Financial Lies

2009: Wall Street bounced back, Main Street got shafted

But if 2009 has proved anything, it's that the bailout of Wall Street didn't trickle down to Main Street. Mortgage delinquencies continue to rise. Small businesses can't get credit. And people everywhere, it seems, are worried about losing their jobs. Wall Street is the only place where money is flowing and pay is escalating. Top executives and traders on the Street will soon be splitting about $25 billion in bonuses (despite Goldman Sachs' decision, made with an eye toward public relations, to defer bonuses for its 30 top players).

What utter crap. Blatant liberal media lies. At least 10% of Americans are not worried about losing their jobs because they have no job to lose.

Think Green, Think Condoms

I think this makes the Pope one of the world's leading contributors to global climate change.

Contraception is 'greenest' technology

Are condoms and birth control pills more cost effective than windmills and solar panels as tools to curb global warming?

Yes, and by a wide margin, contends a recent study from the London School of Economics asserting that family planning is nearly five times more cost effective in mitigating global warming emissions than green energy technologies like wind and solar power.

Each $7 spent on basic family planning over the next four decades would reduce global CO2 emissions by more than a ton. To achieve the same result with low-carbon technologies would cost a minimum of $32. The UN estimates that 40 percent of all pregnancies worldwide are unintended.

Is it possible that my vasectomy more than offsets the global footprint of my old gas guzzling truck? It may even offset my contributions to deforestation through the manufacture of saw chain. I'm a lean, green, baby-stopping and carbon reducing machine!

Contraception for all, and to all a green life! Happy Holidays!

Change it Again, Uncle Sam

Obama promised change. People liked that idea and voted for him. Now a whole bunch of the liberals who voted for change via Obama have gotten upset because he has not changed direction, just speed.

A minor misunderstanding.

Bank of the Americas Pay Back

Bank Of America Repays $45B In Bailout Funds : NPR

Bank of America Corp. said Wednesday it has repaid the entire $45 billion it owed U.S. taxpayers as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

If the government would have bailed me out to the tune of $45 billion I would have gladly repaid them 99.9% of it the very next day.

Death by Prescription

Overdose deaths from painkillers skyrocketing in Ontario: report - The Globe and Mail

Painkillers are causing twice the number of overdose deaths in Ontario than they were two decades ago, a precedent-setting study has found. Most of the people these opioid-related drugs are killing got them through a prescription and had seen a doctor in the month before they died...

The study found prescription opioids kill, on average, 300 people in Ontario each year. HIV/AIDS, by comparison, kills 100 people annually; H1N1 has killed 100 people in Ontario so far. Other illicit drugs cause few overdose deaths by comparison.

Because 'prescription' means safe. Because 'Doctor recommended' means 'no worries'.

Opioids are hard core drugs. They also work extremely well. As most heroin addicts will attest to, there ain't nothin' in the world another fix won't cure.

Relatively small study, though. Just Ontario. Still, it means that prescription opioids killed more people in one Canadian city last year than marijuana killed world wide last century. How many of those people who were prescribed that medication would have been better off had they received a non-lethal medication?

Losing Faith

Even the Wall Street Journal admits that our money means very little.

James Grant Mourns the Loss of the Gold Standard - WSJ.com

In ancient times, the solidus circulated far and wide. But it was a tangible thing, a gold coin struck by the Byzantine Empire. Between Waterloo and the Great Depression, the pound sterling ruled the roost. But it was convertible into gold—slip your bank notes through a teller's window and the Bank of England would return the appropriate number of gold sovereigns. The dollar is faith-based. There's nothing behind it but Congress.

But now the world is losing faith, as well it might. It's not that the dollar is overvalued—economists at Deutsche Bank estimate it's 20% too cheap against the euro. The problem lies with its management. The greenback is a glorious old brand that's looking more and more like General Motors.

What I Like About the Obama Crowd

What makes the liberal base better than the conservative base?

Barack Obama - Salon.com

Tom Hayden, the liberal activist best known for his work in the '60s, when he helped found Students for a Democratic Society, was once pretty enthusiastic about Barack Obama. Back in March of 2008 he had the first byline on an article in the Nation -- also attributed to Bill Fletcher Jr., Danny Glover and Barbara Ehrenreich -- that began, "All American progressives should unite for Barack Obama."

Now, though, after the president announced his decision to send an additional 30,00 troops to fight in Afghanistan, Hayden's had enough. His latest piece for the Nation begins with a very different sentiment than the one he expressed not two years ago. Now, Hayden says, "It's time to strip the Obama sticker off my car."

Conservatives got Bush elected and, on average, spent the next eight years standing up for all of the crap he did even when it went completely against the conservative values they had initially said Bush stood for. The acted as buffers for the crimes of a mad man.

The liberal base pushed hard for Obama, got him elected, and then felt screwed. While some do apologize for his sad excuse for a liberal agenda*, plenty feel betrayed and have withdrawn their support. Too little too late, perhaps. But at least they admit to getting suckered. We all get suckered now and again. People of integrity admit it.

* Even I will stand up for Obama. Like when right wing tea bagger nut jobs call him a Marxist, I stand up for the guy and let them know that Obama has shown as much love for big business capitalism as Reagan did.

USA Not as Corrupt as I Thought

New Zealand tops Denmark as world's least corrupt nation | U.S. | Reuters

New Zealand topped the table with a score of 9.4 after coming second last year. In second place was last year's leader, Denmark with 9.3 followed by Singapore and Sweden tying at 9.2 and Switzerland at 9.0...

Britain came 17th in the list and the United States was 19th with a score of 7.5.

Hey, our government is only one quarter corrupt. Isn't that awesome?

Now we can aspire to end that corruption and become more like Singapore.

Portland will soon have two medical-marijuana smoking lounges

Portland News - – OregonLive.com

The Cannabis Cafe will be the second public place for medical-marijuana patients to get together. On Oct. 1, Steve Geiger opened Highway 420, a small lounge at the back of his pipe shop at 6418 S.E. Foster Road...

The pot lounges are the first of their kind in the nation, said Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the national NORML. California has dispensaries where medical marijuana can be purchased, but only Oregon will have public places where people can socialize and use marijuana.

Oregon continues to fascinate me. Turns out that you can get a card to grow marijuana, you can get a card to use marijuana, but you can not sell marijuana in Oregon.

So how about pharmaceutical companies can be licensed to make medications, people can get prescriptions for medications, but nobody can sell medication? Patients can still chip in to cover the cost of ingredients, just like they can help cover a grower's costs. The pharmeceutical industry would love that.

As for the Cannabis Cafe, it makes me slightly uncomfortable. In order to go there, you have to have a medical-marijuana card. No problem. In fact, very smart idea. But you also have to belong to NORML. So it isn't really so much a cafe as a private club. NORML wants pot legalized, not just medical-marijuana. Isn't it possible that a medical-marijuana patient might not condone recreational use?

Not saying a place like this shouldn't exist. But if a state allows medical marijuana, shouldn't it also allow for a reasonable way for patients to get it?

As medical-marijuana use continues to legitimize states will have to deal with some cold facts. Like if it is a prescribed medication, why can't people get it in a drug store? Since medical studies have shown it to have no ill health effects, why can't anyone buy and use it like aspirin, cough syrup, or laxatives (all of which have higher overdose rates than marijuana)? And why can't a person write off their hand blown three foot glass bong as a medical expense? Those things aren't cheap! My mom shoots her insulin at the dinner table at the restaurant because she has a prescription for it and needs it. Shouldn't medical marijuana users enjoy the same privilege? Or are they expected to stay at home all the time so if they find they need to medicate themselves they don't end up breaking the law? Or will they have to only go to places like the Cannabis Cafe where their healthy friends can't join them for dinner?

Good luck to Portland's new medical-marijuana social scene. Brave new territory at the end of the Oregon Trail.

Is It Progress?

Marijuana legalized in Breckenridge

So what? It's still illegal at a state and federal level. So if you pot smoking snow boarders and skiers get picked up at the resort town, make certain you get picked up by the local police and not the sheriff's department, state patrol, or an undercover DEA agent in drag.

House passes health care reform bill

As the only industrialized nation without universal coverage, this should make me happy, right? Except to get it barely passed they had to restrict coverage for abortions and fall to their knees to suck some insurance industry cock. Yet we still won't have universal health care. Instead the government just mandates that everyone have insurance. The Democrats who pushed this through are a bunch of spineless sacks of crap and the Republicans that tried to block it are even worse.

As for the price tag, let's get this nice and sparkling clear. Those who support the bill use the more accurate number of $1.055 billion while those who want to gripe round up to $1.1 billion. Sorry, but simply rounding up by $45 million seems irresponsible. Luckily no sane person can really comprehend that much money. It's all just numbers.

For you conservative folks screaming for tort reform as part of a health care package, I hope the medical and insurance lobbyists are sending you a nice, big kickback check for pushing their personal agenda.

Buggar all this.

Mass Marketing

Goldman One-Ups Gordon Gekko, Says Jesus Embraced Greed

"The injunction of Jesus to love others as ourselves is an endorsement of self-interest," Goldman’s Griffiths said Oct. 20, his voice echoing around the gold-mosaic walls of St. Paul’s Cathedral, whose 365-feet-high dome towers over the City, London’s financial district. "We have to tolerate the inequality as a way to achieving greater prosperity and opportunity for all."

I distinctly remember this story as part of my childhood Sunday School lessons. The story of Jesus going to the temple, hanging with the money lenders, and saying, "You guys are alright."*

Jesus wants you to give him your money** and business takes it from you any way they can and wants government to take it from you and give it to them. Business has to use a second party because they just aren't as cool as Jesus. If they were, you'd just give them your money.

* For those unfamiliar with The Bible, the story actually has Jesus smashing their tables. Matthew 21:12

** For those unfamiliar with The Bible, Jesus wants your soul and wants nothing to do with your money. Matthew 22:21***

*** For the record, this Matthew guy was a sandal wearing hippie heeb who hung out with Yeshua bin Yosef, a man executed for issuing terroristic threats against the government.

Remember, Remember the 5th of November

This November 5th - Multi Freedom Candidate Mass Donation Day



Remember, remember, don't get suckered this November.

Sucker yourself!

Give money. Lots of it. To people who will stand up and fight for what you believe in. As long as you believe exactly what they do. Even when they get elected and change their minds. To people who wear suits because they are expected to. To people who wear smiles because they have been told to.

Support psuedo-libertarians for psuedo-revolution!

Or buy a Vote Jake button.

Obama the Pot President?

Pot Will Save Us

In order to save itself from financial oblivion, the state of California seems inclined to just do it. Just say yes. To become Amsterdam.

It may be the biggest thing to come out of the financial meltdown. We won’t get meaningful reform of the banking system, but we’re going to get legalized pot...

So forget health care. Obama is going to be the pot president. Hell, Franklin Roosevelt, in his Depression, saw the end of prohibition.

So the nation elects a black President and pot gets legalized (at least in California, maybe). It's a really good idea to legalize. I'm all for it. Hitching it to Obama is a bad idea. A really bad idea. Lay this one on Schwarzenegger. Let the Republicans have this win. Calling Obama the Pot President is just more fodder for the good-old-boys (and girls).

Like those folks in my home town who thought drugs came to town because of a single black family moving in. It had nothing to do with it being the late 1960's and the town's position at the intersection of a couple of major interstate highways. Nope. It was dem coloreds. Honest injun.

Californians Contemplating Legalization

Once again providing the leading edge in the marijuana issue...

Push to Legalize Marijuana Gains Ground in California - NYTimes.com

State lawmakers are holding a hearing on Wednesday on the effects of a bill that would legalize, tax and regulate the drug — in what would be the first such law in the United States. Tax officials estimate the legislation could bring the struggling state about $1.4 billion a year, and though the bill’s fate in the Legislature is uncertain, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, has indicated he would be open to a “robust debate” on the issue.

In addition to the California politicians weighing the issue, three ballot initiatives aimed at legalization are quickly gaining the signatures needed to put them before the citizenry in 2010.

The federal government maintains its position of prohibition of marijuana for recreational use. They also maintained the prohibition of marijuana in all of its forms, raiding California clinics and arresting medical marijuana users, up until this year.

Given the previous time line, if California decides to legalize, they only have to put up with federal intervention for about 13 years. Or until an anti-prohibition President is elected. Or until they say to hell with those bastards on the other side of the continent and break away to create the first incarnation of my proposed secessionist government, Nuevo Sodom.

Note: I've recently been wondering... if a person has a marijuana prescription, can they go to the dispensary and ask for the less expensive generic version of OG Kush?

Free(er) Market Economics

There are ways in which free market economics really can work for the benefit of Americans.

Cartels Face an Economic Battle - washingtonpost.com

Stiff competition from thousands of mom-and-pop marijuana farmers in the United States threatens the bottom line for powerful Mexican drug organizations in a way that decades of arrests and seizures have not, according to law enforcement officials and pot growers in the United States and Mexico.

If they ever fully legalize in the United States those mom-and-pop operations will be forced out of business by big American cartels conglomerates. Most likely due to vaguely stated regulations passed by the US government at the behest of the corporations under the guise of 'consumer protection'.

* Image at right, world's happiest marine destroying Mexican crop.

Can't Keep a Good "Dog" Down

When my dog developed a tumor and I was faced with huge veterinary costs, I chose euthanasia. He was a dog. A well loved dog that I still miss, but a dog none-the-less. Pet owners are often forced with these hard choices.

People can choose for themselves. While I might end up choosing euthanasia for myself some day (and might put on a dog collar and beg for it just to have some fun with the situation), there are many who choose to fight and have done so for many years. They are not dogs.

Ian Pearl: I Am Not a Dog

I was the first wheelchair-bound student "mainstreamed" in the schools of Broward County, Florida. I became a poster child for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and president of my high school class. I entered college in 1990 with plans to work in politics and patient advocacy, but at 19, I had a severe setback and I was confronted with a stark choice. My survival would require a machine to breathe and round-the-clock nursing care.

A breathing machine usually means life in a nursing facility. But my father's small business had health insurance from Guardian Life Insurance Co., which promised "Solutions for Life." The health policy had no lifetime benefit cap and covered home nursing care. Relying on that contract with a 149-year-old company, I decided to go on a mechanical ventilator for the rest of my life.

Since then, I've endured life-threatening medical complications and long hospitalizations. I've lost my privacy and ability to travel. But I never regretted my decision to live, to continue to learn and write, and to share in the lives of family and friends.

After decades of medical emergencies, we still weren't prepared for the latest crisis -- this one created by the same insurance company that once saved my life. Guardian abruptly withdrew our health plan from all policyholders in New York where my father's business is based. Guardian offered a 'replacement' plan with low benefits and no home nursing benefits. They knew that I would never survive with such a plan, but they didn't care.

Suspecting that this action was related to the high cost of my care, we filed a lawsuit and have asked the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to enforce existing federal laws and require Guardian to continue my health plan. Without federal intervention, I will lose this insurance, and that would be a death sentence.

Our lawsuit uncovered insurance company documents that confirmed my suspicion that I'm a target of discrimination. The documents revealed Guardian had compiled a "hit list" of its costliest members, including patients with muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, brain injury, and paralysis. Guardian executives referred to us all as "dogs" and "trainwrecks," and they debated how and when to dump us from the rolls. Laws prohibited the cancellation of the individual members with serious chronic health problems, so Guardian opted to cancel the plan for all members of this specific health plan in New York, an action that violates federal law.

This is a call to arms for all the pro-lifers out there. Give up on the abortion clinics for a couple of weeks and go chant in front of Guardian Life Insurance Co., home of the broken promise and the privatized death panel.

Now excuse me while I fantasize about letting others make all my choices for me.

Universal Health Care Protects Against Swine Flu

Nativism is dangerous to our health | Salon

Of all the wingnut mythology surrounding healthcare reform, nothing has stirred greater fury or louder denials than the suggestion that government might somehow provide insurance to America's undocumented workers and their families. "You lie!" screamed Rep. Joe Wilson as the President told Congress that his plan would provide no coverage to them. "No, we don't!" replied the Democrats, who scrambled to make sure that the undocumented are excluded by statute.

Yet as the nation prepares for a possible swine flu pandemic this winter, we are learning that the firm determination of both parties to deny medical care to people without papers is actually quite flaccid. Even the most hysterical immigrant-bashers seem content to allow the government to vaccinate immigrants against the H1N1 virus (unless, that is, they happen to be among the right-wing chorus that suspects vaccination itself to be a nefarious socialist plot). Even they seem to realize that viruses don't discriminate on the basis of citizenship -- although they wrongly tried to blame last spring's first outbreak of swine flu on the Mexicans among us.

We must provide health care to all to protect ourselves. I love it!

Country Club Vandalism

Somewhere around Boston a vandal is saying, "DOH!"

Obama Swastika Carved Into Golf Course

Police and grounds keepers at a Massachusetts golf course are trying to figure out how someone snuck onto the grounds and carved a giant swastika message for Barack Obama onto the field – and what exactly did they mean with their message.

The swastika two traditional messages. When rotating counter-clockwise, it is the symbol used by National Socialist Germany and is widely considered a "hate" icon. However, Hindu and Buhdist faiths use the a clockwise-rotating swastika in their religion and is a considered to be symbol for good luck, hope, and peace...

Police are not sure if the vandal or vandals made a mistake or not.

In case the police need a little help with their investigation, given the spacing between the O and the BAMA, the vandal is probably Irish. Just round up all the Irish in Boston and start asking questions. How many can there be?

The real crime was screwing up some poor lawyer's game when his ball landed in the rough of the swastika.

Sean Hannity: Hello! I must be going.

Sean Hannity's unsupported decree doesn't bother me much. The double-speak warps the brain.

The vanquished Vice President doesn't think there's room for debate on climate change. I do. The debate's over. There's no global warming.

Is there room for debate or is the debate over? Or was there room for debate but now the debate is over? Or is there room for debate because the debate is over? Like when there is room in the ring for Sesame Street Live because Wrestlemania is over.

News Flash: Obama Is One Lucky S.O.B.

Obama had the good fortune of being elected President of the United States of America directly after the worst President in our nation's history. For this...

BBC NEWS | Nobel peace prize goes to Obama

The Nobel prize for peace has been awarded to US President Barack Obama.

The Nobel committee said it awarded him the prize for his 'extraordinary work to strengthen international diplomacy'.

"Hi! I'm Barack Obama. I'm not Bush and I'm not a bumbling idiot." Give that man a Nobel Prize!

Furthering his campaign for improved international diplomacy...

Dalai Lama Set Aside By Obama, Honored At U.S Capitol

The Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled religious leader -- brushed aside by U.S. President Barack Obama in favor of communist China -- was saluted at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday for his work for human rights.

Our planet is a funny little place.

AWPC: Who Needs Universal Health Care?

This should never happen in a civilized nation.

Me: Should I get help?

Coworker: Just give me a minute. I can't afford to go out of here in an ambulance again.

It was a blood pressure spike caused by a stressful situation. They took some meds and within an hour had returned to normal. Thank goodness.

But can we really consider ourselves as good as the rest of the developed world when a gainfully employed individual covered by the company insurance plan still feels they can't afford a trip to the hospital? Not even when I find them squatting and sweating by a machine in a panic and have to fetch their medicine from twenty feet away because they can't stand up? How screwed up is that?

Fags are for Fags

Such an ad campaign would most likely be quite effective. Either that or we would see a major surge in sexual experimentation.


New Anti-Smoking Ads Warn Teens 'It's Gay To Smoke'

Obama Just Says No

Evangelical Christians Have a Tough Choice

Ardi's Secret: Did Early Humans Start Walking for Sex?

Among Ardipithecus's ancestors, such a strategy could catch on if searching for food required a lot of time and exposure to predators. Males would be far more successful food-providers if they had their hands free to carry home loads of fruits and tubers—which would favor walking on two legs. Females would come to prefer good, steady providers with smaller canines over the big fierce-toothed ones who left as soon as they spot another fertile female. The results, says Lovejoy, are visible in Ardipithecus, which had small canines even in males and walked upright.

Lovejoy's explanation for the origin of bipedalism thus comes down to the monogamous pair bond. Far from being a recent evolutionary innovation, as many people assume, he believes the behavior goes back all the way to near the beginning of our lineage some six million years ago.

Evangelicals now have a tough choice in front of them. They can either accept this scientific theory that supports their supposed love of heterosexual monogamy or dismiss it in favor of their darling creationism.

Hidden Nukes Again

Hey, it worked with Iraq. Let's get all alarmist over hidden nukes again!

BBC NEWS | Iran 'concealed nuclear facility'

Iran concealed a partially-built second uranium enrichment plant in defiance of calls for transparency over its nuclear plans, US President Barack Obama says.

So what if Iran does have a hidden nuclear agenda? What if they are secretly amassing WMD's? That's the problem with crying wolf.

Change! (for me)

I'm sick of the health care debate. We aren't going to get the health care reform that those who approve of it really want but we'll get just enough so that those who oppose it will consider us all a bunch of commies.

Let's go back to talking about Gay Marriage.

America is finally winning the War On (some) Drugs

While it is a far cry from a clear victory, America is finally winning the War On (some) Drugs.

Chronic City: Marijuana Arrests Drop For First Time Since 2002 - San Francisco News

Marijuana arrests in the United States declined in 2008 -- the first such drop since 2002 -- according to figures released by the FBI today.

The new report comes on the heels of the 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, released Sept. 10, which showed increases in both the number and the percentage of Americans who admit having used marijuana.

Americans who have used marijuana (a theoretical majority) are fessing up to their past use. Police are backing off of the pot arrests saying, "Even most of us have smoked pot."

As this trend continues we should see a steady decline in police harassment until marijuana reaches a de facto decriminalized status with a simultaneous sharp increase in the sale of bean bags and Funyuns.

Keep up the good fight, America!

America: Love It or Leave It

In responses to a previous post I realized that I was getting a bit down on our Constitution and its framers without providing an explanation as to where I am coming from on these things.

First off, all apologies to the long dead and gone founding fathers/framers of the constitution. From a perspective that has seen two centuries of rapid progress it is all too easy to judge their antiquated ways. And I do judge them. I judge them because they don't seem to be all that different from their modern counterparts. That said...

The United States government is and always has been pro-business. While the fighting of the American Revolution was carried out primarily by the average citizenry, just like it is today, those folks were left out of the process setting up the government that replaced the old government. It was created by the business class to protect the business class. Initially this meant protecting them from the horrible monopoly business practices of the old world that held total power over global colonies through exclusive rights granted by kings and queens. Once freed from the old way of old money, they continued to develop policies that allowed them the freedom to grab up the resources of their new homeland. They looted and pillaged their way across the country. They would deliberately pick fights to justify military operations that would expand their holdings. I know such things are not taught in our schools as part of American history. A little independent research (because we are all about independence in America) will reveal just how ruthless this country was in the pursuit of resources and the inherent cronyism when distributing new holdings.

Luckily the system is flexible enough to allow 'the people', the vast majority, just enough say to get thrown a bone here and there. Again, the system is and always has been stacked in favor of business. One of the things business really likes is stability and predictability. If things get too turbulent, if the people are on the verge of taking to the streets, the system will see fit to give them just enough of what they want or need to keep the system stabilized. It may cut into the massive profits of the richest 10% who control nearly 3/4 of the wealth, but it beats the hell out of a revolution where their heads end up on pikes in front of their former mansions. When the people realized their own strength, formed unions, shut down factories, and could no longer even be stopped by the state militias (or sometimes even the US Army) who were sent in fully armed to break up the strikes, concessions were made. Unions were granted legitimacy as long as they promised not to have sit-in strikes (which ruined production by managers and scabs) and wouldn't call general strikes (which shut down entire cities). The nation outlawed slavery but didn't insist on equality for a century.

Back to the title of this post. I have often heard people say that if you don't like this country then get out. Sounds easy enough. But I don't have a problem with America. Do I love America? Let's see, there are many times when I find myself saying, "Damn I love Portland!" It is nearly always in response to the people around me and their actions. If you believe America is made up of the people that inhabit it, then I guess, over all, I love America. As crazy and fucked up dysfunctional as this place is, bless their hearts, I love America. It's hard to imagine any other place even half this insane and I love wild insanity. I love America.

My problem is with government. The very nature of governing, be it by elected officials or by divine right, leads to restriction. Restrictions can have positive effects. It's hard to argue against a law prohibiting people from driving in the left lane. Even without such a law a society would find itself voluntarily submitting to such a restriction in the interests of self preservation. Until the motor vehicle started to proliferate there was no need for such regulations. There are choices to be made along the way. Do you allow the states the freedom of choosing their own traffic laws or allow free movement from state to state by regulating traffic at a federal level?* To govern it in any way impedes on liberty.

That is what government does. It can not grant or guarantee liberty, only restrict things. We are born with all the liberty we can take. As a newborn that is practically none and must depend on those around us. If you are born into wealth you will enjoy freedoms unknown to those whose lineage is less glamorous. Americans can buy a hell of a lot of liberty. Lack of money does not preclude others from pursuing and even obtaining liberties. Not by the grace of the Constitution or its framers, but by tooth and nail, blood and sweat, in spite of every obstacle thrown up in front of them.

The American Revolution did not set us free any more than the founding fathers did. As long as there is one among us who is held down and told, 'NO!' there is not one of us who is free. This all started here because of the health care debate America is currently having. Nobody chooses to get sick**. Nobody chooses to be born. These things just happen. There are those who truly believe in "We the people..." and believe in government of, by, and for the people. For those people, which is more important; taking a step towards improving the life and liberty of 90% of the American people or securing the profits of 10%?***

I have no real answer here. Forcing people to pay for insurance, face fines for non-compliance, or be taxed for a universal health plan sounds like theft. Denying the sick medical treatment sounds like murder****. Americans can either be victims of one crime or accomplices in the other.

* Uniform traffic laws became a priority in the 1920's. Eventually there was a set of federal regulations decided upon and states could expand upon those as they saw fit.

** Some people engage in risky behavior like drinking, smoking, and unprotected sex. They are making choices that put their health at risk. Such activities can lead to disease, cancer, and babies. Personally I've done all three simultaneously and safely. Again, nobody chooses to get sick.

*** For all the rhetoric of the framers of the Constitution, historical evidence suggests the majority of them would have chosen the latter, just as our modern politicians seem to do.

**** If there really are death panels it will be those who deny health care to their fellow citizens based on prejudices towards people's monetary status.

Sorry for the rambling post. I'm still fisting the American Dream.

To My Liberal Friends

This is for all of my so-called liberal friends who tried desperately to get me to vote for Obama.

We've seen this healthcare trigger before

'The past is never dead,' wrote William Faulkner. 'It's not even past.' As today's trigger proposal shows, that's particularly true when a 'change' election preserves the same corrupt forces, cynical tactics and bedeviled details.

It is time for you to stop licking his asshole and telling me it tastes like honey. Ultra-liberal news media outlet Salon.com was critical all through the Bush years. I was surprised as they continued to be critical of Obama. Now, my liberal friends, it is your turn.

Anyone who signs a bill with a public option 'trigger' included is duping you.

On importation, triggers gave corporatist politicians a way to seem like they were remaining true to their pro-consumer platitudes and "free trade" dogma at the same time they were strengthening an extreme form of anti-consumer protectionism for pharmaceutical companies. On health reform, a trigger will let those same legislators look as if they support a public option that increases insurance competition, reduces costs and therefore delivers on promises to decrease the deficit. But if/when the bill's final language is inevitably designed to make pulling any trigger impossible, it will preclude a public option from ever existing.

Or if you prefer to live with the delusion that Obama is still the savior of America, then you better get yourself politically active and make certain that your representatives don't try to pass off a bill with some bogus trigger in it.

Even scum bag Republican Tim Pawlenty knows that triggers are bogus.*

* "So rather than murder the drug legislation outright, congressional leaders joined the Clinton and Bush administrations in backing a "compromise": Importation bills were passed, but only those that gave the secretary of Health and Human Services the power to trigger -- or not trigger -- final implementation. Specifically, the secretary would have to first certify that imported medicines were "safe." (Drug companies promote the lie that Canadian medicine is mortally dangerous -- prompting Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty, an importation proponent, to ask, "Where are the dead Canadians?")"

Benefits Business

I gave my blow-by-blow of the speech, but let's focus on the real sign that this President, like every single President before him, knows where the power lies.

Obama’s Speech Eases Concerns in Health Insurance Industry - NYTimes.com

The reality may also be much more favorable to insurers, industry analysts said. Mr. Obama has already agreed to grant one of the industry’s dearest wishes: a requirement that everyone have coverage, which is reflected in the proposals in Congress.

“Under my plan,” said Mr. Obama in a departure from his position during the campaign, “individuals will be required to carry basic health insurance — just as most states require you to carry auto insurance.”

The President is not the commander in chief, he is merely the top public relations face for corporate America. He is the one charged with keeping the people from revolting against the wealthy.

True, that means he must try to give the people enough of what they want to keep them happy. Sorry, not happy, but placated.

If it is required of every individual to have health insurance then the ONLY sensible way to do this is to either socialize health care or go to a single-payer system that is paid for with taxes. To require people to factor in one more financial obligation just because you won't own up and call it a tax is ridiculous.

And to tell people they MUST have insurance (but the government may help you pay for it) with the primary insurers still being private companies is yet another government handout to the wealthy.

The proposed bill is bullshit! Total unadulterated bullshit. They call it health care reform when it is just a reshuffle and they are stacking the deck.

I admit that I might be wrong. An alternative scenario would be that the public option they speak of, once up and running, will be so fantastic that more and more companies drop their employee coverage, add their previous costs of insurance to the payroll, and let individuals go on the public plan until it gets so huge and so popular that we end up with what is essentially a single payer system. It might happen. I'll be so bold as to say this will happen well before monkeys fly out of my butt.

Obama's Health Care Speech Blow-by-Blow

And boy did much of it blow. Still, I had to rubber neck through the whole ordeal, unable to turn away from the great capitalist sell-out that offers a health care plan such as only a messed up American corporate run democracy could offer. I've seen fewer concessions at a state fair.

You can watch, or just take my word for it.

Times are approximate.

5:30 Applause comes to an end. Five and a half freakin' minutes.

18:00 Finally gets around to actually discussing health care reform.

23:00 Agrees with John McCain who proceeds to give the universal sign of what politicians keep in their backsides.

24:00 Announces that people will be required to have insurance if they can afford it likening it to everyone being required to have auto insurance if they drive. So just like if you don't want to pay for auto insurance you can stop driving, you will now have the option to stop breathing if you don't want health insurance.

30:00 Public option will only be available to people who don't have insurance, so like millions of others I'm still stuck with my crappy ass Kaiser plan.

34:00 Pelosi is winding down her standing ovation, is about to sit, then straightens back up to clap some more. For her age she is still an enthusiastic cheerleader, showing up Biden's lack of 'spirit'.

35:30 Kindly kicks the Bush administration in the nuts for spending too much money. Just nice and gentle like.

36:30 "Sacred Trust". Because both of those words are completely unambiguous especially when paired.

40:30 Republicans spontaneously ejaculate when he mentions tort reform.

43:00 "Common Ground". I mean, he had to say it at some point.

43:20 Says he will listen to anyone's ideas unless he thinks you are a big meanie.

44:40 Plays on politicians sense of self importance, "Too many Americans are counting on us."

45:00 Plays the Teddy Kennedy card to try and pick up a few tricks.

52:10 Reminds atheists and many people of different religions this land is not their land. While this is primarily a corpratocracy masquerading as a democracy, it is also a thinly veiled theocracy. "God bless the United States of America."

And somewhere in there he pisses me off by stating that no public money will go for abortions.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Abortion and Universal Health Care

To get evangelical conservative Christians supporting universal health care explain that if we get universal, single-payer health care now they can then argue that the government (who would then be the sole health care provider for the majority of Americans) can not use tax payer money for abortions because it would be a violation of their first amendment separation of church and state rights.

Which is total bullshit, but then again, so are they.

New shirt to celebrate my evil plan.

Tele-ocracy

Do you ever feel lost when people start talking about television? I know I do.

People watch a lot of television and use it as a way to relate to other people.

Unplug The Signal: We are Living in an Artificially Induced State of Consciousness

Heavy television watching is culturally accepted and expected in our society. In fact, the act of not watching TV can actually offend some people.

I thought internet video was going to change the way we watch television. Netflix lets me watch movies on demand. Hulu let's me watch television shows on my schedule with fewer commercials. Thanks to YouTube and similar sites, there is a glut of new content, most of it crap, but nearly all of it produced outside of the major broadcasting systems.

I was wrong to think that choice could supplant scheduled programing. People watch it and then can talk about it the next day. That's the point. The false connection with others.

Television is creating a culture of occupied minds- an apathetic and passive population only interested in being entertained by mindless trivia with no interest in analyzing information and instead relying on the TV for all answers.

Worse: relying on TV to create a social network. Those who do not participate in the ritual have no way to communicate with those who do. I have no idea what happened on (insert show name) last night and I don't care. I used to have a few shows on my list that allowed me limited social interaction. Not anymore.

Sorry. This post doesn't give you much to talk about while you stand around the coffee machine in the break room trying to stay awake because you stayed up too late to watch (insert show name) last night.

Don't Buy Craftsmen Tools

At least not right now.

In the midst of contract negotiations the CEO of SK Hand Tools, makers of Craftsmen Tools, decided to cut off health insurance benefits. Which kind of sucks for those who need it. To make matters worse, he didn't bother telling his employees until after he had done so.

Support builds for SK strikers

Local 743 declared an unfair labor practices strike August 25 when SK Hand Tools CEO Claude Fuger refused to restore health care benefits that were unilaterally cut off last May amid ongoing contract negotiations. The local is seeking redress before the National Labor Relations Board, but called the strike to force Fuger to move faster.

The situation is urgent. Many of the workers at SK Hand Tools--which makes the popular Craftsman brand for Sears--have serious health issues that have put them tens of thousands of dollars in debt.

Can you imagine going in to get your much needed insulin and instead of the $40 copay you all of a sudden have to fork out a few grand?

Pay for insulin or die? Pay for insulin or die? Health care choices in the great American health care system where private insurance can really let you down. Especially when your boss unexpectedly cancels your insurance.

Healthcare Freedom

I want socialized healthcare and I want it NOW!

Work covers prescription safety glasses for me every two years. In two years time even well cared for safety glasses get really messed up working in a factory. Two years has passed, it is time for new glasses.

For the glasses themselves, the company has a contract with an independent clinic with top notch service. If I purchase my safety glasses there, they will bill my employer directly. My other option is to buy them elsewhere with my own money and submit my bill for reimbursement by my employer.

I called up the clinic to see if they will accept the new insurance since the company changed our coverage when they were bought out. Nope, I'm not covered there. So I have to get my eye appointment at an approved clinic and then take my prescription to this other clinic to get my safety glasses.

To find out what clinics I can go to I had activate my online account. Yeah, I'm a real health conscious guy. I've been insured since January and am just getting around to using my benefits for the first time. Going through that process was somewhat frightening. To set up my password the automated system asked me a series of questions that supposedly only I would know the answer to. How does an automated system for my insurance company on a plan I have never used know what vehicle I owned seven years ago and who one of my roommates was thirteen years ago? I know the answer and I don't like it.

After several minutes of creepiness I get into their system, look up local providers, and discover I can choose between one place on the other side of town or fucking off. My glasses are pretty screwed up right now, so I choose not to fuck off but to give them a call.

When I called my old clinic, the phone was answered by a receptionist. This place gave me an automated answering system that informed me in a very rushed manner that if I wanted to make an eye appointment the number I really wanted to call was... hang up, call again, paper and pen ready... one more time. Got it.

I call the appointment number and get another automated system. In this system I wait on hold long enough to finish making my lunch and writing most of this blog post. I finally get to talk to a person, go to set up an appointment, and I go off.

"You are fucking kidding me. A month? The earliest appointment you have is a fucking month away? I once had to wait two fucking days and the clinic apologized and you are telling me I can't get in for a fucking month and pretending that it is no big deal?" It doesn't exactly fit with my personal schedule, either. But I take it. I have to. I have no choice but to give them my money and take it right up the ass because right now the alternative is to not be able to see at all. Which might not be so bad.

To all you assholes out there yelling and screaming about how bad it would be to have socialized healthcare, I know of something far worse. It's called Kaiser*.

* A friend who used to work in a morgue told me that Kaiser is very good at caring for the deceased. He saw many of their clients.

Things are looking -hic- looking up

Nation's Unemployment Outlook Improves Drastically After Fifth Beer

Even in Michigan, home to the nation's highest unemployment numbers, fairly buzzed sources described a bright future for thousands of laid-off automotive workers and their families. State labor director Stanley Pruss echoed the sentiment, saying that he fully expected out-of-work Michigan residents to be back on their feet in no time.

'Something will come along for everyone. Something even better, you'll see,' Pruss told reporters at a Lansing bar with a generous happy-hour special. 'Our state, all this unemployment, you know...pfft. It's bullshit. Bullshit. If we just work together, we can make it better. For everyone! But look, why are we even talking about this? Life is short, man. Just enjoy the ride!'

The Left Behind...

I can't deny that my politics have been swinging more dramatically to the left recently. I am now and feel confident that I always will be an anarchist in ideals. For now, I am leaning towards what many might define as Anarcho-Socialism.

In short, I would rather be accused of being a Socialist scumbag then a Capitalist scumbag. The difference? The thought of being stuck in a room full of leading Socialist thinkers sounds exciting. The idea of getting locked in a room full of the leading Capitalists makes me want to vomit.

that said, here is Socialist scumbag John Pilger making a fantastic speech to a bunch of other Socialist scumbags. It's thirty minutes well spent, in my humble Anarchist scumbag opinion.

You Will Not Get Healthcare Reform

I found myself wondering why Democrats are not capitalizing on the death of Teddy Kennedy to push for nationalized healthcare as a memorial to one of its stronger proponents. Then I found it, buried deep in an article.

Obama leads tributes to Kennedy

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, praised his determination to make quality health-care available to all Americans...

One tiny little soundbite on the issue in the foreign press. Guess what folks? You are not getting nationalized healthcare because the big businesses that really run the show don't want you to have it. If you look through the 200+ years of American history you will find that the only time this government caves in and throws a bone to the working women and men of this country is when the alternative is getting a shade too close to revolutionary. Unless we are going to riot in the streets, take up arms, or shut down cities with a general strike, you aren't getting shit!

On a happier note, it was surprising to see a Kennedy die of organ failure from non-violent causes. It is easier to battle cancer than to put a man's brain back together after a bullet has torn it apart. At least it is if you can afford all the procedures. Teddy could and it prolonged his life. Could you afford the level of treatment Mr. Kennedy received? He thought you should be able to.

Court Rules Marijuana Use is a Choice

Holy Crap! A rational ruling involving marijuana use. Too bad it wasn't in the United States.

Argentina rules on marijuana use

The supreme court in Argentina has ruled that it is unconstitutional to punish people for using marijuana for personal consumption...

The Argentine court ruled that: 'Each adult is free to make lifestyle decisions without the intervention of the state.'

Supreme Court President Ricardo Lorenzetti said private behaviour was legal, 'as long as it doesn't constitute clear danger'.

'The state cannot establish morality,' he said.

Once again America is leading the way. This time it happened to be South America.

Why We Need Socialized Healthcare

That's right, I said socialized healthcare. I'm not talking single payer, public option, or any of that half assed bullshit. We need genuine socialized healthcare. The kind where when you need medical attention you walk in, get treatment, and walk back out again without a hitch. Here is one timely example of why.

Recently a friend's brother had an accident involving falling off of an apartment complex balcony and hitting his head on a gas grill. He was rushed to the hospital where doctors had to remove a large portion of his skull to relieve pressure on the brain from swelling. They saved his life.

Now the swelling has gone down leaving a huge crater on the side of his head. It's time to start considering having the removed portion of the skull put back in place.

But the hospital will not perform the procedure until he pays them the $15k he wracked up by having to be in the intensive care unit for an extended period of time. One could say they are holding his skull hostage.

He's not too worried about it right now. He used to be in the armed services and is confident that the VA, the only form of socialized healthcare currently available in the United States, will take care of him. IF they can convince OHSU, the facility he was rushed to and that performed the emergency removal of the skull piece, to release his body part without him coughing up the $15k first.

This could be you. This guy thought he was covered by the VA. You might think that you're covered as well. Do you really want to find out how little you are covered for when the hospital is holding one of your body parts hostage? YOUR body parts.

And do we really want to deny veterans their benefits because they got rushed to the nearest hospital instead of the VA?

No insurance. No co-pays. No single-payer/public option bullshit. The last thing a person needs after narrowly surviving a near fatal accident is the worry of how they are going to pay for it. Let's all pay for it together so that nobody has to go through that. Like our best buddy Britain does for all of their people. Socialize healthcare.

More Healthcare Madness

Slave Treats

Introducing SLAVE TREATS!

Everybody loves Slave Treats. Here's how they work.

If you are a good slave, the master will give you slave treats. You can exchange your slave treats for things that make the life of a slave more comfortable like food, shelter, or liquor. But don't go too crazy. Slave treats aren't easy to come by.

If slave treats are easy to come by, then you must be a slave master. This means you can use your slave treats to entice slaves to do things for you. They can build you mansions, cook you feasts, make you fast cars and even drive them for you.

It doesn't matter if you are begging for a few more like the slave you are or are the benevolent master doling them out. Everybody can enjoy Slave Treats!

The Onion Checks in on Healthcare, sort of

I'm Sorry, But There Was Almost Nothing Else We Could Have Done | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this. But there was only so much that his insurance plan covered...

All we can do now is pray that the insurance company agrees to pay for what we did manage to do for him.

You Can't Send Abortions and Blowjobs to War

First Class Public Health Care

John Stewart gets conservative Bill Kristol to admit that there is such a thing as first class public health care in America, we're just too cheap to give it to everyone.

Healthcare Cowards

Hey, all you pansies who are scared to death* by the prospect of socializing medicine, what are you so afraid of?

To answer this question, I picked a site at random** that was against socialized medicine. Here is some of what they had to say.

When we examine countries that have embraced socialized medicine, we find long waiting lists, expansive red tape and little concern for the individual. Do you really want to be told which doctor to go to? Do you want to wait years to have necessary medical procedures performed? If so, then socialized medicine is for you.

Long waiting lists? Here in the good old United States I tend only to go to a doctor if I don't feel well. The first thing they ask me is if I have an appointment. Of course I have to call ahead to get an appointment. If I want to see an actual doctor and not just a nurse practitioner (sorry sis) they are typically booked at least a month out. Yep, long waiting list.

Red tape? You mean like when my appendix was partially ruptured and they had me waiting around for hours answering questions about my insurance and then double checking so they knew they'd get paid? The whole time I was double overed in excruciating pain wondering why I was talking to a receptionist and not a doctor when my own clinic had sent me there immediately after my doctor's appointment.*** Is that really better than them having to go through the same bullshit from a single provider?

As far as individual concern, why am I always treated like a junky trying to get some prescription meds? The bastards won't prescribe me anything while giving others with the exact same symptoms an entire shopping list. Meanwhile I don't even use up the meds I'm prescribed while these other fuckers with carte blanche talk about popping a few Vicadin with a six pack. I did meet one doctor who showed some real concern for me. The guy who performed my vasectomy. He was awesome. He was also very busy and had a long waiting list to see. So I had to see a different doctor for my pre-op appointment and that guy neglected to tell me all sorts of stuff during our rushed ten minute session.

Even if I don't want to be told what doctor to go to, I don't have much choice. Like most citizens on their crappy company plans, the provider gives me a list of people to choose from. If I want to go to someone else, one of their doctors has to refer me. Oh, unless I'm uber rich and can go to any doctor I can afford. But anyone anywhere in the world can do that. They can fly to the world famous hospitals of Sweden or Germany.

One way or another we all pay for health care for everyone. For the uninsured, they will eventually end up in emergency rooms and the tax payers have to pick up the bill. If you are wondering why your pay is so small, part of the reason is that your insurance is factored as part of your cost as an employee****. You are paying for it. The premiums on insurance seem high to those who don't use it because they are helping to cover for those who do. You know, like some sort of socialized sharing of health care costs among all. You are helping to pay for the treatment of that little girl with cancer. If you are so against socialized medicine, drop your insurance, pay cash at the doctor's office, and watch the little cancer girl die.

Do I want to wait years to have necessary medical procedures performed? Well, yes. I hate going to the doctor and I especially hate surgery. Unless I can watch them operating on me. That is pretty cool. But if we socialize medicine we aren't going to have to wait any longer. Seriously. You are just being paranoid. Stop being such a big scared baby and go for some socialized health care.

Afterwards we can go get ice cream... ya pussy.

* Accidental death due to fear of socialized medicine is not covered by your current plan.

** Searched for reasons to be against socialized healthcare and chose the first one.

*** They got me in to see a nurse practitioner and she called the doctor almost immediately, just as slickly as they do in socialized countries.

**** And part of the reason is that your employer is a cheap, greedy bastard more concerned with his own financial standing than with your ability to pay rent or buy insulin.

Abortions for All!

Woot! Obama's science Czar is pro-abortion. That's right, not pro-choice but pro-abortion!

John Holdren, Obama's Science Czar, says: Forced abortions and mass sterilization needed to save the planet

These ideas (among many other equally horrifying recommendations) were put forth by John Holdren, whom Barack Obama has recently appointed Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, and Co-Chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology -- informally known as the United States' Science Czar. In a book Holdren co-authored in 1977, the man now firmly in control of science policy in this country wrote that:

• Women could be forced to abort their pregnancies, whether they wanted to or not;
• The population at large could be sterilized by infertility drugs intentionally put into the nation's drinking water or in food;
• Single mothers and teen mothers should have their babies seized from them against their will and given away to other couples to raise;
• People who 'contribute to social deterioration' (i.e. undesirables) 'can be required by law to exercise reproductive responsibility' -- in other words, be compelled to have abortions or be sterilized.
• A transnational 'Planetary Regime' should assume control of the global economy and also dictate the most intimate details of Americans' lives -- using an armed international police force.

Damn it! He didn't actually say these things.

Anybody who actually wants to know what we and/or Professor Holdren believe and recommend about these matters would presumably read some of the dozens of publications that we and he separately have produced in more recent times, rather than going back a third of a century to find some formulations in an encyclopedic textbook where description can be misrepresented as endorsement.

Schucks, I was starting to like the guy. Not the transnational planetary regime stuff. At least the abortions and sterilization stuff was very cool. And quite brave. Too bad he may not have actually meant it.

Stupid right-wingers getting me all excited with their fanciful 'news' stories.

Police Need More Typewriters

The NYPD has earmarked nearly $1 million for typewriters and the service of those typewriters. Apparently this is due to the department still using old carbon forms for much of its police paperwork.

NYPD typewriter bill nearly $1 million - UPI.com

Dr. Edith Linn, a retired New York police officer and professor of criminal justice at the city's Berkeley College, said many of the 500 police officers she interviewed for a study told her the outdated equipment makes them less likely to perform arrests for minor offenses.

From a citizen perspective, this sounds like $1 million very well spent. If typewriters keep cops from getting all ticket happy, then I say every police department needs more typewriters.

Defaming Beef

It started with Carl's Jr. and their Angus beef burgers. Now McDonalds is getting in on it. Fast food is pretending at being all upscale by claiming to have genuine Angus beef.

It's a lie. My dad raises genuine Angus beef from a herd I started when in FFA. The so-called Angus in these fast food burgers is referring to beef from cows that are black. It would be like calling every dark skinned human a Nigerian, or at least the first two syllables of that word, sort of. Folks who raise genuine Black Angus beef should consider a defamation suit.

It's not all about the breed. Just like people, good beef has more to do with how they are raised, how they are treated, the environment they live in, how they die and other variables. Crappy feed lot beef is still crappy feed lot beef and is going to be tough, hard, and not as easily palatable. Just like ghetto trash is more than likely going to be toughened, harder, and less palatable (in an inter-personal relations way since we aren't supposed to be eating them for dinner).

Besides, all McDonalds really needed to say was...

Now With Less Horse!

Chaos Economics

Tonight I was reading in a book* how the chaos models used to predict weather are the same principles used to forecast economic trends.

People forecasting weather understand that these models work well up to three days out and then deteriorate quickly. People have accepted this and understand that if someone tells you a month and a day from now it will rain, they are guessing. Nobody listens to the long term forecast (or even the short term for that matter) and takes it as gospel truth.

Meanwhile economists utilizing the same principles will often mistake these forecasts for something resembling truth. They forget that the models work to give a good probability of near term events, absolutely suck at predicting upcoming trends a week or more out, but give a decent overview of how markets behave in general. Even though many of them are gifted in the field of mathematics, they neglect to consider that a slight shift even in the ten-thousandths (.0001) can cause radical changes that render the end result unrecognizable from its nearly identical (at the start) counterpart.

The models demonstrate that major spikes and valleys will occur. A deregulated market will make for some pretty wild swings. A strictly regulated market would make both the highs and lows considerably less radical. The odds of getting rich go down but so do the odds of getting wiped out.

If you establish a garden inside of a greenhouse, you can control most of the 'weather' for that system. That means more work for you but with less risk. If you are looking to invest, you can put your money in a guaranteed savings account**. You'll have to put a hell of a lot in to get anything out of it, but the chances of losing it all are quite slim.

The opposite of this would probably be throwing your apple core into a ditch on your way to buy some lottery tickets.

* Yes they still print books and yes people still read them.

** Current interest rates are out-paced by inflation. Think of it as having to put in two to draw out one. It's still better than losing your inheritance because your mom insisted on investing in Enron.

About Franken Time!

Congratulations to Senator Elect Al Franken.

BBC NEWS | Court declares Franken 'victory'

Minnesota's Supreme Court has declared Democrat Al Franken the winner of the state's disputed 2008 US Senate race...

The Supreme Court ruling means that Mr Franken should soon become the Democrats' 60th vote in the US Senate.

I'm just glad Norm Coleman has finally lost the seat he stole from a dead man (Paul Wellstone).

More Onion Truth

U.S. Finishes A 'Strong Second' In Iraq War | The Onion

BAGHDAD—After 19 months of struggle in Iraq, U.S. military officials conceded a loss to Iraqi insurgents Monday, but said America can be proud of finishing 'a very strong second.'

"We went out there, gave it our all, and fought a really good fight," said Gen. George W. Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq. "America's got nothing to be ashamed of. We outperformed Great Britain, Poland, and a lot of the other top-notch nations, but Iraq just wouldn't stay down for the count. It may have come down to them simply wanting it more."

Bright Green Light

While I love my guns, I still consider this a lovely thing.

Northern Ireland | Loyalist weapons put 'beyond use'

Two Northern Ireland loyalist paramilitary groups have said they have completed decommissioning.

The UVF and Red Hand Commando said their weapons and explosives were 'totally and irreversibly beyond use'.

Another loyalist group, the Ulster Defence Association, confirmed it had started to decommission its arsenal.

NI Secretary Shaun Woodward said it was 'an historic day for Northern Ireland'. Between them, the UDA and UVF killed almost 1,000 people in the Troubles.

Four years ago, the IRA put its weapons beyond use in decommissioning witnessed by two churchmen.

It's good to see the Irish restricting their violence to drunken pub brawls over the football match. That's universal*.



* Except in the United States where football is not football and therefor people fighting over football are not really fighting about football and cannot technically be counted as a pub brawl over the football match. And they watch in bars, not pubs. Wankers.

An Affair so Right

US governor admits 'wrong' affair.

The Republican governor of the US state of South Carolina has admitted to an extra-marital affair.

Yawn.

He could have saved a lot of trouble by announcing it preemptively.


Congressman Offers Preemptive Apology For Extramarital Affair

Putting Iran in Perspective

In the recent election in Iran there were some who were really upset with the result. Those people took to the streets to protest and have sited irregularities as proof of a rigged election.

Sounds like just another modern democratic election to me. Same thing happened here in the United States in 2000 and 2004. People took to the streets to protest. They took legal actions. They investigated and found irregularities far more rampant than those currently in Iran.

There is a difference. In Iran the protests have been forcibly restrained by police. The United States was at least more civil about it. I would guess it has something to do with the US population having more to lose if they die. As screwed up as things may seem, citizens of this great nation have still got it pretty sweet compared to the vast majority of this planet. That makes people very reluctant to erupt into the kind of violence that can lead to revolutions.

Polls by independent sources leading up to the Iran election showed the incumbent with nearly a 2 to 1 lead over the challenger whose supporters have taken to the streets in protest. Like it or not, Analbeadingjob* seems to have majority support.

In 2000 and 2004 the US polls showed much closer races and greater irregularities. It seems hard for someone like myself to believe the former and unfathomable that people would accept the latter. That has passed like so much history written in the blood of duped Americans.

In Iran, the theocratic nature of politics operates openly. In the highly civilized United States, we can feign religious tolerance while secretly acting as a Christian nation. Members of Bush's cabinet certainly saw our efforts in the Middle East as a holy war. Atheists can not get elected President here. Many who voted for Bush, and plenty of people actually did vote for him, saw him as a deeply religious individual of Christian morals. We hide our theocracy in plain sight.

As for the news stories, consider that they might just be propaganda. Maybe. Possibly. For instance, the CIA is strictly prohibited from interfering in domestic affairs. Not their jurisdiction. They have, however, deliberately placed false news stories in foreign newspapers to sway international opinion. There have been incidents where Congressmen and Senators have then quoted from these planted articles, presumably not knowing that they were planted, to rally support domestically.

Iranians get repressed like goats in a feed lot. Americans get repressed like emo kids in suburbia. Those repressing are doing God's will. Those telling us about the repression are viewing it through the eyes of their favorite oppressor.

I'm just glad to live in a country where I and others like me are free to express ourselves because our highly civilized government has accepted that it is easier to beat people down with a propaganda campaign than with the butt of a rifle. Praise be to Allah God bless America!

* Muslims are going to call for my assassination now, aren't they?

One for the Little Guy

I've been meaning to get a little more positive around here. So here's something.

Peru Indians hail 'historic' day

Indigenous groups in Peru have called off protests after two land laws which led to deadly fighting were revoked.

Hailing victory, Amazonian Indian groups said it was an 'historic day'.

At least 34 people died during weeks of strikes against the legislation which allowed foreign companies to exploit resources in the Amazon forest.

Peru had passed the land laws in order to implement a free trade agreement with the US. Indigenous peoples had this strange notion that the lands were better suited to support the people living in those areas.

The natives weren't the only ones pissed about this. Peru's neighbors Bolivia and Venezuela also condemned the decision. Peru reconsidered and revoked the laws by an 82-12 vote.

Only a few dozen people had to die in the meantime.

Lament of the Low Born

It sucks to not be born into privilege. We all know it. We may try to cover it over with little anecdotes about appreciating the simple pleasures and romantic notions of an honest day's work blah blah blah. For all those people who like to cry about the invocation of class warfare, the rich are just damn lucky that the poor in these United States still have enough to make class warfare an ideological campaign instead of a bloody one.

This week I had to purchase new work pants. When I first started buying them, I knew they were union made in the US. Then some were union made in the US so I had to look at the label. Then I could either get made in the US from foreign materials or assembled in Mexico from US materials. This time I just needed some damn pants and didn't even look at the label.

It would seem to me that if the country was really serious about building genuine economic stability and growth a wise course of action would be to boost consumption of American made goods. So why haven't we heard any encouragement towards this end? Why hasn't President Obama called for a vigorous campaign calling for people to buy domestic?

Well, he made a tiny squeak about it and was immediately shot down by big business and the European Union. It is easy to understand why the European Union would not want protectionist measures levied against their goods, but why domestic companies?

Possibly because those who spend the most financing campaigns have no desire to boost the economic stability of the working class. That's right, I smell a conspiracy afoot. A strong working class will make demands of their employers. They want benefits and an equal stake in the success of the company. No manufacturer can bring a product to market without a labor force. They know it and wish like hell it wasn't the case. Right now while companies are acting frightened, they are enjoying an unprecedented level of employee loyalty based in fear. People are less likely to farm around for a different job because the market for their 'unskilled labor' sucks. They won't make demands because their employers are systematically laying off or firing anyone they can. Unionization is right out, and corporations love that.

Fear is effective in the short term. The last administration got away with torture and murder and a whole list of lesser crimes because people were scared to death of terrorists. Prolonged fear will drive people ape-shit-bonkers and you end up with Timothy McVeigh, the Una-Bomber, and disgruntled employees going postal. Fear can only control a population until they realize that the bogey man in the closet was a fiction created by folks with an agenda. Rather than opting for a safer plan of working cooperatively with workers, companies just try to keep the fear at a 'safe level'.

I dare say that the bogey man in the closet this time around, the world financial crisis, was so convincing that the forces behind it have even scared themselves. Imagine directing a slasher movie. You shot it. You edited it. You know the film. Yet at the opening you still jump when the killer lashes out from the shadows. It happens.

Companies knew that growth based on credit was risky. Banks knew it, too. A lot of people figured they were good enough that if their current venture went down the tubes, they'd just hop on the next one. But it snowballed. The bogey man of economic uncertainty had gotten loose, snuck up behind them, and started chasing them through the moon shadowed mists of a dieing forest they helped to destroy. As they run away they hand you, the worker, the task of killing the bogey man. They raped you and violated you and beat you down until your life was a meaningless existence of booze poured down in quantities large enough to forget how much it all sucks. In a slasher film those who created the monster would be among the first to go and you would rise to the occasion and become the hero. This isn't a movie. They will get away and you will be fucked.

What can you do about it? Nothing. Shut up and get back to work, slave.

Thank you for shopping at Wal-Mart.

In God's Name

Remember being told over and over again that the Iraq War was not a war against Islam? If Donald Rumsfeld's White House briefings on the war are any indication, that was all a lie.

Onward, Christian Soldiers! - GQ

Go watch the slide show. I laughed. I cried. I fought off involuntary loss of bladder control and held back a spontaneous bowel movement.

I am guessing the US Armed forces are waiting for Jesus to come down and smite the unbelievers before they can withdraw from the region. God will get right on that.

How Many Deaths Will it Take 'til We Know

Once again, The Onion gets it spot on.

Abortion Doctor's Murder Sparks Waves Of Calm, Rational Discussion

The cold-blooded murder of late-term abortion doctor George Tiller, 67, who was gunned down last week by a pro-life activist during services at a local church, has ignited a firestorm of thoughtful, quiet debate about the practice of abortion. 'When I saw how [Dr. Tiller] was shot in the head at point-blank range, I couldn't help but think, 'Maybe the other side has some logical points worth listening to,'' pro-choice activist Melinda Brody said. 'I have a feeling this senseless act of violence will help resolve the divisive reproductive-rights issue once and for all.' Brody also said she's encouraging doctors across the country to double the number of late-term abortions they perform in hopes of provoking even more open and rational dialogue.

Obama Hypocrisy

You can't get much more arrogantly hypocritical than this.

Hillary Clinton demands China investigate and disclose its past abuses

A China that has made enormous progress economically, and that is emerging to take its rightful place in global leadership, should examine openly the darker events of its past and provide a public accounting of those killed, detained or missing, both to learn and to heal.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says this while the Obama domestic policy is to sweep our own abuses under the rug.