Friday, June 30, 2006

Things To Keep Your Mind On. . .

Things, Events, Happenings That Require Your Diligent Attention
by The Old Hippie Because The Fog Obscures So Much That Is Truly Important


Patriot 1.  Supreme Court blocks Bush, Gitmo War Trials  And  Video Here
     [May have to use "Ctrl" key to stop popup blocker to see video]

2.  Not Enough Fish in the Sea

3.  "Who Killed the Electric Car?"  (And)  The Facts

4.  The National Entertainment State, 2006

5.  Signing Away the Constitution?  Bush's Abuse of "Signing Statements"

6.  Bush Team Helps Ruling Party “Floridize” Mexican Presidential Election

7.  Got Away With It. . .  [Still Getting Away With It]  Reprised. . .

8.  GOP Plans To Reinstate Military Tribunals Deemed Illegal [by the Supreme Court]


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Sirotablog
Real-world wisdom from outside the beltway. - 6.30.06

"Never seen anything quite like what we have now"
When I appeared on the Colbert Report a few weeks ago, Stephen asked me how I know corruption is as bad or worse now than it ever has been.  He then poked fun at the fact that I am only 30 years old, so, he asked, how could I have any historical perspective?  I proceeded to make my case - a case that today is buttressed by one of the most longstanding and well-respected congressional observers - Norm Ornstein.  Here's what Ornstein wrote in his recent Roll Call column:

"In all my years of watching Congress, I have never seen anything quite like what we have now.  It may be a cliché, and it may be a partisan attack term, but it is also true:  There is a culture of corruption across Capitol Hill...  Still, when I look at the eagerness of Members to score big perks from their lobbyist friends and to find ways to make big bucks by transactions that are related to their behavior inside Congress, I cannot find any justification in the large pay gap with their peers...  Illegal or not, much of this behavior is unethical and repugnant.  It underscores the deep need for a real package of ethics, earmarking and lobbying reforms—which in turn underscores the shameful and pathetic behavior of the leaders in both chambers who have failed to act and who are trying to sneak through a sham bill."

He's absolutely right - except for one thing.  This corruption doesn't just underscores the need for ethics/earmarking/lobbying reforms - it more importantly underscores the need for public financing of elections.  The power of a lobbyist to corrupt the system comes from that lobbyist's ability to steer campaign resources to lawmakers and political candidates.  We need a system whereby good people can run for office without having to rely on private money that comes with the expectation of legislative favors.  Ethics/earmarking/lobbying reforms are critical (that's why we're pushing a ballot measure here in Montana to enact critical reforms) - but ultimately we have to also have real campaign finance reform.

Posted by David Sirota at 9:34 AM | Link | Discuss (2)


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Friday, June 16, 2006

Bouncing Rationale. . .

From This Modern World's Tom Tomorrow

This Modern World


[ Be sure to view the video in the "Read The Rest..." below. . . ]

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From "The Daily Show" via "onegoodmove.org", a short video you will find of interest. . .

==>  Linked Here  <==


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Wednesday, June 14, 2006

The Day. . .

After The Next 9/11 Our Freedoms Will Be Gone
Video Interview With Daniel Ellsberg


A short, (4 minutes,) video interview with Daniel Ellsberg - Definitely worth the watch. . .

===>  Direct Link Here  <===

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Nothing else at this time - Just watch and listen to the above linked short video.


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Thursday, June 08, 2006

You Don't Want It To Be True. . .

But Deep Down, You Know It Is Our Shared Reality
by The Old Hippie Because Most Are So Deep In Denial, That Most Still Believe It'll Get Better


Most still believe this newly created un-America can be undone, and "...that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth," as Lincoln stated in the last line of his Gettysburg Address.  But the reality is, it has perished from this earth.  What has replaced it is a government of, by, and for the corporatists.

The fact that the United States of America is now a corporate-state is the forest, undeniable to anyone that is a rational realist, and has paid even the slightest attention to the successful usurpation of the powers of governance by the Executive branch, from the Legislative and Judicial Branches, in the last six years.  Accomplished through the over-taking of the oversight and regulatory controls, the law creation and interpretation structures, the purposeful disregard for the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and international conventions and treaties.  The Executive branch has proven that it has the power to wage war without cause, without legislative permission, without the "of, by, and for" people's consent.  And the final straw... through the sycophantic voter machine corporations, and well placed political cronies, the corporatists have successfully gotten away with the corruption of the last three national elections, and these corporately controlled sycophantic voting machines are being allowed to spread even deeper and wider in the states.

All the rest, the divisive propaganda, the destruction of civil rights, the top-down control of the media, the exposed lies unpunished, the forced movement of wealth to the few top percentage of citizens, while bankrupting the government, while cutting all social safety net programs, while increasing the military budget, while corporations are making historically unprecedented uber profits, while cutting the taxes on those corporation's profits, while the nation is in it's deepest deficit in its history, while attempting over-and-over-again to make the tax-cuts for the corporations and wealthy few permanent, the destruction of all environment regulations on the corporations and military, while global warming and its effects worsen, the opportunistic incorporation of church and state to further divide the masses, the "crisis" of gay marriage, the "crisis" of flag burning, the privation of Social Security, the illegal no-bid give-away of governmental contracts, the abuse of presidential-signing statements, the "legislation" of torture, etc., etc. . .  Are the trees in the forest of the power-grab by the corporations through the Executive branch.

There are a few loose ends still to tied up, but for the most part, the corporatists have successfully completed a hostile take-over of what used to be "our" government.

I had a friend, he has the following degrees M.D., Ph.D., MBA, and bachelors in music and biology. We became friends when I started college after the Navy, and he had re-entered undergraduate school, with a new major.  In every class we shared, we studied together, and were the top of each of those classes.  It was not a casual friendship.  I introduced him to his current wife.  He became a psychiatrist, I became a Dental School dropout.  (He and his wife are childless - I only mention that because of the importance of P.O.V., I dropped out because my son, then six, needed me much more than the world needed another dentist.  I see the world through my son's, my grandchildren's, and my own eyes.  My friend only sees the world of his remaining lifetime.) - I was debating with him the direction our nation was going not long after 9/11, he defending the corporatists' actions. . . He laughingly said "It is perfect."  When I would not give up saying it was wrong, it was bad for not only us, but the whole of the planet, he cut off our "friendship," and all communication with me.

P.O.V. - A drop-out father's/grandfather's, and a multi-degreed childless elitist's. . .
Sadly, both of us wrong, both of us in denial, and both of us right. . .

- I was right, about it being wrong and bad - but I was wrong, it was perfect, and I was in
  denial of its perfection.  I was also wrong about it not being "allowed" to be successful.
- He was wrong, and in denial of the fact that I was right about its wrongness and badness,
  but he was right about its perfection.  He was also right, it has been "allowed" to succeed.

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Nothing else at this time.


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Monday, June 05, 2006

For The Past Week. . .

I've Watched & Listened As Our Nation Has Sunk Further Into Insanity
by The Old Hippie, Because It Is Even More Insane To Continue To "Allow The Allowing"


The spin, propaganda, bullshit lying just continues on, and you keep "allowing" them to continue to get away with it, without real protest or revolt.  Just as they are continuing to be "allowed" to change the very structure of what used to be "our" America, its laws, its ideals, even its definition,

Hacker
{-The Way Many Picture Me-}
 into an openly criminal, and proven corrupt, arrogantly opportunistic theocratic corporatist profiteering single-party-ruled imperialist oligarchy, of, by, and for, the few.  All of the born-again imbeciles that actually wanted this, do truly deserve what's coming much more than the "we" that have fought this from its beginnings, even though it is now obvious we just didn't fight hard enough. - Most of "us" actually believed, right up to the end, that our democracy was still intact, and its structure of checks and balances would weed out the truly insane religious zealots, and the criminally opportunistic corporatist politicians - with the vote - What a joke on us - But the "why" of our deserving what's coming?  It is because - "We" knew private corporations, run by two arrogant "Bush Pioneers," - "We" knew the two brothers heading both corporations, had "opportunistic" control of "our"
voting computers - without any "checks and balances" on their manipulations, and "we" knew these same corporations had 23 convicted felons in positions of management, and software control, of the programs that control the "count," without any traceable paper trail.  "We" knew it, and allowed it to happen anyway.  And even more mind-boggling, is "we" are still "allowing" them, these proven corrupted machines to be used in the upcoming national elections.

And Now. . . ?  The voting machines have spread even further in the states, We know that they corrupted all of the last three national elections, (2000, 2002, and 2004.) - But yet - Even in the face of all the expose facts of criminal corruptions - We continue to "allow" their use?!?  Seriously - What part of the "allowing" do you just not understand?

Are we, as a nation, insane, or simply stupid???

Yes - I'm angry at "them" for bringing this about - BUT - I'm much more pissed off at the "we" that "allowed" this to come about.  No matter how you reason it, or justify it, or deny it, the "we" are more at fault, than the "them," of our divided nation.

"We" were not deluded by insane religious rapture, "we" were not lost within the throes of profit and power of neo-con'ed aggressive Empire, "we" were not members of the corporate criminal cronies - "we" were/are simply naive Americans that believed our Constitutional Republic actually was still a reality.  Believed it would protect us.  But the reality is our government is now, and has been for the last six years, run by the combination of insane fundamentalist zealots, delusional neo-con imperialists, and opportunistic corporatist criminals taking every advantage of the other two's insanity.

No matter how you twist it - It is a conspiracy that is so obvious that it's invisible within the denial.
Every day we look more and more like Germany of the late 1930s, or a least not different enough.

We deserve what is coming. . .

The rest of the innocents on the planet do not.

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Note:  From the original - "Seriously" - posted two months ago to the day - March 21, 2006.

And still. . .  Nothing has changed - They are still "allowed" to be in power, still destroying the very concepts and ideals of our nation, for nothing more than profitsAnd still. . .  With all that has now been proven, over and over again - They are still "allowed" to continue their deadly destructions.  And still. . .  The proven-beyond-the-pale corporatist's corrupted voting machines are being "allowed" to continue to spread, and will "count" the votes in the upcoming national elections.  And still. . .  People ask me why I am becoming so cynical, becoming so much less positively hopeful. . .  And still. . .  I continue to answer, with the question. . .

"Seriously - what part of the "allowing" do you not understand?!?"


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