Columbia Law School Professor Urged Imprisonment For Lynne Stewart

A Columbia Law School faculty member named Robert D. Sack recently wrote the legal decision that authorized and urged the immediate imprisonment of a 70-year old woman human rights lawyer named Lynne Stewart--for the act of photocopying and mailing a press release for one of her legal clients.

Sack, the son of Park Slope rabbi Eugene Sack, was the Columbia University Law School Commencement speaker in 2007. In his May 17, 2007 speech,Sack confessed the following:

"My father was a reform rabbi with a pulpit in Park Slope Brooklyn...

"...It would be foolish to think that which judge happens to sit on your panel never matters. Sometimes it does...

"I took a job with Patterson, Belknap & Webb here in New York. A partner of the firm, later my mentor, Bob Potter, greeted me at the door. He said, `The most fun around her is representing The Wall Street Journal.' And I said--`Yes. I'll do that.' That's how I got into media law."

Besides sitting on the U.S. federal judiciary bench (having been appointed by Bill Clinton in the 1990s), Columbia Law School Professor Sack has also sat next to two top Dow Jones Company executives--Stuart Karle and James Ottaway Jr.--while serving as a board member of the William F. Kerby and Robert S. Potter Fund.

Coincidentally, Lynne Stewart was the lawyer for the still-imprisoned 1968 Columbia Strike Leader David Gilbert during the 1980s; and the Obama Administration Justice Department which decided to push for Stewart's imprisonment in the Columbia Law School faculty member's federal courtroom is headed by former Columbia University Trustee Eric Holder.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt: "On Inherited Wealth"

On June 19, 1935, former U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt said the following:

“The transmission from generation to generation of vast fortunes by will, inheritance, or gift is not consistent with the ideals and sentiments of the American people…

“…Great accumulations of wealth cannot be justified on the basis of personal and family security. In the last analysis such accumulations amount to the perpetuation of a great and undesirable concentration of control in a relatively few individuals over the employment and welfare of many, many others…

“Such inherited economic power is as inconsistent with the ideals of this generation as inherited political power was inconsistent with the ideals of the generation which established our Government…”

In his 1939 book The Ending of Hereditary American Fortunes, Gustavus Myers also recalled:

“Bent upon still further breaking up great family concentrations of wealth, President Franklin D. Roosevelt urged Congress to use its taxing power to the limit. In addition to Federal estate taxes, he called for still more levies in the shape of inheritance, succession and legacy taxes on large amounts received by any one legatee or beneficiary. And to prevent possible evasion, heavier taxes on gifts…The Knights of Labor, decades back, had demanded the taxing of great private wealth out of existence…”

Yet in 2009, wealth and political power in the United States still seems to be undemocratically concentrated in the hands of a small number of billionaire and multi-millionaire individuals--and the corporations, political parties, global media conglomerates, foundations and universities which these plutocrats control.

Black Male Worker Jobless Rate Jumps To 17.1 Percent Under Obama

The official “seasonally adjusted” jobless rate for African-American male workers over 20 years-of-age under the Democratic Obama Regime increased from 16.5 percent to 17.1 percent between September and October 2009; while the unemployment rate for African-American female workers over 20 years-of-age was still 12.4 percent in October 2009, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

The official “seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for all African-American workers (which also takes into account the 41.3 percent jobless rate for African-American youth between 16 and 19 years of age) increased from 15.4 to 15.7 percent between September and October 2009.

Ironically, although Democratic Party presidential candidate Obama claimed during the 2008 election campaign that his economic recovery and stimulus plan would provide jobs for unemployed workers in the United States, since October 2008 the official “seasonally adjusted” official jobless rate for African-American male workers over 20 years of age has jumped from 11.8 percent to 17.1 percent.

In October 2009, the official “not seasonally adjusted” jobless rate for Hispanic or Latino male workers over 20 years of age was 11.9 percent. For all Hispanic or Latino workers over 16 years of age (which takes into account the 35.6 percent “not seasonally adjusted” jobless rate for Latino youth), the official “not seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate was 13.1 percent in October 2009.

For white male workers in the United States over 20 years of age, the official “seasonally adjusted” jobless rate increased from 9.6 to 9.9 percent between September and October 2009, while the rate for white female workers over 20 years of age increased from 7 to 7.4 percent.

Since October 2008, the official unemployment rate for white male workers over 20 years of age has increased from 5.8 percent to 9.9 percent.

The “not seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for Asian-American workers was 7.5 percent in October 2009. But the official “seasonally adjusted” national jobless rate for all U.S. workers increased from 9.8 to 10.2 percent between September and October 2009.

Since October 2008, the official jobless rate for all U.S. workers has jumped from 6.6 percent to 10.2 percent.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ November 6, 2009 press release:

“The unemployment rate rose from 9.8 to 10.2 percent in October, and nonfarm payroll employment continued to decline (-190,000)…The largest job losses over the month were in construction, manufacturing, and retail trade…

“In October, the number of unemployed persons increased by 558,000 to 15.7 million. The unemployment rate rose…to the highest rate since April 1983…

“The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) was…5.6 million. In October, 35.6 percent of unemployed persons were jobless for 27 weeks or more…

“The number of persons working part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was…9.3 million…These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job…

“About 2.4 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force in October…These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.

“Among the marginally attached, there were 808,000 discouraged workers in October…Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them…,

“Total nonfarm payroll employment declined by 190,000 in October…

“Construction employment decreased by 62,000 in October…Job losses were concentrated in nonresidential specialty trade contractors (-30,000) and in heavy construction (-14,000)…

“Manufacturing continued to shed jobs (-61,000) in October, with losses in both durable and nondurable goods production…

“Retail trade lost 40,000 jobs in October. Employment declines were concentrated in sporting goods, hobby, book, and music stores (-16,000) and in department stores (-11,000). Employment in transportation and warehousing decreased by 18,000 in October…”

U.S. Billionaire Warren Buffett's $4 Billion Investment In Israel

If you're a fan of Ralph Nader who now thinks that relying on U.S. Billionaire Warren Buffett to bankroll a U.S. movement for radical democratic change will magically end corporate totalitarianism and plutocracy in the United States and end U.S. government support for the Israeli war machine in the Middle East, you might be in for a big surprise. In recent years, for example, Buffett has invested over $4 billion in the Zionist movement's Israeli economy, despite the Israeli government's long history of violating the UN Charter, international law and the human rights and national self-determination rights of the Palestinian people.

As the website of the American Israel Investments Associates at http://www.israelgrowth.com/about.html notes:

“With the highest GDP growth (5.2%) of any Western country (2005), Israel has become a very popular market for foreign investors. Warren Buffett’s $4 billion purchase of Iscar, his largest international investment ever, continues a trend that has sent foreign investors running to invest in the dynamic Israeli economy. Global stalwarts such as Johnson and Johnson, Intel, Ebay, Kodak, HP, Cisco, Alcatel, Broadcom, Microsoft, BMC Software, Verifone, and PMC Sierra all purchased Israeli companies in the last year.

“With more companies listed on NASDAQ than any other country except for the United States, Israel is the focus of more and more investor attention.

“Israel has become a destination for all types of investors who seek potentially high returns. Over $1.4 billion of venture capital money was invested in 2005. This ranks Israel second only to the United States in venture capital funding, outranking European and Asian rivals. As the privatization of government companies continues, the large global hedge funds and private equity firms have become very active players, investing billions of dollars in purchasing firms like Bank Leumi (Israel’s second largest bank) and Bezeq (the national phone company)."

Rather than begging U.S. billionaires like Warren Buffett to use the surplus blood money they've acquired (from exploiting working-class people and consumers at home and abroad and then re-investing some of their surplus blood money in an economy that oppresses the Palestinian people) to finance the U.S. Movement for radical democratic change, perhaps people who seek radical democratic change in the United States in 2009 should now be demanding that U.S. billionaires like Buffett immediately divest themselves of their investments in Israel--until the democratic rights of the Palestinian people are fully restored?

U.S. Elite University Economics Departments: Still Racist In 21st Century?

The Ultra-Rich White Folks who still control the 30 top-ranking universities in the United States often claim that they're opposed to institutional racism in the 21st-century.

Yet according to the article, titled "Almost No Black Economists at the Nation's Highest-Ranked Universities," that was posted on The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education website in 2006, only 15 of the 935 economics department faculty members at the 30 highest-ranked universities in the United States are black; and these 15 black economists only "make up 1.6 percent of all the total faculty in the economics departments" of these 30 elite U.S. universities.

See The Journal of Blacks In Higher Education article at the following link for more information:

http://www.jbhe.com/news_views/50_no_black_economists.html

U.S. TV Stations: Still 97 Percent Owned By White Ultra-Rich Folks

The White Corporate Male Power-Structure's mass media conglomerates in the United States claim to be against institutional racism. The same global mass media conglomerates also sometimes claim that--because the U.S. White House is now being occupied by President Obama--the United States is no longer an institutionally racist society.

But ironically,the number of television stations in the United States that are owned by African-Americans in the United States is apparently decreasing in the 21st-century. As the then-National Chair of the National Congress of Black Women, E. Faye Williams, noted in a December 5, 2007 statement before the Subcommitte on Telecommunications and the Internet of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which was holding a hearing on the FCC's oversight of U.S. media ownership:

"...The National Congress of Black Women, Inc. [NCBW] has had a keen interest ini media matters for over 15 years when we began a campaign against violence, denigration and misogyny in the media...America's media companies...need to...refrain from disseminating degrading misogynistic content in order to make a simple buck...

"...Despite making up 34 percent of the U.S. population, racial and ethnic minorities own only 7.7 percent of radio stations and just over 3 percent of television stations...Last year alone minority ownership among TV stations dropped over 8 percent. The number of black-owned stations fell 80 percent..."

African-American Male Worker Jobless Rate Under Obama Regime: 16.5 Percent

The official “seasonally adjusted” jobless rate for African-American male workers over 20 years-of-age under the Democratic Obama Regime was 16.5 percent in September 2009; while the unemployment rate for African-American female workers over 20 years-of-age increased from 11.9 to 12.5 percent between August and September 2009, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The official “seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for all African-American workers (which also takes into account the 40.8 percent jobless rate for African-American youth between 16 and 19 years of age) increased from 15.1 to 15.4 percent between August and September 2009.

In September 2009, the official “not seasonally adjusted” jobless rate for Hispanic or Latino male workers over 20 years of age was 11.8 percent. For all Hispanic or Latino workers over 16 years of age (which takes into account the 29.5 percent “not seasonally adjusted” jobless rate for Latino youth), the official “not seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate was 12.2 percent in September 2009.

For white male workers in the United States over 20 years of age, the official “seasonally adjusted” jobless rate increased from 9.3 to 9.6 percent between August and September 2009, while the rate for white female workers over 20 years of age increased from 6.9 to 7 percent.

The “not seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for Asian-American workers was 7.4 percent in September 2009. But the official “seasonally adjusted” national jobless rate for all U.S. workers increased from 9.7 to 9.8 percent between August and September 2009.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ October 2, 2009 press release:

“Nonfarm payroll employment continued to decline in September (-263,000), and the unemployment rate (9.8 percent) continued to trend up…The largest job losses were in construction, manufacturing, retail trade, and government…The number of unemployed persons has increased…to 15.1 million, and the unemployment rate…to 9.8 percent…

“Among the unemployed, the number of job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs rose by 603,000 to 10.4 million in September. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) rose by 450,000 to 5.4 million. In September, 35.6 percent of unemployed persons were jobless for 27 weeks or more…

“The civilian labor force participation rate declined…in September to 65.2 percent…

“About 2.2 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force in September…These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey…

“Among the marginally attached, there were 706,000 discouraged workers in September… (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them…

“Total nonfarm payroll employment declined by 263,000 in September…

“In September, construction employment declined by 64,000…September job cuts were concentrated in the industry's nonresidential components (-39,000) and in heavy construction (-12,000)…

“Employment in manufacturing fell by 51,000 in September…

“In the service-providing sector, the number of jobs in retail trade fell by 39,000 in September…

“Government employment was down by 53,000 in September, with the largest decline occurring in the non-education component of local government (-24,000)…”