Being an unemployed middle aged guy with a family to support, I thought it was just me feeling desparate and helpless in these economic times. Now I know better.
I've been unemployed for over 6 months after being laid off from a construction job. Before that, I had an IT job for 6+ years before that job was outsourced. I have placed close to 100 applications and had one interview. My unemployment runs out in 3 to 4 weeks. After that, we will probably lose our home, if we can't sell it.
If you click on the bills and go to the links, scroll down and read the comments. This was an eye-opener for me. You'll see hundreds of comments from desparate people, just like me. Qualified people who are eager to work, but the jobs aren't out there. Let me rephrase that- there are some jobs out there if you want to work for minimum wage. I'm not too proud to do a minimum wage job, but the problem is, if I cut my income by 50 or 60%, I can't afford to keep my house or feed my family. Before some a-hole writes me and says I'm over extended, or will just have to cut back, please reconsider. I have no credit card debt. Only a modest mortgage and monthly expenses and one low car payment. Anyone who says they can cut their income in half and still make it is an idiot or has benefitted from tax cuts. Guess whose house I'll be looking at when my family goes hungry?
Trying to see beyond my own experience and especially after reading the comments of so many others, I think I have a better understanding of the situation. Being a bit prone to conspiracies, I may have it figured out.
The present economic situation in this country and the dire straits so many people find themselves in may not be a mistake or lack of foresight. It may be a plan that is working perfectly. Stay with me here; if the govt. can get the people to the point where they depend on what the govt. chooses to give them, then the govt. will ultimately control us. You'll get x amount of food and if you don't have anywhere to live, we have a place for you. Of course you'll have to work for what you get, doing what the govt. wants you to do. And you won't complain or you'll get less. It's called serfdom.
Time will tell if that's the plan, but it looks to me like that's where we're headed.
2-3-08
TF&BN Forum
Due to numerous request from TF&BN readers, and my own dissatisfaction with other forums, TF&BN has launched its own forum.
Everyone is welcome. With that said, I will practice that time honored American tradition of "We reserve the right to refuse service to whoever the hell he want to." Message boards like this one are privately owned and if you just want to sign up to bait or troll, you won't last long.
The mission and purpose of the board is mainly the discussion of news and political topics. No cute cat pictures will be allowed. Flaming will not be allowed either. I expect some spirited discussion, but if you can't support your argument without name calling, then you don't have much of an argument, do you? Be forwarned - I don't have a problem with profanity either, as long as it's not directed personally at other users. ( Insulting government officials and entities are exempt from this rule - fire away!) Suggestions for new topics and categories will always be accepted and considered, as well as any other comments.
So don't be shy. Come on in, sign up, and let's get this forum rolling! In the future, use the link to the forum at the top of the right hand column of this page- right above Bush's ugly mug.
1-28-08
The Stateof MyUnion Address
Good evening, ladies and gentleman, fellow citizens, and thank you for your time. Thank your for the opportunity to present the State of My Union. I know several important topics are on the minds of my fellow Americans today, and I will give you my views on those topics as they relate to my Union's current situation.
Perhaps the number one topic today is the economy, equal to or followed closely by the war in Iraq. We'll address the economy first. Let's see. I was employed in an IT job for 7 years from 2000 to 2006 until my entire department was outsourced. Falling back on my construction knowledge, I went through two jobs until I was laid off last October. Since then, I have applied at 40+ companies in the area and have had 2 interviews. I am collecting unemployment, living check to check. My wife still has her job, thank goodness, but the lengthy commute results in higher cost as gas prices rise. Rising food prices are also a factor as we try to feed a family of four. As far as I can tell, the outlook on the employment and economy don't look so good. Sorry I don't have better news, but I don't see our corrupt and thieving government turning things around.
The war in Iraq rolls on, a dismal failure by any measure. It began with lies, continues only to profit business and continues to kill our finest. With no exit strategy, looks like nothing will change anytime soon and I don't see any of the leading candidates getting us out any time soon either.
I know many Americans are concerned with medical care. Here's how it works in my Union. Just before Christmas, I was hospitilized with an out-of-the-blue heart problem. I had been totally healthy prior to this. I spent 5 days in the hospital- the bill was $26,000. I'm not employed and have no insurance. Thank goodness the hospital wrote off 90% as charity. After getting the bills from the doctors and others who don't do charity, my bills total about $5000.00. And of course since I have no insurance, I pay full retail- much more than an insurance company would pay for the same services. Since I have no savings, I have no idea how I'll pay. If I was the government, I wouldn't have to worry- just fire up the printing press and print some cash, but for us mere mortals, that's not an option. The hospital says I need to see a cardiologist ASAP, but with no insurance, I'm not sure I can afford it or will be accepted as a patient. Maybe I'll try the VA.
This is an election year and this Union doesn't see much change on the horizon. You can bet the new President will put Israel and special interests before the benefit of the American people. Whoever the new President is, they have already been selected by the powers that be and will be put into office via vote fraud. After going through the meaningless ritual of voting, we'll just be the last to know who the chosen one is.
Well, that pretty much sums up the State of My Union. I wish I could predict a more optimistic future, but I don't see it happening. I've decided to hang in there the best I can, take care of my family, and take every opportunity to inform others about the multitude of ways this government has gone wrong.
11-25-08
The Mood of America
Here's an email got from one of this site's readers that I found rather ...well...desperate.
"SUBJECT: How Do You Live With The Fact This Democracy is Dead ?
"I am having trouble..... finding a way... . Its over and there isnt a damn thing I can do about it . Thanks for all the great info...... Sad as it is it is true...... . Be well . (name)"
Here's my (truthful) reply to him: " I hear ya. I've got a family, I'm laid off from housing, on unemployment, can't find a job anywhere near my old wage and barely make it day to day. What's worse is I know it's in large part due to the government's policies. All we can do is hang in there, inform others, and be prepared. It can't last like this much longer. Something will give and it probably won't be pretty. Peace."
His reply revealed more: "Wow , that's a carbon copy of what I am experiencing . Thanks a lot for writing back . Obliged , (name)"
It's election time and while I don't know what political party he belongs to, it doesn't matter. He doesn't sound like he's wearing a tinfoil hat. He sounds desparate. I forgot to mention to him that I also just took on $5000 in medical bills because guess what? No job = no insurance! I don't mean to whine and I know there's a lot of people worse off than I am, but I'm a modern day middle-class American, the majority, living paycheck-to-paycheck. Or in my case, an unemployment check.
Suspecting there are currently a lot of people out there in the same boat as my reader and I find ourselves in, my first instinct (left over from the '60s) tells me that all it would take to fix it would be for all of those people to show up in front of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. and just camp there until somebody changes something. But that's not happening now, is it? And what would the government's reaction be? Jail us? Shoot us? Listen and actually change something? My money would not be on the latter because they've stopped listening to us on every level, including election results.
Because this reader and I (and presumably others) realize the shape this country is in, we go into survival mode- we're so busy just scrambling to feed our families that we don't have the time, nor a meaningful direction, viable candidate or united action to fix what's gone so wrong; the government. At the same time, I find his letter encouraging and confirming. He is aware of the death of the USA at its own politician's hands and I suspect he and I are far from alone.
Although it's dwindling, I have enough optimism left to believe in the American people and to hope they haven't been drugged and distracted to the extent that they won't wake up soon, very soon. Right now, our country is like a gas-guzzling, pollution spewing SUV barreling down some crumbling Interstate with only one loose lug nut holding each wheel, each on their last thread. And to top it off, there's an insane man driving. No question that sooner rather than later, it's gonna crash. All it would take now is a flash point; some world event ("terrorism™?"), an economic crisis, the invasion by the US of another country or a natural disaster, perhaps alone or in combination. Time will tell what that situation might be and how the people and the US government will react, but one thing is for certain: when the dust settles, either the American people or the government will be broken. Ultimately, that outcome is up to each and every one of us.
1-8-08
Americans are known for their short memories, but does this election seem different somehow? Or rather not the election itself, but the MSM coverage seems so divisive and contradictory to me. Depending on your MSM source, you can pick and choose which candidate is ahead, as well as what they stand for and what they've said or done in the past. As I write this, the NH primary results are in and the winners are McCain and Clinton. Jeezus. Is this really where this country wants to go? Hilary- just a placeholder for the Clinton-Bush dynasty until Jeb runs in 2012. And McCain- the guy who says he would have gone into Iraq, WMDs or not, and sayshe has no problem staying there another hundred years. Google Keating Five if you want to check out McCain's ethics. The 63-year-old senator admits that "there have been times when I have probably been influenced" by campaign donations.
In the running, but intentionally ignored and downplayed by the MSM is one very different man- Ron Paul. He has never voted to raise taxes, never voted for an unbalanced budget, never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership, never voted to raise congressional pay, never taken a government-paid junket, and has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch. He voted against the Patriot Act, voted against regulating the Internet and voted against the Iraq war. He does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension programand returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.
It's hard to figure why a man who stands for these things is being shunned. Or is it? He represents what most Americans say they want, yet it doesn't look like he's going anywhere. I believe he is proof that most Americans are too stupid and lazy to really dig into a candidate's platform and vote accordingly. So much easier to let the talking heads tell you who to vote for. Come January, we'll just get more of the same old crap. And guess what? We don't deserve anything else.
12-10-07
Whether you're Pro-war or Anti-war, this is awesome:
Regular readers know my site is anything but pro-war or pro-Bush. A friend forwarded me the following in an email and it moved me so much that I had to post it, proving that you can be pro-troops and anti-war at the same time. I am. (Thanks Jon!)
What follows is a message from Vicki Pierce about her nephew James' funeral (he was serving our country in Iraq):
'I'm back, it was certainly a quick trip, but I have to also say it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. There is a lot to be said for growing up in a small town in Texas The service itself was impressive with wonderful flowers and sprays, a portrait of James, his uniform and boots, his awards and ribbons. There was lots of military brass and an eloquent (though inappropriately longwinded) Baptist preacher. There were easily 1000 people at the service, filling the church sanctuary as well as the fellowship hall and spilling out into the parking lot.
However, the most incredible thing was what happened following the service on the way to the cemetery. We went to our cars and drove to the cemetery escorted by at least 10 police cars with lights flashing and some other emergency vehicles, with Texas Rangers handling traffic. Everyone on the road who was not in the procession, pulled over, got out of their cars, and stood silently and respectfully, some put their hands over their hearts.
When we turned off the highway suddenly there were teenage boys along both sides of the street about every 20 feet or so, all holding large American flags on long flag poles, and again with their hands on their hearts. We thought at first it was the Boy Scouts or 4H club or something, but it continued . for two and a half miles. Hundreds of young people, standing silently on the side of the road with flags. At one point we passed an elementary school, and all the children were outside, shoulder to shoulder holding flags kindergartners, handicapped, teachers, staff, everyone. Some held signs of love and support. Then came teenage girls and younger boys, all holding flags. Then adults. Then families. All standing silently on the side of the road. No one spoke, not even the very young children.
The military presence..at least two generals, a fist full of colonels, and representatives from every branch of the service, plus the color guard who attended James, and some who served with him .. was very impressive and respectful, but the love and pride from this community who had lost one of their own was the most amazing thing I've ever been privileged to witness.
I've attached some pictures, some are blurry (we were moving), but you can get a small idea of what this was like.
Today I visited our local community college who was hosting the Iraq War Memorial, a traveling exhibit brought here by the Veterans for Peace (Rachel Corrie Chapter 109). The 3700+ cardboard crosses represent US soldier's lives lost in Iraq. Like the Viet Nam Wall, it is a sobering visual reminder. Their brochure explains that this is a "nonpartisan memorial designed to raise public awareness of the cost of war and to recognize the sacrifices made by al involved". But the crosses don't tell the whole story. They represent only those soldiers who died in Iraq. They don't include the nearly 37,000 airlifted out of Iraq who required critical medical attention. Depending on the source, the total US dead is between 11,000 and 15,000, including 122 dead from self-inflicted wounds. Add to those numbers at least 75,000 Iraqi civilians killed (some estimates are much higher), and you have some idea of the true impact of this illegal and senseless war.
The crosses alone were disturbing enough, but as I walked around the campus (during lunch hour) I noticed that the students went about their business as if the crosses weren't even there. I asked one of the organizers what kind of reaction she was seeing. She told me that a few students had stopped by their tent. Some were upset and some supportive. There was a large piece of paper and markers available for comments, of which there were maybe half a dozen. She said that last year, the paper was nearly full.
I discussed with the organizers how different things were during the Viet Nam war when campus and public demonstrations were widespread. Unfortunately, it seems that protest has been replaced by apathy. Is it because people have other things on their minds, like the economy and trying to make ends meet? Does the war seem unreal because it's in a far off land? Has everyone become lulled into a sense of (false) security and complacency? Will it take the death of your son or daughter, your sister or brother, your father or mother to get your attention? Fortunately, I haven't suffered any such direct loss, but already, I've had enough.
10-7-07
The latest terror attack has already happened.
If you pay any attention to "alternative" news websites, you know that many of them are practically pissing themselves over the prospect of the next terror attack on US soil. Depending on the author, the timing, location and methods vary. The common theme is that like 9-11-01, the US would be complict in an upcoming "terrorist" action. The reasons for another attack range from an excuse to impose martial law to an opportunity to fix the economic mess to hastening the creation of the North American Union, among others. But there is no reason to stage another attack. Bush & Co have already attained their goals. Since Bush was appointed President in 2000, look at some of the things that have happened:
9-11-01, A "terrorist" attack on US soil resulting in the loss of 3000 American lives and raising at least that many questions about the way it all happened.
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The outright theft of the national election in 2004 through voter faud and manipulation of the voting proccess.
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Creation of the PATRIOT Act and the Military Commisions Act, casting aside the Constitution and the principle of habeas corpus, which protects against unlawful and indefinite imprisonment for detainees at Guantánamo Bay and elsewhere allowing our government to continue to hold hundreds of prisoners for more than five years without charges. They also give the president absolute power to designate enemy combatants, and to set his own definitions for torture.
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The loss of approximately three million American jobs in his first two-and-a-half years in office, the worst record since Herbert Hoover.
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An economy in which the stock market suffered its worst decline in the first two years of any administration since Hoover’s.
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Misled the American public about weapons of mass destruction and supposed ties to Al Qaeda in Iraq and so into a war that has plainly (and entirely predictably) made us less secure, caused a boom in the recruitment of terrorists, is killing American military personnel needlessly, and is threatening to suck up all our available military forces and be a bottomless pit for the money of American taxpayers for years to come.
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Inherited an annual federal budget surplus of $230 billion and transformed it into a $500+ billion deficit in less than three years. This negative turnaround of three-quarters of a trillion dollars is totally without precedent in our history.
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The dollar has fallen to record lows, home foreclosures and oil prices are at record highs, while taxes have been cut three times, sharply reducing the burden on the rich, reclassifying money obtained through stock ownership as more deserving than money earned through work.
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Who needs martial law? Police now shoot unarmed civilians with impunity. When not shooting them, they use tasers - basically human cattle prods.
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With nearly every piece of legislation put into law, Bush adds more "signing statements" than any other President in history. The addendums give him the right to ignore the laws when he sees fit.
I know there are countless items to add to the list, but hey, the Internet is only so big and my lifespan only so long. The point I'm trying to make is that Bush's Horror Show is already here. That's not to say there won't be another attack - after all, this administration has denied all logic so far. And what have the American people done so far? Nada. Zip. Jack shit. They've let Bush and the government get away with all of the above and more. With no big bang and hardly a whimper, the latest terror attack has already happened.
9-6-07
Greetings, America!
To quote The Onion's Jim Anchower, Hola, amigos. What up? I know it's been a long time since I rapped at ya. If you've read any MSM today, (and fortunately for me, I know some Americans read nothing else) you may have heard that I'm going to be releasing a video next week on the anniversary of 9-11. First of all, let me say that I'm the first dead guy to ever release a new video. Pretty amazing stuff, eh? If you don't believe I'm dead, then you have to believe that the allegedly most powerful military force in the world has been unable to find me after 6 years, yet they say I'm still living in a cave! For those of you who think I'm alive, you'll just have to wait for the video. But I will offer a few of my thoughts. First of all, let me say that I have discovered a weapon of mass deception! ABC News is reporting that my beard is now black, unlike in past videos and pictures where my beard was streaked with gray. The answer is simple; my stylist, who does a wonderful job of making sure I have perfectly white pajamas to wear, (not easy when living in a cave!), turned me on to Just For Men. That stuff really works! The chicks are willingly lifting their veils for me and I don't even have to die to be with virgins!
Enough about me. I want to know how you Americans are doing. From what I've been hearing, things don't sound so good since 9-11-01. With the record rate of home foreclosures and the subprime mortgage debacle, your economy looks to be headed downhill. The war in Iraq must be costing a pretty penny too, with US forces there at an all time high. Too bad your government has to spend all your tax money on bullets instead of insuring your children's health and feeding your homeless. Sounds like the land of the free isn't so free anymore either. I hear my buddy Bush signed the Military Commisions Act of 2006, thereby casting aside your Constitution and the principle of habeas corpus, which protects against unlawful and indefinite imprisonment. The MCA also gives the president absolute power to designate enemy combatants, and to set his own definitions for torture. Bush has perfected the examples set by some Middle East countries. It doesn't matter anymore what the majority of Americans want, Bush and his "elected representatives" press on with their agenda. I may be flattering myself, but maybe he and his Dad learned some things about governing people from me back when I used to get all that CIA money and support.
I don't want to give the whole video away, but let me just say that in the last six years, your Government has done more to opress and restrict you American people than I ever could have dreamed. Those planes flying into the WTC were nothing compared to what has happened to your country since, or what is yet to come. Be sure to see my video. I promised GW I'll be extra, extra scary. He needs all the help he can get.
Sincerely,
Osama " The Bogeyman" Bin Laden
8-11-07
Bring Back the Draft
Citing frequent tours of current military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan, President Bush's new war advisor, Army Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, said in an interview with National Public Radio last Friday of a new military draft, "I think it makes sense to certainly consider it. And I can tell you, this has always been an option on the table. But ultimately, this is a policy matter between meeting the demands for the nation's security by one means or another." In addition, Charles Rangel (D-NY) introduced a bill in 2003 to reinstate the draft, saying fighting forces should more closely reflect the economic makeup of the nation. For once, I agree with a politician. Unlike the vast majority of the chickenhawks/chickenshits in power today, Rangel knows what he's talking about. He saw heavy combat in the Army in Korea from 1948 to 1952.
So why is the draft such a good idea now? Because if it's done right, it will put an end to the war in Iraq and be a deterrent to future wars. What does "done right" mean? It means nothing less than every able-bodied young man and woman between 18-25 being drafted, regardless of socio-economic or marital status or who a person may be related to. It means the sons and daughters of the President and Vice-President (that's right- you too Barb & Jenna) and every son and daughter of every US and State Senator and Congressperson must serve. Men and women would have to perform front-line duties side by side. There would be very few medical deferments- those people could do desk jobs.
Why would this stop the war? Currently, in spite of poll results to the contrary, most Americans are content to sit idly rather than protest the war in any meaningful way. They read about casualties and hear about troop deployments on the news, but statistically very few families have been directly affected by the war. Only when every family with kids in America has to send their own flesh and blood to be a bullet-stopper for Bush's war, will the reality hit home for them. Only when the people making the decisions to go to war (the vast majority of whom have not served in the military), or those who comment publicly that war is such a great idea start seeing their own kids come home maimed or in a flag-draped box will they stop condoning senseless wars.
5-24-07
It'll Never Happen
Read the following two stories carefully:
5-24-07 President Bush said today if the Iraqi government were to ask the United States to leave Iraq, he would grant the request.
"We are there at the invitation of the Iraqi government. This is a sovereign nation. Twelve million people went to the polls to approve a constitution. It's their government's choice,’’ the president said during a Rose Garden news conference. "If they were to say leave, we would leave."
5-8-07 More than half of the members of Iraq's parliament rejected for the first time on Tuesday the continuing occupation of their country. The U.S. media ignored the story.
On Tuesday, without note in the U.S. media, more than half of the members of Iraq's parliament rejected the continuing occupation of their country. 144 lawmakers signed onto a legislative petition calling on the United States to set a timetable for withdrawal, according to Nassar Al-Rubaie, a spokesman for the Al Sadr movement, the nationalist Shia group that sponsored the petition.
Looks pretty cut and dried to me George, but what do I know? After all, there's no reason to think a compulsive liar and sociopathic megalomaniac would ever keep his word on anything. Bush's presidency has been nothing but lies and deceptions that started the day he stole the election(s). As noted, the Iraqi parliament's vote was ignored by the MSM. What a surprise! Bush doesn't give a rat's rump for the wishes of the Iraqi people any more than he does the majority of US citizens. Bush and the lame-ass Democrats won't stop sending your kids to die until every last drop of oil is sucked out from under Iraq, or until Israel says we can leave. THAT will be the day the US pulls out. Get used to it.
US pulls out. Get used to it.
4-28-07
Impeach Him NOW!
If you've watched nothing but MSM lately, (you wouldn't be here!) the absence of this story is conspicous. Dennis Kucinich (D-OHIO) has introduced impeachment articles against Dick Cheney. The text of the articles as well as Kucinich's answers to questions can be found here. Predictably, some of the questions deal with his sincerity- is his motive purely the furthering of his own political career or is he the sole person in Congress who believes in the urgency and legitimacy of his charges? I'm hoping for the latter. While I don't agree with all of Mr. Kucinich's platform, for once I can agree with one politician on one issue. Also he convinced me that it makes sense to go after Cheney first instead of Bush. It wouldn't do much good replace Bush with Cheney.
The vast majority of our "representatives" have forgotten that they are put in office to do nothing but the will of the people. The majority of Americans are currently not satisfied with the performance or character of those in office. As citizens we have a responsibilty to make ourselves heard when we have grievances. If we expect our leaders to respect and implement the Constitution, we equally need to remember this from the Declaration of Independence: "That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is in the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
It has never been more important for we the people to do our job. Even if you never have before, contact your representative- in person, by phone or fax. Emails will usually never be read. If you want it bad enough, this could well be the first step in the abolishment of the current administration. If that doesn't work, remember what JFK said- "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." The choice belongs to the politicians.
3-18-07
You might be an anti-semite
if you think it's wrong for a Israel to pick fights and then get other countries to do the fighting.
if you don't like that Israel pays US politicians millions of dollars in PAC money in order to influence those politician's decisions and votes regarding Israel.
if you think it's wrong for US politicians to take that PAC money and as a result, make decisions beneficial to Israel and detrimental to the US voters who elected those politicians.
if you're tired of hearing the exaggerations and in some cases outright lies about events that happened 60+ years ago before you were even born, (let alone had anything to do with) in an attempt to invoke pity and guilt.
if you disagree with sending Israel billions of dollars in cash and weapons while some of our own veterans, women and children eat out of dumpsters and sleep in the streets.
if you don't understand how Israel gets away with defying many, many UN resolutions regarding Israel's treatment of the Palestinians with no consequences.
if you think Israel possessing nuclear weapons stamped 'Made in the USA' is a violation of the UN non-proliferation treaty. (thanx Kevin)
if you don't like the implications of the flag above.
OK- I know that by saying anything even slightly anti-Israel will result in being labeled anti-semite. Whatever. Bring it on. For the record, I have nothing against Israel as a country or the Jewish people. By the same token, I love America but I do have a problem with white supremacists and rabid Christian fundamentalists (often one in the same) and the things our government does in the name of the people. Do a Google search for *anti Israeli Jews* and you'll see there's no shortage of Jews that aren't happy about the actions and policies of their government either. Like the US, Israel's rulers pursue their criminal, greedy, murderous agendas rather than the will of the majority of their people while trying to convince their critics (the rest of the world) that what they are doing is the will of their people. It's wrong to paint all people of Jewish descent (or any other country or race) with the same broad brush. Regardless of how the US government/media propoganda machine villainizes the enemy du jour, the majority of every country and race is comprised of people who want to live their lives in peace and reach their natural life expectancy. At the same time, every country, including (especially?) the US and Israel has their share of psychotic ex-schoolyard bullies who unfortunately rose to positions of power.
If you ever utter an anti-Israel word and find youself being labeled an anti-semite, first of all, make sure any anti-Israeli thoughts you may have are directed at the individuals responsible for your attitude and not at the country or Jewish people as a whole. That's called bigotry. If you're straight on that and your comments are directed at those responsible, kindly explain to your accuser the reasons for your words. If they're unwilling to listen, tell them to fuck off. They aren't listening anyway.
We've
all seen the rise in gas prices the last couple of weeks resulting in more
and more people having a hard time affording the gas to get to work or run
their businesses. Meanwhile, the oil companies are reporting record profits.
Is this so hard to figure out? How many of you business owners can crank up
the price of your product at the same rate the oil companies have with gasoline?
Most companies have a thing called competition which dictates the prices that
can be charged, but with a President and a Vice-President with histories in
the gas/oil business, regulations are out, tax breaks are in and the rest
of us are getting screwed.
What's
my solution? STRIKE! Just do it. Don't go to work- call your boss and tell
him you can't afford to come to work anymore because gas is too expensive.
Sound extreme? Striking because of high prices isn't a problem in other countries-
it has been done several times in Europe and South America in the last couple
of years. The people in those countries that have staged walkouts realize
that they can call a strike and get the problem fixed immediately or they
can allow the oil companies to bleed them slowly. The end result is the same;
you can strike and get the problem fixed immediately or just let the inevitable
happen. I know it sounds scary to strike and not get a paycheck (that's what
happens to most of us when we don't go to work), but if something isn't done,
the oil companies will get an increasing percentage of your pay and you won't
be able to pay your other bills. It's our choice- fix the wound right now
or slowly bleed to death. The key is numbers- in order for a strike to be
effective, large numbers of people must participate. All it would take in
the US is for all the truckers to pull their rigs over to the side of the
road. Just park it.
As
strongly as I believe in striking for this cause, I am reminded (and dissapointed)
that I am preaching to a bunch of pussies. That's right- pussies. When I think
about the way the American people have reacted to the lies of this coward
of a President that lead the US into a war based on nothing but lies, I don't
hold much hope that the people will react to anything, even right up until
the moment that the few remaining freedoms we do have are stripped away. The
war in Iraq has shown that the great majority of Americans are too fat, lazy
and just don't care about anything that doesn't affect them directly today.
Sure, we voted the Democrats in, but they are proving to be lying, cheating
bastards too. Today, Nancy Pelosi announced that the Democrats have decided
to strip from a major military spending bill a requirement for Bush to gain
approval from Congress before moving against Iran.Read that sentence again.
Bush can attack Iran with no other approval. You can spend an endless amount
of time showing people the facts, but they don't want to listen and/or admit
that they are wrong. Take 9-11. There is so much evidence to prove that the "official" 9-11 story is full of lies, yet the American people seem
to be OK with the fact that 3,000 of their fellow Americans died yet we still
don't know all the answers and accept what the government (who is looking
more and more complicit) tells them is the truth.
As
happened with the war in Iraq and 9-11, I predict that the majority will respond
to the rape at the gas pumps by continuing to sit in their Lazy-Boys watching
porn, getting high, maybe grumbling but little else. As long as the people
sit idle, there's no reason not to be taken advantage of.
2-21-07
The
World Is Watching
I'll
admit I can't come up with anything particularly new or relevant to say today
(assuming I ever have) that isn't already being discussed on many"alternative
news" websites. The fact that so many such sites exist shows that people
do have an alternative to MSM and they are visiting them regularly. I know
there's a lot of banners and buttons on my site, some of which are probably
ignored, but take a look at the lower right corner of this page. When I first
saw this tool, I thought it would just look cool, but since running it for
some time, I think the results are interesting. My lil' ol' site is read by
people from 85 countries! And that's just one little site. Notice the number
of visitors from former Soviet states. Even one from Israel and one from the
Palestinian Territory. Just goes to show the scope and reach of the Internet.
If
you happen to visit other sites like this one, chances are you'll see that
a common topic right now is the impending attack on Iran. The consensus is
that another "terror attack" is all the provacation Bush needs to
enlarge his war for profit. Just like he did to Iraq, he's backing Iran into
a fabricated, no-wincorner. Bush's faulty (as usual) rationale will take us
to war again. Never mind that the American people will probably bend over,
grab their ankles and smile as Bush sticks it in 'em once again. Then you'll
know why you can't say "dictator" without saying "dick".
The point is, my little visitor counter shows that the world is indeed watching.
Over the last few years, people from some of these countries took to the streets
and staged general strikes when their government's policies ran contrary to
the citizen's wishes. In comparison, there has been little uproar from the
people of the US given the erosion of their freedoms and potential governmental
abuse made possible with the passing of recent legislation. Bush has written
himself a license to "do whatever the hell I want" including the
ability to create war abroad and impose martial law here at home. You could
be "disappeared" off the street and the government could now hold
you indefinitely and never charge you or tell anyone your whereabouts. Ask
the prisoners of Guantanamo. Yet even these extreme events have failed to
incite the majority of people that the polls say disaprove of Bush and the
war into doing little more than organizing the occassional protest march.
When
the next made-up terror attack happens and Bush plows into Iran, will the
American people finally stand up say "enough"? Remember- the world
is watching.
1-08-07
Letter
to George Bush and Congress
George, I
know you aren't the sharpest tool in the shed and if actions and words
are any indicator, Congress isn't much brighter. So I'll try to keep
the big words to a minimum (that means not a lot of big words).
I
hear the you're going to give a speech about your intentions in Iraq in
a day or two. As I type, CBS news is reporting two dead troops today and
talking about a newly created way to honor the dead at a US Army base.
I'm waiting for the story about the newly created solution to the Charley
Foxtrot in Iraq. (If you don't know what that means, you'll have to ask
someone who actually served in the military). Oh- I forgot, Neither you
or Congress has a solution. CBS is showing poll results saying 59% of
Americans want you and Congress to either reduce troop numbers or get
out of Iraq altogether. Tell me if I'm wrong, but isn't your FUCKING JOB
to do the will of the people? Check it out. It's written on that document
that we the people still call the Constitution, known to most of you politicians
as toilet paper. Seriously, I understand only a few of you have ever held
a real job, but most of the people who have real jobs have to show up
everyday and do their jobs. That's how it works.
I'm no Madame
Cleo, but I'm betting that your upcomingn speech will use words like "sacrifice" and "loyalty" more than once, two things
you and your buddies know nothing about. Word is, you will propose a
troop "surge". What the hell is a "surge"? Ya know
George, just because you learned a new word, most people know that surge
can also mean escalation or increase. Better learn some bigger words
if you want people to think otherwise. Speaking of sacrifice, what are
Barb and Jenna up to these days?
By the way,
in the last few days I've noticed that your buddies at the MSM are hitting
us with some scary stories. Let's see, there's the truck scare and suspicious
cargo in Florida and the weird smell in New York City. You wouldn't
be up to your old tricks now, would ya George? I know that for some
crazy reason you want to invade Iran. I don't know why the heck you'd
want to do that George. I have a feeling you don't know why either.
Incidentally, all the above events turned out to be nothing. Kinda like
those WMDs. With all the booga-booga, I couldn't help but remember how
it was just before we invaded Iraq. I know your job must be tough. So
many bad people telling you to do bad things. But now that you owe them,
I guess you have no choice. I know it's a tough job, too bad you're
doing it. I guess when I hear on the news that you've decided to invade
Iraq, I'll know you decided to go for it. You'll be able to stick a
firecracker up the asshole of those those diaper-headed bastards and
light it, just like you did with frogs when you were a kid. Turns out
the Arabs are a lot more messy and expensive than frogs, eh? I don't
expect one person, especially you George, to be able to handle all those
pesky little details involved when Iran is invaded. When you need help,
ask your buddies in Israel for some help. After all, they did a great
job with 9-11! They'll be more than happy.
Well,
gotta run. You know how it is. Got things to do, like pay some bills,
get to bed early so I can get to work on time to earn a check and feed
my family, put some expensive gas in my car and figure out what doctor
to choose under my new employer's health plan. Oh, I forgot. You don't
know. Except maybe the paycheck part. You get one of those, but I have
to earn mine. You should try it sometime.
Happy
(?) New Year
Last night
I sat home and watched the New Year's celebrations from around the country
on TV. So why don't I feel happy? Call it a glass-half-empty outlook,
but I don't see a lot to be happy about. While trying to appreciate the "little things" like friends and family (and I do), I can't
help but think 2007 isn't going to be a picnic.
At the direction
of a psychotic president and his ilk, we're stuck in a war in Iraq that
has no forseeable end. As of this writing, 3002 US soldiers are reported
dead, along with countless native civilians. And for what? When you find
out, get back to me. Saddam Hussein's lynching was a real topper for 2006.
When it comes to murdering innocent people, Saddam was an amateur compared
to George Bush. I can already hear the rabid conservative idiots saying "Don't like the USA? Don't like Bush? Then do something about it-
get out there and vote!" Bullshit. Last September, 84% of Americans
said they are concerned with the loss of life in Iraq and in October,
54% said they don't think our involvement in Iraq is worth it. The days
when our "elected" representatives do the will of the voters
is long gone, replaced by special interests and the will of like minded
business associates. Add to that the legislation passed in 2006 including
the suspension of habeus corpus and privacy and 2007 looks like more of
the same- only with no rights.
As if the war
itself isn't bad enough, the economy is self-destructing. Home foreclosures
are at record highs and the value of the dollar is dropping like a rock.
Our total debt is 400% of the GDP. The US cannot make even the interest
payments on the debt. Gas prices are obviously manipulated in a desperate
grab by the greedy bastards- both oil company CEOs and politicians in
a last-ditch rape and plunder of the American people. You know they aren't
keeping it in dollars when every indicator has the dollar diving. The
shit has already hit the fan. Economically, what we are experiencing now
is the manufactured illusion of balance while they wring out every last
dollar of tax and profit possible.
The good news
is, this gloomy scenario won't last forever. It can't. Sooner or later,
Joe Sixpack won't be able to go to the convenience store in his SUV with
the yellow ribbons on it to pick up more beer. That will be the proverbial
straw. It won't be pretty when people can't buy food. I know it sounds
extreme, but I believe the current regime would love nothing more than
to have the citizenry depend entirely on them for our basic neccessities.
To an alarming extent, we already do.
In
my forecast for '07, I wish I had better news. My only resolution is to
focus on friends and family- appreciate the good things that matter. I'm
the last one to make any specific predictions, but given the ruthlessness
and blatant disregard the current administration has for the people, I won't
be at all surprised when the next "terror" event happens. Stock
up on water, ammo and canned food. It's going to be a bumpy ride.
11-30-06
Is
Bush's Mission Accomplished?
When
President Bush stood on the aircraft carrier wearing a codpiece and inferred "Mission Accomplished", perhaps he was right. Consider for a moment
that in his mind the mission may have been to create a disaster (9-11) to
unite the US and other countries into fighting a common (fabricated) enemy,
then to launch a pre-emptive strike on a country that the US later admitted
had nothing to do with 9-11, had no WMDs or Saddam-Bin Laden connection.
Consider the increased revenues and profits being made by Bush's Vice-President,
cronies
and relatives in the arms and military support biz. War is and always
has been profitable for a well-connected few.
Llisten to
the "stay the course" rhetoric that comes out of his and his
supporters mouths and contrast that to the consequences of his actions
so far. If things are going so great, why are Iraqis dying in record numbers
and fleeing their homes according to a UN
report and nearly 3000 US troops are dead, as well as untold, unreported
destruction of the lives and livelihoods of millions in the region. The "decider" has decided to stick to his guns. Oh, wait a minute-
he's not carrying a gun, nor are his kids. Instead, young and old American
soldiers are dying while the Bush girls partay in Argentina.
Bush has no
shortage of highly-placed and highly-regarded detractors- he just igores
them. Nixon's former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said last Sunday
that "If you mean by 'military victory' an Iraqi government that
can be established and whose writ runs across the whole country, that
gets the civil wa r under control and sectarian violence under control
in a time period that the political processes of the democracies will
support, I don't believe that is possible", and Kissinger oughta
know what it's like to be involved in and ultimately lose a war.
The bipartisan
Iraq Study Group is recommending a "gradual but meaningful"
reduction of U.S. troops to begin "relatively early in the new year."
Bush's response is "This business about graceful exit just simply
has no realism to it at all." Maybe he's right again. The word "graceful"
doesn't come to mind when visualizing the people hanging from the skids
of the last US helicopter out of Saigon. There is no graceful way to excuse
the invasion and wanton destruction of a country and its people. Even
Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, former (retired last month) commander of U.S.
ground forces in Iraq, says the US military alone cannot secure a victory
in Iraq. When pressed by reporters to answer who was at fault for the
failures in Iraq, Sanchez said, "Where do the policies come from?" The 2006 election was supposed to largely be about changing the policies
and so far there's no reason to think that change will take place. The
majority of Democrats
support the invasion of Iran. Recently, the Democratic Party’s
rising “progressive” star Barack Obama said he would favor “surgical” missile strikes against Iran.
Do some Googling
and you'll find there's not enough bandwidth on the Internet for me to
list here all of the links to articles about 9-11, the loss of civil rights,
the anti-war movement and the global anti-US sentiment that Bush and this
administration have inflicted on the world. Bush took out a country's
leader (an ex-ally) and Conservatives say justice was done. But Saddam's
alleged crimes were amateurish compared to the actions of a pro like Bush.
If the punishment should fit the crime, Bush should be going down. He
attacked and plunged a country into chaos on what turned out to be lies.
He is trying to pass legislation that will OK torture, suspend habeus
corpus and on his whim, designate anyone an enemy combatant. Any Democrat
who doesn't have the guts to initiate impeachment proceedings to protect
the constitution and represent the American people is just another politician.
The sooner
the US gets out of Iraq, the sooner the Iraqi people will come out from
behind their Mother's apron of US protection. When they have to fight
for themselves, Iraqi citizens will take care of their own problems. If
you give Bush the benefit of the doubt and accept his stated goal to bring
Democracy to Iraq, eventually the wealthier, stonger, minority entity
will opress and control the masses. That's sure enough "democracy",
just like we taught 'em and they'll just have to follow our example. Or
we'll slaughter them.
11-04-06
In
my last article entitled "Fuck
This", I explained that it's tough to think you're getting anywhere
with a website like this when your purpose is to inform and maybe make some
people see the light, or my interpretation of the light. Call it pessimism
or cynicism, but it can get frustrating when you see the actions of a President
resemble the actions of a dictator instead. Bush's actions are reprehensible,
but to see the people of America sit idly by as their freedoms are stripped
away and Bush does whatever he damn well pleases is even worse than the President's
misdeeds. You don't see significant numbers of people taking to the streets
in protest and outrage. At least when the illegal immigration issue came up,
the Latinos got up off their butts and hit the streets and made their voices
heard. Don't ever let me hear anyone ever again call Mexicans lazy. It's the
60+% of Americans that tell the pollsters they don't like the job Bush is
doing who are for the most part too fat, lazy, stupid and spoiled to raise
a ruckus. That's OK Joe Sixpack- kick back in the Lazy Boy, have a brewski
and switch the remote between the NFL and American Idol. You'll be the last
to know when your Constitutional
rights have been trashed,
Speaking
of Constitutional rights, somewhere in there is the right to vote. The right
of the people to decide who their collective voice is going to be. Never mind
the Electoral College and PAC money that warp the outcome of an election,
there's a new twist that should have everyone concerned. Your vote doesn't
count. Not jack squat. Nada.
The
culprit is the electronic voting machine. With no paper trail, the results
can be, and are, manipulated. Don't believe it? Do a Google search for election
fraud. You'll get thousands of results related to the 2004 general election.
Articles that show many more votes in some districts than there are registered
voters for example. Consider also that in mid-August of 2003, Walden W. O'Dell,
the chief executive of Diebold Inc said ''I am committed to helping Ohio deliver
its electoral votes to the president next year,'' That is hardly unusual for
Mr. O'Dell. A longtime Republican, he is a member of President Bush's ''Rangers
and Pioneers,'' an elite group of loyalists who have raised at least $100,000
each for the 2004 race. And this year looks to be no different. This year,
already discrepancies are appearing . (link)(link)(link)
as well as dirty tricks (link)(link).
Many articles explain the ease with which the outcome of any election can
be rigged. (link)(link)
.
The
truly depressing part of this is that even if the machines were not or could
not be rigged, the election still sucks. I have seen my fair share of campaign
ads lately and the overriding theme of nearly every add is how bad the othjer
guy is. No candidates speak of their positive accomplishments (because they
have none) but rather they choose to slam their opponent. And face it- there
is no two party system. The goal of each and every candidate is to do what
they can for their benefit ($$) and those who put them in office. What the
people who voted for them want isn't even relevant or considered. It gets
back to the "lesser of two evils" mentality, but when both choices
are equally evil, who do you vote for?
I
won't try to tell you which way to vote, but there are some options. Don't
vote. If no one voted it would be a national mandate that we don't like any
of the choices. Or vote anything but Republican or Democrat. Again, a lack
of confidence vote. I'm not saying that any other candidate will or can do
a better job either. But even Ray Charles can see that what we have now is
broken. It may be painful, but the status quo has got to go. Time to start
over with a government that is for the people, of the people and by the people.
Sound familiar?
I never thought
I'd use the word hero referring to a politician, but Rocky Anderson's speech
at a protest rally on August 30th is the best thing I've ever heard come
out of any politician's mouth. It may be the first time in history that
a politician's lips were moving and he wasn't lying. In spite of pressure
to be a "gracious" host during Bush's visit to SLC, Mayor Anderson
had the balls to say what he feels is right- the truth. Mayor Anderson should
be our next President! Rocky, you rock!
Transcript
of Mayor Rocky Anderson's speech
Washington Square Salt Lake City, Utah August 30, 2006
A patriot is
a person who loves his or her country.
Who among you
loves your country so much that you have come here today to raise your voice
out of deep concern for our nation - and for our world?
And who among
you loves your country so much that you insist that our nation’s leaders
tell us the truth? Let’s hear it: "Give us the truth! Give us
the truth! Give us the truth!"
Let no one deny
we are patriots. We love our country, we hold dear the values upon which
our nation was founded, and we are distressed at what our President, his
administration, and our Congress are doing to, and in the name of, our great
nation.
Blind faith in bad leaders is not patriotism.
A patriot does
not tell people who are intensely concerned about their country to just
sit down and be quiet; to refrain from speaking out in the name of politeness
or for the sake of being a good host; to show slavish, blind obedience and
deference to a dishonest, war-mongering, human-rights-violating president.
A patriot is
a person who loves his or her country.
Who among you loves your country so much that you have come here today to
raise your voice out of deep concern for our nation - and for our world?
And who among you loves your country so much that you insist that our nation's
leaders tell us the truth?
Let's hear it: "Give us the truth! Give us the truth! Give us the truth!"
Let no one deny we are patriots. We love our country, we hold dear the values
upon which our nation was founded, and we are distressed at what our President,
his administration, and our Congress are doing to, and in the name of, our
great nation.
Blind faith in bad leaders is not patriotism.
A patriot does not tell people who are intensely concerned about their country
to just sit down and be quiet; to refrain from speaking out in the name
of politeness or for the sake of being a good host; to show slavish, blind
obedience and deference to a dishonest, war-mongering, human-rights-violating
president.
That is not a patriot. Rather, that person is a sycophant. That person is
a member of a frightening culture of obedience - a culture where falling
in line with authority is more important than choosing what is right, even
if it is not easy, safe, or popular. And, I suspect, that person is afraid
- afraid we are right, afraid of the truth (even to the point of denying
it), afraid he or she has put in with an oppressive, inhumane, regime that
does not respect the laws and traditions of our country, and that history
will rank as the worst presidency our nation has ever had to endure.
In response to those who believe we should blindly support this disastrous
president, his administration, and the complacent, complicit Congress, listen
to the words of Theodore Roosevelt, a great president and a Republican,
who said: The President is merely the most important among a large number
of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree
which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or
inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the
Nation as a whole.
Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to
tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary
to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any
other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile.
To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we
are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and
servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but
the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more
important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about
any one else.
We are here today as truth-tellers.
And we are here to demand: "Give us the truth! Give us the truth! Give
us the truth!"
We are here today to insist that those who were elected to be our leaders
must tell us the truth.
We are here today to insist that our news media live up to its sacred responsibility
to ascertain and report the truth - rather than acting like nothing more
than a bulletin board for the lies and propaganda of a manipulative, dishonest
federal government.
We have been getting just about everything but the truth on matters of life
and death . . . on matters upon which our nation's reputation hinges . .
. on matters that directly relate to our nation's fundamental values . .
. and on matters relating to the survival of our planet.
In the process, our nation has engaged in an unnecessary war, based upon
false justifications. More than a hundred thousand people have been killed
- and many more have been seriously maimed, brain damaged, or rendered mentally
ill.
Our nation's reputation throughout much of the world has been destroyed.
We have many more enemies bent on our destruction than before our invasion
of Iraq.
And the hatred toward us has grown to the point that it will take many years,
perhaps generations, to overcome the loathing created by our invasion and
occupation of a Muslim country.
What incredible ineptitude and callousness for our President to talk about
a Crusade while lying to us to make a case for the invasion and occupation
of a Muslim country!
Our children and later generations will pay the price of the lies, the violence,
the cruelty, the incompetence, and the inhumanity of the Bush administration
and the lackey Congress that has so cowardly abrogated its responsibility
and authority under our checks-and-balances system of government.
We are here to say, "We will not stand for it any more. No more lies.
No more pre-emptive, illegal war, based on false information. No more God-is-on-our-side
religious nonsense to justify this immoral, illegal war. No more inhumanity."
Let's raise our voices, and demand, "Give us the truth! Give us the
truth! Give us the truth!"
Let's consider some of the most monstrous lies - lies that have led us,
like a nation of sheep, to this tragic war.
Following September 11, 2001, the world knew that Osama bin Laden and al
Qaeda were responsible for the horrific attacks on our country. Our long-time
allies were sympathetic and supportive. But our president transformed that
support into international disdain for the United States, choosing to illegally
invade and occupy Iraq, rather than focus on and capture the perpetrators
of the 9/11 attacks.
Why invade and occupy Iraq? Vice President Dick Cheney and Condoleezza Rice
represented to us, without qualification, that there were strong ties between
Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda.
In September, 2002, President Bush made the incredible claim that "You
can't distinguish between al Qaeda and Saddam."
President Bush represented to Congress, without any factual basis whatsoever,
that Iraq planned, authorized, committed, or aided the 9/11 attacks.
Our President and Vice-President, along with an unquestioning news media,
repeatedly led our nation to believe that there was a working relationship
between al Qaeda and the Iraqi government, a relationship that threatened
the US. Even last week, when I met with Thomas Bock, National Commander
of the American Legion, I asked him why we are engaged in the war in Iraq.
He said, "Why, of course, because of the 9/11 attacks on our country."
I asked, "What did Iraq have to do with those attacks?" He looked
puzzled, then said, "Well, the connection between al Qaeda and Iraq."
I was shocked. Here is a man who has criticized us for opposing the war
in Iraq - and he is completely wrong about the underlying facts used to
justify this war.
Not only has there never been any evidence of any involvement by Saddam
Hussein or Iraq with the attacks on 9/11, but there has never been any evidence
of any operational connection whatsoever between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda.
Colin Powell finally conceded there is no "concrete evidence about
the connection." "The chairman of the monitoring group appointed
by the United Nations Security Council to track al Qaeda" disclosed
that "his team had found no evidence linking al Qaeda to Saddam Hussein." And the top investigator for our European allies has said, 'If there were
such links, we would have found them.
But we have found no serious connections whatsoever.'"
President Bush himself finally admitted nine days ago during a press conference
that there was no connection between the attacks on 9/11 and Iraq. It's
terrific that the President has now admitted what others have known for
so long - but where is the accountability for the tragic war we were led
into on the basis of his earlier misrepresentations?
Besides the fictions of Saddam Hussein somehow being linked to the 9/11
attacks and his supposed connection with al Qaeda, what was the principal
justification for forgoing additional weapons inspections, failing to work
with our allies toward a solution, refraining from seeking additional resolutions
from the United Nations, and hurrying to war - a so-called "pre-emptive" war - in which we would attack and occupy a Muslim nation that posed no
security risk to the United States, and cause the deaths of many thousands
of innocent men, women, and children - and the deaths and lifetime injuries
to many thousands of our own servicemen and servicewomen?
The principal claim was that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction
- biological and chemical weapons - and was seeking to build up a nuclear
weapons capability. As we now know, there was nothing - no evidence whatsoever
- to support those claims.
President Bush represented to us - and to people around the world - that
one of the reasons we needed to make war in Iraq - and to do it right away
- was because Saddam Hussein was seeking to build nuclear weapons. His assertions
about Saddam Hussein trying to purchase nuclear materials from an African
nation and about Iraq seeking to obtain aluminum tubes for the enrichment
of uranium were challenged at the time by our own intelligence agency and
scientists, yet he didn't tell us that! Ten days before the invasion of
Iraq, it was proven that the documents upon which President Bush's claim
about Saddam Hussein trying to obtain uranium was based were forgeries.
However, President Bush did not disclose that to the American people. By
that failure, he betrayed each of us, he betrayed our country, and he betrayed
the cause of world peace.
Neither did the vast majority of the news media disclose the forgeries -
until it was far too late. It took our local newspapers here in Salt Lake
City four months - until after President Bush declared that major combat
in Iraq was over - to report the discovery that the documents were forgeries
- and, therefore, that there was no basis for the false claims about Saddam
Hussein trying to build up a nuclear capability. By its failure to promptly
disclose the forgeries, the news media betrayed us as well.
Had the American people known we were being lied to - had President Bush
informed us that the documents were forged and that he had no other basis
for his claim - had our nation's media done its job, rather than slavishly
repeating to us the lies being fed to it by the Bush administration - our
nation may well not have allowed the commencement of this outrageous, illegal,
unjustified war.
To President Bush, to his administration, to our go-along Congress, and
to our news media, we are here today, demanding, "Give us the truth!
Give us the truth! Give us the truth!"
Then-National
Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said that high-strength aluminum tubes
acquired by Iraq were "only really suited for nuclear weapons programs,"
warning "we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud."
Undisclosed by President Bush or Condoleezza Rice was the fact that top
nuclear scientists had informed the Administration that the tubes were "too
narrow, too heavy, too long" to be useful in developing nuclear weapons
and could be used for other purposes. Dr. Mohamed El Baradei, director general
of the International Atomic Energy Agency, agreed.
So much for the phony claims of Saddam Hussein building nuclear weapons
- the primary claims justifying the rush to war.
What were we told about chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction?
These claims were as baseless and fraudulent as the claims about nuclear
weapons.
President Bush told us in his January 2003 State of the Union address that
Hussein had the materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard
and VX nerve agent. Then, in May of 2003, he made the outlandish statement
that, "We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological
laboratories."
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld told us, "We know where the [WMDs]
are." Vice President Cheney and then-Secretary of State Powell also
joined in the chorus of lies and misinformation about weapons of mass destruction.
Of course, no stockpiles of biological or chemical weapons were found.
Bush Administration Weapons Inspector David Kay noted that Iraq did not
have an ongoing chemical weapons program after 1991-a conclusion remarkably
similar to statements made by Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice before the
9/11 attacks - and before they sacrificed the truth in the service of promoting
the Bush administration's case for war against Iraq.
On February 24, 2001, less than 7 months before 9/11, Colin Powell said
that Saddam Hussein "has not developed any significant capability with
respect to weapons of mass destruction. He is unable to project conventional
power against his neighbors," said Colin Powell.
And in July 2001, two months before 9/11, Condoleezza Rice said: "We
are able to keep his arms from him. His military forces have not been rebuilt."
It is astounding how they changed their claims after the President decided
to make a case for the invasion and occupation of Iraq!
To think that we could be lied to by so many members of the Bush administration
with such impunity is frightening - chilling. Yet these imperious, arrogant,
dishonest people think we should just fall in line with them and continue
to take them at their word.
The truth has been established. Iraq had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks
on the United States. There is no evidence of any operational ties between
Iraq and al Qaeda. And there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
What a tragedy, leading to greater tragedy. We are fed lie after lie, our
media reinforces those lies, and we are a nation led to a tragic, illegal,
unprovoked war.
We are here because of our values. We love our country. We cherish the freedoms
and liberties of our country. We don't call those who speak out against
our nation's leaders unpatriotic or un-American or appeasers of fascists.
We have good, wholesome family values. In our families, we teach honesty,
we teach kindness and compassion toward others, we teach that violence,
if ever justified, must be an absolutely last resort. In our families, we
teach that our nation's constitutional values are to be upheld, and that
they are worth standing up and fighting for. Our family values promote respect
and equal rights toward everyone, regardless of race, ethnic origin, and
sexual orientation.
In our families, we teach the value of hard work and competence - and we
are left to wonder about a President who, after receiving an intelligence
memo about the threat posed by al Qaeda, decides to continue his month-long
vacation - just before the 9/11 attacks on our country.
As we demand the truth from others, let us also face the truth. Our government
all too often has not cared about the human rights of people in other nations
- and it doesn't really care about democracy, unless it leads to the election
of those who will do our bidding.
Consider the irony regarding the claims that Saddam had chemical weapons
and, because of that, we needed to rush to war in Iraq. When Saddam Hussein
was using chemical weapons - first against Iranians, then against his own
people, the Kurds - our country provided him with biological and chemical
agents and equipment to make the weapons. Presidents Reagan and George H.W.
Bush refused even to support economic sanctions against Hussein for his
use of weapons of mass destruction.
What did our nation do in response to Hussein's use of chemical weapons,
killing tens of thousand of people, when he actually had them?
We befriended, coddled, and rewarded him - with government-guaranteed loans
totaling $5 billion since 1983, freeing up currency for Hussein to modernize
his military assets.
Perhaps those in the US government who aided and abetted Saddam Hussein
to further US business interests, while he was gassing the Kurds, should
be sharing his courtroom dock as he is being tried now for crimes against
humanity.
No more lies, no more hiding of the truth, no more wars that more than triple
the value of stock in Dick Cheney's prior employer, Halliburton - and which,
as of last September, has increased the value of the Halliburton CEO's stock
by $78 million.
We are patriots. We're deeply concerned. And we demand change, now.
No more lies from Condoleezza Rice about whether she and President Bush
were advised before 9/11 of the possibility of planes being flown into buildings
by terrorists.
No more gross incompetence in the office of the Secretary of Defense.
No more torture of human beings.
No more disregard of the basic human rights enshrined in the Geneva Convention.
No more kidnapping of people and sending them off to secret prisons in nations
where we can expect they will be tortured.
No more unconstitutional wiretapping of Americans.
No more proposed amendments to the United States Constitution that would,
for the first time, limit fundamental rights and liberties for entire classes
of people simply on the basis of sexual orientation.
No more federal land giveaways to developers.
No more increases in mercury emissions from old, dirty, dangerous coalburning
power plants.
No more backroom deals that deprive protection for millions of acres of
wild lands.
No more attacks on immigrants who work so hard to build better lives.
No more inaction by Congress on fixing our hypocritical and inconsistent
immigration laws and policies.
No more reliance on fiction rather than the science of global warming.
No more manipulation of our media with false propaganda.
No more disastrous cuts in funding for those most in need.
No more federal cuts in community policing and local law enforcement grant
programs for our cities.
No more inaction on stopping the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.
No more of the Patriot Act.
No more killing.
No more pre-emptive wars.
No more contempt for our long-time allies around the world.
No more dependence on foreign oil.
No more failure to impose increased fuel efficiency standards for automobiles.
No more energy policies developed in secret meetings between Dick Cheney
and his energy company cronies.
No more excuses for failing to aggressively cut global warming pollutant
emissions.
No more tragically incompetent federal responses to natural disasters.
No more tax cuts for the wealthiest, while the middle class and those who
are economically-disadvantaged continue to struggle more and more each year.
No more reckless spending and massive tax cuts, resulting in historic deficits
and historic accumulated national debt.
No more purchasing of elections by the wealthiest corporations and individuals
in the country.
No more phony, ineffective, inhumane so-called war on drugs.
No more failure to pass an increase in the minimum wage.
No more silence by the American people.
This is a new day. We will not be silent. We will continue to raise our
voices. We will bring others with us. We will grow and grow, regardless
of political party - unified in our insistence upon the truth, upon peace-making,
upon more humane treatment of our brothers and sisters around the world.
We will be ever cognizant of our moral responsibility to speak up in the
face of wrongdoing, and to work as we can for a better, safer, more just
community, nation, and world.
So we won't let down. We won't be quiet. We will continue to resist the
lies, the deception, the outrages of the Bush administration. We will insist
that peace be pursued, and that, as a nation, we help those in need. We
must break the cycle of hatred, of intolerance, of exploitation. We must
pursue peace as vigorously as the Bush administration has pursued war. It's
up to all of us to do our part.
Thank you everyone for lending your voices to this call for compassion,
for peace, for greater humanity. Let us keep in mind the injunction of Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.: "Our lives begin to end the day we become
silent about things that matter."
8-29-06
Faithful readers of this site (both
of you) may remember back in November of 05 (archives)
when I reported that YAHOO
was hosting a kiddy porn site. Well, it's happened again.
Got a lovely spam at my work address
(I do support for an ISP) today promising me all kinds of great porn, including
kiddy porn. I clicked on the link and was taken directly to images of child
pornography. As I type this, I realize some readers may be thinking "Why
did he click on it?" I did it partially for work-related investigation
and mostly because I am a parent and I would like to see child porn purveyors
dead. No, really. I mean it. D-E-A-D.
So anyway, I did a WHOIS on the
domain name and surprise, surprise! The site is hosted by YAHOO.
I called the Sunnyvale, CA police (where
YAHOO is located) to report that a resident of their city is hosting
kiddy porn. They referred me to the FBI. I called them and they asked me to
fax them the email header info, etc., and I did. I also emailed YAHOO's
domain tech contact.
I doubt it would ever happen, but
I'd like to see patrol cars with red lights on rolling up to YAHOO's
door. I know that's what would happen to any other civilian, but hey, it's
YAHOO. Corporate America.
Above the law. YAHOO will
give the excuse that they can't possibly be aware of the content of all the
sites they host. BULLSHIT. By receiving the spam, I was made aware.
I'll also send the URL to my site
to YAHOO. I want them to
be fully aware that every employee who works for
YAHOO feeds their children and pays their bills with money that their
employer earns from the sexual exploitation of children.
8-17-06
Made
ya look!
Unless
you spent today locked in a closet, you've heard about the arrest in Thailand
of John Mark Karr in the death of Jon Benet Ramsey. Either Karr is the killer
or he's just an attention-seeking nut job. Either the Boulder DA has a case,
or she doesn't. At this time, any and all "news" about this story
is pure speculation. But that didn't stop the MSM from spending ninety percent
of it's airtime today focusing on the ten year old murder of a little girl.
The other ten percent was spent talking about a crazy old lady who peed on
the floor of an airplane and was considered enough of a threat to warrant
a jet fighter escort. (Where were those escorts on 9-11?)
As
a parent, I hope I never have to know the depth of sadness that the death
of a child must bring. But I do know that Jon Benet isn't the only child that
has died at the hands of a murderer. Her family isn't the only one mourning
the loss of a child today.
What
the MSM didn't spent much time on today was the deaths of other children.
Like the deaths of hundreds of children in the last month in Lebanon at the
hands of Israeli soldiers dropping bombs supplied by US taxpayers. Or the
death of hundreds of children in Iraq at the hands of coalition forces and
sectarian violence. While Jon Benet occupies the headlines, buried further
back in the news is the fact that July of this year was the deadliest month
for civilians, many of them children, since the war started in March 2003.
Tell me one more time how much better off the people of Iraq are today.
During the month of July, 3,438 Iraqis were killed -- 1,855 because of sectarian
or political violence and another 1,583 from bombings and shootings.
While
you're at it, tell me how much better the war is going and I'll tell you that
the number of daily strikes against American and Iraqi security forces has
doubled since January. More IEDs were planted in July than in any other month
of the war. In July, of 2,625 explosive devices, 1,666 exploded and 959 were
discovered before they went off. In January, 1,454 bombs exploded or were
found. The number of Americans wounded has soared, to 518 in July from 287
in January. Explosive devices accounted for slightly more than half the deaths.
It's
OK to mourn and recognize the death of Jon Benet as a tragedy, but no less
important are the deaths of the thousands of other children, non blonde haired
blue-eyed children whose innocent lives were snuffed out for the same reason
Jon Benet's was - they were guilty of being in the wrong place at the wrong
time.
8-14-06
Terrorism
charges collapse like house of cards
I had to take the opportunity
today to email that other website that calls itself "fair and balanced".
You know the one. Today, they have a
story with the headline "FBI: No Indication of Terror Ties for
Men in Cell-Phone Arrest". On the same page, just to the right of the
article is a
link titled "3 Men Arraigned in Michigan on Terror Charges" that links to a story dated Saturday. Morons. You can't have it both ways,
FOX.
In a separate case,
Ohio prosecutors admitted they do not have enough evidence to charge two
men who were in possession of of 12 cell phones with any terrorism related
charges. No shit. In both cases, the alleged terrorist's story is that they
purchased the phones in bulk with the intent of resale at a profit. You
know, free enterprise. Capitalism. The American way. Doesn't get any more
patriotic than that. William Kowalski, assistant special agent in charge
of the FBI's Detroit field office, said there is nothing unlawful about
buying cell phones in quantity, but that profits from that kind of activity
can be suspicious. Who knows what they may have done with the profit? Pay
some bills? If I had known there was money to be made by doing what they
did, I would have been all over it. I don't think I'm the only one that
could use a little extra money these days, what with the price of gas and
the general condition of the economy that the government has run into the
ground.
According to the Caro,
Michigan Chief of Police, the brand of cell phones in the men's possession
(TracFones) are untraceable and that any cell phone can be used as detonators
for explosives. I expect now that anyone who buys a TracFone is a terrorist
suspect. Initially the authorities thought that Michigan's Mackinac Bridge
was the intended target because the men had pictures of the bridge on a
digital camera in their possesion. If that's the case, I guess I'm guilty
of planning to blow up the Washington coast and some deer that were in my
yard yesterday.
If you believe that
there are terrorists plotting at this moment to do real harm to America,
remember that the FBI is wasting their time investigating two men from Ohio
and three from Michigan who were probably just looking to make a buck instead
of tracking down real enemies.
7-25-06
Two weeks into
the Israel-Lebanon conflict and no end in sight. Today, an Israeli missile
killed
four UN peacekeepers and who knows how many more Lebanese civilians. More
evidence is surfacing that Israel is using banned
weapons and bombing purely civilian
targets, including rescue
ambulances, and children
in their exercise of collective punishment of the Lebanese people.
The US sent Condi
to the area, but apparently just for show. She has "expressed concern"
for the suffering of the Lebanese people, yet stated that the US will "allow" Israel to keep up the attack. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for
an immediate truce but Israeli PM Ehud
Olmert vowed there would be no let-up in army operations.
Regardless of what side you
take in this war, anyone can see that it's wrong. It's wrong when any terrorist
kills civilians. It's wrong when innocent Israelis die. It's wrong when innocent
Lebanese or Gazans die. Conflict in the Middle East is certainly nothing new,
but in this current conflict, hypocrisy has been raised to an all-time high.
The Israelis are demanding that Hezbollah and all the other players comply
with UN Security
Council Resolution 1559 which calls for the disarming of all militias
Lebanese and non-Lebanese, including Hezbollah. With Israel's
history of ignoring past resolutions, Ray Charles can see the irony here.
Then there's the genocide card. Israel is always quick to point out the horror
of the Holocaust yet they apparently have no problem carrying out genocide
against the Arabs. Meanwhile, the Bible Thumpers are practically wetting their
pants thinking that war in the Middle East brings them closer to the Big Day.
And it looks like they may get their misguided wish. Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah
said "If the peace option fails because of Israeli arrogance, there will
be no other option but war".
In an issue as
complex as this war is, it is possible, even sensible to have mixed feelings.
One can be against terrorism and at the same time be against this war. Two
wrongs don't make a right.
