Going.....Going.....

I'm sure it's a good thing that President Bush stopped saying how great our economy is doing; sooner or later people would actually begin to realize how out of touch with planet Earth (and America in particular) he really is. If this is the beginning of the end, it's happening a lot faster than I expected. Now, that's not to say that we're heading towards a depression or full economic collapse, but I think it could easily go in that direction.

The title of this article from the Independent UK doesn't help me sleep any better at night: USA 2008: The Great Depression. According to the article, "Food stamps are the symbol of poverty in the US. In the era of the credit crunch, a record 28 million Americans are now relying on them to survive - a sure sign the world's richest country faces economic crisis."




What has really struck me as an ominous sign is the abrupt end of two of the United States' major airlines and a charter airline. Champion Air, with about 550 employees, announced on Monday, March 31, 2008 that they will cease operations effective May 31, 2008. Also on Monday, Aloha Airlines went out of business laying off about 1,900 workers. And today, Thursday, April 3, 2008, ATA Airlines went out of business laying off about 2,200 workers while it was reported that workers in the banking sector will see 200,000 of their co-workers, if not themselves, laid off in the next 12 to 18 months. The article on commercial banks cutting their workforce, found here, compares these record cuts to the record cuts made just last year when 153,000 employees were let go as well as Citigroup's firing of 20,000 people "with at least 2,000 more to come."

According to the White House web page on the economy here, "The U.S. economy is structurally strong, but we are experiencing a period of economic challenge." What exactly do they mean when they say "structurally strong?" What exact "structure" are they talking about? The workers aren't strong, they're getting laid off in record numbers. The businesses aren't strong, they're going out of business one after the other. How this administration is still in office is one question I really wish I could answer.

In an interview with Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food?, here, he talks about how he came to value a more balanced interaction with nature and human farming efforts. Pollan also discusses his opinions on why we eat food (not just for nutrition), what goes into our food, and how mom's good advice on what to eat has gone the way of the rotary phone. Here's a sample:

The more you process the food, the more profitable it is. If I go to the supermarket, I can buy a pound of organic oats for 79 cents. Now that's a lot of oats, and no body's making much money. But if you turn it into Cheerios, suddenly you have a brand. You've got your little doughnut shape, you've got an ad campaign, and suddenly you're charging four bucks for a few ounces of oats.

Then you come up with a Honey Nut Cheerio Cereal Bar with a layer of artificial milk in the middle. Now you've got a convenience food that's very much your own, because you've got this special formula to make your fake milk. And kids can eat them in the car or on the way to school. Now you're charging $10 or $20 for a few penny's worth of oats. That's the gist of the food industry. That's the economic imperative.

If you don't think the United States is an empire or even if you know we are, this video animation by Howard Zinn is a great watch. It's simple, effective, and tells you what you weren't taught in school.

Welfare We Should All Be Concerned About

We supposedly live in a free-market, Capitalist economy. That means that through competition and risk, the best companies and products win. Consumers will only buy a defective or poorly-made product once (maybe twice). After that, they steer away from that product or company and tell their friends about their negative experience. Those friends tell other friends and because they somewhat trust each other, few people continue to buy the defective or bad product. And the good products and services win.

That's a very simple version of what is meant by the "free-hand of the market" that we hear so many Capitalist ideologues pontificating about these days. Especially in light of the recent buyout of Bear Stearns by J.P. Morgan, it's very relevant today to point out that it's all crap.

Here's a very brief and simple run-down of what happened: Bear Stearns, an investment bank, made some risky investments. They turned out to be very bad and very risky investments. Because of said bad, risky investments, Bear Stearns was about to go under. (Kind of like what happens if you have a mortgage and car payment and blow all of your money at the blackjack table in Atlantic City).

So, what did the Federal Reserve do? They gave J.P. Morgan a $30 billion line of credit (interest loan), so they could buy out Bear Stearns. How is this the free-hand of the market working?

Who's gonna bail me out if I blow all of my money at the blackjack table in A.C.? Moreover, who's gonna help bailout the millions of Americans who have lost their home due to foreclosures from rigged mortgage interest rates? Oh, that'd be welfare....consumers must learn from their mistakes....read the fine print....etc. But if you're a big-business economic leader, it's somehow ok?

If we live in a Capitalist economy like Bush and most government officials say we do, then why doesn't the Fed act like it? Why is it ok to bend the rules - but only in their favor?

But wait...the Bush administration has proposed sweeping new changes to our financial infrastructure here. Too good to be true however, it's just bait and switch. Paul Krugman breaks it down here, with a nice insider view of what's really going on. For more on the housing crisis by Krugman, check out this video.



I kind of saw this coming. Cell phones and radiation and our brains are not a very good mixture. The more time elapses, the more studies are starting to show that these convenient devices are quite harmful to our well-being.



Why are none of the presidential candidates talking about Iraq anymore? My step-brother is over there. I care about what's going on - as I'm sure many in and out of the military and many with no military connections at all, still do. So, why are we receiving less and less coverage?



President Bush gets booed by many in the crowed while throwing out the first pitch. Warms my heart.



Free speech, private property, and T-shirts: Read.



Why don't we ask what's best for the Iraqi's? Watch and listen, here.

"Oh My God"

I'm short on time this week - and so much is happening that I want to write about it all! Alas, I can't, though wish I could. So, for this Friday, I'm trying something a little different. I'm posting the lyrics to one of my favorite songs - a song you won't hear on corporate dominated radio - by Michael Franti. It's called Oh My God, and I'll put links in where I feel that what he's talking about relates to current issues of the day. If you like the song - please buy it from iTunes (or wherever). May it move your soul.

Oh My God

Oh my, oh my God

Oh mama they got us livin’ suicide

Singin’ oh my, oh my God

Oh mama they got us livin’ genocide

Oh my, Oh my God

Slam bam I come unseen

But like gasoline you can tell I’m in the tank

Like money in the bank

I smell appealing, but I’m toxic, can send you reeling

Without an inklin’, keep ya thinkin’

‘Cause you gave cash to the feds, left your school district for dead

Fuck you up in the head, but still they sayin’ nothin’s wrong

Selling fire-water but outlawin’ the bong

Still believing the system is workin’

While half of my people are still out of workin’

Anonymous notes left in the pockets and coats

Of judges and juries from ‘Frisco and Jersey

Threats and protests politicians mob debts

Trumped up charges and phony arrests

Stage a lethal injection, the night before the election

‘Cause he got donations from the prison guard’s union

Oh my, oh my God

Oh mama they got us livin’ suicide

Singin’ oh my, oh my God

Oh mama they got us livin’ genocide

Oh my, Oh my God

Listen in to my stethoscope on a rope

Internal lullabies, human cries

Thumps and silence, the language of violence

Algorithmic, cataclysmic, seismic, biorhythmic

You can make a life longer, but you can’t save it

You can make a clone and then you try to enslave it?

Stealin’ DNA samples from the unborn

And then you comin’ after us

‘Cause we sampled a James Brown horn?

Scientists whose God is progress

A four-headed sheep is their latest project

The CIA runnin’ like that Jones from Indiana

But they still won’t talk about that Jones in Guyana

This ain’t no cartoon, no one slips on bananas

Do you really think that that car killed Diana?

Hell, I shot Ronald Regan, I shot JFK

I slept with Marilyn she sung me “Happy Birthday”

Oh my, oh my God

Oh mama they got us livin’ suicide

Singin’ oh my, oh my God

Oh mama they got us livin’ genocide

Oh my, Oh my God

Well politicians got lipstick on the collar

The whole media started to holler

But I don’t give a fuck who they screwin’ in private

I wanna know who they screwin’ in public

Robbin’, cheatin’, stealin’

White collar criminal

McDonald eatin’, you deserve a beatin’

Send you home a weepin’, with a fat bill for your Caribbean weekend

For just about anything they can bust us

False advertising sayin’ “Halls of Justice”

You tellin’ the youth don’t be so violent

Then you drop bombs on every single continent

Mandatory minimum sentencin’

‘Cause he got caught with a pocket full of medicine

Do that again another ten up in the pen

I feel so mad I wanna bomb an institution

singin’

Oh my, oh my God

Oh mama they got us livin’ suicide

Singin’ oh my, oh my God

Oh mama they got us livin’ genocide

Oh my, Oh my God

Recaps and Roundabouts

I'm very happy indeed that I've begun to see the mainstream media continue to do follow-up articles on very important stories. The only way a democracy can function is if its citizens are educated; and articles that follow a story through to conclusion are wonderful and much-needed.



Sedatives and Sex Hormones in Our Water Supply: Democracy Now's Amy Goodman explores what's in our water, how it got there, and the current state of pharmaceuticals in our drinking water.



France Won't Rule Out Opening Ceremony Boycott: It's better than nothing, but still not good enough. "French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Tuesday that he cannot rule out the possibility he might boycott the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics if China continues its crackdown in Tibet."



The Real Rev. Wright: The Footage Fox and the Other Networks Won't Show: An awesome and moving video of Obama's preacher telling telling the bare, dirty, glorious truth to his congregation. This is a must watch.



TV, film, game violence threatens public health: Bowling for Columbine explored the topic of fear and if it makes the United States a more violent nation. (If you have yet to see it, please do). Parents were up in arms over the very popular Grand Theft Auto video game series where you can carjack, kill, knife, and sleep with prostitutes anytime you want. And if you get out of the car and go kill the prostitute, you get all your money back. How can this be good for us?




Take a political break and watch this; it wouldn't be so funny if it weren't so true! Eddie Izzard comments on the end of the world, but more so about computers and humans.

China, Tibet, and Freedom

No Olympic Games Without Democracy!



This short post today closely resembles my feelings, blogged about here, concerning the lip service paid by the United States to liberty, freedom and democracy. We talk the talk - big time - but do nothing to stand behind what we say.

Once again, a nation of people, proudly independent even though repressed, stood up to their oppressors and were virtually ignored by the Bush Administration. According to this article, President Bush " has long said the United States and China have “a complex relationship,” and that complexity was on full display this week." It sure was. It displayed that we only want to "free" people if they happen to have lots and lots of oil under their sand.

In all truthfulness, it comes down to money. According to this story, Tibetans have learned to keep "their requests modest. They know few countries have the appetite to cross China, particularly at a time the world is counting on the emerging superpower to keep the global economy ticking as the United States appears headed into a recession." Oppression, domination, lack of freedom, and that liberty Bush can't live without sure was on full display this week as he said not a word. It's the economy, stupid.

And yet, once again, the mainstream media is all but ignoring this connection between money and our condoning of severe human rights abuses. (Read all about this connection here). It's there if you dig a few pages deep (like stories on boycotting the Olympics, here and here). The latter story reports on the boycott effort by Reporters Without Borders and its online petition says that ""Given the massive human rights violations in China, it seems unacceptable to us that the Chinese government be allowed the right to host the world's most prestigious sporting event," it reads in part."

The Chinese government has promised improvements in its human rights abuses but has failed to keep those promises: the government blocks access to thousands of news and political web sites as well as currently holds in prison about 80 journalists and Internet users. The full story on China and why we should boycott is here.

If you feel like signing the petition to boycott the Olympic games in Beijing, go here. When the total number of people reaches one million, it will be sent to China's president Hu Jintao. As of today, 719,494 people have signed it.

*(Photo: Brian Sokol / The New York Times)

Genetically Modified Foods - Beware!

"The results will be essentially new organisms, self-perpetuating and hence permanent. Once created, they cannot be recalled"



Genetically modified foods - like canola oil and Pasta Roni - are being deceptively pushed into our diets everyday. One example is "Round-up Ready" corn sold and manufactured by Monsanto. More about that here. Simply put, Monsanto makes Round-up, it's the liquid weed killer you can buy at your local nursery; you spray it on the leaves of the plants where it's absorbed and blocks an enzyme the plant needs to live.

Here's where I have serious issues with entire fields of "Round-up Ready" corn:

• The corn seeds are genetically modified in a violent way (a "gun" and high velocity is used to ram the new DNA into the cell).
• The plants are not the only thing that is getting sprayed with this chemical. It also lands onto and is absorbed by the soil. Where do the plants get their vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that make them good for us to eat? The sun and the soil. And here we are dumping hundreds of gallons of a toxic chemical on them week?
• Round-up then gets into the soil and mixes with the water used to irrigate the corn; the corn "drinks" up the water/chemical mixture where it then becomes part of the cellular structure of the plant.
• Humans are supposed to eat this "Round-up Ready" corn that has been grown in a bath of chemical herbicide and believe it's safe.
• (Does any of the chemical herbicide get into our aquifers and drinking water supply?)
  

According to Howstuffworks.com, Round-up contains glyphosphate - the main ingredient used to stop the plants from producing that enzyme. And, "most people react badly to glyphosphate (and other chemicals mixed with it) when ingested or applied to the skin, so you want to avoid any contact with the chemical."

So, Round-up (which contains glyphosphate) is sprayed on corn fields hundreds of gallons at a time. The corn ends up "drinking" the Round-up as it's mixed with water and/or rain. Glyphosphate ends up in the cellular structure of the corn (it could be said that the plant has "ingested" the glyphosphate). I go to the store, buy the "Round-up Ready" corn or a product made with it, take it home, and eat (ingest) it. Does anyone else see a problem here?

Oh, and Monsanto, Con-Agra and other big-business "leaders" in the field of genetically modifying our food supply pay big bucks for lawyers and lobbyists so that they don't have to label foods that have been genetically modified. That and the FDA's role is here.

Many people including genetic scientists and biologists agree that genetically modified foods need hard, rigorous study, and that they are unfit for human consumption.

Thanks to a recent lawsuit, internal FDA documents revealed "that agency scientists warned that GM foods might create toxins, allergies, nutritional problems, and new diseases that might be difficult to identify."

In addition, a panel of experts from the Royal Society of Canada reported that "it was "scientifically unjustifiable" to presume that GM foods are safe," and the UK's Royal Society reported in 2002 that "genetic modification could lead to unpredicted harmful changes in the nutritional state of foods."

One independent study published on GM foods being fed to animals "showed evidence of damage to the immune system and vital organs, and a potentially pre-cancerous condition." Two other studies "showed evidence of a potentially pre-cancerous condition." Moreover, seven other studies were designed specifically not to identify these details.

For a very good account of genetically modified foods, read Seeds of Deception.

Truth, Liars, and a Very Lonely Girl

"If we could share our time, would I disappoint your fantasies?"


Why is it so hard for people to tell the truth, to be honest with one another; especially those we say we love? What propels one to lead people on, gain their trust and confidence, only to throw up brick walls after they've abruptly changed course?

While I in no way condone it, I can understand why President Bush felt he needed to lie to the American people about the real reasons for attacking Iraq: American hegemony, further military expansion, and disaster capitalism; you can't just tell ordinary citizens that these are the reasons hundreds of thousands of innocent people and, as of this week, almost 4,000 American soldiers are going to die. No, evil-doers, people who hate you, your country, and your religion work much better to stoke the fires of fear.

Especially because Bush put his rationale in writing, and especially because all reasons have since been proven false, it angers me even more that Congress, and we as a nation, let him get away with it. Bush earned impeachment 5 years ago today.



Is there some unknown law that engenders the masses to lie to each other as well? Like some trickle-down theory of wayward, selfish thinking? If the president is put on a pedestal and allowed to lie, cheat, and steal (from American taxpayers with no-bid contracts to his friends) and allowed to get away with it, then maybe we should all just give up this silly notion of being honest with each other. Lie as you must, betray those you will, hurt those you may. It's the American way, right?

Lies about the My Lai Massacre

Lies about the Iraq War reversed

Lies by Bush about the economy uncovered



The Jones' can keep up with themselves. It's time for a new paradigm in thinking, a new understanding of who and what we are. There's a Hindu salutation: Namaste, that loosely translated means: the Divinity in me sees and acknowledges the Divinity in you. It means We. It means Us. It means we are One.

And “when you come from ‘we are all One,’ it is virtually impossible to find that hurting another ‘feels good.’ So-called ‘irresponsible behavior’ vanishes. It is within these parameters that evolving beings seek to experience life. "

Drug Free America

No one knows what the long-term effects of drinking tiny amounts of pharmaceuticals will have on the human body. According to a recent study that analyzed the drinking water in 28 out of 62 water suppliers, a sex hormone was detected in San Francisco's drinking water and antiepileptic and antianxiety medications were found in parts of southern California's water supply. The study also showed that if you live in Philadelphia, you're drinking tiny amounts of at least 56 pharmaceuticals or byproducts "including medicines for pain, infection, high cholesterol, asthma, epilepsy, mental illness, and heart problems." I guess if you have chronic pain, an infection, high cholesterol, respiratory problems, or other ailments, this could be welcome news.

Or could it? And what if you don't have any of these illnesses and are a healthy human being? Why is marijuana so evil, even with its medicinal properties, yet every three minutes a commercial has me wondering if I need to go ask my doctor for a pill to cure blindness, baldness, asthma, erectile dysfunction, hearing loss, heartburn, sleep problems and a host of other issues; never mind the fast-speaking voice that says side effects may include dizziness, drowsiness, loss of appetite, temporary blindness, cramps, pain, and in some cases death. And now many of these drugs are ending up in our drinking water and "the federal government doesn’t require any testing and hasn’t set safety limits for drugs in water." Why are we ok with this?





There was coast-to-coast Republican uproar over Bill Clinton's infidelity while in the Oval Office. Never-ending calls for impeachment were shown on every news cast, written about in every paper, and continually spoke of inside Congress.

Yet, after nearly 4,000 soldiers and close to 900,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed, and a host of reports and studies show outright lies and fabrications on the rationale the Bush Administration gave for the Iraq War, barely a blip of incredulity, disgust or outrage appears on the radar of the MSM or Congress.

A review of more than 600,000 documents captured during the United States' invasion of Iraq have shown absolutely no evidence of any connection between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda. "The new study of the Iraqi regime's archives found no documents indicating a "direct operational link" between Hussein's Iraq and al Qaida before the invasion, according to a U.S. official familiar with the report." Warren Strobel of McClatchy Newspapers has the story here.

It is interesting to take a look back and see just exactly what members of the Bush Administration have said regarding their insistence of a link between Saddam and al-Qaeda. These quotes are all from the BBC here:

• "The reason I keep insisting that there was a relationship between Iraq and Saddam and al-Qaeda is because there was a relationship between Iraq and al-Qaeda." (17 June 2004 - President Bush)
• "There's overwhelming evidence... of a connection between al-Qaeda and Iraq". (January 2004 - Vice President Cheney)
• "Within a week, or a month, Saddam could give his WMD to al-Qaeda." (November 2002 - Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld)

How much money, time, energy, and blathering was spent and wasted on an oral fixation that should have been much more important to his wife and daughter than an entire nation? And how much consideration is now given for our immoral actions in Iraq; something that not to be kept in the family but thrown open to the nation for discussion and analyzation?

Maybe most everyone listened to Bill O'Reilly back in February of 2003 when he said, "Once the war against Saddam Hussein begins, we expect every American to support our military, and if you can't do that, just shut up."

The Week of Follow-Ups

It seems that this weeks' news wire is abuzz with the continuing saga of many stories. That's good. All too often a story gets a prominent spotlight only to vanish backstage and never be heard or seen from again. (Did we ever find out who sent the anthrax to Congress? Or who placed the put-options on United and American Airlines stock days before 9/11?)



Global warming - peak oil: I tend to put them in the same category since the latter is causing the former, but also because they're both happening at the same time. It's going to create quite a calamity, as I've blogged about here. Thankfully, I'm not the only one to see this and recognize other facts like how over 99% of Americans are dependent on the 0.3% of us that grow our food. Tom Whipple and the coming storm is here.



According to the United States Constitution, Article I, Section 8: "The Congress shall have the power to...provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States...[and] to regulate commerce with foreign nations...."

What part of that does the Bush Administration not understand? And will Democrats or Republicans in Congress do anything about it? Let's bet they won't.

The following is from: Bush officials: Congress irrelevant on Iraq.

"The Bush administration also feels it does not need to seek the authorization of Congress to ratify two pending agreements with Iraq: a “Strategic Framework” that would govern “normalized” relations with the U.S., and a Status of Forces Agreement that would govern the “authorities and protections” of U.S. troops in Iraq past Dec. 31, the expiration of a U.N. resolution that the administration says authorizes their presence."



Our precious supply of fresh drinking water is running out. The FDA thinks you don't need to know about cloned meat or milk. And Monsanto, of Agent Orange fame, is trying its hardest to keep you from knowing the dangers of rBGH - or recombined Bovine Growth Hormone. They're injecting dairy cows with it. It's genetically modified. It's linked to cancer. Read all about it here. If you want to live long and prosper - Buy Organic!



Our friend Hillary "I"ll say whatever I have to in order to be elected President" Clinton has contradicted her policy platform yet again. Yesterday, I wrote about her ties to corporate America. Today it's her lack of ties to the American worker.

Three years ago, she helped negotiate a deal for 23 high-tech "Marine One" presidential helicopters being made by numerous companies - including European ones. However, "this past week, [she] derided the Pentagon's decision to award a $40 billion defense contract to build mid-flight refueling tankers to a team consisting of Northrop Grumman and EADS, a European company." Sam Stein has blogged his analysis here.

Are any Americans paying attention to this? If your priest, pastor, car salesman, father-in-law, school teacher, or any such person in a position of authority consistently changed their story only for the benefit of selling you a car or getting some extra bills in the collection plate, would you stand for it? If you're a Hillary supporter, why is this ok? Someone help me on this...please...



This would definitely be a follow-up on my hypocrisy rant: with an endorsement from this guy, John Hagee, how can McCain seriously represent anything approaching Christian morals or American values?



Do not watch this if you're a human being. This really has nothing to do with the fact that this guy is an American. It does, however, have everything to do with what war does to the consciousness of a human being. The last paragraph of this story explains it well.


Something fun, something light, something cool...Volk Hände.

Holding Feet to the Fire

Last night was a telling night in primaries across Ohio and Texas. Much air-time and hot air was wasted on whether or not Hillary or Obama should concede defeat were either to not win these two battleground states. Back and forth go the talking heads, arguing and debating on how many delegates and superdelegates there are voting for who and why and where and what the hell is going on?! Really. I mean, where is substance and issues and background on these two candidates?

I found some here. Watch this video of a CBS news clip regarding the time Hillary Clinton served on the Board of Wal-Mart. Yep, the anti-union, sweatshop-laden, mom & pop shop destroying, women-hating Wal-Mart. (They'll pay for Viagra, but not birth control). How ironic that once Hillary decides to run for President, her views change and she's now pro-labor, pro-American-made goods, and pretty much for everything Wal-Mart is against. Just one more reason I'm quite leery of Hillary and won't be voting for her.

Here's an informative and humorous look at sweatshop & child labor: Pranktivism.



I'm a big proponent of the truth. Therefore, things like this and this, really piss me off. If the Iraq war really is the defining war of our time, so vitally important that our government makes sure we are really terrified of Al Qaeda Islamo-fascist, freedom-hating, Arabs, then why are these two twins and the Five Brothers allowed off the hook? Mitt Romney said, in August of last year, "it's time, in my view, for the people of America to show a surge of support, including our leaders in Washington, for these families and for the troops."

Oh, ok. Just support the troops and their families; those willing to live with the death or mutilation of their loved ones, and all is good...I don't have to actually sacrifice anything myself. I support the troops and life is good because I'm not one of them....is that it Mitt? I'm glad you lost, buddy.



Questions, questions, too many questions:

Wasn't this supposed to happen? Here is an article from January of 2003 - two months before we invaded the innocent country. "I don't think they're planning as far as I know to use Iraqi oil to pay for the invasion, but they are going to use it to pay for the occupation." Oh, really?


Why doesn't this make headline news? Whether they're lying or not - we could hold their feet to the fire, couldn't we? Then again - we like being the bully on the block - where we have a little less than 10,000 nuclear warheads. And we want more!

Why do we think we're smarter than mother-nature; smarter than an evolutionary biology that has been continually perfecting itself over millions and millions of years?

It's like the world has gone mad

The FDA, as well as those on the side of the meat industry, feel that it is safe for humans to eat meat and drink milk from cloned animals. (I do not in any way, shape, or form, support this position). In addition, they are against the labeling of such meat and dairy products in order to let consumers know what they are about to ingest has come from cloned animals. “The problem with labeling is that it implies that something is wrong with the food,” says William Hallman, director of the Food Policy Institute at Rutgers University. “Just like a label warns of peanuts, a label on cloned foods will be interpreted as a warning.”

Excuse me, but, does the "warning" label on cigarettes stop people from smoking? And the peanut warning label is so that people who have allergies know to stay away from food containing peanuts or processed in a facility that processes peanuts. It's called health and safety. It's called allowing the "free hand of the market" to decide, right? Isn't that what all of these big industry capitalist CEO's are always raving about? So, why not label cloned animals as such - and let the consumer decide if he or she feels safe eating an animal that has no evolutionary genetic history on this planet and is literally made up from a brand new, rarely discussed or debated technology in a laboratory?



More hypocrisy. Hey, all of you conservative, right-wing, "family-values" Americans...why don't you do something about this truly disgusting situation? Isn't this more important than abortion?



Speaking of disgusting... Those killed in the twin towers on 9/11 have never been given proper, body-identified burials. The remains of their bodies as well as the buildings they died in were rushed out of NYC: sold, junked, scrapped, melted, and otherwise destroyed and retransformed. Even though it was a crime scene, no investigation was ever done on any of the "evidence" contained at ground zero. Why? And why is it OK to use crime and burial scene evidence and steel as building material?



Why is this being released now? The report even states that, “At this time, there is no credible intelligence regarding specific plans by any extremist groups or individuals to perpetrate an act of terrorism against the U.S. mass transit system." So, why scare and frighten people? Is it because enough people aren't paying attention to Bush's low approval ratings? Is it because Hillary and Obama are dominating national television coverage? Why does my government continually try to terrorize me?

Water, Water Everywhere?

A friend of mine a number of years ago once commented on the fact that I had let water run from the tap while cleaning the counters. All he said was, "you know, if that was beer, people would never waste it like that."

I've thought about that statement many times: from the knocked-over beer bottle when my roommate said, "whoa, that's alcohol abuse" to every time i force myself to turn the water off while washing my face ( I'm reluctant to get the faucet all soapy - how ridiculous!). Yet I feel it's true that if beer came out of the tap it would be a different story. People would be quite agitated, and probably a lot more conservative, if it was Sam Adams running down the drain instead of water.

Where did this mindset come from that water is a never-ending supply of the basic ingredient of life? Was there ever a time when it wasn't acceptable to let the faucet run and waste water?



All too soon, the people of the United States (and the other countries of the world like us) will come to realize that our grandiose way of life and living is unsustainable. Democracy Now recently devoted time on its daily news program discussing the documentary Flow: For Love of Water. Flow discusses the fact that we're running out of water and how its privatization is only making matters worse. Democracy Now has a transcript of the segment, found here.

A few excerpts from the documentary are quite striking: "This notion that we'll have water forever is wrong. California is running out. It's got 20-some years of water. New Mexico has got 10, although they're building golf courses as fast as they can, so maybe they can whittle that down to five," "We're treating the water resources of the planet with contempt, which is just so stupid, because we depend on them. We need water to live. We will only survive for a day or two if we don't have water," and "You know those movies where there's the comet coming at the earth, and all of a sudden the governments of the world say, "Gee, we're not -- our differences aren't so big anymore, because we're about to all die"? That's really where we are. There is a comet coming at us. It's called water shortage."



What is sad about the state of our water situation is it barely makes a blip on the mainstream media's radar. There are certain stories that make national attention, however, these are played off as something happening to only a few states and mostly due to the mismanagement of the water or debates and disagreements about how much to use for wildlife.

For example, the water negotiations between Alabama, Georgia, and Florida have failed as of Saturday. "The talks appeared to unravel further in recent days, with Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue saying the water problems facing Florida and Alabama are not as critical as Georgia's and accusing the other states of approaching the talks without the same urgency as Georgia." However, "Florida and Alabama argue that Georgia hasn't adequately planned for growth. The extra withdrawals, they argue, would damage the environment and dry up river flows into their states that support smaller municipalities, power plants, commercial fisheries and industrial users like paper mills."

According to the New York Times here and here, "To support growth...Albuquerque will virtually abandon 40 years of pumping ground water out of the regional aquifer and replace it with surface water from the Rio Grande," which "is no longer strong enough to reach the sea."



And there are many more examples of water shortages in the United States. In Orme, Tennessee, they are living off of three hours of water a day, "the Great Lakes are shrinking. Upstate New York's reservoirs have dropped to record lows...and in the West, the Sierra Nevada snowpack is melting faster each year." All that is here.



One would think that the most precious combinations of elements in our solar system running out, the one's without which we die in two days, would cause more care and concern. Well, never fear, the growing water shortage does attract attention and demand action - and people are doing something about it - making money off it. Now if you'll excuse me, I just threw up in my mouth and need a glass of water.

When does karma assert itself?

The New York Times reported today that all 16 American intelligence agencies say Iran ended its nuclear weapons program in 2003. That's almost five years ago...

On August 17, 2004, John Bolton, then Undersecretary for Arms Control and International Security said during a speech at the Hudson Institute, "Iran is pursuing two separate paths to nuclear weapons, one that would use highly enriched uranium for nuclear weapons and one that would use plutonium."

A report here, from McClatchy Newspapers on November 4, 2007, says that President Bush and Vice-President Cheney speak of Iran's nuclear weapons program as fact:

"I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them (Iran) from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon," he said Oct. 17 at a news conference.
"Our country, and the entire international community, cannot stand by as a terror-supporting state fulfills its grandest ambitions," Cheney warned on Oct 23. "We will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon."

I was watching CNN this morning and there were various reports about the above cited New York Times article and the fact that all United States spy agencies agree that Iran has not tried to make nuclear weapons since 2003. Amazingly, none of these news stories I saw even mentioned the fact that Bush and Cheney have very recently said just the opposite. Where is the accountability and the outrage at being lied to yet again?

How can these "journalists" devote an amazing amount of time to Hillary Clinton's cackle on various TV news magazines, but not question the Executive Branch's assertions of Iranian nuclear capability when it flies in the face of a National Intelligence Estimate? Should this not be another nail in the coffin of the Bush Administrations' credibility?

Where we're heading

Everyone should be really paying attention to this, because these kinds of fights are going to start happening more frequently as we continue doing nothing about changing our planet's atmosphere. The biggest problems aren't going to come from dwindling water supplies as much as the fighting humans will do over the most important ingredient for life. According to a 2004 Pentagon analysis: "Future wars will be fought over the issue of survival rather than religion, ideology or national honor."

What's going down in Georgia right now definitely highlights the situation of what we will all be dealing with all too soon:

"Atlanta politicians, the newspaper said, "can't bring themselves to tell their greedy constituents complaining about the low flows in their toilets this week that perhaps if they didn't have six bathrooms, it might ease the situation a bit. That watering your lawn isn't as important as watering crops. Or that their greedy overbuilding has taxed their supplies of natural resources beyond their capabilities.""


It's not just Atlanta politicians - it's politicians and average citizens everywhere. There's this capitalistic mantra that worms its way into everyday consciousness: grow, Grow GROW - with anyone who tries to argue against it branded as un-American or anti-business.

Simply put - we live on a planet with finite resources: meaning that one day they will run out (like water is starting to do). Yet we have business models with unlimited growth as the book of divine inspiration. How many Starbucks does San Francisco really need? There's 81 listed on their website!

If you look at growth statistics since the 1950s, the average American house size has more than doubled; it now stands at 2,349 square feet. This is from a recent NPR report here in which they also talk about how we've become so greedy for goin' large that we're "atomizing the American family."

I mean - when are we going to start seeing recycling and sustainability as not just a concept for allowing the pursuit of happiness but something as foundational to the survival of our species. . . when we've chopped down the last tree to make a subdivision or produce that non-recycled paper cup? when we have to start having oxygen bars inside every Starbucks? How can you keep growing when your resources are going to run out? Is there anything more suicidal?

When are the citizens of this most enterprising country going to rise above Madison Avenue, Wall Street and their political backers and start to think for themselves? This tunnel-vision of growing by any and all means necessary for the adolescent goal of making more and more money is ridiculous - especially when it comes at the expense of our health, well-being, and future existence -- as evidenced by the Georgia drought.

All Knowing Eyes or Big Brother?

With Keith Olbermann probably being the most left-leaning news program on cable television, I still find him at the political center with maybe a leftist touch here and there. Aside from his jokes and inserted personal comments during interviews, he’s only reporting the obvious inconsistencies and hypocrisies of our political “leaders.”

However, has anyone else had the same creepy feeling about the intro graphic for Countdown? I can’t help but see it as the Eye of Sauron from Lord of the Rings which Wikipedia says "…is referred to as having the capability to "see all", although that must be meant as a term of fear…” and the Combine tower from the popular computer game Half Life 2 in which an alien military force has taken over.

The Countdown graphic has an “all seeing, searching” eye set high-up in a spiny tower with dark clouds above and sun rising to the right. Close-ups of the tower show numerous video screens, pipes, tubing, Olbermann’s face, and numbers.

It looks menacing, kind of scary, and brings to mind oppressive thoughts of Big Brother much more so than those of journalist integrity or freedom.

To be free or not to be free

So much hot air comes out of not only President Bush, but the Democratic and Republican members of Congress as well. Who needs oil? Just stick a few of these hypocrites in the trunk of your car bla-bla-blabbing away and zoom! off you go.

Hot air? Hypocrites? I'm speaking in reference to this never-ending stream of talk about freedom and liberty and democracy. How we're bringing it to the Middle East; how we have so much of it; how we're the standard-bearer of it all. How so full of shit it all is.

Recently, there was Burma. I talked about it and our pathetic reaction here, here, and here. This week, we've had Pakistan instantly lose what little democracy they had. And why? Of course the leader who staged a coup to get into power, General Pervez Musharraf, said that it's "because the courts were hampering his efforts against extremist groups, such as by ordering the release of suspects held without charge." That's here.

However, the timing of his abolishment of freedom and liberty came at quite an ironic time. General Musharraf "suspended the constitution on Saturday ahead of a Supreme Court ruling on whether his recent re-election as president was legal. He ousted seven independent-minded Supreme Court judges, put a stranglehold on independent media and granted sweeping powers to authorities to crush dissent."

What he did was to order the arrest of freedom, liberty, and democracy because the court system was about to rule on whether he could remain president! If his argument about protecting the country and "democracy" from extremist groups was really true, then why would you shut down newspapers, television stations, and arrest hundreds of lawyers? While that bothers me immensely, it's to be expected from a egotistical thug who gained power in a coup. What is not to be expected is the supposed "greatest nation on earth" to stand idly by in a corner sucking its thumb asking for the General to please not do that. At least American hypocrisy is great.

"Pressed on whether the US backed the anti-Musharraf demonstrators, as it had recent anti-government protests in Myanmar [Burma], Perino replied: "Let me put it this way: We certainly support the right to free speech, and freedom of expression and freedom to assemble."" So, the Bush Administration supports people assembling, expressing, and talking about how their democratic rights were taken away, but says nothing about those rights actually being taken away! How nice.

It is interesting to note that Deutsche Welle reported the other day that "since 2001, Musharraf has received nearly $11 billion from Washington and $150 million continue to flow in each month. Of this, only 10 percent goes to economic and social projects. The rest goes to the soldiers."

Who cares about SCHIP and giving poor children health care with that money - or fixing the hundreds of bridges that are structurally deficient in this country. "Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte told Congress on Wednesday that Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf is an "indispensable" ally in the U.S.-led war on terrorism and that "partnership with Pakistan and its people is the only option."" What has he done that has made him so "indispensable?" (Besides suspend their constitution twice, the initiation of a police state and the ending of democracy this week?) Where's Osama again?

Hypocrisy. Lies. Distortions. Saddam was our friend. We invaded Iraq to bring "democracy" to a population that was not in the streets protesting for it, yet we totally ignore two countries with citizens actually in the streets protesting and being arrested calling for democracy...

Answer to the previous quiz

Q. Who said that "These people are very unskilled in arms...with 50 men they could all be subjected and made to do all that one wished?"


A.

B.

C. Christopher Columbus

D.


It's quite a shame that we celebrate this marauder who raped, pillaged, and enslaved innocent peoples.

These are the days of our lives

According to a top news article here, 2007 has been the deadliest year for U.S. troops.

In light of that; they're old enough now to ask how dad died. I also hope that they're asking (and being told) exactly why their fathers (and mothers) are no longer alive. Here's a hint: it wasn't weapons of mass destruction (like Bush said), or bringing democracy to Iraq (after no WMD's were found), or going after al-Qaeda in Iraq (after democracy didn't work), or - well, al-Qaeda wasn't in Iraq until we invaded that country so - get the pattern?





Just in case you don't get the pattern, retired Army Gen. John Abizaid said that our war in the Middle East could last 50 years. "...but we shouldn't assume for even a minute that in the next 25 to 50 years the American military might be able to come home..." It's all part of a much bigger plan that has been obvious for quite awhile now. From the stated goals of the Project for a New American Century to presidential candidate Mitt Romney when he says, "For me what America should do is strengthen our military, strengthen our economy and strengthen our family structure so that we always remain the most powerful nation on earth. A world without America as the leader is a very frightening place."

How arrogant is that!? What would a German citizen or English, or Indian, or take your pick of other citizenry, think of that? That's like a kid on the playground saying he's not going to let anyone else run things - it's his way or you get pounded. Surely our founding fathers didn't have empire in mind when they created the grandest experiment in democracy saying that "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."






A good part of the problem is our media. Not only that it's highly concentrated by mega-corporations, but that the people asking and discussing important questions are incompetent at best. The always on target Eric Alterman discusses that here.

Our newspapers, magazines and television programs do a horrible job of telling us what we need to know about candidates. How does Clinton's health plan differ from Obama's? Moreover, what exactly is Clinton's health plan? Oh, I hear plenty about how the Republicans are against it, how she's the front runner, how she cackles; but what are the ins and outs - the particulars - of her health care plan? Why isn't this discussed? About half-way down this article by Eric Boehlert talking about the press' reaction to a Stephen Colbert presidential run, you come across this:

"Look at the latest research findings from the campaign trail: "Just 12% of stories examined were presented in a way that explained how citizens might be affected by the election," according to Editor & Publisher magazine. "And just one percent of stories examined the candidates' record or past public performance.""

A functioning democracy must have an engaged and informed citizenry. If we're not getting pertinent information from the media, what kind of democracy are we living in?

Sorry State of Affairs

The Democrats were elected to end the war. They have not and will not. This is part of the problem with a two-party system. I am not ideologically aligned with the Republicans and I'm maybe half-way aligned with the Democrats. I don't respect either party - so who am I to vote for? Many people share this sentiment, including Greens, Libertarians, and Constitutional party members. Back to the war and Democrats: they say they do not have enough votes to stop the war - and I have yet to know about one instance where a reporter has called them on their bullshit. Not one reporter... save Paul Krugman here:

"But the truth is, Democrats have all the votes they need to stop the war — if they are willing to use the power given them by the Constitution to block the supplemental funding bill unless it includes a deadline for bringing the troops home. As Norm Ornstein told me: “Whatever the White House sends to the House is constitutionally merely a suggestion.” The prerogative to bring a funding bill to the floor rests entirely with the majority — which, in case Democrats have forgotten, is theirs. As for the Senate, Democrats there would only have to find 41 votes to block the supplemental funding bill."





I can't say this enough: if you have not read 1984 by George Orwell - GO READ IT!! It will help highlight the ways in which our liberties and freedoms (that we take for granted) are being "legally" taken away from us.

Why do I bring this up? Because the Bush Administration is trying very hard to get the American people supportive (through terrorizing us) of a war with Iran. The same methods used to scare (terrorize) its own citizens into a war with Iraq are being used again. Bush and Co. say that Iran could develop a nuclear bomb in a few short years. However, "the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said Sunday he had no evidence Iran was working actively to build nuclear weapons and expressed concern that escalating rhetoric from the U.S. could bring disaster." You can read the full article concerning Mohamed ElBaradei, who leads the International Atomic Energy Agency here.






This is a very good example of profound slavishness to the Bush Administration's hatred of regulation, fairness, and objectivity. "Ms. Nord, the top official for consumer product safety, opposes provisions that would increase the maximum penalties for safety violations and make it easier for the government to make public reports of faulty products, protect industry whistleblowers and prosecute executives of companies that willfully violate laws."





If we do not take action on this like, yesterday, life as we have come to know it is going to be radically altered - probably forever. And it won't be pretty.

"Humans are changing the Earth's climate so fast and devouring resources so voraciously that the survival of the world's ecosystems and of humanity itself is at stake, a new UN report says. The 570-page Global Environment Outlook, published by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), paints a dire picture of planet-wide death and degradation. With more than six billion people, Earth's population is now so big that "the amount of resources needed to sustain it exceeds what is available," the report warned, adding that the global population is expected to peak at between 8 and 9.7 billion by 2050."

It's laughable to the point of insanity that our country is hyper-focused on immigration, gay marriage, and abortion rather than the fact that we are destroying that which gives us nourishment and life.





The United States has military troops in about 135 countries around the world. If that's not the tentacles of empire, I don't know what is. How many countries have troops in our country? How many foreign militaries have bases in our country? That's why I must applaud Ecuador for being fair and balanced in this regard.

It's All About The Benjamins

According to the National Priorities Project, taxpayers in the state of Hawaii (where I currently reside), " will pay $1.5 billion for the cost of the Iraq War through 2007. For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided:

495,930 People with Health Care OR

2,455,230 Homes with Renewable Electricity OR

36,168 Public Safety Officers OR

28,333 Music and Arts Teachers OR

399,014 Scholarships for University Students OR

112 New Elementary Schools OR

4,617 Affordable Housing Units OR

497,457 Children with Health Care OR

197,000 Head Start Places for Children OR

28,333 Elementary School Teachers OR

21,354 Port Container Inspectors

Some more interesting facts and figures, this time from Adbusters magazine:

The Real Threat to Americans
(est. number of deaths 2001-2005)

-- 3,000 Terrorism

-- 96,000 Homicide

--- 102,000 Drunk Driving

---- 180,000 Suicide

----- 228,000 Second Hand Smoke

-------------- 436, 890 Diabetes

--------------------------2,311,134 Cancer*

---------------------------------2,652,000 Smoking Related

-----------------------------------------------------3,119,142 Heart Disease*


* Excluding smoking related deaths





Pop quiz time: What do $500,000 for a "Virtual Herbarium" in New York, $100,000 to celebrate Lake Champlain's quadricentennial, and $50,000 for an ice center in Utah, all have in common?

I doubt you guessed it (something like this should be on the nightly news, shouldn't it?) - but the answer is: These are Congressional pet projects which were given money over children's health care! That's right ladies and gentlemen, our elected leaders really do represent us. Don't polls show 56% of Americans want an ice center in Utah?





More on lies and money: this story, in which the White House redacted six full pages of research on climate change only goes to show you: the Bush Administration cannot be trusted! It's been long known, through their own words and actions, that Bush and his oil and gas buddies would lose profits if they had to take action on global climate change. That is why the auto industry so heavily lobbies Congress to not make car emission standards higher - they'll lose profits! Who cares if we're killing life and helping make species extinct, who cares if the seas will rise flooding major cities or fires will tear across densely populated areas? What matters most is the bottom line: profits. Profits über alles!

If the Bush Administration will go to blatant lengths to hide this information from you (information that may very soon save our lives - or at least help us prepare for disaster) what else are they hiding from us?