Archive for the ‘Granny Guide to Real News’ Category

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY:

Sunday, March 8th, 2009

A GRANNY ATTENDS A CODE PINK SPONSORED SCREENING OF A FILM ABOUT THE WOMEN OF AFGHANISTAN

Fahima Vorgetts put on a blue scarf. She said, “I felt warm earlier, so I took it off, but I”m putting it back on because it was given to me by the women of Afghanistan and I wear it to remind you for them, don’t forget about us: don’t go away and let what you have learned today fade into the every day coming and going of your lives.”

It was International Women’s Day and we had watched Kathleen Foster’s film “Afghan Women: A History of Struggle.” After watching this well-told history of the events affecting the legal, economic and social status of Afghan women over the past 35 or so years, the shame I felt over being a US citizen was overwhelming. I took out my camera, and after receiving a nod of permission from her, I captured this photo of a person who has spent her adulthood working for a better life for her sisters. You see the blue scarf.

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What it means to me today is that there are people in Afghanistan whose well being has been directly affected by the military interference of the U.S. through the CIA and now, overtly. They are not better off for our government’s military involvement. I learned in Foster’s film that the warlords now holding the reins of power under Karzai’s government in Afghanistan are the ones setting the tone for law and government. These guys are holding on to their turf, to their well-equipped militias, to their ways of currying popular support by espousing fundamentalism. They are not much different from the Taliban. They have definitely not liberated the women of Afghanistan.

In that country as you read this, women’s rights activists are being assassinated by representatives of the government which Karzai doesn’t really control. Women, men and children are constantly suffering violence. The weapons readily available and plentiful, supplied by the U.S., Saudi Arabia and others are easily bought by warlords who profit from trafficking in Opium.

U.S. military involvement will not help. U.S. aid goes 80 or 90 percent to US military contractors or local gatekeepers. Fahima Vorgetts says she is able to deliver a fine well with fresh water to a community through her organization Afghan Women’s Fund for $10,000, while a contractor will bid $27,000 or more for the same job.

So what does the blue scarf say to me? Keep working against military involvement in Afghanistan. Support organizations led by Afghan people which can build schools and dig wells. Have the courage to bring the shameful situation into bright light and discourage people from careers in the military.

Learn more about Fahima Vorgetts’ organization at www.womenforafghanwomen.org. See the film by contacting www.kathleenfoster.com.

- Caroline Chinlund, Granny Peace Brigade

Posted in Granny Guide to Real News, Teachings | No Comments »

NO PERMANENT/”ENDURING” U.S. MILITARY BASES IN IRAQ

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008

CALL FOR COMPLETE WITHDRAWAL OF U.S. MILITARY FORCES FROM IRAQ

The Bush Administration told us Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs); they didn’t wait for the UN inspectors to finish their work; and they lied to the United Nations, which authorized the U.S. and an international coalition to attack Iraq, a country that had nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with September 11th.

Today we know both the sad truth – there were no WMDs, and the tragic results – massive death, destruction, dislocation.   Iraq has been devastated – estimated more than 1 million dead, over 4 million displaced, infrastructure in a shambles.  As at October 24, 2008, the toll of U.S. military personnel was over 4,100 dead and over 30,000 wounded (the official count – some estimates are significantly higher); the monthly cost of the war/occupation is over 10 billion dollars  and the U.S. is trillions of dollars in debt.  Today U.S. taxpayers are subsidizing this undertaking to the tune of over $200,000/minute.

UN Security Council Resolution, S/Res/1790(2007), which mandates U.S. presence in Iraq at the head of an international coalition, ends in December 2008. The Iraqis continue to express a fervent wish for the U.S. military to leave their country.  We must ask ourselves – WHY does the U.S. want a long-term agreement for 58 “enduring” military bases in Iraq?  (For some existing bases, the description “Little America” has been used.) WHY?

REMEMBER “NO BLOOD FOR OIL” were the signs carried and these were the words chanted by protesters before and after the invasion of Iraq.  ’No,’ insisted the Administration, the war was ‘not about the oil.’  But now Alan Greenspan, former Federal Reserve Chairman has said ‘the Iraq war is largely about oil.’*   And today 36 years after the nationalization of the Iraqi oil sector in 1972, foreign companies are bidding on long-term contracts for oil extraction and gas production management.

We insist that the commencement of foreign company control of oil/gas extraction operations in Iraq cannot justify continuation of a U.S. military presence.  Iraq itself must be allowed to assume responsibility for security matters in Iraq, as well as for its rehabilitation, in collaboration with assistance agencies identified and selected by the Iraqi Government.

On CSPAN, September 22nd, Zbigniew Brzezinski, National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter, said, in effect, that Iraq cannot be Iraq while the U.S. is there; that most Iraqis want the U.S. to leave; that ‘yes’ after our departure there will be some violence — a reason for the U.S. to remove ourselves as irritant.**

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, our largest embassy, covers  104 acres in the Green Zone.  It is a city unto itself — larger than Vatican City.

The rationale for the Administration’s insistence on permanent/”enduring” military bases in Iraq is crystal clear.  Five times since 2006 President Bush has signed into law Congressional Bills authorizing military funding but prohibiting expenditure of funds “to exercise United States control of the oil resources of Iraq.”  In this connection, he has, however, issued two “signing statements” this year, the most recent one in October, asserting that banning U.S. control over Iraqi oil would violate the constitutional power of the executive branch.  He argues that his administration is not legally bound by those restrictive provisions.  Thus he would deny the Iraqi people and the Iraqi Government the government’s sovereign right  to control their own natural resources.***  We the people must not give tacit approval to this totally unacceptable state of affairs!

There is no defensive reason for any U.S. military base in Iraq.  It cannot be over-stressed that the recent “bail out” of Wall Street is just the tip of the iceberg which threatens us.

Do not delay action until the new Barack Obama Administration takes office. We urge you to telephone your Representative and Senators to say that United States withdrawal from Iraq must be complete, emphasizing that there should be no permanent/”enduring” U.S. military bases in Iraq.  In addition, please write to them to state strongly that having studied this matter you deem it vital for the safeguarding of both Iraqi and U.S. interests that U.S. military operations in Iraq be ended and bases closed.

Please telephone and write to your three Congress people (Representative and both Senators) in this regard OFTEN!

*Book – “The Age of Turbulence:  Adventures in a New World,” by Alan
Greenspan.

**CSPAN, ‘After Words,’ September 22, 2008,

***Source:  Friends Committee on National Legislation, Press Release -
‘President Bush Asserts Right to Control Iraqi Oil,’ October 16,
2008.

-Barbara Walker
Granny Peace Brigade

Posted in Granny Guide to Real News, No Bases | No Comments »

GRANNIES SHINE ON WBAI

Saturday, October 25th, 2008

 Vinie, Molly & Lillian guest on pre-debate round-table.

Like fingerprints and snowflakes, there are no duplications in the ranks of the Granny Peace Brigade. When WBAI put out the call for three grannies who survived the Great Depression to participate in an on-air round table discussion, their listeners got a kaleidoscopic look at the 1930s from three different perspectives.

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Molly Klopot, Lillian Rydell and Vinie Burrows in action – always

Vinie gave a warm and nuanced recollection of growing up in depression era Harlem, reminding us all of the extraordinary journey of this talented woman. Molly’s account of the 1932 Ford Hunger March from Detroit to Dearborn that resulted in the murder of four of her friends is the stuff of legends. Lillian recounted the deep hardships suffered and life lessons learned in a small coal mining town in rural Pennsylvania. All three women spoke of the dynamic and positive role a responsive and progressive government can have during tough economic times. Citing ground-breaking programs like the WPA (Work Progress Administration) and the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), the rise of organized labor, the creation of the Social Security Administration and other programs that helped level the social and economic justice playing fields, they called on concerned citizens everywhere to reach out into their communities. 

Click on the link and listen to the stories of these three life-long advocates for peace and justice — you won’t be disappointed.

- Fran Sears and Lillian Rydell
- Photos: Phyllis Cunningham & Eva-Lee Baird

Posted in Granny Guide to Real News, Poems & Songs & Stories | No Comments »

MIS-FORTUNE

Wednesday, October 8th, 2008

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES VS FINANCIAL REGULATION – Two Sad Stories

First Story:
We had a law on the books that might have prevented the present financial crisis if it had been left alone. The Glass Steagall Act was passed in 1933 to get us out of the great depression. It was doing okay for years until it became the victim of some unwise surgery.

In 1999, that good old Glass Steagall Act, was eviscerated when the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act was passed by Congress. (Note well: One of the authors, Phil Gramm, had been an advisor to John McCain’s 2008 Presidential campaign, until he said that US consumers were “whiners.”) President Clinton signed the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act but if he had vetoed it, the number of votes in Congress was high enough that it was said to be “veto-proof.”

This change to the Glass Steagall Act allowed investment banking, insurance, and commercial banking to be mingled in firms, rather than being kept separate.

Why is this important? Investment banks help companies raise money by issuing stocks or bonds. Usually they keep some of the stock for themselves, and this stock becomes part of their capital; they also earn fees for issuing and distributing the stock. These activities can be risky especially if the stock declines in price.

Conversely, commercial (and savings & loan association banks) were prohibited under the Glass Steagall Act from the above-noted activities; they could take deposits, and lend money in many ways, especially mortgages. They had to keep on hand enough money to pay out on demand. That all changed in 1999.

Insurance companies jumped into the mix. Insurance companies had a lot of money to invest, so they wanted to combine with investment banks and commercial banks.

Once the two types of banks and insurance companies could be combined, the riskiness of the investment banking activity could affect the health of the resulting institutions and their ability to pay money on demand and, even more important, their ability to continue making loans. However, there were rules, such as the net capital rule, that required maintaining a certain ratio of capital to debt, just in case.

In 2004 the Securities and Exchange Commission met for 90 minutes in April and eliminated the net capital rule for the largest banks, with over $4 trillion in assets.  Examples are Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers.  The banks were supposed to monitor themselves.  The SEC was supposed to oversee this but not regulate it, but they only had 7 people to do so, and after a while the unit’s chief resigned and was not replaced.

During 2005-2008 people who thought they were very smart bundled mortgage loans and “sliced and diced them” giving portions to companies that serviced the loan and creating mortgage backed securities for sale to investors, i.e., the securities were collateralized by the mortgages. However, these securities included many mortgages that were sub-prime, although they had higher interest rates on them than prime loans they were, of course, also more risky because the people had less secure jobs or were not careful or able to understand what they were signing. (Dollars & Sense “Predatory Lending story)

Second Story:
Fannie Mae was created in 1938 – the year I was born. It was a government institution created to help people keep their homes.  It purchased Veterans Administration (VA) mortgage loans and Federal Home Administration (FHA) mortgage loans, which it then pooled and sold to investors in the open market. It had a goal of making housing affordable. This worked pretty well for quite some time.

In 1968, because of the Federal budget problems caused by the Vietnam War, Fannie Mae was made a semi-private Government Sponsored Enterprise (GSE). It was then allowed to purchase conventional loans originated in thrift institutions (Savings & Loans banks).  When Freddie Mac began operations in 1970, it was specifically created to compete with Fannie Mae for the secondary market for the conventional loans.

In 1995, Fannie Mae began including sub-prime securities (bundles of mortgages) in its purchases; this continued with increasing encouragement until 1999. In 2000 rules were put in discouraging the inclusion of risky mortgages, but in 2004, those rules were dropped.

Call your Senators. Call your Representative. Tell them to reinstate the provisions of the Glass-Steagall Act. Then join us in the streets. Granny Peace Brigade “Coming Events”

- Edith Cresmer
for the Granny Peace Brigade

Posted in Granny Guide to Real News, Legislative, Poems & Songs & Stories | 2 Comments »

WAKE UP AMERICA!

Thursday, August 28th, 2008

The Major media is too busy glorying in a mud-wrestling match between the Obama camp and the Clinton mob to report anything at the convention with serious content. In his speech Tuesday night Dennis Kucinich gave a straight dose of what people need to hear; the convention crowd was cheering every line.
WAKE UP AMERICA!

For all the media attention it got, he might as well be speaking to himself.  The Granny Peace Brigade says, get the real deal here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4EN7ibO1ec

- Fran, Caroline, Phyllis & Eva-Lee

Posted in Granny Guide to Real News | 2 Comments »