Some Folks get it

Gretchen Peters sings "Independence Day". And you won't hear me thanking Sarah Palin about much very often. So, savor this one! Thanks, Sarah.

"Politicians never hear the verse; they only hear the chorus."

My friend, songwriter Gretchen Peters, took solace in those words the night her song, "Independence Day," was used to introduce Gov. Sarah Palin to the RNC. She had just finished a performance in Ft. Worth, TX, and her song -- about a woman in a desperate situation -- had been used by a politician who didn't know what it was about, and who doesn't relate to women like Gretchen and me.

She put it best herself: "But the verse is the story. The verse is the message."
http://www.ppaction.org/ct/B1_ERl71bTM9/GretchenPetersVideo

Gretchen decided to do something remarkable: she donated the proceeds she received from "Independence Day" -- from the moment Gov. Palin took the stage that day until Election Day -- to Planned Parenthood. Supporters like Gretchen -- and like you -- are the reason we have a strong, vibrant organization that helps people throughout the world. I can't ever thank you enough. http://www.ppaction.org/ct/3p_ERl71bTMI/GretchenPeters

Blagojevich arrested by federal authorities and charged with corruption

Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich (D) of Illinois was arrested by federal authorities on Tuesday morning and charged with corruption, including an allegation that he conspired to effectively sell President-elect Barack Obama's seat in the United States Senate to the highest bidder. A 76-page affidavit from the United States Attorney's office in the Northern District of Illinois says Mr. Blagojevich was heard on wiretaps over the last month planning to "sell or trade Illinois' United States Senate seat vacated by Pres-elect Barack Obama for financial and personal benefits for himself and his wife."

I realize that this is not exactly "breaking news" at this point. I am not going to try to defend the Governor. I don't really know whether he did anything or not. But as the United States Attorney's office has been appointed and anointed by the Bush Regime and purged of any who may not see things the way the Regime wants them viewed, I personally find the whole thing suspect and fascinating.

"Suspect" because at this point it should be obvious that ANYTHING that this government does is done for ulterior motives and "fascinating" because what has been obvious for years is still largely ignored and accepted by the docile sheeple.

I want to know when someone is going to grow balls and take their country back as they are doing in Greece! All those fascists had to do was kill one fifteen year old boy. How many thousands of young men are we going to allow this corrupt government kill before we get pissed? And can we really believe any charge that they bring against anyone?

I'm not saying for one moment that the Democrats aren't JUST as "in the pocket" of the banks and corporations. But I would put forward that this is just another chapter of the Rove play book in which they are trying to leave a legacy... as if they don't already have one! A really bad one.

The Future of our hellth care

No. I didn't misspell "health". I mean that all we have to look forward to is more hell... th.

I went to see my doctor a couple of days ago. They charged me the co-pay that they have largely ignored for the duration of the conservative siege on Amerikan Government. Truly, the folks that run the clinic are health service oriented democrats. Unfortunately, the only staff that they can afford to employ are inept, uncaring, insensitive boobs. But I knew something was up when they asked for that largely symbolic, ridiculously ludicrous, whopping two dollar co-pay.

Now, I have been complaining about chest pain, leg and feet pains, back pains, and every other kind of discomfort known to mankind for YEARS. In fact, I required triple bypass heart surgery a year and a half ago. I had to complain to my CONGRESSMAN to get even the VETERANS ADMINISTRATION to care for one of their fucking VETS!

But amazingly after charging the two buck co-pay that they never charge, and of course after the obligatory 2+ hour wait, I was promptly told that I likely have cancer... lymphoma to be precise. And that it has likely moved into my intestines. They promised to schedule a series of really fun tests, told me I was a tough guy and would make it just fine, and sent me on my way.

And Our Lord and Saviour, Barak Obama, has anointed one of the worst corporate pharmaceutical whores to be the HHS Secretary, Tom Daschle. I can see CDC and DHSS spending going nuts already. They now have money on the way! But don't look for health care to improve. Just look for it to be more profitable.

And don't look for me to be posting much. I'll likely be receiving toxic treatments that no one cared about giving me when it might have made a difference.

Blind Consumerism is its own kind of Terrorism

Wal-Mart shoppers who trampled NY worker

NEW YORK – Police were reviewing video from surveillance cameras in an attempt to identify who trampled to death a Wal-Mart worker after a crowd of post-Thanksgiving shoppers burst through the doors at a suburban store and knocked him down.

Criminal charges were possible, but identifying individual shoppers in Friday's video may prove difficult, said Detective Lt. Michael Fleming, a Nassau County police spokesman.

Other workers were trampled as they tried to rescue the man, and customers stepped over him and became irate when officials said the store was closing because of the death, police and witnesses said.

At least four other people, including a woman who was eight months pregnant, were taken to hospitals for observation or minor injuries. The store in Valley Stream on Long Island closed for several hours before reopening.

Police said about 2,000 people were gathered outside the Wal-Mart doors before its 5 a.m. opening at a mall about 20 miles east of Manhattan. The impatient crowd knocked the employee, identified by police as Jdimytai Damour, to the ground as he opened the doors, leaving a metal portion of the frame crumpled like an accordion.

"This crowd was out of control," Fleming said. He described the scene as "utter chaos," and said the store didn't have enough security.

Dozens of store employees trying to fight their way out to help Damour were also getting trampled by the crowd, Fleming said. Shoppers stepped over the man on the ground and streamed into the store.

Fatal shooting followed toy store brawl

PALM DESERT, Calif. – The shooting occurred in a crowded toy store on the traditional start of the holiday shopping season, but authorities say it wasn't related to the bargain-hunting frenzy. Instead, two men pulled guns and killed each other after the women with them erupted into a bloody brawl, witnesses said.

Authorities released few details about the mayhem that broke out at the Toys "R" Us store around 11:30 a.m. Friday, sending scared shoppers fleeing. Riverside County sheriff's Sgt. Dennis Gutierrez said the fight was not over a toy and that handguns were found by the men's bodies. He refused to say whether the shooting was gang-related.

The victims were identified as Alejandro Moreno, 39, of Desert Hot Springs, and Juan Meza, 28, of Cathedral City. No one else was hurt.

Witnesses Scott and Joan Barrick said they were checking out of the store when the brawl began between two women, each with a man. The women were near the checkout area, but the Barricks did not think the women had purchases.

One woman suddenly started punching the other woman, who fought back as blood flowed from her nose, said Scott Barrick, 41. The man who was with the woman being punched pulled a gun halfway out of his pocket, then shoved it back in, he said.

"He pulled his gun right next to me. I turned to look for my wife, and she was already hiding," Scott Barrick said.

"I was scared," said Joan Barrick, 40. "I didn't want to die today. I really didn't want to die today, and I think that's what we were all thinking."

The other man pulled a gun and pointed it at the first man but forgot to cock it, Scott Barrick said. The first man tried to run but was blocked by the line of people, then ran back toward the store's electronics section as the other man fired his gun, he said.

The first man reached a dead-end in electronics, turned around and ran toward an exit, pulling his gun and firing back, Scott Barrick said.

"He went up to the cash register, he went to put his hand on the thing and he just went phoomp," he said, indicating the man fell.

He said he did not see what happened to the other man.

Palm Desert Councilman Jim Ferguson said police told him two men with handguns shot and killed each other.

"I think the obvious question everyone has is who takes loaded weapons into a Toys "R" Us?" he said. "I doubt it was the casual holiday shopper."

Ya'll have a happy holiday season now. And go out and shop 'till ya drop!

Deepak on the India Attack

Transcript

Chopra: What we have seen in Mumbai has been brewing for a long time, and the war on terrorism and the attack on Iraq compounded the situation. What we call "collateral damage" and going after the wrong people actually turns moderates into extremists, and that inflammation then gets organized and appears as this disaster in Bombay. Now the worst thing that could happen is there's a backlash on the Muslims from the fundamental Hindus in India, which then will perpetuate the problem. Inflammation will create more inflammation.

CNN: Let me jump in on that because you're presuming something very important, which is that it's Muslims who have carried out these attacks and, in some cases, with Washington in their sights.

Chopra: Ultimately the message is always toward Washington because it's also the perception that Washington, in their way, directly or indirectly funds both sides of the war on terror. They fund our side, then our petrol dollars going to Saudi Arabia through Pakistan and ultimately these terrorist groups, which are very organized. You know Jonathan, it takes a lot of money to do this. It takes a lot of organization to do this. Where's the money coming from, you know? The money is coming from the vested interests. I'm not talking about conspiracy theories, but what happens is, our policies, our foreign policies, actually perpetuate this problem. Because, you know, 25% of the world's population is Muslim and they're the fastest growing segment of the population of the world. The more we alienate the Muslim population, the more the moderates are likely to become extremists.

(all emphasis mine)

I was kinda wondering when someone would get around to publicly making the connection. Now, I wonder when you will all realize that they will do it to all of you where ever you are! They are making "extremists" the world around. And not all of the "extremists" that they are making are Muslim "extremists". They are growing a nice crop of Christian "extremists" the world around as well.

The disturbance in the Senate

A family of three protesters traveled from North Carolina to Washington to disrupt a Senate meeting. They were identified by police as a couple, Ante Nedlko Pavkovic and Katherine Lynn Pavkovic, with their daughter Kristen Sugar Pavkovic. They allegedly belong to a conservative Christian anti-abortion group called Operation Save America -- formerly known as Operation Rescue.

When Chaplain Zed, a Hindu chaplain, had stood before the microphone, but before he had a chance to deliver his prayer, Ante Pavkovic loudly objected from the visitors' gallery, saying:

"Lord Jesus, forgive us father for allowing a prayer of the wicked, which is an abomination in your sight. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. You are the One true living God."

Zed then began his prayer. Kathy Pavkovic then interrupted him by standing and quoting John 14:6:

"Jesus is the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

Finally, their daughter Christen stood and pleaded to God:

"Father, forgive us for betraying your Son Jesus." ₁

Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) was the presiding officer that day. He ordered that the protestors be removed. As they left the Senate chambers, they continued to yell at the chaplain such phrases as "No Lord but Jesus Christ!" and "There is only one true God! Afterwards, they described themselves as "Christians and patriots"

It is a pity that the group had not waited until the prayer was finished. They might possibly have approved of it because it was a generic prayer to "the Deity Supreme," which the group of three could have easily equated with the Christian Trinity, just as Jews could equate him with Yahweh, and Muslims could have equated him with Allah, etc.

The text of chaplain Zed's prayer was:

"Let us pray. We meditate on the transcendental glory of the Deity Supreme, who is inside the heart of the Earth, inside the life of the sky, and inside the soul of the heaven. May He stimulate and illuminate our minds. Lead us from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light, and from death to immortality. May we be protected together, may we be nourished together. May we work together with great vigor. May our study be enlightening."

CSPAN broadcast the prayer and the protest. The following clip was posted to You Tube:

The Continuing Fleecing of America

Congressional interrogators pointed out that banks were not lending more money. Mortgage interest rates have risen, not fallen, even though the Fed is supplying banks with credit at only a quarter of a percentage point (an average of about 0.30 per cent last week). Credit standards (understandably) have been tightened to require prospective buyers to put up more of their own money. Foreclosures and evictions are up and real estate prices continue to plunge. Also plunging almost straight down has been the Dow Jones Industrial Average, sinking below the 8000 mark last week to the lowest levels in years. Nothing is working out the way Mr. Paulson promised.

The word being used most by Treasury officials these days is “unexpected.” At his subcommittee hearing on Friday, Nov. 14, Dennis Kucinich asked Mr. Paulson’s sidekick, Neel Kashkari, whether the Treasury’s lack of realistic foresight was an innocent error or a case of bait and switch. Mr. Kashkari stonewalled by repeating a “talking point” loop-tape claiming that giveaways were the way to get the economy “moving” again. The banks would use their newfound power to help customers run back into debt even more deeply, presumably at the exponential rates needed to re-inflate property and stock prices.

Ok, boys and girls. This is an excerpt from a Counterpunch piece. The thing that strikes me as most offensive is that they say this is all "unexpected". Someone just hasn't read any Carl Marx, now have they?!

Just don't expect any of this to change much with our "great white hope", No Drama Obama. There will be drama a plenty in the months to come. For if you think for one moment that the money whores are going to let this man, even if he would, do anything but look like a fool, you are sorely mistaken. Their main man, Herr Bush, was a (is a)bumbling buffoon, not to mention a cold criminal. Yet, he was held up as the savior of the world!

No, the markets are going to continue to crash, our bailout money is going to continue to be plundered and pilfered, we are going to increase our wartime status and Mr. Obama is going to made the underdog for it all so that our neocons can come back saying some such shit as "we were misled or bamboozled but we are your true hope".

But make no mistake about it, jobs are history. The illusion of wealth is history. We have collectively rolled over and let the cell block bully have his way with our asses. Wanna blame someone, look in the mirror.

And there is a new breath blown into the lungs of the dying Jim Crow, too. If I had a nickel for every time I have heard the phrase "that nigger in the White House", I would be prepared to weather an economic depression for the rest of my life. The little Nazi's of America are getting themselves all worked up into a frenzy. And we are all allowing it to happen by NOT confronting racism and class dogma any more than we confront religious dogma.

And on that note, I have heard bus loads of little rednecks saying that Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas would have made a good presidential pick because he "is a nice guy". Yeah, just like Palin is a "hot chick"! NOT. Personally, I do not want anyone that is actively anticipating the rapture to occur just any day now to be in a position to make decisions for future generations!

Don't look for me to continue posting much here. I have absolutely lost interest. I can hardly bare to continue watching mankind destroy his self with hatred, bigotry and greed. Good Night and Good Luck!

AIR POWERED CAR?

New? Lemme see, I posted on this a year and a half ago and described events that occurred over twenty-five years ago.

Wanna read my post about this? Click here.

The only problem with this "breaking news" is that it is OLD NEWS. And I haven't found anyone who really gives a rats ass in a quarter of a century! Yup I'm definitely nuts.

Anyone beginning to see why I haven't been posting much lately?

Call me when you all save the world.

Shall we all Ride?

Where are we all headed?

So, ya think that the new wave of political change in America is going to make a difference in your life? Think again.



I think that the video says it all. Of course, who cares what I think? But then, who cares what you think?

I hope that we are up for what is to come...

Awareness means survival. This article should be read in its entirety very carefully and studied.

The Jig is Up
By Lynn Henderson

The United States economy is in the greatest financial crisis since the stock market crash and great depression of 1929. This is not the assertion of a few radicals and political "lefties" but the virtually unanimous and sudden conclusion of economists, Wall Street financial experts, Democratic and Republican politicians, and the entire media industry. While the unanimous recognition of the crisis was reached with truly breathtaking speed, almost none of these experts and pundits saw it coming even a few weeks and months ago. And the crisis is not limited to the United States, but has rapidly spread through out the entire world financial system.

We also have virtual unanimity from these same folks on the causes of the financial crisis. The deregulation movement was taken to excess. The lack of government regulation and oversight led to the proliferation of new risky, exotic financial instruments - hedge funds, derivative securities, credit default swaps, securitized and bundled mortgages, etc. These new instruments lacked "transparency" we are told, and were too complicated for the market to accurately evaluate. The usually efficient invisible hand of the free market was unable to perform its normal functions and froze up.

In the housing market, unregulated sub-prime mortgages led to irresponsible lending and borrowing practices that allowed thousands of people to buy homes they really could not afford. When housing prices unexpectedly fell and the higher rates of the sub-prime mortgages kicked in, this triggered a cascading wave of mortgage defaults that led to a credit crunch that quickly spread throughout the entire economy.

There is also near unanimity on what the solution to this crisis is. First, "stabilize" the situation with immediate massive government bailouts of banks, brokerage firms, insurance companies and all other financial institutions "too big to fail". Provide emergency government guarantees for all loans between banks and banks, banks and brokerage firms, banks and insurance companies - in other words, government guarantees for loans between all the major financial institutions of the country.

They also caution us that this stabilization process will take time, and will be painful. The question of course is painful for whom? These are the most massive government bailouts in the history of this nation - or any nation, and there are more to come. They are not for free. In the final analysis, wealth will be channeled out of the pockets of the vast majority into the coffers of the financial elite.

But after an admittedly painful period, which will probably include recession, unemployment and other hardships, we are told the economy will be stabilized. Responsible regulations and government oversight will then be put in place which will curb future excesses of greed and speculation and the economy will return to its normal state of growth and prosperity.

None of the above accurately describes the nature, causes and roots of the present financial collapse. Even the comparison with 1929 lacks accuracy. The present financial crisis is more fundamental and more sweeping than the 1929 crash and depression. It is the end of an era. The end of the so-called American Century. The demise of the world financial system which American capitalism set up at the famous Bretton Woods conference in 1944 following WWII. And there is no agreement on what will or can replace it.

For some 50 years now the American working class, or the media's preferred euphemism, the American middle class, has been the target of an intense class war in which real wages and income have been relentless reduced. This has been a one-sided class war with little effective resistance, especially from a hopelessly bureaucratized and conservatized trade union movement, which, in addition, has slavishly tied itself to one of the principle instruments of this class war, the Democratic political party. Everyone recognizes some of the more obvious results of this one-sided class war. An ever increasing concentration of wealth into the hands of a thin layer at the top -- CEO salaries that have gone from 40 times that of the average employee to 300 times.

But there is an obvious contradiction here. Economists calculate that approximately 80 percent of the economy is driven by consumer spending. If real wages have been falling over the last 50 years, how has the economy, at least until recently, continued to expand and profits continue to grow? This was accomplished by a number of strategies designed to offset the effect of falling real wages on consumer spending.

The first of these was the simple expedient of drastically increasing the total number of hours worked. Overtime was increased, leisure time was decreased. The single wage earner family was largely eliminated. No longer did one partner work while the other, usually the female, took on the demanding job of running the home and caring for the children. The "Leave It To Beaver" family of the 1950's disappeared from American society.

When this proved insufficient, family members were forced into a second and even a third part time job. Grandpa and grandma were moved into the basement apartment, and shuffled off to Walmart earning extra bucks as greeters to supplement their Social Security check. This is why political and economic apologists for this policy no longer wish to compare individual wage rates over time but rather family income. But the number of extra hours an individual can work is limited, as is the number of additional family members that can be put to work. New steps had to be taken to offset the effect falling wages had on consumer spending and the economy.

The next move was a massive expansion of consumer debt. The credit card industry was born. It was not so long ago that credit cards were mostly limited to business executives who did a lot of traveling. New federal legislation was put in place ending the ability of individual states to regulate credit cards and eliminating all usury laws which capped the maximum interest that could be charged. The nation was flooded with credit cards carrying 20 percent plus interest rates, a return previously only available to Mafia loan operations. The average American family now holds seven ofthese cards. The banks issuing these cards made record profits and consumer debt soared to record levels. But it did mask the effects of falling real wages and produced a significant if temporary boost in consumer spending.

Paralleling the encouragement of ever more consumer debt was an even more risky policy, the massive and continuous expansion of government debt. We will address this crucial question in greater detail shortly but for now we can note that these record deficit budgets of necessity fueled inflationary pressures. One way these inflationary pressures expressed themselves was an artificial rise in the dollar value of houses -- the so-called housing boom. For most middle class/working class families, their home, if they own one, is by far their biggest financial asset. As credit cards maxed out and the size of consumer credit card debt became unsupportable, another particularly dangerous financial gimmick was floated. Consumers were encouraged, and driven by necessity, to take cash equity out of their inflated house value. Second mortgages, third mortgages, home equity loans, became the final desperate hope for keeping their heads above water -- for meeting expenses and paying down credit card debt that was killing them with 20% plus interest rates. New home buyers were lured into predatory sub-prime and adjustable rate mortgages with the assurance that housing prices would continue to raise indefinitely, allowing them to refinance and even cash out increased equity in the foreseeable future. And again it propped up consumer spending.

The banks made big bucks out of the credit card ploy but it was peanuts in comparison to what they were able to accomplish with the new mortgage schemes. By highly leveraging their mortgage investments, bundling them together into tradeable securities and marketing these throughout the world, they were able to generate some of the largest banking profits in history. When the housing bubble burst, it triggered not just a crisis in the mortgage market but the collapse of a financial house of cards that had been building for decades.

Even more significantly, it exposed fatal flaws in the entire world financial system which had been in place for seventy years, ever since the famous Bretton Woods conference of 1944. When the United States organized the Bretton Woods conference, the US was the largest creditor nation in the world; for all intents and purposes it was the only creditor nation in the world. Today it is the largest debtor nation in the world.

For decades the United States has run ever larger deficit budgets fueling an ever larger national debt. In the final analysis this was driven by the need to artificially stimulate an economy whose inadequate wage-driven consumer spending was less and less capable of keeping it on track.

But how was the United States able to do this? How was the United States able to run ever larger deficit budgets driving an ever larger national debt? Other nations are not capable of doing this. If Argentina, or Germany or France followed a similar policy it would eventually produce very dire results. The United States was able to pursue such a policy over an extended period of many decades because of the unique, privileged position of the dollar in the world economic system.

The United States won WWII. It won WWII big. It won WWII not just against the Axis powers but against its allies as well. The entire capitalist world came out of WWII in a shambles. Its industrial plants destroyed or in decay, its working classes reduced, dispersed, and demoralized, its political structures in turmoil and its national economies for the most part flat broke. But the United States came out of WWII immeasurably stronger in every way than when it entered the war. Its industrial capacity had dramatically expanded, incorporating all the new technologies in electronics, chemicals etc. developed during the war. Its working class was intact with better skills and education than prior to the war. It was politically, militarily and financially the dominant capitalist economy in the world.

Prior to WWII, international trade and the settlement of international trade balances were accomplished primarily through the shifting of gold accounts. But by the end of WWII the United States ended up with all the gold, or most of it. A new basis for organizing international trade had to be found and found quickly. At the 1944 Bretton Woods conference it was agreed that the dollar would replace gold in its international trade function. That the dollar would be accepted as good as gold. That the dollar would become the reserve currency for the entire capitalist world. This is how the U.S. dollar acquired its unique, privileged position. Or to use a term union members can appreciate it, acquired "super seniority". This arrangement made certain sense for the world capitalist economy, but only so long as the U.S. economy remained a strong, dominant, expanding economy with a strongfinancialbala ncesheet.

What do the continuous deficit budgets and the exploding federal government debt mean? It means this debt has to be funded; the government has to borrow money. It does this by selling U.S. treasury bonds which are government I.O.U.s. Today most of these U.S. treasuries are sold in the international market and held by such countries as Japan, the Middle East oil nations and especially China.

The United States has become utterly dependent on continued international purchases of these treasuries and the regular roll-over of those already held. As the U.S. debt grows and the dollar becomes shakier these nations become more nervous about continuing these purchases. That's on one side of the equation; on the other side, the collapse of the dollar as the world reserve currency with nothing to replace it would mean a world-wide crisis and a sharp contraction in international trade - trade on which these nations are very dependent. These are the consideration the holders of U.S. debt are constantly trying to weigh and balance.

This month saw a sea shift in how they weigh and balance the equation. As the crisis unfolded,and the government bailout and infusion of funds began to take place, Treasury Secretary Paulson suddenly and out-of-the-blue made a truly astounding demand that Congress immediately authorize 700 billion dollars to be dispensed by him, as he saw fit, with no congressional or judicial oversight.

Despite some claims to the contrary, he essentially got everything he demanded. What provoked such a move? David Rothkopf, an apparently well connected scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, lets the cat out of the bag in a major article entitled 9/11WasBig.This isBigger. In the October 12 Washington Post he writes; "Reports from within the Treasury suggested that the U.S. government intervened in the financial sector, at least in part, in response to Chinese threats to reconsider their policy of buying U.S. debts unless Washington moved to stabilize the markets."

This signals the end for the U.S. dollar's status as world reserve currency -- the end of "super seniority" for the dollar. And national leaders throughout the world know it. They are demanding a new worldwide economic conference to deal with the crisis. This conference, explains French President Nicolas Sarkozy, would need "to rebuild the entire global financial and monetary system from the bottom up, the way it was done at Bretton Woods after World War II." He goes on to conclude, "Laissez-faire -- it's finished. The all-powerful market that is always right, it's finished."

Germany's finance minister offered a similar perspective in remarks to his parliamentary colleagues. "The U.S. will lose its status as the superpower of the world financial system," Peer Steinbruck declared. "This world will become multipolar. The world will never be the same again."

The strongly pro-market Financial Times of London chimes in declaring that, "We are at the end of the era of American laissez-faire capitalism".

It's all well and good to demand a new Bretton Woods but it ignores the fact that the utterly unique historical conditions allowing for the successful Bretton Woods conference of 1944 no longer exist nor are they reproducible. There was little in the way of negotiations between equals or even serious two way discussion at the 1944 Bretton Woods conference. A completely dominate and victorious U.S. capitalism dictated, and the rest of the capitalist world acceded. The usual laws of capitalist international competition were uniquely and temporarily in suspension.

That is certainly not the case in the world today. The European nations calling for a world conference can't even come up with a cooperative, coordinated response to the crisis among themselves. Ireland was the first to break, on Sept. 30 unilaterally providing government protection for its banks. As funds flowed out of Europe to the protected Irish banks a howl of protest was heard from Germany, France, Britain etc. charging unfair competition. But they had no alternative other than individually extended protection to their own national banks.

Next was Iceland. In the recent decade Iceland had transformed itself into a mini Switzerland, soliciting deposits from all over Europe especially Britain. Its profitable banking sector grew to ten times as large as its entire gross national product. As the world financial crisis unfolded, the small Icelandic economy was in no position to bail out its enormous banking sector.

When European governments turned down his desperate appeals for assistance, Iceland's prime minister, Geir Haarde, declared that it was now "every country for itself". He arranged a temporary loan from Russia, and promised to guarantee domestic depositors in Iceland's banks while reneging on guarantees to foreign depositors. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown responded by suing Iceland and using counterterrorist legislation to take over Icelandic bank assets and operations in the United Kingdom.

As the stock value of their banks and companies plummet, all throughout Europe, governments are unilaterally adopting restriction to prevent outside capital and sovereign wealth funds from buying up their corporations at fire sale prices. In Italy, for example, the government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has created a "national interests committee" to restrict the activities of sovereign wealth funds.

"This is unprecedented, " said Simon Tilford, chief economist for the Center for European Reform. "It has exposed the limits of European integration and coordination when presented with a crisis of this magnitude."

It's not unprecedented. It is merely confirmation of the basic law of capitalist competition, between firms and between capitalist nation states. In times of acute crisis, the law's application becomes particularly brutal, it becomes: "Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost."

What does this all mean for the American middleclass/ working class? The enormous costs of the Wall Street and banking sector bailouts are unprecedented, with much more to come, including corporate bailouts.

Someone will have to pay, and without the aid of a dollar with "super seniority". How the pace of events plays out is hard to predict but we will certainly see a dramatic intensification of class warfare against the American middleclass/ working class. But it can no longer be a one-sided class war; they will have to resist; they will have no choice. They will not be able to just bare their breasts and accept the incoming rounds.

They are not in an advantageous position to fight this war. The trade union movement will be of little help as it is presently constituted, and it will take time and a tough fight to change it. Unlike most of the major industrial nations America, has no socialist or labor party which in the heat of battle could be transformed into a fighting political instrument. Such a party would have to be built from scratch and in the face of deep existing illusions about the progressive nature of the Democratic Party. But the American capitalist elite are not in good shape either.The crisis has shaken them; there is a growing sense of panic and demoralization.

No one looks forward to this war. But the war will come. For everyone "The Jig is Up."

Iraq Vet Crushed by Police Horse at Presidential Debate

Shocking video shows former Army Sergeant Nick Morgan at the moment his head is crushed to the sidewalk under the hooves of a police horse.

Morgan lost consciousness immediately as bones shattered in his face. Visibly bleeding, he was tugged, dragged, arrested, and thrown in a police van, where other arrested veterans say he was denied medical attention. When he eventually made it to Nassau County Hospital, he was handcuffed to a gurney and given a prescription for Motrin and antibiotics.

Ironically, Morgan and other members of Iraq Veterans Against the War had come to the October debates with the intention of asking candidates pointed questions about lack of care for veterans.

For more information please see http://iwitnessvideo.info and for video stills, please see http://www.flickr.com/multiplefronts
Follow this issue at Iraq Veterans Against the War
http://ivaw.org

Nothing says "Support Our Troops and Veterans" like a hoof to the head.
No wonder MSM is not covering it. Let's make it viral!

Obama Leaves Campaign Trail

Senator Obama has taken a couple of days to visit his ailing grandmother during the last 15 days of the campaign, as I am sure you know by now.

Analysis: The Senator is exhibiting classic symptoms of strong moral and family values. And we all know that "Real Americans" don't exhibit these traits.

Most folks are appalled at this statement, while they quietly (or not so quietly) screw over their own close family members. Come on! You, at the very least, know several people doing this, if you won't admit to it yourself.

So, the fact that Barack Obama is exhibiting these traits is proof positive that he is UNAMERICAN.

Am I voting for Obama? No. Do I appreciate what he is doing. YES, as far as it concerns his grandmother. Do I agree with his policies. No. Do I think he will be better than McCain? Marginally.

Does anyone care what I think about it? I seriously doubt it. But do I care that no one cares what I think? Absolutely not. In the end, it is not going to be your opinion, nor mine that ultimately counts. It will be, is, and always has been only the BANK that matters. (That isn't my rule, it is OUR rule. We allow it, so it is.)

Good luck to us all. And to Senator Obama's grandmother.

Officials in Washington declare State of Emergency over immigration

Officials in northern Virginia are concerned over the recent influx of what they are referring to as "the blue back". They new immigrants are sweeping across the Potomac in alarming numbers.

"They are moving in and stealing our jobs!", declared one Republican staffer.

Senator Barrack Obama made a statement in an effort to alleviate growing concerns.

"Don't worry about the influx of these immigrants too much. Just give us a few months and Americans will hate us just as much as they hate the Republicans. After all, we're all on the same team. We just wear a different color tie. Look, I still wear a red tie!", said the Senator.

Wondering Where the Heretic has been lately?

I seriously doubt it, but don't.

It is getting time to hunker down, stock up, arm, and barricade the homestead. Times are about to go south. The "owners", "rulers", elites, or whatever you choose to call them are about to make their move.

The "lights" will be out soon and this wonderful medium of communication will be but a memory.

How could our leaders have done a better job of it?
http://socialistworker.org/2008/10/10/700-billion-for-the-rest-of-us
That's just part of the bailout money. That's not even counting the military budget, that is getting us absolutely no where, if not set back, really quick!

Instead,

Thousands of Troops Are Deployed on U.S. Streets Ready to Carry Out "Crowd Control" By Naomi Wolf, AlterNet Posted on October 8, 2008 http://www.alternet .org/story/ 101958/

Also,

States' Actions to Block Voters Appear Illegal by Ian Urbina
The New York TImes
10/9/08

Tens of thousands of eligible voters in at least six swing states have been removed from the rolls or have been blocked from registering in ways that appear to violate federal law, according to a review of state records and Social Security data by The New York Times.

The actions do not seem to be coordinated by one party or the other, nor do they appear to be the result of election officials intentionally breaking rules, but are apparently the result of mistakes in the handling of the registrations and voter files as the states tried to comply with a 2002 federal law, intended to overhaul the way elections are run.

Still, because Democrats have been more aggressive at registering new voters this year, according to state election officials, any heightened screening of new applications may affect their party's supporters disproportionately. The screening or trimming of voter registration lists in the six states — Colorado, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Nevada and North Carolina — could also result in problems at the polls on Election Day: people who have been removed from the rolls are likely to show up only to be challenged by political party officials or election workers, resulting in confusion, long lines and heated tempers.

Some states allow such voters to cast provisional ballots. But they are often not counted because they require added verification.

Although much attention this year has been focused on the millions of new voters being added to the rolls by the candidacy of Senator Barack Obama, there has been far less notice given to the number of voters being dropped from those same rolls.

States have been trying to follow the Help America Vote Act of 2002 and remove the names of voters who should no longer be listed; but for every voter added to the rolls in the past two months in some states, election officials have removed two, a review of the records shows.

The six swing states seem to be in violation of federal law in two ways. Michigan and Colorado are removing voters from the rolls within 90 days of a federal election, which is not allowed except when voters die, notify the authorities that they have moved out of state, or have been declared unfit to vote.

Indiana, Nevada, North Carolina and Ohio seem to be improperly using Social Security data to verify registration applications for new voters.

In addition to the six swing states, three more states appear to be violating federal law. Alabama and Georgia seem to be improperly using Social Security information to screen registration applications from new voters. And Louisiana appears to have removed thousands of voters after the federal deadline for taking such action.

Under federal law, election officials are supposed to use the Social Security database to check a registration application only as a last resort, if no record of the applicant is found on state databases, like those for driver's licenses or identification cards.

The requirement exists because using the federal database is less reliable than the state lists, and is more likely to incorrectly flag applications as invalid. Many state officials seem to be using the Social Security lists first.

In the year ending Sept. 30, election officials in Nevada, for example, used the Social Security database more than 740,000 times to check voter files or registration applications and found more than 715,000 nonmatches, federal records show. Election officials in Georgia ran more than 1.9 million checks on voter files or voter registration applications and found more than 260,000 nonmatches.

Officials of the Social Security Administration, presented with those numbers, said they were far too high to be cases where names were not in state databases. They said the data seem to represent a violation of federal law and the contract the states signed with the agency to use the database.

Last week, after the inquiry by The Times, Michael J. Astrue, the commissioner of the Social Security Administration, alerted the Justice Department to the problem and sent letters to election officials in Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Nevada, North Carolina and Ohio. The letters ask the officials to ensure that they are complying with federal law.

"It is absolutely essential that people entitled to register to vote are allowed to do so," Mr. Astrue said in a press release.

In three states — Colorado, Louisiana and Michigan — the number of people purged from the election rolls since Aug. 1 far exceeds the number who may have died or relocated during that period.

States may be improperly removing voters who have moved within the state, election experts said, or who are considered inactive because they have failed to vote in two consecutive federal elections. For example, major voter registration drives have been held this year in Colorado, which has also had a significant population increase since the last presidential election, but the state has recorded a net loss of nearly 100,000 voters from its rolls since 2004.

Asked about the appearance of voter law violations, Rosemary E. Rodriguez, the chairwoman of the federal Election Assistance Commission, which oversees elections, said they could present "extremely serious problems."

"The law is pretty clear about how states can use Social Security information to screen registrations and when states can purge their rolls," Ms. Rodriguez said.

Nevada officials said the large number of Social Security checks had resulted from county clerks entering Social Security numbers and driver's license numbers in the wrong fields before records were sent to the state. They could not estimate how many records might have been affected by the problem, but they said it was corrected several weeks ago.

Other states described similar problems in entering data.
Under the Help America Vote Act, all states were required to build statewide electronic voter registration lists to standardize and centralize voter records that had been kept on the local level. To prevent ineligible voters from casting a ballot, states were also required to clear the electronic lists of duplicates, people who had died or moved out of state, or who had become ineligible for other reasons.

Voting rights groups and federal election officials have raised concerns that the methods used to add or remove names vary by state and are conducted with little oversight or transparency. Many states are purging their lists for the first time and appear to be unfamiliar with the 2002 federal law.

"Just as voting machines were the major issue that came out of the 2000 presidential election and provisional ballots were the big issue from 2004, voter registration and these statewide lists will be the top concern this year," said Daniel P. Tokaji, a law professor at Ohio State University.

Voting rights groups have urged voters to check their registrations with local officials.

In Michigan, some 33,000 voters were removed from the rolls in August, a figure that is far higher than the number of deaths in the state during the same period — about 7,100 — or the number of people who moved out of the state — about 4,400, according to data from the Postal Service.

In Colorado, some 37,000 people were removed from the rolls in the three weeks after July 21. During that time, about 5,100 people moved out of the state and about 2,400 died, according to postal data and death records.

In Louisiana, at least 18,000 people were dropped from the rolls in the five weeks after July 23. Over the same period, at least 1,600 people moved out of state and at least 3,300 died.

The secretaries of state in Michigan and Colorado did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for the Louisiana secretary of state said that about half of the numbers of the voters removed from the rolls were people who moved within the state or who died. The remaining 11,000 or so people seem to have been removed by local officials for other reasons that were not clear, the spokesman said.

The purge estimates were calculated using data from state election officials, who produce a snapshot every month or so of the voter rolls with details about each registered voter on record, making it possible to determine how many have been removed.

The Times's methodology for calculating the purge estimates was reviewed by two voting experts, Kimball Brace, the director of Election Data Services, a Washington consulting firm that tracks voting trends, and R. Michael Alvarez, a political science professor at the California Institute of Technology.

By using the Social Security database so extensively, states are flagging extra registrations and creating extra work for local officials who are already struggling to process all the registration applications by Election Day.

"I simply don't have the staff to keep up," said Ann McFall, the supervisor of elections in Volusia County, Fla.

It takes 10 minutes to process a normal registration and up to a week to deal with a flagged one, said Ms. McFall, a Republican, adding that she was receiving 100 or so flagged registrations a week.

Usually, when state election officials check a registration and find that it does not match a database entry, they alert local election officials to contact the voter and request further proof of identification. If that is not possible, most states flag the voter file and require identification from the voter at the polling place.

In Florida, Iowa, Louisiana and South Dakota, the problem is more serious because voters are not added to the rolls until the states remove the flags.

Ms. McFall said she was angry to learn from the state recently that it was her responsibility to contact each flagged voter to clear up the discrepancies before Election Day. "This situation with voter registrations is going to land us in court," she said.

In fact, it already has.

In Michigan and Florida, rights groups are suing state officials, accusing them of being too aggressive in purging voter rolls and of preventing people from registering.

In Georgia, the Justice Department is considering legal action against the state because officials in Cobb and Cherokee Counties sent letters to hundreds of voters stating that their voter registrations had been flagged and telling them they cannot vote until they clear up the discrepancy.

On Monday, the Ohio Republican Party filed a motion in federal court against the secretary of state to get the list of all names that have been flagged by the Social Security database since Jan. 1. The motion seeks to require that any voter who does not clear up a discrepancy be required to vote using a provisional ballot.

Republicans said in the motion that it is central to American democracy that nonqualified voters be forbidden from voting.

The Ohio secretary of state, Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat, said in court papers that she believes the Republicans are seeking grounds to challenge voters and get them removed from the rolls.

Considering that in the past year the state received nearly 290,000 nonmatches, such a plan could have significant impact at the polls.

But all MSM can talk about is the appearance that ACORN could possibly have committed voter fraud!

So, if the troops, or the chemicals, don't get you, the marauders and hiway robbers will try. The roundup of "enemies of the state" is just around the corner. And you can read that as "anyone who speaks out against 'the system'" or "anyone that the system deems will try to protect themselves or their family and friends with equal or greater force".

Don't get too teary eyed. We all knew it was coming... deep down inside. Few really wanted to admit it, though. And this is understandable, while stupid.

The simple fact of the matter is, THERE IS NO SURVIVING CHRISTIANITY. It has swept into power and supported the most radical and vicious of all humanity: the greedy.

We have allowed this to happen. We deserve what we get. The medicine is hard to swallow, but it is ours to take.

Here is a list of suggestions that has been passed to me. I pass it along to you here:

Irving Silverbaum recognized as a leading world economist is warning of a severe possibility of an economic depression. The affect of what is happening in Washington will impact the average citizen in this manner: The devalued dollar is creating inflation for instance a loaf of bread cost $1.99 twelve months ago, today that same loaf of bread costs $ 3.29 and in one month it will cost $5.49. This problem is coupled by the extraordinary tightening of credit meaning that consumers will no longer have availability of credit and will have to pay cash for their purchases. Needless to say millions of people cannot afford to do this. Very few companies are prepared to assist consumers through this difficult time. The company that leads the industry in consumer savings at http://usafooddisco unts.com remains committed to assisting consumers.

- News Reporting Agency

Here's our "anti-ostrich" October-November plan (heeding it has no down side that I can see, esp. since 'safe beats sorry'); the full crash should be here before mid-December.

* pay off as much of the house and credit-card debts as possible as money is going to lose value and interest will rise
* absolutely no vacations or new debt;
* invest in zippers, buttons, thread, standard materials, hand-crank sewing machine so we do not have to buy cost-inflated fall-apart clothes;
* stay completely out of the stock/bonds markets (which will be further-plundered like gold teeth in death camps) and as far away from banks as possible (not that when my Social Security Disability check is cut off that I'll have any funds);
* depressions are engineered to inflate prices and reduce access, increasing profit / reducing overhead -- pillaging the ensuing scarcity, just as they are intended by "the haves";
* converse with neighbors (expanding to other neighborhoods) about "basket raids", about defending against marauders of all kinds, about defending against capital extractors (bank collection agents, bank-directed eviction police), about defending against "foreign" armies such as FEMA thugs, Blackwater (child of The Pinkerton Agency) privatized army, U.N. occupation forces, and North American Union forces;
* do not trade arms for food, which is an engineered move before sweeping resistance into FEMA's no-way-out camps; use arms to acquire capitalized/ commoditized food and distribute with neighbors;
* organize neighborhoods around "council" direct-democracy form; attach to other councils using "assemby" form; accept no self-ordained leaders or other intrusive bosses;
* implement new ways of communicating across "war zones" and "enemy territories" as the internet will be blocked or shut down; check anonymous servers, uncrackable encryption, and while the internet is still accessible; check shortwave broadcasting and "pirate" radio for after its inevitable inaccessibility;
* get the latest copy of "Anarchist Cookbook" paying cash so the purchase is less traceable;
* get to a pistol/rifle range for gun-use safety and defensive accuracy classes;
* stock up on spray (rain-proof) paint and extension poles so surveillance cameras can be nullified;
* create a crytographic language so "written" language can be deployed for difficult urban communication;
* stock up printer ink and paper, staplers and staples, so even off-internet "interventions" can be achieved; this requires "alt" power;
* check on hand-crank printers;
* build up a list of "tricks" and "sabots" regarding the current system of automated "rule";
* buy generator and fuel (preferably off the power grid, which will be malfunctioning or unavailable) , solar-rechargeable batteries, propane containers, solar-charged batteries;
* buy freezer foods (loss of power may spoil most food in there unless an off-grid power system is added), freeze-dried/ dried/canned/ bottled food, 300 gallons of water and toxin-free storage system, food dryer, food canning/jarring supplies, 4 oak (from wine companies) rain barrels (water system will be faulty, toxic, or unavailable) , water purification kits;
* buy vegetable and medicinal herb seeds, 4 fruit tree pairs (apricot, apple, peach, cherry), solar-powered vegetable watering system, 2 nut trees (hazelnut, filbert), organic fertilizers/ insecticides/ herbicides;
* buy wool blankets, 4 hazardous material ("haz-mat") suits, 4 gas-and-bacterial- level-filter "gas" masks w/extra filters, medical supplies, 2 kevlar helmets and sets of kevlar body armor, 1 shotgun (home defense) with 4 cases of shells, 2 cases of .22-long bullets for AR-7 collapsible rifle, survival and first-aid books;
* converse with neighborhood regarding a free-associative, voluntary, mutual-aid methods of assistance and sharing; accept no majority-or- minority rule substitutes for self-management;
* get a Clark/Beck "zapper" to fend off viral, fungal, and bacterial attacks (social clearcutting, aka "chemtrailing" , water additives, genetically- modified food that genetically modifies "you" especially your" organs, etc.), both from capital's agents and from the deteriorating social environment;
* find "havens", both urban and rural;
* get passports;
* get "The Paper Trip III" online from Eden Press (and, obviously the "safe" ID that it facilitates, which will be needed to escape the camp roundup and "army" road blockades);
* start using "anonymous" for as much web mail as possible, although the odds are 99.9% to 0.1% that you were "listed" long ago;
* it's a bit late for martial arts and relaxation-promotin g/anxiety- deflecting yoga, but their use can probably be shared in local "free" groups and via the newly-created neighborhood networks;

This list is dynamically the property of everyone: please better-organize it, modify it, and share, share, share. Create your new world from the soon-to-be ashes of this one.

I bid you all farewell and good luck. You're gonna need it.

It'll only take a few days to work

As Wall Street reeled and global markets plunged, President Bush on Monday said the U.S. economy is going to be "just fine" in the long run. But he cautioned that the massive rescue plan will take time to work.

The power of compassion and the teachings of a stray cat

And the truly sad part of this is that this is not only a culture within prisons of which Troy Chapman speaks. It is institutionalized within our society. No one needs, no one wants other people. It is an "us vs. them" or "me vs. the world" mentality that rules and ruins our world.

There is no other explanation as to why we as a people cannot band together to stop the few who are robbing and ruling us than this.

I don't know anything about the Chapman case, but if you're interested, you can find more information about his situation here:

http://www.friendsoftroychapman.blogspot.com

The Pyramid of Capitalism

A fitting description for a mentally unstable bill

S.Amdt. 5685 to H.R. 1424 (Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007)

To see if YOUR Senators stabbed YOU in the back too, click here.

One can only surmise that this rip off of the American People is named for the psychotic and addictive behavior of those seeking and possessing wealth and power.

You can't bail out Wall Street and Main Street at the same time. Those who say it can be done are lying through their teeth.

Unions across the country have demanded an economic stimulus package; money for jobs, not war; a moratorium on home foreclosures and evictions; public works' programs to put the country back to work and to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure. Have we gotten any of that... anything LIKE that?

Insanity is when everyone regards this situation as a crisis of immense proportions when 40 million Americans lack health insurance. Not a crisis? A public education system in collapse. Not a crisis? Deteriorating infrastructure. Not a crisis? An illogical and insane war in Iraq. Not a crisis? And the list goes on. ...

If you think that this "rescue" is going to stop the arterial bleeding that has been wrought on our nation and economy by the vultures who have gleefully sold our great grandchildren to the slave holders, well, you are in need of some mental health care that this bill purports to supply. But it won't even do that.

Hell, you can't get HEALTH CARE! You expect them to care about MENTAL HEALTH?! You're fucking nuts!

Giveaway USA passes Senate

Apparently, $700 billion just wasn't enough. They had to tack on some more pork to get the Senate to lick their nuts.

Next stop, the House of Backstabbing Constituent Fuckers. I guess they'll need to add their billion or so to the debt.

New World, new government anyone?

By golly, it makes me want to curse. Heck, shucks, gosh darn sorry son of a guns!

Bill Clinton's Wealthy Friends

Bill Clinton told an audience today that everyone that he knew was worrying about the $100,000 FDIC limit to coverage. And that this is suppose to bother me. The only thing that bothers me about it is that they are all members of a club that I will never be a part of:

The People With Entirely Too Much Money

Not that $100,000 is too much money for one person to have. Personally, I think that the limit should be around $5 million. That's more than enough for any one person. If you want to insure more than the FDIC limit (which I agree should be raised to $250,000), don't depend on ME to insure it with MY money! Buy a safe and a gun. You can afford that. And you could probably get away with protecting it, with that much money on hand.

Don't get me wrong. I completely understand rich people worrying about their money. I just don't see why I should worry about it. I have to worry about the $2 in the toe of a sock in my drawer. I really don't care about OPM (Other People's Money).

They certainly don't care if I get to see a doctor, or eat, have heat in the winter, or other such trivialities.

AH HA! It's all about securing the boarders!

So, that's what it is all about! Everybody's bitching about "illegals" in the U.S. and not being able to stem the flow of immigrants crossing the boarder. Since we obviously don't have the technology, manpower, nor WILL to secure our boarders (something that virtually every industrialized nation in the world has been doing for decades), we simply make the situation in the U.S. intolerable.

Kinda' like your boss won't fire you because he doesn't want to pay unemployment, so he makes your working environment such that you will quit!

Now I get it!

Money sent home by Mexicans in US drops 12 percent
MEXICO CITY - Mexicans living in the U.S. sent home 12 percent less money in August, the largest drop on record since the Bank of Mexico began tracking remittances 12 years ago, the central bank reported on Wednesday.

After years of record gains, remittances have dropped across Latin America. In Brazil, immigration to the U.S. dropped dramatically after the real rose in value against the dollar.

In Mexico, Mexicans began sending less money home this year, economically stranding many small towns and neighborhoods that live off the stipends. The Bank of Mexico said remittances will likely continue to fall in the coming months because of the "difficult problems the U.S. economy faces."

The bank said remittances in August dropped 12 percent to US$1.9 billion. That compares to US$2.2 billion in August 2007.

Migrants living in the U.S. have sent home US$15.5 billion in the first eight months of this year, 4 percent less than the same period the year before.

A slowing U.S. economy and stepped up immigration enforcement by the U.S. government, including record deportations and increased border security, are behind the drop.

Remittances are Mexico's second-largest source of foreign income, next to oil exports.

Nearly all of it comes from the United States, home to 98 percent of Mexicans living abroad. At least 11 million Mexicans live in the United States.

The Problem with this is that it sucks for all of us. And it's likely to suck harder and longer.

Nothing New on Wall Street OR Main Street

The irony of all of this hubbub about "the market" is that it hasn't changed in centuries. It is still the same old crooks committing the same old frauds. And ordinary people are so intent on considering everyone to be "basically good" and trying to do "the right thing" that they miss the reality of it all: people AREN'T "basically good" nor trying to do "the right thing". Especially those who have anything to do with large sums of money!

Greed is universal and timeless. And until everyone gets that through their thick heads, we will continue to see corruption on the grandest scales ruining every facet of our lives, our futures, and our children's futures.

Book Review at NPR.

Excerpt: 'Wall Street: America's Dream Palace'
by Steve Fraser

Wall Street: America's Dream Palace
By Steve Fraser
Hardcover, 208 pages
Doubleday
List Price: $22.00

The Aristocrat

William Duer was running for his life. An enraged mob was chasing him through the streets of New York. If they caught up with him they would beat him to a pulp ... or worse. Luckily for Duer the sheriff got there first. While his pursuers cried, "We will have Mr. Duer, he has gotten our money," he was hauled off to jail, where he would spend his few remaining years. Once a man of distinction and wealth, William Duer was now ruined, left to contemplate what might have been.

The year was 1792, and Wall Street had just experienced its first crash, for which William Duer and a secret circle of New York grandees were mainly to blame. They had conspired to speculate on the bonds just issued by the newly created federal government. Soon they found themselves deeply overcommitted and forced to liquidate their holdings, causing the fledgling market to collapse and its manipulators to flee-in Duer's case to debtors' prison; for the more fortunate among them to safer havens out of state. Even though there was no formal or even informal stock exchange in those days; even though the local economy went about its business largely unaffected by the mysterious machinations of financiers, there were still plenty of ordinarypeople who suffered. Real estate prices collapsed, credit dried up, house building stopped. The general distress spread from businessmen to "shopkeepers, Widows, orphans, Butchers, Cartmen, Gardeners, market women and even the noted Bawd, Mrs. McCarty."

Read the whole excerpt here.

Is The Mainstream Media Finally Beginning To Wake Up To The Drug Czar's Lies?

My primary question is: Is the MSM waking up to anything? Actually, people make the news. MSM simply reports what they can't afford NOT to report. When ordinary people make enough noise about anything, they simply have to report it. It is, after all, news. Frankly, though, I'd like to know what is "news" about administration lies from our fascist dictatorial oligarchy.

Is The Mainstream Media Finally Beginning To Wake Up To The Drug Czar's Lies?

Dear NORML Supporter,

Drug Czar John Walters believes he can lie with impunity.

He’s wrong.

For years, mainstream media outlets have given the Drug Czar a 'free pass' to lie about cannabis. Then last week something extraordinary happened.

The media -- thanks to NORML's efforts -- finally called John Walters out!

Speaking on the cable news network C-Span, Walters recently alleged, "We didn’t arrest 800,000 marijuana users. ... That’s [a] lie." (Watch the video of Walters’ remarks here.)

The Czar’s nose grew another six inches when he uncorked this whopper: "The fact is today, people don’t go to jail for the possession of marijuana. Finding somebody in jail or prison for possession of marijuana is like finding a unicorn It doesn’t exist." (The video can be seen here.)

NORML has been working overtime to rebuff the Drug Czar's deceit, and the mainstream media is taking notice. Over the past ten days, numerous media outlets -- including Alternet.org , The Huffington Post , the Dr. Drew Pinsky show , and In These Times -- have published guest commentaries from NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano exposing the Walter's lies and emphasizing America's addiction to marijuana law enforcement.

Most recently, Washington DC's influential political newspaper, The Hill, joined the discussion, posting NORML's essay: "How Can We Discuss Marijuana Policy When America’s Top Drug Cop Won’t Even Acknowledge The Facts?"

To date, over 140 readers have weighed in on the subject -- virtually all of them have demanded the Drug Czar either tell the truth or get out.

The Hill is providing reformers with a valuable service by bringing our message prominently to Capitol Hill, and acting as a mediator in a high profile debate with the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. For decades the Drug Czar’s office has refused to debate spokespersons from NORML or other marijuana law reform groups, but the office will respond to criticism in The Hill, which remains the paper of record for members of Congress and their staff.

Because The Hill is widely read by lawmakers and by the national media, it is vital that we demonstrate the popularity of this issue by commenting prolifically. Please post your feedback to The Hill and make a point of disseminating this and similar essays to your friends and colleagues.

Previous posts by NORML to The Hill’s blog have received hundreds of readers’ comments — virtually all favorable toward marijuana law reform.

Editors at The Hill inform NORML that it’s the highest volume of readers’ response they’ve ever received on any commentary on any topic!

The media is getting our message; will Congress or the Drug Czar?

Thanks for your help and support,

Allen St. Pierre
Executive Director
NORML / NORML Foundation

*There will be a panel at NORML's upcoming national conference addressing the role of the media in cannabis prohibition. Register now here.

An Easy Call

George Bush spoke about the Bailout, economic stimulus, or rescue package (or whatever you want to call it) this morning. He is still clearly pushing this thing forward as an imperative to shield us all against doom and social chaos.

If I have learned anything at all over the past eight years it has been this: If George Bush is for it, it is probably NOT in my own best interest.

So, without even turning a page on the proposal I can say with some degree of certainty that if George Bush is for it I should probably be against it.

I know that many of you will say, "This attitude is not helpful and offers no suggestions." To the contrary, the inherent suggestion here is 'Do not blindly follow the advice and exhortations of an individual who has repeatedly proven to you that he does not care about you or your future'.

I have heard so many politicians over the past few days say that to do nothing is not an option. This could not be farther from the truth! It would certainly not be in the best interest of the money changers and war mongers. And I see as how it could and would surely cascade down upon Main Street. But it is not as if Main Street is not already suffering the ravages visited upon them by the reckless actions of the very people who are lining up at the White House for a hand out. And perhaps a complete failure of our current banking system is EXACTLY what we need in order to begin to heal.

However, I have actually viewed the proposal. And in my opinion, it stinks. I mean, it's a real gas bomb. The son of a bitch died last month and the stench is overwhelming kind of stink!

Let me see if I can lay out this "free market" theology as it usually works, and as it should work.

If you buy gas at a particular service station and your car runs like shit until you fill it up somewhere else. And then it happens again... and again, eventually you figure out that they sell BAD GAS at that station and you quit buying your gas there.

What if every egg that you buy at a particular grocery store has the yolk already broken in every single egg? And this happens with two or more dozen eggs? You figure out that their eggs are BAD and you quit buying eggs there.

Suppose you develop gangrene in your little finger and the decision is made that it must be amputated. And let's say that the doctor was high on blow and cut off the wrong finger. Do you say, "Oops" and let that prick have another go at your hand to try and get the right finger next time? Fuck No! You sue the bastard! You try to have him thrown in jail. And you exercise every self restraint measure in your arsenal to keep from ripping the pricks' throat out and shoving it up his ass!

Now, if you can't see where I am going here, let me just take you there:

I do not have the answer as to how to fix the economy. But I can tell you how NOT to fix it.

We DO NOT GIVE A BLANK CHECK TO THE SAME FUCKING PRICKS WHO TRASHED THE ECONOMY IN THE FIRST PLACE SO THEY CAN FUCKING DO IT AGAIN ONLY WORSE! You throw the criminal bastards in jail, or at the very least out on their ear! But you certainly don't bend over and say "Give it to me again, big boy"!

This economic blackmail of "you will all lose your jobs" or "the sky is falling" is out of line and each person espousing such nonsensical rantings should be charged with terrorism! If the fucking wheels come off of the train, let's just build a better train! Oh, and find better engineers, too!

My personal Representative, (not so) Honorable Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO) voted FOR the bailout even though her office was flooded with calls to reject the proposal. And guess what... she is up for re-election this time around.

Ms Emerson, getting re-elected is questionable when you vote against the will of your voting constituents. And I will do all that I can to ensure that as many people as possible know about your traitorous treachery.

You can check the voting record of YOUR representative here.

Don't vote for a republican, a democrat, nor (especially) an incumbent in any race under any circumstances. Can anyone else actually do a worse job than the pricks that are there? Kick 'em all out!

Fire Congress! Fire Republicans! Fire Democrats! Fire 'em all... and without any pension! Try them all for treason and subversion.

Fuck 'em all! And if you don't feel this way too, then fuck you too.

Speaking of Explosions

According to the CIA World Factbook, as of July, 2005, there were approximately 6,446,131,400 people on the planet, and the death rate was approximately 8.78 deaths per 1,000 people a year. According to the nifty desktop calculator, that works out to roughly 56,597,034 people leaving us every year. That's about a 155,000 a day.

Still, more people are being born than dying. The population growth rate is hovering around 1.14%, which doesn't seem like much, but last year that was (back to the calculator!) 73,485,898 more mouths to feed. As the Factbook succinctly puts it: "For the 21st century, the continued exponential growth in science and technology raises both hopes (e.g., advances in medicine) and fears (e.g., development of even more lethal weapons of war)."

So, for every three assholes that pass away four assholes take their places. I guess that kinda takes the joy out of bidding farewell to the assholes that plague ones' life.

This simply takes all of the joy out of a good funeral!

Come on Global Warming!

Philly ballpark bomb scare

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - After a bomb scare at the Philadelphia Phillies' ballpark, authorities pointed the finger at a fuzzy green suspect - The Phillie Phanatic.

Hours before the Phillies-Atlanta Braves' game on Wednesday night, a film crew shot a commercial of the mascot shooting heavily wrapped hot dogs from a launcher.

But someone inadvertently left three of the duct taped hot dogs outside the ballpark, sparking security fears. Stadium employees were evacuated and the bomb squad was called in.

Only after the packages were blown up did authorities realize they'd just exploded some sausages.

"We saw something that looked suspicious," said Michael Stiles, Phillies senior vice president, administration and operations. "We did the right thing. It turned out to be nothing. We could have gone over and picked it up and thrown it in the trash and been done with it. But if we had been wrong, somebody might have lost an arm."

After the detonation, the game went on as scheduled.

"I'd rather them blow up some hot dogs or some ketchup and mustard and relish than have it be a real bomb," reliever Chad Durbin said. "Better safe than sorry."

So, if I am reading this right there was nothing explosive at the ballpark until the cops got there? Uh, OK. I'll sleep better tonight.

"We saw something that looked suspicious," so we fucking blew it up!

Russians, Mooses, and Witches, Oh my!

I know. The plural of moose is meese. But let's not be so formal here.



Uh, Pastor Muthee, your prayer wasn't answered. The witch is still with us.

George, Hank and Ben

The three architects of the final offensive in the complete overtaking of America, George W. Bush, Henry (Hank) Paulson, and Ben Bernenky. Together their first initials are GHB... the "date rape" drug!

Let the fleecing of America continue, so long as we know that we are getting screwed against our will!

TERRORISTS HAVE SEIZED THE WHITE HOUSE AND THE FED!!!!

Don't give these creeps a thing, except maybe a rope from a tall tree or a face to the wall! NO MORE CORPORATE WELFARE! In fact, start trying them for treason and terrorism under the PATRIOT ACT! That's right, use their own weapon against them! Don't think they won't do it to you! They already have!

VoteNoBailout.org

100,000 letters sent to elected officials in 24 hours opposing bailout legislation

VoteNoBailout.org was launched on September 22, 2008, in response to the Bush administration's attempt to rush Bailout legislation through Congress.

In an astonishing response to its appeal, more than 100,000 letters were sent to elected officials within the first 24 hours through the VoteNoBailout.org email advocacy mechanism. People are circulating this appeal all over the internet on web sites, blogs and between individuals.

A sample of the VoteNoBailout.org letter reads:

"Congress has no right to give the White House and its Secretary of the Treasury the power to transfer the people's money to the richest bankers in the country. Vote No to the Bailout legislation. The Bailout legislation is being rammed through Congress in a matter of days.

"This is an illegal power grab by the White House and their richest friends on Wall Street. The Legislation allows the Treasury Department to appoint the same bankers who created the crisis to administer and dictate the use of trillions of our tax dollars. It is also one of the biggest transfers of wealth from working families to the ultra-rich in the history of the United States.

"Congress should help families stay in their homes. Wealthy executives should be forced to disgorge their obscene profits, fees and bonuses that made them ultra-rich while they ran the economy into the ground."

VoteNoBailout.org was initiated as a project of ImpeachBush.org. There will be daily updates for the media about the number of people who have sent letters to Congress opposing this unprecedented handover of the people's money to the richest bankers and the assumptions of vast, new powers by the Executive Branch of government.

I heard a "viewer mail" on a MSM "news service" (yeah, right!) say that he was having to give up his weekly golf game as a result of the current crisis. My heart bleeds! I hope the prick that had the nuts to say such a thing ends up in a fucking bread line!