The First 100 Days: What Did You Do?

Barack Obama was largely elected in response to the failures of the Bush administration. Has he or is he on his way to fixing anything? If so, what? Today we complete the first 100 days of Barack Obama's presidency and look back to see what we learned and how everyone has performed so far.

The Citizens of the US, Grade C+ (But YOU get an A)

Several important questions come to mind in the midst of a rapidly growing federal government that spoon feeds record profits for the defense, security, oil, banking, organized crime and pharmaceutical industries:

1) Is the government regulating industry or is it a tool of industry?

2) Why are the profits increasing for these industries while the quality of their work decreases? (ie, we have an increase in terrorism, war, bad banking, oil supply disruptions and illnesses)?

3) Does the president control the government or do industry and the government control the president?

4) How can we change things?

Is the general public asking any of these questions? I think more-so than usual, yes, thus the increase in political blogs. Most blogs, this one included somewhat, are however constantly reacting to what we're handed as opposed to driving agendas.

I understand the answers to 1-3:

1) Is the government regulating industry or is it a tool of industry?

 We've seen a slight improvement in this area under Barack Obama, but the government has been a tool of industry until we see otherwise. The Wall Street that sabotaged us, with ties to organized crime,  was catered to, without the promised oversight and just ahead of record profits. There is still hope for change in this area under a Barack Obama administration, but let's focus on the reality over the perceptions that the speeches leave us with.

2) Why are the profits increasing for these industries while the quality of their work decreases?

These are businesses, not altruistic entities. The government is giving them money but not demanding results or providing oversight. Was Iraq a failure or a success? A huge success for many companies. Ask questions. Use logic. Think for yourself. Be brave and vigilant. Ignore the alleged wisdom of crowds.

3) Does the president control the government or do industry and the government control the president?

When a puppet like Bush Jr is president, the answer is obvious, but even with someone who seeks to be a strong leader like Barack Obama, the balance may tilt a bit toward the president, but not by much. Just recently NYC's Ground Zero was buzzed by the US military without Barack Obama's knowledge. He is alleged to be furious.

4) How can we change things?

I don't have the answer other than what I've posted on this blog. Throughout history there has been a battle between the powerless many and the powerful few. US Democracy seemed to be the most recent evolution and response to this dilemna. It had been working quite well until financial entities became more powerful than governments. (For an entertaining comedy on the subject, see the movie Network.) In my opinion, in broadstroke, the nation did well to elect Barack Obama, but then expected Barack Obama to fix everything without giving enough time or input to the problems at hand. Are we now on the way to global government? Many might think that's a good idea, but isn't government today a misnomer? Until governments actually regulate and police the large-scale "bad guys" they are tools for them.

I know this: that we can change ourselves without government and that we can affect government by making our own culture, but that as a society many of us are too addicted to the culture that is made for us; we're too tired, we're too busy, we're too lazy. I can be guilty of these things as well, though I strive not to be.

A C+ is a bit rough, but as the world evolves, what we need to do becomes greater. Every reader of this blog and every post from readers of this blog gets an A, regardless of whether I agreed or not. Simply by taking the time to read what I shared or pointed to and to post your thoughts is being involved and does make a difference. Society is viral. You have affected me and that's one more independent input coming from a human being and not an industry. For that, I thank you....very much. I only needed one reader to motivate myself to write. We don't all need to be leaders of society, but if we're leaders of our own lives and always step up just a bit more, we'll always increase our opportunities for positive change.

The Federal Government, Grade F

The federal government is a huge place and most of it remains in place from president to president. During the past 100 days we heard that Dick Cheney essentially had a second chain of command running up to him, which included an assasination ring and with personnel that are still working against Barack Obama from within the government. There seems to be a never ending battle within the cowboy world of intelligence agencies; with one hand of the government fighting the other, one hand hurting the US and the other trying to help it. The size of it increases as it becomes more and more privatized. The contract process has not changed, with no bid contracts (no competition) and cost+ contracts (incentivized to run over budget) still being the norm. Despite rhetoric in Obama's speeches, there is still little to no oversight anywhere in government. It's as if the politicians and department heads mereley serve to distribute contracts while putting on a good show for the public.

Barack Obama, Grade B-

The campaign speeches Barack Obama gave in that amazing and inspiring hard-working campaign he ran indicated that he knew what the problems in our country were -- he talked about corruption, he pointed out that the Iraq occupation had empowered Iran and made Israel weaker and he even mentioned the contract process I mentioned above. Some of his critics said that he was nothing more than a master politician. I have not been thrilled by his presidency yet. I do think he's an improvement over Bush, but if you raise a plane up by 20 degrees that is heading downward at 45 degrees, the plane is still going downward. 

On the positive, Obama has improved perceptions of the US simply by using the bully pulpit and sounding intelligent and rational. He's tackling the deep economic problems with a stimulus package I agree with (I wasn't however a fan of the bailouts -- let bad businesses fail). What about wars for profit? What about regulations? Oversight that was promised? Why is he protecting the Bush administration's secrets?

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) on Tuesday released a report card-style review of the Obama administration’s progress in overturning President Bush’s controversial national security measures, giving President Obama high marks for most actions except for a “troubling” use of secrecy.

We need more. He has time, but I believe he needs our help. He's going to respond to the loudest voices. Who are those going to be?

Eureka for the Pharmaceutical Industry!

Pharmaceutical Companies are going to make a lot of money on flu. The federal government is seeking an additional $1.5 billion for swine flu vaccinations.

Three years ago, the Bush administration awarded about $1 billion to vaccine makers as a way to increase and speed production. Several vaccine makers, including Baxter and Sanofi-Aventis, the "Blackwater of bugs", were awarded multimillion-dollar contracts: :Sanofi Aventis Invests 100 Million Euros In New Facility In Mexico to Produce Seasonal and Pandemic Influenza Vaccine.

Legitgov.org is tracking interesting oddities about the flu here. One oddity is the name: Swine Flu, whereas swine can't get this strain -- only humans.

If you are going to get vaccinated against it, should you be concerned about Baxter's vaccination? They are making a vaccination, but previously one of their vaccinations CONTAINED H5N1 (the human form of avian flu). They sent it to labs in Czech Republic, Germany and Slovenia. Initially, Baxter refused to reveal how the vaccines were contaminated with H5N1, invoking “trade secrets.” After increased pressure, they then claimed that pure H5N1 batches were sent by accident.

A container of swine virus samples packed in dry ice exploded on a Swiss train, injuring one person but posing no other risks to humans, police said on Tuesday. The box held vials of swine flu virus, although a different strain than the H1N1 variety that has caused about 150 deaths in Mexico and infected people in the United States, Canada, Spain and Britain. A technician was transporting the container on Monday night to the Swiss national flu centre in Geneva, where scientists are developing a flu test for humans, police said.

The U.S. Army is finishing an investigation into the disappearance of three vials of a potentially lethal pathogen from the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Md., the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, Feb. 10). 

Scientists have shown that tiny changes to modern flu viruses could render them as deadly as the 1918 strain which killed millions.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3719990.stm

Flashback: CDC to mix avian, human flu viruses in pandemic study

The United States has flatly denied allegations it was producing biological weapons from bird flu samples sent by Indonesia to the World Health Organization, the English daily The Jakarta Post reported Monday. Michael H. Anderson, counselor for Public Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Indonesia, [has issued the denial]. However, Indonesian senior biodefense researcher Isro Samihardjo said the U.S. could use bird flu virus samples from Indonesia to develop weapons at the Los Alamos Laboratory. Isro was speaking at a meeting about Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari's newly released book here Saturday. In her book "It's Time for the World to Change, Divine Hands behind Bird Flu," Siti writes of her suspicions about a conspiracy between the U.S. and the WHO.

What is the US government but a bunch of private companies, no?

Jan 14, 2004 (CIDRAP News) – One of the worst fears of infectious disease experts is that the H5N1 avian influenza virus now circulating in parts of Asia will combine with a human-adapted flu virus to create a deadly new flu virus that could spread around the world.

That could happen, scientists predict, if someone who is already infected with an ordinary flu virus contracts the avian virus at the same time. The avian virus has already caused at least 48 confirmed human illness cases in Asia, of which 35 have been fatal. The virus has shown little ability to spread from person to person, but the fear is that a hybrid could combine the killing power of the avian virus with the transmissibility of human flu viruses.

Speaking at a conference to reassure the public over hers government's response to the swine flu threat, Indonesian Heath Minister Siti Fadilah Supari said Tuesday that the controversial virus could have been man-made.

She declined to elaborate on her claim but she had previously accused Western governments of making and spreading viruses in the developing world to boost pharmaceutical companies' profits, AFP reported.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=92794&sectionid=3510212

Warning: Extreme right-wing groups are dangerous & growing

And here I thought extreme right-wing had become the acceptable norm: famous right-wingers like Cheney, Netanyahu, Ahmadinejad and Osama Bin Laden were previously always invited to the tea party, no? Does Osama signify a real, a perceived shift or a little of both?

Right-wing extremists are the biggest danger to the US. That upsets our right-wing politicians and business leaders.

Right-wing billionaires are manufacturing rowdy tea-parties.

Libertarians say republicans are hijacking their tea parties.

Obama may protect extreme right-wingers re: torture.

Hate groups increase dramatically.

Somalians accuse the west of pirate-like activities in dumping nuclear waste on their coast.

Extreme left-wing, extreme right-wing; either one leads to larger more centralized government, generally corrupted by business interests and organized crime and generally blaming extremists as a justification for their own extremism.

No?

Physics

Interesting.



"Scientists found an active high-quality ‘super-explosive’ in the dust collected after the attack on the World Trade Centre in 2001 and the finding is completely contradictory to the findings of the official investigation financed by the American administration with George W. Bush at the helm.

The Open Chemical Physics Journal published a peer reviewed study by retired professor Steven E. Jones, doctor Niels Harrit and other scientists who scientifically proved that traces of “a highly engineered explosive” had been found in the rubble and dust collected after the falls of WTC 1, 2 and 7.

According to the U.S. government, “The cost and production rate of super-thermite composites has limited the use of these materials in DoD applications”.

"

What?!?

"A team of nine scientists have released a startling new report on the events of 9/11, using data from dust gathered in the days and weeks after the towers came down. They discovered that scattered throughout the dust samples were red and gray chips of 'active thermitic material', or an un-reacted pyrotechnic explosive.

"In a study published by the Open Chemical Physics Journal -- a peer-reviewed, scientific publication -- Steven E. Jones and Niels Harrit level a stark allegation: that within the dust and rubble of the World Trade Center towers lays evidence of "a highly engineered explosive," contrary to all federal studies of the collapses."

"HONG KONG -- A quarter of the world's companies, and 40 percent in the United States, plan to freeze salaries this year, but employees in South America and India can look forward to robust rises, a global survey shows on Tuesday."

"The high-profile proprietor of a second feeder fund has been charged in connection with Bernie Madoff's multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme."


Your Job:
Take the day off

Shake down

Organized crime has long been involved in drug traffic, money laundering, arms dealing and terror financing and over the recent past, more and more, media and government. The American public consequently more and more gets its news, information and government from...organized crime. This would have seemed outlandish years ago, but now it's just one more piece of information that just passes us by while we do...what are we doing?

One hand of the government is creating problems while the other hand tries to solve them. It's an an ever-growing multi-dimensional cottage industry but cottage industries provide jobs...

Decriminalizing drugs leads to less drug abuse?

Champions of harsh drug criminalization laws as the best solution to curbing drug use will be chagrined to find that Portugal’s eight year history of decriminalization has led to lower drug usage rates.

Mexican President: US officials are involved in drug trade.

Obama protecting illegal Bush programs

President Barack Obama invoked "state secrets" to prevent a court from reviewing the legality of the National Security Agency's warantless wiretapping program, moving late Friday to have a lawsuit that challenged the program dismissed.

Some might say this science is a smoking gun that should be investigated. Some might say that the story will get legs even if the TV news ignores it:

The Open Chemical Physics Journal: Active Thermitic Material Discovered in Dust from the 9/11 World Trade

We have discovered distinctive red/gray chips in all the samples we have studied of the dust produced by the destruction of the World Trade Center. Examination of four of these samples, collected from separate sites, is reported in this paper. These red/gray chips show marked similarities in all four samples. One sample was collected by a Manhattan resident about ten minutes after the collapse of the second WTC Tower, two the next day, and a fourth about a week later. The properties of these chips were analyzed using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (XEDS), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The red material contains grains approximately 100 nm across which are largely iron oxide, while aluminum is contained in tiny plate-like structures. Separation of components using methyl ethyl ketone demonstrated that elemental aluminum is present. The iron oxide and aluminum are intimately mixed in the red material. When ignited in a DSC device the chips exhibit large but narrow exotherms occurring at approximately 430 °C, far below the normal ignition temperature for conventional thermite. Numerous iron-rich spheres are clearly observed in the residue following the ignition of these peculiar red/gray chips. The red portion of these chips is found to be an unreacted thermitic material and highly energetic.

I like enjoying life and being as uplifting as possible, so I'm fighting the cynicism that tells me we are incapable as a society of processing, investigating, comprehending, accepting or responding to such a smoking gun.

From one of our readers:Escape from the Zombie Food Court

No matter how smart we may think we are, the larger world cannot and does not exist for most of us in this room, except through media and maybe through the shallow experience of tourism, or in the minority instance, we may know of it through higher education. The world however, is not a cultural history course, a National Geographic special or recreational destination. It is a real place with many fast developing disasters, economic and ecological collapse being just two. The more aware among us grasp that there is much at stake. Yet, even the most informed and educated Americans have cultural conditioning working against them round the clock.

Your Job:
Speak up

Look over there

If the attacks on 9/11 were allowed to happen or if the severity of the attacks were augmented, wouldn't scientists be able to demonstrate that?

Scientists insinuate the WTC towers came down from secondary explosions.

A team of nine scientists have released a startling new report on the events of 9/11, using data from dust gathered in the days and weeks after the towers came down. They discovered that scattered throughout the dust samples were red and gray chips of 'active thermitic material', or an un-reacted pyrotechnic explosive.

Banks Knowingly Allowed Fraud, Geithner Covering UP

In an explosive interview on PBS' Bill Moyers Journal, William K. Black, a professor of economics and law with the University of Missouri, alleged that American banks and credit agencies conspired to create a system in which so-called "liars loans" could receive AAA ratings and zero oversight, amounting to a massive "fraud" at the epicenter of US finance.

Your Job:
Tell ME what to do. These are two huge stories, but why won't they affect us?

How will we react to another terror attack?

Will we rally around revenge while again marginalizing all those not focused on counter-attacking someone, anyone, whoever seems to be loosely guilty. Will there be time to investigate the crime, go after all that helped let it happen and truly end the financing and training of the militants? "Why are you waiting," the public might ask. "Why aren't we attacking Iran now?" the politicians and media talking heads might demand. Advertising rates will increase as the public tunes in to hear all about this group called "Al Qaeda of Iran" while obvious oddities are ignored. When the public is mourning and afraid, they are eager to trust leadership and get revenge, regardless of who it's against. Revenge is sloppy. Tragedy changes things.

Obama runs the government, right? He's a good guy; the days of questionable terror events, war and torture that fosters terrorism, the politicization and profiteering of terrorism are over, right? Obama's in charge and Dick Cheney is gone, right? The questionable connections between terrorism, organized crime, terror financing and politicians are a thing of the past, no? The defense industry and organized crime are too busy taking over banks to.... but wait, wars and a response to terrorism are very profitable ways (for banks, defense/security industries and organized crime) to get out of a deep recession....

So what's the harm in being a bit more alert right now? Fear is the wrong response to terrorism though it's the one that politicians and war/security businesses would probably rather have you experience. Revenge is sloppy and we're easily misled.

Dick Cheney has not left the building.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney has moles in the Obama government which report back to him from the Pentagon, investigative reporter Seymour Hersh told NPR and MSNBC on Tuesday.

Speaking with NPR's Terri Gross, Hersh revealed that the former Vice President -- who he characterized as "really smart" -- has individuals that report back to him from key positions in government. He called these individuals "stay-behinds," an intelligence term generally applied to insiders left behind in foreign governments after the occupying power is driven out.

"He’s put people back," Hersh said. "They call it a stay-behind. It’s sort of an intelligence term of art. When you leave a country and, you know, you’ve driven out, you know, you’ve lost the war. You leave people behind. It’s a stay-behind that you can continue to contacts with, to do sabotage, whatever you want to do.

"Cheney’s left a stay behind," Hersh continued. "He’s got people in a lot of agencies that still tell him what’s going on. Particularly in defense, obviously. Also in the NSA, there’s still people that talk to him. He still knows what’s going on. Can he still control policy up to a point? Probably up to a point, a minor point. But he’s still there. He’s still a presence."

So who has more influence over the Pentagon, Dick Cheney and Israel (who also have "moles in the Pentagon") or Barack Obama?

What's Barack Obama going to do about any of this -- Dick Cheney ran an assassination ring and nothing happens. Does the president run the government or does the government run the president? You know what I think.

Your Job:
Pay attention. Be alert. Don't be afraid.

Revolution, Evolution, Devolution

Revolutions can be profitable.

Type	Who Profits	Pro	Con
Cultural	General public, artists, writers, musicians, filmmakers, creators, media distributors and related	Potential for societal evolution and increase of power to the people	None, from the perspective of the general public
Technological	Creators, users and distributors of technology	Potential for societal evolution and increase of power to the people	May lesson power of public while increasing power of government/big industry
Physical (Storm the capital)	Government, defense & security industry, gun makers	None - not possible in the US/illegal to suggest	Lessons power of public while increasing power of government/big industry

Is not our best hope to change ourselves through culture? Maybe my assumptions are wrong -- what do you think?

Take Time to Smell the Flowers

So many other things stink.

Historically we're a hard-working, hard-playing nation that has had little time for smelling flowers, but the saying is still appropriate -- is it not a good idea to MAKE time in order to appreciate life? If we don't appreciate what we still DO have, what are we fighting for? But wait, who's fighting to make the nation a better place? Aren't most people too busy doing other things, like working, playing and watching people smell flowers on TV?

Would a 1900s American fight to stop this:
- 20% reduction in pay
- 25% reduction in home value
- Increase in rent costs
- 500% increase in the cost of milk

- 500% increase in the cost of produce

- Increased terror, violence and war, all for profit

??

The numbers may be inaccurate, but this what we're faced with today. I'm asking you, do we a fight IN us? How can we work hard for less money, play hard at a higher cost and now FIGHT while still smelling the flowers?

Our ancestors I think WOULD fight for that. They fought against being taxed and unrepresented. Do we have any fight left in us or put a fork in us, we're done? This is a challenge, not a statement of pessimism.

There are REASONS prices are going up and your pay is going down. Are you resigned to accept this?

I still like Barack Obama, but prior to him being elected, I wrote that liberals would be dissatisfied with his government, not because of any distrust in Barack Obama, but because I see our system in charge of our politicians, not our politicians in charge of our system. Sure, there are some differences between the parties and certainly between George Bush and Barack Obama, but liberals and conservatives need to realize our system wants little to do with fiscal conservatism, social programs or free markets.....unless MAYBE we fight HARD for those things. We can fight for the nominal difference between parties during elections, but now is the time to come together as a PEOPLE, OUTSIDE of the traditional channels of mainstream media and take back our nation. Is that even possible?



The Quiet Coup:Former IMF Chief Economist: The US is a Banana Republic:

The crash has laid bare many unpleasant truths about the United States. One of the most alarming, says a former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, is that the finance industry has effectively captured our government—a state of affairs that more typically describes emerging markets, and is at the center of many emerging-market crises. If the IMF’s staff could speak freely about the U.S., it would tell us what it tells all countries in this situation: recovery will fail unless we break the financial oligarchy that is blocking essential reform. And if we are to prevent a true depression, we’re running out of time.

In other financial industry/organized crime news and just when you thought AIG couldn't be any more screwed up, Wayne Madsen, who was arrested/intimidated recently while working on this story, writes about AIG's airplane business and ties to Stanford and US covert ops.

Comments:
BlankPhotog said (re: WHO ARE WE?)...
"We live in a stacked set of petri dishes. Workplace culture, street culture, coffee house culture, art culture, shopping culture, road culture... bike culture. Most people have a hard enough time affecting one culture, let alone the whole stack. There's carryover. Spillover. Runoff. We let the bad people/culture/pathways fester, or reward them (both are as evil) and we get some bad germs/memes infecting the stack. We go the other way, and we get some kind of antibacterial cleansing. Nasty! But to embrace the notion that there's any kind of short term balance between these two may lead one to abandon the idea of cultural change. We're making the cultural poisons as we consume them, adapt to them, jam on them. They kill us; others take our/their place. Stronger, weaker, weirder. But are we weird enough? I think not."

Your Job:
Make time for "smelling the flowers", but if you don't also make time helping ween our government from the various powers that be, such as the financial industry, the result might be that the government seizes the flowers, privatizes them and then docks your paycheck everytime you want to smell them. 

Who ARE We?

What is US culture? TV shows, bad movies and hamburgers? Rock n roll? Weapons? Fast food? Big cars? Baseball? Apple pie from Walmart? China? Your local musician, artist and filmmaker?

Is US culture outsourced? Can we make our own culture?

Can we control our own culture? Me, me, me, I know that one. YES, we can!



Every day I react to the news I read. When this blog is more about pointing out what's going on instead of pointing out what we CAN DO differently, I'm at best, giving myself therapy, raising awareness of issues, providing a unique perspective, highlighting or making a specific criticism or motivating someone.....to do what? Anger without action...what good does that do? Am I creating something new or am I just tweaking the wake from the motorboat of mainstream media?

We can change ourselves and others by improving, creating and defining our own culture. This might be the most under-appreciated tool we have. It may be the most powerful tool we have.

So how does one change their culture? Via improved consumption, creation and advocacy. Give good stuff more attention and bad stuff less attention. Good and bad are of course subjective but without subjectivity, there'd be no diversity. Advocate that good stuff and don't advocate or give power to the bad stuff (via attention) -- ie, tell people about stuff. Create something if you can, and that can be anything from writing a comment on a blog to making an independent movie. All three of these are powerful. Pick any and go!

What do YOU think?

What power (foreign) lobbyists?

Earlier this month Charles Freeman, once the ambassador to Saudi Arabia, after being rumored to be nominated to the Chairman of the National Intelligence Council, was attacked by many pro-Israeli groups for his outspoken views on Israel and alleged ties to Saudi Arabia and China. On his way out he claimed that pro-Israeli groups have a stronghold on US politics:

"The tactics of the Israel Lobby plumb the depths of dishonor and indecency and include character assassination, selective misquotation, the willful distortion of the record, the fabrication of falsehoods, and an utter disregard for the truth. The aim of this Lobby is control of the policy process through the exercise of a veto over the appointment of people who dispute the wisdom of its views, the substitution of political correctness for analysis, and the exclusion of any and all options for decision by Americans and our government other than those that it favors.

There is a special irony in having been accused of improper regard for the opinions of foreign governments and societies (re: his alleged influence by Saudi Arabia and China) by a group so clearly intent on enforcing adherence to the policies of a foreign government – in this case, the government of Israel. I believe that the inability of the American public to discuss, or the government to consider, any option for US policies in the Middle East opposed by the ruling faction in Israeli politics has allowed that faction to adopt and sustain policies that ultimately threaten the existence of the state of Israel. It is not permitted for anyone in the United States to say so. This is not just a tragedy for Israelis and their neighbors in the Middle East; it is doing widening damage to the national security of the United States. "

"The libels on me and their easily traceable email trails show conclusively that there is a powerful lobby determined to prevent any view other than its own from being aired. The tactics of the Israel lobby plumb the depths of dishonour and indecency and include character assassination, selective misquotation, the wilful distortion of the record, the fabrication of falsehoods, and an utter disregard for the truth."

"The aim of this lobby is control of the policy process through the exercise of a veto over the appointment of people who dispute the wisdom of its views, the substitution of political correctness for analysis, and the exclusion of any and all options for decision by Americans and our government other than those that it favours."

In the New York Times Freeman had said “Israel is driving itself toward a cliff, and it is irresponsible not to question Israeli policy and to decide what is best for the American people.”



Debate over Freeman himself aside, this raises a few questions which beg discussion where discussion seems taboo. Two of them are:

1 - Do foreign lobbies have too much power over the US political process? Who has more power, the US citizen or Saudi Arabia? At the time of the Katrina hurricane, more US money was being spent on displaced settlers in Israel than displaced New Orleans residents. On one hand, character assassination has indeed been used to stifle discussion, but on the other hand, many critics are bigots that have stereotyped entire populations based on religion -- the result is that most people simply don't want to talk about any of this. It's too controversial. How do we get past that? Regardless of how much power various foreign lobbies have, or who has the most or the second most, etc, foreign lobbies certainly have power. Whenever discussing power is taboo we have a problem, as citizens of a country that need it's government to prioritize us as #1.

2 - Are the foreign lobbies helping themselves? Is US foreign policy helping the US, Saudi Arabia or Israel? (or China, etc)Specific hard-right policies have been espoused by foreign lobbies in the name of the foreign entities that they represent. Have those actually been helpful or hurtful to their causes? Foreign nations have a problem when narrow-minded or radical groups wholly represent them. For instance, the occupation of Iraq has empowered Iran. That hasn't helped Saudi Arabia or Israel. Right-wing radicalism, from any nation, seems to encourage more right-wing radicalism. Barack Obama seems to get this, but what's he going to do in Afghanistan and Pakistan?

My goal here is not to condemn foreign (or domestic) lobbies but to encourage discussion about them. Lobbying of all kinds continues to dramatically increase, meaning money & power continue to increase their hold on whoever we vote in.

Your Job:
Break a taboo. Discuss openly the above issues, either here or in everyday life, with an open-mind and without bigotry.

Happy Monday!

"WE have to change"

One reader (BlankPhotog) makes some excellent points and suggestions:

"Obama is a necessary shift away from the Bushites, but he's still safely ensconced in the politics of a self-perpetuating two-party system that's built on the bubble of an ever-growing economy by-any-means-necessary. I happen to like Obama. But for America to reap the benefits of change, WE have to change. And to some extent that's an unreasonable expectation. Real, sustainable change would be a shock to everything about how we live, our expectations of the future for ourselves and our children, and what we must do to survive. Historically we don't handle such shocks well as human beings or as Americans. We overreact. We underreact. We point fingers and switch parties, and the system remains the same, or on the same disastrous course.

A President reacting to the real crises we have been facing for the last 15-20 years would have had more of a chance to fix and prevent problems than Obama will have. My expectations for Obama are few, as a result...

We need to fire the economic system that supports and defends private profit at public cost. "

Your Job:
It's Suggestion Sunday. What do you suggest we do?

"The Big Takeover"

Wall Street robbed you and then used the robbery to gain significant control.

Don't read the excerpts that I quoted below from Matt Taibbi's MUST-READ Rolling Stone article. Instead, just go read the article. It's one of the best, if not the best, on what's taken place.

It's time to admit it: We're fools, protagonists in a kind of gruesome comedy about the marriage of greed and stupidity...

People are pissed off about this financial crisis, and about this bailout, but they're not pissed off enough. The reality is that the worldwide economic meltdown and the bailout that followed were together a kind of revolution, a coup d'état. They cemented and formalized a political trend that has been snowballing for decades: the gradual takeover of the government by a small class of connected insiders, who used money to control elections, buy influence and systematically weaken financial regulations.

The crisis was the coup de grâce: Given virtually free rein over the economy, these same insiders first wrecked the financial world, then cunningly granted themselves nearly unlimited emergency powers to clean up their own mess. And so the gambling-addict leaders of companies like AIG end up not penniless and in jail, but with an Alien-style death grip on the Treasury and the Federal Reserve — "our partners in the government," as Liddy put it with a shockingly casual matter-of-factness after the most recent bailout.

The mistake most people make in looking at the financial crisis is thinking of it in terms of money, a habit that might lead you to look at the unfolding mess as a huge bonus-killing downer for the Wall Street class. But if you look at it in purely Machiavellian terms, what you see is a colossal power grab that threatens to turn the federal government into a kind of giant Enron — a huge, impenetrable black box filled with self-dealing insiders whose scheme is the securing of individual profits at the expense of an ocean of unwitting involuntary shareholders, previously known as taxpayers...

As complex as all the finances are, the politics aren't hard to follow. By creating an urgent crisis that can only be solved by those fluent in a language too complex for ordinary people to understand, the Wall Street crowd has turned the vast majority of Americans into non-participants in their own political future.

Know Thy Disaster Capitalism

Oil prices rose when two US navy vessels collided. 

"The book and film, THE SHOCK DOCTRINE, argue that the free market policies of Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman and the Chicago School of Economics have risen to prominence in countries such as Chile under Pinochet, Russia under Yeltsin, the United States (for example in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina), and the privatization of Iraq's economy under the Coalition Provisional Authority not because they were democratically popular, but because they were pushed through while the citizens of these countries were reacting to disasters or upheavals. It is implied that some of these shocks, such as the Falklands war, may have been created with the intention of being able to push through these unpopular reforms in the wake of the crisis.

Disaster Capitalists Reap Profits

The rise of disaster capitalism

Olberman: Break Up the Banks

""Break up the banks. Regulate the financial industries, to within an inch of their existences. Roll back corporate legal protections. Make liable the officers of corporations for their debts and for their deeds. Resurrect the rallying cry of a hundred years past: bust the trusts!"

Who's in charge?

And what are they in charge of?

Some people expect Barack Obama to be capable of fixing everything. Why hasn't Obama made Congress less corrupt? or Why hasn't he fixed the potholes on my street?

But he should be in charge of the executive branch, no? There's a discrepancy between how people perceive the government to be run as a top-down organization and the reality that politicians are for the most part puppets to advisors, lobbyists and industry.  Is that also true about Barack Obama? He speaks as if he's trying to change that.

Neocons designed a policy which made money for the defense and security industries and appeased hard-core right-wingers in Al Qaeda, organized crime, Israel and Iran, to name a few. Bush was a puppet. Obama and Clinton seem like strong personalities that wouldn't be puppets. How much power does the US president have however? Do they tend to simply approve and sign what is handed to them? Why did Obama pick the advisors he picked? Were they handed to him?

Who's in charge; the financial elite, with it's ever-growing military and organized crime ownership or Barack Obama? The first group is tied to oil, arms and drug trades and money laundering. Is the president a weak individual or is Barack Obama another public face of the financial elite's drive to destroy that which we cherish and they find to be burdensome overhead; democracy, independence and the US Constitution, for example. I believe we should consider the former, that Obama's political speeches aren't total lies, that he is trying to make change, but that he's one man against a tidal wave of people who don't want change or to help the everyday American, but that every US president ends up being put in a bubble of limited information and disinformation and ultimately controlled by advisors, lobbyists and industry.

Josh Marshal writes:

What is so damaging about this isn't the money... The problem is what appears to be the president's mortifying impotence in the face of bankers and financiers who created the problem. The president speaks and acts for the federal government, which is to say, the American people, who have mobilized more than a trillion dollars and all powers of the state to repair the damage emerging out of the financial sector. And with all that, he's jacked up on a employment agreement between a company the government now owns and derivatives traders who sank the world economy and may quite likely be looking at criminal charges for their activities in the not too distant future?

How strong is the US President? Does he need to fire Geithner? David Lindoff thinks so:

He should promptly demand Geithner's and Summers' resignations, and should also fire the CEO of AIG, Edward Liddy (as 80% owner of AIG, the US has the power to do that anytime). It would also be a good idea at the same time to fire the CEOs of all the leading banks that are at this point surviving on government bailouts.

This would allow Obama to correct the fundamental mistake he made during the transition period following the November election in installing a bunch of Clinton-era economic advisors and Bush holdovers to be his economic team.

Was the bailout itself a scam?

Rober Scheer says:

It's an important glimpse into the cesspool that is Wallstree, but it’s a side show, you know, and I know it’s confusing—millions, billions, trillions. But the real scandal is—the money—AIG is basically a shell game at this point, and they’re passing the money through AIG to the big banks, the former stockbrokers and so forth. Goldman Sachs got the biggest amount, $12.5 billion. The head of AIG was on the board of directors and the head of the audit committee for Goldman Sachs for five years. The Treasury Secretary that put this deal together, Paulson, under Bush was the head, was the CEO of Goldman Sachs. The guy who administered the TARP fund was a vice president at Goldman Sachs. The Democrat who made all of this deregulation possible, Robert Rubin, when he was Secretary of Treasury, and then Lawrence Summers who followed him, Rubin had been the head of Goldman Sachs. And they pushed through the basic deregulation that allowed these banks to become too big to allow to fail.

So while I think it’s a terrific teaching moment to see how excessive the pay is for people who basically brought the world economy to its knees, which are these so-called executives, and I think there is a real phony in that they had to be given these bonuses for retention—Andrew Cuomo, in his letter to Barney Frank, pointed out that the eleven of the top people who got these bonuses have already left the firm, so that really doesn’t hold water. But I think the real scandal here is that we’re supposed to own 80 percent of AIG, and maybe the Fed and the Treasury are in on it, but basically it’s being used as a shell to pass on money to these banks, Goldman Sachs being the leading one, and that should be examined, because I think that is really a criminal waste of our money.

As readers know, organized crime and the Carlyle Group (uber war profiteering venture fund) has been buying up banks at discount rates. A few people related are getting in trouble:

The indictment charges that Morris and others corrupted billions of dollars worth of investments from which they reaped more than $30 million in undisclosed fees, gifts, and bribes. Over twenty investment deals were allegedly tainted by the defendants’ kickback schemes and fraudulent self-dealing, including the following:

...Five investments involving The Carlyle Group, one of the world’s largest private equity funds, totaling approximately $730 million in capital commitments from the State pension fund. Morris and his partner obtained over $13 million in sham placement fees.

Many people tortured at Gitmo are innocent. Are we manufacturing future terrorists?

U.N. panel says world should ditch dollar

Obama on Leno:

One reader, BlankPhotog, posted this, showing again how we're experiencing more of a correction, than a depression or recession:

Americans lived in a "Made-off" and Ponzi bubble economy for a decade or even longer. Madoff is the mirror of the American economy and of its over-leveraged agents: a house of cards of leverage over leverage by households, financial firms and corporations that has now collapsed in a heap.

When you put zero down on your home, and you thus have no equity in your home, your leverage is literally infinite and you are playing a Ponzi game.

And the bank that lent you, with zero down, a NINJA (no income, no jobs and assets) liar loan that was interest-only for a while, with negative amortization and an initial teaser rate, was also playing a Ponzi game.

And private equity firms that did over a $1 trillion of leveraged buyouts (LBOs) in the last few years with a debt-to-earnings ratio of 10 or above were also Ponzi firms playing a Ponzi game.

A government that will issue trillions of dollars of new debt to pay for this severe recession and socialize private losses may risk becoming a Ponzi government if--in the medium term--it does not return to fiscal discipline and debt sustainability.

A country that has--for over 25 years--spent more than income and thus run an endless string of current account deficit--and has thus become the largest net foreign debtor in the world (with net foreign liabilities that are likely to be over $3 trillion by the end of this year)--is also a Ponzi country that may eventually default on its foreign debt if it does not, over time, tighten its belt and start running smaller current account deficits and actual trade surpluses.

Whenever you persistently consume more than your income year after year (a household with negative savings, a government with budget deficit, a firm or financial institution with persistent losses, a country with a current account deficit) you are playing a Ponzi game. In the jargon of formal economics, you are not satisfying your long-run inter-temporal budget constraint as you borrow to finance the interest rate on your previous debt, and are thus following an unsustainable debt dynamics that eventually leads to outright insolvency.

According to Hyman Minsky and economic theory, Ponzi agents (households, firms, banks) are those who need to borrow more to repay both principal and interest on their previous debt; i.e., Minsky's "Ponzi borrowers" cannot service either interest or principal payments on their debts. They are called "Ponzi borrowers" as they need persistently increasing prices of the assets they invested in to keep on refinancing their debt obligations.

By this standard, U.S. households whose debt relative to income went from 65% 15 years ago, to 100% in 2000, to 135% today were playing a Ponzi game.

And an economy where the total debt to GDP ratio (of households, financial firms and corporations) is now 350% is a Made-Off Ponzi economy. And now that home values have fallen 20% (and they will fall another 20% before they bottom out) and equity prices have fallen over 50% (and may fall further), using homes as an ATM to finance Ponzi consumption is not feasible any more. The party is over for households, banks and non-bank highly leveraged corporations.

The bursting of the housing bubble, the equity bubble, the hedge funds bubble and the private equity bubble showed that most of the "wealth" that supported the massive leverage and overspending of agents in the economy was a fake bubble-driven wealth. Now that these bubble have burst, it is clear that the emperor had no clothes, and that we are the naked emperor. A rising bubble tide was hiding the fact that most Americans and their banks were swimming naked; and the bursting of the bubble is the low tide that shows who was naked.

Madoff may now spend the rest of his life in prison. U.S. households, financial and non-financial firms, and government may spend the next generation in debtor's prison having to tighten their belts to pay for the losses inflicted by a decade or more of reckless leverage, over-consumption and risk-taking.

Americans, let us look at ourselves in the mirror: Madoff is us and Mr. Ponzi is us!

Your Job:

What are you thoughts on Barack Obama?

Change

Obama's Treasury Department pushed to allow the executive bonuses.

Homeland Security has internment camps for protesters.

Wayne Madsen was arrested:

"In the eight years of the Bush-Cheney administration, I covered anti-war protests in Washington and never once did I face an arrest situation, although there were some close calls. My arrest-free journalism record was shattered last night in Alexandria, Virginia, while meeting a confidential source.

I hoped to report today on a significant link between “Sir” Allen Stanford’s collapsed Stanford Financial Group and a top Democratic Party lobbyist who is close to the Obama administration. I also hoped to report on the covert activities of Stanford’s operations in Venezuela and Panama."

Still no torture indictments from Obama admin

National Service now mandatory for young people

Why's the angry crowd following a politician?

Congress is OUTRAGED that AIG gave huge bonuses to the financial products division that helped cause this mess. OUTRAGED! One congress-person suggested the people involved commit suicide! The politicians are outraged because the public is outraged. The public must feel a bit better to know that at least the politicians are outraged and seem committed to addressing this outrage. The media is OUTRAGED too and they're making more on advertising because you're so OUTRAGED you're spending more time watching everyone be OUTRAGED!

But wait! In a closed door session, the Senate EXPLICITLY REMOVED the provision that would have stopped these bonuses from taking place.

The measure, introduced by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), was removed by negotiators in a late-night, close door meeting. In the negotiations, senators agreed to limit executive compensation but decided to forgo barring excessive bonuses -- in fact, they specifically exempted it.

But wait! That's millions. What about the BILLIONS? The bonuses are only a fraction of the total money robbed from taxpayers.

Here’s the problem with all the hoopla over the $135 million in AIG bonuses: This sum is only less than 0.1% – one thousandth – of the $183 BILLION that the U.S. Treasury gave to AIG as a "pass-through" to its counterparties. This sum, over a thousand times the magnitude of the bonuses on which public attention is conveniently being focused by Wall Street promoters, did not stay with AIG. For over six months, the public media and Congressmen have been trying to find out just where this money DID go. Bloomberg brought a lawsuit to find out. Only to be met with a wall of silence.

Until finally, on Sunday night, March 15, the government finally released the details. They were indeed highly embarrassing. The largest recipient turned out to be just what earlier financial reporters had said was rumored: Mr. Paulson’s own firm, Goldman Sachs, headed the list. It was owed $13 billion in counterparty claims. So here’s the picture that’s emerging. Last September, Treasury Secretary Paulson, from Goldman Sachs, drew up a terse 3-page memo outlining his bailout proposal. The plan specified that whatever he and other Treasury officials did (thus including his subordinates, also from Goldman Sachs), could not be challenged legally or undone, much less prosecuted. This condition enraged Congress, which rejected the bailout in its first incarnation.

Is our outrage being channeled and contained? Politicians love crises. It allows them to do their thing -- talk and allocate money. What new program with this crisis create? How about a "Financial Company Accountability Program" that in reality further decreases transparency, increases bank bailouts as well as bonuses for the most greedy and destructive.  Transparency and oversight have received some lip service recently, but that's it. The public hears a politician TALK about transparency and oversight, gets excited and moves on to new issues, right? Politicians talk and allocate money.

These financial crises are going to be used as an excuse for more programs, I'm sure. We should be eliminating the Federal Reserve but instead will we see a more globalized Federal Reserve-type banking mechanism instead?

Diebold Admits ALL Versions of Their Software Delete Ballots Without Notice

Your Job:

Keep yelling, but don't let the angry crowd be misled by politicians seeking to channel your anger into even more problems.

Bail outs and bonuses

AIG has received $170bn in taxpayer money since being saved from bankruptcy in September. They are now giving $165m mostly to the very business division that wrecked the company's finances.

Obama has asked his Treasury Secretary to block the bonuses.

"Under these circumstances, it's hard to understand how derivative traders at AIG warranted any bonuses, much less $165 million in extra pay," Obama said. "How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?" He said he has asked Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner to "pursue every single legal avenue to block these bonuses and make the American taxpayers whole."

Rep. Frank: We Own AIG, So 'Maybe It's Time To Fire Some People'

The public is outraged. When the public is outraged politicians say things. Will they do anything? Whose side are they on? Keep screaming. Let's find out.

Henry Paulson was behind the threats of martial law and a new great depression prior to the passage of the bailout bill.

The Bush adminstration worked very hard in multiple ways to keep the War on Terror going. The Red Cross has a report on the administration's efforts to recruit anti-US terrorists and reduce the credibility of our own intelligence through absurd torture.

US interrogators attached detainees to collars like dogs and used their leashes to slam them against walls, forced them to stand for days wearing only diapers, and tied detainees necks with towels and threw them against plywood walls, according to accounts in a secret 2007 report issued by the Red Cross to be printed in a New York magazine and leaked on Monday.

Your Job:

Pick someone to call in government and tell them how you feel. Here are some free switchboard numbers:

1-800-828-0498

1-800-459-1887

1-800-614-2803

1-866-340-9281

1-866-338-1015

1-866-220-0044

1-877-851-6437

Suggestion Saturday

What do you suggest we do?

Can you get away with murder?

So far, yes.

Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh’s bombshell earlier this week that Vice President Dick Cheney controlled an “executive assassination ring” continues to reverberate throughout Washington, with Nixon aide John Dean going so far as to accuse the former VP of murder if the charges are true.



Your Job:
Don't be silent. Talk about this. Should Cheney or Bush be pursued for war crimes? On one hand, let's move on and not be burdened by the failures of a previous president however on the other hand, what precedent do we let be set if Cheney can be allowed to operate illegally and above the law?

Given that Obama's justice department is defending Rumsfeld, I doubt there will be any justice on this matter, unless of course you start talking.

Money does grow on trees....

Well, you might not have the ability to mass produce cash the way banks do, but you can save yourself some money in the long run and improve the earth and air around you in the short run.

Nationalize the fed: "The Banking system is the principal cause of social evil in the United States."

"Today, we seem to be dealing with another International Crime Syndicate."

The Shadow Financial System



Use your water for good.


Dave's Garden
CA:"What grows here?"
Las Pilitas Nursery

Your Job:
Plant something. Plants create cleaner air. Two redwoods offset your entire life's carbon production. Don't have space for two redwoods? How about something you can eat instead? You can grow many things indoors or on your roof. If you live on the west coast, the Sunset Western Garden book is a must have encyclopedia if information. When you're considering what to grow, try doing a search using Dave's Garden above, which can help you find out what grows best in your physical location and with the sun available and water you want to provide. For low-water or xeriscaping gardening on the west coast, check out: http://www.ebmud.com/conserving_&_recycling/plant_book/

The food you grow will also taste much better than that which is shipped to you from other parts of the world.

If you've been reading this blog or paying attention to the economy, you know that food is going to skyrocket in price over time. There are food shortages across the world. When banks dramatically increase the supply of cash in the world, as they have been, then the value of that cash goes down and the price of things like food, goes up.

Plant something! Happy Thursday.

Cheney ordered suicides

Defense intelligence was running an assasination ring that reported directly to Dick Cheney.

"It’s an executive assassination ring essentially, and it’s been going on and on and on," Hersh stated. "Under President Bush’s authority, they’ve been going into countries, not talking to the ambassador or the CIA station chief, and finding people on a list and executing them and leaving. That’s been going on, in the name of all of us."

Stories have been coming out about covert Pentagon assassination squads for the last several years. In 2003, Hersh himself reported on Task Force 121, which operated chiefly out of the Joint Special Operations Command. Others stories spoke of a proposed Proactive, Preemptive Operations Group, which sought to draw out terrorists by having the US involved in creating terrorism.

Most people know that Vice President Dick Cheney is former CEO of Halliburton, which makes billions of dollars a year from oil and primarily defense-related construction contracts (and that war and chaos increase Halliburton's profits, which in turn increase the value of Cheney's stock options)...

Many people know that Cheney was a congressman from Wyoming. Some even know that he was one of the founders of the Project for a New American Century. Well-read people know that the Project for a New American Century, in turn, called for a new American empire well before 9/11, and lamented that, without a "catastrophic and catalyzing event — like a new Pearl Harbor", transformation of America into an empire would be very slow.

But even well-informed people probably don't know that -- in the 70's -- Cheney was instrumental in generating fake intelligence exaggerating the Soviet threat in order to undermine coexistence between the U.S. and Soviet Union, which conveniently justified huge amounts of cold war spending. See also this article. This scheme foreshadowed Mr. Cheney's role in generating fake intelligence in Iraq by 30 years.

And did you know that Cheney has been perhaps the leading advocate for strengthening the powers of the White House to the point of monarchy for at least 20 years?

Have you heard that Cheney has been instrumental in creating and practicing Continuity of Gvernment measures for the last 20 years or so. These "COG" measures -- which were implemented on 9/11 -- could lead to the destruction of the Constitution, the virtual disbanding of Congress, and the loss of the American form of government.

Or that newly-released documents show that Cheney was involved in debates concerning illegal wiretaps 30 years ago?

Did you catch that the former director of the CIA accused Cheney of overseeing American torture policies ? Or that Colin Powell's former chief of staff stated that Dick Cheney is guilty of war crimes for his role in facilitating torture?

And, according to to the Pulitzer prize-winning reporter who uncovered the Iraq prison torture scandal and the massacre against Vietnamese civilians, Cheney is the main guy helping to fund groups which the U.S. claims are terrorists (see confirming articles here and here)

And guess who is the prime architect of efforts to bomb Iran? Yup, Mr. Cheney (see also this article).

To recap, Cheney's past includes:

• Oil

• Defense

• Faking intelligence and using scare tactics about enemies to justify a pre-planned military agenda

• Lobbying to give the president the powers of the king

• Calling for an American empire and lamenting the lack of a "new Pearl Harbor"

• Police state type wiretapping

• Selling war

• Promoting torture

• Funding Al-Qaeda

Did all of these aspects of Mr. Cheney's background converge in the Iraq debacle? Well, a top official at the State Department stated there was a secret "cabal" involving Cheney, and that Cheney and a handful of others had hijacked the country's foreign policy.

Did they converge on 9/11?

http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2009/03/you-dont-know-dick.html

Your Job:

Research and Educate. There are many reasons why people tend not to know what's really going on, including but not limited to, they:

- don't want to know

- don't have time to find out

- don't want to stand out or be ridiculed

- get their news from major corporate news sources, who don't report on everything or "drive home" the more important stories.

When information is less taboo to discuss, it's easier to for people to discuss it. Seymour Hersh has an excellent track record of reporting otherwise unreported information about the Pentagon and intelligence services. Over the years he has developed great sources inside the government. Maybe he's wrong this time. Maybe not. Is not an assassination squad run by the ex-vice president or anyone under US law something to be concerned about? There were a lot of mysterious deaths, all called suicides, during the Bush administration. Is it time we look back at them? Do folks even remember them?

Mr. Cheney, why do YOU hate America? Power & profit, no?

Happy Wednesday.

Who harms us? Who has power?

Who doesn't want American to succeed? Today, we consider if that list includes Republicans, Bailed-Out Banks and The Pentagon. 

Today's Republicans?

A former leader of the Christian Right has issued a truly scathing and blistering critique to the Republican Party, calling them "anti-American" and a "fifth column" in the country for their efforts to "sabotage" national economic recovery.

Calling Republicans "arsonists" who are trying to burn down the country, said Schaeffer...

"You do nothing constructive, just try to hinder the one person willing and able to fix the mess," Schaeffer wrote. "Today, no actual conservative can be a Republican. Reagan would despise today's wholly negative Republican Party. And can you picture the gentlemanly and always polite Ronald Reagan, endorsing a radio hate-jock slob who crudely mocked a man with Parkinson's and who now says he wants an American president to fail?!"

Note: This is not a wholesale endorsement of democrats, by any means. To generalize, the republicans got us into this mess and are now trying to sabotage efforts to get us out, but many democrats did nothing to stop them for many years and in many ways, especially from a distance, especially with things related to foreign policy and an ever-expanding government, the parties can seem nearly identical.

Bailed-out Banks:

Taxpayer-bailed-out banks squandered billions, froze loans to US taxpayers and gave them to foreign companies.

Rather than using federal bailout money to reinvigorate lending to consumers, some banks that received funds from TARP have spent it on questionable items that have done little to improve the health of the country’s financial sector but have certainly helped out foreign economies such as Dubai and China.

For instance, Citigroup Inc, which received $50 billion in Troubled Asset Relief Program funds, made an $8 billion December loan, not to an American entity, but to a Dubai public sector company, according to a newly released Monday memo by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), chairman of the House Domestic Policy Subcommittee.

The Pentagon: The Pentagon knowingly exposed troops to toxic chemicals while claiming they were safe.

Who has caused us more harm, Al Qaeda or Republicans? Al Qaeda or Banks? Al Qaeda or the worst side of the military industry?

Why do they all hate America?

The NSA has too much power in the US.

What about Saudi Arabia or Israel?

Jubilation was heard in Tel Aviv as Haaretz, the Israeli daily, boasted November 6th: "Obama kick-starts transition, picks Israeli Rahm Emanuel as chief of staff."

Best known for his fundraising prowess among wealthy Jewish Democrats, the naming of Emanuel as the first presidential appointment echoes Sarah Palin's famous one-liner, "I love Israel." That claim was voiced in her vice-presidential debate with Joe Biden who is featured on a YouTube video famously proclaiming, "I am a Zionist."

In sharp contrast to Obama's claim that the invasion of Iraq was a mistake, Emanuel claims he would do it again today. As chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, he directed party funds to pro-invasion candidates and recruited candidates to oppose anti-war Democrats.

Known in Washington as an outspoken pro-Israel hardliner, he joins Speaker Nancy Pelosi in bringing to the Middle East peace process a record of support for Tel Aviv's targeted assassinations of Palestinian political leaders. ("Pelosi supports Israel's attacks on Hamas group," San Francisco Chronicle, June 14, 2003).

Your Job:

Reduce the power of that which harms us. Discuss the power openly (without inducing hatred or violence). What gives people or organizations power? How do they keep it? How much turnover occurs from year to year with power -- with individuals? families? institutions? groups of people? What power do you have?

I apologize for the blog being down this past week -- a very good friend of mine died. Have a great Tuesday! :)

Got work?

Bailouts:

Stimulus Packages:

Economies hit:

Debt Rises:

Source:http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7893317.stm

An Ontario judge has ordered a party to a civil litigation case arising from a motor vehicle accident to hand over the contents of their private Facebook profile. Importantly, the judge ruled that "a party who maintains a private, or limited access, Facebook profile stands in no different position than one who sets up a publicly-available profile." The judge seems to have arrived at that conclusion based on her understanding of Facebook.

Note: Yesterday I made an erroenous statement about Nancy Pelosi that was up for about 4 hours. I took it down when I realized it was errenoous. I'm sorry for the error. If you ever catch me posting an error, please let me know. Accuracy should be important to all of us.

Your Job:

Try to find work for someone you know that needs it. Remember this one not just for today. Unemployment and inflation are both going to continue to rise. We're going to need each other's help.

You're alive!

Lab tests show what most bloggers/researchers knew before, the FBI still hasn't solved the anthrax case

Your Job
We all know the truth that we don't live forever, but how often do we actively keep that in mind?

Appreciate life. Communicate now with your loved ones. Life is short. Appreciate the living by talking with them. Appreciate the dead by sharing with the living your memories and thoughts about them.

What's so funny about education, health, energy & infrastructure?

What can we do for ourselves that also helps the country? Barack Obama has some ideas.

They include:

- Go to/stay in school

"Right now, three-quarters of the fastest-growing occupations require more than a high school diploma. And yet, just over half of our citizens have that level of education. We have one of the highest high school dropout rates of any industrialized nation. And half of the students who begin college never finish.

This is a prescription for economic decline...I ask every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training. This can be community college or a four-year school; vocational training or an apprenticeship. But whatever the training may be, every American will need to get more than a high school diploma. And dropping out of high school is no longer an option. It's not just quitting on yourself, it's quitting on your country - and this country needs and values the talents of every American."

This may be the point that most impressed me about Obama's speech. Of course he's right. Why not enroll in a night class?

- Reduce debt

Will anyone be trying to help him with this?

How much could we save by exiting Iraq?

- Be transparent

"Finally, because we're also suffering from a deficit of trust, I am committed to restoring a sense of honesty and accountability to our budget. That is why this budget looks ahead ten years and accounts for spending that was left out under the old rules - and for the first time, that includes the full cost of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. For seven years, we have been a nation at war. No longer will we hide its price."

- Be a good parent - education starts at home

- Support small businesses

I don't like the idea of propping up big failing companies. I love the idea of helping small companies get started. This is a fantastic time for startups to develop their business and have it ready to go in anticipation of the next upswing.

- End tax breaks for firms that outsource

- Reform our outdated regulatory system

Can Congress live up to Obama's expectations?

Some might say that Obama's speech "turned the economic crisis into an opportunity for liberalism", but what's so funny about education, health, energy & infrastructure?

Study shows liberal journalists give republicans better coverage.

Hollywood is making a slew of anti-Iran films

From a reader:

During this Lenten season, dedicate your fasting for an end to the war in Iraq, the return of all troops, and the restoration and reconstruction of Iraq for its people.

Incorporate your fast into public action drawing attention to President Obama's promise to the end the war in Iraq. Consider undertaking one or all of these actions:

• Write President Obama regarding your fast. Express in your email or letter that you are fasting for an end to the war in Iraq, the safe return of U.S. troops, and our nation's commitment to help in the restoration and reconstruction of Iraq. Express also your trust that President Obama will follow through on his pledge and bring the war to a close, leaving NO troops behind. You can click here to send a message to President Obama.

• Share your fast and the reasons behind it in a letter-to-the-editor of your local newspaper. Such public actions will help to keep the war in Iraq from being forgotten amidst our current economic problems and other issues. Additionally, it is important for us to continue to help build up public sentiment calling for an end to the war and occupation. Government leaders who want to do the right thing are more likely to do it when they believe they have the backing of various public constituencies, especially faith communities.

• Invite your friends, family, church groups, fellow students, and others to join you in your fast. Keep a tally of how many of you are fasting and share that number with us by sending an email to communications@paxchristiusa.org.. In our work with the new administration, it is important for us to show how people are mobilizing on particular issues like this. Knowing the number of people fasting can help us to show the broad support for bringing this war to an end.

• If you are on Facebook, join the Pax Christi USA Facebook group and follow the discussion thread, sharing your insights and reflections during your fast. Simply search for Pax Christi USA and join the group.

Your Job
Remember when the best advice the president had was to be vigilant and buy duct tape? This president is offering advice and money to you which will also help our nation. The response to his speech in the SF bay area has been overwhelmingly positive. His views are the views of the entrepreneurs that made Silicon Valley and San Francisco the business and creative success it has been. Take a class. Start a small business. Listen to his speech. Have a great day!

We're #1! We're #1! We're #1! But at what cost?

Barack Obama is trying to find ways to save money.

The most obvious place to do that would be by reducing defense budgets. We need better strategies and a more efficient and effective contract procurement and oversight process. Our use of the military in the world tends to backfire and blowback in our faces, meaning the only consistent winners within our policies are the defense industry. Defense spending is the largest, most wasteful and often counter-productive spending we do. It's also one of the last things our nation produces. 

Obama likely wants to give the impression that he's cutting defense budgets in order to politically calm the anxieties many felt about the Bush admin's increased abuse and dependence on the military. Will that actually take place? I don't believe so, but we'll see. There are many ways to spin the numbers. This is one of the two or three most powerful lobbies in the nation. At the least, I'd like to see a major reduction in waste and corruption in this area.

NAFTA is being militarized. "Leaders of Canada, the US, and Mexico have been meeting to secretly expand the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with “deep integration” of a more militarized tri-national Homeland Security force. Taking shape under the radar of the respective governments and without public knowledge or consideration, the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP)—headquartered in Washington—aims to integrate the three nations into a single political, economic, and security bloc."

In case we complain too much about everything, the army is buying riot gear.

The government likes to argue that it doesn't spend your income tax dollars on military, but is that true?

At the very least, is it too much to ask that the military stop "misplacing" billions in cash and equipment?

Amnesty Internation: Israel and Hamas are guilty of war crimes.

‘Since the October War in 1973, Washington has provided Israel with a level of support dwarfing the amounts provided to any other state. It has been the largest annual recipient of direct U.S. economic and military assistance since 1976 and the largest total recipient since World War ll. Total direct U.S. aid to Israel amounts to well over $140 billion in 2003 dollars.

Israel receives about $3 billion in direct foreign assistance each year, which is roughly one-fifth of America’s entire foreign aid budget. In per capita terms, the United States gives each Israeli a direct subsidy worth about $500 per year. This largesse is especially striking when one realizes that Israel is now a wealthy industrial state with a per capita income roughly equal to South Korea or Spain.’ (John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt)

Rep Baird-D wants US to reassess aid to Israel. After visiting Gaza last week, he was struck by "the level of destruction, the scope of it, specifically the civilian targets - schools, hospitals, industry."'

What about Saudi Arabia and Pakistan ?

The United States is the clear leader in worldwide arms sales, with about 60% global market share of arm sales. Of the 100 largest arms-producing companies, 43 are US companies, including 8 of the 10 largest.

Have you ever heard anyone state that we don't export anything? We export weapons and weapons technology, though often not via routes that pay taxes to the US government.

Is the US Ramping up Dirty Wars in Latin America?

Yesterday I mentioned the lawsuit coming from Geronimo's relatives alleging that a Yale fraternity stole Geronomo from his grave. Yesterday the House honored Geronimo.

Your Job
Get some exercise! A healthy body is a healthy mind is a healthy individual and a healthy nation. Commit and don't quit! Happy Tuesday.

Write a blog, lose your bank account?

Barack Obama gives great speeches. I agree with most of what he says, often passionately. He's able to inspire a damaged nation to believe in itself again. He hasn't been in office for long enough for all that he talks about to take place. That said, some consistent themes remain:

The government and industry often appear to have more power over the president than vice versa -- a president's own advisors are often more powerful than the president himself, a concept written about by both Plato and Strauss.

Barack Obama is but one man presiding over a government full of folks trying to take him down.

The financial elite are above the law.

Some consistent problems remain unaddressed:

Wall Street engineered the housing & debt bubble, bribed and blackmailed politicians and secured bailouts worth more than the net worth of the companies receiving the bailouts, while everyone else who can't pay their bills goes bankrupt or out of business.

Banks are being further bought up by international organized crime and the Carlyle Group

Most people were against bailing out banks and now most people are against bailing out homeowners. Now there appears to be momentum toward nationalizing banks.

"The plan proposed in Washington would effectively force the troubled US banks into receivership and put them under government control, recapitalise them with taxpayers' funds and then sell them off to private investors, wiping out the existing shareholders' equity. The President said of the US banking system last week: "I think what you can say is I will not allow our financial system to collapse. And we are going to do whatever is required to get credit flowing again, so companies and consumers can do their business and we can get this economy back on track.""

Maybe a new US Department of Banking would be created and then the work of the department would be outsourced to new companies formed by the currently out-of-work hedge-fund workers who helped get us into this mess. I thought I was kidding, but the possibilities aren't so far off.

I really want to like the idea of bank nationalization. I've read convincing arguments but I can't help but note that the government outsources everything and oversees nothing. We end up overpaying for sweetheart deals that don't have a good record of accomplishing what was originally intended. Do you really want your money supply to be centralized? We're already headed toward a future of profile-aware everything -- for instance, picture entering an airport and a machine stopping you from proceeding -- "Please pay $44.23 to pay your Blockbuster fee before proceeding. Say YES to confirm deduction from your US National account." What's to stop the next Bush-style administration from shutting down your bank account or internet access based on critical comments you make on the web? The ultimate goal of some industrialists is to have all of our information and money accessible by a chip embedded in a card we carry (ie, passport?) or directly on our person. Some might say this is alarmist, but what was called alarmist 10 years ago is accepted as common today. 

This isn't what is being suggested now, is it. What is being suggested now sounds like more bailouts with a vague notion of temporary government ownership.

Is this a good idea? Bad idea?

Citigroup's Clever Plan To Screw Taxpayers Again

I can't stand this guy or TV station, but, he's right:

Diebold 'offices' listed in yellow pages are mostly Wal-Marts

Obama administration backs Bush, tries to kill 'lost' White House emails lawsuit

Bush's fraternity stole Geronimo?

"The heirs of Apache chieftain Geronimo are suing Skull & Bones, Yale's oldest secret society, for the return of the old warrior's skull, the Yale Daily News reports.

Geronimo died of pneumonia at Fort Sill, Okla., but the suit alleges that members of the society, whose membership rolls include George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, John Kerry, and William F. Buckley, exhumed the remains around 1918 and placed them in the society's tomb. The paper says rumors have long suggested that Prescott Bush, father of the 41st president, was among the group allegedly involved." USA Today

Old Quotes:

"I have put thousands of Americans away for tens of thousands of years for less evidence for conspiracy with less evidence than is available against Ollie North and CIA people. . . . I personally was involved in a deep-cover case that went to the top of the drug world in three countries. The CIA killed it."

Former DEA Agent Michael Levine

CNBC-TV, October 8, 1996

Your Job
What role do you want the government to play with banks?