My Country Tis Of Anomie - Part 2

an·o·mie [an-uh-me] : lack of moral standards in a society ; social instability resulting from a breakdown in values; alienation experienced by a person or class as a result of lack of ideals.
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• Should this be news? During the Bush regime, the number of criminal cases pursued by the EPA against major polluters has experienced an incredible and frightening decline. According to the Washington Post, "the number of civil lawsuits filed against defendants who refuse to settled cases was down nearly 70 percent between 2002 and 2006, compared with a four-year period in the late 1990's ..." As the ex-director of EPA's Office of Civil Enforcement, Eric Schaeffer, put it, "You don't get cleanup, you don't get deterence." ... This scenario is all too familiar. Only Reagan could have possibly caused more damage to EPA after appointing the infamous Ann Burford.
  
• The dying of Slavic Village, Cleveland, is a microcosm of big city problems going into 2008. Another reason for Americans to deny a curious and epidemic form of positveness--the kind of mentality that refuses to hear anything "negative" about the world around them. Regardless, what was once a thriving community has been severely tainted--courtesy of real estate agents and developers out to make a sub-prime dollar--and is now in danger of becoming a wasteland with hundreds of foreclosed homes and streets made dangerous by drug dealers and criminals out to feast on the carcass. But does everyone know that? Compare the yahoo page of positivism about Slavic Village vs. the reality expressed here. My country tis of anomie.
  
• According to Politcal Animal, Cheney's pro-war lobbying organization, Freedom's Watch, is not only on the move and pushing for more Iraq war and a new front to open against Iran, but FW is also (according to the New York Times), being heavily funded by right-wing Jewish donors , one of the funders being Sheldon Adelson, a Las Vegas tycoon. Wow! Just even more signs that we live in a true democracy. Perhaps the White House should move to Vegas.

My Country Tis of Anomie

an·o·mie [an-uh-me] : lack of moral standards in a society ; social instability resulting from a breakdown in values; alienation experienced by a person or class as a result of lack of ideals.

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Just some goodies to share. How can I get enough of all this incredible bullshit:

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  Linda Chavez, former Reagan official and Fox News sweetheart, has raised tens of millions for Republican anti-union and anti-liberal causes. Among other things, she is known for sending out fund raising letters comparing unionism to terrorism. The real problem rests in the fact that the vast majority of the money raised by Chavez and her family has not found its way into the political arena, e.g., only .3% of the two million raised to fight abortion was actually spent for that purpose. Do her thousands of earnest and terrified small donors know all this? We hope not. Is this fraud? WE HOPE SO. Go Linda!

• Billions have been spent on anti-terrorism equipment all over the U.S. Much of it, requiring expensive maintenance, is falling apart or gathering dust. For example, currently half of the Washington D.C. area's bomb squads can't communicate via their $12,000 "Cobra Kit" phones because the wireless bills remain unpaid due to insufficient funds to renew the contract. Not only that, but maintenance on the kits is absurdly expensive. Local jurisdictions without enhanced budgets to pay for the upkeep are simply letting the equipment rot. Montgomery County in Maryland stopped paying the bills as far back as 2005. D.C. and Arlington also dropped wireless payments not long after.