Oh the Humanity

It does not matter if you are Asian; Japanese, Chinese, or from Hong Kong. It does not care if you are American; North or South, Peruvian, or an Eskimo. There is no difference between a German, an American, a Russian, or an African. Every single one of us is human.

A human being.

We're trying to be better. But war does not discriminate hate it prescribes it for us all. Like ripples caused by throwing a pebble into a pond, those waves at the epicenter are largest. Those at the center of this war are having their souls drenched in gasoline and set on fire. Our fellow humans are in hell and here is what hell does to people.





What kind of humanity lets this happen? If any country came into ours and caused this, in no way, shape, or form would it be seen as liberation, democracy, or freedom. Maybe that's not really why our government, and those who agreed with this disgusting pre-meditated homicide, invaded. Do drunk-with-power, arrogant, selfish "leaders" care about anything besides their stock price?

From my August 8th post:

I can't help but think of the scene from Fahrenheit 9/11 where Blaine Ober, the president of a company that makes armored vehicles, said, "Unfortunately, at least for the near term, we think it's going to be a good situation. Er, a dangerous situation. Good for business, bad for the people."

Privatization

It's when privately owned corporations increasingly buy things the government used to own. For example, the "privatization of Social Security" means that the government sells its shares and control of our national pensions to people who run the stock market. Another example of privatization is when corporations buy the water supply in communities. The public no longer owns them, the public no longer has a say in how they are run; and the services that were bought become the means to a profit-driven end.

This is not good for America. Or any society for that matter. The people, communally, should have stakes and a say in how common necessities like water, sewer, roads and our wars are run and organized. For a good take on this and the privatization of our military, read this.


Close to 7 years later, "9/11 changed everything" is still being used as political smoke and mirrors to justify the legal destruction of our rights, liberty, and democracy. We have held American citizens in jail with no access to a lawyer. This is against the constitution. We have held American citizens in jail and not presented any evidence as to why. This is against the constitution. Where is our collective outrage? This man killed no one - but is being killed by the American government. (Updated). Where is our concern? An "Impeach Bush" sign-waving man is arrested. Who are we? If you are not yet awake, maybe this will help you.

Just remember, this is nothing new.


One last thing. In case you haven't heard, the family-loving, job-creating President Bush is trying to allow trucks from Mexico into our country to deliver goods. What about American trucking jobs? What about the safety of those trucks - mechanically and insurance-wise? Whose side is he on? Yours, mine - or those companies that will get to pay Mexican truck drivers much lower wages than they can pay American truck drivers. If you don't believe that, ask yourself -- why else would they do it?

Equal pay for equal work

Let's say there's this guy named Tom. Tom works for a cell phone company's call center. He is the voice of the cell phone company - especially when dealing with irate and upset customers. Tom is the one who customers will remember. Tom has the ability to win over or lose customers.

He processes orders, fixes billing mistakes, calms down customers, files reports, talks to customers and potential customers 8 hours day, and (for some companies) must meet a certain quota of sales or retentions in order to keep his job. Tom sits in front of a computer all day - with an hour for lunch and 2 15-minute breaks. (In a lot of call centers - there are no windows or natural light).

Then there's Mike. Mike works in a factory that builds cars. He is a robot technician and he is responsible for programming the robots that build part of the cars. Mike is also the troubleshooter and repair man whenever any robot fails or malfunctions. Mike too works 8 hours a day in a loud and noisy environment. His breaks are the same as Tom's.

I know these are very simplistic profiles - but go with me here...

Without these employees (and thousands others like them) companies wouldn't able to function. It is these people who actually make the corporations products or carry out their services. What does Ford do? They make cars. Who actually makes the cars that earn Ford so many millions of dollars in profits? Mike - and thousands of others like him.

So why is it that CEOs feel entitled to make millions of dollars per year? They get posh offices, private jets, lush compensation packages, health care, life insurance, guaranteed pensions, and other benefits. At the same time their employees - those who make the company the company, take pay cuts, and lose pensions and benefits; some after 35 years of dedication to the company.

Are they really that much more important than the Toms and Mikes? No way. That's why this is pretty disgusting.

And you'd be mistaken to buy into the fabrication that our economy is growing and we're all doing well. For a good breakdown of American income gains, poverty levels, and the state of our economy, read this.

Central Office Matrix

Year after year, our prisons grow. More and more of our fellow citizens are behind bars - many of them with only minor infractions, yet they are now neighbors of gangs, rapists, and murderers. How does this make them better? Effectively shut out of society and thrown into an even more violent place - how can we even imagine that upon release, they're going to be better? Sounds pretty crazy to me.

Even crazier when you see that locking people up doesn't stop crime. Hell, even killing people to show that killing people is wrong doesn't work. People are still killing each other.

But check this out. Beautiful. Now, who knows if it will work or not. But, at least they're trying something new because it is quite obvious that locking people up (we have more people in prison than any other country in the world) does not work.

We used to be a forward thinking nation, we use to rise above. What happened? Our bridges are falling down, our own kids can't find the U.S. on a map, our President is a C student, New Orleanians drown and we watch it on TV.

Educate, learn, teach, repeat.

One of my biggest pet peeves is lying. Whether it be from family, friends, teachers, or government. You know, even more so if the lie is from teachers or government. This is because we heavily influence our children about justice and truth and the American way and how great we are because of it. So, what does one do when you find out that the American way is lying; is deception, and anything but total justice?

While growing up, I was taught that Christopher Columbus was a great guy. I mean, we close the banks and government and get a holiday because he discovered a land that people had already discovered and that I don't even live on! He must be swell! Let's just not teach our children that he stole a bunch of people and enslaved them back in Spain; on plantations in the Caribbean, and that his crew beat, raped, and killed countless others. Why are we teaching an outright lie and celebrating a disgusting criminal?

Fast-forward to today. If we can't believe the "truth" about Columbus, what else is out there that we've been lied to about? Why are we told over and over again that we support democracy and justice and liberty; but continually act to deny those enlightened freedoms to other people?

Here are some examples, since our C-student of a President got confused with his Iraq is like Vietnam speech last week:

Vietnam: We invaded because the South Vietnamese were going to become communist. By voting for it. Democratically.

Democracy: We don't have one according to Presidential candidate Edwards who last week said, "Real change starts with being honest - the system in Washington is rigged and our government is broken. It's rigged by greedy corporate powers to protect corporate profits." (p.s. democracy is not voting for a President every 4 years).

Socialism: We live in a partly socialist country already. A very, very simplistic explanation of socialism is when everyone in a community helps pay for things that benefit everyone. Some examples are roads and schools. So, why is it so bad?



Truth is painful. It has wounded me deeply to find out that my country - the one I've been taught to view as the best in the world - tortures people, celebrates a rapist and enslaver, tested toxic chemicals on its own military, plotted the death of a hundreds by blowing up a Navy ship to get public support for war, invaded a country because they were going to vote in a way we didn't like...

Until the light of day is shone upon truth - none shall be free. Educate yourselves; knowledge is power - it's harder to walk all over a smart person. Teach someone what you've learned.


Here's some books to start out on:

A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn

Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins

American Theocracy by Kevin Phillips

A Preface to Economic Democracy by Robert Dahl

Does the consumer decide?

We hear all the time that corporations do not choose to make this or that product and news companies only air the stories that we the people want to hear about.

Really? I've never had any corporation or any news media outlet question me about what kind of product I would like them to make or what I feel should be on the evening news.

Maybe I'm just one of those who didn't get polled, but I don't know anyone who has ever been polled in such a manner.

It's just a nice little ploy to get you to believe you're in control. How many of us really want more commercials, for example?

For some straight facts and analysis, this can't be beat.


An unrelated note:

Oh beautiful, for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain.....For purple mountains majesties...

Democracy and Representation Part II

The White House doesn't care about people who support their views either. (Walter Reed or 15 months in a war-zone anyone?) They care about your vote, that's about all. If they did care about you, why would they hide a potentially VERY dangerous situation from you and your family? Like they did here. And why would they not rush armored vehicles to Iraq?


If they cared about you and "family values" so much, why would they bail out the shady mortgage companies instead of helping the families who are losing their homes?

First, read this and learn what these sub-prime mortgages are all about. There's even a cool video go to with it.

Then read this to see the fallout this is generating.



If the people who run the government are also the people who own huge corporations, including almost every major media outlet - will we ever see all sides to a story?

First - check this out to learn how 10 corporations own all of our newspapers, television stations and internet access points.

Then watch this to see how even ABC news (part of the big 10) manipulate us.

Then watch this and and see what propaganda looks like. Josef Goebbels couldn't be prouder.

Do something.

The time is now.


Nazi Germany didn't just happen. People didn't just wake up one day to find Jews in concentration camps and the SS asking for allegiance to Hitler. It was a slow, gradual, and legal maneuver. The National Socialists actually brought much needed relief at first. But, slowly, things changed. Everything they did was legal - passed into law by the government. And it was all for their safety. Just trust us, they said. There's an evil enemy out there, let us protect you.

Well, here in America we have no-fly lists - that Senator's and 4-year olds are on; a national ID card is in the works; the Pentagon keeps track of you if you support peace; the Patriot Act allows federal agents to track what books you borrow, access your health records, and search your house without you ever knowing it. We had TIPS - which asked neighbors and friends to spy on each other; our elected President has signing statements where he chooses which laws he wants to obey; we have a President who has the power to call anyone, even a U.S. citizen, an "enemy-combatant," thereby stripping them of all rights guaranteed in our Bill of Rights. This is all to keep us safe. There's an evil enemy out there, let them protect us.

Just turn your iPod back on and stop paying attention.

or

DO SOMETHING!

Democracy and Representation Part I

Growing up, I learned that we live in a democracy. I was taught that one of the reasons the Revolutionary War was started was because our voices weren't being heard in England.

No taxation without representation.

In other words, unless I have a say in how I am governed, I do not consent to you governing me. Like Thomas Jefferson said, government is the servant of the people. We pay their salary, they are supposed to do what we the people want. We are their bosses. They work for us.

What happens when this breaks down? What happens when people in government go out of their way to prevent representation? Actively and deliberately throwing a dark blanket over those who want their voices heard. Didn't Stalin do this? Didn't the Taliban do this? Didn't all of those people we say are so bad and so anti-democratic and so full of hate for our freedoms do stuff like this?

How do we explain to our children, and each other, that we're fighting in Iraq for their democratic liberties, for their right to be represented, when we don't have that right ourselves? This White House manual, finally released under the Freedom of Information Act, bluntly shows Bush does not care about representation nor what others have to say, and will suppress it at all costs.

We do not live in the land of the free anymore. Yes, a lot of things changed since 9/11 - one of the biggest being the slow and steady destruction of our constitution and way of life.

What kind of democracy says that if anyone pulls out a sign or says anything against White House policies, they are to be shouted down by "rally squads." What kind of a democracy writes this:

"If it is determined that the media will not see or hear them and that they pose no potential disruption to the event, they can be ignored. On the other hand, if the group is carrying signs, trying to shout down the President, or has the potential to cause some greater disruption to the event, action needs to be taken immediately to minimize the demonstrator's effect."

Sadly, I know a lot of people won't see anything wrong with this. The president needs to be safe, they'll say, or protesters always disrupt speeches. This guidebook says nothing about disruption or safety, however. It's all about opposing viewpoints.

--- (continued)

Small-Time Tuesday

According to the U.S. Census Bureau in 2006 here, for a family of four, the poverty-level income threshold is $20,444. (That comes out to $5,111 per person per year. Can an adult in today's world live off of that in a year?)

Per month that's $1703.66.

Let's analyze this real quick. Let's say that this family lives in a two bedroom apartment, one room for the adults and one room for the kids. They have no pets and try to live as frugally as possible.

Rent: $850 (Price of a 2-bdrm I found on apts.com in Austin, Tx.)

Food: $400


Phone: $100


Electric: $100


Gasoline: $ 300


Uh Oh... wait..

We're at $1750.00 right now. The above are necessities. Just to have a roof over your head, food in your belly, and gas to get to work. (and lets just assume a family member gave them a car or something). I haven't even begun to list clothing, bedding, school supplies, medical and dental and vision bills....

And this is the poverty level? On what planet? If I make more than this, I'm ok? From the above, unscientific mini-analysis, even if I made more - I still couldn't make it! This is sub-poverty. And we're giving tax cuts to the rich? No wonder people get sucked up in drugs and alcohol. Can you imagine the amount of stress and frustration put upon the parents (to say nothing of the kids) in this situation? There's something REALLY wrong in this country, folks.

The people who run our government are very wealthy individuals who do not have to worry about health care or pensions. (You and I pay that for them.) These wealthy individuals are mainly concerned with one thing - making more money and helping their friends make more money. If they weren't they would be moving right now to help out all of those families losing their homes through foreclosure. But they're not. Government is not the problem. It's the people we keep voting in office year after year.

Don't believe me? Then why would you not - at the very least - give innocent, young children health care?

Why? I don't know. Ask Bush. (And remember - this is based upon the poverty level i wrote about above).




Because some people think that the war is going well and that they hate us because of the same freedoms that most of the rest of the world has, read this.




When I turn on my TV, I'm bombarded with ads. When I'm watching a TV program - I'm shown ads for other programs. When I use my cell phone, call the surf report, go outside, ride a bus, get in a taxi, use the ATM, etc, etc, etc...I am bombarded with ads! When is it going to stop? For the world's fourth-largest city, it already has. This makes me smile.



Favorite Timely Quotes

A Republican president said it best, followed by true American patriots.

" If all Americans want is security, they can go to prison. They'll have enough to eat, a bed and a roof over their heads. But if an American wants to preserve his dignity and his equality as a human being, he must not bow his neck to any dictatorial government."
-Pres. Dwight Eisenhower


"Does the government fear us? Or do we fear the government? When the people fear the government, tyranny has found victory. The federal government is our` servant, not our master!"
-Thomas Jefferson


"If you love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen."
-Samuel Adams

What about upgrades?

How's this for an upgrade? I'm always looking for ways to consolidate all the gadgets, appliances, and the like into one nice, neat package. This is nice, this is neat, and after a few hours my work will definitely be more creative!
Just one thing - will it automatically notify the beer company when I'm low and place an order?



One of my friends, who is in the Army, received a letter from one of her friends; a pilot over in Iraq. He talked about how great things were going, especially north of Baghdad. (He failed to mention the car bombs killing over 400 people). I have also talked with other people who are under the impression that things are really great and that the media just isn't reporting the good stuff. However, all of these people only point to broad generalizations about what "good" things are happening over there - without ever really naming anything. (Yes, some good things are happening - but not near enough to counteract the enormous amount of horrible disasters happening).

When you bring up the fact that women are prostituting themselves to buy food for their children, hardly any water or electrical supply, millions of refugees, and that the Iraqi people have said time and again that they would like us to leave, well...these things don't matter.

What matters is if we "cut and run" and don't "fight them there" then they are going to "fight us here." Leaving Karl Rove's pedantic talking points aside, lets look at a few things.

If we were doing the right thing ( like we did by going after Osama in Afghanistan ) then why does the rest of the world disagree? Is it because they get the full picture.? The media in their countries, before, during, and after the war, analyzed the WMD claim and found it severely lacking. Every major media outlet in this country argued for war in Iraq and believed everything the government said without question. How is that any different than State-run media?

(State-run media: when what the government says and does is taken as fact, truth, and the right way of doing things without question.)

Speaking of without question. When a public health expert went to Afghanistan to document reconstruction programs, he found many of them unfinished. When he tried to report this to the Pentagon, they didn't want to hear it. ""I was brought aside and they told me, don't tell that story," Warner said. "I said why not. And they said well, this is one of our success stories."" The whole story can be found here.

I grew up in a very pro-military family; my father was in Vietnam as well as one of my grandfathers, my other grandfather was in World War II. I went to military school for high school. But then something happened. I began to read reports (and articles and books) about how our government would make sailors line up on the deck of ships, spray them with chemicals, and then test them to see what happened. I read about Operation Northwoods, which is where members of our government wanted to get the American public to back a war with Cuba. How did they propose to do this? One of the ways was to blow up a ship. A Navy ship. Our own, manned Navy ship.

WTF??!!

And you want me to trust the government? You want me to believe that we went into Iraq and invaded a country that did nothing to us because they had WMDs? Wait, I'm sorry, it was for regime change. Wait, sorry again, it was really because of Iraq's violations of U.N. resolutions. Wait...read this and pick your own reason - just like Bush and Co. did.

For an on-the-ground report of the situation in Iraq - don't just take my word that things are bad. Take Buddhika Jayamaha, Wesley D. Smith, Jeremy Roebuck, Omar Mora, Edward Sandmeier, Yance T. Gray, and Jeremy A. Murphy's words here. They know better than I.




The President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, wrote in a book recently that he was told by the U.S. that if he did not cooperate with us after 9/11, we would bomb him back into the stone age.

We weren't kidding. We're liberating Iraqi's from the 21st century and ruining our military in the process.


Drugs are bad kids, mmmKay? Stay away from Drugs. Hugs not Drugs. War on Drugs. Drugs are bad kids, mmmKay?

But some drugs are good you say. They take my pain away. They sure do. But they also mask the symptoms - like Prozac. It doesn't end your depression - it puts it in a closet where it's not dealt with and where it festers and grows. What we need to be doing is actually treating the causes of our ailments - not masking them with a pill that makes a select few people disgustingly rich at our expense. (While outlawing and imprisoning people who use an all-natural plant that takes pain away, too).

Why don't we start by getting rid of all the chemicals in our food? Lessen our stress levels by giving us more vacation days, socialized health care, more and better access to top-notch day care for our children. Let's face it, Americans are fed-up and stressed out and the result is that we're losing it. Just like our national infrastructure, our bodies need continual maintenance, care, and up-keep to be happy and healthy human beings. I don't care what Bush says, health care is NOT an emergency room.

Give me health care where i can get preventative care, help me attain a life less stressful where I can exercise and play in the middle of the day and not be stuck in a building behind a desk for 8 1/2 hours. Give me security and the dream of a world better for our children - and I'll give you my vote. Hell, I'd even work for your campaign!

It's Not Over Till It's Friday

Or that's just when the fun begins. ;)



And I'm proud to be an Earthling. This is sweet.



Kudos for Krugman!



And I'm ashamed, angry, and scared to be an American. How many more steps closer do we have to get to a fully-actualized police state before people turn off their iPods and pay attention??!! This, too.



I'd like an extra-helping of Dictatorship to go along with my police state, please. Oh, and do you have any Constitutions I can wipe my $$$ with?



Mind you, this a 25% increase. Who needs money for Walter-Reed or bridges or schools or roads. This is definitely worth it.



I grew up in an extremely dysfunctional and abusive "family." ....I can only begin to imagine what a childhood in Iraq would be like. This is what we've created. We've really liberated them haven't we? Sad, sad, sad...

Give me Saddam or give me raids on my house, fear of car & mosque bombings, hardly any water & electricity, sheer terror from midnight commando raids on my city, bombs, missiles, guns, grenades, blood, blown apart bodies? Sad to say, but I'd say give me Saddam.




Maybe one day our "leaders" will recognize that societal conditions created this. Can you imagine what kind of crazed, f-ed up people we're creating in Iraq right now? And the sins of the fathers shall be visited upon the sons....


I need a vacation. One of these days. And $4 million. Anyone wanna help me out?

And We Keep Rollin' On...

First - regarding my post from yesterday and the stranglehold our two-party system has on representation - Kucinich agrees here.


Second - we're in 42nd place for life expectancy - but number one here.


I'm all for the spread of democracy, freedom, and total justice to other nations. It matters not whether that nation has oil or strategic advantages for our empire's bases. But when "more than 40 politicians, activists and party workers have been killed so far," you'd think our democracy-spreading, war is peace Administration would care about something like this. But you'd be wrong. Oil and strategic advantages for the empire's bases do not exist here. And neither does democracy.



This is a religious war just as much as it is a war for American hegemony. President Bush has called it a crusade, a senior Army officer says that we are at war against Satan here, and this is just another way it is fought. One of many reasons why we need a free and independent press.




What would government controlled news look like? Would they tell us all sides of the story and allow us, lowly citizens that we are, to decide what's right and wrong for our country? Read this and then go read 1984. And then DO something!



Did Rome have this problem before they fell? I think so... And didn't they have this problem, too?

So, the Bush Administration may now be putting Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, the largest branch of Iran's military, on the foreign terrorist list. That's here. But what about what happens in Georgia? Shouldn't we put this (more here) on the foreign terrorist list, too?

Those in the Middle East do not hate our freedoms. They hate this.



Stranger things have come to light in our newly forming police state.



Ok, so...I'm on this train and I see that the bridge we're about to cross is gone - it's collapsed because there wasn't any money put towards its upkeep. The train is moving really fast and I'm trying to get people to help me stop it from flying full-speed into the canyon below. Only problem is, hardly anyone is listening and some are even threatening to throw me off the train...if only I were so lucky. The collapsing bridge is here.



China's tallest building catches fire and burns for longer than 75 minutes and doesn't collapse! Both WTC towers burned for less than an hour and completely destroyed themselves! Maybe they used different steel than we did, or maybe....

Till Death Do Us Part

"But I do think there are clouds of neofascism in the sky and they're not on the horizon; they're getting closer to being overhead." ..... "Just last week Barbara Boxer said to Ed Schultz on the Ed Schultz radio program that this is as close as this country has ever come to a dictatorship. Dictatorship was her word. A senator, Barbara Boxer."

If this doesn't get you, then a fond farewell do I bid to our country - and why do you hate America? Really...why?



Is there any other time that was more ripe for a 3rd (or 4th for 5th..) party?

I mean c'mon people...we just keep going back and forth here. If the Republicans don't do what we want, then we vote for the Democrats. But what happens when the Democrats don't represent us? What do we do? Just get angry and blog like me?

Worse than Nixon? Seriously...who is worse - those who concoct evil plans - or those who vote for them?

Two sides of the same coin, my friends. And the "please vote for me issues" of abortion and gay marriage are a joke. Smoke and mirrors.

Republicans and Democrats voted for: Iraq War, "surge" funding, the Military Commissions Act, the Patriot Act, the renewal of the Patriot Act, the recent FISA update with no debate, let alone public discussion....

Republicans and Democrats have taken impeachment off the table, vote themselves raises, get family health care and pensions for life, yet continue to deny us health care and give money (corporate welfare) to corporations who go bankrupt...

Where's the party that represents me? Where's the party who does something different than the above?

Of course, the argument could be made that with Democrats in power, the outcome of 9/11 would have been much different. And I agree. But need I remind you - Democrats voted for the Iraq War, "surge" funding, the Military Commissions Act, the Patriot Act, the renewal of the Patriot Act, and the recent FISA update with no debate.

Real people, Hillary. Right; real people just me like.

This is not democracy - this is a JOKE.

Why aren't candidates running for president - who are on the ballot when I vote - allowed to be at the "presidential" debates? Where are the candidates from the Green, Libertarian, Constitutional, or Natural Law, parties? Democracy my a$$.


"Presidential debates can change the course of elections, but George Farah, executive director of Open Debates has evidence showing that the debates' rules of order have been hijacked by the two main political parties. The result? Moderators can't ask follow-up questions, important issues are never raised, and credible third-party candidates are excluded from the proceedings altogether." NOW with Bill Moyers (2004).


Speaking of debates. This is not my idea, but why not do this for our candidates?
This is my idea: why don't we do this for Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, et al. I mean, like they keep telling us....why be scared if you have nothing to hide?


I've been thinking this all along.

The state of our health care: here.

On a very happy note...people like these with ideas like this are what makes me proud to be a human.

Just Another Manic Monday

I hope being a vegetarian helps me with this.


Maybe it's because my mom's side of the family came from Germany and her mom grew up during the Nazi come to power. Maybe it's because both of my grandfathers fought in the war against Nazi fascism. Whatever it was, growing up I always was, and still am, intreguied by the Third Reich. The most burning question I had was: how could they let this happen? How could millions of people stand idly by while their freedoms and liberties and neighbors were killed - literally?

I now know...and it really pisses me off! I see it here and here and here and of course here.




And this is just from what I found today. A whole week's worth of blogging would only begin to shed light on the shredding of our Constitution. It's amazing to me how people would rather go see a movie or play video games than take the time to see how we're all slowly being driven, legally, into this. Read it.

For all the right-wing talk of supporting the troops and what a dire necessity the Iraq war is (who's Osama?) - why don't they get it? Paul Krugman's on it here.

Week's Review

Start off positive! I forgive.



We're facing one of the biggest, most threatening disasters ever, and this is how we deal with it.



Maybe the issue hasn't been framed correctly by most of the media; like this feature here.

Headlines should be: Save Homo Sapiens or The Last of the Humans? Maybe that will wake people up.

The planet will be fine. It will recover and new life will flourish eventually. It's us...humans...that are in serious danger and need saving. Mother nature will adapt and overcome but we keep treating this as if we are the benevolent, caretakers who had nothing to do with the soiling of our own bed. Slowly that mindset is changing - but not as fast as the weather.




Ok, let me get this straight...

These are good:

• $8 Million for a Congressional gym
  
• $ 10 Million for a road in Florida from a congressman in Alaska
  
• a $ 4,400 per year raise for Congress this year
• an increase of almost $40 billion over current levels in the Pentagon budget

And these are bad:

• fixing bridges - "an estimated 160,000 bridges have been judged to be “structurally deficient or functionally obsolete” by the American Society of Civil Engineers" here
• full educational benefits for returning vets

Remind me what makes our country so much better than any others?

(If there's no one to compare yourself to, you ARE great!) Study this.




If our democracy is so great and wonderful, why don't we just give it to the Iraqi's? We didn't let them decide whether or not we invaded their country, so why let them decide what kind of constitution they should have? Force them to use ours. A good point made here. Then again, why give them something we're destroying? That's here.


And I haven't seen this very many places either.



And please, once and for all, quit the lies about the "invisible hand" of the free market. It just ain't so. That's here.




MSNBC is the new FOX. Downhill baby, downhill... here.




"There's not a global war on terror," Romney said. Good thing Bush and Co. haven't been repeating this mantra for years...oh wait....

Through Which Lens?

It was reported here today that, "...some recent breakthroughs in Iraq were down to luck, and quoted an unnamed US official as likening the situation to "three dimensional chess in the dark while someone is shooting at you.""

So, in other words, we really have no idea what the the hell is going on in Iraq. We just keep on trying to pretend we do.

Couple this with reports here about thousands of weapons missing and unaccounted for as well as the breakdown of elementary necessities of civilized life, and one has to wonder if this isn't all planned.

I think it only proves this theory when you add in the fact that we're selling advanced weaponry to countries in the Middle East, here. Who is going to attack, let alone prevail, against the most lethal killing machine on the planet...ever?

No one.

Unless we give them the weapons with which to fight us. And that keeps the military-industrial complex making bank, which gives us more weapons, which we sell to nations around the world, which use them to attack us, which allows us to declare war on them, which keeps the military-industrial complex making more weapons, which we sell to nations around the world....

I can't help but think of the scene from Fahrenheit 9/11 where Blaine Ober, the president of a company that makes armored vehicles, said, "Unfortunately, at least for the near term, we think it's going to be a good situation. Er, a dangerous situation. Good for business, bad for the people."

Maybe when the evidence from Iraq is viewed through a lens of how we think it should be going, it looks like a complete mess. Maybe when the evidence from Iraq is viewed through a lens of global hegemony (the largest embassy in the world - ever) and fossil fuel acquisition, ...well, maybe it looks like things are coming together nicely. Most media agree, here.