WE ARE THE MANY MAKANA

New original songs are coming out of the Occupy Movement. Really good stuff:

Ron Paul for President and hard core hate groups

For a long time Ron Paul has been associated with hard core hate groups. I’m not very much concerned what Ron Paul thinks but I believe that some or maybe a lot of his followers are White Nationalists. I am referring to people that I have encountered in person locally.  The White Nationalist websites are increasingly chattering about achieving their ends through violence. It’s just something to be aware of.

Ron Paul’s White Supremacist Radio Connections

Written by Casey Gane-McCalla, Lead Blogger on December 30, 2011 1:01 pm

Stormfront Founder Don Black Says White Supremacists Thought Ron Paul Was ‘One of Us’

By Hunter Walker 12/28 10:42am

Republican ideologically pure drive to eliminate public employees may stimulate organized crime & crime in general

All across the nation Republican controlled states are eliminating public employees including police. Cutbacks at the Federal and state level here in Pennsylvania are forcing many Pennsylvania municipalities to lay off police.

I believe that in their ideological fever Tea Party Republicans are assisting organized crime. I think that crime organizations and criminals in general will respond to the opportunity the Republican Party has put into their laps.

The Camorra is said to be not a significant Mafia in the USA at this time but they have been and still do appear to be making an effort to control the Port of New York. Do you remember seeing mountains of trash in Italy on TV a few years ago? In 2008 Italy and Europe woke up to the fact that the Camorra operates and controls most of the trash in Italy and that it is dumped illegally in the Campania region.

The Camorra allegedly has absolute control of the largest Port of Central Europe, The Port of Naples. In his book Gomorrah Roberto Saviano claims that the Camorra controls about one half of the goods coming in and out of the Port of Naples. The Camorra is not organized top down as the Sicilian Mafias and their US counterparts are. The Camorra clans operate independently. I think that makes the Camorra difficult for law enforcement to track.

I believe that organized crime Mafia’s have control and influence that public officials are not willing to admit to and may not be aware of. Check out this article from the Guardian:

"Drug money saved banks in global crisis, claims UN advisor 

Drugs and crime chief says $352bn in criminal proceeds was effectively laundered by financial institutions 

·         Rajeev Syal 

·         The Observer, Saturday 12 December 2009 

 Drugs money worth billions of dollars kept the financial system afloat at the height of the global crisis, the United Nations' drugs and crime tsar has told the Observer. 

Antonio Maria Costa, head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, said he has seen evidence that the proceeds of organised crime were "the only liquid investment capital" available to some banks on the brink of collapse last year. He said that a majority of the $352bn (£216bn) of drugs profits was absorbed into the economic system as a result. 

This will raise questions about crime's influence on the economic system at times of crisis. It will also prompt further examination of the banking sector as world leaders, including Barack Obama and Gordon Brown, call for new International Monetary Fund regulations. Speaking from his office in Vienna, Costa said evidence that illegal money was being absorbed into the financial system was first drawn to his attention by intelligence agencies and prosecutors around 18 months ago. "In many instances, the money from drugs was the only liquid investment capital. In the second half of 2008, liquidity was the banking system's main problem and hence liquid capital became an important factor," he said."

More at: 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/2009/dec/13/drug-money-banks-saved-un-cfief-claims

With the universal ideological inspired Republican cutbacks in law enforcement nationwide, maybe the Camorra will be successful in their efforts to control the Port of New York.

And closer to home; if the Rawlings Administration is successful in laying of Coatesville Police we will most likely return to the days of 2006/08 and the late 1990s when drug dealers ran the City of Coatesville.

We The People are angry and who can blame us for being angry?

AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka, Take Back the American Dream conference in October, calling for "a massive, militant movement":

 “We The People are angry and who can blame us for being angry?  So the question becomes where will that anger go; toward hatred and extremism or toward building a future that works for everyone who lives and works here in America.
Today we have a “Tea Party” a “Tea Party” inspired Right Wing that’s banking on an “Upside-down America” for its path to political power.

They got a four part plan:

1. They do everything they can to keep our economy on the rocks. No money for jobs, no way, keep people hurting and keep them angry.
2. They fan the flames of anti government angst by making sure that our government looks dysfunctional, gridlocked and lurching; from funding deadlines to phony crisis deadlines
3. They’re ginning up this seasons version of divide and conquer; set taxpayers against public employees, jobless Americans against immigrants
4. They’re doing their damnedest to make sure that the electorate in 2012 looks nothing like the electorate in 2008; disenfranchising new voters with voter ID laws, suppressing student voters and a whole lot more.”

See Nation of Change “What Next in the Fight Over Who Our Economy is For”

Not just progressive voters get cancer.

A technical glitch makes it possible for Federal authorities to arrest Medical Marijuana users and sellers in California. It’s obvious that President Obama’s campaign staff is attacking Medical Marijuana in an effort to appear tough on crime and appeal to independent and right wing voters. But his campaign staff is missing something very important; independent voters, right wing voters and progressive voters all get cancer and can benefit from Medical Marijuana.

SEE:

Legal and political analysis of Regulate Marijuana Like Wine

by STEVE KUBBY on DECEMBER 19, 2011 in NEWS UPDATES

I have no use for Medical Marijuana at this time. But cancer may be a part of my future like it is for so many others. I would like to have the option of using Medical Marijuana. I think everyone should have that option.

There is another very important reason for allowing the use of Medical Marijuana. The “War on Drugs” is a total failure. Just as the Prohibition of Alcohol was a total failure.

Enforcing the Federal laws concerning marijuana only benefits drug cartels, gunrunners and the public officials that make selling illegal drugs feasible. We lost the “War on Drugs” years ago. The more we put into enforcement the more drug cartels profits and power increases. Prohibition of Alcohol created worldwide organized crime and Prohibition of marijuana and other drugs perpetuates organized crime. Organized crime is now at least a $128 Billion industry worldwide.

I believe that the profits and flow of money in illegal drugs and other organized crime in Chester County make organized crime a major industry in Chester County. In the City of Coatesville it may be “THE” major industry.

Prohibition and the inflation of drugs value caused by Prohibition is the pot of gold that finances all other aspects of the business of organized crime. The most violent, inhuman acts and sheer terror in the world is in the hands of organized crime. The “War on Drugs” is a total failure.  We need to find a way to make all drugs legal and regulated, cut off organized crimes money supply and  break the back of organized crime. Legalizing Medical Marijuana is a good start.

SEE:

SUNDAY, MAY 1, 2011

I am just learning about an organization called LAW ENFORCEMENT AGAINST PROHIBITION

Heroes

A friend gave me a copy of Tom Brokaw’s “The Greatest Generation” to read while I was in the hospital. It was hard to put down. It’s a very emotionally charged book for me. Many of the people in it are like the people I grew up with in Coatesville.

I grew up surrounded by heroes.

As a boy it seemed ordinary to live among so many adults that lived through World War II and the Depression. I knew my uncle Fred and Uncle Lou were solders in WWII. But I really didn’t appreciate what they did until sometime in the 1990s. I think it was because of the 50th anniversary of D-Day. Maybe it was Steven Ambrose’s book on D-Day.

I knew my Uncle Lou Pilotti was in Patton’s Army, he talked about the War a little. Things like hearing the Germans sing Christmas carols in the next hedgerow in France. He got lost for days during the Battle of the Bulge and ran to the sound of a tank. He said he was starving and cold and didn’t care if it was German or American. The tank commander asked who won the 1942 World Series. My Uncle said, “Hell, I don’t know, I’m an American." He said an officer told him and another man to take a young German prisoner of war into the woods and shoot him. I guess they had no way to hold prisoners. Uncle Lou said he couldn’t pull the trigger on his gun. Uncle Lou must have had a really difficult time. But he didn’t keep it all inside and he had a loving family. It was different with my Uncle Fred.  In a hushed tone my Uncle Lou said, “Freddy had it real bad”.

I started to ask about just what Uncle Fred did during the war. He would hardly say a word about it. I learned that he was a Combat Engineer. His duties would have been to clear paths for vehicles and troops through obstructions and minefields. He was in such constant combat that he was unable to take off his wet boots for 3 months. A painful fungus developed on one foot that is still with him to this day. The fungus wasn’t the only thing that stayed with Uncle Fred. He had to have what we now call PTST.

                                       

I believe it was at Christmas time 10 or 15 years ago, I was at the kitchen table with some of my aunts and uncles. My Uncle Lou and Uncle Fred were there. Out of the blue I said, "Thanks for what you did." My uncle Lou said, "What do you mean?” I said, "If you hadn't of did what you did during the war we might all be speaking German right now." Uncle Lou smiled a little in appreciation. It seemed to hit Uncle Fred hard, he left the room. On that evening at the kitchen table I had the privilege to sit with heroes. They have a special place in my heart.

Uncle Fred is now receiving nursing home care at the Coatesville VA Medical Center.

When my uncles came back from WWII everyone was aware of their service. Nearly every family in the USA had a family member in the service or served in some other capacity. The Veterans of World War II had the gratitude of the entire nation. Today the burden of war is carried by just a few families. The Iraq War is finally over and troops are coming home. And right now some people may not even know that we are waging a war in Afghanistan.

“New PTSD cases are coming in at a rate of more than 3,000 a month, even as the United States completed its withdrawal from Iraq over the weekend and continues the longest conflict in the nation's history in Afghanistan…‘Unable to cope, some service members end up taking their lives. ‘Eighteen veterans commit suicide every day," said Rene Campos, deputy director of government affairs of the Military Officers Association of America, the nation's largest officers association with 370,000 members from every military branch. 

‘That's one every 80 minutes,’ she told a congressional subcommittee this month. ‘Twenty-two percent of all suicides in the U.S. are former service members.’ 

More than 2,200 active-duty military members took their lives from 2001 through 2010, officials said. Last year, 293 killed themselves.” 

FROM: 

As troops come home, VA reaches out to those suffering stress of war

“The values that drive every soldier, sailor, airman, and Marine to serve America must also drive the way we treat our veterans. Hire them, welcome them home, and do what you can. 

In the end, service is about putting our country ahead of politics and following the example set by our commander-in-chief by honoring the service of all who sacrificed more than we'll ever know. We must all do our part.”  

FROM: 

Honor service of those who sacrificed 

By Patrick J. Murphy

Most Veterans have a family to support them but many do not. Some need medical monitoring. Many of the Veterans that you occasionally see here on the streets in Coatesville are getting assisted living in group homes in Coatesville with support from the VA Medical Center.

There are a variety of services available to Veterans at the:

 Coatesville VA Medical Center

If you’re interested there may be a volunteer opportunity for you at the VA Center:

VA Voluntary Service

Some Resources for Veterans:

“Make the Connection” Shared experiences and support for Veterans.

If you have PTSD or just want to understand it see this book and a companion website.
My Back to the Wall

Was Ms. Bjorhus fired because she is a whistle blower?

Ms. Bjorhus and Joe Carroll’s Forensic Auditor, Manny Dechter separately and independently discovered the missing or allegedly stolen $162,000 from 2008.  Unpaid trash bills of City of Coatesville officials were also discovered during the audit procedures. 

It's my understanding that some City Officials were very angry that their unpaid trash bills were made public. 

Curiously Mr. Dechter was allegedly immediately dismissed before his work was completed after he uncovered the unpaid trash bills of city officials.  See: “Some City Officials Owe Trash Bills”: http://www.dailylocal.com/articles/2011/06/09/news/doc4df16003d96eb830464529.txt?viewmode=fullstory

Although Ms. Bjorhus may not be able to release information concerning her work because of the terms of her dismissal, I believe that she can participate in a criminal investigation. 

On Friday evening November 11, 2011 I had an emergency surgery.

For about 10 days I had a low fever. My doctor tested for a number of things with negative results. On Wednesday November 9th I started to have tenderness in my abdomen and I noticed that my pants were tighter. My doctor ordered a blood test for toxins. On Friday November 11th the test came back positive and my doctor said to meet her at the Emergency Entrance of Brandywine Hospital as soon as possible. It was about 4pm.  I was admitted, had an MRI of my abdomen and at about 10:30pm I was in the OR. It was the beginning of my month and a day in the hospital.

 I had laparoscopic surgery to remove a section of my intestine where I had developed diverticulitis. My intestine perforated and the infection spread into my entire abdomen (peritonitis). Dr. Olukoga said there was a whoosh of escaping air when he opened my abdomen. My abdomen was flushed out with an antibiotic solution. Right now my large intestine is disconnected from my small intestine and I have an ileostomy. The end of my small intestine pokes trough my abdomen, it’s called a stoma. In 3 to 6 months the ileostomy will be reversed and my colon reconnected. Until then I need to wear a bag over the stoma.

On that Friday evening my muscles were shutting down, my liver and kidneys were shutting down. Someone, a nurse or doctor, told me that I wouldn’t have made it to the next morning without surgery to remove the infection. My surgeon is Dr. Olukoga. He is trained in advanced laparoscopic surgery and was on duty that weekend. I was told that he was one of the best in the area. At about 5:00 am Saturday morning I was recovering in the ICU. It was a very close call. In a way I am a very lucky man.

 For some reason I didn’t feel very much pain in my abdomen. Maybe I just don’t react to pain, I don’t know. I didn’t display the usual symptoms. I heard that it’s unusual for someone as sick as I was to be able to walk into the hospital.

 I think that because the infection was very bad that my bowels wouldn’t restart properly. I had scarring from the infection that partially obstructed my intestine also. My recovery was unusually long. I was in the hospital until Monday December 12^th, one month and a day. On December 7th I complained about a pain in my back that I thought was a muscle sprain. I was walking in the hallway pulling my IVs along without much trouble and I was breathing OK. A person with blood clots in their lungs usually can’t breathe very well at all.  Dr. Bamezai ordered a test for blood clots just in case. It turned out positive for several clots in my lungs, very large clots in my left leg veins and a clot in an artery in my right leg. My exit from the hospital was delayed until the clots were under control and Warfarin was therapeutic.

Dr. Bamezai said, “You scare me.” I think that it’s because I can be deathly sick and appear healthy.

I had a NG tube (Naso-Gastro tube) down my nose and throat for at least 3 weeks. Worse yet it was removed and put back twice. My nose and throat are still a little sore.  The Dilaudid IV helped to ease the pain.  It wasn’t always easy but I managed to keep my spirits up. I think that’s half the battle. 

The nurses on the second floor of Brandywine Hospital did a lot to keep my spirits up. They made my month in the hospital almost pleasant and at times fun. A very special THANK YOU TO THE NURSES ON THE 2nd FLOOR OF BRANDYWINE HOSPITAL. They link the technology, the doctors and the patients. I could see the nurses fighting daily to make sure the medical needs of patients were met and that patients were as comfortable as possible. Hospitals are powered by nurses. It was beautiful to see them make the hospital work for the patients.

 So right now I am at home typing this on my computer. I can walk around the downstairs but the stairs are a challenge right now. I went upstairs for the first time today with an assist from Mike the physical therapist. But I get tired out very quickly. Our living room has a hospital bed that I am using until I can manage the stairs on my own.

 The biggest challenge for me right now is the ileostomy bag. The end of my small intestine is poking through my abdomen, it’s called a stoma. I stick a plastic bag designed for that purpose over the stoma and it collects what comes out of my stoma. It’s a little gross but you get used to it. Some people have them 30 years or more and lead normal lives. The hard part for me is getting the bag to stick well enough to my skin so that it doesn’t work loose.

I have a nickname for my stoma, “the percolator, Because the stoma is my small intestine, not my large intestine, the discharge is unpredictable and because the area needs to be dry when applying the bag it and it’s often “percolating” when I am trying to apply a new bag and I’m fighting to keep the area dry.  

I will get the hang of it. But right now I feel a little insecure.

GO SEE AND HEAR FOR YOURSELF

What all this means for this blog is that I won’t be able to get to a Coatesville City Council meetings and record the meetings in the near future. So if you want to know what is happening at the city council meetings go see and hear for yourself.

A few years ago there were people at the meetings that were there to intimidate residents and interested people, that all came to a stop several years ago. The meetings are sanguine now, so come on in.

See “Parkesburg Today” for articles about the 45th Legislative District Candidates

Barry Cassidy Seeks Newly Created State House Seat

Caln Commissioner Seeks New Legislative Seat

“We the People" not “I the Property Owner"

UPDATE:

Now that the facts are out the horsey people appear to be less a victim of the big bad community and more like an uncooperative neighbor. I think the politicians who immediately came to the Horseshow Association’s side against the community owe the community of West Vincent an apology.

SEE:

Township sets date for vote to rescind condemnation of Horse Show Grounds

Friday, December 16, 2011

By SARA MOSQUEDA-FERNANDEZ
smfernandez@dailylocal.com

When you read articles like this; Politicians react to Ludwig's Corner decision keep in mind that there is a bigger fight across the nation to give more rights to property than to communities. Most of the property by area in Pennsylvania that is privately owned is owned by corporations, mining companies, industry and much of our farmland is owned by real estate speculators. Right now we are witnessing drilling company’s efforts to overrun Pennsylvania’s community’s rights to clean water. I am suspicious of politicians who jump to defend property against the rights of a community.

Property rights are what mining and drilling companies and real estate speculators hold over the heads of communities. Over the years the real estate lobbies have whittled down our community rights. When a developer or mining company comes into a community the laws are already slanted in the properties favor. We should be championing community rights and not the property rights of corporations.

Our local communities once came together formed a militia and fought for their community rights against a big time property owner named King George of England. It's "We the People" not "I the property". 

“Property Rights and Responsibility  

All private property rights are completely dependent on the community. We maintain a right to our land only because we can record a deed at the county courthouse, which is supported by the community. We enforce our property rights through a legal system supported by the community. Our property would be worthless without roads and electric and telephone lines built by the community. We are safe and secure in our homes because of police and fire departments organized by the community. 

 Just as the community makes it possible for us to enjoy our property, each community has the right – the obligation, in fact- to ensure private property is used in ways that will benefit the long –term public interest.”  

 FROM:

Save Our Land Save Our Towns by Thomas Hylton 

SAVE OUR LAND, SAVE OUR TOWNS

Also see:

The 45th Legislative District

Emotionally it's tough for me to choose between Josh Young and Barry Cassidy. Both men are in the race for state representative in the newly created 45th Pennsylvania House Legislative District. I know and like both of them.

But as a Coatesville resident who would love to see our area prosper there is only one choice. The 45th includes the City of Coatesville, the boroughs of Downingtown, South Coatesville, Parkesburg and Modena. Townships in the 45th are Caln, East Caln, Valley, East Fallowfield and Sadsbury.  Those municipalities make up our local part of the Keystone Corridor; see "Plan the Keystone". Barry Cassidy played a part in the development of the Keystone Corridor as a part of developing “Citizens for the Train” and work on the “Greenline” planned to link Phoenixville to Paoli by rail.  We are getting a new train station in Coatesville and Downingtown and improvements to the Parkesburg station in part because of Barry’s enthusiasm and hard work to develop rail transit.

Back in the 1990s Phoenixville was mostly known as a place to buy drugs.  Barry Cassidy removed the street dealers from Phoenixville one corner at a time. I witnessed Barry Cassidy change Phoenixville from a drug selling town* to what is now one of the most popular and sought after residential, shopping and dining areas in Chester County.

Barry brings years of experience working with PennDOT, Septa and Amtrak on corridor development.  As State Rep. for the 45th district he would continue that work.

One more thing, Barry is a tough manager; if you aren’t producing he will lean on you until you do. He had the emotional toughness to remove the street dealers from Phoenixville. He will need that emotional toughness in the State House. I heard Governor Rendell talk about the PA Statehouse, he said something like; These guys get out of bed every day not thinking about what they can do for their constituents, they think about what they can do to hurt the guy on the other side of the aisle. The ruthlessness of the Republicans in the Statehouse can discourage newcomers but I think Barry can roll with the punches.

*”About 2002, Phoenixville had a higher crime rate than Coatesville, according to Carroll. At that time, the borough began hiring more police officers while the city did not, he said. Now, Phoenixville has a much lower crime rate than the city, Carroll said.‘Adding extra cops is not the only answer to reducing crime, but it certainly helps,’ Carroll said,” 

FROM: 

Daily Local News 

DA warns against cutting city cops 

Published: Sunday, October 30, 2011

Is Stacy Bjorhus the Coatesville whistle blower being fired because she is a whistle blower?

Is Ms. Bjorhus being fired because she uncovered Coatesville City Councilman Marty Eggleston and Coatesville City Councilman Ed Simpson's delinquent trash bills?

Is Ms. Bjorhus being fired because she uncovered that Coatesville City Councilman Jarrell Brazzle allegedly illegally received vacation pay for his part time and summer job working for the city?

Is Ms. Bjorhus being fired because she did her job and traced the missing $162,000 from 2008 to cash payments that were recorded as received but allegedly never made it into the city accounts?

Is Ms. Bjorhus being fired because she "put an emotional strain" on the city employees that allegedly handled that missing cash?

I'm in a hospital bed hooked up to IVs and pumps so it's difficult for me to add links to what is written above.

There is a ton of information on the Coatesville Dems Blog, much of it live recordings. The "Search this Blog" search works well if you are looking for more information.