Thank you Alex for your insights this past week …please allow me to gratefully take the baton!! Hello, beloved readers, boy, I’ve missed you all! Let’s jump right in, filling you with lots of political news.
International Politics: What works for Greece can work for the entire world …Microcosm reflects macrocosm, as inner world reflects outer world.
I’ve mentioned before that considering my own government is not providing a climate in which I trust that they have our best interests at heart, I am very much open to inquiring how other governments are treating their citizens and what services governments are providing them toward a progressive future: Nothing wrong with learning from one another for the advancement of humankind, right? Well then, let’s take a peek at what’s happening in Greece, shall we?
All eye’s are on Reza Dourou, newly elected leftist governor of the Syriza party, plans to lead the Attica region to victory on their January 25th polls. “If Syriza wins, it will be a historic day not only for Greece, but for Europe too, says the former advertising employee. ‘Not since the foundation of the modern Greek state in 1821 has the left been in power,’ she smiles. ‘The left can, and will, bring a breath of fresh air.’”
While not all countries in are dire straits as Greece, we can still learn from their example. “Dourou, who like many in Syriza was elected to parliament for the first time in 2012, is in charge of an annual budget of about €575m (US $644 mil). Her first priority was to increase social welfare spending from €1.9m to €13.5m. With the extra money, food banks have been set up in collaboration with the Greek Orthodox church, health care provided for the uninsured, and support given to women who have suffered abuse – a growing problem since the start of the crisis.”
In other words, let’s spend our money on the people, and give them the basics to live …removing millions and billions of dollars spent on war and space programs, and reallocate said monies toward life rather than death. Not just in individual countries, but I am talking globally: Make sure Third World countries have the basics …plumbing for running water, hospitals, shelters, and food banks. Is this so crazy of an idea? Not in my world: People first, before the exorbitant luxuries of the uber-wealthy.
Politics: How does the CIA get to decide that they need not file charges on criminal acts conducted by their own employees?
Not certain what’s going on here, but clearly –in my opinion– this needs to be highlighted! How is it that crimes can be committed and no one’s being held accountable? Interestingly, it seems that it is, once again, our government who both gets to decide that they do not have consequences for their wrongdoings, and that they themselves get to decide this. How broken is this system? Extremely!
“The Central Intelligence Agency will not discipline any of the five agency employees who accessed Senate Intelligence Committee computer systems last year during the Senate investigation of abusive interrogation tactics by the CIA…. The decision not to discipline the agency employees comes as part of an ‘accountability board review.’ That review was commissioned after the CIA inspector general report that criticized the agency for accessing Senate computers ‘improperly’ and for filing a criminal referral to the Department of Justice.”
Hypocritically, it was claimed that the inspector general was wrong partly because the staffers “should have been aware.” This sounds an awful lot like the story about police who can violate our 4th Amendment – if they are ignorant of the law. “Don’t even get me started!” If our government has the ability to rule that they are not going to file charges against criminal activity within their own department, and that police have the power to arrest being ignorant of the law, then more people need to know about these absurd realities …making sure you know what’s going on as our fundamental rights are slowly stripped away by such unbelievable rulings. This is not okay!
I say this not to discourage us, but to remind us that there truly is a body, a force, out there that does not want progress. Please do not be complacent over such happenings: Write to your local reps or to Congress, invest in knowing when to act and when to sit back.
CIA Won’t Punish Employees Who Spied On Senate Intel Committee by Aram Roston. BuzzFeed.
Politics & policy: Obama will grant maternity leave for federal employees!
Hip hip hooray! Much long overdue: Federal employee mothers are to receive at least 6 weeks of maternity leave. Thank you, Obama!
“Democrats have been pushing for better maternity and sick leave rights for over a decade in Congress with little success, but plans by Barack Obama to back the passage of a Healthy Families Act with the executive action for government workers and $2.2bn of new funding for state efforts would be the first time the president has acted on the issue.” If you can believe it (and I sure do…), America remains the only developed country on this planet not offering maternity leave.
“At a time when all parents are working in more than 60% of households with children, and 63% of women with children under the age of five participate in the labour force, one fact is resoundingly clear: The fundamental structure of our workplaces has simply not kept pace with the changing American family,” stated Valerie Jarrett, chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls.
Once again: Thank you, Mr. President. Should I push my luck and ask for new fathers to also receive six weeks “paternity leave” to assist with the seamless integration of their newborn into their family? Teeheehee… imagine that: Both Mum and Dad home to make sure baby gets all her/his needs met within the precious first 6 weeks of life!! Let’s dream big.
Obama to Give Federal Employees Six Weeks Maternity Leave by Dan Roberts. The Guardian.
Please remember if your current situation is heavy…this too shall pass!
We Are All One
Gavin