Déjà vu

All over again:

[T]he fortunes of the bottom 50 percent of Americans are worsening, with that group earning 12.8 percent of all income in 2005, down from 13.4 percent the year before, the paper said.

[. . .]

[W]hile the IRS data goes back only to 1986, academic research suggests that the last time wealthy Americans had such a high percentage of the national income pie was in the 1920s.

Hmm…the 1920s, you say? The decade that began in the grip of the red scare? When anti-immigrant sentiments were high and the Ku Klux Klan was resurgent? The decade that brought us the infamous Scopes Monkey trial?

Oh. That sounds about right..

Tags: us economy, class warfare

Old Blackwater, Keep on Rollin’

We’ve all heard the infamous Blackwater story by now:

A convoy carrying diplomats was approaching the square when a second Blackwater convoy, positioned on the square in advance to control traffic, opened fire.

But what I haven’t heard is who these “diplomats” (referred to as “State Department officials” in this account) are or if they’ve been called to give their version of the incident. Am I the only one who’s curious?

Today, the AP reports that “Iraqi authorities want the U.S. government to sever all contracts in Iraq with Blackwater USA within six months. They also want the firm to pay $8 million in compensation to families of each of the 17 people killed when its guards sprayed a traffic circle with heavy machine gun fire last month.” Further, they’d like “U.S. authorities to hand over the Blackwater security agents involved in the Sept. 16 shootings to face possible trial in Iraqi courts.”

Do you think Blackwater, with its “essential of core corporate values—chief among [them] integrity, innovation, excellence, respect, accountability, and teamwork,” will go for that?

And speaking of accountability, Blackwater founder Eric Prince is on the board of Christian Freedom International, which, according to the Better Business Bureau, does not meet required standards for "Charity Accountability.” Go figure…

Tags: blackwater, iraq