jr. and the National and Regional Indian Gaming Associations

Alan Maki

A favorite book...

A working class point of view

Researcher, Writer, Activist

Blue Bonnets in Texas Hill Country

Texas Longhorn

Uniting People...

Cactus

An "Open Letter" to Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton and the DFL on the Minimum Wage

Community activist Liane Gale stands up for a living--- non-poverty--- Minimum Wage

Climate change and the military-industrial complex: By: Alan Maki

Writing a "Letter to the Editor."

Contact info:

More working people need to sit down at their keyboards and "bleed" on blogs, FaceBook, leaflets and rank-and-file newsletters.

Full Employment Now!

I was asked a question; this was my answer.

Uniting People (UP)

Can the Penokees be saved by people attacking workers' rights?

Question...

Who gave their consent to make this a "two-party system" where only one class gets representation?

How capitalism works...

Helpful tip

A new banner to promote my blog

My computer; a billboard for peace that travels with me

Video: Dirty Jobs Summit and Affirmative Action

For good jobs with real living wages provide the American people with free health care

education. organization. action.

MNASAP

Me and Howard Dean... not exactly "old chums"

Keep True, a life in politics by Howard Pawley

Check out what others are saying about "Keep True"

Taking it to the streets... Obama has to go.

A program for real change...

Search This Blog

Follow and support the important working class' victory at the polls in Canada

Contact info...

About Me

Martin and Malcolm...

My dog Fred...

Vote for Mark Dayton to "tax the rich" and enforce affirmative action

General McCrystal... please don't leave me alone like a Rolling Stone with no way home...

Good articles to read about the healthcare legislation

Barack Obama and the greedy Wall Street pigs he represents

A note from Governor Pawlenty

Question...

Most red ink ever: $9 trillion over next decade

Health care reform

Organ!ze

From Capitalist Crisis to Building a Movement to Win a New Era of Justice and Peace: A Worker's Perspective by Alan L. Maki, Director of Organizing, Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council and Founder, Minnesotans for Peace and Social Justice

Important Notice...

Ideas and Opinions

Some of my more controversial blog postings...

Senator David Tomassoni

The People's Bailout... Senate File 542 / House File 0626

Global capitalism in crisis...

Health Care Reform... a real proposal for change

Building a new era of justice and peace

A gift returned...

Auto workers fight for union recognition 1930's

Labor Journal

Capitalism on the skids to oblivion...

The crisis of working class family debt

Ray Stevenson, working class legend

We are fed up! Boycott Mobil/Exxon/Esso

Health care: Single-payer Universal Health Care, don't get tricked into supporting less...

Coleman Young... a politician who brought forward real solutions to the problems of working people

Coleman Young testifies before House Un-American Activities Committee

A great YouTube video from Virginia Beach... Karl Rove on Trial

Everybody knows...

Historic victory

From Capitalist Crisis to Building a Movement to Win a New Era of Justice and Peace: A Worker's Perspecti ve by Alan L. Maki, Director of Organizing, Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council and Founder, Minnesotans for Peace and Social Justice