The bickering doesn't help anyone learn. And the name calling while momentarily gratifying isn't productive.

But I'm not immune. Of the 12 Us presidents that span my lifetime there are only three I respect for their actions and yes there is one Republican among them. Too many with great promise were unable to fulfill that promise . Men like JFK,Barak Obama, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter probably all ran into the forces which debase much of human history. That some of us are greedy beyond need and have little regard for the welfare of others ( psycpathy )

We are all at fault for where we are at least those of us over 30. We have not resisted strongly enough the greedy, we have retreated too often into our own circumstances.

When we live in a world where 85 individuals con posess more wealth than the poorest 3.5 BILLION the resistance to their influence can never wane.

One can be reasonably chastized for turning to any single source of information, for refusing to constantly challenge one's momentary truth ( the earth was flat and we did come from Adam's rib) and for failing to forgive one's self for prior ignorance.

chuckle8: no, I have never tried fasting to affect my telomeres but, you know, it might work. After all, being overweight certainly decreases a person's lifespan. Those skinny yogis in India, all skin and bones, often live to be very, very old. But maybe the meditation plays a part as well. But then, I wonder how many of those poor people get too skinny and starve to death. I believe that telomeres are mostly genetically inherited although external influences could adversely affect them.

And that reminds me of a video I saw on TV...Free Speech TV or maybe Link TV. I didn't see the whole thing but this guy who made the film was investigating this Indian cult based around the Maharishi...something about T.M. He managed to tick off David Lynch so badly that Lynch was going to, or threatened to sue the guy, as I understood it. Lynch was really into the Maharishi (I believe) and was not happy that this guy was bashing the Maharishi. The guy exposed the Maharishi of preaching celibacy for his followers while having private sex sessions with women. He preached giving up worldly goods while getting filthy rich off of his followers. After they ran out of money the Maharishi would discard them and used clothes. The Maharishi's sales pitch was that he was building this kingdom in India that had thousands of hopping "fliers" and that when 10,000 destitute Indians were to become trained "fliers" living in that city, then total world peace would ensue. The guy making the film managed to get into the "city", past the guards, and found that none of it was true...very few people there.

How can people fall for all of this silliness and nonsense? To give up your life's savings in many cases to follow cartoon characters like this?

Branski, I see very little in your excellent posts to take issue with. I'd just like to point out that, in light of how much Native American poverty is concentrated in reservations, where those people are kept isolated from the rest of society, it is way too easy for us non-natives to overlook. And considering how large the white segment of our population happens to be, it should come as no surprise if the majority of our nation's poor people are white. However blacks still suffer the most from poverty, in proportion to their numbers. - Aliceinwonderland

Are you serious? A "free ride"? As for your last comment, do you also rely on the National Enquirer and similar tabloids for in-depth news? Need I point out that the reason we have so many single parent families today is because so many American men wimp out, unwilli ng to accept their responsibilities for their own children? Women tend to be monogamous, and men commonly aren't. Of course there are other factors that tear families (married or not) apart, with poverty being the leading cause. Free ride??? Unlike the more advanced nations, there are virtually no social supports for single parents in the US. Being a single parent, accepting one's responsibilities for her own child, is a situation of constantly having barriers put up, of having to struggle against the odds.

Interestingly, Martin Luther King called on us, black and white, to recognize that poverty is an American issue, and we need to unite to legitimately address it. He specifically noted white poverty, which America has habitually ignored -- or tried to sweep under the rug. Native American poverty is normally disregarded (or avoided). That said, consider what we have done. We looked at the policies and programs that were in place from FDR until Reagan, which took the US to its height of wealth AND productivity, and chose to reverse course. We can't be surprised that the inevitable happened. The problem was actually that of the success of our former social policies. Because benefits and programs had been significantly improved, we reached the point where some 80% of AFDC recipients were able to quit welfare for jobs by the time their children began school. By the mid-1970s, we saw efforts to claim that the success of former welfare recipients was not the result of their own abilities and capabilities, but of "special privileges." It was hinted (not so subtly) to middle class workers that their own jobs were at risk of being given to welfare recipients, and this began the backlash. In the 1980s, govt began dismantling the education and job skills programs while slashing benefits, building a case to "prove" that welfare was a failure. By 1996, virtually all legitimate discussion about US poverty had long been removed from the public forum, and Bill Clinton ended both general assistance and AFDC. Since then, we've dealt with the consequences by ignoring them.

Kend - Are you really serious when you state that 80% of Black Children are born to single mothers? And, did you mean that you actually watch Maurey or Springer for your factual information? You do realize that these are rag television shows that use sensationalism to hype up their shows. If you said you watch Fox entertainment channel for your news, I might be able to almost understand that point of view, but to reference a talk show host that uses the worst side of any human being and to think this is a factual reference to some part of our society is beneath even a Canadian from the right...And, I always thought there was hope for you, you have certainly lost sight of reality if you think these types of shows can be referenced as legitimate venues while commenting on this blog. Really, Maurey or Springer, I guess it really must get cold up there or you have been sniffing something to use these guys as a reference for facts concerning a large segment of American Society. Did that Artic freeze that came down affect your logic to the point that you would even mention these two rag shows?!!!!! K.W.

I would like to take the time to thank all of the well-meaning people who have left their comments, with the exception of Kend, you have confirmed my thoughts that I am better off not partaking of the conversations posted on this left wing blog. It appears A.I.W. has once again bestowed her wisdom upon Hartmann's blog and I would hate to hurt her feelings again and have her flee into the night once more, due to the fact she cannot handle any criticism of her comments. And, yes I have noticed how DAM still continues to ramble on, when his entire verbiage could be delivered in a few lines if he was to get to the point of his message. And the person, who calls himself flyguy, enjoys dumping all the ills of America's education system on the teachers. I doubt you have any experience in the real world of teaching, especially in today’s world. The so called, “Teachers Unions", seems to be the fall guy for all of the problems that America faces, especially when it comes from of the idiots of the right side of the political aisle. Sir, and I say that with some disdain towards your opinion of who is blame in our schools. Do you have any idea who develops the criteria for the lessons taught? For your information, and I believe that to be very limited, the school board and the State in which these teachers raise our children decide what will be taught, and not the teachers themselves. Teachers on all levels are constantly being reviewed and there all people who manage the schools that sit in classrooms and rate the teacher’s performance constantly. I guess that little bit of info passed by your narrow right wing mind. A mind is a terrible thing to waste, I have been told, but in your limited capacity it would be a good thing for our country, since your narrow minded comments reveal your bigoted attitude. And I would like to ask, when will the PARENTS be held responsible for their children’s education? Since you, Mr. flyguy, was raised in the 1950's and 60's, you may recall our mothers and fathers would sit down with us and go over our homework and make sure we were ready for the next day’s session at school. Without preparation for the next day, the lessons are almost meaningless on levels of education without proper preparation to go on to the next step. Unfortunately in today’s world this is a rare event. The children and young adults in general are on their own with very little intervention from the parents. And, I can assure you from experience that in the poorer school districts which are made up largely of non-whites it is a major problem. Whether this is due to both parents having to work long hours or because many are single parent families and the parent just does not have the resources in education or time to sit down and mentor their own children! But, it is easier for asses like you to blame the Teachers and their Unions for the failures in our education system. An education means a chance for a higher standard of living, but unfortunately this education is not held in the same high regard among many lower income families, as it is in many middle and upper class families. I am not blaming just the parents in these situations for the children not obtaining the education they need, but in the present system it is the school board and the non-union administration that pushes these kids through in order to retain the money the need to operate the schools each day. You do know of course, since you like to come across that you know what you’re talking about, that the school districts run by non-union administrators are paid for each seat that is occupied each day by a student is the basis on which the receive their funding! Or is that another thing you missed while blaming the teachers on how the administration runs the schools and the criteria by which students are graded. The teachers are handed a curriculum to teach by and they only have so many hours in each day to teach these kids. With our overcrowded classrooms due to the funds being cut by mostly Right Wing State and Federal Senators and Representatives on both levels, I have to thank the Teachers of our Nation for doing the best they can with what they have been given. It would behoove you to at least look up the information concerning what and who decides what is taught in our schools nationwide, before you with your complete lack of understanding, blame the hard working teachers that serve our kids and young adults. Do you, Mr. Flyguy, also blame the computer and the programs there within, for individuals not learning from online programs? I highly doubt it from your uneducated remarks. And I doubt your name flyguy comes from serving in our military as a pilot or anything remotely close to that. Of course there are some bad teachers in our schools; just like there are people who do not perform their jobs as well as they should in all occupations in this world. But, as in teaching this is only a small percentage and the schools have ways to get rid of these teachers, even if the right likes to spread the untruths that Unions can protect the bad teachers from being found out and replaced. IN today’s world all employees that are unionized can be removed if they break the standards set down and agreed upon by everyone involved. We are not living in the 1970's and 80's any longer and things have changed, even if the right would like to blame the Unions for all the problems of OUR Nation. Thank you and good night. K.W. P.S. What ever happened to the guy who believed everything that bad happens in our country and world is due to governmental conspiracies, I missed his comments! I did not expect to make a comment tonight; I just cannot stand the verbal garbage from the right, concerning our teachers and unions. An uneducated statement as his apparently is, needed an answer... Dr. Kings nightmare that still exists in America is due to many things, the exportation of jobs and the importation of workers from foreign countries is just one of the reasons why there are still people living in the ghettos economically and educationally. Let the right and the left isles of our political system continue this practice and the middle class will disappear as well and there will only be left the wealthy to collect profits on our work.

Did you mean "Free of Debt" whn you say Owned? Or do you include both those that are free of mortgage and have mortgages?

Very well said fly guy

I think turning economic disparity into a racial wedge issue is a bad idea. It leads to letting the peasants fight amongst themselves over what crumbs there are. Not to deny the problems in the African American community. They are very real and must be addressed by us all. However, the way to battle the current problems of economic inequality is to admit that they very adversely affect 99% of the population regardless of color; and, unite everyone to do something about it. African Americans are not the sole target in this economic problem. They are simply being victimized along with everyone else. The only way to solve the problem is with everyone taking part. I think that in doing so the dream of Dr. King would be realized far better then beating another drum for racial animosity. Dr. King was about bringing people together, not setting them at each others throats. That's much more like the tactic of the 1%.

Ignorance has let bias television propaganda tell us what to think, what to do and who to hate. 19 Muslims did not turn off security at the most protected building on the planet, the Pentagon, on 9/11.