Prison Cut Backs, More Prisoners, Disaster – Above Politics 57

The Walla Walla Penitentiary is laying new officers off and placing a further burden on the community. Who is watching the prisoners? Hear what a Walla Walla penitentiary officer and union shop steward has to say.

Before our featured interview, Homer and Martin discuss the new "cold war" in the Pacific, North Korea and Japan trade "words" over rockets and the recent tragic events in Northern Ireland.







[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/12e815000537.png[/atsimg]

ABOVE POLITICS Number 57, with Martin Bain and Homer Fife, from AboveTopSecret.com.
Show length is 45:32.
Direct link to show MP3 file: atsmix_3246.mp3 (16 mb)
Subscribe to ABOVE POLITICS in your favorite MP3 utility/player: ABOVE POLITICS RSS feed
Subscribe to ABOVE POLITICS in iTunes for your iPod: ABOVE POLITICS iTunes feed




ABOVE POLITICS is the alternative political program from AboveTopSecret.com, all content is copyright (2009) by AboveTopSecret.com and The Above Network, LLC, all rights reserved. No content of the program may be rebroadcast in part or in whole from any web domain other than ATSMIX.com or ABOVETOPSECRET.com without prior written permission of The Above Network, LLC.


International Reporters wanted for The Above Politics Show thread

The Above Politics Show Web Site


[edit on 3/16/2009 by Dave Rabbit]

The whole situation with North Korea peeves me . While I don't support MacArthur notion that nukes should have been used there is no way the Korean war should have ended in such a stale mate . Should my country send troops overseas to defend what ever place from an act of aggression only a clear victorious outcome is acceptable . Anything less is an insult to those who made the ultimate sacrifice. For all Rumsfeld and his cronies failings at least they recognized that the so called limited wars were not a pattern worth repeating .

reply to post by xpert11


And I think the point raised in the show that North Korea will become a battleground for the "cold" war between the US and China, harks back to the cold war between the USSR and US.

I would agree, xpert11, that the current statemate between North and South Korea is hardly one to foster peace. More interesting is the fact that Japan is looking to project power beyond its borders and claims it will put assets that can shoot the missile down. Following WWII, Japan's constitution prevents deployment of its military outside of Japan and there was debate during the invasion of Iraq, as the US wanted to involve the JDF in operations in Iraq.

We have to see the bigger picture here. The assets to shoot the missile will be American based and you can guess that US intelligence assets are monitoring North Korean airspace for signs of any launch activity.

IMO thirty seven thousand US troops being tied by a regime that should have been put out of business is going down the road to absurdly . Other then the cult personality of its leaders the army is keeping the North Korean regime in power . It would naive to think that humanitarian aid that is given to North Korea doesnt find go towards feeding its army rather then those in need . Cut off all aid to North Korea and you will see the end of that regime .

I haven't listened to the interview yet...

But I don't understand why we have an empire in the first place. I don't think we should rule the world. I've always thought we should be a nation of example. We should be a nation that runs by itself... and stands for freedom...

We shouldn't be the big bully of the world. Why should we be the global policemen?

I've been meaning to post a reply to the interview. I liked it overall. But one of the things both of you mentioned was that you don't like how you're not seen as law enforcement people. Well first of all, all you need to do is to look up a history of police corruption (just google police corruption) or google corruption for whatever area that it is that you're in. Police are hated because they arrest people for victimless crimes... you're saying you don't like how you're not seen as law enforcement agents well that's why. I'm not trolling either of you... this just how I see that.

What I have found most interesting is the dead silence from the crowd that thinks that unions no longer have a place in today world . It would seem that if such purely ideology driven point of view takes a back seat when someone family could be put in danger by an escaped prisoner. Its just like how the Free Market fundamentalists were happy to accept the fallacy of corporate socialism including the Bail Outs .

I don't support militant unions but there has to methods to keep the excesses(SP?) of capitalism .

reply to post by Frankidealist35


Does the US has an empire in the traditional sense of the word? I think not when you compare to the USSR and of course, The British Empire.

I would accept that the US does still have a huge influence on world affairs, but not an empire.

reply to post by Freedom ERP

I agree. I was just responding to some of Homer Feif's comment. I never see us as an empire. We don't rule the world. We have a great command over it... but yes.

I would say that personally, I think we have way too many people in prison in this nation, while a large number belong there, the war on drugs creates more crime than it prevents. What is worse is that our nation seems to be creating a whole new category of laws I call safety crimes. Traffic laws come under this category, as well as family law. No one should ever spend time in jail under a safety violation unless someone was hurt, or proof of intentionally inflicted property damage

In addition. all a woman has to do is accuse of a man of violence against her, the the man can be imprisoned, especially if any part involves sexual advances, without any type of physical proof. Now I recognize that men who commit these crimes need to be locked up. but all too many men are victims of the woman's ability to make accusations without evidence. There needs to be some balance put into the system. If you don't have the money for a good lawyer to defend yourself, you are screwed. It is almost as if men in the U.S. need an escort to go out in public, to constantly provide an alibi that they haven't done anything wrong. Throw an underage girl into the picture, and things get really out of whack. Plenty of women make false allegations, and rarely do they get punished for it, even when it is clearly proven.