Who This President Is Working For Just Now, Today

Two hours ago, this President just posted the following tweet online:

Having been involved in the negotiations, to put it mildly, the number that OPEC+ is looking to cut is 20 Million Barrels a day, not the 10 Million that is generally being reported. If anything near this happens, and the World gets back to business from the Covid 19 disaster, the Energy Industry will be strong again, far faster than currently anticipated. Thank you to all of those who worked with me on getting this very big business back on track, in particular Russia and Saudi Arabia.

This is who this President is working for presently.

He's working for the oil companies. 

He's working so they have higher gas prices for us to pay.

We're in the middle of the worst, most killing, deadly pandemic in the last 100 years, at least, and he's working for the oil companies today.

Not done there, he famously, in the last few weeks, made it completely clear he was leaving "stay at home" orders for this pandemic up to each of the 50 governors of each state. Today, this hits:

Trump says he’ll decide on easing guidelines, not governors

Now, suddenly, he doesn't like not having this power any longer so he's saying it's up to him, him of all people, to decide when we'll ease these orders, not the governors.

And at the same time, he's also disavowing Dr. Anthony Fauci, this administration's head of this pandemic work. Earlier today he retweeted #FireFauci.

The man is nuts. I think he's losing or lost it. Seriously.

Thanks, Mr. President!
Thanks, Republicans!

Quote of the Day -- On the US Out of the Middle East

From this article in POLITICO

Why the Arabs don't want us in Syria

"Let’s face it; what we call the “war on terror” is really just another oil war. 

We’ve squandered $6 trillion on three wars abroad and on constructing a national security warfare state at home since oilman Dick Cheney declared the “Long War” in 2001. The only winners have been the military contractors and oil companies that have pocketed historic profits, the intelligence agencies that have grown exponentially in power and influence to the detriment of our freedoms and the jihadists who invariably used our interventions as their most effective recruiting tool. We have compromised our values, butchered our own youth, killed hundreds of thousands of innocent people, subverted our idealism and squandered our national treasures in fruitless and costly adventures abroad. In the process, we have helped our worst enemies and turned America, once the world’s beacon of freedom, into a national security surveillance state and an international moral pariah.

America’s founding fathers warned Americans against standing armies, foreign entanglements and, in John Quincy Adams’ words, “going abroad in search of monsters to destroy.” Those wise men understood that imperialism abroad is incompatible with democracy and civil rights at home. The Atlantic Charter echoed their seminal American ideal that each nation should have the right to self-determination. Over the past seven decades, the Dulles brothers, the Cheney gang, the neocons and their ilk have hijacked that fundamental principle of American idealism and deployed our military and intelligence apparatus to serve the mercantile interests of large corporations and particularly, the petroleum companies and military contractors that have literally made a killing from these conflicts.

It’s time for Americans to turn America away from this new imperialism and back to the path of idealism and democracy. We should let the Arabs govern Arabia and turn our energies to the great endeavor of nation building at home. We need to begin this process, not by invading Syria, but by ending the ruinous addiction to oil that has warped U.S. foreign policy for half a century."

~ Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

9/11

Thank you, George W. Bush.

The Bush White House Was Deaf to 9/11 Warnings

Bush administration ignored CIA terror warnings

Bush Received More Warnings About 9/11 Than We Realized

Unheeded Warnings: George W. Bush and 9/11

Whither the Price of Oil

Think oil is cheap now?

It's at $1.52 per gallon now across many parts of Northwest Missouri.

Iran sanctions lifted: Brace for oil shakeup 

Brace yourself. Sanctions just came off Iran and heaven knows they need and want money.

I think gasoline under $1 per gallon is entirely possible.

Link:  Sanctions Lifted: Iran About to Unleash Tidal Wave of Oil Into Depressed Markets; How Big the Wave?

Who Created That Mess In the Middle East, Anyway?

It wouldn't be us, would it?

The Solution to the Middle East

I figured it out.

I figured out a way to end the violence and fighting between the Israelis and Arabs and all others in the Middle East.

We--the world community--give each side one nuclear warhead with the requirement that we--that same world community---shoot off those 2 warheads at precisely the same time, at the other side.

Problem solved.

Peace in the Middle East, at long last.

Gasoline: It Happened

I remember when gasoline crossed over the $2 per gallon price. I also remember thinking, at the time, that it would never go back, under that marker again.

But here we are.

This was yesterday, last evening, in Springfield, Missouri, anyway. It's likely lower in Oklahoma.

On This, the Anniversary of 9/11

Lest we forget.

George W. Bush was president, Dick Cheney, Vice President.

Then-President George W. Bush had ignored daily presidential briefs, warning him of a possible attack by air and by terrorists in general and Osama bin Laden specifically.

One Kansas City area resident, Tomas Young, was inspired to join the military after the attack and did so:

Two days after the September 11 attacks, Young was inspired by President George W. Bush to enlist in the United States Army. There he hoped to earn money for college through the G.I. Bill and, in his words, "exact some form of retribution" on those who caused 9/11.

On April 4, 2004, five days after being sent to Iraq, Young was shot while riding in an open, unarmored truck during an ambush staged by rebels in Sadr City. One of the bullets pierced his spine and left him paralyzed from the chest down.

He returned home to Kansas City, Missouri and joined the Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW). He later became a public critic of the Iraq War.

The movie, Body of War, was based on his life and eventual opposition to the Iraq war.

Before his death in November, 2014, he penned the following letter to that President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

I post it here, on this anniversary, in hopes of teaching some and so that more not forget what occurred.

To: George W. Bush and Dick Cheney
From: Tomas Young

I write this letter on the 10th anniversary of the Iraq War on behalf of my fellow Iraq War veterans. I write this letter on behalf of the 4,488 soldiers and Marines who died in Iraq. I write this letter on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of veterans who have been wounded and on behalf of those whose wounds, physical and psychological, have destroyed their lives. I am one of those gravely wounded. I was paralyzed in an insurgent ambush in 2004 in Sadr City. My life is coming to an end. I am living under hospice care.

I write this letter on behalf of husbands and wives who have lost spouses, on behalf of children who have lost a parent, on behalf of the fathers and mothers who have lost sons and daughters and on behalf of those who care for the many thousands of my fellow veterans who have brain injuries. I write this letter on behalf of those veterans whose trauma and self-revulsion for what they have witnessed, endured and done in Iraq have led to suicide and on behalf of the active-duty soldiers and Marines who commit, on average, a suicide a day. I write this letter on behalf of the some 1 million Iraqi dead and on behalf of the countless Iraqi wounded. I write this letter on behalf of us all—the human detritus your war has left behind, those who will spend their lives in unending pain and grief.

I write this letter, my last letter, to you, Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney. I write not because I think you grasp the terrible human and moral consequences of your lies, manipulation and thirst for wealth and power. I write this letter because, before my own death, I want to make it clear that I, and hundreds of thousands of my fellow veterans, along with millions of my fellow citizens, along with hundreds of millions more in Iraq and the Middle East, know fully who you are and what you have done. You may evade justice but in our eyes you are each guilty of egregious war crimes, of plunder and, finally, of murder, including the murder of thousands of young Americans—my fellow veterans—whose future you stole.

Your positions of authority, your millions of dollars of personal wealth, your public relations consultants, your privilege and your power cannot mask the hollowness of your character. You sent us to fight and die in Iraq after you, Mr. Cheney, dodged the draft in Vietnam, and you, Mr. Bush, went AWOL from your National Guard unit. Your cowardice and selfishness were established decades ago. You were not willing to risk yourselves for our nation but you sent hundreds of thousands of young men and women to be sacrificed in a senseless war with no more thought than it takes to put out the garbage.

I joined the Army two days after the 9/11 attacks. I joined the Army because our country had been attacked. I wanted to strike back at those who had killed some 3,000 of my fellow citizens. I did not join the Army to go to Iraq, a country that had no part in the September 2001 attacks and did not pose a threat to its neighbors, much less to the United States. I did not join the Army to “liberate” Iraqis or to shut down mythical weapons-of-mass-destruction facilities or to implant what you cynically called “democracy” in Baghdad and the Middle East. I did not join the Army to rebuild Iraq, which at the time you told us could be paid for by Iraq’s oil revenues. Instead, this war has cost the United States over $3 trillion. I especially did not join the Army to carry out pre-emptive war. Pre-emptive war is illegal under international law. And as a soldier in Iraq I was, I now know, abetting your idiocy and your crimes. The Iraq War is the largest strategic blunder in U.S. history. It obliterated the balance of power in the Middle East. It installed a corrupt and brutal pro-Iranian government in Baghdad, one cemented in power through the use of torture, death squads and terror. And it has left Iran as the dominant force in the region. On every level—moral, strategic, military and economic—Iraq was a failure. And it was you, Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney, who started this war. It is you who should pay the consequences.

I would not be writing this letter if I had been wounded fighting in Afghanistan against those forces that carried out the attacks of 9/11. Had I been wounded there I would still be miserable because of my physical deterioration and imminent death, but I would at least have the comfort of knowing that my injuries were a consequence of my own decision to defend the country I love. I would not have to lie in my bed, my body filled with painkillers, my life ebbing away, and deal with the fact that hundreds of thousands of human beings, including children, including myself, were sacrificed by you for little more than the greed of oil companies, for your alliance with the oil sheiks in Saudi Arabia, and your insane visions of empire.

I have, like many other disabled veterans, suffered from the inadequate and often inept care provided by the Veterans Administration. I have, like many other disabled veterans, come to realize that our mental and physical wounds are of no interest to you, perhaps of no interest to any politician. We were used. We were betrayed. And we have been abandoned. You, Mr. Bush, make much pretense of being a Christian. But isn’t lying a sin? Isn’t murder a sin? Aren’t theft and selfish ambition sins? I am not a Christian. But I believe in the Christian ideal. I believe that what you do to the least of your brothers you finally do to yourself, to your own soul.

My day of reckoning is upon me. Yours will come. I hope you will be put on trial. But mostly I hope, for your sakes, that you find the moral courage to face what you have done to me and to many, many others who deserved to live. I hope that before your time on earth ends, as mine is now ending, you will find the strength of character to stand before the American public and the world, and in particular the Iraqi people, and beg for forgiveness.

—Tomas Young

Congratulations, Missouri! You kill me!

Check out these statistics on "corporal punishment"--the oh-so-polite word for state-sanctioned murder, execution of the convicted:

America Ranks in the Top 5 Globally—for Putting Its Citizens to Death

That one, that statistic, by itself, is bad enough, sure.That's awful.

Look at the company we're with, for pity's sake---only China, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia executed more.

This is the company we want to keep? These are the people we want to share this with? This is the kind of people we want to be? This is what we want to be known for?

I mean, I knew we incarcerated more people than any other nation in the world, sure:

The United States Has The Largest Prison Population

And that, by itself, is horrific enough but I didn't know we were also in the top 5 for killing our own citizens. 

And I figure you know China has to be in there by sheer numbers, the size of its population but all the rest of the nations in the top 5, including and especially us? That's just wrong. 

Then, to take it one step further, check this out, Missouri and fellow Missourians, from this article--

The overwhelming majority of those executions—nearly 90 percent—took place in four states: Texas, Missouri, Florida and Oklahoma.
And not to be outdone, it seems Utah may want to get into the top 5 states that execute, with their latest move, too. Seems lethal injection just wasn't effective, dependable--or barbaric?--enough for them:

Utah Senate OKs execution by firing squads

So kudos, America and congratulations to you, Missouri. Hats off to you, state sanctioned killers that you are.

When you put all this together with the fact that we grossly outspend all other nations on the planet, in the world, in and on defense spending, it's pretty eye-opening.

BusinessInsider

It seems clear, with all this information and all these statistics, America is fully wrapped up in the death and killing business.

And here you thought we were a "peace-loving people."

Quote of the day -- on the Middle East

Does not this seem wise, even simple, straightforward and simple? Maybe even obvious?

Your religion? Geographic

Aren't you special?  (click on picture for easier reading)

On American energy independence

"There is enough wind West of the Mississippi to supply three times the amount of power you currently use." --Dr. Helen Caldicott on American electrical power and possible energy independence. Link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAKZGse5SCw&feature=relmfu; Information here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Helen_Caldicott

Quote of the day

"To change this vexing dynamic," (America's addiction to oil) "...consumers must be able to substitute for petroleum by purchasing competing fuels, like alcohol fuels, biodiesel, natural gas or electricity, if they are less costly on a per mile basis. But as long as our vehicles are able to run on nothing but oil, keeping oil monarchs on their throne will remain our national side job." --NPR "The Real Reason Gas Costs $4 A Gallon" Link here: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/04/02/149684373/the-real-reason-gas-costs-4-a-gallon

Senate Republicans keep "Big Oil's" tax cuts

Breaking news today: Senate Republicans reject Obama call to end 'big oil' tax breaks (links at bottom). In spite of the billions and billions of dollars in profits the oil industry makes and is taking in, the Republicans in the Senate today voted down taking away their tax subsidies. Get that--the oil industry makes more money than any other in the nation--and the world--yet we, the United States, give them tax subsidies. Not only that, but these Senate Republicans voted to allow them to get and keep these tax breaks. Does this make any sense to anyone? Well, except to the Senators in Congress who get "campaign contributions" from "Big Oil." Sure, it makes sense to them. Check this out, from one of the articles at the links below--"The top five oil companies in the United States have already made $5.8 billion in windfall profits from spiking gasoline prices this year." Yet we're giving them tax breaks. Is that not insanity? I thought tax breaks should be for small, upcoming industries you want to encourage, not already mature, grossly successful companies that, frankly, in this case we want to discourage since, first, it's a dirty, foul, polluting industry and second, we need to get out of the Middle East for national security purposes. Wow. We have got to stop this. Links: http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/29/politics/oil-subsidies/index.html;

$2.87/gal was apparently as good as it gets

Okay, so Christmas, 2011 gas was $2.87 per gallon. At least it was up here in the Northland and on the East side of the city. Now, today, it's back up to $2.99/gallon and is expected to go higher in the new year though it's lower on the international markets today, due to the Saudis saying they'd make up for anything we lose if the Iranians shut down the Strait of Hormuz. Who knows? Stay tuned. Link: http://news.yahoo.com/oil-price-falls-saudis-trump-iran-threat-145636032.html;_ylt=AmHECaU3OViIVGuEdlIh4Rn99XQA;_ylu=X3oDMTRvaHE1dDVkBGNjb2RlA2dtcHRvcDEwMDBwb29sd2lraXVwcmVzdARtaXQDTmV3cyBmb3IgeW91BHBrZwMxZWU5ODJlOC02YmIyLTMwMmUtODA4Ni04ZGMyMzFiMWM5ZGIEcG9zAzIEc2VjA25ld3NfZm9yX3lvdQR2ZXIDMGI0MWIwYjAtMzE5OC0xMWUxLWFiZmYtNGFiOTU4MmM2Yjkw;_ylg=X3oDMTJ0am41dTRtBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDM2ExMDUzZWYtNTVlNS0zZDM3LThiZDgtM2E5OTBhZWE0OTBjBHBzdGNhdAN0ZWNoBHB0A3N0b3J5cGFnZQR0ZXN0Aw--;_ylv=3

On 9/11 coverage

If you want to see what I believe is the most comprehensive, informative and ultimately beautiful and even inspiring coverage of the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the US, get a copy of this past Sunday's The New York Times. Even the advertisements companies took out as tributes to the people and event are simple and, again, beautiful, but they have a separate foldout section, too, called "The Reckoning" that is brilliant. This is one thing, too, that isn't repeated nearly as well online. The paper version is the one to see for the full effects. Any library in the area should have it. Link: http://www.nytimes.com/indexes/2011/09/11/todaysheadlines/index.html

The end of the world as we know it

From the headlines today:

Head of Saudi Electric Company Says "Oil Runs Out in 2030 if Current Consumption Maintained"

2030 is just not that far out there.

The good news out of that if you ignore the collapse of international commerce (civilization?)?

At least we'd get out of the Middle East.

If that happens, kiss Israel goodbye.

A great idea from the president they'll want to shoot down

If President Obama comes up with it, there will be lines of people--mostly Conservative and/or Right-wing and/or Republican and/or Tea Party, etc.--that will be staunchly against it.  This is just one more:

Obama wants to curb U.S. oil imports by a third

By Alister Bull – Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama will set an ambitious goal on Wednesday to cut U.S. oil imports by a third over 10 years, focusing on energy security amid high gasoline prices that could stall the country's economic recovery.

Obama will outline his strategy in a speech after spending days explaining U.S.-led military action in Libya, where fighting, accompanied by popular unrest elsewhere in the Arab world, has helped push gasoline prices toward $4 a gallon.

Discussing the speech, the Democratic president said the country must increase its energy independence.

"What we were talking about was breaking the pattern of being shocked at high prices and then, as prices go down, being lulled into a trance, but instead let's actually have a plan," Obama told party activists in New York late on Tuesday.

"Let's, yes, increase domestic oil production, but let's also invest in solar and wind and geothermal and biofuels and let's make our buildings more efficient and our cars more efficient. Not all of that work is done yet, but I'm not finished yet. We've got more work to do," Obama said.

The White House says this is a deliberate turn toward energy security and will be followed by other events to highlight his strategy.

So come on, who could be against this?  We know we need to reduce our energy dependence, particularly that that comes out of the looney-filled Middle East, what with their dictators, insanity, 2000-year-old wars and terrorists.

Yet against it they will be, whoever they are.  

The oil companies will most assuredly be against this because they're making ga-zillions from the oil in the Middle East and they like what's coming in so naturally, they'll give money--probably in the range of $2000.00 to $5000.00--to their Senators who will, in turn, then, say it's a crazy idea and imprudent and we should go another way.

Man, I hope we've learned we need to do this.

And if we haven't learned already, I hope we do shortly.

Link to original story:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_obama_energy

More big stupidity in defense spending

This time the stupidity comes from Russia.  It seems they are increasing, greatly, the amount they're spending on defense and their military.  This out today:

With Russia's $650 billion rearmament plan, the bear sharpens its teeth

By Fred Weir – Mon Feb 28, 4:22 pm ET

Moscow – The graying bear is getting a make-over. Russia's military is launching its biggest rearmament effort since Soviet times, including a $650 billion program to procure 1,000 new helicopters, 600 combat planes, 100 warships, and 8 nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines.

How sad.

How stupid.

How unfortunate.

It seems humankind will never learn.

The former Soviet Union spent itself into bankruptcy (like the US is doing now, frankly, but they were just ahead of us), instead of taking real care of its people and now this.  More weapons.  More guns.  More bombs.

And for what?  So they can fight WWII?

So they can keep the French at bay?

Check this out--what the top 10 countries spend in "defense spending" annually, around the world in billions of dollars according to the Christian Science Monitor as of June, 2010:

10.  Italy  35.8B
  9.  India  36.3B
  8.  Saudi Arabia  41.2B
  7.  Germany  45.6B
  6.  Japan  51B
  5.  Russia  53.3B
  4.  England  58.1B
  3.  France  63.9B
A big leap here--
  2.  China  100B
And then the biggest, stupidest leap in this spending of all--
  1.  US  $661B

And the total?

One trillion, One hundred forty six billion, two hundred million dollars on weapons, missiles, warplanes, warships and various bombs, just so we can be prepared to kill each other.

Imagine if each country spent this money, instead, on the well-being of their own people.

It would be a vastly different and far-improved world, to be sure.

I'm reminded of a few quotes:

"Man is the only kind of varmint sets his own trap, baits it, then steps in it."  --John Steinbeck, Sweet Thursday


"We are perverse creatures and never satisfied.   --Nan Fairbrother


"Men!  The only animal in the world to fear."  --D.H. Lawrence

Links:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20110228/wl_csm/366331
http://www.csmonitor.com/CSM-Photo-Galleries/Lists/World-s-top-10-military-spenders
http://www.quotegarden.com/human.html

REPORT: Five Arab Countries The ‘Jasmine Revolution’ May Spread To Next (guest post)

Brief, very informative and helpful, I thought:

Last month, the world was shocked as the Tunisian autocrat Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, who had ruled his country for 23 years, was overthrown in a protest movement that lasted only 29 days. The event was soon dubbed the “Jasmine Revolution,” making references to a blooming flower. While many doubted that this revolution would spread, it was only days later that massive protests rocked Cairo, resulting in the resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who had been in power for more than 30 years. While the fate of both countries is still unresolved, one thing is clear: the people are demanding democracy and they have forced massive changes in their government to get it.

Now, many are wondering if this pro-democracy movement that swept Tunisia and Egypt will spread throughout the rest of the Arab world. ThinkProgress has assembled a short list of other autocratic regimes in the region that are facing protests, particularly today, and which may soon be the next to go in the Middle East’s next “Jasmine Revolution”:

ALGERIA: Algeria’s has been in the iron grip of a military government since 1991, when the regime cancelled elections after an Islamist party won the first round. This set off a bloody civil war in the country, which peaked in violence between 1993 and 1997. In recent days, Algerians, inspired by their Tunisian and Egyptian neighbors, have organized large protest marches demanding democratic reforms. Today, despite officials outlawing the protest, nearly 10,000 people marched in Algiers anyway, facing off with three times as many riot police. Perhaps fearing that they will be the targets of the next revolution, Algerian officials recently announced that they will be lifting the country’s own emergency law — which has been in place for decades — in the “very near future.”

BAHRAIN: Bahrain’s Sunni leader, King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, has long oppressed his country’s Shi’a-majority population. Last August, his ruling party arrested hundreds of Shi’a activists and shut down the main opposition party’s websites right before the parliamentary election, fearing that it may lose its grip on power. Yet recent events in the Middle East have the king fearing for his rule, too. He has ordered “a hike in food subsidies and reinstated welfare support for low-income families to compensate for inflation,” and plans to deliver a speech today where he will offer further concessions. Additionally, Bahrain’s government announced that it will be giving $2,650 to each Bahraini family yesterday. Yet pro-democracy activists plan to march Monday anyway, demanding real reforms in the country.

JORDAN: Likely also fearing a Tunisian-style revolution, Jordan’s King Abdullah sacked his government and appointed a new Prime Minister at the beginning of this month. Yet some of the largest protests in modern history have rocked the nation in recent weeks, indicating that Jordanians do not see the concessions as enough. In perhaps a sign of the regime’s weakness, President Obama dispatched Adm. Mike Mullen, the head of Joint Chiefs of Staff, to meet with Abdullah this weekend.

SYRIA: Earlier this month, protesters planned a “day of rage” where they would protest their grievances against the unelected president Basher al-Assad. While the protesters ended up being few in number, the regime did deploy its security services in increased numbers across the country, visibly fearful of a protest movement like the ones in Egypt and Tunisia. The government also lifted a five-year ban on Facebook, in a move widely seen as appeasing a nascent protest movement.

YEMEN: The president of Yemen, “one of America’s foremost allies” in the region, promised to step down in 2013, as his people began to demonstrate against the ruling elite. Today, thousands of pro-regime demonstrators attacked anti-government demonstrators with clubs and knives, an eery parallel to an Egyptian tactic that failed to quell protests and destroyed the regime’s public reputation and international support.

An American abroad in Yemen captured the protests there, where Yemenis spontaneously erupted in protest and began marching to the country’s own iconic capital square — which is actually named Tahrir, just like Egypt’s. Watch it at the original link/post, below.

This list is far from comprehensive, as movements are being organized in a number of other countries such as Saudi Arabia and Oman. Whether these movements will ultimately be successful is unknown, but they symbolize a growing grassroots call for democracy that has been virtually unseen in the region. Given that the United States is a sponsor of many of the intelligence and military apparatuses of these countries and a close ally to their governments, we have not just an opportunity but a responsibility to work with the people towards a more democratic future.

However, for an alternative view on Algeria or Yemen going democratic, you might check out this link, which is briefer yet but helpful and possibly more immediate and up to date:  http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/algeria-yemen-governments-dont-go-get

Have a great weekend, y'all.  Think good thoughts.


Link to original post:  http://thinkprogress.org/2011/02/12/report-five-arab-states/