OK, I'll Do It.

I have a minute here, and I promised to do this whole "7-facts" blog tag game thingy. Thanks RickB! So, here are the rules:

1) Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
2) Share 7 facts about yourself.
3) Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
4) Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Alright, why I am posting 7 facts about myself that I haven't already made known is beyond me....but what the hell, its Monday.

Factoid One - I love coffee. I drink it non stop. Honestly.

Factoid Two - I am dyslexic.

Factoid Three - I am ambidextrous.

Factoid Four - Because of facts 2 and 3 I can do some amazing things, such as speed read upside down or backwards, while taking notes with either hand.

Factoid Five - I can do a cartwheel.

Factoid Six - I cannot do a backflip

Factoid Seven - I am more than capable of fighting with edged weapons, in fact they are my favorite.

OK, now on to the ever necessary networked tagging system. Hyperlinks, onward!

An Average American Patriot

Drinking Liberally In New Milford

Left In East Dakota

Neo-Resistance

Pissed On Politics

Renegade Eye

The Existentialist Cowboy

Take that you bloggers! Or, something like that LOL.

Friday Night Roundup

I want to give a shout out to all the awesome bloggers out there who are blogging away and networking to promote a better world, and oppose the Bush Regime. Specifically, I would like to thank everyone who participated in, or contacted me about the Truth in Recruiting Blog Burst.

First, I got a lot of support over at Buzzflash. It was published!

Then, in no particular order:

Fran

Enigma4ever

Adam Kokesh

Rick B

Sad But True

Renegade Eye

JollyRoger

Larry

And Clif, for whom I do not have a blogspot address - so no link!

Thanks a bunch everyone, enjoy the weekend!

If I've forgatten anyone, please let me know, right away!

Punishment Of The Masses

I will not oppose Bush
I will not disobey my government
I will not question authority


When a country goes to war it is the poor who are hit hardest, and give far more than the elite, in many ways. The poor to lower middle class make up the majority of enlisted military personnel, the guys and gals in the streets risking life and limb for their country. The poor are almost always the first to be hit financially as well. During war time citizens are often asked to sacrifice something for their country, if its not life or limb, its money. Inflation from war budgets also typically hurt this class of people the hardest - when their pocketbooks are already low, increasing costs from wars and greedy corporate controlled governments just keep on taking and taking.

The poor also suffer the worst abuse and neglect in many countries when the government begins abusing powers it was never supposed to have.

Its no surprise then, that it is the poor and lower middle class citizens who object the loudest when a government gets out of control, or war breaks out.

In light of recent events, Bush vetoing Health Insurance For Children, Bush vetoing Energy Assistance For the Poor, Bush vetoing the Omnibus bill as I mentioned in an earlier post...Bush vetoing the SCHIP bill many months ago etc...

The intention is becoming clearer by the moment. This is a punishment. A punishment of the masses for not supporting his illegal actions. What better way to quiet the noise makers than to take away their ability to live or support themselves? Take away health, heat and other socially progressive bills, and hopefully you've scared them badly enough to shut up, and accept the ideologies of its ruling class.

Again, isn't this a form of terrorism?

Didn't this happen in Germany?

Unbelievable.

In other news, I have been sucked into myspace group debates (I always do...) but the apathy and ignorance is just as shocking and appalling to me as always. You'd think I would be used to it by now. I'm not, and have busied myself doing some "missionary" work of my own, if you will. This consists of nothing more than blowing off some steam while simultaneously being a massive thorn in people's sides....but its still fun.

If you have about an hour to kill, I suggest watching Naomi Wolf talk about her new book The End of America. Its a 47 minute video, plus i figure you'll need a few minutes afterward to catch your breath.

Do enjoy it, and when I am not so tired, I will get that blog round up up in a post of its own.

Terrorists, right under our noses!

The dictionary defines both terrorism, and torture as:

ter·ror·ism
–noun
1.the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, esp. for political purposes.
2.the state of fear and submission produced by terrorism or terrorization.
3.a terroristic method of governing or of resisting a government.
4.The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons.
5.the calculated use of violence (or the threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear
6.Acts of violence committed by groups that view themselves as victimized by some notable historical wrong.
tor·ture
–noun
1. the act of inflicting excruciating pain, as punishment or revenge, as a means of getting a confession or information, or for sheer cruelty.
2. a method of inflicting such pain.
3. Often, tortures. the pain or suffering caused or undergone.
4. extreme anguish of body or mind; agony.
5. a cause of severe pain or anguish.

In this sense and understanding it would be safe to say that torture is indeed the infliction of violence, or in the case of mental torture, the threat of violence to coerce an individual, and also the corresponding group of affiliates into giving information during an interrogation, as well as dissuading the rest of the group from resisting interrogation processes, or further acts against the particular group, from fear of being tortured.

Lets take a quick trip down to the logic station for just a moment. Everybody have their tickets? Great.

The US has used the threat of violence, and actual violence against an entire country (not just its military) for political advancement, purposes and ideologies. Mainly with the propagandist support touting that "Iraq has done us wrong - they wronged us by attacking us on 9/11! Don't forget the religious aspect of the "war on Islamo-fascism" - then engaged in illegal acts of violence, AKA torture of "enemy combatants" for political purposes, terrorism deterrent and intelligence advancement.

This, to me, doesn't sound a whole lot different than terrorism, by its definition, does it?

The reality of it is this, we have acted in the same manner as the terrorists we so explicitly, and unsuccessfully hunted. Whats the difference between a plane hitting a building, and a bomb being dropped on civilians, in a country that had nothing to do with the planes that hit our buildings? Other than who is being killed by the act, nothing is different about it. 9/11 was unexpected - as was "Shock and Awe", by its very name it was a surprise. Both were in retaliation for some perceived attack on culture, religion, government and lifestyle. Both resulted in untold deaths. Yet Americans justify our actions. Only one side has continued on in earnest with the use of violence and threats of violence, torture and other reprehensible actions for political and ideological advancement though. We are still attacking and occupying another country, and are posturing to attack others.

The US has and is still engaging in acts of terrorism. Right under our noses.

I might bring this up here and now, because its good food for thought, but ex-cabinet members are coming forward about the fact that the US planned to attack Iraq before 9/11. Thats right, the twin towers falling was just the catalyst needed to implement the plans our government, and our president had written up just shortly after being inaugurated.



The fact remains, that whether you consider America to be the pot or the kettle, at some point our ass will be on a hot plate for this.

Truth In Recruiting Blog Burst

As many of you know, there has been a Truth in Recruiting movement going on. I have been participating in it somewhat - but today, the reality of it hit home, hard.

Did you know that our government has forced high schools to open its doors to military recruiters? If a school refuses to allow them to recruit on campus, the government will pull their federal funding. Thats right, they're being blackmailed into allowing an open season on minors. Recruiters are meeting with, counseling and setting up recruitment with students as young as 15 years old, maybe younger.

The youngest in my family has fallen prey to their lies. Apparently he has been meeting with a recruiter since his junior year, at the tender age of sixteen. The recruiter has also discouraged him from discussing the notion of recruitment from his family members, along with convincing him that a recruiter knows more about the military (and what's right for this minor) than the six decorated veterans in our immediate family. Count 'em, six! What the hell does this desk jockey know about it anyway? He's not in Iraq, he's not in combat - where future soldiers will be going, and he knows more about it than we do?! He sure as hell doesn't have a purple heart!

It is my opinion that the kind of dishonesty and misinformation being spread by our government is horrid. The fact that it has seeped into our school systems, and the heads of our children is abhorrent. Parents work hard protecting their children from all manner of influences (good, bad or otherwise). We work, petition and sue to keep our children from being exposed to issues at school, from the school. Why has the issue of military recruitment largely gone unnoticed? These are minors we are talking about. Only a small percentage of students in a high school are 18 years of age - the age that determines whether or not a person can enter into a legally binding contract. It is also against the law (in most states anyway) for adults to coerce minors, take advantage of their youth or otherwise manipulate them. Be it in business practices, sexual predators, or overall well being.

Asking children to sign up to become cannon fodder in an illegal war is not in their best interest. Preying upon their eagerness to please parents, teachers, and country by playing the Patriot - Hero card is disgusting.

If an adult wants to sign up and volunteer for the military, then more power to them. However minors who are in high school should be off limits. Recruiters should be forced to wait until these kids have had the benefit of a full education and a little bit of adulthood before being able to speak to them.

I say recruitment should not be able to happen on school grounds at all, period. However - since I don't think this would ever happen, a recruiter should not be allowed to speak to a minor without the minor's parent or legal guardian present.

In light of the deceitful nature encouraged by the recruiter I say it is imperative that we star hollering about this now.

I will not stand by and let our government recruit children for war!

For more information on what you can do about recruitment in your area, please go to the IVAW website,

and Sgt Kokesh's blog.

Call your representatives and tell them that you don't want the military recruiting children at all, or without a parent present at the very least. Tell them that you want the government to stop holding educational funding over their head, and allow the school to decide who they let on their campus.

Call your school to let them know that something can be done about recruiters being on school grounds.

Pass this post around, and Truth In Recruiting posts of your own to start a blog burst!

This needs to stop NOW!

Bush Promises to Veto Omnibus Bill

From an article in USA Today:

"WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House on Saturday threatened to veto a massive spending bill being assembled by congressional Democrats, saying it's unacceptable to add billions of dollars to domestic programs.

The White House has not seen details of the $500 billion-plus measure — which senior Democrats are constructing behind closed doors — but reacted to it based on media accounts."

Go figure, our Master and Commander wants to veto a bill he hasn't even read yet. Why? because the $11 billion dollars in question are going to Americans, and not warmongering. Read on:

"The White House statement came after The Washington Post reported Saturday that the Senate's top Republican, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, supports the idea of allowing domestic spending increases if Democrats support $70 billion or so in war funding.[...]The Saturday development signals Republicans will play hardball to try to scale back the additional domestic spending. Still, many Republicans, especially the pragmatists who populate the appropriations committees, see Bush's budget as too stringent, and it's commonly assumed that Bush will ultimately agree to some additional spending as the price for obtaining war funds."

I'm sure we can all see just how seasoned, adult, and mature our government has become over the years. While Americans are now dealing with a recession, struggling to keep "Food on their families", and wondering how they will afford medical care, our government has fallen into a tit for tat game with our tax dollars.

If you give me what I want, I'll think about helping your constituents out a little.

What, has America turned into gang-land? Bribery and blackmail? Oh! Dumb me, Thats whats been going on for years now...sorry for my memory lapse. I cna't afford my mental medication any more *wink wink*.

Really though, the problem starts with us. Yes, our government is full of two-faced, back-stabbing, greedy prats - however our own activities or non action has brought this upon ourselves. Just read what some have said about this:

"I have always made my own way, never taken anything free from the gov. I bet I pay more taxes than your total salary. Furthermore, who said we should hand the money that we are throwing away in Iraq to the do nothings in America. How about if it just sits in the treasury and draws interest for a rainy day."

How compassionate, I'm overwhelmed by it. Yes, single mothers (many of whom may be single mothers at the hands of the war in Iraq, by the way), poor grandmothers, babies, and the recently laid off, and suicide ridden unemployed Veterans are all "do nothings" and deserve nothing at all from our government.

If our government, and our society didn't worship the all mighty dollar and its partner in crime capitalism, and their cousin privatization, our friends and neighbors might actually have the chance to do it all on their own, without any help from the government. However, our administration has done this, caused this mess or at least allowed it to happen - therefore they should be responsible for fixing it. Idiots that are so blind, so greedy, and so entitled as this guy here have probably never had a rough day in their life.

Or perhaps they have, but they are so desperate to cling to the American Dream that they must use wealth and entitlement to put themselves above others in the caste system we aren't supposed to notice exists.

"Poor people are all do nothings" and "Immigrants are the cause of all our crime and problems" and "Muslims, Pagans, and Heathens are the reason for the rest of our problems"

Sound familiar? Its the underlying platform rhetoric of the current administration and the wealthy elite that pay for their elections.

Wake up America!

P.S. Jim, I hope your like this graphic better LOL!

O'Reilly Blasts Bloggers, Teen Pranks President, and Romney, Huckabee Have Faith Wars.

So much has happened lately!

Bill O'Reilly in is usual dim witted rhetoric out did himself on Faux News just yesterday, stating that "people who read left - wing blogs are devil worshipers" Maybe it's just me, but I'm always amused when I watch a party in their death throes. The more mouth-pieces like O'Reilly that strike out, the better off we are, in my opinion.

The popular opinion of the right wing fascist wannabes isn't all that popular anymore it seems. Hold one while I shed a few tears...OK, all done.



An Icelandic teen, it's being reported, got himself the phone number to President Bush's private White House line...and called it. Reportedly he pretended to be the president of Iceland, and left Bush a message. The teen was visited by authorities, rather than by Bush shortly thereafter. He refuses to say where he got the number. Had Bush actually answered the phone, I wonder if the teen could have fooled him into believing he really was the president of Iceland.

Five bucks says he could have.





Huckabee and Romney are battling for the souls of primary voters in Iowa as we speak. The Episcopalian and the Mormon and dueling it out for best "Christian Leader" although Huckabee is using the "Christian Leader" religion card while Romney is still trying to convince folks that Mormonism is not a cult.

Either way - I think with current xenophobic statements being flung by the likes of the most vocal supporters of Rebuplican candidates...religion will be used, once again, to corrupt and enslave strengthen our country.

Just for Fun

I had some spare time today and I amused myself by taking some quizzes. I figured I'd post them just for the heck of it, because it amuses me.

You Are 64% Politically Radical

You're political views are just plain weird. A little far left, a little far right, and a whole lot of radical.

Are You a Political Radical?

You Are 20% Girly

Um... you're a guy, right? If not, you're the most boyish girl in the world. And for you, that's probably the ultimate compliment.

How Girly Are You?

What Your Face Says

At first glance, people see you as warm and well-balanced. Overall, your true self is reserved and logical. With friends, you seem dramatic, lively, and quick to react. In love, you seem like a huge flirt. In stressful situations, you seem cheerful and optimistic.

What Do People Think Of Your Face?

You Are 91% Feminist

You are a total feminist. This doesn't mean you're a man hater (in fact, you may be a man). You just think that men and women should be treated equally. It's a simple idea but somehow complicated for the world to put into action.

Are You a Feminist?

Your Personality is Somewhat Rare (ISTP)

Your personality type is reserved, methodical, spirited, and intense. Only about 6% of all people have your personality, including 3% of all women and 8% of all men You are Introverted, Sensing, Thinking, and Perceiving.

How Rare Is Your Personality?

There's a Chance You Could Be Violent

Overall, you're a pretty chill person - and you have a good handle on your emotions. Sometimes your anger gets the best of you, and end up regretting how you act. Try to curb your temper more often. It only has to get out of control once to do some damage.

Could You Be Violent?

Your Biblical Name Is...

Zevida Zaza You will live to see the end of times.

What's Your Biblical Name?

Your Punk Band Name Is...

The Pigs Are Dumb

What's Your Punk Band Name?

You Are a Plain Ole Cup of Joe

But don't think plain - instead think, uncomplicated You're a low maintenance kind of girl... who can hang with the guys Down to earth, easy going, and fun! Yup, that's you: the friend everyone invites. And your dependable too. Both for a laugh and a sympathetic ear.

What Kind of Coffee Girl Are You?

You Have Not Been Ruined by American Culture

You're nothing like the typical American. In fact, you may not be American at all. You have a broad view of the world, and you're very well informed. And while you certainly have been influenced by American culture (who hasn't?), it's not your primary influence. You take a more global philosophy with your politics, taste, and life. And you're always expanding and revising what you believe.

Has American Culture Ruined You?

You are "Yakuza" (Japanese mafia)

What Japanese Smiley Are You?

You Are 91% Non Conformist

You're incredibly strange. And a weirdness like yours takes skill to cultivate! No one really understands you. And you're cool with that. You just hope you never have to understand them!

Are You a Nonconformist?

You Are Not Stupid

You got 10/10 questions right! While acing this quiz doesn't prove you're a genius, you're at least pretty darn smart.

Are You Stupid?

You Are a Smart American

You know a lot about US history, and you're opinions are probably well informed. Congratulations on bucking stereotypes. Now go show some foreigners how smart Americans can be.

Are You a Dumb American?

MUST READ

I received this in a bulletin so I figured I'd pass it along:

Senate Bill 1959 to Criminalize Thoughts, Blogs, Books and Free Speech Across America

Wednesday, November 28, 2007 by: Mike Adams


The end of Free Speech in America has arrived at our doorstep. It's a new law called the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act, and it is worded in a clever way that could allow the U.S. government to arrest and incarcerate any individual who speaks out against the Bush Administration, the war on Iraq, the Department of Homeland Security or any government agency (including the FDA). The law has already passed the House on a traitorous vote of 405 to 6, and it is now being considered in the Senate where a vote is imminent. All over the internet, intelligent people who care about freedom are speaking out against this extremely dangerous law: Philip Giraldi at the Huffington Post, Declan McCullagh at CNET's News.com, Kathryn Smith at OpEdNews.com, and of course Alex Jones at PrisonPlanet.com

This bill is the beginning of the end of Free Speech in America. If it passes, all the information sources you know and trust could be shut down and their authors imprisoned. NewsTarget could be taken offline and I could be arrested as a "terrorist." Jeff Rense at www.Rense.com could be labeled a "terrorist" and arrested. Byron Richards, Len Horowitz, Paul Craig Roberts, Greg Palast, Ron Paul and even Al Gore could all be arrested, silenced and incarcerated. This is not an exaggeration. It is a literal reading of the law, which you can check yourself here: http://thomas.loc.gov/home/gpoxmlc110/h1955_rfs.xml

The bill states:

'...ideologically based violence' means the use, planned use, or threatened use of force or violence by a group or individual to promote the group or individual's political, religious, or social beliefs...

Note that this means the "planned use of force to promote a political or social belief" would be considered an act of terrorism. This all hinges on the definition of "force," of course. Based on the loose use of logic in Washington these days, and the slippery interpretation of the meaning of words, "force" could mean:

• A grassroots campaign to barrage Congress with faxes
• A non-violent street protest
• A letter-writing campaign that deluges the Senate with too much mail
• A sit-in protest that blocks access to a business or organization
• A grassroots e-mail campaign that overloads the e-mail servers of any government department or agency

You get the idea. "Force" could be defined as practically anything. And since the "planned use of force" would be considered a criminal act of terrorism, anyone who simply thinks about a grassroots action campaign would be engaged in terrorist acts.

If you stopped someone on the street and handed them a Bible, for example, this could be considered an act of terrorism ("...use of force to promote the individual's religious beliefs...")

If you sent a barrage of angry letters to Washington about global warming and the destruction of the environment by the U.S. military, this could also be considered an act of terrorism ("...to promote the individual's political beliefs...")

If you believe in same-sex marriage and you wrote a letter threatning a sit-in protest in front of your state's capitol building, this could also be considered an act of terrorism, even if you never carried it out! ("...planned use of force to promote a social belief...")

The United States is on the fast track to fascism, and the Congress is working right alongside this nation's traitorous leaders to criminalize any thoughts, words or speeches that disagree with current government policies regarding war, terrorism, domestic surveillance and civil liberties. Simply speaking out against the war on Iraq could soon be labeled a crime. Merely thinking thoughts against the war on Iraq could be considered a criminal act.

Must-see video: Naomi Wolf's lecture on 10 steps to fascism
There's a video lecture you simply MUST watch. It's by Naomi Wolf, author of The End of America. She covers this topic with great elegance and a deep understanding of history. See her video on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjALf12PAWc

Click here to see her book on Amazon.com.

In her lecture and book, Naomi reveals the ten steps to fascist, then reveals how the United States of America is pursuing all ten! This S.1959 legislation, the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act, represents one of the ten steps to achieve a fascist state!

It is designed to squash all opposition to the State's ongoing march towards blatant fascism, where secret police and secret prisons dominate the law enforcement landscape, stripping U.S. citizens of all civil liberties and Constitutional protections.

Thoughtcrimes are about to become a reality in the United States of America, and Congress is pushing this through as quickly as possible so that each individual member of Congress can claim that he or she is "against terrorism." But this bill doesn't merely target terrorism: It targets anyone who speaks or even thinks thoughts against the U.S. federal government.

With this bill, the U.S. government is officially labeling the People of the United States as criminals. It is drawing a line in the sand and stating that from now on, it's the Government vs. the People.

If we don't stop this bill from becoming law, we are lost as a nation.

There is no turning back from tyranny once the government turns its own citizens into criminals, enforcing only the thoughts, ideas, words and speeches that it approves or tolerates. Everything is at stake here!

Take action now, or lose your freedoms forever
If you live in the U.S., it is urgent that you call your senators right now and voice your strong opposition against this extremely dangerous law.

Here are the phone numbers for the U.S. Senate switchboard:

1-877-851-6437
1-800-833-6354
1-888-355-3588
1-866-220-0044
1-866-808-0065
1-877-762-8762
1-866-340-9281
1-800-862-5530

How to do this:

1) Make sure you know the names of your Senators.
2) Call the U.S. Senate switchboard using one of the numbers above.
3) Ask to speak to the offices of your Senators.
4) Tell them you are strongly opposed to S. 1959, the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act
5) Ask for their fax number.
6) Follow up your phone call with a written, signed letter that you fax to your Senators.

Stopping this bill from becoming law is the single most important thing all Americans can do right now. If this becomes law, all free speech about health freedom, the crimes of the FDA, the crimes of the Bush Administration, America's role in global warming and any other topics could all be criminalized. YOU could be labeled a terrorist, kidnapped by government thugs, taken from your home, thrown in a secret prison, denied access to legal representation, denied due process and essentially "disappeared" into a system of such corruption and evil that it now begins to blatantly mirror Nazi Germany.

Think it couldn't happen here? It's happening right now! This is exactly how it happened in Nazi Germany. First, burn the Reichstag and blame it on the "enemy." Pass new police state laws. Disarm the people. Spread fear. Erect secret prisons and secret police. Call anyone who disagrees with you a "traitor." Control the mainstream media. Sound familiar? This is all happening right now in the United States of Amerika, and if we don't work to stop it, this nation will rapidly devolve into a fascist police state where no one is truly free.

We are but a few small steps away from it right now. All it would take is one dirty bomb in a major U.S. city. Bush would declare Martial Law and take over the National Guard. Troops on the streets. Anyone who writes a blog against the government would be arrested. Authors of "alternative" books would be kidnapped and have their books burned on the street. It could all happen at the stroke of a pen. The infrastructure for tyranny is in place right now, just waiting to be invoked.

Our best weapons: Non-violent protest and speaking the truth

How can we fight back against this onslaught of tyranny? We must use what remaining free speech freedoms we have right now to alert our fellow citizens to what's happening. We must rise up and tell the truth while urging our representatives in Washington to resist the temptation to vote for more "anti-terrorism" legislation that only works to enslave the American people.

We must use our phones, faxes, emails and blogs to rally our friends, family members and anyone who will listen to oppose these police state laws, and we must organize mass (peaceful) protests against this government that is attempting to marginalize the rights and freedoms of our People.

We must not be lulled into a sense of false security by the purveyors of hatred and fear -- the Sean Hannitys, Rush Limbaughs and Bill O'Reillys of the world. Instead, we must listen to the voices of freedom. In terms of the upcoming election for U.S. President, there is only one candidate that actually believes in freedom: Ron Paul. He needs your support to win: www.RonPaul2008.com

All the other candidates are nothing more than tyrants of different political affiliations. Ron Paul is the only candidate that truly understands the fundamentals of freedom. That's why he's the only real choice for our next President. Can you imagine what Hillary Clinton would do with the police state powers that Bush has now created? That's the danger of all laws that centralize power in Washington: It's not necessarily what today's President will do with them, but what some future President will do with them.

That's why it's never good enough to say, "Well, we intend to only apply these laws to terrorists and not to U.S. citizens at home." That may be the intention right NOW, but virtually all such laws creep into areas of enforcement for which they were never intended. Just look at the application of RICO laws which were originally designed to fight organized crime operations but are now applied to virtually anyone (and yet they are never applied to Big Pharma, which operates almost exactly like organized crime!). All these anti-terrorism laws run the danger of expanding in enforcement to the point where they are applied against the People of this country. At first, it's only illegal for "terrorists" to think thought crimes, but before long, it's illegal for anyone to think those same thoughts. That when the domestic arrests of authors, journalists, bloggers and thought leaders will kick off, and the country will plunge itself into outright tyrannical fascism.

Again, we're on the track right now. This is happening, folks. You're LIVING through an amazing chapter of history right now. You're actually witnessing the downfall of a free nation and the rise of a superpower fascist state. You're actually part of it.

When it's all over, will you look back and realize you did nothing? Or will you now take a stand against tyranny and oppose these dangerous laws and lawmakers who threaten the Constitutional freedoms of you and your children?

Senate'>http://www.NewsTarget.com/022308.html">Senate Bill 1959 to Criminalize Thoughts, Blogs, Books and Free Speech Across America

Why Can't People See the Obvious?

I finally got off my duff and started a myspace page, mainly to network and whatnot...however, I came across this group that my husband signed me up for, and I ran across this thread Liberal Wacko.

In the original post it states:

Listen to this liberal wacko try to explain why taking over Iraq would be a "quagmire", the ridiculous term these liberal nutjobs keep throwing around:

April 15, 1994

Now, I don't know, and can't help but think that this is a joke - the whole thread in fact. Maybe some inside gag, drier than dry sarcasm (and I love dry humor - but damn!). I can't believe that this could have been posted in earnest.

Why?

Because every participant on the thread has failed to notice, or mention, that the proclaimed "Liberal Wacko" is Vice President Dick Cheney.

Darth Cheney, Evil man extraordinaire...

Wacko yes...

Liberal....?

Not so much.

Never mind the giant slime covered hypocritical can-o-worms his '94 interview opens up with regards to the invasion of Iraq under his Vice Presidency. Back then it was a "quagmire", but now its just profit....

I hope this thread is a joke. I hope people aren't honestly this thick. I've been sputtering all night because I can't post in groups yet. I need to know that this isn't reality. If it is...

No wonder our country has begun to self destruct.

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

A slow, yet important conversation is happening right now, on an older post in my blog under the Veteran's Day post. Between Ned from Sticks and Stones and myself. Its high time we discussed these sorts of things, in my opinion. Ned has been ribbing and questioning my own political beliefs, and he has every right to. Particularly since I don't subscribe to the stereotypical lefty belief system. I believe as I see fit, and let my conscience dictate the rest. In Ned's words:

Thats a silly attitude. First off, good men and women from both America and Iraq are getting slaughtered. Second off, I don't agree with your negative attitude towards society.

The American people have both the intelligence and the power to make their own way without the ruling class. Modern industry is a testament to the strength of the working class - it is workers who operate, build, design, think-up and improve industry. If we can do that, we can certainly coordinate ourselves in a Cooperative Commonwealth!

Towards an international union of humankind

First, and this is really just a side issue that does need to be addressed, the very first line was in reference (unless I'm mistaken) to my statement that if our government wants a war, then they should fight it themselves. This idea is neither silly, nor a depreciation of human life. In our government, its Authoritarian rule, says "We want this war, now you go die for it." If the politico-Elitists were told in no uncertain terms that they would have to fight the war themselves - and be Leaders rather than Authoritarian pricks, the war would have never been started in the first place. Which, of course, would have spared all of the lives that have been lost thus far, and in the future.

Which was, like, you know....the whole point of saying that.

On to deeper topics of Anarchy, working class, and unification of humankind. I think that right about now is the perfect time to remind folks that while Anarchists have similar ideals or goals as Socialists, and even Communists or other left leaning political ideologies, Anarchy is not, in fact, the same thing as Socialism or its Leftist Bedfellows. The key distinction between them is the fact that Socialism et al are political ideologies, whereas Anarchism is a philosophical ideology. Anarchism as a whole (not on an individual basis) does not exist in a world where governments exist. It can't. Anarchism does not reside on the political spectrum of "Left vs Right", because it does not conform into any political structure - the fact is, politics and government in general are the largest road blocks to an anarchist society.

The whole notion of the unification of a working class is a socialist ideal - not an Anarchist one. In an Anarchist philosophy, "working class" is a polite way of saying "middle to lower caste" and in Anarchism, there are no castes.

That said, stating, as I did, that Americans have become entitled, mentally lazy, and fattened is not to be confused with stupid and powerless. Its not about intelligence, or personal power (in the best sense of the word), it is about desire and passion. The average American citizen - indeed the average citizen in any country - has an incredibly hard time accepting the idea that anarchism could actually work and become a functioning (not chaotic) society.

Ask any person you meet on the streets if they think we could abolish legal systems, law enforcement, government - even management and bosses, while maintaining a successful society. The answer will undoubtedly be "No!" People aren't comfortable with the idea of it. Its not because they are stupid or powerless - oh no - its because they have been indoctrinated from birth to believe that someone, somewhere, must always have power, control or authority over others.

We are also, conveniently, not taught the difference between a Leader, and an Authoritarian. Authoritarians rule with power over others, delegating responsibility, controlling people who aren't "qualified" to make decisions for themselves, Leaders never take control or exert power over others. They teach, freely share wisdom, and inspire others to rise on their own, and to act on their own, or alongside others.

I think it is also important to note that while I may be rather bitter towards certain parts of our society right this very instant - stating that the average citizen isn't ready to accept an Anarchist way of life is not negative. Its honest. Brutally so, but honest none the less. Anarchism requires total personal responsibility, complete personal accountability, and the ability to mediate or work out your own problems, how to conduct your self, and the ability to handle situations where a police officer or lawyer might otherwise be used.

If a person can honestly convince me that in a society that relies on the "It wasn't my fault" mantra can handle to the type of responsibility Anarchism requires, I'll eat my hat.

Not to mention the "fat cat" Elite who really, really don't want Anarchism because it would ruin their social status - and the upper middle class who covet said Elite status enough so that they would never allow it happen, right down to the middle-middle to lower middle class still buying the whole "American Dream" scam.

In the world, right now, and for centuries of history, people have not been allowed or made able to embrace the ideology of Anarchism, in its earnest form. Its not because we can't in the sense that it goes against some unseen genetic encoding - but rather we can't for the same reason humans had a hard time believing that the Earth was round, was not the center of the universe, that women and minorities really are humans worthy of compassion and rights, etc and so on.

Believing something that goes against anything and everything you've ever been taught not just in your life, but for generations of lives isn't easy to do.

Being honest about it is even harder, in my opinion.

I Just Can't Get Shit On Enough These Days...

{Image shamelessly stolen from Deadly Haiku's blog.}
In my absence a great deal has happened in my personal life. From the wonderful things such as seeing family and cutting out paper snowflakes for decorations - to the downright unfair like lay-offs and insurance debacles. I really needed the break from everything politics, however I would have preferred more time blogging and less time worrying about how to put food on our table and medical care in our lives.

It wasn't all bad though, both my husband and I, in the face of no jobs, have begun seriously working on personal projects - which has also restricted my time online.

That said I have to really take a negative bitch rant session about the state of our nation - with regards to health care and our economy. Some rants about the entitled and judgmental attitudes of assholes may sneak its way into it.....

Our country has the most - excuse the language - fucked up idea about health care I have ever seen. First, I should make a note that I can't stand doctors. Not the people specifically, but the profession as a whole. "Doctor" has a God like standing in the eyes of the public, but when it really comes down to it...it's called a practice for a reason. A med student who graduates with a 2.0 is still called a Doctor, and even if the work is less than stellar the advice is still taken as Gospel.

Ridiculous.

Now, I'm not saying that the medical field doesn't have its good guys, its benefits, or its place - I'm just saying that there are a lot of greedy hacks out there posing as altruistic Doctors. I've had many a bad experience with Doctors, and I have a distrust of them like most people have a fear of Dentists. My main Peeve with them is that they don't listen to their patients. I know my body better than any Doctor does, so listening to what I am describing when asked about a problem should be at the top of the list of priorities - not staring at me as if I'm some hysterical hypochondriac spouting exaggerated symptoms for attention.


The insurance companies are problem number two in my book...privatized insurance will get you the best service, but its is for the wealthy. Employer based group insurance will get you some health care - at a price - but it hardly covers what you really need if your employer can afford to offer it in the first place. State insurance means you are at the mercy of the government. They'll give you coverage for little or no charge - but if what they offer can't get you a doctor then too bad for you. Suck it up and be shoved around from ER to ER until you either get seen, or bleed to death waiting.

Then you have the Bermuda Triangle that is Doctors, Insurance, and "Big Pharma". When the three get together, someone is going to mysteriously get lost. See, between insurance and pharmaceutical industries and Doctors - curing the problem isn't profitable for anyone. (Except for the patient - but who cares about them anyway?). Treating symptoms only means that the patient must come back time and time again for relief from what ails them.

One would think that this method would prove expensive for insurance companies who have to dole out money for every visit, every prescription - but in reality it creates loyal, eternal customers. If someone has a "chronic" condition, they must maintain insurance at ever inflating premiums, rising deductibles, and decreasing coverage. This equals profits for insurance companies. They also have a bad habit of stalling on payments while they use the premiums to make more money through investments.

Big Pharma makes big bucks when Doctors throw drugs at patients who could solve their health dilemmas via other means. The favor is doubly returned when the Pharmaceutical Companies give price breaks to the best selling offices, or offer Doctors incentives or otherwise directs people to specific offices through advertisements etc...Not to mention the fact that in order to get the drugs needed to relieve health problems, the patient must return time and time again for the mandatory pre-script exam - making big bucks for the offices that charge upwards of $120 for fifteen minutes of your Doctor's time.

Its all a big damn racket, and the only person losing is the patient.

Just to add insult to injury, when you go to a Doctor, the first question is usually "Do you have insurance?" Not "What seems to be the problem?" or "Are you having health/psychological problems?" but the straight to the point "Am I going to get paid what I want to get paid for this, or will you be a great big waste of my time?"

I understand that the medical community needs to get paid to keep the lights on - but lets face it, they price gouge. I once paid $100 dollars for an ER Doctor look at me for less than five minutes, and inform me that I had cracked ribs - and that nothing could be done about it. Thank you Captain Obvious. What I wanted to really know was could I have been in any danger of puncturing a lung, because the pain of the cracked ribs (some of which were actually broken - not cracked) had become so pronounced that I became worried. No answer for that.

My husband and I are paying almost $800 dollars for one visit to the ER when he was hit by a car. Granted, he was there for four hours - but the majority of the time he was there he was waiting, on a backboard, after being hit by a car and rushed in by ambulance. It was over two hours before a Doctor even waltzed in for a preliminary examination. He was just left to lie there, on his own - with no help. The hospital charged $400 for the time he was there - and the Doctor who spent no more than ten minutes in the room during that four hours charged another $400 for his trouble. That doesn't include the cost of the ambulance ride - for all the good that did.

The Doctor didn't even give him a full exam. He completely missed the bulging disc, and the herniated disc which my husband had to go to therapy for, and still suffers from pain because of it. Had the ER Doctor actually paid some attention to his patient, he could have caught it then, and started physical therapy earlier - alleviating a lot of the problems he has now.

But nooooooooo I guess the Doctor had more important things to do that night. More likely it had to do with the fact that our insurance had a gap at that point in time, and couldn't cover the inconvenient accident.

This is the state of health care in one of the [supposedly] most wealthy countries in the world. Its the place where you can get medical care if you're rich enough, and a pocket full of drugs instead of a cure.

This is "Bush America" Land of the sick and uninsured and Home of record profits in the health care industry.

So here I sit, not sure what kind of insurance I have, and if anyone will even accept it, just diagnosed with PMDD, and deciding whether or not I should tough it out, dealing with the pain and psychotic mood swings, use Yaz birth control, something that has made me very sick in the past, or dope myself up on "Mommy's Little Helper Happy Pills" ie, Prozac to the tune of an additional 40 lbs on my little frame and the libido of wilted lettuce.

Fantastic

In the meantime my husband and I will be scouting for jobs in a dying economy, hopefully being able to make it through the winter on what little we can get in assistance. With all of the price gouging that the utility companies are engaging in, keeping the lights on and the heat warm enough to keep the pipes from freezing ought to be fun.

In the meantime - I'll post more a little later, getting back to everyone who has left me comments in the last week - for which I am very thankful - but first I must get more coffee, and warm my aching hands.