Black Candles - Snuffed Out

It may be a leap year, but it doesn't take much of a leap to see that something is going wrong at the Erie County Holding Center.

What we know about the last days of India Cummings:

After being arrested and jailed on February 1^st for assault and erratic behavior, she was found dead in her jail cell on February 26^th.

According to those that knew her best – family and friends – she was a calm person who was “freaking out” in public – evidently after using K2 ,a synthetic form of marijuana.

She was living in Lackawana and, after (supposedly) using the K2 was freaking out, knocking on people's doors, trying to get a ride back to Rochester where she had family who could have helped her. According to the Buffalo News, she prayed with some people and eventually assaulted a driver of a car, dragged them out of the car, and then went on a car chase with police officers before crashing and being apprehended.

In court her mother said that she could see that something was “wrong.” (Why was she not treated then?)

Then all the problems at the Erie County Center started. She was denied treatment at the Holding Center when she was argumentative with medical staff. When being returned to her jail cell she ko'd an officer, leaving him with a concussion.

On February 4^th she was taken to Erie County Medical Center for a possible broken bone (how did this happen?) and was argumentative and combative with officers again. More charges.

Between the 4^th and the 16^th all detail get fuzzy and no one knows really what happened.

She could (more likely should) have been placed in the care of the unit for mentally ill or emotionally disturbed inmates, but wasn't. Clearly something was wrong with her. Nobody acted on the information.

To boot – when family tried to visit her, they were told that she was not receiving visitors. No reason is given as to why she (or someone else) made that decision.

On (?) February 17^th she went into cardiac arrest after banging her head against a wall repeatedly. She went into cardiac arrest and died soon afterwards.

An autopsy was done, however the results have not been made public.

What we know about the Erie County Holding Center:

1. It is under Federal Investigation for numerous similar events happening over the years.

2. Erie County has paid out who knows how much in wrongful death and injury lawsuits over the years because of “events” that have happened in the Center.

3. CYA seems to be the order of the day.

What we demand:

1. A full open investigation into what happened to India Cummings in her final days. Are there video surveillance tapes or recordings? These need to be made available. What about inmate interviews? They need to be made truthfully without fear of repercussion of any sort.

2. Better assessment of people being brought in for incarceration. Those acting the way India was should be psychologically evaluated and given medical treatment to help them. India was (evidently) denied this evaluation.

3. Charges against those who failed to provide India with the medical care she needed when she was arrested.

Change India's Cummings race from black to white and her income status (Class) and she would have been treated differently.  Much differently.

Instead, as a black female, she was treated ... mistreated.

Now India isn't coming home.

She's gone to the grave.

Another victim of Holding Center incompetence.

#BlackLivesMatter!

Update: The Buffalo News is reporting that they believe India Cummings may have been high on K2 – synthetic marijuana. Today's article (March 13, 2016) does go over the dangers of using K2 and why police suspect that it may have been what led to her erratic behaviour, arrest,  and death.

Opinion: This is just a cover for the police's poor treatment of India. Given her behaviour, they should have worked with doctors to get her sedated and “off” of whatever drug she was on so that she could have been given a fair hearing at court.

If India was a white woman, middle class or better, would her treatment by the police have changed?

A little humanity and compassion please and less mental masturbation by the 1% press please.

The same goes for the police.

#BlackLIvesMatter

Update: There will be an action protesting the death (passive murder?) of India Cummings on Friday March 18th at 3:45 PM at the Erie County Holding Center.

#SayHerName and never let them forget that WE REMEMBER!

Blowing the Buffalo Billion

It's all over the news right now and it's going to turn in campaign fodder for the 2018 Governor's race. No question about it.

The “Buffalo Billion” is blowing up in “Status” Cuomo's face.

$200 million behind in payments to the Solar City / Riverbend complex? The one that has questionable minority hiring practices. Right now 200 contractors received pink slips until payment comes. Possibly Monday.

And that's not all. There's the Athanex Complex that's also being built (the main offices in Buffalo) that are behind on their payments. Who know what is owed or how long this will drag out.

Then there is the Greek style yogurt plant in Batavia that – after all that money was put into it – went belly up. 170 workers lost their jobs in this fiasco.

Part II on the Greek yogurt plant is all the farmers that expanded their farms, took on more debt thinking that this plant was their way to some part of the capitalist pie in the sky. Now the plant is shuttered and awaiting a buyer (possibly one coming from Missouri) and farmers are deeper in dept than some of the manure pools that they have out in their fields.

I don't have to tell you how bad they stink. Worse than a CAFO and I have driven by several of those. Both cattle and chicken.My friends tell me to roll up the windows and turn off the air. Yep. It's that bad.  I can't decide which is worse and winter does not help.

Back to the blog – And these farmers are dumping milk rather than selling it in hopes of driving up the prices. Not going to happen. Too much over production in the market. Read some Marx. He'll explain that and its consequences pretty decently.

To boot – This “Buffalo Billion” is our tax dollars. Yes, we are subsidizing multi-million dollar corporations expansion plans with our tax dollars. We'll get around 1500 jobs out of the Solar City Complex. Around 900 or so out of the Athanex expansion. And they'll get millions of dollars to report on their books as profits, report to Wall Street as profits, and line their pockets with.

And, for the record, Marx & Engels called this “bourgeois socialism.” It's supposed to be “good for the workers” (in the jobs it creates) but it costs the workers how much? For pennies of profit (to the worker) for the dollars spent (that line the 1%'s pockets).

And this needs to stop.

If we're going to use our tax dollars to create jobs, they need to be owned by the workers and run by the workers, not owned by the state and leased for a song by some private corporation. We are paying out far more than we are receiving back.

If they want to come here, we should not be bribing them with pie in the sky dreams.

It winds up being more pie in our face actually.


Update March 1, 2016

Late Monday (Feb 29) NYS officials announced that they would begin making payments at the Solar City / Riverbend plant. Several months behind schedule. And days of unemployment later. For 200 union workers.

For the record: NYS is shelling out through the Empire State Development Corporation $750 million. Solar City – the company – is putting out $150 million.

So we are paying out six (that's 6) times as much and getting none of the profits while the company is putting out 1/6th of the money and receiving all of the profits.

The claim is that WNY will see 1500 permanent jobs sometime in 2017 and 1900 construction jobs (read temporary) now.

According to the Buffalo News,this is normal. The winners of the 43 North competition had to wait a long time for payment of the “prizes” they won in a competition to see who would be the beneficiary of a bourgeois socialist shark tank. Athanex – the company that is having their plant in Dunkirk built on the taxpayer's dime - is also missing payment money.

And meanwhile, back at the ranch, union workers are waiting to be called back to work.

WNY's Paint Problems

AKA WNY Leads in Lead.

Pardon the Rocky & Bullwinkle reference.

I in no way mean to denigrate what has been intentionally done to Flint, MI by its corporate controlled overlords – the deliberate bankrupting of the city, impoverishment of its masses, and then the deliberate poisoning of its people – with lead and Legionnaires Disease. They knew what they were doing. And they (the mis-leadership) need to pay the price themselves to fix it up.

We beat Flint, in a bad way.

We suffer from worse cases of lead poisoning in our children – using NY standards – than Flint does.

It gets worse if you go by the Federal standards, which are much more stringent.

By NY standards (10 micrograms/decilitre):

-Erie County has a 14% rate of infection

-Chatauqua County has 12.3%
-Cattaraugus County has 9.2%

-Niagara County has 9%

Flint's crisis came from a deliberate decision to not treat water from a toxic river before sending it through the pipes to the city.

WNY's lead crisis comes from old housing and pulverized lead based paint. Things that can be breathed in and that children can put in their mouth when we're not looking.

And that is creating our crisis.

Sen. Chuck Schumer wants the Federal government to give home owners a $3000 tax credit to help them with lead abatement costs.

That's probably not going to be enough to cover all the costs. Unless people are allowed to claim it over a period of years. It's not just scrape the pain off and repaint. You need a good air mask and to seal off that part of your house. And there are the disposal costs. (What do you do with lead paint chips?)

What about the associated medical costs? I know there's a medical deduction on income tax, if you itemize and spend enough. Some people don't have the money up front for the chelation therapy and there's no guarantee that medical insurance will cover it.

We need more than what is being proposed.

WNY needs a major project undertaken to get the lead out!

We need to help the home owners get the paint out – professionally. It's not something you can do by yourself casually,

We need medical treatment for those affected by the paint poisoning.

No one has said anything about that.

And that can haunt a person for life.

Update: March 1, 2016

Buffalo is going to be buying lead testing kits in order to test children who might be living in houses contaminated with lead paint. They are also going to be purchasing pamphlets to warn people about the dangers of lead. Many of the houses were built during the Great Depression.

The Common Council also has $65,000 set aside to help with lead abatement projects.

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has set aside $364,825 from a lawsuit settlement to help with lead abatement projects. This will supposedly help clean up between 40 to 50 homes.Ok.  What about the rest of the homes?  Especially the ones in rural areas that don't receive the attention that Buffalo receives?

Other sources are stepping up, like True Bethel Baptist Church. They purchased lead testing kits that can be used to test for lead poisoning. This is good. If a person tests positive for lead poisoning, then what? Where do they go for help?

The state needs to help clean up the mess created by lead paint. It also needs to treat those afflicted with damage caused by exposure to lead paint.

Charter Schools Complaining

The Buffalo News reported on February 23^rd that the Buffalo area private charter schools are complaining that they are not receiving enough money from the state (emphasis mine). They claim that they need more money in order to meet the needs of their students and to maintain the facilities.

According to the story, for each dollar that a Buffalo City School student receives, the private charter schools receive only 60¢. That is the rate set by the state.

And they are “losing money” paying to keep the facilities looking nice and fixing them up. And every dollar put into that is money taken away from teachers and students in the classroom.

I've heard this all before. From Public school officials, teachers, students, and parents.

And let's remember – public schools are allowed to increase their operating budget by 0.12% this year. They are going to be suffering major cuts to necessary programs for students.

There is a difference between private charter schools and public schools.

First: Charter schools are private. They are not public at all. They may receive a charter from the state, but they are held to a completely different set of standards than public schools are. The schools in receivership in Buffalo have two years to turn their story around or they can be privatized. Private charter schools are evaluated every four years and have a longer period of time to improve grades and test scores than public schools before the ax falls.

Second: Charter schools are selective in who they will admit and can expel a student if they don't meet the requirements of the school. The expelled student then goes back to the public school system where they have to take anyone that walks through the doors. And students that have special needs have to have them met by the district. Private charter schools can set their standards in such a way that the special needs students can not get in. This is fair? If charter schools are so great at education, they should be mandated to take the lower achieving students. As it is, they work to set the rules so they can skim the cream of crop and leave the rest behind.

Third: How is the money they are receiving being spent? Supposedly these schools can achieve better results at lower costs, since they aren't dealing with unions and special needs students (whose costs are inherently higher). I was watching Democracy Now report on charter schools in NYC. The Chancellor of Schools in NYC makes around $245,000 for overseeing 1,100 schools and all their students. There is a charter school in NYC that has 5 schools, 3,600 students, and the supervisor receives $366,000 a year in compensation. We need to look at how they are spending the money that they are receiving. The school principals (or whatever title they go by) should be receiving less than the lowest paid public school principal. After all, isn't that what capitalist competition is all about? Doing a better job for and with less? I wonder how much of this money is really for the students and teachers and how much is for lining the pockets of the higher ups.

Fourth: For all this public money that they want, where is the publicly elected school board that oversees the school and is part of the decision making process? Where is the voice of the parents in the school decision making? Do they even have a voice? Taxpayers deserve a voice, just like they have in the public school system. No public voice – no public dollars,

And that is just common sense.

For more on the war on public education, see Public School Shakedown. It is hosted by the Progressive magazine. A non-profit news organization.

Early Release Depends on the Crime?

John Rigas is out of federal prison and back home in Coudersport, PA after being given “compassionate release” because of his age (91 years old) and health condition (bladder cancer that appears to be spreading).

Rigas, and his son, was convicted of looting Adelphia Communications (on very solid evidence) of $1 billion. Reminds me of the 2007 crash leaders almost. Only they looted more and received less of a punishment. They were better connected to the people in power though. Rigas spent his lootings on his family.

So he's now out. And was welcomed home as a hero.

I can understand the compassionate release as he is 91 and probably won't live long.

But his race and wealth got him off easy.

He's white and wealthy.

Mumia Abu Jamal was convicted of murdering a police officer on the flimsiest of evidence (I've seen sheer dresses that had more to them) and now sits in a Pennsylvania prison, suffering from eczema, diabetes, and hepatitis.

And the fight to get him proper medical treatment for his condition is stymied at every turn and worse than having wisdom teeth pulled without any pain killers.

Then again, Mumia is a Black Panther and the federal government has had a war on any black power movement since slavery ended. Mumia is not the latest victim, just the most well known because of his radio work and journalism.

Then there is Leonard Peltier – also convicted on flimsy evidence of murdering an FBI agent (see the dress analogy above) and is dying of diabetes. Diabetes is a slow death sentence because of all the complications that go with it.

Leonard is another victim of the federal government's war on activists. Leonard is a member of the American Indian Movement which sought to act within its rights and power as a sovereign nation and have the US government respect the treaties that it made with the First Nations Peoples.

Fat chance. Corporate America wanted the natural resources that the First Nations peoples had on their territorial land and they were willing to do whatever it took in order to get a comprador to sign the land over to them.

If it meant framing an innocent man, then so be it.

So, defraud and destroy a corporation, unemploy hundreds of people, and receive a hero's welcome home.

Stand up against government oppression and get life in prison and a death by a thousand cuts.

If Rigas can receive compassionate release from the government, than so can Mumia and Leonard.

Socialists demand: Free Mumia! Free Leonard! Free all political prisoners!

End the repression of the African and First Nations peoples and give them just compensation for the crimes committed against them.

Socialist Action Articles on Mumia

Socialist Action Articles on Leonard

Update April 4 2016

So John Rigas – the man who defrauded investors of their savings and investments - receives a feature article in the Buffalo News and a two page spread about the story of his criminal activities and how he is now working to clear his and his family's names.

The News doesn't do this kind of coverage for other people that have been convicted, served time in jail, and then released.

Then again, John Rigas was a member of the 1%.

He's white.

He was basically caught red handed.

And he hurt members of the 1%.

So the News is doing everything it can to help a fallen rich white man receive redemption.

It gives next to no coverage to others that suffer the same fate.

Or of those wrongly convicted and released.

So, isn't there something more important for the News to be covering?

Then again, they are the mouthpiece for the 1%, so the story does make sense.

Niagara Falls Date with War

The date has been set and the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station is set to receive it's new “old” mission in 2017.

So WNY now knows when it will be less safe.

Like a zombie that refuses to die, or more like a monster whose creators are working night and day to keep it alive, the NF ARS is receiving the KC-135 tankers in 2017. This is in addition to the terrorist recruiting MQ-9 Reaper Drones that al-Qaeda, al-Nursa, DAESH (aka ISIS or ISIL), and other terrorist groups use as recruitment tools. (You have to understand how many innocent civilians they have killed over the years…)

And for Niagara County is is being pushed as a “job creator” with a whopping 27 new jobs and $25 million to bring the base up to the requirements needed in order to fly the refuelling missions.

Question: How many jobs would have been created spending that $25 million on fixing infrastructure? Roads, bridges, overpasses, rail tracks, schools, hospitals, etc.

How many teachers, health inspectors, housing and fire inspectors, etc would that $25 million pay for?

How much better off would America be if we stopped spending our hard earned money on war and spent it on humanity instead?

Just look at the Scandinavian countries for an idea. 

They aren't perfect, but they do show what is possible when life is put over death.

If 6 were 9

Pardon the take on the Jimi Hendirx song, but the upcoming election for the Buffalo School Board (which has had some discussions that are hardly boring from what I'm led to believe) are coming up.

Buffalo schools need 9 people on the board that are representing the best interests of the students, the parents, the teachers, and the community.

There are three factions at play, at least, in this unfolding drama.

First is the Superintendent's Team – lead by Privatizer in Chief Kriner Cash and his number one general Carl PaladiNO! – that is looking to take as many Buffalo Schools as possible and turn them into privately run and publicly funded charter schools. Never mind that there is very little, if any proof, that private charter schools are any better than public schools. The question isn't about achievement. It's about the money and who's getting it. The more that flows to the 1%, the better. And any facade that they can put over that line helps to cover up the underlying lie about private charter schools.

They also want to lengthen the school day and school year – both which will add costs to the taxpayer and have no proof of increased achievement. (Teacher burnout and student loss of interest in learning, however…..)

The second group is led by Mayor Byron Brown (on the outside) and is known as “Grassroots.” Interesting name. It's a “grassroots” effort, led by the mayor and his cronies, to dissolve the school board and put the school system under mayoral control, just like New York City.

First, how is a “grassroots” effort led by the (seemingly) most powerful politician in the city? I'm at a loss of words here.

Second, Progressives, liberals, and Democrats mike like it having a Democrat in charge of the school system, like NYC has under Mayor DeBlasio. They need to remember something, prior to DeBlasio was Bloomberg and he was no friend of the school system, with the cuts and privatization that happened under his three terms as mayor. Imagine (if possible) a pro-privatization Republican getting in charge of Buffalo. What then?

The third group appears to have a NYSUT (New York State United Teachers) and BTF (Buffalo Teachers Federation) link – pushing to settle the (long overdue) contract and make progressive changes to the school system – smaller classes, hire more teachers, etc. PaladiNO! Claims that this is a conflict of interests – The union electing their people to the board and then negotiating with them on the contract. He needs to remember – teachers also vote in the School Board elections. Should teachers not? After all, these are their “bosses” that they are picking.

A fourth group is BUILD of Buffalo, which established the first community school in 1969 and is looking to reestablish the community schools that were built, rather than having students bussed all over kingdom come for their education. I remember having friends riding on a bus for one hour before getting to school. They were wiped out before the day even started. Honestly, students in K-8 should be on a bus no more than 20 minutes – it's exhausting for them and stressful. It kills learning. And it's hard for parents to get to the school if they need to for an emergency or for a conference. I can understand high school being a longer trek. Elementary and middle? No.

And community schools that bring together social services that support the community? I can support that. And it keeps students and parents close together for support? That sounds good as long as it is a public school, accountable to a publicly elected school board.

As a socialist, I am opposed to privatization. Public money needs to be that – public. The agenda of Superintendent Kriner Cash & Mayor Byron Brown need to be shelved. These dictatorial power grabs need to be shut down.

If the real grassroots can get together and retake the schools from the powers that be and make them into places of education again – a place where teachers are respected and school was a place where children wanted to go because it was an opportunity for them to learn and (more importantly) dream, then let's do it.

Socialists demand:

1. A publicly elected school board that is responsible to the public. No the mayor or some outside power.

2. A return to community schools, where students knew each other and grew up together. Where they weren't burned out before school started because they were on buses for so long.

3. Social services integrated with the schools to help the impoverished so that they would not be jumping around schools so much. This will help increase achievement. Real achievement, not some useless test score that tells nothing of what a child is capable of.

4. A real teachers contract that pays them fairly and respects the work that they do.

We want 9 people on the board that represent the real needs of the students, not the interests of the 1%.

A real hero

I'm still scratching my head about the fire that happened. It takes quite a bit to shut me up in my rants and ravings.

The fire claimed the lives of two men over the weekend, and may claim the life of a third victim – Demetrius Johnson's daughter Treasure - that has burns over 90% of her body – just stunned me. And she has a 20% chance of survival in one of the nation's best burn clinics.

How the hell bad was this fire?

I never read of a rich man running into a house to save his family. They have fire alarms that work, sprinkler systems, etc to cover that.

Not the building that burned over the weekend.

According to the neighbors people moved in and out as fast as you could blink an eye, even though the building inspectors said the house was safe.

Well, something was wrong.

Somewhere the system failed.

And the landlord lives in Brooklyn.

OK. That fired me up. An absentee landlord. (Pardon the expression,  but I really went off when I found that out.)

The house burned down because all the safeguards failed – fire alarms that didn't work, safety inspections that missed something, and other details.

How many fore houses have been shut down over the years?

Was there one that might have been close to the fire but was closed?

Too many questions.

I leave the following demands, as a socialist and more as a human being.

1. More building inspections and inspectors. People need to be safe. Something was missed.

2. More fire fighters, fire houses, and equipment in the different fire districts.

3. An end to absentee land lords. If you can't be at a property that you own in one hour or less, then how can you service it properly? When I was in college in University Heights, one phone call and I had a land lord knocking on my door, The owner of the property lived in Brooklyn. This is a joke.

4. A moment of silence for a real hero: Demetrius Johnson. I've done crazy things in my life. This man was brave saving so many lives without regard for his own.

Demetrius Johnson, eternally present.

Now let's fix the problems that killed him.

Tilting the Scal(ia) of Justice

It's been all over the news, so I thought I'd weigh in on it. Normally I like to focus on local and regional events, but after a few discussions with people and after hearing all the clap trap on the media, I thought I'd add in my own 2¢.

Scalia's dead. It happens. Deal with it.

That being said, President Obama has a Constitutionally mandated responsibility to nominate a successor. The (supposed Constitution abiding) Republican(t)s are wrong on saying that he should leave it for whoever comes next. Their argument is that a “lame duck” president should not make a lifetime appointment to the bench.

Question(s): Did Nixon or Reagan appoint someone in their second (lame duck) terms? Or Clinton? If yes, then their argument holds about as much water as a shot glass with a hole in it.

The Constitution states that the President “shall.” Not, it would be nice if he did. “Shall.” Case closed there.

That being said, I'm not impressed with any of the possible nominees that the media has put forth. So, I shall not damage any electrons (or other units of electronic measurement) in going over why they should be rejected. I can put electrons (and the other units) to better use.

Who should be nominated?

Someone that will represent the working class over corporate interests. A young(er) Noam Chomsky or Mike Parenti would be interesting on the Court. Glen Ford would be very interesting. (There's nothing that says the nominee has to have a law degree. Check it out for yourself.)

I'm still digging up ideas and open to suggestions. (Got any? ) 

Jeff Mackler - Chairperson of Socialist Action (Oakland Branch) is a practising lawyer.

Think he'd take the nomination?

The fact of the matter is that we need someone that whole heartedly respects and represents the interests of the working class and oppressed peoples in this nation.

Ruth Bader Ginsberg does pretty good (I find the “Notorious RBG” meme on the web pretty funny.) and Sonia Sotomayor (spelling?) is good.

I want someone to the left of them.

The Republican(t) controlled Congress definitely won't give the time of day, but we need to let the people in the halls of government know that their power is derived from us.

The Constitution starts with “We the People” and we should have someone on the Court that sees things our way – the working class and oppressed peoples' way.

Give us our voice on the bench.
Corporate America has too many.
 

February SA Newspaper is Out!

The February edition of the Socialist Action newspaper is out and it is (always) worth a read.

Why?

First: You are able to read the revolutionary socialist perspective on issues of today that matter to you. The corporate owned and controlled media will give you the Democrats vs Republican debate. They might get into liberal vs conservative. But it's still two sides of the same coin. (I mis typed “con” there. It was probably more appropriate.)

Second: The various branches publish their activities and actions in the paper. It's good to hear the accomplishments of other socialists and what they are doing.

Third: It's written by people like you and me. Look in the mirror. That's who's writing it. Not some paid professional that is just interested in “reporting the facts” and has to get what they put together by an editor. (Yes, we have an editor. He's pretty cool and helpful in writing.) That and they have how many different articles flying around in their head and they have about as much commitment to the story as… (OK. I've seen some really good stories by journalists covering personal topics and they get allowed to be passionate about it for good reason. A reporter's personal struggle with cancer or some other deadly illness, etc. That's the exception though. The rule is dispassionate. Give me a story with fire any day.)

This month we report on:

• The Climate Movement – Paris was a failure. What next?
• Reproductive Rights – Planned Parenthood fights back & wins.
• Flint- The water war on the poor.
• Labor News from around the nation.
• Government Spying
• The (continuing US imposed) Haitian Crisis – Election Fraud
• State Budget Issues
• The Presidential Debates – Third Party Perspectives (Note the plural)
• The Friedrichs case – An update on the war on unions

I am interested in the Presidential debates because it is a series of articles written by the different Socialist and left wing parties (Green Party and candidate Bernie Sanders included).

I have never read an article or statement from another party in any of the various socialist party publications that I read on-line. Here we are letting them speak for themselves. The articles are from a debate that Socialist Action sponsored in Oakland, CA and I'm hoping that there will be a video on-line soon.

I'm not going to get any of this in the Buffalo News or other local publications. I'm only going to get this from a socialist newspaper.

Give it a shot – subscribe today. There is a 6 month option and if you like it, opt in for longer.

If you really like it and want to change the world, join us.

Family Leave - An Easier Solution

Governor “Status” Cuomo is trying to sound like a socialist. Or at least is pushing for policies that socialists and reformers stand for. Either that or he is starting his re-election campaign early.

For starters, he is pushing for $15 an hour as a minimum wage in the state. All things being equal, that is good. All the plans fall short though. $15 Now means now. Today. The phased implementation over 5 years, not indexed for inflation, will mean that the $15 will be worth less than $15 if and when it it is finally achieved. So workers still get screwed. They'll be a little better off, but not much.

If wages matched productivity gains minimum wage would be in the realm of $21 and hour.

Try pushing for that in a conference room.

However given Republican intransigence, the “If” is more likely.

Now he is pushing for expanded family leave. He is proposing 12 weeks of paid leave for workers with family illness – pregnancy, cancer treatments, surgery, child illness, etc. How would it be paid for? Well, the devil is in the details, which is why it will take so long for it to be implemented.

There is support for it in the Assembly and Senate. The big argument is how to pay for it, what businesses would be subject to the law, and how long the employee would have to be employed before receiving the benefit.

Paying for it would come in the form of a deduction from the employees' pay-check, much like Social Security. The employee pays an amount, the company matches it, and, in an interesting twist, the state would kick in some money.

And employment length. How long should an employee work before being able to receive the benefit? Cuomo wants four weeks. A federal version of this idea pushes for one year.

There is opposition in the business community. Small business owners claim it would hurt their businesses. First the cost – who would pay for it and how much would everyone be contributing?

Second involves employee coverage. Losing an employee for 12 weeks and trying to find a replacement is not always easy. That and training anew employee and getting them up to speed takes time. And when they finally get into the “groove” or “flow,” the employee that was out now wants to return.

These are all stick issues, but this could all be covered by Social Security and treated like Social Security Disability Insurance, or SSDI. The law would be identical to disability except for the length, which could be limited to 12 weeks per year.

We don't need a new law. We just need common sense application of one that is on the books.

Now, for the small business person that is concerned about staffing. I have friends and know of people that don't want a full time job. They are happily married or retired and just want a little extra spending money. Or they like variety in their life and just want to do short term contract work. Each community forms a “job bank” similar to the Dept. of Labor unemployment office where people that are looking for short term positions can be matched up with businesses that have a short term need. Think of a school district and their substitute calling service.

One of my friends is a “part time” secretary. She doesn't want the hassle of full time and is the “one to call” for the local school district when a secretary needs time off.  Everyone is happy and the transition is seamless.  It can work.

It would work.

It's common sense.

But common sense isn't always listened to in these situations.

Wal-Mart's Woes

I read in the Buffalo News yesterday (Tuesday February 16, 2016) about how Wal-Mart is having to shut down stores. In the realm of 150+ are on the line to be shuttered or are already closed.

Huh?

The taxpayer subsidized mega corporation is having to shut down stores because they are losing money?

As taxpayers we have already lost money. And tons of it.

First on all the tax breaks that the government gives to them that we have to pay for.

Second on all the food stamps, Medicaid, and rent supports that we have to provide because they don't pay their workers enough to live on. (Try $15NOW plus some benefits.)

They don't need the tax breaks and can pay their workers much more without raising prices. All they have to do is cut the amount of money given to the Walton family by 50% and everything is taken care of.

That being said, the article went off on how there are now towns and communities that no longer have any stores because Wal-Mart is shut down.

Well, the government subsidized unfair competition that Wal-Mart had drove the mom and pop stores out of business, and now Wa-Mart has crapped out too.

So, what's the solution?

We need to look to East Aurora for that. The citizens fought tooth and nail to keep Wal-Mart out. Good thing they did. It's a nice community to go visit. (Viddler's! OK- I'll admit.  I got lost in there once. The tea shoppe is pretty nice too. There's supposed to be a real nice coffee shop on a side street some place. I'd like to know where it is. I don't like the atmosphere of the one on Main Street. Too noisy for me.  Then there are small shops that cater to whatever your whim is.)

I digress, but then again I don't. East Aurora, and other communities that are following their lead, are succeeding and doing well financially because they keep the big box stores out.

So, what can be done to revitalize these communities that are suffering because Wal-Mart crapped out?

First: Convert all the tax breaks (local, state, and federal) to interest bearing loans. And put liens on the highly profitable stores, warehouses, and and personal property that the Walton family owns. Stocks too. Any profits over $0.01/share are seized automatically until the tax breaks are paid back. (All of them.)

Second: Take the money and, in collaboration with the Small Business Administration and other small business groups, rebuild the main street stores that were driven out of business. These small businesses will hire more people than W-M and pay better wages.

Third: Promote cooperative businesses. Worker owned and worker run cooperatives. I've listened to enough Gar Alperowitz(?sp) and Richar Wolff to think that this is the way forward for our economy and a way to transition into socialism. There's also the movie The Take by Naomi Klein (I think her husband co-produced it?) that shows how worker owned coops have succeeded in Argentina. We can look to Mondragon in Spain. We can look at King Arthur Flour here in the US (Yes – from what I understand, they are worker owned. Correct me if I am wrong.)

There are plenty of stories about worker owned and worker run coops in the US that don't get airplay on the radio or television because they don't fit the capitalist narrative. They don't fit the story line that here's this group of people that need help and here's the person that saved them all.(I think Yes! magazine had an issue on coops.)

Well, in the case of Wal-Mart, that story isn't true on any level. Watch The High Price of Low Wages and read the book that Barbara Erenreich wrote about her experiences in minimum wage jobs.

I don't like the story that the capitalist media is trying to sell me.

Let's write a different one.

Globalizing Disease

The news cycle is all abuzz about the Zika Virus.. (Pardon the pun.) It's a form of Dengue Fever that is spreading across South and Central American and has made inroads to North America thanks to the tourist trade.

As a history major in college, I'm not surprised. Not at all. Not one bit.

Why? It's the price we pay for globalization, foreign travel, and foreign trade.

In college I had a professor that was wise enough to have us read a book called Plagues and Peoples by William H McNeill. He asks a simple question – How did Cortez decimate the Aztec Civilization so easily and looked for an answer.

The answer was … disease.

As civilizations go out and explore they bring back goods and, well, bad things. Diseases that no one in the “home” area has been exposed to and the people pay a price – usually with many people dying and many others getting deathly ill.

This pattern has been repeated numerous times throughout history. Accidentally and intentionally. We all remember the Black Death of the Middle Ages. Cause? It is suspected that trade with China was the cause. Rats with the fleas that caused the disease jumped on board a European bound ship and the rest,as they say, is history.

The same pattern comes into play with the Spanish Flu of WWI fame (or infamy). Swine flu, Bird flu (the vaccine was useless for that), West Nile Virus, and an epidemiologist could go on.

Ask any member of the First Nations peoples about measles and what that did to their people. BTW: If what the Europeans did to the First Nations peoples would be called a crime against humanity now. (Just saying.)

So, now we have an evolution (thank you Darwin for the term) of the Dengue fever breaking out of its natural habitat into the world stage.

And I'm not surprised.

So, knowing this, what do we do about it?

Apocryphal story – As I can not verify it – Supposedly a group of travelers was in the tropics and one of their members caught malaria and the great advanced western medicine couldn't treat it. They encountered some tribesmen from the area who recognized it as malaria and made a concoction of the Qaw Qaw tree to treat it. The westerners said it wouldn't work and wound up eating crow. It seems that synthetic medicine has its limits.

That being said, when, in the pursuit of profits, people plow into the tropical areas, destroying the native flora and fauna in the pursuit of the almighty dollar, they almost always open up Pandora's Box. The rest of that story is well known.

In the process of destroying the land for development, we also run the risk of destroying the cures for the various diseases that we wind up exposing to the world. We also wind up murdering the tribes people that know how to use that knowledge to cure the condition. They don't want to give up their land or traditions and somehow the “Right to Life” culture that conservative politicians scream about up here doesn't make it to the corporate board rooms or third world nations. Only the talk about higher profits does.

Profits at what price though?

I have read this in far too many books, magazine articles, etc – Sickle Cell anemia. It can be “cured” - more like lived with, In Africa, those that have sickle cell anemia are “immune” to malaria. It's when they adopt the western diet (Standard American Diet, or SAD – which is what it is) that it becomes fatal. When they learn about their native foods and start eating them the way that they would in Africa (recipes, time of day, etc) the condition becomes highly manageable.

So, how do we deal with this?

First – get in contact with the natives of the region and find out how they treat the condition. Hopefully we can repeat it in other areas.

Second – To borrow the “Carpenter's Rule:” Measure Twice, cut once. Look at the region carefully, let scientists do their work before plowing in. And ask, is there a better way? And do we really need this? There is.

Third – and we really need to look at this seriously – how much profit and money do we really need? How many people need to suffer and die for the almighty dollar? Look at the Bubonic Plague and Spanish Flu. How many and for what?

Globalization is inevitable.

The real question is how?

Pandora's Box is open.

One of these times it might be too hard to close.

And money might not be the cure.