Oui, C'est Bono! Wealth vs Poverty Today

First the good news, then the bad....

There's a witty and hopeful speech by Bono, on the massive progress we're making towards eliminating poverty in the world - almost never mentioned in the mainstream media:





And there's the struggle to make the 1% pay even a fraction of their grotesque wealth towards the common good - this came in today from the Daily Kos:

"Despite conservative screams about the “socialist communist Kenyan Muslim” in the White House, fact is that Wall Street just had its best week… ever. That’s not hyperbole -- the Dow just hit new highs ten days in a row.

Meanwhile, in real America, the sequester threatens hundreds of thousands of jobs in the midst of an anemic recovery, with DC deadlocked thanks to obstructionist Republicans. And of course, conservatives continue to insist that any budget deal include further hardships on the working class and retired.

But Sens. Tom Harkin and Sheldon Whitehouse have a better idea -- a Wall Street speculation tax. The burden on traders would be minimal -- just three pennies on every $100 traded, or 0.03 percent.

This absurdly modest tax would raise $352 billion over 10 years, or one-third of what the sequester will cut, creating and saving jobs, and putting the burden where it belongs -- on those who created our economic problems, profited most from taxpayer bailouts, and continue to profit today.

As is usually the case in DC, the roadblock isn’t public opinion -- 81 percent of Americans support a tax on trading. What we need are bold leaders to take on the corporatist lobby, and a grassroots army to have their backs.
Join with Daily Kos, Democracy for America, and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse by signing the petition telling Congress to tax Wall Street speculation.

Keep fighting,
Markos Moulitsas
Publisher and founder, Daily Kos"

And this from Food Democracy Now, about the Monsanto gangsters, and their plan to control the world's Food Supply:

"Dear Friend,

Once again, Monsanto and the biotech industry are working behind closed doors to undermine your basic rights. This time they’ve gone too far!

This week, Senator Mikulski (D-MD) has introduced an outrageous rider giving a blank check to Monsanto and other corporations to plant illegal genetically engineered crops and it could be voted on tomorrow!

This dangerous rider was not included in the House-passed CR, and we are extremely disappointed to see that Senator Mikulski has included it in the Senate version.

Thanks to our pressure Senator Tester has introduced an amendment (#74), co-sponsored by Senators Boxer, Gillibrand, and Leahy, to strike the rider from the Continuing Resolution!

Hidden under the guise of a “Farmer Assurance Provision” (Section 735), the provision strips the rights of federal courts to halt the sale and planting of genetically engineered crops during the legal appeals process.

In the past, legal advocates have successfully won in court the right to halt the sale and planting of unapproved GMO crops while the approval of those crops is under review by a federal judge.

Join us in putting a stop to the Monsanto Protection Act!

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/sign/stop_the_monsanto_protection_act_today_senate/"

There you have it - the Good, the Bad, and the Plenty To Do!

Peace and Love,

Richard. (Click on the links to sign the Petitions!)