Start it Up and Cut it Out

The News


A counter-productive and overly expensive program appears to be ending:
RIP: The War on for Terror

Many thought that we were simply in a new kind of war, one where the enemy didn't wear a uniform. They didn't however question that the methods we were employing would foster more terrorism, not less. Terrorism increased dramatically worldwide during the War on Terror. Critics of the War on Terror were said to be appeasing terrorists but it was the War on Terror that was appeasing terrorists. Our policies rallied the recruitment of radicals. Did anyone have that as their intent? The War on Terror was a hugely profitable business operation.

Terrorism is a real problem, but what we were doing wasn't aimed at actually reducing it.

Spain caves into Israel, says it will amend war crimes law so that it does not apply to Israelis.

The Defense Department is launching an end run at a draft, without going through Congress?

World's Business Leaders Unable to Stop the Correction

Governments across Europe tremble as angry people take to the streets

Is a revolution starting in Europe?

The start of a CULTURAL revolution worldwide might be a good thing. Governments seem to have abandoned good government in favor of serving a minority of financially elite.

The EU aims to swallow Iceland

46 Of 50 States Could File Bankruptcy In 2009-2010

Maybe executives receiving taxpayer bailouts target=_NEW>should have their pay capped at $400K instead of the $18B in bonuses they received?

Over 90% of all E-Mails are spam and computer attacks


Reactions:

"There are some people in the administration who are not enamored of infrastructure" (Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) re: the fate of mass transit in the stimulus bill.)

"Harvard had it right" (Pete DeFazio re: Larry Summers being expelled from Harvard's presidency in wake of a scandal over women's intellectual abilities)

Your Job:
Start something good, end something bad.

We can improve the world by starting with ourselves. You don't have to end the war on terror or start a cultural revolution to change the world. Maybe you have a bad habit that negatively impacts others? Maybe you can start spending 15 extra seconds engaging the corner store salesperson in a conversation on world politics to hear some new viewpoints. You choose what to do, but cut something out and bring something in.

:) Have a great weekend nation!

What Do You Like About Us?

The News
In 2000, did you assume the Constitution would always be more ore less upheld? Did you assume that the government would not be trying to control the media? Did you think "due process" was safe? Did you assume that Congress would impeach a president that lied about sex or worse, committed treason? Did you assume that the lake you swam in would always be as clean as when you swam in it?

It's easy to take things for granted. The news usually focuses on the bad things that happen and more and more bad things seem to be happening.

The economic crisis has Americans freaking out.

Where did all the money go? or What is a Ponzi scheme? or the Global Financial Pyramid Scheme explained.

Taypayers could end up giving $4,000,000,000,000.00 ($4,000,000 M or $4T) to failing banks.

Exxon Mobil reported the largest annual profit in U.S. history Friday



Biden to lead middle-class task force

Korea Gov Seizes Stock Exchange

Former U.S. Congressman Wester Cooley charged with $10M scam


Reactions::
"We have a three party system. Hard core Democrats. Hard core Republicans. And the swing vote or Independent. I don't have the numbers but I would guess over 90% of hard core voters voted for "their" party. What you saw were the Independents swinging from voting Republican in 2004 to voting Democrat in 2008. The Independent voters were disgruntled with Clinton in 2000 and guided by fear in 2004. In 2008 they saw the light of hope." (John Danley)

Your Job:
What do you like about the nation? Let's identify what is good about our nation, protect it, leverage it, expand it, rally around it, make it better and learn from it.

Here are a few things I like, to get us started:

It's geography and environment -- the mountains, beaches, oceans, rivers, trees and lakes.

The transition of power -- you could argue that the democrats and republicans are very similar, but no matter how nasty an election gets, power transitions smoothly.

Our system of government and the balance of power in government, though the Bush administration proved how that has weakened.

That there were good people in all agencies, particularly intelligence, in the Bush administration trying to stop them and "the crazies" from doing crazy stuff.

Silicon valley

Great cities, including but not limited to: SF, Portland, Oakland, NYC, LA, Lincoln, Minneapolis, Chicago, Madison, etc.

American music

The "melting pot"

Freedom of speech -- it's not gone yet!

And of course, my family and friends :)

Tell the Party Where to Go

The News

A Day in the Life of Barack Obama

Obama calls $18B in Wall St. bonuses 'shameful'

Putting the nation aside for a moment, what did the 2000-2008 republicans do to their party?

Here's Bush's 2000 electoral map:



Here's where the democrats stand today:



What did the democrats do to accomplish this? Outside of Barack Obama, arguably nothing. The republicans did it to themselves.

Who had the least question that Obama was the right choice?



There was nothing conciliatory or self-analytical about the Bush administration. They pushed their advantage and never looked back and almost never considered anyone else's viewpoint but their own. Maybe that's because they weren't concerned about governing. They were concerned about the business objectives of their business handlers. Iraq was enormously successful, for a defense contractor.

Several things led to the republican's fall, from abandoning fiscal conservatism to incompetence and the economic downturn.


During the Bush years I missed the republicans I knew growing up -- the ones that talked about limited government and fiscal conservatism (even environmentalism!) Parties change. Labels change. What does liberal and conservative mean these days? Is it really useful to continue to characterize everything on a two-left-right linear line? Are there really only two viewpoints on everything?

A tiny minority of republicans did speak up during the Bush administration but most of them were ridiculed or alienated. The democrats never stopped the administration either. They gave speeches stating, for instance, that they would never hand Bush a blank check on a war they were opposed to and then subsequently allocated to the Bush administration more money for Iraq than was asked for.

Criticism during the first six years of the administration was frowned upon in all quarters, from Congress, to the media to bulletin boards. Much of it was even ridiculed as conspiracy theory. The Obama administration has hopefully signaled a new era -- Obama himself has said that left-right linear politics are inadequate. He seems to be seeking pragmatists, not ideologues. Will our divided, divisive and party-centric nation be able to rise to the challenge? How significantly can one man manage a massive government?

Jobless numbers reach record high

States with the highest unemployment rates in December 2008:
1. Michigan, 10.6 percent

2. Rhode Island, 10 percent
3. South Carolina, 9.5 percent

4. California, 9.3 percent

5. Nevada, 9.1 percent

6. Oregon, 9 percent

7. District of Columbia, 8.8 percent

8. North Carolina, 8.7 percent

9. Indiana, 8.2 percent

10. Florida, 8.1 percent

States with the lowest unemployment rates in December 2008:
1. Wyoming, 3.4 percent

2. North Dakota, 3.5 percent

3. South Dakota, 3.9 percent

4. Nebraska, 4 percent

5. Utah, 4.3 percent

6. Iowa, 4.6 percent

7. New Hampshire, 4.6 percent

8. New Mexico, 4.9 percent

9. Oklahoma, 4.9 percent

10. West Virginia, 4.9 percent

Note that some of the states hit the hardest by unemployment voted most strongly for Obama while some of the states with the most job retention were less likely to vote for Obama.

The FBI was aware for years of "pervasive and growing" mortgage fraud but chose to do nothing to stop it.

China's Premier subtly pegs the global financial problem on us, stating that the problems arose from:

"inappropriate macroeconomic policies of some economies and their unsustainable model of development characterized by prolonged low savings and high consumption; excessive expansion of financial institutions in blind pursuit of profit; lack of self-discipline among financial institutions and rating agencies and the ensuing distortion of risk information and asset pricing; and the failure of financial supervision and regulation to keep up with financial innovations. In other words, we must strike a balance between savings and consumption, between financial innovation and regulation, and between the financial sector and real economy."

Some people are concerned that the dollar is going to be replaced by a one-world currency or a one-region currency, such as an Amero. Putin doesn't seem to like that idea:

"Excessive dependence on a single reserve currency is dangerous for the global economy," Putin said, calling for multiple reserve currencies in addition to the dollar.

Lawrence Summers decided who got what in the stimulus bill?

The bailouts are inadequate

Royal Caribbean Cruises Earnings Tumble 98 Percent

Hundreds of thousands workers strike in France.

Is this a correction, not a recession? Ariel Pic thinks so

Ordinary middle-class working people have been encouraged to buy obscenely oversized homes at 5% down, or even no down payment. They have been lured into buying cars the size of trucks, one for each driving-aged member of the family. They’ve installed individual back-yard swimming pools, unwilling to share the water with their neighbors in community pools. Boring faux ethnic restaurant franchises of all kinds have befouled the landscape, filling up with families too stressed out to cook, and willing to endure over-salted, over-priced and tasteless cuisine and tacky plastic décor night after night.

Now this is all crashing down....

Over the last 20 years, America has degenerated into a nation of consumers, with 72 percent of the GDP now being accounted for by consumer spending—most of it going for things that are produced overseas and shipped here.

That is not an economic model that is sustainable, and it is a model that has just suffered what is certainly a mortal blow.

What we are now seeing is the beginning of an inevitable downward adjustment in American living standards to conform with our actual place in the world.

Can we afford the to further inflate the dollar for this stimulus package? Can we afford not to do so? The situation challenges views on limited government and what exactly IS fiscally responsible.

Blackwater is being forced out of Iraq.

Remember the body armor the troops didn't have that they finally received? 16,000 sets of it don't work.

Former CIA and DIA NOC Susan Lindauer is speaking out now that charges against her have been dropped. She says she passed specific intelligence about planes being used to strike the World Trade Center to John Ashcroft's Office of Counter-Terrorism and was ultimately targeted by the FBI.

Reactions:

"This is a correction, not a recession" (Mark Nemeth)

"I’ve noticed something I find a bit disturbing about our new Treasury Secretary: He has not yet fully come to terms with his new job, role — and boss. Granted, he’s been in the job for only two days. But given the extraordinary circumstances the financial sector and the economy is in, it is important for the Treasury Secretary to get up to speed as soon as possible." (Barry Ritholtz) Read more.

Your Job:
A bit focus-group and a bit political therapy, today we get involved in driving BOTH (or more!) parties forward. Don't be afraid to praise the other side and criticize our own. Too often in politics we refuse to acknowledge faults within our own party and instead simply point to faults on the other side. I for one am a registered democrat, but have in the past believed that all politicians should be fiscally responsible and government should be as limited as possible. I appreciate republicans when they argue for real fiscal responsibility. I was very disappointed in the democrats for never stopping the Bush administration at anything, though I ask for kicks, if the democrats had impeached Bush, would Obama have been elected?

To the democrats, don't abandon the 50-state strategy. I have read that you will with Howard Dean no longer running things and Rahm Emmanuel, an opponent to the 50-state strategy, gaining stature. That's a big mistake IMO.

To the republicans, regain your fiscal conservative credentials. When you put the "socially conservative" in front of your party, you look socially backwards and you lose the investor class.

How can your party be improved? Is there anything the other party(ies) is doing that is commendable? What should both parties be doing?

Far Away Places Keep Getting Closer

The News

Halliburton is willing to pay a $559 million settlement to end the investigation into it's involvement in bribery.

Most US supplies on the way to Afghanistan are getting stolen in Pakistan.

Greece paralysed as farmers ratchet up protests


The NSA had been closely monitoring the 9/11 hijackers as they moved freely around the United States and communicated with Osama bin Laden's operations center in Yemen. The NSA had tapped bin Laden's satellite phone, starting in 1996.

"The NSA never alerted any other agency that the terrorists were in the United States and moving across the country towards Washington," Bamford told PBS.

PBS also found that "the 9/11 Commission never looked closely into NSA's role in the broad intelligence breakdown behind the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks. If they had, they would have understood the full extent to which the agency had major pieces of the puzzle but never put them together or disclosed their entire body of knowledge to the CIA and the FBI."


Despite the post-9/11 perception by many, a pending terror attack wasn't a big secret within government.

March 2001: Italians Advise US about Al-Qaeda Wiretaps
June 2001: Germans Warn of Plan to Use Aircraft as Missiles on US and Israeli Symbols
Summer 2001: Bin Laden Speech Mentions 20 Martyrs in Upcoming Attack; Other Hints of Attack Spread Widely
June 4, 2001: Illegal Afghans Overheard Discussing New York City Hijacking Attack
June 13, 2001: Bin Laden Wants to Assassinate Bush with an Explosives-Filled Airplane
Late Summer 2001: Jordan Warns US That Aircraft Will Be Used in Major Attack Inside the US
July 2001: India Warns US of Possible Terror Attacks
July 16, 2001: British Spy Agencies Warn Al-Qaeda Is in The Final Stages of Attack in the West
Late July 2001: Taliban Foreign Minister Tries to Warn US and UN of Huge Attack Inside the US
Late July 2001: Argentina Relays Warning to the US
Late July 2001: Egypt Warns CIA of 20 Al-Qaeda Operatives in US; Four Training to Fly
August 2001: Moroccan Informant Warns US of Large Scale, Imminent Attack in New York
August 2001: Russia Warns US of Suicide Pilots
August 2001: Persian Gulf Informant Gives Ex-CIA Agent Information About ‘Spectacular Terrorist Operation’
Early August 2001: Britain Warns US Again; Specifies Multiple Airplane Hijackings
August 8-15, 2001: Israel Warns of Major Assault on the US
August 23, 2001: Mossad Gives CIA List of Terrorist Living in US; at Least Four 9/11 Hijackers Named
August 29, 2001: Cayman Islands Letter Warns of ‘Major Terrorist Act Against US via an Airline or Airlines’
August 30, 2001-September 4, 2001: Egypt Warns al-Qaeda Is in Advanced Stages of Planning Significant Attack on US
Late August 2001: French Warning to US Echoes Earlier Israeli Warning
September 4, 2001: Mossad Gives Another Warning of Major, Imminent Attack
September 7, 2001: Priest Is Told of Plot to Attack US and Britain Using Hijacked Airplanes
September 7, 2001: French Give ‘Very Specific Information’ about Attack on US Soil

Terrorism is not acceptable but our response to 9/11 was full of denial, counter-productive and overly expensive.

The consensus opinion of all 16 US Intelligence agencies states that "We judge with high confidence that in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program." but yet Obama states "Iran is going to be one of our biggest challenges and as I said during the campaign we have a situation in which not only is Iran exporting terrorism through Hamas, through Hezbollah but they are pursuing a nuclear weapon that could potentially trigger a nuclear arms race."

George Mitchell's negotiation team is visiting Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Palestinian President Mahmoud Ababs in the West bank. He will not be visiting Gaza, Syria or Lebanon.

The moderate view is that the only workable solution is one where Palestine becomes it's own nation. The moderate among the Palestinians however are not going to divorce their support for militants until they are no longer living in what they see as a cage. The Israeli government has a right to defend themselves however the actions they have taken has not been effective and could be considered more offensive than defensive. Extremist Palestinians believe Israel should not exist. Extremist Israelis believe Palestinians should not exist.

Despite the propaganda war painting each side as the only victim, this battle has two sides, both of which can be called the only victim only if the entire picture is not viewed. The Palestinians are incapable of establishing a second state without Israel AND the world's support. Much of the world is, if not afraid of Israel, afraid of getting involved in the conflict.

To complicate matters is the long history of extreme hatred and violence, the extremists involved on both sides and that some profit from the conflict continuing.



This is dispute over land. The Palestinians are continuing to lose it.

Hard-core right wing Palestinians are in a battle against hard-core right-wing Israeli settlers, who themselves feel are in a battle with not only the Palestinians, but the Israeli government itself, who they believe should show a stronger hand against the Palestinians. Some settlers bombed an Israeli citizen who suggested that Palestinians “would be wise to concentrate their struggle against the settlements.”


Even the soccer matches get ugly.

DIRTY BUSINESS, DIRTY WARS: U.S.-LATIN AMERICAN RELATIONS IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Much is being made across the political spectrum in the United States about Washington's waning influence in Latin America. The region has seen an emergence of left and center-left presidents voted into office, many as a result of budding social movements growing democracy from the grassroots. Some pundits and analysts are suggesting that this phenomenon is occurring because of the Bush Administration's perceived neglect of the region. Rather, what is happening is blowback from Washington's continued meddling in the economic and political affairs of an area arrogantly referred to as the United States’ "backyard." Latin America's growing unity in rejecting the Washington Consensus remains fragile in the face of U.S. opposition. Washington has been quietly using the war on drugs, the war on terrorism, and a neo-cold war ideology to institutionalize a militarism in the region that risks returning us to the not so far off days of "dirty wars."

Ski slopes over downtown Tehran:



Iran has shopping malls...

just like Israel does:



New legislation would make creation of FEMA detention centers mandatory across the US

Reactions:
"I'm OK with a certain level of imperialism and bullying but financing terror against innocent people is unacceptable." (Anonymous)

Your Job:
Challenge a stereotype through education. Pick a topic related to another culture or a global issue you don't know much about and go learn more about it and go use Google to practice your research skills. Feel free to share with us any uncommon knowledge, your thoughts or what you learn.

Optionally you may resolve the Israeli Palestinian crisis.

Climate change or not, it still stinks!

The News

Pew Research Center fround recently that only 30 percent of voters believe global warming is a top concern. In 2008 35 percent of voters survyed by the Pew Research Center believed global warming was top priority and 56 percent believed protectcing the enviornment was a top concern. This year only 41 percent of voters listed protecting the enviornment as a major priotiry.

Power plants emit about 90% of the sulfur dioxide and 57% of the nitrogen oxides in the US. The bulk of today’s air pollution however results from our own individual activities – for instance, exhaust from cars, trains, buses and planes, yard and recreational equipment, and smoke from our chimneys and burn piles.

Bad air makes us sick and is only one type of pollution. While we're debating climate change, we're still stinking up the place.

It was raining birds in New Jersey.

Obama takes action to improve New Jersey's air.

Obama's stimulus package includes significant investments in alternative energies.

A team will measure water levels in California's Sierra mountains. California will enter another year of drought.

Farmers are slashing their planting in response.

The "Exxon Valdez of coal ash" in Tennessee may poison wildlife for years to come, "but no one seems to be talking about it," conservationists say.

President Barack Obama's directive on cars and climate change Monday sent the clearest signal yet the administration plans to regulate the emissions blamed for global warming.



The newly discovered carnivorous sea squirt traps fish and other prey in its funnel-like front section. Most of the 2,000 or so known sea squirt species are filter feeders that strain plankton from seawater.


Liberal NY Times? Hmmm. Karl Rove story buried on page 23, beneath story on octuplets

Rove lawyer says he's still protected by executive immunity

Obama's new orders: maybe not!

If the print run of a single Sunday New York Times was recycled, it would spare 75,000 trees.

"The share of adult Internet users who have a profile on an online social network site has more than quadrupled in the past four years -- from eight percent in 2005 to 35 percent now."

Not all bankers got it wrong.

Obama to impose tough new bailout rules

Another lobbyist headed into Obama administration.

Save the Economy by Cutting the Defense Budget.




A very interesting discussion of Bush photos from the Bush administration's Vincent Amalvy (Thanks Mark Baldridge)



Obama tells Arabic network that the "US is not your enemy"

Reactions:

"I am very excited about President Obama's push to make the US independent of foreign oil. I have felt strongly about this for probably 30 years shortly after the fuel shortages of the 70's when I started realizing the issue. I think this is doable. I think this is a necessity. Most people see this in the light of the environment, but it is necessary for national security today.

Our military, just as the German military of WWII, runs on petroleum. If foreign petroleum producers really united they could shut our country and our military down. You've seen the numbers on petroleum usage and production. Here is a link http://www.eia.doe.gov/basics/quickoil.html so I won't get into that. As we all know the U.S. is at war, however they are not what I might term intense warfare requiring our militaries to face other very capable militaries requiring the use of very large amounts of fuel for tanks, personnel carriers, supply vehicles, ships and planes. This is not to diminish the wars currently underway.

So in the midst of the world heading toward a recession who made money? The oil industry of course. http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/02/high_oil.html http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/01/business/01cnd-exxon.html?em&ex=1202101200&en=575e77c5fd8688b0&ei=5087%0A Maybe they could finance the US bailout.

I don't suppose they oppose renewable energy, do you?.... I don't have any facts on this, but I recall comments many years ago that the oil industry was buying up the patents on renewable energy. From a business standpoint that makes sense because you make money on producing energy. Right now you make your biggest profit on cheap petroleum. So you buy the patents to do R&D for creating energy for the future and/or keep the competition from creating alternative energy. We live in a world of greed. Businesses aren't necessarily, in fact probably seldom are looking for the best interest of the United States or the citizens of the U.S.. They're looking to line their pocket...what many call the American way. I have my own business and work for another business. I understand the need to make a profit, but it seems there are ethical considerations here as well.

I think this is where a large portion of our bailout money should go. I hate the fact that we're "throwing good money after bad". We're giving money to businesses who have squandered away billions of dollars to keep them from destroying our economy. However I don't want to see our economy collapse. We need new businesses that can run efficiently. We need an evolution of business, but for our own sake we need to pay for it to occur gradually. By doing so some of those dinosaurs will continue to survive, but a new industry, a new economy will grow, even flourish.

So how else can alternative energy help us and how can this help us now? In the last few weeks around a quarter of a million Americans lost their job from all sorts of industries. These people have skills that can be used to build the infrastructure necessary for producing and delivering these energy sources. This will provide new areas of study. Students will be able to advance in areas to support this industry. There have been numerous production plants around the country that have shut down. These may be capable of being revamped to develop that hardware en-mass. Of course this will all take money. It will take time and energy as well. But I believe that if we go into this with from the point of view that it is a national security issue it can be done quickly.

I haven't even touched on environmental issues surrounding alternative and renewable energy. This issue is just too big. Interestingly I'm currently watching a show on public television about Oppenheimer and the development of nuclear weapons. Look what we've accomplished in the past (not that I'm promoting the development and use of nuclear weapons here) when we put our minds and energy into it, especially when we felt we had to do it to win a war, to survive. Re-engineering our energy infrastructure must be done. We can do it. Yes we can! " (John Danley)

Your Job:

Do more to help the earth and share with us your ideas. Every little bit does help.

One thing you can do is reduce the amount of packaging you use -- do you really need a bag at the grocery store to carry your milk in? If so, can't you just bring one from home? One reader suggests carrying with you one of those paper cup holders, as she does, instead of always using a new one at the coffee shop. Are you recycling as much as you can? Can you compost? Take public transportation? None of us are perfect -- these aren't rules for tree-huggers -- this is just as much about business or national security, as Danley writes as it is about simply protecting what we have, be that lakes, trees, animals, fish, water or air.

So whatcha got?

Money Monday

The News

Car inventories are increasing

Obama will direct federal regulators on Monday to move swiftly on an application by California and 13 other states to set strict automobile emission and fuel efficiency standards.

Emissions Are Increasing

California will rise again

To the surprise of progressives and anger of the GOP, leading Dems support investigating the Bush administration's crimes.

Obama is concerned that the YouTube generation that elected him is tired?



70,000 more jobs lost

Pfizer to buy rival for $68B

VIENNA: The United Nations' crime and drug watchdog has indications that money made in illicit drug trade has been used to keep banks afloat in the global financial crisis, its head was quoted as saying on Sunday.

"In many instances, drug money is currently the only liquid investment capital," Costa was quoted as saying by Profil. "In the second half of 2008, liquidity was the banking system's main problem and hence liquid capital became an important factor."
http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2009/01/25/europe/OUKWD-UK-FINANCIAL-UN-DRUGS.php

Anyone remember this?

Dems say bank bailout may increase

 "Lending at many of the nation's largest banks fell in recent months, even after they received $148 billion in taxpayer capital that was intended to help the economy by making loans more readily available." (Wall Street Journal, 1/26)

"Some increased investment (may be required). Change has to happen in terms of what is done, what the transparency of it is, what the accountability of it is. Only then would we be able to pass any additional funding." (Nancy Pelosi)

What does nationalizing banks mean, that the private banks that control the Federal Reserve will have even more control? Is the key real oversight, not a promise of oversight?

Pelosi was asked "whether the government should not just nationalize the banks outright.

"Well, whatever you want to call it... if we are going to put money into the banks, we certainly want equity for the American people" (Nancy Pelosi)

The New York Times(1/26, A1, Sanger) adds that "privately, most members of the Obama economic team concede that the rapid deterioration of the country's biggest banks, notably Bank of America and Citigroup, is bound to require far larger investments of taxpayer money, atop the more than $300 billion of taxpayer money already poured into those two financial institutions and hundreds of others."

The Washington Post(1/26, A1, Irwin, Appelbaum) reports, "Congress is moving to create strong new oversight of the financial sector that would likely give the Federal Reserve authority to examine the workings of a wide range of companies in an attempt to address one of the key failures that led to the financial crisis." However, "the initiative, which could be finalized in the House by spring, is raising concerns about whether it would muddy the Fed's traditional mission and concentrate too much power in a single federal body."

Money is debt. When we borrow money, more is created than we borrowed.

Woodrow Wilson created the current central banking system of the United States by signing the Federal Reserve Act on December 23, 1913.  The Act created a Board of Governors to oversee twelve private Federal Reserve Banks charged with controlling the cash flow in the United States and established a Federal Open Market Committee to oversee the buying and selling of government securities. 

"A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is privately concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men ... [W]e have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated, governments in the civilized world—no longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and the duress of small groups of dominant men." (Woodrow Wilson)

"Since I entered politics, I have chiefly had men's views confided to me privately. Some of the biggest men in the United States, in the field of commerce and manufacture, are afraid of somebody, are afraid of something. They know that there is a power somewhere so organized, so subtle, so watchful, so interlocked, so complete, so pervasive, that they had better not speak above their breath when they speak in condemnation of it." (Woodrow Wilson)

The Obama administration is nominating Jane Holl Lute as Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security. Jane Lute was an official of the Association of the U.S. Army, a defense lobbying group.  Her husband Douglas Lute is helping to coordinate the Bush public relations blitz that is expected to paint the Iraq "surge" report by General David Petraeus in a favorable light.


Hope and change has come to Google Maps.

'The group of vigilante men came to report that while they were on patrol they saw some hoodlums attempting to rob a car. They pursued them.

'However one of them escaped while the other turned into a goat,'  Kwara state police spokesman Tunde Mohammed said.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1127012/Police-arrest-goat-accused-armed-robbery.html

Reactions
I want to teach my four year old the Pledge of Allegiance, and rediscover the meaning along the way (A Reader, Kyne)


Your Job:
It's Money Monday. Spend some time today understanding money, how it's created, the role of banks, of the Federal Reserve and the resulting inevitability of inflation.

There are several good mini-documentaries that you can find on YouTube, including this one. Essentially money is debt, debt is money, we require debt to grow and yet debt is our undoing.

Is our monetary policy working? Credit ;) or blame belongs with the The Federal Reserve but yet we could be seeing the Federal Reserve with more power.

This financial crisis began with money made cheap by the Federal Reserve and escalated with the convoluted mess of unregulated derivatives tied to real estate: Credit Default Swaps. The same financial institutions that created the out-of-control derivatives, whose total value is unknown and can only be estimated, but is estimated to be multiple times larger than the stock market, are the financial institutions getting the bank bailouts.

Though banks are sitting on their cash and acquiring other banks. Companies still cannot get loans, homes are foreclosing, the public is in a panic. People are losing their jobs and people not losing their jobs aren't spending money at their local restaurants or businesses.

What can we do? What should we do?

Obama wants to create jobs improving our infrastructure, health and education. The so-called fiscal conservatives didn't balk at financing the alleged improvement, health and infrastructure of Iraq. They didn't stop the bank bailouts, so is the real reason they oppose Obama's stimulus program because this money doesn't go directly to the big businesses they cater to?

Monetary policy is not an easy subject. I can't solve it in the Comments section, but today we can all learn about it, discuss it, make suggestions for the future or more pragmatically, make suggestions for the present. Jobs are disappearing, so where can one find or create work? Where are the opportunities? We should save our money to prepare for tough times but if no one spends any money, than the tough times get worse. 

Suggestions?

Suggestion Sunday

The News

Obama is a pragmatist, not an ideologue. This may alienate ideologues, which includes progressives that helped elect him.

When Mr. Obama wandered into the White House briefing room Thursday afternoon hoping to make small talk with reporters, he was instantly confronted by an unwelcome question: Why was he waiving his tough restrictions on lobbying for a Pentagon nominee? The president brushed it off, saying he would not return “if I’m going to get grilled every time I come.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/us/politics/25agenda.html?_r=1&em>

He's trying to do what he sees as best for the majority of Americans, appeasing the financial elite with cabinet picks, insuring Cheney's neocon chain-of-command is no longer in power with others -- trying to do what's right for progressives, republicans, the military and the intelligence community. He's going to endure criticisms from all of these groups, but will the majority of each group end up ganging up on him? We elected a pragmatic president. He's not going to please all of us all of the time.

The US found an exit strategy for Iraq -- it's via Afghanistan



With Bush's War on Terror grinding to a halt or changing direction, are the would-be terrorists left losing the propoganda war?

With Obama, al-Qaeda faces an entirely new challenge, experts say: a U.S. president who campaigned to end the Iraq war and to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and who polls show is well liked throughout the Muslim world

Afghani protesters yell "Death to the Americans"

US to Help Afghanistan Boost Higher Education Quality?

Hillary Clinton meets Afghani women judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys.

From Afghanistan: US Military Actions are Promoting the Taliban

More Afghani News


Maybe tolerating and encouraging Hamas as a counterbalance to the PLO wasn't such a good idea?

How the Bush Administration Embraced Lemon Socialism

Obama wants to spend money too, but on green businesses and here in the US.

What were the most successful startups in 2008?

The rate of destruction of old growth trees in the west is increasing.

New president, same dumb media storylines

Reactions:

"I must say I was a little disappointed to hear about the exception for the deputy secretary of defense. He may very well be well suited to the job but this goes to show what happens when you set up hard and fast rules. No sooner do you make a rule and you want to make an exception." (John Danley)

"I'm starting to wish we could elect the White House press corps every four years along with the president." (Joan Walsh)

"John Edwards was right when he spoke about there being "two Americas." The way Edwards framed it, there was an America of "haves" and an America of "have-nots." My version is a bit different. There is an America that watched with hope and excitement as Barack Obama took the oath of office to become the 44th president of the United States. And there is an America that watched with dread and skepticism." (Charlie Cook)

Anonymous response: "Isn't the dread and skepticism side the one that supported the incompetent, self-destructive, overly secretive and likely criminal, Bush administration?"

"(I'm) wondering why Barack Obama finds it acceptable to kill unborn babies, but unacceptable to detain/torture terrorists." (Facebook)

Anonymous response: "The majority of those held at Gitmo were not terrorists, but maybe after enduring our over-the-top torture, they will consider getting involved in it now? It's as if Obama opponents don't really pay attention and just throw rocks to throw rocks"

From reader Todd White:

I just wanted to pass along this document that one of my friend's sent me, published by Amnesty International. As hard as it may be to read the following testimony, I think that it is important for us to be informed about this issue...

President Obama has issued an Executive Order to close down Guantanamo Bay within a year. We should take the time to thank his administration for this, but we should also try to assure that this does, in fact, happen. Some are now claiming that Obama's decision is not a good one, and that those released will go back to terrorism. The fact of the matter is, the majority of prisoners are innocent. Over 500 detainees have been released, with all charges against them dropped. A great article was published on CNN.com about this yesterday.

And even if there are prisoners who are guilty, we must ask ourselves, should the accused even be treated like this, before a trial? Even after a trial, I don't think that any human being deserves this kind of tortue and treatment. It is inhumane, cruel acts against humanity, and numerous human rights groups have been trying to do something about this for years.

It is important to note that at the end of this testimony, Jumah does stress that not ALL American soldiers participated in the torture and harsh treatment, and in no way is this trying to cause hatred of all American soldiers in the hearts of anyone. It is just an injustice that has been documented time and time again, and yet, our mainstream media hardy reports about it.

Another human rights organization is cageprisoners.com, which has many more accounts and interviews, if you are further interested.

Jumah's Testimony

Your Job:
Today is Suggestion Sunday! What do YOU think we can all do to help the nation and world? It can be as big as small as you want -- everything adds up -- what do you suggest?

Create & Promote

The News:
Obama announced:

- More than 3,000 miles of new electricity transmission lines would be laid down to improve the US power network

- 75% of public sector buildings would be made more energy-efficient, saving taxpayers $2bn a year

- More than 2.5m homes would be "weatherized" (made more energy efficient),

- Funds would be made available to improve or renovate 10,000 schools

And said:

"Instead of politicians doling out money behind a veil of secrecy, decisions about where we invest will be made public, and informed by independent experts whenever possible.

"We'll launch an unprecedented effort to root out waste, inefficiency, and unnecessary spending in our government, and every American will be able to see how and where we spend taxpayer dollars by going to a new website called recovery.gov."

PolitiFact has compiled about 500 promises that Barack Obama made during the campaign and is tracking their progress on their Obameter.



Shortly after issuing new rules against the revolving door of lobbyists and government, an exception has been made for Raytheon lobbyist to serve as Deputy Secretary of Defense.

Joseph Bruno, the Republican former Majority Leader of the New York State Senate, was indicted by a federal grand jury on eight counts of public corruption.

Moody's downgraded its ratings on The New York Times to junk.

The Pentagon changes it's story on terror suspects again, and again, and again, and again....

Another interesting story traces back to the nuclear network led by Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan.

Seconds after BART police officer Johannes Mehserle shot and killed Oscar Grant, police immediately began confiscating cell phones containing videos.

Reactions::

Democrats who voted for Bush's bailouts that have changed their mind:
ichael Arcuri (NY), Shelley Berkley (NV), Marion Berry (AR), Dan Boren (OK), Allen Boyd (FL), Dennis Cardoza (CA), Jim Costa (CA), Henry Cuellar (TX), Artur Davis (AL), Brad Ellsworth (IN), Phil Hare (IL), Jane Harman (CA), Ron Kind (WI), Jerry McNerney (CA), Kendrick Meek (FL), Charlie Melancon (LA), Harry Mitchell (AZ), Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel (NY), Laura Richardson (CA), Mike Ross (AR), Dutch Ruppersberger (MD), House Rules Committee Chairman Louise Slaughter (NY), Zack Space (OH), Jackie Speier (CA), Peter Welch (VT)

Your Job:
We're affected daily by things people make, from the drawing a kid makes, your newest favorite music, something someone says that sticks with you, an e-mail, a news story, a movie, a post on a discussion board, a piece of art or even a sign. We may be less sensitive to these things than in the past however they still have an affect, whether we are aware of them or not. Everything has some some type of weight.

Movies over 30 years old can still affect how we view the world:

"You are an old man who thinks in terms of nations and peoples. There are no nations. There are no peoples. There are no Russians. There are no Arabs. There are no third worlds. There is no West. There is only one holistic system of systems, one vast and immane, interwoven, interacting, multivariate, multinational dominion of dollars. Petro-dollars, electro-dollars, multi-dollars, reichmarks, rins, rubles, pounds, and shekels.

You can't see Zeitgeist, the Movie in theaters but it's become quite popular on the web:

The Other Parts

Are we as individuals creating our society or are reacting to it? Are we on the whole too complacent? It's easier to criticize something than it is to do it oneself. "I could have caught that," one might say about a failed football catch. "I could have done that," one might say about a piece of modern art.

Sometimes the greatest effect of creating something is to generate thought or discussion. Some movies I consider terrible drive me crazy but I end up talking about them over and over. Sometimes the act of creating something is itself therapeutic. We are a nation greater than what we see on TV. Everything created doesn't need to be famous or make you famous. The affect famous work has on society is often overstated and the affect un-famous work has is often understated.

Society is viral. Come up with a great idea and tell people about it and who knows, it might soon exist. We're always looking for things to talk about and often that ends up being the ideas we here from others or in movies or on TV or what any of those things made us think about. All of this as a whole becomes our culture and a rich culture means a rich nation.

Today we encourage creation and promotion of creations. You never know who you are going to affect. In 2001/2 Paul Brown and I launched a band whose first record release was called "The War on Huh?" We didn't affect you because you probably didn't hear our record but when we practiced, we'd hear people on the street outside of our San Francisco apartment say things like "That's right - you tell it". If nothing other than that it was therapy for us as we were outraged daily by new government offenses and amazed that there was not more opposition in those early days of the Bush administration. We sought to do something and given that the daily e-mails and faxes to media and Congress and my friend I was sending was accomplishing nothing, we turned to making our own culture.

The Bush administration ultimately encouraged a lot of culture-making. Extremist political leaders have a way of encouraging artists to produce work. Did not Ronald Reagan as governor of California and ultimately president inspire musicians to speak out? How much music inspired people to get involved in their society during the Clinton years?

Let's keep it up. You don't have to be an artist or musician to create something or be involved. You can appreciate and promote. Never before has it been easier to do so. Technology has provided us the tools to create and a web to mass distribute. You don't even need the technology. You could dedicate 30 minutes one night a week in your house to family entertainment night and play each other music or tell each other a story or whatever it is that you find entertaining.

So let's create something or promote something! Whatcha got?

I'd like to start by promoting a comment that one of our readers, John Danley made:

"Every bit of information you send whether it's email, IM, credit cards, ATM, non-cash purchases, phone calls, you name it it is logged, stored, backed-up and archived for eternity. As a database administrator who has worked on quite a number of government and private sector projects I've seen, built and maintained the systems and the data that is out there. I've helped get data, including criminal data passed between disparate systems. The "total information awareness" is not there yet, but well on it's way and companies like Google are leading the way. Basically Google and others are acting like (or are) huge data warehouses and various applicaions or systems will act and are acting to aggregate that data...

This information can get into the "wrong" hands, criminal hands. What if criminal hands equal government hands? What? No, that wouldn't happen would it? So there must be controls. Citizens must be vigilant. Citizens must be educated. Citizens must be taught not to be apethetic."

The rest of it is well worth reading and can be found here.

We Want Information

The News:

"What do you want," asked Patrick McGoohan, in the Prisoner television series.
"We want information," replied the ominous voice representing "Big Brother".
"Whose side are you on?", McGoohan, who recently died, replied.
"That would be telling…. We want information..."
"You won't get it"
"By hook or by crook, we will."

In the 1990s, Lumeria and a handful of other companies and organizations were keenly aware of all the electronic information that was more and more becoming associated with individuals. Lumeria sought to create a super profile of an individual's electronic information which the individual owned and controlled limited access to using cryptography. Lumeria failed as a company but a few years later, the US government, under DARPA and Iran Contra's John Poindexter, would launch a program called Total Information Awareness.


When the New York Times reported on this program in early 2002, Russ Feingold inroduced legislation to suspend it's activities. DARPA responded to Congress by assuring it that the program was only targeting terror suspects but Congress nonetheless withdrew funding for the program.

Total Information Awareness is alive and well -- tracking everyone, from their phone calls to their credit card records. It should be noted that oft-maligned ex-NSA employee Wayne Madsen has been reporting this on his online news blog since 2005.

It could be argued that the government SHOULD have total information awareness but that argument only holds true if the government is acting within and for the law. As NSA whisle-blowers have pointed out, the program has been used for many things political, including targeting journalists.

"I think they went after anyone they could get -- including me." (Sen. Jay Rockefeller)

The Barack Obama administration will likely try to change the misuse of all of the information gathered about Americans however the government is a massive place, so will they really be able to accomplish this?

Terror changed our government. Politics and greed led to it's abuse. Fear clouded our ability to think straight. We accepted garbage information as valid and rejected valid information as garbage.

It's also interesting to note how readily we all give up personal information on Facebook! Facebook now owns this information. There's great business opportunity but yet invasion of privacy in all of this information. Imagine a future where you are physically unable to enter an airport until you pay your Blockbuster fee or even unable to use your credit card because of something disparaging you wrote on the web.

War On Terror Comes to a Sudden End


Obama shuts network of CIA 'ghost prisons'

Obama might like to see ex-Unocol consultant Hamid Karzai out of power in Afghanistan.

Federal agents raided the offices of a Western Pennsylvania defense contractor that has received millions in federal earmarks at the request of Rep. John Murtha (D).

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington's 20 most corrupt members of Congress:
Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL)
Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA)
Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-CA)
Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL)
Rep. Vito J. Fossella (R-NY)
Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-LA)
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA)
Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D-IL)
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Rep. Gary G. Miller (R-CA)
Rep. Alan B. Mollohan (D-WV)
Rep. Timothy F. Murphy (R-PA)
Rep. John P. Murtha (D-PA)
Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM)
Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-NY)
Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ)
Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY)
Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK)
Rep. Don Young (R-AK)

Murtha is listed in their "dishonorable mention" section, along with:
Rep. Laura Richardson (D-CA)
Rep. Michael Turner (R-OH)

Homeland Security (for sale)

Obama has a 62% approval rating (41% strong approval) in Texas and 60% (39% strong approval) in Tennessee.

Upcoming legislation in 2009: Economic Stimulus, Labor, Healthcare & Climate Change/Energy

Bush may be gone, but his influence -- and the forces that put him in office -- aren't.

Reactions:
Rush Limbaugh told his radio audience that he wants Obama to fail.

"Bush's decision not to pardon Libby has angered many of the president's strongest defenders. One Libby sympathizer, a longtime defender of Bush, told friends she was 'disgusted' by the president. Another described Bush as 'dishonorable' and a third suggested that refusing to pardon Libby was akin to leaving a soldier on the battlefield." (Dick Cheney biographer Stephen F. Hayes)

Your Job:
Get informative! Lets pend more time thinking about information, be it how to determine it's accuracy or how it gets created, aggregated, moved around, manipulated and re-used.

When you read a headline, how often do you challenge it's validity? Do you give more credit to headlines from the larger media outlets? Many people assume that for the most part, headlines are summaries of a story and stories are for the most part accurate, with few exceptions. If you analyze news stories over the years however you will find that many headlines mis-convey the story and stories often contains significant errors or omissions. The reasons for this are many -- from sloppy to manipulative -- often a media outlet simply reports what they are handed by a government official without corroboration. The result, by design or not, is to mislead and misdirect readers, sometimes affecting opinion and policy wholesale.

It's easier to criticize media coverage in hindsight than live, though when events are taking place is when it's most important that we understand them accurately.

For instance, prior to Bush's attack of Iraq, every major media outlet was reporting that that Iraq had WMDs, going so-far as to show satellite images and graphics depicting biological weapons labs. Most of these claims could be traced to Douglas Feith's office in the Pentagon and what would later be called the Niger documents. Some independent and foreign media sources at the time reported leaks of a CIA report stating that that Iraq was not developing WMDs and that the Niger documents were forgeries. Years later, after we attacked Iraq, this became "common knowledge' within the major news outlets, however at the time the independent and foreign media sources were widely disbelieved -- ridiculed to be absurd conspiracy theories. Small or foreign media isn't by nature more accurate than big media, but it shouldn't be discounted simply for being small or foreign.

The public doesn't always require the media to ram an idea down their throat to believe a falsehood. 2/3 of the public believed that Iraq had attacked the US on 9/11, likely due to the multiple insinuations that Cheney, Bush and their surrogates had been making.

Many news stories about terrorism went unquestioned by the public over the past eight years. Uncorroborated intelligence would be re-used multiple times to justify the reporting of new threats, often at politically opportune times. How many times has the US caught Al Qaeda's #2?

It's important to be aware of your assumptions when we're reading news stories and to not be afraid to question them, even if it means standing against the grain of what everyone else seems to believe. Good questions to ask oneself when reading a story include: What is the source of the story? How Many Sources Corroborate the Story? Who Benefits from This Story? Do the details add up?

Everyone has a slant -- I'm trying to be objective in this blog but just by including certain news snippets and not others, you could say that I'm not purely objective. It's interesting to note that sports and science journalism are more objective than political journalism.

When we get lazy with information, we're easy to manipulate.

Today let's get informative! What do you think about the future of information? Where are we heading as a society? What are your favorite information sources?

I'll start by listing a few of mine:

Open Secrets:
This is one of my favorites. The Center for Responsive Politics tracks political contributions of all kinds and presents the information in multiple ways on this excellent website:

Talking Points Memo
Josh Marshall is well-known among political bloggers. He often has inside-the-beltway scoops.

Five Thirty Eight
These guys bring the statistical approach of sports analysis to politics. Their state by state electoral projections gave me confidence early that Obama was most likely to win the election.

History Commons
This searchable site aggregates quotes and data from mainstream media articles around specific subjects, many of which became popular research topics during the Bush administration. Many might consider the research topics limited however it's a great idea and example of collaborative research.

Raw Story
Extremely limited, but I like sites that link to a multitude of news sources

Al Jazeera and Haaretz
Two of the best and most independent news sources in the middle east.

Google -- The online researchers best friend. Everyone knows this one, but I like to search for english versions of international newspapers in a country where you are interested in a story. For instance, years ago I discovered http://www.dawn.com by searching for "Pakistan and news and English".

Would the Founding Fathers Promote Small Businesses?

The News:
- Generals instructed to prepare to withdraw from Iraq
- Closing Gitmo
- Restrictions on lobbyist revolving door in government
- Restoring transparency in an about-shift from the secrecy of the Bush admin
- Restoring the Freedom of Information Act

Some say Obama is a an unvetted empty suit. Some say he's a neocon in disguise. Some criticize the passion of his supporters. I'm always ready to criticize a politician but so far, these people are all missing the point -- we're only three days in but at this point "founding fathers" would be pleased. This openness is going to get interesting.

Ex-NSA employee Russell Tice: The NSA was monitoring all Americans communications and targeting journalists specifically.

"I started to investigate. That's about the time when they came after me to fire me."

And then there's this, from the ABC News blog, "The Blotter":

A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we call in an effort to root out confidential sources.

The argument for monitoring all of our communications is that any of us could be terrorists but over and over again we hear stories about how this really isn't what it's being used for.




Obama sent a memo titled "Transparency and Open Government " to all heads of executive departments and agencies yesterday:

My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government. We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government.

Government should be transparent....
Government should be participatory....
Government should be collaborative...

Goodbye to the secrecy of the coup that was Bush/Cheney.

We should never assume that our leaders have things under control or are serving our best interests. Too often we make the mistake of thinking this is the case and they end up playing the game of publicly acting like leaders and privately acting like pawns. If we all actively discuss ideas and solutions we can "culturalize" them and we are less likely to be victims of our government. Obama appears to agree. Let's get participatory!

Many Freedom of Information Requests were denied during the Bush administration. Start thinking about what you want to find out. This blog will be organizing freedom of information request drives in the near future.

In the meantime, let's talk about large and small businesses.


The car-makers had to get specific about their bailout requests but the banks were able to get away with not revealing where they spent the money. They didn't use it to free up credit -- the banks used it for mergers & acquisitions. Why does government cater so much to big businesses and not small businesses, and specific big businesses and industries but not others?

Most of America's largest publicly traded corporations -- including several that are receiving billions of dollars from U.S. taxpayers to finance their recovery -- have set up offshore operations that could help them avoid paying U.S. taxes on their profits...

Of the 100 largest public companies, 83 do business in tax-haven hotspots like the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and the British Virgin Islands, where they can move their income into tax-free accounts. Several of the companies are household names, including Pepsi, Exxon, Dell and Dow Chemical. In the list of 100 companies that GAO studied were 63 with major federal contracts, including Caterpillar, BearingPoint, Boeing, Merck & Co. and Kraft Foods.

The bailout recipients on the list include Bank of America, which received $45 billion; Citigroup, $45 billion; American Express, $3.4 billion; and Goldman Sachs, $10 billion, according to the Taxpayers for Common Sense watchdog group.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/01/16/ST2009011603928.html

We are paying a lot to support big businesses.

People trust small businesses over big businesses and banks over the president. Hmm, well this survey was done pre-bailout.

Also, not all banks are created equal. My favorite large bank is here on the west coast: Wells Fargo -- one of the things they do is pay their employees to take a day off to do community service. They usually sit on top of surveys of favorite places to work.

In other news:

Despite billions, banks still teeter on the brink

Major Banks Foreclose on Builders With Perfect Records

Intel slashed prices and is closing five plants.

EBay missed analysts’ estimates

Seagate reported wider-than-expected loss

Japan exports plunge.

China growth slows.

Apple is out-pacing sales expectations.

U.S. children are prescribed antidepressants and stimulants at three or more times the rate of children in Europe, and antipsychotics at between 1.5 and 2.2 times the European rate. In the United States, more than 75 percent of psychotropic drugs were prescribed to children "off-label," for uses not approved by the FDA.

Study: Cleaner air adds 5 months to US life span

Reactions:

Obama is an empty suit.

Obama is unvetted.

Obama is a neocon.

Obamaniacs like Obama a lot.

Your Job:

The government gives preferential treatment to large businesses -- tax breaks, bailouts, even aiding them in finding tax shelters. Many argue that protecting large companies is important because they are either key to our infrastructure or they are allegedly more efficient than small businesses. At the very least they should pay taxes.

On the whole, it is the small and medium-size company that is driving competition by being more innovative and efficient relative to their size and foot-print. A healthy economy is one that fosters small and medium businesses. Obviously small and medium companies may become large companies and will then be pushed by any new competition that comes along.

As Farhad Manjoo writes:

It is a fairly well known fact in the business community that the majority of mergers and acquisitions are a failure when it comes to increasing shareholder value, benefiting customers or any of the other metrics that are used to judge the "success" of an acquisition. Whenever you read a news story about some startup being acquired or two large companies merging, there is a greater than 50% chance that the resulting product or company will be of less value to customers and shareholders than if the deal had never happened.

It's not always easier or less expensive to purchase goods and services from small businesses, but smaller businesses often offer more diverse and higher quality goods and services. They cost us less in terms of tax dollars and they often have less of a destructive footprint upon our world.

Today you can do two things:

1) Purchase goods and services from small and medium companies as much as possible, but at least one more time than you do now.
2) Let people know about your favorite small and medium businesses -- regardless of business type. Please post at least one in the Comments section below. Don't make me chase you down! :)

Thanks and have a great day 3!

Engage, Renew & Reconcile

The News:



State-run China Central Television broadcast Obama's inauguration speech live, but when the translator mentioned communism ("earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions."), the channel suddenly cut to an awkwardly smiling news anchor.

In his first act as President, Obama approved a memo by White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel which orders all federal agencies to freeze former President Bush's pending regulations until the new administration has a chance to review them.

He also froze pay of senior white house staff members and set ethics rules regarding former lobyists who work in government:
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE50K5GS20090121

Obama will demonstrate his intention to get right to work on Arab-Israeli issues by appointing former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell to be a high-level envoy to the Middle East.



Guantanamo Bay, an iconic representation of the Bush administration's policies of torture and reckless imprisonment may soon close. The Obama Administration instructed military prosecutors Tuesday night to seek a 120-day suspension of legal proceedings involving Gitmo detainees. A motion calls for the delay so the new administration can "review the military commissions process, generally."

The President also issued a proclamation that Jan. 20, 2009, is to be a "national day of renewal and reconciliation." and called upon all Americans to "serve one another" as a way of helping to "remake this nation."



Republicans plan first anti-Democrat press conference of Obama presidency

We, the public, are going to need to work together. The following is a chart of federal borrowing through Dec. 2007:


There was so much borrowing in December, 2008 however that when charted, the fluctuations seen in the above chart are not visible when we plot borrowing through December, 2008:


Obviously, the government has been spending an enormous amount of money -- from the Iraq occupation, to the War on Terror and to the bank bailouts. The effect on the dollar is the same -- we will see inflation. It's smart politics for Obama to encourage us to leverage what has made us great in the past -- including hard work and sacrifice.

Should failing companies be left to fail? Does bailing them out delay our pain while decreasing the value of the dollar? There's going to be criticism of Obama's spending but at least we'll be spending in the US.

As consumers continue to reduce their spending, businesses will go out of business -- including retail and restaurant. (Unemployment heading toward 2 million) The rate at which the nation and world change is speeding up. There is however opportunity for the inventive. It's prudent to be fiscally responsible but fear won't improve the economy.

Reactions:

"(Charles) thinks change & hope made it very slow at the store tonight."

"After 8 long years of being so against so many things that came out of our federal government, I'm personally very excited to be for something and someone for a while. I'm sure that his honeymoon won't last too long, but I for one am going to give him a real healthy benefit of the doubt for quite a while.

I will sleep better tonight knowing that a community organizer and constitutional scholar who is not much older than me is sitting in the driver's seat. It also doesn't hurt that he has already asked us all to do a little more than go shopping to show our patriotism." (Paul Brown)

Your Job:

We have become a divisive nation; one that views arguments as having only two sides. Deteriorating honor, ethics and decency and our increasing exposure to a violent world have contributed to absurd vitriolic debates. Karl Rove proved you could win elections without actually engaging anyone in discussion, but don't let me inflame you, I'm here to engage you.

We have problems. When a problem becomes a crisis the public demands action but the public doesn't generally specify what action they want. The result is that politicians present and argue for a limited set of solutions that are often designed by the very entities involved in the problem.

We may not be able to change government immediately but we can change ourselves. Politics is a quasi-taboo subject because it isn't generally fun to talk about. People tend to only talk about how problems aren't being solved when they are angry about them.

So let's change ourselves! Let's make problem-solving fun! Pick a problem and discuss solutions with someone you know doesn't usually agree with you. It doesn't have to be about politics -- it can be about work or your personal life --diplomatic problem-solving is a good skill that can be developed and applied in many areas. Try to verbalize any common ground you have with the other person and to identify where you differ and what you would be willing to be flexible with. Try to understand what is important to them and why and what is important to yourself and why. Keep your cool! Later, ask yourself how what you based your views on. If you'd like, use the comment section to relay your experience.

If you'd like to solve a problem here using the Comments section, I'll make some suggestions for problems that could be discussed. Feel free to add your own.

- Global Terrorism: How do you reduce it?
- Inflation: How do you stimulate the economy without hurting the value of the dollar?
- Consumerism: Does more of it get us jobs and less of it help the environment? How do we reconcile this?
- Government contract corruption: How do we reduce it?
- We are a two-party system. How can additional parties be given more of a chance to compete?

Note: There are still active discussions regarding Obama in general and Iran in specific in yesterday's discussions

Attitude Adjustment: Inaugurated

The News:

Barack Hussein Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States today. Attendance = 2 Million?

Meanwhile, Cheney's Records to Remain Secret

A federal district court judge has ruled that outgoing Vice President Dick Cheney, who leaves office on Tuesday with an approval rating of just 13 percent, will be the sole determining authority on the public release of his vice presidential records.

I've pulled a few quotes from Obama's Inaugural Address:

"As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake.

Politicians lie, but I'm going to take Obama on his word here. This to me signals that the War on Terror is going to change. Previously it seemed more like a business opportunity and expensive cottage industry than an actual program to reduce terrorism. There's nothing wrong with companies profiting from a war on terror, but that ought to not be at the expense of our laws or essentially, "the terrorists" have won.

"We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you."

He's assuring that he will not be soft on terror, or a terror appeaser as the republicans like to say (though what do you call increasing global terrorism if not terror appeasement, which is what took place during the Bush administration)

"For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace."

He's an inclusive guy!

"Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint."

"Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task."

"The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government."

Fiscal conservatism died but we need fiscal pragmatism. Ideologues beware but to me this is smart governance.

"Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations."

Reactions (from my Facebook friends):

"(I am) happy to live in a country where the President is one we elected!!"

"When was the last time America was so happy?"

"(I am) calm and content."

"(I am) wondering where to celebrate."

"(I am) happy to finally be waking up from this long national nightmare."

"(I am) trying to focus on working."

"(I am) optimistic!"

"(I am) joyous, celebratory. Obama! Obama! Obama! "

"(I am) stoked that the tyrant is gone!"

"(I am) glad that our long national nightmare is over."

"(I am) happy to begin the peace and dignity era"

"(I am) inspired:)"

Your Job:
What can you do today to improve the United States? Adjust your attitude, set goals and work hard to achieve them.

Pessimism is easy -- obviously Barack Obama himself cannot change everything that everyone is expecting of him -- in some ways the system more runs a president than a president runs the system. Barack Obama has however already made changes. He's demonstrated what optimism, sticking with the goals that you set and hard work can accomplish; especially in contrast to fear.

The bully-pulpit does affect our nation -- it affects our culture -- how hard people work, how afraid they are, how good they feel, when they make decisions to purchase things, what they think of other people and cultures. Many people feel pessimistic and/or apathetic regarding government because they feel they have no power over it or don't feel the affect it has on them. The tone set by the president isn't policy but does affect us personally.

Obama critics like to say that he's no different than Bush, that Obama will carry forth the same policies as Bush did. If you're looking at them from miles away, that may be true. I don't expect that Obama will be able to accomplish all that he's stated he will accomplish, but he's already accomplished change through his words; reminding us of our history, of what has made us strong and of the power of attitude, setting goals and working hard to accomplish them.

"Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task."

So adjust your attitude accordingly and set some goals -- regardless of what you think of Barack Obama you must admit that his story itself is inspiring -- how he set his goals, overcame big obstacles and worked hard to get the presidency. Getting involved doesn't mean you have to canvas for a environmental group or fax your senator or purchase goods and services from local independently-owned companies. Those are all good ideas, but simply making decisions that positively affect others or at least do not negatively impact them is a start.

Everyone is different obviously but you never know how you might be able to positively affect someone else's life. Sharon Dawson suggested I start this blog. Todd White and Cathy Nemeth thought it was a good idea, so here I am, writing it. Time will tell if has a positive affect on anyone else but I'm giving it a shot. I know that today I am inspired as a citizen of the United States to do SOMETHING and to acknowledge and celebrate the great things that we are as a nation.

And finally, keep paying attention. The Bush administration was doing counter-productive things long before the general public was paying much attention.

Congratulations America!