Rita's Spur to Action

What is “The American Dream” anyway? Today people do nothing but complain about its loss. I wonder when it got lost. Was it during the great depression of the thirties? Was it during World War 11? Was it in Vietnam or Korea? Was it during the student riots in the sixties? Or was it during the ill-conceived War in Iraq?

In 1938 one third of this nation lived on less than subsistence diets. They lived in abysmal poverty. At the turn of the 20^th Century immigrants from all over the world came pouring into the United States…….. They worked on the docks, heavy work,  loading and unloading ships. They worked in sweatshop factories. They worked, as maids, house cleaners, painters and plasterers and anything else that they could find that would pay enough to put bread on the table.

These people dedicated themselves to becoming Americans. They learned to speak English even though often with a heavy accent. They felt it was their language and they had to learn it.They worked without benefit of Unions, pensions, Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security. Their Dream was to become American, to get ahead, to build a better future for their children, not just for themselves. This was their American Dream. These were the people who built and became America’s vast Middle Class. Even then it was not easy. It was not cheap.

When did this dream become the dream of instant satisfaction or nothing? What is the American Dream? When did it get lost?Maybe it was when Americans failed to go to the polls to vote. That’s when the country was sold to the highest bidder. That’s when the rich got richer and the poor got poorer.

Mr. Rudy Giuliani the ex-Mayor of New York City recently criticized President Obama as a President who does not love his country or the people who inhabit it.  He launched a tirade against Obama basically attacking him for being weak and indecisive in his presidency. Well, there’s no question that Mr. Giuliani decisively did reduce the crime rate in New York City. He allowed the police to sweep into custody anyone who was suspect of anything. He put any number of people in jail on charges that he could not prove. Obviously some were guilty, and his tactics though totally undemocratic, did reduce the level of crime in the city. However, he has now denounced the President and applauds Mr. George W. Bush.

It is surprising to me that President Obama and the Democrats have never risen en mass to respond, not just to address Mr. Giuliani’s accusations, but also to denounce the Presidency of G.W. Bush. He created the situation now facing the world. It was G.W. Bush who after 9-11, with no thought and no plan in mind set out to destroy Hussein and Iraq .He  simultaneously allowed Bin Laden,  the actual perpetrator of the 9-11 destruction of the towers, to slip away. It was G.W. Bush who thoughtlessly led us into the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan and is ultimately responsible for the turmoil and brutality which we now face in the Middle East.  It was G. W. Bush, Rumsfeld and Cheney who involved us in two major wars, at a cost of  trillions of dollars, and the incredible loss of American lives and limbs. That says nothing of the so called “collateral damage” which means, the destruction of civilian populations.

G.W. Bush was responsible for running this country into financial debt and causing a crisis second only to the great depression of the 1930’s. These are the conditions that Obama inherited  following  16 years of consecutive Republican leadership.

Rudy Giuliani has accused Obama of not loving this country. Was it out of love that G.W. Bush, Richard Cheney, and Rumsfeld fabricated and disseminated lies to this country, to the people and to the Congress. Lies that weapons of mass destruction existed and had been found in Iraq. Giuliani praises these men tho led this country to the brink of destruction. Obviously Hussein was a terrible man, totally abusive and a destructive dictator. That alone does not justify a full scale war by the Untied States. So when Mr. Obama became President, he inherited two wars  and a country on the brink of financial disaster with unemployment rampant at almost 10%.  This was the Legacy left by Mr. Giuliani’s heroes. Following four years of President Herbert Walker Bush , eight years of Reagan, eight years of Bush, twenty years of republican presidents. President Obama is given little or no credit by a right wing Republican Party that has been taken over by the most conservative right wing narrow minded, bigoted and financially powerful group of people who have ever dominated the Congress, the Senate and the financial world.

Obama may not be the greatest communicator in the world.  He may not be the “hale fellow well met charm boy” that Reagan and Bush were reputed to be. He is, however, certainly a thoughtful, highly intelligent and cautious man.  Mr. Giuliani and his cohorts would happily involve this country and the world in a war of total destruction. Mr. Obama, on the other hand has reduced the national debt, created employment, improved the economy helped people get healthcare, killed Bin Laden reduced the number of American soldiers whose lives were carelessly put at risk by G.W. Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld. I don’t believe it is because he does not love this country that he has tried and continues to try all possible means of keeping us out of another endless war. He is not power hungry. He is a thoughtful man who looks at all the alternatives trying to find a solution to the conflagration in the Middle East caused by President G.W. Bush and Company. Everything that Obama  has tried to do has been blocked by the fanatical, ultra-conservative, radical right wing Republicans who now dominate the Congress and the Senate. Is this love of country?

It seems that the Koch brothers with their friends and partners  have already bought the Congress ,the Senate of the United States, and probably the Supreme Court as well. They  are now about to buy the next upcoming 2016 elections. If power and fame is what they want they may succeed but their names will live on in infamy. I have a wonderful idea for these fellows. They have already declared that they will spend at least a Billion dollars on the next 2016 election. Well  I think I have a better idea for them. They could invest in the failing infra structure of the country. They could invest in the rebuilding of the roads and bridges across the Nation. They might even make some money along the way. They could name every road and every bridge after themselves. Their names would live long after they have left this veil of tears, and they would be remembered for the good they will have done for this country and the people who inhabit it.

I’ve been writing about the ugly tall buildings since early September 2014. It is only now that the New York Times has begun to look at the skyline of Manhattan and to begin writing about the destruction of the City……

See New York Time Article Here

Well it looks as though they have  finally caught on to the idea that these ugly tall buildings will destroy the city. It will be a cavernous nest of dark streets. No one living in Manhattan will be able to see the sky ever again. Dark streets are usually empty streets and this is an open invitation to criminals and street people to take over the deserted spaces. If enough people understand what the real Estate industry and the Politicians are doing to Manhattan in the name of money, maybe we can stop the process.

Climate Change is happening rapidly. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)has  announced national limits on carbon pollution from existing power plants,  the single largest source of carbon emissions in the Untied States.

Even though a majority of the Americans in our country today want our government to take forceful steps to combat climate change, Congress does not seem to recognize our concern. The wealth and power in the fossil fuel industry are aligned with a cadre of climate denying Representatives and Senators who continue to block any reasonable attempt by Congress to protect the American people from the growing threat of climate change.

Industry groups such as the National Association of Manufacturers, The American Petroleum Institute, the Coal Lobby, and once the again, the infamous KOCH BROTHERS are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on an all out assault on the EPA climate action. Their great ally Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell is on record that he will block any attempt by the EPA to limit carbon emissions from the power plants. Thanks to him and his cohorts, the global carbon emissions have continued to rise. In fact carbon emissions are rising at twice the rate in the 21st century over where  they were in the last decades of the 20th century.   These groups will tell you that putting limits on power plants will hurt the economy and destroy jobs. History does not bear this out. The power industry has cleaned up many dangerous pollutants such as Sulfur Dioxide, Nitrogen Dioxide and other particulate matter. Their industries have continued to profit and the US economy has nearly doubled in the past 25  years, and Americans have been healthier due to these actions.

I keep reading articles by scientist from around the world, who are now reporting that if human kind does not take immediate and aggressive action to combat climate change, within fifteen years the problem will be virtually unsolvable with the technology available to us  today. We the citizens of this country, we the citizens of our planet are in serious trouble. We need to act now. Write to your Congress.Force them to hear from the majority of Americans who want bold action on climate change. This means YOU.

What kind of people have we become in this country? Every time I open a newspaper or a magazine I read about graft, theft, fraud and greed.  Today I found myself enraged when I read that an American soldier, Capt. Elder Saintjuste who had fought in that worthless war in Iraq, after serving three tours of duty in Iraq, has been forced to retire as a sergeant. He served in the army for twenty years. He served at the behest of the then President of the United States of America, Mr. George W. Bush  who took this country into a War that has totally destroyed the Middle east and has cost this country it’s wealth both in lives and dollars. Now a soldier who has risen through the ranks to become a Captain in the army, thinking that he had a great job and a secure retirement for his family ,has been forced to retire at  $1200 a month less than a Captain’s pay because he hasn’t been a Captain long enough to receive full retirement pay for that rank.. Why should those people who have risked their lives to save ours, why should they be deprived of their pay and not the members of the Congress, and the Senate who seem to serve only themselves these days and not the people of this country. They, who have spent vast fortunes for their elections should surely sacrifice something for the people who have risked their lives for them.

Rita Fredricks, actor, activist, blogger

On a recent trip to Costco uptown on 116^th Street, I noticed that almost all the children were overweight and most of the adult customers as well. The average weight of the American child has been climbing since the 1980s. Now 1 in 3 kids are obese or overweight. Projecting this observation, in about 10 or 15 years, more than half the adult population would be dangerously overweight. There will be millions of cases of diabetes, stroke and heart disease.

Apparently, President Obama tried to address this problem. He got behind the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which was to impose strict new standards on all foods sold in public schools. It became law in 2010 with overwhelming support in Congress. Although at the time the Republicans in the Senate seemed to support this bill, they now attack it as a nanny state intrusion. Food companies argue that the standards are too severe and some kids don’t like the food. It looks as though if the Republicans gain control of the Senate this fall, they will immediately gut the program within a year and with it will also be lost the fight against childhood obesity.

Last time the Republicans had the opportunity, they decided that the price of lunch would be driven up, that sodium reductions would be expensive and that children wouldn’t necessarily eat the lower sodium food. Apparently in the Reagan Administration, they allowed schools to count ketchup as a vegetable and pizza as a vegetable. It seems as though the Republicans again have no regard for the health of the nation.

It is clear that the population of our country is truly obese and not healthy. Something must be done. Healthy food may require children to change their eating habits. Maybe the schools need to have small gardens so the children can learn more about food and nutrition. Of course there is a cost but the cost is far lower than what we will be paying when these children are older and suffer from obesity, diabetes, colon cancer, high cholesterol and heart problems. Spend the money now to save money in the future.

Vote now for the candidates who will support the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.