August 2008 - Irish American News

42 IRISH AMERICAN NEWS August 2008For The RepublicChris FogartyWHAT HAPPENED to oureconomy; to gas and food prices,to so many mortgages now“upside-down”? How did the corporationsmanage to again quashorganized labor? How did CEOsget to usurp the wealth createdby corporate workforces? Nearlyall of the pain and injury is dueto gov’t policies. Bush’s $10 billionper month criminal war onIraq would, by itself, eventuallybankrupt our nation (unless heactually pulls off his robbery ofits oil). While Bush is responsiblefor his Iraq war and thesub-prime mortgage scam, partof other damages is due to earlieradministrations.OUR MILITARY in Iraq andAfghanistan are grossly underpaid.As enlistments drop, so dostandards. Convicts and mentalincompetents are now recruited.Meanwhile, our 130,000 force ofmercenaries are carefully vetted;not for technical competence butfor political orientation. Entre tothat $1,600 per day and all foundlife of leisure and criminal impunityis granted only, or mostly, toRepublicans. Their constructioncompetence is such that, so far,thirteen of our serving armedforces have been electrocuted byfaulty wiring in showers. Fourteenhospitals for which US contractorshave been paid to builddon’t actually exist. The moneywas paid to contractors who nevereven began construction.BUSH’S WARS and his otherdecisions have all proven to betreasury-looting opportunities forhis corporate cronies. Ditto Katrina:the money ostensibly spentfor its victims was given directlyto corporations, $3 billion for100,000 trailers that proved to beformaldehyde-contaminated andcontinue to cost us $130 millionannually to store. Bush contractorsoperate on a pay-to-play basis– whoever pays the biggest bribesgets the contracts.IT WAS ABOUT OIL afterall! Bush/Cheney’s “StrategicFramework Agreement” (SFA)proves it. Under its terms Iraq’s1958 nationalization of its ownoil resources is undone. It restoresthe self-same four oil giants that,as set up by the Brits in 1930,had looted Iraq’s oil until 1958.The four wrote the new oil exploitation“contracts” which theymerely handed to Iraq’s Nourial-Maliki as mandates. The SFAmakes Iraq a permanent vassalstate coerced by 52 new US basesmanned by troops immune toIraqi laws. Thus the 1.3 milliondead Iraqis are nonentities. Dittothe untold hundreds of thousandsinjured. The five million refugeeswe have created cannot returndue to ongoing violence. Wepump their oil as if it’s ours, afterreducing their cities and townsto rubble. And despite the propagandists’“patriotic” blather, our4,120 troops’ deaths comprisepart of Bush’s Supreme Crime.THE SUB-PRIME SCAM;the largest swindle ever, is nowroiling international markets. Itsperpetrators still strut the corridorsof Bush power, unprosecuted.A bio: As senator, Phil Grammwas successfully $lobbied byEnron which had constant accessto his office. Gramm’s wifeWendy was appointed to Enron’sboard of directors. Enron ChiefKen Lay co-chaired Gramm’s1992 presidential campaign. Afterdefrauding $billions with gov’tcomplicity, Enron collapsedand a few of its officers wereconvicted, but not its enablersin gov’t. In 2000 Sen. Grammsurreptitiously introduced “TheCommodity Futures ModernizationAct.” The Republicancontrolled congress enacted it to”reduce red tape” and to “free upour futures markets.” That was thelaw that “legalized” the sub-primeswindle that has now wreckedthe international financial systemand our once-almighty dollar.In addition to the current waveof foreclosures and corruptionof the world’s retirement fundsGramm’s Commodity FuturesModernization Act has createdskyrocketing prices at the gaspump and food stores. Accordingto The Nation magazine, priorto his entry into political officeGramm was a producer of softcorepornography movies. Havingbeen so instrumental in creatingthe sub-prime scam and its consequentwave of foreclosures, Sen.Gramm now $advises the UnionBank of Switzerland on how toescape its effect. He is also chiefeconomic and financial advisorto Sen. McCain, and last weekreferred to his scam’s victims as“a nation of whiners.” This is noplug for Obama whose toadyingto AIPAC’s genocidists (alongwith Hillary and McCain) speaksfor itself. American patriots havenever been more challenged; ourgov’t systematically violates nineof our Constitution’s first tenamendments. It is very doubtfulwhether our Constitution will everbe restored.THE “MISERY INDEX,” thesum of US unemployment andinflation rates, is now the highestsince January, 1993.CAPITALISM TRIUMPHS!Good old Free Enterprise wins!That is how financial TV is “reporting”yesterday’s $100 billiongiveaway to the main sub-primepredators. They hadn’t completedpalming off on pension funds allof their fraudulent “AAA-Rated”paper and had thus bankruptedthemselves. Why such gov’t largesseto those bankrupts? They,the mortgage companies, alongwith medical insurance companies,are massive political contributors,including to Obama’s andMcCain’s campaigns. Fannie Maeand Freddie Mac alone had spent$200 million to buy freedom fromthe regulations prohibiting thevery crimes that had now ruinedthem. They own or guaranteesome $6 trillion in mortgages,some of it fictitious. Sen. PhilGramm was their main man. AsMcCain’s financial guru his trailof wreckage will continue.TORTURE. Bush’s Britishcollaborators are backingaway. According to The Guardian(7/11/08) Britain’s DefenseMinistry will pay a total of $5.6millions to ten Iraqi families includingthat of Baha Mousa. Britsoldiers tortured the ten, localhotel workers, beating Mr. Mousato death, inflicting 91 separateinjuries before dumping him intoa latrine. Mousa’s children willshare in the compensation. Anearlier court martial had clearedall soldiers of the crimes exceptingone who, earlier, had admittedhis participation. Meanwhile,Physicians for Human Rightshas just published a report detailingthe medical evidence ofdetainee torture at the hands ofUS personnel in Iraq, Afghanistanand Guantánamo. US Maj.Gen. Antonio Taguba (Ret.)wrote the report’s preface thataccuses the Bush administrationof war crimes. He wrote: “Theprofiles of these eleven formerdetainees, none of whom wereever charged with a crime ortold why they were detained,are tragic and brutal rebuttalsto those who claim that tortureis ever justified. Through theexperiences of these men in Iraq,Afghanistan, and GuantánamoBay, we can see the full scope ofthe damage this illegal and unsoundpolicy has inflicted – bothon American institutions and ournation’s founding values, whichthe military, intelligence services,and our justice system are dutyboundto defend.“In order for these individualsto suffer the wanton crueltyto which they were subjected, agovernment policy was promulgatedto the field whereby theGeneva Conventions and theUniform Code of Military Justicewere disregarded. The UNConvention Against Torture wasindiscriminately ignored. AndHoroscopesBy Theresa CastroARIES: The total solar eclipse ofAugust 2008 will fall in your sectorof creativity. If you don’t believe youhave any creative talents, those latentor denied gifts could come roaring tothe forefront for the world to observe.Also you could have a possible additionto your family. “Oops!”TAURUS: Someone creative mayenter your private world. You will begiven a possible chance at profoundhappiness that is all your own thatyou will keep very private and outof the limelight. This suits you justfine because you tend to be a privateperson anyway.GEMINI: The whole gang is withyou this month. The flurry of activitycan be mind boggling. You may be upfor some serious comings and goingsand a lot of errand running for a possiblemove or new job, or both.CANCER: Suddenly you have alot of financial dealings for better orworse depending on the aspects inyour individual chart. If you wereborn in the first half of July the financialsituation is a bit rosier thanif you were born in the second partof the month.LEO: The spotlight is on you thismonth as a rare total eclipse of thesun puts you at center stage. Newground can be broken in areas thatwill promote you in the best possiblelight. Use this time to further yourpersonal projects.VIRGO: There is a lot going onthat you are blissfully unaware of.Someone in the background is reelingin awe of you from a distance. Or,someone is championing your causeanonymously. There is also a chancethat some sort of shenanigans goingon behind your back.the healing professions, includingphysicians and psychologists,became complicit in the willfulinfliction of harm against thosethe Hippocratic Oath demandsthey protect.“After years of disclosures bygovernmental investigations, mediaaccounts, and human rights reports,there remains no doubt thatthe current administration hascommitted war crimes. The onlyquestion remaining is whetherthose who ordered the torturewill be prosecuted.” Where areAmerica’s patriots; those swornto defend its Constitution?WHO ARE THE TERROR-ISTS re Occupied Ireland? Seeterrorismireland.org.WHICH BRIT REG’Tstarved your relatives? See irishholocaust.org.Contact me at 312664 7651 or fogartyc@att.net.LIBRA: You are in the process ofshifting your world around. Finances,job, and even personal relationshipsare undergoing far reaching changesthat will make your life a happierand more complete one. Don’t beafraid to open new doors while closingothers.SCORPIO: Your tenth sector ofcareer and public image will be verymuch in the foreground. Do or saynothing that will come back to hauntyou. If you are beginning a personalrelationship with someone you wantto last, use patience and caution. Alleyes are on you so watch it.SAGITTARIUS: The new mooneclipse is helping your cause so donot squander this opportunity. Youare about to meet new people fromsome other culture or have a possiblechance to travel. You will be greatlyenlightened by new and unusualexperiences.CAPRICORN: Your health coulduse some serious attention. This doesnot mean that you have major issuesrelated to this area but it could indicatea need for some revisions in thearea of diet and exercise. Try to getenough rest.AQUARIUS: Your significantother could be giving you fits. Thetotal eclipse in Leo, the sign directlyopposite yours, representseverything and everyone outside ofyourself. Also you will be the recipientof a lot of attention and it wouldbe to your advantage to behave withdignity and restraint.PISCES: This is no time forfence sitting. You have a tendency towaffle on important issues and thistime decisive action is called for. Usethis time to prove your mettle and putyour best foot forward in your mostcherished plan.