Military-Industrial Complex Wins Again

The amendment to cut the EFV & SLAMRAAM programs was rejected by a vote of 306-123, with 79 Democrats and 227 Republicans voting to keep production alive.

Why, when the dominant theme of the day is reducing the deficit by eliminating inefficiencies, would Congress insist on spending money for weapons systems that the military itself does not want?

The weapons are manufactured by two of the world’s largest and most powerful defense contractors — General Dynamics and Raytheon. Combined, in 2010 the two companies spent more than $18 million on lobbying and $3.7 million on direct contributions to Congress, according to data from OpenSecrets.org. That’s just one year. If you look back a couple decades, the companies have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on influencing decision makers in D.C.

Source: opencongress.org

"We the corporations" | Move to Amend

"We the corporations" | Move to Amend

With democracy busting out from the Mideast to the Midwest, the issue of corporate control is front and center in American minds. These events make it much easier for us to discuss corporate personhood issues with our friends and neighbors.

To help us in our efforts, the folks at the Story of Stuff Project have launched a new video: The Story of Citizens v. FEC: Why Democracy Only Works when People are in Charge

Watch it here.

Drawing from the essence of the work of Move to Amend and our allies, the video explains in easy-to-understand terms why corporations should not be entitled to the same rights people have.

Move to Amend’s short-term goal is to build local groups across the country that will work to amend the Constitution to limit corporate personhood rights by passing local resolutions; there are plentiful resources on our site to help you out.

The Story of Citizens v. FEC: Why Democracy Only Works when People are in Charge video is another great tool to help us achieve our goal.

This short cartoon gives a good history of why corporations have so much power and what it does to our democracy.

We do think the solution suggested at the end needs to go further -- unless an amendment campaign sets forth to abolish ALL corporate constitutional rights (they just talk about the 1st Amendment in this video) we won't have made a whole ton of progress.

But this video is a great way to start the discussion...

To start that discussion with your friends, you can post the link on your facebook page and twitter account, send it to your lists and ask others to send it to theirs, and even throw a watch party to help recruit your friends and neighbors.

If you'd like more info about why and how ALL constitutional rights for corporations should be addressed, see Why Abolish All Corporate Constitutional Rights and Not All Responses to Citizens United Are The Same.

Move to Amend thanks the folks at The Story of Stuff Project for this timely video, and we hope you’ll find it interesting and of great use.

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Fascism - Wikipedia

Fascism (pronounced /ˈfæʃɪzəm/) is a radical, authoritarian nationalist political ideology.[1][2][3][4] Fascists seek to organize a nation according to corporatist perspectives, values, and systems, including the political system and the economy.[5][6] Fascism was originally founded by Italian national syndicalists in World War I who combined extreme right-wing political views along with collectivism.[7] Scholars generally consider fascism to be on the far right.[8][9][10][11][12] Confusion over whether fascism is of the left or right is due to the inability to fit the economic policies into a clear-cut category, because while fascism is considered on the right politically, fascist economic controls were left-wing, though ended up benefiting social groups considered to be supportive of right-wing parties.[13]

Corporatism, also known as corporativism, is a system of economic, political, or social organization that views a community as a body based upon organic social solidarity and functional distinction and roles among individuals.[1][2] The term corporatism is based on the Latin word "corpus" meaning "body".[2] Formal corporatist models are based upon the contract of corporate groups, such as agricultural, business, ethnic, labor, military, patronage, scientific, or religious affiliations, into a collective body.[3]
One of the most prominent forms of corporatism is economic tripartism involving negotiations between business, labour, and state interest groups to set economic policy.[4]

Tripartism refers to economic corporatism based on tripartite contracts of business, labour, and state affiliations within the economy.[1] Each is to act as a social partner to create economic policy through cooperation, consultation, negotiation, and compromise.[2] Tripartism is a common form in neo-corporatism.[3]

Tripartism became a popular form of economic policy during the economic crisis of the 1930s.[4] Tripartism was supported from a number of different political perspectives at this time; one was Roman Catholic politics; fascism supported this for fascist unions but repressed communist and social democratic unions; and in democratic politics.[5] Tripartism is a prominent economic policy in Europe; it is a core part of the economic systems in Scandinavia and the Benelux that were put in place by social democratic governments.[6]

Al-Qaida double-agent killed 7 CIA operatives

The suicide bomber who killed 7 CIA operatives in Afghanistan last week was a doctor from Jordan who was also an al-Qaida operative.

The suicide bombing on a CIA base in Afghanistan last week was carried out by a Jordanian doctor who was an al-Qaida double-agent, Western intelligence officials told NBC News.
Initial reports said that the attack, which killed seven CIA officers, was carried out by a member of the Afghan National Army.

According to Western intelligence officials, the perpetrator was Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, 36, an al-Qaida sympathizer from Zarqa, which is also the hometown of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian militant Islamist believed responsible for several devastating attacks in Iraq.

Al-Balawi was arrested by Jordanian intelligence more than a year ago. He had moderated the main al-Qaida chat forum before his arrest and was known online as Abu Dujanah al-Khurasani.
“Abu Dujanah was an active member of jihadi forums,” said Evan Kohlmann, who tracks jihadi Web sites for NBC News. “He was actually an administrator on the now-defunct Al-Hesbah forum, previously al-Qaida's main chat forum.”

The Jordanians believed that al-Balawi had been successfully reformed and brought over to the American and Jordanian side. They set him up as an agent and sent him to Afghanistan and Pakistan to infiltrate al-Qaida.

His specific mission, according to officials, was to find and meet Ayman al Zawahiri, al-Qaida’s No. 2, also a physician.

However, a Taliban spokesman, quoted on the Al-Jazeera Web site, said al-Balawi misled Jordanian and U.S. intelligence services for a year. The spokesman, Al-Hajj Ya'qub, promised to release a video confirming his account of the Afghanistan attack.

Source: NBC

US Military Moves Forces to Libya's Coast

The U.S. military is moving air and naval forces in the region around Libya to be ready to carry out any orders it is given related to the crisis there. But officials say no decision has been made on whether or how to use U.S. military power.

The U.S. military normally maintains a strong presence in the Mediterranean, and has bases in Spain, Italy and Turkey. It has more forces south of the Suez Canal, mainly focused on East African piracy and support for U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

But naval and air forces in particular are flexible, and can be in one place one day, and another place fairly far away the next day.
Pentagon spokesman Colonel David Lapan says although the U.S. military has not been ordered to do anything regarding Libya, it is making plans and has started to move forces, just in case it is ordered.

Libya defectors: Pilots told to bomb protesters flee to Malta | World news | The Guardian

Libya defectors: Pilots told to bomb protesters flee to Malta | World news | The Guardian

Two high-ranking Libyan air force pilots have who fled to Malta in their aircraft are reported to have told officials they escaped rather than carry out orders to bomb civilians.

Source: The Gaurdian