Dear Journal readers,

This is an important word from Bill
Maher:

----------------------------------

From a recent "New Rules" segment.
It makes one hopeful...


[link]

How about this for a New Rule:
Not everything in America has to
make a profit. It used to be that
there were some services and
institutions so vital to our
nation that they were exempt from
market pressures. Some things we
just didn't do for money. The
United States always defined
capitalism, but it didn't used to
define us. But now it's becoming
all that we are.

Did you know, for example, that
there was a time when being called
a "war profiteer" was a bad thing?
But now our war zones are dominated
by private contractors and
mercenaries who work for corporations.
There are more private contractors
in Iraq than American troops, and
we pay them generous salaries to
do jobs the troops used to do for
themselves ¬-- like laundry. War
is not supposed to turn a profit,
but our wars have become boondoggles
for weapons manufacturers and
connected civilian contractors.

Prisons used to be a non-profit
business, too. And for good reason
--¬ who the hell wants to own a
prison? By definition you're going
to have trouble with the tenants. But
now prisons are big business. A
company called the Corrections
Corporation of America is on the New
York Stock Exchange, which is
convenient since that's where all
the real crime is happening anyway.
The CCA and similar corporations
actually lobby Congress for stiffer
sentencing laws so they can lock
more people up and make more money.
That's why America has the world's
largest prison population ¬-- because
actually rehabilitating people would
have a negative impact on the bottom line.

Television news is another area that
used to be roped off from the profit
motive. When Walter Cronkite died last
week, it was odd to see news anchor
after news anchor talking about how
much better the news coverage was
back in Cronkite's day. I thought,
"Gee, if only you were in a position
to do something about it."

But maybe they aren't. Because unlike
in Cronkite's day, today's news has
to make a profit like all the other
divisions in a media conglomerate.
That's why it wasn't surprising to
see the CBS Evening News broadcast
live from the Staples Center for
two nights this month, just in case
Michael Jackson came back to life
and sold Iran nuclear weapons. In
Uncle Walter's time, the news division
was a loss leader. Making money was
the job of The Beverly Hillbillies.
And now that we have reporters moving
to Alaska to hang out with the Palin
family, the news is The Beverly
Hillbillies.

And finally, there's health care. It
wasn't that long ago that when a kid
broke his leg playing stickball, his
parents took him to the local Catholic
hospital, the nun put a thermometer
in his mouth, the doctor slapped some
plaster on his ankle and you were done.
The bill was $1.50, plus you got to
keep the thermometer.

But like everything else that's good
and noble in life, some Wall Street
wizard decided that hospitals could
be big business, so now they're run
by some bean counters in a corporate
plaza in Charlotte. In the U.S. today,
three giant for-profit conglomerates
own close to 600 hospitals and other
health care facilities. They're not
hospitals anymore; they're Jiffy Lubes
with bedpans. America's largest
hospital chain, HCA, was founded by
the family of Bill Frist, who perfectly
represents the Republican attitude
toward health care: it's not a right,
it's a racket. The more people who get
sick and need medicine, the higher
their profit margins. Which is why
they're always pushing the Jell-O.

Because medicine is now for-profit we
have things like "recision," where
insurance companies hire people to
figure out ways to deny you coverage
when you get sick, even though you've
been paying into your plan for years.

When did the profit motive become the
only reason to do anything? When did
that become the new patriotism? Ask
not what you could do for your country,
ask what's in it for Blue Cross/Blue
Shield.

If conservatives get to call universal
health care "socialized medicine," I get
to call private health care "soulless
vampires making money off human pain."
The problem with President Obama's health
care plan isn't socialism, it's capitalism.

And if medicine is for profit, and war,
and the news, and the penal system, my
question is: what's wrong with firemen?
Why don't they charge? They must be commies.
Oh my God! That explains the red trucks!

--------------------------------------

I commend you if you've read this far. I
myself just can't stop thinking of these
kinds of things. For more information, I
highly recommend you watch BOTH
documentaries at [link]
and read the material and visit the forums
at [link] .
That, in addition to your own research.
We need to make people aware.

Sorry if I sound like I'm ranting. I just
want to do some small part to spread awareness.

Starbat