Why do our governments hate us?

I don’t have AIDS/HIV, but I am puzzled as to why governments on both state and federal levels seem so disinterested in resisting greed and passing laws that benefit the rich or vetoing them if they don’t.

From NYC’s housingworksbookstore:

This week Gov. Paterson vetoed a bill that would have addressed an outrageous injustice.

Thousands of poor New Yorkers with HIV/AIDS in government-subsidized housing pay up to 75 percent of their income toward rent. In some cases, this leaves New Yorkers to live on just $12 a day.

The vast majority of people in government-subsidized housing pay no more than 30 percent of their income toward rent. It’s no wonder, then, that the State Senate and Assembly voted overwhelmingly to pass a bill that would offer the same benefit to poor HIV-positive people in subsidized housing—and no wonder Paterson promised to sign it.

If passed, the bill could have helped stabilize housing for at least 10,000 struggling New Yorkers.

But the governor broke his promise. He vetoed the bill.

Join our Fight the Veto! Twitter and Facebook campaign asking state representatives to override that decision. (via Housing Works: Join Our Facebook and Twitter Campaign to Fight Paterson’s Rent Cap Veto!)

I feel like it’s useless to fight this trend. Money talks and corporate money talks LOUDLY—the Supreme Court made sure of this and there are very few individuals who can compete with the finances of mega-corporations.  Also, there seem to be no ways to become that powerful/rich without compromising your morals on some level or another (or several).

We can protest as much as we want, retweet and “Like” on Facebook as much as we want, and the powers that be can simply ignore us.  Largely like they’ve been doing for the last ten years.

Ever wonder what happened to the original Flipper? Well, at least she didn't end up in a tuna can... ;(

AMY GOODMAN: What happened to the dolphin that you named Cathy, that we knew as Flipper?

RIC O’BARRY: Cathy committed suicide a couple of days before Earth Day, which was April 22nd, 1970, the first Earth Day.

via democracynow.org

Hit up that DN link above to learn how Flipper committed suicide and also learn about a documentary exposing serious cruelty to dolphins in Japan (yes, I know, Japan isn’t perfect!). I usually don’t care one way or the other about movements to “save the whales” or whatever. I prefer to focus on “saving the humans” first and then the whales. However, these dolphins are pretty intelligent creatures and if it weren’t for humanity’s excessive ability to be cruel, they’d not be killed for their meat. This is also a good example of “the great economic war” we’re all fighting—capitalism and the free market taken to the nth degree. Where cruelty, exploitation and morals aren’t an issue.

Just make the most damn money you can…

Good News! We're Polluting the Atmosphere with Plane Exhaust at Increasing Levels!

underpaidgenius:

GOOD NEWS: Global Air Traffic Surges Above Pre-Recession Levels And Is Accelerating

This idiot thinks it’s good news that air travel is increasing.

A plane flying from Australia to London, for example, will use more than 200 tonnes of jet fuel and pump out more than 500 tonnes of carbon dioxide. On a flight from London to Miami, one person will be responsible for climate change emissions equivalent to one car doing 12,000 miles. Multiply that by 350,” reports Melanie Reid, Down Under. [Sydney Herald. Sept 13/05]

(via stoweboyd)

This reminds me of one time, back in the late ’90s, when I was listening to the KNX Business Hour in Los Angeles and the host reported “Good news for Phillip Morris investors, the stock jumped today…” 

I was so caught off guard by the dichotomy of that statement, so much so that I based a screenplay around a person who’s “Batman” moment I had just experienced.  Think about the moral dissonance there: the company is doing well, which means more people are becoming addicted to cigarettes, which means more people will eventually die of lung cancer AND THAT’S GOOD NEWS!!

The reporter might as well have said:

“Good news if you’ve invested in murder, more people died thanks to your money and that means you’ve just made more!”

Amazing what capitalism can do.

Religion only wishes it could be this subtle and efficient.