It is widely known that the Automakers that the taxpayers assisted at the beginning of the year are determined to pay the money back. In fact, these payments are supposed to begin being made in less than three months; the first installment at One Billion dollars.
Since our citizens are in great need of employment, how about our American Automaker’s make their first payments in the form of creating manufacturing jobs to begin re-hiring this segment of our American workers!
As a result of all the events that have happened during the last two years, our citizens have become highly aware of how important it is to purchase American made products; which was clearly demonstrated during the, “Cash for Clunkers,” programs that occurred less than a couple of months ago. The sales of American made automobiles, was so rapid that our Automakers’ actually generated profits during this time of recession!
Although, taking this action won’t produce the millions of jobs that are needed to secure and rebuild all of our citizen’s lives; our workers in the manufacturing industry will begin to be stabilized, along with the communities that they live in. Then while these positive events are occurring, we can continue finding other solutions to establish additional jobs for our United States citizens.
Meanwhile, our Leader’s can also start encouraging us to purchase American made products whenever we can. And our News programs and other Television shows can begin developing and airing Public Interest segments to let us know about the businesses in our communities that have created and are selling American made products.
So, instead of sending our Taxpayer’s repayment check to the Capitol, our Automakers can insert those tax-dollars directly back into our economy. Creating this kind of Policy also paves the way for the re-emergence of a significant aspect of our Heritage – and provides our Automakers with an open door to reassert themselves as active members within our society and rise up in the support of our citizen’s advancement and well-being; while adding to and benefiting our countries growth.
Perhaps, by utilizing this method for our Automakers to pay the taxpayers back, we can also give ourselves the opportunity to regain some of our innocence, by restoring and re-establishing our foundation of taking care of our citizens first and watching out for each other again.
That a powerful statement. Can the President deliver for all Americans. That means you and I, color or race, young or aging gens, and rich or poor. Imaging not having to worry about health care for yourself or family. The President wants health for all Americans. That's great news for us to be included in the President's agenda. He is fighting for you and I so we do not have to fear not being able to purchase our medication or not be denied coverage for health coverage. It does matter what pre-existing condition you have. We finally have a choice to decide which doctors we see and if money is a problem we have choice to public options. How can you not support President Obama's three principles: reduce cost, guarantee and affordable for all Americans. What else is left? The vote in Congress is your turn. Stand up for Health Care Reform! Sit down for Health Care! but Do something for Health Care Reform.
For me it's coming down to what we are preserving- or attempting to preserve- I think the bad far outweighs the good here- and I believe that if Obama sidesteps this it will be his downfall.
President Obama will forever be linked to the Bush Torture Coverup and our great victory over the establishment will be torn down.
"It's a trap are you blind?" (Hamish) ~Braveheart
2010 Year of the Bible by Paul Broun AP/Photo
Happy New Year of The Bible 2010 by Paul Broun
On our countdown to a new year in 2010, Paul Broun (R-Ga.) wants everyone to ring in the “Year of the Bible”. He wants to pass legislation to honor the good book. Opposition is strong in the Democratic party, but whats the big deal? We’re already burning them suckers in Afghanistan. I wrote a post about it, and got negative feedback from every dem, saying I’m a GOP’r in disguise. In fact, I’m just a student pointing out similarities between different governments past and present. That isn’t choosing sides at all. When people see a political blog, they are automatically trying to figure out what party I am affiliated with. None. Well, whoever decides to pay me the most. Just kidding(That’s illegal for all you kids out there, no selling votes.) Sorry for ranting but I’ve been enraged at some of my readers that just don’t get the whole picture. Someone said I’m a Christian that hates America. No, I’m a Christian that loves America; the thought of America more like it. It used to stand for something, and all I see and read is how far it has gone from what our forefathers set forth to achieve. I am not ashamed of being an American. Our differences are what makes this country unique. I say instead of the “Year of the Bible”, we just go with the Chinese astrology and name it after an animal. Or we can ring in the New Year as a world united. All across Washington people are joking about what year its going to be after that. Year of the encyclopedia? Quran? Las Vegas escort Pamphlets? Whatever the year, I’ll be ringing it in with a smile, knowing I’m in a country that spends too much time on a stupid idea. Hey Paul Broun, think of a way to get your ass back to work on important things.
A study ordered under the Clinton Administration, and conducted by the US Depy of Health & Human Services was to demostrate that non-custodial fathers did not care to be involved with their children. The study titled, "Survue of Absentee Parents" was to be a fifty state study. After just five states were done, preliminary results were reported that 60% of non-custodial father filed enforcement actions wuth the courts to see their children within six months of receiving their visitation orders. But, within five years, ended up losing all contact with the children.
As a result of these preliminary results, funding for the remainder of the study was withdrawn. (See the letter at the end of the preliminary results report)
"I salute the commitment to fatherhood evidenced by Jeffery Johnson and the other organizers of the 2009 National Rally for Responsible Fatherhood, and I salute Obama for his involvement. However, there’s an obvious omission both in the rally and the article: many fathers, including African-American dads, are not able to play a meaningful role in their children’s lives because of the children’s mothers’ interference and the indifference and/or hostility of the family law system."
Even the idea that the Taliban could possess nuclear material is harmful to our national security. The President should declare that and have spies and satellites vigilant in Pakistan. In the event Pakistan military forces are overrun near sites containing nuclear weapons or nuclear energy material he ought to immediately order those materials utterly destroyed. The Taliban would use those materials in a dirty bomb. It won’t be enough to drop cruise missiles on them because that would merely scatter the nuclear material around, where Bin Laden’s people can collect it. Mr. Obama should be prepared to nuke them, and he should do it immediately, before materials can be relocated. Many lives would be lost in such an action, but they would not be American lives. While all life is precious, President Obama must act decisively to protect our lives above all others.
BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE
How Loyal is the Loyal Opposition?
From this point on I pledge to stop using the terms "conservative" and "Republican" interchangeably. I'm beginning to realize there's a big difference between the two. Conservatives are loyal and well-meaning Americans of good faith who just happen not to share my opinion of what's in the best interest of America. On the other hand, it has become clear that the Republican Party has crossed the line between the loyal opposition, and subversion.
Where are the thanks for AMERICANS...
we pay our taxes
we pay our bills
we pay our house off
we pay our car off
we pay our childrens educational expenses
we pay our childrens college expenses
we pay into our 401k
we pay into our retirement
we pay for our business expenses
we pay for our food
we pay for our clothes
we pay for our gas
we pay for our heat and electricity
we pay for our cost to be an American...explain it to me...
WHAT DID I DO WRONG...what went wrong in AMERICA?
tell me your thoughts...
Ivan Butcher II, Harlem born Artist, designed and copyrighted in 1975, The Black Evolutionary American Flag, with the Library of Congress.
With the approaching Bi-Centennial, Butcher realized that the Media was ignoring a Legacy of Black (African Americans) accomplishments made into the progress of this Nation, not to exclude the Indians(Native Americans)
As an Artist compelled to create a symbol, that would express the Contributions that African Americans have made, he designed a Flag. Inspired by words from one of Malcolm X's speeches, for us as an oppressed people not to disrespect the American Flag but instead create our own, which then was advocating a nation within a nation.
Along with the threat of Separatism and the fact that Evolution sounded too much like Revolution are the major reasons for The Flag not receiving national recognition from the Media.
Today the flag is named, Flag of Progress ( slogan: Unity is Progress)
Video descriptive presentation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjzITSGqwz8
Thank you,
Ivan Butcher II
The U.S. terror war as seen through the eyes of a prisoner
When we first began corresponding with Khalid Awan in 2007, we had no idea why he was serving time in U.S. federal prison. We soon discovered Awan was one of the first of thousands of Muslims taken prisoner in the post-9/11 U.S. "terror war." As the story began unfolding in our letters, we began to realize that this honest, humble and sincere man was not only innocent, but the ongoing injustice being done to him provides critical insight into the mindless, meanspirited, bureaucratic-yes-men idiocy fueling the illegal U.S. "war on terror" (and just about everything else that is going wrong in this country). At our insistence, Awan wrote his story and supplied us with whatever documents we requested. And now, after three months of cooperative efforts, the story of Khalid Awan can be told. We have come to know Awan as a peaceful man engaged in peaceful work who has been wrongfully accused, detained and repeatedly convicted of crimes he did not commit because he was a Muslim with international connections and an office in New York on 9/11. We present this to you in faith that you will realize a deeper understanding of the levels of complicity necessary for the "land of the free" to tolerate the phony war on terror year after year and in hope that Awan—and all the other million or more political prisoners being held by this country—will one day be reunited with their families.
By Khalid Awan
My name is Khalid Qayyam Awan. My rights have been eroded in the name of "national security." Since I am a Muslim, my story has been written, produced, directed, choreographed and staged by U.S. government officials.
The Department of Justice and the FBI have been under pressure by the Bush administration to find "terrorists" in this country and to preemptively convict them before they can strike at the U.S. Although there is good evidence that there are few, if any, potential terrorists in the Muslim communities of the United States, U.S. attorneys who are not able to find any real "terrorists," target, prosecute and convict innocent Muslims on phony or inflated criminal charges to show they are politically "loyal to the president," and to avoid being fired for political reasons, as recent news revelations strongly suggest. These prosecutions have destroyed families in a country that is renowned for its human rights activities around the world.
Background
I am a 46-year old Canadian citizen and native of Pakistan. Throughout my life I studied in Catholic Christian schools and read the Bible every morning. I received my Masters Degree in Political Science at the University of Karachi in Pakistan and I am one of the founding members of the Pakistan Human Rights Commission. As a result of my belief in humanity and equality, I moved to Canada in 1993, becoming a Canadian citizen in 1996. In Canada I worked as an immigration consultant and was a member of the Canadian Bar Association. As part of my business, I also had an office in New York, which is where I was on Sept 11, 2001.
October 2001
On October 25, 2001, U.S. government agents entered my house in Garden City, NY, without knocking and yelled at me to drop everything or they would shoot me. They forced me to lie on the ground while they handcuffed me and placed me under arrest.
They claimed they had received an anonymous tip that I was a material witness for the 9/11 World Trade Center terrorist attack. After my arrest, I was taken in front of New York Judge Michael Mukasey (current U.S. attorney general known for his Israeli sympathies). After a detailed investigation by the FBI and U.S. Naval Intelligence, I was put in front of a Grand Jury. The case was dismissed on November 6, 2001.
Charge #2
Before I was released from custody, on November 5, 2001, the U.S. government imposed new charges: "Conspiracy to Commit Fraud and Money Laundering." They alleged that I stole/misused the identity profiles of my clients, people who come to me seeking to obtain Canadian visas and citizenship in the U.S., although there was not a single complaint from any of my clients or any banks.
(Note: Journalist Dr. Paul Craig Roberts stated in his 12/11/06 column, America’s Injustice System is Criminal: "The criminal justice system today consists of a process whereby a defendant is coerced into admitting to a crime in order to escape more severe punishment for maintaining his innocence. Many of the crimes for which people are imprisoned never occurred").
Every defense attorney knows that today prosecutors can purchase testimony against a defendant by paying "witnesses" with money, dropping charges against them or reducing prison sentences to testify against defendants. Jurors tend to trust government prosecutors and are generally unaware that they will withhold exculpatory evidence and suborn perjury and bear false witness to obtain convictions.
Months went by. Then a year had passed and I was still "detained" without a trial for crimes I did not commit. My lawyer advised me to plead guilty. He said it was in my own best interests as I would be "facing 10 years on the money laundering charge" due to the current climate in New York courts and my being a Muslim and a native of Pakistan. By this time I had served 17 months in detention, so I pled guilty to $95,000 of fraud conspiracy, which carried a maximum sentence of 15 to 24 months. The plea agreement—release for time served—was not even honored and I was sentenced to five years, the sentence for approximately $2,400,000 in credit card fraud.
Appeal to Canada
In January, 2005, when I was finally able to apply for a "treaty transfer" to Canada. I learned from my case manager that my citizenship was listed in the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) computer as "Pakistani" instead of "Canadian." All my Canadian documentation—passport, citizenship card, social insurance and health cards and Canadian drivers license—were in the possession of the FBI. I wrote the Canadian Consulate in Buffalo, NY, to request that they fix this problem so I could be transferred back to Canada. On March 30, 2005, the Canadian Consulate sent a letter to the jail to correct my citizenship status, but the FBOP ignored the request and did not correct the computer.
I realize now that the BOP intentionally left my citizenship as "Pakistani" to make me administratively ineligible for transfer to Canada and keep me in the U.S. while the U.S. government prepared new charges against me.
A year later, six weeks before my scheduled release date, I was transferred from Allenwood FCI to the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, NY, supposedly in preparation for my deportation back to Canada. I signed the immigration deportation papers, which incidentally, contained my correct citizenship status. Later I learned the Allenwood FCI warden had been given a summons from Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) Lawrence Ferazani in January, 2006, requesting for me to appear in federal court in Brooklyn, NY, on February 15, 2006.
Family threatened
Once in Brooklyn, on January 31, 2006, I phoned my family in Montreal. I learned that Officer Buttazzoni from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) had contacted my sister regarding the whereabouts of my wife. He was told that she had returned to Pakistan. Buttazzoni left his phone number with my brother-in-law, telling him to please tell my wife to call him back immediately. She called Buttazzoni several times and left messages on his voice mail, after which Buttazzoni told my brother-in-law to tell her not to call him again.
Then on February 17, 2006, I was brought by AUSA Ferazani to an office in New York to be interrogated by the FBI without an attorney present. I was told by AUSA Farazani that if I did not talk they would arrest my sisters in Montreal and my wife, who had returned to Pakistan. He said, "We just have to make a call."
I was surprised and scared that he knew where my family lived. He stated, "If you don’t tell me [what I want to know] I can recommend lethal injection to the court and call the press and tomorrow morning you will be in every newspaper as a big terrorist."
Another federal agent told me that if I did not cooperate, they would turn me over to the Indian government, an enemy of Pakistan, which would treat me as an enemy.
At this time I was certain that my family was in danger because they were living in countries that work closely with U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies. After seeing my liberty evaporate when I was cleared of being a material witness in the World Trade Center tragedy, I had every reason to believe that the overarching power of the government would secure my family members’ arrests and inflict severe punishment on them. I strongly believed the RCMP was working in collaboration with the FBI to harass me to admit to charges of crimes that I did not commit. I thought about how the RCMP officials had played a role in other discrimination cases that included the interrogation and torture of Canadian citizens Mahrar Arar, Abdullah Almalki and Ahmed EI Matti, whose only "crimes" were being Canadian Muslims.
Because I felt I had no other choice, I signed the Miranda Rights waiver forms the agent gave me, waiving my right to an attorney’s presence during questioning and spoke with agents of the U.S. government on Feb. 17 and 20, 2006.
February 17, 2006: Interrogation…and bribe
I was pushed to the edge during this interrogation. Even though I could not answer all of their questions, I was determined to provide anything they wanted, even if the questions made no sense. I tried to give answers so they would be pleased and not give me the death penalty or harm my family.
During this interrogation, the agents offered me the opportunity to work for them in an "under cover capacity" abroad in Pakistan and Canada. They wanted me to testify against a group of Sikh people, on fabricated statements, based on my association with them from when I lived in Pakistan. I refused. So they told me to keep in mind that they wanted me to testify against people who are of the Sikh religion from India, an enemy of Pakistan and, because I am a Muslim, I should not have any concern for them.
I said, "But they are human beings! If they did something wrong and I knew about it, I would be more than happy to help the law, but you are asking me about something which I know nothing about."
The agents waited a couple weeks and then started asking me again, this time through my attorney. Upon my continued refusal, Officer Buttazzoni in Montreal again approached my family. I told them to get an attorney and not to go to his office without a legal written notice from him. They followed my advice and the RCMP stopped calling them—but not before the FBI was able to create a self-incriminating statement based on "evidence" they secured during their interrogation of me without the presence of my attorney. As a result of this, prosecutors were able to go in front of a Grand Jury and indict me, based on my own (fabricated) statements, prepared by federal agents without my signature.
Third charge March 16, 2006
On March 15, 2006, I completed the term of my imprisonment and was to be deported back to Canada. Before I could even go out onto the street I was arrested a third time and charged with "Providing Material Support to a Foreign Terrorist," and "Money Laundering to Support Terrorism," for supposedly providing support to the Sikh organization Khalistan Commando Force (KCF), through a man of the Sikh religion, Mr. Paramjit Singh Panjwar (PMJ), whom I met once when visiting Pakistan.
These charges emerged while I was still in prison and had no capability to provide KCF with any kind of support. It was difficult for me to get enough finances together to pay my legal fees while I was in prison for five years and I could not launder any money because I did not have any. In the plea agreement I signed for my previous "money laundering" charge, it is mentioned that no further money laundering charges would be brought against me, so this was double jeopardy and a violation of the 5th Amendment of the Constitution.
August to December, 2006: administrative detention
I appeared in court and pled "not-guilty" for my second "superseding indictment" on August 2, 2006. Upon my unwavering refusal to work for the government on their fabricated statements against the Sikh people, FBOP officials placed me into the Segregation Housing Unit (SHU), for 210 days of segregation and isolation despite the fact that I was rated as needing low security on the government’s "Male Custody Classification Form."
Segregation was continuous torture as we were not given basic amenities or respect and the building was cold and leaky. I went on a hunger strike for four days and after that I filed various complaints with the FBOP higher authorities, but no action was taken.
October 2006
After my refusal to work for the government on their case against "two individuals" they had identified as "potentially to be joined in this matter, but at this stage we don’t have enough evidence to charge," the government went to them and indicted them and, giving them a lot of benefits, prepared them to testify against me.
During my pre-trial hearing, the first two counts of my indictment were dismissed due to lack of facts and figures. Within two weeks, AUSA indicted me again, probably to cover up for their huge embarrassment. This hastily drawn up indictment was also full of factual errors and creative legal theories.
This time, in the bill of particulars/indictment, AUSA Farazani included the names of the following participants as co-conspirators in this "conspiracy."
1) Khalid Awan—me
2) Paramjit Singh Panjwar—Leader of Sikh Khalisto Commando Force (KFC), residing in Pakistan (not indicted).
3) Gurbax Singh—Indicted as co-conspirator #1
4) Baljinder Singh—Indicted as co-conspirator #2
5) Jatinder Singh—Residing in Texas (not indicted).
6) Dr. Pritpal Singh—Residing in California (not indicted).
Except for me, all the "co-conspirators" are elected leaders of the Sikh religion, a group of people known in Pakistani history books as the worst killers and rapists of the Pakistani nation, having killed, raped, burned and cut into pieces a hundred thousand Pakistani Muslim men, women, girls and infants during the world’s largest migration from India to Pakistan in 1947.
Sikh Background (a little history)
To better understand the game the U.S. government was playing with me and the Sikh people, a brief history is necessary. The mid-1980s to the mid-1990s was a decade of violent political opposition in Punjab, an area divided between India and Pakistan. The pattern of unlawful and indiscriminate arrests and killings during that time has left a lasting legacy of "catch and kill" police practices in the state. In the early 1980s, the Indian army attacked the Sikh Holy place called the Golden Temple in the Punjab State of India. About 10,000 civilian lives were lost while hundreds of people were detained without charge or trial and thousands of "disappearances" and extrajudicial executions were carried out by the police.
As a result, thousands of Sikhs fled to various countries for asylum. Many of the Sikhs who were living near Pakistan took refuge inside Pakistan, having the advantage of speaking the same language and the area being home to established holy places where Sikhs from all over the world came annually to perform their pilgrimage to the Pakistan side of the Punjab state. Pakistan is like a Vatican for the Sikhs, because the Sikh religion was started there and is the birthplace of their holy guru.
Paramjit Singh Panjwar (PMJ)
Among these Sikhs, PMJ also took refuge after members of his family were arrested and killed by the Indian police. In Pakistan he started producing videos about the attacks and killings of Sikhs by the Indian police, and started printing and distributing literature on the Sikh problems at the hand of the Indian government. He also started broadcasting a daily radio program and running various charities for Sikh families in India and Pakistan whose bread-winning family members had been killed by the Indian government.
I met PMJ during a visit to Pakistan when he was living next to my brother-in-law and I invited him to a wedding. He wrote his phone number down for me on a piece of paper. He also wrote down the number for Baljinder Singh, his friend in New York, because he was a community advocate for the Sikh people who might refer clients to me for immigration purposes. I kept the number, but did not call him.
The FBI had been after Baljinder Singh ever since he delivered a speech in front of the White House at the "Sikh Million March" on Washington in 2000. The FBI had called him for interrogation from 2000 to 2006, but was unable to arrest him. When they interrogated me on February 17, 2006, they told me they needed me to testify in court that the Pakistani government was taking care of terrorists in Pakistan and New York. It was Baljinder Singh, and Gurbax Singh, a close relative of PMJ, that they wanted me to testify against, and since they found his and PMJ’s phone numbers during their search of my office in New York after my arrest in 2001, they deputized their paid Sikh informant, Harjeet Singh, into my unit at MDC in 2006.
Harjeet told me he would be released from federal custody in the next six months and he wished to visit Pakistan for the annual Sikh pilgrimage there. He asked me if I knew some Sikhs in Pakistan who might take care of him during his visit. I replied that I did know Paramjit Singh Panjwar, who was there on asylum and introduced them over the phone.
The FBI then went to Baljinder and Gurbax Singh and convinced them to testify that I had transferred $4000 (two $2,000 transactions allegedly conducted between 1998 and 2002) from them to Pakistan on behalf of PMJ. In exchange for this, they dropped the charges they had against them and promised amnesty from the Indian government (for armed attack on Indian police) and U.S. green cards for them and their families.
PMJ has not been indicted by the U.S. nor convicted by the Indian courts of anything. No effort has been spent for his extradition by U.S. "terror war" ally, Pakistan, though the Pakistani government has, according to AI, handed over 700 Muslim citizens to the U.S. government.
According to my attorneys, no American citizen of the Christian faith nor of the Sikh faith has ever been arrested for providing material support to the KCF, even though the KCF is a Sikh organization that draws its support from members of the Sikh community.
I, on the other hand, a Canadian citizen of Pakistan origin and Muslim faith, on Sept 12, 2007, am the only person in the U.S. to be convicted of terrorism, on fake, fabricated and government purchased testimonies of the Sikh’s religious people, for transferring $4000. I was convicted and sentenced on three counts:
1) Conspiracy to provide material support (14 years)
2) Providing material support to foreign terrorists (10 years)
3) Money laundering to support terrorism (14 years)
Total: 38 years to run concurrently (14 more years in prison).
Jail
The government sent me to FCI Terre Haute Prison in Indiana, a "medium" prison with the exception of one isolated unit, called the "Guantanamo Bay on American Soil,"—Unit D, the "dog unit."
According to the history of this jail, this unit was built in the 1930s for Cuban people, after which it was used for convicted members of the Ku Klux Klan. Then it was used for death row inmates until its "permanent closure." It was re-opened with minor repairs for Muslim inmates because they are worse than death-row inmates—not because of their "crimes" but because of their religious beliefs.
We are denied many privileges according to BOP policy because we are Muslims. Visits must be through glass and phone calls and outgoing mail are routed through Washington D.C. The buildings are old and leaking so it’s cold in the winter, flying insects in the summer and air circulation is poor year round. Lead is seeping out of the walls and many inmates suffer chronic joint pain.
The government is trying to goad us to act violently so they can justify their claim that we are dangerous, but they have failed. According to the jail guards this Muslim unit is the most peaceful they have ever seen in any prison anywhere and they ask to be allowed to work here.
I agree that those guilty of terrorism should be prosecuted, but innocent people should not be targeted. Locking us down in this dirty, old, cold, leaking building and prohibiting us from hugging our children and restricting our calls to them will never bring peace to this country or make this nation safer.
To the American people:
I have been singled out, isolated and discriminated against because of my race and religion. I am being held here in detention against my will for crimes that I never committed. I am not a terrorist and I should not be treated like one.
The AUSA succeeded in getting a verdict against me from the jurors in December, 2006, with the help of the media glamorization of the "war on terror." I have been convicted of guilt by association; of making the FBI angry and vengeful by refusing both to work for them abroad in an undercover capacity and to testify against members of the Sikh religion using their fabricated statements; and of being a Muslim and native of Pakistan.
Isn’t it time that all humans are equal? Isn’t it time that everyone is free to choose his faith? Are human rights protected by law? We hear this, but we would like to see it – especially in this country called the United States of America that claims itself across the world as a champion of human rights.
This article was edited for publication in the hardcopy edition of The IO. The full-length version is posted online at The IO website under the Nov., 2008 update. You can correspond with Awan by writing to:
Khalid Awan, #50959-054, Federal Correctional Inst., PO Box 33, Terre Haute, IN 47808
(With thanks to Anne Wilder Chamberlain for her dedication and persistence in helping to tell Awan’s important story).
http://khalidawancanadian.today.com/ http://www.awankhalid.com/
Since January 20th 2009 Barack Obama is the 44th president of the United States of America, a very historic inauguration day. Think back to 1963, when Martin Luther King held his famous speech, saying "I have a dream...", and see what a positive change has allready been made since then. With Barack Obama the first African American president in US history is in the White House, Martin Luther King`s dream is about to come true and that´s really great ! - Shop America supports Barack Obama and wishes him all the best for his future, hoping that he can really perform the "Change" for America and the world ! - Visit our Barack Obama section and check out "Yes We Can" and other political designs on t-shirts, buttons, stickers and more: BARACK OBAMA DESIGNS - YES WE CAN
BARACK OBAMA DESIGNS - YES WE CAN
Contact: Alex.Karoub@gmail.com
This post is a brief overview of the Automotive Industry which describes some of the fundamental problems that are rarely spoken of. In addition, you will learn of a few of my personal experiences growing up, an environment where I was surrounded by the industry; you will learn of a few perspectives that are shocking and that even only a few within the industry know of. At the end of the post, you will better understand what happened to American Manufacturing and where it stands. The Auto Industry is at the heart of all of American Manufacturing. It is an industry that laid the groundwork for many other types of industries to follow, deemed at one point in history to be the highest of successes. But now, it sheds light on what can become warning signs for other businesses that mistakenly try to imitate it.This months hot topic is whether to bailout/rescue the regressing American Auto Industry. The original owners and their successors abandoned that industry long ago. The auto industry was ravaged and plundered by the wealthiest Americans a half century ago and has been in decline ever since. Shortsighted greed from one generation to the next has been the culprit. Since autos were first mass-produced and America monopolized the world, it was only natural that the American percentage/share of the market would eventually be reduced. However, total growth was enormous and total size of the market continues to grow even through today. Therefore, American growth of exports should have continued to grow, but does not significantly due to pillage and poorly planted roots. In simpler terms, we originally owned the entire pie. The pie was split up. Since the entire pie has grown dramatically, our piece should have grown too. However, the Big 4, 3, 2, … have been loosing market dominance and lead since the end of World War Two. Here we are years later in crisis, and the real question remains whether or not to rescue the real victims of the auto industry, the workers. People were not retrained or re-educated; most were never afforded real education's to start. People are now in despair and hopelessness. From my vantage point now living in Colorado for the last two decades, I have seen the high tech industry follow the auto industry, but at a learned and accelerated rate. Other industries are also copying the auto industry and are laying similar foundations also headed for disaster. Going back to a brief history, the misguided roots show how the decay started and why it spread.Although I did not grow-up during the inception of the Auto Industry, its roots surrounded me. I spoke with a few who were there in the earliest days, and spoke with many who were of the following generation. I absorbed its history by studying it while attending school in Motown (Motor Town), by natural osmosis, and in my earliest career dealing with the car makers.Growing up as a kid I lived less than a mile from Henry Ford's first moving assembly line factory, with GM’s World Headquarters’ just three miles away, and with Chryslers World Headquarters at the end of our street. The first Ford plant (in Highland Park, a city now surrounded by Detroit) and the first of GM's plants were built on the importation of the next generation of former black slaves and white share crop workers from the south (whites similar to former slaves whose white necks were red from working in the sunny fields, hence the mean spirited term 'Redneck'). The joke that Henry Ford must have laughed at and that went around town was "each worker would get paid enough to buy a Ford" (Of course using infamous 'Ford Credit' which was a primary direct withdrawal from their pay checks.) Henry manipulated a built-in guaranteed customer base and tapped double profits, being profits on the cars and the profitable bonded interest. Those were scams that he copied from sharecropping. The remains of their wages were so low that they had to live in shacks; but after all Henry felt, they came from shacks near the fields in the south. So much bigotry and repeated methods from sharecrop economic slavery. Instead of updating and rebuilding the original plants and without regard for the people who were the workers, the emerging auto giants left to go further to the suburbs. So, as they moved and grew they imported shipload after shipload of immigrant economic slaves from Poland (to Hamtramck, MI) and more economic slaves from the Middle East (to Dearborn, MI). There were other minorities imported as well, also imported for economic servitude to supporting industries such as mining, iron works, steel fabrication, glass works, textile, …. Astonishing how easily the game of 'divide and conquer' worked upon the variety of minorities; a game of keeping the workers pitted against each other using race and ethnicity; all to hold back the power of the people from truly uniting. WW2 caused the Automakers not only to retool but also to reevaluate their future directions.Soon, after the victory of WW2, came the Auto Giants grand visions for economically conquering the world via expansion outside the U.S. They quietly boasted that that would leave mainly world headquarters executives, designers, and engineers in the U.S. with the prestigious white-collar jobs. It was felt then (and these are not my bigoted opinions, not from me, yikes) that after all even 'the weaker sex' could do factory labor jobs as seen during WW2 (i.e. Rosie the Riveter). So why not have the 'stupid foreign workers' do the labor outside the U.S. What also gave way to the idea that manufacturing could succeed outside the U.S. was Mexico; since Mexican workers were also imported, but only temporarily during WW2. (By the way, the temporary Mexican workers were never fully paid back as promised during WW2.) A tremendous wave of pride about white-collar jobs became very popular in Detroit and in other automotive communities during the 50's. That vision sat poised on the back burner, but a pre-planted seed was already in place, which was Canada (Windsor) just across the Detroit River. Canada was a much-desired orchestrated precedence for the automakers; it set the stage for grace given by the government as an easily set up protocol for off-shoring jobs. Soon after, the automakers made a migration south to other states, then further south to Mexico, and finally overseas and on to economic slavery in China.Today we see the results of the destructive path the industry has taken. Layoffs, instead of being temporary situations reserved for pauses during new model changeovers, eventually became the mark of permanent labor plant closures. Obvious abandonment of people soon became the name of the automakers game. Along the swathed trail are - Highland Park, Detroit, Pontiac, Flint, Marquette, Gary Indiana, Pittsburgh, Toledo, Cleveland, …, which became known in the early 80’s as 'The Rust Bowl’. Sort of a rape, pillage, and burn mentality, which continues to today. Amazing how well the reasoning of "that's the way it's always been" persists and grows from one generation to the next. Excuse after excuse gave temporary reasoning to incremental geographic movements for global conquer. Temporary excuses ranged from the need to originally amass large workforces, to the hindrance of union pressures, to American workers are lazy, to 'over' government regulation, to …, all straw obstacles as to why the auto industry needed to move as it did. No! Greed is not good. We see how those at the top of the industry have each come in, grabbed with their greed, and left. Now today, we see how greed has caused "what once was, no longer is". So in short, now we see the results of greed, poorly planted roots, and disregard, taking its toll on America. Equally, is the toll on the myriad of unrelated businesses, old and new, that have adopted the auto industries infectious habits of having little to no regard for individual people that make up the American workforce. People.While being raised in the center of Detroit, I experienced many situations involving the Auto Industry; the following although early was not my earliest, and is an actual example. Around 1963, when I was 11 years old, I remember George Romney visiting our house to exchange political favors. Our 23-room house was a rundown relic of a past era, but it cleaned up well as a phony front for wealth and pretentious power. I remember we kids had to pretend that we were Christian Protestants for the visiting Governor (former Chairman of AMC) who was doing his Christian Mormon tradition of visiting the homes of his new legislators. How ostentatious they both were with fraudulent humility of how they rose from their humble beginnings. But more to the point, I remember Romney sitting at our dinning room table and saying "The Big Four Automakers don't have to worry about giving the Unions what they want, as long as the benefits will not be due for decades. By that time the labor plants will be outside the U.S." That shocked my brother Jimmy and I, as we listened playing in the sunroom just off the dinning room. Later we were once again physically punished (beaten-up), this time for listening to adult talk. Jimmy a year older than I, and intellectually gifted, soon became a Page at the State Capital. The accounts he returned with were shocking as well. Growing up as we did would make your head spin and open your eyes to disgust. We continued living in those surroundings until we grew out of our teens. Then we moved on to make our own adult lives, creating better environments much different from what we were born and raised in.Recalling back to my teens, I realized back then the Detroit riots were not only about race, but was also about economic oppression. It was the minorities who were oppressed the worst, most especially African-Americans. Bad however you measure it is bad. (For a better understanding of the decline of Detroit and to better understand the riots, take a look at my other post: “DETROIT RIOTS OF 1967, A RECOLLECTION OF THE TRUTH.” You will also better understand how very close we came to seeing a nationwide repeat of the riots in the coming Spring of 2009.)Unions, workers, man-hours, laborers, …, are not people, they are burdens to be minimized and eliminated. While watching Lee Iacocca being interviewed on Charley Rose last year, I noticed Iacocca admit that he new all the way back during negotiations with the unions, in the early 80’s, that Chrysler would never have to pay off in full on long term commitments to the unions. As Iacocca danced around the issue he said "now the unions will have to face reality". And, as Rose went on to discuss it more, Iacocca was getting more uncomfortable, and eventually managed to change the subject away from discussing past union negotiations. Iacocca was a bit slicker than George Romney was, since Iacocca was on national TV. It made me ashamed that Chrysler World Headquarters was at the end of our street when I was a kid. And, that as a young adult I had so proudly in my early career returned while working for a couple of electronics companies to Chrysler's World Headquarters R&D operations. I thought it an honor to have paid Iacocca's in-house barbershop to cut my hair, even his same barber. Some honor.Following Chrysler, I moved up to deal with GM, and was puzzled. I listened to upper executives at GM complain that they constantly had to bribe Mexican government officials and border guards for GM plants. I guess they also assumed I already new and accepted that the plants in the late 70's had already begun their exodus to Mexico and other countries. I have always looked at bribery as disgusting and wrong, it was not for me or those who I dealt with, that's among the many good things that a mentor named Jack Bazzy taught me as a young kid. By becoming acquainted with other mentors as an adult, I learned to seek out highly reputable employers and quality knowledgeable friends. I learned how to educate myself, and moved up very high in the scientific and technical industries, all of which I enjoyed.Although I grew up in Highland Park / Detroit, that was not anywhere near my top focus in choosing Obama. But, it is a simple history for me to recall, amazing how many more details I can give, but the main points have been brought forward. In addition, from being a mutt of sorts myself, to being a self made man, be that what it may, I have no illusions of being great. What I do mean here is that I quickly recognize many of Obama's unique insights, although mine are different but a bit similar in nature. Like many Obama supporters, I have personal experiences on most issues Obama has raised. So, above is just one of many examples that I can personally give.To better understand manufacturing in America, you can read my other blog: WHAT SCREWED UP MANUFACTURING FOR AMERICA
Blog members can reply here, anyone is welcome to email me at: Alex.Karoub@gmail.com
"Vigilance is our shield that protects us from the squalid past;Knowledge is our weapon with which we carve our path to an enlightened future."
Social development is in great demand today. A new American fervor is on the rise, it is a feeling of Nationalism and Reinvigorated Civic responsibility.
The great undertaking of the Obama campaign is on the horizon and we stand as a galvanized Nation, in support of our next President. The only thing our country awaits now is for a plan to be collectively understood and followed. The Obama-Biden plan offers tremendous opportunity for social development for many unemployed citizens.
Barack Obama and Joe Biden have a plan to *revitalize the economy.Immediate Action to *Create Good Jobs in America Immediate *Relief for Struggling Families Direct, Immediate *Assistance for Homeowners, Not a Bailout for Irresponsible Mortgage Lenders A Rapid, Aggressive Response to Our Financial Crisis, Using All the Tools We Have.
In his speech President-elect Obama gave the encouragement to come together against many national interest when the President-elect mentioned "WE DO NEED TO EXPAND RESPONSIBLE DOMESTIC PRODUCTION. TELL THE OIL COMPANIES - "USE LEASES OR LOSE THEM." "LETS REDUCE DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL.""I WILL INVEST $150,000,000,000.00 DOLLARS OVER THE NEXT 10 YEARS."15 BILLION EACH YEAR TO PUT AMERICA ON THE PATH OF TRUE ENERGY SECURITY.THIS FUND WILL FAST-TRACK INVESTMENTS IN A NEW 'GREEN ENERGY BUSINESS SECTOR' THAT WILL END OUR ADDICTION TO OIL AND CREATE UP TO 5 MILLION JOBS OVER THE NEXT 2 DECADES.WE WILL INVEST IN RESERCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF EVERY FORM OF ALTERNATIVE ENERGY: SOLAR, WIND, BIOFUELS,FIND SAFER WAYS TO STORE NUCLEAR POWER AND STORE NUCLEAR WASTE. WE WILL INVEST IN THE TECHNOLOGY THAT WILL ALLOW US TO USE MORE COAL, AMERICA'S MOST ABUNDANT ENERGY SOURCE WITH THE GOAL OF CREATING 5 FIRST OF A KIND COAL FIRED, DEMONSTRATION PLANTS WITH CARBON-CAPTURE AND SEQUESTRATION SO THEY ARE NOT ADDED TO GLOBAL WARMING.WE WILL HELP STATES LIKE MICHIGAN BUILD THE FUEL EFFICIENT CARS WE NEED AND WE WILL GET 1 MILLION, 150 MILE PER GALLON, PLUG-IN HYBRIDS ON U.S. ROADS, MADE IN AMERICA WITHIN 6 YEARS TIME (BY 2014). WE'RE GONNA INCREASE FUEL MILAGE STANDARDS 4% EVERY YEAR.WE'LL INVEST MORE IN THE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF PLUG-IN HYBRIDS, SPECIFICALLY FOCUSING ON BATTERY TECHNOLOGY. WE WILL LEVERAGE PRIVATE SECTOR FUNDING TO BRING THESE CARS DIRECTLY TO AMERICAN CONSUMERS, WE'LL GIVE THE CONSUMERS A $7,000.00 TAX CREDIT TO BUY THESE VEHICLES . . . . THATS HOW WE'LL NOT ONLY PROTECT OUR AUTO INDUSTRY AND AUTO WORKERS, BUT HELP THEM TO THRIVE IN THE 21ST CENTURY ECONOMY. CREATE A GREEN ENERGY ECONOMY by 2014!1 - INCREASE FUEL MILAGE STANDARDS 4% EACH YEAR.2 - INVEST IN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF PLUG-IN HYBRIDS, FOCUSING ON BATTERY TECHNOLOGY.3- GIVE CONSUMERS A $7,000.00 TAX CREDIT TO BUY EFFICIENT VEHICLES.4- TO PROTECT OUR AUTO INDUSTRY AND AUTOWORKER, BUT HELP THEM TO THRIVE IN THE 21ST CENTURY ECONOMY.5- CALL ON BUSINESSES, GOVERNMENT AND THE AMERICAN PEOPLE TO MEET THE GOAL OF REDUCING OUR DEMAND FOR ELECTRICITY, 15% BY THE NEXT DECADE. THIS IS BY FAR, THE FASTEST, CHEAPEST, EASIEST WAY TO REDUCE ENERGY CONSUMPTION.6- WILL SAVE US, $130,000,000,000.00 DOLLARS ON OUR ENERGY BILLS.
Our country faces its most serious economic crisis since the great depression. Working families, who saw their incomes decline by $2,000 in the economic "expansion" from 2000 to 2007, now face even deeper income losses. Retirement savings accounts have lost $2 trillion. Markets have fallen 40% in less than a year. Millions of homeowners who played by the rules can't meet their mortgage payments and face foreclosure as the value of their homes have plummeted. With credit markets nearly frozen, businesses large and small cannot access the credit they need to meet payroll and create jobs.
You see I know from personal experience that things often don’t end the way they do in the movies. I did everything right, went to college, worked for over thirty years, had good credit, paid my bills on time etc. Unfortunately I got sick in America. After a freak accident, I almost died, had to have brain surgery, and now have several incurable autoimmune diseases. That was hard enough to deal with, but when I filed a claim to get a government insurance policy (Social Security Disability Insurance) that I paid for every week out of my wages, just like many of you do, my life was permanently destroyed with the stroke of a pen, by a government worker to whom I was just an SS number, and who did not do their job properly. I lost all my life savings, and pension money while fighting for my benefits, and will never be able to recover from the emotional, physical and financial devastation that had on my life.
Unlike Frank Capra’s character George Bailey, there are no bailouts for me, or others like me. While family and friends have good intentions, they are not much better off either, so they really can’t help like they might want to, and I don’t qualify for Social Service programs. I don’t know how I am going to survive without some miracle like winning the lottery. I am now doomed to spend what’s left of my days here on earth, living in poverty, in addition to all my medical concerns. I will never be able to own a home, or get another car. My current vehicle which is on death’s door, is the only method of transportation I have for survival. Then there is always the struggle of deciding whether I should buy food, or get medicine, that much needed medical test, or see the doctor instead. When things break down now, I cannot fix them and have to do without. This totally unbearable, continuing source of stress and frustration, is killing me. I tell you this not for pity but to warn you that anyone of you reading this could end up just like me, and have your life changed forever by an unfortunate illness, accident, vicious act, service to our country or natural disaster. Remember that disease and tragedy do not discriminate on the basis of age, sex or race, and if you think this could not happen to you – you could be dead wrong, just like over 16,000 Americans in the last two years who did not survive the wait to get their Social Security Disability benefits.
Since most of our elected officials will probably never experience this scenario personally, because they usually have a nice financial cushion to fall back on, I don’t see any hope for change in regards to this problem, no matter who is in office. Let’s be brutally honest here. The first thing to get cut in local, state and federal budgets is always the money to fund programs that help the people who need it most. This problem has festered for decades and nobody is going to convince me that they don’t want us to give up or die. They continually talk about helping the upper class and the middle class. What about the millions of Americans that do not fit either of those categories? Thanks to their neglect of our situations, they continue to prove that they have no class. The only thing that ever trickles down to us is too nasty a word to mention, and the only light at the end of the tunnel is a freight train! Buildings are not built from the top down, and a chain is only as strong as it’s weakest link. You can judge a country by how it treats it’s most vulnerable citizens, and we have been left to die in the streets, and on hospital waiting room floors. Based on what I have seen, heard, and personally experienced, America should hang its head in shame! Unfortunately for myself, and others like me it’s not such a wonderful life. There is no possibility of the American dream, only the reality of the American nightmare. My only hope is that it never happens to you.
Dear Barack,
If you ever read these things, and I highly doubt that you will ever see this, we really need to talk!
The rest of my horror story can be found on my website “A Bump On The Head” at:
http://www.frontiernet.net/~lindaf1/bump.html
LJ Fullerton - Social Security Disability Coalition
The Mighty Creator Bless His creations.
Everyday, we learnt of something new. So the experience been the teacher to everybody who experienced it. As a human, we keep explore and invent through space and time. The universe is too great to be explored. But, if we know who actually we are, we might conquer the universe. For me, I'm actually a miniature of the great universe. Therefore, to learn more about universe, I must study through my own self. The Universe is a great library. It keeps uncountable numbers of books. The books keep a lot of knowledges. And the knowledges are secret until we finish read the books. The Torah, The Zabur, The Bible and The Quran, are only manual books to guide us to live in this world. They tell us where we came from, where we are now and where is the destination. So we must firm in making our own decision. We are what we believe in.
By looking at my intention, I might have an ability to others intention to me. A big thing will be small if we look at it from a far distance. Also a small thing will become a big thing if we look at it from near distance. Finally, there is no different between big and small. If I did something something bad to others, I shall be paid for that with the similar badness. This is one of the Newton's Law.
The life is actually a great university for us to study about ourselves. This is what I call University of Universe. Life is fully covered by a miracle. The victory of Mr. Barrack Hussein Obama is one of the great miracles. Any way, Mr. Obama has his own limit. He will not be able to change night becomes day but keep waiting until the sun rise. But, with his extra power as the President of USA, he has the ability to change a war zone becomes children's play ground.
I believe in CHANGE. I do believe in CHANGE...
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !!!
Regards...NazzCaveMan
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Alternative EnergySource: David Apperson
url: http://veterans.barackobama.com/page/community/tag/alternative-energy
