Samuel Alito

This man has the 'deadest' eyes I have ever seen.

I do make a sincere effort to be realistic about people, most are nether as bad, nor as good, as they appear to be. All of us are an idiosycratic combination of past experiences, genetic dice, sub-surface motivations, and fear. So I try to keep an open mind when I meet someone, or am introduced to them by the media.

When I meet someone, look them in the eye, shake their hand (man or woman), listen to the sound of their voice and the cadence, I can get a general sense of the person. My perception is fairly good, I can tell alot about the person, their happiness/sadness, fear/calmness, curiosity/disinterest, and health/illness.
These are general observations not specific, or intrusive to them.

People I am introduced to in the media, are a much larger mystery. The person can be professionally disguised and photographed. The image is not necessarily the person. So, I evaluate movie stars, personalities, game show hosts, policians, newscasters, and normal folks just caught in the bright lights of cameras with a real caution. They may be great people or not, but I wouldn't be able to tell their real story. So, in truth, I don't know who the person really is.

But from the moment I laid eyes on this Samuel Alito, I knew this is a bad man. I don't mean that in a light hearted or frivolous way. I mean this guy is genuine evil.
Look at his eyes, they are dead. There is nothing there but malignancy. He is a rigid, moralistic, grim lipped, sadistic human being.

The human form of a thumb screw.

There is no mercy, light, hope, or sparkle of empathy. The eyes are dead.

Because of this I have no hope that he will be a compassionate and reasonable justice. He will be a tyrant that supports tyrants.

The American way of life, the collective attempt at culture we have, the fabric of our legal and social lives is about to change. We have Clarence Thomas, Aton Scalia, and now Samuel Alito. The Salem Witch Trials had more impartiality and respect for others. These three, combined with Roberts, are going to be a force for darkness and repression.

There it is.

I don't know what to do about it. Don't know that I can do anything about it.

It is what it is.

I think bad times are ahead, and I really hope I am wrong. I really hope these particular Supreme Court Justices turn out to be fair and honest men, if a little bit rigid in their ideology. I don't really care that they are Theocratic Fascists, just as long as they keep their opinions, their beliefs, and their foamed-mouth religious insanity to themselves.

But looking in the eyes of this Alito, I am filled with fear.

"Only Dissent can grow Freedom, for in Consent lies the seeds of Tyranny."
BOG

News o' the day

US Propaganda Aimed at Foreigners Reaches US Public: Pentagon Document
Published on Friday, January 27, 2006 by Agence France Presse

“…In a press release, the National Security Archives said the document "calls for 'boundaries' between information operations abroad and the news media at home, but provides for no such limits and claims that as long as the American public is not 'targeted,' any leakage of PSYOP to the American public does not matter."..”

Propaganda:

Propaganda: def. the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person.: ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one's cause or to damage an opposing cause; also : a public action having such an effect
(source: Merriam-Webster online Dictionary)

“Propaganda has only one object: to conquer the masses. Every means that furthers this aim is good; every means that hinders it is bad.”
(Joseph Goebbels, 1929)

Let me see if I understand this…the Pentagon, and by extension the Bush Administration states that the U.S. is to distribute lies, rumors, allegations, ideas, err Propaganda, to the rest of the world, and this is ok. If these lies then happen to leak back to the U.S. press, and wind up in the mainstream news media, than this too is ok.

Well, why the hell not! After all, lets be real clear here, the state of U.S. journalism is groveling subjugation to corporate masters. Period. The grinning pompaded bonhomie of ‘TV newscasters’ is a perfect image for the shallowness of their ethical depths. The truth is that the lies spewed by the Bush Administration, and they are legion, to the rest of the world are no different than the lies provided by mainstream U.S. Newsmedia.

“The ‘societal purpose’ of the media is to inculcate and defend the economic, social, and political agenda of the privileged groups that dominate the domestic society and the state. The media serve this purpose in many ways: through selection of topics, distribution of concerns, framing of issues, filtering of information, emphasis and tone, and by keeping debate within the bounds of acceptable premises.”(Edward S. Herman and Naom Chomsky, Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media, 7, 1988.)

“The U.S. Economy is strong and growing stronger” they report. Meanwhile the U.S. Economy is in truth slamming into an iceberg and following the Titanic to the deep and suffocating shadows. To carry this analogy a bit farther, this Titanic has been devasted by the twin economic icebergs of Irresponsible Tax Cuts and Deficit Spending so the wealthy are busy cramming into every life boat they can find, leaving the rest of us to our fate. Investment Bankers, Politicians, and CEO's are tossing overboard the elderly, poor, and crippled (myself among them) that somehow managed to inhabit one of their precious few remaining life boat's, while the rest of us are busy in the bilge, shoveling coal, making beds, scraping rust, keeping up our duties, as the intercom blares about how well things are going on the ship. We notice the deck is slanting a little, but we are assured that we are on course by Captain Peter Peachfuzz, who is reporting from half a mile away, safe in his own well appointed raft. It is a grim scenario.

Have you seen the data on the U.S. Economy, the ‘real’ data’?

“…Historically low job growth, declining wages, rising poverty and the worst deterioration in our fiscal situation in history is hardly proof that current fiscal policies are working or should be continued…” (State of the Economy, by Gene Sperling and Christian E. Weller. January 26, 2006)

Lying through their teeth for U.S. journalists is practically a career development path, like learning the Law, or Medicine, or Carpet Laying.

The purpose of the Main Stream Media in this country is to foster the agenda of George W. Bush and his ilk. (It's also to entertain and sell shit, but that's another column.) Herman and Chomsky, in 1988, foretold the state of journalism in this country. The purpose is not the news, merely the impressions favorable to the power brokers for the control of the U.S. public. The words of corporate broadcasts' have only a tenuous link to reality, like compassionate deeds are to conservative dogma.

So, should the Pentagon be allowed to lie their ass off to the rest of the world, and the U.S. public too?

Why not? It’s well established already.

Sheeple

"We, the sheeple, in order to form a most imperfect union...."
BOG, 1/27/2006

"The State in which the rulers are most reluctant to govern is always the best and most quietly governed, and the state in which they are most eager, the worst."
Plato, The Republic 7.520

so, what does this say then about a ruler who fraudulently steals two elections and claims he has a mandate to break any law he so chooses...I would say he is a whole lot worse than just 'eager'.

Why we are in Iraq.

Iraq? Pakistan? Tyrants care little for whom they kill...


For me, this is one of the best explanations of the Iraq quagmire I have yet read…..

BOMBING IRAN?
DON’T COUNT ON IT
UNLESS THE NEOCONS EXCEED THEIR KNOWN CAPACITY FOR STUPIDITY
byStan Goff

“…Behind the whole “stable, secular democracy” smokescreen (which he borrows from the administration) lie the true and original goals of this adventure: to build permanent US military installations in Iraq and take the political pressure off Saudi Arabia; to maintain those installations as “lily pads” from which to launch future military operations throughout Hydrocarbon Asia; to have this military control over the region as a lever to use against various current and future competitors, including Western Europe, Japan, and China… especially China; to compensate for the increasing weakness of the United States as a center of productive capital by militarily securing the global dominance of the US as the center of finance capital; to create a demonstration effect with a decisive and destructive “shock and awe” military assault on Iraq as propaganda-of-the-deed for would-be malcontents…”

Mr Goff goes on to explain why the U.S. will not attack Iran under any circumstances...except extreme stupidity of its leadership....!

"A stupid person is a real thing."
Haitian Saying




(thanks, Stan Goff, From the Wilderness)

Compassionate Conservative

Do ya ever wonder why other countries hate and despise the U.S.? Maybe this is one answer….

'Suicide Seeds' Could Spell Death of Peasant Agriculture, UN Meeting Told
by Haider Rizvi (Published on Thursday, January 26, 2006 by OneWorld.net)

UNITED NATIONS - Groups fighting for the rights of peasant communities are stepping up pressure on governments to ban the use of genetically modified ''suicide seeds'' at UN-sponsored talks on biodiversity in Spain this week…”
“…The group is among organizations urging United Nations experts to recommend that governments adopt tough laws against field testing and selling Terminator technology, which refers to plants that have had their genes altered so that they render sterile seeds at harvest. Because of this trait, some activists call Terminator products ''suicide seeds.''
Developed by multinational agribusinesses and the U.S. government, Terminator has the effect of preventing farmers from saving or replanting seeds from one growing season to the next…”

Can you follow this? The U.S. Government, in conjunction with private Agricultural Companies in this country, such as ConAgra Inc., have developed seeds that self destruct so that the farmer is forced to purchase new seed every year. Can’t just save seed from your crop each year and replant, like humanity has done for the past 14,000 years.

Genetically modified foods, while they may or may not be safe, are in fact a weapon of war. The United States of America is conducting an economic and agricultural war against the rest of humanity. If you don’t do as the U.S. demands, we cut off your supply of food seeds. You will starve, because you no longer have the capacity to harvest your own seeds for next years’ crop. Bend your knee you filthy indigent farmers! How dare your talk back to the omnipotent George and his cabal of fattened capitalists!

I wonder why the rest of the world hasn’t attacked this country more often….

American Medicine

And this is what it really is all about…

Savings Accounts for Health Costs Attract Wall Street
By ERIC DASH
Published: January 27, 2006

“When it comes to medical benefits, millions of Americans already have a health insurer. Soon, many will also have a debit card and a bank tied to their medical plan.
Banks, credit unions and money management firms are now quietly positioning themselves to become central players in the business of health care, offering 401(k)-type accounts to cover future medical expenses…”

You see, private companies that pay George W. Bush and his cronies billions of dollars in bribes and extortion money, cannot make enough profit on Government Programs unless they run the entire program. Sure they can make, 200% profit, but is that really fair? By becoming the owner of all the financial services related to medical care, the Banks and Credit Unions join hands with the HMO’s, Pharmeceutical companies, and Medical Establishment to control every facet of the highly lucrative medical care field. Afterall, people will always be sick and in need of medical care, so they will always be forced to pay for it. It is a never ending stream of money. Unfortunately, as long as the Medical Programs like Medicare are under the public domain, it is too easy to spot the glaring amount of theft and skullduggery. Banks and the Medical Establishment cannot have bad publicity and they gouge the last nickel out of the sick and dying. Gotta Privatize to hide the bribes!

Why do we hear negative things about that ‘nasty’ ole Socialist Medicine problem? Because even though Socialized Medicine works very well in almost every country in Europe, as well as Canada, the Oligarchs of Financial Wizardry in America couldn’t make enormous profits from it. So, they direct their minions, the mainstream journalists, to write stories unfavorable to Socialized Medicine. The curious part is that the one program we have that truly is socialized medicine, the Veterans Administration is actually doing quite well, despite the fact that Bush has significantly under-funded it by billions of dollars.

“The Veterans Health Administration's success story is one of the best-kept secrets in the American policy debate…”(Health Care Confidential. By PAUL KRUGMAN. Published: January 27, 2006. )

If Socialized Medicine is so bad, then we here in the United States must have a superb medical system, right? Ahh, that would be a 'no' there dear. The United States is currently 27th in the world in health care distribution and access to its people. 46 million Americans have no health care coverage at all. Do you get that number? 46 MILLIONS AMERICANS HAVE NO HEALTH INSURANCE AT ALL! That number alone should ring every alarm bell in investigative journalism in the country. Does it?

Medical care in the United States is the most expensive in the world. We have a broken health care system that is grinding out huge profits for the medical industry and the banking industry. It is a medical care system that speaks of the very worst of America and corporate sleaze, so why change?

The State of…Health Care
January 25, 2006
“By spending $1.7 trillion on health care in our country – roughly 15 percent of the nation’s economy – one would imagine the United States would have the best health care in the world, yet sadly this is not the case. We are in fact ranked 37th in the World. The reality is that the American health care system is broken. The number of Americans without health insurance has increased by 6.2 million, to 46 million..”.

The level of corporate greed and malfeasance in this country is reaching world class proportions, perhaps even historical. And you know, it doesn’t fucking matter that children sicken and die from inadequate medical care does it? Dosen't matter that American families incur generational debt just to pay staggering medical bills. As long as the republicans and their corporate masters rake in the dough, who gives a shit right?

American Scandal

That’s the trouble with Democracy…sometimes the results aren’t as controlled as the ruling Bush junta would like….now, in America, we just allow a conservative private corporation with ties to the ruling republican powers count the votes…that way there are no surprises.

Hamas Routs Ruling Faction, Casting Pall on Peace Process
By STEVEN ERLANGER
Published: January 27, 2006

"RAMALLAH, West Bank, Jan. 26 — The radical Islamic party Hamas scored an overwhelming victory in Wednesday's Palestinian legislative elections, taking 76 out of 132 seats, deposing the former governing Fatah party, which won only 43 seats..."

In America, our politicians know how to handle difficult problems, unlike those foolish savages in the middle east. In America, we don’t need to worry that ‘Democracy’ or the people’s will, will upset our course of action.

Take for example, that thorny little problem of Jack Abramoff. You know, that super lobbyist that bribed huge numbers of Republican Congressmen and was a close personal friend of George W. Bush? Seems old Jack is spilling the beans and may make life difficult for George and his boys. So, how do we handle problems in this particular Democracy?

Simple, he just promotes the lead prosecutor to a judgeship and this derails the entire investigative nuisance. End of problem.

Prosecutor Will Step Down From Lobbyist Case
By PHILIP SHENON and ELISABETH BUMILLER
Published: January 27, 2006

“WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 — The investigation of Jack Abramoff, the disgraced Republican lobbyist, took a surprising new turn on Thursday when the Justice Department said the chief prosecutor in the inquiry would step down next week because he had been nominated to a federal judgeship by President Bush…”

And, will there be an outcry from the American Public over this clear outrage against the law and fair play?

Nope. The Sheeple remain quiet and respectful.

In America, the more outrageous the lies or the illegal actions, the less people will criticize. Funny huh?

You see, when you absolutely control all levers of power in a government, you can do anything you want to do. Nothing, not even a serious investigation into your blatant corruption, stands in the way.

“Whatever may be said of evil turning to good, the general
tendency of evil is toward further evil.”
John Stuart Mill, 1874

Planet Earth Year 20

Planet Earth, Year 2050

By Traci Hukill, AlterNet. Posted January 25, 2006.

"...the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) is the world's most underappreciated eco-study, it's definitely the most unevenly appreciated one. When the huge report first emerged last spring after four years, $24 million and the efforts of more than 1,300 scientists in 95 countries, it made headlines elsewhere. In December it was awarded a Zayed Prize, something like an environmentalist Nobel. Here in the United States, though, the media barely registered its existence.

The U.N.-backed Millennium Assessment is the most thorough survey of global ecosystems ever undertaken. It's also the first report of its kind to link ecosystem health to human well-being, and in so doing strikes the rich, rich vein of human self-interest. Showing people what's in it for them is a great way to get something done..."

This study goes on to delinate specifics that we all will be forced to deal with:

• Governments will be grouped in security-obsessed regions
• Governments will become more tyrannical, exercising rigid control of goods and information.
  
• The wealth gap grows between and within nations.
  
• Wealthy nations shift resource-intensive industry to poorer countries
• Environmental neglect is exacerbated
• International environmental treaties are ignored.
  
• Resource Wars will be both large and small, but continuous
• Unprovoked attacks will be more common
• Religions will become more fundamentalist, more rigid, more intolerant of others
• Border security will be expanded due to environmental and economic migrations
• Shortages of critical energy will be a constant issue, rationing of electricity and petroeleum products will be common
  
• One bright spot: Less global trade means fewer species invasions. But ecosystem services overall show a decline, and most human well-being indicators deteriorate too…”

These are a few of the changes we can expect, both from this report and from my own readings of the situation.

We are in the midst of an enormous change for humanity, in particular those of us in the 'Western' World. We have become accustom to a life style that is no longer possible due to finite energy resources and 19th Century-style political manuevering.

The last bastion of freedom in the United States is the internet. We cannot march or act in protest without incurring the wrath of the Patriot Act which would label us terrorists if we block traffic or litter. Our news media is totally corrupt and completely subservient to the political power brokers in Washington. Our politicians are bought and traded by corporations like major league ball players. The process of voting for our politicians is now a subsidiary of Diebolt Corporation, And finally, the guarantees of rights and freedoms in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are now exceptions to the rule, rather than the rule of law.

Keep your eyes on the Internet, I have said for years that the politicians cannot allow the internet to continue without censorship. To complete their coup de'tat, the republicans must gain master of the internet.

Internet Freedom Under Fire: Act Now

"The CEOs of the largest cable and telephone companies are hatching a scheme that would give them control over what content you can view and what services you can use on the Internet.
Their plan would do away with the principle of "network neutrality" and shut down the open roadway we've come to expect on the Internet..."

Think, just for a few moments, about your children, and what kind of world you are preparing for them...

From the Bet-you-didn’t-see-this-on-the-news Department:

George W. Bush's Overall Job Approval Rating Returns to Record Low

As American Turn Less Optimistic About the National Economy

“George W. Bush's overall job approval rating has returned to its lowest point in Bush's presidency as Americans again turn less optimistic about the national economy according to the latest survey from the American Research Group. Among all Americans, 36% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 58% disapprove. When it comes to Bush's handling of the economy, 34% approve and 60% disapprove…”


You would think that an approval rating of 36% would be national news…nope.

Still think we have a ‘Free Press’?

Tyranny grows

Tyranny grows…

TSA: Program may use fliers' financial data

By Thomas Frank, USA TODAY Mon Jan 23, 7:10 AM ET

“A new program to speed travelers through airport security may require passengers to agree to a check of their personal and financial records, the Transportation Security Administration said.

TSA said it will require "in-depth security background checks" that may involve "using commercial data" for people applying to the Registered Traveler program that starts in June. The checks will help verify people's identities to prove they have no ties to terrorism….”
(emphasis mine)

What is next? Loyalty oaths? Apparently Americans now must ‘prove’ we are not terrorists….that is quite a long way from presumption of innocence until proven quilty.

Doesn’t it bother anybody that the people leading this country, the so-called Conservatives, are against everything that Conservativism stands for?

Conservatives used to believe in: Individual Freedoms; States Rights; Fiscal responsibility. Conservatives believed in the principles of conservation, that is, you hold fast to old ways, be slow to change to new ways, be parsimonious in governmental matters. What happened?

Conservatives used to believe in the freedoms of America, the right to be free, the right to live your life your way, the right to build a good living for your family, a right to own property, the right to freely elect our own politicians, a right to worship as we choose, a right to live our lives free of governmental regulations and restrictions.

Conservatives have always said that American comes first, over other nations, and that they are the party of loyalty to the principles of this country. Conseratives have wrapped themselves in the American flag, and have always said that they are the staunch defenders of the American way of life.

And would look at what we got here! How can Conservatives state they believe in these things, yet when in power, they do the precise opposite. If there is indeed terrorists who hate our freedoms, then I submit that it is the Republican Party led by George W. Bush who are the true terrorists and who hate our freedoms.


The End of Unalienable Rights
Robert Parry

“Today, Americans have rights only at George W. Bush’s forbearance. Under new legal theories – propounded by Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito and other right-wing jurists – Bush effectively holds all power over all Americans.

He can spy on anyone he wants without a court order; he can throw anyone into jail without due process; he can order torture or other degrading treatment regardless of a new law enacted a month ago; he can launch wars without congressional approval; he can assassinate people whom he deems to be the enemy even if he knows that innocent people, including children, will die, too.
Under the new theories, Bush can act both domestically and internationally. His powers know no bounds and no boundaries…”

...and what are the outraged American Citizens doing? Watching Dancing with the Stars; dreaming of a new HDL TV; wanting to get that new, more 'fuel efficient' SUV; Watching their sons and daughters killed or maimed; going deeper into family debt; watching their pensions and their health care dissapear; noticing their pay check doesn't go as far as it used to; and still they believe that their government is here to help them.

Republican Values

Last night on ABC, they stated that the reason why Ford is firing 30,000 people is because the employee Pensions and Health Care are too expensive and therefore Ford cannot compete with foreign manufacturers....

Then the reporter went blithly on her way, spending twice the air time, to tell a fascinating tale about a new diet pill.

What is curious to me is that this story, and others like it, just scream out the need for a national health care and for pension reforms. Just scream it out. Yet, not a soul will touch this. No one in the media talks about it. It is anathema. The national news media is famous for telling only part of the story and absolutely missing the real story. But, why would this country so discourage national health care? What is this all about?

The Conservatives have so crippled any form of discussion or exploration of National Health Care and Pension Reforms that the Democrats are terrified of opening their mouths. It is a subject that is still born.

Doesn't it seem odd to anyone else that not having a National Health Care is actually hurting the Corporate Bottom Line. If we had National Health Care the Corporations in this country wouldn't have to pay for it. Same with Pensions. Corporations would be more profitable wouldn't they? Isn't that what it is all about? And yet, U.S. Corporations, being the loyal and faithful republicans they are, are almost unanimously opposed to this program. Why?

Perhaps the reason is that U.S. corporations, in concert, would rather break all unions and force the American worker to accept third world pay levels. It is a race to the bottom. If corporations hold firm, they will crush worker opposition, fire all of the highly paid employees, and then hire back only minimum wage workers. The continuation of costly corporate funded health care programs is just an excuse to fire the present work force.

It is also a way of blaming the employee for business management failure.

But, I think more to the point, it is another tale in which the ruling junta in this country sacrifice the well being of the people to push their ideology. The republican ideology is that the Government exists to make corporations more profitable and to protect corporate interests. Period. So, it is the Bush Administrations purpose to deliberately creating chaos with the new Medicare Medical Program to destroy all hope of the American people that they can count on Government Programs to help them. The republicans would rather see the sick and elderly suffer and perhaps die, than create a health care program that works. The republicans would rather thousands lose their only source of income and go hungry and homeless so that corporations can make even more profit by hiring new low paid workers. The republicans have an ideology that allows for the suffering and death of thousands to ensure the profit of a few.

This is the Republican Era...and it will get much worse.

so is it legal or ain't it....

Justice Department to declare warrantless wiretaps legal
John ByrnePublished: January 19, 2006

"In a detailed 42-page legal memorandum set for release this evening the Bush Justice Department will defend the President's warrantless wiretap program as legal. A copy of the document was leaked to RAW STORY.

Secret surveillance 'inconsistent with the law,' report says
By John Diamond, USA TODAY WASHINGTON —

"The Bush administration probably should have informed the members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees of its secret surveillance program initiated after the Sept. 11 attacks, not merely a handful of congressional leaders, according to a report Wednesday by a research arm of Congress..."

SO WHICH IS IT?


"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it."
- Governor George W. Bush

"The vast majority of our imports come from outside the country." - George W. Bush

"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure."
- George W. Bush

"One word sums up probably the responsibility of any Governor, and that one word is 'to be prepared'." - Governor George W. Bush

"I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future."
- Governor George W. Bush

"The future will be better tomorrow."
- Governor George W. Bush

"We're going to have the best educated American people in the world." - Governor George W. Bush

"I stand by all the misstatements that I've made." - Governor George W. Bush

"We have a firm commitment to NATO, we are a part of NATO. We have a firm commitment to Europe. We are a part of Europe." - Governor George W. Bush

"Public speaking is very easy." - Governor George W. Bush

"A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls."
- Governor George W. Bush

"We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur."
- Governor George W. Bush

"Quite frankly, teachers are the only profession that teach our children." - Governor George W. Bush
"It's time for the human race to enter the solar system."
- Governor George W. Bush

The man who would be king...better to laugh at these pigs now, because, sure as God made little green apples, they are going to make America a miserable place for Freedom.

And then there was a party of one....

(thanks Bartcop)


The Democrats have chosen a milktoast, republican-light, to be the Democratic response to the lies and distortions of the Tyrant-in-Chief in his State- of- the- Gulag report.

Arianna Huffington

"So the Democrats have chosen Virginia Governor Tim Kaine to deliver the party's response to President Bush's State of the Union speech. Chalk up another one for the What the Hell Are They Thinking? file. On the same day that Osama Bin Laden's chilling warnings make it Red Alert clear that Bush's obsession with Iraq has not made us safer here at home -- and, indeed, has caused us to take our eye off the real enemy -- the Dems decide that the charge against Bush shouldn't be led by someone who can forcefully articulate why the GOP is not the party that can best keep us safe, but by someone whose only claim to fame is that he carried a red state…”

“…I know I've said this before and before, but the Democrats will never become the majority party until they can prove to the American people that they have a better plan for keeping us safe. And that means having someone like Jack Murtha give the State of the Union response -- someone with the authority to make the point that, on every level, Iraq is the wrong priority. And that the hundreds of billions already spent on Iraq (and the countless billions to come) would be better spent shoring up our ports, roadways, railways, securing our nuclear installations and chemical plants, and properly supporting our first responders..."


It doesn’t make sense that the Democratic Party is so clueless, except for one thing: The Democratic Party is wholly owned and operated by the GOP. Nothing else can explain the complete and utter collapse of this entire party.

Nothing, except for one other factor...maybe it is Americans that don't understand what is happening.

Is Bush Stupid -- Or is America?

Robert Parry, 01/18/2006

“Many Americans believe George W. Bush is uninformed, simpleminded and, in a single word, stupid. But there is a different way to look at the evidence and conclude that while Bush may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, it is he who thinks the American people are the real dullards.

After all, Bush is the one who explains the “facts” about current events as if he’s speaking to people with the mental capacity of a five-year-old. He also assumes – with some justification – that his listeners don’t mind being misled and lied to, as long as he gives them some bromides that make them feel good.."

I don't harbor ill will against my fellow Americans...well, allright, I do despise the republicans...but I could tolerate them if only they hadn't committed a coup de'tat in this country. I think that it is easy to lie to people, look at the success of Bush, Hitler, Stalin, all of great murderers of history. I believe Hermann Goering said something to the fact, that "It is easy to get people to go to war, you create an enemy, claim this enemy is responsible for all your ills and therefore you must go to war. Further, anyone who speaks against the war is a traitor." I don't recall his exact words, but this is the gist of it.

I fear that freedom's days are numbered.....

Hey! I know this guy!

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a warning about a new virulent strain of Sexually Transmitted Disease.

The disease is contracted through dangerous and high-risk behavior.The disease is called Gonorrhea Lectim and pronounced "gonna re-elect him."

Many victims contracted it in 2004, after having been screwed for the past four years.

Cognitive characteristics of individuals infected include:

• anti-social personality disorders

• delusions of grandeur with messianic overtones

• extreme cognitive dissonance

• inability to incorporate new information

• pronounced xenophobia and paranoia

• inability to accept responsibility for own actions

• cowardice masked by misplaced bravado

• uncontrolled facial smirking

• ignorance of geography and history

• tendencies towards evangelical theocracy

• categorical all-or-nothing behavior.

Naturalists and epidemiologists are amazed at how this destructive disease originated only a few years ago from a bush found in Texas.





(Thanks Lauren)

Menopause Jewelry

Menopause Jewelry

My husband, being unhappy with my mood swings, bought me a mood ring
The other day so he would be able to monitor my moods.

We've discovered that when I'm in a good mood, it turns green.

When I'm in a bad mood, it leaves a big freakin' red mark on his
forehead.

Maybe next time he'll buy me a diamond.





(thanks Lamar)

The state of the world.

This is just a sample of the news you will not hear about in most U.S. newspapers and especially on Network News. WE are a nation kept in the dark by our own Government in order to hide their machinations and corruption of Democracy.

Look at the segments of Network News: Stories about penguins, a lost dog, a kidnapped child, or woman, Gay Marriage, Creationism, New Orleans…the list of endlessly trivial information goes on.

Meanwhile, the worlds population, and in particular the U.S. populations are facing some of the gravest challenges faced by humanity…and there is no discussion about it.

Imperial Mongers of Civilization: From Gladstone to "King George"
by Pierre Tristam
Published on Tuesday, January 17, 2006 by the Daytona Beach News-Journal

“…peace tends to rouse social consciences, and with them police truncheons (on labor in the 1920s, blacks in the '50s, students and women in the '60s, anti-globalists in the '90s). Peace isn't good for certain trades, imperial power and aimless leadership among them..”
“…The transformation of America into an emerging police state, example to the world, is encouraging other democracies to follow. The European Union is readying to do what the National Security Agency has been doing for years -- track all electronic communications on the continent. Britain is readying to track every car and truck's movement on every road. Italy, Britain and France have all expanded government's power to imprison people without charge for lengthy periods. Under Prime Minister John Howard, Australia enacted into law a draconian alien and sedition act that exceeds America's Patriot Act (which reverses the innocent-until-proven-guilty standard). If elected Jan. 23, Canada's conservative candidate for prime minister vows to militarize the country's cities.
That's Bush's march for democracy for you: Autocracy on autopilot. And for what? For fascism's seducer, a pimp called security, and whose whores we all are…”

US living standards in 2005 continued downward trend
By Naomi Spencer16 January 2006

“…While homelessness is a difficult feature of US society to track, an informal survey conducted in June by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) placed the number of homeless Americans at 727,304. Four months after Hurricane Katrina, half a million displaced Gulf Coast residents are also homeless. Many of these families are set to have their rental assistance cut off this month. In a given year, an estimated 3.5 million Americans experience temporary homelessness. Many millions more live in substandard conditions, routinely go through shut-off periods without basic necessities such as water and heat because they fall behind on their utility bills, and forgo needed prescription drugs or medical treatment because of prohibitive expense…”

Bracing the world for the day when the oil runs out
By Michael Harrison, Business Editor
Published: 18 January 2006

“…when peak oil does happen, its impact on the world economy - and the consumer lifestyles so many of us take for granted - will be profound. Chris Skrebowski, the editor of the Energy Institute's Petroleum Review, believes peak oil will occur in 2008, at which point the world will move into "a land without maps where we are all likely to be poorer".
For oil is essential to almost everything we do - 90 per cent of world transport is oil-dependent; all petrochemicals are produced from oil; 99 per cent of our food relies on oil in some way, either to grow it or get the produce to market; and 95 per cent of lubricants are oil-based. And, in many cases, oil is not easily replaceable. There are no realistic alternatives to oil for fuelling aircraft and ships, producing petrochemicals or powering cars, without massive investments in technology such as hydrogen…”

Three different ‘perfect storms’ are coming: Global Warming; Peak Oil; An Islamic Christian War.

Global warming by account of the most respected scientists on the planet, all agree that Global Warming is here and it is going to change weather in ways we cannot even imaging. Droughts, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, Blizzards, record heat, record cold, and the extinction of much of the animals and plants that comprise our world. The tipping point has been reached; ironically, the only thing that is moderating the full impact of global warming is the air pollution in the form of aerosols. These tend to diffuse the heat a bit and protect us from the full impact of the heating up of our atmosphere. Understand this, despite the crap that religion teaches, the facts are that humanity and every living thing is dependent, not on their ‘god’, but on nature to keep us alive. By changing nature we may kill us. The arrogance of humanity, and the arrogance of religion, has combined to ignore the consequences of human impact on our natural world. We, and every living thing, are going to pay a high and bloody price in probably less than two to three years.

Peak Oil. The facts are the Earth’s Petroleum reservoirs are running out of petroleum. Starting now, and into the future, the price of petroleum, when it is available at all, will be astronomical. Everything we have built, our entire Western civilization is based on petroleum. In two to three years, it will be gone. This will mean mass starvation, riots, military dictatorship, war, and every ugly damn thing you can think of.

Islamic/Christian War is just around the corner. The U.S., under the flag of Israel, will attack Iran; this will then create a holy Jihad that will combine the Iraq War with Iran. The conflagration of Islamic armies against Christian Armies is going to be horrendous. Due to the fact that the much of the worlds remaining supply of petroleum is in Iraq, Iran, and Saudi Arabia, this war will only serve to accelerate the loss of petroleum on the world state. But, this war will not serve just the fundamentalists of Islam and Christianity; it will also draw in such powers as China, India, and Russia. This will be a global war.

There is some discussion that the reason why the United States is pushing ahead to become a dictatorship, is in anticipation of the coming collapse of civilization.
I don’t know, I think it is just because Bush, Cheney, Alito, Dobson, Falwell, Scalia, Delay, and all of these pukes are hopelessly avaricious. But it could be a lot of both.

Sounds like a grim picture? It is.

I have a discussion with a friend of mine who states, “I am an optimist, and I have to believe that somehow we will work our way out of all this.” I would like to say that….but I can’t. One of these ‘perfect storms’ perhaps, but not all three. The earth is going to get rid of a lot of animals and plants, including much of humanity, and I really don’t see a way out.

Your Immediate Future

Want a glimpse of your immediate future?

Order a Pizza:







(Thanks Lauren)

Right to Life

Although they appear to be quiet at the moment...gathering their energies, resting their lungs for screaming...stocking up plenty of tears for piteous wailing...making their clever little signs and seeking gruesome photographs of fetus's...the Right To Lifers are a bizarre bunch.

They are so concerned for the well being of a mass of undifferentiated, and some differentiated, cells in a woman's uterus, that they utterly fail to do anything for the living children in this world.

Where are "the Right to life" cabal when sexual predator laws are being debated?

Where are they when low income housing is desperately needed?

Where are they when medical care for children is not affordable or available?

Where are they when schools stop offering programs to enhance learning in children?

Where are they when Bush cut funding to Head Start?

Where are they when Bush cut funding for education of all types?

Where are they when Bush domestic policies drove their parents into poverty?

Where where they when thousands of children were homeless and starving after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita?

Where are they when maternal, and paternal, leave is asked for by new parents, and are denied?

Where are they when single mothers desperately need child care so they can work?

Where are they when mothers, and fathers, need drug treatment and employment training so that they can adequately raise their children?

Where are they when parents need a job?

Where are they when Corporations cut wages, benefits, and hope for millions of American Children?

WHERE THE HELL ARE THEY WHEN THESE CHILDREN ARE SENT TO AN ILLEGAL WAR TO DIE OR BE HORRIBLY MAIMED?

The Right to Life movement consists of two type of people: Those who demand control and power and can only gain this by religious zealotry; and those who are so weak and pitifully overwhelmed by life that they cling to whatever religious fantasy that gives them a sense of belonging.

Where are they? Who really cares...as long as they stay gone.

Humor o' the day

A little old man shuffled slowly into the "Orange Dipper",an ice cream parlor, and pulled himself slowly, painfully, up onto a stool.

After catching his breath he ordered a banana split.

The waitress asked kindly, "Crushed nuts?"

" No," he replied, "arthritis.''


Ahh know the feelin…

(thanks Lamar)

Tyranny

This is part of what is so profoundly difficult about George W. Bush, the man is degenerate liar and Despot.

Bush Authorized Domestic Spying Before 9/11 By Jason Leopold t r u t h o u t | Perspective
Friday 13 January 2006

“….On orders from Defense Department officials and President Bush, the agency kept a running list of the names of Americans in its system and made it readily available to a number of senior officials in the Bush administration, these sources said, which in essence meant the NSA was conducting a covert domestic surveillance operation in violation of the law.
James Risen, author of the book State of War and credited with first breaking the story about the NSA's domestic surveillance operations, said President Bush personally authorized a change in the agency's long-standing policies shortly after he was sworn in in 2001.
"The president personally and directly authorized new operations, like the NSA's domestic surveillance program, that almost certainly would never have been approved under normal circumstances and that raised serious legal or political questions," Risen wrote in the book. "Because of the fevered climate created throughout the government by the president and his senior advisers, Bush sent signals of what he wanted done, without explicit presidential orders" and "the most ambitious got the message."…”

You did get that didn't you? Bush authorized the illegal wire taps BEFORE 911. Therefore his claim that he did this as a response to terrorism and keep America safe is an outright lie.....gee who would guess that this president is a liar?

There is something seriously wrong here…

Surge in Sale of Disposable Cell Phones May Have Terror Link

By BRIAN ROSS and RICHARD ESPOSITO

“Jan. 12, 2006 — Federal agents have launched an investigation into a surge in the purchase of large quantities of disposable cell phones by individuals from the Middle East and Pakistan, ABC News has learned…”
“…In one New Year's Eve transaction at a Target store in Hemet, Calif., 150 disposable tracfones were purchased. Suspicious store employees notified police, who called in the FBI, law enforcement sources said.
In an earlier incident, at a Wal-mart store in Midland, Texas, on December 18, six individuals attempted to buy about 60 of the phones until store clerks became suspicious and notified the police. A Wal-mart spokesperson confirmed the incident…”

The clerks called police, who summed the Feds, and you know what is most curious about this? Prepaid cell phones are not illegal. Not even if you buy 60, or 150, or 2,000 of the damn things…They are NOT illegal. You can own as many as you want! So why the heavy handed response by the FBI?

One possibilty is that there is something more sinister going on…that is, if American Citizens are using a prepaid cell phone the Federal Government CANNOT keep track of you. On the other hand, if you are using your standard cell phone, the FBI, CIA, Military Intelligence, NSA, whoever, can track you everywhere you go, in real time.

You are being watched.

Bush and his minions fear that Americans will disappear off their radar screens…Americans will be able to make phone calls and travel without the Federal Government knowing exactly where they are.

Dosen’t that make the hair on your neck stand up?

“…The growing use of the throwaway cell phones has been cited by President Bush as an important justification for expanding the wiretap laws under the Patriot Act…”

I do admit that there are some nasty people out there who would love to do harm to American Citizens... but, honestly, many of these people are in our own Government. Anyway, I realize it is a bad world and you do have to keep an eye, or ear, out for threats. But when Constitutional Rights are sacrificed to this end, then we have lost. What makes us Americans? Freedom? Freedom from what?

• Freedom from unwarranted search and seizure? Nope...The Patriot Act allows for entry and search in your home, and makes it a crime if you tell anyone.

• Freedom from unfair taxation? Nope. The new tax codes heavily favor the wealthy and corporations.

• Freedom of Speech? Nope...ask the guy in Ashland Oregon who was arrested for wearing an anti-bush t-shirt.

• Freedom of Elections? Nope...check our the huge disparities in vote outcomes from both the 2000 and 2004 elections, both have heavy fraud implications.

• Freedom of Movement? Nope...hear about the new National ID that is due soon? Complete with RFD chips?

• Freedom of Religion? Nope...in December 2005, Congress passed a resolution protecting Christmas for Christians. No other religion has this protection, making Christianity the 'state religion'.

• Freedom to live in your home on your own land? Nope...hear about the Emminent Domain case back East? Supreme Court said it is ok for the community to take your home away from you, if they can make more money on it than you pay in taxes.

• Freedom to own a 50cal sniper rifle that could bring down an airliner? No...er, well I guess we do have that right.

Do ya get my damn point! Whatever freedoms our founding fathers bestowed upon us are rapidly disappearing...and the American Public doesn't know or do one damn thing to stop it!

The wiretaps and this concern over prepaid Cell Phones are part of a coordinated program to further control and manipulate the American citizens.

Does the Federal Govnerment have to keep an eye out for potential terrorists? You bet. But they are watching more than foreign born people, they are following Americans who have nothing to do with Middle Eastern politics. Like vicious tyrannies the world over, the tyrants must keep track of the people to avoid any form of freedom or defiance breaking out.

Me, I'm gonna get me some of these prepaid cell phones...for emergencies...you better get em while they are still legal.

Just Hope

Magellan Clouds......All of those little damn dots are a Sun....trillions of em just like our Sun....and around Billions of em must be planets.....and Millions of em must be inhabited.....and Thousands of em must be Bi-Pedal....and Hundreds of em must be descended from previous versions....and maybe there is one in all that vastness....just one.....just like us....I sure hope those people are a damn site smarter than we are.

The State of The Bush...

“Vel Citizen…ver are your papers? You MUST have papers to be in zis zone”….(Said the Bush National Guardian to the American citizen.)

AP Exclusive: National ID, State Nightmare
By BRIAN BERGSTEIN

“An anti-terrorism law creating a national standard for all driver's licenses by 2008 isn't just upsetting civil libertarians and immigration rights activists.
State motor vehicle officials nationwide who will have to carry out the Real ID Act say its authors grossly underestimated its logistical, technological and financial demands…”

=====================================================

IMPEACHMENT SIGNS FROM ALL ABOUT THE COUNTRY….if only….

FREEWAY BLOGGER
==================================================================

Not to alarm you unnecessarily, but….

Iran Dispute Is Biggest Oil Price Risk, Barclays Says (Update2)

"...Supply Disruptions
Oil prices have tripled since 2001 as global demand rose faster than supply. That's made energy markets more sensitive to supply disruptions from major producers including Iran. Traders are concerned that Iran may retaliate against UN sanctions by cutting oil shipments…”
“.Iran is huge because of the instability it's creating,'' Jan Stuart, an energy economist at UBS AG, said in New York. Its ``drive to nuclear arms is hugely worrisome to an oil world in which you do not have enough oil supplies already.''..”

You realize that, except for the United States, most countries are openly talking about the fact that oil and all petroleum products are under significant strain because demand is far higher than supply. To make matter worse, the supply of petroleum is diminishing. To make matters worst still, the majority of petroleum is located in areas like Iran, Iraq, and Saudia Arabia…All three have the potential to implode, explode, or just get peevish and stop shipping oil altogether…even supply disruption from one of these countries is enough to send petroleum prices screaming toward the heavens.

There was once a cartoon that showed George W. Bush batting at a hornet’s nest, and the caption was, “Foreign Policy of George W. Bush”.

Gee…I wonder why the Major News outlets in the U.S. won’t carry this story?

4th Amendment to the Constitution in peril

Y’all need to pay very close attention to this one. The United States Supreme Court is going to decide if the 4th Amendment to the Constitution, the one that prohibits illegal search and seizure and guarantees the rights of Citizens to be ‘safe in their homes’, is null and void:

“…The fourth amendment states that, "the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated." It also notes that warrants shall only be issued once authorities have established "probable cause" and described the people, places, and things to be searched and seized…”

U.S. Supreme Court to Decide if Police Can Barge in Unannounced
by Haider Rizvi

“NEW YORK - Forget the ongoing privacy debate over U.S. government spying on telephone conversations--soon you may not have the right to tell cops to wait until you open your door.

In a case involving a private citizen and police authorities of the Midwestern state of Michigan, a team of civil rights lawyers appeared before the Supreme Court this week to challenge the police practice of storming into homes to look for whatever they want as evidence of a crime…”

Published on Thursday, January 12, 2006 by OneWorld. net

Magic....

Wanna try something strange? Try THE FLASH MIND READER

I don't have a clue how they do it, but it is cool....

Business in America

Sometimes I just can’t add any words to the facts. The American Middle Class is in deep trouble, deliberately put there by George W. Bush and his minions. There is a clear and vicious reason to destroy the Middle Class, and it has everything to do with seizing absolute control of this country.

With the promotion of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, the Fascist win control of that body. This means that the Executive, Bush or some clone, will gain absolute ascendancy over the Tripartite Government, and we will have ourselves a King. Additionally, since Fascism is, by definition, when Corporate power controls the decisions of the Government, we will have firmly placed the stranglers hands around our collective throat.

Every time I think that things could not get worse for Americans, and those awful fanatics in power couldn’t damage Democracy any further…they of course do.

What's wrong with the economy?

by EPI President Lawrence Mishel and Policy Director Ross Eisenbrey

1. Profits are up, but the wages and the incomes of average Americans are down.

• Inflation-adjusted hourly and weekly wages are still below where they were at the start of the recovery in November 2001. Yet, productivity—the growth of the economic pie—is up by 13.5%.


• Wage growth has been shortchanged because 35% of the growth of total income in the corporate sector has been distributed as corporate profits, far more than the 22% in previous periods.


• Consequently, median household income (inflation-adjusted) has fallen five years in a row and was 4% lower in 2004 than in 1999, falling from $46,129 to $44,389.

2. More and more people are deeper and deeper in debt.

• The indebtedness of U.S. households, after adjusting for inflation, has risen 35.7% over the last four years.


• The level of debt as a percent of after-tax income is the highest ever measured in our history. Mortgage and consumer debt is now 115% of after-tax income, twice the level of 30 years ago.


• The debt-service ratio (the percent of after-tax income that goes to pay off debts) is at an all-time high of 13.6%.


• The personal savings rate is negative for the first time since WWII.

3. Job creation has not kept up with population growth, and the employment rate has fallen sharply.

• The United States has only 1.3% more jobs today (excluding the effects of Hurricane Katrina) than in March 2001 (the start of the recession). Private sector jobs are up only 0.8%. At this stage of previous business cycles, jobs had grown by an average of 8.8% and never less than 6.0%.


• The unemployment rate is relatively low at 5%, but still higher than the 4% in 2000. Plus, the percent of the population that has a job has never recovered since the recession and is still 1.3% lower than in March 2001. If the employment rate had returned to pre-recession levels, 3 million more people would be employed.


• More than 3 million manufacturing jobs have been lost since January 2000.

4. Poverty is on the rise.

• The poverty rate rose from 11.3% in 2000 to 12.7% in 2004.


• The number of people living in poverty has increased by 5.4 million since 2000.


• More children are living in poverty: the child poverty rate increased from 16.2% in 2000 to 17.8% in 2004.

5. Rising health care costs are eroding families' already declining income.

• Households are spending more on health care. Family health costs rose 43-45% for married couples with children, single mothers, and young singles from 2000 to 2003.


• Employers are cutting back on health insurance. Last year, the percent of people with employer-provided health insurance fell for the fourth year in a row. Nearly 3.7 million fewer people had employer-provided insurance in 2004 than in 2000. Taking population growth into account, 11 million more people would have had employer-provided health insurance in 2004 if the coverage rate had remained at the 2000 level.

(Economic Policy Institute. Excellent informational site)
=====================

The Rapid Disappearance of America's Middle Class
by Floyd J. McKay

“In Harvard Magazine Warren documents what many of us have felt anecdotally: "During the past generation, the American middle-class family that once could count on hard work and fair play to keep itself financially secure has been transformed by economic risk and new realities. Now a pink slip, a bad diagnosis, or a disappearing spouse can reduce a family from solidly middle class to newly poor in a few months."
The danger, Warren finds, comes from both ends of the financial spectrum: a decline in real wages for full-time workers and huge increases in basic family expenses. As a result, families are staying afloat only because both partners work.
Male full-time workers in 2003 earned $800 less than their counterparts in 1970, after adjustment for inflation. Enter the second paycheck, and the family's combined income goes to $73,700 a year, a huge 75 percent increase from 1970…”
“…Globalization has reduced the cost of most household spending — clothing, food, appliances. Americans spend less on discretionary items than in 1970. It's the basic costs that are killing us, particularly housing and medical….”

(Published on Wednesday, January 11, 2006 by the Seattle Times )

Subject Holly Finkel

Holly Finkel news

A sweet grandmother telephoned Mount Sinai Hospital.

She timidly asked, "Is it possible to speak to
someone who can tell me how a patient is doing?"

The operator said "I'll be glad to help, Dear..
What's the name and room number?"

The grandmother in her weak tremulous voice said,
"Holly Finkel, room 302."

The Operator replied, "Let me check."

"Oh, good news. Her record says that Holly is doing very well. Her blood
pressure is fine; her blood work just came back as normal and her physician, Dr. Cohen, has scheduled her to be discharged Tuesday."

The Grandmother said, "Thank you.. That's wonderful! I was so worried! God bless you for the good news."

The operator replied, "You're more than welcome. Is
Holly your daughter?"

The Grandmother said, "No, I'm Holly Finkel in 302.
No one tells me shit."





I know the feeling there Holly.....


(Lamar strikes again)

Train Wreck

THIS is the news you will not hear on ABC, NBC, and CBS, and especially not on FOX. So far, these bastions of bootlickers and Himmler want-a-be’s have steadfastly reported the White House Party Line:

“Everything is wonderful. The stock market is going great. Everything is rosy. The American Economy second to none. Lets give the Rich more tax cuts so that they can feel good about themselves.” Ad Naseum.

The truth is somewhat more grim.

China Set To Reduce Exposure To Dollar
Move Would Probably Push Currency Down
By Peter S. Goodman
Washington Post Foreign ServiceTuesday, January 10, 2006

“SHANGHAI, Jan. 9 -- China has resolved to shift some of its foreign exchange reserves -- now in excess of $800 billion -- away from the U.S. dollar and into other world currencies in a move likely to push down the value of the greenback, a high-level state economist who advises the nation's economic policymakers said in an interview Monday.
As China's manufacturing industries flood the world with cheap goods, the Chinese central bank has invested roughly three-fourths of its growing foreign currency reserves in U.S. Treasury bills and other dollar-denominated assets. The new policy reflects China's fears that too much of its savings is tied up in the dollar, a currency widely expected to drop in value...

“(The Chinese purchase of American Securities has created)…a flow of capital that has kept interests rates relatively low in the United States and allowed Americans to keep spending even as debts mount. Some economists have long warned that if foreigners lose their appetite for American debt, the dollar would fall, interest rates would rise and the housing boom could burst, sending real estate prices lower…” (Emphasis mine)

You must remember, that the United States, every single day, must raise billions of new investments just to stay solvent. What this article is saying, and what previous articles I have published are saying, is that the Nation States that have been investing in the United States are beginning to turn away. The first step is to start divesting themselves of the Dollar. This will inevitably lead to a weakening of the Dollar itself. Meaning, it will buy less goods. However, that is both good news and bad. If the dollar is weak, then Americans will buy less Chinese goods, thereby hurting that nation’s economy.

So, the Chinese will move slowly, but inevitably against the dollar to protect their own financial situation.

William Rivers Pitt, in writing about the folly of the U.S. attacking Iran over its nuclear program, also mentions the economic power of China over the U.S. Literally, the Bush Administration has given China the ability to cripple the American Economy.

Doesen’t that count as “Treason”?

William Pitt: Attack on Iran - A Looming Folly
Tuesday, 10 January 2006, 11:43 am

“…Paul Craig Roberts, writing for The American Conservative, said in July of 2005 that "As a result of many years of persistent trade surpluses with the United States, the Japanese government holds dollar reserves of approximately $1 trillion. China's accumulation of dollars is approximately $600 billion. South Korea holds about $200 billion. These sums give these countries enormous leverage over the United States. By dumping some portion of their reserves, these countries could put the dollar under intense pressure and send U.S. interest rates skyrocketing. Washington would really have to anger Japan and Korea to provoke such action, but in a showdown with China - over Taiwan, for example - China holds the cards. China and Japan, and the world at large, have more dollar reserves than they require. They would have no problem teaching a hegemonic superpower a lesson if the need arose."

"The hardest blow on Americans," concluded Roberts, "will fall when China does revalue its currency. When China's currency ceases to be undervalued, American shoppers in Wal-Mart, where 70 percent of the goods on the shelves are made in China, will think they are in Neiman Marcus. Price increases will cause a dramatic reduction in American real incomes. If this coincides with rising interest rates and a setback in the housing market, American consumers will experience the hardest times since the Great Depression."
In short, China has the American economy by the throat. Should they decide to squeeze, we will all feel it. China's strong hand in this even extends to the diplomatic realm; China is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, and could veto any actions against Iran proposed by the United States…” (emphasis mine)

One of the major problems of the Bush Administration is that the world will turn away from the dollar and purchase petroleum products with other currency. It is one of the reasons for getting rid of Saddam and for invading Iran; both had the temerity to begin selling their oil in Euros, not dollars. If other currencies gain favor, then other nations will not have to buy as many greenbacks to pay their bills. As the dollar weakens as a world standard, the U.S. Economy weakens. Remember, there is nothing propping the dollar up, no gold, or precious metals, not even a solid industrial base. The value of the dollar rests on an agreed upon arrangement between Nations. The dollar has no value in and of itself.

Essentially, the world doesn’t care if they trade in Euros or Dollars, it is a business decision based on rate of return.

But what I think is that this and other articles are saying is that the world is disconnecting its boxcars from the coming train wreck of the American Economy.
This is a train wreck composed of many different threats and conditions:

1. The strangle hold of China and other countries over American debt


2. The individual debt of American Families is enormous


3. There is a negative savings rate among American Families


4. Banks and Credit Card institutions have predatory laws that double the minimum payment and can also quadruple the interest rate on money owed.


5. Middle Class jobs, meaning middle class wages, are disappearing


6. Thousands of American have simply stopped looking for work, and are undercounted in employment statistics.


7. Bankruptcy, once a second chance, is not an option any longer.


8. Due to rampant greed and speculation, the housing market is way overvalued in many parts of the country.


9. Anything made with Petroleum will skyrocket in price due to global production being unable to keep up with demand.


10. The staggering cost of Bush’s War will cripple the Federal Government for decades and prevent federal assistance to Americans under all circumstances.


11. Due to the price of gasoline going up markedly, the cost of groceries will also rise in dramatic fashion.


12. Pesticides, herbicides and fertilizer are all made of petroleum. As the price and availability of petroleum becomes more problematic, the cost of food will also skyrocket.


13. The rise in poverty rates among Americans is alarming at present and this will only grow more severe. Americans are already beginning to see starvation.


14. The United States has ignored the very real threat of Global Warming and will be paying a heavy price, financially, physically, and emotionally due to massive storms and weather related incidents.


15. Due to Bush’s lax or non-existent pollution laws, the average American is exposed to harmful levels of Arsenic, lead, PCB’s, Pesticides, Herbecides, and other toxins.


16. Millions of Americans have no health insurance. Therefore they either avoid medical care as they cannot afford it, or they access care through the Emergency Room, one of the most expensive forms of medical care available.


17. Corporations now fully write the laws of this country, obviously in their favor and harmful to American Citizens.

These are facts folks, they aren’t products of my paranoid imagination. These are major issues facing Americans today, and we are threatened with a predatory Corporate world with politicians who are so besotted with their own lust for power and money that they are absolutely indifferent to the plight of their own citizenry.

“Train Wreck”? Naw, it is much worse than that.

One last point, the Bush Adminstration has created a debt from the Iraq War that will cripple this country for generations:

Economists say cost of war could top $2 trillion
Tally exceeds White House projections
By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff | January 8, 2006

“WASHINGTON -- The cost of the Iraq war could top $2 trillion after factoring in long-term healthcare for wounded US veterans, rebuilding a worn-down military, and accounting for other unforeseen bills and economic losses, according to a new analysis to be presented today in Boston…”

These horrendous debts must be paid, and you can bet your bottom dollar that it will be the poor and middle class of this country who will pay them. The Bush Administration is doing every thing it can to destroy the financial hopes and plans of Americans, with the exception of the tiny minority of wealthy at the very top.

The trillions owed from this mistaken war will mean that there will be no government assistance, of any kind, at anytime.

These trillions in debt will mean that no matter what catastrophe strikes America, natural or manmade, there will be no federal assistance.

These trillions in debt mean that all government programs, excluding defense and military will be slashed or eliminated.

This is deliberate.

It would appear from these moves of the Bush Administration is that their true goal is to push the majority of Americans into abject poverty, while maintaining a ridge wealthy minority at the very top. There is a deliberate attempt to remove all vestiges of Democracy in this country, and substitute a Theocratic Fascist State. AFter all, a poor, starving and desperate people are also a docile and malleable people. Perfect fodder for petty tyrants and insane Relgious Ideologues:

Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, Dobson, Robertson, Reed, Falwell, you know who they are.