There is no such thing as a corporation, only people

A corporation is a legal fiction. There are only people; owners, shareholders, CEOs, workers.
In 1933 60 families owned most of America. How many own it today?

In 1933 Ferdinand Lundberg wrote a book, based on a great deal of research, called
America's 60 Families  http://www.google.com/search?aq=0&oq=america's+60&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=america's+60+families
in which he detailed how a small number of super rich people owned America. Some of the names may have changed, but America is still owned and operated by perhaps 1000 people.

-Through the legal fiction of "corporation", their control is disguised.
-Through the legal bribery of "campaign contributions", they buy and sell politicians to get the laws and policies that benefit the super rich at the expense of everybody else.
-They own the media, so the only message heard mainstream is "capitalism and competition'

All the people complaining about corporations miss the point that
there is no such physical thing as a corporation, only people, and 
there is a ruling aristocracy in America that has names and faces.
Please, never say corporations again. Talk about the ruling class, the feudal lords who rule America as their person fiefdom. Name the names who own specific companies.

and what, exactly, am i suggesting? Certainly not physical violence, but
publicly naming and shaming the specific people responsible
for whatever the specific issue may be.

Is America A Democracy?

Election day not a national holiday, elections on a workday
=discriminates against workers
This tells you the truth right away 
 
  A) Who gets to vote?
  1) Who gets to register
  2) Who gets wiped off the rolls (florida 2000)
  3) Are there enough voting machines (ohio 2004)

B) Who do they get to vote for?
   1) Winner take all=Lesser of two evils
   In most cases third party candidates have no chance, people are afraid of throwing away their vote
   i.e. Ralph Nader
  2) Instant Runoff Voting, Proportional Representation=every vote counts

C) How honest is the vote count
  1) Electronic voting machines = stolen elections
      Paper ballots harder to steal an election

D) How is the process financed?
  1) Campaign contributions =legal bribery
  2) Corporate money allowed as "free speech"
      No money=no chance to win=candidates sell out 


E) How do we find out what the candidates have to say
  1) Role of media
  a) corporate owned
  b) covers some candidates more than others, shuts out 3rd party candidates
  c) sound bites, slogan advertising

Democrats and Republicans

America is basically a one party state, the Corporate Capitalist Party.
The Democrats are the left wing of that party, the wing that says even if the country is run for the benefit of the rich, the poor should at least get enough crumbs to survive.
The Republicans are the right wing of the CCP, the wing that says fuck the poor, let them die.
That is an important difference.

My belief is that the Republicans have gone too far, and that all simple minded people who voted for them are going to turn against them, and that in the next few years, people will be marching in the streets, the same way the civil rights movement happened, and i look to the students to be the ones to get it happening.

President Obama has been replicating the history of the 1930s, when the British and French tried to appease Hitler, as Obama is trying to deal with the right wing fanatics, who will never get enough to satisfy them, and will ultimately self destruct.

Hafiz and Forugh Farrakhzad (new poem)

i went to the library to get a book of Hafiz' poetry. Right next to Hafiz was a book entitled
Sin, selected poems of Forugh Farrakhzad, translated by Sholeh Wolpe.
After reading some of each book, here is a poem that came out of me
---------------------
Hafiz and Forugh Farrakhzad

Destiny
is a far off thing
but just as close to me
my love
as your lips

O my beloved
why have you been so cruel to me?
i have wandered over mountains,
rivers, lakes, oceans,
deserts
braved heat and cold, and still
you withhold yourself from this poor lover's sight, and yet
I know that you are ever present, with me always
were i only able to know you

How many years of my life? How many days, hours,
How much of my strength, attention, desire, energy
have i given to looking for you?
How many generations of cells of my body
have been born, lived, died
while i wandered to and fro
searching for you
a fool for love

O, my beloved
come to me, i need you, i want you
My body aches for you
my mouth is parched
My desire rises, thinking of you
Come to me please
i beg you
make yourself known to this poor fool for love

Destiny, what is destiny but
the calling of the blood
the calling of the inner essence
to be, to know, to remember
our long lost, constantly sought
eternal orgasm of the soul
union
with, as
the beloved

Amin