We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Super Cuts! Military budget, not social spending, prompts media concern

Click here to access article by Peter Hart from Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting. 

The Empire's media machine, also known as mainstream media, is busy promoting spending for the weapons industry while ignoring cuts in spending on education, health, welfare, infrastructure, etc. According to them reduced spending on killing machines threatens our security and jobs.
Military analyst Winslow Wheeler (Center for Defense Information, 8/24/11) points out an annual base budget of this size—$472 billion—is $70 billion more than was spent in 2000, and would still constitute “more than twice the defense spending of China, Russia, Iran, Syria, Somalia, Cuba and any other potential adversary—combined.”