Week In Review, Topics Include: NDAA, Gingrich Tax Plan, West Port Shutdown On & The Icelandic Recovery

Hello to all and thanks for checking in.

We had another big week and there is so much to get to. We had yet another GOP Debate. Unbelievable right? When I saw it on, I thought it was a re-run. I think there are more GOP Debates this year than total episodes of "Seinfeld." It ended at 11pm last night (Thursday). So, if anything crazy happened, I may post some of my tweets from the night, by midday Friday. We also had what may be the end of one of our base Constitutional rights, multiple port shutdowns and slowdowns on the West Coast, my point on the climate change debate was illustrated, the Year in Review from Google, and how Newt Gingrich wants to give all the money in the country (maybe even the world), to the top 0.1% of the population. Let's get to it.

National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) : 

I mentioned the NDAA in last week's post. In short, it gives the government the right to indefinitely detain Americans without trial or due process, if they are suspected of terrorist activities. So, Guantanamo Bay is now open to Americans. I mentioned in last week's "Week In Review" that the White House was threatening to veto the bill. However, like everything else with Obama, he backed off that original stance. As I mentioned in that last post, the veto threat was in place if there was a special carve-out or distinction for U.S Citizens. The wording of the bill was changed to remove that stipulation, so now US citizens can be treated the same as anyone else who is deemed a terrorist. The Guardian (from the UK) did a great job with this. Check out their piece on the NDAA here. And, if you have not heard of this until now, don't blame yourself. There has been what amounts to a media blackout on this topic. It seems that you have to leave the US, to find out what is happening here. I've been using independent/overseas sources to keep up with this story. At the time of posting, the bill awaits Obama's signature. Here's hoping that there will be enough pressure from the outside to force a veto. There are marches planned for the next couple of days to the White House. Many petitions have been circulated online as well. Fingers crossed on this one, but I'm not hopeful.

Don't Forget To Pack Your Earplugs:

The manufacturer of the Long Range Acoustic Device or LRAD has record sales this past fiscal year, it was up 57% from last year. Seems like police departments are loading up. So, if you make your way to a large protest bring earmuffs, ear plugs, cotton balls, BOSE noise canceling headphones and be on the lookout. Silver linings on the US becoming a police state? This company is based in San Diego. So, purchasing LRADs create American jobs!! Hopefully, we can keep protesting our way out of this recession. As an aside, did you know that tear gas is made in Jamestown, Pennsylvania? As I find more of these, I'll pass them on. But, it seems like, you can get any item needed to brutally crush protesters within our borders. USA! USA! USA!

Climate News:

Just on Tuesday, I posted something I written on what I felt was missing from the climate discussion. Check it out here, if you haven't seen it. I'm really proud of it. My main point was that spreading the message to somewhat curtail meat-eating (I know the whole world won't go vegetarian) is seldom mentioned. Just yesterday, an article was published that talked about the dangers of Arctic methane being released in our atmosphere. The article states that thanks to permafrost melting in the Arctic, forecasts of climate change could be 2.5 times worse than the already released estimates. Going back to the meat-eating point, worldwide livestock population causes the emission of 80 million metric tons per year. With that said, it remains absent, as one of the potential solutions, from nearly all the climate change articles I see. I mentioned in Tuesday's post, that methane is 70 times worse than CO2 over a 25 year period. Excluding this fact from the discussion simply makes no sense to me.

How To Come Out Of A Crisis, Nordic Style:

Kudos to Iceland. They are coming out of their banking crisis the way you should. A couple of weeks ago (I just found this out), they arrested the CEO of one of their banks. Imagine that? In the US, about 5,000 people have been arrested for protesting said banks. And, 2 more quick things on Iceland. They deserve a book written about them, not just a post. After their banking collapse, they let the banks fail and expanded their social safety net. The Icelandic economy is showing growth that outpaces the rest of the world. They also have re-written their own constitution. The people of Iceland were able to make massive demands of their government, force resignations, new elections, etc. Since Iceland doesn't have an army, the citizens couldn't be brutalized like here or in Middle Eastern nations. That is the VERY short version of the Iceland story. Give them a look when you have a chance. They even used social media to crowd-source their new constitution, during the drafting process. Amazing stuff.

Port Shutdown Round-Up: 

December 12th saw an attempted shutdown of West Coast shipping ports. The aim was to shine a light on the plight of truck drivers connected with the shipping companies and dock workers working on these ports. Apparently, Goldman Sachs has gotten their hands into the import market as well. The ports are called "Wall Street On The Water." Through deregulation and union bashing, these workers lead a very tough existence. I did not know this, prior to the protest. But, many don't have health insurance. The truck drivers are not employees of the shipping companies. They are technically "independent contractors." Because of that, they pay for their own fuel for the trucks, there is no workman's compensation, very little time off, and other cruel working conditions. The success of the protest was hit and miss up and down the coast. I can tell you they did succeed in raising awareness. I had no idea of any of this prior to the shutdown attempt. Most posts did experience slowdowns. Oakland's port was shutdown for the better part of 24 hours. Seattle's port had long delays and clashes with the cops. Here's a video from the local Seattle news and they look in on a couple of other ports, in this clip.

Republicans Are Coming For It All: 

During the week, Newt Gingrich released his tax plan and, spoiler alert, it proportionately benefits wealthy citizens. I'm still at a loss why anyone votes Republican. Maybe it's an aspirational vote. Maybe they inwardly say, "If I win the lottery tomorrow, this is how I want to be treated." Other than that, I'm stumped. His plan was a complete joke. There are approximately 130,000 people in the top 0.1 percent of taxpayers in the US. With the Gingrich plan, they would have a tax cut of 1.9 million dollars per year. If you assume the Bush tax cuts continue, and add the Gingrich cut, their taxes are lowered by 2.3 million per year. Anyone making $40,000-1,000,000 would pay a higher tax rate than someone with an INCOME (not wealth) of over 1 million dollars per year.

Google's Year In Review:

A fitting way to finish, the Year In Review, just released yesterday from Google. I'm not ashamed to say there were a few tears here at Hub Headquarters. Year in Reviews are my Kryptonite, they always get me. Enjoy and keep the Kleenex nearby.

 See you next time,

James