NeoLiberal Blog

Yes, Barack has seriously pissed me off by voting to immunize telephone company's complicity in the Bush/Cheney, "Spy on Americans" program. It does not mean that I will be voting for "Bomb Iran" McCain. McCain has so flip-flopped on numerous positions that it is difficult to believe anything he says. I sure do not want a bonehead like this in the White House. Therefore I could not help but toss up this bit of craziness that seeks to implicate McCain in an Enron/MTBE scandal, but the writing is a bit confused and the logic difficult to follow. Nonetheless, please give it a read and let me know what you think about it.

July 10th 2008
Obama Sells Out


Barack Obama got the nomination based on his promises for change. Unfortunately, those were just words apparently. Obama gave Bush and the telephone companies all they wanted in the FISA bill. Obama's support for the telecom immunity in the recent abomination called the FISA Compromise makes me question what kind of president he really will be. He talks about change, but most of what he talks about when he talks specifics are tired old liberal ideas from the 1960's.

I have to admit that his support for telecom immunity as well as his continued calls for increasing H1b visas have taken their toll on me. I may not be able to vote for Obama even if he were to name John Edwards, my populist hero and candidate of choice, to be his VP. Obama is looking like another DNC candidate that will delight in eroding individual rights and liberty while giving away American jobs. Obama's campaign called and asked for more money,but I had to say that there would be no more contributions from me. All my spare political contributions will have to go to the ACLU, since they are the only ones willing to protect my rights.

Independence Day 2008
Teaching Your Children to be Free


One time I was at Fry's, I caused a short little scene when I asserted my 4th amendment rights. I was with my kids and there was a long line to check receipts to leave the store. I told my kids that I did not have to wait in the line nor did any of these other people, they were simply acting like sheep because they did not know the Bill of Rights.

I then passed by the line to exit the store with my boys in tow and someone tried to check my receipt. I declined their offer and they insisted. I told them I had bought the items in the bag with American money and they now belonged to me. I did not need to submit to any searches, since I was an American and need not submit to requests to be searched by ANYONE due to the 4th Amendment. I continued that without evidence of a crime, such as shoplifting, they could not detain or search me...

I got a rather quizzical look and then a pleasant, "Have a Nice Day", dismissal

As my kids and I left, I told them that unless we exercised our rights, we would lose them. Simple as that. Use them or lose them, Isn't that how it always is? I turned back and pointed to a few brave people following my example. These good citizens just broke out of the line instead of passively waiting for receipt checking. It was an important lesson for my kids, one I try to reinforce when the opportunity presents itself, but also I felt I had done my patriotic duty that day.

I urge all Americans to exercise their independence on Independence Day and decline the intrusive receipt checking that many stores now subject their patrons to. Be free, stretch your liberty, EXERCISE YOUR FREEDOM and show your kids about individual rights so that they are not lost to the next generation. Happy Independence Day

July 1st 2008
Losing More of Your Rights


Today in California the law banning cell phones being held to the ear while driving goes into effect. The lawmakers claim it will save 300 lives, but that is just fantasy. The law allows texting ona telephone, so how many will do that instead because it is legal. More than do now I suspect and therefore there will be some more accidents. Not only that there is abosolutely no evidence that talking on a cell phone with a hands free device is actually safer. Studies have shown that whether it be hands free or pressed to the ear, people CAN get distracted while driving. We as a people have got to stop giving away our freedoms to overzealous legisators.



June 25th 2008
Wiretapping Their Political Enemies
Tell Congress To Stop Giving Away Your Rights

We now know the Bush Administration was using their illegal, unconstitutional wiretapping powers for political ends, not to protect the nation. Remember when the Homeland Security Department was used to track missing Texas Democrats. This is what politicians do with their extra-constitutional powers, they track their political enemeies. This post on wiretapping abuses by Shannon McElyea on Dave Farber's Interesting People illustrates how wiretapping was used to vet Justice Department candidates.





Summer Solstice 2008
Stop Telecom Immunity
Tell Congress To Stop Giving Away Your Rights

In February of 2001, the Bush Administration immediately upon being installed in office went to the telecom companies and started demanding extra-Constitutional powers. They claimed they had such powers inherent in the "unitary executive". They also told the telecom companies they'd pay something like $10,000 per wiretap. The phone companies saw a big revenue stream once they realized how extensive the government domestic spying program was going to be, so they complied. EXCEPT for QWEST. Qwest refused on constitutional grounds. It was rewarded for its patriotism by the cancellation of government contracts it had already secured. Of course, the owner could see his stock price was going to fall in this battle and he ended up selling some of his shares. The government tried and convicted him for insider trading. He is now serving time in prison. However, even if he was inclined to take out a full page ad about the government vendetta against him, he could not because everything is classified under national security, so there was no way he could not be 'guilty' of insider trading, because he had inside knowledge of classified information that meant the stock price would fall.

We would know none of the above were it not for the ACLU's lawsuits. Immunity in the upcoming FISA bill would end these suits and end our source of the truth of what went on in 2001. Remember the government had already obtained extra-constitutional powers to wiretap just about anyone as well as snoop all data in February of 2001, yet seven months later the planes are run them into the World Trade Center. The government claims they are so surprised that someone used planes as weapons and they had no idea or foreknowledge. Hmmmmmm?! They must be extremely incompetent or too busy wiretapping their political enemies or... ????

It has only been three months since Congress tried to protect the telephone companies, but here they are again. These ACLU lawsuits must be allowed to go forward. Why is everyone so anxious to give them immunity in Washington? I think because there are a whole host of greater revelations that have yet to surface, but maybe I am wrong. I think that making companies immune from unpatriotic actions such as, cooperating with government spying for money, needs to be punished in no uncertain terms, if it turns out to be true.

Call your Congressman and tell them: Hello: My name is _______ and I am a constituent of Congressperson __________________. I am interested in what my representative thinks about telecom immunity in the upcoming FISA bill. and then just give them your opinion on the matter, and remind them of the timeline of events... 7 months of extra-Constitutional wiretapping power and then we're surprised by "terrorists". Ironic that the phone companies own devices could be turned on them today....while they are listening in!

Having a secret court makes secret law is bad for an allegedly free society. See how the Qwest CEO is unable to avoid financial consequences due to secret actions and an attempt to avoid the consequence leads to violations of secret laws. It really gives the government the ability to imprison anyone they want when they become too 'uppity'. Dave Farber's Interesting People list has a very insightful discussion and a link to an EFF forum that helps us understand the flaws of secret court decisions and how they can become oppressive instruments of power.



June 13th, 2008
The Great Tim Russert Passes DAMN IT!!!!!! Yeah, its Friday the 13th when America loses one of its few objective journalistic voices.
There are so few real journalists left. I actually enjoyed watching "Meet the Press", because I expected AND got some objectivity and some real questioning of the attendees.
Damn
Damn
Damn...
:-(

June 6th, 2008
Watch Your Government Closely We need to watch our government closely. With all the hype surrounding the elections, there is a lot of horse trading going on behind the scenes. And don;t forget, you are not a citizen, you are a horse to be traded among the moneyed and powerful. Look they are passing laws to allow them to search all your electronic devices for alleged copyright violations. Oh look here, they are trying give away more American jobs, while you are standing in the unemployment line!



June 2nd, 2008
Good Luck Ted! No barbs or political tongue-lashing in this post. Just wanted to wish luck to the Senate's 'liberal lion' as he enters surgery for his brain tumor at Duke.



June 1st, 2008
Should We Impeach? Of course we should! Now that we hear more about the inner workings of the White House propaganda machine. Impeachment becomes even more necessary. A war that has sent our nation into economic crisis, devalued our currency and killed many soldiers and citizens was sold to the American people through weapons of mass deception. If only Scott McClellan had spoke out sooner. If only he had seen fit to inform us sooner, but he did not. Nonetheless, he has now. Many billions have now been sent to the bank accounts of war profiteers everywhere and Americans cannot stand idly by. Even if we impeach on the last day of the Bush/Cheney tyranny, we still have the effect of restoring constitutional rule in our republic.



May 26th, 2008
Obama and RFK I feel the ghosts of 1968 lurking about. You know, here we have an unpopular war, but the establishment wants to stay in for fear of being labeled 'peaceniks'...and for the money they are making, of course. The Democrats have a young dynamic candidate that is gaining attention all across the nation, just like 1968. Obama looks a lot like RFK to me and I can see why Clinton might mistake him for Bobby. Now with Clinton making a 'slip of the tongue', I feel a chill on my spine. It feels very much like the one I got when in December of 2000, Dubya held a news conference from an undisclosed location and told the country everything was going to be OK. This was before the Supreme Court had anointed him President. Why did the networks give him air time?, I wondered among other things.

Do not forget, people, about the incident at an Obama rally in February, or did you not hear about it? I can see why you might not have heard, since the US media often ignore events that ought to be a big deal here in America, but instead we need to search foreign media to read about: Secret Service order Dallas police to 'stop screening for weapons' at Obama rally. If it were not for opednews.com, the non-searches would have been COMPLETELY ignored by our domestic media sources.

Let us all hope that the 2008 Democratic convention is not like the 1968 convention, because that will bring upheaval like we have never seen before and guarantee a Republican in the White House.







May 24th, 2008
Government Idiocy a Security Risk The arrogance and ignorance that has crept into our government is staggering. Here we read that a document with classified information 'redacted' did not really have the classified material removed. Instead the information was just covered up in a very ameteurish fashion. I am filled with confidence now and want to cede over more of my rights to this government so it can better protect me...NOT!



May 20th, 2008
Grim Diagnosis for Kennedy I regret a little my earlier ruthless post on the calculus of the Senate. Still I felt people needed to understand. Now with Senator Kennedy diagnosed with a brain tumor, I only want to wish him well and good luck in his upcoming struggle in this post.

Get well soon, Teddy.

May 17th, 2008
Kennedy Seizure With the balance of power so tenuous in the Senate, ruthless calculations were already being made as Kennedy was airlifted to a hospital. Remember right after the 2006 elections, Senator Tim Johnson of South Dakota had a stroke, throwing control of the Senate into doubt. It had appeared that the Democrats had won control of the Senate in 2006, with Lieberman saying he would caucus with the Democrats despite being an independent.

Lieberman has had extraordinary backroom power being the man that gave the Democrats control of the Senate, 51-49. When news of Kennedy's illness broke, the power brokers began crunching the numbers again no doubt. Lieberman would have even more power were a Democrat in the Senate be unable to serve. With the Senate so closely split, the health issues of the members have enormous implications.

Despite other closely split Senates in our history, the narrowness of ruling margins in this century has led to a dictatorship of 51%. Historically, the friendly and collegial nature of the Senate such narrow margins were not quite as as important. The Senate was more of a bipartisan institution, which sought to rule by compromise and consensus.

Tailgunner Joe was instrumental getting us into the Iraq War with a similarly closely divided Senate. Lieberman stabbed Tom Daschle in the back and went to the White House to cut a deal with Bush/Cheney. Daschle had effectively stopped Bush's rush to invade Iraq, but when Lieberman decided he was going to back the White House's efforts at regime change it all fell apart. Lieberman made sure the vote would be a 50-50 split meaning Cheney would cast the deciding vote. Once other Democratic senators realized this calculus they ran for cover and gave Bush the war authorization he needed.

I have not forgotten that we were given this war by the narrowest of margins, the votes of a few men in key positions of power brought America her most expensive and destructive military adventure in her history. So my sincere apologies to Edward Kennedy for the crassness of this post, but I hope he realizes that Americans need to understand this dynamic. November needs to be a decisive change of direction for our country. Control of the Senate is key to preventing another ill-advised military adventure by this nation.

Get well soon, Teddy.

May 12th, 2008
Where Are Your Papers? Thank goodness for the librarians of this nation. Those staid individuals that are the guardians of our books were one of the few groups to speak out against the wave of unconstitutional acts that followed and apparently preceded 9/11. Without the librarians, I doubt we would have even heard of 'National Security Letters'. I first read about this one on Dave Farber's venerable Internet list, Interesting People. Were it not for the whistleblowers and watchdogs, where would we be? We the People must turn back the power grab. We CAN do it, just as Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archive, has done. We now know and can celebrate a victory for individual liberty as the FBI has withdrawn a National Security Letter it served on Mr. Kahle.

May 4th, 2008
Are We a 3rd World Country? With recent studies showing that Americans can no longer expect increasing life spans and in fact may have to accept that for some segments of American society, declining life spans are the norm. There will be more calls for some kind of universal health care. John McCain has even got out there with some kind of 'alleged reform' of the US helthcare system. Don't get me wrong, I think it is a great idea, but no one is saying how they would pay for it. This nation cannot continue to occupy Iraq and Afghanistan and expect to take care of an expensive domestic agenda item like universal healthcare.

For years we were told we could not afford universal healthcare. Now in the sixth year of war, America has squandered hundreds of billions of dollars, with no end in sight, on a war that has no obvious goal but the continued occupation Afghanistan and Iraq. We can spend money on Bush's War or we can spend it at home...simple choice, it would seem to me.

May 4th, 2008
Are We a 3rd World Country? With recent studies showing that Americans can no longer expect increasing life spans and in fact may have to accept that for some segments of American society, declining life spans are the norm. There will be more calls for some kind of universal health care. John McCain has even got out there with some kind of 'alleged reform' of the US helthcare system. Don't get me wrong, I think it is a great idea, but no one is saying how they would pay for it. This nation cannot continue to occupy Iraq and Afghanistan and expect to take care of an expensive domestic agenda item like universal healthcare.

For years we were told we could not afford universal healthcare. Now in the sixth year of war, America has squandered hundreds of billions of dollars, with no end in sight, on a war that has no obvious goal but the continued occupation Afghanistan and Iraq. We can spend money on Bush's War or we can spend it at home...simple choice, it would seem to me.

April 25th, 2008
Another 3rd Party Alternative Bob Barr, a former Republican Congressman from Georgia, is slipping back into presidential politics with his announcement that he has formed an exploratory committee to evaluate a candidacy as a Libertarian. For the first time, since 1992 a 3rd party candidate is going to make some noise. The Hillary/Obama mess and John McCain's non-conservative positions on issues like immigration mean a whole bunch of voters from both parties are thinking about taking their votes elsewhere. After more than a generation of horrific partisan fighting inside the Beltway, many Americans will not want to cross the aisle and vote for the opposition.

I have to admit that a Hillary Clinton candidacy cannot get my vote. I just will not vote for the DLC's Republican-lite candidates. With my long time Libertarian roots and honest respect for Bob Barr's straightforward message of individual rights that he espoused even as a Republican, I could actually vote for him rather than McCain or Clinton. That is not the case with Barry O, though...he'd get my vote over all others still.

April 22nd, 2008
Hillary Hates Democratic Activists? Hillary has finally admitted she hates those darn Democratic activists that have been trying to wrest control of the party from the DLC. She tried to cast those activists as crazed peaceniks by saying they had opposed the invasion of Afghanistan. I find it extremely disturbing that opposition to the invasion of Afghanistan is such a heinous act that even MoveOn.org shies away from it.

Let me say here and now, that I did oppose the invasion of Afghanistan. I predicted that Bin Laden would not be captured and the people of Afghanistan would suffer once again the symptoms of our geo-political games. Sure Bin Laden needed to be captured, but invading a sovereign nation and making war upon its people accomplished nothing except reignite the cultivation of opium.

If I were a little more cynical I might believe that the top end puppeteers running the great drug cartels had orchestrated the overthrow of the Taliban to regain their source fields. Harry Browne was the only politician brave enough to come out and say the invasion of Afghanistan served no purpose and that the capture of Bin Laden was a matter for police forces not armies. He kept me as a dues-paying Libertarian for a couple more years by those brave words...may he rest in peace.

April 19th, 2008
Is John McCain Really Older Than Dirt? No, but he is older than Reagan when he took office. McCain is definitely ancient. Here is an interesting look at those that are younger than McCain. After you watch that video consider some of the items that the video left out. John McCain is also older than RADAR, commercial television, jet-powered flight...Hell, he is actually older than the formation of the United States Air Force!

April 17th, 2008
You Just Cannot Trust the Government Americans must get it through their heads soon that the government does not have their best interests at heart. Red light cameras were sold to us as a way to prevent one of the most deadly types of traffic accident, the running of a red light. Now we hear that not only are these cameras being used to increase government revenues, rather than protect drivers, they are putting drivers at greater risk of death. You see the government can increase their revenue from red light cameras by shortening the length of the yellow light. This of course creates more red light runners, but it also creates more traffic collisions of the most deadly type!

April 13th, 2008
Hard to Imagine These Politicians Getting Us Out of Iraq I have been trying very hard to support the Democrats. I even registered as a Democrat so I could vote for John Edwards in the Cali primary. Unfortunately, he suspended his campaign. I stay registered as a Democrat hoping beyond hope that somehow a brokered convention will hand Edwards a chance to run. Obama is OK, I guess, and I think he will end this militarist foreign policy, if he gets elected...I think.

Nonetheless, so many Democrats are making money off these wars that I really do begin to doubt my decision to register as a Democrat. Are they really going to end these wars and spend these trillions on some domestic programs? So far these wars are likely to end up costing trillions, if we get out tomorrow. How much was universal healthcare going to cost again?

Hillary voted for us to go into Iraq. She voted with Bush to label the Iranian military a terrorist organization, she has demostrated nothing that makes me think she'll really get us out of Iraq. Now as her campaign manager resigns, we learn that not only is he a lobbyist for other countries, Penn has a PR RELATIONSHIP WITH BLACKWATER! Blackwater!!!! the Republicans private army!

Hillary just announced that she wants to put another 100000 cops on the street. Scary, scary. Would Blackwater be her fill in choice while the officers were trained???? Blackwater's policing during Katrina was heinous. Hell, even in Baghdad, Blackwater is considered notoriously harsh, compared to the other private contracting armies.

April 12th, 2008
Department of Homeland Insecurity Many might think that secrecy makes them safer, but it really does not. Secrecy allows the powerful to preserve their power, it does not make the average citizen safer. The creation of the giant, bureaucratic umbrella agency, the Department of Homeland Security is being used by the powerful to classify and keep secret anything that might causes them to lose power. They cry national security, but it is really about their own security. Time and again the DHS has really served as an Orwellian Department of Homeland Insecurity.

DHS caused the Katrina response to clumsy and tragic. DHS crippled FEMA. DHS was used by the Republicansin power to track down the Democrats that had fled the Democratic legislature trying to prevent the Republicans from gerrymandering Texas to gain more seats in the House of Representatives. Clearly a state issue, somehow became a national security issue that allowed Republican legislators to track the Texas Dem representatives to a hotel in Oklahoma. During the 2004 presidential election, in a key Ohio precinct, Republican officials announced that the Department of Homeland Security was declaring a terrorist emergency and the building where the votes were being counted had to be cleared of all non-essential personnel. In reallity, it meant that all the Democrats were kicked out of the vote counting rooms while Republicans were allowed to count the votes privately. Guess what Dubya came from behind in the precinnct and gain key votes necessary to take Ohio's electoral votes.

Yep, the Department of Homeland Insecurity needs to be abolished before its continued use as an instrument to protect those in power will eventually lead to some very unsafe conditions for the average American citizen. Doubt me? Well, this story on a livestock disease, hoof and mouth, is pretty sketchy on details, because the Department of Homeland Insecurity is saying the status of our nation's food supply is classified information!!!!

April 8th, 2008
Remember Edwards Most Electable I recently received an email from Congressman Wexler asking me what I thought he should be asking the General today. Here is how I responded:

Hello Congressman:

I would be most interested in hearing about the private contractors. After all the surge was a small percentage increase in troops and the media mostly ignored how small that percentage really was. It made me wonder whether there was a bigger private contractor surge to make it work. Always we seem to be talking about 125000 to 150000 troops in Iraq, but the reality is that we have more like 300000 troops in Iraq counting these contractors. So when we look at the occupation with eyes toward history and comparing it to previous military ventures before the rise of this private contracting army, we need to be talking about 300000 troops, not the 125000 or so the media keeps discussing.

I am deeply troubled by this use of mercenaries. These private contractors are not bound by the military code of justice or Geneva Convention, but they fight under our flag. A flag that they do not really owe allegiance to. As mercenaries they are soldiers of fortune, beholden to “gold”, not honor and duty. Historically one can look at Rome for examples of how a republic can be corrupted and hasten its demise through the use of mercenaries to further foreign policy.

I’d like to hear some questions about the use of private contractors furthering “war” as a “for profit” operation. When war becomes the business of the nation, then endless war is required to keep the economy going. Why have we rehired Blackwater? Have they not caused us enough trouble and embarrassment as a nation. Blackwater is the world’s largest private army and air force and they seem to be working for the GOP, not America.

Please ask some questions about Blackwater and the use private contractors creating a situation of “war for profit”. Also, a question or two about why Blackwater gives so much to Republican causes would not hurt either.

April 2nd, 2008
Remember Edwards Most Electable As things continue to be undecided on the Democratic presidential ticket. The prospects for a brokered convention have become more likely. Al Gore's name has been floated several times, but I really do not think he wants it. He has moved on from the aggravations of Washington politics. John Edwards suspended his campaign rather early...before California. He was regularly polling in the high teens or low twenties and he would be coming in with hundreds of delegates had he not been a good Democrat and dropped out to let the two biggies fight it out. However, the expected result of having one of them gain the lion's share of delegates has failed to materialize.

Obama's campaign needs to demonstrate that it can win again before most of the remaining super-delegates will be ready to move decisively. I am very worried about the brown vs. black tension that has evolved over the years. The Republicans have a candidate that can and will get Hispanic votes due to his positions on immigration, which are quite liberal, much to the chagrin of the right. McCain would have a real chance of picking up electorate-heavy California running against Obama. If Obama fails to put up some solid victories soon, super-delegates will rightly question Obama's ability to beat McCain. Obama may not be able to win.

Hillary simply cannot win nationally in my opinion, nor is she someone I can vote for. I find her religious affiliations far more troubling than Obama's pastorgate. The negatives on the Clintons from those inside and outside their party are high. It will make Democrats stay home and Republicans get out and vote. Beyond that I know the Clintons are the real architects of the Orwellian Dept. of Homeland Insecurity. Also, bringing into doubt the true nature of her politics, Hillary was apparently involved in trying to prevent the impeachment of Nixon as a young lawyer!!!!

All of this leads us back to John Edwards, the most electable Democrat. He would be a far greater force had he not dropped out so early. However, I believe he believed he was being a good Democrat by doing so. He was trying to help the Democratic party get their decision done early, but that has not happened. If neither Hillary nor Obama can get a majority on the first ballot, then I think Democrats should be thinking about John Edwards.

March 26th, 2008
Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early If you were thinking the winner of the 2008 presidential election was still up in the air, fuh-getta 'bout it! If you were not paying to attention to the last couple of elections, you might be surprised, but vote-tampering by the rich and powerful is old news. Now even the illusion of suspense has been lost as Diebold accidentally leaked results of 2008 to the public recently.

Vernal Equinox 2008
Protesting the War - 5 Years Later I am so tired of this war and its negative consequences. I finally got out and had my picture taken at one of the protests with my sons. We withstood the intimidation of the gang of bikers that showed up with their American Flags. Everywhere the peace protesters stood the bikers would send over their American flags. Police showed up and wrote tickets to some of the peace protesters, but fraternized with the vigilante bikers. It was strange and scary. I will comment further on that but here are the pictures.









March 17th, 2008
Bill Gates Went to DC to Lobby for More Cheap Labor Heck! Why not give away some American jobs in the midst of the biggest recession since the Great Depression? The alleged high tech worker shortage is really a ploy by Corporate America to bring in more "indentured servants".

Corporate America wants these changes for obvious reasons. After all, it is very tough to balance work and family with deadlines and overtime. Sometimes those darn uppity American workers want to be with their families. The more unpaid overtime that can be squeezed out of a worker, the greater those profits and productivity numbers. We all know the realities that those H1B workers face. If the boss says to work 50 or 60 hours for 75% of the normal salary, you do it or you could be back to the homeland right quick. Am I exaggerating? I don't think so, because there could be no other reason for those thousands of H1B visas being applied for when hundreds of thousands of American programmers were out of work between 2001-2003.

In this scathing essay on Congressional "BuyPartisanship", David Sirota reveals that both Democrats and Republicans will give away your job, if their Corporate sponsors give them enough money.

McCain has already gotten out there and started stumping to give away more American jobs. Unfortunately, the two alleged liberals in the Democratic race have not see an American job that they did not think should be given to a foreigner, either. I expected it with Hillary. After all she happily enjoyed the appellation of the "Senator from Punjab". (Punjab is a state in the country of India.)

However, I thought Obama would have been more supportive of the American middle class.

Call your Congressman, because the legislators are going to try to sneak an H1B visa increase through in some little watched late night session. The job you save could be your own!

March 7th, 2008
Stop Telecom Immunity
Tell Congress To Stop Giving Away Your Rights

In February of 2001, the Bush Administration immediately upon being installed in office went to the telecom companies and started demanding extra-Constitutional powers. They claimed they had such powers inherent in the "unitary executive". They also told the telecom companies they'd pay something like $10,000 per wiretap. The phone companies saw a big revenue stream once they realized how extensive the government domestic spying program was going to be, so they complied. EXCEPT for QWEST. Qwest refused on constitutional grounds. It was rewarded for its patriotism by the cancellation of government contracts it had already secured. Of course, the owner could see his stock price was going to fall in this battle and he ended up selling some of his shares. The government tried and convicted him for insider trading. He is now serving time in prison. However, even if he was inclined to take out a full page ad about the government vendetta against him, he could not because everything is classified under national security, so there was no way he could not be 'guilty' of insider trading, because he had inside knowledge of classified information that meant the stock price would fall.

We would know none of this were it not for the ACLU's lawsuits. Immunity in the upcoming FISA bill would end these suits and end our source of the truth of what went on in 2001. Remember the government had already obtained extra-constitutional powers to wiretap just about anyone as well as snoop all data in February of 2001, yet seven months later the planes are run them into the World Trade Center. The government claims they are so surprised that someone used planes as weapons and they had no idea or foreknowledge. Hmmmmmm?! They must be extremely incompetent or too busy wiretapping their political enemies or... ????

These ACLU lawsuits must be allowed to go forward. Why is everyone so anxious to give them immunity in Washington? I think because there are a whole host of greater revelations that have yet to surface, but maybe I am wrong. I think that making companies immune from unpatriotic actions such as, cooperating with government spying for money, needs to be punished in no uncertain terms, if it turns out to be true.

I have called my Congressman:

Basically this was my script: Hello: My name is _______ and I am a constituent of Congressperson __________________. I am interested in what my representative thinks about telecom immunity in the upcoming FISA bill that came down from the Senate. and then just give them your opinion on the matter, and remind them of the timeline of events... 7 months of extra-Constitutional wiretapping power and then we're surprised by "terrorists". Ironic that the phone companies own devices could be turned on them today....while they are listening in!

Having a secret court makes secret law is bad for an allegedly free society. See how the Qwest CEO is unable to avoid financial consequqences due to secret actions and an attempt to avoid the consequence leads to violations of secret laws. It really gives the government the ability to imprison anyone they want when they become too 'uppity'. Dave Farber's Interesting People list has a very insightful discussion and a link to an EFF forum that helps us understand the flaws of secret court decisions and how they can become oppressive instruments of power.



March 5th, 2008
Secret Service Orders NO MORE Searches at Obama Event
Again, media outside the US are aware of events and report them, but for opednews.com, the following little gem never seemed worth reporting to America by our domestic media sources. I'd say Americans would be surprised to learn that Secret Service order Dallas police to 'stop screening for weapons' at Obama rally, because the Dallas police sure were. I feel a chill as I fear a ghost of 1968 is lurking or is it 1963!!!!!



March 4th, 2008
War Caused Recession
Media outside the US are aware and reporting the truth of how America got itself in this economic mess. However, are domestic media as postulated several thousand other causes and never ever touch on the expensive ill-advised invasion of Iraq. I am not surprised that Hillary has not tuched on this, since she voted for the invasion, but I am a bit surprised that Obama has not been spending some time on this.



March 3rd, 2008
What Happened in Las Vegas and the Ricin?
Rob Kall of OpEdNews.com has put together some of the facts related to the recent ricin incident in Las Vegas. What he has put together is not complete, but it is a bit disturbing. More mysterious white powders coming from unknown sources.



February 27th, 2008
William F. Buckley, Jr Dies
Many conservatives will be crying crocodile tears today over the death of William F. Buckley, Jr. He was long a voice in the wilderness for conservatives when liberalism seemed to have triumphed in the 1970's. Many of today's conservatives will talk about how much they owe Mr. Buckley. They'll skate around the fact that Mr. Buckley was intellectually quite rigorous in his political positions. Mr. Buckley demanded rational conservatism that was intellectually consistent. Of course,we all know that conservatism can no longer claim this high ground. Conservatives today have revealed themselves to be sick political animals who say anything to "get the base out".

Due to the power of doublespeak under Bush and Cheney, Mr. William F. Buckley, Jr. died a LIBERAL!!!!!! Doubts????? Mr. Buckley believed that the "War on Drugs" was lost and legalization was the answer. Mr. Buckley believed that the mission in Iraq was a failure and that America should get out before things got worse. Oh yes, in today's screwed up Bush/Cheney political universe, William F. Buckley, Jr. dies a liberal.

Rest in Peace Bill.

February 26th, 2008
Bush’s IRS Wants to Make Your Tax Returns Public
The new law allows the tax preparers to get your signature and then give or sell the full tax return to data brokers, to your boss, to anyone. And there are absolutely no restrictions about what recipients do with the returns.

February 24th, 2008
War on Terror Over in UK
We need to start thinking outside the 'Bush' box. What are America's foreign policy interests ad objectives. How can we best achive them given our now very limited resources. We need to also take into account our squandered diplomatic capital and credibility due to this misguided occupation of Iraq. Britain has moved beyond this so-called, War on Terror, and we need to recognize it for the straw man it always was.



February 20th, 2008
Who Cut the Internet Cables?
Wake up, wake up, wake up! In about a week, five undersea internet cables were cut or otherwise damaged. All of them serving or connecting to the Middle East. Only one cable cut, the one linking Oman and the United Arab Emirates has been identified as accidental, caused by a dragging ship anchor.

I cannot believe we are not talking about this a bit more. This event seems very, very suspicious. Too, too coincidental for me not to believe this is a work of deliberate purpose. An enlightened individual or individuals could gain a lot of knowledge about capacities, disaster plans, switching alternatives, etc. from this act. An entity, be it national or otherwise, could have staged something to gain such insight or as a dry run for some future more sinister purpose.

What do I mean? Well, let me remind all of you that I am a civilian...big-time civilian, I know nothing but what I read on the Internet and see on TV. Given that, it seems rather obvious that were a coordinated move to be made in Iraq or Afghanistan by forces unknown a disruption of the Internet would have quite a negative impact on the American military in the theater. I don't know this for a fact, but I fear we may rely quite heavily on VOIP and other Internet connectivity to coordinate our spy satellites, ground forces and other robotic devices, et al.

So I just kind of felt ot was my patriotic duty to say, 'Lets look at this a little more closely.' First we need to make sure our military has backup Internet capacity in as many different forms as possible. Second, we need to find out who the heck cut those cables!!!!!. Lets not have any more big intelligence failures.

February 19th, 2008
House Blocks Senate From Giving Immunity
If these telcos are given immunity, then the lawsuits stop. We the people will learn nothing more about what really went on once Bush got into office. Fortunately, the House has not ratified this travesty and we may let learn what really happened when the Supreme Court appointed George W. Bush president.

So far we have learned that almost immediately upon his taking office, Bush went to the telcos in February of 2001 to start wiretapping. Why? Why didn't they find out about the WTC disaster, if wiretapping is so effective in protecting us from terrorists. They were wiretapping 7 to 8 months before, but still those terrorists somehow got on those planes.

We need those lawsuits to go forward, so we can find out what really happened. Thank you Nancy Pelosi for fulfilling your Constitutional duties. I'd also like to thank my two California senators for voting against the Senate's immunity legislation, even though it was in vain.

February 14th, 2008
Senate Gives Bush What He Wants....AGAIN!!!!
The Senate has provided retroactive amnesty for the telephone companies that helped Bush spy. The only major telco, Qwest, to not cooperate suffered lost revenue and their management harassed and thrown in jail on trumped up charges. The damage is done to Qwest, those that willing cooperated illegally need to pay the price for their cooperation...free Americans demand it.

BushCo is concerned probably about allowing the lawsuits to go forward, because there will likely be more and more damaging revelations. Americans must turn to the House for Congress to perform its constitutional duties instead of providing unconstitutional shields to companies that help an out of control executive branch.

February 11th, 2008
Obama Sweeps the Weekend
In my opinion, Hillary has no chance to make it to the convention with enough delegates to sew up the nomination. Obama, on the other hand, has a small chance to do so. He'll need to keep up his winning ways, of course. However, this last weekend shows that he has the charisma and vote-getting appeal to do it.

It is unsettling to think that the only way Hillary can win the nomination is for neither Obama nor her reach the convention with enough regular delegates, then the super delegates weigh in and hand it to the Establishment candidate. No need for bullets or riots to silence the Democratic grassroots.

The Democratic grassroots want Obama, it is clear. It also seems like the Clintons hold quite a few super delegates, though. The people in states that have not voted yet are wondering whether their super delegates will follow their leads and endorse the candidate that wins their state. How naive of them.

Check on the status of your own super delegates and hammer on them if they are swimming against the people.

January 31st, 2008
Democrats Shoot Themselves in the Foot
With the departure of John Edwards from the Democratic race and McCain looking to lock up the Republican nomination, I fear we will be in Iraq for many more years. I do not believe that either Hillary or Obama can defeat McCain. Both of them just do not have the necessary broad national appeal to win. Only Edwards had that and now he is gone. If Obama gets the nomination, then I'll likely vote for him despite my pessimism. It will be very difficult to vote for Hillary however. The Clintons invented the Department of Homeland Security. They are no liberals, unfortunately.

I feel the ghosts of 1968 lurking about. You know, here we have an unpopular war, but the establishment wants to stay in for fear of being labeled 'peaceniks'. The Democrats have a young dynamic candidate that is gaining attention all across the nation, just like 1968. Obama looks a lot like RFK to me and now with all the Kennedys lining up behind him, that feeling is even stronger.

I can only keep my fingers crossed that the 2008 Democratic convention is not like the 1968 convention, because that will guarantee a Republican in the White House.



January 18th, 2008
It's the War Stupid
I have been watching the alleged market mavens and various other pundits debate the coming recession. They all have ideas about what people should do and why we are in the current situation. Most agree that Americans are likely just going to have to ride it out, despite the alleged stimulus coming our way from Congress.

I am angry that no one seems to be talking about the fact that we were sold a bill of goods back in 2002 about how we had to invade Iraq. We were also told it would be a very inexpensive operation and that Iraq's oil revenues could pay for the whole thing. What a joke that has become. Now five years and over a trillion dollars later, we are still there. Nothing is more destructive to an economy than war. Bombs never turn a profit when you make them and then blow them up. Not unless sell them to someone else for their war or you use them for imperial purposes and gain treasure and booty for the economy that is building and dropping those bombs. Otherwise it really is just money down a rathole...check that...money into the pockets of war profiteers.

Afraid of recession? Tired of our flagging economy and rising inflation? THEN GET OUT OF IRAQ! It is so darn simple, but no one wants to talk about the elephant in the room. Why?



January 15th, 2008
What Really Happened in New Hampshire?
The media may not be reporting it, but there are some things to ponder about what happened in New Hampshire. Mostly the lamestream corporate media has spent much of their time acting surprised by the fact that Hillary and McCain won. However, they are coming up with some rather lame theories on why the polls were wrong.

We are being manipulated poeple!!!! In Ukraine, the Orange Revolution was based upon the huge discrepancies between exit polls and the reported election results. In 2004, we in America were told our exit poll discrepancies were just a normal statistical anomaly, though there is plenty of evidence to the contrary. The most compelling reason to suspect vote tampering in 2004 is the fact that every statistical anomaly, and there were many, went in favor of Bush and the Republicans. Add to this the fact that all the voting machine companies are heavy Republican contributors. Republican Chuck Hagel even owns a company making electronic voting machines.

Why are we not asking more probing questions about electronic voting security, why votes are being counted in secret and why the exit polls keep coming up wrong in certain key races? We must not allow the end to representative republican democracy! Europeans are really becoming suspicious of American election results. C'mon people !!!!!!! Demand hand voted ballots!!!! Demand vote counting be public record and not done in secret without independent audits being allowed.

If the bank tells us, we have less money in the bank than we thought, we don't just live with it, we investigate what happened. Of course, most of the time the issue is with our own math, nonetheless we would never allow anonymous secret accounting of our bank balance. The bank must show us the transactions that led to the balance, yet no such audit trail is being sought for elections even though there are so many clues that things are not on the up and up.

Some suspect that the corporate and moneyed want to make sure that John Edwards does not achieve the White House. The memories of the moneyed are long and they continue to tear down all that the Republican Teddy Roosevelt and the Democrat Franklin Roosevelt did in the 20th century to empower the common man. John Edwards is a self-made man, who appears to be owned by nobody other than his own conscience. This makes him very, very difficult to manipulate in the a way similar to Teddy Roosevelt, who broke the backs of the robber barons a century ago. At least some are calling for a repeal of the political obituary that the corporate lamestream media has already written.

The NH Secretary of State will be deciding soon on whether a recount will occur. January 10th, 2008
Edwards Most Electable Democratic Candidate
With a resurgent John McCain, Democrats could be facing the only Republican capable of winning in November. The other Republican candidates would likely fall to any of the top three Democratic candidates. Only John Edwards looks to handle a McCain challenge easily. In fact many polls and pundits have come out noting Edwards electability far outstrips his Democratic rivals, especially Hillary. Hillary may have won in New Hampshire, but she cannot win nationally, ESPECIALLY against McCain. Obama will have problems carrying middle independents against McCain. Only Edwards is a shoo-in against ANY Republican nominee. Democrats would do well to pay attention to the electability of their nominee.

January 2nd, 2008
Edwards Is My Guy
Though earlier I wrote I would not ignore the libertarian, it does not mean I would necessarily vote for him. Ron Paul is probably my second choice with Obama right on his heels. Barrack Obama seems inexperienced to me and if I am going to go with that, I'd prefer a real new direction for the country. Paul provides that. I think Obama would probably make a great president, but deep down I fear the country cannot handle a president of color. Some psycho redneck wanting to strike a blow for the old Confederacy would somehow get close to him and we'd all be stuck with whomever Barrack selected as his VP.

All that notwithstanding, John Edwards is definitely the man I think most likely to turn America around. I believe he truly is insulated from special interests by his motivations to be out there. I think those motivations are purer than most candidates. I think to some extent he runs for his fallen son. The death of a child is profound and I think it has driven Edwards farther into the spotlight than he ordinarily would have come. He runs to make America a better place. Memorializing his son's effect on his political actions purifies his motivations. He must always take a momment and run his motivations and ideas through the mirror he holds up as the torchbearer for his lost son.

This is of course very sad really, but I think America benefits from a man grounded in a way that cannot be faked. Edwards continues to run with his wife backing him 110% despite her own battle with cancer. As Edwards faces a world that has handed him so much emotional adversity, he is not insulated from life the way so many candidates seem to be. He truly runs because he must, no longer because he wants to. The old image of Plato's philosopher king shadows Edwards in my mind as the individual most qualified to lead and the one least likely to want it. That fine farmhouse he now owns would be a wonderful way to spend time with Elizabeth and his children were he not so driven by the state of the nation to be out there doing more.

John Edwards is a tough seasoned campaigner capable of beating ANY of the Republican contenders. Democrats would do well to nominate him. He has spent time inside the Beltway and outside of it. His work as a lawyer is indispensable as experience winning people to ideas. The time he spent at a large hedge fund has been criticised, but this kind of knowledge of the inner workings of the great global money machine will be invaluable in helping him lead an America left financially crippled by the Bush/Cheney wartime profiteers.

Edwards has kept to his populist path, even backing away from an earlier call for H1b visa increases, once he became aware of the true nature of this indentured servant program. He is willing to change his mind. To look at things fresh, if there is fresh data. He runs for his father, for his son, for his wife...for us all. In my heart, I believe his motivations to be president are purer than any other current presidential hopeful. He reminds me of a 21st century Teddy Roosevelt in his advocacy for the common man. No, I cannot help but give Edwards a resounding endorsement as the candidate I am backing for 2008. .

December 20th, 2007
I Won't Ignore a Libertarian
I'll forgive Ron Paul's conversion to the Republicans as long as he keeps giving them so much heartburn. He raised million of dollars this last quarter. Finally, a libertarian is getting financing. I have to admit that in a Hillary versus Ron Paul race I would have to vote for Ron Paul. Hillary does not care about individual liberty. We are just pawns in the Clintons power game. They treated the pawns better than Bush/Cheney have, but we are still just serfs in the Clinton's eyes, I believe. Remember the Department of Homeland Security was a Clinton idea, but the Republicans in the 90's thought it too Orwellian and killed it. I believe AMerica would be better off under Ron Paul than Hillary Clinton...sorry Dems :-( I can only urge you to nominate John Edwards, the most electable Democrat....IMHO .

December 20th, 2007
Dodd Stops Telco Immunity
Christopher Dodd is the one Democrat really hammering on the roll back of individual liberty by Bush/Cheney. I have to thank him here publicly for being instrumental in getting Reid to pull the FISA legislation that promised retroactive amnesty for telephone companies that helped Bush spy. The only major telco, Qwest, to not cooperate suffered lost revenue and their management harassed and thrown in jail on trumped up charges. The damage is done to Qwest, those that willing cooperated illegally need to pay the price for their cooperation...free Americans demand it.

December 19th, 2007
Now We Know Why Pelosi Took Impeachment Off the Table
Did you know that there is poor oversight of our torturing, tape-burning spies? Her failed oversight implicates her and prevents her from taking the Oval Office, because she would have to go down with Bush and Cheney. The facts of it were revealed by the Post last week.

The Washington Post article, Intelligence Oversight In Free Fall left me so outraged that I am compelled to write on the matter further and not just about Pelosi's knowledge of the administration's acts of torture. At the end of this article, the author does not offer one shred of creative, intelligent advice on how the next administration should deal with intelligence oversight.

I say, HOW ABOUT THE CONSTITUTION?

Simply adhering to the Constitution may well have avoided all of this debacle. The FISA court is unconstitutional! It always was and is more so now. A secret court and secret laws that I can unwittingly violate, because all the information on the "law" is classified, is not allowed in a free society. The repeal of habeus corpus and the resignations from the court by principled judges point to serious abuses of the secrecy. Our Founding Fathers created a document that protected the citizens of a free and open society. Almost immediately the elected officials started attacking it, because it kept them bound. They would make laws that were unconstitutional, but were still difficult to enforce. America was so vast that freedom reigned. The technology has finally caught up with the desires of the politicians.

The violations of the Geneva Convention by this administration noted in this article are clearly impeachable. These violations are some of the most powerful instruments that could be used to impeach Bush/Cheney. I can see why Pelosi took impeachment off the table. This article makes it clear that she would have to go down with them. The attacks on the World Trade Center seemed to make everyone lose their desire for freedom and liberty and the politicians obliged.

I will never understand why the people of this nation bought into the politician's song and dance about protecting us. The incidents of 9/11 called for a greater freedom for the individual, not less. The government and the military failed on that day utterly and completely. I wrote about it almost immediately, and have continued to pound the drums for individual freedom with rewrites and updates of The Lost Lesson of 9/11

The Post was pounding the drums of war for this administration after 9/11/2001. Intelligence Oversight in Freefall my ear. There never has been any oversight. Nobody really knows what happened in the 1970's when FISA was born except for some of the Post writers at the time and the politicians. Perhaps the Post can do some investigations for me and the rest of America.

Can Marc Felt really be Deep Throat, like Bob Woodward says he is? I find it convenient that Mr. Felt is now in a condition that prevents him from confirming or denying anything. However, lets take Mr. Woodward at his word. If Marc Felt is Deep Throat, then the words in "All the President's Men" are quite damning. You see the Deputy Director of the FBI complains several times that he is in fear for his life as he feeds Woodward information.

Who is he in fear of? Who has the power to assassinate the Deputy Director of the FBI? I believe that if the Post was to find out who Marc Felt feared was going to kill him, then we'd really know something about "intelligence oversight"! Act like the newspaper you are supposed to be and provide some oversight of power for us and quit churning out this lamestream media drivel.

December 18th, 2007
GOP Fears Edwards More Than Any Other Democrat
Republicans see Democratic candidate John Edwards as the greatest threat in the 2008 presidential election. In fact many polls and pundits have come out noting Edwards electability far outstrips his Democratic rivals, especially Hillary.

December 12th, 2007
Mortgage Freeze Not About Helping Homeowners
This administration would have us believe that the reasons behind the current rate freeze plan are purely altruistic. 'We want to help.' However, the SF Chronicle is probably a bit closer to the truth, when it suggests the freeze is really to avoid lawsuits and jail time for this horrendous financial disaster.

December 12th, 2007
Bush Administration Destroys Evidence
It has become abundantly clear that there has been a deliberate plan being executed in Washington to remove certain items from the public record. This administration has crossed over so many lines that in pre-9/11 America would have led to impeachment. The Bush/Cheney administration has stained America's reputation in a way that we have not even begun to clean up. If we do not start soon, we will never regain our honor and standing in the world. Torture is torture is torture. Everyone agreed at the Geneva Convention what it was, but once Bush/Cheney got into office a darkness has gripped this nation. They used high sounding words and strongly worded denials to make us believe, but their words are now just empty rhetoric echoing in our memories. Now that the people appear to be waking up to what has been going on, there has been a deliberate plan to destroy evidence and obstruct justice. When will all this evidence add up to "high crimes" Madam Speaker?

December 5th, 2007
Edwards Backs Away From H1b Visas John Edwards, the most electable Democrat...IMHO, has begun to back away from an earlier call to increase H1b visas. As a populist, I believe Edwards has seen the light and realizes that the alleged high tech worker shortage is really a ploy by Corporate America to bring in more "indentured servants".

Corporate America wants these changes for obvious reasons. After all, it is very tough to balance work and family with deadlines and overtime. Sometimes those darn uppity American workers want to be with their families. The more unpaid overtime that can be squeezed out of a worker, the greater those profits and productivity numbers. We all know the realities that those H1B workers face. If the boss says to work 50 or 60 hours for 75% of the normal salary, you do it or you could be back to the homeland right quick. Am I exaggerating? I don't think so, because there could be no other reason for those H1B visas being applied for when hundreds of thousands of American programmers were out of work between 2001-2003.

Unfortunately, his two chief rivals have not see an American job that they did not think should be given to a foreigner. I expected it with Hillary, but I thought Obama would have been more supportive of the American middle class. And of course no one expects Republicans to do anything but give Corporate America what it wants, Romney especially!

November 28th, 2007
General Sanchez Delivers Democrat Address
On Saturday, retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez. delivered the Democrats' weekly radio address. He was very critical of the Bush administration's "failure to devise a strategy for victory in Iraq," then came out in support of Democratic legislation linking continued war funding with a timeline aimed at ending U.S. combat operations by December 2008.

November 28th, 2007
Bush Administration Obstructing Justice in Blackwater Probe
The White House appears to be running interference for their private security firm, Blackwater. The Republican's mercenary army is a real stain on America. To those that have been victimized by Blackwater, they make no distinction between a private mercenary and a true, blue American soldier. The details of this investigation are disturbing in that involve weapons smuggling by the mercenary firm. Weapons that ended up in the hands on insurgents!

November 20th, 2007
Another Book Reveals Impeachable Offenses
Former White House mouthpiece, Scott McClellan, has implicated Bush and Cheney in the Plame cover-up affair. The ridiculous claims that Valerie Plame was not a covert agent are refuted by the fact that this administration retroactively re-classified details of Valerie Plame's employment. If she was not a covert agent then why classify all these details about her employment at the CIA. It is to cover-up the fact that the outing of Valerie Plame was a treasonous crime of the highest order and just as this administration said at the time, the perpetrators must be prosecuted. However, with the Democrats refusing to even look at impeachment, it appears that Bush and Cheney will walk out of office without suffering the consequences of their treason! Outing a CIA agent to help push this country to war can only be described as treason. It is what it is.

November 15th, 2007
America, the Mercenary Nation
On the week of Veterans Day, it seems appropriate to contemplate the American dependence on mercenaries. We have become addicted to mercenaries. We actually have more mercenaries and private contractors in Iraq than we do regular military. The costs are enormous, not just financially, but are credibility as a military power is being undermined. Our control of what is done in the name of our flag has been weakened. These mercenaries fight under our banner, but are not held to a military code in the way that traditional US soldiers have been bound. The largest and most prominent private mercenary contractor, Blackwater, has shot and killed many, many people in our name, but we have little control over them. The FBI is now questioning the mercenary corporation's story concerning the recent shooting incident that prompted Iraq to demand the company leave the country. A private mercenary army, waging war for profit and beholden to particular government officials and partisan ideologies is an enormous threat to freedom in America. Just ask the people of New Orleans that ran up against these guys right after Katrina.

November 11th, 2007
Donate to the PVA
The Paralyzed Veterans of America dates back to WWII. Though many point to the lack of actual deaths among iraq veterans compared to previous such engagements, they fail to take into account the amount of maiming being done. Due to improved medical transport and armor, soldiers often times survive horrific injuries. These guys are not "dead" so they do not always show up in the stats, but they are casualties, sure enough!

November 9th, 2007
Army Makes Its Recruiting Goals
Mukasey Given the nature of things in Afghanistan and Iraq, we must expect that there might be a downturn in volunteers for this hellish service. It is surprising to me and many others that the Army has been able to make those recruiting goals most of the time. At closer look though, we, the American taxpayer, are picking up the tab for these recruiting goals in a big way. We basically have to bribe those young people under economic pressure to become pawns in this administrations geopolitical gambits.

November 9th, 2007
Senate Confirms New AG of Torture
Mukasey has been confirmed by the Senate. Again and again the Congress has failed to do its constitutional duties and provide a check on the executive branch. Despite testimony from miitary interrogation instructors calling waterboarding torture, the Senate confirms a man who says he is unsure of waterboarding is torture. We all know its torture and common sense tells us it is torture, but we look the other way. Shame on Americans!!!!

November 6th, 2007
Waterboarding Was Once Considered Torture in America
It is so hard to see America as the land of the good guys, when we are torturing people. I am deeply disturbed by the lack of humanity on the part of my fellow citizens. Maybe people do not know what waterboarding is and that is why they do not oppose it, but with so many articles describing the practice that seems hard to believe. There have actually been times in America where the practice of waterboarding was clearly seen as illegal and torture. It is enshrined in our laws and in the precedents of previous legal decisions. Somehow Mr. Mukasey cannot see all that legal precedent and will not condemn the historically illegal practice as his nomination for Attorney General heads to the floor for a vote in the Senate. I urge all that still love America and wish for her to return to her rightful place among the humanitarian nations of the world to contact their Senators. We once were a country that abhored this type of oppression, of anyone. Have we changed that much?

November 2nd, 2007
Mitt Romney Promises to Give Away More American Jobs Than Anyone Else
In this interview, Mitt Romney, attempts to attract more corporate cash, (other than his own cash), by promising to give away more American jobs. These are high-skill, high-pay jobs that Americans are more than willing to do, but Corporate America wants indentured servants not "uppity" citizens that know their rights.

Halloween 2007
Republicans and Democrats Agree
In this scathing essay on Congressional "BuyPartisanship", David Sirota reveals that both Democrats and Republicans will give away your job, if their Corporate sponsors give them enough money. So much for the oath of office, eh? Scared for the future of your income stream?...Trick or Treat!!!!

October 28th, 2007
British Believe Bush Will Bomb
According to this British newspaper article there seems to be a strong belief that Dubya and Dick will most likely attack Iran before 2009!

October 22nd, 2007
Lets Listen to a General For Once
General Sanchez bellies up to the bar and to call a spade, a spade in Baghdad. How long will we allow Bush and Cheney to squander our nation's financial future on a hopelessly misguided war?

October 22nd, 2007
Democrats Don't Mind Immunizing the Telcos
For some reason the Democrats in Congress think they can pass a law that allows the possible unconstitutional behavior of the telephone companies to be legal and constitutional, after the fact. These Congress critters take an oath of office. They vow to uphold the Constitution. We must tell them that it is not OK to give away our rights and let the telephone companies that helped Bush spy on us. Besides that if you are thinking of switching phone companies, Qwest could use some business since the government is punishing them for protecting our rights and refusing to comply with Bush's warrantless spying.

October 11th, 2007
Clock Ticks Down Our Lost Privacy
Today the Governor of California signed into law a bill to make smoking in a car with minors illegal. One of the bills sponsors came out and stated, "...the highest government mandate is to protect our children.". To me this clearly demonstrates how much we have lost our way. The government's highest priority is to uphold the Constitution and the provide for the common defense. Truly the government should be involved in upholding the freedom's individuals so that they can protect their own children. The misguided perceptions of government as our Nanny is destroying our privacy and rights as individuals. In recognition of this growing Nanny State and the increasingly sophisticated technologies being used to watch us and make sure We are all safe the ACLU has created the Surveillance Society Clock. The online clock is patterned after the Doomsday Clock, created by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in 1947 to warn against a nuclear holocaust.

October 5th, 2007
Some Law Enforcement Oppose the War on Drugs
For years, their objections have been stifled. Finally, with our prisons overflowing and our streets just as violent as they were over a generation ago, their words are beginning to make sense. Yesterday, the executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, visited the editorial board Thursday, along with L.A. Chamber of Commerce chairman David Fleming, for a discussion of his group's plan to end America's war on drugs. What he had to say may finally be sinking in and actually find its way into our penal codes.

September 29th, 2007
Is This Government Selling Drugs to Fund Their Black Budget Schemes?
We hear that the office of the Vice President is trying to start a war with Iran. We hear many disturbing stories about private mercenary armies being employed by our government. It seems that no evil and dark ground will go unsown by this administration. Now we hear of an airplane crash loaded with cocaine in Mexico. Not all that unusual, I guess, in today's world, but when one learns of some of the plane's earlier destinations. Apparently, this plane has a tail number that has been spotted at Guantanamo!!!!

September 29th, 2007
A Voice From the Past
Daniel Ellsberg claims there has been a coup. Is he right? If you know, you may be on an unhealthy list. The seemingly utter lack of any checks on the executive branch since 2001, certainly point to it. I know I felt a chill down my spine after the surprising news conference in December of 2000, before the Supreme Court had annointed Dubya, in which George, from an undisclosed location, was given network time to address the nation and say with his best Alexander Haig delivery, ...don't worry everything is under control.

September 26th, 2007
Darth Cheney
What powers does Dick Cheney truly wield in our government? None of us truly knows. After all, Dick Cheney is currently contending in court that the office of the Vice President is a branch of the government all by itself, it is not executive nor legislative nor judicial. Dick Cheney wants to invade Iran and may be trying to make it happen. The news accounts are getting pretty scary. Cheney eyed Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear reactor, portrays Cheney as trying to get the Jewish state to do his dirty work for him. Stupidly, in the article the neo-conservative who spilled the beans is being refuted by his wife!

If that is not scary enough, you must read this Stratfor article, Israel, Syria and the Glaring Secret I would surely love to put the verbiage from Stratfor right on this page, but copyright law prevents this. Nonetheless, if you follow the link to the article you can get temporary access to some of the intelligence site's articles and essays. It is worth the read.

September 20th, 2007
Greenspan says Iraq War About Oil
Bush's private army, Blackwater, has been operating all over the world including the US with very little oversight. Troop level discussions have always been somewhat ludicrous when there are actually more mercenaries and private contractors in Iraq. These mercenaries being paid by the American government and acting as an arm of our military have almost no constraints on their behavior. The recent shooting of Iraqi civilians, again, has finally forced the Maliki government to take action. Take action is probably too strong a word, because though he has revoked the Blackwater license to operate in the country. However, there still remain in effect many laws from the Coalition Provisional Authority, which trump any efforts to assert their sovereignity. Iraq is not free, but under the boot of an occupying force, America.

September 16th, 2007
Greenspan says Iraq War About Oil
Goodness Gracious! Alan Greenspan has come out in his memoir and wrote that the Iraq invasion was about oil. Alan Greenspan also says the Bush tax cuts were a mistake. I guess he figures that no one will remember that Bush's tax cuts were in political trouble and might not have made it through the Senate, but for Greenspan coming out and giving his blessing. Guys like Colin Powell, George Tenet, Alan Greenspan as well as numerous other Republicans that have either retired from politics or left the administration are yellow-bellied sapsuckers as far as I am concerned. They were enablers for this administration. For them now to come out and talk about their doubts and their inner sanctum knowledge is a little too little, too late! I think some of these fellows may very well face treason charges, if there was any real justice in this country.

September 11th, 2007
The Day They Repealed the Bill of Rights
No doubt America changed dramatically on 9/11. Sadly, it was mostly for the worse as fear and hate seemed to drive our politics down to the man on the street level. Somehow everyone was afraid and willing to give up their rights to be protected. All I saw was government failure and the need for more and greater freedom, not less, as I wrote here The Lost Lesson of 9/11.

Now we have some more unsettling news. The rumour mill is reporting that the armed nukes that were mistakenly put on a B-52...were no mistake! Goodness, there is even additional speculation on who might profit from such an attack! Perhaps we should spend some time finding out what really happened with those nukes and why anonymous military personnel are claiming they were destined for Iran!!!! .

September 10th, 2007
The ACLU Fights For Our Freedom
The totalitarian nature of the National Security Letter powers given to the FBI have finally been rolled back in court. The FBI cannot do whatever it wants any longer. Finally, a judge has sided with the ACLU and ruled that American citizens still have some rights. After five years of living under govt imposed gag orders over 100,000 sneak and peek searches by the feds will now come to light. The Democrats continue to lose my support as they roll over and give Bush/Cheney everything they ask for, e.g. allowing continued wiretapping of Americans just before going on the summer recess. I have to admit that I am hoping the ACLU puts up a presidential candidate next year, because the Democrats do not seem to be offering much of an alternative to the disastrous and authoritarian policies of Bush/Cheney. .

September 5th, 2007
Bush is Right, It is Just Like Vietnam
Recently, Bush made a speech and called up ghosts of the VC to try to rally his gung-ho conservative base and help him continue his war in Iraq. Many disagreed that the Vietnam experience had anything in common with Iraq. However, there is one very telling overlap between these two wars. The soldiers are coming back from the theatre and becoming anti-war protesters. Of course, the Bush/Cheney regime has made it extremely difficult to do this these days, but some veterans are taking the protests outside of our borders, possibly to avoid retribution. .

September 3rd, 2007
Microsoft Stands in the Way of Election Reform
The Holt election reform bill has been so marked up by lobbyists that free and fair elections will not result from its passage. As a longtime computer programmer, I am appalled by what has happened to our elections since 2000. These electronic voting machines are so insecure and the corporate entities so closely tied to political interests, that anything less than complete open source is unacceptable in a free and open society. Congressman Holt's bill has been gutted by his own admission. At the risk of being called a neo-Ludditte, I say, " RETURN TO PAPER BALLOTS!" .

August 28th, 2007
Will We Ever Really Know What Happened?
Everything that has happened since 9/11 increases our doubts about the goverment story. A foreign journalist honestly scratches his head with his essay, Even I question the truth about 9/11, in the British Independent.

August 22nd, 2007
Spineless Congress Gave Away Your Rights
Your invertebrate Congressional representatives gave away your Constitutional rights and then went on vacation. Take the time to tell them what you think about them giving your rights away and allowing our criminal AG to decide what is reasonable and appropriate.

August 14th, 2007
No Rule of Law Means No Freedom
The case of the US citizen jailed and tortured by the American government over the last four years is finally gone to jury deliberation. It is hard to see the outcome as being fair. The judge admits that Padilla has been psychologically damaged by his treatment, but allowed the trial to go forward. The Christian Science Monitor, that notoriously liberal rag, does a pretty good job of laying the facts of the case on the table for those interested in a mostly truthful account of events. In America, one man can have a free American citizen jailed and tortured for years without trial. So much for the rule of law, we are dictatorship by most measures at this point.

August 7th, 2007
More Secret Laws
Apparently, the secret FISA court made a secret ruling that prohibited some the Bush Administration's secret spying on Americans. Unfortunately, it is all secret and none of us really know what is going on. The Bush Administration wanted the Congress to basically overrule FISA and the Democrats have obliged. It has to give many liberal Democratic activists pause. Pelosi actually said the law "...does violence to the Constitution"...but she helped pass it anyway! If this is how the Democrats are going to oppose Bush, give him money for his surge in Iraq instead of getting us out, allowing Gonzales to lie blatantly with no consequences, allow Scooter Libby's jail term to be commutted and now allow expanded wiretapping and give that power to the very people that have abused it over the last few years. What is the real difference between these two parties? The Democrats seem to be shoring up the concept of the unitary executive for their use in 2008 and beyond

August 4th, 2007
Police Officer Breaks Into Home
The Bill of Rights used to protect citizens from unreasonable search and seizure. However, this administration has ended the rule of law in America. No better reason to fly the flag upside down as a sign of distress. These are dangerous times for speaking one's mind though as this North Carolina couple discovered when they displayed an inverted American flag in front their house.

July 30th, 2007
More Secret Laws
The poor average American citizen better put his camera away. The government has come up with a new way to make you a criminal. There is apparently a secret list of buildings you can't photograph, but no way to find out which buildings these are!

July 24th, 2007
How Can We Really Know What is Happening in Iraq?
As Dubya opines that Iraq is a "must win", we the people are nearly blind to what is truly happening there. We'll know when the money runs out...maybe, but until then the corporate media is leashed and nearly useless so far. Even those journalists with the bravery, courage and passion to pursue the truth can only provide us with a keyhole view. Sonni Efron"s article on the information gap created by dead reporters is right on the money. Propaganda can easily become the news of truth on both sides when reporters are repeatedly kidnapped, tortured and killed.

July 20th, 2007
Thomas Paine Would Have Problems in the 21st Century
Given the collaboration between corporate America and the government when it comes to spying on citizens, it has become increasingly difficult to put forward any kind of anonymous speech. Thinking of printing out some Anti-Bush pamphlets or perhaps you are a rabid Kucinich or Ron Paul supporter and want to get the word out? Better use your neighbor's printer or better yet go to Kinkos and pay with cash, because printers are spying on you! The Electronic Frontier Foundation has published a list of printers that mark your documents so they can be tracked back to you and those that do not. I wonder if that venerable printer manufacturer, OkiData, is going to see a surge in sales?

July 14th, 2007
TheCapitolist.com Could Be Interesting
A new web site has sprung up which allows anonymous postings. Nothing new about that, but this one limits the posts to those originating from the IP address segment that is Capitol Hill. If you are a Congressional aide or other lower echelon worker on Capitol Hill you can anonymously post to this site. It is new and no revelations have been posted there YET, but thecapitolist.com, has the potential to scoop major media outlets. Bush/Cheney have such tight control over the message and the media it seems the truth never sees the light of day. This site could help turn over the rock.

July 9th, 2007
Americans Ready For Impeachment
John Conyers claims that more than half of Americans want to see Dick Cheney impeached. Conyers told George Stephanopoulos on This Week, "We're hoping that as the cries for Cheney and Bush now reach 46% and 58%, respectively, for impeachment, that we could begin to become a little bit more cooperative, if not even amicable in trying to get to the truth of these matters."

If Conyers is right, then Nancy Pelosi just might file those Articles of Impeachment that will prevent Cindy Sheehan from running against her.

July 3rd, 2007
Impeachment Is All They Understand
To now look back over the Clinton administration and to think that the man was impeached for having an oral sex affair with Monica Lewinsky seems like a bad fiction novel, when viewed in light of today's dangerous and destabilized world.

Bush/Cheney have been saying from the beginning that the unitary executive can do as he pleases. They have pretty much done as they pleased and now with the Scooter scooting out on any jail time, one has to admit they have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they CAN do as they please. Honestly, I never thought Scooter should go to jail, because it seemed to me that Cheney had been the man in charge of the Iraq War parade and the retributions against those that refused to march in it.

What concerns me more than anything else, is my every-growing belief that the Democrats are eyeing the powers that have been accumulated by this administration and they now want these powers for themselves. That is perhaps the main reason that impeachment will not be pursued by the Democrats. It seems as if only the Republicans can save us now, because some of the wiser ones may not want to see a Democratic president act as the unitary executive and may press for impeachment, thereby forcing the Democratic hand.

We the people must implore our representatives to do their constitutional duties and impeach Cheney at the very least, if not both men. Otherwise all the corruption and illegality that has been a hallmark of this administration will become institutionalized. Not to mention that our standing in the world arena depends on us taking legal action to throw these guys from office. Sans such an effort the world sees Americans as complicit in the misdeeds of Bush/Cheney.

Finally, if you want to live in a "relatively" free country, impeachment would seem the only course at this point. We now live in what can be best described as an authoritarian capitalist nation. This nation imprisons more individuals than any other Western nation, but the last illusion of the rule of law has been brought to an end by Scooter Libby's escape from prison. So who are all these prisoners? Just the powerless and poor that could not buy a better outcome?

I fear for the future!

Will there be a Bastille Day in America someday?

July 1st, 2007
Why Is Google Attacking Michael Moore?
Here I was asking myself this morning why Kurt Loder's MTV.com article attacking Moore as a money-hungry grandstander kept showing up when I brought up news.google.com . Usually those articles churn pretty thoroughly and a three-day old article is not going to get top billing in Google News, but for some reason over the last three days, every time I go to Google news, I see a link for Kurt Loder's article.

Hmmmm??? What is Google up to? Then I see this article on Interesting People about Google's dislike of Sicko. Google seems to be involved in some kind of media manipulation.

Perhaps we are about to see a replay of the growing money power of the hi-tech robber barons as we did in 2000, when I strongly suspect that Bill Gates threw a lot of support into the Bush campaign to prevent his company from being broken up. Others now confirm that Loder's article has unusual staying power at Google News.

June 25th, 2007
The Truth About H1b Visas Comes Out On YouTube
Want to hire cheaper foreign workers instead of Americans? A lawyer tells you how to game the immigration system, and it's all on YouTube courtesy of the Programmers Guild. As the Senate reconsiders the immigration bill, we can only hope that the obvious abuse of H1b visas as portrayed in this video will guarantee that these temporary guest worker visas be struck from the bill. I have no real problem with amnesty, because they are already here. Besides if you think hard and honestly about the facts, an amnesty for these 12 million undocumented people will help pay your Social Security.

June 20th, 2007
Is the Geneva Convention Really Quaint?
As the Republican candidates fall all over each other in recent debates to support torture more than their rivals, the American people need to stop living in fear. Mark Fiore's cartoon, The Return of Knuckles, will make you laugh, make you less fearful and MAKE YOU THINK.

June 19th, 2007
Why a Rushdie Knighthood Now?
What great thing has Salman Rushdie done that requires he be knighted at this time? It seems to be a purposeful attempt to inflame the Islamic world and quite specifically to provoke Iranian ire. Why now? Personally, I find it to be stupid unless it is a deliberate attempt to create an incident or crisis in Iran that could be used to justify outside intervention. There is no way that the West can say it is trying to be conciliatory and diplomatic with the Muslim world when we are knighting Salman Rushdie. Rushdie's novel, Satanic Verses, puts the whole Islamic religion in question in the same way that a novel portraying Jesus Christ as a charlatan magician and not the Messiah would inflame the Christians of America. Sad that British diplomacy has become such a blatant tool of the Bush/Cheney war machine.

June 18th, 2007
Republicans Hire H1B Visa Holder to Head up California Republican Party
The rah-rah patriots of the California Republican Party have hired a Canadian to be state deputy political director.

With all the talk about the H1B visa shortage there have been some question as to how this individual was able to get one so easily. Did someone in Washington, "grease the skids" for him?

June 14th, 2007
Impeachment is VITAL
Many Democrats are now claiming that impeachment of President Bush is impractical, because it will take more than two years. I know they have no stomach for it, because they think Americans will feel that they are wasting government time and money. However, the way this nation went to war must be punished and the many people that have now lost their lives must not have died in vain. The Iraq War is lost and civil war rules the day, but these people need not have died in vain, if someone in power is held responsible for this debacle. As Thomas Jeff