Texas Longhorns with newborn calf in Bluebonnets

Texas Longhorns with newborn calf in Bluebonnets

Please note I have a new phone number...

512-517-2708

Alan Maki

Alan Maki
Doing research at the LBJ Library in Austin, Texas

It's time to claim our Peace Dividend

It's time to claim our Peace Dividend

We need to beat swords into plowshares.

We need to beat swords into plowshares.

A program for real change...

http://peaceandsocialjustice.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-progressive-program-for-real-change.html


What we need is a "21st Century Full Employment Act for Peace and Prosperity" which would make it a mandatory requirement that the president and Congress attain and maintain full employment.


"Voting is easy and marginally useful, but it is a poor substitute for democracy, which requires direct action by concerned citizens"

- Ben Franklin

Let's talk...

Let's talk...

Monday, January 30, 2017

Who represents the American people with government in chaos?

A lot has been made of Donald Trump being an "illegitimate president."

One would be hard pressed to disagree with this given the chaos now sweeping the country where millions of people in this country now recognize the only way they are going to stop Trump and make any headway when it comes to anything is by taking to the streets in mass numbers... and this is correct as we see the Democrats even only respond once confronted with millions in the streets.

When we look at the circus being passed off as government, this government as a whole and the entire corrupt political process hypocritically being passed off to the world as democracy, don't we have to acknowledge the the entire government is thoroughly corrupt and so rotten to the core this whole Wall Street bribed government is illegitimate?

Given the situation we are in with wars most people don't want and such screwed up priorities with spending on militarism and wars instead of meeting the needs of the people when it comes to jobs, a living Minimum Wage, defense of Social Security and pensions, the defense of public education, the need for a National Public Child Care System and the need for a National Public Health Care System... how are we going to achieve peace and establish a new set of priorities unless people in the streets establish some kind of powerful people's organizations capable of asserting the power of the people?

Perhaps we need to be thinking of creating some kind of "people's assembly" that could replace the current government which is unable, and unwilling, to deliver government of the people, by the people and for the people?

Otherwise how do we defend and expand democracy which has been under constant curtailment for so long as we now approach what can only be described as a "Constitutional crisis" with Trump thumbing his nose at the people and running roughshod over the most basic and fundamental Constitutional rights protected by the Bill of Rights?

Anyone bothered to read the Constitution and Bill of Rights lately? Obviously Trump has not; and the American Legislative Exchange Council is preparing to push for a Constitutional Convention which will enshrine the "rights" of corporations over people and the environment.

Without some kind of people's assemblies being created to represent the demands of the millions of people in the streets we won't be able to stop Trump and win the kind of real reforms required to solve our problems.

Sunday, January 29, 2017

POLITICS IN MY LIFETIME



POLITICS


IN MY



LIFETIME

We are paying a hefty price for Trump's racism

Now we learn the racist twenty-five billion dollar Trump Wall will have to be defended night and day with military might... so, the cost of building this Wall will be "small" in comparison to its never-ending "defense."

Once again we pay a high price for tolerating racism.

Might now be the time to reject racism once and for all?




Thursday, January 26, 2017

Trump Is In… So What Are We Willing To Do About It?



Trump Is In…

So What Are We Willing To Do About It?

Panel discussion with full citizen participationWe want to hear from you.

Saturday          January 28, 2017                   3:30 PM - 5:30 PM



Carver Branch Library
3350 East Commerce Street
San Antonio, Texas 78220

Details

Regardless of who you voted for we are stuck with El Naranjado aka El Trumpudo.

Donald Trump has promised to derail much of the progress made over the last 15-60 years including weakening the powers of the EPA putting our air, land and water at risk for more contamination.

Trump has also talked about weakening existing labor laws, laws prohibiting racial profiling by the police and women's reproduction rights. Social Security is at risk as is health care.

We can resist these draconian policies, but we must be organized and clear as to what our strategies are going to be.

Come out to this panel discussion that includes civil rights, labor and other activists from our community and nearby Austin.

Panelists:
                 
Stephanie Collier, Staff Rep., Communication Workers of America (CWA)

Mustafa Ali, member Nation of Islam and Civil Rights activist

Rachel Barrios Van Os, Democratic Party/community activist

Alan Maki, UNITE-HERE member (retired) and community activist

Stewart Alexander, former Presidential Candidate, Socialist Party U.S.A., blogtalk host and community activist

D. Trent Champ, RA, National Sanders’ Delegate TX-SD24 and lifelong activist

We will be hosting forums in the weeks ahead in Dallas, Temple and Austin…

Contact: (210) 422-8000                                                   (labor and materials donated)

Profits and wages


Here we go again with "Jobs, Jobs, Jobs"

The millionaire labor leaders are getting behind Trump's plans to create a few jobs on oil pipelines and building the "Wall."

Twelve million people could be put to work creating a National Public Health Care System; another three million people could be put to work creating a National Public Child Care System.

Millions more could be put to work through re-establishing the WPA, CCC and C.E.T.A. programs.

Why do we need more oil pipelines; to fuel the war machine?

Stop squandering our Nation's wealth on militarism and wars and we can put people to work providing for real human needs.

What's happening in the Philippines?

Catching up
·         Written by  Ken Fuller 
·         Tuesday, 24 January 2017 00:00
·         Daily Tribune
As some readers may have noticed, this column reappeared a fortnight ago after an absence of almost two years. That time was used in the completion of two books, one of which has found a publisher.
During that period, however, there were major events in this country — not least the election of a new president — which would normally have attracted the attention of this column.
It’s time, then, to do a little catching up.
As expected, in his state of the nation speech last July 25, President Duterte spent considerable time on his war on drugs, and in doing so sent mixed messages regarding his stance on human rights. 
At one point, he gave an undertaking that his administration would “be sensitive to the State’s obligations to promote and protect, fulfill the human rights of our citizens, especially the poor, the marginalized and the vulnerable…”
As several commentators pointed out, however, most of the numerous casualties in the war against drugs are poor and marginalized. 
How could it be otherwise? The poor turn to drugs — and shabu in particular — because they are poor and marginalized. Their reality is a desperate one from which shabu gives momentary, if illusory, escape.
True, drug addiction quickly leads to other social ills, such as the crimes (including the graduation to pusher) required to fund the habit. But it surely cannot be denied that drug use is a symptom. 
The basic disease is the grinding poverty born of the Philippines’ decades-old failure to develop, and it is this which needs to be tackled as a matter of urgency.
President Duterte is not the first Filipino to express what might be called a nuanced view of human rights. Some three decades ago, the late nationalist historian Renato Constantino wrote:
“Violations of civil liberties and physical violence against citizens by agents of the state should be condemned but they should not constitute the principal focus of protest while the larger question of the people’s right to self-determination has not been resolved. For when a big power controls a small nation economically and imposes its political and military influence to the point where the latter loses its right to determine its own goals and ensure the welfare of its people, human rights are violated on a mass scale.”
In his book The Nationalist Alternative, Constantino argued that the power of foreign capital, principally that of the USA, must be confronted if the Philippines was ever to develop. He vehemently opposed the “development” model imposed by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank whereby the Philippines is host to foreign corporations which, situated in “economic zones” where they pay low wages and few taxes, carry out just one or two simple operations (often merely the assembly of parts imported from elsewhere) involved in the manufacture of their products. Such activities have few if any linkages to the real Philippine economy apart from the labor force they exploit. 
Decades ago, this model, then termed “industrialization by invitation,” was applied to Puerto Rico. Today, Puerto Rico is bankrupt.
The “nationalist alternative” would involve the state taking a leading and directing role in the economy, using both public and private domestic capital to develop new industries geared to satisfying the needs of the Filipino people rather than the balance sheets of foreign corporations.
In his Sona, Duterte promised that his administration would “implement a human approach to development and governance, as we improve our people’s welfare in the areas of health, education, adequate food and housing, environmental preservation, and respect for culture.” 
Excellent. But to achieve this will require the kind of revenue that only a developed — or, at least, genuinely developing — country is capable of generating. 
There were references to industrialization. The president’s objections to the undertaking given at the Paris conference the previous December were clarified with the statement that although addressing global warming would be a top priority, this must not be at the expense of industrialization. Later on, he said that new power plants would need to be developed for industrialization, and that even coal-fired plants would be considered.
Taken on their own, these comments might have led one to believe that this was to be nationalist industrialization. But no, because “my administration will continue and maintain current macroeconomic policies…” 
Indeed, a few hours before President Duterte commenced his speech, a representative of Standard and Poor’s rating agency, interviewed on ANC, purred with satisfaction when commenting on the appointments to key economic posts.
Thus, “industrialization” will be undertaken by foreign capital. “We shall continue to attract investments that will generate thousands of jobs each year — jobs that are suitable for the poor and less skilled members of the workforce.” In line with this, restrictions on the economy will be eased “to make more investments to come and to develop labor-intensive industries such as manufacturing, agriculture and tourism…”
So, instead of nationalist industrialization, it would be more of the same, although the president did not go quite as far as to repeat a previous suggestion that a whole island be leased to foreign capital.
What the Philippines needs, surely, is a sense of national identity and purpose, something to be achieved only by embarking upon the path of genuine development and mobilizing the people behind that cause. In this way, a broad span of human rights — the rights to adequate employment, income, education, health and housing — might be most effectively addressed. And if desperation and hopelessness disappeared, so would the shabu problem.
 
 
q q q
Ken Fuller’s latest book, The Lost Vision: The Philippine Left, 1986-2010 (University of the Philippines Press, 2015) was a finalist for a 2016 National Book Award (Manila Critics’ Circle).
 

Money for wars and Wall... but no money for health care

Racist politicians will now spend twenty-five billion dollars to build "The Wall."

But they refuse to fund real health care reform... National Public Health Care System.

What would you rather our tax dollars go for?

All these dirty wars and to build this "Wall" or to create a National Public Health Care System?

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Millions of people marched against Trump all over the world... but what comes next? Do we know?

Quite frankly, I think the only "next" one will be when the Democrats try to get these people to vote for them. We have seen this with many other demonstrations. I doubt the organizers of these demonstrations will advocate for solutions to the problems of working class women. Just read their mission statement it is nothing but the "properly framed progressive policy directives" taken directly from Democratic Party hack George Lakoff's play books adhering to his "rule" that you never, ever bring forward specific solutions to any problems.

I am sure none of the organizational resources which were used to bring people together for these demonstrations will be made available to women or anyone else who will try to mobilize people against Trump.

Their own mission statement refers to "affordable" health care.

Tamika Mallory, one of the National Co-Chairs of this Washington march, is a Democratic Party hack who worked on Obama's campaign and she backed Hillary Clinton.

This Washington March had all the earmarks of the "One Nation Working Together" rally which was nothing but a front for the Democratic Party. When it was obvious the working class families who participated were ready to struggle and fight to force Obama to deliver, the organizers abandoned the organization and all the "militant" speeches by the millionaire labor leaders were nothing but hot air.

Any continuing activity that comes out of all of this will have to be grassroots initiated.

We saw similar activity around 350.org demonstrations, too.

Probably with in months these demonstrations will be forgotten and Trump will be beating down the working class and what we will hear from the Soros funded organizers of these demonstrations will be, "Vote Democrat next time."

We should try to make sure this doesn't happen but understanding what is going on is part of making sure we don't get a repeat on the "One Nation Working Together" crap.

Look at the list of the sponsoring organizations--- they are all Democratic Party front groups but lacking the Democratic Party's endorsement... and what is with this? Not wanting to offend the big money Democrats by insisting the Democratic Party endorse? Or is it the Democrats are afraid of being held accountable?

Were legitimate concerns brought forward? Of course; how else could so many people have been convinced to turn out? And, just like with the "One Nation Working Together," all these people are going to be left waiting for further calls to action which will never materialize until the Democrats need people to phone bank, knock on doors and vote for them.

Friday, January 20, 2017

Why aren't we seeing demonstrations for real health care reform?

These demonstrations for Obamacare are being organized by Democratic Party hacks.
People do not want Obamacare.


People do want some of its benefits which are few--- two different things.


Like I said before, people would be foolish for not taking something they need. Just like they take poverty wage paying jobs--- not because they support poverty but because they have to work to live.



This really shows the dishonesty and corruption along with the complete disdain for democracy and an utter contempt for the people in confusing people taking what benefit they can get from Obamacare with people supporting Obamacare.


Even the apologists for Obamacare and the Democrats must be able to see that far more people are opposed to Obamacare than there are defenders of it... far more.


And make no mistake about this... most of the people opposed to Obamacare are for real progressive solutions to this health care mess--- they are either for single-payer universal health care or a National Public Health Care System.


I can see single-payer as a short term transition period of reforms to a National Public Health Care System.


There is no doubt that if we have a real democratic discussion on health care reform, most people in this country will be for a National Public Health Care System--- to this extent, even the supporters of single-payer have been quite dishonest in refusing to factually contrast single-payer and a National Public Health Care System simply because they know once a National Public Health Care System is honestly explained as being based on the same model as public education this is the solution most people will support.


So, one must ask: At what point does democracy prevail in this discussion?
And, at what point does honesty prevail?


We simply can not allow and tolerate a bunch of Dumb Donkeys who have promised "Medicare for All" for over 85 years without delivering to dominate this discussion, dialog and debate because we will end up with less than we have as Trump dismantles even Medicare and Medicaid along with Obamacare.

Thursday, January 19, 2017

What are "Democratic core values?"

Barack Obama says when he leaves office he will "continue to speak out in defense of Democratic core values."

This has been reported all over the media.

Perhaps I am stupid but these "Democratic core values" are never specified by Obama and no reporters seem to ask him what he means.

Is Obama going to defend the Democratic Party Platform? Or is he referring to some kind of abstract ideas?

Perhaps Obama is referring to the same "Democratic Party core values" as defined by George Lakoff?

Or, seeing as how Barack Obama appears in ads for The Nation magazine, are the "values" advocated by The Nation which The Nation magazine says should be Democratic Party core values what Obama is talking about.

Obama claimed to be campaigning for "progressive core values" when he was campaigning in 2008. He claimed single-payer universal health care was a "progressive core value" during campaigning in 2007. Obviously, Obama has had a change of mind when it comes to single-payer being a "progressive core value."

Or, what about Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, free school lunches... are these "Democratic core values" Obama intends to defend after having appointed the reactionary Republican Alan Simpson to head up the cat food commission?

Is war with Russia and China part of "Democratic core values?"

What about defending the Israeli killing machine--- is this a "Democratic core value?"

Will Obama put on his marching shoes to defend "Democratic core values?"

Does the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which Eleanor Roosevelt played such a big role in drafting, reflect "Democratic core values?"

Doesn't anyone want to know what Obama will be defending when he says he is going to be "defending Democratic core values?"

How come we can't go anyplace and find specifically what "Democratic core values" are?

Obviously, Obama doesn't share with Bernie Sanders "Democratic core values;" or does he?

I kind of would like to hear if Obama shares the "Democratic core values" of those seeking to "reform" the Democratic Party.

Do we have a right to expect that those who toss around vague statements about "defending Democratic core values" be more specific? Should they provide drafts of legislation articulating specific solutions to problems based of these "core Democratic values" or should we just be satisfied that Obama and others simply talk in a language where these "Democratic core values" simply remain "properly framed progressive sounding policy directives" as advocated by the linguist George Lakoff and be satisfied that our problems will be solved "incrementally" in "baby steps" long after we are dead?

I would like to know if disbanding NATO is a "Democratic core value?"

Is nuclear disarmament and beating swords into plowshares a "Democratic core value?"

The reason I would like to have Obama and the Democratic Party hacks specifically spell out what "Democratic core values" are is because this would give people a chance to make up their minds whether or not they want to continue to vote for Democrats or start a new working class based people's party.

Am I expecting to much asking for these "Democratic core values" to be spelled out?

Is full employment a "Democratic core value?" If it is, why don't Democrats bring forward legislation that would make the president and members of Congress legislatively responsible for attaining and maintaining full employment?

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Lloyd Axworthy solicited my opinion on the refugee crisis and then deleted my comment and banned me from posting on his FaceBook page

Lloyd Axworthy, the former Canadian Liberal government's Minister of Foreign Affairs who joined with members of the Reform/Conservative Party to deport me from Canada because of my political beliefs, sent me an invitation to share my views about how to solve the refugee crisis on the FaceBook page he set up:


https://www.facebook.com/lloydaxworthyrefugeediscussions/posts/1157766497625656:0

Axworthy was also President of the University of Winnipeg until 2014. I can only guess what kind of academic freedom of expression Axworthy promoted and tolerated given the way he deleted my comment on his page after he sent me a request to "Like" his page. Apparently Axworthy wants a lot of "Likes" for his page but only welcomes the views from those who agree with him.

Anyways, I posted my comment and Axworthy proceeded to delete my comment.


I told Axworthy that peace is the solution to the refugee crisis. That people being bombed, shot, bombed from their homes, hospitals and schools being bombed and forced into poverty without access to food, water and health care are going to flee and become refugees.


I also pointed out to Lloyd Axworthy that it was his own promotion of "humanitarian intervention"--- a nice sounding term for imperialist war causing this refugee crisis.


So much for Axworthy pretending to be for an exchange of information and ideas... Axworthy is just one more imperialist hypocrite serving the neo-liberal interests of the multi-national corporations.




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Monday, January 16, 2017

We pay; we die--- and they profit.

The Democrats are sowing deep divisions in this country over foreign policy as they try to whip people into a frenzy of hatred against the Russians while fanning the flames of war. They are on a very dangerous course because they integrate this campaign of hatred against the Russians with making noises pretending they intend to take on Trump when it comes to his reactionary domestic agenda
In fact, these Democrats are using their bellicose rhetoric to puff themselves up against the Russians to make people believe they will take on Trump as he attacks our rights and standard of living right here to pay for his own reactionary foreign policy targeting China.


So we will have the Democrats trying to make us believe the Russians are our enemy and Trump trying to make us believe the Chinese are our enemy... between the Democrats and the Republicans they will have us fighting the entire world.


The merchants of death and destruction will suck in the profits as Obama just signed into law the largest military budget in U.S. history,


Whether or not all this spewing of animosity and hate in a world sitting atop a powder keg touches off World War Three which will be a nuclear conflagration that will culminate in a nuclear winter only the billionaires with ten year bunkers can "survive," this insane arms race will plunge us, if not into war, still drive us all into further poverty because it is working people, not these billionaires and millionaires and their well-heeled upper middle class managers, who pay for all of this.


We need a sane and sensible foreign policy that begins with mutual respect and friendship between peoples regardless of how bellicose and belligerent our own government or any other governments may be.


It is mutual friendship and respect between people of all nations seeking peace who will prevent war.
As it stands right now, the Russian and Chinese people have not demonstrated any animosity towards us; and, the fact of the matter is, neither of these governments have done anything towards the United States that can be considered of an aggressive or bellicose nature.


For working people to start siding with the Wall Street merchants of death and destruction--- Democrats and Republicans alike--- as they whip up and fan the flames of war, it will be working people who do the suffering, pay for this military insanity and pay the even heavier price for war.


Do you think your bosses and their children will end up fighting and dying in these wars?


We pay; we die--- and they profit.


If you don't have a well stocked ten year bunker to retreat into... you might want to consider all of this before joining the chorus for war.

No moral or political courage among the Democrats

As far as I can tell, not one single Democrat in Congress has had the moral or political courage to stand up against this anti-Russian hysteria the Clinton crowd is trying to whip up.


At least there were a couple Democrats who had the moral and political courage to stand up against the lying provocations that took us into the war in Vietnam and the war in Iraq.


If you can't rely on a politician to stand up for peace there is nothing you can rely on them for... nothing, absolutely nothing.


As we can learn from history, these politicians who lack the moral and political courage to stand up for peace, are very weak, at best, when it comes to issues of social and economic justice.

Obama is fanning the flames of war with Russia.

Who in their right mind engages in large scale troop movements because of some e-mail problems?
This is complete insanity.


And to think that there are actually people who agree with this is totally crazy--- especially when we have a bully who is a complete and total moron whose arrogance knows no limits making his way to power.


Unless the American people mobilize in a way that will prevent war we are headed towards a nuclear Armageddon.


Who in their right mind engages in this kind of bellicose foreign policy over some e-mails?


Come on you Democratic Party hacks... let me hear how you justify all of this.

Sunday, January 15, 2017

Unless an active citizenry steps in we are headed for World War III


What the heck is going on in this country?

These people in power are playing us all for suckers and fools as they try to drag us into World War III--- which will result in nuclear war and nuclear winter that only those with "ten year bunkers" will "survive."

This is from the New York Review of Books:

After months of anticipation, speculation, and hand-wringing by politicians and journalists, American intelligence agencies have finally released a declassified version of a report on the part they believe Russia played in the US presidential election. On Friday, when the report appeared, the major newspapers came out with virtually identical headlines highlighting the agencies’ finding that Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered an “influence campaign” to help Donald Trump win the presidency—a finding the agencies say they hold “with high confidence.”

A close reading of the report shows that it barely supports such a conclusion. Indeed, it barely supports any conclusion. There is not much to read: the declassified version is twenty-five pages, of which two are blank, four are decorative, one contains an explanation of terms, one a table of contents, and seven are a previously published unclassified report by the CIA’s Open Source division. There is even less to process: the report adds hardly anything to what we already knew. The strongest allegations—including about the nature of the DNC hacking—had already been spelled out in much greater detail in earlier media reports."


Trump Is In… So What Are We Willing To Do About It?



Trump Is In…

So What Are We Willing To Do About It?

Panel discussion with full citizen participationWe want to hear from you.

Saturday          January 28, 2017                   3:30 PM - 5:30 PM



Carver Branch Library
3350 East Commerce Street
San Antonio, Texas 78220

Details

Regardless of who you voted for we are stuck with El Naranjado aka El Trumpudo.

Donald Trump has promised to derail much of the progress made over the last 15-60 years including weakening the powers of the EPA putting our air, land and water at risk for more contamination.

Trump has also talked about weakening existing labor laws, laws prohibiting racial profiling by the police and women's reproduction rights. Social Security is at risk as is health care.

We can resist these draconian policies, but we must be organized and clear as to what our strategies are going to be.

Come out to this panel discussion that includes civil rights, labor and other activists from our community and nearby Austin.

Panelists:
                 
Stephanie Collier, Staff Rep., Communication Workers of America (CWA)

Mustafa Ali, member Nation of Islam and Civil Rights activist

Rachel Barrios Van Os, Democratic Party/community activist

Alan Maki, UNITE-HERE member (retired) and community activist

Stewart Alexander, former Presidential Candidate, Socialist Party U.S.A., blogtalk host and community activist

D. Trent Champ, RA, National Sanders’ Delegate TX-SD24 and lifelong activist

We will be hosting forums in the weeks ahead in Dallas, Temple and Austin…

Contact: (210) 422-8000                                                   (labor and materials donated)