קסם וחסר מזה

Enchantment and lack thereof

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Location: Columbus, Ohio, United States

Monday, October 23, 2006

Thoughts that float by...

30 Days does for television what Ghandi did for peace.

The prison industrial complex is probably the closest thing I've seen to pure evil.

Corpratization: The uncontrolled parasites that leech off the people, and eventually their government.

"Mother nature needs a facelift."

Industrial food, corporate universities, privatized prisons; we have departed from nature and common sense.

Jail isn't about rehabilitation any more. We are denying people due process, putting them in the worst place on Earth, and being told to forget about them.

About 90% of crack arrests are of African-Americans, while 75% of powder cocaine arrests are of whites. Under federal law, it takes only five grams of crack cocaine to trigger a five-year mandatory minimum sentence. But it takes 500 grams of powder cocaine (100 times as much) to trigger this same sentence. This flagrant injustice was highlighted by a 1996 nationwide federal prison rebellion when Congress refused to enact changes in sentencing laws that would equalize penalties.

Illicit drug trade is a 50 billion dollar industry, a corporation in and of itself. They just don't have lobbyists.

Prisoners are a corporation's favorite work force.

Why were we so afraid of communism?

Motto of a successful business: The world is a single market; natural resources are to be exploited; people are consumers; anything which hinders profit is to be routed out and destroyed.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

I am going to blog so fucking hard!

Curious about tax brackets, I discovered that taxes in the United States can be relatively simple and unfair.

Taxes for corporations in 2006:
Taxable income over     Not over      Tax rate

$ 0 $ 50,000 15%
50,000 75,000 25%
75,000 100,000 34%
100,000 335,000 39%
335,000 10,000,000 34%
10,000,000 15,000,000 35%
15,000,000 18,333,333 38%
18,333,333 .......... 35%
Individuals pay:
      Taxable income:                   Tax:
Over But not over Tax +% On amount over


$ 0 $ 7,550 $ 0.00 10 $ 0
7,550 30,650 755.00 15 7,550
30,650 74,200 4,220.00 25 30,650
74,200 154,800 15,107.50 28 74,200
154,800 336,550 37,675.50 33 154,800
336,550 ....... 97,653.00 35 336,550
Corporations are paying the lowest taxes since the end of WWII yet their profits are the largest share of national wealth in history. American wages and unemployment have been stagnant since the early 90's. Large corporations should be responsible for the vast majority of government income.

Corporations are not people.
Yet they are increasingly given powers and privledge traditionally reserved for citizens. Today corporations have virtually limitless power to fund political campaigns and otherwise influence our government. If politicians are indebted to corporations in return for donations; what does that mean for those without such well-funded government access?

If corporations were people,
you wouldn't want to be their friend. The purpose of any business is to give it's customers what they want. However, in a free market, businesses compete for the largest possible profit. Unlike people, corporations have no conscience or good-will. Sometimes, higher profits mean compromising ethics, safety, legality, and responsibility.

Americans believe in values like respect for the worker, environmental responsibility, ethical leadership, and open oversight.

Wal-Mart. DuPont. Hewlett-Packard. Halliburton.
Many of the most successful corporations of recent time are accused of letting their greed overshadow better judgment.

Taxation and vigilant regulation of corporations is the only way to keep them honest. Corporations should be taxed substantially. The wealthiest corporations should bear the overwhelming majority of financial responsibility for our government. Companies must be held accountable for their actions; laws controlling companies must be constantly enhanced and expanded to adapt to changing industries.

Republicans want to lower taxes for all.
Sometimes to extremes. We were once the wealthiest nation in the world. How can we expect to have a wealthy nation if we starve our government, forcing it to eliminate programs beneficial to its people?

With lower taxes squeezing their budgets, local politicians are being forced to outsource essential programs like education, healthcare, utilities, and even prisons to these uncaring, money-hungry corporations.

Few in our government are willing to say no to corporate influence. Fewer citizens are even paying attention. Will you?