The Pathway To Our Prejudices

Last Saturday I called my sister just to touch bases and let her know I was thinking of her. When she got on the line she sounded depressed, stressed and worried. Upon my inquiry she revealed that money was once again really tight and that the worries of home ownership and making ends meet were eating at her soul.

In her frustration she began discussing issues at her work where a certain African-American co-worker had asserted her right to a higher paid position because of her skin color. She began a diatribe about how minorities were getting a better deal from the government because of such assertions. Much of what she began to spout in frustration was the same crap that many ultra-conservatives spew forth without really examining the facts. It was all emotion and exaggeration of the small tidbits of information that have been misreported by politicians and the media, especially by those politicians and media celebs that make a ton of money being hypocrites, bigots and outright clumps of rectal tissue.

One of the things she tried to convince me about was that "whites are becoming a minority" in the United States. While it is true that the minority populations of this nation are experiencing growth, the "white population" is in no danger of becoming a minority for some time. Currently, the best estimates of our population indicate that one-third of our population is considered minority. The white population has fluctuated between 1-3% over the last decade, and currently showing that 74% of our 304.4 million people are considered white.

Our Hispanic population is reported as our fastest growing minority population segment. The term Hispanic encompasses a wide array of ethnic and racial origins that involves some derivative of the Spanish culture, including all of the Spanish-speaking nations of South America, the Spanish-speaking nations of Central America, Mexico, and the Spanish-speaking cultures of the Caribbean. Depending upon where you live in the US, these cultures and ethnic groups are represented in larger identifiable communities. In New York City, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Columbians and Ecuadorians are among the most identifiable Hispanic communities. In Boston, there are large Puerto Rican, Guatemalan, Dominican and a noticeable number of Chileans in some places. In Chicago, the Hispanic communities that are most noticeable are the Chicano (Mexican Americans), Puerto Ricans and Cubans. In Miami, the largest Hispanic group is obviously Cuban, but also Puerto Rican, Dominican, Columbian and Salvadorian. In Texas, Arizona and New Mexico, the Mexicans and Chicano communities are most noticeable, but we also see many folks from Central America. Southern California is also has a lot of Mexicans and Chicanos, but has a large representation of many of the Hispanic cultures, especially in San Diego and Los Angeles.

But, overall, even with the rapid growth rate among Hispanic minorities, as well as the number of so-called illegal immigrants, the Hispanic population of the United States is somewhere between 7% and 10%.

The Black community represents approximately 15% of our overall population. I use the term "Black" rather than African-American because not all black people identify themselves as "African-American." However, even those folks that do not identify themselves as "African-American," claim the identity of being "Black."

The Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander community represents less than 1% of our total population. Even with the influx of Southeast Asian immigrants from Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Indonesia, the Asian population of the US remains consistently in the 4%-6% range. Native American peoples, despite the frequency of press coverage over casino operations and such, represent less than 1% of our overall population.

Most of our Arab population is included in the Asian tally, if not the African-American groups.

The point of this survey of our population is that our "common understanding" of minority populations in our society is significantly over-estimated, exaggerated and misrepresented... and targeted by the ultra-conservatives, certain politicians, a whole bunch of rednecks, and the media as fodder for the "blame game" that we are manipulated into believing. My sister was falling into that very same trap until I began to challenge her understanding of the genuine facts.

We are so manipulated by the proponents of blaming minorities that we are often led to believe that either these minorities are the cause of huge welfare fraud bills, or the benefactors of some form of government handouts that allow them to live in the lap of luxury. In reality--a reality that is not often examined completely by those that blame our minority communities for our hardships--the vast majority of welfare payouts are made to poor white families, not minorities. This same genuine reality demonstrates that, while there is some significant welfare fraud committed by 1%-3% of welfare recipients, the entire bill for such fraud doesn't equal the fraud committed by huge corporations like Halliburton and its subsidiaries under the numerous no-bid contracts awarded for the purposes of conducting our illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq, never mind our activities in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Another reality is that when we discuss "welfare," most ultra-conservatives use figures that include Medicare and Social Security in the aggregate figures. However, both Medicare and Medicare are supported by payroll deductions submitted on the behalf of every worker receiving a paycheck under $200,000 per year. But, those of us making over $200,000 do not necessarily pay the same percentage of their check toward these programs. Additionally, Social Security has been a program that has been deliberately mismanaged by Congress since the late 1960s, prompted by ever-increasing tax cuts for the very wealthy, the raiding of Social Security surpluses when times were "tough," and the overall failure of the Social Security Administration to properly track and manage the funds deposited.

Fundamentally, Social Security is not welfare. It is the payout premium for payments made into the system. While it is true that more money is being paid out than decades past, it is also true that more money is being deposited into the system as well. The same is true for Medicare. Those of us with a paycheck notice that a chunk of our gross pay goes to Medicare. The truth about Medicare is that it, too, is largely mismanaged and only serves about half of the elderly in this country. It is also true that because money has been severely cut from public health and prevention programs, the costs of Medicare have gone up because many chronic conditions are not treated until Medicare eligibility kicks in. A good number of our elderly are suffering with the results of chronic conditions that are worsened by the fact that they are not eating sufficiently, due in large part to cuts in funding for "Meals On Wheels" and other intervention programs.

In his recent book, "Hostile Takeover...", David Sirota documents and demonstrates how our basest notions and emotions are manipulated by our politicians and ultra-conservatives--including many who lie to us about how they support working families--from both sides of the political arena into believing that our tax burdens are too heavy and that our minority populations and handouts to the elderly, welfare queens, and perpetrators of welfare fraud (mostly identified as people of color) are the cause of these burdens.

The truth of these matters, as documented and demonstrated by Sirota, is that we are paying 300-500 times as much as our welfare payouts to huge corporate entities that are posting record-breaking profits, taking huge tax breaks and manipulating huge tax loopholes (like having a fraudulent "headquarters office" in the Cayman Islands), and paying off politicians to keep these loopholes, incentives and subsidies (i.e. the farm subsidies that largely benefit huge agro-businesses) alive and well. If we add these tax evasions to the huge amounts of money paid out in exaggerated bills submitted by defense contractors--many of whom are behind schedule in terms of delivering on their contracts and are kingpins in applying tax loopholes--our welfare payouts, with the Social Security and Medicare amounts included, pale in comparison. Even if we threw in the amount we spend on education, the numbers would pale in comparison.

But we are led to believe that we have someone else to blame for our heavy burdens and the difficulties we face trying to make ends meet. We are told by Cheney and Bush--both of whom make money from the big oil companies and those industries dependent upon our appetite for petroleum--that the price we are paying at the pump is not usury... only to find out these very same oil companies are not paying the full amounts of gas and oil royalties required by law, are often late when they do pay, and are receiving all kinds of tax credits that aid their bottom line but do not benefit the average American in the slightest way.

I believe that if we could get half of all American taxpayers to read Sirota's book, we would have such an outrage about how things are being falsely represented to us, we would either vote out all the pieces of rectal tissue currently holding office, or demand better management of our tax dollars in compliance of the constitutional requirement of "promoting the general welfare" rather than kowtowing to the corporations that are paying their executives 300-900 times the average salary of most American workers while falsely claiming all kinds financial hardships, laying off workers to facilitate exporting jobs, and paying our politicians to keep our laws and tax structure skewed in favor of the already too rich and too dishonest.

A Prime Example Of Education Policy Gone Wrong

Bredesen Frustrated by Board of Regents Pace on 'Wal-Mart 101'- By ERIK SCHELZIG | Associated Press Writer

Why a Democrat like Governor Bredesen would choose to re-establish the corrupt links between the high schools/community colleges and industries that operate in an exploitive manner is beyond me. Perhaps the governor has never read Michael Katz's work on the history of higher eduction, or Richard Dorson's The Land of the Millrats, both of which outline the fundamental problems with aligning secondary and post-secondary education with specific skill sets and curriculum for exploitation by specific industries.

So-called "Big Box Retailers," especially Wal-Mart and K-Mart, have a long and well-established history of worker exploitation, including violation of overtime laws, falsely accusing workers of theft (even though there is a lot of insider theft at such places), failure to provide proper breaks and lunch periods, purposefully arranging schedules to avoid allowing workers to establish seniority or preferred scheduling (i.e. Mother's Hours), as well as verbal and psychological abuse from supervisors and managers.

Wal-Mart has made national headlines on its problems adhering to employment and labor laws. K-Mart had such issues hit the papers before it became part of the Sears' family. Back on the east coast--where Bredesen originally hails--there were all kinds of "big box retailers" like Almy's, Rich's, Krazy Eddie's, Ann & Hope, and others that were famous for such abusive and exploitive relations with workers. Even the store-level management did not provide much better treatment. Big box grocery chains from the east coast--like Shaws, Star Market, Stop & Shop, Market Basket, Piggly Wiggly--have had run-ins with unions over the treatment of employees.

So, when I read that Bredesen and the community college governance boards were seeking to develop a "Wal-Mart 101" curriculum, I was confused, shocked and appalled. One would have thought that Bredesen had abandoned the principles of the Democratic Party, support for workers, and joined the GOP's ultra-conservatives. Perhaps he hasn't completely abandoned the party, but has become a "Boll Weevil Democrat" since he moved to the Mid-South? It may be that Bredesen has abandoned no only the Democratic Party's principles, but also any semblance of the Christian teaching offered by St. Paul: "The worker is worth his wages."

In any case, I would recommend that Governor Bredesen, the Board of Regents, and any community college seeking to develop such a curriculum read the following texts:

Sirota, David. "Hostile Takeover: How Big Money and Corruption Conquered Our Government--And How We Take It Back", Three Rivers Press, 2007

Lerner, Michael. "The Left Hand of God: Taking Back Our Country from the Religious Right", Harpers - San Francisco, 2006

Dorson, Richard. "The Land of the Millrats", Harvard University Press, 1981

Katz, Donald R. "The Big Store: Inside the Crisis and Revolution at Sears", Penguin, 1988

Levering, Katz and Moskowitz. "EVERYBODY'S BUSINESS, A Field Guide to the 400 Leading Companies in America", Doubleday, 1990

Katz, Michael B. "Improving Poor People", Princeton University Press, 1997

Katz, Michael B. "The Undeserving Poor", Pantheon, 1990

Katz, Michael B. "The 'Underclass' Debate", Princeton University Press, 1992

Katz, Michael B. "Education in American History: Readings on the Social Issues", International Thompson Publishing, 1973

Katz, Michael B. "The Irony of Early School Reform: Educational Innovation in Mid-Nineteenth Century Massachusetts", Teachers College Press, 2001

Ryan, William. "Blaming the Victim", Vintage, 1976

Quinn, Bill. "How Walmart Is Destroying America And The World: And What You Can Do About It", Ten Speed Press, 2005

Norman, Al. "The Case Against Wal-Mart", Raphel Marketing, 2004

Fishman, Charles "The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World's Most Powerful Company Really Works--and How It's Transforming the American Economy", Penguin, 2006

Ehrenreich, Barbara. "Bait and Switch : The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream", Metropolitan Books (Holt), 2005

Ehrenreich, Barbara. "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America", Holt Paperbacks, 2002

Smith, Hedrick and Young, Rick "Is Wal-Mart Good For America?", PBS Frontline, November 16, 2004"

Goodman, Amy "Chicago's Big box Ordinance", PBS POV/Democracy Now, July 31, 2006

Brancaccio, David. "A Conversation With Barbara Ehrnereich", PBS Now, August 28, 2006

Roman, Raphael Pi (moderator). "The Working Poor In New York City", PBS POV, August 29, 2006

Peled, Micha. "Store Wars: When Wal-Mart Comes To Town", PBS

Bhatnagar, Parija. "Eminent domain: A big-box bonanza? Court's ruling OKed land grab for business like Target, Home Depot, CostCo, Bed Bath & Beyond", CNN.com (http://money.cnn.com/2005/06/23/news/fortune500/retail_eminentdomain/index.htm)

It's been nearly a year since Gov. Phil Bredesen announced a proposal to create a community college curriculum designed to prepare students to become managers at big-box retailers like Wal-Mart.

Yet there is no sign that any such "Wal-Mart 101" program will be available at two-year schools across the state anytime soon.

Asked in a recent interview with The Associated Press about what the holdup is, Bredesen responded: "The Board of Regents - and the general difficulty of moving things forward in the educational system."

The Board of Regents oversees two-year schools and public universities that are not part of the University of Tennessee system.

"The Board of Regents on that one has not picked up the idea and carried forward on their own in some fashion," Bredesen said.

Bredesen said he prefers state officials to move aggressively on new ideas. He said he'd rather have to tell officials to slow down rather than have to constantly prod them into action.

The governor said that he sometimes has to ask UT President John Petersen to rein in the pace of new programs, but that that rarely occurs with the Board of Regents.

Board of Regents Chancellor Charles Manning could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday.

Bredesen acknowledged that the Board of Regents may have been distracted by debate during the legislative session over several community-college related subjects like his ultimately doomed proposal to give free tuition to high-school graduates who average a 19 on their ACT college entrance exams. Bredesen has vowed to bring back the community college scholarship proposal next year.

Meanwhile, the state last week announced that as part of Eastman Chemical Co.'s $1.3 billion reinvestment in its Kingsport facilities the state will pour $1 million into tailoring programs at Northeast State Technical Community College to the company's work force needs.

The "Eastman 101" program will address specific job skills for mechanics, lab analysts and chemical operators. The proposal also could benefit other companies in the region because they could hire graduates of the programs.

Although the job training program will be at a Regents college, it won't be available at campuses across the state the way Bredesen envisions the "Wal-Mart 101" program

"We had the opportunity to do the '101' with somebody, so we obviously grabbed that and took it," Bredesen said. "The other one (for big-box retailers) I'm still interested in and we're still pushing for it."

A Response To Dorothy (nee Hunt) Abdelhamid

Dorothy (nee Hunt) Abdelhamid left a comment regarding "Affirmation Regarding The Confusion Over Sexual Predators": Did or Will my comment get posted?

My policy is to approve almost every comment that is posted, as long as it is pertinent, uses appropriate language, and is focused on the post in question rather than advertising, promoting an ideology, or employing an ad hominem attack. Sometimes I will even respond to the comments posted.

But in this case, I received three anonymous comments to that particular post and none bearing Dorothy's moniker/username. Since I did not receive the comment, it was not there for me to approve. Sorry, but it appears something went wrong between your writing the comment and the server posting it.

Executive Privilege... Or Another Nixon-Style Conspiracy?

A review of the news reports, proceedings of Congress, the ongoings from the West Wing, and the events that swirl around us demonstrates that this Bush administration is engaging in what amounts to a racketeering approach to government. The very same tactics of law-breaking, circumvention of the rules, claims to rights and privileges to avoid being held responsible, sabotaging or killing enemies, and kowtowing to those entities that provide money (regardless of ethical considerations) used by the mafia and other bodies of organized crime are being used by the Bush gang.

But this is not the first time we have seen this type of behavior coming from our White House. Nixon used these very same tactics while covering up for the Watergate break-ins, the scandal and the investigation that followed the cover-up efforts. Ford followed the Nixon model by pardoning those that broke the "supreme law of the land" and claimed that it was in the best interests of the nation.

Subsequently, both Reagan and the senior Bush used similar tactics and processes while committing crimes against our nation when they actively engaged in the Iran-Contra Affair.

But George W. Bush and his gang of fascist thugs have taken the process to new heights, making all of the past scoundrels, criminals, liars and cheats seem like amateurs.

The links below demonstrate a deliberate process of denying us our right to proper, legal and fair representation from our president and those that serve in his cabinet and the executive branch. Anyone that takes the time to review these reports, as well as previous reports, could not possibly deny that there is a clear and present danger of casting out our Constitution and instituting a fascist regime.


Outright Lies, False Claims & Power-Grabbing

Gonzales Denies Improper Pressure on Ashcroft

FBI Head Contradicts Gonzales Testimony: Lawmakers Want Probe of Attorney General; Rove Subpoenaed


A White House Warning on Contempt Charges

Power Without Limits

Unfree Speech: The Fourth of July is an apt moment to reflect on one of the great underreported stories of our time: the rise of speech regulation. Glance at the First Amendment, but do not think it still applies. Large bodies of political speech are now governed by laws, agency regulations, court decisions and lawyerly interpretations. Speech has become unfree.


Abuse Of Power, Dishonoring Our Troops & Violation Of Our Constitution and Ratified Treaties

Rules Lay Out C.I.A.’s Tactics in Questioning

War Crimes and the White House: The Dishonor in a Tortured New 'Interpretation' of the Geneva Conventions

Unlikely Adversary Arises to Criticize Detainee Hearings: Some lawyers say Colonel Abraham’s account — of a hearing procedure that he described as deeply flawed and largely a tool for commanders to rubber-stamp decisions they had already made — may have played an important role in the justices’ highly unusual reversal. That decision once again brought the administration face to face with the vexing legal, political and diplomatic questions about the fate of Guantánamo and the roughly 360 men still held there.

U.S. bending rules on Colombia terror? Several lawmakers say multinationals that aid violent groups in return for protection are not being prosecuted. The lawmakers say that, in the cases of U.S. corporations in Colombia, the Justice Department has failed to adequately enforce U.S. laws that make it a crime to knowingly provide material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization — and they have opened their own investigation.

Pentagon Balked at Pleas from Officers Safer MRAP Vehicles While Iraqi Troops Got MRAPs and Americans Waited... And Died: Years before the war began, Pentagon officials knew of the effectiveness of another type of vehicle that better shielded troops from bombs like those that have killed Kincaid and 1,500 other soldiers and Marines. But military officials repeatedly balked at appeals — from commanders on the battlefield and from the Pentagon's own staff — to provide the lifesaving Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, or MRAP, for patrols and combat missions, USA TODAY found. In a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates late last month, two U.S. senators said the delays cost the lives of an estimated "621 to 742 Americans" who would have survived explosions had they been in MRAPs rather than Humvees. The letter, from Sens. Joseph Biden, D-Del., and Kit Bond, R-Mo., assumed the initial calls for MRAPs came in February 2005, when Marines in Iraq asked the Pentagon for almost 1,200 of the vehicles. USA TODAY found that the first appeals for the MRAP came much earlier. As early as December 2003, when the Marines requested their first 27 MRAPs for explosives-disposal teams, Pentagon analysts sent detailed information about the superiority of the vehicles to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, e-mails obtained by USA TODAY show. Later pleas came from Iraq, where commanders saw that the approach the Joint Chiefs embraced — adding armor to the sides of Humvees, the standard vehicles in the war zone — did little to protect against blasts beneath the vehicles.


Distractions, Disinformation, Misinformation, Propaganda & Lies Our Mothers Wouldn't Allow Us Tell

President [Falsely] Links Qaeda of Iraq to Qaeda of 9/11

Mahdi Army, Not Al-Qaeda, is Enemy No. 1 in Western Baghdad

NEWS ANALYSIS; Same People, Same Threat: The National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) concludes US is losing ground in war on terrorism.... suggests the threat against the US is growing worse, fueled by Iraq war and spreading Islamic extremism; says report belies Pres Bush's assertions that Al Qaeda is growing weaker due to US efforts

Court Tells U.S. to Reveal Data on Detainees at Guantánamo: A federal appeals court ordered the government yesterday to turn over virtually all its information on Guantánamo detainees who are challenging their detention, rejecting an effort by the Justice Department to limit disclosures and setting the stage for new legal battles over the government’s reasons for holding the men indefinitely.

Security Lies, Distractions, Abuses & Fear-Mongering

Gonzales Knew About Violations, Officials Say: Two senior Justice Department officials said yesterday that they kept Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales apprised of FBI violations of civil liberties and privacy safeguards in recent years. The two officials spoke in a telephone call arranged by press officials at the Justice Department after The Washington Post disclosed yesterday that the FBI sent reports to Gonzales of legal and procedural violations shortly before he told senators in April 2005: "There has not been one verified case of civil liberties abuse" after 2001.

Long-Delayed Security: As new warnings stoke the public’s fear of terrorist attacks, Congress is finally moving on some of the most important and neglected recommendations of the independent 9/11 commission.

The Politics of Fear: The National Intelligence Estimate is powerful rebuke to Pres Bush's approach to war on terrorism; says it vindicates those who say that Iraq war has been distraction from real fight and charges Congress to work toward exit strategy from Iraq

Limited Capacity Is Seen in Flu Defenses: More than a year after President Bush unveiled a plan for coping with a pandemic flu outbreak, the federal government still has limited capacity to detect a disease outbreak and track its progress across the country. The government has also decided that it will not close the borders if a pandemic flu outbreak occurs somewhere in the world.

F.D.A. Inspections Lax, Congress Is Told: According to testimony Tuesday before a House subcommittee, they have been able to bring tainted products into this country because the F.D.A. has neither enough resources nor inspectors to stop them. And each year it has become easier: since 2003, the number of inspectors has decreased while imports of food alone have almost doubled.

FEMA Runs for Cover: More than 66,000 of the victims still live in FEMA’s trailers, unable to return home. In a sickening twist to their woeful tale of neglect, it appears that their trailers have been poisoning them. FEMA, which knew of the problem for more than a year, ignored warnings from its own staff and avoided addressing it because it was worried about being sued.

Guard Problems Spur New Effort In Protection of Federal Buildings: Homeland Security officials unveiled new steps yesterday to ensure that federal buildings are not left unprotected, after two cases in which contract security guards stayed away from their jobs because they had not been paid. The new measures come after weeks of congressional scrutiny of the Federal Protective Service, a branch of the Department of Homeland Security that provides the private security guards at most federal buildings. Legislators have contended that the service's poor record in paying and overseeing contractors could leave government buildings vulnerable to crime or terrorism.

State-Run Sites Not Effective vs. Terror: Report Blasts Costly Intelligence Centers -- More than 40 state-run operations set up after 9/11 to help uncover terrorist plots are proving to be a costly but largely ineffective weapon against terrorism, according to congressional investigators. Homeland Security has given states $380 million to set up the high-tech intelligence centers to help law enforcement officials do what they were not able to do before Sept. 11, 2001: recognize suspicious activity, patterns and people and use the information to prevent terrorist attacks. However, the centers "have increasingly gravitated toward an all-crimes and even broader all-hazards approach," focusing on traditional criminals and local emergencies, according to a report this month by the Congressional Research Service (CRS).

A Nuclear Ruse Uncovers Holes In U.S. Security: Government Accountability Office investigators set up bogus company and obtained license from Nuclear Regulatory Commission that would have allowed them to buy radioactive materials needed for 'dirty' bomb; GAO report says security measures to prevent terrorists from obtaining radioactive materials are insufficient; bomb would not have caused widespread damage but it still could have had serious consequences in any city where it was detonated; regulatory commission says it has taken steps to improve safeguards and that danger associated with amount of radioactive material auditors were trying to buy should not be overstated; auditors' findings are latest in series of reports about weaknesses at Nuclear Regulatory Commission that investigators argue make nation more vulnerable to dirty bomb attack.


Making A Big Noise In The West While Attacking In The East

The Iraq War Debate: The Great Denier: With the White House refusing to lead, lawmakers in both parties have begun to talk about the best way to end the war. But instead of seizing the opening, Mr. Bush and his team continue to spout disinformation and vacuous slogans about victory and, of course, more character assassination.


Misusing Public Position, Public Funds & Public Office For Partisan Politics

White House Had Drug Officials Appear With GOP Candidates: White House officials arranged for top officials at the Office of National Drug Control Policy to help as many as 18 vulnerable Republican congressmen by making appearances and sometimes announcing new federal grants in the lawmakers' districts in the months leading up to the November 2006 elections, a Democratic lawmaker said yesterday.

White House Would Have Its Political Wing, Officially or Not: Have Congressional overseers have their hands full investigating the deeds and, they allege, misdeeds of the White House Office of Political Affairs. Did the office's involvement in the firing of the nine U.S. attorneys cross the line? What about its staff's use of Republican National Committee e-mail accounts? Did its minions improperly seek to enlist executive agencies to help GOP candidates? Intriguing questions, all. But so is this one: Why is there a taxpayer-funded political office in the White House to begin with?


Over Spending, No-Bid Contracts, Profiteering & Wasting Billions Over There While Ignoring Us Over Here

The Iraq War Debate: A Reality Check on Military Spending: The measure, larded with the usual billions in weapons more suited for another era, seemed headed for routine approval when it became snarled in the debate over Iraq and was pulled from the floor until after Labor Day. That gives the Senate and the public an unexpected chance to reflect on the frightening disconnect between the exotic and unlikely threats the Pentagon spends so much of its investment money preparing for and the 21st century wars America has actually been fighting.

Congressional Agency Predicts War Costs Will Climb: The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will cost U.S. taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade, no matter how quickly U.S. troops are reduced in those countries over the next few years, according to a report released this week by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). The Bush administration and Congress have allocated $577 billion to the conflicts through the end of the current fiscal year, but that amount is only a small down payment, the report suggested in examining the impact of various deployment scenarios. If today's troop level -- roughly 180,000 -- is cut by 85 percent by 2010 and remains at that level through 2017, the total cost of the two conflicts would be an additional $472 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office figures. If U.S. troop deployments were cut more gradually -- to 75,000 soldiers, or by about 60 percent, by 2013 -- the additional costs would be nearly $600 billion. Keeping troops at that level for five years beyond that would cost $300 billion more, the report said.


Back Room Deals, Tax Breaks For The Rich, Special Treatment For Liars & Cheats

Tax Break Used by Drug Makers Failed to Add Jobs: Drug makers were the biggest beneficiaries of the amnesty program, repatriating about $100 billion in foreign profits and paying only minimal taxes. But the companies did not create many jobs in return. Instead, since 2005 the American drug industry has laid off tens of thousands of workers in this country. And now drug companies are once again using complex strategies, many of them demonstrably legal, to shelter billions of dollars in profits in international tax havens, according to their financial statements and independent tax experts.

On Eve of Vote, Farm Bill Draws Threat of a Veto: Farm-state Republicans had been lining up with Democrats to defend the bipartisan bill but changed course when notified that a proposed increase in nutrition programs would be funded partly by tightening the rules on U.S.-based foreign companies that avoid U.S. taxes by using offshore havens.

Taxes in the Global Economy: As Americans grapple with the impact of trade and globalization, the government should be trying to ensure that America’s multinational corporations — and by extension, their shareholders — pay a fair share in taxes on the profits from globalization. Unfortunately, policy makers have moved in the opposite direction, dishing out excessive corporate tax breaks that have done little for workers and have served mainly to concentrate wealth among the few.

Casinos Booming In Katrina's Wake As Cash Pours In: Casinos in Biloxi, Miss, and New Orleans are doing record business in spite of massive damage inflicted by Hurricane Katrina; Biloxi has 40 percent fewer hotel rooms and only two-thirds as many slot machines as it did before Katrina, but business in gambling halls has reached all-time highs in recent months; Harrah's New Orleans is on pace for its best year ever; analysts say casinos in region are generating more revenue--from significantly fewer players--largely because of extra money many area residents have in their pockets and fewer alternatives on where to spend it; another factor in Mississippi is new law that allows casinos to be within 800 feet of water rather than requiring them to be on floating barge or riverboats

Going Once, Going Twice . . . The FCC proposes rules for the spectrum auction. THE FEDERAL Communications Commission is readying an auction of prime real estate -- in the radio spectrum, that is. The 700 MHz band being auctioned off is ideal for broadband services, and the proceeding is likely to be the last big spectrum auction in the telecommunications industry for a long time. The auction could have major implications for businesses, consumers and even victims of crises nationwide. As a result, companies and consumer groups have been lobbying the FCC about conditions to be placed on the spectrum's use -- which will be decided in the next few weeks -- with all parties claiming to promote the public interest. The most heated debate is over whether the telecom industry is competitive enough and which auction conditions might increase competition. In the mobile services market, some Goliaths have been consolidating, but even so, new sales packages are developing.

Judge Rejects Charges for 13 On Tax Shelter: Federal Judge Lewis A Kaplan dismisses charges against 13 former employees of accounting firm KPMG; decision delivers blow to prosecutors who once heralded case as showpiece in government's crusade against questionable tax shelters; Kaplan rules that he has no choice because government had strong-armed KPMG into not paying legal fees of defendants and had violated their rights; while decision is setback for prosecutors, it does not end case; criminal charges remain against five others, including three former KPMG employees; Ronald J Nessim, co-chairman of White Collar Crime Committee of American Bar Assn, says case has broad implications for goverment; lauds Kaplan for standing up to prosecutors; US attorney's office has not decided whether it will appeal; while prosecutors have had successes in battle against corporate fraud, ruling is latest in which they have seen prominent case unravel because it hinged, in part, on aggressive legal tactics.

Vetoing Children’s Health: President Bush is threatening to veto any substantial increase in spending for a highly successful children’s health program on the bizarre theory that expanding it would be the “beginning salvo” in establishing a government-run health care system. His shortsighted ideological opposition would leave millions of children without health insurance at a time when medical costs are soaring.

Tax Loopholes Sweeten a Deal For Blackstone: Blackstone Group devises way for its partners to effectively avoid paying taxes on $3.7 billion of the $4.75 billion it raised last month from selling shares to public; plan, laid out in fine print of Blackstone's financial documents, is similar to one used by other private equity firms and hedge funds that have gone public; Congress is debating how much managers at private equity firms like Blackstone and hedge funds should pay in taxes on their compensation; at issue is whether most of compensation that fund managers earn should be taxed at 35 percent rate that applies to other highly paid Americans, or at 15 percent rate for capital gains; Blackstone's tax maneuver hinges on its use of good will, accounting term for value of intangible assets that are built up by company over time; Blackstone partners paid 15 percent capital gains rate on shares they sold, then arranged to get deductions for $3.7 billion worth of good will at 35 percent rate.

Federal Appeals Court Orders Dismissal of Domestic Spying Suit


Health Care Fiascoes, Selling Our Heroes Short, & Lying About Concern For Our Troops, The Poor & Our Children

Overhaul Urged in Care for Soldiers: Dole-Shalala Commission Wants Bush to Act Quickly -- The panel issued six broad recommendations intended to transform a troubled system for military health care and veterans' assistance that has left some injured soldiers languishing for years and resulted in inequitable and inconsistent disability benefits.

How Specialist Town Lost His Benefits: Jon Town has spent the last few years fighting two battles, one against his body, the other against the US Army. Both began in October 2004 in Ramadi, Iraq. He was standing in the doorway of his battalion's headquarters when a 107-millimeter rocket struck two feet above his head. The impact punched a piano-sized hole in the concrete facade, sparked a huge fireball and tossed the 25-year-old Army specialist to the floor, where he lay blacked out among the rubble.

On Base, a Plea to Give Each Death Its Due: Twenty soldiers deployed to Iraq from this Army base were killed in May, a monthly high. That same month, the base announced a change in how it would honor its dead: instead of units holding services after each death, they would be held collectively once a month.

Drug Safety Critic Hurls Darts From the Inside: A former 1960s campus activist is now shaking up the nation’s pharmaceutical industry.

Filling Gaps in Iraq, Then Finding a Void at Home: This is the face of battle in a new war and a new century — a 46-year-old Pakistani-American woman, part of a rented army of 130,000 civilians supporting 160,000 United States soldiers and marines. Taking the place of enlisted troops in every American army before this one, these contract employees cook meals, wash clothes, deliver fuel and guard bases. And they die and suffer alongside their brothers and sisters in uniform. About 1,000 contractors have been killed in Iraq since the war began; nearly 13,000 have been injured.

The Much Needed Revamping Of Military & Veteran Health Care

Cures for Walter Reed: Another Laudable Report on How to Fix Military Medicine

Before looking at the recommendations of the panel, it must be stated that the first major reform in both military and veteran health care is making the funding of both a first priority.

From the late 1970s through the 1990s there was a tremendous effort to downsize the military medical infrastructure. Naval Regional Medical Centers (MRMCs) were deliberately downsized to Naval Hospital (NH) status. When there was a staffing shortage--and there was almost always a staffing shortage--the method of resolving the shortage was to change the numbers and parameters of staffing. In February of 1980 NRMC Great Lakes (Great Lakes, Illinois) was listed at 73% staffing capacity. In March of that same year it was listed at 100%, but the number of staff onboard had not changed at all. With a stroke of a BUPERS (Naval Bureau of Personnel) and subsequent stroke of a BUMED (Naval Bureau of Medicine), NRMC GLakes went from 73% to 100%. The new commanding officer was less than pleased at the process, as were those nurses, doctors and corpsman that now had to pull double the duty hours just to keep pace.

Major Army hospitals and medical centers were closed or downsized as well. Coast Guard bases were somewhat insulated because only a few duty stations actually had their own hospitals or even a dispensary. Air Force hospitals suffered a similar fate, as did the MEDVAC system operated by the Air Force as a service for all three branches (including the Marine Corps as part of the Navy).

The VA health care system has NEVER been fully funded. Instead, it has been treated as an after-thought, receiving less and less funding (percentage wise) year after year. The VA has never been given a fully funded vision from Congress and has relied on orders from the executive branch to determine how much original funding, and supplemental funding, it has received. As a result, the VA has a system of priorities for providing vets care, which translates into many lower categories of vets (Categories 4-8) receiving care only when there were funds available to do so. That is currently the case as we speak. Veterans in Categories 6-8 are not currently being treated at the VA because the entire VA funding is going toward treating those vets with combat-related, service-related or chromic conditions.

The end result of denying the health care promise to veterans is that one-third to one-half of homeless individuals (depending upon whose study is cited) are veterans from Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Kosovo, Gulf War I and the period between these conflicts. Even though veterans that served faithfully with a promise of lifelong health care in return for their willingness to serve faithfully in an environment where the risk of death occurs everyday (e.g. the risk of death on an aircraft carrier is higher than steelworkers, policemen, firefighters and healthcare workers combined), they are being turned away. Additionally, the funding issue requires that any veteran seeking care from the VA system must supplement the VA budget through co-pays or insurance (if they have it).

Fundamentally there is an inherent injustice in the VA system when it requires a vet to contribute to the funds for care: these folks were promised health care services as part of their commitment when they enlisted or were commissioned.

Then, too, as we have seen from the various reports--and far too many vets (or their families) can attest to, firsthand experience--the quality of health care at the VA is often sub-standard. The system relies too heavily upon hiring foreign-born, foreign-trained physicians and nurses (often ignoring the veteran corpsmen and medics that received excellent training while in service and cannot find a path to civilian credentials upon discharge) for staffing. Then, too, the VA system relies too heavily upon the rotation of interns and residents from the various medical schools associated with the VA hospitals.

When the affiliation with major medical schools was first arranged (Chicago University Medical School was one of the first), the program was hailed as a godsend because it supplemented the VA attending staff and provided a staffing boost. But in the subsequent years, these student doctors have become the entirety of the primary care system, answerable to a Chief Resident more often than a Chief of Service. Most of the Chief of Service positions are filled with doctors that had difficulty getting their US medical credentials because their training was through medical schools and hospitals in places like India, Pakistan, Jordan, Iran or other places.

A good for instance is my own treatment at the VA for kidney stones. The Chief of Service was a Muslim Indian named Dr. Khan. Dr. Khan was an impressive man that met with me twice before my uroscopic procedure. I could barely understand half of what he said because his accent was difficult to understand. Having medical training from the military (Navy Hospital Corp AND Army Medic), I was better informed and more knowledgeable than most patients. But there was a major problem concerning the accuracy of medical progress notes in my case. There are several narrative reports in my medical files that indicate that there were anywhere from three to ten stones in my right kidney, ranging in size from 2-15cm in diameter. The actual CT Scan showed five stones in my right kidney. Yet, a later narrative report indicated these stones were in my left kidney. The problem stemmed from the fact that I had four residents treating me and performing the workup before I got to the operating suite. There was no genuine supervision of these residents by attending staff. While the VA has a new and excellent electronic medical records system, the accuracy of the reports being entered is less than 100%, making the system a product of the feared GIGO (Garbage In-Garbage Out) syndrome dreaded by anyone involved in collecting data and information. The obvious lack of supervision and original involvement of an up-to-date cadre of attending physicians has been problematic and has hurt the quality of care provided by the VA.

One of the first steps in resolving the VA health care system is to revamp the criteria and compensation offerings for physicians, eliminating the need to hire foreign-trained physicians because American-trained doctors won't take these low-paying positions.

One of the first steps for the military hospitals is to increase the staffing of hospitals, clinics and dispensaries with a proper number of corpsmen (medics), nurses and American-trained physicians, AND elevate the military medical infrastructure back to an acceptable standard, keeping it there even when there isn't an active ongoing war.

IT HAS BEEN five months since an investigation by The Post exposed squalid conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and federal policymakers now have no shortage of good advice on how to fix the bloat, inefficiency and indifference of the military health-care system. The latest came yesterday from the President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors, a panel headed by former senator Robert J. Dole and former health and human services secretary Donna E. Shalala, which examined the entire system of health care and benefits that should serve seriously injured soldiers. That follows at least five other major studies released since March.

Still, not nearly enough has been done to fix the system. Some of Walter Reed's facilities have been repaired, but fresh paint at the base's outpatient buildings will not repair the confusing bureaucratic mess that wounded soldiers must face when they get home. President Bush must push through major reforms soon.

Amen! But this is a typical response... throw a little paint on it and call it a done deal.

Headlining the presidential commission's report is a recommendation to assign each seriously injured service member a single "recovery coordinator" who will guide him or her through the process of receiving care and obtaining benefits. Other recommendations include a reform of the disability benefits system: Instead of the current overlapping procedures for assigning benefits, the Defense Department would be responsible only for deciding whether to discharge a service member, while the Department of Veterans Affairs would make all decisions regarding disability payments and services. These determinations would be based on a single, comprehensive physical examination and a regularly updated schedule for assessing the severity of service-related disabilities. The commission also echoed an earlier Institute of Medicine report by calling for compensation for lost quality of life, not just lost income.

The military HAD such a program called an "OMBUDSMAN" program. The Army and Air Force actually have commissioned Social Workers within the system, but the staffing levels for either ombudsmen or social workers has never been adequate for the tasks at hand. But given the nature of traumatic brain injury, a caseworker with between 1-5 cases should be a good start.

But what about those vets and active service members without TBIs? Shouldn't the vet with a limb amputation, or with major burns across the body, or with severe injuries about the torso be entitled to a case worker as well? Shouldn't the vet suffering from PTSD, "shell shock" or other psychiatric disturbances have a caseworker as well? Once again we can see an inherent bias by those that do not understand the systems, the dynamics, or the problems... treat the problem that is getting the most attention and ignore the rest.

Some critical questions remain unanswered: How can the VA reliably quantify loss of "quality of life," for example? Even so, Mr. Bush should be seeking to urgently enact significant reforms such as those in the commission's report, so that no more veterans have to face the broken system in place now. After jogging with two wounded soldiers yesterday afternoon, the president called on Congress to act on the report and said that he had instructed Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Veterans Affairs Secretary R. James Nicholson "to look at every one of these recommendations, to take them seriously and to implement them." We hope that happens, and quickly.

As a vet, I still hold Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld responsible for the faltering of the military and VA health care systems. Like the issues with field armor for vehicles and personnel, these leaders of our military failed to properly prepare for war and sent our troops into harm's way without assuring that the promise of health care was in place.

Shame on them!

Affirmation Regarding The Confusion Over Sexual Predators

Yesterday I wrote a post on the confusion, dissonance and exploitation that is inherent in the way we are addressing sexual predators. While yesterday's post mostly dealt with the way NBC, Dateline and the "To Catch A Predator" series of reports are exploiting the public, doing a disservice to genuine victims of sexual exploitation of all kinds, violating journalistic ethics, and making a profit by exposing these matters in an inappropriate way, it also dealt with the inconsistencies in our history, culture and legal systems in terms of defining sexual abuse, sexual predators and the means by which we intervene in these matters.

Today we find a story that outlines the efforts of a middle school and the local police to prosecute two 13-year-old boys as sexual predators for slapping the buttocks of girls in school. While we can all agree that slapping the buttocks of young pre-teen and teen girls that are entering puberty is inappropriate and constitutes harassment, one has to wonder if the schools, the police, the parents and the prosecutors in these cases have had too much to drink.

Yes, the behavior is wrong... but does it reach the level of a sex crime? Does this behavior by kids so young warrant locking the boys in a juvenile detention center for five days and proffering felony charges? Even though these felony charges have been dropped, was there grounds for smearing a label of sexual predator and attaching the stigma of that label onto children that have not the cognitive capacity (c.f. Scientific American reports Is the Teen Brain Too Rational? and The Teen Brain, Hard at Work) to determine if their behavior is risky to themselves or others, or even appropriate by adult definitions and understanding. What we do not understand about pre-adolescent and adolescent development and behavior could fill several tomes.

This report affirms my posted notions that we really do not know what the hell we are doing when it comes to our sexuality, our children's needs, defining sexual predatory behaviors, adolescence or social norms.

Boys Face Trial Over Slapping Charges

Two middle-school students in Oregon are facing possible time in a juvenile jail and could have to register as sex offenders for smacking girls on the rear end at school.

Cory Mashburn and Ryan Cornelison, both 13, were arrested in February after they were caught in the halls of Patton Middle School, in McMinnville, Ore., slapping girls on the rear end. Mashburn told ABC News in a phone interview that this was a common way of saying hello practiced by lots of kids at the school, akin to a secret handshake.

The boys spent five days in a juvenile detention facility and were charged with several counts of felony sex abuse for what they and their parents said was merely inappropriate but not criminal behavior.

Common or not, we can all agree that this is an inappropriate way of greeting or communicating in the social sense among young teens. But given its social acceptance among this group of teens, one would think that some re-direction, correction and education on the issues would have been more appropriate than hauling these kids off to a juvenile detention center and keeping them for five days... never mind charging them with sex crimes at the felony level.

The local district attorney has since backed off -- the felony charges have been dropped and the district attorney said probation would be an appropriate punishment. The Mashburns' lawyer said prosecutors offered Cory a plea bargain that would not require him to register as a sex offender, which the family plans to reject.

But the boys, if convicted at an Aug. 20 trial, still face the possibility of some jail time or registering for life as sex offenders.

The boys' families and lawyers said even sentencing them to probation would turn admittedly inappropriate but not uncommon juvenile rowdiness into a crime. If they are convicted of any of the misdemeanor charges against them, they would have to register as sex offenders.

It's devastating," said Mark Lawrence, Cory Mashburn's lawyer. "To be a registered sex offender is to be designated as the most loathed in our society. These are young boys with bright futures, and the brightness of those futures would be over."

I am not sure that slapping someone on the buttocks while they are fully clothed and without an obvious sexual context could ever rise to the level of a sex crime. But if the prosecution continues on this track, these kids will be marked for life as sexual predators.

This is similar to the numerous cases where people have been arrested and prosecuted as sexual predators for "indecent exposure" instead of public urination. As I was growing up there was a tradition that if your kids had to pee while on a long road trip, Good Old Dad would pull over to the breakdown lane, put on his flashers and instruct you to run to the edge of the tree line to do your business. Sometimes Good Old Dad--and on a rare occasion even Good Old Mom--would make the same trip to the trees for the same reason. Today this could be a sex crime... Go figure!

Perhaps it's time to consider changing the charge to simple assault, removing the sex offender stigma from the case altogether? Or perhaps it is time to consider a diversion approach that would drop the charges if these boys were to participate in some form of "sexual harassment" seminar, and then do a couple of presentations at their school on what they learned?

Cory Mashburn said he and Ryan Cornelison slapped each others' and other kids' bottoms every Friday. "Lots of kids at school do that," he said.

I can't speak for Mashburn and Cornelison, but when I was their age I learned to congratulate my team mates in football and basketball by slapping them on their backside. Even our coaches would do this type of thing when they sent us in to substitute or bring a new play call to the quarterback or team captain. I think we have enough of an established norm within the context of this middle school to question the judgment of the school officials, the police and the prosecutors.

Cory and Ryan were brought to the principal's office Feb. 22, where they were questioned by school officials and a police officer. They were arrested that day and taken in handcuffs to a juvenile detention facility.

Court papers said the boys touched the buttocks of several girls, some of whom said this made them uncomfortable. The papers also said Cory touched a girl's breasts. But police reports filed with the court said other students, both boys and girls, slapped each other on the bottom.

"It's like a handshake we do," one girl said, according to the police report.

The boys were initially charged with five counts of felony sexual abuse. At a court hearing, two of the girls recanted, saying they never felt threatened or inappropriately touched by the boys. The judge released the boys but barred them from returning to school and required that they be under constant adult supervision.

District Attorney Bradley Berry has since dismissed the felony counts. The boys face 10 misdemeanor charges of harassment and sexual abuse. They face a maximum of up to one year in a juvenile jail on each count, though Berry said there was no way the boys would ever serve that much time.

"An appropriate sentence would be probation," he said. "These are minor misdemeanor charges that reflect repeated contact against multiple victims. We never intended for them to get a long time in detention."

"We're not seeking major penalties," he said. "We're seeking change in conduct."

The statement of the district attorney doesn't seem to ring true. If he were genuinely interested in changing conduct and behavior, especially when there is a willing and cooperative set of parents that want their children to understand the inappropriateness of these actions, then there would be some effort on his part to seek out some alternatives to prosecution under sexual offender charges. But this seems to be another case of sensationalizing a case to promote the image of the office or the person of the district attorney. And if the DA did not intend for a long time in detention, why weren't these kids released to their parents "ROR" as most first-time juvenile offenders are released? Why were they kept in detention for five days? I love it when we are lied to in such obvious ways, don't you?

The arrests, critics said, reflect a trend toward criminalizing adolescent sexual behavior. Between 1998 and 2002, juvenile arrests for sex offenses other than rape or prostitution rose 9 percent -- the only kind of juvenile arrests that rose during that time, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

"More and more, they are criminalizing normal adolescent or preadolescent behavior," said Chuck Aron, co-chairman of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers juvenile justice committee.

This is in keeping with my observations about the NBC, Dateline, "Predator" series and Perverted Justice approach. We are caught in a pattern of sensationalizing and exaggerating the events to garner not only attention to the genuine problems of sexual abuse and assault, but for profit or political gain. And, just as I wrote in yesterday's post, we cannot seem to get it straight when dealing with adolescent sexuality... or as we see in this case, what might not be sexuality at all, but a group of kids acting in a way that they do not perceive as inappropriate, but seems to stimulate the dirty little minds of school administrators and the local law enforcement folks.

Even probation, the Mashburns and their attorney said, would be too severe a punishment.

Julie McFarlane, a supervising attorney at the Juvenile Rights Project in Portland, Ore., said, "Probation for a sex offense is very difficult thing, and there's a pretty high failure rate." Failing to meet the terms of probation could mean the boys would be sent to jail.

Depending on the terms of probation, it's likely that the boys would not be allowed to have sexual contact with anyone or any contact with younger children, McFarlane said. For Cory Mashburn, that would mean he couldn't be left alone with his younger siblings.

In our efforts to genuinely identify and arrest those that prey on our children, we have cast a net so large and so fine that we are now criminalizing natural human behaviors, including those behaviors that need to be curtailed and set straight. Certainly we can agree that the method of "handshaking" chosen by these boys and others in this middle school is inappropriate, but approaching it in the manner chosen by these authorities is blown way out of proportion. But this is in keeping with an observation I made in yesterday's post when I noted that the way people react to these issues is often more damaging than the original incidents.

Berry, the district attorney, said the victims -- the girls who were touched -- were being overlooked. "What's been lost in this whole thing are the victims, who have been pressured enormously by these boys' friends," he said.

I disagree. I do not think these girls are being neglected in this process... at least not by anyone with a lick of sense. But perhaps the DA should ask if his own actions are ignoring the needs of these girls? There is a stigma of being a sexual victim as well as a stigma attached to being a "squealer" in the school setting. Once again we have to ask if the DA really understands the issues and whether there is an alternative approach that would validate the girls, acknowledge the inappropriateness of the boys' actions, send a message to all the children in school, alert the school authorities to an issue that they have been ignoring, and provide for the proverbial "win-win" outcome?

NBC Dateline "Predator" Suffers Its Own Perverted Justice

I have written on more than one occasion that the NBC Dateline "To Catch A Predator" series is all about making money through an exploitation of the worst part of human nature. Like the group of people that gather at the base of a tall building to watch a depressed and disturbed individual contemplate suicide via jumping to his or her death, Dateline viewers are offered an "inside look" into the perversion that is pedophilia.

But here in America we have some issues to resolve.

Should a television network be allowed to become a de facto arm of the law enforcement system? When I teach journalism I often discuss the important issue of ethics. Journalism has a history of largely ignoring ethics up until the post-World War II era. We are now seeing a backsliding dynamic when it comes to ethics in journalism because of the appeal to sensationalism, gossip, celebrity watching (a creation of Hollywood's own public relations, advertising and marketing engines), and a penchant for voyeurism in a vicarious manner.

But we already have too many cameras invading our personal space and personal lives. One of the principles of journalistic ethics is to determine whether a story is in the public view or a private matter, and if it is private, then whether or not there is a right of the general public to know. Most assuredly those conspiring to commit a crime are thrusting themselves into the public view. Most assuredly those seeking to commit sexual acts with children are subject to the public right to know. But should it be broadcast in the manner in which NBC, Dateline, and the producers of the "Predator" series have chosen? And if the answer to this question is "yes," then should it be an ongoing series that exploits the voyeuristic and pornographic tendencies of the general public?

I know how I see the issue. When Dateline presented this issue in its original "Predator" segment, I felt that it had crossed a line of taste, but that a one-time airing of the issues, dynamics and problem involved in predatory pedophilia was worth the crossing the line of decorum. But Dateline has turned this type of programming into a moneymaker. Given that NBC has significant issues trying to maintain a competitive role among the major networks, it has decided to grab the attention of viewers by appealing to these base instincts of the general public, demonstrate that such segments garner huge numbers of viewers, and sell all of the available commercial spots at a premium.

While I agree the predatory nature of pedophilia needs to be outlined in a public manner, I do not think we really understand the issues. In the first place, we define pedophilia a lot differently in our culture. Now I am not just saying that we define pedophilia a lot differently than other cultures, but that we have historically re-defined it in our own country. Indeed, during the Colonial and Expansion Eras of our nation, young teen-aged girls were practically sold off into marriage. Marriages occurred between older men--sometimes men that were in their thirties or forties--and a young girl as young as thirteen. These marriages were not only sanctioned by the families, but also by the majority of church leaders and the legal authorities.

As our nation grew and expanded, and as we entered into the Industrial Revolution, young girls were exploited either by what amounted to practical slave labor for those with industrial production capacity, the rich that required domestic servants, or by those that were seeking young wives. In fact, becoming a teen-age wife might have actually been a better alternative that working in the mills and factories of the time. Marriage at an early age might even be better than the fate of working as a maid, cook or other servant in the households of the wealthy since many of these servants were often sexually exploited in the process.

In all but the most urban centers of our nation, teen-aged girls were subject to marriage well into the 1960s. We still have a patchwork quilt of laws from state-to-state regarding the age of sexual consent. The age of consent for sexual acts has also been a political football at times, subject to the whims of a fickle legislature. During the 1960s and 1970s many courts were recognizing that sex between two teen-agers close in age was not necessarily "statutory rape," but an expression of puberty, adolescence, and the process of exploring sexuality. While such was not considered the ideal manner to express puberty, adolescence or sexuality, the courts were recognizing that it was the role of parents to educate their teens regarding moral and sexuality issues, and criminalizing sex was not necessarily a positive step. Since the Reagan Era, this approach has been retracted by the vast majority of courts and most expressions of sexual intimacy by teen-agers are considered criminal acts in one manner or another.

Still, there is such a thing as statutory rape. The concept is that when a person lacks the capacity to consent, then the sexual act is abusive, invasive and illegal. Then, too, there is such a thing as rape and incest, both being an exploitation and invasion of the person by use of coercive force, threat or undue influence. It is here that the legal concept of "mens rea" (intent or reason for an act) comes into play.

Most assuredly those people caught by Dateline's "Predator" series possess an evil intent that qualifies as a criminal act. But is it the role of Dateline to exploit these events into a moneymaking process? Does Dateline take the necessary steps to prevent casting aspersions on someone's character? Does Dateline ever cross the lines of decency, libel, slander or offer a disregard for humanity?

Perhaps the question is answered in the recent lawsuit filed against NBC, Dateline and the producers and presenters of the "To Catch A Predator" series? Does Dateline's alliance with the group known as "Perverted Justice" cross a line where journalists are no longer reporting the news, but are creating the news and participating in it in such a way as to disregard the ethics and principles of journalism? Do the folks at NBC and Perverted Justice disregard constitutional issues and violate the rights of those accused, or do they merely serve as a tool that allows law enforcement to circumvent the due process protected by constitutional principles?

Of course pedophilia is a horrendous social and criminal act. Children should not be exploited, invaded or assaulted in this manner. The sexual development of a child should be something that is guided by the child's family... or so we are led to believe. But there is another form of pedophilia that is considerably more perverse than what has been depicted on Dateline: incest... a sexual exploitation committed by those that are supposed to love and protect children. Of course, incest remains largely under-reported, outside of the attention of the media, secreted by most families because of the stigma, and treated as a crime without any regard for the dysfunction that underlies the act itself.

We are also led to believe that pedophilia, rape and incest is on the rise. This is the lie of sensationalism and the dynamics of secrecy. Incest and pedophilia have always been with us. Like all forms of child abuse and exploitation, we are just beginning to learn the depths of its depravity because we are paying attention to it. But, as a lot of victims of sexual abuse will tell us, the worst part of being sexually exploited is the way our families, communities and our legal system responds to such assaults and abuse. We collectively continue to ignore the issues and problems inherent in dealing with sexual matters, especially those we perceive as criminal, exploitive and morally repulsive.

Maybe the lawsuit against NBC, Dateline and Perverted Justice will garner some attention not only to the issues of exploitation by the predators labeled by the Dateline programming, but also the exploitation by NBC, Dateline, Perverted Justice and our collective lack of proper understanding of the problems and dynamics. But I am willing to bet that we will continue to ignore the real issues and tune in to the next episode of "Predator" aired by NBC and Dateline.

'Predator' Suicide Prompts $105M Lawsuit

The sister of a former U.S. state prosecutor who killed himself after he was targeted by a television show as a suspected pedophile is suing NBC Universal for $105 million.

Louis William Conradt, 56, shot himself in November 2006 after he was confronted at his Terrell, Texas, home by police, whom the lawsuit said were carrying television cameras for a "To Catch a Predator" segment of NBC's Dateline program.

"To Catch a Predator" involves Dateline and Internet watchdog Perverted Justice luring suspected pedophiles to a "sting house" by using online decoys. NBC has said Conradt had contacted a decoy posing as a 13-year-old boy.

But Conradt did not visit the "sting house" the show set up in Murphy, Texas, 35 miles from Terrell. The lawsuit said 24 men were lured to the Murphy home and arrested, but no charges were brought as a result of the operation.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan by Patricia Conradt on behalf of Conrad's estate, accuses NBC's Dateline of "steam-rolling" police to arrest Conradt, a retired district attorney for Kaufman County.

The lawsuit said police and members of the Dateline crew traveled to Conradt's house "with neither a search warrant nor an arrest warrant" that met legal standards.

"Both police officers and other members of the party were wearing cameras ... very large cameras, on the cutting edge of technology, that normally are worn only by television reporters," the lawsuit said.

"They were met by (Conradt). He told them 'I'm not gonna hurt anyone' and shot himself. Then a police officer said to a Dateline producer, 'That'll make good TV.' Death was an hour later," it said.

"The stigma of suicide irrevocably has spread its dark shadow over his good name and reputation," the lawsuit said.

NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co., said it had not yet received the lawsuit.

"But we plan to defend ourselves vigorously as we believe the claims in the suit to be completely without merit," it said in a statement.

This is the second lawsuit filed against NBC in the last three months over the "Dateline" predator series. In May, the show's former producer, Marsha Bartel, sued the network in Illinois federal court, alleging she was fired after she raised ethical concerns about the show's methods.

Saving Baby: A Miracle In Lee County

The following is the story of "Baby," a German Shepherd puppy that was all but abandoned in the small town (Moro) in Lee County, Arkansas. The story reveals the routine neglect of animals, many of whom are "pets" but are ignored. This is the second dog that has been rescued by the efforts of my wife and I, or her family. The first was "Rookie," a large female black lab that was all but abandoned by a minister that took a job outside of Lee County and decided to lock the dog in a hot external building that had no air ventilation (a real problem given the heat down here), often without allowing her out to urinate and defecate. Later, Rookie was allowed to run free throughout the town without proper care. The result was that Rookie was infected with heartworms and needed to undergo a horrible treatment involving arsenic compounds, extreme toxicity, and potential death. Rookie now lives with my wife's relatives and lives the life of Riley, going to work with one of my wife's relatives everyday, and having her own chair in the main office of the business.

Since rescuing Baby, my wife and I have made a commitment to develop funds and plans for a shelter in Lee County, with hopes that we can network and assist the development of Humane Society resources for Lee, Monroe, Phillips Counties (none of which have genuine resources for stray, abused or neglected animal care), as well as develop additional resources for St. Francis County.

But the attitudes of the folks down here do not support decent care for animals. Many folks allow their dogs to run free, often laying or wondering on the highways and byways, risking a head-on collision with a car, farm equipment or an 18-wheeler. Far too many are not treated with heart worm prophylaxis, or even fleas and tick prophylaxis. The shelter in Forrest City is brand new and is already overwhelmed with animals, and many are euthanized because of the severity of neglect or abuse.

Late in the afternoon I sat down at my computer to check my email. A message popped up on the screen and then disappeared into the anti-spam folder. What was that I saw? Something about a dog in trouble? I quickly retrieved the message.

The subject read "German Shepherd in Trouble in Moro." I opened the message and began to read what would become the first chapter in the story of a dog who became known as "Baby" and the man who was trying to save her. The last words of the message were "Please help me find her the help she needs."

With this awful scenes of other cases of neglect and abuse still fresh in my mind I began to read the words of the message from a stranger in Moro:

We just moved to Moro, AR. There is a pack of dogs, mostly labs, running loose around our neighborhood. There is also a female German Shepherd that sometimes runs with them. She is a sweet youngster (I estimate 9 months to a year old) that has been hanging around our house and the house of our relatives. I was finally able to get her to come to me after she was caught in a torrential downpour yesterday. She is flea and tick infested, and her skin is filled with scabs from the bites. She doesn't appear to have any major hair loss at this time. However, I am almost certain, given the number of mosquitoes in this area and the fact that she appears so neglected, that she would test positive for heart worm. This morning I offered her some dog food and she gulped it down like she hadn't eaten in a while. She is not emaciated, but she was very hungry and very thirsty.

She is not very socialized with humans, being very skittish when approached. She is also skittish around new dogs, but seems to get along with the others in the local pack she runs with. But she is very sweet and friendly. I do not know if she has been spayed, or if she has been vaccinated in any way... so I am careful to keep my Dachshund away from her (even though he is fully vaccinated). But I am very concerned about her well-being.

I have left a message on your answering machine, but I do not know if your shelter is the appropriate facility serving Moro or Lee County. If I could afford it, I would round her up and take her to a vet, but that is not a possibility at this time. The neighbors believe she belongs to someone here in Moro. But even if she does belong to someone, she is being seriously neglected. I cannot say whether this is deliberate or due to the inability of the owner to care for her fully.

Please help me find her the help she needs.

My heart went out to this newcomer and the dog he was writing about, but I could only answer with the truth. I cared very much and wanted to help but he was out of our county and officially, our organization could do nothing. To which he answered:

I am sorry you can't help either. I called seven different organizations today, including the Marianna PD, the Lee County Sheriff's Department, and a couple Humane Society folks. Each time I was referred to either some other number/organization, or to one I had already called. Lee County Sheriff's Dept referred me back to you folks.

As a new resident of Arkansas I am getting very frustrated with the lack of service provided by the various government entities I have encountered...

But I thank you for the response and the concern. I am going to contact a German Shepherd rescue organization and see if I can somehow get the pup in their hands. Unfortunately, this may open me up to expenditures I can barely afford, and possibly legal entanglements if the owner somehow surfaces in the process. But there is a moral and ethical issue at hand. No animal should be neglected in this manner. In the interim I am going to coax her into a tub, give her a flea bath and remove the ticks, and treat the scabs and any wounds that might be present (I am a former US Navy Corpsman and Army Medic)... even if I have to suture wounds myself. Hopefully I will find a sympathetic vet who will help.

If the pup were a Dachshund I would have all kinds of resources through DARE, Coast-to-Coast and other Dachsie rescue organizations (I got my bubala from C2C).

He was being led in a circle and that circle was coming back to me. I began forwarding his emails to other members of the FCAHS and answers started coming. If he could get a picture and if he could feed and care for the dog we could help in some ways, maybe we could help.

A little miracle began to happen. A donor came forward with an offer to pay up to $100 in vet bills for the dog.
I passed this news to my new found friend in Moro along with information about vets in the area.

However, the next message from Moro was discouraging:

I really appreciate your efforts! Unfortunately, the pup is nowhere to be found since the day I started this process. I received a call from someone you were networking with. Rest assured, if the sweet girl comes back into my sight, she will be washed, de-ticked and given some tender care...

In my efforts to find help for this German Shepherd pup I talked to 8 organizations. I kept getting passed from one office/person to another. The Marianna Police referred me to the Sheriff. I had called them before calling the MPD and they were the ones that referred me to you. One of the officials referred me to the Humane Society in West Memphis. My first thought was that the shelter in West Memphis wouldn't want anything to do with this issue... and then I thought that just maybe there is a regional approach. As it turned out, my first thought was correct...

Again, many thanks for all of you efforts and networking. As soon as I track down the pup, I will follow through with the necessary steps.

Another message arrived, this time with good news:

The pup returned yesterday. Unfortunately, we were on the way to the 4th of July gathering and could not deal with her then. But she decided to stick around, so we were able to feed and water her with some healthy stuff.

This morning I bathed her three times, taking no less than 30 ticks off her body. I am not sure we got them all. I cleaned her ears and placed tick-mite drops in her ears. We put a flea and tick collar on her (we could not afford the stuff that I know works). She is now tied out on a thirty-foot lead near a doghouse with plenty of water.

She is the sweetest thing. Although she was not happy about any of the baths, she loved being brushed and wiped down. Even though removing the ticks caused her pain, she never once snapped or even tried to mouth our hands. She recovered quickly from the pain response and fast became friends again. She is still skittish around strangers and other dogs with whom she is unfamiliar, but she comes to us and looks for attention when we go out. I was even able to move her bowl of food without a growl or warning...

She is okay for now. I am going to try to contact the vet you recommended ASAP.

Then the news got better:

I took 'Baby' to the vet today. She was negative for heartworms, but I have to find a way to get her started on the prophylaxis treatment ASAP. The technicians advised me that I have a window of 1-3 weeks and that she will need a follow-up check for heartworm in 6 months just to be sure. She is positive for two types of intestinal worms--as I figured she would be given the neglect of assuring her clean chow. He gave me meds for the deworming process. She also has a new tick collar, which he recommended over a dip because it lasts three months... and costs a little less than the dip. But since she was ticky all over, I had to get the collar out of my own pocket to protect her and my own dog. She also has bilateral ear infections, so he gave me drops that have to go in twice a day, as well as an oral antibiotic that has to be given twice a day.

The total for today's visit was $92.50, including her vaccinations for rabies and the three basic concerns (distemper, parvo and rabies). The tick collar cost me $13.00, which was almost all I had on me at the time. She was registered as Moro Shepherd...
Thanks very very much.

And so the "German Shepherd in Trouble in Moro" became "Baby". She had a name! I smiled at that because I believed that she would also soon have a home. The next message contained the pictures and something I will not forget.

Again, thank you from the bottom of my soul for your help. It is a "mitzvah" (Yiddish for "honorable deed") that will not go unmentioned in heaven. Even though I am not Jewish, sometimes the Yiddish words sum things up better than English. A person that commits a "mitzvah" is usually referred to as a "mensch" (a great soul or person).... I think you may just qualify. Attached are two pictures taken while "Baby" was being a bit rambunctious. I attached them as files and as embedded pictures.

“Baby” became real in the pictures. I posted them on Lost & Found as promised. Then came bad news and good news.

Well, we were given an ultimatum by my wife's uncle, who is our landlord: we had to remove "Baby" from the tie out because she was bellowing late at night. So, we gave her another bath and combed her really well, checked her for ticks all over and allowed her to spend the night in our house.
At first we had a tough time getting her in the house. She did not know what to make of the idea of going into this "big cave." But she eventually saw the benefit of air conditioning and no flies as a good thing.

She did alright overnight, except that her way of telling me she needed to go out was to wake me up at three AM by licking my face and insisting that we play. When I finally figured out that she needed to go out, I walked her and my Dachsie in the dark until bladder matters were well resolved. There upon she returned to the bedroom and took the philosophical position that if the Dachsie had bed rights, she should have them as well.

Fortunately, I won that philosophical argument and she slept at the foot of the bed on the floor. She also woke me up when she began chewing on my best pair of dress shoes, which resulted in another philosophical discourse that I won by removing the temptation.

Although she is a bit afflicted with attention deficit disorder (because she has apparently never had anyone tell her no, ask her to sit, or lie down, or stay), she is now responding to commands to sit, lie down and stay, She still tests the limits of my resolve, but she is learning. Fortunately, she is very food motivated and a treat gets her attention rather adeptly.

She is responding to the antibiotics the doctor prescribed, and her ears are no longer as tender as they were a few days ago. The oral antibiotics, however, have a steroid component and have affected her appetite and she is literally seeking out every scrap of food on the planet. Her energy level is up and she is playing, rolling on the floor with me and looking for toys.

My wife spoke to me this morning about working on the issue of having a shelter resource in Lee County. After she returns to work she wants to work on finding the funds to build a shelter and provide educational and rescue resources for the county. She has become disillusioned with the way some people treat their "pets." My suggestion was that we needed to not only develop a shelter for Lee County, but also develop a working network with all the existing shelters and organizations in the region.

Anyway, my wife is now worried that I have allowed "Baby" to occupy a spot in my heart. She sees the playing and rolling around on the floor as a sign that I will have difficulty surrendering her to an adoptive family. As much as she has touched my heart, I genuinely see my role as a short-term foster parent until I get her into a loving and caring family home. My Dachshund has my heart and first place... But "Baby" is a sweetie and should be in the loving arms of a family ASAP.

I have been trying to coordinate with a man from Forrest City, who called me and expressed an interest in "Baby." I will try contacting him again today.
Many thanks to all of you for the help that you have provided. This pup's life and health have improved 100% in just the few days we have helped her. She is a tremendous pup that has responded very well to our structure, love and kindness. She is learning to walk on the leash without struggling, she is responding to basic obedience commands (she still needs a lot of work before we can call her "trained"), and is learning when she can be rambunctious and when she needs to settle down. I could not have done this without your support with the vet, the medications and the hope of getting her placed in a good home.

I wasn't sure at this point whether he would have to relocate Baby immediately because of the landlord but I could also see that he was becoming very fond of her and would keep her for as long as he possibly could. Baby received the heartworm prevention she needed from the same donor who this time merely answered "Done!" when told that it was needed. The man who saved Baby learned that there were some wonderful people in Arkansas after all! Then came the best news of all.

My new friends,

We have successfully found a home for Baby. He owns a piece of property on the outskirts of Forrest City proper with a big fenced in yard (fence is 8 feet tall) and has automatic watering and feeding devices set up for all his pups. He was more than willing--and quite familiar with the process--to continue the regiment of medications prescribed. The six-month supply of heartworm prophylaxis was a godsend and he has committed to maintaining that prevention year round with Baby and his other pups.
It turns out that he is a friend to one of my wife's cousins and comes highly regarded by many in the family. He has a family (one daughter) that took to the pup like a duck in water. He was also impressed when I related to him that I had only been working with Baby for about a week and she was responding so well to the basic obedience commands (as demonstrated in the driveway where we exchanged her). I think this was a good match.

This is one dog rescued from neglect and discard. We need to continue the process.
In that light, my wife and I have been discussing how to proceed with developing a shelter and humane society affiliate in Lee County.

But we have pulled off a small miracle. Baby is set on a road toward happiness as a healthy and well-loved pup. Again, this miracle was pulled off with your help and I thank each of you from the depth of my soul.
Jim

If through this experience other Humane Societies are formed and other shelters are built to care for and endeavor to find loving homes for homeless and neglected or abused animals then we have done our job! Thank you, Baby, for the good things you may have started and the lessons we have learned because there was a "German Shepherd in Trouble in Moro!"

NOTE: Since the story of Baby ended with her adoption by a firefighter in Forrest City, there have been numerous stories about animal neglect in Arkansas, as well as throughout the United States, including a bust of eighty people for cockfighting throughout Arkansas, the involvement of major NFL players in pit bull fighting, and the broadcast of cockfighting over the Internet in violation of a law passed during the Clinton administration (one that will probably not stand up in court because of constitutional issues).

Like far too many things involving our legal system, politics and daily living, the abuse and neglect of animals takes a back seat unless there is some sensational reason--like the involvement of an NFL superstar in the process--to make it news. But we have a moral obligation to intervene in all cases of abuse and neglect.

There is a striking bit of irony in these matters: The very first case of child neglect in this country was brought to court in New York under the provisions of laws against cruelty of animals. Now there are many laws protecting children, and many organizations, agencies and governmental bodies involved in child abuse and neglect intervention, and so few such groups dealing with animal abuse and neglect.

Immigration Dissonance Revealed In A Joke

I have written many times that I am conflicted over the way US immigration policy is implemented. Historically our immigration policies and practices have been racist and based on corporate desire to exploit one ethnic group or another for cheap labor resources. Today, as is cited in David Sirota's "Hostile Takeover," American corporations are sending jobs overseas to exploit Third World and Asian labor markets at the expense of American workers.

Still, as was illustrated in a joke that I received in my e-mail a few days ago, most Americans are dead set on blaming the various immigrant groups for the economic hardships most Americans are facing. Like most jokes that are based on ethnicity, the punch line is based upon stereotypes that a) have some kernel of truth to a very small degree; b) distort that kernel of truth in an extensively exaggerated way; c) are hurtful and shamefully reflect that loss of truly American values and spirituality; and d) demonstrates the mass ignorance that we Americans perpetrate in the name of nationalism, xenophobia, fear and "patriotism."

The joke is funny. Much like the joke that Whoopi Goldberg told in her recent cable special where she uses the infamous "N-word" to illustrate why we tell such jokes, but also why we are so conflicted over the use of such words, this joke will make most of us laugh. Equally, and oddly, this joke will make most of us uncomfortable with our laughter and the truth behind the joke... or at least it should.

In order to really examine the issues, I am posting the joke so that we can really take a look at our collective conscience and see if we really want to be the people that we appear to be when we pass this joke around via our e-mail:

A Somali man arrives in Minneapolis as a new immigrant to the United States He stops the first person he sees walking down the street and says, "Thank you Mr. American for letting me in this country, giving me housing, food stamps, free medical care, and free education!"

The passerby says, "You are mistaken, I am Mexican."

The man goes on and encounters another passerby. "Thank you for having such a beautiful country here in America !"

The person says, "I not American, I Vietnamese."

The new arrival walks further, and the next person he sees he stops, shakes his hand and says, "Thank you for the wonderful America !"

That person puts up his hand and says, "I am from Middle East , I am not American!"
He finally sees a nice lady and asks, "Are you an American?"

She says, "No, I am from Africa !"

Puzzled, he asks her, "Where are all the Americans?"

The African lady checks her watch and says..."Probably at work".

Unfortunately, the reality of immigrants--legally here or not--in America is nowhere near the reality depicted in this joke. The immigrant families I have worked with as a social worker in Boston and Chicago areas have often had the father and mother of the family working two or three jobs, most of them at minimum wage without any benefits or potential for raises. In many cases, as has been the case for immigrant families throughout American history, the children of these families end up working to support the family in some way as soon as they are able to do so.

In the Chicago area, I worked with families that primarily worked in the restaurant industry, if not the hotel service industry. These industries are notorious for not paying well, abusing their workers, and hiring under the table, especially when dealing with immigrants (legally here or not) who do not understand their rights as workers.

The families I worked with in the Boston area included Vietnamese and Cambodian families where EVERYONE in the family worked. Often, like so many immigrants in the past, these folks would work in a family-owned restaurant, starting work at 5:00 AM and working until 11:00 at night. The children of these immigrant families leave school only to arrive at the family restaurant to work at food prep. Like my own family, the parents view their labor as necessary for the family to survive in our economy. Like my own family, where I worked in my step-father's construction company from age 10 to 18, these children are not usually paid for their labors.

The Lebanese families I worked with in Worcester often worked in the hotel service or cleaning business, having two or three jobs ongoing at a time. One Lebanese family I met while living in Norwood, Massachusetts, operated a wonderful Middle Eastern restaurant. The father, mother, brother, sister-in-law and their children all worked in the restaurant. After 15 years of hard work, the family began experiencing some prosperity. But that prosperity sits on a tightrope in our economy when tax cuts benefit the rich and hurt the Middle Class and the poorest among us; when cost of petroleum products, like plastics used in the restaurant business, rises and cannot easily be passed along to customers; when the cost of education, medical care, gasoline, food, utilities and everything else rises faster than wages and revenues; and when there is a gaping wound in our overall economic realities.

The FACTS show that the majority of welfare fraud is committed by 1-3% of welfare recipients, most of whom are born in America as American citizens. The FACTS show that most immigrant families that receive any type of state or federal assistance eventually work their way off the welfare roles while those American families that have received welfare assistance are often caught in what has been called the cycle of poverty. The FACTS show that most of those American-born families are white, not minorities, and not immigrants.

Then there is the reality of the workplace. When I worked for RCN in Boston, my office was filled with folks from Mexico, India, the Caribbean, Dominican Republic, Ireland, England, and South America. The job I took after that had immigrants from China, Vietnam, Australia and Guatemala. My wife worked for TicketMaster in Chicago and had office mates from all over the world.

So, while the joke is funny, it is a joke based on an erroneous stereotype that has been in place for time immemorial. When my Irish ancestors came to this country, there were signs in the windows of Boston and surrounding communities that literally read "Irish Need Not Apply." These Irish were labeled as lazy, "no-good for nothings," and other ethnic slurs.

During the era when large numbers of Italians came to New York and Boston, the Italians were labeled in much the same way as those coming across our southern borders today (1880s Italians were called Guineas and WOPS. In New York, these Italian-Americans were initially confined to tenement apartments in an area that is now referred to as "Little Italy." But history has changed most of "Little Italy" into parts of "China Town." Then again, China Town is fast becoming "Asia Town" because of new immigrants from Vietnam, Cambodia, and other parts of the "Far East."

In Boston, these Italian-Americans replaced the Jews that had originally congregated into the North End of Boston. The North End is currently renowned for its Italian community, Italian restaurants, and Italian bakeries. But even that is changing as gentrification is moving in and the Italian flavor of the North End.

In Boston and New York, Italians were labeled as no-good. In fact, in the movie, "It's A Wonderful Life," there is a line that demonstrates the prejudice against Italian families when mean Old Mr. Potter calls them "nothing but garlic eaters."

Today Hispanics coming across the border are called "wet backs" and "spics"). But in my day, there were all kinds of slurs against Puerto Ricans moving from San Juan to Boston or New York. Supposedly, these folks were only moving to these places for the welfare benefits. This perception is strange because anyone that has tried to get benefits for anything in New York City can vouch how difficult, tedious, embarrassing and humiliating seeking aid is in that city.

When I was growing up, my mother had several periods of time where she was a single parent. During those times we lived in "The Projects" and received welfare. The social workers of the 1960s would enter our home and inspect every inch of the place looking for signs that my mother might be living with a man. Many times I watched my mother beg her social workers--none of whom had an inkling of an idea what it meant for my mother to beg them for help-- for basic things like school clothes for the new school year because she could not afford them. If my mother found a low-paying job, there were no benefits, and her welfare (AFDC) was cut off completely. If she received help from my grandparents, she would lose what little was "given" to her by the government. It was a "Catch 22" that humiliated her to no end. She fought hard to get off welfare and worked like a dog most of her life... just like most poor families... and just like most immigrant families. IT is important to note that while my maternal grandmother's family had roots going back to the 1600s, my maternal grandfather was a first generation immigrant... and my paternal grandparents were third generation Americans.

Those immigrants from Central Eastern European and Slavic countries were called "Hunkies" and labeled as useless when they came to America. They worked in the coal, steel and refinery industries. They settled in pocket communities that were often looked down upon by the established ethnic groups in the area where they settled. Northwest Indiana, Chicago, parts of Wisconsin, parts of Pennsylvania and parts of New York are places where Serbs, Croatians, Poles and similar immigrant groups are found in abundance. While many of these families have found some measure of prosperity today, they lived lives of poverty, abuse and exploitation for at least three or four generations.

The abuse and exploitation of Chinese and Japanese immigrants in America from 1820 to the 1950s is a legendary demonstration of our history of exploitation, racism and use of stereotypes and prejudice to justify our insecurities, fears, xenophobia, and bad immigration policies. But anyone that has studied the history of the Chinese or Japanese in America can attest to the fact that these folks, and the families that have emerged from the very first immigrants, have worked hard and accomplished much for our nation.

Each of these immigrant groups have eventually grown in terms of political power and prosperity in the places that they congregated when they first arrived. Many have migrated from inner city neighborhoods to suburban lives, leaving the tenements and exploitive nature of inner city ethnic neighborhoods to the next immigrant group coming to America with hopes and dreams.

But we are seeing a new phenomenon in terms of immigrants in America. They are arriving in a new state of enslavement. They are often relegated to jobs that are not on the radar scope of the "rest of America." Sweat shops for the garment industry, sex slaves and prostitution, drug trafficking and exploitive under-the-table jobs are all that are open to them. Anyone that has taken a taxi ride in New York, Chicago, Boston or Washington will tell you that immigrants from around the world are working 16-20 hours a day trying to make a living as a taxi driver... and are usually paying out more than 70% of their daily revenues just to stay afloat.

The 1970s brought an influx of Cambodians and Vietnamese into the US. If anyone were to check the demographics of welfare rolls, there would be less than 5% of those receiving welfare identified within either of these ethnic groups. Yet, when they arrived, there were all kinds of erroneous rumors and slurs about these folks being on the welfare rolls, receiving tons of money for immigrating, and driving brand new cars while living two or three families to an apartment. Almost none of these stereotypes were true.

Let's face it... Our approach to immigration, racism, prejudice and welfare are all munged. We are being fed a lot of misinformation, disinformation, and emotional bovine excrement. When any of us bother to research the facts, or get exposure to the realities, these stereotypes do not hold up under scrutiny.

But here are some things from David Sirota's "Hostile Takeover: How Big Money & Corruption Conquered Our Government--And How We Take It Back" (available in paperback):

"The result today [regarding tax breaks for corporations] is that for every dollar the federal government receives from coporate and individual income taxes, it gives away at least 75 cents in the form of deductions, exemptions, exclusions, preferences, and deferrals."

Most of those go to big business and corporations.

"In reality, America is operating like a Third World tax haven [for corporations]. As a St. Petersburg Times editorial put it, 'April 15 is just another day [companies] don't have to worry about paying taxes [because] corporations have been allowed, even encouraged, to dodge their tax responsibility.'"

"In 2004 the Detroit News found that the cost of Bush tax cuts for 'the richest 10 percent this year alone will total $148 billion.' The paper noted this is 'twice as much as the government will spend on job training, $6.2 billion; college Pell grants, $12 billion; public housing, $6.3 billion; low-income rental subsidies, $19 billion; child care, $4.8 bilion; insurance [health] for low-income children, $5.2 billion; low-income energy assistance, $1.8 billion; meals for shut-ins, $180 million; and welfare, $16.9 billion.'"

That equates to tax breaks for the richest among us: $148 BILLION

Total spent on all of those "welfare" programs: $72.4 BILLION

Please bear in mind this does not account for all of those no-bid contracts that have produced no tangible results here, in the US, and abroad. Nor does it account for the many BILLIONS we spend overseas without ever requiring any accountability on the part of those regimes receiving our tax dollars in the form of foreign aid (aid that helped produced Saddam Hussein, Manuel Noriega, Pinochet, the Iran-Contra Affair, and still supports the Saudis (yes, the Saudis, as rich as they are, receive aid from the US in military affairs), and many former Soviet states that are essentially corrupt or controlled by dictatorships). Nor does it account for the billions in forgiven debt sponsored by the US to other nations, including Brazil, Nigeria, Somalia, and elsewhere. Nor does it account for the 10-20 billion spent every month in Iraq alone (never mind the money being spent in Afghanistan, Kosovo, and elsewhere). Should I throw in the billions spent on behalf of Israel?

While our politicians are busy blaming welfare and immigration for our problems, the truth of the matter, they are giving away our tax dollars far faster than any immigrant or welfare recipient in America could steal them... We are being led around by our collective noses toward "facts" that are not factual, not real and appeal to our emotions rather than our sense of justice, fairness, compassion, equity or true Americanism.