Prairie Fire Journal

If the people of California had a brain among them, they would be actively seeking a way to allow Michael Jackson to be buried on the grounds of Neverland Ranch, the ranch restored to its former glory and declared a state park. Millions of the pop star's faithful followers from around the world would swarm to the site. It would make Elvis' Graceland pale in comparison. The window of opportunity is now open, but it could quickly close. It's a win-win situation for the Jackson family and the State of California.

Lubbock is tooting it's horn as having the lowest unemployment rate in the state. May unemployment statistics released by the Texas Workforce Commission show Lubbock's unadjusted unemployment rate at 4.6 percent. However, while the official number of unemployed workers in Lubbock grew by 500, the total local workforce also shrank by another 400 workers. Furthermore, official unemployment statistics do not take into account that many laid-off workers in the hard-hit construction industry either worked as contract labor or were undocumented workers getting paid under the table. They do not show up in the official unemployment statistics, but they're out there and their loss of income has a negative ripple effect across the entire local economy.

The local housing market continues in a slump and auto dealers are desperate for customers. On top of all that, Lubbock's workers average 33 percent less in weekly income compared to statewide averages. Most of Lubbock's current economy is built around low-paying jobs in the service, education and healthcare sectors. Many more workers are under-employed and struggling just to survive. The poverty rate is around 25 percent of the population. But all that just gets swept under the rug by local economic leaders.

You've probably seen the ads or heard the Republicans repeat the lie that 119 million Americans will lose their private health insurance if the government is allowed to offer a public option in the insurance market. This number comes from a report published by the Lewin Group back in April. But contrary to the lies being circulated by Republicans, the report doesn't say that 119 million Americans will lose their private health insurance if a public option is made available. Here's what it does say:

"If the public plan is opened to all employers as proposed by Senators Clinton and Edwards, at Medicare payment levels we estimate that about 131.2 million people would enroll in the public plan. The number of people with private health insurance would decline by 119.1 million people. This would be a two-thirds reduction in the number of people with private coverage (currently 170 million people)." [The Cost and Coverage Impacts of a Public Plan: Alternative Design Options, Page 1.]

You can read the report in pdf format here.

The truth is, that given the choice of a public option as outlined in the above quote, Americans would overwhelmingly dump their private coverage in favor of the public plan. The Republicans' primary concern is about protecting the private insurance companies, not about providing affordable healthcare to all Americans. When it comes to real choice, most Americans have no qualms about getting rid of private health insurance. The Republicans are simply liars and shills for the insurance industry.

Dumbass Americans! What else can you say? One the one side, we have the flaming wishy-washy Democrats who just can't get a spine and do what needs to be done on healthcare reform, which is to create a single-payer system for all and get the insurance companies out of primary health care. On the other side, we have Republican conservative rot that only offers to protect the insurance companies and their profits. In the middle are a whole bunch of dumbass Americans who believe the bullshit lies being peddled by the Republicans and insurance companies in hopes of derailing real healthcare reform.

So many Americans had raised their hopes up, expecting that the moment for serious healthcare reform was finally and truly at hand. What a bunch of dupes we were to believe it could ever happen in America. The Democrats have really dropped the ball on this one, and likely alienated millions of voters who will either never cast another ballot or will find a new political home. If the Democrats thought that deficit spending would be a hot issue in the 2010 election cycle, failure on healthcare reform will see many Democratic candidates go down in flames. It will be what they deserve.

The great wave of change so many Americans hoped for when Barack Obama was elected president has slammed up against the rocky shore of Republican opposition, and the Republicans are succeeding in turning the Democratic tsunami into an irrelevant ripple.

Some examples:

* Health care reform has turned into a debate on how best to protect the insurance companies. So much for change in that department. Try again in 16 years.

* Obama's stimulus package is a joke. The economy is still hemorrhaging over 500,000 jobs a month. Obama's claim that the package would save or create 3 million jobs is really kind of ridiculous considering that since the legislation was signed in February the U.S. has lost more jobs than that.

* The banks continue to hoard TARP money and stick it to credit card holders with loan-shark interest rates.

* Home foreclosures are still running at historically high levels. More Americans now call tents or homeless shelters home than at any time in the history of the nation.

* The Iraq War of Lies continues merrily getting funded. Gitmo closure is being stalled by Democrats who have succumbed to Republican fearmongering.

* Obama wants to raise taxes on workers while putting an axe to deficit spending, all during a time of continued economic meltdown. This DEPRESSION ain't over by a long way.

But the Republicans don't get all the credit for derailing CHANGE. America has a scam artist for a president and a congress made up mostly of corporate shills. Change isn't coming, baby. Not today, not tomorrow, not until we get rid of the two-party system and create a true democracy.

In an area known for its featureless landscape, Lubbock's McKenzie Park has always been an exception. Located in the shallow trough of the Yellowhouse Canyon, the area has been an oasis used by humans for thousands of years. Unfortunately, for decades the park has suffered under mismanagement, neglect, and ad hoc development by the City of Lubbock. Now the PETA-philes in the city want to build a new animal shelter in McKenzie Park and further degrade this jewel of nature.

According to the city, Lubbock wants to build a more inviting center for animal adoptions as an alternative to euthanizing the animals. A very laudable goal, but I fail to see why it's necessary to locate it in a recreational area. If you want an "inviting" animal shelter that will draw more potential adopters of animals, then put a spiffy landscaped facility in southwest Lubbock along newly-developed Milwaukee Avenue. One thing is definitely certain, it doesn't belong in any of the city's parks. Period!

The United States government lost all legitimacy with the Iranian people beginning in 1953 when the CIA helped overthrow a democratically-elected socialist government. The U.S., together with the British, brought about the bloody 26-year reign of terror by the Shah of Iran against his own people.. In 1979, a generation of Iranians growing up under the Shah's repressive regime came of age and decided they had had enough. That led to the infamous American hostage situation. Even though the U.S. provided political, economic, and military support for the Shah's dictatorship, the American people still view themselves as victims rather than as the victimizers that they actually were.

It's for this reason that the U.S. government should keep it's big fat nose out of the current political unrest in Iran. It was the Iranian people who freed themselves from the tyranny of the Shah, and it can only be the Iranian people who decide they have had enough of the tyranny of the religious clerics. A new generation of Iranians are coming of age and they must be the final arbiters of their own destiny.

The bogus healthcare reform being proposed by the Obama Administration is simply the same bogus healthcare reform that was proposed by Republican Senator John McCain, but with a few new twists. Either way you slice it, the so-called reforms proposed by both Democrats and Republicans will protect and preserve the status quo allowing private insurance companies to control health care. Obama would offer a government option that would compete in the private insurance market.

You may recall that McCain proposed a federal tax credit of $2500-3000 as a means to offset the cost of private health insurance and subsidize private insurance companies. Obama offers subsidies to private insurance companies by taxing workers' healthcare benefits. It's all a bogus shell game designed with the sole purpose of appeasing the insurance companies, which have donated millions of dollars to both Republicans and Democrats. The Democrats are in the pockets of the private insurance companies, same as the Republicans, and have come out and stated that any notion of single-payer Medicare-style health insurance for all Americans is off the table.

The Republicans are running ads spreading the myth that Americans have "choice" when it comes to health insurance. Maybe in theory, but not in reality. Most Americans get their health insurance through their employer's group program. Whatever coverage their employer decides to offer is what most Americans end up with. Otherwise, any alternatives or "choices" are extremely expensive and beyond the range of affordability for most workers. Contrary to the nonsense being spread by Republicans, Americans don't realistically have health care choice now. It's a mirage.

Demand real change. Demand single-payer health insurance. Anything less is just more of the same. Tell the Democrats we're sick and tired of them selling us out to the insurance companies.

China's totalitarian capitalist regime has blocked internet access to all major social networking websites and is restricting media access to Beijing's Tiananmen Square on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Red Army's butchering and mass murder of students and workers demonstrating for democratic reforms on the square on June 4, 1989. Wikipedia has an extensive entry on the subject if you want to learn more.

American capitalism continues to support and nurture China's capitalist dictatorship that to this day continues to imprison, torture, and murder political dissidents. The next time someone tells you that capitalism is synonymous with freedom, ask them why are the people of China still enslaved?

Operation Rescue/Operation Save America and their associated anti-abortion groups have predictably issued disclaimers to distance themselves from the assassination yesterday of Dr. George Tiller, a provider of abortion services in Wichita, Kansas. Naturally, these front groups publicly issue such statements to try and distance themselves from acts of terrorism committed by their brethren even as they continue to foment such terrorist acts.

These acts of terrorism are directed at women and intended to deny them their rights. You can try to cloud the issue with religious dogma and hateful accusations, but at the end of the day it all comes down to denying women their rights. Terrorizing doctors so that they refuse to provide important health services to women.

In the aftermath of this latest assassination it will be interesting to see how many women rally in defense of their reproductive rights. Will President Obama stand up and support women in this regard or will he cower in the corner like he's doing on so many other fronts?