Capitalism has failed. Period.

I told a friend the other day, "Frankly, everywhere I look regardless of the person speaking I either hear about said hypocrisy or listen to it being propagated. I can hardly bare to watch any news or other commercial "programming". And I am getting kind of sick of reading other "johnny come lately's "jumping on the bible bashing bandwagon... like it ain't been happening in front of our very eyes for years... even decades... even centuries!

"Just five years ago any one who disagreed with "American Policy" on ANY issue was considered a "terrorist or terrorist sympathizer". All of the sudden, Bush bashing is in vogue! Shit, people have been frightened out of their WITS to disagree with religious fundamentalists! Suddenly, it's OK. But those of us who have been doing it all along are still considered nuts!

"Fukk em all! I hope they blow their selves up real good! Literally. At least there is nutritional value in roasted nuts. Baked shit is, well, it's just baked shit!"

Capitalism has failed. Period.

The present crisis is a damning indictment of capitalism. Those who preached the virtues of the free market had to swallow their words and were forced to turn to the state – namely tax-payers’ money – to bail them out. All those apologists of capitalism who said profits were a reward for risk-taking were silent as the state stepped into rescue the system from collapse. They had no money for welfare or health, but when needed, they had plenty of money to bail-out Wall Street. “It [the US government] has begun a programme of economic interventionism more typical of socialist governments in moments of utopian zeal”, commented an article in the FT. It is certainly the most extensive peacetime of government intervention in the economy since the Great Depression, which shows how dangerous the crisis has become for capitalism.

The western corporate institutions had written down $500bn-odd of credit assets in the past year. They have been forced to right-off billions of paper wealth. They also raised between $200bn and $360bn new capital to plug their depreciating assets. But they are trapped in a vicious circle, as they are unable to estimate their real losses as more and more houses are repossessed and property prices continue to collapse.

The proposed bail-out by the US government is said to be around 700bn to begin with. [emphasis mine] They are talking about buying bad debt in order to remove them from the company’s books. Something similar was done in the Savings and Loans crisis of two decades ago. However, this time, the sums are truly staggering, which will have to be picked up by the American tax payer. The plan is to create a ‘bad bank’ to take possession of all the toxic assets in the financial system. However, placing in effect bad debts in a deep freeze, will leave a massive burden over the US economy for years to come. In reality, the US government head by George Bush is promising to nationalise all the bad debts.

The failed policy of individual fire-fighting of failed companies has given way to “a comprehensive approach to relieving the stresses on our financial institutions and markets”, to quote Paulson. But what happens if this fails too? The contradictions are immense. The chaos in the financial sector is spilling over into the other sectors of the economy. The Detroit-based car industry, for instance, has itself lobbied the government for $25bn in loans and loan guarantees to allow it to function. The construction industry is already in a slump. In America and elsewhere unemployment has jumped. We are at the beginning of a new world recession which can be far deeper than anything we have witnessed in the post-war period. It is this that terrifies the strategists of capital. A new slump will mean drastic cuts in living standards and political turmoil worldwide.

As one senior Wall Street banker commented: “The crisis is far from over, the government action will buy banks some time but they will have to act decisively otherwise they will find themselves in an even worse situation in a few months’ time.” This is correct as throwing billions of dollars at the credit markets will not resolve the underlying problems. In fact, it was the excess credit that fuelled the artificial boom and all the excesses that have accompanied it – giving rise to the present crisis, the greatest credit bubble in history.

People are having to rethink their views about capitalism. There has been a shift in the public mood everywhere, a realisation that something big has gone wrong. There is anger with the bankers. There is a growing questioning. As one newspaper commented: “Social historians will record this week as one when unhappy shoppers began discussing the potential collapse of western capitalism in the same breath as butter prices.”

In a Waitrose supermarket car park in Harborne, Birmingham, Kate Organ, 53, a freelance arts manager, described her mood as “wretched and disempowered”. She expected here income, currently at £30,000 a year, to dwindle. She said: “When I was at University, the Workers’ Revolutionary Party harangued me that capitalism would collapse. Now I know what they were on about.”

In fact, we have absolutely no way of calculating exactly how much this largest welfare program of all time will end up costing. And naturally, this welfare program is specifically for the rich. And this is while 98% of the world goes homeless, hungry, and without medical care.

OK. I'm nuts. But there is plenty of shit out there.

Vote No Bailout.org

Demand that the Bailout Legislation Be Rejected

We are witnessing a bankers' coup d’etat. In the name of saving the economy from a crisis created by their own greed and immense profits, the biggest bankers have taken a country and a people hostage.

“Give us your money and tear up what’s left of your Constitution or we will sink your economy,” is the message from Wall Street and the Bush Administration. “Give us the power and money we demand or you will be left jobless from a new economic depression."

Under the pretext of the banking crisis, the Bush Administration is changing the way this country operates. This is not simply taking trillions of dollars from the people and giving it to the richest bankers to do with as they see fit.

Click here to send your letter to Congress

Congress is poised to vote to give the Executive Branch of government, and specifically the White House’s political appointees in the Treasury Department, the absolute right to take our money and give it to domestic and foreign banks and corporations without any oversight of elected officials, from the courts, or from the people.

The new legislation states: “Decisions by the Secretary [of the Treasury] pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.” 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.

We will not stand by and let the Bush Administration formalize its vision of a “government of, by and for the richest bankers."

The new system institutionalizes theft on a grand scale. Lehman Brothers bankers will receive $2.5 billion in bonuses after their company went bankrupt last week, but the new dictatorial authority under the White House and Treasury Department has ruled out any relief for the millions of working families who are being foreclosed.

We live in a $15 trillion annual economy. Instead of taking our tax dollars and giving it to the already rich and powerful, these funds should be used provide to decent paying jobs, affordable housing, health care and a good education for our children. There is another way!

Now is the time to hear the voice of the people. A spineless Congress authorized Bush’s illegal war in Iraq and rubber-stamped the Patriot Act. Now they are being herded like sheep again to give the White House and Wall Street dictatorial control over the people’s money.

Send a letter to Your Congressional Representatives Here!

V.P. Candidate Alexander: Fed Rescue Plan a Temporary Fix

V.P. Candidate Alexander: Fed Rescue Plan a Temporary Fix

Stewart A. Alexander
Socialist Party USA
Nominee for U.S. Vice President

September 22, 2008

At first the Bush administration said the price tag to rescue the U.S. economy would cost $500 billion and within days the price tag was revised to a whopping $700 billion; if the rescue plan is approved by Congress, working people will be in a financial black hole for $11.3 trillion (the national debt). Vice Presidential Candidate Stewart A. Alexander, says “This rescue plan is only a temporary fix for an economy with many fractures. The root cause of the U.S. economic crisis is the system, capitalism; and every 75 years a new bailout plan becomes necessary.”

This past week, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. presented the bleak news regarding the U.S. economy to ranking members in Congress and the two men made clear that the U.S. economy is facing an economic crisis that could quickly spread to all areas of the globe.

Within the past two weeks, the U.S. government took the extraordinary measure to bailout the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; and to indicate the depth of the U.S. financial crisis, the following week the U.S. government bailed out AIG (American International Group, Inc.). Unlike Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, AIG is not directly regulated by the federal government.

With the additional $700 billion that the Bush administration is seeking from Congress, the American working class will be strapped with $1 trillion of debt to bailout the billionaires of the world with no guarantees of repayment; and no such plans for repayment have been offered to the American taxpayer.

Even if Congress approves the $700 billion that the Bush administration is now seeking from hard working Americans, Stewart Alexander believes “it would require much more; perhaps $10 trillion.” Alexander notes that the current economic crisis is now a global crisis and has spread to most of the major economies of the world.

Recently, Secretary Henry Paulson stated on Fox News Sunday, “There are no guarantees;” however, Alexander says, “With these federal bailouts there are many risk that will jeopardize the future well-being of all working people. It is likely working class people will be subject to sharp declines in their living standards, the U.S. currency will weaken further against other major currencies and inflation will further destabilize the U.S. economy. It is also likely Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid will be restructured to provide minimal benefits and services.”

Alexander says, “The $700 billion that the Bush administration is asking Congress to approve is an 11th hour plea by the Bush White House that reveals an urgent cry; not to let the U.S. economy crash on our watch.”

For more information search the web for: Stewart A. Alexander

http://labs.daylife.com/journalist/stewart_a._alexander

http://StewartAlexanderCares.com
http://www.vote-socialist.org/
http://www.sp-usa.org/
http://www.politics1.com/p2008.htm

And what amazes me is that Bush and all his cronies are urging "swift action" in bailing out these corporate criminals, yet no one is questioning the motivation. The questions strike me, "Does anyone wonder why the rush? Are they trying to 'get one over' on the people before anyone realized just what we are being put on the hook for? Doesn't anyone realize that IF the economy recovers due to the financial intervention of the working people that the ruling elite will simply take it back away from us once it starts 'turning a profit' again?"

Are the people of the United States and the World TRULY that stupid? For the most part, yep.

Change YOU can believe in

"less taxes and more war", and "nucular" (shit, that kills me!)

Tryst turns into $50K robbery for RNC delegate

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Police are trying to find a woman who apparently drugged a Republican National Convention delegate and robbed him of about $50,000 worth of jewelry, cash and other items in his hotel room.

Gabriel Schwartz, a Denver attorney and party donor, told police he met the woman in a bar at the luxurious Hotel Ivy in downtown Minneapolis and invited her to his room early on Sept. 4, a few hours after Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin accepted the GOP vice presidential nomination.

Once there, police say, the woman made drinks and told Schwartz to get undressed.

The 29-year-old delegate told police that was the last thing he remembered. Police believe he was drugged but aren't sure what drug he was given, police Sgt. William Palmer said Tuesday.

When Schwartz awoke, the woman was gone and so were cash and belongings that included a watch he valued at $30,000.

"We have no doubt this happened," Palmer said. "The guy has been very forthcoming with us. He's been very helpful in the investigation."

The delegate gave police a detailed description, but investigators had no suspects, Palmer said. He stressed that investigators don't believe Schwartz did anything wrong.

"It's embarrassing to admit that I was a target of a crime," Schwartz said in a statement Tuesday. "I was drugged and had about $50,000 of personal items stolen."

"As a single man, I was flattered by the attention of a beautiful woman who introduced herself to me. I used poor judgment. If there is any good that can come from this humiliation, it is to caution others that date rape drugs can be used on men, too," he said.

Should we feel sorry for pricks like this? More likely, we should be very afraid that pricks like this have a VOTE and/or influence!

Too bad he only got robbed! Hope the woman gets away clean! Hope she was working with a team and they got more than just this outspoken prick.

Pricks like this have been robbing us all blind for years. And if you can't see it, or don't care, then fuck you. I realize that my glee over his misfortune makes me little better than him. THAT is the truly sad thing.

Rice: Russia becoming isolated, irrelevant

Get you a big heaping scoop of this shit for your garden! What? No garden? Better plant one. You're going to need all the food you can get!

Rice: Russia becoming isolated, irrelevant

Russia's policies are putting it on a path to isolation and irrelevance, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday.
Russia's invasion of Georgia was a "critical moment for Russia and the world," Condoleezza Rice says.

Russia's invasion of Georgia was a "critical moment for Russia and the world," Condoleezza Rice says.

Rice also said that Moscow's other behavior, including using oil and gas as a weapon, threatening countries with nuclear attack, selling arms to rogue states and political persecution of journalists and dissidents, paints a picture of "a Russia increasingly authoritarian at home and aggressive abroad."

Hell, change a word here or there of this statement and she is speaking to a mirror!

The sad part is that these pricks don't even know how stupid and hypocritical they sound.

What Kind of Change is the "Right Change"?

In response to my recent discovery of Rightchange.com I would like to gently remind folks that we have been down this road many times and the tune is still the same as it has ever been.

War Pigs by Black Sabbath

Generals gathered in their masses
Just like witches at black masses
Evil minds that plot destruction
Sorcerers of deaths construction
In the fields the bodies burning
As the war machine keeps turning
Death and hatred to mankind
Poisoning their brainwashed minds, oh lord yeah!

Politicians hide themselves away
They only started the war
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that role to the poor

And if anyone thinks that following EITHER of the capitalist party's in November will change anything at all, think again. You see, there is too much money in killing. Besides, it is about the only thing that mankind has ever been able to do well consistently.

Surely, deep in your gut you realize this.

What can we do? Hell, I don't know. But I DO know that voting anything but Green or Socialist will CERTAINLY bring us more of the same. And we aren't completely in the clear with them!

Don't Tase me, Dude: Tallahassee police use Taser on nude man walking a dog

Tallahassee police use Taser on nude man walking a dog

A 40-year-old man walking his dog in the nude was Tasered by police when he refused to follow an officer's commands. David McCranie of the Tallahassee Police Department said an officer on patrol spotted the man shortly after 8 p.m. Friday.

The man was asked what he was doing and told the officer, "Allah told me to watch a Bruce Willis movie and walk the dog," McCranie said.

McCranie said using the Taser was the only way to subdue the man without having to hurt him. The man was then sent for mental-health evaluation and treatment.

I can't figure out whether to laugh my ass off or cry. Yet another innocent citizen pedestrian tased for no apparent reason!

But, "Allah told me to watch a Bruce Willis movie and walk the dog"?! Fucking hilarious!!!

I'm cliff diving and pruning flowers. Playing follow the leader. Walking my zebra. Watching rocks grow. Planning a sit in and walking for inspiration. Trying to think of ridiculous reasons to be questioned by the police.

Or how about the obvious... letting my dog take a shit and a piss, unless, of course, you want me to let him do it in YOUR living room!

Allah, Bruce Willis and Taser all in the same statement!

Just remember boys and girls, Jesus died for your spins. I guess anyone using the name of "Allah", or Bruce Willis, or free speech... or just walking your dog, is deserving of the Taser. I guess they have some silly law about wearing cloths as you pick up your doggy do.

Rrrr... evolution, anyone? Oh, I forgot. "The man" was in need of "mental-health evaluation". "The Man" is, alright. Just the wrong man in this case. Probably just jealous that he was more "well endowed" than the cops!

Your Nation on White Privilege

I think that the following article is a must read for anyone who cares anything about equality and justice in our terminally "class-consciousness" retarded society. And I will have a couple of typically blasphemous statements at the end of the article.

This is Your Nation on White Privilege | Red Room

This is Your Nation on White Privilege

By Tim Wise

For those who still can’t grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.

White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because “every family has challenges,” even as black and Latino families with similar “challenges” are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.

White privilege is when you can call yourself a “fuckin’ redneck,” like Bristol Palin’s boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll “kick their fuckin' ass,” and talk about how you like to “shoot shit” for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.

White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years like Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action.

White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don’t all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you’re “untested.”


White privilege is being able to say that you support the words “under God” in the pledge of allegiance because “if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it’s good enough for me,” and not be immediately disqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the “under God” part wasn’t added until the 1950s--while believing that reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals.


White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you.


White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto was “Alaska first,” and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family, while if you're black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she’s being disrespectful.


White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end to child labor--and people think you’re being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college--you’re somehow being mean, or even sexist.


White privilege is being able to convince white women who don’t even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running mate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same white women, and made them give your party a “second look.”


White privilege is being able to fire people who didn’t support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt.


White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God’s punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you’re just a good church-going Christian, but if you’re black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you’re an extremist who probably hates America.


White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a “trick question,” while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O’Reilly means you’re dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced.


White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while being black and experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has referred to it a “light” burden.


And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because white voters aren’t sure about that whole “change” thing. Ya know, it’s just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain…


White privilege is, in short, the problem.

All of this being acknowledged, I would like to state for the record as having "fought in the trenches" along side people of color and other poor and similarly disenfranchised peoples, that the people of privilege have similar distinctions for "lower class" whites. It is just not as readily definable as "the color of ones skin". But rest assured that they can define one within seconds, if not on sight.

One must be white, christian, and republican, aside from being demonstrably committed to the institutionalized "system" of "privilege. If one has even the slightest deviance from any of these notions (and more), one is of little more use to "them" as an aboriginal bushman or an Islamic Fundamentalist. (And I have yet to distinguish between an Islamic Fundamentalist and a Christian Fundamentalist save the fact that Christian Fundamentalists have bigger guns and bombs).

If you would like a clearer picture of how these distinctions work, read How to Make a Revolution in the United States by Peter Camejo.

The tragic news on September 13, 2008, that Peter Camejo had lost his battle with cancer is a blow to all those on the revolutionary left who have been olitically and personally influenced by him. Peter Camejo was a longtime leader of the United States Socialist Workers Party. As a leader of the Young Socialist Alliance, the youth group associated with the SWP, Camejo was a prominent activist in the student movement at the University of California in Berkeley and in the anti-Vietnam war movement. He was the presidential candidate of the SWP in 1976. He parted company with the SWP in 1980 as its politics increasingly became more sectarian.

His “How to Make a Revolution in the United States” is the abridged text of a speech delivered by Peter Camejo at an educational conference of the SWP and the YSA in New York on May 3, 1969. It is taken from the May 30, 1969 issue of The Militant. And it would serve a reader well to review this text to better understand class distinctions, why they exist and how they are perpetuated.

My point is that it makes little difference whether you are black, white, red or green. What matters is who's ass you kiss. Though I will concede that if you are white, and you kiss the right asses in the right manner, you have a marginally better chance of being "granted privilege" than you would if your skin were, shall we say, off white... and your nose is not brown with christian Kilngon's.

(A special thanks to Diane Stirling for bringing this article to my attention.)

Pakistan army ordered to hit back at U.S. forces

Pakistan army ordered to hit back at U.S. forces

The Pakistani Army has been given orders to retaliate against any unilateral strike by the Afghanistan-based U.S. troops inside the country.

Army Spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas confirmed the orders in a brief interview with Geo News on late Thursday night.

The decision was made on the first day of the two-day meeting of Pakistan's top military commanders to discuss the U.S. coalition's ground and air assault in Waziristan region which killed dozens of civilians.

Do ya think now that Pollyanna Piranha Palin might "blink" a time or two?

I am happy to see people around the world finally beginning to stand up to the despots besmirching the planet. Perhaps one day those whose name in which those oligarchs act will arise and say, "Enough! This is not what we are about!" Perhaps this is too much to hope for.

Sarah Palin Champions Barbaric Aerial Hunting of Wolves

Despite intense scientific, ethical and public opposition to aerial hunting, Governor Sarah Palin continues to champion this awful practice. And she proposes a bounty on the left foreleg of each wolf killed. I can see her passing similar legislation on the left forearm of all non-christians... and possibly sinners, too! Can we really afford having this kind of, um, person next in line to the most powerful position on the planet?

Hell, save time and money and simply poison the water supply. But that would be unsportsmanlike, eh? Unlike shooting defenseless animals from planes...

U.S. Should Disclose its Funding of Opposition Groups in Bolivia and Other Latin American Countries

There are MANY things that the United States should do. Not the least of which is that the people should give a shit about any of this... which most really do not. And that, my friends, is the crux of the problem.

CEPR - U.S. Should Disclose its Funding of Opposition Groups in Bolivia and Other Latin American Countries

U.S. Should Disclose its Funding of Opposition Groups in Bolivia and Other Latin American Countries
For Immediate Release: September 12, 2008
Contact: Dan Beeton, 202-239-1460

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) called on the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and other agencies to release information detailing whom they are funding in Bolivia -- where violent right-wing opposition groups have wreaked havoc this week in a series of shootings, beatings, ransacking of offices, and sabotage of a natural gas pipeline -- as well as in other Latin American countries including Venezuela. Recent events suggest there may be evidence for Bolivian president Evo Morales’ assertions that the U.S. Embassy is supporting groups promoting violence and seeking “autonomy” from Bolivia, and the Center called on USAID and other U.S. agencies to “come clean” in order to demonstrate the U.S. government’s good faith.

“Washington has decided to keep its ties to Bolivia’s opposition shrouded in secrecy, and that’s not conducive to trust between the U.S. and Bolivian governments,” said Mark Weisbrot, CEPR Co-Director. “If Washington has nothing to hide in terms of whom it is funding and working with in Bolivia, then it should reveal which groups those are.”

In the midst of the violence and property destruction, Bolivian president Evo Morales declared U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg “persona non grata” and asked him to be expelled, suggesting he is aiding organizations behind the violence and sabotage. Despite numerous requests filed under the Freedom of Information Act, the U.S. has not turned over all the names of recipient organizations of USAID funds. Bolivia is a major recipient of USAID money, with millions of dollars sent to groups there. The U.S. also funds groups in Bolivia through the National Endowment for Democracy and related organizations.

“USAID is not supposed to be a clandestine organization, but nevertheless the U.S. government refuses to divulge which groups in Bolivia are supported with U.S. tax dollars,” Weisbrot said. “By providing clandestine aid to groups that are almost certainly in the opposition, it gives the impression that the U.S. is contributing to efforts to destabilize the Bolivian government.”

The U.S. Embassy in Bolivia has been implicated in a number of events that suggest it may be seeking to undermine Morales’ government. In February of this year it was revealed that the Embassy had repeatedly asked Peace Corps volunteers and a Fulbright Scholar to spy on people inside Bolivia. USAID has an "Office of Transition Initiatives" operating in Bolivia, funneling millions of dollars of training and support to right-wing opposition regional governments and movements.

At least eight people were killed and dozens injured in violence Thursday, the latest in over a week of protests carried out by organized youth groups in conjunction with departmental governors and other opposition leaders that also saw them sabotage a natural gas pipeline, vandalize government offices, ransack the offices of a human rights organization, and threaten to cut off natural gas exports to neighboring Brazil and Argentina.

###

The Center for Economic and Policy Research is an independent, nonpartisan think tank that was established to promote democratic debate on the most important economic and social issues that affect people's lives. CEPR's Advisory Board of Economists includes Nobel Laureate economists Robert Solow and Joseph Stiglitz; Richard Freeman, Professor of Economics at Harvard University; and Eileen Appelbaum, Professor and Director of the Center for Women and Work at Rutgers University.

Coup plots in Bolivia and Venezuela!

The imperialist oligarchs never stop. When will we tire of their meddlesome rebel rousing?

Coup plots in Bolivia and Venezuela!

The ongoing coup attempt in Bolivia continues, and yesterday 8 peasants were killed when they were ambushed by fascist gangs of the oligarchy. In the working class area of Plan 3000 in Santa Cruz, the people repelled the fascist gangs which had attempted to enter this area to spread fear.

As a result of these provocations Evo Morales has expelled the US ambassador.

In the evening of Thursday a coup plot was uncovered in Venezuela. The people immediately gathered outside Miraflores and Chavez addressed them announcing the expulsion of the US ambassador. A mass meeting of PSUV activists and leaders took place afterwards at the Fuerte San Carlos and it was agreed to call a march for today outside Fuerte Tiuna, the city's main military barracks and mass demonstrations in all the regional capitals on Saturday.

It is time to say enough is enough. The oligarchy in Venezuela and Bolivia has shown once and again their lack of respect for the democratic will of the majority of the people.

We need to organise solidarity. Urgent meetings should take place to plan actions of solidarity around the world. There should be rallies outside of the US embassies and public assemblies to discuss the situation and coordinate further action.

The Venezuelan and Bolivian embassies around the world must contacted to help and participate in this mobilisation.

Arkansas: Fayetteville Voters To Decide “Lowest Law Enforcement Priority” Initiative

It appears that "rational thought" is invading the deep south. I'll wait to break out the champagne, though.

Fayetteville, AR: Fayetteville voters will decide this November on a municipal initiative that seeks to make marijuana law enforcement the city's "lowest priority."

Proponents of the measure, Sensible Fayetteville, gathered nearly 5,000 signatures from registered voters to place the proposal on the November ballot.

The measure would direct law enforcement to make activities related to the investigation and prosecution of adults who possess up to one ounce of cannabis their lowest priority. Local voters approved a similar 'deprioritization' measure in Eureka Springs, Arkansas in 2006.

Under state law, marijuana possession is a misdemeanor offense punishable by a $1,000 fine and up to one year in jail.

If enacted, the ordinance would also require the city clerk to submit a letter to state and federal legislators urging them to "take immediate steps to enact similar ['deprioritization'] laws."

Voters have enacted similar initiatives in Seattle, Washington; Oakland, California; Columbia, Missouri; and Denver, Colorado.

Sensible Fayetteville is a coalition of statewide organizations, including the University of Arkansas chapter of NORML and the Alliance for Drug Reform Policy in Arkansas.

For more information, please visit.

Bolivia 'expels' US ambassador

We can see clearly exactly who the 'terrorists' really are.

Bolivia 'expels' US ambassador
The Bolivian president has ordered the expulsion of the US ambassador for allegedly inciting violent opposition protests.

"The ambassador of the United States is conspiring against democracy and wants Bolivia to break apart," Evo Morales said at the presidential palace in La Paz on Wednesday.

The move came as anti-government protesters in several areas ransacked government offices and seized oil facilities and three regional airports.

The announcement by Morales also came hours after an attack by protesters on a gas pipeline in the south of the country cut natural gas exports to Brazil by 10 per cent.

Gordon Duguid, a US state department spokesman in Washington, said Morales' accusations were "baseless" and that the embassy had not received any request for Philip Goldberg to leave.

Morales said he had asked his foreign minister to send a letter to the US embassy asking Goldberg to "urgently return to his country".

US bankruptcies approach 1 million

US bankruptcies approach 1 million
Submitted by Layer 8 on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 11:09am.

Scary stats from the US Court office out today: In the 12-month period ending June 30, 2008, there were nearly 1 million new bankruptcy cases filed.

Some experts predict that by year's end there could be well over 1 million bankruptcies and that's being conservative. Specifically, there were 967,831 bankruptcy cases filed, an almost 30% increase from 2007. In the business world filings were up almost 42% to 33,822 from the 23,889 reported in June 30, 2007.

Even more telling perhaps is that Chapter 7 filings - where typically the business or debtor's assets are shut down and sold off - were up almost 37% to 615,748 from the 450,332 Chapter 7 filings in the 12-month period ending June 30, 2007.

Chapter 11 and 13 filings, where business or debtors' assets are typically reorganized with the plan to repay debts were up almost 31% and 17% respectively.

The court office said that third quarter filings, the 3-month period ended June 30, 2008, totaled 276,510, the highest quarterly filings since the Judiciary's first fiscal year quarter in 2006 (December 31, 2005). So far, filings for the June quarter are the highest of any quarter in fiscal year 2008 (October 1, 2007 - September 30, 2008). First quarter filings totaled 226,413 and second quarter filings totaled 245,695, according to the court.

The US Bankruptcy Court's highest number of filings was its 6th District, which includes Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. The 9th District, which includes California, Arizona and Nevada had the largest percentage increase - almost 61%.

What's behind all the negativity? Experts say the reasons are many but oil prices, the housing meltdown and credit crunch are the chief problems.

And I've been calling it for almost a year here on this blog. All the while MSM and our nation's leaders have been downplaying it and outright denying it. And they still ARE! But the numbers don't lie.

Dependence upon these cretinous thugs and their monetary system based on and backed by violence, war, and slavery is beginning to trickle down into the pocket book of your "average Joe". And I am a crazy, paranoid prick who rants against the system. So be it. Keep your faith in your system and see what it gets you... a temporary reprieve from the inevitable, if you are lucky!

"This is McCain territory”

SECRET SERVICE CONFISCATES RON PAUL DELEGATES MATERIALS.

Today at the Republican Nationa Convention, as the Ron Paul Delegates were taking a picture in front of the model White House inside the Convention Center, they were surrounded by Secret Service which proceeded to search the bags of all the delegates. They took any and everything related to Ron Paul including signs, buttons, videos, slim jims, cards, even books. “this is an obvious and outrageous violation of our first amendment rights” said Nathan Hanson, attorney and Delegate from MN.

Alternate Delegate Dennis Rothacker from Florida said “We were done taking the picture when Secret Service started walking into the room and surrounded us. There were about 30 of them. When they searched my bags they took my Ron Paul sign and turned a deaf ear to my complains, they just walked away.”

Delegate Ron Warner from Fairbanks Alaska added that as he was walking into the convention center today with about 15 Revolution Manifesto books, 20 DVD’s for Delegates, 20 Ron Paul buttons and a handful of other things, we was stopped by security which called on an obviously important higher up, who directed all the materials to be confiscated. She told him, and I quote “You can’t bring that in here, this is Mc Cain territory”

Not that I am particularly a fan of Ron Paul. Still, Ron Paul supporters being treated as terrorists?!

And "...this is McCain territory"? Holy horse shit! Can you imagine our entire nation and our world being treated with this attitude? Why aren't the creeps perpetrating these acts of terrorism against American Citizens being brought to justice? Hell, they're treating us here in America with the same inhumane treatment that they have been using against the Iraqi's for over 5 years!

Oh HELL! Now I get the whole "Iraq" thing! It was PRACTICE! Practice for when they brought their fascist show back home! Sorry, I'm a little slow.

'A task that is from God'

Palin: Iraq war 'a task that is from God'

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told ministry students at her former church that the United States sent troops to fight in the Iraq war on a "task that is from God."

In an address last June, the Republican vice presidential candidate also urged ministry students to pray for a plan to build a $30 billion natural gas pipeline in the state, calling it "God's will."

Palin asked the students to pray for the troops in Iraq, and noted that her eldest son, Track, was expected to be deployed there.

"Our national leaders are sending them out on a task that is from God," she said. "That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that plan is God's plan."

Ummm, some folks call that "Jihad". Maybe Sarah didn't get the memo. Dumb ass!

To vet or not to vet

Yeah, my donkey's hooves need trimmed.

And McCain is still a dumb ass.

That's what he gets for allowing his self to be blackmailed. Gotta be the gas line thing...

that or walking on gravel without horse shoes.

Democracy Now! Amy Goodman Arrested at RNC

And she is just barely "left"!

Is there still any question?

Republican Party: Business As Usual - Lie upon lie

As I write this, news is breaking that the "baby bump" on the 16 year old daughter of Governor Palin in the photo was indeed a "baby bump". The question for most of us was not that the daughter was pregnant or not. It was whether the Governor lied about her own paternity. And it is not really about paternity in either case. It is about whether the possible next VP was honest and forthright or just Dick Cheney lite.

It is difficult for me to even care about the paternity in either case. However, I am sure that this whole affair has an effect on Governor Palin's constituency, the Religious Right. (Incidentally, in my own estimation the term "Religious Right" is in and of itself an oxymoron of the greatest magnitude!)

Who among us even care one whit whether Governor Palin OR her daughter have a child, or even a child out of wedlock? I mean beside the aforementioned oxymoron.

It is painfully clear to me that both Senator McCain and Governor Palin are hypocritical liars. But then, how is that any different than any OTHER politician, lawyer, or law enforcement officer? It is not.

The most egregious issue of this whole affair, in my estimation, is not even whether these trolls lied or not. It is that they, in their hypocritical dual standard philosophy, do not even see the ere in the judgment of bringing new life into this hell whole that most refer to as "life". One or two "damned souls" to propagate the species is MORE than enough for one person/couple.

The contention that either "abstinence only" or "sex education" (which to some apparently means only "passing out condoms") are the only answers are just plain ludicrous! INFORMATION AND EDUCATION beat "taboo subjects" hands down each and every time. And anyone who suggests otherwise is morally and socially blind or simply lying.

Do I care if the VP or his/her child are gay or have children? Not at all. Do I care if they lie about it? You betcha!

You should, too.