Watching the speech....

All right, this is a truly non-sequitur, spur of the moment.
But I just started watching Sanders' speech from last night, And I gotta ask:

How the hell is Hillary Clinton the nominee?

I just don't get it.
How is rolling over, licking the boots of the PTB, and validating their chosen one, going to change anything?
Seriously?
How are 4-8 more years of war, capitalist excess, and Wall Street pandering going to make things better for everyone?
I'm about 10mins in and he's talking about leaving a better world for the grand children.
And I'm seriously afraid, that boat might have already sailed.
PERMAFROST IS MELTING IN THE ARCTIC!!
Yes, it is another non-sequitur.  But it is a vitally important bit of information.  To the entire world.  We don't have 8 more years to dick around with 'clean coal'.  If we can't chill the poles back down, we're dead.  The planet will burn us out, and start again.
And, jeeze, just had a serious sense of Deja Vu....
How's that for non-liner progression?

OK, I'm at the 15min mark.
He's restated the goals of his campaign.  Which are what motivated all of us Bernie of Busters, or what ever you want to call us ardent supporters.
He's talking about the kind of leader we need, while demonstrating that he, not Clinton, is that leader.
I'm wondering how he doesn't see that.
I'm wondering how more people don't see that.
I'm wondering how he justifies telling us to vote for the corporate chosen one.  How do you spark a revolution and then rationalize capitulating to the status quo?
Clinton may 'understand' that a person working 40 hours a week should not be living in poverty.
But, she's not gonna do jack shit to change that.  She's going to push through the TTP.  She's going to keep the wars going.  She's going to let the oil and gas industry and Wall Street continue business as usual.
How does that help me or anyone around me?

Let's end the movement towards Oligarchy seen in this country?
By voting for the Oligarchy?!

And of course, we've gotta drag out the Trump Club....

I'm just about at the end.  He's laid out a lot of things that Hillary Clinton 'understands'.  Does he honestly believe she'll act on that understanding, and bite the hand that's rigging the election for her?  She just declared that single payer won't work.  She's gonna push the TTP.  We all know she wants to go to war with Russia.  She'll say anything to get elected.  Doesn't mean that's what she believes.

And we can pretty much blame the poor excuse for true health care reform that Obama care is, on Clinton.  A good chunk is lifted directly from the plan she put together all those years ago.
Don't get me wrong, I don't want to see that pitiful plan just blown away.
I'm a single payer advocate.  As I mentioned above, she's recently declared single payer a non-starter.
So, I know with her in the White House, that ain't happening.

I just don't get where Bernie's at right now.
Maybe he's more trusting than I am.
I don't believe that Clinton is on board with many of these issues.
The only candidate that would fight for all of these issues is Bernie Sanders.  With Clinton, all this promised progressiveness is gonna vanish like a puff of smoke the day after the election.

Sorry Bernie.
STILL AIN'T VOTING FOR THE WAR-MONGERING CORPORATE WHORE.

Tonight's time waster....

A spur of the moment thing. 

Also of note...

Sanders is the second energetic liberal in recent years to go into the White House and come out subdued.
Something drastic changed for Obama when he assumed office after the first election.  He seemed to age overnight.  He was less energetic, seemed burdened.  I've always wondered what happened behind closed doors.  His presidency is not what I expected form his campaign.  His tenure in office has been very disappointing on many fronts.
And I frequently get the impression that he's not happy with it either.
Bernie's trip to the White House on Thursday is causing the same suspicion.  What the Hell happened to knock the fight out of him?

And I am jumping the gun...

Cuz, I'm gonna kinda wedge 2 recent posts together and try to make a coherent statement.
As coherent as I ever get....

June 8, 2016

Senate Colleagues Mount Pressure On Bernie Sanders To 'Stand Down Now'

It might be a miscalculation for the Democratic party. But, not for the American people. The average Democrat may be OK with the corruption and fraud brought to light this primary season, but there are a lot of us voters who are incredibly pissed at what we've seen from the Democratic party the past few months.
The political elite need to brace themselves.
We all need to brace ourselves.
This election is going to be a BUMPY ride.
We're not all as stupid and blind as you think we are, and this election is a joke.
On one side, we have a bigoted, blowhard, who whines like a three-year-old when somebody criticizes him. This year it is easy to see the circus in town, cuz Trump is the lead clown. He may be giving the rabid Tea Partiers wet dreams, but the rest of us are already having a morning after reaction. He came out strong, and even a couple of my friends, who I thought were reasonably intelligent people, were looking at him as a viable candidate. But, his whole campaign is like a one night stand. There's that ineradicable rush of attraction, and then he started talking.
And the friends that I thought were reasonably intelligent, slapped themselves on the forehead with 'what was I thinking', gathered up their self-respect and got out of the Trump camp very quickly.
Sure, Trump is still popular with the lunatic fringe, and he does have a few good points. But, the rest of us are looking for something better.
On the other side we have a pseudo-liberal, corporate war-monger, trailing so many allegations of impropriety and criminal behavior, who, in saner times, would find it difficult to get elected president of a Bridge club, much less the highest office in the land.
Think about it, would you want someone with repeated accusations of misappropriation of funds, negligence, and ineptitude to head up your neighborhood association?
How either of these two is still in the race with their respective criminal cases hanging over their heads, is beyond me. The simple fact that they are both under investigation should be enough to invalidate their candidacy at this time.
So, we are presented, again, with the lesser of two evils scenario.
Thank you, o'mighty corporate overlords.
Cuz, I'm hard pressed to see the lesser evil here.
The simple fact that these United States are seriously about to elect a suspected criminal to the office of President is sickening.
And, as of this moment, it's going to happen no mater which of the two major parties wins.
How much more do people really need to see this is WRONG?
At this moment Bernie Sanders is the only real major candidate in the race.

 June 10, 2016

Elizabeth Warren Just Endorsed Hillary Clinton

What makes the Democrats different from the Republicans?
Absolutely nothing.
The only difference between the Democrats and the Republicans is appearance and perception.
Having Bernie in the primary gave the Dems the appearance of championing the middle class and poor. They have the decades old perception of being more liberal and compassionate and honorable than the Republicans.
And it's all still smoke and mirrors.
I'm beginning to see that the real mistake the DNC made was underestimating Bernie.
His campaign was a joke to start. They thought they were safe. There was no one that could seriously challenge Hillary. Letting Bernie wage his battle gave them good PR. It gave Hillary the chance to appear reasonable and responsive to the liberal cause. They could let it look like Bernie pulled her to the left just enough to lull and appease the voices of change. Just enough to fool the youngsters into thinking she really was cool. Just enough to hand out a big 'ol case of rose colored glasses. Make us believe that she really would do something for the average joe.
And then the problem started. Bernie and his message are way more popular than they thought.
And then the crap started rolling downhill.
And the fraud and corruption started showing.
I've learned 2 things from this primary season:
1. Our election process is totally F-U. We seriously need to demand a change to the way our elections are run. ONE PERSON, ONE VOTE! That is a true Democracy. Until we have that we are slaves.
2. The Democrats are truly no better than the Republicans. They are the corporate elite. They feed at the trough of the almighty dollar. A vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote for Oligarchy.

It saddens me to see Elizabeth Warren marching to the party line....

It's now June 11, 2016, and I'm feeling like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.
I'm about to be bitterly disappointed.
Cuz, it's looking like Bernie is accepting the roll of shiny distraction and lure.  He's promising to work with criminal Clinton and the corrupt DNC.  He's closing down his campaign.  It looks like he's packing up and going home.  The life long Independent is toeing the party line.  Talking about getting the kids excited about Clinton.
This is not what I expected.  This is not what I want.
I'm in a position of questioning my judgement of the man, and having my worst suspicions validated.  I'm not a happy camper at the moment.
WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?!
I'm really, really angry right now.
And I know I'm not alone.
Where's the outrage over the lies and manipulation?  Where's the demands that the provisional ballots in California be validated and counted?
Who cares weather or not they change the outcome of the election?  Those are votes people took the time to cast, they deserve to be counted.  We're staring at one of the grossest violations of voting rights to ever come along and saying absolutely nothing about it...
Sanders has gone silent, and I don't like that.  It could be an indication that the party has offered him one of the high profile gigs in the new administration, and he has accepted.
And I'm not sure how I feel about that.  As VP he's next in line for the office, so, IF they finally do the right thing and throw Clinton's ass in jail for treason, he'll step up and take control.
But things like that IF are a pipe dream in this our modern Oligarchy.
While I can see, and appreciate, the strategy of the worm in the apple, it isn't enough.
Why settle for the glacier slow change from the inside, when you have the avalanche that brings the whole system down?
Surly the Sanders' team has taken a long hard look at the numbers.  Despite what they tell you on TV this country is really centrists.  We'll agree to compromise on a lot of things.  Sanders speaks to the middle ground.  With both major parties imploding and picking the worst candidates they can find, there are a lot of us who have been dispossessed on both sides of the ideology.  The time is ripe for an Independent to take the lead.
And Sanders could be the one to do it.
But he's gotta try.....

Am I the only one....

I'm getting a weird, universe shifting kinda vibe off this election cycle.
Maybe the talk of a collective awakening has some serious weight....
Well I just took a minor sidetrack trying to find the article.  I got lost.  First on YouTube, looking for, of all things, a Donald Trump clip, and then I wondered over to FaceBook, and well....
I've given up on finding the article, for now.  I've already wasted too much time.
What sparked this whole boil over of thought, was an article I saw on FaceBook.  It was the results of a poll showing that Bernie Sanders would beat Trump.
And it suddenly struck me that this election was shaping up to be a major showdown of negative vs positive.  Good vs evil, to raise it to the level of melodrama.
And then I have to stop and consider, this is a turning of a millennium.  Big things happen in the years following century shifts.  You can expect them to be bigger things with a bigger shift.
So thinks my demented brain....
But, first I got Bernie Sanders, a man I can truly respect, based on what he says and his history.
Add this....

Let's face it people, this is not natural.  For me, there's something 'beyond' about this incident.  Birds don't do that.
Type in 'bird at rally' over on YouTube and see what you get...
And, watch the video closely.  Note, Sanders has his hand in the air gesturing at the sign, and the bird still lands on it and sits calmly staring at him.
Birds don't do that...
Then factor in the footage and events from Trump rallies...
Well that set the mind to wondering and I went over to YouTube to find clips of Trump.  You know, Trump talking about his plans, his values, etc....
I didn't find much.  Specially not much on plans, policies, or ideas.
And, yes, I did find the event videos.  But, I'm sorry, I don't have all the time in the world, and I'm not sitting through the tedious Rah Rah shows just to get to Trump saying something of little substance.  I've heard him before.  I know his rhetoric.
And I didn't find much substance.  I found 'fun' in the American tradition of violence,  American humor is rooted in pain.  I found hate and fear and ignorance.
Are we really so wimpy and fearful that we have to build walls to keep the neighbors out?  Seriously?  Can't we think of anything better?
I did a side by side survey of Trump and Sanders videos.
There's not much of Trump speaking for himself.  There are the aforementioned full event videos.  With Trump supported by a cast of characters.  There are ads that feature people talking about Trump.  But there's not much of Trump talking for himself.
Sanders has a plethora of interviews and speeches.
It was interesting to get the side by side comparison.
I come away with this....

And I have to ask, do we really want to spend the next century cowering behind our walls, clutching our guns?  Living in fear?  Fighting perpetual war?
Are empty slogans and violence really what we want to kick the new millennium off with?
Or would you rather acknowledge, and honer, the dignity of your fellow man, care for the weak, and pull together to build something truly awesome?

And that's where I'm gonna leave you, cuz it's 1:45am and I still have shit to do.....

Things my government never told me....

First I want you all to think very carefully, and truthfully answer a question.
Which is the world's greatest terrorist state?  Which nation or regime has created the most terrorists?  Which nation or regime has perpetrated the worst acts of violence?
Before you read any further, do me a favor and answer that question.  Even if that's the only thing you do, even if you read no further, just answer that one question...

A couple weeks back I was hanging out with some friends and conversation turned, as it usually does, to the state of our nation.  In the ramblings of that conversation I realized that I had forgotten a name.
Me forgetting something is no surprise.  I forget things all the time.
But I was surprised to find that I could not remember that specific name.  It was the name of one of my favorite authors.  A man whose works I have recommended to many.  I was recommending his work to another person, or trying to.  At that moment I realized that it had been a long time since I had checked his website.  A long time since I had ventured into the areas that he writes about.
And I knew it was time to go back.
I did remember his name before the end of that conversation, and suggested that my friend look him up.  Now, I am recommending him to you.
The man's name is William Blum and he writes about things the US government doesn't want you to know.

Our fear that communism might someday take over most of the world blinds us to the fact that anti-communism already has.

That's a quote taken from his book Killing Hope .  I looked that quote up online and could find no attribution for it beyond anonymous.  Blum attributes it to Michael Parenti from a book called The Anti-Communists Impulse, published in 1969.  It's a very widely cited quote, but I guess since the book was written before the advent of the internet no one feels the need to attribute it correctly.
That's not really central to the point of this diary, it just irks me that we can be so lazy on such a large scale.  You'd think that pages that collect quotes would at least try to attribute them correctly...
While searching this topic I ran across a youtube video that lays this all out much better than I can.
Remember your answer to my question while you watch.



And yes, I have taken the time to, independently, verify some of the facts in Killing Hope, back when I first read it.  The verification is there, if you look for it.  In some cases it is part of the public record.
And I remember what we did in Afghanistan.  We created the Taliban, and we should remember that while we fight the latest of our wars.
And I remember Nicaragua.

What most of the countries on the receiving end of 20th century American imperialism had in common was their attempt to establish a society that offered an alternative to the capitalist model. In the eyes of Washington, this was the ultimate heresy, as it remains today. Such an endeavor had to be crushed, by any means necessary, lest it wind up serving as an example for others. Other targeted countries, while retaining free enterprise to one degree or another, were reluctant to allow the needs of American corporations to dictate their society's priorities; i.e., they were unwilling to permit the WTO/IMF/World Bank/free-trade beast to stomp in and privatize and sell the country's social assets to multinationals, to deregulate, erase their border, drive local industries and farmers into destitution, trash social services and safety nets, develop a cheap labor force, cheap raw materials, and a market for corporate goods, and put people in prison so prices could be free... by now a painfully familiar syndrome known as "globalization", merely the latest transmutation of imperialism, the natural extension of capitalist growth and control; for some years ago, while we were all busy leading our little daily lives, a handful of corporations came along, and step by step, unannounced, purchased the world, then hung a sign out saying "Open for business", and have since then, understandably, insisted on exercising the rights of ownership. Globalization is nothing less than the recolonization of the underdeveloped world.

This is from the introduction of his latest book Freeing the World To Death , which I'd be buying now, if I had a job.  You can read the rest of the introduction, as well as other bits of the book and some articles here: The William Blum Page  &  http://killinghope.org/

I underlined that bit in the middle.  Does it sound familiar to anyone else?

The point of a destabilization is to put pressure on the targeted government by ripping apart the social and economic fabric of the country. These are only words, "social and economic fabric," but what they mean is making the people suffer as much as you can until the country plunges into chaos, until at some point you can step in and impose your choice of government on that country a strategy that was ultimately successful in the Nicaraguan elections when the people of that country "cried uncle" and voted for the CIA collaborator, Violeta Chamorro.9 The rationales we used in Nicaragua were classic Cold War slogans: we were "fighting Communism" in the interests of our "national security"; they were a "Marxist bastion in our ownbackyard"; etc. More specifically, our leaders said at first that the purpose of this program was to "interdict the alleged flow of arms from Nicaragua to the rebels in El Salvador." Unable to prove any flow of arms whatsoever from Nicaragua into El Salvador, the Reagan team, followed eventually by George Bush, developed the propaganda line that they were "returning Nicaragua to democracy." When it was pointed out that Nicaragua had never had a democracy-certainly not under the brutal Somoza dictatorship-they began to speak of the "democratization of Nicaragua," ignoring the fact that Nicaragua had held elections in 1984 that were demonstrably more democratic than the elections that we have in our own Republic.

This passage from The Praetorian Guard: The U.S. Role in the New World Order by John Stockwell should stir some ugly echos in your thoughts.  Cuz, if you look closely at what's happening in this country right now, you could be looking at a tailor made destabilization.
Again, the underlined bit should be reminiscent of something from much more recent history.
And if you think the The Powers That Be, and I'm not talking about the figurehead circus that passes for politics, wouldn't do this, think again.
This quote takes us to another source I urge you all to check out.  Third World Traveler
The stated mission of the page is to:

…tell the truth
about American democracy, media, and foreign policy,
and about the impact of the actions of
the United States government, transnational corporations, global trade and financial institutions, and the corporate media,
on democracy, social and economic justice, human rights, and war and peace,
in the Third World, and in the developed world.

They also have travel information and tips.  So, if you're planning a trip to a third world nation, I'd definitely check them out.

And here are another couple of quotes to keep you thinking... 

"There is a transnational ruling class, a "Superclass", that agrees on establishing a world government. The middle class is targeted for elimination, because most of the world has no middle class, and to fully integrate and internationalize a middle class, would require industrialization and development in Africa, and certain places in Asia and Latin America. The goal of the Superclass is not to lose their wealth and power to a transnational middle class, but rather to extinguish the notion of a middle class, and transnationalize a lower, uneducated, labor oriented class, through which they will secure ultimate wealth and power.

The global economic crisis serves these ends, as whatever remaining wealth the middle class holds is in the process of being eliminated, and as the crisis progresses, the middle classes of the world will suffer, while a great percentage of lower classes of the world, poverty-stricken even prior to the crisis, will suffer the greatest, most probably leading to a massive reduction in population levels, particularly in the "underdeveloped" or "Third World" states."

Andrew Gavin Marshall, The Global Economic Crisis: The Great Depression of the XXI Century 

 "Some of the character traits exhibited by serial killers or criminals may be observed in many within the political arena... [They] share the traits of psychopaths who are not sensitive to altruistic appeals, such as sympathy for their victims or remorse or guilt over their crimes. They possess the personality traits of lying, narcissism, selfishness, and vanity. These are the people to whom we have entrusted our fate. Is it any wonder that America is failing at home and world-wide?"

 Jim Kouri

Here I will ask you to recall Abu Ghraib.

How many of you know that Amnesty International, the International Red Cross, and other human rights organizations had been  protesting the situation in Abu Ghraib for over a year before the U.S. took any action.  The only reason anything was done officially in this situation was, CBS had pictures and was preparing to go public.

Do you really think these were isolated, clandestine, activities, indulged by just a few bad apples?  If you, as most Americans think this was a singular occurrence, think again.

For those who think the United States has been unconscionably brutal to detainees in Iraq, here's how the US handled them during Vietnam: "Two Vietcong prisoners were interrogated on an airplane flying toward Saigon. The first refused to answer questions and was thrown out of the airplane at 3,000 feet. The second immediately answered all the questions. But he, too, was thrown out."

 William Blum Freeing the World To Death.

The fact is, the U.S. is a world leader in torture.  We've taught the terrorists factions in this world pretty much all they know.  Cuz, we don't, generally, get our hands too dirty, we pay someone else to do it.  For a more detailed account check out Killing Hope.
And I have seen an old copy of field manual to back this up.

And remember we had a problem in this country classifying water boarding as torture and declaring it illegal.

Well, the research for this, as usual with the OSS, spiraled out of control and this whole thing took way longer than it was supposed to.  I've got enough material, already, for at least 2 more posts on things the government won't tell you.  For now, I'll leave you with 2 names:  The Bilderberg Group and The Trilateral Commission, and hope you might do some research of your own.  Maybe we'll talk a little about The Powers That Be sometime in the future.
Right now, I've got to do my job searching for the day....

Ohhh all right, one more quote.

 History does not tell us what a Soviet Union, allowed to develop in a "normal" way of its own choosing, would look like today. We do know, however, the nature of a Soviet Union attacked in its cradle, raised alone in an extremely hostile world, and, when it managed to survive to adulthood, overrun by the Nazi war machine with the blessings of the Western powers. The resulting insecurities and fears have inevitably led to deformities of character not unlike that found in an individual raised in a similar life-threatening manner.

Again, William Blum, from the introduction to Killing Hope.  I know the quotes are long.  But I realize I'm asking people to reconsider things they've held as truth their entire lives.  This takes evidence, in most cases, overwhelming evidence.  The quotes are from people who are way smarter, and know more, than me.  If you don't trust me, look at the evidence.  Verify it for yourself.


One of the members over on Left Take replied to this post and provided a few more links to check out.
Thanks SuzeB for adding a few more sources.

My minor was in Latin American History

by: SuzeB1964August 25, 2011 8:19 PM

So I am well familiar with the fascist and criminal acts this country has performed in order to spread democracy (aka corporate dominance) over Latin America. Here's a couple of anecdotes for you:
http://thoughtcontrol.us/same-... http://www.thirdworldtraveler....
http://www.thirdworldtraveler....
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/n...
The list goes on and on...

Been Pondering....

What should remain in public, government, control and administration.
I've played a lot of games that have involved building towns.  From D&D to Sim City there are a lot of games out there that involve growing cities out of nothing.  Few are detailed enough to require you to think about much beyond physical organization and taxes.  Some will make you think about the structure of government and laws.
And I've watched a lot of westerns where the struggling townsfolk hold meetings to decide how to deal with certain things.  So I have pondered this sort of thing before.
What, exactly does it mean to provide for the common good?
I really wish some of our politicians would lay awake at night pondering such thoughts.  I suspect most them, if they lay awake at night at all, are pondering the size of the next campaign donation, or wondering if anyone suspects they're- insert you favorite scandal here.  There's enough of them to choose from.
I think that we, as a nation, need to start pondering such things.
Our system is broken and it needs serious fixing.
And even though things are bad, and probably going to get much worse, I think we still have time before the shooting starts.  There's still time to change things in a more controlled manner.
So, let's consider, what should the government provide and be responsible for?
I'll state up front, my general base for these considerations is a truly democratic from.  One person one vote, the majority rules.  No electoral college BS.  I'll also assume public participation in the process...
Yeah, I know that's overly hopeful.
For now, we're gonna stick to the base question and think about oversight and control later.
Cuz, one of the first things that comes up in westerns is law and order.  In many a good western this gets outta hand, which is why oversight and control come into play.  But, as I said we'll ignore that for now.
Right now, just consider what services the community at large needs.

1. Keeping the peace.
And yeah, I phrased that intentionally.  Cuz, that's really what we want, right?  Peace?  The security of knowing that you can go to sleep at night and wake up the next day with your person and possessions intact?  The ability to go about your daily business in a calm and orderly fashion?  This is part of public safety.

Let's not consider rules and laws, just yet.

2. Fire department.
In Sim City these go along with police stations.  This is public safety too.

3. Education
Lot's of westerns deal with town meetings and hiring the new schoolmarm.  Education should not be only for those who can pay for it.

4. Transportation and roads.
I put transportation first, cuz that doesn't, necessarily, involve roads.  Some of my more successful Sim Cities were all rail.  We live in a new age, who knows what will emerge in the new century.  We should keep an open mind.

5. Health care
In a prior century, hospitals were non-profit institutions and doctors made house calls.  In my mind, at the very least, basic and preventative health care should be free.  We should reinstate the Hippocratic oath

6. Public safety
Certain standards should be established and maintained.  We all need trash pickup and sanitary conditions have to be considered.  Protecting people from unsafe industry practices and products is something that needs to happen on a society wide level.  All industries should be subject to some form of oversight.

7. Public Aide
An enlightened society would provide for those who can not provide for themselves. 

"A decent provision for the poor is the true test of civilization."
~Samuel Johnson, Boswell: Life of Johnson

"A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members."
~ Mahatma Ghandi

"...the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; those who are in the shadows of life; the sick, the needy and the handicapped. " ~ Hubert H. Humphrey

This is not a new idea.

8. Electricity/power
This is something that everyone depends on.  I don't see why boards of directors and stock holders really need to be involved.  This is something that affects the entire community and therefore should be controlled and maintained on a non-profit basis.

9. Water
Same as above, and again, here, we are talking about people's lives and public health.

10. Defense
National defense could come under public safety or law and order too.
And here we're talking about defending against real, direct threats to the safety of the nation.  Not fighting 2 useless wars because  we can trump up a reason to go for a preemptive strike.  Not interfering with the governments of sovereign nations, just because we don't like their politics.
(I'll add a note here.  What we did in Libya was not interference.  One of the few actions taken by this country in the last 60 years I can say that about.  The people of the country rose up to shake off an oppressive regime.  They asked for help.  The UN decided to act.  We aided the UN.)

12. Environmental protection
Leaving questions of Global Warming aside, it doesn't take a rocket scientists to figure out that pollution is BAD.  This is not something to leave to private concern.  This is something that affects the population of the entire planet.

Well, that's my base list.
I think these things should all be controlled from the top down.  These are things that affect the lives of every person in the country and should be uniform across the country.
That's all I've got for right now.  This is a big topic and I'm still pondering...

I am prepared....

To be very upset.
VERY, VERY upset.

Obama met with top Democrats at the White House and spoke by phone with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. Meanwhile, increasing numbers of Democrats signal their readiness for a compromise that would cut spending without raising taxes.

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_2d5e7d2f-180f-5da5-acf2-4fce1b146288.html#ixzz1TdNldKGa

I've read this in two different places....
It looks as if our fearful leader is, again, preparing to crumble.
As usual, when push comes to shove, the democrats fall over like a stage set with no cross members.
Why have we gone through the last couple of weeks of wrangling if they are just going to cave under to Republican pressure?
LISTEN UP PEOPLE, the American public is with you, not the tea baggers.  I've just come back from running an errand and talk is running the Democratic side.  No one living down here in the real world wants to see Social Security cut.  No one wants to see the end of Medicare.  No one down here wants to see the retirement age raised to 70.
What we do want to see is our elected officials doing what is right for the common good.  We want to see the tax loopholes that the rich drive their big, expensive lives through, CLOSED.  We want to see leaders who realize that the sucking on the middle class teat needs to STOP.  We want to see the corporations stop taking money from the tax payers, and we want to see those same corporations PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE.  We want to see someone who is strong enough to take the heat from the conservative media dogs.  We want someone who is strong enough to STAND UP FOR US.
I know that what I write here has little to no effect, but God Dammit, it is time for someone to speak up.  It's time for someone to cry FOUL!
For years now the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy have been dragging this country down.  They are not creating jobs.  They are not HELPING anyone.  If they were we'd be in much better shape than we are.
It's not like the President and the Democrats in congress are actually doing what they should and seeking to increase revenue in a big way.  All they wanted was to generate a smidgen of revenue from tightening the tax laws.  It wouldn't hurt the wealthy to loose a couple of tax dodges and shelters.  They still get to keep the vast majority of their money.  They still get the damaging tax cuts.  All the Democrats were asking for was a few drops to trickle down.
And now they are going to surrender even that.
I don't want to see the President settle for a weakened deal, just to avoid the fallout.  It's not like asking for the tax laws to be tightened is an unreasonable request.  Hell, demanding that the Bush tax cuts be ended right here and now wouldn't be an unreasonable request.
I'd really prefer to see him stick to his guns and use the 14th amendment to by pass the corporate lap dogs in congress.
But, obviously, there is no spine in the Democratic party.

A Breath of Fresh Air

Cross-posted to: lefttake.com

Reading this article early in the morning was a refreshing surprise.

Listen up Washington, we've been there

CNN asked some former politicians to weigh in on the debt ceiling debacle.
And they had some surprising things to say...

The crisis lies in the debt, not the ceiling. Kicking the can with a six months' ceiling increase is the worst possible alternative because it allows the politicians of both parties to continue making the Big Fiscal Lie. The Republican "no tax increase" position is preposterous; we are collecting less than 15% of GDP in taxes, the lowest since 1950, and spending 24% of GDP.

This from Republican David Stockman was a big surprise.  A republican advocating for tax increase?
Just goes to show that there are some in that party who have a smidgen of common sense.  That he goes on to say that the military budget should be slashed and that we should take a look at cutting the Social Security benefits of people at the top of the income scale so that the people on the bottom can have enough to live was even more of a refreshing surprise.

A debt ceiling bill is still a long way from home, but hopefully at least a temporary end to the game of chicken is in sight. The "Grand Bargain" is deferred, but hopefully not abandoned.
There is hope that Congress will act responsibly and bring the nation back from the brink of economic chaos.

William Frenzel further proved that there is some common sense among the old guys of the Grand Old Party.
Scott Lilly summed up things very well, reminding the electorate that you get what you vote for.  I hope that all those who voted in Tea Party candidates are paying close attention to the monster that they let out of the box.  Did ya all really want Social Security gutted to pay for more tax cuts for the corporations?  Are you happy being represented as a bunch of wild eyed sycophants of the rich?  Is this what you really want?
Remember, this is what Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, and Rush Limbaugh stand for.

Insanity Rules

Cross-posted to: lefttake.com

And it is insane that 60 or so people can hold an entire country hostage.
 Yes, this is the situation that we are facing.  The Tea Party is playing childish games, holding their breath, to get what they want.
And what they want is to end all government aid to the old, the disabled, and the poor.  They want 'smaller government'.
But, what they don't want is to end the subsidies to the rich, the financial sector, and the corporations.
Their 'smaller government' means more money for the rich, the financial sector and corporations, and less regulation and oversight.  Their 'smaller government' means that old people and children suffer so that the almighty corporations can profit and grow to the full limits of corporatocracy.  So that the average man, woman, and child in this country, and the world over, can live out their lives in poverty, as virtual slaves to the corporate good.  Their 'smaller government' means the further destruction and desecration of our environment.
But they cloud that goal with rhetoric and fear mongering.  They hide behind pretty faces, the flag, and God.
The Tea Party may have started out as a grassroots movement, but it has been turned to Astroturf, and I think it should be clear who is pulling the strings now.
Obama has offered several deals.  He has spent many hours trying to negotiate a compromise.
He hasn't done what he should do, namely ending the Bush tax cuts and other subsidies to the rich and corporate elite.
Saner members of the Republican party have tried to appease these spoiled, bratty lap dogs of the Radical Right.
And still they refuse to deal...
In an article over on CNN:

3 ways Obama could bypass Congress

 The commentator:   Jack M. Balkin

States: 

Section 4 requires the president not to put the validity of the public debt into question. If the debt ceiling is not raised in time, there will not be enough incoming revenues to pay for all of the government's bills as they come due. Therefore he has a constitutional obligation to prioritize incoming revenues to pay the public debt: interest on government bonds and any other "vested" obligations.

The members of the Tea Party have threatened to start impeachment proceedings
if Obama uses the 14th Amendment to by pass their little games.  While they are bound by the same amendment not to question the validity of the public debt.
So who, exactly, should we be impeaching?
A man who walked into office and inherited an economy sucked dry and lifeless by corporate greed and years of damaging tax breaks for the wealthy.
Or the 60 or so members who want to extend the sucking into perpetuity?

Interesting exercise...

Found this while scanning the news this morning:

Can You Close the Budget Deficit?

It's a deficit calculator over on the AARP site.  It allows you to make spending cuts and other decisions to close the deficit.  Give it a try and you'll wonder what all the political wrangling is about.
And it's good to wonder about that.
I cleared the deficit with 8 choices.  So it really doesn't seem all that hard.
Oh, wait, I just did it again with 7 choices.
Your goal is to get to 607 Billion.  If you allow the Bush tax cuts to expire, yer halfway there.
What were my other 6 choices?

1. I reduced the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
2. I capped medical malpractice insurance and lawsuits.
3. I closed the Private Investment Corp.  (This helps U.S. Corps build and invest in projects overseas.  Don't know about y'all but I don't think they really need help with that.)
4. I eliminated overseas trade promotion.  (This would limit overseas trade promotions and government marketing for U.S. products.)
5. I enacted a carbon tax.  (In my perfect world, this would be paid by the manufacturer and they could earn credits for anything they did to HELP the environment and clean up our planet.)
6. I limited tax benefits for itemized deductions to 15%.

But there's other things on that list that I would do as well.  Like cut the budget for the White House and Congress by 15% and reduce the number of government contractors.  I'd end ear marks.  I'd also enact the the efficiency initiatives proposed by Robert Gates and cut ship building and cancel the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle contract.  The design on those things isn't good anyway.
I could have our government operating on a large surplus without touching education or Social Security or Medicare.
I even left in funding for NPR.
So why can't our law makers do the same?

It's all good...

We only lost 1.3 billion in the Chrysler bailout.
And it's a remarkable story...

Tim Massad, Treasury assistant secretary for financial stability, told CNN Money: 'The fact that the company has done so well - that they were able to go out and raise private capital to repay us the loan so quickly, is really the big story.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2017457/U-S-taxpayers-lost-1-3-billion-government-bailout-Chrysler.html#ixzz1T4rTeAT7

Wait...

I must have missed something.

The U.S, taxpayers, us little, unimportant, evil workers, loaned Chrysler 12.5 billion.

And we got all of 11.2 billion back.

And now Chrysler is done paying the loan?

I know my math ain't what it used to be, but I think they still owe some money there.

Yes, yes I know bankruptcy, yadda, yadda, yadda...

I get the picture.

We loaned them the money so they wouldn't fold.  Then they went into bankruptcy, and sold out to Fiat, and now they are doing good.

The Treasury Department said it considers the auto bailout a success because Chrysler has made a remarkable turnaround since it took an equity position in the company in 2009.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2017457/U-S-taxpayers-lost-1-3-billion-government-bailout-Chrysler.html#ixzz1T4t7T1a8

OK, they are bouncing back, fine.  Why aren't they paying the rest of the money?  If they could do well enough to pay back part, why can't they pay the rest?

And how can you call this a success if we're 1.3 billion in the hole??

In my book, losing 1.3 billion dollars isn't a good thing.

 At this point in time, when we are about to tell our senior citizens, 'Sorry, you'll just have to buy a cheaper brand of dog food, for Sunday dinner,'

And about to tell the average working stiff, 'Sorry, you'll just have to work till ya die.  Cuz we don't have the money for social security.'

And the handicapped, 'We're cutting your funding you lazy bums, get a job.'

I don't count losing 1.3 billion as a success.

And I think that there is something fundamentally wrong with anyone calling it a success.

Yeah, I get we didn't loose more money and that is good.

But this is not a success.

For anyone but Chrysler and Fiat.

The sickness of capitalism...

 "The globalization of the pharmaceutical industry, and our failure to rein in a lethal profit machine."
All right, this is just down right sickening.
The rich, money mongering bastards have stooped to a new low.
http://healthfreedoms.org/2011...
It's an article about the outsourcing of clinical trials.
Which is all good for big pharma.  Not only does it cost less, they can pretty much do what ever they dam well please.  No need to worry about the health and welfare of your guinea pigs, just kill 'em and get a new batch.  No one's looking...
Is this REALLY who we are?
Is this REALLY how we want business to be conducted?
Do you really want to pay inflated prices for drugs that were tested on the poor of other countries with no safe guards or oversight?
The corrupting influence of the almighty bottom line is just plain sick and shameful.

A parting shot...

Cross posted to: http://leftake.com/

Before I brainwash Maxwell...

"This is not a matter of the American people knowing what the right thing to do is," Obama said. "It's a matter of Congress doing the right thing and reflecting the will of the American people."

Sing it brother!!
It is good to see some backbone in the man.  Finally he is pointing the spotlight on the unreasonable attitude of the Rad Right.
Just what are they objecting to?

But Republicans have flatly rejected any proposal from Obama that contains additional revenue from closing tax loopholes, restricting the value of deductions for the rich, increasing tax rates for hedge fund managers or ending oil and gas subsidies.

What is so wrong in all of that?  Why shouldn't we cut subsidies to an industry that is reporting record profits?  It's not like he's trying to end the Bush tax cuts, which he should be doing.  It's not like he's trying to raise tax rates, which he should be doing.
All he's trying to do is trim a tiny bit of the pork fat.
All he's doing is curbing government waste.  Isn't that what the Rad Right is all about?

While we're on the subject...

I'm gonna repost a few Left Take diary entries on the same topic.  Just to sink the point a little deeper...


The Private Sector
Posted to Left Take Sept.. 5, 2009

Listening to Mike Rodgers, and others, go on about the Private Sector...
The Private Sector will save us.
The Private Sector is your friend.
The Private Sector, benefactor of all mankind.
Huh?
Did I miss something?
Have so many people missed the part where the Private Sector put us in the hole we're in today?
Do people not realize that the almighty 'Private Sector' is exactly what is running this country into the ground?
Was it Joe Blow not producing and consuming enough that caused the cookie to crumble?
Or was it Mr. Fat Cat playing fast and loose with hedge funds, taking advantage of the unwary and overly optimistic, and running billion dollar pyramid scams?
Who exactly is it that's moving our industrial base to Mexico and China, our food production to South America, out-sourcing the IT jobs to India?
Through out the history of this country the Private Sector has proven that it will lie, cheat, murder, knowingly endanger the public health, intimidate and exploit anyone it can, and pollute everything in sight to add a zero to the bottom line.
Do you really think these people have your best interest in mind?
Has anyone else read 'The Jungle' by Upton Sinclair?
If it weren't for government regulations we'd all be eating things you really don't want to know about on a daily basis.
If the tobacco industry had it's way there would be no warning on a pack of cigarettes.
If the auto industry had it's way people would still be dying in preventable SUV roll over accidents.
Capitalists would still be employing children at pennies a day if there weren't a law against it.
Oh, wait, I don't think there is a law against it in India...
Up to now it's been better business for Pfizer to just pay the fine and keep breaking the law.  We'll see if 2.3 billion is enough of a price tag to get them to tow the line.
Do you people realize that the Private Sector is auctioning off your DNA?  That corporations hold patents on your genes?
A bit of George Orwell there, don't you think?
And this should be scary to more people.  Think about it, a team of researchers develops a cure for cancer from X gene.  That they leased from XYZ Corp.  XYZ Corp now owns the cure for cancer.
How much ya think they're gonna want for that?
You really think the Private Sector is gonna give this away for free?  Voluntarily?
What happens on the day that potable water becomes a valuable commodity worldwide?  You think the Private Sector is gonna share?
Oh yeah, let's Privatize social security and watch it evaporate in bonuses that are more than I'll make in the rest of my working years.

A Nation of Sheep
Posted to Left Take Aug. 30, 2010

(I'm a little rusty.;-) 
'A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves' - Edward R. Murrow
And who can really blame them when the sheep come willing to the slaughter?
"The times, they are a different."  - Glar, 'Planet 51'  (Very funny movie.)
Rambling musings of 'Capitalism... A Love Story', 'The Spy Factory', 'Inside Job' and sheep tests...
It's odd how things seem to come together for me.  Every so often I'll read one thing, then see a couple of other things, read something else...
And it will hit, just how badly we are screwing ourselves over.
Background: 'Capitalism... A love Story', Michael Moore, a loose look at capitalism and a detailed look at the meltdown that was 2008.  The thing I learned form this, the thing that sticks with me is 'dead peasants insurance'.  I think the term is rather telling.  This didn't surprise me; it really just confirmed my more rabid conspiracy theory suspicions.  Wake up and smell the coffee people.  This is how the ruling elite view the average American, as peasants.  Who are worth more dead than alive.
'The Spy Factory', a Nova special on the NSA.  Didn't surprise me either.  The NSA knew there were terrorists in country, knew they were planning something, did nothing and told no one.  Official explanation? Oops, rampant failure and incompetence....  Yeah, right.
'Inside Job', isn't out yet but it appears to show that the financial sector not only knew the collapse was on its way, but that they actually engineered it. Check out the trailer: http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb...
All the stuff in the last two weeks about how more and more Americans don't believe that Obama is a Christian or a citizen of the U.S.
An article in this week's Time about the recent ruling on GPS tracking. http://www.time.com/time/natio...
This doesn't bother me because I'm doing anything illegal, but because I just lost another smidgen of personal freedom, and I don't see it ending anytime soon.
And finally an article about the money wasted in Iraq. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38...
The thing we need to remember here is that The Powers That Be don't view the money as wasted.  It went to the right people: Parsons Corp., based in Pasadena, Calif., FluorAMEC of Greenville, S.C., Bechtel.  See an Iraqi firm anywhere in that list?  Did anyone even consider asking the Iraqis what they needed?  Who in the hell decided they needed a convention center?  Should we not have concentrated on such things as roads, schools, hospitals, clinics (Just nice little hospitals and clinics, not multi-million dollar, state if the art anything.  That gave us the chance to funnel even more money to more of our friends, no doubt.), adequate electrical service, working swears...
What's the one about give a man a fish...
Shouldn't the money have gone to local Iraqi business and contractors?  Shouldn't some of that money have been fed into the local economy to help the Iraqis put their house in order?  Don't you think that would have generated more good will than hiring American firms to provide security?
What were our soldiers there for?
These things are part of the public record, researched, with checkable facts.
And yet few can see where we are headed.
As I read the press on the ground zero mosque I wondered what all that smoke was meant to conceal.  I suspect that the dust up was meant to spark and fuel the doubts of Obama's pedigree.  What with the midterms just around the corner if we can taint the image of the #1 Democrat we can tar the rest of them with the brush of association and maybe shift a few seats back...
Am I the only one who wonders what ulterior motives line what we are told through the media?
What I see in the whole Obama ain't American thing is a sheep test.  IE:  Yell something totally stupid loud enough and long enough and see who buys it.  The ones who take it hook, line, and sinker are the true sheep.  The ones who will believe what they are told without question.  The ones who will do whatever they are told to do without thought.  The ones who will believe that you have their best interests at heart while you strip them of every right, possession, and dignity they ever had.
And evidently we scored pretty good on the sheep test.  Cuz, we are being stripped, methodically and systematically and very few are even saying anything about it.  And even fewer are listening to what is being said.
I don't think that Beck is a threat to the PTB.  I think he is a tool, used to corral the other part of the herd who will follow mindlessly if you wave god with the flag.
Year after year we surrender more and more of our rights in the name of safety.  Year after year we watch more and more wealth sucked up to fewer and fewer people.  Year after year we watch this county sink lower and lower in the quagmire of greed and dishonesty.
And now we are exporting the greed and dishonesty at the point of a gun.
We are a nation of sheep and the wolves have come calling

Alas Babylon
Posted to Left Take Feb. 3, 2011

Is America truly exceptional?
We are an arrogant lot.  Does that attitude have any merit?
I know that a large percentage of us like to think we have earned an exceptional label.  There are a few who are currently hard-selling this idea.
I can respect the origin of the idea.  But its latest manifestation holds little appeal...
Few will argue with our exceptional beginnings.  We had no king, no nobility.  We started out as a group of common people who came together and committed to a cause...

OK, I started this diary yesterday and didn't get very far in trying to organize and consolidate thoughts and ideas that have been kicking around in my head for a very long time.  But since I just had another one of those moments that send my thoughts soaring and it doesn't look like I'm going to bed anytime soon we'll give this another shot.
You may have seen the diary I just posted about a movie called 'Collapse'.
Watch it; scare the shit out of yourself.
And maybe then at least some of us will stop thinking like dinosaurs and avoid their fate.
For now, ask yourself, is there anything in reality like unending growth?  Is there anything in the physical world that goes on forever?
Why do we expect unending growth in the market or the economy?  Why do we believe that it will never end?  Why do we still cling to the fallacy of unlimited resources?
It's time for a change of mind.  A big, whomping, serious change of mind.
The thing that scares me most about that movie is not that it told me anything new.  The thing that really scares me is that it took many things that I already knew and lays them out in a different pattern.  It takes things that I'm seeing in the news right now and casts them in a different light.
We are deep in the doodoo people and if we don't start wading out soon it's gonna be too late.
For a while now I've been entertaining the idea of a new and proper use for eminent domain and this evening has shifted those thoughts, slightly.  And I think it could work.
For years we have been watching high rolling investors throwing people out of their homes in the name of progress.  Just so they could build another strip mall, another parking garage, another fancy shopping center.
For years we have been watching big business shipping production and our jobs to other countries.
For years we have been watching banks foreclose on the family farm.
Well I think it is time to stop watching.
This movement would have to start in the poorest sectors of our country, so it's gonna take work and time.  But what if...
We the people, who are now out of work, start practicing our own form of eminent domain?  What if we could ban together and take over the abandoned farms and factories, the stores in the inner cities that are sitting empty?  What if we could form a peoples network?  Small farms supplying local stands and shops.  Small, community run factories that could supply our needs.  What if we could take our country back from the bottom up?
Why do we have to wait for big business to give us sustainable energy?
Let's face it, if we decided to act independently of the upper 1%, if we all decided to pull together, and consolidate our meager earnings, our time, and our energy, there's not much they could do to stop us.
Look at Egypt, the power of the masses is speaking, and it is being heard.
I think it is time for a new revolution.
We need to start think in new and different ways.
And we need to start doing it now, before it is too late.
Is America truly exceptional?
We where once upon a time, and I think the next few years will prove if still are.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go and work on my garden planing.  I think that just became one of my highest priorities..


This is gonna hurt
Posted to Left Take Feb. 9, 2011

Everybody but themselves... http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/201...
The Repubs have sharpened the axe...

WASHINGTON - Eager to take a quick, $35 billion bite out of government, House Republicans called for termination of at least 60 federal programs Wednesday and cuts in hundreds of others, targeting education and the environment, food safety and law enforcement.

The whole article might as well be written in blood.
When the nation is at a low and people are struggling to just to get by (Forget making ends meet.  For that you have to have some sort of income.), lets kick 'em while they're down.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi was more pointed. "The Republican plan will cost jobs, undercut American innovation and clean energy, jeopardize our safety by taking cops off the street and threaten investments in rebuilding America - at a time when our economy can least afford it," she said in a written statement.

And she's right.
But will the top 2% even notice the changes this agenda will make?
They won't notice any change in education, cuz their kids go to private school.
They won't notice the lack of police, cuz they can hire their own.
I bet most of them don't even watch PBS.
They might notice environmental changes, but I doubt it.  They can afford to have their air cleaned.  They might loose a house in Florida or California when the storms get really big.  But they have several in other places, so, what the hey...
Food safety, probably not a big deal when you have your own, personal chef.
Besides, they've got an extra hundred thou or so, thanks to the tax cuts..
Remember that budget balancing thingy a while back?
I balanced the budget, funneled money back into some social programs, and created a surplus.  Just by scaling back the war, reducing defense spending, a little bit, and getting rid of the tax cuts for the wealthy.

According to material presented by Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, the cuts would stretch across a vast range of domestic programs, from the EPA to housing, the weather service, food safety and inspection and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Community Development Block Grant, which provides funding for municipalities, would also be cut.

Think of all the people who would loose their jobs under this plan.  Think of all the cops and teachers that would be let go under this plan.
These are the people who are supposed to be safe guarding our well being.
Whose health and welfare do you think they are concerned with?

Where's the beef?

Crossposted to lefttake.com

We need a new Clara Peller.
Ya all remember her don't ya?




The other day I read that Boehner was opposed to any plan that taxed the nations 'job creators'.
OK, so where's the jobs?
We've had these tax cuts for how long now?
Where, exactly, are all the jobs these tax cuts are supposed to be creating?
Speaking as one of the recently unemployed, I really wanna know.
The unemployment rate is sitting at 9.2, and that's not the real number, that's just what's counted on the unemployment rolls.  As one of the ones not counted, I can assure that the number is higher.
So where are all these jobs that are being generated by the tax cuts?
Why should we gut social programs just to give the grossly rich and the corporations more?
While searching this topic I found this:

Who Are the Job Creators? Not Who Boehner Would Have You Believe.

Which details the true situation way better than I can.
It's enough to make me wanna put on a flowered dress and the old lady wig and start following him around. (Believe me if I had the money and the time I would.)  Cuz someone needs to challenge the GOP on this.  Someone needs to be asking 'Where's the JOBS?'

If it walks like a duck...

Crossposted to: http://leftake.com/

This started as a response in another thread, and then it spiraled out of control…
The hold the Radical right has on this country is becoming more and more obvious.
Daily the PTB advance ever closer to the final goal, which is looking like a world wide feudal economic system, with a small class of the insanely rich controlling everything and all us 'dead peasants' beholding to a corporate master and getting everything from the company store.
For Pete’s sake, for a clerk’s job at QuickTrip you have to sign off on a background check.  OK, I can see checking to see if someone has a record.  But it doesn’t stop there.  They reserve the right to check credit, and interview friends, neighbors, and family.  WTF?
They've cloaked the thought police in the guise of newscasters and media pundits, who feed the party line laced with enough fear to transfix a water buffalo.
The malignancy of under-employment, unemployment, and disadvantage spreads by the hour.
But we've got 'Dancing With The Stars' and Oui to keep us tranquilized.  There's very little true creativity left, and popular media is doing all it can to beat that into submission.
The more I read the more I realize that public education is little more than a means of keeping the drone larvae contained until they are old enough, and properly conditioned, to take their place serving their economic betters.  A few make it out with enough mental might to form a coherent sentence.  Those are elevated to a ‘privileged’ position of minor functionary.
After all, there should be levels of bureaucracy between the bottom and the top that would make Dante’s head spin.  The over class needs an under class.  To keep them there you need an under-over class to hold the rest down.
The world is on a tipping point.  Our choices are:
1. Let a few greedy bastards drive the world to environmental and societal collapse.
2. Wake up and try to fix the problem.
I don’t have much hope for #2.  I’m just glad I don’t have kids or grand kids.

I’m gonna run a write in campaign for president…

Cross posted to: http://leftake.com/

I want to bring sanity back to Washington.
We’ll start balancing the budget at the very top. If elected I will immediately take a half cut in pay. If I can’t live on $100,000 there must be something very wrong. The half cut in pay will extend to all higher-level government employees. Everybody making more than a $100,000 takes a cut.
I’ll start with half, but I’ll negotiate.
I think that if there’s belt tightening to do it should start at the top. I will cut government waste by cleaning house. All redundant boards and commissions and agencies will be cut. Everything will be reorganized and streamlined. No more five boards and agencies to over see one thing.
Next, all lobbyists will need to pack and leave town. There will be no more lobbying by paid professionals. You got a proposal or cause, submit it in writing. If there is a meeting between special interest and lawmakers it will be conducted in public, with witnesses, maybe even on web cast, so the people can watch their representatives in action.
Next we’ll collect and publish all historical records of the CIA, NSA, and FBI. Me, I’m thinking nothing over ten years remains secret. Then we’ll take a good look at the Pentagon and the military and clean up their act. We’ll draw down troops and bring ‘em home. Not all of them, we should maintain a presence in the world at large and we would clean up the messes we’ve made.
All congressional staff and perks would be cut and brought in line with what your average office supervisor has. How many aides do you guys really need? You can’t drive your own car? Really? No more freebies, you guys should have to pay for your haircuts and shoeshines just like the rest of us. A new rule is that senators and representatives have to do their own reading, and there will be a test. No more paying a staffer to skim the bill and give you the high points. Maybe if you guys have to read ‘em you’ll quit making ‘em so wordy. From now on, there will be one item per bill. No riders, amendments, or additions, no more hiding things in a mass of words. That should reduce the reading load a bit.
All state functions will be scaled down. We don’t need big showy dinners and meetings. We don’t need to put on a show. In this time of worldwide financial crisis we should set the example of how serious, responsible adults act. When money’s tight you do without the frills.
If elected, I will stop all subsidies to big business and industry. In a free market you sink or swim on your own, no more bailouts. You guys say you want a free market, we’ll make it one. All financial institutions and banks have thirty days to publish their accounting records for the past five years on line. If you expect people to give you their money, they should be able to see what you are doing with it.
If elected I will increase the staff of the IRS, I will give the internal revenue service some teeth and point them toward big business and industry. No more funneling money off shore, if you have a corporate presence in this country you pay taxes on all income, I don’t care where it was made. I want the tax records reviewed and I want all monies owed, with interest. I want the tax records of every single person making more than $100,000 ($200,000 per married couple) for the last five years reviewed and I want the money owed, with interest. I want the tax records of every person who has held an elected position in the past ten years reviewed with a fine-tooth comb and I want all monies owed, with interest.
With the money saved from all that I would balance the budget (actually, I’d pay someone else to figure that out.) I would start a program like the WPA. We’d have a work force cleaning this country up and repairing infrastructure. I would clean up, repair and fund all public schools, establish free health clinics and food pantries and extend light rail from coast to coast.
If elected, I will abolish welfare and establish workfare. If you want money and support, you gotta pass a drug test and work for it.
I would revive and strengthen the EPA and give them the mandate to make this country clean up its act and work towards a sustainable existence. I would fund research into truly sustainable energy. Not cash cows like ethanol.
I would require all federally funded food programs to obtain the majority of produce and meat from local U.S. sources, with small farmers and ranchers given preferred status. All federal supplies and provisions would be manufactured and produced in this country.
We can make America truly great.

Well, that's a start.

Whatcha think? Do I stand a snowball’s chance?

The economic war…

Cross posted to lefttake.com
 
Well, the war on the little man continues apace, and I am, yet again, a frontline causality.
I’ve been laid off, canned, sacked, dumped, made redundant, downsized even.  They told me last Thurs., but I have to work till the end of the month.
Good news for the robber barons that are running us into the ground, my unemployment statistic won’t show in the official numbers.  I, like all the others that have gone before, can’t collect unemployment.  Working for a non-profit sucks like that.
The good news is, my garden is doing very well and I have 26 voluntary tomato plants.
I’m busily trying to think of some way of making a living without going back into the corporate system.  My most likely avenues of employment are retail and fast food.  Which are the low end of the corporate totem pole.
But I’m right where I should be, looking at holding down multiple part-time jobs just to keep a roof over my head and food on the table.  Ain’t America grand?
And I just marvel at my 'superiors', who think that life is peachy keen and hunky dory.  I marvel that they can be so blind.
About a year back my supervisor’s, supervisor was asking me about the work on the house.  He told me all about the new hardwood and marble, I think it was marble, that they’d just had put in and described the work they had done on the kitchen.  He asked me what I was going to put down on the floor.  When I answered with the truth, ‘what ever is cheapest at Becky and Wanda’s carpet and tile center,’ he looked at me like I had grown a second head.  (For those of you not from this area, Becky and Wanda are the princess and queen of carpet and tile.  They’ve had ads running on local TV for decades.  Cept I think Becky did a hostile take over cuz’ it’s just Becky’s carpet and tile now.)
And all I wanted to say, and all of me wanted to say it, and it’s not often that we all agree, was…
‘You KNOW how much you pay me, what do you expect?’
I mean, did he honestly expect that I was going to have hardwood installed?  On what I make?
Between him and his wife they have to be pulling in at least $100,000.  I make, made, less $30,000.
Do people really not understand what that means?  Don’t you get that I pay out more than half my yearly salary for the basics? 
If I were making $30,000 even low balling basic things like rent and food and gas I have a whopping $11,000 left over at the end of the year.  Now let’s talk about things like medical costs and repairs on the car or house.  What about cloths?  Shoes?  Etc….
Think I’m gonna be jettin off to Jamaica anytime soon?
Even if I hadn’t just lost my job, that’s not a likely possibility.
I haven’t even done the floors yet.