Fantastic article

As I described above, there is a terrific article just now, posted on Truthdig: "Why I am a Socialist" by Chris Hedges.

Some of the best parts of it:

"The corporate forces that are looting the Treasury and have plunged us into a depression will not be contained by the two main political parties. The Democratic and Republican parties have become little more than squalid clubs of privilege and wealth, whores to money and corporate interests, hostage to a massive arms industry, and so adept at deception and self-delusion they no longer know truth from lies. We will either find our way out of this mess by embracing an uncompromising democratic socialism—one that will insist on massive government relief and work programs, the nationalization of electricity and gas companies, a universal, not-for-profit government health care program, the outlawing of hedge funds, a radical reduction of our bloated military budget and an end to imperial wars—or we will continue to be fleeced and impoverished by our bankrupt elite and shackled and chained by our surveillance state."

(Please note that he points out the need to take the profit out of health care, as I have said for some time now. Yes, yes, I know it's inconceivable in the US but the rest of the world long since did this, and to their great benefit).

What's sad and frustrating and maddening is that, for so long, Americans have been fed this pablum from corporations and big business about how Socialism is bad--evil, even, and how all those things government does is bad but the things they--corporations--do are good and right and just, including taking big profits, be it from their gasoline sales for our cars or the fuel for heating our homes or the medicine and medical treatments we need to survive or whatever.

They've successfully confused gross, greedy Capitalism with patriotism, sickly enough.

And the American people have bought off on it, completely.

You want to isolate yourself, socially, in this country?

Tell everyone you're a Socialist.

It's down there with Communism and Communists. It's as bad as being a "queer", if you know what I mean.

So we have a long way to go to show the American public that this financial armageddon has been brought on by corporations and corporate greed and acquiescent, bribed government officials who aren't regulating those very same businesses as they raid and fleece the marketplace and consumers.

As a warning about the article, I will say, I take exception and even umbrage to his assertion, at the end, that there needs to develop a "Christian Socialism", in order for things to work out.

Yeah, right.

The Christian, Catholic and especially Protestant religions have all given in to corporations and let them say and do whatever they want, no questions asked--ever--when it comes to operating in our society, long ago. I think this, again, comes from the corporation's ability to equate profit and Capitalism with America and patriotism, wrongly enough.

That and it's safer to not get involved with these questions and issues, for churches.

All the congregation leaders want to do is get money in their plates so the less questioning and controversial they are, the better.

Anyway, I don't think any changes and advancement will come to our society from any "Christian Socialism" unless he simply means "Christian" as a description and not representing any current organized religion.

So go to this article and be sure you read it and take it in. It points out the devouring, cannibalism and destructiveness of corporstions very well.

"Ray Anderson, the CEO of Interface Corp., the world’s largest commercial carpet manufacturer, calls the corporation a 'present day instrument of destruction' because of its compulsion to 'externalize any cost that an unwary or uncaring public will allow it to externalize.'"

There's a lot more good stuff there.

Hopefully, with all that's going on in the country and world, financially, Americans will be open to learning.

We can't be too old to learn.

As it is, we're being eaten alive.

Original artile here: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20081229_why_i_am_a_socialist/?ln

A new poll out right now and more from "W", the Chief Knucklehead

There's so much information coming out right now, about this last nightmarish 8 years of the Bush Administration it's dizzying.

Truly.

If only Molly Ivins were here to write about it--she was so right about this idiot.

Get this:

It seems "W" said "So what?" when told that there was no Al Qaeda in Iraq before he invaded that country in 2003. (Link to story and video here:
http://crooksandliars.com/cernig/bush-admits-al-qaeda-wasnt-iraq-invasion-so)

So what??

Are you effin' kidding me?

So what, George?

SO MORE THAN 4,219 AMERICAN SOLDIERS WOULDN'T BE DEAD!

So more than 100,000 Iraqis wouldn't be dead.

So thousands of American soldiers wouldn't be crippled by your stupid war.

So many more thousands of American soldiers wouldn't be suffering from PTSD.

So thousands of Iraqis wouldn't be crippled by your illegal, invasive, tragic war.

So we wouldn't still be in Iraq.

So we wouldn't have squandered the heretofore good American name and reputation if we didn't go in.

So there wouldn't be 2 million Iraqi refugees in the Middle East right now because their home country was blown apart, completely in violation of international law.

So there wouldn't have been an Abu Graib.

So there wouldn't have been all these pointless tragedies, stemming from this clusterbuck you created.

Anyone can go on and on here.

So what?

So we've squandered how much American capital on this mess so now we're in the largest debt of our country's history, just when we need money and infrastructure and jobs and much, much more, at home?

Holy cow.

How flip can one get?

Answer: "George Bush flip", that's how, and it's the worst, ever, like his Presidency.

And how does the American people feel about the "Knucklehead in Chief" now, at the end of this hellish nightmare?

Sure, most want him out of office.

According to a just-released poll from CNN, 75% of us want him out. (Link to original story here: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/12/26/bush.poll/index.html)

And that stands to reason.

But, get this--only 28% think he's the worst President ever.

Further proof, ladies and gentlemen, that Americans just don't know history--even their own.

Covering the year almost gone

There's some things to be learned there.

The "Trillion-dollar President"

George Walker Bush gets another distinction.

From November's federal deficit report, we're told that we're absolutely on track, as a country, to have a federal deficit of one trillion dollars.

And sure, we're fairly numb anymore to reports of millions and billions and now trillions of dollars worth of anything, let alone deficits, that it has lost meaning.

I know that.

But the fact still remains that we, the United States, are going to have the largest, trillion dollar budget deficit in the 232 year history of the country. (Sure, there's inflation in them-thar figures but it's still the largest deficit ever and it DOES mean something).

Anyway, that gives this worst-ever President--again, George Walker Bush--the additional ignominious distinction of being the most profligate, spending, wasteful, irresponsible trillion-dollar President, ever.


My point in bringing this up is, first, to make sure people know it and second, to make sure we don't forget it.

Ever.

Never.

We must never forget.

And it was the Republicans and the Republican Party who, during their years of control of Congress who, among other things, took "pay-go" out of our government. (Pay-go is, more literally, "paying as you go" or, more specifically, the rule of law that used to be in effect--again, before Republicans took it out of our laws--to only create spending if you had a place in taxes from which it was coming. For example, the lawmakers could create a bill to spend money but it had to either come from a new tax--which they are not wont to create--or from killing some other program).

And this "pay-go" program is something, now, that the Democrats should put back into law but they can't or won't anytime soon because of the huge, ridiculous financial mess and straits we're in.

We're in too much debt and have too big of problems to be responsible right now.

And that stinks.

Let's never forget who got us here.

Oh, and check this out...

In an effort to prove that the Republican Party is a group of equal-opportunity haters, they created this video, too, so they could show they aren't just racist against African-Americans but Mexicans and Hispanics, too.

Gosh, thanks, Republicans!

To make sure as many people see this as possible

Unbelievable.

This is some outrageous racism, direct from the Republican Party.

Holy cow.

They are some kinda' haters.

This was "first played on conservative political commentator Rush Limbaugh's radio show in 2007." (Link to full story here: http://news.aol.com/main/obama-presidency/article/magic-negro-satire-rnc-candidate-says/287730)

It seems it's being defended just now, all this time later, by the guy, Chip Saltsman, who is trying to be the head of the Republican National Committee.

Instead of condemning this ugliness and calling it what it is, instead he's defending it.

Truly unbelievable.

You would think he would "cover his ass", completely and totally here, and, wisely call this the racism that it is, admit it should never have been made and go on with his hopes for the Republican election.

But no.

Not only did he not "let it die", so to speak, get this--it's even worse--he sent it out to people FOR CHRISTMAS GIFTS.

You can't write stuff wackier than this.

And do you know why, ladies and gentlemen?

Because the Republican Party really is, more often than not, a political party of racists.

They created this ugly, racist video.

And now they're defending it.

And they wonder why they're out of power and why we don't want them to run our country.

For more Republican, racist fun, go to the following link to hear Rush Limbaugh defending the video, too: http://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=vbBgRiHYrs0

What we've come to

Years ago, when I was a child, reading the back of cereal boxes at the breakfast table, I used to read where the "terrific sweepstakes" was always void in Missouri, etc., etc.

I didn't understand why and for a brief moment, I was mildly disappointed.

I always went back, box after box, to read the same thing.

Years later, I had a somewhat similar experience by visiting other states. We'd fly down the highway and I'd see these big 2- and 3-story signs that said "XXX".

This time, however, I was glad I didn't see them back in my home state.

Honestly.

I thought, because we didn't have those signs and their businesses, we were a bit better people because of it.

Don't get me wrong--I'm no prude. I just thought we didn't need those signs and businesses in our state. I thought it was better without them.

So here we are, all these years later.

We have gambling in Missouri. Big time.

We've got our casinos. We've got our lotteries. We've got lotteries out the proverbial wazoo.

And you know what?

We're not the better for it.

I have a friend whose Father gambled away all of what little he had because we have casinos now. He even lost the family home. And this guy is long past retirement age, I can tell you.

Everything he had--gone.

And those "XXX" signs?

Oh, yeah, we got 'em.

Fly down I-70 and there they are.

We're now no better than Texas. Or any other states with those things.

At one time, we had sense, as a people, of some idea of what was good for us.

And what wasn't.

It's the same way now.

I'm reminded of this today because of a story from the Associated Press, in the Kansas City Star. (http://enews.earthlink.net/article/top?guid=20081227/4955b650_3ca6_1552620081227-1760989258)

It tells of the bad situation many states are in today with their budgets so they're thinking of everything they can sell off, to cover their deficits.

Sure, some of the assets I can see selling off, like premier golf courses and things like that, including lotteries.

But highways? Tollways? Airports?

If we sell off some infrastructure like that, whatever corporation buys them "has us", if you know what I mean.

They can do, for the most part, whatever they wish with those assets, and so, with us.

We're so impoverished, at least financially--if not morally (and I don't mean to get all pious here, anytime, let alone now)--that we'll do anything to cover our debts.

We should be better than all of this.

We should have stayed better than all of this all along.

History should have and could have taught us to know better.

 

We must open ourselves up to the beauty of the world--the beauty in our lives

 

To me, there's so much going on here

 

God, I love this one

 

More of, again, Earth, opening up. Some part of Grand Canyon

 

Earth,opening up

 

So much to see

 

I like how this turned out, with regard to being very linear. Who knows where it is or what state it's in.

 

Looks somewhat prehistoric, doesn't it?

 

On those mornings when you think you're cold...

From Mish Sedlock

I said I'd print only stuff I wrote but this is too good not to reprint:



Paulson Steals Show From the Grinch

Did I hear someone say “making a list, checking it twice?” Not Hank. He might as well have made the checks out to cash. Come to think of it he did.

The Associated Press tried to do what Paulson hasn’t, asking 21 banks how much they’ve spent and on what, how much is being held in reserve and what their plan is for the rest. The folks responsible for the mess, in possession of billions of our dollars, were too arrogant to say.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. said of its $25 billion haul: “We’ve lent some of it. We’ve not lent some of it,” AP reported. Now get lost.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp. spokesman Kevin Heine told AP, “We’re choosing not to disclose that.” Wendy Walker of Comerica Inc., after refusing to share any details, said, “We’re not sharing any other details. We’re just not at this time.”

What time would be better, Ms. Walker? Never. I bet never is good for you.

Financial superstars got used to talking this way when they were lionized as American royalty. Sprawling oceanfront estates the size of hotels, private 737s outfitted like palaces weren’t marks of wretched excess but totems of swashbuckling capitalist derring-do.

This happened even as almost no one knew what these geniuses were doing. They weren’t making anything like a railroad you could see. They were moving money from one place to another, keeping some for themselves as it changed hands.

Try to follow the trajectory of a mortgage on a house in Cleveland into a bundled credit default swap of collateralized debt. Few could, yet paydays of $30 million and bonuses of twice that were based on it. Therein lay its charm.

Thanks to an economic meltdown, we now know the decade’s financial superstars walked off with money they didn’t earn in a scheme more sophisticated but no less damnable than a punk in a ski mask holding up a convenience store.

You would think heads would roll, some into jail. I’m not just talking about Bernard Madoff. I’m talking about the titans of commerce.

They still walk the streets, when in truth schemes should be named after them. Ponzi just doesn’t do justice to what they pulled off.

But why isn’t anyone screaming about giving these miscreants more money? Who’s in charge here? Surely, there is someone left with a conscience, and a pulse, in the White House, someone in Congress who can call a hearing and rough up these bankers at least as much as they did the auto industry.

Fortunately, I’ve found something even a Grinch can be jolly about: Reverend Warren’s stricture against gays in his church was removed from his Web site this week. And for 2009, the number of applicants to Teach for America jumped to 25,000 from 18,000 for 3,700 chances to serve in the poorest schools.

The best and the brightest want to do good instead of doing well. I’ll raise a glass to that.

Merry Christmas

that's it.

Happy Festivus

Happy Saturnalia

Whatevah

Enjoy

Lovin ' those crazy Catholics, this Christmas Eve

This is extremely rare.

I just got a Christmas gift from the Pope and Vatican.

Actually, it's more of a holiday gift, since I don't celebrate the religious side of Christmas but, you get the idea.

It was in my newspaper this morning.

As if to further prove Catholicism's, the Pope's and the Vatican's absurd irrelevance, it was annonunced recently--and, again, in my paper this morning--that the Pope has "forgiven" Galileo for announcing that--shock of shocks--the earth goes 'round the sun and is not the center of the universe.

Thanks, Pope.

Now that I think of that one, it makes me think that someone should announce to the Pope and Vatican that they aren't the center of the universe any longer either.

Far from it, thank, uh, whomever or whatever.

As if that's not bad enough, come May next year, "several Vatican officials will participate in an international conference to re-examine the Galileo affair..."

This must be their way of doing more of that stuff they call "Penance" cuz, you know, they have guilt down pretty pat.

Let's keep in mind, too, folks, that this was part of that fun Catholic faith's many "Incquisitions" and Galileo was sentenced to "house arrest" for the rest of his life.

Hey, at least they didn't boil him in oil or crucify him, as they did so many millions of other "disbelievers".

The other announcement I got was less of a gift, for sure, but certainly proves further the ridiculousness of the Catholic Church and that same Pope and Vatican.

It seems the Pope declared that gays, of all groups, are a bigger threat to mankind than global warming.

I wish someone were making this stuff up.

It's that just wildly, obscenely ridiculous?

Hurricanes? Drought? Starvation? Disease caused by weather conditions? etc., etc.

They're all nothing compared to the idea of two women or two men loving one another.

Holy cow.

Somebody needs to propose selling the Vatican and all those Catholic jewels and artifacts, so we can feed, clothe and heal the poor.

God knows it would go a lot farther towards being helpful to makind than that collection of knuckleheads in that tiny country.

What we're fighting right now

Dick Cheney's still at it.

Dick thinks all his papers and all his emails are his, you see.

Dick doesn't play well with others.

Dick wants to make sure that you and I--taxpayers and voters--don't get the mistaken idea that he was working for OUR government or on OUR tax dollar.

All those pesky materials that could finger him for oh, say, felonies of one kind or another? He wants them. He wants to take them with him.

From the White House.

From the Vice President's mansion.

From our government.

Even as we speak.

Those Enron papers the government still wants to read about?

Fugedaboudit.

The real hoot here, too, is that his friends over at his pal-zy Supreme Court are the ones who get to decide if he keeps 'em, too.

And I'll tell you, they'd better not agree with him.

This administration has trashed too much of our Constitution and this country to get away with more of this crap, I'll tell you.

That's not where it ends, though, either.

Dick is also fighting the GAO--the Governement Accountability Office--of all groups. He doesn't want his papers from his secret deals with Enron to be made public, of course.

And why would you, when what they came up with in private brought about incredible, cushy deals for the very energy companies that were there in the room?

So it ain't over, folks, not by a long shot. We can't "breathe easy", what with the Bush Administration being almost over.

There are still battles to be fought against these people and battles to be won.

We can't have them savage our country any more than they already have.

Awareness and some kind of action are what's required, even now.

Original links here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2871869/Dick-Cheney-fighting-to-keep-Enron-papers-secret.html

http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2007-06/2007-06-22-voa16.cfm?CFID=82953120&CFTOKEN=53401419

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/22/washington/22cheney.html

http://www.judicialwatch.org/cheneycase.shtml

Regarding stolen elections

Did you see where 'Karl Rove's IT guru' Mike Connell died in a plane crash this last weekend, mysteriously enough?

Not only were the 2000 and 2004 elections quite probably (provably?) stolen from the American electorate, but one man--this Mike Connell--was going to testify about it and suddenly, again, mysteriously, and tragically dies all of a sudden, just before he's to testify about GOP computers, emails and servers.

huh.

(Thanks for sending, Bryce!)

original link here: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Karl_Roves_IT_guru_Mike_Connell_1220.html

A George Bush "Three-fer"

Over the last 8 years of the George W. Bush Administration, I have not--even once--been able, frankly and honestly, been able to say anything good or positive about anything that came our of either this White House or the President's mouth.

It's absolutely not that I could not or would not give him a chance or a "benefit of a doubt."

If he said or thought or sponsored something intelligent, I'd have been the first to note it, here or with friends or something.

Honestly.

I would have.

So it's been quite a drought.

Then, suddenly, in the last few weeks, I've been astonished to note some things W said that were, dare I say it? Bright? Right? Intelligent?

Geez.

Even I'm stunned.

The biggest, so far, has been his reluctant but correct support of loans to the Big 3 automakers.

I mean, come on, what else could he have done? He would have beat out Herbert Hoover for the "Most Do-Nothing President of All Time" Award.

The Great Depression would have been overshadowed by the mess we'd be in if he and the government walked away from our auto-making industries.

Well, now, here he comes with a three-fer.

George Walker Bush gave us the third correct, intelligent thing out of his Presidency this weekend.

I was shocked.

Sure, back in February of this year, the President "described President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe as a 'discredited dictator,' sharpening his criticism of one of Africa's most stridently anti-American leaders on the eve of a trip to the continent." (original link here: http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/02/14/africa/bush.php)

And sure he was right then but this, from this weekend, was much truer and more spot-on: "'As my Administration has made clear, it is time for Robert Mugabe to go,' Bush said in a statement issued by the White House. 'Across the continent, African voices are bravely speaking out to say now is the time for him to step down.'"

“'These leaders share the desire of ordinary Zimbabweans for a return to peace, democracy, and prosperity,'” the U.S. president said. “'We urge others from the region to step up and join the growing chorus of voices calling for an end to Mugabe’s tyranny.'” (original link here: http://www.christianpost.com/article/20081210/bush-tells-mugabe-to-resign-with-zimbabwe-in-shambles.htm)

Fortunately, Zimbabwe doesn't have oil or he might be talking about going in and taking him out militarily.

Anyway, it seems that Mr. Bush is really trying hard to have a good legacy after all, what with all these final truths and "rights" coming out of his mouth.

After 8 years of not believing what I hear, it's a big, welcome surprise.

I have to get used to this.

Fortunately, our time with him is almost over so I don't have to get too used to it.

Besides, in the "back door" of our government, his minions are still trying to tear everything else down that they can, like EPA rules for mining, etc.

Giving credit

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Thank you, Mr. President...

you did the right thing.



I hoped that, one day soon, I'd be able to say something like that, if not that very thing, to or about President George W. Bush and that day has come.

A little while ago, the sitting President made 17.4 billion dollars of loan money available to the "Big 3" automakers, to ensure they won't go bankrupt--not right away, anyway. He/we took it from the TARP boondoggle originally planned for the banks.

So, yes, Mr. President, you/we did the right thing and thank you for that.

But then, could you really have these 3 huge pillars of American production capacity go bankrupt on your and Republican watch?

No, not really.

We are, as the President said, already in a bad way, so to speak, and just can't let these guys go down.

Sure there are all kinds of strings attached and that's as it should be. This kind of largesse shouldn't be without some quid pro quos and responsibilities, in sharp contrast to the unrestrained monies they've thrown--so far--to Wall Street and the investment banks, which is totally inexplicable and, yes, irresposible but that's another story.

For now, we can breathe a small sigh of relief.

For now.

Unbelievable on a few different levels

It's just being reported in the American press now, after a long delay, that our current President wants to create a nuclear giveaway to the United Arab Emirates in an effort to counter-balance Iran and their desire for nuclear technology.

Holy cow.

We need to get this clown out of the White House as soon as possible.

Yes, this is all true.

It was reported November 25 this year, actually, but did you see anything about it in American papers or media?

I sure didn't and I watch for this stuff.

The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) reported this back in November, as I mentioned above: http://gsn.nti.org/gsn/nw_20081125_9390.php

So "W" wants to inject even more nuclear weapons capability into the Middle East.

The man's a rocket scientist, I tell you.

How many more things is this guy going to give us, before he's gone, to infuriate us all and drive us insane? The list just doesn't seem to end.

And get this: in true, illegal, internally-subversive style, he's trying to get it done by totally going around Congress and our lawmakers. He did it in a "presidential determination"--whatever that is--November 14. It was printed in the Federal Register the week of November 18, apparently.

Not that he hasn't done this before but, hey, here he goes again.

And with nuclear weapons technology, to boot.

And then there's the additional fact that the American press isn't reporting things like this to us.

Good God, the world's gone mad.

Could we not have some accountability in our world, please?

Could we have our country--and sanity in world government--back?

And as soon as possible?

PLEASE?

You want faith in our economic and political leaders?

Well don't look for it here.

Or lately.

Check out this quote for why, exactly, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson asked for 700 billion dollars of our taxpayer money to bail out his cronies on Wall Street, according to a "Treasury Department spokeswoman explaining how the $700 billion number was chosen for the initial bailout, quoted on Forbes.com, September 23:

"It's not based on any particular data point, we just wanted to choose a really large number."


Makes ya' wanna vote for higher taxes, doesn't it?

You want transfer of wealth statistics?

One of the things that really frustrated and, in fact, angered me during the campaign for the Presidency, was the ridiculous, obscene accusation on the part of anyone against Liberals, Democrats or specific candidates like Barack Obama that he was a radical, far-left Liberal, at least, and, more likely, Socialist, at worst, who was going to take away our money.

What nonsense.

You want transfer of wealth statistics? You want to hear unfairness?

This from the January, 2009 Harper's Magazine and its Harper's Notebook section I wrote about Saturday--just two statistics:

1) Portion of all US income gains during the Bush Administration that have gone to the top one percent of earners: 3/4 (that's 75%)
2) Increase since 2000 in the number of Americans living at less than half the federal poverty level: 3,500,000

You Conservatives and Republicans and fat cats and "Joe the Plumbers" want to talk "transfer of wealth" now?

Can you say "oligarchy"?

Disrespect

So, after the 2 shoes were thrown yesterday at out illustrious President, I'm thinking there are going to be many, many similar displays January 19 or 20th, depending on the party, really, to throw shoes at the outgoing clown.

Big recommendations

For the coming new year, I highly recommend getting--or keeping--a Harper's Weekly magazine subscription. I can think of no better way of keeping up with what's going on in the nation and the world.

Harper's Magazine is THE read, I think, to know what governments and societies and individuals worldwide are doing or considering. Granted, I don't get or take enough time to read all of it (or of books, for that matter), as I should (right, Michael?), but you can't get enough Harper's.

The second and last recommendation today, of this entry, is that you (whoever you are) get the latest Harper's (January, 2009) and read the "Harper's Index" at the front of the magazine.

The Index is always a good, rather light and brief but important synopsis of what either is going on or has, and this month no less so.

It is "A retropspective of the Bush era" and a knockout. (In a month or so, when it's online, I'll put it out here. It's that good).

It should be instantly considered a "must read" for all Americans: rich, poor, Black, White, Hispanic, Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Independent, Conservative, Liberal, Moderate--you name it.

But especially any and all Republicans.

And conservatives.

And anyone who ever voted for George Walker Bush for President.

Once again, we thank you chuckleheads for the travesties of this administration.

And we blame you.

Jon Stewart's sendoff to Alan Colmes of Hannity and Colmes last night

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Hall & Oates Pay Tribute to Alan Colmes

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

Have a great weekend, y'all