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
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Monday, August 20, 2007
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!
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!
Friday, August 17, 2007
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 $$$ with?
Mind you, this a 25% increase. Who needs money for Walter-Reed or bridges or schools or roads. This is definitely worth it.
I grew up in an extremely dysfunctional and abusive "family." ....I can only begin to imagine what a childhood in Iraq would be like. This is what we've created. We've really liberated them haven't we? Sad, sad, sad...
Give me Saddam or give me raids on my house, fear of car & mosque bombings, hardly any water & electricity, sheer terror from midnight commando raids on my city, bombs, missiles, guns, grenades, blood, blown apart bodies? Sad to say, but I'd say give me Saddam.
Maybe one day our "leaders" will recognize that societal conditions created this. Can you imagine what kind of crazed, f-ed up people we're creating in Iraq right now? And the sins of the fathers shall be visited upon the sons....
I need a vacation. One of these days. And $4 million. Anyone wanna help me out?
And I'm proud to be an Earthling. This is sweet.
Kudos for Krugman!
And I'm ashamed, angry, and scared to be an American. How many more steps closer do we have to get to a fully-actualized police state before people turn off their iPods and pay attention??!! This, too.
I'd like an extra-helping of Dictatorship to go along with my police state, please. Oh, and do you have any Constitutions I can wipe my $$$ 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?
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
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....
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....
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
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.
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.
Monday, August 13, 2007
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.
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.
Friday, August 10, 2007
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:
(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....
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
- 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
(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....
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
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.
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.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Human Brilliance Rant
I've been thinking a lot lately, three years or more lately. What I'm thinking about is why our world is so crazy and backwards? Not even world, lets just focus on our own country. I have so many questions that no one can answer with any bit of logic or critical thinking going into their answer.
Why does the richest nation in the world have so many in poverty? without health insurance?
Why do human beings....the most amazing, wonderful, and beautiful creature in our know universe...why we enjoy watching other humans get shot, raped, blown apart, killed, murdered, hacked, and mutilated?
Oh, we don't enjoy that you say? Take a look at the top games for the PS2, XBox, and PC. They're mostly first person shooters. War games where it's fun, exciting and entertaining to go around shooting and blowing up fake people, that keep getting more real and "life-like" in their death. Also, take a look at the catch-phrases used to advertise for these games:
Some of the top grossing movies have included extreme amounts of horrific graphic details of humans doing the sickest things to each other.
And we enjoy this.
We give them Grammys, and the actors Oscars, we buy the DVDs and invite our friends over to watch and talk about how real the opening scene in Saving Private Ryan is.
Why do humans do this? Why do we relish and find entertainment in watching us kill each other? Isn't it enough that that's what we do in real life...every single day?
Action, horror, killing and violent movies are rated PG-13 and up. Although even some PG-13 movies are pretty violent...and our children watch them. Played Call of Duty lately? Games are increasingly accurate in their portryal of violence, blood, and gore...almost always done against other people.
Yet, if we are to show nudity on tv, or catch our children masturbating, we shame them, and hide from them part of what makes us all so beautiful: our bodies. Rape and sexual assult/molestation is rampant in this culture. I wonder why.
Could it be because we represe ourselves sexually, while doing nothing but fill our advertising and entertainment outlets with sexual titilation? And when part of a breast is seen during a halftime show..a woman's breast...that gives a child life through nourishing milk...people are outraged!! And pissed and upset..where's our morals and family values they shout!!
When did humans become so backwards and twisted around? Where is the love? The compassion and understanding?
Why do we enjoy killing ourselves?
Why does the richest nation in the world have so many in poverty? without health insurance?
Why do human beings....the most amazing, wonderful, and beautiful creature in our know universe...why we enjoy watching other humans get shot, raped, blown apart, killed, murdered, hacked, and mutilated?
Oh, we don't enjoy that you say? Take a look at the top games for the PS2, XBox, and PC. They're mostly first person shooters. War games where it's fun, exciting and entertaining to go around shooting and blowing up fake people, that keep getting more real and "life-like" in their death. Also, take a look at the catch-phrases used to advertise for these games:
- "Psychiatrists say it is important to feel something when you kill. Feel the sensation. Feel the vibration. Feel the mutilation."
- "Join a biker gang and carry out malicious mischief."
- "Love thyself and plunder thy neighbor."
- "Meet people from all over the world, then kill them"
- "More fun than shooting your neighbor's cat"
- "As easy as killing babies with axes"
Some of the top grossing movies have included extreme amounts of horrific graphic details of humans doing the sickest things to each other.
And we enjoy this.
We give them Grammys, and the actors Oscars, we buy the DVDs and invite our friends over to watch and talk about how real the opening scene in Saving Private Ryan is.
Why do humans do this? Why do we relish and find entertainment in watching us kill each other? Isn't it enough that that's what we do in real life...every single day?
Action, horror, killing and violent movies are rated PG-13 and up. Although even some PG-13 movies are pretty violent...and our children watch them. Played Call of Duty lately? Games are increasingly accurate in their portryal of violence, blood, and gore...almost always done against other people.
Yet, if we are to show nudity on tv, or catch our children masturbating, we shame them, and hide from them part of what makes us all so beautiful: our bodies. Rape and sexual assult/molestation is rampant in this culture. I wonder why.
Could it be because we represe ourselves sexually, while doing nothing but fill our advertising and entertainment outlets with sexual titilation? And when part of a breast is seen during a halftime show..a woman's breast...that gives a child life through nourishing milk...people are outraged!! And pissed and upset..where's our morals and family values they shout!!
When did humans become so backwards and twisted around? Where is the love? The compassion and understanding?
Why do we enjoy killing ourselves?
Galloway Gets Twisted by CNN
I found this quite interesting and thought you may as it begs the question, yet again, what liberal media?
In reference to U.K. MP Galloway's comments before the Senate panel this morning, he said, "I gave my heart and soul to stop you committing the disaster that you did commit in invading Iraq. And I told the world that your case for the war was a pack of lies."
As of 2:23pm (PST), on CNN.com, their headlines portray something quite different. On their main page, the link to the full story says "U.K. lawmaker: Oil-for-food charges 'a pack of lies'.""
And, when you go to that link here, the major thrust of his accusations are turned around. In between the third and fourth paragraphs talking about the oil-for-food scandal is the sentence :"He called the accusations against him "a pack of lies."" When, while disputing the allegations, he never referred to them as "a pack of lies."
That comment was reserved for the Senate's actions regarding the pre-war intelligence.
I called CNN and got routed to a Carolyn in the Public Information department who said she would pass my comment on and seemed rather indifferent about the whole situation. A comment was emailed as well.
How much more obvious do things need to be?
In reference to U.K. MP Galloway's comments before the Senate panel this morning, he said, "I gave my heart and soul to stop you committing the disaster that you did commit in invading Iraq. And I told the world that your case for the war was a pack of lies."
As of 2:23pm (PST), on CNN.com, their headlines portray something quite different. On their main page, the link to the full story says "U.K. lawmaker: Oil-for-food charges 'a pack of lies'.""
And, when you go to that link here, the major thrust of his accusations are turned around. In between the third and fourth paragraphs talking about the oil-for-food scandal is the sentence :"He called the accusations against him "a pack of lies."" When, while disputing the allegations, he never referred to them as "a pack of lies."
That comment was reserved for the Senate's actions regarding the pre-war intelligence.
I called CNN and got routed to a Carolyn in the Public Information department who said she would pass my comment on and seemed rather indifferent about the whole situation. A comment was emailed as well.
How much more obvious do things need to be?
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