Bearded Ole Guy

We're only ants, but there is one hell of a lot of us.

2010-11-18T17:11:00.000-08:00

photo by Andiyan Lufi

Published on Thursday, November 18, 2010 by YES! Magazine

Legal Pros Say No to Citizens United

Experts call for Constitutional amendment to take back democracy from corporations

by Jeffrey D. Clements and Ben T. Clements

"In the wake of the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. FEC, corporate money has poured into the 2010 elections in unprecedented amounts. Now, a bipartisan group of leading law professors, former state attorneys general, former prosecutors, and prominent attorneys from across the country has signed a letter calling on Congress to consider a Constitutional amendment to overrule Citizens United and return elections and government to the people. We joined that call because the notion of "corporate rights" expressed in Citizens United is antithetical to Constitutional principles of free speech, democracy, and self-government..."

"...according to multiple polls, more than two-thirds of the American people, regardless of political party, reject the Citizens United decision and do not accept that we the people cannot decide for ourselves the appropriate level of regulation of the use of corporate money to determine our election results..."

Yes! POWERFUL IDEAS

The road ahead.

2010-11-15T09:58:00.000-08:00

photo by Klarens

Part of John Williams' Shadow Government Statistics. An explaination of what really lies behind Government statistics and financial reports. Check this site out.

HYPERINFLATION SPECIAL REPORT (UPDATE 2010)

Commentary Number 263

December 2, 2009

__________

Economy and Financial System Face Eventual Great Collapse

Government and Fed Actions Have Narrowed Timing for
Hyperinflationary Great Depression to Next Five Years

High Risk of Ultimate Dollar Crisis Unfolding in Year Ahead

Although this particular bit of speculation is somewhat old, 2009, it does still have relevance.

Hyperinflation is that period of time in which money becomes so undervalued it is nearly worthless. A Governmental financial collapse--that point where Washington DC fat cats admit that the nation is beyond broke and damn near insolvent. Or more specifically, that point at which Senators and Congresspersons realize that their own paychecks won't be coming. That is when real panic will hit.

Wow.

How did that happen?

How did we go from a superpower nation, a place of incredible riches and incredible opportunity, to another Great Depression? How did our beloved Lady Liberty become a street whore?

How about the same goddamn way the last fucking depression happened.

Robber Barons, flimflamming the system, playing fast and loose with money and the very lives of others less powerful to gain more riches for the wealthy. Robber Barons crashed the system because of their greed.

They're back. Maybe not the original old assholes, but their descendants and sycophants.

The result of the old Depression was much tighter regulator controls on banks, bankers, and anyone with their hands in a bank vault. Control of the treasure was taken back used to help American Citizens. FDR came along, a wealthy man who understood that leadership was about leading people to a better place, not strip-searching and raping them. FDR created some of the greatest social program ever known. FDR was in large part responsible for the explosive growth of the middle class and the American dream. FDR gave rise to Kennedy and LBJ who installed the Great Society Programs--again programs that made the lives of millions and millions of American better.

But, the Robber Barons, bitterly watched as all of their criminal enterprises unraveled and vowed revenge. Like Capon seeing a picture of Elliot Ness, the heads of U.S. investment banks, petroleum corporations, and assorted mega-corp. boardrooms across the land swore they'd kill anyone who stood in their way.

They have.

Us.

The Robber Barons, starting with the Reagan Revolution have systematically and with malice aforethought bankrupt this entire nation. They have their revenge. They have looted the U.S. treasury by funneling this money directly into their own bank accounts and driving the country into generational debt. The wealth of a nation has been stolen. One of the most massive shift of wealth in human history has occurred in the United States of America.

Oligarchs. The hyper-wealthy in the boardrooms of Agri-business and Petrochemicals; Investment Banks and Pharmaceuticals; Car manufactures and Insurance corporations...a list of movers and shakers, people with massive amounts of money and power, working through the Business Roundtable to rob the US treasury of every nickle, thereby enacting their revenge on the beast that dared to limit their power. It took decades for the plutocrats to strike back. Years of planning and implementation: slowly consolidating power over the media; careful placement of their chosen stooges; a tweak there, a twist here, but always consolidating power and re-writing laws.

Oligarchs created and repeatedly funded a slur campaign to get Americans terrified of their own government. A really nasty trick in a Democracy. You know, Democracy, one of those styles of government in which the people are allegedly in charge? We vote for the person who will represent us in government so that everybody's interests are heard and therefore the government is "by and for the people." The Robber Barons, the Oligarchs, made voting not only sham, but a mockery as well. Now we have an us v. them situation with our own government; exactly what the Robber Barons want. As long as the government is evil, corrupt, and foolish, it cannot impose legislation and legal action that would stop the Robber Barons. The plutocrats convinced Americans not to pay taxes, which then crippled all government, reducing its influence and ability to make life better for the citizens. This then was used to convince voters that government was bad and to blame for all their miseries.

So here we are. I think hyperinflation is a real threat and I think it is because the Robber Barons of our time, plutocrats, assholes, what ever you want to call them, have deliberately stolen the future of the majority of American citizens. WE are fucked because they couldn't control their own greed.

Curiously, the Robber Barons probably didn't mean to crash the U.S. economy entirely. "Ooops," They sniggered to each other in their clubs and boardrooms. "We fucked it up again!" Then they toast each other with 40 year old 1939 Maccalan single malt scotch in platinum and crystal goblets while resting on their yachts--these days the wealthy prefer converted aircraft carriers as their primary vessels--as they watch the dreams and lives of millions of Americans flushed down the toilet. "Stupid American people," the rich tell each other. "Don't they know that God likes us best."

2006-09-22T15:44:00.000-07:00

GO TO OLE BEARDED GUY FOR A CONTINUATION OF THIS SITE.....

olebeardedguy.blogger.com

SITE HAS MOVED

2006-09-22T15:34:00.000-07:00

completely unable to use this site.

2006-08-07T14:09:00.000-07:00

Condolezza Rice as U.S. Secretary of State is a premeditated disaster.

2006-08-07T14:08:00.000-07:00

2006-08-07T14:06:00.000-07:00

2006-08-07T14:05:00.000-07:00

2006-07-25T08:40:00.000-07:00

I believe this to be true...the Bush Administration has the will and the desire to destroy everything in it's mad dash for supreme world power....

"...With everything out of control, American media look for easy explanations and scapegoats. But an accurate diagnosis is grim: Mainstream Christianity, Judaism and Islam have all been hijacked by rapture-ready religious fundamentalists. The leadership of the United States, Israel, Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran are eager for the Final Countdown. Presiding over end-of-the-world ceremonies will be George W., a man with the fiery determination of a beerhall convert.

Paul Craig Roberts said it well: “The Bush administration is insane. If the American people do not decapitate it by demanding Bush’s impeachment, the Bush administration will bring about Armageddon. This may please some Christian evangelicals conned by Rapture predictions, but World War III will please no one else.”.."

Let the trumpets blow…

Andrew Bosworth
www.virtualcitizens.com

2006-07-24T13:40:00.000-07:00

Lets see now, whose %$%&&*& country is it anyway?

Top Iraqi’s White House Visit Shows Gaps With U.S.

By EDWARD WONG

Published: July 25, 2006

"BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 24 — When Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki visits the White House on Tuesday for the first time, he is expected to make requests that clash sharply with President Bush’s foreign policy, Iraqi officials say, signaling a widening gap between the Iraqis and the Americans on crucial issues..."

This entire debacle has never been about what the Iraqi people want...it has always been an American Empire invasion and subjugation.

2006-07-22T10:54:00.000-07:00

"What I won’t do is go to some place and try to get a cease-fire that I know isn’t going to last."
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, the secretary of state, on the fighting in Lebanon.

Maybe she should ask the dying and the maimed how they feel about a 'cease-fire', even a short one.

This is so typical of a cruel and vicious political operative who places ideology over compassion. Never mind that thousands of people are suffering pointless horror and loss, just as long as she and the grim ogres that squat, defecating, in the Oval Office can make a political point.

And you know what is even more bizarre? Everyone of these people call themselves a 'dedicated Bible Thumping Christian....imagine that.

2006-07-20T07:47:00.000-07:00

......asshole!

2006-07-19T19:06:00.000-07:00

2006-07-19T19:05:00.000-07:00

just couldn't resist.....

2006-07-19T18:51:00.000-07:00

Farmers in rural Whatcom County, Washington report that they are recieving money from Federal Government because of an earthquake that occurred last year. The farmers, when interviewed, sort of chuckly and say, "Well sure, its a good check, so I cashed it." and "Don't seem ra'ht someways, but it is free money!"

Want to guess just where the majority of these good ole boys stand in regard to welfare, food stamps, subsidized housing for urban poor and minorities?

2006-07-19T18:21:00.000-07:00

Get this...George W. Bush in signing his first veto in 5 1/2 years to stop expansion of stem cell research. Stem Cells have the potential to cure or significantly reduce massive diseases now afflicting millions and millions of human beings. Bush states, "I must protect the sanctity of innocent human life." (presumably meaning those stem cells...).

Can you believe the arrogance, irony, and utter fucking hypocrisy of this!

Afganistan

Iraq

Lebanon

New Orleans

45 million Americans without medical insurance

Elimination of Worker Safety Rules through OSHA

Sago Mine

Environmental Toxins allowed to rise in American Food Supplies

Expansion of Nuclear Weapons Research and Deployment

Elimination of Poverty programs for poor and minorities

....the list goes on and on.

If ever there was a U.S. President who couldn't care less for the lives and well being of humans this one is the top.

And where in hell are these "Conservative Christians" and their sanctimonious bullshit about the 'Right to Life' when thousands of innocent people are being slaughtered?

I honestly don't understand how these people cannot see the glaring hypocrisy that serves as their reality.

2006-07-17T17:31:00.000-07:00

The looting of the American Treasury, the sell-off of American land and resources, and the armed robbery of the American People by the wealthy elite in this country,at this point in time, will be considered by reasonable historians as the greatest criminal enterprise of human history.
Just you watch!

BOG

Hunter S. Thompson, crazy but accurate

2006-07-08T09:43:00.000-07:00

"Every GOP administration since 1952 has let the Military-Industrial Complex loot the Treasury and plunge the nation into debt on the excuse of a wartime economic emergency. Richard Nixon comes quickly to mind, along with Ronald Reagan and his ridiculous 'trickle-down' theory of U.S. economic policy. If the Rich get Richer, the theory goes, before long their pots will overflow and somehow 'trickle down' to the poor, who would rather eat scraps off the Bush family plates than eat nothing at all. Republicans have never approved of democracy, and they never will. It goes back to pre industrial America, when only white male property owners could vote."

-- Hunter S. Thompson

2006-07-02T07:00:00.000-07:00

Well, back on line. We have moved our family to a new, country location. We have nearly 4 acres of georgeous woods and rich soil. We have enough land to raise our garden crops, chickens, rabbits, a goat or two and a feeling of safety in an increasingly dangerous Amerika. The feeling of safety is surely an illusion. The long fickel arm of imperial majesty, King George the obsessed, is just as close as ever.

But now, we have the chance, just a chance mind you, of growing some of our own food and maintaining our own water supply. We have a chance of weathering some of the coming storms.

I have said it before, and I say it again....and again...The United States of America is not a Democracy, never has been, and it is teetering on the edge of economic collapse. The vaunted power and scope of Capitalism may have been nothing more than a curious byproduct of petroleum. Within three years, maybe five, we will see the utter collapse of the dollar as a world currency and we will see the vaunted Amerikan lifestyle go away. We, the people of this great country, are headed for some hard times. I believe we will see run away inflation, and spiking price hikes. The inflation will be due to the arrogance and blind blundering of our political leadership. At a time when countries must lean on and cooperate with each other in a global system, the United States has become a brutal pariah, killing innocent men and women, and even children, in a spasm of empirial greed. The United States may have become one of the most hated countries, and most feared countries, on the planet. Although other countries cannot compeat with us militarily, they can render their retribution by cooperative economic leverage.

The facts of Peak Oil are indisputable by reputable, and honest, scientists.

This simple phrase eliminates every single scientist paid by the Bushites.

Anyway, between chores, the bearded ole guy is back.....for what ever that means.

rant o' the day

2006-06-15T08:30:00.001-07:00

"Actually, Al Gore's movie, An Inconvenient Truth, made about $2 million this past weekend, whereas X-men made about $150 million. That just shows we're more interested in the fake people saving the fake earth than the real people trying to save the real earth." --Jay Leno

(All Hat and No Cattle)

I thought that this was excellent commentary...Americans appear to prefer the magic of illusions, brutal violence, powerful and mysterious hero's that save the day, and American's like to see their country triumphant, as love saves the day, and nothing changes, rather than understand that our entire way of life is killing us and the planet.

WE ARE KILLING THE PLANET! Of course that means we are killing ourselves too, but that's not as important as mythic hero's and fantasy.

I was watching a National Geographic Special on Art and Culture in Afganistan and the impact of both the Taliban and war on this country. Experts say that without art, such as sculputure, paintings, jewelry, even film, a country could lose its history. The identity of a people with their land and their culture is vital. To be Afgan, you must be a part of the history of Afganistan, you must know the people and lessons of the past. Think of the impact on Americans if every single Christian relic were confiscated and destroyed.

During the Taliban reign, Afganistan Art Historians and Artists literally risked their lives to protect sacred national treasures of art. These men, and I presume women, hid or disguised precious historical artifacts to protect them from destruction by Taliban Clerics. Had they been caught they would have been excuted on the spot. That took real courage and real dedication to a cause. Pride in Heritage.

As I watched this special I got a glimpse of what life was like for the Afgan people, both during and after the Taliban. I got a glimpse into their world view and this is what I found interesting. The subject of The Budda was a central focus on their lives, and the lives of millions and millions of human beings. In Afganistan there were massive and ornate statures of the Budda centuries old. These were mostly destroyed by the Taliban, but that is not really my point.

My point is that the world perspective of Buddists is significantly different than Christianity. Reincarnation for one thing is a pretty basic difference. Christians prefer that we live one life, then we go to Judgement, whereas Buddist's believe that we will be reborn in another life, depending on how well, or poorly, we have done in this one. The reality of people who are Buddhist, is vastly different from the reality of Christians. Not only that, but the reality of Budda has been in existence for centuries prior to the advent of Christianity and it is still going strong today. This means to me that Buddism has a much stronger claim on truth than Christianty. That is, a spiritual path, perspective, that has been accepted and passed along for thousands of years, must be superior in all ways to one that has just appeared withing the past few centuries. Therefore, I tend to believe that the Buddist reality is more likely than the Christian reality.

But then, I differentiate between Christ and Christianity. They are not the same. Christ was a man, an avatar, who lived a life of compassion, spirituality, understanding, acceptance and hope.

"...The real Jesus was born illegitimately. He called himself "the human one." Just like Buddha, his authority came from truth, not power. He taught whoever has love has God. He said those who work for the common good are his church..." (Don't Bow to God's Bullies. Rev. Jim Rigby, Huffington Post)

I see Christ as a man who despised war, sought to heal and support those more unfortunate than he. I see Christ as someone who would support universal Health Care, Low income Housing, universal child care, safe and clean drinking water and food, justice in our courts and politics. I see Christ as a leader of liberal causes, who would approve of people putting aside their differences to listen to each other, understand from each other, seek to live in harmony with each other.

No matter how hard I try, I cannot envision Jesus Christ hating someone because they happen to be gay, or Moslem, or poor, or female. I cannot imagine Christ being so ego-driven that he would be a 'jealous God'. I cannot imagine Christ condeming to eternal hell people who do not believe in Christianity. He just wouldn't do that. That is not who Christ was or is. I believe Jesus Christ is horrified that humans launch themselves into a killing frenzy of war in his name. No way could I accept the belief that Jesus favors rich people over poor people and that the rich are rich because they are 'blessed' by him, or that the poor are poor because they aren't devout enough. What a crock.

I see Christianty as nothing more or less than a means for one human being to attain power over other human beings. It is a religion. Therefore it was created by men, for men, with all of the prejudices, bigotry, and lies inheirent in men who seek power. Christianity has nothing to do with Christ; he is there only as a token symbol to justify brutality and a rigid control of people. Still, Christianity has many 'good Christian's' but they are good because they are at heart good people. They would be 'good' no matter what religion they chose. Being kind and compassionate has nothing to do with what religion you are, except for the curious fact that religion can make you less compassionate not more.

"...To picture God in terms of power is also one of the great bait-and-switch gimmicks of all time. People within the power hierarchy proclaim that God is the ultimate authority, and then appoint themselves as God's interpreters and enforcers. They are God's humble bullies. It has been one of the most successful con games of all time..." (Don't Bow to God's Bullies, Rigby)

Well, that is about all for today, my daily rant against the hypocrisy of religion and the unwillingness of Americans to understand the truth of their world.

Just makes ya proud, don't it?

2006-06-14T08:24:00.000-07:00

thoughs o' the day..

2006-06-12T16:57:00.000-07:00

It is curious to see the White House and their lickspittle minions, The Mainstream Media, all gloat about the "Post-Zarqawi era", as if this actually meant anything.

Then we have the suicides in Guantanamo, to which the U.S. GOP responded in shocked indignation. "How dare these prisoners take their own lives to mock us!"
Sociopathic people are unable to see themselves as responsible for bad things. This type of mental illness manifests itself in blame of others and a total preoccupation with their own needs and wants. By every criteria, the leadership of this country and the GOP that supports it are stark raving crazy.

Returning to Guantanamo for a moment, lets be clear about something...these poor unfortunate souls locked for life in the U.S. Guantanamo Prison have no hope of a trial, let alone clemency. Some may be enemy terrorists and some may be absolutely innocent. No one will ever know because there will be no trial, no chance for each of these men to tell their story. Trapped for life in the dungeons of the Empire. What is to keep these men from suicide? What possible hope do they have?

America is keeping these people locked away in direct and flagrant violation of every international law and treaty. America is keeping these people locked away in direct and flagrant disregard of every American Law and Treaty.

Bush said just today in one of his condescentions to the American Press, that "America is a nation of laws". Sure, laws that the Emperor likes and support his pograms are just fine. Anything that hinders or stops the Emperor is ignored.

But beyond Bush, the rage and hatred endemic in the American People against people unlike them is a monument to zenophobia and hypocrisy. If your gorge can handle it, take a good look at what the 'law abiding' people of this nation have done to Native Americans, The Mexican People, The Irish People, German, Italian, Japanese-American, Phillipino's, Vietnamese, the Entire South American Continent,the list goes on and on. Consider the abysmal treatment of African-Americans, both historically and in the present. The truth is that America is, at times, a vicious predator on the lives of other people.The Empire is in to bloodlust in a big way.

Should we be surprised that the trapped souls in Guantanamo commit suicide? What choice do they really have?

As to the killing of Zarqawi, Bush will do his victory dance on the world stage and the hypocrisy is palpable. How many times has Bush killed or captured Zarqawi? Five? Six? Killing Zarqawi means nothing, and the rest of the world knows it.

Yet, here are the papers dutifully pretending that there is such a thing as a 'Post-Zarqawi' era. Here we have the president and his hencemen publically gloating about "Post-Zarqawi"! What bullshit. This is a could example of how the American People are manipulated by language. The White House spins the tail as a 'victory' and creates waves of meaningless press and plans. The pupper masters jiggle the strings and American journalist's pound computer keys.

Does anyone really believe this hogshit?

White House Hones a Strategy for Post-Zarqawi Era

"THURMONT, Md., June 12 — President Bush gathered top aides at Camp David here on Monday to calibrate the best way forward in Iraq during what the administration described as a critical juncture, following the death last week of the most-wanted terrorist in Iraq and the final formation of a unity government there..."

"...The meeting was as much a media event as it was a high-level strategy session, devised to send a message that this is "an important break point for the Iraqi people and for our mission in Iraq from the standpoint of the American people," in the words of the White House counselor, Dan Bartlett..."

Mea Culpa..

2006-06-12T07:15:00.001-07:00

I have once again been reminded of the old quotation: "Your right to free speech ends at the other guys' nose." Forget who said it. But I understand it.

I realize in reviewing many of my recent columns that I have been ranting. Not a bad thing necessarily, but it is an explosion of emotion formed from the magma of fear and sorrow. This is my country and I sorrow to see the corruption, murder, and ideological insanity that preoccupies the present Administration. I fear that Americans have become indifferent to the responsibilities of citizenship. But, maybe, it isn't the abstract 'them' that I fear, perhaps it is myself. Perhaps I have become indifferent, reduced to making keyboard noises in place of standing up in the real world. Perhaps I need to place participation in the system over rhetoric.

I know that our only hope for a brighter future lies within the reality of the system itself. In order to win, we must use the system to win. To do otherwise is to tear it all down in spasms of childish rage. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, are all arrogant assholes who truly believe in their mission. I could match their arrogance with my temper, but what would that avail? I am begining to realize that if I want a future of peace and promise it must start with me.

Sometimes I push the envelope of 'Free Speech' because I am reckless and want someone to hear my voice. Perhaps the more outrageous my statements, the more I believe I will be taken seriously. But, the trap to this, the lie to this, is that I wind up ranting and do very little thinking. And it is thinking that is called for now. To convince others of the dangers we currently face, from Theocratic Fascism to Environmental catastrophe to Economic collapse we must use reason and responsible words. Example rather than exortation.

I will leave my past words in view, but with this caveat: "Violence is the behavior of powerless people. People who believe they are helpless. Violence does nothing to disprove this belief, and further, but more importantly, violence does not work." I have made a study of War, and have come to the conclusion that war never solves anything, it only leaves the rich richer and the poor dead. The outcome of violence is always more violence, rarely peace and never tranquility. For the world to change for the better, I must change for the better.

I will devote this blog to peaceful means of communication and problem solving, not because I fear the retribution of the Empire, but because my existence at this time has more to do with discovering who I am and how I shape my reality than it does in venting injudicious fear.

I will still feature news stories that uncover the lies of the Empire, but I believe I must focus on learning a new way to see, rather than an old way of reacting. Shouting isn't the only way to be heard and violence solves nothing.

Be at peace, and take it slow.

BOG

2006-06-10T15:21:00.000-07:00

There have been so many signs that Demcracy is dead in America that no one who seriously thinks about these issues can doubt it. What is particularly disheartening is that the tyranny now in place has never even bother to disguise their moves. From the gitgo they have stood up and told the American people, "Fuck You, we will do what we like, when we like, and how we like because you people don't count for shit." That is the state of Politics in America today.

George W. Bush has been voiding the U.S. Constitution and breaking American Laws for close to five years now, and there has been no serious challenges to this illegal activity. None. Oh, an insipid whine arises occasionally from the cowering mutts along the Democratic side of the Congressional aisle but this hardly qualifies as robust opposition party activity.

The U.S. Supreme Court, in a demonstrably illegal move, cancelled the recount of votes in Florida during the 2000 Selection, and the swing state of Ohio was the scene of rampant voter fraud and political arm breaking to give the GOP another Presidential victory in 2005.

From the Patriot Act to the NSA wiretapping the United States of America has become a gulag. Granted it is still a pretty gulag, with incredible technological goodies to distract the stupid, but it is in fact a gulag. With every passing hour the perfidious whores in Congress toil to nail and weld the prison doors shut on the American people. Wrapping us in legal and financial trappings of razor wire.

When a form of Government becomes predatory, citizens no longer owe it alligence.

When a form of Government eliminates all semblance of fairness and destroys all means of redress for legitimate greviences, then there is no other recourse for citizens to follow but violence.

When a form of Government ceases to be neutral, but is working against the will of the people, then this form of Government must be resisted. It is ironic in no small measure that we now find ourselves, in 2006, facing the same tyranny as the colonists faced in 1776. Only this time it is our own Government that is imposing tyrannical rule.

I cling to the fading hope that somehow, saner people will step in and stop this horrendous death march to despotism. But with every day, I read news like the following, and I realize that hope is fading.

With new legislation, Ohio Republicans plan holiday burial for American Democracy
by Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman
December 6, 2005

"A law that will make democracy all but moot in Ohio is about to pass the state legislature and to be signed by its Republican governor. Despite massive corruption scandals besieging the Ohio GOP, any hope that the Democratic party could win this most crucial swing state in future presidential elections, or carry its pivotal US Senate seat in 2006, are about to end.

House Bill 3 has already passed the Ohio House of Representatives and is about to be approved by the Republican-dominated Senate..."

"...HB3's most publicized provision will require positive identification before casting a vote. But it also opens voter registration activists to partisan prosecution, exempts electronic voting machines from public scrutiny, quintuples the cost of citizen-requested statewide recounts and makes it illegal to challenge a presidential vote count or, indeed, any federal election result in Ohio. When added to the recently passed HB1, which allows campaign financing to be dominated by the wealthy and by corporations, and along with a Rovian wish list of GOP attacks on the ballot box, democracy in Ohio could be all but over.

The GOP is ramming similar bills through state legislatures around the US, starting with Georgia and Indiana...".

The answer, if there is such a creature, is to become involved in local politics and to conduct local resistence to illegal and immoral federal laws. Tip O'Neil once said that 'All politics is local". I take this to mean that it is at the local level that our power lies. the Race for Sheriff, County Commisioner, Mayor, School Board, Water Commission, what ever are the elections that we may have some control over. Forget about Federal Elections, they are now moot. The right people in these local offices are the last hope for a transformation of America to democracy. It is a long shot, and will take awhile, but, beyond armed rebellion, it may be the only shot we have.

Be at peace, and take it slow.

2006-06-10T12:31:00.000-07:00

The Future is Now

by William Greider, June 10, 2006, The Nation

"...The strange paradox of our times is that despite America's fabulous wealth, most people's lives are shadowed by economic anxieties and real confinements, the wounds that market ideology has imposed. They fear that much worse is ahead for their children. Reform must re-establish this fundamental principle: The economy exists to support society and people, not the other way around. Only government can liberate them from the harsh rule of the marketplace, the demands imposed by capital and corporations that stunt or stymie the full pursuit of life and liberty in this complex industrial society. This very wealthy country has the capacity to insure that all citizens, regardless of status or skills, have the essential needs to pursue secure, self-directed lives. This starts with the right to health, work, livable incomes and open-ended education, and to participate meaningfully in the decisions that govern their lives. The marketplace has no interest in providing these. It is actively destroying them..."

(emphasis mine)

I have said it before and I appreciate hearing it from others. The purpose of the Economy is to support ALL people and to improve the lot of ALL people, not just the rich and influencial. Further, the purpose of Government is to level the playing field so that capitalism does not prey on citizens. Government is responsible to regulate commerce so that the health, safety, and wellbeing of all citizens is protected. Government is to stand between the consumer and the Capitalistic Economy and see that all, from the CEO to to janitor, have a living wage, reasonable benefits, and a respected place in our society.

The purpose of Government is the wellbeing of the People. Nothing less and nothing more. Anything else is pure tyranny.

2006-06-10T10:35:00.000-07:00

Unlike our mainstream society, the indigenous people of this world knew with every fiber of their being that a warrior goes to war only at the request of his or her people. Because of this, the responsibility for what happens in war is shared by the entire tribe. The warrior serves as an extention of the will of the people and has sanction to kill in the heat of battle. But all tribal members share in the sorrow of this killing, not just the warrior. So when a warrior returns from war, he or she is accorded great honor and great forgiveness for their deeds. The tribal people also knew that war changes a man, and that to once again rejoin their tribe the warrior must be transformed from war to peace. The haunts of war shared by all, the guilt of war spread among the people, the rage of war forgiven and understood.

Where are we in modern America with this? We send our young off to war, but we do not share in their agony and we do not reach out to welcome them home. Sure we have token parades and speeches, but these are meaningless gestures because we refuse to acknowledge the horror of their experience. We refuse to know the agony and the desperation, the heartbreak and the numbing slaughter of others. The American people, by and large, stand with token handshakes and vacant cheers for our warriors. but we do not look them in the eye and say; "Thank You, I share in your agony of war, I forgive you for what you did in war because you served in my name for all our people." The warrior wants nothing more than to return to his or her life and rejoin society. But rather than assist them in their healing from the wounds of war, we ignore them and shrug off their pain because we do not want to accept responsibility for what we have asked them to do.

The United States of American has gone to war, without discussion or rational thought. We have hurled our young people, our best and brightest, into the maw of war for no justifiable reason. We are slaughtering our young and the innocent because a petty tyrant has demanded that we do so. The shame of Iraq, as the shame of Vietnam, is that the American People have abdicated responsibility for the lives and wellbeing of their own children to appease the megalomania of our insane leadership. Our children are being maimed and killed because Americans couldn't be bothered to ask questions and demand reasonable answers from our politicans.

Iraq isn't just a failure of leadership, it is a failure of the American people to participate in their own country.

Honoring Warriors Past and Present
By GRETCHEN RUETHLING

Published: June 10, 2006

""Where are your lands?" a trader once taunted Crazy Horse.

"My lands are where my dead lie buried," the Sioux chief responded.

About 200 people crossed that rolling prairie on horseback last week, riding from Nebraska to South Dakota in a four-day tribute to honor all military veterans and the revered Crazy Horse.

"It was a way to say thank you to our warrior culture," said Charles Brewer, 40, of Pine Ridge, S.D., who organized the ninth annual Crazy Horse Ride..."

(pictures by Jerry Swope)

today's rant...

2006-06-09T08:28:00.001-07:00

We are buying a house, a lovely home and enough land to provide privacy, space, and room for vegetable gardens. With this new home we will raise chickens, geese, rabbits, and maybe a goat or two. With this new home we will be semi-independent by growing some of our own food, creating things to barter, and being free from the incessesent glitter and cacaphony of suburban living.

But there is a price. As citizens of the American Empire we are forced into institutionalized bribery and egregious usury, followed by imprisonment in a financial system that controls our access to home, food, water, and income.

Our loan documents show an interest rate of 6.7%. This is an imaginary number drawn up by accountants to disguise the true costs of our loan. It is a fiction. It is a fiction that everybody involved with the home loan process knows is fiction. Better said, it is a lie that everybody knows is a lie. It is a lie ginned up to play the 'game' of home finance. For example, lets say our loan is $300,000 but our interest rate is $350,000 on top of this principal. Total we will owe $650,000 for our property. You can play games with number all you like; 6.7%, 7.1%, whatever, but the truth is that we will pay over 120% interest on our loan. That is the truth. Everybody in this transaction knows this, and everybody knows that this level of interest is more than we would pay if we would have borrowed the money from Tony Soprano. What is more, is that each of these people probably had to pay the same outrageous interest rate as we do, yet they still participate, like a judas goat.

The Home Finance racket in the American Empire is one of unashamed theft and plunder. Legalized. The banks went to their favorite politicians, gave them outrageous amounts of money, and demanded that laws be written forcing citizens to pay bribery money to them for the dubious honor of getting a loan. The politicians wrote the law, passed it, and now each of us is condemned to squander our hard earned money to these crooks. Theft with a ballpoint pen. When you buy a house and have to get a Bank Loan to do so, you are trapped in a system of fees and charges that you cannot escape.

On a macro-level, the politicians and bankers like this system because it not only provides guaranteed wealth to the banks, and pocket money to the politicians, but it also is an effective means of social control. It creates 'wage-slaves' of the American People.

Unlike slavery in the past, where the slave owner had to supply food, shelter, clothing, and meager medical care to his slaves, the slaveowners in this society (The Wealthy Elite in business, finance, and politics) have none of these expenses. In the American Empire you citizens are expected to work your ass to the bone, have your wages become worth less and less, and become ensyared in a society that see's debt as the answer to your problems, not the problem itself. Wh To live in the American Empire costs a lot of your money, most of your time, and all of your soul. Plus, by the burden of staggering debt, slaves are held without the need of whips or chains. If you want a decent place to live, then surrender to staggering financial debt and a life long commitement to employment you cannot quit, probably doing some job that just bores you senseless.

Understand this, you cannot fight a system that locks you into that system. Put another way, you cannot fight a jail cell from inside the cell. You must be on the outside to have any power. Consumer debt is the primary means of imprisionment in this country. As long as you owe 'Them' (Banks;Government,financial institutions) you will dance to their tune because they can deny you further credit. And there goes your life.

We are driven into debt to buy/expect the things we are persuaded to buy/expect by the companies that make the things and create the expectations.

Fucken weird I tell ya.

2006-06-09T07:50:00.000-07:00

FACTS TO PONDER:

(A) The number of physicians in the U.S. is 700,000.
(B) Accidental deaths caused by Physicians per year are 120,000.
(C) Accidental deaths per physician is 0.171.
Statistics courtesy of U.S. Dept of Health Human Services.

Now think about this:
Guns:
(A) The number of gun owners in the U.S. is 80,000,000. (Yes, that's 80 million)
(B) The number of accidental gun deaths per year, all age groups, is 1,500.
(C) The number of accidental deaths per gun owner is .000188.
Statistics courtesy of FBI

So, statistically, doctors are approximately 9,000 times more dangerous than gun owners.
Remember, "Guns don't kill people, doctors do."

FACT: NOT EVERYONE HAS A GUN, BUT ALMOST EVERYONE HAS AT LEAST ONE DOCTOR.
Please alert your friends to this alarming threat. We must ban doctors before this gets completely out of hand!!!!!

Out of concern for the public at large, I withheld the statistics on lawyers for fear the shock would cause people to panic and
seek medical attention.

(thanks Mark)

2006-06-08T14:53:00.000-07:00

Lets take a moment and consider something...there is a deep and seemingly uncrossable no-man's-land between the priorities of the American People and our entire Political Leadership, both parties, local or national.

The American people want peace, economic opportunity, financial security, physical security, and general stability. The American people want to have a nice home, decent car, good and plentiful food to eat, affordable entertainment, employment that treats them with some respect and pays a living wage. They want to be free of ruinous medical bills by having full medical coverage, preferably like Medicare used to be. They want to be able to retire and spend their remaining years watching their grandchildren grow, and their children prosper. The American people are no different that the Iraqi People, the Iranian People, the Israeli People, and every group of humanity on this globe. They want the freedom to live their lives in some comfort and with a reasonable expectation that the immediate future will be better than the immediate past.

On the other hand, the Bush Administration and the entire political leadership of this country want unlimited personal power, wealth beyond imagining, and no one to tell them 'no'.

They are narcissistic children demented by illusions and delusions of grandeur. They are insane by every definition of the word.

Is there a point at which the American People rise up and with violence wrench back this country from the oligarchs and wealthy elite who have taken over? Is there a point in which Americans will realize that they no longer have power at the voting booth and that their wants and needs are totally ignored by their political leaders?

I don't know.

I would like to believe that the American people are not so far subjugated that they couldn't rise in physical rebellion, but I don't think it is possible in reality. There is a naive belief in this country that 'things will somehow work out'. That somehow Bush and his minions will turn out to be the good guys and that they aren't really as demented and deranged as they seem; that the economy is poised on the verge of a gigantic growth and good jobs will be everywhere; that the environmental degradation is really ok and that we really didn't need all those pesky plants and animals that are going extinct anyway; that energy problems are entirely solvable with modern technology and that soon there will be plentiful cheap energy for all; and that the middle class lifestyle so beloved by Americans will continue on, uninterrupted, forever.

Fat chance.

Americans, by and large, are damn fine people who are honest and caring and 'salt of the earth' type people, but we have allowed a coup de'tat, and the wants and needs of these fine Americans is no longer a concern of government. In fact, America is no longer a concern of government. Government is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Multinational Corporate Business Interests.

Think of this: The cost of the Iraq War, a war that is clearly unnecessary, illegal, and certainly immoral, would be sufficient to:

we could have hired 4,972,551 additional public school teachers for one year.
we could have provided medical insurance for 171,815,152 children for one year.
we could have provided 13,909,806 students four-year scholarships at public universities.
we could have built 2,583,548 additional housing units.
we could have fully funded global anti-hunger efforts for 11 years.
we could have fully funded world-wide AIDS programs for 28 years.
we could have paid for 38,004,200 children to attend a year of Head Start.
we could have ensured that every child in the world was given basic immunizations for
95 years.

But we aren't going to do that, are we? Our tax money goes to killing people. Somehow I don't believe that is a family value of the average American, but it is for George W. Bush and his cohorts.

Like I said, a deep and uncrossable no-man's-land between the American People and American Politicians.

(info on costs of Iraq War from The National Priorities Project)

Letter to Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 8, 2006

2006-06-08T07:39:00.000-07:00

Lt. Ehren Watada

"I am a two tour combat veteran of Vietnam and I want to state unequivocally that I support Lt. Ehren Watada in his decision not to go to the Iraq War. This War is wrong and quite likely illegal. At the very least it is a bloody exercise in national hubris and naked greed. The military and indeed this country desperately need men and women who are willing to stand up to the power hierarchy in this country and tell the truth. The Iraq War is wrong in every possible way and it is not worth the life of a single person, American or Iraqi. Lets put and end to this useless exercise in death and bring our young people home. Thank you Lt. Watada for your courage and your conscience, you are an American Soldier and Officer of whom I am very proud."

John M. Whitten

11th Armored Cavalry Regiment

Vietnam 1969-1971

2006-06-07T17:47:00.000-07:00

Do Bush and those blithering idiots called Fundamentalist Christians really believe that our most pressing issue today is Gay People loving each other?

No wonder they want us to return to the Dark Ages of ignorance and superstition, only the truely stupid could believe in this bullshit.

2006-06-06T14:03:00.000-07:00

America will never become a true Democracy, nor will it ever live up to its promise of freedom and dignity, as long as Americans refuse to openly discuss why our words and our deeds are two different things.

The Rot From Within
By Doug Nelson
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Monday 05 June 2006

"....his notion of a "Christian" nation, and our constant lip service to "freedom and justice for all" have made our country a sick joke in the rest of the civilized world. Our history of violence against women, blacks, Native Americans, immigrants, dissenters, and religious minorities surfaces through every crack in our national foundation. No sooner do we identify a "threat" or an enemy, whether it is believers in Islam, abortion providers, immigrants, or marijuana users, than someone is proposing rounding them up, putting them in jail or worse.

Our national obsession with punishment and prison is a root cause of Guantanamo. Civilized systems of justice have, as a distinguishing feature, careful consideration of the facts of the individual case and the application of law to the particulars of the case. Yet, the knee-jerk reaction to nearly every social problem seems to be treating all members of a group as if they are criminals. Mob justice is simply mob violence disguised. By extension, we occupy a foreign country and treat the inhabitants as inmates, subject to search, home invasion, torture, beatings, and death. In consenting to surveillance of our own communications within our own country, we are consenting to being treated as inmates..."

2006-06-06T10:06:00.000-07:00

I was killing time yesterday and accidently turned the TV to the 'Shopping Channel". That is the strangest damn show I have ever seen. It is like watching beings that you are fairly sure are from your Galaxy, but you just can't figure out which planet.

Two absolutely air-headed women spent nearly 15 minutes describing the wonders of a wind chime....15 minutes! I have never seen anything quite like it, they just jabbered on forever telling every minute detail of this thing, as if Wind Chimes had just been invented and this was the first working model. It was kind of like the first proto-human trying to describe 'fire' to his cave-mates.

Then they had callers, poor miserable wretches that spent much of their free time waiting for some product to be announced just so they could call up an buy the damn thing.

I thought to myself, this is quite possibly the most rampant obscenity of consumerism I have ever seen.

Pathetic...and sad. I got these visions of these lonely smucks sitting in their mobile homes, surrounded by boxes of unopened goodies purchased on credit, bill collectors who know them by their first names, and statues of deer stiffly poised on their front lawn backlit by cut metal outlines of a grandmother bending over. Oh, and an inflatable flamingo...
====================

Talked with a a young kid today. Graduated High School yesterday. Plans on entering the U.S. Navy because they will pay for college. He and his family cannot afford the staggering cost of education in this country. So he must enter the military.

Military is not bad. Sometimes the the training is even useful in the civilian world. You do learn to work with a wide variety of people, you learn to push yourself, you learn discipline, responsibility. Sometimes you get to travel to foreign lands and kill people.

I think that young, hard working, honest kids that join the military are the cream of the crop in many ways. These are the kids that you want to join your society and you want to be successful so that they can raise other hard working, honest kids. And Military service gives you a perspective that can be invaluble, learning other cultures and other ways of living.

What puzzles me though is why we in America refuse to provide education for our children. Why is that? We are spending over $1 BILLION dollars per day in Afganistan and Iraq and yet we cannot seem to find out way clear to provide a college education and training to our next generation?

If you look at American priorities, it is obviously more important to kill other people and steal their natural resources, then it is to educate our own people.

Americans, if you consider how we spend out tax dollars, prefer to kill, maim, destroy, rather than gain knowledge and wisdom. And they call this, 'civilization'?

This country could easily afford to provide free education to every single Child in this country. Zero through Graduate School. The fact that we don't is symptomatic of the rot that invests this country...the rot of profit over people...the rot of the bottom line and short term gain being more desirable than a knowledgeable citizenry and an intelligent culture.

2006-06-05T09:59:00.002-07:00

The more American History that I read the more I realize that the framers of our form of Government only gave us a template, not a mandate. They provided us with a set of guidelines that would lead us to Democracy but they did not, and could not, provide us with Democracy itself.

For so long, from the Reagan era to the utter debacle of today, I have pined the loss of our Democracy. But now I am begining to see that we really haven't lost Democracy, because we have never had Demcracy, not yet at any rate. What we have is the hope and the framework for creating a Democracy.

Americans have a long way to go before we are capable of creating, and living in, this brilliant form of government. We cannot have Democracy until we overthrow the Military Industrial Complex that now strangles our ideals. Further I am begining to believe that Capitalism itself is antithetical to Freedom and must be replaced before Democracy can live. If nothing else, we must have a strong and people oriented form of government that can control Capitalism, bending it to the good of all people, rather than just the privileged few.

America has a long way to go, and we may not have the time necessary to find our Democracy.

2006-06-05T09:59:00.001-07:00

2006-06-05T09:59:00.000-07:00

I will be gone for a week...don't forget me!

2006-05-26T15:43:00.000-07:00

2006-05-25T17:44:00.000-07:00

Here is a salient point we all need to keep in mind. The Oil Shocks we as U.S. citizens will feel will not come because gas is in short supply. That will come, but later. The world has a ways to go before the real limitations of fossile fuels become widespread. No, the real threat to U.S. consumers is that the petroleum we so badly need is held by third world countries who are finally realizing their importance to the whole world. These countries are looking around, and they realize that they have real power. They are not the most advanced technologically or militarily but they have something that the rest of us do not have and cannot do without; Oil.

The United States has a long and brutal history of taking what we want and leaving the plundered country in poverty and debt. Dosen't matter wether it is banana's, pineapples, gold, or petroleum. They got it, we want it, we take it. No more. Now countries like Iran know that they are protected by the one thing that the U.S. can do nothing about, Indespensiblity. The world cannot live without their oil.

As the U.S. has swaggered about the world, killing, corrupting, stealing, destroying the world has taken note and retaliation is due.

It doesn't matter that this country outspends the next 5 countries in total military armament, combined. It doesn't matter that we are rough and tough, violent and zenophobic, what matters is that we can no nothing about this situation.

The United States has made an enemy of the entire world. We have no friends. The Bush Administration has seen to that. If other countries were mildly irritated with American before Bush, they now grind their teeth in anticipation of payback.

You and I, not Bush and not the uber-wealthy are going to pay the price. As always. The fossil fuel countries can sell their oil to anybody and there is no shortage of buyers. This means that they can and will use these precious fluids as a weapon of revenge on America. They can, and they will.

Threat of Oil Supply Shock Worries Energy Subcommittee

by David Lightman Courant.com, Washington,Wednesday, May 17, 2006

http://tinyurl.com/fhzdn

"As if high energy prices were not enough of a problem, members of a House panel were briefed Tuesday on another reason for concern: the possibility that unfriendly countries could cut off oil supplies to hurt the United States.

"Today we cannot effectively counter the use of energy as a weapon," Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House energy subcommittee, said as he set the stage for testimony from several government experts..."

"...It said that unlike other periods in American history when prices soared, the latest round of increases is driven by demand, not tight supply. But supplies have tightened, the study found, meaning "the U.S. is more vulnerable to a catastrophic supply shock, especially considering the current geopolitical environment."

"We are witnessing growing tendencies in producing countries to manipulate the use of their natural resources," agreed Karen A. Harbert, the Energy Department's assistant secretary for policy and international affairs..."

Beside ridding ourselves of such useless parasites and politicians like George W. Bush, we need immediately begin massive conservation and efficiency measures. The only way we as citizens can protect ourselves is to become as independent as we can from foreign oil.

At a minimum, this means

making sure your home is as energy efficient as it can be.
Get newer, more energy efficient appliances,
increase the 'R' Factor in your home insulation,
caulk around windows and doors,
get high efficiency windows,
replace light bulbs with flourescent bulbs,
get a high efficiency waterheater and wrap it in insulation blankets.
take a serious look at installing alternative energy sources; wind, solar, water, hydrothermic, anything that would reduce your dependence on oil.
Finally, take a serious look at your automobile and consider replacement with something that gets good gas milage.

Don't do these things because they are fashionable, do them because your survival and the survival of your children and family depends on it.

One last thing, lobby for, work for, and elect only those politicians that understand the perils of this situation and who are determined to work collectively and in concert with other countries to establish JUSTICE in this world. End poverty, end hunger, end child and women exploitation, end racism, end disease, end unhealthy water sources.

You want peace, work for justice.

2006-05-25T10:49:00.000-07:00

"Here we are, trapped in the amber of the moment. There is no why."
Kurt Vonnegut

2006-05-25T08:42:00.000-07:00

I have said it so many times. George W. Bush is the worst President in U.S. History. Worse than Buchanon; worse than Polk; worse than Coolidge; worse than Nixon; worse than them all. Collectively.

This man is an absolute disaster as President.

It isn't just that he is arrogant, small-minded, petty, vicious, ignorant, deluded, vindicative, obtuse, and morally bankrupt. It is that he has come along in a time that is the worst possible time to have George W. Bush in a leadership role.

We are facing the cumulative progression of Global Warming; Overpopulation; Corporate Power run amok; Biological Pollution threatening the very health of the planet; Religious Wars and hatred dividing humanity; Globally tied Economic Policies and Politics that guarantee the destruction of habitats and whole species of fauna and flora; Massive over exploitation of Earth Resources; and the every present threat of a Global Pandemic. We are now faced with a huge delimma's, perhaps the worst to face the human species in our existence, and we have as leader of the most powerful country on the planet an illiterate fool.

Published on Wednesday, May 24, 2006 by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Under the Cold Eye of History

by Robert P. Watson

"...From the great presidents we know that the country is well-served by leaders who exhibit the following traits:

Humanity, compassion, and respect for others
A governing style that unifies, not divides
Rhetorical skills and the ability to communicate a clear, realistic vision
Willingness to listen to experts and the public
Ability to admit error, accept criticism and be adaptable
Engaged and inquisitive, with a sense of perspective and history
Integrity, inspiring trust among the people
Moral courage in not shrinking from challenges.."

Any of these sound like Bush? NO? Then perhaps this....

"... Bush has been tone deaf, disinterested in advice and evidence that contradict his beliefs, intellectually disengaged from the crises that have enveloped his administration, and arrogant in exercising power. Bush's failure is most apparent in the major crises of his presidency, namely mishandling the war in Iraq and Hurricane Katrina, recklessly amassing the world's largest deficits and debt, and failing to lead on pressing challenges such as the skyrocketing costs of health care, fuel and a college education..."

"...Indeed, the president has long passed the point of simply being untrustworthy; he has made a mockery of the office. That Bush will be remembered by history as a failure is now conventional wisdom among scholars of the presidency..."

I see the bumper stickers are some cars, "Bush 04", and I think to myself, "What kind of fool would admit they supported George W. Bush?" If I were them I would not only remove the offending 'Bush' sticker, but I would rip off the bumper it was attached to. Maybe I'll just do it for them....

It's all just normal.....

2006-05-25T08:32:00.000-07:00

PERKS OF BEING OVER 50

1. Kidnappers are not very interested in you.

2. In a hostage situation you are likely to be released first.

3. No one expects you to run--anywhere.

4. People call at 9 pm and ask, " Did I wake you ???? "

5. People no longer view you as a hypochondriac.

6. There is nothing left to learn the hard way.

7. Things you buy now won't wear out.

8. You can eat dinner at 4 pm.

9. You can live without sex but not your glasses.

10. You get into heated arguments about pension plans.

11. You no longer think of speed limits as challenge.

12. You quit trying to hold your stomach in no matter who walks into the

room.

13. You sing along with elevator music.

14. Your eyes won't get much worse.

15. Your investment in health insurance is finally beginning to pay off.

16. Your joints are more accurate meteorologists than the national

weather

service.

17. Your secrets are safe with your friends because they can't remember

them either.

18. Your supply of brain cells is finally down to manageable size.

19. You can't remember who sent you this list

And you notice these are all in Big Print for your convenience.

Also Forward this to every one you can remember .

thanks Brother Bill

2006-05-24T19:27:00.000-07:00

(Cimetiere Montparnasse Monument - Couple in Bed - Claudecf)

Somebody,
somewhere,
sometime,
and somehow
must have thought this statue was a swell idea.

But I can't imagine why.

2006-05-24T10:35:00.000-07:00

What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?: Mahatma Gandhi (1869 - 1948), "Non-Violence in Peace and War"

2006-05-22T10:05:00.000-07:00

2006-05-22T08:35:00.000-07:00

by GaiaRambling

Charley Reese, Antiwar.com
What People believe.

"How do you persuade a man who has a wife and children and who works hard but can barely make ends meet to take a pay cut and go do something that has a high probability of getting him killed or seriously injured?.."

"The opportunity for self delusion invites the promise of self destruction."

BOG

+++++++

Of all the information available about the Bush Junta, one of the best, most concise reports is The Project for an Old American Century, 14 Points of Fascism.

If you want to know the state of America today, read this list. If you know of any republicans out there who still believe that Bush is a 'great American', make em read this list. If these republicans STILL don't get it, then just shoot em, the're too stupid to live.

See, he CAN tell the truth....

2006-05-20T14:50:00.000-07:00

2006-05-20T13:21:00.000-07:00

I have been accused in the past of being anti-Christian. In an honest appraisal of my writings I would say this is true.

I have often felt that hypocrisy was one of the worst behaviors because it is also one of the most difficult to avoid. I too fall into the hypocrisy mud and wallow around a bit. I often don't do what I say, or hold others to a standard that I am not willing to uphold. In fact, I am a great one for pointing out the short comings of others, while ignoring my own. I can judge and criticize with the very best.

I am reminded that other people are on their own journey as I am on mine. I need to leave them to their path, whatever it is they have chosen, and focus on my own. People, consciously or unconsciously chose their lot in life. For instance, I have neighbors that are the most compassionate, ethical, considerate people I have ever known. They live well and they share their gifts with those that have less. They do this selflessly. They are Christian and are heavily involved with their church. They are a credit to this religion they have chosen as their own. Interestingly, these are good people, who would be good people regardless of their religion.

Religion does not make people good, it only allows good people to express themselves. Being compassionate is a personal choice that reflects a spirituality that transcends Religion. In fact, being Spiritual has little to do with Religion. It is about choices of how we chose to view others and how we chose to care for ourselves.

However, the more conscious we are about our lives, more spiritual we can become.

Living Consciously means making decesions about right and wrong every day, rather than just cruising on autopilot and letting our society make the choices. Conscious living means questioning everything, and being open to whatever answer we get. Conscious living is not criticism or judgement as these are behavior that stem from fear or hurt. Conscious living is not about restriction or rigid adherence to rules and norms, it is about making your own personal decision about how you want to live your life. You chose to return a wallet with $100 in it. You chose to allow someone to cut you off in traffic without becoming angry and vengeful. You chose to be an arrogant, pitiless, ignorant megalomaniac like George W. Bush....oops, got some judgement in there.

Even Bush has his path and has his own journey. I can fault his behavior, but I must accept that he has his own journey to make.

To all of you who happen to believe in Christianity, or Judaism, or Moslem, or whatever, I apologize for judging your journey. I apologize for branding you with the same iron. You have your path, I have mine, yours is no better or worse than the one I have chosen, just different. As is true of every living creature. There is a world of varying realities and the world is far more complex than any of us can know or understand. I must not judge who you are and where you are going because that is for you to decide.

2006-05-19T10:10:00.000-07:00

autumn 2005 - dlusion

Any civilization, past, present, or future, that invests more energy in preparing for the afterlife in some mythical 'heaven' than it does in cherishing the biological entity called Earth is a civilization of fools and charlatans.

What possible sense does it make to follow some blind religion that worships a celestial deity while poisoning, exploiting, and killing the planet upon which every living creatures depends? What possible logic would lead otherwise intelligent creatures to create mystical religions that allow the despoiling and destruction of our environment?

Modern Religions view nature as birthright of humanity, to do with as we please. Modern Religions allow for the exploitation of other living entities because of arrogance and ego-centric lies that form their foundations. By what distortion of reason would humanity follow any other God than that of Earth?

The earth is and always has been our God. It gives us life, it gives us presence, companionship, medicine, breath, health, hope, mystery, and death. The planet itself gives us everything we ascribe to celestial Gods and more. It gives us reality. The Earth is REAL; Jesus, Budda, Yahwe, Mohammed are all contructs. They do not exist. They have importance only because people have given them importance. These Gods exist only because humanity exists. Take away humanity and these Gods cease. Look at the endless pantheon of lost Gods: Bal; Jupiter; Osiris; thousands upon thousands of nameless Gods worshipped by nameless people living in forgotten places and lost times. The Gods of this era will no doubt vanish into history as the world moves on, civilizations crumble, humanity scatters in survival. These modern Gods are no more powerful or sacred than all the others. They are just the latest in a long line of created myths.

But the Earth exists whether or not humanity exists. The Earth abides. If there is to be worship and honor, we must turn to the Earth as our Mother, our God.

Humanity has taken the wonderous life giving substances of our home world and has polluted the air, the land, the water. Humanity has slaughtered in great and unforgiving numbers the animals that share this world, destroyed its forests, its oceans, its rich tapetry of life, for food, for clothing, for leather, for shelter, for toys, for glory, for riches, for power, for fun. Humanity, in the guise of civilization and under the name of Religion, has treated the natural world like disposable tissue or toilet paper.

This is insanity.

Bush The Christian...

2006-05-17T22:38:00.000-07:00

These are the words of Jesus Christ. Now, I am not a Christian. It isn't that I don't believe in Christianity, I do. It's Christians that I don't believe in. Of all the pro-war people in this country, the Christian Right Wing is leading the pack.

Urged on by their babbling leaders: Robertson, Falwell, Dobson, Bush, etc., the Christian Right has supported the War in Iraq, the War in Afganistan, the War in El Salvador, The War in Panama, The War in Grenanda, the War in....well you get it.

The leading proponents of war in this country consist of the Christian Right.

Where ever you find the slaughter of innocent people, you will find conservative christians. So, to display the virulent ignorance they have of their own religion, I have presented the words of their savior:

The Holy Bible

"29The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord:

30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

31 And the second is like, namely this, Thous shalt love they neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these."
St. Mark 12 29-31

(ahh...you'll notice that killing your neighbors dosen't seem to be on the list....)

Education in America

2006-05-17T16:24:00.000-07:00

Can you think of any reason, any reason at all, that the United States of America refuses to pay for the education of its children?

My neighbor was complaining to me that his son would incur thousands and thousands of dollars in debt if he attends graduate school. This is on top of the $30,000 he already owes for his undergraduate degree. I am sure this is no isolated situation. Why would a country that esteems education and prides itself on its educational achievments cripple it's children with financial debt?

American children, like children the world over, want to grow and learn; they want to make a good life for themselves, have a career, a profession, a trade that they are proud of. American children want to have a nice home, cars, all the new technology. Someday they want to have their own children, and they want only the very best for their children-to-be.

In Europe the people have made different decesions for their children. They have decided that since education is one of the most significant and profound things they can do for their children, they provide free education from start to finish. Free. When their children graduate from school, they have a profession or trade, and can start their lives unburdoned by staggering debt. European people, wether French, Norwegian, English, German, all believe that education should be a benefit of citizenship. They believe their children are worth an increased tax base if it will give them the solid headstart every child deserves.

Makes sense doesn't it?

But not in America. If you mention 'free education', conservative Americans curl their upper lip and sneer, "Socialism". Can't provide free education because that would be evil 'Socialism'. Where in the world did this paralyzing and irrational fear of Socialism come from? Well, that's for another column. America refuses to fund the education of its children.

America is guided by many myths. As with most myths, the American Myths are based on lies. I have heard all my life that, here in America, we prize education and we urge our children to gain all the education they can stand.

If that were true, why don't we pay for it? Why have we increased college tuition to the point that most middle class and all poor people can't afford it? Why have we cut any form of college tuition aid to near zero? Why don't we have full scale free technical schools available for children who don't want a college degree but do want to learn a trade? When European children come out of school they have a guaranteed trade or profession, ready to take their place in society. When an American graduates from high school they get exactly zip. Nothing. They are trained for nothing and have few if any skills. Some will get a decent basic education and use it for college. The majority will graduate from high school without a clue of what they can do next. We don't educate our children, we test them, pass them through, and forget about them.

America has failed its children.

Why? Americans love our children. We do. We want the best for them as do other parents in other lands. So why do we treat our children so miserably?

Capitalism.

This is not a democracy. This is not a country that places the welfare of its people at a high level. This is an oligarchy, a tyranny, a land ruled by the wealthy elite who make the decesions on what happens here. Having a poor and ill-educated citizenry works well for the elite. They have workers desperate for employment, with few skills, and willing to take low pay. They have workers that can be trapped by the system to serve the system. A citizen who graduates college is so burdened by debt that they have no choice but to do as the system demands. They go into profession that pay the most, only because it is survival. The result of this is that many of the jobs crucial to a vibrant and free society are left unfilled. Americans cannot afford to do the work they love, and work that is needed, because they are indentured to the system. So, they study for and take professions that only serve the needs of the Capitalistic system. Bankers, Brokers, Stock Brokers, Lawyers, Accoutants, corporate shills and MBA's whose only function is to keep the system alive.

By forcing American students to assume the staggering financial burden of higher education you bond these students to the capitalistic system.

Indentured servitude.

And it doesn't matter if it is the parents who pay, because it is just as useful to the wealthy elite to have the parents in economic slavery as it is the kids.

Additionally, a poorly educated citizenry is much easier to control and to manipulate. By keeping the costs of college education beyond the reach of most Americans, and by placing those who do make it through in serious debt, you ensure that only the elites have choice and freedom.

The mythology of America is that we are a free people. A truly free people are people that can make decesions that are grounded in reality and need, rather than ideology and custom. If we were truly free, Americans would have universal education, affordable housing, affordable medical care, pensions, and peace. But we don't because the needs of Americans count for nothing to the ruling elite.

Bush makes me cry...

2006-05-17T10:27:00.000-07:00

Supreme Court Officially Emasculates Taxpayers

By David Sirota
Working For Change Tuesday 16 May 2006

"In a unanimous decision Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a lower court ruling that would have invalidated massive taxpayer giveaways to Corporate America..."

"...Today's ruling, though, is particularly egregious. Not only did the court strike down an important ruling, but it essentially emasculated taxpayers' ability to bring any such lawsuits against their own government in the future..."

This case started in Ohio were taxpayers sued the State for diverting taxpayer money away from local schools and gave it to DaimlerChrysler in the form of tax rebates and incentives. $300 million in taxpayer cash! Schools were closed because of this giveaway.

So the taxpayers sued to regain control of how their tax money was spent. The U.S. Supreme Court in upholding the State's rights over the taxpayer has sent a signal that the United States Taxpayer has no control or input to how the State decides to spend their tax dollars. Lets suppose that Senator X wants to open a business for his mistress, FiFi. But he sure doesn't want to spend his own money on this. So he grabs some taxpayer loot, maybe $200,000 or $300,000, hands it to FiFi and she opens a nail boutique for Rottweilers.

This is perfectly legal. Senator X isn't taking the money himself, he is investing it in a local commerical enterprise, therebye creating jobs and assisting the economy. But the taxpayer is on the hook for a dog salon that is owned by his mistress. According the the U.S. Supreme Court, the taxpayer has NO SAY in how his or her tax money is spent.

Taxation without Representation? I seem to recall that this fact is one of the founding ideas of our country.

But lets be real here. George W. Bush and the thieving, coniving, assholes in the Republican Party have placed John Roberts as head of the Supreme Court specifically to do just this: Complete the process of a Fascist Takeover this country.

Fascism is a totalitarian state that is run for and by corporate power. In this type of state, the citizen has no power, no influence, nothing. Much like the United States today.

neighbors

2006-05-16T16:58:00.000-07:00

We sold our house the other day. I was telling our neighbors about how we sold the house really quickly and we got our asking price. They just looked at me.

So, I explained that only two people looked at it and they both bid on it.

They just looked at me.

Full price.

They just looked at me.

I couldn't figure out what they were thinking. They didn't seem upset, just puzzeled. Quizical.

They said, "Who'd ya sell it to?"

I paused. "I don't know."

They just looked at me.

So, not knowing what else to do, and being totally deficit in small talk skills, I said, "Goodbye" and left.

Later, It occured to me why they were so puzzeled. I had just told them that I sold my house, right next to them, and I hadn't even bothered to find out who I had sold it to. Could be I sold it to vampires, or maybe a child molester. They could have mongrel biker thugs, perverts, and Bush Supporters moving in right next to them and their innocent children. Their pets could be in jeopardy. I could have sold it to anybody or anything.

Put in on the market, sell it, pack up and move. That was the plan. I would've sold to anybody. Jack the Ripper, if he came up with a decent down payment, could join the Home Owners Association. Then we would move far away and leave the beleagured neighbors to deal with 'whatever' moved in.

No wonder they just looked at me.

2006-05-16T07:41:00.000-07:00

Humor o' the day

2006-05-16T07:39:00.000-07:00

Joke

2006-05-15T20:00:00.000-07:00

A couple of New Jersey hunters are out in the woods when one of them falls to the ground. He doesn't seem to be breathing, his eyes are rolled back in his head. The other guy whips out his cell phone and calls the emergency services.

He gasps to the operator: “My friend is dead! What can I do?”

The operator, in a calm soothing voice says: “Just take it easy. I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead.”

There is a silence, then a shot is heard.

The guy's voice comes back on the line. He says: “OK, now what?"

United America?

2006-05-15T09:34:00.000-07:00

T-Shirt Says, "IMAGINE no liberals".

Funny huh?

Now consider this, IF their were no Liberals:

NO Health Insurance

NO Child Care

NO Retirement or Pensions

NO Worker Safety rules

NO Overtime

NO Lunch or Break times

NO Vacation time

NO Health and safety Rules and Guidelines

NO Low Income Housing

NO Secular Homeless Shelters

NO Food Giveaway Programs

NO Food Stamps

NO Student Aid Programs

NO Sick leave

NO Disability Programs

NO Social Security

NO Medicare

NO Medicaid

NO School Lunch Programs

NO Minority Assistance Programs

NO Public Health

NO Environmental Legislation protecting our air, water, soil

NO Government Regulations of Corporations protecting the consumers

NO Unions promoting higher wages and benefits for all

THESE are programs that were started, organized, and bled for by Liberals.

THESE are programs that every poor or moderate income Conservative depends on.

THESE are programs responsible for the health and well-being of millions upon millions of Americans for many Generations.

Life without Liberals would be 'nasty, brutish, and short".

You know, the thing that I resent most about the Republican Conservative christians (RCc) is how devisive there are. They have taken American and divided it into polorized camps. They have taken a country in which all people were Americans and even though we didn't always agree on everything, at least we agreed that we are Americans and we respect each other.

George W. Bush has changed that, perhaps forever. We are no longer one nation. We are now a nation divided by political perspective and religious ideology.

A Great President, Lincoln, once said, "A house divided against itself cannot stand."

A Great failure as a President, Bush, once said, "Your either with us or against us."

Peak Oil

2006-05-14T10:47:00.000-07:00

Morgenrot - Takashi Iwamoto

Peak Oil: This has been defined by many Geological Scientists as that point in which the exploitation of petroleum begins to decline due to reduction in the amount and quality of oil available. Many believe that this dividing line has been reached already.

What this all means is that anything made of petroleum; gasoline; cosmetics; plastic; heating oil; fertilizer; herbicides and pesticides; automobiles; trains; planes; children's toys. These will all become much more expensive and much more difficult to obtain because there will not be enough oil to meet the growing demands of humanity on this finite fossil fuel.

Get it?

This fact will irrevocably change American Society. Americans are about to get hit with one of the biggest alterations to our life style ever experienced by modern man. Everything we now enjoy as part of a 'civilized' society is going to be altered. You will no longer find sweet onions from Texas and grapes from Chile in your grocery store. Empty shelves will appear in the vast food stuffed wharehouses we call grocery stores. Seasonal foods will only be available in season. Clothing will be expensive and made from natural fibers. People will learn to sew and repair their clothing rather than buy new ones. People will learn to garden for their food, raise chickens and goats. Car pooling will become a necessity not an option. Car and transport vehicles will shrink and become much more expensive. Anyone in the service industry is going to be seeking new lines of employment because the extra income for luxury or non-necessities will be gone.

America is going to go through one of the most wide spread and disruptive periods in its entire history, and we lucky dogs are gonna get to live it!

This change is coming and it is coming damn soon. At most, we have 2-3 years to get our act together before the well runs dry, according to experts in this field.Look around you and marvel at what we have because we won't have it for long.

The ease of just hopping into your car, running down to the local grocery/hardware/convienence/clothing store and 'picking up a few things', will come to a screeching halt. Gasoline will hit $5.00 a gallon easily. Stores will have to increase their prices to pass along the enormous increase in the cost of transportation fuels. Further, shortages will be more widespread as petroleum becomes more expensive and harder to get.

This change is going to be freaken huge!

Everything we know will change. Everything we take for granted will change. What ever comfortable life we have right now will change for the worse. Hard times are acoming and you don't hear one word about this from our so-called 'free press' or our overpaid politicians.

If you are not striving for self sufficiency right now, you are going to be very sorry.

Oh, and the new alternative fuels harkened by the President and others is a non-starter. For one thing, every alternative energy idea is based on the availability of petroleum. That is the central and most significant problem of alternative energy that is supposed to save us. You cannot make wind towers, transmission lines, computers, solar cells; inverters; etc. without fossil fuels. Then, you gotta transport them to where they can do the most good and this will take even more fossile fuel. Plus hydrogen as an energy carrier has significant problems such as how you generate hydrogen and how your distribute it, but most of all, storage of hydrogen is incredibly difficult because it must be kept under presssure and is explosive. Ethanol, the savior of our mega-farms suffers from the fact that it is extremely corrosive and cannot be transported by pipe line. It must be trucked, adding to the need for even more fossile fuel or Ethanol itself.

Additionally each alternative fuel now being offered is decades away from being widely available. DECADES! We don't have decades before petroleum becomes in short supply. At maximum we have less that 5 years before everything changes.

Americans and American ingenuity is going to be tested as never before. Oh, and those people that bought houses in the suburbs, that have zero lot lines and absolutely no yard space at all, are going to be between a rock and a very hard place.

You know that Peak Oil is serious when the U.S. Military, the best financed element of our country, is searching for alternatives to fossil fuel.

Military Plans Tests in Search for an Alternative to Oil-Based Fuel

"..."Energy is a national security issue," said Michael A. Aimone, the Air Force assistant deputy chief of staff for logistics..."

Now here is where things get more interesting. In our desperation to replace fossil fuels, we could turn to coal.

"...If the military moves ahead with using the synthetic fuels, the Syntroleum technology could be used by factories elsewhere to produce the same 42 gallons of fuel from just $10 worth of coal, Mr. Holmes said.

"The United States is essentially the Saudi Arabia of coal," Mr. Holmes said. "It can be mined relatively inexpensively. We really believe that one of the things we can do to help our country's energy needs is to use the abundance of coal reserves.".."

In the next few years you will hear a lot about coal and how self sufficient the U.S. is in this mineral. Sure, it can be turned into gasoline and fuel, but there is an enormous cost, air pollution and a significant increase in Global Warming.

This is not trivial.

The entire planet is facing run away global warming, which includes the possibilty that whole sections of the world may become uninhabitable and storms will reach levels of intensity never before witnessed by human beings.

Global Warming is real and it is extremely important that we stop producing CO2 right now. Burning Coal is guaranteed to substantially "raise the CO2 levels world wide. If anything, Global Warming is more of a threat to the well being of everyday Americans than Peak Oil and Terrorism combined. So, yeah, we have lots of coal, but using it will turn into a Hobson's Choice. That is, the decesion to develop coal energy is just as poor as the decesion to continue with Middle East Oil.

No, we as human beings must face the reality that our world is changing and fast. Each of us will have to make decesions for ourselves and our families that we never imagined having to make.

What can we do? The best aknowledged plan for the immediate future is simply: Efficiency and Conservation. Right now figure our what energy you use, where it is used, how much, and how you can cut this consumption to the bone. You will be as aware of energy in your life as you are to wearing shoes and brushing your teeth.

Shiraito Waterfalls - Takashi Iwamoto

2006-05-13T12:33:00.000-07:00

chill...

America Loses Basic Freedoms...Citizens complacent.

2006-05-12T07:12:00.000-07:00

Mt Merapi volcano, central java

Is inflation actually caused by Government Actions? I have always assumed that Inflation was something that just happened, like chickenpox, and the Government fought to keep it in check. But what if Government leaders actually wanted inflation and could create it? What if the Government wanted to help corporations become even more profitable so they allow wholesale increased in the price of products, claiming that the increases aren't their fault...its that mysterious old bugger, Inflation?

What is Inflation? It is the slow rise of prices over time.

Inflation has been said to be a means of illegal and underhanded taxation by Government.

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

ABC News on TV this morning said that 63% of the polled Americans think that Bush's spying on Americans is justified. If this is the case, a BIG IF, then Americans do not deserve freedom. Any person that would sell their basic freedoms from Government intrusion for the elusive promise of safety is a god damn fool.

"...What we have here is a clandestine surveillance program of enormous size, which is being operated by members of the administration who are subject to no limits or scrutiny beyond what they deem to impose on one another. If the White House had gotten its way, the program would have run secretly until the war on terror ended — that is, forever..."

Reach Out and Track Someone

By Terry J. Allen, In These Times. Posted May 11, 2006.

"...If you are one of the more than 200 million Americans with a cell phone nestled in your pocket, authorities may be able to find you any time day or night--even if you never make or receive a call..."

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

The Internet may soon become controlled by major corporations like Comcast and AT&T. Corporations will decide what is available to you over the internet and what is not. More access to more sites means that you must pay more each month. Obviously, this also means that any site not deemed worthy by Corporate America will be difficult, or impossible, to reach.

Stop ATT From Taking Your Web

By Robert B. Reich, TomPaine.com. Posted May 12, 2006.

"...Until now, a basic principle of the Internet has been that the pipe companies can't discriminate among content providers. Everyone who puts stuff up on the Internet is treated exactly the same. The net is neutral.

But now the pipe companies want to charge the content providers, depending on how fast and reliably the pipes deliver the content. Presumably, the biggest content providers would pay the most money, leaving the little content people in the slowest and least-reliable parts of the pipe. (It will take you five minutes to download my blog.) The pipe companies claim unless they start charge for speed and reliability, they won't have enough money to invest in the next generation of networks. This is an absurd argument. The pipes are already making lots of money off consumers who pay them for being connected to the Internet..."

The Sheeple of America are being branded, herded, and slaughtered and they don't have a clue that it is all premeditated.

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

Harris Poll reports Bush at 29%. No surprise...Worst President of all time! I wonder when it will hit the single digits...and will it even matter? Will Americans do anything about it? CAN Americans even do anything about it?

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

We are buying a new home. Yesterday I looked at the loan documents and, as always, I am absolutely apalled at what passes for Bank Fraud these days. My interest rate shows 6.8% which dosen't sound too bad. Little high perhaps, but ok. However, when I look at how much money I will actually pay in interest and how much I pay in priniciple I notice a funny thing. The Interest I will pay over the life of the loan is nearly $50,000 higher than the cost of the house itself. $50 GRAND HIGHER? I may not be much of a wiz at math, but I do know that when you pay more in interest than the house is worth then that ain't 6.8%. For example, If my house sold for $400,000 and I pay another $400,000 in interest, than I have a loan interest rate of 100%! Right? My interest rate matches my principle dollar for dollar. That is a 100% loan! But if my interest is way over the principle, then my interest is way over 100%.

It occurs to me that Americans are being bled white by corporate and bank malveasance. And the Bush Administration is their partner in crime. The worst part is that it is all Institutionalized. It's normal. In this society, if a man comes up to you and stickes a gun in your face, demanding money, then he is a criminal and may get jailed. However, if you walk into a bank voluntarily, sign the papers, and the banker demands you pay him 150% of what your loan is worth, that is legal. InAmerica it is standard practice for corporations to create laws and regulations that give them the absolute control over their customers. They hide their villany behind smug thousand dollar suits and citrus aftershave. The corporate elite.

The Cosa Nostra, of legend and fame, would faint with envy at what the Bush Administration and the Corporate World can steal.

But whatta ya gonna do? We signed the papers.

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

One last thing. You may have heard this all before, but pay attention! Check out your credit scores and data with the three major credit companies: Experian; Transunion; and Equifax. Each is bought and paid for by U.S. Corporations and their bias is toward business. In fact, they will deliberately enter information on you that they do not check out for veracity. Some of their negative comments are on things that you have no control over. For instance, you will get a downgraded credit score if you have too many inquiries to these three credit agencies. How the hell can you control that? And does anybody know how many contacts is too many? These Credit agencies judge your credit worthiness on a issues that have little, if any, direct relationship to wether you pay your bills on time and in the right amount. It is a totally bogus system.

It accures to me that American Capitalistic Corporations are predatory, unethical, devious, untrustworthy, unscrupulous, and have no real regulatory or legal contraints on their business behavior. American Business have taken the term "Sic Caveat Emptor" as their only ethical creed. By the way, 'Sic Caveat Emptor' is latin for "Fuck em, they have our money in their pockets".

Despite all my bitching, we have a good credit score...I can only imagine what it is like for someone with marginal or 'bad' credit numbers.

Well, we will get our house and I will calm down eventually. I just hate being screwed by corporations and know that there is little I can do about it.

American Gulag

2006-05-11T16:47:00.000-07:00

I have said this many times, in many places, to many people. In order for the transformation of America into a Theocratic Fascist State, the ruling tyrants must control the internet.

They must. Tyranny can only hold if the masses know only ignorance.

At present, the mainstream news media is completely dominated by corporate power and everything reported to the American people is vetted by the White House. What we see, what we hear, what we know is only what the ruling elite want us to know. At present, there is NO Independent news media in this country. NONE!

Further, we are now forbidden to gather in groups on street corners due to Homeland Security and Secret Service mandate that allows them to arrest, or detain, anyone who speaks out against the ruling junta. Don't believe this? Ask Cindy Sheehan why she was escorted from the State of Union Address for wearing a shirt with an anti-administration saying. Ask people who were detained and prevented from attending political rallies because they had anti-Bush stickers on their cars.

Notice what happens to anyone who confronts the power of Bush; Generals forcibly retired from Military Service; Whistleblowers fired; Reputations slurred and demeaned. We have been subjected to massive invasion of our Constitutional rights by the Bush Administration in many ways. Recording of our telephone calls by the Federal Government is just one example. The Bush Administration has admitted that it plans to record and retain ALL telephone calls made in the United States. Further, At&t, Comcast, Verizon, all have agreed to turn over their records to the Government, so that anything we do can be monitored and examined. Cell phone calls can be, and are being, traced and recorded across the land.

If you are ruled by the Bush Administration an enemy of the state, you are subject to interrogation, torture, and imprisonment without trial or attorney. You may be held as long as the U.S. Government deems necessary.

Therefore, our only measure of freedom, the only means of free speech left in American today is the Internet.

The Internet is where we have access to the real world. WE can read about what is really happening, free of U.S. Censorship. We can decide for ourselves what is fact and what is fiction. We can learn things about our Government and the world situations that our Government would prefer we not know. The Internet is the last measure of real freedom left in this country.

Kiss it goodbye.

This is serious stuff and every American should be in the streets screaming with rage at the ongoing loss of American Freedom and Rights. But most Americans don't have a clue this is happening, because it will never appear on CBS, NBC, ABC, or Fox. Many Americans will never know of this further threat to their freedom and that one more nail has been hammered into their prison.

It is so damn ironic, America is reputed to be one of the most free societies on the globe, and the Republican Christians are turning it into a Theocratic Fascist States right before our eyes!

Proposed Rule Changes Would Tangle the Web
By Michael Socolow
The Baltimore Sun

Tuesday 09 May 2006

"Congress wants to change the Internet.

This is news to most people because the major news media have not actively pursued the story. Yet both the House and Senate commerce committees are promoting new rules governing the manner by which most Americans receive the Web. Congressional passage of new rules is widely anticipated, as is President Bush's signature. Once this happens, the Internet will change before your eyes.

The proposed House legislation, the Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement Act (COPE), offers no protections for "network neutrality."..

2006-05-11T07:45:00.000-07:00

All of these tyrants were brutal to their own people, but the Bush Cabal has extended that brutality across American borders to the world. Which is worse?

2006-05-10T14:00:00.000-07:00

The minimum wage in Washington is $7.63. The minimum wage in Oregon is $7.15. The minimum wage in Texas is $5.15.

This is the difference between a Liberal, Progressive State and those where assholes reign supreme.

2006-05-10T13:56:00.000-07:00

Sign in the back of a Chevy 4x4 Truck, jacked up, with huge silver rims and monster tires:

"Kiss My Ass. It's all about me, so get used to it."

Sign in the back of a small blue Chevy four door, mid-size:

"Jesus said; "Love Thy Enemies. By this, I don't think he meant torture, maim and kill."

2006-05-08T16:31:00.000-07:00

Takashi Iwamoto

Somedays I realize that the only real thing is the Earth. It dosen't lie, it is never hypocritical, it is never shaming, it is never humiliating, it is only what it is.

2006-05-08T16:02:00.000-07:00

This is a very good link to the "14 Points of Fascism"

....as you view these point, consider what your role will be in promoting or demoting Fascism in America.

2006-05-08T14:32:00.000-07:00

Ever have one of those days?

Humor o' the day

2006-05-04T16:01:00.000-07:00

2006-05-03T09:59:00.000-07:00

If you want one single declaratory statement about Politics in the United States today is this:

Congress spent over $100 Million dollars investigating a blow job; and $12 Million investigating the most horrific attack on American soil in modern times. They spent Millions more investigating Clinton's cock than they did the tragic death of over 3,000 innocent people.

That is where the National Priorities are and it is why this country is headed for disaster.

Sunset Commission are coming...

2006-04-29T17:07:00.000-07:00

Conservative forces began to coalesce during the Reagan Administration. The primary target of their machinations, plotting, subterfuge, and outrageous lies was to re-form the United States into a Theocratic Totalitarian System. Period. One focus of their actions was to shrink and re-model the U.S. Government itself. As one of their primary financiers and leaders, Grover Norqist has said, "We want to shrink government down to a size that we can drown it in the bathtub."

What this means is that any program that supports social and humanitarian needs will be null and void. All of these duties will be turned over to Evangelical Christianity. What this all means is that there will be no more Federal Government Programs that help the poor, disadvantaged, children, adults, minorities, majorities, and pets. Ain't nobody except the wealthy and the corporations gonna git stuff from the Feds.

We stand to lose Programs such as:

OSHA, the primary, hell, the only, worker safety program in America today.

Gone.

Head start and early learning programs for minorities and disadvantaged children.

Gone.

Clean air and safe drinking water.

Gone.

Healthy air to breathe.

Gone.

Beautiful parks and forests for recreation.

Gone.

Low Income housing, the ONLY means of poor and disadvantaged Americans to be able to afford a roof over their heads.

Gone.

Battered Women's Shelters, and even Farmer's Markets.

Gone.

Federal Programs that provide oversight and regulation of Predatory Corporations over citizens.

Gone.

Federal Disaster Relief.

Gone.

Millions of dollars in repair of infastructure will be spent only if it benefits the Corporate power structure. Anything that benefits citizens directly will be seen as Socialism and will be banned.

About Sunset Commissions: Putting Federal Programs on the Chopping Block

"Proposals are gathering steam in the 109th Congress for "sunset commissions" -- forcing federal programs to plead for their lives before an unelected commission with the power to recommend whether they live or die.

Leading proposals would force federal programs to plead for their lives before an unelected commission, which would have the power to recommend whether the programs live or die. In the major proposals introduced in the 109th Congress, the commission's recommendations would be forced through Congress on a fast-track, take-it-or-leave-it basis, with very constrained debate and no opportunity for amendment.."

Sunset Commissions

"..."Sunset commission" proposals would force all government programs--from CDBG to TANF, EPA to OSHA, DHS to DOD, and everything in between--to plead for their lives on a periodic basis, such as every ten years. The idea is a complicated version of something very simple: government shut downs..."

Currently, the Bush Administration is moving ahead with its plans to completly reshape the entire Federal Government. What is reveling about this plan is that 'non-elected' commission will decide on what programs stays and what goes. Take a wild fucking guess as to who gets on these 'commissions'. If you said, Conservative extremists who are loyal dogs to the Bush Cartel, then you have been paying attention!

If you like Iraq, and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, you will absolutely love Bush's new and improved Federal Government. ( Government Reorganization and Program Performance Improvement Act.)

This 'act' will complete the destruction of America as we know it. There is a belligerent and clench-jawed hatred of American freedom and rights brewing among conservatives. They now have the power to restructure this country into their vision of Democracy. One is which everyone does what the National Religion of Christianity tells them to do. You will worship only Christianity and the bible will be the law of the land (intrepreted of course by conservative evangelical types). Everyone will live in poverty and corporations will rule every aspect of American life. But, we will have the finest slam-bang, action oriented, flash-dance kind of television and movies you have ever seen. The distractions that the new and improved Federal Government creates will be absolutely riveting. You can bet on that.

Meanwhile, while we are distracted with nonsense and pretty pictures, our air, our water, our land, our very existence will be on a for profit basis.

We will have a government that does only three things: 1) Maintains a strong military to crush resistence, both internally and externally. 2) Maintain the profitability of all Corporations. and 3) Support and maintain the National Religion of Evangelical Christianity.

Oh yeah, and elections? These will continue as a pretense, and as long as you vote as you are told to by your ruling evangelical christian megachurch you will be fine. You will get to keep your job, own a home, buy groceries, get loans, go to schools.

IF you vote as instructed. IF you keep your mouth shut.

American Hegemony

2006-04-29T16:59:00.000-07:00

America really has only two real strengths, the Pentagon and the Paper Dollar Bill.

After decades of manipulative foreign and economic exploitation of impoverished nations around the world, The United States has no true allies or much political capital left. For decades the U.S. has employed clever economists and political operatives posing as representatives of private corporations to hornswoggel desperately poor nations to borrow money from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (both of which are in reality fronts for U.S. foreign policy) to build expensive and fairly worthless infastructure for their countries. The have built dams, highways, housing, ports, airports, highrise buildings, as well as investing in worthless public programs that do nothing but waste money. All the while the U.S. sits back, fat and happy, as these desperatly poor countries must repay these 'loans' at a principle and loanshark interest rates that would make Tony Soprano blush with envy. Buzzards have more compassion. Foreign countries owe so much money that they are crippled in their ability to build their nation and deliver a better standard of living to their people. (Confessions of an Economic Hit Man)

The world knows that the United States isn't in the business of exporting 'Democracy", despite what that fool in the White House says and what half the American people believe. The U.S. is in the business of World Hegemony coupled with outrageous profit taking. We are the 800lb gorrilla doing what we please.

To spread and maintain this hegemonic domination we either employ our military to threaten or kill and we use the paper dollar as economic handcuffs, in the form of reserve currency, to control, influence, or dominate foreign nations ( THE NAKED HEGEMON, Part 1: Why the emperor has no clothes, Andre Gunder Frank).

"...The United States is the world's most privileged nation for having the monopoly privilege of printing the world's reserve currency at will and at a cost of nothing but the paper and ink it is printed on. Moreover, by doing so, Uncle Sam can export abroad the inflation he generates by the extra dollars he prints, of which there are already at least three times as many floating around the world as at Uncle Sam's home. Additionally, his is also the only country whose "foreign" debt is mostly denominated in his own world-currency dollars that he can print at will; while most foreigners' debt is also denominated in the same dollar, but they have to buy it from Uncle Sam with their own currency and real goods..." (Frank)

If you are skeptical of our dominance, just ask yourself this, "Would any other country on this planet be able to get away with owing Trillions of dollars to other countries and refuse to pay it back?" Not bloody likely, mate.

2006-04-29T16:58:00.000-07:00

I know, I sound paranoid. I sound like a conspiracy mutt, er..nut. I know much of what I write is interesting only to me and maybe a fringe element of the fringe element...small in numbers but huge in political suspicion.

The new 'Bird Flu Plan of the Bush Administration has me frightened as I can be.

This 'plan' is a model on how to impose strict totalitarian rule on an unsuspecting public. Right down the line, it outlines every step necessary to impose tyranny and maintain it.

Although the local police and law enforcement will have primary duty, the U.S. Military will be on hand to support. In other words, Martial Law.

People should prepare for shortages of food, water, gasoline, and electricity. Not only will there be rationing due to flu outbreak, but because there will be genuine shortages of these items due to the political failures of our leadership. We are reaching the end of the Fossil Fuel World and have nothing to replace it. There will be massive shortages and loss of life because the U.S. political parties refuse to shift to alternative energy sources. The 'Bird flu' is a convienent coverup for these failures.

People will be discourged from having face to face conversations. No hand shaking, no physical contact. People will keep distance from each other. What better way to keep a rebellion from forming?

Public Meetings will be cancelled or curtailed. NO public gatherings may be allowed. There will be curfews to prevent gatherings in the evenings. If we as citizens cannot gather we cannot have political power. There are only two ways to influence policy in this country, either by voting (that is if the votes are honestly counted) or by massive marching in the streets in protest. They have already corrupted the voting process and disrupting mass protests in next. I know, you will probably say, "But we influenced the power cartel by our internet gathering. Look at Moveon.org and others. WE have great power on the internet." Do you? Really? If you cannot vote and you cannot physically march, then what power do you really have? None.

The public will be quarantined if 'Bird Flu' is suspected. The Federal Government has already built 'camps' to put refugee's and others that warrant exclusion from the public. Great way to control angry citizens, put them in camps for re-education. This is a popular and effective move by all totalitarian governments.

New ID cards so that closer identification of individuals is possible.

Travel, both domestically and internationally will be restricted.

Bird Flu vaccines will be available in a priority basis. That is, the wealthy and powerful get theirs, then the medical, police, and military, then the weak and elderly, then the rest. Those most able to oppose the Political corruption will be denied vaccines until it is too late.

These and many more details are evolving to support the contention that Bird Flu Planning is really nothing more than the imposition of totalitarian rule on America.

Ask yourself this question: Has the 'Bird Flu' ever impacted any country to the level that this type of 'plan' is necessary? A few people get sick, a few people die. But it is less than a handful. What indications are there that this bird flu is any more virulent or dangerous than any other type of flu floating about?

Lets be clear on something. I do think a pandemic is likely at some point. Humanity has screwed up the natural processes of this planet too much and has created disease pathways that link all nations and all people. So that a disase in Zimbabwe is easily tranported to New York. Plus there are far too many humans on this planet, too crowded, too poor, too lacking in basic sanitary practices, too lacking in adequate nutrition, clean water, and medical care. We are ripe for the disease vectors to take control.

BUT, is this Bird Flu the pandemic? Not so far. Could it be? Yup. But, if you want to look at real versus perceieved or potential threats to America, Bird Flu itself is low on the list. What is right there at the top of the list for threats to America and American Citizens is the political party in control, the Evangelical Conservative Republicans. There is clear and unmistakable signs that the powerful Conservative Republicans, led by the little tin god Bush, are deeply committed to imposing their version of reality on this country. They want to rule, and they want their peculiar reality as the only reality of the land.

They will stop at nothing to create a theocratic fascist state in America and this Bird Flu response plan appears to be a well thought out machination to lock down the nation for this purpose. The Bushites and their ilk have gone too far, broken too many laws, corrupted too many elections to stop now. Complete and supreme power over America is their goal, and this new Bird Flu Plan is ideal to impose martial law under the guise of public health.

2006-04-29T13:45:00.000-07:00

As I understand it, Hedge Funds, are not accessible to most Americans. These are funds that are barely regulated by the Feds, and only the wealthy are engaged in this kind of trading. Hedge Funds, as I understand them, are exclusively the province of wealthy investors and corporations.

Trading Frenzy Adding to Rise in Price of Oil

By JAD MOUAWAD and HEATHER TIMMONS

Published: April 29, 2006

"A global economic boom, sharply higher demand, extraordinarily tight supplies and domestic instability in many of the world's top oil-producing countries — in that environment higher oil prices were inevitable...."

"...On Nymex, oil contracts held mostly by hedge funds — essentially private investment vehicles for the wealthy and institutions, run by traders who share the risks and rewards with their partners.."

Be aware of this...the Wealthy are making fortunes off of rising oil prices. It is in their best interest to keep prices soaring...after all, they don't have to worry about disposable income or how much it costs to fill the tank.

The United States of America is in dire economic straights. WE are told quite often that we have a 'strong economy' and a rising Gross Domestic Product (GDP), however, these statements only reflect the financial growth of corporations and the wealthy elite, they have NOTHING to do with the ordinary American. Ordinary Americans are begining to hurt, big time and it has only started. Rising fuel prices are not going to ease, a lie perpetrated by mass media and our politicians. Fuel prices are going up and along with them will be EVERTHING else. Everything. Food, clothing, utilities, housing, household goods, appliances, everything.

"... “The United States is now facing a current account deficit that cannot be sustained, a falling currency, and an energy crisis, all at once. It is now the world's largest debtor nation, and most people do not see how it can avoid defaulting on its debt. According to a lot of analysts, it is technically bankrupt, and is being propped up by foreign reserve banks, which hold a lot of dollar-denominated assets, and, for the time being, want to protect the value of their reserves. This game can only go on for so long. Thus, while the Soviet Union deserves honorable mention for going bankrupt first, the gold in this category (pun intended) will undoubtedly go to the United States , for the largest default ever.”..."(Dmitry Orlov, Post-Soviet Lessons for a Post-American Century.)

At some point every American is going to realize that we have been sold down the river by both of our political parties. Thereafter, I expect politicians will be hunted like rabid skunks.

After you read that, go to Mike Ruppert's new column.

THE PARADIGM IS THE ENEMY: The State of the Peak Oil Movement at the Cusp of Collapse

A Speech by Michael C. Ruppert for the Local Solutions to the Energy Dilemma Conference
April 27-29, New York City, at Cooper Union

"..Do we dare assume that Americans are special and somehow exempt from all the vicissitudes that have befallen every other collapse of empire in history?.."

He does an Excellent job in pointing out the fallacies and dangers we now face. Regarding his statement about 'do we Americans think we are special and that catastrophe cannot befall us as it has every civilization'? I fully realize that few Americans really understand this truth. Do you?

thoughts on April 29, 2006

2006-04-29T13:07:00.000-07:00

This is the real question, the heart of the American assault on Iraq....It was NEVER about Weapons of Mass Destruction; NEVER about bringing Democracy to that land; NEVER about subduing a rogue Tyrant; It has always been, from day one when Bush decided to invade, sometime around 1999 the way I figure it, about OIL!!! Only OIL!

"...Here's the essence of our energy policy. Imagine this: you pull into a gas station and tell the attendant to fill up the gas tank. It comes time to pay and the attendant asks "Which of your children do you want to sacrifice in payment." Which child must die? Ridiculous? How is that different than what we are doing in the Middle East?..."

Bodies for Barrels: Betrayal and Energy Dependence
By Michael A. Fox
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Further, it has nothing to do with the Good of America, it is about PROFIT for Bush and his chronies; it is about power over others; it is about control; it is about being King. Thousands of innocent people, American as well as Iraqi, are dying in horrible agony so that George W. Bush, and his NeoConservative or Conservative allies and hencemen, can gain great profit and great power. And now, Bush is preparing to do it all over again in Iran.

This isn't about America or Christianity, this is about pure Evil.

2006-04-28T11:00:00.000-07:00

2006-04-28T10:59:00.000-07:00

2006-04-28T09:49:00.000-07:00

Sometimes the Press actually does its job.....

"...Rice and Rumsfeld stumped by a reporter’s excellent question: “A full 10 seconds of silence passed after a reporter asked Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld what the intense secrecy and security surrounding their visit to Iraq signified about the stability of the country three years after the U.S.-led invasion. Rice turned to Rumsfeld to provide the answer. Rumsfeld glared at the reporter.”.." (The Progress Report)

George Orwell - Notes on Nationalism

2006-04-28T07:35:00.000-07:00

Wisdom exists, the words of people who have come before us, who have struggled with the same issues of War and Poverty; Class warfare and the notion that profit is more important then the wellbeing of people; Life changing environmental damage and seeking safety in a dangerous world; Political and Relgious ideology that are mere shackles to brutalize and imprison freedom and conscience. We could learn so much and minimize so much heartache if only we were literate enough to study their words. If only we would study their words, and remember their lessons that they struggled so valiently to pass along to us.

"...At times like these, it’s worthwhile recalling George Orwell’s distinction between patriotism and nationalism. Orwell wrote the essay “Notes on Nationalism” in 1945, just as the most cataclysmic war in human history was ending in Europe.

“By patriotism,” he wrote, “I mean devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life, which one believes to be the best in the world, but has no wish to force upon other people. Patriotism is of its nature defensive, both militarily and culturally.”

Nationalism, as Orwell defined it, “is inseparable from the desire for power.... A nationalist is one who thinks solely, or mainly, in terms of competitive prestige.... His thoughts always turn on victories, defeats, triumphs and humiliations.” To Orwell, it was “power hunger tempered by self-deception,” a kind of moral insanity. (Is Our Democracy Sleepwalking Into a Nightmare? Gene Lyons) ..."

Bush...Cheney...Rice..Rumsfeld..will someone help us?

2006-04-27T16:14:00.000-07:00

American "Democracy"

2006-04-27T07:27:00.000-07:00

Ahhh right, how many of you out there think we live in a free and democratic country? Don't be shy, raise your hands....no one will see you, sitting there at your computer, all alone, friendless, quiet dark house, your face illuminated by the monitor, your hand raised high..... and what is it that makes this country such a bastion of freedom? I bet you that most Americans would thump their chests, glow with patriotic fervor, and shout, "We are a Democracy, so the citizens elect our leaders fairly and squarely....hooo-rahhh!"

...ahh, that would be a myth there Mr. and Mrs. Patriot....

Twenty Amazing Facts about Voting in the United States

By Bob Rowe

1. 80% of all votes in America are counted by only two companies: Diebold and ES&S.

2. There is no federal agency with regulatory authority or oversight of the US voting machine industry.

3. The vice-president of Diebold and the president of ES&S are brothers.

4. The chairman and CEO of Diebold is a major Bush campaign organizer and donor who wrote in 2003 that he was “committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year.”

5. 35% of ES&S is owned by Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, who became Senator based on votes counted by ES&S machines.

6. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, a long-time friend of the Bush family, was caught lying about his ownership of ES&S by the Senate Ethics Committee.

7. Senator Chuck Hagel was on a short list of George W. Bush’s vice- presidential candidates.

8. ES&S is the largest voting machine manufacturer in the US and counts almost 60% of all US votes.

9. Diebold’s new touch screen voting machines have no paper trail of any votes. In other words, there is no way to verify that the data coming out of the machine is the same as what was legitimately put in by voters.

10. Diebold also makes ATMs, checkout scanners, and ticket machines, all of which log each transaction and can generate a paper trail.

11. Diebold is based in Ohio.

12. Diebold employs 5 convicted felons as developers. These are the people who write the voting machine computer code.

13. Diebold’s Senior Vice-President, Jeff Dean, was convicted of 23 counts of felony theft in the first degree.

14. Diebold Senior Vice-President Jeff Dean was convicted of planting back doors in his software and using a “high degree of sophistication” to evade detection over a period of 2 years.

15. None of the international election observers were allowed in the polls in Ohio.

16. California banned the use of Diebold machines because the security was so bad. Despite Diebold’s claims that the audit logs could not be hacked, a chimpanzee was able to do it! (See the movie at http://blackboxvoting.org/baxter/baxterVPR.mov.)

17. 30% of all US votes are carried out on unverifiable touch screen voting machines with no paper trail.

18. Bush’s Help America Vote Act of 2002 has as its goal to replace all machines with the new electronic touch screen systems with no paper trail.

19. All—not some—but all the voting machine errors detected and reported went in favor of Bush or Republican candidates.

20. Major statistical voting oddities (odds on the order of 250 million to 1!)—again always favoring Bush—have been mathematically demonstrated by experts.

Such amazing odds, the equivalent of statistical miracles these were. Was it God? or was it Diebold…?

What the above information tells you is that Fascism or Totalitarianism, anything But Democracy, is alive in this land. Destroy free and fair elections and you destroy Democracy. Period.

Lastly, if you think that George W. Bush and his minions are going to quietly surrender power at the end of their eight years...you ain't paying attention.

Those pesky traffic stops....

2006-04-26T14:43:00.000-07:00

The following is a list of the top 15 Police Comments that were

reportedly taken off of actual police car videos around the country:

15 "Relax, the handcuffs are tight because they're new. They'll stretch

out after you wear them awhile."

#14 "Take your hands off the car, and I'll make your birth certificate a

worthless document."

#13 "If you run, you'll only go to jail tired."

#12 "Can you run faster than 1200 feet per second? In case you didn't

know, that is the average speed of a 9mm bullet fired from my gun."

#11 "So you don't know how fast you were going. I guess that means I can

write anything I want on the ticket, huh?"

#10 "Yes, sir, you can talk to the shift supervisor, but I don't think

it will help. Oh ... did I mention that I am the shift supervisor?"

#9 "Warning! You want a warning? O.K., I'm warning you not to do that

again or I'll give you another ticket."

#8 "The answer to this last question will determine whether you are

drunk or not. Was Mickey Mouse a cat or a dog?"

#7 "Fair? You want me to be fair? Listen, fair is a place where you go

to ride on rides, eat cotton candy, and step in monkey DOO."

#6 "Yeah, we have a quota. Two more tickets and my wife gets a toaster

oven."

#5 "In God we trust, all others we run through NCIC."

#4 "Just how big were those two beers?"

#3 "No, Sir, we don't have quotas anymore. We used to have quotas but

now we're allowed to write as many tickets as we want."

#2 "I'm glad to hear the Chief of Police is a good personal friend of

yours. At least you know someone who can post your bail."

#1 "You didn't think we give pretty women tickets?...You're right, we

don't...Sign here.

Things that you shouldn't say to a Cop:

1. I can't reach my license unless you hold my beer. (OK in Texas)

2. Sorry, Officer, I didn't realize my radar detector wasn't plugged in.

3.Aren't you the guy from the Village People?

4. Hey, you must've been doin' about 145 mph to keep up with me. Good job!

5. Are You Andy or Barney?

6. I thought you had to be in relatively good physical condition to be a police officer.

7. You're not gonna check the trunk, are you?

8. I pay your salary!

9. Gee, Officer! That's terrific. The last officer only gave me a warning, too!

10. Do you know why you pulled me over? Okay, just so one of us does.

11. I was trying to keep up with traffic. Yes, I know there are no

other cars around.. That's how far ahead of me they are.

12. When the Officer says "Gee Your eyes look red, have you been

drinking?", you probably shouldn't respond with,"Gee Officer your eyes look glazed,

have you been eating doughnuts?"

(thanks Brother Bill and Lamar)

2006-04-26T14:36:00.000-07:00

If there is to any hope it must come from the youth who have the enthusiasm to question authority; The willingness to risk; and the inherent hope of a long future.

This is a letter written by a young man who see's very clearly the disasterous policies of Bush and the republicans. I am proud to print this letter and proud that there are young Americans out there who understand and demand change.

April 24, 2006

Dear Honorary President,

How can a leader truly represent the people when he does not live like

them? Those in office do not send their children to public schools,

where ‘No Child Left Behind’ has devastated the educational system.

Those in office do not dare to walk amongst the streets of the ghetto,

where their help is needed the most. Those in office don’t dare do

anything more than act as if they wish to help the people. If those who

had the power to truly make a difference cared, they would walk amongst

those who needed help as Mahatma Gandhi and other brilliant leaders have.

The government has taxed the middle and lower classes into despair,

while cutting those who need not fear taxes a tax break. Why does the

government not lower taxes for the lower classes, and raise taxes for

millionaires, and billionaires, of our nation? The owners of oil

companies have made more money in a quarter of a year than any other

company has in an entire year. These people have money to spare, yet

share none of it. Actors, singers, and professional sports players make

millions a day. It is they who should carry the heaviest burden, not

those whom cannot bear the weight.

Same sex marriages are being banned in multiple states; however, this

too is a removal of the rights of the American people. The reason for

the law forbidding same sex marriage is based on the bible, which states

that a man and a woman is the only marriage. However, the First

Amendment declares that; “Congress shall make no law respecting an

establishment of religion”, which states that no law based on a

religious teaching can be imposed upon the American People. In light of

this argument, any law forbidding the marriage between two people of the

same sex would be unconstitutional.

The Patriot Act has been put in place for the purpose of legally

stripping away the rights of the American people, and therefore should

never have been passed. The Fourth Amendment clearly states that a

person’s right to privacy cannot be infringed upon unless given a

warrant by a neutral judge. No records on a civilian may be searched,

nor may a warrant be issued, without probable cause. Instead of simply

saying that a civilian is believed to be part of a terrorist group,

sufficient evidence should be required before a warrant is issued, or a

search takes place. The Patriot Act grants the power to the government

to grant a warrant for physical searches, wiretaps, and subpoenas of

business records as long as the government states that there is any

foreign intelligence basis for the search. Once again, evidence should

be required that foreign intelligence is present other than the

government’s word, when the government is run by humans, and humans are

liable to lie.

Gas prices are ravaging the ordinary citizen as the prices per gallon

breaks the three-dollar mark. The price of oil is to blame, however, has

the government considered finding an alternate to oil to relieve some of

the pressure of the rising prices? Brazil, South Americas largest

country, provides 40% of it’s own energy via sugar cane; which in turn

drives the average price for gasoline down to a much more reasonable two

dollars a gallon. The United States could quite possibly tap this energy

source as well, as scientific advances in the field of agriculture could

produce large amounts of sugar cane in nearly any environment. The farms

could tackle the issue of energy prices by providing yet another cheap

energy source, as well as provide possibly hundreds of thousands of jobs

to decrease the unemployment rate in America. A simple solution though

it may be, it would appear to be quite an effective solution.

No Child Left Behind was based on scientific research on what methods

work best. What has not been noted is that there is no ‘best’ method,

for no two minds think exactly alike. While ‘No Child Left Behind’ may

help one group of students, others are left behind still yet. As well as

thinking in different ways, minds can grasp different amounts of

material at different speeds. Some gifted students may learn at a much

more accelerated rate while others will take a longer amount of time to

grasp the material presented. If a teacher presents the material too

quickly, the gifted students will be able to keep up while the rest of

the students fall behind and give up. On the other hand, should a

teacher present the material too slowly, the advanced students will

quickly become bored and may decide that school is not worth their time.

Recent research has shown that 30% of High School Students will drop

out, and of those most have passing grades. Why would they drop out most

ask, only for them to respond, “School was too boring.” This could be a

sign that either they didn’t care enough, or that the system failed them

in which most cases the latter holds true. Our government spends 20% of

its national budget on our military, yet we spend less than 4% on our

education. In this time of crisis, a large budget is needed for our

military, yet is the nation’s youth, the future of the United States,

really only worth 4% of our nation’s budget? With more money, schools

could hire a more diverse selection of teachers, and spend more time

with finding a student’s specific needs and matching them with a teacher

who would yield greater results when educating this student. Our

nation’s education system is far from perfect, and ‘No Child Left

Behind’ has not made matters any better. Take this from a student who

lives with the effects of ‘No Child Left Behind’ every day.

The reasons behind the lawsuits that are taking place against the state

and federal governments are the high standards set for the schools are

unrealistic. The "No Child Left Behind" was put into place to prevent

students from being forced into being educated in a mediocre school,

however even top notch schools are suffering as students who do not

grasp the material that is being presented are advanced, where they are

in turn failed later on for not knowing what they never understood

properly. This reflects poorly on the school, which is then punished for

something that was not their fault. The system put in place by "No Child

Left Behind" has set every school in our nation up for failure.

I may be a single mind, but I am no fool. For every thought I share with

you is shared by thousands of American citizens. If you are to ignore

the mind of a single citizen, does this mean you ignore the thoughts of

hundreds of thousands as well? In order to truly lead our wonderful

Nation, you must walk in the shoes of the nation’s people. You must

truly listen to the people; get to know them and how your laws and taxes

affect them. Until the government lives with, lives like, and lives for

it’s people, the people will suffer as those in power live oblivious to

the horrors that grasp at our beautiful nation.

“You assist an evil system most effectively by obeying its orders and

decrees.

An evil system never deserves such allegiance.

Allegiance to it means partaking of the evil.

A good person will resist an evil system with his or her whole soul.”

– Mahatma Gandhi

(Thanks Kharyn)

2006-04-26T09:26:00.000-07:00

Cartoons are so important because they reveal the truth, often unintentionally. In this one, the republican zealot cartoonist is trying to get you to believe that the real culprit behind the recent staggering spike in gasoline prices in the President of Iran. However, what this cartoon really shows is that the price of Gasoline is decided by the Oil Companies, not Iran. What Iran says or does in this circumstance has nothing what so ever to do with gasoline prices. The Oil Companies have increased the price of gasoline way beyond the price of crude increases, thereby creating a enormous profit windfall for themselves.

Like so many republicans, this cartoonist is nothing but a paid whore for the oil companies.

2006-04-25T08:22:00.000-07:00

2006-04-25T08:21:00.000-07:00

2006-04-24T17:08:00.000-07:00

Identify the members of Bush's Administration...win a prize!

just a thought...

2006-04-24T16:46:00.000-07:00

So, lets see, the Oil companies, that is, the giants ( Exxon, Shell, Texaco) have gathered together somewhere and jointly decided to restrict the flow of oil into this country, so that they can raise the prices, and get more profit. And we have an Administration that is as corrupt as nun who gives blowjobs in the church parking lot. Do you think there is anyone to stop them?

And my God the money Bush is stealing with his double bookkeeping for the costs of the war in Iraq, Bush wants $90 Billion More...

"...Since March 2003, "Congress has approved about $250 billion in supplemental spending for the mission." Now, the administration wants more than $90 billion more to pay for operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and rebuilding on the Gulf Coast. The Senate is set to consider an even more bloated version of the request this week..."

...Bush refuses to list the costs of the war into the federal budget. Instead he demands money for Iraq with "Emergency Supplemental Spending Bills", which are outside the Federal budgetary process. Further it does not go into the calculations of the federal debt, thereby underreporting the amount of debt by about $340 Billion! In this way Bush can openly hide the true costs of his military blunders, at least in terms of money.

And look it Haliburton, billions of dollars in profit from the Bush Administration, and a company that has been in business with the Bush Family for damn near generations. Shit, no conflict there.

The Bush Administration will go down as the most corrupt of all democratic governments, anywhere in the world, anytime, and in any combination.

2006-04-24T07:34:00.000-07:00

Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq

"The invasion of Iraq in 2003 was not an isolated episode. It was the culmination of a 110-year period during which Americans overthrew fourteen governments that displeased them for various ideological, political, and economic reasons."

Democracy Now! - Broadcast date: 04/21/06

"...Clausewitz...called it, “suicide for fear of death.” You are so afraid of what's happening to you in the world or what might happen to you that you go out and launch operations, which actually produce the result that you were afraid might happen if you didn't do these things...." (Stephen Kinzer, to Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!)

Sound familiar?

The facts are that the United States has preemptively invaded other nations for damn near its entire history. Specifically, the first invasion of soverign nations came when Europeans 'discovered' America. They invaded the soverign nations of Native American Peoples, established their own country after killing, maiming, an destroying the natives, formed a government, then proceeded to launch invasions against many other soverign nations. It is a repeated time worn pattern of this country.

America
Louisiana Purchase
Alaska
Hawaii
Africa
Costa Rica
Haiti
Eucuador
Panama
Cuba
Phillipines
Mexico
World War I
World War II
Korea
Vietnam
Grenada
Iraq I
Iraq II
Afganistan

This is just a quick partial list of the countries and events in which the United States of America has militarily attacked other countries. The specific circumstances vary, but the pattern in the same:

American Businesses seek profit;
They encounter foreign country that resists;
U.S. Government finds a person or persons in that country to demonize;
U.S. News Media joins the fray by claiming "liberty" is at stake, rallies American public;
American Military Attacks;
U.S. Business gets huge profits.

Maybe more Americans should learn their own damn history.

just a thought...

2006-04-22T18:36:00.000-07:00

To understand the behavior of other human beings and develop compassion, you must seek to seperate the intentional from the unintentional.
bog

2006-04-22T11:34:00.000-07:00

One of the things that has always intrigued me was that the Republicans, as well as many others, appear to be oblivious to the environmental and societal problems their ideology creates.

For instance, the Superfund specifically to force polluting corporations to pay for cleanup of toxic wastes. This is a good thing. No one could reasonably argue that toxic waste doesen't have to be cleaned up. No one can argue that poisoning the water, air, and soil we all depend on for basic living is a bad thing. Further, no one could reasonably argue that the people who cause the toxic waste shouldn't be the one's to clean it up.

So, why have Republicans gutted the Superfund? Aren't their children and their children's children going to suffer the consequences? Don't these CEO's and CFO's and boards of directors and stock holders, don't they have a stake in clean water, air and soil too? Why have they moved to weaken or outright kill environmental legislation and regulation?

This seemed contrary to the best interest of even the wealthy. So why would they be so unconcerned?

Recently I read Collapse, by Jared Diamond, and in this book on why societies collapse he pointed out that in a society in which the wealthy, or ruling class, must share the consequences of their actions, they tend to be much more proactive in solving problems. Therefore, the ruling elite recognize problems that could negatively impact their society and they figure out solutions. But, the obverse of this is when the ruling elite do NOT share the these consequences with the rest of the public. In this case, problems tend to be ignored until they reach crisis proportions, and by then it is too late, the entire society collapses. Further, the more disconnected the ruling elite are from the consequences of their actions, the more disasterous the collapse of this society.

Why is it that our national leadership seems to unconcerned about the truly great issues of our day? Overpopulation; Environmental Pollution; Disasterous Climate Change; Ongoing war and conflict; Rotting infrastructure; Collapsing national parks; Skyrocketing national debt; Mounting poverty and disenfrachisement of huge segments of our population; Rampant and blatant racism; Sexism; Increasing power and influence of extreme religious fanatics; Electronic voting that is not credible or accurate; Corrosion of checks and balances in governement; Corruption of politicians; Growing divide between rich and poor, with 2% of the population controlling 57% of all wealth in this country; Declining educational achievements of students and crippling cost of higher education; Outsourcing of well paying jobs to foreign lands with subsequent impoverishment of American Citizens; Millions of Americans without any form of health care; Millions of Americans without any form of retirement; Millions of Americans losing these benefits after they had been promised them by industry; Inflation and an every weakening dollar; and much more.

So what is going on in this country? The wealthy have their gated and select communities, bottled water, specialty stores at prices only they can afford, private police force (Blackwater, et al.), private vacations mansions in Montana and across the globe, even their money is no longer physically in this country, but in foreign, non-taxable, bank accounts. The ruling elite don't even pay their fair share of taxes, so it doesn't matter how the government spends it because they don't pay anyway. The ruling elite live, travel, vacation, eat, drink, shop in an entirely different world than the rest of the citizens in this land.

The reality is that the wealthy ruling elite of American do NOT share the consequences of their decesions, or lack of them, with the common U.S. citizen and are, in fact, well insulated from the 'real' world, so they have little to no interest in solving these crippling issues of our day.

Unfortunatly, these are issues that cannot be adequately solved by grass roots movements or coalitions. These are major issues that must be solved nationally because they impact all citizens.

This brings us to the purpose of government.

I don't believe government is responsible for all our problems or all our solutions. Most can be dealt with, and should be dealt with at a local level. But, the purpose of government is to level the playing field. It is to act as an agency that should keep predatory corporations in check with a system of rules and regulations everyone must follow. Government is there to protect and serve the enitire population, not just the wealthy and powerful. They do this by establishing programs for those who are not as capable, not as strong, not has able as the rest. The do this by establishing a system by which all citizens are healthy, provided basic needs, and are ruled by a judiciary that seeks justice for all. They do this by ensuring that all citizens get equality and opportunity. Each individual must make the most of their own lives, so government is there to give them the chance, not the guarantee, only the chance.

Government must be neutral at the very least.

I believe that government has a responsiblity for the wellbeing of all its citizens.

Unfortunately, our government is entirely run by the wealthy elite ruling class and is not representative or responsive to the average citizen. It is a tool of the wealthy.

And as I pointed out above, if the wealthy are not negatively effected by specific problems, they will not solve them. Since our government is owned by the wealthy, many of these issues will be left to fester, rotting the very hope of every day citizens for a better tomorrow.

Israel v Arab

2006-04-21T22:40:00.000-07:00

Every now and then you get an image that speaks volumns...sometimes a vast and complex history can be displayed by a mere single image...this is one of those. This is a GREAT Image. And I don't care wether you agree or not...this image portrays a reality very well.

a little bit of this and that.....

2006-04-21T07:04:00.000-07:00

Backdoor to New Nukes

"....it looks like a new Energy Department initiative is going to be used to build a whole new class of nukes, pumping up the American stockpile.

The Washington Post reports that by November, the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration "plans to select the design of a new generation of nuclear warheads that would be more dependable and possibly able to be disarmed in the event they fell into terrorist hands."..."

That's comforting....what about if they fall into 'republican hands'?

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

Forrest Gump's Evil Twin

By Stephen Pizzo, News for Real. Posted April 21, 2006.

"...morons get downright testy when someone challenges what they think they know. We saw this trait earlier this week when Bush was asked if he thought Don Rumsfeld should resign. The moron lashed out at the questioner, dashed into his imaginary phone booth and emerged as The Decider. "I'm the decider," he pronounced, with Mussolini-like swagger. You see, scratch a moron and beneath that smirking, ignorance-is-bliss exterior, you discover a fundamental truth: Beauty may be only skin deep, but moron goes right to the bone..."

Worst president of all time....
============================================

What You Need To Believe To Be A Republican:

Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton.

Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush's daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him, and a bad guy when Bush needed a "we can't find Bin Laden" diversion.

Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is Communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.

The United States should get out of the United Nations, and our highest national priority is enforcing U.N. resolutions against Iraq.

A woman can't be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multi-national corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind without regulation.

The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches, while slashing veterans' benefits and combat pay.

If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won't have sex.

A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our long-time allies, then demand their cooperation and money.

Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy, but providing health care to all Americans is socialism. HMOs and insurance companies have the best interests of the public at heart.

Global warming and tobacco's link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.

A president lying about an extramarital affair is a impeachable offense, but a president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is solid defense policy.

Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.

The public has a right to know about Hillary's cattle trades, but George Bush's driving record is none of our business.

Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a conservative radio host. Then it's an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery.

Supporting "Executive Privilege" for every Republican ever born, who will be born or who might be born (in perpetuity.)

What Bill Clinton did in the 1960s is of vital national interest, but what Bush did in the '80s is irrelevant.

Support for hunters who shoot their friends and blame them for wearing orange vests similar to those worn by the quail! (Quayle?)

Feel free to pass this on. If you don't send it to at least 10 other people, we're likely to be stuck with more Republicans in '06 and '08.

Friends don't let

friends vote Republican

(thanks Bob)

2006-04-20T15:29:00.000-07:00

2006-04-20T15:28:00.000-07:00

Face to face in America

2006-04-19T09:21:00.000-07:00

I believe we are witnessing the waning days of American Hegemony. George W. Bush is not an accident of politics, he is a genuine representative of the worst of American values and beliefs.

Bush represents unbridled arrogance; blind ambition; hubris; Religious intolerance and rigidity; racism; rage; emphasis of style over substance; 'quick fix' mentality; 'wealth makes right'; belief in inherent supiority; acceptance of the overwhelming power of the State; Fear of loss; intellectual laziness and ignorance; confusion of reality and religion; belief in punishment over discussion as a means of learning; rampant paternalism; and lastly, naivety. This is not to impugn that America has no redeeming qualities. Obviously it does. But these are the worst of our traits and they have come back to haunt this land.

These traits far outweigh the good and their accumulation without question in this society has brought us to this state.

Their will be new super powers to take our place, but, curiously, they won't be based on petroleum. They, China and India for example, are doing their level best to be a clone of American's success, but they can't do it. America succeeded because we had unlimited access to cheap oil. This is no longer possible.

Is this just a depressing perspective? Perhaps. But it is also true. Like individuals, societies must occasionally look in the mirror and check their beliefs against the real world. America, and Americans have been on a blind drunk ever since Oil was 'discovered' in Pennsylvania. We have built a standard of living unparalleled in modern times because we were fortunate to have lots of good land and lots of inexpensive energy. These fortunate circumstances gave America the belief that we deserved these riches, when in fact these are nothing more than favorable luck. Like a drunk that mistakenly gets into a Mercedes BEnz instead of his 1954 Ford, the people of America assumed they were entitled to these riches.

Perhaps the loss of 'superpower' status will be a good thing. Perhaps we will begin to soften our harsh and punishment oriented culture. Perhaps we can let go of our arrogance and realize that we are part of a larger world and that we belong, not as a ruler, but as a participant.

Perhaps we will learn that all humans are part of the living planet, we are not French, American, Indian, Iranian, Japanese, Chinese, what ever, these are just labels we have given ourselves to create power. If we could ever learn to drop the nationalistic barriers and see each other as equals on a finite planet, we might finally learn what it is to be human.

I know, won't happen. Too much time and money is invested in the power positions now girdling the earth. For humanity to change there will have to be a cataclismic event.

brace yourself.....

2006-04-17T15:55:00.000-07:00

2006-04-17T15:54:00.000-07:00

Tax Day

2006-04-17T15:41:00.000-07:00

oh dear....tax day....time to pay the lord of war....Did ya hear? Cheney will get $1.9 million back in taxes. imagine that. He personally hands Haliburton a sweetheart no bid contract worth BILLIONS, gets very very rich because he is holding a bunch of Haliburton Stock, and to top it all off, he gets millions back out of our pockets too.

If I didn't know better I would swear that he has finagled the country to personally enrich himself....maybe I'll just swear....

"....TAXES -- BUSH USES TAX DAY TO PUSH FOR MORE TAX BREAKS FOR THE WEALTHY: Over the weekend, before tax filings were due, President Bush used his radio address to ask Congress to extend his tax cuts permanently. "Tax relief has done exactly what it was designed to do," Bush said. "It has created jobs and growth for the American people." But the Los Angeles Times found that as the tax code's progressivity decreased under Bush, "tax rates have contributed to huge increases in the wealth of the wealthy, but so far most people haven't seen significant economic improvement." "It's as if Santa Claus dropped bags of money down everybody's chimney," said the Tax Policy Center's Leonard E. Burman. "Only he dropped extra-big bags in rich people's homes, and extra-small ones in smaller homes." One recipient of Santa's largest "bags of money" this year is Vice President Dick Cheney, who reportedly is entitled to a $1.9 million tax refund. The disparity between the wealthiest Americans and everyone else has grown. "Last year, for example, a typical corporate chief executive officer made 279 times the average pay of a non-supervisory production worker," according to an American Progress report. Meanwhile, conservative senators are using budget gimmickry to mask the deficits that more tax cuts for the wealthy would create. "That's amazing," the Washington Post's editorial board writes, "even from this Congress."..."

comments on previous post.

2006-04-14T10:19:00.000-07:00

Comments from Post "The end of the internet as we know it?"

oldhats said...

I'd be alarmed by your predictions if I didn't have some other relevant facts. 1) The vast majority of consumers have a choice of more than 2 ISPs. 2) The free market works. 3) Net neutrality is not being threatened and, if it were threatened (see 1 & 2), the market would solve the problem quickly.

9:12 AM

John Michal Whitten said...

I wish you were right. However, 'the market'is not the solution. It is the problem. The 'market' is not a free and independent entity. The market is simply the reflection of choices made by huge corporate and political power in this country. There is no 'free' market.

Lets take this analogy, you are shopping in a Farmer's Market and are amazed at the variety and price of goods avaiable to you. You think, "wow, the market is good for everybody". The problem is, that major interests control who gets to sell at the Farmer's Market. Each little space must be approved by these interests. Corporate Power determines who gets to participate. In other words, it is the middle man that makes up the market. You have the vendor and the buyer and a middle man who puts them together in such a way as to maximize his own profit over the interests of the other two.

This middle man is the 'free market'.

I stand by my prediction, the internet is vulnerable to corporate and political control and the 'free market' is just a smoke screen.

8:10 AM

said...

Let me add one more point. A 'free Market' system can only work with the collusion of government. This is because corporate powers tend to seek to control the market. If government is honest, regulations and oversight are available to keep corporate power honest. However, when government is owned by corporations then the regulations and laws are written solely to support corporate power at the expense of consumers and other businesses that do not have this clout.

The American government is wholly owned by corporate power. There is no free market.

BOG

10:18 AM

To further augment my point:

"...CORPORATE POWER -- AOL CENSORED ADVOCACY GROUPS' EMAILS: Dozens of advocacy groups have teamed up to oppose AOL's decision to "charge companies about 1/4 cent to send a message that will bypass spam filters." E-mails from paying companies will go straight to a user's inbox, but e-mails from non-paying companies will go through the "gauntlet of spam filters that could divert them to a junk-mail folder or strip them of images and Web links," even if they're not spam. A coalition of groups with about 15 million members -- DearAOL -- formed recently to campaign against AOL's scheme, arguing that it will not stop spam and will create a two-tiered Internet of the haves and have-nots, harming nonprofits and small businesses. AOL's strategy to counter their critics: censorship. According to the Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF), AOL yesterday began blocking delivery to AOL customers of all e-mails that include a link to the DearAOL coalition's website. Twenty minutes after EFF distributed its release about the censorship, AOL ended the practice, but the fact that it occurred at all is very troubling. "The fact is, ISPs like AOL commonly make these kinds of arbitrary decisions – silently banning huge swathes of legitimate mail on the flimsiest of reasons – every day, and no one hears about it," an EFF official said..."

Plainly put, the Corporate world is not interested in a free market and they aren't going to allow it. Period.

2006-04-13T16:03:00.000-07:00

dig this....

The Flutter Valve

"...In the case of the United States ruling class, those political boundaries ( National Boundaries) have served for some time as a kind of flutter-valve. That valve allows free movement of the one percent of our population that now owns sixty percent of all stock and forty percent of all wealth in the US (the richest two percent owns fifty-six percent (!) of the wealth). They can move freely around the world in search of fifteen-year-old girls who will work in a sweatshop ten hours a day for two dollars, while they are sexually preyed upon by their bosses. And this dominant class can move freely to dispatch armies of their own working class to seize nations with the misfortune of being on or near diminishing underground oceans of fossil energy. But the same valve tightly regulates the movement of working people. So-called “illegal aliens” (how a person can be illegal is still a mystery to me) are not kept out of the US; their flow is regulated—officially and unofficially..."

Stan Goff
Military/ Veterans Affairs Editor, From the Wilderness

2006-04-13T13:44:00.000-07:00

"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?"

Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)