FROM ONE BARBARIAN TO ANOTHER: THEY MAKE NO BONES ABOUT IT

“A Yale student named William H. Russell started the secret society [Skull and Bones, Bush’s bunch at Yale] organization in 1832 in an effort to create a new world order that would place the best and the brightest at the helm of society. A wealthy elitist, Russell believed that the most important decisions should only be made by those who are bred to make them, so he created an environment that would shape the world. He called his group the Brotherhood of Death or, more informally, the order of Skull and Bones, patterned after a secret society in Germany, also in 1832…. Within Skull and Bones, all Bonesmen are called ‘Knights’, and members refer to the rest of the world as barbarians.”

I’d say that Russell’s plan to place “the best and the brightest” in charge of the world has come down a notch or two with that intellectual dolt, Bush, now in the presidency. Also how adult can a group be which still plays at knights and kings in a college system and calls itself by the silly romantic name of “Brotherhood of Death”? Laird preserve us from such fools. Many of us knew back in the 1960s how immature and frivolous these fraternities were and they still are, but they’re back in these supposedly serious conservative times. Do the Skull-kers make you think of the storm and fury of the Nazi legions with their death’s heads and romantic obsessions with black and death and Teutonic knights? Do you get it, kiddos, these lunatics in charge of our nation are out of touch with reality.


MEANWHILE BACK IN THE REAL, WORKADAY WORLD

AFSCME APPEALS FOR WORKER SOLIDARITY AGAINST BUSH ATTACKS ON UNIONS AND ON SOCIAL SECURITY:

The following paragraphs are copied from an AFSCME mailing to its unionized workers around the country. They are taking seriously Bush’s neoconservative moves which, in my opinion, aim to return American workers and unionists to the impoverished and powerless conditions they suffered with long before Roosevelt made major changes which gave some power to the average American to control his and her destiny. Read and weep:

[Open Quote.]
Organizing and Bargaining Rights Targeted

Since the Bush administration took over in 2001, it has targeted the rights of workers, including our rights to organize and to bargain for fair wages.

The administration’s first act was to weaken the National Labor Relations Board. It blocked funding, stacked the group with anti-worker members and voted to allow union-busting campaigns to be subsidized by taxpayer dollars. All this has created an environment where employers can squash to organize and fire employees without just cause.

Now, with less than 8 percent of the private sector unionized and 36 percent of the public sector organized, the anti-worker forces have targeted the rights of public employees. That is why it was the first official act of the governors of Kentucky, Missouri and Indiana to revoke our collective bargaining rights. In fact, Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana and Gov. Matt Blunt of Missouri repealed our rights on the same day, January 11, 2005.

None of us are safe, even if we have a collective bargaining law. That is why we have launched this campaign and why you need to get involved.

This is just the beginning if we don’t stop them…

While we battle the anti-worker movement at the state level, we also have a big fight on our hands in the nation’s capital.

President Bush wants to privatise Social Security. The Bush plan would replace a portion of Social Security with risky private accounts, leading to huge cuts in guaranteed benefits that workers have earned and are counting on.

The plan is bad even for public employees not covered by Social Security, because it could lead to the dismantling of our traditional pension plans, replacing them with risky private accounts.

Here is what is wrong with the Bush plan:

• No matter what you choose, you lose. Under Bush’s plan, all workers would see their future benefits cut by at least 30 percent — even if you don’t opt for a private account. If you do choose an account, your guaranteed benefits would be cut an additional 20 percent or more.

• You will give up $152,000 in benefits. According to estimates, an average retiree who lives 20 years past retirement and chooses a private account will lose $152,000. (Center for Economic and Policy Research)

• There is a hidden tax on your retirement fund. For every dollar workers have in their private accounts at retirement, the government will deduct 50 cents from the guaranteed benefits they have earned by paying into the Social Security system.

• You will not control your account. The private investment accounts will not be controlled by the people who put money into them. They will be controlled by large private companies on Wall Street that will be more concerned about their bottom lines than your retirement.
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“The business of government is to keep the government out of business—that is, unless business needs government aid.” —Will Rogers